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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms XXVII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM XXVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Some think David penned this psalm before his coming to the throne,
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when he was in the midst of his troubles, and perhaps upon occasion of
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the death of his parents; but the Jews think he penned it when he was
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old, upon occasion of the wonderful deliverance he had from the sword
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of the giant, when Abishai succoured him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:16,17">2 Sam. xxi. 16, 17</A>)
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and his people thereupon resolved he should never venture his life
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again in battle, lest he should quench the light of Israel. Perhaps it
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was not penned upon any particular occasion; but it is very expressive
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of the pious and devout affections with which gracious souls are
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carried out towards God at all times, especially in times of trouble.
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Here is,
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I. The courage and holy bravery of his faith,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. The complacency he took in communion with God and the benefit he
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experienced by it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>.
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III. His desire towards God, and his favour and grace,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:7-9,11,12">ver. 7-9, 11, 12</A>.
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IV. His expectations from God, and the encouragement he gives to others
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to hope in him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:10,13,14">ver. 10, 13, 14</A>.
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And let our hearts be thus affected in singing this psalm.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps27_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Devout Confidence; Encouragement in Prayers.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>A psalm of David.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> my light and my
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salvation; whom shall I fear? the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> the strength of my
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life; of whom shall I be afraid?
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2 When the wicked, <I>even</I> mine enemies and my foes, came upon
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me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
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3 Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not
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fear: though war should rise against me, in this <I>will</I> I <I>be</I>
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confident.
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4 One <I>thing</I> have I desired of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that will I seek
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after; that I may dwell in the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> all the days of
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my life, to behold the beauty of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and to enquire in his
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temple.
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5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion:
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in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me
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up upon a rock.
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6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round
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about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of
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joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We may observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. With what a lively faith David triumphs in God, glories in his holy
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name, and in the interest he had in him.
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1. <I>The Lord is my light.</I> David's subjects called him <I>the
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light of Israel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:17">2 Sam. xxi. 17</A>.
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And he was indeed a burning and a shining light: but he owns that he
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shone, as the moon does, with a borrows light; what light God darted
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upon him reflected upon them: <I>The Lord is my light.</I> God is a
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light to his people, to show them the way when they are in doubt, to
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comfort and rejoice their hearts when they are in sorrow. It is in his
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light that they now walk on in their way, and in his light they hope to
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see light for ever.
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2. "He is <I>my salvation,</I> in whom I am safe and by whom I shall be
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saved."
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3. "He is <I>the strength of my life,</I> not only the protector of my
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exposed life, who keeps me from being slain, but the strength of my
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frail weak life, who keeps me from fainting, sinking, and dying away."
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God, who is a believer's light, is the strength of his life, not only
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by whom, but in whom, he lives and moves. In God therefore let us
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strengthen ourselves.</P>
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<P>
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II. With what an undaunted courage he triumphs over his enemies; no
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fortitude like that of faith. If God be for him, who can be against
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him? <I>Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid?</I> If
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Omnipotence be his guard, he has no cause to fear; if he knows it to be
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so, he has no disposition to fear. If God be his light, he fears no
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shades; if God be his salvation, he fears no colours. He triumphs over
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his enemies that were already routed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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His enemies came upon him, <I>to eat up his flesh,</I> aiming at no
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less and assured of that, but they fell; not, "He smote them and they
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fell," but, "<I>They stumbled and fell;</I>" they were so confounded
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and weakened that they could not go on with their enterprise. Thus
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those that came to take Christ with a word's speaking were made to
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stagger and fall to the ground,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+18:6">John xviii. 6</A>.
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The ruin of some of the enemies of God's people is an earnest of the
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complete conquest of them all. And therefore, these having fallen, he
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is fearless of the rest: "Though they be numerous, <I>a host</I> of
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them,--though they be daring and their attempts threatening,--though they
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<I>encamp against me,</I> an army against one man,--though they wage war
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upon me, yet <I>my heart shall not fear.</I>" Hosts cannot hurt us if
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the Lord of hosts protect us. Nay, in this assurance that God is for me
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"<I>I will be confident.</I>" Two things he will be confident of:--
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1. That he shall be safe. "If God is my salvation, <I>in the time of
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trouble he shall hide me;</I> he shall set me out of danger and above
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the fear of it." God will not only find out a shelter for his people in
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distress (as he did
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+36:26">Jer. xxxvi. 26</A>),
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but he will himself be their hiding-place,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+32:7">Ps. xxxii. 7</A>.
