facture. The instrument had a good appearance, but there was a flaw in its heart; and when the strain came, it snapped, and all was lost. For the security of the subject, the Government have erected an apparatus for testing anchors; and the royal seal is stamped on those that have been approved.

He who is now the anchor of the soul within the veil, was "made perfect through suffering."

The safety of which this text speaks, is safety such as an anchor affords. This is different from the safety of a ship on a stormless sea, and different from the safety of a ship that is moored fore and aft within the walls of a harbour. Both these positions are safe; but they differ both from each other and from safety by an anchor. Man unfallen enjoyed the first kind of safety, and the ransomed in rest enjoy the second; but the place of a believer in the body is neither like that of a ship on a calm sea, nor like that of a ship within the harbour, it is like a ship exposed to raging winds above, and deceitful currents below. Such a soul may be abundantly safe; but its safety is of the kind that a ship enjoys while it is exposed to the storms, and before it reaches the haventhe safety that an exposed ship enjoys through an anchor that is sure and steadfast.

Take now a series of practical lessons.

1. The ship that is kept by an anchor, although safe, is not at ease. It does not, on the one hand, dread destruction; but neither, on the other hand, does it enjoy rest. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you." Those who have entered the harbour do not need an anchor; and those who are drifting with the stream do not cast one out. The hope which holds is neither for the world without nor the glorified within, but for Christ's people as they pass through life-rejoicing with trembling; faint, yet pursuing. "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world."

2. But, further: the ship that is held by an

3. When the anchor has been cast into a good ground, the heavier the strain that comes on it, the deeper and firmer grows its hold. As winds and currents increase in violence, the anchor bites more deeply into the solid, and so increases its preserving power. It is thus with a trusting soul: temptations, instead of driving him away from his Saviour, only fix his affections firmer on the Rock of Ages. "When I am weak, then am I strong;" when I am most exposed, then am I safest in the hollow of my Redeemer's hand. If you have hold, it is in a time of temptation that you will increase the intensity of your grasp. Accordingly you find, as a general rule, that those Christians who have passed through a great fight of afflictions are stronger in the faith than others who have always sailed on a smooth sea.

4. The ship that is anchored is sensitive to every change of wind or tide, and ever turns sharply round to meet and resist the stream, from what direction soever it may flow. A ship is safest with her head to the sea and the tempest. In great storms the safety of all often depends on the skill with which the sailors can keep her head to the rolling breakers. Life and death have sometimes hung for a day and a night in the balance, whether the weary steersman could keep her head to the storm until the storm should cease. Even a single wave allowed to strike her on the broadside might send all to the bottom. But to keep the ship in the attitude of safety, there is no effort and no art equal to the anchor. As soon as the anchor feels the ground, the vessel that had been drifting broadside, is brought up, and

Watch from a height any group of ships that may be lying in an open roadstead. At night when you retire they all point westward; in the morning, they are all looking to the east. Each ship has infallibly felt the first veering of the wind or water, and instantly veered in the requisite direction, so that neither wind nor wave has ever been able to strike her on the broadside. Thereby hangs the safety of the ship.

Ships not at anchor do not turn and face the foe. The ship that is left loose will be caught by a gust on her side, and easily thrown over.

As with ships so with souls: those that are anchored feel sensitively the direction and strength of the temptation, and instantly turn to meet and to overcome it; whereas those that are not anchored are suddenly overcome, and their iniquities, like the winds, carry them away. "We are saved by hope;"-saved not only from being outcast in the end, but from yielding to temptation now.

It is a vain imagination that rises in ignorant minds against the gospel of Christ, that when a sinner gets a glad hope in Christ's mercy, he will not be careful to obey Christ's law. It is an old objection, and perhaps it is human and natural; but it is not real-it is not true. As certainly as the anchored ship feels every gust and every current, and turns sharply round to face and fight it; so certainly a soul that has hope in Christ has a quick and sure instinct to detect influences and companionships and customs that dishonour the Lord and ensnare his people. And as the hopeful soul surely detects the danger, it also, in virtue of its hold and hope, turns round to meet, to resist, and to make the devil flee.

I suppose no youth, since Pharaoh reigned in Egypt, has been exposed to a greater strain of temptation than that which Joseph overcame in Potiphar's house. But it was hope that saved

not been at peace with God, he would have been like a ship caught on the broadside by a hurricane. It was the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast within the veil before the blast began, that enabled him to overcome it: "How can I do this great evil, and sin against God?"

