18 Dr. Watts beautifully illustrates this soul-supporting truth in his hymn (116, verse 2):-“How can I sink with such a prop, As my eternal God, Who bears the earth’s huge pillars up, And spreads the heavens abroad?”-ED.
19 “The whole tale”; the whole number as reckoned and ascertained; nothing being lost.-ED.
20 In the first edition of this treatise, this quotation is from Joshua 3:4, an error which has been continued through every edition to the present one.-ED.
21 “A demur”; now called a demurrer, is when a defect or legal difficulty is discovered, which must first be settled by the judge before the action or proceedings can be carried on.-ED.
22 How consoling a reflection is this to the distressed soul, “Christ never lost a cause.” “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” “They shall never perish; nor shall any pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28)-ED.
23 “Nonsuit”; the giving up a suit upon the discovery of some fatal error or defect in the cause.-ED.
24 There is no night in heaven; it is one eternal day; no need of rest or sleep. Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us.-ED.
25 The marginal readings which are found in our venerable version of the Bible are very interesting, both to the unlearned and to the scholar. They often throw a light upon the Scripture. For “and make him honourable,” see Bishop Patrick and Dr. Gill’s annotations.-ED.
26 To draw back from, or in, our dependence upon Christ for salvation, is a distinction which every despairing backslider should strive to understand. The total abandonment of Christianity is perdition, while he who is overcome of evil may yet repent to the salvation of the soul.-ED.
27 “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” He punishes but to restore them in his own time to the paths of peace.-ED.