The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3 — Section 277

stands for the whole manifestation of himse'.f. Or we may render thus, "For thou hast magnified thy characteristic of._fidelity to promises above all the other chara.cteristice implied in thy Name Jehovah." I. GoD'.B _NUIE IS THE BASIS OF OUR EXPECTATIONS. A na.me ga.thers up the characteristics of the person to whom it is applied, whenever it is a true na.me, and not a ~ere fanciful appellation, as names given to children now are. A true name em bodies our apprehension of a person, fixes our relation to him, expresses the grounds o~ our confidence i~ him, and becomes a basis on which we rest our expectations of him .. And !'O we give our own special names, pet-names, to those whom we more e~pec1ally love and trust. And in the same way God's Name gathers up into a term his a~tributes; not, however, as intellectually conceived only, but also as personally experienced and apprehended in the experiences and relationships of the individual, and of the race. On that Name we· build our expectations. "'£his Goel is our God for ever and ever; he will be our Guide even unto the end." But this has to be taken into careful account-man never raises expectations that compass the possibilities of the Name. II. GoD HIMSELF GOES BEYOND THE EXPECTATIONS BASED UPON HIS NAME. "'l'bou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name." God does not go beyond himself; but he does go beyond our expectation. He does for us more than we can ask or think. In special emergencies of life this is precisely what the godly man feels. He was sure God would help him ; but when the help has come, he has found that God surprised him with the fulness and the grace of bis arrangements. This we can asso- ciate with Nehemiah. We can realize his almost overwhelming delight and surprise when God overcame bis difficulties for him in such a quick and gracious way.-R. T, Ver. 8.-Recognized answer to prayer, "In the day that I called thou answeredst me; thou didst encourage me with strength in my soul." Here prayer had evidently been offered for some special thing; what it was we are not told, nor does it greatly matter. Our attention is fixed on the fact that the answer came at once, and was recognized as the answer. We have ways in which we expect answers to come ; and because they do not come in the expected ways, we fail to recognize them as answers at· all But it cannot be becoming for us to fix conditions to the prayers we offer, There can be no " making terms" with God. I. THE ANSWER IN THIB CASE WAB IMMEDIATE. "In the day when I called." We need not press the word "day." It is but equivalent to "at the very time." Com- pare the experience of Daniel (Dan. ix. 21), and that of our Divine Lord (John xii. 27, 28). It is true that there is sometimes delay in the answer to our prayer; but, in that case, delay is the answer. The fact is that the answer is always immediate; and of this we can be sure, because the attention is always immediate. Illustrate by the orderliness of the business man, who sees to everything at once. Serious injury is done to Christian life by suggesting that God is very likely to delay. He is much more likely to answer at once. II. THE ANSWER IN THIB 0ASJ!: WAS NOT .A SHAPING OF OIB0UMSTANCEB, It often was in the Old 'l'estament days; and this is strikingly illustrated in the prayer of Abra- ham's servant (Gen. :xxiv.). The higher truth comes into view in the New 'l'estament. St. Paul prays for a change of circumstances-the removal of the "thorn in the flesh.'" 'l'he answer did not change his conditions. III. 'l'HE ANSWER IN TIIIS 0ASE w AS A DIVINE INWARD STREKGTHENING. "Thou didst encourage me with strecgth in my soul." 'I'o St. Paul the answer was, "My grace is sufficient for thee." 'l'he cry of genuine and heartfelt prayer is the expression of con~cious weakness. It is, therefore, really a cry for strength. And the best answer 1s strength. But that is not what we Reem to ask for, or think we ask for, and eo we mistake the answer. IV. THE ANSWEJ., IN THIB CABE, INVOLVED :MASTERY OF CIRCUMSTANCES BY THB BTRENGTHEKED sorL. Strength ,cceived in Gethsemane prayer-time enabled our Lord to c·ndure Calvary; and so thi, triumph of the cross was the answer to his prayer, though it came as inward strengthwing. What we should watch for is the immediate answer to our prayer for soul-strengthening. .Answers in our circumstances may be left to follow .-lt. '!', l's. cxxxvtn. 1-8.] 'l'HE BOOK OF PS.lLMS, 311