Psalms 91 commentary

He that by faith chooses God for his protector, shall find all in him that he needs or can desire. And those who have found the comfort of making the Lord their refuge, cannot but desire that others may do so. The spiritual life is protected by Divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, and from the contagion of sin, which is a noisome pestilence. Great security is promised to believers in the midst of danger. Wisdom shall keep them from being afraid without cause, and faith shall keep them from being unduly afraid. Whatever is done, our heavenly Father's will is done; and we have no reason to fear. God's people shall see, not only God's promises fulfilled, but his threatenings. Then let sinners come unto the Lord upon his mercy-seat, through the Redeemer's name; and encourage others to trust in him also.

Whatever happens, nothing shall hurt the believer; though trouble and affliction befal, it shall come, not for his hurt, but for good, though for the present it be not joyous but grievous. Those who rightly know God, will set their love upon him. They by prayer constantly call upon him. His promise is, that he will in due time deliver the believer out of trouble, and in the mean time be with him in trouble. The Lord will manage all his worldly concerns, and preserve his life on earth, so long as it shall be good for him. For encouragement in this he looks unto Jesus. He shall live long enough; till he has done the work he was sent into this world for, and is ready for heaven. Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? A man may die young, yet be satisfied with living. But a wicked man is not satisfied even with long life. At length the believer's conflict ends; he has done for ever with trouble, sin, and temptation.

PSALM 91

In this psalm we are taught that God watches over the safety of his people, and never fails them in the hour of danger. They are exhorted to advance through all perils, secure in the confidence of his protection. The truth inculcated is one of great use, for though many talk much of God’s providence, and profess to believe that he exercises a special guardianship over his own children, few are found actually willing to intrust their safety to him. “Early, after the dark night of afflictions.” — Ainsworth.

Psalm 91:1-4

1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the High One shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2. I will say to Jehovah, He is my hope and my fortress: my God; in him will I hope. 3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from the noxious pestilence. 4. He shall protect thee with his wings, and under his feathers shalt thou be safe; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the High One. Some Hebrew interpreters read the three first verses as one continuous sentence, down to the words, he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler The whole would then run thus — “He who dwells in the covert of the Most High, and abides under his shadow, to him will I say of Jehovah, that he is his hope and defense, and the God in whom he may safely rest, for he shall deliver him from the snare,” etc. This is evidently a forced construction to put upon the verses, and the reason which has led some to adopt it is weak and insufficient. They consider that the first verse repeats the same thing twice, and therefore conveys no proper meaning. But this is a great mistake; for the inspired penman of the psalm, whoever he may have been, states two ideas quite distinct, That he who is hid under the Divine protection occupies a safe and secure position, where no hostile weapon can reach him. Or should the verse be read — He who has God to be the guardian of his safety shall rest under the shadow of God; still the second clause would retain an emphatic meaning, for the power of God would be contrasted with that weak defense which man is able to extend. Those, too, who dwell in the secret place of God are here said by the Psalmist to dwell under his shadow, in the sense that they experience to what a rich extent his protection reaches. Men generally seek out a great-variety of hiding-places, having recourse to one or another, according as the calamities are different which threaten to overtake them; but here we are taught that the only safe and impregnable fortress to which we can betake ourselves is the protection of God. He contrasts the security of those who trust in God with the vanity of all other confidences by which we are apt to delude ourselves.

PSALM 91

Psa 91:1-16. David is the most probable author; and the pestilence, mentioned in 2Sa 24:13-15, the most probable of any special occasion to which the Psalm may refer. The changes of person allowable in poetry are here frequently made.

1. dwelleth in the secret place--(Psa 27:5; 31:20) denotes nearness to God. Such as do so abide or lodge secure from assaults, and can well use the terms of trust in Psa 91:2.

3. snares ... [and] ... noisome pestilence--literally, "plagues of mischiefs" (Psa 5:9; 52:7), are expressive figures for various evils.

4. For the first figure compare De 32:11; Mt 23:37.

buckler--literally, "surrounding"--that is, a kind of shield covering all over.

5. terror--or, what causes it (Pr 20:2).

by night--then aggravated.

arrow--that is, of enemies.

7-8. The security is more valuable, as being special, and, therefore, evidently of God; and while ten thousands of the wicked fall, the righteous are in such safety that they only see the calamity.

9-12. This exemption from evil is the result of trust in God, who employs angels as ministering spirits (He 1:14).

13. Even the fiercest, strongest, and most insidious animals may be trampled on with impunity.

14-16. God Himself speaks (compare Psa 46:10; 75:2, 3). All the terms to express safety and peace indicate the most undoubting confidence (compare Psa 18:2; 20:1; 22:5).

set his love--that of the most ardent kind.

He that dwelleth in the secret place - The Targum intimates that this is a dialogue between David, Solomon, and Jehovah. Suppose we admit this, - then

David asserts: "He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," Psa 91:1.

Solomon answers: "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in him will I trust," Psa 91:2.

David replies, and tells him what blessings he shall receive from God if he abide faithful, Psa 91:3-13.

Then the Supreme Being is introduced, and confirms all that David had spoken concerning Solomon, Psa 91:14-16 : and thus this sacred and instructive dialogue ends.

In the secret place of the Most High - Spoken probably in reference to the Holy of holies. He who enters legitimately there shall be covered with the cloud of God's glory - the protection of the all-sufflcient God. This was the privilege of the high priest only, under the law: but under the new covenant all believers in Christ have boldness to enter tnto the holiest by the blood of Jesus; and those who thus enter are safe from every evil.

I will say of the Lord - This is my experience: "He is my fortress, and in him will I continually trust."

Surely he shall deliver thee - If thou wilt act thus, then the God in whom thou trustest will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from all the devices of Satan, and from all dangerous maladies. As the original word, דבר dabar, signifies a word spoken, and deber, the same letters, signifies pestilence; so some translate one way, and some another: he shall deliver thee from the evil and slanderous word; he shall deliver thee from the noisome pestilence - all blasting and injurious winds, effluvia, etc.

He shall cover thee with his feathers - He shall act towards thee as the hen does to her brood, - take thee under his wings when birds of prey appear, and also shelter thee from chilling blasts. This is a frequent metaphor in the sacred writings; see Psa 17:8 (note), Psa 57:1 (note), Psa 61:4 (note), and the notes on them. The Septuagint has Εν τοις μεταφρενοις αυτου επισκιασει σοι· He will overshadow thee between his shoulders; alluding to the custom of parents carrying their weak or sick children on their backs, and having them covered even there with a mantle. Thus the Lord is represented carrying the Israelites in the wilderness. See Deu 32:11-12 (note), where the metaphor is taken from the eagle.

His truth shall be thy shield and buckler - His revelation; his Bible. That truth contains promises for all times and circumstances; and these will be invariably fulfilled to him that trusts in the Lord. The fulfillment of a promise relative to defense and support is to the soul what the best shield is to the body.

The terror by night - Night is a time of terrors, because it is a time of treasons, plunder, robbery, and murder. The godly man lies down in peace, and sleeps quietly, for he trusts his body, soul, and substance, in the hand of God; and he knows that he who keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. It may also mean all spiritual foes, - the rulers of the darkness of this world. I have heard the following petition in an evening family prayer: "Blessed Lord, take us into thy protection this night; and preserve us from disease, from sudden death, from the violence of fire, from the edge of the sword, from the designs of wicked men, and from the influence of malicious spirits!"

Nor for the arrow - The Chaldee translates this verse, "Thou shalt not fear the demons that walk by night; nor the arrow of the angel of death which is shot in the day time." Thou needest not to fear a sudden and unprovided-for death.

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday - The rabbins supposed that the empire of death was under two demons, one of which ruled by day, the other by night. The Vulgate and Septuagint have - the noonday devil. The ancients thought that there were some demons who had the power to injure particularly at noonday. To this Theocritus refers, Id. 1: ver. 15: - Ου θεμις, ω ποιμαν, το μεσαμβρινον, ου θεμις αμμιν Συρισδεν· τον Πανα δεδοικαμες· η γαρ απ' αγρας Τανικα κεκμακως αμπαυεται, εντι γε πικρος, Και οἱ αει δριμεια χολα ποτι ῥινι καθηται. "It is not lawful, it is not lawful, O shepherd, to play on the flute at noonday: we fear Pan, who at that hour goes to sleep in order to rest himself after the fatigues of the chase; then he is dangerous, and his wrath easily kindled."

Lucan, in the horrible account he gives us of a grove sacred to some barbarous power, worshipped with the most horrid rites, refers to the same superstition: -

Lucus erat longo nunquam violatus ab aevo,

Non illum cultu populi propiore frequentant,

Sed cessere deis: medio cum Phoebus in axe est.

Aut coelum nox atra tenet, pavet ipse sacerdos

Accessus, dominumque timet deprendere luci.

Lucan, lib. iii., ver. 399. "Not far away, for ages past, had stood

An old inviolated sacred wood:

The pious worshippers approach not near,

But shun their gods, and kneel with distant fear:

The priest himself, when, or the day or night

Rolling have reached their full meridian height,

Refrains the gloomy paths with wary feet,

Dreading the demon of the grove to meet;

Who, terrible to sight, at that fixed hour

Still treads the round about this dreary bower."

Rowe.

It has been stated among the heathens that the gods should be worshipped at all times, but the demons should be worshipped at midday: probably because these demons, having been employed during the night, required rest at noonday and that was the most proper time to appease them. See Calmet on this place. Both the Vulgate and Septuagint seem to have reference to this superstition.

The Syriac understands the passage of a pestilential wind, that blows at noonday. Aquila translates, of the bite of the noonday demon.

A thousand shall fall at thy side - Calmet thinks this place should be translated thus: "A thousand enemies may fall upon thee on one side, and ten thousand may fall upon thee on thy right hand: but they shall not come nigh thee to take away thy life." It is a promise of perfect protection, and the utmost safety.

The reward of the wicked - Thou shalt not only be safe thyself, but thou shalt see all thy enemies discomfited and cast down.

Because thou hast made the Lord - Seeing thou hast taken Jehovah, the Most High, for thy portion and thy refuge, no evil shall come nigh thy dwelling; thou shalt be safe in thy soul, body, household, and property, Psa 91:10. Every pious man may expect such protection from his God and Father.

He shall give his angels charge over thee - Evil spirits may attempt to injure thee; but they shall not be able. The angels of God shall have an especial charge to accompany, defend, and preserve thee; and against their power, the influence of evil spirits cannot prevail. These will, when necessary, turn thy steps out of the wag of danger; ward it off when it comes in thy ordinary path; suggest to thy mind prudent counsels, profitable designs, and pious purposes; and thus minister to thee as a child of God, and an heir of salvation.

To keep thee in all thy ways - The path of duty is the way of safety.

Thou canst not reasonably expect protection if thou walk not in the way of obedience. Thy ways are the paths of duty, which God's word and providence have marked out for thee. The way of sin is not thy way - thy duty, thy interest. Keep in thy own ways, not in those of sin, Satan, the world, and the flesh; and God will take care of thee.

They shall bear thee up in their hands - Take the same care of thee as a nurse does of a weak and tender child; lead thee, - teach thee to walk, - lift thee up out of the way of danger, "lest thou shouldst dash thy foot against a stone," receive any kind of injury, or be prevented from pursuing thy path with safety and comfort.

Let us remember that it is God, whose these angels are; He gives them charge from Him they receive their commission, - to Him they are responsible for their charge. From God thou art to expect them; and for their help he alone is to receive the praise. It is expressly said, He shall give his angels charge; to show that they are not to be prayed to nor praised but God alone, whose servants they are. See the note on Mat 4:6.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder - Even the king of the forest shall not be able to injure thee; should one of these attack thee, the angels whom God sends will give thee an easy victory over him. And even the asp, (פתן pethen), one of the most venomous of serpents, shall not be able to injure thee.

The asp is a very small serpent, and peculiar to Egypt and Libya. Its poison kills without the possibility of a remedy. Those who are bitten by it die in about from three to eight hours; and it is said they die by sleep, without any kind of pain. Lord Bacon says the asp is less painful than all the other instruments of death. He supposes it to have an affinity to opium, but to be less disagreeable in its operation. It was probably an this account that Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, chose to die by the asp, as she was determined to prevent the designs of Augustus, who intended to have carried her captive to Rome to grace his triumph.

The dragon shalt thou trample - The תנין tannin, which we translate dragon, means often any large aquatic animal; and perhaps here the crocodile or alligator.

Because he hath set his love upon me - Here the Most High is introduced as confirming the word of his servant. He has fixed his love - his heart and soul, on me.

Therefore will I deliver him - I will save him in all troubles, temptations, and evils of every kind.

I will set him on high - I will place him out of the reach of all his enemies. I will honor and ennoble him, because he hath known my name - because he has loved, honored, and served me, and rendered me that worship which is my due. He has known me to be the God of infinite mercy and love.

He shall call upon me - He must continue to pray; all his blessings must come in this way, when he calls, I will answer him - I will give him whatever is best for him.

I will be with him in trouble - Literally, I am with him. עמו אנכי immo anochi; as soon as the trouble comes, I are there.

I will deliver him - For his good I may permit him to be exercised for a time, but delivered he shall be.

And honor him - אכבדהו acabbedehu, "I will glorify him." I will load him with honor; that honor that comes from God. I will even show to men how highly I prize such.

With long life - Literally, With length of days will I fill him up.

He shall neither live a useless life, nor die before his time. He shall live happy and die happy.

And show him my salvation - ואראהו בשועתי vearehu bishuathi, "I will make him see (or contemplate) in my salvation." He shall discover infinite lengths, breadths, depths, and heights, in my salvation. He shall feel boundless desires, and shall discover that I have provided boundless gratifications for them. He shall dwell in my glory, and throughout eternity increase in his resemblance to and enjoyment of me. Thus shall it be done to the man whom the Lord delighteth to honor; and he delights to honor that man who places his love on him. In a word, he shall have a long life in this world, and an eternity of blessedness in the world to come.

He - He that makes God his habitation and refuge.

Pestilence - From the pestilence, which like a fowler's snare takes men suddenly and unexpectedly.

By night - When evil accidents are most terrible and least avoidable. Arrow - The pestilence, or any such destructive calamity; such are frequently called God's arrows. By day - Thou shalt be kept from secret and open mischiefs.

Darkness - Invisibly, so that we can neither foresee nor prevent it.

Bear thee - Sustain or uphold thee in thy goings, as we do a child.

The lion - Shall lie prostrate at thy feet, and thou shalt securely put thy feet upon his neck. Dragon - By which he understands all pernicious creatures, though never so strong, and all sorts of enemies.

Because - This and the two following verses are the words of God.

1 HE that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty .

Or, hiding place. He that makes God his habitation and refuge, as he is called below, v. 9. resorting to him and relying upon him in his dangers and difficulties.

He shall not be disappointed of his hope, but shall find a quiet and safe repose under the Divine protection. A shadow in Scripture phrase commonly signifies protection. See Gen. 19. 8. Iudg. 9. 15. Psal. 17. 8. &c.

Marginal references: Psal. 27. 4, 5▪ & 31. 20.; Heb. lodge.

2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge , and my fortress: my God, in him will I trust.

Upon that ground I will confidently commit my self and all my affairs to God.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler: and from the noisom Pestilence .

O thou believing pious Soul who after my example shale make God thy refuge, thou shalt partake of the same priviledge which I enjoy.

From the Pestilence which like a Fowlers snare taketh men suddenly and unexpectedly, and holdeth them fast, and commonly delivers them up to Death.

Marginal references: Psal. 124. [illegible: 1+ letters].

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Whereby he is obliged to fulfil all his gracious promises, and amongst the rest, that of protection in dangers.

Marginal references: Psal. 57. 1.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night , nor for the arrow that fleeth by day :

When evil accidents are most terrible and least avoidable.

The Pestilence or any such common and destructive Calamity; for such are frequently called Gods arrows, as Deut. 32. 23, 42. Lam. 3. 12, 13, &c.

Which is the time for shooting of Arrows. The sence of the Verse is, He shall be kept from secret and open mischiefs at all times.

Marginal references: Job 5. 19, &c▪ Prov. 3. 23. Isai. 43. 2.

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness : nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day .

This Verse explains the former, and sheweth what that terror and arrow signifies.

That spreadeth or maketh progress.

Either invisibly, so as we can neither foresee nor prevent it. Or rather, by night; as v. 5.

That like a bold Enemy assaults us openly, and though discovered cannot be resisted.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side , and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee .

At thy left side, because this is opposed to the right side here following. See the like Ellipsis, Numb. 9. 16. Psal. 84. 11.

This and such like promises are not to be understood absolutely and universally, as if no truly good man could be cut off by the Plague or other common Calamities, which is confused both by other plain Texts of Scripture and by unquestionable experience, but with due limitations and conditions, either on mans part, as if there be a defect in his Faith or Obedience▪ or on Gods part, when God sees that Death is more for his good than life, as it apparently is when righteous men are taken away from the evil to come, as is said Isa. 57. 1. In which case though God doth not give the thing promised, yet he giveth a far greater mercy in stead of it, and so fulfils his promise in the best sence and with most advantage. As if one man should solemnly promise to another to give him his daily food every day, he not onely might but ought, notwithstanding this promise, to deny and withdraw this food when his body is so distempered that in the judgment of the wisest Physicians the taking of his food would evidently endanger his life.

8 Onely with thine eyes shalt thou behold , and see the reward of the wicked .

Without any terrour or danger to thy self, and with a delightful and thankful reflection upon Gods goodness to thee.

The just recompence of their sins, or the vengeance of God upon them.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters]. 34.

9 Because thou hast made the LORD which is my refuge, even the most High thy habitation .

Or, as the words ly in the Hebrew and others render them. Because thou, O Lord, art my refuge, thou O my Soul (which is easily understood out of the foregoing words, and to which David oft suddenly turneth his speech) hast made the most high thine habitation. Which is the only ground and reason of that safety last mentioned. As for the variation of persons, that he sometimes speaketh to and of others, and sometimes to and of himself, nothing is more frequent in this Book; nor doth it make any alteration in the sence.

10 There shall no evil befal thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling .

To wit, so as to destroy thee, as the next Verse limits and expounds it. For surely this promise is not made to all his Children and Servants, who may possibly be wicked men, and so strangers from Gods Covenant and Promises. How far this secures his own person, see on v. 7.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways .

Those blessed and powerful and watchful spirits, whom God hath appointed to mind the affairs of this lower World, and to take care of the Heirs of Salvation, Heb. 1. 14.

In the whole course of thy life, and in all thy lawful undertakings.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 34. 7. [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 4. 6. [illegible: 1 word] 4. 10.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands , lest thou dash thy foot against a stone .

Sustain or uphold thee in thy goings, as we do a Child or a weakly man, especially in uneven or dangerous paths. Or, shall carry thee aloft as upon Eagles Wings, when it shall be needful for thee.

So as to hurt thy foot, or to cause thee to fall.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] ▪ with.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion , and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

The Lyon shall lie prostrate at thy feet, and thou shalt securely put thy feet upon his neck, as the Israelites did upon the necks of the Canaanitish Kings, Ios. 10. 24.

By which he synecdochically understands all pernicious Creatures, though never so strong and fierce and subtil, and all sorts of Enemies.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] ▪ [illegible: 1 word] ▪

14 Because he hath set his love upon me , therefore will I deliver him : I will set him on high , because he hath known my name .

This and the two following Verses are the words of God, whom the Psalmist here, as oft elsewhere, introduceth as giving an account of the reasons of Gods singular care of all believing or pious persons.

I will abundantly recompence his love with my favour and blessing.

In an high and safe place, where no evil can reach him.

With a true and saving knowledge, so as to love me and put his trust in me. Gods name is here put for God himself, as it is also Deut. 28. 58. Psal. 20. 2. and 115. 1.

15 He shall call upon me , and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble , I will deliver him, and honour him.

To wit, in trouble, which is expressed in the following clause. As he knoweth and loveth me, so he will offer up sincere and fervent Prayers to me upon all occasions.

To keep him from sinking under his burden.

Marginal references: Psal. 50. 15.

16 With long life will I satisfie him, and shew him my salvation .

Either in this World, when it is expedient for my service and for his benefit: or, at least, in the next World▪ where he shall live to Eternity in the blissful sight and enjoyment of God in glory.

Either here or hereafter.

Marginal references: Heb. length of days.

Talismanic Song in Time of War and Pestilence

The primeval song is followed by an anonymous song (inscribed by the lxx without any warrant τῷ Δαυίδ), the time of whose composition cannot be determined; and it is only placed in this order because the last verse accords with the last verse but one of Ps 90. There the revelation of Jahve’s work is prayed for, and here Jahve promises: I will grant him to see My salvation; the “work of Jahve” is His realized “salvation.” The two Psalms also have other points of contact, e.g., in the מעון referred to God (vid., Symbolae, p. 60).

In this Psalm, the Invocavit Psalm of the church, which praises the protecting and rescuing grace which he who believingly takes refuge in God experiences in all times of danger and distress,Hence in J. Shabbath 8, col. 2, and Midrash Shocher tob on Psa 91:1 and elsewhere, it is called, together with Psa 3:1-8, (פגעים) שיר פגועין, a song of occurrences, i.e., a protective (or talismanic) song in times of dangers that may befall one, just as Sebald Heyden’s Psalm-song, “He who is in the protection of the Most High and resigns himself to God,” is inscribed “Preservative against the pestilence.” the relation of Psa 91:2 to Psa 91:1 meets us at the very beginning as a perplexing riddle. If we take Psa 91:1 as a clause complete in itself, then it is tautological. If we take אמר in Psa 91:2 as a participle (Jerome, dicens) instead of אמר, ending with Pathach because a construct from (cf. Psa 94:9; Psa 136:6), then the participial subject would have a participial predicate: “He who sitteth is saying,” which is inelegant and also improbable, since אמר in other instances is always the 1st pers. fut. If we take אמר as 1st pers. fut. and Psa 91:1 as an apposition of the subject expressed in advance: as such an one who sitteth.... I say, then we stumble against יתלונן; this transition of the participle to the finite verb, especially without the copula (וּבצל), is confusing. If, however, we go on and read further into the Psalm, we find that the same difficulty as to the change of person recurs several times later on, just as in the opening. Olshausen, Hupfeld, and Hitzig get rid of this difficulty by all sorts of conjectures. But a reason for this abrupt change of the person is that dramatic arrangement recognised even in the Targum, although awkwardly indicated, which, however, as first of all clearly discerned by J. D. Michaelis and Maurer. There are, to wit, two voices that speak (as in Psa 121:1-8), and at last the voice of Jahve comes in as a third. His closing utterance, rich in promise, forms, perhaps not unaccidentally, a seven-line strophe. Whether the Psalm came also to be executed in liturgical use thus with several voices, perhaps by three choirs, we cannot tell; but the poet certainly laid it out dramatically, as the translation represents it. In spite of the many echoes of earlier models, it is one of the freshest and most beautiful Psalms, resembling the second part of Isaiah in its light-winged, richly coloured, and transparent diction.

Psa 91:1-2

As the concealing One, God is called עליון, the inaccessibly high One; and as the shadowing One שׁדּי, the invincibly almighty One. Faith, however, calls Him by His covenant name (Heilsname) יהוה and, with the suffix of appropriation, אלהי (my God). In connection with Psa 91:1 we are reminded of the expressions of the Book of Job, Job 39:28, concerning the eagle’s building its nest in its eyrie. According to the accentuation, Psa 91:2 ought to be rendered with Geier, “Dicit: in Domino meo (or Domini) latibulum, etc.” But the combination אמר לה is more natural, since the language of address follows in both halves of the verse.

Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing. אברה is nom. unitatis, a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph. הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā', a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā', a shield. The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma. אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence (a) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; (b) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours. The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur. Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant; the preterite would signify cediderint, Ew. §357, b. With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas. Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey. שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.

The Security of Believers.

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord , He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

In these verses we have,

I. A great truth laid down in general, That all those who live a life of communion with God are constantly safe under his protection, and may therefore preserve a holy serenity and security of mind at all times (v. 1): He that dwells, that sits down, in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he that by faith chooses God for his guardian shall find all that in him which he needs or can desire. Note, 1. It is the character of a true believer that he dwells in the secret place of the Most High; he is at home in God, returns to God, and reposes in him as his rest; he acquaints himself with inward religion, and makes heart-work of the service of God, worships within the veil, and loves to be alone with God, to converse with him in solitude. 2. It is the privilege and comfort of those that do so that they abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he shelters them, and comes between them and every thing that would annoy them, whether storm or sunshine. They shall not only have an admittance, but a residence, under God's protection; he will be their rest and refuge for ever.

II. The psalmist's comfortable application of this to himself (v. 2): I will say of the Lord, whatever others say of him, "He is my refuge; I choose him as such, and confide in him. Others make idols their refuge, but I will say of Jehovah, the true and living God, He is my refuge: any other is a refuge of lies. He is a refuge that will not fail me; for he is my fortress and strong-hold." Idolaters called their idols Mahuzzim, their most strong-hold (Dan. xi. 39), but therein they deceived themselves; those only secure themselves that make the Lord their God, their fortress. There being no reason to question his sufficiency, fitly does it follow, In him will I trust. If Jehovah be our God, our refuge, and our fortress, what can we desire which we may not be sure to find in him? He is neither fickle nor false, neither weak nor mortal; he is God and not man, and therefore there is no danger of being disappointed in him. We know whom we have trusted.

III. The great encouragement he gives to others to do likewise, not only from his own experience of the comfort of it (for in that there might possibly be a fallacy), but from the truth of God's promise, in which there neither is nor can be any deceit (v. 3, 4, &c.): Surely he shall deliver thee. Those who have themselves found the comfort of making God their refuge cannot but desire that others may do so. Now here it is promised,

1. That believers shall be kept from those mischiefs which they are in imminent danger of, and which would be fatal to them (v. 3), from the snare of the fowler, which is laid unseen and catches the unwary prey on a sudden, and from the noisome pestilence, which seizes men unawares and against which there is no guard. This promise protects, (1.) The natural life, and is often fulfilled in our preservation from those dangers which are very threatening and very near, while yet we ourselves are not apprehensive of them, any more than the bird is of the snare of the fowler. We owe it, more than we are sensible, to the care of the divine Providence that we have been kept from infectious diseases and out of the hands of the wicked and unreasonable. (2.) The spiritual life, which is protected by divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, and from the contagion of sin, which is the noisome pestilence. He that has given grace to be the glory of the soul will create a defence upon all that glory.

2. That God himself will be their protector; those must needs be safe who have him for their keeper, and successful for whom he undertakes (v. 4): He shall cover thee, shall keep thee secret (Ps. xxxi. 20), and so keep thee safe, Ps. xxvii. 5. God protects believers, (1.) With the greatest tenderness and affection, which is intimated in that, He shall cover thee with his feathers, under his wings, which alludes to the hen gathering her chickens under wings, Matt. xxiii. 37. By natural instinct she not only protects them, but calls them under that protection when she sees them in danger, not only keeps them safe, but cherishes them and keeps them warm. To this the great God is pleased to compare his care of his people, who are helpless as the chickens, and easily made a prey of, but are invited to trust under the shadow of the wings of the divine promise and providence, which is the periphrasis of a proselyte to the true religion, that he has come to trust under the wings of the God of Israel, Ruth ii. 12. (2.) With the greatest power and efficacy. Wings and feathers, though spread with the greatest tenderness, are yet weak, and easily broken through, and therefore it is added, His truth shall be thy shield and buckler, a strong defence. God is willing to guard his people as the hen is to guard the chickens, and as able as a man of war in armour.

