IN a former paper we were occupied chiefly in shewing that the fact, which the Psalmist here recognises obtained in his own case, obtains also in ours; that each of us may say, as he did "Thy vows are upon me." In prosecuting this design we referred first to our baptismal vows. When we were baptised our parents brought us under a vow to be the Lords. We next adverted to the vows sometimes expressed and always implied in our prayers, and, indeed, in every petition of our prayers. In the two respects now mentioned all of us have vowed, and thus the vows of God are upon all of us. It was further pointed out that such of us as at any time sat at the Lord's table took upon us then the vows of God. It is the design of the ordinance of the Supper to promote the remembrance of Christ, and we professed to concur in this design, and to desire the accomplishment of it in our own case and in that of others. But that there may be a due remembrance of Christ there must be trust in Him, and that diligent use of means apart from which trust would be presumptuous and vain. We accordingly undertook and engaged to use the appointed means. We dedicated ourselves to God. We vowed we should be His.

We now observe further that the exercise of faith implies the making of a vow to God. When sinners believe in Christ they accept Christ to be their Saviour, and God in Christ to be their God; and they give themselves to God to be His. This giving of themselves to God is of the nature of a vow. and solemn engagement to be His. That such a vow is implied in the exercise of faith is not perhaps sufficiently recognised. When we address ourselves to the exercise of faith, we deal with God respecting restoration to His favour and a return to our allegiance to Him. It is our desire and object to return to our allegiance to Him, and not merely to be restored to His favour. We associate the former inseparably with the latter. Nay, in dependence on divine grace, we solemnly engage and vow that we shall return to our allegiance, and shall continue loyal and devoted.

Even though our faith be not saving, but only historical or temporary, it still implies such a vow, and, though, from its defective character, it is not effectual to appropriate the blessings of salvation, still, this implied vow is binding. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, - believeth so as to be interested in Christ and his salvation; but, though the exercise of faith in a given case falls short of believing with the heart, it implies a vow of allegiance to God, and imposes the obligation of that vow.

The vow implied in faith is often formally expressed by believers in a personal covenant with God into which they explicitly enter, accepting of His offer of Himself to them to be their God in Christ, and acknowledging His right and claim to them by solemnly engaging to be His. A vow, we apprehend, is implied even in hearing the Gospel.

It thus appears that God's vows, under which we have come in various ways, are upon us all. Some of us, there is little doubt, have made express vows to God, ordinary, and extraordinary vows; some of us have vowed to Him by entering into a personal covenant with Him either expressly, or implicitly, such a covenant being implied in the exercise of saving faith; and some of us have vowed to Him at His table. And then all of us came under vows to Him in our baptism, in our prayers, and by the exercise of faith even though we may have exercised only an historical or a temporary faith. Thus we are all under vows to God, having come under them not in virtue of one fact only of our history, or some one step we have taken, but in a great variety of ways. We, indeed, come under them anew continually. This is a solemn position to occupy. We are bound by thousands of vows, by vows under which we came in our early infancy, by vows which we have been iterating and reiterating daily and, in a manner, incessantly, for years, and which we are thus reiterating still, which we have been reiterating this very day, and, we apprehend, are reiterating this very moment.

How then have we been dealing with our vows? Have we been performing them? It is thus we ought to be dealing with them. Let us mark, then, what it is to deal thus with them, and the obligations under which we lie to do so. God's vows which are upon us may all be summed up in this, that we shall be His, ourselves and all ours, our persons, our means, our influence, our all. Accordingly, to perform our vows is just to live to God, to dispose of ourselves and all that is ours for Him, to say to Him, each one of us, "I am Thine, and all mine is Thine," and to follow up this surrender of ourselves and all ours to Him by a corresponding actual disposal of ourselves and all ours. Let us descend a little to particulars here. If we would live to God, and thus perform our vows to him, we must in all things have it as our chief end to glorify Him, and we must actually glorify Him in our bodies and our spirits. "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Observing this rule, we shall abstain from and decline all that cannot be made subservient to His glory. That we may thus glorify Him, the state of our hearts must be glorifying to Him. That it may be so the predominant element in it must be adoring love to Him - a love which forms the appropriate acknowledgment of His infinite glory, excellency, and beauty. By such love to Him we must exalt Him high above all creatures, above all objects whatsoever that are or can be presented to our souls. This supreme adoring love to God must be expressed (1) by our doing under its influence all that we do; (2) by our doing all that in our circumstances is necessary to express it; (3) by our duly acknowledging God in all His dealings with us and in all His ways; and (4) by our choosing and seeking the enjoyment of Him as our blessedness. We must thus love God and live to Him that we may perform our vows.

Our obligations to perform them are partly irrespective of them, and partly consequent on them.

Irrespectively of our vows it is our duty to live to God - (1) because we are his creatures, and He created us for himself, that we might be to the praise of His glory; (2) because of the obligations under which He has laid us by His dealings with us, (a) particularly by so ordering it that we were born, and brought up, and that we reside in the midst of gospel light and privileges, and (b) also by bestowing on us various favours, and (3) because it is only by living to Him that we can attain to life.

Consequently on our vows it is our duty to live to him. Vows are of the nature of a promissory oath. Hence to all the binding force of a promise they add the sanction of an oath. God deals with us in giving His law to us, and prescribes to us our duty; and in vowing we deal with God, and voluntarily enter into a solemn engagement to discharge the duty which He prescribes to us, accepting all the consequences attached to the non-discharge of them. If, therefore, we do not discharge them, we (1) violate our solemn engagement, (2) we treat God with great irreverence, and (3) we convert our vows into so many imprecations of evil upon ourselves. Some claim for themselves a sort of license, because, as they say, they do not make a profession of religion; but, how can they have the license claimed, when the vows of God are upon them, and those vows are exceeding broad, binding them to all that it is their duty to do, and, among other things, to make a profession of religion. We speak of taking pledges, but all of us have pledged ourselves to the great God to live to Him, and this includes the renunciation of all sin and the performance of all duty.