,,expositions ,,of ,,holy ,,scripture ,,psalms by ,,alexander ,,maclaren1 ,d4 ,d41 ,litt4 ,d4 ,,volume ,i3 ,,psalms ,i to ,,xlix ,,contents ,,blessedness ,,and ,,praise 7,psalm i4 #a1 #b2 cl4 #f7 ,a ,,staircase ,,of ,,three ,,steps 7,psalm v4 #aa1 #ab7 ,,one ,,saying ,,from ,,three ,,men 7,psalm x4 #f2 xvi4 #h2 xxx4 #f7 ,,man',s ,,true ,,treasure ,,in ,,god 7,psalm xvi4 #e1 #f7 ,,god ,,with ,,us1 ,,and ,,we ,,with ,,god 7,psalm xvi4 #h1 #aa7 ,,the ,,two ,,awakings 7,psalm xvii4 #ae2 lxxiii4 #bj7 ,,secret ,,faults 7,psalm xix4 #ab7 ,,open ,,sins 7,psalm xix4 #ac7 ,,feasting ,,on ,,the ,,sacrifice 7,psalm xxii4 #bf7 ,,the ,,shepherd ,,king ,,of ,,israel 7,psalm xxiii4 #a-f7 ,a ,,great ,,question ,,and ,,its ,,answer 7,psalm xxiv4 #c7 ,,the ,,god ,,who ,,dwells ,,with ,,men 7,psalm xxiv4 #g-aj7 ,,guidance ,,in ,,judgment 7,psalm xxv4 #h1 #i7 ,a ,,prayer ,,for ,,pardon ,,and ,,its ,,plea 7,psalm xxv4 #aa7 ,,god',s ,,guests 7,psalm xxvii4 #d7 ',,seek ,,ye'--',i ,,will ,,seek' 7,psalm xxvii4 #h1 #i7 ,,the ,,two ,,guests 7,psalm xxx4 #e7 ',,be 444 ,,for ,,thou ,,art' 7,psalm xxxi4 #b1 #c1 ,r4,v47 ',,into ,,thy ,,hands' 7,psalm xxxi4 #e7 ,,goodness ,,wrought ,,and ,,goodness ,,laid ,,up 7,psalm xxxi4 #ai7 ,,hid ,,in ,,light 7,psalm xxxi4 #bj7 ,a ,,threefold ,,thought ,,of ,,sin ,,and ,,forgiveness 7,psalm xxxii4 #a1 #b7 ,,the ,,encamping ,,angel 7,psalm xxxiv4 #g7 ,,struggling ,,and ,,seeking 7,psalm xxxiv4 #aj7 ,,no ,,condemnation 7,psalm xxxiv4 #bb7 ,,sky1 ,,earth1 ,,and ,,sea3 ,a ,,parable ,,of ,,god 7,psalm xxxvi4 #e-g7 ,,what ,,men ,,find ,,beneath ,,the ,,wings ,,of ,,god 7,psalm xxxvi4 #h1 #i7 ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,tranquillity 7,psalm xxxvii4 #d1 #e1 #g7 ,,the ,,bitterness ,,and ,,blessedness ,,of ,,the ,,brevity ,,of ,,life 7,psalm xxxix4 #f1 #ab7 ,,two ,,innumerable ,,series 7,psalm xl4 #e1 #ab7 ,,thirsting ,,for ,,god 7,psalm xlii4 #b7 ,,the ,,psalmist',s ,,remonstrance ,,with ,,his ,,soul 7,psalm xliii4 #e7 ,,the ,,king ,,in ,,his ,,beauty 7,psalm xlv4 #b-g1 ,r4,v47 ,,the ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,bride 7,psalm xlv4 #aj-ae1 ,r4,v47 ,,the ,,city ,,and ,,river ,,of ,,god 7,psalm xlvi4 #d-g7 ,,the ,,lord ,,of ,,hosts1 ,,the ,,god ,,of ,,jacob 7,psalm xlvi4 #aa7 ,a ,,song ,,of ,,deliverance 7,psalm xlviii4 #a-ad7 ,,two ,,shepherds ,,and ,,two ,,flocks 7,psalm xlix4 #ad2 ,rev4 vii4 #ag7 ,,blessedness ,,and ,,praise ',blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly1 nor standeth in the way of sinners1 nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful4 #b4 ,but his delight is in the law of the ,lord4' --,,psalm i4 #a1 #b4 ',let every thing that hath breath praise the ,lord4 ,praise ye the ,lord4'--,,psalm cl4 #f4 ,the ,psalter is the echo in devout hearts of the other portions of divine revelation4 ,there are in it1 indeed1 further disclosures of ,god's mind and purposes1 but its especial characteristic is--the reflection of the light of ,god from brightened faces and believing hearts4 ,as we hold it to be inspired1 we cannot simply say that it is man's response to ,god's voice4 ,but if the rest of ,scripture may be called the speech of the ,spirit of ,god to men1 this book is the answer of the ,spirit of ,god in men4 ,these two verses which ,i venture to lay side by side present in a very remarkable way this characteristic4 ,it is not by accident that they stand where they do1 the first and last verses of the whole collection1 enclosing all1 as it were1 within a golden ring1 and bending round to meet each other4 ,they are the summing up of the whole purpose and issue of ,god's revelation to men4 ,the first and second psalms echo the two main portions of the old revelation--the ,law and the ,prophets4 ,the first of them is taken up with the celebration of the blessedness and fruitful1 stable being of the man who loves the ,law of the ,lord1 as contrasted with the rootless and barren life of the ungodly1 who is like the chaff4 ,the second is occupied with the contemplation of the divine 'decree' by which the coming ,king is set in ,god's 'holy hill of ,zion1' and of the blessedness of 'all they who put their trust in ,him1' as contrasted with the swift destruction that shall fall on the vain imaginations of the rebellious heathen and banded kings of earth4 ,the words of our first text1 then1 may well stand at the beginning of the ,psalter4 ,they express the great purpose for which ,god has given ,his ,law4 ,they are the witness of human experience to the substantial1 though partial1 accomplishment of that purpose4 ,they rise in buoyant triumph over that which is painful and apparently opposed to it2 and in spite of sorrow and sin1 proclaim the blessedness of the life which is rooted in the ,law of the ,lord4 ,the last words of the book are as significant as its first4 ,the closing psalms are one long call to praise--they probably date from the time of the restoration under ,ezra and ,nehemiah1 when1 as we know1 'the service of song' was carefully re-established1 and the harps which had hung silent upon the willows by the rivers of ,babylon woke again their ancient melodies4 ,these psalms climb higher and higher in their rapturous call to all creatures1 animate and inanimate1 on earth and in heaven1 to praise ,him4 ,the golden waves of music and song pour out ever faster and fuller4 ,at last we hear this invocation to every instrument of music to praise ,him1 responded to1 as we may suppose1 by each1 in turn as summoned1 adding its tributary notes to the broadening river of harmony--until all1 with gathered might of glad sound blended with the crash of many voices1 unite in the final words1 ',let every thing that hath breath praise the ,lord4 ,praise ye the ,lord4' ,i4 ,we have here a twofold declaration of ,god's great purpose in all ,his self-revelation1 and especially in the ,gospel of ,his ,son4 ,our first text may be translated as a joyful exclamation1 ',oh6 the blessedness of the man--whose delight is in the law of the ,lord4' ,our second is an invocation or a command4 ,the one then expresses the purpose which ,god secures by ,his gift of the ,law2 the other the purpose which ,he summons us to fulfil by the tribute of our hearts and songs--man's happiness and ,god's glory4 ,his purpose is ,man's blessedness4 ,that is but another way of saying1 ,god is love4 ,for love1 as we know it1 is eminently the desire for the happiness of the person on whom it is fixed4 ,and unless the love of ,god be like ours1 however it may transcend it1 there is no revelation of ,him to our hearts at all4 ,if ,he be love1 then ,he 'delights in the prosperity' of ,his children4 ,and that purpose runs through all ,his acts4 ,for perfect love is all-pervasive1 and even with us men1 it rules the whole being2 nor does he love at all who seeks the welfare of the heart he clings to by fits and starts1 by some of his acts and not by others4 ,when ,god comes forth from the unvisioned light1 which is thick darkness1 of ,his own eternal1 self-adequate ,being1 and flashes into energy in ,creation1 ,providence1 or ,grace1 the ,law of ,his ,working and ,his ,purpose are one1 in all regions4 ,the unity of the divine acts depends on this--that all flow from one deep source1 and all move to one mighty end4 ,standing on the height to which ,his own declarations of ,his own nature lift our feebleness1 we can see how the 'river of ,god that waters the garden' and 'parts' into many 'heads1' gushes from one fountain4 ,one of the psalms puts what people call the 'philosophy' of creation and of providence very clearly1 in accordance with this thought--that the love of ,god is the source1 and the blessedness of man the end1 of all ,his work3 ',to ,him that made great lights2 for ,his mercy endureth for ever4 ,to ,him that slew mighty kings2 for ,his mercy endureth for ever4' ,creation1 then1 is the effluence of the loving heart of ,god4 ,though the sacred characters be but partially legible to us now1 what ,he wrote1 on stars and flowers1 on the infinitely great and the infinitely small1 on the infinitely near and the infinitely far off1 with ,his creating hand1 was the one inscription--,god is love4 ,and as in nature1 so in providence4 ,the origination1 and the support1 and the direction of all things1 are the works and the heralds of the same love4 ,it is printed in starry letters on the sky4 ,it is graven on the rocks1 and breathed by the flowers4 ,it is spoken as a dark saying even by sorrow and pain4 ,the mysteries of destructive and crushing providences have come from the same source4 ,and he who can see with the ,psalmist the ever-during mercy of the ,lord1 as the reason of creation and of judgments1 has in his hands the golden key which opens all the locks in the palace chambers of the great ,king4 ,he only hath penetrated to the secret of things material1 and stands in the light at the centre1 who understands that all comes from the one source--,god's endless desire for the blessedness of ,his creatures4 ,but while all ,god's works do thus praise ,him by testifying that ,he seeks to bless ,his creatures1 the loftiest example of that desire is1 of course1 found in ,his revelation of ,himself to men's hearts and consciences1 to men's spirits and wills4 ,that mightiest act of love1 beginning in the long-past generations1 has culminated in ,him in whom 'dwelleth the whole fulness of the ,godhead bodily1' and in whose work is all the love--the perfect1 inconceivable1 patient1 omnipotent love of our redeeming ,god4 ,and then1 remember that this is not inconsistent with or contradicted by the sterner aspects of that revelation1 which cannot be denied1 and ought not to be minimised or softened4 ,here1 on the right hand1 are the flowery slopes of the ,mount of ,blessing2 there1 on the left1 the barren1 stern1 thunder-riven1 lightning-splintered pinnacles of the ,mount of ,cursing4 ,every clear note of benediction hath its low minor of imprecation from the other side4 ,between the two1 overhung by the hopes of the one1 and frowned upon and dominated by the threatenings of the other1 is pitched the little camp of our human life1 and the path of our pilgrimage runs in the trough of the valley between4 ,and yet--might we not go a step farther1 and say that above the parted summits stretches the one overarching blue1 uniting them both1 and their roots deep down below the surface interlace and twine together8 ,that is to say1 the threatenings and rebukes1 the acts of retributive judgment1 which are contained in the revelation of ,god1 are no limitation nor disturbance of the clear and happy faith that all which we behold is full of blessing1 and that all comes from the ,father's hand4 ,they are the garb in which ,his ,love needs to array itself when it comes in contact with man's sin and man's evil4 ,the love of ,god appears no less when it teaches us in grave sad tones that 'the wages of sin is death1' than when it proclaims that 'the gift of ,god is eternal life4' ,love threatens that it may never have to execute its threats4 ,love warns that we may be wise in time4 ,love prophesies that its sad forebodings may not be fulfilled4 ,and love smites with lighter strokes of premonitory chastisements1 that we may never need to feel the whips of scorpions4 ,remember1 too1 that these sterner aspects both of ,law and of ,gospel point this lesson--that we shall very much misunderstand ,god's purpose if we suppose it to be blessedness for us men anyhow1 irrespective altogether of character4 ,some people seem to think that ,god loves us so much1 as they would say--so little1 so ignobly1 as ,i would say--as that ,he only desires us to be happy4 ,they seem to think that the divine love is tarnished unless it provides for men's felicity1 whether they are ,god-loving and ,god-like or no4 ,thus the solemn and majestic love of the ,father in heaven is to be brought down to a weak good nature1 which only desires that the child shall cease crying and be happy1 and does not mind by what means that end is reached4 ,god's purpose is blessedness2 but1 as this very text tells us1 not blessedness anyhow1 but one which will not and cannot be given by ,god to those who walk in the way of sinners4 ,his love desires that we should be holy1 and 'followers of ,god as dear children'--and the blessedness which it bestows comes from pardon and growing fellowship with ,him4 ,it can no more fall on rebellious hearts than the pure crystals of the snow can lie and sparkle on the hot1 black cone of a volcano4 ,the other text that ,i have read sets forth another view of ,god's purpose4 ,god seeks our praise4 ,the glory of ,god is the end of all the divine actions4 ,now1 that is a statement which no doubt is irrefragable1 and a plain deduction from the very conception of an infinite ,being4 ,but it may be held in such connections1 and spoken with such erroneous application1 and so divorced from other truths1 that instead of being what it is in the ,bible1 good news1 it shall become a curse and a lie4 ,it may be so understood as to describe not our ,father in heaven1 but an almighty devil6 ,but1 when the thought that ,god's purpose in all ,his acts is ,his own glory1 is firmly united with that other1 that ,his purpose in all ,his acts is our blessing1 then we begin to understand how full of joy it may be for us4 ,his glory is sought by ,him in the manifestation of ,his loving heart1 mirrored in our illuminated and gladdened hearts4 ,such a glory is not unworthy of infinite love4 ,it has nothing in common with the ambitious and hungry greed of men for reputation or self-display4 ,that desire is altogether ignoble and selfish when it is found in human hearts2 and it would be none the less ignoble and selfish if it were magnified into infinitude1 and transferred to the divine4 ,but to say that ,god's glory is ,his great end1 is surely but another way of saying that ,he is love4 ,the love that seeks to bless us desires1 as all love does1 that it should be known for what it is1 that it should be recognised in our glad hearts1 and smiled back again from our brightened faces4 ,god desires that we should know ,him1 and so have ,eternal ,life2 ,he desires that knowing ,him1 we should love ,him1 and loving should praise1 and so should glorify ,him4 ,he desires that there should be an interchange of love bestowing and love receiving1 of gifts showered down and of praise ascending1 of fire falling from the heavens and sweet incense1 from grateful hearts1 going up in fragrant clouds acceptable unto ,god4 ,it is a sign of a ,fatherly heart that ,he 'seeketh such to worship ,him'4 ,he desires to be glorified by our praise1 because ,he loves us so much4 ,he commences with an offer1 ,he advances to a command4 ,he gives first1 and then 7not till then7 ,he comes seeking fruit from the 'trees' which are 'the planting of the ,lord1 that ,he might be glorified4' ,his plea is not 'the vineyard belongs to ,me1 and ,i have a right to its fruits1' but 'what could have been done more to ,my vineyard1 that ,i have not done in it8--judge between ,me and ,my vineyard4' ,first1 ,he showers down blessings2 then1 ,he looks for the revenue of praise6 ,,ii4 ,we may also take these passages as giving us a twofold expression of the actual effects of ,god's revelation1 especially in the ,gospel1 even here upon earth4 ,the one text is the joyful exclamation built upon experience and observation4 ,the other is a call which is answered in some measure even by voices that are often dumb in unthankfulness1 often broken by sobs1 often murmuring in penitence4 ,god does actually1 though not completely1 make men blessed here4 ,our text sums up the experience of all the devout hearts and lives whose emotions are expressed in the ,psalms4 ,he who wrote this psalm would preface the whole book by words into which the spirit of the book is distilled4 ,it will have much to say of sorrow and pain4 ,it will touch many a low note of wailing and of grief4 ,there will be complaints and penitence1 and sighs almost of despair before it closes4 ,but this which he puts first is the note of the whole4 ,so it is in our histories4 ,they will run through many a dark and desert place4 ,we shall have bitterness and trials in abundance1 there will be many an hour of sadness caused by my own evil1 and many a hard struggle with it4 ,but high above all these mists and clouds will rise the hope that seeks the skies1 and deep beneath all the surface agitations of storms and currents there will be the unmoved stillness of the central ocean of peace in our hearts4 ,in the 'valley of weeping' we may still be 'blessed' if 'the ways' are in our hearts1 and if we make of the very tears 'a well1' drawing refreshment from the very trials4 ,with all its sorrows and pains1 its fightings and fears1 its tribulations in the world1 and its chastenings from a ,father's hand1 the life of a ,christian is a happy life1 and 'the joy of the ,lord' remains with ,his servants4 ,more than twenty centuries have passed since that psalm was written4 ,as many stretched dim behind the ,psalmist as he sang4 ,he was gathering up in one sentence the spirit of the past1 and confirming it by his own life's history4 ,and has any one that has lived since then stood up and said--',behold6 ,i have found it otherwise4 ,i have waited on ,god1 and ,he has not heard my cry4 ,i have served ,him1 and that for nought4 ,i have trusted in ,him1 and been disappointed4 ,i have sought ,his face--in vain4 ,and ,i say1 from my own experience1 that the man who trusts in ,him is not blessed'8 ,not one1 thank ,god6 ,the history of the past1 so far as this matter is concerned1 may be put in one sentence ',they looked unto ,him and were lightened1 and their faces were not ashamed1' and as for the present1 are there not some of us who can say1 ',this poor man cried1 and the ,lord heard him1 and saved him out of all his troubles'8 ,brethren6 make the experiment for yourselves4 ,test this experience by your own simple affiance and living trust in ,jesus ,christ4 ,we have the experience of all generations to encourage us4 ,what has blessed them is enough for you and me4 ,like the meal and the oil1 which were the ,prophet's resource in famine1 yesterday's supply does not diminish to-morrow's store4 ,we1 too1 may have all that gladdened the hearts and stayed the spirits of the saints of old4 ',oh6 taste and see that ,god is good4' ',blessed is the man that trusteth in ,him4' ,so1 too1 ,god's gift produces man's praise4 ,what is it that ,he desires from us8 ,nothing but our thankful recognition and reception of ,his benefits4 ,we honour ,god by taking the full cup of salvation which ,he commends to our lips1 and by calling1 while we drink1 upon the name of the ,lord4 ,our true response to ,his ,word1 which is essentially a proffer of blessing to us1 is to open our hearts to receive1 and1 receiving1 to render grateful acknowledgment4 ,the echo of love which gives and forgives1 is love which accepts and thanks4 ,we have but to lift up our empty and impure hands1 opened wide to receive the gift which ,he lays in them--and though they be empty and impure1 yet 'the lifting up of our hands' is 'as the evening sacrifice'2 our sense of need stands in the place of all offerings4 ,the stained thankfulness of our poor hearts is accepted by ,him who inhabits the praises of eternity1 and yet delights in the praises of ,israel4 ,he bends from heaven to give1 and all ,he asks is that we should take4 ,he only seeks our thankfulness--but ,he does seek it4 ,and wherever ,his grace is discerned1 and ,his love is welcomed1 there praise breaks forth1 as surely as streams pour from the cave of the glacier when the sun of summer melts it1 or earth answers the touch of spring with flowers4 ,and that effect is produced1 notwithstanding all the complaints and sighs and tears which sometimes choke our praise4 ,it is produced even while these last2 the psalms of thanksgiving are not all reserved for the end of the book4 ,but even in those which read like the very sobs of a broken heart1 there is ever present some tone of grateful acknowledgment of ,god's mercy4 ,he sends us sorrow1 and ,he wills that we should weep--but they should be tears like ,david's1 who1 at the lowest point of his fortunes1 when he plaintively besought ,god1 ',put ,thou my tears into ,thy bottle'--could say in the same breath1 ',thy vows are upon me1 ,o ,god3 ,i will render praises unto ,thee4' ,god works on our souls that we may have the consciousness of sin1 and ,he wills that we should come with broken and contrite hearts1 and like the king of ,israel wail out our confessions and supplications--',have mercy upon me1 ,o ,god6 according to ,thy loving-kindness4' ,but1 like him1 we should even in our lowliest abasement1 when our hearts are bruised1 be able to say along with our contrition1 ',open ,thou my lips1 and my mouth shall show forth ,thy praise4' ,our sorrows are never so great that they hide our mercies4 ,the sky is never so covered with clouds that neither sun nor stars appear for many days4 ,and in every ,christian heart the low tones of lamentation and confession are blended with grateful praise4 ,so it is even in the darkest moments1 whilst the blast of misfortune and misery is as a storm against the wall4 ,but a brighter hope even for our life here rises from these words1 if we think of the place which they hold in the whole book4 ,they are the last words4 ,whatever other notes have been sounded in its course1 all ends in this4 ,the winter's day has had its melancholy grey sky1 with many a bitter dash of snow and rain--but it has stormed itself out1 and at eventide1 a rent in the clouds reveals the sun1 and it closes in peaceful clearness of light4 ,the note of gladness heard at the beginning1 ',oh6 the blessedness of the man that delights in the law of the ,lord1' holds on persistently1 like a subdued and almost bewildered undercurrent of sweet sound amid all the movements of some colossal symphony1 through tears and sobs1 confession and complaint1 and it springs up at the close triumphant1 like the ruddy spires of a flame long smothered1 and swells and broadens1 and draws all the intricate harmonies into its own rushing tide4 ,some of you remember the great musical work which has these very words for its theme4 ,it begins with the call1 ',all that hath life and breath1 praise ye the ,lord1' and although the gladness saddens into the plaintive cry of a soul sick with hope deferred1 ',will the night soon pass8' yet1 ere the close1 all discords are reconciled1 and at last1 with assurance firmer for the experience of passing sorrows1 loud as the voice of many waters and sweet as harpers harping with their harps1 the joyful invocation peals forth again1 and all ends1 as it does in a ,christian man's life1 and as it does in this book1 with ',praise ye the ,lord4' ,,iii4 ,we have here also a twofold prophecy of the perfection of ,heaven4 ,whilst it is true that both of these purposes are accomplished here and now1 it is also true that their accomplishment is but partial1 and that therefore for their fulfilment we have to lift our eyes beyond this world of imperfect faith1 of incomplete blessedness1 of interrupted praise4 ,whether the ,psalmist looked forward thus we do not know4 ,but for us1 the very shortcomings of our joys and of our songs are prophetic of the perfect and perpetual rapture of the one1 and the perfect and perpetual music of the other4 ,we know that ,he who has given us so much will not stay ,his hand until ,he has perfected that which concerns us4 ,we know that ,he who has taught our dumb hearts to magnify ,his name will not cease till 'out of the lips of babes and sucklings1 ,he has perfected praise4' ,we know that the pilgrims in whose hearts are the ways are blessed1 and we are sure that a fuller blessedness must belong to those who have reached the journey's end4 ,and so these words give us a twofold aspect of that future on which our longing hopes may well fix4 ,it is the perfection of man's blessedness4 ,then the joyous exclamation of our first text1 which we have often had to strive hard not to disbelieve1 will be no more a truth of faith but a truth of experience4 ,here we have had to trust that it was so1 even when we could scarce cleave to the confidence4 ,there1 memory will look back on our wanderings through this great wilderness1 and1 enlightened by the issue of them all1 will speak only of ,mercy and ,goodness as our angel guides all our lives4 ,the end will crown the work4 ,pure unmingled consciousness of bliss will fill all hearts1 and break into the old exclamation1 which we had sometimes to stifle sobs ere we could speak on earth4 ,when ,he says1 ',come in6 ye blessed of ,my ,father1' all our tears and fears1 and pains and sins1 will be forgotten1 and we shall but have to say1 in wonder and joy1 ',blessed are they that dwell in ,thy house2 they will be still praising ,thee4' ,it is the perfection of ,god's praise4 ,we may possibly venture to see in these wonderful words of our text a dim and far-off hint of a possibility that seems to be pointed at in many parts of ,scripture--that the blessings of ,christ's mighty work shall1 in some measure and manner1 pass through man to his dwelling-place and its creatures4 ,dark shadows of evil--the mystery of pain and sorrow--lie over earth and all its tribes4 ',we look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness4' ,and the statements of ,scripture which represent creation as suffering by man's sin1 and participant in its degree in man's redemption1 seem too emphatic and precise1 as well as too frequent1 and in too didactic connections1 to be lightly brushed aside as poetic imagery4 ,may it not be that man's transgression ',broke the fair music that all creatures made ,to their great ,lord1 whose love their motion swayed1' and that man's restoration may1 indeed1 bring back all that hath life and breath to a harmonious blessedness--according to the deep and enigmatical words1 which declare that 'the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of ,god'8 ,be that as it may1 at all events our second text opens to us the gates of the heavenly temple1 and shows us there the saintly ranks and angel companies gathered in the city whose walls are salvation and its gates praise4 ,they harmonise with that other later vision of heaven which the ,seer in ,patmos beheld1 not only in setting before us worship as the glad work of all who are there1 but in teaching the connection between the praises of men1 and the answering hymns of angels4 ,the harps of heaven are hushed to hear their praise who can sing1 ',thou hast redeemed us to ,god by ,thy blood1' and1 in answer to that hymn of thanksgiving for unexampled deliverance and resorting grace1 the angels around the throne break forth into new songs to the ,lamb that was slain--while still wider spread the broadening circles of harmonious praise1 till at last 'every creature which is in heaven1 and on the earth1 and under the earth1 and such as are in the sea1 and all that are in them1' join in the mighty hymn of ',blessing1 and honour1 and glory1 and power1 unto ,him that sitteth upon the throne1 and to the ,lamb for ever and ever4' ,then the rapturous exclamation from human souls redeemed1--',oh6 the blessedness of the men whom ,thou hast loved and saved1' shall be answered by choral praise from everything that hath breath4 ,and are you dumb1 my friend1 in these universal bursts of praise8 ,is that because you have not chosen to take the universal blessing which ,god gives8 ,you have nothing to do but to receive the things that are freely given to you of ,god--the forgiveness1 the cleansing1 the life1 that come from ,christ by faith4 ,take them1 and call upon the name of the ,lord1 ,and can you refuse ,his gifts and withhold your praise8 ,you can be eloquent in thanks to those who do you kindnesses1 and in praise of those whom you admire and love1 but your best ,friend receives none of your gratitude and none of your praise4 ,ignoble silence and dull unthankfulness--with these you requite your ,saviour6 ',i tell you that1 if these should hold their peace1 the stones would immediately cry out6' ,a ,,staircase ,,of ,,three ,,steps ',all those that put their trust in ,thee 444 them also that love ,thy name 444 the righteous4'--,,psalm v4 #aa1 #ab4 ,i have ventured to isolate these three clauses from their context1 because1 if taken in their sequence1 they are very significant of the true path by which men draw nigh to ,god and become righteous4 ,they are all three designations of the same people1 but regarded under different aspects and at different stages4 ,there is a distinct order in them1 and whether the ,psalmist was fully conscious of it or not1 he was anticipating and stating1 with wonderful distinctness1 the ,christian sequence--faith1 love1 righteousness4 ,these three are the three flights of stairs1 as it were1 which lead men up to ,god and to perfection1 or if you like to take another metaphor1 meaning the same thing1 they are respectively the root1 the stalk1 and the fruit of religion4 ',they that put their trust in ,thee 444 them also that love ,thy ,name 444 the righteous4' ,i4 ,so1 then1 the first thought here is that the foundation of all is trust4 ,now1 the word that is employed here is very significant4 ,in its literal force it really means to 'flee to a refuge4' ,and that the literal signification has not altogether been lost in the spiritual and metaphorical use of it1 as a term expressive of religious experience1 is quite plain from many of the cases in which it occurs4 ,let me just repeat one of them to you4 ',be merciful unto me1 ,o ,god1 be merciful to me1 for my soul trusteth in ,thee2 yea1 in the shadow of ,thy wings will ,i make my refuge4' ,there the picture that is in the words is distinctly before the ,psalmist's mind1 and he is thinking not only of the act of mind and heart by which he casts himself in confidence upon ,god1 but upon that which represents it in symbol1 the act by which a man flees into some hiding-place4 ,the psalm is said in the superscription to have been written when ,david hid in a cave from his persecutor4 ,though no weight be given to that statement1 it suggests the impression made by the psalm4 ,in imagination we can see the rough sides of the cavern that sheltered him arching over the fugitive1 like the wings of some great bird1 and just as he has fled thither with eager feet and is safely hidden from his pursuers there1 so he has betaken himself to the everlasting ,rock1 in the cleft of which he is at rest and secure4 ,to trust in ,god is neither more nor less than to flee to ,him for refuge1 and there to be at peace4 ,the same presence of the original metaphor1 colouring the same religious thought1 is found in the beautiful words with which ,boaz welcomes ,ruth1 when he prays for her that the ,god of ,israel may reward her1 'under the shadow of whose wings thou hast come to trust4' ,so1 as a man in peril runs into a hiding-place or fortress1 as the chickens beneath the outspread wing of the mother bird nestle close in the warm feathers and are safe and well1 the soul that trusts takes its flight straight to ,god1 and in ,him reposes and is secure4 ,now1 it seems to me that such a figure as that is worth tons of theological lectures about the true nature of faith1 and that it tells us1 by means of a picture that says a great deal more than many a treatise1 that faith is something very different from a cold-blooded act of believing in the truth of certain propositions2 that it is the flight of the soul--knowing itself to be in peril1 and naked1 and unarmed--into the strong ,fortress4 ,what is it that keeps a man safe when he thus has around him the walls of some citadel8 ,is it himself1 is it the act by which he took refuge1 or is it the battlements behind which he crouches8 ,so in faith--which is more than a process of a man's understanding1 and is not merely the saying1 ',yes1 ,i believe all that is in the ,bible is true2 at any rate1 it is not for me to contradict it1' but is the running of the man1 when he knows himself to be in danger1 into the very arms of ,god--it is not the running that makes him safe1 but it is the arms to which he runs4 ,if we would only lay to heart that the very essence of religion lies in this 'flight of the lonely soul to the only ,god1' we should understand better than we do what ,he asks from us in order that ,he may defend us1 and how blessed and certain ,his defence is4 ,so let us clear our minds from the thought that anything is worth calling trust which is not thus taking refuge in ,god ,himself4 ,now1 ,i need not remind you1 ,i suppose1 that all this is just as true about us as it was about ,david1 and that the emotion or the act of his will and heart which he expresses in these words of my text is neither more nor less than the ,christian act of faith4 ,there is no difference except a difference of development2 there is no difference between the road to ,god marked out in the ,psalms1 and the road to ,god laid down in the ,gospels4 ,the ,psalmist who said1 ',trust ye in the ,lord for ever1' and the ,apostle who said1 ',believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and thou shalt be saved1' were preaching identically the same doctrine4 ,one of them could speak more fully than the other could of the ,person on whom trust was to be rested1 but the trust itself was the same1 and the ,person on whom it rested was the same1 though ,his ,name of old was ,jehovah1 and ,his ,name to-day is ',immanuel1 ,god with us4' ,nor need ,i do more than point out how the context of the words that ,i have ventured to detach from their surroundings is instructive3 ',let all those that put their trust in ,thee rejoice because ,thou defendest them4' ,the word for defending there continues the metaphor that lies in the word for 'trust1' for it means literally to cover over and so to protect4 ,thus1 when a man runs to ,god for ,his refuge1 ,god ',covers his defenceless head ,with the shadow of ,his wings4' ,and the joy of trust is1 first1 that it brings round me the whole omnipotence of ,god for my defence1 and the whole tenderness of ,god for my consolation1 and next1 that in the very exercise of trust in such defence1 so fortified and vindicated by experience1 there is great reward4 ,all who thus flee into the refuge shall find refuge whither they flee1 and shall be glad4 ,,ii4 ,then the next thought of my texts1 which ,i do not force into them1 but which results1 as it seems to me1 distinctly from the order in which they occur in the context1 is that love follows trust4 ',all those that put their trust in ,thee--they also that love ,thee4' ,if ,i am to love ,god1 ,i must be quite sure that ,god loves me4 ,my love can never be anything else than an answer to ,his4 ,it can only be secondary and derived1 or ,i would rather say reflected and flashed back from ,his4 ,and so1 very significantly1 the ,psalmist says1 ',those that love ,thy ,name1' meaning by ',name1' as is always meant by it1 the revealed character of ,god4 ,if ,i am to love ,god1 ,he must not hide in the darkness behind ,his infinity1 but must come out and give me something about ,him that ,i know4 ,the three letters ,g ,o ,d mean nothing1 and there is no power in them to stir a man's heart4 ,it must be the knowledge of the acts of ,god that brings men to love ,him4 ,and there is no way of getting that knowledge but through the faith which1 as ,i said1 must precede love4 ,for faith realises the fact that ,god loves4 ',we have known and believed the love that ,god hath to us4' ,the first step is to grasp the great truth of the loving ,god1 and through that truth to grasp the ,god that loves4 ,and then1 and not till then1 does there spring up in a man's heart love towards ,him4 ,but it is only the faith that is set on ,him who hath declared the ,father unto us that gives us for our very own the grasp of the facts1 which facts are the only possible fuel that can kindle love in a human heart4 ',we love ,him because ,he first loved us1' and we shall never know that ,he loves us unless we come to the knowledge through the road of faith4 ,so ,john himself tells us when he says1 in the words that ,i have already quoted1 ',we have known and believed4' ,he puts the foundation last1 ',we have known1' because 'we have believed' 'the love that ,god hath to us4' ,and so faith is the only possible means by which any of us can ever experience1 as well as realise1 the love that kindles ours4 ,it is the possession of the fact of redemption for my very own and of the blessings which accompany it1 and that alone1 that binds a man to ,god in the bonds of love that cannot be broken1 and that subdues and unites all vagrant emotions1 affections1 and desires in the mighty tide of a love that ever sets towards ,him4 ,as surely as the silvery moon in the sky draws after it the heaped waters of the ocean all round the world1 so ,god's love draws ours4 ,they that believe contemplate1 and they that believe experience the effects of that divine love1 which must be experienced ere our answering love can be flashed back to heaven4 ,students of acoustics tell us that if you have two stringed instruments in adjacent apartments1 tuned to the same pitch1 a note sounded on one of them will be feebly vibrated upon the other as soon as the waves of sound have reached the sensitive string4 ,in like manner a man's heart gives off a faint1 but musical1 little tinkle of answering love to ,god when the deep note of ,god's love to him1 struck on the chords of heaven up yonder1 reaches his poor heart4 ,love follows trust4 ,so1 brethren1 if we desire to be warmed1 let us get into the sunshine and abide there4 ,if we desire to have our hearts filled with love to ,god1 do not let us waste our time in trying to pump up artificial emotions or to persuade ourselves that we love ,him better than we do1 but let us fix our thoughts and fasten our refuge-seeking trust on ,him1 and then that shall kindle ours4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 righteousness follows trust and love4 ,the last description here of the man who begins as a believer and then advances to being a lover is righteous4 ,that is the evangelical order4 ,that is the great blessing and beauty of ,christianity1 that it goes an altogether different way to work to make men good from that which any other system has ever dreamed of4 ,it says1 first of all1 trust1 and that will create love and that will ensure obedience4 ,faith leads to righteousness because1 in the very act of trusting ,god1 ,i come out of myself1 and going out of myself and ceasing from all self-admiration and self-dependence and self-centred life is the beginning of all good and has in it the germ of all righteousness1 even as to live for self is the mother tincture out of which we can make all sins4 ,and faith leads to righteousness in another way4 ,open the heart and ,christ comes in4 ,trust ,him and ,he fills our poor nature with 'the law of the ,spirit of life that was in ,christ ,jesus1' and that 'makes me free from the law of sin and death4' ,righteousness1 meaning thereby just what irreligious men mean by it--viz4 good living1 plain obedience to the ordinary recognised dictates of morality1 going straight--that is most surely attained when we cease from our own works and say to ,jesus ,christ1 ',lord1 ,i cannot walk in the narrow path4 ,do ,thou ,thyself come to me and fill my heart and keep my feet4' ,they that trust and love are 'found in ,him1 not having their own righteousness1 but that which is of ,god by faith4' ,and love leads to righteousness because it brings the one motive into play in our hearts which turns duty into delight1 toil into joy1 and makes us love better to do what will please our beloved ,lover than anything besides4 ,why did ,jesus ,christ say1',my yoke is easy and ,my burden is light'8 ,was it because ,he diminished the weight of duties or laid down an easier slipshod morality than had been enjoined before8 ,no6 ,he intensified it all1 and ,his ,commandment is far harder to flesh and blood than any commandments that were ever given4 ,but for all that1 the yoke that ,he lays upon our necks is1 if ,i may so say1 padded with velvet2 and the burden that we have to draw behind us is laid upon wheels that will turn so easily that the load is diminished1 inasmuch as for ,duty ,he substitutes ,himself and says to us1 ',if ye love ,me1 keep ,my ,commandments4' ,so1 dear brethren6 here is a very easily applied1 and a very far-reaching test for us who call ourselves ,christians3 ,does our love and does our trust culminate in practical righteousness8 ,we are all tempted to make too much of the emotions of the religious life1 and too little of its persistent1 dogged obedience4 ,we are all too apt to think that a ,christian is a man that believes in ,jesus ,christ4 ',justification by faith alone without the works of the law' used to be the watchword of the ,evangelical ,church4 ,it might be so held as to be either a blessed truth or a great error1 and many of us make it an error instead of a blessing4 ,on the other hand1 there is only one way by which righteousness can be attained1 and that is3 first by faith and then by love4 ,here are three steps3 'we have known and believed the love that ,god hath to us'2 that is the broad1 bottom step4 ,and above it 'we love ,him because ,he first loved us1' that is the central one4 ,and on the top of all1 'herein is our love made perfect that we keep ,his ,commandments4' ,they that trust are they also who love ,thy ,name1 and they who trust through love are1 and only they are1 the righteous4 ,,one ,,saying ,,from ,,three ,,men ',the wicked hath said in his heart1 ,i shall not be moved4' --,,psalm x4 #f4 ',because ,he is at my right hand1 ,i shall not be moved4' --,,psalm xvi4 #h4 ',and in my prosperity ,i said1 ,i shall never be moved4' --,,psalm xxx4 #f4 ,how differently the same things sound when said by different men6 ,here are three people giving utterance to almost the same sentiment of confidence4 ,a wicked man says it1 and it is insane presumption and defiance4 ,a good man says it1 having been lulled into false security by easy times1 and it is a mistake that needs chastisement4 ,a humble believing soul says it1 and it is the expression of a certain and blessed truth4 ',the wicked saith in his heart1 ,i shall not be moved4' ,a good man1 led astray by his prosperity1 said1 ',i shall not be moved1' and the last of the three put a little clause in which makes all the difference1 'because ,he is at my right hand1 ,i shall never be moved4' ,so1 then1 we have the mad arrogance of godless confidence1 the mistake of a good man that needs correction1 and the warranted confidence of a believing soul4 ,i4 ,the mad arrogance of godless confidence4 ,the 'wicked' man1 in the psalm from which our first text comes1 said a good many wrong things 'in his heart4' ,the tacit assumptions on which a life is based1 though they may never come to consciousness1 and still less to utterance1 are the really important things4 ,i dare say this 'wicked man' was a good ,jew with his lips1 and said his prayers all properly1 but in his heart he had two working beliefs4 ,one is thus expressed3 ',as for all his enemies1 he puffeth at them4 ,he hath said in his heart1 ,i shall not be moved4' ,the other is put into words thus3 ',he hath said in his heart1 ,god hath forgotten1 ,he hideth ,his face4 ,he will never see it4' ,that is to say1 the only explanation of a godless life1 unless the man is an idiot1 is that there lie beneath it1 as formative principles and unspoken assumptions1 guiding and shaping it1 one or both of these two thoughts3 either ',there is no ,god1' or ',he does not care what ,i do1 and ,i am safe to go on for evermore in the present fashion4' ,it might seem as if a man with the facts of human life before him1 could not1 even in the insanest arrogance1 say1 ',i shall not be moved1 for ,i shall never be in adversity4' ,but we have an awful power--and the fact that we exercise1 and choose to exercise1 it is one of the strange riddles of our enigmatical existence and characters--of ignoring unwelcome facts1 and going cheerily on as though we had annihilated them1 because we do not reflect upon them4 ,so this man1 in the midst of a world in which there is no stay1 and whilst he saw all round him the most startling and tragical instances of sudden change and complete collapse1 stands quietly and says1 ',ah6 ,i shall never be moved'2 ',god doth not require it4' ,that absurdity is the basis of every life that is not a life of consecration and devotion--so far as it has a basis of conviction at all4 ,the 'wicked' man's true faith is this1 absurd as it may sound when you drag it out into clear1 distinct utterance1 whatever may be his professions4 ,i wonder if there are any of us whose life can only be acquitted of being utterly unreasonable and ridiculous by the assumption1 ',i shall never be moved'8 ,have you a lease of your goods8 ,do you think you are tenants at will or owners8 ,which8 ,is there any reason why any of us should escape1 as some of us live as if we believed we should escape1 the certain fate of all others8 ,if there is not1 what about the sanity of the man whose whole life is built upon a blunder8 ,he is convicted of the grossest folly1 unless he be assured that either there is no ,god1 or that ,he does not care one rush about what we do1 and that consequently we are certain of a continuance in our present state4 ,do you say in your heart1 ',i shall never be moved'8 ,then you must be strong enough to resist every tempest that beats against you4 ,is that so8 ',i shall never be moved'--then nothing that contributes to your well-being will ever slip from your grasp1 but you will be able to hold it tight4 ,is that so8 ',i shall never be moved'--then there is no grave waiting for you4 ,is that so8 ,unless these three assumptions be warranted1 every godless man is making a hideous blunder1 and his character is the sentence pronounced by the loving lips of ,incarnate ,truth on the rich man who thought that he had 'much goods laid up for many years1' and had only to be merry--',thou fool6 ,thou fool6' ,if an engineer builds a bridge across a river without due calculation of the force of the winds that blow down the gorge1 the bridge will be at the bottom of the stream some stormy night1 and the train piled on the fragments of it in hideous ruin4 ,and with equal certainty the end of the first utterer of this speech can be calculated1 and is foretold in the psalm1 ',the ,lord is ,king for ever and ever4444 ,the godless are perished out of the land4' ,,ii4 ,we have in our second text the mistake of a good man who has been lulled into false confidence4 ,the ,psalmist admits his error by the acknowledgment that he spoke 'in my prosperity'2 or1 as the word might be rendered1 'in my security4' ,this suggests to us the mistake into which even good men1 lulled by the quiet continuance of peaceful days1 are certain to fall1 unless there be continual watchfulness exercised by them4 ,it is a very significant fact that the word which is translated in our ,authorised ,version 'prosperity' is often rendered 'security1' meaning thereby1 not safety1 but a belief that ,i am safe4 ,a man who is prosperous1 or at ease1 is sure to drop into the notion that 'to-morrow will be as this day1 and much more abundant1' unless he keeps up unslumbering watchfulness against the insidious illusion of permanence4 ,if he yields to the temptation1 in his foolish security1 forgetting how fragile are its foundations1 and what a host of enemies surround him threatening it1 then there is nothing for it but that the merciful discipline1 which this ,psalmist goes on to tell us he had to pass through by reason of his fall1 shall be brought to bear upon him4 ,the writer gives us a page of his own autobiography4 ',in my security ,i said1 ,i shall never be moved4' ',lord6 by ,thy favour ,thou hast made my mountain to stand strong4 ,thou didst hide ,thy face4' ,what about the security then8 ,what about ',i shall never be moved' then8 ',i was troubled4 ,i cried to ,thee1 ,o ,lord6'--and then it was all right1 his prayer was heard1 and he was in 'security'--that is1 safety--far more really when he was 'troubled' and sore beset than when he had been1 as he fancied1 sure of not being moved4 ,long peace rusts the cannon1 and is apt to make it unfit for war4 ,our lack of imagination1 and our present sense of comfort and well-being1 tend to make us fancy that we shall go on for ever in the quiet jog-trot of settled life without any very great calamities or changes4 ,but there was once a village at the bottom of the crater of ,vesuvius1 and great trees1 that had grown undisturbed there for a hundred years1 and green pastures1 and happy homes and flocks4 ,and then1 one day1 a rumble and a rush1 and what became of the village8 ,it went up in smoke-clouds4 ,the quiescence of the volcano is no sign of its extinction4 ,and as surely as we live1 so sure is it that there will come a 'to-morrow' to us all which shall not be as this day4 ,no man has any right to calculate upon anything beyond the present moment1 and there is no basis whatever1 either for the philosophical assertion that the order of nature is fixed1 and that therefore there are no miracles1 or for the practical translation of the assertion into our daily lives1 that we may reasonably expect to go on as we are without changes or calamities4 ,there is no reason capable of being put into logical shape for believing that1 because the sun has risen ever since the beginning of things1 it will rise to-morrow1 for there will come a to-morrow when it will not rise4 ,in like manner1 the longest possession of our mercies is no reason for forgetting the precarious tenure on which we hold them all4 ,so1 ,christian men and women6 let us try to keep vivid that consciousness which is so apt to get dull1 that nothing continueth in one stay1 and that we shall be moved1 as far as the outward life and its circumstances are concerned4 ,if we forget it1 we shall need1 and we shall get1 the loving ,fatherly discipline1 which my second text tells us followed the false security of this good man4 ,the sea is kept from putrefying by storms4 ,wine poured from vessel to vessel is purified thereby4 ,it is an old truth and a wholesome one1 to be always remembered1 'because they have no changes therefore they fear not ,god 4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we have the same thing said by another man in another key4 ',because ,he is at my right hand1 ,i shall not be moved4' ,the prelude to the assertion makes all the difference4 ,here is the warranted confidence of a simple faith4 ,the man who clasps ,god's hand1 and has ,him standing by his side1 as his ,ally1 his ,companion1 his ,guide1 his ,defence--that man does not need to fear change4 ,for all the things which convict the arrogant or mistaken confidences of the other men as being insanity or a lapse from faith prove the confidence of the trustful soul to be the very perfection of reason and common sense4 ,we may be confident of our power to resist anything that can come against us1 if ,he be at our side4 ,the man that stands with his back against an oak-tree is held firm1 not because of his own strength1 but because of that on which he leans4 ,there is a beautiful story of some heathen convert who said to a missionary's wife1 who had felt faint and asked that she might lean for a space on her stronger arm1 ',if you love me1 lean hard4' ,that is what ,god says to us1 ',if you love ,me1 lean hard4' ,and if you do1 because ,he is at your right hand1 you will not be moved4 ,it is not insanity2 it is not arrogance2 it is simple faith1 to look our enemies in the eyes1 and to feel sure that they cannot touch us1 ',trust in ,jehovah2 so shall ye be established4' ,rest on the ,lord1 and ye shall rest indeed4 ,in like manner the man who has ,god at his right hand may be sure of the unalterable continuance of all his proper good4 ,outward things may come or go1 as it pleases ,him1 but that which makes the life of our life will never depart from us as long as ,he stands there4 ,and whilst ,he is there1 if only our hearts are knit to ,him1 we can say1 ',my heart and my flesh faileth1 but ,god is the strength of my heart1 and my portion for ever4 ,i shall not be moved4 ,though all that can go goes1 ,he abides2 and in ,him ,i have all riches4' ,trust not in the uncertainty of outward good1 but in the living ,god1 who giveth us richly all things to enjoy4 ,the wicked man was defiantly arrogant1 and the forgetful good man was criminally self-confident1 when they each said1 ',i shall not be moved4' ,we are only taking up the privileges that belong to us if1 exercising faith in ,him1 we venture to say1 ',take what ,thou wilt2 leave me ,thyself2 ,i have enough4' ,and the man who says1 ',because ,god is at my right hand1 ,i shall not be moved1' has the right to anticipate an unbroken continuance of personal being1 and an unchanged continuance of the very life of his life4 ,that which breaks off all other lives abruptly is no breach in the continuity1 either of the consciousness or of the avocations of a devout man4 ,for1 on the other side of the flood1 he does what he does on this side1 only more perfectly and more continually4 ',he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever1' and it makes comparatively little difference to him whether his place be on this or on the other side of ,jordan4 ,we 'shall not be moved1' even when we change our station from earth to heaven1 and the sublime fulfilment of the warranted confidence of the trustful soul comes when the 'to-morrow' of the skies is as the 'to-day' of earth1 only 'much more abundant4' ,,man',s ,,true ,,treasure ,,in ,,god ',the ,lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup2 ,thou maintainest my lot4 ,the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places2 yea1 ,i have a goodly heritage4'--,,psalm xvi4 #e1 #f4 ,we read1 in the law which created the priesthood in ,israel1 that 'the ,lord spake unto ,aaron1 ,thou shalt have no inheritance in their land1 neither shalt thou have any part among them4 ,i am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of ,israel' 7,numbers xvii4 #bj74 ,now there is an evident allusion to that remarkable provision in this text4 ,the ,psalmist feels that in the deepest sense he has no possession amongst the men who have only possessions upon earth1 but that ,god is the treasure which he grasps in a rapture of devotion and self-abandonment4 ,the priest's duty is his choice4 ,he will 'walk by faith and not by sight4' ,are not all ,christians priests8 and is not the very essence and innermost secret of the religious life this--that the heart turns away from earthly things and deliberately accepts ,god as its supreme good1 and its only portion8 ,these first words of my text contain the essence of all true religion4 ,the connection between the first clause and the others is closer than many readers perceive4 ,the 'lot' which ',thou maintainest1' the 'pleasant places1' the 'goodly heritage1' all carry on the metaphor1 and all refer to ,god as ,himself the portion of the heart that chooses and trusts ,him4 ',thou maintainest my lot'--,he who is our inheritance also guards our inheritance1 and whosoever has taken ,god for his possession has a possession as sure as ,god can make it4 ',the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places2 yea1 ,i have a goodly heritage'--the heritage that is goodly is ,god ,himself4 ,when a man chooses ,god for his portion1 then1 and then only1 is he satisfied--'satisfied with favour1 and full of the goodness of the ,lord4' ,let me try to expand and enforce these thoughts1 with the hope that we may catch something of their fervour and their glow4 ,i4 ,the first thought1 then1 that comes out of the words before us is this3 all true religion has its very heart in deliberately choosing ,god as my supreme good4 ',the ,lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup4' ,the two words which are translated in our version 'portion' and 'inheritance' are substantially synonymous4 ,the latter of them is used continually in reference to the share of each individual1 or family1 or tribe in the partition of the land of ,canaan4 ,there is a distinct allusion1 therefore1 to that partition in the language of our text2 and the two expressions1 part or 'portion1' and 'inheritance1' are substantially identical1 and really mean just the same as if the single expression had stood--',the ,lord is my ,portion4' ,i may just notice in passing that these words are evidently alluded to in the ,new ,testament1 in the ,epistle to the ,colossians1 where ,paul speaks of ,god 'having made us meet for our portion of the inheritance of the saints in light4' ,and then the 'portion of my cup' is a somewhat strange expression4 ,it is found in one of the other ,psalms1 with the meaning 'fortune1' or 'destiny1' or 'sum of circumstances which make up a man's life4' ,there may be1 of course1 an allusion to the metaphor of a feast here1 and ,god may be set forth as 'the portion of my cup1' in the sense of being the refreshment and sustenance of a man's soul4 ,but ,i should rather be disposed to consider that there is merely a prolongation of the earlier metaphor1 and that the same thought as is contained in the figure of the 'inheritance' is expressed here 7as in common conversation it is often expressed7 by the word 'cup1' namely1 'that which makes up a man's portion in this life4' ,it is used with such a meaning in the well-known words1 ',my cup runneth over1' and in another shape in ',the cup which ,my ,father hath given ,me1 shall ,i not drink it8' ,it is the sum of circumstances which make up a man's 'fortune4' ,so the double metaphor presents the one thought of ,god as the true possession of the devout soul4 ,now1 how do we possess ,god8 ,we possess things in one fashion and persons in another4 ,the lowest and most imperfect form of possession is that by which a man simply keeps other people off material good1 and asserts the right of disposal of it as he thinks proper4 ,a blind man may have the finest picture that ever was painted2 he may call it his1 that is to say1 nobody else can sell it1 but what good is it to him8 ,a lunatic may own a library as big as the ,bodleian1 but what use is it to him8 ,does the man who collects the rents of a mountain-side1 or the poet or painter to whom its cliffs and heather speak far-reaching thoughts1 most truly possess it8 ,the highest form of possession1 even of things1 is when they minister to our thought1 to our emotion1 to our moral and intellectual growth4 ,we possess even them really1 according as we know them and hold communion with them4 ,but when we get up into the region of persons1 we possess them in the measure in which we understand them1 and sympathise with them1 and love them4 ,knowledge1 intercourse1 sympathy1 affection--these are the ways by which men can possess men1 and spirits1 spirits4 ,a disciple who gets the thoughts of a great teacher into his mind1 and has his whole being saturated by them1 may be said to have made the teacher his own4 ,a friend or a lover owns the heart that he or she loves1 and which loves back again2 and not otherwise do we possess ,god4 ,such ownership must be1 from its very nature1 reciprocal4 ,there must be the two sides to it4 ,and so we read in the ,bible1 with equal frequency3 the ,lord is the inheritance of ,his people1 and ,his people are the inheritance of the ,lord4 ,he possesses me1 and ,i possess ,him--with reverence be it spoken--by the very same tenure2 for whoso loves ,god has ,him1 and whom ,he loves ,he owns4 ,there is deep and blessed mystery involved in this wonderful prerogative1 that the loving1 believing heart has ,god for its possession and indwelling ,guest2 and people are apt to brush such thoughts aside as mystical4 ,but1 like all true ,christian mysticism1 it is intensely practical4 ,we have ,god for ours1 first1 in the measure in which our minds are actively occupied with thoughts of ,him4 ,we have no merely mystical or emotional possession of ,god to preach4 ,there is a real1 adequate knowledge of ,him in ,jesus ,christ4 ,we know ,god1 ,his character1 ,his heart1 ,his relations to us1 ,his thoughts of good concerning us1 sufficiently for all intellectual and for all practical purposes4 ,i wish to ask you a plain question3 ,do you ever think about ,him8 ,there is only one way of getting ,god for yours1 and that is by bringing ,him into your life by frequent meditation upon ,his sweetness1 and upon the truths that you know about ,him4 ,there is no other way by which a spirit can possess a spirit1 that is not cognisable by sense1 except only by the way of thinking about him1 to begin with4 ,all else follows that4 ,that is how you hold your dear ones when they go to the other side of the world4 ,that is how you hold ,god1 who dwells on the other side of the stars4 ,there is no way to 'have' ,him1 but through the understanding accepting ,him1 and keeping firm hold of ,him4 ,men and women that from ,monday morning to ,saturday night never think of ,his name--how do they possess ,god8 ,and professing ,christians that never remember ,him all the day long--what absurd hypocrisy it is for them to say that ,god is theirs6 ,yours1 and never in your mind6 ,when your husband1 or your wife1 or your child1 goes away from home for a week1 do you forget them as utterly as you forget ,god8 ,do you have them in any sense if they never dwell in the 'study of your imagination1' and never fill your thoughts with sweetness and with light8 ,and so again when the heart turns to ,him1 and when all the faculties of our being1 will1 hope1 and imagination1 and all our affections and all our practical powers1 when they all touch ,him1 each in its proper fashion1 then and then only can we in any reasonable and true sense be said to possess ,god4 ,thought1 communion1 sympathy1 affection1 moral likeness1 practical obedience1 these are the way--and not by mystical raptures only--by which1 in simple prose fact1 it is possible for the finite to grasp the infinite1 and for a man to be the owner of ,god4 ,now there is another consideration very necessary to be remembered1 and that is that this possession of ,god involves1 and is possible only by1 a deliberate act of renunciation4 ,the ,levite's example1 that is glanced at in my text1 is always our law4 ,you must have no part or inheritance amongst the sons of earth if ,god is to be your inheritance4 ,or1 to put it into plain words1 there must be a giving up of the material and the created if there is to be a possession of the divine and the heavenly4 ,there cannot be two supreme1 any more than there can be two pole-stars1 one in the north and the other in the south1 to both of which a man can be steering4 ,you cannot stand with ',one foot on land1 and one on sea1 ,to one thing constant never4' ,if you are to have ,god as your supreme good1 you must empty your heart of earth and worldly things1 or your possession of ,him will be all words1 and imagination1 and hypocrisy4 ,brethren6 ,i wish to bring that message to your consciences to-day4 ,and what is this renunciation8 ,there must be1 first of all1 a fixed1 deliberate1 intelligent conviction lying at the foundation of my life that ,god is best1 and that ,he and ,he only is my true delight and desire4 ,then there must be built upon that intelligent conviction that ,god is best1 the deliberate turning away of the heart from these material treasures4 ,then there must be the willingness to abandon the outward possession of them1 if they come in between us and ,him4 ,just as travellers in old days1 that went out looking for treasures in the western hemisphere1 were glad to empty their ships of their less precious cargo in order to load them with gold1 you must get rid of the trifles1 and fling these away if ever they so take up your heart that ,god has no room there4 ,or rather1 perhaps1 if the love of ,god in any real measure1 howsoever imperfectly1 once gets into a man's soul1 it will work there to expel and edge out the love and regard for earthly things4 ,just as when the chemist collects oxygen in a vessel filled with water1 as it passes into the jar it drives out the water before it2 the love of ,god1 if it come into a man's heart in any real sense1 in the measure in which it comes1 will deliver him from the love of the world4 ,but between the two there is warfare so internecine and endless that they cannot co-exist3 and here1 to-day1 it is as true as ever it was that if you want to have ,god for your portion and your inheritance you must be content to have no inheritance amongst your brethren1 nor part amongst the sons of earth4 ,men and women6 are you ready for that renunciation8 ,are you prepared to say1 ',i know that the sweetness of ,thy presence is the truest sweetness that ,i can taste2 and lo6 ,i give up all besides and my own self'8 ',o ,god of good1 the unfathomed ,sea6 ,who would not yield himself to ,thee8' ,and remember1 that nothing less than these is ,christianity--the conviction that the world is second and not first2 that ,god is best1 love is best1 truth is best1 knowledge of ,him is best1 likeness to ,him is best1 the willingness to surrender all if it come in contest with ,his supreme sweetness4 ,he that turns his back upon earth by reason of the drawing power of the glory that excelleth1 is a ,christian4 ,the ,christianity that only trusts to ,christ for deliverance from the punishment of sin1 and so makes religion a kind of fire insurance1 is a very poor affair4 ,we need the lesson pealed into our ears as much as any generation has ever done1 ',ye cannot serve ,god and mammon4' ,a man's real working religion consists in his loving ,god most and counting ,his love the sweetest of all things4 ,,ii4 ,now let me turn to the next point that is here1 viz4 that this possession is as sure as ,god can make it4 ',thou maintainest my lot4' ,thou art ,thyself both my heritage and the guardian of my heritage4 ,he that possesses ,god1 says the text1 by implication1 is lifted above all fear and chance of change4 ,the land1 the partition of which amongst the tribes lies at the bottom of the allusive metaphor of my text1 was given to them under the sanction of a supernatural defence2 and the law of their continuance in it was that they should trust and serve the unseen ,king4 ,it was ,he1 according to the theocratic theory of the ,old ,testament1 and not chariots and horses1 their own arm and their own sword1 that kept them safe1 though the enemies on the north and the enemies on the south were big enough to swallow up the little kingdom at a mouthful4 ,and so1 says the ,psalmist allusively1 in a similar manner1 the ,divine ,power surrounds the man who chooses ,god for his heritage1 and nothing shall take that heritage from him4 ,the lower forms of possession1 by which men are called the owners of material goods1 are imperfect1 because they are all precarious and temporary4 ,nothing really belongs to a man if it can be taken from him4 ,what we may lose we can scarcely be said to have4 ,they are mine1 they were yours1 they will be somebody else's to-morrow4 ,whilst we have them we do not have them in any deep sense2 we cannot retain them1 they are not really ours at all4 ,the only thing that is worth calling mine is something that so passes into and saturates the very substance of my soul that1 like a piece of cloth dyed in the grain1 as long as two threads hold together the tint will be there4 ,that is how ,god gives us ,himself1 and nothing can take ,him out of a man's soul4 ,he1 in the sweetness of ,his grace1 bestows ,himself upon man1 and guards ,his own gift in the heart1 which is ,himself4 ,he who dwells in ,god and ,god in him lives as in the inmost keep and citadel4 ,the noise of battle may roar around the walls1 but deep silence and peace are within4 ,the storm may rage upon the coasts1 but he who has ,god for his portion dwells in a quiet inland valley where tempests never come4 ,no outer changes can touch our possession of ,god4 ,they belong to another region altogether4 ,other goods may go1 but this is held by a different tenure4 ,the life of a ,christian is lived in two regions3 in the one his life has its roots1 and its branches extend to the other4 ,in the one there may be whirling storms and branches may toss and snap1 whilst in the other1 to which the roots go down1 may be peace4 ,root yourselves in ,god1 making ,him your truest treasure1 and nothing can rob you of your wealth4 ,we here in this commercial community see many examples of great fortunes and great businesses melting away like yesterday's snow4 ,and surely the certain alternations of 'booms' and bad times might preach to some of you this lesson3 ,set not your hearts on that which can pass1 but make your treasure that which no man can take from you4 ,then1 too1 there is the other thought4 ,god will help us so that no temptations shall have power to make us rob ourselves of our treasure4 ,none can take it from us but ourselves1 but we are so weak and surrounded by temptations so strong that we need ,him to aid us if we are not to be beguiled by our own treacherous hearts into parting with our highest good4 ,a handful of feeble ,jews were nothing against the gigantic might of ,assyria1 or against the compacted strength of civilised ,egypt2 but there they stood1 on their rocky mountains1 defended1 not by their own strength1 but by the might of a present ,god4 ,and so1 unfit to cope with the temptations round us as we are1 if we cast ourselves upon ,his power and make ,him our supreme delight1 nothing shall be able to rob us of that possession and that sweetness4 ,and there is just one last point that ,i would refer to here on this matter of our stable possession of ,god4 ,it is very beautiful to observe that this psalm1 which1 in the language of my text1 rises to the very height of spiritual and1 in a good sense1 mystical devotion1 recognising ,god as the ,one ,good for souls1 is also one of the psalms which has the clearest utterance of the faith in immortality4 ,just after the words of my text we read these others1 in which the ,old ,testament confidence in a life beyond the grave reaches its very climax3 ',thou wilt not leave my soul in ,sheol1 neither wilt ,thou suffer ,thine holy one to see corruption4 ,thou wilt show me the path of life2 in ,thy presence is fulness of joy2 at ,thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore4' ,that connection teaches us that the measure in which a man feels his true possession of ,god here and now1 is the measure in which his faith rises triumphant over the darkness of the grave1 and grasps1 with unfaltering confidence1 the conviction of an immortal life4 ,the more we know that ,god is our portion and our treasure1 the more sure1 and calmly sure1 we shall be that a thing like death cannot touch a thing like that1 that the mere physical fact is far too small and insignificant a fact to have any power in such a region as that2 that death can no more affect a man's relation to ,god1 whom he has learned to love and trust1 than you can cut thought or feeling with a knife4 ,the two belong to two different regions4 ,thus we have here the ,old ,testament faith in immortality shaping itself out of the ,old ,testament enjoyment of communion with ,god1 with a present ,god4 ,and you will find the very same process of thought in that seventy-third psalm1 which stands in some respects side by side with this one as attaining the height of mystical devotion1 joined with a very clear utterance of the faith in immortality3 ',whom have ,i in heaven but ,thee1 and there is none upon earth that ,i desire beside ,thee6 ,thou wilt guide me with ,thy counsel1 and afterwards receive me to glory4' ,so ,death himself cannot touch the heritage of the man whose heritage is the ,lord4 ,and his ministry is not to rob us of our treasures as he robs men of all treasures besides 7for 'their glory shall not descend after them'71 but to give us instead of the 'earnest of the inheritance'--the bit of turf by which we take possession of the estate--the broad land in all the amplitude of its sweep1 into our perpetual possession4 ',thou maintainest my lot4' ,neither death nor life 'shall separate us from the love of ,god which is in ,christ ,jesus our ,lord4' ,,iii4 ,and then the last thought here is that he who thus elects to find his treasure and delight in ,god is satisfied with his choice4 ',the lines'--the measuring-cord by which the estate was parted off and determined--'are fallen in pleasant places2 yea6'--not as our ,bible has it1 merely ',i have a goodly heritage1' putting emphasis on the fact of possession1 but--'the heritage is goodly to me1' putting emphasis on the fact of subjective satisfaction with it4 ,i have no time to dwell upon the thoughts that spring from these words4 ,take them in the barest outline4 ,no man that makes the worse choice of earth instead of ,god1 ever1 in the retrospect1 said3 ',i have a goodly heritage4' ,one of the later ,roman ,emperors1 who was among the best of them1 said1 when he was dying3 ',i have been everything1 and it profits me nothing4' ,no creature can satisfy your whole nature4 ,portions of it may be fed with their appropriate satisfaction1 but as long as we feed on the things of earth there will always be part of our being like an unfed tiger in a menagerie1 growling for its prey1 whilst its fellows are satisfied for the moment4 ,you can no more give your heart rest and blessedness by pitching worldly things into it1 than they could fill up ,chat ,moss1 when they made the first ,liverpool and ,manchester ,railway1 by throwing in cartloads of earth4 ,the bog swallowed them and was none the nearer being filled4 ,no man who takes the world for his portion ever said1 ',the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places4' ,for the make of your soul as plainly cries out ',god6' as a fish's fins declare that the sea is its element1 or a bird's wings mark it out as meant to soar4 ,man and ,god fit each other like the two halves of a tally4 ,you will never get rest nor satisfaction1 and you will never be able to look at the past with thankfulness1 nor at the present with repose1 nor into the future with hope1 unless you can say1 ',god is the strength of my heart1 and my portion for ever4' ,but oh6 if you do1 then you have a goodly heritage1 a heritage of still satisfaction1 a heritage which suits1 and gratifies1 and expands all the powers of a man's nature1 and makes him ever capable of larger and larger possession of a ,god who ever gives more than we can receive1 that the overplus may draw us to further desire1 and the further desire may more fully be satisfied4 ,the one true1 pure1 abiding joy is to hold fellowship with ,god and to live in ,his love4 ,the secret of all our unrest is the going out of our desires after earthly things4 ,they fly forth from our hearts like ,noah's raven1 and nowhere amid all the weltering flood can find a resting-place4 ,the secret of satisfied repose is to set our affections thoroughly on ,god4 ,then our wearied hearts1 like ,noah's dove returning to its rest1 will fold their wings and nestle fast by the throne of ,god4 ',all the happiness of this life1' said ,william ,law1 'is but trying to quench thirst out of golden empty cups4' ,but if we will take the ,lord for 'the portion of our cup1' we shall never thirst4 ,let me beseech you to choose ,god in ,christ for your supreme good and highest portion2 and having chosen1 to cleave to your choice4 ,so shall you enter on possession of good that truly shall be yours1 even 'that good part1 which shall not be taken away from' you4 ,and1 lastly1 remember that if you would have ,god1 you must take ,christ4 ,he is the true ,joshua1 who puts us in possession of the inheritance4 ,he brings ,god to you--to your knowledge1 to your love1 to your will4 ,he brings you to ,god1 making it possible for your poor sinful souls to enter ,his presence by ,his blood2 and for your spirits to possess that divine ,guest4 ',he that hath the ,son1 hath the ,father'2 and if you trust your souls to ,him who died for you1 and cling to ,him as your delight and your joy1 you will find that both the ,father and the ,son come to you and make their home in you4 ,through ,christ the ,son you will receive power to become sons of ,god1 and 'if children1 then heirs1 heirs of ,god1' because 'joint heirs with ,christ4' ,,god ,,with ,,us1 ,,and ,,we ,,with ,,god ',i have set the ,lord always before me3 because ,he is at my right hand1 ,i shall not be moved4444 #aa4 ,in ,thy presence is fulness of joy2 at ,thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore4' --,,psalm xvi4 #h1 #aa4 ,there are1 unquestionably1 large tracts of the ,old ,testament in which the anticipation of immortality does not appear1 and there are others in which its presence may be doubtful4 ,but here there can be no hesitation1 ,i think1 as to the meaning of these words4 ,if we regard them carefully1 we shall not only see clearly the ,psalmist's hope of immortal life1 but shall discern the process by which he came to it1 and almost his very act of grasping at it2 for the first verse of our text is manifestly the foundation of the second2 and the facts of the one are the basis of the hopes of the other4 ,that is made plain by the 'therefore' which1 in one of the intervening verses1 links the concluding rapturous anticipations with the previous expressions4 ,if1 then1 we observe that here1 in these two verses which ,i have read1 there is a very remarkable parallelism1 we shall get still more strikingly the connection between the devout life here and the perfecting of the same hereafter4 ,note how1 even in our translation1 the latter verse is largely an echo of the former1 and how much more distinctly that is the case if we make a little variation in the rendering1 which brings it closer to the original4 ',i have set the ,lord always before me1' says the one1--that is the present4 ',in ,thy presence is fulness of joy1' says the other1--that is the consequent future4 ,and the two words1 which are rendered in the one case 'before me' and in the other case 'in ,thy presence1' are1 though not identical1 so precisely synonymous that we may take them as meaning the same thing4 ,so we might render ',i have set the ,lord always before my face'3 ',before ,thy face is fulness of joy4' ,the other clause is1 to an ,english reader1 more obviously parallel3 ',because ,he is at my right hand ,i shall not be moved'--shall be steadied here4 ',at ,thy right hand are pleasures for evermore'--the steadfastness here merges into eternal delights hereafter4 ,so then1 we have two conditions set before us1 and the link between them made very plain4 ,and ,i gather all that ,i have to say about these words into two statements4 ,first1 life here may be ,god's presence with us1 to make us steadfast4 ,and secondly1 if so1 life hereafter will be our presence with ,god to make us glad4 ,that is the ,psalmist's teaching1 and ,i will try to enforce it4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 life here may be ,god's presence with us1 to make us steadfast4 ,mark the ,psalmist's language4 ',i have set the ,lord always in front of me--before my face4' ,emphasis is placed on 'set' and 'always4' ,god is ever by our sides1 but we may be very far away from ,him1 'though ,he be not far off from every one of us1' and if we are to have ,him blazing1 clear and unobscured above and beyond all the mists and hubbub of earth1 we shall need continual effort in order to keep ,him in our sight4 ',i have set the ,lord'--,he permits me to put out my hand1 as it were1 and station ,him where ,i want ,him1 that ,i may always have ,him in my sight1 and be able to look at ,him and be calm and blessed4 ,you cannot do that1 if you let the world1 and wealth1 and business1 and anxieties1 and ambitions1 and cares1 and sorrows1 and duties1 and family responsibilities1 jostle and hustle ,him out of your minds and hearts4 ,you cannot do it if1 like ,john ,bunyan's man with the muckrake1 you keep your eyes always down on the straw at your feet1 and never lift them to the crown above4 ,how many men in ,manchester walk its streets from year's end to year's end1 and never look up to the sky except to see whether they must take their umbrellas with them or not8 ,and so all the magnificence and beauty of the daily heavens1 and the nightly gemming of the empty places with perpetually burning stars1 are lost to them6 ,so1 ,god is blazing there in front of us1 but unless we set ourselves to it1 we shall never see ,him4 ,you have to look1 by a conscious effort1 over and away from the things that are 'seen and temporal' if you want to see the things that are 'unseen and eternal4' ,but if you disturb the whole tenor of your being by agitations and distractions and petty cares1 or if you defile it by sensual and fleshly lusts1 and animal propensities gratified1 and poor1 miserable1 worldly ambitions and longings filling up your souls1 then ,god can no more be visible before your face than the blessed sun can mirror himself in a storm-tossed sea or in a muddy puddle4 ,the heart must be pure1 and the heart must be still1 and the mind must be detached from earth1 and glued to ,heaven1 and the glasses of the telescope must be sedulously cleansed from dust1 if we are to be blessed with the vision of ,god continuously before our face4 ,then note1 still further1 that if thus we have made ,god present with us1 by realising the fact of ,his presence1 when ,he comes1 ,he comes with ,his hands full4 ',i have set the ,lord always before me1' says the ,psalmist4 ,and then he goes on to say1 ',because ,he is at my right hand4' ,not only in front of you1 then1 ,david1 to be looked at1 but at your side6 ,what for8 ,what do we summon some one to come and stand beside us for8 ,in order that from his presence there may come help and succour and courage and confidence4 ,and so ,god comes to the right hand of the man who honestly endeavours through all the confusions and bustles of life to realise ,his sweet and calming presence4 ,where ,he comes ,he comes to help2 not to be a spectator1 but an ally in the warfare2 and whoever sets the ,lord before him will have the ,lord at his right hand4 ,and then1 note1 still further1 the steadfastness which ,god brings4 ,i have spoken of the effort which brings ,god4 ,i speak now of the steadfastness which ,he brings by ,his coming4 ,the ,psalmist's anticipation is a singularly modest one4 ',because ,he is at my right hand ,i shall'--,what8 ,be triumphant8 ,no6 ,escape sorrows8 ,no6 ,have my life filled with serenity8 ,no6 ',i shall not be moved4' ,that is the best ,i can hope for4 ,to be able to stand on the spot1 with steadfast convictions1 with steadfast purposes1 with steadfast actions--continuously in one direction2 'having overcome all1 to stand'--that is as much as the best of us can desire or expect1 in this poor struggling life of ours4 ,what a profound consciousness of inward weakness and of outward antagonism there breathes in that humble and modest hope1 as being the loftiest result of the presence of ,omnipotence for our aid3 ',i shall not be moved'6 ,when we think of our inner weakness1 when we remember the fluctuations of our feelings and emotions1 when we compare the ups and downs of our daily life1 or when we think of the larger changes covering years1 which affect all our outlooks1 our thoughts1 our plans2 and how ',we all are changed by still degrees1 ,all but the basis of the soul1' it is much to say1 ',i shall not be moved4' ,and when we think of the obstacles that surround us1 of the storms that dash against us1 how we are swept by surges of emotion that wash away everything before their imperious onrush1 or swayed by blasts of temptation that break down the strongest defences1 or smitten by the shocks of change and sorrow that crush the firmest hearts1 it is much to say1 in the face of a world pressing upon us with the force of the wind in a cyclone1 that our poor1 feeble reed shall stand upright and 'not be moved' in the fiercest blast4 ',what went ye out for to see8' ',a reed shaken with the wind'--that is humanity4 ',behold6 ,i have made thee an iron pillar and brazen walls1 and they shall fight against thee1 but they shall not prevail'--that is weak man1 stiffened into uprightness1 and rooted in steadfastness by the touch of the hand of a present ,god4 ,and1 brother6 there is nothing else that will stay a man's soul4 ,the holdfast cannot be a part of the chain4 ,it must be fastened to a fixed point4 ,the anchor that is to keep the ship of your life from dragging and finding itself1 when the morning breaks1 a ghastly wreck upon the reef1 must be outside of yourself1 and the cable of it must be wrapped round the throne of ,god4 ,the anchor of the soul1 sure and steadfast1 which will neither break nor drag1 can only be firm when it 'enters into that within the veil4' ,god1 and ,god only1 can thus make us strong6 ,so1 dear friends1 let us see to it that we fasten our aims and purposes1 our faith and love1 our submission and obedience1 upon that mighty ,helper who will be with us and make us strong1 that we may 'stand fast in the ,lord and in the power of ,his might4' ,,ii4 ,now1 secondly1 notice how1 if so1 life hereafter will be our presence with ,god1 to make us glad4 ,i have already pointed out briefly the connection between these two portions of my text1 and ,i need only remark here that the link which holds them together is very obvious4 ,if a man loves ,god1 and trusts ,him1 and 'walks with ,him1' after the fashion described in our former verse1 then there will spring up1 irrepressible and unconquerable1 a conviction in that man's soul that this sweet and strong communion1 which makes so much of the blessedness of life1 must last after death4 ,anything is conceivable rather than that a man who walks with ,god shall cease to be6 ,rather1 when he 'is not' any more 'found' among men1 it is only because ',god took him4' ,thus the emotions and experiences of a truly devout soul are 7apart from the great revelation in ,jesus ,christ which hath brought 'life and immortality to light'7 the best evidence and confirmation of the anticipation of immortal life4 ,it cannot be1 unless our whole intellectual faculties are to be put into utter confusion1 that such an experience as that of the man who loves ,god1 and tries to trust ,him1 and walk before ,him1 is destined to be brought to nothingness with the mere dissolution of this earthly frame4 ,the greatness and the smallness1 the achievements and the failures1 of the religious life as we see it here1 all bear upon their front the mark of imperfection1 and in their imperfection prophesy and proclaim a future completion4 ,because it is so great in itself1 and because1 being so great1 its developments and influence are so strangely and sadly checked1 the faith that knits a man to ,christ demands eternity for its duration1 and infinitude for its perfection4 ,thus1 he that says ',i have set the ,lord always before me1' goes on to say1 with an undeniable accuracy of inference1 ',therefore ,thou wilt not leave my soul in the under world4' ,god is not going to forget the soul that clave to ,him1 and anything is believable sooner than that4 ,our texts not only assert this connection and base the confidence of immortality on the present experiences of the spirit that trusts in ,god1 but also give the outline1 at least1 of the correspondences between the imperfections of the present and the perfectnesses of the future4 ,and ,i cast this into two or three words before ,i close4 ,this is the first of them4 ,if you will turn your faces to ,god1 amidst all the flaunting splendours and vain shows and fleeting possessions of this present1 ,his face will dawn on you yonder4 ,we can say but little of what is meant by such a hope as that4 ,but only this we can say1 that there will be1 as yet unimaginable1 new wealths of revelation of the ,father1 and to match them1 as yet unimaginable new inlets of apprehension and perception upon our parts1 so that the sweetest1 clearest1 closest1 most satisfying vision of ,god that has ever dawned on sad souls here1 shall be but 'as in a glass darkly' compared with that face to face sight4 ,we live away out on the far-off outskirts of the system where those great planets plough along their slow orbits1 and turn their languid rotations at distances that imagination faints in contemplating1 and the light and the heat and the life that reach them are infinitesimally small4 ,we shall be shifted into the orb that is nearest the sun2 and oh6 what a rapture of light and life and heat will come to our amazed spirits3 ',i have set the ,lord always before me4' ,twilight though the light has been1 ,i have tried to keep it4 ,i shall be of the sons of light close to the ,throne and shall see ,thy face4 ,i shall be satisfied when ,i wake out of this sleep of life into ,thy likeness4 ,then1 again1 if you will keep ,god at your right hand here1 ,he will set you on ,his hereafter4 ,keep ,him here for your ,companion1 for your ,ally1 for your ,advocate1 to breathe strength into you by the touch of ,his hand1 as some feeble man1 leaning upon a stronger arm1 may be upheld4 ,if you will do that1 then the place where the favoured servants stand will be yours2 the place where trusted counsellors stand will be yours2 the place where the sheep stand will be yours2 the place where the ,shepherd sits will be yours2 for ,he to whom it is said1 ',sit ,thou at ,my right hand till ,i make ,thine enemies ,thy footstool1' says to us1 ',where ,i am there shall also ,my servant be4' ,keep ,god by your sides1 and you will be lifted to ,christ's place at the right hand of the ,majesty on high4 ,lastly1 if we let ourselves be stayed by ,god amidst the struggle and difficulty1 we shall be gladdened by ,him with perpetual joys4 ,the emphasis of the last words of my text is rather on the adjectives than on the nouns--full joy1 eternal pleasure4 ,and how both characteristics contradict the experiences of earth1 even the gladdest1 which we fain would make permanent6 ,for ,i suppose that no earthly joy is either central1 reaching the deepest self1 or circumferential1 embracing the whole being of a man1 but that only ,god can so go into the depths of my soul as that from ,his throne there ,he can flood the whole of my nature with felicity and peace4 ,in all other gladnesses there is always in the landscape one bit of sullen shadow somewhere or other1 unparticipant of the light1 while all around is blazing4 ,and we need that ,he should come to make us blessed4 ,joys here are no more lasting than they are complete4 ,as one who only too sadly proved the truth of his own words1 burning out his life before he was six-and-thirty1 has said-- ',pleasures are like poppies spread1 ,you seize the flower1 its bloom is shed6 ,or like the snowflake in the river4 ,a moment white--then gone for ever4' ,oh6 my friend1 'why do ye spend your money for that which is not bread8' ,the life of faith on earth is the beginning1 and only the beginning1 of that life of calm and complete felicity in the heavenly places4 ,i have shown you the ladder's foot1 ',i have set the ,lord always before me4' ,the top round reaches the throne of ,god1 and whoever begins at the bottom1 and holds fast the beginning of his confidence firm unto the end1 for him the great promise of the ,master will come true1 and ,christ's 'joy will remain in him and his joy shall be full4' ,,the ,,two ,,awakings ',i shall be satisfied1 when ,i awake1 with ,thy likeness4' --,,psalm xvii4 #ae4 ',as a dream when one awaketh2 so1 ,o ,lord1 when ,thou awakest1 ,thou shalt despise their image4'--,,psalm lxxiii4 #bj4 ,both of these ,psalms are occupied with that standing puzzle to ,old ,testament worthies--the good fortune of bad men1 and the bad fortune of good ones4 ,the former recounts the personal calamities of ,david1 its author4 ,the latter gives us the picture of the perplexity of ,asaph its writer1 when he 'saw the prosperity of the wicked4' ,and as the problem in both is substantially the same1 the solution also is the same4 ,david and ,asaph both point onwards to a period when this confusing distribution of earthly good shall have ceased1 though the one regards that period chiefly in its bearing upon himself as the time when he shall see ,god and be at rest1 while the other thinks of it rather with reference to the godless rich as the time of their destruction4 ,in the details of this common expectation1 also1 there is a remarkable parallelism4 ,both describe the future to which they look as an awaking1 and both connect with it1 though in different ways and using different words1 the metaphor of an image or likeness4 ,in the one case1 the future is conceived as the ,psalmist's awaking1 and losing all the vain show of this dreamland of life1 while he is at rest in beholding the appearance1 and perhaps in receiving the likeness1 of the one enduring ,substance1 ,god4 ,in the other1 it is thought of as ,god's awaking1 and putting to shame the fleeting shadow of well-being with which godless men befool themselves4 ,what this period of twofold awaking may be is a question on which good men and thoughtful students of ,scripture differ4 ,without entering on the wide subject of the ,jewish knowledge of a future state1 it may be enough for the present purpose to say that the language of both these ,psalms seems much too emphatic and high-pitched1 to be fully satisfied by a reference to anything in this life4 ,it certainly looks as if the great awaking which ,david puts in immediate contrast with the death of 'men of this world1' and which solaced his heart with the confident expectation of beholding ,god1 of full satisfaction of all his being1 and possibly even of wearing the divine likeness1 pointed onwards1 however dimly1 to that 'within the veil4' ,and as for the other psalm1 though the awaking of ,god is1 no doubt1 a ,scriptural phrase for ,his ending of any period of probation and indulgence by an act of judgment1 yet the strong words in which the context describes this awaking1 as the 'destruction' and the 'end' of the godless1 make it most natural to take it as here referring to the final close of the probation of life4 ,that conclusion appears to be strengthened by the contrast which in subsequent verses is drawn between this 'end' of the worldling1 and the poet's hopes for himself of divine guidance in life1 and afterwards of being taken 7the same word as is used in the account of ,enoch's translation7 by ,god into ,his presence and glory--hopes whose exuberance it is hard to confine within the limits of any changes possible for earth4 ,the doctrine of a future state never assumed the same prominence1 nor possessed the same clearness in ,israel as with us4 ,there are great tracts of the ,old ,testament where it does not appear at all4 ,this very difficulty1 about the strange disproportion between character and circumstances1 shows that the belief had not the same place with them as with us4 ,but it gradually emerged into comparative distinctness4 ,revelation is progressive1 and the appropriation of revelation is progressive too4 ,there is a history of ,god's self-manifestation1 and there is a history of man's reception of the manifestation4 ,it seems to me that in these two psalms1 as in other places of ,old ,testament ,scripture1 we see inspired men in the very course of being taught by ,god1 on occasion of their earthly sorrows1 the clearer hopes which alone could sustain them4 ,they stood not where we stand1 to whom ,christ has 'brought life and immortality to light'2 but to their devout and perplexed souls1 the dim regions beyond were partially opened1 and though they beheld there a great darkness1 they also 'saw a great light4' ,they saw all this solid world fade and melt1 and behind its vanishing splendours they saw the glory of the ,god whom they loved1 in the midst of which they felt that there must be a place for them1 where eternal realities should fill their vision1 and a stable inheritance satisfy their hearts4 ,the period1 then1 to which both ,david and ,asaph look1 in these two verses1 is the end of life4 ,the words of both1 taken in combination1 open out a series of aspects of that period which carry weighty lessons1 and to which we turn now4 ,i4 ,the first of these is that to all men the end of ,life is an awaking4 ,the representation of death most widely diffused among all nations is that it is a sleep4 ,the reasons for that emblem are easily found4 ,we always try to veil the terror and deformity of the ugly thing by the thin robe of language4 ,as with reverential awe1 so with fear and disgust1 the tendency is to wrap their objects in the folds of metaphor4 ,men prefer not to name plainly their god or their dread1 but find roundabout phrases for the one1 and coaxing1 flattering titles for the other4 ,the furies and the fates of heathenism1 the supernatural beings of modern superstition1 must not be spoken of by their own appellations4 ,the recoil of men's hearts from the thing is testified by the aversion of their languages to the bald name--death4 ,and the employment of this special euphemism of sleep is a wonderful witness to our weariness of life1 and to its endless toil and trouble4 ,everywhere that has seemed to be a comforting and almost an attractive name1 which has promised full rest from all the agitations of this changeful scene4 ,the prosperous and the wretched alike have owned the fatigue of living1 and been conscious of a soothing expectance which became almost a hope1 as they thought of lying still at last with folded hands and shut eyes4 ,the wearied workers have bent over their dead1 and felt that they are blest in this at all events1 that they rest from their labours2 and as they saw them absolved from all their tasks1 have sought to propitiate the power that had made this ease for them1 as well as to express their sense of its merciful aspect1 by calling it not death1 but sleep4 ,but that emblem1 true and sweet as it is1 is but half the truth4 ,taken as the whole1 as indeed men are ever tempted to take it1 it is a cheerless lie4 ,it is truth for the senses--'the foolish senses1' who 'crown' ,death1 as ',omega1' the last1 'the ,lord1' because 'they find no motion in the dead4' ,rest1 cessation of consciousness of the outer world1 and of action upon it1 are set forth by the figure4 ,but even the figure might teach us that the consciousness of life1 and the vivid exercise of thought and feeling1 are not denied by it4 ,death is sleep4 ,be it so4 ,but does not that suggest the doubt--'in that sleep1 what dreams may come8' ,do we not all know that1 when the chains of slumber bind sense1 and the disturbance of the outer world is hushed1 there are faculties of our souls which work more strongly than in our waking hours8 ,we are all poets1 'makers' in our sleep4 ,memory and imagination open their eyes when flesh closes it4 ,we can live through years in the dreams of a night2 so swiftly can spirit move when even partially freed from 'this muddy vesture of decay4' ,that very phrase1 then1 which at first sight seems the opposite of the representation of our text1 in reality is preparatory to and confirmatory of it4 ,that very representation which has lent itself to cheerless and heathenish thoughts of death as the cessation not only of toil but of activity1 is the basis of the deeper and truer representation1 the truth for the spirit1 that death is an awaking4 ,if1 on the one hand1 we have to say1 as we anticipate the approaching end of life1 ',the night cometh1 when no man can work'2 on the other the converse is true1 ',the night is far spent2 the day is at hand4' ,we shall sleep4 ,yes2 but we shall wake too4 ,we shall wake just because we sleep4 ,for flesh and all its weakness1 and all its disturbing strength1 and craving importunities--for the outer world1 and all its dissipating garish shows1 and all its sullen resistance to our hand--for weariness1 and fevered activity and toil against the grain of our tastes1 too great for our strength1 disappointing in its results1 the end is blessed1 calm sleep4 ,and precisely because it is so1 therefore for our true selves1 for heart and mind1 for powers that lie dormant in the lowest1 and are not stirred into full action in the highest1 souls2 for all that universe of realities which encompass us undisclosed1 and known only by faint murmurs which pierce through the opiate sleep of life1 the end shall be an awaking4 ,the truth which corresponds to this metaphor1 and which ,david felt when he said1 ',i shall be satisfied when ,i awake1' is that the spirit1 because emancipated from the body1 shall spring into greater intensity of action1 shall put forth powers that have been held down here and shall come into contact with an order of things which here it has but indirectly known4 ,to our true selves and to ,god we shall wake4 ,here we are like men asleep in some chamber that looks towards the eastern sky4 ,morning by morning comes the sunrise1 with the tender glory of its rosy light and blushing heavens1 and the heavy eyes are closed to it all4 ,here and there some lighter sleeper1 with thinner eyelids or face turned to the sun1 is half conscious of a vague brightness1 and feels the light1 though he sees not the colours of the sky nor the forms of the filmy clouds4 ,such souls are our saints and prophets1 but most of us sleep on unconscious4 ,to us all the moment comes when we shall wake and see for ourselves the bright and terrible world which we have so often forgotten1 and so often been tempted to think was itself a dream4 ,brethren1 see to it that that awaking be for you the beholding of what you have loved1 the finding1 in the sober certainty of waking bliss1 of all the objects which have been your visions of delight in the sleep of earth4 ,this life of ours hides more than it reveals4 ,the day shows the sky as solitary but for wandering clouds that cover its blue emptiness4 ,but the night peoples its waste places with stars1 and fills all its abysses with blazing glories4 ',if light so much conceals1 wherefore not life8' ,let us hold fast by a deeper wisdom than is born of sense2 and though men1 nowadays1 seem to be willing to go back to the 'eternal sleep' of the most unspiritual heathenism1 and to cast away all that ,christ has brought us concerning that world where ,he has been and whence ,he has returned1 because positive science and the anatomist's scalpel preach no gospel of a future1 let us try to feel as well as to believe that it is life1 with all its stunted capacities and idle occupation with baseless fabrics1 which is the sleep1 and that for us all the end of it is--to awake4 ,,ii4 ,the second principle contained in our text is that death is to some men the awaking of ,god4 ',when ,thou awakest1 ,thou shalt despise their image4' ,closely rendered1 the former clause would read simply 'in awaking1' without any specifying of the person1 which is left to be gathered from the succeeding words4 ,but there is no doubt that the ,english version fills the blank correctly by referring the awaking to ,god4 ,the metaphor is not infrequent in the ,old ,testament1 and1 like many others applying to the divine nature1 is saved from any possibility of misapprehension by the very boldness of its materialism4 ,it has a well-marked and uniform meaning4 ,god 'awakes' when ,he ends an epoch of probation and long-suffering mercy by an act or period of judgment4 ,so far1 then1 as the mere expression is concerned1 there may be nothing more meant here than the termination by a judicial act in this life1 of the transient 'prosperity of the wicked4' ,any divinely-sent catastrophe which casts the worldly rich man down from his slippery eminence would satisfy the words4 ,but the emphatic context seems1 as already pointed out1 to require that they should be referred to that final crash which irrevocably separates him who has 'his portion in this life1' from all which he calls his 'goods4' ,if so1 then the whole period of earthly existence is regarded as the time of ,god's gracious forbearance and mercy2 and the time of death is set forth as the instant when sterner elements of the divine dealings start into greater prominence4 ,life here is predominantly1 though not exclusively1 the field for the manifestation of patient love1 not willing that any should perish4 ,to the godless soul1 immersed in material things1 and blind to the light of ,god's wooing love1 the transition to that other form of existence is likewise the transition to the field for the manifestation of the retributive energy of ,god's righteousness4 ,here and now ,his judgment on the whole slumbers4 ,the consequences of our deeds are inherited1 indeed1 in many a merciful sorrow1 in many a paternal chastisement1 in many a partial exemplification of the wages of sin as death4 ,but the harvest is not fully grown nor ripened yet2 it is not reaped in all its extent2 the bitter bread is not baked and eaten as it will have to be4 ,nor are men's consciences so awakened that they connect the retribution1 which does befall them1 with its causes in their own actions1 as closely as they will do when they are removed from the excitement of life and the deceit of its dreams4 ',sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily4' ,for the long years of our stay here1 ,god's seeking love lingers round every one of us1 yearning over us1 besetting us behind and before1 courting us with kindnesses1 lavishing on us its treasures1 seeking to win our poor love4 ,it is sometimes said that this is a state of probation4 ,but that phrase suggests far too cold an idea4 ,god does not set us here as on a knife edge1 with abysses on either side ready to swallow us if we stumble1 while ,he stands apart watching for our halting1 and unhelpful to our tottering feebleness4 ,he compasses us with ,his love and its gifts1 ,he draws us to ,himself1 and desires that we should stand4 ,he offers all the help of ,his angels to hold us up4 ',he will not suffer thy foot to be moved2 ,he that keepeth thee will not slumber4' ,the judgment sleeps2 the loving forbearance1 the gracious aid wake4 ,shall we not yield to ,his perpetual pleadings1 and1 moved by the mercies of ,god1 let ,his conquering love thaw our cold hearts into streams of thankfulness and self-devotion8 ,but remember1 that that predominantly merciful and long-suffering character of ,god's present dealing affords no guarantee that there will not come a time when ,his slumbering judgment will stir to waking4 ,the same chapter which tells us that ',he is long-suffering to us-ward1 not willing that any should perish1 but that all should come to repentance1' goes on immediately to repel the inference that therefore a period of which retribution shall be the characteristic is impossible1 by the solemn declaration1 ',but the day of the ,lord shall come as a thief in the night4' ,his character remains ever the same1 the principles of ,his government are unalterable1 but there may be variations in the prominence given in ,his acts1 to the several principles of the one1 and the various though harmonious phases of the other4 ,the method may be changed1 the purpose may remain unchanged4 ,and the ,bible1 which is our only source of knowledge on the subject1 tells us that the method is changed1 in so far as to intensify the vigour of the operation of retributive justice after death1 so that men who have been compassed with 'the loving-kindness of the ,lord1' and who die leaving worldly things1 and keeping worldly hearts1 will have to confront 'the terror of the ,lord4' ,the alternation of epochs of tolerance and destruction is in accordance with the workings of ,god's providence here and now4 ,for though the characteristic of that providence as we see it is merciful forbearance1 yet we are not left without many a premonition of the mighty final 'day of the ,lord4' ,for long years or centuries a nation or an institution goes on slowly departing from truth1 forgetting the principles on which it rests1 or the purposes for which it exists4 ,patiently ,god pleads with the evil-doers1 lavishes gifts and warnings upon them4 ,he holds back the inevitable avenging as long as restoration is yet possible--and ,his eye and heart see it to be possible long after men conclude that the corruption is hopeless4 ,but at last comes a period when ,he says1 ',i have long still holden ,my peace1 and refrained ,myself1 now will ,i destroy'2 and with a crash one more hoary iniquity disappears from the earth which it has burdened so long4 ,for sixty times sixty slow1 throbbing seconds1 the silent hand creeps unnoticed round the dial and then1 with whirr and clang1 the bell rings out1 and another hour of the world's secular day is gone4 ,the billows of the thunder-cloud slowly gather into vague form1 and slowly deepen in lurid tints1 and slowly roll across the fainting blue2 they touch--and then the fierce flash1 like the swift hand on the palace-wall of ,babylon1 writes its message of destruction over all the heaven at once4 ,we know enough from the history of men and nations since ,sodom till to-day1 to recognise it as ,god's plan to alternate long patience and 'sudden destruction'3-- ',the mills of ,god grind slowly1 ,but they grind exceeding small'2 and every such instance confirms the expectation of the coming of that great and terrible day of the ,lord1 whereof all epochs of convulsion and ruin1 all falls of ,jerusalem1 and ,roman empires1 ,reformations1 and ,french ,revolutions1 and ,american wars1 all private and personal calamities which come from private wrong-doing1 are but feeble precursors4 ',when ,thou awakest1 ,thou wilt despise their image4' ,brethren1 do we use aright this goodness of ,god which is the characteristic of the present8 ,are we ready for that judgment which is the mark of the future8 ,,iii4 ,death is the annihilation of the vain show of worldly life4 ,the word rendered image is properly shadow1 and hence copy or likeness1 and hence image4 ,here1 however1 the simpler meaning is the better4 ',thou shalt despise their shadow4' ,the men are shadows1 and all their goods are not what they are called1 their 'substance1' but their shadow1 a mere appearance1 not a reality4 ,that show of good which seems but is not1 is withered up by the light of the awaking ,god4 ,what ,he despises cannot live4 ,so there are the two old commonplaces of moralists set forth in these grand words--the unsatisfying character of all merely external delights and possessions1 and also their transitory character4 ,they are non-substantial and non-permanent4 ,nothing that is without a man can make him rich or restful4 ,the treasures which are kept in coffers are not real1 but only those which are kept in the soul4 ,nothing which cannot enter into the substance of the life and character can satisfy us4 ,that which we are makes us rich or poor1 that which we own is a trifle4 ,there is no congruity between any outward thing and man's soul1 of such a kind as that satisfaction can come from its possession4 ',cisterns that can hold no water1' 'that which is not bread1' 'husks that the swine did eat'--these are not exaggerated phrases for the good gifts which ,god gives for our delight1 and which become profitless and delusive by our exclusive attachment to them4 ,there is no need for exaggeration4 ,these worldly possessions have a good in them1 they contribute to ease and grace in life1 they save from carking cares and mean anxieties1 they add many a comfort and many a source of culture4 ,but1 after all1 a true1 lofty life may be lived with a very small modicum4 ,there is no proportion between wealth and happiness1 nor between wealth and nobleness4 ,the fairest life that ever lived on earth was that of a poor ,man1 and with all its beauty it moved within the limits of narrow resources4 ,the loveliest blossoms do not grow on plants that plunge their greedy roots into the fattest soil4 ,a little light earth in the crack of a hard rock will do4 ,we need enough for the physical being to root itself in2 we need no more4 ,young men6 especially you who are plunged into the busy life of our great commercial centres1 and are tempted by everything you see1 and by most that you hear1 to believe that a prosperous trade and hard cash are the realities1 and all else mist and dreams1 fix this in your mind to begin life with--,god is the reality1 all else is shadow4 ,do not make it your ambition to get on1 but to get up4 ',having food and raiment1 let us be content4' ,seek for your life's delight and treasure in thought1 in truth1 in pure affections1 in moderate desires1 in a spirit set on ,god4 ,these are the realities of our possessions4 ,as for all the rest1 it is sham and show4 ,and while thus all without is unreal1 it is also fleeting as the shadows of the flying clouds2 and when ,god awakes1 it disappears as they before the noonlight that clears the heavens4 ,all things that are1 are on condition of perpetual flux and change4 ,the cloud-rack has the likeness of bastions and towers1 but they are mist1 not granite1 and the wind is every moment sweeping away their outlines1 till the phantom fortress topples into red ruin while we gaze4 ,the tiniest stream eats out its little valley and rounds the pebble in its widening bed1 rain washes down the soil1 and frost cracks the cliffs above4 ,so silently and yet mightily does the law of change work that to a meditative eye the solid earth seems almost molten and fluid1 and the everlasting mountains tremble to decay4 ',wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not8' ,are we going to be such fools as to fix our hopes and efforts upon this fleeting order of things1 which can give no delight more lasting than itself8 ,even whilst we are in it1 it continueth not in one stay1 and we are in it for such a little while6 ,then comes what our text calls ,god's awaking1 and where is it all then8 ,gone like a ghost at cockcrow4 ,why6 a drop of blood on your brain or a crumb of bread in your windpipe1 and as far as you are concerned the outward heavens and earth 'pass away with a great' silence1 as the impalpable shadows that sweep over some lone hillside4 ',the glories of our birth and state ,are shadows1 not substantial things2 ,there is no armour against fate1 ,death lays his icy hand on kings4' ,what an awaking to a worldly man that awaking of ,god will be6 ',as when a hungry man dreameth1 and behold he eateth1 but he awaketh and his soul is empty4' ,he has thought he fed full1 and was rich and safe1 but in one moment he is dragged from it all1 and finds himself a starving pauper1 in an order of things for which he has made no provision4 ',when he dieth1 he shall carry nothing away4' ,let us see to it that not in utter nakedness do we go hence1 but clothed with that immortal robe1 and rich in those possessions that cannot be taken away from us1 which they have who have lived on earth as heirs of ,god and joint heirs with ,christ4 ,let us pierce1 for the foundation of our life's house1 beneath the shifting sands of time down to the ,rock of ,ages1 and build there4 ,,iv4 ,finally1 death is for some men the annihilation of the vain shows in order to reveal the great reality4 ',i shall be satisfied1 when ,i awake1 with ,thy likeness4' ',likeness' is properly 'form1' and is the same word which is employed in reference to ,moses1 who saw 'the similitude of the ,lord4' ,if there be1 as is most probable1 an allusion to that ancient vision in these words1 then the 'likeness' is not that conformity to the divine character which it is the goal of our hopes to possess1 but the beholding of ,his self-manifestation4 ,the parallelism of the verse also points to such an interpretation4 ,if so1 then1 we have here the blessed confidence that when all the baseless fabric of the dream of life has faded from our opening eyes1 we shall see the face of our ever-loving ,god4 ,here the distracting whirl of earthly things obscures ,him from even the devoutest souls1 and ,his own mighty works which reveal do also conceal4 ,in them is the hiding as well as the showing of ,his power4 ,but there the veil which draped the perfect likeness1 and gave but dim hints through its heavy swathings of the outline of immortal beauty that lay beneath1 shall fall away4 ,no longer befooled by shadows1 we shall possess the true substance2 no longer bedazzled by shows1 we shall behold the reality4 ,and seeing ,god we shall be satisfied4 ,with all lesser joys the eye is not satisfied with seeing1 but to look on ,him will be enough4 ,enough for mind and heart1 wearied and perplexed with partial knowledge and imperfect love2 enough for eager desires1 which thirst1 after all draughts from other streams2 enough for will1 chafing against lower lords and yet longing for authoritative control2 enough for all my being--to see ,god4 ,here we can rest after all wanderings1 and say1 ',i travel no further2 here will ,i dwell for ever--,i shall be satisfied4' ,and may these dim hopes not suggest to us too some presentiment of the full ,christian truth of assimilation dependent on vision1 and of vision reciprocally dependent on likeness8 ',we shall be like ,him1 for we shall see ,him as ,he is1'--words which reach a height that ,david but partially discerned through the mist4 ,this much he knew1 that he should in some transcendent sense behold the manifested ,god2 and this much more1 that it must be 'in righteousness' that he should gaze upon that face4 ,the condition of beholding the ,holy ,one was holiness4 ,we know that the condition of holiness is trust in ,christ4 ,and as we reckon up the rich treasure of our immortal hopes1 our faith grows bold1 and pauses not even at the lofty certainty of ,god without us1 known directly and adequately1 but climbs to the higher assurance of ,god within us1 flooding our darkness with ,his great light1 and changing us into the perfect copies of ,his express ,image1 ,his only-begotten ,son4 ',i shall be satisfied1 when ,i awake1 with ,thy likeness1' cries the prophet ,psalmist4 ',it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master1' responds the ,christian hope4 ,brethren6 take heed that the process of dissipating the vain shows of earth be begun betimes in your souls4 ,it must either be done by ,faith1 whose rod disenchants them into their native nothingness1 and then it is blessed2 or it must be done by death1 whose mace smites them to dust1 and then it is pure1 irrevocable loss and woe4 ,look away from1 or rather look through1 things that are seen to the ,king eternal1 invisible4 ,let your hearts seek ,christ1 and your souls cleave to ,him4 ,then death will take away nothing from you that you would care to keep1 but will bring you your true joy4 ,it will but trample to fragments the 'dome of many-coloured glass' that 'stains the white radiance of eternity4' ,looking forward calmly to that supreme hour1 you will be able to say1 ',i will both lay me down in peace and sleep1 for ,thou1 ,lord1 only makest me dwell in safety4' ,looking back upon it from beyond1 and wondering to find how brief it was1 and how close to ,him whom you love it has brought you1 your now immortal lips touched by the rising ,sun of the heavenly morning will thankfully exclaim1 ',when ,i awake1 ,i am still with ,thee4' ,,secret ,,faults ',who can understand his errors8 cleanse ,thou me from secret faults4' ,,psalm xix4 #ab4 ,the contemplation of the 'perfect law1 enlightening the eyes1' sends the ,psalmist to his knees4 ,he is appalled by his own shortcomings1 and feels that1 beside all those of which he is aware1 there is a region1 as yet unilluminated by that law1 where evil things nestle and breed4 ,the ,jewish ritual drew a broad distinction between inadvertent--whether involuntary or ignorant--and deliberate sins2 providing atonement for the former1 not for the latter4 ,the word in my text rendered 'errors' is closely connected with that which in the ,levitical system designates the former class of transgressions2 and the connection between the two clauses of the text1 as well as that with the subsequent verse1 distinctly shows that the 'secret faults' of the one clause are substantially synonymous with the 'errors' of the other4 ,they are1 then1 not sins hidden from men1 whether because they have been done quietly in a corner1 and remain undetected1 or because they have only been in thought1 never passing into act4 ,both of these pages are dark in every man's memory4 ,who is there that could reveal himself to men8 who is there that could bear the sight of a naked soul8 ,but the ,psalmist is thinking of a still more solemn fact1 that1 beyond the range of conscience and consciousness1 there are evils in us all4 ,it may do us good to ponder his discovery that he had undiscovered sins1 and to take for ours his prayer1 ',cleanse ,thou me from secret faults4' ,i4 ,so ,i ask you to look with me1 briefly1 first1 at the solemn fact here1 that there are in every man sins of which the doer is unaware4 ,it is with our characters as with our faces4 ,few of us are familiar with our own appearance1 and most of us1 if we have looked at our portraits1 have felt a little shock of surprise1 and been ready to say to ourselves1 ',well6 ,i did not know that ,i looked like that6' ,and the bulk even of good men are almost as much strangers to their inward physiognomy as to their outward4 ,they see themselves in their looking-glasses every morning1 although they 'go away and forget what manner of men' they were4 ,but they do not see their true selves in the same fashion in any other mirror4 ,it is the very characteristic of all evil that it has a strange power of deceiving a man as to its real character2 like the cuttle-fish1 that squirts out a cloud of ink and so escapes in the darkness and the dirt4 ,the more a man goes wrong the less he knows it4 ,conscience is loudest when it is least needed1 and most silent when most required4 ,then1 besides that1 there is a great part of every one's life which is mechanical1 instinctive1 and all but involuntary4 ,habits and emotions and passing impulses very seldom come into men's consciousness1 and an enormously large proportion of everybody's life is done with the minimum of attention1 and is as little remembered as it is observed4 ,then1 besides that1 conscience wants educating4 ,you see that on a large scale1 for instance1 in the history of the slow progress which ,christian principle has made in leavening the world's thinkings4 ,it took eighteen centuries to teach the ,church that slavery was unchristian4 ,the ,church has not yet learned that war is unchristian1 and it is only beginning to surmise that possibly ,christian principle may have something to say in social questions1 and in the determination1 for example1 of the relations of capital and labour1 and of wealth and poverty4 ,the very same slowness of apprehension and gradual growth in the education of conscience1 and in the perception of the application of ,christian principles to duty1 applies to the individual as to the ,church4 ,then1 besides that1 we are all biassed in our own favour1 and what1 when another man says it1 is 'flat blasphemy1' we think1 when we say it1 is only 'a choleric word4' ,we have fine names for our own vices1 and ugly ones for the very same vices in other people4 ,david will flare up into generous and sincere indignation about the man that stole the poor man's ewe lamb1 but he has not the ghost of a notion that he has been doing the very same thing himself4 ,and so we bribe our consciences as well as neglect them1 and they need to be educated4 ,thus1 down below every life there lies a great dim region of habits and impulses and fleeting emotions1 into which it is the rarest thing for a man to go with a candle in his hand to see what it is like4 ,but ,i can imagine a man saying1 ',well1 if ,i do not know that ,i am doing wrong1 how can it be a sin8' ,in answer to that1 ,i would say that1 thank ,god6 ignorance diminishes criminality1 but ignorance does not alter the nature of the deed4 ,take a simple illustration4 ,here is a man who1 all unconsciously to himself1 is allowing worldly prosperity to sap his ,christian character4 ,he does not know that the great current of his life has been turned aside1 as it were1 by that sluice1 and is taken to drive the wheels of his mill1 and that there is only a miserable little trickle coming down the river bed4 ,is he any less guilty because he does not know8 ,is he not the more so1 because he might and would have known if he had thought and felt right8 ,or1 here is another man who has the habit of letting his temper get the better of him4 ,he calls it 'stern adherence to principle1' or 'righteous indignation'2 and he thinks himself very badly used when other people 'drive him' so often into a temper4 ,other people know1 and he might know1 if he would be honest with himself1 that1 for all his fine names1 it is nothing else than passion4 ,is he any the less guilty because of his ignorance8 ,it is plain enough that1 whilst ignorance1 if it is absolute and inevitable1 does diminish criminality to the vanishing point1 the ignorance of our own faults which most of us display is neither absolute nor inevitable2 and therefore1 though it may1 thank ,god6 diminish1 it does not destroy our guilt4 ',she wipeth her mouth and saith1 ,i have done no harm'3 was she1 therefore1 chaste and pure8 ,in all our hearts there are many vermin lurking beneath the stones1 and they are none the less poisonous because they live and multiply in the dark4 ',i know nothing against myself1 yet am ,i not hereby justified4 ,but he that judgeth me is the ,lord4' ,,ii4 ,now1 secondly1 let me ask you to look at the special perilousness of these hidden faults4 ,as with a blight upon a rose-tree1 the little green creatures lurk on the underside of the leaves1 and in all the folds of the buds1 and because unseen1 they increase with alarming rapidity4 ,the very fact that we have faults in our characters1 which everybody sees but ourselves1 makes it certain that they will grow unchecked1 and so will prove terribly perilous4 ,the small things of life are the great things of life4 ,for a man's character is made up of them1 and of their results1 striking inwards upon himself4 ,a wine-glassful of water with one drop of mud in it may not be much obscured1 but if you come to multiply it into a lakeful1 you will have muddy waves that reflect no heavens1 and show no gleaming stars4 ,these secret faults are like a fungus that has grown in a wine-cask1 whose presence nobody suspected4 ,it sucks up all the generous liquor to feed its own filthiness1 and when the staves are broken1 there is no wine left1 nothing but the foul growth4 ,many a ,christian man and woman has the whole ,christian life arrested1 and all but annihilated1 by the unsuspected influence of a secret sin4 ,i do not believe it would be exaggeration to say that1 for one man who has made shipwreck of his faith and lost his peace by reason of some gross transgression1 there are twenty who have fallen into the same condition by reason of the multitude of small ones4 ',he that despiseth little things shall fall by little and little'2 and whilst the deeds which the ,ten ,commandments rebuke are damning to a ,christian character1 still more perilous1 because unseen1 and permitted to grow without check or restraint1 are these unconscious sins4 ',happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth4' ,,iii4 ,notice the discipline1 or practical issues1 to which such considerations should lead4 ,to begin with1 they ought to take down our self-complacency1 if we have any1 and to make us feel that1 after all1 our characters are very poor things4 ,if men praise us1 let us try to remember what it will be good for us to remember1 too1 when we are tempted to praise ourselves--the underworld of darkness which each of us carries about within us4 ,further1 let me press upon you two practical points4 ,this whole set of contemplations should make us practise a very rigid and close self-inspection4 ,there will always be much that will escape our observation--we shall gradually grow to know more and more of it--but there can be no excuse for that which ,i fear is a terribly common characteristic of the professing ,christianity of this day--the all but entire absence of close inspection of one's own character and conduct4 ,i know very well that it is not a wholesome thing for a man to be always poking in his own feelings and emotions4 ,i know also that1 in a former generation1 there was far too much introspection1 instead of looking to ,jesus ,christ and forgetting self4 ,i do not believe that self-examination1 directed to the discovery of reasons for trusting the sincerity of my own faith1 is a good thing4 ,but ,i do believe that1 without the practice of careful weighing of ourselves1 there will be very little growth in anything that is noble and good4 ,the old ,greeks used to preach1 ',know thyself4' ,it was a high behest1 and very often a very vain-glorious one4 ,a man's best means of knowing what he is1 is to take stock of what he does4 ,if you will put your conduct through the sieve1 you will come to a pretty good understanding of your character4 ',he that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down1 without walls1' into which all enemies can leap unhindered1 and out from which all things that will may pass4 ,do you set guards at the gates and watch yourselves with all carefulness4 ,then1 again1 ,i would say we must try to diminish as much as possible the mere instinctive and habitual and mechanical part of our lives1 and to bring1 as far as we can1 every action under the conscious dominion of principle4 ,the less we live by impulse1 and the more we live by intelligent reflection1 the better it will be for us4 ,the more we can get habit on the side of goodness1 the better2 but the more we break up our habits1 and make each individual action the result of a special volition of the spirit guided by reason and conscience1 the better for us all4 ,then1 again1 ,i would say1 set yourselves to educate your consciences4 ,they need that4 ,one of the surest ways of making conscience more sensitive is always to consult it and always to obey it4 ,if you neglect it1 and let it prophesy to the wind1 it will stop speaking before long4 ,herod could not get a word out of ,christ when he 'asked ,him many questions' because for years he had not cared to hear ,his voice4 ,and conscience1 like the ,lord of conscience1 will hold its peace after men have neglected its speech4 ,you can pull the clapper out of the bell upon the rock1 and then1 though the waves may dash1 there will not be a sound1 and the vessel will drive straight on to the black teeth that are waiting for it4 ,educate your conscience by obeying it1 and by getting into the habit of bringing everything to its bar4 ,and1 still further1 compare yourselves constantly with your model4 ,do as the art students do in a gallery1 take your poor daub right into the presence of the masterpiece1 and go over it line by line and tint by tint4 ,get near ,jesus ,christ that you may learn your duty from ,him1 and you will find out many of the secret sins4 ,and1 lastly1 let us ask ,god to cleanse us4 ,my text1 as translated in the ,revised ,version1 says1 ',clear ,thou me from secret faults4' ,and there is present in that word1 if not exclusively1 at least predominantly1 the idea of a judicial acquittal1 so that the thought of the first clause of this verse seems rather to be that of pronouncing guiltless1 or forgiving1 than that of delivering from the power of4 ,but both1 no doubt1 are included in the idea1 as both1 in fact1 come from the same source and in response to the same cry4 ,and so we may be sure that1 though our eye does not go down into the dark depths1 ,god's eye goes1 and that where ,he looks ,he looks to pardon1 if we come to ,him through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,he will deliver us from the power of these secret faults1 giving to us that divine ,spirit which is 'the candle of the ,lord1' to search us1 and to convince of our sins1 and to drag our evil into the light2 and giving us the help without which we can never overcome4 ,the only way for us to be delivered from the dominion of our unconscious faults is to increase the depth and closeness and constancy of our communion with ,jesus ,christ2 and then they will drop away from us4 ,mosquitoes and malaria1 the one unseen in their minuteness1 and the other1 'the pestilence that walketh in darkness1' haunt the swamps4 ,go up on the hilltop1 and neither of them are found4 ,so if we live more and more on the high levels1 in communion with our ,master1 there will be fewer and fewer of these unconscious sins buzzing and stinging and poisoning our lives1 and more and more will ,his grace conquer and cleanse4 ,they will all be manifested some day4 ,the time comes when ,he shall bring to light the hidden things and darkness and the counsels of men's hearts4 ,there will be surprises on both hands of the ,judge4 ,some on the right1 astonished1 will say1 ',lord1 when saw we ,thee8' and some on the left1 smitten to confusion and surprise1 will say1 ',lord1 ,lord1 have we not prophesied in ,thy name8' ,let us go to ,him with the prayer1 ',search me1 ,o ,god6 and try me2 and see if there be any wicked way in me2 and lead me in the way everlasting4' ,,open ,,sins ',keep back ,thy servant also from presumptuous sins2 let them not have dominion over me3 then shall ,i be upright1 and ,i shall be innocent from the great transgression4'--,,psalm xix4 #ac4 ,another psalmist promises to the man who dwells 'in the secret place of the ,most ,high' that' he shall not be afraid for the terror by night1 nor for the arrow that flieth by day1 nor for the pestilence that walketh at noonday1' but shall 'tread upon the lion and adder4' ,these promises divide the dangers that beset us into the same two classes as our ,psalmist does--the one secret2 the other palpable and open4 ,the former1 which1 as ,i explained in my last sermon1 are sins hidden1 not from others1 but from the doer1 may fairly be likened to the pestilence that stalks slaying in the dark1 or to the stealthy1 gliding serpent1 which strikes and poisons before the naked foot is aware4 ,the other resembles the 'destruction that wasteth at noonday1' or the lion with its roar and its spring1 as1 disclosed from its covert1 it leaps upon the prey4 ,our present text deals with the latter of these two classes4 ',presumptuous sins' does not1 perhaps1 convey to an ordinary reader the whole significance of the phrase1 for it may be taken to define a single class of sins--namely1 those of pride or insolence4 ,what is really meant is just the opposite of 'secret sins'--all sorts of evil which1 whatever may be their motives and other qualities1 have this in common1 that the doer1 when he does them1 knows them to be wrong4 ,the ,psalmist gets this further glimpse into the terrible possibilities which attach even to a servant of ,god1 and we have in our text these three things--a danger discerned1 a help sought1 and a daring hope cherished4 ,i4 ,note1 then1 the first of these1 the dreaded and discerned danger--'presumptuous sins1' which may 'have dominion over' us1 and lead us at last to a 'great transgression4' ,now the word which is translated 'presumptuous' literally means that which boils or bubbles2 and it sets very picturesquely before us the movement of hot desires--the agitation of excited impulses or inclinations which hurry men into sin in spite of their consciences4 ,it is also to be noticed that the prayer of my text1 with singular pathos and lowly self-consciousness1 is the prayer of ',thy servant1' who knows himself to be a servant1 and who therefore knows that these glaring transgressions1 done in the teeth of conscience and consciousness1 are all inconsistent with his standing and his profession1 but yet are perfectly possible for him4 ,an old mediaeval mystic once said1 ',there is nothing weaker than the devil stripped naked4' ,would it were true6 ,for there is one thing that is weaker than a discovered devil1 and that is my own heart4 ,for we all know that sometimes1 with our eyes open1 and the most unmistakable consciousness that what we are doing was wrong1 we have set our teeth and done it1 ,christian men though we may profess to be1 and may really be4 ,all such conduct is inconsistent with ,christianity2 but we are not to say1 therefore1 that it is incompatible with ,christianity4 ,thank ,god6 that is a very different matter4 ,but as long as you and ,i have two things--viz4 strong and hot desires1 and weak and flabby wills--so long shall we1 in this world full of combustibles1 not be beyond the possibility of a dreadful conflagration being kindled by some devil-blown sparks4 ,there are plenty of dry sticks lying about to put under the caldron of our hearts1 to make them boil and bubble over6 ,and we have1 alas6 but weak wills1 which do not always keep the reins in their hands as they ought to do1 nor coerce these lower parts of our nature into their proper subordination4 ,fire is a good servant1 but a bad master2 and we are all of us too apt to let it become master1 and then the whole 'course of nature' is 'set on fire of hell4' ,the servant of ,god may yet1 with open eyes and obstinate disregard of his better self and of all its remonstrances1 go straight into 'presumptuous sin4' ,another step is here taken by the ,psalmist4 ,he looks shrinkingly and shudderingly into a possible depth1 and he sees1 going down into the abyss1 a ladder with three rungs on it4 ,the topmost one is wilful1 self-conscious transgression4 ,but that is not the lowest stage2 there is another step4 ,presumptuous sin tends to become despotic sin4 ',let them not have dominion over me4' ,a man may do a very bad thing once1 and get so wholesomely frightened1 and so keenly conscious of the disastrous issues1 that he will never go near it again4 ,the prodigal would not be in a hurry1 you may depend upon it1 to try the swine trough and the far country1 and the rags1 and the fever1 and the famine any more4 ,david got a lesson that he never forgot in that matter of ,bathsheba4 ,the bitter fruit of his sin kept growing up all his life1 and he had to eat it1 and that kept him right4 ,they tell us that broken bones are stronger at the point of fracture than they were before4 ,and it is possible for a man's sin--if ,i might use a paradox which you will not misunderstand--to become the instrument of his salvation4 ,but there is another possibility quite as probable1 and very often recurring1 and that is that the disease1 like some other morbid states of the human frame1 shall leave a tendency to recurrence4 ,a pin-point hole in a dyke will be widened into a gap as big as a church-door in ten minutes1 by the pressure of the flood behind it4 ,and so every act which we do in contradiction of our standing as professing ,christians1 and in the face of the protests1 all unavailing1 of that conscience which is only a voice1 and has no power to enforce its behests1 will tend to recurrence once and again4 ,the single acts become habits1 with awful rapidity4 ,just as the separate gas jets from a multitude of minute apertures coalesce into a continuous ring of light1 so deeds become habits1 and get dominion over us4 ',he sold himself to do evil4' ,he made himself a bond-slave of iniquity4 ,it is an awful and a miserable thing to think that professing ,christians do often come into that position of being1 by their inflamed passions and enfeebled wills1 servants of the evil that they do4 ,alas6 how many of us1 if we were honest with ourselves1 would have to say4 ',i am carnal1 sold unto sin4' ,that is not the lowest rung of the slippery ladder4 ,despotic sin ends in utter departure4 ,the word translated here1 quite correctly1 'transgression1' and intensified by that strong adjective attached1 'a great transgression1' literally means rebellion1 revolt1 or some such idea2 and expresses1 as the ultimate issue of conscious transgression prolonged and perpetuated into habit1 an entire casting off of allegiance to ,god4 ',no man can serve two masters4' ',his servants ye are whom ye obey1' whomsoever ye may call your master4 ,the ,psalmist feels that the end of indulged evil is going over altogether to the other camp4 ,i suppose all of us have known instances of that sort4 ,men in my position1 with a long life of ministry behind them1 can naturally remember many such instances4 ,and this is the outline history of the suicide of a ,christian4 ,first secret sin1 unsuspected1 because the conscience is torpid2 then open sin1 known to be such1 but done nevertheless2 then dominant sin1 with an enfeebled will and power of resistance2 then the abandonment of all pretence or profession of religion4 ,the ladder goes down into the pit1 but not to the bottom of the pit4 ,and the man that is going down it has a descending impulse after he has reached the bottom step and he falls--,where8 ,the first step down is tampering with conscience4 ,it is neither safe nor wise to do anything1 howsoever small1 against that voice4 ,all the rest will come afterward1 unless ,god restrains--'first the blade1 then the ear1 then the full corn in the ear1' and then the bitter harvest of the poisonous grain4 ,,ii4 ,so1 secondly1 note the help sought4 ,the ,psalmist is like a man standing on the edge of some precipice1 and peeping over the brink to the profound beneath1 and feeling his head beginning to swim4 ,he clutches at the strong1 steady hand of his guide1 knowing that unless he is restrained1 over he will go4 ',keep ,thou back ,thy servant from presumptuous sins4' ,so1 then1 the first lesson we have to take is1 to cherish a lowly consciousness of our own tendency to light-headedness and giddiness4 ',blessed is the man that feareth always4' ,that fear has nothing cowardly about it4 ,it will not abate in the least the buoyancy and bravery of our work4 ,it will not tend to make us shirk duty because there is temptation in it1 but it will make us go into all circumstances realising that without that divine help we cannot stand1 and that with it we cannot fall4 ',hold ,thou me up1 and ,i shall be safe4' ,the same ,peter that said1 ',though all should forsake ,thee1 yet will not ,i1' was wiser and braver when he said1 in later days1 being taught by former presumption1 ',pass the time of your sojourning here in fear4' ,let me remind you1 too1 that the temper which we ought to cherish is that of a confident belief in the reality of a divine support4 ,the prayer of my text has no meaning at all1 unless the actual supernatural communication by ,god's own ,holy ,spirit breathed into men's hearts be a simple truth4 ',hold ,thou me up1' ',keep ,thou me back1' means1 if it means anything1 ',give me in my heart a mightier strength than mine own1 which shall curb all this evil nature of mine1 and bring it into conformity with ,thy holy will4' ,how is that restraining influence to be exercised8 ,there are many ways by which ,god1 in ,his providence1 can fulfil the prayer4 ,but the way above all others is by the actual operation upon heart and will and desires of a divine ,spirit1 who uses for ,his weapon the ,word of ,god1 revealed by ,jesus ,christ1 and in the ,scriptures4 ',the sword of the ,spirit is the ,word of ,god1' and ,god's answer to the prayer of my text is the gift to every man who seeks it of that indwelling ,power to sustain and to restrain4 ,that will keep our passions down4 ,the bubbling water is lowered in its temperature1 and ceases to bubble1 when cold is added to it4 ,when ,god's ,spirit comes into a man's heart1 that will deaden his desires after earth and forbidden ways4 ,he will bring blessed higher objects for all his affections4 ,he who has been fed on 'the hidden manna' will not be likely to hanker after the leeks and onions1 however strong their smell and pungent their taste1 that grew in the ,nile mud in ,egypt4 ,he who has tasted the higher sweetnesses of ,god will have his heart's desires after lower delights strangely deadened and cooled4 ,get near ,god1 and open your hearts for the entrance of that divine ,spirit1 and then it will not seem foolish to empty your hands of the trash that they carry in order to grasp the precious things that ,he gives4 ,a bit of scrap-iron magnetised turns to the pole4 ,my heart1 touched by the ,spirit of ,god dwelling in me1 will turn to ,him1 and ,i shall find little sweetness in the else tempting delicacies that earth can supply4 ',keep ,thy servant back from1' by depriving him of the taste for1 'presumptuous sins4' ,that ,spirit will strengthen our wills4 ,for when ,god comes into a heart1 ,he restores the due subordination which has been broken into discord and anarchy by sin4 ,he dismounts the servant riding on horseback1 and carrying the horse to the devil1 according to the proverb1 and gives the reins into the right hands4 ,now1 if the gift of ,god's ,spirit1 working through the ,word of ,god1 and the principles and the motives therein unfolded1 and therefrom deducible1 be the great means by which we are to be kept from open and conscious transgression1 it follows very plainly that our task is twofold4 ,one part of it is to see that we cultivate that spirit of lowly dependence1 of self-conscious weakness1 of triumphant confidence1 which will issue in the perpetual prayer for ,god's restraint4 ,when we enter upon tasks which may be dangerous1 and into regions of temptation which cannot but be so1 though they be duty1 we should ever have the desire in our hearts and upon our lips that ,god would keep us from1 and in1 the evil4 ,the other part of our duty is to make it a matter of conscience and careful cultivation1 to use honestly and faithfully the power which1 in response to our desires1 has been granted to us4 ,all of you1 ,christian men and women1 have access to an absolute security against every transgression2 and the cause lies wholly at your own doors in each case of failure1 deficiency1 or transgression1 for at every moment it was open to you to clasp the ,hand that holds you up1 and at every moment1 if you failed1 it was because your careless fingers had relaxed their grasp4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 observe the daring hope here cherished4 ',then shall ,i be upright1 and ,i shall be innocent from the great transgression4' ,that is the upshot of the divine answer to both the petitions which have been occupying us in these two successive sermons4 ,it is connected with the former of them by the recurrence of the same word1 which in the first petition was rendered 'cleanse'--or1 more accurately1 'clear'--and in this final clause is to be rendered accurately1 ',i shall be clear from the great transgression4' ,and it obviously connects in sense with both these petitions1 because1 in order to be upright and clear1 there must1 first of all1 be divine cleansing1 and then divine restraint4 ,so1 then1 nothing short of absolute deliverance from the power of sin in all its forms should content the servant of ,god4 ,nothing short of it contents the ,master for the servant4 ,nothing short of it corresponds to the power which ,christ puts in operation in every heart that believes in ,him4 ,and nothing else should be our aim in our daily conflict with evil and growth in grace4 ,ah6 ,i fear me that1 for an immense number of professing ,christians in this generation1 the hope of--and1 still more1 the aim towards--anything approximating to entire deliverance from sin1 have faded from their consciences and their lives4 ,aim at the stars1 brother6 and if you do not hit them1 your arrow will go higher than if it were shot along the lower levels4 ,note that an indefinite approximation to this condition is possible4 ,i am not going to discuss1 at this stage of my discourse1 controversial questions which may be involved here4 ,it will be time enough to discuss with you whether you can be absolutely free from sin in this world when you are a great deal freer from it than you are at present4 ,at all events1 you can get far nearer to the ideal1 and the ideal must always be perfect4 ,and ,i lay it on your hearts1 dear friends6 that you have in your possession1 if you are ,christian people1 possibilities in the way of conformity to the ,master's will1 and entire emancipation from all corruption1 that you have not yet dreamed of1 not to say applied to your lives4 ',i pray ,god that ,he would sanctify you wholly1 and that your whole body1 soul1 and spirit be preserved blameless unto the coming4' ,that daring hope will be fulfilled one day2 for nothing short of it will exhaust the possibilities of ,christ's work or satisfy the desires of ,christ's heart4 ,the ,gospel knows nothing of irreclaimable outcasts4 ,to it there is but one unpardonable sin1 and that is the sin of refusing the cleansing of ,christ's blood and the sanctifying of ,christ's ,spirit4 ,whoever you are1 whatever you are1 go to ,god with this prayer of our text1 and realise that it is answered in ,jesus ,christ1 and you will not ask in vain4 ,if you will put yourself into ,his hands1 and let ,him cleanse and restrain1 ,he will give you new powers to detect the serpents in the flowers1 and new resolution to shake off the vipers into the fire4 ,for there is nothing that ,god wants half so much as that we1 ,his wandering children1 should come back to ,him1 and ,he will cleanse us from the filth of the swine trough and the rags of our exile1 and clothe us in 'fine linen clean and white4' ,we may each be sinless and guiltless4 ,we can be so in one way only4 ,if we look to ,jesus ,christ1 and live near ,him1 ,he 'will be made of ,god unto us wisdom1' by which we shall detect our secret sins2 'righteousness1' whereby we shall be cleansed from guilt2 'sanctification1' which shall restrain us from open transgression2 'and redemption1' by which we shall be wholly delivered from evil and 'presented faultless before the presence of ,his glory with exceeding joy4' ,,feasting ,,on ,,the ,,sacrifice ',the meek shall eat and be satisfied4'--,,psalm xxii4 #bf4 ',the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offering for thanksgiving shall be offered in the day of his oblation4' ,such was the law for ,israel4 ,and the custom of sacrificial feasts1 which it embodies1 was common to many lands4 ,to such a custom my text alludes2 for the ,psalmist has just been speaking of 'paying his vows' 7that is1 sacrifices which he had vowed in the time of his trouble71 and to partake of these he invites the meek4 ,the sacrificial dress is only a covering for high and spiritual thoughts4 ,in some way or other the singer of this psalm anticipates that his experiences shall be the nourishment and gladness of a wide circle2 and if we observe that in the context that circle is supposed to include the whole world1 and that one of the results of partaking of this sacrificial feast is 'your heart shall live for ever1' we may well say with the ,ethiopian eunuch1 ',of whom speaketh the ,psalmist thus8' ,the early part of the psalm answers the question4 ,jesus ,christ laid ,his hand on this wonderful psalm of desolation1 despair1 and deliverance when on the ,cross ,he took its first words as expressing ,his emotion then3 ',my ,god6 ,my ,god6 ,why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8' ,whatever may be our views as to its authorship1 and as to the connection between the ,psalmist's utterances and his own personal experiences1 none to whom that voice that rang through the darkness on ,calvary is the voice of the ,son of ,god1 can hesitate as to who it is whose very griefs and sorrows are thus the spiritual food that gives life to the whole world4 ,from this1 the true point of view1 then1 from which to look at the whole of this wonderful psalm1 ,i desire to deal with the words of my text now4 ,i4 ,we have1 first1 then1 the world's sacrificial feast4 ,the ,jewish ritual1 and that of many other nations1 as ,i have remarked1 provided for a festal meal following on1 and consisting of the material of1 the sacrifice4 ,a generation which studies comparative mythology1 and spares no pains to get at the meaning underlying the barbarous worship of the rudest nations1 ought to be interested in the question of the ideas that formed and were expressed by that elaborate ,jewish ritual4 ,in the present case1 the signification is plain enough4 ,that which1 in one aspect1 is a peace-offering reconciling to ,god1 in another aspect is the nourishment and the joy of the hearts that accept it4 ,and so the work of ,jesus ,christ has two distinct phases of application1 according as we think of it as being offered to ,god or appropriated by men4 ,in the one case it is our peace2 in the other it is our food and our life4 ,if we glance for a moment at the marvellous picture of suffering and desolation in the previous portion of this psalm1 which sounds the very depths of both1 we shall understand more touchingly what it is on which ,christian hearts are to feed4 ,the desolation that spoke in ',why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8' the consciousness of rejection and reproach1 of mockery and contempt1 which wailed1 ',all that see ,me laugh ,me to scorn2 they shoot out the lip2 they shake the head1 saying1 ,he trusted on the ,lord that ,he would deliver ,him2 let ,him deliver ,him1 seeing ,he delighteth in ,him'2 the physical sufferings which are the very picture of crucifixion1 so as that the whole reads liker history than prophecy1 in ',all ,my bones are out of joint2 ,my strength is dried up like a potsherd2 and ,my tongue cleaveth to ,my jaws'2 the actual passing into the darkness of the grave1 which is expressed in ',thou hast brought ,me into the dust of death'2 and even the minute correspondence1 so inexplicable upon any hypothesis except that it is direct prophecy1 which is found in ',they part ,my garments among them1 and cast lots upon ,my vesture'--these be the viands1 not without bitter herbs1 that are laid on the table which ,christ spreads for us4 ,they are parts of the sacrifice that reconciles to ,god4 ,offered to ,him they make our peace4 ,they are parts and elements of the food of our spirits4 ,appropriated and partaken of by us they make our strength and our life4 ,brethren6 there is little food1 there is little impulse1 little strength for obedience1 little gladness or peace of heart to be got from a ,christ who is not a ,sacrifice4 ,if we would know how much ,he may be to us1 as the nourishment of our best life1 and as the source of our purest and permanent gladness1 we must1 first of all1 look upon ,him as the ,offering for the world's sin1 and then as the very ,life and ,bread of our souls4 ,the ,christ that feeds the world is the ,christ that died for the world4 ,hence our ,lord ,himself1 most eminently in one great and profound discourse1 has set forth1 not only that ,he is the ,bread of ,god which 'came down from heaven1' but that ,his flesh and ,his blood are such1 and the separation between the two in the discourse1 as in the memorial rite1 indicates that there has come the violent separation of death1 and that thereby ,he becomes the life of humanity4 ,so my text1 and the whole series of ,old ,testament representations in which the blessings of the ,kingdom are set forth as a feast1 and the parables of the ,new ,testament in which a similar representation is contained1 do all converge upon1 and receive their deepest meaning from1 that one central thought that the peace-offering for the world is the food of the world4 ,we see1 hence1 the connection between these great spiritual ideas and the central act of ,christian worship4 ,the ,lord's ,supper simply says by act what my text says in words4 ,i know no difference between the rite and the parable1 except that the one is addressed to the eye and the other to the ear4 ,the rite is an acted parable2 the parable is a spoken rite4 ,and when ,jesus ,christ1 in the great discourse to which ,i have referred1 dilates at length upon the 'eating of ,his flesh and the drinking of ,his blood' as being the condition of spiritual life1 ,he is not referring to the ,lord's ,supper1 but the discourse and the rite refer both to the same spiritual truth4 ,one is a symbol2 the other is a saying2 and symbol and saying mean just the same thing4 ,the saying does not refer to the symbol1 but to that to which the symbol refers4 ,it seems to me that one of the greatest dangers which now threaten ,evangelical ,christianity is the strange and almost inexplicable recrudescence of ,sacramentarianism in this generation to which those ,christian communities are contributing1 however reluctantly and unconsciously1 who say there is something more than commemorative symbols in the bread and wine of the ,lord's table4 ,if once you admit that1 it seems1 in my humble judgment1 that you open the door to the whole flood of evils which the history of the ,church declares have come with the ,sacramentarian hypothesis4 ,and we must take our stand1 as ,i believe1 upon the plain1 intelligible thoughts--,baptism is a declaratory symbol1 and nothing more2 the ,lord's ,supper is a commemorative symbol1 and nothing more2 except that both are acts of obedience to the enjoining ,lord4 ,when we stand there we can face all priestly superstitions1 and say1 ',jesus ,i know2 and ,paul ,i know2 but who are ye8' ',the meek shall eat and be satisfied1' and the food of the world is the suffering ,messiah4 ,but what have we to say about the act expressed in the text8 ',the meek shall eat4' ,i do not desire to dwell at any length upon the thought of the process by which this food of the world becomes ours1 in this sermon4 ,but there are two points which perhaps may be regarded as various aspects of one1 on which ,i would like to say just a sentence or two4 ,of course1 the translation of the 'eating' of my text into spiritual reality is simply that we partake of the food of our spirits by the act of faith in ,jesus ,christ4 ,but whilst that is so1 let me put emphasis1 in a sentence1 upon the thought that personal appropriation1 and making the world's food mine1 by my own individual act1 is the condition on which alone ,i get any good from it4 ,it is possible to die of starvation at the door of a granary4 ,it is possible to have a table spread with all that is needful1 and yet to set one's teeth1 and lock one's lips1 and receive no strength and no gladness from the rich provision4 ',eat' means1 at any rate1 incorporate with myself1 take into my very own lips1 masticate with my very own teeth1 swallow down by my very own act1 and so make part of my physical frame4 ,and that is what we have to do with ,jesus ,christ1 or ,he is nothing to us4 ',eat'2 claim your part in the universal blessing2 see that it becomes yours by your own taking of it into the very depths of your heart4 ,and then1 and then only1 will it become your food4 ,and how are we to do that if1 day in and day out1 and week in and week out1 and year in and year out1 with some of us1 there be scarce a thought turned to ,him2 scarce a desire winging its way to ,him2 scarce one moment of quiet contemplation of these great truths4 ,we have to ruminate1 we have to meditate2 we have to make conscious and frequent efforts to bring before the mind1 in the first place1 and then before the heart and all the sensitive1 emotional1 and voluntary nature1 the great truths on which our salvation rests4 ,in so far as we do that we get good out of them2 in so far as we fail to do it1 we may call ourselves ,christians1 and attend to religious observances1 and be members of churches1 and diligent in good works1 and all the rest of it1 but nothing passes from ,him to us1 and we starve even whilst we call ourselves guests at ,his table4 ,oh6 the average ,christian life of this day is a strange thing2 very1 very little of it has the depth that comes from quiet communion with ,jesus ,christ2 and very little of it has the joyful consciousness of strength that comes from habitual reception into the heart of the grace that ,he brings4 ,what is the good of all your profession unless it brings you to that8 ,if a coroner's jury were to sit upon many of us--and we are dead enough to deserve it--the verdict would be1 ',died of starvation4' ',the meek shall eat1' but what about the professing ,christians that feed their souls upon anything1 everything rather than upon the ,christ whom they say they trust and serve8 ,,ii4 ,and now let me say a word1 in the second place1 about the rich fruition of this feast4 ',the meek shall be satisfied4' ',satisfied6' ,who in the world is8 ,and if we are not1 why are we not8 ,jesus ,christ1 in the facts of ,his death and resurrection--for ,his resurrection as well as ,his death are included in the psalm--brings to us all that our circumstances1 relationships1 and inward condition can require4 ,think of what that death1 as the sacrifice for the world's sin1 does4 ,it sets all right in regard to our relation to ,god4 ,it reveals to us a ,god of infinite love4 ,it provides a motive1 an impulse1 and a ,pattern for all life4 ,it abolishes death1 and it gives ample scope for the loftiest and most exuberant hopes that a man can cherish4 ,and surely these are enough to satisfy the seeking spirit4 ,but go to the other end1 and think1 not of what ,christ's work does for us1 but of what we need to have done for us4 ,what do you and ,i want to be satisfied8 ,it would take a long time to go over the catalogue2 let me briefly run through some of the salient points of it4 ,we want1 for the intellect1 which is the regal part of man1 though it be not the highest1 truth which is certain1 comprehensive1 and inexhaustible2 the first1 to provide anchorage2 the second1 to meet and regulate and unify all thought and life2 and the last1 to allow room for endless research and ceaseless progress4 ,and in that fact that the ,eternal ,son of the ,eternal ,father took upon ,himself human nature1 lived1 died1 rose1 and reigns at ,god's right hand1 ,i believe there lie the seeds of all truth1 except the purely physical and material1 which men need4 ,everything is there2 every truth about ,god1 about man1 about duty1 about a future1 about society2 everything that the world needs is laid up in germ in that great gospel of our salvation4 ,if a man will take it for the foundation of his beliefs and the guide of his thinkings1 he will find his understanding is satisfied1 because it grasps the personal ,truth who liveth1 and is with us for ever4 ,our hearts crave1 however imperfect their love may be1 a perfect love2 and a perfect love means one untinged by any dash of selfishness1 incapable of any variation or eclipse1 all-knowing1 all-pitying1 all-powerful4 ,we have made experience of precious loves that die4 ,we know of loves that change1 that grow cold1 that misconstrue1 that may have tears but have no hands4 ,we know of 'loves' that are only a fine name for animal passions1 and are twice cursed1 cursing them that give and them that take4 ,the happiest will admit1 and the lonely will achingly feel1 how we all want for satisfaction a love that cannot fail1 that can help1 that beareth all things1 and that can do all things4 ,we have it in ,jesus ,christ1 and the ,cross is the pledge thereof4 ,conscience wants pacifying1 cleansing1 enlightening1 directing1 and we get all these in the good news of ,one that has died for us1 and that lives to be our ,lord4 ,the will needs authority which is not force4 ,and where is there an authority so constraining in its sweetness and so sweet in its constraint as in those silken bonds which are stronger than iron fetters8 ,hope1 imagination1 and all other of our powers or weaknesses1 our gifts or needs1 are satisfied when they feed on ,christ4 ,if we feed upon anything else it turns to ashes that break our teeth and make our palates gritty1 and have no nourishment in them4 ,we shall be 'for ever roaming with a hungry heart' unless we take our places at the feast on the one sacrifice for the world's peace4 ,,iii4 ,i can say but a word as to the guests4 ,it is 'the meek' who eat4 ,the word translated 'meek' has a wider and deeper meaning than that4 ',meek' refers1 in our common language1 mainly to men's demeanour to one another2 but the expression here goes deeper4 ,it means both 'afflicted' and 'lowly'--the right use of affliction being to bow men1 and they that bow themselves are those who are fit to come to ,christ's feast4 ,there is a very remarkable contrast between the words of my text and those that follow a verse or two afterwards4 ',the meek shall eat and be satisfied1' says the text4 ,and then close upon its heels comes1 ',all those that be fat upon earth shall eat4' ,that is to say1 the lofty and proud have to come down to the level of the lowly1 and take indiscriminate places at the table with the poor and the starving1 which1 being turned into plain ,english is just this--the one thing that hinders a man from partaking of the fulness of ,christ's feeding grace is self-sufficiency1 and the absence of a sense of need4 ,they that 'hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled'2 and they that come1 knowing themselves to be poor and needy1 and humbly consenting to accept a gratuitous feast of charity--they1 and only they1 do get the rich provisions4 ,you are shut out because you shut yourselves out4 ,they that do not know themselves to be hungry have no ears for the dinner-bell4 ,they that feel the pangs of starvation and know that their own cupboards are empty1 they are those who will turn to the table that is spread in the wilderness1 and there find a 'feast of fat things4' ,and so1 dear friends6 when ,he calls1 do not let us make excuses1 but rather listen to that voice that says to us1 ',why do you spend your money for that which is not bread1 and your labour for that which satisfieth not4444 ,incline your ear unto ,me2 hear1 and your soul shall live4' ,,the ,,shepherd ,,king ,,of ,,israel ',the ,lord is my shepherd3 ,i shall not want4 #b4 ,he maketh me to lie down in green pastures3 ,he leadeth me beside the still waters4 #c4 ,he restoreth my soul3 ,he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for ,his name's sake4 #d4 ,yea1 though ,i walk through the valley of the shadow of death1 ,i will fear no evil3 for ,thou art with me2 ,thy rod and ,thy staff1 they comfort me4 #e4 ,thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies3 ,thou anointest my head with oil2 my cup runneth over4 #f4 ,surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life1 and ,i will dwell in the house of the ,lord for ever4'--,,psalm xxiii4 #a-f4 ,the king who had been the shepherd-boy1 and had been taken from the quiet sheep-cotes to rule over ,israel1 sings this little psalm of ,him who is the true ,shepherd and ,king of men4 ,we do not know at what period of ,david's life it was written1 but it sounds as if it were the work of his later years4 ,there is a fulness of experience about it1 and a tone of subdued1 quiet confidence which speaks of a heart mellowed by years1 and of a faith made sober by many a trial4 ,a young man would not write so calmly1 and a life which was just opening would not afford material for such a record of ,god's guardianship in all changing circumstances4 ,if1 then1 we think of the psalm as the work of ,david's later years1 is it not very beautiful to see the old king looking back with such vivid and loving remembrance to his childhood's occupation1 and bringing up again to memory in his palace the green valleys1 the gentle streams1 the dark glens where he had led his flocks in the old days2 very beautiful to see him traversing all the stormy years of warfare and rebellion1 of crime and sorrow1 which lay between1 and finding in all ,god's guardian presence and gracious guidance8 ,the faith which looks back and says1 ',it is all very good1' is not less than that which looks forward and says1 ',surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life4' ,there is nothing difficult of understanding in the psalm4 ,the train of thought is clear and obvious4 ,the experiences which it details are common1 the emotions it expresses simple and familiar4 ,the tears that have been dried1 the fears that have been dissipated1 by this old song2 the love and thankfulness which have found in them their best expression1 prove the worth of its simple words4 ,it lives in most of our memories4 ,let us try to vivify it in our hearts1 by pondering it for a little while together now4 ,the psalm falls into two halves1 in both of which the same general thought of ,god's guardian care is presented1 though under different illustrations1 and with some variety of detail4 ,the first half sets ,him forth as a shepherd1 and us as the sheep of ,his