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confidence in the wisdom and strength of nature and the world; and to remember, that we can do nothing, but in the name, by the merits, through the power, and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord and our God.

8. They are brought down and fallen; but we are risen, and stand upright.

This was eminently the case, when the pride and power of Jewish infidelity and Pagan idolatry fell before the victorious sermons and lives of the humble believers in Jesus: this is the case in every conflict with our spiritual enemies, when we engage them in the name, the spirit, and the power of Christ; and this will be the case at the last day, when the world, with the prince of it, shall be 'brought down, and fall; but we, risen' from the dead through the resurrection of our Lord, shall 'stand upright' in the courts of heaven, and sing the praises of him who getteth us all our victories.

9. Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call.

Thus the Psalm concludes, as it began, with a general' Hosanna' of the church, praying for the prosperity and success of the then future Messiah, and for her own salvation in him, her King: who, from the grave and gate of death, was, for this end, to be exalted to the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, that he might hear, and present to his Father, the prayers of his people,' when they call upon him,'

PSALM XXI.

ARGUMENT.—This is one of the proper Psalms which the church hath appointed to be used on Ascension-day, and wherein, 1-6. she celebrates the victory of her Redeemer, and the glory consequent thereupon; she prophesies, 7. the stability of his kingdom, and, 8-12. the destruction of the enemies thereof; concluding with a prayer for his final triumph and exaltation; the celebration of which, with everlasting hallelujahs, will be her employment in heaven.

1. The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

The joy of Christ himself, after his victory, is in the strength and salvation of Jehovah, manifested thereby. Such ought to be the joy of his disciples, when God hath enabled them to vanquish their enemies, either temporal or spiritual; in which latter case, as they are called kings, and said to reign with Christ, so they are in duty bound to acknowledge that they reign by him: 'He that glorieth,' whatever the occasion be, let him glory in the Lord.

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2. Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips.

The desire of Christ's heart was his own resurrection and exaltation, for the benefit of his church; and now he ever liveth to make request with his lips,' for the conversion and salvation of sinners. Such desires will be granted, and such requests will never be withholden. Let us be careful to frame ours after that all-perfect model of divine

3. For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness; thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.

The Son of God could not be more ready to ask for the blessings of the divine goodness, than the Father was to give them and his disposition is the same towards all his adopted sons. Christ, as king and priest, weareth a crown of glory, represented by the purest and most resplendent of metals, gold. He is pleased to esteem his saints, excelling in different virtues, as the rubies, the sapphires, and the emeralds which grace and adorn that crown. Who would not be ambitious of obtaining a place therein !

4. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.

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The life, asked by Christ, was not a continuance in this valley of tears, but that new and eternal life consequent upon a resurrection from the dead. For thus his petition was granted in length of days for ever and ever.' He died no more; death had no more dominion over him.' Whose disciples then are they that wish only to have their days prolonged upon the earth, forgetful of the life which is hid with Christ in God?

5. His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.

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What tongue can express the glory, honour, and majesty,' with which the King of righteousness and peace was invested, upon his ascension; when he took possession of the throne prepared for him, and received the homage of heaven and earth! The sacred imagery in St. John's Revelation sets

them before our eyes in such a manner, that no one can read the description, whose heart will not burn within him, through impatient desire to behold them. See Rev. chap. iv. vii. xix. xxi. xxii.

6. For thou hast made him most blessed, Heb. set him to be blessings,' for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

Christ, by his death and passion, having removed the curse, became the fountain of all blessings to his people, in time and eternity; being himself the blessing promised to Abraham, and the object of the patriarchal benedictions. The joy communicated to the humanity of our Lord, from the divine nature, shall be shed abroad on all his saints, when admitted to view the countenance of God' in the face of Jesus Christ. Then they shall enter into the joy of their Lord.'

7. For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.

The throne of Christ, as a man, was erected and established, by his trust and confidence in the Father, during his humiliation and passion. Faith in God, therefore, is the way that leadeth to honour and stability. Look at the generations of old, and see: did ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded?' Ecclus. ii. 10.

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8. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.

The same right hand of Jehovah is glorious in

"Nam posuisti eum in secula benedicendum." Houbigant. Compare Gen. xii. 2. Bishop Lowth, in Merrick's Annotations.

power to save his people, and to destroy his enemies; to convert the Gentiles, and to crush the Jews; to exalt the faithful to heaven, and cast down the unbelieving to hell: neither is there any treason against the King of heaven, which shall not be dragged forth into the light, made manifest, judged, and condemned. Let thy hand, O Lord, be upon our sins to destroy them; but upon us, to

save us.

9. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

The time of God's anger' often begins in this life, especially towards the close of it, when an evil conscience within, like flame confined in an 'oven,' torments the sinner, as a prelude to punishments future and unknown, which the wrath' of God is preparing to inflict on the incorrigible and impenitent. Let us so meditate on this sad scene, that we may have no part in it.

10. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.

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A' day is coming, when all the fruits' of sin, brought forth by sinners, in their words, their writ ings, and their actions, shall be destroyed; yea, the tree itself, which had produced them, shall be rooted up, and cast into the fire. The 'seed' and posterity of the wicked, if they continue in the way of their forefathers, will be punished like them. Let parents consider, that upon their principles and practices may depend the salvation or destruction of multitudes after them.

The case of

the Jews, daily before their eyes, should make them

tremble.

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