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SERMON V. A KAMPING AND A ROARING- LION. Psalm xxn. 13. " They Gape Upon Me With Their Mouths : As It Webe A Bamping And A Boabing Liok." The Psalmist is speaking of his enemies, and the attitude which they had assumed towards him. He speaks of them as a lion roaring at him, opening his mouth and showing his teeth at him. It does not much matter who the particular enemies were. It is enough for our purpose that they were cruel, bloody, ravenous, and fierce; that David knew them to be such, and knowing them to be such, was alarmed and frightened at them, and so prays God not to go from him, but to protect him. Certainly, I suppose, if we lived in a country where lions abounded, we should take much the same view of them. It is a very different thing seeing a lion shut up in a cage, and living wherehe roams about as he pleases. Even as it is, we can form a very good idea of the lion's great strength, of his savage nature, of his fierceness and his anger, and of the little chance of escape we should have if we fell into his hands. His sharp claws and his huge teeth we feel would soon demolish us, and the strongest of men would have no more chance against him than a mouse has against a cat. We may get too some notion of his power of springing on his prey; we can see him crouch and stir himself up, and we can hear his roar. But if we lived in the lion country we should know and see, and hear a great deal more of him. We should see him in his native majesty walking over the vast Eastern plains, violently attacking or patiently waiting for his prey, tracking it from a distance and never losing sight of it till he carries it to his den. We should hear so much of the depredations oflions, that we should always be on our guard, and do all we could to protect our homes and our...
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