5. When the ship is anchored, and the sea is running high, there is great commotion at her bows. The waves in rapid succession come on and strike. When they strike they are broken, and leap, white and angry, high up on the vessel's sides. This tumult is by no means agreeable in itself; but the mariner on board would not like to want it, for it is the sign of safety. If, while wind and waves continue to rage, he should observe that this commotion had suddenly ceased, he would not rejoice. He would look eagerly over the bulwarks, and seeing the water blue on her bows, instead of the hissing, roaring spray, he would utter a scream of terror. The smoothness at her bows indicates to him that her anchor is dragging. The ship is drifting with wind and water to the shore.

Such, too, is the experience of a soul. Brother, you hope in Christ. Do not be surprised that the currents of fashion rub sometimes rudely against you. It is explained by a text in the Bible: "The friendship of the world is enmity with God." If you are fixed, a great flood is rushing by, and it must needs cause a commotion round you. An impetuous tide of worldliness will dash disagreeably against you from time to time. Do not be too anxious to make all smooth. Peace may be bought too dear. When the mighty stream of vanity on which you float produces no ruffling at the point of contact,-when it is not disagreeable to you, and you not disagreeable to it,-suspect that your anchor is dragging, that it has lost its hold, and that you are drifting into danger.

Cast in the anchor while the sea is calm: you will need it to lean on when the last strain comes on!

VERY one must feel that these are beautiful words; but there is a certain vagueness about them, which we must make it our first object to remove. The verse, then, consists of two clauses. The first could not be more appropriately rendered than it is here: "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness." There, however, there should be a pause. The following part of the verse contains another statement, respecting the number of those who are to be made willing in the day of power; and it should run thus: "The dew of thy youth shall be as the dew from the womb of the morning;" ie., thy youths, who shall flock to thy standard to follow thee, shall be numerous as the drops of the dew in the morning. The text, then, may be read thus: "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness: thy young men shall be numerous as the dew-drops from the womb of the morning." And from these words, as thus interpreted, I would address you on the present occasion, The psalm celebrates the glory of Christ as Priest and King of his Church; a combination of offices which we find elsewhere alluded to in the Scripture. Thus Zechariah says: "Behold the man whose name is the Branch: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." It is the triumphs of this exalted personage, who, like Melchizedek, at once swayed the sceptre and ministered at the altar, that the inspired writer in this song of Zion predicts as if

*From "Lectures and Sermons." By the late Alexander Dyce Davidson, D.D., Minister of the Free West Church, Aberdeen. Edited by one of his Executors. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

he had witnessed them. And, brethren, it is worth while to remark, even though it does lead us somewhat from the subject more immediately before us, that it is not without reason that the office of Christ as a Priest is here placed in immediate connection with his glory as a King, and with the conquests which as a King he wins. He was raised to the mediatorial throne through and in consequence of his ministry, if we may so speak, at the altar: "Because he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, therefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." Christ's right to reign as King over the holy hill of Zion, that is, over the Church, was acquired by his giving of himself a sacrifice that he might purchase that Church with his own blood. And if he had not sustained the character and performed the duties of our Priest, even when he himself was both the offerer and the victim, he would not have borne the title by which his people delight to hail him that of their Lord and Sovereign. "He poured out his soul unto death; he was numbered with transgressors; he bare the sin of many; and therefore there was divided to him a portion with the great, and a spoil with the strong." "For the suffering of death he was crowned with glory and honour." Now let me observe here, that this account which the Scripture gives us of Christ's office of a King, as founded upon and exercised in right of his having first discharged the office of a Priest, and given himself a sacrifice for sin, is in its practical bearings of the first importance. The Lord Jesus reigns, and as our rightful Sovereign demands our homage. The very place which he occupies, as having all power in heaven and in earth committed to him, invests him with a title to make this demand, and renders us guilty of rebellion if we refuse to comply

