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service; a form highly proper for creatures, and sinful creatures, to use, whose great employment it is now, and will be for ever, to magnify the mercy and loving-kindness of their God.]

1. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.' 3.'0 give thanks to the LORD of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.'

We are called on to praise Jehovah, first, for his own essential attributes; then, for the exertion of those attributes in his works. The attributes here mentioned are those of goodness' and 'power;' the one renders him willing, the other able, to save; and what can we desire more, but that he should continue to be so? Of this likewise we are assured, by contemplating the unchangeableness of his nature. His disposition altereth not, and his kingdom none can take from him: 'his mercy endureth for ever.'

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4. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.'

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All the works of God are wonderful,' and speak him 'alone' to have been their author. The established course of the world is, in reality, no less admirable, than are those extraordinary interpositions of omnipotence, whereby it hath been sometimes interrupted and suspended; though the latter, on account of their novelty, are apt to affect us more than the former doth, which is ever before our eyes, and therefore less regarded by us. How many of those, for whom the wonders of creation, providence, and redemption have been wrought, think none of them worthy their attention! Angels admire and adore, where man will not deign to cast an eye, or employ a thought.

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5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.' 6. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.'

The heavens above, and the earth beneath, declare the wisdom of their great Maker, and proclaim aloud, to an intelligent ear, the divinity of the hand that formed them.

The heavens display the love of God to man; the earth teaches the duty of man to God. Heaven is glorious and gracious, earth verdant and fruitful. The bright and ample circumference of heaven, the variegated surface of the earth, and the profusion of good things that distinguish the seasons, contaminated as they all have been by man's transgression, even now yield a prospect which annihilates all human grandeur. What idea, then, are we to frame of those new heavens and earth, from which sin and corruption are excluded, and where righteousness hath fixed her eternal throne?

7. To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:' 8. The sun to rule by day for his mercy endureth for ever.' 9. The moon and stars to rule by night for his mercy endureth for ever.'

Light is the life and soul of the universe, the noblest emblem of the power and glory of God, who in the night season leaves not himself without witness, but gives us some portion of that light reflected, which by day we behold flowing from its great foundation in the heart of heaven. Thy church and thy saints, O Lord, 'are the moon and the stars,' which by the communication of doctrine, and the splendor of example, guide our feet, while we travel on in the night that hath overtaken us, waiting for the dawn of everlasting day. Then we shall behold thy glory, and see thee as thou art.

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10. To him that smote Egypt in their first-born: for his mercy endureth for ever:' 11. And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever.' 12. With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm : for his mercy endureth for ever.' 13. To him which divided the Red Sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever.' 14. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it for his mercy endureth for ever.' 15. 'But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea : for his mercy endureth for ever.' 16. To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.' 17. To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.' 18. And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever. 19. Sihon king of the Amorites for his mercy endureth for ever.' 20. ‹ And.

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Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever." 21. • And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever.' 22. Even an heritage unto Israel his servant for his mercy endureth for ever.' 23. Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever.' 24, 'And hath redeemed us from our enemies for his mercy endureth for ever.'

From the works of creation, the Psalmist proceeds to those of providence and grace. He celebrates that mercy which rescued Israel from oppression, brought them out of the house of bondage, divided the sea to make a way for them, supported and conducted them through a waste, howling wilderness, crushed the might and power of those who opposed them, and at length settled them in the inheritance promised to their fathers. Eternal mercy hath in Christ Jesus realised all these figures, and accomplished the great redemption, thus foreshadowed of old. The Israel of God hath been rescued from the oppression of Satan, and brought out of the house of spiritual bondage. In the waters of baptism the old man of sin is buried, and we arise triumphant, to sing the praises of God our Saviour, who from thenceforth supports and conducts us in our passage through the world, strengthening us in the day of battle against every enemy that opposeth us, until we enter the heavenly Canaan, promised to the fathers of our faith, and dwell for ever in the possession of peace. When we consider how God has thus remembered us in our low estate,' and thus 'redeemed us from our enemies,' can we be weary of repeating, For his mercy endureth for ever?'

