The seventy-third psalm gives clear light some of the deepest questions which meet mankind. It gives us the key to the present and future of the righteous and the wicked, of the man of faith and the man of unbelief. It is by no means all of the righteous who really have to say as the psalmist does of his affliction, and it is true of by no means all of the wicked that they are in such prosperity on every hand as is stated here; but these contrasts are as striking at times in this life as they are made here, while the contrasts for eternity are always true. All the wicked do not always prosper, nor are all the people of God always chastened; but the most extreme cases are taken that the eternal results may be the more striking.

But the key to the seeming enigma is found in this, that the man of God has God with him in time and in eternity, while the man of the world never knows God. That is the secret of the difference. It is the having God with us and for us, the knowing and loving and trusting Him; or it is the opposite, the being wilfully ignorant of Him, that makes the immense difference, a difference as wide as heaven and hell. It is God known, loved, enjoyed, now and forever; or God rejected, hated, disowned, cast off, now and forever.

But the psalm gives light on more than this. One may be the Lord's and yet for a brief time lose sight of Him, may get into a wrong state of soul, and thus become worried and anxious and disturbed. In the beginning of the psalm the words are, '' My feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped." But at the end he can say, '' I am continually with Thee :Thou hast holden me by my right hand." There was no cessation of God's care of His servant; it was the servant losing communion, getting the eyes off from God. He got to thinking of the prosperity of the wicked, instead of the goodness of God. When we look at things as men look at them, we get into confusion. To see clearly, we need to see things in the light of God. The prosperity of the wicked is nothing to envy. It is that which really destroys them. They are hardened by it. Having more than heart could wish, they feel secure. They have no need of God, no felt need. What a picture the words of this psalm make of just what is seen all about us at the present day! The words might have been written now instead of thousands of years ago. They picture man away from God in every age of the world. He is always the same. Men everywhere are seeking after success-worldly prosperity-laboring and toiling for it; and yet, if they gain it and forget God, it destroys them. "The careless ease of fools shall destroy them " (Prov. i:32, R. V.). We need to have the lessons of this psalm before us in these days of wealth and forgetfulness of God. It is so easy to fall into the ways of the world's thoughts of things, to estimate according to mere human appearance. We need to dwell in the sanctuary of God in order to see things in their true light.

When we consider the latter end of the wicked in the light of the Word, there will be no place left for being envious at the foolish, when we see the prosperity of the wicked. All their riches and earthly prosperity are but for a. moment, as it were-for a brief lifetime; but to live without God, and then die and pass into eternity without Him-to be forever without Him, banished from Him-the awful darkness of it passes our comprehension. " Surely Thou settest them in slippery places :Thou casted them down to destruction. How are they become a desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image." What a terrible contrast to their pride and satisfaction while on earth! There are few scriptures which so vividly picture the contrasts of time and eternity for the men who will not have God. To ponder these solemn words is a very great help in guarding our hearts against the being envious at the foolish when we see the prosperity of the wicked. This prosperity is all around us; we see it on every hand. Men make a god of it; they seek after it, bend all their energies to secure it; and yet, when they get it, it destroys them.

How blessed the contrast:"I am continually with Thee:Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth:but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever."

Here is the secret of the matter. God is the portion of His people. To have Him with us and for us, to know His love, to know what Christ has wrought for us, to be guided by His counsel, and afterward received to glory-all this is true riches, durable riches ; it is eternal prosperity. And to think that it is all the free gift of God, purchased for us by the death of Christ on the cross, given to whosoever will have it, without money or price; and how sad that so many are losing all this blessing, spending their lives in vanity, laying up for themselves treasures of wrath and destruction! Who that feels these things can but cry,

"Oh that the world might taste and see
The riches of His grace !
The arms of love that compass me
Would all mankind embrace."

Was the psalmist right in saying, "All the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning " ? His words are rather the result of his state of mind than actual experience. He was listening to the tempter, and it seemed thus to him at the time. If we turn to such scriptures as r Peter i:6, 7; James i:2-4; and Heb. 12:11, we find that trials and chastening by no means fill up the believer's life. When needed they are sent, and many of them may come; but if we are walking in communion with Him, we shall be able to "rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks." When we are conscious that God is holding our right hand, it makes a great difference about the effect of trials upon us. It is when a believer loses that consciousness, that everything looks bad and the soul is discouraged. When there is a vivid consciousness that God is the strength of the heart, and our portion forever, then we can rejoice in tribulation. We must see this to get the real lesson of this precious psalm. J. W. Newton