HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-7.-" When my spirit was overwl,elmed:" This is.said to be_on_e of payid'e cave psalms. Tbere are some seven or eight which, acc~rdrng to their rnscnpt10ns, have to do with David's·persec ltion by Saul. What cave 1s meant, whether Adullam or Engedi, we do not know. . . . l. HEBE IS A MOST DISTBEBBFUL CONDITION SET FORTH. It 1B described: _1. As bei"!-g overwhelmed. (Ver. 3.) As if some fierce flood. had _rushed do~Ii upo~ him an~ h1~, and with sore difficulty they could bear up a~amst its cruel might. 2• .As being in great need of refuge, but utterly failing lo find it. (Ver. 3.) He had looked round on the riaht 0 hand and the left but in vain. 3. .As rejected by men. "No man would know me." They he.d cast' him off, would he.ve nothing to do with him,. would certainly render no help. 4. As "brought very low.n (Ver. 6.) ~.11 h~pe and JOY had fled from him; he was utterly cast down. 6. As one shut up in prison. (Ver. 7.) 1'8, CXLit.1--7,] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 845
Now, all this sets forth what is often true in the experience of God's people. We are told aleo- 11. How TIDB CONDITION WAS BROUGHT ABOUT. 1. By the snares of the wicked. (Ver. 3.) The snare was secretly but surely laid, and the psalmist seems to have fallen into it; it was laid along the path wherein he was wont to walk. He had ne>t wandered off into strange or forbidden ways, bnt in his own proper and accustomed path, there the snare was secretly set. "The daily round, the common task," may become to us not only the path of life, but the evil one knows how, in the midst of them, to lay, and often too successfully, snares for the soul. 2. By the indifference and apathy of hiafellow-men. "No man cared for my soul." It is a thought full of pain and sorrow to many a Christian heart that, by neglect, they have suffered so many souls to go astray. We have not cared for them as we should. When we think of it, we can only say, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, 0 Lord." But let us also forsake the sin we confess. 3. By persecution. This does often bring the soni "very low." Even our blessed Lord cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" But it matters not, so long as we cleave to God. III. WHAT TO DO UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES. 1. Turn to the Lord in fervent prayer. Lay before him all your trouble. Keep well in mind that the Lord whu loves you, and whom you love, knoweth the way you take. 2. Call to mind what God has been to you in the past. IV. WHAT SHALL COME OF IT. The Lord will deal bountifully with us. We shall praise the Lord. All the righteous will rcjoice.-S. C.
Ver. 4.-" No man cared/or my soul." It may be that the psalmist was thinking only or chiefly of his life; but more commonly the soul refers to that which is of far more worth than the body-to that in us which is spiritual, immortal, and made in the image of God. And thus we shall understand the word here, and speak of" the evil and danger of neglecting the souls of men." Seo Dr. Doddridge's great sermon on this theme. The psalmist declares, "No man cared for my soul." I. Is THE ASSERTION TRUE? 1. It often seems so. How many there are to whom no one ever speaks, for whom no one makes a.ny direct effort to win them for God I They are just let alone. And it is not because they would resent such endeavour. Often they greatly desire that some one would speak to them; for they know they a.re wrong, and need help to be other than they are. But it seems as if no one cared. 2. But, strictly speaking, it is not universally true. For there have never been nny periocls of time when there were not some faithful workers for God, and earnest intercessors for sinful men. And often it has been that, unknown to the soul that thinks itself uncared for, fervent prayers have been going up to God for that soul. And if not specially for that soul, yet for all such souls, that God would have mercy upon them, and lend them into the way of truth, for that they have erred and arc deceived. When do God's people ever gather together without such prayers being offered? 3. Still, it is far too largely true. The neglect of souls on the part of thoso who should care for them is a terrible and distressing fa.et. II. Wno ARE TO DLA.ME? 1. All Christians generally. For if we be saved by the compn.ssion and grace of God ourselves, we Me bound by every motive to try a.nd get others saved likewise. If we do thus try, prnyerfully a.nd earnestly-let men call u~ by nny ill name they please-the consciousness of Christ's approval a.nd benediction will become surer aud fuller of holy joy and help every day wo Jive. If we make no such endeavour, the salvation we havo will dwindlo and starve, and, ere long, utterly disappear, and our last state will be worse than the first. 2. But more especially those who are nearest to such souls, and who have, therefore, most influence over them. Fathers and mothers first and chief of all. As they are, so the children will be. Then teachers, especfally teachers in Sunday schools. What is the gootl of such ~chools if the teachers do not, above everything else, en.re for the souls of those they tea.eh? And ministers: theirs, beyond most others, is the cure of souls. How awful, If they to whom this chargo has been especially given, should be found faith less! What will such answer, when asked by the "chief Shephord and Bishop of souls," as thev will be asked, what they have done with those entrusted to their care'? III. How COMES THERE TO BE sucn NEGLECT? The causes a.re many. 1. With soma 346 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS, CXLII, 1-'T,