Psalm 33:18-22

“Behold! The eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.”

In the Psalms of David, we do not look so much for the peculiarities of the Gospel, as for general views of God’s providence and grace. But let them not be undervalued on that account; for the very use of evangelical truth is to bring us into a state of reconciliation with God, that we may have a richer and more intimate enjoyment of him in all his dispensations toward us.

The words before us declare the interest which God takes in his peculiar people; and, in unfolding them to your view, I will endeavor to show:

I. God’s care for his people.

The manner in which our attention is called to this subject clearly shows the vast importance of it, “Behold! The eye of the Lord is on those who fear him.”

Two things in particular we are here called to notice:

1. The description given of God’s redeemed people.

Never can we sufficiently admire the goodness of God in giving to us such descriptions of his people as will enable every upright soul to discern his own character, and to number himself among them. Were they designated by such terms as would comprehend only those of higher spiritual attainments, the less spiritual among them would be driven to despair. But when, as in the text, the lowest terms are used, even such as mark the very babes in Christ, every member of Gods family is encouraged, and emboldened to claim the privileges to which a relationship to God entitles him.

There is not in God’s family “a new-born babe” who does not “fear” him.

All of God’s redeemed family regard him as a mighty Sovereign, whom they are bound to obey.

All desire to serve him, and greatly dread his displeasure.

All account his favor as their supreme felicity.

All desire so to approve themselves to him, that they may be accepted by him in the last day.

Yet, it is not on their good dispositions that they found their hopes, and much less on their actual attainments. They are sensible of their short-comings and defects, even in their very best duties; and are conscious, that, if God were to enter into judgment with them on the footing of strict justice, they must inevitably and eternally perish. They therefore renounce, utterly, all claims upon the justice of God, and “hope altogether in his mercy,” in his mercy as revealed to them in the Gospel.

“Behold,” now, you who are of a doubtful or desponding mind; Are you not ready to leap for joy, when you find that people of these low spiritual attainments may claim relationship to God, and assure themselves that they are savingly interested in his paternal care?

2. The particular interest which God takes in his redeemed people.

His eye is over them at all times! It is over the whole creation indeed, as we are told in the preceding context, “The Lord looks from Heaven; he beholds all the sons of men; from the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth, verse 13, 14.” But on his redeemed people his eye is fixed with a more especial interest; namely, ” to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine!” Or, in other words, to preserve them from all dangers, and to supply their every need.

In relation both to their souls and bodies, they are exposed to continual and most imminent dangers:

Disease or accident may at any moment consign them over to the grave.

Satan, that roaring lion, goes about seeking daily and hourly to devour their souls.

On every side the world also assaults them with its temptations.

While their own inbred corruptions are ever watching for an opportunity to betray them into the hands of their great Adversary.

But God’s eye is ever over them, to counteract the devices of their enemies, and to uphold them in his everlasting arms. He will never allow one of them to “be plucked out of his hands.”

Their needs too, whether temporal or spiritual, he will supply. He may allow them to be reduced to great straits, even as Israel was, when they had come out of Egypt. But sooner shall manna be given them from the clouds, and water from the rock, than they be left to perish; for his express promise to them is, that provision shall accompany his protection; and that, while “their place of defense is the munition of rocks, bread shall be given them, and their water shall be sure, Isaiah 33:16.” “While they seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all needful things, whether of a temporal or spiritual nature, shall surely be added unto them! Matthew 6:33.”

But, before you take to yourselves the full comfort of these declarations, it will be proper for me yet further to show:

II. What your feelings towards God should be.

The truly upright, even of the lowest class, can say, with David, “We wait in hope for the LORD.” If you are indeed of the number of his people, then:

1. You wait upon God in a way of humble trust.

The language of your heart is, “He is our help and our shield!” But is it thus indeed? Are you going to him from day to day, as sinners who stand in need of mercy? and are you crying to him continually for “grace to help you in every time of need?”

I do not ask whether you are free from assaults; but, whether they drive you to him for aid? It is supposed that you have enemies to conflict with, and trials to sustain; else you would not need to be looking out for a shield to protect, or for help to support, you. But do you so realize the watchful care of God, as to renounce all hope in the creature, and to rely on him alone for all your needs? If you truly “fear him,” and truly “hope in his mercy,” you cannot but make him your refuge, and commit to him your every care!

2. You wait upon God in a way of confident expectation.

The Psalmist, having such a Protector and such a Helper, anticipates a successful outcome to all his trials; and declares, that the very trust which he reposes in God is at once the ground and measure of his expectations from God, “In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.” And shall this be thought too bold an assertion? It is not more bold than true; for God has repeatedly pledged his Word, that “none of those who trust in him shall be desolate, Psalm 34:22.” Nay more, on every occasion we may consider him as saying to us, “According to your faith it shall be unto you, Matthew 8:13; Matthew 9:29.”

His conduct towards Abraham clearly shows us how he will act towards all who believe in him. Abraham is tried as never any man was; he is bidden to offer up in sacrifice his only son Isaac, in and through whom all the promises of God were to be fulfilled. The holy man proceeds to execute the divine command, assured, that though Isaac were already reduced to ashes on an altar, God both could, and would, raise him up again, and fulfill in him all that he had promised. Accordingly, Isaac was given to him, as it were, from the dead; and was made the instrument of raising up to Abraham that “seed, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.”

Just so, in proportion as our expectations are enlarged, shall be God’s exertions in our favor. If only we can say with David, “Truly my soul waits upon God; from him comes my salvation; He only is my rock, and my salvation, and defense;” then we may, with assured confidence, add with him, “I shall not be moved! Psalm 62:1-2; Psalm 62:5-6.”

And now let me ask,

1. What evidence have you that you are the Lord’s?

Do you answer to the character here given of his people, “fearing him” above all, and “hoping in his mercy” alone? Do you evince that that is indeed your character, by waiting upon him continually, and expecting at his hands his offered benefits? Examine well the habit of your minds from day to day; for it is of such only that it can be said, His eye is “over them for good! Deuteronomy 30:9.”

But far different is the state of those who fear him not; for “the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth! Psalm 34:15-16.”

I again say, and rejoice to say, that, though your attainments reach no further than holy fear and humble hope—the Lord will look upon you with tender and paternal love; but, if these graces are not rooted in your hearts—then you have yet to learn what it is to receive the grace of God in truth.

2. What would be your state, if God’s mercy to you should be measured by your regards for him?

The apostle John prayed for Gaius, that “his bodily health might prosper, as his soul prospered, 3 John, verse 2.” And are you prepared to pray with David, “Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon me, according as my hope is in you!” Truly, were this God’s rule of acting towards us all, the greater part of us would never taste of his mercy to all eternity. But, thanks he to God! he is sovereign in the exercise of his mercy, being “often found by those who sought him not, and made known to those who inquired not after him.”

Yet let us not presume on this; for, if he shows mercy to any, he will assuredly bring them to the state described in our text, and both put his “fear in their hearts,” and “make them to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 32:11

“Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”

There is in this world, as there will also be in the eternal state, an inconceivable distance between the righteous and the wicked. The Psalmist tells us, that “many sorrows shall be to the wicked;” and so we find it to be, from universal experience. For, where is there an ungodly man:

Who does not feel within him an aching void, which the world can never fill?

Whose mind is not agitated with tormenting passions, which prove a source of disquiet both to himself and to those around him?

Who feels not a consciousness of unpardoned guilt; and a dread of that tribunal, before which he is shortly to appear?

On the other hand, the Psalmist assures us, that “the man who trusts in the Lord is encompassed with mercy all around;” he is blessed:

in the favor of his God,

in the subjugation of his passions,

in the exercise of all holy affections,

and in the prospect of everlasting felicity.

Hence he adds, “Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”

That we may enter into the spirit of his words, I will endeavor to set before you,

I. The character here addressed.

“The righteous” are delineated in the Scriptures, sometimes by one mark, and sometimes by another mark. The character here assigned them is peculiarly worthy of our consideration, because it is such as the most ungodly man upon earth must, in theory at least, approve. The world unites in applauding integrity, as exercised towards man; but here we shall be led to view it as exercised towards God.

Now, “the upright” man is one:

1. Whose desire after God is supreme.

Nothing ought to stand in competition with God; we should love him with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength. More especially should we pant after God as reconciled to us in Christ Jesus, “counting all things but loss for the knowledge of him!” and saying, with the Psalmist, “Whom have I in Heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you! Philippians 3:8. Psalm 73:25.”

2. Whose trust in God is undivided.

No man, who has not been taught of God, can conceive how difficult it is to divest ourselves of self-righteousness and self-dependence. These evils cleave more closely to us than the flesh to our bones! When we think that we are freed from them, we shall still find the workings of them in our hearts. But the truly upright person “renounces all confidence in the flesh, Philippians 3:3;” and, like the Apostle, “desires to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, which is of the Law, but the righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ.” He considers “all fullness as treasured up in Him” for the use of his people; and from His fullness he desires to receive all the supplies which he stands in need of, whether of “wisdom, or righteousness, or sanctification, or redemption.”

