man is, when left to himself; for, after all his boasting that he was ready to die with his Lord and Master, he denied him with oaths and curses. Nor is a person at all more secure who trusts in any created power : for, however powerful a man may be, he may not be able to afford the assistance that is needed ; or, if able, he may not be willing ; or, if willing, he may change his mind ; or, if fixed in purpose, he may be removed by death, when, of course, all his thoughts and purposes must perish b. But the man who trusts in God has an ever-present, an ever- willing, an immutable, an all-sufficient help No con- federacy, whether of men or devils, can prevail against him who sanctifies the Lord God in his heartc: " There is a wall of fire round about him," that will both afford him protection, and destroy his every assailantd. He may confidently challenge the whole universe : "If God be for me, who can be against mee?" Whether it be his body or his soul that is assaulted, he is equally secure : " No weapon that is formed against him," whether wielded by men or devils, can ever prosper f: " his God will be his shield and buckler8;" and "he shall be more than con- queror, through Him that loveth himV']
2. However enlarged his expectations be, he can never be disappointed —
[We cannot expect too little from man, or too much from God. God, in giving himself to us as our God, authorises us to expect from him all that he himself can do, so far as our necessities require it. He himself says to us, " Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it1. We cannot open it too wide. Take all the promises in God's blessed word : take all that he has engaged for in his everlasting covenant ; take all that the Lord Jesus Christ has merited in our behalf; take all that by any possibility we may ever need, for body or for soul, for time or for eternity ; take all the glory and blessedness of heaven ; take the very throne and kingdom of God himself; and put all this into one petition, and it shall all be given ; not an atom of it shall ever be wanting to the believing suppliant, so far as his soul shall be capable of enjoying it. The Believer should not be straitened in himself; for he is not straitened in his God. His hopes can never be too large ; for God is both " able and willing to do for him all, and above all, and abundantly above all, yea, exceeding abundantly above all, that he can either ask or thinkV]
Such being the testimony here given us ; namely,
b ver. 3, 4. c Isai. viii. 12, 13.
d Zech. ii. 5. with 2 Kings vi. 16, 17. e Rom. viii. 31.
11 Rom. viii. 37.
1 Isai. liv. 17.
s Ps. xviii. 2.
» Ps. Ixxxi. 10.
k Eph. iii. 20.