“The King Can Do No Wrong”

"The King Can Do No Wrong"

(No. 2420)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, JULY 7, 1895.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE
16, 1887.

"And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatever
the king did pleased all the people." 2 Samuel 3:36.

DAVID was a great king and a good king, but his character was
compromised by the conduct of Joab, who had been one of his chief
friends and supporters. Abner came to David, in Hebron, and proposed
terms of peace which David accepted. But Joab could not bear that Abner
should be his rival and, therefore, he most treacherously murdered him.
This abominable act was greatly to the detriment of David's
character–he could not prevent the crime, certainly he had not
instigated it–and yet it was only natural that all the people would
suppose that David had a hand in it because Joab was not merely one of
his subjects, but his prime minister!

Dear Friends, in a similar way, the character of our great Lord and
King among the sons of men is very much in the hands of His people,
especially in the hands of those who are more prominent than others,
and whom He uses in His service more than others. We may go and do, on
our own account, things that shall bring dishonor to the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord and King! He will have no part nor lot in them, nothing
that He has taught will suggest them, and nothing that He desires will
urge us, thus, to act. We may, however, of our own free will, even
those of us whom the Lord uses most, bring grievous dishonor on His
holy name. Jesus has often to lift up His pierced hands and when we ask
Him, "What are these wounds in Your hands?" He has to answer, "Those
with which I was wounded in the house of My friends." It is evident to
each one of you that all the vile insults of infidels could never
dishonor Christ as the inconsistencies of His own disciples! No slur
ever comparatively attaches to the glorious name of the Well-Beloved
from His avowed enemies, let them slander Him as they may. But a blot
does fall upon His sacred name through the inconsistencies and follies
of those who call themselves His disciples, but who are not truly His
followers, or, being so, are not careful to walk consistently with
their profession!

We may well pity David that he should come under the opprobrium of the
conduct of such an one as Joab, for in his heart he was entirely clear
of the murder of Abner. Yet rumor was quite sure to attribute
complicity in the crime to him. Joab said to himself, "Abner has
deceived the king. He cannot, after all he has done, be true in his
professions of friendship, so I will go out and slay him." And it is
not at all an uncommon thing for us to dishonor Christ under the notion
that we are showing our zeal for the King. We may be doing evil in the
hope that good may come out of it! We may be indulging an unchristian,
intolerant spirit in our zeal against intolerance! We may grow bitter
in our love for love and in our hate of hatred! Such poor judges are we
of what is right that we may even deceive ourselves into the belief
that we are honoring our Lord and Master when we are, all the while,
bringing disgrace upon His name! Perhaps Joab acted from this spirit
and possibly some of us, at this very moment, are making the same
mistake.

It is a grand proof of the stability of David's character that he did
not suffer in the estimation of his friends because of what Joab had
done. He ordered a public funeral for Abner. He attended it, himself,
wrapped in sackcloth, and he compelled Joab to attend it. He, himself,
fasted as a sign of the deepest mourning, and when the people came and
begged him to eat, he would not touch food till the sun went down–he
sacredly observed the time of fasting for the death of Abner, for whom
he sang a dolorous song of real sorrow–"And the king lamented over
Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dies? Your hands were not bound,
nor your feet put into fetters: as a man falls before wicked men, so
fell you." "And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them:
as whatever the king did pleased all the people. For all the people and
all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay
Abner, the son of Ner."

Now, it is to the honor of our Lord Jesus Christ that His cause and His
Character survive all the follies and all the sins of His professed
people. There was an eminent minister who once said that Christianity
must be true since it survived pulpits. And another one added that he
felt more sure of its being true because it survived ministers, for,
taking them all round, they were more likely to destroy than to build
up the cause of Christ! These things were said only in semi-earnest,
but there is a great deal of serious truth about them. The cause of
Christ must be true because the Master has survived His disciples! His
wisdom has not been eclipsed by our folly. His power has not been
lessened by our weakness. The glory of His holiness has not been
beclouded by the unholiness of His people. The sun has risen in spite
of the many clouds. The morning has come notwithstanding the mists of
the night. Blessed King, You conquer with the poorest soldiers that
ever fought a battle and You get to Yourself the greater, rather than
the less renown, because Your victories are won by such poor followers!