3. Whose devotion to God is unreserved.

The upright has given up himself as a living sacrifice to Christ, Romans 12:1. He would not have any lust unmortified; nor would he retain anything that would stand in competition with his duty to Jesus. Even life itself is regarded as of no value, in comparison with Christ, and the glory of his name.

Anything less than this is hypocrisy; but to possess these marks of an upright man is to be “an Israelite indeed, and without deceit.”

To these people I will now address,

II. The exhortation.

To rejoice in the Lord is your high privilege. Let me, then, exhort you to rejoice in Him:

1. On account of what God has already done for you.

Here I might speak of “the sorrows” from which you are delivered, and of the mercies with which you are encompassed; but I will rather confine myself to that peculiar blessing given to you, the being made “upright before God.”

Who among men has ever attained this character by any power of his own? None! Whoever possesses it, must say, “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose, 2 Corinthians 5:5.”

Consider, then, how great a blessing this is! In comparison with it, crowns and kingdoms would be of no value. For this gift, therefore, you should praise and adore your God with your whole hearts, yes, and shout for joy with your whole souls.

2. On account of what God has engaged to do for you.

Would you have stability in life? He has promised it in his blessed word, “The righteous shall hold on his way; and he who has clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger! Job 17:9.

Would you have peace in death? This, also, he has engaged to give, “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace! Psalm 37:37.”

Would you have glory in eternity? This, also, shall be your assured portion at the right hand of God! Psalm 15:1-2; Psalm 24:3-6.

Is not here, then, abundant cause for joy and thanksgiving? Truly, “if you hold your peace, the very stones will cry out against you.”

3. On account of God’s sufficiency to fulfill all his engagements.

Whom has Jesus ever allowed “to be plucked out of his hands?”; There is in him no lack of power, “He is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy!” Nor is he changeable in will; for “he is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” “Of those whom the Father has given him, he never has lost any,” nor ever will.

Address,

1. To those who do not possess this character, I would say: Seek to attain it!

Do not be satisfied with integrity towards man, but seek to have an upright heart towards God. Let there be no hypocrisy harbored within you. See to it:

that your desire after God is really supreme;

that your trust in Christ be altogether unmixed with any measure of hope or confidence in yourselves;

and that your devotion to him be without reserve.

Cease not, until you have in your own hearts and consciences an evidence that you are thus given up to God; and then may you claim at his hands, the blessings which he has promised to the upright in heart, Psalm 112:2.

But do not deceive your own souls. Rest not in false appearances of any kind; but beg of God to make you altogether what he himself will approve.

2. To those who possess this character, I would say: Live in the enjoyment of your privilege.

It is your privilege to “rejoice even with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Do not be satisfied with a low and drooping state of mind. Live near to God, and let your fellowship with him be more intimate and more abiding. It is not his will that your graces should languish, or your joys be at a low ebb. He would rather that your soul, through a sense of his presence, should be ever shouting for joy!

See the state of the Church as drawn by the prophet, Isaiah Isaiah 12:4-6; see it as drawn by David also, Psalm 98:4-9; and let your present life be, as God would have it, a pledge and a foretaste of the heavenly bliss!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 32:1-6

“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”—and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.”

To have the experience of David in all the diversified conditions of life faithfully submitted to us, is an advantage for which we can never be sufficiently thankful. There was scarcely any trouble, either of a temporal or spiritual nature, which he was not called to endure, and under which he has not stated to us the workings of his mind. We are accustomed to hear of his sins and his penitence, his sorrows and his joys.

But there is one particular frame of mind, in which he continued for many months, which we are apt, for the most part, to overlook, or to pass by with a mere transient observation; I mean, his state of impenitence and hardness of heart after the commission of his sin in the matter of Uriah. But this is an exceedingly profitable point of view in which to behold him, because of the general tendency of sin to harden the heart; and to see how he obtained peace at last is also of great advantage, inasmuch as it will show us how we may obtain peace, even after the commission of the greatest transgressions.

When David wrote this Psalm he had regained that blessed state from which he had fallen; and he here records, for the instruction of the Church in all future ages,

I. What true blessedness consists in.

A man who has no prospects beyond this present world, will seek happiness in the things of time and sense. But “a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things that he possesses.” We are immortal beings, and are hastening to a state, where a period will arrive, at which our present existence, even though it should have been continued a thousand years, will have been only as the twinkling of an eye.

In that state either blessedness or misery awaits us, according as we enter upon it under the guilt of our former sins, or with our sins forgiven. We may justly say, therefore, that true blessedness consists, as our text informs us, in having our sins forgiven.

To elucidate this topic, let us consider the blessing here spoken of:

1. As a non-imputation of sin.

Who that is in the smallest degree conscious of the number and heinousness of his transgressions, and of the awful punishment due to him on account of them, must not regard it as an unspeakable mercy to have them all blotted out from the book of God’s remembrance? What in the whole universe can in his estimation be compared with this? If he could possess the world, yes, if he could possess ten thousand worlds—what comfort would the acquisition give him, if he had the melancholy prospect of being speedily plunged into the bottomless abyss of Hell?

If there were a large company of condemned criminals, some rich and noble, others poor and ignoble, and one of the lowest of them had received the king’s pardon while all the rest were left for execution; who among them would be accounted the happiest?

How much more then, when the death to which unpardoned sinners are consigned is an everlasting death in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone!

No one who reads the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and sees the termination of their respective states, can for a moment hesitate to pronounce Lazarus, with all his miseries and privations, far happier in a sense of reconciliation with his God; than the rich worldling in the enjoyment of all his pomp and luxury!

2. As a positive imputation of Jesus’ righteousness.

In the words of David we should not have seen the doctrine of imputed righteousness, if Paul had not expressly told us that that doctrine was contained in them. He tells us in Romans 4:6-8, that in these words “David describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

Now this idea goes much farther than mere forgiveness; forgiveness exempts from punishment; but an imputation of the Redeemer’s righteousness to us insures to us an eternal blessedness in glory! 2 Corinthians 5:21. O how blessed must that man be who is clothed in the unspotted robe of Christ’s righteousness, and can, on the footing of that righteousness, claim all the glory and felicity of Heaven! He may look forward to death and judgment, not only without fear but with holy confidence and joy, assured, that in God’s sight he stands “without spot or blemish.”

Who, we would ask, can be blessed, like the man who has been begotten to a living hope, that in and through Christ, there is reserved for him an incorruptible, and undefiled, and never-fading inheritance in Heaven?

3. As a renovation of soul consequent on reconciliation with God.

Sin is pardoned, and righteousness is imputed, purely through the free grace of God to the chief of sinners, without any good works performed by them. Mark the expressions, “the ungodly,” “without works,” Romans 4:5-6—yet no pardoned sinner is left in an unholy state; on the contrary, he is “renewed in the spirit of his mind;” “a new heart is given unto him;” and he is made “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit.” If this were not the case, pardon itself could not make him happy. A soul under the dominion of sin could not be happy, even if it were in Heaven; sin would eat at his vitals, as does a canker. It is the restoration of the soul to the Divine image that constitutes a very principal part of its felicity; for when we are “holy, as God is holy,” then we are happy, as God is happy.

We must be careful however not to confound those different sources of blessedness. Paul was so jealous on this head, that when quoting the words of our text, be omitted these at the close of it, lest anyone should imagine that our sanctification were in any respect the ground of our justification before God. Sanctification is the fruit and consequence of our having received a justifying righteousness; and, though it in no respect procures our reconciliation with God in the first instance, (for that is procured solely through faith in Christ,) yet it is as inseparably connected with justifying faith, as good fruit is with a good tree; nor can the soul be blessed in a sense of the Divine favor, until it has this evidence of its acceptance with him.

But David proceeds to inform us,

II. How he himself attained unto blessedness.

For a long time he was altogether destitute of blessedness.

Partly through stoutness of heart, and partly through unbelief, he for a long time refused to humble himself for his heinous iniquities. But was he happy during that period? Hear his own representation of his state and feelings, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old, through my roaring all the day long; my moisture was turned into the drought of summer.”

The state of an impenitent sinner is fitly compared to the troubled sea, which cannot rest, but incessantly casts up mire and dirt. “There is no peace, says God, to the wicked.”

We have a striking elucidation of this point in the history of Judas and of Peter. Both of them had sinned grievously; but Peter, through the influence of faith, repented; while Judas, under the influence of unbelief, sought refuge in suicide from the accusations of his own mind.

