The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1 — Section 141

"geographical expression," no nation now has the pre-eminence over any other as before God, yet a,1y praying people can get as near to Go,l nc,w I\S evor Israel did. All devout souls ha,·e boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Hence, when any trouble-especially that of war-befalls them, they may betake themselves to their God, and plead with him ou behalf of their emperor, their king, their president, their state. Antl the psalm before us is truly a grand ono for preachers to use at such emergencies, that they may cheer a people's heart, quicken the people's prayers. The abuse of the ps:.lm by some courtiers, who feared man rather than God, is no reason why the preachers of any day should leave such a psalm unused, still less is it a reason "-hy they should refuse to preach national sermons at all. For a Ion.,. time, Non- conformists were so treated, that some of their preachers almost lost the national esprit de corps. But it is to be hoped that that is passing away; for on the basis of a psalm like this, some lines of thought may be so expounded and applied from the pulpit as to cause times of national peril and anxiety to be most fruitful in spiritual elevation and power. J. fr IS A:S- ANXIOUS TIME FO& ANY PEOPLE WHEN THE HEAD OF THEra BTATE IB CALLED FORTH To BATTLE. (See 2 Chron. xx. 1-.3.) The interests at stake in the conflict itself, and for the promotion of which it is entered upon, must press heavily on the uation's heart. The fearful bloodshed and unspeakable suffering and distress in private life, which any battle involves, must bring anguish to manymo~hers, wives, and c\iildren; many a home will be darkened, and many a heart crushed, through the war, however large the success in which it may ultimately result. ll. WHEN WARS ARE ENTERED UPON PERFORCE, FOR A RIGHT OBJECT, THE PEOPLE MAY LAY BEFORE TIIEIR Goo TllE BGUDEN THAT IS ON THEIR HEARTS. (2 Chron. xx. 5-15.) There is a God. He is our God. He has a heart, tender as a father's, and a band gentle as a mother's; while, with all such pitying love, he bas a strength that can speed worlds in their course. Nothing is too large for him to control; nought too minute for him to observe. And never can one be more sure of e. gracious response than when, with large interests at stake, a. people are Wlited as one in spreading before the throne of God their case with all its care. If " the very hairs of our head " are all numbered, bow much more the petitions of the heart I UL AT SUCH TIMES THE INTENSEST SYMPATHIES OF THE PEOPLE GATHER ROUND TIIEm ARMY AND TIIism THRONE. (Ver. 5.) "We will rejoice in thy deliverance," etc. ·whatever may have beeu the sentiment iu bygone times, we now know that the king is for the people, not the people for the king. Hence his victory or defeat is theirs. The soldiers, too, who go forth loyally and obediently to the struggle, with their lives in their hands, leaving at home their dear ones weeping as they leave them lest they should see the loved face no more, how can it but be that a nation's warmest, strongest sympathies should gather round them as they go to the war? IV. THE NAME OF Goo IB A STRONGER DEFENCE TO BUCH A PEOPLE THAN ALL MATERIAL FORCES CAN coMMAh'D. (Vers. 6, 7.) This is so in many senses. 1. God himself can so order eveuts as to ensure the victory to a praying people, however strong and nnmerous the foes. 2. An army seut out with a people's prayers, knowing that it is so sustained, will fight the more bravely. 3. To the generals in command, God can give, in answer to prayer, a wisdom that secures a triumphant issue. 4. All chariots and horsemen are at his absolute disposal, and ho can cause them all to vanish in an Lour. The army of Sennacherib. The Spanish Armada. History is le.den with illnstrations of Divine interposition (Ps. cvii. 43). V. WHEN TUE PEOPLE TilUSTINGLY LAY THE WHOLE MATTER BEl'ORE Goo, THEY MAY PEACEFULLY LEAVE rr TO HIM AND CALMLY AWAIT THE IlESULT. (Cf. ver. 8.) VlLen once tbtir affairs are rolled over on God, they are on his heart, and will be con- trolled by his baild t•n their behalf. Hence the wonderfully timely word of Jahaziel (2 Cbron. x.x. 15), "The battle is not yours, but God's." Such a thought may woll impirc the people with the calmness of a holy cuurago, and may well lend them patiently to wait and see" the end of the Lord." Note: By such devotional use of ll:J.tioual crise,, they may become to a nation a holy and blessed means of gmco; wliereby the people at large may learn more of the value and power of prayer than in n,:i.uy a year of calm, and may be dre.wi1 more closely together for ever through ~ followsl,ip in trouble and in prayer.-C. I'S, XX, 1-9.] '!'HE BOOK OF PSALMS. 143