In Christ's conquests, it is never the soldiers' battle, it is always
the Captain's battles and the Captain's victories. On His head are the
many crowns of all who follow Him, for there is not one of them who has
earned a crown. Their crowns are all deserved by Him and when they are
given to them, by Him, they naturally and of right give them back to
Him, crying, "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are
and were created."–

"Not unto us, to You alone, Blessed Lamb, be glory given!"

So, you see, our text has already led us into this profitable
meditation upon our Lord! Good David, with his character in jeopardy
through the wrongdoing of his prime minister, nevertheless passed
through the trial, and his fame survived it. And the Character of our
Lord Jesus Christ is such that, while daily put in jeopardy by us, yet
it will still survive and His Kingdom will continue to increase–and
His Glory will never wane.

This brings me, now, to dwell upon the second part of the
verse–"Whatever the king did pleased all the people." Wherever this is
the case with any king, we may say of it, first, this is the outflow of
love. Secondly, this is the consequence of knowledge. Thirdly, this is
the secret of rest. And fourthly, this is the fountain of obedience.

I. First, then, wherever it is the case that whatever the king does
pleases all the people, THIS IS THE OUTFLOW OF LOVE–and as it is the
case with our King, that whatever He does pleases all His people, we
can truly say that this is the outflow of our love to Him. Let us dwell
upon that matter for a few minutes.

Dear Friends, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts,
whatever He does will please us! We shall sum up all His past history
in this one sentence, "He has done all things well." And we shall
foretell His future history just as briefly, for, "He will do all
things well."

Whatever our King does pleases us because we love Him and, true love,
in the first place, banishes suspicion. When we do not love our rulers,
we are afraid of the power that is over us. We think, perhaps, it may
be exercised without tenderness, and we begin to tremble, lest, in some
awful moment, the great foot should crush us, or the powerful hand
should smite us. But when we truly love, we are not the victims of any
such impression! No dark suspicions come across the soul that is once
enamored of the Lord Jesus Christ. "No," says the heart, "He will not
hurt me. He will not destroy me. He will not forget me." We cannot
admit one ill thought concerning Him when, with all our heart, and with
all our soul, and with all our strength, we have come to love Him. Love
at once banishes all suspicions!

It also inspires implicit confidence. When we love Jesus Christ, our
blessed King, we feel that He must do that which is kind, that which is
tender, that which is right–and we do not need to ask Him any
questions–we leave the whole matter with Him to do as He pleases. We
are willing to let His will be like the apocalyptic book, sealed with
seven seals, if necessary, and we unhesitatingly say, "Let His will be
done." He who loves Christ much does not keep on asking for tokens,
signs, evidences and manifestations!

That is an odd story, which is told of two Welshmen, but it has a great
deal of truth in it. They were going out to preach and they parted at
the crossroads, one to go this way, and one to go that. One of them
said to his friend, "Brother Jones, may you get the Light of His
Countenance in your preaching today!" "I hope so, Brother," he
answered, "but there is one thing–if I do not get the Light of His
Countenance, I will speak well of Him behind His back." Yes, just so!
When we see His face, we realize what a blessed Christ He is, but if we
do not see His face, we are not going to find fault with Him! We
believe in the truth of Kent's hymn–

"What cheering words are these!

Their sweetness who can tell? In time, and to eternal days,

'Tis with the righteous well.

Well when they see His face,

Or sink amidst the flood;

Well in affliction's thorny maze,

Or on the mount with God!

'Tis well when they can sing

As sinners bought with blood,

And when they touch the mournful string,

And mourn an absent God.

'Tis well when on the mount

They feast on dying love,

And 'tis as well, in God's account,

When they, the furnace pro ve."

If Jesus smiles, He is my Lord, but if He frowns, He is my Lord just
the same! "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." That was a
splendid utterance of Job when he reached that point and that is where
true love always comes–it makes no enquiries or bargains, but it says,
"My Lord is such a glorious King that I trust Him in the dark. I make
no covenant or stipulation as to what He will do or will not do. I
implicitly put myself in His hands and say, 'Not as I will, but as You
will.'" This is the sweet effect of love–it banishes suspicion and
inspires confidence–and thus it comes true that whatever the King
does, pleases all the people.

