Psalms 45

Psalms 45:1-17

RUIN AND Psalms 42-50 WE have already called attention to the fact that the Books of the Psalms constitute a Pentateuch, and there are excellent students of the Word who consider that the five Books of the Psalms correspond, in spiritual character, to the five volumes that constitute the Pentateuch. Beginning, then, with the forty-second chapter and concluding with the seventy-second, we have the second Book, which is supposed to parallel Exodus.Exodus is the Book of Redemption, the story of Israel’s recovery from Egyptian bondage. This fact is voiced in the following sentence, “Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation” (Exodus 15:13).It will be conceded also that the types in Exodus turn the attention to redemption. Even the Divine title “Jah”, the abbreviated form of Jehovah, is employed first in the Book of Exodus (Exodus 15:3) and it is a significant fact that this same title is employed in this second Book of the Psalms (Psalms 68:4).There are those also who see another point of parallelism: The Book of Exodus opens with a picture of oppression in Egypt, while the second Book of the Psalms opens with a cry for God. The second Book of the Psalms also refers, in passing, to localities and individuals, as for instance, Sinai and Miriam, found in the second Book of the Pentateuch.It is not unnatural, therefore, to discuss the first ten chapters of this Book under heads that would naturally remind one of the old Exodus experience, namely, The Ruin Realized, The Deliverance Needed, and the Deliverer Discovered.THE RUIN First, in The conscious loss of God!“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? “My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me; for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the House of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God; for I shill yet praise Him for the kelp of His countenance” (Psalms 42:1). One wonders at such language. It involves figurative difficulties and also excites a certain astonishment. Does the hart always pant after the water-brooks? No! There is but one time when the hart pants after the water-brooks and that is when he is chased by his enemy, when the dog is on his trail, or the wolf pack has sighted or scented him and is crowding him hard. Then the exhaustion of the race is such, and the terrible fear that takes possession of him is so great, that moisture leaves his body and he is compelled shortly to reach the brook and be refilled and refreshed that his strength may suffice in further efforts of escape.

In truth it is commonly the habit of a deer or hart, when thus in danger, not only to seek the brook for drink, but to plunge its entire body into the water with the dual purpose of cooling the fevered veins and at the same time throwing the enemy off the scent and thereby securing time in which to escape the vicinity of danger.It’s a satisfactory figure then. The Psalmist had his enemies, and as they pressed him hard, thirsting for his life-blood, he felt his need of God’s refreshing and protecting presence. In all likelihood David wrote these words at the very time when he was being hunted like the partridge on the mountain; when Absalom’s henchmen sought his life. He was compelled to accomplish a hiding in a well over which a woman threw a cover and spread corn thereon until the danger was over-past, and David and his followers made their escape over Jordan as recorded in 2 Samuel 17.In evidence of this probable fact, it will be remembered that that chapter closed with the statement that certain people“brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse, “And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat; for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness” (2 Samuel 17:28-29). It is great to believe that God is the answer to heart-hunger. It is great to know that God is rest for the weary. It is good to know that in Him is an unfailing fountain for the thirsty. It is good to believe that God is for the hour of danger and need!Second, the consequent sense of loneliness!“O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore will I remember Thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts; all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me. “Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast Thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? “As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalms 42:6-11). It is doubtful if there is any more disquieting experience than the feeling that one has lost God. One of the most pathetic questions to be found in all the Book of the Psalms is (Psalms 77:7-9), “Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will He be favourable no more? Is His mercy clean gone for ever? Doth His promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath He, in anger, shut up His tender mercies”?Such is an hour in which the soul is cast down. Such is the day in which the waves and billows go over one. Frightful is the feeling that one is God-forsaken.

