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their voice.

6 Let in their mouth aloft be rais'd

The high praise of the Lord,
And let them have in their right hand
A sharp two-edged sword;
7 To execute the vengeance due
Upon the Heathen all,

And make deserved punishment
Upon the people fall.

8 And ev❜n with chains, as pris'ners, bind
Their kings that them command;

Yea, and with iron fetters strong,
The nobles of their land;

9 On them the judgment to perform
Found written in his word:

glory, or shall express their joy by means of the organs of speech, so often termed the glory of our organized frame. By beds or places of rest, here we understand the mansions preparing for the blessed; for our beds of rest here are not a place of singing God's praise aloud through the watches of the natural night. But as we would hope to attain that blessed state, let us habituate ourselves, as David and bis Lord so often did, to meditate and praise whenever we awake through the watches of the night.

What is contained in verses 6-9. has, in our judgment, been often adduced to justify what the Scriptures appear to condemn. Indeed, no commentator that we know, appears properly to understand, nor can, while they attempt to gloss it in a sense that contradicts our Lord's express command, Forgive your enemies, and sets aside the sanction of his example. Peace is the design and result of the gospel.

Justly does Dr. H. remark, that the scene of which we have here a prophetical exhibition, is one that cannot take place till after the resurrection; because the followers of the Lamb have certainly nothing to do with vengeance in this world;' though they are to judge not only men but angels; 1 Cor. vi. 2. Understanding the passage as referring to the prediction in the 2d Psalm, and many others throughout the sacred volume, as fulfilled to the righteous at the restitution of all things, and all appears plain, consistent and rational. But make this execution endless, with the Doctor, and transfer it to all the blessed, and we make free to ask how can it be called an honour that all God's saints shall endlessly. have? Or in the name of wonder, how can it be called an honour!

This honour is to all the saints.
O do ye praise the Lord.

PSALM CL.

As the sermon on the mount, which was intended in defence of the law and the prophets, is introduced with beautitudes, to mark the grand design of the gospel dispensation; so the Book of Psalms, which contains a grand epitome of the duties, exercises and privileges of revealed reli gion, closes wholly with praise, intimating the sublime end and consummation of the whole. In heaven it is perfectly understood and sung,

1 PRAISE ye the Lord, God's praise within

His sanctuary raise;

And to him in the firmament

Of his pow'r give ye praise.

2 Because of all his mighty acts,
With praise him magnify:

O praise him as he doth excell

In glorious majesty. ·

3 Praise him with trumpet's sound; his praise

With psaltery advance.

Are the most dignified members of the community, the king's sons and his peers not excepted, employed as the executioners of justice, even in the lowest stages? Would any call this their honour? But allow their services to be corrective and restoring, and there the character applies at once. To restore to happiness is worthy of the good and blessed,

Notes on Psalm CL. The Psalm begins with an hallelujah ver. 1. We are exhorted to praise him for his sanctuary, the place where his honour of old dwelt, or for the holines of his character and administration, or for the firmament or expansion of his power, the emblem of his church, the material heavens, and all their shining hosts, with their continued operations and beneficial effects, performed by the aid of light and air. The whole universe will have cause to bless God for the mystical heavens, and their transforming and saving operations.

Ver. 2. These mighty acts of his for which we are to praise him, must surely include the restitution of all things which will be performed according to his excellent greatness, and shall receive corresponding praise. Will not the Holy One of Israel be great in the midst of his redeemed people? Will not his glory shine bright upon them?

4 With timbrel, harp, string'd instrument,
And organs, in the dance.

5 Praise him on cymbols loud; him praise
On cymbols sounding high.

6 Let each thing breathing praise the Lord.

Praise to the Lord give ye.

Commentators are not agreed what the musical instruments mentioned the original mean, ver.!3-5; but what they ultimately intend must exceed all our thoughts. Let it not however be forgotten that a renewed heart, well regulated, and tuned affections, constitute the noblest organ in God's estimation. See Exod. xv. 20. Rev. xiv. 1. and from these we may anticipate, as from other portions of Scripture, what shall take place hereafter on the broadest scale.

The last verse may be viewed as a prayer and prediction.-Let every thing that hath being praise the Lord, ver. 6. Reading it in the latter sense-Let every thing that hath breath or an intelligent principle, shall praise the Lord while they have being. Why should not every Christian subjoin bis cordial Amen, while the church universally adds, Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord?

N. B. The text on the following device may be literally fulfilled, as of old, when the Jews are brought to their own land from their present long state of dispersion; at which period, it is allowed miracles, will be wrought in their favour, as at the Exodus from Egypt. That accomplishment of the prediction will furnish a pledge, earnest and confirmation of an Exodus from the Red sea of future wrath, to which the context seems to refer it-THE LORD SAID, I WILL BRING MY PEOPLE AGAIN