grave, "for though after our skin worms destroy this body, yet in our flesh shall we see God." These faithful sayings are most durably and legibly written in the sacred scriptures; may they be engraven by the Holy Spirit upon the tablets of our hearts, that our assured faith and hope may unite with love and gratitude, to produce devoted obedience and patient submission to the Lord.

"We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out; the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."-1 Tim. vi. 7. Job i. 21.

As worldly considerations are sometimes apt to intrude even upon such solemn occasions, these passages of Holy Writ are very suitably selected, and we may be well reminded also of what we may read of man's state in Ecclesiastes

"As he came

or the Preacher v. 15, forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return, to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand." "When he dieth," saith the Psalmist, "he shall carry nothing away with him, neither shall his pomp follow him."-Psalm xlix. 17.

It is the truest wisdom to accustom our minds to such reflections as these, for we brought nothing into the world along with us, but were thrown naked upon the indulgent provision which our gracious Creator has been pleased to make for us, and it is evident that whatever treasures we may amass, nothing can be carried away, but that we must in a little time return to the dust, stripped of all, as we see the new-born race of human creatures rising naked into the world; we see death stripping the rich,

the noble, and the powerful, and returning them naked to the dust; this should teach us to seek earnestly for heavenly treasures, and exercise ourselves strenuously in that noble and generous conflict to which we are called, so as to lay hold on the crown of eternal life.

RUBRIC:

After they are come into the Church, shall be read one or both of these Psalms following.

Dixi, Custodiam. Psalm xxxix.

Bishop Horsley says, 'It is a penitential meditation on the vanity of the present life; it seems not to be appropriated to any particular person.'

I have chosen to prefix Bishop Horne's Argument, and to insert his Commentary.

PSALM XXXIX.

[The Prophet, in a state of distress and persecution, determineth, 1-3. to be watchful and silent, as our

blessed Lord also was, before his enemies. 4. He prayeth for a due sense of the shortness of human life; and after meditating, 5, 6. on that subject, fixeth all his faith and hope in God, 7. whom he entreateth, but with submission to his will, 8-10. for the remission of sin, and alleviation of misery. 11. From a view of the human body wearing away by sickness, he breaketh out 12, 13, into a most fervent and affectionate prayer, which ought to be continually in the mouth of the Christian upon earth.This Psalm is, with the utmost propriety, appointed by the church to be used at the burial of the dead, as a funeral is indeed the best comment upon it.]

1. "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me."

The Psalm begins abruptly with the result of a meditation on the narrow, slippery, and dangerous paths of life; and more especially on the extreme difficulty of restraining the tongue, amidst the continual temptations and provocations of the adversary. In these circumstances, 'watchfulness' and 'silence' are resolved on, as the only means of security. Let us behold the Lamb of God as our great pattern and example herein.

2. "I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good, and my sorrow was stirred."

There is a time to keep silence, because there are men who will not hear; there are tempers, savage and sensual

as those of swine, before whom evangelical pearls, or the treasures of heavenly wisdom, are not to be cast. This consideration stirreth up fresh grief and trouble, in a pious and charitable heart. How much more must it have done so, in the soul of him who lived and died only for the salvation of sinners!

3. "My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,"

The fire of divine charity, thus prevented from diffusing itself, for the illumination and warmth of those around it, and, like other fire, rendered more intense by its confinement, presently ascended, in the flame of devotion, towards heaven; while it continued to be fed and preserved in brightness and vigor, by meditation on the goodness of God, and the ingratitude of man; the transient miseries of time, and the durable glories of eternity.

4. "Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am."

Wearied with the contradiction of sinners, and sickening at the prospect of so much wretchedness in the valley of weeping, the soul looks forward to her departure from hence, praying for such a sense of the shortness of human life, as may enable her to bear the sorrows of this world, and excite her to prepare for the joys of a better. "O faithless and perverse generation," saith even the meek