Thus it is with many who are haunted with a sense of guilt, but will not abase themselves before God; they “roar all the day long;” and “howl upon their beds, like dogs; but they do not cry unto God from their inmost souls, Hosea 7:14.” Hence they can find no rest, or peace; and often precipitate themselves into the torments of Hell, to get rid of the torments of a guilty conscience. Ignorant people impute this despairing state to religion; but it is the lack of religion that produces this despair! It is the lack of true contrition that causes their guilt so to prey upon their minds. “God’s hand is heavy upon them,” because they will not humble themselves before him; and the longer they continue to defy God, the more may they expect to feel the pressure of his righteous indignation See Psalm 38:1-8; Psalm 102:3-7.

At last through penitence, David attained this blessed state.

“He at last acknowledged his sin, and confessed his transgressions unto the Lord;” and then God, who delights in mercy, spoke peace unto his soul. The transition was indeed surprisingly rapid, for he only said, “I will confess my transgressions,” and instantly God forgave the iniquity of his sin! See 2 Samuel 12:13.” Doubtless God saw the sincerity of his heart; he not only saw that David mourned over his past offences, but was determined through grace to give himself up wholly and unreservedly to the Lord; and therefore he would not delay to restore to him the light of his countenance, and the joy of his salvation.

We have a beautiful instance of this rich display of mercy in the parable of the Prodigal Son; as also in the converts on the day of Pentecost; and in the jailer, Acts 16:34. And similar displays of mercy may we ourselves hope for, if only we humble ourselves before him, and seek to be clothed in the Redeemer’s righteousness; for “he is rich in mercy unto all who call upon him!”

Having stated thus his own experience, David proceeds to tell us,

III. What improvement we should make of it.

Unspeakably encouraging is the record here given to us. We should take occasion from it:

1. To seek the Lord for ourselves.

“The godly” will make their prayer unto God; and the ungodly also should do it. If any man ever had reason to despair, David had, after having so grievously departed from his God. But he cried unto the Lord, and obtained mercy at his hands.

Shall the ungodly then say, “My sins are too great to be pardoned?” Or shall “the godly,” after the most horrible backslidings, sit down in despair, and say, “There is no hope?” No; the example of David absolutely forbids this. At the same time it shows the folly of delaying repentance; for there is no peace to the soul in an impenitent state; neither here nor hereafter can we be happy in any other way than that which God has marked out for us.

If penitential sorrow if painful, it never corrodes like impenitent obduracy; there is in it a melting of soul that participates of the nature of holy joy; and, if “weeping endures for a night, then joy is sure to come in the morning.” If then we would be truly blessed, let us flee to Christ as the Refuge set before us; he is “the Lord our Righteousness;” and the vilest sinner upon earth shall find his “blood able to cleanse from all sin,” and his righteousness sufficient to clothe our souls, so that the “shame of our nakedness shall never appear.” But let us take care,

2. To seek him while he may be found.

There is “a time wherein he may be found” by every one of us; and a time wherein he may not be found. This is a solemn truth; but it is attested by many passages of Holy Writ, “O that you had known, even you, at least in this your day—the things that belong unto your peace!” said our Lord to Jerusalem, “but now they are hidden from your eyes!” God may, and does, “give over many to a reprobate mind,” and to final impenitence, “So I gave them up.”

But if you have the least desire of mercy, we are warranted to say, “Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.” O then improve the present hour, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” “If you cover your sins, you cannot prosper; but if you confess and forsake them, you shall find mercy.” “If you say that you have no sin—then you deceive yourselves; but if you confess your sins—then he is faithful and just to forgive you your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 31:21-24

“Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city. In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. O love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.”

The use of biography is universally acknowledged. It leads us into the recesses of domestic life; and teaches us, either from the frailties or the excellencies of others, how to conduct ourselves in a great variety of emergencies, which we ourselves must expect to meet with in life.

But sacred biography is infinitely more interesting than that which proceeds only from uninspired pens, because the circumstances which are brought to light are more particular, more diversified, more authentic—than any records which people would choose to give of themselves, or than others would be capable of giving respecting them.

On this account the Psalms of David claim the highest possible regard. Perhaps there never was a man whose circumstances were more varied than his; and certainly there never was a man who committed to writing all the secret motions of his heart with more fidelity than he; or that labored more to improve them for the benefit of mankind.

This appears, as in many other Psalms, so especially in that before us; as will be clearly seen, while we notice:

I. David’s acknowledgment of mercies conferred upon him.

To enter fully into this, we must refer to the occasion on which the Psalm was penned. It was written, I apprehend, after his deliverance from Saul, when, from his being surrounded by Saul’s army, he had conceived it impossible for him to escape. Indeed, his deliverance was truly astonishing; and it was wrought by the special intervention of Almighty God, in answer to his prayer. At the very moment that his blood-thirsty persecutor had, to all appearance, effected his purpose, news came that the Philistines had invaded the land of Judah; and Saul was compelled to return instantly from his pursuit of David, in order to repel the invaders, 1 Samuel 23:27-28.

In reference to these circumstances, David first acknowledges the mercy in general terms, “Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.” And then he specifies more particularly the relief he had found in answer to prayer, when his own mind was overwhelmed with desponding fears.

In the peaceful state of the Church at this day, we are not likely to be reduced to David’s state for our religion’s sake; and, therefore, as far as the literal sense of the Psalm goes, it is not applicable to us. But, of deliverances equally “marvelous,” we may speak. Let me then ask:

1. Whether you have not, at times, been ready to despond?

We can know but little either of our guilt or corruption, if we have not “had the sentence of death in ourselves, 2 Corinthians 1:9,” and felt that we had “no sufficiency in ourselves” to save ourselves, 2 Corinthians 3:5. Have we never, then, under a sense of our extreme unworthiness and helplessness, been ready to doubt whether we could finally attain salvation, and “said, as it were, in our haste, I am cut off from before your eyes?” Go back to some particular seasons, when your great adversary has prevailed against you, and seemed as if, like a roaring lion, he would utterly destroy you; has it not, at such seasons, been difficult to lay hold on the divine promises, and to flee for refuge to the hope set before you?

2. Whether God has not at such seasons interposed for you, in answer to your prayer?

There are few that have not had reason to “bless and adore their God, for showing them his marvelous kindness in such seasons as these. The experience of the Prophet Jeremiah has been realized by God’s people in every age, “The waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to be cut off. I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear! Lamentations 3:54-57.” From you, then, the Psalmist’s acknowledgment is due; and by you it should be made to the last hour of your lives.

Full of gratitude, David pours forth,

II. His exhortations, founded on his own experience.

1. David exhorts the saints to love God.

God is worthy to be loved for his own divine excellencies; but he should be loved also for the wisdom and goodness and equity of his dispensations.

“The faithful he does and will preserve;” yes, both from men and devils will he preserve them; he will “hide them under the shadow of his wings,” and “keep them even as the apple of his eye.”

But the ungodly, whoever he may be, he will plentifully repay with judgments proportioned to his impiety.

The ungodly may indeed triumph for a time, and the godly be left to groan under the rod of the oppressor; but a day of righteous retribution is at hand, when “God will recompense tribulation to those who trouble his people; and to those who are troubled, rest. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7.”

Shall not the assurance of this be a comfort to the saints, even under their deepest troubles? Surely it should; so that I may well urge upon them the exhortation before us, “O love the Lord, all his saints.”

2. David exhorts the saints to trust in God.

There are seasons when the saints can scarcely be said to believe and trust, while yet they do hope in God; saying, as it were, “If I perish, I will perish at his footstool, crying for mercy!” Now then, to all such people I say, “God will strengthen your heart,” yes, and strengthen your arm too, so that “the arms of your hands shall be made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, Genesis 49:24.” He will even “perfect his own strength in your weakness,” so that no enemy shall be able to prevail against you. “Be of good courage,” then, my brethren. Though you cannot fully trust in God—yet, if you can hope in him, be not afraid; for God will vindicate your cause, and “bruise all your enemies, not excepting even Satan himself, under your feet shortly! Romans 16:20.”

Exhortation.

1. Learn to see and to acknowledge the mercies of God towards you.

What loss is sustained, both of comfort to the saints, and of honor to God—by the inattention of men to the dispensations of their God! How many deliverances, both temporal and spiritual, have we all experienced; but of which, through our remissness, God has never received any tribute of praise! Know that if you will be observant of God’s gracious dealings towards you, you will never lack a theme for gratitude and praise!

2. Never be satisfied with your own happiness, but seek to advance also the happiness of others.

David never celebrates any mercy given to him, without improving it as an occasion for commending God to others, and exhorting them to unite with him in every possible expression of love and gratitude.

Thus should it be with us also. We are not, indeed, called to make known to all the secret workings of our own hearts; but we are called to edify one another, and to take every suitable occasion of honoring our God. Let us, then, do this; and do it, too, with holy zeal. Let us “abundantly utter the memory of his great goodness, that all his works may praise him, and all his saints may bless him! Psalm 145:5-10.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 31:19-20

“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.”

The salvation of the Gospel is a present salvation. The “godliness which it inspires is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life which now is, as well as that which is to come.” It is needless to say that the trials of life are great; and that men in every situation of life need the supports and consolations of religion to carry them through the difficulties which they have to encounter. But of the extent to which these supports and consolations are administered to God’s chosen people, very little idea can be formed by those who have never experienced a communication of them to their souls.

