Psalm 68:18

“When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious—that you, O LORD God, might dwell there!”

While some give an unbounded scope to their imagination, and view Christ in almost every passage of the Scriptures, others run into a contrary extreme, and scarcely behold him even in the most express prophecies. But there certainly are many parts of the prophetic writings, and particularly of the Psalms, which, to whoever they relate in a literal sense, have a spiritual or mystical reference to Christ; nor can we err in interpreting them of him, while we take the inspired Apostles for our guides.

David, having vanquished all his enemies, determined to provide a fixed residence for the ark of God, that God might dwell in the midst of his people at Jerusalem. And he penned this Psalm to be used on that occasion.

It is thought that verses 1-6 were sung when the ark was taken up by the Levites.

Verses 7-14 were sung when they were on their way to the hill, until they came in sight of it.

Verses 15-17 were sung when they were ascending the hill.

Verse 18-23 were sung when when the ark was deposited.

But Paul informs us that there was a further reference in it to the ascension of Christ; who, being the true ark whereon the glory rested, went, after having triumphed over all his enemies, to his fixed abode in Heaven; and, having received gifts as the fruits of his victories, gave them unto men, and provided that God should have a stated residence in his Church, Ephesians 4:8. The Apostle, in citing the Psalmist’s words, makes a slight alteration in them; instead of “received gifts for,” he puts “gave gifts to.” But the truth contained in them is the same; for Christ received gifts for men in order that he might give them to men.

With this inspired commentary, we may proceed with confidence to consider,

I. The manner of Christ’s ascension.

Christ, having submitted to the deepest humiliation, was now to receive a proportionable advancement, which, having already been begun in his resurrection, was now perfected in his ascension.

1. This was glorious.

In verse 17 the glory of it is described, and it is compared with the descent of Jehovah on Mount Sinai. While he was in the very act of blessing his disciples, Luke 24:51, he was taken up by a cloud, as Elijah was in his fiery chariot, to Heaven. Instantly myriads of the heavenly host surrounded him with their acclamations and hosannas. They had surveyed him with astonishment from the first moment that he came into the world. When he yet lay in the manger, they sang, “Glory to God in the highest!” But, when they beheld him agonizing in the garden, and expiring on the cross, we may almost conceive their songs of joy to have been turned into weeping and lamentation.

We doubt not, however, but at this time their joy exceeded all that they had ever felt from their first creation. They now saw their Creator and their God, who had so long veiled himself in human flesh, ascending to his bright abodes, to display his glory in a light infinitely surpassing all that they had ever seen before. What must his redeemed people also have felt the very instant that he entered the portals of Heaven! With what rapture and ecstasies must they have been filled! But our imagination cannot grasp the thought. We must be in Heaven ourselves before we can form the smallest idea of their felicity.

Suffice it then to say with the angelic messengers, that, as he ascended up into Heaven, so will he speedily come again from Heaven; and that in the meantime, instead of gazing with unprofitable curiosity, we must look for his blessings, and devote ourselves to his service, Acts 1:10-11.

2. This was triumphant.

In his death he seemed vanquished; but in reality he overcame; and in his ascension he led captive all his enemies and ours.

Sin had diffused its poison through all the descendants of Adam, and had infected all their powers both of body and soul. But Christ, having expiated its guilt, now rescued many vassals from its power.

Satan, the god of this world, who had hitherto usurped dominion and led men captive at his will, now “fell from Heaven like lightning;” and his throne, shaken to its foundations, was demolished!

Death also, that had reigned over all, now was vanquished in its turn; for Jesus “burst its bands.” “By death, he destroyed death, and him who had the power of death, that is, the devil! Hebrews 2:14;” and now, as a mighty conqueror, that had “spoiled principalities and powers, he triumphed over them openly! Colossians 2:15,” and led them captive at his chariot wheels.

From contemplating the manner of his ascension, let us proceed to consider:

II. The ends of Christ’s ascension.

There were some ends that respected Christ himself, namely, that he might receive his reward, and carry on his work within the veil; but we must confine ourselves to those which respect the Church.

1. The immediate end of Christ’s ascension.

As Jesus died, so he rose and ascended in a public capacity, as our mediator with God, He had purchased blessings for us; and he now went to receive them at his Father’s hands, that he might impart them to us. He was henceforth to have all fullness treasured up in himself, that we might receive out of it according to our necessities. He ascended, “that he might fill all things,” and “impart repentance and remission of sins,” together with all the gifts and graces of his Spirit, to his chosen people. That this was the immediate end of his ascension, appears not only from his own predictions respecting it John 16:7, but from the express declaration of the apostles on the descent of the Holy Spirit Acts 2:33. Yet it was not for those only who were waiting for redemption, but even “for the rebellious also,” that he received gifts; as he abundantly testified in the conversion of his murderers; and as he is ready to testify in the conversion of us also.

2. The remote end of Christ’s ascension.

It was the privilege of the Jewish Church to have the symbols of God’s presence in their temple. But it is our privilege to have God himself both with us, and in us, He will make our hearts his habitation; he will dwell in us, and cause his glory to fill our souls. This was a further end of Christ’s ascension, as he himself tells us, “I will pray the Father for you; and he will send you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever, etc; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you, John 14:16-17.” Even the most rebellious heart, that has defied the Majesty of Heaven, and despised hitherto all overtures of mercy, may yet be encouraged to look up to him; and the soul that has been filled with all iniquity may yet become the temple of the living God. Other conquerors, in the day of their triumph, have scattered largesses among their admiring followers; but this greatest of all gifts will Jesus bestow on his most inveterate enemies; let them only repent, and call upon his name, and he will give them all the riches both of grace and glory.

Improvement.

1. Let none despair of mercy.

We might have well supposed, that the ascension of Jesus would rather have been for the inflicting of judgments on his enemies; yet, behold, it was for the express purpose of exercising mercy. Let us not proudly deny that we are rebels; but, humbling ourselves before him as the chief of sinners, let us desire him to display the exceeding riches of his grace in his mercy towards us.

2. Let none despair of victory.

Conflicts we must have, as long as we continue in the body; but in the very midst of them we may say, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Does sin harass and defile us? Christ says, “It shall never have dominion over us.” Does Satan seek to deceive or devour us? His head was bruised by Christ, and “he shall soon be bruised under our feet also.” Does death alarm us? Its sting is drawn; it is “swallowed up in victory;” it is among our richest treasures, 1 Corinthians 3:22. Let us view Christ leading them all captive in his ascension; and know that, through Him, we also shall be more than conquerors.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 66:18-20

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”

The communion of saints is an exalted privilege; and “those who fear the Lord will speak often one to another” upon the subjects which are most interesting to their souls. To magnify the grace of God, and to encourage one another in the ways of holiness—will be delightful to them, and will tend exceedingly to their mutual improvement.

Hence David invited his pious brethren to hear the communications which he had to make on this all-important subject, “Come and hear, all you that fear God! and I will declare what he has done for my soul.” Then he tells them of God’s answers to his prayers; but at the same time informs them, that there was one condition only on which either they or he could hope for the acceptance of their prayers, namely, that they put away all sin without hesitation and without exception; for “if they regarded iniquity in their heart, the Lord would not hear them.”

From the whole of this communication we see:

I. God’s abhorrence of sin, when harbored and indulged.

“God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, Habakkuk 1:13;” though he tolerates sin in the world, he will sooner or later manifest his indignation against it. But in none does he abhor it more, than in those who profess themselves to be his people; according to what is written, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities! Amos 3:2.”

God will not lend an ear to those who live in the commission of sin.

There are seasons when the most careless people will call upon God, “In the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us! Jeremiah 2:27;” and “they will pour out a prayer when some heavy chastening is upon them, Isaiah 26:16.” Not that they desire deliverance from sin; it is trouble alone that they are anxious to get rid of; and that removed, they return with pleasure to their former evil ways! Such were the Jews in the wilderness, “Psalm 78:34-37 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again. They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer. But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues; their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant, Psalm 78:34-37.”

But it is in vain for such hypocrites to hope that God will hear their prayers; for the very “sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord! Proverbs 21:27;” and of this God has fully warned us. He has declared that “though they cry, he will not hear them, Jeremiah 11:11;” yes, “though they cry in his ears, with a loud voice Ezekiel 8:18.” Yes, “though they make many prayers, Isaiah 1:12-15;” yes, though with their prayers “they fast, and offer burnt-offerings and oblations, Jeremiah 14:12;” so far from listening to them, he will turn a deaf ear to their petitions, and even laugh at the calamities which they either feel or fear, Proverbs 1:24-32.

He will recompense them according to their doings. In the day that he called to them, “they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear; and therefore, as he cried, and they would not hear—so when they cry, he will not hear, Zechariah 7:11; Zechariah 7:13.”

Even where sin is not openly indulged, but only harbored in the heart, God will resent it in this way.

Sin, however secret, is not hidden from him; for He sees it, under whatever form it may exist, and in the inmost recesses of the heart, “He searches the heart,” and “weighs the spirits.” Indeed, hypocrisy is not a whit less hateful to him than open sin.

Let us hear the testimony of holy Job, “What is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? Job 27:8-9.” Even the most uninstructed of men, who had been born blind, and had had his eyes just recently opened, could say, “We know that God does not hear sinners, John 9:31;” and so self-evident was that truth, that not one of his most subtle and malignant enemies could gainsay or resist it.

There is, in fact, a general conviction of it in the consciences of all, insomuch that God himself appealed to his hypocritical adversaries respecting it, “Shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you! Ezekiel 20:3; Ezekiel 20:31.” Whether “the idol” is in the house or “in the heart,” it is equally hateful in the sight of God, who “requires truth in the inward parts, Psalm 51:6,” and will accept none but “those who worship him in spirit and in truth, John 4:24.”

