May 1

1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

2 But as for me my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no bangs in their death: but their strength is firm.

5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wash.

8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loafily.

9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?

12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction.

19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment? they are utterly consumed with terrors.

20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.

22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was at a heart before thee.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast hidden me by my right hand.

24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.

26 My flesh and my heart fudeth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.

27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.

28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.

The theme of this Psalm is "that ancient stumbling-block of good men, which Job's friends could not get over, viz.:—the present prosperity of wicked men and the sorrows of the godly. Heathen philosophers have puzzled themselves about this, while to believers it has too often been a temptation."

The Psalmist tells us what was his difficulty in verses 2-14; then from 15 to 17 he is embarrassed as to how to act, but finally tells by what means he was helped out of the difficulty—namely, by going into the sanctuary, and proceeds to inform us what considerations they were which helped him. 1. The consideration of the miserable end of wicked men (vers. 18-20). 2. The consideration of the blessed end of the saints (vers. 21-24). 3. The consideration that the godly have a much better portion than the wicked, even though they have no other portion but God (vers. 25, 26).

"Though the wicked are in prosperity, and are not in trouble as other men; yet the godly, though in affliction, are in a state infinitely better, because they have God for their portion. They need desire nothing else; he that hath God hath all. Thus the Psalmist professes the sense and apprehension which he had of things: 'Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.' In the twenty-fourth verse the Psalmist takes notice how the saints are happy in God, both when they are in this world and also when they are taken to another. They are blessed in God in this world, in that He guides them by His counsel; and when He takes them out of it they are still happy, in that He receives them to glory. This probably led him to declare that he desired no other portion, either in this world or in that to come, either in heaven or upon earth."—Jonathan Edwards.

Closet Promise.—They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.—Psalm cxxv. 1.

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea Come drifting home with broken masts and sails; I will believe the Hand which never fails, From seeming evil, worketh good for me. And though I weep because those sails are tattered, Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered. "I'll trust in Thee."

I will not doubt. Well anchored in this faith, Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every gale. So strong its courage that it will not quail. To breast the mighty, unknown sea of death. Oh! may I cry, though body parts with spirit, "I do not doubt," so listening worlds may hear it. With my last breath. —Selected.