David was highly favored in this respect. He lived in a state of near and habitual fellowship with God; spreading before him all his needs, and receiving from him such supplies of grace and peace as his daily necessities required. Hence with devout rapture he expresses his admiration of Gods goodness to his believing people.

This is the subject which we propose for our present meditation; and which, in correspondence with the words of our text, we shall consider:

I. In a general view.

The terms by which the Lord’s people are characterized sufficiently distinguish them from all others, since none but they do truly “fear God,” or sincerely “put their trust in him.” They are the true Israel; in reference to whom it is said, “God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a pure heart, Psalm 73:1.”

In speaking of his goodness to them, we shall notice,

1. The goodness which is “stored up for those who fear” God.

In the time of David the great truths of the Gospel were but indistinctly known; the fuller manifestation of them being reserved for the Apostolic age; as Paul, quoting a remarkable passage from the Prophet Isaiah, says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man—the things which God has prepared for those who love him;” and then adds, “But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit, Isaiah 64:4 with 1 Corinthians 2:9-10.”

To the Jewish Church therefore these things are only “stored up,” as it were, in types and prophecies; and though made known in the Gospel, they are still but imperfectly viewed by the Christian world; and may be considered as “stored up” for the Church at this time, no less than in former ages; for it is only by slow degrees that anyone attains to the knowledge of them; and whatever attainments anyone may have made, he sees only “as in a looking-glass darkly, and knows only in part;” there being in it a length and breadth and depth and height utterly beyond the power of any finite intelligence to explore! Ephesians 3:18-19. The “riches” that are stored up for us in Christ even in this world are altogether “unsearchable, Ephesians 3:8;” what then must those glories be which are “reserved in Heaven for us!” The more we contemplate the blessings which God has treasured up for us in the Son of his love, the more shall we exclaim with David, “Oh how great is his goodness!”

2. The goodness which God has already done for those who fear Him.

Every believer was once “dead in trespasses and sins,” even as others. But he has been quickened by the mighty energy of God’s Spirit, and been raised up to newness of life.

He is “a new creature in Christ Jesus;” all of his views, his desires, his purposes, being radically changed!

He has the heart of stone taken from him, and a heart of flesh substituted in its place.

He has been “made a partaker of the divine nature,” and “been renewed after God’s image; and that, not in knowledge only, but in righteousness also and true holiness.”

He is brought altogether into a new state, having been “translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son,” and been made “an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ.”

In a word, he is “begotten to an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and never-fading, reserved in Heaven for him;” and for the full possession of which he also is reserved by the power of God, through the simple exercise of faith 2 Peter 1:4.

All this God has done for those who fear him, “before the sons of men.” They are evidently “the seed which the Lord has blessed;” they are “lights in a dark world,” “epistles of Christ, known and read of all men”.

But in the latter part of our text, we are called to consider the goodness of God towards his people:

II. The goodness of God towards his people, with a particular reference to their relationship with the ungodly world.

Exceeding bitter are those pains which men inflict on each other by calumnies and reproaches!

To speak good one of another, affords no particular pleasure; but to hear and circulate some evil report affords to the carnal mind, the highest gratification; and in such employment all the corruptions of our fallen nature find ample scope for exercise and indulgence. Who can estimate the evils arising from “pride,” and “the strife of tongues?” Some little idea may be formed from the description given of the tongue by an inspired Apostle James: “Behold,” says he, “the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by Hell! James 3:5-6.” How exceedingly strong are these descriptions! Yet it is by no means an exaggerated statement of the evils proceeding from calumny in the world at large. But as representing the virulence and malignity with which men calumniate the people of God, these words come yet nearer to the truth.

In the very words preceding my text, David faintly portrays the conduct of the ungodly in relation to this matter, “Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous!” Psalm 31:18. In another Psalm he speaks in far stronger terms, “My soul,” says he, “is in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts—men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords! Psalm 57:4.”

The truth is, that men can inflict, and often do inflict, far deeper wounds with their tongue than they could with the most powerful weapon! With a sword they can only wound the body; but with bitter and cruel words they wound the inmost soul. Under the former we may easily support ourselves; but “a wounded spirit who can bear?”

But against these calumnies and reproaches, God provides an effectual antidote for his people.

Though more exposed than others to the venomous assaults of slander, they have a refuge which the worldling knows nothing of. They carry their trials to the Lord, and spread them before him; and from him they receive such supports and consolations as more than counterbalance the evils they sustain. “They are hidden in the secret of God’s presence.” When near to him in prayer, they are hidden as in a pavilion, or a royal tent, protected by armed hosts, and furnished with the richest viands, Psalm 27:5-6. But the full import of these terms cannot adequately be expressed. Who shall say what is implied in those words, “The secret of God’s presence?” Who shall declare what a fullness of joy is there possessed by the believing suppliant? How powerless are the fiery darts which are hurled at him by the most envenomed foes, while God himself is a wall of fire round about him, and the glory of God irradiates his soul, inspiring it with a foretaste of Heaven itself!

Some little idea of his enjoyment may be formed from the history of Hezekiah at the time of Sennacherib’s invasion. It was “a day of trouble, and of rebuke and blasphemy;” and the feelings excited in the bosom of Hezekiah were most distressing; but scarcely had he spread before the Lord the letter which the blaspheming Rabshakeh had sent him, than he was encouraged by God to return this triumphant answer, “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you, Isaiah 37:3; Isaiah 37:14; Isaiah 37:21-22.” Thus, like one who saw “the heavens filled with horses and chariots of fire” for his protection, he overlooked the vain boasts of his enemies, and anticipated a certain triumph.

Thus, however malignant the believer’s enemies may be, he is hidden from them as in an impregnable fortress, and looks down on their fruitless efforts with pity and contempt!

ADDRESS.

1. Let us seek to attain the character of a godly man which is here drawn.

To fear God is the duty, and to trust in him the privilege, of every man! Learn then to tremble for fear of his judgments, and to rely on his mercy as revealed to you in his Gospel; for only then can you experience the blessings of his goodness, when you surrender up yourselves to him to be saved by his grace.

2. Let us enjoy the privileges conferred upon us.

For a fuller discovery of the believer’s privileges, we may consult the declarations of David in the Psalms: Psalm 91:1-4; Psalm 91:9-16; Psalm 55:21-22. Let us not rest in anything short of them. Let us get such a sense of them as shall overwhelm us with wonder, and gratitude, and praise!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 31:15

“My times are in your hand!”

To the ungodly it is a satisfaction to deny the providence of God, and to cut him off, as it were, from any connection with his creatures. But the saints find a rich consolation in the thought that God reigns. This it is which reconciles them to the evils they endure, and fortifies them against those which they have reason to fear.

David, in the Psalm before us, complains that there were many who “took counsel together against him, and devised to take away his life.” But he comforted himself in the reflection, that, however man might be his enemy, God was “his God;” and that however bitterly his enemies might be enraged against him, “his times were not in their hands, but in God’s;” and, consequently, that they could do nothing against David but by God’s permission.

From this view of the text we are led to notice:

I. Our dependence on God.

God is the Governor of the universe.

He appoints the stars their courses.

He makes the raging elements to fulfill his will, Psalm 148:8.

He imposes a restraint upon the most savage beasts, causing them to suppress or forget their instinctive ferocity, or overruling the exercise of it, for the preservation or destruction of men, as he sees occasion, (1 Kings 13:28 Daniel 6:22. Jonah 1:17. 2 Kings 2:24)

The affairs of men he more especially controls.

1. In God’s hands are the circumstances of life.

There is nothing really casual or contingent in the world. It is God who disposes of us, from our earliest infancy, to the last hour of our lives. “He determines the bounds of our habitation, Acts 17:26.”

If we are called to the possession of wealth, or deprived of it by any untoward circumstances, it is “the Lord who gives, and the Lord who takes it away, Job 1:21.”

If we enjoy health, or pine away in sickness, it is “the Lord who both wounds and heals, who kills and makes alive, 1 Samuel 2:6-7.” “There is neither good nor evil in the city, but the Lord is the doer of it, Amos 3:6.”

Even the falling of a hair from our head, as trifling as it is, only takes place by Gods appointment, Matthew 10:30.

2. In God’s hands are the seasons of death.

To every man “there is an appointed time upon earth, Job 7:1;” there are “bounds which he cannot pass, Job 14:5.” “God holds our souls in life, Psalm 66:9;” and “when he takes away our breath, we die, and return to the dust, Psalm 104:29.” Youth and health are no security against the stroke of death! The most vigorous constitutions are soon broken, when God is pleased to afflict us, Job 21:23-25; the skill of physicians, however useful when attended with his blessing, is of no avail, Mark 5:26. So numerous are the occasions of death, that no caution can possibly avoid them, “It will be as though a man fled from a lion, only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall, only to have a snake bite him! Amos 5:19.” When God “requires our souls,” we must surrender them at his call, Luke 12:20.” Our days are protracted to an advanced age, only if God is pleased to uphold us; if not, our course is finished as soon as ever it is commenced. It is “in God, and in God alone, that we live, and move, and have our being! Acts 17:28.”