3. That he will not only keep them from evil, but from the fear of evil, v. 5, 6. Here is, (1.) Great danger supposed; the mention of it is enough to frighten us; night and day we lie exposed, and those that are apt to be timorous will in neither period think themselves safe. When we are retired into our chambers, our beds, and have made all as safe as we can about us, yet there is terror by night, from thieves and robbers, winds and storms, besides those things that are the creatures of fancy and imagination, which are often most frightful of all. We read of fear in the night, Cant. iii. 8. There is also a pestilence that walketh in darkness, as that was which slew the first-born of the Egyptians, and the army of the Assyrians. No locks nor bars can shut out diseases, while we carry about with us in our bodies the seeds of them. But surely in the day-time, when we can look about us, we are not so much in danger; yes, there is an arrow that flieth by day too, and yet flies unseen; there is a destruction that wasteth at high-noon, when we are awake and have all our friends about us; even then we cannot secure ourselves, nor can they secure us. It was in the day-time that that pestilence wasted which was sent to chastise David for numbering the people, on occasion of which some think this psalm was penned. But, (2.) Here is great security promised to believers in the midst of this danger: "Thou shalt not be afraid. God by his grace will keep thee from disquieting distrustful fear (that fear which hath torment) in the midst of the greatest dangers. Wisdom shall keep thee from being causelessly afraid, and faith shall keep thee from being inordinately afraid. Thou shalt not be afraid of the arrow, as knowing that though it may hit thee it cannot hurt thee; if it take away the natural life, yet it shall be so far from doing any prejudice to the spiritual life that it shall be its perfection." A believer needs not fear, and therefore should not fear, any arrow, because the point is off, the poison is out. O death! where is thy sting? It is also under divine direction, and will hit where God appoints and not otherwise. Every bullet has its commission. Whatever is done our heavenly Father's will is done; and we have no reason to be afraid of that.

4. That they shall be preserved in common calamities, in a distinguishing way (v. 7): "When death rides in triumph, and diseases rage, so that thousands and ten thousands fall, fall by sickness, or fall by the sword in battle, fall at thy side, at thy right hand, and the sight of their fall is enough to frighten thee, and if they fall by the pestilence their falling so near thee may be likely to infect thee, yet it shall not come nigh thee, the death shall not, the fear of death shall not." Those that preserve their purity in times of general corruption may trust God with their safety in times of general desolation. When multitudes die round about us, though thereby we must be awakened to prepare for our own death, yet we must not be afraid with any amazement, nor make ourselves subject to bondage, as many do all their life-time, through fear of death, Heb. ii. 15. The sprinkling of blood secured the first-born of Israel when thousands fell. Nay, it is promised to God's people that they shall have the satisfaction of seeing, not only God's promises fulfilled to them, but his threatenings fulfilled upon those that hate them (v. 8): Only with thy eyes shalt thou behold and see the just reward of the wicked, which perhaps refers to the destruction of the first-born of Egypt by the pestilence, which was both the punishment of the oppressors and the enlargement of the oppressed; this Israel saw when they saw themselves unhurt, untouched. As it will aggravate the damnation of sinners that with their eyes they shall behold and see the reward of the righteous (Luke xiii. 28), so it will magnify the salvation of the saints that with their eyes they shall behold and see the destruction of the wicked, Isa. lxvi. 24; Ps. lviii. 10.

The Security of Believers.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord , which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befal thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

Here are more promises to the same purport with those in the foregoing verses, and they are exceedingly great and precious, and sure to all the seed.

I. The psalmist assures believers of divine protection, from his own experience; and that which he says is the word of God, and what we may rely upon. Observe, 1. The character of those who shall have the benefit and comfort of these promises; it is much the same with that, v. 1. They are such as make the Most High their habitation (v. 9), as are continually with God and rest in him, as make his name both their temple and their strong tower, as dwell in love and so dwell in God. It is our duty to be at home in God, to make our choice of him, and then to live our life in him as our habitation, to converse with him, and delight in him, and depend upon him; and then it shall be our privilege to be at home in God; we shall be welcome to him as a man to his own habitation, without any let, hindrance, or molestation, from the arrests of the law or the clamours of conscience; then too we shall be safe in him, shall be kept in perfect peace, Isa. xxvi. 3. To encourage us to make the Lord our habitation, and to hope for safety and satisfaction in him, the psalmist intimates the comfort he had had in doing so: "He whom thou makest thy habitation is my refuge; and I have found him firm and faithful, and in him there is room enough, and shelter enough, both for thee and me." In my father's house there are many mansions, one needs not crowd another, much less crowd out another. 2. The promises that are sure to all those who have thus made the Most High their habitation. (1.) That, whatever happens to them, nothing shall hurt them (v. 10): "There shall no evil befal thee; though trouble or affliction befal thee, yet there shall be no real evil in it, for it shall come from the love of God and shall be sanctified; it shall come, not for thy hurt, but for thy good; and though, for the present, it be not joyous but grievous, yet, in the end, it shall yield so well that thou thyself shalt own no evil befel thee. It is not an evil, an only evil, but there is a mixture of good in it and a product of good by it. Nay, not thy person only, but thy dwelling, shall be taken under the divine protection: There shall no plague come nigh that, nothing to do thee or thine any damage." Nihil accidere bono viro mali potest—No evil can befal a good man. Seneca De Providentia. (2.) That the angels of light shall be serviceable to them, v. 11, 12. This is a precious promise, and speaks a great deal both of honour and comfort to the saints, nor is it ever the worse for being quoted and abused by the devil in tempting Christ, Matt. iv. 6. Observe, [1.] The charge given to the angels concerning the saints. He who is the Lord of the angels, who gave them their being and gives laws to them, whose they are and whom they were made to serve, he shall give his angels a charge over thee, not only over the church in general, but over every particular believer. The angels keep the charge of the Lord their God; and this is the charge they receive from him. It denotes the great care God takes of the saints, in that the angels themselves shall be charged with them, and employed for them. The charge is to keep thee in all thy ways; here is a limitation of the promise: They shall keep thee in thy ways, that is, "as long as thou keepest in the way of thy duty;" those that go out of that way put themselves out of God's protection. This word the devil left out when he quoted the promise to enforce a temptation, knowing how much it made against him. But observe the extent of the promise; it is to keep thee in all thy ways: even where there is no apparent danger yet we need it, and where there is the most imminent danger we shall have it. Wherever the saints go the angels are charged with them, as the servants are with the children. [2.] The care which the angels take of the saints, pursuant to this charge: They shall bear thee up in their hands, which denotes both their great ability and their great affection. They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach of danger, and they do it with all the tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in her arms; it speaks us helpless and them helpful. They are condescending in their ministrations; they keep the feet of the saints, lest they dash them against a stone, lest they stumble and fall into sin and into trouble. [3.] That the powers of darkness shall be triumphed over by them (v. 13): Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. The devil is called a roaring lion, the old serpent, the red dragon; so that to this promise the apostle seems to refer in that (Rom. xvi. 20), The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet. Christ has broken the serpent's head, spoiled our spiritual enemies (Col. ii. 15), and through him we are more than conquerors; for Christ calls us, as Joshua called the captains of Israel, to come and set our feet on the necks of vanquished enemies. Some think that this promise had its full accomplishment in Christ, and the miraculous power which he had over the whole creation, healing the sick, casting out devils, and particularly putting it into his disciples' commission that they should take up serpents, Mark xvi. 18. It may be applied to that care of the divine Providence by which we are preserved from ravenous noxious creatures (the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, Job v. 23); nay, and have ways and means of taming them, Jam. iii. 7.

II. He brings in God himself speaking words of comfort to the saints, and declaring the mercy he had in store for them, v. 14-16. Some make this to be spoken to the angels as the reason of the charge given them concerning the saints, as if he had said, "Take care of them, for they are dear to me, and I have a tender concern for them." And now, as before, we must observe,

1. To whom these promises do belong; they are described by three characters:—(1.) They are such as know God's name. His nature we cannot fully know; but by his name he has made himself known, and with that we must acquaint ourselves. (2.) They are such as have set their love upon him; and those who rightly know him will love him, will place their love upon him as the only adequate object of it, will let out their love towards him with pleasure and enlargement, and will fix their love upon him with a resolution never to remove it to any rival. (3.) They are such as call upon him, as by prayer keep up a constant correspondence with him, and in every difficult case refer themselves to him.

2. What the promises are which God makes to the saints. (1.) That he will, in due time, deliver them out of trouble: I will deliver him (v. 14 and again v. 15), denoting a double deliverance, living and dying, a deliverance in trouble and a deliverance out of trouble. If God proportions the degree and continuance of our troubles to our strength, if he keeps us from offending him in our troubles, and makes our death our discharge, at length, from all our troubles, then this promise is fulfilled. See Ps. xxxiv. 19; 2 Tim. iii. 11; iv. 18. (2.) That he will, in the mean time, be with them in trouble, v. 15. If he does not immediately put a period to their afflictions, yet they shall have his gracious presence with them in their troubles; he will take notice of their sorrows, and know their souls in adversity, will visit them graciously by his word and Spirit, and converse with them, will take their part, will support and comfort them, and sanctify their afflictions to them, which will be the surest token of his presence with them in their troubles. (3.) That herein he will answer their prayers: He shall call upon me; I will pour upon him the spirit of prayer, and then I will answer, answer by promises (Ps. lxxxv. 8), answer by providences, bringing in seasonable relief, and answer by graces, strengthening them with strength in their souls (Ps. cxxxviii. 3); thus he answered Paul with grace sufficient, 2 Cor. xii. 9. (4.) That he will exalt and dignify them: I will set him on high, out of the reach of trouble, above the stormy region, on a rock above the waves, Isa. xxxiii. 16. They shall be enabled, by the grace of God, to look down upon the things of this world with a holy contempt and indifference, to look up to the things of the other world with a holy ambition and concern; and then they are set on high. I will honour him; those are truly honourable whom God puts honour upon by taking them into covenant and communion with himself and designing them for his kingdom and glory, John xii. 26. (5.) That they shall have a sufficiency of life in this world (v. 16): With length of days will I satisfy him; that is, [1.] They shall live long enough: they shall be continued in this world till they have done the work they were sent into this world for and are ready for heaven, and that is long enough. Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? [2.] They shall think it long enough; for God by his grace shall wean them from the world and make them willing to leave it. A man may die young, and yet die full of days, satur dierum—satisfied with living. A wicked worldly man is not satisfied, no, not with long life; he still cries, Give, give. But he that has his treasure and heart in another world has soon enough of this; he would not live always. (6.) That they shall have an eternal life in the other world. This crowns the blessedness: I will show him my salvation, show him the Messiah (so some); good old Simeon was then satisfied with long life when he could say, My eyes have seen thy salvation, nor was there any greater joy to the Old-Testament saints than to see Christ's day, though at a distance. It is more probably that the word refers to the better country, that is, the heavenly, which the patriarchs desired and sought: he will show him that, bring him to that blessed state, the felicity of which consists so much in seeing that face to face which we here see through a glass darkly; and, in the mean time, he will give him a prospect of it. All these promises, some think, point primarily at Christ, and had their accomplishment in his resurrection and exaltation.

PSAL. XCI.

HEe that sitteth in the secret of the most high, shall lodge himselfe in the shadow of the Almighty. I wil say, of Iehovah, my safe hope & my fortresse, my God, in him will I trust: For he will deliver thee from the snare of the Fowler, from the wofull pestilence. Hee will cover thee with his wing, & under his feathers thou shalt hope for safety; his truth shalbe a buckler and a shield. Thou shalt not feare for the dread of the night, for the arrow that flieth by day.

For the pestilence that walketh in the darknesse; for the stinging plague that wasteth at noone-day. A thousand shal fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; unto thee it shall not come neare. Onely, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and shalt see the reward of the wicked. Because thou Iehovah my safe hope, the most high, thou hast put for thy mansion. There shall not befall unto thee any evill, and the plague shall not come nigh thy tent. For his Angels will he command for thee, to keepe thee in all thy waies.

Vpon their hands shall they beare thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the fierce Lion & the Aspe, thou shalt tread downe the lurking Lion and the Dragon. Because hee cleaveth unto me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because hee knoweth my name. Hee shall call on mee, and I will answer him; with him will I be in distresse; I wil release him, and will honour him. With length of daies will I satisfie him, and will make him to see my salvation.

Annotations. SEcret] in Greeke, helpe. shall lodge] or, that lodgeth, [illegible: 1 word]. shadow] that is, defence, as Numb. 14. 9. So the Greeke saith, protection; the Chaldee addeth, shadow of the clouds of the glory of the A[illegible: 1 span]ghtie. Vers. 2. I will [illegible: 1 letter]ay] or, doe say, namely, to th[illegible: 1 span] man for his further co[illegible: 2 letters]ort and assurance; as vers. 3, &c. o[illegible: 1 letter], in his na[illegible: 2 letters], p[illegible: 2 letters]ting my selfe for an example. The Greeke for more plainnesse changeth the person, thus; He shall say to the Lord, thou art mine helper▪ &c. The Chaldee addeth, David said, I will say, &c. of Iehovah] or, to him, that hee is my safe hope, (or my shelter.) Vers. 3. of the fowler,] as Psal. 124. 7. or hunter, meaning the devill that hath the power of death, and seeketh to destroy, Heb. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 5. 8. the wofull pestilence] Hebr. the pest of wofull evils, that is, the most wofull, noysome and contagious pest. Vers. 5. the dread of the night] the dreadfull evill that terrifieth in the night, Prov. 3. 25. Song 3. 8. arrow] so the pestilence is called, Deut. 32. Ezek. 5. 16. The Chaldee calleth it, the arrow of the Angell of death. Vers. 6. the stinging plague] the murreine (or pest) that suddenly pricketh and destroyeth, Deut. 32. 24. The Apostle in Greeke calleth it a sting or pricke, 1 Cor. 15. 55. from Hos. 13. 14. as there the Lxx. turned it. The Chaldee here expounds it, the company of Devils. at noone-day] that is, openly: So Ier. 15. 8. Vers. 8. shalt thou behold] or, regard, consider, as the Greeke turneth it. Vers. 9. Because thou Iehovah] an unperfect speech, as in vers. 2. understand, Because thou sayest, thou Iehovah art &c. or, because thou hast put Jehovah who is my covert: even the most high hast thou put for thy mansion, or dwelling place. Vers. 10. befall unto thee] or occasionally be sent, be thrust upon thee, or caused to come unto thee: so Prov. 12. 21. Vers. 12. upon their hands] or, their palmes; which the Chaldee expoundeth, their strength. This Scripture the Devill alleaged, when he tempted Christ to throw downe himselfe head-long, Matt. 4. 6. Luke 4. 10, 11. but some of these words are there omitted. lest thou dash] or, that thou dash (or hurt) not. The Angels are all ministring spirits, sent forth to minister for their sakes which shall be heires of salvation, Heb. 1. 14. See also Psal. 34. 8. a stone] the Chaldee interprets it, evill concupiscence, which is like unto a stone. Vers. 13. the fierce Lion] or Libbard, in Hebrew Shachal. Of Lions there be divers kinds; see Psal. 7. 3. aspe] or, Cockatrice, Basiliske, as the Greeke Here turneth it: See Psal. 58. 5. under these names are meant all other things dangerous, or adverse to the life of man, which by faith are overcome; as Mark. 16. 17, 18. Heb. 11. 33, 34. Vers. 14. He cleaveth to me] or, is fastned, that is, affected to me, in faith, hope, love, delight, &c. The Chaldee expounds it, to my word. God cleaveth in love to his people, Deut. 7. 7. so they also unto him: The Greeke here turneth it, he hoped in me. Else-where it is commonly used for fast-love and pleasure, Gen. 34. 8. Esay 38. 17. Deut. 21. 11. se[illegible: 1 letter] him on high] to wit, in a safe defenced place, as the word importeth: therefore the Greeke saith, I will protect him. See the notes on Psal. 20. 2. Vers. 15. honour him] give him honour, or glory: Else-where his people are said to honour or glorifie him, Psal. 50. 15. See 1 Sam. 2. 30. Vers. 16. satisfie] or give him his fill. So Abraham, Is[illegible: 1 letter]ak, David, Iob, &c. are said to be full or sa [illegible: 1 word] with [illegible: 1 word], Gen. 25. 8. and 35. 29. 1 Chron. [illegible: 1 letter]3. [illegible: 1 word]. Iob 42. 17. make him to see] that is, to enjoy, or shew him: See Psal. 50. 23.

PSAL. XCI.

VErſ. 1. He that dwelleth in the ſecret place, &c.] The ſafety of a Saint is in this whole Pſalm (Quo nihil ne que ſolidius ne que ſplendidius dici poteſt) ſet forth to the life, Verbis vivis, animatis ſententiis & ſpiritus f[illegible: 1 letter]rvore flagrantiſſimis.

Shall abide under the ſhadow of the Almighty] Under the pleaſant and aſſured defence of God; he ſhall lodge under the ſhadow of Shaddai, and there ſing away care, and fear.

Verſ. 2. I will ſay of the Lord] I dare ſay it is ſo as I have ſaid, ſaid the Pſalmiſt, (whom the Jews make to be Moſes) and I will preſently make proof of it in my ſelf; Non verbis ſolum praedicans, ſed exemplis. Some conceive that the Beleever having heard the former Propoſition, verſ. 1. is here brought in profeſſing his faith; and ſaying to the Pſalmiſt, Behold, I dwell in the ſecret place of the moſt High, and ſhall I abide under the ſhadow of the Almighty? The Anſwer follows.

Verſ. 3. surely he ſhall deliver thee from the ſnare of the Fowler] i. e. Of the Devil, and his Emiſſaries, 2 Tim. 2.26. who by force and fraud ſeek to inſnare the Saints. Gratiae privativae multò plures ſunt quam poſitivae, ſaith Gerſon. God daily delivereth his from innumerable deaths and dangers. By Fowler here, ſome underſtand the puniſhing Angel, 2 Sam. 24. and conceive that this Pſalm was penned upon occaſion of that great Plague that followed upon Davids numbring the people; for then, if ever, both Prince and People ſtood in need of ſpecial comfort, and here they have it. Divine conſolations are therefore ſweet, becauſe ſeaſonable and ſuitable.

And from the noyſome Peſtilence] That uncomfortable and contagious diſeaſe.Ab excidio exitiorum. The vulgar rendreth it, and from rough words. In Hebrew Dabhar ſignifieth a word, Debher, a Peſt; an evil tongue hath the Peſtilence in it.

Verſ. 4. He ſhall cover thee with his feathers] As the Hen doth her Chickens; Fides eſt quae pullaſtrum, Chriſtum gallinam facit, ut ſub pennis ejus, ſperes; num ſalus in pennis ejus, ſaith Luther: It is Faith which maketh thee the little Chicken, and Chriſt the Hen; that thou maiſt hide, and hope, hover, and cover under his wings; for there is health in his wings.

And under his wings ſhalt thou truſt] For without Faith what uſe is there to us of the Promiſes. Non de ſe debet ſperare Chriſtianus; ſi vule eſſe firmus vapore materno nutriatur, ut pullus gallinaceus, ſaith Austin; Let no man hope for ſafety or ſtrength, but under Chriſts wings graciouſly ſtretcht out over him.

Verſ. 5. Thou ſhalt not be afraid for the terrour by night] Thou ſhalt be freed, if not from the common deſtruction, yet from the common diſtraction. Impavidum ferient ruinae.

Nor for the arrow that flyeth by day] Sudden ill occurrences quae nec provident nec praecavent fideles, the arrows of Death ſhall come whisking by thine ears, and not hit. Quid quiſ que Hor. lib. [illegible: 1 letter]. Od. 13. vitet nunquam hominiſatis Cautum eſt in horas — Improviſa lethi Vis rapuit, rapiet que gentes.

True Faith is a Target, and ſaveth a man, if not from the ſmart, yet from the hurt of evil accidents.

Verſ. 6. Nor for the Peſtilence] Called before Terrour, and Arrow, as ſome conceive. Hippocrates calleth it [non-Latin text not transcribed], the Divine Diſeaſe, becauſe ſent more immediately from God, as an evil Meſſenger. Not but that a good man may dye of the Plagues, as did Oecolampadius, and many others; Hezechiah is thought to have had it, ſo had reverend Beza (his Family was four ſeveral times viſited here with) who was much comforted under that and other heavy afflictions by this ſweet Pſalm, which therefore he hugg'd and held moſt dear all the dayes of his life, as himſelf witneſſeth in his argument, and uſe of this Pſalm.

Nor for the deſtruction that waſteth at noon-day] For the noon-day-Devil (ſo the Vulgar rendreth it after the Sept.) as, for Peſtilence walking in darkneſs, one old Engliſh Manuſcript hath Goblin. The Chaldee here expounds it, the company of Devils. As, in the next verſe, A thouſand ſhall fall at thy ſide, and ten thouſand, &c. R. Solomon expoundeth, A thouſand Devils ſhall pitch their tents on thy right hand, and on thy left; but ſhall not hurt thee, becauſe the good Angels ſhall counterguard thee againſt them. But it is better to underſtand all (as before) of the Peſtilence, though I doubt not but the Devil that old man-ſlayer hath a hand in this, and other common calamities; yet not without the Lords over-ruling power limiting him.

Verſ. 7. A thouſand ſhall fall, &c.] This deadly diſeaſe layes heaps upon heaps, (as we have had lamentable experience) and ſcarce leaveth living enow to bury the dead, as in the dayes of Decius the Emperour.

But it ſhall not come nigh thee] Thou ſhalt be antidoted, and priviledged; ſc. if God ſee it good for thee. See verſ. 6. and thou be carefull to ſerve his providence. The Turks ſhun not the company of thoſe that have the plague; but pointing upon their foreheads, ſay, It was written there at their birth when they ſhall dye. Thus to do, is not to truſt god, but to tempt him.

Verſ. 8. Only with thine eyes ſhalt thou behold] And ſay, O the ſeverity of divine juſtice! O the venemous and miſchievous nature and effects of mens ſin! Behold the goodneſſe and ſeverity of God; on them which ſell ſeverity, but toward mee goodneſſe, if I continue in his goodneſſe; otherwiſe I ſhall alſo be cut off, Rom. 11.22.

And ſee the reward of the wicked] Thy ſelf being as it were ſhot-free; thy ſincerity prevailing for thy ſafety.

Verſ. 9. Becauſe thou haſt made the Lord which is my refuge, &c.] Becauſe thou haſt done, as I do, thou ſhalt ſpeed as I have ſped; for God is rich in mercy to all his.

Even the Moſt High thy habitation] See Pſal. 90.1.

Verſ. 10. There ſhall no evill befall thee] No devoratory evill, as Tertullian expreſſeth it; nothing that tendeth ad exitium, but only ad exercitium, and ſuch as ſhall end in thy good.

Neither ſhall any plague] What a wonderfull ſeparation made the Lord betwixt the houſes of the Iſraelites and the Egyptians, Exod. 11.7? See Job 5. and take theſe places, as verſe 6. For it may befall a Saint to ſhare in a common calamity; as the good Corn and weeds are cut down together, but for a different end and purpoſe, —Non te tua plurima, Pentheu, Labentem texit piet as —

Verſ. 11. For he ſhall give his Angels charge over thee] This guard of Angels, many Angels, yea all, if need be, to ſecure every poor beleever, how manly ſoever he thinks of himſelf, or is eſteemed by others, is no ſmall priviledge. See Mat. 4 6. with the Note.

To keep thee en all thy wayes] In all thy lawfull and Chriſtian undertakings; for no further doth God or his holy Angels take charge of thee. If we keep not within Gods precincts, we cannot look for his protection. Wefts and ſtrayes fall to the Lord of the ſoil. The State ſecureth none that are abroad at undue hours, that travell not betwixt Sun and Sun. Divines obſerve, that the Devil, citing this Text, Mat. 4.6. left out theſe words on purpoſe, as not for his purpoſe; yet doth not our Saviour ſo much as upbraid him with this mutilation, nor yet tell him of that which followeth, verſe 13. Thou ſhalt tread upon the Lyon and Adder, &c. to teach us, in dealing with an adverſary, not to lye at the catch, but anſwer to the thing, &c.

Verſ. 12. They ſhall bear thee up in their hands] See the Note on Mat. 4.6. and be ſenſible of the many good offices done us by the bleſſed Angels, not once looking for our thanks.

Verſ. 13. Thou ſhalt tread upon the Lyon, &c.] No Creature ſhall harm thee, ſo as to hinder thineeternal happineſſe. See Iſa. 11.6, 7, 8. Hoſ. 2.18. Job 5.23. Mar. 16.18. this Text was ſhamefully abuſed by Pope Alexander, Anno 1159. when at Venice he trod upon the neck of the Emperour Frederick Barbaroſſa; and ſaid, as here, ſuper leonem & aſpidem ambulabis, &c.

Verſ. 14.Ardet me, am plexus eſt me. Becauſe he hath ſet his love upon mee, &c.] Becauſe he cleaveth unto mee, and acquieſceth in mee. Thus God is brought in ſpeaking toward the cloſe of all, for greater aſſurance. Aben-Ezra ſaith, it is the ſpeech of God to his Angels.

I will ſet him on high, becauſe he hath known my name] And hence it is, that his heart is ſo ſet upon mee. They that know Gods name will ſurely truſt in him, Pſal. 9.10. Thy name is as an ointment poured out, therefore do the Virgins love thee, Cant. 1.3. But unkent unkiſt, as the Northern Proverb hath it; men therefore care not for God, becauſe they know not his excellencies.

Verſ. 15. He ſhall call upon mee] This is an indiſpenſable duty; and will be chearfully performed by thoſe that know and love the Lord.

I will deliver him, &c.] As he did David, Joſeph, Daniel, and others.