The oppression of the enemy is then heavy indeed. The very bones are thrust through with the sword and the daily reproaches of the enemy, “Where is thy God”? produce a disquieted spirit, and praises perish from the lips and the countenance shows no health!But even here Jesus has gone before! On the Cross even He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me”? (Matthew 27:46). That was the darkest hour of His days on earth.Three times in very recent years, young women have come to me, whose God has been taken from them by the false philosophies of the present-day college-life and teaching, and with cheeks scalded with hot tears, have told how they lost Him, how their teachers had taken away their Lord, and they could no longer find Him; how even their very eyes had been blinded, not alone to His beauty, but also to His existence; and how heart-loneliness and soul-anguish had followed. One might imagine that with David there was sufficient mental and even physical resources to keep from despair, but it is doubtful if any or all the natural resources of life bring the least satisfaction to the soul that feels that God is gone. The consciousness of His presence and the certainty of His loving-kindness— these and these alone can satisfy the soul. That is the true meaning of David’s cry for both.The third suggestion is inevitable—when one has consciously lost his God and has come into the consequent sense of loneliness, he seeks to no other than did David.He cried for the Light!“Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. “For Thou art the God of my strength; why dost Thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? “O send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles; “Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy; yea, upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God my God. “Why art Thou east down, O my soul? and why art Thou disquieted within me? hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalms 43:1-5). The significant sentence in this Psalm is this: “O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles” (Psalms 42:3).How strange; and yet, how natural! Men are always asking God to do what He has long since done. They are asking Him to show mercy. He has proffered it a thousand times, and it is always awaiting the man who will appropriate it. They are asking that He send out light as if He could withhold it, even! God is light! The difficulty with men is that they turn their backs on God and look into the darkness cast by their own shadows, and feel as if the light did not exist. It is a strange conclusion, but it is a natural product of human sin and human skepticism.

No man ever got light by asking for it. The light is secured by turning to it.I saw some years ago a statement that illustrates just what I mean. Dwight S. Bayley, writing in the “Sunday School Times”, said, “It was just after sunset, and I was enjoying a short wheel ride before supper. The sun had sunk behind the mesa, whose outline drew its dark, rugged silhouette boldly against the red sky beyond. Presently I came to the railroad crossing, and there I dismounted to stand and watch the western glory.

The rails stretched their parallel course east and west, and, as I looked toward the east, to see if any train were approaching, I saw the track soon disappear into the gloom of the approaching night. But turning again to the west, I saw the rails become two paths of shining light, penetrating, and, for the moment, making me forget the gathering dusk.“And as I stood there in the sweet silence of the closing day, I thought of One who is the Light of the world.

How many, said I, find their path dark, and leading only into deeper gloom, because they are facing away from the light. And how many, thank God, forget the surrounding dusk, and tread a path that is clear and joyful, because they are walking toward the Light.”God’s light is shining constantly and as certainly for one as for another. Those who face toward it will be led by it. By it they will be brought “unto God’s Holy hill” and unto “God’s tabernacle’’. By it they will go unto “the altar of God’’ with exceeding joy, and in consequence of it they will “praise God with the harp” and hope in “Him who is the help of their countenance and their God’’.But we pass to the future study,THE NEEDED God’s help is a matter of history! “We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us, what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old. “How Thou didst drive out the heathen with Thy hand, and plantedst them; how Thou didst afflict Thy people, and cast them out. “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto them. “Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. “Through Thee will we push down our enemies: through Thy Name mil we tread them under that rise up against us. “For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. “But Thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. “In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy Name for ever. Selah” (Psalms 44:1-8). The providential dealings of God are matters of history. He made records long before Edison devised his scheme of catching the voice and giving permanence to words. So important were His acts that men made note of them and not only rehearsed them, but wrote them down that the future might be refreshed by the reading; and perhaps the most dependable records that exist in the archives of man relate to God’s dealings with His people and with the world.We live in a day when men are attempting to trace God in nature, or, if they deny His existence, to tell us what nature itself has accomplished. They talk of what took place trillions of years ago and what happened a few billions since, and what man was doing 500,000 summers gone. And then they have the effrontery to call that “science”, or even to speak of it as “the history” of the ages. They seem to forget that science is “knowledge gained and verified”, and they seem to ignore the fact that history is a “systematic record of past events, especially the record of events in which man has taken part.” What nonsense then to talk of “the history” of a trillion or a million or even of 20,000 years ago!Scientists, at this present moment, are mad with speculations, and in order to add authority to their speech they name it “science” or “history”, when it is neither.But we have history, and it honors God.

