September 27

1 I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they bear the words of thy mouth.

5 Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.

6 Though the LORD & high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me, thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

"In full confidence David is prepared to own his God before the gods of the heathen, or before angels or rulers (verses 1-3): he declares that he will instruct and convert kings and nations, till on every highway men shall sing the praises of the Lord (4, 5). Having thus spoken, he utters his personal confidence in Jehovah, who will help His lowly servant and preserve him from all the malice of wrathful foes"—C. H. Spurgeon.

"Alas, for that capital crime of the Lord's people—barrenness in praises! Oh, how fully I am persuaded that a line of praises is worth a leaf of prayer, and an hour of praises is worth a day of fasting and mourning!"—John Livingstone.

"I will praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness" There are two beautiful thoughts brought out in that word "lovingkindness." One is, "God's condescension in thought;" the other, "His tenderness in action."

"The mother may draw whole stores of comfort from a realization of the (481)

condescending thoughtfulness of God. He will be interested about her babe. If she commit it to Him, He who made the universe will, with His infinite mind, think upon her cradle and the helpless creature that is rocked to sleep therein. The sick man may draw whole stores of comfort from the same source, for he can believe the ONE by whom the body was fearfully and wonderfully made will think over the sufferings of that body, and alleviate them, or give strength for the endurance of them if they must be borne. Condescension of thought marks all the dealings of God with His people. And hard following upon it comes tenderness in action. Now, this 'tenderness in action' is a great part of the lovingkindness of God; it is meet that a thoughtful mind and tender hand should go together in the perfection of love. God is not only energetic, but tender also in action; He is the God of the dew drops as well as the God of the thunder showers; the God of the tender grass blade as much as of the mountain oak."—Philip Bennett Power.

Closet Promise.—In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.—Psalm cxxxviii. 3.

"Strength for to-day is all that we need, As there never will be a to-morrow; For to-morrow will prove but another to-day, With its measure of joy and of sorrow.

"Then why forecast the trials of life With much sad and grave persistence, And wait and watch for a crowd of ills That as yet have no existence?"