August 28

Psalm xxii. -1. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2. O my God! I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; and in the night-season, and am not silent. 7. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8. He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 11. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12. Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

19. But be not thou far from me, O Lord! O my strength! haste thee to help me. 22. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but, when he cried unto him, he heard. 25. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26. The meek shall eat, and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live forever. 27. All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28. For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he is the governor among the nations. 29. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship; all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30. A seed shall serve him: it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

The close of this psalm is such a contrast to its beginning as could come only of the triumphs of divine grace. No change of outward circumstances alone could cause such a change of feeling, or would warrant such a tone of exultation. The psalm opens with the most despairing cry ever wrung from a troubled soul: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" It pictures the sufferer oppressed with all manner of physical pains and tortures, and set upon by enemies who make a mock of his anguish, and taunt and revile him, saying, "He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him if he delight in him." They even stripped him of his clothes, parted his garments among them, and cast

lots for his vesture; they wantonly pierced his hands and feet, and, like lions, roared to devour him. But the saddest grief of all was, that, when he cried unto God, he seemed to have no answer. All these sorrows meet in Jesus on the cross. Yet in them all he clung to his Father: "My God, my God!" was still his cry. And at last that cry was answered in the vision of that feast of redeeming love, to which the high and the low shall be brought together; of that seed gathered out of all nations to serve and glorify the Lord. For this Christ stands as the High Priest of his people, leading their praises to the God of Israel.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 99, 100, 108.

Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever! O God, our Father! how shall we praise thee for thy love in Jesus Christ, our Saviour? When we were utterly lost in our sins, thou didst not spare thine own Son, but didst deliver him up for us all. Upon this, the Lord's day, that crowns the suffering of the cross with the glory of the resurrection, our hearts would go forth in grateful and adoring love to Him who hath redeemed us to God. O Lord! fill our souls with thankfulness to thee, that thy love may constrain us evermore. May we be filled with the spirit of Christ, and wholly given to the service of Christ!

And, oh, may this day witness in our hearts, in this community, in the church, in our land, in all the world, new triumphs of redeeming grace! May He who was lifted up upon the cross draw all men unto him!

We thank thee, as a family, for thy constant goodness to us; for all the way in which thou hast led us; for the home which thou hast given us; for our means of support and of enjoyment; for the loves and hopes that brighten our way; and for all the dealings of thy providence with us. O Lord! unite us all in the faith and hope of the gospel, and in the family of thy redeemed, through Jesus Christ. Amen.