On the other hand, no language can express,

II. God’s condescension to sinners who are truly upright before him.

David, though a sinner of no common stamp, was yet upright before God, as a penitent; for he bitterly bewailed his sins, and sought deliverance from them with his whole heart. There was no iniquity which he desired to hide from God, or to retain within his own bosom. Hence he found acceptance with God, and could bear testimony that God had heard and answered his petitions. And thus, wherever there is a true penitent, we are warranted to assure him:

1. That God will be merciful to his sins.

It is not sin lamented—but sin retained, or “regarded with delight in the heart,” that will provoke God’s indignation against us. A weeping sinner god will receive to mercy, “even though his sins may have been of a crimson or a scarlet dye.” Never, from the foundation of the world, was one cast out who sought him with real penitence and faith.

Manasseh was, perhaps, of all men, the most criminal; yet was not even he rejected, when he truly humbled himself before the Lord his God, 2 Chronicles 33:12-13; 2 Chronicles 33:19. And we are authorized to assure the whole world, that if they seek the Lord with their whole hearts, “he will not turn away their prayer, nor his mercy from them;” on the contrary, “he will blot out their iniquities as a morning cloud,” and “cast all their sins irrecoverably into the very depths of the sea!”

2. That he will be gracious to their prayers.

There is no need so great, but he will supply it; no concern so small, but he will take the charge of it, and order it for our good. We may go into his presence as to a loving Father, assured, that “we may ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us.” Even the sigh, “the cry, the very breathing” of desire will be understood by him, and come up with acceptance before him, Lamentations 3:55-56; and, as in David’s case, our prayers shall be turned into songs of praise and thanksgiving.

ADDRESS.

1. Beware of harboring any secret lust!

Sin is deceitful, and our treacherous hearts are ever ready to put a favorable construction upon it. But God can discern it, under whatever garb it may be disguised, and by whatever name it may be distinguished. It may be among “the things which are highly esteemed among men; but it will still be an abomination in the sight of God!” It may be something as dear to us as a right eye, or as necessary, in our apprehension, as a right hand; but it must be mortified, however painful the separation may be; for, if it is spared and retained, it will destroy both body and soul in Hell. I must entreat you, therefore, to examine carefully the state of your souls, and with the utmost diligence to “purge out the old leaven” that defiles them.

The Jews were accustomed, at the time of the Passover, to sweep their houses with extreme care, lest one atom of leaven should be left in any corner or recess; and this affords a good example to us in relation to our souls. Yet I would not have you rest satisfied with any endeavors of your own; but beg of God to search and try you, and to see if there be any wicked way in you, and to lead you in the way everlasting; for, as a single leak will sink a ship, so a single lust, unmortified and unsubdued, will sink the soul into everlasting perdition!

Oh, think with yourselves, how awful it will be in the last day to cry unto your God, and not be heard! to stand imploring him, “Lord, Lord, open unto us!” and to receive for answer that terrible sentence, “Depart from me, you who wrought iniquity!” May God divert from all of you this fearful doom! and may you all be approved of him at last, as “Israelites indeed, in whom was no deceit!”

2. Improve, while you may, the manifold grace of God.

A throne of grace is now open to us; and “we may ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us.” God assumes to himself the very title of “a God that hears prayer.” And he bids us to open our mouths wide, that he may fill them. Moreover, “we have an Advocate with the Father, even the Lord Jesus Christ himself,” “whom the Father hears always;” and who has so loved us, as to “give himself as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

O, what might we not receive, if only we were upright before God! for “the prayer of the upright is his delight.” Suppose now at this time we had all been really praying to God, in the very spirit of the prayers which we have offered; what blessings would not be flowing down into our souls, even as “showers of blessings,” as God himself has promised! Truly, if our eyes were opened to see what was passing, we would behold Almighty God taking loads of guilt from multitudes among us, and casting it all into the very depths of the sea. We would see the Holy Spirit resting on the heads of all, as on the day of Pentecost, for the purpose of enlightening, comforting, and sanctifying our souls. We would see angels ascending and descending upon us, in order to receive from God, and execute for us, their several commissions adapted to our necessities.

I do not hesitate to say, that, if we had all been as much in earnest in our prayers as our words have given reason to expect, this very place would resemble the temple of old, when the glory of God so filled it, that the priests could no longer abide there to minister before the Lord. Yes, our souls would be too full for humanity to sustain it.

Dear brethren, why should we not behold at least a measure of this sacred effusion, and taste a measure of this heavenly grace? God is willing to renew the Pentecostal scenes, if only we were in a state to receive them. It is in ourselves that we are straitened; we are not straitened in our God. He is as able as ever, yes, and as willing too, “to do exceeding abundantly for us, above all that we can ask or think.” Truly, if we were even one half as earnest as we have professed to be, he would fill every hungry soul, and replenish every sorrowful soul, with his richest communications of grace and peace.

Let us arise and call upon our God; and let not “our prayer go forth out of feigned lips.” And let us remember, for our comfort, that it is not the existence of sin in the soul that will prevent the acceptance of our prayers, (for who then would ever be heard?) but the indulgence of sin. Seek truly to have the whole body of sin mortified within you; seek to be “pure, as God is pure,” and “holy, as God is holy.” Then God will delight himself in you; and you, according to your measure, shall “be filled with all the fullness of your God!”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 66:16

“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul!”

Any person of benevolence who should have discovered an antidote, or remedy, to a very fatal disorder—would feel happy in communicating information respecting it, wherever such knowledge was required. If indeed great gain would accrue to him by concealment, we must concede to him the right of procuring to himself the advantages to which his superior knowledge has entitled him; but where the very act of communicating information will enrich, rather than impoverish, the instructor, and he himself will be made a gainer by imparting, he would be highly criminal if he withheld from the world the blessings he was enabled to confer.

This is invariably the case in things pertaining to the soul; and hence we may expect to find all who have been taught BY God, ready and willing to impart to others the benefits they have received. The early Apostles, Andrew and Philip, no sooner found the Messiah, than they sought to bring their brethren, Peter and Nathanael, to an acquaintance with him, John 1:40; John 1:45. Just so, the Samaritan woman was no sooner convinced herself of the Messiahship of Jesus, than she went to invite all the men of her city to come and see the person whom she believed to be the Christ! John 4:28-29.

Thus it was with David; he communed much with God; he learned much from God; he was favored with the richest communications which God himself could bestow. But he would not keep these things to himself; he hoped, by a free communication with pious men, to bring them to a participation of all that he himself enjoyed; and therefore, filled with divine philanthropy, he sent out, as it were, this general invitation, “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul!”

In discoursing on these words, we will show:

I. What God had done for his soul.

David, as we are told in the foregoing context, had been involved in many troubles, from which nothing but a Divine interposition could have delivered him, verse 10-12. But we must not confine the subject to temporal deliverances; he speaks of something which God had done for “his soul;” and more particularly specifies, that God “had not turned away his mercy from him, verse 20;” and makes that the peculiar ground of his praise and thanksgiving. We observe then that:

1. God had given to him the pardon of his sins.

This would have been an exceedingly rich mercy, even if David had never fallen from his former integrity. But, if we view the great enormities committed by him in the matter of Uriah, we see good reason why he should magnify God’s mercy beyond any other of the sons of men. Whether this Psalm was written prior, or subsequent to his fall, we know not; and therefore we forbear to notice that as an aggravation of his guilt, or as enhancing the mercy given to him.

As a man, he was a sinner from his mother’s womb; and the most perfect of men could no more stand than the vilest—if God should enter into judgment with him, and mark in him all that had been done amiss! David was sensible of this, and acknowledged it in these expressive terms, “I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify your name for evermore; for great is your mercy towards me; and you have delivered my soul from the lowest Hell! Psalm 86:12-13.”

Let us be sensible how much we also stand in need of mercy; and let us seek it as that without which our souls must forever perish. Or, if we have received mercy, let us devoutly glorify our God for it as a benefit which no words can ever adequately express.

2. God had given to him the manifestation of that pardon to his soul.

David had prayed earnestly to God, and had obtained an answer to his prayer. How this answer was conveyed to his mind, we are not informed; but he had no doubt in his own soul respecting it; he could say, “Truly God has heard me; he has attended to the voice of my prayer! verse 19.”

O! who can estimate aright this mercy? See how the prophet Jeremiah speaks of it, “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 3:55-57.” How tender! How sympathetic! How encouraging this acknowledgment! Such was David’s also, on another occasion, “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles! Psalm 34:4; Psalm 34:6.” Truly this is a great and blessed work which “the Lord does for the souls” of men; and it was with good reason that David said, “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul!”

But it will be proper to state more particularly,

II. Why David was so ready to speak of it.

It was not from ostentation or vanity that he thus called the attention of others to his own concerns, but,

1. From a sense of gratitude to God.

Such mercies call for the liveliest gratitude, and demand a tribute of praise from the whole world. Hence the soul that feels its obligations for them, would be glad to interest the whole creation in the blessed work of praise and thanksgiving. This David attempts in many of his Psalms, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me; and let us exalt his name together! Psalm 34:1-3; Psalm 96:1-4.”

Had any reflection been cast on him for these devout acknowledgments, he would have replied, as on another occasion, “Is there not a cause? 1 Samuel 17:29.” or rather, would have welcomed the disgrace, and said, “I will yet be more vile than thus! 1 Samuel 6:21.”

2. From a sense of love to his fellow-creatures.

Nothing is more gratifying to the saints than to see or hear what God has done for others. To them therefore David addresses himself. He speaks not to the ungodly; for that would be to “cast pearls before swine;” but to the godly he knew that the recital of his experience would be a rich source of comfort and encouragement. In another place he explicitly avows this very intention; and, for the promotion of that end, he gives a summary of the Lord’s dealings with him during his long impenitence, and on the very first symptoms of penitence and contrition, Psalm 32:3-6.

