strikingly depicted; the very length of the battle line is indicated, in agreement with the later and clearer description in Revelation 20. 14. Indeed, the passages which foretell the events of this coming terrible day afford a remarkable illustration of the progressive character of the revelations of Scripture. The Psalm is divided into three parts: (1) The first three verses are a call to the saints in Heaven, the "sons of the mighty," to worship the Lord in view of the judgment He is just about to execute for the deliverance of His people the Jews, their land and their city. (2) The second part, verses 3-9, describes the actual judgment by means of "the voice of the Lord." The psalmist was doubtless thinking of a thunderstorm. The Spirit of God was giving prophetic utterance concerning a more terrible scene, and the geographical limitations of the Psalm are of prophetic import. The first place mentioned is Lebanon, in the north, with its mountain-spur Sirion (vv. 5, 6). The last place is the wilderness of Kadesh, in the south, the centre of which is Bozrah, in Edom (v. 8), a point of connection with Isaiah 63. 1. Now the distance from Sirion to Bozrah, in the wilderness of Kadesh, is 200 miles, and this is the 1600 furlongs of Revelation 14.20. Here, then, in one fell stroke of divine wrath the Man of Sin and his forces are overthrown, and the Jews are delivered. The later revelations of Scripture thus enable us to pass from the natural and physical setting of the Psalm to the veiled reality. Thus this portion of the Psalm is to be read in connection with the passage from Revelation 19 quoted above. (3) The last two verses describe the results of the conquest.

The Jews in their Extremity

were threatened with annihilation. But man's extremity is God's opportunity. The people now see their Deliverer in person, they "look on Him whom they pierced." They realise that their enemies were destroyed because "the Lord sat as King at the flood." And now "the Lord sitteth as King for ever." He whose right it is to reign has come to Zion. Hence the psalmist can next say: "The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." Armageddon is over, the winepress of God's wrath has been trodden, and the war against the Lamb is ended. Psalm 30 follows on with the people's song of praise for deliverance.

The judgments of God in the earth will be accompanied by

Seismic Disturbances,

including "a great earthquake such as was not since there were men upon the earth," the overthrow of the cities of the nations, and the displacement of islands and mountains (Rev. 16. 18-21). Then doubtless will be fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, that in the day when the Lord goes forth to fight against the nations that are gathered against Jerusalem, His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, and the mountain will be divided, leaving a very great valley east of the city (Zech. 14. 1-5).

The Everlasting Kingdom.

In this tremendous intervention in the affairs of the world for the termination of Gentile dominion the Son of God will be accompanied by all His saints. He will come "to be glorified in His saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed" (2 Thess. 1. 10). So from earliest times Enoch had prophesied: "Behold, the Lord came with His holy myriads, to execute judgment upon all" (Jude 14, 15, margin). And Zechariah: "The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee" (14. 5). They are to take an active part in the inauguration of His Kingdom, and in its government. For "the saints of the Most High shall receive the Kingdom, and possess the Kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever" (Dan. 7. 18). "The Kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the Kingdoms under the whole Heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (v. 27).

Then shall the Lord "be King over all the earth" (Zech. 14. 9). God's claims will be vindicated. His Christ will reign as King of Righteousness, and King of Peace, the centre of His government being the very place where once He was despised and rejected, and men cast Him out and crucified Him. Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this (Isa. 9. 7). His saints "shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20. 6). Then will be fulfilled the words of the Lord, "I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain" (Zech. 8. 3). The days of Israel's mourning will be ended, the nation will be a "crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of her God," and Jerusalem will be a praise in the earth (Isa. 60. 30; 62. 3, 7). "The Heavens shall rejoice and the earth be glad," and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Psa. 96. 11; Isa. 11. 9). According to God's Eternal Counsel the despised Nazarene will yet be manifested and acknowledged by all as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

"To Him be glory for ever and ever,
Amen."