Love also suggests unquestioning reverence. When you come to love your
Lord as He ought to be loved, with a worshipping, adoring, reverential
affection, it is almost like treason, even, to begin to enquire the
reason for anything that He does! "It is the Lord, let Him do what
seems good to Him." Is He not a King? Is He not my Sovereign and am I
not only His subject, but His beloved one, and shall I begin to ask
questions of Him as if I were a stranger and He were a tyrant? As if I
were under a foreign rule? No, I am His Hephzibah, of whom He says, "My
delight is in her." And He is no more to me Baali, my lord, my master,
but Ishi, my Man, my Husband! He has given Himself that name to show
the closeness of His relationship to me and I must not, I cannot, I
would not desire to raise any question about anything that He does! No,
Lord, if it were possible, I would enlarge Your liberty to do with me
and mine whatever it pleases You. Take no notice of my whims and
wishes, I beseech You. If you were to notice them, they might be to my
ruin. Let Your will be my will and Your wish, my wish. I most
reverentially yield all to You. Thus, when we come to love our Lord so
that we give Him His right place–and we take our right place–then
whatever the King does pleases all of us who are His people!

Moreover, there is another beautiful feature about love, it creates
sympathetic feeling. When we truly love Christ, our King, we are sure
to be pleased with whatever He does. When our nature gets to be like
His Nature–oh, what a blessed consummation that is! When our wishes
and His wishes travel the same road, though not with equal footsteps–
when that which He aims at is that which we aim at after our poor
fashion–when we can say that it is more delight to us that He should
be delighted than that we should be delighted and that it is a greater
honor to us to see Him honored than it would be to be honored. When we
sink ourselves in Him, even as two divided streams, at last, dissolve
into one–as I have seen a tiny silver brook come down to Father Thames
and pour its whole self into him so as to be no longer anything but
part of the great river–so, when our soul yields itself up in perfect
love to Christ, to think His thoughts, and live and move in Him so that
it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us, oh, then it is
that whatever the King does pleases all His people! Our heart has
yielded up itself to Him and is perfectly content with that which He
does, for it has no other will than that which lives in the Prince!
When the Believer comes to be what he should be in the fullness of His
love, his will is lost in the will of Christ. His very life is hidden
away with Christ in God and then he realizes how true it is that
whatever the King does pleases all His people!

Thus I have shown you that, in the first place, the pleasure of the
people in all that the King does is the outflow of love.

II. That leads me, secondly, to notice that the love that manifests
itself thus is not at all a foolish love, for IT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF
KNOWLEDGE. Human love is blind, but the love which is worked in us by
the Spirit of God is as full of eyes as are the great wheels of Divine
Providence! There is the best of reasons why everything that Jesus does
should please all His people–because everything He does is right–and
we shall feel this in proportion as we combine knowledge with love, or
our love is based on knowledge.

First, I suppose that we know the Character of Christ. Do you know it,
Beloved? The God-Man, your Brother, and yet the Son of God–do you know
His infinite tenderness, His boundless compassion, His unquenchable
ardor of affection, His unfailing wisdom? If you have a true idea of
who the Son of God is, who is now enthroned at the right hand of the
Father, invested with supreme power over all things and always working
for the good of His people–if you really know Him–then, whatever He
does will please you! One who is so wise, so kind, ought to be supreme!
He that is so good ought to be an Autocrat and to issue decrees of His
own! Do we not all feel that it should be so? If it were otherwise,
then we might quarrel with Him, but such a blessed Savior as our
Well-Beloved is, why, we will not even in thought differ from Him, but
we will feel that whatever He does, because of His great love, must
please us!

Then, next, if we know Christ at all, we know something of His designs,
and we know that He designs the Glory of the Father through the
salvation of those the Father gave Him. He has laid Himself out to
bring many sons to Glory. When we know that Christ's love has such
sweet designs and that He has purchased our eternal salvation, how can
we, after that, quarrel with Him? Now, we not only know something of
His Character, but we also know something of His Divine intent and we,
therefore, know that we may assuredly say, "All that You will, and all
that You do, O our glorious King, aim only at this one thing–the
perfecting of Your own loved ones and bringing them Home to Your Glory!
Do as You please, for we will never raise a question with You about
anything that You do."

