Ps. cxv. 9 — 13. 0 Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord : he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord : he is their help and their shield. The Lord hath been mindful of us : he will bless us : he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.
GREAT as is the stupidity of fallen man, one would not have imagined that it should ever enter into his mind to worship the works of his own hands. To come before those which cannot see ; and address ourselves to those that cannot answer ; and offer sa- crifices to those who can smell no sweet savour from
270 PvSALMS, CXV. 9—13. [688.
them ; and to rely on those which have no operative or locomotive powers ; all this seems to be a degree of infatuation beyond what one would conceive a creature possessed of reason should labour under. But so it is. There are millions of such persons, who are, in fact, as senseless as the objects they wor- ship. But there is one who is able either to save or to destroy, even Jehovah, " who dwelleth in the hea- vens, and doth whatsoever pleaseth hima." And to him I will now call your most devout attention, in the words of my text : " O Israel," &c. &c.
In these words we behold, I. Our duty —
This is specified again and again : " Trust in the Lord." Now this is,
1. A comprehensive duty —
[Our necessities are numberless : our trust in Him, there- fore, for the supply of them must extend to our every want, temporal, spiritual, eternal.
We must trust in his word ; which, as it is in reality the only proper ground of confidence, must also be the measure of it. We have no authority to trust in God for any thing which he has not promised : and we are bound to trust in him for every thing that he has promised. To do the former is pre- sumption : to decline the latter is unbelief.
We must trust, also, in his Providence: for every thing is ordered by him, even to " the falling of a sparrow upon the ground : " and we are incapable of ordering any thing for our- selves ; " it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps b."
We must trust also in his grace : for " we cannot do any good thing without him0." It is from him that we must ob- tain " power either to do, or even to will," what is acceptable in his sight d : and in every stage of our existence must we depend on him for " more grace e," and receive from him " the grace that shall be sufficient for usf."
Thus must we look up to him as the source of all good", whether for the body or the soul, for time or for eternity.]
2. An universal duty —
[Every person, in every condition, is equally dependent on
God, and must equally look to him for a supply of his necessities.
" O Israel, trust thou in the Lord !" Though thou hast
been admitted into covenant with God, and art numbered by
a ver. 3 — 8. b Jer. x. 23. c John xv. 5. d Phil. ii. 13.
e Jam. iv. G. f 2 Cor. xii. 9. s Jam. i. 17.