with it. But it is not as armed with a right which he has power to enforce, that our King advances his claim. Such an argument, though it might be employed, he does not employ. A successful usurper might point to the blood through which he has waded to the throne, an awful demonstration of what he will do to secure his possession of it,-as the most forcible method of overcoming any opposition that may be likely to rise up against his authority. But this is not Christ's method of gaining the homage of his subjects. He does indeed point to blood as marking out the path by which he has risen to the glory he now possesses; but it is not the blood of enemies whom he has slaughtered in his wrath, but his own precious blood, shed for the remission of the sins of many, that forms the ground of that argument whereby he seeks to secure the homage of his subjects. He suffered for us that he might acquire the right to reign over us; not to tyrannize and make us miserable slaves, but to set us free from the thraldom of sin and death. And, my brethren, who is prepared | to resist the force of such an argument, and to reject the claims of Christ to the homage of his heart, when he beholds him thus bearing the wounds which he received in achieving his own sovereignty and our freedom? Look at the blessed Jesus, from no impulse but that of love, submitting to all indignities and tortures for his people's sake, and say if he who suffered so much as the Priest of the Church has not a title to reign as her King?

But now, to come nearer to the subject which is to occupy our meditations, I may notice first of all generally, that, in the psalm from which the text is taken, Christ's kingly authority is presented to us under two different aspects. There are two classes of people spoken of as placed under his control,—those, namely, who are hostile to him, the wicked who say, "We will not have this man to reign over us ; let us break his bands asunder, and cast away his cords from us;"-and those who are described as his true and faithful subjects. It is with reference to the first of these classes that it is said at the beginning of the psalm, "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool ;" and at the fifth and sixth verses, "The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries." And it is the second class, Christ's faithful subjects, that are referred to in the text: "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holness." The same distinction between two classes is observed in the second psalm, which also treats of Christ's kingly office. There are some there spoken of with respect to whom it is declared that he will break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel; and others who are pronounced blessed, as putting their trust in him. Let this be pondered seriously, for it is overlooked by many. Many people, looking to the statements which are given with regard

1151

to the mild and peaceful administration of the Messiah, and to the glory of his kingdom, as consisting in the diffusion of universal love and goodwill, and judging from the grace and kindness which pervaded his words and actions while he dwelt with men on earth,-many people feel as if there were an utter inconsistency between all this and the exercise of vengeance which is ascribed to him in such passages as those which have been quoted. But have they forgotten that there is such an expression in the Scripture as "the wrath of the Lamb"? Do they not know that, while Christ comes with the offer of mercy to all who will accept of it, he makes this the terrible alternative, that for those who will not embrace his offer there remaineth nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment? And I ask if those are not righteously doomed to perdition who will not submit to the authority of Christ, but trample under foot the blood of the covenant, and count it an unholy thing? Let none of us delude ourselves by the vain fancy that under the government of Christ punishment is unknown. He would not be a King if he had not power to crush his enemies as well as to protect and to bless his devoted and willing subjects.

In the meantime, however, we are to look at the bright side of the picture, and to contemplate, not the destiny of those who refuse to submit to the King of Zion, but the happy condition and character of those who are peculiarly his own, the purchase of his blood, the fruit of the travail of his soul. The psalmist in prophetic vision beholds Messiah going forth on his glorious expedition to bring this rebel world of ours into subjection to Jehovah, its rightful Sovereign. On the one hand he is opposed, and all his overtures of reconciliation are treated with contempt; on the other hand he is welcomed and adored. It is of those that welcome and adore that the text speaks when it says, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness; thy young men shall be numerous as the dew-drops from the womb of the morning." And now, in discoursing from these words, I would direct your attention to the following topics as suggested by them. In the first place, I would inquire what is to be understood by the description of Christ's people here given as a willing people. In the second place, I would advert to their decorations: they appear "in the beauties of holiness." In the third place, I would speak of their number: they are "as the dew-drops from the womb of the morning." And in the fourth place, I would request you to attend to the time and way in which they are made Christ's willing followers it is "in the day of his power." May the Divine Spirit guide our meditations, and make them profitable to our souls.