It is with a similar view that Paul also records his own wickedness in persecuting the Church of Christ; and displays the enormous unparalleled exercise of God’s mercy towards him “the chief of sinners;” he declares, that this whole dispensation towards him was designed by God himself as a pattern for the encouragement of all penitents to the end of time! 1 Timothy 1:13-16.

We then, if we “fear God,” are the people invited to come and listen to the voice of David. In all that he has spoken on this subject, he has sought our good; for it was not to him as a prophet that this mercy was given, but as a saint, who feared God and wrought righteousness; and every one who in this respect resembles him, may hope to participate with him in his exalted privileges! Compare Psalm 65:2 and Isaiah 65:24 and John 14:13-14 with 1 John 5:13-15.

As saints indeed we profess to have already enjoyed them in some measure; and therefore we are concerned to inquire,

III. How we may know whether our souls are partakers of the same benefit.

It is the privilege of all to have access to God, and to have their prayers answered by him; yes, and to know also that they have been answered. Of this we are assured on the authority of God himself.

But here the question arises: How shall these answers be clearly known to have come from God? Formerly God was pleased to make known to his people their interest in his favor by means which we are no longer to expect. He may indeed, if he see fit, still reveal his will to men by dreams and visions, by voices and signs—but we have no reason to think he either does, or will do so; and therefore we can place no confidence in any manifestations which are professedly derived from such sources.

We may also say that nothing certain can be known from any direct impressions of the Spirit of God upon the mind. We are far from affirming that no such impressions are ever made; for there can be no doubt but that God “sheds abroad his love in the hearts of his people,” and gives them “a spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba, Father!” and “by his Spirit witnesses with their spirits that they are the children of God,” and even “seals them by the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption.”

But still, as great and glorious as these operations of the Spirit are, they are not sufficient of themselves to prove that God has shown mercy to our souls; they must have the concurring evidence of good works resulting from them; the feelings themselves may be so closely imitated by Satan, that it shall be impossible for man certainly to distinguish between them. A person of a warm imagination and a confident mind may easily be wrought upon by that subtle spirit, so that he shall appear both to himself and others to be eminently distinguished by manifestations from God, while yet he is only under the influence of a Satanic delusion! The evidences whereby alone the work of God upon the soul can be satisfactorily ascertained are:

1. The exercise of gracious affections.

Love, joy, peace, with all the train of Christian virtues—are the fruits of God’s Spirit alone. They cannot for any length of time be counterfeited; not even Satan himself can produce them. Hence we are told, by our blessed Lord, to look to them as the only certain marks and evidences whereby his people can be distinguished, “By their fruits you shall know them.”

Would you then know for certain whether God has had mercy on your souls, and whether the supposed manifestations of God’s love to your souls are genuine? Then see how the dispensation operates on your hearts and lives:
if it leads you to a sense of lively gratitude to God,
if it fills you with a determination to serve and glorify him with all your powers,
if it encourages you to commit your every concern to his all-wise disposal, and
if it stimulates you to seek by all possible means the welfare of your fellow-creatures
—then you may confidently say, “He who has wrought us to the selfsame thing is God.”

2. The radical mortification of sin.

David says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me! verse 18.” To imagine therefore that we have received answers to prayer, while there is a sinful temper or disposition harbored in the heart, is a fatal delusion. Even the ungodly Jews, who set themselves in opposition to Christ, were fully convinced of this truth; for, imagining him to he a sinner, and taking occasion from thence to deny the miracle he had wrought, they said, “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if any man be a worshiper of God and does his will—then he hears him, John 9:31.”

This then must be a point of diligent inquiry:

“Is sin in general dispossessed of its power over me?
Is my besetting sin in particular subdued and mortified?
Is my hatred to sin inveterate, uniform, and unreserved?”

Unless this is our state, it is in vain that we pretend to have communion with God, and boast of our assured acceptance with him. If we are under the habitual influence of any one reigning lust of whatever kind—then we may make a great profession of religion, but we are hypocrites! We may make a noise about our piety, but “we are as sounding brass, and as tinkling cymbals.”

In reference to this subject, we beg permission to offer some advice.

1. Be careful to notice the dealings of God with your souls.

Many set themselves against all kinds of Christian experience, and make even the very word, experience, a subject of continual ridicule and invective.

That injudicious people have given but too just ground of offence by their statements of their own feelings, must be confessed! But we must not therefore suppose that genuine religion has nothing to do with the feelings, and that it is a matter purely intellectual. Why should genuine religion alone have no influence on the heart, when it is calculated more than anything else to call into activity all the powers of our souls? Or why should that be called enthusiasm, which is deemed reasonable in all the common affairs of life? Let a man be embarked in anything that greatly involves his honor and interest throughout his life; a merchant in trade; a commander in war; a student in academic contests will he feel no concerns? will he have no fluctuations of mind, no alternations of hope and fear, of joy and sorrow—according as his prospects brighten or are obscured? Will the outcome of his labors be to him such a matter of indifference, that he shall contemplate the probabilities of success or failure without any emotion?

If these diversified feelings are so called forth by things which pertain to this life, shall they have no scope for exercise in the things which relate to eternity? Call them by the name of Christian experience, or by any other name, they must have place in our souls; and if they have not, we are altogether dead in trespasses and sins!

Let every one then take notice how he is affected with his everlasting concerns; for he can never have obtained mercy, who has not sought for mercy; nor can he have received an answer to prayer, who never cried from his inmost soul to God. I must even go farther, and say that he has no hope—who never had a fear; nor shall he ever taste of joy—who has never been bowed down with penitential sorrow. As we deal with God, he will deal with us, “If we seek him—he will be found of us; but if we forsake him, he will forsake us.”

2. Learn to estimate the dealings of God with our souls, by a right standard.

If we judge of our emotions by their intenseness, or by the degree of elevation or depression produced by them, we shall deceive our own souls. The votaries of false religions are sometimes transported beyond the bounds of reason, and are agitated even to madness. A mistaken course of religion too, will often operate very strongly on the mind, and leave us, after all, in a, state of spiritual death.

True religion is sober, discreet, practical. It consists in, or rather is inseparably connected with, “a spirit of love, and of power, and of a sound mind.” It directs to Heaven; but does not lead us to neglect our earthly duties. It must be judged of by its practical effects. The grace that leaves us under the defilement of any “spiritual or fleshly filthiness,” is not true grace. That alone comes from God, which leads to God; and that alone will have any saving efficacy, which assimilates us to “the Divine image in righteousness and true holiness.”

3. Endeavor to improve the dealings of God with our souls for the good of others.

We are not proprietors of our talents, but stewards, to whom they are entrusted for the good of others. We must indeed be much on our guard against pride, and talkativeness, and a readiness to draw attention to ourselves, and to make self the topic of our conversation. A person of this complexion is a very hateful and disgusting character; and too many such, it must be confessed, there are in the religious world! But while we avoid such a spirit as this, we must delight to communicate to others the blessings we have received, and to encourage from our own experience a diligent and patient waiting upon God. It is obvious, that if we can say, “What my eyes have seen, my ears have heard, and my hands have handled of the Word of life—that I declare unto you,” our words will come with tenfold weight.

We repeat however, that a general communicating of our experiences in large companies is in our judgment highly inexpedient; it is a fruitful source of pride, discouragement, and hypocrisy.

But in the confidence of close friendship we may unbosom ourselves one to another, and declare, to the abundant edification both of ourselves and others, what God has done for our souls.

In seasons of temptation and spiritual trouble, we may by such a communication administer unspeakable comfort to an afflicted brother, 2 Corinthians 1:6. Nor is it necessary that we advert particularly to ourselves; if we give the result of our experience, the effect will be the same. The light we have received should not be hidden under a bushel basket; if we have “freely received, we should freely give.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 65:9-13

“You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing!”

On what occasion this Psalm was written is not certainly known; but it is probable that the inspired penman wrote it on the removal of the famine which God sent to punish the cruelty of Saul and of his bloody house towards the Gibeonites, whom he was bound by covenant to protect. This famine lasted three years; but at last, David having inquired of the Lord on what account this heavy judgment had been sent, and how the removal of it might be obtained—he was informed, that it was sent as a punishment of Saul’s treachery, in which the people, no doubt, had too willingly concurred; and that he must execute on Saul’s posterity such a judgment as the Gibeonites themselves should award to them.

The Gibeonites demanded that seven of Saul’s sons should be put to death. Seven of his sons were accordingly delivered into their hands, and were hanged up by them, as an atonement for their father’s sin, 2 Samuel 21:1-9. The Gibeonites being now satisfied with this act of retributive justice, the favor of God was restored to the land, and the whole nation was gladdened with the return of plenty.

Under this great calamity, David and all the pious of the land had humbled themselves before God; and in this Psalm they acknowledge God as the merciful Answerer of prayer to his penitent people, while he was the just Punisher of sin to those who continued impenitent. “He had lately answered them by terrible things in righteousness” for their transgressions; and now he had mercifully “heard their prayer,” and “purged away their transgressions.”

The words before us give a lively and beautiful description of the change wrought upon the earth through the rich showers with which God, in his mercy, had watered it.

Of course our attention therefore must, in the first place, be fixed on those blessings of providence with which we also are favored. Yet, as throughout all the inspired writings there will be found a reference to spiritual blessings, under those terms which at first sight appear to have only a literal import—it will be proper to notice, also, what we conceive to be spiritually contained in this passage. Agreeably to this view, we shall consider the text:

I. As literally fulfilled in the blessings of God’s Providence.

God is, in reality, “the giver of every good and perfect gift”.

