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In the Bible "the cup" is used to represent the condition of a man, his circumstances, and his portion (Psalm 11:6; Psalm 16:5; Psalm 23:5; Psalm 60:3; Psalm 75:8). The cup of salvation is the condition of deliverance, which this psalm celebrates, not the drink-offering appointed by the law, not the cup of blessing. Noah's deliverance was a cup of salvation. "To call upon the name of the Lord" is a phrase of greater power than to call upon the Lord. There is a reference, in the use of the word "name," to the manifestations of God, to historical Divine manifestations (Exodus 3:13-15).

I. GOD GIVING.

1. A personal God.

2. Something which the personal God has provided and arranged, held out to His creatures.

3. A recognition of a relation with us upon God's part, and of dependence upon our part.

4. Kindness shown. The cup of blessing is a revelation of love.

II. MAN TAKING. Here it may be said, Will he not invariably take? Must he not take? The taking here is not a simple laying hold of that which God gives, but the use and enjoyment of what God bestows. To "take the cup of salvation" is to receive a blessing in all its fulness, to the utmost limit of our receptive capacity, and of our power to accept and to enjoy.

III. GOD'S SERVANT SEEING GOD IN WHAT HE TAKES. There is a name of God on every cup and in each act of offering a cup. The words, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, represent the God who is to be seen in the lives of these men. But God is as really in the lives of Robinson, and Smith, and Jones, as in the lives of the patriarchs. God is in health and in healing, in wealth and in extrication from poverty, in prosperity and in lifting up out of adversity. In His giving and working and ministering and protecting, God is ever writing His name. One point of difference between the godly and ungodly is that the former see God in connection with their cup, and that the latter see Him not. As far as a landscape without sunshine is inferior to a landscape upon which the sun sheds his rays, is the appearance of blessings when separated from God, to the same blessings when regarded as the gift of His hand.

IV. WORSHIP, THE FRUIT OF WHAT WE RECEIVE AND SEE. "And will call upon the name of the Lord." Past and present gifts on the part of God should encourage us in three things — prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

(S. Martin.)

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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?