It tells how He bared His arm in behalf of His people; how it was His Word rather than their sword that gave His people the promised land, and His arm, not their own strength that saved them, and His favor that prospered them. It was in a power Divine that they pushed down their enemies and trod under foot those who rose against them.

In Him alone, had they any right to boast.Stopford Brooke truthfully said, “God dwells in the great movements of the world, in the great ideas which act in the human race. Find Him there in the great interests of man. Find Him by sharing in those interests, by helping all who are striving for truth, for education, for progress, for liberty all over the world.”The man who said, “God’s in His Heaven—all’s well with the world,” spoke a half truth, which is always a whole falsehood. God is in His Heaven ; but all is not well with the world! That is not God’s fault! He is constantly intervening in the affairs of men to make things right. He is constantly overthrowing heathenism in that interest. He is constantly favoring His people to that very end.

God doesn’t favor His people because He is partial; but He favors them because He is righteous. God doesn’t favor His own because they are His own, and He has no interest in others. He saves His own because His own are worth saving and were willing, and He overwhelms their enemies because their enemies are evil.The history of Divine providence is at once the most interesting and the most inspiring history ever written. We do well to study the relationship that God sustained to our fathers. We do well to make ourselves acquainted with how He wrought with them and how He fought for them. The man who would make God his King, and be content under that Divine administration, must needs know God, who He is and what He has done. In other words, history must be His teacher and the record of Divine providences the inspiration of His faith.The charge of God’s withdrawal is unjust. “But Thou hast cast off and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies. “Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves. “Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. “Thou sellest Thy people for nought, and dost not increase Thy wealth by their price. “Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. “Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. “My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face covered me, “For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger. “All this is come upon us, yet have we, not forgotten Thee, neither have we dealt falsely in Thy covenant. “Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way; “Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. “If we have forgotten the Name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; “Shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart. “Yea, for Thy sake are we kilted all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. “Awake, why steepest Thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever. “Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression. ‘‘For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth, “Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercies’ sake” (Psalms 44:9-26). The Psalmist certainly has spiritual chills and fevers. One moment he is filled with praises to God and the next he is mouthing complaints.“Thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies, “Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves, “Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen, “Thou sellest Thy people for nought, and dost not increase Thy wealth by their price, “Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us, “Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people, “My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, “For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger, “All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten Thee, neither have we dealt falsely in Thy covenant, “Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way; “Though Thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. “If we have forgotten the Name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; “Shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart, “Yea, for Thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter, “Awake, why steepest Thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off for ever, “Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? “For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth, “Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercies’ sake” (Psalms 44:9-26), What biliousness! Strange what foolish speech can escape the lips of true believers and how unjustifiable complaints can characterize a Christian! It is always true perhaps that a man looking into the past, thinks God treated his fathers better than He is treating him. That is because he sees in history the very path by which his fathers were led, and marks the fact that it is a path which, however crooked, leads ever upward and ever onward toward the shining gates of the Celestial City. He doesn’t see the bleeding feet that pressed that path. He cannot mark the edges of the sharp stones that cut deeply into the flesh.