Because God, in the first creation of the world, assigned to everything its proper place and office, we are apt to overlook his agency in the things of daily occurrence, and to ascribe them to what are called the laws of nature. But the hand of God is as necessary to uphold the universe, as ever it was to create it at first.

The heavenly bodies, it is true, have had their motions given them from the beginning; and have, for the most part, continued to obey the laws of their creation. But they have occasionally had those laws suspended; as when the sun stood still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, for the space of a whole day. From hence it appears, that God’s laws move in subserviency to the will of their Creator, and execute his righteous purposes of vengeance or of love, according to his command.

The same may be said respecting the elements of this terrestrial globe. Fire and water have their properties; according to which, for the most part, they act; but at God’s command the waters stood like a wall, to form a passage and a rampart for his chosen people; and the fire lost its power even to singe the clothes of his faithful servants, who were cast into it for their fidelity to him.

In like manner, the earth produces fruits of different kinds; and the rains at certain seasons descend to call forth into activity its vegetative powers. But the agency both of the heavens and the earth depends altogether upon God, who, when he sees fit, “makes the heavens as brass,” and the earth as iron.

In a climate like ours, where the rains are frequent and occasional, God’s agency is but little seen; but in countries where the rains are periodical, the lack of them is so severely felt, that the goodness of God in sending them is more sensibly perceived, and more readily acknowledged. But in one place as well as in another, the influences both of Heaven and earth are alike dependent upon God, and must be referred to Him as their true, and only, and continual source.

God’s bounty and goodness should be gratefully acknowledged by us at this time.

Extremely beautiful is the description here given of the progress of vegetation, in consequence of a seasonable supply of rain. To attempt an illustration of these words would weaken their force, and reduce their sublimity. But, if a poetic taste alone can qualify us to appreciate their beauty, and to enter into them with a befitting zest—a spiritual taste also is necessary, to lead us to a due improvement of them, and to enable us to realize their full import. However, whether gifted with a poetic imagination or not—let me entreat all to survey the face of the earth, and to see the change that has been wrought on everything around him. Methinks, without any poetic imagination, he may see the smiles of universal nature, and hear the songs and shoutings of a grateful world. May our hearts respond to the voice of nature, and ascend up in praises and thanksgivings to our bounteous God.

But let us further view the text,

II. As emblematically describing the yet richer blessings of his grace.

Besides the primary sense of Scripture, there is frequently a secondary and subordinate meaning which ought not to be overlooked. In relation to this matter, the New Testament affords us the fullest information, in that it cites many passages in which we would have had no conception of anything beyond the literal meaning, if a further sense had not been unfolded to us by Him whose wisdom cannot err, and whose authority cannot be questioned.

The whole 104th Psalm, in appearance, relates to the works of creation and providence; but towards the close of it we are led, though but cursorily and obscurely, to the contemplation of God’s spiritual government; in which view, the Psalm is appointed by our Church to be read on the day whereon the out-pouring of the Spirit is more especially commemorated.

The Psalm before us may with equal propriety be viewed in the same light; and the rather, because the images used in our text are frequently applied to that very subject, to represent the influence of God’s Spirit on the soul, “His doctrine dropping as the rain, and distilling as the dew; as the light rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass, Deuteronomy 32:2.”

1. Let us notice, then, the influence of the Gospel upon the world at large.

Truly, the whole world is one great wilderness; some few spots only giving any just evidence of cultivation. It is not above one-sixth part of mankind that has even so much as heard of the name of Jesus; and where his Gospel is not preached, sin reigns without control. Even religion itself is nothing but a blind and bloody superstition, involving its votaries in everything that is cruel and detestable.

But see where the Gospel has gained an ascendant; look at Britain, for instance, and compare its state at this time with its state previous to the introduction of Christianity; once it was a dreary desert—but now it blossoms as the rose, and is as the garden of Eden. True it is that the name of Christianity effects but little; it civilizes, indeed, and raises the standard of morals—but it produces nothing corresponding with the description before us.

But when “the Word comes, not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance,” then a great and mighty change is effected, “the Spirit being poured out from on high, the wilderness becomes a fruitful field; and the fruitful field is so abundant, that it is even counted for a forest, Isaiah 32:15.” Could we but inspect the various settlements where zealous ministers have established churches among the savages of different climates, and see the difference between them and their yet uninstructed countrymen—we would have a far juster notion of the power of the Gospel than we can acquire in the midst of civilized society, where little remains to be added to the external deportment, and where the change effected by the Gospel is chiefly of a spiritual and internal nature. But the whole subject will be more fully open to us, if we view the Gospel as operating thus:

2. Let us notice the influence of the Gospel upon the souls of individual believers.

What were any of us in our unconverted state, but, like a barren heath, bringing forth briars and thorns, without any of those fruits of righteousness in which God delights? As for humiliation before God, and a simple life of faith in the Lord Jesus, and a delight in spiritual exercises, and an entire devotedness of the soul to God—we were as much strangers to it all as the heathen themselves! But when the word of the Gospel came with power to our souls, it wrought a change upon our whole man, and made us altogether new creatures, “Old things passed away; and, behold, all things became new!” The obdurate surface of our hearts was softened; and the unproductive soil put forth a vital energy; by means of which all the fruits of the Spirit sprang up in rich abundance, and gave a hopeful prospect of a luxuriant harvest.

Would we see this realized in a way that cannot be misunderstood, let us look at the converts on the day of Pentecost. It is not possible to conceive people more destitute of all good, or more filled with every hateful quality, than were the crucifiers and murderers of the Lord of Glory! Yet in a short time they were so changed, so that they remain to this day the most exalted patterns of piety to the whole world.

Thus it is at this day, also, among ourselves. The work, indeed, is not so sudden, nor so general; but, where the grace of the Gospel is received in truth, it operates precisely in the same way, “instead of the brier, there grows up the fir-tree; and instead of the thorn, there grows up the myrtle-tree; and even the tenderest plants rise in stately magnificence into “trees of righteousness, whereby the Lord is glorified.”

APPLICATION.

1. Let me now call you to adore your God for the blessings you have already received.

I would not that you should overlook the blessings of Providence. Even in this country we have often known the sad effects of scarcity; and we may well, therefore, bless our God for the prospects of abundance. To every one of you I would say, with David, “Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call! Psalm 147:7-9.”

And will you not much more adore him for the blessings of his grace? Surely, if you do not, the very stones will cry out against you! Yet rest not in mere acknowledgments, however grateful they may be; but seek to abound in fruits of righteousness; which, while they are the necessary evidences of his work upon your souls, are the only effectual means of bringing honor to his name.

2. Let me now call you to look to God continually for fresh and more abundant communications of his grace.

The fertilizing showers which we have received will be of little avail, if they are not renewed from time to time. Just so, all the grace that any of us have received, will be ineffectual for any permanent good, if we are not favored with fresh “supplies of the Holy Spirit” from day to day. The grace which has been imparted to our souls this day, will no more suffice for our spiritual needs tomorrow, than will the light which has been communicated to our bodies. We must receive out of Christ’s fullness from day to day, as the branch of the vine receives from its stem and root. Let your daily prayer, then, be like that of David, “O God, you are my God; early will I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water! Psalm 63:1.”

In reading the word, and in the public ordinances, look up for the blessing of God upon your soul; and plead with him that gracious promise, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams! Isaiah 44:3-4.”

Yes, Beloved, look unto God with increasing earnestness and confidence; and he will pour out upon you “showers of blessings.”

“I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon, Hosea 14:4-7.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 65:4

“Blessed are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple!”

The connection between genuine piety and happiness, though not seen by the generality of men, is certain. It may not presently appear; but it will approve itself, at last, to all who will wait for the outcome of passing events. To the ungodly man it seems a drudgery to wait upon God; but to every humble and believing suppliant it will be found a source of unbounded bliss; so at least the Psalmist affirms in the words before us; from which we shall take occasion to notice,

I. The habit of God’s chosen people.

It is the delight of every true Christian to draw near unto his God.

He feels, like the Psalmist, that “iniquity has prevailed against him” to a very fearful extent; but he sees that an all-sufficient atonement has been offered for him; and that, through the blood of Christ once shed on Calvary, “every transgression that he has ever committed may be purged away! verse 3.” Hence he approaches God with all humility as a sinner, and with all earnestness, as one that desires mercy at his hands.

Nor is it on some particular occasions only that his people draw near to him. They resemble the priests of old, whose rooms were in the temple, round about the sanctuary; and who therefore “dwelt in his courts;” for, in the habit of their minds at least, “they dwell in God” by meditation and prayer; and “God dwells in them” by the abiding influence of his Spirit and grace.

To this every true Christian is brought by the mighty working of the power of God.

It is not by any natural power that the saints draw near unto God. Of themselves, they would flee from God, even as our first parents did in Paradise. It is “God himself who draws them, John 6:44,” and who from all eternity “chose them” to this high honor. They are unto the Lord “a holy priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9;” and what God said to Eli may, in a spiritual sense, be applied to them, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? I chose your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your father’s house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites, 1 Samuel 2:27-28.” In like manner has God chosen from eternity, and “set apart for himself” in time, all those who by “a spirit of grace and of supplication” approach unto him! Psalm 4:3. Zechariah 12:10. Hence it is, and hence alone, that they are “a people near unto him, Psalm 148:14.”

It is not without reason that David declares,

II. The blessedness resulting from their drawing near to God.

The terms in which he states this, convey the idea most richly to our minds.

The priests, while serving at the altar, “partook of the altar,” and “lived of the altar.” See the particular account, as stated by Moses. “Then the LORD said to Aaron: “I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion and regular share. You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy. This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it. I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the LORD as the firstfruits of their harvest. All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the LORD will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it. Everything in Israel that is devoted to the LORD is yours! Numbers 18:8-14.” Let this be noticed; and it will be seen that the priests of old were richly provided for, and well sustained by the bounty of God’s house.

