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There is a wonderful ministry of contrast in this varied psalm. A diamond resting upon black plush or velvet shines with a more dazzling lustre. And so it is with the bright patches in this psalm, they are lifted into a still whiter radiance by their surroundings. Take this bit of black environment: "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow." And now take this gracious bit of light lying just upon the very fringe of the dark country: "Gracious is the Lord and righteous; yea, our God is merciful! The Lord preserveth the simple." And here, again, is a similar contrast: "I was greatly afflicted; I said in my haste, All men are liars." How sweet is the music that follows! "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" My text is therefore born of the brighter season, when the storm is dying and rumbling away in the distance, and the sun is out again. We find him overwhelmed in the contemplation of Divine benefits. "All His benefits toward me." He is amazed at the richness and the multitude of the favours which surround him. He is engirt by the vast crowd of Divine guests! Into whatever room of his house he enters, the guests are there. In highway and byway they throng his steps! Now, here is a very matured attainment of the spiritual man. To perceive and appreciate our benefits necessitates a very refined soul. That is so upon the merely human plane. There are some men who cannot appreciate kindness. They either never see them or they misconstrue them. They are the victims either of dulness or pride, and both these foul spirits make this kind of appreciation impossible. But this spiritual numbness is even more apparent in our relationship to the Divine. We receive multitudes of benefits, but we do not see the Divine mark upon their foreheads. We take them in, but they are not revealed to us as the King's bounty. It is amazing how fine is the perception of other souls! They never open their eyes without seeing the presence of the hosts of God. "The mountains are full of horses and chariots." "Having nothing," they yet possess all things. Now, this is a fine perception which can be cultivated by continual exercise. We can have our "senses exercised to discern." It is amazing how we can cultivate even a bodily perception. We can train it so as to discover even more minute distinctions. And it is the same with the senses by which we realize the presence of the Divine. But the exercise must be deliberate. We must set about in dead-set purpose to discern the mercies of the Lord. We must just be on the look-out for them as a botanist is on the look-out for wild flowers as he walks the country lanes. You must sit down to-night, for instance, and range over your life to-day, and seek out with eager eyes the mercies which have been about your path. Get hold of Frances Ridley Havergal's "Journal of Mercies," and she will help you in the cultivation of the finer sight. And then the happy issue is this, that what begins in deliberate exercise becomes an instinctive habit. Our souls can become habituated to the perception. Day after day your life would appear more and more filled with the bountiful guests of the Lord. What is the issue of such contemplation? The fountains of desire are unsealed. Love awakes, and yearns to make some return unto the Lord who has poured His benefits upon us. "What shall I render unto the Lord?" Have I ever used that word? If such phrase has never leapt to my lips it is because I have never gazed upon the mercies of the King. What return can I make? Now, mark this; the first answer which comes from a soul that has attained to fine spiritual perception is this — "I will take the cup of salvation." How exceedingly strange it all is! He asks what he can render, and he answers that he will further take! And this is the very essence of true gratitude. The best return we can make for a gift of God is to take a higher gift. Have you thanked Him for your daily bread? Then the best return you can make is to take the bread of life. Have you thanked Him for your sleep? Then the best return you can make is to take His gift of rest and peace. Have you thanked Him for your health? Then the best return you can make is to seek His gift of holiness. "I will take the cup of salvation." I will take the finest thing upon the Lord's table! He has given me this gift, now I will take a bigger gift! But that is not the only return the psalmist makes. "I will pay my vows unto the Lord now." When the cords of death compassed him he had made a strong and secret vow. He said to himself, "If I get over this I will live a more pronounced life unto the Lord! If I get my strength back, I will use it for the King." "If I get out of this darkness, I will take a lamp and light the feet of other men!" And now he is better again, and he sets about to redeem his vow. The midnight vow was redeemed in the morning! As soon as he was out of the peril he remembered his covenant. "Now!" There must be no delay. In this sphere delays are attended with infinite peril. Aye, and he will surround the redemption of his vow with publicity. "In the presence of all His people." He will do something publicly which will strongly proclaim him on God's side, and tell to all men that he has given his devotion to Him. And that must be our way. The vow we made in secret must be performed openly. We must do something to indicate that we have passed through a great experience, and that we are remembering the benefits of the Lord. We can speak His name to another. We can write some gracious letter to a friend. We can attach ourselves publicly to the Master's Church. We can commit ourselves openly and outwardly as professed followers of the King.

(J. H. Jowett, M.A.)

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KJV: What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?

WEB: What will I give to Yahweh for all his benefits toward me?