If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me. Sermons
Though I walk in the midst of trouble. This suggests a particular phase of human experience. Sometimes troubles come upon us, crash after crash, until we are, like Job, utterly crushed; and can but clothe our selves with sackcloth, and sit in ashes. But the text indicates a more frequent, if less readily recognized, experience. The tone is gentler; there is no crashing of sudden calamity, no bursting of wild and desolating storms. The man is moving to and fro in the ordinary scenes of life, meeting his obligations and doing his duties. But everywhere things seem to go wrong; on all sides trouble, anxiety, worry, seem to attend him. He cannot get free night or day. These dog his steps continually. He walks in the midst of trouble. How true to universal experience all this is! I. WALKING IN TROUBLE IS A MOST DEPRESSING EXPERIENCE. The constant wearing produces a fixed weariness; the constant worry produces a fixed fretfulness; the constant fear of some new anxiety produces a fixed hopelessness. Because nothing goes right, we are too ready to say nothing ever will go right. And then the heart is taken out of us; we become unfitted for battling with difficulty, and so largely increase our troubles; we make them for ourselves, as well as have them made for us. And those we make for ourselves are always the worst to deal with. There is one striking illustration of this depressed mood in the life of David. He walked in the midst of various and well-nigh overwhelming troubles, and in a hopelessness that was both pitiful and sinful, he exclaimed, "I shall now one day perish by the hand of Saul!" It may further be shown that such depressed moods, responsive to surrounding worry, very much depend on natural disposition, especially on that nervous irritability which can always see, or expect, evil. II. WALKING IN TROUBLE MAKES US CRY FOR DIVINE REVIVING. "Thou wilt revive me." The state of mind induced by the circumstances is much more important in the sight of God than the circumstances. And this the good man recognizes. His hope is in God's soul-cheering, God's inward reviving, God's keeping from despair, and freshening trust and hope. And God does lead the walker out "into a large place," in his own good time. - R.T. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me. Homilist. I. THE UNIVERSAL LAW OF HUMAN LIFE. What is it? It is expressed in one word — walking. Life is a "walk," a journey. It is constant action, and constant action onward. Life is never stationary; it is always on the move; it is motion. 1. Constant change of position. Every step puts us in a fresh point of space, and surrounds us with something new in scenery. So with life. 2. Constant approximation to destiny. The grave for the body; retribution for the soul. II. THE SADDENING PROBABILITIES OF HUMAN LIFE. Life is not only a walk, but a walk often "in the midst of trouble." Since the introduction of sin into our world, it has never been a walk of unmingled pleasure. All here meet with trials on the way; but some more than others. Physical — bodily pains and diseases; moral — the conflict of passions, the remorse of conscience, and the dread of death; social — disappointments in business, the treachery of false friends, the corruption of the world, and the bereavement of death. III. THE GRAND SUPPORT OF HUMAN LIFE. "Thou wilt revive me." 1. God is an all-sufficient support. He is equal to all our emergencies. "He is our refuge and strength," etc. There is no enemy from which He cannot deliver us; there is no trial under which He cannot support us; there is no danger from which lie cannot rescue us. In the fiery furnace, in the surging waters, in the "valley of the shadow of death," He is all-sufficient. 2. He is the only effective support. No one else can support you. "Put not your trust in princes." 3. He is an available support. Available to all at any time. "Call upon Me in the time of trouble and I will deliver you." () Evangelist. I. THE CHRISTIAN'S TROUBLES. They arise from — 1. The world within. An evil heart of unbelief; prone to distrust God, to dishonour God, to wander from God. 2. The world without. Bodily affliction, worldly trials, opposition from the world, etc. 3. The world beneath. Satan distils his venom in secret. II. THE CHRISTIAN'S COMFORTER. Though he walks in trouble, he does not walk alone. Though persecuted, he is not forsaken; though cast down, not destroyed. 1. God can enter the inner world and bring comfort there, and spread a banquet within, and open a little paradise (Psalm 94:19; Job 35:10; Psalm 27:5). 2. God can enable us to meet the world without. So He enabled Jacob to meet Esau; Elijah, Baal's priests; David, Goliath. 3. God can effectually subdue the world beneath. "Bruise Satan under your feet." III. THE CHRISTIAN'S CONFIDENCE. What it is proved. 1. What He is — God of mercy. 2. What He has done. 3. What He has promised to do. () People David, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Anger, Delivers, Distress, Enemies, Foes, Forth, Haters, Midst, Preserve, Quickenest, Revive, Round, Salvation, Save, Sendest, Stretch, Stretched, Stretchest, Though, Trouble, Walk, Wilt, WrathOutline 1. David praises God for the truth of his word
4. He prophesies that the kings of the earth shall praise God
7. He professes his confidence in God
Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 138:7 1270 right hand of God
5214 attack
8792 oppression, God's attitude Psalm 138:7-8 1265 hand of God Library Faith in Perfection
In the opening, I must remark that this is not the heritage of all mankind. The word, "me," in the text, cannot be appropriated by any man, unless he, in some respects, resembles the character of David, who penned this psalm. The text, however, itself, is its own guard. If you look at it, you will see that there is in its bowels a full description of a true Christian. I will ask you three questions suggested by the words themselves, and according to your answer to these three questions, shall be …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life Epistle Xlvii. To Dominicus, Bishop.