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His providence will, it may be, keep them safe; at least his grace will
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make them easy. His name is the strong tower into which by faith they
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run,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+18:10">Prov. xviii. 10</A>.
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"<I>He shall hide me,</I> not in the strongholds of En-gedi
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+23:29">1 Sam. xxiii. 29</A>),
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but <I>in the secret of his tabernacle.</I>" The gracious presence of
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God, his power, his promise, his readiness to hear prayer, the witness
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of his Spirit in the hearts of his people--these are the secret of his
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tabernacle, and in these the saints find cause for that holy security
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and serenity of mind in which they dwell at ease. This sets them upon a
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rock which will not sink under them, but on which they find firm
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footing for their hopes; nay, it sets them <I>up upon a rock</I> on
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high, where the raging threatening billows of a stormy sea cannot touch
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them; it is a rock that is <I>higher than we,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+61:2">Ps. lxi. 2</A>.
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2. That he shall be victorious
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>Now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies,</I> not only so as
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that they cannot reach it with their darts, but so as that I shall be
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exalted to bear rule over them." David here, by faith in the promise of
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God, triumphs before the victory, and is as sure, not only of the
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laurel, but of the crown, as if it were already upon his head.</P>
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<P>
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III. With what a gracious earnestness he prays for a constant communion
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with God in holy ordinances,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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It greatly encouraged his confidence in God that he was conscious to
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himself of an entire affection to God and to his ordinances, and that
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he was in his element when in the way of his duty and in the way of
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increasing his acquaintance with him. If our hearts can witness for us
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that we delight in God above any creature, that may encourage us to
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depend upon him; for it is a sign we are of those whom he protects as
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his own. Or it may be taken thus: He desired to dwell in the house of
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the Lord that there he might be safe from the enemies that surrounded
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him. Finding himself surrounded by threatening hosts, he does not say,
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"<I>One thing have I desired,</I> in order to my safety, that I may
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have my army augmented to such a number," or that I may be master of
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such a city or such a castle, but "<I>that I may dwell in the house of
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the Lord,</I> and then I am well." Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. What it is he desires--<I>to dwell in the house of the Lord.</I> In
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the courts of God's house the priests had their lodgings, and David
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wished he had been one of them. Disdainfully as some look upon God's
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ministers, one of the greatest and best of kings that ever was would
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gladly have taken his lot, have taken his lodging, among them. Or,
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rather, he desires that he might duly and constantly attend on the
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public service of God, with other faithful Israelites, according as the
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duty of every day required. He longed to see an end of the wars in
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which he was now engaged, not that he might live at ease in his own
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palace, but that he might have leisure and liberty for a constant
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attendance in God's courts. Thus Hezekiah, a genuine son of David,
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wished for the recovery of his health, not that he might go up to the
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thrones of judgment, but that he might <I>go up to the house of the
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Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+38:22">Isa. xxxviii. 22</A>.
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Note, All God's children desire to dwell in God's house; where should
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they dwell else? Not to sojourn there as a wayfaring man, that turns
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aside to tarry but for a night, nor to dwell there for a time only, as
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the servant that abides not in the house for ever, but to dwell there
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all the days of their life; for there the Son abides ever. Do we hope
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that praising God will be the blessedness of our eternity? Surely them
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we ought to make it the business of our time.</P>
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<P>
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2. How earnestly he covets this: "This is the <I>one thing I have
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desired of the Lord</I> and which I will seek after." If he were to ask
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but one thing of God, this should be it; for this he had at heart more
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than any thing. He desired it as a good thing; he desired it of the
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Lord as his gift and a token of his favour. And, having fixed his
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desire upon this as the one thing needful, he sought after it; he
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continued to pray for it, and contrived his affairs so as that he might
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have this liberty and opportunity. Note, Those that truly desire
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communion with God will set themselves with all diligence to seek after
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it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+18:1">Prov. xviii. 1</A>.</P>
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<P>
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3. What he had in his eye in it. He would dwell in God's house, not for
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the plenty of good entertainment that was there, in the feasts upon the
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sacrifices, nor for the music and good singing that were there, but
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<I>to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his temple.</I>
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He desired to attend in God's courts,
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(1.) That he might have the pleasure of meditating upon God. He knew
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something of the beauty of the Lord, the infinite and transcendent
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amiableness of the divine being and perfections; his holiness is his
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beauty
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+110:3">Ps. cx. 3</A>),
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his goodness is his beauty,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+9:17">Zech. ix. 17</A>.
