Ps. xxviii. 7. The Lord is my strength and my shield : my heart trusted hi him, and I am helped : therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth ; and with my song tvill I praise him.
THE man of this world delights to speak of the things of this world : the man of God delights to speak of God : each speaketh out of the abundance of his own heart. It is the very character of a true believer, that " he regards the works of the Lord and the operation of his hands/' and that he desires to magnify the Lord for all the benefits conferred
upon him. No one can read the Psalms of David, without being penetrated with this thought. What the particular affliction was from which he had re- cently been delivered when he penned this psalm, we do not certainly know : but after blessing God for his condescension and grace in hearing and an- swering his supphcations, he records, for the benefit of all future saints, his feelings in the review of the mercies vouchsafed unto him. In this record we see,
I. What God is to the believer —
To all that trust in him, he is both a protector from all evil, and a helper to all good —
This is a blessed truth, if considered only m theory —
[Wliat cannot he do, that " has the God of Jacob for his help ? " To what duty may he not address himself with a full assurance that he shall be able to fulfil it? Would he overcome the most inveterate lusts ? " Through the influence of God's Spirit he shall mortify the deeds of the body," and " bring the very thoughts of his heart into captivity to the obedience of Christ." Would he attain and exercise all the graces of the Spirit ? he shall do so, yea, " he shall do all things through
Christ strengthening him "
And whom needs he to fear? Surely neither men nor devils : for, what can man do, when he himself is crushed before the worm? As for Satan, though he have at his command aU the principalities and powers of hell, he is a vanquished enemy, and shall ere long " be bruised for ever under the behever's feet" ]
But this truth is yet more blessed, when it is prac- tically experienced by the believer in his own soul —
[What a zest does the believer's own experience give to every declaration of the Inspired Volume ! When, from the communications he has actually received, he can say, God is my strength and my shield, then it is that he is prepared to enjoy these blessed truths as he ought, and to give unto God the glory due unto his name. And here we cannot but exhort every believer to trust in God with his whole heart. In this case he shall never be disappointed of his hope : yea rather, the more he expects, the more he shall receive ; and according to his faith it shall be done unto him. Let him only be able to say with David, " My heart trusteth in him ;" and he shall sooner or later have reason to add, " I am helped :" I am pro- tected from evils, which I could not by my own wisdom or