that He may be able to succour them that are tempted? Ah, there is loving sympathy for you, beloved friends! Some of you know what it is to pass through deep waters; some, it may be, are passing through them now. Oh! I do trust that you all know what it is to be able to look back on those hours of bitter sorrow, and to say, 'What an hour was that, when He heard me and saved me out of all my troubles; when He caught my hand and prevented me from sinking; when He held me up and strengthened me, and blessed and comforted me! Dear child of God, has it not been so with you? and did you not say at the time of Him who helped you, 'It is the voice of my beloved! Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him; yea, I will trust and not be afraid'?

'The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.

'O taste and see that the Lord is good blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.

'O fear the Lord, ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him.

"The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.'

THIS Psalm opens with a reiteration of the Psalmist's perfect trust and confidence in God. He looks back upon the past, and remembering how out of every trouble the Lord had delivered him, he calls upon others to 'magnify the Lord' with him, and to 'exalt His name together.' He tells how he had sought the Lord,' and that He had heard him, and delivered him from all his fears;' therefore, he says, 'I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.' This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.' Is it not written, beloved, 'before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear?' Oh, how often had David in times past experienced this! He had been surrounded by deadly foes without, who sought his life; and he had been betrayed

by yet worse enemies within; yet from them all the Lord had delivered him, and he had proved that the angel of the Lord' does 'encamp round about them that fear Him and deliver them.' He knew that he was safe when thus surrounded by Almighty Power, and that his soul might make her boast in the Lord, who had delivered him in six troubles, and in seven would let no evil touch him.'

6

'The angel of the Lord;' in other words, the angel of the covenant,' the second Person of the blessed Trinity: He who is God over all, blessed for evermore.' This angel of the Lord it was who went before the children of Israel in all their desert wanderings, in a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night; the 'Messenger' or 'Angel of the covenant.' In this 7th verse it is none other than Jehovah Himself who encampeth round about His people and delivereth them. The idea is evidently that of a fortified or entrenched camp. The Lord encamps round about His people, in one sense, by His Word. It is the most essential part of His protection to His people. The written word of God; the everlasting, unchangeable word of Jehovah. For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.' What better entrenchment could there be, beloved, for God's people than His own word of promise Jehovah Himself has uttered it; He has passed His word, He has pledged Himself to His people, and 'heaven and earth may pass away, but His word shall never pass away.' Within that glorious entrenchment His people are safe for ever. Because He could swear by no greater, He swears by Himself; and thus 'God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure

and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.' Again, He encamps around His people by His providence. He orders all for His people; He chooses out all their way from first to last; and this is the stamp wherewith He marks it, 'All things shall work together for good to them that love God.' Jacob had lost sight of this great stronghold when he groaned in spirit and said, 'All these things are against me;' but Joseph had entered further into the true spirit of God's dealings with His people, so that, hearing his brethren lament over their sin concerning him, which had caused him to be sent to Egypt, he at once declared to them, 'So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you, to preserve life.' Oh, beloved friends, could we but read off God's providences like this, how happy should we be! did we but realise that all things are ordered by His kind providence, and over-ruled by His loving hand for good! Very often the way seems dark and mysterious now, but when we stand by and by upon the top of the hill, and look back on all the way whereby He has led us, and on the lessons which He has been teaching us, we shall indeed feel that not one good thing has failed; that how bitter soever some of our troubles may have been, yet that all was well.

Another idea intended to be conveyed here is, that wherever we are, and under whatever outward circumstances, we are, after all, only dwelling in a camp. Those who live in camps do not build houses for themselves; they are but sojourners in the land and have nowhere any 'continuing city.' Ah, how well it would be did we always remember this, and bear in mind that at any moment we may have to strike our tents and be gone. It is at best but a poor tabernacle, this of ours, frail and easily taken down: 'We have this treasure in