Verſ. 16. with long life, &c. he ſhall have enough of this life preſent even to a ſatiety; and Heaven in the end. The Hebrews call this Pſalm Canticum de accidentibus. When Beza came firſt to the reformed Church, hee found them ſinging this Pſalm, and was greatly encouraged.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High. The blessings here promised are not for all believers, but for those who live in close fellowship with God. Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary and the mercyseat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place; they run to it at times, and enjoy occasional approaches, but they do not habitually reside in the mysterious presence. Those who through rich grace obtain unusual and continuous communion with God, so as to abide in Christ and Christ in them, become possessors of rare and special benefits, which are missed by those who follow afar off, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Into the secret place those only come who know the love of God in Christ Jesus, and those only dwell there to whom to live is Christ. To them the veil is rent, the mercyseat is revealed, the covering cherubs are manifest, and the awful glory of the Most High is apparent: these, like Simeon, have the Holy Ghost upon them, and like Anna they depart not from the temple; they are the courtiers of the Great King, the valiant men who keep watch around the bed of Solomon, the virgin souls who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Elect out of the elect, they have "attained unto the first three", and shall walk with their Lord in white, for they are worthy. Sitting down in the august presence chamber where shines the mystic light of the Sheckinah, they know what it is to be raised up together, and to be made to sit together with Christ in the heavenlies, and of them it is truly said that their conversation is in heaven. Special grace like theirs brings with it special immunity. Outer court worshippers little know what belongs to the inner sanctuary, or surely they would press on until the place of nearness and divine familiarity became theirs. Those who are the Lord's constant guests shall find that he will never suffer any to be injured within his gates; he has eaten the covenant salt with them, and is pledged for their protection. Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The Omnipotent Lord will shield all those who dwell with him, they shall remain under his care as guests under the protection of their host. In the most holy place the wings of the cherubim were the most conspicuous objects, and they probably suggested to the psalmist the expression here employed. Those who commune with God are safe with Him, no evil can reach them, for the outstretched wings of his power and love cover them from all harm. This protection is constant —they abide under it, and it is all sufficient, for it is the shadow of the Almighty, whose omnipotence will surely screen them from all attack. No shelter can be imagined at all comparable to the protection of Jehovah's own shadow. The Almighty himself is where his shadow is, and hence those who dwell in his secret place are shielded by himself. What a shade in the day of noxious heat! What a refuge in the hour of deadly storm! Communion with God is safety. The more closely we cling to our Almighty Father the more confident may we be.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. To take up a general truth and make it our own by personal faith is the highest wisdom. It is but poor comfort to say `the Lord is a refuge, 'but to say he is my refuge, is the essence of consolation. Those who believe should also speak —"I will say", for such bold avowals honour God and lead others to seek the same confidence. Men are apt enough to proclaim their doubts, and even to boast of them, indeed there is a party nowadays of the most audacious pretenders to culture and thought, who glory in casting suspicion upon every thing: hence it becomes the duty of all true believers to speak out and testify with calm courage to their own well grounded reliance upon their God. Let others say what they will, be it ours to say of the Lord, "he is our refuge." But what we say we must prove by our actions, we must fly to the Lord for shelter, and not to an arm of flesh. The bird flies away to the thicket, and the fox hastens to its hole, every creature uses its refuge in the hour of danger, and even so in all peril or fear of peril let us flee unto Jehovah, the Eternal Protector of his own. Let us, when we are secure in the Lord, rejoice that our position is unassailable, for he is our fortress as well as our refuge. No moat, portcullis, drawbridge, wall, battlement and donjon, could make us so secure as we are when the attributes of the Lord of Hosts environ us around. Behold this day the Lord is to us instead of walls and bulwarks! Our ramparts defy the leagured hosts of hell. Foes in flesh, and foes in ghostly guise are alike balked of their prey when the Lord of Hosts stands between us and their fury, and all other evil forces are turned aside. Walls cannot keep out the pestilence, but the Lord can.

As if it were not enough to call the Lord his refuge and fortress, he adds, My God! in him will I trust. Now he can say no more; "my God" means all, and more than all, that heart can conceive by way of security. It was most meet that he should say "in him will I trust", since to deny faith to such a one were wilful wickedness and wanton insult. He who dwells in an impregnable fortress, naturally trusts in it; and shall not he who dwells in God feel himself well at ease, and repose his soul in safety? O that we more fully carried out the psalmist's resolve! We have trusted in God, let us trust him still. He has never failed us, why then should we suspect him? To trust in man is natural to fallen nature, to trust in God should be as natural to regenerated nature. Where there is every reason and warrant for faith, we ought to place our confidence without hesitancy or wavering. Dear reader, pray for grace to say, "In him will I trust."

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Assuredly no subtle plot shall succeed against one who has the eyes of God watching for his defence, We are foolish and weak as poor little birds, and are very apt to be lured to our destruction by cunning foes, but if we dwell near to God, he will see to it that the most skilful deceiver shall not entrap us.

"Satan the fowler who betrays

Unguarded souls a thousand ways," shall be foiled in the case of the man whose high and honourable condition consists in residence within the holy place of the Most High.

And from the noisome pestilence. He who is a Spirit can protect us from evil spirits, he who is mysterious can rescue us from mysterious dangers, he who is immortal can redeem its from mortal sickness. There is a deadly pestilence of error, we are safe from that if we dwell in communion with the God of truth; there is a fatal pestilence of sin, we shall not be infected by it if we abide with the thrice Holy One; there is also a pestilence of disease, and even from that calamity our faith shall win immunity if it be of that high order which abides in God, walks on in calm serenity, and ventures all things for duty's sake. Faith by cheering the heart keeps it free from the fear which, in times of pestilence, kills more than the plague itself. It will not in all cases ward off disease and death, but where the man is such as the first verse describes, it will assuredly render him immortal where others die; if all the saints are not so sheltered it is because they have not all such a close abiding with God, and consequently not such confidence in the promise. Such special faith is not given to all, for there are diversities in the measure of faith. It is not of all believers that the psalmist sings, but only of those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Too many among us are weak in faith, and in fact place more reliance in a phial or a globule than in the Lord and giver of life, and if we die of pestilence as others die it is because we acted like others, and did not in patience possess our souls. The great mercy is that in such a case our deaths are blessed, and it is well with us, for we are for ever with the Lord. Pestilence to the saints shall not be noisome but the messenger of heaven.

He shall cover thee with thy feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. A wonderful expression! Had it been invented by an uninspired man it would have verged upon blasphemy, for who should dare to apply such words to the Infinite Jehovah? But as he himself authorised, yea, dictated the language, we have here a transcendent condescension, such as it becomes us to admire and adore. Doth the Lord speak of his feathers, as though he likened himself to a bird? Who will not see herein a matchless love, a divine tenderness, which should both woo and win our confidence? Even as a hen covereth her chickens so doth the Lord protect the souls which dwell in him; let us cower down beneath him for comfort and for safety. Hawks in the sky and snares in the field are equally harmless when we nestle so near the Lord. His truth —his true promise, and his faithfulness to his promise, shall be thy shield and buckler. Double armour has he who relies upon the Lord. He bears a shield and wears an all surrounding coat of mail —such is the force of the word "buckler." To quench fiery darts the truth is a most effectual shield, and to blunt all swords it is an equally effectual coat of mail. Let us go forth to battle thus harnessed for the war, and we shall be safe in the thickest of the fight. It has been so, and so shall it be till we reach the land of peace, and there among the "helmed cherubim and sworded seraphim, " we will wear no other ornament, his truth shall still be our shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. Such frail creatures are we that both by night and by day we are in danger, and so sinful are we that in either season we may be readily carried away by fear; the promise before us secures the favourite of heaven both from danger and from the fear of it. Night is the congenial hour of horrors, when alarms walk abroad like beasts of prey, or ghouls from among the tombs; our fears turn the sweet season of repose into one of dread, and though angels are abroad and fill our chambers, we dream of demons and dire visitants from hell. Blessed is that communion with God which renders us impervious to midnight frights, and horrors born of darkness. Not to be afraid is in itself an unspeakable blessing, since for every suffering which we endure from real injury we are tormented by a thousand griefs which arise from fear only. The shadow of the Almighty removes all gloom from the shadow of night: once covered by the divine wing, we care not what winged terrors may fly abroad in the earth. Nor for the arrow that flieth by day. Cunning foes lie in ambuscade, and aim the deadly shaft at our hearts, but we do not fear them, and have no cause to do so. That arrow is not made which can destroy the righteous, for the Lord hath said, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." In times of great danger those who have made the Lord their refuge, and therefore have refused to use the carnal weapon, have been singularly preserved; the annals of the Quakers bear good evidence to this; yet probably the main thought is, that from the cowardly attacks of crafty malice those who walk by faith shall be protected, from cunning heresies they shall be preserved, and in sudden temptations they shall be secured from harm. Day has its perils as well as night, arrows more deadly than those poisoned by the Indian are flying noiselessly through the air, and we shall be their victims unless we find both shield and buckler in our God. 0 believer, dwell under the shadow of the Lord, and none of the archers shall destroy thee, they may shoot at thee and wound thee grievously, but thy bow shall abide in strength. When Satan's quiver shall be empty thou shalt remain uninjured by his craft and cruelty, yea, his broken darts shall be to thee as trophies of the truth and power of the Lord thy God.

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness. It is shrouded in mystery as to its cause and cure, it marches on, unseen of men, slaying with hidden weapons, like an enemy stabbing in the dark, yet those who dwell in God are not afraid of it. Nothing is more alarming than the assassin's plot, for he may at any moment steal in upon a man, and lay him low at a stroke; and such is the plague in the days of its power, none can promise themselves freedom from it for an hour in any place in the infected city; it enters a house men know not how, and its very breath is mortal; yet those choice souls who dwell in God shall live above fear in the most plague stricken places —they shall not be afraid of the "plagues which in the darkness walk." Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Famine may starve, or bloody war devour, earthquake may overturn and tempest may smite, but amid all, the man who has sought the mercy seat and is sheltered beneath the wings which overshadow it, shall abide in perfect peace. Days of horror and nights of terror are for other men, his days and nights are alike spent with God, and therefore pass away in sacred quiet. His peace is not a thing of times and seasons, it does not rise and set with the sun, nor does it depend upon the healthiness of the atmosphere or the security of the country. Upon the child of the Lord's own heart pestilence has no destroying power, and calamity no wasting influence: pestilence walks in darkness, but he dwells in light; destruction wastes at noonday, but upon him another sun has risen whose beams bring restoration. Remember that the voice which saith "thou shalt not fear" is that of God himself, who hereby pledges his word for the safety of those who abide under his shadow, nay, not for their safety only, but for their serenity. So far shall they be from being injured that they shall not even be made to fear the ills which are around them, since the Lord protects them.

"He, his shadowy plumes outspread.

With his wing shall fence thy head;

And his truth around thee wield,

Strong as targe or bossy shield!

Naught shall strike thee with dismay,

Fear by night, nor shaft by day."

A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand. So terribly may the plague rage among men that the bills of mortality may become very heavy and continue to grow ten times heavier still, yet shall such as this Psalm speaks of survive the scythe of death. It shall not come nigh thee. It shall be so near as to be at thy side, and yet not nigh enough to touch thee; like a fire it shall burn all around, yet shall not the smell of it pass upon thee. How true is this of the plague of moral evil, of heresy, and of backsliding. Whole nations are infected, yet the man who communes with God is not affected by the contagion; he holds the truth when falsehood is all the fashion. Professors all around him are plague smitten, the church is wasted, the very life of religion decays, but in the same place and time, in fellowship with God, the believer renews his youth, and his soul knows no sickness. In a measure this also is true of physical evil; the Lord still puts a difference between Israel and Egypt in the day of his plagues. Sennacherib's army is blasted, but Jerusalem is in health.

"Our God his chosen people saves

Amongst the dead, amidst the graves."

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. The sight shall reveal both the justice and the mercy of God; in them that perish the severity of God will be manifest, and in the believer's escape the richness of divine goodness will be apparent. Joshua and Caleb verified this promise. The Puritan preachers during the plague of London must have been much impressed with this verse as they came out of their hiding places to proclaim mercy and judgment to the dissolute age which was so sorely visited with the pest. The sight of God's judgments softens the heart, excites a solemn awe, creates gratitude, and so stirs up the deepest kind of adoration. It is such a sight as none of us would wish to see, and yet if we did see it we might thus be lifted up to the very noblest style of manhood. Let us but watch providence, and we shall find ourselves living in a school where examples of the ultimate reward of sin are very plentiful. One case may not be judged alone lest we misjudge, but instances of divine visitation will be plentiful in the memory of any attentive observer of men and things; from all these put together we may fairly draw conclusions, and unless we shut our eyes to that which is self evident, we shall soon perceive that there is after all a moral ruler over the sons of men, who sooner or later rewards the ungodly with due punishment.

Verses 9-10. Before expounding these verses I cannot refrain from recording a personal incident illustrating their power to soothe the heart, when they are applied by the Holy Spirit. In the year 1854, when I had scarcely been in London twelve months, the neighbourhood in which I laboured was visited by Asiatic cholera, and my congregation suffered from its inroads. Family after family summoned me to the bedside of the smitten, and almost every day I was called to visit the grave. I gave myself up with youthful ardour to the visitation of the sick, and was sent for from all corners of the district by persons of all ranks and religions. I became weary in body and sick at heart. My friends seemed falling one by one, and I felt or fancied that I was sickening like those around me. A little more work and weeping would have laid me low among the rest; I felt that my burden was heavier than I could bear, and I was ready to sink under it. As God would have it, I was returning mournfully home from a funeral, when my curiosity led me to read a paper which was wafered up in a shoemaker's window in the Dover Road. It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was it, for it bore in a good bold handwriting these words:

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. The effect upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm. The providence which moved the tradesman to place those verses in his window I gratefully acknowledge, and in the remembrance of its marvellous power I adore the Lord my God. The psalmist in these verses assures the man who dwells in God that he shall be secure. Though faith claims no merit of its own, yet the Lord rewards it wherever he sees it. He who makes God his refuge shall find him a refuge; he who dwells in God shall find his dwelling protected. We must make the Lord our habitation by choosing him for our trust and rest, and then we shall receive immunity from harm; no evil shall touch us personally, and no stroke of judgment shall assail our household. The dwelling here intended by the original was only a tent, yet the frail covering would prove to be a sufficient shelter from harm of all sorts. It matters little whether our abode be a gypsy's hut or a monarch's palace if the soul has made the Most High its habitation. Get into God and you dwell in all good, and ill is banished far away. It is not because we are perfect or highly esteemed among men that we can hope for shelter in the day of evil, but because our refuge is the Eternal God, and our faith has learned to hide beneath his sheltering wing.

"For this no ill thy cause shall daunt,

No scourge thy tabernacle haunt."

It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honour, death is his gain. No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good. Happy is he who is in such a case. He is secure where others are in peril, he lives where others die.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee. Not one guardian angel, as some fondly dream, but all the angels are here alluded to. They are the bodyguard of the princes of the blood imperial of heaven, and they have received commission from their Lord and ours to watch carefully over all the interests of the faithful. When men have a charge they become doubly careful, and therefore the angels are represented as bidden by God himself to see to it that the elect are secured. It is down in the marching orders of the hosts of heaven that they take special note of the people who dwell in God. It is not to be wondered at that the servants are bidden to be careful of the comfort of their Master's guests; and we may be quite sure that when they are specially charged by the Lord himself they will carefully discharge the duty imposed upon them. To keep thee in all thy ways. To be a bodyguard, a garrison to the body, soul, and spirit of the saint. The limit of this protection "in all thy ways" is yet no limit to the heart which is right with God. It is not the way of the believer to go out of his way. He keeps in the way, and then the angels keep him. The protection here promised is exceeding broad as to place, for it refers to all our ways, and what do we wish for more? How angels thus keep us we cannot tell. Whether they repel demons, counteract spiritual plots, or even ward off the more subtle physical forces of disease, we do not know. Perhaps we shall one day stand amazed at the multiplied services which the unseen bands have rendered to us.

They, that is the angels, God's own angels, shall cheerfully become our servants. They shall bear thee up in their hands; as nurses carry little children, with careful love, so shall those glorious spirits bear up each individual believer. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone; even minor ills they ward off. It is most desirable that we should not stumble, but as the way is rough, it is most gracious on the Lord's part to send his servants to bear us up above the loose pebbles. If we cannot have the way smoothed it answers every purpose if we have angels to bear us up in their hands. Since the greatest ills may arise out of little accidents, it shows the wisdom of the Lord that from the smaller evils we are protected.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. Over force and fraud shalt thou march victoriously; bold opponents and treacherous adversaries shall alike be trodden down. When our shoes are iron and brass lions and adders are easily enough crushed beneath our heel. The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. The strongest foe in power, and the most mysterious in cunning, shall be conquered by the man of God. Not only from stones in the way, but from serpents also, shall we be safe. To men who dwell in God the most evil forces become harmless, they wear a charmed life, and defy the deadliest ills. Their feet come into contact with the worst of foes, even Satan himself nibbles at their heel, but in Christ Jesus they have the assured hope of bruising Satan under their feet shortly. The people of God are the real "George and the dragon, "the true lion kings and serpent tamers. Their dominion over the powers of darkness makes them cry, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy word."

Here we have the Lord himself speaking of his own chosen one. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. Not because he deserves to be thus kept, but because with all his imperfections he does love his God; therefore not the angels of God only, but the God of angels himself will come to his rescue in all perilous times, and will effectually deliver him. When the heart is enamoured of the Lord, all taken up with him, and intensely attached to him, the Lord will recognise the sacred flame, and preserve the man who bears it in his bosom. It is love, —love set upon God, which is the distinguishing mark of those whom the Lord secures from ill. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. The man has known the attributes of God so as to trust in him, and then by experience has arrived at a yet deeper knowledge, this shall be regarded by the Lord as a pledge of his grace, and he will set the owner of it above danger or fear, where he shall dwell in peace and joy. None abide in intimate fellowship with God unless they possess a warm affection towards God, and an intelligent trust in him; these gifts of grace are precious in Jehovah's eyes, and wherever he sees them he smiles upon them. How elevated is the standing which the Lord gives to the believer. We ought to covet it right earnestly. If we climb on high it may be dangerous, but if God sets us there it is glorious.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. He will have need to pray, he will be led to pray aright and the answer shall surely come. Saints are first called of God and then they call upon God; such calls as theirs always obtain answers. Not without prayer will the blessing come to the most favoured, but by means of prayer they shall receive all good things. I will be with him in trouble, or "I am with him in trouble." Heirs of heaven are conscious of a special divine presence in times of severe trial. God is always near in sympathy and in power to help his tried ones. I will deliver him, and honour him. The man honours God, and God honours him. Believers are not delivered or preserved in a way which lowers them, and makes them feel themselves degraded; far from it, the Lord's salvation bestows honour upon those it delivers. God first gives us conquering grace, and then rewards us for it.

With long life will I satisfy him. The man described in this Psalm fills out the measure of his days, and whether he dies young or old he is quite satisfied with life, and is content to leave it. He shall rise from life's banquet as a man who has had enough, and would not have more even if he could. And shew him my salvation. The full sight of divine grace shall be his closing vision. He shall look from Amana and Lebanon. Not with destruction before him black as night, but with salvation bright as noonday smiling upon him he shall enter into his rest.

Whole Psalm. The Talmud writers ascribe not only the ninety-first Psalm, but the nine ensuing, to the pen of Moses; but from a rule which will in no respect hold, that all the psalms which are without the name of an author in their respective titles are the production of the poet whose name is given in the nearest preceding title. And though it is impossible to prove that this highly beautiful ode was not written by David, the general drift of its scenery and allusions rather concur in showing that, like the last, we are indebted for it to the muse of Moses: that it was composed by him during the journey through the wilderness, shortly after the plague of the fiery serpents; when the children of Israel, having returned to a better spirit, were again received into the favour of JEHOVAH. Besides political enemies, the children of Israel in the wilderness had other evils in great numbers to encounter, from the nature and diseases of the climate, which exposed them to coups de soleil, or sun smiting, during the heat of the day; and to pestilential vapours, moon smiting, during the damp of the night, so as to render the miraculous canopy of the cloud that hung over them in the former season, and the miraculous column of fire that cheered and purified them in the latter, equally needful and refreshing. In Egypt, they had seen so much of the plague, and they had been so fearfully threatened with it as a punishment for disobedience, that they could not but be in dread of its reappearance, from the incessant fatigues of their journeying. In addition to all which, they had to be perpetually on their guard against the insidious attacks of the savage monsters and reptiles of "that great and terrible wilderness", as Moses describes it on another occasion, "wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought; where there was no water" (De 8:15); and where, also, as we learn from other parts of Scripture, bears, lions, leopards or tigers, and "the wolf of the evening", as Jeremiah has beautifully expressed it, prowled without restraint. Now in the Psalm before us, and especially in Ps 91:6-13, we have so clear and graphic a description of the whole of these evils presented to us, as to bring its composition directly home to the circumstances and the period here pitched upon, and to render it at least needless to hunt out for any other occasion. J. M. Good's "Historical Outline of the Book of Psalms", 1842.

Whole Psalm. It is one of the most excellent works of this kind which has ever appeared. It is impossible to imagine anything more solid, more beautiful, more profound, or more ornamented. Could the Latin or any modern language express thoroughly all the beauties and elegancies as well of the words as of the sentences, it would not be difficult to persuade the reader that we have no poem, either in Greek or Latin, comparable to this Hebrew ode. Simon de Muis.

Whole Psalm. Psalm 90 spoke of man withering away beneath God's anger against sin. Psalm 91 tells of a Man, who is able to tread the lion and adder under His feet. —Undoubtedly the Tempter was right in referring this Psalm to "the Son of God" (Mt 4:6). The imagery of the Psalm seems to be in part drawn from that Passover Night, when the Destroying Angel passed through Egypt, while the faithful and obedient Israelites were sheltered by God. William Kay.

He, no matter who he may be, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, patrician or plebeian, young or old, for "God is no respecter of persons", but "he is rich to all that call upon him." Bellarmine.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High. Note, he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High is not he that conjures up one or two slight and fleeting acts of hope in Him, but the man that places in him an assiduous and constant confidence. In this way he establishes for himself in God by that full trust, a home, a dwelling place, a mansion, ...The Hebrew for he that dwelleth, is bvy, that is, dwelling in quietude, and resting, enduring and remaining with constancy. Le Blanc.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High. What intimate and unrestrained communion does this describe! —the Christian in everything making known his heart, with its needs and wishes, its thoughts and feelings, its doubts and anxieties, its sorrows and its joys, to God, as to a loving, perfect friend. And all is not on one side. This Almighty Friend has admitted his chosen one to his "secret place." It is almost too wonderful to be true. It is almost too presumptuous a thought for such creatures as we are to entertain. But He himself permits it, desires it, teaches us to realise that it is communion to which he calls us. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." And what is this "secret"? It is that in God which the world neither knows, nor sees, nor cares to enjoy. It is his mind revealed to those that love him, his plans, and ways ("He made known his ways to Moses", Ps 103:7), and thoughts opened to them. Yea, and things hid from angels are manifest to the least of his friends (1Pe 1:12). He wishes us to know him, and by his Word and by his Spirit he puts himself before us. Ah! it is not his fault if we do not know him. It is our own carelessness. Mary B. M. Duncan, in "Under the Shadow", 1867.

By secret here is meant a place of refuge from the storms of the world under the secret of his providence, who careth for all his children. Also, by the secret of the most High, some writers understand the castle of his mighty defence, to which his people run, being pursued by enemies, as the wild creature doth to his hole or den for succour, when the hunter hath him in chase, and the dogs are near. This then being the meaning of that which the prophet calleth the "secret place of the most High", and our dwelling in it, by confidence in him; we learn, in all troubles, to cleave to God chiefly or only for help, and to means but as underlings to his providence. . . . That which is here translated dwelleth, is as much in weight as sitteth, or is settled; and so, our dwelling in God's secret, is as much as our sitting down in it: the meaning is, we must make it our rest, as if we should say, Here will we dwell. From whence we learn, that God's children should not come to God's secret place as guests to an inn, but as inhabitants to their own dwellings; that is, they should continue to trust in God, as well in want as in fulness; and as much when they wither in their root, as when they flourish in it. Robert Horn.

He that dwelleth, etc.

1. "He dwells", therefore he shall "abide." He shall lodge quietly, securely.

2. "He dwells in the secret place", therefore he shall "abide under the shadow." In the cool, the favour, the cover from the heat

3. "He dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, therefore he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; "i.e., of the all powerful God, of the God of heaven; of that God whose name is Shaddai, All sufficient. Adam Clarke.

Shall abide. The Hebrew for "shall abide" is Nkwlty, which signifies, he shall pass the night. Abiding denotes a constant and continuous dwelling of the just in the assistance and protection of God. That help and protection of God is not like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, or in a vineyard; which is destroyed in a moment, nor is it like a tent in the way which is abandoned by the traveller. It is a strong tower, a paternal home, wherein we spend all our life with the best, wealthiest, and mightiest of parents. Passing the night also denotes security and rest in time of darkness, temptations and calamities. With God Abraham passed the night, when He foretold to him the affliction of his descendants in Egypt, and their deliverance, Ge 15:12-16. Then also God said to him (Ge 15:1), Fear not Abram. I am thy shield. And leading him forth he showed him the glittering stars, and said, Tell the number of the stars, if thou bc able; so shall thy seed be. Le Blanc.

The shadow. The allusion of this verse may be to the awful and mystic symbols of the ark. Under the ancient ceremony, the high priest only could enter, and that but once a year, into the holy place, where stood the emblems of the divine glory and presence; but under the present bright and merciful dispensation, every true believer has access, with boldness, into the holiest of all; and he who now dwelleth in the secret place of prayer and communion with the God of salvation, shall find the divine mercy and care spread over him for his daily protection and solace. John Morison.

Under the shadow of the Almighty. This is an expression which implies great nearness. We must walk very close to a companion, if we would have his shadow fall on us. Can we imagine any expression more perfect in describing the constant presence of God with his chosen ones, than this —they shall "abide under his shadow"? In Solomon's beautiful allegory, the Church in a time of special communion with Christ, says of him —"I sat down under his shadow with great delight" (So 2:3) —"sat down", desiring not to leave it, but to abide there for ever. And it is he who chooses to dwell in the secret place of the most High, who shall "abide under the shadow of the Almighty." There is a condition and a promise attached to it. The condition is, that we "dwell in the secret place, " —the promise, that if we do so we "shall abide under the shadow." It is of importance to view it thus. For when we remember the blessing is a promised blessing —we are led to feel it is a gift —a thing therefore to be prayed for in faith, as well as sought for by God's appointed means. Ah, the hopes that this awakens! My wandering, wavering, unstable heart, that of itself cannot keep to one course two days together is to seek its perseverance from God, and not in its own strength. He will hold it to him if it be but seeking for stedfastness. It is not we who cling to him. It is he who keeps near to us. Mary B. M. Duncan.

Verse 1-4, 9. O you that be in fear of any danger, leave all carnal shifts, and carking counsels, and projects, and dwell in the rock of God's power and providence, and be like the dove that nestles in the holes of the rock; by faith betake yourselves unto God, by faith dwell in that rock, and there nestle yourselves, make your nests of safety in the clefts of this rock. But how may we do this thing, and what is the way to do it? Do this, —Set thy faith on work to make God that unto thee which thy necessity requires, pitch and throw thyself upon his power and providence, with a resolution of spirit to rest thyself upon it for safety, come what will come. See an excellent practice of this, Ps 91:1, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; that is, he shall be safe from all fears and dangers. Aye, that is true, you will say, who makes any doubt of it? But how shall a man come to dwell, and get into this secret place, within this strong tower? See Ps 91:2: I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; as if he had said, I will not only say, that he is a refuge; but he is my refuge, I will say to the Lord; that is, I will set my faith on work in particular, to throw, devolve, and pitch myself upon him for my safety. And see what follows upon this setting faith thus on work, Ps 91:3-4: Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. So confident the Psalmist is that upon this course taken, safety shall follow. Our safety lies not simply upon this, because God is a refuge, and is an habitation, but "Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, "etc. It is therefore the making of God our habitation, upon which our safety lies; and this is the way to make God an habitation, thus to pitch and cast ourselves by faith upon his power and providence. Jeremiah Dyke.

We read of a stag that roamed about in the greatest security, by reason of its having a label on its neck, "Touch me not, I belong to Caesar": thus the true servants of God are always safe, even among lions, bears, serpents, fire, water, thunder, and tempests; for all creatures know and reverence the shadow of God. Bellarmine.

My refuge, my fortress, my God. "My refuge." God is our "refuge." He who avails himself of a refuge is one who is forced to fly. It is a quiet retreat from a pursuing enemy. And there are trials, and temptations, and enemies, from which the Christian does best to fly. He cannot resist them. They are too strong for him. His wisdom is to fly into the refuge of the secret place of his God —to rest in the shadow of the Almighty. His "strength is to sit still" there. Isa 30:7. "My fortress." The Psalmist says, moreover, that God is his "fortress." Here the idea is changed —no longer a peaceful, quiet hiding place, but a tower of defence —strong, manifest, ready to meet the attacks of all enemies, ready and able to resist them all. God is a Friend who meets every want in our nature, who can supply every need. So when we are weak and fainting, and unable to meet the brunt of battle, and striving against sin and sorrow and the wrath of man He is our safe, quiet resting place —our fortress also where no harm can reach us, no attack injure us. "My God." Now the Psalmist, as a summing up of all his praises, says "I will say of Him, He is... my God!" Is there any thing omitted in the former part of his declaration? Everything is here —all possible ascription of honour, and glory, and power to Him "as God" —"God over all, blessed for ever, "and of love, reverence, trust, obedience, and filial relation towards him on the part of the Psalmist, as MY God ...when reflecting on the refuge and strength which the Lord has always been to him, and recalling his blessed experiences of sweet communion with God —words fail him. He can only say (but oh, with what expression!) MY GOD! Mary B.M. Duncan.