pasture4 ,the second gives ,him as the ,host1 and us as the guests at ,his table1 and the dwellers in ,his house4 ,first1 then1 consider that picture of the divine ,shepherd and ,his leading of ,his flock4 ,it occupies the first four verses of the psalm4 ,there is a double progress of thought in it4 ,it rises1 from memories of the past1 and experiences of the present care of ,god1 to hope for the future4 ',the ,lord is my ,shepherd'--',i will fear no evil4' ,then besides this progress from what was and is1 to what will be1 there is another string1 so to speak1 on which the gems are threaded4 ,the various methods of ,god's leading of ,his flock1 or rather1 we should say1 the various regions into which ,he leads them1 are described in order4 ,these are ,rest1 ,work1 ,sorrow--and this series is so combined with the order of time already adverted to1 as that the past and the present are considered as the regions of rest and of work1 while the future is anticipated as having in it the valley of the shadow of death4 ,first1 ,god leads ,his sheep into rest4 ',he maketh me to lie down in green pastures1 ,he leadeth me beside the still waters4' ,it is the hot noontide1 and the desert lies baking in the awful glare1 and every stone on the hills of ,judaea burns the foot that touches it4 ,but in that panting1 breathless hour1 here is a little green glen1 with a quiet brooklet1 and moist lush herb-age all along its course1 and great stones that fling a black shadow over the dewy grass at their base2 and there would the shepherd lead his flock1 while the sunbeams1 like swords1' are piercing everything beyond that hidden covert4 ,sweet silence broods there1 ,the sheep feed and drink1 and couch in cool lairs till he calls them forth again4 ,so ,god leads ,his children4 ,the psalm puts the rest and refreshment first1 as being the most marked characteristic of ,god's dealings4 ,after all1 it is so4 ,the years are years of unbroken continuity of outward blessings4 ,the reign of afflictions is ordinarily measured by days4 ',weeping endures for a night4' ,it is a rainy climate where half the days have rain in them2 and that is an unusually troubled life of which it can with any truth be affirmed that there has been as much darkness as sunshine in it4 ,but it is not mainly of outward blessings that the ,psalmist is thinking4 ,they are precious chiefly as emblems of the better spiritual gifts2 and it is not an accommodation of his words1 but is the appreciation of their truest spirit1 when we look upon them1 as the instinct of devout hearts has ever done1 as expressing both ,god's gift of temporal mercies1 and ,his gift of spiritual good1 of which higher gift all the lower are meant to be significant and symbolic4 ,thus regarded1 the image describes the sweet rest of the soul in communion with ,god1 in whom alone the hungry heart finds food that satisfies1 and from whom alone the thirsty soul drinks draughts deep and limpid enough4 ,this rest and refreshment has for its consequence the restoration of the soul1 which includes in it both the invigoration of the natural life by the outward sort of these blessings1 and the quickening and restoration of the spiritual life by the inward feeding upon ,god and repose in ,him4 ,the soul thus restored is then led on another stage2 ',he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for ,his name's sake1'--that is to say1 ,god guides us into work4 ,the quiet mercies of the preceding verse are not in themselves the end of our ,shepherd's guidance2 they are means to an end1 and that is--work4 ,life is not a fold for the sheep to lie down in1 but a road for them to walk on4 ,all our blessings of every sort are indeed given us for our delight4 ,they will never fit us for the duties for which they are intended to prepare us1 unless they first be thoroughly enjoyed4 ,the highest good they yield is only reached through the lower one4 ,but1 then1 when joy fills the heart1 and life is bounding in the veins1 we have to learn that these are granted1 not for pleasure only1 but for pleasure in order to power4 ,we get them1 not to let them pass away like waste steam puffed into empty air1 but that we may use them to drive the wheels of life4 ,the waters of happiness are not for a luxurious bath where a man may lie1 till1 like flax steeped too long1 the very fibre be rotted out of him2 a quick plunge will brace him1 and he will come out refreshed for work4 ,rest is to fit for work1 work is to sweeten rest4 ,all this is emphatically true of the spiritual life4 ,its seasons of communion1 its hours on the mount1 are to prepare for the sore sad work in the plain2 and he is not the wisest disciple who tries to make the ,mount of ,transfiguration the abiding place for himself and his ,lord4 ,it is not well that our chief object should be to enjoy the consolations of religion2 it is better to seek first to do the duties enjoined by religion4 ,our first question should be1 not1 ,how may ,i enjoy ,god8 but1 ,how may ,i glorify ,him8 ',a single eye to ,his glory' means that even our comfort and joy in religious exercises shall be subordinated1 and 7if need were7 postponed1 to the doing of ,his will4 ,while1 on the one hand1 there is no more certain means of enjoying ,him than that of humbly seeking to walk in the ways of ,his commandments1 on the other hand1 there is nothing more evanescent in its nature than a mere emotion1 even though it be that of joy in ,god1 unless it be turned into a spring of action for ,god4 ,such emotions1 like photographs1 vanish from the heart unless they be fixed4 ,work for ,god is the way to fix them4 ,joy in ,god is the strength of work for ,god1 but work for ,god is the perpetuation of joy in ,god4 ,here is the figurative expression of the great evangelical principle1 that works of righteousness must follow1 not precede1 the restoration of the soul4 ,we are justified not by works1 but for works1 or1 as the ,apostle puts it in a passage which sounds like an echo of this psalm1 we are 'created in ,christ ,jesus unto good works1 which ,god hath before ordained that we should walk in them4' ,the basis of obedience is the sense of salvation4 ,we work not for the assurance of acceptance and forgiveness1 but from it4 ,first the restored soul1 then the paths of righteousness for ,his name's sake who has restored me1 and restored me that ,i may be like ,him4 ,but there is yet another region through which the varied experience of the ,christian carries him1 besides those of rest and of work4 ,god leads ,his people through sorrow4 ',yea1 though ,i walk through the valley of the shadow of death1 ,i will fear no evil4' ,the 'valley of the shadow of death' does not only mean the dark approach to the dark dissolution of soul and body1 but any and every gloomy valley of weeping through which we have to pass4 ,such sunless gorges we have all to traverse at some time or other4 ,it is striking that the ,psalmist puts the sorrow1 which is as certainly characteristic of our lot as the rest or the work1 into the future4 ,looking back he sees none4 ,memory has softened down all the past into one uniform tone1 as the mellowing distance wraps in one solemn purple the mountains which1 when close to them1 have many a barren rock and gloomy rift1 ,all behind is good4 ,and1 building on this hope1 he looks forward with calmness1 and feels that no evil shall befall4 ,but it is never given to human heart to meditate of the future without some foreboding4 ,and when ',hope enchanted smiles1' with the light of the future in her blue eyes1 there is ever something awful in their depths1 as if they saw some dark visions behind the beauty4 ,some evils may come2 some will probably come2 one at least is sure to come4 ,however bright may be the path1 somewhere on it1 perhaps just round that turning1 sits the 'shadow feared of man4' ,so there is never hope only in any heart that wisely considers the future4 ,but to the ,christian heart there may be this--the conviction that sorrow1 when it comes1 will not harm1 because ,god will be with us2 and the conviction that the ,hand which guides us into the dark valley1 will guide us through it and up out of it4 ,yes1 strange as it may sound1 the presence of ,him who sends the sorrow is the best help to bear it4 ,the assurance that the ,hand which strikes is the ,hand which binds up1 makes the stroke a blessing1 sucks the poison out of the wound of sorrow1 and turns the rod which smites into the staff to lean on4 ,the second portion of this psalm gives us substantially the same thoughts under a different image4 ,it considers ,god as the host1 and us as the guests at ,his table and the dwellers in ,his house4 ,in this illustration1 which includes the remaining verses1 we have1 as before1 the food and rest1 the journey and the suffering4 ,we have also1 as before1 memory and present experience issuing in hope4 ,but it is all intensified4 ,the necessity and the mercy are alike presented in brighter colours2 the want is greater1 the supply greater1 the hope for the future on earth brighter2 and1 above all1 while the former set of images stopped at the side of the grave1 and simply refused to fear1 here the vision goes on beyond the earthly end2 and as the hope comes brightly out1 that all the weary wanderings will end in the peace of the ,father's house1 the absence of fear is changed into the presence of triumphant confidence1 and the resignation which1 at the most1 simply bore to look unfaltering into the depth of the narrow house1 becomes the faith which plainly sees the open gate of the everlasting home4 ,god supplies our wants in the very midst of strife4 ',thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies4 ,thou anointest my head with oil4 ,my cup runneth over4' ,before1 it was food and rest first1 work afterwards4 ,now it ,is more than work--it is conflict4 ,and the mercy is more strikingly portrayed1 as being granted not only before toil1 but in warfare4 ,life is a sore fight2 but to the ,christian man1 in spite of all the tumult1 life is a festal banquet4 ,there stand the enemies1 ringing him round with cruel eyes1 waiting to be let slip upon him like eager dogs round the poor beast of the chase4 ,but for all that1 here is spread a table in the wilderness1 made ready by invisible hands2 and the grim-eyed foe is held back in the leash till the servant of ,god has fed and been strengthened4 ,this is our condition--always the foe1 always the table4 ,what sort of a meal should that be8 ,the soldiers who eat and drink1 and are drunken in the presence of the enemy1 like the ,saxons before ,hastings1 what will become of them8 ,drink the cup of gladness1 as men do when their foe is at their side1 looking askance over the rim1 and with one hand on the sword1 'ready1 aye ready1' against treachery and surprise4 ,but the presence of the danger should make the feast more enjoyable too1 by the moderation it enforces1 and by the contrast it affords--as to sailors on shore1 or soldiers in a truce4 ,joy may grow on the very face of danger1 as a slender rose-bush flings its bright sprays and fragrant blossoms over the lip of a cataract2 and that not the wild mirth of men in a pestilence1 with their ',let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die1' but the simple-hearted gladness of those who have preserved the invaluable childhood gift of living in the present moment1 because they know that to-morrow will bring ,god1 whatever it brings1 and not take away ,his care and love1 whatever it takes away4 ,this1 then1 is the form under which the experience of the past is presented in the second portion1--joy in conflict1 rest and food even in the strife4 ,upon that there is built a hope which transcends that in the previous portion of the psalm4 ,as to this life1 ',goodness and mercy shall follow us4' ,this is more than ',i will fear no evil4' ,that said1 sorrow is not evil if ,god be with us4 ,this says1 sorrow is mercy4 ,the one is hope looking mainly at outward circumstances1 the other is hope learning the spirit and meaning of them all4 ,these two angels of ,god--,goodness and ,mercy--shall follow and encamp around the pilgrim4 ,the enemies whom ,god held back while he feasted1 may pursue1 but will not overtake him4 ,they will be distanced sooner or later2 but the white wings of these messengers of the covenant will never be far away from the journeying child1 and the air will often be filled with the music of their comings1 and their celestial weapons will glance around him in all the fight1 and their soft arms will bear him up over all the rough ways1 and up higher at last to the throne4 ,so much for the earthly future4 ,but higher than all that rises the confidence of the closing words1 ',i shall dwell in the house of the ,lord for ever4' ,this should be at once the crown of all our hopes for the future1 and the one great lesson taught us by all the vicissitudes of life4 ,the sorrows and the joys1 the journeying and the rest1 the temporary repose and the frequent struggles1 all these should make us sure that there is an end which will interpret them all1 to which they all point1 for which they may all prepare4 ,we get the table in the wilderness here4 ,it is as when the son of some great king comes back from foreign soil to his father's dominions1 and is welcomed at every stage in his journey to the capital with pomp of festival1 and messengers from the throne1 until he enters at last his palace home1 where the travel-stained robe is laid aside1 and he sits down with his father at his table4 ,god provides for us here in the presence of our enemies2 it is wilderness food we get1 manna from heaven1 and water from the rock4 ,we eat in haste1 staff in hand1 and standing round the meal4 ,but yonder we sit down with the ,shepherd1 the ,master of the house1 at ,his table in ,his kingdom4 ,we put off the pilgrim-dress1 and put on the royal robe2 we lay aside the sword1 and clasp the palm4 ,far off1 and lost to sight1 are all the enemies4 ,we fear no change4 ,we 'go no more out4' ,the sheep are led by many a way1 sometimes through sweet meadows1 sometimes limping along sharp-flinted1 dusty highways1 sometimes high up over rough1 rocky mountain-passes1 sometimes down through deep gorges1 with no sunshine in their gloom2 but they are ever being led to one place1 and when the hot day is over they are gathered into one fold1 and the sinking sun sees them safe1 where no wolf can come1 nor any robber climb up any more1 but all shall rest for ever under the ,shepherd's eye4 ,brethren6 can you take this psalm for yours8 ,have you returned unto ,christ1 the ,shepherd and ,bishop of your souls8 ,oh6 let ,him1 the ,shepherd of ,israel1 and the ,lamb of ,god1 one of the fold and yet the ,guide and ,defender of it1 human and divine1 bear you away from the dreary wilderness whither ,he has come seeking you4 ,he will carry you rejoicing to the fold1 if only you will trust yourselves to ,his gentle arm4 ,he will restore your soul4 ,he will lead you and keep you from all dangers1 guard you from every sin1 strengthen you when you come to die1 and bring you to the fair plains beyond that narrow gorge of frowning rock4 ,then this sweet psalm shall receive its highest fulfilment1 for then 'they shall hunger no more1 neither shall they thirst any more1 neither shall the sun light on them1 nor any heat1 for the ,lamb which is in the midst of the ,throne shall feed them1 and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters1 and ,god shall wipe all tears from their eyes4' ,a ,,great ,,question ,,and ,,its ,,answer ',who shall ascend into the hill of the ,lord8 and who shall stand in ,his holy place8'--,,psalm xxiv4 #c4 ,the psalm from which these words are taken flashes up into new beauty1 if we suppose it to have been composed in connection with the bringing of the ,ark into the ,temple1 or for some similar occasion4 ,whether it is ,david's or not is a matter of very small consequence4 ,but if we look at the psalm as a whole1 we can scarcely fail to see that some such occasion underlies it4 ,so just exercise your imaginations for a moment1 and think of the long procession of white-robed priests bearing the ,ark1 and followed by the joyous multitude chanting as they ascended1 ',who shall ascend into the hill of the ,lord1 or who shall stand in ,his holy place8' ,they are bethinking themselves of the qualifications needed for that which they are now doing4 ,they reach the gates1 which we must suppose to have been closed that they might be opened1 and from the half-chorus outside there peals out the summons1 ',lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates6 and be ye lift up1 ye everlasting doors1 and the ,king of ,glory shall come in4' ,then from within another band of singers answers with the question1 ',who is this ,king of ,glory' who thus demands entrance8 ,and triumphantly the reply rings out1 ',the ,lord1 strong and mighty2 the ,lord1 mighty in battle4' ,still reluctant1 the question is put again1 ',who is this ,king of ,glory8' and the answer is given once more1 ',the ,lord of hosts1 ,he is the ,king of ,glory4' ,there is no reference in the second answer to 'battle4' ,the conflicts are over1 and the dominion is established1 and at the reiterated summons the ancient gates roll back on their hinges1 burst as by a strong blow1 and ,jehovah enters into ,his rest1 ,he and the ,ark of ,his strength4 ,if that is the general connection of the psalm--and ,i think you will admit that it adds to its beauty and dramatic force if we suppose it so--then this introductory question1 sung as the procession climbed the steep1 had realised what was needed for those who should get the entrance that they sought1 and comes to be a very significant and important one4 ,i deal now with the question and its answer4 ,i4 ,the question of questions4 ,that question lies deep in all men's hearts1 and underlies sacrifices and priesthoods and asceticisms and tortures of all sorts1 and is the inner meaning of ,hindoos swinging with hooks in their backs1 and others of them measuring the road to the temple by prostrating themselves every yard or two as they advance4 ,these self-torturers are all asking the same question3 ',who shall ascend into the hill of the ,lord8' ,it sometimes rises in the thoughts of the most degraded1 and it is present always with some of the better and nobler of men4 ,now1 there are three places in the ,old ,testament where substantially the same question is asked4 ,there is this psalm of ours2 there is another psalm which is all but a duplicate1 which begins with ',lord1 who shall abide in ,thy tabernacle8 who shall dwell in ,thy holy hill8' ,and there is another shape into which the question is cast by the fervent and somewhat gloomy imagination of one of the prophets1 who puts it thus3 ',who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire8 ,who shall dwell with the everlasting burnings8' ,there never was a more disastrous misapplication of ,scripture than the popular idea that these two last questions suggest the possibility of a creature being exposed to the torments of future punishment4 ,they have nothing to do with that4 ',who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire8' ,if you want a commentary1 remember the words1 ',our ,god is a consuming fire4' ,that puts us on the right track1 if we needed any putting on it1 for answering this question1 not in the gruesome and ghastly sense in which some people take it1 but in all the grandeur of ,isaiah's thought4 ,he sees ,god as 'the everlasting burnings4' ,fire is the emblem of life as well as of death2 fire is the means of quickening as well as of destroying2 and when we speak of ,him as 'the everlasting burnings' we are reminded of the bush in the desert1 where ,his own signature was set1 'burning and not consumed4' ,so the question in all the three places referred to is substantially the same--and what does it indicate8 ,it indicates the deep consciousness that men have that they need to be in that home1 that for life and peace and blessedness1 they must get somehow to the side of ,god1 and be quiet there1 as children in their ,father's house4 ,we all know that this is true1 whether our life is regulated by it or not4 ,very deep in every man's conscience1 if he will attend to its voice1 there is that which says1 ',you are a pilgrim and a sojourner1 and homeless and desolate until you nestle beneath the outspread wings in the ,holy ,place1 and are a denizen of ,god's house4' ,the question further suggests another4 ,the universal consciousness--which is1 ,i believe1 universal--though it is overlain and stifled by many of us1 and neglected and set at nought by others--is that this fellowship with ,god1 which is indispensable to a man's peace1 is impossible to a man's impurity4 ,so the question raises the thought of the consciousness of sin which comes creeping over a man when he is sometimes feeling after ,god1 and seems to batter him in the face1 and fling him back into the outer darkness1 ',how can ,i enter in there8' and conscience has no answer1 and the world has none1 and as ,i shall have to say presently1 the answer which the ,old ,testament1 as ,law1 gives is almost as hopeless as the answer which conscience gives4 ,but at all events that this question should rise and insist upon being answered as it does proves these three things--man's need of ,god1 man's sense of ,god's purity1 man's consciousness of his own sin4 ,and what does that ascent to the hill of the ,lord include8 ,all the present life1 for1 unless we are 'dwelling in the house of the ,lord all the days of our lives beholding ,his beauty and inquiring in ,his ,temple1' then we have little in life that is worth the having4 ,the old ,arab right of claiming hospitality of the ,sheikh into whose tent the fugitive ran is used in ,scripture over and over again to express the relation in which alone it is blessed for a man to live--namely1 as a guest of ,god's4 ,that is peace4 ,that is all that we require1 to sit at ,his fireside1 if ,i may so say1 to claim the rites of hospitality1 which the ,arab chief would not refuse to the veriest tatterdemalion1 or the greatest enemy that he knew1 if he came into his tent and sought it4 ,god sits in the door of ,his tent1 and is ready to welcome us4 ,the ascent to the hill of the ,lord means more than that4 ,it includes also the future4 ,i suppose that when men think about another world--which ,i am afraid none of us think about as often as we ought to do1 in order to make the best of this one--the question1 in some shape or other1 which this band of singers lifted up1 rises to their lips1 ',who shall ascend into the hill of the ,lord1 or who shall stand in ,his ,holy ,place' beyond the stars8 ,well1 brethren6 that is the question which concerns us all1 more than anything else in the world1 to have clearly and rightly answered4 ,,ii4 ,note the answer to this great question4 ,the psalm answers it in an instructive fashion1 which we take as it stands4 ',he that hath clean hands and a pure heart4' ,let me measure myself by the side of that requirement4 ',clean hands8'--are mine clean8 ',and a pure heart8'--what about mine8 ',who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity'--and where have my desires and thoughts so often gone8 ',nor sworn deceitfully4' ,these are the qualifications that our psalm dashes down in front of us when we ask the question4 ,the other two occasions to which ,i have referred1 where the same question is put1 give substantially the same answer4 ,it might be interesting1 if one had time1 or this was the place1 to look at the differences in the replies1 as suggesting the slight differences in the ideal of a good man as presented by the various writers1 but that must be left untouched now4 ,taking these four conditions that are laid down here1 we come to this1 that psalmist and prophet with one voice say that same solemn thing3 ',holiness1 without which no man shall see the ,lord4' ,there is no faltering in the answer1 and it is an answer to which the depths of conscience say ',yes4' ,we all admit1 when we are wise1 that for communion with ,god on earth1 and for treading the golden pavements of that city into which nothing that is unclean shall enter1 absolute holiness is necessary4 ,let no man deceive himself--that stands the irreversible1 necessary condition4 ,well1 then1 is anybody to go in8 ,let us read on in our psalm4 ,an impossible requirement is laid down1 broad and stern and unmistakable4 ,but is that all8 ',he shall receive a blessing from the ,lord1 and righteousness from the ,god of his salvation4' ,so1 then1 the impossible requirement is made possible as a gift to be received4 ,and although ,i do not know that this psalmist1 in the twilight of revelation1 saw all that was involved in what he sang1 he had caught a glimpse of this great thought1 that what ,god required1 ,god would give1 and that our way to get the necessary1 impossible condition realised in ourselves is to 'receive' it4 ',he shall receive 444 righteousness from the ,god of his salvation4' ,now1 do you not see how1 like some great star1 trembling into the field of the telescope1 and sending arrowy beams before it to announce its approach1 the great central ,christian truth is here dawning1 germinant1 prophesying its full rising8 ,and the truth is this1 'that ,i might be found in ,him1 not having my own righteousness1 but that which is of ,god through ,christ4' ,ah1 brethren6 impossibilities become possible when ,god comes and says1 ',i give thee that which thou canst not have4' ,the old prophet asked the question1 ',what doth ,god require of thee8' and his answer was1 ',that thou shouldst do justice1 and love mercy1 and walk humbly with thy ,god4' ,if he had gone on to ask a better question1 ',what does ,god give thee8' he would have said what all the ,new ,testament says1 ',he gives what ,he commands1 and ,he bestows before ,he requires4' ,and so in ,jesus ,christ there is the forgiveness that blots out the past1 and there is the new life bestowed that will develop the righteousness far beyond our reach4 ,and thus the question which evoked first the answer that might drive us to despair1 evokes next a response that commands us to hope4 ,but that is not all1 for the psalm goes on3 ',this is the generation of them that seek ,him1 that seek ,thy face4' ,yes2 couched in germ there lies in that last word the great truth which is expanded in the ,new ,testament1 like a beech-leaf folded up in its little brown sheath through all the winter1 and ready to break and give out its green plumelets as soon as the warm rains and sunshine of spring come4 ',they that seek ,him'--'if thou seek ,him ,he will be found of thee4' ,the requirement of righteousness1 as ,i have said1 is not abolished by the ,gospel1 as some people seem to think that it substitutes faith for righteousness2 but it is made possible by the ,gospel which through faith gives righteousness4 ,and what the ,psalmist meant by 'seeking' we ,christian people mean by 'faith4' ,earnest desire and confident application to ,him are sure to obtain righteousness4 ,to these there will never be returned a refusing answer4 ',i have never said to any of the seed of ,jacob1 seek ye ,me in vain4' ,so1 brethren6 if we seek we shall receive2 if we receive we shall be holy1 if we are holy we shall dwell with ,god1 in sweet and blessed communion1 and be denizens of ,his house1 and sit together in heavenly places with ,him all the days of our lives1 and then shall pass1 when 'goodness and mercy have followed us all the days of our lives1' and 'dwell in the house of the ,lord for ever4' ,,the ,,god ,,who ,,dwells ,,with ,,men ',lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates3 and be ye lift up1 ye everlasting doors2 and the ,king of glory shall come in4 #h4 ,who is this ,king of glory8 ,the ,lord strong and mighty1 the ,lord mighty in battle4 #i4 ,lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates2 even lift them up1 ye everlasting doors2 and the ,king of glory shall come in4 #aj4 ,who is this ,king of glory8 ,the ,lord of hosts1 ,he is the ,king of glory4' --,,psalm xxiv4 #g-aj4 ,this whole psalm was probably composed at the time of the bringing of the ark into the city of ,zion4 ,the former half was chanted as the procession wound its way up the hillside4 ,it mainly consists of the answer to the question ',who shall ascend into the hill of the ,lord8' and describes the kind of men that dwell with ,god1 and the way by which they obtain their purity4 ,this second half of our psalm is probably to be thought of as being chanted when the procession had reached the summit of the hill and stood before the barred gates of the ancient ,jebusite city4 ,it is mainly in answer to the question1 ',who is this ,king of ,glory8' and is the description of the ,god that dwells with men1 and the meaning of ,his dwelling with them4 ,we are to conceive of a couple of half choirs1 the one within1 the other without the mountain hold4 ,the advancing choir summons the gates to open in the grand words3 ',lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates6 even lift them up1 ye everlasting doors1 and the ,king of ,glory shall come in4' ,their lofty lintels are too low for ,his head to pass beneath2 so they have to be lifted that ,he may find entrance4 ,they are 'everlasting doors1' grey with antiquity1 hoary with age4 ,they have looked down1 perhaps1 upon ,melchizedek1 ,king of ,salem1 as he went forth in the morning twilight of history to greet the patriarch4 ,but in all the centuries they have never seen such a ,king as this ,king of ,glory1 the true ,king of ,israel who now desires entrance4 ,the answer to the summons comes from the choir within4 ',who is this ,king of ,glory8' the question represents ignorance and possible hesitation1 as if the pagan inhabitants of the recently conquered city knew nothing of the ,god of ,israel1 and recognised no authority in ,his name4 ,of course1 the dramatic form of question and answer is intended to give additional force to the proclamation as by ,god ,himself of the ,covenant name1 the proper name of ,israel's ,god1 as ,baal was the name of the ,canaanite's ,god1 'the ,lord strong and mighty2 the ,lord mighty in battle1' by whose warrior power ,david had conquered the city1 which now was summoned to receive its conqueror4 ,therefore the summons is again rung out1 ',lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates6 and the ,king of ,glory shall come in4' ,and once more1 to express the lingering reluctance1 ignorance not yet dispelled1 suspicion and unwilling surrender1 the dramatic question is repeated1 ',who is this ,king of ,glory8' ,the answer is sharp and authoritative in its brevity1 and we may fancy it shouted with a full-throated burst--',the ,lord of ,hosts1' who1 as ,captain1 commands all the embattled energies of earth and heaven conceived as a disciplined army4 ,that great name1 like a charge of dynamite1 bursts the gates of brass asunder1 and with triumphant music the procession sweeps into the conquered city4 ,now these great words1 throbbing with the enthusiasm at once of poetry and of devotion1 may1 ,i think1 teach us a great deal if we ponder them4 ,i4 ,notice1 first1 their application1 their historical and original application1 to the ,king who dwelt with ,israel4 ,we must never forget that in the ,old ,testament we have to do with an incomplete and a progressive revelation1 and that if we would understand its significance1 we must ever endeavour to ascertain to what point in that progress the words before us belong4 ,we are not to read into these words ,new ,testament depth and fulness of meaning2 we are to take them and try to find out what they meant to ,david and to his people2 and so we shall get a firm basis for any deeper significance which we may hereafter see in them4 ,the thought of ,god1 then1 in these words is mainly that of a ,god of strong and victorious energy1 a warrior-,god1 a conquering ,king1 one whose word is power1 who rules amidst the armies of heaven1 and amidst the inhabitants of earth4 ,a brief consideration of each expression is all which can be attempted here4 ',who is this ,king of ,glory8' ,the first idea1 then1 is that of sovereign rule2 the idea which had become more and more plain and clear to the national consciousness of the ,hebrew with the installation of monarchy amongst them4 ,and it is very beautiful to see how ,david lays hold of that thought of ,god being ,himself the ,king of ,israel2 and dwells so often in his psalms on the idea that he1 poor1 pale1 earthly shadow1 is but a representative and a viceroy of the true ,king who sits in the heavens4 ,he takes off his crown and lays it before ,his throne and says3 ',thou art the ,king of ,israel1 the ,king of ,glory4' ,the ,old ,testament meaning of that word 'glory' is a great deal more definite than the ordinary religious use of it amongst us4 ,the 'glory of ,god' in the ,old ,testament is1 first and foremost1 the supernatural light that dwelt between the cherubim and was the manifestation and symbol of the divine ,presence4 ,and next it is the sum total of all the impression made upon the world by ,god's manifestation of ,himself1 the ,light1 of which the material and supernatural light between the cherubs was but the emblem2 all by which ,god flames and flashes ,himself upon the trembling and thankful heart2 that glory which is substantially the same as the ,name of the ,lord4 ,and in this brightness1 lustrous and dark with excess of light1 this ,king dwells4 ,the splendour of ,his regalia is the brightness that emanates from ,himself4 ,he is the ,king of ,glory4 ,next1 we have the great ,name1 'the ,lord1' ,jehovah1 which speaks of timeless1 independent1 unchanging1 self-sufficing being4 ,it declares that ,he is ,his own cause1 ,his own law1 ,his own impulse1 the staple from which all the links of the chain of being depend1 and not ,himself a link1 the fontal ,source of all which is4 ,we say3 ',i am that which ,i have become2 ,i am that which ,i have been made2 ,i am that which ,i have inherited2 ,i am that which circumstances and example and training have shaped me to be4' ,god says3 ',i ,,am ,,that ,i ,,am4' ,this name is also significant1 not only because it proclaims absolute1 independent1 underived1 timeless being1 but because it is the ,covenant name1 and speaks of the ,god who has come into fellowship with men1 and has bound ,himself to a certain course of action for their blessing1 and is thus the ,lord of ,israel1 and the ,god1 in a special manner1 of ,his people4 ',the ,lord mighty in battle4' ,a true warrior-,god1 who went out in no metaphorical sense1 but in prose reality1 fought for ,his people and subdued the nations under them1 in order that ,his name might be spread and ,his glory be known in the earth4 ,and then1 still further1 'the ,lord of ,hosts1' the ,captain of all the armies of heaven and earth4 ,in that name is the thought to which the modern world is coming so slowly by scientific paths1 that all being is one ordered whole1 subject to the authority of one ,lord4 ,and in addition to that1 the grander thought1 that the unity of nature is the will of ,god2 and that as the ,commander issues ,his orders over all the field1 so ,he speaks and it is done4 ,the hosts are the angels of whom it is said3 ',bless the ,lord all ye ,his hosts2 ye ministers of ,his that do ,his pleasure4' ,the hosts are the stars that fill the nightly heavens1 of whom it is said1 ',he bringeth out their host by number4' ,the hosts are all creatures that live and are2 and all are the soldiers and servants of this conquering ,king4 ,such is the name of the ,lord that dwelt with ,israel1 the great conception that rises before this ,psalmist4 ,,ii4 ,now turn to the second application of these great words1 that speak to us not only of the ,god that dwelt in ,zion in outward and symbolical form1 by means of a material ,presence which was an emblem of the true nearness of ,israel's ,god1 but yet more distinctly1 as ,i take it1 of the ,christ that dwells with men4 ,the devout hearts in ,israel felt that there was something more needed than this dwelling of ,jehovah within an earthly ,temple1 and the process of revelation familiarised them with the thought that there was to be in the future a 'coming of the ,lord' in some special manner unknown to them4 ,so that the whole anticipation and forward look of the ,old ,testament system is gathered into and expressed by almost its last words1 which prophesy that 'the ,lord shall suddenly come to ,his ,temple1' and that once again this ,king of ,glory shall stand before the everlasting gates and summon them to open4 ,and when was that fulfilled8 ,fulfilled in a fashion that at first sight seems the greatest contrast to all this vision of grandeur1 of warlike strength1 of imperial power and rule with which we have been dealing2 but which yet was not the contrast to these ideas so much as the highest embodiment of them4 ,for1 although at first sight it seems as if there could be no greater contrast than between the lion might of the ,jehovah of the ,old ,testament1 and the lamb gentleness of the ,jesus of the ,new1 if we look more closely we shall see that it is not a relation of contrast that exists between the two4 ,christ is all1 and more than all1 that this psalm proclaimed the ,jehovah of the ,old ,covenant to be4 ,let us look again from that point of view at the particulars already referred to4 ,he is the highest manifestation of the divine rule and authority4 ,there is no dominion like the dominion of the loving ,christ1 a kingdom based upon suffering and wielded in gentleness1 a kingdom of which the crown is a wreath of thorns1 and the sceptre a rod of reed2 a dominion which is all exercised for the blessing of its subjects1 and which1 therefore1 is an everlasting dominion4 ,there is no rule like that2 no height of divine authority towers so high as the authority of ,him who rules us so absolutely because ,he gave ,himself for us utterly4 ,this is the ,king1 the ,prince of the kings of the earth1 because this is the ,incarnate ,god who died for us4 ,christ is the highest raying out of the divine ,light1 or1 as the ,epistle to the ,hebrews calls it1 'the effulgence of ,his glory4' ,the true glory of ,god lies in ,his love1 and of that love ,christ is the noblest and most wondrous example4 ,so all other beams of the divine character1 bright as their light is1 are but dim as compared with the sevenfold lustre of the light that shines from the gentle loving-kindness of the heart of ,christ4 ,he has glorified ,god because ,he shows us that the divinest thing in ,god is love4 ,for the same reason1 ,he is the mightiest exhibition of the divine power--'the ,lord strong and mighty4' ,there is no work of ,god's hand1 no work of ,god's will so great as that by which we are turned from darkness to light1 and from the power of ,satan unto ,god4 ,the ,cross is ,god's noblest revelation of power2 and in ,him1 ,his weakness1 ,his surrender1 ,his death1 with all the wonderful energies that flow from that death for man's salvation1 we see the divine strength made perfect in the human weakness of ,jesus4 ,the ,gospel of ,christ 'is the power of ,god unto salvation to everyone that believeth4' ,there is divine power in its noblest form1 in the paradoxical shape of a dying man2 in its noblest effect1 salvation2 in its widest sweep to all who believe4 '',twas great to speak a world from nought1 ',tis greater to redeem4' ,this 'strong ,son of ,god' is the arm of the ,lord in whom live and act the energies of omnipotence4 ,christ is 'the ,lord mighty in battle4' ,true1 ,he is the ,prince of peace1 but ,he is also the better ,joshua1 the victorious ,captain1 in whom dwells the conquering divine might4 ,through all the gentleness of ,his life there winds a martial strain1 and it is not in vain that the ,evangelist who was most deeply penetrated by the sweetness of ,his love1 is the one who most often speaks of ,him as overcoming1 and who has preserved as ,his last words to ,his timid followers1 that triumphant command1 ',be of good cheer6 ,i have overcome the world4' ,he has conquered for us1 binding the strong man1 and so ,he will spoil his house4 ,sin1 hell1 death1 the devil1 law1 fear1 our own foolish hearts1 all temptations that hover around us--they are all vanquished foes of a ',lord' that is 'mighty in battle4' ,and as ,he overcame1 so shall we if we will trust ,him4 ,christ is the ,commander and ,wielder of all the forces of the universe4 ,as one said to ,him in the days of ,his flesh1 ',i am a man under authority1 and ,i say to my servant1 ,do this1 and he doeth it4 ,so do ,thou speak and ,thy word shall be sovereign4' ,and so it was4 ,he spake to diseases and they vanished4 ,he spake to the winds and the seas and there was a great calm4 ,he spake to demons1 and murmuring1 but yet obedient1 they came out of their victims4 ,he flung ,his word into the recesses of the grave1 and ,lazarus came forth1 fumbling with the knots on his grave-clothes1 and stumbling into the light4 ',he spake and it was done4' ,who is ,he1 the utterance of whose will is sovereign amongst all the regions of being8 ',who is the ,king of ,glory8' ',thou art the ,king of ,glory1 ,o ,christ6' ',thou art the ,everlasting ,son of the ,father4' ,,iii4 ,and now1 lastly1 let me ask you to look1 and that for a moment1 at the application of these words to the ,christ who will dwell in our hearts4 ,his historical manifestation here upon earth and ,his ,incarnation1 which is the true dwelling of ,deity amongst men1 are not enough4 ,they have left something more than a memory to the world4 ,he is as ready to abide as really within our spirits as ,he was to tabernacle upon earth amongst men4 ,and the very central message of that ,gospel which ,is proclaimed to us all is this1 that if we will open the gates of our hearts ,he will come in1 in all the plenitude of ,his victorious power1 and dwell in our hearts1 their ,conqueror and their ,king4 ,what a strange contrast1 and yet what a close analogy there is between the victorious tones and martial air of this summons of my text4 ',lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates6 that the ,king of ,glory may come in1' and the gentle words of the ,apocalypse3 ',behold1 ,i stand at the door and knock2 if any man hear ,my voice and open the door1 ,i will come in to him4' ,but ,he that in the ,old ,covenant arrayed in warrior arms1 summoned the rebels to surrender1 is the same as ,he who1 in the ,new1 with the night-dews in ,his hair1 and patience on ,his face1 and gentleness in the touch of ,his hand upon the door1 waits to enter in4 ,brethren6 open your hearts1 'and the ,king of ,glory shall come in4' ,and ,he will come in as a king that might seek to enter some city far away on the outposts of his kingdom1 besieged by his enemies4 ,if the ,king comes in1 the city will be impregnable4 ,if you open your hearts for ,him ,he will come and keep you from all your foes and give you the victory over them all4 ,so1 to every hard-pressed heart1 waging an unequal contest with toils and temptations1 and sorrows and sins1 this great hope is given1 that ,christ the ,victor will come in ,his power to garrison heart and mind4 ,as of old the encouragement was given to ,hezekiah in his hour of peril1 when the might of ,sennacherib insolently threatened ,jerusalem1 so the same stirring assurances are given to each who admits ,christ's succours to his heart--',he shall not come into this city1 for ,i will defend this city to save it for ,mine own sake' ,open your hearts and the conquering ,king will come in4 ,and do not forget that there is another possible application of these words lying in the future1 to the conquering ,christ who shall come again4 ,the whole history of the past points onwards to yet a last time when 'the ,lord shall suddenly come to ,his temple1' and predicts that ,christ shall so come in like manner as ,he went up to heaven4 ,again will the summons ring out4 ,again will ,he come arrayed in flashing brightness1 and the visible robes of ,his imperial majesty4 ,again will ,he appear1 mighty in battle1 when 'in righteousness ,he shall judge and make war4' ,for a ,christian1 one great memory fills the past--,christ has come2 and one great hope brightens the else waste future--,christ will come4 ,that hope has been far too much left to be cherished only by those who hold a particular opinion as to the chronology of unfulfilled prophecy4 ,but it should be to every ,christian heart 'the blessed hope1' even the appearing of the glory of ,him who has come in the past4 ,he is with and in us1 in the present4 ,he will come in the future 'in ,his glory1 and shall sit upon the throne of ,his glory4' ,all our pardon and hope of ,god's love depend upon that great fact in the past1 that 'the ,lord was made flesh and dwelt among us1 and we beheld ,his glory4' ,our purity which will fit us to dwell with ,god1 our present blessedness1 all our power for daily strife1 and our companionship in daily loneliness1 depend on the present fact that ,he dwells in our hearts by faith1 the seed of all good1 and the conquering ,antagonist of every evil4 ,and the one light which fills the future with hope1 peaceful because assured1 streams from that most sure promise that ,he will come again1 sweeping from the highest heavens1 on ,his head the many crowns of universal monarchy1 in ,his hand the weapons of all-conquering power1 and none shall need to ask1 ',who is this ,king of ,glory8' for every eye shall know ,him1 the ,judge upon ,his throne1 to be the ,christ of the ,cross4 ,open the doors of your hearts to ,him1 as ,he sues for entrance now in the meekness of ,his patient love1 that on you may fall in that day of the coming of the ,king1 the blessing of the servants who wait for their returning ,lord1 that 'when ,he cometh and knocketh1 they may open unto ,him immediately4' ,,guidance ,,in ,,judgment ',good and upright is the ,lord2 therefore will ,he teach sinners in the way4 #i4 ,the meek will ,he guide in judgment2 and the meek will ,he teach ,his way4'--,,psalm xxv4 #h1 #i4 ,the ,psalmist prays in this psalm for three things3 deliverance1 guidance1 and forgiveness4 ,of these three petitions the central one is that for guidance4 ',show me ,thy ways1 ,o ,lord1' he asks in a previous verse2 where he means by ',thy ways1' not ,god's dealings with men1 but men's conduct as prescribed by ,god4 ,in my text he exchanges petition for contemplation2 and gazes on the character of ,god1 in order thereby to be helped to confidence in an answer to his prayer4 ,such alternations of petition and contemplation are the very heartbeats of devotion1 now expanding in desire1 now closing on its treasure in fruition4 ,either attitude is incomplete without the other4 ,do our prayers pass into such still contemplation of the face of ,god8 ,do our thoughts of ,his character break into such confident petition8 ,my text contains a striking view of the divine character1 a grand confidence built thereupon1 and a condition appended on which the fulfilment of that confidence depends4 ,let us look at these in turn4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 we have here the ,psalmist's thought of ,god4 ',good and upright is the ,lord4' ,now it is clear that the former of these two epithets is here employed1 not in its widest sense of moral perfectness1 or else 'upright1' which follows1 would be mere tautology1 but in the narrower sense1 which is familiar too1 to us1 in our common speech1 in which good is tantamount to kind1 beneficent1 or to say all in a word1 loving4 ,upright needs no explanation2 but the point to notice is the decisiveness with which the ,psalmist binds together1 in one thought1 the two aspects of the divine nature which so many people find it hard to reconcile1 and the separation of which has been the parent of unnumbered misconceptions and errors as to ,him and to ,his dealings4 ',good and upright1 loving and righteous is the ,lord1' says the ,psalmist4 ,he puts in no qualifying word such as1 loving though righteous1 righteous and yet loving4 ,such phrases express the general notions of the relation of these two attributes4 ,but the ,psalmist employs no such expressions4 ,he binds the two qualities together1 in the feeling of their profoundest harmony4 ,now let me remind you that neither of these two resplendent aspects of the divine nature reaches its highest beauty and supremest power1 except it be associated with the other4 ,in the spectrum analysis of that great light there are the two lines2 the one purest white of righteousness1 and the other tinged with a ruddier glow1 the line of love4 ,the one adorns and sets off the other4 ,love without righteousness is flaccid1 a mere gush of good-natured sentiment1 impotent to confer blessing1 powerless to evoke reverence4 ,righteousness without love is as white as snow1 and as cold as ice2 repellent1 howsoever it may excite the sentiment of awe-struck distance4 ,but we need that the righteousness shall be loving1 and that the love shall be righteous1 in order that the one may be apprehended in its tenderest tenderness and the other may be adored in its loftiest loftiness4 ,and yet we are always tempted to wrench the two apart1 and to think that the operation of the one must sometimes1 at all events on the outermost circumference of the spheres1 impinge upon1 and collide with1 the operations of the other4 ,hence you get types of religion--yes6 and two types of ,christianity--in which the one or the other of these two harmonious attributes is emphasised to such a degree as almost to blot out the other4 ,you get forms of religion in which the righteousness has swallowed up the love1 and others in which the love has destroyed the righteousness4 ,the effect is disastrous4 ,in old days our fathers fell into the extreme on the one hand2 and the pendulum has swung with a vengeance as far from the vertical line1 to the other extreme1 in these days as it ever did in the past4 ,the religion which found its centre-point and its loftiest conception of the divine nature in the thought of ,his absolute righteousness made strong1 if it made somewhat stern1 men4 ,and now we see renderings of the truth that ,god is love which degrade the lofty1 noble1 sovereign conception of the righteous ,god that loveth1 into mere ,indulgence on the throne of the universe4 ,and what is the consequence8 ,all the stern teachings of ,scripture men recoil from1 and try to explain away4 ,the ill desert of sin1 and the necessary iron nexus between sin and suffering--and as a consequence the sacrificial work of ,jesus ,christ1 and the supreme glory of ,his mission in that ,he is the ,redeemer of mankind--are all become unfashionable to preach and unfashionable to believe4 ,god is ,love4 ,we cannot make too much of ,his love1 unless by reason of it we make too little of ,his righteousness4 ,the ,psalmist1 in his childlike faith1 saw deeper and more truly than many would-be theologians and thinkers of this day1 when he proclaimed in one breath ',good and upright is the ,lord4' ,let us not forget that the ,apostle1 whose great message to the world was1 as the last utterance completing the process of revelation1 ',god is ,love1' had it also in charge to 'declare unto us that ,god is ,light1 and in ,him is no darkness at all4' ,,ii4 ,and so1 secondly1 mark the calm confidence builded on this conception of the divine character4 ,what a wonderful 'therefore' that is6--the logic of faith and not of sense4 ',good and upright is the ,lord2 therefore will ,he teach sinners in the way4' ,the coexistence of these two aspects in the perfect divine character is for us a guarantee that ,he cannot leave men1 however guilty they may be1 to grope in the dark1 or keep ,his lips locked in silence4 ,the ,psalmist does not mean guidance as to practical advantages and worldly prosperity4 ,that may also be looked for1 in a modified degree4 ,but what he means is guidance as to the one important thing1 the sovereign conception of duty1 the eternal law of right and wrong4 ,god will not leave a man without adequate teaching as to that1 just because ,he is loving and righteous4 ,for what is love1 in its loftiest1 purest1 and therefore in its divine aspect8 ,what is it except an infinite desire to impart1 and that the object on which it falls shall be blessed4 ,so because 'the ,lord is good1 and ,his tender mercies are over all ,his works1' certainly ,he must desire1 if one may so say1 as ,his deepest desire1 the blessedness of ,his creatures4 ,he is a ,god whose nature and property it is to love1 and ,his love is the infinite and ceaseless welling out of ,himself1 in all forms of beauty and blessedness1 according to the capacity and contents of ,his recipient creatures4 ,he is 'the giving ,god1' as ,james in his epistle eloquently and wonderfully calls ,him1 whose very nature it is to give4 ,and that is only to say1 in other words1 'good is the ,lord4' ,but then 'good and upright'--that combination determines the form which ,his blessings shall assume1 the channel in which by preference they will flow4 ,if we had only to say1 'good is the ,lord1' then our happiness1 as we call it1 the satisfaction of our physical needs and of lower cravings1 might be the adequate expression of ,his love4 ,but if ,god be righteous1 then because ,himself is so1 it must be ,his deepest desire for us that we should be like ,him4 ,not our happiness but our rectitude is ,god's end in all that ,he does with us4 ,it is worth ,his while to make us1 in the lower sense of the word1 'happy1' but the purpose of joy as of sorrow is to make us pure and righteous4 ,we shall never come to understand the meaning of our own lives1 and will always be blindly puzzling over the mysteries of the providences that beset us1 until we learn that not enjoyment and not sorrow is ,his ultimate end concerning us1 but that we may be partakers of ,his holiness4 ,since ,he is righteous1 the dearest desire of ,his loving heart1 and that to which all ,his dealings with us are directed2 and that1 therefore1 to which all our desires and efforts should be directed likewise1 is to make us righteous also4 ',therefore will ,he teach sinners in the way4' ,if the righteousness existed without the love it must 'come with a rod1' and the sinners who are out of the way must incontinently be crushed where they have wandered4 ,but since righteousness is blended with love1 therefore ,he comes1 and must desire to bring all wanderers back into the paths which are ,his own4 ,i need not do more than in a word remind you how strong a presumption there lies in this combination of aspects of the divine nature1 in favour of an actual revelation4 ,it seems to me that1 notwithstanding all the objections that are made to a supernatural and objective revelation1 there is nothing half so monstrous as it would be to believe1 with the pure deist or theist1 that ,god1 being what ,he is1 righteous and loving1 had never rent ,his heavens to say one word to man to lead him in the paths of righteousness4 ,i can understand ,atheism1 and ,i can understand a revealing ,god1 but not a ,god that dwells in the thick darkness1 and is yet ,love and ,righteousness1 and looks down upon this world and never puts out a finger to point the path of duty4 ,a silent ,god seems to me no ,god but an ,almighty ,devil4 ,revelation is the plain conclusion from the premisses that 'good and upright is the ,lord6' ,i speak not1 for there is no time to do so1 of the various manners in which this divine desire to bring sinners into the way fulfils itself4 ,there are our consciences2 there are ,his providences2 there is the objective revelation of ,his word2 there are the whispers of ,his ,spirit in men's hearts4 ,i do not know what you believe1 but ,i believe that ,god can find ,his way to my heart and infuse there illumination1 and move affections1 and make my eye clear to discern what is right4 ',he that formed the eye1 shall ,he not see8' ,he that formed the eye1 shall ,he not send light to it8 ,are we to shut out ,god1 in obedience to the dictates of an arbitrary psychology1 from access to ,his own creature2 and to say1 ',thou hast made me1 and ,thou canst not speak to me4 ,my soul is ,thine by creation1 but its doors are close barred against ,thee2 and ,thou canst not lay ,thy hand upon it8' ',good and upright is the ,lord1 therefore will ,he teach sinners in the way4' ,,iii4 ,now notice1 again1 the condition on which the fulfilment of this confidence depends4 ',the meek will ,he guide in judgment1 and the meek will ,he teach ,his way4' ,the fact of our being sinful only makes it the more imperative that ,god should speak to us4 ,but the condition of our hearing and profiting by the guidance is meekness4 ,by meekness the ,psalmist means1 ,i suppose1 little else than what we might call docility1 of which the prime element is the submission of my own will to ,god's4 ,the reason why we go wrong about our duties is mainly that we do not supremely want to go right1 but rather to gratify inclinations1 tastes1 or passions4 ,god is speaking to us1 but if we make such a riot with the yelpings of our own kennelled desires and lusts1 and listen to the rattle and noise of the street and the babble of tongues1 ,he ',can but listen at the gate1 ,and hear the household jar within4' ',the meek will ,he guide in judgment2 the meek will ,he teach ,his way4' ,some of us put our heads down like bulls charging a gate4 ,some of us drive on full speed1 and will not shut off steam though the signals are against us1 and the end of that can only be one thing4 ,some of us do not wish to know what ,god wishes us to do4 ,some of us cannot bear suspense of judgment1 or of decision1 and are always in a hurry to be in action1 and think the time lost that is spent in waiting to know what ,god the ,lord will speak4 ,if you do not clearly see what to do1 then clearly you may see that you are to do nothing4 ,the ark was to go half a mile in front of the camp before the foremost files lifted a foot to follow1 in order that there should be no mistake as to the road4 ,wait till ,god points the path1 and wish ,him to point it1 and hush the noises that prevent your hearing ,his voice1 and keep your wills in absolute submission2 and above all1 be sure that you act out your convictions1 and that you have no knowledge of duty which is not expressed in your practice1 and you will get all the light which you need2 sometimes being taught by errors no doubt1 often being left to make mistakes as to what is expedient in regard to worldly prosperity1 but being infallibly guided as to the path of duty1 and the path of peace and righteousness4 ,and now1 before ,i close1 let me just remind you of the great fact which transcends the ,psalmist's confidence whilst it warrants it4 ,because ,god is ,love1 and ,god is ,righteousness1 ,he cannot but speak4 ,but this ,psalmist did not know how wonderfully ,god was going to speak by that ,word who has called ,himself the ,light of men2 and who has said1 ',he that followeth ,me shall not walk in darkness1 but shall have the light of life4' ,he 'teaches sinners in the way1' by ,jesus ,christ2 for we have ,him for our ,pattern and ,example4 ,we have ,his love for our impelling motive4 ,we have ,his ,spirit to speak in our hearts1 and to 'guide us into all truth4' ,and this ,shepherd1 'when ,he putteth forth ,his own sheep1 goeth before them2 and the sheep follow ,him and know ,his voice4' ,the ,psalmist's confidence1 bright as it is1 is but the glow of the morning twilight4 ,the full sunshine of the transcendent fact to which ,god's righteous love impelled and bound ,him is ,christ1 who makes us know the will of the ,father4 ,but we want more than knowledge4 ,for we all know our duty a great deal better than any of us do it4 ,what is the use of a guide to a lame man8 ,but our ,guide says to us1 ',arise and walk1' and if we clasp ,his hand we receive strength1 and 'the lame man leaps as a hart4' ,so1 dear brethren6 let us all cleave to ,him1 the ,guide1 the ,way1 and the ,life which enables us to walk in the way4 ,if we thus cleave1 then be sure that ,he will lead us in the paths of righteousness1 which are paths of peace4 ,he is the ,way2 ,he is the ,leader of the march2 ,he gives power to walk in the light1 and ,his one command1 ',follow ,me1' unfolds into all duty and includes all direction1 companionship1 perfection1 and blessedness4 ,a ,,prayer ,,for ,,pardon ,,and ,,its ,,plea ',for ,thy name's sake1 ,o ,lord1 pardon mine iniquity2 for it is great4'--,,psalm xxv4 #aa4 ,the context shows us that this is the prayer of a man who had long loved and served ,god4 ,he says that 'on ,god' he 'waits all the day1' that his 'eyes are ever toward the ,lord1' that he has 'integrity and uprightness' which will 'preserve him1 for he waits upon ,god1' and yet side by side with this consciousness of devotion and service there lie the profound sense of sin and of the need of pardon4 ,the better a man is1 the more clearly he sees1 and the more deeply he feels1 his own badness4 ,if a shoe is all covered with mud1 a splash or two more or less will make no difference1 but if it be polished and clean1 one speck shows4 ,a black feather on a swan's breast is conspicuous4 ,and so the less sin a man has the more obvious it is1 and the more he has the less he generally knows it4 ,but whilst this consciousness of transgression and cry for pardon are inseparable and permanent accompaniments of a devout life all along its course1 they are the roots and beginning of all true godliness4 ,and as a rule1 the first step which a man takes to knit himself consciously to ,god is through the gate of recognised and repeated and confessed sin and imploring the divine mercy4 ,i4 ,notice1 first1 here the cry for pardon4 ',i believe in the forgiveness of sins' hundreds of thousands of ,englishmen have said twice to-day4 ,most of us1 when we pray at all1 push in somewhere or other the petition1 ',forgive us our sins4' ,and how many of us understand what we mean when we ask for that8 ,and how many of us feel that we need the thing which we seem to be requesting8 ,let me dwell for a moment or two upon the ,scriptural idea of forgiveness4 ,of course we may say that when we ask forgiveness from ,god we are transferring ideas and images drawn from human relations to the divine4 ,be it so4 ,that does not show that there is not a basis of reality and of truth in the ideas thus transferred4 ,but there are two elements in forgiveness as we know it1 both of which it seems to me to be very important that we should carry in our minds in interpreting the ,scriptural doctrine4 ,there is the forgiveness known to law and practised by the lawgiver4 ,there is the forgiveness known to love and practised by the friend1 or parent1 or lover4 ,the one consists in the remission of external penalties4 ,a criminal is forgiven1 or1 as we say 7with an unconscious restriction of the word forgiven to the deeper thing71 pardoned1 when1 the remainder of his sentence being remitted1 he is let out of gaol1 and allowed to go about his business without any legal penalties4 ,but there is a forgiveness deeper than that legal pardon4 ,a parent and a child both of them know that parental pardon does not consist in the waiving of punishment4 ,the averted look1 the cold voice1 the absence of signs of love are far harder to bear than so-called punishment4 ,and the forgiveness1 which belongs to love only1 comes when the film between the two is swept away1 and both the offended and the offender feel that there is no barrier to the free1 unchecked flow of love from the heart of the aggrieved to the heart of the aggressor4 ,we must carry both of these ideas into our thoughts of ,god's pardon in order to see the whole fulness of it4 ,and perhaps we may have to add yet another illustration1 drawn from another region1 and which is enshrined in one of the versions of the ,lord's ,prayer1 where we read1 ',forgive us our debts4' ,when a debt is forgiven it is cancelled1 and the payment of it no longer required4 ,but the two elements that ,i have pointed out1 the remission of the penalty and the uninterrupted flow of ,god's love1 are inseparably united in the full ,scriptural notion of forgiveness4 ,scripture recognises as equally real and valid1 in our relations to ,god1 the judicial and the fatherly side of the relationship4 ,and it declares as plainly that the wages of sin is death as it declares that ,god's love cannot come in its fulness and its sweetness1 upon a heart that indulges in unconfessed and unrepented sin4 ,they are poor friends of men who1 for the sake of smoothing away the terrible side of the ,gospel1 minimise or hide the reality of the awful penalties which attach to every transgression and disobedience1 because they thereby maim the notion of the divine forgiveness1 and lull into a fatal slumber the consciences of many men4 ,dear brethren6 ,i have to stand here saying1 ',knowing1 therefore1 the terrors of the ,lord1 we persuade men4' ,this is sure and certain1 that over and above the forcing back upon itself of the love of ,god by my sin1 that sin by necessary consequence will work out awful results for the doer in the present and in the future4 ,i do not wish to dwell upon that thought1 only remember that ,god is a ,judge and ,god is the ,father1 and that the divine forgiveness includes both of these elements1 the sweeping away of the penal consequences of men's sin1 wholly in the future1 and to some extent in the present2 and the unchecked flow of the love of ,god to a man's heart4 ,there are awful words in ,scripture--which are not to be ruled out of it by any easy-going1 optimistic1 rose-water system of a mutilated ,christianity--there are awful words in ,scripture1 concerning what you and ,i must come to if we live and die in our sins1 and there would be no message of forgiveness worth the proclaiming to men1 if it had nothing to say about the removal of that which a man's own unsophisticated conscience tells him is certain1 the fatal and the damnable effects of his departure from ,god4 ,but let us not forget that these two aspects do to a large extent coincide1 when we come to remember that the worst of all the penal consequences of sin is that it separates from ,god1 and exposes to 'the wrath of ,god1' a terrible expression by which the ,bible means the necessary disapprobation and aversion of the divine nature1 being such as it is1 from man's sin4 ,experimentalists will sometimes cut off one or other of the triple rays of which sunlight is composed by passing the beam through some medium which intercepts the red1 or the violet1 or the yellow1 as may chance4 ,and my sin makes an atmosphere which cuts off the gentler rays of that divine nature1 and lets the fiery ones of retribution come through4 ,it is not that a sinful man1 howsoever drenched overhead in the foul pool of his own unrepented iniquity1 is shut out from the love of ,god1 which lingers about him and woos him1 and lavishes upon him all the gifts of which he is capable1 but that he has made himself incapable of receiving the sweetest of these influences1 and that so long as he continues thus1 his life and his character cannot but be odious and hateful in the pure eyes of perfect love4 ,but whilst thus there are external consequences which are swept away by forgiveness1 and whilst the real hell of hells and death of deaths is the separation from ,god1 and the misery that must necessarily ensue thereupon1 there are consequences of man's sin which forgiveness is not intended to remove1 and will not remove1 just because ,god loves us4 ,he loves us too well to take away the issues in the natural sphere1 in the social sphere1 the issues perhaps in bodily health1 reputation1 position1 and the like1 which flow from our transgression4 ',thou wast a ,god that forgavest them1 and ,thou didst inflict retribution for their inventions4' ,he does leave much of these outward issues unswept away by ,his forgiveness1 and the great law stands1 ',whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap4' ,and yet the pardon that you and ,i need1 and which we can all have for the asking1 flows to us unchecked and full--the great stream of the love of ,god1 to whom we are reconciled1 when we turn to ,him in penitent dependence on the blood and righteousness of ,jesus ,christ1 our ,lord4 ,this consciousness of sin and cry for pardon lie at the foundation of vigorous practical religion4 ,it seems to me that the differences between different types of ,christianity1 insipid elegance and fiery earnestness1 between coldness and fervour1 the difference between a sapless and a living ministry and between a formal and a real ,christianity1 are very largely due to the differences in realising the fact and the gravity of the fact of transgression4 ,the prominence which we give to that in our thoughts will largely determine our notions of ourselves1 and of ,christ's work1 and to a great extent settle what we think ,christianity is for1 and what in itself it is4 ,if a man has no deep consciousness of sin he will be satisfied with a very superficial kind of religion4 ',every man his own redeemer' will be his motto4 ,and not knowing the necessity for a ,saviour1 he will not recognise that ,christianity is fundamentally and before anything else1 a system of redemption4 ,a moral agent8 ,yes6 ,a large revelation of great truth8 ,yes6 ,a power to make men's lives1 individually and in the community1 nobler and loftier8 ,by all means4 ,but before all these1 and all these consequentially on its being a system by which sinful men1 else hopeless and condemned1 are delivered and set free4 ,so1 dear brethren6 let me press upon you this1--unless my ,christianity gives large prominence to the fact of my own transgression1 and is full of a penitent cry for pardon1 it lacks the one thing needful1 ,i was going to say--it lacks1 at all events1 that which will make it a living power blessedly ruling my heart and life4 ,,ii4 ,note in the next place the plea for pardon4 ',for ,thy name's sake4' ,the ,psalmist does not come with any carefully elaborated plea1 grounded upon anything in himself1 either on the excuses and palliations of his evil1 his corrupt nature1 his many temptations1 and the like1 or on the depth and reality of his repentance4 ,he does not say1 ',forgive me1 for ,i weep for my evil and loathe myself4' ,nor does he say1 ',forgive me1 for ,i could not help doing it1 or because ,i was tempted2 or because the thing that ,i have done is a very little thing after all4' ,he comes empty-handed1 and says1 ',for ,thy name's sake1 ,o ,lord6' ,that means1 first1 the great thought that ,god's mercy flows from the infinite depths of ,his own character4 ,he is ,his own motive4 ,the fountain of ,his forgiving love wells up of itself1 drawn forth by nothing that we do1 but propelled from within by the inmost nature of ,god4 ,as surely as it is the property of light to radiate and of fire to spread1 so surely is it ,his nature and property to have mercy4 ,he forgives1 says our text1 because ,he is ,god1 and cannot but do so4 ,therefore our mightiest plea is to lay hold of ,his own strength1 and to grasp the fact of the unmotived1 uncompelled1 unpurchased1 and therefore unalterable and eternal pardoning love of ,god4 ,scientists tell us that the sun is fed and kept in splendour by the constant impact of bodies from without falling in upon it1 and that if that supply were to cease1 the furnace of the heavens would go out4 ,but ,god1 who is light in ,himself1 needs no accession of supplies from without to maintain ,his light1 and no force of motives from without to sway ,his will4 ,we do not need to seek to bend ,him to mercy1 for ,he is mercy in ,himself4 ,we do not need to stir ,his purpose into action1 for it has been working from of old and 'its goings forth are from everlasting4' ,he is ,his own motive1 ,he forgives because of what ,he is4 ,so let us dig down to that deepest of all rock foundations on which to build our confidence1 and be sure that1 if ,i may use such an expression1 the necessity of the divine nature compels ,him to pardon iniquity1 transgression1 and sin4 ,then there is another thought here1 that the past of ,god is a plea with ,god for present forgiveness4 ',thy name' in ,scripture means the whole revelation of the divine character1 and thus the ,psalmist looks back into the past1 and sees there how ,god has1 all through the ages1 been plenteous in mercy and ready to forgive all that called upon ,him2 and he pleads that past as a reason for the present and for the future4 ,thousands of years have passed since ,david1 if he was the ,psalmist1 offered this prayer2 and you and ,i can look back to the blessed old story of his forgiveness1 so swift1 so absolute and free1 which followed upon confession so lowly1 and can remember that infinitely pathetic and wonderful word which puts the whole history of the resurrection and restoration of a soul into two clauses4 ',david said unto ,nathan1 ,i have sinned against the ,lord3 and ,nathan said unto ,david'--finishing the sentence--',and the ,lord hath made to pass the iniquity of thy sin4' ,what ,he was ,he is2 what ,he is ,he will be4 ',for ,thy name's sake1 pardon mine iniquity4' ,there is yet another thought that may be suggested4 ,the divine forgiveness is in order that men may know ,him better4 ,that is represented in ,scripture as being the great motive of the divine actions--'for the glory of ,thine own name4' ,that may be so put as to be positively atrocious1 or so as to be perfectly divine and lovely4 ,it has often been put1 by hard and narrow dogmatists1 in such a way as to make ,god simply an ,almighty selfishness1 but it ought to be put as the ,bible puts it1 so as to show ,him as an ,almighty love4 ,for why does ,he desire that ,his name should be known by us but for our sakes1 that the light of that great ,name may come to us1 'sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death1' and that1 knowing ,him for what ,he is1 we may have peace1 and rest1 and joy1 and love1 and purity8 ,it is pure benevolence that makes ,him act1 'for the glory of ,his great name'2 sweeping away the clouds that a darkened earth may expand and rejoice1 and all the leaves unfold themselves1 and every bird sing1 in the restored sunshine4 ,and there is nothing that reveals the inmost hived sweetness and honey of the name of ,god like the assurance of ,his pardon4 ',there is forgiveness with ,thee that ,thou mayest be feared4' ,oh1 dear brethren6 unless you know ,god as the ,god that has forgiven you1 your knowledge of ,him is but shallow and incomplete1 and you know not the deepest blessings that flow to them who find that this is life eternal to know the only true ,god as the all-forgiving ,father4 ,note the connection between the ,psalmist's plea and the ,new ,testament plea4 ,david said1 ',for ,thy name's sake1 pardon1' we say1 ',for ,christ's sake1 forgive4' ,are the two diverse8 ,is the fruit diverse from the bud8 ,is the complete noonday diverse from the blessed morning twilight8 ,christ is the ,name of ,god1 the ,revealer of the divine heart and mind4 ,when ,christian men pray ',for the sake of ,christ1' they are not bringing a motive1 which is to move the divine love which else lies passive and inert1 because ,god's love was the cause of ,christ's work not ,christ's work the cause of ,god's love1 but they are expressing their own dependence on the ,great ,mediator and ,his work1 and solemnly offering1 as the ground of all their hope1 that perfect sacrifice which is the medium by which forgiveness reaches men1 and without which it is impossible that the government of the righteous ,god could exist with pardon4 ,christ has died2 ,christ1 in dying1 has borne the sins of the world2 that is1 yours and mine4 ,and therefore the pardon of ,god comes to us through that channel1 without1 in the slightest degree1 trenching on the awfulness of the divine holiness or weakening the sanctities of ,god's righteous retributive law4 ',for ,christ's sake hath forgiven us' is the daylight which the ,psalmist saw as morning dawn when he cried1 ',for ,thy name's sake1 pardon mine iniquity4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 note the reason for the earnest cry1 ',for it is great4' ,that may be a reason for the pardon2 more probably it is a reason for the prayer4 ,the fact is true in regard to us all4 ,there is no need to suppose any special heinous sin in the ,psalmist's mind4 ,i would fain press upon all consciences that listen to me now that these lowly words of confession are true about every one of us1 whether we know it or not4 ,for if you consider how much of self-will1 how much of indifference1 of alienation from1 if not of antagonism against1 the law of ,god1 go to every trifling transgression1 you will think twice before you call it small4 ,and if it be small1 a microscopic viper1 the length of a cutting from your finger nail1 has got the viper's nature in it1 and its poison1 and its sting1 and it will grow4 ,a very little quantity of mud held in solution in a continuously flowing river will make a tremendous delta at the mouth of it in the course of years4 ,and however small may have been the amount of evil and deflection from ,god's law in that flowing river of my past life1 what a filthy1 foul bank of slime must be piled up down yonder at the mouth6 ,if the fact be so1 then is not that a reason for our all going to the only ,one who can dredge it away1 and get rid of it8 ',pardon me2 for it is great4' ,that is to say1 ',there is no one else who can deal with it but ,thyself1 ,o ,lord6 ,it is too large for me to cart away2 it is too great for any inferior hand to deal with4 ,i am so bad that ,i can come only to ,thyself to be made better4' ,it is blessed and wise when the consciousness of our deep transgression drives us to the only ,hand that can heal1 to the only ,heart that can forgive4 ,so1 dear friends6 in a blessed desperation of otherwise being unable to get rid of this burden which has grown on our backs ounce by ounce for long years1 let us go to ,him4 ,he and ,he alone can deal with it4 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned1' and to ,thee1 ,thee only1 will ,i come4 ,only remember that1 before you ask1 ,god has given4 ,he is 'like the dew upon the grass1 that waiteth not for man4' ,instead of praying for pardon which is already bestowed1 do you see to it that you take the pardon which ,god is praying you to receive4 ,swallow the bitter pill of acknowledging your own transgression2 and then one look at the crucified ,christ and one motion of believing desire towards ,him2 'and the ,lord hath made to pass the iniquity of thy sin4' ,,god',s ,,guests ',one thing have ,i desired of the ,lord1 that will ,i seek after2 that ,i may dwell in the house of the ,lord all the days of my life4' --,,psalm xxvii4 #d4 ,we shall do great injustice to this mystical aspiration of the ,psalmist1 if we degrade it to be the mere expression of a desire for unbroken residence in a material ,temple4 ,he was no sickly1 sentimental seeker after cloistered seclusion4 ,he knew the necessities and duties of life far better than in a cowardly way to wish to shirk them1 in order that he might loiter in the temple1 idle under the pretence of worship4 ,nor would the saying fit into the facts of the case if we gave it that low meaning1 for no person had his residence in the temple4 ,and what follows in the next verse would1 on that hypothesis1 be entirely inappropriate4 ',in the secret of ,his tabernacle shall ,he hide me4' ,no one went into the secret place of the ,most ,high1 in the visible1 material structure1 except the high priest once a year4 ,but this singer expects that his abode will be there always2 and that1 in the time of trouble1 he can find refuge there4 ,apart altogether from any wider considerations as to the relation between form and spirit under the ,old ,covenant1 ,i think that such observations compel us to see in these words a desire a great deal nobler and deeper than any such wish4 ,i4 ,let us1 then1 note the true meaning of this aspiration of the ,psalmist4 ,its fulfilment depends not on where we are1 but on what we think and feel2 for every place is ,god's house1 and what the ,psalmist desires is that he should be able to keep up unbroken consciousness of being in ,god's presence and should be always in touch with ,him4 ,that seems hard1 and people say1 ',impossible6 how can ,i get above my daily work1 and be perpetually thinking of ,god and ,his will1 and consciously realising communion with ,him8' ,but there is such a thing as having an undercurrent of consciousness running all through a man's life and mind2 such a thing as having a melody sounding in our ears perpetually1 'so sweet we know not we are listening to it' until it stops1 and then1 by the poverty of the naked and silent atmosphere1 we know how musical were the sounds that we scarcely knew that we heard1 and yet did hear so well high above all the din of earth's noises4 ,every man that has ever cherished such an aspiration as this knows the difficulties all too well4 ,and yet1 without entering upon thorny and unprofitable questions as to whether the absolute1 unbroken continuity of consciousness of being in ,god's presence is possible for men here below1 let us look at the question1 which has a great deal more bearing upon our present condition--viz4 whether a greater continuity of that consciousness is not possible than we attain to to-day4 ,it does seem to me to be a foolish and miserable waste of time and temper and energy for good people to be quarrelling about whether they can come to the absolute realisation of this desire in this world1 when there is not one of them who is not leagues below the possible realisation of it1 and knows that he is4 ,at all events1 whether or not the line can be drawn without a break at all1 the breaks might be a great deal shorter and a great deal less frequent than they are4 ,an unbroken line of conscious communion with ,god is the ideal2 and that is what this singer desired and worked for4 ,how many of my feelings and thoughts to-day1 or of the things that ,i have said or done since ,i woke this morning1 would have been done and said and felt exactly the same1 if there were not a ,god at all1 or if it did not matter in the least whether ,i ever came into touch with ,him or not8 ,oh1 dear friends6 it is no vain effort to bring our lives a little nearer that unbroken continuity of communion with ,him of which this text speaks4 ,and ,god knows1 and we each for ourselves know1 how much and how sore our need is of such a union4 ',one thing have ,i desired1 that will ,i seek after2 that ,i1 in my study2 ,i1 in my shop2 ,i1 in my parlour1 kitchen1 or nursery2 ,i1 in my studio2 ,i1 in my lecture-hall--'may dwell in the house of the ,lord all the days of my life4' ,in our ',father's house are many mansions4' ,the room that we spend most of our lives in1 each of us1 at our tasks or our work-tables may be in our ,father's house1 too2 and it is only we that can secure that it shall be4 ,the inmost meaning of this ,psalmist's desire is that the consciousness of ,god shall be diffused throughout the whole of a man's days1 instead of being coagulated here and there at points4 ,the ,australian rivers in a drought present a picture of the ,christian life of far too many of us--a stagnant1 stinking pool here1 a stretch of blinding gravel there2 another little drop of water a mile away1 then a long line of foul-smelling mud1 and then another shallow pond4 ,why6 it ought to run in a clear stream that has a scour in it and that will take all filth off the surface4 ,the ,psalmist longed to break down the distinction between sacred and secular2 to consecrate work1 of whatsoever sort it was4 ,he had learned what so many of us need to learn far more thoroughly1 that if our religion does not drive the wheels of our daily business1 it is of little use2 and that if the field in which our religion has power to control and impel is not that of the trivialities and secularities of our ordinary life1 there is no field for it at all4 ',all the days of my life4' ,not only on ,wednesday nights1 while ,tuesday and ,thursday are given to the world and self2 not only on ,sundays2 not for five minutes in the morning1 when ,i am eager to get to my daily work1 and less than five minutes at night1 when ,i am half asleep1 but through the long day1 doing this1 that1 and the other thing for ,god and by ,god and with ,god1 and making ,him the motive and the power of my course1 and my ,companion to heaven4 ,and if we have1 in our lives1 things over which we cannot make the sign of the cross1 the sooner we get rid of them the better2 and if there is anything in our daily work1 or in our characters1 about which we are doubtful1 here is a good test3 does it seem to check our continual communion with ,god1 as a ligature round the wrist might do the continual flow of the blood1 or does it help us to realise ,his presence8 ,if the former1 let us have no more to do with it2 if the latter1 let us seek to increase it4 ,,ii4 ,and now let me say a word about the ,psalmist's reason for this aspiration4 ,the word which he employs carries with it a picture which is even more vividly given us by a synonymous word employed in the same connection in some of the other psalms4 ',that ,i may dwell in the house of the ,lord'--now1 that is an allusion1 not only1 as ,i think1 to the ,temple1 but also to the ,oriental habit of giving a man who took refuge in the tent of the sheikh1 guest-rites of protection and provision and friendship4 ,the habit exists to this day1 and travellers among the ,bedouins tell us lovely stories of how even an enemy with the blood of the closest relative of the owner of the tent on his hands1 if he can once get in there and partake of the salt of the host1 is safe1 and the first obligation of the owner of the tent is to watch over the life of the fugitive as over his own4 ,so the ,psalmist says1 ',i desire to have guest-rites in ,thy tent2 to lift up its fold1 and shelter there from the heat of the desert4 ,and although ,i be dark and stained with many evils and transgressions against ,thee1 yet ,i come to claim the hospitality and provision and protection and friendship which the laws of the house do bestow upon a guest4' ,carrying out substantially the same idea1 ,paul tells the ,ephesians1 as if it were the very highest privilege that the ,gospel brought to the ,gentiles3 ',ye are no more strangers1 but fellow-citizens with the saints1 and of the household of ,god'2 incorporated into ,his family1 and dwelling safely in ,his pavilion as their home4 ,that is to say1 the blessedness of keeping up such a continual consciousness of touch with ,god is1 first and foremost1 the certainty of infallible protection4 ,oh6 how it minimises all trouble and brightens all joys1 and calms amidst all distractions1 and steadies and sobers in all circumstances1 to feel ever the hand of ,god upon us6 ,he who goes through life1 finding that1 when he has trouble to meet1 it throws him back on ,god1 and that when bright mornings of joy drive away nights of weeping1 these wake morning songs of praise1 and are brightest because they shine with the light of a ,father's love1 will never be unduly moved by any vicissitudes of fortune4 ,like some inland and sheltered valley1 with great mountains shutting it in1 that 'heareth not the loud winds when they call' beyond the barriers that enclose it1 our lives may be tranquilly free from distraction1 and may be full of peace1 of nobleness1 and of strength1 on condition of our keeping in ,god's house all the days of our lives4 ,there is another blessing that will come to the dweller in ,god's house1 and that not a small one4 ,it is that1 by the power of this one satisfied longing1 driven like an iron rod through all the tortuosities of my life1 there will come into it a unity which otherwise few lives are ever able to attain1 and the want of which is no small cause of the misery that is great upon men4 ,most of us seem1 to our own consciousness1 to live amidst endless distractions all our days1 and our lives to be a heap of links parted from each other rather than a chain4 ,but if we have that one constant thought with us1 and if we are1 through all the variety of occupations1 true to the one purpose of serving and keeping near ,god1 then we have a charm against the frittering away of our lives in distractions1 and the misery of multiplicity2 and we enter into the blessedness of unity and singleness of purpose2 and our lives become1 like the starry heavens in all the variety of their motions1 obedient to one impulse4 ,for unity in a life does not depend upon the monotony of its tasks1 but upon the simplicity of the motive which impels to all varieties of work4 ,so it is possible for a man harassed by multitudinous avocations1 and drawn hither and thither by sometimes apparently conflicting and always bewildering1 rapidly-following duties1 to say1 ',this one thing ,i do1' if all his doings are equally acts of obedience to ,god4 ,,iii4 ,so1 lastly1 note the method by which this desire is realised4 ',one thing have ,i desired1 444 that will ,i seek after' ,there are two points to be kept in view to that end4 ,a great many people say1 ',one thing have ,i desired1' and fail in persistent continuousness of the desire4 ,no man gets rights of residence in ,god's house for a longer time than he continues to seek for them4 ,the most advanced of us1 and those that have longest been like ,anna1 who 'departed not from the ,temple1' day nor night1 will certainly eject ourselves unless1 like the ,psalmist1 we use the verbs in both tenses1 and say1 ',one thing have ,i desired 444 that will ,i seek after4' ,john ,bunyan saw that there was a back door to the lower regions close by the gates of the ,celestial ,city4 ,there may be men who have long lived beneath the shadow of the sanctuary1 and at the last will be found outside the gates4 ,but the words of the text not only suggest1 by the two tenses of the verbs1 the continuity of the desire which is destined to be granted1 but also by the two verbs themselves--desire and seek after--the necessity of uniting prayer and work4 ,many desires are unsatisfied because conduct does not correspond to desires4 ,many a prayer remains unanswered because its pray-ers never do anything to fulfil their prayers4 ,i do not say they are hypocrites2 certainly they are not consciously so1 but ,i do say that there is a large measure of conventionality that means nothing1 in the prayers of average ,christian people for more holiness and likeness to ,jesus ,christ4 ,dear friends6 if we truly wish this desire of dwelling in the house of the ,lord to be fulfilled1 the day's work must run in the same direction as the morning's petition1 and we must1 like the ,psalmist1 say1 ',i have desired it of the ,lord1 so ,i1 for my part1 will seek after it4' ,then1 whether or not we reach absolutely to the standard1 which is none the less to be aimed at1 though it seems beyond reach1 we shall arrive nearer and nearer to it2 and1 ,god helping our weakness and increasing our strength1 quickening us to 'desire1' and upholding us to 'seek after1' we may hope that1 when the days of our life are past1 we shall but remove into an upper chamber1 more open to the sunrise and flooded with light2 and shall go no more out1 but 'dwell in the house of the ,lord for ever4' ',,seek ,,ye'--',i ,,will ,,seek' ',when ,thou saidst1 ,seek ye my face2 ,my heart said unto ,thee1 ,thy face1 ,lord1 will ,i seek4 #i4 ,hide not ,thy face far from me4' --,,psalm xxvii4 #h1 #i4 ,we have here a report of a brief dialogue between ,god and a devout soul4 ,the ,psalmist tells us of ,god's invitation and of his acceptance1 and on both he builds the prayer that the face which he had been bidden to seek1 and had sought1 may not be hid from him4 ,the correspondence between what ,god said to him and what he said to ,god is even more emphatically expressed in the original than in our version4 ,in the ,hebrew the sentence is dislocated1 at the risk of being obscure1 for the sake of bringing together the two voices4 ,it runs thus1 ',my heart said to ,thee1' and then1 instead of going on with his answer1 the ,psalmist interjects ,god's invitation ',seek ye ,my face1' and then1 side by side with that1 he lays his response1 ',thy face1 ,lord1 will ,i seek4' ,the completeness and swiftness of his answer could not be more vividly expressed4 ,to hear was to obey3 as soon as ,god's merciful call sounded1 the ,psalmist's heart responded1 like a harp-string thrilled into music by the vibration of another tuned to the same note4 ,without hesitation1 and in entire correspondence with the call1 was his response4 ,so swiftly1 completely1 resolutely should we respond to ,god's voice1 and our ready ',i will' should answer ,his commandment1 as the man at the wheel repeats the captain's orders whilst he carries them out4 ,upon such acceptance of such an invitation we1 too1 may build the prayer1 ',hide not ,thy face far from me4' ,now1 there are three things here that ,i desire to look at--,god's merciful call to us all2 the response of the devout soul to that call2 and the prayer which is built upon both4 ,i4 ,we have ,god's merciful call to us all4 ',thou saidst1 ,seek ye ,my face4' ,now1 that expression1 'the face of ,god1' though highly metaphorical1 is perfectly clear and defined in its meaning4 ,it corresponds substantially to what the ,apostle ,paul calls1 in speaking of the knowledge of ,god beyond the limits of revelation1 'that which may be known of ,god'2 or1 in more modern language1 the side of the divine nature which is turned to man2 or1 in plainer words still1 ,god1 in so far as ,he is revealed4 ,it means substantially the same thing as the other ,scriptural expression1 'the name of the ,lord4' ,both phrases draw a broad distinction between what ,god is1 in the infinite fulness of ,his incomprehensible being1 and what ,he is as revealed to man2 and both imply that what is revealed is knowledge1 real and valid1 though it may be imperfect4 ,this1 then1 being the meaning of the phrase1 what is the meaning of the invitation3 ',seek ye ,my face'8 ,have we to search for that1 as if it were something hidden1 far off1 lost1 and only to be recovered by our effort8 ,no3 a thousand times no6 ,for the seeking1 to which ,god mercifully invites us1 is but the turning of the direction of our desires to ,him1 the recognition of the fact that ,his face is more than all else to men1 the recognition that whilst there are many that say1 ',who will show us any good8' and put the question impatiently1 despairingly1 vainly1 they that turn the seeking into a prayer1 and ask1 ',lord6 lift ,thou the light of ,thy countenance upon us1' will never ask in vain4 ,to seek is to desire1 to turn the direction of thought and will and affection to ,him and to take heed that the ordering of our daily lives is such as that no mist rising from them shall come between us and that brightness of light1 or hide from us the vision splendid4 ,they who seek ,god by desire1 by the direction of thought and will and love1 and by the regulation of their daily lives in accordance with that desire1 are they who obey this commandment4 ,next we come to that great thought that ,god is ever sounding out to all mankind this invitation to seek ,his face4 ,by the revelation of ,himself ,he bids us all sun ourselves in the brightness of ,his countenance4 ,one of the ,new ,testament writers1 in a passage which is mistranslated in our ,authorised ,version1 says that ,god 'calls us by ,his own glory and virtue4' ,that is to say1 the very manifestation of the divine ,being is such that there lies in it a summons to behold ,him1 and an attraction to ,himself4 ,so fair is ,he1 that ,he but needs to withdraw the veil1 and men's hearts rejoice in that countenance1 which is as the sun shining in his strength2 'nor know we anything more fair than is the smile upon ,his face4' ,if we see ,him as ,he really is1 we cannot choose but love4 ,by all ,his works ,he calls us to seek ,him1 not only because the intellect demands that there shall be a personal ,will behind all these phenomena1 but because they in themselves proclaim ,his name1 and the proclamation of ,his name is the summons to behold4 ,by the very make of our own spirits ,he calls us to ,himself4 ,our restlessness1 our yearnings1 our movings about as aliens in the midst of things seen and visible1 all these bid us turn to ,him in whom alone our capacities can be satisfied1 and the hunger of our souls appeased4 ,you remember the old story of the ,saracen woman who came to ,england seeking her lover1 and passed through these foreign cities1 with no word upon her tongue that could be understood of those that heard her except his name whom she sought4 ,ah6 that is how men wander through the earth1 strangers in the midst of it4 ,they cannot translate the cry of their own hearts1 but it means1 ',god--my soul thirsteth for ,thee'2 and the thirst bids us seek ,his face4 ,he summons us by all the providences and events of our changeful lives4 ,our sorrows by their poignancy1 our joys by their incompleteness and their transiency1 alike call us to ,him in whom alone the sorrows can be soothed and the joys made full and remain4 ,our duties1 by their heaviness1 call us to turn ourselves to ,him1 in whom alone we can find the strength to fill the role that is laid upon us1 and to discharge our daily tasks4 ,but1 most of all1 ,he summons us to ,himself by ,him who is the ,angel of ,his ,face1 'the effulgence of ,his glory1 and the express image of ,his person4' ,in the face of ,jesus ,christ1 'the light of the knowledge of the glory of ,god' beams out upon us1 as it never shone on this ,psalmist of old4 ,he saw but a portion of that countenance1 through a thick veil which thinned as faith gazed1 but was never wholly withdrawn4 ,the voice that he heard calling him was less penetrating and less laden with love than the voice that calls us4 ,he caught some tones of invitation sounding in providences and prophecies1 in ceremonies and in law2 we hear them more full and clear from the lips of a ,brother4 ,they sound to us from the cradle and the cross1 and they are wafted down to us from the throne4 ,god's merciful invitation to us poor men never has taken1 nor will1 nor can1 take a sweeter and more attractive form than in ,christ's version of it3 ',come unto ,me1 all ye that labour and are heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest4' ,friend6 that summons comes to us2 may we deal with it as the ,psalmist did6 ,,ii4 ,that brings me to note1 secondly1 the devout soul's response to the loving call from ,god4 ,i have already pointed out how beautifully and vividly the contrast between the two is expressed in our text3 ',seek ye ,my face'--',thy face will ,i seek4' ,the ,psalmist takes the general invitation and converts it into an individual one1 to which he responds4 ,god's 'ye' is met by his ',i4' ,the ,psalmist makes no hesitation or delay--',when ,thou saidst 444 my heart said to ,thee4' ,the ,psalmist gathers himself together in a concentrated resolve of a fixed determination--',thy face will ,i seek4' ,that is how we ought to respond4 ,make the general invitation thy very own4 ,god summons all1 because ,he summons each4 ,he does not cast ,his invitations out at random over the heads of a crowd1 as some rich man might fling coins to a mob1 but ,he addresses every one of us singly and separately1 as if there were not another soul in the universe to hear ,his voice but our very own selves4 ,it is for us not to lose ourselves in the crowd1 since ,he has not lost us in it2 but to appropriate1 to individualise1 to make our very own1 the universality of ,his call to the world4 ,it matters nothing to you what other men may do2 it matters not to you how many others may be invited1 and whether they may accept or may refuse4 ,when that ',seek ye' comes to my heart1 life or death depends on my answering1 ',whatsoever others may do1 as for me ,i will seek ,thy face4' ,we preachers that have to stand and address a multitude sound out the invitation1 and it loses in power1 the more there are to listen to us4 ,if ,i could get you one by one1 the poorest words would have more weight with you than the strongest have when spoken to a crowd4 ,brother6 ,god individualises us1 and ,god speaks to ,thee1 ',wilt thou behold ,my face8' ,answer1 ',as for me1 ,i will4' ,again1 the ,psalmist 'made haste1 and delayed not1 but made haste' to respond to the merciful summons4 ,ah6 how many of us1 in how many different ways1 fall into the snare 'by-and-by'6 'not now'2 and all these days1 that slip away whilst we hesitate1 gather themselves together to be our accusers hereafter4 ,friend6 why should you limit the blessedness that may come into your life to the fag end of it when you have got tired and satiated1 or tired and disappointed with the world and its good8 ',seek ye the ,lord while ,he may be found1 call ye upon ,him while ,he is near4' ,it is poor courtesy to show to a merciful invitation from a bountiful host if ,i say2 ',after ,i have looked to the oxen ,i have bought1 and tested them1 and measured the field that ,i have acquired2 after ,i have drunk the sweetness of wedded life with the wife that ,i have married1 then ,i will come4 ,but1 for the present1 ,i pray thee1 have me excused4' ,and that is what many are doing1 more or less4 ,the ,psalmist gathered himself together in a fixed resolve1 and said1 ',i will4' ,that is what we have to do4 ,a languid seeker will not find2 an earnest one will not fail to find4 ,but if half-heartedly1 now and then1 when we are at leisure in the intervals of more important and pressing daily business1 we spasmodically bethink ourselves1 and for a little while seek for the light of ,god's felt presence to shine upon us1 we shall not get it4 ,but if we lay a masterful hand1 as we ought to do1 on these divergent desires that draw us asunder1 and bind ourselves1 as it were1 together1 by the strong cord of a resolved purpose carried out throughout our lives1 then we shall certainly not seek in vain4 ,alas6 how strange and how sad is the reception which this merciful invitation receives from so many of us6 ,some of you never hear it at all4 ,standing in the very focus where the sounds converge1 you are deaf1 as if a man behind the veil of the falling water of ,niagara1 on that rocky shelf there1 should hear nothing4 ,from every corner of the universe that voice comes2 from all the providences and events of our lives that voice comes2 from the life and death of ,jesus ,christ that voice comes2 and not a sound reaches your ears4 ',having ears1 they hear not1' and some of us might take the ,psalmist's answer1 with one sad word added1 as ours--',when ,thou saidst1 ,seek ye ,my face1 my heart said unto ,thee1 ,thy face1 ,lord1 will ,i not seek4' ,brethren6 it is heaven on earth to say1 ',thou dost call1 and ,i answer4 ,speak1 ,lord1 for ,thy servant heareth4' ,yet you shut yourselves up to1 and with1 misery and vanity1 if you so deal with ,god's merciful summons as some of us are dealing with it1 so that ,he has to say1 ',i called1 and ye refused2 ,i stretched out ,my hand1 and no man regarded4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we have here a prayer built upon both the invitation and the acceptance4 ',hide not ,thy face far from me4' ,that prayer implies that ,god will not contradict ,himself4 ,his promises are commandments4 ,if ,he bids us seek ,he binds ,himself to show4 ,his veracity1 ,his unchangeableness1 are pledged to this1 that no man who yields to ,his invitation will be balked of his desire4 ,he does not hold out the gift in ,his hand1 and then twitch it away when we put out encouraged and stimulated hands to grasp it4 ,you have seen children flashing bright reflections from a mirror on to a wall1 and delighting to direct them away to another spot1 when a hand has been put out to touch them4 ,that is not how ,god does4 ,the light that ,he reveals is steady1 and whosoever turns his face to it will be irradiated by its brightness4 ,the prayer builds itself on the assurance that1 because ,god will not contradict ,himself1 therefore every heart seeking is sure to issue in a heart finding4 ,there is only one region where that is true1 brethren6 there is only one tract of human experience in which the promise is always and absolutely fulfilled3--',ask1 and ye shall receive2 seek1 and ye shall find4' ,we hunt after all other good1 and at the best we get it in part or for a time1 and when possessed1 it is not as bright as when it shone in the delusive colours of hope and desire4 ,if you follow other good1 and are drawn after the elusive lights that dance before you1 and only show how great is the darkness1 you will not reach them1 but will be mired in the bog4 ,if you follow after ,god's face1 it will make a sunshine in the shadiest places of life here4 ,you will be blessed because you walk all the day long in the light of ,his countenance1 and when you pass hence it will irradiate the darkness of death1 and thereafter1 ',his servants shall serve ,him1 and shall see ,his face1' and1 seeing1 shall be made like ,him1 for ',his name shall be in their foreheads4' ,brethren6 we have to make our choice whether we shall see ,his face here on earth1 and so meet it hereafter as that of a long-separated and long-desired friend2 or whether we shall see it first when ,he is on ,his throne1 and we at ,his bar1 and so shall have to 'call on the rocks and the hills to fall on us1 and cover us from the face of ,him who is our ,judge4' ,,the ,,two ,,guests ',his anger endureth but a moment2 in ,his favour is life3 weeping may endure for a night1 but joy cometh in the morning4'--,,psalm xxx4 #e4 ,a word or two of exposition is necessary in order to bring out the force of this verse4 ,there is an obvious antithesis in the first part of it1 between ',his anger' and ',his favour4' ,probably there is a similar antithesis between a 'moment' and 'life4' ,for1 although the word rendered 'life' does not unusually mean a lifetime it may have that signification1 and the evident intention of contrast seems to require it here4 ,so1 then1 the meaning of the first part of my text is1 'the anger lasts for a moment2 the favour lasts for a lifetime4' ,the perpetuity of the one1 and the brevity of the other1 are the ,psalmist's thought4 ,then1 if we pass to the second part of the text1 you will observe that there is there also a double antithesis4 ',weeping' is set over against 'joy'2 the 'night' against the 'morning4' ,and the first of these two contrasts is the more striking if we observe that the word 'joy' means1 literally1 'a joyful shout1' so that the voice which was lifted in weeping is conceived of as now being heard in exultant praise4 ,then1 still further1 the expression 'may endure' literally means 'may come to lodge4' ,so that ,weeping and ,joy are personified4 ,two guests come2 one1 dark-robed and approaching at the fitting season for such1 'the night4' ,the other bright1 coming with all things fresh and sunny1 in the dewy morn4 ,the guest of the night is ,weeping2 the guest that takes its place in the morning is ,gladness4 ,the two clauses1 then1 of my text suggest substantially the same thought1 and that is the persistence of joy and the transitoriness of sorrow4 ,the one speaks of the succession of emotions in the man2 the other1 of the successive aspects of the divine dealings which occasion these4 ,the whole is a leaf out of the ,psalmist's own experience4 ,the psalm commemorates his deliverance from some affliction1 probably a sickness4 ,that is long gone past2 and the tears that it caused have long since dried up4 ,but this shout of joy of his has lasted all these centuries1 and is like to be immortal4 ,well for us if we can read our life's story with the same cheery confidence as he did his1 and have learned like him to discern what is the temporary and what the permanent element in our experience6 ,i4 ,note1 first1 the proportion of joy and sorrow in an ordinary life4 ,the ,psalmist expresses1 as ,i have said1 the same idea in both clauses4 ,in the former the 'anger' is contemplated not so much as an element in the divine mind1 as in its manifestations in the divine dealings4 ,i shall have a word or two1 presently1 to say about the ,scriptural conception of the 'anger' of ,god and its relation to the 'favour' of ,god2 but for the present ,i take the two clauses as being substantially equivalent4 ,now is it true--is it not true8--that if a man rightly regards the proportionate duration of these two diverse elements in his life1 he must come to the conclusion that the one is continuous and the other is but transitory8 ,a thunderstorm is very short when measured against the long summer day in which it crashes2 and very few days have them4 ,it must be a bad climate where half the days are rainy4 ,if we were to take the chart and prick out upon it the line of our sailing1 we should find that the spaces in which the weather was tempestuous were brief and few indeed as compared with those in which it was sunny and calm4 ,but then1 man looks before and after1 and has the terrible gift that by anticipation and by memory he can prolong the sadness4 ,the proportion of solid matter needed to colour the ,irwell is very little in comparison with the whole of the stream4 ,but the current carries it1 and half an ounce will stain miles of the turbid stream4 ,memory and anticipation beat the metal thin1 and make it cover an enormous space4 ,and the misery is that1 somehow1 we have better memories for sad hours than for joyful ones1 and it is easier to get accustomed to 'blessings1' as we call them1 and to lose the poignancy of their sweetness because they become familiar1 than it is to apply the same process to our sorrows1 and thus to take the edge off them4 ,the rose's prickles are felt in the flesh longer than its fragrance lives in the nostrils1 or its hue in the eye4 ,men have long memories for their pains as compared with their remembrance of their sorrows4 ,so it comes to be a piece of very homely1 well-worn1 and yet always needful1 practical counsel to try not to magnify and prolong grief1 nor to minimise and abbreviate gladness4 ,we can make our lives1 to our own thinking1 very much what we will4 ,we cannot directly regulate our emotions1 but we can regulate them1 because it is in our own power to determine which aspect of our life we shall by preference contemplate4 ,here is a room1 for instance1 papered with a paper with a dark background and a light pattern on it4 ,well1 you can manoeuvre your eye about so as either to look at the black background--and then it is all black1 with only a little accidental white or gilt to relieve it here and there2 or you can focus your eye on the white and gold1 and then that is the main thing1 and the other is background4 ,we can choose1 to a large extent1 what we shall conceive our lives to be2 and so we can very largely modify their real character4 ',there's nothing either good or bad ,but thinking makes it so4' ,they who will can surround themselves with persistent gladness1 and they who will can gather about them the thick folds of an everbrooding and enveloping sorrow4 ,courage1 cheerfulness1 thankfulness1 buoyancy1 resolution1 are all closely connected with a sane estimate of the relative proportions of the bright and the dark in a human life4 ,,ii4 ,and now consider1 secondly1 the inclusion of the 'moment' in the 'life4' ,i do not know that the ,psalmist thought of that when he gave utterance to my text1 but whether he did it or not1 it is true that the 'moment' spent in 'anger' is a part of the 'life' that is spent in the 'favour4' ,just as within the circle of a life lies each of its moments1 the same principle of inclusion may be applied to the other contrast presented here4 ,for as the 'moment' is a part of the 'life1' the 'danger' is a part of the love4 ,the 'favour' holds the 'anger' within itself1 for the true ,scriptural idea of that terrible expression and terrible fact1 the 'wrath of ,god1' is that it is the necessary aversion of a perfectly pure and holy love from that which does not correspond to itself4 ,so1 though sometimes the two may be set against each other1 yet at bottom1 and in reality1 they are one1 and the 'anger' is but a mode in which the 'favour' manifests itself4 ,god's love is plastic1 and if thrown back upon itself1 grieved and wounded and rejected1 becomes the 'anger' which ignorant men sometimes seem to think it contradicts4 ,there is no more antagonism between these two ideas when they are applied to ,god than when they are applied to you parents in your relations to a disobedient child4 ,you know1 and it knows1 that if there were no love there would be little 'anger4' ,neither of you suppose that an irate parent is an unloving parent4 ',if ye1 being evil1 know how1' in dealing with your children1 to blend wrath and love1 'how much more shall your ,father which is in heaven' be one and the same ,father when ,his love manifests itself in chastisement and when it expands itself in blessings6 ,thus we come to the truth which breathes uniformity and simplicity through all the various methods of the divine hand1 that howsoever ,he changes and reverses ,his dealings with us1 they are one and the same4 ,you may get two diametrically opposite motions out of the same machine4 ,the same power will send one wheel revolving from right to left1 and another from left to right1 but they are co-operant to grind out at the far end the one product4 ,it is the same revolution of the earth that brings blessed lengthening days and growing summer1 and that cuts short the sun's course and brings declining days and increasing cold4 ,it is the same motion which hurls a comet close to the burning sun1 and sends it wandering away out into fields of astronomical space1 beyond the ken of telescope1 and almost beyond the reach of thought4 ,and so one uniform divine purpose1 the 'favour' which uses the 'anger1' fills the life1 and there are no interruptions1 howsoever brief1 to the steady continuous flow of ,his outpoured blessings4 ,all is love and favour4 ,anger is masked love1 and sorrow has the same source and mission as joy4 ,it takes all sorts of weathers to make a year1 and all tend to the same issue1 of ripened harvests and full barns4 ,o brethren6 if we understand that ,god means something better for us than happiness1 even likeness to ,himself1 we should understand better how our deepest sorrows and bitterest tears1 and the wounds that penetrate deepest into our bleeding hearts1 all come from the same motive1 and are directed to the same end as their most joyful contraries4 ,one thing the ,lord desires1 that we may be partakers of ,his holiness1 and so we may venture to give an even deeper meaning to the ,psalmist's words than he intended1 and recognise that the 'moment' is an integral part of the 'life1' and the 'anger' a mode of the manifestation of the 'favour4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 notice the conversion of the sorrow into joy4 ,i have already explained the picturesque image of the last part of my text1 which demands a little further consideration4 ,there are two figures presented before us1 one dark robed and one bright garmented4 ,the one is the guest of the night1 the other is the guest of the morning4 ,the verb which occurs in the first clause of the second half of my text is not repeated in the second1 and so the words may be taken in two ways4 ,they may either express how ,joy1 the morning guest1 comes1 and turns out the evening visitant1 or they may suggest how we took ,sorrow in when the night fell1 to sit by the fireside1 but when morning dawned--who is this1 sitting in her place1 smiling as we look at her8 ,it is ,sorrow transfigured1 and her name is changed into ,joy4 ,either the substitution or the transformation may be supposed to be in the ,psalmist's mind4 ,both are true4 ,no human heart1 however wounded1 continues always to bleed4 ,some gracious vegetation creeps over the wildest ruin4 ,the roughest edges are smoothed by time4 ,vitality asserts itself2 other interests have a right to be entertained and are entertained4 ,the recuperative powers come into play1 and the pang departs and poignancy is softened4 ,the cutting edge gets blunt on even poisoned spears by the gracious influences of time4 ,the nightly guest1 ,sorrow1 slips away1 and ere we know1 another sits in her place4 ,some of us try to fight against that merciful process and seem to think that it is a merit to continue1 by half artificial means1 the first moment of pain1 and that it is treason to some dear remembrances to let life have its way1 and to-day have its rights4 ,that is to set ourselves against the dealings of ,god1 and to refuse to forgive ,him for what ,his love has done for us4 ,but the other thought seems to me to be even more beautiful1 and probably to be what was in the ,psalmist's mind--viz4 the transformation of the evil1 ,sorrow itself1 into the radiant form of ,joy4 ,a prince in rags comes to a poor man's hovel1 is hospitably received in the darkness1 and being received and welcomed1 in the morning slips off his rags and appears as he is4 ,sorrow is ,joy disguised4 ,if it be accepted1 if the will submit1 if the heart let itself be untwined1 that its tendrils may be coiled closer round the heart of ,god1 then the transformation is sure to come1 and joy will dawn on those who have done rightly--that is1 submissively and thankfully--by their sorrows4 ,it will not be a joy like what the world calls joy--loud-voiced1 boisterous1 ringing with idiot laughter2 but it will be pure1 and deep1 and sacred1 and permanent4 ,a white lily is fairer than a flaunting peony1 and the joy into which sorrow accepted turns is pure and refining and good4 ,so1 brethren6 remember that the richest vintages are grown on the rough slopes of the volcano1 and lovely flowers blow at the glacier's edge2 and all our troubles1 big and little1 may be converted into gladnesses if we accept them as ,god meant them4 ,only they must be so accepted if they are to be thus changed4 ,but there may be some hearts recoiling from much that ,i have said in this sermon1 and thinking to themselves1 ',ah6 there are two kinds of sorrows4 ,there are those that can be cured1 and there are those that cannot4 ,what have you got to say to me who have to bleed from an immedicable wound till the end of my life8' ,well1 ,i have to say this--look beyond earth's dim dawns to that morning when 'the ,sun of ,righteousness shall arise1 to them that love ,his name1 with healing in ,his wings4' ,if we have to carry a load on an aching back till the end1 be sure that when the night1 which is far spent1 is over1 and the day which is at hand hath broken1 every raindrop will be turned into a flashing rainbow when it is smitten by the level light1 and every sorrow rightly borne be represented by a special and particular joy4 ,only1 brother6 if a life is to be spent in ,his favour1 it must be spent in ,his fear4 ,and if our cares and troubles and sorrows and losses are to be transfigured hereafter1 then we must keep very near ,jesus ,christ1 who has promised to us that ,his joy will remain with us1 and that our sorrows shall be turned into joys4 ,if we trust to ,him1 the voices that have been raised in weeping will be heard in gladness1 and earth's minor will be transposed by the great ,master of the music into the key of ,heaven's jubilant praise4 ,if only 'we look not at the things seen1 but at the things which are not seen1' then 'our light affliction1 which is but for a moment1 will work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory'2 and the weight will be no burden1 but will bear up those who are privileged to bear it4 ',,be 444 ,,for ,,thou ,,art' ',be ,thou to me a strong ,rock1 an house of defence to save me4 #c4 ,for ,thou art my ,rock and my ,fortress4'--,,psalm xxxi4 #b1 #c 7,r4,v474 ,it sounds strange logic1 ',be 444 for ,thou art1' and yet it is the logic of prayer1 and goes very deep1 pointing out both its limits and its encouragements4 ,the parallelism between these two clauses is even stronger in the original than in our ,version1 for whilst the two words which designate the ',rock' are not identical1 their meaning is identical1 and the difference between them is insignificant2 one being a rock of any shape or size1 the other being a perpendicular cliff or elevated promontory4 ,and in the other clause1 'for a house of defence to save me1' the word rendered 'defence' is the same as that which is translated in the next clause 'fortress4' ,so that if we were to read thus3 ',be ,thou a strong ,rock to me1 for a house1 a fortress1 for ,thou art my ,rock and my ,fortress1' we should get the whole force of the parallelism4 ,of course the main idea in that of the ',rock1' and ',fortress' is only an exposition of one phase of the meaning of that metaphor4 ,i4 ,so let us look first at what ,god is4 ',a rock1 a fortress-house4' ,now1 what is the force of that metaphor8 ,stable being1 as it seems to me1 is the first thought in it1 for there is nothing that is more absolutely the type of unchangeableness and steadfast continuance4 ,the great cliffs rise up1 and the river glides at their base--it is a type of mutability1 and of the fleeting generations of men1 who are as the drops and ripples in its course--it eddies round the foot of the rocks to which the old man looks up1 and sees the same dints and streaks and fissures in it that he saw when he was a child4 ,the river runs onwards1 the trees that root themselves in the clefts of the rock bear their spring foliage1 and drop their leaves like the generations of men1 and the ,rock is 'the same yesterday1 and to-day1 and for ever4' ,and ,god the ,unchangeable rises1 if ,i may so say1 like some majestic cliff1 round the foot of which rolls for ever the tide of human life1 and round which are littered the successive layers of the leaves of many summers4 ,then besides this stable being1 and the consequences of it1 is the other thought which is attached to the emblem in a hundred places in ,scripture1 and that is defence4 ',his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks4' ,when the floods are out1 and all the plain is being dissolved into mud1 the dwellers on it fly to the cliffs4 ,when the enemy's banners appear on the horizon1 and the open country is being harried and burned1 the peasants hurry to the defence of the hills1 and1 sheltered there1 are safe4 ,and so for us this ,name assures us that in ,him1 whatever floods may sweep across the low levels1 and whatever foes may storm over the open land and the unwalled villages1 there is always the fortress up in the hills1 and thither no flood can rise1 and there no enemy can come4 ,a defence and a sure abode is his who dwells in ,god1 and thus folds over himself the warm wings that stretch on either side1 and shelter him from all assault4 ',lead me to the ,rock that is higher than ,i4' ,but the ,rock is a defence in another way4 ,if a hard-pressed fugitive is brought to a stand and can set his back against a rock1 he can front his assailants1 secure that no unseen foe shall creep up behind and deal a stealthy stab and that he will not be surrounded unawares4 ',the ,god of ,israel shall be your rearward1' and he who has 'made the ,most ,high his habitation' is sheltered from 'the pestilence that walketh in darkness1' as well as from 'the destruction that wasteth at noon-day1' and will be cleansed from 'secret faults' if he keeps up unbroken his union with ,god1 for the 'faults' which are not recognised as faults by his partially illuminated conscience are known to ,god4 ,but the ,rock is a defence in yet another way1 for it is a sure foundation for our lives4 ,whoso builds on ,god need fear no change4 ,when the floods rise1 and the winds blow1 and the rain storms down1 the house that is on the ,rock will stand4 ,and1 then1 in the ,rock there is a spring1 and round the spring there is 'the light of laughing flowers1' amidst the stern majesty of the cliff4 ,just as the ,law-giver of old smote the rock1 and there gushed out the stream that satisfied the thirst of the whole travelling nation1 so ,paul would have us ,christians repeat the miracle by our faith4 ,of us1 too1 it may be said1 they drank 'of that ,rock that followed them1 and that ,rock was ,christ4' ,stable being1 secure defence1 a fountain of refreshment and satisfaction3 all these blessings lie in that great metaphor4 ,,ii4 ,now1 note our plea with ,god1 from what ,he is4 ',be ,thou to me a ,rock 444 for ,thou art a ,rock4' ,is that not illogical8 ,no1 for notice that little word1 'to me'--be ,thou to me what ,thou art in ,thyself1 and hast been to all generations4' ,that makes all the difference4 ,it is not merely ',be what ,thou art1' although that would be much1 but it is 'be it to me1' and let me have all which is meant in that great ,name4 ,but then1 beyond that1 let me point out to you how this prayer suggests to us that all true prayer will keep itself within ,god's revelation of what ,he is4 ,we take ,his promises1 and all the elements which make up ,his name or manifestation of ,his character to the world1 whether by ,his acts or by the utterances of this ,book1 or by the inferences to be drawn from the life of ,jesus ,christ1 the great ,revealer1 or by what we ourselves have experienced of ,him4 ,the ways by which ,god has revealed ,himself to the world define the legitimate subjects1 and lay down the firm foundation1 of our petitions4 ,in all ,his acts ,god reveals ,himself1 and if ,i may so say1 when we truly pray1 we catch these up1 and send them back again to heaven1 like arrows from a bow4 ,it is only when our desires and prayers foot themselves upon ,god's revelation of ,himself1 and in essence are1 in various fashions1 the repetition of this prayer of my text3 ',be 444 for ,thou art1' that we can expect to have them answered4 ,much else may call itself prayer1 but it is often but petulant and self-willed endeavour to force our wishes upon ,him1 and no answer will come to that4 ,we are to pray about everything2 but we are to pray about nothing1 except within the lines which are marked out for us by what ,god has told us1 in ,his words and acts1 that ,he ,himself is4 ,catch these up and fling them back to ,him1 and for every utterance that ,he has made of ,himself1 ',i am' so-and-so1 let us go to ,him and say ',be ,thou that to me1' and then we may be sure of an answer4 ,so then two things follow4 ,if we pray after the pattern of this prayer1 ',be ,thou to me what ,thou art1' then a great many foolish and presumptuous wishes will be stifled in the birth1 and1 on the other hand1 a great many feeble desires will be strengthened and made confident1 and we shall be encouraged to expect great things of ,god4 ,have you widened your prayers1 dear friend6--and ,i do not mean by that only your outward ones1 but the habitual aspiration and expectation of your minds--have you widened these to be as wide as what ,god has shown us that ,he is8 ,have you taken all ,god's revelation of ,himself1 and translated it into petition8 ,and do you expect ,him to be to you all that ,he has ever been to any soul of man upon earth8 ,oh6 how such a prayer as this1 if we rightly understand it and feel it1 puts to shame the narrowness and the poverty of our prayers1 the falterings of our faith1 and the absence of expectation in ourselves that we shall receive the fulness of ,god4 ,god owns that plea3 ',be 444 what ,thou art4' ,he cannot resist that4 ,that is what the ,apostle meant when he said1 ',he abideth faithful1 ,he cannot deny ,himself4' ,he must be true to ,his character4 ,he can never be other than ,he always has been4 ,and that is what the ,psalmist meant when he goes on1 after the words that ,i have taken for my text1 and says1 ',for ,thy ,name's sake lead me and guide me1' ,what is ,god's ,name8 ,the collocation of letters by which we designate ,him8 ,certainly not4 ,the ,name of ,god is the sum total of what ,god has revealed ,himself as being4 ,and 'for the sake of the ,name1' that ,he may be true to that which ,he has shown ,himself to be1 ,he will always endorse this bill that you draw upon ,him when you present ,him with ,his own character1 and say ',be to me what ,thou art4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we have here the plea with ,god drawn from what we have taken ,him to be to us4 ,that is somewhat different from what ,i have already been dwelling upon4 ,mark the words3 ',be ,thou to me a strong ,rock1 for ,thou art my ,rock and my ,fortress4' ,what does that mean8 ,it means that the suppliant has1 by his own act of faith1 taken ,god for his2 that he has appropriated the great divine revelation1 and made it his own4 ,now it seems to me that that appropriation is1 if not the point1 at least one of the points1 in which real faith is distinguished from the sham thing which goes by that name amongst so many people4 ,a man by faith encloses a bit of the common for his very own4 ,when ,god says that ,he 'so loved the world that ,he gave ,his 444 ,son1' ,i should say1 ',he loved me1 and gave ,himself for me4' ,when the great revelation is made that ,he is the ,rock of ,ages1 my faith says3 ',my ,rock and my ,fortress4' ,having said that1 and claimed ,him for mine1 ,i can then turn round to ,him and say1 ',be to me what ,i have taken ,thee to be4' ,and that faith is expressed very beautifully and strikingly in one of the ,old ,testament metaphors1 which frequently goes along with this one of the ,rock4 ,for instance1 in a great chapter in ,isaiah we find the original of that phrase 'the ,rock of ,ages4' ,it runs thus1 ',trust ye in the ,lord for ever1 for in the ,lord ,,jehovah is the ,rock of ,ages4' ,now the word for trust there literally means1 to flee into a refuge1 and so the true idea of faith is 'to fly for refuge1' as the ,epistle to the ,hebrews has it1 'to the ,hope set before us1'--that is 7keeping to the metaphor71 to the cleft in the ,rock4 ,that act of trust or flight will make it certain that ,god will be to us for a house of defence1 a fortress to save us4 ,other rock-shelters may crumble4 ,they may be carried by assault2 they may be riven by earthquakes4 ',the mountains shall depart1 and the hills shall be removed1' but this ,rock is impregnable1 and all who take refuge in it are safe for ever4 ,and so the upshot of the whole matter is that ,god will be to us what we have faith to believe that ,he is1 and our faith will be the measure of our possession of the fulness of ,god4 ,if we can only say in the fulness of our hearts--and keep to the saying3 ',be ,thou to me a ,rock1 for ,thou art my ,rock1' then nothing shall ever hurt us2 and 'dwelling in the secret place of the ,most ,high' we shall be kept in safety2 our 'abode shall be the munitions of rocks1 our bread shall be given us1 and our water shall be made sure4' ',,into ,,thy ,,hands' ',into ,thine hand ,i commit my spirit3 ,thou hast redeemed me1 ,o ,lord ,god of truth4'--,,psalm xxxi4 #e4 ,the first part of this verse is consecrated for ever by our ,lord's use of it on the ,cross4 ,is it not wonderful that1 at that supreme hour1 ,he deigned to take an unknown singer's words as ,his words8 ,what an honour to that old saint that ,jesus ,christ1 dying1 should find nothing that more fully corresponded to ,his inmost heart at that moment than the utterance of the ,psalmist long ago6 ,how ,his mind must have been saturated with the ,old ,testament and with these songs of ,israel6 ,and do you not think it would be better for us if ours were completely steeped in those heart-utterances of ancient devotion8 ,but1 of course1 the ,psalmist was not thinking about his death4 ,it was an act for his life that he expressed in these words3--',into ,thine hands ,i commit my spirit4' ,if you will glance over the psalm at your leisure1 you will see that it is the heart-cry of a man in great trouble1 surrounded by all sorts of difficulties1 with his very life threatened4 ,he was down in the very depths of darkness1 and ringed about by all sorts of enemies at that moment1 not sitting comfortably1 as you and ,i are here1 but in the midst of the hurly-burly and the strife1 when by a dead lift of faith he flung himself clean out of his disasters1 and1 if ,i might so say1 pitched himself into the arms of ,god4 ',into ,thine hands ,i commit my spirit1' as a man standing in the midst of enemies1 and bearing some precious treasure in his hand might1 with one strong cast of his arm1 fling it into the open hand of some mighty helper1 and so baulk the enemies of their prey4 ,that is the figure4 ,i4 ,now1 let me say a word as to where to lodge a soul for safe keeping4 ',into ,thine hands'--a banker has a strong room1 and a wise man sends his securities and his valuables to the bank and takes an acknowledgment1 and goes to bed at night1 quite sure that no harm will come to them1 and that he will get them when he wants them4 ,and that is exactly what the ,psalmist does here4 ,he deposits his most precious treasure in the safe custody of ,one who will take care of it4 ,the great ,hand is stretched out1 and the little soul is put into it4 ,it closes1 and 'no man is able to pluck them out of ,my ,father's hand4' ,now that is only a picturesque way of putting the most threadbare1 bald1 commonplace of religious teaching4 ,the word faith1 when it has any meaning at all in people's minds when they hear it from the pulpit1 is extremely apt1 ,i fear1 to create a kind of1 if not disgust1 at least a revulsion of feeling1 as if people said1 ',ah1 there he is at the old story again6' ,but will you freshen up your notions of what faith it means by taking that picture of my text as ,i have tried to expand and illuminate it a little by my metaphor8 ,that is what is meant by ',into ,thy hands ,i commit my spirit4' ,there are two or three ways in which that is to be done1 and one or two ways in which it is not to be done4 ,we do it when we trust ,him for the salvation of our souls4 ,there are a great many good ,christian people who go mourning all their days1 or1 at least1 sometimes mourning and sometimes indifferent4 ,the most that they venture to say is1 ',but ,i cannot be sure4' ,our grandfathers used to sing3-- '',tis a point ,i long to know1 ,oft it causes anxious thought4' ,why should it cause anxious thought8 ,take your own personal salvation for granted1 and work from that4 ,do not work towards it4 ,if you have gone to ,christ and said1 ',lord1 ,i cannot save myself2 save me4 ,i am willing to be saved1' be sure that you have the salvation that you ask1 and that if you have put your soul in that fashion into ,god's hands1 any incredible thing is credible1 and any impossible thing is possible1 rather than that you should fail of the salvation which1 in the bottom of your hearts1 you desire4 ,take the burden off your backs and put it on ,his4 ,do not be for ever questioning yourselves1 ',am ,i a saved man8' ,you will get sick of that soon1 and you will be very apt to give up all thought about the matter at all4 ,but take your stand on the fact1 and with emancipated and buoyant hearts1 and grateful ones1 work from it1 and because of it4 ,and when sin rises up in your soul1 and you say to yourselves1 ',if ,i were a ,christian ,i could not have done that1' or1 ',if ,i were a ,christian ,i could not be so-and-so'2 remember that all sin is inconsistent with being a ,christian1 but no sin is incompatible with it2 and that after all the consciousness of shortcomings and failure1 we have just to come back to the old point1 and throw ourselves on ,god's love4 ,his arms are open to clasp us round4 ',into ,thy hands ,i commit my spirit4' ,further1 the ,psalmist meant1 by committing himself to ,god1 trusting ,him in reference to daily life1 and all its difficulties and duties4 ,our act of trust is to run through everything that we undertake and everything that we have to fight with4 ,self-will wrenches our souls out of ,god's hands4 ,a man who sends his securities to the banker can get them back when he likes4 ,and if we undertake to manage our own affairs1 or fling ourselves into our work without recognition of our dependence upon ,him1 or if we choose our work without seeking to know what ,his will is1 that is recalling our deposit4 ,then you will get it back again1 because ,god does not keep anybody's securities against his will--you will get it back again1 and much good it will do you when you have got it6 ,self-will1 self-reliance1 self-determination--these are the opposites of committing the keeping of our souls to ,god4 ,and1 as ,i say1 if you withdraw the deposit1 you take all the burden and trouble of it on your own shoulders again4 ,do not fancy that you are 'living lives of faith in the ,son of ,god1' if you are not looking to ,him to settle what you are to do4 ,you cannot expect that ,he will watch over you1 if you do not ask ,him where you are to go4 ,but now there is another thing that ,i would suggest1 this committing of ourselves to ,god which begins with the initial act of trust in ,him for the salvation of our souls1 and is continued throughout life by the continual surrender of ourselves to ,him1 is to be accompanied with corresponding work4 ,the ,apostle ,peter's memory is evidently hovering round this verse1 whether he is consciously quoting it or not1 when he says1 ',let them that suffer according to the will of ,god commit the keeping of their souls to ,him in welldoing1' which has to go along with the act of trust and dependence4 ,there must come the continual ordering of the life in accordance with ,his will2 for 'well-doing' does not mean merely some works of beneficence and 'charity1' of the sort that have monopolised to themselves the name in latter days1 but it means the whole of righteous conduct in accordance with the will of ,god4 ,so ,peter tells us that it is vain for us to talk about committing the keeping of our soul to ,god unless we back up the committing with consistent1 ,christlike lives4 ,of course it is vain4 ,how can a man expect ,god to take care of him when he plunges himself into something that is contrary to ,god's laws8 ,there are many people who say1 ',god will take care of me2 ,he will save me from the consequences4' ,not a bit of it--,he loves us a great deal too well for that4 ,if you take the bit between your teeth1 you will be allowed to go over the precipice and be smashed to pieces4 ,if you wish to be taken care of1 keep within the prescribed limits1 and consult ,him before you act1 and do not act till you are sure of ,his approval4 ,god has never promised to rescue man when he has got into trouble by his own sin4 ,suppose a servant had embezzled his master's money through gambling1 and then expected ,god to help him to get the money to pay back into the till4 ,do you think that would be likely to work8 ,and how dare you anticipate that ,god will keep your feet1 if you are walking in ways of your own choosing8 ,all sin takes a man out from the shelter of the divine protection1 and the shape the protection has to take then is chastisement4 ,and all sin makes it impossible for a man to exercise that trust which is the committing of his soul to ,god4 ,so it has to be 'in welldoing1' and the two things are to go together4 ',what ,god hath joined let not man put asunder4' ,you do not become a ,christian by the simple exercise of trust unless it is trust that worketh by love4 ,but let me remind you1 further1 that this committing of our souls into ,god's hands does not mean that we are absolved from taking care of them ourselves4 ,there is a very false kind of religious faith1 which seems to think that it shuffles off all responsibility upon ,god4 ,not at all2 you lighten the responsibility1 but you do not get rid of it4 ,and no man has a right to say ',he will keep me1 and so ,i may neglect diligent custody of myself4' ,he keeps us very largely by helping us to keep our hearts with all diligence1 and to keep our feet in the way of truth4 ,so let me now just say a word in regard to the blessedness of thus living in an atmosphere of continual dependence on1 and reference to1 ,god1 about great things and little things4 ,whenever a man is living by trust1 even when the trust is mistaken1 or when it is resting upon some mere human1 fallible creature like himself1 the measure of his confidence is the measure of his tranquillity4 ,you know that when a child says1 ',i do not need to mind1 father will look after that1' he may be right or wrong in his estimate of his father's ability and inclination2 but as long as he says it1 he has no kind of trouble or anxiety1 and the little face is scarred by no deep lines of care or thought4 ,so when we turn to ,him and say1 ',why should ,i the burden bear8' then there comes--,i was going to say 'surging1' but 'trickling' is a better word--into my heart a settled peacefulness which nothing else can give4 ,look at this psalm4 ,it begins1 and for the first half continues1 in a very minor key4 ,the singer was not a poet posing as in affliction1 but his words were wrung out of him by anguish4 ',mine eyes are consumed with grief2 my life is spent with grief'2 ',i am 444 as a dead man out of mind'2 ',i am in trouble4' ,and then with a quick wheel about1 ',but ,i trusted in ,thee1 ,o ,lord6 ,i said1 ,thou art my ,god4' ,and what comes of that8 ,this--',o how great is ,thy goodness which ,thou hast laid up for them that fear ,thee6' ',blessed be the ,lord1 for ,he hath showed me ,his marvellous kindness in a strong city4' ,and then1 at the end of all1 his peacefulness is so triumphant that he calls upon 'all ,his saints' to help him to praise4 ,and the last words are ',be of good courage1 and ,he shall strengthen your heart4' ,that is what you will get if you commit your soul to ,god4 ,there was no change in the ,psalmist's circumstances4 ,the same enemy was round about him4 ,the same 'net was privily laid for him4' ,all that had seemed to him half an hour before as wellnigh desperate1 continued utterly unaltered4 ,but what had altered8 ,god had come into the place1 and that altered the whole aspect of matters4 ,instead of looking with shrinking and tremulous heart along the level of earth1 where miseries were1 he was looking up into the heavens1 where ,god was2 and so everything was beautiful4 ,that will be our experience if we will commit the keeping of our souls to ,him in well doing4 ,you can bring ,june flowers and autumn fruits into snowy ,january days by the exercise of this trust in ,god4 ,it does not need that our circumstances should alter1 but only that our attitude should alter4 ,look up1 and cast your souls into ,god's hands1 and all that is round you1 of disasters and difficulties and perplexities1 will suffer transformation2 and for sorrow there will come joy because there has come trust4 ,i need not say a word about the other application of this verse1 which1 as ,i have said1 is consecrated to us by our ,lord's own use of it at the last4 ,but is it not beautiful to think that the very same act of mind and heart by which a man commits his spirit to ,god in life may be his when he comes to die1 and that death may become a voluntary act1 and the spirit may not be dragged out of us1 reluctant1 and as far as we can1 resisting1 but that we may offer it up as a libation1 to use one metaphor of ,st4 ,paul's1 or may surrender it willingly as an act of faith8 ,it is wonderful to think that life and death1 so unlike each other1 may be made absolutely identical in the spirit in which they are met4 ,you remember how the first martyr caught up the words from the ,cross1 and kneeling down outside the wall of ,jerusalem1 with the blood running from the wounds that the stones had made1 said1 ',lord ,jesus6 receive my spirit4' ,that is the way to die1 and that is the way to live4 ,one word is all that time permits about the ground upon which this great venture of faith may be made4 ',thou hast redeemed me1 ,lord ,god of ,truth4' ,the ,psalmist1 ,i think1 uses that word 'redeemed' here1 not in its wider spiritual ,new ,testament sense1 but in its frequent ,old ,testament sense1 of deliverance from temporal difficulties and calamities4 ,and what he says is1 in effect1 this3 ',i have had experience in the past which makes me believe that ,thou wilt extricate me from this trouble too1 because ,thou art the ,god of ,truth4' ,he thinks of what ,god has done1 and of what ,god is4 ,and ,peter1 whom we have already found echoing this text1 echoes that part of it too1 for he says1 ',let them commit the keeping of their souls to ,him in well doing1 as unto a faithful ,creator1' which is all but parallel to ',lord ,god of ,truth4' ,so ,god will continue as ,he has begun1 and finish what ,he has begun4 ',a faithful ,creator--' ,he made us to need what we do need1 and ,he is not going to forget the wants that ,he ,himself has incorporated with our human nature4 ,he is bound to help us because ,he made us4 ,he is the ,god of ,truth1 and ,he will help us4 ,but if we take 'redeemed' in its highest sense1 the ,psalmist1 arguing from ,god's past mercy and eternal faithfulness1 is saying substantially what the ,apostle said in the triumphant words1 ',whom ,he did foreknow1 them ,he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of ,his ,son 444 and whom ,he did predestinate them ,he also 444 justified1 and whom ,he justified them ,he also glorified4' ',thou hast redeemed me4' ',thou art the ,god of ,truth2 ,thou wilt not lift ,thy hand away from ,thy work until ,thou hast made me all that ,thou didst bind ,thyself to make me in that initial act of redeeming me4' ,so we can say1 ',he that spared not ,his own ,son1 but delivered ,him up for us all1 how shall ,he not with ,him also freely give us all things8' ,you have experiences1 ,i have no doubt1 in your past1 on which you may well build confidence for the future4 ,let each of us consult our own hearts1 and our own memories4 ,cannot we say1 ',thou hast been my ,help1' and ought we not therefore to be sure that ,he will not 'leave us nor forsake us' until ,he manifests ,himself as the ,god of our salvation8 ,it is a blessed thing to lay ourselves in the hands of ,god1 but the ,new ,testament tells us1 ',it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living ,god4' ,the alternative is one that we all have to face1--either 'into ,thy hands ,i commit my spirit1' or into those hands to fall4 ,settle which of the two is to be your fate4 ,,goodness ,,wrought ,,and ,,goodness ,,laid ,,up ',oh how great is ,thy goodness1 which ,thou hast laid up for them that fear ,thee2 which ,thou hast wrought for them that trust in ,thee before the sons of men6'--,,psalm xxxi4 #ai4 ,the ,psalmist has been describing1 with the eloquence of misery1 his own desperate condition1 in all manner of metaphors which he heaps together--'sickness1' 'captivity1' 'like a broken vessel1' 'as a dead man out of mind4' ,but in the depth of desolation he grasps at ,god's hand1 and that lifts him up out of the pit4 ',i trusted in ,thee1 ,o ,lord6 ,thou art my ,god4' ,so he struggles up on to the green earth again1 and he feels the sunshine2 and then he breaks out--',oh6 how great is ,thy goodness which ,thou hast laid up for them that fear ,thee4' ,so the psalm that began with such grief1 ends with the ringing call1 ',be of good courage1 and ,he shall strengthen your heart1 all ye that hope in the ,lord4' ,now these great words which ,i have read for my text1 and which derive even additional lustre from their setting1 do not convey to the hasty ,english reader the precise force of the antithesis which lies in them4 ,the contrast in the two clauses is between goodness laid up and goodness wrought2 and that would come out a little more clearly if we transposed the last words of the text1 and instead of reading1 as our ,authorised ,version does1 'which ,thou hast wrought for them that trusted in ,thee before the sons of men1' read 'which ,thou hast wrought before the sons of men for them that trusted in ,thee4' ,so ,i think there are1 as it were1 two great masses of what the ,psalmist calls 'goodness'2 one of them which has been plainly manifested 'before the sons of men1' the other which is 'laid up' in store4 ,there are a great many notes in circulation1 but there is far more bullion in the strong-room4 ,much 'goodness' has been exhibited2 far more lies concealed4 ,if we take that antithesis1 then1 ,i think we may turn it in two or three directions1 like a light in a man's hand2 and look at it as suggesting-- ,i4 ,first1 the goodness already disposed--'wrought before the sons of men'2 and that 'laid up1' yet to be manifested4 ,now1 that distinction just points to the old familiar but yet never-to-be-exhausted thought of the inexhaustibleness of the divine nature4 ,that inexhaustibleness comes out most wondrously and beautifully in the fundamental manifestation of ,god on which the ,old ,testament revelation is built--,i mean the vision given to ,moses prior to his call1 and as the basis of his message1 of the bush that burned and was not consumed4 ,that lowly shrub flaming and not burning out was not1 as has often been supposed1 the symbol of ,israel which in the furnace of affliction was not destroyed4 ,it meant the same as the divine name1 then proclaimed2 ',i ,,am ,,that ,i ,,am1' which is but a way of saying that ,god's ,being is absolute1 dependent upon none1 determined by ,himself1 infinite1 and eternal1 burns and is not burned up1 lives and has no proclivity towards death1 works and is unwearied1 'operates unspent1' is revealed and yet hidden1 gives and is none the poorer4 ,and as we look upon our daily lives1 and travel back in thought1 some of us over the many years which have all been crowded with instances and illustrations of divine faithfulness and favouring care1 we have to grasp both these exclamations of our text1 ',oh6 how great is ,thy goodness which ,thou hast wrought1' how much greater 'is ,thy goodness which is laid up6' ,the table has been spread in the wilderness1 and the verities of ,christian experience more than surpass the legends of hungry knights finding banquets prepared by unseen hands in desert places4 ,it is as when ,jesus made the multitude sit down on the green grass and feast to the full1 and yet abundance remained undiminished after satisfying all the hungry applicants4 ,the bread that was broken yielded more basketfuls for to-morrow than the original quantity in the lad's hands4 ,the fountain rises1 and the whole camp1 'themselves and their children and their cattle1' slake their thirst at it1 and yet it is full as ever4 ,the goodness wrought is but the fringe and first beginnings of the mass that is laid up4 ,all the gold that has been coined and put into circulation is as nothing compared with the wedges and ingots of massive bullion that lie in the strong room4 ,god's riches are not like the world's wealth4 ,you very soon get to the bottom of its purse4 ,its 'goodness1' is very soon run dry2 and nothing will yield an unintermittent stream of satisfaction and blessing to a poor soul except the 'river of the water of life that proceedeth out of the ,throne of ,god and of the ,lamb4' ,so1 dear brethren6 that contrast may suggest to us how quietly and peacefully we may look forward to all the unknown future2 and hold up to it so as to enable us to scan its general outlines1 the light of the known and experienced past4 ,let our trustful prayer be2 ',thou hast been my help3 leave me not1 neither forsake me1 ,o ,god of my salvation6' and the answer will certainly be3 ',i will not leave thee1 till ,i have done unto thee that which ,i have spoken to thee of4' ,our ,memory ought to be the mother of our ,hope2 and we should paint the future in the hues of the past4 ,thou hast goodness 'laid up1' more than enough to match 'the goodness ,thou hast wrought4' ,god's past is the prophecy of ,god's future2 and my past1 if ,i understand it aright1 ought to rebuke every fear and calm every anxiety4 ,we1 and only we1 have the right to say1 ',to-morrow shall be as this day1 and much more abundant4' ,that is delusion if said by any but by those that fear and trust in the ,inexhaustible ,god4 ,,ii4 ,now let us turn our light in a somewhat different direction4 ,the contrast here suggests the goodness that is publicly given and that which is experienced in secret4 ,if you will notice1 in the immediate neighbourhood of my text there come other words which evidently link themselves with the thought of the goodness laid up3 ',thou shalt hide them in the secret of ,thy presence4' ,that is where also the 'goodness' is4 ',thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion 444 blessed be the ,lord6 for ,he hath shewed me ,his marvellous kindness in a strong city4' ,so1 then1 the goodness which is wrought1 and which can be seen by the sons of men1 dwindles in comparison with the goodness which lies in that secret place1 and can only be enjoyed and possessed by those who dwell there1 and whose feet are familiar with the way that leads to it4 ,that is to say1 if you wish the ,psalmist's thought in plain prose1 all these visible blessings of ours are but pale shadows and suggestions of the real wealth that we can have only if we live in continual communion with ,god4 ,the spiritual blessings of quiet minds and strength for work1 the joys of communion with ,god1 the sweetness of the hopes that are full of immortality1 and all these delights and manifestations of ,god's inmost love and sweetness which are granted only to waiting hearts that shut themselves off from the tumultuous delights of earth as the bases of their trust or the sources of their gladness--these are fuller1 better than the selectest and richest of the joys that ,god's world can give4 ,god does not put ,his best gifts1 so to speak1 in the shop-windows2 ,he keeps these in the inner chambers4 ,he does not arrange ,his gifts as dishonest traders do their wares1 putting the finest outside or on the top1 and the less good beneath4 ',thou hast kept the good wine until now4' ,it is they who inhabit 'the secret place of the ,most ,high1' and whose lives are filled with communion with ,him1 realising ,his presence1 seeking to know ,his will1 reaching out the tendrils of their hearts to twine round ,him1 and diligently1 for ,his dear sake1 doing the tasks of life2 who taste the selected dainties from ,god's gracious hands4 ,how foolish1 then1 to order life on the principle upon which we are all tempted to do it1 and to yield to the temptation to which some of us have yielded far too much1 of fancying that the best good is the good that we can touch and taste and handle and that men can see6 ,no6 no6 ,deep down in our hearts a joy that strangers never intermeddle with nor know1 a peace that passes understanding1 a present ,christ and a ,heaven all but present1 because ,christ is present--these are the good things for men1 and these are the things which ,god does not1 because ,he cannot1 fling broadcast into the world1 but which ,he keeps1 because ,he must1 for those that desire them1 and are fit for them4 ',he causeth ,his sun to shine1 and ,his rain to fall on the unthankful and on the disobedient1' but the goodness laid up is better than the sunshine1 and more refreshing and fertilising and cleansing than the rain1 and it comes1 and comes only1 to them that trust ,him1 and live near ,him4 ,,iii4 ,and so1 lastly1 we may turn our light in yet another direction1 and take this contrast as suggesting the goodness wrought on earth1 and the goodness laid up in heaven4 ,here we see1 sometimes1 the messengers coming with the one cluster of grapes on the pole4 ,there we shall live in the vineyard4 ,here we drink from the river as it flows2 there we shall be at the fountain-head4 ,here we are in the vestibule of the ,king's house1 there we shall be in the throne room1 and each chamber as we pass through it is richer and fairer than the one preceding4 ,heaven's least goodness is more than earth's greatest blessedness4 ,all that life to come1 all its conditions and everything about it1 are so strange to us1 so incapable of being bodied forth or conceived by us1 and the thought of ,eternity is1 it seems to me1 so overwhelmingly awful that ,i do not wonder at even good people finding little stimulus1 or much that cheers1 in the thought of passing thither4 ,but if we do not know anything more--and we know very little more--let us be sure of this1 that when ,god begins to compare ,his adjectives ,he does not stop till ,he gets to the superlative degree and that good begets better1 and the better of earth ensures the best of ,heaven4 ,and so out of our poor little experience here1 we may gather grounds of confidence that will carry our thoughts peacefully even into the great darkness1 and may say1 ',what ,thou didst work is much1 what ,thou hast laid up is more4' ,and the contrast will continue for ever and ever2 for all through that strange ,eternity that which is wrought will be less than that which is laid up1 and we shall never get to the end of ,god1 nor to the end of ,his goodness4 ,only let us take heed to the conditions--'them that fear ,him1 them that trust in ,him4' ,if we will do these things through each moment of the experiences of a growing ,christian life1 and at the moment of the experience of a ,christian death1 and through the eternities of the experience of a ,christian heaven1 ,jesus ,christ will whisper to us1 ',thou shalt see greater things than these4' ,,hid ,,in ,,light ',thou shall hide them in the secret of ,thy presence from the pride of man2 ,thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues4'--,,psalm xxxi4 #bj4 ,the word rendered 'presence' is literally 'face1' and the force of this very remarkable expression of confidence is considerably marred unless that rendering be retained4 ,there are other analogous expressions in ,scripture1 setting forth1 under various metaphors1 ,god's protection of them that love ,him4 ,but ,i know not that there is any so noble and striking as this4 ,for instance1 we read of ,his hiding ,his children 'in the secret of ,his tabernacle1' or tent2 as an ,arab chief might do a fugitive who had eaten of his salt1 secreting him in the recesses of his tent whilst the pursuers scoured the desert in vain for their prey4 ,again1 we read of ,his hiding them 'beneath the shadow of ,his wing'2 where the divine love is softened into the likeness of the maternal instinct which leads a hen to gather her chickens beneath the shelter of her own warm and outspread feathers4 ,but the metaphor of my text is more vivid and beautiful still4 ',thou shalt hide them in the secret of ,thy face4' ,the light that streams from that countenance is the hiding-place for a poor man4 ,these other metaphors may refer1 perhaps1 the one to the temple1 and the other to the outstretched wings of the cherubim that shadowed the ,mercy-seat4 ,and1 if so1 this metaphor carries us still more near to the central blaze of the ,shekinah1 the glory that hovered above the ,mercy-seat1 and glowed in the dark sanctuary1 unseen but once a year by one trembling high priest1 who had to bear with him blood of sacrifice1 lest the sight should slay4 ,the ,psalmist says1 into that fierce light a man may go1 and stand in it1 bathed1 hid1 secure4 ',thou shalt hide them in the secret of ,thy face4' ,i4 ,now1 then1 let us notice1 first1 this hiding-place4 ,the 'face' of ,god is so strongly figurative an expression that its metaphorical character cannot but be obvious to the most cursory reader4 ,the very frankness1 and1 we may say1 the grossness of the image1 saves it from all misconception1 and as with other similar expressions in the ,old ,testament1 at once suggests its meaning4 ,we read1 for example1 of the 'arm1' the 'hand1' the 'finger' of ,god1 and everybody feels that these mean ,his power4 ,we read of the 'eye' of ,god1 and everybody knows that that means ,his omniscience4 ,we read of the 'ear' of ,god1 and we all understand that that holds forth the blessed thought that ,he hears and answers the cry of such as be sorrowful4 ,and1 in like manner1 the 'face' of ,god is the apprehensible part of the divine nature which turns to men1 and by which ,he makes ,himself known4 ,it is roughly equivalent to the other ,old and ,new ,testament expression1 the 'name of the ,lord1' the manifested and revealed side of the divine nature4 ,and that is the hiding-place into which men may go4 ,we have the other expression also in ,scripture1 'the light of ,thy countenance1' and that helps us to apprehend the ,psalmist's meaning4 ',the light of ,thy face' is 'secret4' ,what a paradox6 ,can light conceal8 ,look at the daily heavens--filled with blazing stars1 all invisible till the night falls4 ,the effulgence of the face is such that they that stand in it are lost and hid1 like the lark in the blue sky4 ',a glorious privacy of light is ,thine4' ,there is a wonderful metaphor in the ,new ,testament of a woman 'clothed with the sun1' and caught up into it from her enemies to be safe there4 ,and that is just an expansion of the ,psalmist's grand paradox1 ',thou shalt hide them in the secret of ,thy face4' ,light conceals when the light is so bright as to dazzle4 ,they who are surrounded by ,god are lost in the glory1 and safe in that seclusion1 'the secret of ,thy face4' ,a thought may be suggested1 although it is somewhat of a digression from the main purpose of my text1 but it springs naturally out of this paradox1 and may just deserve a word4 ,revelation is real1 but revelation has its limits4 ,that which is revealed is 'the face of ,god1' but we read1 'no man can see ,my face4' ,after all revelation ,he remains hidden4 ,after all pouring forth of ,his beams ,he remains 'the ,god that dwelleth in the thick darkness1' and the light which is inaccessible is also a darkness that can be felt4 ,apprehension is possible2 comprehension is impossible4 ,what we know of ,god is valid and true1 but we never shall know all the depths that lie in that which we do know of ,him4 ,his face is 'the secret'2 and though men may malign ,him when they say1 ',verily1 ,thou art a ,god that hidest ,thyself1 ,o ,god of ,israel6' and ,he answers them1 ',i have not spoken in secret' in a dark 'place of the earth1' it still remains true that revelation has its mysteries born of the greatness of its effulgence1 and that all which we know of ,god is 'dark with excess of light4' ,but that is aside from our main purpose4 ,let me rather remind you of how the thought of the secret of ,god's face being the secure hiding-place of them that love ,him points to this truth--that that brightness of light has a repellent power which keeps far away from all intermingling with it everything that is evil4 ,the old ,greek mythologies tell us that the radiant arrows of ,apollo shot forth from his far-reaching bow1 wounded to death the monsters of the slime and unclean creatures that crawled and revelled in darkness4 ,and the myth has a great truth in it4 ,the light of ,god's face slays evil1 of whatsoever kind it is2 and just as the unlovely1 loathsome creatures that live in the dark and find themselves at ease there writhe and wriggle in torment1 and die when their shelter is taken away and they are exposed to the light beating on their soft bodies1 so the light of ,god's face turned upon evil things smites them into nothingness4 ,thus 'the secret of ,his countenance' is the shelter of all that is good4 ,nor need ,i remind you how1 in another aspect of the phrase1 the 'light of ,his face1' is the expression for ,his favour and loving regard1 and how true it is that in that favour and loving regard is the impregnable fortress into which1 entering1 any man is safe4 ,i said that the expression the 'face of the ,lord' roughly corresponded to the other one1 'the name of the ,lord1' inasmuch as both meant the revealed aspect of the divine nature4 ,you may remember how we read1 ',the name of the ,lord is a strong tower into which the righteous runneth and is safe4' ,the 'light' of the face of the ,lord is ,his favour and loving regard falling upon men4 ,and who can be harmed with that lambent light--like sunshine upon water1 or upon a glittering shield--playing around ,him8 ,only let us remember that for us 'the face of ,god' is ,jesus ,christ4 ,he is the 'arm' of the ,lord2 ,he is the 'name' of the ,lord2 ,he is the 'face4' ,all that we know of ,god we know through and in ,him2 all that we see of ,god we see by the shining upon us of ,him who is 'the eradiation of ,his glory and the express image of ,his person4' ,so the open secret of the 'face' of ,god is ,jesus1 the hiding-place of our souls4 ,,ii4 ,secondly1 notice ,god's hidden ones4 ,my text carries us back1 by that word 'them1' to the previous verse1 where we have a double description of those who are thus hidden in the inaccessible light of ,his countenance4 ,they are 'such as fear ,thee1' and 'such as trust in ,thee4' ,now1 that latter expression is congruous with the metaphor of my text1 in so far as the words on which we are now engaged speak about a 'hiding-place1' and the word which is translated 'trust' literally means 'to flee to a refuge4' ,so they that flee to ,god for refuge are those whom ,god hides in the 'secret of ,his face4' ,let us think of that for a moment4 ,i said1 in the beginning of these remarks1 that there was here an allusion1 possibly1 to the ,temple4 ,all temples in ancient times were asylums4 ,whosoever could flee to grasp the horns of the altar1 or to sit1 veiled and suppliant1 before the image of the god1 was secure from his foes1 who could not pass within the limits of the ,temple grounds1 in which strife and murder were not permissible4 ,we too often flee to other gods and other temples for our refuges4 ,ay6 and when we get there we find that the deity whom we have invoked is only a marble image that sits deaf1 dumb1 motionless1 whilst we cling to its unconscious skirts4 ,as one of the saddest of our modern cynics once said1 looking up at that lovely impersonation of ,greek beauty1 the ,venus de ,milo1 ',ah6 she is fair2 but she has no arms1' so we may say of all false refuges to which men betake themselves4 ,the goddess is powerless to help1 however beautiful the presentment of her may have seemed to our eyes4 ,the evils from which we have fled to these false deities and shelterless sanctuaries will pursue us across the threshold2 and as ,elijah did with the priests of ,baal upon ,carmel1 will slay us at the very foot of the altar to which we have clung1 and vexed with our vain prayers4 ,there is only one shrine where there is a sanctuary1 and that is the shrine above which shines 'the glory of ,god in the face of ,jesus ,christ'2 into the brightness of which poor men may pass and therein may hide themselves4 ,god hides us1 and ,his hiding is effectual1 in the secret of the light and splendour of ,his face4 ,i said1 too1 that there was an allusion1 as there is in all the psalms that deal with men as ,god's guests1 to the ancient customs of hospitality1 by which a man who has once entered the tent of the chief1 and partaken of food there1 is safe1 not only from his pursuers1 but from his host himself1 even though that host should be the kinsman-avenger4 ,the red-handed murderer1 who has eaten the salt of the man whose duty it otherwise would have been to slay him where he stood1 is safe from his vengeance4 ,and thus they who cast themselves upon ,god have nothing to fear4 ,no other hand can pluck them from the sanctuary of ,his tent4 ,he ,himself1 having admitted them to share ,his hospitality1 cannot and will not lift a hand against them4 ,we are safe from ,god only when we are safe in ,god4 ,but remember the condition on which this security comes4 ',thou shalt hide them in the secret of ,thy face4' ,whom8 ,those that flee for refuge to ,thee4 ,the act of simple faith is set forth there1 by which a poor man1 with all his imperfections on his head1 may yet venture to put his foot across the boundary line that separates the outer darkness from the beam of light that comes from ,god's face4 ',who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire8 ,who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings8' ,that question does not mean1 as it is often taken to mean--,what mortal can endure the punishments of a future life8 but1 ,who can venture to be ,god's guests8 and it is equivalent to the other interrogation1 ',who shall ascend to the hill of the ,lord1 or who shall stand in ,his holy place8' ,the answer is1 ,if you go to ,him for refuge1 knowing your danger1 feeling your impurity1 you may walk amidst all that light softened into lambent beauty1 as those ,hebrew children did in