Furthermore, if we have truly become acquainted with Christ, we know
something of His modes of operation. We have learned that it is His
habit, often, to disguise Himself. His way is in the sea and His path
in the great waters, and His footsteps are not known except to those
who are familiar with Him. We also understand that the bitterness is
given to promote our sweetness and that, oftentimes, Christ's frown is
but a covered smile. It is the way with Him to lead His people into the
wilderness when He means to ultimately bring them into the rest of
Canaan. Knowing all this, let us have no altercation with our Spouse,
our constant Friend. If all this is true, and it is, then let Him have
His way! If this is His way of giving us superior blessedness, we will,
without question, yield to Him, for whatever the King does, pleases all
His people.

Moreover, if it were not so, we know something of our Lord's rights
and, therefore, we can never venture to interfere with His actions. Oh,
what rights my Lord has over me! As I stand here, I confess that I am
not my own, but that I am bought with a price. And you confess it, too,
do you not, Beloved? Have you any rights apart from your Lord, you who
are Christ's purchased ones? What if you are jewels? You are only
jewels in His case. What if you have a will? It is a dangerous
possession to have a will unless you yield it up to your Divine
Controller. Paul said, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus,"
as if he had been bought in the name of Christ and branded in the name
of Jesus with a hot iron–to be Christ's slave forever. Shall you and I
have any will in opposition to our Lord's will? If it is His will that
we should be poor and despised, or that we should lie sick in bed,
shall we raise any question with Him? Let Him have His will with us,
whatever it is!

Some of you may remember the story Dr. Hamilton once told of a poor
woman who said the Lord had taught her to yield herself absolutely to
Him. She fell ill and she was bed-ridden, but she never murmured, for
she said, "If the Lord wishes me to lie here and cough, I will lie here
and cough. What He has done for me is so wonderful and so good that I
cannot question His will, but I will yield myself up to Him
altogether." "Whatever the king did pleased all the people." Yet this
referred only to David–shall it not be so, when David's Lord is the
King and we, redeemed with His precious blood–are the people who have
to deal with Him?

So, in the second place, this pleasure in the King's actions is the
consequence of knowledge as well as the outflow of love.

III. Thirdly, beloved Friends, THIS IS THE SECRET OF REST–"Whatever
the king did pleased all the people." If any of you are greatly
distressed and troubled, I believe my text indicates to you where you
can find rest. If whatever the King does pleases you, you may let down
the anchor, for you have come into port! You will now be perfectly
happy. To know that the King has done it and to see His Divine hand in
anything is more than half the battle, which ends in sweet content! If
the Lord has done it, questions are out of the question! And truly, the
Lord has done it. There may be a secondary agent, there probably
is–the devil, himself, may be that secondary agent–yet the Lord has
done it! It was God who afflicted Job, yet it was Satan who did all the
mischief to God's servant with an evil intent. But the Patriarch could
see God's hand in it all. So, whatever has happened to you, see the
hand of God in it! A dog, if it is struck with a stick, bites the
stick. Well, that may be all that we can expect from a dog, but you,
who are no dog, must look to the hand that holds the stick, and not to
the instrument with which you are smitten! And then you dare not bite
the blessed hand that only intends your good in striking you. See God's
hand, then, in all that happens to you, and that will help you on the
way to a very blessed state of contentment.

When you have seen God's hand, then say, "I would not have it otherwise
than it is." I know several persons who are always in trouble and
unhappy because there is a dispute between them and God. I remember one
to whom I solemnly spoke, years ago, and not long after, he passed
away. I went to see his dying child, the only one he had left, and he
said to me, "Do not talk to my daughter about death, do not mention it
to her." "Well, then," I said, "if I may not to mention death, I will
not go upstairs." The father said to me, "God could not take that child
away." He had lost several children, before, and he said that if his
daughter died, he would call God a tyrant, and I know not what. As last
I stood before him and I said, "You are making for yourself a rod that
is much heavier than God, Himself, lays upon you. I fear that you will,
yourself, die if you act in this way."

As he could not be brought to reason, and kicked and rebelled against
God's dealings with him, I was not surprised to learn that soon after
his child died, he, himself, also died. It does not do to quarrel with
God. Let the potsherds of the earth strive with other potsherds if they
will, but woe to him who contends with his Maker! Instead of that, bow
before Him, not simply because you must, but because you delight to
acknowledge Him as your Lord. Are you setting yourself up as the judge
of God? Do you dare to summon Him to your bar? Are you wiser, better,
mightier than He? Oh, lay aside this rebellion, I beseech you! Sob if
you will, but let it not be the sullen sob of one who will not yield,
but that of a dear child who sobs himself asleep upon his mother's
breast. Great God, You have done right in all that You have done! If we
cannot prove Your wisdom, we know by faith that it is right, and we
kiss Your hand and acknowledge that it is so with us that whatever the
King does pleases all the people!