But though these ideas are certainly comprehended in the text, its more immediate scope is to declare,

II. Our security in God.

We have already observed that the words of the text were introduced by David as a consolatory reflection, under the cruel treatment which he had received from friends and enemies. We are therefore taught by them to assure ourselves:

1. That none can destroy us before our divinely appointed time.

We appear to be, yes, we really are, in the midst of many and great dangers. But however we may be encompassed with enemies, they cannot prevail against us until the Lord’s appointed time for our removal has come.

David was continually exposed to the rage and jealousy of Saul, who repeatedly cast a javelin at him, and hunted him incessantly with armed bands “like a partridge upon the mountains.” Yet though he was often in the most imminent danger, 1 Samuel 23:26, and certainly would have been betrayed by the men of Keilah, 1 Samuel 23:11-12—yet God watched over him, and kept him in perfect safety.

Many sought to apprehend our Lord; but “they could not lay hands on him until his hour was come, John 7:30; John 8:20. Luke 13:33;” and even then Pilate “could have had no power against him, unless it had been given him from above John 19:11.”

Paul was in innumerable perils, “and in deaths often, 2 Corinthians 11:23-27;” once he was stoned, and even left for dead, Acts 14:19-20; but none could take away his life, until he had finished the course which God marked out for him.

Thus we also are immortal, until our work is done. We are surrounded with “chariots of fire, and horses of fire, 2 Kings 6:17;” yes, “God himself is a wall of fire round about us, Zechariah 2:5.” And sooner shall successive bands of enemies be struck dead upon the spot by fire from Heaven 2 Kings 1:10-12, than one of the Lord’s little ones shall perish! Matthew 18:14.”

2. That none shall effectually harm us without God’s permission.

As we depend on God for our happiness as well as for our existence, so are both our being and our well-being are secured by him. Satan could not touch the person or the property of Job, until he had obtained permission from God to do so, Job 1:12; Job 2:6. “Nor can any weapon that is formed against us prosper, Isaiah 54:17,” any further than our God shall see good to permit it. “His angels encamp round about us, Psalm 34:7,” and have an especial charge to “keep us in all our ways, that we do not dash our foot against a stone, Psalm 91:11-12.” “You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you! Psalm 91:5-7.”

We are not indeed at liberty to rush needlessly into danger, from an expectation that God will deliver us; (this would be to “tempt the Lord our God, Matthew 4:6-7.”) But in the path of duty we have nothing to fear. We may “tread upon the lion, the adder, or the dragon, Psalm 91:13. Acts 28:3-6;” we may drink poison itself, Mark 16:18, or allow ourselves to be committed to the flames—without experiencing the smallest injury, Daniel 3:25-27. Nothing in the whole universe can “harm us, if we are followers of that which is good, 1 Peter 3:13;” if God sees fit to keep us, we are as safe “in a den of lions” as in a house of friends.

From this subject we may LEARN:

1. To seek God without delay.

There is no period of life when we can call one day, or one hour, our own. We are altogether “in God’s hands;” and, if he withdraws his support for one moment, we will perish, as certainly as a stone gravitates to the earth. Shall we then, when so entirely dependent on our God, provoke him to cast us out of his hands? Shall we continue to despise his patience and forbearance, until he swears in his wrath that our “time shall be no longer, Revelation 10:6.” Think, how many have lost the time afforded them, and how bitterly they now bewail their folly; and beg of God, that he would “so teach you to number your days, that you may apply your hearts unto wisdom, Psalm 90:12.”

2. To serve God without fear.

We are too apt to keep back from serving God through fear of the persecutions we may endure from man. But, if our times are in God’s hands—then all our concerns must be there too; and nothing can befall us but by his appointment, “Who are you, then, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and forget the Lord your Maker? Isaiah 51:12-13.” Are we not told, that “the wrath of man shall praise him, Psalm 76:10.” Be bold then for God, “set your face as a flint against the world, Isaiah 49:7-9,” and trust in him for protection.

He will not indeed screen you from all trials; because it is on many accounts necessary for your growth in grace that you should feel them, 1 Peter 1:6; but he will allow none to come upon you which he will not enable you to bear, none which he will not sanctify to your eternal good! 1 Corinthians 10:13.

3. To trust God without worry.

It is foolish as well as impious to distrust God, or to murmur at any of his dispensations. In whose hands could the disposal of all events be placed so much to our advantage, as in his who possesses infinite wisdom to devise what is best, and infinite power to effect it?

Would we be made the sport of chance or fortune? Or would we have our present and everlasting concerns left wholly to our own management? If we are not fit to regulate our temporal affairs until we attain the age of manhood—then how much less can we ever be competent to take the reins of God’s government into our own hands, and to order the affairs of his kingdom?

But our times will be in God’s hands, whether we acquiesce in it or not. Let us therefore contentedly leave ourselves to his all-wise disposal, assured that “he does all things well.” “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose!” Romans 8:28

Charles Simeon

Psalm 30:6-12

When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: “What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help.” You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!”

Among all the friends of vital godliness, it is supposed that Christian experience is well understood; but it is a lamentable truth, that those in general who think themselves best acquainted with it, are exceedingly mistaken with respect to some of its most important parts. The distinctive offices of faith and unbelief, of confidence and fear—are by no means clearly defined in the minds either of ministers or people; on the contrary, they are often so confounded as to produce very serious evils; for by the misconceptions respecting them, many are instructed to shun what God approves, and to cultivate what he abhors.

For instance: A persuasion that we are God’s elect people, and that we are in no danger of perishing—is recommended by many as the root and summit of Christian faith. While a fear lest we might have deceived ourselves, or might ultimately perish—is characterized as an evil heart of unbelief. And thus, a godly jealousy over ourselves is discouraged as a sin—and an unfounded confidence respecting our state is encouraged as a virtue!

These mistakes arise partly from a blind following of human authorities, and partly from being confined by the trammels of human systems of theology. To have just views on these subjects is of great importance both for ministers and people: for ministers, that they may know how to discriminate between good and evil in their flocks; and to the people, that they may form such an estimate of themselves as God himself forms of them.

The Psalm before us will afford us an occasion for marking the distinctions which we conceive to be so eminently useful, and yet so generally needed. It is said in the title to have been written at the dedication of David’s house; but we apprehend it was rather at the second dedication of it, after it had been shamefully denied by Absalom. To this period of time, rather than to any other, we are directed by many parts of the Psalm. It should seem that about that time the prosperity of David had lulled him into a state of undue security; and that God sent him this affliction to rouse him from it. The successive frames of his mind are here clearly marked; and must successively be considered as they are here presented to our view:

I. David’s carnal security.

There being to all appearance perfect tranquility in his kingdom, David conceived that no evil could arise to disturb his repose; and it seems that a similar confidence was also indulged by him in reference to his spiritual enemies. This is, indeed, the common effect of long continued prosperity; but it is a state of mind highly displeasing to God.

We are dependent creatures; and ought at all times to feel that whatever blessings we have, whether of a temporal or spiritual nature, is but lent to us from hour to hour, according to the good pleasure of Him “in whom we live, and move, and have our being.” The very continuance of our lives should be regarded in this view so that we should never think of what we will do in the next year, or even on the morrow, without an express reference to God as the sovereign controller of all events, James 4:13-15. Job himself erred exceedingly in this respect, when he said, “I shall die in my nest! Job 29:18.”

The same sense of dependence on God must more especially be maintained in reference to our spiritual life. The very chief of the Apostles, no less than we, needed to preserve upon his mind a consciousness, that, without incessant vigilance and care, he might, “after having preached to others, himself become a cast-away.” However confident any man may be that he stands firm, it becomes him to “take heed lest he fall, 1 Corinthians 10:12.” And so far is this frame of mind from being, as religious people are apt to imagine it, an effect of legality and unbelief, it is pronounced by God himself as most pleasing to him, and beneficial to us; for “blessed is the man who fears always, Proverbs 28:14.”

It is worthy of observation, that David ostensibly acknowledged God as the author of his security, “You by your favor have made my mountain to stand firm;” but it is evident that his confidence was not really in God, so much as in his prosperous situation and circumstances, which had to all appearance a stability on which he might rely.

Just so it is with those among ourselves who have fallen into a state of carnal security; they profess to depend on God; but their lack of holy fear demonstrates, that their confidence is in something which they themselves possess, and which they consider as affording a just ground for the dismissal of vigilance and jealous apprehension.

