Psalm 31:19-20
“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.”
The salvation of the Gospel is a present salvation. The “godliness which it inspires is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life which now is, as well as that which is to come.” It is needless to say that the trials of life are great; and that men in every situation of life need the supports and consolations of religion to carry them through the difficulties which they have to encounter. But of the extent to which these supports and consolations are administered to God’s chosen people, very little idea can be formed by those who have never experienced a communication of them to their souls.
David was highly favored in this respect. He lived in a state of near and habitual fellowship with God; spreading before him all his needs, and receiving from him such supplies of grace and peace as his daily necessities required. Hence with devout rapture he expresses his admiration of Gods goodness to his believing people.
This is the subject which we propose for our present meditation; and which, in correspondence with the words of our text, we shall consider:
I. In a general view.
The terms by which the Lord’s people are characterized sufficiently distinguish them from all others, since none but they do truly “fear God,” or sincerely “put their trust in him.” They are the true Israel; in reference to whom it is said, “God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a pure heart, Psalm 73:1.”
In speaking of his goodness to them, we shall notice,
1. The goodness which is “stored up for those who fear” God.
In the time of David the great truths of the Gospel were but indistinctly known; the fuller manifestation of them being reserved for the Apostolic age; as Paul, quoting a remarkable passage from the Prophet Isaiah, says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man—the things which God has prepared for those who love him;” and then adds, “But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit, Isaiah 64:4 with 1 Corinthians 2:9-10.”
To the Jewish Church therefore these things are only “stored up,” as it were, in types and prophecies; and though made known in the Gospel, they are still but imperfectly viewed by the Christian world; and may be considered as “stored up” for the Church at this time, no less than in former ages; for it is only by slow degrees that anyone attains to the knowledge of them; and whatever attainments anyone may have made, he sees only “as in a looking-glass darkly, and knows only in part;” there being in it a length and breadth and depth and height utterly beyond the power of any finite intelligence to explore! Ephesians 3:18-19. The “riches” that are stored up for us in Christ even in this world are altogether “unsearchable, Ephesians 3:8;” what then must those glories be which are “reserved in Heaven for us!” The more we contemplate the blessings which God has treasured up for us in the Son of his love, the more shall we exclaim with David, “Oh how great is his goodness!”
2. The goodness which God has already done for those who fear Him.
Every believer was once “dead in trespasses and sins,” even as others. But he has been quickened by the mighty energy of God’s Spirit, and been raised up to newness of life.
He is “a new creature in Christ Jesus;” all of his views, his desires, his purposes, being radically changed!
He has the heart of stone taken from him, and a heart of flesh substituted in its place.
He has been “made a partaker of the divine nature,” and “been renewed after God’s image; and that, not in knowledge only, but in righteousness also and true holiness.”
He is brought altogether into a new state, having been “translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son,” and been made “an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ.”
In a word, he is “begotten to an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and never-fading, reserved in Heaven for him;” and for the full possession of which he also is reserved by the power of God, through the simple exercise of faith 2 Peter 1:4.
All this God has done for those who fear him, “before the sons of men.” They are evidently “the seed which the Lord has blessed;” they are “lights in a dark world,” “epistles of Christ, known and read of all men”.
But in the latter part of our text, we are called to consider the goodness of God towards his people:
II. The goodness of God towards his people, with a particular reference to their relationship with the ungodly world.
Exceeding bitter are those pains which men inflict on each other by calumnies and reproaches!
To speak good one of another, affords no particular pleasure; but to hear and circulate some evil report affords to the carnal mind, the highest gratification; and in such employment all the corruptions of our fallen nature find ample scope for exercise and indulgence. Who can estimate the evils arising from “pride,” and “the strife of tongues?” Some little idea may be formed from the description given of the tongue by an inspired Apostle James: “Behold,” says he, “the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by Hell! James 3:5-6.” How exceedingly strong are these descriptions! Yet it is by no means an exaggerated statement of the evils proceeding from calumny in the world at large. But as representing the virulence and malignity with which men calumniate the people of God, these words come yet nearer to the truth.
In the very words preceding my text, David faintly portrays the conduct of the ungodly in relation to this matter, “Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous!” Psalm 31:18. In another Psalm he speaks in far stronger terms, “My soul,” says he, “is in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts—men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords! Psalm 57:4.”
The truth is, that men can inflict, and often do inflict, far deeper wounds with their tongue than they could with the most powerful weapon! With a sword they can only wound the body; but with bitter and cruel words they wound the inmost soul. Under the former we may easily support ourselves; but “a wounded spirit who can bear?”
But against these calumnies and reproaches, God provides an effectual antidote for his people.
Though more exposed than others to the venomous assaults of slander, they have a refuge which the worldling knows nothing of. They carry their trials to the Lord, and spread them before him; and from him they receive such supports and consolations as more than counterbalance the evils they sustain. “They are hidden in the secret of God’s presence.” When near to him in prayer, they are hidden as in a pavilion, or a royal tent, protected by armed hosts, and furnished with the richest viands, Psalm 27:5-6. But the full import of these terms cannot adequately be expressed. Who shall say what is implied in those words, “The secret of God’s presence?” Who shall declare what a fullness of joy is there possessed by the believing suppliant? How powerless are the fiery darts which are hurled at him by the most envenomed foes, while God himself is a wall of fire round about him, and the glory of God irradiates his soul, inspiring it with a foretaste of Heaven itself!
Some little idea of his enjoyment may be formed from the history of Hezekiah at the time of Sennacherib’s invasion. It was “a day of trouble, and of rebuke and blasphemy;” and the feelings excited in the bosom of Hezekiah were most distressing; but scarcely had he spread before the Lord the letter which the blaspheming Rabshakeh had sent him, than he was encouraged by God to return this triumphant answer, “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you, Isaiah 37:3; Isaiah 37:14; Isaiah 37:21-22.” Thus, like one who saw “the heavens filled with horses and chariots of fire” for his protection, he overlooked the vain boasts of his enemies, and anticipated a certain triumph.
Thus, however malignant the believer’s enemies may be, he is hidden from them as in an impregnable fortress, and looks down on their fruitless efforts with pity and contempt!
ADDRESS.
1. Let us seek to attain the character of a godly man which is here drawn.
To fear God is the duty, and to trust in him the privilege, of every man! Learn then to tremble for fear of his judgments, and to rely on his mercy as revealed to you in his Gospel; for only then can you experience the blessings of his goodness, when you surrender up yourselves to him to be saved by his grace.
2. Let us enjoy the privileges conferred upon us.
For a fuller discovery of the believer’s privileges, we may consult the declarations of David in the Psalms: Psalm 91:1-4; Psalm 91:9-16; Psalm 55:21-22. Let us not rest in anything short of them. Let us get such a sense of them as shall overwhelm us with wonder, and gratitude, and praise!
Charles Simeon