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The harmony of all his attributes is the beauty of his nature. With an
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eye of faith and holy love we with pleasure behold this beauty, and
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observe more and more in it that is amiable, that is admirable. When
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with fixedness of thought, and a holy flame of devout affections, we
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contemplate God's glorious excellencies, and entertain ourselves with
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the tokens of his peculiar favour to us, this is that view of the
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beauty of the Lord which David here covets, and it is to be had in his
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ordinances, for there he manifests himself.
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(2.) That he might have the satisfaction of being instructed in his
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duty; for concerning this he would <I>enquire in God's temple.</I>
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Lord, <I>what wilt thou have me to do?</I> For the sake of these two
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things he desired that one thing, to <I>dwell in the house of the Lord
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all the days of his life;</I> for blessed are those that do so; they
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will be still praising him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+84:4">Ps. lxxxiv. 4</A>),
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both in speaking to him and in hearing from him. Mary's sitting at
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Christ's feet to hear his word Christ calls the <I>one thing
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needful,</I> and <I>the good part.</I></P>
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<P>
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4. What advantage he promised himself by it. Could he but have a place
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in God's house,
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(1.) There he should be quiet and easy: there troubles would not find
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him, for he should be hid in secret; there troubles would not reach
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him, for he should be set on high,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Joash, one of David's seed, was hidden in the house of the Lord six
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years, and there not only preserved from the sword, but reserved to the
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crown,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+11:3">2 Kings xi. 3</A>.
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The temple was thought a safe place for Nehemiah to abscond in,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+6:10">Neh. vi. 10</A>.
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The safety of believers however is not in the walls of the temple, but
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in the God of the temple and their comfort in communion with him.
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(2.) There he should be pleasant and cheerful: there he would offer
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sacrifices of joy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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For God's work is its own wages. There <I>he would sing, yea, he would
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sing praises to the Lord.</I> Note, Whatever is the matter of our joy
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ought to be the matter of our praise; and, when we attend upon God in
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holy ordinances, we ought to be much in joy and praise. It is for the
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glory of our God that we should sing in his ways; and, whenever God
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lifts us up above our enemies, we ought to exalt him in our praises.
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<I>Thanks be to God, who always causeth us to triumph,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+2:14">2 Cor. ii. 14</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps27_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps27_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Confidence in Divine Goodness.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Hear, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>when</I> I cry with my voice: have mercy also
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upon me, and answer me.
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8 <I>When thou saidst,</I> Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee,
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Thy face, L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, will I seek.
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9 Hide not thy face <I>far</I> from me; put not thy servant away in
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anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me,
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O God of my salvation.
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10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> will
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take me up.
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11 Teach me thy way, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and lead me in a plain path,
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because of mine enemies.
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12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false
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witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out
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cruelty.
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13 <I>I had fainted,</I> unless I had believed to see the goodness
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of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in the land of the living.
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14 Wait on the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: be of good courage, and he shall
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strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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David in these verses expresses,</P>
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<P>
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I. His desire towards God, in many petitions. If he cannot now go up to
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the house of the Lord, yet, wherever he is, he can find a way to the
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throne of grace by prayer.</P>
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<P>
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1. He humbly bespeaks, because he firmly believes he shall have, a
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gracious audience: "<I>Hear, O Lord, when I cry,</I> not only with my
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heart, but, as one in earnest, <I>with my voice too.</I>" He bespeaks
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also an answer of peace, which he expects, not from his own merit, but
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God's goodness: <I>Have mercy upon me, and answer me,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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If we pray and believe, God will graciously hear and answer.</P>
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<P>
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2. He takes hold of the kind invitation God had given him to this duty,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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It is presumption for us to come into the presence of the King of kings
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uncalled, nor can we draw near with any assurance unless he <I>hold
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forth to us the golden sceptre.</I> David therefore going to pray
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fastens, in his thoughts, upon the call God had given him to the throne
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of his grace, and reverently touches, as it were, the top of the golden
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sceptre which was thereby held out to him. <I>My heart said unto
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thee</I> (so it begins in the original) or <I>of</I> thee, <I>Seek you
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|
my face;</I> he first revolved that, and preached that over again to
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|
himself (and that is the best preaching: it is hearing twice what God
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|
speaks once)--<I>Thou saidst</I> (so it may be supplied), <I>Seek you
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my face;</I> and then he returns what he had so meditated upon, in this
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pious resolution, <I>Thy face, Lord, will I seek.</I> Observe here,
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(1.) The true nature of religious worship; it is seeking the face of
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|
God. This it is in God's precept: <I>Seek you my face;</I> he would
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have us seek him for himself, and make his favour our chief good; and
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|
this it is in the saint's purpose and desire: "<I>Thy face, Lord, will
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I seek,</I> and nothing less will I take up with." The opening of his
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hand will satisfy the desire of other living things
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+145:16">Ps. cxlv. 16</A>),
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but it is only the shining of his face that will satisfy the desire of
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a living soul,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+4:6,7">Ps. iv. 6, 7</A>.
