shall rise to obey the King we worship and to
praise the Saviour we love. "For He hath looked down from the height of
his sanctuary: from heaven did the Lord behold the earth." Ay, from that
holy place, that sanctuary--from that high place, that heaven--He looked
to behold this earth, this vile place, this base place. Yet it was not
to curse it--He looked "to hear the groaning of the prisoner; and to
loose those that are appointed to death." Here in every corner of the
world you will see a man who is appointed to death, accused, guilty, a
lawbreaker, with witness heard and evidence taken and judgment
recorded--the sentence is against him. Oh, if we had an eye such as
looks from above how many might we see in this fair congregation who are
condemned to death. You know it; you are breakers of eternal law; just
judgment is against you; you are appointed to death, and unless you are
delivered from that condemnation die you shall, die by a public execution
before all worlds in the great day. But He comes to deliver them "that
are appointed to death"--to bring you pardon, to bring yon salvation, to
bring you mercy, to make you a child of God, to blot out all the sin that
you have committed. Christ died that you might be delivered; reigns that
you may be delivered, and this day He is speaking to thy heart that thou
mayest turn from thy sin, seek mercy and follow Him in the way of life.

So the Psalmist goes on ever anticipating the growth and stability of
this kingdom. "He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my
days." God does not make his Church and work to depend upon the length
of any man's days. "I said, O my God take me not away in the midst of my
days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid
the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
They shall perish, but thou shalt endure? yea, all of them shall wax old
like a garment; as a vesture shall thou change them, and they shall be
changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." Ay,
and there is something else that has no end. The heavens shall perish,
the earth shall perish. God will endure. And will nothing else endure.
Yes, "The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall
be established before thee." The servants, the children of God, those
that are born again by the Spirit's grace, those that come to Christ, the
Messiah, and through Him recover, by adoption, the