My God. Specially art Thou my God, first, on thy part, because of the special goodness and favour which Thou dost bestow upon me. Secondly, on my part, because of the special love and reverence with which I cling to Thee. J. Paulus Palanterius.

Verse 2-4. If the severity and justice of God terrify, the Lord offereth himself as a bird with stretched out wings to receive the supplicant, Ps 91:4. If enemies who are too strong do pursue, the Lord openeth his bosom as a refuge, Ps 91:2. If the child be assaulted, he becometh a fortress, Ps 91:2. If he be hotly pursued and enquired after, the Lord becometh a secret place to hide his child; if persecution be hot, God giveth himself for a shadow; if potentates and mighty rulers turn enemies, the Lord interposes as the Most High and Almighty Saviour, Ps 91:1. If his adversaries be crafty like fowlers or hunters, the Lord promises to prevent and break the snares, Ps 91:3. Whether evils do come upon the believer night or day, secretly or openly, to destroy him, the Lord preserveth his child from destruction;and if stumbling blocks be laid in his child's way, he hath his instruments, his servants, his angels, prepared to keep the believer that he stumble not: He shall give his angels charge over thee; not one angel only, but all of them, or a number of them. David Dickson.

He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Are we therefore beasts? Beasts doubtless. When man was in honour he understood not, but was like the foolish beasts. (Ps 49:12) Men are certainly beasts, wandering sheep, having no shepherd. Why art thou proud, O man? Why dost thou boast thyself, O smatterer? See what a beast thou art, for whom the snares of the fowler are being prepared. But who are these fowlers? The fowlers indeed are the worst and most wicked, the cleverest and the most cruel. The fowlers are they who sound no horn, that they may not be heard, but shoot their arrows in secret places at the innocent... But lo! since we know the fowlers and the beasts, our further enquiry must be, what this snare may be. I wish not myself to invent it, nor to deliver to you what is subject to doubt. The Apostle shows us this snare, for he was not ignorant of the devices of these fowlers. Tell us, I pray, blessed Paul, what this snare of the devil is, from which the faithful soul rejoices that it is delivered? They that will be rich (in this world?) says he, fall into temptation and the snare (of the devil?) (1 Ti 6:9-10). Are not the riches of this world, then, the snare of the devil?. Alas! how few we find who can boast of freedom from this snare, how many who grieve that they seem to themselves too little enmeshed in the net, and who still labour and toil with all their strength to involve and entangle themselves more and more. Ye who have left all and followed the Son of man who has not where to lay his head, rejoice and say, He hath delivered we from the snare of the fowlers. Bernard.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the noisome pestilence. Lord Craven lived in London when that sad calamity, the plague, raged. His house was in that part of the town called Craven Buildings. On the plague growing epidemic, his Lordship, to avoid the danger, resolved to go to his seat in the country. His coach and six were accordingly at the door, his baggage put up, and all things in readiness for the journey. As he was walking through his hall with his hat on, his cane under his arm, and putting on his gloves, in order to step into his carriage, he overheard his negro, who served him as postillion, saying to another servant. "I suppose, by my Lord's quitting London to avoid the plague, that his God lives in the country, and not in town." The poor negro said this in the simplicity of his heart, as really believing a plurality of gods. The speech, however, struck Lord Craven very sensibly, and made him pause. "My God, "thought he, "lives everywhere, and can preserve me in town as well as in the country. I will even stay where I am. The ignorance of that negro has just now preached to me a very useful sermon. Lord, pardon this unbelief, and that distrust of thy providence, which made me think of running from thy hand." He immediately ordered his horses to be taken from the coach, and the baggage to be taken in. He continued in London, was remarkably useful among his sick neighbours, and never caught the infection. Whitecross's Anecdotes.

Pestilence. It is from a word (rkd) that signifies to speak, and speak out; the pestilence is a speaking thing, it proclaims the wrath of God amongst a people. Drusius fetches it from the same root, but in piel, which is to decree; showing that the pestilence is a thing decreed in heaven, not casual. Kirker thinks it is called rkd, because it keeps order, and spares neither great nor small. The Hebrew root signifies to destroy, to cut off, and hence may the plague or pestilence have its name. The Septuagint renders it yanatos, death, for ordinarily it is death; and it is expressed by "Death, "Re 6:8, he sat on the pale horse, and killed with sword, hunger, death, and beasts of the earth; it refers to Eze 14:21, where the pestilence is mentioned. Pestilence may be from a word which signifies to spread, spoil, rush upon, for it doth so; 2Sa 24:15, seventy thousand slain in three days; and plague, a plhgh from plhssw, to smite, to wound, for it smites suddenly, and wounds mortally; hence it is in Nu 14:12, "I will smite them with the pestilence." This judgment is very grievous, it is called in Ps 91:3 the "noisome pestilence, "because it is infectious, contagious; and therefore the French read it, "de la peste dangereuse, "from the dangerous pestilence, it doth endanger those that come near it: and Musculus hath it, a peste omnium pessima, from the worst pestilence of all: and others, the woeful pestilence; it brings a multitude of woes with it to any place or person it comes unto, it is a messenger of woeful fears, sorrows, distractions, terrors, and death itself. William Greenhill.

Pestilence. It is from a word (rkd) that signifies to speak, and speak out; the pestilence is a speaking thing, it proclaims the wrath of God amongst a people. Drusius fetches it from the same root, but in piel, which is to decree; showing that the pestilence is a thing decreed in heaven, not casual. Kirker thinks it is called rkd, because it keeps order, and spares neither great nor small. The Hebrew root signifies to destroy, to cut off, and hence may the plague or pestilence have its name. The Septuagint renders it yanatos, death, for ordinarily it is death; and it is expressed by "Death, "Re 6:8, he sat on the pale horse, and killed with sword, hunger, death, and beasts of the earth; it refers to Eze 14:21, where the pestilence is mentioned. Pestilence may be from a word which signifies to spread, spoil, rush upon, for it doth so; 2Sa 24:15, seventy thousand slain in three days; and plague, a plhgh from plhssw, to smite, to wound, for it smites suddenly, and wounds mortally; hence it is in Nu 14:12, "I will smite them with the pestilence." This judgment is very grievous, it is called in Ps 91:3 the "noisome pestilence, "because it is infectious, contagious; and therefore the French read it, "de la peste dangereuse, "from the dangerous pestilence, it doth endanger those that come near it: and Musculus hath it, a peste omnium pessima, from the worst pestilence of all: and others, the woeful pestilence; it brings a multitude of woes with it to any place or person it comes unto, it is a messenger of woeful fears, sorrows, distractions, terrors, and death itself. William Greenhill.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. Christ's wings are both for healing and for hiding (Mt 4:2), for curing and securing us; the devil and his instruments would soon devour the servants of God, if he did not set an invincible guard about them, and cover them with the golden feathers of his protection. Thomas Watson.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. This is the promise of the present life. For the promise of the life to come, who can explain? If the expectation of the just be gladness, and such gladness, that no object of desire in the world is worthy to be compared with it, what will the thing itself be which is expected? No eye, apart from Thee, O God, hath seen what Thou hast prepared for them that love Thee. Under these wings, therefore, four blessings are conferred upon us. For under these we are concealed:under these we are protected from the attack of the hawks and kites, which are the powers of the air: under these a salubrious shade refreshes us, and wards off the overpowering heat of the sun; under these, also we are nourished and cherished. Bernard.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc.,

His plumes shall make a downie bed, here thou shalt rest; He shall display

His wings of truth over thy head,

Which, like a shield, shall drive away

The fears of night, the darts of day. Thomas Caryl.

His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. That which we must oppose to all perils is the truth, or Word of God; so long as we keep that, and ward off darts and swords by that means, we shall not be overcome. David Dickson.

The true remedy against tormenting fear is faith in God; for many terrible things may befall men when they are most secure, like unto those which befall men in the night: but for any harm which may befall the believer this way, the Lord here willeth him to be nothing afraid: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. Many sadder accidents may befall men when they are most watching and upon their guard, but the Lord willeth the believer to be confident that he shall not be harmed this way: Thou shalt not be afraid for the arrow that flieth by day. Many evils are men subject unto, which come upon them men cannot tell how, but from such evils the Lord assures the believer he shall have no harm: Thou shalt not be afraid of the pestilence which walketh in darkness. Men are subject to many evils which come upon them openly, and not unawares, such as are calamities from enemies and oppressors; the Lord willeth the believer to be confident that he shall not be harmed this way: Thou shalt not be afraid for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. David Dickson.

Thou shalt not be afraid. Not only do the pious stand safe, they are not even touched with fear. For the prophet does not say, Thou shalt not be seized; but, Thou shalt not be afraid. Certainly such a confidence of mind could not be attributed to natural powers, in so menacing and so overwhelming a destruction. For it is natural to mortals, it is implanted in them by God the author and maker of nature, to fear whatever is hurtful and deadly, especially what visibly smites and suddenly destroys. Therefore does he beautifully join together these two things: the first, in saying, Thou shalt not be afraid;the second, by adding, For the terror. He acknowledges that this plague is terrible to nature; and then by his trust in divine protection he promises himself this security, that he shall not fear the evil, which would otherwise make human nature quail. Wherefore, in my judgment, those persons are neither kind (humani) nor pious who are of opinion that so great a calamity is not to be dreaded by mortals. They neither observe the condition of our nature, nor honour the blessing of divine protection; both of which we see here done by the prophet. Musculus.

Not that we are always actually delivered out of every particular danger or grievance, but because all will turn (such is our confidence in God) to our greater good; and the more we suffer the greater shall our reward and our glory be. To the same purpose is the expression of Isaiah: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isa 43:2. So also Hab 3:17-18, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, "&c.; and Job 5:19-20, etc. And therefore here is no ground, if the words be rightly understood, for any man absolutely to presume or conclude that he shall actually be delivered out of any particular danger; much less upon such a presumption wilfully to run into dangers. If such figures, the ornament of all language; such rhetorical, emphatic amplifications be allowed to human writers, and well enough understood in ordinary language; why not to holy writers as well, who had to do with men, as well as others; whose end also was to use such expressions as might affect and move? That human writers have said as much of the security of good and godly men, I shall need to go no further than Horace his Ode, Integer vitae scelerisque purus, &c. Most dangerous then and erroneous is the inference of some men, yea, of some expositors, here, upon these words of the psalmist, that no godly man can suffer by the plague, or pestilence: nor is old Lactantius his assertion much sounder, Non potest ergo fieri, quin hominem justum inter descrimina tempestatum, &c., that no just man can perish by war, or by tempest. (Instit. 1. v, c. 18). Most interpreters conclude here, that the godly are preserved in time of public calamities; which, in a right sense, may be true; but withal they should have added, that all godly men are not exempted at such times; to prevent rash judgments. Westminster Assembly's Annotations.

The arrow. The arrow in this passage probably means the pestilence. The Arabs denote the pestilence by an allusion to this flying weapon. "I desired to remove to a less contagious air. I received from Solyman, the emperor, this message; that the emperor wondered what I meant, in desiring to remove my habitation; is not the pestilence God's arrow, which will always hit his mark? If God would visit me here with, how could I avoid it? is not the plague, said he, in my own palace, and yet I do not think of removing." Busbequiu's Travels. "What, say they, is not the plague the dart of Almighty God, and can we escape the blow that he levels at us? is not his hand steady to hit the persons he aims at? can we run out of his sight, and beyond his power?" Smith's Remarks on the Turks, 1673. Herbert also, speaking of Curroon, says, "That year his empire was so wounded with God's arrows of plague, pestilence, and famine, as this thousand years before was never so terrible." See Eze 5:16. S. Burder's Scripture Expositor.

Verses 5-6. Joseph Scaliger explains, in Epis. 9, these two verses thus, thou shalt not fear, dxkm, from consternation by night, Uxm, from the arrow flying by day, rgdm, from pestilence walking at evening, kymqm, from devastation at noon. Under these four he comprehends all the evils and dangers to which man is liable. And as the Hebrews divide the twenty-four hours of day and night into four parts, namely, evening, midnight, morning, and midday, so he understands the hours of danger to be divided accordingly: in a word, "that the man who has made God his refuge, "is always safe, day and night, at every hour, from every danger. Bythner.

The pestilence that walketh in darkness; the destruction that wasteth at noonday. The description is equally forcible and correct. The diseases of all hot climates, and especially where vegetation is highly luxuriant, and marshes and miry swamps are abundant, as in the wilderness here referred to, proceed from the accumulating vapours of the night, or from the violence of the sun's rays at midday. The Beriberi of Ceylon, the spasmodic cholera and jungle fever of India, and the greater part of the fevers of intertropical climates, especially that called the yellow fever, chiefly originate from the first of these —"the pestilence that stalks in darkness"; while sunstrokes or coups de soleil, apoplexies, inflammations of the brain, and liver complaints of most kinds, proceed from the second, "the destruction that wasteth at noonday." And it is in allusion to this double source of mischief that the psalmist exclaims most beautifully on another occasion, Ps 121:6: "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." And hence the Israelites were miraculously defended against both during their passage through the wilderness by the pillar of a cloud in the daytime, to ward off the solar rays; and by the pillar of fire by night, to dissipate the collecting vapours, and preserve the atmosphere clear, dry, and healthy. J. M. Good.

The putrid plague fever often comes on in the night while the patient is asleep; the solstitial disease seizes in heat of harvest upon a man in open air, and cuts him off, perhaps ere evening. It is safety from perils like these that is spoken of. All these blessings are derived from and rest on (Ps 91:1) the position of Him that claims them "under the covert of the Most High." Andrew A. Bonar.

The pestilence that walketh in darkness. It walketh not so much in natural darkness, or in the darkness of the night, as in a figurative darkness, no man knowing where it walks, or whither it will walk, in the clearest light, whether to the poor man's house, or to the rich man's house, whether to the dwelling of the plebeian, or of the prince, till it hath left its own mark, and given a deadly stroke. Joseph Caryl.

Ten thousand. The word myriad would better represent the exact idea in the original, as the Hebrew word is different from that which is translated "a thousand." It is here put for any large number. Albert Barnes.

It shall not come nigh thee. Not nigh thee? What? when they die on this side and on that, on every hand of a man, doth it not come nigh him? Yes, nigh him, but not so nigh as to hurt him: the power of God can bring us near to danger, and yet keep us far from harm. As good may be locally near us, and yet virtually far from us, so may evil. The multitude thronged Christ in the Gospel, and yet but one touched him so as to receive good; so Christ can keep us in a throng of dangers, that not one shall touch us to our hurt. Joseph Caryl.

It shall not come nigh thee. Not with a view of showing that all good men may hope to escape from the pestilence, but as proofs that some who have had superior faith have done so, I have collected the following instances from various sources. C. H. S.

Before his departure from Isna (Isny), the town was greatly afflicted with the pestilence; and he, understanding that many of the wealthiest of the inhabitants intended to forsake the place, without having any respect or care of such as laboured with that disease, and that the houses of such as were infected, were commanded to be shut up by the magistrate, he openly admonished them, either to continue in the town, or liberally to bestow their alms before their departure, for the relief of such as were sick. And during the time of the visitation, he himself in person would visit those that were sick: he would administer spiritual comfort unto them, pray for them, and would be present with them day and night; and yet by the providence of God he remained untouched, and was preserved by the all powerful hand of God. From the Life of Paulus Fagius, in T. Fuller's Abel Redevivus.

In 1576, Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, the worthiest of all the successors of St. Ambrose, when he learnt at Lodi, that the plague had made its appearance in his city, went at once to the city. His council of clergy advised him to remain in some healthy part of his diocese till the sickness should have spent itself, but he replied that a bishop, whose duty it is to give his life for his sheep, could not rightly abandon them in time of peril. They owned that to stand by them was the higher course. "Well, "he said, "is it not a bishop's duty to choose the higher course?" So back into the town of deadly sickness he went, leading the people to repent, and watching over them in their suffering, visiting the hospitals, and, by his own example, encouraging his clergy in carrying spiritual consolation to the dying. All the time the plague lasted, which was four months, his exertions were fearless and unwearied, and what was remarkable was, that of his whole household only two died, and they were persons who had not been called to go about among the sick. From "A Book of Golden Deeds, "1864.

Although Defoe's history of the plague is a work of fiction, yet its statements are generally facts, and therefore we extract the following: —"The misery of the poor I had many occasions to be an eyewitness of, and sometimes also of the charitable assistance that some pious people daily gave to such, sending them relief and supplies both of food, physic, and other help as they found they wanted... Some pious ladies were transported with zeal in so good a work, and so confident in the protection of Providence in discharge of the great duty of charity, that they went about in person distributing alms to the poor, and even visiting poor families, though sick and infected, in their very houses, appointing nurses to attend those that wanted attending, and ordering apothecaries and surgeons... giving their blessing to the poor in substantial relief to them, as well as hearty prayers for them. I will not undertake to say, as some do, that none of those charitable people were suffered to fall under the calamity itself; but this I may say, that I never knew anyone of them that came to any ill, which I mention for the encouragement of others in case of the like distress, and, doubtless, if they that give to the poor lend to the Lord, and he will repay them, those that hazard their lives to give to the poor, and to comfort and assist the poor in such misery as this, may hope to be protected in the work." Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague in London.

Horne, in his notes on the Psalms, refers to the plague in Marseilles and the devotion of its bishop. There is a full account of him in the Percy Anecdotes from which we cull the following: —"M. de Belsunce, Bishop of Marseilles, so distinguished himself for his humanity during the plague which raged in that city in 1720, that the Regent of France offered him the richer and more honourable See of Laon, in Picardy; but he refused it, saying, he should be unwilling to leave a flock that had been endeared to him by their sufferings. His pious and intrepid labours are commemorated in a picture in the Town Hall of Marseilles, in which he is represented in his episcopal habit, attended by his almoners, giving his benediction to the dying... But perhaps the most touching picture extant of the bishop's humane labours, is to be found in a letter of his own, written to the Bishop of Soissons, Sept. 27, 1720. `Never, 'he says, `was desolation greater, nor was ever anything like this. Here have been many cruel plagues, but none was ever more cruel: to be sick and dead was almost the same thing. What a melancholy spectacle have we on all sides', we go into the streets full of dead bodies, half rotten through, which we pass to come to a dying body, to excite him to an act of contrition, and to give him absolution.'"Notwithstanding exposure to a pestilence so fatal, the devoted bishop escaped uninjured.

While France justly boasts of "Marseilles' good Bishop, "England may congratulate herself on having cherished in her bosom a clergyman who in an equally earnest manner discharged his pastoral care, and watched over the simple flock committed to his charge, at no less risk of life, and with no less fervour of piety and benevolence. The Rev. W. Mompesson was rector of Eyam in Derbyshire, in the time of the plague that nearly depopulated the town in the year 1666. During the whole time of the calamity, he performed the functions of the physician, the legislator, and the minister of his afflicted parish; assisting the sick with his medicines, his advice, and his prayers. Tradition still shows a cavern near Eyam, where this worthy pastor used to preach to such of his parishioners as had not caught the distemper, Although the village was almost depopulated, his exertions prevented the spread of the plague to other districts, and he himself survived unharmed.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. First, indeed, because of thy own escape; secondly, on account of thy complete security; thirdly, for the sake of comparison; fourthly, because of the perfect preeminence of justice itself. For then it will not be the time of mercy, but of judgment; nor shall any mercy in any way be ever shown towards the wicked there, where no improvement can be hoped for. Far away will be that softness of human infirmity, which meanwhile charity nevertheless uses for salvation, collecting in the ample folds of her outspread net good and bad fishes, that is, pleasant and hurtful affections. But this is done at sea. On the shore she chooses only the good, and so rejoicing with them that do rejoice, it hence comes to pass that she weeps not with those that weep. Bernard.

Here commences the second half of the Psalm. And it is as though the Psalmist feared lest (as is too often the case with us) we should, in dwelling on the promises and blessings of God, and applying them to ourselves, forget the condition to which they are annexed —the character of those who are to receive them. He therefore pauses here to remind us of the opening verses of the Psalm, by repeating again their substance. Mary B. M. Duncan.

Because thou hast made the Lord, etc. What faith is this, what trust is that which God hath promised protection and deliverance to in the time of a plague? What act of faith is it? What faith is it? I answer first, there is a faith of persuasion, called faith, whereby men are persuaded and verily believe that they shall not die, nor fall by the hand of the plague. This is well; but I do not find in the 91st Psalm that this protection is entailed upon this persuasion, neither do I find this faith here mentioned. There is also a faith of reliance, whereby a man doth rely upon God for salvation; this is a justifying faith, true justifying faith; this is true faith indeed; but I do not find in this Psalm, that this promise of protection and deliverance in the time of a plague is entailed upon this, nor that this is here mentioned.

But again, there is a faith, I may call it a faith of recourse unto God, whereby a man doth betake himself unto God for shelter, for protection as to his habitation; when other men do run one this way, another that way, to their hiding places: in the time of a plague for a man then to betake himself to God, as to his habitation, I think this is the faith here spoken of in this 91st Psalm: for do but mark the words of the Psalm: at Ps 91:1, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, "in the hiding place of the Most High: as if he should say, "When others run from the plague and pestilence and run to their hiding places, ""He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, "that betakes himself to God as his Hiding place and his habitation, he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, shall be protected; and so at Ps 91:9, "Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; "as if he should say to us, In time of a plague men are running and looking out for habitations and hiding places; but because thou hast made the Lord thy habitation and hast recourse to him as thy habitation, "no evil shall befall thee, neither shall the plague come nigh thy dwelling:" and again at Ps 91:11 it is said, "He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways, "the ways of thy calling; as if he should say, In the time of a plague men will be very apt to leave station and calling, and so run away from the plague and pestilence; but saith he, "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, "the ways of thy calling and place; that is, look when a man in the time of a plague shall conscientiously keep his station and place, and betake himself to God as his habitation; this is the faith that is here spoken of, and this is the faith that God hath promised protection to, here in the 91st Psalm... This promise of protection and deliverance is not made to a believer as a believer, but as acting and exercising faith; for though a man be a believer, if he do not act and exercise his faith, this promise will not reach him, therefore if a believer die, not exercising faith and trusting in God, it is no disparagement to the promise. William Bridge.

No man can have two homes —two places of constant resort. And if the Lord be truly "our habitation, " we can have no other refuge for our souls, no other resting place for our hearts. Mary B. M. Duncan.

Verses 9-10. There is a threefold preservation which the church and the members of it may look for from divine providence. One from, another in, and a third by, dangers.

I. First, from dangers, according to the promise in one of the Psalms, "Because thou hast made the Lord who is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation: there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Austin had appointed to go to a certain town to visit the Christians there, and to give them a sermon or more. The day and place were known to his enemies, who set armed men to lie in wait for him by the way which he was to pass, and kill him. As God would have it, the guide whom the people had sent with him to prevent his going out of the right way mistook, and led him into a bypath, yet brought him at last to his journey's end. Which when the people understood, as also the adversaries' disappointment, they adored the providence of God, and gave him thanks for that great deliverance. (Agnoscunt omnes miram Dei providentiam, cui ut liberatori gratias merito egerunt. Possidonius in vita August, chap. 12.)

II. In dangers. So in Job 5:19-20. "He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword." In time of famine the widow of Sarepta's store was made to hold out. The providence of God was with Daniel in the lions' den, shutting up the mouths of those furious beasts: and with the men in the fiery furnace, giving a prohibition to the fire that it should not burn, when they were in the jaws of danger, yea of death. The church hath always been a lily among thorns, yet flourishes still. This bush is yet far from a consumption, although it has seldom or never been out of the fire.

III. By danger. There is a preservation from greater evils by less. No poison but Providence knoweth how to make an antidote; so Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and by that danger kept alive. Joseph thrown into a pit, and afterwards sold into Egypt, and by these hazards brought to be a nursing father to the church. Chrysostom excellently, Fides in periculis secura est, in securitate periclitatur. (Homil. 26, operis imperf in Matt.) Faith is endangered by security, but secure in the midst of danger, as Esther's was when she said, "If I perish I perish." God preserveth us, not as we do fruits that are to last but for a year, in sugar; but as flesh for a long voyage in salt: we must expect in this life much brine and pickle, because our heavenly Father preserveth us as those whom he resolves to keep for ever, in and by dangers themselves. Paul's thorn in the flesh, which had much of danger and trouble in it, was given him on purpose to prevent pride, which was a great evil. "Lest I, "said he, "should be exalted above measure through abundance of revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure." Elsewhere having commemorated Alexander the coppersmith's withstanding and doing him much evil, yea Nero's opening his mouth as a lion against him, and the Lord's delivering of him thence, he concludes as more than a conqueror. "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen." 2 Ti 4:14-15, 17-18. John, Arrowsmith, (1602-1659).

Verses 9-14. Dependence on Christ is not the cause of his hiding us, but it is the qualification of the person that shall be hid. Ralph Robinson.

There shall no evil befall thee, etc. It is a security in the very midst of evils. Not like the security of angels —safety in a world of safety, quiet in a calm; but it is quiet in a storm; safety amid desolation and the elements of destruction, deliverance where everything else is going to wreck. Cicaties Bradley, 1840.

God doth not say no afflictions shall befall us, but no evil. Thomas Watson.

Sin which has kindled a fire in hell, is kindling fires on earth continually. And when they break out, every one is asking how they happened. Amos replies, "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" And when desolation is made by fire, Isaiah declares, The Lord hath "consumed us, because of our iniquities." Many years ago my house was oft threatened to be destroyed, but the Lord insured it, by giving me Ps 91:10; and the Lord's providence is the best insurance. John Bridge.

He shall give his angels charge, etc. Charge; charge is a strict command, more than a bare command; as when you would have a servant do a business certainly and fully, you lay a charge upon him, I charge you that you do not neglect that business; you do not barely tell what he should do, prescribe him his work, but you charge him to do it. So says the Lord unto the angels: My servants or children, now they are in the plague and pestilence, O my angels, I change you stir not from their houses, I charge you, stir not from such an one's bedside; it is a charge, "He shall give his angels charge." Further, he doth not only, and will not only charge his angel, but his angels; not one angel charged with the safety of his people, but many angels; for their better guard and security, "He shall give his angels charge." And again, "He will give his angels charge over thee to keep thee; "to keep thee;charge over thee and to keep thee; not only over the whole church of God, but over every particular member of the church of God; "He will give his angels charge over thee to keep thee; "this is his marvellous care. Well, but besides this, "He will give his angels charge to keep thee in all thy ways, "not in some of thy ways, but in all thy ways. As God's providence is particular in regard of our persons, so it is universal in regard of our ways. "He will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee, "not in some but "in all thy ways." But is this all? No: "They shall bear thee up in their hands, "as every servant desires and loves to take up the young heir, or the young master into his arms, so the angels. It is a great matter that the Lord promises to pitch his tents. "And the angels of the Lord shall pitch their tents round about them that fear him; "but here is more; the angels shall not only pitch their tents, be their guard, but their nurses, to bear them up in their hands; but why? "That thou dash not thy foot against a stone." When children begin to go, they are very apt to fall and get many a knock; to stumble at every little stone. Now there are many stones of stumbling that are in our way, and we are very apt to fall and miscarry; but such is the goodness of God, the providence of God, the goodness of his providence, that as he hath provided his angels to be our guard, in opposition to all our foreign enemies, so he hath provided his angels to be our nurses, in opposition to all our weaknesses and infirmities, that we get no hurt, that we miscarry not in the least.