The distance is too great for him to make observation in minutiae! He cam not even tell how precipitous “the difficulty” hills were. He cannot even see any of the lions that stalked that path or the dangers that beset the journey! And so he concludes that God was good to his fathers, but that He is forgetting him.It is a foolish reasoning! We sing quite often, at least in orthodox circles, “Faith of our fathers, living still, In spite of dungeon, fire and sword, O how our hearts beat high with joy Whene’er we hear that glorious word! Faith of our fathers, holy faith, We will be true to thee, till death.” But the sad part of it is that we sing it without experience of “dungeon”, without smell of “fire”, and without ever having felt the edge of “the sword”.We render a second verse: “Our fathers chained in prisons dark, Were still in heart and conscience free; And blest would be their children’s fate, If they, like them, should die for Thee: Faith of our fathers, holy faith, We will be true to thee till death.” But the probabilities are that if we had a little touch of “dungeon”, “fire” and “sword”, or any prospect whatever of “martyrdom”, we would make a louder complaint than the Psalmist here records. We would think that we were utterly forgotten, that God had turned His back upon us and flung us willingly into the hands of our enemies, to let us be eaten as “sheep’s meat”, or “sold for nothing according to the opponent’s pleasure. We would imagine that He had “made us a reproach to our neighbours”, a “scorn and derision” to men of the world, “a byword among the heathen” and that all this had come upon us in spite of our utter loyalty to Him, and our perfect keeping of every covenant made and our upright walk.How ridiculous! What poor occasions we have for parading our faithfulness or even referring to the importunity of our prayers, or, for that matter, to the sacrifices we have made. We slip ourselves and imagine that God is slipping. We turn our backs upon Him and imagine that He has hid His face. We call upon Him to arise for our help when the truth is that He is up already and we are down!It is difficult to be patient with people that not only complain of their fellows, but even reach the point where they complain of God; and seldom is there any instance of the sort divorced from personal unworthiness and self-blame.God’s Son is the soul’s adequate solace! “My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the King: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. “Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into Thy lips: therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever. “Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O most mighty, with Thy glory and Thy majesty. “And in Thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things. “Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; whereby the people fall under Thee. “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of Thy Kingdom is a right sceptre. “Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness: therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. “All Thy garments smelt of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made Thee glad. “Kings’ daughters were among Thy honourable women: upon Thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for He is thy Lord; and worship thou Him. “And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour. “The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. “She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto Thee. “With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the King’s palace. “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom Thou mayest make princes in all the earth. “I will make Thy Name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise Thee for ever and ever” (Psalms 45:1-17). Beyond all question, this is a picture of Jesus, the King, the One fairer than the children of men, into whose lips grace is poured; who wears the sword at His thigh and whose glory and majesty and might know no measure; whose truth, meekness and righteousness render majestic; the power of whose right hand is to be truly feared; the sharpness of whose arrows can lay the enemy low and whose throne is established; whose sceptre is a right sceptre; who loves righteousness, hates iniquity, and who is, therefore, the One that God hath anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. As if to put beyond question who this person is, the Psalmist says, “All Thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made Thee glad” (Psalms 45:8).When was there ever any life in this world that had the aroma of beauty and sweetness about it that Christ’s life had? “Kings’ daughters were among Thy honourable women: upon Thy right hand did stand the queen of Ophir”, plainly refers to the women redeemed by His Word and to the Church, His coming Bride, the Bride whose beauty the King Himself desired and in whose worship He delighted.What a picture this also of the Church’s pleasure in her Lord!“The king’s daughter is all glorious within, her clothing is of wrought gold. “She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto Thee. “With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the King’s palace. “Instead of Thy fathers shall be Thy children, whom Thou mayest make princes in all the earth. “I will make Thy Name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise Thee for ever and ever” (Psalms 45:13-17). “Join all the glorious names Of wisdom, love, and power, That ever mortals knew, Or angels ever bore: All are too mean to speak His worth, Too mean to set the Saviour forth. “Great Prophet of our God, Our tongues shall bless Thy Name; By Thee the joyful news Of our salvation came, The joyful news of sins forgiven, Of hell subdued, and peace with Heaven. “Jesus, our great High Priest, Has shed His Blood and died; Our guilty conscience needs No sacrifice besides: His precious Blood did once atone And now it pleads before the throne.” THE The forty-fifth chapter, then, discovers the Deliverer in Christ, the coming One, the all glorious One! That naturally leads to the exclamations of the forty-sixth chapter.Faith finds herself a voice. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; “Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the City of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early. “The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He hath made in the earth. “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” (Psalms 46:1-11). It is a great utterance. It is a rebound from the black unbelief of chapter forty-four. A man is never quite so happy, never quite so joyful, as when he comes out of the storm into calm, out of the black night into a bright morning, out of poverty and weakness into riches and strength, out of feelings of insufficiency into a consciousness of God’s sufficiency.It is a triumphant utterance:“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; “Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof” (Psalms 46:1-3). Is it possible that this is the same man who wrote but yesterday“Thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies; “Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy; and they which hate us spoil for themselves; “Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen; “Thou sellest Thy people for nought, and dost not increase Thy wealth by their price; “Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a, derision to them that are round about us; “Thou makest us a byword among the heathen” (Psalms 44:9-14)? Yes, the very same man! What is the difference? This: yesterday the Psalmist had his eyes upon himself; he reflected upon his weakness, his failure, his confusion, his shame! Today, he has his eyes upon God. The night is gone, the sun has risen. The flood is over, and in its stead “there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the City of God. * * God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early; the heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted; the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psalms 46:4-7). Oh, what a change! The God of refuge is with us. “God is the refuge of His saints, When storms of sharp distress invade; Ere we can offer our complaints, Behold Him present with His aid.

