August 5

Psalm xlviii. — 1. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

2. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

3. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

4. For, lo, the kings were assembled; they passed by together.

5. They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hastened away.

7. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

8. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it forever.

9. We have thought of thy loving-kiadness, O God! in the midst of thy temple.

10. According to thy name, O God! so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

11. Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.

The group of hills upon which Jerusalem was built is described as holy or sacred, because there was the temple, the seat of Jehovah's glory; and since Zion was the hill first occupied by David, and the most conspicuous quarter of the city, this stands for the whole. The glory of this sacred capital is here celebrated in the prospect of its universal supremacy. "As the city where the king resides is the eye and crown of a country, much more is Jerusalem the eye and crown of the land where the Lord resides in the sanctuary, worshipped by all Israel." Zion has this pre-eminence over all the dwellings of the people of God, throughout even the Holy Land. But not Israel alone shall thus exult in her sacred capital. The proud and mighty nations of the earth; the seats of empire, power, commerce, and wealth; countries whose citizens were

12. Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof.

13. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following.

14. For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Psalm lxxxvii. — 1. His foundation is in the holy mountains.

2. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

3. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God!

4. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.

5. And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her; and the Highest himself shall establish her.

6. The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there.

7. As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

accustomed to boast of their nativity, — should be numbered by Zion among her admiring dependants. Of one and another in distant nations it shall be said, "He was born in Zion;" and her glorious King, in the census of his vast dominions, shall enter it as a special distinction of this and that man that he was born in her. No name, no honor, no possession upon earth, can be compared with being a child and heir of God. It is not of the physical Jerusalem, its streets, walls, gates, palaces, that these glorious things are spoken, but of Jerusalem as representing the presence, the word, the Spirit, of the true God. In him are all our springs of life, of hope, of joy; and his service is a delight that calls for the richest combinations of music to express it. O happy souls that are born of God, and daily draw their bliss from the fulness of his love!

APPROPRIATE HIMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 162, 186, 197.

O Thou that dwellest in the heavens! holy and reverend is thy name. Unto thee would we lift up our souls. As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. To whom can we go but unto thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We praise and bless thy name for all thy mercy to us this day; for the bounties of thy providence, and for the riches of thy grace; for the supply of our bodily wants, and for the spiritual food which nourishes and refreshes our souls. We thank thee for the Holy Scriptures, for the preaching of the gospel, for the privilege of prayer, for all the ordinances and means of grace. Follow these with thy blessing. Lord, pardon what thy pure eyes hath seen amiss in us, and accept us in the Beloved.

We commend ourselves to thy care and keeping for the night. Watch over us in the hours of

darkness and helplessness. If it be thy will, may we have refreshing sleep, and rise renewed for the duties and employments of another day! Sleeping or waking, may we be ever with thee! Be with all in whom we are specially interested, and to whom we are bound by the ties of nature or of grace. Lord, bestow on them the blessings which we have asked for ourselves. Draw nigh to all who are in distress. Be a very present help in trouble. Send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to all the suffering and the dying. Sanctify to them their affliction, and give them deliverance in thine own time and way. To live may it be Christ, and to die may it be gain. Our prayers are before thee: grant us an answer in peace. Do to us and for us exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think; and unto thee be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.