David’s relaxation of this beneficial fear was followed by,

II. His spiritual dereliction.

To punish this carnal security, God withdrew from David in some measure the protection of his providence, and the comforts of his grace; he allowed Absalom to carry into effect his traitorous conspiracy against him; and he left David without those heavenly consolations which under former trials he had been accustomed to experience, “You hid your face from me,” says David, “and I was troubled.”

Now such rebukes must be expected by all who forget their dependence upon God. “Truly he is a God who hides himself;” and by the dispensations of his providence and grace he marks his indignation against the backslidings of his people.

We doubt not but that God’s withdrawment of many temporal blessings from us, is a punishment for our idolatrous attachment to them, and dependence upon them. It was for this that he sent a worm to destroy Jonah’s gourd; and for this he required the soul of him who thought “he had much goods laid up for many years.”

We doubt not also, but that the experience of every child of God will more or less attest the same in reference to the withdrawment of his presence from them. In proportion as any have become less vigilant, they lose those manifestations of the Divine presence which in the seasons of holy fear they were privileged to enjoy. Nor is it a mere privation of joy which they experience on such occasions; there is a perturbation of mind arising from a sense of the Divine displeasure, and a painful apprehension lest they should never be restored to the favor of their God. David’s “trouble,” as arising from this source, was of a very overwhelming nature, Psalm 77:2-4; and woe be to those who wantonly provoke God to inflict it on them. Deuteronomy 32:20.

In what way David sought deliverance from this trouble, we see by,

III. His fervent prayers.

How he pleaded with God, may be seen in our text; and in this he affords an excellent pattern for us under similar circumstances. His plea is to this effect, ‘Lord, withdraw not yourself from me forever; it is through your help alone that I can ever recover the state from which I am fallen; and without such a recovery I can never bring any glory to your name. O leave me not in the wretched state into which I am fallen!’

Now here we see the true, the only, remedy for a soul that has provoked God to depart from it. To have recourse to the doctrines of election and final perseverance under such circumstances, is the way to foster that very disease which God is seeking, by this discipline, to cure. We do not say that we are to keep the promises of God out of sight; for beyond a doubt we are to make use of them at all times and on all occasions; but then we are to make use of them, not for the fostering of an unhumbled confidence in God, but for the encouraging of our humiliation before God. We are to be constantly on our guard “not to heal our wounds slightly, or to cry, Peace, peace! when there is no peace.”

We should bear in mind that the humbling of our souls is the very end which God aims at in withdrawing his presence from us; and the more we answer this end, the better; nay, if by the suspension of his favor towards us we are brought to a more earnest crying after him, and to an utter abhorrence of ourselves in dust and ashes, we shall have as much reason to adore him for such discipline, as for the most exalted joys he ever afforded us.

This also is a point which we conceive to be of exceeding great importance for the due regulation of our own minds, and for the right counseling of those who are under the hidings of God’s face.

The excellency and efficacy of this remedy may be seen in,

IV. David’s speedy recovery.

There are many who go mourning almost all their lives. And why? Is it that God arbitrarily, and without occasion, hides his face from them? No! It is owing to this very thing which we have been speaking of, namely, their restraining prayer before God, and not using the proper means of regaining his favor. Indeed many are brought into absolute despair by the very means which they use to remove their apprehensions; they go to the consideration of God’s secret decrees, when they should be mourning over their sins, and imploring pardon for Christ’s sake. Hence they are led to argue thus: ‘If I am an elect vessel, then how could I be in such darkness and distress? But I am in this darkness, therefore God has not elected me; and there is no hope for me.’

But behold the effect of humiliation and contrition! See how speedily God returned to the soul of his servant, in answer to his fervent supplications! The prayers were scarcely offered, before David was enabled to say, “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.” And thus would it be with all of us, if we would pursue the method which this holy man adopted. “God delights in the prosperity of his servants;” and, as a parent feels relief to his own soul when he can return in love to his offending child, so does God, when he can again lift up the light of his countenance on those from whom he has been constrained for a season to withhold it. See Jeremiah 13:27 and Psalm 81:13-16.

The father’s reception of his prodigal son is a sure and delightful specimen of the favor which all will experience, as soon as ever they are brought to the footstool of Divine grace with cries for mercy in the all-prevailing name of Jesus Christ.

The testimony of David in this very Psalm shall be confirmed in you, “His anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning! verse 5.”

The speedy restoration of God’s favor to him immediately drew forth,

V. David’s grateful acknowledgments.

To bring David back to a state of holy peace and joy was the very end for which God so graciously renewed to him the expressions of his love; it was, says David, “to the end that my glory may sing praise to you, and not be silent.” He calls his tongue “his glory,” because that is the member by which above all he could glorify his God; and he determines instantly to employ it in his praise, “O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto you forever!” Blessed resolution! O that every one of us would instantly adopt it! O that God would inspire us with grace sufficient to carry it into execution.

It is in order to bring all to this point, that we have been so particular in the foregoing statement. It is with a view to this, that we so earnestly recommend humiliation before God under seasons of darkness, rather than an attention to abstract points which tend only to foster a delusion. Humility, and contrition, and a believing application of the blood of Christ to our souls, can never deceive us; but, on the contrary, must infallibly lead to songs of praise and thanksgiving, “if we sow in tears—then we must reap in joy.”

Only observe the process, and see how connected are all the links of the chain:

1. In a season of prosperity, we have relapsed into carnal confidence, and provoked God to leave us in a state of spiritual dereliction.

2. Alarmed and humbled by God’s frowns, we betake ourselves to fervent prayer, imploring mercy in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; and through the unbounded grace of God we experience a speedy recovery.

3. Then we have our mouths filled with grateful acknowledgments to the God of our salvation.

We only add to this, that the deeper is our humiliation on account of sin committed—the more speedy and exalted will be our joys on account of deliverance given.

ADDRESS.

1. To those who are walking with God.

What shall we say! Even if you were as eminent as ever David was, we should think it right to guard you against the conceit that you were in no danger of being “moved.” In relation to all that you possess of temporal things, we would inculcate this beneficial lesson, “From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away! 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.” Every blessing we have, must be held as from God, and for God, to be disposed of according to his sovereign will and pleasure. And in reference to everything of a spiritual nature, we should recommend a constant sense of our entire dependence upon God, saying, “Hold me up, and I shall be safe.” Some will confound this with unbelief; but it differs from unbelief as much as humility from pride. In truth, it is the very root of faith; for it is only in proportion as we feel our liability to fall, that we shall look truly and constantly to Christ for strength. Be weak as newborn infants in yourselves, and God will keep beneath you his everlasting arms, and perfect “his own strength in your weakness!”

2. To those in spiritual declension.

Many in a state of spiritual declension are ready to imagine that God has arbitrarily and without any particular cause, withdrawn himself from them. But it may well be doubted whether in any case God ever dealt thus with any of his creatures.

Our blessed Lord, when he cried, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” was suffering the punishment due to those whose iniquities had been laid on him.

And Job, whose expression, “I shall die in my nest,” we have before noticed, had evidently a measure of carnal confidence which needed to be mortified and subdued. With the exception of his case we are not aware of anything that bears even the appearance of arbitrary proceeding on the part of God; the constant tenor of his acting is that which was proclaimed to Asa, “The Lord is with you, while you are with him; if you seek him—then he will be found by you; but if you forsake him—then he will forsake you, 2 Chronicles 15:2.”

Learn then to trace your sin in your punishment; and, if you cannot find the immediate cause of his withdrawment from you, then pray to him, with Job, “Show me why you contend with me.” The prayer which David offered under such circumstances, Psalm 143:1-8, will assuredly, if offered up in faith, bring down upon you the blessings of peace and joy. This God himself has promised in Isaiah 57:16-18; and you may be as fully assured of its accomplishment to your soul, as the promise and oath of God can make you, Isaiah 54:7-10 with Hebrews 6:17-18.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 30:5, 10

“His anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning!”

“Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help.”

In the title affixed to this Psalm, it is called “A Psalm, or song, at the dedication of the house of David.” If we understand this as referring to a dedication of his house on his first entrance upon it, 2 Samuel 5:11, there is nothing in the Psalm at all suitable to the occasion; but if we refer it to the period of his return to it after the death of Absalom, we shall find a suitableness in it to the circumstances in which he had been placed, 2 Samuel 20:5. He had been driven from his throne at a time when he appeared to be most firmly fixed upon it; and had been in most imminent danger of his life, from the hands of his own favorite, but rebellious son, Absalom. God, however, had mercifully interposed for his deliverance, and had restored him once more in safety to his own house. To purify his house from the pollution it had sustained from Absalom, he dedicated it afresh; and penned this Psalm, it should seem, for the occasion. But, as this is a matter of conjecture only, and not of certainty, I shall wave all further allusion to either of the occasions; and take the words of my text simply as expressing a most weighty truth, which is at all times, and under all circumstances, proper for our consideration.

