fle11eral f:•ufhs on our life is great-greater than some suppose. They lie deep down m the nnnd, and yet are e,·er at command to regulate tho11ght and feeling and to suggest lines of conduct. Hence those in whom they are most fresh and diear are persons of wider range of view, soundP.r judgment, and deeper convictions. It is important to have the mind well fortified with those general truths that 1·elate to Goa • and, in view of the difficulties and dangers of life, it is well to keep clear the truth that in Jeho,·ah is "everlasting strength." II.. AN ~XPE:RIENC_E. David refe~red to the expei:ien9e he ha~ had of the power of God m dehvermg 1nm from the hon and bear wlule m the discharge of his life's calling. The Almighty hand had befriended him at a time when he put forth his own energies to 1mbdue his dangerous enemies. Without having recourse to miracle in these cases, it is enougl_1 to notice that David recognises Divine aid in tho putting forth of effort, and the pnmary truth had been translated into the experience of life. and so become strikingly verified. A fact is an unanswerable argument. The logic str_engthens. Most of us can fall back on deliverances from lions and adders (Ps. xc1. 13). The mental record of the past furnishes a premiss on which to build an argument of hope for the future (2 Tim. iv. 17, 18). Ill. A REVEALED FACT. David could not cherish the confidence he did without welding with his primary truth and personal experience the fact that the Almighty was always the same, and that, therefore, continuity in aid might be looked for. The unchangeableness of God was an assured fact, not from philosophic speculation on the necessary nature of the Supreme, but because made clear to the mind by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. i. 21). "From everlasting to everlasting thou art God," keep- ing co,enant for ever (Ps. l.xx.xix. 34). Therefore the argument from past experience of his power was, so far, available for conflict with a gigantic foe. The force of this revealed fact concerning the Divine Being is great. It gives our mind a resting-place amidst the incessant flux of things. It opens up to view a rock on which we can stand calm and secure in face of all changes of earth. The frailty of our life seems a blessing in association with so precious a reality. As the uniformity in the laws of nature fumish a basis of wise calculation and confidence in action, so the unchanging power of G0d in relation to human need is a ground of hope and confidence in pursuit of legitimate objects. IV. A PRESENT EMERGENCY. David found himself in presence of an emergency more trying than when lion and bear were confronted, for the interests were wide. He was too sensible a youth to imagine that the eternal power would be manifested because men desired it, wliatenr the occasion. But if aid was given formerly in real need, and now a need more pressing was felt, the argument of faith was conclusive •. Moreover, the earlier occasions were private and personal; this was public, affecting the interests of Israel; and were not these the interests of him for whose advent Israel lived? The ruddy youth perhaps saw a connection between the overthrow of Goliath and the great kingdom of which he sang· in Ps. lxxii. We have here a sefe criterion of the reasonableness of confidence in God's aid. When an emergency arises which deeply affrcts the honour and safety of Christ's Church, and the dif- fusion of the blessings of his reign, we are warranted to cherish fullest confidence that God will help us in our endeavour, by such means as we possess, to meet t~e peril. Let Clnmhes and individuals act by this rule, and they will never be dis- appointed. It is invoh·ed in the promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the P.nd of the world." V. A PROVIDENCE. The previously-noticed elements in the g·round of David's confidence were more influential from the fact that he did not force himself into the position, but was there by providential leading, in which he was quite passive. A man may at the last moment shrink from a dangerous work if conscious that he, by contrivance, sought it out; but when we are literally urged by circumstances into difficulties and dangers, and have a good cau,Je in hand, then we may take the pro- vidence as an encourageme11t to go through. Provid6flce led the apostles into con- flict with rulers, and, hence, they dared to be confident. . VI. A PLEA. David could fortify liis expectation of help by the pica tliat l11s heart li;as honest in intent. He sought not to fight the giant for love of lighting, for 11ecuring renown, for any pri rnte end, but for love to his people Israel anti tlie honour CH. XVI!. 20-58.) THE FHlST r,ooK OF SAMUEL. 329
of lsro.el's God. Purity of motive in ordinary life is no substitute for faith in Christ for acceptance with God ; but it is a condition on which God grants his aid to us in our exertions. If we face gigantic evils, in themselves too great for our wisdom and strength, from an intense desire to conquer them for Christ, cherishing no vain per- sonal ambition, then the highest confidence is justified. A power equal to our need, unchanged by time, realised in past experience, required for an emergency in which the honour of Christ is at atake, sought by one providentially led to face the difficulty, and desired not for vain reasons, but purely for the glory of God-such a process of thought places confidence in God's help on a most reasonable b<1sis. General lessons :-1. We should consider whether Providen!:e has really given us arduous work to do for Christ. 2. Our wisdom is to go forth, not under the influence of the opinions of unspiritual men, but under the full force of our own religious• convictions. 3. We must not expect to know in what way the power of God will work with us ; the fact that it will is enough. 4. Success or failure in perilous enterprises for Christ depends much on the purity of motive, and this should receive prayerful attention.