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|
(2.) The kind of invitation of a gracious God to this duty: <I>Thou
|
|
saidst, Seek you my face;</I> it is not only permission, but a precept;
|
|
and his commanding us to seek implies a promise of finding; for he is
|
|
too kind to say, <I>Seek you me in vain.</I> God calls us to seek his
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|
face in our conversion to him and in our converse with him. He calls
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|
us, by the whispers of his Spirit to and with our spirits, to seek his
|
|
face; he calls us by his word, by the stated returns of opportunities
|
|
for his worship, and by special providences, merciful and afflictive.
|
|
When we are foolishly making our court to lying vanities God is, in
|
|
love to us, calling us in him to seek our own mercies.
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|
|
|
(3.) The ready compliance of a gracious soul with this invitation. The
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|
call is immediately returned: <I>My heart answered, Thy face, Lord,
|
|
will I seek.</I> The call was general; "<I>Seek you my face;</I>" but,
|
|
like David, we must apply it to ourselves, "<I>I will seek it.</I>" The
|
|
word does us no good when we transfer it to others, and do not
|
|
ourselves accept the exhortation. The call was, <I>Seek you my
|
|
face;</I> the answer is express, <I>Thy face, Lord, will I seek;</I>
|
|
like that
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:22">Jer. iii. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Behold, we come unto thee.</I> A gracious heart readily echoes to
|
|
the call of a gracious God, being made willing in the day of his
|
|
power.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He is very particular in his requests.
|
|
|
|
(1.) For the favour of God, that he might not be shut out from that
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thy face, Lord, will I seek,</I> in obedience to thy command;
|
|
therefore <I>hide not thy face from me;</I> let me never want the
|
|
reviving sense of the favour; love me, and let me know that thou lovest
|
|
me; <I>put not thy servant away in anger.</I>" He owns he had deserved
|
|
God's displeasure, but begs that, however God might correct him, he
|
|
would not cast him away from his presence; for what is hell but that?
|
|
|
|
(2.) For the continuance of his presence with him: "<I>Thou hast been
|
|
my help</I> formerly, and <I>thou are the God of my salvation;</I> and
|
|
therefore whither shall I go but to thee? <I>O leave me not, neither
|
|
forsake me;</I> withdraw not the operations of they power from me, for
|
|
then I am helpless; withdraw not the tokens of thy good-will to me, for
|
|
then I am comfortless."
|
|
|
|
(3.) For the benefit of divine guidance
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Teach me thy way, O Lord!</I> give me to understand the meaning of
|
|
thy providences towards me and make them plain to me; and give me to
|
|
know my duty in every doubtful case, that I may not mistake it, but may
|
|
walk rightly, and that I may not do it with hesitation, but may walk
|
|
surely." It is not policy, but plainness (that is, downright honesty)
|
|
that will direct us into and keep us in the way of our duty. He begs
|
|
to be guided <I>in a plain path, because of his enemies,</I> or (as the
|
|
margin reads it) his <I>observers.</I> His enemies watched for his
|
|
halting, that they may find occasion against him. Saul eyed David,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+18:9">1 Sam. xviii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
This quickened him to pray, "Lord, <I>lead me in a plain path,</I> that
|
|
they may have nothing ill, or nothing that looks ill, to lay to my
|
|
charge."
