Ps. xxxvi. 7, 8. How excellent is thy loving-Mndness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall he abundantly satisfied luith the
fatness of thy house : and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
THE more we know of man, the more shall we see the folly of trusting in an arm of flesh : but, the more we are acquainted with God, the more enlarged will be our expectations from him, and the more unreserved our confidence in his power and grace. David had found by bitter experience, that no de- pendence could be placed on the protestations of Saul. But he had a friend, in whose protection he could trust ; and in the contemplation of whose cha- racter he could find the richest consolation, while his views of man filled him with nothing but grief and anguish. Having expatiated upon his perfections, as contrasted with the deceitfulness and depravity of man, he bursts forth into a rapturous admiration of his love.
His words furnish us with an occasion to consider the loving-kindness of God, in the precise view in which it is exhibited in our text, I. As a subject for adoring gratitude —
[Wherever we turn our eyes, we behold the most asto- nishing displays of God's love. Every work of creation, every dispensation of providence, every effort of grace, exhibits him to us in the most endearing view. But most of all must we admire the wonders of redemption. This is the work whereby God commends his love to us^ This is the one subject of adoration to all the saints in glory ^. No sooner was it declared in the incarnation of Christ, than multitudes of the heavenly host began a new song, singing " Glory to God in the highest *=." Yea, from that moment have they been occu- pied in exploring its mysteries'^. But so unsearchable are its heights and depths, that no finite understanding can fully com- prehend, nor will eternity suffice to unfold, all the wonders contained in it^. " How excellent then is thy loving -kindness, O God!"]
H. As a ground for implicit confidence —
[This is not a speculative subject, but is influential in the hearts of all that give it a due measure of their attention. Tt is this which encourages sinners to approach their God with confidence. In the view of this, no guilt appals, no strait
a Rom. V. 8. b Rev. v. 11 — 18. ^ L^kg ii. 13, 14.
•1 1 Pet. i. 12. e Eph. iii. 18, 19.