And here we see indeed the blessedness of waiting upon God.

God’s people, now, are “priests unto their God! Revelation 1:6.” And this is the sustenance which, in a spiritual sense, is provided for them. Mark the wonderful correspondence between the Prophet Jeremiah, when describing the times of the Gospel, and Moses, in the fore-cited passage, declaring the ordinances of the Law,

“They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD—the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,” declares the LORD, Jeremiah 31:12; Jeremiah 31:14.”

Who does not see in this the accomplishment of my text? In communion with God, the souls of men are filled as with marrow and fatness, while their mouth praises him with joyful lips!

“How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights! Psalm 36:7-8.”

In truth, no tongue can declare, no imagination can conceive—the full extent of those benefits which men obtain by waiting upon God:
“the riches that they obtain are unsearchable;”
their “peace surpasses all understanding;” and
their “joy is unspeakable and full of glory.”

See, then, I beg you, brethren,

1. How different is the outcome of men’s various pursuits!

Is the worldling ever thus replenished to satiety? Never! He grasps a shadow; and “in the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him! Job 20:22.”

But the true Christian finds in his God all that his soul can desire; and “drinking of the water that Christ gives him, he never thirsts again” for anything that this vain world can afford! John 4:14.

2. What a preparation for Heaven is the Christian’s employment upon earth!

It is the delight of the Christian to draw near to God, and to offer to him the sacrifices of prayer and praise. And what, I beg you, are they doing in Heaven? The only difference is, that here they pour forth their prayers under the influence of hope; but in Heaven, their one sacrifice is praise, called forth without ceasing, under a sense of complete, uninterrupted fruition.

Let, then, every soul among you adopt the habit of holy David, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple, Psalm 27:4.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 65:3

“Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, you shall purge them away!”

From reading the experience of the saints, as recorded in the Holy Scriptures, we derive not only comfort and encouragement, but the most refined instruction that can be conveyed to the mind of man. As in light there is a combination of widely different rays, and it is that combination, together with their simultaneous action, which gives to light its peculiar sweetness. Just so, it is a combination of widely different views and feelings that gives to the Christian his divinely-tempered experience in the things of God.

In the passage before us, we behold the man after God’s own heart bewailing his sinfulness—yet not discouraged; and sweetly comforted in his soul, without any abatement of his contrition. It is this mixture of feeling which so greatly elevates the Christian character. His graces, by means of it, shine with a subdued luster; and being thus tempered, they are “pleasing to the eyes both of God and man, Ecclesiastes 11:7.” Let us notice,

I. David’s distress.

What are we to understand by this expression, “Iniquities prevail against me?”

It cannot be meant that he indulged in sin of any kind; for “one who is born of God does not practice sin; nor indeed can he practice sin (willingly and habitually), because he is born of God.” “Whoever practices sin in this way, is of the devil! 1 John 3:8-9.”

Indeed the very terms here used suppose a conflict. David hated and resisted sin in the daily habit of his mind; but he had within him a principle of evil as well as of good, “the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, so that he could not do the things that he would, Galatians 5:17.” He was in the same predicament with the Apostle Paul; who, though he delighted in the Law of God after the inward man, “found a law in his members warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which was in his members.” And under a painful sense of his infirmities he cried, “O what a wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death,” which I am constrained thus to drag along with me, as a putrid carcass, even to my dying hour! Romans 7:22-24.

Alluding to a punishment which some tyrants have inflicted on the objects of their displeasure. We understand, therefore, David as saying precisely what Paul also says, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing, Romans 7:18-19.”

And who is there among us that has not reason to adopt this language in reference to his own soul?

If we look at the workings of actual corruption, we shall all find occasion to confess, “Iniquities prevail against me.” All, it is true, are not guilty of gross sin; but who is free from indwelling corruption? “Who can say, I have made my heart clean? Proverbs 20:9.” There is an abundance both of “spiritual and fleshly filthiness” in every man, 2 Corinthians 7:1; the most eminent saint on earth is renewed but in part, 1 Corinthians 13:9-10. It is in Heaven alone that absolute perfection exists. He can know but little of himself who does not see occasion to mourn over his many evil thoughts, and many corrupt propensities!

Let us take a view of the workings of our hearts in relation to pride, envy, malice, and revenge.

Let us call to mind the motions of anger, fretfulness, and impatience, of which our consciences must convict us.

Let us trace the influence of uncharitableness towards those who stand in competition with us, or have made themselves in any way liable to our displeasure.

We may soon discover how far any of us are from being perfect, and what need we all have to cry, “Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you! Psalm 143:2.”

But let us look at our short-comings and defects, and then we shall find no difficulty in adopting the words of David in our text. The true way to discover our real state before God, is to take his holy Law as the standard whereby to try our habits and attainments. How far are any of us from loving God with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our soul, and all our strength; and our neighbor as ourselves! Only let us notice the frame of our souls through the day, yes even in the exercises of devotion, and we shall have no need for anyone to tell us how far we are still alienated from God, and how little we have attained of habitual communion with him.

Though we may, on the whole, be kind towards our neighbor, let us only be brought by any circumstances into actual collision with him, and we shall reveal to others at least, if not discern in ourselves, how very far short of the divine standard our love to him is, and how unlike we are to Christ, who “laid down his life for his enemies.”

Let us go on to examine the state of our souls in reference to our blessed Lord and Savior, who died for us. What admiring and adoring thoughts of him should we entertain from day to day, from hour to hour! What floods of tears should run down our cheeks from a sense of love and gratitude to him for all the wonders of his love; and what an influence should they produce on the whole of our life and conduct.

I need go no further to confirm the truth which I am inculcating, namely, that “iniquities do indeed prevail against us” to a fearful extent; and that all of us have need to “walk softly before God” in the remembrance of them, Isaiah 38:15.

But, if we partake of David’s sorrows, we may also be partakers of,

II. David’s consolation.

As the Apostle, after his lamentation, found comfort in Christ, so David also found consolation in God through Christ.

1. We may derive comfort from the free grace and mercy of God.

It is evident that he regards God as a gracious and merciful Being, who would “not be extreme to mark what was done amiss, Psalm 130:3; but would in judgment remember mercy. And this ground of hope is open to us all; for mercy is the darling attribute of God, if I may so speak, the attribute “in which he delights, Micah 7:18;” while judgment is that strange work to which he is utterly averse, Isaiah 28:21.

See the description which Jehovah gives of his own character, “I am 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.” See also his marvelous displays of this attribute towards men; to what an extent it could reach, 2 Chronicles 33:19, and with what rapidity it could fly to the discharge of its delightful office, 2 Samuel 12:13. Hear the language in which God “reasons” with sinners; (O, blessed reasoning! I pray God it may convince us all, and not leave so much as a shadow of doubt upon our minds!) “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool! Isaiah 1:18.” Yes, brethren, however discouraging your inward conflicts may be, you may well “encourage yourselves in the Lord your God! 1 Samuel 30:6.”

2. We may derive comfort from the sufficiency of the means ordained by God.

God had appointed sacrifices as an atonement for sin; and, though “they could never take away sin,” or “make a man perfect as pertaining to the conscience, Hebrews 9:9; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:4; Hebrews 10:14,” they directed the offerers to that one great sacrifice which was in due time to be offered on the cross, and which was a sufficient “atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, 1 John 2:2.” And, in the view of that sacrifice, David, with all his enormous guilt upon him, could say, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean! Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow! Psalm 51:7.”

Who then among us shall despair of mercy, if only we seek it in the Savior’s name? Indeed it is not mercy only, but justice also, that shall plead for us, if we approach our God in the name of Christ; for we are told that “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness! 1 John 1:9.”
—
Here, then, let the drooping sinner take courage; and to his complaints, that “iniquities prevail against him,” add the consolatory truth, “As for my transgressions, O Lord, you shall purge them away!” You have “opened a fountain for sin and for impurity, Zechariah 13:1;” and I believe that it shall be sufficient even for me; and that “the blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, shall cleanse me from all sin! 1 John 1:7.”

To all of you, then, I would say,

1. Acquaint yourselves with your own ways, that you may be truly humbled.

There can be no humility without self-knowledge; nor must anyone be satisfied with an examination of his outward conduct; (that, like Paul’s in his unconverted state, may be “blameless, Philippians 3:6.”). We must search our hearts, if we would know ourselves aright; yes, and “beg of God also to search and test us,” if we would attain that kind of self-knowledge which alone will be sufficient to humble our proud spirits, Psalm 139:23-24.

Mark, then, I beg you:
your thoughts,
your desires,
your motives,
your principles, and
the entire habit of your minds before God.

Mark all your tempers under the various circumstances that arise from day to day; and compare yourselves with the requirements of the Law, and with that great exemplar, the Lord Jesus Christ! Do this, and you will find no temptation to pride yourselves on your attainments, or to exalt yourselves above your less favored brethren. You will find your place, where the Apostle found his, among the chief of sinners, and will vie with him in magnifying and adoring the grace of God!

2. “Acquaint yourselves with God, that you may be at peace”.

This was the advice which Eliphaz gave to Job, Job 22:21, and which I would give to every one of you. It is self-knowledge which alone can humble us; but it is the knowledge of God alone that can afford us any comfort. Indeed, the more we know of our indwelling corruptions, the more shall we despair, if we do not proportionably grow in the knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ. But if we bear in mind what we have already stated respecting the character of God, and the sufficiency of that sacrifice which Christ has offered for us—we shall attain that precise frame of mind, that just admixture:
of hope and fear,
of joy and sorrow,
of confidence and abasement,
which constitutes the perfection of Christian experience, and leads to the highest possible attainments in the divine life.