To Dominicus, Bishop. Gregory to Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage [1454] . We have received with the utmost gratification the letters of your Fraternity, which have reached us somewhat late by the hands of Donatus and Quodvultdeus, our most reverend brethren and fellow-bishops, and also Victor the deacon with Agilegius the notary. And though we thought that we had suffered loss from the tardiness of their coming, yet we find gain from their more abundant charity; seeing that from this delay in point …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great The Coming Revival
"Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"--PS. lxxxv. 6. "O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years."--HAB. iii. 2. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thy right hand shall save me."--PS. cxxxviii. 7. "I dwell with him that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive the heart of the contrite ones."--ISA. lvii. 15. "Come, and let us return to the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He will revive us."--HOS. vi. 1, 2. The Coming …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession Forasmuch as Each Man is a Part of the Human Race...
1. Forasmuch as each man is a part of the human race, and human nature is something social, and hath for a great and natural good, the power also of friendship; on this account God willed to create all men out of one, in order that they might be held in their society not only by likeness of kind, but also by bond of kindred. Therefore the first natural bond of human society is man and wife. Nor did God create these each by himself, and join them together as alien by birth: but He created the one …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage Prayer Out of the Deep.
Hear my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my petition. Take heed unto me and hear me; how I mourn in my prayer and am vexed.--Psalm iv. 1, 2. In my trouble I will call upon the Lord, and complain unto my God; so shall He hear my voice out of His holy temple, and my complaint shall come before Him; it shall enter even into His ears.--Ps. xviii. 5, 6. The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon Him; He also will hear their cry, and will help them.--Psalm cxlv. 18, 19. In the day when I cried …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep Wherefore a Few Witnesses, which the Lord Deigns to Suggest to My Mind...
32. Wherefore a few witnesses, which the Lord deigns to suggest to my mind, I proceed to mention, from out the teaching of Christ concerning humility, such as perhaps may be enough for my purpose. His discourse, the first which He delivered to His disciples at greater length, began from this. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." [2105] And these without all controversy we take to be humble. The faith of that Centurion He on this account chiefly praised, and said …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity. Letter Xliii a Consolatory Letter to the Parents of Geoffrey.
A Consolatory Letter to the Parents of Geoffrey. There is no reason to mourn a son as lost who is a religious, still less to fear for his delicacy of constitution. 1. If God makes your son His son also, what do you lose or what does he himself lose? Being rich he becomes richer; being already high born, of still nobler lineage; being illustrious, he gains greater renown; and--what is more than all--once a sinner he is now a saint. He must be prepared for the Kingdom that has been prepared for him …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux That the Ruler Should be Always Chief in Action.
The ruler should always be chief in action, that by his living he may point out the way of life to those that are put under him, and that the flock, which follows the voice and manners of the shepherd, may learn how to walk better through example than through words. For he who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exhibit the highest things. For that voice more readily penetrates the hearer's heart, which the speaker's life …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great How those that are at Variance and those that are at Peace are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 23.) Differently to be admonished are those that are at variance and those that are at peace. For those that are at variance are to be admonished to know most certainly that, in whatever virtues they may abound, they can by no means become spiritual if they neglect becoming united to their neighbours by concord. For it is written, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace (Gal. v. 22). He then that has no care to keep peace refuses to bear the fruit of the Spirit. Hence Paul …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Sense in Which, and End for which all Things were Delivered to the Incarnate Son.
For whereas man sinned, and is fallen, and by his fall all things are in confusion: death prevailed from Adam to Moses (cf. Rom. v. 14), the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised (cf. Ps. xlix. 12), while the devil was exulting against us;--then God, in His loving-kindness, not willing man made in His own image to perish, said, Whom shall I send, and who will go?' (Isa. vi. 8). But while all held their peace, the Son [441] said, …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers.
St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. He has suffered thus, partly from a certain obscurity in his style of writing, partly from the difficulty of the thoughts which he attempted to convey. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. He learnt his theology, as we shall see, from Eastern authorities, and was not content to carry on and develop the traditional teaching of the West; and the disciple …
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Psalm 138:7 NIV
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