Well, now, if we can get as far as that–and God grant that we may–we
are on the road to peace! Let us come, then, to this point, and
absolutely leave all things with Him as to the future. "Whatever the
king did pleased all the people" and if we are willing that our King
should go on doing as He pleases, let us leave it so. I wish that our
whole nature would consent to God's will, not one faculty, only, but
our whole being. Let all that God does please all of us. Yield your
understanding, your will, your affections, your desires, your
memory–yield yourself up fully unto the Christ who loves you–then
shall you have perfect rest, but not till then!

It may be, dear Friends, that some of us will soon die–let us have no
questions about that matter–but yield ourselves to whatever the King
pleases. Perhaps some of us may live to an extreme old age, when sight
and hearing will fail, and it will be undesirable to survive. Let us
raise no question whatever about that. If it is so, let it be so. I
have heard of one good woman, a child of God, who was asked whether she
did not wish to depart, for she was such a sufferer. Said she, "The
Lord's will be done! I have no wish about it." "Well," said one, "but
if the Lord would say to you that you might choose, what would you
choose?" "Oh," she answered, "I have been so little accustomed to think
about choosing that I should turn round and say to Him, 'Choose You,
Lord Jesus, for me.'" Why, dear Friends, if we had to choose our own
lot and got into trouble, we would have the responsibility of it. Is it
not far better for us to say to the Lord, "You shall choose our
inheritance for us"?–

"I dare not choose my lot,

I would not if I might!

But You choose for me, O my God,

So shall I walk aright."

If we take our own way and get into difficulties, then we may say, "How
foolish we were to make this choice!" But if, instead, we yield
ourselves up to the supreme Director, to be led wherever He pleases,
and follow Him as the sheep follow the shepherd, it is amazing what a
sweet contentment our spirit will feel! The Lord bring us all to enjoy
that rest and peace!

IV. Lastly, THIS WILL BE A LESSON IN OBEDIENCE.

Whatever service the King requires of you will please you. He may put
you in a pulpit, or He may put you in a kitchen. He may put you in a
place of honor, or He may put you in a place of dishonor. It is yours
not to reason why, it is yours to do the work appointed! It has been
well said that if there were two angels in Heaven and the great King
had said to them, "I have two errands to be done upon the earth–one of
you must go and announce the birth of Christ to the Virgin Mary. The
other must go and stand and sweep a street-crossing." The angels would
not have a preference between the two services, it would be enough for
them to do their Lord's will! May we come to that point, that we may
not be picking and choosing, but may be pleased with whatever the King
gives us to do, and whatever our hand finds to do, may we do it with
all our might!

But suppose that, all of a sudden, there should be no service to be
rendered, and that you should have to suffer, instead? That there
should be no battle for you, Soldier, no shout of war, no noise of
music and no rushing against the foe, but instead of that, you should
be sent into the trenches and have to lie there in the cold and wet, or
be ordered into a hospital and have to lie there, to go upstairs, and
never to come down again? If we have come to this point–that whatever
the King does pleases all the people–how readily shall we lie still
and suffer instead of going forth to serve! If God is glorified, does
it really matter where we are? What becomes of us is of small
consequence compared with bringing Glory to His great name!

Oftentimes we are permitted to work hard and yet to meet with great
discouragement. The congregation gets smaller or grows careless. The
district seems as if it refused to be blessed. We meet with many
impediments in our service. Well, if they are not impediments of our
own making, if they come in the order of Providence, let it be so and
let us still say that whatever the King does pleases all the people! It
was a pretty remark I read, the other day, of a Christian man who said,
"I used to have many disappointments until I changed one letter of the
word, and chopped it into two, so that instead of, 'disappointments,' I
read it, 'His appointments.'" That was a wonderful change, for
"disappointments" break your heart, but, "His appointments" you accept
right cheerily! What if I am to have no success? I will pray for it and
labor for it, and be ready to die for it–but if I do not get it, I
will still go on. What said the poor Negro about obeying God's command?
"Massa, if the good Lord bids me jump through a brick wall, it is for
me to jump at the wall and it rests with the Lord whether I jump
through it or not." He can make the walls vanish if it pleases Him! And
if He desires it, I could believe, even, in the impossible! Love laughs
at impossibilities and faith cries, "It shall be done." Therefore, let
us pray the Lord to bring us into this happy state, that whatever He
does may always please us.

