» Heb. v. 7.
David's confidence in god.
Ps. xxiii. 1 — 6. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth me leside the still waters. He restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies : thou anorntest my head tviili oil ; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
IN reading the Psalms of David we are apt to think of him as an highly privileged person, whom
we
we can never hope to resemble in the fervour of his piety, or the height of his enjoyments. But, whilst as the anointed King of Israel whom God had so par- ticularly chosen, and as a distinguished prophet of the Lord, he was favoured with communications and supports, which we are not entitled to expect, in his more private character, as a saint, he possessed no advantage above us. His views of Divine truth were far inferior to ours : and Stev experience of its efficacy was no other than what may be enjoyed by every saint in every age. The psalm before us is a bright specimen of devout affection, and, in point both of composition and sentiment, is universally admired : yet it contains no other recollections than what every Believer's experience must afford, no other confidence than what every Saint is warranted to express. Considering David then as a pattern for ourselves, we shall notice,
I. His retrospective acknowledgments —
In recording the mercies of God to him, he speaks
of his heavenly Benefactor under the character of, 1. A Shepherd —
[The Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, was David's Lord", and David's Shepherd'' : and whatever pertains to the office of a good shepherd, he both executed for him, and will execute for us.
Is it the office of a shepherd to provide good pashire for his sheep ? O what pasture is provided for us in the Sacred Records ! David in his day could say, " He maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; he leadeth me beside the still waters :" and if he, with so small a portion of the inspired volume in his hands, when the great mystery of Redemption was hid under a veil, and the Spirit of God was yet but sparingly bestowed upon the Church, could use such language, how much more may we, who have the meri- dian light of the Gospel shining around us, and the Holy Ghost poured forth in all his gracious influences, almost without measure ! What views have we of the " Covenant, that is ordered in all things and sure !" of the prophecies, which have been so minutely fulfilled ; and of " the exceeding great and pre- cious promises," which are so suited to all our wants ! And how abundant are our consolations, when the Comforter, the Holy
Ghost^
*Matt. xxii. 42— 45.
^ Gen. xlix. 24, Ezek. xxxiv, 23,24. John x. IL
344.] David's confidence in god, 57
Ghost,, seals all these truths upon our souls, and witnesses with our spirits that we are the Lord's !
Is it the office of a shepherd to bring back to the fold his wan~ dering sheep, and to guide them in right paths? how justly may we unite with David in saying, " He restoreth my soul ; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake ?" Mark the words, " For his names sake." It is his own glory that he has consulted in all his dealings towards us, and especially in that astonishing patience and forbearance which he has exer- cised towards us from day to day. Our backslidings have been so grievous, and our departures from him so frequent, that we might well have been left to perish in our sins. But he considers that his own honour is involved in the preservation of his sheep j and therefore he has never withdrawn his loving-kindness from us, or ceased to watch over us for good. It is on no other principle that we can account for our recoveries when fallen, and our pre- servation from ten thousand evils into which we should have fallen, if we had not been guided and upheld by him.