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GOD’S MERCY AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRAYER
IN seasons of affliction, it is a great comfort to see how others in similar circumstances, have found relief. It is in this view that biography is peculiarly interesting; and Scripture biography more especially, because it is more authentic in itself, and a surer ground for wise and profitable observations. The Psalms are a rich repository of such instruction. David was a man of deep experience. His afflictions, both temporal and spiritual, were very abundant: and, as they are faithfully related to us, so do we see under them the workings of his mind. In the passage just read we see,
I. The means he used for deliverance from his distresses—
His trials were greatly diversified, and very severe—
[Unless it were recorded on divine authority, we should scarcely conceive it possible that a man of David’s character should be an object of such inveterate and envenomed malice as he was in the eyes of Saul: and, after the returns which he made to Saul, we should scarcely think that human malignity could ever arrive at such a height, or rage with such unrelenting fury, as it did in that envious and jealous monarch. Of his troubles under persecution David speaks under the same metaphor as that which is used in our text: “Save me, O Lord! for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail, while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty [Note: Psa_69:1-4.].”
It seems, however, that on the present occasion he refers to his spiritual troubles, because it is of his iniquities that he chiefly complains, and of forgiveness that he expresses his chief desire. It might be supposed that so holy a man as he should have no complaints of this kind to make: but the truth is, that the more holy any man is, the more enlarged will be his views of the spirituality of God’s Law, and the more painful his sense of his short-comings and defects: and it should seem that David was permitted to sustain great anguish of mind on this account, that so he might be the better fitted to instruct and comfort God’s tempted people to the very end of time. Hear his complaints under a sense of God’s displeasure: “Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps: thy wrath lieth hard upon me; and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves [Note: Psa_88:6-7.].” Sometimes he was so overwhelmed, that he thought himself altogether an outcast from God, and doubted whether he should ever find mercy at his hands: “Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies [Note: Psa_77:7-9.]?”]
Under all his trials he had recourse to God in prayer—
[“Out of the depths he cried unto the Lord,” He well knew that none but God could support him under all his temporal afflictions, and that there was no other comforter amidst the troubles of his soul. Hence, on all occasions, he betook himself to God in prayer. Under trials from man he says, “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies [Note: Psa_18:3-6.].” And under the frowns of Almighty God he still sought refuge in the arms of him whose displeasure he feared: “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul [Note: Psa_116:3-4.]!” Thus did Jeremiah also, under his extremities: “They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice; hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry [Note: Lam_3:53-56.]!” Thus it is that we also, under all our troubles, should approach our God. Nor should we be discouraged because we cannot find enlargement in prayer; our feelings may be too deep for utterance; and our desires may find vent only in sighs, and groans, and tears: but, if only we be sincere, God will hear our very “breathing and our cry.”]
From the account which David gives us of his prayers, we learn,
II. The views of God, from whence he derived his chief encouragement—
He dared not to plead for any thing on the footing of justice—
[He was sensible that he in no respect came up to the perfect demands of God’s Law; and that, if God should “mark his iniquities,” it would be impossible for him to “stand;” since there was not an act, or word, or thought in his whole life that could endure so severe a scrutiny. Such is the view which all holy men have of their own infirmities: they know that God “charges even his angels with folly [Note: Job_4:18.],” and that “the very heavens are not clean in his sight:” how much less can man be pure, who by nature comes from a corrupt source; and, by practice, drinks iniquity like water [Note: Job_15:14-16.]? Job was the most perfect man of his day: yet he says, “If I should say I am perfect, my own tongue would prove me perverse [Note: Job_9:2-3; Job_9:20.].” And every living man must deprecate the being dealt with according to the demands of strict justice, saying, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified [Note: Psa_143:2.].”]
His only hope was founded on the mercy of his God—
[Mercy is an essential perfection of the Divine nature, and, consequently, inseparable from God. But the expression, “There is forgiveness with thee,” intimates, that it is treasured up, as it were, in the Divine bosom, ready to be bestowed on every weeping penitent. We are told, that “it has pleased the Father that in Christ should all fulness dwell;” and that “out of his fulness we are all to receive,” according to our respective necessities. This was David’s encouragement. Had he not known this, he would have sat down in utter despair. It is a consciousness of this that emboldens a penitent to draw nigh to God, and to ask for mercy at his hands. A soul that is gone beyond the reach of mercy, hates God with a perfect hatred, and “never repents to give him glory [Note: Rev_16:9; Rev_16:11.]:” but the soul that hopes in his mercy, feels towards him a filial fear and reverence; and this holy fear is ever augmented in proportion to the hope that is cherished in the soul. Hence, when God says respecting his people, “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me;” he adds, “And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity, that I procure unto it [Note: Jer_33:8-9.].”]
In this view of David’s experience we may see,
1. Our dependence on God—
[To whom can we go in a time of trouble? Who can afford us even the smallest help, especially under a sense of sin, and under a dread of God’s displeasure? We may possess all that the world can give, but it will not for a moment soothe the agonies of a guilty conscience. Of all things under the sun, in this view, it must be said, “Miserable comforters are ye all!” Our help is in God alone. “He is the only fountain of life: and in his light alone can we see light [Note: Psa_36:9.].”]
2. Our obligations to him—
[When we see so holy a man as David brought into “depths” where he feels as one ready to perish, what thanks can we render unto God, that we are enabled to pass through life in peaceful tranquillity, and with a cheerful hope of eternal life! None but those who have experienced the hidings of God’s face, and the terrors of his wrath, can have any conception what it is to be reduced to such a state. Does David say, “Fearfulness hath taken hold upon me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me?” Why, then, is not that the condition of our souls? Who does not deserve it? Who might not well be left to sustain it throughout his whole life? If we were saved from perdition at last, it would be a mercy, for which we should have cause to bless God to all eternity. But to enjoy peace here, and the light of God’s countenance, verily this is a blessing for which we can never be sufficiently thankful.
But there is yet a richer blessing vouchsafed unto us; and that is, that in all our trials, of whatever kind, we have God himself for our refuge. Who need to be afraid of depths, when he has a God to go unto, a God able and willing to deliver him? Look at the heathen, who know not God; or at those who, though in a Christian land, are unacquainted with the great mystery of redemption. They are in a pitiable condition indeed: but the believing penitent, though in darkness, has reason to rejoice; because his “heaviness will endure but for a night, and joy will come to him in the morning.” He may descend with Jonah to the very precincts of hell; but in due season he shall be brought forth to light and liberty and joy.]
3. Our true wisdom—
[The resolution of David, in the words following our text, should be ours. Whether in trouble or at ease, let us wait on the Lord, and “hold us fast by God.” The man who has been watching through the night looks with eager desire to the break of day, when he shall be relieved from his toil. But with far greater earnestness, and with sweeter assurance too, should we wait on God, confident that he will appear for us in the hour of need, and grant us that rest which our necessities require. Let us then live in this habit; and then, “though the fig-tree should not blossom, nor the fields yield their meat, nor any herd be found in the stalls, we may rejoice in the Lard, and joy in the God of our Salvation [Note: Hab_3:17-18.].”]