|
|
|
|
(4.) For the benefit of a divine protection
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies.</I> Lord, let them
|
|
not gain their point, for it aims at my life, and no less, and in such
|
|
a way as that I have no fence against them, but thy power over their
|
|
consciences; for <I>false witnesses have risen up against me,</I> that
|
|
aim further than to take away my reputation or estate, for they
|
|
<I>breathe out cruelty;</I> it is the blood, the precious blood, they
|
|
thirst after." Herein David was a type of Christ; for false witnesses
|
|
rose up against him, and such as breathed out cruelty; but though he
|
|
was delivered into their wicked hands, he was not delivered over to
|
|
their will, for they could not prevent his exaltation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He expresses his dependence upon God,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That he would help and succour him when all other helps and succours
|
|
failed him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>When my father and my mother forsake me,</I> the nearest and
|
|
dearest friends I have in the world, from whom I may expect most relief
|
|
and with most reason, when they die, or are at a distance from me, or
|
|
are disabled to help me in time of need, or are unkind to me or
|
|
unmindful of me, and will not help me, when I am as helpless as ever
|
|
poor orphan was that was left fatherless and motherless, then I know
|
|
<I>the Lord will take me up,</I> as a poor wandering sheep is taken up,
|
|
and saved from perishing." His time to help those that trust in him is
|
|
when all other helpers fail, when it is most for his honour and their
|
|
comfort. With him <I>the fatherless find mercy.</I> This promise has
|
|
often been fulfilled in the letter of it. Forsaken orphans have been
|
|
taken under the special care of the divine Providence, which has raised
|
|
up relief and friends for them in a way that one would not have
|
|
expected. God is a surer and better friend than our earthly parents are
|
|
or can be.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That in due time he should see the displays of his goodness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
He believed he should <I>see the goodness of the Lord in the land of
|
|
the living;</I> and, if he had not done so, he would <I>have
|
|
fainted</I> under his afflictions. Even the best saints are subject to
|
|
faint when their troubles become grievous and tedious, their spirits
|
|
are overwhelmed, and their flesh and heart fail. But then faith is a
|
|
sovereign cordial; it keeps them from desponding under their burden and
|
|
from despairing of relief, keeps them hoping, and praying, and waiting,
|
|
and keeps up in them good thoughts of God, and the comfortable
|
|
enjoyment of themselves. But what was it the belief of which kept David
|
|
from fainting?--<I>that he should see the goodness of the Lord,</I>
|
|
which now seemed at a distance. Those that walk by faith in the
|
|
goodness of the Lord shall in due time walk in the sight of that
|
|
goodness. This he hopes to see in the land of the living, that is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) In this world, that he should outlive his troubles and not perish
|
|
under them. It is his comfort, not so much that he shall see the land
|
|
of the living as that he shall see the goodness of God in it; for that
|
|
is the comfort of all creature-comforts to a gracious soul.
|
|
|
|
(2.) In the land of Canaan, and in Jerusalem where the lively oracles
|
|
were. In comparison with the heathen, that were dead in sin, the land
|
|
of Israel might fitly be called <I>the land of the living;</I> there
|
|
God was known, and there David hoped to see his goodness; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+15:25,26">2 Sam. xv. 25, 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or,
|
|
|
|
(3.), In heaven. It is that alone that may truly be called <I>the land
|
|
of the living,</I> where there is no more death. This earth is the land
|
|
of the dying. There is nothing like the believing hope of eternal life,
|
|
the foresights of that glory, and foretastes of those pleasures, to
|
|
keep us from fainting under all the calamities of this present
|
|
time.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. That in the mean time he should be strengthened to bear up under his
|
|
burdens
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
whether he says it to himself, or to his friends, it comes all to one;
|
|
this is that which encourages him: <I>He shall strengthen thy
|
|
heart,</I> shall sustain thy spirit, and then the spirit shall sustain
|
|
the infirmity. In that strength,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Keep close to God and to your duty. <I>Wait on the Lord</I> by
|
|
faith, and prayer, and a humble resignation to his will; <I>wait, I
|
|
say, on the Lord;</I> whatever you do, grow not remiss in your
|
|
attendance upon God.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Keep up your spirits in the midst of the greatest dangers and
|
|
difficulties: <I>Be of good courage;</I> let your hearts be fixed,
|
|
trusting in God, and your minds stayed upon him, and then let none of
|
|
these things move you. Those that wait upon the Lord have reason to be
|
|
of good courage.</P>
|
|
|
|
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