the furnace of fire1 being at ease there1 and feeling it well with themselves1 and having nothing about them consumed except the bonds that bound them4 ,remember that ,jesus ,christ is the ,hiding-place1 and that to flee to ,him for refuge is the condition of security1 and all they who thus1 from the snares of life1 from its miseries1 disappointments1 and burdens1 from the agitation of their own hearts1 from the ebullition of their own passions1 from the stings of their own conscience1 or from other of the ills that flesh is heir to1 make their hiding-place--by the simple act of faith in ,jesus ,christ--in the light of ,god's face1 are thereby safe for evermore4 ,but the initial act of fleeing to the refuge must be continued by abiding in the refuge4 ,it is of no use to take shelter in the light unless we abide in the light4 ,it is of no use to go to the ,temple for sanctuary unless we continue in it for sacrifice and worship4 ,we must 'walk in the light as ,god is in the light4' ,that is to say1 the condition of being hid in ,god is1 first of all1 to take refuge in ,jesus ,christ1 and then to abide in ,him by continual communion4 ',your life is hid with ,christ in ,god4' ,unless we have a hidden life1 deep beneath1 and high above1 and far beyond the life of sense1 we have no right to think that the shelter of the ,face will be security for us4 ,the very essence of ,christianity is the habitual communion of heart1 mind1 and will with ,god in ,christ4 ,do you live in the light1 or have you only gone there to escape what you are afraid of8 ,do you live in the light by the continual direction of thought and heart to ,him1 cultivating the habit of daily and hourly communion with ,him amidst the distractions of necessary duty1 care1 and changing circumstances8 ,but not only by communion1 but also by conduct1 must we keep in the light4 ,the fugitive found outside the city of refuge was fair game for the avenger1 and if he strayed beyond its bounds there was a sword in his back before he knew where he was4 ,every ,christian1 by each sin1 whether it be acted or only thought1 casts himself out of the light into the darkness that rings it round1 and out there he is a victim to the beasts of prey that hunt in darkness4 ,an eclipse of the sun is not caused by any change in the sun1 but by an opaque body1 the offspring and satellite of the earth1 coming between the earth and sun4 ,and so1 when ,christian men lose the light of ,god's face1 it is not because there is any 'variableness or shadow of turning' in ,him1 but because between ,him and them has come the blackness--their own offspring--of their own sin4 ,you are not safe if you are outside the light of ,his countenance4 ,these are the conditions of security4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 note what the hidden ones find in the light4 ,this burst of confidence in my text comes from the ,psalmist immediately after plaintively pouring out his soul under the pressure of afflictions4 ,his experience may teach us the interpretation of his glad assurance4 ,god will keep all real evil from us if we keep near ,him2 but ,he will not keep the externals that men call evil from us4 ,i do not know whether there is such a thing as filtering any poisons or malaria by means of light1 but ,i am sure that the light of ,god filters our atmosphere for us4 ,though it may leave the external form of evil it takes all the poison out of it and turns it into a harmless minister for our good4 ,the arrows that are launched at us may be tipped with venom when they leave the bow1 but if they pass through the radiant envelope of divine protection that surrounds us--and they must have passed through that if they reach us--it cleanses all the venom from the points though it leaves the sharpness there4 ,the evil is not an evil if it has got our length2 and its having touched us shows that ,he who lets it pass into the light where ,his children safely dwell1 knows that it cannot harm them4 ,but1 again1 we shall find if we live in continual communion with the revealed ,face of ,god1 that we are elevated high above all the strife of tongues and the noise of earth4 ,we shall 'outsoar the shadow of the night1' and be lifted to an elevation from which all the clamours of earth will sound faint and poor1 like the noises of the city to the dwellers on the mountain peak4 ,nor do we find only security there1 for the word in the second clause of my text1 ',thou shalt keep them secretly1' is the same as is employed in the previous verse in reference to the treasures which ,god lays up for them that fear ,him4 ,the poor men that trust in ,god1 and the wealth which ,he has to lavish upon them1 are both hid1 and they are hid in the same place4 ,the 'goodness wrought before the sons of men' has not emptied the reservoir4 ,after all expenditure the massy ingots of gold in ,god's storehouse are undiminished4 ,the mercy still to come is greater than that already received4 ',to-morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant4' ,this river broadens as we mount towards its source4 ,brethren6 the ,face of ,god must be either our dearest joy or our greatest dread4 ,there comes a time when you and ,i must front it1 and look into ,his eyes4 ,it is for us to settle whether at that day we shall 'call upon the rocks and the hills to hide us' from it1 or whether we shall say with rapture1 ',thou hast made us most blessed with ,thy countenance'6 ,which is it to be8 ,it must be one or other4 ,when ,he says1 ',seek ye ,my ,face1' may our hearts answer1 ',thy ,face1 ,lord1 will ,i seek1' that when we see it hereafter1 shining as the sun in his strength1 its light may not be darkness to our impure and horror-struck eyes4 ,a ,,threefold ,,thought ,,of ,,sin ,,and ,,forgiveness ',blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven1 whose sin is covered4 #b4 ,blessed is the man unto whom the ,lord imputeth not iniquity1 and in whose spirit there is no guile4' --,,psalm xxxii4 #a1 #b4 ,this psalm1 which has given healing to many a wounded conscience1 comes from the depths of a conscience which itself has been wounded and healed4 ,one must be very dull of hearing not to feel how it throbs with emotion1 and is1 in fact1 a gush of rapture from a heart experiencing in its freshness the new joy of forgiveness4 ,it matters very little who wrote it4 ,if we accept the superscription1 which many of those who usually reject these ancient ,jewish notes do in the present case1 the psalm is ,david's1 and it fits into some of the specific details of his great sin and penitence4 ,but that is of very small moment4 ,whoever wrote it1 he sings because he must4 ,the psalm begins with an exclamation1 for the clause would be better translated1 ',oh6 the blessedness of the man4' ,then note the remarkable accumulation of clauses1 all expressing substantially the same thing1 but expressing it with a difference4 ,the ,psalmist's heart is too full to be emptied by one utterance4 ,he turns his jewel1 as it were1 round and round1 and at each turn it reflects the light from a different angle4 ,there are three clauses in my text1 each substantially having the same meaning1 but which yet present that substantially identical meaning with different shades4 ,and that is true both in regard to the three words which are employed to describe the fact of transgression1 and to the three which are employed to describe the fact of forgiveness4 ,it is mainly to these1 and the large lessons which lie in observing the shades of significance in them1 that ,i wish to turn now4 ,i4 ,note the solemn picture which is here drawn of various phases of sin4 ,there are three words employed--'transgression1' 'sin1' 'iniquity4' ,they all mean the same thing1 but they mean it with a different association of ideas and suggestions of its foulness4 ,let me take them in order4 ,the word translated 'transgression' seems literally to signify separation1 or rending apart1 or departure1 and hence comes to express the notion of apostasy and rebellion4 ,so1 then1 here is this thought2 all sin is a going away4 ,from what8 ,rather the question should be--from whom8 ,all sin is a departure from ,god4 ,and that is its deepest and darkest characteristic4 ,and it is the one that needs to be most urged1 for it is the one that we are most apt to forget4 ,we are all ready enough to acknowledge faults2 none of us have any hesitation in saying that we have done wrong1 and have gone wrong4 ,we are ready to recognise that we have transgressed the law2 but what about the ,lawgiver8 ,the personal element in every sin1 great or small1 is that it is a voluntary rending of a union which exists1 a departure from ,god who is with us in the deepest recesses of our being1 unless we drag ourselves away from the support of ,his enclosing arm1 and from the illumination of ,his indwelling grace4 ,so1 dear brethren6 this was the first and the gravest aspect under which the penitent and the forgiven man in my text thought of his past1 that in it1 when he was wildly and eagerly rushing after the low and sensuous gratification of his worst desires1 he was rebelling against1 and wandering far away from1 the ever-present ,friend1 the all-encircling support and joy1 the ,lord1 his life4 ,you do not understand the gravity of the most trivial wrong act when you think of it as a sin against the order of ,nature1 or against the law written on your heart1 or as the breach of the constitution of your own nature1 or as a crime against your fellows4 ,you have not got to the bottom of the blackness until you see that it is flat rebellion against ,god ,himself4 ,this is the true devilish element in all our transgression1 and this element is in it all4 ,oh6 if once we do get the habit formed and continued until it becomes almost instinctive and spontaneous1 of looking at each action of our lives in immediate and direct relation to ,god1 there would come such an apocalypse as would startle some of us into salutary dread1 and make us all feel that 'it is an evil and a bitter thing' 7and the two characteristics must always go together71 'to depart from the living ,god4' ,the great type of all wrongdoers is in that figure of the ,prodigal ,son1 and the essence of his fault was1 first1 that he selfishly demanded for his own his father's goods2 and1 second1 that he went away into a far country4 ,your sins have separated between you and ,god4 ,and when you do those little acts of selfish indulgence which you do twenty times a day1 without a prick of conscience1 each of them1 trivial as it is1 like some newly-hatched poisonous serpent1 a finger-length long1 has in it the serpent nature1 it is rebellion and separation from ,god4 ,then another aspect of the same foul thing rises before the ,psalmist's mind4 ,this evil which he has done1 which ,i suppose was the sin in the matter of ,bathsheba1 was not only rebellion against ,god1 but it was1 according to this text1 in the second clause1 'a sin1' by which is meant literally missing an aim4 ,so this word1 in its pregnant meaning1 corresponds with the signification of the ordinary ,new ,testament word for sin1 which also implies error1 or missing that which ought to be the goal of our lives4 ,that is to say1 whilst the former word regarded the evil deed mainly in its relation to ,god1 this word regards it mainly in its relation to ourselves1 and that which before ,him is rebellion1 the assertion of my own individuality and my own will1 and therefore in separation from ,his will1 is1 considered in reference to myself1 my fatally missing the mark to which my whole energy and effort ought to be directed4 ,all sin1 big or little1 is a blunder4 ,it never hits what it aims at1 and if it did1 it is aiming at the wrong thing4 ,so doubly1 all transgression is folly1 and the true name for the doer is ',thou fool6' ,for every evil misses the mark which1 regard being had to the man's obvious destiny1 he ought to aim at4 ',man's chief end is to glorify ,god and to enjoy ,him for ever'2 and whosoever in all his successes fails to realise that end is a failure through and through1 in whatever smaller matters he may seem to himself and to others to succeed4 ,he only strikes the target in the bull's eye who lets his arrows be deflected by no gusts of passion1 nor aimed wrong by any obliquity of vision2 but with firm hand and clear eye seeks and secures the absolute conformity of his will to the ,father's will1 and makes ,god his aim and end in all things4 ',thou hast created us for ,thyself1 and only in ,thee can we find rest4' ,o brother6 whatever be your aims and ends in life1 take this for the surest verity1 that you have fatally misunderstood the purpose of your being1 and the object to which you should strain1 if there is anything except ,god1 who is the supreme desire of your heart and the goal of your life4 ,all sin is missing the mark which ,god has set up for man4 ,therefore let us press to the mark where hangs the prize which whoso possesses succeeds1 whatsoever other trophies may have escaped his grasp4 ,but there is another aspect of this same thought1 and that is that every piece of evil misses its own shabby mark4 ',a rogue is a round-about fool4' ,no man ever gets1 in doing wrong1 the thing he did the wrong for1 or if he gets it1 he gets something else along with it that takes all the sweet taste out of it4 ,the thief secures the booty1 but he gets penal servitude besides4 ,sin tempts us with glowing tales of the delight to be found in drinking stolen waters and eating her bread in secret2 but sin lies by suppression of the truth1 if not by suggestions of the false1 because she says never a word about the sickness and the headache that come after the debauch1 nor about the poison that we drink down along with her sugared draughts4 ,the paltering fiend keeps the word of promise to the ear1 and breaks it to the hope4 ,all sin1 great or little1 is a blunder1 and missing of the mark4 ,and lastly1 yet another aspect of the ugly thing rises before the ,psalmist's eye4 ,in reference to ,god1 evil is separation and rebellion2 in reference to myself1 it is an error and missing of my true goal2 and in reference to the straight standard and law of duty1 it is1 according to the last of the three words for sin in the text1 'iniquity1' or1 literally1 something twisted or distorted4 ,it is thus brought into contrast with the right line of the plain1 straight path in which we ought to walk4 ,we have the same metaphor in our own language4 ,we talk about things being right and wrong1 by which we mean1 in the one case1 parallel with the rigid law of duty1 and in the other case1 'wrung1' or wavering1 crooked and divergent from it4 ,there is a standard as well as a ,judge1 and we have not only to think of evil as being rebellion against ,god and separation from ,him1 and as1 for ourselves1 issuing in fatal missing of the mark1 but also as being divergent from the one manifest law to which we ought to be conformed4 ,the path to ,god is a right line2 the shortest road from earth to ,heaven is absolutely straight4 ,the ,czar of ,russia1 when railways were introduced into that country1 was asked to determine the line between ,st4 ,petersburg and ,moscow4 ,he took a ruler and drew a straight line across the map1 and said1 ',there6' ,our ,autocrat has drawn a line as straight as the road from earth to ,heaven1 and by the side of it are 'the crooked1 wandering ways in which we live4' ,take these three thoughts then--as for law1 divergence2 as for the aim of my life1 a fatal miss2 as for ,god1 my ,friend and my ,life1 rebellion and separation--and you have1 if not the complete physiognomy of evil1 at least grave thoughts concerning it1 which become all the graver when we think that they are true about us and about our deeds4 ,,ii4 ,and so let me ask you to look secondly at the blessed picture drawn here of the removal of the sin4 ,there are three words here for forgiveness1 each of which adds its quota to the general thought4 ,it is 'forgiven1' 'covered1' 'not imputed4' ,the accumulation of synonyms not only sets forth various aspects of pardon1 but triumphantly celebrates the completeness and certainty of the gift4 ,as to the first1 it means literally to lift and bear away a load or burden4 ,as to the second1 it means1 plainly enough1 to cover over1 as one might do some foul thing1 that it may no longer offend the eye or smell rank to ,heaven4 ,bees in their hives1 when there is anything corrupt and too large for them to remove1 fling a covering of wax over it1 and hermetically seal it1 and no foul odour comes from it4 ,and so a man's sin is covered over and ceases to be in evidence1 as it were before the divine ,eye that sees all things4 ,he ,himself casts a merciful veil over it and hides it from ,himself4 ,a similar idea1 though with a modification in metaphor1 is included in that last word1 the sin is not reckoned4 ,god does not write it down in ,his ,great ,book on the debit side of the man's account4 ,and these three things1 the lifting up and carrying away of the load1 the covering over of the obscene and ugly thing1 the non-reckoning in the account of the evil deed2 these three things taken together do set forth before us the great and blessed truth that a man's transgressions may become1 in so far as the divine heart and the divine dealings with him are concerned1 as if nonexistent4 ,men tell us that that is not possible and that it is immoral to preach a doctrine of forgiveness4 ,o dear brethren6 there is no gospel to preach that will touch a man's heart except the gospel that begins with this--,god bears away1 covers over1 does not reckon to a man1 his rebellions1 his errors1 his departures from the law of right4 ,sin is capable of forgiveness1 and1 blessed be ,god6 every sin ,he is ready to forgive4 ,i should be ashamed of myself to stand here1 and not preach a gospel of pardon4 ,i know not anything else that will touch consciences and draw hearts except this gospel1 which ,i am trying in my poor way to lay upon your hearts4 ,notice how my text includes also a glance at the condition on our part on which this absolute and utter annihilation of our wicked past is possible4 ,that last clause of my text1 ',in whose spirit there is no guile1' seems to me to refer to the frank sincerity of a confession1 which does not try to tell lies to ,god1 and1 attempting to deceive ,him1 really deceives only the self-righteous sinner4 ,whosoever opens his heart to ,god1 makes a clean breast of it1 and without equivocation or self-deception or the palliations which self-love teaches1 says1 ',i have played the fool and erred exceedingly1' to that man the ,psalmist thinks pardon is sure to come4 ,now remember that the very heart and centre of that ,jewish system was an altar1 and that on that altar was sacrificed the expiatory victim4 ,i am not going to insist upon any theory of an atonement1 but ,i do want to urge this1 that ,christianity is nothing1 if it have not explained and taken up into itself that which was symbolised in that old ritual4 ,the very first words from human lips which proclaimed ,christ's advent to man were1 ',behold the ,lamb of ,god1 which taketh away the sin of the world1' and amongst the last words which ,christ spoke upon earth1 in the way of teaching ,his disciples1 were these1 ',this is ,my blood1 shed for many for the remission of sins4' ,the ,cross of ,christ explains my psalm1 the ,cross of ,christ answers the confidence of the ,psalmist1 which was fed upon the shadow of the good things to come4 ,he has died1 the ,just for the unjust1 that the sins which were laid upon ,him might be taken away1 covered1 and not reckoned to us4 ,brethren6 unless my sins are taken away by the ,lamb of ,god they remain4 ,unless they are laid upon ,christ1 they crush me4 ,unless they are covered by ,his expiation1 they lie there before the ,throne of ,god1 and cry for punishment4 ,unless ,his blood has wiped out the record that is against us1 the black page stands for ever4 ,and to you and me there will be said one day1 in a voice which we dare not dispute1 ',pay ,me that thou owest6' ,the blacker the sin the brighter the ,christ4 ,i would that ,i could lay upon all your hearts this belief1 'the blood of ,jesus ,christ1' and nothing else1 'cleanses from all sin6' ,,iii4 ,i will touch in a word only upon the last thought suggested by the text1 and that is the blessedness of this removal of sin4 ,as ,i said1 my text is really an exclamation1 a gush of rapture from a heart that is tasting the fresh-drawn blessedness of pardon4 ,and the rest of the psalm is little more than an explanation of the various aspects and phases of that blessedness4 ,let me just run over them in the briefest possible manner4 ,if we receive this forgiveness through ,jesus ,christ and our faith in ,him1 then we have manifold blessedness in one4 ,there is the blessedness of deliverance from sullen remorse and of the dreadful pangs of an accusing conscience4 ,how vividly1 and evidently as a transcript from a page in his own autobiography1 the ,psalmist describes that condition1 ',when ,i kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long'6 ,when a man's heart is locked against confession he hears a tumult of accusing voices within himself1 and remorse and dread creep over his heart4 ,the pains of sullen remorse were never described more truly and more dreadfully than in this context4 ',day and night ,thy hand was heavy upon me1 my moisture is turned into the drought of summer4' ,some of us may know something of that4 ,but there is a worse state than that1 and one or other of the two states belongs to us4 ,if we have not found our way into the liberty of confession and forgiveness1 we have but a choice between the pains of an awakened conscience and the desolation of a dead one4 ,it is worse to have no voice within than to have an accusing one4 ,it is worse to feel no pressure of a divine ,hand than to feel it4 ,and they whose consciences are seared as with a hot iron have sounded the lowest depths4 ,they are perfectly comfortable1 quite happy2 they say all these feelings that ,i am trying to suggest to you seem to them to be folly4 ',they make a solitude and call it peace4' ,it is an awful thing when a man has come to this point1 that he has got past the accusations of conscience1 and can swallow down the fiercest draughts without feeling them burn4 ,dear brethren6 there is only one deliverance from an accusing conscience which does not murder the conscience1 and that is that we should find our way into the peace of ,god which is through ,christ ,jesus and ,his atoning death4 ,then1 again1 my psalm goes on to speak about the blessedness of a close clinging to ,god in peaceful trust1 which will ensure security in the midst of all trials1 and a hiding-place against every storm4 ,the ,psalmist uses a magnificent figure4 ,god is to him as some rocky island1 steadfast and dry1 in the midst of a widespread inundation2 and taking refuge there in the clefts of the rock1 he looks down upon the tossing1 shoreless sea of troubles and sorrows that breaks upon the rocky barriers of his ,patmos1 and stands safe and dry4 ,only through forgiveness do we come into that close communion with ,god which ensures safety in all disasters4 ,and then there follows the blessedness of a gentle guidance and of a loving obedience4 ',thou shalt guide me with ,thine eye4' ,no need for force1 no need for bit and bridle1 no need for anything but the glance of the ,father1 which the child delights to obey4 ,docility1 glad obedience unprompted by fear1 based upon love1 are the fruits of pardon through the blood of ,christ4 ,and1 lastly1 there is the blessedness of exuberant gladness2 the joy that comes from the sorrow according to ,god is a joy that will last4 ,all other delights1 in their nature1 are perishable2 all other raptures1 by the very necessity of their being and of ours1 die down1 sometimes into vanity1 always into commonplace or indifference4 ,but the joy that springs in the pardoned heart1 and is fed by closeness of communion with ,god1 and by continual obedience to ,his blessed guidance1 has in it nothing that can fade1 nothing that can burn out1 nothing that can be disturbed4 ,the deeper the penitence the surer the rebound into gladness4 ,the more a man goes down into the depths of his own heart and learns his own evil1 the more will he1 trusting in ,christ1 rise into the serene heights of thankfulness1 and live1 if not in rapture1 at least in the calm joy of conscious communion and unending fellowship4 ,every tear may be crystallised into a diamond that shall flash in the light4 ,and they1 and only they1 who begin in the valley of weeping1 confessing their sins and imploring forgiveness through the merits and mediation of ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 will rise to heights of a joy that remains1 and remaining1 is full4 ,,the ,,encamping ,,angel ',the ,angel of the ,lord encampeth round about them that fear ,him1 and delivereth them4'--,,psalm xxxiv4 #g4 ,if we accept the statement in the superscription of this psalm1 it dates from one of the darkest hours in ,david's life4 ,his fortunes were never lower than when he fled from ,gath1 the city of ,goliath1 to ,adullam4 ,he never appears in a less noble light than when he feigned madness to avert the dangers which he might well dread there4 ,how unlike the terror and self-degradation of the man who 'scrabbled on the doors1' and let 'the spittle run down his beard1' is the heroic and saintly constancy of this noble psalm6 ,and yet the contrast is not so violent as to make the superscription improbable1 and the tone of the whole well corresponds to what we should expect from a man delivered from some great peril1 but still surrounded with dangers4 ,there1 in the safety of his retreat among the rocks1 with the bit of level ground where he had fought ,goliath just at his feet in the valley1 and ,gath1 from which he had escaped1 away down at the mouth of the glen 7if ,conder's identification of ,adullam be correct71 he sings his song of trust and praise2 he hears the lions roar among the rocks where ,samson had found them in his day2 he teaches his 'children1' the band of broken men who there began to gather around him1 the fear of the ,lord2 and calls upon them to help him in his praise4 ,what a picture of the outlaw and his wild followers tamed into something like order1 and lifted into something like worship1 rises before us1 if we follow the guidance of that old commentary contained in the superscription6 ,the words of our text gain especial force and vividness by thus localising the psalm4 ,not only 'the clefts of the rock' but the presence of ,god's ,angel is his defence2 and round him is flung1 not only the strength of the hills1 but the garrison and guard of heaven4 ,it is generally supposed that the ',angel of the ,lord' here is to be taken collectively1 and that the meaning is--the 'bright-harnessed' hosts of these divine messengers are as an army of protectors round them who fear ,god4 ,but ,i see no reason for departing from the simpler and certainly grander meaning which results from taking the word in its proper force of a singular4 ,true1 ,scripture does speak of the legions of ministering spirits1 who in their chariots of fire were once seen by suddenly opened eyes 'round about' a prophet in peril1 and are ever ministering to the heirs of salvation4 ,but ,scripture also speaks of ,one1 who is in an eminent sense 'the ,angel of the ,lord'2 in whom1 as in none other1 ,god sets ,his ',name'2 whose form1 dimly seen1 towers above even the ranks of the angels that 'excel in strength'2 whose offices and attributes blend in mysterious fashion with those of ,god ,himself4 ,there may be some little incongruity in thinking of the single ,person as 'encamping round about' us2 but that does not seem a sufficient reason for obliterating the reference to that remarkable ,old ,testament doctrine1 the retention of which seems to me to add immensely to the power of the words4 ,remember some of the places in which the ',angel of the ,lord' appears1 in order to appreciate more fully the grandeur of this promised protection4 ,at that supreme moment when ,abraham 'took the knife to slay his son1' the voice that 'called to him out of heaven' was 'the voice of the ,angel of the ,lord4' ,he assumes the power of reversing a divine command4 ,he says1 ',thou hast not withheld thy son1 thine only son1 from ,me1' and then pronounces a blessing1 in the utterance of which one cannot distinguish ,his voice from the voice of ,jehovah4 ,in like manner it is the ,angel of the ,lord that speaks to ,jacob1 and says1 ',i am the ,god of ,bethel4' ,the dying patriarch invokes in the same breath 'the ,god which fed me all my life long1' 'the ,angel which redeemed me from all evil1' to bless the boys that stand before him1 with their wondering eyes gazing in awe on his blind face4 ,it was that ,angel's glory that appeared to the outcast1 flaming in the bush that burned unconsumed4 ,it was ,he who stood before the warrior leader of ,israel1 sword in hand1 and proclaimed ,himself to be the ,captain of the ,lord's host1 the ,leader of the armies of heaven1 and the true ,leader of the armies of ,israel2 and ,his commands to ,joshua1 ,his lieutenant1 are the commands of 'the ,lord4' ,and1 to pass over other instances1 ,isaiah correctly sums up the spirit of the whole earlier history in words which go far to lift the conception of this ,angel of the ,lord out of the region of created beings--',in all their affliction ,he was afflicted1 and the ,angel of ,his face saved them1' ,it is this lofty and mysterious ,messenger1 and not the hosts whom ,he commands1 that our ,psalmist sees standing ready to help1 as ,he once stood1 sword-bearing by the side of ,joshua4 ,to the warrior leader1 to the warrior ,psalmist1 ,he appears1 as their needs required1 armoured and militant4 ,the last of the prophets saw that dim1 mysterious ,figure1 and proclaimed1 ',the ,lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to ,his temple2 even the ,angel of the ,covenant1 whom ye delight in'2 and to his gaze it was wrapped in obscure majesty and terror of purifying flame4 ,but for us the true ,messenger of the ,lord is ,his ,son1 whom ,he has sent1 in whom ,he has put ,his name2 who is the ,angel of ,his face1 in that we behold the glory of ,god in the face of ,jesus ,christ2 who is the ,angel of the ,covenant1 in that ,he has sealed the new and everlasting covenant with ,his blood2 and whose own parting promise1 ',lo6 ,i am with you always1' is the highest fulfilment to us ,christians of that ancient confidence3 ',the ,angel of the ,lord encampeth round about them that fear ,him4' ,whatever view we adopt of the significance of the first part of the text1 the force and beauty of the metaphor in the second remain the same4 ,if this psalm were indeed the work of the fugitive in his rocky hold at ,adullam1 how appropriate the thought becomes that his little encampment has such a guard4 ,it reminds one of the incident in ,jacob's life1 when his timid and pacific nature was trembling at the prospect of meeting ,esau1 and when1 as he travelled along1 encumbered with his pastoral wealth1 and scantily provided with means of defence1 'the angels of ,god met him1 and he named the place ,mahanaim1' that is1 two camps--his own feeble company1 mostly made up of women and children1 and that heavenly host that hovered above them4 ,david's faith sees the same defence encircling his weakness1 and though sense saw no protection for him and his men but their own strong arms and their mountain fastness1 his opened eyes beheld the mountain full of the chariots of fire1 and the flashing of armour and light in the darkness of his cave4 ,the vision of the divine presence ever takes the form which our circumstances most require4 ,david's then need was safety and protection4 ,therefore he saw the ,encamping ,angel2 even as to ,joshua the leader ,he appeared as the ,captain of the ,lord's host2 and as to ,isaiah1 in the year that the throne of ,judah was emptied by the death of the earthly king1 was given the vision of the ,lord sitting on a throne1 the ,king ,eternal and ,immortal4 ,so to us all ,his grace shapes its expression according to our wants1 and the same gift is ,protean in its power of transformation2 being to one man wisdom1 to another strength1 to the solitary companionship1 to the sorrowful consolation1 to the glad sobering1 to the thinker truth1 to the worker practical force--to each his heart's desire1 if the heart's delight be ,god4 ,so manifold are the aspects of ,god's infinite sufficiency1 that every soul1 in every possible variety of circumstance1 will find there just what will suit it4 ,that armour fits every man who puts it on4 ,that deep fountain is like some of those fabled springs which give forth whatsoever precious draught any thirsty lip asked4 ,he takes the shape that our circumstances most need4 ,let us see that we1 on our parts1 use our circumstances to help us in anticipating the shapes in which ,god will draw near for our help4 ,learn1 too1 from this image1 in which the ,psalmist appropriates to himself the experience of a past generation1 how we ought to feed our confidence and enlarge our hopes by all ,god's past dealings with men4 ,david looks back to ,jacob1 and believes that the old fact is repeated in his own day4 ,so every old story is true for us2 though outward form may alter1 inward substance remains the same4 ,mahanaim is still the name of every place where a man who loves ,god pitches his tent4 ,we may be wandering1 solitary1 defenceless1 but we are not alone4 ,our feeble encampment may lie open to assault1 and we be all unfit to guard it1 but the other camp is there too1 and our enemies must force their way through it before they get at us4 ,we are in its centre--as they put the cattle and the sick in the midst of the encampment on the prairies when they fear an assault from the ,indians--because we are so weak4 ,jacob's experience may be ours3 ',the ,lord of ,hosts is with us3 the ,god of ,jacob is our refuge4' ,only remember that the eye of faith alone can see that guard1 and that therefore we must labour to keep our consciousness of its reality fresh and vivid4 ,many a man in ,david's little band saw nothing but cold gray stone where ,david saw the flashing armour of the heavenly ,warrior4 ,to the one all the mountain blazed with fiery chariots1 to the other it was a lone hillside1 with the wind moaning among the rocks4 ,we shall lose the joy and the strength of that divine protection unless we honestly and constantly try to keep our sense of it bright4 ,eyes that have been gazing on earthly joys1 or perhaps gloating on evil sights1 cannot see the ,angel presence4 ,a ,christian man1 on a road which he cannot travel with a clear conscience1 will see no angel1 not even the ,angel with the drawn sword in ,his hand1 that barred ,balaam's path among the vineyards4 ,a man coming out of some room blazing with light cannot all at once see into the violet depths of the mighty heavens1 that lie above him with all their shimmering stars4 ,so this truth of our text is a truth of faith1 and the believing eye alone beholds the ,angel of the ,lord4 ,notice1 too1 that final word of deliverance4 ,this psalm is continually recurring to that idea4 ,the word occurs four times in it1 and the thought still oftener4 ,whether the date is rightly given1 as we have assumed it to be1 or not1 at all events that harping upon this one phrase indicates that some season of great trial was its birth-time1 when all the writer's thoughts were engrossed and his prayers summed up in the one thing--deliverance4 ,he is quite sure that such deliverance must follow if the ,angel presence be there4 ,but he knows too that the encampment of the ,angel of the ,lord will not keep away sorrows1 and trial1 and sharp need4 ,so his highest hope is not of immunity from these1 but of rescue out of them4 ,and his ground of hope is that his heavenly ,ally cannot let him be overcome4 ,that ,he will let him be troubled and put in peril he has found2 that ,he will not let him be crushed he believes4 ,shadowed and modest hopes are the brightest we can venture to cherish4 ,the protection which we have is protection in1 and not protection from1 strife and danger4 ,it is a filter which lets the icy cold water of sorrow drop numbing upon us1 but keeps back the poison that was in it4 ,we have to fight1 but ,he will fight with us2 to sorrow1 but not alone nor without hope2 to pass through many a peril1 but we shall get through them4 ,deliverance1 which implies danger1 need1 and woe1 is the best we can hope for4 ,it is the least we are entitled to expect if we love ,him4 ,it is the certain issue of ,his encamping round about us4 ,always with us1 ,he will strike for us at the best moment4 ,the ,lord ,god is in the midst of her always2 'the ,lord will help her1 and that right early4' ,so like the hunted fugitive in ,adullam we may lift up our confident voices even when the stress of strife and sorrow is upon us2 and though ,gath be in sight and ,saul just over the hills1 and we have no better refuge than a cave in a hillside2 yet in prophecy built upon our consciousness that the ,angel of the ,covenant is with us now1 we may antedate the deliverance that shall be1 and think of it as even now accomplished4 ,so the ,apostle1 when within sight of the block and the headsman's axe1 broke into the rapture of his last words3 ',the ,lord shall deliver me from every evil work1 and will preserve me to ,his heavenly kingdom3 to whom be glory for ever and ever4 ,amen4' ,was he wrong8 ,,struggling ,,and ,,seeking ',the young lions do lack1 and suffer hunger3 but they that seek the ,lord shall not want any good thing4'--,,psalm xxxiv4 #aj4 ,if we may trust the superscription of this psalm1 it was written by ,david at one of the very darkest days of his wanderings1 probably in the ,cave of ,adullam1 where he had gathered around him a band of outlaws1 and was living1 to all appearance1 a life uncommonly like that of a brigand chief1 in the hills4 ,one might have pardoned him if1 at such a moment1 some cloud of doubt or despondency had crept over his soul4 ,but instead of that his words are running over with gladness1 and the psalm begins ',i will bless the ,lord at all times1 and ,his praise shall continually be in my mouth4' ,similarly here he avers1 even at a moment when he wanted a great deal of what the world calls 'good1' that 'they that seek the ,lord shall not want any good thing4' ,there were lions in ,palestine in ,david's time4 ,he had had a fight with one of them1 as you may remember1 and his lurking place was probably not far off the scene of ,samson's exploits4 ,very likely they were prowling about the rocky mouth of the cave1 and he weaves their howls into his psalm3 ',the young lions do lack1 and suffer hunger3 but they that seek the ,lord shall not want any good4' ,so1 then1 here are the two thoughts--the struggle that always fails and the seeking that always finds4 ,i4 ,the struggle that always fails4 ',the young lions do lack1 and suffer hunger4' ,they are taken as the type of violent effort and struggle1 as well as of supreme strength1 but for all their teeth and claws1 and lithe spring1 'they lack1 and suffer hunger4' ,the suggestion is1 that the men whose lives are one long fight to appropriate to themselves more and more of outward good1 are living a kind of life that is fitter for beasts than for men4 ,a fierce struggle for material good is the true description of the sort of life that hosts of us live4 ,what is the meaning of all this cry that we hear about the murderous competition going on round us8 ,what is the true character of the lives of1 ,i am afraid1 the majority of people in a city like ,manchester1 but a fight and a struggle1 a desire to have1 and a failure to obtain8 ,let us remember that that sort of existence is for the brutes1 and that there is a better way of getting what is good2 the only fit way for man4 ,beasts of prey1 naturalists tell us1 are always lean4 ,it is the graminivorous order that meekly and peacefully crop the pastures that are well fed and in good condition--'which things are an allegory4' ',the young lions do lack1 and suffer hunger'--and that1 being interpreted1 just states the fact to which every man's experience1 and the observation of every man that has an eye in his head1 distinctly say1 ',amen1 it is so4' ,for there is no satisfaction or success ever to be won by this way of fighting and struggling and scheming and springing at the prey4 ,for if we do not utterly fail1 which is the lot of so many of us1 still partial success has little power of bringing perfect satisfaction to a human spirit4 ,one loss counterbalances any number of gains4 ,no matter how soft is the mattress1 if there is one tiny thorn sticking up through it all the softness goes for nothing4 ,there is always a ,mordecai sitting at the gate when ,haman goes prancing through it on his white horse2 and the presence of the unsympathetic and stiff-backed ,jew1 sitting stolid at the gate1 takes the gilt off the gingerbread1 and embitters the enjoyment4 ,so men count up their disappointments1 and forget all their fulfilled hopes1 count up their losses and forget their gains4 ,they think less of the thousands that they have gained than of the half-crown that they were cheated of4 ,in every way it is true that the little annoyances1 like a grain of dust in the sensitive eye1 take all the sweetness out of mere material good1 and ,i suppose that there are no more bitterly disappointed men in this world than the perfectly 'successful men1' as the world counts them4 ,they have been disillusionised in the process of acquisition4 ,when they were young and lusted after earthly good things1 these seemed to be all that they needed4 ,when they are old1 and have them1 they find that they are feeding on ashes1 and the grit breaks their teeth1 and irritates their tongues4 ,the 'young lions do lack' even when their roar and their spring 'have secured the prey1' and 'they suffer hunger' even when they have fed full4 ,ay6 for if the utmost possible measure of success were granted us1 in any department in which the way of getting the thing is this fighting and effort1 we should be as far away from being at rest as ever we were4 ,you remember the old story of the ,arabian ,nights1 about the wonderful palace that was built by magic1 and all whose windows were set in precious stones1 but there was one window that remained unadorned1 and that spoiled all for the owner4 ,his palace was full of treasures1 but an enemy looked on all the wealth and suggested a previously unnoticed defect by saying1 ',you have not a roc's egg4' ,he had never thought about getting a roc's egg1 and did not know what it was4 ,but the consciousness of something lacking had been roused1 and it marred his enjoyment of what he had and drove him to set out on his travels to secure the missing thing4 ,there is always something lacking1 for our desires grow far faster than their satisfactions1 and the more we have1 the wider our longing reaches out1 so that as the wise old ,book has it1 ',he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver1 nor he that loveth abundance with increase4' ,you cannot fill a soul with the whole universe1 if you do not put ,god in it4 ,one of the greatest works of fiction of modern times ends1 or all but ends1 with a sentence something like this1 ',ah6 who of us has what he wanted1 or having it1 is satisfied8' ',the young lions do lack1 and suffer hunger'--and the struggle always fails--'but they that seek the ,lord shall not want any good thing4' ,,ii4 ,the seeking which always finds4 ,now1 how do we 'seek the ,lord'8 ,it is a metaphorical expression1 of course1 which needs to be carefully interpreted in order not to lead us into a great mistake4 ,we do not seek ,him as if ,he had not sought us1 or was hiding from us4 ,but our search of ,him is search after one who is near every one of us1 and who delights in nothing so much as in pouring ,himself into every heart and mind1 and will and life1 if only heart1 mind1 will1 life1 are willing to accept ,him4 ,it is a short search that the child by her mother's skirts1 or her father's side1 has to make for mother or father4 ,it is a shorter search that we have to make for ,god4 ,we seek ,him by desire4 ,do you want ,him8 ,a great many of us do not4 ,we seek ,him by communion1 by turning our thoughts to ,him1 amidst all the rush of daily life1 and such a turning of thought to ,him1 which is quite possible1 will prevent our most earnest working upon things material from descending to the likeness of the lions' fighting for it4 ,we seek ,him by desire1 by communion1 by obedience4 ,and they who thus seek ,him find ,him in the act of seeking ,him1 just as certainly as if ,i open my eye ,i see the sun1 or as if ,i dilate my lungs the atmosphere rushes into them4 ,for ,he is always seeking us4 ,that is a beautiful word of our ,lord's to which we do not always attach all its value1 ',the ,father seeketh such to worship ,him4' ,why put the emphasis upon the 'such1' as if it was a definition of the only kind of acceptable worship8 ,it is that4 ,but we might put more emphasis upon the 'seeketh' without spoiling the logic of the sentence2 and thereby we should come nearer the truth of what ,god's heart to us is1 so that if we do seek ,him1 we shall surely find4 ,in this region1 and in this region only1 there is no search that is vain1 there is no effort that is foiled1 there is no desire unaccomplished1 there is no failure possible4 ,we each of us have1 accurately and precisely1 as much of ,god as we desire to have4 ,if there is only a very little of the ,water of ,life in our vessels1 it is because we did not care to possess any more4 ',seek1 and ye shall find4' ,we shall be sure to find everything in ,god4 ,look at the grand confidence1 and the utterance of a life's experience in these great words3 ',shall not want any good4' ,for ,god is everything to us1 and everything else is nothing2 and it is the presence of ,god in anything that makes it truly able to satisfy our desires4 ,human love1 sweet and precious1 dearest and best of all earthly possessions as it is1 fails to fill a heart unless the love grasps ,god as well as the beloved dying creature4 ,and so with regard to all other things4 ,they are good when ,god is in them1 and when they are ours in ,god4 ,they are nought when wrenched away from ,him4 ,we are sure to find everything in ,him1 for this is the very property of that infinite divine nature that is waiting to impart itself to us1 that1 like water poured into a vessel1 it will take the shape of the vessel into which it is poured4 ,whatever is my need1 the one ,god will supply it all4 ,you remember the old ,rabbinical tradition which speaks a deep truth1 dressed in a fanciful shape4 ,it says that the manna in the wilderness tasted to every man just what he desired1 whatever dainty or nutriment he most wished2 that the manna became like the magic cup in the old fairy legends1 out of which could be poured any precious liquor at the pleasure of the man who was to drink it4 ,the one ,god is everything to us all1 anything that we desire1 and the thing that we need2 ,protean in ,his manifestations1 one in ,his sufficiency4 ,with ,him1 as well as in ,him1 we are sure to have all that we require4 ',seek ye first the ,kingdom 444 and all these things shall be added unto you4' ,let us begin1 dear brethren6 with seeking1 and then our struggling will not be violent1 nor self-willed1 nor will it fail4 ,if we begin with seeking1 and have ,god1 be sure that all we need we shall get1 and that what we do not get we do not need4 ,it is hard to believe it when our vehement wishes go out to something that ,his serene wisdom does not send4 ,it is hard to believe it when our bleeding hearts are being wrenched away from something around which they have clung4 ,but it is true for all that4 ,and he that can say1 ',whom have ,i in heaven but ,thee1 and there is none upon earth that ,i desire beside ,thee1' will find that the things which he enjoys in subordination to his one supreme good are a thousand times more precious when they are regarded as second than they ever could be when our folly tried to make them first4 ',seek first the ,kingdom1' and be contented that the 'other things' shall be appendices1 additions1 over and above the one thing that is needful4 ,now1 all that is very old-fashioned1 threadbare truth4 ,dear brethren6 if we believed it1 and lived by it1 'the peace of ,god which passes understanding' would 'keep our hearts and minds4' ,and1 instead of fighting and losing1 and desiring to have and howling out because we cannot obtain1 we should patiently wait before ,him1 submissively ask1 earnestly seek1 immediately find1 and always possess and be satisfied with1 the one good for body1 soul1 and spirit1 which is ,god ,himself4 ',there be many that cry1 ,oh6 that one would show as any good4' ,the wise do not cry to men1 but pray to ,god4 ',lord6 lift ,thou the light of ,thy countenance upon us4' ,,no ,,condemnation ',none of them that trust in ,him shall be desolate4' --,,psalm xxxiv4 #bb4 ,these words are very inadequately represented in the translation of the ,authorised ,version4 ,the ,psalmist's closing declaration is something very much deeper than that they who trust in ,god 'shall not be desolate4' ,if you look at the previous clause1 you will see that we must expect something more than such a particular blessing as that3--',the ,lord redeemeth the soul of ,his servants4' ,it is a great drop from that thought1 instead of being a climax1 to follow it with nothing more than1 ',none of them that trust in ,him shall be desolate4' ,but the ,revised ,version accurately renders the words3 ',none of them that trust in ,him shall be condemned4' ,there we have something that is worthy to follow ',the ,lord redeemeth the soul of ,his servants1' and we have a most striking anticipation of the clearest and most ,evangelical teaching of the ,new ,testament4 ,the entirely ,new ,testament tone of these words of the psalm comes out still more clearly1 if we recognise that1 not only in the latter1 but in the former1 part of the clause1 we have one of the very keynotes of ,new ,testament teaching4 ,when we read in the ,new ,testament that 'we are justified by faith1' the meaning is precisely the same as that of our text4 ,thus1 however it came about1 here is this ,psalmist1 ,david or another1 standing away back amidst the shadows and symbols and ritualisms of that ,old ,covenant1 and rising at once above all the mists1 right up into the sunshine1 and seeing1 as clearly as we see it nineteen centuries after ,jesus ,christ1 that the way to escape condemnation is simple faith4 ,let us look at both of the parts of these great words4 ,we consider-- ,i4 ,the people that are spoken of here4 ',none of them that trust in ,him'--,i need not1 ,i suppose1 further dwell upon the absolute identity shown by this phrase between the ,old and the ,new ,testament conceptions2 but ,i should like to make a remark1 which ,i dare say ,i have often made before--it cannot be made too often--that1 whatever be the differences between the ,old and the ,new1 this is not the difference1 that they present two different ways of approaching ,god4 ,there are a great many differences2 the conception of the divine nature is no doubt infinitely deepened1 made more tender and more lofty1 by the thought of the ,fatherhood of ,god4 ,the contents of the revelation which our faith is to grasp are brought out far more definitely and articulately and fully in the ,new ,testament4 ,but in the ,old1 the road to ,god was the same as it is to-day2 and from the beginning there has only been1 and through all ,eternity there will only be1 one path by which men can have access to the ,father1 and that is by faith4 ',trust' is the ,old ,testament word1 'faith' is the ,new4 ,they are absolutely identical1 and there would have been a flood of light--sorely needed by a great many good people--cast upon the relations between those two complementary and harmonious halves of a consistent whole1 if our translators had not been influenced by their unfortunate love for varying translations of the same word1 but had contented themselves with choosing one of these two words 'trust' or 'faith1' and had used that one consistently and uniformly throughout the ,old and ,new books4 ,then we should have understood1 what anybody who will open his eyes can see now1 that what the ,new ,testament magnifies as 'faith' is identical with what the ,old ,testament sets forth as 'trust4' ',none of them that trust in ,him shall be condemned4' ,but there is one more remark to make on this matter1 and that is that a great flood of light1 and of more than light1 of encouragement and of stimulus1 is cast upon that saving exercise of trust by noticing the literal meaning of the word that is rightly so rendered here4 ,all those words1 especially in the ,old ,testament1 that express emotions or acts of the mind1 originally applied to corporeal acts or material things4 ,i suppose that is so in all language4 ,it is very conspicuously so in the ,hebrew4 ,and the word that is here translated1 rightly1 'trust1' means literally to fly to a refuge1 or to betake oneself to some defence in order to get shelter there4 ,there is a trace of both meanings1 the literal and the metaphorical1 in another psalm1 where we read1 amidst the ,psalmist's rapturous heaping together of great names for ,god3 ',my ,rock1 in whom ,i will trust4' ,now keep to the literal meaning there1 and you see how it flashes up the whole into beauty3 ',my ,rock1 to whom ,i will flee for refuge1' and put my back against it1 and stand as impregnable as it2 or get myself well into the clefts of it1 and then nothing can touch me4 ',rock of ,ages6 cleft for me1 ,let me hide myself in ,thee4' ,then we find the same words1 with the picture of flight and the reality of faith1 used with another set of associations in another psalm1 which says3 ',he shall cover thee with ,his feathers1 and under ,his wings shalt thou trust4' ,that grates1 one gets away from the metaphor too quickly2 but if we preserve the literal meaning1 and read1 'under ,his wings shalt thou flee for refuge1' we have the picture of the chicken flying to the mother-bird when kites are in the sky1 and huddling close to the warm breast and the soft downy feathers1 and so with the spread of the great wing being sheltered from all possibility of harm4 ,this psalm is ascribed to ,david when he was in hiding4 ,the superscription says that it is 'a psalm of ,david1 when he changed his behaviour before ,abimelech2 who drove him away1 and he departed4' ,and where did he go8 ,to the cave in the rock4 ,and as he sat in the mouth of it1 with the rude arch stretching above him1 like the wings of some great bird1 feeling himself absolutely safe1 he said1 ',none of them that take refuge in ,thee shall be condemned4' ,does not that metaphor teach us a great deal more of what faith is1 and encourage us far more to exercise it1 than much theological hair-splitting8 ,what lies in the metaphor8 ,two things1 the earnest eagerness of the act of flight1 and the absolute security which comes when we have reached the shadow of the great ,rock in a weary land4 ,but there is one thing more that ,i would notice1 and that is that this designation of the persons as 'them that trust in ,him' follows last of all in a somewhat lengthened series of designations for good people4 ,they are these3 'the righteous'--'them that are of a broken heart'--'such as be of a contrite spirit'--',his servants1' and then1 lastly1 comes1 as basis of all1 as1 so to speak1 the keynote of all1 'none of them that trust in ,him4' ,that is to say--righteousness1 true and blessed pulverising of the obstinate insensibility of self alienated from ,god1 true and blessed consciousness of sin1 joyful surrender of self to loving and grateful submission to ,god's will1 are all connected with or flow from that act of trust in ,him4 ,and if you are trusting in ,him1 in anything more than the mere formal1 dead way in which multitudes of nominal ,christians in all our congregations are doing so1 your trust will produce all these various fruits of righteousness1 and lowliness1 and joyful service4 ',faith' or 'trust' is the mother of all graces and virtues1 and it produces them all because it directly kindles the creative flame of an answering love to ,him in whom we trust4 ,so much1 then1 for the first part of my remarks4 ,consider1 next-- ,,ii4 ,the blessing here promised4 ',none of them that trust in ,him shall be condemned4' ,the word which is inadequately rendered 'desolate1' and more accurately 'condemned1' includes the following varying shades of meaning1 which1 although they are various1 are all closely connected1 as you will see--to incur guilt1 to feel guilty1 to be condemned1 to be punished4 ,all these four are inextricably blended together4 ,and the fact that the one word in the ,old ,testament covers all that ground suggests some very solemn thoughts4 ,first of all1 it suggests this1 that guilt1 or sin1 and condemnation and punishment1 are1 if not absolutely identical1 inseparable4 ,to be guilty is to be condemned4 ,that is to say1 since we live1 as we do1 under the continual grip of an infinitely wise and all-knowing law1 and in the presence of a ,judge who not only sees us as we are1 but treats us as ,he sees us--sin and guilt go together1 as every man knows that has a conscience4 ,and sin and guilt and condemnation and punishment go together1 as every man may see in the world1 and experience in himself4 ,to be separated from ,god1 which is the immediate effect of sin1 is to pass into hell here4 ',every transgression and disobedience1' not only 'shall receive its just recompense1' away out yonder1 in some misty1 far-off1 hypothetical future1 but down here to-day4 ,all sin works automatically1 and to do wrong is to be punished for doing it4 ,then my text suggests another solemn thought1 and that is that this judgment1 this condemnation1 is not only present1 according to our ,lord's own great words1 which perhaps are an allusion to these3 ',he that believeth not is condemned already'2 but it also suggests the universality of that condemnation4 ,our ,psalmist says that only through trusting ,him can a man be taken and lifted away1 as it were1 from the descent of the thundercloud1 and its bolt that lies above his head4 ',they that trust ,him are not condemned1' every one else is2 not 'shall be1' but is1 to-day1 here and now4 ,if there is a man or woman in my audience now who is not exercising trust in ,god through ,jesus ,christ1 on that man or woman1 young or old1 cultivated or uncultivated1 professing ,christian or not1 there is bound the burden of their sin1 which is the crushing weight of their condemnation4 ,so my text suggests1 that the sole deliverance from this universal pressure of the condemnatory influence of universal sin lies in that fleeing for refuge to ,god4 ,and then comes in the ,christian addition1 'to ,god1 as manifested in ,jesus ,christ4' ,the ,psalmist did not know that4 ,all the more wonderful is it that without the knowledge he should have risen to the great thought of our text--all the more inexplicable unless you believe that 'holy men of old spake as they were moved by the ,holy ,ghost4' ,wonderful it is still1 but not unintelligible1 if you believe that4 ,but you and ,i know more than this singer did2 for we can listen to the ,master1 who says1 ',he that believeth on ,him is not condemned'2 and to the servant who echoes--and perhaps both of them are alluding to our psalm--',there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in ,christ ,jesus4' ,my faith1 if it knits me to ,jesus ,christ1 unties the bonds by which my sin is bound upon me1 for it makes me to share in ,his ,spirit1 in ,his righteousness1 in ,his glory4 ,and so1 dear brethren6 the ,psalmist1 though he did not know it1 may point us away to the truth hidden from him1 but sunlight clear for us1 that by simple trust we may receive the ,saviour through whom all our condemnation will pass away1 and may be found in ,him having the 'righteousness which is of ,god by faith4' ',not condemned'--,is that all8 ,are the blessings of the ,gospel all to be reduced to this mere negative expression8 ,certainly not4 ,the ,psalmist could have said a great deal more1 and in the previous context he does say a great deal more4 ,but to that restrained and moderate statement of the case1 which is far less than the facts of the case1 'he that trusteth is not condemned1' let us add ,paul's expansion1 'whom ,he called them ,he also justified1 and whom ,he justified them ,he also glorified4' ,,sky1 ,,earth1 ,,and ,,sea3 ,a ,,parable ,,of ,,god ',thy mercy1 ,o ,lord1 is in the heavens2 and ,thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds4 #f4 ,thy righteousness is like the great mountains2 ,thy judgments are a great deep3 ,o ,lord1 ,thou preservest man and beast4 #g4 ,how excellent is ,thy loving-kindness1 ,o ,god6 therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of ,thy wings4' --,,psalm xxxvi4 #e-g4 ,this wonderful description of the manifold brightness of the divine nature is introduced in this psalm with singular abruptness4 ,it is set side by side with a vivid picture of an evildoer1 a man who mutters in his own heart his godlessness1 and with obstinate determination plans and plots in forgetfulness of ,god4 ,without a word to break the violence of the transition1 side by side with that picture1 the ,psalmist sets before us these thoughts of the character of ,god4 ,he seems to feel that that character was the only relief in the contemplation of the miserable sights of which the earth is only too full4 ,we should go mad when we think of man's wickedness unless we could look up and see1 with one quick turn of the eye1 the heaven opened and the throned ,love that sits up there gazing on all the chaos1 and working to soothe sorrow1 and to purify evil4 ,perhaps there is another reason for this dramatic and striking swiftness of contrast between the godless man and the revealed ,god4 ,the true test of a life is its power to bear the light of ,god being suddenly let in upon it4 ,how would yours look1 my friend6 if all at once a window in heaven was opened1 and ,god glared in upon you8 ,set your lives side by side with ,him4 ,they always are side by side with ,him whether you know it or not2 but you had better bring your 'deeds to the light that they may be made manifest' now1 than to have to do it as suddenly1 and a great deal more sorrowfully1 when you are dragged out of the shows and illusions of time1 and ,he meets you on the threshold of another world4 ,would a beam of light from ,god1 coming in upon your life1 be like a light falling upon a gang of conspirators1 that would make them huddle all their implements under their cloaks1 and scuttle out of the way as fast as possible8 ,or would it be like a gleam of sunshine upon the flowers1 opening out their petals and wooing from them fragrance8 ,which8 ,but ,i turn from such considerations as these to the more immediate subject of my contemplations in this discourse4 ,i have ventured to take so great words for my text1 though each clause would be more than enough for many a sermon1 because my aim now is a very modest one4 ,i desire simply to give1 in the briefest way1 the connection and mutual relation of these wonderful words2 not to attempt any adequate treatment of the great thoughts which they contain1 but only to set forth the meaning and interdependence of these manifold names for the beams of the divine light1 which are presented here4 ,the chief part of our text sets before us ,god in the variety and boundlessness of ,his loving nature1 and the close of it shows us man sheltering beneath ,god's wings4 ,these are the two main themes for our present consideration4 ,i4 ,we have1 first1 ,god in the boundlessness of ,his loving nature4 ,the one pure light of the divine nature is broken up1 in the prism of the psalm1 into various rays1 which theologians call1 in their hard1 abstract way1 divine attributes4 ,these are 'mercy1 faithfulness1 righteousness4' ,then we have two sets of divine acts--'judgments1' and the 'preservation' of man and beast2 and finally we have again 'lovingkindness1' as our version has unfortunately been misled1 by its love for varying its translation1 to render the same word which begins the series and is there called 'mercy4' ,now that 'mercy' or 'lovingkindness' of which my text thus speaks1 is very nearly equivalent to the ,new ,testament 'love'2 or1 perhaps1 still more nearly equivalent to the ,new ,testament 'grace4' ,both the one and the other mean substantially this--active love communicating itself to creatures that are inferior and that might have expected something else to befall them4 ,mercy is a modification of love1 inasmuch as it is love to an inferior4 ,the hand is laid gently upon the man1 because if it were laid with all its weight it would crush him4 ,it is the stooping goodness of a king to a beggar4 ,and mercy is likewise love in its exercise to persons that might expect something else1 being guilty4 ,as a general coming to a body of mutineers with pardon and favour upon his lips1 instead of with condemnation and death2 so ,god comes to us forgiving and blessing4 ,all ,his goodness is forbearance1 and ,his love is mercy1 because of the weakness1 the lowliness1 and the ill desert of us on whom the love falls4 ,now notice that this same 'quality of mercy' stands here at the beginning and at the end4 ,all the attributes of the divine nature1 all the operations of the divine hand lie within the circle of ,his mercy--like diamonds set in a golden ring4 ,mercy1 or love flowing out in blessings to inferior and guilty creatures1 is the root and ground of all ,god's character2 it is the foundation and impulse of all ,his acts4 ,modern science reduces all modes of physical energy to one1 for which it has no name but--energy4 ,we are taught by ,god's own revelation of ,himself--and most especially by ,his final and perfect revelation of ,himself in ,jesus ,christ--to trace all forms of divine energy back to one which ,david calls 'mercy1' which ,john calls 'love4' ,it is last as well as first1 the final upshot of all revelation4 ,the last voice that speaks from ,scripture has for its special message ',god is ,love4' ,the last voice that sounds from the completed history of the world will have the same message1 and the ultimate word of all revelation1 the end of the whole of the majestic unfolding of ,god's purposes will be the proclamation to the four corners of the universe1 as from the trump of the ,archangel1 of the name of ,god as ,love4 ,the northern and the southern poles of the great sphere are one and the same1 a straight axle through the very heart of it1 from which the bounding lines swell out to the equator1 and towards which they converge again on the opposite side of the world4 ,so mercy is the strong axletree1 the northern pole and the southern1 on which the whole world of the divine perfections revolves and moves4 ,the first and last1 the ,alpha and ,omega of ,god1 beginning and crowning and summing up all ,his being and ,his work1 is ,his mercy1 ,his lovingkindness4 ,but next to mercy comes faithfulness4 ',thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds4' ,god's faithfulness is in its narrowest sense ,his adherence to ,his promises4 ,it implies1 in that sense1 a verbal revelation1 and definite words from ,him pledging ,him to a certain line of action4 ',he hath said1 and shall ,he not do it8' ',he will not alter the thing that is gone out of ,his lips4' ,it is only a ,god who has actually spoken to men who can be a 'faithful ,god4' ,he will not palter with a double sense1 'keeping ,his word of promise to the ear1 and breaking it to the hope4' ,but not only ,his articulate promises1 but also ,his own past actions1 bind ,him4 ,he is always true to these2 and not only continues to do as ,he has done1 but discharges every obligation which ,his past imposes on ,him4 ,the ostrich was said to leave its eggs to be hatched in the sand4 ,men bring men into positions of dependence1 and then lightly shake responsibility from careless shoulders4 ,but ,god accepts the cares laid upon ,him by ,his own acts1 and discharges them to the last jot4 ,he is a 'faithful ,creator4' ,creation brings obligations with it2 obligations for the creature2 obligations for the ,creator4 ,if ,god makes a being1 ,god is bound to take care of the being that ,he has made4 ,if ,he makes a being in a given fashion1 ,he is bound to provide for the necessities that ,he has created4 ,according to the old proverb1 if ,he makes mouths it is ,his business to feed them4 ,and ,he recognises the obligation4 ,his past binds ,him to certain conduct in ,his future4 ,we can lay hold on the former manifestation1 and we can plead it with ,him4 ',thou hast been1 and therefore ,thou must be4' ',thou hast taught me to trust in ,thee2 vindicate and warrant my trust by ,thy unchangeableness4' ,so ,his word1 ,his acts1 and ,his own nature1 bind ,god to bless and help4 ,his faithfulness is the expression of ,his unchangeableness4 ',because ,he could swear by no greater1 ,he sware by ,himself4' ,take1 then1 these two thoughts of ,god's lovingkindness and of ,god's faithfulness and weave them together1 and see what a strong cord they are to which a man may cling1 and in all ,his weakness be sure that it will never give nor break4 ,mercy might be transient and arbitrary1 but when you braid in 'faithfulness' along with it1 it becomes fixed as the pillars of heaven1 and immutable as the throne of ,god4 ,only when we are sure of ,god's faithfulness can we lift up thankful voices to ,him1 'because ,his mercy endureth for ever4' ,a despotic monarch may be all full of tenderness at this moment1 and all full of wrath and sternness the next4 ,he may have a whim of favour to-day1 and a whim of severity to-morrow1 and no man can say1 ',what doest thou8' ,but ,god is not a despot4 ,he has1 so to speak1 'decreed a constitution4' ,he has limited ,himself4 ,he has marked out ,his path across the great wide region of possibilities of the divine action2 ,he has buoyed out ,his channel on that ocean1 and declared to us ,his purposes4 ,so we can reckon on ,god1 as astronomers can foretell the motions of the stars4 ,we can plead ,his faithfulness along with ,his love1 and feel that the one makes sure that the other shall be from everlasting to everlasting4 ,the next beam of the divine brightness is righteousness4 ',thy righteousness is like the great mountains4' ,righteousness is not to be taken here in its narrow sense of stern retribution which gives to the evildoer the punishment that he deserves4 ,there is no thought here1 whatever there may be in other places in ,scripture1 of any opposition between mercy and righteousness1 but the notion of righteousness here is a broader and greater one4 ,it is just this1 to put it into other words1 that ,god has a law for ,his being to which ,he conforms2 and that whatsoever things are fair and lovely1 and good1 and pure down here1 those things are fair1 and lovely1 and good1 and pure up there2 that ,he is the ,archetype of all excellence1 the ,ideal of all moral completeness3 that we can know enough of ,him to be sure of this that what we call right ,he loves1 and what we call right ,he practises4 ,brethren6 unless we have that for the very foundation of our thoughts of ,god1 we have no foundation to rest on4 ,unless we feel and know that 'the ,judge of all the earth doeth right1' and is right1 and law and righteousness have their home and seat in ,his bosom1 and are the expression of ,his inmost being1 then ,i know not where our confidence can be built4 ,unless ',thy righteousness1 like the great mountains1' surrounds and guards the low plain of our lives1 they will lie open to all foes4 ,then1 next1 we pass from the divine character to the divine acts4 ,mercy1 faithfulness1 and righteousness all converge and flow into the great river of the divine 'judgments4' ,by judgments are not meant merely the acts of ,god's punitive righteousness1 the retributions that destroy evildoers1 but all ,god's decisions and acts in regard to man4 ,or1 to put it into other and briefer words1 ,god's judgments are the whole of the 'ways1' the methods of the divine government4 ,so ,paul1 alluding to this very passage when he says ',how unsearchable are ,thy judgments6' adds1 as a parallel clause1 meaning the same thing1 'and ,thy ways past finding out4' ,that includes all which men call1 in a narrower sense1 judgments1 but it includes1 too1 all acts of kindness and loving gifts4 ,god's judgments are the expressions of ,his thoughts1 and these thoughts are thoughts of good and not of evil4 ,but notice1 in the next place1 the boundlessness of all these characteristics of the divine nature4 ',thy mercy is in the heavens1' towering up above the stars1 and dwelling there1 like some divine ether filling all space4 ,the heavens are the home of light1 the source of every blessing1 arching over every head1 rimming every horizon1 holding all the stars1 opening into abysses as we gaze1 with us by night and by day1 undimmed by the mist and smoke of earth1 unchanged by the lapse of centuries2 ever seen1 never reached1 bending over us always1 always far above us4 ,so the mercy of ,god towers above us1 and stoops down towards us1 rims us all about and arches over us all1 sheds down its dewy benedictions by night and by day2 is filled with a million stars and light-points of duty and of splendour2 is near us ever to bless and succour and help1 and holds us all in its blue round4 ',thy faithfulness reacheth to the clouds4' ,strange that ,god's fixed faithfulness should be compared to the very emblems of mutation4 ,the clouds are unstable1 they whirl and melt and change4 ,strange to think of the unalterable faithfulness as reaching to them6 ,may it not be that the very mutability of the mutable may be the means of manifesting the unalterable sameness of ,god's faithful purpose1 of ,his unchangeable love1 and of ,his ever consistent dealings8 ,may not the apparent incongruity be a part of the felicity of the bold words8 ,is it not true that earthly things1 as they change their forms and melt away1 leaving no track behind1 phantomlike as they are1 do still obey the behests of that divine faithfulness1 and gather and dissolve and break in brief showers of blessing1 or short1 sharp crashes of storm1 at the bidding of that steadfast purpose which works out one unalterable design by a thousand instruments1 and changeth all things1 being in itself unchanged8 ,the thing that is eternal1 even the faithfulness of ,god1 dwells amid1 and shows itself through1 the things that are temporal1 the flying clouds of change4 ,again1 ',thy righteousness is like the great mountains4' ,like these1 its roots are fast and stable2 like these1 it stands firm for ever2 like these1 its summits touch the fleeting clouds of human circumstance2 like these1 it is a shelter and a refuge1 inaccessible in its steepest peaks1 but affording many a cleft in its rocks1 where a man may hide and be safe4 ,but1 unlike these1 it knew no beginning1 and shall know no end4 ,emblems of permanence as they are1 though ,olivet looks down on ,jerusalem as it did when ,melchizedek was its king1 and ,tabor and ,hermon stand as they did before human lips had named them1 they are wearing away by winter storms and summer heats4 ,but1 as ,isaiah has taught us1 when the earth is old1 ,god's might and mercy are young2 for 'the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed1 but ,my kindness shall not depart from thee4' ',the earth shall wax old like a garment1 but ,my righteousness shall not be abolished4' ,it is more stable than the mountains1 and firmer than the firmest things upon earth4 ,then1 with wonderful poetical beauty and vividness of contrast1 there follows upon the emblem of the great mountains of ,god's righteousness the emblem of the 'mighty deep' of ,his judgments4 ,here towers ,vesuvius2 there at its feet lie the waters of the bay4 ,so the righteousness springs up like some great cliff1 rising sheer from the water's edge1 while its feet are laved by the sea of the divine judgments1 unfathomable and shoreless4 ,the mountains and the sea are the two grandest things in nature1 and in their combination sublime2 the one the home of calm and silence1 the other in perpetual motion4 ,but the mountain's roots are deeper than the depths of the sea1 and though the judgments are a mighty deep1 the righteousness is deeper1 and is the bed of the ocean4 ,the metaphor1 of course1 implies obscurity1 but what sort of obscurity8 ,the obscurity of the sea4 ,and what sort of obscurity is that8 ,not that which comes from mud1 or anything added1 but that which comes from depth4 ,as far as a man can see down into its blue-green depths they are clear and translucent2 but where the light fails and the eye fails1 there comes what we call obscurity4 ,the sea is clear1 but our sight is limited4 ,and so there is no arbitrary obscurity in ,god's dealings1 and we know as much about them as it is possible for us to know2 but we cannot see to the bottom4 ,a man on the cliff can look much deeper into the ocean than a man on the level beach4 ,the higher you climb the further you will see down into the 'sea of glass mingled with fire' that lies placid before ,god's throne4 ,let us remember that it is a hazardous thing to judge of a picture before it is finished2 of a building before the scaffolding is pulled down1 and it is as hazardous for us to say about any deed or any revealed truth that it is inconsistent with the divine character4 ,wait a bit2 wait a bit6 ',thy judgments are a great deep4' ,the deep will be drained off one day1 and you will see the bottom of it4 ',judge nothing before the time4' ,but as an aid to patience and faith hearken how the ,psalmist finishes up his contemplations3 ',o ,lord6 ,thou preservest man and beast4' ,very well then1 all this mercy1 faithfulness1 righteousness1 judgment1 high as the heavens1 deep as the ocean1 firm as the hills1 it is all working for this--to keep the millions of living creatures round about us1 and ourselves1 in life and well-being4 ,the mountain is high1 the deep is profound4 ,between the mountain and the sea there is a strip of level land4 ,god's righteousness towers above us2 ,god's judgments go down beneath us2 we can scarcely measure adequately the one or the other4 ,but upon the level where we live there are the green fields where the cattle browse1 and the birds sing1 and men live and till and reap and are fed4 ,that is to say1 we all have enough in the plain1 patent facts of creation and preservation of man and animal life in this world to make us quite sure of what is the principle that prevails up to the very top of the inaccessible mountains1 and down to the very bottom of the unfathomable deep4 ,what we know of ,him1 in the blessings of ,his love and providence1 ought to interpret for us all that is perplexing4 ,what we understand is good and loving4 ,let us be sure that what we do not yet understand is good and loving too4 ,the web is of one texture throughout4 ,the least educated ear can catch the music of the simpler melodies which run through the ,great ,composer's work4 ,we shall one day be able to appreciate the yet fuller music of the more recondite parts1 which to us at present seem only jangling and discord4 ,it is not ,his melody but our ears that are at fault4 ,but we may well accept the obscurity of the mighty deep of ,god's judgment1 when we can see plainly that1 after all1 the earth is full of ,his mercy1 and that 'the eyes of all things wait on ,god1 and ,he giveth them their meat in due season4' ,,ii4 ,so much1 then1 for the great picture here of these boundless characteristics of the divine nature4 ,now let us look for a moment at the picture of man sheltering beneath ,god's wings4 ',how excellent is ,thy lovingkindness1 ,o ,god6 therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of ,thy wings4' ,god's lovingkindness1 or mercy1 as ,i explained the word might be rendered1 is precious1 for that is the true meaning of the word translated 'excellent4' ,we are rich when we have that for ours2 we are poor without it4 ,our true wealth is to possess ,god's love1 and to know in thought and realise in feeling and reciprocate in affection ,his grace and goodness1 the beauty and perfectness of ,his wondrous character4 ,that man is wealthy who has ,god on his side2 that man is a pauper who has not ,god for his4 ',how precious is ,thy lovingkindness1 therefore the children of men put their trust4' ,there is only one thing that will ever win a man's heart to love ,god1 and that is that ,god should love him first1 and let him see it4 ',we love ,him because ,he first loved us1' is the ,new ,testament teaching4 ,is it not all adumbrated and foretold in these words3 ',how precious is ,thy loving-kindness1 ,o ,god6 therefore the children of men put their trust'8 ,we may be driven to worship after a sort by power2 we may be smitten into some cold admiration1 into some kind of reluctant subjection and trembling reverence1 by the manifestation of divine perfections4 ,but there is only one thing that wins a man's heart1 and that is the sight of ,god's heart2 and it is only when we know how precious ,his lovingkindness is that we shall be drawn towards ,him4 ,and then this last verse tells us how we can make ,god our own3 ',they put their trust under the shadow of ,thy wings4' ,the word here rendered1 and accurately rendered1 'put their trust1' has a very beautiful literal meaning4 ,it means to flee for refuge1 as the manslayer might flee into the strong city1 or as ,lot did out of ,sodom to the little city on the hill1 or as ,david did into the cave from his enemies4 ,so1 with such haste1 with such intensity1 staying for nothing1 and with the effort of your whole will and nature1 flee to ,god4 ,that is trust4 ,go to ,him for refuge from all evil1 from all harm1 from your own souls1 from all sin1 from hell1 and death1 and the devil4 ,put your trust under 'the shadow of ,his wings4' ,that is a beautiful image1 drawn1 probably1 from the grand words of ,deuteronomy1 where ,god is likened to the 'eagle stirring up her nest1 fluttering over her young1' with tenderness in her fierce eye1 and protecting strength in the sweep of her mighty pinion4 ,so ,god spreads the covert of ,his wing1 strong and tender1 beneath which we may all gather ourselves and nestle4 ,and how can we do that8 ,by the simple process of fleeing unto ,him1 as made known to us in ,christ our ,saviour2 to hide ourselves there4 ,for let us not forget how even the tenderness of this metaphor was increased by its shape on the tender lips of the ,lord3 ',how often would ,i have gathered thy children together1 as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings6' ,the ,old ,testament took the emblem of the eagle1 sovereign1 and strong1 and fierce2 the ,new ,testament took the emblem of the domestic fowl1 peaceable1 and gentle1 and affectionate4 ,let us flee to that ,christ1 by humble faith with the plea on our lips-- ',cover my defenceless head ,with the shadow of ,thy wing'2 and then all the ,godhead in its mercy1 its faithfulness1 its righteousness1 and its judgments will be on our side2 and we shall know how precious is the lovingkindness of the ,lord1 and find in ,him the home and hiding-place of our hearts for ever4 ,,what ,,men ,,find ,,beneath ,,the ,,wings ,,of ,,god ',they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of ,thy house2 and ,thou shalt make them drink of the river of ,thy pleasures4 #i4 ,for with ,thee is the fountain of life3 in ,thy light shall we see light4' --,,psalm xxxvi4 #h1 #i4 ,in the preceding verses we saw a wonderful picture of the boundless perfections of ,god2 ,his lovingkindness1 faithfulness1 righteousness1 and of ,his twofold act1 the depths of ,his judgments and the plainness of ,his merciful preservation of man and beast4 ,in these verses we have an equally wonderful picture of the blessedness of the godly1 the elements of which consist in four things3 satisfaction1 represented under the emblem of a feast2 joy1 represented under the imagery of full draughts from a flowing river of delight2 life1 pouring from ,god as a fountain2 light1 streaming from ,him as source4 ,and this picture is connected with the previous one by a very simple link4 ,who are they who 'shall be abundantly satisfied'8 ,the men 'who put their trust beneath the shadow of ,thy wings4' ,that is to say1 the simple exercise of confidence in ,god is the channel through which all the fulness of divinity passes into and fills our emptiness4 ,observe1 too1 that the whole of the blessings here promised are to be regarded as present and not future4 ',they shall be abundantly satisfied' would be far more truly rendered in consonance with the ,hebrew3 ',they are satisfied'2 and so also we should read ',thou dost make them drink of the river of ,thy pleasures2 in ,thy light do we see light4' ,the ,psalmist is not speaking of any future blessedness1 to be realised in some far-off1 indefinite day to come1 but of what is possible even in this cloudy and sorrowful life4 ,my text was true on the hills of ,palestine1 on the day when it was spoken2 it may be true amongst the alleys of ,manchester to-day4 ,my purpose at this time is simply to deal with the four elements in which this blessedness consists--satisfaction1 joy1 life1 light4 ,i4 ,satisfaction3 ',they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of ,thy house4' ,now1 ,i suppose1 there is a double metaphor in that4 ,there is an allusion1 no doubt1 to the festal meal of priests and worshippers in the ,temple1 on occasion of the peace-offering1 and there is also the simpler metaphor of ,god as the ,host at ,his table1 at which we are guests4 ',thy house' may either be1 in the narrower sense1 the ,temple2 and then all life is represented as being a glad sacrificial meal in ,his presence1 of which 'the meek shall eat and be satisfied1' or ,thy 'house' may be taken in a more general sense2 and then all life is represented as the gathering of children round the abundant board which their ,father's providence spreads for them1 and as glad feasting in the 'mansions' of the ,father's house4 ,in either case the plain teaching of the text is1 that by the might of a calm trust in ,god the whole mass of a man's desires are filled and satisfied4 ,what do we want to satisfy us8 ,it is something almost awful to think of the multiplicity1 and the variety1 and the imperativeness of the raging desires which every human soul carries about within it4 ,the heart is like a nest of callow fledglings1 every one of them a great1 wide open1 gaping beak1 that ever needs to have food put into it4 ,heart1 mind1 will1 appetites1 tastes1 inclinations1 weaknesses1 bodily wants--the whole crowd of these are crying for their meat4 ,the ,book of ,proverbs says there are three things that are never satisfied3 the grave1 the earth that is not filled with water1 and the fire that never says1 ',it is enough4' ,and we may add a fourth1 the human heart1 insatiable as the grave2 thirsty as the sands1 on which you may pour ,niagara1 and it will drink it all up and be ready for more2 fierce as the fire that licks up everything within reach and still hungers4 ,so1 though we be poor and weak creatures1 we want much to make us restful4 ,we want no less than that every appetite1 desire1 need1 inclination shall be filled to the full2 that all shall be filled to the full at once1 and that by one thing2 that all shall be filled to the full at once1 by one thing that shall last for ever4 ,else we shall be like men whose store of provision gives out before they are half-way across the desert4 ,and we need that all our desires shall be filled at once by one thing that is so much greater than ourselves that we shall grow up towards it1 and towards it1 and towards it1 and yet never be able to exhaust or surpass it4 ,where are you going to get that8 ,there is only one answer1 dear brethren6 to the question1 and that is--,god1 and ,god alone is the food of the heart2 ,god1 and ,god alone1 will satisfy your need4 ,let us bring the full ,christian truth to bear upon the illustration of these words4 ,who was it that said1 ',i am the ,bread of ,life4 ,he that cometh unto ,me shall never hunger'8 ,christ will feed my mind with truth if ,i will accept ,his revelation of ,himself1 of ,god1 and of all things4 ,christ will feed my heart with love if ,i will open my heart for the entrance of ,his love4 ,christ will feed my will with blessed commands if ,i will submit myself to ,his sweet and gentle1 and yet imperative1 authority4 ,christ will satisfy all my longings and desires with ,his own great fulness4 ,other food palls upon man's appetite1 and we wish for change2 and physiologists tell us that a less wholesome and nutritious diet1 if varied1 is better for a man's health than a more nutritious one if uniform and monotonous4 ,but in ,christ there are all constituents that are needed for the building up of the human spirit1 and so we never weary of ,him if we only know ,his sweetness4 ,after a world of hungry men have fed upon ,him1 ,he remains inexhaustible as at the beginning2 like the bread in ,his own miracles1 of which the pieces that were broken and ready to be given to the eaters were more than the original stock1 as it appeared when the meal began1 or like the fabled feast in the ,norse ,walhalla1 to which the gods sit down to-day1 and to-morrow it is all there on the board1 as abundant and full as ever4 ,so if we have ,christ to live upon1 we shall know no hunger2 and 'in the days of famine we shall be satisfied4' ,o brethren6 have you ever known what it is to feel that your hungry heart is at rest8 ,did you ever know what it is to say1 ',it is enough'8 ,have you anything that satisfies your appetite and makes you blessed8 ,surely1 men's eager haste to get more of the world's dainties shows that there is no satisfaction at its table4 ,why will you 'spend your money for that which is not bread1 and your labour for that which satisfieth not1' as ,indians in famine eat clay which fills their stomachs1 but neither stays hunger1 nor ministers strength8 ,eat and your soul shall live4 ,,ii4 ,now1 turn to the next of the elements of blessedness here--,joy4 ',thou makest them drink of the river of ,thy pleasures4' ,there may be a possible reference here1 couched in the word 'pleasures1' to the ,garden of ,eden1 with the river that watered it parting into four heads2 for ',eden' is the singular of the word which is here translated 'pleasures' or 'delight4' ,if we take that reference1 which is very questionable1 there would be suggested the thought that amidst all the pain and weariness of this desert life of ours1 though the gates of ,paradise are shut against us1 they who dwell beneath the shadow of the divine wing really have a paradise blooming around them2 and have flowing ever by their side1 with tinkling music1 the paradisaical river of delights1 in which they may bathe and swim1 and of which they may drink4 ,certainly the joys of communion with ,god surpass any which unfallen ,eden could have boasted4 ,but1 at all events1 the plain teaching of the text is that the simple act of trusting beneath the shadow of ,god's wings brings to us an ever fresh and flowing river of gladness1 of which we may drink4 ,the whole conception of religion in the ,bible is gladsome4 ,there is no puritanical gloom about it4 ,true1 a ,christian man has sources of sadness which other men have not4 ,there is the consciousness of his own sin1 and the contest that he has daily to wage2 and all things take a soberer colouring to the eye that has been accustomed to look1 however dimly1 upon ,god4 ,many of the sources of earthly felicity are dammed up and shut off from us if we are living beneath the shadow of ,god's wings4 ,life will seem to be sterner1 and graver1 and sadder than the lives 'that ring with idiot laughter solely1' and have no music because they have no melancholy in them4 ,that cannot be helped4 ,but what does it matter though two or three surface streams1 which are little better than drains for sewage1 be stopped up1 if the 'pure river of the water of life' is turned into your hearts8 ,surely it will be a gain if the sadness which has joy for its very foundation is yours1 instead of the laughter which is only a mocking mask for a death's head1 and of which it is true that even 'in laughter the heart is sorrowful1 and the end of that mirth is heaviness4' ,better to be 'sorrowful1 yet always rejoicing1' than to be glad on the surface1 with a perpetual sorrow and unrest gnawing at the root of your life4 ,and if it be true that the whole ,biblical conception of religion is of a glad thing1 then1 my brother6 it is your duty1 if you are a ,christian man1 to be glad1 whatever temptations there may be in your way to be sorrowful4 ,it is a hard lesson1 and one which is not always insisted upon4 ,we hear a great deal about other ,christian duties4 ,we do not hear so much as we ought about the ,christian duty of gladness4 ,it takes a very robust faith to say1 ',though the fig-tree shall not blossom1 neither shall fruit be in the vine1 yet ,i will rejoice in the ,lord1 ,i will joy in the ,god of my salvation1' but unless we can say it1 there is an attainment of ,christian life yet unreached1 to which we have to aspire4 ,but be that as it may1 my point is simply this--that all real and profound possession of1 and communion with1 ,god in ,christ will make us glad2 glad with a gladness altogether unlike that of the world round about us1 far deeper1 far quieter1 far nobler1 the sister and the ally of all great things1 of all pure life1 of all generous and lofty thought4 ,and where is it to be found8 ,only in fellowship with ,him4 ',the river of ,thy pleasures' may mean something yet more solemn and wonderful than pleasures of which ,he is the ,author4 ,it may mean pleasures which ,he shares1 the very delights of the divine nature itself4 ,the more we come into fellowship with ,him1 the more shall we share in the very joy of ,god ,himself4 ,and what is ,his joy8 ,he delights in mercy2 ,he delights in self-communication3 ,he is the blessed1 the happy ,god1 because ,he is the giving ,god4 ,he delights in ,his love4 ,he 'rejoices over' ,his penitent child 'with singing1' ,in that blessedness we may share2 or if that be too high and mystical a thought1 may we not remember who it was that said3 ',these things speak ,i unto you that ,my joy may remain in you'2 and who it is that will one day say to the faithful servant3 ',enter thou into the joy of thy ,lord'8 ,christ makes us drink of the river of ,his pleasures4 ,the ,shepherd and the sheep drink from the same stream1 and the gladness which filled the heart of the ,man of ,sorrows1 and lay deeper than all ,his sorrows1 ,he imparts to all them that put their trust in ,him4 ,so1 dear brethren6 what a blessing it is for us to have1 as we may have1 a source of joy1 frozen by no winter1 dried up by no summer1 muddied and corrupted by no iridescent scum of putrefaction which ever mantles over the stagnant ponds of earthly joys6 ,like some citadel that has an unfailing well in its courtyard1 we may have a fountain of gladness within ourselves which nothing that touches the outside can cut off4 ,we have but to lap a hasty mouthful of earthly joys as we run1 but we cannot drink too full draughts of this pure river of water which makes glad the city of ,god4 ,,iii4 ,we have the third element of the blessedness of the godly represented under the metaphor of ,life1 pouring from the fountain1 which is ,god4 ',with ,thee is the fountain of life4' ,the words are true in regard to the lowest meaning of 'life'--physical existence--and they give a wonderful idea of the connection between ,god and all living creatures4 ,the fountain rises1 the spray on the summit catches the sunlight for a moment1 and then falls into the basin1 jet after jet springing up into the light1 and in its turn recoiling into the darkness4 ,the water in the fountain1 the water in the spray1 the water in the basin1 are all one4 ,wherever there is life there is ,god4 ,the creature is bound to the ,creator by a mystic bond and tie of kinship1 by the fact of life4 ,the mystery of life knits all living things with ,god4 ,it is a spark1 wherever it burns1 from the central flame4 ,it is a drop1 wherever it is found1 from the great fountain4 ,it is in man the breath of ,god's nostrils4 ,it is not a gift given by a ,creator who dwells apart1 having made living things1 as a watchmaker might a watch1 and then 'seeing them go4' ,but there is a deep mystic union between the ,god who has life in ,himself and all the living creatures who draw their life from ,him1 which we cannot express better than by that image of our text1 ',with ,thee is the fountain of life4' ,but my text speaks about a blessing belonging to the men who put their trust under the shadow of ,god's wing1 and therefore it does not refer merely to physical existence1 but to something higher than that1 namely1 to that life of the spirit in communion with ,god1 which is the true and the proper sense of 'life'2 the one1 namely1 in which the word is almost always used in the ,bible4 ,there is such a thing as death in life2 living men may be 'dead in trespasses and sins1' 'dead in pleasure1' dead in selfishness4 ,the awful vision of ,coleridge in the ,ancient ,mariner1 of dead men standing up and pulling at the ropes1 is only a picture of the realities of life2 where1 as on some ,witches' ,sabbath1 corpses move about and take part in the activities of this dead world4 ,there are people full of energy in regard of worldly things1 who yet are all dead to that higher region1 the realities of which they have never seen1 the actions of which they have never done1 the emotions of which they have never felt4 ,am ,i speaking to such living corpses now8 ,there are some of my audience alive to the world1 alive to animalism1 alive to lust1 alive to passion1 alive to earth1 alive perhaps to thought1 alive to duty1 alive to conduct of a high and noble kind1 but yet dead to ,god1 and1 therefore1 dead to the highest and noblest of all realities4 ,answer for yourselves the question--do you belong to this class8 ,there is life for you in ,jesus ,christ1 who 'is the ,life4' ,like the great aqueducts that stretch from the hills across the ,roman ,campagna1 ,his ,incarnation brings the waters of the fountain from the mountains of ,god into the lower levels of our nature1 and the fetid alleys of our sins4 ,the cool1 sparkling treasure is carried near to every lip4 ,if we drink1 we live4 ,if we will not1 we die in our sins1 and are dead whilst we live4 ,stop the fountain1 and what becomes of the stream8 ,it fades there between its banks1 and is no more4 ,you cannot even live the animal life except that life were joined to ,him4 ,if it could be broken away from ,god it would disappear as the clouds melt in the sky1 and there would be nobody1 and you would be nowhere4 ,you cannot break yourself away from ,god physically so completely as to annihilate yourself4 ,you can do so spiritually1 and some of you do it1 and the consequence is that you are dead1 dead1 ,,dead6 ,you can be made 'alive from the dead1' if you will lay hold on ,jesus ,christ1 and get ,his life-giving ,spirit into your hearts4 ,,iv4 ,light4 ',in ,thy light shall we see light4' ,god is 'the ,father of lights4' ,the sun and all the stars are only lights kindled by ,him4 ,it is the very crown of revelation that ',god is light1 and in ,him is no darkness at all4' ,light seems to the unscientific eye1 which knows nothing about undulations of a luminiferous ether1 to be the least material of material things4 ,all joyous things come with it4 ,it brings warmth and fruit1 fulness and life4 ,purity1 and gladness1 and knowledge have been symbolised by it in all tongues4 ,the ,scripture uses light1 and the sun1 which is its source1 as an emblem for ,god in ,his holiness1 and blessedness1 and omniscience4 ,this great word here seems to point chiefly to light as knowledge4 ,this saying is true1 as the former clause was1 in relation to all the light which men have4 ',the inspiration of the ,almighty giveth him understanding4' ,the faculties by which men know1 and all the exercise of those faculties1 are ,his gift4 ,it is in the measure in which ,god's light comes to the eye that the eye beholds4 ',light' may mean not only the faculty1 but the medium of vision4 ,it is in the measure in which ,god's light comes1 and because ,his light comes1 that all light of reason in human nature sees the truth which is its light4 ,god is the ,author of all true thoughts in all mankind4 ,the spirit of man is a candle kindled by the ,lord4 ,but as ,i said about life1 so ,i say about light4 ,the material or intellectual aspects of the word are not the main ones here4 ,the reference is to the spiritual gift which belongs to the men 'who put their trust beneath the shadow of ,thy wings4' ,in communion with ,him who is the ,light as well as the ,life of men1 we see a whole universe of glories1 realities1 and brightnesses4 ,where other eyes see only darkness1 we behold 'the ,king in ,his beauty1 and the land that is very far off4' ,where other men see only cloudland and mists1 our vision will pierce into the unseen1 and there behold 'the things which are1' the only real things1 of which all that the eye of sense sees are only the fleeting shadows1 seen as in a dream1 while these are the true1 and the sight of them is sight indeed4 ,they who see by the light of ,god1 and see light therein1 have a vision which is more than imagination1 more than opinion1 more than belief4 ,it is certitude4 ,communication with ,god does not bring with it superior intellectual perspicuity1 but it does bring a perception of spiritual realities and relations1 which1 in respect of clearness and certainty1 may be called sight4 ,many of us walk in darkness1 who1 if we were but in communion with ,god1 would see the lone hillside blazing with chariots and horses of fire4 ,many of us grope in perplexity1 who1 if we were but hiding under the shadow of ,god's wings1 would see the truth and walk at liberty in the light1 which is knowledge and purity and joy4 ,in communication with ,god1 we see light upon all the paths of duty4 ,it is wonderful how1 when a man lives near ,god1 he gets to know what he ought to do4 ,that great ,light1 which is ,christ1 is like the star that hung over the ,magi1 blazing in the heavens1 and yet stooping to the lowly task of guiding three wayfaring men along a muddy road upon earth4 ,so the highest ,light of ,god comes down to be 'a lantern for our paths and a light for our feet4' ,and in the same communion with ,god1 we get light in all seasons of darkness and of sorrow4 ',to the upright there ariseth light in the darkness'2 and the darkest hours of earthly fortune will be like a ,greenland summer night1 when the sun scarcely dips below the horizon1 and even when it is absent1 all the heaven is aglow with a calm twilight4 ,all these great blessings belong to-day to those who take refuge under the shadow of ,his wings4 ,but blessed as the present experience is1 we have to look for the perfecting of it when we pass from the forecourt to the inner sanctuary1 and in that higher house sit with ,christ at ,his table and feast at 'the marriage supper of the ,lamb4' ,here we drink from the river1 but there we shall be carried up to the source4 ,the life of ,god in the soul is here often feeble in its flow1 'a fountain sealed' and all but shut up in our hearts1 but there it will pour through all our being1 a fountain springing up into everlasting life4 ,the darkness is scattered even here by beams of the true light1 but here we are only in the morning twilight1 and many clouds still fill the sky1 and many a deep gorge lies in sunless shadow1 but there the light shall be a broad universal blaze1 and there shall be 'nothing hid from the heat thereof4' ,now1 dear brethren6 the sum of the whole matter is1 that all this fourfold blessing of satisfaction1 joy1 life1 light1 is given to you1 if you will take ,christ4 ,he will feed you with the bread of ,god2 ,he will give you ,his own joy to drink2 ,he will be in you the life of your lives1 and 'the master-light of all your seeing4' ,and if you will not have ,him1 you will starve1 and your lips will be cracked with thirst2 and you will live a life which is death1 and you will sink at last into outer darkness4 ,is that the fate which you are going to choose8 ,choose ,christ1 and ,he will give you satisfaction1 and joy1 and life1 and light4 ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,tranquillity ',delight thyself also in the ,lord1 and ,he shall give thee the desires of thine heart #e4 ,commit thy way unto the ,lord4444 #g4 ,rest in the ,lord1 and wait patiently for ,him4'--,,psalm xxxvii4 #d1 #e1 #g4 ',i have been young1 and now am old1' says the writer of this psalm4 ,its whole tone speaks the ripened wisdom and autumnal calm of age4 ,the dim eyes have seen and survived so much1 that it seems scarcely worth while to be agitated by what ceases so soon4 ,he has known so many bad men blasted in all their leafy verdure1 and so many languishing good men revived1 that-- ',old experience doth attain ,to something of prophetic strain'2 and is sure that 'to trust in the ,lord and do good' ever brings peace and happiness4 ,life with its changes has not soured but quieted him4 ,it does not seem to him an endless maze1 nor has he learned to despise it4 ,he has learned to see ,god in it all1 and that has cleared its confusion1 as the movements of the planets1 irregular and apparently opposite1 when viewed from the earth1 are turned into an ordered whole1 when the sun is taken for the centre4 ,what a contrast between the bitter cynicism put into the lips of the son1 and the calm cheerful godliness taught1 according to our psalm1 by the father6 ,to ,solomon1 old age is represented as bringing the melancholy creed1 ',all is vanity'2 ,david believes1 ',delight thyself in the ,lord1 and ,he shall give thee the desires of thine heart4' ,which style of old age is the nobler8 what kind of life will lead to each8 ,these clauses1 which ,i have ventured to isolate from their context1 contain the elements which secure peace even in storms and troubles4 ,i think that1 if we consider them carefully1 we shall see that there is a well-marked progress in them4 ,they do not cover the same ground by any means2 but each of the later flows from the former4 ,nobody can 'commit his way unto the ,lord' who has not begun by 'delighting in the ,lord'2 and nobody can 'rest in the ,lord' who has not 'committed his way to the ,lord4' ,these three precepts1 then1 the condensed result of the old man's lifelong experience1 open up for our consideration the secret of tranquillity4 ,let us think of them in order4 ,i4 ,here is the secret of tranquillity in freedom from eager1 earthly desires--',delight thyself in the ,lord1 and ,he shall give thee the desires of thine heart4' ,the great reason why life is troubled and restless lies not without1 but within4 ,it is not our changing circumstances1 but our unregulated desires1 that rob us of peace4 ,we are feverish1 not because of the external temperature1 but because of the state of our own blood4 ,the very emotion of desire disturbs us2 wishes make us unquiet2 and when a whole heart1 full of varying1 sometimes contradictory longings1 is boiling within a man1 how can he but tremble and quiver8 ,one desire unfulfilled is enough to banish tranquillity2 but how can it survive a dozen dragging different ways8 ,a deep lesson lies in that word distraction1 which has come to be so closely attached to desires2 the lesson that all eager longing tears the heart asunder4 ,unbridled and varying wishes1 then1 are the worst enemies of our repose4 ,and1 still further1 they destroy tranquillity by putting us at the mercy of externals4 ,whatsoever we make necessary for our contentment1 we make lord of our happiness4 ,by our eager desires we give perishable things supreme power over us1 and so intertwine our being with theirs1 that the blow which destroys them lets out our life-blood4 ,and1 therefore1 we are ever disturbed by apprehensions and shaken by fears4 ,we tie ourselves to these outward possessions1 as ,alpine travellers to their guides1 and so1 when they slip on the icy slopes1 their fall is our death4 ,if we were not eager to stand on the giddy top of fortune's rolling wheel1 we should not heed its idle whirl2 but we let our foolish hearts set our feet there1 and thenceforward every lurch of the glittering instability threatens to lame or kill us4 ,he who desires fleeting joys is sure to be restless always1 and to be disappointed at the last4 ,for1 even at the best1 the heart which depends for peace on the continuance of things subjected to a thousand accidents1 can only know quietness by forcibly closing its eyes against the inevitable2 and1 even at the best1 such a course must end on the whole in failure4 ,disappointment is the law for all earthly desires2 for appetite increases with indulgence1 and as it increases1 satisfaction decreases4 ,the food remains the same1 but its power to appease hunger diminishes4 ,possession bring indifference4 ,the dose that lulls into delicious dreams to-day must be doubled to-morrow1 if it is to do anything2 and there is soon an end of that4 ,each of your earthly joys fills but a part of your being1 and all the other ravenous longings either come shrieking at the gate of the soul's palace1 like a mob yelling for bread1 or are starved into silence2 but either way there is disquiet4 ,and then1 if a man has fixed his happiness on anything lower than the stars1 less stable than the heavens1 less sufficient than ,god1 there does come1 sooner or later1 a time when it passes from him1 or he from it4 ,do not venture the rich freightage of your happiness in crazy vessels4 ,if you do1 be sure that1 somewhere or other1 before your life is ended1 the poor frail craft will strike on some black rock rising sheer from the depths1 and will grind itself to chips there4 ,if your life twines round any prop but ,god your strength1 be sure that1 some time or other1 the stay to which its tendrils cling will be plucked up1 and the poor vine will be lacerated1 its clusters crushed1 and its sap will bleed out of it4 ,if1 then1 our desires are1 in their very exercise1 a disturbance1 and in their very fruition prophesy disappointment1 and if that certain disappointment is irrevocable and crushing when it comes1 what shall we do for rest8 ,dear brethren6 there is but one answer--',delight thyself in the ,lord4' ,these eager desires1 transfer to ,him2 on ,him let the affections fix and fasten2 make ,him the end of your longings1 the food of your spirits4 ,this is the purest1 highest form of religious emotion--when we can say1 ',whom have ,i but ,thee8 possessing ,thee ,i desire none beside4' ,and this glad longing for ,god is the cure for all the feverish unrest of desires unfulfilled1 as well as for the ague fear of loss and sorrow4 ,quietness fills the soul which delights in the ,lord1 and its hunger is as blessed and as peaceful as its satisfaction4 ,think how surely rest comes with delighting in ,god4 ,for that soul must needs be calm which is freed from the distraction of various desires by the one master-attraction4 ,such a soul is still as the great river above the falls1 when all the side currents and dimpling eddies and backwaters are effaced by the attraction that draws every drop in the one direction2 or like the same stream as it nears its end1 and1 forgetting how it brawled among rocks and flowers in the mountain glens1 flows with a calm and equable motion to its rest in the central sea4 ,let the current of your being set towards ,god1 then your life will be filled and calmed by one master-passion which unites and stills the soul4 ,and for another reason there will be peace3 because in such a case desire and fruition go together4 ',he shall give thee the desires of thine heart4' ,only do not vulgarise that great promise by making it out to mean that1 if we will be good1 ,he will give us the earthly blessings which we wish4 ,sometimes we shall get them1 and sometimes not2 but our text goes far deeper than that4 ,god ,himself is the heart's desire of those who delight in ,him2 and the blessedness of longing fixed on ,him is that it ever fulfils itself4 ,they who want ,god have ,him4 ,your truest joy is in ,his fellowship and ,his grace4 ,if1 set free from creatural delights1 our wills reach out towards ,god1 as a plant growing in darkness to the light--then we shall wish for nothing contrary to ,him1 and the wishes which run parallel to ,his purposes1 and embrace ,himself as their only good1 cannot be vain4 ,the sunshine flows into the opened eye1 the breath of life into the expanding lung--so surely1 so immediately the fulness of ,god fills the waiting1 wishing soul4 ,to delight in ,god is to possess our delight4 ,heart6 lift up thy gates3 open and raise the narrow1 low portals1 and the ,king of ,glory will stoop to enter4 ,once more3 desire after ,god will bring peace by putting all other wishes in their right place4 ,the counsel in our text does not enjoin the extinction1 but the subordination1 of other needs and appetites--',seek ye first the kingdom of ,god4' ,let that be the dominant desire which controls and underlies all the rest4 ,seek for ,god in everything1 and for everything in ,god4 ,only thus will you be able to bridle those cravings which else tear the heart4 ,the presence of the king awes the crowd into silence4 ,when the full moon is in the nightly sky1 it sweeps the heavens bare of flying cloud-rack1 and all the twinkling stars are lost in the peaceful1 solitary splendour4 ,so let delight in ,god rise in our souls1 and lesser lights pale before it--do not cease to be1 but add their feebleness1 unnoticed1 to its radiance4 ,the more we have our affections set on ,god1 the more shall we enjoy1 because we subordinate1 ,his gifts4 ,the less1 too1 shall we dread their loss1 the less be at the mercy of their fluctuations4 ,the capitalist does not think so much of the year's gains as does the needy adventurer1 to whom they make the difference between bankruptcy and competence4 ,if you have ,god for your 'enduring substance1' you can face all varieties of condition1 and be calm1 saying-- ',give what ,thou canst1 without ,thee ,i am poor1 ,and with ,thee rich1 take what ,thou wilt away4' ,the amulet that charms away disquiet lies here4 ,still thine eager desires1 arm thyself against feverish hopes1 and shivering fears1 and certain disappointment1 and cynical contempt of all things2 make sure of fulfilled wishes and abiding joys4 ',delight thyself in the ,lord1 and ,he shall give thee the desires of thine heart4' ,,ii4 ,but this is not all4 ,the secret of tranquillity is found1 secondly1 in freedom from the perplexity of choosing our path4 ',commit thy way unto the ,lord'--or1 as the margin says1 'roll' it upon ,god2 leave to ,him the guidance of thy life1 and thou shalt be at peace on the road4 ,this is a word for all life1 not only for its great occasions4 ,twice1 or thrice1 perhaps in a lifetime1 a man's road leads him up to a high dividing point1 a watershed as it were1 whence the rain runs from the one side of the ridge to the ,pacific1 and from the other to the ,atlantic4 ,his whole future may depend on his bearing the least bit to the right hand or to the left1 and all the slopes below1 on either side1 are wreathed in mist4 ,powerless as he is to see before him1 he has yet to choose1 and his choice determines the rest of his days4 ,certainly he needs some guidance then4 ,but he needs it not less in the small decisions of every hour4 ,our histories are made up of a series of trifles1 in each of which a separate act of will and choice is involved4 ,looking to the way in which character is made1 as coral reefs are built up1 by a multitude of tiny creatures whose united labours are strong enough to breast the ocean2 looking to the mysterious way in which the greatest events in our lives have the knack of growing out of the smallest2 looking to the power of habit to make any action of the mind almost instinctive3 it is of far more importance that we should become accustomed to apply this precept of seeking guidance from ,god to the million trifles than to the two or three decisions which1 at the time of making them1 we know to be weighty4 ,depend upon it that1 if we have not learned the habit of committing the daily-recurring monotonous steps to ,him1 we shall find it very1 very hard to seek ,his help1 when we come to a fork in the road4 ,so this is a command for all life1 not only for its turning-points4 ,what does it prescribe8 ,first1 the subordination--not the extinction--of our own inclinations4 ,we must begin by ceasing from self4 ,not that we are to cast out of consideration our own wishes4 ,these are an element in every decision1 and often are our best helps to the knowledge of our powers and of our duties4 ,but we have to take special care that they never in themselves settle the question4 ,they are second1 not first4 ',thus ,i will1 and therefore thus ,i decide2 my wish is enough for a reason1' is the language of a tyrant over others1 but of a slave to himself4 ,our first question is to be1 not ',what should ,i like8' but ',what does ,god will1 if ,i can by any means discover it8' ,wishes are to be held in subordination to ,him4 ,our will is to be master of our passions1 and desires1 and whims1 and habits1 but to be servant of ,god4 ,it should silence all their cries1 and itself be silent1 that ,god may speak4 ,like the lawgiver-captain in the wilderness1 it should stand still at the head of the ordered rank1 ready for the march1 but motionless1 till the ,pillar lifts from above the sanctuary4 ,yes6 ',commit thy way'--unto whom8 ,conscience8 ,no3 unto ,duty8 ,no3 but 'unto ,god'--which includes all these lower laws1 and a whole universe besides4 ,hold the will in equilibrium1 that ,his finger may incline the balance4 ,then the counsel of our text prescribes the submission of our judgment to ,god1 in the confidence that ,his wisdom will guide us4 ,committing our way unto the ,lord does not mean shifting the trouble of patient thought about our duty off our own shoulders4 ,it is no cowardly abnegation of the responsibility of choice which is here enjoined2 nor is there any sanction of lazily taking the first vagrant impulse1 wafted we know not whence1 that rises in the mind1 for the voice of ,god4 ,but1 just because we are to commit our way to ,him1 we are bound to the careful exercise of the best power of our own brains1 that we may discover what the will of ,god is4 ,he does not reveal that will to people who do not care to know it4 ,i suppose the precursor of all visions of ,him1 which have calmed ,his servants' souls with the peace of a clearly recognised duty1 has been their cry1 ',lord1 what wilt ,thou have me to do8' ,god counsels men who use their own wits to find out ,his counsel4 ,he speaks to us through our judgments when they take all the ordinary means of ascertaining our course4 ,the law is3 ,do your best to find out your duty2 suppress inclination1 and desire to do ,god's will1 and ,he will certainly tell you what it is4 ,i1 for my part1 believe that the ,psalmist spoke a truth when he said1 ',in all thy ways acknowledge ,him1 and ,he shall direct thy steps4' ,only let the eye be fixed on ,him1 and ,he will guide us in the way4 ,if we chiefly desire1 and with patient impartiality try1 to be directed by ,him1 we shall never want for direction4 ,but all this is possible only if we 'delight in the ,lord4' ,nothing else will still our desires--the voice within1 and the invitations without1 which hinder us from hearing the directions of our ,guide4 ,nothing else will so fasten up and muzzle the wild passions and lusts that a little child may lead them4 ,to delight in ,him is the condition of all wise judgment4 ,for the most part1 it is not hard to discover ,god's will concerning us1 if we supremely desire to know and do it2 and such supreme desire is but the expression of this supreme delight in ,him4 ,such a disposition wonderfully clears away mists and perplexities2 and though there will still remain ample scope for the exercise of our best judgment1 and for reliance on ,him to lead us1 yet he whose single object is to walk in the way that ,god points1 will seldom have to stand still in uncertainty as to what that way is4 ',if thine eye be single1 thy whole body shall be full of light4' ,thus1 dear brethren6 these two keys--joy in ,god1 and trust in ,his guidance--open for us the double doors of 'the secret place of the ,most ,high'2 where all the roar of the busy world dies upon the ear1 and the still small voice of the present ,god deepens the silence1 and hushes the heart4 ,be quiet1 and you will hear ,him speak--delight in ,him1 that you may be quiet4 ,let the affections feed on ,him1 the will wait mute before ,him1 till ,his command inclines it to decision1 and quickens it into action2 let the desires fix upon ,his all-sufficiency2 and then the wilderness will be no more trackless1 but the ruddy blaze of the guiding pillar will brighten on the sand a path which men's hands have never made1 nor human feet trodden into a road4 ,he will 'guide us with ,his eye1' if our eyes be fixed on ,him1 and be swift to discern and eager to obey the lightest glance that love can interpret4 ,shall we be 'like the horse or the mule1 which have no understanding1' and need to be pulled with bridles and beaten with whips before they know how to go2 or shall we be like some trained creature that is guided by the unseen cord of docile submission1 and has learned to read the duty1 which is its joy1 in the glance of its master's eye1 or the wave of his hand8 ',delight thyself in the ,lord3 commit thy way unto ,him4' ,,iii4 ,our text takes one more step4 ,the secret of tranquillity is found1 thirdly1 in freedom from the anxiety of an unknown future4 ',best in the ,lord1 and wait patiently for ,him4' ,such an addition to these previous counsels is needful1 if all the sources of our disquiet are to be dealt with4 ,the future is dim1 after all our straining to see into its depths4 ,the future is threatening1 after all our efforts to prepare for its coming storms4 ,a rolling vapour veils it all2 here and there a mountain peak seems to stand out2 but in a moment another swirl of the fog hides it from us4 ,we know so little1 and what we do know is so sad1 that the ignorance of what may be1 and the certainty of what must be1 equally disturb us with hopes which melt into fears1 and forebodings which consolidate into certainties4 ,we are sure that in that future are losses1 and sorrows1 and death2 thank ,god6 we are sure too1 that ,he is in it4 ,that certainty alone1 and what comes of it1 makes it possible for a thoughtful man to face to-morrow without fear or tumult4 ,the only rest from apprehensions which are but too reasonable is 'rest in the ,lord4' ,if we are sure that ,he will be there1 and if we delight in ,him1 then we can afford to say1 ',as for all the rest1 let it be as ,he wills1 it will be well4' ,that thought alone1 dear friends6 will give calmness4 ,what else is there1 brethren6 for a man fronting that vague future1 from whose weltering sea such black1 sharp-toothed rocks protrude8 ,shall we bow before some stern ,fate1 as its lord1 and try to be as stern as ,it8 ,shall we think of some frivolous ,chance1 as tossing its unguided waves1 and try to be as frivolous as ,it8 ,shall we try to be content with an animal limitation to the present1 and heighten the bright colour of the little to-day by the black background that surrounds it1 saying1 ',let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die'8 ,is it not better1 happier1 nobler1 every way truer1 to look into that perilous uncertain future1 or rather to look past it to the loving ,father who is its ,lord and ours1 and to wait patiently for ,him8 ,confidence that the future will but evolve ,god's purposes1 and that all these are enlisted on our side1 will give peace and power4 ,without it all is chaos1 and we flying atoms in the anarchic mass2 or else all is coldblooded impersonal law1 and we crushed beneath its chariot-wheels4 ,here1 and here alone1 is the secret of tranquillity4 ,but remember1 brethren6 that the peaceful confidence of this final counsel is legitimate only when we have obeyed the other two4 ,i have no business1 for instance1 to expect ,god to save me from the natural consequences of my own worldliness or folly4 ,if ,i have taken up a course from eager desires for earthly good1 or from obedience to any inclination of my own without due regard to ,his will1 ,i have no right1 when things begin to go awry1 to turn round to ,god and say1 ',lord6 ,i wait upon ,thee to save me4' ,and though repentance1 and forsaking of our evil ways at any point in a man's course1 do ensure1 through ,jesus ,christ1 ,god's loving forgiveness1 yet the evil consequences of past folly are often mercifully suffered to remain with us all our days4 ,he who has delighted in the ,lord1 and committed his way unto ,him1 can venture to front whatever may be coming2 and though not without much consciousness of sin and weakness1 can yet cast upon ,god the burden of taking care of him1 and claim from his faithful ,father the protection and the peace which ,he has bound ,himself to give4 ,and ,o dear friends6 what a calm will enter our souls then1 solid1 substantial1 'the peace of ,god1' gift and effluence from the ',god of peace'6 ,how blessed then to leave all the possible to-morrow with a very quiet heart in ,his hands6 ,how easy then to bear the ignorance1 how possible then to face the certainties1 of that solemn future6 ,change and death can only thin away and finally remove the film that separates us from our delight4 ,whatever comes here or yonder can but bring us blessing2 for we must be glad if we have ,god1 and if our wills are parallel with ,his1 whose ,will all things serve4 ,our way is traced by ,him1 and runs alongside of ,his4 ,it leads to ,himself4 ,then rest in the ,lord1 and 'judge nothing before the time4' ,we cannot criticise the ,great ,artist when we stand before ,his unfinished masterpiece1 and see dim outlines here1 a patch of crude colour there4 ,but wait patiently for ,him1 and so1 in calm expectation of a blessed future and a finished work1 which will explain the past1 in honest submission of our way to ,god1 in supreme delight in ,him who is the gladness of our joy1 the secret of tranquillity will be ours4 ,,the ,,bitterness ,,and ,,blessedness ,,of ,,the ,,brevity ,,of ,,life ',surely every man walketh in a vain shew4444 #ab4 ,i am a stranger with ,thee1 and a sojourner1 as all my fathers were4' --,,psalm xxxix4 #f1 #ab4 ,these two sayings are two different ways of putting the same thing4 ,there is a common thought underlying both1 but the associations with which that common thought is connected in these two verses are distinctly different4 ,the one is bitter and sad--a gloomy half truth4 ,the other1 out of the very same fact1 draws blessedness and hope4 ,the one may come from no higher point of view than the level of worldly experience2 the other is a truth of faith4 ,the former is at best partial1 and without the other may be harmful2 the latter completes1 explains1 and hallows it4 ,and that this progress and variety in the thought is the key to the whole psalm is1 ,i think1 obvious to any one who will examine it with care4 ,i cannot here enter on that task but in the hastiest fashion1 by way of vindicating the connection which ,i trace between the two verses of our text4 ,the ,psalmist begins1 then1 with telling how at some time recently passed--in consequence of personal calamity not very clearly defined1 but apparently some bodily sickness aggravated by mental sorrow and anxiety--he was struck dumb with silence1 so that he 'held his peace even from good4' ,in that state there rose within him many sad and miserable thoughts1 which at last forced their way through his locked lips4 ,they shape themselves into a prayer1 which is more complaint than petition--and which is absorbed in the contemplation of the manifest melancholy facts of human life--',thou hast made my days as an handbreadth2 and mine age is as nothing before ,thee4' ,and then1 as that thought dilates and sinks deeper into his soul1 he looks out upon the whole race of man--and in tones of bitterness and hopelessness1 affirms that all are vanity1 shadows1 disquieted in vain4 ,the blank hopelessness of such a view brings him to a standstill4 ,it is true--but taken alone is too dreadful to think of4 ',that way madness lies1'--so he breaks short off his almost despairing thoughts1 and with a swift turning away of his mind from the downward gaze into blackness that was beginning to make him reel1 he fixes his eyes on the throne above--',and now1 ,lord6 what wait ,i for8 my hope is in ,thee4' ,these words form the turning-point of the psalm4 ,after them1 the former thoughts are repeated1 but with what a difference--made by looking at all the blackness and sorrow1 both personal and universal1 in the bright light of that hope which streams upon the most lurid masses of opaque cloud1 till their gloom begins to glow with an inward lustre1 and softens into solemn purples and reds4 ,he had said1 ',i was dumb with silence--even from good4' ,but when his hope is in ,god1 the silence changes its character and becomes resignation and submission4 ',i opened not my mouth2 because ,thou didst it4' ,the variety of human life and its transiency is not less plainly seen than before2 but in the light of that hope it is regarded in relation to ,god's paternal correction1 and is seen to be the consequence1 not of a defect in ,his creative wisdom or love1 but of man's sin4 ',thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity4' ,that1 to him who waits on the ,lord1 is the reason and the alleviation of the reiterated conviction1 ',every man is vanity4' ,not any more does he say every man 'at his best state1' or1 as it might be more accurately expressed1 'even when most firmly established1'--for the man who is established in the ,lord is not vanity1 but only the man who founds his being on the fleeting present4 ,then1 things being so1 life being thus in itself and apart from ,god so fleeting and so sad1 and yet with a hope that brightens it like sunshine through an ,april shower--the ,psalmist rises to prayer1 in which that formerly expressed conviction of the brevity of life is reiterated1 with the addition of two words which changes its whole aspect1 ',i am a stranger with ,thee4' ,he is ,god's guest in his transient life4 ,it is short1 like the stay of a foreigner in a strange land2 but he is under the care of the ,king of the ,land--therefore he need not fear nor sorrow4 ,past generations1 ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob--whose names ,god 'is not ashamed' to appeal to in ,his own solemn designation of ,himself--have held the same relation1 and their experience has sealed ,his faithful care of those who dwell with ,him4 ,therefore1 the sadness is soothed1 and the vain and fleeting life of earth assumes a new appearance1 and the most blessed and wisest issue of our consciousness of frailty and insufficiency is the fixing of our desires and hopes on ,him in whose house we may dwell even while we wander to and fro1 and in whom our life being rooted and established shall not be vain1 howsoever it may be brief4 ,if1 then1 we follow the course of contemplation thus traced in the psalm1 we have these three points brought before us--first1 the thought of life common to both clauses2 second1 the gloomy1 aimless hollowness which that thought breathes into life apart from ,god2 third1 the blessedness which springs from the same thought when we look at it in connection with our ,father in heaven4 ,i4 ,observe the very forcible expression which is given here to the thought of life common to both verses4 ',every man walketh in a vain show4' ,the original is even more striking and strong4 ,and although one does not like altering words so familiar as those of our translation1 which have sacredness from association and a melancholy music in their rhythm--still it is worth while to note that the force of the expression which the ,psalmist employs is correctly given in the margin1 'in an image'--or 'in a shadow4' ,the phrase sounds singular to us1 but is an instance of a common enough ,hebrew idiom1 and is equivalent to saying--he walks in the character or likeness of a shadow1 or1 as we should say1 he walks as a shadow4 ,that is to say1 the whole outward life and activity of every man is represented as fleeting and unsubstantial1 like the reflection of a cloud which darkens leagues of the mountains' side in a moment1 and ere a man can say1 ',behold6' is gone again for ever4 ,then1 look at the other image employed in the other clause of our text to express the same idea1 ',i am a stranger and a sojourner1 as all my fathers4' ,the phrase has a history4 ,in that most pathetic narrative of an old-world sorrow long since calmed and consoled1 when ',abraham stood up from before his dead1' and craved a burying-place for his ,sarah from the sons of ,heth1 his first plea was1 ',i am a stranger and a sojourner with you4' ,in his lips it was no metaphor4 ,he was a stranger1 a visitor for a brief time to an alien land2 he was a sojourner1 having no rights of inheritance1 but settled among them for a while1 and though dwelling among them1 not adopted into their community4 ,he was a foreigner1 not naturalised4 ,and such is our relation to all this visible frame of things in which we dwell4 ,it is alien to us2 though we be in it1 our true affinities are elsewhere2 though we be in it1 our stay is brief1 as that of 'a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for a night4' ,and there is given in the context still another metaphor setting forth the same fact in that dreary generalisation which precedes my text1 ',every man at his best state'--or as the word means1 'established1'--with his roots most firmly struck in the material and visible--'is only a breath4' ,it appears for a moment1 curling from lip and nostril into the cold morning air1 and vanishes away1 so thus vaporous1 filmy1 is the seeming solid fact of the most stable life4 ,these have been the commonplaces of poets and rhetoricians and moralists in all time4 ,but threadbare as the thought is1 ,i may venture to dwell on it for a moment4 ,i know ,i am only repeating what we all believe--and all forget4 ,it is never too late to preach commonplaces1 until everybody acts on them as well as admits them--and this old familiar truth has not yet got so wrought into the structure of our lives that we can afford to say no more about it4 ',surely every man walketh in a shadow4' ,did you ever stand upon the shore on some day of that 'uncertain weather1 when gloom and glory meet together1' and notice how swiftly there went1 racing over miles of billows1 a darkening that quenched all the play of colour in the waves1 as if all suddenly the angel of the waters had spread his broad wings between sun and sea1 and then how in another moment as swiftly it flits away1 and with a burst the light blazes out again1 and leagues of ocean flash into green and violet and blue4 ,so fleeting1 so utterly perishable are our lives for all their seeming solid permanency4 ',shadows in a career1 as ,george ,herbert has it--breath going out of the nostrils4 ,we think of ourselves as ever to continue in our present posture4 ,we are deceived by illusions4 ,mental indolence1 a secret dislike of the thought1 and the impostures of sense1 all conspire to make us blind to1 or at least oblivious of1 the plain fact which every beat of our pulses might preach1 and the slow creeping hands of every parish clock confirm4 ,how awful that silent1 unceasing footfall of receding days is when once we begin to watch it6 ,inexorable1 passionless--though hope and fear may pray1 ',sun6 stand thou still on ,gibeon2 and thou moon6 in the valley of ,ajalon1'--the tramp of the hours goes on4 ,the poets paint them as a linked chorus of rosy forms1 garlanded1 and clasping hands as they dance onwards4 ,so they may be to some of us at some moments4 ,so they may seem as they approach2 but those who come hold the hands of those who go1 and that troop has no rosy light upon their limbs1 their garlands are faded1 the sunshine falls not upon the grey and shrouded shapes1 as they steal ghostlike through the gloom--and ever and ever the bright and laughing sisters pass on into that funereal band which grows and moves away from us unceasing4 ,alas6 for many of us it bears away with it our lost treasures1 our shattered hopes1 our joys from which all the bright petals have dropped6 ,alas6 for many of us there is nothing but sorrow in watching how all things become 'part and parcel of the dreadful past4' ,and how strangely sometimes even a material association may give new emphasis to that old threadbare truth4 ,some more permanent thing may help us to feel more profoundly the shadowy fleetness of man4 ,the trifles are so much more lasting than their owners4 ,or1 as 'the ,preacher' puts it1 with such wailing pathos1 ',one generation passeth away1 and another generation cometh1 but the earth abideth for ever4' ,this material is perishable--but yet how much more enduring than we are6 ,the pavements we walk upon1 the coals in our grates--how many millenniums old are they8 ,the pebble you kick aside with your foot--how many generations will it outlast8 ,go into a museum and you will see hanging there1 little the worse for centuries1 battered shields1 notched swords1 and gaping helmets--aye1 but what has become of the bright eyes that once flashed the light of battle through the bars1 what has become of the strong hands that once gripped the hilts8 ',the knights are dust1' and 'their good swords are' not 'rust4' ,the material lasts after its owner4 ,seed corn is found in a mummy case4 ,the poor form beneath the painted lid is brown and hard1 and more than half of it gone to pungent powder1 and the man that once lived has faded utterly3 but the handful of seed has its mysterious life in it1 and when it is sown1 in due time the green blade pushes above ,english soil1 as it would have done under the shadow of the pyramids four thousand years ago--and its produce waves in a hundred harvest fields to-day4 ,the money in your purses now1 will some of it bear the head of a king that died half a century ago4 ,it is bright and useful--where are all the people that in turn said they 'owned' it8 ,other men will live in our houses1 will preach from this pulpit1 and sit in these pews1 when you and ,i are far away4 ,and other ,june days will come1 and the old rose-trees will flower round houses where unborn men will then be living1 when the present possessor is gone to nourish the roots of the roses in the graveyard6 ',our days are as a shadow1 and there is none abiding4' ,so said ,david on other occasions4 ,we know1 dear brethren6 how true it is1 whether we consider the ceaseless flux and change of things1 the mystic march of the silent-footed hours1 or the greater permanence which attaches to the 'things which perish1' than to our abode among them4 ,we know it1 and yet how hard it is not to yield to the inducement to act and feel as if all this painted scenery were solid rock and mountain4 ,by our own inconsiderateness and sensuousness1 we live in a lie1 in a false dream of permanence1 and so in a sadder sense we walk in 'a vain show1'--deluding ourselves with the conceit of durability1 and refusing to see that the apparent is the shadowy1 and the one enduring reality ,god4 ,it is hard to get even the general conviction vivified in men's minds1 hardest of all to get any man to reflect upon it as applying to himself4 ,do not think that you have said enough to vindicate neglect of my words now1 when you call them commonplace4 ,so they are4 ,but did you ever take that well-worn old story1 and press it on your own consciousness--as a man might press a common little plant1 whose juice is healing1 against his dim eye-ball--by saying to yourself1 ',it is true of me4 ,i walk as a shadow4 ,i am gliding onwards to my doom4 ,through my slack hands the golden sands are flowing1 and soon my hour-glass will run out1 and ,i shall have to stop and go away4' ,let me beseech you for one half-hour's meditation on that fact before this day closes4 ,you will forget my words then1 when with your own eyes you have looked upon that truth1 and felt that it is not merely a toothless commonplace1 but belongs to and works in thy life1 as it ebbs away silently and incessantly from thee4 ,,ii4 ,let me point1 in the second place1 to the gloomy1 aimless hollowness which that thought1 apart from ,god1 infuses into life4 ,there is1 no doubt1 a double idea in the metaphor which the ,psalmist employs4 ,he desires to set forth1 by his image of a shadow1 not only the transiency1 but the unsubstantialness of life4 ,shadow is opposed to substance1 to that which is real1 as well as to that which is enduring4 ,and we may further say that the one of these characteristics is in great part the occasion of the other4 ,because life is fleeting1 therefore1 in part1 it is so hollow and unsatisfying4 ,the fact that men are dragged away from their pursuits so inexorably makes these pursuits seem1 to any one who cannot see beyond that fact1 trivial and not worth the following4 ,why should we fret and toil and break our hearts1 'and scorn delights1 and live laborious days' for purposes which will last so short a time1 and things which we shall so soon have to leave8 ,what is all our bustle and business1 when the sad light of that thought falls on it1 but 'labouring for the wind'8 ',were it not better to lie still8' ,such thoughts have at least a partial truth in them1 and are difficult to meet as long as we think only of the facts and results of man's life that we can see with our eyes1 and our psalm gives emphatic utterance to them4 ,the word rendered 'walketh' in our text is not merely a synonym for passing through life1 but has a very striking meaning4 ,it is an intensive frequentative form of the word--that is1 it represents the action as being repeated over and over again4 ,for instance1 it might be used to describe the restless motion of a wild beast in a cage1 raging from side to side1 never still1 and never getting any farther for all the racing backward and forward4 ,so here it signifies 'walketh to and fro1' and implies hurry and bustle1 continuous effort1 habitual unrest4 ,it thus comes to be parallel with the stronger words which follow1--',surely they are disquieted in vain'2 and one reason why all this effort and agitation are purposeless and sad1 is because the man who is straining his nerves and wearying his legs is but a shadow in regard to duration--',he heapeth up riches1 and knoweth not who shall gather them4' ,yes6 if we have said all1 when we have said that men pass as a fleeting shadow--if my life has no roots in the ,eternal1 nor any consciousness of a life that does not pass1 and a light that never perishes1 if it is derived from1 directed to1 'cribbed1 cabined1 and confined' within this visible diurnal sphere1 then it is all flat and unprofitable1 an illusion while it seems to last1 and all its pursuits are folly1 its hopes dreams1 its substances vapours1 its years a lie4 ,for1 if life be thus short1 ,i who live it am conscious of1 and possess whether ,i be conscious of them or no1 capacities and requirements which1 though they were to be annihilated to-morrow1 could be satisfied while they lasted by nothing short of the absolute ideal1 the all-perfect1 the infinite--or1 to put away abstractions1 ',my soul thirsteth for ,god1 the living ,god6' ',he hath put eternity in their heart1' as the book of ,ecclesiastes says4 ,longings and aspirations1 weaknesses and woes1 the limits of creature helps and loves1 the disproportion between us and the objects around us--all these facts of familiar experience do witness1 alike by blank misgivings and by bright hopes1 by many disappointments and by indestructible expectations surviving them all1 that nothing which has a date1 a beginning1 or an end1 can fill our souls or give us rest4 ,can you fill up the swamps of the ,mississippi with any cartloads of faggots you can fling in8 ,can you fill your souls with anything which belongs to this fleeting life8 ,has a flying shadow an appreciable thickness1 or will a million of them pressed together occupy a space in your empty1 hungry heart8 ,and so1 dear brethren6 ,i come to you with a message which may sound gloomy1 and beseech you to give heed to it4 ,no matter how you may get on in the world--though you may fulfil every dream with which you began in your youth--you will certainly find that without ,christ for your ,brother and ,saviour1 ,god for your ,friend1 and heaven for your hope1 life1 with all its fulness1 is empty4 ,it lasts long1 too long as it sometimes seems for work1 too long for hope1 too long for endurance2 long enough to let love die1 and joys wither and fade1 and companions drop away1 but without ,god and ,christ1 you will find it but 'as a watch in the night4' ,at no moment through the long weary years will it satisfy your whole being2 and when the weary years are all past1 they will seem to have been but as one troubled moment breaking the eternal silence4 ,at every point so profitless1 and all the points making so thin and short a line6 ,the crested waves seem heaped together as they recede from the eye till they reach the horizon1 where miles of storm are seen but as a line of spray4 ,so when a man looks back upon his life1 if it have been a godless one1 be sure of this1 that he will have a dark and cheerless retrospect over a tossing waste1 with a white rim of wandering barren foam vexed by tempest1 and then1 if not before1 he will sadly learn how he has been living amidst shadows1 and1 with a nature that needs ,god1 has wasted himself upon the world4 ',o life6 as futile then as frail'2 'surely1' in such a case1 'every man walketh in a vain show4' ,,iii4 ,but note1 finally1 how our other text in its significant words gives us the blessedness which springs from this same thought of life1 when it is looked at in connection with ,god4 ,the mere conviction of the brevity and hollowness of life is not in itself a religious or a helpful thought4 ,its power depends upon the other ideas which are associated with it4 ,it is susceptible of the most opposite applications1 and may tend to impel conduct in exactly opposite directions4 ,it may be the language of despair or of bright hope4 ,it may be the bitter creed of a worn-out debauchee1 who has wasted his life in hunting shadows1 and is left with a cynical spirit and a barbed tongue4 ,it may be the passionless belief of a retired student1 or the fanatical faith of a religious ascetic4 ,it may be an argument for sensuous excess1 ',let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die'2 or it may be the stimulus for noble and holy living1 ',i must work the works of ,him that sent me while it is day4 ,the night cometh4' ,the other accompanying beliefs determine whether it shall be a blight or a blessing to a man4 ,and the one addition which is needed to incline the whole weight of that conviction to the better side1 and to light up all its blackness1 is that little phrase in this text1 ',i am a stranger with ,thee1 and a sojourner4' ,there seems to be an allusion here to remarkable words connected with the singular ,jewish institution of the ,jubilee4 ,you remember that by the ,mosaic law1 there was no absolute sale of land in ,israel1 but that every half century the whole returned to the descendants of the original occupiers4 ,important economical and social purposes were contemplated in this arrangement1 as well as the preservation of the relative position of the tribes as settled at the ,conquest4 ,but the law itself assigns a purely religious purpose--the preservation of the distinct consciousness of the tenure on which the people held their territory1 namely1 obedience to and dependence on ,god4 ',the land shall not be sold for ever1 for the land is ,mine1 for ye are strangers and sojourners with ,me4' ,of course1 there was a special sense in which that was true with regard to ,israel1 but ,david thought that the words were as true in regard to his whole relation to ,god1 as in regard to ,israel's possession of its national inheritance4 ,if we grasp these words as completing all that we have already said1 how different this transient and unsubstantial life looks6 ,you must have the light from both sides to stereoscope and make solid the flat surface picture4 ,transient6 yes--but it is passed in the presence of ,god4 ,whether we know it or no1 our brief days hang upon ,him1 and we walk1 all of us1 in the light of ,his countenance4 ,that makes the transient eternal1 the shadowy substantial1 the trivial heavy with solemn meaning and awful yet vast possibilities4 ',in our embers is something that doth live4' ,if we had said all1 when we say ',we are as a shadow1' it would matter very little1 though even then it would matter something1 how we spent our shadowy days2 but if these poor brief hours are spent 'in the great ,taskmaster's eye1'--if the shadow cast on earth proclaims a light in the heavens--if from this point there hangs an unending chain of conscious being--,oh6 then1 with what awful solemnity is the brevity1 with what tremendous magnitude is the minuteness1 of our earthly days invested6 ',with ,thee'--then ,i am constantly in the presence of a sovereign ,law and its ,giver2 'with ,thee'--then all my actions are registered and weighed yonder2 'with ,thee'--then ',thou1 ,god1 seest me4' ,brethren6 it is the prismatic halo and ring of eternity round this poor glass of time that gives it all its dignity1 all its meaning4 ,the lives that are lived before ,god cannot be trifles4 ,and if this relation to time be recognised and accepted and held fast by our hearts and minds1 then what calm blessedness will flow into our souls6 ',a stranger with ,thee1'--then we are the guests of the ,king4 ,the ,lord of the land charges ,himself with our protection and provision2 we journey under ,his safe conduct4 ,it is for ,his honour and faithfulness that no harm shall come to us travelling in ,his territory1 and relying on ,his word4 ,like ,abraham with the sons of ,heth1 we may claim the protection and help which a stranger needs4 ,he recognises the bond and will fulfil it4 ,we have eaten of ,his salt1 and ,he will answer for our safety4--',he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of ,mine eye4' ',a stranger with ,thee1'--then we have a constant ,companion and an abiding ,presence4 ,we may be solitary and necessarily remote from the polity of the land4 ,we may feel amid all the visible things of earth as if foreigners4 ,we may not have a foot of soil1 not even a grave for our dead4 ,companionships may dissolve and warm hands grow cold and their close clasp relax--what then8 ,he is with us still4 ,he will join us as we journey1 even when our hearts are sore with loss4 ,he will walk with us by the way1 and make our chill hearts glow4 ,he will sit with us at the table--however humble the meal1 and ,he will not leave us when we discern ,him4 ,strangers we are indeed here--but not solitary1 for we are 'strangers with ,thee4' ,as in some ancestral home in which a family has lived for centuries--son after father has rested in its great chambers1 and been safe behind its strong walls--so1 age after age1 they who love ,him abide in ,god4--',thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations4' ',strangers with ,thee1'--then we may carry our thoughts forward to the time when we shall go to our true home1 nor wander any longer in a land that is not ours4 ,if even here we come into such blessed relationships with ,god1 that fact is in itself a prophecy of a more perfect communion and a heavenly house4 ,they who are strangers with ,him will one day be 'at home with the ,lord1' and in the light of that blessed hope the transiency of this life changes its whole aspect1 loses the last trace of sadness1 and becomes a solemn joy4 ,why should we be pensive and wistful when we think how near our end is8 ,is the sentry sad as the hour for relieving guard comes nigh8 ,is the wanderer in far-off lands sad when he turns his face homewards8 ,and why should not we rejoice at the thought that we1 strangers and foreigners here1 shall soon depart to the true metropolis1 the mother-country of our souls8 ,i do not know why a man should be either regretful or afraid1 as he watches the hungry sea eating away this 'bank and shoal of time' upon which he stands--even though the tide has all but reached his feet--if he knows that ,god's strong hand will be stretched forth to him at the moment when the sand dissolves from under him1 and will draw him out of many waters1 and place him high above the floods in that stable land where there is 'no more sea4' ,lives rooted in ,god through faith in ,jesus ,christ are not vanity4 ,let us lay hold of ,him with a loving grasp--and 'we shall live also' because ,he lives1 as ,he lives1 so long as ,he lives4 ,the brief days of earth will be blessed while they last1 and fruitful of what shall never pass4 ,we shall have ,him with us while we journey1 and all our journeyings will lead to rest in ,him4 ,true1 men walk in a vain show2 true1 'the world passeth away and the lust thereof1' but1 blessed be ,god6 true1 also1 ',he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever4' ,,two ,,innumerable ,,series ',many1 ,o ,lord my ,god1 are ,thy wonderful works which ,thou hast done1 and ,thy thoughts which are to us-ward3 they cannot be reckoned up in order unto ,thee3 if ,i would declare and speak of them1 they are more than can be numbered 444 #ab4 ,innumerable evils have compassed me about3 mine iniquities have taken hold upon me1 so that ,i am not able to look up2 they are more than the hairs of mine head2 therefore my heart faileth me4'--,,psalms xl4 #e1 #ab4 ,so then1 there are two series of things which cannot be numbered1 ,god's mercies1 man's sins4 ,this psalm has for its burden a cry for deliverance2 but the ,psalmist begins where it is very hard for a struggling man to begin1 but where we always should begin1 with grateful remembrance of ,god's mercy4 ,his wondrous dealings seem to the ,psalmist's thankful heart as numberless as the blades of grass which carpet the fields1 or as the wavelets which glance in the moonlight and break in silver upon the sand4 ,they come pouring out continuously1 like the innumerable undulations of the ether which make upon the eyeballs the single sensation of light4 ,he thinks not only of ,god's wonderful works1 ,his realised purposes of mercy1 but of ',his thoughts which are to us-ward1' the purposes1 still more wonderful1 of a yet greater mercy which wait to be realised4 ,he thinks not only of ,god's lovingkindness to ,him1 but his contemplations embrace ,god's goodness to his brethren--',thy thoughts which are to us-ward4' ,and as he thinks of all this 'multitude of ,his tender mercies1' his lips break into this rapturous exclamation of my text4 ,but there is a wonderful change in tone1 in the two halves of the psalm4 ,the deliverance that seems so complete in the earlier part is but partial4 ,the triumph and the trust seem both to be clouded over4 ,a frowning mass lifts itself up against the immense mass of ,god's mercies4 ,the ,psalmist sees himself ringed about by numberless evils1 as a man tied to a stake might be by a circle of fire4 ',innumerable evils have compassed me about4' ,his conscience tells him that the evils are deserved2 they are his iniquities transformed which have come back to him in another shape1 and have laid their hands upon him as a constable does upon a thief4 ',mine iniquities have taken hold upon me'--they hem him in so that his vision is interrupted1 the smoke from the circle of flame blinds his eyes--',i cannot see4' ,his roused conscience and his quivering heart conceive of them as 'more than the hairs of his head1' and so courage and confidence have ebbed away from him4 ',my heart faileth me----1' and there is nothing left for him but to fling himself in his misery out of himself and on to ,god4 ,now what ,i wish to do in this sermon is not so much to deal with these two verses separately as to draw some of the lessons from the very remarkable juxtaposition of these two innumerable things--,god's tender mercies1 and man's iniquity and evil4 ,i4 ,to begin with1 let me remind you how1 if we keep these two things both together in our contemplations1 they suggest for us very forcibly the greatest mystery in the universe1 and throw a little light upon it4 ,the difficulty of difficulties1 the one insoluble problem is----1 given a good and perfect ,god1 where does sorrow come from1 and why is there any pain8 ,men have fumbled at that knot for all the years that there have been men in the world1 and they have not untied it yet4 ,they have tried to cut it and it has resisted all their knives and all their ingenuity4 ,and there the question stands before us1 grim1 insoluble1 the despair of all thinkers and often the torture of our own hearts1 in the hours of our personal experience4 ,is it true that ',god's mercies are innumerable'8 ,if it be1 what is the meaning of all this that makes me writhe and weep8 ,nobody has answered that question1 and nobody ever will4 ,only let us beware of the temptation of blinking half of the facts by reason of the clearness of our confidence or the depth of our feeling of the other half4 ,that is always our temptation4 ,you must have had a singularly unruffled life if there has never come to you some moment when1 in the depth of your agony1 you have ground your teeth together1 as you said to yourself1 ',is there a ,god then at all8 ,and does ,he care for me at all8 ,and can ,he help me at all8 ,and if there is1 why in the name of pity does ,he not8' ,well1 my brother6 when such moments come to us1 and they come to us all sooner or later--and ,i was going to add a parenthesis1 which you will think strange1 and say that they come to us all sooner or later1 blessed be ,god6--when such moments come to us1 do not let the black mass hide the light one from you1 but copy this ,psalmist1 and in the energy of your faith1 even though it be the extremity of your pain1 grasp and grip them both2 and though you have to say and to wail3 ',innumerable evils have compassed me about1' be sure that you do not let that prevent you from saying1 ',many1 ,o ,lord my ,god6 are ,thy wonderful works which are to us-ward4 ,they are more than can be numbered4' ,i do not enter upon this as a mere matter of philosophical speculation4 ,it is far too serious and important a matter to be so dealt with1 in a pulpit at any rate1 but ,i would also add in one sentence that the mere thinker1 who looks at the question solely from an intellectual point of view1 has need to take the lesson of my two texts1 and to be sure that he keeps clear before him both halves of the facts--though they seem to be as unlike each other as the eclipsed and the uneclipsed silver half of the moon--with which he has to deal4 ,remember1 the one does not contradict the other2 but let us ask ourselves if the one does not explain the other4 ,if it be that these mercies are so innumerable as my first text says1 may it not be that they go deep down beneath1 and include in their number1 the experience that seems most opposite to them1 even the sorrow that afflicts our lives8 ,must it not be1 that the innumerable sum of ,god's mercies has not to have subtracted from it1 but has to have added to it1 the sum which also at intervals appears to us innumerable1 of our sorrows and our burdens8 ,perhaps the explanation does not go to the bottom of the bottomless1 but it goes a long way down towards it4 ',whom the ,lord loveth1 ,he chasteneth' makes a bridge across the gulf which seems to part the opposing cliffs1 these two sets effect1 and turn the darker into a form in which the brighter reveals itself4 ',all things work together for good4' ,and ,god's innumerable mercies include the whole sum total of my sorrows4 ,,ii4 ,so1 again1 notice how the blending of these two thoughts together heightens the impression of each4 ,all artists1 and all other people know the power of contrast4 ,white never looks so white as when it is relieved against black2 black never so intense as when it is relieved against white4 ,a white flower in the twilight gleams out in spectral distinctness1 paler and fairer than it looked in the blazing sunshine4 ,so1 if we take and put these two things together--the dark mass of man's miseries and the radiant brightness of ,god's mercies1 each heightens the colour of the other4 ,only1 let me observe1 as ,i have already suggested that1 in the second of my two texts1 whilst the ,psalmist starts from the 'innumerable evils' that have compassed him about1 he passes from these to the earlier evils which he had done4 ,it is pain that says1 ',innumerable evils have compassed me about4' ,it is conscience that says1 ',mine iniquities have taken hold upon me4' ,his wrong-doing has come back to him like the boomerang that the ,australian savage throws1 which may strike its aim but returns to the hand that flung it4 ,it has come back in the shape of a sorrow4 ,and so ',mine iniquities have taken hold upon me' is the deepening of the earliest word of my text4 ,therefore1 ,i am not reading a double meaning into it1 but the double meaning is in it when ,i see here a reference both to a man's manifold sorrows and to a man's multiplied transgressions4 ,taking the latter into consideration1 the contrast between these two heightens both of them4 ,god's mercies never seem so fair1 so wonderful1 as when they are looked at in conjunction with man's sin4 ,man's sin never seems so foul and hideous as when it is looked at close against ,god's mercies4 ,you cannot estimate the conduct of one of two parties to a transaction unless you have the conduct of the other before you4 ,you cannot understand a father's love unless you take into account the prodigal son's sullen unthankfulness1 or his unthankfulness without remembering his father's love4 ,you cannot estimate the clemency of a patient monarch unless you know the blackness and persistency of the treason of his rebellious subjects1 nor their treason1 except when seen in connection with his clemency4 ,you cannot estimate the long-suffering of a friend unless you know the crimes against friendship of which his friend has been guilty1 nor the blackness of his treachery without the knowledge of the other's loyalty to him4 ,so we do not see the radiant brightness of ,god's loving-kindness to us until we look at it from the depth of the darkness of our own sin4 ,the stars are seen from the bottom of the well4 ,the loving-kindness of ,god becomes wonderful when we think of the sort of people on whom it has been lavished4 ,and my evil is never apprehended in its true hideousness until ,i have set it black and ugly1 but searched through and through1 and revealed in every deformed outline1 and in every hideous lineament1 by the light against which ,i see it4 ,you must take both in order to understand either4 ,and not only so1 but actually these two opposites1 which are ever warring with one another in a duel1 most merciful1 patient1 and long-suffering on ,his part--these two elements do intensify one another1 not only in our estimation but in reality4 ,for it is man's sin that has drawn out the deepest and most wonderful tenderness of the divine heart2 and it is ,god's love partly recognised and rejected1 which leads men to the darkest evil4 ,man's sin has heightened ,god's love to this climax and consummation of all tenderness1 that ,he has sent us ,his ,son4 ,and ,god's love thus heightened has darkened and deepened man's sin4 ,god's chiefest gift is ,his ,son4 ,man's darkest sin is the rejection of ,christ4 ,the clearest light makes the blackest shadow1 the tenderer the love1 the more criminal the apathy and selfishness which oppose it4 ,my brother6 let us put these two great things together1 and learn how the sin heightens the love1 and how the love aggravates the sin4 ,,iii4 ,that leads me to another point1 that the keeping of these two thoughts together should lead us all to conscious penitence4 ,the ,psalmist's words are not the mere complaint of a soul in affliction1 they are also the acknowledgment of a conscience repenting4 ,the contemplation of these two numberless series should affect us all in a like manner4 ,now there is a superficial kind of popular religion which has a great deal to say about the first of these texts2 and very little or next to nothing about the second4 ,it is a very defective kind of religion that says3--',many1 ,o ,lord my ,god6 are ,thy thoughts which are to us-ward1' but has never been down on its knees with the confession ',mine iniquities have taken hold upon me4' ,but defective as it is1 it is all the religion which many people have1 and ,i doubt not1 some of my hearers have no more4 ,i would press on you all this truth1 that there is no deep personal religion without a deep consciousness of personal transgression4 ,have you got that1 my brother8 ,have you ever had it8 ,have you ever known what it is so to look at ,god's love that it smites you into tears of repentance when you think of the way you have requited ,him8 ,if you have not1 ,i do not think the sense of ,god's love has gone very deeply into you1 notwithstanding all that you say2 and sure ,i am that you have never got to the point where you can understand it most clearly and most deeply4 ,the sense of sin1 the consciousness of personal demerit1 the feeling that ,i have gone against ,him and ,his loving law1--that is as important and as essential an element in all deep personal religion as the clear and thankful apprehension of the love of ,god4 ,nay1 more2 there never has been and there never will be in a man's heart1 a worthy adequate apprehension of1 and response to1 the wonderful love of ,god1 except it be accompanied with a sense of sin4 ,i1 therefore1 urge this upon you that1 for the vigour of your own personal religion1 you must keep these two things well together4 ,beware of such a shallow1 easy-going1 matter-of-course1 taking for granted ,god's infinite love1 that it makes you think very little of your own sins against that love4 ,and remember1 on the other hand1 that the only way1 or at least by far the surest way1 to learn the depth and the darkness of my own transgression is by bringing my heart under the influence of that great love of ,god in ,jesus ,christ4 ,it is not preaching hell that will break a man's heart down into true repentance4 ,it is not thundering over him with the terrors of law and trying to prick his conscience that will bring him to a deep real knowledge of his sin4 ,these may be subordinate and auxiliary1 but the real power that convinces of sin is the love of ,god4 ,the one light which illuminates the dark recesses of one's own heart1 and makes us feel how dark they are1 and how full of creeping unclean things1 is the light of the love of ,god that shines in ,jesus ,christ1 the light that shines from the ,cross of ,calvary4 ,oh1 dear friends6 if we are ever to know the greatness of ,god's love we must feel our personal sin which that great love has forgiven and purged away1 and if we are ever to know the depth of our own evil1 we must measure it by ,his wonderful tenderness4 ,we must set our 'sins in the light of ,his countenance1' and contrast that supreme sacrifice with our own selfish loveless lives1 that the contrast may subdue us to penitence and melt us to tears4 ,,iv4 ,lastly1 looking at these two numberless series together will bring into the deepest penitence a joyful confidence4 ,there are regions of experience the very opposite of that error of which ,i have just been speaking4 ,there are some of us1 perhaps1 who have so profound a sense of their own shortcomings and sins that the mists rising from these have blurred the sky to us and shut out the sun4 ,some of you1 perhaps1 may be saying to yourselves that you cannot get hold of ,god's love because your