me), and the horn of my salvation (by whom I thrust down all my enemies), and my high tower."
And shall not we, who have so much stronger enemies to contend with, acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as standing in all these relations to us for our salvation ?
[Yes, in truth, long since had our great adversary the devil prevailed against us, if our adorable Emmanuel had not interposed for our deliverance. In him we have found refuge
from all the curses of God's broken law By him have
we been strengthened in our inner man And from
him have we received the armour of heavenly temper, by which we have been enabled to maintain our conflict with all the
enemies of our salvation If we have been " strong, it
has been in the Lord, and in the power of his might;" and it is he that must have all the glory of our preservation.
Behold, then, in what terms we should give glory to our great dehverer ! We should acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as our " all in all." And, whilst we give him the glory of all that we have already received, we should trust him for all our future conflicts : and, contemplating fuUy all the powers that there are in him, we should learn to appropriate all of them to ourselves, and to say, " He is my rock, and my fortress, and MY dehverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; MY buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." There should not be any thing in the Lord Jesus Christ but we should make it our own by faith, and claim it as our own in all the conflicts to which we may be called : and in every time of trial we should address him in the words of Thomas, " my Lord, and my God."]
To this the blessed Psalmist adds, III. A declaration of his purpose —
He did not think that God's relation to him would justify remissness or negligence on his part. On the contrary, he regarded it as his encouragement to call upon the Lord, and as a pledge to him of certain success.
And we, too, must bear in mind, that all our mercies must be obtained by prayer ; and that in no other way can we hope to be saved from our enemies.
[We see how David prayed in a time of great trial : *' Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me : fight thou against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Draw out also