NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
THE first five verses of this psalm contain earnest expressions of thankfulness for deliverance from trouble, and grateful utterances of praise to God. That David had previously besought the Lord in faith for assistance, is manifest in the expression, "I waited patiently for the Lord." That his trouble had been on account of his sins, is shown in the second verse: "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." The third verse manifests the laudable intention to proclaim to others the goodness of God. It is highly proper for any one who is conscious that the forgiving mercy of God has been extended to him, to praise the Author of his deliverance in such a manner, not only by word but by right-doing, that "many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." THE declaration in the fourth verse, "Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust," has many counterparts in the Scriptures, besides meeting a ready response in every obedient heart. See Ps. 31:19; 37:3; 118:8, 9; 119:1, 2; 125:1-3; Nahum 1:7, etc. The same may be said of the remainder of the verse, "and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." There are no sins more emphatically denounced in the word of God than pride and lying; probably because that in pride originated all sin. Through pride Satan exalted himself in Heaven, and falling, brought sin into the world, and the Saviour says the devil is "a liar and the father of it." John 8:44. "Him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer." Ps. 101:5. "He that worketh deceit519shall not dwell within my house; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight." Verse 7. "Pride goeth before destruction; and a haughty spirit before a fall." Prov. 16:18. "A man's pride shall bring him low; but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit." Chap. 29:23. In the great day of the Lord all the proud shall be as stubble (Mal. 4:1); and into the heavenly Jerusalem there shall not anything enter that maketh a lie. Rev. 21:27. In the fifth verse the psalmist eloquently rises, in praises of the Almighty, to an eminence of inspiration that betokens a very joy in the contemplation of God and his works. From this height comes the prophetic reference to the Messiah found in verses 6-10. "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened; burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required." Verse 6. In Heb. 10:5-9, Paul treats this as the language of Christ, and from him we get the explanation of it. Beginning at the fourth verse, he argues, "for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he [Christ] cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me; in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure." Verses 4-6. From Paul, then, we learn that the language of David in Ps. 40:6 was really the words of Christ to his Father when he came into the world; that the reason the Father did not "desire" sacrifice and offering, such as were being offered under the Mosaic law, was because they were not sufficient for an atonement—it was not possible that they could take away sin. Therefore the Father prepared Christ a body whose blood would be an adequate atonement. Chap. 9:11-14. This body was born of the Virgin Mary, and conceived of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 1:20-25); and came in literal fulfillment of the promise in Gen. 3:15 concerning the seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head. Dr. Clarke says: "It is remarkable that all the offerings and sacrifices which were considered to be of an atoning or cleansing nature offered under the law, are here enumerated by the psalmist and the apostle, to show that none of them, nor all of them, could take away sin; and that the grand sacrifice of Christ was that alone which could do it." "Mine ears hast thou opened." The apostle, quoting from the Septuagint version, has, instead of these words, the expression, "a body hast thou prepared me." Just how the discrepancy occurred, we do not know; but Paul pointedly incorporates the latter idea in his comment, bringing this body in contrast with the animals whose blood could not take away sin. Commentators have been puzzled as to an explanation of the different renderings. The Arabic version gives both phrases. On the meaning of "mine ears hast thou opened," commentators vary some, but Clarke is more generally accepted. He says it "might be more properly rendered, 'my ears hast thou bored,' that is, thou hast made me thy servant forever, to dwell in thine own house; for the allusion is evidently to the custom mentioned in Ex. 21." The law was that a Hebrew servant should be set free at the end of the sixth year; but if he preferred to remain in servitude, the master would bore a hole in the servant's ear and he should serve him forever, that is, as long as he lived. This idea seems to be the correct one, when we consider the fact that Christ came to earth as a servant. Verse 8 shows this; also Isa. 42:1. Being a servant of God, of course he was a life-servant. See, also, Phil. 2:5-8. Can a servant change or abolish the law of his master? No; it is his province to obey, and Jesus came to set the inhabitants of the earth an example of obedience. See John 6:38. "I DELIGHT to do thy will, O my God; yea thy law is within my heart." This sentiment is characteristic of Christ and all who are truly his. When on earth he was so wrapt up in his Father's will that he said, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." John 4:34. Christ came not only to fulfill his Father's will in making atonement for sinful man, but also to honor his law. Man became a sinner by breaking the law, and only a sinless substitute could take away the guilt. Then Christ could only vindicate the law by keeping it, and that is doing the will of the Lawgiver. We can only know the will of the Government by its laws, and we can only do that will by obeying the law. David, speaking for himself, often reiterates his delight in the law of God. "I will delight myself in thy statutes, I will not forsake thy word." Ps. 119:16. "I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved." Verse 47. "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day." Verse 97. Speaking of the righteous, he says: "His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Ps. 1:2. But some will say that was under the old covenant. Well, we ought, with our additional privileges, to be even more loyal than those who enjoyed only the shadow of our reality. And from Jeremiah we learn that such is expected of those who should live after the new covenant came in force. "After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." Jer. 31:33; Isa. 51:7, 8. Note this particularly: under the new covenant the Lord will be the God of a people who will have his law in their hearts, instead of on stone merely. He says nothing about a new law, but a new covenant, with the law more deeply impressed upon the parties with whom the covenant is made. "I HAVE preached righteousness in the great congregation." Verse 9. This no doubt has reference to Christ opening the door for the Gentiles, and through his disciples preaching the gospel to them. So also the next verse: "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation." From the eleventh verse onward, the reference appears to be entirely to the writer himself, and the change of tone would indicate that it was written at another time and under different circumstances. And this thought is strengthened by the fact that the seventieth psalm is a repetition of the last five verses of this. If a Sabbath-school is not what it should be, in nine cases out of ten the cause can be traced directly to the officers, and not the scholars. The superintendent and teachers can be so punctual, so interested, and so thoroughly prepared that the school cannot help catching something of the same spirit. And for every missile of "must not's" and accusation hurled at young people, tell them of a thousand things they may do, and which they and many others have done. Let us stimulate, and not debilitate. The moment we assail, even in discussion, a popular evil, that moment we make for it friends. The moment we point a virtue, which by its own weight crowds out a vice, our cause commends itself to all, and Christ is so lifted up that he will draw all men unto him. In our day there can be no church long without a good Sabbath-school. There can be no Sabbath-school long without zealous officers, organized and equipped, to make it a business. THE sculptor cuts out the marble that soon is to perish; let us endeavor to carve a likeness of Christ that will endure through eternity.