Two things we shall notice from it:

I. The mercy of God.

The mercy of God will be found to be altogether of a boundless extent:

1. We shall consider the mercy of God as existing in his own bosom.

He is indeed angry both at sin itself and at those who commit it; and his anger he will surely manifest against every impenitent transgressor. “His wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men! Romans 1:18;” and it will surely “break forth against all the children of disobedience, Ephesians 5:6.” Nevertheless, the inflicting of his judgments is “a strange act,” to which he is utterly averse, Isaiah 28:21. “Mercy” is the attribute in which “he most delights! Micah 7:18;” and, when he proclaimed his name, it was that by which he most desired to be known, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin! Exodus 34:6-7.” The whole of the Scriptures represent him in this view, and declare, with one voice, that he is “rich in mercy, Ephesians 2:4,” and that “his mercy is from everlasting to everlasting unto those who fear him, Psalm 103:17.”

2. We shall consider the mercy of God as experienced by his people.

Against the impenitent God’s anger must, of necessity, continue. But towards the penitent and believing, it is of the shortest possible duration, “His anger endures but for a moment.”

When Nathan pressed home upon the conscience of David the guilt he had contracted in the matter of Uriah, and had brought him to this acknowledgment, “I have sinned against the Lord!”—the prophet was instantly directed by God to declare, that his iniquity, notwithstanding the enormity of it, was pardoned, “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die! 2 Samuel 12:13.”

Had there been any bounds to his mercy, Manasseh could never have found acceptance with him. The wickedness of that monarch exceeded all that one would have supposed a human being was capable of committing; yet even he was pardoned, as soon as he humbled himself before his God, 2 Chronicles 33:12-13.

How rapidly the mercy of God flies to the healing of a contrite soul, may be seen, as in numberless other instances, so in the Psalm before us, “Hear, O Lord,” said David, “and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help;” and then he immediately adds, “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, verse 10, 11. For the further elucidation of this, see Jeremiah 3:12-14; Jeremiah 3:22; Jeremiah 4:1.”

The whole preceding context, while it declares God’s mercy, sets also before us,

II. Our duty in the contemplation of God’s mercy.

As having experienced mercy, all Christians are called to sing, and praise our God. But, as we are not all in the holy frame of David, and as the text itself suggests views somewhat different from those of joyous exultation, I shall adhere rather to the words before us, and point out our duty, not so much in the contemplation of God’s mercy enjoyed, as of God’s mercy needed and desired.

Though God so delights in the exercise of mercy—yet he requires that we seek it at his hands, Ezekiel 36:37.

1. We must seek God’s mercy supremely.

“In his favor is life;” and the enjoyment of it must be our one object of pursuit. Not only must all earthly things be as nothing in our estimation, but life itself must be of no value in comparison with it. To have our interest in his favor a matter of doubt, must be as death to our souls; and we must live only to obtain reconciliation with him. What the frame of our minds, in reference to it, should be—we may see in those words of David, “I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul! Psalm 143:6-8.”

2. We must seek God’s mercy humbly.

“Weeping may endure for a night.” We should certainly weep and mourn for our sins, as our blessed Lord has told us in his sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:4 with Luke 6:20-21. And who among us has not just ground to weep? Who is there that has not reason to smite upon his bosom with grief and shame for his past life, and, like David, to say, “I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears! Psalm 6:6.” This should be the experience of us all, “We must sow in tears, if ever we would reap in joy! Psalm 126:5.” Shall this be thought suited to the Mosaic dispensation only? It is not a whit less necessary under the Gospel dispensation, “Be afflicted, and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into heaviness; humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord; and he shall lift you up.”

3. We must seek God’s mercy confidently.

We should never doubt God’s readiness to accept us, when we return to him. Whether our night of weeping be more or less dark, or of a longer or shorter duration, we should feel assured that “a morning of joy shall come,” when “there shall be given to us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, Isaiah 61:3.” In the contemplation of God’s mercy as revealed in the Gospel, we should see, that he can be “a just God, and yet a Savior, Isaiah 45:21;” yes, that because “he is faithful and just, he will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9.”

To the exercise of his mercy He has assigned no limit; and we should assign none. We should be perfectly assured that “the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cleanse from all sin! 1 John 1:7;” that “God will cast out none who come to him in his Son’s name, John 6:37;” on the contrary, that “though our sins have been red like crimson,” we shall, through the Redeemer’s blood, “be made as white as snow! Isaiah 1:18.”

In this view of our subject, I would call your attention to the following obvious and beneficial reflections.

1. How deeply to be pitied, are the blind impenitent world!

They will not believe that God is angry with them, or that they have any need to dread his displeasure. If we attempt to convince them of their danger, they account us no better than gloomy enthusiasts. But, whether they will believe it or not, God’s eye is upon them for evil; and if they do not turn to him in penitence and faith, they shall before long feel the weight of his avenging arm!

Who that should see a multitude of people, like Baal’s priests, unconscious of their impending fate—and would not pity them? Yet here are millions of immortal souls soon to be summoned into the presence of their Judge, and mocking the eternal doom that speedily awaits them! Should not “rivers of tears run down our eyes for them? Psalm 119:136.” Yes, truly; as our Lord wept over Jerusalem in the view of the destruction that awaited it, and as the Apostle Paul had “great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart” on account of his unbelieving brethren, Romans 9:2, so should we mourn bitterly for those who will not mourn and be in bitterness for themselves.

2. How richly blessed, is the weeping penitent!

His carnal friends perhaps pity him for his weakness, or deride him for his folly. But the angels around the throne are of a very different mind; they, even in the presence of God himself, have an augmentation of their joy from one single spectacle like this! Luke 15:10; and God himself is not so intent on the heavenly hosts, but that he spies out such a poor object as this, and looks upon him with delight! Isaiah 66:2.

Is there, then, one weeping penitent here present? My brother! crowns and kingdoms are of no value in comparison with the blessing conferred on you! Be content to go on weeping, as long as God shall see fit to keep you in that state of discipline; but know, that “joy is sown for you;” and that, in due season, it shall spring up to an abundant harvest; for thus says the Lord, “He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him! Psalm 126:6.”

3. What praises and thanksgivings are due to God from the pardoned sinner!

Brethren! At present you can have but little conception of the incomprehensible blessings which God has conferred upon you; for you cannot see one thousandth part of your guilt, or conceive one thousandth part of the glory that awaits you!

Still less can you comprehend the wonders of redeeming love and mercy that have been given to you in the gift of God’s only dear Son for your redemption!

What indeed you already know, is abundantly sufficient to fill your souls with unutterable joy, and your lips with incessant praise.

But what will be your feelings at the instant of the departure of your soul from this earthly tabernacle, and of its admission into the presence of your God? Then you will fully see the depth of misery from which you have been redeemed, and the height of the glory to which you are exalted!

You will then behold your Redeemer face to face; and join in the eternal praises of our adorable Savior. “And they will reign for ever and ever!” Revelation 22:5

“May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is! May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully! Ephesians 3:18-19”

Surely these things should be ever on your minds; they should make you to be “looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of that blessed day.” But, suppose that your night of weeping were to continue to the very hour of your dissolution, how short would it appear, when once that morning burst upon your view! Are you not ashamed that you should ever grudge the seed for such a harvest? Will not one hour of that glory be an ample recompense for all the exertions you ever made for the attainment of it? Go on, then, with Heaven in your view, and live in the sweet anticipation of that unimaginable glory that awaits you. Methinks the very prospect of such a morning constitutes its very dawn, and will be to your souls the commencement of Heaven upon earth.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 29:10-11

“The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”

This Psalm is supposed to have been written on the occasion of a thunder-storm. It represents God as uttering his voice in those terrific sounds, whereby the very mountains are made to shake, yes and “skip, as it were, like a calf or a young wild ox.” That there is a transition to the Messiah, and his offices, is clear; for he is expressly declared to be King in Zion. And this declaration stands in immediate connection with the floods and tumults by which, in appearance, he was for a season overwhelmed, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” The One enthroned in Heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Psalm 2:1-6.”

He is also called Jehovah; as it is written, “This is the name whereby he shall be called, “The Lord our Righteousness! Jeremiah 23:6.” And I rather think, that, in order the more strongly to mark his divine character, the name Jehovah is here so often repeated. It is repeated no less than eighteen times in these eleven verses; and it is the same person who is spoken of throughout the whole. The same person of whom the Psalmist says, in the first five verses, “Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.”

Of that same person does he say in my text, “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”

That my text refers to him, there can be no doubt; for he is “that Mighty One, upon whom the help of his people is laid;” and he is, “The Prince of Peace,” from whom all their peace must flow. We may therefore proceed to consider the Lord Jesus.

I. As a God of Providence.

The Lord Jesus “is the Creator of all things,” and “by Him all things are held together;” nor does anything occur which is not decreed by him. We speak of things as accidental; but there is nothing really accidental—not even “the falling of a sparrow,” or the loss of “a hair of our head.”

It is true that creatures make their own plans—and often with an express desire to oppose the will of God. But they are all unconscious agents in His hands! “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. They did what Your power and will had decided beforehand should happen!”