sin seems to you to be so great1 or may be saying to yourselves that it is impossible that you should ever get the victory over this evil of yours1 because it has laid hold upon you with so tight a grasp4 ,if there be in any heart listening to me now any inclination to doubt the infinite love of ,god1 or the infinite possibility of cleansing from all sin1 let me come with the simple word1 ,bind these two texts together1 and never so look at your own evil as to lose sight of the infinite mercy of ,god4 ,it is safe to say--ay6 it is blessed to say--',mine iniquities are more than the hairs of mine head1' when we can also say1 ',thy thoughts to me are more than can be numbered4' ,there are not two innumerable series1 there is only one4 ,there is a limit and a number to my sins and to yours1 but ,god's mercies are properly numberless4 ,they overlap all our sins1 they stretch beyond our sins in all dimensions4 ,they go beneath them1 they encompass them1 and they will thin them away and cause them to disappear4 ,my sins may be many1 ,god's mercies are more4 ,my sins may be inveterate1 ,god's mercy is from everlasting4 ,my sins may be strong1 ,god's mercy is omnipotent4 ,my sins may seem to 'have laid upon me1' ,god can rescue me from their grip4 ,they are a film on the surface of the deep ocean of ,his love4 ,my sins may be as the sand which is by the seashore1 innumerable1 the love of ,god in ,jesus ,christ is like the great sea which rolls over the sands and buries them4 ,my sins may rise mountains high1 but ,his mercies are a great deep which will cover the mountains to their very summit4 ,ah6 my sin is enormous1 ,god's mercy is inexhaustible4 ',with ,thee is plenteous redemption1 and ,he will redeem ,israel from all his iniquities4' ,,thirsting ,,for ,,god ',my soul thirsteth for ,god1 for the living ,god4'--,,psalm xiii4 #b4 ,this whole psalm reads like the sob of a wounded heart4 ,the writer of it is shut out from the ,temple of his ,god1 from the holy soil of his native land4 ,one can see him sitting solitary yonder in the lonely wilderness 7for the geographical details that occur in one part of the psalm point to his situation as being on the other side of the ,jordan1 in the mountains of ,moab7--can see him sitting there with long wistful gaze yearning across the narrow valley and the rushing stream that lay between him and the land of ,god's chosen people1 and his eye resting perhaps on the mountaintop that looked down upon ,jerusalem4 ,he felt shut out from the presence of ,god4 ,we need not suppose that he believed all the rest of the world to be profane and ,god-forsaken1 except only the ,temple4 ,nor need we wonder1 on the other hand1 that his faith did cling to form1 and that he thought the sparrows beneath the eaves of the ,temple blessed birds6 ,he was depressed1 because he was shut out from the tokens of ,god's presence2 and because he was depressed1 he shut himself out from the reality of the presence4 ,and so he cried with a cry which never is in vain1 ',my soul thirsteth for ,god1 for the living ,god6' ,taken1 then1 in its original sense1 the words of our text apply only to that strange phenomenon which we call religious depression4 ,but ,i have ventured to take them in a wider sense than that4 ,it is not only ,christian men who are cast down1 whose souls 'thirst for ,god4' ,it is not only men upon earth whose souls thirst for ,god4 ,all men1 everywhere1 may take this text for theirs4 ,every human heart may breathe it out1 if it understands itself4 ,the longing for 'the living ,god' belongs to all men4 ,thwarted1 stifled1 it still survives4 ,unconscious1 it is our deepest misery4 ,recognised1 yielded to1 accepted1 it is the foundation of our highest blessings4 ,filled to the full1 it still survives unsatiated and expectant4 ,for all men upon earth1 ,christian or not ,christian1 for ,christians here below1 whether in times of depression or in times of gladness1 and for the blessed and calm spirits that in ecstasy of longing1 full of fruition1 stand around ,god's throne--it is equally true that their souls 'thirst for ,god1 for the living ,god4' ,only with this difference1 that to some the desire is misery and death1 and to some the desire is life and perfect blessedness4 ,so that the first thought ,i would suggest to you now is1 that there is an unconscious and unsatisfied longing after ,god1 which is what we call the state of nature2 secondly1 that there is an imperfect longing after ,god1 fully satisfied1 which is what we call the state of grace2 and lastly1 that there is a perfect longing1 perfectly satisfied1 which is what we call the state of glory4 ,nature2 religion upon earth2 blessedness in heaven--my text is the expression1 in divers senses1 of them all4 ,i4 ,in the first place1 then1 there is in every man an unconscious and unsatisfied longing after ,god1 and that is the state of nature4 ,experience is the test of that assertion4 ,and the most superficial examination of the facts of daily life1 as well as the questioning of our own souls1 will tell us that this is the leading feature of them--a state of unrest4 ,what is it that one of those deistic poets of our own land says1 about ',man never is1 but always to be blest'8 ,what is the meaning of the fact that all round about us1 and we partaking of it1 there is ceaseless1 gigantic activity going on8 ,the very fact that men work1 the very fact of activity in the mind and life1 noble as it is1 and root of all that is good1 and beautiful as it is1 is still the testimony of nature to this fact that ,i by myself am full of passionate longings1 of earnest desires1 of unsupplied wants4 ',i thirst1' is the voice of the whole world4 ,no man is made to be satisfied from himself4 ,for the stilling of our own hearts1 for the satisfying of our own nature1 for the strengthening and joy of our being1 we need to go beyond ourselves1 and to fix upon something external to ourselves4 ,we are not independent4 ,none of us can stand by himself4 ,no man carries within him the fountain from which he can draw4 ,if a heart is to be blessed1 it must go out of the narrow circle of its own individuality2 and if a man's life is to be strong and happy1 he must get the foundation of his strength somewhere else than in his own soul4 ,and1 my friends6 especially you young men1 all that modern doctrine of self-reliance1 though it has a true side to it1 has also a frightfully false side4 ,though it may he quite true that a man ought to be1 in one sense1 sufficient for himself1 and that there is no real blessedness of which the root does not lie within the nature and heart of the man2 though all that be quite true1 yet1 if the doctrine means 7as on the lips of many a modern eloquent and powerful teacher of it1 it does mean7 that we can do without ,god1 that we may be self-reliant and self-sufficient1 and proudly neglectful of all the divine forces that come down into life to brighten and gladden it1 it is a lie1 false and fatal2 and of all the falsehoods that are going about this world at present1 ,i know not one that is varnished over with more apparent truth1 that is smeared over with more of the honey that catches young1 ardent1 ingenuous hearts1 than that half-truth1 and therefore most deceptive error1 which preaches independence1 and self-reliance1 and which means--a man's soul does not 'thirst for the living ,god4' ,take care of it6 ,we are made not to be independent4 ,we are made1 next1 to need1 not things1 but living beings4 ',my soul thirsteth'--for what8 ,an abstraction1 a possession1 riches1 a thing8 ,no6 'my soul thirsteth for ,god1 for the living ,god4' ,yes1 hearts want hearts4 ,the converse of ,christ's saying is equally true2 ,he said1 ',god is a ,spirit1 and they that worship ,him must worship ,him in spirit'2 man has a spirit1 and man must have ,spirit to worship1 to lean upon1 to live by1 or all will be inefficient and unsatisfactory4 ,oh1 lay this to heart1 my brother6--no things can satisfy a living soul4 ,no accumulation of dead matter can become the life of an immortal being4 ,the two classes are separated by the whole diameter of the universe--matter and spirit1 thing and person2 and you cannot feed yourself upon the dead husks that lie there round about you--wealth1 position1 honour4 ,books1 thoughts1 though they are nobler than these other1 are still inefficient4 ,principles1 'causes1' emotions springing from truth1 these are not enough4 ,i want more than that1 ,i want something to love1 something to lay a hand upon1 that shall return the grasp of the hand4 ,a living man must have a living ,god1 or his soul will perish in the midst of earthly plenty1 and will thirst and die whilst the water of earthly delights is running all around him4 ,we are made to need persons1 not things4 ,then again1 we need one ,being who shall be all-sufficient4 ,there is no greater misery than that which may ensue from the attempt to satisfy our souls by the accumulation of objects1 each of them imperfect and finite1 which yet we fancy1 woven together1 will make an adequate whole4 ,when a heart is diverted from its one central purpose1 when a life is split up in a hundred different directions and into a hundred different emotions1 it is like a beam of light passed through some broken surface where it is all refracted and shivered into fragments2 there is no clear vision1 there is no perfect light4 ,if a man is to be blessed1 he must have one source to which he can go4 ,the merchantman that seeks for many goodly pearls1 may find the many2 but until he has bartered them all for the one1 there is something lacking4 ,not only does the understanding require to pass through the manifold1 up and up in ever higher generalisations1 till it reaches the ,one from whom all things come2 but the heart requires to soar1 if it would be at rest1 through all the diverse regions where its love may legitimately tarry for a while1 until it reaches the sole and central throne of the universe1 and there it may cease its flight1 and fold its weary wings1 and sleep like a bird within its nest4 ,we want a ,being1 and we want one ,being in whom shall be sphered all perfection1 in whom shall abide all power and blessedness2 beyond whom thought cannot pass1 out of whose infinite circumference love does not need to wander2 besides whose boundless treasures no other riches can be required2 who is light for the understanding1 power for the will1 authority for the practical life1 purpose for the efforts1 motive for the doings1 end and object for the feelings1 home of the affections1 light of our seeing1 life of our life1 the love of our heart1 the one living ,god1 infinite in wisdom1 power1 holiness1 justice1 goodness and truth2 who is all in all1 and without whom everything else is misery4 ',my soul thirsteth for ,god1 for the living ,god4' ,brother6 let me ask you the question1 before ,i pass on--the question for the sake of which ,i am preaching this sermon3 ,do you know that ,father8 ,i know this much1 that every heart here now answers an ',amen' 7if it will be honest7 to what ,i have been saying4 ,unrest2 panting1 desperate thirst1 deceiving itself as to where it should go2 slaking itself 'at the gilded puddles that the beasts would cough at1' instead of coming to the water of life6--that is the state of man without ,god4 ,that is nature4 ,that is irreligion4 ,the condition in which every man is that is not trusting in ,jesus ,christ1 is this--thirsting for ,god1 and not knowing whom he is thirsting for1 and so not getting the supply that he wants4 ,,ii4 ,there is a conscious longing1 imperfect1 but answered2 and that is the state of grace--the beginning of religion in a man's soul4 ,if it be true that there are1 as part of the universal human experience1 however overlaid and stifled1 these necessities of which ,i have been speaking1 the very existence of the necessities affords a presumption1 before all evidence1 that1 somehow and somewhere1 they shall be supplied4 ,there can be no deeper truth--none1 ,i think1 that ought to have more power in shaping some parts of our ,christian creed1 than this1 that ,god is a faithful ,creator2 and where ,he makes men with longings1 it is a prophecy that those longings are going to be supplied4 ,the same ground which avails to defend doctrines that cannot be so well defended by any other argument--the same ground on which we say that there is an immortality1 because men long for it and believe in it2 that there is a ,god because men cannot get rid of the instinctive conviction that there is2 that there is a retribution1 because men's consciences do ask for it1 and cry out for it--the very same process which may be applied to the buttressing and defending of all the grandest truths of the ,gospel1 applies also in this practical matter4 ,if ,i1 made by ,god who knew what ,he was doing when ,he made me1 am formed with these deep necessities1 with these passionate longings--then it cannot but be that it is intended that they should be to me a means of leading me to ,him1 and that there they should be satisfied4 ,for ,he is 'the faithful ,creator1' and ,he remembers the conditions under which ,his making of us has placed us4 ',he knoweth our frame1' and ,he remembereth what ,he has implanted within us4 ,and the presumption is1 of course1 turned into an actual certainty when we let in the light of the ,gospel upon the thing4 ,then we can say to every man that thus is yearning after a goodness dimly perceived1 and does not know what it is that he wants1 and we say to you now1 ,brother6 betake yourself to the cross of ,christ go with those wants of yours to 'the ,lamb of ,god that taketh away the sin of the world'3 ,he will interpret them to you4 ,he will explain to you1 as you do not now know1 what they mean2 and1 better than that1 ,he will supply them all4 ,your souls are thirsting2 and you look about1 here and there1 and everywhere1 for springs of water4 ,there is the fountain--go to ,christ4 ,your souls are thirsting for ,god4 ,the unfathomed ocean of the ,godhead lies far beyond my lip2 but here is the channel through which there flows that river of water of life4 ,here is the manifested ,god1 here is the granted ,god1 here is the ,godhead coming into connection and union with man1 his wants and his sins--the 'living ,god' and ,his living ,son1 ,his everlasting ,word4 ',he that believeth upon ,him shall never hunger1 and he that cometh unto ,him shall never thirst4' ,god is the divine and unfathomable ocean2 ,christ the ,son is the stream that brings salvation to every man's lips4 ,all wants are supplied there4 ,take it as a piece of the simplest prose1 with no rhetorical exaggeration about it1 that ,christ is everything1 everything that a man can want4 ,we are made to require1 and to be restless until we possess1 perfect truth--there it is6 ,we are made to want1 and to be restless until we get1 perfect1 infinite unchangeable love--there it is6 ,we must have1 or the burden of our own self-will will be a misery to us1 a hand laid upon the springs of our conduct1 authoritative and purifying1 and have the blessedness of some voice to say to us1 ',i bid thee1 and that is enough'--there it is6 ,we must have rest1 purity1 hope1 gladness1 life in our souls--there they all are6 ,whatever form of human nature and character be yours1 my brother6--whatever exigencies of life you may be lying under the pressure of--man or woman1 adult or child1 father or son1 man of business or man of thought1 struggling with difficulties or bright with joy--,oh6 believe us1 the perfecting of your character may be got in the ,lamb of ,god1 and without ,him it never can be possessed4 ,christ is everything1 and 'out of ,his fulness all we receive grace for grace4' ,not only in ,christ is there the perfect supply of all these necessities1 but also that fulness becomes ours on the simple condition of desiring it4 ,the thirst for the living ,god in a man who has faith in ,christ ,jesus1 is not a thirst which amounts to pain1 or arises from a sense of non-possession4 ,but in this divine region the principle of the giving is this--to desire is to have2 to long for is to possess4 ,there is no wide interval between the sense of thirst and the trickling of the stream over the parched lip2 but ever it is flowing1 flowing past us1 and the desire is but the opening of the lips to receive the limpid and life-giving waters4 ,no one ever desired the grace of ,god1 really and truly desired it2 but just in proportion as he desired it1 he got it--just in proportion as he thirsted1 he was satisfied4 ,therefore we have to preach that grand gospel that faith1 simple1 conscious longing1 turned to ,christ1 avails to bring down the full and perfect supply4 ,but some ,christian people here may reply1 ',ah6 ,i wish it were so3 what was that you were saying at the beginning of your sermon1 about men having religious depression1 about ,christians longing and not possessing8' ,well1 ,i have only this to say about that matter4 ,wherever in a heart that really believes on ,god in ,christ1 there is a thirst that amounts to pain1 and that has with it a sense of non-possession1 that is not because ,christ's fulness has become shrunken2 that is not because there is a change in ,god's law1 that the measure of the desire is the measure of the reception2 but it is only because1 for some reason or other that belongs to the man alone1 the desire is not deep1 genuine1 simple1 but is troubled and darkened4 ,what we ask1 we get4 ,if ,i am a ,christian1 however feeble ,i may be1 the feebleness of my faith and the feebleness of my desire may make my supplies of grace feeble2 but if ,i am a ,christian1 there is no such thing as an earnest longing unsatisfied1 no such thing as a thirst accompanied with a pain and sense of want1 except in consequence of my own transgression4 ,and thus there is a longing imperfect in this life1 but fully supplied according to the measure of its intensity1 a longing after 'the living ,god'2 and that is the state of a ,christian man4 ,and ,o my friend6 that is a widely different desire from the other that ,i have been speaking about4 ,it is blessed thus to say1 ',my soul thirsteth for ,god4' ,it is blessed to feel the passionate wish for more light1 more grace1 more peace1 more wisdom1 more of ,god4 ,that is joy1 that is peace6 ,is that your experience in this present life8 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 there is a perfect longing perfectly satisfied2 and that is heaven4 ,we shall not there be independent1 of course1 of constant supplies from the great central ,fulness1 any more than we are here4 ,one may see in one aspect1 that just as the ,christian life here on earth is in a very true sense a state of never thirsting any more1 because we have ,christ1 and yet in another sense is a state of continual longing and desire--so the ,christian and glorified life in heaven1 in one view of it1 is the removal of all that thirst which marked the condition of man upon earth1 and in another is the perfecting of all those aspirations and desires4 ,thirst1 as longing1 is eternal2 thirst1 as aspiration after ,god1 is the glory of heaven2 thirst1 as desire for more of ,him1 is the very condition of the celestial world1 and the element of all its blessedness4 ,that future life gives us two elements1 an infinite ,god1 and an indefinitely expansible human spirit3 an infinite ,god to fill1 and a soul to be filled1 the measure and the capacity of which has no limit set to it that we can see4 ,what will be the consequence of the contact of these two8 ,why this1 for the first thing1 that always1 at every moment of that blessed life1 there shall be a perpetual fruition1 a perpetual satisfaction1 a deep and full fountain filling the whole soul with the refreshment of its waves and the music of its flow4 ,and yet1 and yet--though at every moment in heaven we shall be satisfied1 filled full of ,god1 full to overflowing in all our powers--yet the very fact that the ,god who dwells in us1 and fills our whole natures with unsullied and perfect blessedness1 is an infinite ,god2 and that we in whom the infinite ,father dwells1 are men with souls that can grow1 and can grow for ever--will result in this1 that at every moment our capacities will expand2 that at every moment1 therefore1 the desire will grow and spring afresh2 that at every moment ,god will be seen unveiling undreamed-of beauties1 and revealing hitherto unknown heights of blessedness before us2 and that the sight of that transcendent1 unapproached1 unapproachable1 and yet attracting and transforming glory1 will draw us onward as by an impulse from above1 and the possession of some portion of it will bear us upward as by a power from within2 and so1 nearer1 nearer1 ever nearer to the throne of light1 the centre of blessedness1 the growing1 and glorifying1 and greatening souls of the perfectly and increasingly blessed shall 'mount up with wings as eagles4' ,heaven is endless longing1 accompanied with an endless fruition--a longing which is blessedness1 a longing which is life6 ,my brother6 let me put two sayings of ,scripture side by side1 ',my soul thirsteth for ,god1 for the living ,god1'--',father ,abraham6 send ,lazarus1 that he may dip the tip of his finger in water1 and cool my tongue4' ,there be two thirsts1 one1 the longing for ,god1 which1 satisfied1 is heaven2 one1 the longing for quenching of self-lit fires1 and for one drop of the lost delights of earth to cool the thirsty throat1 which1 unsatisfied1 is hell4 ,then hearken to the final vision on the page of ,scripture1 ',he showed me a pure river of water of life1 clear as crystal1 proceeding out of the throne of ,god and of the ,lamb4' ,to us it is showed1 and to us the whole revelation of ,god converges to that last mighty call1 ',let him that is athirst come1 and whosoever will1 let him take the water of life freely6' ,,the ,,psalmist',s ,,remonstrance ,,with ,,his ,,soul ',why art thou cast down1 ,o my soul8 and why art thou disquieted within me8 ,hope in ,god3 for ,i shall yet praise ,him1 the health of my countenance1 and my ,god4'--,,psalm xliii4 #e4 ,this verse1 which closes this psalm1 occurs twice in the previous one4 ,it is a kind of refrain4 ,obviously this little psalm1 of which my text is a part1 was originally united with the preceding one4 ,that the two made one is clear to anybody that will read them1 by reason of structure1 and tone1 and similarity of the singer's situation1 and the recurrence of many phrases1 and especially of these significant words of my text4 ,the ,psalmist is in circumstances of trouble and sorrow4 ,we need not enter upon them particularly1 but the thing that ,i desire to point out is that three times does the ,psalmist take himself to task and question himself as to the reasonableness of the emotions that are surging in his soul1 and checks these by higher considerations4 ,thrice he does it2 twice in vain1 for the trouble and anxiety come rolling back upon him in spite of the moment's respite1 but the third time he triumphs4 ,i4 ,we note1 then1 first1 that moods and emotions should be examined and governed by a higher self4 ,in the ,psalmist's case1 his gloom and despondency1 which could plead good reasons for their existence1 had everything their own way at first1 and swept over his soul like the first rush of waters which have burst their bounds4 ,but1 presently1 the ruling part of his nature wakes1 and brings the feebler lower soul to its tribunal1 and says1 in effect1 ',now6 now that ,i am here1 what hast thou to say about these sorrows that thou hast been complaining about8 ,why art thou cast down1 ,o my soul8 ,why art thou disquieted8 444 ,hope in ,god6' ,i shall have a word or two to say presently about the details of this remonstrance1 but the main point that ,i make1 to begin with1 is just this1 that however strong and reasonably occasioned by circumstances a man's emotions and feelings1 either of the bright or the dark kind1 may be1 they are not to be indulged1 unless they have passed muster and examination by that higher and better self4 ,it is necessary to keep a very tight hand upon all our feelings1 whether they be the natural desires of the sensuous part of our nature1 or whether they be the sentiments of sadness1 or doubt1 or anxiety1 or perplexity1 which are the natural results of outward circumstances of trial2 or whether1 on the contrary1 they be the bright and buoyant ones which come1 like angels1 along with prosperous hours4 ,but that necessity1 commonplace as it is of all morals and all religion1 is yet a thing which1 day by day1 we so forget that we need to be ever and anon reminded of it4 ,there are hosts of people who1 making profession of being ,christians1 do not habitually put the brake on their moods and tempers1 and who seem to think that it is a sufficient vindication of gloom and sadness to say that things are going badly with them in the outer world1 and who act as if they supposed that no joy can be too exuberant and no elation too lofty if1 on the other hand1 things are going rightly4 ,it is a miserable travesty of the ,christian faith to suppose that its prime purpose is anything else than to put into our hands the power of ruling ourselves because we let ,christ rule us4 ,and so1 dear brethren6 though it be the ,a ,b ,c of ,christian teaching1 suffer this word of exhortation4 ,it is only 'milk for babes1' but it is milk that the babes are very unwilling to take4 ,learn from this verse before us the solemn duty of rigid control1 by the higher self1 of the tremulous1 emotional lower self which responds so completely to every change of temperature or circumstances in the world without4 ,and remember that there should be a central heat which keeps the temperature substantially the same1 whatever be the weather outside4 ,as the wheel-house1 and the steering gear1 and the rudder of the ship proclaim their purpose of guidance and direction1 so eloquently and unmistakably does the make of our inward selves tell us that emotions and moods and tempers are meant to be governed1 often to be crushed1 always to be moderated1 by sovereign will and reason4 ,in the ,psalmist's language1 ',my soul' has to give account of its tremors and flutterings to ',me1' the ruling ,self1 who should be ,lord of temperament1 and control the fluctuations of feeling4 ,,ii4 ,note that there are two ways of looking at causes of dejection and disquiet4 ,the whole preceding parts of both the psalms1 before this refrain1 are an answer to the question which my text puts4 ',why art thou cast down1 ,o my soul8' ',my soul' has been talking two whole psalms1 to explain why it is cast down4 ,and after all the eloquent torrent of words to vindicate and explain its reasons for sadness--separation from the sanctuary1 bitter remembrances of bright days1 which the poet tells us are 'a sorrow's crown of sorrow1' taunts of enemies and the like--after all these have been said over and over again1 the ,psalmist says to himself3 ',come now1 let us hear it all once more4 ,why art thou cast down8 ,why art thou disquieted within me8 ,thou hast been telling the reasons abundantly4 ,speak them once again1 and let us have a look at them4' ,there is a court of appeal in each man1 which tests and tries his reasons for his moods2 and these1 which look very sufficient to the flesh1 turn out to be very insufficient when investigated and tested by the higher spirit or self4 ,we should 'appeal from ,philip drunk to ,philip sober4' ,and if a man will be honest with himself1 and tell himself why he is in such a pucker of terror1 or why he is in such a rapture of joy1 nine times out of ten the attempt to tell the reasons will be the condemnation of the mood which they are supposed to justify4 ,if men would only bring the causes or occasions of the tempers and feelings which they allow to direct them1 to the bar of common sense1 to say nothing of religious faith1 half the furious boilings in their hearts would stop their ebullition4 ,it would be like pouring cold water into a kettle on the fire4 ,it would end its bubbling4 ,everything has two handles4 ,the aspect of any event depends largely on the beholder's point of view4 ',there's nothing either good or bad1 but thinking makes it so4' ',why art thou cast down1 ,o my soul8 and why art thou disquieted within me8' ,the answer is often very hard to give2 the question is always very salutary to ask4 ,,iii4 ,note that no reasons for being cast down are so strong as those for elation and calm hope4 ',hope thou in ,god1 for ,i shall yet praise ,him1 who is the health of my countenance and my ,god4' ,i need not deal here with the fact that the first of the three occurrences of this refrain is1 in our ,bible1 a little different from the other two4 ,that is probably a mistake in the text4 ,in all three cases the words ought to stand the same4 ,try to realise what ,god is to yourselves--',my ,god' and 'the health of my countenance4' ,that will stimulate sluggish feeling2 that will calm disturbed emotion4 ,he that can say ',my ,god6' and in that possession can repose1 will not be easily moved1 by the trivialities and transitorinesses of this life1 to excessive disquiet1 whether of the exuberant or of the woful sort4 ,there is a wonderful calming power in realising our possession of ,god as our portion--not stagnating1 but quieting4 ,i am quite sure that the troubles of our lives1 and the gladnesses of our lives1 which often distract1 would be far less operative in disturbing1 if we felt more that ,god was ours and that we were ,god's4 ,brethren6 'there is no joy but calm4' ,to be at rest is better than rapture4 ,and there is no way of getting and keeping a fixed temper of still tranquillity unless we go into that deep and hidden chamber1 in the secret place of the ,most ,high1 where we cannot 'hear the loud winds when they call1' but dwell in security1 whatever storms harass the land4 ',why art thou cast down1' or lifted 'up1' and1 in either case1 'disquieted'8 ',hope in ,god1' and be at rest4 ,,iv4 ,note that the effort to lay hold on the truth which calms is to be repeated in spite of failures4 ,the words of our text are thrice repeated in these two psalms4 ,in the two former instances they are followed by a fresh burst of pained feeling4 ,a moment of tranquillity interrupts the agitation of the ,psalmist's soul1 but is soon followed by the recurrence of 'the horrible storm' that 'begins afresh4' ,a tiny island of blue appears in his sky1 and then the pale1 ugly1 grey rack drives across it once more4 ,but the guiding self keeps the hand firm on the tiller1 notwithstanding the wash of the water and the rolling of the ship1 and the dominant will conquers at last1 and at the third time the yielding soul obeys and is quiet1 because the ,psalmist's will resolved that it should be quiet1 and it hopes in ,god because ,he1 by a dead lift of effort1 lifts it up to hope4 ,no effort at tranquillising our hearts is wholly lost2 and no attempt to lay hold upon ,god is wholly in vain4 ,men build a dam to keep out the sea1 and the winter storms make a breach in it1 but it is not washed away altogether1 and next season they will not need to begin to build from quite so low down2 but there will be a bit of the former left1 to put the new structure upon1 and so by degrees it will rise above the tide1 and at last will keep it out4 ,did you ever see a child upon a swing1 or a gymnast upon a trapeze8 ,each oscillation goes a little higher2 each starts from the same lowest point1 but the elevation on either side increases with each renewed effort1 until at last the destined height is reached and the daring athlete leaps on to a solid platform4 ,so we may1 if ,i might say so1 by degrees1 by reiterated efforts1 swing ourselves up to that steadfast floor on which we may stand high above all that breeds agitation and gloom4 ,it is possible1 in the midst of change and circumstances that excite sad emotions1 anxieties1 and fears--it is possible to have this calmness of hope in ,god4 ,the rainbow that spans the cataract rises steadfast above the white1 tortured water beneath1 and persists whilst all is hurrying change below1 and there are flowers on the grim black rocks by the side of the fall1 whose verdure is made greener and whose brightness is made brighter1 by the freshening of the spray of the waterfall4 ,so we may be 'as sorrowful1 yet always rejoicing1' and may bid dejected and disquieted souls to hope in ,god and be still4 ,,the ,,king ,,in ,,his ,,beauty ',thou art fairer than the children of men2 grace is poured into ,thy lips3 therefore ,god hath blessed ,thee forever4 #c4 ,gird ,thy sword upon ,thy thigh1 ,o mighty one1 ,thy glory and ,thy majesty4 #d4 ,and in ,thy majesty ride on prosperously1 because of truth and meekness and righteousness3 and ,thy right hand shall teach ,thee terrible things4 #e4 ,thine arrows are sharp2 the peoples fall under ,thee2 they are in the heart of the ,king's enemies4 #f4 ,thy throne1 ,o ,god1 is for ever and ever3 a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of ,thy kingdom4 #g4 ,thou hast loved righteousness1 and hated wickedness3 therefore ,god1 ,thy ,god1 hath anointed ,thee with the oil of gladness above ,thy fellows4' --,,psalm xlv4 #b-g 7,r4,v474 ,there is no doubt that this psalm was originally the marriage hymn of some ,jewish king4 ,all attempts to settle who that was have failed1 for the very obvious reason that neither the history nor the character of any of them correspond to the psalm4 ,its language is a world too wide for the diminutive stature and stained virtues of the greatest and best of them1 and it is almost ludicrous to attempt to fit its glowing sentences even to a ,solomon4 ,they all look like little ,david in ,saul's armour4 ,so1 then1 we must admit one of two things4 ,either we have here a piece of poetical exaggeration far beyond the limits of poetic license1 or 'a greater than ,solomon is here4' ,every ,jewish king1 by virtue of his descent and of his office1 was a living prophecy of the greatest of the sons of ,david1 the future ,king of ,israel4 ,and the ,psalmist sees the ideal ,person who1 as he knew1 was one day to be real1 shining through the shadowy form of the earthly king1 whose very limitations and defects1 no less than his excellences and his glories1 forced the devout ,israelite to think of the coming ,king in whom 'the sure mercies' promised to ,david should be facts at last4 ,in plainer words1 the psalm celebrates ,christ1 not only although1 but because1 it had its origin and partial application in a forgotten festival at the marriage of some unknown king4 ,it sees ,him in the light of the ,messianic hope1 and so it prophesies of ,christ4 ,my object is to study the features of this portrait of the ,king1 partly in order that we may better understand the psalm1 and partly in order that we may with the more reverence crown ,him as ,lord of all4 ,i4 ,the ,person of the ,king4 ,the old-world ideal of a monarch put special emphasis upon two things--personal beauty and courtesy of address and speech4 ,the psalm ascribes both of these to the ,king of ,israel1 and from both of them draws the conclusion that one so richly endowed with the most eminent of royal graces is the object of the special favour of ,god4 ',thou art fairer than the children of men1 grace is poured into ,thy lips3 therefore ,god hath blessed ,thee for ever4' ,here1 at the very outset1 we have the keynote struck of superhuman excellence2 and though the reference is1 on the surface1 only to physical perfection1 yet beneath that there lies the deeper reference to a character which spoke through the eloquent frame1 and in which all possible beauties and sovereign graces were united in fullest development1 in most harmonious co-operation and unstained purity4 ',thou art fairer than the children of men4' ,put side by side with that1 words which possibly refer to1 and seem to contradict it4 ,a later prophet1 speaking of the same ,person1 said3 ',his visage was so marred1 more than any man1 and ,his form than the sons of men4444 ,there is no form nor comeliness1 and when we shall see ,him there is no beauty that we should desire ,him4' ,we have to think1 not of the outward form1 howsoever lovely with the loveliness of meekness and transfigured with the refining patience of suffering it may have been1 but of the beauty of a soul that was all radiant with a lustre of loveliness that shames the fragmentary and marred virtues of the best of us1 and stands before the world for ever as the supreme type and high-water mark of the grace that is possible to a human spirit4 ,god has lodged in men's nature the apprehension of ,himself1 and of all that flows from ,him1 as true1 as good1 as beautiful2 and to these three there correspond wisdom1 morality1 and art4 ,the latter1 divorced from the other two1 becomes earthly and devilish4 ,this generation needs the lesson that beauty wrenched from truth and goodness1 and pursued for its own sake1 by artist or by poet or by dilettante1 leads by a straight descent to ugliness and to evil1 and that the only true satisfying of the deep longing for 'whatsoever things are lovely' is to be found when we turn to ,christ and find in ,him1 not only wisdom that enlightens the understanding1 and righteousness that fills the conscience1 but beauty that satisfies the heart4 ,he is 'altogether lovely4' ,nor let us forget that once on earth 'the fashion of ,his countenance was altered1 and ,his raiment did shine as the light1' as indicative of the possibilities that lay slumbering in ,his lowly ,manhood1 and as prophetic of that to which we believe that the ascended ,christ hath now attained--viz4 the body of ,his glory1 wherein ,he reigns1 filled with light and undecaying loveliness on the ,throne of the ,heaven4 ,thus ,he is fairer in external reality now1 as ,he is1 by the confession of an admiring1 though not always believing1 world1 fairer in inward character than the children of men4 ,another personal characteristic is ',grace is poured into ,thy lips4' ,kingly courtesy1 and kingly graciousness of word1 must be the characteristic of the ,sovereign of men4 ,the abundance of that bestowment is expressed by that word1 'poured4' ,we need only remember1 ',all wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of ,his mouth1' or how even the rough instruments of authority were touched and diverted from their appointed purpose1 and came back and said1 ',never man spake like this ,man4' ,to the music of ,christ's words all other eloquence is harsh1 poor1 shallow--like the piping of a shepherd boy upon some wretched oaten straw as compared with the full thunder of the organ4 ,words of unmingled graciousness came from ,his lips4 ,that fountain never sent forth 'sweet waters and bitter4' ,he satisfies the canon of ,st4 ,james3 ',if any man offend not in word1 the same is a perfect man4' ,words of wisdom1 of love1 of pity1 of gentleness1 of pardon1 of bestowment1 and only such1 came from ,him4 ',daughter6 be of good cheer4' ',son6 thy sins be forgiven thee4' ',come unto ,me all ye that labour and are heavy-laden4' ',grace is poured into ,thy lips'2 and1 withal1 it is the grace of a ,king4 ,for ,his language is authoritative even when it is most tender1 and regal when it is most gentle4 ,his lips1 sweet as honey and the honeycomb1 are the lips of an ,autocrat4 ',he speaks1 and it is done3 ,he commands1 and it stands fast4' ,he says to the tempest1 ',be still6' and it is quiet2 and to the demons1 ',come out of him6' and they disappear2 and to the dead1 ',come forth6' and he stumbles from the tomb4 ,another personal characteristic is--',god hath blessed ,thee for ever4' ,by which we are to understand1 not that the two preceding graces are the reasons for the divine benediction1 but that the divine benediction is the cause of them2 and therefore they are the signs of it4 ,it is not that because ,he is lovely and gracious therefore ,god hath blessed ,him2 but it is that we may know that ,god has blessed ,him1 since ,he is lovely and gracious4 ,these endowments are the results1 not the causes2 the signs or the proofs1 not the reasons of the divine benediction4 ,that is to say1 the humanity so fair and unique shows by its beauty that it is the result of the continual and unique operation and benediction of a present ,god4 ,we understand ,him when we say1 ',on ,him rests the ,spirit of ,god without measure or interruption4' ,the explanation of the perfect humanity is the abiding ,divinity4 ,,ii4 ,we pass from the person of the ,king1 in the next place1 to ,his warfare4 ,the ,psalmist breaks out in a burst of invocation1 calling upon the ,king to array ,himself in ,his weapons of warfare1 and then in broken clauses vividly pictures the conflict4 ,the ,invocation runs thus3 ',gird on thy sword upon thy thigh1 ,o mighty hero6 gird on thy glory and thy majesty1 and ride on prosperously on behalf 7or1 in the cause7 of truth and meekness and righteousness4' ,the ,king1 then1 is the perfection of warrior strength as well as of beauty and gentleness--a combination of qualities that speaks of old days when kings were kings1 and reminds us of many a figure in ancient song1 as well as of a ,saul and a ,david in ,jewish history4 ,the singer calls upon ,him to bind on ,his side ,his glittering sword1 and to put on1 as ,his armour1 'glory and majesty4' ,these two words1 in the usage of the psalms1 belong to ,divinity1 and they are applied to the monarch here as being the earthly representative of the divine supremacy1 on whom there falls some reflection of the glory and the majesty of which ,he is the vice-regent and representative4 ,thus arrayed1 with ,his weapon by ,his side and glittering armour on ,his limbs1 ,he is called upon to mount ,his chariot or ,his warhorse and ride forth4 ,but for what8 ',on behalf of truth1 meekness1 righteousness4' ,if ,he be a warrior1 these are the purposes for which the true ,king of men must draw ,his sword1 and these only4 ,no vulgar ambition or cruel lust of conquest1 earth-hunger1 or 'glory' actuates ,him4 ,nothing but the spread through the world of the gracious beauties which are ,his own can be the end of the ,king's warfare4 ,he fights for truth2 ,he fights--strange paradox--for meekness2 ,he fights for righteousness4 ,and ,he not only fights for them1 but with them1 for they are ,his own1 and by reason of them ,he 'rides prosperously1' as well as 'rides prosperously' in order to establish them4 ,in two or three swift touches the ,psalmist next paints the tumult and hurry of the fight4 ',thy right hand shall teach ,thee terrible things4' ,there are no armies or allies1 none to stand beside ,him4 ,the one mighty figure of the ,kingly ,warrior stands forth1 as in the ,assyrian sculptures of conquerors1 erect and solitary in ,his chariot1 crashing through the ranks of the enemy1 and owing victory to ,his own strong arm alone4 ,then follow three short1 abrupt clauses1 which1 in their hurry and fragmentary character1 reflect the confusion and swiftness of battle4 ',thine arrows are sharp4444 ,the people fall under ,thee4' 444 ',in the heart of the ,king's enemies4' ,the ,psalmist sees the bright arrow on the string2 it flies2 he looks--the plain is strewed with prostrate forms1 the ,king's arrow in the heart of each4 ,put side by side with that this picture3--,a rocky road2 a great city shining in the morning sunlight across a narrow valley2 a crowd of shouting peasants waving palm branches in their rustic hands2 in the centre the meek carpenter's ,son1 sitting upon the poor robes which alone draped the ass's colt1 the tears upon ,his cheeks1 and ,his lamenting heard above the ,hosannahs1 as ,he looked across the glen and said1 ',if thou hadst known the things that belong to thy peace6' ,that is the fulfilment1 or part of the fulfilment1 of this prophecy4 ,the slow-pacing1 peaceful beast and the meek1 weeping ,christ are the reality of the vision which1 in such strangely contrasted and yet true form1 floated before the prophetic eye of this ancient singer1 for ,christ's humiliation is ,his majesty1 and ,his sharpest weapon is ,his all-penetrating love1 and ,his cross is ,his chariot of victory and throne of dominion4 ,but not only in ,his earthly life of meek suffering does ,christ fight as a ,king1 but all through the ages the world-wide conflict for truth and meekness and righteousness is ,his conflict2 and wherever that is being waged1 the power which wages it is ,his1 and the help which is done upon earth ,he doeth it all ,himself4 ,true1 ,he has ,his army1 willing in the day of ,his power1 and clad in priestly purity and armour of light1 but all their strength1 courage1 and victory are from ,him2 and when they fight and conquer1 it is not they1 but ,he in them who struggles and overcomes4 ,we have a better hope than that built on 'a stream of tendency that makes for righteousness4' ,we know a ,christ crucified and crowned1 who fights for it1 and what ,he fights for will hold the field4 ,this prophecy of our psalm is not exhausted yet4 ,i have set side by side with it one picture--the ,christ on the ass's colt4 ,put side by side with it this other4 ',i beheld the heaven opened2 and lo6 a white horse4 ,and ,he that sat upon him was called ,faithful and ,true2 and in righteousness ,he doth judge and make war4' ,the psalm waits for its completion still1 and shall be fulfilled on that day of the true marriage supper of the ,lamb1 when the festivities of the marriage chamber shall be preceded by the last battle and crowning victory of the ,king of kings1 the ,conqueror of the world4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we have the royalty of the ,king4 ',thy throne1 ,o ,god6 is for ever and ever4' ,this is not the place nor time to enter on the discussion of the difficulties of these words4 ,i must run the risk of appearing to state confident opinions without assigning reasons1 when ,i venture to say that the translation in the ,authorised ,version is the natural one4 ,i do not say that others have been adopted by reason of doctrinal prepossessions2 ,i know nothing about that2 but ,i do say that they are not by any means so natural a translation as that which stands before us4 ,what it may mean is another matter2 but the plain rendering of the words1 ,i venture to assert1 is what our ,english ,bible makes it--',thy throne1 ,o ,god6 is for ever and ever4' ,then it is to be remembered that1 throughout the ,old ,testament1 we have occasional instances of the use of that great and solemn designation in reference to persons in such place and authority as that they are representatives of ,god4 ,so kings and judges and lawyers and the like are spoken of more than once4 ,therefore there is not1 in the language1 translated as in our ,english ,bible1 necessarily the implication of the unique divinity of the persons so addressed4 ,but ,i take it that this is an instance in which the prophet was 'wiser than he knew1' and in which you and ,i understand him better than he understood himself1 and know what ,god1 who spoke through him1 meant1 whatsoever the prophet1 through whom ,he spoke1 did mean4 ,that is to say1 ,i take the words before us as directly referring to ,jesus ,christ1 and as directly declaring the divinity of ,his person1 and therefore the eternity of ,his kingdom4 ,we live in days when that perpetual sovereignty is being questioned4 ,in a revolutionary time like this it is well for ,christian people1 seeing so many venerable things going1 to tighten their grasp upon the conviction that1 whatever goes1 ,christ's kingdom will not go2 and that1 whatever may be shaken by any storms1 the foundation of ,his ,throne stands fast4 ,for our personal lives1 and for the great hopes of the future beyond the grave1 it is all-important that we should grasp1 as an elementary conviction of our faith1 the belief in the perpetual rule of that ,saviour whose rule is life and peace4 ,in the great mosque of ,damascus1 which was a ,christian church once1 there may still be read1 deeply cut in the stone1 high above the pavement where now ,mohammedans bow1 these words1 ',thy kingdom1 ,o ,christ6 is an everlasting kingdom4' ,it is true1 and it shall yet be known that ,he is for ever and ever the ,monarch of the world4 ,then1 again1 this royalty is a royalty of righteousness4 ',the sceptre of ,thy kingdom is a right sceptre4 ,thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness4' ,his rule is no arbitrary sway1 ,his rod is no rod of iron and tyrannical oppression1 ,his own personal character is righteousness4 ,righteousness is the very life-blood and animating principle of ,his rule4 ,he loves righteousness1 and1 therefore1 puts ,his broad shield of protection over all who love it and seek after it4 ,he hates wickedness1 and therefore ,he wars against it wherever it is1 and seeks to draw men out of it4 ,and thus ,his kingdom is the hope of the world4 ,and1 lastly1 this dominion of perennial righteousness is the dominion of unparalleled gladness4 ',therefore ,god1 even ,thy ,god1 hath anointed ,thee with the oil of joy above ,thy fellows4' ,set side by side with that the other words1 ',a ,man of sorrows and acquainted with grief4' ,and remember how1 near the very darkest hour of the ,lord's earthly experiences1 ,he said3--',these things have ,i spoken unto you that ,my joy may remain in you1 and that your joy may be full4' ,christ's gladness flowed from ,christ's righteousness4 ,because ,his pure humanity was ever in touch with ,god1 and in conscious obedience to ,him1 therefore1 though darkness was around1 there was light within4 ,he was 'sorrowful1 yet always rejoicing1' and the saddest of men was likewise the gladdest1 and possessed 'the oil of joy above ,his fellows4' ,brother6 that kingdom is offered to us2 participation in that joy of our ,lord may belong to each of us4 ,he rules that ,he may make us like ,himself1 lovers of righteousness1 and so1 like ,himself1 possessors of unfading joy4 ,make ,him your ,king1 let ,his arrow reach your heart1 bow in submission to ,his power1 take for your very life ,his words of graciousness1 lovingly gaze upon ,his beauty till some reflection of it shall shine from you1 fight by ,his side with strength drawn from ,him alone1 own and adore ,him as the enthroned ,god-man1 ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,god4 ,crown ,him with the many crowns of supreme trust1 heart-whole love1 and glad obedience4 ,so shall you be honoured to share in ,his warfare and triumph4 ,so shall you have a throne close to ,his and eternal as it4 ,so shall ,his sceptre be graciously stretched out to you to give you access with boldness to the presence-chamber of the ,king4 ,so shall ,he give you too1 'the oil of joy for mourning1' even in the 'valley of weeping1' and the fulness of ,his gladness for evermore1 when ,he sets you at ,his right hand4 ,,the ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,bride ',hearken1 ,o daughter1 and consider1 and incline thine ear2 forget also thine own people1 and thy father's house2 #aa4 ,so shall the ,king desire thy beauty3 for ,he is thy ,lord2 and worship thou ,him4 #ab4 ,and the daughter of ,tyre shall be there with a gift2 even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour4 #ac4 ,the ,king's daughter within the palace is all glorious3 her clothing is inwrought with gold4 #ad4 ,she shall be led unto the ,king in broidered work3 the virgins1 her companions1 that follow her shall be brought unto thee4 #ae4 ,with gladness and rejoicing shall they be led2 they shall enter into the ,king's palace4'--,,psalm xlv4 #aj-ae 7,r4,v474 ,the relation between ,god and ,israel is constantly represented in the ,old ,testament under the emblem of a marriage4 ,the tenderest promises of protection and the sharpest rebukes of unfaithfulness are based upon this foundation4 ',thy ,maker is thy ,husband'2 or1 ',i am married unto thee1 saith the ,lord4' ,the emblem is transferred in the ,new ,testament to ,christ and ,his ,church4 ,beginning with ,john the ,baptist's designation of ,him as the ,bridegroom1 it reappears in many of our ,lord's sayings and parables1 is frequent in the writings of the ,apostle ,paul1 and reaches its height of poetic splendour and terror in that magnificent description in ,revelation of 'the ,bride1 the ,lamb's wife1' and 'the marriage supper of the ,lamb4' ,seeing1 then1 the continual occurrence of this metaphor1 it is unnatural and almost impossible to deny its presence in this psalm4 ,in a former sermon ,i have directed attention to the earlier portion of it1 which presents us1 in its portraiture of the ,king1 a shadowy and prophetic outline of ,jesus ,christ4 ,i desire1 in a similar fashion1 to deal now with the latter portion1 which1 in its portrait of the bride1 presents us with truths having their real fulfilment in the ,church collectively and in the individual soul4 ,of course1 inasmuch as the consort of a ,jewish monarch was not an incarnate prophecy as her husband was1 the transference of the historical features of this wedding-song to a spiritual purpose is not so satisfactory1 or easy1 in the latter part as in the former4 ,there is a thicker rind of prose fact1 as it were1 to cut through1 and certain of the features cannot be applied to the relation between ,christ and ,his ,church without undue violence4 ,but1 whilst we admit that1 it is also clear that the main1 broad outlines of this picture do require as well as permit its higher application4 ,therefore ,i turn to them to try to bring out what they teach us so eloquently and vividly of ,christ's gifts to1 and requirements from1 the souls that are wedded to ,him4 ,i4 ,now the first point is this--the all-surrendering ,love that must mark the ,bride4 ,the language of the tenth verse is the voice of prophecy or inspiration2 speaking words of fatherly counsel to the princess--',forget also thine own people and thy father's house4' ,historically ,i suppose it points to the foreign birth of the queen1 who is called upon to abandon all old ties1 and to give herself with wholehearted consecration to her new duties and relations4 ,in all real wedded life1 as those who have tasted it know1 there comes1 by sweet necessity1 the subordination1 in the presence of a purer and more absorbing love1 brought close by a will itself ablaze with the sacred glow4 ,therefore1 while giving all due honour to other forms of ,christian opposition to the prevailing unbelief1 ,i urge the cultivation of a quickened spiritual life as by far the most potent4 ,does not history bear me out in that view8 ,what1 for instance1 was it that finished the infidelity of the eighteenth century8 ,whether had ,butler's ,analogy or ,charles ,wesley's hymns1 ,paley's ,evidences or ,whitefield's sermons1 most to do with it8 ,a languid ,church breeds unbelief as surely as a decaying oak does fungus4 ,in a condition of depressed vitality1 the seeds of disease1 which a full vigour would shake off1 are fatal4 ,raise the temperature1 and you kill the insect germs4 ,a warmer tone of spiritual life would change the atmosphere which unbelief needs for its growth4 ,it belongs to the fauna of the glacial epoch1 and when the rigours of that wintry time begin to melt1 and warmer days to set in1 the creatures of the ice have to retreat to arctic wildernesses1 and leave a land no longer suited for their life4 ,a diffused unbelief1 such as we see around us to-day1 does not really arise from the logical basis on which it seems to repose4 ,it comes from something much deeper1--a certain habit and set of mind which gives these arguments their force4 ,for want of a better name1 we call it the spirit of the age4 ,it is the result of very subtle and complicated forces1 which ,i do not pretend to analyse4 ,it spreads through society1 and forms the congenial soil in which these seeds of evil1 as we believe them to be1 take root4 ,does anybody suppose that the growth of popular unbelief is owing to the logical force of certain arguments8 ,it is in the air2 a wave of it is passing over us4 ,we are in a condition in which it becomes shall drop the toys of earth as easily and naturally as a child will some trinket or plaything1 when it stretches out its little hand to get a better gift from its loving mother4 ,love will sweep the heart clean of its antagonists2 and there is no real union between ,jesus ,christ and us except in the measure in which we joyfully1 and not as a reluctant giving up of things that we would much rather keep if we durst1 'count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of ,christ ,jesus our ,lord4' ,have the terms of wedded life changed since my psalm was written8 ,is there less need now than there used to be that1 if we are to possess a heart1 we should give a whole heart8 ,and have the terms of ,christian living altered since the old days1 when ,he said1 ',whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath1 he cannot be ,my disciple'8 ,ah6 ,i fear me that it is no uncharitable judgment to say that the bulk of so-called ,christians are playing at being ,christians1 and have never penetrated into the depths either of the sweet all-sufficiency of the love which they say that they possess1 or the constraining necessity that is in it for the surrender of all besides4 ,many happy husbands and wives1 if they would only treat ,jesus ,christ as they treat one another1 would find out a power and a blessedness in the ,christian life that they know nothing about at present4 ',daughter6 forget thine own people and thy father's house6' ,,ii4 ,again1 the second point here is that which directly follows--the ,king's love and the ,bride's reverence4 ',so shall the ,king greatly desire thy beauty3 for ,he is thy ,lord2 and worship thou ,him4' ,the ,king is drawn1 in the outgoings of ,his affection1 by the sweet trust and perfect love which has surrendered everything for him and happily followed him from the far-off land4 ,and then1 in accordance with ,oriental ideas1 and with ,his royal rank1 the bride is exhorted1 in the midst of the utter trust and equality born of love1 to remember1 ',he is thy ,lord1 and reverence thou ,him4' ,so1 then1 here are two thoughts that go1 as ,i take it1 very deep into the realities of the ,christian life4 ,the first is that1 in simple literal fact1 ,jesus ,christ is affected1 in ,his relation to us1 by the completeness of our dependence upon ,him1 and surrender of all else for ,him4 ,we do not believe that half vividly enough4 ,we have surrounded ,jesus ,christ with a halo of mystery and of remoteness which neither lets us think of ,him as being really man or really ,god4 ,and ,i press on you this as a plain fact1 no piece of pulpit rhetoric1 that ,his relation to us as ,christians hinges upon our surrender to ,him4 ,of course1 there is a love with which ,he pours ,himself out over the unworthy and the sinful--blessed be ,his name6--and the more sinful and the more unworthy1 the deeper the tenderness and the more yearning the pity and pathos of invitation which ,he lavishes upon us4 ,but that is a different thing from this other1 which is that ,he is pleased or displeased1 actually drawn to or repelled from us1 in the measure of the completeness and gladness of our surrender of ourselves to ,him4 ,that is what ,paul means when he says that he labours that 'whether present or absent he may be pleasing to ,christ4' ,and this is the highest and strongest motive that ,i know for all holy and noble living1 that we shall bring a smile into our ,master's face and draw ,him nearer to ourselves thereby4 ',so shall the ,king greatly desire thy beauty4' ,again1 in the measure in which we live out our ,christianity1 in whole-hearted and thorough surrender1 in that measure shall we be conscious of ,his nearness and feel ,his love4 ,there are many ,christian people that have only religion enough to make them uncomfortable1 only enough to make religion to them a system of regulations1 negative and positive1 the reasonableness and sweetness of which they but partially apprehend4 ,they must not do this because it is forbidden2 they ought to do that because it is commanded4 ,they would much rather do the forbidden thing1 and they have no wish to do the commanded thing1 and so they live in twilight1 and when they come beside a man who really has been walking in the light of ,christ's face1 the language of his experience1 though it be but a transcript of facts1 sounds to them all unreal and fanatical4 ,they miss the blessing that is waiting for them1 just because they have not really given up themselves4 ,if by resolute and continual opening of our hearts to ,christ's real love and presence1 and by consequent casting off of our false and foolish self-dependence1 we were to blow away the clouds that come between us and ,him1 we should feel the sunshine4 ,but as it is1 a miserable multitude of professing ,christians 'walk in the darkness1 and have no light1' or1 at the most1 but some wintry sunshine that struggles through the thick mist1 and does little more than reveal the barrenness that lies around4 ,brethren6 if you want to be happy ,christians1 be out-and-out ones2 and if you would have your hands and your hearts filled with ,christ1 empty them of the trash that they grip so closely now4 ,then1 on the other side1 there is the reminder and exhortation3 ',he is thy ,lord1 worship thou ,him4' ,the beggar-maid that1 in the old ballad1 married the king1 in all her love was filled with reverence2 and the ragged1 filthy souls1 whom ,jesus ,christ stoops to love1 and wash1 and make ,his own1 are never to forget1 in the highest rapture of their joy1 their lowly adoration1 nor in the glad familiarity of their loving approach to ,him1 cease to remember that the test of love is1 ',keep ,my commandments4' ,there are types of emotional and sentimental religion that have a great deal more to say about love than about obedience2 that are full of half wholesome apostrophes to a 'dear ,lord1' and almost forget the ',lord' in the emphasis which they put on the 'dear4' ,and ,i want you to remember this1 as by no means an unnecessary caution1 and of especial value in some quarters to-day1 that the test of the reality of ,christian love is its lowliness1 and that all that which indulges in heated emotion1 and forgets practical service1 is rotten and spurious4 ,though the ,king desire her beauty1 still1 when ,he stretches out the golden sceptre1 ,esther must come to ,him with lowly guise and a reverent heart4 ',he is thy ,lord1 worship thou ,him4' ,,iii4 ,the next point in this portraiture is the reflected honour and influence of the bride4 ,there are difficulties about the translation of the #abth verse of our psalm with which ,i do not need to trouble you4 ,we may take it for our purpose as it stands before us4 ',the daughter of ,tyre' 7representing the wealthy1 outside nations7 'shall be there with a gift2 even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour4' ,the bride being thus beloved by the ,king1 thus standing by ,his side1 those around recognise her dignity and honour1 and draw near to secure her intercession4 ,translate that out of the emblem into plain words1 and it comes to this--if ,christian people1 and communities of such1 are to have influence in the world1 they must be thorough-going ,christians4 ,if they are1 they will get hatred sometimes2 but men know honest people and religious people when they see them1 and such ,christians will win respect and be a power in the world4 ,if ,christian men and ,christian communities are despised by outsiders1 they very generally earn the contempt and deserve it1 both from men and from heaven4 ,the true evangelist is ,christian character4 ,they that manifestly live with the sunshine of the ,lord's love on their faces1 and whose hands are plainly clear from worldly and selfish graspings1 will have the world recognising the fact and honouring them accordingly4 ',the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee1 and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down to the soles of thy feet4' ,when the ,church has cast the world out of its heart1 it will conquer the world--and not till then4 ,,iv4 ,the next point in this picture is the fair adornment of the bride4 ,the language is in part ambiguous2 and if this were the place for commenting would require a good deal of comment4 ,but we take it as it stands in our ,bible1 ',the ,king's daughter is all glorious within'--not within her nature1 but within the innermost recesses of the palace--'her clothing is of wrought gold4 ,she shall be brought unto the ,king in raiment of needlework4' ,it is an easy and well-worn metaphor to talk about people's character as their dress4 ,we speak about the 'habits' of a man1 and we use that word to express both his customary manners and his costume4 ,custom and costume1 again1 are the same word4 ,so here1 without any departure from the well-trodden path of ,scriptural emblem1 we cannot but see in the glorious apparel the figure of the pure character with which the bride is clothed4 ,the ,book of the ,revelation dresses her in the fine linen clean and white1 which symbolises the lustrous radiance and snowy purity of righteousness4 ,the psalm describes her dress as partly consisting in garments gleaming with gold1 which suggests splendour and glory1 and partly in robes of careful and many-coloured embroidery1 which suggests the patience with which the slow needle has been worked through the stuff1 and the variegated and manifold graces and beauties with which she is adorned4 ,so1 putting all the metaphors together1 the true ,christian character1 which will be ours if we really are the subjects of that divine love1 will be lustrous and snowy as the snows on ,hermon1 or as was the garment whose whiteness outshone the neighbouring snows when ,he was 'transfigured before them4' ,our characters will be splendid with a splendour far above the tawdry beauties and vulgar conspicuousness of the 'heroic' and worldly ideals1 and will be endowed with a purity and harmony of colouring in richly various graces1 such as no earthly looms can ever weave4 ,we are not told here how the garment is attained4 ,it is no part of the purpose of the psalm to tell us that1 but it is part of its purpose to insist that there is no marriage between ,christ and the soul except that soul be pure1 none except it be robed in the beauty of righteousness and the splendour of consecration1 and the various gifts of an all-giving ,spirit4 ,the man that came into the wedding-feast1 with his dirty1 every-day clothes on1 was turned out as a rude insulter4 ,but what of the queen that should come foully dressed8 ,there would be no place for her amidst its solemnities4 ,you will never stand at the right hand of ,christ1 unless jour souls here are clothed in the fine linen clean and white1 and over it the flashing wealth and the harmonised splendour of the gold and embroidery of ,christlike graces4 ,we know how to get the garment4 ,faith strips the rags and puts the best robe on us2 and effort based upon faith enables us day by day to put off the old man with his deeds and to put on the new man4 ,the bride 'made herself ready1' and 'to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen1 clean and white4' ,v4 ,lastly1 we have the picture of the homecoming of the bride4 ',she shall be brought unto the ,king4444 with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought2 they shall enter into the ,king's palace4' ,the presence of virgin companions waiting on the bride is no more difficult to understand here than it is in ,christ's parable of the ,ten ,virgins4 ,it is a characteristic of all parabolical representation to be elastic1 and sometimes to duplicate its emblems for the same thing2 and that is the case here4 ,but the main point to be insisted upon is this1 that1 according to the perspective of ,scripture1 the life of the ,christian ,church here on earth is1 if ,i may so say1 a betrothal in righteousness and loving-kindness2 and that the betrothal waits for its consummation in that great future when the bride shall pass into the presence of the ,king4 ,the whole collective body of sinful souls redeemed by ,his blood1 and who know the sweetness of ,his partially received love1 shall be drawn within the curtains of that upper house1 and enter into a union with ,christ ,jesus ineffable1 incomprehensible till experienced2 and of which the closest union of loving souls on earth is but a dim shadow4 ',he that is joined to the ,lord is one spirit'2 and the reality of our union with ,him rises above the emblem of a marriage1 as high as spirit rises above flesh4 ,the psalm stops at the palace-gate4 ',eye hath not seen1 nor ear heard1 neither have entered into the heart of man the things which ,god hath prepared for them that love ,him4' ,but there is a solemn prelude to that completed union and its deep rapture4 ,before it there comes the last campaign of the conquering ,king on the white horse1 who wars in righteousness4 ,dear friends6 you must choose now whether you will be of the company of the ,bride or of the company of the enemy4 ',they that were ready went in with ,him unto the marriage1 and the door was shut4' ,which side of the door do you mean to be on8 ,,the ,,city ,,and ,,river ,,of ,,god ',there is a river1 the streams whereof shall make glad the city of ,god1 the holy place of the tabernacles of the most ,high4 #e4 ,god is in the midst of her2 she shall not be moved3 ,god shall help her1 and that right early4 #f4 ,the heathen raged1 the kingdoms were moved3 ,he uttered ,his voice1 the earth melted4 #g4 ,the ,lord of hosts is with us2 the ,god of ,jacob is our refuge4'--,,psalm xlvi #d-g4 ,there are two remarkable events in the history of ,israel1 one or other of which most probably supplied the historical basis upon which this psalm rests4 ,one is that wonderful deliverance of the armies of ,jehoshaphat from the attacking forces of the bordering nations1 which is recorded in the twentieth chapter of the ,book of ,chronicles4 ,there you will find that1 by a singular arrangement1 the sons of ,korah1 members of the priestly order1 were not only in the van of the battle1 but celebrated the victory by hymns of gladness4 ,it is possible that this may be one of those hymns2 but ,i think rather that the more ordinary reference is the correct one1 which sees in this psalm and in the two succeeding ones1 echoes of that supernatural deliverance of ,israel in the time of ,hezekiah1 when ',the ,assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold1' and ,sennacherib and all his army were1 by the blast of the breath of ,his nostrils1 swept into swift destruction4 ,the reasons for that historical reference may be briefly stated4 ,we find1 for instance1 a number of remarkable correspondences between these three psalms and portions of the ,book of the prophet ,isaiah1 who1 as we know1 lived in the period of that deliverance4 ,the comparison1 for example1 which is here drawn with such lofty1 poetic force between the quiet river which 'makes glad the city of ,god1' and the tumultuous billows of the troubled sea1 which shakes the mountain and moves the earth1 is drawn by ,isaiah in regard to the ,assyrian invasion1 when he speaks of ,israel refusing 'the waters of ,shiloah1 which go softly1' and1 therefore1 having brought upon them the waters of the river--the power of ,assyria--'which shall fill the breadth of ,thy land1 ,o ,immanuel6' ,notice1 too1 that the very same consolation which was given to ,isaiah1 by the revelation of that significant appellation1 ',immanuel1 ,god with us1' appears in this psalm as a kind of refrain1 and is the foundation of all its confident gladness1 ',the ,lord of ,hosts is with us4' ,besides these obvious parallelisms1 there are others to which ,i need not refer1 which1 taken together1 seem to render it at least probable that we have in this psalm the devotional echo of the great deliverance of ,israel from ,assyria in the time of ,hezekiah4 ,now1 these verses are the cardinal central portion of the song4 ,we may call them ,the ,hymn of the ,defence and ,deliverance of the ,city of ,god4 ,we cannot expect to find in poetry the same kind of logical accuracy in the process of thought which we require in treatises2 but the lofty emotion of devout song obeys laws of its own3 and it is well to surrender ourselves to the flow1 and to try to see with the ,psalmist's eyes for a moment his sources of consolation and strength4 ,i take the four points which seem to be the main turning-points of these verses--first1 the gladdening river2 second1 the indwelling ,helper2 third1 the conquering voice2 and fourth1 the alliance of ourselves by faith with the safe dwellers in the city of ,god4 ,i4 ,first1 we have the gladdening river--an emblem of many great and joyous truths4 ,the figure is occasioned by1 or at all events derives much of its significance from1 a geographical peculiarity of ,jerusalem4 ,alone among the great cities and historical centres of the world1 it stood upon no broad river4 ,one little perennial stream1 or rather rill of living water1 was all which it had2 but ,siloam was mightier and more blessed for the dwellers in the rocky fortress of the ,jebusites than the ,euphrates1 ,nile1 or ,tiber for the historical cities which stood upon their banks4 ,one can see the ,psalmist looking over the plain eastward1 and beholding in vision the mighty forces which came against them1 symbolised and expressed by the breadth and depth and swiftness of the great river upon which ,nineveh sat as a queen1 and then thinking upon the little tiny thread of living water that flowed past the base of the rock upon which the temple was perched4 ,it seems small and unconspicuous--nothing compared to the dash of the waves and the rise of the floods of those mighty secular empires1 still1 ',there is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of ,god4' ,its waters shall never fail1 and thirst shall flee whithersoever this river comes4 ,it is also to be remembered that the psalm is running in the track of a certain constant symbolism that pervades all ,scripture4 ,from the first book of ,genesis down to the last chapter of ,revelation1 you can hear the dashing of the waters of the river4 ',it went out from the garden and parted into four heads4' ',thou makest them drink of the river of ,thy pleasures4' ',behold1 waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward1' and 'everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh4' ',he that believeth on me1 out of ,his belly shall flow rivers of living water4' ',and he shewed me a pure river of water of life1 clear as crystal1 proceeding out of the throne of ,god and of the ,lamb4' ,isaiah1 who has already afforded some remarkable parallels to the words of our psalm1 gives another very striking one to the image now under consideration1 when he says1 ',the glorious ,lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams1 wherein shall go no galley with oars4' ,the picture in that metaphor is of a stream lying round ,jerusalem1 like the moated rivers which girdle some of the cities in the plains of ,italy1 and are the defence of those who dwell enclosed in their flashing links4 ,guided1 then1 by the physical peculiarity of situation which ,i have referred to1 and by the constant meaning of ,scriptural symbolism1 ,i think we must conclude that this river1 'the streams whereof make glad the city of ,god1' is ,god ,himself in the outflow and self-communication of ,his own grace to the soul4 ,the stream is the fountain in flow4 ,the gift of ,god1 which is living water1 is ,god ,himself1 considered as the ever-imparting ,source of all refreshment1 of all strength1 of all blessedness4 ',this spake ,he of the ,spirit1 which they that believe should receive4' ,we must dwell for a moment or two still further upon these words1 and mark how this metaphor1 in a most simple and natural way1 sets forth very grand and blessed spiritual truths with regard to this communication of ,god's grace to them that love ,him and trust ,him4 ,first1 ,i think we may see here a very beautiful suggestion of the manner1 and then of the variety1 and then of the effects of that communication of the divine love and grace4 ,we have only to read the previous verses to see what ,i mean4 ',god is our refuge and strength1 a very present help in trouble4 ,therefore will not we fear1 though the earth be removed1 and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea2 though the waters thereof roar and be troubled1 though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof4' ,there you can hear the wild waves dashing round the base of the firm hills1 sapping their strength1 and toppling their crests down in the bubbling1 yeasty foam4 ,remember how1 not only in ,scripture but in all poetry1 the sea has been the emblem of endless unrest4 ,its waters1 those barren1 wandering fields of foam1 going moaning round the world with unprofitable labour1 how they have been the emblem of unbridled power1 of tumult and strife1 and anarchy and rebellion6 ,then mark how our text brings into sharpest contrast with all that hurly-burly of the tempest1 and the dash and roar of the troubled waters1 the gentle1 quiet flow of the river1 'the streams whereof make glad the city of ,god'2 the translucent little ripples purling along beds of golden pebbles1 and the enamelled meadows drinking the pure stream as it steals by them4 ,thus1 says our psalm1 not with noise1 not with tumult1 not with conspicuous and destructive energy1 but in silent1 secret underground communication1 ,god's grace1 ,god's love1 ,his peace1 ,his power1 ,his almighty and gentle ,self flow into men's souls4 ,quietness and confidence on our sides correspond to the quietness and serenity with which ,he glides into the heart4 ,instead of all the noise of the sea you have within the quiet impartations of the voice that is still and small1 wherein ,god dwells4 ,the extremest power is silent4 ,the mightiest force in all the universe is the force which has neither speech nor language4 ,the parent of all physical force1 as astronomers seem to be more and more teaching us1 is the great central sun which moveth all things1 which operates all physical changes1 whose beams are all but omnipotent1 and yet fall so quietly that they do not disturb the motes that dance in their path4 ,thunder and lightning are child's play compared with the energy that goes to make the falling dews and quiet rains4 ,the power of the sunshine is the root power of all force which works in material things4 ,and so we turn1 with the symbol in our hands1 to the throne of ,god1 and when ,he says1 ',not by might1 nor by power1 but by ,my ,spirit1' we are aware of an energy1 the signature of whose might is its quietness1 which is omnipotent because it is gentle and silent4 ,the seas may roar and be troubled1 the tiny thread of the river is mightier than them all4 ,and then1 still further1 in this first part of our text there is also set forth very distinctly the number and the variety of the gifts of ,god4 ',the streams whereof1' literally1 'the divisions whereof1'--that is to say1 going back to ,eastern ideas1 the broad river is broken up into canals that are led off into every man's little bit of garden ground2 coming down to modern ideas1 the water is carried by pipes into every man's household and chamber4 ,the stream has its divisions2 listen to words that are a commentary upon the meaning of this verse1 ',all these worketh that one and the selfsame ,spirit1 dividing unto every man severally as ,he will'--an infinite variety1 an endless diversity1 according to all the petty wants of each that is supplied thereby4 ,as you can divide water all but infinitely1 and it will take the shape of every containing vessel1 so into every soul according to its capacities1 according to its shape1 according to its needs1 this great gift1 this blessed presence of the ,god of our strength1 will come4 ,the varieties of ,his gifts are as much the mark of ,his omnipotence as the gentleness and stillness of them4 ,and then ,i need only touch upon the last thought1 the effects of this communicated ,god4 ',the streams make glad'--with the gladness which comes from refreshment1 with the gladness which comes from the satisfying of all thirsty desires1 with the gladness which comes from the contact of the spirit with absolute completeness2 of the will1 with perfect authority2 of the heart1 with changeless love2 of the understanding1 with pure incarnate truth2 of the conscience1 with infinite peace2 of the child1 with the ,father2 of my emptiness1 with ,his fulness2 of my changeableness1 with ,his immutability2 of my incompleteness1 with ,his perfectness4 ,they to whom this stream passes shall know no thirst2 they who possess it from them it shall come4 ,out of him 'shall flow rivers of living water4' ,that all-sufficient ,spirit not only becomes to its possessor the source of individual refreshment1 and slakes his own thirst1 but flows out from him for the gladdening of others4 ',the least flower with a brimming cup may stand1 ,and share its dew-drop with another near4' ,the city thus supplied may laugh at besieging hosts4 ,with the deep reservoir in its central fortress1 the foe may do as they list to all surface streams1 its water shall be sure1 and no raging thirst shall ever drive it to surrender4 ,the river breaks from the threshold of the ,temple1 within its walls1 and when all beyond that safe enclosure is cracked and parched in the fierce heat1 and no green thing can be seen in the dry and thirsty land1 that stream shall 'make glad the city of our ,god1' and 'everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh4' ',thou shalt be as a well-watered garden1 and as a river whose streams fail not4' ,,ii4 ,then notice1 secondly1 substantially the same general thought1 but modified and put in plain words--the indwelling ,helper4 ',god is in the midst of her1 she shall not be moved3 ,god shall help her1 and that right early1' or1 as the latter clause had better be translated1 as it is given in the margin of some of our ,bibles1 ',god shall help her at the appearance of the morning4' ,there are two promises here3 first of all1 the constant presence2 and second1 help at the right time4 ,whether there be actual help or no1 there is always with us the potential help of ,god1 and it flashes into energy at the moment that ,he knows to be the right one4 ,the 'appearing of the morning' ,he determines2 not you or ,i4 ,therefore1 we may be confident that we have ,god ever by our sides4 ,not that that ,presence is meant to avert outward or inward trouble and trial1 and painfulness and weariness2 but in the midst of these1 and while they last1 here is the assurance1 ',she shall not be moved'2 and that it will not always last1 here is the ground of the confidence1 ',god shall help her when the morning dawns4' ,i need not point out to you the contrast here between the tranquillity of the city which has for its central ,inhabitant and ,governor the omnipotent ,god1 and the tumult of all that turbulent earth4 ,the waves of the troubled waters break everywhere1--they run over the flat plains and sweep over the mountains of secular strength and outward might1 and worldly kingdoms1 and human polities and earthly institutions1 acting on them all either by slow corrosive action at the base1 or by the tossing floods swirling against them1 until they shall be lost in the ocean of time4 ,for 'the history of the world is the judgment of the world4' ,when ,he wills the plains are covered and mountains disappear1 but one rock stands fast--',the mountain of the ,lord's house is exalted above the top of the mountains'2 and when everything is rocking and swaying in the tempests1 here is fixity and tranquillity4 ',she shall not be moved4' ,why8 ,because of her citizens8 ,no4 ,because of her guards and gates8 ,no6 ,because of her polity8 ,no6 ,because of her orthodoxy8 ,no6 ,but because ,god is in her1 and she is safe1 and where ,he dwells no evil can come4 ',thou carriest ,caesar and his fortunes4' ,the ship of ,christ carries the ,lord and ,his fortunes2 and1 therefore1 whatsoever becomes of the other little ships in the wild dash of the tempest1 this with the ,lord on board arrives at its desired haven--',god is in the midst of her1 she shall not be moved4' ,then1 still further1 that ,presence which is always the pledge of stability1 and unmoved calm1 even while causes of agitation are storming around1 will1 as ,i said1 flash into energy1 and be a ,helper and a ,deliverer at the right moment4 ,and when will that right moment be8 ,at the appearing of the morning4 ',and when they arose early in the morning1 they were all dead corpses'2 in the hour of greatest extremity1 but ere the foe has executed his purposes2 not too soon for fear and faith1 not too late for hope and help2 when the morning dawns1 when the appointed hour of deliverance1 which ,he alone determines1 has struck4 ',it is not for you to know the times and seasons'2 but this we may know1 that ,he who is the ,lord of time will ever save at the best possible moment4 ,he will not come so quickly as to prevent us from feeling our need2 ,he will not tarry so long as to make us sick with hope deferred1 or so long as to let the enemy fulfil his purposes of destruction4 ',lord1 behold6 he whom ,thou lovest is sick4 ,now ,jesus loved ,martha1 and her sister1 and ,lazarus4 ,when ,he had heard therefore that he was sick1 ,he abode two days still in the same place where ,he was4444 ,lord1 if ,thou hadst been here1 my brother had not died4 ,jesus saith unto her1 ,thy brother shall rise again4444 ,and he that was dead came forth4' ,the ,lord may seem to sleep on ,his hard wooden pillow in the stern of the little fishing boat1 and even while the frail craft begins to fill may show no sign of help4 ,but ere the waves have rolled over her1 the cry of fear that yet trusts1 and of trust that yet fears1 wakes ,him who knew the need1 even while ,he seemed to slumber1 and one mighty word1 as of a master to some petulant slave1 ',peace6 be still1' hushes the confusion1 and rebukes the fear1 and rewards the faith4 ',the ,lord is in the midst of her'--that is the perennial fact4 ',the ,lord shall help her1 and that right early'--that is the 'grace for seasonable help4' ,,iii4 ,the psalm having set forth these broad grounds of confidence1 goes on to tell the story of actual deliverance which confirms them1 and of which they are indeed but the generalised expression4 ,the condensed narrative moves to its end by a series of short crashing sentences like the ring of the destructive axe at the roots of trees4 ,we see the whole sequence of events as by lightning flashes1 which give brief glimpses and are quenched4 ,the grand graphic words seem to pant with haste1 as they record ,israel's deliverance4 ,that deliverance comes from the ,conquering ,voice4 ',the heathen raged' 7the same word1 we may note1 as is found a verse or two back1 ',though the waters thereof roar'71 'the kingdoms were moved2 ,he uttered ,his voice1 the earth melted4' ,with what vigour these hurried sentences describe1 first1 the wild wrath and formidable movements of the foe1 and then the ,one ,sovereign ,word which quells them all1 as well as the instantaneous weakness that dissolves the seeming solid substance when the breath of ,his lips smites it6 ,and where will you find a grander or loftier thought than this1 that the simple word--the utterance of the pure will of ,god conquers all opposition1 and tells at once in the sphere of material things8 ,he speaks1 and it is done4 ,at the sound of that thunder-voice1 hushed stillness and a pause of dread fall upon all the wide earth1 deeper and more awe-struck than the silence of the woods with their huddling leaves1 when the feebler peals roll through the sky4 ',the depths are congealed in the heart of the sea'--as if you were to lay hold of ,niagara in its wildest plunge1 and were with a word to freeze all its descending waters and stiffen them into immovableness in fetters of eternal ice4 ,so ,he utters ,his voice1 and all meaner noises are hushed4 ',the lion hath roared1 who shall not fear8' ,he speaks--no weapon1 no material vehicle is needed4 ,the point of contact between the pure divine will and the material creatures which obey its behests is ever wrapped in darkness1 whether these be the settled ordinances which men call nature1 or the less common which the ,bible calls miracle4 ,in all alike there is1 to every believer in a ,god at all1 an incomprehensible action of the spiritual upon the material1 which allows of no explanations to bridge over the gulf recognised in the broken utterances of our psalm1 ',he uttered ,his voice3 the earth melted4' ,how grandly1 too1 these last words give the impression of immediate and utter dissolution of all opposition6 ,all the ,titanic brute forces are1 at ,his voice1 disintegrated1 and lose their organisation and solidity4 ',the hills melted like wax'2 ',the mountains flowed down at ,thy presence4' ,the hardness and obstinacy is all liquefied and enfeebled1 and parts with its consistency and is lost in a fluid mass4 ,as two carbon points when the electric stream is poured upon them are gnawed to nothingness by the fierce heat1 and you can see them wasting before your eyes1 so the concentrated ardour of ,his breath falls upon the hostile evil1 and lo6 it is not4 ,the ,psalmist is generalising the historical fact of the sudden and utter destruction of ,sennacherib's host into a universal law4 ,and it is a universal law--true for us as for ,hezekiah and the sons of ,korah1 true for all generations4 ,martin ,luther might well make this psalm the battle cry of the ,reformation1 and we may well make our own the rugged music and dauntless hope of his rendering of these words3-- ,and let the ,prince of ,ill ,look grim as e'er he will1 ,he harms us not a whit4 ,for why8 ,his doom is writ4 ,a word shall quickly slay him4' ,,iv4 ,then note1 finally1 how the psalm shows us the act by which we enter the ,city of ,god4 ',the ,lord of ,hosts is with us2 the ,god of ,jacob is our refuge4' ,it is not enough to lay down general truths1 however true and however blessed1 about the safe and sacred city of ,god--not enough to be theoretically convinced of the truth of the supreme governance and ever-present aid of ,god4 ,we must take a further step that will lead us far beyond the regions of barren intellectual apprehension of the great truths of ,god's love and care4 ,these truths are nothing to us1 brethren6 unless1 like the ,psalmist here1 we make them our own1 and losing the burden of self in the very act of grasping them by faith1 unite ourselves with the great multitude who are joined together in ,him1 and say1 ',he is my ,god3 ,he is our refuge4' ,that living act of 'appropriating faith' presupposes1 indeed1 the presence of these truths in our understandings1 but in the very act they are changed into powers in our lives4 ,they pass into the affections and the will4 ,they are no more empty generalities4 ,bread nourishes1 not when it is looked at1 but when it is eaten4 ',he that eateth ,me1 even he shall live by ,me4' ,we feed on ,christ when we make ,him ours by faith1 and each of us is sustained and blessed by ,him when we can say1 ',my ,lord and my ,god6' ,mark1 too1 how there is here set forth the twofold ground for our calmest confidence in these two mighty names of ,god4 ',the ,lord of ,hosts is with us4' ,that majestic name includes all the deepest and most blessed thoughts of ,god which the earlier revelation imparted4 ,that name of ',jehovah' proclaims at once ,his ,eternal ,being and ,his covenant relation--manifesting ,him by its mysterious meaning as ,he who dwells above time1 the tideless sea of absolute unchanging existence1 from whom all the stream of creatural life flows forth many-coloured and transient1 to whom it all returns1 who1 ,himself unchanging1 changeth all things1 and declaring ,him1 by the historical associations connected with it1 as having unveiled ,his purposes in firm words1 to which men may trust1 and as having entered into that solemn league with ,israel which underlay their whole national life4 ,he is the ,lord the ,eternal1--the covenant name4 ,he is the ,lord of ,hosts1 the ',imperator1' absolute ,master and ,commander1 ,captain and ,king of all the combined forces of the universe1 whether they be personal or impersonal1 spiritual or material1 who1 in serried ranks1 wait on ,him1 and move harmonious1 obedient to ,his will4 ,and this ,eternal ,master of the legions of the universe is with us1 weak and poor1 and troubled and sinful as we are4 ,therefore1 we will not fear3 what can man do unto us8 ,again1 when we say1 ',the ,god of ,jacob is our refuge1' we reach back into the past1 and lay hold of the mercies promised to1 and received by1 the long vanished generations who trusted in ,him and were lightened4 ,as1 by the one name1 we appeal to ,his own ,being and uttered pledge1 so1 by the other1 we appeal to ,his ancient deeds--past as we call them1 but present with ,him1 who lives and loves in the undivided eternity above the low fences of time4 ,all that ,he has been1 ,he is2 all that ,he has done1 ,he is doing4 ,we on whom the ends of the earth are come have the same ,helper1 the same ,friend that 'the world's grey fathers' had4 ,they that go before do not prevent them that come after4 ,the river is full still4 ,the van of the pilgrim host did1 indeed1 long1 long ago drink and were satisfied1 but the bright waters are still as pellucid1 still as near1 still as refreshing1 still as abundant as they ever were4 ,nay1 rather1 they are fuller and more accessible to us than to patriarch and ,psalmist1 ',god having provided some better thing for us1 that they without us should not be made perfect4' ,for we1 brethren6 have a fuller revelation of that mighty name1 and a more wondrous and closer divine presence by our sides4 ,the psalm rejoices in that ',the ,lord of ,hosts is with us'2 and the choral answer of the ,gospel swells into loftier music1 as it tells of the fulfilment of psalmists' hopes and prophets' visions in ,him who is called ',immanuel1' which is1 being interpreted1 ',god with us4' ,the psalm is confident in that ,god dwelt in ,zion1 and our confidence has the more wondrous fact to lay hold of1 that even now the ,word who dwelt among us makes ,his abode in every believing heart1 and gathers them all together at last in that great city1 round whose flashing foundations no tumult of ocean beats1 whose gates of pearl need not be closed against any foes1 with whose happy citizens ',god will dwell1 and they shall be ,his people1 and ,god ,himself shall be with them1 and be their ,god4' ,,the ,,lord ,,of ,,hosts1 ,,the ,,god ,,of ,,jacob ',the ,lord of ,hosts is with us2 the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge4' --,,psalm xlvi4 #aa4 ,some great deliverance1 the details of which we do not know1 had been wrought for ,israel1 and this psalmist comes forth1 like ,miriam with her choir of maidens1 to hymn the victory4 ,the psalm throbs with exultation1 but no human victor's name degrades the singer's lips4 ,there is only one ,conqueror whom he celebrates4 ,the deliverance has been 'the work of the ,lord'2 the 'desolations' that have been made on the 'earth' ',he has made4' ,this great refrain of the song1 which ,i have chosen for my text1 takes the experience of deliverance as a proof in act of an astounding truth1 and as a hope for the future4 ',the ,lord of hosts is with us2 the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge4' ,there is in these words a significant duplication of idea1 both in regard to the names which are given to ,god1 and to that which ,he is conceived as being to us2 and ,i desire now simply to try to bring out the force of the consolation and strength which lie in these two epithets of ,his1 and in the double wonder of ,his relation to us men4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 ,i ask you to look at the twin thoughts of ,god that are here4 ',the ,lord of hosts 444 ,the ,god of ,jacob4' ,now1 with regard to the former of these grand names1 it may be observed that it does not occur in the earliest stages of ,revelation as recorded in the ,old ,testament4 ,the first instance in which we find it is in the song of ,hannah in the beginning of the first ,book of ,samuel2 and it re-appears in the ,davidic psalms and in psalms and prophecies of later date4 ,what 'hosts' are they of which ,god is the ,lord8 ,is that great title a mere synonym for the half-heathenish idea of the ',god of battles'8 ,by no means4 ,true6 ,he is the ,lord of the armies of ,israel1 but the hosts which the ,psalmist sees ranged in embattled array1 and obedient to the command of the great ,captain1 are far other and grander than any earthly armies4 ,if we would understand the whole depth and magnificent sweep of the idea enshrined in this name1 we cannot do better than recall one or two other ,scripture phrases4 ,for instance1 the account of the ,creation in the ,book of ,genesis is ended by1 ',thus the heavens and the earth were finished1 and all the host of them4' ,then1 remember that1 throughout the ,old ,testament1 we meet constantly with the idea of the celestial bodies as being 'the hosts of heaven4' ,and1 still further1 remember how1 in one of the psalms1 we hear the invocation to 'all ye ,his hosts1 ye ministers of ,his that do ,his pleasure1' 'the angels that excel in strength1' to praise and bless ,him4 ,if we take account of all these and a number of similar passages1 ,i think we shall come to this conclusion1 that by that title1 'the ,lord of hosts1' the prophets and psalmists meant to express the universal dominion of ,god over the whole universe in all its battalions and sections1 which they conceived of as one ranked army1 obedient to the voice of the great ,general and ,ruler of them all4 ,so the idea contained in the name is precisely parallel with that to which the heathen centurion in the ,gospels had come1 by reflecting upon the teaching of the legion in which he himself commanded1 when he said1 ',i am a man under authority1 having servants under me2 and ,i say to this one1 ,go1 and he goeth2 to another1 ,come1 and he cometh2 to another1 ,do this1 and he doeth it--speak ,thou the word6' ,to him ,jesus ,christ was ,captain of the ,lord's hosts1 and ,ruler of all the ordered forces of the universe4 ,the ,old ,testament name enshrines the same idea4 ,the universe is an ordered whole4 ,science tells us that4 ,modern thought emphasises it4 ,but how cruel1 relentless1 crushing1 that conception may be unless we grasp the further thought which is presented in this great ,name1 and see1 behind all the play of phenomena1 the one ,will which is the only power in the universe1 and sways and orders all besides6 ,the armies of heaven and every creature in the great ,cosmos are the servants of this ,lord4 ,then we can stand before the dreadful mysteries and the all but infinite complications of this mighty ,whole1 and say1 ',these are ,his soldiers1 and ,he is their ,captain1 the ,lord of hosts4' ,next we turn1 by one quick bound1 from the wide sweep of that mighty ,name to the other1 ',the ,god of ,jacob4' ,the one carries us out among the glories of the universe1 and shows us1 behind them all1 the personal ,will of which they are the servants1 and the ,character of which they are the expressions4 ,the other brings us down to the tent of the solitary wanderer1 and shows us that that mighty ,commander and ,emperor enters into close1 living1 tender1 personal relations with one poor soul1 and binds ,himself by that great covenant1 which is rooted in ,his love alone1 to be the ,god who cares for and keeps and blesses the man in all his wanderings4 ,neither does the command of the mighty ,whole hinder the closest relation to the individual1 nor does the care of the individual interfere with the direction of the ,whole4 ,the single soul stands out clear and isolated1 as if there were none in the universe but ,god and himself2 and the whole fulness of the divine power1 and all the tenderness of the ,god-heart1 are lavished upon the individual1 even though the armies of the skies wait upon ,his nod4 ,so1 if we put the two names together1 we get the completion of the great idea2 and whilst the one speaks to us of infinite power1 of absolute supremacy1 of universal rule1 and so delivers us from the fear of nature1 and from the blindness which sees only the material operations and not the working ,hand that underlies them1 the other speaks to us of gentle and loving and specific care1 and holds out the hope that1 between man and ,god1 there may be a bond of friendship and of mutual possession so sweet and sacred that nothing else can compare with it4 ,the ,god of ,jacob is the ,lord of hosts4 ,more wondrous still1 the ,lord of hosts is the ,god of ,jacob4 ,,ii4 ,note1 secondly1 the double wonder of our relation to this great ,god4 ,there is almost a tone of glad surprise1 as well as of triumphant confidence1 in this refrain of our psalm1 which comes twice in it1 and possibly ought to have come three times--at the end of each of its sections4 ,the emphasis is to be laid on the 'us' and the 'our1' as if that was the miracle1 and the fact which startled the ,psalmist into the highest rapture of astonished thankfulness4 ',the ,lord of hosts is with us4' ,what does that say8 ,it proclaims that wondrous truth that no gulf between the mighty ,ruler of all and us1 the insignificant little creatures that creep upon the face of this tiny planet1 has any power of separating us from ,him4 ,it is always hard to believe that4 ,it is harder to-day than it was when our ,psalmist's heart beat high at the thought4 ,it is hard by reason of our sense-bound blindness1 by reason of our superficial way of looking at things1 which only shows us the nearest1 and veils with their insignificances the magnitude of the furthest4 ,jupiter is blazing in our skies every night now2 he is not one-thousandth part as great or bright as any one of the little needle-points of light1 the fixed stars1 that are so much further away2 but he is nearer1 and the intrusive brightness of the planet hides the modest glories of the distant and shrouded suns4 ,just so it is hard for us ever to realise1 and to walk in the light of the realisation of1 the fact that the ,lord of hosts1 the ,emperor of all things1 is of a truth with each of us4 ,it is harder to-day than ever it was2 for we have learned to think rightly--or at least more rightly and approximately rightly--of the position and age of man upon this earth4 ,the ,psalmist's ancient question of devout thankfulness is too often travestied to-day into a question of scoffing or of melancholy unbelief3 ',when ,i consider the heavens1 the work of ,thy hands2 what is man8 ,art ,thou mindful of him8' ,this psalm comes to answer that4 ',the ,lord of hosts is with us4' ,true1 we are but of yesterday1 and know nothing4 ,true1 earth is but a pin-point amidst the universe's glories4 ,true1 we are crushed down by sorrow and by care2 and in some moods it seems supremely incredible that we should be of such worth in the scale of ,creation as that the ,lord of all things should1 in a deeper sense than the ,psalmist knew1 have dwelt with us and be with us still4 ,but bigness is not greatness1 and there is nothing incredible in the belief that men1 lower than the angels1 and needing ,god more because of their sin1 do receive ,his visitations in an altogether special sense1 and that1 passing by the lofty and the great that may inhabit ,his universe1 ,his chariot wheels stoop to us1 and that1 because we are sinners1 ,god is with us4 ,let me remind you1 dear brethren6 of how this great thought of my text is heightened and transcended by the ,new ,testament teaching4 ,we believe in ,one whose name is ',immanuel1 ,god with us4' ,jesus ,christ has come to be with men1 not only during the brief years of ,his earthly ministry1 in corporeal reality1 but to be with all who love ,him and trust ,him1 in a far closer1 more real1 more deep1 more precious1 more operative ,presence than when ,he dwelt here4 ,through all the ages ,christ ,himself is with every soul that loves ,him2 and ,he will dwell beside us and bless us and keep us4 ,god's presence means ,god's sympathy1 ,god's knowledge1 ,god's actual help1 and these are ours if we will4 ,instead of staggering at the apparent improbability that so transcendent and mighty a ,being should stoop from ,his throne1 where ,he lords it over the universe1 and enter into the narrow room of our hearts1 let us rather try to rise to the rapture of the astonished ,psalmist when1 looking upon the deliverance that had been wrought1 this was the leading conviction that was written in flame upon his heart1 ',the ,lord of hosts is with us4' ,and then the second of the wonders that are here set forth in regard to our relations to ,him is1 'the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge4' ,that carries for us the great truth that1 just as the distance between us and ,god makes no separation1 and the gulf is one that is bridged over by ,his love1 so distance in time leads to no exhaustion of the divine faithfulness and care1 nor any diminution of the resources of ,his grace4 ',the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge4' ,the story of the past is the prophecy of the future4 ,what ,god has been to any man ,he will be to every man1 if the man will let ,him4 ,there is nothing in any of these grand narratives of ancient days which is not capable of being reproduced in our lives4 ,god drew near to ,jacob when he was lying on the stony ground1 and showed him the ladder set upon earth1 with its top in the heavens1 and the bright-winged soldiers and messengers of ,his will ascending and descending upon it1 and ,his own face at the top4 ,god shows you and me that vision to-day4 ,it was no vanishing splendour1 no transient illumination1 no hallucination of the man's own thoughts seeking after a helper1 and the wish being father to the vision4 ,but it was the unveiling for a moment1 in supernatural fashion1 of the abiding reality4 ',the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge'2 and whatever ,he was to ,his servant of old ,he is to-day to you and me4 ,we say that miracle has ceased4 ,yes4 ,but that which the miracle effected has not ceased2 and that from which the miracle came has not ceased4 ,the realities of a divine protection1 of a divine supply1 of a divine guidance1 of a divine deliverance1 of a divine discipline1 and of a divine reward at the last1 are as real to-day as when they were mediated by signs and wonders1 by an open heaven and by an outstretched hand4 ,they who went before have not emptied the treasures of the ,father's house1 nor eaten all the bread that ,he spreads upon the table4 ,god has no stepchildren1 and no favourite and spoiled ones4 ,all that the elder brethren have had1 we1 on whom the ends of the dispensation are come1 may have just as really2 and whatever ,god has been to the patriarch ,he is to us to-day4 ,remember the experience of the man of whom our text speaks4 ,the ,god of ,jacob manifested ,himself to him as being a ,god who would draw near to1 and care for1 and help1 a very unworthy and poor creature4 ,jacob was no saint at the beginning4 ,selfishness and cunning and many a vice clung very close to his character2 but for all that1 ,god drew near to him and cared for him and guided him1 and promised that ,he would not leave him till ,he had done that which ,he had spoken to him of4 ,and ,he will do the same for us--blessed be ,his name6--with all our faults and weaknesses and craftiness and worldliness and sins4 ,if ,he cared for that huckstering ,jew1 as ,he did1 even in his earlier days1 ,he will not put us away because ,he finds faults in us4 ',the ,god of ,jacob1' the supplanter1 the trickster1 'is our ,refuge4' ,but remember how the divine ,presence with that man had to be1 because of his faults1 a ,presence that wrought him sorrows and forced him to undergo discipline4 ,so it will be with us4 ,he will not suffer sin upon us2 ,he will pass us through the fire and the water2 and do anything with us short of destroying us1 in order to destroy the sin that is in us4 ,he does not spare ,his rod for ,his child's crying1 but smites with judgment1 and sends us sorrows 'for our profit1 that we should be partakers of ,his holiness4' ,we may write this as the explanation over most of our griefs--'the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge1' and ,he is disciplining us as ,he did him4 ,and remember what the end of the man was4 ',thy name shall no more be called ,jacob1 but ,israel2 for as a prince thou hast power with ,god1 and hast prevailed4' ,so if we have ,god1 who out of such a sow's ear made a silk purse1 out of such a stone raised up a servant for ,himself1 we may be sure that ,his purpose in all discipline will be effected on us submissive1 and we shall end where ,his ancient servant ended1 and shall be in our turn princes with ,god4 ,let me recall to you also the meaning which ,jesus ,christ found in this name4 ,he quoted 'the ,god of ,abraham and of ,isaac and of ,jacob' as being the great guarantee and proof to us of immortality4 ',the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge4' ,if so1 what can the grim and ghastly phantom of death do to us8 ,he may smite upon the gate1 but he cannot enter the fortress4 ,the man who has knit himself to ,god by saying to ,god1 ',lo6 ,i am ,thine1 and ,thou art mine1' in that communion has a proof and a pledge that nothing shall ever break it1 and that death is powerless4 ,the fact of religion--true1 heartfelt religion1 with its communion1 its prayer1 its consciousness of possessing and of being possessed1 makes the idea that death ends a man's conscious existence an absurdity and an impossibility4 ',the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge1' and so we may say to the storms of life1 and after them to the last howling tornado of death--,blow winds and crack your cheeks1 and do your worst1 you cannot touch me in the fortress where ,i dwell4 ,the wind will hurtle around the stronghold1 but within there shall be calm4 ,dear brethren6 make sure that you are in the refuge4 ,make sure that you have fled for ',refuge to the hope set before you in the ,gospel4' ,the ,lord of hosts is with us1' but you may be parted from ,him4 ,he is our ,refuge1 but you may be standing outside the sanctuary1 and so be exposed to all the storms4 ,flee thither1 cast yourselves on ,him1 trust in that great ,saviour who has given ,himself for us1 and who says to us1 ',lo6 ,i am with you always4' ,take ,christ for your hiding-place by simple faith in ,him and loving obedience born of faith1 and then the experience of our ,psalmist will be yours4 ,your life will not want for deliverances which will thrill your heart with thankfulness1 and turn the truth of faith into a truth of experience4 ,so you may set to your seals the great saying of our psalm1 which is fresh to-day1 though centuries have passed since it came glowing fiery from the lips of the ancient seer1 and may take up as yours the great words in which ,luther has translated it for our times1 the ',marseillaise' of the ,reformation-- ',a safe stronghold our ,god is still2 ,a trusty shield and weapon2 ,he'll help us clear from all the ill ,that hath us now o'ertaken4' ,a ,,song ,,of ,,deliverance ',great is the ,lord1 and greatly to be praised in the city of our ,god1 in the mountain of ,his holiness4 #b4 ,beautiful for situation1 the joy of the whole earth1 is mount ,zion1 on the sides of the north1 the city of the great ,king4 #c4 ,god is known in her palaces for a refuge4 #d4 ,for1 lo1 the kings were assembled1 they passed by together4 #e4 ,they saw it1 and so they marvelled2 they were troubled1 and hasted away4 #f4 ,fear took hold upon them there1 and pain1 as of a woman in travail4 #g4 ,thou breakest the ships of ,tarshish with an east wind4 #h4 ,as we have heard1 so have we seen in the city of the ,lord of hosts1 in the city of our ,god3 ,god will establish it for ever4 #i4 ,we have thought of ,thy loving-kindness1 ,o ,god1 in the midst of ,thy temple4 #aj4 ,according to ,thy name1 ,o ,god1 so is ,thy praise unto the ends of the earth3 ,thy right hand is full of righteousness4 #aa4 ,let mount ,zion rejoice1 let the daughters of ,judah be glad1 because of ,thy judgments4 #ab4 ,walk about ,zion1 and go round about her3 tell the towers thereof4 #ac4 ,mark ye well her bulwarks1 consider her palaces2 that ye may tell it to the generation following4 #ad4 ,for this ,god is our ,god for ever and ever3 ,he will be our guide even unto death4'--,,psalm xlviii4 #a-ad4 ,the enthusiastic triumph which throbs in this psalm1 and the specific details of a great act of deliverance from a great peril which it contains1 sufficiently indicate that it must have had some historical event as its basis4 ,can we identify the fact which is here embalmed8 ,the psalm gives these points--a formidable muster before ,jerusalem of hostile people under confederate kings1 with the purpose of laying siege to the city2 some mysterious check which arrests them before a sword is drawn1 as if some panic fear had shot from its towers and shaken their hearts2 and a flight in wild confusion from the impregnable dwelling-place of the ,lord of hosts4 ,the occasion of the terror is vaguely hinted at1 as if some solemn mystery brooded over it4 ,all that is clear about it is that it was purely the work of the divine hand--',thou breakest the ships of ,tarshish with an east wind'2 and that in this deliverance1 in their own time1 the ,levite minstrels recognised the working of the same protecting grace which1 from of old1 had 'commanded deliverances for ,jacob4' ,now there is one event1 and only one1 in ,jewish history1 which corresponds1 point for point1 to these details--the crushing destruction of the ,assyrian army under ,sennacherib4 ,there1 there was the same mustering of various nations1 compelled by the conqueror to march in his train1 and headed by their tributary kings4 ,there1 there was the same arrest before an arrow had been shot1 or a mound raised against the city4 ,there1 there was the same purely divine agency coming in to destroy the invading army4 ,i think1 then1 that from the correspondence of the history with the requirements of the psalm1 as well as from several similarities of expression and allusion between the latter and the prophecies of ,isaiah1 who has recorded that destruction of the invader1 we may1 with considerable probability1 regard this psalm as the hymn of triumph over the baffled ,assyrian1 and the marvellous deliverance of ,israel by the arm of ,god4 ,whatever may be thought1 however1 of that allocation of it to a place in the history1 the great truths that it contains depend upon no such identification4 ,they are truths for all time2 gladness and consolation for all generations4 ,let us read it over together now1 if1 perchance1 some echo of the confidence and praise that is found in it may be called forth from our hearts6 ,if you will look at your ,bibles you will find that it falls into three portions4 ,there is the glory of ,zion1 the deliverance of ,zion1 and the consequent grateful praise and glad trust of ,zion4 ,i4 ,there is the glory of ,zion4 ,hearken with what triumph the ,psalmist breaks out3 ',great is the ,lord1 and greatly to be praised in the city of our ,god1 in the mountain of ,his holiness4 ,beautiful for situation 7or rather elevation71 the joy of the whole earth1 is mount ,zion1 on the sides of the north1 the city of the great ,king4' ,now these words are something more than mere patriotic feeling4 ,the ,jew's glory in ,jerusalem was a different thing altogether from the ,roman's pride in ,rome4 ,to the devout men amongst them1 of whom the writer of this psalm was one1 there was one thing1 and one only1 that made ,zion glorious4 ,it was beautiful indeed in its elevation1 lifted high upon its rocky mountain4 ,it was safe indeed1 isolated from the invader by the precipitous ravines which enclosed and guarded the angle of the mountain plateau on which it stood2 but the one thing that gave it glory was that in it ,god abode4 ,the name even of that earthly ,zion was ',jehovah-,shammah1 the ,lord is there4' ,and the emphasis of these words is entirely pointed in that direction4 ,what they celebrate concerning ,him is not merely the general thought that the ,lord is great1 but that the ,lord is great in ,zion4 ,what they celebrate concerning it is that it is ,his city1 the mountain of ,his holiness1 where ,he dwells1 where ,he manifests ,himself4 ,because there is ,his self-manifestation1 therefore ,he is there greatly to be praised4 ,and because the clear voice of ,his praise rings out from ,zion1 therefore is she 'the joy of the whole earth4' ,the glory of ,zion1 then1 is that it is the dwelling-place of ,god4 ,now1 remember1 that when the ,old ,testament ,scripture speaks about ,god abiding in ,jerusalem1 it means no heathenish or material localising of the ,deity1 nor does it imply any depriving of the rest of the earth of the sanctity of ,his presence4 ,the very psalm which most distinctly embodies the thought of ,god's abode protests against that narrowness1 for it begins1 ',the earth is the ,lord's and the fulness thereof3 the world and they that dwell therein4' ,the very ark which was the symbol of ,his presence1 protests by its name against all such localising1 for the name of it was 'the ark of the covenant of the ,god of the whole earth4' ,when the ,bible speaks of ,zion as the dwelling-place of ,god1 it is but the expression of the fact that there1 between the cherubim1 was the visible sign of ,his presence--that there1 in the ,temple1 as from the centre of the whole land1 ,he ruled1 and 'out of ,zion1 the perfection of beauty1 ,god shone4' ,we are1 then1 not 'spiritualising1' or forcing a ,new ,testament meaning into these words1 when we see in them an ,eternal ,truth4 ,we are but following in the steps of history and prophecy1 and of ,christ and ,his ,apostles1 and of that last vision of the ,apocalypse4 ,we are but distinguishing between an idea and the fact which more or less perfectly embodies it4 ,an idea may have many garments1 may transmigrate into many different material forms4 ,the idea of the dwelling of ,god with men had its less perfect embodiment1 has its more perfect embodiment1 will have its absolutely perfect embodiment4 ,it had its less perfect in that ancient time4 ,it has its real but partial embodiment in this present time1 when1 in the midst of the whole community of believing and loving souls1 which stretches wider than any society that calls itself a ,church1 the living ,god abides and energises by ,his ,spirit and by ,his ,son in the souls of them that believe upon ,him4 ',ye are come unto ,mount ,zion and unto the city of the living ,god4' ,and we wait for the time when1 filling all the air with its light1 there shall come down from ,god a perfect and permanent form of that dwelling2 and that great city1 the ,new ,jerusalem1 'having the glory of ,god1' shall appear1 and ,he will dwell with men and be their ,god4 ,but in all these stages of the embodiment of that great truth the glory of ,zion rests in this1 that in it ,god abides1 that from it ,he flames in the greatness of ,his manifestations1 which are ',his praise in all the earth4' ,it is that presence which makes her fair1 as it is that presence which keeps her safe4 ,it is that light shining within her palaces--not their own opaque darkness1 which streams out far into the waste night with ruddy glow of hospitable invitation4 ,it is ,god in her1 not anything of her own1 that constitutes her 'the joy of the whole earth4' ',thy beauty was perfect1 through ,my comeliness1 which ,i had put upon thee1 saith the ,lord4' ,zion is where hearts love and trust and follow ,christ4 ,the 'city of the great ,king' is a permanent reality in a partial form upon earth--and that partial form is itself a prophecy of the perfection of the heavens4 ,,ii4 ,still further1 there is a second portion of this psalm which1 passing beyond these introductory thoughts of the glory of ,zion1 recounts with wonderful power and vigour the process of the deliverance of ,zion4 ,it extends from the fourth to the eighth verses4 ,mark the dramatic vigour of the description of the deliverance4 ,there is1 first1 the mustering of the armies--',the kings were assembled4' ,some light is thrown upon that phrase by the proud boast which the prophet ,isaiah puts into the lips of the ,assyrian invader1 ',are not my princes altogether kings8' ,the subject-monarchs of the subdued nationalities that were gathered round the tyrant's standard were used1 with the wicked craft of conquerors in all ages1 to bring still other lands under the same iron dominion4 ',the kings were assembled'--we see them gathering their far-reaching and motley army1 mustered from all corners of that gigantic empire4 ,they advance together against the rocky fortress that towers above its girdling valleys4 ',they saw it1 they marvelled'--in wonder1 perhaps1 at its beauty1 as they first catch sight of its glittering whiteness from some hill crest on their march2 or1 perhaps1 stricken by some strange amazement1 as if1 basilisk-like1 its beauty were deadly1 and a beam from the ,shechinah had shot a nameless awe into their souls--'they were troubled1 they hasted away4' ,i need not dilate on the power of this description1 nor do more than notice how the abruptness of the language1 huddled together1 as it were1 without connecting particles1 conveys the impression of hurry and confusion1 culminating in the rush of fugitives fleeing under the influence of panic-terror4 ,they are like the well-known words1 ',i came1 ,i saw1 ,i conquered1' only that here we have to do with swift defeat--they came1 they saw1 they were conquered4 ,they are1 in regard to vivid picturesqueness1 arising from the broken construction1 singularly like other words which refer to the same event in the forty-sixth psalm1 ',the heathen raged1 the kingdoms were moved2 ,he uttered ,his voice1 the earth melted4' ,in their scornful emphasis of triumph they remind us of ,isaiah's description of the end of the same invasion--',so ,sennacherib1 king of ,assyria1 departed1 and went and returned1 and dwelt at ,nineveh4' ,mark1 still further1 the eloquent silence as to the cause of the panic and the flight4 ,there is no appearance of armed resistance4 ,this is no 'battle of the warrior with garments rolled in blood1' and the shock of contending hosts4 ,but an unseen ,hand smites once--'and when the morning dawned they were all dead corpses4' ,the impression of terror produced by such a blow is increased by the veiled allusion to it here4 ,the silence magnifies the deliverance4 ,if we might apply the grand words of ,milton to that night of fear-- ',the trumpet spake not to the armed throng1 ,but kings sat still1 with awful eye1 ,as if they surely knew their sovereign ,lord was by4' ,the process of the deliverance is not told here1 as there was no need it should be in a hymn which is not history1 but the lyrical echo of what is told in history2 one image explains it all--',thou breakest the ships of ,tarshish with an east wind4' ,the metaphor--one that does not need expansion here--is that of a ship like a great unwieldy galleon1 caught in a tempest4 ,however strong for fight1 it is not fit for sailing4 ,it is like some of those turret ships of ours1 if they venture out from the coast and get into a storm1 their very strength is their destruction1 their armour wherein they trusted ensures that they shall sink4 ,and so1 this huge assailant of ,israel1 this great 'galley with oars1' washing about there in the trough of the sea1 as it were--,god broke it in two with the tempest1 which is ,his breath4 ,you remember how on the medal that commemorated the destruction of the ,spanish ,armada--our ,english deliverance--there were written the words of ,scripture3 ',god blew upon them and they were scattered4' ,what was there true1 literally1 is here true in figure4 ,the ,psalmist is not thinking of any actual scattering of hostile fleets--from which ,jerusalem was never in danger2 but is using the shipwreck of 'the ship of ,tarshish' as a picture of the utter1 swift1 ,god-inflicted destruction which ground that invading army to pieces1 as the savage rocks and wild seas will do the strongest craft that is mangled between them4 ,and then1 mark how from this dramatic description there rises a loftier thought still4 ,the deliverance thus described links the present with the past4 ',as we have heard so have we seen in the city of the ,lord of hosts1 in the city of our ,god4' ,yes1 brethren6 ,god's merciful manifestation for ourselves1 as for those ,israelitish people of old1 has this blessed effect1 that it changes hearsay and tradition into living experience2--this blessed effect1 that it teaches us1 or ought to teach us1 the inexhaustibleness of the divine power1 the constant repetition in every age of the same works of love4 ,taught by it1 we learn that all these old narratives of ,his grace and help are ever new1 not past and gone1 but ready to be reproduced in their essential characteristics in our lives too4 ',we have heard with our ears1 ,o ,lord1 our fathers have told us what work ,thou didst in their days4' ,but is the record only a melancholy contrast with our own experience8 ,nay1 truly4 ',as we have heard so have we seen4' ,we are ever tempted to think of the present as commonplace4 ,the sky right above our heads is always farthest from earth4 ,it is at the horizon behind and the horizon in front1 where earth and heaven seem to blend4 ,we think of miracles in the past1 we think of a manifest presence of ,god in the future1 but the present ever seems to our sense-bound understandings as beggared and empty of ,him1 devoid of ,his light4 ,but this verse suggests to us how1 if we mark the daily dealings of that loving ,hand with us1 we have every occasion to say1 ,thy loving-kindness of old lives still4 ,still1 as of old1 the hosts of the ,lord encamp round about them that fear ,him to deliver them4 ,still1 as of old1 the voice of guidance comes from between the cherubim4 ,still1 as of old1 the pillar of cloud and fire moves before us4 ,still1 as of old1 angels walk with men4 ,still1 as of old1 ,his hand is stretched forth1 to bless1 to feed1 to guard4 ,nothing in the past of ,god's dealings with men has passed away4 ,the eternal present embraces what we call the past1 present1 and future4 ,they that went before do not prevent us on whom the ends of the ages are come4 ,the table that was spread for them is as fully furnished for the latest guests4 ,the light1 which was so magical and lustrous in the morning beauty1 for us has not faded away into the light of common day4 ,the river which flowed in these past ages has not been drunk up by the thirsty sands4 ,the fire that once blazed so clear has not died down into grey ashes4 ',the ,god of ,jacob is our refuge4' ',as we have heard so have we seen4' ,and then1 still further1 the deliverance here is suggested as not only linking most blessedly the present with the past1 but also linking it for our confidence with all the future4 ',god will establish it for ever4' ',old experience doth attain ,to something of prophetic strain4' ,in the strength of what that moment had taught of ,god and ,his power1 the singer looks onward1 and whatever may be the future he knows that the divine arm will be outstretched4 ,god will establish ,zion2 or1 as the word might be translated1 ,god will hold it erect1 as if with a strong hand grasping some pole or banner-staff that else would totter and fall--,he will keep it up1 standing there firm and steadfast4 ,it would lead us too far to discuss the bearing of such a prophecy upon the future history and restoration of ,israel1 but the bearing of it upon the security and perpetuity of the ,church is unquestionable4 ,the city is immortal because ,god dwells in it4 ,for the individual and for the community1 for the great society and for each of the single souls that make it up1 the history of the past may seal the pledge which ,he gives for the future4 ,if it had been possible to destroy the ,church of the living ,god1 it had been gone long1 long ago4 ,its own weakness and sin1 the ever-new corruptions of its belief and paring of its creed1 the imperfections of its life and the worldliness of its heart1 the abounding evils that lie around it and the actual hostility of many that look upon it and say1 ,raze it1 even to the ground1 would have smitten it to the dust long since4 ,it lives1 it has lived in spite of all1 and therefore it shall live4 ',god will establish it for ever4' ,in almost every land there is some fortress or other1 which the pride of the inhabitants calls 'the maiden fortress1' and whereof the legend is1 that it has never been taken1 and is inexpugnable by any foe4 ,it is true about the tower of the flock1 the stronghold of the daughter of ,zion4 ,the grand words of ,isaiah about this very ,assyrian invader are our answer to all fears within and foes without3 ',say unto him1 the virgin1 the daughter of ,zion1 hath despised thee1 and laughed thee to scorn2 the daughter of ,jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee4444 ,i will defend this city to save it for ,my own sake1 and for ,my servant ,david's sake4' ',god will establish it for ever1' and the pledges of that eternal stability are the deliverances of the past and of the present4 ,,iii4 ,then1 finally1 there is still another section of this psalm to be looked at for a moment1 which deals with the consequent grateful praise and glad trust of ,zion4 ,i must condense what few things ,i have to say about these closing verses4 ,the deliverance1 first of all1 deepens the glad meditation on ,god's favour and defence4 ',we have thought1' say the ransomed people1 as with a sigh of rejoicing1 'we have thought of ,thy loving-kindness in the midst of ,thy temple4' ,the scene of the manifestation of ,his power is the scene of their thankfulness1 and the first issue of ,his mercy is ,his servants' praise4 ,then1 the deliverance spreads ,his fame throughout the world4 ',according to ,thy name1 ,o ,god6 so is ,thy praise unto the ends of the earth4 ,thy right hand is full of righteousness4' ,the name of ,god is ,god's own making known of ,his character1 and the thought of these words is double4 ,they most beautifully express the profoundest trust in that blessed name that it only needs to be known in order to be loved4 ,there is nothing wanted but ,his manifestation of ,himself for ,his praise and glory to spread4 ,why is the ,psalmist so sure that according to the revelation of ,his character will be the revenue of ,his praise8 ,because the ,psalmist is so sure that that character is purely1 perfectly1 simply good--nothing else but good and blessing--and that ,he cannot act but in such a way as to magnify ,himself4 ,that great sea will cast up nothing on the shores of the world but pearls and precious things4 ,he is all 'light1 and in ,him is no darkness at all4' ,there needs but the shining forth in order that the light of ,his character shall bring gladness and joy1 and the song of birds1 and opening flowers wheresoever it falls4 ,still further1 there is the other truth in the words1 that we misapprehend the purpose of our own deliverances1 and the purpose of ,god's mercy to ,zion1 if we confine these to any personal objects or lose sight of the loftier end of them all--that men may learn to know and love ,him4 ,brethren6 we neither rightly thank ,him for ,his gifts to us nor rightly apprehend the meaning of ,his dealings1 unless the sweetest thought to us1 even in the midst of our own personal joy for deliverance1 is not 'we are saved1' but ',god is exalted4' ,and then1 beyond that1 the deliverance produces in ,zion1 the mother city and her daughter villages1 a triumph of rapture and gladness4 ',let mount ,zion rejoice1 let the daughters of ,judah be glad because of ,thy judgments4' ,yes1 even though an hundred and four score and five thousand dead men lay there1 they were to be glad4 ,solemn and awful as is the baring of ,his righteous sword1 it is an occasion for praise4 ,it is right to be glad when men and systems that hinder and fight against ,god are swept away as with the besom of destruction4 ',when the wicked perish there is shouting1' and the fitting epitaph for the oppressors to whom the surges of the ,red ,sea are shroud and gravestone is1 ',sing ye to the ,lord1 for ,he hath triumphed gloriously4' ,the last verses set forth1 more fully than even the preceding ones1 the height and perfectness of the confidence which the manifold mercies of ,god ought to produce in men's hearts4 ,the citizens who have been cooped up during the invasion1 and who1 in the temple1 as we have seen1 have been rendering the tribute of their meditation and thankful gratitude to ,god for ,his loving-kindness1 are now called upon to come forth from the enclosure of the besieged city1 and free from all fear of the invading army1 to 'walk about ,zion1 and go round about her and tell the towers1' and 'mark her bulwarks and palaces4' ,they look first at the defences1 on which no trace of assault appears1 and then at the palaces guarded by them1 that stand shining and unharmed4 ,the deliverance has been so complete that there is not a sign of the peril or the danger left4 ,it is not like a city besieged1 and the siege raised when the thing over which contending hosts have been quarrelling has become a ruin1 but not one stone has been smitten from the walls1 nor one agate chipped in the windows of the palaces4 ,it is unharmed as well as uncaptured4 ,thus1 we may say1 no matter what tempests assail us1 the wind will but sweep the rotten branches out of the tree4 ,though war should arise1 nothing will be touched that belongs to ,thee4 ,we have a city which cannot be moved2 and the removal of the things which can be shaken but makes more manifest its impregnable security1 its inexpugnable peace4 ,as in war they will clear away the houses and the flower gardens that have been allowed to come and cluster about the walls and fill up the moat1 yet the walls will stand2 so in all the conflicts that befall ,god's church and ,god's truth1 the calming thought ought to be ours that if anything perishes it is a sign that it is not ,his1 but man's excrescence on ,his building4 ,whatever is ,his will stand for ever4 ,and then1 with wonderful tenderness and beauty1 the psalm in its last words drops1 as one might say1 in one aspect1 and in another1 rises from its contemplations of the immortal city and the community to the thought of the individuals that make it up3 ',for this ,god is our ,god for ever and ever2 ,he will be our guide even unto death4' ,prosaic commentators have often said that these last two words are an interpolation1 that they do not fit into the strain of the psalm1 and have troubled themselves to find out what meaning to attach to them1 because it seemed to them so unlikely that1 in a hymn that had only to do with the community1 we should find this expression of individual confidence in anticipation of that most purely personal of all evils4 ,that seems to me the very reason for holding fast by the words as being a genuine part of the psalm1 because they express a truth1 without which the confident hope of the psalm1 grand as it is1 is but poor consolation for each heart4 ,it is not enough for passing1 perishing men to say1 ',never mind your own individual fate3 the society1 the community1 will stand fast and firm4' ,i want something more than to know that ,god will establish ,zion for ever4 ,what about me1 my own individual self8 ,and these last words answer that question4 ,not merely the city abides1 but ',he will be our guide even unto death4' ,and surely1 if so--if ,his loving hand will lead the citizens of ,his eternal kingdom even to the edge of that great darkness--,he will not lose them even in its gloom4 ,surely there is here the veiled hope that if the city be eternal and the gates of the grave cannot prevail against it1 the community cannot be eternal unless the individuals be immortal4 ,such a hope is vindicated by the blessed words of a newer revelation3 ',god is not ashamed to be called their ,god1 for ,he hath prepared for them a city4' ,dear brethren6 remember the last words1 or all but the last words of ,scripture which1 in their true text and reading1 tell us how1 instead of aliens from the commonwealth of ,israel1 we may become fellow-citizens with the saints4 ',blessed are they that wash their robes that they may have a right to the tree of life1 and may enter in through the gate into the city6' ,,two ,,shepherds ,,and ,,two ,,flocks ',like sheep they are laid in the grave2 ,death shall feed on them4' --,,psalm xlix4 #ad4 ',the ,lamb which is in the midst of the ,throne shall feed them4' --,,rev4 vii4 #ag4 ,these two verses have a much closer parallelism in expression than appears in our ,authorised ,version4 ,if you turn to the ,revised ,version you will find that it rightly renders the former of my texts1 ',death shall be their shepherd1' and the latter1 ',the ,lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be their ,shepherd4' ,the ,old ,testament ,psalmist and the ,new ,testament ,seer have fallen upon the same image to describe death and the future1 but with how different a use6 ,the one paints a grim picture1 all sunless and full of shadow2 the other dips his pencil in brilliant colours1 and suffuses his canvas with a glow as of molten sunlight4 ,the difference between the two is partly due to the progress of revelation and the light cast on life and immortality by ,christ through the ,gospel4 ,but it is much more due to the fact that the two writers have different classes in view4 ,the one is speaking of men whose portion is in this life1 the other of men who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the ,lamb4 ,and it is the characters of the persons concerned1 much more than the degree of enlightenment possessed by the writers1 that makes the difference between these two pictures4 ,life and death and the future are what each man makes of them for himself4 ,we shall best deal with these two pictures if we take them separately1 and let the gloom of the one enhance the glory of the other4 ,they hang side by side1 like a ,rembrandt beside a ,claude or a ,turner1 each intensifying by contrast the characteristics of the other4 ,so let us look at the two--first1 the grim picture drawn by the ,psalmist2 second1 the sunny one drawn by the ,seer4 ,now1 with regard to the former1 ,i4 ,the grim picture drawn by the ,psalmist4 ,we too often forget that a psalmist is a poet1 and misunderstand his spirit by treating his words as matter-of-fact prose4 ,his imagination is at work1 and our sympathetic imagination must be at work too1 if we would enter into his meaning4 ,death a shepherd--what a grim and bold inversion of a familiar metaphor6 ,if this psalm is1 as is probable1 of a comparatively late date1 then its author was familiar with many sweet and tender strains of early singers1 in which the blessed relation between a loving ,god and an obedient people was set forth under that metaphor4 ',the ,lord is my ,shepherd' may have been ringing in his ears when he said1 ',death is their shepherd4' ,he lays hold of the familiar metaphor1 and if ,i may so speak1 turns it upside down1 stripping it of all that is beautiful1 tender1 and gracious1 and draping it in all that is harsh and terrible4 ,and the very contrast between the sweet relation which it was originally used to express1 and the opposite kind of one which he uses it to set forth1 gives its tremendous force to the daring metaphor4 ',death is their shepherd4' ,yes1 but what manner of shepherd8 ,not one that gently leads his flock1 but one that stalks behind the huddled sheep1 and drives them fiercely1 club in hand1 on a path on which they would not willingly go4 ,the unwelcome necessity1 by which men that have their portion in this world are hounded and herded out of all their sunny pastures and abundant feeding1 is the thought that underlies the image4 ,it is accentuated1 if we notice that in the former clause1 'like sheep they are laid in the grave1' the word rendered in the ,authorised ,version 'laid1' and in the ,revised ,version 'appointed1' is perhaps more properly read by many1 'like sheep they are thrust down4' ,there you have the picture--the shepherd stalking behind the helpless creatures1 and coercing them on an unwelcome path4 ,now that is the first thought that ,i suggest1 that to one type of man1 ,death is an unwelcome necessity4 ,it is1 indeed1 a necessity to us all1 but necessities accepted cease to be painful2 and necessities resisted--what do they become8 ,here is a man being swept down a river1 the sound of the falls is in his ears1 and he grasps at anything on the bank to hold by1 but in vain4 ,that is how some of us feel when we face the thought1 and will feel more when we front the reality1 of that awful 'must4' ',death shall be their shepherd1' and coerce them into darkness4 ,ask yourself the question1 ,is the course of my life such as that the end of it cannot but be a grim necessity which ,i would do anything to avoid8 ,this first text suggests not only a shepherd but a fold3 ',like sheep they are thrust down to the grave4' ,now ,i am not going to enter upon what would be quite out of place here3 a critical discussion of the ,old ,testament conception of a future life4 ,that conception varies1 and is not the same in all parts of the book4 ,but ,i may1 just in a word1 say that 'the grave' is by no means the adequate rendering of the thought of the ,psalmist1 and that ',hell' is a still more inadequate rendering of it4 ,he does not mean either the place where the body is deposited1 or a place where there is punitive retribution for the wicked1 but he means a dim region1 or1 if ,i might so say1 a localised condition1 in which all that have passed through this life are gathered1 where personality and consciousness continue1 but where life is faint1 stripped of all that characterises it here1 shadowy1 unsubstantial1 and where there is inactivity1 absolute cessation of all the occupations to which men were accustomed4 ,but there may be restlessness along with inactivity2 may there not8 ,and there is no such restlessness as the restlessness of compulsory idleness4 ,that is the main idea that is in the ,psalmist's mind4 ,he knows little about retribution1 he knows still less about transmutation into a glorious likeness to that which is most glorious and divine4 ,but he conceives a great1 dim1 lonely land1 wherein are prisoned and penned all the lives that have been foamed away vainly on earth1 and are now settled into a dreary monotony and a restless idleness4 ,as one of the other books of the ,old ,testament puts it1 it is a 'land of the shadow of death1 without order1 and in which the light is as darkness4' ,i know1 of course1 that all that is but the imperfect presentation of partially apprehended1 and partially revealed1 and partially revealable truth4 ,but what ,i desire to fix upon is that one dreary thought of this fold1 into which the grim shepherd has driven his flock1 and where they lie cribbed and huddled together in utter inactivity4 ,carry that with you as a true1 though incomplete thought4 ,let me remind you1 in the next place1 with regard to this part of my subject1 of the kind of men whom the grim shepherd drives into that grim fold4 ,the psalm tells us that plainly enough4 ,it is speaking of men who have their portion in this life1 who 'trust in their wealth1 and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches 444 whose inward thought is that their house shall continue for ever 444 who call their lands after their own names4' ,of every such man it says3 'when he dieth he shall carry nothing away'--none of the possessions1 none of the forms of activity which were familiar to him here on earth4 ,he will go into a state where he finds nothing which interests him1 and nothing for him to do4 ,must it not be so8 ,if we let ourselves be absorbed and entangled by the affairs of this life1 and permit our whole spirits to be bent in the direction of these transient things1 what is to become of us when the things that must pass have passed1 and when we come into a region where there are none of them to occupy us any more8 ,what would some ,manchester men do if they were in a condition of life where they could not go on ',change on ,tuesdays and ,fridays8 ,what would some of us do if the professions and forms of mental activity in which we have been occupied as students and scholars were swept away8 ',whether there be knowledge it shall cease2 whether there be tongues they shall vanish away1' and what are you going to do then1 you men that have only lived for intellectual pursuits connected with this transient state8 ,we are going to a world where there are no books1 no pens nor ink1 no trade1 no dress1 no fashion1 no amusements2 where there is nothing but things in which some of us have no interest1 and a ,god who 'is not in all our thoughts4' ,surely we shall be 'fish out of water' there4 ,surely we shall feel that we have been banned and banished from everything that we care about4 ,surely men that boasted themselves in their riches1 and in the multitude of their wealth1 will be necessarily condemned to inactivity4 ,life is continuous1 and all on one plane4 ,surely if a man knows that he must some day1 and may any day1 be summoned to the other side of the world1 he would be a wise man if he got his outfit ready1 and made some effort to acquire the customs and the arts of the land to which he was going4 ,surely life here is mainly given to us that we may develop powers which will find their field of exercise yonder1 and acquire characters which shall be in conformity with the conditions of that future life4 ,surely there can be no more tragic folly than the folly of letting myself be so absorbed and entangled by this present world1 as that when the transient has passed1 ,i shall feel homeless and desolate1 and have nothing that ,i can do or care about amidst the activities of ,eternity4 ,dear friend1 should you feel homeless if you were taken1 as you will be taken1 into that world8 ,turn now to ,,ii4 ,the sunny landscape drawn by the ,seer4 ,note the contrast presented by the shepherds4 ',death shall be their shepherd4' ',the ,lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be their ,shepherd4' ,i need not occupy your time in trying to show1 what has sometimes been doubted1 that the radiant picture of the ,apocalyptic ,seer is dealing with nothing in the present1 but with the future condition of certain men4 ,i would just remind you that the words in which it is couched are to a large extent a quotation from ancient prophecy1 a description of the divine watchfulness over the pilgrim's return from captivity to the ,land of ,promise4 ,but the quotation is wonderfully elevated and spiritualised in the ,new ,testament vision2 for instead of reading1 as the ,original does3 ',he that hath mercy on them shall lead them1' we have here1 'the ,lamb which is in the midst of the ,throne shall be their ,shepherd1' and instead of their being led merely to 'the springs of water1' here we read that ,he 'leads them to the fountains of the water of life4' ,we have to think1 first1 of that most striking1 most significant and profound modification of the ,old ,testament words1 which presents the ,lamb as 'the ,shepherd4' ,all ,christ's shepherding on earth and in heaven depends1 as do all our hopes for heaven and earth1 upon the fact of ,his sacrificial death4 ,it is only because ,he is the ',lamb that was slain' that ,he is either the ',lamb in the midst of the ,throne1' or the ,shepherd of the flock4 ,and we must make acquaintance with ,him first in the character of 'the ,lamb of ,god which taketh away the sin of the world1' before we can either follow in ,his footsteps as our ,guide1 or be compassed by ,his protection as our ,shepherd4 ,he is the ,lamb1 and ,he is the ,shepherd--that suggests not only that the sacrificial work of ,jesus ,christ is the basis of all ,his work for us on earth and in heaven1 but the very incongruity of making ,one1 who bears the same nature as the flock to be the ,shepherd of the flock1 is part of the beauty of the metaphor4 ,it is ,his humanity that is our guide4 ,it is ,his continual manhood1 all through eternity and its glories1 that makes ,him the ,shepherd of perfected souls4 ,they follow ,him because ,he is one of themselves1 and ,he could not be the ,shepherd unless he were the ,lamb4 ,but then this ,shepherd is not only gracious1 sympathetic1 kin to us by participation in a common nature1 and fit to be our ,guide because ,he has been our ,sacrifice and the propitiation of our sins1 but ,he is the ,lamb 'in the midst of the throne1' wielding therefore all divine power1 and standing--not as the rendering in our ,bible leads an ,english reader to suppose1 on the throne1 but--in the middle point between it and the ring of worshippers1 and so the ,communicator to the outer circumference of all the blessings that dwell in the divine centre4 ,he shall be their ,shepherd1 not coercing1 not driving by violence1 but leading to the fountains of the waters of life1 gently and graciously4 ,it is not compulsory energy which ,he exercises upon us1 either on earth or in heaven1 but it is the drawing of a divine attraction1 sweet to put forth and sweet to yield to4 ,there is still another contrast4 ,death huddled and herded his reluctant sheep into a fold where they lay inactive but struggling and restless4 ,christ leads ,his flock into a pasture4 ,he shall guide them 'to the fountains of waters of life4' ,i need not dwell at any length on the blessed particulars of that future1 set forth here and in the context4 ,but let me suggest them briefly4 ,there is joyous activity4 ,there is constant progression4 ,he goeth before2 they follow4 ,the perfection of heaven begins at entrance into it1 but it is a perfection which can be perfected1 and is being perfected1 through the ages of ,eternity1 and the picture of the ,shepherd in front and the flock behind1 is the true conception of all the progress of that future life4 ',they shall follow the ,lamb whithersoever ,he goeth'--a sweet guidance1 a glad following1 a progressive conformity6 ',in the long years liker must they grow4' ,further1 there is the communication of life more and more abundantly4 ,therefore there is the satisfaction of all desire1 so that 'they shall hunger no more1 neither thirst any more4' ,the pain of desire ceases because desire is no sooner felt than it is satisfied1 the joy of desire continues1 because its satisfaction enables us to desire more1 and so1 appetite and eating1 desire and fruition1 alternate in ceaseless reciprocity4 ,to us1 being every moment capable of more1 more will be given2 and 'to-morrow shall be as this day1 and much more abundant4' ,there is one point more in regard to that pasture into which the ,lamb leads the happy flock1 and that is1 the cessation of all pains and sorrows4 ,not only shall they 'hunger no more1 neither thirst any more'2 but 'the sun shall not smite them1 nor any heat1 and ,god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes4' ,here the ,shepherd carried rod and staff1 and sometimes had to strike the wandering sheep hard3 there these are needed no more4 ,here ,he had sometimes to move them out of green pastures1 and away from still waters1 into valleys of the shadow of death2 but 'there1' as one of the prophets has it3 'they shall lie in a good fold1 and in a fat pasture shall they feed4' ,but now1 we must note1 finally1 the other kind of men whom this other ,shepherd leads into ,his pastures1 ',they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the ,lamb4' ,aye6 that is it4 ,that is why ,he can lead them where ,he does lead them4 ,strange alchemy which out of two crimsons1 the crimson of our sins and the crimson of ,his blood1 makes one white6 ,but it is so1 and the only way by which we can ever be cleansed1 either with the initial cleansing of forgiveness1 or with the daily cleansing of continual purifying and approximation to the divine holiness1 is by our bringing the foul garment of our stained personality and character into contact with the blood which1 'shed for many1' takes away their sins1 and infused into their veins1 cleanses them from all sin4 ,you have yourselves to bring about that contact4 ',they have washed their robes4' ,and how did they do it8 ,by faith in the ,sacrifice first1 by following the ,example next4 ,for it is not merely a forgiveness for the past1 but a perfecting1 progressive and gradual1 for the future1 that lies in that thought of washing their robes and making them white in the blood of the ,lamb4 ,dear brethren1 life here and life hereafter are continuous4 ,they are homogeneous1 on one plane though an ascending one4 ,the differences there are great--,i was going to say1 and it would be true1 that the resemblances are greater4 ,as we have been1 we shall be4 ,if we take ,christ for our ,shepherd here1 and follow ,him1 though from afar and with faltering steps1 amidst all the struggles and windings and rough ways of life1 then and only then1 will ,he be our ,shepherd1 to go with us through the darkness of death1 to make it no reluctant expulsion from a place in which we would fain continue to be1 but a tranquil and willing following of ,him by the road which ,he has consecrated for ever1 and deprived for ever of its solitude1 because ,himself has trod it4 ,those two possibilities are before each of us4 ,either of them may be yours4 ,one of them must be4 ,look on this picture and on this2 and choose--,god help you to choose aright--which of the two will describe your experience4 ,will you have ,christ for your ,shepherd1 or will you have ,death for your shepherd8 ,the answer to that question lies in the answer to the other--have you washed your robes1 and made them white in the blood of the ,lamb2 and are you following ,him8 ,you can settle the question which lot is to be yours1 and only you can settle it4 ,see that you settle it aright1 and that you settle it soon4 ,,end ,,of ,,vol4 ,i4 ,,volume ,,ii3 ,,psalms ,,li to ,,cxlv ,,contents ,,david',s ,,cry ,,for ,,pardon 7,psalm li4 #a1 #b7 ,,david',s ,,cry ,,for ,,purity 7,psalm li4 #aj-ab7 ,,fear ,,and ,,faith 7,psalm lvi4 #c1 #d7 ,a ,,song ,,of ,,deliverance 7,psalm lvi4 #ac1 ,r4,v47 ,,the ,,fixed ,,heart 7,psalm lvii4 #g7 ,,waiting ,,and ,,singing 7,psalm lix4 #i1 #ag7 ,,silence ,,to ,,god 7,psalm lxii1 #a-e7 ,,thirst ,,and ,,satisfaction 7,psalm lxiii4 #a1 #e1 #h7 ,,sin ,,overcoming ,,and ,,overcome 7,psalm lxv4 #h7 ,,the ,,burden-,,bearing ,,god 7,psalm lxviii4 #ai1 ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v47 ,,reasonable ,,rapture 7,psalm lxxiii4 #be1 #bf7 ,,nearness ,,to ,,god ,,the ,,key ,,to ,,life',s ,,puzzle 7,psalm lxxiii4 #bh7 ,,memory1 ,,hope1 ,,and ,,effort 7,psalm lxxviii4 #g7 ,,sparrows ,,and ,,altars 7,psalm lxxxiv4 #c7 ,,happy ,,pilgrims 7,psalm lxxxiv4 #e-g7 ,,blessed ,,trust 7,psalm lxxxiv4 #ab7 ',,the ,,bridal ,,of ,,the ,,earth ,,and ,,sky' 7,psalm lxxxv4 #aj-ac7 ,a ,,sheaf ,,of ,,prayer ,,arrows 7,psalm lxxxvi4 #a-e7 ,,continual ,,sunshine 7,psalm lxxxix4 #ae7 ,,the ,,cry ,,of ,,the ,,mortal ,,to ,,the ,,undying 7,psalm xc4 #ag7 ,,the ,,sheltering ,,wing 7,psalm xci4 #d7 ,,the ,,habitation ,,of ,,the ,,soul 7,psalm xci4 #i1 #aj7 ,,the ,,answer ,,to ,,trust 7,psalm xci4 #ad7 ,,what ,,god ,,will ,,do ,,for ,,us 7,psalm xci4 #ae1 #af7 ,,forgiveness ,,and ,,retribution 7,psalm xcix4 #h7 ,,inviolable ,,messiahs ,,and ,,prophets 7,psalm cv4 #ad1 #ae7 ,,god',s ,,promises ,,tests 7,psalm cv4 #ai7 ,,soldier ,,priests 7,psalm cx4 #c7 ,,god ,,and ,,the ,,godly 7,psalms cxi4 #c2 cxii4 #c7 ,,experience1 ,,resolve1 ,,and ,,hope 7,psalm cxvi4 #h1 #i7 ,,requiting ,,god 7,psalm cxvi4 #ab1 #ac7 ,a ,,cleansed ,,way 7,psalm cxix4 #i7 ,,life ,,hid ,,and ,,not ,,hid 7,psalm cxix4 #aa2 xl4 #aj7 ,a ,,stranger ,,in ,,the ,,earth 7,psalm cxix4 #ai1 #fd7 ',,time ,,for ,,thee ,,to ,,work' 7,psalm cxix4 #abf-abh7 ,,submission ,,and ,,peace 7,psalm cxix4 #afe7 ,,looking ,,to ,,the ,,hills 7,psalm cxxi4 #a1 #b7 ,,mountains ,,round ,,mount ,,zion 7,psalm cxxv4 #a1 #b7 ,,the ,,charge ,,of ,,the ,,watchers ,,in ,,the ,,temple 7,psalm cxxxiv4 #a-c7 ,,god',s ,,scrutiny ,,longed ,,for 7,psalm cxxxix4 #bc1 #bd7 ,,the ,,incense ,,of ,,prayer 7,psalm cxli4 #b7 ,,the ,,prayer ,,of ,,prayers 7,psalm cxliii4 #aj7 ,,the ,,satisfier ,,of ,,all ,,desires 7,psalm cxlv4 #af1 #ai7 ,,david',s ,,cry ,,for ,,pardon '444 ,blot out my transgressions4 #b4 ,wash me throughly from mine iniquity1 and cleanse me from my sin4'--,,psalm li4 #a1 #b4 ,a whole year had elapsed between ,david's crime and ,david's penitence4 ,it had been a year of guilty satisfaction not worth the having2 of sullen hardening of heart against ,god and all ,his appeals4 ,the thirty-second ,psalm tells us how happy ,david had been during that twelvemonth1 of which he says1 ',my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long4 ,for day and night ,thy hand was heavy on me4' ,then came ,nathan with his apologue1 and with that dark threatening that 'the sword should never depart from his house1' the fulfilment of which became a well-head of sorrow to the king for the rest of his days1 and gave a yet deeper poignancy of anguish to the crime of his spoiled favourite ,absalom4 ,the stern words had their effect4 ,the frost that had bound his soul melted all away1 and he confessed his sin1 and was forgiven then and there4 ',i have sinned against the ,lord' is the confession as recorded in the historical books2 and1 says ,nathan1 ',the ,lord hath made to pass from thee the iniquity of thy sin4' ,immediately1 as would appear from the narrative1 that very same day1 the child of ,bathsheba and ,david was smitten with fatal disease1 and died in a week4 ,and it is after all these events--the threatening1 the penitence1 the pardon1 the punishment--that he comes to ,god1 who had so freely forgiven1 and likewise so sorely smitten him1 and wails out these prayers3 ',blot out my transgressions1 wash me from mine iniquity1 cleanse me from my sin4' ,one almost shrinks from taking as the text of a sermon words like these1 in which a broken and contrite spirit groans for deliverance1 and which are1 besides1 hallowed by the thought of the thousands who have since found them the best expression of their sacredest emotions4 ,but ,i would fain try not to lose the feeling that breathes through the words1 while seeking for the thoughts which are in them1 and hope that the light which they throw upon the solemn subjects of guilt and forgiveness may not be for any of us a mere cold light4 ,i4 ,looking then at this triad of petitions1 they teach us first how ,david thought of his sin4 ,you will observe the reiteration of the same earnest cry in all these clauses1 and if you glance over the remainder of this psalm1 you will find that he asks for the gifts of ,god's ,spirit1 with a similar threefold repetition4 ,now this characteristic of the whole psalm is worth notice in the outset4 ,it is not a mere piece of ,hebrew parallelism4 ,the requirements of poetical form but partially explain it4 ,it is much more the earnestness of a soul that cannot be content with once asking for the blessings and then passing on1 but dwells upon them with repeated supplication1 not because it thinks that it shall be heard for its 'much speaking1' but because it longs for them so eagerly4 ,and besides that1 though the three clauses do express the same general idea1 they express it under various modifications1 and must be all taken together before we get the whole of the ,psalmist's thought of sin4 ,notice again that he speaks of his evil as 'transgressions' and as 'sin1' first using the plural and then the singular4 ,he regards it first as being broken up into a multitude of isolated acts1 and then as being all gathered together into one knot1 as it were1 so that it is one thing4 ,in one aspect it is 'my transgressions'--'that thing that ,i did about ,uriah1 that thing that ,i did about ,bathsheba1 those other things that these dragged after them4' ,one by one the acts of wrongdoing pass before him4 ,but he does not stop there4 ,they are not merely a number of deeds1 but they have1 deep down below1 a common root from which they all came--a centre in which they all inhere4 ,and so he says1 not only ',blot out my transgressions1' but ',wash me from mine iniquity4' ,he does not merely generalise1 but he sees and he feels what you and ,i have to feel1 if we judge rightly of our evil actions1 that we cannot take them only in their plurality as so many separate deeds1 but that we must recognise them as coming from a common source1 and we must lament before ,god not only our 'sins' but our 'sin'--not only the outward acts of transgression1 but that alienation of heart from which they all come2 not only sin in its manifold manifestations as it comes out in the life1 but in its inward roots as it coils round our hearts4 ,you are not to confess acts alone1 but let your contrition embrace the principle from which they come4 ,further1 in all the petitions we see that the idea of his own single responsibility for the whole thing is uppermost in ,david's mind4 ,it is my transgression1 it is mine iniquity1 and my sin4 ,he has not learned to say with ,adam of old1 and with some so-called wise thinkers to-day3 ',i was tempted1 and ,i could not help it4' ,he does not talk about 'circumstances1' and say that they share the blame with him4 ,he takes it all to himself4 ',it was ,i did it4 ,true1 ,i was tempted1 but it was my soul that made the occasion a temptation4 ,true1 the circumstances led me astray1 but they would not have led me astray if ,i had been right1 and where as well as what ,i ought to be4' ,it is a solemn moment when that thought first rises in its revealing power to throw light into the dark places of our souls4 ,but it is likewise a blessed moment1 and without it we are scarcely aware of ourselves4 ,conscience quickens consciousness4 ,the sense of transgression is the first thing that gives to many a man the full sense of his own individuality4 ,there is nothing that makes us feel how awful and incommunicable is that mysterious personality by which every one of us lives alone after all companionship1 so much as the contemplation of our relations to ,god's law4 ',every man shall bear his own burden4' ',circumstances1' yes2 'bodily organisation1' yes2 'temperament1' yes2 'the maxims of society1' 'the conventionalities of the time1' yes1--all these things have something to do with shaping our single deeds and with influencing our character2 but after we have made all allowances for these influences which affect me1 let us ask the philosophers who bring them forward as diminishing or perhaps annihilating responsibility1 ',and what about that me which these things influence8' ,after all1 let me remember that the deed is mine1 and that every one of us shall1 as ,paul puts it1 give account of himself unto ,god4 ,passing from that1 let me point for one moment to another set of ideas that are involved in these petitions4 ,the three words which the ,psalmist employs for sin give prominence to different aspects of it4 ',transgression' is not the same as 'iniquity1' and 'iniquity' is not the same as 'sin4' ,they are not aimless1 useless synonyms1 but they have each a separate thought in them4 ,the word rendered 'transgression' literally means rebellion1 a breaking away from and setting oneself against lawful authority4 ,that translated 'iniquity' literally means that which is twisted1 bent4 ,the word in the original for 'sin' literally means missing a mark1 an aim4 ,and this threefold view of sin is no discovery of ,david's1 but is the lesson which the whole ,old ,testament system had laboured to print deep on the national consciousness4 ,that lesson1 taught by law and ceremonial1 by denunciation and remonstrance1 by chastisement and deliverance1 the penitent king has learned4 ,to all men's wrongdoings these descriptions apply1 but most of all to his4 ,sin is ever1 and his sin especially is1 rebellion1 the deflection of the life from the straight line which ,god's law draws so clearly and firmly1 and hence a missing the aim4 ,think how profound and living is the consciousness of sin which lies in calling it rebellion4 ,it is not merely1 then1 that we go against some abstract propriety1 or break some impersonal law of nature when we do wrong1 but that we rebel against a rightful ,sovereign4 ,in a special sense this was true of the ,jew1 whose nation stood under the government of a divine king1 so that sin was treason1 and breaches of the law acts of rebellion against ,god4 ,but it is as true of us all4 ,our theory of morals will be miserably defective1 and our practice will be still more defective1 unless we have learned that morality is but the garment of religion1 that the definition of virtue is obedience to ,god1 and that the true sin in sin is not the yielding to impulses that belong to our nature1 but the assertion in the act of yielding1 of our independence of ,god and of our opposition to ,his will4 ,and all this has application to ,david's sin4 ,he was ,god's viceroy and representative1 and he sets to his people the example of revolt1 and lifts the standard of rebellion4 ,it is as if the ruler of a province declared war against the central authority of which he was the creature1 and used against it the very magazines and weapons with which it had intrusted him4 ,he had rebelled1 and in an eminent degree1 as ,nathan said to him1 given to the enemies of ,god occasion to blaspheme4 ,not less profound and suggestive is that other name for sin1 that which is twisted1 or bent1 mine 'iniquity4' ,it is the same metaphor which lies in our own word 'wrong1' that which is wrung or warped from the straight line of right4 ,to that line1 drawn by ,god's law1 our lives should run parallel1 bending neither to the right hand nor to the left4 ,but instead of the firm directness of such a line1 our lives show wavering deformity1 and are like the tremulous strokes in a child's copy-book4 ,david had the pattern before him1 and by its side his unsteady purpose1 his passionate lust1 had traced this wretched scrawl4 ,the path on which he should have trodden was a straight course to ,god1 unbending like one of these conquering ,roman roads1 that will turn aside for neither mountain nor ravine1 nor stream nor bog4 ,if it had been thus straight1 it would have reached its goal4 ,journeying on that way of holiness1 he would have found1 and we shall find1 that on it no ravenous beast shall meet us1 but with songs and everlasting joy upon their lips the happy pilgrims draw ever nearer to ,god1 obtaining joy and gladness in all the march1 until at last 'sorrow and sighing shall flee away4' ,but instead of this he had made for himself a crooked path1 and had lost his road and his peace in the mazes of wandering ways4 ',the labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them1 because he knoweth not how to come to the city4' ,another very solemn and terrible thought of what sin is1 lies in that final word for it1 which means 'missing an aim4' ,how strikingly that puts a truth which siren voices are constantly trying to sing us out of believing6 ,every sin is a blunder as well as a crime4 ,and that for two reasons1 because1 first1 ,god has made us for ,himself1 and to take anything besides for our life's end or our heart's portion is to divert ourselves from our true destiny2 and because1 second1 that being so1 every attempt to win satisfaction or delight by such a course is and must be a failure4 ,sin misses the aim if we think of our proper destination4 ,sin misses its own aim of happiness4 ,a man never gets what he hoped for by doing wrong1 or1 if he seem to do so1 he gets something more that spoils it all4 ,he pursues after the fleeing form that seems so fair1 and when he reaches her side1 and lifts her veil1 eager to embrace the tempter1 a hideous skeleton grins and gibbers at him4 ,the siren voices sing to you from the smiling island1 and their white arms and golden harps and the flowery grass draw you from the wet boat and the weary oar2 but when a man lands he sees the fair form end in a slimy fish1 and she slays him and gnaws his bones4 ',he knows not that the dead are there1 and that her guests are in the depths of hell4' ,yes6 every sin is a mistake1 and the epitaph for the sinner is ',thou fool6' ,,ii4 ,these petitions also show us1 in the second place1 ,how ,david thinks of forgiveness4 ,as the words