“Loud may the troubled ocean roar; In sacred peace our souls abide, While every nation, every shore, Trembles and dreads the swelling tide.

“There is a stream, whose gentle flow Supplies the City of our God, Life, love, and joy still gliding through, And watering our Divine abode.

“That sacred stream, thy holy word, Our grief allays, our fear controls; Sweet peace thy promises afford, And give new strength to fainting souls.” Praise discovers fit expression. “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph; “For the Lord Most High is terrible; He is a great King over all the earth; “He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. “He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Selah. “God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet “Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto, our King, sing praises. “For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye praises with understanding. “God reigneth over the heathen; God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. “The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham; for the shields of the earth belong unto God; He is greatly exalted. “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the City of our God, in the mountain of His holiness; “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. “God is known in her palaces for a refuge. “For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. “They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away. “Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. “Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. “As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God; God will establish it for ever. Selah. “We have thought of Thy loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of Thy Temple. “According to Thy Name, O God, so is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth; Thy right hand is full of righteousness. “Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of Thy judgments. “Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof. “Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. “For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our Guide even unto death” (Psalms 47:1 to Psalms 48:14). Was there ever a more blissful burst of true belief? This is an instance in which the Psalmist starts a solo, but his singing becomes a contagion; it swells not to a duet or quartette, but into a mighty chorus. He directs; “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph” (Psalms 47:1); and he gives the reason, “He is a great King over all the earth; He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet; He shall choose our inheritance for us?” (Psalms 47:2-4); and as if to bring the last tongue to praises, he calls to all that have breath, “Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our King; sing praises” (Psalms 47:6). “O worship the King, all glorious above, And gratefully sing His wonderful love, Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of days, Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

“Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite? It breathes in the air, it shines in the light, It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

“Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail; Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end, Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!” God and God alone is adequate.“Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world; “Both low and high, rich and poor, together. “My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. “I will incline mine ear to a parable; I will open my dark saying upon the harp. “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my keels shall compass me about? “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him; “(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever;) “That He should still live forever, and not see corruption. “For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. “Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names; nevertheless man being in honour abideth not; he is like the beasts that Perish. “This their way is their folly; yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over’ them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for He shall receive me. Selah. “Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; “For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him. “Though while he lived he blessed his soul; and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. “He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. “Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish. “The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from; the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. “He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. “Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice; and the heavens shall declare His righteousness; for God is judge Himself. Selah. “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against Thee; I am God, even thy God. “I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings, to have been continually before Me. “I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds; “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. “I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are mine. “If I were hungry, I would not tell Thee; for the World is mine, and the fulness thereof. “Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High; “And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. “But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare My statutes, or that thou shouldest take My covenant in thy mouth? “Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest My words behind thee. “When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. “Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. “Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. “These things hast Thou done, and I kept silence; Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as Thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness; according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. “For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight; that Thou oughtest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. “Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and 1 shall be whiter than snow. “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the hones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. “Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. “Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy holy spirit from me. “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. “Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners Shall be converted unto Thee. “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness. “O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise. “For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; thou delightest not in burnt-offering. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. “Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion; build Thou the walls of Jerusalem. “Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering; then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar” (Psalms 49:1 to Psalms 51:19). Here we come to the conclusion of the matter, so far, at least, as certain experiences are concerned; and that conclusion is that God, and God alone, is adequate. He would have all the people hear it, men of both high and low degree, rich and poor. The perverse, the boastful, the corrupt, the brutish, he would have them see that their way is folly, that death awaits them and Sheol will consume; but God will redeem his soul and receive him into glory. He would have men realize that even death shall strip them of both wealth and honour, they will perish as the beasts do, but the mighty one will remain. The Jehovah who called the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, whose perfection of beauty doth shine, and whose speech is above the storm, and to him the heavens themselves will respond and the very earth tremble will gather His saints to Himself and show His covenant by His sacrifice, while the heavens declare His righteousness; and then, as if God Himself was at hand to speak, the Psalmist steps aside and gives audience to the voice Divine,“O Israel, * * I am Thy God, even Thy God. “I do not reprove them of these sacrifices nor the multiplication of burnt offerings; “I will not take a bullock out of thy house, nor a he goat from thy folds, since I have no need; “Every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills; “I know all the birds of the hills and that which moveth in the fields. “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the world is Mine and the fullness. “I am no eater of bulls flesh, nor drinker of goats blood. “I am God; sacrifice to Me thanksgiving and pay to Me thy vows and call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalms 50:7-15). Then, after having shown his attitude toward the wicked, and the wicked’s attitude toward Him, and after having warned these God-forgetters, of the day of judgment when none shall deliver, he concludes, “He that offereth praise, glorifieth Me; and he that altereth his way, will I show the salvation of God” (Psalms 50:23)I have sought to bring you this morning the three major thoughts to be found in these ten chapters. Beyond all question they are the Recognition of Ruin by Sin, the Conscious Need of a Deliverer, and the Joyful Discovery of God. I confess frankly, very frankly, that I have had other objectives than merely to interpret these Psalms. I believe that knowledge of Scripture always fruits in increased faith and further, in effective service. I am anxious that you should know God, that you should know Him as one who can redeem us from the ruin of sin, that you should know Him as one who can meet all the demands of the heart life, that you should know Him as one who proved His power and love to your predecessors, that you should know Him as one who is the source of strength against adversaries and for all conceivable service.There are tasks ahead, great undertakings, as important and prophetic as enormous; and I want you to enter upon them, upon those that are immediately ahead of us for this week and for those that are planned for the two weeks following, believing God and trusting Him for all needed strength.We are told that when Napoleon was leading his soldiers over the Alps, the cold and fatigue of the journey caused many of them to falter. Some were about to turn back.

Napoleon ordered the band to play, and the spirits of some of the men revived, but not all. Then he told them to play music that would remind them of the home-land and more of them revived. Then at his word, the buglers sounded the bugle call. The men sprang to arms, and new life surged into the brains of every breathing body, for they knew not where the enemy might be.Activity is the best and surest cure for faltering souls. My candid conviction is this, that the effort of this church will be glorious in proportion as we actively undertake big things and bring them to pass; and why not? when Jehovah is our God.