But against these does God provide for his people an effectual antidote —
[Though more exposed than others to the venomous as- saults of slander, they have a refuge which the worldling knows not of. They carry their trials to the Lord, and spread them before him ; and from him they receive such supports and con- solations as more than counterbalance the evils they sustain. '* In the secret of God's presence they are hid." When nigh to him in prayer, they are hid as in a pavilion, or a royal tent, protected by armed hosts, and furnished with the richest viands''. But the full import of these terms cannot adequately be ex- pressed. Who shall say what is implied in those words, " The secret of God's presence?" who shall declare what a fulness 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, whilst 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 en- joyment 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, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn ; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee'." Thus, like one who saw " the heavens filled with horses of "fire and chariots of fire" for his protection, he set at nought the vain boasts of his enemies, and anticipated a certain triumph.
Thus, » Ps. Ivii, 4. '' Ps. xxvii. 5, 6. ' Isai. xxxvii. 3, 14, 1\, 22.
92 PSALMS, XXXII. 1—6. [352^v
Thus, how malignant soever the Believer's enemies may be, he is bid 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 here drawn —
[To fear God is the duty, and to trust in him the privilege,
of every child of man Learn then to tremble for fear of
his judgments, and to rely on his mercy as revealed to you in his
Gospel for then only can you experience the blessings of
his goodness, when you surrender up yourselves to him to be saved by his g'-ace '\
1. 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 "^ Let lis
not rest in any thing short of them. Let us get such a sense of them as shall overwhelm us with wonder, and gratitude, and praise ]
" Ps. xci. 1—4, 9 — 16, & Iv. 21, 22.