for sin expressed a threefold view of the burden from which the ,psalmist seeks deliverance1 so the triple prayer1 in like manner1 sets forth that blessing under three aspects4 ,it is not merely pardon for which he asks4 ,he is making no sharp dogmatic distinction between forgiveness and cleansing4 ,the two things run into each other in his prayer1 as they do1 thank ,god6 in our own experience1 the one being inseparable1 in fact1 from the other4 ,it is absolute deliverance from the power of sin1 in all forms of that power1 whether as guilt or as habit1 for which he cries so piteously2 and his accumulative petitions are so exhaustive1 not because he is coldly examining his sin1 but because he is intensely feeling the manifold burden of his great evil4 ,that first petition conceives of the divine dealing with sin as being the erasure of a writing1 perhaps of an indictment4 ,there is a special significance in the use of the word here1 because it is also employed in the description of the ,levitical ceremonial of the ordeal1 where a curse was written on a scroll and blotted out by the priest4 ,but apart from that the metaphor is a natural and suggestive one4 ,our sin stands written against us4 ,the long gloomy indictment has been penned by our own hands4 ,our past is a blurred manuscript1 full of false things and bad things4 ,we have to spread the writing before ,god1 and ask ,him to remove the stained characters from its surface1 that once was fair and unsoiled4 ,ah1 brethren6 some people tell us that the past is irrevocable1 that the thing once done can never be undone1 that the life's diary written by our own hands can never be cancelled4 ,the melancholy theory of some thinkers and teachers is summed up in the words1 infinitely sad and despairing when so used1 ',what ,i have written ,i have written4' ,thank ,god6 we know better than that4 ,we know who blots out the handwriting 'that is against us1 nailing it to ,his ,cross4' ,we know that of ,god's great mercy our future may 'copy fair our past1' and the past may be all obliterated and removed4 ,and as sometimes you will find in an old monkish library the fair vellum that once bore lascivious stories of ancient heathens and pagan deities turned into the manuscript in which a saint has penned his ,contemplations1 an ,augustine his ,confessions1 or a ,jerome his ,translations1 so our souls may become palimpsests4 ,the old wicked heathen characters that we have traced there may be blotted out1 and covered over by the writing of that divine ,spirit who has said1 ',i will put ,my laws into their minds1 and write them in their hearts4' ,as you run your pen through the finished pages of your last year's diaries1 as you seal them up and pack them away1 and begin a new page in a clean book on the first of ,january1 so it is possible for every one of us to do with our lives4 ,notwithstanding all the influence of habit1 notwithstanding all the obstinacy of long-indulged modes of thought and action1 notwithstanding all the depressing effect of frequent attempts and frequent failures1 we may break ourselves off from all that is sinful in our past lives1 and begin afresh1 saying1 ',god helping me6 ,i will write another sort of biography for myself for the days that are to come4' ,we cannot erase these sad records from our past4 ,the ink is indelible2 and besides all that we have visibly written in these terrible autobiographies of ours1 there is much that has sunk into the page1 there is many a 'secret fault1' the record of which will need the fire of that last day to make it legible1 ,alas for those who learn the black story of their own lives for the first time then6 ,learn it now1 my brother6 and learn likewise that ,christ can wipe it all clean off the page1 clean out of your nature1 clean out of ,god's book4 ,cry to ,him1 with the ,psalmist1 ',blot out my transgressions6' and ,he will calm and bless you with the ancient answer1 ',i have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions1 and as a cloud thy sins4' ,then there is another idea in the second of these prayers for forgiveness3 ',wash me throughly from mine iniquity4' ,that phrase does not need any explanation1 except that the word expresses the antique way of cleansing garments by treading and beating4 ,david1 then1 here uses the familiar symbol of a robe1 to express the 'habit' of the soul1 or1 as we say1 the character4 ,that robe is all splashed and stained4 ,he cries to ,god to make it a robe of righteousness and a garment of purity4 ,and mark that he thinks the method by which this will be accomplished is a protracted and probably a painful one4 ,he is not praying for a mere declaration of pardon1 he is not asking only for the one complete1 instantaneous act of forgiveness1 but he is asking for a process of purifying which will be long and hard4 ',i am ready1' says he1 in effect1 'to submit to any sort of discipline1 if only ,i may be clean4 ,wash me1 beat me1 tread me down1 hammer me with mallets1 dash me against stones1 rub me with smarting soap and caustic nitre--do anything1 anything with me1 if only those foul spots melt away from the texture of my soul6' ,a solemn prayer1 my brethren6 if we pray it aright1 which will be answered by many a sharp application of ,god's ,spirit1 by many a sorrow1 by much very painful work1 both within our own souls and in our outward lives1 but which will be fulfilled at last in our being clothed like our ,lord1 in garments which shine as the light4 ,we know1 dear brethren6 who has said1 ',i counsel thee to buy of ,me white raiment1 that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear4' ,and we know well who were the great company before the throne of ,god1 that had 'washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the ,lamb4' ',though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be as white as snow2 though they be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool4' ',wash me throughly from mine iniquity4' ,the deliverance from sin is still further expressed by that third supplication1 ',cleanse me from my sin4' ,that is the technical word for the priestly act of declaring ceremonial cleanness--the cessation of ceremonial pollution1 and for the other priestly act of making1 as well as declaring1 clean from the stains of leprosy4 ,and with allusion to both of these uses1 the ,psalmist employs it here4 ,that is to say1 he thinks of his guilt not only as a blotted past record which he has written1 not only as a garment spotted by the flesh which his spirit wears1 but he thinks of it too as inhering in himself1 as a leprosy and disease of his own personal nature4 ,he thinks of it as being1 like that1 incurable1 fatal1 twin sister to and precursor of death2 and he thinks of it as capable of being cleansed only by a sacerdotal act1 only by the great ,high ,priest and by ,his finger being laid upon it4 ,and we know who it was that--when the leper1 whom no man in ,israel was allowed to touch on pain of uncleanness1 came to ,his feet--put out ,his hand in triumphant consciousness of power1 and touched him1 and said1 ',i will6 be thou clean4' ,let this be thy prayer1 ',cleanse me from my sin'2 and ,christ will answer1 ',thy leprosy hath departed from thee4' ,,iii4 ,these petitions likewise show us whence the ,psalmist draws his confidence for such a prayer4 ',according to the multitude of ,thy tender mercies1 blot out my transgressions4' ,his whole hope rests upon ,god's own character1 as revealed in the endless continuance of ,his acts of love4 ,he knows the number and the greatness of his sins1 and the very depth of his consciousness of sin helps him to a corresponding greatness in his apprehension of ,god's mercy4 ,as he says in another of his psalms1 ',innumerable evils have compassed me about2 they are more than the hairs of my head4444 ,many1 ,o ,lord my ,god6 are ,thy wonderful works4444 ,they are more than can be numbered4' ,this is the blessedness of all true penitence1 that the more profoundly it feels its own sore need and great sinfulness1 in that very proportion does it recognise the yet greater mercy and all-sufficient grace of our loving ,god1 and from the lowest depths beholds the stars in the sky1 which they who dwell amid the surface-brightness of the noonday cannot discern4 ,god's own revealed character1 ,his faithfulness and persistency1 notwithstanding all our sins1 in that mode of dealing with men which has blessed all generations with ,his tender mercies--these were ,david's pleas4 ,and for us who have the perfect love of ,god perfectly expressed in ,his ,son1 that same plea is incalculably strengthened1 for we can say1 ',according to ,thy tender mercy in ,thy dear ,son1 for the sake of ,christ1 blot out my transgressions4' ,is the depth of our desire1 and is the firmness of our confidence1 proportioned to the increased clearness of our knowledge of the love of our ,god8 ,does the ,cross of ,christ lead us to as trustful a penitence as ,david had1 to whom meditation on ,god's providences and the shadows of the ancient covenant were chiefest teachers of the multitude of ,his tender mercies8 ,remember further that a comparison of the narrative in the historical books seems to show1 as ,i said1 that this psalm followed ,nathan's declaration of the divine forgiveness1 and that therefore these petitions of our text are the echo and response to that declaration4 ,thus we see that the revelation of ,god's love precedes1 and is the cause of1 the truest penitence2 that our prayer for forgiveness is properly the appropriating1 or the effort to appropriate1 the divine promise of forgiveness2 and that the assurance of pardon1 so far from making a man think lightly of his sin1 is the thing that drives it home to his conscience1 and first of all teaches him what it really is4 ,as long as you are tortured with thoughts of a possible hell because of guilt1 as long as you are troubled by the contemplation of consequences affecting your happiness as ensuing upon your wrongdoing1 so long there is a foreign and disturbing element in even your deepest and truest penitence4 ,but when you know that ,god has forgiven--when you come to see the 'multitude of ,thy tender mercies1' when the fear of punishment has passed out of your apprehension1 then you are left with a heart at leisure from dread1 to look the fact and not the consequences in the face1 and to think of the moral nature1 and not of the personal results1 of your sin4 ,and so one of the old prophets1 with profound truth1 says1 ',thou shalt be ashamed and confounded1 and never open thy mouth any more because of thy sin1 when ,i am pacified towards thee for all thou hast done4' ,dear friends6 the wheels of ,god's great mill may grind us small1 without our coming to know or to hate our sin4 ,about ,his chastisements1 about the revelation of ,his wrath1 that old saying is true to a great extent3 ',if you bray a fool in a mortar1 his folly will not depart from him4' ,you may smite a man down1 crush him1 make his bones to creep with the preaching of vengeance and of hell1 and the result of it will often be1 if it be anything at all1 what it was in the case of that poor wretched ,judas1 who1 because he only saw wrath1 flung himself into despair1 and was lost1 not because he had betrayed ,christ1 but because he believed that there was no forgiveness for the man that had betrayed4 ,but ,love comes1 and ',love is ,lord of all4' ,god's assurance1 ',i have forgiven1' the assurance that we do not need to plead with ,him1 to bribe ,him1 to buy pardon by tears and amendment1 but that it is already provided for us--the blessed vision of an all-mighty love treasured in a dying ,saviour1 the proclamation ',god was in ,christ1 reconciling the world unto ,himself1 not imputing their trespasses unto them'--,oh6 these are the powers that break1 or rather that melt1 our hearts2 these are the keen weapons that wound to heal our hearts2 these are the teachers that teach a 'godly sorrow that needeth not to be repented of4' ,think of all the patient1 pitying mercy of our ,father1 with which ,he has lingered about our lives1 and softly knocked at the door of our hearts6 ,think of that unspeakable gift in which are wrapped up all ,his tender mercies--the gift of ,christ who died for us all6 ,let it smite upon your heart with a rebuke mightier than all the thunders of law or terrors of judgment4 ,let it unveil for you not only the depths of the love of ,god1 but the darkness of your own selfish rebellion from ,him4 ,measure your crooked lives by the perfect rightness of ,christ's4 ,learn how you have missed the aim which ,he reached1 who could say1 ',i delight to do ,thy will1 ,o my ,god6' ,and let that same infinite love that teaches sin announce frank forgiveness and prophesy perfect purity4 ,then1 with heart fixed upon ,christ's ,cross1 let your cry for pardon be the echo of the most sure promise of pardon which sounds from ,his dying lips2 and as you gaze on ,him who died that we might be freed from all iniquity1 ask ,him to blot out your transgressions1 to wash you throughly from your iniquity1 and to cleanse you from your sins4 ,ask1 for you cannot ask in vain2 ask earnestly1 for you need it sorely2 ask confidently1 for ,he has promised before you ask2 but ask1 for unless you do1 you will not receive4 ,ask1 and the answer is sent already--',the blood of ,jesus ,christ cleanseth from all sin4' ,,david',s ,,cry ,,for ,,purity '444 ,renew a right spirit within me4 #aa4 444 ,and take not ,thy ,holy ,spirit from me4 #ab4 444 ,and uphold me with ,thy free ,spirit4' --,,psalm li4 #aj-ab4 ,we ought to be very thankful that the ,bible never conceals the faults of its noblest men4 ,david stands high among the highest of these4 ,his words have been for ages the chosen expression for the devotions of the holiest souls2 and whoever has wished to speak longings after purity1 lowly trust in ,god1 the aspirations of love1 or the raptures of devotion1 has found no words of his own more natural than those of the poet-king of ,israel4 ,and this man sins1 black1 grievous sin4 ,self-indulgent1 he stays at home while his army is in the field4 ,his moral nature1 relaxed by this shrinking from duty1 is tempted1 and easily conquered4 ,the sensitive poet nature1 to which all delights of eye and sense appeal so strongly1 is for a time too strong for the devout soul4 ,one sin drags on another4 ,as self-indulgence opened the door for lust1 so lust1 which dwells hard by hate1 draws after it murder4 ,the king is a traitor to his subjects1 the soldier untrue to the chivalry of arms1 the friend the betrayer of the friend4 ,nothing can be blacker than the whole story1 and the ,bible tells the shameful history in all its naked ugliness4 ,many a precious lesson is contained in it4 ,for instance1 ,it is not innocence which makes men good4 ',this is your man after ,god's own heart1 is it8' runs the common1 shallow sneer4 ,yes2 not that ,god thought little of his foul sin1 nor that 'saints' make up for adultery and murder by making or singing psalms2 not that 'righteousness' as a standard of conduct is lower than 'morality'2 but that1 having fallen1 he learned to abhor his sin1 and with deepened trust in ,god's mercy1 and many tears1 struggled out of the mire1 and with unconquered resolve and strength drawn from a divine source1 sought still to press towards the mark4 ,it is not the attainment of purity1 not the absence of sin1 but the presence and operation1 though it be partial1 of an energy which is at war with all impurity1 that makes a man righteous4 ,that is a lesson worth learning4 ,again1 ,david was not a hypocrite because of this fall of his4 ,all sin is inconsistent with a religious character4 ,but it is not for us to say what sin is incompatible with a religious character4 ,again1 the worst sin is not some outburst of gross transgression1 forming an exception to the ordinary tenor of a life1 bad and dismal as such a sin is2 but the worst and most fatal are the small continuous vices1 which root underground and honeycomb the soul4 ,many a man who thinks himself a ,christian1 is in more danger from the daily commission1 for example1 of small pieces of sharp practice in his business1 than ever was ,david at his worst4 ,white ants pick a carcase clean sooner than a lion will4 ,most precious of all is the lesson as to the possibility of all sin being effaced1 and of the high hopes which even a man sunk in transgression has a right to cherish1 as to the purity and beauty of character to which he may come4 ,what a prayer these clauses contain to be offered by one who has so sinned6 ,what a marvellous faith in ,god's pardoning love1 and what a boldness of hope in his own future1 they disclose6 ,they set forth a profound ideal of a noble character2 they make of that ideal a prayer2 they are the prayer of a great transgressor1 who is also a true penitent4 ,in all these aspects they are very remarkable1 and lead to valuable lessons4 ,let us look at them from these points of view successively4 ,i4 ,observe that here is a remarkable outline of a holy character4 ,it is to be observed that of these three gifts--a right spirit1 ,thy ,holy ,spirit1 a free spirit--the central one alone is in the original spoken of as ,god's2 the ',thy' of the last clause of the ,english ,bible being an unnecessary supplement4 ,and ,i suppose that this central petition stands in the middle1 because the gift which it asks is the essential and fundamental one1 from which there flow1 and as it were1 diverge on the right hand and on the left1 the other two4 ,god's ,holy ,spirit given to a man makes the human spirit holy1 and then makes it 'right' and 'free4' ,look then at the petitions1 not in the order in which they stand in the text1 but in the order which the text indicates as the natural one4 ,now as to that fundamental petition1 ',take not ,thy ,holy ,spirit from me1' one thing to notice is that ,david regards himself as possessing that ,spirit4 ,we are not to read into this psalm the fully developed ,new ,testament teaching of a personal ,paraclete1 the ,spirit whom ,christ reveals and sends4 ,to do that would be a gross anachronism4 ,but we are to remember that it is an anointed king who speaks1 on whose head there has been poured the oil that designated him to his office1 and in its gentle flow and sweet fragrance1 symbolised from of old the inspiration of a divine influence that accompanied every divine call4 ,we are to remember1 too1 how it had fared with ,david's predecessor4 ,saul had been chosen by ,god2 had been for a while guided and upheld by ,god4 ,but he fell into sin1 and--not because he fell into it1 but because he continued in it2 not because he did wrong1 but because he did not repent--the solemn words are recorded concerning him1 that 'the ,spirit of the ,lord departed from ,saul1 and an evil spirit from the ,lord troubled him4' ,the divine influence which came on the towering head of the son of ,kish1 through the anointing oil that ,samuel poured upon his raven hair1 left him1 and he stood ,god-forsaken because he stood ,god-forsaking4 ,and so ,david looks back from the 'horrible pit and miry clay' into which he had fallen1 where1 stained with blood and lust1 he lies1 to that sad gigantic figure1 remembered so well and loved by him so truly--the great king who sinned away his soul1 and bled out his life on the heights of ,gilboa4 ,he sees in that blasted pine-tree1 towering above the forest but dead at the top1 and barked and scathed all down the sides by the lightning scars of passion1 the picture of what he himself will come to1 if the blessing that was laid upon his ruddy locks and his young head by the aged ,samuel's anointing should pass from him too as it had done from his predecessor4 ,god had departed from ,saul1 because ,saul had refused ,his counsel and departed from ,him2 and ,saul's successor1 trembling as he remembers the fate of the founder of the monarchy1 and of his vanished dynasty1 prays with peculiar emphasis of meaning1 ',take not ,thy ,holy ,spirit from me6' ,that ,holy ,spirit1 the ,spirit of ,god1 had descended upon him when he was anointed king1 but it was no mere official consecration which he had thereby received4 ,he had been fitted for regal functions by personal cleansing and spiritual gifts4 ,and it is the man as well as the king1 the sinful man much rather than the faulty king1 that here wrestles with ,god1 and stays the heavenly ,visitant whom his sin has made to seem as if ,he would depart4 ,what he desires most earnestly1 next to that pardon which he has already sought and found1 is that his spirit should be made holy by ,god's ,spirit4 ,that is1 as ,i have said1 the central petition of his threefold prayer1 from which the others come as natural consequences4 ,and what is this 'holiness' which ,david so earnestly desires8 ,without attempting any lengthened analysis of the various shades of meaning in the word1 our purpose will be served if ,i point out that in all probability the primary idea in it is that of separation4 ,god is holy--that is1 separated by all the glory of ,his perfect nature from ,his creatures4 ,things are holy--that is1 separated from common uses1 and appropriated to ,god's service4 ,whatever ,he laid ,his hand on and claimed in any especial manner for ,his1 became thereby holy1 whether it were a ceremony1 or a place1 or a tool4 ,men are holy when they are set apart for ,god's service1 whether they be officially consecrated for certain offices1 or have yielded themselves by an inward devotion based on love to be ,his4 ,the ethical signification which is predominant in our use of the word and has made it little more than a synonym for moral purity is certainly not the original meaning1 as is sufficiently clear from the fact that the word is applied to material things which could have no moral qualities1 and sometimes to persons who were not pure1 but who were in some sense or other set apart for ,god's service4 ,but gradually that meaning becomes more and more completely attached to the word1 and 'holiness' is not only separation for ,god1 but separation from sin4 ,that is what ,david longs for in this prayer2 and the connection of these two meanings of the word is worth pointing out in a sermon1 for the sake of the great truth which it suggests1 that the basis of all rightness and righteousness in a human spirit is its conscious and glad devotion to ,god's service and uses4 ,a reference to ,god must underlie all that is good in men1 and on the other hand1 that consecration to ,god is a delusion or a deception which does not issue in separation from evil4 ',holiness' is a loftier and a truer word than 'morality1' 'virtue1' or the like2 it differs from these in that it proclaims that surrender to ,god is the very essence of all good1 while they seek to construct a standard for human conduct1 and to lay a foundation for human goodness1 without regard to ,him4 ,hence1 irreligious moralists dislike the very word1 and fall back upon pale1 colourless phrases rather than employ it4 ,but these are inadequate for the purpose4 ,man's duties can never be summed up in any expression which omits man's relation to ,god4 ,how do ,i stand to ,him8 ,do ,i belong to ,him by joyous yielding of myself to be ,his instrument8 ,that1 my friends6 is the question1 the answer to which determines everything about me4 ,rightly answered1 there will come all fruits of grace and beauty in the character as a natural consequence2 'whatsoever things are lovely and of good report1' every virtue and every praise grow from the root of consecration to ,god4 ,wrongly answered1 there will come only fruits of selfishness and evil1 which may simulate virtue1 but the blossom shall go up in dust1 and the root in stubble4 ,do you seek purity1 nobleness1 strength1 and beauty of soul8 ,learn that all these inhere in and flow from the one act of giving up yourself to ,god1 and in their truest perfection are found only in the spirit that is ,his4 ,holiness considered as moral excellence is the result of holiness considered as devotion to ,god4 ,and learn too that holiness in both aspects comes from the operation and indwelling in our spirits of a divine ,spirit1 who draws away our love from self to fix it on ,him1 which changes our blindness into sight1 and makes us by degrees like ,himself1 'holy1 harmless1 undefiled1 separate from sinners4' ,the ,spirit of the ,lord is the energy which produces all righteousness and purity in human spirits4 ,therefore1 all our desires after what is good and true should shape themselves into the desire for that ,spirit4 ,our prayer should be1 ',make me separate from evil1 and that ,i may be so1 claim and keep me for ,thine own4 ,as ,thou hast done with the ,sabbath amongst the days1 with the bare summit of the hill of the ,lord's house among the mountains1 with ,israel amidst the nations1 so do with me2 lay ,thine hand upon me for ,thine own4 ,let my spirit1 ,o ,god6 know its destination for ,thee1 its union with ,thee4 ,then being ,thine1 it will be clean4 ,dwell in me1 that ,i may know myself ,thine4 ,seal me with that gracious influence which is the proof that ,thou possessest me1 and the pledge that ,i possess ,thee4 ,take not ,thy ,holy ,spirit from me4' ,so much for the chief of these petitions1 which gives the ideal character in its deepest relations4 ,there follow two other elements in the character1 which on either side flow from the central source4 ,the holy spirit in a man will be a right spirit and a free spirit4 ,consider these further thoughts in turn4 ',a right spirit4' ,you will observe that our translators have given an alternative rendering in the margin1 and as is not seldom the case1 it is a better one than that adopted in the text4 ',a constant or firm spirit' is the ,psalmist's meaning4 ,he sees that a spirit which is conscious of its relation to ,god1 and set free from the perturbations of sin1 will be a spirit firm and settled1 established and immovable in its obedience and its faith4 ,for ,him1 the root of all steadfastness is in consecration to ,god4 ,and so this collocation of ideas opens the way for us to important considerations bearing upon the practical ordering of our natures and of our lives4 ,for instance1 there is no stability and settled persistency of righteous purpose possible for us1 unless we are made strong because we lay hold on ,god's strength1 and stand firm because we are rooted in ,him4 ,without that hold-fast1 we shall be swept away by storms of calamity or by gusts of passion4 ,without that to steady us1 our own boiling lusts and desires will make every fibre of our being quiver and tremble4 ,without that armour1 there will not be solidity enough in our character to bear without breaking the steady pressure of the world's weight1 still less the fierce hammering of special temptation4 ,to stand erect1 and in that sense to have a right spirit--one that is upright and unbent--we must have sure footing in ,god1 and have ,his energy infused into our shrinking limbs4 ,if we are to be stable amidst earthquakes and storms1 we must be built on the rock1 and build rock-like upon it4 ,build thy strength upon ,god4 ,let ,his ,holy ,spirit be the foundation of thy life1 and then thy tremulous and vagrant soul will be braced and fixed4 ,the building will become like the foundation1 and will grow into 'a tower of strength that stands four-square to every wind4' ,rooted in ,god1 thou shalt be unmoved by 'the loud winds when they call'2 or if still the tremulous leaves are huddled together before the blast1 and the swaying branches creak and groan1 the bole will stand firm and the gnarled roots will not part from their anchorage1 though the storm-giant drag at them with a hundred hands4 ,the spirit of holiness will be a firm spirit4 ,but there is another phase of connection between these two points of the ideal character--if my spirit is to be holy and to preserve its holiness1 it must be firm4 ,that is to say1 you can only get and keep purity by resistance4 ,a man who has not learned to say ',no6'--who is not resolved that he will take ,god's way in spite of every dog that can bay or bark at him1 in spite of every silvery voice that woos him aside--will be a weak and a wretched man till he dies4 ,in such a world as this1 with such hearts as ours1 weakness is wickedness in the long run4 ,whoever lets himself be shaped and guided by anything lower than an inflexible will1 fixed in obedience to ,god1 will in the end be shaped into a deformity and guided to wreck and ruin4 ,dreams however rapturous1 contemplations however devout1 emotions however deep and sacred1 make no man pure and good without hard effort1 and that to a large extent in the direction of resistance4 ,righteousness is not a mere negative idea1 and ,scripture morality is something much deeper than prohibitions4 ,but there is no law for us without prohibitions1 and no righteousness without casting out evil that is strong in us1 and fighting against evil that is attractive around us4 ,therefore we need firmness to guard holiness1 to be the hard shell in which the rich fruit matures4 ,we need a wholesome obstinacy in the right that will neither be bribed nor coaxed nor bullied1 nor anyhow persuaded out of the road in which we know that we should walk4 ',add to your faith manly vigour4' ,learn that an indispensable requisite of holiness is prescribed in that command1 ',whom resist1 steadfast in the faith4' ,and remember that the ground of all successful resistance and the need for it are alike taught in that series of petitions1 which makes a holy spirit the foundation of a constant spirit1 and a constant spirit the guard of a holy spirit4 ,then consider1 for a moment1 the third element in the character which ,david longs to possess--a free spirit4 ,he who is holy because full of ,god's ,spirit1 and constant in his holiness1 will likewise be 'free4' ,that is the same word which is in other places translated 'willing'--and the scope of the ,psalmist's desire is1 ',let my spirit be emancipated from sin by willing obedience4' ,this goes very deep into the heart of all true godliness4 ,the only obedience which ,god accepts is that which gladly1 and almost as by an instinctive inward impulse1 harmonises the human will with the divine4 ',lo6 ,i come3 in the volume of the book it is written of me1 ,i delight to do ,thy will1 and ,thy law is within my heart4' ,that is a blessed thought1 that we may come to do ,him service not because we must1 but because we like2 not as serfs1 but as sons2 not thinking of ,his law as a slave-driver that cracks his whip over our heads1 but as a friend that lets us know how we may please ,him whom it is our delight to obey4 ,and so the ,psalmist prays1 ',let my obedience be so willing that ,i had rather do what ,thou wilt than anything besides4' ',then1' he thinks1 ',i shall be free4' ,of course--for the correlative of freedom is lawful authority1 and the definition of freedom is willing submission4 ,if for us duty is joy1 and all our soul's desires flow with an equable motion parallel to the will of ,god1 then there is no sense of restraint in keeping within the limits beyond which we do not seek to go4 ,the willing spirit sets us free1 free from the 'ancient solitary reign' of the despot ,self1 free from the mob rule of passions and appetites1 free from the incubus of evil habits1 free from the authority of men's voices and examples4 ,obedience is freedom to them that have learned to love the lips that command4 ,we are set free that we may serve3 ',o ,lord6 truly ,i am ,thy servant2 ,thou hast loosed my bonds4' ,we are set free in serving3 ',i will walk at liberty1 for ,i keep ,thy precepts4' ,let a willing1 free spirit uphold me4 ,,ii4 ,observe1 too1 that desires for holiness should become prayers4 ,david does not merely long for certain spiritual excellences2 he goes to ,god for them4 ,and his reasons for doing so are plain4 ,if you will look at the former verses of this psalm1 you will see that he had found out two things about his sin1 both of which make him sure that he can only be what he should be by ,god's help4 ,he had learned what his crimes were in relation to ,god1 and he had further learned what they indicated about himself4 ,the teaching of his bitter experience as to the former of these two matters lies in that saying which some people have thought strange4 ',against ,thee only have ,i sinned4' ,what6 ,had he not committed a crime against human law8 had he not harmed ,uriah and ,bathsheba8 were not his deeds an offence to his whole kingdom8 ,yes1 he knew all that2 but he felt that over and above all that was black in his deed1 considered in its bearing upon men1 it was still blacker when it was referred to ,god2 and a sadder word than 'crime' or 'fault' had to be used about it4 ,i have done wrong as against my fellows1 but worse than that1 ,i have sinned against ,god4 ,the notion of sin implies the notion of ,god4 ,sin is wilful transgression of the law of ,god4 ,an atheist can have no conception of sin4 ,but bring ,god into human affairs1 and men's faults immediately assume the darker tint1 and become men's sins4 ,therefore the need of prayer if these evils are to be blotted out4 ,if ,i had done crime against man only1 ,i should not need to ask ,god for pardon or cleansing2 but ,i have sinned against ,him1 and done this evil in ,his sight1 therefore my desires for deliverance address themselves to ,him1 and my longings for purity must needs break into the cry of entreaty to that ,god with whom are forgiveness and redemption from all iniquity4 ,and still further1 looking at the one deed1 he sees in it something more than an isolated act4 ,it leads him down to its motive2 that motive carries him to the state of mind in which it could have power2 that state of mind1 in which the motive could have power1 carries him still deeper to the bias of his nature as he had received it from his parents4 ,and thinking of how he had fallen1 how upon his terraced palace roof there the eye had inflamed the heart1 and the heart had yielded so quickly to the temptations of the eye1 he finds no profounder explanation of the disastrous eclipse of goodness than this3 ',behold6 ,i was shapen in iniquity4' ,is that a confession or a palliation1 do you think8 ,is he trying to shuffle off guilt from his own shoulders8 ,by no means1 for these words are the motive for the prayer1 ',purge me1 and ,i shall be clean4' ,that is to say1 he has learned that isolated acts of sin inhere in a common root1 and that root a disposition inherited from generation to generation to which evil is familiar and easy1 to which good1 alas6 is but too alien and unwelcome4 ,none the less is the evil done his deed4 ,none the less has he to wail in full consciousness of his individual responsibility3 ',against ,thee have ,i sinned4' ,but the effect of this second discovery1 that sin has become so intertwisted with his being that he cannot shake off the venomous beast into the fire and feel no harm1 is the same as that of the former--to drive him to ,god1 who alone can heal the nature and separate the poison from his blood4 ,dear friends6 there are some of you who are wasting your lives in paroxysms of fierce struggle with the evil that you have partially discovered in yourselves1 alternating with long languor1 fits of collapse and apathy1 and who make no solid advance1 just because you will not lay to heart these two convictions--your sin has to do with ,god1 and your sins come from a sinful nature4 ,because of the one fact1 you must go to ,god for pardon2 because of the other1 you must go to ,god for cleansing4 ,there1 in your heart1 like some black well-head in a dismal bog1 is the source of all the swampy corruption that fills your life4 ,you cannot stanch it1 you cannot drain it1 you cannot sweeten it4 ,ask ,him1 who is above your nature and without it1 to change it by ,his own new life infused into your spirit4 ,he will heal the bitter waters4 ,he alone can4 ,sin is against ,god2 sin comes from an evil heart2 therefore1 if your longings for that ideal perfectness are ever to be fulfilled1 you must make prayers of them1 and cry to ,him who hears1 ',create in me a clean heart1 ,o ,god6 take not ,thy ,holy ,spirit from me4' ,,iii4 ,finally1 observe that prayers for perfect cleansing are permitted to the lips of the greatest sinners4 ,such longings as these might seem audacious1 when the atrocity of the crime is remembered1 and by man's standard they are so4 ,let the criminal be thankful for escape1 and go hide himself1 say men's pardons4 ,but here is a man1 with the evil savour of his debauchery still tainting him1 daring to ask for no mere impunity1 but for ,god's choicest gifts4 ,think of his crime1 think of its aggravations from ,god's mercies to him1 from his official position1 from his past devotion4 ,remember that this cruel voluptuary is the sweet singer of ,israel1 who had taught men songs of purer piety and subtler emotion than the ruder harps of older singers had ever flung from their wires4 ,and this man1 so placed1 so gifted1 set up on high to be the guiding light of the nation1 has plunged into the filth of these sins1 and quenched all his light there4 ,when he comes back penitent1 what will he dare to ask8 ,everything that ,god can give to bless and gladden a soul4 ,he asks for ,god's ,spirit1 for ,his presence1 for the joy of ,his salvation2 to be made once again1 as he had been1 the instrument that shall show forth ,his praise1 and teach transgressors ,god's ways4 ,ought he to have had more humble desires8 ,does this great boldness show that he is leaping very lightly over his sin8 ,is he presumptuous in such prayers8 ,god be thanked--no6 ,but1 knowing all his guilt1 and broken and contrite in heart 7crushed and ground to powder1 as the words mean71 utterly loathing himself1 aware of all the darkness of his deserts1 he yet cherishes unconquerable confidence in the pitying love of ,god1 and believes that in spite of all his sin1 he may yet be pure as the angels of heaven--ay1 even holy as ,god is holy4 ,thank ,god we have such an example for our heartening6 ,lay it to heart1 brethren6 ,you cannot believe too much in ,god's mercy4 ,you cannot expect too much at ,his hands4 ,he is 'able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think4' ,no sin is so great but that1 coming straight from it1 a repentant sinner may hope and believe that all ,god's love will be lavished upon him1 and the richest of ,god's gifts be granted to his desires4 ,even if our transgression is aggravated by a previous life of godliness1 and have given the enemies great occasion to blaspheme1 as ,david's did1 yet ,david's penitence may in our souls lead on to ,david's hope1 and the answer will not fail us4 ,let no sin1 however dark1 however repeated1 drive us to despair of ourselves1 because it hides from us our loving ,saviour4 ,though beaten back again and again by the surge of our passions and sins1 like some poor shipwrecked sailor sucked back with every retreating wave and tossed about in the angry surf1 yet keep your face towards the beach1 where there is safety1 and you will struggle through it all1 and though it were but on some floating boards and broken pieces of the ship1 will come safe to land4 ,he will uphold you with ,his ,spirit1 and take away the weight of sin that would sink you1 by ,his forgiving mercy1 and bring you out of all the weltering waste of waters to the solid shore4 ,so whatever thy evil behaviour1 come with it all1 and cast thyself before ,him1 with whom is plenteous redemption4 ,embrace in one act the two truths1 of thine own sin and of ,god's infinite mercy in ,jesus ,christ4 ,let not the one blind you to the other2 let not the one lead you to a morbid despondency1 which is blind to ,christ1 nor the other to a superficial estimate of the deadliness of sin1 which is blind to thine own self4 ,let the ,cross teach thee what sin is1 and let the dark background of thy sin bring into clear prominence the ,cross that bringeth salvation4 ,know that thou art utterly black and sinful4 ,believe that ,god is eternally1 utterly1 inconceivably1 merciful4 ,learn both1 in ,him who is the ,standard by which we can estimate our sin1 and the ,proof and ,medium of ,god's mercy4 ,trust thyself and all thy foulness to ,jesus ,christ2 and1 so doing1 look up from whatsoever horrible pit and miry clay thou mayest have fallen into1 with this prayer1 ',create in me a clean heart1 ,o ,god6 and renew a right spirit within me1 take not ,thy ,holy ,spirit from me1 and uphold me with ,thy free ,spirit4' ,then the answer shall come to you from ,him who ever puts the best robe upon ,his returning prodigals1 and gives ,his highest gifts to sinners who repent4 ',from all your filthiness will ,i cleanse you1 a new heart also will ,i give you1 and a new spirit will ,i put within you1 and ,i will put ,my ,spirit within you1 and cause you to walk in ,my statutes4' ,,fear ,,and ,,faith ',what time ,i am afraid1 ,i will trust in ,thee4 #d4 444 ,in ,god ,i have put my trust3 ,i will not fear4'--,,psalm lvi4 #c1 #d4 ,it is not given to many men to add new words to the vocabulary of religious emotion4 ,but so far as an examination of the ,old ,testament avails1 ,i find that ,david was the first that ever employed the word that is here translated1 ,i will trust1 with a religious meaning4 ,it is found occasionally in earlier books of the ,bible in different connections1 never in regard to man's relations to ,god1 until the ,poet-,psalmist laid his hand upon it1 and consecrated it for all generations to express one of the deepest relations of man to his ,father in heaven4 ,and it is a favourite word of his4 ,i find it occurs constantly in his psalms2 twice as often1 or nearly so1 in the psalms attributed to ,david as in all the rest of the ,psalter put together2 and as ,i shall have occasion to show you in a moment1 it is in itself a most significant and poetic word4 ,but1 first of all1 ,i ask you to notice how beautifully there comes out here the occasion of trust4 ',what time ,i am afraid1 ,i will put my trust in ,thee4' ,this psalm is one of those belonging to the ,sauline persecution4 ,if we adopt the allocation in the superscription1 it was written at one of the very lowest points of ,david's fortunes4 ,and there seem to be one or two of its phrases which acquire new force1 if we regard the psalm as drawn forth by the perils of his wandering1 hunted life4 ,for instance--',thou tellest my wanderings1' is no mere expression of the feelings with which he regarded the changes of this early pilgrimage1 but is the confidence of the fugitive that in the doublings and windings of his flight ,god's eye marked him4 ',put thou my tears into ,thy bottle'--one of the few indispensable articles which he had to carry with him1 the water-skin which hung beside him1 perhaps1 as he meditated4 ,so read in the light of his probable circumstances1 how pathetic and eloquent does that saying become--',what time ,i am afraid1 ,i will trust in ,thee4' ,that goes deep down into the realities of life4 ,it is when we are 'afraid' that we trust in ,god2 not in easy times1 when things are going smoothly with us4 ,not when the sun shines1 but when the tempest blows and the wind howls about his ears1 a man gathers his cloak round him1 and cleaves fast to his supporter4 ,the midnight sea lies all black2 but when it is cut into by the oar1 or divided and churned by the paddle1 it flashes up into phosphorescence1 and so it is from the tumults and agitation of man's spirit that there is struck out the light of man's faith4 ,there is the bit of flint and the steel that comes hammering against it2 and it is the contact of these two that brings out the spark4 ,the man never knew confidence who does not know how the occasion that evoked and preceded it was terror and need4 ',what time ,i am afraid1 ,i will trust4' ,that is no trust which is only fair weather trust4 ,this principle--first fear1 and only then1 faith--applies all round the circle of our necessities1 weaknesses1 sorrows1 and sins4 ,there must1 first of all1 be the deep sense of need1 of exposedness to danger1 of weakness1 of sorrow1 and only then will there come the calmness of confidence4 ,a victorious faith will 'rise large and slow ,from out the fluctuations of our souls1 ,as from the dim and tumbling sea ,starts the completed moon4' ,and then1 if so1 notice how there is involved in that the other consideration1 that a man's confidence is not the product of outward circumstances1 but of his own fixed resolves4 ',i will put my trust in ,thee4' ,nature says1 ',be afraid6' and the recoil from that natural fear1 which comes from a discernment of threatening evil1 is only possible by a strong effort of the will4 ,foolish confidence opposes to natural fear a groundless resolve not to be afraid1 as if heedlessness were security1 or facts could be altered by resolving not to think about them4 ,true faith1 by a mighty effort of the will1 fixes its gaze on the divine ,helper1 and there finds it possible and wise to lose its fears4 ,it is madness to say1 ',i will not to be afraid6' it is wisdom and peace to say1 ',i will trust1 and not be afraid4' ,but it is no easy matter to fix the eye on ,god when threatening enemies within arm's-length compel our gaze2 and there must be a fixed resolve1 not indeed to coerce our emotions or to ignore our perils1 but to set the ,lord before us1 that we may not be moved4 ,when war desolates a land1 the peasants fly from their undefended huts to the shelter of the castle on the hilltop1 but they cannot reach the safety of the strong walls without climbing the steep road4 ,so when calamity darkens round us1 or our sense of sin and sorrow shakes our hearts1 we need effort to resolve and to carry into practice the resolution1 ',i flee unto ,thee to hide me4' ,fear1 then1 is the occasion of faith1 and faith is fear transformed by the act of our own will1 calling to mind the strength of ,god1 and betaking ourselves thereto4 ,therefore1 do not wonder if the two things lie in your hearts together1 and do not say1 ',i have no faith because ,i have some fear1' but rather feel that if there be the least spark of the former it will turn all the rest into its own bright substance4 ,here is the stifling smoke1 coming up from some newly-lighted fire of green wood1 black and choking1 and solid in its coils2 but as the fire burns up1 all the smoke-wreaths will be turned into one flaming spire1 full of light and warmth4 ,do you turn your smoke into fire1 your fear into faith4 ,do not be down-hearted if it takes a while to convert the whole of the lower and baser into the nobler and higher4 ,faith and fear do blend1 thank ,god6 ,they are as oil and water in a man's soul1 and the oil will float above1 and quiet the waves4 ',what time ,i am afraid'--there speak nature and the heart2 ',i will trust in ,thee'--there speaks the better man within1 lifting himself above nature and circumstances1 and casting himself into the extended arms of ,god1 who catches him and keeps him safe4 ,then1 still further1 these words1 or rather one portion of them1 give us a bright light and a beautiful thought as to the essence and inmost centre of this faith or trust4 ,scholars tell us that the word here translated 'trust' has a graphic1 pictorial meaning for its root idea4 ,it signifies literally to cling to or hold fast anything1 expressing thus both the notion of a good tight grip and of intimate union4 ,now1 is not that metaphor vivid and full of teaching as well as of impulse8 ',i will trust in ,thee4' ',and he exhorted them all1 that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the ,lord4' ,we may follow out the metaphor of the word in many illustrations4 ,for instance1 here is a strong prop1 and here is the trailing1 lithe feebleness of the vine4 ,gather up the leaves that are creeping all along the ground1 and coil them around that support1 and up they go straight towards the heavens4 ,here is a limpet in some pond or other1 left by the tide1 and it has relaxed its grasp a little4 ,touch it with your finger and it grips fast to the rock1 and you will want a hammer before you can dislodge it4 ,there is a traveller groping along some narrow broken path1 where the chamois would tread cautiously1 his guide in front of him4 ,his head reels1 and his limbs tremble1 and he is all but over1 but he grasps the strong hand of the man in front of him1 or lashes himself to him by the rope1 and he can walk steadily4 ,or1 take that story in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 about the lame man healed by ,peter and ,john4 ,all his life long he had been lame1 and when at last healing comes1 one can fancy with what a tight grasp 'the lame man held ,peter and ,john4' ,the timidity and helplessness of a lifetime made him hold fast1 even while1 walking and leaping1 he tried how the unaccustomed 'feet and ankle bones' could do their work4 ,how he would clutch the arms of his two supporters1 and feel himself firm and safe only as long as he grasped them6 ,that is faith1 cleaving to ,christ1 twining round ,him with all the tendrils of our heart1 as the vine does round its pole2 holding to ,him by ,his hand1 as a tottering man does by the strong hand that upholds4 ,and there is one more application of the metaphor1 which perhaps may be best brought out by referring to a passage of ,scripture4 ,we find this same expression used in that wonderfully dramatic scene in the ,book of ,kings1 where the supercilious messengers from the king of ,assyria came up and taunted the king and his people on the wall4 ',what confidence is this wherein thou trustest8 ,now1 on whom dost thou trust1 that thou rebellest against me8 ,now1 behold1 thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed1 even upon ,egypt1 on which1 if a man lean1 it will go into his hand and pierce it3 so is ,pharaoh1 king of ,egypt1 unto all that trust on him1' ,the word of our text is employed there1 and as the phrase shows1 with a distinct trace of its primary sense4 ,hezekiah was leaning upon that poor paper reed on the ,nile banks1 that has no substance1 or strength1 or pith in it4 ,a man leans upon it1 and it runs into the palm of his hand1 and makes an ugly festering wound4 ,such rotten stays are all our earthly confidences4 ,the act of trust1 and the miserable issues of placing it on man1 are excellently described there4 ,the act is the same when directed to ,god1 but how different the issues4 ,lean all your weight on ,god as on some strong staff1 and depend upon it that your support will never yield nor crack and no splinters will run into your palms from it4 ,if ,i am to cling with my hand ,i must first empty my hand4 ,fancy a man saying1 ',i cannot stand unless you hold me up2 but ,i have to hold my bank book1 and this thing1 and that thing1 and the other thing2 ,i cannot put them down1 so ,i have not a hand free to lay hold with1 you must do the holding4' ,that is what some of us are saying in effect4 ,now the prayer1 ',hold ,thou me up1 and ,i shall be safe1' is a right one2 but not from a man who will not put his possessions out of his hands that he may lay hold of the ,god who lays hold of him4 ',nothing in my hand ,i bring4' ,then1 of course1 and only then1 when we are empty-handed1 shall we be free to grip and lay hold2 and only then shall we be able to go on with the grand words-- ',simply to ,thy ,cross ,i cling1' as some half-drowned1 shipwrecked sailor1 flung up on the beach1 clasps a point of rock1 and is safe from the power of the waves that beat around him4 ,and then one word more4 ,these two clauses that ,i have put together give us not only the occasion of faith in fear1 and the essence of faith in this clinging1 but they also give us very beautifully the victory of faith4 ,you see with what poetic art--if we may use such words about the breathings of such a soul--he repeats the two main words of the former verse in the latter1 only in inverted order--',what time ,i am afraid1 ,i will trust in ,thee4' ,he is possessed by the lower emotion1 and resolves to escape from its sway into the light and liberty of faith4 ,and then the next words still keep up the contrast of faith and fear1 only that now he is possessed by the more blessed mood1 and determines that he will not fall back into the bondage and darkness of the baser4 ',in ,god ,i have put my trust2 ,i will not fear4' ,he has confidence1 and in the strength of that he resolves that he will not yield to fear4 ,if we put that thought into a more abstract form it comes to this3 that the one true antagonist and triumphant rival of all fear is faith1 and faith alone4 ,there is no reason why any man should be emancipated from his fears either about this world or about the next1 except in proportion as he has faith4 ,nay1 rather it is far away more rational to be afraid than not to be afraid1 unless ,i have this faith in ,christ4 ,there are plenty of reasons for dread in the dark possibilities and not less dark certainties of life4 ,disasters1 losses1 partings1 disappointments1 sicknesses1 death1 may any of them come at any moment1 and some of them will certainly come sooner or later4 ,temptations lurk around us like serpents in the grass1 they beset us in open ferocity like lions in our path4 ,is it not wise to fear unless our faith has hold of that great promise1 ',thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder2 there shall no evil befall thee'8 ,but if we have a firm hold of ,god1 then it is wise not to be afraid1 and terror is folly and sin4 ,for trust brings not only tranquillity1 but security1 and so takes away fear by taking away danger4 ,that double operation of faith in quieting and in defending is very strikingly set forth by an ,old ,testament word1 formed from the verb here employed1 which means properly confidence1 and then in one form comes to signify both in security and in safety1 secure as being free from anxiety1 safe as being sheltered from peril4 ,so1 for instance1 the people of that secluded little town of ,laish1 whose peaceful existence amidst warlike neighbours is described with such singular beauty in the ,book of ,judges1 are said to 'dwell careless1 quiet1 and secure4' ,the former phrase is literally 'in trust1' and the latter is 'trusting4' ,the idea sought to be conveyed by both seems to be that double one of quiet freedom from fear and from danger4 ,so again1 in ,moses' blessing1 ',the beloved of the ,lord shall dwell in safety by ,him1' we have the same phrase to express the same twofold benediction of shelter1 by dwelling in ,god1 from all alarm and from all attack3 ',as far from danger as from fear1 ,while love1 ,almighty love is near4' ,this thought of the victory of faith over fear is very forcibly set forth in a verse from the ,book of ,proverbs1 which in our version runs ',the righteous is bold as a lion4' ,the word rendered 'is bold' is that of our text1 and would literally be 'trusts1' but obviously the metaphor requires such a translation as that of the ,english ,bible4 ,the word that properly describes the act of faith has come to mean the courage which is the consequence of the act1 just as our own word confidence properly signifies trust1 but has come to mean the boldness which is born of trust4 ,so1 then1 the true way to become brave is to lean on ,god4 ,that1 and that alone1 delivers from otherwise reasonable fear1 and ,faith bears in her one hand the gift of outward safety1 and in her other that of inward peace4 ,peter is sinking in the water2 the tempest runs high4 ,he looks upon the waves1 and is ready to fancy that he is going to be swallowed up immediately4 ,his fear is reasonable if he has only the tempest and himself to draw his conclusions from4 ,his helplessness and the scowling storm together strike out a little spark of faith1 which the wind cannot blow out1 nor the floods quench4 ,like our ,psalmist here1 when ,peter is afraid1 he trusts4 ',save1 ,lord6 or ,i perish4' ,immediately the outstretched hand of his ,lord grasps his1 and brings him safety1 while the gentle rebuke1 ',o thou of little faith6 wherefore didst thou doubt8' infuses courage into his beating heart4 ,the storm runs as high as ever1 and the waves beat about his limbs1 and the spray blinds his eyes4 ,if he leaves his hold for one moment down he will go4 ,but1 as long as he clasps ,christ's hand1 he is as safe on that heaving floor as if his feet were on a rock2 and as long as he looks in ,christ's face and leans upon ,his upholding arm1 he does not 'see the waves boisterous1' nor tremble at all as they break around him4 ,his fear and his danger are both gone1 because he holds ,christ and is upheld by ,him4 ,in this sense1 too1 as in many others1 'this is the victory that overcometh the world1 even our faith4' ,a ,,song ,,of ,,deliverance ',for ,thou hast delivered my soul from death3 hast ,thou not delivered my feet from falling8 that ,i may walk before ,god in the light of the living4'--,,psalm lvi4 #ac 7,r4,v474 ,according to the ancient ,jewish tradition preserved in the superscription of this psalm1 it was written at the lowest ebb of ,david's fortunes1 'when the ,philistines took him in ,gath1' and as you may remember1 he saved himself by adding the fox's hide to the lion's skin1 and by pretending to be an idiot1 degraded as well as delivered himself4 ,yet immediately after1 if we accept the date given by the superscription1 the triumphant confidence and devout hope of this psalm animated his mind4 ,how unlike the true man was to what he appeared to be to ,achish and his ,philistines6 ,it is strange that the inside and the outside should correspond so badly2 but yet1 thank ,god6 it is possible4 ,we note1 ,i4 ,the deliverance realised by faith before it is accomplished in fact4 ,you will observe that ,i have made a slight alteration in the translation of the words4 ,in our ,authorised ,version they stand thus3 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death2 wilt ,thou not deliver my feet from falling8' as if some prior deliverance was the basis upon which the ,psalmist rested his expectation of that which was still to come4 ,but there is no authority in the original for that variation of tenses1 and both clauses obviously refer to the same period and the same deliverance4 ,therefore we must read3 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death3 hast ,thou not delivered1' etc42 the question being equivalent to a strong affirmation1 ',yea1 ,thou hast delivered my feet from falling4' ,this reference of both clauses to the same period and the same delivering act1 is confirmed by the quotation of these words in a very much later psalm1 the #aafth1 where we read1 with an addition1 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death1 mine eyes from tears1 and my feet from falling4' ,so1 then1 the ,psalmist is so sure of the deliverance that is coming that he sings of it as past4 ,he is still in the very thick of the trouble and the fight1 and yet he says1 ',it is as good as over4 ,thou hast delivered4' ,how does he come to that confidence8 ,simply because his future is ,god2 and whoever has ,god for his future can turn else uncertain hopes into certain confidences1 and make sure of this1 that however ,achish and his giant ,philistines of ,gath1 wielding ,goliath's arms1 spears like a weaver's beam1 and brazen armour1 may compass him about1 in the name of the ,lord he will destroy them4 ,they are all as good as dead1 though they are alive and hostile at this moment4 ,in the midst of trouble we can fling ourselves into the future1 or rather draw the future into the present1 and say1 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death4' ,it is safe to reckon on to-morrow when we reckon on ,god4 ,we to-day have the same reasons for the same confidence2 and if we will go the right way about it1 we1 too1 may bring ,june's sun into ,november's fogs1 and bask in the warmth of certain deliverance even when the chill mists of trouble enfold us4 ,but then note1 too1 here1 the substance of this future intervention which1 to the ,psalmist's quiet faith1 is present3--',my soul from death1' and after that he says1 ',my feet from falling1' which looks very like an anticlimax and bathos4 ,but yet1 just because to deliver the feet from falling is so much smaller a thing than delivering a life from death1 it comes here to be a climax and something greater4 ,the storm passes over the man4 ,what then8 ,after the storm has passed1 he is not only alive1 but he is standing upright4 ,it has not killed him4 ,no1 it has not even shaken him4 ,his feet are as firm as ever they were1 and just because that is a smaller thing1 it is a greater thing for the deliverance to have accomplished than the other4 ,god does not deliver by halves2 ,he does not leave the delivered man maimed1 or thrown down1 though living4 ,remember1 too1 the expansion of the text in the psalm to which ,i have already referred1 one of a much later date1 which by quoting these words really comments upon them4 ,the later ,psalmist adds a clause4 ',mine eyes from tears1' and we may follow on in the same direction1 and note the three spheres in which the later poet hymns the delivering hand of ,god as spiritualising for us all our deeper ,christian experience4 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death1' in that great redemption by which the ,son has died that we may never know either the intensest bitterness of physical death1 or the true death of which it is the shadow and the emblem4 ',thou hast delivered mine eyes from tears'2 ,god wipes away tears here1 even before we come to the time when ,he wipes away all tears from off all faces1 and no eyes are delivered from tears1 except eyes that have looked through tears to ,god4 ',and my feet from falling'--redeeming grace which saves the soul2 comforting grace which lightens sorrow2 upholding grace which keeps us from sins--these are the elements of what ,god has done for us all1 if our poor feeble trust has rested on ,him4 ,how did ,david get to this confidence8 ,why1 he prayed himself into it4 ,if you will read the psalm1 you will see very clearly the process by which a man comes to that serene1 triumphant trust that the battle is won even whilst it is raging around him4 ,the previous portion of the psalm falls into two parts1 on which ,i need only make this one remark1 that in both we have first of all an obvious disquieting fact1 and then a flash of victorious confidence4 ,let me just read a word or two to you4 ,the ,psalmist begins in a very minor key4 ',be merciful unto me1 ,o ,god6 for man would swallow me up'--that is ,achish and his ,philistines4 ',he fighting daily oppresseth me2 mine enemies daily would swallow me up4' ,he reiterates the same thought with the dreary monotony of sorrow1 'for there be many that fight against me1 ,o ,thou most ,high6' ,but swiftly his note changes into ',what time ,i am afraid ,i will trust in ,thee4 ,in ,god ,i will praise ,his word'2 that is to say1 ,his promise of deliverance1 'in ,god ,i have put my trust4' ,he has climbed to the height1 but only for a moment1 for down he drops again1 and begins anew the old miserable complaint4 ,the sorrow is too clinging to be cast off at one struggle4 ,it has been dammed out for the moment1 but the flood rushes too heavily1 and away goes the dam1 and back pours the black water4 ',every day they wrest my words2 all their thoughts are against me for evil4' ,and he goes on longer on his depressing key this second time than he did the first1 but he rises above it once more in the same fashion1 and the refrain with which he had closed the first part of the psalm closes the second4 ',in ,god will ,i praise ,his word2 in the ,lord will ,i praise ,his word4' ,now he has won the height and keeps it1 and breaks into a paean of victory in words of the text4 ,that is to say1 pray yourselves into confidence1 and if it does not come at first1 pray again4 ,if the consolation seems to glide away1 even whilst you are laying hold of it1 grasp it once more1 and close your fingers more tightly on it4 ,do not be afraid of going down into the depths a second time1 but be sure that you try to rise out of them at the same point as before1 by grasping the assurance that in ,god1 in ,his strength1 and by ,his grace1 you will be able to set your seal to the truth of ,his great promise4 ,thus will you rise to this confidence which calleth things that are not as though they were1 and brings the to-morrow that is sure to dawn with all its brightness and serenity into the turbulent1 tempestuous1 and clouded atmosphere of to-day4 ,we shall one day escape from all that burdens1 and tries1 and tasks us2 and until then this blessed assurance1 the fruit of prayer1 is like the food that the ravens brought to the prophet in the ravine1 or the bread and water that the angel awoke him to partake of when he was faint in the wilderness4 ,the true answer to ,david's prayer was the immediate access of confidence unshaken1 though the outward answer was a long time in coming1 and years lay between him and the cessation of his persecutions and troubles4 ,so we may have brooks by the way1 in quiet confidence of deliverance ere yet the deliverance comes4 ,then note1 ,,ii4 ,the impulse to service which deliverance brings4 ',that ,i may walk before ,god in the light of the living'2 that is ,god's purpose in all ,his deliverances1 that we may thereby be impelled to trustful and grateful service4 ,and ,david makes that purpose into a vow1 for the words might almost as well be translated1 ',i will walk before ,him4' ,let us see to it that ,god's purpose is our resolve1 and that we do not lose the good of any of the troubles or discipline through which ,he passes us2 for the worst of all sorrows is a wasted sorrow4 ',thou hast delivered my feet that ,i may walk4' ,what are feet for8 ,walking4 ,further1 notice the precise force of that phrase1 'that ,i may walk before ,god4' ,it is not altogether the same as the cognate one which is used about ,enoch1 that 'he walked with ,god4' ,that expresses communion as with a friend2 this1 the ordering of one's life before ,his eye1 and in the consciousness of ,his presence as ,judge and as ,taskmaster4 ,so you find the expression used in almost the only other occasion where it occurs in the ,old ,testament1 where ,god says to ,abraham1 ',walk before ,me1 and'--because thou dost order thy life in the consciousness that ,i am looking at thee--'be thou perfect4' ,so1 to walk before ,god is to live even in all the distracting activities of daily life1 with the clear realisation1 and the continued thought burning in our minds that we are doing them all in ,his presence4 ,think of what a regiment of soldiers on parade does as each file passes in front of the saluting point where the commanding officer is standing4 ,how each man dresses up1 and they pull themselves together1 keeping step1 sloping their rifles rightly4 ,we are not on parade1 but about business a great deal more serious than that4 ,we are doing our fighting with the ,captain looking at us1 and that should be a stimulus1 a joy and not a terror4 ,realise ,god's eye watching you1 and sin1 and meanness1 and negligence1 and selfishness1 and sensuality1 and lust1 and passion1 and all the other devils that are in you will vanish like ghosts at cockcrow4 ',walk before ,me1' and if you feel that ,i am beside you1 you cannot sin4 ',walk before ,me1 and be thou perfect4' ,notice1 ,,iii4 ,the region in which that observance of the divine eye is to be carried on4 ',in the light of the living1' says the ,psalmist4 ,that seems to correspond to the first clause of his hope2 just as the previous word that ,i have been commenting upon1 'walking before ,him1' corresponds to the second1 where he speaks about his feet4 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death4444 ,i will walk before ,thee in the light of the living'--where ,thou dost still permit my delivered soul to be4 ,and the phrase seems to mean the sunshine of human life contrasted with the darkness of ,sheol4 ,the expression is varied in the #aafth ,psalm1 which reads 'the land of the living4' ,the really living are they who live in ,jesus1 and the real light of the living is the sunshine that streams on those who thus live1 because they live in ,him who not only pours ,his light upon their hearts1 but1 by pouring it1 turns themselves into 'light in the ,lord4' ,we1 too1 may have the brightness of ,his face irradiating our faces and illuminating our paths1 as with the beneficence of a better sunshine4 ,the ,psalmist points us the way thus to walk in light4 ,he vows that1 because his heart is full of the great mercies of his delivering ,god1 he will order all his active life as under the consciousness of ,god's eye upon him1 and then it will all be lightened as by a burst of sunshine4 ,our brightest light is the radiance from the face of ,god whom we try to love and serve1 and the ,psalmist's confidence is that a life of observance of ,his commandments in which gratitude for deliverance is the impelling motive to continual realisation of ,his presence1 and an accordant life1 will be a bright and sunny career4 ,you will live in the sunshine if you live before ,his face1 and however wintry the world may be1 it will be like a clear frosty day4 ,there is no frost in the sky1 it does not go above the atmosphere1 and high above1 in serene and wondrous blue1 is the blaze of the sunshine4 ,such a life will be a guided life4 ,there will still remain many occasions for doubt in the region of belief1 and for perplexity as to duty4 ,there will often be need for patient and earnest thought as to both1 and there will be no lack of calls for strenuous effort of our best faculties in order to apprehend what our ,guide means us to do1 and where ,he would have us go1 but through it all there will be the guiding hand4 ,as the ,master1 with perhaps a glance backwards to these words1 said1 ',he that followeth ,me shall not walk in darkness1 but shall have the light of life4' ,if ,he is in the light let us walk in the light1 and to us it will be purity and knowledge and joy4 ,,the ,,fixed ,,heart ',my heart is fixed1 ,o ,god1 my heart is fixed2 ,i will sing and give praise4'--,,psalm lvii4 #g4 ,it is easy to say such things when life goes smoothly with us4 ,but this ,psalmist1 whether ,david or another1 says this1 and means it1 when all things are dark and frowning around him4 ,the superscription attributes the words to ,david himself1 fleeing from ,saul1 and hiding in the cave4 ,whether that be so or no1 the circumstances under which the ,psalmist sings are obviously those of very great difficulty and oppression4 ,but he sings himself into confidence and good cheer4 ,in the dark he believes in the light4 ,there are some flowers that give their perfumes after sunset and are sweetest when the night dews are falling4 ,the true religious life is like these4 ,a heart really based upon ,god1 and at rest in ,him1 never breathes forth such fragrant and strong perfume as in the darkness of sorrow4 ,the repetition of ',my heart is fixed' adds emphasis to the expression of unalterable determination4 ,the fixed heart is resolved to 'sing and give praise' in spite of everything that might make sobs and tears choke the song4 ,i4 ,note the fixed heart4 ,the ,hebrew uses the metaphor of the 'heart' to cover a great deal more of the inward self than we are accustomed to do4 ,we mainly mean thereby that in us which loves4 ,but the ,old ,testament speaks of the 'thoughts and intents' as well as the 'affections' of the heart4 ,and so to this ,psalmist his 'heart' was not only that in him which loved1 but that which purposed and which thought4 ,when he says ',my heart is fixed' he does not merely mean that he is conscious of a steadfast love1 but also and rather of a fixed and settled determination1 and of an abiding communion of thought between himself and ,god4 ,and he not only makes this declaration as the expression of his experience for the moment1 but he mortgages the future1 and in so far as any man dare1 he ventures to say that this temper of entire consecration1 of complete communion1 of fixed resolve to cleave to ,god1 which is his present mood1 will be his future whatever may wait his outward life then4 ,the lesson from that resolve is that our religion1 if it is worth anything1 must be a continuous and uniformly acting force throughout our whole lives1 and not merely sporadic and spasmodic1 by fits and starts4 ,the lines that a child's unsteady and untrained hand draws in its copy-book are too good a picture of the 'crooked1 wandering ways in which we live1' in so far as our religion is concerned4 ,the line should be firm and straight1 uniform in breadth1 unvarying in direction1 like a sunbeam1 homogeneous and equally tenacious like an iron rod4 ,unless it be thus strong and uniform1 it will scarcely sustain the weights that it must bear1 or resist the blows that it must encounter4 ,for a fixed heart ,i must have a fixed determination1 and not a mere fluctuating and soon broken intention4 ,i must have a steadfast affection1 and not merely a fluttering love1 that1 like some butterfly1 lights now on this1 now on that1 sweet flower1 but which has a flight straight as a carrier pigeon to its cot1 which shall bear me direct to ,god4 ,and ,i must have a continuous realisation of my dependence upon ,god1 and of ,god's sweet sufficiency1 going with me all through the dusty day4 ,a firm determination1 a steadfast love1 a constant thought1 these at least are inculcated in the words of my text4 ',my heart is fixed1 ,o ,god6 my heart is fixed4' ,ah1 brethren6 how unlike the broken1 interrupted1 divergent lines that we draw6 ,our religious moments are not knit together1 and touching one upon the other1 but they are like the pools in the bed of a half dried up ,australian stream--a pond here1 and a stretch of white1 blistering pebbles there1 and then a little drop of water1 and then another reach of dryness4 ,they should all be knit together by one continuous flow of a fixed love1 desire1 and thought4 ,is our average ,christianity fairly represented by such words as these of my text8 ,do they not rather make us burn with shame when we think that a man who lived in the twilight of ,god's revelation1 and was weighed upon by distresses such as wrung this psalm out of him1 should have poured out this resolve1 which we who live in the sunlight and are flooded with blessings find it hard to echo with sincerity and truth8 ,fixed hearts are rare amongst the ,christians of this day4 ,,ii4 ,notice the manifold hindrances to such a uniformity of our religious life4 ,they are formidable enough1 ,god knows1 we all know it1 and ,i do not need to dwell upon them4 ,there is1 for example1 the tendency to fluctuation which besets all our feelings1 and especially our religious emotions4 ,what would happen to a steam-engine if the stoker now piled on coals and then fell asleep by the furnace door8 ,one moment the boiler would be ready to burst2 at another moment there would be no steam to drive anything4 ,that is the sort of alternation that goes on amongst hosts of ,christians to-day4 ,their springtime and summer are followed certainly by an autumn and a bitter winter4 ,every moment of elevation has a corresponding moment of depression4 ,they never catch a glimpse of ,god and of ,his love brighter and more sweet than ordinary without its being followed by long weariness and depression and darkness4 ,that is the kind of life that many of you are contented to live as ,christian people4 ,but is there any necessity for such alternations8 ,some degree of fluctuation there will always be4 ,the very exercise of emotion tends to its extinction4 ,varying conditions of health and other externals will affect the buoyancy and clear-sightedness and vivacity of the spiritual life4 ,only a barometer that is out of order will always stand at set fair4 ,the vane which never points but to south is rusty and means nothing4 ,but while there cannot be absolute uniformity1 there might and should be a far nearer approach to an equable temperature of a much higher range than the readings of most professing ,christians give4 ,there is1 indeed1 a dismally uniform arctic temperature in many of them4 ,their hearts are fixed1 truly1 but fixed on earth4 ,their frost is broken by no thaw1 their tepid formalism interrupted by no disturbing enthusiasm4 ,we do not now speak of these1 but of those who have moments of illumination1 of communion1 of submission of will1 which fade all too soon4 ,to such we would earnestly say that these moments may be prolonged and made more continuous4 ,we need not be at the mercy of our own unregulated feelings4 ,we can control our hearts1 and keep them fixed1 even if they should wish to wander4 ,if we would possess the blessing of an approximately uniform religious life1 we must assert the control of ourselves and use both bridle and spur4 ,a great many religious people seem to think that 'good times' come and go1 and that they can do nothing to bring or keep or banish them4 ,but that is not so4 ,if the fire is burning low1 there is such a thing on the hearth as a poker1 and coals are at hand4 ,if we feel our faith falling asleep1 are we powerless to rouse it8 ,cannot we say ',i will trust'8 ,let us learn that the variations in our religious emotions are largely subject to our own control1 and may1 if we will govern ourselves1 be brought far nearer to uniformity than they ordinarily are4 ,besides the fluctuations due to our own changes of mood1 there are also the distracting influences of even the duties which ,god lays upon us4 ,it is hard for a man with the material task of the moment that takes all his powers1 to keep a little corner of his heart clear1 and to feel that ,god is there4 ,it is difficult in the clatter of the mill or in the crowds on ',change1 to do our work as for and in remembrance of ,christ4 ,it is difficult2 but it is possible4 ,distractions are made distractions by our own folly and weakness4 ,there is nothing that it is our duty to do which an honest attempt to do from the right motive could not convert into a positive help to getting nearer ,god4 ,it is for us to determine whether the tasks of life1 and this intrusive external and material world1 shall veil ,him from us1 or shall reveal ,him to us4 ,it is for us to determine whether we shall make our secular avocation and its trials1 little and great1 a means to get nearer to ,god1 or a means to shut ,him out from us1 and us from ,him4 ,there is nothing but sin incompatible with the fixed heart1 the resolved will1 the continual communion1 nothing incompatible though there may be much that makes it difficult to realise and preserve these4 ,and then1 of course1 the trials and sorrows which strike us all make this fixed heart hard to keep4 ,it is easy1 as ,i said1 to vow1 ',i will sing and give praise1' when flesh is comfortable and prosperity is spreading its bright sky over our heads4 ,it is harder to say it when disappointment and bitterness are in the heart1 and an empty place there that aches and will never be filled4 ,it is harder for a man to say it when1 like this ,psalmist1 his soul is 'amongst lions' and he 'lies amongst them that are set on fire4' ,but still1 rightly taken1 sorrow is the best ladder to ,god2 and there is no such praise as comes from the lips that1 if they did not praise1 must sob1 and that praise because they are beginning to learn that evil1 as the world calls it1 is the stepping-stone to the highest good4 ',my heart is fixed4 ,i will sing and give praise' may be the voice of the mourner as well as of the prosperous and happy4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 let me say just a word as to the means by which such a uniform character may be impressed upon our religious experience4 ,there is another psalm where this same phrase is employed with a very important and illuminating addition1 in which we read1 ',his heart is fixed1 trusting in the ,lord4' ,that is the secret of a fixed heart--continuous faith rooted and grounded in ,him4 ,this fluttering1 changeful1 unreliable1 emotional nature of mine will be made calm and steadfast by faith1 and duties done in the faith of ,god will bind me to ,him2 and sorrows borne and joys accepted in the faith of ,god will be links in the chain that knits ,him to me4 ,but then the question comes1 how to get this continuous faith8 ,brethren6 ,i know no answer except the simple one1 by continually making efforts after it1 and adopting the means which ,christ enjoins to secure it4 ,a man climbing a hill1 though he has to look to his feet when in the slippery places1 and all his energies are expended in hoisting himself upwards by every projection and crag1 will do all the better if he lifts his eye often to the summit that gleams above him4 ,so we1 in our upward course1 shall make the best progress when we consciously and honestly try to look beyond the things seen and temporal1 even whilst we are working in the midst of them1 and to keep clear before us the summit to which our faith tends4 ,if we lived in the endeavour to realise that great white throne1 and ,him that sits upon it1 we should find it easier to say1 ',my heart is fixed1 ,o ,god6 my heart is fixed4' ,but be sure of this1 there will be no such uniformity of religious experience throughout our lives unless there be frequent times in them in which we go into our chambers and shut our doors about us1 and hold communion with our ,father in secret4 ,everything noble and great in the ,christian life is fed by solitude1 and everything poor and mean and hypocritical and low-toned is nourished by continual absence from the secret place of the ,most ,high4 ,there must be moments of solitary communion1 if there are to be hours of strenuous service and a life of continual consecration4 ,we need not ask ourselves the question whether the realisation of the ideal of this fixedness in its perfect completeness is possible for us here on earth or not4 ,you and ,i are a long way on this side of that realisation yet1 and we need not trouble ourselves about the final stages until we have got on a stage or two more4 ,what would you think of a boy if1 when he had just been taught to draw with a pencil1 he said to his master1 ',do you think ,i shall ever be able to draw as well as ,raphael8' ,his teacher would say to him1 ',whether you will or not1 you will be able to draw a good deal better than now1 if you try4' ,we need not trouble ourselves with the questions that disturb some people until we are very much nearer to perfection than any of us yet are4 ,at any rate1 we can approach indefinitely to that ideal1 and whether it is possible for us in this life ever to have hearts so continuously fixed as that no attraction shall draw the needle aside one point from the pole or not1 it is possible for us all to have them a great deal steadier than in that wavering1 fluctuating vacillation which now rules them4 ,so let us pray the prayer1 ',unite my heart to fear ,thy name1' make the resolve1 ',my heart is fixed1' and listen obediently to the command1 ',he exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the ,lord4' ,,waiting ,,and ,,singing ',because of his strength will ,i wait upon ,thee3 for ,god is my defence4444 #ag4 ,unto ,thee1 ,o my strength1 will ,i sing3 for ,god is my defence1 and the ,god of my mercy4'--,,psalm lix4 #i1 #ag4 ,there is an obvious correspondence between these two verses even as they stand in our translation1 and still more obviously in the ,hebrew4 ,you observe that in the former verse the words 'because of' are a supplement inserted by our translators1 because they did not exactly know what to make of the bare words as they stood4 ',his strength1 ,i will wait upon ,thee1' is1 of course1 nonsense2 but a very slight alteration of a single letter1 which has the sanction of several good authorities1 both in manuscripts and translations1 gives an appropriate and beautiful meaning1 and brings the two verses into complete verbal correspondence4 ,suppose we read1 ',my strength1' instead of ',his strength4' ,the change is only making the limb of one letter a little shorter1 and as you will perceive1 we thereby get the same expressions in both verses4 ,we may then read our two texts thus3 ',upon ,thee1 ,o my ,strength6 ,i will wait4444 ,unto ,thee1 ,o my ,strength1 ,i will sing6' ,they are1 word for word1 parallel1 with the significant difference that the waiting in the one passes into song1 in the other1 the silent expectation breaks into music of praise4 ,and these two words--wait and sing--are in the ,hebrew the same in every letter but one1 thus strengthening the impression of likeness as well as emphasising1 with poetic art1 that of difference4 ,the parallel1 too1 obviously extends to the second half of each verse1 where the reason for both the waiting and the praise is the same--',for ,god is my defence'--with the further eloquent variation that the song is built not only on the thought that ',god is my defence1' but also on this1 that ,he is 'the ,god of my mercy4' ,these two parallel verses1 then1 are a kind of refrain1 coming in at the close of each division of the psalm2 and if you examine its structure and general course of thought1 you will see that the first stands at the end of a picture of the ,psalmist's trouble and danger1 and makes the transition to the second part1 which is mainly a prayer for deliverance1 and finishes with the refrain altered and enlarged1 as ,i have pointed out4 ,the heading of the psalm tells us that its date is the very beginning of ,saul's persecution1 when 'they watched the house to kill' ,david1 and he fled by night from the city4 ,there is a certain correspondence between the circumstances and some part of the picture of his foes here which makes the date probable4 ,if so1 this is one of ,david's oldest psalms1 and is interesting as showing his faith and courage1 even in the first burst of danger4 ,but whether that be so or not1 we have here1 at any rate1 the voice of a devout soul in sore sorrow1 and we may well learn the lesson of its twofold utterance4 ,the man1 overwhelmed by calamity1 betakes himself to ,god4 ',upon ,thee1 ,o my ,strength6 will ,i wait1 for ,god is my defence4' ,then1 by dint of waiting1 although the outward circumstances keep just the same1 his temper and feelings change4 ,he began with1 ',deliver me from my enemies1 ,o ,lord6 for they lie in wait for my soul4' ,he passes through ',my ,strength6 ,i will wait upon ,thee1' and so ends with ',my ,strength6 ,i will sing unto ,thee4' ,we may then throw our remarks into two groups1 and deal for a few moments with these two points--the waiting on ,god1 and the change of waiting into praise4 ,now1 with regard to the first of these--the waiting on ,god--,i must notice that the expression here1 ',i will wait1' is a somewhat remarkable one4 ,it means accurately1 ',i will watch ,thee1' and it is the word that is generally employed1 not about our looking up to ,him1 but about ,his looking down to us4 ,it would describe the action of a shepherd guarding his flock2 of a sentry keeping a city2 of the watchers that watch for the morning1 and the like4 ,by using it1 the ,psalmist seems as if he would say--,there are two kinds of watching4 ,there is ,god's watching over me1 and there is my watching for ,god4 ,i look up to ,him that ,he may bless2 ,he looks down upon me that ,he may take care of me4 ,as ,he guards me1 so ,i stand expectant before ,him1 as one in a besieged town1 upon the ramparts there1 looks eagerly out across the plain to see the coming of the long-expected succours4 ,god 'waits to be gracious'--wonderful words1 painting for us ,his watchfulness of fitting times and ways to bless us1 and ,his patient attendance on our unwilling1 careless spirits4 ,we may well take a lesson from ,his attitude in bestowing1 and on our parts1 wait on ,him to be helped4 ,for these two things--vigilance and patience--are the main elements in the scriptural idea of waiting on ,god4 ,let me enforce each of them in a word or two4 ,there is no waiting on ,god for help1 and there is no help from ,god1 without watchful expectation on our parts4 ,if ever we fail to receive strength and defence from ,him1 it is because we are not on the outlook for it4 ,many a proffered succour from heaven goes past us1 because we are not standing on our watch-tower to catch the far-off indications of its approach1 and to fling open the gates of our heart for its entrance4 ,he who expects no help will get none2 he whose expectation does not lead him to be on the alert for its coming will get but little4 ,how the beleaguered garrison1 that knows a relieving force is on the march1 strain their eyes to catch the first glint of the sunshine on their spears as they top the pass6 ,but how unlike such tension of watchfulness is the languid anticipation and fitful look1 with more of distrust than hope in it1 which we turn to heaven in our need6 ,no wonder we have so little living experience that ,god is our 'strength' and our 'defence1' when we so partially believe that ,he is1 and so little expect that ,he will be either4 ,the homely old proverb says1 ',they that watch for providences will never want a providence to watch for1' and you may turn it the other way and say1 ',they that do not watch for providence will never have a providence to watch for4' ,unless you put out your water-jars when it rains you will catch no water2 if you do not watch for ,god coming to help you1 ,god's watching to be gracious will be of no good at all to you4 ,his waiting is not a substitute for ours1 but because ,he watches therefore we should watch4 ,we say1 we expect ,him to comfort and help us--well1 are we standing1 as it were1 on tiptoe1 with empty hands upraised to bring them a little nearer the gifts we look for8 ,are our 'eyes ever towards the ,lord'8 ,do we pore over ,his gifts1 scrutinising them as eagerly as a gold-seeker does the quartz in his pan1 to detect every shining speck of the precious metal8 ,do we go to our work and our daily battle with the confident expectation that ,he will surely come when our need is the sorest and scatter our enemies8 ,is there any clear outlook kept by us for the help which we know must come1 lest it should pass us unobserved1 and like the dove from the ark1 finding no footing in our hearts drowned in a flood of troubles1 be fain to return to the calm refuge from which it came on its vain errand8 ,alas1 how many gentle messengers of ,god flutter homeless about our hearts1 unrecognised and unwelcomed1 because we have not been watching for them6 ,of what avail is it that a strong hand from the beach should fling the safety-line with true aim to the wreck1 if no eye on the deck is watching for it8 ,it hangs there1 useless and unseen1 and then it drops into the sea1 and every soul on board is drowned4 ,it is our own fault--and very largely the fault of our want of watchfulness for the coming of ,god's help--if we are ever overwhelmed by the tasks1 or difficulties1 or sorrows of life4 ,we wonder that we are left to fight out the battle ourselves4 ,but are we8 ,is it not rather1 that while ,god's succours are hastening to our side we will not open our eyes to see1 nor our hearts to receive them8 ,if we go through the world with our hands hanging listlessly down instead of lifted to heaven1 or full of the trifles and toys of this present1 as so many of us do1 what wonder is it if heavenly gifts of strength do not come into our grasp8 ,that attitude of watchful expectation is vividly described for us in the graphic words of another psalm1 ',my soul waiteth for the ,lord more than they that watch for the morning3 ,i say1 more than they that watch for the morning4' ,what a picture that is6 ,think of a wakeful1 sick man1 tossing restless all the night on his tumbled bed1 racked with pain made harder to bear by the darkness4 ,how often his heavy eye is lifted to the window-pane1 to see if the dawn has not yet begun to tint it with a grey glimmer6 ,how he groans1 ',would ,god it were morning6' ,or think of some unarmed and solitary man1 benighted in the forest1 and hearing the wild beasts growl and scream and bark all round1 while his fire dies down1 and he knows that his life depends on the morning breaking soon4 ,with yet more eager expectation are we to look for ,god1 whose coming is a better morning for our sick and defenceless spirits4 ,if we are not so looking for ,his help1 we need never be surprised that we do not get it4 ,there is no promise and no probability that it will come to men in their sleep1 who neither desire it nor wait for it4 ,and such vigilant expectation will be accompanied with patience4 ,there is no impatience in it1 but the very opposite4 ',if we hope for that we see not1 then do we with patience wait for it4' ,if we know that ,he will surely come1 then if ,he tarry we can wait for ,him4 ,the measure of our confidence is ever the measure of our patience4 ,being sure that ,he is always 'in the midst of' ,zion1 we may be sure that at the right time ,he will flame out into delivering might1 helping her1 and that right early4 ,so waiting means watchfulness and patience1 both of which have their roots in trust4 ,further1 we have here set forth not only the nature1 but also the object of this waiting4 ',upon ,thee1 ,o my ,strength6 will ,i wait1 for ,god is my ,defence4' ,the object to which faith is directed1 and the ground on which it is based1 are both set forth in these two names here applied to ,god4 ,the name of the ,lord is ,strength1 therefore ,i wait on ,him in the confident expectation of receiving of ,his power4 ,the ,lord is 'my ,defence1' therefore ,i wait on ,him in the confident expectation of safety4 ,the one name has respect to our condition of feebleness and inadequacy for our tasks1 and points to ,god as infusing strength into us4 ,the other points to our exposedness to danger and to enemies1 and points to ,god as casting ,his shelter around us4 ,the word translated 'defence' is literally 'a high fortress1' and is the same as closes the rapturous accumulation of the names of his delivering ,god1 which the ,psalmist gives us when he vows to love ,jehovah1 who has been his ,rock1 and ,fortress1 and ,deliverer2 his ,god in whom he will trust1 his ,buckler1 and the ,horn of his salvation1 and his ,high ,tower4 ,the first name speaks of ,god dwelling in us1 and ,his strength made perfect in our weakness2 the second speaks of our dwelling in ,god1 and our defencelessness sheltered in ,him4 ',the name of the ,lord is a strong tower2 the righteous runneth into it1 and is safe4' ,as some outnumbered army1 unable to make head against its enemies in the open1 flees to the shelter of some hill fortress1 perched upon a crag1 and taking up the drawbridge1 cannot be reached by anything that has not wings1 so this man1 hard pressed by his foes1 flees into ,god to hide him1 and feels secure behind these strong walls4 ,that is the ,god on whom we wait4 ,the recognition of ,his character as thus mighty and ready to help is the only thing that will evoke our expectant confidence1 and ,his character thus discerned is the only object which our confidence can grasp aright4 ,trust ,him as what ,he is1 and trust ,him because of what ,he is1 and see to it that your faith lays hold on the living ,god ,himself1 and on nothing beside4 ,but waiting on ,god is not only the recognition of ,his character as revealed1 but it involves1 too1 the act of laying hold on all the power and blessing of that character for myself4 ',my strength1 my defence1' says the ,psalmist4 ,think of what ,he is1 and believe that ,he is that for you1 else there is no true waiting on ,him4 ,make ,god thy very own by claiming thine own portion in ,his might1 by betaking thyself to that strong habitation4 ,we cannot wait on ,god in crowds1 but one by one1 must say1 ',my strength and my defence4' ,and now turn to the second verse of our two texts3 ',unto ,thee1 ,o my ,strength6 will ,i sing1 for ,god is my defence and the ,god of my mercy4' ,here we catch1 as it were1 waiting expectation and watchfulness in the very act of passing over into possession and praise4 ,for remember the aspect of things has not changed a bit between the first verse of our text and the last4 ,the enemies are all round about ,david just as they were1 'making a noise like a dog1' as he says1 and 'going round about the city4' ,the evil that was threatening him and making him sad remains entirely unlightened4 ,what has altered8 ,he has altered4 ,and how has he altered8 ,because his waiting on ,god has begun to work an inward change1 and he has climbed1 as it were1 out of the depths of his sorrow up into the sunlight4 ,and so it ever is1 my friends6 ,there is deliverance in spirit before there is deliverance in outward fact4 ,if our patient waiting bring1 as it certainly will bring1 at the right time1 an answer in the removal of danger1 and the lightening of sorrow1 it will bring first the better answer1 'the peace of ,god1 which passeth all understanding1' to keep your hearts and minds4 ,that is the highest blessing we have to seek for in our waiting on ,god1 and that is the blessing which we get as soon as we wait on ,him4 ,the outward deliverance may tarry1 but ever there come before it1 as heralds of its approach1 the sense of a lightened burden and the calmness of a strengthened heart4 ,it may be long before the morning breaks1 but even while the darkness lasts1 a faint air begins to stir among the sleeping leaves1 the promise of the dawn1 and the first notes of half-awakened birds prelude the full chorus that will hail the sunrise4 ,it is beautiful1 ,i think1 to see how in the compass of this one little psalm the singer has1 as it were1 wrought himself clear1 and sung himself out of his fears4 ,the stream of his thought1 like some mountain torrent1 turbid at first1 has run itself bright and sparkling4 ,how all the tremor and agitation have gone away1 just because he has kept his mind for a few minutes in the presence of the calm thought of ,god and ,his love4 ,the first courses of his psalm1 like those of some great building1 are laid deep down in the darkness1 but the shining summit is away up there in the sunlight1 and ,god's glittering glory is sparklingly reflected from the highest point4 ,whoever begins with1 ',deliver me--,i will wait upon ,thee1' will pass very quickly1 even before the outward deliverance comes1 into--',o my ,strength6 unto ,thee will ,i sing6' ,every song of true trust1 though it may begin with a minor1 will end in a burst of jubilant gladness4 ,no prayer ought ever to deal with complaints1 as we know1 without starting with thanksgiving1 and1 blessed be ,god1 no prayer need to deal with complaints without ending with thanksgiving4 ,so1 all our cries of sorrow1 and all our acknowledgments of weakness and need1 and all our plaintive beseechings1 should be inlaid1 as it were1 between two layers of brighter and gladder thought1 like dull rock between two veins of gold4 ,the prayer that begins with thankfulness1 and passes on into waiting1 even while in sorrow and sore need1 will always end in thankfulness1 and triumph1 and praise4 ,if we regard this second verse of our text as the expression of the ,psalmist's emotion at the moment of its utterance1 then we see in it a beautiful illustration of the effect of faithful waiting to turn complaining into praise4 ,if we regard it rather as an expression of his confidence1 that ',i shall yet praise ,him for the help of ,his countenance1' we see in it an illustration of the power of patient waiting to brighten the sure hope of deliverance1 and to bring summer into the heart of winter4 ,as resolve1 or as prophecy1 it is equally a witness of the large reward of quiet waiting for the salvation of the ,lord4 ,in either application of the words their almost precise correspondence with those of the previous verse is far more than a mere poetic ornament1 or part of the artistic form of the psalm4 ,it teaches us this happy lesson--that the song of accomplished deliverance1 whether on earth1 or in the final joy of heaven1 will be but a sweeter1 fuller repetition of the cry that went up in trouble from our waiting hearts4 ,the object to which we shall turn with our thankfulness is ,he to whom we betook ourselves with our prayers4 ,there will be the same turning of the soul to ,him2 only instead of wistful waiting in the longing look1 joy will light her lamps in our eyes1 and thankfulness beam in our faces as we turn to ,his light4 ,we shall look to ,him as of old1 and name ,him what we used to name ,him when we were in weakness and warfare1--our ',strength' and our ',defence4' ,but how different the feelings with which the delivered soul calls ,him so1 from those with which the sorrowful heart tried to grasp the comfort of the names4 ,then their reality was a matter of faith1 often hard to hold fast4 ,now it is a matter of memory and experience4 ',i called ,thee my strength when ,i was full of weakness2 ,i tried to believe ,thou wast my defence when ,i was full of fear2 ,i thought of ,thee as my fortress when ,i was ringed about with foes2 ,i know ,thee now for that which ,i then trusted that ,thou wast4 ,as ,i waited upon ,thee that ,thou mightest be gracious1 ,i praise ,thee now that ,thou hast been more gracious than my hopes4' ,blessed are they whose loftiest expectations were less than their grateful memories and their rich experience1 and who can take up in their song of praise the names by which they called on ,god1 and feel that they knew not half their depth1 their sweetness1 or their power6 ,but the praise is not merely the waiting transformed4 ,experience has not only deepened the conception of the meaning of ,god's name2 it has added a new name4 ,the cry of the suppliant was to ,god1 his strength and defence2 the song of the saved is to the ,god who is also the ,god of his mercy4 ,the experiences of life have brought out more fully the love and tender pity of ,god4 ,while the troubles lasted it was hard to believe that ,god was strong enough to brace us against them1 and to keep us safe in them2 it was harder still to think of them as coming from ,him at all2 it was hardest to feel that they came from ,his love4 ,but when they are past1 and their meaning is plainer1 and we possess their results in the weight of glory which they have wrought out for us1 we shall be able to look back on them all as the mercies of the ,god of our mercy1 even as when a man looks down from the mountain-top upon the mists and the clouds through which he passed1 and sees them all smitten by the sunshine that gleams upon them from above4 ,that which was thick and damp as he was struggling through it1 is irradiated into rosy beauty2 the retrospective and downward glance confirms and surpasses all that faith dimly discerned1 and found it hard to believe4 ,whilst we are fighting here1 brethren6 let us say1 ',i will wait for ,thee1' and then yonder we shall1 with deeper knowledge of the love that was in all our sorrows1 sing unto ,him who was our strength in earth's weakness1 our defence in earth's dangers1 and is for ever more the ',god of our mercy1' amidst the large and undeserved favours of heaven4 ,,silence ,,to ,,god ',truly my soul waiteth upon ,god4444 #e4 ,my soul1 wait thou only upon ,god4' ,,psalm lxii4 #a1 #e4 ,we have here two corresponding clauses1 each beginning a section of the psalm4 ,they resemble each other even more closely than appears from the ,english version1 for the 'truly' of the first1 and the 'only' of the second clause1 are the same word2 and in each case it stands in the same place1 namely1 at the beginning4 ,so1 word for word1 the two answer to each other4 ,the difference is1 that the one expresses the ,psalmist's patient stillness of submission1 and the other is his self-encouragement to that very attitude and disposition which he has just professed to be his4 ,in the one he speaks of1 in the other to1 his soul4 ,he stirs himself up to renew and continue the faith and resignation which he has1 and so he sets before us both the temper which we should have1 and the effort which we should make to prolong and deepen it1 if it be ours4 ,let us look at these two points then--the expression of waiting1 and the self-exhortation to waiting4 ',truly my soul waiteth upon ,god4' ,it is difficult to say whether the opening word is better rendered 'truly1' as here1 or 'only1' as in the other clause4 ,either meaning is allowable and appropriate4 ,if1 with our version1 we adopt the former1 we may compare with this text the opening of another psalm 7lxxiii471 ',truly ,god is good to ,israel1' and there1 as here1 we may see in that vehement affirmation a trace of the struggle through which it had been won4 ,the ,psalmist bursts into song with a word1 which tells us plainly enough how much had to be quieted in him before he came to that quiet waiting1 just as in the other psalm he pours out first the glad1 firm certainty which he had reached1 and then recounts the weary seas of doubt and bewilderment through which he had waded to reach it4 ,that one word is the record of conflict and the trophy of victory1 the sign of the blessed effect of effort and struggle in a truth more firmly held1 and in a submission more perfectly practised4 ,it is as if he had said1 ',yes6 in spite of all its waywardness and fears1 and self-willed struggles1 my soul waits upon ,god4 ,i have overcome these1 and now there is peace within4' ,it is to be further observed that literally the words run1 ',my soul is silence unto ,god4' ,that forcible form of expression describes the completeness of the ,psalmist's unmurmuring submission and quiet faith4 ,his whole being is one great stillness1 broken by no clamorous passions1 by no loud-voiced desires1 by no remonstrating reluctance4 ,there is a similar phrase in another psalm 7cix4 #d71 which may help to illustrate this3 ',for my love they are my adversaries1 but ,i am prayer'--his soul is all one supplication4 ,the enemies' wrath awakens no flush of passion on his cheek1 or ripple of vengeance in his heart4 ,he meets it all with prayer4 ,wrapped in devotion and heedless of their rage1 he is like ,stephen1 when he kneeled down among his yelling murderers1 and cried with a loud voice1 ',lord6 lay not this sin to their charge4' ,so here we have the strongest expression of the perfect consent of the whole inward nature in submission and quietness of confidence before ,god4 ,that silence is first a silence of the will4 ,the plain meaning of this phrase is resignation2 and resignation is just a silent will4 ,before the throne of the ,great ,king1 ,his servants are to stand like those long rows of attendants we see on the walls of ,eastern temples1 silent1 with folded arms1 straining their ears to hear1 and bracing their muscles to execute his whispered commands1 or even his gesture and his glance4 ,a man's will should be an echo1 not a voice2 the echo of ,god1 not the voice of self4 ,it should be silent1 as some sweet instrument is silent till the owner's hand touches the keys4 ,like the boy-prophet in the hush of the sanctuary1 below the quivering light of the dying lamps1 we should wait till the awful voice calls1 and then answer1 ',speak1 ,lord6 for ,thy servant heareth4' ,do not let the loud utterances of your own wills anticipate1 nor drown1 the still1 small voice in which ,god speaks4 ,bridle impatience till ,he does4 ,if you cannot hear ,his whisper1 wait till you do4 ,take care of running before you are sent4 ,keep your wills in equipoise till ,god's hand gives the impulse and direction4 ,such a silent will is a strong will4 ,it is no feeble passiveness1 no dead indifference1 no impossible abnegation that ,god requires1 when ,he requires us to put our wills in accord with ,his4 ,they are not slain1 but vivified1 by such surrender2 and the true secret of strength lies in submission4 ,the secret of blessedness is there1 too1 for our sorrows come because there is discord between our circumstances and our wills1 and the measure in which these are in harmony with ,god is the measure in which we shall feel that all things are blessings to be received with thanksgiving4 ,but if we will take our own way1 and let our own wills speak before ,god speaks1 or otherwise than ,god speaks1 nothing can come of that but what always has come of it--blunders1 sins1 misery1 and manifold ruin4 ,we must keep our hearts silent too4 ,the sweet voices of pleading affections1 the loud cry of desires and instincts that roar for their food like beasts of prey1 the querulous complaints of disappointed hopes1 the groans and sobs of black-robed sorrows1 the loud hubbub and ,babel1 like the noise of a great city1 that every man carries within1 must be stifled and coerced into silence4 ,we have to take the animal in us by the throat1 and sternly say1 ',lie down there and be quiet4' ,we have to silence tastes and inclinations4 ,we have to stop our ears to the noises around1 however sweet the songs1 and to close many an avenue through which the world's music might steal in4 ,he cannot say1 ',my soul is silent unto ,god1' whose whole being is buzzing with vanities and noisy with the din of the market-place4 ,unless we have something1 at least1 of that great stillness1 our hearts will have no peace1 and our religion no reality4 ,there must be the silence of the mind1 as well as of the heart and will4 ,we must not have our thoughts ever occupied with other things1 but must cultivate the habit of detaching them from earth1 and keeping our minds still before ,god1 that ,he may pour ,his light into them4 ,surely if ever any generation needed the preaching--',be still and let ,god speak'--we need it4 ,even religious men are so busy with spreading or defending ,christianity1 that they have little time1 and many of them less inclination1 for quiet meditation and still communion with ,god4 ,newspapers1 and books1 and practical philanthropy1 and ,christian effort1 and business1 and amusement1 so crowd into our lives now1 that it needs some resolution and some planning to get a clear space where we can be quiet1 and look at ,god4 ,but the old law for a noble and devout life is not altered by reason of any new circumstances4 ,it still remains true that a mind silently waiting before ,god is the condition without which such a life is impossible4 ,as the flowers follow the sun1 and silently hold up their petals to be tinted and enlarged by his shining1 so must we1 if we would know the joy of ,god1 hold our souls1 wills1 hearts1 and minds still before ,him1 whose voice commands1 whose love warms1 whose truth makes fair1 our whole being4 ,god speaks for the most part in such silence only4 ,if the soul be full of tumult and jangling noises1 ,his voice is little likely to be heard4 ,as in some kinds of deafness1 a perpetual noise in the head prevents hearing any other sounds1 the rush of our own fevered blood1 and the throbbing of our own nerves1 hinder our catching ,his tones4 ,it is the calm lake which mirrors the sun1 the least catspaw wrinkling the surface wipes out all the reflected glories of the heavens4 ,if we would mirror ,god our souls must be calm4 ,if we would hear ,god our souls must be silence4 ,alas1 how far from this is our daily life6 ,who among us dare to take these words as the expression of our own experience8 ,is not the troubled sea which cannot rest1 whose waters cast up mire and dirt1 a truer emblem of our restless1 labouring souls than the calm lake8 ,put your own selves by the side of this ,psalmist1 and honestly measure the contrast4 ,it is like the difference between some crowded market-place all full of noisy traffickers1 ringing with shouts1 blazing in sunshine1 and the interior of the quiet cathedral that looks down on it all1 where are coolness and subdued light1 and silence and solitude4 ',come1 ,my people6 enter thou into thy chambers1 and shut thy doors about thee4' ',commune with your own heart and be still4' ',in quietness and confidence shall be your strength4' ,this man's profession of utter resignation is perhaps too high for us2 but we can make his self-exhortation our own4 ',my soul6 wait thou only upon ,god4' ,perfect as he ventures to declare his silence towards ,god1 he yet feels that he has to stir himself up to the effort which is needed to preserve it in its purity4 ,just because he can say1 ',my soul waits1' therefore he bids his soul wait4 ,i need not dwell upon that self-stimulating as involving the great mystery of our personality1 whereby a man exalts himself above himself1 and controls1 and guides1 and speaks to his soul4 ,but a few words may be given to that thought illustrated here1 of the necessity for conscious effort and self-encouragement1 in order to the preservation of the highest religious emotion4 ,we are sometimes apt to forget that no holy thoughts or feelings are in their own nature permanent1 and the illusion that they are so1 often tends to accelerate their fading4 ,it is no wonder if we in our selectest hours of 'high communion with the living ,god' should feel as if that lofty experience would last by virtue of its own sweetness1 and need no effort of ours to retain it4 ,but it is not so4 ,all emotion tends to exhaustion1 as surely as a pendulum to rest1 or as an ,eastern torrent to dry up4 ,all our flames burn to their extinction4 ,there is but one fire that blazes and is not consumed4 ,action is the destruction of tissue4 ,life reaches its term in death4 ,joy and sorrow1 and hope and fear1 cannot be continuous4 ,they must needs wear themselves out and fade into a grey uniformity like mountain summits when the sun has left them4 ,our religious experience too will have its tides1 and even those high and pure emotions and dispositions that bind us to ,god can only be preserved by continual effort4 ,their existence is no guarantee of their permanence1 rather is it a guarantee of their transitoriness1 unless we earnestly stir up ourselves to their renewal4 ,like the emotions kindled by lower objects1 they perish while they glow1 and there must be a continual recurrence to the one ,source of light and heat if the brilliancy is to be preserved4 ,nor is it only from within that their continuance is menaced4 ,outward forces are sure to tell upon them ,the constant wash of the sea of life undermines the cliffs and wastes the coasts4 ,the tear and wear of external occupations is ever acting upon our religious life4 ,travellers tell us that the constant friction of the sand on ,egyptian hieroglyphs removes every trace of colour1 and even effaces the deep-cut characters from basalt rocks4 ,so the unceasing attrition of multitudinous trifles will take all the bloom off your religion1 and efface the name of the ,king cut on the tables of your hearts1 if you do not counteract them by constant earnest effort4 ,our devotion1 our faith1 our love are only preserved by being constantly renewed4 ,that vigorous effort is expressed here by the very form of the phrase4 ,the same word which began the first clause begins the second also4 ,as in the former it represented for us1 with an emphatic ',truly1' the struggle through which the ,psalmist had reached the height of his blessed experience1 so here it represents in like manner the earnestness of the self-exhortation which he addresses to himself4 ,he calls forth all his powers to the conflict1 which is needed even by the man who has attained to that height of communion1 if he would remain where he has climbed4 ,and for us1 brethren6 who shrink from taking these former words upon our lips1 how much greater the need to use our most strenuous efforts to quiet our souls4 ,if the summit reached can only be held by earnest endeavour1 how much more is needed to struggle up to it from the valleys below6 ,the silence of the soul before ,god is no mere passiveness4 ,it requires the intensest energy of all our being to keep all our being still and waiting upon ,him4 ,so put all your strength into the task1 and be sure that your soul is never so intensely alive as when in deepest abnegation it waits hushed before ,god4 ,trust no past emotions4 ,do not wonder if they should fade even when they are brightest4 ,do not let their evanescence tempt you to doubt their reality4 ,but always when our hearts are fullest of ,his love1 and our spirits stilled with the sweetest sense of ,his solemn presence1 stir yourselves up to keep firm hold of the else passing gleam1 and in your consciousness let these two words live in perpetual alternation3 ',truly my soul waiteth upon ,god4 ,my soul6 wait thou only upon ,god4' ,,thirst ,,and ,,satisfaction ',my soul thirsteth for ,thee4444 #e4 ,my soul shall be satisfied4444 #h4 ,my soul followeth hard after ,thee4'--,,psalm lxiii4 #a1 #e1 #h4 ,it is a wise advice which bids us regard rather what is said than who says it1 and there are few regions in which the counsel is more salutary than at present in the study of the ,old ,testament1 and especially the ,psalms4 ,this authorship has become a burning question which is only too apt to shut out far more important things4 ,whoever poured out this sweet meditation in the psalm before us1 his tender longings for1 and his jubilant possession of1 ,god remain the same4 ,it is either the work of a king in exile1 or is written by some one who tries to cast himself into the mental attitude of such a person1 and to reproduce his longing and his trust4 ,it may be a question of literary interest1 but it is of no sort of spiritual or religious importance whether the author is ,david or a singer of later date endeavouring to reproduce his emotions under certain circumstances4 ,the three clauses which ,i have read1 and which are so strikingly identical in form1 constitute the three pivots on which the psalm revolves1 the three bends in the stream of its thought and emotion4 ',my soul thirsts2 my soul is satisfied2 my soul follows hard after ,thee4' ,the three phases of emotion follow one another so swiftly that they are all wrapped up in the brief compass of this little song4 ,unless they in some degree express our experiences and emotions1 there is little likelihood that our lives will be blessed or noble1 and we have little right to call ourselves ,christians4 ,let us follow the windings of the stream1 and ask ourselves if we can see our own faces in its shining surface4 ,i4 ,the soul that knows its own needs will thirst after ,god4 ,the ,psalmist draws the picture of himself as a thirsty man in a waterless land4 ,that may be a literally true reproduction of his condition1 if indeed the old idea is correct1 that this is a work of ,david's2 for there is no more appalling desert than that in which he wandered as an exile4 ,it is a land of arid mountains without a blade of verdure1 blazing in their ghastly whiteness under the fierce sunshine1 and with gaunt ravines in which there are no pools or streams1 and therefore no sweet sound of running waters1 no shadow1 no songs of birds1 but all is hot1 dusty1 glaring1 pitiless2 and men and beasts faint1 and loll out their tongues1 and die for want of water4 ,and1 says the ,psalmist1 such is life1 if due regard be had to the deepest wants of a soul1 notwithstanding all the abundant supplies which are spread in such rich and loving luxuriance around us--we are thirsty men in a waterless land4 ,i need not remind you how true it is that a man is but a bundle of appetites1 desires1 often tyrannous1 often painful1 always active4 ,but the misery of it is--the reason why man's misery is great upon him is--mainly1 ,i suppose1 that he does not know what it is that he wants2 that he thirsts1 but does not understand what the thirst means1 nor what it is that will slake it4 ,his animal appetites make no mistakes2 he and the beasts know that when they are thirsty they have to drink1 and when they are hungry they have to eat1 and when they are drowsy they have to sleep4 ,but the poor instinct of the animal that teaches it what to choose and what to avoid fails us in the higher reaches2 and we are conscious of a craving1 and do not find that the craving reveals to us the source from whence its satisfaction can be derived4 ,therefore 'broken cisterns that can hold no water' are at a premium1 and 'the fountain of living waters' is turned away from1 though it could slake so many thirsts4 ,like ignorant explorers in an enemy's country1 we see a stream1 and we do not stop to ask whether there is poison in it or not before we glue our thirsty lips to it4 ,there is a great old promise in one of the prophets which puts this notion of the misinterpretation of our thirsts1 and the mistakes as to the sources from which they can be slaked1 into one beautiful metaphor which is obscured in our ,english version4 ,the prophet ,isaiah says1 according to our reading1 'the parched land shall become a pool4' ,the word which he uses is that almost technical one which describes the phenomenon known only in ,eastern lands1 or at least known in them only in its superlative degree2 the mirage1 where the dancing currents of ascending air simulate the likeness of a cool lake1 with palm-trees around it4 ,and1 says he1 'the mirage shall become a pool1' the romance shall turn into a reality1 the mistakes shall be rectified1 and men shall know what it is that they want1 and shall get it when they know4 ,brethren6 unless we have listened to the teaching from above1 unless we have consulted far more wisely and far more profoundly than many of us have ever done the meaning of our own hearts when they cry out1 we too shall only be able to take for ours the plaintive cry of the half of this first utterance of the ,psalmist1 and say despairingly1 ',my soul thirsteth4' ,blessed are they who know where the fountain is1 who know the meaning of the highest unrests in their own souls1 and can go on to say with clear and true self-revelation1 ',my soul thirsteth for ,god6' ,that is religion4 ,there is a great deal more in ,christianity than longing1 but there is no ,christianity worth the name without it4 ,there is moral stimulus to activity1 a pattern for conduct1 and so on1 in our religion1 and if our religion is only this longing--well then1 it is worth very little2 and ,i fancy it is worth a good deal less if there is none of this felt need for ,god1 and for more of ,god1 in us4 ,and so ,i come to two classes of my hearers2 and to the first of them ,i say1 ,dear friends6 do not mistake what it is that you 'need1' and see to it that you turn the current of your longings from earth to ,god2 and to the second of them ,i say1 ,dear friends6 if you have found out that ,god is your supreme good1 see to it that you live in the good1 see to it that you live in the constant attitude of longing for more of that good which alone will slake your appetite4 ',the thirst that from the soul doth rise ,doth ask a drink divine1' and unless we know what it is to be drawn outwards and upwards1 in strong aspirations after something--'afar from the sphere of our sorrow1' ,i know not why we should call ourselves ,christians at all4 ,but1 dear friends6 let us not forget that these higher aspirations after the uncreated and personal good which is ,god have to be cultivated very sedulously and with great persistence1 throughout all our changing lives1 or they will soon die out1 and leave us4 ,there has to be the clear recognition1 habitual to us1 of what is our good4 ,there has to be a continual meditation1 if ,i may so say1 upon the all-sufficiency of that divine ,lord and ,lover of our souls1 and there has to be a vigilant and a continual suppression1 and often excision and ejection1 of other desires after transient and partial satisfactions4 ,a man who lets all his longings go unchecked and untamed after earthly good has none left towards heaven4 ,if you break up a river into a multitude of channels1 and lead off much of it to irrigate many little gardens1 there will be no force in its current1 its bed will become dry1 and it will never reach the great ocean where it loses its individuality and becomes part of a mightier whole4 ,so1 if we fritter away and divide up our desires among all the clamant and partial blessings of earth1 then we shall but feebly long1 and feebly longing1 shall but faintly enjoy1 the cool1 clear1 exhaustless gush from the fountain of life--',my soul thirsteth for ,god6'--in the measure in which that is true of us1 and not one hairsbreadth beyond it1 in spite of orthodoxy1 and professions1 and activities1 are we ,christian people4 ,,ii4 ,the soul that thirsts after ,god is satisfied4 ,the ,psalmist1 by the magic might of his desire1 changes1 as in a sudden transformation scene in a theatre1 all the dreariness about him4 ,one moment it is a 'dry and barren land where no water is'2 the next moment a flash of verdure has come over the yellow sand1 and the ghastly silence is broken by the song of merry birds4 ,the one moment he is hungering there in the desert2 the next1 he sees spread before him a table in the wilderness1 and his soul is 'satisfied as with marrow and with fatness1' and his mouth praises ,god1 whom he possesses1 who has come unto him swift1 immediate1 in full response to his cry4 ,now1 all that is but a picturesque way of putting a very plain truth1 which we should all be the happier and better if we believed and lived by1 that we can have as much of ,god as we desire1 and that what we have of ,him will be enough4 ,we can have as much of ,god as we desire4 ,there is a quest which finds its object with absolute certainty1 and which finds its object simultaneously with the quest4 ,and these two things1 the certainty and the immediateness with which the thirst of the soul after ,god passes into a satisfied fruition of the soul in ,god1 are what are taught us here in our text2 and what you and ,i1 if we comply with the conditions1 may have as our own blessed experience4 ,there is one search about which it is true that it never fails to find4 ,the certainty that the soul thirsting after ,god shall be satisfied with ,god results at once from ,his nearness to us1 and ,his infinite willingness to give ,himself1 which ,he is only prevented from carrying into act by our obstinate refusal to open our hearts by desire4 ,it takes all a man's indifference to keep ,god out of his heart1 'for in ,him we live1 and move1 and have our being1' and that divine love1 which ,christianity teaches us to see on the throne of the universe1 is but infinite longing for self-communication4 ,that is the definition of true love always1 and they fearfully mistake its essence1 and take the lower and spurious forms of it for the higher and nobler1 who think of love as being what1 alas6 it often is1 in our imperfect lives1 a fierce desire to have for our very own the thing or person beloved4 ,but that is a second-rate kind of love4 ,god's love is an infinite desire to give ,himself4 ,if only we open our hearts--and nothing opens them so wide as longing--,he will pour in1 as surely as the atmosphere streams in through every chink and cranny1 as surely as if some great black rock that stands on the margin of the sea is blasted away1 the waters will flood over the sands behind it4 ,so unless we keep ,god out1 by not wishing ,him in1 in ,he will come4 ,the certitude that we possess ,him when we desire ,him is as absolute4 ,as swift as ,marconi's wireless message across the ,atlantic and its answer2 so immediate is the response from ,heaven to the desire from earth4 ,what a contrast that is to all our experiences6 ,is there anything else about which we can say ',i am quite sure that if ,i want it ,i shall have it4 ,i am quite sure that when ,i want it ,i have it'8 ,nothing6 ,there may be wells to which a man has to go1 as the ,bedouin in the desert has to go1 with empty water-skins1 many a day's journey1 and it comes to be a fight between the physical endurance of the man and the weary distance between him and the spring4 ,many a man's bones1 and many a camel's1 lie on the track to the wells1 who lay down gasping and black-lipped1 and died before they reached them4 ,we all know what it is to have longing desires which have cost us many an effort1 and efforts and desires have both been in vain4 ,is it not blessed to be sure that there is ,one whom to long for is immediately to possess8 ,then there is the other thought here1 too1 that when we have ,god we have enough4 ,that is not true about anything else4 ,god forbid that one should depreciate the wise adaptation of earthly goods to human needs which runs all through every life6 but all that recognised1 still we come back to this1 that there is nothing here1 nothing except ,god ,himself1 that will fill all the corners of a human heart4 ,there is always something lacking in all other satisfactions4 ,they address themselves to sides1 and angles1 and facets of our complex nature2 they leave all the others unsatisfied4 ,the table that is spread in the world1 at which1 if ,i might use so violent a figure1 our various longings and capacities seat themselves as guests1 always fails to provide for some of them1 and whilst some1 and those especially of the lower type1 are feasting full1 there sits by their side another guest1 who finds nothing on the table to satisfy his hunger4 ,but if my soul thirsts for ,god1 my soul will be satisfied when ,i get ,him4 ,the prophet ,isaiah modifies this figure in the great word of invitation which pealed out from him1 where he says1 ',ho6 everyone that thirsteth1 come ye to the waters4' ,but that figure is not enough for him1 that metaphor1 blessed as it is1 does not exhaust the facts2 and so he goes on1 'yea1 come1 buy wine'--and that is not enough for him1 that does not exhaust the facts1 therefore he adds1 'and milk4' ,water1 wine1 and milk2 all forms of the draughts that slake the thirsts of humanity1 are found in ,god ,himself1 and he who has ,him needs seek nowhere besides4 ,lastly-- ,,iii4 ,the soul that is satisfied with ,god immediately renews its quest4 ',my soul followeth hard after ,thee4' ,the two things come together1 longing and fruition1 as ,i have said4 ,fruition begets longing1 and there is swift and blessed alternation1 or rather co-existence of the two4 ,joyful consciousness of possession and eager anticipation of larger bestowments are blended still more closely1 if we adhere to the original meaning of the words of this last clause1 than they are in our translation1 for the psalm really reads1 ',my soul cleaveth after ,thee4' ,in the one word 'cleaveth1' is expressed adhesion1 like that of the limpet to the rock1 conscious union1 blessed possession2 and in the other word 'after ,thee' is expressed the pressing onwards for more and yet more4 ,but now contrast that with the issue of all other methods of satisfying human appetites1 be they lower or be they higher4 ,they result either in satiety or in a tyrannical1 diseased appetite which increases faster than the power of satisfying it increases4 ,the man who follows after other good than ,god1 has at the end to say1 ',i am sick1 tired of it1 and it has lost all power to draw me1' or he has to say1 ',i ravenously long for more of it1 and ,i cannot get any more4' ',he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver1 nor he that loveth abundance with increase4' ,you have to increase the dose of the narcotic1 and as you increase the dose1 it loses its power1 and the less you can do without it the less it does for you4 ,but to drink into the one ,god slakes all thirsts1 and because ,he is infinite1 and our capacity for receiving ,him may be indefinitely expanded2 therefore1 ',age cannot wither1 nor custom stale ,his infinite variety'2 but the more we have of ,god1 the more we long for ,him1 and the more we long for ,him the more we possess ,him4 ,brethren6 these are the possibilities of the ,christian life2 being its possibilities they are our obligations4 ,the ,psalmist's words may well be turned by us into self-examining interrogations and we may--,god grant that we do6--all ask ourselves2 ',do ,i thus thirst after ,god8' ',have ,i learned that1 notwithstanding all supplies1 this world without ,him is a waterless desert8 ,have ,i experienced that whilst ,i call ,he answers1 and that the water flows in as soon as ,i open my heart8 ,and do ,i know the happy birth of fresh longings out of every fruition1 and how to go further and further into the blessed land1 and into my elastic heart receive more and more of the ever blessed ,god8' ,these texts of mine not only set forth the ideal for the ,christian life here1 but they carry in themselves the foreshadowing of the life hereafter4 ,for surely such a merely physical accident as death cannot be supposed to break this golden sequence which runs through life4 ,surely this partial and progressive possession of an infinite good1 by a nature capable of indefinitely increasing appropriation of1 and approximation to it is the prophecy of its own eternal continuance4 ,so long as the fountain springs1 the thirsty lips will drink4 ,god's servants will live till ,god dies4 ,the ,christian life will go on1 here and hereafter1 till it has reached the limits of its own capacity of expansion1 and has exhausted ,god4 ',the water that ,i shall give him shall be in him a well of water1 springing up into everlasting life4' ,,sin ,,overcoming ,,and ,,overcome ',iniquities prevail against me3 as for our transgressions1 ,thou shalt purge them away4'--,,psalm4 lxv4 #c4 ,there is an intended contrast in these two clauses more pointed and emphatic in the original than in our ,bible1 between man's impotence and ,god's power in the face of the fact of sin4 ,the words of the first clause might be translated1 with perhaps a little increase of vividness1 'iniquities are too strong for me'2 and the ',thou' of the next clause is emphatically expressed in the original1 'as for our transgressions' 7which we cannot touch71 ',thou shalt purge them away4' ,despair of self is the mother of confidence in ,god2 and no man has learned the blessedness and the sweetness of ,god's power to cleanse1 who has not learned the impotence of his own feeble attempts to overcome his transgression4 ,the very heart of ,christianity is redemption4 ,there are a great many ways of looking at ,christ's mission and ,christ's work1 but ,i venture to say that they are all inadequate unless they start with this as the fundamental thought1 and that only he who has learned by serious reflection and bitter personal experience the gravity and the hopelessness of the fact of the bondage of sin1 rightly understands the meaning and the brightness of the ,gospel of ,christ4 ,the angel voice that told us ,his name1 and based ,his name upon ,his characteristic work1 went deeper into the 'philosophy' of ,christianity than many a modern thinker1 when it said1 ',thou shalt call ,his name ,jesus1 because ,he shall save ,his people from their sins4' ,so here we have the hopelessness and misery of man's vain struggles1 and side by side with these the joyful confidence in the divine victory4 ,we have the problem and the solution1 the barrier and the overleaping of it2 man's impotence and the omnipotence of ,god's mercy4 ,my iniquities are too strong for me1 but ,thou art too strong for them4 ,as for our transgressions1 of which ,i cannot purge the stain1 with all my tears and with all my work1 ',thou shalt purge them away4' ,note1 then1 these two--first1 the cry of despair2 second1 the ringing note of confidence4 ,i4 ,the cry of despair4 ',too strong for me1' and yet they are me4 ,me1 and not me2 mine1 and yet1 somehow or other1 my enemies1 although my children--too strong for me1 yet ,i give them their strength by my own cowardly and feeble compliance with their temptations2 too strong for me and overmastering me1 though ,i pride myself often on my freedom and spirit when ,i am yielding to them4 ,mine iniquities are mine1 and yet they are not mine2 me and yet1 blessed be ,god6 they can be separated from me4 ,the picture suggested by the words is that of some usurping power that has mastered a man1 and laid its grip upon him so that all efforts to get away from the grasp are hopeless4 ,now1 ,i dare say1 that some of you are half consciously thinking that this is a piece of ordinary pulpit exaggeration1 and has no kind of application to the respectable and decent lives that most of you live1 and that you are ready to say1 with as much promptitude and as much falsehood as the old ,jews did1 even whilst the ,roman eagles1 lifted above the walls of the castle1 were giving them the lie3 ',we were never in bondage to any man4' ,you do not know or feel that anything has got hold of you which is stronger than you4 ,well1 let us see4 ,consider for a moment4 ,you are powerless to master your evil1 considered as habits4 ,you do not know the tyranny of the usurper until a rebellion is got up against him4 ,as long as you are gliding with the stream you have no notion of its force4 ,turn your boat and try to pull against it1 and when the sweat-drops come on your brow1 and you are sliding backwards1 in spite of all your effort1 you will begin to find out what a tremendous down-sucking energy there is in that quiet1 silent flow4 ,so the ready compliance of the worst part of my nature masks for me the tremendous force with which my evil tyrannises over me1 and it is only when ,i face round and try to go the other way1 that ,i find out what a power there is in its invisible grasp4 ,did you ever try to cure some trivial bad habit1 some trick of your fingers1 for instance8 ,you know what infinite pains and patience and time it took you to do that1 and do you think that you would find it easier if you once set yourself to cure that lust1 say1 or that petulance1 pride1 passion1 dishonesty1 or whatsoever form of selfish living in forgetfulness of ,god may be your besetting sin8 ,if you will try to pull the poison fang up1 you will find how deep its roots are4 ,it is like the yellow charlock in a field1 which seems only to spread in consequence of attempts to get rid of it--as the rough rhyme says2 ',one year's seeding1 seven years' weeding'--and more at the end of the time than at the beginning4 ,any honest attempt at mending character drives a man to this--',my iniquities are too strong for me4' ,i do not for a moment deny that there may be1 and occasionally is1 a magnificent force of will and persistency of purpose in efforts at self-improvement on the part of perfectly irreligious men4 ,but1 if by the occasional success of such effort1 a man conquers one form of evil1 that does not deliver him from evil4 ,you have the usurping dominion deep in your nature1 and what does it matter in essence which part of your being is most conspicuously under its control8 ,it may be some animal passion1 and you may conquer that4 ,a man1 for instance1 when he is young1 lives in the sphere of sensuous excitement2 and when he gets old he turns a miser1 and laughs at the pleasures that he used to get from the flesh1 and thinks himself ever so much wiser4 ,is he any better8 ,he has changed1 so to speak1 the kind of sin4 ,that is all4 ,the devil has put a new viceroy in authority1 but it is the old government1 though with fresh officials4 ,the house which is cleared of the seven devils without getting into it the all-filling and sanctifying grace of ,god and love of ,jesus ,christ will stand empty4 ,nature abhors a vacuum1 and so does ,satan1 and the empty house invites the seven ill-tenants1 and back they come in their diabolical completeness4 ,so1 dear friends6 though you may do a great deal--thank ,god6--in subduing evil habits and inclinations1 you cannot touch1 so as to master1 the central fact of sin unless you get ,god to help you to do it1 and you have to go down on your knees before you can do that work4 ',iniquities are too strong for me4' ,then1 again1 consider our utter impotence in dealing with our own evil regarded as guilt4 ,when we do wrong1 the judge within1 which we call conscience1 says to us two things1 or perhaps three4 ,it says first1 ',that is wrong'2 it says secondly1 ',you have got to answer for it'2 and ,i think it says thirdly1 ',and you will be punished for it4' ,that is to say1 there is a sense of demerit that goes side by side with our evil1 as certainly as the shadow travels with the substance4 ,and though1 sometimes1 when the sun goes behind a cloud1 there is no shadow1 and sometimes1 when the light within us is darkened1 conscience does not cast the black shade of demerit across the mind2 yet conscience is there1 though silent4 ,when it does speak it says1 ',you have done wrong1 and you are answerable4' ,answerable to whom8 ,to it8 ,no6 ,to society8 ,no6 ,to law8 ,no6 ,you can only be answerable to a person1 and that is ,god4 ,against ,him we have sinned4 ,we do wrong2 and if wrong were all that we had to charge ourselves with1 it would be because there was nothing but law that we were answerable to4 ,we do unkind things1 and if unkindness and inhumanity were all that we had to charge ourselves with1 it would be because we were only answerable to one another4 ,we do suicidal things1 and if self-inflicted injury were all our definition of evil1 it would be because we were only answerable to our conscience and ourselves4 ,but we sin1 and that means that every wrong thing1 big or little1 which we do1 whether we think about ,god in the doing of it or no1 is1 in its deepest essence1 an offence against ,him4 ,the judgment of conscience carries with it the solemn looking for of future judgment4 ,it says1 ',i am only a herald3 ,he is coming4' ,no man feels the burden of guilt without an anticipation of judgment4 ,what are you going to do with these two feelings8 ,do you think that you can deal with them8 ,it is no use saying1 ',i am not responsible for what ,i did2 ,i inherited such-and-such tendencies2 circumstances are so-and-so4 ,i could not help it2 environment1 and evolution1 and all the rest of it diminish1 if they do not destroy1 responsibility4' ,be it so6 ,and yet1 after all1 this is left--the certainty in my own convictions that ,i had the power to do or not to do4 ,that is a fundamental part of a man's consciousness4 ,if it is a delusion1 what is to be trusted1 and how can we be sure of anything8 ,so that we are responsible for our action1 and can no more elude the guilt that follows sin than we can jump off our own shadow4 ,and ,i want you to consider what you are going to do about your guilt4 ,one thing you cannot do--you cannot remove it4 ,men have tried to do so by sacrifices1 and false religions4 ,they have swung in the air by means of hooks fastened into their bodies1 and ,i do not know what besides1 and they have not managed it4 ,you can no more get rid of your guilt by being sorry for your sin than you could bring a dead man to life again by being sorry for his murder4 ,what is done is done4 ',what ,i have written ,i have written6' ,nothing will ever 'wash that little lily hand white again1' as the magnificent murderess in ,shakespeare's great creation found out4 ,you can forget your guilt2 you can ignore it4 ,you can adopt some of the easily-learned-by-rote and fashionable theories that will enable you to minimise it1 and to laugh at us old-fashioned believers in guilt and punishment4 ,you do not take away the rock because you blow out the lamps of the lighthouse1 and you do not alter an ugly fact by ignoring it4 ,i beseech you1 as reasonable men and women1 to open your eyes to these plain facts about yourselves1 that you have an element of demerit and of liability to consequent evil and suffering which you are perfectly powerless to touch or to lighten in the slightest degree4 ,consider1 again1 our utter impotence in regard to our evil1 looked upon as a barrier between us and ,god4 ,that is the force of the context here4 ,the ,psalmist has just been saying1 ',o ,thou that hearest prayer6 unto ,thee shall all flesh come4' ,and then he bethinks himself how flesh compassed with infirmities can come4 ,and he staggers back bewildered4 ,there can be no question but that the plain dictate of common sense is1 ',we know that ,god heareth not sinners4' ,my evil not only lies like a great black weight of guilt and of habit on my consciousness and on my activity1 but it actually stands like a frowning cliff1 barring my path and making a barrier between me and ,god4 ',your hands are full of blood2 ,i hate your vain oblations1' says the solemn ,voice through the prophet4 ,and this stands for ever true--',the prayer of the wicked is an abomination4' ,there frowns the barrier4 ,thank ,god6 mercies come through it1 howsoever close-knit and impenetrable it may seem4 ,thank ,god6 no sin can shut ,him out from us1 but it can shut us out from ,him4 ,and though we cannot separate ,god from ourselves1 and ,he is nearer us than our consciousness and the very basis of our being1 yet by a mysterious power we can separate ourselves from ,him4 ,we may build up1 of the black blocks of our sins flung up from the inner fires1 and cemented with the bituminous mortar of our lusts and passions1 a black wall between us and our ,father4 ,you and ,i have done it4 ,we can build it--we cannot throw it down2 we can rear it--we cannot tunnel it4 ,our iniquities are too strong for us4 ,now notice that this great cry of despair in my text is the cry of a single soul4 ,this is the only place in the psalm in which the singular person is used4 ',iniquities are too strong for us1' is not sufficient4 ,each man must take guilt to himself4 ,the recognition and confession of evil must be an intensely personal and individual act4 ,my question to you1 dear friend6 is1 ,did you ever know it by experience8 ,going apart by yourself1 away from everybody else1 with no companions or confederates to lighten the load of your felt evil1 forgetting tempters and associates and all other people1 did you ever stand1 you and ,god1 face to face1 with nobody to listen to the conference8 ,and did you ever feel in that awful presence that whether the world was full of men1 or deserted and you the only survivor1 would make no difference to the personal responsibility and weight and guilt of your individual sin8 ,have you ever felt1 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i'--solitary--'sinned1' and confessed that iniquities are 'too strong for me'8 ,,ii4 ,now1 let me say a word or two about the second clause of this great verse1 the ringing cry of confident hope4 ,the confidence is1 as ,i said1 the child of despair4 ,you will never go into that large place of assured trust in ,god's effacing finger passed over all your evil until you have come through the narrow pass1 where the black rocks all but bar the traveller's foot1 of conscious impotence to deal with your sin4 ,you must1 first of all1 dear friends6 go down into the depths1 and learn to have no trust in yourselves before you can rise to the heights1 and rejoice in the hope of the glory and of the mercy of ,god4 ,begin with 'too strong for me1' and the impotent 'me' leads on to the almighty ',thou4' ,then1 do not forget that what was confidence on the ,psalmist's part is knowledge on ours4 ',as for our transgressions1 ,thou wilt purge them away4' ,you and ,i know why1 and know how4 ,jesus ,christ in ,his great work for us has vindicated the ,psalmist's confidence1 and has laid bare for the world's faith the grounds upon which that divine power proceeds in its cleansing mercy4 ',thou wilt purge them away1' said he4 ',christ hath borne our sins in ,his own body on the tree1' says the ,new ,testament4 ,i have spoken about our impotence in regard to our own evil1 considered under three aspects4 ,i meant to have said more about ,christ's work upon our sins1 considered under the same three aspects4 ,but let me just1 very briefly1 touch upon them4 ,jesus ,christ1 when trusted1 will do for sin1 as habit1 what cannot be done without ,him4 ,he will give the motive to resist1 which is lacking in the majority of cases4 ,he will give the power to resist1 which is lacking in all cases4 ,he will put a new life and spirit into our nature which will strengthen and transform our feeble wills1 will elevate and glorify our earthward trailing affections1 will make us love that which ,he loves1 and aspire to that which ,he is1 until we become1 in the change from glory to glory1 reflections of the image of the ,lord4 ,as habit and as dominant power within us1 nothing will cast out the evil that we have entertained in our hearts except the power of the life of ,christ ,jesus1 in ,his ,spirit dwelling within us and making us clean4 ,when 'a strong man keeps his house1 his goods are in peace1 but when a stronger than he cometh he taketh from him all his implements in which he trusteth1 and divideth his spoil4' ,and so ,christ has bound the strong man1 in that one great sacrifice on the ,cross4 ,and now ,he comes to each of us1 if we will trust ,him1 and gives motives1 power1 pattern1 hopes1 which enable us to cast out the tyrant that has held dominion over us4 ',if the ,son make you free1 ye shall be free indeed4' ,and ,i tell all of you1 especially you young men and women1 who presumably have noble aspirations and desires1 that the only way to conquer the world1 the flesh1 and the devil1 is to let ,christ clothe you with ,his armour2 and let ,him lay ,his hand on your feeble hands whilst you aim the arrows and draw the bow1 as the prophet did in the old story1 and then you will shoot1 and not miss4 ,christ1 and ,christ alone1 within us will make us powerful to cast out the evil4 ,in like manner1 ,he1 and ,he only1 deals with sin1 considered as guilt4 ,here is the living secret and centre of all ,christ's preciousness and power--that ,he died on the ,cross2 and in ,his spirit1 which knew the drear desolation of being forsaken by ,god1 and in ,his flesh1 which bore the outward consequences of sin1 in death as a sinful world knows it1 'bare our sins and carried our sorrows1' so that 'by ,his stripes we are healed4' ,if you will trust yourselves to the mighty ,sacrifice1 and with no reservation1 as if you could do anything1 will cast your whole weight and burden upon ,him1 then the guilt will pass away1 and the power of sin will be broken4 ,transgressions will be buried--'covered1' as the original of my text has it--as with a great mound piled upon them1 so that they shall never offend or smell rank to heaven any more1 but be lost to sight for ever4 ,christ can take away the barrier reared by sin between ,god and the human spirit4 ,solid and black as it stands1 ,his blood dropped upon it melts away4 ,then it disappears like the black bastions of the aerial structures in the clouds before the sunshine4 ,he hath opened for us a new and living way1 that we might 'have access and confidence1' and1 sinners as we are1 that we might dwell for ever more at the side of our ,lord4 ,so1 dear brother6 whilst humanity cries--and ,i pray that all of us may cry like the ,apostle1 ',oh1 wretched man that ,i am6 who shall deliver me from the body of this death8'--,faith lifts up1 swift and clear1 her ringing note of triumph1 which ,i pray ,god or rather1 which ,i beseech you that you will make your own1 ',i thank ,god6 ,i through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4' ,,the ,,burden-,,bearing ,,god ',blessed be the ,lord1 who daily loadeth us with benefits4'--7,a4,v474 ',blessed be the ,lord1 who daily beareth our burden4' --,,psalm lxviii4 #ai 7,r4,v474 ,the difference between these two renderings seems to be remarkable1 and a person ignorant of any language but our own might find it hard to understand how any one sentence was susceptible of both4 ,but the explanation is extremely simple4 ,the important words in the ,authorised ,version1 'with benefits1' are a supplement1 having nothing to represent them in the original4 ,the word translated 'loadeth' in the one rendering and 'beareth' in the other admits of both these meanings with equal ease1 and is1 in fact1 employed in both of them in other places in ,scripture4 ,it is clear1 ,i think1 that1 in this case1 at all events1 the ,revision is an improvement4 ,for the great objection to the rendering which has become familiar to us all1 ',who daily loadeth us with benefits1' is that these essential words are not in the original1 and need to be supplied in order to make out the sense4 ,whereas1 on the other hand1 if we adopt the suggested emendation1 ',who daily beareth our burdens1' we get a still more beautiful meaning1 which requires no forced addition in order to bring it out4 ,so1 then1 ,i accept that varied form of our text as the one on which ,i desire to say a few words now4 ,i4 ,the first thing that strikes me in looking at it is the remarkable and eloquent blending of majesty and condescension4 ,it is not without significance that the ,psalmist employs that name for ,god in this clause1 which most strongly expresses the idea of supremacy and dominion4 ,rule and dignity are the predominant ideas in the word ',lord1' as1 indeed1 the ,english reader feels in hearing it2 and then1 side by side with that1 there lies this thought1 that the ,highest1 the ,ruler of all1 whose absolute authority stretches over all mankind1 stoops to this low and servile office1 and becomes the burden-bearer for all the pilgrims who will put their trust in ,him4 ,this blending together of the two ideas of dignity and condescension to lowly offices of help and furtherance is made even more emphatic if we glance back at the context of the psalm4 ,for there is no place in ,scripture in which there is flashed before the mind of the singer a grander picture of the magnificence and the glory of ,god1 than that which glitters and flames in the previous verses4 ,we read in them of ,god 'riding through the heavens by ,his name ,jehovah'2 of ,him as marching at the head of the people1 through the wilderness1 and of the earth quivering at ,his tread1 and the heavens dropping at ,his presence4 ,we read of ,zion itself being moved at the presence of the ,lord4 ,we read of ,his word going forth so mightily as to scatter armies and their kings4 ,we read of the chariots of ,god as 'twenty thousand1 even thousands of angels4' ,all is gathered together in the great verse1 ',thou hast ascended on high1 ,thou hast led captivity captive4' ,and then1 before he has taken breath almost1 the ,psalmist turns1 with most striking and dramatic abruptness1 from the contemplation1 awe-struck and yet jubilant1 of all that tremendous1 magnificent1 and earth-shaking power to this wonderful thought1 ',blessed be the ,lord6 who daily beareth our burdens4' ,not only does ,he march at the head of the congregation through the wilderness1 but ,he comes1 if ,i might so say1 behind the caravan1 amongst the carriers and the porters1 and will bear anything that any of the weary pilgrims intrusts to ,his care4 ,oh1 dear brethren6 if familiarity did not dull the glory of it1 what a thought that is--a ,god that carries men's loads6 ,people talk much rubbish about the 'stern ,old ,testament ,deity'2 is there anything sweeter1 greater1 more heart-compelling and heart-softening1 than such a thought as this8 ,how all the majesty bows itself1 and declares itself to be enlisted on our side1 when we think that ',he that sitteth on the circle of the heavens1 and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers' is the ,god that 'daily beareth our burdens'6 ,and that is the tone of the ,old ,testament throughout1 for you will always find braided together in the closest vital unity the representation of these two aspects of the divine nature2 and if ever we hear set forth a more than ordinarily magnificent conception of ,his power and majesty be sure that1 if you look1 you will find side by side with it a more than ordinarily tender representation of ,his gentleness and ,his grace4 ,and if we look deeper1 this is not a case of contrast1 it is not that there are sharply opposed to each other these two things1 the gentleness and the greatness1 the condescension and the magnificence1 but that the former is the direct result of the latter2 and it is just because ,he is ,lord1 and has dominion over all1 that1 therefore1 ,he bears the burdens of all4 ,for the responsibilities of the ,creator are in proportion to ,his greatness1 and ,he that has made man has thereby made it necessary that ,he should1 if they will let ,him1 be their ,burden-bearer and their ,servant4 ,the highest must be the lowest1 and just because ,god is high over all1 blessed for ever1 therefore is ,he the ,supporter and ,sustainer of all4 ,so we may learn the true meaning of elevation of all sorts1 and from the example of loftiest1 may draw the lesson for our more insignificant varieties of height1 that the higher we are1 the more we are bound to stoop1 and that men are then likest ,god1 when their elevation suggests to them responsibility1 and when he that is chiefest becomes the servant4 ,,ii4 ,so1 then1 notice next the deep insight into the heart and ways of ,god here4 ',he daily beareth our burdens4' ,if there is any meaning in this word at all1 it means that ,he so knits ,himself with us as that all which touches us touches ,him1 that ,he takes a share in all our pressing duties1 and feels the reflection from all our sorrows and pains4 ,we have no impassive ,god in the heavens1 careless of mankind1 nor is ,his settled and changeless and unshaded blessedness of such a sort as that there cannot pass across it--if ,i may not say a shadow1 ,i may at least say--a ripple from men's pangs and troubles and cares4 ,love is the identification of oneself with the beloved object4 ,we call it sympathy1 when we are speaking about the fellow feeling between man and man that is kindled of love4 ,but there is something deeper than sympathy in that great ,heart1 which gathers into itself all hearts1 and in that great ,being1 whose being underlies all our beings1 and is the root from which we all live and grow4 ,god1 in all our afflictions1 is afflicted2 and in simple though profound verity1 has that which is most truly represented to men1 by calling it a fellow feeling with our infirmities and our sorrows4 ',think not thou canst sigh a sigh1 ,and thy ,maker is not nigh2 ,think not thou canst weep a tear1 ,and thy ,maker is not near4' ,for want of a better word1 we speak of the sympathy of ,god3 but we need something far more intimate and unwearied than we understand by that word1 to express the community of feeling between all who trust ,him and ,his own infinite heart4 ,if this bearing of our burden means anything1 it gives us a deep insight1 too1 into ,his workings1 as well as into ,his heart4 ,for it covers over this great truth that ,he ,himself comes to us1 and by the communication of ,his own power to us1 makes us able to bear the burdens which we roll upon ,him4 ,the meaning of ,his 'lifting our load1' in so far as that expression refers to the divine act rather than the divine heart1 is that ,he breathes into us the strength by which we can carry the heavy task of duties1 and can endure the crushing pressure of our sorrows4 ,all the endurance of the saints is ,god in them bearing their burdens4 ,notice1 too1 'daily beareth1' or1 as the ,hebrew has it yet more emphatically because more simply1 'day by day beareth4' ,he travels with us1 in the greatness of ,his might and the long-suffering of ,his unwearied patience1 through all our tribulation1 and as ,he has 'borne and carried' ,his people 'all the days of old1' so1 at each new recurrence of new weights1 ,he is with us still4 ,like some river that runs by the wayside and ever cheers the traveller on the dusty path with its music1 and offers its waters to cool his thirsty lips1 so1 day by day1 in the slow iteration of our lingering sorrows1 and in the monotonous recurrence of our habitual duties1 there is with us the ever-present help of the ,ancient of ,days1 who measures out daily strength for the daily load1 and never sends the one without proffering the other4 ,,iii4 ,so1 again1 notice here the remarkable anticipation of the very heart of the ,gospel4 ',the ,god who daily beareth our burdens1' says the ,psalmist4 ,he spoke deeper things than he knew1 and was wiser than he understood4 ,for the hope that gleams in these words comes to fulfilment1 in ,him of whom it was written in prophetic anticipation1 so clear and definite that it reads like historical narrative--',he bare our grief and carried our sorrows4 ,the chastisement of our peace was upon ,him4 ,the ,lord hath laid on ,him the iniquity of us all4' ,ah6 it were of small avail to know a ,god that bore the burden of our sorrows and the load of our duties1 if we did not know a ,god who bore the weight of our sins4 ,for that is the real crushing weight that breaks men's hearts and bows them to the earth4 ,so the ,new ,testament1 with its message of a ,christ on whom is laid the whole pressure of the world's sin1 is the deepest fulfilment of the great words of my text4 ,,iv4 ,note1 lastly1 what we should therefore do with our burdens4 ,first1 we should cast them on ,god1 and let ,him carry them4 ,he cannot unless we do4 ,one sometimes sees a petulant and self-confident little child staggering along with some heavy burden by the parent's side1 but pushing away the hand that is put out to help it to carry its load4 ,and that is what too many of us do when ,god says to us1 ',here1 ,my child6 let ,me help you1 ,i will take the heavy end of it1 and do you take the light one4' ',cast thy burden upon the ,lord'--and do it by faith1 by simple trust in ,him1 by making real to yourselves the fact of ,his divine sympathy1 and ,his sure presence1 to aid and to sustain4 ,having thus let ,him carry the weight1 do not you try to carry it too4 ,as our good old hymn has it-- ',why should ,i the burden bear8' ,it is a great deal more ,god's affair than yours4 ,we have1 indeed1 in a sense1 to carry it4 ',every man shall bear his own burden4' ,the weight of duty is not to be indolently shoved off our shoulders on to ,his1 saying1 ',let ,him do the work4' ,we have indeed to carry the weight of sorrow4 ,there is no use in trying to deny its bitterness and its burden1 and it would not be well for us that it should be less bitter and less heavy4 ,in many lands the habit prevails1 especially amongst the women1 of carrying heavy loads on their heads2 and all travellers tell us that the practice gives a dignity and a grace to the carriage1 and a freedom and a swing to the gait1 which nothing else will do4 ,depend upon it1 that so much of our burdens of work and weariness as is left to us1 after we have cast them upon ,him1 is intended to strengthen and ennoble us4 ,but do not let there be the gnawings of anxiety4 ,do not let there be the self-torment of aimless prognostications of evil4 ,do not let there be the chewing of the bitter morsel of irrevocable sorrows2 but fling all upon ,god4 ,and remember what the ,master has said1 and ,his servant has repeated3 ',take no anxious care 444 for your heavenly ,father knoweth'2 ',cast your anxiety upon ,him1 for ,he careth for you4' ,and the last advice that comes from my text is1 to see that your tongues are not silent in that great hymn of praise which ought to go up to 'the ,lord that daily beareth our burdens4' ,he wants only our trust and our thanks1 and is best paid by the praise of our love1 and of our heaping still more upon ,his ever strong and ready arm4 ,bless the ,lord6 who beareth our burdens1 and see that you give ,him yours to bear4 ,listen to ,him who hath said1 ',come unto ,me all ye that 444 are heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest4' ,,reasonable ,,rapture ',whom have ,i in heaven but ,thee8 and there is none upon earth that ,i desire besides ,thee4 #bf4 ,my flesh and my heart faileth2 but ,god is the strength of my heart1 and my portion for ever4' --,,psalm lxxiii4 #be1 #bf4 ,we have in this psalm the record of the ,psalmist's struggle with the great standing difficulty of how to reconcile the unequal distribution of worldly prosperity with the wisdom and providence of ,god4 ,that difficulty pressed more acutely upon men of the ,old ,dispensation than even upon us1 because the very promise of that stage of revelation was that ,godliness brought with it outward well-being4 ,our ,psalmist reaches a solution1 not exactly by the same path by which the writers of the ,books of ,job and ,ecclesiastes find an answer to the problem4 ,this man gives up the endeavour to solve the question by reflection and thought1 and as he says1 'goes into the sanctuary of ,god1' gets into communion with his ,father in heaven1 and by reason of that communion reaches a conclusion which is1 at all events1 an approximate solution of his difficulty1 viz4 the belief of a future life1 ',then understood ,i their end4' ,the solemn vision of a life beyond the present1 which should be the outcome and retribution of this1 rises before him from out of his agitated thoughts1 like the moon1 pale and phantom-like1 from a stormy sea4 ,that truth1 if revealed at all to the ,psalmist's contemporaries1 certainly did not occupy the same position of clearness or of prominence as it does in our religious beliefs4 ,but here we see a soul led up by its wrestlings to apprehend it1 and as was said of a statesman1 'calling a new world into existence to redress the balance of the old4' ,so we get here a soul taught by ,god1 and filled with ,him by communion1 therefore lifted to the height of a faith in a future life1 and so made able to look out upon all the perplexities and staggering mysteries of earth's mingled ill and good1 if not with distinct understanding1 at least with patient faith4 ,the words of my text indicate for us the very high-water mark of religious experience1 the very apex and climax of what some people would call mystical religion to which this man has climbed1 because he fought with his doubts1 and by ,god's grace was able to lay them4 ,to him the world's uncertain ill or good becomes infinitely insignificant1 because for the future he has a clear vision of a continued life with ,god1 and because for the present he knows that to have ,god in his heart is all that he really needs4 ,i4 ,we have here1 first1 a necessity which1 misdirected1 is the source of man's misery4 ',whom have ,i in heaven but ,thee8 there is none upon earth that ,i desire besides ,thee4' ,if men would interpret the deepest voices of their own souls that is what they would all say1 because1 from the very make of our human nature there is not one of us1 howsoever weak and sinful and small1 but is great enough to be too great to be filled with anything smaller than ,god4 ,our thoughts1 even the thoughts of the least enlightened amongst us1 go wandering through eternity2 and as the writer of the ,book of ,ecclesiastes says3--',he hath set eternity in men's hearts4' ,we all of us need1 though1 alas6 so few of us know that we need1 a living possession of a living perfect ,person1 for mind1 for heart1 for will4 ,nothing short of the 'fulness of ,god' is enough for the smallest amongst us4 ,so1 because we do not believe this1 because hundreds of you do not know what it is for which your souls are crying out1 'the misery of man is great upon him4' ,you try to fill that deep and aching void in your hearts1 which is a sign of your possible nobleness1 and a pledge of your possible blessedness1 with all manner of minute rubbish1 which can never fill up the gap that is there4 ,cartload after cartload may be tilted into the bottomless bog1 and there is no more solid ground on the surface than there was at the beginning4 ,oh1 my brother6 consult thine own deepest need2 listen to that voice1 often stifled1 often neglected1 and by some of you always misunderstood1 which speaks in your wills1 minds1 consciences1 hopes1 desires1 hearts2 and is it not this3 ',my soul thirsteth for ,god1 for the living ,god'8 ,there is none in the heaven1 with all its stars and angels1 enough for thee but ,him4 ,there is none upon earth1 with all its flowers1 and treasures1 and loves1 that will calm and still thy soul but only ,god4 ,the words of my text spring from a necessity felt by every man1 misdirected by a tragical majority of men1 and therefore the source of restlessness and misery4 ,,ii4 ,secondly1 we see here the longing which1 rightly directed and cherished1 is the very spirit of religion4 ,he1 and only he1 is the religious man1 who can take these words of my text for the inmost words of his conscious effort and life4 ,only in the measure in which you and ,i recognise that ,god is our sole and all-sufficient good1 in that measure have we any business to call ourselves devout or ,christian people4 ,that is a sharp test1 is it not8 ,is it not a valid and an accurate one8 ,is that not what really makes a religious man1 namely1 the supreme admiration of1 and aspiration after1 and possession of ,god1 and ,god alone8 ,what a contrast that forms to our ordinary notions of what religion is6 ,high above all