February 26

Let us make his acknowledgment our own.—"Thou hast been my help." In what have we not required his succour, and in what have we not experienced it? Has he not helped us in our temporal exigences, and yet more in our spiritual concerns? Has he not seasonably and constantly helped us in our duties? We have had much to do; our work has been the most serious, important, and difficult; and we have had no sufficiency of ourselves. But the Lord we serve is not an Egyptian task-master, enjoining us to make brick without straw. His grace has been sufficient for us. His Spirit has helped our infirmities; and he has worked in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. Has he not helped us in our sufferings? We have not only had much to do, but also to bear. Our personal and relative trials have been many and various; and the bitterness of some of them, the heart only has known. But how true are the words of the sweet Psalmist of Israel!

"Our sorrows and our griefs we pour Into the bosom of our God: He hears us in the mournful hour, And helps us bear the heavy load."

We have found him a very present help in trouble. He has afforded us support, so that we have not sunk in the day of adversity, and been swallowed up of overmuch sorrow. He has commanded for us deliverances, and sometimes in cases in which we were troubled on every side, and could see no way of escape. He has also saved us from the sins of the condition; enabled us to glorify the Lord in the fires; taught us to learn obedience by the things we suffer, and to gather from our chastenings the peaceable fruits of righteousness.

Let us make his resolution our own—"Under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice," God has no wings: but he has perfections. He has wisdom, power, goodness, and truth. He has made with us an everlasting covenant. He has given us exceeding great and precious promises. His providence performeth all things for us. The allusion is to a bird. The hen has wings, and gathers her chickens under them from harm when the hawk hovers near, and the storm approaches, and the night comes on. The image seems low when applied; but every figure falls infinitely short of his glory. Yet they have their use, and aid the understanding, the impression, and remembrance of divine truth. And the wings afford not only concealment and defence, but a warm, soft, pleasing, and delightful retreat; and the feathered mother loves to cover her infant brood, and feel them at her side. So God saves his people, and rejoices over them with joy, and rests in his love: so they rejoice under the shadow of his wings. A situation is nothing unless we make use of it. The security results from our application of the advantage; and David was aware of this, and therefore cries, "I flee unto thee to hide me." Hence says Solomon, "the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe." And by rejoicing under the shadow of God's wings, he can intend nothing less than his having recourse to it; but he includes much more—That he would repair to it from choice, and realize it with thankfulness, and enjoy it with complacency and exultation. It is what he enjoins upon others when he says, "Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King." It is