Go then, every one of you, my brethren, to God in Christ Jesus. Carry nothing with you but your sins! Do not think of purging them away by anything that you yourselves can do; but cast yourselves upon the mercy of God in Christ Jesus; and expect from him the mercy which you need for the pardon of your sins, and the grace which you need for the maintenance of your future conflicts. Only go with Paul, crying, “O what a wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?” and you shall be enabled to add with him, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:25.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 63:1-8

“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me!”

It is justly said of God, that “he gives songs in the night;” and never was there a more striking evidence of it than in the psalm before us. David is supposed to have written it when he was in the wilderness of Ziph, fleeing from Saul who was seeking to destroy him 1 Samuel 23:15. But we can scarcely conceive that he would call himself “the king,” as he does in the 11th verse, in the life-time of Saul; for though he believed that God would ultimately raise him to the throne, it would have been treason against his legitimate prince to arrogate to himself the title of “king;” nor can we conceive that under his perilous circumstances he would have given Saul so just a ground of accusation against him.

For these reasons we are inclined to think it was written at the time that he fled into the wilderness from Absalom, when he, and the people that were with him, were in the greatest distress for every necessity of life, 2 Samuel 17:28-29. But what are the contents of this Psalm? Nothing but joy and triumph; the things of time and sense were as nothing in his eyes; but God was “all in all.”

From that portion of the Psalm which we have read, we shall take occasion to show you:

the desires of a renewed soul,

the purposes of a renewed soul, and

the expectations of a renewed soul.

I. The desires of a renewed soul.

As soon as the soul has obtained a saving interest in Christ, and reconciliation with God through him, it is privileged to claim God as its own special portion; it is entitled to say of Christ, “My Beloved is mine, and I am his;” “He has loved me, and given himself for me!” And to the Father himself also, as now reconciled to him, he can say, “O God, you are my God!” It is no wonder then, that from henceforth God becomes the one object of his desire.

The soul now finds no satisfaction in earthly things.

The whole world appears to it as “a land where there is no water.” The whole creation seems to be but “a broken cistern,” which, while it promises refreshment to the weary and heavy-laden, is never able to impart it.

If it is objected, that, though David, under his peculiar trials, found the world so barren of all good—but we may find it a source of comfort to us; we answer, That there is nothing in this world that is suited to satisfy the desires of an immortal soul; and that, the more we have of this world, the more fully shall we be convinced, that it is altogether an empty bubble, a cheat, a lie; and that “vanity and vexation of spirit” is written by the finger of God himself upon all that it contains. The carnal mind cannot believe this; but the renewed soul needs no argument to convince it of this truth.

The soul’s desire therefore is after God alone.

“Early will I seek you,” is the language of every one who is born of God. In the secret chamber his first waking thoughts will be,

Where is God my Maker?

Where is Jesus my Redeemer?

Where is the blessed Spirit my Sanctifier and my Comforter?

In the public ordinances also especially will his soul desire communion with its God. It has beheld somewhat of God’s power and glory in the manifestations of his love, and in the communications of his grace; and it bears those seasons in remembrance, and longs to have them renewed from time to time. The bare ordinances will not satisfy the believer, if God is not in them. It is not to perform a duty that he comes up to the sanctuary, but to meet his God, and enjoy sweet converse with him; and if he does not meet God there, he is like a man who, with much ardent expectation, has gone to a distant city to meet his friend, and has been disappointed of his hope; or rather he is like those of whom the prophet Jeremiah speaks, who in a season of extreme drought “came to the pits and found no water; and returning with their vessels empty, were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads, Jeremiah 14:3.”

They know by sad experience that “there is no water” elsewhere; and if they do not find access to “God, the living fountain,” their very “flesh” sympathizes with their “souls,” and faints by reason of the painful disappointment. This is beautifully described in another Psalm, Psalm 42:1-3; and it is realized in the experience of every believer, in proportion to the integrity of his soul before God, and to the measure of grace with which he is endued.

In perfect correspondence with the desires of a renewed soul, are,

II. The purposes of a renewed soul.

The believer determines to praise and glorify his God.

The language of his heart is, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed! I will sing and give praise.” He knows what God has said, “Whoever offers me praise, glorifies me;” and he determines to offer unto God the tribute that is so justly due. Nor will he do this in a cold and formal manner; no; as a man of warm feelings expresses with his body the emotions of his soul—so will he, together with his heart, lift up his hands also in the name of his God. Nor will he pour forth these effusions only on some particular occasions, or during any one particular season; he will do it continually; he will do it to the last hour of his life. He considers “praise as lovely for the upright;” and he wishes it to be the constant language of his lips.

To this determination he is led by the consideration of the loving-kindness of his God.

O how wonderful does that love appear to him, which gave no less a person than God’s co-equal co-eternal Son to die for him! which gave him too the knowledge of that Savior, together with all spiritual and eternal blessings in him—while thousands and millions of the human race are dying in ignorance and perishing in their sins! This loving-kindness so free, so rich, so full, appears to him “better than even life itself;” and all that he can do to testify his gratitude seems nothing, yes “less than nothing,” in comparison with it. The language of his heart is, “If I should hold my peace, the very stones would cry out against me.” O that I had powers equal to the occasion! How would I praise him! how would I glorify him! Truly I would praise him on earth, even as they do in Heaven.

In these purposes the believing soul is yet further confirmed by,

III. The expectations of a renewed soul.

The service of God is not without its reward even in this life; and hence the believer, while engaged in his favorite employment,

1. The believer expects the richest consolation.

The carnal mind can see no pleasure in this holy exercise; but the spiritual mind is refreshed by it, more than the most luxurious epicure ever was by the richest dainties. His very meditations are unspeakably sweet; yes, while contemplating his God upon his bed, and during the silent watches of the night, “his soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness;” it has a foretaste even of Heaven itself; From its own experience of this heavenly joy, the soul expects this glorious harvest, when it has sown in tears, and labored to glorify its God in songs of praise.

2. The believer expects the most assured safety.

Thus engaged, the soul looks down upon all its enemies with disdain; it feels itself in an impregnable fortress; it is conscious that it owes all its past preservation to the help of its Almighty Friend; and it rejoices in the thought that under the shadow of the Redeemer’s wings it must still be safe; and that “none shall ever pluck it out of the Father’s hands.” The state of Hezekiah, when surrounded by a vast army that was bent on his destruction, exactly shows what is the state of a believing soul in the midst of all its enemies, “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.” Such was the language of Zion to all the Assyrian hosts; and such is the blessed anticipation of victory which every believer is privileged to enjoy! Romans 8:33-39.

Improvement.

1. How greatly do the generality of religious professors live below their privileges!

It was not peculiar to David thus to delight in God; it is common to all the saints. Can it be thought that we, who live under so much better a dispensation than he, and have so much brighter discoveries of God’s power and glory than ever he had—should yet not be privileged to delight in God as he did? Were this the case, we would be losers by that religion which the Son of God came down from Heaven to establish. But it is not so; we may partake of all spiritual blessing in as rich abundance as he, or any other of the saints of old, did.

We have reason to be ashamed that:

our desires after God are so faint,

our purposes respecting him so weak, and

our expectations from him so contracted.

Let us, each for himself, look at our experience from day to day, and compare it with his; and let us not rest until we have attained somewhat of that delight in God which so eminently distinguished that blessed man.

2. What encouragement have all to seek after God!

It was not only after David had so grievously transgressed, but at the very moment that God was chastening him for his transgressions, that he was thus favored of his God. Absalom’s incest with David’s wives was foretold by Nathan, as a part of David’s punishment for his sin in taking to him the wife of his friend Uriah.

Can we then with propriety say, This mercy is not for me? it is not possible for such a sinner as I, ever to be thus highly favored? Know that there is no limit, either to the sovereign exercise of God’s grace, or to its influence on the souls of men. His grace often most abounds, where sin has most abounded; and the vilest of us all may yet become the richest monument of God’s love and mercy, if only, like David, he will humble himself for his iniquities, and sprinkle on his conscience the blood of our great sacrifice.

O beloved! know, if you come to God by Christ, you shall never be cast out; and if you commit yourself in faith entirely to Christ, you shall rejoice in him with joy unspeakable, and receive in due time the great end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 61:1-3

“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you—I call when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe!”

In whatever situation we are, we shall find both consolation in the promises, and direction in the examples, that are recorded for our use in the Sacred Writings. But in seasons of affliction principally, will the holy Oracles be found precious, because they exhibit to us God’s dearest children in similar circumstances, and point out to us the means which they, in their troubles, found effectual for their relief.

In recommending the example of David, we shall,

I. Mention some seasons wherein our hearts are apt to be overwhelmed.

This poor world is a valley of tears to all; but to some more especially:

1. From temporal calamities.

Bodily pains, loss of friends, failures, will weigh down the spirits even of the best, 2 Samuel 18:33.” And though, at times, religion will enable them to triumph in the midst of all their tribulations—yet its more common operation is:
to moderate their grief,
to produce resignation in their souls, and
to sanctify the affliction to their spiritual advancement.

2. From spiritual troubles.

The first convictions of penitents are often accompanied with the deepest anguish; insomuch that, if God did not support them by a hope of his mercy—then they might, like Judas, destroy themselves in utter despair. Their subsequent views also of their indwelling corruptions are frequently attended with such dejection, as quite to enervate the body and overwhelm the soul! Isaiah 35:3-4. Romans 7:24. If to these are added the hidings of God’s face, the soul may have a foretaste even of Hell itself in the miseries that it endures! Psalm 77:2-9.

3. From the near prospect of death.

To a true believer enjoying the divine presence, death has no terrors, Philippians 1:21; Philippians 1:23; it is a welcome messenger, that cannot come too soon. But to one in spiritual darkness and desertion, death is inexpressibly dreadful; and the whole world would appear but a small price to pay for the respite of a few days.

