Second Sermon on Psalm XC

On THE LorbD’s CARE OF His ELECT.

“ He shall say to the Lord : Thou art my Protector and my Refuge : my God, in Him will I trust.”

“ He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High,” sings the Psalmist, “ shall say to the Lord: Thou art my Protector and my Refuge: my God, in Him will I trust.” He shall say this in thanksgiving, returning thanks to the mercy of the Lord for the twofold assistance granted him. For everyone who as yet dweileth not in the kingdom, but “‘ in the aid of the Most High,” has often need to take flight and sometimes falls. It is necessary for us, I say, so long as we abide in this body, to flee from the face of pursuing temptation. And it happens occasionally, when our flight is not swift enough, that we are “pushed” and “ overturned,” as the Psalmist says; “ but the Lord supporteth us.” He is, therefore, our Refuge, to Whom we may run from the demon when he comes to pelt the sluggards with filth,* and so we shall escape that deep dishonour. He is also our Protector, so that, even when we fall, the same Prophet assures us that we “shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth His Hand under ’’ us. Whenever, therefore, we feel in our minds the violent impulse of temptation, let us immediately have recourse to Him, and beg His assistance. But if sometimes the enemy surprises us (as happens not seldom, because we do not run to the Lord for protection as quickly as we should), then, my brethren, we ought to beseech Him earnestly to support us with His Hand. It is a necessity * for men to fall occasionally, so long as they live here below ; but whilst some are “ bruised ” by their fall, others are not, “ for the Lord putteth His Hand under them.” But how shall we be able to distinguish these, and to “ separate the sheep from the goats,” the just from the wicked, as the Lord shall do at the judgment? “For (even) a just man shall fall seven times, as it is written.” However, there is this important difference between the fall of the just man and the fall of the wicked, that the former is supported by the Hand of the Lord and consequently rises again stronger than ever ; whereas the latter when he is fallen “ shall rise again no more,” because he falls either into pernicious shame or into utter shamelessness. For either he will endeavour to justify what he has done, and this is the “shame that bringeth sin,” or he will harden his forehead, so that he now, like the judge in the Gospel, “ feareth not God nor regardeth man,” but “ proclaims abroad his sin as Sodom.” But when the just man falls, he falls upon the Hand of the Lord, and in such a manner that, wonderful to say, his very fault cooperates unto justice for him. For “ we know that to them that love God all things work together unto good.” And surely our sins “ work together unto good ” for us when they render us more circumspect and humble.* Is not he who falls upon humility supported in his fall by the Hand of the Lord? “ Being pushed,” says the Psalmist, “ I was overturned that I might fall ; but (the enemy who pushed me gained no advantage, because) the Lord supported me.” Therefore the faithful soul “shall say to the Lord: Thou art my Protector.” Every creature can say to Him, “ Thou art my Creator.” The beast of the field can say to Him, “ Thou art my Shepherd.” There is no human being that may not say to Him, “ Thou art my Redeemer.” But to say to the Lord, “ Thou art my Protector,” belongs to him alone who “ dwelleth in the aid of the Most High.” Hence he addresses the Lord as “ my God.” Wherefore does he not rather say “ouy God” ? The reason is, my brethren, because although the Lord is the God of all men with regard to creation, redemption, and the other universal benefits; nevertheless each of the predestinate possesses Him in his temptations as if Something proper to himself. For He is so ready to support every one of His elect who happens to fall, and to deliver him when he runs for protection, that He seems to be soling doctrine, and perhaps it is to this Tennyson is alluding where he says so beautifully (In Memoriam, i.) :— ‘I held it truth with him who sings To one clear harp in divers tones, That men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things.’ — (Translator )

concerned for him alone and to have abandoned the care of His other creatures.*

Consequently, it is expedient for every man to be always attentive to God, not only as to his Helper in necessity, but also as to the Witness of his conduct. For how can negligence take hold of him who never forgets that the eyes of the Lord are upon him? Or how can he help regarding God as peculiarly his own, when he beholds Him so watchful of himself that He never ceases, even for a moment, to consider both his interior and his exterior, and to scrutinise and examine as well the most secret movements of his soul as his external actions? Such a one, clearly, can say with confidence, “ My God, in Him will I trust.” And observe that the Psalmist does not speak in the past tense, “ I trusted,” nor yet in the present, “ I trust,” but in the future, “I will trust.” As if he should say, “ This is my desire, this is my resolve, this the intention of my heart, ‘This, my hope, is laid up in my bosom,’ and in it I will persevere. ‘ In Him will I trust.’ I will not lose heart;

Ie K neither will I hope in vain, because ‘ cursed is he that sinneth in hope,’ and he likewise that sinneth in despair. But I am also unwilling to belong to the number of those who have no hope in the Lord. For ‘in Him will I trust.’ ” Let us hear now what is the fruit, what is the reward, what the advantage of this trust in the Lord. “ He hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters and from the sharp word.” But with your permission I will keep this “ snare ” and this “ sharp word ” for to-morrow’s sermon.