creeds which are valuable as leading up to this enthusiasm of longing and rapture of possession1 high above all preliminaries and preparations in the way of outward services and ceremonial or united acts of worship1 which are only helps to this inward possession1 rises such a thought of religion as this4 ,you are not a ,christian because you believe a creed4 ,the very death of ,jesus ,christ is a means to this end4 ,in order that we might come into personal1 rapturous1 and hallowing possession of ,god1 ,his very ,self in our hearts and spirits1 ,jesus ,christ died and rose again4 ,do not mistake the staircase for the presence-chamber4 ,do not fancy that you are ,christian people because you hold certain opinions or beliefs in regard of certain doctrines4 ,do not fancy that religion consists in either the mere outward practice of1 or abstinence from1 certain forms of conduct4 ,such things are the means to1 or the outcome of1 this inward devotion1 but the true essence of our religion is that we recognise ,god as our only good1 and that in ,him we find absolute rest and perfect sufficiency4 ,is that your religion1 my brother8 ,what a contrast these words of my text present not only to our notions of what constitutes religion1 but to our practice6 ,what is the thing that you and ,i crave most to have8 ,what is the thing that we lament most of all when we lose8 ,where do our desires go when we take the guiding hand off them1 and let them run as they will8 ,for some of us there are dearer hearts on earth than ,his1 ,perhaps for some of us there are more dearly loved faces in heaven than ,his4 ,taking the two extreme possible cases1 and supposing at the one end of the scale a man that had everything but ,god1 and at the other end a man that had nothing but ,god1 do we live as if we believed that the man that had everything minus ,god is a pauper2 and the other who has ,god minus everything is 'rich to all the intents of bliss'8 ,let us shape our desires1 aspirations1 efforts1 according to that certain truth4 ,i do not need to remind you that this lofty height of conscious longing1 not unblest with contemporaneous fruition1 is above the height to which we habitually rise4 ,but what ,i would now insist upon is only this1 that whilst there will be variations1 whilst there will be ups and downs1 the periods in our lives when we do not consciously recognise ,him as our supreme and single good are the periods that drop below duty and blessedness4 ,acknowledge the imperfections1 but ,oh1 my friends6 you ,christian men and women1 who know that these hours of high communion with a loving ,god are not diffused through your whole life1 do not sit down contented1 and say that it must be so2 but confess them as being imperfections which are your own fault1 and remember that just as much1 and not one hairsbreadth more than1 we can take these words of my text for ours1 so much and no more1 have we a right to call ourselves religious men and women4 ,,iii4 ,again1 we have here the blessed possession1 which deadens earthly desires4 ,that clause1 ',there is none upon earth that ,i desire besides ,thee1' might1 ,i think1 be rendered more accurately ',with ,thee'--that is to say1 'possessing ,thee1'--,i desire none 'upon earth4' ,if we thus have been longing after ,god1 and fuller possession of ,him1 and if in some measure1 in answer to the desire1 as is always the case1 we have received into mind and heart and will more of ,his preciousness and sweetness1 then that will kill the desires that otherwise would conflict with it4 ,our great poet1 speaking about a supreme earthly love1 says-- ',that rich golden shaft ,hath killed the flock of all affections else1 ,that lived in her4' ,and the same thing is true about this higher life4 ,this new affection will deaden1 and in some sense destroy1 the desires that turn to lower and to earthly things4 ,the sun when it rises quenches the brightest stars that can but fade in his light and die4 ,and so when1 in answer to our longing1 ,god lifts the light of ,his countenance--a better sunrise--upon us1 that new affection dims and quenches the brightness of these little1 though they be lustrous points1 that shed a fragmentary and manifold twinkling over the darkness of our former night4 ',walk in the light1' and your heaven will be naked of all competing brightness4 ,only remember that this supreme1 and in some sense exclusive1 love and longing does not destroy the sweetness of lower possessions and blessings4 ,a new deep love in a man or a woman's heart does not make their former affections less1 but more1 sweet and noble and strong4 ,and so when we get to love ,god best1 and to love all other persons and things in ,him1 and ,him in them1 then they become sources of dignity and nobleness1 of sweetness and strength1 in our lives1 which they otherwise never would be4 ,if you want to make all your family affections1 for instance1 more permanent1 more lofty1 and more blessed1 let them be all in ,god3 ',i trust he lives in ,god1 and there ,i find him worthier to be loved1' says the poet about one that had been carried into the other life4 ,it is true about us in our relations to one another1 even whilst we remain here4 ,let ,god be first1 and the second rises higher in the scale than when we thought it first4 ,the more our hearts are knit to ,him and all other desires are subordinated to ,him1 the more do they become precious1 and powers for good in our lives4 ,,iv4 ,and so1 lastly1 we have here the possession which is the pledge of perpetuity4 ,the ,psalmist1 in the last verse of my text1 supposes an extreme1 and in some sense1 an impossible case4 ',my flesh'--my bodily frame--'and my heart'--some portion of my immaterial being--'faileth4' ,the clause should probably be taken as hypothetical4 ',even supposing that it has come to this1' says he1 'that ,i had been separated from my body1 and that along with the body there had also been consumed 7as is the meaning of the original word7 some portion of my spiritual being1 even then1 though there were only a thin thread of personality left1 enough to call me and no more1 so to speak1 ,i should cling with that to ,god1 and ,i know that then ,i should have enough1 for ,god is the ,rock of my heart1 and my ,portion for ever4' ,these two last words are obviously here to be taken in their widest extension4 ,the whole context requires us to suppose that the ,psalmist's eye is looking across the black gorge of death to the shining table-land beyond4 ,so here we are admitted to see faith in the future life in the very act of growth4 ,the singer soars to that sunlit height of confidence in the endless blessedness of union with ,god1 just because he feels so deeply the sacredness and the blessedness of his present communion with ,god4 ,next to the resurrection of ,jesus ,christ the best proof of immortality lies in the present experience of communion with ,god4 ,anything is more reasonable than to believe that a soul which can grasp ,god for its good1 which can turn itself to1 and be united with1 an infinite ,being2 and itself is capable of indefinite approximation towards that ,being1 should have its course and career cut short by such a surface thing as death4 ,if there be a ,god at all1 anything is more reasonable than to believe that the union1 formed between ,him and me by faith here1 can ever come to an end until ,i have exhausted ,him1 and drawn all ,his fulness into myself4 ,this communion1 by its 'very sweetness yieldeth proof that it was born for immortality4' ,and the ,psalmist here1 just because to-day ,god is the ,rock of his heart1 is sure that that relation must last on1 through life1 through death1 ay6 and for ever1 'when all that seems shall suffer shock4' ,so1 my brethren6 here is the choice and alternative presented before us4 ,and ,i ask you which is the wise man1 he who clutches at external possessions which cannot abide1 or he who hungers for that indwelling ,god1 who sinks into the very substance of his soul1 and is more inseparable from him than his very body8 ,which is the wise man1 he of whom it shall one day be said1 ',this night thy soul shall be required of thee1' and ',his glory shall not descend after him1' or the man who knows for what his heart hungers1 and knowing it turns to ,god in ,christ1 by simple faith and lowly aspiration1 as his enduring ,treasure2 and then1 and therefore1 can look out with a calm smile of security over all the tumbling sea of change1 and beyond the dark horizon there where sight fails2 and can say1 ',i am persuaded that neither things present1 nor things to come1 nor life1 nor death1 nor any other creature1 shall be able to separate me from the ,god who is my ,treasure1 and the ,life of my very self'8 ,,nearness ,,to ,,god ,,the ,,key ,,to ,,life',s ,,puzzle ',it is good for me to draw near to ,god3 ,i have put my trust in the ,lord ,god1 that ,i may declare all ,thy works4'--,,psalm lxxiii4 #bh4 ,the old perplexity as to how it comes1 if ,god is good and wise and strong1 that bad men should prosper and good men should suffer1 has been making the ,psalmist's faith reel4 ,he does not answer the question exactly as the ,new ,testament would have done1 but he does find a solution sufficient for himself in two thoughts1 the transiency of that outward prosperity1 and the eternal sufficiency of ,god4 ',it was too painful for me until ,i went into the ,sanctuary1 then understood ,i their end'2 and on the other hand3 ',thou art the ,strength of my life1 and my ,portion for ever4' ,so he climbs at last to the calm height where he learns that1 whatever be a man's outward prosperity1 if he is separated from ,god he ceases to be4 ,as the context says3 ',they that are far from ,thee shall perish4' ',thou hast destroyed'--already1 before they die--'all them that go a-whoring from ,thee4' ,and on the other hand1 whatever be the outward condition1 ,god is enough4 ',it is good for me1' rich or poor harassed or at rest1 afflicted or prosperous1 in health or sickness1 solitary or compassed about with loving friends1 'it is good for me to draw near to ,god'2 and nothing else is good4 ,thus the river that has had to fight its way through rocks1 and has been chafed in the conflict1 and has twisted its path through many a deep1 dark1 sunless gorge1 comes out at last into the open1 and flows with a broad sunlit breast1 peaceable and full1 into the great ocean--',it is good for me to draw near to ,god4' ,but that is not all4 ,the ,psalmist goes on to tell how we are to draw near to ,god3 ',i have put my trust in ,him4' ,and that is not all1 for he further goes on to tell how1 drawing near to ,god through faith1 all these puzzles and mysteries about men's condition cease to perplex1 and a beam of light falls upon the whole of them4 ',i have put my trust in ,god1 that ,i may declare all ,thy works4' ,there are no knots in the thread now4 ,i4 ,so here we have1 first the truth of experience that nearness to ,god is the one good4 ,of course1 it is so in the ,psalmist's view1 since he believes1 as we profess to believe1 that1 to quote the words of another ,psalmist1 ',with ,thee is the fountain of life'2 and therefore that to 'draw near to ,thee' is to carry our little empty pitchers to that great spring that is always flowing with waters ever sweet and clear4 ,union with ,god is life1 in all senses of the word1 according as the creature is capable of union with ,him4 ,why6 there is no life in a plant except ,god's power is vitalising it4 ',consider the lilies of the field1 how they grow' because ,god makes them grow4 ,there is no bodily life in a man1 unless ,he continually breathes into the nostrils the breath of life4 ,if you stop the flow of the fountain1 then all the pools are dry4 ,there is no life intellectual in a man1 except by the 'inspiration of the ,almighty1' from whom 'all just thoughts do proceed4' ,above all these forms of life the real life of a spirit is the life derived from the union with ,god ,himself1 whereby ,he pours ,himself into it1 and in the deepest sense of the words it is true3 ',because ,i live ye shall live also4' ',it is good for me to draw near to ,god1' because1 unless ,i do1 and if ,i am separated from ,him1 my true self is dead1 even whilst ,i seem to live4 ,all that are parted from ,him perish2 all that are joined to ,him1 and only they1 do live what is worth calling life4 ,cut off the sunbeam from the sun1 and what becomes of it8 ,it vanishes4 ,separate a soul from ,god1 and it is dead4 ,what is all the good of the world to you if your true self is dead8 ,and what an absurdity it is to deck a corpse with riches and pomp of various kinds6 ,that is what the men of the world are doing1 who have chained themselves to earth1 and cut themselves off from ,god4 ',for me it is good to draw near to ,god4' ,do you draw near8 ,because if you do not1 no matter what prosperity you have1 you do not know anything about the true life and real good for heart and spirit4 ,i suppose ,i need scarcely go on pointing out other aspects of this supreme--or more truly1 this solitary--good4 ,for instance1 nothing is really good to me unless ,i have it within me1 so as that it can never be wrenched away from me4 ,the blessings that we cannot incorporate with the very substance of our being are only partial blessings after all2 and all these things round us that do minister to our necessities1 tastes1 affections1 and sometimes to our weaknesses1 these good things fail just in this1 that they stand outside us1 and there is no real union between us and them4 ,so1 changes come1 and we have to unclasp hands1 and the footsteps that used to be planted by the side of ours cease1 and our track across the sands is lonely2 and losses come1 and death comes1 and all the glory and the good that were only externally possessed by us we leave behind us4 ,as this psalm says3 ',i considered their end 444 how they are brought into desolation1 as in a moment6' ,what is the good of a good that is not incorporated into any being8 ,what is the good of a good about which ,i cannot say1 with a smile of confidence1 ',i know that where-ever ,i may go1 and whatever may befall me1 that can never pass from me'8 ,there is but one good of that sort4 ',i am persuaded that 444 neither life nor death 444 nor any other creature1 shall separate us from the love of ,god1 which is in ,christ ,jesus our ,lord4' ',it is good for me1' amidst the morasses and quicksands and bogs of life's uncertain and shifting ill and good1 to set my feet upon the rock1 and to say3 ',here ,i stand1 and my footing will never give way4' ,do you1 brother6 possess a changeless1 imperishable1 inwrought good like that8 ,you may if you like4 ,but remember1 too1 that in regard to this ,christian good1 it is not only the possession of it1 but the aspiration after it1 that is blessed4 ,the ,psalmist does not only say1 ',it is good for me to be near to ,god1' but he says1 ',it is good for me to draw near4' ,there is one kind of life in which the seeking is all but as blessed as the finding4 ,there is one kind of life in which to desire is all but as full of peace1 and power1 and joy as to possess4 ,therefore1 another psalm1 which begins by celebrating the blessedness of the men that dwell in ,god's house1 and are 'still praising ,thee1' goes on to speak of the blessedness1 not less blessed1 of the men 'in whose heart are the ways4' ,they who have reached the ,temple are at rest1 and blessed in their repose4 ,they who are journeying towards it are in action1 and blessed in their activity4 ',it is good to draw near'2 and the seeking after ,god is as far above the possession of all other good as heaven is above earth4 ,but then1 notice further1 how our ,psalmist comes down to very plain1 practical teaching4 ,he seems to feel that he must explain what he means by drawing near to ,god4 ,and here is his explanation4 ',i have put my trust in the ,lord4' ,,ii4 ,the way to nearness to ,god is twofold4 ,on the one hand the true path is ,jesus ,christ1 on the other hand the means by which we walk upon that path is our faith4 ,the ,apostle puts it all in a nutshell when he says that his prayer for the ,ephesian ,church is that ',christ may dwell in your hearts by faith1' and then1 by a linked chain which we have not now to consider1 leads up to the final issues of that faith in that indwelling ,christ--'that ye may be filled with all the fulness of ,god4' ,so to draw near and to possess that good1 that only good which is ,god1 all that is needed is--and it is needed--that we should turn with the surrender of our hearts1 with the submission of our wills1 with the outgoing of our affections1 and with the conformity of our practical life1 to ,jesus4 ,seeing ,him1 we see the ,father1 and having ,him near us1 we feel the touch of the divine hand1 and being joined to the ,lord1 we are separated from the vanities of life1 and united to the ,supreme ,good4 ,dear brethren6 this ,psalmist shows us how hard it is for us to keep up that continual attitude of faith1 how many difficulties there are in daily life1 in the way of our continually being true to our deepest convictions1 and seeking after ,him amidst all the distracting whirl and perplexities of our daily lives4 ,but he shows us1 too1 how possible it is1 even for men constituted as we are1 moment by moment1 day by day1 task by task1 to keep vivid the consciousness of our dependence upon ,him1 and the blessed consciousness of our being beside ,him1 and how1 if we do1 strength will come to us for everything4 ,the secret of a joyous walk lies in this1 ',i have set the ,lord always before me4 ,because ,he is at my right hand ,i shall not be moved4' ,we draw near to ,god when we clutch ,christ in faith4 ,our faith manifests itself1 not merely by a lazy reliance upon what ,he once did1 long ago1 on the ,cross for us2 but by daily1 effortful revivifying of our consciousness of ,his presence1 of our consciousness of our dependence upon ,him1 and by the continual reference of thoughts1 desires1 plans1 and actions to ,himself4 ,keep ,god beside you so1 and then there will follow what this ,psalmist reached at last1 a peaceful insight into what else are full of perplexity and difficulty1 the ways of ,god in the world4 ,to myself1 to my dear ones1 to the nation1 to the ,church1 to the world1 there come many perplexing riddles as to ,god's dealings1 that cannot be solved except by getting close to ,him4 ,just as a little child nestling on its mother's bosom1 with its mother's arm around it1 looks out with peaceful eye and a bright smile1 upon everything beyond the safe nest1 so they who are near to ,god can bear to look at difficulties and perplexities1 and the mysteries of their own sorrows and of the world's miseries1 and say1 ',all things work together for good'2 ',i have put my trust in the ,lord1 that ,i may declare all ,thy works4' ,stand in the sun1 and all the planets move around it manifestly in order4 ,take your place anywhere else1 and there is confusion4 ,get beside ,god1 and look out on the world1 and you will see it as ,he saw it when1 ',behold6 it was very good4' ,now1 dear friends6 my text in its first part may become the description of our death4 ,one man holds on to the world as it is slipping away from him4 ,i remember a story about a coast-guardsman that was flung over the cliffs once1 and when they picked up his dead body1 all under the nails was full of chalk that he had scraped off the cliffs in his desperate attempts to clutch at something to hold by4 ,that is like one kind of death4 ,but another kind may be3 ',it is good for me to draw near to ,god4' ,and when we reach ,his side1 and see all the past from the centre1 and in the light of the ,eternal ,present1 to which it has led1 we shall be able to declare all ,his works1 and to give thanks 'for all the way by which the ,lord our ,god hath led us' and the world 'these many years in the wilderness4' ,,memory1 ,,hope1 ,,and ,,effort ',that they might set their hope in ,god1 and not forget the works of ,god1 but keep ,his commandments4'--,,psalm lxxviii4 #g4 ,in its original application this verse is simply a statement of ,god's purpose in giving to ,israel the ,law1 and such a history of deliverance4 ,the intention was that all future generations might remember what ,he had done1 and be encouraged by the remembrance to hope in ,him for the future2 and by both memory and hope1 be impelled to the discharge of present duty4 ,so1 then1 the words may permissibly bear the application which ,i purpose to make of them in this sermon1 re-echoing only 7and aspiring to nothing more7 the thoughts which the season has already1 ,i suppose1 more or less1 suggested to most of us4 ,smooth motion is imperceptible2 it is the jolts that tell us that we are advancing4 ,though every day be a ,new ,year's ,day1 still the alteration in our dates and our calendars should set us all thinking of that continual lapse of the mysterious thing--the creature of our own minds--which we call time1 and which is bearing us all so steadily and silently onwards4 ,my text tells us how past1 present1 and future--memory1 hope1 and effort may be ennobled and blessed4 ,in brief1 it is by associating them all with ,god4 ,it is as the field of ,his working that our past is best remembered4 ,it is on ,him that our hopes may most wisely be set4 ,it is keeping ,his commandments which is the consecration of the present4 ,let us1 then1 take the three thoughts of our text and cast them into ,new ,year's recommendations4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 let us associate ,god with memory by thankful remembrance4 ,now ,i suppose that there are very few of the faculties of our nature which we more seldom try to regulate by ,christian principles than that great power which we have of looking backwards4 ,did you ever reflect that you are responsible for what you remember1 and for how you remember it1 and that you are bound to train and educate your memory1 not merely in the sense of cultivating it as a means of carrying intellectual treasures1 but for a religious purpose8 ,the one thing that all parts of our nature need is ,god1 and that is as true about our power of remembrance as it is about any other part of our being4 ,the past is then hallowed1 noble1 and yields its highest results and most blessed fruits for us when we link it closely with ,him1 and see in it not only1 nor so much1 the play of our own faculties1 whether we blame or approve ourselves1 as rather see in it the great field in which ,god has brought ,himself near to our experience1 and has been regulating and shaping all that has befallen us4 ,the one thing which will consecrate memory1 deliver it from its errors and abuses1 raise it to its highest and noblest power1 is that it should be in touch with ,god1 and that the past should be regarded by each of us as it is1 in deed and in truth1 one long record of what ,god has done for us4 ,we can see ,his presence more clearly when we look back over a long-connected stretch of days1 and when the excitement of feeling the agony or rapture have passed1 than we could whilst they were hot1 and life was all hurry and bustle4 ,the men on the deck of a ship see the beauty of the city that they have left behind1 better than when they were pressing through its narrow streets4 ,and though the view of the receding houses from the far-off waters may be an illusion1 our view of the past1 if we see ,god brooding over it all1 and working in it all1 is no illusion4 ,the meannesses are hidden1 the narrow places are invisible1 all the pain and suffering is quieted1 and we are able to behold more truly than when we were in the midst of them1 the bearing1 the purpose1 and the blessedness alike of our sorrows and of our joys4 ,not a few of us are old enough to have had a great many mysteries of our early days cleared up4 ,we have seen at least the beginnings of the harvest which the ploughshare of sorrow and the winter winds were preparing for us1 and for the rest we can trust4 ,brethren6 remember your mercies2 remember your losses2 and 'for all the way by which the ,lord our ,god has led us these many years in the wilderness1' let us try to be thankful1 including in our praises the darkness and the storm as well as the light and the calm4 ,some of us are like people who1 when they get better of their sicknesses1 grudge the doctor's bill4 ,we forget the mercies as soon as they are past1 because we only enjoyed the sensuous sweetness of them whilst it tickled our palate1 and did not think1 in the enjoyment of them1 whose love it was that they spoke of to us4 ,sorrows and joys1 bring them all in your thanksgivings1 and 'forget not the works of ,god4' ,such a habit of cultivating the remembrance of ,god's hand as moving in all our past1 will not1 in the slightest degree1 interfere with lower and yet precious exercises of that same faculty4 ,we shall still be able to look back1 and learn our limitations1 mark our weaknesses1 gather counsels of prudence from our failures1 tame our ambitions by remembering where we broke down4 ,and such an exercise of grateful ,god-recognising remembrance will deliver us from the abuses of that great power1 by which so many of us turn our memories into a cause of weakness1 if not of sin4 ,there are people1 and we are all tempted to be of the number1 who look back upon the past and see nothing there but themselves1 their own cleverness1 their own success2 'burning incense to their own net1 and sacrificing to their own drag4' ,another mood leads us to look back into the past dolefully and disappointedly1 to say1 ',i have broken down so often2 my resolutions have all gone to water so quickly2 ,i have tried and failed over and over again4 ,i may as well give it all up1 and accept the inevitable1 and grope on as well as ,i can without hope of self-advancement or of victory4' ,never6 ,if only we will look back to ,god we shall be able to look forward to a perfect self4 ,to-morrow need never be determined by the failures that have been4 ,we may still conquer where we have often been defeated4 ,there is no worse use of the power of remembrance than when we use it to bind upon ourselves1 as the permanent limitations of our progress1 the failures and faults of the past4 ',forget the things that are behind4' ,your old fragmentary goodness1 your old foiled aspirations1 your old frequent failures--cast them all behind you6 ,and there are others to whom remembrance is mainly a gloating over old sins1 and a doing again of these--ruminating upon them2 bringing up the chewed food once more to be masticated4 ,some of us gather only poisonous weeds1 and carry them about in the hortus siccus of our memories4 ,alas6 for the man whose memory is but the paler portraiture of past sins4 ,some of us1 ,i am sure1 have our former evils holding us so tight in their cords that when we look back memory is defiled by the things which defiled the unforgettable past4 ,brethren6 you may find a refuge from that curse of remembrance in remembering ,god4 ,and some of us1 unwisely and ungratefully1 live in the light of departed blessings1 so as to have no hearts either for present mercies or for present duties4 ,there is no more weakening and foolish misdirection of that great gift of remembrance than when we employ it to tear down the tender greenery with which healing time has draped the ruins2 or to turn again in the wound which is beginning to heal the sharp and poisoned point of the sorrow which once pierced it4 ,for all these abuses--the memory that gloats upon sin2 the memory that is proud of success2 the memory that is despondent because of failures2 the memory that is tearful and broken-hearted over losses--for all these the remedy is that we should not forget the works of ,god1 but see ,him everywhere filling the past4 ,,ii4 ,again1 let us live in the future by hope in ,him4 ,our remembrances and our hopes are closely connected2 one might almost even say that the power by which we look backwards and that by which we look forwards are one and the same4 ,at all events1 ,hope owes to ,memory the pigments with which it paints1 the canvas on which it paints1 and the objects which it portrays there4 ,but in all our earthly hopes there is a feeling of uncertainty which brings alarm as well as expectation1 and he whose forward vision runs only along the low levels of earth1 and is fed only by experience and remembrance1 will never be able to say1 ',i hope with certitude1 and ,i know that my hope shall be fulfilled4' ,for him 'hopes1 and fears that kindle hopes1' will be 'an indistinguishable throng'2 and there will be as much of pain as of pleasure in his forward glance4 ,but if1 according to my text1 we set our hopes on ,god1 then we shall have a certainty absolute4 ,what a blessing it is to be able to look forward to a future as fixed and sure1 as solid and as real1 as much our possession1 as the irrevocable past6 ,the ,christian man's hope1 if it be set on ,god1 is not a 'may be1' but a 'will be'2 and he can be as sure of to-morrow as he is of yesterday4 ,they whose hopes are set on ,god have a certain hope1 a sufficient one1 and one that fills all the future4 ,all other expectations are fulfilled1 or disappointed1 as the case may be1 but are left behind and outgrown4 ,this one only never palls1 and is never accomplished1 and yet is never disappointed4 ,so if we set our hopes on ,him1 we can face very quietly the darkness that lies ahead of us4 ,earthly hopes are only the mirrors in which the past reflects itself1 as in some king's palace you will find a lighted chamber1 with a great sheet of glass at each end1 which perpetuates in shining rows the lights behind the spectator4 ,a curtain veils the future1 and earthly hope can only put a mirror in front of it that reflects what has been4 ,but the hope that is set on ,god draws back the curtain1 and lets us see enough of a fixed1 eternal future to make our lives bright and our hearts calm4 ,the darkness remains2 what of that1 if ',i only know ,i cannot drift ,beyond ,his love and care'8 ,set your hopes on ,god1 and they will not be ashamed4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 let us live in the present by strenuous obedience4 ,after all1 memory and hope are meant to fit us for work in the flying moment4 ,both should impel us to this keeping of the commandments of ,god2 for both yield motives which should incline us thereto4 ,a past full of blessing demands the sacrifice of loving hearts and of earnest hands4 ,a future so fair1 so far1 so certain1 so sovereign1 and a hope that grasps it1 and brings some of its sweet fragrance into the else scentless air of the poor present1 ought to impel to service1 vigorous and continual4 ,both should yield motives which make such service a delight4 ,if my memory weakens me for present work1 either because it depresses my hope of success1 or because it saddens me with the remembrance of departed blessings1 then it is a curse and not a good4 ,and if ,i dream myself away in any future1 and forget the exigencies of the imperative and swiftly-passing moment1 then the faculty of hope1 too1 is a curse and a weakening4 ,but both are delivered from their possible abuses1 if both are made into means of helping us to fill the present with loving obedience4 ,these two faculties are like the two wings that may lift us to ,god1 like the two paddles1 one on either side of the ship1 that may drive us steadily forward1 through all the surges and the tempest4 ,they find their highest field in fitting us for the grinding tasks and the heavy burdens that the moment lays upon us4 ,so1 dear friends6 we are very different in our circumstances and positions4 ,for some of us ,hope's basket is nearly empty1 and ,memory's sack is very full4 ,for us older men the past is long1 the earthly future is short4 ,for you younger people the converse is the case4 ,it is ,hope whose hands are laden with treasures for you1 ,memory carries but a little store4 ,your past is brief2 your future is probably long4 ,the grains of sand in some of our hour-glasses are very heaped and high in the lower half1 and running very low in the upper4 ,but whichever category we stand in1 one thing remains the same for us all1 and that is duty1 keeping ,god's commandments4 ,that is permanent1 and that is the one thing worth living for4 ',whether we live we live unto the ,lord2 or whether we die we die unto the ,lord4' ,so let us front this ,new ,year1 with all its hidden possibilities1 with quiet1 brave hearts1 resolved on present duty1 as those ought who have such a past to remember and such a future to hope for4 ,it will probably be the last on earth for some of us4 ,it will probably contain great sorrows for some of us1 and great joys for others4 ,it will probably be comparatively uneventful for others4 ,it may make great outward changes for us1 or it may leave us much as it found us4 ,but1 at all events1 ,god will be in it1 and work for ,him should be in it4 ,well for us if1 when its hours have slidden away into the grey past1 they continue to witness to us of ,his love1 even as1 while they were wrapped in the mists of the future1 they called on us to hope in ,him6 ,well for us if we fill the passing moment with deeds of loving obedience6 ,then a present of keeping ,his commandments will glide into a past to be thankfully remembered1 and will bring us nearer to a future in which hope shall not be put to shame4 ,to him who sees ,god in all the divisions and particles of his days1 and makes ,him the object of memory1 hope1 and effort1 past1 present1 and future are but successive calm ripples of that mighty river of ,time which bears him on the great ocean of ,eternity1 from which the drops that make its waters rose1 and to which its ceaseless flow returns4 ,,sparrows ,,and ,,altars ',yea1 the sparrow hath found an house1 and the swallow a nest for herself1 where she may lay her young1 even ,thine altars1 ,o ,lord of ,hosts1 my ,king1 and my ,god4'--,,psalm lxxxiv4 #c4 ,the well-known saying of the saintly ,rutherford1 when he was silenced and exiled from his parish1 echoes and expounds these words4 ',when ,i think1' said he1 'upon the sparrows and swallows that build their nests in the kirk of ,anwoth1 and of my dumb ,sabbaths1 my sorrowful1 bleared eyes look asquint upon ,christ1 and present ,him as angry4' ,so sighed the ,presbyterian minister in his compelled idleness in a prosaic seventeenth-century ,scotch town1 answering his heart's-brother away back in the far-off time1 and in such different circumstances4 ,the ,psalmist was probably a member of the ,levitical family of the ,sons of ,korah1 who were 'doorkeepers in the house of the ,lord4' ,he knew what he was saying when he preferred his humble office to all honours among the godless4 ,he was shut out by some unknown circumstances from external participation in the ,temple rites1 and longs to be even as one of the swallows or sparrows that twitter and flit round the sacred courts4 ,no doubt to him faith was much more inseparably attached to form than it should be for us4 ,no doubt place and ritual were more to him than they can permissibly be to those who have heard and understood the great charter of spiritual worship spoken first to an outcast ,samaritan of questionable character3 ',neither in this mountain nor in ,jerusalem shall men worship the ,father4' ,but equally it is true that what he wanted was what the outward worship brought him1 rather than the worship itself4 ,and the psalm1 which begins with 'longing' and 'fainting' for the courts of the ,lord1 and pronouncing benedictions on 'those that dwell in ,thy house1' works itself clear1 if ,i might so say1 and ends with ',o ,lord of ,hosts6 ,blessed is the man that trusteth in ,thee'--for he shall 'dwell in ,thy house1' wherever he is4 ,so this flight of imagination in the words of my text may suggest to us two or three lessons4 ,i4 ,i take it first as pointing a bitter and significant contrast4 ',the sparrow hath found a house1 and the swallow a nest for herself1' while ,i6 ,we do not know what the ,psalmist's circumstances were1 but if we accept the conjecture that he may have accompanied ,david in his flight during ,absalom's rebellion1 we may fancy him as wandering on the uplands across ,jordan1 and sharing the agitations1 fears1 and sorrows of those dark hours1 and in the midst of all1 as the little company hurried hither and thither for safety1 thinking1 with a touch of bitter envy1 of the calm restfulness and serene services of the peaceful ,temple4 ,but1 pathetic as is the complaint1 when regarded as the sigh of a minister of the sanctuary exiled from the shrine which was as his home1 and from the worship which was his occupation and delight1 it sounds a deeper note and one which awakens echoes in our hearts1 when we hear in it1 as we may1 the complaint of humanity contrasting its unrest with the happier lot of lower creatures4 ,do you remember who it was that said--and on what occasion ,he said it--',foxes have holes1 and birds of the air have roosting-places1 but the ,son of ,man hath not where to lay ,his head'8 ,that saying1 like our text1 has a narrower and a wider application4 ,in the former it pathetically paints the homeless ,christ1 a wanderer in a land peculiarly ',his own1' and warns ,his enthusiastic would-be follower of the lot which he was so light-heartedly undertaking to share4 ,but when ,jesus calls ,himself ',son of ,man1' ,he claims to be the realised ideal of humanity1 and when1 as in that saying1 ,he contrasts the condition of 'the ,son of ,man' with that of the animal creation1 we can scarcely avoid giving to the words their wider application to the same contrast between man's homelessness and the creatures' repose which we have found in the ,psalmist's sigh4 ,yes6 ,there is only one being in this world that does not fit the world that he is in1 and that is man1 chief and foremost of all4 ,other beings perfectly correspond to what we now call their 'environment4' ,just as the soft mollusc fits every convolution of its shell1 and the hard shell fits every curve of the soft mollusc1 so every living thing corresponds to its place and its place to it1 and with them all things go smoothly4 ,but man1 the crown of creation1 is an exception to this else universal complete adaptation4 ',the earth1 ,o ,lord6 is full of ,thy mercy1' but the only creature who sees and says that is the only one who has further to say1 ',i am a stranger on the earth4' ,he and he alone is stung with restlessness and conscious of longings and needs which find no satisfaction here4 ,that sense of homelessness may be an agony or a joy1 a curse or a blessing1 according to our interpretation of its meaning1 and our way of stilling it4 ,it is not a sign of inferiority1 but of a higher destiny1 that we alone should bear in our spirits the 'blank misgivings' of those who1 amid unsatisfying surroundings1 have blind feelings after 'worlds not realised1' which elude our grasp4 ,it is no advantage over us that every fly dancing in the treacherous gleams of an ,april sun1 and every other creature on the earth except ourselves1 on whom the crown is set1 is perfectly proportioned to its place1 and has desire and possessions absolutely conterminous4 ',the son of man hath not where to lay his head4' ,why must he alone wander homeless on the bleak moorland1 whilst the sparrows and the swallows have their nests and their houses8 ,why8 ,because they are sparrows and swallows1 and he is man1 and 'better than many sparrows4' ,so let us lay to heart the sure promises1 the blessed hopes1 the stimulating exhortations1 which come from that which1 at first sight1 seems to be a mystery and half an arraignment of the divine wisdom1 in the contrast between the restlessness of humanity and the reposeful contentment of those whom we call the lower creatures4 ,be true to the unrest1 brother6 and do not mistake its meaning1 nor seek to still it1 until it drives you to ,god4 ,,ii4 ,these words bring to us a plea which we may use1 and a pledge on which we may rest4 ',thine altars1 ,o ,lord of hosts6 my ,king and my ,god4' ,the ,psalmist pleads with ,god1 and lays hold for his own confidence upon the fact that creatures which do not understand what the altar means1 may build beside it1 and those which have no notion of who the ,god is to whom the house is sacred1 are yet cared for by ,him4 ,and he thinks to himself1 ',if ,i can say ,my ,king and my ,god1 surely ,he that takes care of them will not leave me uncared for4' ,the unrest of the soul that is capable of appropriating ,god is an unrest which has in it1 if we understand it aright1 the assurance that it shall be stilled and satisfied4 ,he that is capable of entering into the close personal relationship with ,god which is expressed by that eloquent little pronoun and its reduplication with the two words1 ',king' and ',god'--such a creature cannot cry for rest in vain1 nor in vain grope1 as a homeless wanderer1 for the door of the ,father's house4 ',doth ,god care for oxen2 or saith ,he it altogether for our sakes8' ',consider the fowls of the air2 your heavenly ,father feedeth them4' ,and the same argument which the ,apostle used in the one of these sayings1 and our ,lord in the other1 is valid and full of encouragement when applied to this matter4 ,he that 'satisfies the desires of every living thing1' and fills full the maw of the lowest creature2 and puts the worms into the gaping beak of the young ravens when they cry1 is not the ,king to turn a deaf ear1 or the back of ,his hand1 to the man who can appeal to ,him with this word on his lips1 ',my ,king and my ,god6' ,we grasp ,god when we say that2 and all that we see of provident recognition and supply of wants in dealings with these lower creatures should encourage us to cherish calm unshakable confidence that every true desire of our souls after ,him is as certain to be satisfied4 ,and so the glancing swallows around the eaves of the ,temple and the twittering sparrows on its pinnacles may proclaim to us1 not only a contrast which is bitter1 but a confidence which is sweet4 ,we may be sure that we shall not be left uncared for amongst the many pensioners at ,his table1 and that the deeper our wants the surer we are of their supply4 ,our bodies may hunger in vain--bodily hunger has no tendency to bring meat2 but our spirits cannot hunger in vain if they hunger after ,god2 for that hunger is the sure precursor and infallible prophet of the coming satisfaction4 ,these words not only may hearten us with confidence that our desires will be satisfied if they are set upon ,him1 but they point us to the one way by which they are so4 ,say ',my ,king and my ,god6' in the deepest recesses of a spirit conscious of ,his presence1 of a will submitting to ,his authority1 of emptiness expectant of ,his fulness2 say that1 and you are in the house of the ,lord4 ,for it is not a question of place1 it is a question of disposition and desire4 ,this ,psalmist1 though1 when he began his song1 he was far away from the ,temple1 and though he finished it sitting on the same hillside on which he began it1 when he had ended it was within the curtains of the sanctuary and wrapt about with the presence of his ,god4 ,he had regained as he sang what for a moment he had lost the consciousness of when he began--viz4 the presence of ,god with him on the lone1 dreary expanse of alien soil as truly as amidst the sanctities of what was called ,his ,house4 ,so1 brethren6 if we want rest1 let us clasp ,god as ours2 if we desire a home warm1 safe1 sheltered from every wind that blows1 and inaccessible to enemies1 let us1 like the swallows1 nestle under the eaves of the ,temple4 ,let us take ,god for our ,hope4 ,they that hold communion with ,him--and we can all do that wherever we are and whatever we may be doing--these1 and only these1 'dwell in the house of the ,lord all the days of their lives4' ,therefore1 with deepest simplicity of expression1 our psalm goes on to describe1 as equally recipients of blessedness1 'those that dwell in the house of the ,lord1' and those in 'whose heart are the ways' that lead to it1 and to explain at last1 as ,i have already pointed out1 that both the dwellers in1 and the pilgrims towards1 that intimacy of abiding with ,god are included in the benediction showered on those who cling to ,him1 ',blessed is the man that trusteth in ,thee6' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we may take this picture of the ,psalmist's as a warning4 ,sparrows and swallows have very small brains4 ,they build their nests1 and they do not know whose altars they are flitting around4 ,they pursue the insects on the wing1 and they twitter their little songs2 and they do not understand how all their busy1 glancing1 brief1 trivial life is being lived beneath the shadow of the cherubim1 and all but in the presence of the veiled ,god of the ,shekinah4 ,there are too many people who live like that4 ,we are all tempted to build our nests where we may lay our young1 or dispose of ourselves or our treasures in the very sanctuary of ,god1 with blind1 crass indifference to the ,presence in which we move4 ,the ,father's house has many mansions1 and wherever we go we are in ,god's ,temple4 ,alas6 some of us have no more sense of the sanctities around us1 and no more consciousness of the divine ,eye that looks down upon us1 than if we were so many feathered sparrows flitting about the altar4 ,let us take care1 brethren6 that we give our hearts to be influenced1 and awed1 and ennobled1 and tranquillised by the sense of ever more being in the house of the ,lord4 ,let us see to it that we keep in that house by continual aspiration1 cherishing in our hearts the ways that lead to it2 and so making all life worship1 and every place what the pilgrim found the stone of ,bethel to be1 a house of ,god and a gate of heaven4 ,for everywhere1 to the eye that sees the things that are1 and not only the things that seem--and to the heart that feels the unseen presence of the ,one ,reality1 ,god ,himself--all places are temples1 and all work may be beholding ,his beauty and inquiring in ,his sanctuary2 and everywhere1 though our heads rest upon a stone1 and there be night and solitude around us1 and doubt and darkness in front of us1 and danger and terror behind us1 and weakness within us1 as was the case with ,jacob1 there will be the ladder with its foot at our side and its top in the heavens2 and above the top of it ,his face1 which when we see it look down upon us1 makes all places and circumstances good and sweet4 ,,happy ,,pilgrims ',blessed is the man whose strength is in ,thee2 in whose heart are the highways to ,zion4 #f4 ,passing through the valley of ,weeping they make it a place of springs2 yea1 the early rain covereth it with blessings4 #g4 ,they go from strength to strength1 every one of them appeareth before ,god in ,zion4'--,,psalm lxxxiv4 #e-g4 ,rightly rendered1 the first words of these verses are not a calm1 prosaic statement1 but an emotional exclamation4 ,the ,psalmist's tone would be more truly represented if we read1 ',how blessed is the man1' or ',oh1 the blessednesses6' for that is the literal rendering of the ,hebrew words1 'of the man whose strength is ,thee4' ,there are three such exclamations in this psalm1 the consideration of which leads us far into the understanding of its deepest meaning4 ,the first of them is this1 ',how blessed are they that dwell in ,thy house6' ,of course the direct allusion is to actual presence in the actual ,temple at ,jerusalem4 ,but these old psalmists1 though they attached more importance to external forms than we do1 were not so bound by them1 even at their stage of development of the religious life1 as that they conceived that no communion with ,god was possible apart from the form1 or that the form itself was communion with ,god4 ,we can see gleaming through all their words1 though only gleaming through them1 the same truth which ,jesus ,christ couched in the immortal phrase--the charter of the ,church's emancipation from all externalisms--'neither in this mountain1 nor yet in ,jerusalem1 shall men worship the ,father4' ,to 'dwell in the house of the ,lord' is not only to be present in bodily form in the ,temple--the ,psalmist did not think that it was only that--but to possess communion with ,him1 of which the external presence is but the symbol1 the shadow1 and the means4 ,but there is another blessing4 ,to be there is blessing1 to wish to be there is no less so4--',blessed are the men in whose heart are the ways4' ,the joyous company that went up from every corner of the land to the feasts in ,jerusalem made the paths ring with their songs as they travelled1 and as the prophet says about another matter1 'they went up to ,zion with songs and joy upon their heads1' and so the search after is only a shade less blessed--if it be even that--than the possession of communion with ,god4 ,but there is a third blessedness in our psalm4 ',oh6 the blessedness of the man that trusteth in ,thee4' ,that includes and explains both the others4 ,it confirms what ,i have said1 that we do great injustice to the beauty and the spirituality of the ,old ,testament religion1 if we conceive of it as slavishly tied to external forms4 ,and it suggests the thought that in trust there lie both the previous elements1 for he that trusts possesses1 and he that trustingly possesses is thereby impelled as trustingly to seek for1 larger gifts4 ,so1 then1 ,i turn to this outline sketch of the happy pilgrims on the road1 and desire to gather from it1 as simply as may be1 the stimulating thoughts which it suggests to us4 ,i4 ,let me ask you1 then1 following the words which ,i have read to you1 to look with me1 first at the blessedness of the pilgrims' spirit4 ',blessed are the men in whose heart are the ways4' ,a singular expression1 and yet a very eloquent and significant one6 ',the ways' are1 of course1 the various roads which1 from every corner of the land1 lead to the ,temple1 and the thought suggested is that the men whom the ,psalmist pronounces blessed1 and in whose blessednesses his longing heart desires to share1 are the men who are restless till they are on the path1 whose eyes are ever travelling to the goal1 who have a 'divine discontent' with distance from ,god1 and who know the impulse and the sting that sends them ever travelling on the path that leads to ,him4 ,on any lower level it is perfectly true that the very salt of life is aspiration after an unattained ideal2 that there is nothing that so keeps a man young1 strong1 buoyant1 and fits him for nobilities of action1 as that there shall be gleaming for ever before him in the beckoning distance a horizon that moves ever as he moves4 ,when we cease to be the slaves of unattained ideals in any department1 it is time for us to die2 indeed1 we are dead already4 ,there are men in every civilised country1 with the gipsy strain in their blood1 who never can be at rest until they are in motion1 to whom a settled abode is irksome1 and to whom the notion of blessedness is that they shall be out in the free plains4 ',amplius1' the dying ,xavier's word1 'further afield1' is the motto of all noble life--scientist1 scholar1 artist1 man of letters1 man of affairs2 all come under the same law1 that unless there is something before them which has dominated their hearts1 and draws their whole being towards it1 their lives want salt1 want nobility1 want freshness1 and a green scum comes over the pool4 ,we all know that4 ,to live is to aspire2 to cease to aspire is to die4 ,well then1 looking all round our horizon there stands out one path for aspiration which is clearly blessed to tread--one path1 and one path alone4 ,for1 oh brethren6 there are needs in all our hearts1 deep longings1 terrible wounds1 dreary solitudes1 which can only be appeased and healed and companioned when we are pressing nearer and nearer ,god1 that infinite and divine ,source of all blessedness1 of all peace and good4 ,to possess ,god is life2 to feel after ,god is life1 too4 ,for that aim is sure1 as we shall see1 to be satisfied4 ,that aim gives1 and it is the only one which does give1 adequate occupation for every power of a man's soul2 that aim brings1 simultaneously with its being entertained1 its being satisfied2 for1 as ,i have already said1 in the one act of faith there lie both these elements of blessedness--the possession of1 and the seeking after1 ,god4 ,the religious life is distinguished from all others in two respects2 one is the contemporaneousness and co-existence of desire and fruition1 and the other is the impossibility that fruition shall ever be so complete and perfect as that desire shall die4 ,and because thus all my nature may reach out its yearnings to ,him1 and in reaching out may find that after which it feels1 and yet1 finding it1 must feel after it all the more2 therefore1 high above all other delights of search1 high above all other blessednesses of pilgrimage1 high above all the buoyancy and concentration of aim and contempt of hindrances which pour into a soul1 before which the unattained ideal burns beckoning and inviting1 there stands the blessedness of the man 'in whose heart are the ways' which lead to ,god in ,zion4 ,,ii4 ,and now notice the blessedness of the pilgrims' experience4 ,if you use the ,revised ,version you will see the changes upon the ,authorised which it makes1 following the stream of modern critics and commentators1 and which may thus be reproduced3 ',passing through the ,valley of ,weeping1 they make it a place of springs1 the rain also covereth it with blessings4' ,no doubt the poet is referring here to the actual facts of the pilgrimage to ,zion1 ,no doubt1 on some one of the roads1 there lay a gloomy gorge1 the name of which was the ,valley of ,weeping2 either because it dimly commemorated some half-forgotten tragedy long ago1 or1 more probably1 because it was arid and frowning and full of difficulty for the travellers on the march4 ,the ,psalmist uses that name with a lofty imaginative freedom1 which itself confirms the view that ,i have taken1 that there is something deeper in the psalm than the mere external circumstances of the pilgrimages to the ,holy ,city4 ,for1 he says1 'passing through the ,valley of ,weeping1 they make it a place of springs4' ,they1 as it were1 pour their tears into the wells1 and they become sources of refreshment and fertility4 ,but there are other kinds of moisture than tears and fountains4 ,and so he goes on3 'the rain also' from above 'covereth it with blessings'2 the blessings being1 ,i suppose1 the waving crops which the poet's imagination conceives of as springing up all over the else arid ground4 ,irrigated thus by the pilgrims' labour1 and rained upon thus by ,god's gift from heaven1 'the wilderness rejoices and blossoms as the rose4' ,now1 translate that--it scarcely needs translation1 ,i suppose1 to anybody who will read the psalm with the least touch of a poetic imagination--translate that1 and it just comes to this4 ,if we have in our hearts1 as our chief aim1 the desire to get closer to ,god1 then our sorrows and our tears will become sources of refreshment and fertility4 ,ah6 how different all our troubles1 large and little1 look when we take as our great aim in life what is ,god's great purpose in giving us life--viz4 that we should be moulded into ,his likeness and enriched by the possession of ,himself4 ,that takes the sting out of sorrow1 and although it leaves us in no morbid condition of insensibility1 it yet makes it possible for us to gather our tears into reservoirs which shall be to us the sources of many a blessing1 and many a thankfulness4 ,he puts them into ,his bottle2 we have to put them into our wells4 ,and be sure of this1 that if we understood better the meaning of life1 that it was all intended to be our road to ,god1 and if we judged of things more from that point of view1 we should less frequently be brought to stand by what we call the mysteries of ,providence and more able to wring out of them all the rich honey which is stored in them all for us4 ,not the least of the blessednesses of the pilgrim heart is its power of transmitting the pilgrim's tears into the pilgrim's wells4 ,brothers6 do you bring such thoughts to bear on the disappointments1 anxieties1 sorrows1 losses that befall you1 be they great or small8 ,if you do1 you will have learned1 better than ,i can say it1 how strangely grief changes its aspect when it is looked upon as the helper and servant to our progress towards ,god4 ,but that is not all4 ,if1 with the pilgrims' hearts1 we rightly use our sorrows1 we shall not be left to find refreshment and fertilising power only in ourselves1 but the benediction of the rain from heaven will come down1 and the great ,spirit of ,god will fall upon our hearts1 not in a flood that drowns1 but broken up into a beneficent mist that falls quietly upon us1 and brings with itself the assurance of fertility4 ,and so the secret of turning the desert into abundance1 and tears into blessings1 lies in having the pilgrim's heart4 ,,iii4 ,notice the blessedness of the pilgrims' advance4 ',they go from strength to strength4' ,i do not know whether the ,psalmist means to use that word 'strength' in the significance which it also has in old ,english1 of a fortified place1 so that the metaphor would be that from one camp of security1 one fortress to another1 they journey safe always1 because of their protection2 or whether he means to use it rather in its plain and simple sense1 according to which the significance would be that these happy pilgrims do not get worn out on the journey1 as is the wont of men that set out1 for instance1 from some far corner of ,india to ,mecca1 and come in battered and travel-stained1 and half dead with their privations1 but that the further they go the stronger they become2 and on the road gain more vigour than they could ever have gained by ease and indulgence in their homes4 ,but1 whichever of these two meanings we may be disposed to adopt1 the great thought that comes out of both of them is identical--viz4 that this is one of the distinguishing joys of a ,christian career of pressing forward to closer communion and conformity with our ,lord and ,master1 in whom ,god is manifested--viz4 that we grow day by day in strength1 and that effort does not weaken1 but invigorates4 ,and now ,i have to put a very plain question4 ,is that growing strength anything like the general characteristic of us professing ,christians8 ,i wonder how many people there are listening to me now that have been members of ,christian churches for half a century almost1 but are not a bit better than they were away back in the years that they have almost forgotten8 ,i wonder in how many of our cases there has been an arrested development1 like that which you will sometimes see in deformed people1 the lower limbs all but atrophied8 ,i wonder how many of us are babes of forty years old1 and from how many of our minds the very conception of continual growth1 as an essential of ,christian life1 has altogether vanished8 ,brother6 are you any further than you were ten years ago8 ,i remember once1 long ago1 when ,i was on board a sailing ship1 that we had baffling winds as we tried to run up the coast2 and morning after morning for a week we used to come up on deck1 and there were the same windmill1 and the same church-tower that we had seen last night1 and the night before and the night before that4 ,that is the sort of voyage that a great many of you ,christian people are making4 ,there may be motion2 there is no progress4 ,round and round and round you go4 ,that is not the way to get to ,zion4 ',they go from strength to strength1' and unless you are doing that1 you know little about the blessedness of the pilgrim heart4 ,,iv4 ,lastly1 note the blessedness of the pilgrims' arrival4 ',every one of them in ,zion appeareth before ,god4' ,then there is one road on which whosoever travels is sure to reach his goal4 ,on all others caravans get lost1 overwhelmed in a sandstorm1 or slain by robbers2 and the bleached bones of men and camels lie there on the sand for centuries4 ,this caravan always arrives4 ,for no man ever wanted ,god who did not possess ,him1 and the measure of our desire is the prophecy of our possession4 ,surely it is worth while1 even from the point of view of self-interest1 to forsake all these lower aims in which success is absolutely problematical1 or1 while pursuing them as far as duty and necessity require1 in and through them1 as well as above and beyond them1 to press towards the one aim in which failure is impossible4 ,you cannot say about say other course--',blessed is the man that enters on it1 for he is sure to reach what he desires4' ,other goals are elusive2 the golden circlet may never drop upon your locks4 ,but there is one path on which all that you seek you shall have1 and you are on it if 'in your hearts are the ways4' ,i need not say a word about the ultimate fulfilment of this great promise of our text2 how that there is not only in our psalm1 gleaming through it1 a reference to the communion of earth rather than to the external ,presence in the sanctuary1 but there is also hinted1 though less consciously1 to the ,psalmist himself1 yet necessarily from the nature of the case the perfecting of that earthly communion in the higher house of the ,lord in the heavenly ,zion4 ,are all these desires1 these longings1 these efforts after ,god which make the nobleness and the blessedness of a life on earth1 and which are always satisfied1 and yet never satiated1 to be crushed into nothingness by the accident of bodily dissolution8 ,then1 then1 the darkest of all clouds is drawn over the face of ,god1 and we are brought into a state of absolute intellectual bewilderment as to what life1 futile and frail1 has been for at all4 ,no1 brother6 ,god never gives mouths but ,he sends meat to fill them2 and ,he has not suffered ,his children to long after ,him1 to press after ,him1 only in order that the partial fulfilment of their desires and yearnings which is possible upon earth should be all their experience4 ',he thinks he was not made to die1 ,and ,thou hast made him2 ,thou art just4' ,be sure that 'every one of them in ,zion appeareth before ,god4' ,so1 brethren6 let us take the pilgrim scrip and staff2 and be sure of this1 that the old blessed word will be fulfilled1 that we shall not be lost in the wilderness1 where there is no way1 nor grope and search after elusive and fleeting good2 but that 'the ransomed of the ,lord shall return and come to ,zion with songs1 and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads4' ,,blessed ,,trust ',o ,lord of ,hosts1 blessed is the man that trusteth in ,thee4' --,,psalm lxxxiv4 #ab4 ,in my last sermon from the central portion of this psalm ,i pointed out that the ,psalmist thrice celebrates the blessedness of certain types of character1 and that these threefold benedictions constitute1 as it were1 the keynotes of the portions of the psalm in which they respectively occur4 ,they are these3 ',blessed are they that dwell in ,thy house'2 ',blessed is the man in whose heart are the ways'2 and this final one1 ',blessed is the man that trusteth in ,thee4' ,now1 this last benediction includes1 as ,i then remarked1 both of the others2 both the blessedness belonging to dwelling in1 and that realised by journeying towards1 the ,house of the ,lord4 ,for trust is both fruition and longing2 both aspiration and possession4 ,but it not only includes the other two3 it explains and surpasses them4 ,for they bear1 deeply stamped upon them1 the impression of the imperfect stage of revelation to which the psalm belongs1 and are tied to form in a manner which we ought not to be4 ,but here the ,psalmist gets behind all the externals of ceremonial worship1 and goes straight to the heart of spiritual religion when1 for dwelling in1 and journeying towards1 any house of the ,lord1 he substitutes that plain expression1 'the man that trusteth in ,thee4' ,now1 the other two benedictions of which ,i have spoken do respectively form the centre of the first and second portions of this psalm2 in each case the remainder of the section being an explanation of that central utterance4 ,and here the case is the same2 for the verses which precede this final exclamation are various phases of the experience of a man who trusts in ,god1 and are the ground upon which his faith is pronounced 'blessed4' ,so ,i desire now to view these three preceding verses together1 as being illustrations of the various blessednesses of the life of trust in ,god4 ,they are not exhaustive4 ,there are other tints and flashes of glory sleeping in the jewel which need the rays of light to impinge upon it at other angles1 in order to wake them into scintillation and lustre4 ,but there is enough in the context to warrant the ,psalmist's outburst into this final rapturous exclamation1 and ought to be enough to make us seek to possess that life as our own4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 note here how the heart of religion always has been1 and is1 trust in ,god4 ,this ,psalmist1 nourished amidst the externalisms of an elaborate ceremonial1 and compelled1 by the stage of revelation at which he stood1 to localise worship in an external ,temple1 in a fashion that we need not do1 had yet attained to the conviction that1 in the desert or in the ,temple1 ,god was near2 that no weary pilgrimage was needed to reach ,his house1 but that with one movement of a trusting heart the man clasped ,god wherever he was4 ,and that is the living centre of all religion4 ,i do not mean merely that our way to be sure of ,god is not through the understanding only1 but through the outgoing of confidence in ,him--but ,i mean that the kernel of a devout life is trust in ,god4 ,the bond that underlies all the blessedness of human society1 the thing that makes the sweetness of the sweetest ties that can knit men together1 the secret of all the happy loves of husband and wife1 friend and friend1 parent and child1 is simple confidence4 ,and the more utter the confidence the more tranquilly blessed is the union and the life that flow from it4 ,transfer this1 then--which is the bond of perfectness between man and man--to our relation to ,god1 and you get to the very heart of the mystery4 ,not by externalisms of any kind1 not by the clear dry light of the understanding1 but by the outgoing of the heart's confidence to ,god1 do we come within the clasp of ,his arms and become recipients of ,his grace4 ,trust knits to the unseen1 and trust alone4 ,that has always been the way4 ,this ,psalmist is no exception to the devout souls of his time4 ,for though1 as ,i have said1 externalisms and ritualisms filled a place then1 that it is an anachronism and a retrogression that they should be supposed to fill now1 still beneath all these there lay this one ancient1 permanent relation1 the relation of trust4 ,from the day in which the 'father of the faithful' as he is significantly called ,abraham1 'believed ,god1 and it was counted to him for righteousness1' down all through the ages of that ancient ,church1 every man who laid a real hold upon ,god clasped ,him by the outstretched hand of faith4 ,so the writer of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews was fully warranted in claiming all these ancient heroes1 sages1 and saints1 as having lived by faith1 and as being the foremost files in the same army in which the ,christians of his day marched4 ,the prophets who cried1 ',trust ye in the ,lord for ever1 for in the ,lord ,jehovah is everlasting strength1' were saying the very same thing as the ,apostles who preached ',believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and thou shalt be saved4' ,the contents of the faith were expanded2 the faith itself was identical4 ,like some of those old ,roman roads1 where to-day the wains of commerce and the chariots of ease and the toiling pedestrians pass over the lava blocks that have been worn by the tramp of legions and rutted by the wheels of their chariots1 the way to ,god that we travel is the way on which all the saints from the beginning of time have passed in their pilgrimage4 ,trust is1 always has been1 always will be1 the bond that knits men with ,god4 ,and trust is blessed1 because the very attitude of confident dependence takes the strain off a man4 ,to feel that ,i am leaning hard upon a firm prop1 to devolve responsibility1 to put the reins into another's hand1 to give the helm into another steersman's grasp1 whilst ,i may lie down and rest1 that is blessedness1 though there be a storm4 ,in the story of frontier warfare we read how1 day by day1 the battalion that had been in the post of danger1 and therefore of honour1 was withdrawn into the centre2 and another one was placed in the position that it had occupied4 ,so1 when we trust we put ,him in the front1 and we march more quietly1 more blessedly1 when we are in the centre1 and ,he has to bear the brunt of the assailing foe4 ,christian people6 have you got as far past the outsides of religion as this ,psalmist had8 ,do you recognise as clearly as he did that all this outward worship1 and a great deal of our theology1 is but the scaffolding2 and that the real building lies inside of that2 and that it is of value only as being a means to an end8 ,church membership is all very well2 coming to church and chapel is all right2 the outsides of worship will be necessary as long as our souls have outsides--their bodies4 ,but you do not get into the house of the ,lord unless you go in through 'the door of faith1' which is opened to us all4 ,the heart of the religious life1 which makes it blessed1 is trust in ,god4 ,,ii4 ,and now1 secondly1 a life of faith is a blessed life1 because it talks with ,god4 ,i have already said that my text is expanded in the preceding verses4 ,and ,i now turn to them to catch the various flashes of the diversely coloured blessedness of this life4 ,the first of them is that which ,i have just mentioned4 ,the ,psalmist has described for us the happy pilgrims passing from strength to strength1 and in imagination has landed them in the ,temple4 ,and then he goes on to tell us what they did and found there4 ,the first thing that they did was to speak to ,him who was in the ,temple4 ',behold6 ,o ,god our ,shield6 and look upon the face of ,thine anointed4' ,they had1 as he has just said1 ',every one of them appeared before ,god in ,zion4' ,as they looked up to ,him they asked ,him to look down upon them4 ',behold6 ,o ,god our ,shield6' ',shield' here is the designation of ,god ,himself1 and is an exclamation addressed to ,him--',thou who art our ,god and ,shield1 look down upon us6' ,and then comes a singular clause1 about which much might be said if time permitted3 ',look upon the face of ,thine anointed4' ,the use of that word 'anointed' seems to suggest that the psalm is either the outpouring of a king1 or that it is spoken by some one in the train of a king1 who feels that the favour bestowed upon the king will be participated in by his followers4 ,but whilst that1 if it be the explanation1 might carry with it a hint as to the great truth of the mediation of ,jesus ,christ1 our true ,king1 ,i pass that by altogether1 and fix upon the thought that here one element of the blessedness of the life of faith lies in the desire that ,god should look upon us4 ,for that look means love1 and that look secures protection and wise distribution of gifts4 ,and it is life to have ,his eye fixed upon me1 and to be conscious that ,he is looking at me4 ,dear brethren6 if we want a lustre to be diffused through all our days1 depend upon it1 the surest and the only way to secure it is that that ,face shall be felt to be turned toward us1 'as the sun shineth in his strength'2 and then all the landscape will rejoice1 and the birds will sing and the waters will flash4 ',look upon me1 and let me sun myself beneath ,thine eye'--to have that desire is blessed2 and to feel that the desire is accomplished is more blessed still4 ,dear friends6 it seems to me that the ordinary ,christian life of this day is terribly wanting in this experience of frank1 free talk with ,god1 and that that is one reason why so many of us professing ,christians know so little of the blessedness of the man that trusts in ,god4 ,you have religion enough to keep you from doing certain gross acts of sin2 you have religion enough to make you uncomfortable in neglected duty4 ,you have religion enough to impel you to certain acts that you suppose to be obligatory upon you4 ,but do you know anything about the elasticity and spring of spirit in getting near ,god1 and pouring out all your hearts to ,him8 ,the life of faith is not blessed unless it is a life of frank speaking with ,god4 ,,iii4 ,the life of faith is blessed1 because it has fixed its desires on the true good4 ,the ,psalmist goes on--',a day in ,thy courts is better than a thousand2 ,i had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my ,god than dwell in the tents of wickedness4' ',a day in ,thy courts is better than a thousand4' ,we all know how strangely elastic time is1 and have sometimes been amazed when we remembered what an infinity of joy or sorrow we had lived through in one tick of the pendulum4 ,when men are dreaming1 they pass through a long series of events in a moment's space4 ,when we are truly awake1 we live long in a short time1 for life is measured1 not by the length of its moments1 but by the depth of its experiences4 ,and when some new truth is flashed upon us1 or some new emotion has shaken us as with an earthquake1 or when some new blessing has burst into our lives1 then we know how 'one day' with men may be as it is with ,god1 in a deeper sense1 'as a thousand years1' so great is the change that it works upon us4 ,there is nothing that will so fill life to the utmost bounds of its elastic capacity as strong trust in ,him4 ,there is nothing that will make our lives so blessed4 ,this ,psalmist1 speaking with the voice of all them that trust in the ,lord1 here declares his clear consciousness that the true good for the human soul is fellowship with ,god4 ,but the clearest knowledge of that fact is not enough to bring the blessedness4 ,there must be the next step--',i had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my ,god than dwell in the tents of wickedness'--the definite resolve that ,i1 for my part1 will act according to my conviction1 and believing that the best thing in life is to have ,god in life1 and that that will make life1 as it were1 an eternity of blessedness even while it is made up of fleeting days1 will put my foot down and make my choice1 and having made it1 will stick to it4 ,it is all very well to say that ',a day in ,thy courts is better than a thousand'3 have ,i chosen to dwell in the courts2 and do ,i1 not only in estimate but in feeling and practice1 set communion with ,god high above everything besides8 ,this psalm1 according to the superscription attached to it1 is one 'for the sons of ,korah4' ,these sons of ,korah were a branch of the ,levitical priesthood1 to whose charge was committed the keeping of the gates of the ,temple1 and hence this phrase is especially appropriate on their lips4 ,but passing that1 let me just ask you to lay to heart1 dear friends6 this one plain thought1 that the effect of a real life of faith will be to make us perfectly sure that the true good is in ,god1 and fixedly determined to pursue that4 ,and you have no right to claim the name of a believing ,christian1 unless your faith has purged your eyes1 so that you can see the hollowness of all besides1 and has stiffened your will so that you can determine that1 for your part1 'the ,lord is the ,strength of your heart1 and your ,portion for ever4' ,the secret of blessedness lies here4 ',seek ye the ,kingdom of ,god and all these things shall be added unto you4' ,,iv4 ,lastly1 a life of faith is a life of blessedness1 because it draws from ,god all necessary good4 ,i must not dwell1 as ,i had hoped to do1 upon the last words preceding my text1 ',the ,lord ,god is a ,sun and ,shield'--brightness and defence--'the ,lord will give grace and glory'3 'grace1' the loving gifts which will make a man gracious and graceful2 'glory1' not any future lustre of the transfigured soul and glorified body1 but the glory which belongs to the life of faith here on earth4 ,link that thought with the preceding one4 ',the ,lord is a ,sun 444 the ,lord will give glory'2 like a little bit of broken glass lying in the furrows of a ploughed field1 when the sun smites down upon it1 it flashes1 outshining many a diamond4 ,if a man is walking upon a road with the sun behind him1 his face is dark4 ,he wheels himself round1 and it is suffused with light1 as ,moses' face shone4 ',we all1 with unveiled faces beholding1 are changed from glory to glory4' ,if we walk in the sunshine we shall shine too4 ,if we 'walk in the light' we shall be 'light in the ,lord4' ',no good thing will ,he withhold from them that walk uprightly4' ,trust is inward1 and the outside of trust is an upright walk2 and if a man has these two1 which1 inasmuch as one is the root and the other is the fruit1 are but one in reality1 nothing that is good will be withheld from ,him4 ,for how can the sun but pour its rays upon everything that lives8 ',every good gift and every perfect gift is from above1 and cometh down from the ,father of lights4' ,so the life is blessed that talks with ,god2 that has fixed its desires on ,him as its ,supreme ,good2 that is irradiated by ,his light1 glorified by the reflection of ,his brightness1 and ministered to with all necessary appliances by ,his loving self-communication4 ,we come back to the old word1 dear friends6 ',trust in the ,lord1 and do good1 and verily thou shalt be fed4' ,we come back to the old message that nothing knits a man to ,god but faith with its child1 righteousness4 ,if trusting we love1 and loving we obey1 then in converse with ,him1 in fixed desires after ,him1 in daily and hourly reception from ,him of ,himself and ,his gifts1 the life of earth will be full of a blessedness more real1 more deep1 more satisfying1 more permanent1 than can be found anywhere besides4 ,who was it that said1 ',i am the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life2 no man cometh to the ,father but by ,me'8 ,tread that path1 and you will come into the house of the ,lord1 and will dwell there all the days of your life4 ',believe in ,god1 believe also in ,me4' ',,the ,,bridal ,,of ,,the ,,earth ,,and ,,sky' ',mercy and truth are met together2 righteousness and peace have kissed each other4 #aa4 ,truth shall spring out of the earth2 and righteousness shall look down from heaven4 #ab4 ,yea1 the ,lord shall give that which is good2 and our land shall yield her increase4 #ac4 ,righteousness shall go before ,him1 and shall set us in the way of ,his steps4'--,,psalm lxxxv4 #aj-ac4 ,this is a lovely and highly imaginative picture of the reconciliation and reunion of ,god and man1 'the bridal of the earth and sky4' ,the ,poet-,psalmist1 who seems to have belonged to the times immediately after the return from the ,exile1 in strong faith sees before him a vision of a perfectly harmonious co-operation and relation between ,god and man4 ,he is not prophesying directly of ,messianic times4 ,the vision hangs before him1 with no definite note of time upon it4 ,he hopes it may be fulfilled in his own day2 he is sure it will1 if only1 as he says1 his countrymen 'turn not again to folly4' ,at all events1 it will be fulfilled in that far-off time to which the heart of every prophet turned with longing4 ,but1 more than that1 there is no reason why it should not be fulfilled with every man1 at any moment4 ,it is the ideal1 to use modern language1 of the relations between heaven and earth4 ,only that the ,psalmist believed that1 as sure as there was a ,god in heaven1 who is likewise a ,god working in the midst of the earth1 the ideal might become1 and would become1 a reality4 ,so1 then1 ,i take it1 these four verses all set forth substantially the same thought1 but with slightly different modifications and applications4 ,they are a four-fold picture of how heaven and earth ought to blend and harmonise4 ,this four-fold representation of the one thought is what ,i purpose to consider now4 ,i4 ,to begin with1 then1 take the first verse3--',mercy and ,truth are met together1 ,righteousness and ,peace have kissed each other4' ,we have here the heavenly twin-sisters1 and the earthly pair that correspond4 ',mercy and ,truth are met together'--that is one personification2 ',righteousness and ,peace have kissed each other' is another4 ,it is difficult to say whether these four great qualities are here regarded as all belonging to ,god1 or as all belonging to man1 or as all common both to ,god and man4 ,the first explanation is the most familiar one1 but ,i confess that1 looking at the context1 where we find throughout an interpenetration and play of reciprocal action as between earth and heaven1 ,i am disposed to think of the first pair as sisters from the heavens1 and the second pair as the earthly sisters that correspond to them4 ,mercy and ,truth--two radiant angels1 like virgins in some solemn choric dance1 linked hand in hand1 issue from the sanctuary and move amongst the dim haunts of men making 'a sunshine in a shady place1' and to them there come forth1 linked in a sweet embrace1 another pair1 ,righteousness and ,peace1 whose lives depend on the lives of their elder and heavenly sisters4 ,and so these four1 the pair of heavenly origin1 and the answering pair that have sprung into being at their coming upon earth2--these four1 banded in perfect accord1 move together1 blessing and light-giving1 amongst the sons of men4 ,mercy and ,truth are the divine--,righteousness and ,peace the earthly4 ,let me dwell upon these two couples briefly4 ',mercy and ,truth are met together' means this1 that these two qualities are found braided and linked inseparably in all that ,god does with mankind2 that these two springs are the double fountains from which the great stream of the 'river of the water of life1' the forthcoming and the manifestation of ,god1 takes its rise4 ',mercy and ,truth4' ,what are the meanings of the two words8 ,mercy is love that stoops1 love that departs from the strict lines of desert and retribution4 ,mercy is ,love that is kind when ,justice might make it otherwise4 ,mercy is ,love that condescends to that which is far beneath4 ,thus the ',mercy' of the ,old ,testament covers almost the same ground as the ',grace' of the ,new ,testament4 ,and ,truth blends with ,mercy2 that is to say--,truth in a somewhat narrower than its widest sense1 meaning mainly ,god's fidelity to every obligation under which ,he has come1 ,god's faithfulness to promise1 ,god's fidelity to ,his past1 ,god's fidelity1 in ,his actions1 to ,his own character1 which is meant by that great word1 ',he sware by ,himself6' ,thus the sentiment of mercy1 the tender grace and gentleness of that condescending love1 has impressed upon it the seal of permanence when we say3 ',grace and ,truth1 ,mercy and ,faithfulness1 are met together4' ,no longer is love mere sentiment1 which may be capricious and may be transient4 ,we can reckon on it1 we know the law of its being4 ,the love is lifted up above the suspicion of being arbitrary1 or of ever changing or fluctuating4 ,we do not know all the limits of the orbit1 but we know enough to calculate it for all practical purposes4 ,god has committed ,himself to us1 ,he has limited ,himself by the obligations of ,his own past4 ,we have a right to turn to ,him1 and say2 ',be what ,thou art1 and continue to be to us what ,thou hast been unto past ages1' and ,he responds to the appeal4 ,for ,mercy and ,truth1 tender1 gracious1 stooping1 forgiving love1 and inviolable faithfulness that can never be otherwise1 these blend in all ,his works1 'that by two immutable things1 wherein it was impossible for ,god to lie1 we might have a strong consolation4' ,again1 dear brethren6 let me remind you that these two are the ideal two1 which as far as ,god's will and wish are concerned1 are the only two that would mark any of ,his dealings with men4 ,when ,he is1 if ,i may so say1 left free to do as ,he would1 and is not forced to ,his 'strange act' of punishment by my sin and yours1 these1 and these only1 are the characteristics of ,his dealings4 ,nor let us forget--',we beheld ,his glory1 the glory as of the ,only ,begotten of the ,father1 full of grace and truth4' ,the ,psalmist's vision was fulfilled in ,jesus ,christ1 in whom these sweet twin characteristics1 that are linked inseparably in all the works of ,god1 are welded together into one in the living personality of ,him who is all the ,father's grace embodied2 and is 'the ,way and the ,truth and the ,life4' ,turn now to the other side of the first aspect of the union of ,god and man1 ',mercy and ,truth are met together'2 these are the heavenly twins4 ',righteousness and ,peace have kissed each other'--these are the earthly sisters who sprang into being to meet them4 ,of course ,i know that these words are very often applied1 by way of illustration1 to the great work of ,jesus ,christ upon the ,cross1 which is supposed to have reconciled1 if not contradictory1 at least divergently working sides of the divine character and government4 ,and we all know how beautifully the phrase has often been employed by eloquent preachers1 and how beautifully it has been often illustrated by devout painters4 ,but beautiful as the adaptation is1 ,i think it is an adaptation1 and not the real meaning of the words1 for this reason1 if for no other1 that ,righteousness and ,peace are not in the ,old ,testament regarded as opposites1 but as harmonious and inseparable4 ,and so ,i take it that here we have distinctly the picture of what happens upon earth when ,mercy and ,truth that come down from ,heaven are accepted and recognised--then ,righteousness and ,peace kiss each other4 ,or1 to put away the metaphor1 here are two thoughts1 first that in men's experience and life ,righteousness and ,peace cannot be rent apart4 ,the only secret of tranquillity is to be good4 ,he who is1 first of all1 ',king of ,righteousness' is 'after that also ,king of ,salem1 which is ,king of ,peace4' ',the effect of righteousness shall be peace1' as ,isaiah1 the brother in spirit of this ,psalmist1 says2 and on the other hand1 as the same prophet says1 ',the wicked is like a troubled sea that cannot rest1 whose waters cast up mire and dirt2 there is no peace1 saith my ,god1 to the wicked1' but where affections are pure1 and the life is worthy1 where goodness is loved in the heart1 and followed even imperfectly in the daily practice1 there the ocean is quiet1 and 'birds of peace sit brooding on the charmed wave4' ,the one secret of tranquillity is first to trust in the ,lord and then to do good4 ,righteousness and ,peace kiss each other4 ,the other thought here is that ,righteousness and her twin sister1 ,peace1 only come in the measure in which the mercy and the truth of ,god are received into thankful hearts4 ,my brother6 have you taken that ,mercy and that ,truth into your soul1 and are you trying to reach peace in the only way by which any human being can ever reach it--through the path of righteousness1 self-suppression1 and consecration to ,him8 ,,ii4 ,now1 take the next phase of this union and cooperation of earth and heaven1 which is given here in the #aath verse--',truth shall spring out of the earth1 and ,righteousness shall look down from heaven4' ,that is1 to put it into other words--,god responding to man's truth4 ,notice that in this verse one member from each of the two pairs that have been spoken about in the previous verse is detached from its companion1 and they are joined so as to form for a moment a new pair4 ,truth is taken from the first couple2 ,righteousness from the second1 and a third couple is thus formed4 ,and notice1 further1 that each takes the place that had belonged to the other4 ,the heavenly ,truth becomes a child of earth2 and the earthly ,righteousness ascends 'to look down from heaven4' ,the process of the previous verse in effect is reversed4 ',truth shall spring out of the earth1 ,righteousness shall look down from heaven'2 that is to say--man's ,truth shall begin to grow and blossom in answer1 as it were1 to ,god's ,truth that came down upon it4 ,which being translated into other words is this3 where a man's heart has welcomed the ,mercy and the ,truth of ,god there will spring up in that heart1 not only the ,righteousness and ,peace1 of which the previous verse is speaking1 but specifically a faithfulness not all unlike the faithfulness which it grasps4 ,if we have a ,god immutable and unchangeable to build upon1 let us build upon ,him immutability and unchangeableness4 ,if we have a ,rock on which to build our confidence1 let us see that the confidence which we build upon it is rocklike too4 ,if we have a ,god that cannot lie1 let us grasp ,his faithful word with an affiance that cannot falter4 ,if we have a ,truth in the heavens1 absolute and immutable1 on which to anchor our hopes1 let us see to it that our hopes1 anchored thereon1 are sure and steadfast4 ,what a shame it would be that we should bring the vacillations and fluctuations of our own insincerities and changeableness to the solemn1 fixed unalterableness of that divine ,word6 ,we ought to be faithful1 for we build upon a faithful ,god4 ,and then the other side of this second picture is ',righteousness shall look down from heaven1' not in its judicial aspect merely1 but as the perfect moral purity that belongs to the divine ,nature1 which shall bend down a loving eye upon the men beneath1 and mark the springings of any imperfect good and thankfulness in our hearts2 joyous as the husbandman beholds the springing of his crops in the fields that he has sown4 ,god delights when ,he sees the first faint flush of green which marks the springing of the good seed in the else barren hearts of men4 ,no good1 no beauty of character1 no meek rapture of faith1 no aspiration ,godwards is ever wasted and lost1 for ,his eye rests upon it4 ,as heaven1 with its myriad stars1 bends over the lowly earth1 and in the midnight when no human eye beholds1 sees all1 so ,god sees the hidden confidence1 the unseen ',truth' that springs to meet ,his faithful ,word4 ,the flowers that grow in the pastures of the wilderness1 or away upon the wild prairies1 or that hide in the clefts of the inaccessible mountains1 do not 'waste their sweetness on the desert air1' for ,god sees them4 ,it may be an encouragement and quickening to us to remember that wherever the tiniest little bit of ,truth springs upon the earth1 the loving eye--not the eye of a great ,taskmaster--but the eye of the ,brother1 ,christ1 which is the eye of ,god1 looks down4 ',wherefore we labour1 that whether present or absent1 we may be well-pleasing unto ,him4' ,,iii4 ,and then the third aspect of this ideal relation between earth and heaven1 the converse of the one we have just now been speaking of1 is set forth in the next verse3 ',yea1 the ,lord shall give that which is good and our land shall yield her increase4' ,that is to say1 ,man is here responding to ,god's gift4 ,you see that the order of things is reversed in this verse1 and that it recurs to the order with which we originally started4 ',the ,lord shall give that which is good4' ,in the figure that refers to all the skyey influence of dew1 rain1 sunshine1 passing breezes1 and still ripening autumn days2 in the reality it refers to all the motives1 powers1 impulses1 helps1 furtherances by which ,he makes it possible for us to serve ,him and love ,him1 and bring forth fruits of righteousness4 ,and so the thought which has already been hinted at is here more fully developed and dwelt upon1 this great truth that earthly fruitfulness is possible only by the reception of heavenly gifts4 ,as sure as every leaf that grows is mainly water that the plant has got from the clouds1 and carbon that it has got out of the atmosphere1 so surely will all our good be mainly drawn from heaven and heaven's gifts4 ,as certainly as every lump of coal that you put upon your fire contains in itself sunbeams that have been locked up for all these millenniums that have passed since it waved green in the forest1 so certainly does every good deed embody in itself gifts from above4 ,no man is pure except by impartation2 and every good gift and every perfect gift cometh from the ,father of ,lights4 ,so let us learn the lesson of absolute dependence for all purity1 virtue1 and righteousness on ,his bestowment1 and come to ,him and ask ,him ever more to fill our emptiness with ,his own gracious fulness and to lead us to be what ,he commands and would have us to be4 ,and then there is the other lesson out of this phase of the ideal relation between earth and heaven1 the lesson of what we ought to do with our gifts4 ',the earth yields her increase1' by laying hold of the good which the ,lord gives1 and by means of that received good quickening all the germs4 ,ah1 dear brethren6 wasted opportunities1 neglected moments1 uncultivated talents1 gifts that are not stirred up1 rain and dew and sunshine1 all poured upon us and no increase--is not that the story of much of all our lives1 and of the whole of some lives8 ,are we like ,eastern lands where the trees have been felled1 and the great irrigation works and tanks have been allowed to fall into disrepair1 and so when the bountiful treasure of the rains comes1 all that it does is to swell for half a day the discoloured stream that carries away some more of the arable land2 and when the sunshine comes1 with its swift1 warm powers1 all that it does is to bleach the stones and scorch the barren sand8 ',the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it1 and yieldeth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed1 receiveth the blessing of ,god4' ,is it true about you that the earth yieldeth her increase1 as it is certainly true that 'the ,lord giveth that which is good'8 ,,iv4 ,and now the last thing which is here1 the last phase of the fourfold representation of the ideal relation between earth and heaven is1 ',righteousness shall go before ,him and shall set us in the way of ,his steps4' ,that is to say1 ,god teaches man to walk in ,his footsteps4 ,there is some difficulty about the meaning of the last clause of this verse1 but ,i think that having regard to the whole context and to that idea of the interpenetration of the heavenly with the human which we have seen running through it1 the reading in our ,english ,bible gives substantially1 though somewhat freely1 the meaning4 ,the clause might literally be rendered 'make ,his footsteps for a way1' which comes to substantially the same thing as is expressed in our ,english ,bible4 ,righteousness1 ,god's moral perfectness1 is set forth here in a twofold phase4 ,first it is a herald going before ,him and preparing ,his path4 ,the ,psalmist in these words draws tighter than ever the bond between ,god and man4 ,it is not only that ,god sends ,his messengers to the world1 nor only that ,his loving eye looks down upon it1 nor only 'that ,he gives that which is good'2 but it is that the whole heaven1 as it were1 lowers itself to touch earth1 that ,god comes down to dwell and walk among men4 ,the ,psalmist's mind is filled with the thought of a present ,god who moves amongst mankind1 and has ,his 'footsteps' on earth4 ,this herald ,righteousness prepares ,god's path1 which is just to say that all ,his dealings with mankind--which1 as we have seen1 have ,mercy and ,faithfulness for their signature and stamp--are rooted and based in perfect ,rectitude4 ,the second phase of the operation of ,righteousness is that that majestic herald1 the divine purity which moves before ,him1 and 'prepares in the desert a highway for the ,lord1'--that that very same ,righteousness comes and takes my feeble hand1 and will lead my tottering footsteps into ,god's path1 and teach me to walk1 planting my little foot where ,he planted ,his4 ,the highest of all thoughts of the ideal relation between earth and heaven1 that of likeness between ,god and man1 is trembling on the ,psalmist's lips4 ,men may walk in ,god's ways--not only in ways that please ,him1 but in ways that are like ,his4 ',be ye therefore perfect1 even as your ,father which is in heaven is perfect4' ,and the likeness can only be a likeness in moral qualities--a likeness in goodness1 a likeness in purity1 a likeness in aversion from evil1 for ,his other attributes and characteristics are ,his peculiar property2 and no human brow can wear the crown that ,he wears4 ,but though ,his mercy can but1 from afar off1 be copied by us1 the righteousness that moves before ,him1 and engineers ,god's path through the wilderness of the world1 will come behind ,him and nurselike lay hold of our feeble arms and teach us to go in the way ,god would have us to walk4 ,ah1 brethren6 that is the crown and climax of the harmony between ,god and man1 that ,his mercy and ,his truth1 ,his gifts and ,his grace have all led us up to this3 that we take ,his righteousness as our pattern1 and try in our poor lives to reproduce its wondrous beauty4 ,do not forget that a great deal more than the ,psalmist dreamed of1 you ,christian men and women possess1 in the ,christ 'who of ,god is made unto us ,righteousness1' in whom heaven and earth are joined for ever1 in whom man and ,god are knit in strictest bonds of indissoluble friendship2 and who1 having prepared a path for ,god in ,his mighty mission and by ,his sacrifice on the ,cross1 comes to us1 and as the ,incarnate ,righteousness1 will lead us in the paths of ,god1 leaving us an ,example1 that 'we should follow in ,his steps4' ,a ,,sheaf ,,of ,,prayer ,,arrows ',bow down ,thine ear1 ,o ,lord1 hear me2 for ,i am poor and needy4 #b4 ,preserve my soul1 for ,i am holy3 ,o ,thou my ,god1 save ,thy servant that trusteth in ,thee4 #c4 ,be merciful unto me1 ,o ,lord3 for ,i cry unto ,thee daily4 #d4 ,rejoice the soul of ,thy servant3 for unto ,thee1 ,o ,lord1 do ,i lift up my soul4 #e4 ,for ,thou1 ,lord1 art good1 and ready to forgive2 and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon ,thee4'--,,psalm lxxxvi4 #a-e4 ,we have here a sheaf of arrows out of a good man's quiver1 shot into heaven4 ,this series of supplications is remarkable in more than one respect4 ,they all mean substantially the same thing1 but the ,psalmist turns the one blessing round in all sorts of ways1 so great does it seem to him1 and so earnest is his desire to possess it4 ,they are almost all quotations from earlier psalms1 just as our prayers are often words of ,scripture1 hallowed by many associations1 and uniting us with the men of old who cried unto ,god and were answered4 ,the structure of the petitions is remarkably uniform4 ,in each there are a prayer and a plea1 and in most of them a direct invocation of ,god4 ,so ,i have thought that1 if we put them all together now1 we may get some lessons as to the invocations1 the petitions1 and the pleas of true prayer2 or1 in other words1 we may be taught how to lay hold of ,god1 what to ask from ,him1 and how to be sure of an answer4 ,i4 ,first1 the lesson as to how to lay hold upon ,god4 ,the divine names in this psalm are very frequent and significant1 and the order in which they are used is evidently intentional4 ,we have the great covenant name of ,jehovah set in the very first verse1 and in the last verse2 as if to bind the whole together with a golden circlet4 ,and then1 in addition1 it appears once in each of the other two sections of the psalm1 with which we have nothing to do at present4 ,then we have1 further1 the name of ,god employed in each of the sections2 and further1 the name of ,lord1 which is not the same as ,jehovah1 but implies the simple idea of superiority and authority4 ,in each portion of the psalm1 then1 we see the writer laying his hand1 as it were1 upon these three names--',jehovah1' 'my ,god1' ',lord'--and in all of them finding grounds for his confidence and reasons for his cry4 ,nothing in our prayers is often more hollow and unreal than the formal repetitions of the syllables of that divine name1 often but to fill a pause in our thoughts4 ,but to 'call upon the ,name of the ,lord' means1 first and foremost1 to bring before our minds the aspects of ,his great and infinite character1 which are gathered together into the ,name by which we address ,him4 ,so when we say ',jehovah6' ',lord6' what we ought to mean is this1 that we are gazing upon that majestic1 glorious thought of ,being1 self-derived1 self-motived1 self-ruled1 the being of ,him whose ,name can only be1 ',i am that ,i am4' ,of all other creatures the name is1 ',i am that ,i have been made1' or ',i am that ,i became1' but of ,him the ,name is1 ',i am that ,i am4' ,nowhere outside of ,himself is the reason for ,his being1 nor the law that shapes it1 nor the aim to which it tends4 ,and this infinite1 changeless ,rock is laid for our confidence1 ,jehovah the ,eternal1 the ,self-subsisting1 ,self-sufficing ,one4 ,there is more than that thought in this wondrous ,name1 for it not only expresses the timeless1 unlimited1 and changeless being of ,god1 but also the truth that ,he has entered into what ,he deigns to call a ,covenant with us men4 ,the name ,jehovah is the seal of that ancient ,covenant1 of which1 though the form has vanished1 the essence abides for ever1 and ,god has thereby bound ,himself to us by promises that cannot be abrogated4 ,so that when we say1 ',o ,lord6' we summon up before ourselves1 and grasp as the grounds of our confidence1 and we humbly present before ,him as the motives1 if we may so call them1 for ,his action1 ,his own infinite being and ,his covenanted grace4 ,then1 further1 our psalm invokes 'my ,god4' ,that names implies in itself1 simply1 the notion of power to be reverenced4 ,but when we add to it that little word 'my1' we rise to the wonderful thought that the creature can claim an individual relation to ,him1 and in some profound sense a possession there4 ,the tiny mica flake claims kindred with the ,alpine peak from which it fell4 ,the poor1 puny hand1 that can grasp so little of the material and temporal1 can grasp all of ,god that it needs4 ,then1 there is the other name1 ',lord1' which simply expresses illimitable sovereignty1 power over all circumstances1 creatures1 orders of being1 worlds1 and cycles of ages4 ,wherever ,he is ,he rules1 and therefore my prayer can be answered by ,him4 ,when a child cries ',mother6' it is more than all other petitions4 ,a dear name may be a caress when it comes from loving lips4 ,if we are the kind of ,christians that we ought to be1 there will be nothing sweeter to us than to whisper to ourselves1 and to say to ,him1 ',abba6 ,father6' ,see to it that your calling on the ,name of the ,lord is not formal1 but the true apprehension1 by a believing mind and a loving heart1 of the ineffable and manifold sweetnesses which are hived in ,his manifold names4 ,,ii4 ,now1 secondly1 we have here a lesson as to what we should ask4 ,the petitions of our text1 of course1 only cover a part of the whole field of prayer4 ,the ,psalmist is praying in the midst of some unknown trouble1 and his petitions are manifold in form1 though in substance1 as ,i have said1 they may all be reduced to one4 ,let me run over them very briefly4 ',bow down ,thine ear and hear me4' ,that is not simply the invocation of the omniscience of a ,god1 but an appeal for loving1 attentive regard to the desires of ,his poor servant4 ,the hearing is not merely the perception in the divine mind of what the creature desires1 but it is the answer in fact1 or the granting of the petition4 ,the best illustration of what the ,psalmist desires here may be found in another psalm1 where another ,psalmist tells us his experience and says1 ',my cry came unto ,his ears1 and the earth shook and trembled4' ,you put a spoonful of water into a hydraulic press at the one end1 and you get a force that squeezes tons together at the other4 ,here there is a poor1 thin stream of the voice of a sorrowful man at the one end1 and there is an earthquake at the other4 ,that is what 'hearing' and 'bowing down the ear' means4 ,then the prayers go on to three petitions1 which may be all regarded as diverse acts of deliverance or of help4 ',preserve my soul4' ,the word expresses the guardianship with which a garrison keeps a fortress4 ,it is the ,hebrew equivalent of the word employed by ,paul--',the peace of ,god shall keep your hearts and minds in ,christ ,jesus4' ,the thought is that of a defenceless man or thing round which some strong protection is cast4 ,and the desire expressed by it is that in the midst of sorrow1 whatever it is1 the soul may be guarded from evil4 ,then1 the next petition--',save ,thy servant'--goes a step further1 and not only asks to be kept safe in the midst of sorrows1 but to be delivered out of them4 ,and then the next petition--',be merciful unto me1 ,o ,lord6'--craves that the favour which comes down to inferiors1 and is bestowed upon those who might deserve something far otherwise1 may manifest itself1 in such acts of strengthening1 or help1 or deliverance1 as divine wisdom may see fit4 ,and then the last petition is--',rejoice the soul of ,thy servant4' ,the series begins with 'hearing1' passes through 'preserving1' 'saving1' showing 'mercy1' and comes at last to 'rejoice the soul' that has been so harassed and troubled4 ,gladness is ,god's purpose for us all2 joy we all have a right to claim from ,him4 ,it is the intended issue of every sorrow1 and it can only be had when we cleave to ,him1 and pass through the troubles of life with continual dependence on and aspiration towards ,himself4 ,so these are the petitions massed together1 and out of them let me take two or three lessons4 ,first1 then1 let us learn to make all wishes and annoyances material of prayer4 ,this man was harassed by some trouble1 the nature of which we do not know2 and although the latter portion of his psalm rises into loftier regions of spiritual desire1 here1 in the first part of it1 he is wrestling with his afflicting circumstances1 whatever they were1 and he has no hesitation in spreading them all out before ,god and asking for ,his delivering help4 ,wishes that are not turned into prayers irritate1 disturb1 unsettle4 ,wishes that are turned into prayers are calmed and made blessed4 ,stanley and his men lived for weeks upon a poisonous root1 which1 if eaten crude1 brought all manner of diseases1 but1 steeped in running water1 had all the acrid juices washed out of it1 and became wholesome food4 ,if you steep your wishes in the stream of prayer the poison will pass out of them4 ,some of them will be suppressed1 all of them will be hallowed1 and all of them will be calmed4 ,troubles1 great or small1 should be turned into prayers4 ,breath spent in sighs is wasted2 turned into prayers it will swell our sails4 ,if a man does not pray 'without ceasing1' there is room for doubt whether he ever prays at all4 ,what would you think of a traveller who had a valuable cordial of which he only tasted a drop in the morning and another in the evening2 or who had a sure staff on which to lean which he only employed at distant intervals on the weary march1 and that only for a short time8 ,let us turn all that we want into petitions1 and all that annoys us let us spread before ,god4 ,learn1 further1 that earnest reiteration is not vain repetition4 ',use not vain repetitions as the heathen do1 for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking1' said the ,master4 ,but the same ,master 'went away from them and prayed the third time1 using the same words4' ,as long as we have not consciously received the blessing1 it is no vain reiteration if we renew our prayers that it may come upon our heads4 ,the man who asks for a thing once1 and then gets up from his knees and goes away1 and does not notice whether he gets the answer or not1 does not pray4 ,the man who truly desires anything from ,god cannot be satisfied with one languid request for it4 ,but as the heart contracts with a sense of need1 and expands with a faith in ,god's sufficiency1 it will drive the same blood of prayer over and over again through the same veins2 and life will be wholesome and strong4 ,then learn1 further1 to limit wishes and petitions within the bounds of ,god's promises4 ,the most of these supplications of our text may be found in other parts of ,scripture1 as promises from ,god4 ,only so far as an articulate divine word carries my faith has my faith the right to go4 ,in the crooked alleys of ,venice there is a thin thread of red stone1 inlaid in the pavement or wall1 which guides through all the devious turnings to the ,piazza1 in the centre1 where the great church stands4 ,as long as we have the red line of promise on our path1 faith may follow it and will come to the ,temple4 ,where the line stops it is presumption1 and not faith1 that takes up the running4 ,god's promises are sunbeams flung down upon us4 ,true prayer catches them on its mirror1 and signals them back to ,god4 ,we are emboldened to say1 ',bow down ,thine ear6' because ,he has said1 ',i will hear4' ,we are encouraged to cry1 ',be merciful6' because we have our foot upon the promise that ,he will be2 and all that we can ask of ,him is1 ',do for us what ,thou hast said2 be to us what ,thou art4' ,the final lesson is1 ,leave ,god to settle how ,he answers your prayer4 ,the ,psalmist prayed for preservation1 for safety1 for joy2 but he did not venture to prescribe to ,god how these blessings were to be ministered to him4 ,he does not ask that the trouble may be taken away4 ,that is as it may be2 it may be better that it shall be left4 ,but he asks that in it he shall not be allowed to sink1 and that1 however the waves may run high1 they shall not be allowed to swamp his poor little cockle-shell of a boat4 ,this is the true inmost essence of prayer--not that we should prescribe to ,him how to answer our desires1 but that we should leave all that in ,his hands4 ,the ,apostle ,paul said1 in his last letter1 with triumphant confidence1 that he knew that ,god would 'deliver him and save him into ,his everlasting kingdom4' ,and he knew1 at the same time1 that his course was ended1 and that there was nothing for him now but the crown4 ,how was he 'saved into the kingdom' and 'delivered from the mouth of the lion'8 ,the sword that struck off the wearied head that had thought so long for ,god's ,church was the instrument of the deliverance and the means of the salvation4 ,for us it may be that a sharper sorrow may be the answer to the prayer1 ',preserve ,thy servant4' ,it may be that ,god's 'bowing down ,his ear' and answering us when we cry shall be to pass us through a mill that has finer rollers1 to crush still more the bruised corn4 ,but the end and the meaning of it all will be to 'rejoice the soul of the servant' with a deeper joy at last4 ,,iii4 ,finally1 mark the lesson which we have here as to the pleas that are to be urged1 or the conditions on which prayer is answered4 ',i am poor and needy1' or1 as perhaps the words more accurately mean1 'afflicted and poor4' ,the first condition is the sense of need4 ,god's highest blessings cannot be given except to the men who know they want them4 ,the self-righteous man cannot receive the righteousness of ,christ4 ,the man who has little or no consciousness of sin is not capable of receiving pardon4 ,god cannot put ,his fulness into our emptiness if we conceit ourselves to be filled and in need of nothing4 ,we must know ourselves to be 'poor and naked and blind and miserable' ere ,he can make us rich1 and clothe us1 and enlighten our eyes1 and flood our souls with ,his own gladness4 ,our needs are dumb appeals to ,him2 and in regard to all outward and lower things1 they bind ,him to supply us1 because they themselves have been created by ,him4 ,he that hears the raven's croak satisfies the necessities that ,he has ordained in man and beast4 ,but1 for all the best blessings of ,his providence and of ,his love1 the first steps towards receiving them are the knowledge that we need them and the desire that we should possess them4 ,then the ,psalmist goes on to put another class of pleas derived from his relation to ,god4 ,these are mainly two--',i am holy1' and ',thy servant that trusteth in ,thee4' ,now1 with regard to that first word 'holy1' according to our modern understanding of the expression it by no means sets forth the ,psalmist's idea4 ,it has an unpleasant smack of self-righteousness1 too1 which is by no means to be found in the original4 ,but the word employed is a very remarkable and pregnant one4 ,it really carries with it1 in germ1 the great teaching of the ,apostle ,john4 ',we love ,him because ,he first loved us4' ,it means one who1 being loved and favoured by ,god1 answers the divine love with his own love4 ,and the ,psalmist is not pleading any righteousness of his own1 but declaring that he1 touched by the divine love1 answers that love1 and looks up2 not as if thereby he deserved the response that he seeks1 but as knowing that it is impossible but that the waiting heart should thus be blessed4 ,they who love ,god are sure that the answer to their desires will come fluttering down upon their heads1 and fold its white wings and nestle in their hearts4 ,christian people are a great deal too much afraid of saying1 ',i love ,god4' ,they rob themselves of much peace and power thereby4 ,we should be less chary of so saying if we thought more about ,god's love to us1 and poked less into our own conduct4 ,again1 the ,psalmist brings this plea--',thy servant that trusteth in ,thee4' ,he does not say1 ',i deserve to be answered because ,i trust1' but 'because ,i trust ,i am sure that ,i shall be answered'2 for it is absurd to suppose that ,god will look down from heaven on a soul that is depending upon ,him1 and will let that soul's confidence be put to shame4 ,dear friend6 if your heart is resting upon ,god1 be sure of this1 that anything is possible rather than that you should not get from ,him the blessings that you need4 ,the ,psalmist gathers together all his pleas which refer to himself into two final clauses--',i cry unto ,thee daily1' ',i lift up my soul unto ,thee'--which1 taken together1 express the constant effort of a devout heart after communion with ,god4 ,to withdraw my heart from the low levels of earth1 and to bear it up into communion with ,god1 is the sure way to get what ,i desire1 because then ,god ,himself will be my chief desire1 and 'they who seek the ,lord shall not want any good4' ,but the true and prevailing plea is not in our needs1 desires1 or dispositions1 but in ,god's own character1 as revealed by ,his words and acts1 and grasped by our faith4 ,therefore the ,psalmist ends by passing from thoughts of self to thoughts of ,god1 and builds at last on the sure foundation which underlies all his other 'fors' and gives them all their force--',for ,thou1 ,lord1 art good1 and ready to forgive1 and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon ,thee4' ,brethren6 turn all your wishes and all your annoyances into prayers4 ,if a wish is not fit to be prayed about1 it is not fit to be cherished4 ,if a care is too small to be made a prayer1 it is too small to be made a burden4 ,be frank with ,god as ,god is frank with you1 and go to ,his throne1 keeping back nothing of your desires or of your troubles4 ,to carry them there will take the poison and the pain out of wasps' stings1 and out of else fatal wounds4 ,we have a ,name to trust to1 tenderer and deeper than those which evoked the ,psalmist's triumphant confidence4 ,let us see to it that1 as the basis of our faith is firmer1 our faith be stronger than his4 ,we have a plea to urge1 more persuasive and mighty than those which he pressed on ,god and gathered to his own heart4 ',for ,christ's sake' includes all that he pled1 and stretches beyond it4 ,if we come to ,god through ,him who declares ,his name to us1 we shall not draw near to the ,throne with self-willed desires1 nor leave it with empty hands4 ',if ye ask anything in ,my ,name1 ,i will do it4' ,,continual ,,sunshine ',blessed is the people that know the joyful sound3 they shall walk1 ,o ,lord1 in the light of ,thy countenance4'--,,psalm lxxxix4 #ae4 ,the ,psalmist has just been setting forth1 in sublime language1 the glories of the divine character--,god's strength1 ,his universal sway1 the justice and judgment which are the foundation of ,his ,throne1 the mercy and truth which go as heralds before ,his face4 ,a heathen singing of any of his gods would have gone on to describe the form and features of the god or goddess who came behind the heralds1 but the ,psalmist remembers ',thou shalt not make unto thyself any 444 likeness of ,god4' ,a sacred reverence checks his song4 ,he veils his face in his mantle while ,he whom no man can see and live passes by4 ,then he breaks into rapturous exclamations which are very prosaically and poorly represented by our version4 ,for the text is not a mere statement1 as it is made to be by reading ',blessed is the people1' but it is a burst of adoring wonder1 and should be read1 ',oh6 the blessedness of the people that know the joyful sound4' ,now1 the force of this exclamation is increased if we observe that the word that is rendered 'joyful sound' is the technical word for the trumpet blast at ,jewish feasts4 ,the purpose of these blasts1 like those of the heralds at the coronation of a king1 was to proclaim the presence of ,god1 the ,king of ,israel1 in the festival1 as well as to express the gladness of the worshippers4 ,thus the ,psalmist1 when he says1 ',blessed is the people that know the joyful sound1' has no reference1 as we ordinarily take him to have1 to the preaching of the ,gospel1 but to the trumpet-blasts that proclaimed the present ,god and throbbed with the gladness of the waiting worshippers4 ,so that this exclamation is equivalent to ',oh6 how blessed are the people who are sure that they have ,god with them6' and who1 being sure1 bow before ,him in loving worship4 ,it is to be further noticed that the subsequent words of the text state the first element which it indicates of that blessedness of a devout life1 ',they shall walk1 ,o ,lord6 in the light of ,thy countenance4' ,i4 ,we deal first with the meaning of this phrase4 ,of course1 'the light of ,thy countenance' is a very obvious and natural symbol for favour1 complacency1 goodwill on the part of ,him that is conceived of as looking on any one4 ,we read1 for instance1 in reference to a much lower subject in the ,book of ,proverbs1 ',in the light of the king's countenance is life1 and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain4' ,again we have1 in the ,levitical benediction1 the phrase accompanied in the parallel clauses by what is really an explanation of it1 ',the ,lord cause ,his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee4' ,so that the simple and obvious meaning of the words1 'the light of ,thy countenance1' is the favour and lovingkindness of ,god manifested in that gracious ,face which ,he turns to ,his servants4 ,as for the other chief word in the clause1 'to walk' is the equivalent throughout ,scripture for the conduct of the active life and daily conversation of a man1 and to walk in the light is simply to have the consciousness of the divine ,presence and the experience of the divine lovingkindness and friendship as a road on which we travel our life's journey1 or an atmosphere round us in which all our activities are done and in which we ever remain1 as a diver in his bell1 to keep evil and sin from us4 ,there is only one more remark in the nature of explanation which ,i make1 and that is that the expression here for walking is cast in the original into a form which grammarians call intensive1 strengthening the simple idea expressed by the word4 ,we may express its force if we read1 ',they walk continually in the light of ,thy countenance4' ,is not that just a definition of the ,christian life as an unbroken realisation of the divine ,presence1 and an unbroken experience of the lovingkindness and favour of ,god8 ,is not that religion in its truest1 simplest essence1 in its purest expression8 ,the people who are sure that they have their ,king in their midst1 and who feel that ,he is looking down upon them with tender pity1 with loving care1 with nothing but friendship and sweetness in ,his heart1 these people1 says the ,psalmist1 are blessed4 ,so much1 then1 for the meaning of the word4 ,,ii4 ,consider the possibility of such a condition being ours4 ,can such a thing be8 ,is it possible for a man to go through life carrying this atmosphere constantly with him8 ,can the continuity which1 as ,i remarked1 is expressed by the original accurately rendered1 be kept up through an ordinary life that has all manner of work to do1 or are we only to 'hear the joyful sound1' now and then1 at rare intervals1 on set occasions1 answering to these ancient feasts8 ,which of the two is it to be1 dear brethren8 ,there is no need whatever why any amount of hard work1 or outward occupations of the most secular character1 or any amount of distractions1 should break for us the continuity of that consciousness and of that experience4 ,we may carry ,god with us wherever we go1 if only we remember that where we cannot carry ,him with us we ought not to go4 ,we may carry ,him with us into all the dusty roads of life2 we may always walk on the sunny side of the street if we like4 ,we may always bear our own sunshine with us4 ,and although we are bound to be diligent in business1 and some of us have had to take a heavy lift of a great deal of hard work1 and much of it apparently standing in no sort of relation to our religious life1 yet for all that it is possible to bend all to this one direction1 and to make everything a means of bringing us nearer to ,god and fuller of the conscious enjoyment of ,his presence4 ,and if we have not learned to do that with our daily work1 then our daily work is a curse to us4 ,if we have allowed it to become so absorbing or distracting as that it dims and darkens our sense of the divine ,presence1 then it is time for us to see what is wrong in the method or in the amount of work which is thus darkening our consciences4 ,i know it is hard1 ,i know that an absolute attainment of such an ideal is perhaps beyond us1 but ,i know that we can approach--,i was going to say infinitely1 but a better word is indefinitely--nearer it than any of us have ever yet done4 ,as the psalm goes on to say in the next clause1 it is possible for us to 'rejoice in ,his ,name all the day4' ,ay1 even at your tasks1 and at your counters1 and in your kitchens1 and in my study1 it is possible for us2 and if our hearts are what and where they ought to be1 the possibility will be realised4 ,earthly duty has no necessary effect of veiling the consciousness of ,god4 ,nor is there any reason why our troubles1 sorrows1 losses1 solitude should darken that sunshine4 ,i know that that is hard1 too1 perhaps harder than the other4 ,it is more difficult to have a sense of the sunshine of the divine ,presence shining through the clouds of disaster and sorrow than even it is to have it shining through the dust that is raised by traffic and secular occupation4 ,but it is possible4 ,there is nothing in all the sky so grand as clouds smitten by sunshine1 and the light is never so glorious as when it is flashed back from them and dyes their piled bosoms with all celestial colours4 ,there is no experience of ,god's ,presence so blessed as that of a man who1 in the midst of sorrow1 has yet with him the assurance of the ,father's friendship and favour and love1 and so can say 'as sorrowful1 yet always rejoicing4' ,this sunshine shines in the foulest corners1 and the most thunder-laden clouds only flash back its glories in new forms4 ,there is only one thing that breaks the continuity of that blessedness1 and that is our own sin4 ,we carry our own weather with us1 whether we will or no1 and we can bring winter into the middle of summer by flinging ,god away from us1 and summer into the midst of winter by grappling ,him to our hearts4 ,there is only one thing that necessarily breaks our sense of ,his ,presence1 and that is that our hearts should turn away from ,his face4 ,a man can work hard and yet feel that ,god is with him4 ,a man can be weighed upon by many distresses and yet feel that ,god is with him and loves him2 but a man cannot commit the least tiny sin and love it1 and feel at the same time that ,god is with him4 ,the heart is like a sensitive photographic plate1 it registers the variations in the sunshine2 and the one hindrance that makes it impossible for ,god's light to fall upon my soul with the assurance of friendship and the sense of sweetness1 is that ,i should be hugging some evil to my heart4 ,it is not the dusty highway of life nor the dark vales of weeping and of the shadow of death through which we sometimes have to pass that make it impossible for this sunlight to pour down upon us1 but it is our gathering round ourselves of the poisonous mists of sin through which that light cannot pierce2 or if it pierce1 pierces transformed and robbed of all its beauty4 ,,iii4 ,let me note next the blessedness which draws out the ,psalmist's rapturous exclamation4 ,the same phrase is employed in one of the other psalms1 which1 ,i think1 bears in its contents the confirmation of the attribution of it to ,david4 ,when he was fleeing before his rebellious son1 at the very lowest ebb of his fortunes1 away on the uplands of ,moab1 a discrowned king1 a fugitive in danger of death at every moment1 he sang a psalm in which these words occur3 ',there be many that say1 ,who will show us any good8' ',lord1 lift up the light of ,thy countenance upon us'2 and then follows1 ',thou hast put gladness into my heart more than when their corn and wine abound4' ,the speech of the many1 ',who will show us any good8' is contrasted with the prayer of the one1 ',lord1 lift ,thou up the light of ,thy countenance upon us4' ,that is blessedness4 ,it is the only thing that makes the heart to be at rest4 ,it is the only thing that makes life truly worth living1 the only thing that brings sweetness which has no after taint of bitterness and breeds no fear of its passing away4 ,to have that unsetting sunshine streaming down upon my open heart1 and to carry about with me whithersoever ,i go1 like some melody from hidden singers sounding in my ears1 the ,name and the ,love of my ,father ,god--that and that only1 brother1 is true rest and abiding blessedness4 ,there are many other joys far more turbulent1 more poignant1 but they all pass4 ,many of them leave a nauseous taste in the mouth when they are swallowed2 all of them leave us the poorer for having had them and having them no more4 ,for one who is not a ,christian ,i do not know that it is ',better to have loved and lost ,than never to have loved at all4' ,but for those to whom ,god's ,face is as a ,sun1 life in all its possibilities is blessed2 and there is no blessedness besides4 ,so let us keep near ,him1 'walking in the light1' in our changeful days1 'as ,he is in the light' in ,his essential and unalterable being2 and that light will be to us all which it is taken in ,scripture to symbolise--knowledge and joy and purity2 and in us1 too1 there will be 'no darkness at all4' ,but there is one last word that ,i must say1 and that is that a possible terror is intertwined with this blessedness4 ,the next psalm to this says1 with a kind of tremulous awe in the ,psalmist's voice3 ',thou hast set our iniquities before ,thee1 our secret sins in the light of ,thy countenance4' ,in that sense all of us1 good and bad1 lovers of ,god and those that are careless about ,him1 walk all the day long in the light of ,his face1 and ,he sees and marks all our else hidden evil4 ,it needs something more than any of us can do to make the thought that we do stand in the full glaring of that great searchlight1 not turned occasionally but focussed steadily on us individually1 a joy and a blessing to us4 ,and what we need is offered us when we read1 ',his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength1 and ,i fell at ,his feet as dead4 ,and ,he laid ,his hand upon me and said1 ,fear not6 ,i am ,he that liveth and was dead2 and behold6 ,i am alive for ever more4' ,if we put our poor trust in the ,eternal ,light that was manifest in ,christ1 then we shall walk in the sunshine of ,his face on earth1 and that lamp will burn for us in the darkness of the grave and lead us at last into the ever-blazing centre of the ,sun itself4 ,,the ,,cry ,,of ,,the ,,mortal ,,to ,,the ,,undying ',let the beauty of the ,lord our ,god be upon us3 and establish ,thou the work of our hands upon us2 yea1 the work of our hands establish ,thou it4--,,psalm xc4 #ag4 ,if any reliance is to be placed upon the superscription of this psalm1 it is one of the oldest1 as it certainly is of the grandest1 pieces of religious poetry in the world4 ,it is said to be ',a prayer of ,moses1 the man of ,god1' and whether that be historically true or no1 the tone of the psalm naturally suggests the great lawgiver1 whose special task it was to write deep upon the conscience of the ,jewish people the thought of the wages of sin as being death4 ,hence the sombre magnificence and sad music of the psalm1 which contemplates a thousand generations in succession as sliding away into the dreadful past1 and sinking as beneath a flood4 ,this thought of the fleeting years1 dashed and troubled by many a sin1 and by the righteous retribution of ,god1 sent the ,psalmist to his knees1 and he found the only refuge from it in these prayers4 ,these two petitions of our text1 the closing words of the psalm1 are the cry forced from a heart that has dared to look ,death in the eyes1 and has discovered that the world after all is a place of graves4 ',let the beauty of the ,lord our ,god be upon us1 and establish ,thou the work of our hands upon us4' ,there are two thoughts there--the cry of the mortal for the beauty of the ,eternal2 and the cry of the worker in a perishable world for the perpetuity of his work4 ,look at these two thoughts briefly4 ,i4 ,we have here1 first1 the yearning and longing cry of the mortal for the beauty of the ,eternal4 ,the word translated 'beauty' in my text is1 like the ,greek equivalent in the ,new ,testament1 and like the ,english word 'grace1' which corresponds to them both susceptible of a double meaning4 ',grace' means both kindness and loveliness1 or1 as we might distinguish both graciousness and gracefulness4 ,and that double idea is inherent in the word1 as it is inherent in the attribute of ,god to which it refers4 ,for that twofold meaning of the one word suggests the truth that ,god's lovingkindness and communicating mercy is ,his beauty1 and that the fairest thing about ,him1 notwithstanding the splendours that surround ,his character1 and the flashing lights that come from ,his many-sided glory1 is that ,he loves and pities and gives ,himself4 ,god is all fair1 but the central and substantial beauty of the divine nature is that it is a stooping nature1 which bows to weak and unworthy souls1 and on them pours out the full abundance of its manifold gifts4 ,so the 'beauty of the ,lord' means1 by no quibble or quirk1 but by reason of the essential loveliness of ,his lovingkindness1 both ,god's loveliness and ,god's goodness2 ,god's graciousness and ,god's gracefulness 7if ,i may use such a word74 ,the prayer of the ,psalmist that this beauty may be upon us conceives of it as given to us from above and as coming floating down from heaven1 like that white ,dove that fell upon ,christ's head1 fair and meek1 gentle and lovely1 and resting on our anointed heads1 like a diadem and an aureole of glory4 ,now that communicating graciousness1 with its large gifts and its resulting beauty1 is the one thing that we need in view of mortality and sorrow and change and trouble4 ,the psalm speaks about 'all our years' being 'passed away in ,thy wrath1' about the very inmost recesses of our secret unworthiness being turned inside out1 and made to look blacker than ever when the bright sunshine of ,his face falls upon them4 ,from that thought of ,god's wrath and omniscience the poet turns1 as we must turn1 to the other thought of ,his gentle longsuffering1 of ,his forbearing love1 of ,his infinite pity1 of ,his communicating mercy4 ,as a support in view both of our dreary and yet short years1 and our certain mortality1 and in the contemplation of the evils within and suffering from without1 that harass us all1 there is but one thing for us to do--namely1 to fling ourselves into the arms of ,god1 and in the spirit of this great petition1 to ask that upon us there may fall the dewy benediction of ,his gentle beauty4 ,that longing is meant to be kindled in our hearts by all the discipline of life4 ,life is not worth living unless it does that for us2 and there is no value nor meaning either in our joys or in our sorrows1 unless both the one and the other send us to ,him4 ,our gladness and our disappointments1 our hopes fulfilled and our hopes dissipated and unanswered are but1 as it were1 the two wings by which1 on either side1 our spirits are to be lifted to ,god4 ,the solemn pathos of the earlier portion of this psalm--the funeral march of generations--leads up to the prayerful confidence of these closing petitions1 in which the sadness of the minor key in which it began has passed into a brighter strain4 ,the thought of the fleeting years swept away as with a flood1 and of the generations that blossom for a day and are mown down and wither when their swift night falls1 is saddening and paralysing unless it suggests by contrast the thought of ,him who1 ,himself unmoved1 moves the rolling years1 and is the dwelling-place of each succeeding generation4 ,such contemplations are wholesome and religious only when they drive us to the eternal ,god1 that in ,him we may find the stable foundation which imparts its own perpetuity to every life built upon it4 ,we have experienced so many things in vain1 and we are of the 'fools' that1 being 'brayed in a mortar1' are only brayed fools after all1 unless life1 with its sorrows and its changes1 has blown us1 as with a hurricane1 right into the centre of rest1 and unless its sorrows and changes have taught us this as the one aspiration of our souls3 ',let the beauty of the ,lord our ,god be upon us1' and then1 let what may come1 come1 let what can pass1 pass1 we shall have all that we need for life and peace4 ,and then1 note further1 that this gracious gentleness and long-suffering1 giving mercy of ,god1 when it comes down upon a man1 makes him1 too1 beautiful with a reflected beauty4 ,if the beauty of the ,lord our ,god be upon us1 it will cover over our foulness and deformity4 ,for whosoever possesses in any real fashion ,god's great mercy will have his spirit moulded into the likeness of that mercy4 ,we cannot have it without reflecting it1 we cannot possess it without being assimilated to it4 ,therefore1 to have the grace of ,god makes us both gracious and graceful4 ,and the true refining influence for a character is that into it there shall come the gift of that endless pity and patient love1 which will transfigure us into some faint likeness of itself1 so that we shall walk among men1 able1 in some poor measure1 after the manner of our ,master1 to say1 ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father4' ,he said it in a sense and in a measure which we cannot reach1 but the assimilation to and reflection of the divine character is our aim1 or ought to be1 if we are ,christians4 ',let the beauty of the ,lord our ,god be upon us1' and 'change us into the same image from glory to glory4' ,,ii4 ,we have here the cry of the worker in a fleeting world for the perpetuity of his work4 ',establish1' or make firm1 'the work of our hands upon us1 yea the work of our hands establish ,thou it4' ,the thought that everything is passing away so swiftly and inevitably1 as the earlier part of the psalm suggests1 might lead a man to say1 ',what is the use of my doing anything8 ,i may just as well sit down here1 and let things slide1 if they are all going to be swallowed up in the black bottomless gulf of forgetfulness4' ,the contemplation has actually produced two opposite effects1 ',let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die1' is quite as fair an inference from the fact as is ',awake to righteousness and sin not1' if the fact itself only be taken into account4 ,there is nothing religious in the clearest conviction of mortality1 if it stands alone4 ,it may be the ally of profligate and cynical sensuality quite as easily as it may be the preacher of asceticism4 ,it may make men inactive1 from their sense of the insignificant and fleeting nature of all human works1 or it may stimulate to intensest effort1 from the thought1 ',i must work the works of ,him that sent me while it is day4 ,the night cometh4' ,all depends on whether we link the conviction of mortality with that of eternity1 and think of our perishable selves as in relationship with the unchanging ,god4 ,this prayer expresses a deep longing1 natural to all men1 and which yet seems incompatible with the stern facts of mortality and decay4 ,we should all like to have our work exempted from the common lot4 ,what pathetically futile attempts to secure this are pyramids1 and rock-inscriptions1 and storied tombs1 and posthumous memoirs1 and rich men's wills6 ,why should any of us expect that the laws of nature should be suspended for our benefit1 and our work made lasting while everything beside changes like the shadows of the clouds8 ,is there any way by which such exceptional permanence can be secured for our poor deeds8 ,yes1 certainly4 ,let us commit them to ,god1 praying this prayer1 ',establish ,thou the work of our hands upon us4' ,our work will be established if it is ,his work4 ,this prayer in our text follows another prayer 7verse #af7--namely1 ',let ,thy work appear unto ,thy servants4' ,that is to say1 ,my work will be perpetual when the work of my hands is ,god's work done through me4 ,when you bring your wills into harmony with ,god's will1 and so all your effort1 even about the little things of daily life1 is in consonance with ,his will1 and in the line of ,his purpose1 then your work will stand4 ,if otherwise1 it will be like some slow-moving and frail carriage going in the one direction and meeting an express train thundering in the other4 ,when the crash comes1 the opposing motion of the weaker will be stopped1 reversed1 and the frail thing will be smashed to atoms4 ,so1 all work which is man's and not ,god's will sooner or later be reduced to impotence and either annihilated or reversed1 and made to run in the opposite direction4 ,but if our work runs parallel with ,god's1 then the rushing impetus of ,his work will catch up our little deeds into the swiftness of its own motion1 and will carry them along with itself1 as a railway train will lift straws and bits of paper that are lying by the rails1 and give them motion for a while4 ,if my will runs in the line of ,his1 and if the work of my hands is ',thy work1' it is not in vain that we shall cry ',establish it upon us1' for it will last as long as ,he does4 ,in like manner1 all work will be perpetual that is done with 'the beauty of the ,lord our ,god' upon the doers of it4 ,whosoever has that grace in his heart1 whosoever is in contact with the communicating mercy of ,god1 and has had his character in some measure refined and ennobled and beautified by possession thereof1 will do work that has in it the element of perpetuity4 ,and our work will stand if we quietly leave it in ,his hands4 ,quietly do it to ,him1 never mind about results1 but look after motives4 ,you cannot influence results1 let ,god look after them2 you can influence motives4 ,be sure that they are right1 and if they are1 the work will be eternal4 ',eternal8 ,what do you mean by eternal8 how can a man's work be that8' ,part of the answer is that it may be made permanent in its issues by being taken up into the great whole of ,god's working through ,his servants1 which results at last in the establishment of ,his eternal kingdom4 ,just as a drop of water that falls upon the moor finds its way into the brook1 and goes down the glen and on into the river1 and then into the sea1 and is there1 though undistinguishable1 so in the great summing up of everything at the end1 the tiniest deed that was done for ,god1 though it was done far away up amongst the mountain solitudes where no eye saw1 shall live and be represented1 in its effects on others and in its glad issues to the doer4 ,in the highest fashion the ,psalmist's cry for the perpetuity of the fleeting deeds of dying generations will be answered in that region in which his dimmer eye saw little but the sullen flood that swept away youth and strength and wisdom1 but in which we can see the solid land beyond the river1 and the happy company who rejoice with the joy of harvest1 and bear with them the sheaves1 whereof the seed was sown on this bank1 in tears and fears4 ',blessed are the dead that die in the ,lord4 ,their works do follow them4' ',the world passeth away1 and the fashion thereof1 but he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever4' ,,the ,,sheltering ,,wing ',he shall cover thee with ,his feathers1 and under ,his wings shalt thou trust3 ,his truth shall be thy shield and buckler4' --,,psalm xci4 #d4 ,we remember the magnificent image in ,moses' song1 of ,god's protection and guidance as that of the eagle who stirred up his nest1 and hovered over the young with his wings1 and bore them on his pinions4 ,that passage may possibly have touched the imagination of this psalmist1 when he here employs the same general metaphor1 but with a distinct and significant difference in its application4 ,in the former image the main idea is that of training and sustaining4 ,here the main idea is that of protection and fostering4 ,on the wing and under the wing suggest entirely different notions1 and both need to be taken into account in order to get the many-sided beauties and promises of these great sayings4 ,now there seems to me here to be a very distinct triad of thoughts4 ,there is the covering wing2 there is the flight to its protection2 and there is the warrant for that flight4 ',he shall cover thee with ,his pinions'2 that is the divine act4 ',under ,his wings shalt thou trust'2 that is the human condition4 ',his truth shall be thy shield and buckler'2 that is the divine manifestation which makes the human condition possible4 ,i4 ,a word then1 first1 about the covering wing4 ,now1 the main idea in this image is1 as ,i have suggested1 that of the expanded pinion1 beneath the shelter of which the callow young lie1 and are guarded4 ,whatever kites may be in the sky1 whatever stoats and weasels may be in the hedges1 the brood are safe there4 ,the image suggests not only the thought of protection but those of fostering1 downy warmth1 peaceful proximity to a heart that throbs with parental love1 and a multitude of other happy privileges realised by those who nestle beneath that wing4 ,but while these subsidiary ideas are not to be lost sight of1 the promise of protection is to be kept prominent1 as that chiefly intended by the ,psalmist4 ,this psalm rings throughout with the truth that a man who dwells 'in the secret place of the ,most ,high' has absolute immunity from all sorts of evil2 and there are two regions in which that immunity1 secured by being under the shadow of the ,almighty1 is exemplified here4 ,the one is that of outward dangers1 the other is that of temptation to sin and of what we may call spiritual foes4 ,now1 these two regions and departments in which the ,christian man does realise1 in the measure of his faith1 the divine protection1 exhibit that protection as secured in two entirely different ways4 ,the triumphant assurances of this psalm1 ',there shall no evil befall thee1 neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling1'--'the pestilence shall smite thousands and ten thousands beside thee1 but not come nigh thee1'--seem to be entirely contradicted by experience which testifies that 'there is one event to the evil and the good1' and that1 in epidemics or other widespread disasters1 we all1 the good and the bad1 ,god-fearers and ,god-blasphemers1 do fare alike1 and that the conditions of exemption from physical evil are physical and not spiritual4 ,it is of no use trying to persuade ourselves that that is not so4 ,we shall understand ,god's dealings with us1 and get to the very throbbing heart of such promises as these in this psalm far better1 if we start from the certainty that whatever it means it does not mean that1 with regard to external calamities and disasters1 we are going to be ,god's petted children1 or to be saved from the things that fall upon other people4 ,no6 no6 we have to go a great deal deeper than that4 ,if we have felt a difficulty1 as ,i suppose we all have sometimes1 and are ready to say with the half-despondent ,psalmist1 ',my feet were almost gone1 and my steps had well-nigh slipped1' when we see what we think the complicated mysteries of divine providence in this world1 we have to come to the belief that the evil that is in the evil will never come near a man sheltered beneath ,god's wing4 ,the physical external event may be entirely the same to him as to another who is not covered with ,his feathers4 ,here are two partners in a business1 the one a ,christian man1 and the other is not4 ,a common disaster overwhelms them4 ,they become bankrupts4 ,is insolvency the same to the one as it is to the other8 ,here are two men on board a ship1 the one putting his trust in ,god1 the other thinking it all nonsense to trust anything but himself4 ,they are both drowned4 ,is drowning the same to the two8 ,as their corpses lie side by side among the ooze1 with the weeds over them1 and the shell-fish at them1 you may say of the one1 but only of the one1 ',there shall no evil befall thee1 neither any plague come nigh thy dwelling4' ,for the protection that is granted to faith is only to be understood by faith4 ,it is deliverance from the evil in the evil which vindicates as no exaggeration1 nor as merely an experience and a promise peculiar to the old theocracy of ,israel1 but not now realised1 the grand sayings of this text4 ,the poison is all wiped off the arrow by that divine protection4 ,it may still wound but it does not putrefy the flesh4 ,the sewage water comes down1 but it passes into the filtering bed1 and is disinfected and cleansed before it is permitted to flow over our fields4 ,and so1 brethren6 if any of you are finding that the psalm is not outwardly true1 and that through the covering wing the storm of hail has come and beaten you down1 do not suppose that that in the slightest degree impinges upon the reality and truthfulness of this great promise1 ',he shall cover thee with ,his feathers4' ,anything that has come through them is manifestly not an 'evil4' ',who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good8' ',if ,god be for us who can be against us8' ,not what the world calls1 and our wrung hearts feel that it rightly calls1 'sorrows' and 'afflictions1'--these all work for our good1 and protection consists1 not in averting the blows1 but in changing their character4 ,then1 there is another region far higher1 in which this promise of my text is absolutely true--that is1 in the region of spiritual defence4 ,for no man who lies under the shadow of ,god1 and has his heart filled with the continual consciousness of that ,presence1 is likely to fall before the assaults of evil that tempt him away from ,god2 and the defence which ,he gives in that region is yet more magnificently impregnable than the defence which ,he gives against external evils4 ,for1 as the ,new ,testament teaches us1 we are kept from sin1 not by any outward breastplate or armour1 nor even by the divine wing lying above us to cover us1 but by the indwelling ,christ in our hearts4 ,his ,spirit within us makes us 'free from the law of sin and death1' and conquerors over all temptations4 ,i say not a word about all the other beautiful and pathetic associations which are connected with this emblem of the covering wing1 sweet and inexhaustible as it is1 but ,i simply leave with you the two thoughts that ,i have dwelt upon1 of the twofold manner of that divine protection4 ,,ii4 ,and now a word1 in the second place1 about the flight of the shelterless to the shelter4 ,the word which is rendered in our ,authorised ,version1 'shalt thou trust1' is1 like all ,hebrew words for mental and spiritual emotions and actions1 strongly metaphorical4 ,it might have been better to retain its literal meaning here instead of substituting the abstract word 'trust4' ,that is to say1 it would have been an improvement if we had read with the ,revised ,version1 not1 'under ,his wings shalt thou trust1' but 'under ,his wings shalt thou take refuge4' ,for that is the idea which is really conveyed2 and in many of the psalms1 if you will remember1 the same metaphor is employed4 ',hide me beneath the shadow of ,thy wings'2 ',beneath ,thy wings will ,i take refuge until calamities are overpast'2 and the like4 ,many such passages will1 no doubt1 occur to your memories4 ,but what ,i wish to signalise is just this1 that in this emblem of flying into a refuge from impending perils we get a far more vivid conception1 and a far more useful one1 as it seems to me1 of what ,christian faith really is than we derive from many learned volumes and much theological hair-splitting4 ',under ,his wings shalt thou flee for refuge4' ,is not that a vivid1 intense1 picturesque1 but most illuminative way of telling us what is the very essence1 and what is the urgency1 and what is the worth1 of what we call faith8 ,the ,old ,testament is full of the teaching--which is masked to ordinary readers1 but is the same teaching as the ,new ,testament is confessedly full of--of the necessity of faith as the one bond that binds men to ,god4 ,if only our translators had wisely determined upon a uniform rendering in ,old and ,new ,testament of words that are synonymous1 the reader would have seen what is often now reserved for the student1 that all these sayings in the ,old ,testament about 'trusting in ,god' run on all fours with ',believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ and thou shalt be saved4' ,but just mark what comes out of that metaphor2 that 'trust1' the faith which unites with ,god1 and brings a man beneath the shadow of ,his wings1 is nothing more or less than the flying into the refuge that is provided for us4 ,does that not speak to us of the urgency of the case8 ,does that not speak to us eloquently of the perils which environ us8 ,does it not speak to us of the necessity of swift flight1 with all the powers of our will8 ,is the faith which is a flying into a refuge fairly described as an intellectual act of believing in a testimony8 ,surely it is something a great deal more than that4 ,a man out in the plain1 with the avenger of blood1 hot-breathed and bloody-minded1 behind him might believe1 as much as he liked1 that there would be safety within the walls of the ,city of ,refuge1 but unless he took to his heels without loss of time1 the spear would be in his back before he knew where he was4 ,there are many men who know all about the security of the refuge1 and believe it utterly1 but never run for it2 and so never get into it4 ,faith is the gathering up of the whole powers of my nature to fling myself into the asylum1 to cast myself into ,god's arms1 to take shelter beneath the shadow of ,his wings4 ,and unless a man does that1 and swiftly1 he is exposed to every bird of prey in the sky1 and to every beast of prey lurking in wait for him4 ,the metaphor tells us1 too1 what are the limits and the worth of faith4 ,a man is not saved because he believes that he is saved1 but because by believing he lays hold of the salvation4 ,it is not the flight that is impregnable1 and makes those behind its strong bulwarks secure4 ,not my outstretched hand1 but the ,hand that my hand grasps1 is what holds me up4 ,the power of faith is but that it brings me into contact with ,god1 and sets me behind the seven-fold bastions of the ,almighty protection4 ,so1 brethren6 another consideration comes out of this clause3 ',under ,his wings shalt thou trust4' ,if you do not flee for refuge to that wing1 it is of no use to you1 however expanded it is1 however soft and downy its underside1 however sure its protection4 ,you remember the passage where our ,lord uses the same venerable figure with modifications1 and says3 ',how often would ,i have gathered thy children together1 even as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings1 and ye would not4' ,so our 'would not' thwarts ,christ's 'would4' ,flight to the refuge is the condition of being saved4 ,how can a man get shelter by any other way than by running to the shelter8 ,the wing is expanded2 it is for us to say whether we will 'flee for refuge to the hope set before us4' ,,iii4 ,now1 lastly1 the warrant for this flight4 ',his truth shall be thy shield4' ,now1 'truth' here does not mean the body of revealed words1 which are often called ,god's truth1 but it describes a certain characteristic of the divine nature4 ,and if1 instead of 'truth1' we read the good old ,english word 'troth1' we should be a great deal nearer understanding what the ,psalmist meant4 ,or if 'troth' is archaic1 and conveys little meaning to us2 suppose we substitute a somewhat longer word1 of the same meaning1 and say1 ',his faithfulness shall be thy shield4' ,you cannot trust a ,god that has not given you an inkling of ,his character or disposition1 but if ,he has spoken1 then you 'know where to have him4' ,that is just what the ,psalmist means4 ,how can a man be encouraged to fly into a refuge1 unless he is absolutely sure that there is an entrance for him into it1 and that1 entering1 he is safe8 ,and that security is provided in the great thought of ,god's troth4 ',thy faithfulness is like the great mountains4' ',who is like unto ,thee1 ,o ,lord6 or to ,thy faithfulness round about ,thee8' ,that faithfulness shall be our 'shield1' not a tiny targe that a man could bear upon his left arm2 but the word means the large shield1 planted in the ground in front of the soldier1 covering him1 however hot the fight1 and circling him around1 like a wall of iron4 ,god is 'faithful' to all the obligations under which ,he has come by making us4 ,that is what one of the ,new ,testament writers tells us1 when he speaks of ,him as 'a faithful ,creator4' ,then1 if ,he has put desires into our hearts1 be sure that somewhere there is their satisfaction2 and if ,he has given us needs1 be sure that in ,him there is the supply2 and if ,he has lodged in us aspirations which make us restless1 be sure that if we will turn them to ,him1 they will be satisfied and we shall be at rest4 ',god never sends mouths but ,he sends meat to fill them4' ',he remembers our frame1' and measures ,his dealings accordingly4 ,when ,he made me1 ,he bound ,himself to make it possible that ,i should be blessed for ever2 and ,he has done it4 ,god is faithful to ,his word1 according to that great saying in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 where the writer tells us that by ',god's counsel1' and ',god's oath1' 'two immutable things1' we might have 'strong consolation1 who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us4' ,god is faithful to ,his own past4 ,the more ,he has done the more ,he will do4 ',thou hast been my ,help2 leave me not1 neither forsake me4' ,therein we present a plea which ,god ,himself will honour4 ,and ,he is faithful to ,his own past in a yet wider sense4 ,for all the revelations of ,his love and of ,his grace in times that are gone1 though they might be miraculous in their form1 are permanent in their essence4 ,so one of the ,psalmists1 hundreds of years after the time that ,israel was led through the wilderness1 sang3 ',there did we'--of this present generation--'rejoice in ,him4' ,what has been1 is1 and will be1 for ,thou art 'the same yesterday1 and to-day1 and for ever4' ,we have not a ,god that lurks in darkness1 but one that has come into the light4 ,we have to run1 not into a ,refuge that is built upon a 'perhaps1' but upon ',verily1 verily6 ,i say unto thee4' ,let us build rock upon ,rock1 and let our faith correspond to the faithfulness of ,him that has promised4 ,,the ,,habitation ,,of ,,the ,,soul ',because thou hast made the ,lord1 which is my refuge1 even the most ,high1 thy habitation2 there shall no evil befall thee1 neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling4'--,,psalm xci4 #i1 #aj4 ,it requires a good deal of piecing to make out from the ,hebrew the translation of our ,authorised ,version here4 ,the simple1 literal rendering of the first words of these verses is1 ',surely1 ,thou1 ,o ,lord6 art my ,refuge'2 and ,i do not suppose that any of the expedients which have been adopted to modify that translation would have been adopted1 but that these words seem to cut in two the long series of rich promises and blessings which occupy the rest of the psalm4 ,but it is precisely this interruption of the flow of the promises which puts us on the right track for understanding the words in question1 because it leads us to take them as the voice of the devout man1 to whom the promises are addressed1 responding to them by the expression of his own faith4 ,the ,revised ,version is much better here than our ,authorised ,version1 for it has recognised this breach of continuity of sequence in the promises1 and translated as ,i have suggested2 making the first words of my text1 ',thou1 ,o ,lord6 art my ,refuge1' the voice of one singer1 and ',because thou hast made the ,most ,high thy habitation1 there shall no evil befall thee1 neither shall any evil come nigh thy dwelling1' the voice of another4 ,whether or no it be that in the ,liturgical service of the ,temple this psalm was sung by two choirs which answered one another1 does not matter for our purpose4 ,whether or no we regard the first clause as the voice of the ,psalmist speaking to ,god1 and the other as the same man speaking to himself1 does not matter4 ,the point is that1 first1 there is an exclamation of personal faith1 and that then that is followed and answered1 as it were1 by the further promise of continual blessings4 ,one voice says1 ',thou1 ,lord6 art my ,refuge1' and then another voice--not ,god's1 because that speaks in majesty at the end of the psalm--replies to that burst of confidence1 ',thou hast made the ,lord thy habitation' 7as thou hast done by this confession of faith71 'there shall no evil come nigh thy dwelling4' ,i4 ,we have here the cry of the devout soul4 ,i observed that it seems to cut in two the stream of promised blessings1 and that fact is significant4 ,the psalm begins with the deep truth that ',he that dwelleth in the secret place of the ,most ,high shall abide under the shadow of the ,almighty4' ,then a single voice speaks1 ',i will say of the ,lord1 ,he is my ,refuge and my ,fortress1 my ,god1 in ,him will ,i trust4' ,then that voice1 which thus responds to the general statement of the first verse1 is answered by a stream of promises4 ,the first part of our text comes in as the second speech of the same voice1 repeating substantially the same thing as it said at first4 ,now1 notice that this cry of the soul1 recognising ,god as its ,asylum and ,home1 comes in response to a revelation of ,god's blessing1 and to large words of promise4 ,there is no true refuge nor any peace and rest for a man unless in grasping the articulate word of ,god1 and building his assurance upon that4 ,anything else is not confidence1 but folly2 anything else is building upon sand1 and not upon the ,rock4 ,if ,i trust my own or my brother's conception of the divine nature1 if ,i build upon any thoughts of my own1 ,i am building upon what will yield and give4 ,for all peaceful casting of my soul into the arms of ,god there must be1 first1 a plain stretching out of the hands of ,god to catch me when ,i drop4 ,so the words of my text1 ',thou art my ,refuge1' are the best answer of the devout soul to the plain words of divine promise4 ,how abundant these are we all know1 how full of manifold insight and adaptation to our circumstances and our nature we may all experience1 if we care to prove them4 ,but let us be sure that we are hearkening to the voice with which ,he speaks through our daily circumstances as well as by the unmistakable revelation of ,his will and heart in ,jesus ,christ4 ,and then let us be sure that no word of ,his1 that comes fluttering down from the heavens1 meaning a benediction and enclosing a promise1 falls at our feet ungathered and unregarded1 or is trodden into the dust by our careless heels4 ,the manna lies all about us2 let us see that we gather it4 ',when ,thou saidst1 ,seek ye ,my ,face1 my heart said unto ,thee1 ,thy ,face1 ,lord1 will ,i seek4' ,when ,thou saidst1 ',i will be thy ,strength and thy ,righteousness1' have ,i said1 ',surely1 ,o ,jehovah6 ,thou art my ,refuge'8 ,turn ,his promises into your creed1 and whatever ,he has declared in the sweet thunder of ,his voice1 loud as the voice of many waters1 and melodious as 'harpers harping with their harps1' do you take for your profession of faith in the faithful promises of your ,god4 ,still further1 this cry of the devout soul suggests to me that our response ought to be the establishment of a close personal relation between us and ,god4 ',thou1 ,o ,lord6 art my ,refuge4' ,the ,psalmist did not content himself with saying ',lord6 ,thou hast been our ,dwelling-place in all generations1' or as one of the other psalmists has it1 ',god is our ,refuge and our ,strength4' ,that thought was blessed1 but it was not enough for the ,psalmist's present need1 and it is never enough for the deepest necessities of any soul4 ,we must isolate ourselves and stand1 ,god and we1 alone together--at heart-grips--we grasping ,his hand1 and ,he giving ,himself to us--if the promises which are sent down into the world for all who will make them theirs can become ours4 ,they are made payable to your order2 you must put your name on the back before you get the proceeds4 ,there must be what our good old ,puritan forefathers used to call1 in somewhat hard language1 'the appropriating act of faith1' in order that ,god's richest blessings may be of any use to us4 ,put out your hand to grasp them1 and say1 ',mine1' not ',ours4' ,the thought of others as sharing in them will come afterwards1 for he who has once realised the absolute isolation of the soul and has been alone with ,god1 and in solitude has taken ,god's gifts as his very own1 is he who will feel fellowship and brotherhood with all who are partakers of like precious faith and blessings4 ,the 'ours' will come2 but you must begin with the 'mine'--'my ,lord and my ,god4' ',he loved me1 and gave ,himself for me4' ,just as when the ,israelites gathered on the banks of the ,red ,sea1 and ,miriam and the maidens came out with songs and timbrels1 though their hearts throbbed with joy1 and music rang from their lips for national deliverance1 their hymn made the whole deliverance the property of each1 and each of the chorus sang1 ',the ,lord is my ,strength and my ,song1 ,he also is become my ,salvation1' so we must individualise the common blessing4 ,every poor soul has a right to the whole of ,god1 and unless a man claims all the divine nature as his1 he has little chance of possessing the promised blessings4 ,the response of the individual to the worldwide promises and revelations of the ,father is1 ',thou1 ,o ,lord6 art my ,refuge4' ,further1 note how this cry of the devout soul recognises ,god as ,he to whom we must go because we need a refuge4 ,the word 'refuge' here gives the picture of some stronghold1 or fortified place1 in which men may find security from all sorts of dangers1 invasions by surrounding foes1 storm and tempest1 rising flood1 or anything else that threatens4 ,only he who knows himself to be in danger bethinks himself of a refuge4 ,it is only when we know our danger and defencelessness that ,god1 as the ,refuge of our souls1 becomes precious to us4 ,so1 underlying1 and an essential part of1 all our confidence in ,god1 is the clear recognition of our own necessity4 ,the sense of our own emptiness must precede our grasp of ,his fulness4 ,the conviction of our own insufficiency and sinfulness must precede our casting ourselves on ,his mercy and righteousness4 ,in all regions the consciousness of human want must go before the recognition of the divine supply4 ,,ii4 ,now1 note the still more abundant answer which that cry evokes4 ,i said that the words on which ,i have been commenting thus far1 seem to break in two the continuity of the stream of blessings and promises4 ,but there may be observed a certain distinction of tone between those promises which precede and those which follow the cry4 ,those that follow have a certain elevation and depth1 completeness and fulness1 beyond those that precede4 ,this enhancing of the promises1 following on the faithful grasp of previous promises1 suggests the thought that1 when ,god is giving1 and ,his servant thankfully accepts and garners up ,his gifts1 ,he opens ,his hand wider and gives more4 ,when ,he pours ,his rain upon the unthankful and the evil1 and they let the precious1 fertilising drops run to waste1 there comes after a while a diminution of the blessing2 but they who store in patient and thankful hearts the faithful promises of ,god1 have taken a sure way to make ,his gifts still larger and ,his promises still sweeter1 and their fulfilment more faithful and precious4 ,but now notice the remarkable language in which this answer is couched4 ',thou hast made the ,most ,high thy ,habitation1 there shall no evil befall thee1 neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling4' ,did you ever notice that there are two dwelling-places spoken of in this verse8 ',thou hast made the ,most ,high thy ,habitation'2 ',there shall no plague come nigh thy dwelling4' ,the reference of the latter word to the former one is even more striking if you observe that1 literally translated1 as in the ,revised ,version1 it means a particular kind of abode--namely1 a tent4 ',thou hast made the ,most ,high thy habitation4' ,the same word is employed in the #ijth ,psalm3 ',lord1 ,thou hast been our ,dwelling-place in all generations4' ,beside that venerable and ancient abode1 that has stood fresh1 strong1 incorruptible1 and unaffected by the lapse of millenniums1 there stands the little transitory canvas tent in which our earthly lives are spent4 ,we have two dwelling-places4 ,by the body we are brought into connection with this frail1 evanescent1 illusory outer world1 and we try to make our homes out of shifting cloud-wrack1 and dream that we can compel mutability to become immutable1 that we may dwell secure4 ,but fate is too strong for us1 and although we say that we will make our nest in the rocks1 and shall never be moved1 the home that is visible and linked with the material passes and melts as a cloud4 ,we need a better dwelling-place than earth and that which holds to earth4 ,we have ,god ,himself for our true ,home4 ,never mind what becomes of the tent1 as long as the mansion stands firm4 ,do not let us be saddened1 though we know that it is canvas1 and that the walls will soon rot and must some day be folded up and borne away1 if we have the ,rock of ,ages for our dwelling-place4 ,let us abide in the ,eternal ,god by the devotion of our hearts1 by the affiance of our faith1 by the submission of our wills1 by the aspiration of our yearnings1 by the conformity of our conduct to ,his will4 ,let us abide in the ,eternal ,god1 that 'when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved1' we may enter into two buildings 'eternal in the heavens'--the one the spiritual body which knows no corruption1 and the other the bosom of the ,eternal ,god ,himself4 ',because thou hast made ,him thy ,habitation1' that ,dwelling shall suffer no evil to come near it or its tenant4 ,still further1 notice the scope of this great promise4 ,i suppose there is some reference in the form of it to the old story of ,israel's exemption from the ,egyptian plagues1 and a hint that that might be taken as a parable and prophetic picture of what will be true about every man who puts his trust in ,god4 ,but the wide scope and the paradoxical completeness of the promise itself1 instead of being a difficulty1 point the way to its true interpretation4 ',there shall no plague come nigh thy dwelling'--and yet we are smitten down by all the woes that afflict humanity4 ',no evil shall befall thee'--and yet 'all the ills that flesh is heir to' are dealt out sometimes with a more liberal hand to them who abide in ,god than to them who dwell only in the tent upon earth4 ,what then8 ,is ,god true1 or is ,he not8 ,did this psalmist mean to promise the very questionable blessing of escape from all the good of the discipline of sorrow8 ,is it true1 in the unconditional sense in which it is often asserted1 that 'prosperity is the blessing of the ,old ,testament1 and adversity of the ,new'8 ,i think not1 and ,i am sure that this psalmist1 when he said1 'there shall no evil befall thee1 nor any plague come nigh thy dwelling1' was thinking exactly the same thing which ,paul had in his mind when he said1 ',all things work together for good to them that love ,god1 to them that are called according to ,his purpose4' ,if ,i make ,god my ,refuge1 ,i shall get something a great deal better than escape from outward sorrow--namely1 an amulet which will turn the outward sorrow into joy4 ,the bitter water will still be given me to drink1 but it will be filtered water1 out of which ,god will strain all the poison1 though ,he leaves plenty of the bitterness in it2 for bitterness is a tonic4 ,the evil that is in the evil will be taken out of it1 in the measure in which we make ,god our ,refuge1 and 'all will be right that seems most wrong' when we recognise it to be ',his sweet will4' ,dear brother6 the secret of exemption from every evil lies in no peculiar ,providence1 ordering in some special manner our outward circumstances1 but in the submission of our wills to that which the good hand of the ,lord our ,god sends us for our good2 and in cleaving close to ,him as our ,refuge4 ,nothing can be 'evil' which knits me more closely to ,god2 and whatever tempest drives me to ,his breast1 though all the four winds of the heavens strive on the surface of the sea1 it will be better for me than calm weather that entices me to stray farther away from ,him4 ,we shall know that some day4 ,let us be sure of it now1 and explain by it our earthly experience1 even as we shall know it when we get up yonder and 'see all the way by which the ,lord our ,god has led us4' ,,the ,,answer ,,to ,,trust ',because he hath set his love upon ,me1 therefore will ,i deliver him3 ,i will set him on high1 because he hath known ,my name4' --,,psalm xci4 #ad4 ,there are two voices speaking in the earlier part of this psalm3 one that of a saint who professes his reliance upon the ,lord1 his ,fortress2 and another which answers the former speaker1 and declares that he shall be preserved by ,god4 ,in this verse1 which is the first of the final portion of the psalm1 we have a third voice--the voice of ,god ,himself1 which comes in to seal and confirm1 to heighten and transcend1 all the promises that have been made in ,his name4 ,the first voice said of himself1 ',i will trust'2 the second voice addresses that speaker1 and says1 ',thou shalt not be afraid'2 the third voice speaks of him1 and not to him1 and says1 ',because he hath set his love upon ,me1 therefore will ,i deliver him4' ,why does this divine voice speak thus indirectly of this blessing of ,his servant8 ,i think partly because it heightens the majesty of the utterance1 as if ,god spake to the whole universe about what ,he meant to do for ,his friend who trusts ,him2 and partly because1 in that general form of speech1 there is really couched an 'whosoever'2 and it applies to us all4 ,if ,god had said1 ',because thou hast set thy love upon ,me1 ,i will deliver thee1' it had not been so easy for us to put ourselves in the place of the man concerning whom this great divine voice spoke2 but when ,he says1 ',because he hath set his love upon ,me1' in the 'he' there lies 'everybody'2 and the promise spoken before the universe as to ,his servants is spoken universally to ,his servants4 ,so1 then1 these words seem to me to carry two thoughts3 the first1 what ,god delights to find in a man2 and the second1 what ,god delights to give to the man in whom ,he finds it4 ,i4 ,note1 first1 what ,god delights to find in man4 ,there is1 if we may reverently say so1 a tone of satisfaction in the words1 ',because he hath set his love upon ,me1' and 'because he hath known ,my name4' ,thus1 then1 there are two things that the great ,father's heart seeks1 and wheresoever it finds them1 in however imperfect a degree1 ,he is glad1 and lavishes upon such a one the most precious things in ,his possession4 ,what are these two things8 ,let us look at each of them4 ,now the word rendered 'set his love' includes more than is suggested by that rendering1 beautiful as it is4 ,it implies the binding or knitting oneself to anything4 ,now1 though love be the true cement by which men are bound to ,god1 as it is the only real bond which binds men to one another1 yet the word itself covers a somewhat wider area than is covered by the notion of love4 ,it is not my love only that ,i am to fasten upon ,god1 but my whole self that ,i am to bind to ,him4 ,god delights in us when we cling to ,him4 ,there is a threefold kind of clinging1 which ,i would urge upon you and upon myself4 ,let us cling to ,him in our thoughts1 hour by hour1 moment by moment1 amidst all the distractions of daily life4 ,whilst there are other things that must legitimately occupy our minds1 let us see to it that1 ever and anon1 we turn ourselves away from these1 and betake ourselves1 with a conscious gathering in of our souls1 to ,him1 and calm and occupy our hearts and minds with the bright and peaceful thoughts of a present ,god ever near us1 and ever gracious to us4 ,life is but a dreary stretch of wilderness1 unless all through it there be dotted1 like a chain of ponds in a desert1 these moments in which the mind fixes itself upon ,god1 and loses sorrows and sins and weakness and all other sadnesses in the calm and blessed contemplation of ,his sweetness and sufficiency4 ,the very heavens are bare and lacking in highest beauty1 unless there stretch across them the long lines of rosy-tinted clouds4 ,and so across our skies let us cast a continuous chain of thoughts of ,god1 and as we go about our daily work1 let us try to have our minds ever recurring to ,him1 like the linked pools that mirror heaven in the midst of the barren desert1 and bring a reflection of life into the midst of its death4 ,cleave and cling to ,god1 brother6 by frequent thoughts of ,him1 diffused throughout the whole continuity of the busy day4 ,then again1 we might say1 let us cleave to ,him by our love1 which is the one bond of union1 as ,i said1 between man and ,god1 as it is the one bond of union between man and man4 ',thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy mind1 and with all thy strength1' was from the beginning the ,alpha1 and until the end will be the ,omega1 of all true religion2 and within the sphere of that commandment lie all duty1 all ,christianity1 all blessedness1 and all life4 ,the heart that is divided is wretched2 the heart that is consecrated is at rest4 ,the love that is partial is nought2 the love that is worth calling so is total and continuous4 ,let us cling to ,him with our thoughts2 let us cling to ,him with the tendrils of our hearts4 ,let us cleave to ,him1 still further1 by the obedient contact of our wills with ,his1 taking no commandments from men1 and no overpowering impressions from circumstances1 and no orders from our own fancies and inclinations and tastes and lusts1 but receiving all our instructions from our ,father in heaven4 ,there is no real contact between us and ,god1 no real cleaving to ,him1 howsoever the thought of ,god may be in our minds1 and some kind of imperfect love to ,him may be supposed to be in our hearts1 unless there be the absolute submission of our wills to ,his authority2 and only in the measure in which we are able to say1 ,what ,he commands ,i do1 and what ,he sends ,i accept1 and my will is in ,his hands to be moulded1 do we really get close and keep close to our ,father in the heavens4 ,he that hath brought himself into loving touch with ,god1 and clings to ,him in that threefold fashion1 by thought1 love1 and submission1 he1 and only he1 is so joined to the ,lord as to be one ,spirit4 ,now that is not a state to be won and kept without much vigorous1 conscious effort4 ,the nuts in a machine work loose2 the knots in a rope 'come untied1' as the children say4 ,the hand that clasps anything1 by slow and imperceptible degrees1 loses muscular contraction1 and the grip of the fingers becomes slacker4 ,our minds and affections and wills have that same tendency to slacken their hold of what they grasp4 ,unless we tighten up the machine it will work loose2 and unless we make conscious efforts to keep ourselves in touch with ,god1 ,his hand will slip out of ours before we know that it is gone1 and we shall fancy that we feel the impression of the fingers long after they have been taken away from our negligent palms4 ,besides our own vagrancies1 and the waywardness and wanderings of our poor1 unreliable natures1 there come in1 of course1 as hindrances1 all the interruptions and distractions of outside things1 which work in the same direction of loosening our hold on ,god4 ,if the shipwrecked sailor is not to be washed off the raft he must tie himself on to it1 and must see that the lashings are reliable and the knots tight2 and if we do not mean to be drifted away from ,god without knowing it1 we must make very sure work of anchor and cable1 and of our own hold on both4 ,effort is needed1 continuous and conscious1 lest at any time we should slide away from ,him4 ,and this is what ,god delights to find3 a mind and will that bind themselves to ,him4 ,there is another thing in the text which1 as ,i take it1 is a consequence of that close union between man in his whole nature and ,god3 ',i will set him on high because he hath known ,my name4' ,notice that the knowledge of the name comes after1 and not before1 the setting of the love or the fixing of the nature upon ,god4 ,god's 'name' is the same thing as ,his self-revelation or ,his manifested character4 ,then1 does not every one to whom that revelation is made know ,his name8 ,certainly not4 ,the word 'know' is here used in the same deep sense in which it is employed all but uniformly in the ,new ,testament--the same sense in which it is used in the writings of the ,apostle ,john4 ,it describes a knowledge which is a great deal more than a mere intellectual acquaintance with the facts of divine revelation4 ,or1 to put the thought into other words1 this is a knowledge which comes after we have set our love upon ,god1 a knowledge which is the child of love4 ,we forget sometimes that it is a ,person1 and not a system of truth1 whom the ,bible tells us we are to know4 ,and how do you know people8 ,only by familiar acquaintance with them4 ,you might read a description of a man1 perfectly accurate1 sufficiently full1 but you would not therefore say you knew him4 ,you might know about him1 or fancy you did1 but if you knew him1 it would be because you had summered and wintered with him1 and lived beside him1 and were on terms of familiar acquaintance with him4 ,as long as it is ,god and not theology1 the knowledge of whom makes religion1 so long it will not be the head1 but the heart or spirit1 that is the medium or organ by which we know ,him4 ,you have to become acquainted with ,him and be very familiar with ,him--that is to say1 to fix your whole self upon ,him--before you 'know' ,him2 and it is only the knowledge which is born of love and familiarity that is worth calling knowledge at all4 ,just as with our earthly relationships and acquaintances1 only they who love a man or a woman know such a one right down to the very depth of their being1 so the one way to know ,god's name is to bind myself to ,him with mind and heart and will1 as friends cleave to one another4 ,then ,i shall know ,him and be known of ,him4 ,still further1 this knowledge which ,god delights to find in us men1 is a knowledge which is experience4 ,there is all the difference between reading about a foreign country and going to see it with your own eyes4 ,the man that has been there knows it2 the man that has not knows about it4 ,and only he knows ,god to whom the commonplaces of religion have turned into facts which he verifies by his own experiences4 ,it is a knowledge1 too1 which influences life4 ,obviously the words of my text look back to what the saint was represented as saying in an earlier portion of the psalm4 ,why does ,god declare that the man has set his love upon ,him1 and knows ,his name8 ,because the saint professed this1 ',i will say of the ,lord1 ,he is my ,refuge and my ,fortress4' ,these are ,his name4 ,the man knows it2 he has it not only upon his lips1 but in his heart1 and feels that it is true1 and acts accordingly4 ',he is my ,refuge and my ,fortress2 my ,god1 in ,him will ,i trust4' ,the knowledge which ,god regards as knowledge of ,him is one based upon experience and upon familiar acquaintance1 and issuing in joyful recognition of my possession of ,him as mine1 and the outgoing of my confidence to ,him4 ,these are the things that ,god desires and delights to find in men4 ,,ii4 ,note1 secondly1 what ,god gives to the man in whom ,he finds such things4 ',i will deliver him'2 ',i will set him on high4' ,these two clauses are substantially parallel1 and yet there is a difference between them1 as is the nature of the parallelism of ,hebrew poetry1 where the same ideas are repeated with a shade of modification1 and the second of them somewhat surpassing the first4 ',i will deliver him1' says the promise4 ,that confirms the view that the promise in the previous verse1 ',there shall no plague come nigh thy dwelling1' does not mean exemption from sorrow and trial because1 if so1 there would be no relevancy or blessedness in the promise of deliverance4 ,he who needs 'deliverance' is the man who is surrounded by evils1 and ,god's promise is not that no evil shall come to the man who trusts ,him1 but that he shall be delivered out of the evil that does come1 and that it will not be truly evil4 ,and why is he to be delivered8 ',because he has bound himself to ,me1' says ,god1 'therefore will ,i deliver him4' ,of course1 if ,i am fastened to ,god1 nothing that does not hurt ,him can hurt me4 ,if ,i am knit to ,him as closely as this psalm contemplates1 it is impossible but that out of ,his fulness my emptiness shall be filled1 and with ,his rejoicing strength my weakness will be made strong4 ,it is just the same idea as is given to us in the picture of ,peter upon the water1 when the cold waves are up to his knees1 and the coward heart says1 ',i am ready to sink1' but yet1 with the faith that comes with the fear1 he puts out his hand and grasps ,christ's hand1 and as soon as he does1 and the two are united1 he is buoyant1 and rises again1 and the water is beneath the soles of his feet4 ',he sent from above1 ,he took me2 ,he drew me out of many waters4' ,whoever is joined to ,god is lifted above all evil1 and the evil that continues to eddy about him will change its character1 and bear him onwards to his haven4 ,for he who is thus knit to ,god in the living1 pulsating bond of thought and affection and submission1 will be delivered from sin4 ,when a boy first learns to skate1 he needs some one to go behind him and hold him up whilst he uses his unaccustomed limbs2 and so1 when we are upon the smooth1 treacherous ice of this wicked world1 it is by leaning on ,god that we are kept upright4 ',he hath set himself close to ,me1 ,i will deliver him1' says ,god4 ',yea6 he shall not fall1 for the ,lord is able to make him stand4' ,still further1 we have another great promise1 which is the explanation and extension of the former1 ',i will set him on high1 because he hath known ,my name4' ,that is more than lifting a man up above the reach of the storms of life by means of any external deliverance4 ,there is a better thing than that--namely1 that our whole inward life be lived loftily4 ,if it is true of us that we know ,his name1 then our lives are 'hid with ,christ in ,god1' and far below our feet will be all the riot of earth and its noise and tumult and change4 ,we shall live serene and uplifted lives on the mount1 if we know ,his name and have bound ourselves to ,him1 and the troubles and cares and changes and duties and joys of this present will be away down below us1 like the lowly cottages in some poor village1 seen from the mountain top1 the squalor out of sight1 the magnitude diminished1 the noise and tumult dimmed to a mere murmur that interrupts not the sacred silence of the lofty peak where we dwell with ,god4 ',i will set him on high because he knows ,my name4' ,then1 perhaps1 there is a hint in the words1 as there is in subsequent words of the verse1 of an elevation even higher than that1 when1 life ended and earth done1 ,he shall receive into ,his glory those whom ,he hath guided by ,his counsel4 ',i will set him on high1 because he hath known ,my name1' says the ,jehovah of the ,old ,covenant4 ',to him that overcometh will ,i grant to sit with ,me on ,my throne1' says the ,jesus of the ,new1 who is the ,jehovah of the ,old4 ,,what ,,god ,,will ,,do ,,for ,,us ',he shall call upon ,me1 and ,i will answer him3 ,i will be with him in trouble2 ,i will deliver him1 and honour him4 #af4 ,with long life will ,i satisfy him1 and show him ,my salvation4'--,,psalm xci4 #ae1 #af4 ,when considering the previous verses of this psalm1 ,i pointed out that at its close we have ,god's own voice coming in to confirm and expand the promises which1 in the earlier portion of it1 have been made in ,his name to the devout heart4 ,the words which we have now to consider cover the whole range of human life and need1 and may be regarded as being a picture of the sure and blessed consequences of keeping our hearts fixed upon our ,father1 ,god4 ,he ,himself speaks them1 and ,his word is true4 ,the verses of the text fall into three portions4 ,there are promises for the suppliant1 promises for the troubled1 promises for mortals4 ',he shall call upon ,me and ,i will answer him'2 that is for the suppliant4 ',i will be with him in trouble2 ,i will deliver him and honour him'2 that is for the distressed4 ',with long life will ,i satisfy him1 and show him ,my salvation'2 that is for the mortal4 ,now let us look at these three4 ,i4 ,the promise to the suppliant4 ',he will call upon ,me and ,i will answer4' ,we may almost regard the first of these two clauses as part of the promise4 ,it is not merely a ,hebrew way of putting a supposition1 ',if he calls upon ,me1 then ,i will answer him1' nor merely a virtual commandment1 ',call1 if you expect an answer1' but itself is a part of the blessing and privilege of the devout and faithful heart4 ',he shall call upon ,me'2 the ,king opens the door of ,his chamber and beckons us within4 ,in these great words we may see set forth both the instinct1 as ,i may call it1 of prayer1 and the privilege of access to ,god4 ,if a man's heart is set upon ,god1 his very life-breath will be a cry to ,his ,father4 ,he will experience a need which is not degraded by being likened to an instinct1 for it acts as certainly as do the instincts of the lower creatures1 which guide them by the straightest possible road to the surest supply of their need4 ,any man who has learned in any measure to love ,god and trust ,him will1 in the measure in which he has so learned1 live in the exercise and habit of prayer2 and it will be as much his instinct to cry to ,god in all changing circumstances as it is for the swallows to seek the sunny south when the winter comes1 or the cold north when the sunny south becomes torrid and barren4 ,so1 then1 ',he shall call upon ,me' is the characteristic of the truly ,god-knowing and ,god-loving heart1 which was described in the previous verse4 ',because he has clung to ,me in love1 therefore will ,i deliver him2 because he has known ,my name1 therefore will ,i set him on high1' and because he has clung and known therefore it is certain that ,he will 'call upon ,me4' ,my friend6 do you know anything of that instinctive appeal to ,god8 ,does it come to your heart and to your lips without your setting yourself to pray1 just as the thought of dear ones on earth comes stealing into our minds a hundred times a day1 when we do not intend it nor know exactly how it has come8 ,does ,god suggest ,himself to you in that fashion1 and is the instinct of your hearts to call upon ,him8 ,again1 we see here not only the unveiling of the very deepest and most characteristic attribute of the devout soul1 but also the assurance of the privilege of access4 ,god lets us speak to ,him4 ,and there is1 further1 a wonderful glimpse into the very essence of true prayer4 ',he shall call upon ,me4' ,what for8 ,no particular object is specified as sought4 ,it is ,god whom we want1 and not merely any things that even ,he can give4 ,if asking for these only or mainly is our conception of what prayer is1 we know little about it4 ,true prayer is the cry of the soul for the living ,god1 in whom is all that it needs1 and out of whom is nothing that will do it good4 ',he shall call upon ,me1' that is prayer4 ',i will answer him4' ,yes6 ,of course the instinct is not all on one side4 ,if the devout heart yearns for ,god1 ,god longs for the devout heart4 ,if ,i might use such a metaphor1 just as the ewe on one side of the hedge hears and answers the bleating of its lamb on the other1 so1 if my heart cries out for the living ,god1 anything is more credible than that such a cry should not be answered4 ,you may not get this1 that1 or the other blessing which you ask1 for perhaps they are not blessings4 ,you may not get what you fancy you need4 ,we are not always good at translating our needs into words1 and it is a mercy that there is ,some ,one that understands what we do want a great deal better than we do ourselves4 ,but if below the specific petition there lies the cry of a heart that calls for the living ,god1 then whether the specific petition be answered or dispersed into empty air will matter comparatively little4 ',he shall call upon ,me1' and that part of his prayer ',i will answer' and come to him and be in him4 ,is that our experience of what it is to pray1 and our notion of what it is to be answered8 ,,ii4 ,further1 here we have a promise for suppliants4 ,i take the next three clauses of the text as being all closely connected4 ',i will be with him in trouble4 ,i will deliver him and honour him'--in trouble1 ,his presence2 from trouble1 ,his deliverance2 after trouble1 glorifying and refining4 ,there are the whole theory and process of the discipline of the devout man's life4 ',i will be with him in trouble4' ,the promise is not only that1 when trials of any kind1 larger or smaller1 more grave or more slight1 fall upon us1 we shall become more conscious1 if we take them rightly1 of ,god's presence1 but that all which is meant by ,god's presence shall really be more fully ours1 and that ,he is1 if ,i may say so1 actually nearer us4 ,though1 of course1 all words about being near or far have only a very imperfect application to our relation to ,him1 still the gifts that are meant by ,his presence--that is to say1 ,his sympathy1 ,his help1 ,his love--are more fully given to a man who in the darkness is groping for his ,father's hand1 and yet not so much groping for as grasping it4 ,he is nearer us as well as felt to be nearer us1 if we take our sorrows rightly4 ,the effect of sorrow devoutly borne1 in bringing ,god closer to us1 belongs to it1 whether it be great or small2 whether it be1 according to the metaphor of an earlier portion of this psalm1 'a lion or an adder'2 or whether it be a buzzing wasp or a mosquito4 ,as long as anything troubles me1 ,i may make it a means of bringing ,god closer to myself4 ,therefore1 there is no need for any sorrowful heart ever to say1 ',i am solitary as well as sad4' ,he will always come and sit down by us1 and if it be that1 like poor ,job upon his dunghill1 we are not able to bear the word of consolation1 yet ,he will wait there till we are ready to take it4 ,he is there all the same1 though silent1 and will be near all of us1 if only we do not drive ,him away4 ',he will call upon ,me and ,i will answer him'2 and the beginning of the answer is the real presence of ,god with every troubled heart4 ,then there follows the next stage1 deliverance from trouble2 ',i will deliver him4' ,that is not the same word as is employed in the previous verse1 though it is translated in the same way in our ,bibles4 ,the word here means lifting up out of a pit1 or dragging up out of the midst of anything that surrounds a man1 and so setting him in some place of safety4 ,is this promise always true1 about people who in sorrow of any kind cast themselves upon ,god8 ,do they always get deliverance from ,him8 ,there are some sorrows from the pressure of which we shall never escape4 ,some of us have to carry such4 ,has this promise no application to the people for whom outward life can never bring an end of the sorrows and burdens that they carry8 ,not so4 ,he will deliver us not only by taking the burden off our backs1 but by making us strong to carry it1 and the sorrow1 which has changed from wild and passionate weeping into calm submission1 is sorrow from which we have been delivered4 ,the serpent may still wound our heel1 but if ,god be with us ,he will give us strength to press the wounded heel on the malignant head1 and we can squeeze all the poison out of it4 ,the bitterness remains2 be it so1 but let us be quite sure of this1 that though sorrow be lifelong1 that does not in the least contradict the great and faithful promise1 ',i will be with him in trouble and deliver him1' for where ,he is there is deliverance4 ,lastly1 there is the third of these promises for the troubled4 ',i will honour him4' ,the word translated 'honour' is more correctly rendered 'glorify4' ,is not that the end of a trouble which has been borne in company with ,him2 and from which1 because it has been so borne1 a devout heart is delivered even whilst it lasts8 ,does not all such sorrow hallow1 ennoble1 refine1 purify the sufferer1 and make him liker his ,god8 ',he for our profit1 that we should be partakers of ,his holiness4' ,is not that ,god's way of glorifying us before heaven's glory8 ,when a blunt knife is ground upon a wheel1 the sparks fly fast from the edge held down upon the swiftly-revolving emery disc1 but that is the only way to sharpen the dull blade4 ,friction1 often very severe friction1 and heat are indispensable to polish the shaft and turn the steel into a mirror that will flash back the sunshine4 ,so when ,god holds us to ,his grindstone1 it is to get a polish on the surface4 ',i will deliver him and ,i will glorify him4' ,,iii4 ,last of all1 we have the promise for mortals4 ',with long life will ,i satisfy him1 and show him ,my salvation4' ,i do not know whether by that first clause the ,psalmist meant1 as people who sometimes like to make the ,psalmist mean as little as possible tell us that he did mean1 simply 'length of days4' ,for my own part ,i do not believe that he did4 ,he meant that1 no doubt1 for longevity was part of the ,old ,testament promises for this life4 ,but 'length of days' does not 'satisfy' all old people who attain to it1 and that 'satisfaction' necessarily implies something more than the prolongation of the physical life to old age4 ,the idea contained in this promise may be illustrated by the expression which is used in reference to a select few of the ,old ,testament saints1 of whom it is recorded that they died 'full of days4' ,that does not merely mean that they had many days1 but that1 whatever the number1 they had as many as they wished1 and departed unreluctantly1 having had enough of life4 ,they looked back1 and saw that all the past had been very good1 and that goodness and mercy had determined and accompanied all their days1 and so they did not wish to linger longer here1 but closed their eyes in peace1 with no hungry1 vain cravings for prolonged life4 ,they had got all out of the world which it could give1 and were contented to have done with it all4 ,so this promise assures us that1 if we are of those who1 in the midst of fleeting days1 lay hold on the ',ancient of ,days' and live by ,him1 we shall find a table spread in the wilderness1 and like travellers in an inn1 having eaten enough1 shall willingly obey the call to leave the meal provided on the road1 and pass into the ,father's house1 and sit at the bountiful feast there4 ,the heart that lives near ,god1 whether its years be few or many1 will find in life all that life is capable of giving1 and when the end comes will not be unwilling that it should come1 nor hold on desperately to the last fag-end and fragment of life that it can keep within its clutches1 but will be satisfied to have lived and be contented to die4 ,nor is this all1 for says the ,psalmist1 ',i will show him ,my salvation4' ,that sight comes after he is satisfied with length of days here4 ,and so ,i think the fair interpretation of the words1 in their place in this psalm1 is1 that however dimly1 yet certainly1 here the ,psalmist saw something beyond4 ,it was not a black curtain which dropped at death4 ,he believed that1 yonder1 the man who here had been living near ,god1 calling to ,him1 realising ,his presence1 and satisfied with the fatness of ,his house upon earth1 would see something that would satisfy him more4 ',i shall be satisfied when ,i awake in ,thy likeness4' ,that is satisfaction indeed1 and the vision1 which is possession1 of that perfected salvation is the vision that makes the blessedness of heaven4 ,so1 dear friends6 we1 if we will1 may have access to ,god's chamber at every moment1 and may have ,his presence1 which will make it impossible that we should ever be alone4 ,we may have ,him to deliver us from all the evil that is in evil1 and to turn it into good4 ,we may have ,him to purge1 and cleanse1 and uplift1 and change us into ,his likeness1 even by the ministry of our trials4 ,we may get out of life the last drop of the sweetness that ,he has put in it2 and when it comes to a close1 may say1 ',it is enough6 ,let ,thy servant depart in peace2 for mine eyes have seen ,thy salvation1' and then we may go to see it better in that world where we shall all1 if we attain thither1 be 'satisfied' when we 'awake in ,his likeness4' ,,forgiveness ,,and ,,retribution ',thou wast a ,god that forgavest them1 though ,thou tookest vengeance of their inventions4'--,,psalm xcix4 #h4 ,when the prophet ,isaiah saw the great vision which called him to service1 he heard from the lips of the seraphim around the ,throne the threefold ascription of praise3 ',holy6 holy6 holy6 ,lord ,god of hosts4' ,this psalm seems to be an echo of that heavenly chorus1 for it is divided into three sections1 each of which closes with the refrain1 ',he is holy1' and each of which sets forth some one aspect or outcome of that divine holiness4 ,in the first part the holiness of ,his universal dominion is celebrated2 in the second1 the holiness of ,his revelations and providences to ,israel1 ,his inheritance2 in the third1 the holiness of ,his dealings with them that call upon ,his name1 both when ,he forgives their sins and when ,he scourges for the sins that ,he has forgiven4 ,two remarks of an expository character will prepare the way for what ,i have further to say4 ,the first is that the word 'though' in my text1 which holds together the two statements that it contains1 is commentary rather than translation4 ,for the original has the simple 'and1' and the difference between the two renderings is this1 that 'though' implies some real or apparent contrariety between forgiveness and taking vengeance1 which makes their co-existence remarkable1 whereas 'and' lays the two things down side by side4 ,the ,psalmist simply declares that they are both there1 and puts in no such fine distinction as is represented by the words 'though1' or 'but1' or 'yet4' ,to me it seems a great deal more eloquent in its simplicity and reticence that he should say1 ',thou forgavest them and tookest vengeance1' than that he should say ',thou forgavest them though ,thou tookest vengeance4' ,then there is another point to be noted1 viz4 we must not import into that word 'vengeance1' when it is applied to divine actions1 the notions which cluster round it when it is applied to ours4 ,for in its ordinary use it means retaliation1 inflicted at the bidding of personal enmity or passion4 ,but there are no turbid elements of that sort in ,god4 ,his retribution is a great deal more analogous to the unimpassioned1 impersonal action of public law than it is to the 'wild justice of revenge4' ,when we speak of ,his 'vengeance' we simply mean--unless we have dropped into a degrading superstition--the just recompense of reward which divinely dogs all sin4 ,there is one saying in ,scripture which puts the whole matter in its true light1 ',vengeance is ,mine2 ,i will repay1' saith the ,lord2 the last clause of which interprets the first4 ,so1 then1 with these elucidations1 we may perhaps see a little more clearly the sequence of the ,psalmist's thought here--,god's forgiveness1 and co-existing with that1 ,god's scourging of the sin which ,he forgives2 and both ,his forgiveness and the scourging1 the efflux and the manifestation of the divine holiness4 ,now just let us look at these thoughts4 ,here we have-- ,i4 ,the adoring contemplation of the divine forgiveness4 ,i suppose that is almost exclusively a thought due to the historical revelation1 through the ages1 to ,israel1 crowned1 as well as deepened1 by the culmination and perfecting of the eternal revelation of ,god in ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,i suppose the conception of a forgiving ,god is the product of the ,old and of the ,new ,testament4 ,but familiar as the word is to us1 and although the thing that it means is embodied in the creed of ,christendom1 ',i believe 444 in the forgiveness of sins1' ,i think that a great many of us would be somewhat put to it1 if we were called upon to tell definitely and clearly what we mean when we speak of the forgiveness of sins4 ,many of us1 prior to thinking about the matter1 would answer 'the non-infliction or remission of penalty4' ,and ,i am far from denying that that is an element in forgiveness1 although it is the lowest and the most external1 in both the ,old ,testament and the ,new ,testament conception of it4 ,but we must rise a great deal higher than that4 ,we are entitled1 by our ,lord's teaching1 to parallel ,god's forgiveness and man's forgiveness2 and so perhaps the best way to understand the perfect type of forgiveness is to look at the imperfect types which we see round us4 ,what1 then1 do we mean by human forgiveness8 ,it is seen in multitudes of cases where there is no question at all of penalty4 ,two men get alienated from one another4 ,one of them does something which the other thinks is a sin against friendship or loyalty1 and he who is sinned against says1 ',i forgive you4' ,that does not mean that he does not inflict a penalty1 because there is no penalty in question4 ,forgiveness is not a matter of conduct1 then1 primarily1 but it is a matter of disposition1 of attitude1 or1 to put it into a shorter word1 it is a matter of the heart2 and even on the lower level of the human type1 we see that remission of penalty may be a part1 sometimes is and sometimes is not1 but is always the smallest part of it1 and a derivative and secondary result of something that went before4 ,an unconscious recognition of this attitude of mind and heart1 as being the essential thing in forgiveness1 brings about an instance of the process by which two words that originally mean substantially the same thing come to acquire each its special shade of meaning4 ,what ,i refer to is this--when a judicial sentence on a criminal is remitted1 we never hear any one speak about the criminal being 'forgiven4' ,we keep the word 'pardon1' in our daily conventional intercourse1 for slight offences or for the judicial remission of a sentence4 ,the king pardons a criminal2 you never hear about the king 'forgiving' a criminal4 ,and that1 as ,i take it1 is just because people have been groping after the thought that ,i am trying to bring out1 viz4 that the remission of penalty is one thing1 and purging the heart of all alienation and hatred is another2 and that the latter is forgiveness1 whilst the former has to be content with being pardon4 ,the highest type of forgiveness is the paternal4 ,every one of us who remembers our childhood1 and every one of us who has had children of his own1 knows what paternal forgiveness is4 ,it is not when you put away the rod that the little face brightens again and the tears cease to flow1 but it is when your face clears1 and the child knows that there is no cloud between it and the father1 or still more the mother1 that forgiveness is realised4 ,the immediate effect of our transgressions is that we1 as it were1 thereby drop a great1 black rock into the stream of the divine love1 and the channel is barred by our action2 and ,god's forgiveness is when1 as was the case in another fashion in the ,deluge1 the floods rise above the tops of the highest hills2 and as the good old hymn that has gone out of fashion nowadays1 says1 over sins3 ',like the mountains for their size1 ,the seas of sovereign grace arise4' ,when the love of ,god flows over the black rock1 as the incoming tide does over some jagged reef1 then1 and not merely when the rod is put on the shelf1 is forgiveness bestowed and received4 ,but1 as ,i have said1 the remission of penalty is an element in forgiveness4 ,some people say3 ',it is a very dangerous thing1 in the interests of ,christian truth1 to treat that relation of a loving ,father as if it expressed all that ,god is to men4' ,quite so2 ,god is ,king as well as ,father4 ,there are analogies1 both in paternal and regal government1 which help us to understand the divine dealings with us2 though1 of course1 in regard to both we must always remember that the analogies are remote and not to be pressed too far4 ,but even in recognising the fact that an integral part of forgiveness is remission of penalty1 we come back1 by another path1 to the same point1 that the essence of forgiveness is the uninterrupted flow of love4 ,remission of penalty2--yes1 by all means4 ,but then the question comes1 what is the penalty of sin8 ,and ,i suppose that the deepest answer to that is1 separation from ,god4 ,but if the true ,new ,testament conception of the penalty of sin is the eternal death which is the result of the rending of a man away from the ,source of life1 then the remission of the penalty is precisely identical with the uninterrupted flow of the divine love4 ,the mists of autumnal mornings drape the sky in gloom1 and turn the blessed sun itself into a lurid ball of fire4 ,sweep away the mists1 and its rays again pour out beneficence4 ,the man who sins1 piles up1 as it were1 a cloud-bank between himself and ,god1 and forgiveness1 which is the remission of the penalty1 is the sweeping away of the cloud-bank1 and the pouring out of sunshine upon a darkened heart4 ,so1 brethren6 the essence of forgiveness is that ,god shall love me all the same1 though ,i sin against ,him4 ,but now turn1 in the next place1 to ,,ii4 ,god's scourging of the sin which ,he forgives4 ,look at the instances in our psalm1 ',moses and ,aaron among ,his priests4444 ,they called upon the ,lord and ,he answered them4 ,thou wast a ,god that forgavest them1 and ,thou tookest vengeance of their doings4' ,moses dies on ,pisgah1 ,aaron is stripped of his priestly robes by his brother's hand and left alone amongst the clouds and the eagles1 on the solitary summit of the mountain1 and yet ,moses and ,aaron knew themselves forgiven the sins for which they died those lonely deaths4 ,and these are but instances of what is universally true1 that the sin which is pardoned is also 'avenged' in the sense of having retribution dealt out to it4 ,i need not dwell upon this at any length1 but let me just remind you how there are two provinces of human experience in which this is abundantly true3 one1 that of outward consequences1 and another that of inward consequences4 ,take1 for instance1 two men1 boon companions1 who together have wasted their substance in riotous living4 ,one of them is converted1 as we call it1 becomes a ,christian1 knows himself forgiven4 ,the other one is not4 ,is the one less certain to have a corrugated liver than the other8 ,will the disease1 the pauperism1 the ruined position in life1 the loss of reputation be any different in the cases of him who is pardoned and of him who is not8 ,no2 the two will suffer in a similar fashion1 and the different attitude that the one has to the divine love from that which the other has1 will not make a hair of difference as to the results that follow4 ,the consequences are none the less divine retribution because they are the result of natural laws1 and none the less penal because they are automatically inflicted4 ,there is another department in which we see the same law working1 and that is the inward consequences4 ,a man does change his attitude to his former sins1 when he knows that he is pardoned2 but the results of these sins will follow all the same1 whether he is forgiven or not4 ,memory will be tarnished1 habits will be formed and chain a man1 capacities will be forfeited1 weaknesses will ensue4 ,the wounds may be healed1 but the scars will remain1 and when we consider how certainly1 and as ,i said1 divinely1 such issues dog all manner of transgression1 we can understand what the ,psalmist meant when1 not thinking about a future retribution1 but about the present life's experiences1 he said1 ',thou wast a ,god that forgavest them1 and ,thou tookest vengeance of their inventions4' ',the sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold1 therefore shall he beg in harvest1 and have nothing1' and that will be his case whether he is forgiven1 or not forgiven1 by the divine love4 ,so1 dear friends6 do not let us confound the two things which are so widely separated1 the flow of the divine love to us irrespective of our sins1 which is the true forgiveness1 and the remission of the penalty1 the infliction of which may itself be a part of forgiveness4 ',whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap1' and he will reap it whether he has sown darnel and tares and poisonous seeds1 of which he is now ashamed1 and for which he has received forgiveness1 or whether he has not asked nor received it4 ,only remember that if we humbly realise the great fact that ,god has forgiven us1 we can1 as they say1 'take our punishment' in an altogether different spirit and temper1 and it comes to be1 not judicial penalty1 but paternal chastisement1 the token of love1 and of which we can say that ',we are judged of the ,lord1 that we should not be condemned with the world4' ,lastly1 my text leads us to think of-- ,,iii4 ,forgiveness and scourging as both issues of holy love4 ,some people1 in their narrow and altogether superficial view of ,christianity1 would divide between the two1 and say forgiveness comes from ,god's love1 and scourging comes from ,his holiness4 ,but this psalm puts the two together1 just as we must put together as inseparable from each other the two conceptions of holiness and of love4 ,now our modern notions of what is meant by the love of ,god are a great deal too sentimental and gushing and limp4 ,love is degraded unless there be holiness in it4 ,it becomes immoral good nature1 much more than anything that deserves the name of love4 ,a ,god who is all love1 so much so that it makes no difference to ,him whether a man is a saint or a sinner1 is not a ,god to be worshipped1 and scarcely a ,god to be admired4 ,he is lower than we1 not higher4 ,but ,his holy love is like a sea of glass mingled with fire2 the love being shot all through1 as it were1 with streams of flame4 ,this holy love underlies the forgiveness of sins4 ,to forgive may sometimes be profoundly right2 it may sometimes be profoundly immoral4 ,a general gaol delivery simply sets the scoundrels free2 a universal amnesty is a failure of justice1 and a very doubtful benefit4 ,but the forgiveness1 which is the issue of holy love1 is a means to an end1 and the end which it has in view is that1 drawn by answering love to a pardoning ,god1 we may be drawn from the sins which alienate us from ,him4 ,there is no such sure way of making a man forsake his sins as to give him the assurance that ,god has forgiven them4 ',thou shalt be ashamed and confounded1 and never open thy mouth any more1 because of thy sins1 when'--,i smite8 no--',i am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done4' ',thou wast a ,god that forgavest them1' and in the very act of forgiving1 didst draw them from their sins4 ,that holy love1 in like manner1 underlies retribution4 ,i have been speaking of retribution mainly as it is seen in the working of natural law4 ,it is none the less ,god's act1 because it is the operation of the laws which ,he impressed upon ,his creation at the beginning4 ,you have weaving machines in your mills that whenever a thread breaks1 stop dead4 ,is it the machine or the maker that is to get the credit of that8 ,god has set us in an order of things wherein1 and has given us a nature whereby1 automatically1 every sin1 as it were1 stops the loom1 and 'every transgression and disobedience receives its just recompense of reward4' ,but men sometimes say 'that is ,nature2 that is not ,god4' ,god lies at the back of ,nature1 and works through ,nature4 ,although ,nature is not ,god1 ,god is ,nature4 ,therefore it is ',thou' that 'takest vengeance of their inventions4' ,let us1 then1 remember that retribution is a token of love1 meant to drive us from our sins1 just as forgiveness is meant to draw us from them4 ,our ,psalmist had come the length of putting these two things together1 forgiveness and retribution4 ,we have reached further1 and here is the ,new ,testament enlargement and deepening and explanation of the ,old ,testament thought3 ',if we confess our sins1 ,he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins1' and in the very act1 'to cleanse us from all unrighteousness4' ',if any man sin1 we have an ,advocate with the ,father1 ,jesus ,christ the ,righteous4' ,,inviolable ,,messiahs ,,and ,,prophets ',he reproved kings for their sakes2 #ae4 ,saying1 ,touch not ,mine anointed1 and do ,my prophets no harm4'--,,psalm cv4 #ad1 #ae4 ,the original reference of these words is to the fathers of the ,jewish people--the three wandering shepherds1 ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob4 ,the ,psalmist transfers to them the great titles which properly belong to a later period of ,jewish history4 ,none of the three were ever in the literal sense of the word 'anointed1' but all the three had what anointing symbolised4 ,none of them were in the literal or narrow sense of the word 'prophets'--that is to say1 predicters of future events--but one of them was called a 'prophet' even in his lifetime4 ,and they all possessed that intimacy of communion with ,god which imparted the power of forth-speaking for ,him4 ,insignificant as they were1 they were bigger than the ,pharaohs and ,abimelechs and the other kinglets that strutted their little day beside them4 ,astonished as the monarch of ,egypt would have been1 or the king of the ,philistines either1 if he had been told that the wandering shepherd was of far more importance for the world than he was1 it was true4 ',he suffered no man to do them wrong3 yea1 ,he reproved kings for their sakes1 saying1 ,touch not ,mine anointed1 and do ,my prophets no harm4' ,further1 as ,judaism1 with its anointings and prophecies was a narrower system following upon a wider one1 so a wider one has succeeded it2 and we step into the position occupied by these patriarchs--on whose heads no anointing oil had been poured1 and into whose lips no supernatural gifts of prediction had been infused4 ,it is no arrogance1 but the simplest recognition of the essential facts of the case1 if we take these words of the ,psalmist's and transfer them bodily to the whole mass of ,christian people1 and to each individual atom that makes up the mass4 ,all are anointed2 all are prophets2 of all it is true that ,god suffers no man nor thing to do them wrong4 ,and kings and dynasties and the politics of the world are all in the hands of ,one whose supreme purpose is that through men there may be made known to all mankind the significant tidings of ,his love4 ,therefore1 ,his ,church is founded upon a rock1 and earth is the servant of the servants of ,god4 ,i4 ,every ,christian is a 'messiah4' ,you know that the word 'anointed' is a translation of the ,hebrew word ',messiah1' or of the ,greek word ',christ4' ,the meaning of the symbolic 'anointing' was simply consecration to office by the divine will1 and endowment with the capacity for that office by the divine gift4 ,in the ancient system it was mainly employed--though not1 perhaps1 exclusively--as a means of designating1 and when received in humble dependence on ,god1 of fitting1 a man for the two great offices of king and priest4 ,oil was an appropriate symbol4 ,its gentle flow1 its soothing1 suppling effect1 and in another aspect1 its value as a means of invigoration and sustenance1 and in yet another1 as a source of light1 peculiarly adapted it to be an emblem of the bestowment on a patient and trustful and submissive heart that was saying1 ',lord1 take me1 and use me as ,thou wilt1' of that divine ,spirit by whose silent1 sweet1 soft-flowing1 strong influences men were prepared for ,god's service4 ,jesus was the ,christ1 the ,messias1 because that ,divine ,spirit dwelt in ,him without measure4 ,if we are ,christians in the real sense of the word1 then1 however imperfectly1 yet really1 and by ,god's grace increasingly1 there is such a union between us and our ,saviour as that into us there does flow the anointing of ,his ,spirit4 ,there being a community of life derived from the ,source of ,life1 it is no presumption to say that every ,christian man is a ,christ4 ,the word has been used of late with unwise significations1 but the truth that has been inadequately expressed by such uses is the great truth of ,scripture2 ',he that is joined to the ,lord is one ,spirit1' and there does flow the anointing oil from the head of the ,high ,priest to the skirts of the garments4 ,every man and woman who has any hold of ,jesus ,christ at all1 in the measure of his or her hold1 is drawing from ,him this 'unction of the ,holy ,one4' ,so1 brethren1 rise to the solemnity1 the awfulness1 the joyfulness of your true position1 and understand that you1 too1 are anointed1 though not for the same purposes 7and in humbler and derived fashion71 for which the ,spirit dwelt without measure upon 'the ,first-born among many brethren4' ,kings were anointed2 and when that divine gift comes into a man's heart1 it1 and as ,i believe1 only it1 makes him lord of himself1 of circumstances1 of time1 and of the world4 ',all things are yours1 and ye are ,christ's4' ,there is one real royalty--the royalty of the man who rules because he submits4 ,every ,christian soul may be described as ,gideon's brethren were described1 ',as thou art1 so were they3 each one resembled the children of a king1' for if ,christ's ,spirit is in the ,christian's spirit1 the disciple will grow like his ,master1 and it will be growingly true of us1 that 'as ,he is1 so are we in this world4' ,priests were anointed4 ,and we1 if we are ,christian people1 have the prerogative of direct access to the ,divine ,presence1 and need neither ,church nor sacraments to intervene or mediate between us and ,him4 ,the true democracy of ,christianity lies in that word ',mine anointed4' ,,ii4 ,further1 every ,christian man is a prophet4 ,i have already said that there is no historical warrant for supposing that the gift of prophecy1 in its narrower sense1 was ever bestowed upon any of these patriarchs4 ,but prediction is only one corner of the prophetic office4 ,the word is connected with a root which means 'to boil1 or bubble like a fountain1' and it expresses1 not so much the theme of the utterance as its nature4 ,the welling up1 from a full heart1 of ,god's thoughts and ,god's truth1 that is prophecy4 ,the patriarchs were prophets1 not in the sense that they had the gift of beholding and foretelling visions of the future1 and all the wonder that should be1 but in the higher sense--for it is the higher as well as broader--of being bearers of a divine word1 breathed into them by that anointing ,spirit1 that it might be uttered forth by them4 ,that sort of prophetic inspiration belongs to all ,christians4 ,it is the result of the relationship between ,christ and ,christians of which we have been speaking4 ,every one who has been anointed will be thus gifted4 ,god's 'messiahs' will be ,god's prophets4 ,if we are in touch with ,god1 and have our hearts and whole spiritual natures drawn and kept so near ,him as that we are ever receiving from ,him of ,his transcendent and mysterious life1 then silence will be impossible4 ,the lips will not be able to contain themselves1 but will speak forth that of which the heart is full4 ,and thus every ,christian man1 in the measure of his true ,christianity1 will be a prophet of the most ,high4 ,i do not need to point the lesson4 ,a silent ,christian is an anomaly1 a contradiction in terms1 as much as black light1 or dark stars4 ,if ,christ is in you ,he will come out of you4 ,if your hearts are full the crystal treasure will flow over the brim4 ,it is easy to be dumb when you have nothing to say1 and that is the condition of hundreds of people who fancy themselves to be1 and are called by others1 ',christians4' ',mine anointed' cannot help being ',my prophets4' ,if you are not prophets1 if there never is any bubbling up of the fountain demanding utterance1 ask yourselves whether there is any fountain there at all4 ,,iii4 ,and so1 lastly1 every ,christian man1 in his double capacity of anointed and prophet1 is watched over by ,god4 ,one is tempted to diverge into wider considerations1 and speak of the relative importance of things secular and sacred 7to adopt a doubtful distinction7 in the history of the world1 and how the former are for the sake of the latter4 ,but ,i do not yield to the temptation4 ,let me rather take the thought here as it applies to our own little lives4 ,abraham more than once in his lifetime1 though sometimes by his own fault1 was brought into very perilous places4 ,there are one or two incidents which are familiar to most of us1 ,i dare say1 in his life which are evidently referred to in the phrase ',he reproved kings for their sakes4' ,the principle remains in full force to-day1 and ,god says to every thing and person1 ,death included1 ',do ,my prophets no harm4' ,they may slay2 they cannot harm4 ,if ,i might use a very homely metaphor1 sportsmen train retriever dogs to bring their game without ruffling a feather4 ,god trains evils and sorrows to lay hold of us1 and bring us to1 and lay us down at1 ,his feet untouched4 ,there is no real harm in so-called evil4 ,that is the interpretation that ,christianity gives to such words as this of my text1 not because it is forced to weaken them by the obstinate facts of life1 but because it has learned to strengthen them by the understanding of what is harm and what is good2 what is gain and what is loss4 ,peter shall be delivered out of prison by the skin of his teeth when they are hammering at the scaffold on the other side of the wall1 and the dawn is just beginning to show itself in the sky2 whilst ,james shall have his head cut off4 ,was that because ,god loved ,peter better than ,james8 ,was one harmed and the other not8 ,ah6 ,peter's turn came all in good time4 ,peter and his brother ,paul had both to bow their necks to the headsman's sword one day1 although one of them said1 ',who shall harm you if ye be followers of that which is good8' and the other said1 when within sight of his death1 ',he shall deliver me from every evil work4' ,were they disappointed8 ,let us hear how ,paul ends the same verse3 'and shall save me into ,his heavenly kingdom4' ,ay6 and he was 'saved into the heavenly kingdom' when outside the walls of ,rome2 where a gaudy church stands now1 he died for his ,master4 ,no harm came to him4 ,god said to ,death1 ',do ,my prophet no harm6' and ,death docilely did him good1 and brought him to his ,lord4 ,only1 dear friends6 let us remember that the inviolableness of the ambassador depends on his function1 and not on his person2 and that if we want to be kept from all evil1 we must do the work for which we have been sent here4 ,so let us understand the meaning of our difficulties and sorrows4 ,let us set ourselves to our tasks1 live up to the level of the high names which we have a right to claim1 and be sure that there is no harm in the harm that befalls us2 and that all evil things 'work together for good to them that love ,god4' ,,god',s ,,promises ,,tests ',until the time that his word came1 the word of the ,lord tried him4' --,,psalm cv4 #ai4 ,i do not think ,i shall be mistaken if ,i affirm that these words do not convey any very clear idea to most readers4 ,they were spoken with reference to ,joseph1 during the period of his imprisonment4 ,for the understanding of them ,i think we must observe that there is a contrast drawn between two 'words1' 'his' 7i4e4 ,joseph's7 and ,god's4 ,if we lay firm hold of that clue1 ,i think it will lead us into clear daylight1 and it will be obvious that ,joseph's word1 which delayed its coming1 or fulfilment1 was either his boyish narrative of the dreams that foreshadowed his exaltation1 or less probably1 his words to his fellow-prisoners in the interpretation of their dreams4 ,in either case1 the terminus ad quem1 the point to which our attention is directed1 is the period when that word came to be fulfilled1 and what my text says is that during that long season of unfulfilled hope1 the 'word of ,god1' which was revealed in ,joseph's dream1 and was the ground on which his own 'word' rested--did what8 ,encouraged1 heartened1 strengthened him8 ,no1 that unfulfilled promise might encourage or discourage him2 but the ,psalmist fixes our thoughts on another effect which1 whether it encouraged or discouraged1 it certainly had1 namely1 that it tested him1 and found out what stuff he was made of1 and whether there was staying power enough in him to hold on1 in unconquerable faith1 to a promise made long since1 communicated by no more reliable method than a dream1 and of the fulfilment of which not the faintest sign had1 for all these weary years1 appeared4 ,his circumstances1 judged by appearances1 shattered his early visions1 and bade him believe them to be no more than the boyish aspirations which grown men dismiss or find melt away of themselves when life's realities wake the dreamer4 ,we might either say that the non-fulfilment of the promise tested ,joseph1 or that the promise1 by its non-fulfilment1 tested him4 ,the ,psalmist chooses the latter more forcible and half paradoxical mode of speech4 ,it proved the depth and vitality of his faith1 and his ability to see things that are not as though they were4 ,will this man be able continually through years of poverty and imprisonment to keep his eye on the light beyond1 to see his star through clouds8 ,will he despise the 'light affliction1' in the potent and immovable belief that it is 'but for a moment8' ,thus1 for all these years the great blessed word1 or the hope that was built upon it1 tested ,joseph in the very depths of his soul4 ,and is not that just what our anticipations1 built upon ,god's assurances1 whether they are in regard to earthly matters that seem long in coming1 or whether they1 as they ought to do1 travel beyond the bounds of the material1 to grasp the hope which is the promise1 'the hope of eternal life1' ought to do for us1 test us and find out what sort of people we are8 ,and they do6 ,let us go back to the man in our text4 ,according to some commentators1 he was imprisoned for something like ten years4 ,we do not know how long his ,egyptian bondage had lasted1 nor how long before that his endurance of the active ill-will of his surly brothers had gone on4 ,but at all events his chrysalis stage was very long1 and one would not have wondered if he had said to himself1 down in that desert pit or in that ,egyptian dungeon1 ',ah1 yes6 they were dreams1 and only dreams1' or if he had1 as so many of us do1 turned his back on his youthful visions1 and gained the sad power of being able to smile at his old hopes and ambitions4 ,brethren6 especially you young men and women1 cherish your youthful dreams4 ,they are often the prophecies of capacities and possibilities1 signs of what ,god means you to make yourselves4 ,but that is apart from my subject4 ,suppose we had clear before us1 with unwavering confidence in its reality1 the great promise which ,god has given us1 do you not think that its presence would purify our souls1 and give power and dignity to our lives8 ,the promise was a test1 says my text4 ,the word which it employs to designate the manner of testing or trying1 is one drawn from the smelting operations of the goldsmith1 by which1 heat being applied1 the mass is made fluid and the dross is run off1 and as the result of the trial1 there flows out gold refined by fire4 ',having these promises1 dearly beloved6 let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit4' ',every man who hath this hope in ,him purifieth himself1 even as ,he is pure4' ,the result of the great promise of eternal life and of the hope that it kindles is meant to be that it shall purge our spirits from meanness1 from sense1 from undue dependence upon the miserable trivialities of to-day1 that it shall emancipate us from slavery to the moment1 and lead us into the liberty of the eternities1 'while we look not at the things that are seen1 but at the things which are not seen4' ,oh6 if we would only see clearly and habitually before us--for we could if we would--what ,god's heart inclines ,him to do for us1 and what ,he certainly will do for us1 in the far-off future1 if we will only let ,him1 do you not think that these trifles that put us off our equanimity this morning would have been borne with a little more composure8 ,do you not think that the things that looked so huge when we were down abreast of them would1 by the laws of perspective1 diminish in their proportions as we rose steadily above them1 until all the hubbub in the valley was unheard on the mountain peak1 and the great trees that waved their giant branches below and shut out the sky from our eyes while we were among them would dwindle to a green smear on the plain1 and all the foes 'show scarce so gross as beetles1' from the height from which we look down upon them8 ,get up beside ,god's promise1 if you would take the true dimensions of cares and tasks1 and burdens and sorrows4 ,then1 brother6 you will learn the truth of the paradox1 'light 444 but for a moment'2 though often they all but crush the burden-bearing shoulder and seem to last through slow years4 ',the word of the ,lord tried him1' and because it tried him1 it purified him4 ,if we give credence1 as we ought to1 to that word1 it will purify us1 and it will test of what contexture our faith is4 ,the further away the object of any hope is1 the more noble the cherishing of it makes a life4 ,the trivial1 short-lived anticipations which do not look beyond the end of next week are far less operative in making strong and noble characters than are those1 of whatever kind they may be otherwise1 which look far ahead and need years for their realisation4 ,it is a blessing to have the mark far1 far away1 because that means that the arm that pulls the bow must draw more strongly1 and the eye that sees the goal must gaze more intently4 ,be thankful for the promise that cannot be fulfilled in this world because it lifts us above the low levels1 and already makes us feel as if we were endowed with immortality4 ,the word will test our patience1 and it will test our willingness1 though we be heirs of the kingdom1 to do humble tasks4 ,christian men in this world are sons of a ,king1 and look forward to a royal inheritance1 but in the meantime they have1 as it were1 to keep a little huckster's shop in a back alley4 ,but if we adequately realised the promise of our inheritance1 the meanness of our surroundings and the triviality of our occupations would not make us mean or trivial1 but our souls would be 'like stars' and 'dwell apart' while we travelled 'on life's common way in cheerful godliness1' and did small duties in such a manner as to make them great4 ,because ,joseph was sure that ,god's long-lingering word would be fulfilled1 he did not mind though he had to be the lackey of his brothers1 the ,midianites' chattel1 ,potiphar's slave1 ,pharaoh's prisoner1 and a servant of servants in his dungeon4 ,so with us1 the measure of our willing acceptance of our present tasks1 burdens1 humiliations1 and limitations is the measure of our firm faith in the promise that tarries4 ',if we hope for what we see not1 then do we with patience wait for it1' says the ,apostle1 though most of us would have said exactly the opposite4 ,we generally suppose that the more ardent the hope1 the more is it impatient of delay4 ,paul had learned better4 ,the more certain the assurance1 the better we can tolerate the procrastination of its fulfilment4 ,so1 brethren6 ,god's greatest gift to us1 like all ,his other gifts1 has in it the quality of testing us2 and we can come to a pretty fair approximation to an estimate of what sort of ,christian people we are1 by observing how we deal with ,god's promises of help according to our need here and of heaven hereafter4 ,how do we deal with them8 ,why1 a sadly large number of us never think about them at all2 and a large proportion of the others would a great deal rather stay working in the huckster's shop in the back alley1 than go home to the ,king4 ,i am quite sure that if the inmost sentiments of the bulk of professing ,christians about a future life were dragged into light1 these would be a revelation of a faith all honeycombed with insincerity4 ,god tests us1 and it is a sharp test if we submit ourselves to it2 ,he tests us by ,his promises4 ',child1 wilt thou believe8' is the first testing question put to us by these4 ',wilt thou keep them hid in thy heart8' is the next4 ',wilt thou go out towards them in desire8' is the next4 ',wilt thou live worthy of them8' is the last4 ',the word of the ,lord tried him4' ,so let us be thankful for the delays of love1 for the wide gap between promise and realisation4 ,it was for ,joseph's sake that the slow years were multiplied between the first gleam of his future and the full sunshine of his exaltation4 ,and it is for our sakes that ,god in like manner protracts the period of anticipation and non-fulfilment4 ',if the vision tarry1 wait for it4' ',jesus loved ,mary and ,martha and ,lazarus their brother' very dearly4 ',when ,he heard1 therefore1 that he was sick1 ,he abode still two days'--to give time for ,lazarus to die--'in the same place where ,he was4' ,ay1 and when each sister came to ,him with her most natural and yet most faithless ',lord6 if ,thou hadst been here my brother had not died1' ,he only said1 ',if thou wouldst believe thou shouldst see the glory of ,god4' ,was not ,lazarus dearer1 restored from the grave1 than he would have been1 raised from his sickbed8 ,is not the delaying of the blessing a means of increase of the blessing8 ,and shall not we be sure that however long ',he that shall come' may seem to tarry ere ,he comes1 when ,he has come they who have waited for ,his coming more than they that watch for the morning and have sometimes been ready to cry out3 ',hath the ,lord forgotten8 ,doth ,his promise fail for ever more8' will be ashamed of their impatient moments and will humbly and thankfully exclaim3 ',he came at the very right time and did not tarry4' ',until the time that his word came1 the word of the ,lord tried him1' and the coming of that word was all the more blessed for every heavy-laden hour of hope deferred1 which1 by ,god's grace1 did not make the heart sick1 but prepared it for fuller possession of the blessings enhanced by the delays of love4 ,,soldier ,,priests ',thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power1 in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning3 thou hast the dew of thy youth4'--,,psalm cx4 #c4 ,it is no part of my present purpose to establish the reference of this psalm to our ,lord4 ,we have ,christ's own authority for that4 ,it does not seem to be typical--that is to say1 it does not appear to have had a lower application to a king of ,israel who was a shadow of the true monarch1 but rather to refer only to the coming ,sovereign1 whom ,david was helped to discern1 indeed1 by his own regal office1 but whose office and character1 as here set forth1 far surpass anything belonging to him or to his dynasty4 ,the attributes of the ,king1 the union in ,his case of the royal and priestly dignities1 ,his seat at the right hand of ,god1 ,his acknowledged supremacy over the greatest ,jewish ruler1 who here calls him 'my ,lord1' ,his eternal dominion1 ,his conquest of many nations1 and ,his lifting up of ,his head in triumphant rule that knows no end--all these characteristics seem to forbid the possibility of a double reference1 and to demand the acknowledgment of a distinct and exclusive prophecy of ,christ4 ,taking that for granted without more words1 it strikes one as remarkable that this description of the subjects of the ,priest-,king should be thus imbedded in the very heart of the grand portraiture of the monarch ,himself4 ,it is the anticipation of the profound ,new ,testament thought of the unity of ,christ and ,his ,church4 ,by simple faith a union is brought about so close and intimate that all ,his is theirs1 and the picture of ,his glory is incomplete without the vision of 'the ,church1 which is ,his body1 the fulness of ,him that filleth all in all4' ,therefore1 between the word of ,god which elevates ,him to ,his right hand1 and the oath of ,god which consecrates ,him a priest for ever1 is this description of the army of the ,king4 ,the full force of the words will1 ,i hope1 appear as we advance4 ,for the present it will be enough to say that there are really in our text three co-ordinate clauses1 all descriptive of the subjects of the monarch1 regarded as a band of warriors--and that the main ideas are these3--the subjects are willing soldiers2 the soldiers are priests2 the priest-soldiers are as dew upon the earth4 ,or1 in other words1 we have here the very heart of the ,christian character set forth as being willing consecration2 then we have the work which ,christian men have to do1 and the spirit in which they are to do it1 expressed in that metaphor of their priestly attire2 and then we have their refreshing and quickening influence upon the world4 ,i4 ,the subjects of the ,priest-,king are willing soldiers4 ,in accordance with the warlike tone of the whole psalm1 our text describes the subjects as an army4 ,that military metaphor comes out more clearly when we attach the true meaning to the words1 'in the day of ,thy power4' ,the word rendered1 and rightly rendered1 'power1' has the same ambiguity which that word has in the ,english of the date of our translation1 and for a century later1 as you may find in ,shakespeare and ,milton1 who both used it in the sense of 'army4' ,singularly enough we do not employ 'powers' in that meaning1 but we do another word which means the same thing--and talk of 'forces1' meaning thereby 'troops4' ,by the way1 what a melancholy sign it is of the predominance of that infernal military spirit1 that it should have so leavened language1 that the 'forces' of a nation means its soldiers1 its embattled energies turned to the work of destruction4 ,but the phrase is so used here4 ',the day of ,thy power' is not a mere synonym for 'the time of ,thy might1' but means specifically 'the day of ,thine army1' that is1 'the day when ,thou dost muster ,thy forces and set them in array for the war4' ,the ,king is going forth to conquest4 ,but ,he goes not alone4 ,behind ,him come ,his faithful followers1 all pressing on with willing hearts and high courage4 ,then1 to begin with1 the warfare which ,he wages is one not confined to ,him4 ,alone ,he offers the sacrifice by which ,he atones2 but1 as we shall see1 we too are priests4 ,he rules1 and ,his servants rule with ,him4 ,but ere that time comes1 they are to be joined with ,him in the great warfare by which ,he wins the earth for ,himself4 ',as ,captain of the ,lord's host am ,i now come4' ,he wins no conquests for ,himself2 and now that ,he is exalted at ,god's right hand1 ,he wins none by ,himself4 ,we have to do ,his work1 we have to fight ,his battles as good soldiers of ,jesus ,christ4 ,by power derived from ,him1 but wielded by ourselves2 with courage inspired by ,him1 but filling our hearts2 not as though ,he needed us1 but inasmuch as ,he is pleased to use us1 we have to wage warfare for and to please ,him who hath chosen us to be soldiers4 ,the ,captain of our salvation sits at the right hand of ,god1 expecting till ,his enemies be made ,his footstool4 ,he has bidden us to keep the field and fight the fight4 ,from ,his height ,he watches the conflict--nay1 ,he is with us while we wage it4 ,so long as we strike for ,him1 so long is it ,his power that teaches our hands to war4 ,our ,king's flag is committed to our care2 but we are not left to defend it alone4 ,in indissoluble unity1 the ,king and the subjects1 the ,chief and ,his vassals1 the ,captain and ,his soldiers1 are knit together--and wheresoever ,his people are1 in all the danger and hardships of the long struggle1 there is ,he1 to keep their heads in the day of battle1 and make them more than conquerors4 ,then1 again1 that warfare is shared in by all the subjects4 ,it is a levy en masse--an armed nation4 ,the whole of the people are embodied for the battle4 ,it is not the work of a select few1 but of every one who calls ,christ ',lord1' to be ,his faithful servant and soldier4 ,whatever varieties of occupation may be set us by ,him1 one purpose is to be kept in view and one end to be effected by them all4 ,every ,christian man is bound to strive for the reduction of all human hearts under ,christ's dominion4 ,the tasks may be different1 but the result should be one4 ,some of us have to toil in the trenches1 some of us to guard the camp1 some to lead the assault1 some to stay by the stuff and keep the communications open4 ,be it so4 ,we are all soldiers1 and ,he alone has to determine our work4 ,we are responsible for the spirit of it1 ,he for its success4 ,again1 there are no mercenaries in these ranks1 no pressed men4 ,the soldiers are all volunteers4 ',thy people shall be willing4' ,pause for a moment upon that thought4 ,dear brethren6 there are two kinds of submission and service4 ,there is submission because you cannot help it1 and there is submission because you like it4 ,there is a sullen bowing down beneath the weight of a hand which you are too feeble to resist1 and there is a glad surrender to a love which it would be a pain not to obey4 ,some of us feel that we are shut in by immense and sovereign power which we cannot oppose4 ,and yet1 like some raging rebel in a dungeon1 or some fluttering bird in a cage1 we beat ourselves1 all bruised and bloody1 against the bars in vain attempts at liberty1 alternating with fits of cowed apathy as we slink into a corner of our cell4 ,some of us1 thank ,god6 feel that we are enclosed on every side by that mighty ,hand which none can resist1 and from which we would not stray if we could1 and we joyfully hide beneath its shelter1 and gladly obey when it points4 ,constrained obedience is no obedience4 ,unless there be the glad surrender of the will and heart1 there is no surrender at all4 ,god does not want compulsory submission4 ,he does not care to rule over people who are only crushed down by greater power4 ,he does not count that those serve who sullenly acquiesce because they dare not oppose4 ,christ seeks for no pressed men in ,his ranks4 ,whosoever does not enlist joyfully is not reckoned as ,his4 ,and the question comes to us1 brethren6--,what is my relation to that loving ,lord1 to that ,redeemer ,king8 ,do ,i submit because ,his love has won my heart1 and it would be a pang not to serve ,him2 or do ,i submit because ,i know ,him strong1 and am afraid to refuse8 ,if the former1 all is well2 ,he calls us 'not servants but friends4' ,if the latter1 all is wrong2 we are not subjects1 but enemies4 ,there is another idea involved in this description4 ,the soldiers are not only marked by glad obedience1 but that obedience rests upon the sacrifice of themselves4 ,the word here rendered 'willing' is employed throughout the ,levitical law for 'freewill offerings4' ,and if we may venture to bring that reference in here1 it carries us a step farther in this characterisation of the army4 ,this glad submission comes from self-consecration and surrender4 ,it is in that host as it was in the army whose heroic self-devotion was chaunted by ,deborah under her palm-tree1 ',the people willingly offered themselves4' ,hence came courage1 devotion1 victory4 ,with their lives in their hands they flung themselves on the foe1 and nothing could stand against the onset of men who recked not of themselves4 ,there is one grand thing even about the devilry of war--the transcendent self-abnegation with which1 however poor and unworthy may be the cause1 a man casts himself away1 'what time the foeman's line is broke4' ,the poorest1 vulgarest1 most animal natures rise for a moment into something like nobility1 as the surge of the strong emotion lifts them to that height of heroism4 ,life is then most glorious when it is given away for a great cause4 ,that sacrifice is the one noble and chivalrous element which gives interest to war--the one thing that can be disentangled from its hideous associations1 and can be transferred to higher regions of life4 ,that spirit of lofty consecration and utter self-forgetfulness must be ours1 if we would be ,christ's soldiers4 ,our obedience will then be glad when we feel the force of1 and yield to1 that gentle1 persuasive entreaty1 ',i beseech you1 brethren6 by the mercies of ,god1 that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice4' ,there is 'one ,sacrifice for sin for ever'--which never can be repeated1 nor exhausted1 nor copied4 ,and the loving1 faithful acceptance of that sacrifice of propitiation leads our hearts to the response of thank-offering1 the sacrifice and surrender of ourselves to ,him who has given ,himself not only to1 but for us4 ,it cannot be recompensed1 but it may be acknowledged4 ,let us give ourselves to ,christ1 for ,he has died for us4 ,let us give ourselves to ,christ1 for only in such surrender do we truly find ourselves4 ,let us give ourselves to ,christ1 for such a sacrifice makes all life fair and noble1 and that altar sanctifies the gift4 ,let us give ourselves to ,christ1 for without such sacrifice we have no place in the host whom ,he leads to victory4 ',thy people shall be willing offerings in the day of ,thy power4' ,still further1 another remarkable idea may be connected with this word4 ,by a natural transition1 of which illustrations may be found in other languages1 it comes to mean 'free1' and also 'noble4' ,as1 for instance1 it is used in the fifty-first ,psalm1 ',uphold me with ,thy free ,spirit'--and in the forty-seventh1 ',the princes of the people are gathered together4' ,and does not this shading of significations--willing sacrifices1 free1 princely--remind us of another distinctly evangelical principle1 that the willing service which rests upon glad consecration raises him who renders it to true freedom and dominion8 ,every man enlisted in ,his body-guard is noble4 ,the ,prince's servants are every other person's master4 ,the ,king's livery exempts from all other submission4 ,as in the old ,saxon monarchies1 the monarch's domestics were nobles1 the men of ,christ's household are ennobled by their service4 ,they who obey ,him are free from every yoke of bondage--'free indeed4' ,all things serve the soul that serves ,christ4 ',he hath made us kings unto ,god4' ,,ii4 ,the soldiers are priests4 ,that expression1 'in the beauties of holiness1' is usually read as if it belonged either to the words immediately preceding1 or to those immediately following4 ,but in either case the connection is somewhat difficult and obscure4 ,it seems better regarded as a distinct and separate clause1 adding a fresh trait to the description of the army1 and what that is we need not find any difficulty in ascertaining4 ',the beauties of holiness' is a frequent phrase for the sacerdotal garments1 the holy festal attire of the priests of the ,lord4 ,so considered1 how beautifully it comes in here6 ,the conquering ,king whom the psalm hymns is a ,priest for ever2 and ,he is followed by an army of priests4 ,the soldiers are gathered in the day of the muster1 with high courage and willing devotion1 ready to fling away their lives2 but they are clad not in mail1 but in priestly robes--like those who wait before the altar rather than like those who plunge into the fight--like those who compassed ,jericho with the ark for their standard1 and the trumpets for all their weapons4 ,we can scarcely fail to remember the words which echo these and interpret them3 ',the armies which were in heaven followed ,him on white horses1 clothed in fine linen1 white and clean'--a strange armour against sword-cut and spear-thrust4 ,the main purpose1 then1 of this part of our text seems to be to bring out the priestly character of the ,christian soldier--a thought which carries with it many important considerations1 on which ,i can barely touch4 ,mark1 then1 how the warfare which we have to wage is the same as the priestly service which we have to render4 ,the conflict is with our own sin and evil2 the sacrifice we have to offer is ourselves4 ,as soldiers1 we have to fight against our selfish desires and manifold imperfections2 as priests1 we have to lay our whole selves on ,his altar4 ,the task is the same under either emblem4 ,we have a conflict to wage in the world1 and in the world we have a priestly work to do1 and these are the same4 ,we have to be ,god's representatives in the world1 bringing ,him nearer to men's apprehensions and hearts by word and work4 ,we have to bring men to ,god by entreaty1 and by showing the path which leads to ,him4 ,that priestly service for men is in effect identical with the merciful warfare which we have to wage in the world4 ,the ,church militant is an army of priests4 ,its warfare is its sacerdotal function4 ,it fights for ,christ when it opposes the message of ,his grace and the power of ,his blood to its own and the world's sins--and when it intercedes in the secret place for the coming of ,his kingdom4 ,does not this metaphor teach us also1 what is to be our defence and our weapon in this warfare8 ,not with garments rolled in blood1 nor with brazen armour do they go forth1 who follow ,him that conquered by dying4 ,their uniform is the beauties of holiness1 'the fine linen clean and white1 which is the righteousness of saints4' ,many great thoughts lie in such words1 which ,i must pass over4 ,but this one thing is obvious--that the great power which we ,christian men are to wield in our loving warfare is--character4 ,purity of heart and life1 transparent simple goodness1 manifest in men's sight--these will arm us against dangers1 and these will bring our brethren glad captives to our ,lord4 ,we serve ,him best1 and advance ,his kingdom most1 when the habit of our souls is that righteousness with which ,he invests our nakedness4 ,be like your ,lord1 and as ,his soldiers you will conquer1 and as ,his priests you will win some to ,his love and fear4 ,nothing else will avail without that4 ,without that dress no man finds a place in the ranks4 ,the image suggests1 too1 the spirit in which our priestly warfare is to be waged4 ,the one metaphor brings with it thoughts of strenuous effort1 of discipline1 of sworn consecration to a cause4 ,the other brings with it thoughts of gentleness and sympathy and tenderness1 of still waiting at the shrine1 of communion with ,him who dwells between the ,cherubim4 ,whilst our work demands all the courage and tension of every power which the one image presents1 it is to be sedulously guarded from any tinge of wrath or heat of passion1 such as mingles with conflict1 and is to be prosecuted with all the pity and patience1 the brotherly meekness of a true priest4 ',the wrath of men worketh not the righteousness of ,god4' ,if we forget the one character in the other1 we shall bring weakness into our warfare1 and pollution into our sacrifice4 ',the servant of the ,lord must not strive4' ,we must not be animated by mere pugnacious desire to advance our principles1 nor let the heat of human eagerness give a false fervour to our words and work4 ,we cannot scold nor dragoon men to love ,jesus ,christ4 ,we cannot drive them into the fold with dogs and sticks4 ,we are to be gentle1 long-suffering1 not doing our work with passion and self-will1 but remembering that gentleness is mightiest1 and that we shall best 'adorn the doctrine of ,god our ,saviour' when we go among men with the light caught in the inner sanctuary still irradiating our faces1 and our hands full of blessings to bestow on our brethren4 ,we are to be soldier-priests1 strong and gentle1 like the ideal of those knights of old who were both1 and bore the cross on shield and helmet and sword-hilt4 ,he1 our ,lord1 is our pattern for both2 and from ,him we derive the strength for each4 ,he is the ,captain of our salvation1 and we fight beneath ,his banner1 and by ,his strength4 ,he is a merciful and faithful ,high ,priest1 and ,he consecrates ,his brethren to the service of the sanctuary4 ,to ,him look for your example of heroism1 of fortitude1 of self-forgetfulness4 ,to ,him look for your example of gentle patience and dewy pity4 ,learn in ,christ how possible it is to be strong and mild1 to blend in fullest harmony the perfection of all that is noble1 lofty1 generous in the soldier's ardour of heroic devotion2 and of all that is calm1 still1 compassionate1 tender in the priest's waiting before ,god and mediation among men4 ,and remember1 that by faith only do we gain the power of copying that blessed example1 to be like which is to be perfect--not to be like which is to fail wholly1 and to prove that we have no part in ,his sacrifice1 nor any share in ,his victory4 ,,iii4 ,the final point in this description must now engage us for a few moments4 ,the soldier-priests are as dew upon the earth4 ',from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth4' ,these words are often misunderstood1 and taken to be a description of the fresh1 youthful energy attributed by the psalm to the ,priest-,king of this nation of soldier-priests4 ,the misunderstanding1 ,i suppose1 has led to the common phrase1 ',the dew of one's youth4' ,but the reference of the expression is to the army1 not to its leader4 ',youth' here is a collective noun1 equivalent to 'young men4' ,the host of ,his soldier-subjects is described as a band of young warriors whom ,he leads1 in their fresh strength and countless numbers and gleaming beauty1 like the dew of the morning4 ,there are two points in this last clause which may occupy us for a few moments--that picture of the army as a band of youthful warriors2 and that lovely emblem of the dew as applied to ,christ's servants4 ,as to the former--there are many other words of ,scripture which carry the same thought1 that he who has fellowship with ,god1 and lives in the constant reception of the supernatural life and grace which come from ,jesus ,christ1 possesses the secret of perpetual youth4 ,the world ages us1 time and physical changes tell on us all1 and the strength which belongs to the life of nature ebbs away1 but the life eternal is subject to no laws of decay and owes nothing to the external world4 ,so we may be ever young in heart and spirit4 ,it is possible for a man to carry the freshness1 the buoyancy1 the elastic cheerfulness1 the joyful hope of his earliest days1 right on through the monotony of middle-aged maturity1 and even into old age1 unshadowed by the lonely reflection of the tombs which the setting sun casts over the path4 ,it is possible for us to get younger as we get older1 because we drink more full draughts of the fountain of life3 and so to have to say at the last1 ',thou hast kept the good wine until now4' ',even the youths shall faint and be weary1 and the young men shall utterly fall4 ,but they that wait upon the ,lord shall renew their strength4' ,if we live near ,christ1 and draw our life from ,him1 then we may blend the hopes of youth with the experience and memory of age2 be at once calm and joyous1 wise and strong1 preserving the blessedness of each stage of life into that which follows1 and thus at last possessing the sweetness and the good of all at once4 ,we may not only bear fruit in old age1 but have blossoms1 fruit1 and flowers--the varying product and adornment of every stage of life1 united in our characters4 ,then1 with regard to the other point in this final clause--that emblem of the dew leads to many considerations upon which ,i can but inadequately touch4 ,it comes into view here1 ,i suppose1 mainly for the sake of its effect upon the earth4 ,it is as a symbol of the refreshing which a weary world will receive from the conquests and presence of the ,king and ,his host1 that the latter are likened to the glittering morning dew4 ,another prophetic ,scripture gives us the same emblem when it speaks of ,israel being 'in the midst of many people as a dew from the ,lord4' ,such ought to be the effect of our presence4 ,we are meant to gladden1 to adorn1 to refresh1 this parched1 prosaic world1 with a freshness brought from the chambers of the sunrise4 ,it is worth while to notice how we may discern a sequence of thought in these successive features of description in our text4 ,it began with that inmost spirit and motive of the ,christian life1 the submission of will and consecration of self to ,christ4 ,it advanced to the function and character of ,his servants in the world4 ,and now it deals finally with the influence which they are to exert by this their soldier-like obedience and priestly ministration4 ,there is progress of thought1 too1 in another way4 ,we began with a symbol that had in it something almost harsh and stern4 ,we advanced to one in which there was a predominance of gentle and gracious thoughts and images4 ,and now all that was severe1 and all that reminded either of opposition or of effort1 has melted away into this sweet emblem4 ,instead of the 'confused noise' of the battle of the warrior1 we have the silence of the dawn1 and the noiseless falling of the dew amid the solitudes of the wildernesses1 or the recesses of the mountains4 ,so the highest thought of our ,christian influence1 is that it comes with silent footfall and refreshes men's souls1 like ,his1 who will come down as 'rain upon the mown grass1' who will not strive nor cry1 but in gentle omnipotence and meek persistence of love1 'will not fail nor be discouraged till ,he have set judgment in the earth4' ,remember other symbols by which the same general thought of ,christian influence upon the world is set forth with very remarkable variation4 ',ye are the light of the world4'--',ye are the salt of the earth4' ,the light guides and gladdens2 the salt preserves and purifies2 the dew freshens and fertilises2 the light1 conspicuous2 the salt1 working concealed2 and the dew1 visible like the former1 but yet unobtrusive and operating silently like the latter4 ,some of us had rather be light than salt2 prefer to be conspicuous rather than to diffuse a wholesome silent influence around us4 ,but these three types must all be blended1 both in regard to the manner of working1 and in regard to the effects produced4 ,we shall refresh and beautify the world only in proportion as we save it from its rottenness and corruption1 and we shall do either only in proportion as we bear abroad the name of ,christ1 in whom is 'life2 and the life is the light of men4' ,nor need we omit allusions to other associations connected with this figure4 ,the dew1 formed in the silence of the darkness while men sleep1 falling as willingly on a bit of dead wood as anywhere1 hanging its pearls on every poor spike of grass1 and dressing everything on which it lies with strange beauty1 each separate globule tiny and evanescent1 but each flashing back the light1 and each a perfect sphere1 feeble one by one1 but united1 mighty to make the pastures of the wilderness rejoice--so1 created in silence by an unseen influence1 weak when taken singly1 but strong in their myriads1 glad to occupy the lowliest place1 and each 'bright with something of celestial light1' ,christian men and women are to be in the midst of many people as a dew from the ,lord4 ,brethren6 that characteristic1 like all else which is good1 belongs to us in proportion as we keep near to ,christ ,jesus1 and are filled with ,his fulness4 ,all these emblems which have been occupying us now1 originally belonged to ,him1 and we receive from ,him the grace that makes us as ,he is in the world4 ,he ,himself is the ,warrior ,king1 the ,captain of the ,lord's host1 the true ,joshua1 whose last word ere ,his ,cross was a shout of victory1 ',i have overcome the world'--whose promises from the throne seven times crown the conqueror who overcomes as ,he overcame4 ,he makes us ,his soldiers and strengthens us for the war1 if we live by faith in ,him4 ,he ,himself is the ,priest--the only ,eternal ,priest of the world--who wears on ,his head the mitre and the diadem1 and bears in ,his hand the sceptre and the censer2 and ,he makes us priests1 if faith in ,his only sacrifice and all-prevalent intercession be in our souls4 ,he is the dew unto ,israel--and only by intercourse with ,him shall we be made gentle and refreshing1 silent blessings to all the weary and the parched souls in the wilderness of the world4 ,everything worth being or doing comes from ,jesus ,christ4 ,heroic courage2 then hold ,his hand1 and ,he will strengthen your heart4 ,glad surrender2 then think of ,his sacrifice for us until ours to ,him be our answering gift4 ,priestly power2 then let ,him bring us nigh by ,his blood1 that we too may be able to have compassion on the ignorant and to draw them to ,god4 ,dewy purity and freshness2 then open your hearts for the reception of ,his grace1 for all the invigoration that we can impart to the world is but the communication of that refreshing wherewith we ourselves are refreshed of ,christ4 ,in every aspect of our relations to the world1 we draw all our fitness for all our offices from that ,lord1 who is and gives everything that we can be or do4 ,then let us seek by humble faith and habitual contact with ,him and ,his truth1 to have our emptiness filled by ,his fulness1 and our unfitness made ready for all service by ,his all-sufficiency4 ,and let me close by reiterating what ,i have said already4 ,there is a twofold manner of subjection--the spurious and the real4 ,the involuntary is nought2 the glad and cheerful surrender alone is counted submission4 ,this psalm shows us ,christ surrounded by ,his friends who are glad to obey4 ,but it also shows us ,christ ruling in the midst of ,his enemies4 ,they cannot help obeying2 ,his dominion is established over them1 but they do not wish to have ,him to reign over them1 and therefore they are enemies--even though they be subjects4 ,which is it with you1 my brother8 ,do you serve because you love--and love because ,he died for you8 or do you serve because you must8 ,then1 remember1 constrained service is no service2 and subjects without loyalty are rebel traitors4 ,our psalm shows us ,christ gathering ,his army in array4 ,he is calling each of us to a place there1 in this day of ,his power1 and day of ,his grace4 ,take heed lest the day of ,his power should for you darken into that other day of which this psalm speaks--the day of ,his wrath1 when ,he strikes through kings1 and bruises the head over many countries4 ,put your trust in that ,saviour1 my friend6 cleave to that ,sacrifice1 then you will not be amongst those whom ,he treads down in ,his march to victory1 but one of that happy band of priestly warriors who follow ,him as ,he goes forth 'conquering and to conquer4' ,,god ,,and ,,the ,,godly ',his righteousness endureth for ever4'--,,psalms cxi4 #c2 cxii4 #c4 ,these two psalms are obviously intended as a pair4 ,they are identical in number of verses and in structure1 both being acrostic1 that is to say1 the first clause of each commences with the first letter of the ,hebrew alphabet1 the second clause with the second1 and so on4 ,the general idea that runs through them is the likeness of the godly man to ,god4 ,that resemblance comes very markedly to the surface at several points in the psalms1 and pervades them traceably even where it is less conspicuous4 ,the two corresponding clauses which ,i have read as my text are the first salient instances of it4 ,but ,i propose to deal not only with them1 but with a couple of others which occur in the course of the psalms1 and will appear as ,i proceed4 ,the general underlying thought is a noteworthy one4 ,the worshipper is to be like his ,god4 ,so it is in idolatry2 so it should be with us4 ,worship is1 or should be1 adoration of and yearning after the highest conceivable good4 ,such an attitude must necessarily lead to imitation1 and be crowned by resemblance4 ,love makes like1 and they who worship ,god are bound to1 and certainly will1 in proportion to the ardour and sincerity of their devotion1 grow like ,him whom they adore4 ,so ,i desire to look with you at the instances of this resemblance or parallelism which the ,psalmist emphasises4 ,i4 ,the first of them is that in the clauses which ,i have read as our starting-point1 viz4 ,god and the godly are alike in enduring righteousness4 ,that seems a bold thing to say1 especially when we remember how lofty and transcendent were the ,old ,testament conceptions of the righteousness of ,god4 ,but1 lofty as these were1 this ,psalmist lifts an unpresumptuous eye to the heavens1 and having said of ,him who dwells there1 ',his righteousness endureth for ever1' is not afraid to turn to the humble worshipper on this low earth1 and declare the same thing of him4 ,our finite1 frail1 feeble lives may be really conformed to the image of the heavenly4 ,the dewdrop with its little rainbow has a miniature of the great arch that spans the earth and rises into the high heavens4 ,and so1 though there are differences1 deep and impassable1 between anything that can be called creatural righteousness1 and that which bears the same name in the heavens1 the fact that it does bear the same name is a guarantee to us that there is an essential resemblance between the righteousness of ,god in its lustrous perfectness1 and the righteousness of ,his child in its imperfect effort4 ,but how can we venture to run any kind of parallelism between the eternity of the one and that of the other8 ,god's righteousness we can understand as enduring for ever1 because it is inseparable from ,his very being2 because it is manifested unbrokenly in all the works that for ever pour out from that central ,source1 and because it and its doings stand fast and unshaken amidst the passage of ages1 and the 'wreck of matter and the crash of worlds4' ,but may there not be1 if not an eternity1 yet a perpetuity1 in our reflection of the divine righteousness which shall serve to vindicate the application of the same mighty word to both8 ,is it not possible that1 unbroken amidst the stress of temptation1 and running on without interruptions1 there may be in our hearts and in our lives conformity to the divine will8 ,and is it not possible that the transiencies of our earthly doings may be sublimed into perpetuity if there is in them the preserving salt of righteousness8 ',the actions of the just ,smell sweet1 and blossom in the dust4' ,and may it not be1 too1 that though this ,psalmist may have had no clear articulate doctrine of eternal life beyond1 he may have felt1 and rightly felt1 that there were things that were too fair to die1 and that it was inconceivable that a soul which had been1 in some measure1 tinged with the righteousness of ,god could ever be altogether a prey to the law of transiency and decay which seizes upon things material and corporeal8 ,that which is righteous is eternal1 be it manifested in the acts of the unchanging ,god or in the acts of a dying man1 and when all else has passed away1 and the elements have melted with fervent heat1 'he that doeth the will of ,god1' and the deeds which did it1 'shall abide for ever4' ',his righteousness endureth for ever4' ,now1 brethren6 there are two ways in which we may look at this parallelism of our text3 the one is as containing a stringent requirement2 the other as holding forth a mighty hope4 ,it contains a stringent requirement4 ,our religion does not consist in assenting to any creed4 ,our religion is not wholly to consist of devout emotions and loving and joyous acts of communion and friendship with ,god4 ,there must be more than these2 these things there must be4 ,for if a man is to be guided mainly by reason1 there must1 first of all1 be creed2 then there must be corresponding emotions4 ,but creed and emotions are both meant to be forces which shall drive the wheels of life1 and conduct is1 after all1 the crown of religion and the test of godliness4 ,they that hold communion with ,god are bound to mould their lives into the likeness of ,his4 ',little children1 let no man deceive you1' and let not your own hearts deceive you4 ,you are not a ,christian because you believe the truths of the ,gospel4 ,you are not such a ,christian as you ought to be1 if your religion is more manifest in loving trust than in practical obedience which comes from trust4 ',he that doeth righteousness is righteous1' and he is to be righteous 'even as ,he is righteous4' ,if you are ,god's1 you will be like ,god4 ,apply the touchstone to your lives1 and test your ,christianity by this simple and most stringent test4 ,but again1 we may look at the thought as holding forth a great hope4 ,i do not wish to force upon ,old ,testament writers ,new ,testament truth4 ,it would be an anachronism and an absurdity to make this ,psalmist responsible for anything like a clear evangelistic statement of the way by which a man may be made righteous4 ,that waited for coming days1 and eminently for ,jesus ,christ4 ,but it would be quite as great a mistake to eviscerate the words of their plain implications4 ,and when they put side by side the light and the reflection1 ,god and the godly1 it seems to me to be doing violence to their meaning for the sake of trying to make them mean less than they do1 if we refuse to recognise that they have at any rate an inkling of the thought that the ,original and ,pattern of human righteousness was likewise the ,source of it4 ,this at least is plain1 that the ,psalmist thought that 'the fear of the ,lord' was not only1 as he calls it at the close of the former of the two psalms1 'the beginning of wisdom1' but also the basis of goodness1 for he begins his description of the godly with it4 ,i believe that he felt1 what is assuredly true1 that no man1 by his own unaided effort1 can ever work out for himself a righteousness which will satisfy his own conscience1 and that he must1 first of all1 be in touch with ,god1 in order to receive from ,him that which he cannot create4 ,ah1 brethren6 the 'fine linen1 clean and white1 which is the righteousness of saints1' is woven in no earthly looms2 and the lustrous light with which it glistens is such as 'no fuller on earth can white' men's characters into4 ,another ,psalmist has sung of the man who can stand in the holy place1 ',he shall receive the blessing from the ,lord1 even righteousness from the ,god of his salvation1' and our psalms hint1 if they do not articulately declare1 how that reception is possible for us1 when they set forth waiting upon ,god as the condition of being made like ,him4 ,we translate the ,psalmist's feeling after the higher truth which we know1 when we desire 'that we may be found in ,him1 not having our own righteousness which is of the law1 but that which is of ,god by faith4' ,so much1 then1 for the first point of correspondence in these two psalms4 ,,ii4 ,god and the godly are alike in gracious compassion4 ,if you will turn to the two psalms for a moment1 and look at the last clauses of the two fourth verses1 you will see how that thought is brought out4 ,in the former psalm we read1 ',the ,lord is gracious and full of compassion'3 in the latter we find1 'he' 7the upright man7 'is gracious and full of compassion1 and righteous4' ,i need not trouble you with any remarks about certain difficulties that lie in the rendering of that latter verse4 ,suffice it to say that they are such as to make more emphatic the intentional resemblance between the godly as there described1 and ,god as described in the previous one4 ,of both it is said 'gracious and full of compassion4' ,now that great truth of which ,i have been speaking1 the divine righteousness1 is like white ,alpine snow1 sublime1 but cold1 awful and repellent1 when taken by itself4 ,our hearts need something more than a righteous ,god if we are ever to worship and draw near4 ,just as the white snow on the high peak needs to be flushed with the roseate hue of the morning before it can become tender1 and create longings1 so the righteousness of the great white ,throne has to be tinged with the ruddy heart-hue of gracious compassion if men are to be moved to adore and to love4 ,each enhances the other4 ',what ,god hath joined together1' in ,himself1 'let not man put asunder'2 nor talk about the stern ,deity of the ,old ,testament1 and pit ,him against the compassionate ,father of the ,new4 ,he is righteous1 but the proclaimers of ,his righteousness in old days never forgot to blend with the righteousness the mercy2 and the combination heightens the lustre of both attributes4 ,the same combination is absolutely needful in the copy1 as is emphatically set forth in our text by the addition of 'and righteous1' in the case of the man4 ,for whilst with ,god the tyro attributes do lie1 side by side1 in perfect harmony1 in us men there is always danger that the one shall trench upon the territory of the other1 and that he who has cultivated the habit of looking upon sorrows and sins with compassion and tenderness shall somewhat lose the power of looking at them with righteousness4 ,so our text1 in regard to man1 proclaims more emphatically than it needs to do in regard to the perfect ,god1 that ever his highest beauty of compassion must be wedded to righteousness1 and ever his truest strength of righteousness must be softened with compassion4 ,but beyond that1 note how1 wherever there is the loving and childlike contemplation of ,god1 there will be an analogy in our compassion1 to ,his perfectness4 ,we are transformed by beholding4 ,the sun strikes a poor little pane of glass in a cottage miles away1 and it flashes with some likeness of the sun and casts a light across the plain4 ,the man whose face is turned ,godwards will have beauty pass into his face1 and all that look upon him will see 'as it had been the countenance of an angel4' ,if we have1 in any real and deep measure1 received mercy we shall reflect mercy4 ,remember the parable of the unmerciful debtor4 ,the servant that cast himself at his lord's feet1 and got the acquittal of his debt1 and went out and gripped his fellow-servant by the throat1 leaving the marks of his fingernails on his windpipe1 with his ',pay me that thou owest6' had all the pardon cancelled1 and all the debt laid upon his shoulders again4 ,if we owe all our hope and peace to a forgiving ,god1 how can we make anything else the law of our lives than that1 having received mercy1 we should show mercy8 ,the test of your being a forgiven man is your forgivingness4 ,there is no getting away from that plain principle1 which modifies the declaration of the freedom of ,god's full pardon4 ,but ,i would have you notice1 further1 as a very remarkable illustration of this correspondence between the gracious and compassionate ,lord and ,his servant1 that in the verses which follow respectively the two about which ,i am now speaking1 the same idea is wrought out in another shape4 ,in the psalm dealing with the divine character and works we read1 immediately after the declaration that ,he is 'gracious and full of compassion1' this--',he hath given meat to them that fear ,him'2 and the corresponding clause in the second of our psalms is followed by this--to translate accurately--',it is well with the man who showeth favour and lendeth4' ,so man's open-handedness in regard to money is put down side by side with ,god's open-handedness in regard to giving meat unto them that fear ,him4 ,and again1 in the ninth verse of each psalm1 we have the same thought set forth in another fashion4 ',he sent redemption unto ,his people1' says the one2 ',he hath dispersed1 ,he hath given to the poor1' says the other4 ,that is to say1 our paltry giving may be paralleled with the unspeakable gifts which ,god has bestowed1 if they come from a love which is like ,his4 ,it does not matter though they are so small and ,his are so great2 there is a resemblance4 ,the tiniest crystal may be like the hugest4 ,god gives to us the possession of things in order that we may enjoy the luxury1 which is one of the elements in the blessedness of the blessed ,god1 who is blessed because ,he is the giving ,god1 the luxury of giving4 ,poor though our bestowments must be1 they are not unlike ,his4 ,the little burn amongst the heather carves its tiny bed1 and impels its baby ripples by the same laws which roll the waters of the ,amazon1 and every fall that it makes over a shelf of rock a foot high is a miniature ,niagara4 ,,iii4 ,so1 lastly1 we have still another point1 not so much of resemblance as of correspondence1 in the firmness of ,god's utterances and of the godly heart4 ,in the first of our two psalms we read1 in the seventh verse1 ',all ,his commandments are sure4' ,in the second we read1 in the corresponding verse1 'his heart is fixed1 trusting in the ,lord4' ,the former psalm goes on1 ',his commandments stand fast for ever and ever2 and the next psalm1 in the corresponding verse1 says 'his heart is established1' the original employing the same word in both cases1 which in our version is rendered1 in the one place1 'stand fast1' and in the other 'established4' ,so that the ,psalmist is thinking of a correspondence between the stability of ,god's utterances and the stability of the heart that clasps them in faith4 ,his commandments are not only precepts which enjoin duty4 ,all which ,god says is law1 whether it be directly in the nature of guiding precept1 or whether it be in the nature of revealing truth1 or whether it be in the nature of promise4 ,it is sure1 reliable1 utterly trustworthy4 ,we may be certain that it will direct us aright1 that it will reveal to us absolute truth1 that it will hold forth no flattering and false promises4 ,and it is 'established4' ,the one fixed point amidst the whirl of things is the uttered will of ,god4 ,therefore1 the heart that builds there builds safely4 ,and there should be a correspondence1 whether there is or no1 between the faithfulness of the ,speaker and the faith of the hearer4 ,a man who is doubtful about the solidity of the parapet which keeps him from toppling over into the abyss will lean gingerly upon it1 until he has found out that it is firm4 ,the man that knows how strong is the stay on which he rests ought to lean hard upon it4 ,lean hard upon ,god1 put all your weight upon ,him4 ,you cannot put too much1 you cannot lean too hard4 ,the harder the better2 the better ,he is pleased1 and the more ,he breathes support and strength into us4 ,and1 brethren6 if thus we build an established faith on that sure foundation1 and match the unchangeableness of ,god in ,christ with the constancy of our faith in ,him1 then1 ',he that believeth shall never make haste1' and as my psalm says1 ',he shall not be afraid of evil tidings2 his heart is fixed1 trusting in the ,lord4' ,the upshot of the whole matter is--we cannot work out for ourselves a righteousness that will satisfy our own consciences1 nor secure for ourselves a strength that will give peace to our hearts1 and stability to our lives1 by any other means than by cleaving fast to ,god revealed in ,jesus ,christ4 ,we have borne the image of the earthly long enough2 let us open our hearts to ,god in ,christ4 ,let us yield ourselves to ,him2 let us gaze upon ,him with fixed eyes of love1 and labour to make our own what ,he bestows upon us4 ,thus living near ,him1 we shall be bathed in ,his light1 and show forth something of ,his beauty4 ,godliness is ,god-likeness4 ,it is of no use to say that we are ,god's children if we have none of the family likeness4 ',if ye were ,abraham's sons ye would do the works of ,abraham1' said ,christ to the ,jews4 ,if we are ,god's sons we shall do the works of ,god4 ',be ye therefore perfect1 as your ,father in heaven is perfect2' be ye merciful as your ,father is merciful4 ,and if thus we here1 dwelling with ,christ1 are being conformed to the image of ,his ,son1 we shall one day 'be satisfied' when we 'awake in ,his likeness4' ,,experience1 ,,resolve1 ,,and ,,hope ',thou hast delivered my soul from death1 mine eyes from tears1 and my feet from falling4 #i4 ,i will walk before the ,lord in the land of the living4'--,,psalm cxvi4 #h1 #i4 ,this is a quotation from an earlier psalm1 with variations which are interesting1 whether we suppose that the ,psalmist was quoting from memory and made them unconsciously1 or whether1 as is more probable1 he did so1 deliberately and for a purpose4 ,the variations are these4 ,the words in the original psalm 7lvi47 according to the ,revised ,version1 read1 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death2 hast ,thou not delivered my feet from falling8' ,the writer of this psalm felt that that did not say all1 so he put in another clause3 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death1 mine eyes from tears1 and my feet from falling4' ,it is not enough to keep a man alive and upright4 ,god will wipe away his tears2 and will often keep him from shedding them4 ,then the original psalm goes on3 ',thou hast delivered 444 my feet from falling1 that ,i may walk before ,god1' but the later ,psalmist goes a step further than his original4 ,the first singer had seen what it is always a blessing to see--what ,god meant by all the varieties of ,his providences1 viz4 that the recipient might walk as in ,his presence2 but the later poet not only discerns1 but accords with1 ,god's purpose1 yields himself to the divine intention1 and instead of simply saying ',that was what ,god meant1' he says1 ',that is what ,i am going to do--,i will walk before the ,lord4' ,there is still another variation which1 however1 does not alter the sense4 ,the original psalm says1 'in the light of the living'2 the other uses another word1 a little more intelligible1 perhaps1 to an ordinary reader1 and says1 'in the land of the living4' ,now1 noting these significant variations1 ,i would draw attention to this expression of the ,psalmist's acceptance of the divine purpose1 and the vision that it gave him of his future4 ,it is hard to say whether he means ',i will walk' or ',i shall walk'2 whether he is expressing a hope or giving utterance to a fixed resolve4 ,i think there is an element of both in the words4 ,at all events1 ,i find in them three things3 a sure anticipation1 a firm resolve1 and a far-reaching hope4 ,i4 ,a sure anticipation4 ',thou hast'--',i will4' ,the past is for this ,psalmist a mirror in which he sees reflected the approaching form of the veiled future4 ,god's past is the guarantee of ,god's future4 ,godless people1 who get wearied of the monotony of life1 begin to say before they have gone far in it1 ',oh6 there is nothing new4 ,that which is to be hath already been4 ,it is just one continual repetition of the same sort of thing4' ,but that is only partially true4 ,there is only one man in the world who can truly and certainly say1 ',to-morrow shall be as this day1 and much more abundant'2 and that is the man who says2 ',he delivered my soul from death1 mine eyes from tears1 and my feet from falling4' ,for the continuance of things here is not guaranteed to us by the fact that they have lasted for so long4 ,why1 nobody knows whether the sun will rise to-morrow or not--whether there will be a to-morrow or not4 ,there will come one day when the sun sets for the last time4 ,what people call the 'uniformity of nature' affords no ground on which to build certainty as to the future4 ,we all do it1 but we have no right to do it4 ,but when we bring ,god into the future1 that makes all the difference4 ,his past is the guarantee and the revelation of ,his future1 and every person that grasps ,him in faith has the right to pray with assurance1 ',thou hast been my ,helper2 leave me not1 neither forsake me1' and to declare triumphantly1 ',the ,lord will perfect that which concerneth me4' ,so1 brethren6 all the past1 as it is recorded for us in ,scripture1 lives and throbs with faithful promises for us to-day4 ,though the methods of the manifestation may alter1 the essence of it remains the same4 ,as one of the ,apostles says1 ',whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our advantage1 that we1 through the encouragement ministered by the ,scriptures1 might have hope'2 and looking forward into all the future1 might discern its wastes unknown1 all lighted up by the one glad certainty that ,he that is 'the same yesterday and to-day and for ever' will be there1 and we shall be beside ,him4 ,what ,god has done1 ,he will keep on doing4 ',the ,lord hath delivered mine eyes from tears1 and my feet from falling1' and therefore ',i shall walk before the ,lord in the land of the living4' ,our experience yields fuel for our faith4 ,we have been near death many a time2 we have never fallen into it4 ,our eyes have been wet many a time2 ,god has dried them4 ,our feet have been ready to fall many a time1 and if at the moment when we were tottering on the edge of the precipice1 we have cried to ,him and said1 ',my feet have well-nigh slipped1' a strong ,hand has been held out to us4 ',the ,lord upholdeth them that are in the act of falling1' as the old psalm1 rightly rendered1 has it1 and if we have pushed aside ,his hand1 and gone down1 then the next clause of the same verse applies1 for ,he 'raiseth up those that have fallen1' and are lying prostrate4 ,as it has been1 so it will be4 ',thou hast been with me in six troubles1' therefore 'in the seventh ,thou wilt not forsake me4' ,we can wear out men2 and we cannot argue that because a man has had long patience with some unworthy recipient of his goodness1 his patience will never give out4 ,but it is safe to argue thus about ,god4 ',i say not unto thee1 until seven times1 but until seventy times seven'--the two perfect numbers multiplied into each other1 and the product again multiplied by one of them1 to give the measureless measure of the exhaustless divine love1 and the sure guarantee that to ,his servant 'to-morrow shall be as this day1 and much more abundant4' ,then1 again1 if we put a little different meaning into the ,psalmist's words 7and as ,i said1 ,i think both meanings lie in them71 they suggest that he did not look forward into the future only with expectation1 but that along with expectation there was resolve4 ,so we have here ,,ii4 ,a firm resolve4 ',i will walk before the ,lord4' ,what does 'walking before the ,lord' mean8 ,there are two or three expressions very like each other1 yet entirely different from each other1 in the ,old and in the ,new ,testament1 about this matter4 ,we read of 'walking with ,god1' and of 'walking before ,god1' and of 'walking after ,god4' ,and whilst there is much that is common to all the expressions1 they look at the same idea from different angles4 ',walking with ,god1' communion1 fellowship1 and companionship are implied there4 ',walking after ,god1' guidance1 direction1 and example1 and our poor imitation and obedience1 are most conspicuous there4 ,and 'walking before ,god' means1 ,i suppose1 mainly1 feeling always that we are in ,his presence1 and have the light of ,his face1 and the glance of ,his all-seeing eye1 falling upon us4 ',if ,i take the wings of the morning1 and fly into the uttermost parts of the sea1 ,thou art there4' ',thou art acquainted with all my ways1 search me1 ,o ,god6' ,that is walking before ,god4 ,to put it into colder words1 it means the habitual--,i do not say unbroken1 but habitual--effort to feel in our conscious hearts that we are in ,his sight2 not only that we are with ,him1 but that we are 'naked and open to the eyes of ,him with whom we have to do4' ,and that is to be the result1 says our psalm1 as it is the intention1 of all that ,god has been doing with us in ,his merciful providence1 in ,his quickening1 sustaining1 and comforting influences in the past4 ,he sent all these varying conditions1 kept the psalmist alive1 kept him from weeping1 or dried his tears1 kept him from falling1 with the intention that he should be continually blessed in the continuous sunshine of ,god's presence1 and should open out his heart in it and for it1 like a flower when the sunbeams strike it4 ,oh6 how different life would look if we habitually took hold of all its incidents by that handle1 and thought about them1 not as we are accustomed to do1 according to whether they tended to make us glad or sorry1 to disappoint or fulfil our hopes and purposes1 but looked upon them all as stages in our education1 and as intended1 if ,i might so say1 to force us1 when the tempests blow1 close up against ,god2 and when the sunshine came1 to woo us to ,his side4 ,would not all life change its aspect if we carried that thought right into it1 and did not only keep it for ,sundays1 or for the crises of our lives1 but looked at all the trifles as so many magnets brought into action by ,him to attract us to ,himself8 ,dear brother1 it is not enough to recognise ,god's purpose1 we must fall in with it1 accept the intention1 and co-operate with ,god in fulfilling it4 ,it is a matter of purity and of piety1 to say1 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death1 that ,i may walk before ,thee4' ,but there has to be something more4 ,there have to be a firm resolve1 and effort without which the firmest resolve will all come to nothing1 and be one more paving-stone for the road that is 'paved with good intentions4' ,that firm resolve finds utterance in the not vain vow1 ',i will'--in spite of all opposition and difficulties--',i will walk before the ,lord1' and keep ever bright in my mind the thought1 ',thou ,god seest me4' ,ay6 and just in the measure in which we do so shall we have joy4 ,in some of those inhuman prisons where they go in for solitary confinement1 there is a little hole somewhere in the wall--the prisoner does not know where--at which at any moment in the four-and-twenty hours the eye of the gaoler may be1 and they say that the thought of that unseen eye1 glaring in upon the felons1 drives some of them half mad4 ,the thought that poor ,hagar found to be her only comfort in the wilderness--and so christened the well after it--',thou ,god seest me1' must be the source of our purest joy2 or it must be a ghastly dread4 ,when ,he comes at last1 some men will lift up their faces to the sunshine and have their faces irradiated by the light2 and some will call on the rocks and the hills to cover them from ,his face1 and prefer rather to be crushed than to be blasted by the brightness of ,his countenance4 ,if we are right with ,god1 then the gladdest of thoughts is1 ',thou knowest me altogether1 and ,thou hast beset me behind and before4' ,if we are right with ,god1 ',thou hast laid ,thine hand upon me' will mean for us support and blessing4 ,if we are wrong1 it will mean a weight that crushes to the earth4 ,and if we are right with ,him1 that same thought brings with it security and companionship4 ,ah6 we do not need ever to say ',i am alone' if we are walking before ,god4 ,it brings with it1 of course1 an armour against temptation4 ,what mean1 lustful1 worldly seduction has any power when a man falls back on the thought1 ',god sees me1 and ,god is with me'8 ,do you remember the very first instance in ,scripture of the use of this phrase8 ,the ,lord said unto ,abraham1 ',walk before ,me1 and be thou perfect4' ,that was not only a commandment1 but it was a promise1 and we might as truly1 for the sense of the passage1 read1 ',walk before ,me1 and thou shalt be perfect4' ,that thought of the present ,god draws the teeth of all raging lions1 and takes the stings out of all serpents1 and paralyses and reduces to absolute nothingness every temptation4 ,clasp ,god's hand1 and you will not fall4 ,,iii4 ,there is lastly here1 a far-reaching hope4 ,i do not know whether the ,psalmist had any notion of any land of the living except the land of ,earth1 where men pass their natural lives4 ,i almost think that both he and his brother1 whose words he was imitating1 had some glimpse of a future life of closer union1 when eyes should no more weep nor feet fall4 ,at any rate1 you and ,i cannot help reading that hope into his words4 ,when we read1 ',i will walk before the ,lord in the land of the living1' we cannot but think of the true and perfect deliverance1 when it shall be said1 with a depth and a fulness of meaning with which it is never said here1 ',thou hast delivered my soul from death1' and the black dread that towered so high1 and closed the vista of all human expectation of the future1 is now away back in the past1 hull-down on the horizon as they say about ships scarcely visible1 and no more to be feared4 ,we cannot but think of the perfect deliverance of 'mine eyes from tears1' when ',god shall wipe away the tears from off all faces1 and the rebuke of ,his people from off all the earth4' ,we cannot but think of the perfect deliverance of 'my feet from falling' when the redeemed of the ,lord shall stand firm1 and walk at liberty on the golden pavements1 and no more dread the stumbling-blocks of earth4 ,we cannot but think of the perfect presence of ,god1 the perfect consciousness that we are near ,him1 when ,he shall 'present us faultless before the presence of ,his glory with exceeding joy4' ,we cannot but think of the perfect activity of that future state when we 'shall walk with ,him in white1' and 'follow the ,lamb whithersoever ,he goeth4' ,and one guarantee for all that far-reaching hope is in the tiny experiences of the present2 for ,he who hath delivered our souls from death1 our eyes from tears1 and our feet from falling1 is not going to expose ,himself to the scoff1 ',this ,god began to build1 and was not able to finish4' ,but ,he will complete that which ,he has begun1 and will not stay ,his hand until all ,his children are perfectly redeemed and perfectly conscious of ,his perfect ,presence4 ,,requiting ,,god ',what shall ,i render unto the ,lord for all ,his benefits toward me8 #ac4 ,i will take the cup of salvation1 and call upon the name of the ,lord4'--,,psalm cxvi4 #ab1 #ac4 ,there may possibly be a reference here to a part of the ,passover ritual4 ,it seems to have become the custom in later times to lift high the wine cup at that feast and drink it with solemn invocation and glad thanksgiving4 ,so we find our ,lord taking the cup--the 'cup of blessing' as ,paul calls it--and giving thanks4 ,but as there is no record of the introduction of that addition to the original ,paschal celebration1 we do not know but that it was later than the date of this psalm4 ,nor is there any need to suppose such an allusion in order either to explain or to give picturesque force to the words4 ,it is a most natural thing1 as all languages show1 to talk of a man's lot1 either of sorrow or joy1 as the cup which he has to drink2 and there are numerous instances of the metaphor in the ,psalms1 such as ',thou art the ,portion of mine inheritance and of my cup1 ,thou maintainest my lot4' ',my cup runneth over4' ,that familiar emblem is all that is wanted here4 ,then one other point in reference to the mere words of the text may be noticed4 ',salvation' can scarcely be taken in its highest meaning here1 both because the whole tone of the psalm fixes its reference to lower blessings1 and because it is in the plural in the ,hebrew4 ',the cup of salvation' expresses1 by that plural form1 the fulness and variety of the manifold and multiform deliverances which ,god had wrought and was working for the ,psalmist4 ,his whole lot in life appears to him as a cup full of tender goodness1 loving faithfulness1 delivering grace4 ,it runs over with divine acts of help and sustenance4 ,as his grateful heart thinks of all ,god's benefits to him1 he feels at once the impulse to requite and the impossibility of doing so4 ,with a kind of glad despair he asks the question that ever springs to thankful lips1 and having nothing to give1 recognises the only possible return to ,god to be the acceptance of the brimming chalice which ,his goodness commends to his thirst4 ,the great thought1 then1 which lies here is that we best requite ,god by thankfully taking what ,he gives4 ,now ,i note to begin with--how deep that thought goes into the heart of ,god4 ,why is it that we honour ,god most by taking1 not by giving8 ,the first answer that occurs to you1 no doubt1 is--because of ,his all-sufficiency and our emptiness4 ,man receives all4 ,god needs nothing4 ,we have all to say1 after all our service1 ',of ,thine own have we given ,thee4' ,no doubt that is quite true2 and rightly understood that is a strengthening and a glad truth4 ,but is that all which can be said in explanation of this principle8 ,surely not4 ',if ,i were hungry ,i would not tell thee2 for the world is mine and the fulness thereof1' is a grand word1 but it does not give all the truth4 ,when ,paul stood on ,mars ,hill1 and1 within sight of the fair images of the ,parthenon1 shattered the intellectual basis of idolatry1 by proclaiming a ,god 'not worshipped with men's hands as though ,he needed anything1 seeing ,he giveth to all men all things1' that truth1 mighty as it is1 is not all4 ,we requite ,god by taking rather than by giving1 not merely because ,he needs nothing1 and we have nothing which is not ,his4 ,if that were all1 it might be as true of an almighty tyrant1 and might be so used as to forbid all worship before the gloomy presence1 to give reverence and love to whom were as impertinent as the grossest offerings of savage idolaters4 ,but the motive of ,his giving to us is the deepest reason why our best recompense to ,him is our thankful reception of ,his mercies4 ,the principle of our text reposes at last on ',god is love and wishes our hearts1' and not merely on ',god has all and does not need our gifts4' ,take the illustration from our own love and gifts4 ,do we not feel that all the beauty and bloom of a gift is gone if the giver hopes to receive as much again8 ,do we not feel that it is all gone if the receiver thinks of repaying it in any coin but that of the heart8 ,love gives because it delights in giving4 ,it gives that it may express itself and may bless the recipient4 ,if there be any thought of return it is only the return of love4 ,and that is how ,god gives4 ,as ,james puts it1 ,he is 'the giving ,god1--who gives1' not as our version inadequately renders1 'liberally1' but 'simply'--that is1 ,i suppose1 with a single eye1 without any ulterior view to personal advantage1 from the impulse of love alone1 and having no end but our good4 ,therefore it is1 because of that pure1 perfect love1 that ,he delights in no recompense1 but only in the payment of a heart won to ,his love and melted by ,his mercies4 ,therefore it is that ,his hand is outstretched1 'hoping for nothing again4' ,his ,almighty all-sufficiency needs nought from us1 and to all heathen notions of worship and tribute puts the question3 ',do ye requite the ,lord1 ,o foolish people and unwise8' ,but ,his deep heart of love desires and delights in the echo of its own tones that is evoked among the rocky hardnesses of our hearts1 and is glad when we take the full cup of ,his blessings and1 as we raise it to our lips1 call on the name of the ,lord4 ,is not that a great and a gracious thought of our ,god and of ,his great purpose in ,his mercies8 ,but now let us look for a moment at the elements which make up this requital of ,god in which ,he delights4 ,and1 first ,i put a very simple and obvious one1 let us be sure that we recognise the real contents of our cup4 ,it is a cup of salvations1 however hard it is sometimes to believe it4 ,of how much blessing and happiness we all rob ourselves by our slowness to feel that6 ,some of us by reason of natural temperament2 some of us by reason of the pressure of anxieties1 and the aching of sorrows1 and the bleeding of wounds2 some of us by reason of mere blindness to the true character of our present1 have little joyous sense of the real brightness of our days4 ,it seems as if joys must have passed and be seen in the transfiguring light of memory1 before we can discern their fairness2 and then1 when their place is empty1 we know that we were entertaining angels unawares4 ,many men and women live in the gloom of a lifelong regret for the loss of some gift which1 when they had it1 seemed nothing very extraordinary1 and could not keep them from annoyance with trifles4 ,common sense and reasonable regard for our own happiness and religious duty unite1 as they always do1 in bidding us take care that we know our blessings4 ,do not let custom blind you to them4 ,do not let tears so fill your eyes that you cannot see the goodness of the ,lord4 ,do not let thunderclouds1 however heavy their lurid piles1 shut out from you the blue that is in your sky4 ,do not let the empty cup be your first teacher of the blessings you had when it was full4 ,do not let a hard place here and there in the bed destroy your rest4 ,seek1 as a plain duty1 to cultivate a buoyant1 joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of ,god in your daily life4 ,take full account of all the pains1 all the bitter ingredients1 remembering that for us weak and sinful men the bitter is needful4 ,if still the cup seem charged with distasteful draught1 remember whose lip has touched its rim1 leaving its sacred kiss there1 and whose hand holds it out to you while ,he says1 ',do this in remembrance of ,me4' ,the cup which my ,saviour giveth me1 can it be anything but a cup of salvations8 ,then1 again1 another of the elements of this requital of ,god is--be sure that you take what ,god gives4 ,there can be no greater slight and dishonour to a giver than to have his gifts neglected4 ,you give something that has1 perhaps1 cost you much1 or which at any rate has your heart in it1 to your child1 or other dear one2 would it not wound you if a day or two after you found it tossing about among a heap of unregarded trifles8 ,suppose that some of those ,rajahs who received presents on a royal visit to ,india had gone out from the durbar and flung them into the kennel1 that would have been insult and disaffection1 would it not8 ,but these illustrations are trivial by the side of our treatment of the 'giving ,god4' ,surely of all the follies and crimes of our foolish and criminal race1 there is none to match this--that we will not take and make our own the things that are freely given to us of ,god4 ,this is the height of all madness2 this is the lowest depth of all sin4 ,he spares not ,his own ,son1 the ,son spares not ,himself1 the ,father gives up ,his ,son for us all because ,he loves1 the ,son loves us1 and gives ,himself to us and for us1 and we stand with our hands folded on our breasts1 will not condescend so much as to stretch them out1 or hold our blessings with so slack a grasp that at any time we may let them slip through our careless fingers4 ,he prays us with much entreaty to receive the gift1 and neglect and stolid indifference are ,his requital4 ,is there anything worse than that8 ,surely ,scripture is right when it makes the sin of sins that unbelief1 which is at bottom nothing else than a refusal to take the cup of salvation4 ,surely no sharper grief can be inflicted on the ,spirit of ,god than when we leave ,his gifts neglected and unappropriated4 ,in the highest region of all1 how many of these there are which we treat so6 ,a ,saviour and ,his pardoning blood2 a ,spirit and ,his quickening energies2 that eternal life which might spring in our souls a fountain of living waters--all these are ours4 ,are we as strong as we might be if we used the strength which we have8 ,how comes it that with the fulness of ,god at our sides we are empty2 that with the word of ,god in our hands we know so little2 that with the ,spirit of ,god in our hearts we are so fleshly2 that with the joy of our ,god for our portion we are so troubled2 that with the heart of ,god for our hiding-place we are so defenceless8 ',we have all and abound1' and yet we are poor and needy1 like some infatuated beggar1 in rags and wretchedness1 to whom wealth had been given which he would not use4 ,in the lower region of daily life and common mercies the same strange slowness to take what we have is found4 ,there are very few men who really make the best of their circumstances4 ,most of us are far less happy than we might be1 if we had learned the divine art of wringing the last drop of good out of everything4 ,after our rude attempts at smelting there is a great deal of valuable metal left in the dross1 which a wiser system would extract4 ,one wonders when one gets a glimpse of how much of the raw material of happiness goes to waste in the manufacture in all our lives4 ,there is so little to spare1 and yet so much is flung away4 ,it needs a great deal of practical wisdom1 and a great deal of strong1 manly ,christian principle1 to make the most of what ,god gives us4 ,watchfulness1 self-restraint1 the power of suppressing anxieties and taking no thought for the morrow1 and most of all1 the habitual temper of fellowship with ,god1 which is the most potent agent in the chemistry that extracts its healing virtue from everything--all these are wanted4 ,the lesson is worth learning1 lest we should wound that most tender ,love1 and lest we should impoverish and hurt ourselves4 ,do not complain of your thirsty lips till you are sure that you have emptied the cup of salvation which ,god gives4 ,one more element of this requital of ,god has still to be named1 the thankful recognition of ,him in all our feasting--'call on the name of the ,lord4' ,without this the preceding precept would be a piece of pure selfish ,epicureanism--and without this it would be impossible4 ,only he who enjoys life in ,god enjoys it worthily4 ,only he who enjoys life in ,god enjoys it at all4 ,this is the true infusion which gives sweetness to whatever of bitter1 and more of sweetness to whatever of sweet1 the cup may contain1 when the name of the ,lord is pronounced above it4 ,the ,jewish father at the ,passover feast solemnly lifted the wine cup above his head1 and drank with thanksgiving4 ,the meal became a sacrament4 ,so here the word rendered 'take' might be translated 'raise1' and we may be intended to have the picture as emblematical of our consecration to all our blessings by a like offering of them before ,god and a like invoking of the ,giver4 ,christ gave us not only the ritual of an ordinance1 but the pattern for our lives1 when ,he 'took the cup and gave thanks4' ,so common joys become sacraments1 enjoyment becomes worship1 and the cup which holds the bitter or the sweet skilfully mingled for our lives becomes the cup of blessing and salvation drank in remembrance of ,him4 ,if we carried that spirit with us into all our small duties1 sorrows1 and gladnesses1 how different they would all seem6 ,we should then drink for strength1 not for drunkenness4 ,we should not then find that ,god's gifts hid ,him from us4 ,we should neither leave any of them unused nor so greedily grasp them that we let ,his hand go4 ,nothing would be too great for us to attempt1 nothing too small for us to put our strength into4 ,there would be no discord between earthly gladness and heavenly desires1 nor any repugnance at what ,he held to our lips4 ,we should drink of the cup of ,his benefits1 and all would be sweet--until we drew nearer and slaked our thirst at the river of ,his pleasures and the ,fountain-head itself4 ,one more word4 ,there is an old legend of an enchanted cup filled with poison1 and put treacherously into a king's hand4 ,he signed the sign of the ,cross and named the name of ,god over it1 and it shivered in his grasp4 ,do you take that name of the ,lord as a test4 ,name ,him over many a cup of which you are eager to drink1 and the glittering fragments will lie at your feet1 and the poison be spilled on the ground4 ,what you cannot lift before ,his pure eyes and think of ,him while you enjoy is not for you4 ,friendships1 schemes1 plans1 ambitions1 amusements1 speculations1 studies1 loves1 businesses--can you call on the name of the ,lord while you put these cups to your lips8 ,if not1 fling them behind you--for they are full of poison which1 for all its sugared sweetness1 at the last will 'bite like a serpent and sting like an adder4' ,a ,,cleansed ,,way ',wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way8 ,by taking heed thereto according to ,thy word4'--,,psalm cxix4 #i4 ,there are many questions about the future with which it is natural for you young people to occupy yourselves2 but ,i am afraid that the most of you ask more anxiously ',how shall ,i make my way8' than ',how shall ,i cleanse it8' ,it is needful carefully to ponder the questions3 ',how shall ,i get on in the world--be happy1 fortunate8' and the like1 and ,i suppose that that is the consideration which presses with special force upon a great many of you4 ,now ,i want you to think of another question3 ',how shall ,i cleanse my way8' ,for purity is the best thing2 and to be good is a wiser as well as a nobler object of ambition than any other4 ,so my object is just to try and urge upon my dear young friends before me the serious consideration for a while of this grave question of my text1 and the answers which are given to it4 ,if ,i can get you once to be smitten with a passion for purity1 all but everything is gained4 ,but ,i shall not be content if even that is the issue of my pleading with you now1 for ,i want to have you all ,christians4 ,and that is why ,i have asked you to listen to what ,i have to say to you on this occasion4 ,i4 ,so1 first1 we have here the great practical problem for life3 ',wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way8' ,or1 in other words1 ',how may ,i live a pure and a noble life8' ,it is a question1 of course1 for everybody3 it is the question for everybody1 but it is more especially one for you young people4 ,and ,i wish to urge it upon you for two or three reasons1 which ,i very briefly specify4 ,first1 ,i desire to press upon you this question1 because1 as ,i have said1 you are under special temptations not to ask it4 ,there are so many other points in your future unresolved1 that you are only too apt to put aside the consideration of this one in favour of those which seem to be of more pressing and immediate importance4 ,and you have the other temptation1 common to us all1 but especially attending you as young people1 of living without any plan of life at all4 ,the sin and the misery of half the world are that they live from hand to mouth1 knowing why they do each single action at the moment1 but never looking a dozen inches beyond their noses to see where all the actions taken together tend2 and so being just like weathercocks1 whirled round by every wind of temptation that comes to them4 ,if they are good or pure they are so by accident1 by impulse1 or because they have never been tempted4 ,they have no definite plan or theory of life which they could put into words if anybody asked them on what principles1 and for what end1 and towards what objects they were living4 ,and as everybody is tempted into such an unreflecting way of life1 so you especially are tempted to it1 because at your age judgment and experience are not so strong as inclination and passion2 and everything has got the fresh gloss of novelty upon it1 and it seems to be sometimes sufficient delight to live and get hold of the new joys that are flooding in upon you4 ,and therefore ,i want you to stop and for a moment think whether you have any plan of life that bears being put into words1 whether you can tell ,god and your own consciences what you are living for4 ,and ,i urge this question upon you for another reason--because it is worth while for you to ask it4 ,for you have still the prerogative that some of us have lost1 of determining the shape that your life's course is to take4 ,the path that you are going to tread lies all unmarked out across the plain of life4 ,you may be pretty nearly what you like4 ,life is before you1 with great blessed possibilities2 it is behind some of us4 ,all the long years which you may probably have are all plastic in your hands yet2 they are moulded into a rigid shape for men like me4 ,we have made our beds1 and we must lie on them4 ,you have your life in your own hands2 therefore1 ,i beseech you1 while you have not to ask this question with the bitter meaning with which old men that have made their paths1 and made them filthy1 have to ask it--',how shall an old man cleanse his way1 and get rid of the filth8'--consider how you may secure that your way in the untrodden future shall be clean1 and do not rest till you get an answer4 ,and ,i press it upon you for another reason1 because you have special temptations to make your ways unclean4 ,it is a fearful ordeal that every young man and woman has to face1 as he or she steps across the dividing boundary between childhood and youth1 when parental authority is weakened1 and the leading-strings are loosened1 and the young swimmer is as it were cut away from the buoys1 and has to battle with the waves alone4 ,there are hundreds of young men in ,manchester1 there are many of them here now1 who have come up into this great city from quiet country homes where they were shielded by the safeguards of a father's and a mother's love and care1 and have been flung into this place1 with its every street swarming with temptation1 and companions on the benches of the university1 at the desks1 in the warehouses1 and the workshops1 leading them away into evil and teaching them the devil's alphabet--young men with their evenings vacant and with no home4 ,am ,i speaking to any such standing in slippery places8 ,oh1 my young friend6 there is nothing in all these temptations1 the fascinations of which you are beginning to find out1 there is nothing in them all worth soiling your fingers for2 there is nothing in them all that will pay you for the loss of your innocence4 ,there is nothing in them all except a fair outside with poison at the core4 ,you see the 'primrose path'2 you do not see1 to use ,shakespeare's solemn words1 'the everlasting burnings' to which it leads4 ,and so ,i plead with you all1 young men and women1 to lay this question to heart2 and ,i beseech you to credit me when ,i say to you that you have not yet touched the gravest and the most pressing problem of life unless you have asked yourselves in a serious mood of deep reflection1 ',wherewithal shall ,i cleanse my way8' ,,ii4 ,so much for the first point to which ,i ask your attention4 ,now1 secondly1 look at this answer1 which tells us that we can only make our way clean on condition of constant watchfulness4 ',by taking heed thereto4' ,that seems a very plain1 simple1 common-sense answer4 ,the best made road wants looking after if it is to be kept in repair4 ,what would become of a railway that had no surfacemen and platelayers going along the line and noticing whether anything was amiss8 ,i remember once seeing a bit of an old ,roman road2 the lava blocks were there1 but for want of care1 here a young sapling had grown up between two of them and had driven them apart2 there they were split by the frost1 here was a great ugly gap full of mud2 and the whole thing ended in a jungle4 ,how shall a man keep his road in repair8 ',by taking heed thereto4' ,things that are left to go anyhow in this world have a strange knack of going one how4 ,you do not need anything else than negligence to ensure that things will come to grief4 ,and so1 at first sight1 my text simply seems to preach the plain truth3 if you want to keep your road right1 look after it4 ,but if you look at your ,bibles1 you will see that the word 'thereto' is a supplement1 and that all that the ,psalmist really says is 'by taking heed4' ,and perhaps it is to himself rather than to his 'way' that a man is exhorted to 'take heed4' ',take heed to thyself' is the only condition of a pure and noble life4 ,that such a condition is necessary1 will appear very plain from two considerations4 ,first1 it is clear that there must be constant watchfulness1 if we consider what sort of a world this is that we have got into ,and it is also plain1 if we consider what sort of creatures we are that have got into it4 ,first1 it is plain if we consider what sort of a world this is that we have got into4 ,it is a world a great deal fuller of inducements to do wrong than of inducements to do right2 a world in which there are a great many bad things that have a deceptive appearance of pleasure2 a great many circumstances in which it seems far easier to follow the worse than to follow the better course4 ,and so1 unless a man has learned the great art of saying ',no6' ',so did not ,i because of the fear of the ,lord'2 he will come to rack and ruin without a doubt4 ,there are more things round about you that will tempt you downwards than will draw you upwards1 and your only security is constant watchfulness4 ,as ,george ,herbert says3-- ',who keeps no guard upon himself is slack1 ,and rots to nothing at the next great thaw4' ,and that is what will happen to you1 as sure as you are living1 in spite of all your good resolutions1 unless you back up those resolutions with perpetual jealous watchfulness over yourselves4 ',keep thy heart with all diligence4' ,and the same lesson is pealed out to us if we consider what sort of creatures we are that have got into this world all full of wickedness4 ,we are creatures evidently made for self-government4 ,our whole nature is like a monarchy4 ,there are things in each of us that are never meant to rule1 but to be kept well down under control1 such as strong passions1 desires rooted in the flesh which are not meant to get the mastery of a man1 and there are parts of our nature which are as obviously intended to be supreme and sovereign3 the reason1 the conscience1 the will4 ,there is a deal of pestilent talk which one sometimes hears1 amongst young men especially1 about 'following nature4' ,yes6 ,i say1 ',follow nature6' and nature says1 ',let the man govern the animal6' and ',do not set beggars on horseback1' nor allow your passions to guide you1 but keep a tight hand on them1 suppress them1 scourge them1 rule them by your reason1 by your conscience1 and by your will4 ,suppose a man were to say about a steamship1 ',the structure of this vessel shows that it is meant that we should get a roaring fire up in the furnaces1 and set the engines going at full speed1 and let her go as she will4' ,would he not have left out of account that there was a steering apparatus1 which was as plainly meant to guide as are the engines to drive8 ,what are the rudder and the wheel for8--do they not imply a pilot8 and is not the make of our souls as plainly suggestive of subordination and control8 ,doth not nature itself teach you that you do not follow1 but outrage1 nature1 when you let your passions rule1 and that you only then follow nature when you bow the whole man under the dominion of the conscience1 and when conscience stands waiting for the voice of ,god8 ',unless above himself he can erect ,himself1 how mean a thing is man6' ,you are called upon by the very world that you have come into1 and by the very sort of person that you yourself are1 to exercise that perpetual watchfulness which is the only condition of cleansing your way4 ,there must be a strong guard on the frontier1 which shall examine all the thoughts and purposes and desires that would pass out1 and all the temptations and seductions that would pass in2 and take care that none shall pass which cannot bring the ,king's warrant1 ',keep thy heart with diligence4' ',wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way8 ,by taking heed thereto4' ,,iii4 ,this constant watchfulness1 to be of any use1 must be regulated by ,god's ,word4 ',taking heed thereto1 according to ,thy word4' ,the guard on the frontier who is to keep the path must have instructions from headquarters1 and not choose and decide according to their own phantasy1 but according to the ,king's orders4 ,or to use another metaphor1 it is no use having a guard unless the guard has a lantern1 and the lantern and light is the ,word of ,god4 ,that brings me to say1 and only in a word or two1 how inadequate for the task of regulating our own lives our own watchfulness is4 ,conscience is the captain of the guard1 and there is only one judgment in which conscience is always and infallibly right1 and that is when it says1 ',it is right to do right2 and it is wrong to do wrong4' ,but when you begin to ask conscience1 ',and1 pray1 what is right and what is wrong8' it is by no means invariably to be trusted2 for you can educate conscience up or down to almost anything2 and you can warp conscience1 and you can bribe conscience1 and you can stifle conscience4 ,and so it is not enough that we should exercise the most watchful care over our course1 and decide upon the right and the wrong of it by our own judgments2 we may be fearfully wrong notwithstanding it all4 ,it is not enough for a man to have a good watch in his pocket unless now and then he can get ,greenwich time by which he can set it1 and unless that has been secured by taking an observation of the sun4 ,and so you cannot trust to anything in yourselves for the guidance of your own way or for the determination of your duty1 but you must look to that higher ,wisdom that has condescended to speak to us1 and give us in this ,book the revelation of its will4 ,men rebel against the moral law of the ,bible1 and speak of it as if it were a restraint and a sharp taskmaster4 ,ah1 no6 ,it is one of the greatest tokens of ,god's infinite love to us that ,he has not left us to grope our way amidst the illusions of our own judgments1 and the questionable shapes of human conceptions of right and wrong1 but that ,he has declared to us ,his own character for the standard of all perfection1 and given us in the human life of the ,son of ,his love the all-sufficient pattern for every life4 ,so ,i need not dwell at any length upon the thought that in that word of ,god1 in its whole sweep1 and eminently and especially in ,christ1 who is the ,incarnate ,word1 we have an all-sufficient ,guide4 ,a guide of conduct must be plain--and whatever doubts and difficulties there may be about the doctrines of ,christianity there is none about its morality4 ,a guide of conduct must be decisive--and there is no faltering in the utterance of the ,book as to right and wrong4 ,a guide of conduct must be capable of application to the wide diversities of character1 age1 circumstance--and the morality of the ,new ,testament especially1 and of the ,old in a measure1 secures that1 because it does not trouble itself about minute details1 but deals with large principles4 ,the morality of the ,gospel1 if ,i may so say1 is a morality of centres1 not of circumferences2 of germinal principles1 not of special prescriptions4 ,a guide for morals must be far in advance of the followers1 and it has taken generations and centuries to work into men's consciences1 and to work out in men's practice1 a portion of the morality of that ,book4 ,people tell us that ,christianity is worn out4 ,ah6 it will not be worn out until all its moral teaching has become part of the practice of the world1 and that will not be for a year or two6 ,the men that care least about ,christian doctrines are foremost to admit that the ,sermon on the ,mount is the noblest code of morality that has ever been promulgated4 ,if the world kept the commandments of the ,new ,testament1 the world would be in the ,millennium2 and all the sin and crime1 and ninety-nine-hundredths of all the sorrow1 of earth would have vanished like an ugly dream4 ,here is the guide for you1 and if you take it you will not err4 ,my dear young friend6 did you ever try to measure one day's actions by the standard of this ,book8 ,let me press upon you this3 ,cultivate the habit--the habit of bringing all that you do side by side with this light2 as a scholar in some school of art will take his feeble copy1 and hold it by the side of the masterpiece1 and compare line for line1 and tint for tint4 ,take your life1 and put it by the side of the ,great ,life1 and you will begin to find out how 'according to ,thy word' is the only standard by which to set your lives4 ,,iv4 ,and now ,i have one last thing to say4 ,all this can only be done effectually if you are a ,christian4 ,my psalm does not go to the bottom2 it goes as far as the measure of revelation granted to its author admitted2 but if a person had no more to say than that1 it would be a weary business4 ,it is no use to tell a man1 ',guard yourself1 guard yourself1' nor even to tell him1 ',guard yourself according to ,god's word1' if ,god's word is only a law4 ,the fatal defect of all attempts at keeping my heart by my own watchfulness is that keeper and kept are one and the same1 and so there may be mutiny in the garrison1 and the very forces that ought to subdue the rebellion may have gone over to the rebels4 ,you want a power outside of you to steady you4 ,the only way to haul a boat up the rapids is to have some fixed point on the shore to which a man may fasten a rope and pull at that4 ,you get that eternal guard and fixed point by which to hold in ,jesus ,christ1 the dear ,son of ,god's love1 who has died for you4 ,you want another motive to be brought to bear upon your conduct1 and upon your convictions and your will mightier than any that now influence them2 and you get that if you will yield yourself to the love that has come down from heaven to save you1 and says to you1 ',if you love ,me1 keep ,my commandments4' ,you want for keeping yourself and cleansing your way reinforcements to your own inward vigour1 and you will get these if you will trust to ,jesus ,christ1 who will breathe into you the ,spirit of ,his own life1 which will make you 'free from the law of sin and death4' ,you want1 if your path is to be cleansed--the youngest of you1 the most tenderly nurtured1 the purest1 the most innocent wants--forgiveness for a past path1 which is in some measure stained and foul1 as well as strength for the future1 to deliver you from the dreadful influence of the habit of evil4 ,and you get all these1 dear friends6 in the blood of ,jesus ,christ that cleanses from all sin4 ,so1 standing as you do in the place where two ways meet1 and with your choice yet in your power1 ,i beseech you1 turn away from the broad1 easy road that slopes pleasantly downwards1 and choose the narrow1 steep path that climbs4 ,better rocks than mud1 better the painful life of self-restraint and self-denial than the life of pleasing self4 ,oh6 choose the better portion1 choose ,christ for your ,leader1 your ,law1 your ,lord6 ,trust yourselves to that great sacrifice which ,he made on the ,cross1 that all the past for you may be cleansed1 and the future may be swept clear2 and1 so trusting1 be sure ,he will be with you1 to keep you and to guide you into the path which ,his own hand has raised above the filth of the world2 the path of holiness1 along which you may walk with feet and garments unstained till you come to ,zion1 'with songs and everlasting joy upon your heads1' and bless ,him there for all the way by which ,he led you home4 ,,life ,,hid ,,and ,,not ,,hid ',thy word have ,i hid in my heart4'--,,psalm cxix4 #aa4 ',i have not hid ,thy righteousness in my heart4'--,,psalm xl4 #aj4 ,then there are two kinds of hiding--one right and one wrong3 one essential to the life of the ,christian1 one inconsistent with it4 ,he is a shallow ,christian who has no secret depths in his religion4 ,he is a cowardly or a lazy one1 at all events an unworthy one1 who does not exhibit1 to the utmost of his power1 his religion4 ,it is bad to have all the goods in the shop window2 it is just as bad to have them all in the cellar4 ,there are two aspects of the ,christian life--one between ,god and myself1 with which no stranger intermeddles2 one patent to all the world4 ,my two texts touch these two4 ,i4 ',i have hid ,thy word within my heart4' ,there we have the word hidden1 or the secret religion of the heart4 ,now1 ,i have often had occasion to remind you that the ,old ,testament use of the word 'heart' is much wider than our modern one1 which limits it to being the seat and organ of love1 affection1 or emotion2 whereas in the ,old ,testament the 'heart' is the very vital centre of the personal self4 ,as the ,book of ,proverbs has it1 'out of it are the issues of life1' all the outgoings of activity of every kind1 both that which we ascribe to the head1 and that which we ascribe to the heart4 ,these come1 according to the ,old ,testament idea1 from this central self4 ,and so1 when the ,psalmist says1 ',i have hid ,thy word within my heart1' he means ',i have buried it deep in the very midst of my being1 and put it down at the very roots of myself1 and there incorporated it with the very substance of my soul4' ,now1 ,i venture to take that expression1 ',thy word1' in a somewhat wider sense than the ,psalmist employed it4 ,there are three ideas conveyed by that expression in ,scripture2 and two of them are distinctly found in this psalm4 ,first1 there is the plain1 obvious one1 which means by 'the word1' written revelation4 ,the ,bible of the ,psalmist was a very small volume compared with ours4 ,the ,pentateuch1 and perhaps some of the historical books1 possibly also one or two of the prophets--and these were about all4 ,yet this fragmentary word he 'hid in his heart4' ,now1 dear brethren6 ,i wish to say a very practical thing or two1 and ,i begin with this4 ,if you want to be strong ,christian people1 hide the ,bible in your heart4 ,when ,i was a boy the practice of good ,christian folk was to read a daily chapter4 ,i wonder if that is kept up4 ,i gravely suspect it is not4 ,there are1 no doubt1 a great many causes contributing to the comparative decay amongst professing ,christians1 of ,bible reading and ,bible study4 ,there is modern 'higher criticism1' which has a great deal to say about how and when the books were made1 especially the books that composed this ,psalmist's ,bible4 ,but ,i want to insist that no theories1 were they ever so well established--as ,i take leave to say they are not--no theories about these secondary questions touch the value of ,scripture as a factor in the development of the ,christian life4 ,whatever a man may think about these1 he will be none the less alive1 if he is wise1 to the importance of the daily devotional study of ,scripture4 ,then there is another set of reasons for the neglect of ,scripture1 in the multiplication of other forms of literature4 ,people have so many other books to read now1 that they have not much time for reading their ,bibles1 or if they have1 they think they have not4 ,no literature will ever take the place of the old ,book4 ,why1 even looked at as a mere literary product there is nothing in the world like it6 ,and no religious literature1 sermons1 treatises1 still less magazines and periodicals1 will do for ,christian men what the ,bible will do for them4 ,you make a tremendous mistake1 for your own souls' sake1 if your religious reading consists in what people have said and thought about ,scripture1 more than in the ,scripture itself4 ,why should you dip your pitchers into the reservoir1 when you can take them up to where the spring comes gushing out of the hillside1 pure and limpid and living8 ,then there is the drive of our modern life which crowds out the word4 ,get up a quarter of an hour earlier and you will have time to read your ,bible4 ,it will be well worth the sacrifice1 if it is a sacrifice4 ,i do not mean by reading the ,bible what1 ,i am afraid1 is far too common1 reading a scrap of ,scripture as if it were a kind of charm4 ,but ,i would most earnestly press upon you that muscle and fibre will distinctly atrophy and become enfeebled1 if ,christian people neglect the first plain way of hiding the word in their heart1 which is to make the utterances of ,scripture as if incorporated with their very being1 and part of their very selves4 ,but there is another use of the expression1 ',thy word1' which is not without example in this great psalm of praise of the word4 ,in one place in it we read1 ',for ever1 ,o ,lord6 ,thy word is settled in heaven'2 that is not the ,bible4 ',thy faithfulness is unto all generations4 ,they continue this day according to ,thy ordinances'2 these are not the ,bible--'for all are ,thy servants4' ',unless ,thy law had been my delight1 ,i should have perished in my afflictions'2 ,i think that is not the ,bible either1 but it is the utterance of ,god's will1 as expressed in the ,psalmist's affliction4 ,god's word comes to us in ,his providences and in many other ways4 ,it is the declaration of ,his character and purposes1 however they are declared1 and the expression of ,his will and command1 however expressed4 ,in that wider sense of the phrase1 ,i would say1 ',hide that manifested will of ,god in your hearts4' ,let us cultivate the habit of bringing all 'the issues of life'--the streams that bubble up from that fountain in the centre of our being--into close relation to what we know to be ,god's will concerning us4 ,let the thought of the will of ,god sit sovereign arbiter1 enthroned in the very centre of our personality1 ruling our will1 bending it and making it yielding and conformed to ,his1 governing our affections1 regulating our passions1 restraining our desires1 stimulating our slothfulness1 quickening our aspirations1 lifting heavenwards our hopes1 and bringing the whole of the activities that well up from our hearts into touch with the will of ,god4 ,cast the healing branch into the very eye of the fountain1 and then all the streams will partake of the cleansing4 ,let that known will of ,god be as the leaven hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened4 ,a fanciful interpretation of that emblem makes the three measures to mean the triple constituents of humanity1 body1 soul1 and spirit4 ,we may smile at the fantastic exposition1 but let us take heed to obey the exhortation4 ,when ,god's will is deeply planted within1 it will work quickening change on the heavy dough of our sluggish natures4 ,it is when we bring the springs of our actions--namely1 our motives1 which are our true selves--into touch with ,his uttered will1 that our deeds become conformed to it4 ,look after the motives1 and the deeds will look after themselves4 ',i have hid ,thy word within my heart4' ,and now ,i venture upon a further application of this phrase1 of which the ,psalmist had no notion1 but which1 in ,god's great mercy1 in the progress of