In danger.
The position of the psalmist is that of a man in danger. His enemies are strong and cunning; they are bent on his destruction, and spare no pains to accomplish his ruin. At such a time the godly man has one resource which never fails him. The psalm speaks to us of—
I. THE PERILS WHICH SURROUND US. These are twofold.
1. That of violence. (Psalms 140:4, Psalms 140:11.) Not the violence of the sword and the spear, but that of fierce, forcible temptation, coming down upon us suddenly, and likely to overthrow us in one fateful and fatal hour; that which attacks and overwhelms the soul "between the morning and the evening."
2. That of deceit. (Psalms 140:5.) We think we are secure, we are not aware that any evil awaits us, we are like the man in whose path the secret pit is digged; but in truth we are going on in the direction of some serious sin—selfishness, worldliness, pride, vanity, intemperance, impurity, unbelief, or some other moral or spiritual calamity—and if we are not arrested in our way, we shall fall in and be destroyed. It is the unseen and unsuspected peril which is most to be dreaded in the path of life.
II. A SENSE OF LAST DELIVERANCE. (Psalms 140:7.) As we look back we see that our strong Deliverer, "the strength of our salvation," has put forth his power on our behalf, has "covered our head in the day of battle." There were times when our virtue or our piety was energetically assaulted; but, in the strength of God, we stood firm and were unmoved. There have been more ways than one in which our moral and spiritual integrity has been in danger of being undermined, but the peril is past; we are true, we are free, we are pure; we have "kept the faith;" the Lord has been on our side; the aim of the enemy has been turned aside.
III. OUR REFUGE IN GOD. David makes his appeal to God (Psalms 140:1, Psalms 140:4, Psalms 140:6, Psalms 140:8-11). He prays God to preserve him while he brings his enemies to destruction. In his position as aspirant to, or occupant of, a throne, assailed by unscrupulous and sanguinary enemies, and in his day when war was regarded as a natural, if not necessary, element in a nation's life, it is perfectly comprehensible that David would desire, and would ask God to accomplish, the ruin of his foes. To him with his measure of enlightenment, not to have done this would have been positively irreligious, for he would then have failed to bring to God what he regarded as his first duty as well as his pressing need. It is otherwise with us. In the light which shines on our path, it becomes us:
1. To ask daily and earnestly for God's help against our spiritual adversaries, that we may defy and defeat them.
2. To pray for our individual opponents, that they may be won to all that is wise and good. The "burning coals" we, as Christian men, desire should fall on the heads of our enemy, are those of Romans 12:20—the complete triumph of magnanimity, in which hatred is converted to love, and cruelty to kindness.
IV. OUR ASSURANCE OF VICTORY. (Romans 12:12, Romans 12:13.) Our confidence is in the God of righteousness. He will not regard with indifference either the arrogance and assumption of the proud and strong, or the suffering of the poor and weak. Divine Providence is not "on the side of the strongest battalions;" it was for the small band under Gideon, and against the mighty host of the Midianites; it was for the hundreds under Judas Maccabaeus, and against the thousands under Antiochus of Syria; it was for the small vessels of England, and against the great galleons of Spain. God is "for the right," and that very often means for the poor and the despised; and they who fear him and do his will and live his life will not seek his help in vain. The night of adversity may be long, but "the morning cometh," and" joy cometh in the morning." "Surely the righteous shall give thanks" unto him. The upright will dwell before him now, conscious of his favor and his blessing; they will dwell in his nearer presence soon, partakers of his glory and his joy.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY