in darkness and the shadow of death : and the constant frame of our souls should be, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise ! " We may, indeed, without impropriety on some occasions say, as the Psalmist, " / have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them ; / have wounded them, that they were not able to rise ;" but we must soon check ourselves, like St. Paul, and say, " Yet not /, but the grace of God that was with me :" " He that hath wrought me to the self-same thing, is God." It is worthy of particular observation, how anxious David is to give to God all the glory of those exploits which he commemorates ; " By Thee I have run through a troop ; and hy my God I have leaped over a
walli" Let us imitate him in this respect, and " give
unto our God the glory due unto his name :" yea, " let our mouths be filled with his praise all the day long."]
2. To confide in God under all future difficulties —
[In what exalted terms David speaks of God at the com- mencement of this psalm''!-— -Verily, he had profited
well from his past experience. And ought not ive to profit in like manner ? Ought not we to remember what God is to all his believing people 1 If we have God for our God, what have we to fear? Can any enemy prevail against us, when he is on our side ? Remember how God reproved those of old, who, when danger threatened them, gave way to terror, instead of trusting confidently in their God : " Say ye not, A confederacy, a confederacy ! &c. but sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread : and he shaU be to you for a sanctuary ^." Whatever be your want, know
that He is able to supply it whatever he your dilficulty,
He can make you triumphant over it " His way is
perfect: his word is tried: he is a buckler to all those who trust in him*."]
3. To conduct ourselves so that we may reason- ably expect his blessing —
[Though God is found of them that sought him not, and dispenses his blessings altogether sovereignly and according to his own good pleasure towards the ungodly world, he proceeds, for the most part, in a way of equity towards his own peculiar people. The declaration that was made to king Asa is found true in every age: " The Lord is with you, while ye be with him ; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you : but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you"." Precisely to the same effect are those expressions of the Psalmist, "With the upright,
1 ver. 29. See also ver. 32—36, 47 — 49. >■ ver. 2.
3 Isai. viii. 12 — 14, * ver. 30. " 2 Chron. xv. 2.
520.] EXCELLENCY OF GOd's WORD. 105
the merciful, the pure, thou wilt shew thyself upright, and merciful, and pure ; but with the froward thou wilt shew thy- self froward," or, as it is m the margin, " thou wilt wrestle." " Thou wilt save the afflicted people (i.e. the humble); but thou mlt bring down high looks ^." If we walk uprightly and circumspectly before him, and in a humble dependence on his grace, there is not any thing which he will not do for us : but, " if we regard iniquity in our hearts, he will not hear us." Inquire, then, whether you are really " keeping the ways of the Lord," and are " keeping yourselves from your iniquity," that is, from the peculiar sin to which, by constitution, by habit, or by your situation in life, you are most exposed y. I charge you, before God, that you all make this a matter of serious inquiry. The '* besetting sin," ah ! it is that which separates between God and our souls ; it is that which " keeps good things from us." How many are there, who, whilst they make a profession of religion, are yet, by their unmortified lusts, or worldly desires, or slothful habits, or by some habitual evil, provoking God to depart from them! Beware lest it be so with you ; and " grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." You may grieve him, till you altogether " quench " his sacred motions. We entreat you to be upon your guard against this so fatal an evil. " Keep your hearts with all diligence :" yea, " give all diligence to make your calling and election sure." Then shall God delight himself in you, and be not only your present portion, " but your everlasting great reward."]