Perhaps some may find Christ, tonight, if they will get into the spirit
of the text. If they will be pleased with God's way of salvation and
come and receive Jesus, now, just as He is, and just as they are, they
will go out of this house saved! This is, after all, only faith in one
of its forms, this being content with Christ, this yielding up of the
will to Him. The Lord bless everyone of you, dear Friends, for Jesus
Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM147.

Verse 1. Praise you the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our
God. You that know Him, you that love Him, "praise you the Lord." "It
is good." "It is right, it is acceptable. It is good for you–the Lord
counts it good. "It is good to sing praises unto our God." And to God
alone. There is no better argument for anything than that it is good,
for good men delight in that which is good because it is good. For it
is pleasant. That is a very happy conjunction, for it is not everything
that is good that is pleasant, medicine to wit. It is not everything
that is pleasant that is good, for there are some things that are
pleasant in the mouth, but they are poison in the stomach. But to sing
praises unto our God is both good and pleasant!

1. And praise is comely. Or, beautiful, delightful. It is the right
thing. Men never look so like angels as when they are praising God, and
angels are never more heavenly than when they are engaged in the
worship of Heaven. And that worship is praise. Here are the Psalmist's
reasons for praising God–

2. The LORD does build up Jerusalem. Praise Him for that. He is the
great Builder, the Builder of the Church. He laid the foundations in
the Everlasting Covenant. He carries on the building with infinite
skill by His Divine Spirit– "The Lord does build up Jerusalem."

2. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. These are the stones
with which He builds, men who were like outcasts. What wonderful living
stones these outcasts make! They love the Lord best who once were most
His enemies. None sing of "Free Grace and dying love" with sweeter
accents than the men who have had much forgiven. "The Lord does build
up Jerusalem: He gathers together the outcasts of Israel." Mark the
context between the two–it is when great sinners are saved that the
Church is built up! There was more done when Paul was converted, I
know, than at almost any other time, for he became the great Apostle to
the Gentiles through whom myriads were saved.

3. He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. To be a
builder and a physician, too, are strange offices to be combined in
one, yet so it is with God. Is there a broken heart, here? The Lord is
ready to heal you! See how He does it. "He binds up their wounds"–puts
on the strapping, wraps round the linen cloth, and secures the flesh
until it heals. A wonderful Surgeon is the Lord God Almighty, there is
none like He! "He heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds."
What a singular thing it is that the next verse should be what it is!

4. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names.
In His condescension, stooping over a broken heart. In His Omniscience,
counting the number of the stars! The word signifies as when a merchant
counts his money into a bag. So does God, as it were, count the stars,
like so many golden coins. "He calls them all by their names," as when
the muster-roll is read and the soldier answers, "Here!" so does the
Lord speak to the stars and they answer to their names!

5. 6. Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is
infinite. The LORD lifts up the meek. They are down very low in their
own estimation, but the Lord lifts them up.

6. He casts the wicked down to the ground. The Lord is the great
changer of men's positions–those that are up He throws down–and those
that are down He lifts up. Thus the blessed virgin sang, "He has put
down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree."

7. 8. Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp
unto our God: who covers the Heaven with clouds, who prepares rain for
the earth, who makes grass to grow upon the mountains. This is the true
science, this is the real philosophy–not merely the laws of nature,
but God everywhere–God cloud-making, God rain-preparing, God clothing
even the hilltops and out of the way places with grass which no man has
planted and which no man will ever mow! Perhaps there is somebody here
who, when at home, is like grass on the mountains, away from all means
of Grace, with nobody to help you, nobody to guide you. Listen to this
Psalm and praise the name of the Lord, "who makes grass to grow upon
the mountains."

