ask, "What can the righteous do?" We should remember, that, as " with God all things are possible," so " all things are possible to him that believeth;" yea, " if we have faith only as a grain of mustard-seed, we may root up trees or mountains, and cast them into the depths of the sea."]
2. It prompts to the use of unbecoming expe- dients—
[However it might be proper for David to use prudential cautions, and not to put himself directly into the hands of Saul, it did not become him to " flee as a bird to his moun- tain," just as if he had no refuge in his God. His duty was, to repose a confidence in God, and to expect assuredly the accom- plishment of all God's promises towards him, in spite of all the efforts of his most malignant enemies. But such is constantly the voice of unbelief: it bids us not wait God's time, but con- trive some way for ourselves, lest peradventure God should have forgotten his engagements, or not be able to fulfil them. Thus it operated in Rebecca. She knew that God had de- signed the blessings of the birthright for Jacob, her younger son : but when she saw that Isaac's intention was in the space of an hour or two to give them to Esau, she conceived that the Divine purpose would be frustrated, if she did not instantly interpose for its accomplishment. To what a system of false- hood and treachery she had recourse, is too well known to need any recital : but it is a striking instance of the tendency of unbelief. And who does not feel this tendency in his own heart ? Who has not at some unhappy moment sought, by dissimulation or concealment, to avoid the cross, which a more faithful confession of the Saviour would have brought upon him ? But to use any indirect means either to avoid an evil or to obtain a good, is a certain proof of an unbelieving heart : for, " He that believeth will not make haste."]
In the noble reply of David to his friends, we behold,
II. The dictates of faith —
It is the peculiar province of faith to " see Him who is invisible ;" and in all situations to have re- spect to God,
1. As an Almighty Sovereign —
[Mark the answer which David, with holy indignation, gives to his timid advisers : " How say ye to my soul. Flee ?" How say ye with desponding apprehension, " What can the righteous do?" This is my answer to all such vain fears ; " The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven."