past and of the present. The mind of the Spirit went beyond the mind of David and of Isaiah, when He used their pens. HE wrote for all ages. Thus, for instance, speaking of the great coming struggle in the day of the Lord, it is said, "He hath bid His guests." Zeph. i. 7. The invitation was written also by St. John, as heralded by an angel hundreds of years ago in these terms, "To all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come, and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God: that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." Rev. xix. 17. Those very kings, though not yet reigning upon earth, are addressed and forewarned. by the mercy of the same Spirit in the second Psalm, “Be wise, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little." : In like manner as these "guests" are invited beforehand for the "day of the great slaughter," so all creation is preengaged in this Psalm, by the same Spirit, for the day of praise. The complete fulfilment of this invitation from the Spirit of God, is reserved to that future period. These words are recorded, not as David's but as "the Lord the Spirit's" public, perpetual, and standing invitation; fulfilled, fulfilling, and to be fulfilled-gloriously going on to its grand and universal accomplishment. Then all the "angels," "all the hosts," and "all the works" of the Lord, will be heard sweetly and harmoniously, powerfully and unceasingly, blessing His great and glorious name. Reader, do you feel interested that angels should bless their Lord? Having lost the ability to pay the tribute of perfect praise, are you the more anxious that it should be paid by others? Or have you so little love for your Lord, that it matters not to you whether angels bless Him or not? Cold-hearted ingrate! you will never call on others, oh that God would call on you to praise Him. Tremble for yourself, lest Satan's wail may become your only note. If not one in spirit with the angels of light, you must become one with the angels of darkness, except you repent. Oh haste you to your closet. Fall upon your knees. Cry mightily to God for pardon. Ask Him to warm, to soften, to enlarge, your cold, hard, selfish heart. Ask Him to fill you with His own Spirit-the Spirit who will unite you to Jesus, and through Him to all who are good and holy in heaven and earth-the Spirit who will harmonize your spirit with the worship of saints and angels, constraining you to rejoice, and to thank God, that their notes are not like your own, but clear and full and sinless and unceasing. Reader, the angels are blessing God day and night! What are you doing? Are you often praising, or oftener sighing? Bless God, I beseech you, night and day-in trouble and in sunshine; your trouble might be greater, your sunshine might be less. Job blessed God in the midst of calamities. Angels are blessing God in the midst of joys. Job had an angel's spirit, and his soul has long attained to an angel's position. Be like Job in heart now, that you may be like an angel in happiness hereafter. Bless God with the Patriarch through the dark night of time, that you may bless God with the angels throughout the bright day of eternity. XVIII. Call to Universal Gratitude. ALL THE HOSTS OF THE LORD. Bless ye the Lord, all ye His hosts: ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure.-Verse 21. THE preceding verse presented the angels before us as in a time of peace, each individually engaged in attending to his own particular duty-fulfilling the commands of God, and hearkening to His voice. This verse appears to present the angels to view-at least a large proportion of them-as in a time of war, as assembled and marshalled together in a collective capacity, ready, with united energy and power, to execute the pleasure of their Lord. Having addressed angels as moral and spiritual agents, the Psalmist now addresses them as ministering and instrumental agents. There he viewed them as he " messengers" of the Most High; here he regards them as the "armies" of His empire. The Scriptures plainly indicate that there are various ranks and orders of beings included under the general title of "angels." St. Peter, however, makes a threefold distinction, when he says that "angels, and authorities, and powers, are made subject unto Christ." 1 Pet. iii. 22. St. Paul speaks of "principalities and powers in the heavenly places," Eph. iii. 10, and also of "thrones and dominions." Col. i. 16. The term "angel" comprehends them all; but strictly signifies "messenger," "one who is sent;" and, in harmony with the classification by St. Peter, we would consider "angels" as peaceful messengers, to be specially addressed by the Psalmist in the 20th verse; and angels, as "authorities and powers" assembled for action, to be more immediately intended in the verse before us, as "the hosts of the Lord." Of these "hosts," the Lord Jesus, in His human nature, is appointed chief. When the Second Person in the everblessed Trinity appeared as a "Man" to Joshua, He appropriated to Himself this remarkable title-" Captain of the host of the Lord," and required Divine worship to be offered. Josh. v. 15, (compared with Exod. iii. 5.) And, again, when the same glorious Person revealed Himself to John, in vision, as going forth "in righteousness, to judge and to make war," we read that the "armies which were in heaven followed Him." Rev. xix. 14. And well may it be asked, "Is there any number of His armies ?" Job xxv. 3. Our blessed Saviour had but to ask, and presently His Father would have given Him more than twelve legions of angels. Matt. xxvi. 53. In the great moral conflict for our redemption, when Jesus, on the cross, "spoiled " the "principalities and powers" of darkness, and triumphed over them; Col. ii. 15, and when "He ascended on high and led captivity captive," these hosts of angels were spectators merely. The "twenty thousand, even thousands of angels" who are as |