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25. Who giveth food to all flesh for his mercy endureth for ever.' 26. O give thanks unto the God of heaven for his mercy endureth for ever.'

The same bounty, which, in the natural world, provided proper nutriment for every creature, hath also provided for the spirits of all flesh the bread of eternal life. In either sense, Jehovah openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with plenteousness.' Be, therefore, his

praise as universal and lasting as his mercy!

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PSALM CXXXVII.

ARGUMENT.

[The Israelites, captives in Babylon, 1, 2. describe their woful estate; and, 3. 4. the insults of their masters. 5, 6. They declare their inviolable affection for Jerusalem: 7. pray that God would remember the behaviour of Edom; and, 8, 9. predict the destruction of Babylon. This Psalm admits of a beautiful and useful application to the state of Christians in this world, and their expected deliverance out of it.]

1. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.' ·

What an inexpressible pathos is there in these few words! How do they at once transport us to Babylon, and place before our eyes the mournful situation of the Israelitish captives! Driven from their native country, stripped of every comfort and convenience, in a strange land, among idolaters, wearied and broken-hearted, they sit in silence by those hostile waters. Then the pleasant banks of Jordan present themselves to their imaginations; the towers of Salem rise to view; and the sad remembrance of muchloved Zion causes tears to run down their cheeks; 'By the waters of Babylon we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion!' Besides the use which may be made of this Psalm by any church, when, literally, in a state of captivity, there is a sense in which it may be used by us all. For Zion is, in Scripture, the standing type of heaven, as Babylon is the grand figure of the world, the seat of confusion, the oppressor and persecutor of the people of God. In these, or the like terms, we may, therefore, suppose a sinner to bemoan himself upon the earth-O Lord, I am an Israelite, exiled by my sins from thy holy city, and left to mourn in this Babylon, the land of my captivity. Here I dwell in sorrow, by these transient waters, musing on the restless and unstable nature of earthly pleasures, which pass swiftly by me, and are soon gone for ever. Yet for these, alas! I have exchanged the permanent joys of Zion, and parted with the felicity of thy chosen. Wherefore my heart is pained within me, and the remembrance of my folly will not let me rest

night or day. O Zion, thou holy and beautiful city, the temple of the Lamb, the habitation of the blessed, the seat of delight, the land of the living, when shall I behold thee? When shall I enter thy gates with thanksgiving, and thy courts with praise? The hope of a return to thee is my only comfort in this vale of tears, where I am and will be a mourner, till my captivity be brought back, and my sorrow be turned into joy.

2. 'We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst

thereof.'

The additional circumstance, which the divine painter hath here thrown into his piece, is, to the last degree, just and striking. It was not enough to represent the Hebrew captives weeping, on the banks of the Euphrates, at the remembrance of Zion, but, upon looking up, we behold their harps unstrung, and pendent on the willows that grew there. The sincere penitent, like them, hath bidden adieu to mirth; his soul refuseth to be comforted with the comforts of Babylon; nor can he sing any more, till pardon and restoration shall have enabled him to sing, in the temple, a song of praise and thanksgiving.'

3. For there they that carried us away captives required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' 4. 'How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?' 1

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The Babylonians are introduced as insulting over the Israelites, and scoffing at their faith and worship, not without a tacit reflection on their God, who could not protect his favored people against their enemies. Now sing us one of your songs of Zion; now let us hear you sound the praises of that God, of whom ye boasted, that he dwelt among you in the temple which we have laid waste, and burnt with fire.' Thus the faithful have been, and thus they will be, insulted by infidels in the day of their calamity. And how,' indeed, can they sing the

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1 Many singers were carried captives : Ezra ii. 41. These would of course take their instruments with them, and be insulted, as here. Their songs were sacred, and unfit to be sung before idolaters. But the words, How shall we sing,' &c. are not an answer given to them, but the free utterance afterwards of the feelings of the Jews among them. selves. ANONYMOUS NOTES IN MERRICK'S ANNOTATIONS.

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