" If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me ; and I will put thine abominations out of my sight ; and thou shalt not remove d." The decla- rations which God here made to David, are equally applicable to all, who, like him, are resolved to live in a state of dependence upon God. Let us consider them,
1, In relation to temporal things —
[All the different expressions which are here used, have an evident reference to what was wrought for Israel during the forty years of their sojourning in the wilderness. The roughness of their untrodden path would often occasion " their feet to slip:" the heat of the sun by day, and the influence of the moon, toge- ther with the noxious damps, by night, would greatly molest them in their journey : and their danger from savage beasts or venomous reptiles would tend to keep them in continual alarm. But God promises that no evil shall hurt those who trust in him.
He will be to them an ever-ivatchful helper. Men, be they ever so numerous, may be off their guard : but the Keeper of Israel never will : he never slumbereth nor sleepeth : no enemy can escape his notice ; no device be hidden from his view : and his express engagement to his people is, that " no weapon that is formed against them shall prospere."
He will be to them also an ever-present helper. The idea of his being " our shade upon our right hand" is exceeding beau- tiful : for none but those in hot climates can fully conceive the benefit of a shade to protect them from the intense heat of the sun, which not unfrequ en tly strikes persons dead upon the spot. But the expression of being our shade upon our right hand pro- bably alludes to the situation of the cloud which attended the Israelites through the wilderness, not only to guide them in their journey, but to shade them by day, and to give them light and warmth also by night. And, as the journey of the Israelites was chiefly in a north-east direction, the cloud which afforded them this shade would be on their right hand during the whole of the day. But not to lay any stress on this, the import of the expression obviously is, that, wherever we are open to the assaults of an enemy, God will be ever present to afford us his protection ; and that whether we be going out or coming in, we may be assured of his continued and effectual care.
He will yet further be an all-sufficient helper. Neither sun nor moon, (which may represent the greatest of created powers,) nor indeed any other being shall hurt us; for " He will preserve us from all evil," and that, not for a season only, but " from this time forth, and even for evermore." To the same effect this
d Jer. iii. 25. and iv. 1. L Isai. liv. 17.