Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. I. GOOD MEN ENJOY THE GRANDEST EXPERIENCES. 1. God is to them a Sun and Shield. These figures refer to our moral state as dark and dangerous. Alienation of the soul from God is a state of darkness. God is the Source of our light and life and joy. Our danger is - life is a great battlefield. We have protection from God if we are on his side. The battle is his. 2. He gives to them grace and glory. Grace is unmerited favour. The favour of God to man has been in the exercise of his mercy. "Hath not dealt with us after our sins," etc. Glory is the perfecting the work of grace, in the revelations and rewards of eternity. The beginning, the continuance, and the end of life are from God. 3. He holds back from them no good thing. This includes the bestowment of all real good. And he has given us a proof and pledge in the gift of Christ. "If God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all," etc. II. SOME GOOD MEN DO NOT ENJOY THE FULL EXTENT OF THESE PROMISES. 1. Because their characters do not answer to the description of the text. They do not walk uprightly, or only do so very imperfectly. None of us translates the theory of the Christian life into our actual practice. 2. They often mistake what are the good things of life. Many things, accounted good by the false judgments of the world, are bad. Things good for some men are bad for others. Things good for us at one time are bad at another. But the absolutely good things - good independently of all circumstances - are meant in the text. To walk in God's light; to see all things in the light that falls from his character; to enjoy his help and protection from spiritual danger; to have his grace now and his glory in prospect; - these are the good things they enjoy who walk uprightly. - S. Parallel Verses KJV: For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. |
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