G0d, aud can not only pray, but "look Up" with the patience of hope. 1. Guidance. (Ver. 9.) "' e confess our weakness; but we cast ourselves on God for help. lie is uur Shepherd. \Ve trust bis love, aud surrender ourselves to bis leaditw. It is for l,im to go before; it is for us as bis sheep to bear bis voice and follow him. b 2. Defence. ( Ver. 11.) When Luther was asked at Augsburg where he should find shelter if his patron, the Elector of Saxony, deserted him, his answer was," Under the shield of l-Iea~en." 'Ihis shield is for all. Other defences may fail; but here we are safe from all the assaults of the enemy. 3. Blessedness. (Ver. 12.) God is pledged to his 1ieople by his character as well as by his covenant. 'l'rust in him awakens joy-pure ;irdent, comforting, not like the joy of the fool (Eccles. vii. 6), but real and abiding, as God's Name. Trust also calls forth praise. What Jeremiah said in the pit, God':1 people say in the sunshine, "0 Lord, thero is none like unto thee." They are as Napht.ali, "satisfied with favour, and full with the bless(ng of the Lord" (Deut. xxxiii. 23). 'l'herefore they sing, "There is none like unto the God of J eshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy Refuge" (Deut. xx.xiii. 26, 27).-W. F. Vers. 1-7.-Prayer for deliverance from wicked men. The psalmist prays to be delivered from, not open persecution, but the scoff and scourge of the tongue at all goodness and service to God. When irreligion prevails, it is difficult to resist it and stand fitm in our allegiance to God. L THE CRY FOB HELP AGAINST THE PREVAILING IMPIETY, 1. He prays God as the Highest to hearlcen to his meditations, his words, and his cry. All true prayer begins in thought or meditation, goes on to express itself in uttered words, and rises at last into an earnest cry. Not till we muse on our own needs and difficulties does the fire of devotion burn; then do we break into earnest pleading, and deep, if not loud, cries. 2. The urgency and eagerness of Ms suit. In the morning, at the earliest opportunity, at the time of the morning sacrifice in the temple, do I wait upon thee with my prayer. Urgent matters take precedence of all others, and we cannot rest till we sel about them. 3. He waited expectantforthe answer to his prayer. (Ver. 3.) "Watched" -or looked out, not "up "-to see what came of it, and bow it would be answered. This is both natural and reasonable; for God has promised to answer true prayer. II. THE GROUND OF ms PRAYER. God is the righteous God, and as such: 1. He J.as no sympathy with the ways of the wicked. (Ver. 4.) Not when they seem to 1,rosper-in trade, politics, or open irreligion. And they seem to prosper only for a tlll'le. 2. God has no feUowship with the irreligious. (Ver. 5.) "The foolish Ehall 1.ut stand in thy eight,'' or before thee, as favoured courtiers stand in the presence of a kin". God bas no gracious intercourse or communion with wicked men. 'l'herefore I can°ask for bis help with confidence; for be is gracious to the rig:'.ateous. 3. The false and the cruel are doomed to perish. (Ver. 6.) 'l'heir own devices destroy them; that is God's appointment. God's action is commonly by law, and not by personal inter- ference; be abhors and destroys men by the opposition of his laws to all deceit and cruelty. III. THE FREEDOM AND AWE OF THE PSALMlST m DRAWING NIGH TO Goo. (Ver. 7, "I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy loving-kiudncss.") The wicked cannot stand in thy sight; but I can. Note: 1. The freedom and confidence of t1'ue worship. He feels the infinite mercy a.ad privilege of enjoying access to God. 2. The JLrm of God felt in aU true worship. "In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy -lcmple." When freedom and reverence are blended, then is our worship the truest Jnd most acceptablc.-S. Vers. 8-12.-The righteousneas of God. This second strophe of the psalm is very much like the first in substance, the matter running parallel with vers. 3-7. Thti fundamental thought on which all is based is that of the righteousness of God. The \\·hole prayer is framed on that conception. I. A PBA YER FOR RIGHTEOUS DllLIVEBANCE AND GUIDANCE. 1. For rig Meo us guidance. "Lead me in thy righteousness; make thy way [the right way] plain to me." 2. For rigl,teous deliverance. '!'he unrighteous lay in wait for him-threatened his safety. There w11s "no faithfulness in their mouth;" they used slander and !'B, VI, 1-10,] TH:E BOOK OF PSALM$. 87
tre11cl:ery when they dared not use open violence. Their inward pnrt, their souls, wore full of evil designs and purposes. "Their throat is like an open sepulchre,'' which yawns for his destruction. Tlieir speech, fair and smooth, to flatter and put him off his guard and lure him on. With them, mouth, heart, throat, and tongue are all instruments of evil; and their malice was such that he needed the care and guidance of the righteous power above. II. A PRAYER FOB BIOHTEOUB RETRIDUTION. (Ver. 10.) Punish. "The word properly signifies such a decision and judgment as would show and manifest what Hort of neighbours they are when their ungudly dispositions are disclosed and every one is made known." Show them guilty. Let them fall through or because of their own counsels. Their counsels are of such an evil nature that they must in the end ensure their destruction. By means of their transgressions thrust them away-the same thought in substance as the last. But the great argument for retribution is-they have rebelled against thee. The enemies of the psalmist are the enemies of God. God's ea.use and that of his people are the same. "Whoso toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye;" "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" III. PRAYER FOR THE REALIZATION OF A RIGHTEOUS JOY. (V ers. 11, 12.) This joy proceeds: 1. From the sense of refuge and defence we have in God. 2. .From the love we have to God,for his goodness and righteousness. 3. From the knowledge we /1ave tliat God does assuredly bless the righteous.-S.