I. The resolution he formed —
The first verse of the psalm is somewhat diffe- rently rendered in the margin of our Bibles : " Shall I lift up mine eyes unto the hills ? Whence should my help come ?" This, whilst it affixes an important sense to the passage, gives it peculiar force and beauty. It represents the Psalmist as expressing his conviction of the utter insufficiency of all earthly powers to assist him, and his determination to con- fide in God alone. And in this view the passage exactly accords with that declaration of the Church in the prophet Jeremiah, " Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains : truly in the Lord our God is the salva- tion of Israel ''."
But as it stands in our translation, it is a reso- lution of David to look unto Jehovah, who dwelleth on Mount Zion, or rather in the highest heavens, and to trust in him as the one only source of all good. Now this was,
1. A 2f;we resolution —
[When our Lord said to his Disciples, " Will ye also go away?" Peter replied in the name of all, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of etjernal life." In like manner we must ask, To whom can we go for help, except to the Lord our God ? No creature can afford us any effectual aid. The creation itself subsists only through the continued agency of Him who first called it into existence, and in all its parts needs the same superintending care that we ourselves do. Whither- soever we turn our eyes for help, every creature uniformly replies, " It is not in me ; neither in me." To look therefore to Jehovah, is our truest, our only, wisdom.]
2. A pious resolution —
[A man duly sensible of his dependence on God, abhors the idea of trusting in an arm of flesh. He would not so dishonour God ; he would not so invade his unalienable prerogative. He loves the very thought of being a pensioner on the Divine bounty. The habit of committing every concern to God, and of receiving every blessing from God, is truly delightful to him. Hence he says with the Church of old, " Ashur shall not save us ; neither will we ride upon horses ; neither will we say any more to the
work *• Jer. ill. 23.