But what need God make use of angels to protect his people, he is able to do it alone; and is it not for God's dishonour to make use of them for the protection of his people? No, it is for the honour of God, for the more honourable the servants are, the instruments are, that a king or prince doth use for the protecting of his people, the more honourable is that king or prince. Now, the angels, they are honourable creatures; frequently they are called gods; "Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels."... They are the fittest people in the world for this employment, fittest in regard of themselves, fittest in regard of the saints. They are fittest in regard of themselves, for First, they are an exceeding strong and potent people; who more fit to look to and care for the concerns of the saints and people of God, than those that are strong and potent? It is said of the angels in Ps 103:20 that they excel in strength. One angel you know destroyed a hundred and fourscore thousand of the host of Assyria in a night; as one constable will scare away twenty thieves, so one good angel invested with God's authority is able to drive away a thousand evil angels, devils: they are an exceeding strong and potent people. Second. As they are an exceeding strong and potent people, so they are a very knowing and a wise people; and who so fit to manage the affairs and concerns of the saints and people of God, and to protect and defend them, as a knowing and understanding people? You know what Joab said to David; "Thou art for wisdom as an angel of God." Says our Saviour, "No man knoweth that day and time, no, not the angels in heaven; "as if the angels in heaven knew every secret and were acquainted with every hidden thing: they are an exceeding knowing people, very prudent and very wise. Third. As they are an exceeding knowing and wise people, so they are also exceeding active and expeditious, quick in despatches. Who more fit to protect and defend the saints and people of God, than those that are active, expedite, and quick in their despatches? such are the angels. In the first of Ezekiel ye read that every one had four wings; why?, because of their great activity and expedition, and the quick despatch they make in all their affairs. Fourth. As they are an active and expeditious people, so they are a people very faithful both to God and man; in Ps 103:20-21 they are ready to do God's will, and not only ready to fulfil God's will, but they do it: "Bless the Lord all ye his angels that excel in strength (Ps 103:20), that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure." They are very faithful; and who so fit to do the work, to attend and look to the concerns of the saints and people of God, as those that are faithful? Fifth. As they are an exceeding faithful people, so they are a people that are very loving to the saints and children of God, very loving; otherwise they were not fit to be their nurses: what is a nurse without love? They are loving to the saints. "Do it not, "(said the angel unto John), "I am thy fellow servant; "do not give divine worship to me, I am thy fellow servant; fellow servants are loving to one another; they are fellow servants with the saints... It is recorded of Alexander that being in great danger and to fight next day with his enemies, he slept very soundly the night before; and he being asked the reason thereof, said, Parmenio wakes; meaning a great and faithful captain of his; Parmenio wakes, says he. The angels are called watchmen, they watch and are faithful, therefore you may be secure, quiet, and at rest: trust in the Lord for ever, upon this account, in this day trust in the Lord.

If these things be so, then, friends, why should we not stoop to any work commanded, though it lie much beneath us? Do not you think that the attending upon a sick man, a man that hath a plague sore running upon him, is a work that lies much beneath angels? yet the angels do it because it is commanded, though much beneath them yet they stoop to it because it is commanded; and what though a work lie much beneath you, yet if it be commanded, why should you not stoop to it? You will say, Such an one is much beneath me, I will not lay my hand under his shoes, he is much beneath me; ah, but the angels lay their hands under your shoes, and the work they do for you is much beneath them: why should we not be like our attendants? This is angelical obedience; the angels do you many a kindness, and never look for thanks from you, they do many a kindness that you are not aware of: why are you delivered sometimes you know not how? here is a hand under a wing, the ministration of angels is the cause of it. But I say the work they stoop to for you is much beneath them, and therefore why should we not stoop to any work commanded, though it lie much beneath us? William Bridge.

He shall give his angels charge over thee, etc. When Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, he alleged but one sentence of Scripture for himself, Mt 4:6, and that Psalm out of which he borrowed it made so plain against him, that he was fain to pick here a word and there a word, and leave out that which went before, and skip in the midst, and omit that which came after, or else he had marred his cause. The Scripture is so holy, and pure, and true, that no word nor syllable thereof can make for the Devil, or for sinners, or for heretics: yet, as the devil alleged Scripture, though it made not for him, but against him, so do the libertines, and epicures, and heretics, as though they had learned at his school. Henry Smith.

One angel armed with the power and glory of God is stronger than a whole country. Earthly princes are subject to many changes and great unsurety of life and estate. The reason is, their enemies may kill their watch, and corrupt their guard. But what men or kingdoms can touch the Church's watch? what angels of gold are able to corrupt the angels of God? and then how can that perish that is committed to keepers so mighty and faithful? Secondly, the charge of us is given to those ministering spirits by parcels, not in gross and piecemeal, not in a lump: our members in a book, our hairs by tale and number. For it is upon record, and, as it were, delivered to them in writing in one Psalm, They keep all our bones, Ps 34:20; in this, they keep our very foot, putting it in security (Ps 91:12); and elsewhere our whole man and every member. And can a charge so precisely and so particularly given and taken, be neglected? Thirdly, their manner of keeping us, as it is set down in the text, cannot but promise great assurance; for, is not the little child safe while the nurse carrieth it in her arms, or beareth it in her hands? So while these nurses so bear us, can we be ill danger? but our nurses on earth may fall; these nurses, the angels, cannot. Robert Horn.

His angels. Taking the word angel in its literal meaning, messenger, we may look upon any agency which God employs to strengthen, protect, and help us, as his angel to us. Mary B.M. Duncan.

To keep thee in all thy ways. How should those heavenly spirits bear that man in their arms, like nurses, upon earth living; or bear up his soul to heaven, like winged porters, when he dies, that refuseth the right way? They shall keep us in all our ways. Out of the way it is their charge to oppose us, as to preserve us in the way. Nor is this more a terror to the ungodly, than to the righteous a comfort. For if an angel would keep even a Balaam from sinning, how much more careful are all those glorious powers to prevent the miscarriages of God's children! From how many falls and bruises have they saved us! In how many inclinations to evil have they turned us, either by removing occasions, or by casting in secretly good motions! We sin too often, and should catch many more falls, if those holy guardians did not uphold us. Satan is ready to divert us, when we endeavour to do well; when to do ill, angels are as ready to prevent us. We are in Joshua the high priest's ease, with Satan on the one hand, on the other an angel, Zec 3:1: without this, our danger were greater than our defence, and we could neither stand nor rise. Thomas Adams.

To keep thee in all thy ways. Their commission, large as it is, reaches no further: when you leave that, you lose your guard; but while you keep your way, angels, yea; the God of angels, will keep you. Do not so much fear losing your estate or your liberty or your lives, as losing your way, and leaving your way: fear that more than any tiring; nothing but sin exposes you to misery. So long as you keep your way, you shall keep other things; or if you lose any of them, you shall get what is better: though you may be sufferers for Christ, you shall not be losers by him. Samuel Sletter, (1704) in "Morning Exercises."

In all thy ways Your ways are God's ways, your way is the way commanded by God. If you be out of God's ways, you are out of your own way: if you be in your way, the angels shall keep you, even in the time of a plague, and bear you up in their hands that you dash not your foot against a stone; but if you be out of your way, I will not insure your safety. When Balaam went upon the devil's errand an angel met him and scared his ass, and the ass ran his foot against the wall, dashed his foot against the wall. The promise is, "Thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone; "but he was out of his way, and the angel met him and scared his ass, and his ass made him rush his leg against the wall. Jonah went out of his way when he ran away from God; God bade him go one way, and he went another. Well, what then were the angels with him for his protection; the very sea would not be quiet till he was thrown overboard: instead of angels to protect him, he had a whale to devour him. I confess indeed, through the free grace and mercy of God, the belly of destruction was made a chamber of preservation to him, but he was out of his way; and instead of an angel to keep him that he dash not his foot, his whole body was thrown overboard. Says Solomon, "As a bird from her nest, so is a man out of his place:" so long as the bird is in her nest it is free from the hawk, it is free from the birding piece, it is free from the nets and gins and snares as long as it is in its nest; but when the bird is off her nest then she is exposed to many dangers. So, so long as a man is in his way, in his place and in his way, he is well and under protection; but when a man is off his nest, out of his place and out of his way, then is he exposed to all dangers: but be but in your way and then you may assure yourselves of divine protection, and of the management thereof by the hands of angels. Oh who would not labour always to be in that way which God hath appointed him to be in? Why should we not always consider with ourselves and say, But am I in my way? Old Mr. Dod being upon the water and going out of one boat into another, slipped between them, and the first word he spake was this, "Am I in my way?" so we should always be saying, But am I in my way? am I in my way? I am now idling away my time, but am I in my way? Oh my soul, am I in my way? I am in my calling this day without prayer in the morning and reading the Scriptures; but am I in my way? Oh, my soul, am I in my way? I am now in such frothy company where I get no good, but hurt; but am I in my way? Ever consider this, Am I in my way? You may expect the Lord's protection and the angels' attendance, if you be in your way, but not else. William Bridge.

We have the safeguard of the empire; not only the protection of the King, from which the wicked as outlaws are secluded; but also the keeping of angels, to whom he hath given a charge over us, to keep us in all h's ways. So nearly we participate of his Divine things, that we have his own guard royal to attend us. Thomas Adams.

He shall give his angels charge over thee, etc.

And is there care in heaven, and is there love

In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,

That may compassion of their evils move?

There is, else much more wretched were the race

Of men than beasts. But oh, the exceeding grace

Of highest God, that loves his creatures so,

And all his works with mercy doth embrace,

That blessed angels he sends to and fro,

To serve us wicked men, to serve his wicked foe!

How oft do they their silver bowers leave,

To come to succour us that succour want!

How oft do they with golden pinions cleave

The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,

Against foul fiends to aid us militant!

They for us fight, they watch and duly ward,

And their bright squadrons round about us plant;

And all for love and nothing for reward.

Oh, wily should heavenly God to man have such regard! —Edmund Spenser, 1552-1599.

Verses 11-12. It is observable that Scripture is the weapon that Satan doth desire to wield against Christ. In his other ways of dealing he was shy, and did but lay them in Christ's way, offering only the occasion, and leaving him to take them up; but in this he is more confident, and industriously pleads it, as a thing which he could better stand to and more confidently avouch. The care of his subtlety herein, lay in the misrepresentation and abuse of it, as may be seen in these particulars: (1) In that he urged this promise to promote a sinful thing, contrary to the general end of all Scripture, which was therefore written `that we sin not.' (2) But more especially in his clipping and mutilating of it. He industriously leaves out that part of it which doth limit and confine the promise of protection to lawful undertakings, such as this was not, and renders it as a general promise of absolute safety, be the action what it will. It is a citation from Ps 91:11-12, which there runs thus, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. These last words, "in all thy ways, "which doth direct to a true understanding of God's intention in that promise, he deceitfully leaves out, as if they were needless and unnecessary parts of the promise, when indeed they were on purpose put there by the Spirit of God, to give a description of those persons and actions, unto whom, in such cases, the accomplishment of the promise might be expected; for albeit the word in the original, which is translated "ways" —Mykrd —doth signify any kind of way or action in the general, yet in this place it doth not; for then God were engaged to an absolute protection of men, not only when they unnecessarily thrust themselves into dangers, but in the most abominably sinful actions whatsoever, which would have been a direct contradiction to those many scriptures wherein God threatens to withdraw his hand and leave sinners to the danger of their iniquities; but it is evident that the sense of it is no more than this, `God is with you, while you are with him.' We have a paraphrase of this text, to this purpose, in Pr 3:23, "Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble:" where the condition of this safety, pointed to in the word "then, " which leads the promise, is expressly mentioned in the foregoing verses, "My son, let them" —that is, the precepts of wisdom —"not depart from thine eyes... Then" —not upon other terms —"shalt thou walk in thy way safely." The "ways" then in this promise cited by Satan, are the ways of duty, or the ways of our lawful callings. The fallacy of Satan in this dealing with Scripture is obvious, and Christ might have given this answer, as Bernard hath it, That God promises to keep him in his ways, but not in self created dangers, for that was not his way, but his ruin; or if a way, it was Satan's way, but not his. (3) To these two, some add another abuse, in a subtle concealment of the following verse in Ps 91:13: Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. This concerned Satan, whose cruelty and poisonous deceits were fitly represented by the lion and the adder, and there the promise is also explained to have a respect to Satan's temptations —that is —God would so manage his protection, that his children should not be led into a snare. Richard Gilpin.

Verses 11-12. There is, to my mind, a very remarkable coincidence of expression between the verses of this Psalm, about the office of God's angels, and that passage in Isaiah where Christ's sympathy and presence receive the same charge attributed to them without interposition. In Isa 63:9, we read, "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them." And again, "They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone, "compared with "And he bare them, and he carried them all the days of old." Christ in us, by sympathy with our nature —Christ in us, by the indwelling of his Spirit in each individual heart —thus he knows all our needs. Christ with us, in every step, all powerful to make all work for good, and with love and pity watching over our interests —thus his presence saves us, and all things are made his messengers to us. Mary B.M. Duncan.

Angels... shall bear thee up... lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Angels are introduced as bearing up the believer in their hands, not that he may be carried in safety over some vast ocean, not that he may be transported through hostile and menacing squadrons, not that; when exposed to some extraordinary danger, he may be conveyed to a place of refuge, but, as bearing him up in their arms, "lest at any time he hurt his foot against a stone."... Angels, the topmost beings in creation, the radiant, the magnificent, the powerful —angels are represented as holding up a righteous man, lest some pebble in the path should make him trip, lest he hurt his foot against a stone. Is there, after all, any want of keeping between the agency and the act, so that there is even the appearance of angels being unworthily employed, employed on what is beneath them, when engaged in bearing us up, lest at any time we hurt the foot against a stone? Nay, the hurting the foot against a stone has often laid the foundations of fatal bodily disease: the injury which seemed too trifling to be worth notice has produced extreme sickness, and ended in death. Is it different in spiritual respects, in regard of the soul, to which the promise in our text must be specially applied? Not a jot. Or, if there be a difference, it is only that the peril to the soul from a slight injury is far greater than that to the body: the worst spiritual diseases might commonly be traced to inconsiderable beginnings. . . . It can be no easy thing, this keeping the foot from being hurt against a stone, seeing that the highest of created beings are commissioned to effect it. Neither is it. The difficulty in religion is the taking up the cross "daily, "rather than the taking it up on some set occasion, and under extraordinary circumstances. The serving God in little things, the carrying religious principles into the details of life, the discipline of our tempers, the regulation of our speech, the domestic Christianity, the momentary sacrifices, the secret and unobserved self denials; who that knows anything of the difficulties of piety, does not know that there is greater danger of his failing in these than in trials of apparently far higher cost, and harder endurance; if on no other account, yet because the very absence of what looks important, or arduous, is likely to throw him off his guard, make him careless or confident, and thereby almost insure defect or defeat? Henry Melvill.

To carry them in their hands is a metaphor, and signifies a perfect execution of their custody, to have a special care of them, and therefore is rather expressed so, than carrying them on their shoulders. That which one carries on their hand they are sure to keep. The Spaniards have a proverb when they would signify eminent favour and friendship, `they carry him upon the palms of their hands, 'that is, they exceedingly love him, and diligently keep him. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. He persists in the metaphor: children often stumble and fall, unless they be led and carried in hands and arms. By stones are meant all difficulties, objections, perils, both to the outward and inward man, as Christ is said to take care of hairs and sparrows, that is, of every thing even to a hair. Now we know what this charge is, saving that Zanchy adds also the metaphor of schoolmasters, and says that we are poor rustic people, strangers; but being adopted into the household of God, he gives his most noble ministers, the angels, charge, first of our nursing and then of our education; when we are weaned, to instruct us, to admonish, to institute, to correct us, to comfort us, to defend us, to preserve us from all evil, and to provoke us to all good. And these angels, seeing we are so dear to God, that for our sakes he spared not his own Son, take this charge with all their hearts upon them, and omit nothing of their duty from our birth to the end of our life. Henry Lawrence, in "A Treatise of our Communion and Warre with Angells, "1646.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. What avails a human foot among these? What force of human affection can stand fast among such terrible monsters? These are spiritual wickednesses, and are designated by not incongruous titles... One is an asp, another a basilisk, a third a lion, and a fourth a dragon, because each in his own invisible way variously wounds, —one by his bite, another by his look, a third by his roar or blow, and a fourth by his breath. . . . Consider this also, whether perchance we are able to meet these four temptations with four virtues. The lion roars, who will not fear? If any there be, he shall be brave. But when the lion is foiled, the dragon lurks in the sand, in order to excite the soul with his poisonous breath; breathing therein the lust of earthly things. Who, think you, shall escape his wiles? None but the prudent. But perhaps whilst you are careful in attacking these, some annoyance vexes you; and lo! the asp is upon you forthwith. For he seems to have found for himself a seasonable moment. Who is he that shall not be exasperated by this asp? Certainly the man of temperance and modesty, who knows how to abound, and to suffer want. On this opportunity, I think, the Evil Eye with its wicked allurements may determine to fascinate thee. Who shall turn away his face? Truly the just man, who not only desires not to take to himself the glory due to God, but not even to receive what is presented by another: if yet he is a just man, that justly executes what is just, who performs not his righteousness before men, who, lastly, although he is just, lifts not up his head. For this virtue consists specially in humility. This purifies the intention, this also obtains merit all the more truly and effectually, because it arrogates less to itself. Bernard.

Adder. The pethen is classed with the lion as being equally to be dreaded by the traveller... There is no doubt that the Egyptian cobra is the pethen of Scripture. J. G. Wood.

Dragon. The expression is used (1) for "sea monsters, " (2) for serpents, (3) for wild beasts or birds characteristic of desolate places, and (4) it is used figuratively to represent the enemies of the Lord, and especially Pharaoh, as head and representative of the Egyptian power, and Nebuchadnezzar, the head and representative of the Chaldean monarchy. The term is thus a general one, signifying any monstrous creature, whether of the land or of the water, and is to be set down with the one or the other, according as the context indicates. John Duns, in "Biblical Natural Science."

Thou shalt tread upon; thou shalt trample under feet. Thou shalt tread upon them, not accidentally, as a man treads upon an adder or a serpent in the way; but his meaning is, thou shalt intentionally tread upon them like a conqueror, thou shalt tread upon them to testify the dominion over them, so when the Lord Jesus gave that promise (Lu 10:19) to his disciples, that they should do great things, he saith, You shall tread upon serpents; that is, you shall have power to overcome whatsoever may annoy you: serpentine power is all hurtful power, whether literal or mystical. As the Apostle assures all believers (Ro 16:20), "God shall tread down Satan (that old serpent) under your feet shortly." Joseph Caryl.

Verse 13 (second clause). But what is said unto Christ? And thou shalt tread on the lion and dragon. Lion, for overt wrath; dragon for covert lurking. Augustine.

Because he hath set his love upon me. Vulg. Because he hath hoped in me. Whatever is to be done, whatever is to be declined, whatever is to be endured, whatever is to be chosen, Thou O Lord art my hope. This is the only cause of all my promises, this the sole reason of my expectation. Let another pretend to merit, let him boast that he bears the burden and heat of the day, let him say that he fasts twice on the Sabbath, let him finally glory that he is not as other men; for me it is good to cleave unto God, to place my hope in the Lord God. Let others hope in other things, one in his knowledge of letters, another in his worldly wisdom, one in his nobility, one in his dignity, another in some other vanity, for thy sake I have made all things loss, and count them but dung; since Thou, Lord, art my hope. Bernard, quoted by Le Blanc.

Verse 14 (.first clause). As there is a because and a therefore in the process of the law, in concluding death for sin, so there is a because and a therefore in the process of grace, and of the gospel, which doth reason from one grace given to infer another grace to be given, even grace for grace; and such is this here: Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. David Dickson.

He does not say, Because he is without sin, because he has perfectly kept all my precepts, because he has merit and is worthy to be delivered and guarded. But he produces those qualities which are even found in the weak, the imperfect, and those still exposed to sin in the flesh, namely, adhesion, knowledge of his name, and prayer. Musculus.

He hath set his love upon me. In the love of a divinely illuminated believer there is (1) the sweet property of gratitude. The soul has just and enlarged views of the salvation which he has obtained through the name of Jesus. The evils from which he is saved; the blessings in hand, and the blessings in hope; the salvation in time, and the salvation through eternity, which can and shall be enjoyed through the name of Jesus, excites feelings of the most ardent gratitude in the soul of the Christian. (2) Another delightful ingredient in this settled love is, admiration. Everything in the scheme and execution of God's redeeming plan is an object of admiration. All that the Lord Jesus is in himself; all that he has done; all that he does at the present; and all that he has promised to do for his people, deserves the warmest admiration. This holy feeling is experienced in the breast of the man to whom the Lord can say, He hath set his love upon me. (3) Another ingredient in the illuminated love of the believer is delightful complacency. Nothing can afford complacent delight in any excellency unless we are persuaded that we either do possess, or may possess it. I may go to the palace of the greatest monarch in the world, and be deeply struck with astonishment and admiration at the wonder beheld, but there will not be one thrill of complacency felt in my bosom at the view of the astonishing objects which crowd upon my vision. Why? Because I neither have, nor can have any interest in them; they are not mine, nor ever can be; therefore, I cannot take complacent delight in them. But the love of the Christian is a delightful love, (as Mr. Baxter called it,)because there is in the Lord everything that is worthy of infinite and eternal admiration; and then there is the thought which produces a thrill of pleasure, —whatever I admire I can, in some measure, possess. The illuminated eye of God's favourite sees everything in the Lord to supply his necessities; everything to satisfy his desires, all his own; which makes the soul delight itself in the Lord, and he rests in his love. Therefore, the Lord says of the object of his lovingkindness, "He hath set his love upon me" —he hath renounced sin as the greatest abomination; he hath taken off the heart from all idolatrous attachment to the creature, and placed it fixedly and supremely upon God. William Dawson, Methodist Preacher (1773-1841).

He hath set his love upon me. We have a similar expression in daily use, which means the bending of all our energies to one end —a ceaseless effort after one object. We say, "I have set my heart on such a thing." This is what God will have from us —an intense, single hearted love. We must love him "with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind, "so that, like Jesus, we may "delight to do his will." Just let us think of the way in which setting our heart on anything affects us, head, hands, time, thought, action —all are at work for us attainment. How we sacrifice everything else to it? Comfort, ease, present advantage, money, health, nay, our very selves, go freely for the sake of our cherished wish. Have I so "set my heart upon" God? Temperaments differ. This may be an overdrawn picture of the way in which some of us seek a cherished object. But each knows his own capability in this way. God also knows our frame, and requires his best at every man's hand. There is one thing in this verse which may encourage us very much. It is not because of perfect love that God will deliver. It is to the will to love and serve —it is to the setting the heart, that the promise is made —to the "full purpose of heart" that is set to cleave unto the Lord. Mary B. M. Duncan.

I will set him on high. That is, in an inaccessible, or lofty place, I will set him, which means, I will deliver him. When men truly know God to be a deliverer, they both put confidence in Him, and call upon Him. Then God exalts and delivers him that calls. Franciscus Vatablus.

I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. There is a great deal of safety in the knowledge of God, in his attributes, and in his Christ. A man's safety we see lies in his running to the tower (Pr 28:10); he runs and is safe. And it is the knowledge of this tower that sets a man a running to it. Hence we find safety attributed to the knowledge of the Lord. "I will set him on high, "I will exalt him, and so he shall be safe. Why so? "Because he hath known my name"; for the knowing of God aright was that which made him run, and so he is exalted and set on high. Then a man is safe when he hath got this tower to be his tower, when he hath gotten God to be his God. Now when we know God, we get him to be our God, and make this tower our tower, Jer 24:7: "I will give them an heart to know me, and I will be their God." Jeremiah Dyke, in "The Righteous Man's Tower, "1639.

Verses 14-16. He hath known my name. From this text I would introduce to your notice the most desirable character under the sun; and I would exhibit him before you to excite each one to seek, until you obtain the same blessedness. The character that I shall exhibit is GOD'S FAVOURITE, one who is an object of the "lovingkindness of the Lord"; and in reading this passage there are two things which strike our attention concerning such a character. First, what the Lord says of him. Second, what the Lord says to him. Now, then, my brethren —LOOK! There stands before you GOD's FAVOURITE!

Listen to what God says OF him. 1. He says of him, "He knows my name." The first principle of the life of God the fallen soul of man is knowledge; spiritual, divine knowledge. The first operation of the Holy Ghost in the work of salvation, is a conviction of the character and perfections and relations of God. The Lord says, "he knows my name." He knows my name as Omniscient, Omnipresent, Holy, Just and True. (1) He first knows my name as a sin hating, sin avenging God; and this knowledge was a means of leading him to a deep sense of his own personal corruption, guilt, and danger as a sinner. (2) But the favourite of the Lord knows his name as revealed to Moses, as "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin." He knows the name of the Lord as concentrated in the name of Jesus, who "shall save his people from their sins." By the white beams of God's holiness, (if I may so speak) the sinner sees his corruption, guilt and deformity: by the red beams of God's justice he sees his unspeakable danger: by the mild beams of God's mercy, he discovers a ground of hope —that there is pardon for his aggravated crimes. But it is in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, that God appears most delightful. Hence we can say to every saved soul, as Paul did to the Corinthians: —"God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." As all the colours of the rainbow meet in one sunbeam, so all the perfections of God as perfectly unite, and more beautifully shine forth, in the person and offices of Jesus Christ, upon the soul of the penitent believer. This saving knowledge is always vital, active, and powerful. William Dawson.

He hath known my name. May we not get some light on this expression from the custom of the Jews, keeping the name JEHOVAH sacred to their own use, regarding it as too holy even to be pronounced by them in common use and thus preserving it from being taken in vain by the heathen around? Thus it was known to Jews only... But whatever be the origin of the expressions, to "know His name, " to "trust in His name, "to "believe in His name, "it evidently in all these cases means whatever is revealed concerning Him —all that by which he maketh himself known. His Word, his Providence, above all, his Son, are included thus in his name, which we must know, believe in, and trust. So that to "know his name" is to know himself, as revealed in the Gospel. Mary B. M. Duncan.

(last clause). Sound love to God, floweth from and is joined with sound knowledge of God, as his Majesty is declared unto us in Scripture: the believer who hath set his love upon God, hath known my name, saith he. David Dickson.

I will answer him. I think we sometimes discourage ourselves by a misconception of the exact meaning of the expression, "answer, "taking it to mean only grant. Now, an answer is not necessarily an acquiescence. It may be a refusal, an explanation, a promise, a conditional grant. It is, in fact, simply attention to our request expressed. In this sense, before we call he will answer, and while we are get speaking he will hear, Isa 65:24. Mary B. M. Duncan.

I will be with him in trouble. I will be with him in trouble, says God: and shall I seek meanwhile anything else than trouble? It is good for me to cleave unto God. Not only so, but also to put my hope in the Lord: because I will deliver him, he says, and honour him. I will be with him in trouble. My delights, he says, are with the sons of men. Emmanuel God with us. Hail, thou art highly favoured, says the Angel to Mary, the Lord is with thee. In the fulness of grace He is with us, in the plenitude of glory we shall be with Him. He descends in order to be near to those who are of a troubled heart, that He may be with us in our trouble... It is better for me, O Lord, to be troubled, whilst only Thou art with me, than to reign without Thee, to feast without Thee, to be honoured without Thee. It is good rather to be embraced by Thee in trouble, to have thee in this furnace with me, than to be without Thee even in heaven. For what have I in heaven, and without Thee what do I desire upon earth? The furnace tries the gold, and the temptation of trouble just men. Bernard.

I will be with him trouble. God hath made promises of his special presence with his saints in suffering. If we have such a friend to visit us in prison, we shall do well enough; though we change our place, we shall not change our keeper. "I will be with him." God will hold our head and heart when we are fainting! What if we have more afflictions than others, if we have more of God's company? God's honour is dear to him; it would not be for his honour to bring his children into sufferings, and leave them there; he will be with them to animate and support them; yea, when new troubles arise. Job 5:19. "He shall deliver thee in six troubles." Thomas Watson.

I will be with him in trouble. Again God speaks and acts like a tender hearted mother towards a sickly child. When the child is in perfect health she can leave it in the hands of the nurse; but when it is sick she will attend it herself; she will say to the nurse, "You may attend a while to some other business, I will watch over the child myself." She hears the slightest moan; she flies to the cradle; she takes it in her arms; she kisses its lips, and drops a tear upon its face, and asks, "What can I do for thee, my child? How can I relieve thy pain and soften thy sufferings? Do not weep and break my heart; it is thy mother's arms that are around thee; it is thy mother's lap on which thou art laid; it is thy mother's voice that speaks to thee; it is thy mother that is with thee; fear not." So the Lord speaks to his afflicted children. "I will be with him in trouble." No mother can equally sympathise with her suffering child; as the Lord does with his suffering people. No! could all the love that ever dwelt in all the mothers' hearts that ever existed, be united in one mother's heart, and fixed on her only child, it would no more bear a comparison with the love of God to his people than the summer midnight glow worm is to be compared to the summer midday sun. Oh, that delightful sentence I will be with him in trouble. At other times God will leave them in the hands of angels: "I will give them charge over them, to keep them in all their ways; they bear them up lest at any time they dash their feet against a stone." But when they are in trouble, I will say to the angels, "Stand aside, I will take care of them myself." "I will be with them in trouble." So he speaks to his people: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." When languishing in sickness, He will make his bed, and his pillow; when travelling through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord will be with him, and enable him to sing, "I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Thus he is with them as their physician and nurse, in pain and sickness; as their strength in weakness; as their guide in difficulty; their ease in pain; and as their life in death. "I will be with him in trouble." William Dawson.

With long life will I satisfy him. Saint Bernard interprets this of heaven;because he thought nothing long that had an end. This, indeed, is the emphasis of heaven's joy; those blessed souls never sin, never weep more; they shall not only be with the Lord, but ever with the Lord. This is the accent which is set on the eulogies given to heaven in Scripture. It is "an inheritance, "and that an "incorruptible one, that fadeth not away; "it is "a crown of glory, "and that a weighty one, yea, "an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory." When once it is on the saint's head it can never fall, or be snatched off; it is a feast, but such a one that hath a sitting down to it but no rising up from it. William Gurnall.

With long life will I satisfy him. Observe the joyful contrast here to the mournful words in the foregoing Psalm. "We spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten, "(Ps 90:9-10.) The life of Israel in the wilderness was shortened by Disobedience. The Obedience of Christ in the wilderness has won for us a blessed immortality. Christopher Wordsworth.

With long life will I satisfy him, etc. The margin here is "length of days; "that is, days lengthened out or multiplied. The meaning is, I will give him length of days as he desires, or until he is satisfied with life; —implying (1) that it is natural to desire long life; (2) that long life is to be regarded as a blessing (comp. Pr 3:2,16 Ex 20:12); (8) that the tendency of religion is to lengthen out life; since virtue, temperance, regular industry, calmness of mind, moderation in all things, freedom from excesses in eating and drinking, —to all of which religion prompts, —contribute to health and to length of days; and (4) that a time will come, even under this promised blessing of length of days, when a man will be "satisfied" with living; when he will have no strong desire to live longer; when, under the infirmities of advanced years, and under his lonely feelings from the fact that his early friends have fallen, and under the influence of a bright hope of heaven, he will feel that he has had enough of life here, and that it is better to depart to another world. And shew him my salvation. In another life, after he shall be satisfied with this life. Albert Barnes.

With long life will I satisfy him. This promise concerning length of life contains a gift of God by no means to be despised. Many enemies indeed will plot against his life, and desire to extinguish him as suddenly and as quickly as possible; but I shall so guard him that he shall live to a good old age and be filled with years, and desire to depart from life. J. B. Folengius.

With long life will I satisfy him.

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;

In feelings, not in figures on a dial.

We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives

Who thinks most, feels noblest, acts the best. —Philip James Bailey, in "Festus."

Long life.

They err who measure life by years,

With false or thoughtless tongue;

Some hearts grow old before their time;

Others are always young.

It is not the number of the lines

On life's fast filling page,

It is not the pulse's added throbs,

Which constitute their age.

Some souls are serfs among the free,

While others nobly thrive;

They stand just where their fathers stood

Dead, even while they live.

Others, all spirit, heart, and sense,

Theirs the mysterious power

To live in thrills of joy or woe,

A twelvemonth in an hour! Bryan W. Procter

Long life.

He liveth long who liveth well!

All other life is short and vain:

He liveth longest who can tell

Of living most for heavenly gain.

Fie liveth long who liveth well!

All else is being flung away;

He liveth longest who can tell of true things truly done each day. Horatius Bonar

I will show him my salvation. The last, greatest, climax of blessing, including and concluding all! What God does is perfectly done. Hitherto has his servant caught glimpses of the "great salvation." The Spirit has revealed step by step of it, as he was able to bear it. The Word has taught him, and he has rejoiced in his light. But all was seen in part and known in part. But when God has satisfied his servant with length of days, and time for him is over, eternity begun, he will "shew him his salvation." All will be plain. All will be known. God will be revealed in his love and his glory. And we shall know all things, even as we are known! Mary B. M. Duncan.

1. The secret dwelling place. There is the dweller in the dark world, in the favoured land, in the holy city, in the outer court; but the holy of holies is the "secret place" —communion, acceptance, etc.

2. The protecting shadow —security, peace, etc.; like hamlets of olden time clustered beneath castle walls. Charles A. Davis.

1. The person. One who is in intimate, personal, secret, abiding communion with God, dwelling near the mercyseat, within the veil.

2. The Privilege. He is the guest of God, protected, refreshed, and comforted by him, and that to all eternity.

Verses 1-2. Four names of God.

1. We commune with him reverently, for he is the Most High.

2. We rest in him as the Almighty.

3. We rejoice in him as Jehovah or Lord.

4. We trust him as EL, the mighty God.

1. Observe the nouns applied to God —refuge from trouble, fortress in trouble, God at all times.

2. Observe the pronouns applied by man —"I" will say, "my refuge, my fortress, "etc. G. R.

The power, excellence, fruit, reasonableness, and open avowal of personal faith.

Invisible protection from invisible dangers; wisdom to meet cunning, love to war with cruelty, omnipresence to match mystery, life to baffle death.

SURELY, or reasons for assured confidence in God's protection.

Verses 3-7. Pestilence, panic, and peace; (for times of widespread disease). Charles A. Davis.

Verses 3, 8-9.

1. Saints are safe —"surely, "(Ps 91:3).

2. The evil is bounded —"only, "(Ps 91:8).

3. The Lord has reasons for preserving his own —because, "(Ps 91:9).

1. The compassion of God.

2. The confidence of saints.

3. The panoply of truth.

Verses 5-6.

1. The exposure of all men to fear. (a) Continually, day and night. (b) Deservedly: "conscience doth make cowards of us all."

2. The exemption of some men from fear. (a) Because of their trust. (b) Because of the divine protection.

How an evil may be near but not nigh.

What we have actually seen of the reward of the wicked.

Verses 9-10.

1. God our spiritual habitation.

2. God the keeper of our earthly habitation.

3. General truth that the spiritual blesses the temporal.

1. The Personal Blessing.

2. The Domestic Blessing.

3. The connection between the two.

Verses 11-12. A "wrested" Scripture righted.

1. Satan's version —presumptuousness.

2. The Holy Spirit's version —trustfulness. Charles A. Davis.

Verses 11-12.

1. The Ministry of Angels as employed by God. (a) Official: "he shall give, "etc. (b) Personal: "over thee." (c) Constant: "in all thy ways."

2. As enjoyed by man. (a) For preservation: "shall bear thee, "etc.; tenderly but effectually. (b) Under limitation. They cannot do the work of God, or of Christ, or of the Spirit, or of the word, or of ministers, for salvation; "are they not all ministering spirits, "etc. G. R.

Preservation from minor evils most precious because they are often most grievous, lead to greater evils, and involve much damage.

The believer's love set upon God.

1. Every child of God has his enemies. (a) They are numerous: "the lion, adder, young lion, dragon." (b) Diversified: subtle and powerful —"lion and adder; " new and old —"young lion" and the" old dragon."

2. He will finally obtain a complete victory over them —"Thou shalt tread, "etc.; "shall put thy foot, "etc.; "the Lord shall bruise Satan, "etc. G. R.

Verses 14-16. The six "I wills."

Here we have,

1. Love for love: "Because, "etc. (a) The fact of the saints' love to God. There is, first, love in God without their love, then love for their love. (b) The evidence of his love to them: "I will deliver him" —from sin, from danger, from temptation, from every evil.

2. Honour for honour. (a) His honouring God. "He hath known my name" and made it known; God honouring him; "I will set him on high" —high in honour, in happiness, in glory. G. R.

Verse 15-16. Observe,

1. The exceeding great and precious promises. (a) Answer to prayer: "he shall call, "etc. (b) Comfort in trouble: "I will be with him." (c) Deliverance from trouble: "I will deliver him." (d) Greater honour after trouble: deliver "and honour him." (e) Length of days; life long enough to satisfy him. (f) God's salvation; "show him my salvation; "far beyond what man could think or desire.

2. To whom these promises belong; who is the he and the him to whom these promises are made. He "calls upon God, "says Ps 91:15; he "hath known my name, "says Ps 91:14; he "hath set his love upon me, "says the former part of the same verse; he "has made the Lord his habitation, "says Ps 91:9; he "dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, "says Ps 91:1. Hannah More says, "To preach privileges without specifying to whom they belong is like putting a letter in the post office without a direction." It may be very good and contain a valuable remittance, but no one can tell for whom it is intended. All the promises of Scripture are plainly directed to those to whom they belong. The direction put upon the promises of this Psalm is unmistakably clear and often repeated. G. R.

WORKS UPON THE NINETY-FIRST PSALM

S. Patris Bernardi, in Psalmum 90. (91). Qui habitat. Sermones (In the Paris edition of Bernard's works, imperial 8vo. 1839, Volume one part 2, also in the quarto volume of Sermons, Salisburgi MDCLXVI.

The Shield of the Righteous: or, the Ninety-first Psalme, expounded, with the addition of Doctrines and Verses. Verie necessarie and comfortable in these dayes of heauinesse, wherein the Pestilence rageth so sore in London, and other parts of this Kingdome. By ROBERT HORN, Minister of God's Word...London. 1628 (4to).

The Righteous man's Habitation in the Time of the Plague and Pestilence; being a brief Exposition of the Ninety-first Psalm: (In the Works of William Bridge (1600-1670) Tegg's Edition, Volume one pg. 463-500.

In "UNDER THE SHADOW: being additional leaves from the Note Book of the late Mary B.M. Duncan, 1867", pp. 85-172, there is an Exposition of this Psalm.

