Spurgeon PS114

EXPOSITION.

David here declares the great source of his unflinching courage. He borrows his light from heaven–from the great central orb of deity. The God of the believer is never far from him; he is not merely the God of the mountain fastnesses, but of the dangerous valleys and battle plains.

“_Jehovah is in his holy temple_.” The heavens are above our heads in all regions of the earth, and so is the Lord ever near to us in every state and condition. This is a very strong reason why we should not adopt the vile suggestions of distrust. There is one who pleads his precious blood in our behalf in the temple above, and there is one upon the throne who is never deaf to the intercession of his Son. Why, then, should we fear? What plots can men devise which Jesus will not discover? Satan has doubtless desired to have us, that he may sift us as wheat, but Jesus is in the temple praying for us, and bow can our faith fail? What attempts can the wicked make which Jehovah shall not behold? And since he is in his holy temple, delighting in the sacrifice of his Son, will he not defeat every device, and send us a sure deliverance?

“_Jehovah’s throne is in the heavens_;” he reigns supreme. Nothing can be done in heaven, or earth, or hell, which he doth not ordain and over-rule. He is the world’s great Emperor. Wherefore, then, should we flee? If we trust this King of kings, is not this enough? Cannot he deliver us without our cowardly retreat? Yes, blessed be the Lord our God, we can salute him as Jehovah-nissi; in his name we set up our banners, and, instead of flight, we once more raise the shout of war.

“_His eyes behold_.” The eternal watcher never slumbers; his eyes never know a sleep. “_His eyelids try the children of men_:” he narrowly inspects their actions, words and thoughts. As men, when intently and narrowly inspecting some very minute object, almost close their eyelids to exclude every other object, so will the Lord look all men through and through. God sees each man as much and as perfectly as if there were no other creature in the universe. He sees us always; he never removes his eye from us; he sees us entirely, reading the recesses of the soul as readily as the glancing of the eye. Is not this a sufficient ground of confidence, and an abundant answer to the solicitations of despondency? My danger is not hid from him; he knows my extremity, and I may rest assured that he will not suffer me to perish while I rely alone on him. Wherefore, then, should I take the wings of the timid bird, and flee from the dangers which beset me.

“_The Lord trieth the righteous_:” he doth not hate them, but only tries them. They are precious to him, and therefore he refines them with afflictions. None of the Lord’s children may hope to escape from trial, nor, indeed, in our right minds, would any of us desire to do so, for trial is the channel of many blessings. ‘Tis my happiness below Not to live without the cross; But the Saviour’s power to know, Sanctifying every loss. * * * Trials make the promise sweet; Trials give new life to prayer; Trials bring me to his feet– Lay me low, and keep me there. Did I meet no trials here– No chastisement by the way– Might I not, with reason, fear I should prove a cast-away! Bastards may escape the rod, Sunk in earthly vain delight; But the true-born child of God Must not–would not, if he might.’

^William Cowper.

Is not this a very cogent reason why we should not distrustfully endeavour to shun a trial?–for in so doing we are seeking to avoid a blessing.

“_But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth_:” why, then, shall I flee from these wicked men? If God hateth them, I will not fear them. Haman was very great in the palace until he lost favour, but when the king abhorred him, how bold were the meanest attendants to suggest the gallows for the man at whom they had often trembled! Look at the black mark upon the faces of our persecutors, and we shall not run away from them. If God is in the quarrel as well as ourselves, it would be foolish to question the result, or avoid the conflict. Sodom and Gomorrah perished by a fiery hail, and by a brimstone shower from heaven; so shall all the ungodly. They may gather together like Gog and Magog to battle, but the Lord will rain upon them “an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone:” #Eze 38:22|. Some expositors think that in the term “horrible tempest,” there is in the Hebrew an allusion to that burning, suffocating wind, which blows across the Arabian deserts, and is known by the name of Simoom. “A burning storm,” Lowth calls it, while another great commentator reads it “wrathwind;” in either version the language is full of terrors. What a tempest will that be which shall overwhelm the despisers of God! Oh! what a shower will that be which shall pour out itself for ever upon the defenceless heads of impenitent sinners in hell! Repent, ye rebels, or this fiery deluge shall soon surround you. Hell’s horrors shall be your inheritance, your entailed estate, “the portion of your cup.” The dregs of that cup you shall wring out, and drink for ever. A drop of hell is terrible, but what must a full cup of torment be? Think of it–a cup of misery, but not a drop of mercy. O people of God, how foolish is it to fear the faces of men who shall soon be faggots in the fire of hell! Think of their end, their fearful end, and all fear of them must be changed into contempt of their threatenings and pity for their miserable estate.

The delightful contrast of the last verse is well worthy of our observation, and it affords another overwhelming reason why we should be stedfast, unmovable, not carried away with fear, or led to adopt carnal expedients in order to avoid trial. “_For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness_.” It is not only his office to defend it, but his nature to love it. He would deny himself if he did not defend the just. It is essential to the very being of God that he should be just; fear not, then, the end of all your trials, but “be just, and fear not.” God approves, and, if men oppose, what matters it? “_His countenance doth behold the upright_.” We need never be out of countenance, for God countenances us. He observes, he approves, he delights in the upright. He sees his own image in them, an image of his own fashioning, and therefore with complacency he regards them. Shall we dare to put forth our hand unto iniquity in order to escape affliction? Let us have done with by-ways and short turnings, and let us keep to that fair path of right along which Jehovah’s smile shall light us. Are we tempted to put our light under a bushel, to conceal our religion from our neighbours? Is it suggested to us that there are ways of avoiding the cross, and shunning the reproach of Christ? Let us not hearken to the voice of the charmer, but seek an increase of faith, that we may wrestle with principalities and powers, and follow the Lord, fully going without the camp, bearing his reproach. Mammon, the flesh, the devil, will all whisper in our ear, “Flee as a bird to your mountain;” but let us come forth and defy them all. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” There is no room or reason for retreat. Advance! Let the vanguard push on! To the front! all ye powers and passions of our soul. On! on! in God’s name, on! for “the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.

Verse 4.–The infinite understanding of God doth exactly know the sins of men; he knows so as to consider. He doth not only know them, but intently behold them: “_His eyelids try the children of men_,” a metaphor taken from men, that contract the eyelids when they would wistly and accurately behold a thing: it is not a transient and careless look.–^Stephen Charnock.

Verse 4.–“_His eyes behold_,” etc. God searcheth not as man searcheth, by enquiring into that which before was hid from him; his searching is no more but his beholding; he seeth the heart, he beholdeth the reins; God’s very sight is searching. #Heb 4:13|. “All things are naked and opened unto his eyes,” _tetrach