The ungodly often die as insensible of eternal realities as the beasts! But the godly, who know the terrors of the Lord, cannot pass through that dreary valley without extreme horror, unless they have an inward witness of their acceptance with God, Psalm 55:4-5.

The example in the text may serve as a model, while we endeavor to,

II. Show how we should conduct ourselves in those seasons when our hearts are apt to be overwhelmed.

1. To speak generally, we should betake ourselves to prayer.

God is the only source of true strength and consolation. If we apply to the creature in our distress, we shall invariably find him but a broken reed! Hosea 5:14. Isaiah 31:3. On the contrary, the pressure that is on our minds will, for the most part, increase; or, if the trouble is removed, the removal will prove a heavier judgment than its continuance.

But if we apply with humility to the throne of grace, the desired effect will almost instantly appear, Isaiah 65:24. There is no trouble from which prayer has not extricated believers!

Prayer prolonged the life of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20:1-6.
Prayer brought Jonah from the bottom of the sea, Jonah 2:1-7.
Prayer restored to peace the tempest-tossed soul of David, Psalm 116:3-8.

For us also, if it is fervent, prayer shall effectually prevail, James 5:16.
There is no disquietude which prayer shall not pacify.
There is no sorrow which prayer shall not turn into songs of joy! Psalm 50:15.

Wherever we are therefore, even “at the very ends of the earth,” and however circumstanced—we should make our requests known unto God, in order to the attainment of solid peace, Philippians 4:6-7.

2. More particularly, we should beg of God to lead us to the Savior.

David, though a king, had no sufficiency in himself; he was forced to look to one higher than himself, even to Jesus, the Rock of his salvation! Psalm 89:19. But how should he come to Jesus, unless the Father should draw him? John 6:44. Hence he prayed so fervently, that God would “lead” him to that Rock.

There then must we also go; for there alone can we find stability.

Does guilt appall us? Nothing but the blood of Jesus can compose our minds! Acts 16:29-31.

Do temptations harass us? Nothing but his grace can enable us to withstand them! 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Do accumulated troubles threaten to overwhelm us? We can both do and suffer all things, if he strengthens us—yes, we shall be more than conquerors through him who loved us! Romans 8:37. Like a shipwrecked mariner standing on a rock, we may defy the waves that roar beneath our feet. Such was the experience of David himself Psalm 40:1-3,” and such shall be ours also, if the storms that threaten us drive us for security to that place of safety.

Let us then, in every affliction, look to Jesus as our help; and, with a deep impression of our inability to go to him aright, let us cry unto God, “Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I!”

ADDRESS.

1. Those who experience no overwhelming troubles.

However serene the sky at present is, no man knows how soon a storm may arise. But supposing our voyage through life is ever so favorable, it must come to an end; and what shall we do in the hour of death without a saving interest in Christ? Above all, what must become of us, if we are not fixed upon that Rock at the day of judgment?

Let us then improve our tranquil hours in securing a saving foundation on Christ Jesus; that, however suddenly calamities may come, or death may summon us into the presence of our God, we may be found standing immovably on the Rock of ages! Then, like Noah, shall we rejoice in God’s favor, when thoughtless myriads shall be overwhelmed in the deluge of his wrath!

2. Those who are bowed down under trouble.

You are but too apt to carry your distresses to men, instead of spreading them before God. What wonder then, that you find no deliverance? Has not David told you, that this was his very experience; and that nothing but the use of this remedy afforded him relief? Psalm 32:3-5.

Chide then, and resist, your backwardness to prayer. Lay the blame, not on God, who is willing to impart help, but on yourselves, who are unwilling to implore it. Your troubles are sent on purpose to drive you to the Savior, whom, in a time of prosperity, you are too prone to neglect! If they produce that effect, you shall soon number your trials among your richest blessings!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 60:4

“But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow. Selah”

[N.B. Banners were used as rallying points for troops in preparation for battle and for leading them into action.]

This Psalm, in the title of it, is called “Michtam,” a golden Psalm; and it well deserves the name. It was written by David after he had come to the full possession of the kingdom, which, during the reign of Saul, 1 Samuel 31:7, and during the seven years’ division of the tribes under Ishbosheth, 2 Samuel 5:4-5, had been reduced to a very low condition, “God had showed his people hard things, and made them to drink the wine of astonishment.”

But the union of all Israel under David, and the victories they had already gained over their powerful and oppressive adversaries the Philistines, were tokens of God’s returning favor to them, and a pledge to them that all his promised blessings should in due season be poured out upon them.

It would seem as if the more pious part of the people had been discouraged by the long continuance of this adversity; and had begun almost to despair of ever seeing their hopes realized, respecting the extension and stability of their national power. But David tells them, that, in his advancement to the kingdom, and in their recent successes, “God had given them a banner,” and had unfurled it, as it were, before their eyes, as a signal of his presence in the midst of them, and as a pledge of victory over all their enemies.

What God did for the Jews as a pledge of temporal advancement, he has done for his redeemed people in all ages, to assure them of success in their spiritual warfare.

To illustrate this, I will show,

I. What banners God has given us.

The Church has a warfare to maintain; and, if, human prowess alone were considered, it is a warfare which would afford not the smallest prospect of success.

1. God has given to us a banner in the elevation of his Son.

David was an eminent type of Christ, and especially in the advancement of his kingdom; for Christ was appointed “to sit upon the throne of David forever and ever.” Was David’s elevation then a banner? Then so also is that of Christ, who is now seated at the right hand of God, above all the principalities and powers whether of earth or Hell. Believer, survey your Lord. Remember him in the manger, in the garden, on the cross, and in the grave. From a view of him in those scenes, you would be ready to say, There is no hope. But behold him risen, ascended, glorified, and in full possession of his kingdom; and then say, What a change awaits you after your present conflicts! Ephesians 1:19-20. His triumphs are a pledge of yours, “because he lives, you shall live also;” and “as he has overcome and has sat down with his Father upon his throne,” so shall you, in your victories and in your triumphs, resemble him! Luke 22:29-30. Revelation 3:21.

2. God has given to us a banner in the records of his Word.

Behold, what “a cloud of witnesses” present themselves to your view! Read the catalogue of worthies, as recorded by God himself. Are your trials heavier than theirs? Hebrews 11:33-38. Or is the power that was sufficient for them withheld from you? Will not faith bring Omnipotence to your support, even as it did for them? They are set before you expressly for your encouragement, that you, seeing how they have succeeded, may be stirred up “to run your race with patience, looking unto Jesus as the author and finisher of your faith,” even as he was of their faith! Hebrews 12:1-2.

Are you weak? so were they.

Are your enemies numerous and mighty? So were theirs.

Did they prevail through the grace of Christ? That same “grace shall be sufficient for you;” for He is the same gracious and Almighty Friend as ever! Time has made no change in him, “his hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor is his ear heavy, that he cannot hear, Isaiah 59:1;” as “he was mighty in them, so will he also be in you;” and “his strength shall be perfected in your weakness,” even as it was in theirs! 2 Corinthians 12:9.

3. God has given to us a banner in the experience of his saints.

You have found a divine change in your views, desires, pursuits. Tell me: Where has this change come from? Must you not say, “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose, 2 Corinthians 5:5.” If you will look within, you will find that you have rather resisted this divine change than helped it forward. “Your carnal mind has been enmity against God;” and it would have been so still, if God, by the light of his Word, and the influences of his Spirit, had not subdued it to himself. If, then, the heart of stone has been taken away, and a heart of flesh been given to you—then that is itself “a banner” erected in your heart, a token of God’s presence, a pledge of his power, and a pledge of yet richer mercies in reserve! For, “if it have pleased him to make you of the number of his people, he will not forsake you, 1 Samuel 12:22;” and you may “be confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work within you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ! Philippians 1:6.”

Let us consider,

II. The end for which these divine banners are displayed unto us.

As the banner given to Israel in the time of David was to confirm their faith in his promises, and to assure them of God’s faithfulness—so are the banners which God has given to us bestowed,

1. To confirm our confidence in him.

We ought to “know in whom we have believed,” and to feel assured that he is both “able and willing to keep that which we have committed to him, 2 Timothy 1:12.” We should never forget who it is that is engaged for us. We should never forget that in God we have:
a wisdom that cannot be circumvented,
a power that cannot be withstood,
a faithfulness that is altogether inviolate and incapable of change.

What, then, have we to fear? The serpent, no doubt, is subtle, and the devices of Satan are very deep; but can he elude the eye of our heavenly Protector, or by any means defeat His purpose? Our enemies too, both within and without, are mighty; but what have we to fear, who have a Protector that is Almighty? “If God is for us—then who can be against us, Romans 8:31.” Let our enemies be ever so numerous, we may safely affirm that “those who are with us, are more than those who are with them, 2 Kings 6:16-17;” and if we have no more than a lamp and a trumpet against an armed host—then we shall in Jehovah’s name prevail against them all! Judges 7:15-22. A stone out of the brook shall suffice us to destroy our mightiest adversary; yes, his own sword shall serve us for the instrument whereby to complete our triumph! 1 Samuel 17:49-51.

2. To assure us of victory over all our enemies.

Among men, a banner is only a signal to enlist them for the combat; but with God it is a pledge of victory. See how David regarded it, “In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne! Psalm 11:1-4;” and, while he is there, you need not attempt to alarm me; I know my security, and defy the efforts of all my enemies.

It was this consideration that enabled Paul also to hurl defiance at his enemies, and to assure himself of victory, as much as if it had been already gained, Romans 8:33-39; And we also, in dependence on our God, may dismiss every fear, and anticipate, as already ours, the glory and felicity that await us! 2 Corinthians 5:1-4. 2 Timothy 4:8.

APPLICATION.

What now can I say more but this:

1. Fear God.

“But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow! Selah”

You will observe, that this is the description of the people to whom his banner was given; and for them is the same privilege reserved in every age. Do not let any undervalue the fear of God; for, in truth, it is that which as assuredly interests us in the divine favor as love itself. Of course, it is a filial fear of which we speak; and he who possesses that, may divest himself of every other fear, “Who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, or of the son of man, that shall be as grass, and forget the Lord your Maker! Isaiah 51:12-13.” Beloved brethren, “sanctify the Lord Almighty himself in your hearts, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread! Isaiah 8:12-13.”

2. Trust in God.

Excellent was that resolution of the Psalmist, “In the name of our God, we will set up our banners, Psalm 20:5.” It is not possible for our confidence to be too strong, provided only it is humble. There are, I confess, two different kinds of confidence, which yet I consider as dangerous in the extreme:

One of them is founded upon mere head-knowledge of divine truth, without any mixture of holy fear.

The other arises from some dream or vision, or enthusiastic conceit, about spiritual impressions coming to their mind in a peculiar way.

Against both of these I would guard you with all my might. The only confidence that is pleasing to God is that which is softened with fear, and tempered with contrition. Let this be in exercise to the utmost possible extent, and then you may adopt the language of this Psalm:

“Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered, Psalm 60:5.”

“Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies! Psalm 60:11-12.”

Only trust in God; and then, in every place where you go, you may behold an altar with this inscription, “Jehovah-Nissi, The Lord is my banner! Exodus 17:15.” Yes, the very graces which you exercise, shall be in you a pledge that God will fulfill and perfect in you the good work he has begun!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 55:6

“O that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest!”

Trouble is the portion of all, without exception; of the rich, as well as of the poor; of the godly, as well as of the ungodly, “man is born to it, as the sparks fly upward.” The godly indeed have, in some respects, a larger measure of it than others; for, from within, they have grounds of trouble which are unknown to others; and, from without, they are beset on every side with enemies, who hate them purely for their righteousness’ sake. Among all the saints of whom we read in Scripture, David seems to have been peculiarly distinguished as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” In the early part of his life, his persecutions from Saul kept him in continual jeopardy of his life; and during all his latter years, his own children furnished him with occasions of sorrow, which at times sunk him into the deepest distress, and rendered him weary even of life. The Psalm before us was written on one of these occasions; we suppose at the time of Absalom’s rebellion. And so greatly was he oppressed in spirit, that he would gladly have fled to the ends of the earth, with the loss of all his honors and dignities, if he could but have obtained rest from his accumulated and overwhelming afflictions; he said, “O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

This being by no means an uncommon sentiment, I will show,

I. What are the occasions which usually give rise to this wish.

The wish itself necessarily presupposes a state of trouble; and it may arise in the bosom,

1. From temporal troubles.

Afflictions do not lose their nature when they visit the godly. Piety may soften their pungency; but it does not divest them of their proper qualities, “they are not joyous to any, but grievous;” as God has condescended to declare. How grievous David’s trial was, may be seen in all the preceding context, “Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not yourself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me! I mourn in my distress and make a noise; my heart is sore pained within me; and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfullness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.” Nor do we wonder at this language, when we consider that his own son had driven him from his throne; that many of his subjects were in rebellion against him; and that there was about to be a conflict between two portions of them, the one headed by himself, and the other led on by his son; and that, whichever might be victorious, it must be the blood of his subjects only that must flow. Well might he wish to withdraw from such a distressing scene, and well might he express himself in those mournful terms, “O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the stormy wind and tempest.” And though such scenes are rare, it is by no means uncommon to find in families troubles of such an overwhelming nature, as to make life itself a burden to those who are afflicted by them. Husbands and wives, parents and children, who ought to be sources of the sublimest happiness to each other, are frequently occasions to each other of the deepest woe; a woe that embitters their whole lives, and makes them pant for death as a relief. And where there is no particular evil committed either by the head or members, there will often arise, from the dispensations of Providence, such afflictions as prove an insupportable burden to the mind. In Job, for instance, we see, from his accumulated trials, the same effect produced as from the afflictions of David. He wished that in his early infancy he had been consigned to the grave, “where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.” “Why,” says he, “is light given to him who is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; who long for death, but it comes not; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures? There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master Job 3:17-21.” In truth, almost all the suicides of which we hear originate in worldly sorrow, either personal or domestic; nor is it always found that piety itself is sufficient to counterbalance the effects of temporal calamity; so as to elevate the spirits which have been broken by it, and restore the constitution that has been destroyed.

2. From spiritual troubles.

Of these, none can judge, but those who have endured them. In reference to these it may well be said, “The spirit of man may sustain his infirmities; but a wounded spirit who can bear Proverbs 18:14.” Truly, when a man is bowed down under a sense of sin, and trembling under apprehensions of God’s wrath, he may well be dejected, and wish for anything which may pacify his fears and terminate his sorrows. Great as Job’s other troubles were, this was heavier than them all. Hear his complaint under it, “O that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! for now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words are swallowed up. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinks up my spirit; the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. O that I might have my request! that God would grant me the thing that I long for, even that it would please God to destroy me Job 6:2-4; Job 6:8-9, Terrible, beyond measure, are the hidings of God’s face under such circumstances; so at least David felt them to be, “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps; your wrath lies hard upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves. Lord, why cast you off my soul? why hide you your face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up; while I suffer your terrors, I am distracted Psalm 88:7-8; Psalm 88:14-15.” So it is with some at this time; they go mourning all the day long; and by their anticipations of God’s wrath, feel almost the commencement of it in their souls. The Savior himself deprecated this bitter cup, and complained of the hidings of God’s face in his extremity; well, therefore, may frail men. who are crushed before the moth, implore “the staying of God’s rough wind in the day of his east wind. Isaiah 27:8.”

Seeing, then, that the wish of David is common in the world, let us inquire,

II. How far the godly are at liberty to indulge it.

Certainly we are at liberty to wish for death; for Paul “desired to depart, and to be with Christ,” which he deemed far better than the happiest state on earth; and we all are encouraged to be “looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of the day of Christ.” But the wish then becomes evil, when it is attended with impatience, or has respect to a mere deliverance from present troubles. This distinction is clearly marked by Paul, in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, “We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up of life 2 Corinthians 5:4.” It was not so much to get rid of the storms and tempests to which he was exposed in this present life, as to obtain the glory and felicity of the eternal world. And this was a highly commendable state of mind. But when we long merely to be released from the troubles of life, and the conflicts which we are here called to sustain, we do not well; for we should be content,

1. That God should glorify himself in his own way.

God sends trials to his people, in order that he may afford them such effectual support as shall advance his glory in the world. The trial of gold by fire is precious, because it purifies without consuming the gold; but “the trial of our faith is infinitely more precious,” because it purifies the souls of men; and it will, therefore, “be to the praise and honor and glory of our God, in the great day of his appearing 1 Peter 1:7.” On the part of those who occasion trials to his people he is dishonored, “but in the steadfastness of his people he is glorified 1 Peter 4:14.” Even in the sufferings of our blessed Lord this end was obtained; and therefore, though he deprecated sufferings as he was entitled to do, he submitted to bear his cross for the sake of reflecting glory on his heavenly Father, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify your name John 12:27-28.” Thus, if only in the event God may be glorified in us, we should be willing to bear any sufferings, or sustain any conflicts, which God, in his wisdom, may see fit to lay upon us.

2. That he should complete his work in his own way.

He calls all his people to bear their cross, in imitation, of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Now “the Lord Jesus, though he was a Son, vet learned obedience by the things which he suffered;” and “he was made perfect through sufferings;” and in the same war does God still teach and perfect us. He makes tribulation the way to glory; purging us from our corruptions by means of it Isaiah 27:9. Hebrews 12:10, and causing it to “work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2 Corinthians 4:17.” Does it befit us, then, to be impatient under our troubles; or to wish for the removal of them, before they have accomplished the end for which they were sent? Surely we should be infinitely more anxious to have them sanctified, than to get them removed; and, however sorely they may press upon us, we should say, “Not my will, but your be done.” Be the furnace never so hot, we should welcome it, if only at last we may come out of it “vessels of honor, fit for the Master’s use.”

ADDRESS.

1. Those who have hitherto been exempt from heavy trials.

Doubtless, as far as the mere exemption from trouble goes, you have reason to be thankful; but yet. if for lack of it you are yet in a careless or lukewarm state, you have no great reason to congratulate yourselves; It would have been better that every bone in your body were broken, or that you should have the sword of the Almighty inflicting the deepest wounds in your souls, than that you should be left to go on wickedly in the way of your hearts, I do not say that you should pray for trials; for trials will do you no good, if they be not sanctified to your souls by the Spirit of God. But this I say, Let no rest satisfy you, except that which is to be found in the favor of a reconciled God, and in the hope of his glory.

2. Those who are sinking under the weight of them.

Perhaps some may be here, who, like David, are bowed down under the weight of domestic troubles, or under a dread of God’s heavy displeasure. And, if this be the case, let me tell you where you may find rest unto your souls, You need not the wings of a dove to fly away; you have your refuge close at hand, even Jesus, who says, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” If you will but run to Him, you shall find him “an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land Isaiah 32:2.” Yes, in truth, “He is a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall Isaiah 25:4.” Go to him then; take refuge in him; cast yourselves upon him; and let him give you rest, in his own time and way. Then will he walk with you in the furnace, as he did with the Hebrew youths; and in due season add you to the happy number of “those who have come out of great tribulation, and washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb Revelation 7:14.” Then will your rest be glorious indeed; for “then you will hunger no more, nor thirst any more; neither shall the sun rest on you, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed you, and shall lead you unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes Revelation 7:16-17.”

Charles Simeon