'And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly.' It is rather a difficult question as to what is intended here; but it seems most probable that wherever the word cherub or cherubim is used in Scripture, it is intended to denote the highest possible condition of restored and glorified humanity. In the Incarnation may it not be said of Him, speaking figuratively, 'He rode upon a cherub,' that is to say, He approached mankind in His own glorified and perfect humanity;' being Himself very God and yet very Man, taking our nature upon Him, yet without sin; the 'Holy One of God'? Of what do these things testify, of which the prophets spake in such rapturous praise? Have they not a voice, and that a mighty one? Yes: the Lord reigneth; Jehovah is our refuge; the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.' David does not mention these wondrous events as part of his own experience, but he looks back on the records of His mighty power in times past, and sees that in any trouble, be it great or small, there is one refuge, and one only, for the believer. 'I will call upon the Lord, and cry unto my God.' Ah! yes, we all know what it is, beloved friends, in great and sore troubles to fly to the stronghold: but I entreat you, do not wait for the great troubles to come; take the little ones, whatever they may be, take them continually to Him, no matter what they are; a slight difficulty, it may be, in your path, a doubt, a perplexity; take it to Him; He guides all; He rules all in heaven and earth; all power is given unto Him, and He will assuredly deliver His saints and put all enemies under His feet, and theirs for ever. Only trust Him, put Him to the proof. Remember, He has all power. Place yourself freely and unreservedly in His hands, and then you will be able to say with David, for He will hear me out of His holy temple.' He delights to dwell with the humble and contrite heart, and He will hear the cry of His people, He will incline His ear unto them and save them.' 'He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters; that is He will send from above, He will take me and draw me out of many waters. The original word here for 'draw' is only used in one other passage besides in Scripture, viz. in the history of Moses, when he was 'drawn out of the water,' and saved to be the leader of the Israelites through the wilderness. He will deliver me, and that on a twofold ground. First, because the enemy is strong, too strong for me, this enemy of His and mine; and, secondly, because He, my God and King, is stronger than he. He not only is willing, but He is able to deliver me; He is strong; yea, His strength is made perfect in weakness.' 'They will prevent me,' or encompass me, 'in the day of my calamity, but the Lord will be my stay,' or was my stay. Thus gathering as he goes on, from past experience, faith and strength for all the time to come. 'The Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place. He will deliver me, because He delighteth in me.' Doubtless, beloved, there are many of God's people who can go along with me in this; who know by experience what it is to feel their souls as it were shut up, and no outlet; all dark it may be, and they ready to exclaim, 'Our way is hidden from the Lord.' Well, beloved your calamity; call upon the Lord, even as David did; call to remembrance all that He is, and all that He has done for and with you, and then He will assuredly bring you forth, and set your feet in a large room, where you can breathe freely, and bask in the sunshine of his love and presence. Grand times these for the child of God, bright spots in His way; but not always must he have them, for he must be kept humble, and must not be 'exalted above measure;' therefore he needs chastening friends, do not be cast down in the day of to keep him in the way. But oh, these seasons of enlargement of heart are blessed and precious! Make use of them, beloved friends; not saying to yourselves, 'Surely all is right with us now;' but rather, 'It is good to be in the palace of the great King; He has heard my voice; He has brought me hither, and now His banner over me is Love.' Ah! if we did this, there would be a more even Christian walk, there would be fewer alternations of light and darkness on our path. 'He delivered me because He delighted in me.' What a wonderful thing that He, the mighty God, who cannot look upon sin but with abhorrence, should enable us to say this! What a thought to separate us from a world that hated, despised and crucified Him; also to lead us to be ever looking up and pressing on, forwards and upwards, to our heavenly home, with the eye fixed on Him in whom the Father was 'well pleased,' and for Whose sake He delights also in you and me! Beloved, let it be so increasingly with each of us; let us realise more fully what a gift of love is His, and be faithful unto death, for He will give us a crown of life. Thee will I love, my strength, my tower; Thee will I love, my joy, my crown; Thee will I love, my joy and crown; WESLEY. PSALM XVIII. 20-35. GENTLENESS OF CHRIST. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me. 'For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 'For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me. 'I was also upright before Him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. "Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight. 'With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; 'With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward. 'For Thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks. For Thou wilt light my candle the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by Thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. 'As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. 'For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God? 'It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. 'He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 'He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. "Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great.' WE come now to the consideration of the third division of this Psalm, viz. the person delivered. This part begins at the close of the 19th verse: He delivered me, because He delighted in me;' and 'The Lord will reward me' (for the tense is future here also) 'according to my righteousness.' Now, as I have observed before, one great evil of our too frequently isolated way of considering the Psalms is this-that in a case like the one before us we are led perhaps to imagine that the writer is pleading, rather presumptuously, to say the least of it, his own righteousness. This is quite a mistake, and arises simply from not comparing it with other passages by the same writer. It is deeply interesting to note the time when this Psalm was written. The greater portion of David's life was by this time past, together with those things which had for ever left a blot on his character as a man of God, though they had been forgiven and washed away as regarded the punishment due to him for them. You find the words of this song of deliverance in 2 Sam. xxii; and if you look back a few chapters, you will observe David's language to Zadoc, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again, and show me both it, and His habitation: but if He thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.' Where is David's selfrighteousness here? Remember it was after this that the Psalm before us was written. And this is the man who is said to have exalted himself and his own righteousness. One of the Psalms containing specially deep and earnest confession of sin and heartfelt repentance is the 32nd, which we find quoted in Romans iv: 'Even as David describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.' He does not say, blessed is the man who is righteous, or the man who does no sin, but 'Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.' Ah, beloved friends, the man that could write that was no self-righteous man assuredly. It shuts us up to this conviction, that wherever through the Psalms we find the writer expressing himself in apparently |