L A GREAT DELIVERANCE CELEBRATED. (Vers. 4-6.) Salvation. 1. Be was in great trouble and danger. (Vers. 4-6.) That the nature of the danger is not explained. Sin and sorrow our greatest trouble. 2, He earnestly sought deliverance. (Vers. 4-6.) No salvation except to earnest seekers. 3. God answered him and saved Mm. His face was bright with the light of God's face. God's angel was the instrument of bis deliverance. Christ our Mediator and Deliverer. II. HE IS FILLED WITH GRATITUDE. (Vers. 1-3.) 1. His thankfulness was to b6 enduring. 1. Not an evanescent thing, like the morning cloud and early dew, but lasting. 2. He calls upon all the ajfiicted (humble) to join in the praise. (Vere. 2, 3.) Because they may experience a like deliverance. God's salvation is for the whole world. III. HE INVITES MEN TO POT !l'HE GOODNESS OF GoD TO THE TEST OF EXPERIENCE, (Vers. 8-10.) 1. They will.find how blessed are they who trust in God. 2. All their true and real wants shall be satisfied. (V ers, 9, 10.)-S. Ver. 9.-Thefear of God. "0 fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him." The/ear of God described the whole of practical religion. There are various kindi; and degrees of fear caused by our relation to God, combined in various proportions with other sentiments. He is the great and powerful, and we are the weak; and we are naturally ignorant of his nature; and till we know whether he is a malignant or a benevolent being, we naturally dread him. 'l'be fear which dreads him is the first feeling which springs up. When we have passed out of and beyond the feeling of dread, we may still be overpowered by awe. We feel that God is greater than our highest, most perfect knowledge of his nature; his vastness overcomes and prostrates us. Jacob; Job ; David. But the strangest cause of fear is the sense of transgresswn and the fear of punishment. We dread tbejudgment of God upon our lives and actions. He must know the realities that lie beneath all appearance-the good and the evil We may well fear when we think of his knowledge of us. The revelations of God's impersonal nature alarm us. They are all love and no feeling. The hurricane and the tempest are pitiless. The revelations of his personal nature in ma.n and in Christ are full of compassion. God in Christ is the Physician; but we cannot help fearing what he may have to do upon us for our healing, before we can be made whole. But we ought to believe and know that, like a good physician, he never inflicts any but necessary pain, and how much the infliction costs him in bis sympathy with us. Our theology often teaches that there are reasons for servile fear; that our relation to God is that of a courtier to an Eastern despot; or that of a Jew debtor to a Jew creditor, who has no generosity, but exacts the uttermost farthing; or that of a criminal to a Judge who tries to compound with the law by getting an innocent person to suffer for his crimes instead of himself; or who thinks God, in his providential discipline, a cruel Being, who calls upon him to suffer the loss of bis children, as he called upon Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, in order to test bis faith. But faith casts out the terrors of fear, not inspires them, and does not need such cruel experiments for our discipline. Then there is the fear inspired by faith and love, but which has no torment. A man who has a great undertaking before him, calling for the skill and energy of his highest functions, naturally trembles lest he should fail; like a painter, who stands at his task, but his heart trembling with the great pulses of his conception. He is fearful iu proportion as he sees the perfection of the thing he is trying to embody. Turner watching the storm-that he might know bow to paint it. So there is a lony and noble fear of aspiration lest we should not fulfil the Divine purpose of love in our lives. The fear felt towards a good mother, who would sacrifice her life for her child. "How awful goodness is I "-S. Vera. 11-22.-The secret and blessings of a happy life. "In this second part the psalmist tums to believers, nddresses them, and says that it is his design to teach them the art of leading a happy a ad quiet life, and of being secure against enemies." L THE SECllET OF A HAPPY AND PEACEFUL LIFE. 1. Thefea1· of God. (Vere. 11, 15, 18.) Uliildlike fear-compatible with trust and love, 2. The government of the t-Ongue. (Ver. 13.) What is saiJ on this in the New Testament by Peter and James. 8. Righteousness of life. (Ver. 14.) In its departing from evil-the negative aspect; PB. Xll.ll.V, 1-28,] '1.'HE :SOOK OF PSALMS. 265
and in doing good-tho positive. 4. Stren'll,()usly se,elcing after peace. (Ver. 14.) Seek peace, and pursue it." 'l'ake ea.re not to cause disagreement, but to promote good will and harmony. II. THE BLESSINGS THAT ATTEND AND FOLLOW BUCH A LIFE. 1. Prayer of the righteous is heard. (Vers. 15-18.) Contrast to the doom of evil-doers (ver. 16). 2. Deliverance out of all dangers. (Vers. 17-19.) Troubles, the dangers are ea.lied, and sufferings. 3. The presence and communion of God with his people. This implied or expressed in nearly all the verses. 4. The protection of their life and person. (Vers. 20, 22.) Contrast a.gain to the fate of the wicked (ver. 21). The words of the twentieth verse fulfilled at the crucifixion of our Lord.-S.
EXPOSITION.