Psalm 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me: your mercy, O LORD, endures for ever: forsake not the works of your own hands. I. THE PSALMIST'S CONFIDENCE. The work of grace in the soul of man is but a begun work. I know it is perfect as it regards its principle; but as it regards its actings it is most imperfect. Look at our light; how feeble is it! How little do we see of sin's sinfulness — of the baseness there is in ingratitude! What a dim sight have we of Jesus! the glory of His person, the perfection of His atonement, His perfect righteousness, the sufficiency of His grace, the tenderness of His humanity, the sympathy of His nature — Friend — Brother! How little one enters into the holiness of His example! Now all this does prove that it is but a begun work. And yet, says David, "The Lord will perfect" it. It is His own; He will maintain it, He will deepen it, and He will finish it. Here is a blessed confidence in God, that He, who had "begun the good work," would "perform it" in the midst of all its ebbs and flows and changes; acknowledging it to be but a begun work, and yet declaring — "The Lord will perfect it." But the words imply more than this. It would seem as if David did say — He will give me the entire, the full and complete and everlasting possession and enjoyment of Himself in heaven. Faith shall soon be lost in sight; hope shall soon disappear in certainty; and prayer shall cease, and give way to endless praise. II. THE BASIS OF HIS CONFIDENCE. What is it? You may say, It is the promise. The promise is not the foundation. There must be a foundation for the promise. And what is the foundation of the promise? God; God in Christ. And here is a particular attribute, a particular perfection in God, singled out — signalized. "Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever." There is a sweetness and a power in the very monosyllable, "Thy mercy"; because it is peculiar to God, it is His own property, it distinguishes Him. The mercy of the creature is finite; the mercy of Jehovah is infinite. The mercy of the creature is changeable; the mercy of Jehovah is unchangeable. The mercy of the creature was of yesterday; the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting. It began in election; and when does it end? Never; but it issues in eternal glory. III. IN WHAT DID IT ISSUE? Carelessness? So say many. But the issue here is — prayer. "Forsake not the works of Thine own hands." It is a beautiful conclusion; it is a beautiful consequence; it is a blessed deduction. Because Thou "wilt perfect"; therefore "forsake not the works of Thine own hands." It is common-sense — the common-sense of religion. "I am, as Thy creature, wholly dependent on Thee; without Thee, faith must die, and hope expire; without Thee, love must decay and perish." (J. H. Evans, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. |
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