I. In the first place, then, let us see what is meant by the expression that Christ's people are a willing people.

This indicates that a vast change has been made upon them; for there is no man naturally inclined to follow

and to obey the Saviour. Although he comes to us not with anger in his countenance, or with threatenings on his lips, but with looks of tenderness and accents of mercy; although the offer which he holds out conveys every blessing that man needs to make him happy here and hereafter, even nothing less than the forgiveness of every sin, admission into God's family and friendship, deliverance from the bondage of iniquity and from the yoke of Satan, and the enjoyment of eternal life; although no one can hear these blessings named without feeling that he needs them all, and few of us deny in so many words Christ's power and willingness to bestow them all; yet, strange to say, the offer is unheeded by the majority of men, and they remain unwilling to follow Christ, they will not come to him that they might have life. It is true, indeed, that many, through the influence of fear, or from the power of habit and early education, do render to Christ a certain amount of outward service. This accounts for the respect which is paid to ordinances by mere nominal Christians, and for the observance of the common proprieties and decencies of life in those communities where the truths of the gospel are proclaimed. But when we speak of Christ's people as a willing people, there is much more meant than that they honour the forms of religion and observe the ordinary proprieties of life. We might all advance a claim to be numbered among them, if these things could make it good. Let us therefore endeavour to arrive at a right understanding of this important matter. To be willing, then, in the sense in which the expression is used in the text, is to have the enmity of the carnal heart to Christ and to his law subdued and destroyed; so that the person in whom this change is wrought looks up to the Saviour with all affection, rejoices in the privilege of holding intercourse with him by prayer and other means, and accounts the performance of duty not a toil, but a pleasure. When a man who is himself a stranger to the love of Christ reads of the sacrifices, the self-devotion, the labours of his people in the primitive age; and when he sees-alas, how imperfect the image-a reflection of the same spirit in his genuine disciples now; when he perceives the Christian, without any worldly motive or interest, spending and being spent for Christ, devoting time, and talents, and money, to the advancement of Christ's cause; when he beholds men whose powers of mind would have raised them to honour and affluence in their own land, leaving behind them friends and worldly prospects, and embarking their very life in the enterprise of spreading the truth of God among the victims of idolatry and debasing superstition; when a man a stranger to the love of Christ sees or reads of such instances of heroic devotion to the Saviour, he wonders how any should be found voluntarily to make such sacrifices, and to encounter such trials. And certainly, were he, in his present state of mind, and with his present feelings, to attempt to act upon the principle of Christian devotedness, and to yield to the restrictions which Christ's law imposes both

upon the heart and the conduct, he would be of all men the most miserable. His life would be that of a slave dragged to his task, and stimulated only by the scourge. But that which makes the difference in the case of the believer is, that he loves Christ and his service also. It is not of constraint, but with a willing mind, that he renounces the pleasures which Christ's Word condemns, and enters upon the duties which it inculcates. The Holy Spirit has brought him to see and to appreciate the love of Christ for him; and he now feels that he cannot do enough for Christ. And so, while he climbs the steep ascent of Christian duty, it is not with reluctance and regret, as if he were leaving in the world beneath him all that deserves to be called enjoyment. On the contrary, every step he takes he breathes more free; every difficulty he overcomes makes him more ready for another; the further he removes from those carnal pleasures which once engrossed him, the more intense and pure his satisfaction grows; and the secret of the whole is, that the Spirit has made him willing. He loves his Master, and he loves his work; and in such a case there can be no complaint, no murmuring.

Let it, however, be particularly noticed here, that the willingness which has been spoken of as characterizing the people of Christ is not to be regarded as a mere point of doctrinal theology, but as a great practical reality. Our catechism, you know, speaks of the renewing of the will as one part of the Spirit's work, and it is indeed the work upon which the salvation of the sinner turns. But what we are concerned about at present is not the proof of this doctrine. Many people may be satisfied with the mere knowledge of the doctrine, and may think that they are far advanced when they can describe the effects which the Spirit produces upon the heart in making a sinner willing to serve Christ, who before served only his own appetites and passions; but it is of a practical matter we speak, of a willingness manifested in action, and not confined to the mere definition of terms. Let me illustrate it. We read in the Gospels of a centurion who came to Jesus beseeching him to heal his servant, and grounding his plea upon this, that Christ must have the power to perform this cure as invested with God's authority; because he himself (the centurion) was a man under authority, having soldiers under him; and he could say to one, Go, and he went; and to another, Come, and he came; and to his servant, Do this, and he did it. The description which this centurion gives of his household is exactly that which may be given of the family of Christ. He says to one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Do this, and he doeth it. "Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth;" "Here am I, send me," is the language of the believer. No matter though the work be difficult; no matter though it demand a measure of self-renunciation too severe in the estimate of a selfish and worldly-minded man; no matter though it subject the follower of the Lord to trouble and to persecution; Christ's work has charm enough for his people with all