behold His glory, and to see the 'King in His beauty,' and behold 'the land that is very far off!' Shall I not hear His praises, echoed and re-echoed through the angelic hosts in the new song' of the redeemed, Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood?' All that holiness and justice and love could do, don for me! Aye! and when I awake up after His likeness, I shall no longer see myself, but shall see myself in Him; changed from glory to glory, made like unto Him for ever; bearing the image of the great King, for I shall see Him as He is. And as He knows me perfectly, so shall I then know Him as perfectly as a creature may; I shall behold His face in righteousness. It is His grace which has done it all, done all this for me; His grace has brought me hither. And then methinks I shall add yet another note to the song of triumph, 'To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.'-Eph. i. 6.

Jesus only! In the shadow

Of the cloud so dull and dim
We are clinging, loving, trusting,
He with us, and we with Him;
All unseen, though ever nigh,
Jesus only! all our cry.

Jesus only! In the glory,

When the shadows all are flown,

Seeing Him in all His beauty,

Satisfied with Him alone;

May we join His ransomed throng,

Jesus only! all our song.

F. R. HAVERGAL.

PSALM XVIII. 1–19.

THE CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION.

'I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

'I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

'The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

'The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

'In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears.

'Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth.

'There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

:

'He bowed the heavens also, and came down and darkness was under His feet.

'And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind.

'He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

'At the brightness that was before Him His thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

"The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave His voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

'Yea, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

'Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.

'He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. 'He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.

'He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me.'

FIRST let us mark the four divisions of this Psalm.

As descriptive of the whole, the words recorded concerning David in the time of his sore trial might justly be applied here, And David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.' We find him here, in the first three verses, expressing his thankfulness to Jehovah for his many deliverances in times past; from the 4th to the

end of the 19th verse we have these deliverances viewed from God's side directly; while from the 20th to the 45th we have God's way of dealing with His children in fitting them to co-operate with Him in these deliverances; while the last few verses of the Psalm gather up and include the whole as a Messianic Psalm, pointing distinctly to the deliverance which the believer has at all times, through the one great Deliverer, David's Son and David's Lord.

First, as regards the three opening verses. A very strong expression is that in the 1st verse, a holy resolution, 'I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength;' indicating an absorbing love, beyond all others; having Jehovah reigning supreme in every thought, feeling and affection of his heart; first, chiefest, best; not one earthly love, however sweet and precious, allowed to come between his soul and God. And this some people say is presumptuous. No, beloved, very far from it. If you are sincere in wishing to love God, then say it openly. When He commands, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,' though you are set in the midst of temptation and encompassed with infirmity, still strive by His grace to say with full purpose of heart, I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.'

6

'The Lord is my rock,' that is, such a rock as those which abound in Palestine, in which are many dens, caves, and hiding-places, all of which David knew full well. And my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler (shield), and the horn of my salvation.' An interesting expression, being the same as that used by Zacharias in his hymn of praise, where he says, 'And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us, in the house of His servant David.' 'And my high tower.' Yes, Lord, I will love Thee, because Thou art all love to me; 'my refuge, my fortress, a strong tower, my shield, my strength;' yes, I will love Thee, and 'I will

H

call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;' more correctly, 'I will call upon the Lord, who is to be praised.' Is He my help, strength, rock, refuge, deliverer, my all? Then I must and will praise Him. 'So shall I be saved from mine enemies.'

And now, in the 4th verse, we come to these deliverances themselves. Mark the constant variety of tenses used in the original Hebrew, which we shall observe as we go on, and which often materially alters the aspect of the verses. Here it is the sorrows of death,' that is, troubles and trials of every kind, 'compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.' David had been marvellously delivered oftentimes in days gone by, but he wishes it to be understood that there were many dangers, snares, and troubles still to come, and that in these too he would call upon the Lord: (ver. 6) In my distress I will call upon the Lord, and cry unto my God: He will hear my voice out of His temple.' He thinks on the past, on God's watchful care and manifold deliverances of His servant, and calls to mind that He is the same now that He ever was, and ever will be in the future 'a very present help in trouble.'

Tribulation he knows may come in many different ways, in the way of outward troubles, which are generally accompanied more or less by spiritual trials; yet in all this he says, 'Whatever it be, I will call upon the Lord, and cry unto my God: He will hear me.' Let us learn a lesson here. We cry to Him, it may be once or twice, and if we get no answer, or seem to get none, we become discouraged and enfeebled and ready to give up all. Remember, I entreat you, how David 'encouraged himself in the Lord his God.' Cry to Him all the more earnestly, and assuredly He will hear. The great King out of His palace will hear the whispered cry of His servant, and it will be more precious in His ear than the voice of angel or archangel, as he cries in the midst

of deep waters, I will call upon the Lord: I will love Thee; Thou art to be praised.'

6

Observe, from this to the 19th verse is highly poetical and cannot be literally understood throughout. Then,' in the 7th verse, does not of course mean that these events followed in sequence, after the cry of the Psalmist. It is simply this; he felt his need of help and strength, and so he said, 'I will call to mind all these great and wondrous things which He, my rock and fortress, has done in times past; I will encourage myself in the Lord my God.'

Exodus xix. 9,

Just let us rapidly glance at one or two passages in Old Testament history which illustrate in a remarkable manner some of the passages in this Psalm. In Gen. vii. 11 we read, 'The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.' Compare Psalm xviii. 7. Again, Exodus ix. 23, 'And Moses stretched out his rod towards heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground.' Compare Psalm xviii. 8, 12, 13. 'The Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.' Compare Psalm xviii. II. See too Habakkuk iii. 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 'Yea, He bowed the heavens and came down,' when the Law was given from Sinai amid fire and smoke. And again, ‘He bowed the heavens and came down,' when angels announced the birth of Jesus. And yet again at the great work was finished

crucifixion of Christ, when His and completed for ever, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.' Yes, it is this same mighty God, Jehovah Himself, saith the Psalmist, who delivers me, who has delivered, and will yet deliver me even unto the end. My help is in the name of the Lord which made heaven and earth.'