Psalms 57

DISCOURSE: 596
DAVID’S LOVE TO GOD

Psalms 57:7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the hearens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

HERE we behold the bosom of a saint laid open, and the inmost recesses of his heart exposed to new. We cannot read the words without being more or less impressed with this thought, O that my soul were in such a state as his! Indeed the Psalmist himself judged this record of his experience to be of more than ordinary importance to the Church: and therefore, at a subsequent period, he detached these words from the context in which they stand, and made them the commencement of a separate psalm [Note: Psalms 108.]; intimating thereby, that they were not only proper to be used on occasion of any great deliverance, like that which had just been vouchsafed to him in the wilderness of En-gedi, (where Saul had sought to destroy him [Note: 1 Samuel 24 :.],) but that our frame of mind at all times should be such as was there expressed.

Let us observe,

I. The grounds of his love to God—

From the particular mercy which he had received, he was led to contemplate “God’s wonderful perfections; and particularly to admire,

1. The extent of his mercy—

[The temporal deliverance itself was a rich display of mercy, because it bespoke the watchful care of God over one, who, as a sinner, might rather have been an object of his displeasure. But David looked beyond the immediate occasion of his gratitude, and viewed the mercy of God towards his soul. David knew himself to be a sinner, and that, if God should enter into judgment with him, he must inevitably and eternally perish. Nor was he ignorant of the means which Nor should we be satisfied with approving ourselves to God in secret: we should honour him in the face of the whole world, and endeavour to prevail with all to unite with us in a duty so urgent, so reasonable, so delightful.]

2. He begs of God also to exalt and glorify himself—

[Sensible that, with all his efforts, he could affect but few, he entreats God to shew forth his own glory, and, by augmented displays of it, to “exalt himself above heaven and earth.” Thus to the same effect he addresses Jehovah in another psalm; “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most Mighty! with thy glory and thy majesty; and in thy majesty ride prosperously in the cause of meekness and truth and righteousness; and let thy right hand teach thee terrible things [Note: Psalms 45:3.].” In the 148th Psalm, his whole employment from beginning to end is to call on all the different creatures in heaven and earth, rational and irrational, animate and inanimate, to unite, according to their respective powers, in glorifying God.

Such then should be our prayer also: the manifestation of God’s glory should be so dear to us, that we should have no wish, no thought, no desire in comparison of it.]

Address—

That you may attain a greater measure of David’s piety,

1. Study the divine character, as illustrated in his dealings with you—

[To mark the dispensations of Providence and grace is good: but it will be of little service, unless we mark the perfections of God as displayed in his dealings with us. See, for instance, how multiplied your transgressions against him have been, and how wonderful has been his forbearance in not cutting you off in your sins, and making you monuments of his indignation, like the rebellious Israelites of old, or like Ananias and Sapphira in the Apostolic age! Call to mind how ready he has been at all times to receive you to his favour; and, in answer to your prayers, to send you fresh supplies of grace, or mercy, or peace, according to your necessities. Mark your various backslidings; and contrast with these the richness of his communications to you: and then say, “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy [Note: Micah 7:18.].” The sense of God’s excellency which you obtain from other sources will be speculative, superficial, transient; but that which you derive from his dealings with you will be deep, practical, abiding — — —]

2. Seek to have the dispositions of your minds suited to his dispensations towards you—

[What are the feelings which his mercy and truth should generate in your soul? Should they not be those of admiration, and love, and gratitude, and affiance? Should they not be also those of holy zeal in his service? Should they not be accompanied with a desire that the whole world should know him? Here then you see precisely what should be the state of your mind from day to day. This is piety: this is religion. Religion is not a matter of dispute, but of practice; and not of mere morals, but of spiritual feeling, similar to that which is expressed in my text, and venting itself in such language as this: “Bless the Lord, O my soul! and all that is within me, bless his holy name: bless the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits [Note: Psalms 103:1.].” This is your duty, shall I say? No: it is your privilege: and it is a very antepast of heaven. May God in his mercy diffuse amongst us this spirit more and more, and attune all our hearts to sing without ceasing the praises of our God!]