9. He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
The very best illustration of that verse is to be found, I think, in
crows going to bed at night. You may have heard their caws. White says,
in his Natural History of Sel-borne, that a little child said in his
hearing, "Hark, Father, the rooks are saying their prayers." It does
seem something like it and I believe David had heard it, and that is
why he put it here. "The young ravens which cry," for those strange
birds–rooks, crows, ravens and the like–even with their wild cries
speak to God! Who can listen to the birds in the early morning without
feeling ashamed of himself for not singing more to the praise of God?
Some of the feathered songsters lift up their voices even in the
night–the nightingale charms the hours of darkness–and should not we
sing unto God when all nature rings with His praise? "He gives to the
beast his food." Any of you who are in great distress may pray to God,
"Lord, feed me, for You give, even, food to the beast." Do any of you
need spiritual food? Cry to Him to feed you, for He gives even to the
beast his food! Are you not much better than many animals? I remember
"Father Taylor" once saying to himself, and then writing it, "I am in
distress just now, and full of doubts: but what am I? When the great
whale goes through the deep, the Almighty Father gives him a ton of
herrings for his breakfast and never misses them–surely He can feed
me." Assuredly He can! He can give to all of us all that we need.

10. He delights not in the strength of the horse: He takes not pleasure
in the legs of a man. As the kings did in those days, their infantry
and their cavalry were their glory. The Lord does not care for that
sort of thing. What gives Him pleasure, then? Listen–

11. The LORD takes pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope
in His mercy. As kings have gloried in their troops, so does God glory
in tender hearts that fear Him and that hope in His mercy! I love that
double description– "them that fear Him" and, "those that hope in His
mercy." There is a mixture there–fearing and hoping–but the mixture
makes a sweet amalgam of Grace! It is like a fisherman's net–there is
the lead to sink it and here are the corks to float it! If you only
hope in His mercy, you will not come back empty from the great banquet
of everlasting love– "Jehovah takes pleasure in them that fear Him, in
those that hope in His mercy."

12, 13. Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. For He
has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children
within you. Happy Zion, which God secures so well that even bars and
posts are finished–not merely walls and gates–but the bars of the
gates! There is nothing lacking in the Covenant of Grace. If the gates
need bars, God thinks of the little as well as of the great–"He has
strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children
within you."

14. He makes peace in your borders, and fills you with the finest of
the wheat. An old commentator says, "Generally, if you get quantity,
you do not get quality, but when you deal with God, 'He fills you,'
there is quantity, 'with the finest of the wheat,' there is quality."
You get both in God–an abundance of the best.

15. He sends forth His command to earth: His word runs very swiftly.
Great kings have tried to make their postal arrangements act with
rapidity. In the olden time they employed swift dromedaries for this
purpose, but, "His word runs very swiftly." When God has a message to
send, He can flash it by lightning, or dispatch it in an instant by one
of His angels–"His word runs very swiftly." I wish it would run to
some of you who are rushing fast into sin, and that it would overtake
you, and arrest you, and bring you to repentance and to faith in God!
Here is a verse that may help to cool you on this summer's evening

16. He gives snow like wool. It is as soft as wool and, like wool, it
is a covering, and keeps the earth warm in the bitter frosts and saves
the plants from death. "He gives snow like wool."

16, 17. He scatters the hoar frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice
like morsels: who can stand before His cold? I want you to notice how,
in the olden days, good men felt God to be very near. They thought that
all this was caused by God– "He gives snow; He scatters hoar
frost"–and they speak of, "His ice, His cold." It is a poor progress
that philosophers have made, to try to get us farther off from God than
we used to be, but I bless His name that He is as near as He ever was
to those who believe in Him! They can see His working and feel the
touch of His hand! But what a wonder-working God this is who uses snow
to warm the earth and makes the frost to act like ashes–yes, who makes
bread out of ice, for when there is no frosty weather, the harvests are
not half as good–the very frosts break up the clods and help to create
bread for men! The Lord works by contraries. Perhaps, at the time that
He means to save you, you will think that He is destroying you. If He
means to heal you, He will wound you! If He means to lift you up, He
will throw you down! Learn to understand His method, then, for this is
the mode of His working.

18, 19. He sends out His word, and melts them: He causes His wind to
blow, and the waters flow. He shows His word unto Jacob, His statutes
and His judgments unto Israel. That is the best news of all, that God
reveals Himself to His children! All He works in nature is eclipsed by
what He does in Grace!

20. He has not dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgments, they
have not known them. Praise you the LORD.