August 12

1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is:

2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as truth marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

8 My soul foreweth hard after thee: thy right hand upholseth me.

9 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

10 They shall fall by the sword; they shall be a portion for foxes.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

This Psalm was probably written while David, fleeing from Absalom, lingered in the wilderness (2 Sam. xv. 23-28) awaiting tidings from Jerusalem. David did not leave off singing because he was in the wilderness.

"There was no desert in his heart, though there was a desert around him. (416)

We, too, may expect to be cast into rough places ere we go hence. In such seasons may the Eternal Comforter abide with us, and cause us to bless the Lord at all times, making even the solitary place to become a temple for Jehovah."—C. H. Spurgeon.

This is unquestionably one of the most beautiful and touching Psalms in the whole Psalter. St. Chrysostom testifies: "That it was decreed and ordained by the primitive Fathers that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm." It is peculiarly suitable for the bed of sickness, or in any constrained absence from public worship.

"This Psalm is aptly described by Clauss as 'A precious confession of a soul thirsting after God and His grace, and finding itself quickened through inward communion with Him, and which knows how to commit its outward lot also into His hand.' Its lesson is, that the consciousness of communion with God in trouble is the sure pledge of deliverance. This is the peculiar fountain of consolation which is opened up to the sufferer in the Psalm. The Berleib Bible describes it as a Psalm 'which proceeds from a spirit really in earnest. It was the favorite Psalm of M. Schade, the famous preacher in Berlin, which he daily prayed with such earnestness and appropriation to himself that it was impossible to hear it without emotion.'"—E. W. Hengstenberg.

Closet Promise.—Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways.—Isa. lxiv. 5.

And so, this very night, as you put away the profitless musings and memories, and remember Him upon your bed, He will keep His word and meet you. The darkness shall be verily the shadow of His wing, for your feeble yet Spirit-given remembrance shall be met by His real and actual presence, for "hath He said, and shall He not do it?" Let us pray that this night "the desire of our soul" may be "to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee."