NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By W. N. Glenn
THIS psalm expresses unbounded confidence in the Lord, in the strongest possible terms, even in the most difficult situation. "The Lord is my light and my salvation." What more could he be? The writer adds, by way of emphasis, "The Lord is the strength of my life." Now what he was to David, he will be to any one who will delight in his service, and implicitly trust him under all circumstances. A light is for a guide, and God has given us the only true light in existence—the Scriptures of truth. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. 119: 105. All other pretended lights are but darkness. "To the law and the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8: 20. "Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness," is the warning of Him who is our salvation. THE second and third verses teach us to trust God in times of present trouble. David had had much bitter experience with enemies, from the very beginning of his public life, and he learned to lean upon God even "though an host should encamp against" him. This dependence always led him to give thanks for deliverance, and to recognize the hand of the Lord in the discomfiture of his enemies. Of all the sins laid at David's door, we have no record of his being boastful. His testimony in Ps. 46: 1 is that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Just what man needs is present help; although this is the point where faith is generally weak, yet present trouble is that which really concerns him most. If one can pass present trial, and through it learn a lesson of confidence in God, he is better prepared for future emergencies. It was confidence in present help that sustained Elisha when surrounded by the host of the king of Syria, and he was enabled to say to his servant, "They that be for us are more than they that be with them." 2 Kings 6: 16. Herein is one great benefit of having a High Priest which can be "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4: 15, 16. IN the fourth verse the psalmist expresses one supreme desire, namely, to dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of his life; and "to behold the beauty [or excellence] of the Lord." As he could not expect to dwell in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, which would not be built till after his death, we must infer that this "one thing" that he so much desired and sought after was eternal life in the kingdom of God. There and there only could he expect to see the "beauty of the Lord." We are told through Isaiah that to him that "walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly," bread shall be given and his water shall be sure; that his eyes shall see the "King in his beauty" and "behold the land that is very far off." Isa. 33: 15, 16. If it was wisdom for David to make this the "one thing" which he desired, is it not wisdom for us to follow the advice of the Son of David: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [food and raiment] shall be added unto you"? Matt. 6: 33. "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion," &c. Verse 5. This is not only applicable to David's time and circumstances, but is also prophetic. It holds good for all time. Read also Ps. 91 throughout, which is a promise of deliverance from the plagues of the last time of trouble upon the wicked, as shown in verse 8. This same time is brought to view in Dan. 12: 1, a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; but the Lord's people "shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." "TEACH me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies." Verse 11. In Eastern countries a public way was a very prominent feature. Kings and emperors built highways as memorials of themselves; as well as for public convenience. Being constructed in a very substantial manner, hills being graded or cut and ravines being filled, these ways remained for hundreds and thousands of years, and were so plain that they could not be mistaken. There are in existence to-day portions of the famous Appian Way, over which St. Paul traveled from Puteoli to Rome (Acts 28), and which was constructed by Appius Claudius some three hundred years before the Christian era. Christ used a well-understood figure when he said, "I am the way," &c. John 14: 6. See also Isa. 35: 8, 9. It was said of John the Baptist, that he was "the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." Matt. 3: 3. Then the Lord has a way, and he would have us walk in it. Isa. 30: 21. But let us note how John the Baptist went about preparing the way of the Lord, and we may get a clue to what that means. The first thing he did was to call upon the people to repent, for the kingdom of Heaven was at hand. What next? Those who heeded the warning were baptized by him, confessing their sins. "Sin is the transgression of the law." Then John's idea of preparing the way was to have the law properly observed before the King's arrival. There were grave impediments in the way, which the King would not approve when he should come. "Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people." Isa. 57: 14. There were general and gross violations of the law, and to have everything in an acceptable condition when the King should come it was important that they repent and observe his commandments. In the first psalm we find a contrast which makes this point still plainer. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners," &c. (So sinners have a "way" also.) "But his delight is in the law of the Lord." Then the opposite of the sinner's way is a delight in the law of the Lord, which must be the "way of the righteous," further contrasted in the sixth verse with the "way of the ungodly." It is conclusive then that the way of the righteous is the Lord's way, for a blessing is assured to those who walk in it. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." Ps. 119: 1. But if it was so important to have a return to the observance of the law that the way might be prepared for Christ's first advent, when his mission was all love and mercy, how much more important to be found with the way prepared, and the law intact, when he shall come the second time to take "vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. 1: 8. W. N. GLENN.