revelation1 we can make4 ,there is a better word of ,god than the ,bible2 there is a better word of ,god than any will uttered in ,his providences and the like4 ,there is the ,incarnate ,word of ,god1 who 'was from the beginning with ,god1 and was ,god1' and is manifested in these last times unto us4 ,i am keeping well within the analogy of ,scripture teaching when ,i see the perfecting of revelation by the spoken ,word as reached in the revelation by the personal word2 and when1 in addition to the exhortation1 to hide the ,scripture in your hearts1 and to hide the uttered will of ,god1 however uttered1 in your hearts1 ,i add1 let us hide ,christ in our hearts4 ,for ,he will 'dwell in our hearts by faith1' and if ,he is shrined within the curtains of the secret place within us1 which is 'the secret place of the ,most ,high1' then1 in the courts of the sanctuary1 there will be a pure sacrifice and a priest clad 'in the beauties of holiness4' ,,ii4 ,the word not hidden1 or the religion of the outward life4 ,our second text brings into view the outer side of the devout life1 that which is turned to the world4 ,the word is to be hidden in the heart1 for this very end of being then revealed in the life4 ,for what other purpose is it to be set in the centre of our being and applied to the springs of action1 than to mould action1 and so to be displayed in conduct8 ,it is not to be hid like some forgotten and unused treasure in a castle vault1 but to be buried deep in a living person1 that it may affect all that person's character and acts4 ',there is nothing hidden1 but that it should come abroad4' ,the deepest1 sacredest1 most secret ,christian experiences are to be operative on the outward life4 ,a man may be caught up into the third heavens and there hear words which mortal speech cannot utter1 but the incommunicable vision should tell on his patience and fortitude1 and influence his ,christian work4 ,nor is our manifestation of the springs of our action to be confined to conduct4 ,however eloquent it is1 it will be all the more intelligible for the commentary supplied by confession with the mouth4 ,speech for ,christ is a ,christian obligation4 ',what ye hear in the ear1 that proclaim ye on the housetops4' ,true1 there is a legitimate reticence as to the depths of personal religion1 which needs very strong reasons to warrant its being broken through4 ,peter told ,mark nothing of the interview which he had with ,christ on the ,resurrection morning1 but he must have told the fact4 ,we shall do well to be silent as to what passes between ,jesus and us in secret2 but we shall not do well if1 coming from our private communion with ,him1 we do not 'find' some to whom we can say1 ',we have found the ,messiah1' and so bring them to ,jesus4 ,the word1 if hid in the heart1 will certainly be manifest in the life4 ,for not only is it impossible for a man who deeply and continually realises ,god's will1 and lives in touch with ,jesus ,christ1 to prevent these experiences from visibly affecting ,his life and conduct1 but also in the measure in which we have that conscious inward possession of the divine word and the divine ,christ we shall be impelled to manifest them to our fellows by every means in our power4 ,what1 then1 is the inference to be drawn from the fact that there are thousands of professing ,christian people in ,manchester1 who never felt the slightest touch of a necessity to make known the ,master whom they say they serve8 ,they must be very shallow ,christians1 having no depth of experience1 or that experience would insist on coming out4 ,true ,christian emotion is like a fire smouldering within some substance1 that never rests till it burns its way to the outside4 ,as one of the prophets puts it1 ',i said ,i will speak no more in ,thy name'2 he goes on to tell how his resolve of silence gave way under the pressure of the unuttered speech--',thy word shut up in my bones was like a fire1 and ,i was weary of forbearing and ,i could not stay4' ,so it will always be4 ,every genuine conviction demands utterance4 ,a full heart needs the relief of speech4 ,if you feel no need to show your allegiance and love to ,christ by speech as well as by life1 ,i shrewdly suspect you have little love or allegiance to hide4 ,further1 the more we show it1 the more need there is for us to cultivate the hidden element in our religion4 ,if ,i were talking to ministers ,i should have a great deal to say about that4 ,there are preachers who preach away their own religion4 ,the two attitudes of mind in imparting and in receiving are wholly different2 and if one is allowed to encroach upon the other1 nothing but harm can come4 ',as thy servant was busy here and there1 he was gone1'--that is the short account of the decay of personal religion in many a life outwardly diligent in ,christian work4 ,if there is a proportionate cultivation of the hidden self1 then the act of manifesting will tend to strengthen it4 ,it is meant that our ,christian convictions and affections should grow in strength and in transforming power upon ourselves1 by reason of utterance2 just as when you let air in1 the fire burns brighter4 ,but it is quite possible that we may dissipate and scatter our feeble religion by talking about it2 and some of us may be in danger of that4 ,the loftier you mean to build your tower1 the deeper must be the foundation that you dig4 ,the more any of us are trying to do for ,jesus ,christ1 the more need there is that we increase our secret communion with ,jesus ,christ4 ,we may wrongly hide our religion so that it evaporates4 ,too many professing ,christians put away their religion as careless housewives might do some precious perfume1 and when they go to take it out1 they find nothing but a rotten cork1 a faint odour1 and an empty flask4 ,take care of burying your religion so deep1 as dogs do bones1 that you cannot find it again1 or if you do discover1 when you open the coffin1 that it holds only a handful of dry dust4 ,the heart has two actions4 ,in one it opens its portals and expands to receive the inflowing blood which is the life4 ,in the other it contracts to drive the life through the veins4 ,for health there must be both motions2 the receptiveness1 in the secret 'hiding of the word in the heart'2 the expulsive energy in the 'not hiding ,thy righteousness in my heart4' ,a ,,stranger ,,in ,,the ,,earth ',i am a stranger in the earth3 hide not ,thy commandments from me4444 #fd4 ,the earth1 ,o ,lord1 is full of ,thy mercy3 teach me ,thy statutes4' --,,psalm cxix4 #ai1 #fd4 ,there is something very remarkable in the variety-in-monotony of this1 the longest of the psalms4 ,though it be the longest it is in one sense the simplest1 inasmuch as there is but one thought in it1 beaten out into all manner of forms and based upon all various considerations4 ,it reminds one of the great violinist who out of one string managed to bring such music and melody4 ,the one thought is the infinite preciousness of ,god's law1 by which1 of course1 is not meant the written record of that law which lies in ,scripture1 but the utterances of ,god's law in any form1 by which men may receive it4 ,you will find that that wider signification of the word 'law1' 'commandment1' 'statute1' is essential to the understanding of every portion of this psalm4 ,and now these two petitions which ,i have put together base the prayer1 which they both offer1 in slightly varied form 7',teach me ,thy statutes1' or ',hide not ,thy commandments from me1'7 upon two diverse considerations1 which1 taken in conjunction1 are extremely interesting4 ,the two facts on which the one petition rests1 are like two great piers on two opposite sides of a river1 each of which holds one end of the arch4 ',the earth is full of ,thy mercy'2 ay6 but ',i am a stranger upon the earth4' ,these two things are both true1 and from each of them1 and still more from both of them taken together1 rises up this petition4 ,let us look then at the facts1 and then at the prayer that is built upon them4 ,take first that thought of the rejoicing earth1 full of ,god's mercy as some cup is full of rich wine1 or as the flowers in the morning are filled with dew4 ,the ,bible does not look at the external world1 the material universe1 from a scientific point of view1 nor does it look at it from a poetical point of view1 but from a simply religious one4 ,nothing that modern science has taught us to say about the world in the least affects this principle which the ,psalmist lays down1 that it is all full of ,god's mercy4 ,the thought is intended to exclude man and man's ways and all connected with him1 as we shall see presently1 but the ,psalmist looks out upon the earth and all the rest of its inhabitants1 and he is sure of two things3 one1 that ,god's direct act is at work in it all1 so as that every creature that lives1 and everything that is1 lives and is because ,god is there1 and working there2 and next1 that everything about us is the object of loving thoughts of ,god's2 and has1 as it were1 some reflection of ,god's smile cast across it like the light of flowers upon the grass4 ,spring days with life 're-orient out of dust1' and the annual miracle beginning again all round1 with the birds in the trees1 that even dwellers in towns can hear singing as if their hearts would burst for very mirth and hopefulness1 the blossoms beginning to push above the frosty ground1 and the life breaking out of the branches that were stiff and dry all through the winter1 proclaim the same truth as the ,psalmist was contemplating when he spoke thus4 ,he looks all round1 and everywhere sees the signature of a loving divine ,hand4 ,the earth is full to brimming of ,thy mercy4 ,it takes faith to see that2 it takes a deeper and a firmer hold of the thought of a present ,god than most men have1 to feel that4 ,for the most of us1 the world has got to be very empty of ,god now4 ,we hear rather the creaking of the wheels of a great machine1 or see the workings of a blind1 impersonal force4 ,but ,i believe that all that is precious and good in the growth of knowledge since the old days when this ,psalmist wrote may be joyfully accepted by us1 and deep down below all we may see the deeper1 larger truth of the living purpose and will of ,god ,himself4 ,and ,i know no reason why twentieth-century men1 full to the fingertips of modern scientific thought1 may not say as heartily as the old ,psalmist said1 ',the earth1 ,o ,lord6 is full of ,thy mercy4' ,but then there is another side to all this4 ,amidst all this sunny play of gladness1 and apocalypse of blessing1 there stands one exception4 ,hearken to the other word of my texts1 ',i am a stranger upon the earth4' ,man is out of joint with the great whole1 out of harmony with the music1 the only hungry one at the feast4 ,all other creatures are admirably adapted for the place they fill1 and the place they fill is sufficient for them4 ,but ,i stand here1 knowing that ,i do not belong to this goodly fellowship1 feeling that ,i am an exception to the rule4 ,as ,colonel ,gardiner said1 ',i looked at the dog1 and ,i wished that ,i was a dog4' ,ah6 many another man has felt1 ,why is it that whilst every creature1 the motes that dance in the sunbeam1 and the minutest living things1 however insignificant1 are all filled to the very brim of their capacity--why is it that ,i1 the roof and crown of things1 stand here1 a sad and solitary stranger1 having made acquaintance with grief2 having learned what they know not1 the burden of toil and care1 cursed with forecast and anticipation1 saddened by memory1 torn by desires8 ',we look before and after1 and pine for what is not4' ,all other beings fit their place1 and their place fits them like a glove upon a fair hand1 but ,i stand here 'a stranger upon the earth4' ,and the more ,i feel1 or at least the more ,i am convinced that it is full of ,god's mercy1 the more ,i feel that there is something else which ,i need to make me1 in my fashion1 as really and as completely blessed as the lowest of ,his creatures4 ,the ,psalmist tells us what that something more is3 ',i am a stranger upon the earth2 hide not ,thy commandments from me4' ,that is my food1 that is what ,i need2 that is the one thing that will make our souls feel at rest1 that we shall have not merely a ,bible in our hands1 but the will of ,god1 the knowledge and the love of the will of ,god1 in our hearts4 ,when we can say ',i delight to do ,thy will1 and my whole being seeks to lay itself beneath the mould of ,thine impressing purpose1 and to be shaped accordingly'2 ,oh6 then1 then the care and the toil and the sorrow and the restlessness and the sense of transiency1 all change4 ,some of them pass away altogether2 those of them that survive are transfigured from darkness to glory4 ,just as some gloomy cliff1 impending over the plain1 when the rising sun smites upon it1 is changed into a rosy and golden glory1 so the frowning peaks that look down upon us1 are all transmuted and glorified1 when once the light of ,god's recognised will falls upon them4 ',all is right that seems most wrong1 ,if it be ,his sweet will4' ,and when ,he has not hidden ,his commandments from us1 but we have them in our hearts1 for the joy and the strength of our lives1 then1 then it does not matter1 though we have to say1 'foxes have holes1 and birds of the air have their roosting-places1' and ,i only1 in creation1 have 'not where to lay my head4' ,if we have ,his will in our hearts1 and are humbly and yet lovingly trying to do it1 then toil becomes easy1 and work becomes blessedness4 ,if we have ,his will in our hearts1 and are seeking to cleave to it1 then and only then1 do we cease to feel that it is sad that we should be strangers upon the earth1 because then and then only can we say 'we seek for a better country1 that is1 a heavenly4' ,oh1 dear friends6 we shall be cursed with restlessness and 'weighed upon with sore distress'2 and a fleeting world will1 by its very fleetingness1 be a misery to us1 until we have learned to yield our wills to ,god1 and to drink in ,his law as the joy and the rejoicing of our hearts4 ,a stranger upon the earth needs the statutes of the ,lord1 he needs no more1 and then they will be as the ,psalmist says in another place1 'his song in the house of his pilgrimage4' ,but the first of our two texts suggests further to us the certainty that this petition shall not be in vain4 ,if the thought1 ',i am a stranger in the earth1' teaches us our need of ,god's commandments1 the thought1 'the earth is full of ,thy mercies1' assures us that we shall get what we need4 ,surely it is not going to be the case that we only are to be left hungry when all other creatures sit at ,his table and feast there4 ,surely ,he who knows what each living thing requires1 and opens ,his hand1 and satisfies their desires1 is not going to leave the nobler famishing of an immortal soul uncared for4 ,surely if all through the universe besides1 we see that the measure of a creature's capacity is the measure of ,god's gift to it1 there is not going to be1 there need not be1 any disproportion between what we require and what we possess4 ,surely if ,his ear can hear and translate1 and ,his loving hand can open to satisfy1 the croaking of the young raven when it cries1 ,he will neither mistake nor neglect the voice of a man's heart1 when it is asking what is so in accordance with ,his will as that ,he should let him know and love ,his statutes4 ,it is not meant to be the case that we lie in the middle of ,his creation1 the one exception to the universal law1 like ,gideon's fleece1 dry and dusty1 while every poor bit of bush and grass round about is soaked with ,his dew4 ,if 'the earth is full of ,thy mercy1' ,thou thereby hast pledged ,thyself that my heart shall be full of ,thy law and ,thy grace1 if ,i desire it4 ,and so1 dear brethren6 whilst the one of these twin considerations should send us to our knees1 the other should hearten and wing our prayers4 ,and if1 on the one hand1 we feel that to bring us up to the level of the poorest of ,his creatures1 we need a firm grasp and a hearty love of ,his law deep in our spirits1 on the other hand1 the fact that the feeblest and the poorest of ,his creatures is saturated and soaked with as much of ,god's goodness as it can suck in1 may make us quite sure that our souls will not vainly pant after ,him in a 'dry and thirsty land where no water is4' ',the earth1 ,o ,lord6 is full of ,thy mercy4' ,am ,i to be empty of the highest mercy1 the knowledge of ,thy will8 ,never6 never6 ,and so1 ',say not1 ,who shall ascend up into the heavens8 say not1 ,who shall pass over the sea to bring ,thy law near1 that we may hear and do it8 ,behold6 the word is very nigh thee4' ,the law1 the will of ,god1 and the power to perform it are braided together1 in inextricable union1 in ,jesus ,christ ,himself2 and the prayer of my psalm most deeply understood1 turns itself all into this3--,give me ,christ1 more of the knowledge of ,him who is my law and ,thine uttered will2 more of the love of ,him whom to love is to be at home everywhere1 and to be filled with ,thy mercy2 more of the likeness to ,him whom to imitate is holiness2 whom to resemble is perfection4 ',the earth is full of ,thy mercy4' ',the ,word was made flesh1 and dwelt among us2 and we beheld ,his glory1 full of grace and truth4' ,and of that fulness can all we receive4 ,then will we be strangers here no longer2 and our hearts will be replenished with a better mercy than all the universe beside is capable of containing4 ',,time ,,for ,,thee ,,to ,,work' ',it is time for ,thee1 ,lord1 to work2 for they have made void ,thy ,law4 #abg4 ,therefore ,i love ,thy commandments above gold1 yea1 above fine gold4 #abh4 ,therefore ,i esteem all ,thy precepts concerning all things to be right2 and ,i hate every false way4' --,,psalm cxix4 #abf-abh4 ,if much that we hear be true1 a society to circulate ,bibles is a most irrational and wasteful expenditure of energy and money4 ,we cannot ignore the extent and severity of the opposition to the very idea of revelation1 even if we would2 we should not if we could4 ,we are told with some exaggeration--the wish being father to the thought--that the educated mind of the country has broken with ,christianity1 a statement which is equally remarkable for its accuracy and for its modesty4 ,but it has a basis of truth in the widespread disbelief diffused through the literary and so-called cultivated classes4 ,there is no need to spend time in referring at length to facts which are only too familiar to most of us4 ,every sphere of knowledge1 every form of literature1 is enlisted in the crusade4 ,periodicals that lie on all our tables1 works of imagination that your daughters read1 newspapers that go everywhere1 are full of it4 ,poetry1 forgetting her lineage and her sweetness1 strains her voice in rhapsodies of hostility4 ,science1 leaping the hedge beyond which she at all events is a trespasser1--or in finer language1 'prolonging its gaze backwards beyond the boundary of experimental evidence1' or in still plainer terms1 guessing1 affirms that she discerns in matter the promise and potency of every form of life2 or presently1 in a devouter mood1 looking on the budding glories of the spring1 declines to profess the creed of ,atheism4 ,learned criticism demonstrates the impossibility of supernatural religion4 ,the leader of an influential school leaves behind him a voice hollow and sad1 as from the great darkness1 in which we seem to hear the echoes of a life baffled in the attempt to harmonise the logical and the spiritual elements of a large soul3 ',there may be a ,god4 ,the evidence is insufficient for proof4 ,it only amounts to one of the lower degrees of probability4 ,he may have given a revelation of ,his will4 ,there are grounds sufficient to remove all antecedent improbability4 ,the question is wholly one of evidence2 but the evidence required has not been1 and cannot be1 forthcoming4 ,there is room to hope for a future life1 but there is no assurance whatever4 ,therefore cultivate in the region of the imagination merely those hopes which can never become certainties1 for they are infinitely precious to mankind4' ,ah1 brethren6 do we not hear in these dreary words the cry of the immortal hunger of the soul for ,god1 for the living ,god8 ,the concessions they make to ,christian apologists are noteworthy1 but that unconscious confession of need is the most noteworthy4 ,surely1 as the eye prophesies light1 so the longing of the soul and the capacity for forming such ideals are the token that ,he is for whom heart and flesh do thus yearn4 ,and how blessed is it to set over against these dreary ghosts that call themselves hopes1 and that pathetic vain attempt to find refuge in the green fields of the imagination from the choking dust of the logical arena1 the old faithful words3 ',this is the record1 that ,god hath given to us eternal life1 and that this life is in ,his ,son'6 ,but my object in referring to these forms of opinion was merely to prepare the way for my subsequent observations2 ,i have no intention of dealing with any of them by way of criticism or refutation4 ,this is not the place nor the audience1 nor am ,i the person1 for that task4 ,but ,i have thought that it might not be inappropriate to this occasion if ,i were to ask you to consider with me1 from these words1 the attitude of mind and heart to ,god's word which becomes the ,christian in times of opposition4 ,the ,psalmist was surrounded1 as would appear1 by widespread defection from ,god's law4 ,but instead of trembling as if the sun were about to expire1 he turns himself to ,god1 and in fellowship with ,him sees in all the antagonism but the premonition that ,he is about to act for the vindication of ,his own work4 ,that confidence finds expression in the sublime invocation of our text4 ,then with another movement of thought1 the contemplation of the departures makes him tighten his own hold on the law of the ,lord1 and the contempt of the gainsayers quickens his love3 ',therefore ,i love1' etc4 ,and as must needs be the case1 that love is the measure of his abhorrence of the opposite2 and because ,god's commandments are so dear to him1 therefore he recoils with healthy hatred from false ways4 ,so1 ,i think1 we have a fourfold representation here of our true attitude in the face of existing antagonism--calm confidence in ,god's work for ,his law2 earnest prayer1 which secures the forthputting of the divine energy2 an increased intensity of cleaving to the word2 and a decisive opposition to the ways which make it void4 ,i ask your attention to some remarks on each of these in their order4 ,so1 then1 we have-- ,i4 ,calm confidence that times of antagonism evoke ,god's work for ,his word4 ,now ,i dare say that some of you feel that is not the first thought that should be excited by the opposition around us4 ',we have no sort of doubt1' you may say1 'that ,god will take care of ,his own word1 if there be such a thing2 but the question that presses is1 ,have we it in this book8 ,answer that for us1 and we will thank you2 but platitudes about ,god watching over ,his truth are naught4 ,the first thing to do is to meet these arguments and establish the origin of ,scripture4 ,then it will follow of itself that it will not perish4' ,but ,i take leave to think we1 as ,christians1 arc not bound to revise the foundation belief of our lives at the call of every new antagonist4 ,life is too short for that4 ,there is too much work waiting1 to suspend our activity till we have answered each denier4 ,we do not hold our faith in the word of ,god1 as the winners at a match do their cups and belts1 on condition of wrestling for them with any challenger4 ,it is a perfectly legitimate position to say1 ,we hold a ground of certitude1 from which none of this strife of tongues is able to dislodge us4 ',we have heard ,him ourselves1 and know that this is the ,christ4' ,the ,scriptures which we have received1 not without knowledge of the grounds on which controversialists defend them1 have proved themselves to us by their own witness4 ,the light is its own proof4 ,we have the experience of ,christ and ,his law4 ,he has saved our souls1 ,he has changed our lives4 ,we know in whom we have believed1 and we are neither irrational nor obstinate when we avow that we will not pretend to suspend these convictions on the issue of any debate4 ,we decline to dig up the piles of the bridge that carries us over the abyss because voices tell us that it is rotten4 ,it is shorter and perfectly reasonable to answer1 ',rotten1 did you say8 ,well1 we have tried it1 and it bears'2 which1 being translated into less simple language1 is just the assertion of certitude built on facts and experience which leaves no place for doubt4 ,all the opposition will be broken into spray against that rock bulwark3 ',thy words were found1 and ,i did eat them1 and they are the joy and rejoicing of my heart4' ,so ,i venture to think that1 speaking to ,christian men and women1 ,i have a right to speak on the basis of our common belief1 and to encourage them to cherish it notwithstanding gainsayers4 ,i am not counselling stolid indifference to the course of modern thought1 nor desertion of the duty of defence4 ,we are not to say1 ',god will interfere2 ,i need do nothing4' ,but the task of controversy is not for all ,christians1 nor the duty of following the flow of opinion4 ,there is plenty of more profitable work than that for most of us4 ,the temper which our text enjoins is for us all2 and this calm confidence1 that at the right time ,god will work for ,his word1 is its first element4 ,this confidence rests upon our belief in a divine providence that governs the world1 and on the observed laws of its working4 ,it is ever ,his method to send ,his succour after the evil has been developed1 and before it has triumphed4 ,had it come sooner1 the priceless benefits of struggle1 the new perceptions won in controversy of the many-sided meaning and value of ,his truth1 the vigour from conflict1 the wholesome sense of our weakness1 had all been lost4 ,had it come later1 it had come too late4 ,so ,he times ,his help1 in order that we may derive the greatest possible benefit from both the trial and the aid4 ,we have all been dealt with so in our personal histories1 whereof the very motto might be1 ',when ,i said my foot slippeth1 ,thy mercy1 ,o ,lord6 held me up4' ,the same law works on the wider platform4 ,the enemy shall be allowed to pass through the breadth of the land1 to spread dread and sorrow through village and hamlet1 to draw his ranks round ,jerusalem1 as a man closes his hand on some insect he would crush4 ,to-morrow1 and the assault will be made2 but to-night 'the angel of the ,lord went forth and smote the camp2 and when they arose in the morning1' expecting to hear the wild war-cry of the conquerors as they stormed across the undefended walls1 'they were all dead corpses4' ,then1 as it would appear1 a psalmist1 moved by that mighty victory1 cast it into words1 which remain for all generations the law of the divine aid1 and imply all that ,i am urging now3 ',the ,lord is in the midst of her1 she shall not be moved2 the ,lord shall help her at the dawning of the morning4' ,true1 we are no judges of the time4 ,our impatience is ever outrunning ,his calm deliberation4 ,an illusion besets us all that our conflicts with unbelief are the severest the world has ever seen2 and there is a great deal of exaggeration on both sides at present as to the real extent and importance of existing antagonism to ,god's revelation4 ,a widespread literature provides so many--,i would not say empty--spaces for any voice to reverberate in1 that both the shouters and the listeners are apt to fancy the assailants are an army1 when they are only a handful1 armed mainly with trumpets and pitchers4 ,there have been darker days of antagonism than these4 ',he that believeth shall not make haste4' ,this confidence in the punctual wisdom of ,his working involves the other belief1 that if ,he does not 'work1' it is because the time is not yet ripe2 the negations and contradictions have still an office to fulfil1 and no hurt that cannot be repaired has been done to the faith of the ,church or the power of the word4 ,nor can we forecast the manner of ,his working4 ,he can call forth from the solitary sheepfolds the defenders of ,his word1 as has ever been ,his wont1 raising the man when the hour had come1 even as ,he sent ,his son in the fulness of time4 ,he can lead science on to deeper truth2 ,he can quicken ,his ,church into new life2 ,he can guide the spirit of the age4 ,we believe that the history of the world is the unfolding of ,his will1 and the course of opinion guided in its channel by the ,voice which the depths have obeyed from of old4 ,therefore we wait for ,his working1 expecting no miracle1 prescribing no time1 hurried by no impatience1 avoiding no task of defence or confession2 but knowing that1 unhasting and unresting ,he will arise when the storm is loudest1 and somehow will say1 ',peace6 be still4' ,then they who had not cast away their confidence for any fashion of unbelief that passeth away will rejoice as they sing1 ',lo6 this is our ,god2 we have waited for ,him1 and ,he will save us4' ,this confidence is confirmed by the history of all the past assaults on ,scripture4 ,the whole history of the origin1 collection1 preservation1 transmission1 diffusion1 and present influence of the ,bible involves so much that is surprising and unique1 as to amount to at least a strong presumption of a divine care4 ,among all the remarkable things about the ,book1 nothing is more remarkable than that there it is1 after all that has happened4 ,when we think of the gaps and losses in ancient literature1 and the long stormy centuries that lie between us and its earlier pages1 we can faintly estimate the chances against their preservation4 ,it is strange that the ,jewish race should have so jealously preserved books which certainly did not flatter national pride1 which put a mortifying explanation on national disasters1 which painted them and their fathers in dark colours1 which proclaimed truths they never loved1 and breathed a spirit they never caught4 ,it is stranger still1 that in the long years of dispersion the very vices and limitations of the people subserved the same end1 and that stiff pedantry and laborious trifling--the poorest form of intellectual activity--should have guarded the letter of the word1 as the coral insects painfully build up their walls round some fair island of the ,southern ,sea4 ,when one thinks of the great gulf of language between the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 of the variety of authors1 periods1 subjects1 literary form1 the animosities of ,christian and ,jew1 it is strange that we have the ,book here one1 and that all these parts should blend into unity1 unless the source and theme were one1 and one ,hand had shaped each1 and cared for the gathering together of all4 ,it has been demonstrated over and over again to have no pretensions to be a divine revelation2 and yet here it is1 believed by millions1 and rooted so firmly in ,european language and thought1 that no revolution short of a return to barbarism can abolish it4 ,it has been proved to be a careless1 unauthenticated collection of works of different periods1 styles1 and schools of thought1 having no unity but what is given by the bookbinder3 and lo6 here it is still1 not disintegrated1 much less dissolved4 ,each age brings its own destructive criticism to play on it1 confessing thereby that its predecessors have effected nothing2 for as the ,bible says about sacrifices1 so we may say about assaults on ,scripture1 ',if they had done their work1 would they not have ceased to be offered8' ,and the effect of the heaviest artillery that can be brought into position is as transient as the boom of their report and the puff of their smoke4 ,why1 who knows anything about the world's wonders of books that a hundred years ago made good men's hearts tremble for the ark of ,god8 ,you may find them in dusty rows on the top shelves of great libraries4 ,but if their names had not occurred in the pages of ,christian apologists1 flies in amber1 nobody in this generation would ever have heard of them4 ,and still more conspicuously is it so with earlier examples of the same kind4 ,their work is as hopelessly dead as they4 ,and the ,book seems none the worse for all the shot--like the rock that a ship fired at all night1 taking it for an enemy1 and could not provoke to answer nor succeed in sinking4 ,surely some dim suspicion of the hopelessness of the attempt might creep into the hearts of men who know what has been4 ,surely the signal failure and swift fading away of all former efforts to dethrone the ,bible might lead to the question1 ',does it not lay its deep foundations in the heart of man and the purpose of ,god1 too deep to be reached by the short tools of mere criticism1 too massive to be overthrown by all the weight of materialistic science8' ,it is with the ,bible as it was with the ,apostle1 on whose hand1 as he crouched over the newly-lit flame1 the viper fastened1 'and he shook off the beast into the fire1 and felt no harm4' ,the barbarous people1 who changed their minds after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to him1 were not altogether wrong1 and might teach a lesson to some modern wise men1 that1 among the other facts which they deal with1 they should try to estimate this fact of the continued existence and influence of ,scripture1 and the failure thus far of all attempts to shake its throne or break the sweet influences of its bands4 ,brethren6 we1 at all events1 should learn the lesson of historical experience4 ,the ,gospel and the ,book which is its record1 have met with eager1 eloquent1 learned antagonists before to-day1 and they have passed4 ,little more than a generation has sufficed to sweep them to oblivion4 ,so it will be again4 ,the forms of opinion1 the tendencies of thought1 which now seem to some of its enemies so certain to conquer1 will follow these forgotten precursors into the dim land4 ,may we not see them--these ancient discrowned kings that ruled over men and rebelled against ,christ1 these beliefs that no man now believes--rising from their shadowy thrones in the underworld to meet the now living and ruling unbelief1 when it1 too1 shall have gone down to them2 ',all they shall speak and say unto thee1 ,art thou also become weak as we8 art thou become like unto us8' ,yes1 each in its turn 'becomes but a noise' when he 'passes the time appointed'--the time when ,god arises to do ,his act and vindicate ,his word4 ,,ii4 ,we have here1 secondly1 earnest prayer which brings that divine energy4 ,the confidence that ,god will work underlies and gives energy to the prayer that ,god would work4 ,the belief that a given thing is in the line of the divine purpose is not a reason for saying1 ',we need not pray2 ,god means to do it1' but is a reason for saying on the contrary1 ',god means to do it2 let us pray for it4' ,and this prayer1 based upon the confidence that it is ,his will1 is the best service that any of us can render to the ,gospel in troublous times4 ,i shall have a word to say presently on the sort of outflow of the divine energy which we should principally expect and desire2 but let me first remind you1 very briefly1 how the prayers of ,christian men do condition--,i had almost said regulate--that outflow4 ,i need not put this matter on its abstract and metaphysical side4 ,two facts are enough for my present purpose--one1 a truth of faith1 that the actual power wherewith ,god works for ,his word remains ever the same2 one1 a truth of observation and experience1 that there are variations in the intensity of its operations and effects in the world4 ,wherefore8 ,surely because of the variations in the human recipients and organs of the power4 ,here at one end is the great fountain1 ever brimming4 ,draw from it ever so much1 it sinks not one hair's-breadth in its pure basin4 ,here1 on the other side1 is an intermittent flow1 sometimes in scanty driblets1 sometimes in painful drops1 sometimes more full and free on the pastures of the wilderness4 ,wherefore these jerks and spasms8 ,it must be something stopping the pipe4 ,yes1 of course4 ,god's might is ever the same1 but our capacity of receiving and transmitting that might varies1 and with it varies the energy with which that unchanging power is exerted in the world4 ,our faith1 our earnestness of desire1 our ardour and confidence of prayer1 our faithfulness of stewardship and strenuousness of use1 measure the amount of the unmeasured grace which we can receive4 ,so long as our vessels are brought1 the golden oil does not cease to flow4 ,when they are full1 it stays4 ,the principle of the variation in actual manifestation of the unvarying might of ,god is found in the ,lord's words3 ',according to your faith be it unto you4' ,so1 then1 we may expect periods of quickened energy in the forth-putting of the divine power4 ,and these will correspond to1 and be consequent on1 the faithful prayers of ,christian men4 ,see to it1 brethren6 that you keep the channels clear1 that the flow may continue full and increase4 ,let no mud and ooze of the world1 no big blocks of sin nor subtler accumulations of small negligences1 choke them again4 ,above all1 by simple1 earnest prayer keep your hearts1 as it were1 wide open to the ,sun1 and ,his light will shine on you1 and ,his grace fructify through you1 and ,his ,spirit will work in you mightily4 ,the tenor of these remarks presupposes a point on which ,i wish to make one or two observations now1 viz4 that the manner of the divine working which we should most earnestly desire in a time of diffused unbelief is the elevation of ,christian souls to a higher spiritual life4 ,i do not wish to exclude other things1 but ,i believe that the true antidote to a widespread scepticism is a quickened ,church4 ,we may indeed desire that in other ways the enemy should be met4 ,we ought to pray that ,god would work by sending forth defenders of the truth1 by establishing ,his ,church in the firm faith of disputed verities1 and by all the multitude of ways in which ,he can sway the thoughts and tendencies of men4 ,but ,i honestly confess that ,i1 for my part1 attach but secondary importance to controversial defences of the faith4 ,no doubt they have their office2 they may confirm a waverer1 they may establish a believer1 they may show onlookers that the ,christian position is tenable2 they may1 in some rare cases of transcendent power1 prevent a heresy from spreading and from descending to another generation4 ,but oftenest they are barren of result1 and where they do their work1 it is not to be forgotten that there may remain as true a making void of ,god's law by an evil heart of unbelief as by an understanding cased in the mail of denial4 ,you may hammer ice on an anvil1 or bray it in a mortar4 ,what then8 ,it is pounded ice still1 except for the little portion melted by heat of percussion1 and it will soon all congeal again4 ,melt it in the sun1 and it flows down in sweet water1 which mirrors that light which loosed its bonds of cold4 ,so hammer away at unbelief with your logical sledge-hammers1 and you will change its shape1 perhaps2 but it is none the less unbelief because you have ground it to powder4 ,it is a mightier agent that must melt it--the fire of ,god's affection1 of all lower1 howsoever tender1 loves that once filled the whole heart4 ,such surrender is not pain but gladness1 inasmuch as the deeper well that has been sunk dries the surface springs1 and gathers all their waters into itself4 ,the new treasure that has filled the heart compels1 by glad compulsion1 the surrender or1 at least1 the subordination1 of all former affections to the constraint of all-mastering love4 ,the same thing is true in regard to the union of the soul with ,christ4 ,the description of the bride's abandonment of former duties and ties may be transferred1 without the change of a word1 to our relations to ,him4 ,if love to ,him has really come into our hearts1 it will master all our yearnings and tendencies and affections1 and we shall feel that we cannot but yield up everything besides1 by reason of the sovereign power of this new affection4 ,christ demands from us 7if ,i may use the word 'demand' for the beseeching of love71 for ,his sake1 and for our sakes1 the entire surrender of ourselves to ,him4 ,and that new affection will deal with the old loves1 just as the new buds upon the beech-trees in the spring deal with the old leaves that still hang withered on some of the branches4 ,it will push them from their hold1 and they will drop4 ,if a river should be turned into some dark cave where unclean beasts have herded and littered for years1 the bright waters would sweep out on their bosom all the filth and rottenness4 ,so1 when the love of ,christ comes surging and flashing into a heart1 it will bear out on its broad surface all conflicting and subordinate inclinations1 with the passions and lusts that used to rule and befoul the spirit4 ,christ demands complete surrender1 and1 if we are ,christians1 that absolute abandonment will not be a pain nor unwelcome4 ,we epidemic4 ,that is a doctrine which one influential school of modern disbelievers1 at all events1 cannot but admit4 ,what then8 ,why this--that to change the opinions you must change the atmosphere2 or1 in other words1 the true antagonist of a diffused scepticism is a quickened ,christian life4 ,brethren6 if we had been what we ought1 would such an environment have ever been possible as that which produces this modern unbelief8 ,even now1 depend upon it1 we shall do more for ,christ by catching and exhibiting more of ,his ,spirit than by many arguments--more by words of prayer to ,god than by words of reasoning to men4 ,a higher tone of spiritual life would prove that the ,gospel was mighty to mould and ennoble character4 ,if our own souls were gleaming with the glory of ,god1 men would believe that we had met more than the shadow of our own personality in the secret place4 ,if the fire of faith were bright in us1 it would communicate itself to others1 for nothing is so contagious as earnestness4 ,if we believed1 and therefore spoke1 the accent of conviction in our tones would carry them deep into some hearts4 ,if we would trust ,christ's ,cross to stand firm without our stays1 and arguing less about it1 would seldomer try to prop it1 and oftener to point to it1 it would draw men to itself4 ,when the power and reality of ,scripture as the revelation of ,god are questioned1 the best answer in the long-run will be a ,church which can adduce itself as the witness1 and can say to the gainsayers1 ',why1 herein is a marvellous thing1 that ye know not from whence ,he is1 and yet ,he hath opened mine eyes6' ,brethren6 do you see to it that your life be thus a witness that you have heard ,his voice2 and make it your contribution to the warfare of this day1 if you do not bear a weapon1 that you lift your hands and heart to ,god4 ,moses on the mount helped the struggling ranks below in their hand-to-hand combat with ,amalek4 ,hezekiah's prayer1 when he spread the letter of the invader before the ,lord1 was more to the purpose than all his munitions of war4 ,let your voice rise to heaven like a fountain1 and blessings will fall on earth4 ',arise1 ,o ,lord6 plead ,thine own cause4 ,the tumult of those that rise up against ,thee increaseth continually4' ,,iii4 ,we have here1 thirdly1 as the fitting attitude in times of widespread unbelief1 a love to ,god's word made more fervid by antagonism4 ,there may be a question what reason for the ,psalmist's love is pointed at in this 'therefore4' ,we shall hardly be satisfied with the slovenly and not very reverent explanation1 that the word is introduced1 without any particular meaning1 because it begins with the initial letter proper to this section2 nor does it seem enough to suppose a mere general reference to the excellences of the law of the ,lord1 which are the theme of the whole psalm4 ,such an interpretation blunts the sharp edge of the thought1 and has nothing in its favour but the general want of connection between the separate verses4 ,there are1 however1 one or two other instances where a thought is pursued through more than one verse1 and the usual mere juxtaposition gives place to an interlocking1 so that the construction is not unexampled4 ,it is most natural to take the plain meaning of the words1 and to suppose that when the ,psalmist said1 ',they have made void ,thy law1 therefore ,i love ,thy commandments1' he meant1 ',the prevailing opposition is the reason why ,i1 for my part1 grasp ,thy law more strongly4' ,the hostility of others evokes my warmer love4 ,the thought1 so understood1 is definite1 true1 and important1 and so ,i venture to construe it1 and enforce it as containing a lesson for the day4 ,and here ,i would first observe that ,i desire not to be understood as urging the substitution of feeling for reason1 nor as trying to enlist passion in a crusade against the opponent's logic4 ,still less do ,i desire to counsel the exaggeration of opinions because they are denied--that besetting danger of all controversy4 ,but surely the emotions have a place and an office1 if not indeed in the search for1 and the submission to1 the truth of ,god1 yet in the defence and adherence to that truth when found4 ,the heart may not be the organ for the investigation and apprehension of truth1 though it has a part to play even there2 but the tenacity with which ,i cleave to truth1 when apprehended1 is far more an affair of the will than of the understanding--it is the heart's love steadying the mind1 and holding it fixed to the rock4 ,and love has also a place in the defence of the truth4 ,it gives weight to blows1 and wings to the arrows4 ,it makes arguments to be wrought in fire rather than in frost4 ,it lights the enthusiasm which cannot despair1 the diligence that will not weary1 the fervour that often goes farther to sway other minds than the sharpest dialectics of a passionless understanding4 ,there are causes in which an unimpassioned advocacy is worse than silence2 and this is one of them4 ,the word of the living ,god which has saved our souls and brought to us all that makes our natures rich and strong1 and all that peoples the great darkness with fair hopes solid as certainties1 demands and deserves fervour in its soldiers1 and loyal love in its subjects4 ,and while it is weakness to over-emphasise our beliefs merely because they are denied1 and one of the saddest issues of controversy1 that both sides are apt to be hurried into exaggerated statements which calmer thoughts would repudiate2 on the other hand1 there is a legitimate prominence which ought to be given to a truth precisely because it is denied4 ,the time to underline and accentuate strongly our convictions is1 when society is slipping away from them1 provided it be done without petulance1 passion1 or the falsehood of extremes4 ,if ever there was a period when such general considerations as these had a practical application1 this is the time4 ,would that all such as my voice now reaches would take these grand words for theirs3 ',they make void ,thy law1 therefore ,i love ,thy commandments above gold2 yea1 above fine gold6' ,such increase of affection because of gainsayers is the natural instinct of loyal and chivalrous love4 ,if your mother's name were defiled1 would not your heart bound to her defence8 ,when a prince is a dethroned exile1 his throne is fixed deeper in the hearts of his adherents 'though his back be at the wall' and common souls become heroes because their devotion has been heightened to sublimity of self-sacrifice by a nation's rebellion4 ,and when so many voices are proclaiming that ,god has never spoken to men1 that our thoughts of ,his ,book are dreams1 and its long empire over men's spirits a waning tyranny1 does cool indifference become us8 ,will not fervour be sobriety1 and the glowing emotion of our whole nature our reasonable service8 ,such increase of affection because of gainsayers is the fitting end and main blessing of the controversy which is being waged4 ,we never fully hold our treasures till we have grasped them hard1 lest they should be plucked from us4 ,no truth is established till it has been denied and has survived4 ,antagonism to the word of ,god should have1 and will have1 to those who use it rightly1 a blessing in its train1 in bringing out yet more of the preciousness and manifoldness1 the all-sufficiency and the universality of the ,book4 ',the more 'tis shook1 the more it shines4' ,the fiercer the blast1 the firmer our confidence in the inexpugnable solidity of that tower of strength that stands four square to every wind that blows4 ',the word of the ,lord is tried1 therefore ,thy servant loveth it4' ,such increase of attachment to the word of ,god because of gainsayers1 is the instinct of self-preservation4 ,the sight of so many making void the law makes a man bethink himself of what his own standing is4 ,we1 as they1 are the children of the age4 ,the tendencies to which they have yielded operate on us too1 and our only strength is1 ',hold ,thou me up1 and ,i shall be safe6' ,the present condition of opinion remands us all to our foundations1 and should teach us that nothing but firm adherence to ,god revealed in ,his word1 and to the word which reveals ,god1 will prevent us1 too1 from drifting away to shoreless1 solitary seas of doubt1 barren as the foam1 and changeful as the crumbling1 restless wave4 ,such strength of affection in the presence of diffused doubt is not to be won without an effort4 ,all our churches afford us but too many examples of men and women who have lost the warmth of their first love1 if not their love itself1 for no better reason than because so many others have lost it4 ,the effect of popular unbelief stretches far beyond those who are directly affected by its arguments1 or avowedly adopt its conclusions4 ,it is hard to hold by a creed which so many influential voices tell you it is a sign of folly and of being behind the age to believe4 ,the consciousness that ,christian truth is denied1 makes some of you falter in its profession1 and fancy that it is less certain simply because it is gainsaid4 ,the mist wraps you in its folds1 and it is difficult to keep warm in it1 or to believe that love and sunshine are above it all the same4 ',because iniquity shall abound1 the love of many shall wax cold4' ,therefore1 brethren6 do you consciously endeavour that the tempest shall make you tighten your hold on ,christ and ,his word4 ,he appeals to us1 too1 with that most pathetic question1 in which yearning for our love and sorrow over the departed disciples blend so wondrously1 as if ,he cast ,himself on our loyalty3 ',will ye also go away8' ,let us answer1 not with the self-confidence that was so signally put to shame1 ',though all should forsake ,thee1 yet will not ,i'2 but with the resolve that draws its firmness from ,his fulness and from our knowledge of the power of ,his truth1 ',lord6 to whom shall we go8 ,thou hast the words of eternal life4' ,,iv4 ,and lastly1 we have here1 as the final trait in the temper which becomes such times1 healthy opposition to the ways which make void the word of the ,lord4 ,that is the ,psalmist's last movement of feeling1 and you see that it comes second1 not first1 in the order of his emotions4 ,it is the consequence of his love1 the recoil of his heart from the practices and theories which contradicted ,god's law4 ,now1 far be it from me to say a word which should fan the embers of the odium theologicum into a blaze against either men or opinions4 ,but there is a truth involved which seems to be in danger of being forgotten at present1 and that to the detriment of large interests as well as of the forgetters4 ,the correlative of a hearty love for any principle or belief is--we may as well use the obnoxious word--a healthy hatred for its denial and contradiction4 ,they are but two aspects of one thing1 like that pillar of old which1 in its single substance1 was a cloud and darkness to the foes1 and gave light by night to the friends of ,him who dwelt in it4 ,nay1 they are but two names for the very same thing viewed in the very same motion1 which is love as it yearns towards and cleaves to its treasure2 and hatred1 as by the identical same act it recoils and withdraws from the opposite3 ',he will hold to the one1 and therefore and therein despise the other4' ,much popular teaching as to ,christian truth seems to me to ignore this plain principle1 and to be working harm1 especially among our younger cultivated men and women1 whom it charms by an appearance of liberality1 which in their view1 contrasts very favourably with the narrowness of us sectarians4 ,i am free to admit that in our zeal about small matters 7and in a certain 'provincialism1' so to speak1 which characterised the type of ,english ,christianity till within a recent period7 we needed1 and still need1 the lesson1 and ,i will thankfully accept the rebuke that reminds me of what ,i ever tend to forget1 that the golden rod1 wherewith the divine ,builder measures from jewel to jewel in the walls of the ,new ,jerusalem1 takes in wider spaces than we have meted with our lines4 ,but that is a very different matter from the tone which vitiates and weakens so much modern adherence to ,christ's ,gospel and ,christ's ,church4 ,the old principle1 'in essentials unity1 in non-essentials liberty1' made no attempt to determine what belonged to these two classes1 and in practice their bounds may often have been wrongly set1 so as to include many of the latter among the former2 but it at all events recognised the distinction as the basis of its next clause1 'in all things1 charity4' ,but nowadays1 to listen to some liberal teachers1 one would think that nothing was necessary1 except the great sacred principle1 that nothing is necessary2 and that charity could not exist1 unless that distinction were effaced4 ,i pray you1 and if ,i may venture so far1 ,i would especially pray my younger hearers1 to take note1 that however fair this way of looking at varying forms of ,christian opinion may be1 it really reposes on a basis which they will surely think twice before accepting1 the denial that there is such a thing as intellectual certitude in religion which can be cast into definite propositions4 ,if there be any truth at all1 to confess it is to deny its opposite1 to cleave to this is to reject that1 to love the one is to hate the other4 ,i fear--,i know--that there are many minds among us who began with simply catching this tone of tolerance1 and who have been insensibly borne along to an enfeebled belief that there is such a thing as religious truth at all1 and that the truth lies in the word of ,god4 ,dear friends6 let me beseech you to take heed lest1 while you are only conscious of your hearts expanding with the genial glow of liberality1 by little and little you lose your power of discerning between things that differ1 your sense of the worth of the ,scripture as the depository of divine truth1 and from your slack hand the hem of the vesture in which its healing should fall away4 ,as broad a liberality as you please within the limits that are laid down by the very nature of the case4 ',these things are written that ye might believe that ,jesus is the ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 and that believing1 ye might have life through ,his name4' ,wheresoever that record is accepted1 that divine ,name confessed1 that faith exercised1 and that life possessed1 there1 with all diversities1 own a brother4 ,wheresover these things are not1 loyalty to your ,lord demands that the strength of your love for ,his word should be manifested in the strength of your recoil from that which makes it void4 ',i love ,thy commandments1 and ,i hate every false way4' ,i am much mistaken if times are not rapidly coming on us when a decisive election of his side will be forced on every man4 ,the old antagonists will be face to face once more4 ,compromises and hesitations will not serve4 ,the country between the opposing forces will be stripped of every spot that might serve as cover for neutrals4 ,on the one side a mighty host1 its right the ,pharisees of ecclesiasticism and ritual1 with their banner of authority1 making void the law of ,god by their tradition2 its left1 and never far away from their opposites on the right with whom they are strangely leagued1 working into each other's hands1 the ,sadducees denying angel and spirit1 with their war-cry of unfettered freedom and scientific evidence2 and in the centre1 far rolling1 innumerable1 the dusky hosts of mere animalism1 and worldliness1 and self1 making void the law by their sheer godlessness4 ,and on the other side1 ',he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood1 and ,his name is called the ,word of ,god1 and they that were with ,him were called1 and chosen1 and faithful4' ,the issue is certain from of old4 ,do you see to it that you are of those who were valiant for the truth upon the earth4 ,let not the contradiction of many move you from your faith2 let it lift your eyes to the hills from whence cometh our help4 ,let it open your desires in prayer to ,him who keeps ,his own word1 that it may keep ,his ,church and bless the world4 ,let it kindle into fervent enthusiasm1 which is calm sobriety1 your love for that word4 ,let it make decisive your rejection of all that opposes4 ,driftwood may float with the stream2 the ship that holds to her anchor swings the other way4 ,send that word far and wide4 ,it is its own best evidence4 ,it will correct all the misrepresentation of its foes1 and supplement the inadequate defences of its friends4 ,amid all the changes of attacks that have their day and cease to be1 amid all the changes of our representations of its endless fulness1 it will live4 ,schools of thought that assail and defend it pass1 but it abides4 ,of both enemy and friend it is true1 ',the grass withereth1 and the flower thereof passeth away4' ,how antique and ineffectual the pages of the past generations of either are1 compared with the ever-fresh youth of the ,bible1 which1 like the angels1 is the youngest and is the oldest of books4 ,the world can never lose it2 and notwithstanding all assaults1 we may rest upon ,his assurance1 whose command is prophecy1 when ,he says1 ',write it before them in a table1 and note it in a book1 that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever4' ,,submission ,,and ,,peace ',great peace have they which love ,thy law2 and nothing shall offend them4' ,,psalm cxix4 #afe4 ,the marginal note says 'they shall have no stumbling block4' ,we do great injustice to this psalm--so exuberant in its praises of 'the law of the ,lord'--if we suppose that that expression means nothing more than the ,mosaic or ,jewish revelation4 ,it does mean that1 of course1 but the psalm itself shows that the writer uses the expression and its various synonyms as including a great deal more than any one method by which ,god's will is made known to man4 ,for he speaks1 for instance1 in one part of the psalm of ,god's 'word1' as being settled for ever in the heavens1 and of the heavens and earth as continuing to this day1 'according to ,thine ordinances4' ,so we are warranted in giving to the thought of our text the wider extension of taking the divine 'law' to include not only that directory of conduct contained in ,scripture1 but the expressed will of ,god1 involving duties for us1 in whatever way it is made known4 ,the love of that uttered will1 the ,psalmist declares1 will always bring peace4 ,such an understanding of the text does not exclude the narrower reference1 which is often taken to be the only thought in the ,psalmist's mind1 nor does it obliterate the distinction between the written law of ,god and the disclosures of ,his will which we collect by the exercise of our faculties on events around and facts within us4 ,but it widens the horizon of our contemplations1 and bases the promised peace on its true foundation1 the submission of the human to the divine will4 ,let us then consider how true love to the will of ,god1 however it is made known to us1 either in the ,book or in our consciousness1 or in daily providences1 or by other people's hints1 is the talisman that brings to us1 in all circumstances1 and in every part of our nature1 a tranquillity which nothing can disturb4 ,of course1 by 'love' here is meant1 not only delight in the expression of1 but the submission of the whole being to1 ,god's will2 and we love the law only when1 and because1 we love the ,lawgiver4 ,i4 ,thus loving the law of ,god1 not only with delight in the vehicle of its expression1 but with inward submission to its behests1 we shall have1 first of all1 the peacefulness of a restful heart4 ,such a heart has found an adequate and worthy object for the outgoings of its affections4 ,base things loved always disturb4 ,noble things loved always tranquillise4 ,and he to whom his judgment declares that the best of all things is ,god's manifested will1 and whose affections and emotions and actions follow the dictate of his judgment1 has a love which grasps whatsoever things are noble and fair and of good report1 and is lifted to a level corresponding with the loftiness of its objects4 ,for our hearts are like the creatures in some river1 of which they tell us that they change their colour according to the hue of the bed of the stream in which they float and of the food of which they partake4 ,the heart that lives on the will of ,god will be calm and steadfast1 and ennobled into reposeful tranquillity like that which it grasps and grapples4 ,little boats which are made fast to the sides of a ship rise and fall with the tide1 as does that to which they are attached4 ,and our hearts1 if they be roped to the fleeting1 the visible1 the creatural1 the finite1 partake of the fluctuations1 and finally are involved in the destruction1 of that which they have made their supreme good4 ,and contrariwise1 they who love that which is eternal shine with a light thrown by reflection from the object of their love1 and 'he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever1' like the will which he doeth4 ',great peace'--the peace of a restful heart--'have they that love ,thy law4' ,,ii4 ,then again1 such love brings the calm of a submitted will4 ,brethren6 it is not sorrow that troubles us so much as resistance to sorrow4 ,it is not pain that lacerates2 it cuts1 and cuts clean when we keep ourselves still and let it do its merciful ministry upon us4 ,but it is the plunging and struggling under the knife that makes the wounds jagged and hard to heal4 ,the man who bows his will to the ,supreme1 in quiet acceptance of that which ,he sends1 is never disturbed4 ,resistance distracts and agitates2 acquiescence brings a great calm4 ,submission is peace4 ,and when we have learned to bend our wills1 and let ,god break them1 if that be ,his will1 in order to bend them1 then 'nothing shall by any means hurt us'2 and nothing shall by any means trouble us4 ,if you were ever on board a sailing-ship you know the difference between its motion when it is beating up against the wind and when it is running before it4 ,in the one case all is agitation and uneasiness1 in the other all is smooth and frictionless and delicious4 ,so1 when we go with the great stream1 in not ignoble surrender1 then we go quietly4 ,it is ,god's great intention1 in all that befalls us in this life1 to bring our wills into conformity with ,his4 ,blessed is the ministry of sorrow and of pain and of loss1 if it does that for us1 and disastrous and accursed is the ministry of joy and success if it does not4 ,there is no joy but calm1 and there is no calm but in--not the annihilation1 but--the intensest activity of will1 in the act of submitting to that higher will1 which is discerned to be 'good1' and is gratefully taken as 'acceptable1' and will one day be seen to have been 'perfect4' ,the joy and peace of a submitted will are the secret of all true tranquillity4 ,,iii4 ,then again1 there comes by such a love the peace of an obedient life4 ,when once we have taken it 7and faithfully adhere to the choice7 as our supreme desire to do ,god's will1 we are delivered from almost all the things that distract and disturb us4 ,away go all the storms of passion1 and we are no more at the mercy of vagrant inclinations4 ,we are no longer agitated by having to consult our own desires1 and seeking to find in them compass and guide for our lives--a hopeless attempt6 ,all these sources of agitation are dried up1 and the man who has only this desire1 to do his duty because ,god has made it such1 has an ever powerful charm1 which makes him tranquil whatever befalls4 ,and as thus we may be delivered from all the agitations and cross-currents of conflicting wishes1 inclinations1 aims1 which otherwise would make a jumble and a chaos of our lives1 so1 on the other hand1 if for us the supreme desire is to obey ,god1 then we are delivered from the other great enemy to tranquillity--namely1 anxious forecasting of possible consequences of our actions1 which robs so many of us of so many quiet days4 ',i do the little ,i can do1' said ,faber1 'and leave the rest with ,thee1' and that will bring peace4 ,instead of wondering what is to come of this step and that1 whether our plans will turn out as we hope1 and so being at the mercy of contingencies impossible to be forecasted1 we cast all upon ,him and say1 ',i have nothing to do with the far end of my actions4 ,thou givest them a body as it has pleased ,thee4 ,i have to do with this end of my actions--their motive2 and ,i will make that right1 and then it is ,thy business to make the rest right4' ,and so1 'great peace have they which love ,thy law4' ,an obedient life not only delivers us from the distractions of miscellaneous desires1 and from the anxiety of unforeseen results1 but it contributes to tranquillity in another way4 ,the thing that makes us most uneasy is either sin done or duty neglected4 ,either of these1 however small it may appear1 is like a horse-hair upon the sheets of a bed1 or a little wrinkle in that on which a man lies1 disturbing all his repose4 ,no man is really at rest unless his conscience is clear4 ',the wicked is like the troubled sea1 which cannot rest1 whose waters cast up mire and dirt4' ,but if the uttered will of the ,lord is our supreme object1 then in this direction1 too1 tranquillity is ours4 ,,iv4 ,lastly1 such a love gives the peace of freedom from temptations4 ',nothing shall offend them4' ',there shall be no stumbling-block to them4' ,the higher love casts out the lower4 ,it is well1 when1 by reinforcing conscience by considerations of duty1 or even sometimes by the lower thoughts of consequences1 a man is able to pass by a temptation which appeals to him1 and conquers the inclination to go wrong4 ,but it is far better--and it is possible--to be lifted up into such a region as that the temptation does not appeal to him any more4 ,to take a very homely illustration1 whether is it better for a man to steel himself1 and walk past the door of a public-house1 though the fumes appeal to his sense1 and stir his inclinations2 or to go past1 and never know any attraction to enter8 ,which is best1 to overcome our temptations1 or to live away up in the high regions to which the malaria of the swamps never climbs1 and where no disease-germs can ever reach8 ,that elevation is possible for us1 if only we keep in close touch with ,god1 and love the law because our hearts are knit to the ,law-giver4 ',there shall be no occasion of stumbling in him1' as the ,apostle ,john varies the expression of my text4 ,within1 there will be no traitors to surrender the camp to the enemy without4 ,so ,paul in the letter to the ,philippians attributes to 'the peace of ,god which passeth understanding' a military function1 and says that it will 'garrison the heart and mind1' and keep them 'in ,christ ,jesus1' which is but the ,christian way of saying1 ',great peace have they which love ,thy law2 and there is no occasion of stumbling in them4' ,,looking ,,to ,,the ,,hills ',i will lift up mine eyes unto the hills1 from whence cometh my help4 #b4 ,my help cometh from the ,lord1 which made heaven and earth4' --,,psalm cxxi4 #a1 #b4 ,the so-called ',songs of ,degrees1' of which this psalm is one1 are usually1 and with great probability1 attributed to the times of the ,exile4 ,if that be so1 we get an appropriate background and setting for the expressions and emotions of this psalm4 ,we see the exile1 wearied with the monotony of the long-stretching1 flat plains of ,babylonia1 summoning up before his mind the distant hills where his home was4 ,we see him wondering how he will be able ever to reach that place where his desires are set2 and we see him settling down1 in hopeful assurance that his effort is not in vain1 since his help comes from the ,lord4 ',i will lift up my eyes unto the hills'2 away out yonder westwards1 across the sands1 lie the lofty summits of my fatherland that draws me to itself4 ,then comes a turn of thought1 most natural to a mind passionately yearning after a great hope1 the very greatness of which makes it hard to keep constant4 ,for the second clause of my text cannot possibly be1 as it is translated in our ,authorised ,version1 an affirmation1 but must be taken as the ,revised ,version correctly gives it1 a question3 ',i will lift up mine eyes unto the hills4 ,from whence cometh my help8' ,how am ,i to get there8 ,and then comes the final turn of thought3 ',my help cometh from the ,lord1 which made heaven and earth4' ,so then1 there are three things here--the look of longing1 the question of weakness1 the assurance of faith4 ,i4 ,the look of longing4 ',i will lift up mine eyes unto the hills'--a resolution1 and a resolution born of intense longing4 ,now the hills that the ,psalmist is thinking about were visible from no part of that long-extended plain where he dwelt2 and he might have looked till he wore his eyes out1 ere he could have seen them on the horizon of sense4 ,but although they were unseen1 they were visible to the heart that longed for them4 ,he directs his desires further than the vision of his eyeballs can go4 ,just as his possible contemporary1 ,daniel1 when he prayed1 opened his window towards the ,jerusalem that was so far away2 and just as ,mohammedans still1 in every part of the world1 when they pray1 turn their faces to the ,kaabah at ,mecca1 the sacred place to which their prayers are directed2 and just as many ,jews still1 north1 east1 south or west though they be1 face ,jerusalem when they offer their supplications--so this psalmist in ,babylon1 wearied and sick of the low levels that stretched endlessly and monotonously round about him1 says1 ',i will look at the things that ,i cannot see1 and lift up my eyes above these lownesses about me1 to the loftinesses that sense cannot behold1 but which ,i know to be lying serene and solid beyond the narrowing horizon before me4' ,there was the look of longing1 and the longing which made non-vision into a look2 and there was the effort to divert his attention from the things around him to the things afar off2 and there was the realisation1 by reason of the effort1 of these distant but most certain realities4 ,now this ,psalmist's home-sickness1 if ,i may so call it1 had nothing at all religious about it4 ,it was simply that he wanted to get to his own country--his own1 though he had been born in exile2 and there was nothing more devout or spiritual or refining about his longing than there is about the wish to return to his native country that any foreigner in a distant land feels4 ,but when we take these words1 as we all ought to do1 as the motto of our lives1 we must necessarily attach the loftiest religious meaning to them4 ,and here start up the plain1 simple1 but tight-gripping and stimulating questions1 ',do ,i see the ,unseen8 ,does that far-off1 dim land assume substance and reality to me8 ,do ,i walk in the light of it raying out to me through earth's darkness8 ,do ,i dwell contented with never a glimpse of it8' ,it comes to be a very sharp question with us professing ,christians1 whether the horizon of our inward being is limited by1 and coterminous with1 the horizon of our senses1 or whether1 far beyond the narrow limits to which these can reach1 our spirits' desire stretches boundless4 ,are1 to us1 the things unseen the solid things1 and the things visible the shadows and the phantoms8 ,the ,apocalyptic seer1 in his rocky ,patmos1 was told that he was to be shown 'the things which are'2 and what was it that he saw8 ,a set of what people call unreal and symbolic visions4 ',the things which are1' the world would have said1 'are the rocks that you are standing on1 and the sea that is dashing upon them1 and all the solid-seeming ,roman world1 and the power that has got you in its grip4 ,these are the realities1 and these things that you think you see1 these are the dreams4' ,but it is exactly the other way4 ,the world and all that is about us1 ,manchester and its hubbub1 warehouses crammed with cloth1 and mills full of jennies and throstles--these are the shadows2 and the things that only the believing eye beholds1 that are wrapped in the invisibility of their own greatness1 these1 and these only1 are the realities4 ,we see with the bodily eyes the shadows on the wall1 as it were1 but we have to turn round and see with the eyes of our minds the light that flings the shadows4 ',i will lift up my eyes' from the mud-flats where ,i live to the hills that ,i cannot see1 and1 seeing them1 ,i shall be blessed4 ,further1 do we know anything of that longing that the ,psalmist had8 ,he was perfectly comfortable in ,babylon4 ,there was abundance of everything that he wanted for his life4 ,the ,jews there were materially quite as well off1 and many of them a great deal better off1 than ever they had been in their narrow little strip of mountain land1 shut in between the desert and the sea4 ,but for all that1 fat1 wealthy ,babylon was not ,palestine4 ,so amidst the lush vegetation1 the wealth of water and the fertile plains1 the ,psalmist longed for the mountains1 though the mountains are often bare of green things4 ,it was that longing that led to his looking to the hills4 ,do we know anything of that longing which makes us 'that are in this tabernacle to groan1 being burdened'8 ',absent from the ,lord1' and 'present in the body1' we should not be at ease1 nor at home4 ,unless our ,christianity throws us out of harmony and contentment with the present1 it is worth very little4 ,and unless we know something of that immortal longing to be nearer to ,god1 and fuller of ,christ1 and emancipated from sense1 and from the burdens and trivialities of life1 we have yet to learn what the meaning of 'walking not after the flesh but after the ,spirit' really is4 ,further1 do we make any effort like that of this ,psalmist1 who encourages and stimulates himself by that strong ',i will lift up my eyes'8 ,you will not do it unless you make a dead lift of effort4 ,it is a great deal easier for a man to look at what is at his feet than to crane his neck gazing at the stars4 ,and so1 unless we take up and persevere in maintaining a habitual attitude of stirring up and lifting up ourselves1 gravitation will be too much for us1 and down will go the head1 and down the eyes2 and down will go the desires1 and we shall be like men that live in some mountainous country1 who never lift their gaze to the solemn white summits that travellers come across half ,europe to see4 ,christian men and women too often walk beneath the very peaks of the mountains of ,god1 and rarely lift their vision there4 ,they perhaps do so for an hour and a half on a ,sunday morning1 or an hour on a ,wednesday evening1 when there is no other engagement1 or for a minute or two in the morning before they hurry down to breakfast1 or a minute or two at night when they are dead beat and unfit for anything4 ,for the rest of the time1 there are the mountains and here is the saint1 and he seldom or never turns his head to look at them6 ,is that the sort of ,christianity that is likely to be a power in the world1 or a blessing to its possessor8 ,,ii ,further1 notice the question of weakness4 ',from whence cometh my help8' ,the loftier our ideal1 the more painful ought to be our conviction of incapacity to reach it4 ,the ,christian man's one security is in feeling his peril1 and the condition of his strength is his acknowledgment and vivid consciousness always of his weakness4 ,the exile in ,babylon had a dreary desert1 peopled by wild ,arab tribes hostile to him1 stretching between his present home and that where he desired to be1 and it would be difficult for him to get away from the dominion that held him captive1 unless by consent of the power of whom he was the vassal4 ,so the more the thought of the mountains of ,israel drew the ,psalmist1 the more there came into his mind the thought1 ',how am ,i to be made able to reach that blessed soil8' ,and surely1 if we saw1 with anything like a worthy apprehension and vision1 the greatness of that blessedness that lies yonder for ,christian souls1 we should feel far more deeply than we do the impossibility1 as far as we are concerned1 of our ever reaching it4 ,the sense of our own weakness and the consciousness of the perils upon the path ought ever to be present with us all4 ,brethren6 if1 on the one hand1 we have to cultivate1 for a healthy1 vital ,christianity1 a vision of the mountains of ,god1 on the other hand we have to try to deepen in ourselves the wholesome sense of our own impotence1 and the conviction that the dangers on the road are far too great for us to deal with4 ',blessed is the man that feareth always4' ',pride goeth before destruction4' ,remember the ,franco-,german war1 and how the ,french ,prime ,minister said that they were going into it 'with a light heart1' and how some of the troops went out of ,paris in railway carriages labelled 'for ,berlin'2 and when they reached the frontier they were doubled up and crushed in a month4 ,unless we1 when we set ourselves to this warfare1 feel the formidableness of the enemy and recognise the weakness of our own arms1 there is nothing but defeat for us4 ,,iii4 ,finally1 notice the assurance of faith4 ,the ,psalmist asks himself1 ',from whence cometh my help8' and then the better self answers the questioning1 timid self3 ',my help cometh from the ,lord1 which made heaven and earth4' ,there will be no reception of the divine help unless there is a sense of the need of the divine help4 ,god cannot help me before ,i am brought to despair of any other help4 ,it is only when a man says1 ',there is none other that fighteth for us1 but only ,thou1 ,o ,god6' that ,god comes to help4 ,there is a story in the ,book of ,chronicles1 about one battle in which ,judah engaged1 of a very singular kind4 ,the first step in the campaign was that the king of ,judah gathered all his people together1 and prayed to ,god1 and said1 ',we know not what we shall do4 ,we have no strength against this great multitude that cometh against us1 but our eyes are unto ,thee4' ,then a prophet came and assured him of victory1 and next day they arrayed the battle4 ,it was set in this strange fashion3 in the forefront were put the priests and ,levites1 with their instruments of music1 and not soldiers with spears and bows1 and they marched out to battle with this song1 ',the ,lord is gracious and merciful4 ,his mercy endureth for ever4' ,then1 without the stroke of sword or thrust of spear1 ,god fought for them and scattered their foes4 ',which things are an allegory4' ,if we recognise our helplessness1 ,god is our help4 ,if we conceit ourselves to be strong1 we are weak2 if we know ourselves to be impotent1 ,omnipotence pours itself into us4 ,we read once that ,jesus ,christ healed 'them that had need of healing4' ,why does the ,evangelist not say1 without that periphrasis1 'healed the sick'8 ,because he would emphasise1 ,i suppose1 amongst other things1 the thought that only the sense of need fits for the reception of healing and help4 ,if1 then1 we desire that ,god should be 'the ,strength of our hearts1 and our ,portion for ever1' the coming of ,his help must be wooed and won by our sense of our own impotence1 and only they who say1 ',we have no might against this great multitude that cometh against us1' will ever hear from ,him the blessed assurance1 ',the ,lord will fight for you4' ',stand still1 and see the salvation of the ,lord6' ,so1 brethren6 the assurance of faith follows the consciousness of weakness1 and both together will lead1 and nothing else will lead1 to the realisation of the vision of faith1 and bring us at last1 weak as we are1 to the hills where the weary and foot-sore flock 'shall lie down in a good fold1 and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of ,israel4' ,,mountains ,,round ,,mount ,,zion ',they that trust in the ,lord shall be as ,mount ,zion1 which cannot be removed1 but abideth for ever4 #b4 ,as the mountains are round about ,jerusalem1 so the ,lord is round about ,his people from henceforth1 even for ever4'--,,psalm cxxv4 #a1 #b4 ,the so-called ',songs of ,degrees1' of which this psalm is one1 are probably a pilgrim's song-book1 and possibly date from the period of the restoration of ,israel from the ,babylonish captivity4 ,in any case1 this little psalm looks very much like a record of the impression that was made on the pilgrim1 as he first topped the crest of the hill from which he looked on ,jerusalem4 ,two peculiarities of its topographical position are both taken here as symbols of spiritual realities1 for the singularity of the situation of the city is that it stands on a mountain and is girdled by mountains4 ,there is a tongue of land or peninsula cut off from the surrounding country by deep ravines1 on which are perched the buildings of the city1 while across the valley on the eastern side is ,olivet1 and1 on the south1 another hill1 the so-called ',hill of ,evil ,counsel'2 but upon the west and north sides there are no conspicuous summits1 though the ground rises4 ,thus1 really1 though not apparently1 there lie all round the city encircling defences of mountains4 ,similarly1 says the ,psalmist1 set and steadfast as on a mountain1 and compassed about by a protection1 like the bastions of the everlasting hills1 are they whose trust is in the ,lord4 ,faith1 then1 gives inward stability1 and faith secures an encircling defence4 ,but1 more than that1 notice that the mountains encompass a mountain4 ,faith1 in some measure1 makes the protected like the ,protector4 ,and then1 beyond that1 notice the two 'for evers4' ,zion cannot be moved1 it 'abideth for ever1' and 'the ,lord is about ,his people from henceforth and for ever4' ,to trust in ,god gives the transitory creature a kind of share in the uncreated eternity of that in which he trusts4 ,now these are four thoughts worth carrying away with us4 ,i4 ,the simple act of trust in ,god brings inward stability4 ,the word here that is rightly translated 'trust1' like most expressions in the ,old ,testament for religious emotion1 has a distinctly metaphorical colouring about it4 ,it literally means to 'hang upon' something1 and so1 beautifully1 it tells us what faith is--just hanging upon ,god4 ,whoever has laid his tremulous hand on a fixed something1 partakes1 in the measure in which he does grasp it1 of the fixity of that on which he lays hold2 so 'they that trust in the ,lord shall be as ,mount ,zion1' that stands there summer and winter1 day and night1 year out and year in1 with its strong buttresses and its immovable mass1 the very emblem of solidity and stability4 ,ay6 and this is true about these tremulous hearts of ours4 ,there is one way to make them stable1 and only one2 and that is that they shall be fastened1 as it were1 to that which is stable1 and so be steadfast because they hold by what is steadfast4 ,there is no other means by which any heart can be made immovable1 except in so far as it may be moved by holy impulses and sweet drawings of love and loftinesses of aspiration towards ,god2 there is no other means by which a heart1 with all its inward perturbations and all its outward sources of agitation1 can be made calm and still1 except by living1 deep1 continual fellowship with ,him who is the ,eternal ,calm1 and from whose stable ,being we mutable men can derive serenity which is a faint likeness of ,his immutability4 ',we which have believed do enter into rest4' ,how can ,i still these hot desires of mine1 this self-asserting will1 all these various passions and emotions which sweep through my soul1 and which must not be made mute and dead--or else there will come corruption and stagnation--but must be made so to move as that in their very motion shall be rest8 ,how can ,i do that8 ,by one way1 and one only4 ,live in fellowship with ,god1 and that will quiet perturbations within and tumults without4 ,the foot of the ,master on the midnight stormy sea will smooth the waves which the moonbeams have not power to still1 but only to reveal their heavings4 ',they that trust in the ,lord shall be like ,mount ,zion1 which cannot be moved1' and yet is not torpid in its immobility1 but full of fertility and of beauty wedded to its steadfastness4 ,in like manner1 the only way by which not only the inward storms can be quieted1 but the outward assaults of perturbing circumstances1 disasters1 changes1 difficult duties1 and the like1 can ever be received with tranquillity is1 that they should be received in quiet faith4 ,and1 in like manner1 the only way by which men can be made steadfast and immovable in brave1 pertinacious adherence to the simple law of right1 whatsoever temptations may try to draw them aside1 and whatsoever frowns may gather upon the face of affairs so as to frighten them from the path of rectitude--the only way by which they can conquer evil1 so as not to be hurried into forbidden paths1 is this same making sure of their hold upon ,god1 and carrying with them day by day1 and moment by moment1 into all the little difficulties and small temptations that would lead to trivial faults1 the one solemn thought that bids all these back into their lairs--,god is near me and ,i am with ,him4 ,oh1 brethren6 if we could live in touch with ,him and1 as this great word for 'trust' suggests1 be fastened to ,him1 as a man1 swinging from a cliff over the crawling sea1 fathoms below him1 clutches the rope that is his safety--then we should live in tranquillity1 and be steadfast1 immovable4 ,they say that in the great church of ,st4 ,peter there is only one temperature in summer and winter2 that the fiercest heat may be pouring down in the colonnades1 or the sharpest frost may have silenced the tinkling fall of the fountains in the ,piazza2 but within the great portal the thermometer stands the same4 ,thus1 if we live in the ,temple1 and keep inside its doors1 the thermometer in our hearts will be fixed2 and the anemometer--the measurer of the wind--will point to calm all the year round4 ',they that trust in the ,lord shall be as ,mount ,zion1 which cannot be moved4' ,,ii4 ,again1 this same attitude of realising the divine ,presence1 ,will1 and ,help1 will bring around us encircling defences4 ,i have already said that one peculiarity of the topography of the sacred city is that1 at first sight1 the metaphor of my text seems to break down1 for nobody1 looking at the situation of the city with uninstructed eye1 would say that it was compassed all around with mountains4 ,on two sides it manifestly is2 on two sides it apparently is not1 though the land rises on the north and west till it is higher than the tops of the houses4 ,we may not be fanciful in taking that as a parable4 ',as the mountains are round about ,jerusalem1 so the ,lord is round about ,his people'--a very real defence1 but a defence that it takes an instructed eye to see2 no obvious protection1 palpable to the vulgar touch1 and manifest to the sensuous eye1 but something a great deal better than that--a real protection1 through which we may be sure that nothing which is evil can ever pass4 ,whatsoever does get over the encircling mountains1 and reaches us1 we may be sure1 is not an evil but a very real good4 ,only we have to interpret the protection on the principles of faith1 and not on those of sense4 ,when1 then1 there come down upon us--as there do upon us all1 thank ,god6--dark days1 and sad days1 and solitary days1 and losses and bitternesses of a thousand kinds1 do not let us falter in the belief that if we have our hearts set on ,god1 nothing has come to us but what ,he has let through4 ,our sorrows are ,his angels1 though their faces are dark1 and though they bear a sword that flames and turns every way4 ,it is hard to believe2 it is certainly true1 and if we could carry the confidence of it as a continual possession into our ordinary lives1 they would be very different from what they are to-day4 ,,iii4 ,and then1 remember the other thing that ,i said4 ,my text suggests that-- ,simple trust in ,god1 in some measure1 assimilates the protected to the ,protector4 ,the mountains girdle a mountain1 and so my trust opens my heart to the entrance into my heart of something akin to ,god4 ,as the ,apostle ,peter1 in his brave way1 is not afraid to say1 it makes us 'partakers of the divine nature4' ,the immovableness of the trustful man is not all unlike the calmness of the trusted ,god2 and the steadfastness of the one is a reflex of the unchangeableness of the other4 ,we have not understood the meaning of faith1 nor have we risen to the experience of its best effects upon ourselves1 unless we understand that its great blessing and fruit1 and the purpose for which we are commanded to cherish it1 is that thereby we may become like ,him in whom we trust4 ',they that make them are like unto them2 so is every one that trusteth in them4' ,that is the key to the degradations that inhere in idolatrous worship1 and that principle is true about all worship--as the god so is every one that trusteth in it4 ',as the mountains are round about ,mount ,zion1' ,god is round about the people that are becoming ,godlike4 ,,iv4 ,mark further the significant repetition of the same expression in reference to the stability of the man protected and the continuance of the protection4 ,both are 'for ever'4 ,that is to say1 if it is true that ,god is round about me1 and that1 in some humble measure1 my heart has been opening to be calmed and steadied by the influx of ,his own life1 then ,his 'for ever' is my 'for ever1' and it cannot be that ,he should live and ,i should die4 ,the guarantee of the eternal being of the trustful soul is the experience to-day of the reality of the divine protection4 ,and thus we may face everything--life1 death1 whatsoever may come1 assured that nothing touches the continuity and the perpetuity of the union between the trusting soul and the trusted ,god4 ',the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed1 but ,my lovingkindness shall not depart from thee2 nor shall the covenant of ,my peace be removed1 saith the ,lord4' ,the earthquake comes4 ,it shatters a continent and changes the face of nature2 makes valleys where there were mountains1 and mountains where there were vales1 and open seas where there were fertile plains and covers everything with ruin and with rubbish4 ,but there emerge from the cloudy and chaotic confusion the city perched on the hill and its encompassing heights4 ',the world passeth away1 and the fashion thereof1 but he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever4' ,,the ,,charge ,,of ,,the ,,watchers ,,in ,,the ,,temple ',behold1 bless ye the ,lord1 all ye servants of the ,lord1 which by night stand in the ,house of the ,lord4 #b4 ,lift up your hands in the ,sanctuary1 and bless the ,lord4 #c4 ,the ,lord that made ,heaven and earth bless thee out of ,zion4'--,,psalm cxxxiv4 ,this psalm1 the shortest but one in the whole ,psalter1 will be more intelligible if we observe that in the first part of it more than one person is addressed1 and in the last verse a single person4 ,it begins with ',bless ye the ,lord'2 and the latter words are1 ',the ,lord bless thee4' ,no doubt1 when used in the ,temple service1 the first part was chanted by one half of the choir1 and the other part by the other4 ,who are the persons addressed in the first portion8 ,the answer stands plain in the psalm itself4 ,they are1 ',all ye servants of the ,lord1 which by night stand in the ,house of the ,lord4' ,that is to say1 the priests or ,levites whose charge it was to patrol the ,temple through the hours of night and darkness1 to see that all was safe and right there1 and to do such other priestly and ministerial work as was needful2 they are called upon to 'lift up their hands in'--or rather towards--'the ,sanctuary1 and to bless the ,lord4' ,the charge is given to these watching priests1 these nightly warders1 by some single person--we know not whom4 ,perhaps by the ,high ,priest1 perhaps by the captain of their band4 ,they listen to the exhortation to praise1 and answer1 in the last words of this little psalm1 by invoking a blessing on the head of the unnamed speaker who gave the charge4 ,so we have in this antiphonal choral psalm a little snatch of musical ritual falling into two parts--the charge to the watchers and the answering invocation4 ,we may find a good deal of practical teaching in it4 ,let us look1 then1 at this choral charge and the response to it4 ,the charge to the watchers4 ,we do not know what the office of these watchers was1 but in the second ,temple1 to the period of which this psalm may possibly belong1 their duties were carefully defined1 and ,rabbinical literature has preserved a minute account of the work of the nightly patrol4 ,according to the authorities1 two hundred and forty priests and ,levites were the nightly guard1 distributed over twenty-one stations4 ,the captain of the guard visited these stations throughout the night with flaming torches before him1 and saluted each with ',peace be unto thee4' ,if he found the sentinel asleep he beat him with his staff1 and had authority to burn his cloak 7which the drowsy guard had rolled up for a pillow74 ,we all remember who warned ,his disciples to watch1 lest coming suddenly ,he should find them asleep4 ,we may remember1 too1 the blessing pronounced in the ,apocalypse on ',him who watcheth and keepeth his garments1 lest he walk naked4' ,shortly before daybreak the captain of the guard came1 as the ,talmud says3 ',all times were not equal4 ,sometimes he came at cockcrow1 or near it1 before or after it4 ,he went to one of the posts where the priests were stationed1 and opened a wicket which led into the court4 ,here the priests1 who marched behind him torch in hand1 divided into two companies which went one to the east1 and one to the west1 carefully ascertaining that all was well4 ,when they met each company reported ,it is peace4 ,then the duties of the watch were ended1 and the priests who were to prepare for the daily sacrifice entered on their tasks4' ,our psalm may be the chant and answering chant with which the nightly charge was given over to the watchers1 or it may be1 as some commentators suppose1 'the call and counter-call with which the watchers greeted each other when they met4' ,figure then1 to yourselves1 the band of white-robed priests gathered in the court of the ,temple1 their flashing torches touching pillar and angle with strange light1 the city sunk in silence and sleep1 and ere they part to their posts the chant rung in their ears3--',bless ye the ,lord1 all ye servants of the ,lord which by night stand in the ,house of the ,lord6 ,lift up your hands to the ,sanctuary1 and bless the ,lord6' ,notice1 then1 that the priests' duty is to praise4 ,it is because they are the servants of the ,lord that1 therefore1 it is their business to bless the ,lord4 ,it is because they stand in the ,house of the ,lord that it is theirs to bless the ,lord4 ,they who are gathered into ,his ,house1 they who hold communion with ,him1 they who can feel that the gate of the ,father's dwelling1 like the gate of the ,father's heart1 is always open to them1 they who have been called in from their wanderings in a homeless wilderness1 and given a place and a name in ,his ,house better than of sons and daughters1 have been so blessed in order that1 filled with thanksgiving for such an entrance into ,god's dwelling and of such an adoption into ,his family1 their silent lips may be filled with thanksgiving and their redeemed hands be uplifted in praise4 ,so for us ,christians4 ,we are servants of the ,lord--,his priests4 ,that we 'stand in the ,house of the ,lord' expresses not only the fact of our great privilege of confiding approach to ,him and communion with ,him1 whereby we may ever abide in the very ,holy of ,holies and be in the secret place of the ,most ,high1 even while we are busy in the world1 but it also points to our duty of ministering2 for the word 'stand' is employed to designate the attendance of the priests in their office1 and is almost equivalent to 'serve4' ',to bless the ,lord1' then1 is the work to which we are especially called4 ,if we are made a 'royal priesthood1' it is that we 'should show forth the praises of ,him who has called us out of darkness into ,his marvellous light4' ,the purpose of that full horn of plenty1 charged with blessings which ,god has emptied upon our heads1 is that our dumb lips may be touched into thankfulness1 because our selfish hearts have been wooed and charmed into love and life4 ,the ,rabbis had a saying that there were two sorts of angels3 the angels that served1 and the angels that praised2 of which1 according to their teaching1 the latter were the higher in degree4 ,it was only a half-truth1 for true service is praise4 ,but whatever the form in which praise may come1 whether it be in the form of vocal thanksgiving1 or whether it be the glad surrender of the heart1 manifested in the conscious discharge of the most trivial duties1 whether we 'lift up our hands in the ,sanctuary1 and bless the ,lord' with them1 or whether we turn our hands to the tools of our daily occupation and handle them for ,his sake1 alike we maybe praising ,him4 ,and the thing for us to remember is that the place where we1 if we are ,christians1 stand1 and the character which we1 if we are ,christians1 sustain1 bind us to live blessing and praising ,him whilst we live4 ',behold6'--as if ,he would point to all the crowded list of ,god's great mercies--',bless ye the ,lord1 all ye servants of the ,lord that 444 stand in the house of the ,lord4' ,and then there is another point that comes out of this charge to the watchers1 viz4 the necessity of strenuously trying to unite together service of ,god and communion with ,god4 ,these priests might have said--',when we go our rounds through the empty and echoing corridors of the dark ,temple1 we perform the charge which ,god gave us2 and it needs not that we pray4 ,we are working for ,him and doing the work which ,he appointed us2 and that is better than all external ritual4' ,but this unknown speaker who charges them knew better than that4 ,the priests' service under the ,old ,covenant was very unspiritual service4 ,their work was sometimes very repulsive and always purely external work1 which might be done without one trace of religion or devotion in it4 ,and so the speaker here warns them1 as it were1 against the temptation which besets all men that are concerned in the outward service of the house of ,god1 to confound the mere outward service with inward devotion4 ,the charge bids us remember that the more sedulously our hands and thoughts are employed about the externals of religious duties1 the more must we see to it that our inmost spirits are baptized into fellowship with ,god4 ,it is not enough to patrol the ,temple courts unless we 'lift up our hands to the sanctuary1' and with our hearts 'bless the ,lord4' ,and all we who in any degree and any department are officially or semi-officially connected with the work of the ,christian ,church have very earnestly and especially to lay this to heart4 ,we ministers1 deacons1 ,sunday-school teachers1 tract distributors1 have much need to take care that we do not confound watching in the courts of the ,temple with lifting up our own hands and hearts to our ,father that is in heaven2 and remember that the more outward work we do1 the more inward life we ought to have4 ,the higher the stem of the tree grows and the broader its branches spread the deeper must strike and the wider must extend its underground roots1 if it is not to be blown over and become a withered ruin4 ,and so all you ,christian men and women6 will you take the plain lesson that is here8 ,all ye that stand ready for service1 and doing service1 all 'ye that stand in the house of the ,lord1 behold' your peril and your duty--and 'bless ye the ,lord1' and remember that the more work the more prayer to keep it from rotting2 the more effort the more communion2 and that at the end we shall discover with alarm1 and with shame confess ',i kept others' vineyards and my own vineyard have ,i not kept'2 unless1 like our ,master1 we prepare for a day of work and toil in the ,temple by a night of quiet communion with our ,father on the mountainside4 ,and then there is another lesson here which ,i only touch1 and that is that all times are times for blessing ,god4 ',ye who by night stand in the house of the ,lord1 bless the ,lord'3 so though no sacrifice was smoking on the altar1 and no choral songs went up from the company of praising priests in the ritual service2 and although the nightfall had silenced the worship and scattered the worshippers1 yet some low murmur of praise would be echoing through the empty halls all the night long1 and the voice of thanksgiving and of blessing would blend with the clank of the priests' feet on the marble pavements as they went their patrolling rounds2 and their torches would send up a smoke not less acceptable than the wreathing columns of the incense that had filled the day4 ,and so as in some convents you will find a monk kneeling on the steps of the altar at each hour of the four-and-twenty1 adoring the ,sacrament exposed upon it1 so 7but in inmost reality and not in a mere vulgar outside form that means nothing7 in the ,christian heart there should be a perpetual adoration and a continual praise--a prayer without ceasing4 ,what is it that comes first of all into your minds when you wake in the middle of the night8 ,yesterday's business1 to-morrow's vanities1 or ,god's present love and your dependence upon ,him8 ,in the night of sorrow1 too1 do our songs go up1 and do we hear and obey the charge which commands not only perpetual adoration1 but bids us fill the night with music and with praise8 ,well for us if it be1 anticipating the time when 'they rest not day nor night saying1 ,holy6 ,holy6 ,holy6' ,now1 that is the priests' charge4 ,look for a moment at the answering blessing3 ',the ,lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of ,zion4' ',thee8' ,whom8 ,him who gave the solemn charge4 ,their obedience to it is implied in the blessing which the priests invoke on the head of the unnamed speaker4 ,so they express their joyful consent to his charge1 and their desires for his welfare whose clear voice has summoned them to their high duty and privilege4 ,they obey1 and their first prayer is a prayer for him4 ,may we venture to draw from this interchange of counsel and benediction a simple lesson as to the best form in which mutual goodwill and friendship may express itself8 ,it is by the interchange of stimulus to ,god's service and praise1 and of grateful prayer4 ,he is my best friend who stirs me up to make my whole life a strong sweet song of thanksgiving to ,god for all ,his numberless mercies to me4 ,even if the exhortation becomes rebuke1 faithful are such wounds4 ,it is but a shallow affection which can be eloquent on other subjects of common interests1 but is dumb on this1 the deepest of all2 which can counsel wisely and rebuke gently in regard to other matters1 but has never a word to say to its dearest concerning duty to the ,god of all mercies4 ,and the true response to any loving exhortation to bless ,god1 or any religious impulse which we receive from one another1 is to invoke ,god's blessing on faithful lips that have given us counsel4 ,this is the best recompense to ,christian teachers4 ,if any poor words of ours have come to any of your hearts with power for conviction1 or instruction1 or encouragement1 let your response be1 ,i beseech you1 ',the ,lord that hath made heaven and earth bless thee4' ,we need your prayers4 ,we are weak1 often sad1 often discouraged4 ,we are tempted ever to handle ,god's truth professionally1 instead of living on it for ourselves4 ,we are tempted to think that our work is in vain1 and to lose heart because we do not see the spiritual results which we would fain reap4 ,and in many an hour of languor and despondency1 when the wheels of life turn heavily and the sky seems very far away1 and our message seems to have lost its grandeur and certainty to ourselves1 and our handling of it looks as if it had been one long failure1 then we need and may be helped by the voice of cheer coming through the night from those whom we have tried to counsel3 ',the ,lord that made heaven and earth bless thee4' ,but observe1 further1 the two kinds of blessing which answer to one another--,god's blessing of man1 and man's blessing of ,god4 ,the one is communicative1 the other receptive and responsive4 ,the one is the great stream which pours itself over the precipice2 the other is the basin into which it falls and the showers of spray which rise from its surface1 rainbowed in the sunshine1 as the cataract of divine mercies comes down upon it4 ,god blesses us when ,he gives4 ,we bless ,god when we thankfully take1 and praise the ,giver4 ,god's blessing then1 must ever come first4 ',we love ,him because ,he first loved us4' ,ours is but the echo of ,his1 but the acknowledgment of the divine act1 which must precede our recognition of it as the dawn must come in order that the birds may wake to sing4 ,our highest service is to take the gifts of ,god1 and with glad hearts to praise the ,giver4 ,our blessings are but words4 ,god's blessings are realities4 ,we wish good to one another when we bless each other4 ,but ,he does good to men when ,he blesses them4 ,our wishes may be deep and warm1 but1 alas6 how ineffectual4 ,they flutter round the heads of those whom we would bless1 but how seldom do they actually rest upon their brows4 ,but ,god's blessings are powers4 ,they never miss their mark4 ,whom ,he blesses are blessed indeed4 ,that experience of the ineffectual emptiness of blessings from the most loving hearts gives point to the emphatic designation here of 'the ,lord which made heaven and earth1' a formula which is common in this connection4 ,it brings before the eye of faith the mighty ,name1 and the mighty work of ,him in whose blessing we shall be rich4 ,he is the ,lord1 the ,eternal and the ,covenant ,king4 ,he has made heaven and earth4 ,if ,he who lives above all limitations of time1 the ,source of life1 who has the fulness of life in ,himself1 ,he who has revealed ,himself to ,israel and bound ,himself to fulfil ,his covenant with all who plead it1 ,he whose sovereign effortless power willed and spake into being the azure deeps of heaven with all its stars1 and the solid earth with its tribes--if ,he1 with such infinite resources to bestow on us as we need1 if ,he blesses us1 it will be with no vain wishes nor with the invoking of the goodwill of a higher power1 but with the veritable communication of good1 and we shall be blessed indeed4 ,observe1 too1 the channel through which ,god's blessings come--'out of ,zion4' ,for the ,jew1 the fulness of divine glory dwelt between the ,cherubim1 and the richest of the divine blessings were bestowed on the waiting worshippers there1 and no doubt it is still true that ,god dwells in ,zion1 and blesses men from thence4 ,the ,new ,testament analogue to the ,old ,testament ,temple is no outward building4 ,that would be absurd confusing of the very nature of type and antitype4 ,a material type must have a spiritual fulfilment4 ,a rite cannot correspond to a rite1 nor a building to a building4 ,but the correspondence in ,christianity to the ,temple where ,god dwelt1 and from which ,he scattered ,his blessings is twofold--one proper and original1 the other secondary and derived4 ,in the true sense1 ,jesus ,christ is the ,temple4 ,in ,him ,god dwelt2 in ,him1 man meets ,god2 in ,him was the place of revelation2 in ,him the place of sacrifice4 ',in this place is one greater than the ,temple1' and the abiding of ,jehovah above the mercy-seat was but a material symbol1 shadowing and foretelling the true indwelling of all the fulness of the ,godhead bodily in that true ,tabernacle which the ,lord hath pitched and not man4 ,so the great fountain of all possible good and benediction which was opened for the believing ,jew in ',zion1' is opened for us in ,jesus ,christ who stood in the very court of the ,temple1 and called in tones of clear1 loud invitation3 ',if any man thirst let him come unto ,me and drink4' ,we may each pass through the rent veil into the holiest of all1 and there1 laying our hand on ,jesus1 touch ,god1 and opening our empty palm extended to ,him1 can receive from ,him all the blessing that we need4 ,there is another application of the ,temple symbol in the ,new ,testament--a derivative and secondary one--to the ,church1 that is1 to the aggregate of believers4 ,in it ,god dwells through ,christ4 ,receiving ,his ,spirit1 instinct with ,his life1 it is ,his ,body1 and as in ,his earthly life ',he spake of the ,temple of ,his literal body1' so now that ,church becomes the ,temple of ,god1 being builded through the ages4 ,in that ,zion all ,god's best blessings are possessed and stored1 that the ,church may1 by faithful service1 impart them to the world4 ,whosoever desires to possess these blessings must enter thither--not by any ceremonial act1 or outward profession1 but by becoming one of those who put their whole heart's confidence in ,jesus ,christ4 ,within that sacred enclosure we receive whatever divine love and power can give4 ,if we are knit to ,christ by our faith1 we share in proportion to our faith in all the wealth of blessing with which ,god has blessed ,him4 ,we possess ,christ and in ,him all4 ,the ancient benediction1 which came from the lips of the priestly watchers1 and rang through the empty corridors of the darkened ,temple1 asked for much3 ',the ,lord who made heaven and earth bless thee out of ,zion4' ,but the ,apostolic assurance sounds a yet deeper and more wonderful note of confidence when it proclaims that already1 however to ourselves we may seem sad and needy1 and however little we may have counted our treasures or made them our own1 ',god hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in ,christ ,jesus4' ,,god',s ,,scrutiny ,,longed ,,for ',search me1 ,o ,god1 and know my heart2 try me1 and know my thoughts2 #bd4 ,and see if there be any wicked way in me1 and lead me in the way everlasting4'--,,psalm cxxxix4 #bc1 #bd4 ,this psalm begins with perhaps the grandest contemplation of the divine ,omniscience that was ever put into words4 ,it is easy to pour out platitudes upon such a subject1 but the ,psalmist does not content himself with generalities4 ,he gathers all the rays1 as it were1 into one burning point1 and focusses them upon himself3 ',oh1 ,lord6 ,thou hast searched me1 and known me4' ,all the more remarkable1 then1 is it that the psalm should end with asking ,god to do what it began with declaring that ,he does4 ,he knows us each1 altogether2 whether we like it or not1 whether we try to hinder it or not1 whether we remember it or not4 ,singular1 therefore1 is it to find this prayer as the very climax of all the ,psalmist's contemplation4 ,it is more than the 'searching' which was spoken of at the beginning1 which is desired at the end4 ,it is a process which has for its issue the cleansing of all the evil that is beheld4 ,the prayer of the text is in fact the yearning of the devout soul for purity4 ,i simply wish to consider the series of petitions here1 in the hope that we may catch something of their spirit1 and that some faint echo of them may sound in our desires4 ,my purpose1 then1 will be best accomplished if ,i follow the words of the text1 and look at these petitions in the order in which they stand4 ,i4 ,note then1 first1 the longing for the searching of ,god's eye4 ,now1 the word which is here rendered 'search' is a very emphatic and picturesque one4 ,it means to dig deep4 ,god is prayed1 as it were1 to make a cutting into the man1 and lay bare his inmost nature1 as men do in a railway cutting1 layer after layer1 going ever deeper down till the bed-rock is reached4 ',search me'--dig into me1 bring the deep-lying parts to light--'and know my heart'2 the centre of my personality1 my inmost self4 ,that is the prayer1 not of fancied fitness to stand investigation1 but of lowly acknowledgment4 ,in other words1 it is really a form of confession4 ',search me4 ,i know ,thou wilt find evil1 but still--search me6' ,it seems to me that there are two main ideas in this petition1 on each of which ,i touch briefly4 ,one is1 that it is a glad recognition of a fact which is very terrible to many hearts4 ,the conception of ,god as 'knowing me altogether1' down to the very roots of my being1 is either the most blessed or the most unwelcome thought1 according to my conception of what ,his heart to me is4 ,if ,i think of ,him1 as so many of us do1 as simply the 'austere man' who 'gathers where he did not straw1' and 'reaps where he did not sow'2 if my thought of ,god is mainly that of an ,investigator and a ,judge1 with pure eyes and rigid judgment1 then ,i shall be more ignorant of myself1 and more confident in myself1 than the most of men are when they bethink themselves1 if ,i do not feel that ,i shrink up like a sensitive plant's leaf when a finger touches it1 and would fain curl myself together1 and hide from ,his eye something that ,i know lurks and poisons at the centre of my being4 ,the gaoler's eye at the slit in the wall of the solitary prisoner's cell is a constant terror to the man who knows that it may be upon him at every moment1 and does not know where the eyehole is1 or when the merciless eye may be at it1 but if we love one another we do not shrink from opening out our inward baseness to each other4 ,we can venture to tell those that are dear to us as our own hearts the things that lie in our own hearts and make them black and ugly in all eyes but love's2 or if we cannot venture to do it wholly1 at all events we do it more fully1 and more willingly1 and with more of something that is almost pleasure in the very act of confession1 in proportion as we are bound by the sacred ties of love to the recipient of the confession4 ,there is a joy1 and a blessedness deeper than joy1 in discovering ourselves1 even our unworthy selves1 when we know that the eye that looks is a loving eye4 ,if1 then1 we have rightly conceived of our relation to ,him1 that infinite ,lover of all our hearts1 who looks1 'with other eyes than ours1 and makes allowance for us all1' there will be a certain blessedness1 almost like joy1 in turning ourselves inside out before ,him2 and in feeling that every corner of our hearts lies naked and opened unto the eyes of ,him with whom we have to do4 ',search me1 ,o ,god6' is the voice of confident love1 which is sure of the love that contemplates the sinner4 ,and for us ,christian people1 to whom all these attributes of ,deity are gathered together and brought very near our hearts and our experiences in the person of our ,brother ,christ1 the thought of such knowledge of us becomes still more blessed4 ,just as the ,apostle who was conscious of many sins1 could say to his ,master1 not in petulance1 but in deeply-moved confidence1 ',thou knowest all things6 ,why dost ,thou ask me questions8 ,thou knowest all things2 ,thou knowest1 notwithstanding my denials1 that ,i love ,thee1' so may we turn to ,jesus ,christ1 who knows what is in men1 and who knows each man1 and may be sure that the eye which looks upon our unworthiness pities our sinfulness1 and is ready to bear it all away4 ,there is a deeper gladness in pouring out our hearts to our loving ,lord than in locking them in sullen silence1 with the vain conceit that we thereby hide ourselves from ,him4 ,make a clean breast of your evil1 and you will find that the act has in it a blessedness all unique and poignant4 ',pour out your hearts before ,him1 ,o ye people6 ,god is a refuge for us4' ,this prayer is also an expression of absolute willingness to submit to the searching process4 ,god is represented in my text as searching the secrets of a man's heart1 not that ,god may know1 but that the man may know4 ,by ,his ,spirit ,he will come into the innermost corners of our nature1 if this prayer is a real expression of our desire1 and there the illumination of ,his presence will flash light into all the dark places of our experience and of our natures4 ,we cannot afford to be in ignorance of these4 ,pestilence breathes in the unventilated1 unlighted1 uncleansed recesses of a neglected nature4 ,it is only on condition of the light of ,god's convincing ,spirit being cast into every part of our being that we shall be able to overcome and annihilate the creeping swarms of microscopic sins that are there1 minute but mighty in their myriads to destroy a man's soul4 ',search me' is the expression of a penitence that knows itself to be full of evil1 that does not know all the evil of which it is full1 that needs enlightenment1 that desires deliverance1 that is sure of the love that looks1 and that so spreads itself1 as a bleacher spreads some piece of stained cloth in the gracious sunshine and sprinkles it with the pure water of heaven that all the stains may melt away4 ,it is useless to ask ,god to search us if we lock our hearts against ,his searching4 ,the mere natural exercise1 if ,i may so say1 of the divine attribute of ,omniscience we cannot hinder4 ,he knows us thereby altogether1 whether we like it or not2 but the 'searching' of my text is one which ,he cannot put in force without our consent4 ,we have to confess our sins unto the ,lord ere this kind of divine scrutiny can be brought to bear4 ,by ,his natural ,omniscience1 ,he knows them altogether1 but the seeing which is preparatory to destroying them depends on our willingness to submit ourselves to the often painful process by which ,he drags our sins to light4 ,do you want ,him to come and search your hearts1 and tell you in your spirits what ,he has found there8 ,do you desire to know your hidden evil8 ,then keep close to ,him1 and tell ,him what the sin is which you know to be sin2 and ask ,him to show you what the sins are which1 as yet1 you have not grown up to the height of understanding and acknowledging4 ,,ii4 ,next1 there follows the longing for the divine testing of our thoughts4 ,now you will have observed1 ,i suppose1 that in the second clause of my text1 'try me1 and know my thoughts' the result of the investigation is somewhat different from that of the previous clause4 ,the 'searching' issued in a divine knowledge of the heart2 the 'trying1' or testing1 issues in a divine knowledge of the thoughts4 ,the distinction between these two1 in the ,biblical use of the expressions1 is not precisely the same as in our modern popular speech4 ,we are accustomed to talk of the heart as being the seat of emotions1 affections1 feelings1 whereas we relegate thoughts to the head4 ,but ,scripture does not quite take that metaphorical view4 ,in it the heart is the centre of personal being1 and out of it there come1 not only emotions and loves1 but 'thoughts and intents4' ,the difference1 then1 between these two1 'heart' and 'thoughts' is this1 the one is the workshop and the other is the product4 ,the heart is the place where the thoughts are elaborated4 ,so you see the process of the ,psalmist's prayer is from the centre a little outwards1 first the inmost self1 and then the 'thoughts1' meaning thereby the whole web of activities1 both intellectual and emotional1 of which the heart1 in his sense of the word1 is the seat and source4 ,in like manner as the field of investigation is somewhat shifted in the second petition1 so the manner of investigation is correspondingly different4 ',search' is the divine scrutiny of the inner man by the eye2 'test' is the trial as metals are tried and proved by the fiery furnace4 ,so1 then1 the innermost man is searched by the divine knowledge1 and the thoughts which the innermost man produces are tested by the divine providence4 ,and our second petition is for a trial by facts1 by external agencies1 of the true nature and character of the purposes1 desires1 designs1 intentions1 as well as of the affections and loves and joys4 ,that is to say1 this second prayer submits absolutely to any discipline1 fiery and fierce and bitter1 by which the true character of a man's activities may be made clear to himself4 ,oh6 it is a prayer easily offered2 hard to stand by4 ,it is a prayer often answered in ways that drive us almost to despair4 ,it means1 ',do anything with me1 put me into any seven-fold heated furnace of sorrow1 do anything that will melt my hardness1 and run off my dross1 which ,thy great ladle will then skim away1 that the surface may be clear1 and the substance without alloy4' ,do you pray that prayer1 brother6 knowing all that it means1 and being willing to take the answer1 in forms that may rack your heart1 and sadden your whole lives8 ,if you are wise1 you will4 ,better to go crippled into life than1 'having two hands or two feet1 to be cast into hell fire'6 ,better to be saved though maimed1 than to be entire and lost4 ',try me4' ,it is an awful prayer4 ,let us not offer it lightly1 or unadvisedly2 but if we are wise let it be our inmost desire4 ,and when the answer comes1 and sorrows fall1 do not let us murmur1 do not let us kick1 do not let us wonder1 but let us say1 ',thou art a ,god that hearest prayer1' and ',i will glorify ,god in the fires4' ,then 'the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth1 though it be tried with fire1 shall be found unto praise and honour and glory4' ,,iii4 ,the next petition of my text is a longing for the casting out of evil4 ',see if there be any wicked way in me4' ,now1 that if is not the 'if' of doubt whether any such 'ways' are in the man1 but it is the 'if' of consciousness that there are such1 though what they are he may not clearly discern4 ,and so1 it is the 'if' of humility--knowing that he is not justified because he knows nothing against himself--and not the 'if' of presumption4 ,i have only time to observe here1 in a word or two1 what would well deserve more expanded treatment1 and that is1 the very striking and significant expression here employed for this evil way that the ,psalmist desires to be detected1 that it may be cast out4 ,the word rendered 'wicked'--or more properly1 wickedness--is literally 'forced labour1' which was1 in old times1 and still is in some countries1 laid upon the inhabitants at the command of authority2 and then1 because forced labour is grievous labour1 it comes to mean sorrow4 ,so the 'way of wickedness' that the ,psalmist feels is in him is the way of compulsory service1 and the way that leads to sorrow4 ,that is to say1 all sin is slavery1 and all sin leads to a bitter and a bad end1 and its fruit is death4 ,and so1 because the man feels that his better self is in bondage1 and shudderingly apprehends that the courses which he pursues can only end in bitterness and misery1 he turns to ,god and asks ,him that ,he would enlighten him as to what these fatal courses are4 ',see if there be any way of wickedness in me1' because he is quite sure that the evil which ,god sees1 ,god will help him to overcome4 ,ah1 friends6 we all have such ways deeply lodged within us1 and we do not always know that we have2 but if we will turn ourselves to ,him1 ,he will prevent our 'condemning ourselves in things that we allow' and increasing the sensitiveness of our consciences1 ,he will teach us that many things that we did not know to be wrong are harmful4 ,as soon as we learn that they are1 ,he will help us to cast them out4 ,god has nothing to do with our evil but to fight against it4 ,be sure of this1 that whatsoever evil in us ,he thus searches and shows us4 ,he does so in order to fling it from us4 ,he goes down into the cellars of our hearts1 with the candle of ,his ,spirit in ,his hand1 in order that ,he may lay hold of all the explosives there1 and having drenched them so that they shall not catch fire1 may cast them clean out so that they may not blow us to destruction4 ,,iv4 ,the last petition of my text is for guidance in 'the everlasting way4' ,the 'ways of wickedness' are in us2 the 'way everlasting' we need to be led into4 ,that is to say1 naturally we incline to evil2 it must be the divine hand and the divine ,spirit that lead our feet in the paths of righteousness4 ,when we ask ,him to 'guide us in the way everlasting1' we ask that we may know what is duty1 and that we may incline to do it4 ,and ,he answers it by the gift of ,his divine ,spirit1 by the quickening of our consciences1 by bringing nearer to our hearts the great ,example who has left us ,his footsteps as a legacy that we may tread in them4 ,whosoever walks in ,christ's footsteps is walking in 'the way everlasting1' for that path is rightly so named which leads to eternal blessedness4 ,it is everlasting1 too1 inasmuch as nothing of human effort or work abides except that which is in conformity with the will of ,god1 and inasmuch as it1 and it alone1 is not broken short off by death1 but runs1 borne upon one mighty arch that spans the gorge1 clean across the black abyss1 and continues straight on in the same course1 only with a swifter upward gradient1 through all the ages of eternity4 ,the man who here has lived for ,god will live yonder as he has lived here1 only more completely and more joyously for ever4 ',a highway shall be there1 and a way1 and the ransomed of the ,lord shall return and come to ,zion with songs1 and everlasting joy upon their heads4' ,,the ,,incense ,,of ,,prayer ',let my prayer be set forth before ,thee as incense1 and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice4'--,,psalm cxli4 #b4 ,the place which this psalm occupies in the ,psalter1 very near its end1 makes it probable that it is considerably later in date than the prior portions of the collection4 ,but the ,psalmist1 who here penetrates to the inmost meaning of the symbolic sacrificial worship of the ,old ,testament1 was not helped to his clear-sightedness by his date1 but by his devotion4 ,for throughout the ,old ,testament you find side by side these two trends of thought--a scrupulous carefulness for the observance of all the requirements of ritual worship1 and a clear-eyed recognition that it was all external and symbolical and prophetic4 ,who was it that said ',obedience is better than sacrifice1 and to hearken than the fat of rams'8 ,samuel1 away back in the times when many scholars tell us that the loftier conceptions of worship had not yet emerged4 ,similar utterances are scattered throughout the ,old ,testament1 and the prominence given to the more spiritual side depends not on the speaker's date but on his disposition and devotion4 ,so here this ,psalmist1 because his soul was filled with true longings after ,god1 passes clear through the externals and says1 ',here am ,i with no incense1 but ,i have brought my prayer4 ,i am empty-handed1 but because my hands are empty1 ,i lift them up to ,thee2 and ,thou dost accept them1 as if they were--yea1 rather than if they were--filled with the most elaborate and costly sacrifices4' ,so here are two thoughts suggested1 which sound mere commonplace1 but if we realised them1 in our religious life1 that life would be revolutionised2 first1 the incense of prayer2 second1 the sacrifice of the empty-handed4 ,let us look at these two points4 ,i4 ,the ,incense of ,prayer4 ',let my prayer come before ,thee as incense4' ,now1 that symbol of incense is thus used in many places in ,scripture4 ,i need only remind you of one or two instances4 ,you remember how1 when the father of ,john the ,baptist went into the ,holy ,place1 as was his priestly duty at the time of the offering of the evening oblation1 the whole multitude were in the ,outer ,court praying2 he in the ,inner ,court1 presenting the symbolical worship1 and they1 without1 offering the real4 ,then1 if we turn to the grand imagery of the ,book of the ,revelation1 where we find the heavenly temple opened up to our reverent gaze1 we read that the elders1 the representatives of redeemed humanity1 have 'golden bowls full of odours1 which are the prayers of the saints4' ,so there is no fancifulness in interpreting the incense of the ancient ritual as meaning simply the prayers of devout hearts4 ,of course there has been a great deal of nonsense talked about the symbolical signification of these ,old ,testament rites1 and there is need for sober sense to put the rein upon a vivid imagination in interpreting these2 still clear utterances of ,scripture as well as this verse itself remove all need for hesitation to accept this meaning of the symbol4 ,now1 let me remind you of the place which the ,altar of ,incense occupied4 ,the ,temple was divided into three courts1 the ,outer ,court1 the ,holy ,place1 and the ,holiest of ,all4 ,the ,altar of ,incense stood in the second of these1 the ,holy ,place2 the ,altar of ,burnt ,offering stood in the court without4 ,it was not until that ,altar1 with its expiatory sacrifice1 had been passed1 that one could enter into the ,holy ,place1 where the ,altar of ,incense stood4 ,there were three pieces of furniture in that ,place1 the ,altar of ,incense1 the ,golden ,candlestick1 and the ,table of the ,shewbread4 ,of these three1 the ,altar of ,incense stood in the centre4 ,twice a day the incense was kindled upon it by a priest1 by means of live coals brought from the ,altar of ,burnt ,offering in the ,outer ,court1 and1 thus kindled1 the wreaths of fragrant smoke ascended on high4 ,all day long the incense smouldered upon the altar2 twice a day it was kindled into a bright flame4 ,now1 if we take these things with us1 we can understand a little more of the depth and beauty of this prayer1 and see how much it tells us of what we1 as the priests of the most ,high ,god--which we are1 if we are ,christian people at all--ought to have in our censers4 ,i need not dwell upon the careful and sedulous preparation from pure spices which went to the making of the incense4 ,so we have to prepare ourselves by sedulous purity if there is to be any life or power in our devotions4 ,but ,i pass from that1 and ask you to think of the lovely picture of true devoutness given in that inflamed incense1 wreathing in coils of fragrance up to the heavens4 ,prayer is more than petition4 ,it is the going up of the whole soul towards ,god4 ,brother6 do you know anything of that instinctive and spontaneous rising up of desire and aspiration and faith and love1 up and up and up1 until they reach ,him8 ,do you realise that just in the measure in which we set our minds as well as our affections1 and our affections as well as our minds1 on the things which are above1 just to that extent1 and not one hairsbreadth further1 have we the right to call ourselves ,christians at all8 ,i fear me that for the great mass of ,christian professors the great bulk of their lives creeps along the low levels like the mists in winter1 that hug the marshes instead of rising1 swirling up like an incense cloud1 impelled by nothing but the fire in the censer up and up towards ,god4 ,let us each ask the question for himself1 ,is my prayer 'directed'--as is the true meaning of the ,hebrew word--'before ,thee as incense'8 ,remember1 too1 that the incense lay dead1 unfragrant1 and with no capacity of soaring1 till it was kindled2 that is to say1 unless there is a flame in my heart there will be no rising of my aspirations to ,god4 ,cold prayers do not go up more than a foot or two above the ground2 they have no power to soar4 ,there must be the inflaming before there can be the mounting of the aspiration4 ,you cannot get a balloon to go up unless the gas within it is warmer than the atmosphere round it4 ,it is because we are habitually such tepid ,christians that we are so tongue-tied in prayer4 ,where was the incense kindled from8 ,from coals brought from the ,altar of ,burnt ,offering in the outer court2 that is to say1 light the fire in your heart with a coal brought from ,christ's sacrifice1 and then it will flame2 and only then will love well upwards and desires be set on the things above4 ,the beginning of ,christian fervour lies in the habitual realising as a fact of the great love which 'loved me and gave itself for me4' ,there is no patent way of getting a vivid ,christian experience except the old way of clinging close to ,jesus ,christ the ,saviour2 and in order to do that1 we have to think about ,him1 as well as to feel about ,him1 a great deal more than ,i fear the most of us do4 ,further1 does not this lovely symbol of my text suggest to us a glorious thought1 the acceptableness even of our poor prayers1 if they come from hearts inflamed with love because of ,christ's great redeeming love8 ,the ,psalmist1 thinking humbly of himself and of the worth of anything that he can bring1 says1 ',let my prayer come before ,thee as incense1' an 'odour of a sweet smell1 acceptable to ,god'2 yes1 even our prayers will be sweet to ,him if they are prayers of true aspiration and mounting faith1 leaping from a kindled heart1 kindled at the great flame of ,christ's love4 ,were you ever in a ,roman ,catholic cathedral8 ,did you ever see there the little boys that carry the censers1 swinging them backwards and forwards every now and then1 and by means of the silver chains lifting the covers8 ,what is that for8 ,because the incense would go out unless the air was let into it4 ,so a constant effort is needed in order to keep the incense of our prayers alight4 ,we have to swing the censer to get rid of the things that make our hearts cold2 we have to stir the fire1 and only so shall we keep up our devotion4 ,remember the incense burned all day long on the altar2 though perhaps but smouldering1 like the banked-up fires in the furnaces of a steamer that lies at anchor1 still the glow was there2 and twice a day there came the priest with his pan full of fresh glowing coals from the altar in the ,outer ,court1 and kindled it up into a flame once more4 ,which things are thus far an allegory that our devotion is to be diffused throughout our lives in a lambent glow1 and if it is1 it will have to be fed by special acts of worship day by day4 ,you hear people talk of not caring about times and seasons of prayer1 and of the beauty of making all life a prayer4 ,amen6 ,i say so too4 ,but depend upon it that there will never be devotion diffused through life unless there is devotion concentrated at points in the life4 ,there must be reservoirs as well as pipes in order to supply the water through the whole city4 ,so the incense is perpetually to be heaped on the ,altar of ,incense1 but also it is to be stirred to a fragrant blaze and fed1 morning and evening1 by fresh coals from the altar4 ,,ii4 ,now let me say a word about the other thought here--the sacrifice of the empty-handed4 ',the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice4' ,in accordance with the genius of ,hebrew poetry the same general idea is repeated in the second member of the parallelism1 but with modifications4 ,what is implied in likening the uplifted empty hands to the evening sacrifice8 ,first1 it is a confession of impotent emptiness1 a lifting up of expectant hands to be filled with the gift from ,god4 ,and1 says this ,psalmist1 ',because ,i bring nothing in my hand1 ,thou dost accept me1 as if ,i came laden with offerings4' ,that is just a picturesque way of putting a familiar1 threadbare truth1 which1 threadbare as it is1 needs to be laid to heart a great deal more by us1 that our true worship and truest honour of ,god lies not in giving but in taking4 ',he is not worshipped with men's hands1 as though ,he needed anything1 seeing that ,he giveth to all life1 and breath1 and all things4' ,that one truth1 ,paul felt on ,mars ,hill1 was sure enough to make all the temples and statues by which he was surrounded crumble into nothingness4 ,but it does not merely destroy idolatry4 ,it cuts up by the root much of what we call ,christian worship4 ,how many people worship because they think they ought8 ,how many people talk about ,christian worship as being a duty--',our duty we have now performed'8 ,how many have never had a glimpse of this thought1 that ,god wills us to draw near to ,him1 not because it pleases ,him but because it blesses us1 and that we are to worship1 not in order that we may bring anything1 either the sacrifices of bulls and goats1 or the more refined ones that we bring nowadays1 but in order that1 bringing our emptiness into touch with ,his infinite fulness1 as much of that fulness as we need to make us full1 and as much of that blessedness as we need to make us blessed1 may pass into our lives4 ,oh6 if we understand 'the giving ,god1' as ,james calls ,him in his letter2 and if we had learned the old lesson of that fiftieth ,psalm1 ',if ,i were hungry ,i would not tell thee4444 ,will ,i eat the flesh of bulls and drink the blood of goats8 ,he that offereth praise glorifieth ,me1 and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will ,i show the salvation of ,god'--if we had learned that1 and laid it to heart1 and applied it to our own worship and our lives1 mountains of misconception would be lifted away from many hearts4 ,in our service we do not need to bring any merit of our own4 ,this great principle destroys not only the gross externalities of heathen sacrifice1 and the notion that worship is a duty1 but it destroys the other notion of our having to bring anything to deserve ,god's gifts4 ,and so it is an encouragement to us when we feel ourselves to be what we are1 and what we should always feel ourselves to be1 empty-handed1 coming to ,him not only with hearts that aspire like incense1 but with petitions that confess our need1 and cast ourselves upon ,his grace4 ,see that you desire what ,god wishes to give2 see that you go to ,him for what ,he does give4 ,see that you give to ,him the only thing that ,he does wish1 or that it lies in your power to give1 and that is yourself4 ,nothing in my hand ,i bring1 ,simply to ,thy ,cross ,i cling4 ',let the lifting of my hands be as the evening sacrifice'2 as the ,psalmist has it in another place1 ',what shall ,i render to the ,lord for all ,his benefits8'--it is not a question of rendering1 but ',i will take the cup of salvation4' ,taking is our truest worship1 and the lifting up of empty1 expectant hands is1 in ,god's sight1 as the evening sacrifice4 ,,the ,,prayer ,,of ,,prayers ',teach me to do ,thy will2 for ,thou art my ,god6 ,thy spirit is good2 lead me into the land of uprightness4'--,,psalm cxliii4 #aj4 ,these two clauses mean substantially the same thing4 ,the ,psalmist's longings are expressed in the first of them in plain words1 and in the second in a figure4 ',to do ,god's will' is to be in 'the land of uprightness4' ,that phrase1 in its literal application1 means a stretch of level country1 and hence is naturally employed as an emblem of a moral or religious condition4 ,a life of obedience to the will of ,god is likened to some far stretching plain1 easy to traverse1 broken by no barren mountains or frowning cliffs1 but basking1 peaceful and fruitful1 beneath the smile of ,god4 ,into such a garden of the ,lord the ,psalmist prays to be led4 ,in each case his prayer is based upon a motive or plea4 ',thou art my ,god'2 his faith apprehends a personal bond between him and ,god1 and feels that that bond obliges ,god to teach him ,his will4 ,if we adopt the reading in our ,bibles of our second clause a still deeper and more wonderful plea is presented there4 ',thy ,spirit is good1' and therefore the trusting spirit has a right to ask to be made good likewise4 ,the relation of the believing spirit to ,god not only obliges ,god to teach it ,his will1 but to make it partaker of ,his own image and conformed to ,his own purity4 ,so high on wings of faith and desire soared this man1 who1 at the beginning of his psalm1 was crushed to the dust by enemies and by dangers4 ,so high we may rise by like means4 ,i4 ,notice1 then1 first1 the supreme desire of the devout soul4 ,we do not know who wrote this psalm4 ,the superscription says that it was ,david's1 and although its place in the ,psalter seems to suggest another author1 the peculiar fervour and closeness of intimacy with ,god which breathes through it are like the ,davidic psalms1 and seem to confirm the superscription4 ,if so1 it will naturally fall into its place with the others which were pressed from his heart by the rebellion of ,absalom4 ,but be that as it may1 whosoever wrote the psalm1 was a man in extremest misery and peril1 and as he says of himself1 'persecuted1' 'overwhelmed1' 'desolate4' ,the tempest blows him to the ,throne of ,god1 and when he is there1 what does he ask8 ,deliverance8 ,scarcely4 ,in one clause1 and again at the end1 as if by a kind of after-thought1 he asks for the removal of the calamities4 ,but the main burden of his prayer is for a closer knowledge of ,god1 the sound of ,his lovingkindness in his inward ear1 light to show him the way wherein he should walk1 and the sweet sunshine of ,god's face upon his heart4 ,there is a better thing to ask than exemption from sorrows1 even grace to bear them rightly4 ,the supreme desire of the devout soul is practical conformity to the will of ,god4 ,for the prayer of our text is not ',teach me to know ,thy will4' ,the ,psalmist1 indeed1 has asked that in a previous clause--',cause me to know the way wherein ,i should walk4' ,but knowledge is not all that we need1 and the gulf between knowledge and practice is so deep that after we have prayed that we may be caused to know the way1 and have received the answer1 there still remains the need for ,god's help that knowledge may become life1 and that all which we understand we may do4 ,to such practical conformity to the will of ,god all other aspects of religion are meant to be subservient4 ,christianity is a revelation of truth1 but to accept it as such is not enough4 ,christianity brings to me exemption from punishment1 escape from hell1 deliverance from condemnation and guilt1 and by some of us1 that is apt to be regarded as the whole ,gospel2 but pardon is only a means to an end4 ,christianity brings to us the possibility of indulgence in sweet and blessed emotions1 and a fervour of feeling which to experience is the ante-past of heaven1 and for some of us1 all our religion goes off in vaporous emotion2 but feeling alone is not ,christianity4 ,our religion brings to us sweet and gracious consolations1 but it is a poor affair if we only use it as an anodyne and a comfort4 ,our ,christianity brings to us glorious hopes that flash lustre into the darkness1 and make the solitude of the grave companionship1 and the end of earth the beginning of life1 but it is a poor affair if the mightiest operation of our religion be relegated to a future1 and flung on to the close4 ,all these things1 the truth which the ,gospel brings1 the pardon and peace of conscience which it ensures1 the joyful emotion which it sets loose from the ice of indifference1 the sweet consolations with which it pillows the weary head and bandages the bleeding heart1 and the great hopes which flash light into glazing eyes1 and make the end glorious with the rays of a beginning1 and the western heaven bright with the promise of a new day--all these things are but subservient means to this highest purpose1 that we should do the will of ,god1 and be conformed to ,his image4 ,they whose religion has not reached that apex have yet to understand its highest meaning4 ,the river of the water of life that proceeds from the ,throne of ,god and the ,lamb is not sent merely to refresh thirsty lips1 and to bring music into the silence of a waterless desert1 but it is sent to drive the wheels of life4 ,action1 not thought1 is the end of ,god's revelation1 and the perfecting of man4 ,but1 then1 let us remember that we shall most imperfectly apprehend the whole sweep and blessedness of this great supreme aim of the devout soul1 if we regard this doing of ,god's will as merely the external act of obedience to an external command4 ,simple doing is not enough2 the deed must be the fruit of love4 ,the aim of the ,christian life is not obedience to a law that is recognised as authoritative1 but joyful moulding of ourselves after a law that is felt to be sweet and loving4 ',i delight to do ,thy will1 yea6 ,thy law is within my heart4' ,only when thus the will yields itself in loving and glad conformity to the will of ,god is true obedience possible for us4 ,brother6 is that your ,christianity8 ,do you desire1 more than anything besides1 that what ,he wills you should will1 and that ,his law should be stamped upon your hearts1 and all your rebellious desires and purposes should be brought into a sweet captivity which is freedom1 and an obedience to ,christ which is kingship over the universe and yourselves8 ,,ii4 ,note1 secondly1 the divine teaching and touch which are required for this conformity4 ,the ,psalmist betakes himself to prayer1 because he knows that of himself he cannot bring his will into this attitude of harmonious submission4 ,and his prayer for 'teaching' is deepened in the second clause of our text into a petition1 which is substantially the same in meaning1 but yet sets the felt need and the coveted help in a still more striking light1 in its cry for the touch of ,god's good spirit to guide1 as by a hand grasping the ,psalmist's hand1 into the paths of obedience4 ,we may learn from this prayer1 then1 that practical conformity to ,god's will can never be attained by our own efforts4 ,remember all the hindrances that rise between us and it2 these wild passions of ours1 this obstinate gravitating of tastes and desires towards earth1 these animal necessities1 these spiritual perversities1 which make up so much of us all--how can we coerce these into submission8 ,our better selves sit within like some prisoned king1 surrounded and 'fooled by the rebel powers' of his revolted subjects2 and our best recourse is to send an embassy to the ,over-lord1 the ,sovereign ,king1 praying ,him to come to our help4 ,we cannot will to will as ,god wills1 but we can turn ourselves to ,him1 and ask ,him to put the power within us which shall subdue the evil1 conquer the rebels1 and make us masters of our own else anarchic and troubled spirits4 ,for all honest attempts to make the will of ,god our wills1 the one secret of success is confident and continual appeal to ,him4 ,a man must have gone a very little way1 very superficially and perfunctorily1 on the path of seeking to make himself what he ought to be1 unless he has found out that he cannot do it1 and unless he has found out that there is only one way to do it1 and that is to go to ,god and say1 ',o ,lord6 ,i am baffled and beaten4 ,i put the reins into ,thy hand2 do ,thou inspire and direct and sanctify4' ,that practical conformity to the will of ,god requires divine teaching1 but yet that teaching must be no outward thing4 ,it is not enough that we should have communicated to us1 as from without1 the clearest knowledge of what we ought to be4 ,there must be more than that4 ,our ,psalmist's prayer was a prophecy4 ,he said1 ',teach me to do ,thy will4' ,and he thought1 no doubt1 of an inward teaching which should mould his nature as well as enlighten it2 of the communication of impulses as well as of conceptions2 of something which should make him love the divine will1 as well as of something which should make him know it4 ,you and ,i have ,jesus ,christ for our ,teacher1 the answer to the psalm4 ,his teaching is inward and deep and real1 and answers to all the necessities of the case4 ,we have ,his example to stand as our perfect law4 ,if we want to know what is ,god's will1 we have only to turn to that life2 and however different from ours ,his may have been in its outward circumstances1 and however fragmentary and brief its records in the ,gospels may sometimes seem to us1 yet in these little booklets1 telling of the quiet life of the carpenter's ,son1 there is guidance for every man and woman in all circumstances1 however complicated1 and we do not need anything more to teach us what ,god's will is than the life of ,jesus ,christ4 ,his teaching goes deeper than example4 ,he comes into our hearts1 ,he moulds our wills4 ,his teaching is by inward impulses and communications of desire and power to do1 as well as of light to know4 ,a law has been given which can give life4 ,as the modeller will take a piece of wax into his hand1 and by warmth and manipulation make it soft and pliable1 so ,jesus ,christ1 if we let ,him1 will take our hard hearts into ,his hands1 and by gentle1 loving1 subtle touches1 will shape them into the pattern of ,his own perfect beauty1 and will mould all their vagrant inclinations and aberrant distortions into 'one immortal feature of loveliness and perfection4' ',the grace of ,god that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men teaching that1 denying ungodliness and worldly lusts1 we should live soberly1' controlling ourselves1 'righteously1' fulfilling all our obligations to our fellows1 'and godly1' referring everything to ,him1 'in this present world4' ,that practical conformity to the divine will requires1 still further1 the operation of the divine ,spirit as our ,guide4 ',thy ,spirit is good lead me into the land of uprightness4' ,there is only one power that can draw us out of the far-off land of rebellious disobedience1 where the prodigals and the swine's husks and the famine and the rags are1 into the 'land of uprightness1' and that is1 the communicated ,spirit of ,god1 which is given to all them that desire ,him1 and will lead them in paths of righteousness for ,his name's sake4 ,it is ,he that works in us1 the willing and the doing1 according to ,his own good pleasure4 ',he shall guide you1' said the ,master1 'into all truth'--not merely into its knowledge1 but into its performance1 not merely into truth of conception1 but into truth of practice1 which is righteousness1 and the fulfilling of the ,law4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 note the divine guarantee that this practical conformity shall be ours4 ,the ,psalmist pleads with ,god a double motive--,his relation to us and ,his own perfectness1 ',thou art my ,god2 therefore teach me4' ',thy ,spirit is good2 therefore lead me into the land of uprightness4' ,i can but glance for a moment at these two pleas of the prayer4 ,note1 then1 first1 ,god's personal relation to the devout soul1 as the guarantee that that soul shall be taught1 not merely to know1 but also to do ,his will4 ,if ,he be 'my ,god1' there can be no deeper desire in ,his heart1 than that ,his will should be my will4 ,and this ,he desires1 not from any masterfulness or love of dominion1 but only from love to us4 ,if ,he be my ,god1 and therefore longing to have me obedient1 ,he will not withhold what is needed to make me so4 ,god is no hard ,taskmaster who sets us to make bricks without straw4 ,whatsoever ,he commands ,he gives1 and ,his commandments are always second and ,his gifts first4 ,he bestows ,himself and then ,he says1 ',for the love's sake1 do ,my will4' ,be sure that the sacred bond which knits us to ,him is regarded by ,him1 the faithful ,creator1 as an obligation which ,he recognises and respects and will discharge4 ,we have a right to go to ,him and to say to ,him1 ',thou art my ,god2 and ,thou wilt not be what ,thou art1 nor do what ,thou hast pledged ,thyself to do1 unless ,thou makest me to know and to do ,thy will4' ,and on the other hand1 if we have taken ,him for ours1 and have the bond knit from our side as well as from ,his1 then the fact of our faith gives us a claim on ,him which ,he is sure to honour4 ,the soul that can say1 ',i have taken ,thee for mine1' has a hold on ,god which ,god is only too glad to recognise and to vindicate4 ,and whoever1 humbly trusting to that great ,father in the heavens1 feels that he belongs to ,god1 and that ,god belongs to him1 is warranted in praying1 ',teach me1 and make me1 to do ,thy will1' and in being confident of an answer4 ,and there is the other plea with ,him and guarantee for us1 drawn from ,god's own moral character and perfectness4 ,the last clause of my text may either be read as our ,bible has it1 ',thy ,spirit is good2 lead me1' or ',let ,thy good ,spirit lead me4' ,in either case the goodness of the divine ,spirit is the plea on which the prayer is grounded4 ,the goodness here referred to is1 as ,i take it1 not merely beneficence and kindliness1 but rather goodness in its broader and loftier sense of perfect moral purity4 ,so that the thought just comes to this--we have the right to expect that we shall be made participant of the divine nature for so sweet1 so deep1 so tender is the tie that knits a devout soul to ,god1 that nothing short of conformity to the perfect purity of ,god can satisfy the aspirations of the creature1 or discharge the obligations of the ,creator4 ,it is a daring thought4 ,the ,psalmist's desire was a prophecy4 ,the ,new ,testament vindicates and fulfils it when it says ',we shall be like ,him1 for we shall see ,him as ,he is4' ,since ,he now dwells in 'the land of uprightness1' who once dwelt among us in this weary world of confusion and of sin1 then we one day shall be with ,him4 ,christ's heart cannot be satisfied1 ,christ's ,cross cannot be rewarded1 the divine nature cannot be at rest1 the purpose of redemption cannot be accomplished1 until all who have trusted in ,christ be partakers of divine purity1 and all the wanderers be led by devious and yet by right paths1 by crooked and yet by straight ways1 by places rough and yet smooth1 into 'the land of uprightness4' ,where and what ,he is1 there and that shall also ,his servants be4 ,my brother6 if to do the will of ,god is to dwell in the land of uprightness1 disobedience is to dwell in a dry and thirsty land1 barren and dreary1 horrid with frowning rocks and jagged cliffs1 where every stone cuts the feet and every step is a blunder1 and all the paths end at last on the edge of an abyss1 and crumble into nothingness beneath the despairing foot that treads them4 ,do you see to it that you walk in ways of righteousness which are paths of peace2 and look for all the help you need1 with assured faith1 to ,him who shall 'guide us by ,his counsel and afterwards receive us to ,his glory4' ,,the ,,satisfier ,,of ,,all ,,desires ',thou openest ,thine hand1 and satisfiest the desire of every living thing 444 #ai4 ,he will fulfil the desire of them that fear ,him3 ,he also will hear their cry1 and will save them4'--,,psalm cxlv4 #af1 #ai4 ,you observe the recurrence1 in these two verses1 of the one emphatic word 'desire4' ,its repetition evidently shows that the ,psalmist wishes to run a parallel between ,god's dealings in two regions4 ,the same beneficence works in both4 ,here is the true extension of natural law to the spiritual world4 ,it is the same teaching to which our ,lord has given immortal and inimitable utterance1 when ,he says1 ',your heavenly ,father feedeth them4' ,and so we are entitled to look on all the wonders of creation1 and to find in them buttresses which may support the edifice of our faith1 and to believe that wherever there is a mouth ,god sends food to fill it4 ',thou openest ,thine hand'--that is all--'and satisfiest the desire of every living thing4' ,but to fulfil the desires of them who are not only 'living things1' but 'who fear' ,him1 is it such a simple task8 ,sometimes more is wanted than an open hand before that can be accomplished4 ,so1 looking not only at the words ,i have read1 but at the whole of their setting1 which is influenced by the thought of this parallelism1 we see here two sets of pensioners1 two kinds of wants1 two forms of appeal1 two processes of satisfaction4 ,i4 ,two kinds of pensioners4 ',every living thing--' life makes a claim on ,god1 and whatever desires arise in the living creature by reason of its life1 ,god would be untrue to ,himself1 a cruel ,parent1 an unnatural ,father1 if ,he did not satisfy them4 ,we do not half enough realise the fact that the condescension of creation lies not only in the act of creating1 but in the willing acceptance by the ,creator of the bonds under which ,he thereby lays ,himself2 obliging ,himself to see to the creatures that ,he has chosen to make4 ,and so1 as one of the ,new ,testament writers puts it1 in his simple way1 with a profound truth1 ',he is a faithful ,creator'2 and wherever there is a creature that ,he has made to need anything1 ,he has thereby said1 ',as ,i live1 that creature shall have what it needs4' ,then1 take the other class1 'them that fear ,him'2 or as they are described in the context--by contrast with 'the wicked who are destroyed'--'the righteous4' ,that is to say1 whilst1 because we are living things1 like the bee and the worm1 we have a claim on ,god precisely parallel with theirs for what we may need by reason of ,his gift1 which we never asked for1 ,his gift of life1 we shall have a similar but higher claim on ,him if we are 'they that fear ,him' with that loving reverence which has no torment in it1 and that love ,him with that reverential affection which has no presumption in it1 and whose love and fear coalesce in making them long to be righteous like the ,object of their love1 to be holy like the ,object of their fear4 ,and just as the fact of physical life binds ,god to care for it1 and to give all that is needed for its health1 growth1 blessedness1 so the fact of man's having in his heart the faintest tremor of reverential dread1 the feeblest aspiration of outgoing affection1 the most faltering desire after purity of life and conduct1 binds ,god to answer these according to the man's need4 ,of all incredibilities in the world1 there is nothing more incredible1 because there is nothing more contrary to the very depths of the divine nature1 than that desires1 longings1 expectations1 which are the direct result of the love and fear of ,god1 and the hunger and thirst after righteousness1 should not be answered4 ,now that is a very wide principle1 and ,i do not believe that it is trusted enough by many4 ,it comes to this--wherever you find in people a confidence which grows with their love of ,god1 be sure that there is1 somewhere or other in the universe of things1 that which answers it4 ,take a case4 ,if there was not a word in the ,new ,testament about ,jesus ,christ's resurrection1 the fact that just in proportion as men grow in devotion1 in love of ,god1 in fear of ,him1 in longing to be good and to appear like ,him1 in that same proportion does their conviction that there must be a life beyond the grave become firm and certain--that fact would be enough to make any one who believed in ,god sure that the hope thus rooted in love to ,him1 and fed by everything that draws us nearer to ,him1 could not be a delusion1 nor be destined to be left unfulfilled4 ,and we might go round the whole circle of dim religious aspirations and desires1 and find in all of them illustrations of the principle so profoundly and so simply put in our psalm1 that the same ,love which1 in the realm of the physical world1 binds itself to satisfy the life which it imparts1 is at work in the higher regions1 and will 'fulfil the desires of them that fear ,him4' ,,ii4 ,again1 there are two sets of needs4 ,the first of them is very easily disposed of4 ',the eyes of all wait upon ,thee1 and ,thou givest them their meat4' ,that is all4 ,feed the beast1 and give it the other things necessary for its physical existence1 and there is no more to be done4 ,but there is more wanted for the desires of the men that love and fear ,god4 ,these are glanced at in the context1 ',he also will hear their cry1 and will save them'2 'the ,lord preserveth all them that love ,him4' ,that is to say1 there are deeper needs in our hearts and lives than any that are known amongst the lower creatures4 ,evils1 dangers inward and outward1 sorrows1 disappointments1 losses of all sorts shadow our lives1 in a fashion which the happy1 careless life of field and forest knows nothing about4 ,give them their meat1 and they curl themselves up and lie down to sleep1 satisfied4 ,man longs for something more and needs something more4 ',he will save them4' ,now1 ,i do not suppose that 'save' here is employed in its full ,new ,testament sense1 but it approximates to that sense4 ,and1 further1 there are other aspects of our needs set forth in the context1 on which ,i briefly touch4 ,do not let us vulgarise such a saying as this of my text1 ',he will fulfil the desire of them that fear ,him1' as if it only meant that if a man fears ,god he may set his longing upon any outward thing1 and be sure to get it4 ,there is nothing so poor1 so unworthy as that promised in ,scripture4 ,for one thing1 it is not true2 for another1 it would not be good if it were4 ,the way to spoil children is not the way to perfect saints2 and to give them what they want because they want it1 is the sure way to spoil children of all ages4 ,we may be quite certain that our heavenly ,father is not going to do that4 ,the promise here means something far nobler and loftier4 ,the fact of creation binds ,god to supply all the wants which spring from life4 ,the fact of our loving and fearing ,him binds ,him to supply all the wants which spring from our love and fear4 ,and it is these desires which the ,psalmist is thinking of4 ,what is the object of desire to a man who loves ,god8 ,god4 ,what is the object of desire to a man who fears ,him8 ,god4 ,what is the object of desire to a righteous man8 ,righteousness4 ,and these are the desires which ,god is sure to fulfil to us4 ,therefore1 there is only one region in which it is safe and wise to cherish longings1 and it is the region of the spiritual life where ,god imparts ,himself4 ,everywhere else there will be disappointments--thank ,him for them4 ,nowhere else is it absolutely true that ,he will 'fulfil the desires of them that fear ,him4' ,but in this region it is4 ,whatever any of us desire to have of ,god1 we are sure to get4 ,we open our mouths and ,he fills them4 ,in the ,christian life desire is the measure of possession1 and to long is to have4 ,and there is nowhere else where it is absolutely1 unconditionally1 and universally true that to wish is to possess1 and to ask is to have4 ,oh6 then1 is it not a foolish thing for us to worry and torture and sweat1 in order to win for ourselves for a little while the uncertain possession of incomplete bliss8 ,would it not be wiser1 instead of letting the current of our desires dribble itself away through a thousand channels in the sand and get lost1 to gather it all into one great stream which is sure to find its way to the broad ocean8 ',delight thyself in the ,lord1 and ,he shall give thee the desires of thine heart1' for these will then be after ,himself1 and ,himself only4 ,,iii4 ,further1 there are here two forms of appeal4 ',the eyes of all wait upon ,thee4' ,that is beautiful6 ,the dumb look of the unconscious creature1 like that of a dog looking up in its master's face for a crust1 makes appeal to ,god1 and ,he answers that4 ,but a dumb1 unconscious look is not for us4 ',he also will hear their cry4' ,put your wish into words if you want it answered2 not for ,his information1 but for your strengthening4 ',your heavenly ,father knoweth that ye have need of these things before ye ask ,him4' ,what then8 ,why should ,i ask ,him8 ,because the asking will clear your thoughts about your desires4 ,it will be a very good test of them4 ,there are many things that we all wish1 which ,i am afraid we should not much like to put into our prayers1 not because of any foolish notion that they are too small to find a place there1 but because of an uncomfortable suspicion that perhaps they are not the kind of things that we ought to wish4 ,and if we cannot make the desire into a cry1 the sooner we make it dead as well as dumb the better for ourselves4 ,the cry will serve1 too1 as a stimulus to the wishes which are put into words4 ,silent prayer is well1 but there is a wonderful power on ourselves--it may be due to our weakness1 but still it exists--in the articulate and audible utterance of our petitions to ,god4 ,i would fain that all of us were more in the habit of putting into distinct words that we ourselves can hear1 the wishes that we cherish4 ,i am sure our prayers would be more sincere1 less wandering1 more earnest and real1 if they were spoken1 as well as felt1 prayers4 ,let us remember1 dear brethren6 that the condition of our getting the higher gifts is not only that we should love and fear1 and in the silence of our own hearts should wish for1 but that we should definitely ask for1 them4 ,not only desire1 but 'their cry1' brings the answer4 ,,iv4 ,and now one last word4 ,note the two processes of satisfying4 ',thou openest ,thine hand4' ,that is enough4 ,but ,god cannot satisfy our deepest desires by any such short and easy method4 ,there is a great deal more to be done by ,him before the aspirations of love and fear and longing for righteousness can be fulfilled4 ,he has to breathe ,himself into us4 ,lower creatures have enough when they have the meat that drops from ,his hand4 ,they know and care nothing for the hand that feeds4 ,but ,god's best gifts cannot be separated from ,himself4 ,they are ,himself1 and in order to 'satisfy the desires of them that fear ,him' there is no way possible1 even to ,him1 but the impartation of ,himself to the waiting heart4 ,that is a mystery deep and blessed4 ,oh1 that we may all know1 by our own living experience1 what it is to have not only the gifts which drop from ,his hands1 but the gifts which cannot be parted from ,him1 the ,giver6 ,he has to discipline us for ,his highest gifts1 in order that we may receive them4 ,and sometimes ,he has to do that1 as ,i have no doubt ,he has done it with many of us1 by withholding or withdrawing the satisfaction of some of our lower desires1 and so emptying our hearts and turning the current of our wishes from earth to heaven4 ,if you are going to pour precious wine into a chalice1 you begin by emptying out the less valuable liquid that may be in it4 ,so ,god often empties us1 in order that ,he may fill us1 and takes away the creatures in order that we may long for the ,creator4 ,not only has ,he to give us ,himself1 and to discipline us in order to receive ,him1 but ,he has to put all ,his gifts which meet our deepest desires into a great storehouse4 ,he does not open ,his hand and give us peace and righteousness1 and growing knowledge of ,himself1 and closer union1 and the other blessings of the ,christian life1 but ,he gives us ,jesus ,christ4 ,we are to find all these blessings in ,him1 and it depends upon us whether we find them or not1 and how much of them we find4 ,you will always find as much in ,christ as you want1 but you may not find nearly as much in ,him as you could2 and you will never find as much in ,him as there is4 ,god sends ,his ,son1 and in that one gift1 like a box 'wherein sweets compacted lie1' are all the gifts that even ,his hand can bestow1 or our desires require4 ,so be sure that you have what you have1 and that you suck out of the ,rose of ,sharon all the honey that lies deep in its calyx4 ,expand your desires to the width of ,christ's great mercies2 for the measure of our wishes is the limit of our possession4 ,he has laid up the supply of all our need in the storehouse1 which is ,christ2 and ,he has given us the key4 ,let us see to it that we enter in4 ',ye have not because ye ask not4' ',to him that hath shall be given1 and he shall have abundance4' ,,end ,,of ,,vol4 ,,ii4