very thoughts of his heart into captivity to the obedience of Christ." Would he attain and exercise all the graces of the Spirit ? he shall do so, yea, " he shall do all things through
Christ strengthening him"
And whom needs he to fear? Surely neither men nor devils : for, what can man do, when he himself is crushed before the worm ? As for ISatan, though he have at his command all the principalities and powers of hell, he is a vanquished enemy, and shall ere long " be bruised for ever under the Believer's feet " ]
But this truth is yet more blessed, when it is practically experienced by the Believer in his own soul —
[What a zest does the Believer's own experience give to every declaration of the Inspired Volume ! When, from the com- munications he has actually received, he can say, God is my strength and my shield, then it is that he is prepared to enjoy these blessed truths as he ought, and to give unto God the glory due unto his name. And here we cannot but exhort every Be- liever to trust in God with his whole heart, hi this case he shall never be disappointed of his hope : yea rather, the more he » expects, the more he shall receive ; and according to his faith it shall be done unto him. Let him only be able to say with David, ** My heart trusted in him," and he shall sooner or later have reason to add, " I am helped :" I am protected from evils, which I could not by my own wisdom or power avoid ; and I am en- abled to do things, for which my own strength would have been utterly insiifiieient : by my own experience therefore, no less than from the divine testimony, I can say, " The Lord is my strength, and my shield."]
As from David's assertions we learn what God is to us, so from his frame of mind we may see,
II. What should be the disposition of our hearts towards him — Certainly these exalted privileges should be re- ceived by us,
1. With joy — [Who can have reason to rejoice in comparison of the Be- liever ? Look round and see how the world at large are taken in the snare of the devil, and led captive by him at his will. Have you no reason to rejoice when God has interposed with a mighty hand and a stretched- out arm to deliver you ? When you see the dangers- with which you are surrounded, have you no reason to rejoice in having such a shield as is sufficiently large to encom- pass