PSALM XVI.

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE KING.

'Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust.

'O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to Thee;

'But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

"The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: Thou maintainest my lot.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

'I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

'I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

'Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

'For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.

'Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.'

AN old writer has said of this Psalm, my beloved friends, that while it speaks somewhat of David, it speaks a great deal more of Jesus Christ:' and I think we may even go beyond him and say, that it does altogether testify of Him from first to last, and that its every expression will be found tenfold more precious if considered as referring to Him.

It is called, you see, 'Michtam,' or 'golden Psalm' of David; golden, i.e. exceedingly precious. If you turn with me to Acts ii. 25-28, I think we shall see that David was led, in the Psalm before us, to speak not of himself but of Christ. If we take these four verses and admit, as we must of necessity do, that they refer to Jesus Christ, Christ not with David, but in contrast to

him, then the whole Psalm in its striking and wondrous language applies to Him alone, the One pure, holy, perfect Man, the Son of God and the Son of Man, the Man Christ Jesus.

Verse 1. 'Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust.' You will remember that it is said in Hebrews ii. 11-13, 'For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.' There are three things in these verses. First, He is not ashamed, speaking of His own people, to call them brethren.' He is not ashamed to call man, poor sinful man, brother (ver. 12). And, secondly, there is a time coming when He shall take these His own, and present them spotless before the Throne, saying, 'Behold I and the children whom Thou hast given Me.' Thirdly, between these two we find the words, 'I will put my trust in Him,' expressive of that simple, loving trust and confidence in His heavenly Father which marked the whole life of Christ, from His cradle to His grave. So here, His perfect trustfulness in Jehovah is appropriately expressed in the first words of this Psalm, 'Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust.' To take one example only out of His long life of suffering, that scene of deepest agony in the garden, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared,' what were His words? Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done. Father, if this cup may not pass from Me except I drink it, Thy will be done.'

Thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my God: my goodness, not to Thee' (omitting the words in italics); goodness here meaning, first of all, that which is right and holy and pure and good, and at the same time that which is prosperous and successful. Well may all these terms be applied to Christ's work, of which, nevertheless, He speaks in the Psalm before us, 'My goodness, not to

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Thee,' that is, not beyond Thee or beside Thee; but with Thee; the Father and the Son being eternally united in this great work of imputed righteousness.

'But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.' Excellent, simply because they have on them the pure and spotless robe of Christ's righteousness. Bright and spotless and most fair, no doubt, are the robes of Gabriel and others who stand before the throne of God, but not one of them all to be compared to that. In whom is all My delight,' or 'good-will.' When in days of old the angels came to the shepherds of Bethlehem, as they kept watch over their flocks by night, what was their language? 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men;' while in the manger of that lowly inn at Bethlehem lay The One whose whole life was a life of good-will spent lavishly and without reservation upon the children of men, in whom is all His delight.'

'Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god,' that hasten after any one but Jehovah. There came a time when the Lord 'beheld the city and wept over it,' and when, as He sat on the Mount of Olives, He warned His disciples, saying, 'For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.' And why? Because they had hastened after other gods, and had not known, in that their day of grace, the things which concerned their peace. Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer.' Their hands were full of blood ;' and so our Lord addressed to them those fearfully solemn words of warning, 'Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.'

'Nor take up their names into My lips.' Ah! there was one who said, speaking of His own people, I pray

for them; I pray not for the world, but for those whom Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine.' How sweet and precious these prayers for His people! But for them, the unbelievers, He will not take their names into His lips.'

"The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. The Lord Himself testified, 'Lo, I come, to do Thy will, O my God.' It was His portion: He was 'content to do it.' In that was all His joy. The Lord, His Father, was indeed His portion. How He sought after this joy when on earth! After long days of toil and weariness He retired oftentimes into a desert place apart to pray, and spent the night upon the lone mountain-side in deep communion with His Father.

"Thou maintainest my lot,' that is, Thou spreadest or extendest my lot. For of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, to order it and to establish it for ever.' 'The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places' (referring to the instruments used for measuring or dividing land), 'yea, I have a goodly heritage.' For My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.' These are His jewels; this His inheritance, His precious treasure, which the Lord giveth to Him in 'pleasant places.' Are there any such, my beloved, in this sin-stained world of ours? Ah, no! but wait until we come to dwell in Immanuel's Land, and eternity alone will show the inexhaustible blessings of that 'pleasant place' where the Lord God shall take unto Himself His own inheritance, and gather to Him all His redeemed from among the children of men, 'the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty.' And then, if we are thus His children, blessed be God, we have all secured to us in Him. I Cor. iii. 21, 'All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.'

'I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel.'

Yes, it was ever so with Him. We remember His words at the grave of Lazarus, 'Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me, and I knew that Thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.' Just the full, loving confidence between them, leading Him to say, 'I know that Thou hearest Me always.' 'I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.' My inward emotions, the deep feelings of my heart, these instruct me in the night seasons; times, that is, of great trial, of which night is but the type and emblem; darkness such as that which came upon the Son of God when He exclaimed, 'This is your hour, and the power of darkness.' Yes, He was 'made perfect through sufferings.'

I have set the Lord always before me.' Going away oftentimes from His disciples, only to enter, undisturbed, into the immediate presence of God. He was at His right hand, therefore He was not moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth.' My glory, that is, my tongue.

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My flesh also shall rest in hope.' David fell asleep and was gathered to his fathers, but this Man 'saw no corruption' (verse 10). This Jesus hath God raised up,' said St. Peter, 'whereof we all are witnesses.' He endured to the end, and then arose, conqueror over death and the grave, leading 'captivity captive and giving gifts unto men.'

Thou wilt show me the path of life.' The presence of God, fulness of joy, for ever and ever. The path of life,' beloved. Yes, because it shows us this same Jesus,' at whose name every knee must bow, and every tongue confess Him Lord. Therefore, you see, how well this verse follows the others; because it shows us how we may enter into God's holy hill, even by that one pure, holy, spotless Man, of whom the 15th Psalm speaks.

What a Saviour is ours, that 'His delight' should be