have not the same origin as past ones had had. There has been no such falling away as to account for them. But he does not arraign God's government. He knows why the miseries have come, and that he and his fellows are martyrs. He does not fling that fact down as an accusation of Providence, but as the foundation of a prayer and as a plea for God's help. The words may sound daring; still they are not blasphemy, but supplication. The fourth part is importunate prayer. Its frank anthropomorphisms of a sleeping God, forgetting His people, surely need little defence. Sleep withdraws from knowledge of and action on the external world, and hence is attributed to God, when He allows evils to run unchecked. He is said to "awake," or, with another figure, to "arise," as if starting from His throned calm, when by some great act of judgment He smites flourishing evil into nothingness. Injustice is surely done to these cries of the _Ecclesia pressa_ when they are supposed to be in opposition to the other psalmist's word: "He that keepeth Israel slumbers not, nor sleeps." Some commentators call these closing petitions commonplace; and so they are. Extreme need and agony of supplication have other things to think of than originality, and so long as sorrows are so commonplace and like each other, the cries of the sorrowful will be very much alike. God is pleased with well-worn prayers, which have fitted many lips, and is not so fastidious as some critics. PSALM XLV. 1 My heart seethes [with] goodly speech: I speak my work (poem) to a king: My tongue is the pen of a swift scribe. 2 Thou art fair beyond the sons of men; Grace is poured on thy lips: Therefore God has blessed thee for ever. 3 Gird thy sword on thy thigh, O hero, Thy splendour and thy majesty. 4 [And [in] thy majesty] press forward, ride on, For the help of truth, and meekness-righteousness: And thy right hand shall teach thee awe-striking deeds. 5 Thine arrows are keen-- The peoples fall under thee-- Into the heart of the enemies of the king. 6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and aye: 7 A sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest iniquity: Therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 8 Myrrh and aloes [and] cassia [are] all thy robes; Out of palaces of ivory, stringed instruments make thee glad. 9 Kings' daughters are among thy favourites: The consort stands at thy right hand in Ophir gold.