PSALM XCI. HE that dwelleth in the ſecret place of the moſt High, ſhall abide under the ſhadow of the Almighty. 2. I will ſay of the Lord, He is my refuge, and my fortreſs: my God, in him will I truſt. 3. Surely he ſhall deliver thee from the ſnare of the fowler: and from the noyſom peſtilence. 4. He ſhall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings ſhalt thou truſt: his truth ſhall be thy ſhield and buckler. 5. Thou ſhalt not be afraid for the terror by night: nor for the arrow that flieth by day: 6. Nor for the peſtilence that walketh in darkneſs: nor for the deſtruction that waſteth at noonday. 7. A thouſand ſhall fall at thy ſide, & ten thouſand at thy right band: but it ſhall not come nigh thee. 8. Only with thine eyes ſhalt thou behold, and ſee the reward of the wicked. 7. Becauſe thou haſt made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the moſt High, thy habitation: 10. There ſhall no evil befal thee, neither ſhall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11. For he ſhall give his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy wayes. 12. They ſhall bear thee up in their hands, leſt thou daſh thy foot againſt a ſtone. 12. Thou ſhalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon ſhalt thou trample under feet. 14. Becauſe he hath ſet his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will ſet him on high, becauſe he hath known my name. 15. He ſhall call upon me, and I will anſwer him: I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I ſatisfie him, and ſhew him my ſalvation. THis Pſalm ('tis thought) was made upon the occaſion of the plague and peſtilence that was in David's time. So Molerus; wherein you have the beſt Antidote againſt the plague and peſtilence. The whole Pſalm is nothing elſe but a great promiſe of ſpecial protection for thoſe that truſt in the Lord in the time of the plague: wherein three or four things are moſt eſpecially conſiderable, the Evil, Danger and Miſery of the Plague and Peſtilence; protection and deliverance promiſed in the time thereof: the perſons upon whom the promiſe is intailed; the way, mode, means, and manner, how God will deliver and protect in the time of a plague. As for the evil, danger, and miſery of the plague or peſtilence, you have it in many terms expreſſed in ſeveral verſes. In the third verſe 'tis called the ſnare of the fowler; He will deliver thee from the ſnare of the fowler; 'tis called the ſnare of the fowler, becauſe it takes men before they are aware; the word and, that follows, ſhould not be in the line, ſo the next words do explain it, He ſhall deliver thee from the ſnare of the fowler: from the noiſome peſtilence: then 'tis called the noiſom peſtilence. In the Hebrew 'tis called the peſtilence of woes or calamity, that is, moſt calamitous peſtilence, that diſeaſe or ſickneſs, that is accompanied with the moſt calamity. In the 5th verſe 'tis called the terror by night, and, the arrow that flieth by day: for with this arrow God doth kill and hit men at a diſtance, a great way off, when they think to flie away and be at reſt. 'Tis ſaid in the ſixth verſe, that it walketh in darkneſs; and it is called deſtruction that waſteth at noon-day, in regard of the ſpreading and infective nature of it. At the thirteenth verſe 'tis compared unto the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon, for the deſtructive and devouring nature of it, which nothing can ſtand before. Secondly, as for the protection promiſed in the time thereof, you have that in the general at the firſt verſe, He that dwelleth in the ſecret place of the moſt High, ſhall abide under the ſhadow of the Almighty; more particularly at the third verſe, Surely he ſhall deliver thee from the ſnare of the fowler, from the noiſom peſtilence: He ſhall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings ſhalt thou truſt. His truth ſhall be thy ſhield and buckler, at the 4th verſe. At the 5th and 6th verſes again, Thou ſhalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the peſtilence that walketh in darkneſs; nor for the deſtruction that waſteth at noon-day. And again, A thouſand ſhall fall at thy ſide, and ten thouſand at thy right hand: (in the 7th verſe) but it ſhall not come nigh thee. In the 10th verſe, No evil ſhall befal thee, neither ſhall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he ſhall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy wayes. And at the laſt verſe, With long life will I ſatisfie him, and ſhew him my ſalvation. As for the perſons whom this promiſe of Protection is entailed upon, they are ſuch as do truſt in the Lord. He that dwelleth in the ſecret place of the moſt High; that ſay of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortreſs: my God, in him I will truſt, verſe 2. And at the 9th verſe, Becauſe thou haſt made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the moſt High, thy habitation: there ſhall no evil befal thee, neither ſhall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Thou ſhalt not be afraid for the terror by night: nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, at the fifth verſe. And as for the means, and way, and mode how God will deliver in the time of the plague, he will do it by his Angels; There ſhall no evil befal thee, neither ſhall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he ſhall give his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy wayes. They ſhall bear thee up in their hands, &c. From all which then, I take up this Doctrine or Obſervation: Though the danger, evil, and miſery of the Peſtilence be exceeding great, yet God will in an eſpecial manner protect and deliver thoſe that do truſt in him in the time of a plague. For the clearing and proſecution whereof, firſt of all, I ſhall a little labour to ſhew you, that the evil, miſery, and danger of a Plague is exceeding great. 2ly. That yet the Lord will protect and deliver thoſe that do truſt in him. 3ly. What that Faith is, and what that Truſt is, that God hath promiſed this protection to in the time of a Plague. 4ly. I would anſwer to ſome objections, queſtions, or caſes of conſcience. Then 5ly. ſhew how, and by what means God will protect and deliver in the time of a plague. Then call upon you and my ſelf, to do our duty in this Day. As for the firſt, I ſhall not be long in it. The miſery and danger of the Plague is ſufficiently known. It is called the Plague above all other diſeaſes, as if it were the Plague of plagues. The ſeveral and particular judgments and evils that fell upon Pharaoh, they were called Plagues, they were all plagues; but now the Peſtilence carries the name of the Plague, as if that of all other diſeaſes were the plague of plagues. It is, firſt of all, a moſt dreadful and terrible diſeaſe: it is here called in this Pſalm, the terrour by night, 5. verſe, Thou ſhalt not be afraid by the terrour by night: terrour by night, why? the night it ſelf is a time of fear and terrour: darkneſs brings fear; but the Plague is the Night of nights, and the King of Terrours. How do men quake and tremble, and fly away at the noiſe of this? the report of this? When God appeared in his greatneſs, majeſty and glory, gave a terrible appearance of himſelf, 'tis ſaid in the third of Habakkuk, that the Peſtilence went before him, in the 3d. verſe, God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran, Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praiſe, and his brightneſs was as the light. He had horns coming out of his hand, and there was the hiding of his power. In the 5. verſe, Before him went the peſtilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. Before him went the Peſtilence, as his Officer and Executioner. When the Lord doth ſet forth his terrible appearance, thus he ſets it forth, The peſtilence went before him. Without all doubt, it is that diſeaſe that is moſt dreadful and terrible. And 2ly, as 'tis the moſt dreadful and terrible diſeaſe, ſo it is the moſt painful diſeaſe. The more ſuddenly any man is taken away in his ſtrength, the more painful is his diſeaſe he dies of: a man that is ſpent with ſickneſs, he is eaſily blown out; but when a man in his full ſtrength ſhall ſuddenly dye, it coſts him a great deal of paio. Thus it is, when the Plague takes one away in his full ſtrength in a little time, therefore it is a very painful diſeaſe; and as it is a very painful diſeaſe, ſo 'tis an uncomfortable diſeaſe: then all friends leave us, then a man or woman ſit and lye all alone, and is a ſtranger to the breath of his own relations. If a man be ſick of a feaver, 'tis ſome comfort that he can take a bed-ſtaff and knock, and his ſervant comes up and helps him with a cordial. But if a man be ſick of the Plague, then he ſits and lyes all alone; 'tis the moſt uncomfortable diſeaſe: and as it is that diſeaſe that is moſt uncomfortable, ſo 'tis that diſeaſe that is moſt mortal, and therefore of all other diſeaſes 'tis called Death. In the ſixth of the Revelation, we read of the ſword and famine, in the former part of the Chapter: but in the 8th. verſe, And I looked, and behold a pale horſe; and his name that ſate on him was Death. The ſword is ſpoken of plainly before in the 4th. verſe, And there went out another horſe, that was red: and power was given to him that ſat thereon, to take peace from the earth, and that they ſhould kill one another: and there was given unto him a great ſword; there's the Sword: then at the 6th. verſe there's a Famine, I heard a voice in the midſt of the four beaſts ſay, A meaſure of wheat for a penny, and three meaſures of barley for a penny: Now at the 8th. verſe comes on the Peſtilence, and that is called Death; not the ſword, or famine, but the Plague is that which hath the name of Death; becauſe of all other diſeaſes it is the moſt mortal; and as it is the moſt mortal diſeaſe, ſo 'tis the moſt unavoidable diſeaſe. It may be avoided through the goodneſs of God; but I ſpeak comparatively, of all diſeaſes 'tis the moſt unavoidable. And 'tis the diſeaſe that is the moſt emptying diſeaſe; it empties houſes, and it empties towns, and empties cities. God threatens to empty a Nation as a man empties a diſh, and wipes it, and turns it upſide down. So to a family it is the moſt emptying diſeaſe of all other. But I will not ſtay here; 'tis too manifeſt, that this evil, miſery and danger of a Plague is exceeding great. But yet in the ſecond place, there are a generation whom God will protect and deliver in the day of a Plague. It was alwayes ſo in the moſt deſolating judgements: when the Floud came was Noah and his houſe ſpared; and, when Sodom was deſtroyed, there was Lot and his houſe preſerved and delivered. In the 6th. Chapter of Iſaiah, ye read of a Deſolalation that looks like a Plague, Then ſaid I, Lord, How long? And he anſwered (at the 11th verſe) until his cities be waſted and without inhabitants, and the houſes be without man, and the land be utterly deſolate, and the Lord have removed men far away: Yet, ſayes he, at the 13 verſe, There ſhall be a tenth, and it ſhall return, and ſhall be eaten as a teyle tree, and as an oak whoſe ſubſtance is in them, &c. yet there is a generation whom the Lord will preſerve and deliver in ſuch a general deſolation as this. But who are theſe? this Pſalm tells us, they are ſuch as do truſt in the Lord; thoſe that truſt in the Lord in the time of a Plague. But why is there ſuch a promiſe of protection entailed upon thoſe that truſt in the Lord in the time of a Plague? why, firſt of all, God will be all that to us which we make him, and build upon him for: as in the 31 Pſalm 2. & 3. v. Be thou my rock, for thou art my rock; be thou my defence, for thou art my fortreſs: in the latter end of the 2d. verſe, Be thou my ſtrong rock, for an houſe of defence to ſave me, for thou art my rock and my fortreſs. Lord, be that unto me, which I build upon thee for. Thou art my rock, therefore be my rock: this is his argument. Now by Faith and truſting in the Lord, we do make God our protector, and therefore he will be a protector to thoſe that truſt unto him in time of a Plague. 2ly. Thoſe that honour providence, ſhall be kept by providence. Jacob, what a wonderfull great eſtate he attained unto? he preſented Eſau with a preſent fit for a King to give; how came he by this great eſtate? there was a controverſie betwixt Laban and him, and he puts the buſineſs upon providence, and providence made him rich: thoſe that honour providence, ſhall be kept by providence. Faith and truſting in God in the time of a Plague, honours providence; therefore they that truſt in God in ſuch a day, ſhall be kept. 3ly. Thereby God is ingaged to help and deliver. In the 37. Pſalm, laſt verſe, The Lord ſhall help them and deliver them, he ſhall ſave them becauſe they trust in him; becauſe they truſt in him. God is engaged to help and deliver, if men truſt in him. So in Iſaiah 26. v. 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whoſe mind is ſtayed on thee, becauſe he truſteth in thee. Our very truſting in the Lord for deliverance, and protection, doth engage God to deliver and protect. 4ly. When did God do ever any great thing, but it was put upon Faith. Ye read of great Victories in the time of the old Teſtament, and theſe were put upon Faith: ye read of great cures in the time of the new Teſtament, and thoſe were put upon Faith. When did God do any great thing but it was put upon Faith? Now to be preſerved and protected in the time of a Plague, when thouſands fall on the right hand and on our left, 'tis a great matter, next unto a miracle, therefore it muſt be put upon Faith. Again, God will honour thoſe perſons, and thoſe graces moſt, that honour him moſt: of all graces Faith honours God moſt, therefore God will honour that moſt; no wonder then that this protection is put upon Faith and truſting in the Lord. One thing more. There lyes a bleſſing in courſe for all thoſe that put themſelves under the wing of the Lord in truſting him. In the ſecond of Ruth, ver. 12. ſayes Boaz to Ruth, The Lord recompence thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Iſrael, under whoſe wings thou art come to truſt; under whoſe wings thou haſt put thy ſelf. 'Tis [illegible: 1 letter]aith, and Faith only that puts us under the wings of God. Pſal. 57. at the firſt verſe, Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my ſoul truſteth in thee, yea, in the ſhadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until theſe calamities be over-paſt: it is Faith that doth put a man under the wing of God. In the 36. Pſal. and 7. verſ. How excellent is thy loving kindneſs, O God, therefore the children of men put their truſt under the ſhadow of thy wing. Faith of all other graces puts a man under the ſhadow of Gods wing, and there lies a bleſſing in courſe (I ſay) for all thoſe that put themſelves under Gods wing; therefore no wonder that this great promiſe of protection and deliverance in the time of a Plague is entailed upon truſting in God. Well, but then thirdly, what Faith is this, what Truſt is it that God hath promiſed protection and deliverance to in the time of a Plague; what act of Faith is it? what Faith is it? I anſwer, Firſt, there is a faith of perſwaſion, called Faith, whereby men are perſwaded and verily believe that they ſhall not dye nor fall by the hand of the Plague. This is well; I do not find in the 91. Pſalm, that this protection is entailed upon this perſwaſion, neither do I find this faith here mentioned. 2ly. There is a Faith of Relyance, whereby a man doth rely upon God for ſalvation; this is a juſtifying faith, true juſtifying faith; this is true Faith indeed; but I do not find in this Pſalm, that this promiſe of protection and deliverance in the time of a Plague is entailed upon this, nor that this is here mentioned. But again 3ly. There is a Faith, I may call it a faith of recourſe unto God, whereby a man doth betake himſelf unto God for ſhelter, for protection, as to his habitation; when other men do run, one this way, another that way to their hiding places, in the time of a Plague; for a man then to betake himſelf to God as to his habitation, I think this is the Faith that is here ſpoken of in this 91. Pſalm; for do but mark the words of the Pſalm: at the firſt verſe, He that dwelleth in the ſecret place of the moſt High, in the hiding place of the moſt High; as if he ſhould ſay, when others run from the Plague and peſtilence, and run to their hiding places, he that dwelleth in the ſecret place of the moſt High, that betakes himſelf to God as his hiding place and his habitation, he ſhall abide under the ſhadow of the Almighty, ſhall be protected, and ſo at the 9th. verſe, Becauſe thou haſt made the Lord which is my refuge, even the moſt High, thy habitatation, there ſhall no evil befall thee, neither ſhall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; as if he ſhould ſay to us, in time of a Plague men are running and looking out for habitations and hiding places; but becauſe thou haſt made the Lord thy habitation, and haſt recourſe to him as thy habitation, no evil ſhall befall thee, neither ſhall the plague come nigh thy dwelling: and again at the 11. verſe, 'tis ſaid, He ſhall give his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy wayes, the wayes of thy calling; as if he ſhould ſay, in the time of a Plague men will be very apt to leave ſtation and calling, and ſo run away from the Plague and peſtilence: (ſaith he) he ſhall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy wayes, the wayes of thy calling and place; that is, look when a man in the time of a Plague ſhall conſcientiouſly keep his ſtation and place, and betake himſelf to God as his habitation, this is the Faith that is here ſpoken of, and this is the Faith that God hath promiſed protection to, here in this 91. Pſalm. But you will ſay then, is it not lawful to fly in the time of Perſecution? yes, without all doubt it is, ſo you carry God along with you for your habitation, ſo you make God your habitation ſtill, a man may lawfully ſeek the preſervation of his life and the life of his family. But ſtay; the Plague is called the hand of God; and can a man flee fron the hand of God; mark a little for anſwer: The hand of God is either mediate or immediate; ſuppoſe that the Plague or peſtilence were the immediate hand of God, and nothing of nature or infection in it: yet 'tis lawfull to fly, 'tis lawfull to go out of that place where the immediate hand of God reſts. In the 16th of Numbers there was an immediate hand of God upon Korah, Dathan and Abyram, for the earth opened her mouth and ſwallowed them up; here was an immediate hand of God: yet the Lord ſpeaks unto Moſes and unto Aaron, ſaying, in the 21. verſe, Separate your ſelves from amongſt this congregation, that I may conſume them in a moment; and at the 24. verſe, Speak unto this congregation, ſaying, get ye up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; which was the immediate hand of God, and yet notwithſtanding they were to go from among them that the hand of God fell upon, though 'twere an immediate hand. And in the following part of the Chapter the ſame expreſſion is uſed for the Plague: in the 44. v. They murmured, and the Lord ſtrook them with the Plague. Well, the Lord ſpake unto Moſes, ſaying, in the 45. verſe, Get you up from amongſt this congregation, that I may conſume them as in a moment: the ſame that is ſaid before, is ſaid here concerning the Plague. So that I ſay, although the Plague were the immediate hand of God, and there were nothing of nature or infection in it, yet it were lawfull to fly. But ſecondly, the Plague or Peſtilence is not ſo the hand of God, as if there were no infection in it; for if there were no infection in it, if there were not ſomthing of nature in it, it could not be cured by remedies, nothing would do good; therefore it is not ſo the hand of God, as if there were nothing of infection in it; but 'tis called the hand of God becauſe Gods providence hath a ſpecial hand in the ſending and ordering of it. So now, the Famine may be called Gods hand: God ſends it, I will call for a famine upon the land, ſayes God: a Famine is of Gods ſending, and therefore may I out fly from a Famine? Abraham, when there was a Famine in the land went down to Abimelech: Iſaac, when there was a famine in the land went down: and Jacob when there was a famine in the land went down to Egypt. And is it lawfull to fly in the time of Famine, and is it not lawful to fly in the time of a Plague? Certainly the one as well as the other. But then you will ſay, if the Lord hath promiſed protection and deliverance to thoſe that truſt in him in the time of a Plague, whether is it poſſible for a believer to dye by a Plague, ſeeing the whole Pſalm is made to thoſe; and Promiſe ſuch protection to thoſe that truſt in the Lord, whether may a believer dye of the Plague? without all doubt he may. Seventy thouſand dyed in Daivd's time; do you think there was not a good man among them? 'tis recorded of ſeveral good men, that they dyed of the Plague; but you know what's ſaid, All things fall alike to good and bad. If a good man may not dye of the Plague, how can all things fall alike to good and bad? But how then is the promiſe fulfilled, if that a believer may dye by the hand of a Plague? yes, very well: for poſſibly a believer may be out of his way as good Joſiah was, and dyed, though God promiſed him that he ſhould dye in peace. No diſparagement to the promiſe, for he was out of his way, and this promiſe of protection in the time of a Plague is made to thoſe believers that are in Gods way: He will give his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all his wayes; therefore if a believer be out of Gods way and dye, 'tis no diſparagement to this promiſe. But 2ly. You muſt know that this promiſe of protection and deliverance is not made to a believer as a believer, but as acting and exerciſing Faith; for though a man be a believer if he do not act and exerciſe his faith, this promiſe will not reach him; therefore if a believer dye not exerciſing faith and truſting in God, no diſparagement to the promiſe. Thirdly, you muſt know that this promiſe is made to a believer barely exerciſing and acting faith; but ſuch an act of faith, and ſuch an act of truſt as you have heard of: therefore, though a believer dye, and dye exerciſing ſome faith, ye[illegible: 1 letter] this promiſe is fulfilled; for it is made to ſuch an act of [illegible: 1 letter]ai[illegible: 2 letters] as you have heard of. But then again 4ly. you muſt know this promiſe is not mad[illegible: 1 letter] to a believer abſolutely, but in oppoſition to the wicked: therefore 'tis ſaid, the Lord having promiſed this to a believer, that no evil ſhould befal him, though a thouſand ſhould fall at his ſide, and ten thouſand at his right hand; at the 8. verſe 'tis ſaid (ſo Montanus, rather then only but) with thine eyes ſhalt thou behold, and ſee the reward of the wicked: as if he ſhould ſay, though this or that particular believer dye of the Plague; Believers ſhall out-live the wicked, and be laſt upon the ground, and they ſhall ſee the reward of the wicked; they ſhall ſee this judgment ſweep away the ungodly. But again further, if I ſhould interpret this as Auſtin doth in the firſt of John concerning Chriſt; where 'tis ſaid, he enlightens every one that come into the world, that is (ſayes Auſtine) all that are enlightened are enlightened by him. As you ſay of a School-maſter in a Town, this School-maſter teaches all the boys in the Town; not that he teaches every particular boy in the Town, but that all that are taught, are taught by him. So ſays he, Chriſt enlightens every one that comes into the world, that is, all that are enlightened, are enlightened by him. So here the Lord doth promiſe protection and deliverance to all thoſe that do believe in the time of a Plague, that is, all that have protection and deliverance (in the time of the Plague) have it from him. But to end this, I do think that this 91. Pſalm doth [illegible: 1 letter]old forth a promiſe of ſpecial protection in the time of a Plague, for believers; the ſcope of it is not, that every particular believer ſhall not dye; but the drift and ſcope of the Pſalm is, to hold forth a ſpeciality of protection for believers in the time of a Plague. For as the time of a Plague is a time of ſpecial danger; ſo God hath given out a ſpecial promiſe, and there ſhall be a ſpeciality of protection for his people in the time of this danger; and that is the meaning of this place. Well, but how, and by what means will God protect and deliver thoſe that truſt in him in the time of a Plague? For that I ſhall ſay only thus much, He will do it by the miniſtration of Angels, ſpecially by the miniſtration of Angels: when Angels go forth to deſtroy, then Angels muſt go forth to deliver, ſeal, and ſecure; as in the 7th. of the Revelation, and firſt verſe, After theſe things I ſaw foure angels ſtanding at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind ſhould not blow on the earth, nor on the ſea, nor on any tree. And I ſaw another angel aſcending from the eaſt, having the ſeal of the living God; and he cryed with a loud voice to the foure angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth, and the ſea, ſaying, hurt not, &c. When Angels go forth to hurt, then Angels muſt go forth to ſeal, and ſave, and protect. Now in the time of a Plague, Angels go forth to deſtroy; therefore, ſaith the Lord here, I will give my angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy wayes, they ſhall bear thee up in their hands, leaſt thou daſh thy foot againſt the ſtone. Have I given my Angels commiſſion to deſtroy? I have given my angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy wayes. Thus now men ſhall be preſerved and delivered in the time of a Plague, by the miniſtry of Angels. And ſo you have the words opened. Now to bring things home to our ſelves by way of application. Here we may ſee what is our work, our great work in this day. The day we are fallen into is a dark day, a day of the Plague and the Peſtilence: 'tis good for us to inquire what our works is, 'tis good at all times, but now eſpecially to inquire what our work is. Oh, what is my work this day? Now the work of this day, our work is to truſt in the Lord; this is the work that protection and deliverance in the time of a Plague is entailed upon. Who is there that does not deſire to be protected and delivered from this Plague? Oh, that I and my family may be preſerved! behold here your Antidote to keep you from the Plague; Trust in the Lord, as ever you and your family may be protected now in this evil day. Trust in the Lord, and call upon yours to truſt in the Lord! But what ſhall we do that we may truſt in the Lord in this day of the Plague? Firſt of all, you muſt repent of your own ſins, and be ſorrowful for the ſins of others, and of the times wherein you live. When the Plague cam[illegible: 1 letter] in David's time, you know what David did, he repented, Lord (ſays he) I have done fooliſhly; as for theſe ſheep, what have they done? 'Tis I Lord, 'tis I. So let every one do; this God expects in the time of a Plague. In the 4th. C[illegible: 1 letter]apter of Amos, ſays the Lord there in the 10. verſe, I have ſent among you the peſtilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I ſlain with the ſword; and have taken away your horſes, and I have made the ſtink of your camps to come up unto your noſtrils; yet have ye not returned unto me, ſaith the Lord. When God ſends the peſtilence, then he expects that men and women ſhould return unto him; repent and return unto him, in the 9th. of Ezekiel; thoſe that ſigh and mourn for the abominations, they are marked, when men go into the City with their deſtroying weapons. Thoſe that ſigh and mourn for the evil of the times, they are the marked men. They are not marked for deliverance, that do abſtain from ſin; a man may be given to drunkenneſs, and may leave his drunkenneſs, but that will not bring him under the mark: Men are not brought under the mark for deliverance, that do repent of their own ſin; but the mark is ſet upon thoſe that do mourn for other mens ſins: but now I put both together; If you truſt in the Lord in this evil day, in the time of a Plague, repent for your own ſins, and mourn for the ſins of others. For how can I truſt in the Lord for protection, if I do not repent of my ſins? if I live in any ſin, and do not turn from all my evil ways, how can I truſt in the Lord? I cannot do it: therefore repent and be ſorrowful for your own ſins, and for the ſins of others. Secondly, Get aſſurance of your intereſt in Chriſt: Chriſt is our great High Prieſt that makes the atonement, as Aaron did in the time of a Plague; it is by the miniſtry of Angels eſpecially that we are kept in the time of a Plague. Now ſays our Saviour Chriſt to Nathaniel, becauſe I ſaw thee under the fig-tree, believeſt thou? thou ſhalt ſee greater things than theſe. And he ſaith unto him, verily, verily I ſay unto you, hereafter ye ſhall ſee heaven opened, and the angels of God aſcending and deſcending upon the ſon of man. The Angels aſcend and deſcend upon Chriſt, all the miniſtry of Angels is upon Chriſts account, and you are preſerved and protected in the time of a plague by the miniſtration of Angels: what then? get an Intereſt in Chriſt, and if you doubt of your intereſt, get aſſurance, do not let that ſlip now; now get an intereſt in Chriſt, now get aſſurance▪ Thirdly, Go to God to make good this promiſe; in this 91. Pſalm, if you do but mind it, the Lord doth not onely promiſe protection and deliverance from the Plague to thoſe that truſt in him, but he promiſes grace to truſt in him; he promiſes protection upon condition that you truſt in him, and he promiſes you grace alſo to truſt in him: (ſaith he) at the 5th. verſe, Art thou afraid, and canſt not truſt in me! Thou ſhalt not be afraid for the terrour by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day; at the 4th. verſe, He ſhall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings ſhalt thou truſt; Thou ſhalt not be afraid, &c. thou ſhalt be ſecure, and I will keep thee from fear. The Lord that hath promiſed protection in the time of a Plague, hath alſo promiſed freedom from fear, and grace to truſt in him; therefore go to God for this grace, go to him to make good this promiſe. Then again fourthly, conſider what motives ye have to truſt in God in the time of a plague; you will ſay, what arguments or motives have we in the conſideration whereof we may be moved to truſt in God in the time of a plague? there are many; give me leave a little, that we may help one anothers faith in this needful day. Firſt of all, though the deſtroyer be abroad, yet there is a man with his pen and ink-horn by his ſide alſo abroad, and that man is your friend, 'tis Chriſt: as you read in the 9th of Ezekiel, there goes a man out with a pen and ink-horn by his ſide, to mark thoſe that ſigh, and mourn, and cry for the abominations that are done. Now to this man Chriſt is a friend, and therefore why ſhould not you believe? why ſhould you not truſt in the Lord? But 2ly. If that the Lord do know thoſe that do truſt in him in the time of a plague, why ſhould you not truſt in him? In the firſt Chapter of Nahum you find very great expreſſions of Gods anger and indignation; 'tis ſaid (at the 2. verſe) God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth, the Lord revengeth and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adverſaries, and he reſerveth wrath for his enemies, &c. At the 5th verſe, The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his preſence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein; who can ſtand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceneſs of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him: What then? (in the 7th verſe,) The Lord is good, a ſtrong hold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that truſt in him. The Lord when he is angry, doth diſtinguiſh betwixt thoſe that truſt in him, and thoſe that do not truſt in him. If a man be angry and in fury, he ſtrikes any that comes in his way, he does not know his friends from his enemies; but the Lord knows them that truſt in him, though he be angry, and in fury, and in indignation, yet he knows them that truſt in him; and therefore why ſhould ye not truſt in the Lord in the day of a Plague. 3ly. If that Plague and Peſtilence do make room for Gods people, why ſhould ye not truſt in the Lord in the time of a Plague? what (think you) ſhould be the meaning of that which we read in the 3d of Habakkuk? Before him went the Peſtilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. When was this? it was when God led his people into Canaan: God came from Teinan, and the Holy One from mount Paran. (Selah.) His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praiſe; before him went the peſtilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He ſent the peſtilence among the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Pereſites, to conſume them and make way for his people. God can ſend a Peſtilence into a City, to make room for his people, and to take off perſecution. You ſee you have Scripture for it, before him went the peſtilence: now I ſay, if God by a Peſtilence can, and doth, and will make room for his people, why ſhould not ye, who are the people of God, truſt in the Lord in the day of a Plague? 4ly. If there be mercy with the Lord in the time of a plague, if God be ready to be intreated, & to receive atonement, and to ſhew mercy unto his people, why then ſhould not you truſt in the Lord in the time of a Plague? Now I pray look upon the ſtory of David's time, and you may ſee how ready God was to ſhew mercy in the day of a Plague. Firſt of all, upon that ground God told David where the Temple ſhould be built, which he never told him before: but 2ly. look into the ſtory, and you ſhall ſee what abatement there is; how God threatned, & abates. There was threatned ſeven years famine, and obſerve two abatements; firſt Chron. 21. 12. God came to David, and ſaid, thus ſaith the Lord, chuſe thee either 3. years famine. In the 2 Samuel 24, 'tis 7. years famine[illegible: 1 letter] in the 13. v. God came to David and told him, and ſaid unto him, ſhall ſeven years of famine come unto thee in thy land, or wilt thou flee three moneths before thine enemies: ſeven years of famine, ſayes one place; three years of famine ſayes the other: why? becauſe God abates. Well, but there is a great abatement if you look upon the buſineſs of the Plague. The Lord gave David his choice; Shall ſeven years of famine come unto thee in thy land, or wilt thou fly three months before thine enemies, or that there be three days peſtilence in thy land? well, at the 15th verſe, 2 Sam. 24. 15. So the Lord ſent a peſtilence upon Iſrael, from the morning even to the time appointed: the time Appointed, how long was that? what, three dayes? no, there was abatement; how doth that appear? So the Lord ſent a peſtilence upon Iſrael, from the morning even to the time appointed; even to the Evening Sacrifice, for ſo it ſignifies: but how do you prove that it did not laſt three dayes? by two reaſons, ſays Peter Martyr; one, becauſe 'tis ſaid, The Lord repented him of the evil; and another, becauſe (ſays he) at the 16. verſe, When the angel ſtretched out his hand upon Jeruſalem to deſtroy it, the Lord repented him: why if the three days had been at an end, the Angel would not have ſtretched out his hand to have deſtroyed Jeruſalem: therefore the Angel ſtill putting forth his hand to deſtroy, ſhews that the three days were not at an end; ſo that there was an abatement. I ſpeak it to ſhew Gods readineſs to abate, and to ſhew mercy in the time of a Plague. Thirdly, You may obſerve here in this ſtory, that when the Plague came to Jeruſalem, which was the moſt populous place, there it ſtayed, at the 16. verſe, And when the Angel ſtretched out his hand ever Jeruſalem to deſtroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil; when it came to the moſt populous place, where 'twas moſt likely to be infective, there it ſtayed; ſee the readineſs of God to ſhew mercy. But 4ly. you may obſerve, if you look into this ſtory, that the Lord repented him, and gave command for the ſtaying of the Peſtilence before David repented. I confeſs there is ſomewhat of his repentance before. But afterwards David ſaid unto God (1 Chron. 21. 17.) is it not I that have commanded the people to be numbred? even I, it is I that have ſinned and done evil indeed; let thine hand I pray thee, O Lord, my God, be on me and on my fathers houſe, but not on this people that they ſhould be plagued. David lift up his eyes, (in the 16. v.) and ſaw the Angel of the Lord ſtand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn ſword in his hand ſtretched out over againſt Jeruſalem; and then follows the ſpeech of David. But if you look before, you ſhall find the Lord made an abatement before this ſpeech of his, before this humiliation of his; the Lord ſhewed mercy and gave him his choice before, in the 2 Sam. 24. 16. And when the Angel ſtretched out his hand upon Jeruſalem to deſtroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and ſaid to the Angel that deſtroyed the people, it is enough, ſtay now thine hand; and the Angel of the Lord was by the threſhing floor of Araunath the Jebuſite. And David ſpake unto the Lord, when he ſaw the Angel that ſmote the people, and ſaid, lo, I have ſaid, and I have done wickedly; but theſe ſheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be againſt me, and againſt my fathers houſe, at the 17. verſe; but the Lord repented him, at the 16. verſe; as if the Lord did prevent David's repentance with his loving kindneſs; before his full repentance came out, the Lord gave commiſſion to ſtay the Plague: look well upon this ſtory, and you may ſee how ready the Lord is to ſhew mercy, and to be intreated by his people in the time of a Plague. But 5ly. If this promiſe in the 91. Pſalm, which is nothing elſe but a promiſe in the time of a Plague, if this promiſe be full, and certain, and ſolid, as it may obviate all our fears and objections; why then ſhould we not truſt in the Lord in the time of a Plague? Now, do but mark the Pſalm, and you ſhall ſee the words are ſo ſaid, as may obviate all your fears and objections. Will you ſay the deſtroying Angels are now abroad, the arrows of the Almighty are now about us, (ſays he) He will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways; they ſhall bear thee up in their hands, leaſt thou daſh thy foot againſt a ſtone. Will you ſay, I but hundreds fall on this ſide and on the other ſide, and thouſands may quickly; then (ſays he) yet it ſhall not come nigh thee: there ſhall no evil befall thee, neither ſhall any plague come nigh thy dwelling, ver. 7, 10. Will you ſay, O, but this ſame diſeaſe of the Plague, 'tis like a Lion and an Adder, and as a young Lion and Dragon; yet, ſaith he, Thou ſhalt tread upon the lion and adder, and the young lion and the dragon ſhalt thou trample under thy feet, in the 13. verſe. Will you ſay, O, but ſuppoſe the Plague ſhould come; all my friends would leave me, I ſhall be left all alone, and what ſhall become of me then? why (ſays he) at the 15. verſe, He ſhall call upon me, and I will anſwer him, I will be with him in trouble, ſpoken in regard of the Plague; I am of Molerus his mind, that the whole Pſalm relates to the Plague. Will you ſay, O, but I cannot believe this, there is no likelihood that I ſhould eſcape in a general Plague; mark what he ſays in the laſt verſe, With long life will I ſatisfie him, and ſhew him my ſalvation, it ſhall be my ſalvation, thou ſhalt not be ſaved by ſecond cauſes, but it ſhall be my ſalvation; and in the 3d verſe, ſaith he, Surely he ſhall deliver thee from the ſnare of the fowler, from the noiſom peſtilence; do not doubt it, ſurely he ſhall deliver thee. The words of this Pſalm are ſo ſaid as to take off, and to obviate all our objections and fears; therefore why ſhould we not truſt in the Lord in the time of a Plague? But you will ſay then, how ſhall this work of faith and truſting in the Lord be carried on? I ſhall ſay no more in it, but only two or three things from this Pſalm. It muſt be carried on with love to God, knowledge of his name, and prayer. In the 14. verſe, becauſe he hath ſet his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. As you muſt believe and truſt in God, ſo you muſt ſet your love on God; and ſays he, I will ſet him on high becauſe he hath known my name. He ſhall call upon me, and I will anſwer him: Here are three things; Love to God, knowledge of his name, and prayer; your faith and truſt in ſuch a day muſt go along with theſe three: Some ſay, they do believe and truſt in God, but they don't ſet their love upon God; ſome ſay they love him, but do not know his name, that whereby God is diſtinguiſhed and worſhipped; ſome ſay they know Gods name, but they do not pray. But now if you would carry on your faith and truſt in the Lord as you ought to do, your truſting in the Lord muſt be carried on with Love to God, Knowledge of his Name, and Prayer. 2ly. Go on in your way Chriſtians, do not ſtart out of your way; He ſhall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways: In all thy ways, the ways of thy calling; take heed you be not found out of your way, that the Plague don't find you out of your way, look that you do not ſtart out of your way. 3ly. And ſo to end; go to God, and tell the Lord that you do truſt in him, and make him your Habitation; He that dwelleth in the ſecret place of the moſt High, ſhall abide under the ſhadow of the Almighty. I will ſay of the Lord (in the Hebrew) I will ſay to the Lord, my refuge, my fortreſs, my God, in him will I trust. 'Tis not enough to truſt in the Lord, but you muſt go to God and tell him, that you do truſt in him, that you make him your Habitation; ſay, Lord, I make thee my Habitation, I truſt in thee, thou art my refuge, and my fortreſs, in thee do I truſt. FINIS.

