This psalm sets forth the true condition of soul in which the believer should be found-the state which the blessed God would have all His people in-"Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him:God is a refuge for us "-a condition of soul we may well earnestly covet to be in. Consider it, my soul, and seek to have something like a due sense of its importance, and of its blessedness-of the joy and blessing flowing from it to the soul; and how God Himself finds occasion, when the soul is waiting only on Him, to manifest Himself in delivering grace. Thus God is known through practical experience, and thus the saint grows in the knowledge of God Himself.

Waiting upon God is the subject of the psalm. Now there cannot be waiting upon God apart from subjection of will to the will of God, dependence on Him, and confidence in Him. Saul in i Sam. 13 is a striking and instructive instance of self-will at work, recorded for our instruction, and as a beacon, warning us of the danger and sad consequences of acting in independence. Samuel had pledged his word in chapter 10 that he would come down to Gil-gal, and, as the prophet of the Lord, would offer burnt-offerings and sacrifices-sacrifices of peace-offerings-giving Saul the injunction that he was to tarry seven days till he (Samuel) should come down and show him what to do. Now this was a commandment of the Lord-"Thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord, which He commanded thee" (ver. 13). Saul had gained a glorious victory over the Ammonites, recorded in chapter 11. He had been anointed to be captain over the Lord's inheritance, and, now the testing time had come, he could not wait.

This is the first crisis in Saul's history, and what clearly indicates the absence of faith. He blew a trumpet throughout the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear." But though the Spirit of God records the word used by Saul, not so does He call them, but according to their distinctive name which He has given them-"and all Israel heard." Saul looks at them as his people, and fails to recognize the relationship into which God had brought them as His people Israel.

How instructive it is to note the names in Scripture. We read, "Some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead." As Hebrews they had crossed over; for that is the meaning of the word Hebrew-"crossed over"; and they were now Israel-the people of the Lord; but having abandoned that ground, they forfeited that precious name. What a solemn lesson for our souls! How it shows the deep need of having the sense sustained in our souls of the new names that we bear- saints by calling; children of God by new-birth tie! We can only answer to the relationship in which, in infinite grace, God has placed us, according to the measure of our enjoyment of it.

The sad consequence of Saul's failure is recorded in i Sam. 13:14:"But now thy kingdom shall not continue:the Lord hath sought (margin, found) Him a man after His own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee." Such is the result of acting in independence of God, in insubjection of will! How solemn to think that one wrong step may cripple any child of God for life! How true that word, "Happy is the man that feareth always " !

And now, what is implied in "waiting upon God " ? And how does the Holy Ghost produce this blessed and much-to-be-coveted condition, and the blessing flowing from it ? First, there must be subjection of will-a broken will. How slow we are to learn the force of that word, '' He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool" ! and, failing in having a sense of this, our will acts, and there is but a feeble, or it may be a total, absence of exercise about or reference to the will of God. What a striking instance of subjection to the will of God we see in the case of Job! The blessed God, in His purpose of infinite love, permitted Satan, though carried out by others, to bring about that dire disaster when Job not only lost his asses, oxen, sheep, camels, and property, but his sons and daughters as well; yet he fell on his face and worshiped, saying, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Other instances might be cited; but what eclipses them all is found in the Lord Jesus Himself, who came down from heaven, not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him, yet at the same time keenly susceptible and sensitive to the rejection He experienced from those among whom He had performed His mighty works. How one covets more of His spirit in that way! See Him in that 11th of Matthew, feeling, as it were, " I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain "; yet He could utter those precious words, " Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight." How beautiful! how precious!

Then Gethsemane ! What absolute subjection ! far beyond our comprehension-feeling so intensely, though only in anticipation, what it would be to take our place and bear the penalty due to our sins -to take Calvary's cup and drink it! Well may we sing:

"Death and the curse were in our cap-
O Christ, 'twas full for Thee !
But Thou hast drained the last dark drop,
'Tis empty now for me."

Yet even then He said, " Thy will be .done."

Then, connected with this subjection to God's will, there will be dependence upon God-" Trust in Him at all times." The constant tendency of our hearts is to go down to Egypt for help instead of depending on God:like Abraham when he went there; or Isaac during the second famine, when he went to Gerar. On the other hand, just notice what a precious unfolding there is of blessings which flow to those who depend on God, set forth in Jer. 17:7 -9 !

How well may we trust our Father and God who spared not His own Son, and who will, with Him, also freely give us all things!-whose observant and minute care over us is taught us in those precious words of Jesus that a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, and we are of more value than many sparrows. What an example of unwavering dependence is seen in the Saviour Himself in the wilderness! Though sensitive to and feeling the pangs of hunger after forty days' fasting, yet He would not be tempted to act in independence of God. How perfect, and how beautiful!

Then the third element implied in all true waiting upon God is surely confidence in God.

The above is an unfinished article found among the papers of our dearly beloved brother John Graham, of Masterton, New Zealand, who went home to be with the Lord on July 7, 1908, aged 71 years. W. Easton.