The envy of the Jewish priests,

the treachery of Judas,

the timidity of Pilate,

the cruelty of the Roman soldiers,

were all subservient to God’s designs, and all fulfilled His inscrutable purposes! They followed the dictates of their own minds; but in all their actions, “God’s counsel stood,” and He accomplished His own sovereign and eternal will through them!

Behold our blessed Lord in every change of situation, from His arrest, to the grave—who would suppose that these were successive steps to the throne of Heaven, and the means ordained for the salvation of His people? Yet this was really the case; and by all these events a multitude of conflicting prophecies were fulfilled. He sat at the helm, and directed all the storm!

And precisely thus He does at this time also. The occurrences of every successive day seem as if they arose randomly, and pass away without any particular effect. But He who sees all things from the beginning, has ordained that a sleepless night, an opening of a book, a casting of a lot—shall all as certainly effect His ends—as any event, however great, or however manifestly connected with His designs! Esther 3:7; Esther 6:1-2

The history of Joseph, whose elevation to a throne was promoted by events which, to the eye of sense, would appear most calculated to counteract it. In the outcome, Joseph said to his treacherous brothers, “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good, to bring about the present result—the survival of many people!” Genesis 50:20

Be the storm ever so tempestuous, “He sits upon the flood;” and be our enemies ever so mighty, “he sits as King forever,” to control their efforts, and overrule them for our good.

But let us contemplate him,

II. As a God of grace.

The Lord Jesus Christ, on his ascension to Heaven, was constituted “head over all things to his Church;” and a fullness was treasured up in him, for the use of his believing people in all ages. From this fullness he is ever ready to impart unto them:

1. Strength.

Great, exceeding great, is the work which they have to perform, as are also the trials which they have to sustain. But, through him, the weakest of his people shall be able “to do all things, Philippians 4:13,” and to suffer all things, Colossians 1:11-12, as circumstances may require. Whatever their situation may be, “their strength shall be according to their day, Deuteronomy 33:25;” and, however weak they may be in themselves, “his strength shall be perfected in their weakness, 2 Corinthians 12:9.” So seasonable shall be his supplies of grace to their souls, and so sufficient for all their necessities.

2. Peace.

In a storm which threatened their destruction, the disciples were alarmed. But our blessed Lord reproved them for not having a more entire trust in him, Mark 4:37-41. Whatever confederacies of men or devils may be against us, we should dismiss all fear, and “sanctify him in our hearts,” as all-sufficient for our protection! Isaiah 8:12-14. It is said of all his people, “He will keep them in perfect peace, because they trust in him, Isaiah 26:3.” And well may they be in peace; for, being accepted by God, they may possess an assured peace with him, Romans 5:1, and, being upheld in his arms, they may laugh at all the assaults of their enemies; for, “if He is for them—then who can be against them Romans 8:31.” And this peace is a “blessing” of the highest order; for, as it is the exclusive privilege of the Lord’s redeemed people, Isaiah 57:1, so is it, both in its nature and operations, more excellent than can be adequately conceived; it truly “surpasses all understanding! Philippians 4:7.”

APPLICATION.

1. Give him, then, the glory due unto his name.

We should get into the very spirit of the Psalmist, and have our minds filled with a sense of our Savior’s power and grace; and praise him, not by words only, but by that perfect trust which he calls for at your hands; and which is necessary, in order that you may obtain the blessings he is exalted to bestow.

2. Let his voice control every emotion of your souls.

He speaks by thunders and lightnings, and he also speaks by his Word. By thunders and lightnings he displays his power, and by his Word he reveals his grace. Notice particularly how, in the Psalm before us, everything is ascribed to his voice. And I am sure that, if you will listen to the still small voice of his Word, there is not a blessing which you can possibly need, but it shall be imparted in the richest abundance to your souls.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 28:8-9

“The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.”

In the Psalms of David we observe many rapid transitions from the depth of sorrow to very exalted joy. In the Psalm before us, this is very remarkable; insomuch, that commentators are altogether at a loss to determine whether it was written under a state of deep affliction, out of which he anticipates a joyful outcome; or after a deliverance from affliction, combining with his expressions of gratitude a retrospective view of his preceding trouble. Of these two explications, I much prefer the latter; though I think even that is far from satisfactory.

I conceive that the suddenness of God’s answers to prayer, and of the changes wrought thereby upon the feelings of his people, is here marked with very peculiar force and beauty. God has said, “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear, Isaiah 65:24;” and thus it was in this case. The Psalmist began in a state of extreme dejection; but, in a moment, “his light rose in obscurity, and his darkness became as the noon-day, Isaiah 58:10.” The Psalmist elsewhere says, “You have turned my mourning into dancing, Psalm 30:11;” and thus we see it here realized, “Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplications.” Then, after returning thanks to his great Deliverer, he proclaims, to the honor of God, what he will be to all his believing people; and he implores from God the same blessings in their behalf. Let us now consider,

I. David’s testimony for God.

David himself was “God’s anointed.” But of himself he had spoken in the preceding verse, “The Lord is my strength.” Now, therefore, he speaks of God’s redeemed people, even to the end of time. These all are partakers of the Spirit of Him who was “anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, Psalm 45:7.” Even under the Jewish dispensation, his people were “a kingdom of priests, Exodus 19:6;” but under the Christian dispensation, all the saints are “a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9,” and have the privilege of being “made kings and priests unto God and the Father, Revelation 1:6;” and as all kings and priests under the Law were consecrated with oil, so are these “anointed of the Lord, 2 Corinthians 1:21;” and they shall all find God to be “the strength of his people, and a fortress of salvation.” Now this is:

1. A true testimony.

Search the records of the Bible in every age, and see whether so much as one of the Lord’s anointed was not strengthened by him to do and suffer his holy will. Or say, whether many of you, my brethren, are not able to attest the same, from your own experience; and to declare, that “out of weakness you have been made strong, Hebrews 11:34,” and that God has been ever ready to “perfect his own strength in your weakness, 2 Corinthians 12:9.

2. An encouraging testimony.

There is not a man upon earth that has any strength in himself; no, “not so much as even to think a good thought! 2 Corinthians 3:5.” Yet, “through the grace of Christ strengthening us, the weakest babe in the universe is able to do all necessary things! Philippians 4:13.”

Our duties are arduous,

our enemies are mighty,

our sufferings are great.

Yet we are eventually made “more than conquerors, through Him who loved, us! Romans 8:37.” There is nothing, then, that we may not readily undertake for God, since “with Him there is everlasting strength, Isaiah 26:4;” and we are authorized to expect, under all possible circumstances, that “the grace of Christ shall be sufficient for us!”

Persuaded of this blessed truth, let us mark,

II. David’s intercession.

Let us mark,

1. The copiousness of David’s intercession.

His heart was full; and just views of God invariably produce in us a measure of the same feelings towards man. “The Lord’s anointed” are “his people and his inheritance, 1 Kings 8:51; 1 Kings 8:53;” and “if we love God, we cannot but love those who are begotten of him;” and in proportion as we feel our own obligations to God, will our hearts be enlarged in prayer for those who are dear unto him.

2. The order of David’s intercession.

He begins with imploring their “salvation” from all guilt and danger.

He then begs of God to load them with all “blessings” in their journey through this dreary wilderness world.

He entreats that they may be “fed,” and “governed,” and protected—as sheep by a careful shepherd, or as a faithful people by a wise and powerful Prince. See Ezekiel 34:23-24.

And, lastly, he desires that they may be “exalted” to happiness and glory in the eternal world.

Thus does he implore of God to confer on them all that they can ever need, “giving them grace and glory, and withholding nothing from those who can by any means conduce to their eternal welfare, Psalm 84:11.

3. The extent of David’s intercession.

He desires these things for all, without exception. There is not one so good or great, but that he needs all these things at the hands of God; nor one so base, but that he may expect of God a supply of all these things, in answer to the prayers thus offered for him.

Behold, then, brethren,

1. Your duty.

God commands that we “make our intercession for all men.” And, if we have any just knowledge of God, we shall pray for our fellow-creatures. Do not say, “I know not how to pray.” I well know that this is a common complaint; but I am perfectly assured, that the straitness of which we complain, and perhaps justly complain, arises, in a very great measure, from our ignorance of God, and of the divine life. If we spread our own wants before God, and obtained answers to our prayers, as David did—we should, like David, become intercessors for others, and find at the throne of grace a liberty of which we have at present but little conception.

2. Your privilege.

Are you to ask all these things for others; and shall you lack them yourselves? No, brethren; you may ask salvation from all the penal effects of sin; you may ask for blessings, even all that a fallen creature can by any means need; you may ask for provision and protection to the utmost extent of your necessities; yes, you may ask for all the glory and felicity of Heaven; and God will bestow it all. “Open your mouth ever so wide, and he will fill it!” Yes, “he will do exceeding abundantly for you above all that you can ask or think!”

Charles Simeon