The 91. Pſalm, verſ. 11. & 12. For he ſhall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They ſhall bear thee up in their hands, leſt thou daſh thy foot againſt a ſtone. FOr he ſhall give his angels charge over thee, &c. Having treated of this Pſalm already, I ſhall not ſpend much time in ſhowing you the coherence of theſe words with the former; you ſee they are brought in with a for: For he ſhall give his angels charge over thee; as giving an account and reaſon of that which was ſaid before. In the former part of the Pſalm, you read of the Saints protection in, and their deliverance from the Plague and peſtilence in the day thereof. At the 10. verſe, There ſhall no evil befal thee, neither ſhall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Why? For he ſhall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, &c. So that here ſtill you have the promiſe of protection in the time of the Plague and peſtilence; the means whereby God will protect & deliver. The condition of this promiſe in theſe words, keep thee in all thy ways. So that though the danger of the Plague and peſtilence be never ſo great, yet if we be found in our ways, Gods angels under him ſhall be our protection. He ſhall give his angels charge over thee, &c. In which words, you may read the ſpecial and ſingular care and providence of God over his people in the time of Plague and peſtilence to be managed by the hands of Angels. God will take ſpecial order with the angels for the ſafety of his people in the time of the Plague and peſtilence. For the clearing of which argument, three things will fall under our conſideration. Firſt, that God hath ſingular care and providence over his children. 2ly. That this care and providence is managed by the hands of Angels 3ly. That this and all this, is and ſhall be excited and drawn out ſpecially in the time of the Plague and peſtilence. As for the firſt, it is ſo full and clear in the words, that I ſhall need go no further. He doth not ſay, that God will provide for his people in the generall, but there is a ſingular and ſpecial care and providence that God hath for his people. For if you mind the words: firſt, he ſayes, he will give his angels charge over thee: Charge, charge is a ſtrict command, more than a bare command; as when you would have a ſervant do a buſineſs certainly and fully, you lay a charge upon him, I charge you that you do not neglect that buſineſs; you don't barely tell him what he ſhould do, preſcribe him his work; but you charge him to do it. So ſayes the Lord unto the Angels; my ſervants or children, now they are in the Plague and Peſtilence, O my Angels, I charge you ſtir not from their houſes, I charge you ſtir not from ſuch a ones bed-ſide; 'tis a charge, He ſhall give his angels charge. 2ly. He doth not only, and will not only charge his Angel, but his Angels; not one Angel charged with the ſafety of his people, but many Angels, for their better guard and ſecurity; he ſhall give his angels charge. And 3ly. He will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee; to keep thee: charge over thee, and to keep thee: not only over the whole Church of God, but over every particular member of the Church of God; He will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: this is his marvellous care. Well! but beſides this, he will give his angels charge to keep thee in all thy wayes; not in ſome of thy wayes, but in all thy wayes. As Gods providence is particular in regard of our perſons, ſo 'tis univerſal in regard of our wayes. He will give his angels charge ever thee, to keepe thee, not in ſome, but in all thy wayes. But is this all? no, they ſhall bear thee up in their hands; as every ſervant deſires and loves to take up the young heir, or the young maſter into his armes; ſo the Angels. It is a great matter, that the Lord promiſeth to pitch his tents, and the Angels of the Lord ſhall pitch their tents round about them that Fear him: but here is more, the Angels ſhall not only pitch their tents, be their guard; but their nurſes, to bear them up in their hands: but why? that thou daſh not thy foot againſt a ſtone: when children begin to go, they are very apt to fall, and get many a knock; to ſtumble at every little ſtone: now there are many ſtones of ſtumbling that are in our way, and we are very apt to fall and miſ-carry; but ſuch is the goodneſs of God, the providence of God, the goodneſs of his providence, that as he hath provided his Angels to be our guard, in oppoſition to all our ſoreign enemies; ſo he hath provided his Angels to be our Nurſes, in oppoſition to all our weakneſſes and infirmities, that we get no hurt, that we miſcarry not in the leaſt, that we daſh not our foot againſt a ſtone: Oh how tender is the Lord of his! in other Scriptures you know the Lord is ſaid to keep his people as the apple of his eye: what is a man more render of, than the apple of his eye? and when doth the Lord keep his people as the apple of his eye, but when they are loweſt, and in the worſt condition? In the 32. of Deuteronomy, verſ. 10. He found him in a deſert land, and in the waſt howling wilderneſs: he led him about, he inſtructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. When they came out of Egypt, and when they were in the howling wilderneſſe, the Lord did keep his people then at the apple of his eye: and if you look into the 2d. of Zachary, you ſhall find he did the ſame when they came out of Babylon, Zach. 2. verſ. 6. Ho, ho, come forth & flee from the land of the North, deliver thy ſelf, oh Zion, that dwelleſt with the daughter of Babylon: there were ſome that ſtaid ſtill behind, that were ſo wedded to their houſes there, that they would not ſtir out of Babylon, ſome of the worſt of them; concerning theſe he ſays at the 8th verſe, After the glory hath he ſent me to the Nations which ſpoyled you; for, he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye: ſinful poor unworthy people, that would not go home when they might, would not go out of Babylon when they might; yet how tender was the Lord of them? But I ſay, I ſhall need go no further than the Text: the Lord hath ſaid it, that He will give his Angels charge over you, to keep you in all your wayes, that you daſh not your foot againſt a ſtone. So that thus then you ſee the ſingular care and providence of God over his ſervants and children, That's the Firſt. But then 2ly. this care and providence of his is managed by the hands of Angels, the Angels are the people that are eſpecially betruſted with this protection of the Saints. Miſtake not; not as if the Lord himſelf did quit his hands of their protection; though the Angels ſhould be our protection, yet if God ſhould withdraw his protection and preſence, we could not be ſatisfied with the protection of Angels. Look into the 33. of Exodus, and you ſhall ſee there, how the Lord by Moſes tells the people, he would ſend an Angel before them, I will ſend an Angel before thee, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perezite, the Hivite, and the Jebuſite; unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midſt of thee, for thou art a ſtiff-necked people, leſt I conſume thee in the way: what then? and when the people heard theſe evill tidings they mourned, and no man did put on him his ornaments; when they heard theſe evil tidings: what was this evil tidings, that their enemies ſhould all be driven out before them, and that God would honour them with an Angel to go before them? yes, they called this evil tidings, becauſe they had not the Lord himſelf to go before them. So that the bare preſence of Angels without the Lord himſelf, could not ſatisfie a gracious ſoul: ſtill therefore God himſelf is our great protectour: and therefore the angels are ſaid to be ſent forth; are they not all miniſtring ſpirits ſent forth? and who is it that doth ſend them forth? he whoſe they are: whoſe are they? they are called in the firſt of the Hebrew, the angels of God; and the Text ſays they are his angels, His: Indeed in the 18th. of Matthew, they are called the Saints angels, Take heed that ye deſpiſe not one of thoſe little ones, (10. verſ.) for I ſay unto you that in heaven their angels, &c. their angels, and yet His angels; theirs in regard of profit, for they are ſent forth for the good of the elect; but His in regard of authority, they are his ſervants, his miniſters. So that I ſay ſtill, though the angels have the management of this protection, yet God is the protectour of his people: but yet I ſay, though God be our great protectour, and God doth not quit his hands of this protection; ye he hath betruſted the protection of the Saints very much in the hands of the angels; and therefore they are called Cherubims: and wherefore are they called Cherubims? becauſe they do hide and protect. Upon this account the King of Syrus is called a Cherub, in that place of Ezekiel, becauſe of his hiding and protecting the people that were under him. And the angels have wings, not onely for their ſwiftneſs, but for protection; the wings being for protection, as well as to fly with. So that I ſay, though God be the great protectour of his people, yet that protection lyes much on the hands of angels. But what need God make uſe of angels to protect his people? he is able to do it alone; and is it not for Gods diſhonour to make uſe of them for the protection of his people? no, 'tis for the honour of God: for the more honourable the ſervants are, the inſtruments are, that a King or Prince doth uſe for the protecting of his people, the more honourable is that King or Prince. Now the angels, they are honourable creatures; frequently they are called Gods: thou haſt made him a little lower than the angels, in the Hebrew 'tis a little lower then the Gods: worſhip him all ye Gods (in the Hebrew) all ye Angels. Well! but why are the Angels called into this protection, into this Nurſery, into this Miniſtry? God hath ſeveral creatures that he can uſe to protect and ſafe-guard his people; why are the Angels in a ſpecial manner called into this work of protection of the Saints? They are the fitteſt people in the world for this employment; fitteſt in regard of themſelves; fitteſt in regard of the Saints. They are fitteſt in regard of themſelves; for, firſt, they are an exceeding ſtrong and potent people; who more fit to look to, and care for the concernments of the Saints and people of God, than thoſe that are ſtrong and potent? 'Tis ſaid of the Angels in the 103. Pſalm, that they excell in ſtrength; Bleſs the Lord ye his angels that excell in ſtrength, verſ. 20. They are called, powers in the Hoſt of God, they are the chariots and the horſe-men, in the 68. Pſalm, verſe. 17. The chariots of God are twenty thouſand, even thouſands of angels; thouſands of Angels: they are the chariots and horſemen in the Hoſt of God: other foot-companies he hath, but his Chariots and horſemen, they are the Angels. One Angel (you know) deſtroyed an hundred and fourſcore thouſand of the Hoſt of Aſſyria in a night; as one Conſtable will ſcare away twenty thieves, ſo one good Angel inveſted with Gods authority, is able to drive away a thouſand evil Angels, Devils; they are an exceeding ſtrong and potent people. 2ly. As they are an exceeding ſtrong and potent people; ſo they are a very knowing and a wiſe people: and who ſo fit to manage the affairs and concerns of the Saints, and people of God, and to protect and defend them, as a knowing and underſtanding people? ſuch are the Angels: the devils indeed, they are called knowing? but the Angels, good Angels, they are called intelligencers: you know what Joab ſaid to David; Thou art for wiſdome as an angel of God: ſayes our Saviour, no man knoweth that day and time, no not the angels in heaven; as if the Angels in heaven knew every ſecret, and were acquainted with every hidden thing, they are an exceeding knowing people, very prudent, and very wiſe. 3ly. As they are an exceeding knowing and wiſe people, ſo they are alſo exceeding active and expeditious, quick in diſpatches; who more fit to defend and protect the Saints and people of God, than thoſe that are active, expedite and quick in their diſpatches? ſuch are the Angels. In the firſt of Ezekiel ye read, that every one had four wings; why? becauſe of their great activity and expedition, and the quick diſpatch they make in all their affairs. Again; as they are an active and expeditious people, ſo they are a people very faithful both to God and man; in the 103. Pſalm, they are ready to do Gods will, and not only ready to fulfil Gods will, but they do it; Bleſs the Lord all ye his Angels that excel in ſtrength, (20. verſe) that do his commandments, hearkning to the voyce of his word. Bleſſe ye the Lord all ye his hoſts, ye miniſters of his that do his pleaſure. They are very faithful; and who ſo fit to do this work, to attend and look to the concernments of the Saints, and people of God, as thoſe that are faithful. 3ly. As they are an exceeding faithful people, ſo they are a people that are very loving to the Saints and children of God, very loving; otherwiſe they were not fit to be their nurſes: what is a nurſe without love? they are loving to the Saints: Do is not (ſaid the Angel unto John) I am thy fellow ſervant; don't give divine worſhip to me, I am thy fellow ſervant; fellow ſervants are loving to one another; they are fellow ſervants with the Saints. Are the Saints and people of God members of Chriſt, and is Chriſt their head? ſo is Chriſt the Lord of Angels; he is the Lord of Angels, and they follow him. In the firſt of Zachary, the 8. verſe; I ſaw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horſe, and he ſtood among the myrtletrees that were in the bottom; theſe Myrtle-trees in the bottom, are Saints in a low condition, And behold a man riding upon a red horſe, this is Chriſt; and he ſtood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him there were red horſes, ſpeckled, and white; behind him: mark, who are thoſe red horſes, ſpeckled and white, (in the 9. verſe) Then ſaid I, oh my Lord, what are theſe? and the angel that talked with me ſaid unto me, I will ſhew thee what theſe be; and the man that ſtood among the myrtle trees, anſwered and ſaid, theſe are they whom the Lord hath ſent to walk to and fro through the earth. Theſe are the Angels that ſtand behind Chriſt, that are the followers of Chriſt; they are his followers: the more union there is betwixt perſons, the more they love; and as the union is, ſuch is the love. If there be a natural union betwixt perſons, their love will be natural; if their union be civil, political, their love will be political, civil; if the union be ſpiritual, eccleſiaſtical, the love is ſpiritual, eccleſiaſtical, more than natural. Now the union that is betwixt the Angels and the Saints, it is a Church union. Ye are come, ſayes the Apoſtle in the 12 of the Hebrews, verſe the 22. unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jeruſalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general aſſembly and Church of the firſt born: ſo that they are of the ſame Church, the general aſſembly and Church of the firſt born, and therefore they muſt needs be an exceeding loving people to the Saints, and people of God, and therefore a people fit for this employment, of all other the fitteſt for this employment, to be employed under God for the protection of the Saints, fitteſt, in regard of themſelves. But then again 2ly. fitteſt they are for this employment in regard of the Saints; for who more fit to be employed in this protection under God, the protection of the Saints, than thoſe that are in ſome reſpect above the Saints, and in ſome reſpect beneath them; if a nurſe be above the child, ſhe may deſpiſe it, if the child be altogether above the nurſe, the nurſe cannot rule it. Now the Angels they are in ſome reſpect beneath, and in ſome reſpect above the Saints; they are above the Saints in regard of their nature, as you all know; but in ſome reſpects they are beneath the Saints, and below the Saints: for the ſecond perſon did not come into their nature, as he did into the nature of the Saints; he took not on him the nature of Angels, but he took on him the ſeed of Abraham; and in that reſpect the Saints are above them: and the Saints are cloathed with the righteouſneſs of Chriſt, ſuch a garment as never came upon the back of an Angel, herein the Saints are above the Angels: and the Saints and people of God, they are members of Chriſt, and therein above the Angels; Chriſt is the Lord of Angels, but you don't read that the Angels are the members of Chriſt. So that I ſay, in ſome reſpects the Angels are beneath the Saints, and in ſome reſpects above them; and ſo the more fit for this employment. Ye ſee how 'tis with a mean man that ſits at dinner at a Noble man's table; he ſits down at the table with the Noble man, and the ſervants of the Noble man, they attend upon him; it may be the ſervants are better men than he, but becauſe he ſits down at the Noble mans table, theſe ſervants attend upon him, as upon their maſter. Now the Saints and people of God are members of Chriſt, they have communion with Chriſt, and ſit down at his table; and therefore his followers the Angels, they attend upon the Saints and people of God; and thus now ye ſee why the Angels are in a ſpecial manner called to this work of protection of the Saints and people of God. Well, but then 3ly, why are the Angels called to this work of protection of the Saints, ſpecially in the time of Plague and peſtilence? why doth the Lord give a ſpecial charge to his Angels, to have a ſpecial care of his people in the time of the Plague and peſtilence, why at that time eſpecially? Firſt of all, that time is a time of the greateſt danger; when ſhould the Nurſe look unto the child, if not in the greateſt danger? now in the time of the greateſt danger, then come the angels to the ſuccour of Gods people. In the 32. chapter of Geneſis we read of the angels meeting of Jacob (at the 1. verſ.) Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him; and when Jacob ſaw them, he ſaid, this is Gods hoſt; they met him then: why then? he had a viſion when he went out from his Country, a promiſe in the way of a viſion, the angels aſcending and deſcending, and now he had the promiſe accompliſhed upon his return; why then? then he was in the greateſt danger, he was betwixt Laban and Eſau; and though he had paſſed the pikes of Laban, yet now he was to meet an old provoked enemy, a wicked man, Eſau: inſomuch that he was grievouſly afraid, and he prayed, Lord deliver me from the hand of my brother; well, and what then? then comes the angels; then comes this great danger, and then come the angels, and he called the name of the place Mahanaim; 'tis the ſame expreſſion that is uſed in the 6. chapter of the Canticles concerning the Jews returning unto their own Country, at the 13. verſe, Return, return, oh Shulamite, return, return, that we may look upon thee; what will ye ſee in the Shulamite? (in the Jews returning) as it were the company of Mahanaims, Mahanaims; two armies you read it, but 'tis the ſame word: why? poſſibly to ſhew that God will ſend an hoſt of angels to guard the Jews into their Country, as he ſent an hoſt of angels to guard their father Jacob into his Country. But I bring this to ſhew, that when the Saints and people of God are in greateſt danger, then come the angels to ſuccour them. Now the time of ſickneſs and of the plague is a time of great danger. 2ly. Look when all viſible means and helps fail, then is a fit time for inviſible help to come in. Now the help of the angel is inviſible, his hands are under his wings; you cannot ſee his help: when all viſible means and helps fail, then comes Gods inviſible help, then come the angels, a fit time for the angels. But 3ly. Look when the deſtroying angel is abroad, then is a fit time for the protecting angel to ſtep in, and be at work. Now in the time of the Plague and peſtilence, the deſtroying angel is abroad; only here then this queſtion doth ariſe, whether the deſtroying angel, and the protecting angel differ? whether they be divers, or the ſame? I ſhall reſolve it in two or three Poſitions. Firſt, although the ſame angel may deſtroy, and ſpare, as in David's time: yet the deſtroying angel, and the protecting angel ſeems to be divers; in the 7th. of Revel. four angels came out to hurt, and another came out to ſave: in the 9th. of Ezekiel, ſix men came out with their ſlaughter-weapons in their hands, and another came out to mark. The ſecond poſition is this; as the deſtroying and protecting angel may ſeem to be divers, ſo God doth ſometimes employ an evil angel to afflict and deſtroy good men, and doth ſometimes employ a good angel to afflict bad men; ſometimes God doth employ a good angel to afflict and deſtroy wicked men, as in the caſe of Sodom, they were good angels that deſtroyed Sodom: ſometimes on the other ſide, God doth employ evil angels to afflict (and ſhall I uſe the word deſtroy) good men; the Devil waſted Job, and killed his children. But 3ly. Though the angels may be thus employed, the deſtroyer, and the protectour; yet this is certain, that all protection of the Saints falls into the hands and the lap of the good angels, for he ſhall give his angels charge over thee; his, why his? in diſtinction from the devils and evil angels, that did not ſtay by him, but left him in the time of their apoſtacy: and they ſhall bear thee in their armes; Devils don't bear the Saints in their armes, therefore the buſineſs of the Saints protection, this falls wholly upon the good angels to do; but look, I ſay, when the deſtroying angel is abroad, then is a fit time for the protecting angel to be abroad too. Now in the time of the Plague and peſtilence, the deſtroying angel is abroad; therefore then eſpecially is the good angel to be at work for the protection of the Saints. 4ly. The time of the Plague, is a time when the Saints and people of God may want outward proviſion, good people may be ſhut up and ſtarved for want of victuals, in the time of the Plague: Now 'tis the work of the good angels to provide meat and victuals for the people of God ſometimes. In the firſt of Kings 19. verſ. 5. 'tis ſaid of Elijah, that as he lay and ſlept under a juniper tree, an angel touched him, and ſaid unto him, Ariſe and eat, and he looked, and behold there was a cake baked on the coals, and a cruſe of water at his head; and he did eat and drank, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the ſecond time, and touched him, and ſaid, ariſe and eat, becauſe the journey is too great for thee, &c. 5ly. The time of the Plague and peſtilence, as 'tis a time of want, want of proviſion; ſo 'tis a time when many of Gods people are put to go for't, to fly for't, to run for't, to ſeek abroad for their houſes and habitations, don't know which way to go; 'tis the work of a good angel to go before them, to order and direct their way. In the 24. of Geneſis, verſ. 7. ſays Abraham to his ſervant, He ſhall ſend his angels before thee; 'tis the work of a good angel to order, and direct, and guide the people of God in their way. Laſtly, the time of the Plague and peſtilence is a time when people need Phyſicians and Surgeons, Surgeons and Phyſicians againſt their malady; a good angel can do this, and ſometimes doth it: in the 5. of John, verſ. 4. For an angel went down at a certain ſeaſon into the pool and troubled the water, whoſoever then firſt after the troubling of the water ſtept in, was made whole of whatſoever diſeaſe he had; this is the work of an angel, to prepare a medicine; this is the work of an angel. Ay, but you will ſay, all theſe inſtances are extraordinary; what's this to me in this time of the Plague and ſickneſs, what's this to me? theſe are extraordinary things; does their miniſtry ſtill continue, or no? Mark! yes certainly: the Lord of hoſts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge; and how God was the God of Jacob, and how his refuge, ye heard even now: in the firſt of the Hebrews, 7th. verſe, 'tis ſaid, And of the angels he ſaith, who maketh his angels ſpirits, and his miniſters a flame of fire; Who maketh, in the preſent tenſe; as if 'twere always a doing, not who hath made, but who maketh; who maketh his angels ſpirits, and his miniſters a flame of fire, 'tis the preſent tenſe, 'tis continually a doing; and if you look into the old Teſtament, and compare the Cherubims that were in the tabernacle, with the Cherubims that were in the Temple, you ſhall find that the Cherubims that were in the tabernacle were but two, and the Cherubims that were in the Temple were four; why? but to ſhew that their protection ſhall rather be inlarged than leſſened; in the firſt Chapter of John, ſays our Saviour Chriſt there to Nathaniel, (laſt verſ.) Verily, verily, I ſay unto you, that hereafter ye ſhall ſee heaven opened, and the angels of God aſcending and deſcending upon the ſon of man; hereafter, this is a Goſpel truth, and the more you know and ſee the myſtery of the Goſpel revealed, the more will this myſtery be revealed to you; hereafter ye ſhall ſee heaven open, and the angels of God aſcending, &c. hereafter in Goſpel times; and pray mark the words of the text, He ſhall give his angels charge over thee, over thee; ſay you, I confeſs this a comfortable truth, the protection of Angels in the time of the Plague and peſtilence eſpecially, but what's this to me? yes, (ſays he) He ſhall give his angels charge over thee, over thee. Now pray tell me when you read the Commandments, Thou ſhalt not ſteel, thou ſhalt not commit adultery, thou ſhalt do no murder; do ye think that the Thou there doth belong to you? yes; I dare not ſteal, I dare not do any murder, I dare not commit adultery; for 'tis ſaid, Thou ſhalt not murther, thou ſhalt not commit adultery, thou ſhalt not ſteal, and this Thou belongs to me; and why ſhould not the Thee of the promiſe belong to you, as well as the Thou of the Commandement? Oh that thoſe that are afflicted and troubled in conſcience would think but of this one thing. If thou concerneſt thy ſelf in the Thou of the Commandment, thou art concerned in the Thee of the Promiſe; the thee of the promiſe concerns thee as certainly as the thou of the Commandment: and thus now ye ſee I have gone through the Doctrine. The Lord hath a ſingular care and providence over his people, eſpecially in the time of the Plague and peſtilence, which is managed by the hands of angels. God will take ſpecial order with the angels for the ſafety of his people in the time of the Plague and peſtilence. Now I come to the Application. If theſe things be ſo; firſt, great is the dignity of the Saints, of the Saints here on earth, though never ſo much deſpiſed by the world; they are attended with angels, they have angels for their attendants; is it not an honour to have ſuch attendants as theſe? the great ones of the earth think it an honour to have a company of glittering fellows attending upon them, and following them in reds and ribbands, and gold and ſilver laces. Oh the beggarly attendants of this earth, unto the attendants the Saints have, glorious angels attend them; 'twas much that Paul ſpake: All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, all are yours: Paul's, or Apollo's, or Cephas's; why what were they? they were Miniſters, and Miniſters are called angels, angels of the Churches; but not only theſe angels are the Saints attendants, but heavenly angels are the Saints attendants; ah what dignity, what honour is here? who dare deſpiſe any of the Saints or people of God, although they be never ſo mean? you ſee what our Saviour ſaith, Mat. 18. ver. 10. Take heed that you deſpiſe not one of theſe little ones; for I ſay unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven: that's the firſt. 2ly. If theſe things be ſo, why then ſurely the higheſt enjoyment, and the meaneſt employment commanded may and can ſtand together: what meaner employment than to attend upon a man that hath a plague-ſore running upon him? this the angels are to do, and they have the higheſt enjoyment at the ſame time; ſays he after, they always behold the face of my Father. So that then our higheſt enjoyments, and meaneſt employment commanded, may and can ſtand together; it may be you ſay, I won't go to my calling, 'tis a poor and mean calling, I ſhall not enjoy God in it: ay, but know this, you may enjoy God in the loweſt employment: the higheſt enjoyment and the meaneſt employment commanded, may and can ſtand together; that's the ſecond. 3ly. If theſe things be ſo, great is the Saints ſecurity, great is the Saints ſafety; are they not in ſafe hands, that are in the hands of angels? not of one angel, but many angels; if this be not enough, why the angels bear them up in their armes: if this be not enough, God himſelf carries them in his armes, as in the days of old; Gods eye is upon them, his ear is open to their cry; Chriſts left hand is under their head, and his right hand doth embrace them, all the angels attending upon them; Oh the ſafety and ſecurity of the Saints and people of God, even in the worſt of times, in the time of the Plague and peſtilence. 4ly. If theſe things be ſo; how good and gracious is the Lord unto you, you that are the Saints and people of God? how good and gracious is the Lord to you? no ſooner had David ſaid Pſal. 34. 7. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them; but the next words he ſubjoyns, Oh taſt and ſee that the Lord is good. Ay, here you may taſt and ſee the goodneſs of the Lord indeed, in the miniſtration of angels; that the angels nurſe you, and carry you up and down in their armes: the more you look into this, the more you will ſee how good and gracious the Lord is. In the 8th. Pſalm, when David had conſidered the creatures round, Lord (ſays he) what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the ſon of man that thou viſitest him; for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, for a time; all ſheep and oxen, and all creatures thou haſt put under his feet: He begins the Pſalm thus, Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! and becauſe his heart was full of the ſenſe of Gods love, he ends the Pſalm with the ſame words, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! ay, this is a taking thing indeed; here you may ſee how gracious and good the Lord is to you. 5ly. If theſe things be ſo; how infinitely are we all beholden unto Jeſus Chriſt, upon whoſe account 'tis that the Angels are your attendants in this time of the Plague and ſickneſs; he is the ladder that Jacob ſaw: Chriſts explains that ladder himſelf; You ſhall ſee heaven open, and the angels of God aſcending and deſcending upon the ſon of man; 'tis upon Chriſts account, all the miniſtry of angels is upon Chriſts account: here you have more than Adam had in the ſtate of innocency; whem Adam fell, then you read indeed of the Cherubims ſet to keep the tree of life, to keep Paradiſe; but you don't read that before the fall he had the angels to miniſter to him; but now in and by Jeſus Chriſt, we have the miniſtration of angels, we are reconciled unto all the angels, and not only ſo, but they are brought in to be our attendants. Oh bleſſed be God for Chriſt! why ſhould we not ſay, I love thee dearly, O Lord my Saviour, by whom I am made partaker of this infinite priviledge of the miniſtration of angels. 6ly. If theſe things be ſo; what a mighty difference is there betwixt the godly and the wicked, even in the time of the Plague. Your great deſire in this ſickneſs time, is that God would make a difference betwixt the one and the other; whatever outward difference there is, I am ſure there is this difference, the Saints and people of God have the angels to attend upon them, but the wicked have not. The Corn and the weeds are cut down by the ſame ſythe, by the ſame ſtroak; but the corn and the weeds are differenced. Two men, a godly man and a wicked man, lay ſick of the Plague at the ſame time: the wicked man hath little or no attendance when his friends leave him, it may be he hath no body to attend him, except it be a halberteer at the door; no Angels to attend him: but the good man, when all his friends are gone then come the Angels and comfort him, and attend upon him and he may comfort himſelf, and ſay, though my friends have left me, yet here are the Lords Angels to look to me and comfort me. What a mighty difference is there betwixt the one and the other? Oh who would not be godly? who would not get into Chriſt upon this very account? 7ly. If theſe things be ſo; why then, why ſhould we not truſt in the Lord in this day of great mortality, this ſickly time, this time of the Plague and Peſtilence? what, ſhall the Angels be your attendants, (now eſpecially) and won't you truſt in God? what have you ſuch a promiſe as this is, and will you not truſt in the Lord? ſhall the Lord himſelf be your protectour, and charge his Angels with you for ſuch a time as this, and will you not truſt in the Lord? 'Tis recorded of Alexander, that being in great danger, and to fight next day with his enemies, he ſlept very ſoundly the night before, and he being ask'd the reaſon thereof, ſaid, Parmenio wakes, meaning a great & faithful Captain of his, Parmenio wakes, ſays he. The Angels are called watch-men, they watch & are faithful, therefore you may be ſecure, quiet and at reſt; truſt in the Lord for ever upon this account, in this day truſt in the Lord. 8ly. If theſe things be ſo; then (friends) why ſhould we not ſtoop to any work commanded, though it ly much beneath us? Don't you think that the attending upon a ſick man, a man that hath a Plague-ſore running upon him, is a work that lyes much beneath Angels? yet the Angels do it becauſe 'tis commanded, though much beneath them, yet they ſtoop to it becauſe it is commanded: and what though a work ly much beneath you, yet if it be commanded, why ſhould you not ſtoop to it? you will ſay, ſuch a one is much beneath me, I wont lay my hand under his ſhooes, he is much beneath me; ah but the Angels lay their hands under your ſhooes, and the work they do for you is much beneath them; why ſhould we not be like our attendants? this is Angelical obedience; the Angels do you many a kindneſs, and never look for thanks from you, they do many a kindneſs that you are not aware of: why are you delivered, ſometimes you know not how? here's a hand under a wing, the miniſtration of Angels is the cauſe of it. But I ſay, the work they ſtoop to for you is much beneath them, and therefore why ſhould we not ſtoop to any work commanded, though it ly much beneath us? 9ly. If theſe things be ſo (friends) what manner of men and women ought we to be in all holy converſion? what, your attendants ſo holy, and you ſo unholy? let the women be covered, becauſe of the Angels, ſayes the Apoſtle; ſo ſay I, let us walk holily becauſe of the Angels, they are alwayes about us: if you be in company with a grave man, you won't giggle, nor be ſo frothy as with others; if a man have a ſervant attending upon him that is grave and ſober, he won't be frothy and vain; behold what grave and holy attendants there are about you; and will you giggle, and be frothy and vain? Oh what manner of men and women ought we to be in all holy converſation? But tenthly and laſtly, to conclude; if theſe things be ſo, why ſhould we not alwayes be found in that way, whereby we may come within the compaſs of this protection: in the 34. Pſalm it is put upon fearing God, they ſhall pitch their tents round about them that fear him; in this Pſalm it is put moſt upon truſting in God. In this 91. Pſalm, in this verſe, it is put upon (this protection of Angels is put upon) being in our way; They ſhall bear you up in their hands. He ſhall give his angels charge over thee to keep you in all your wayes, in all your wayes; your wayes: your wayes are Gods wayes, your way is the way commanded by God; if you be out of Gods way, you are out of your own way; if you be in your way, the Angels ſhall keep you even in the time of a Plague, and bear you up in their hands that you daſh not your foot againſt a ſtone; but if you be out of your way, I won't enſure you of ſafety. When Balaam went upon the devils errand an Angel met him and ſcared his aſſe, and the aſſe run his foot againſt the wall, daſhed his foot againſt the wall; the promiſe is, thou ſhalt not daſh thy foot againſt a ſtone; but he was out of his way, and the Angel met him and ſcared his aſſe, and his aſſe made him ruſh his legs againſt the wall. Jonah went out of his way, when he ran away from God; God bad him go one way, and he went another; well, what then? were the Angels with him for his protection? the very ſea would not be quiet, till he was thrown over-board; inſtead of Angels to protect him, he had a Whale to devour him. I confeſs indeed, through the free grace & mercy of God, the belly of deſtruction was made a chamber of preſervation to him, but he was out of his way; and inſtead of an Angel to keep him that he daſh not his foot, his whole body was thrown over-board. Sayes Solomon, As a bird from her neſt, ſo is a man out of his place; ſo long as the bird is in her neſt, it is free from the hawk, it is free from the birding peece, 'tis free from the nets, and ginns, and ſnares, as long as 'tis in her neſt; but when the bird is off her neſt, then ſhe is expoſed to many dangers. So, ſo long as a man is in his way, in his place and in his way, he is well, and under protection; but when a man is off his neſt, out of his place and out of his way, then is he expoſed to all danger[illegible: 1 letter] out, be but in your way, be but in your way, and then you may aſſure your ſelves of divine protection, and of the management thereof by the hands of Angels. Oh who would not labour alwayes to be in that way which God hath appointed him to be in! why ſhould we not alwayes conſider with our ſelves & ſay, But am I in my way? Old Mr. Dod being upon the water, and going out of one boat into another, ſlipped between them, & the firſt word he ſpake was this, am I in my way? ſo we ſhould alwayes be ſaying, but am I in my way? am I in my way? I am now idleing away my time, but, Am I in my way? Oh my ſoul, am I in my way? I am in my calling this day, without prayer in the morning, and reading the Scriptures; but am I in my way? Oh my ſoul, am I in my way? I am now in ſuch frothy company, where I get no good, but hurt; but am I in my way? ever conſider this, am I in my way? you may expect the Lords protection, and the Angels attendance, if you be in your way, but not elſe. Now then as ever you deſire the protection of the Almighty, and the attendance of Angels, eſpecially in this time of danger, ſickneſs, Plague and Peſtilence, let us all labour daily to look to it, that we be found in our way, the way the Lord hath ſet us in; and what I ſay to you, I ſay to my ſelf, and to all, wait on the Lord, and keep his way. FINIS. [illegible: 1 page] [illegible: 1 page] [illegible: 1 page] [illegible: 1 page]