“Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.”—Psa. lxiii. 7.

I wish to speak on the important use of Christian experience in the confirmation of faith. I say in the confirmation of faith, for there is the widest possible difference between confirmation and commencement. Experience may confirm the faith when it already exists, but the faith must obviously be there before there can be any experience of its result.

At the outset of our Christian course we have nothing to do but throw ourselves absolutely in naked trust on the sure promises of the covenant of God, and rest exclusively on what He has done and promised. We have nothing then to do with our own history, our own feelings, or our own progress, it is Christ and Christ alone on whom the soul must rest for life. And so, if we look to the real foundation of faith, it must be to the last day of our pilgrimage. It is a fatal-moment for us if we are led to look away for a single moment from Him. But at the same time we must remember that we are not always at the beginning of our Christian life. One who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ and walked with Him for many years is not in the same position as one who is to-day seeking Him for the first time. He has had the experience of the loving-kindness of the Lord. He has never found Him to fail in any of the anxieties of his life, and if he could trust many years ago when he had nothing but the bare promise, how much more may he trust the Saviour now when the truth of His word has been tried and tested in all the varied experiences of life?

The Lord Jesus Christ is described as “a sure foundation;” [63a] sure, because He is the foundation laid by God; sure, because of His own eternal Godhead; sure, therefore, as an object of simple trust before a person has had any experience of His grace. To the trembling sinner who has hitherto been a total stranger to Him, and has never known anything of His love, even to him He is a sure foundation, and though knowing Him only through the word, that trembling sinner may come to Him and trust. But according to that same verse He is also a tried foundation. He has been tried by the whole church of God for eighteen centuries and has never once been found to fail any one that has come to Him in faith. He has been tried by us who have known Him for the greater part of our lives, and we are not to ignore all He has done for us, but say, as St. John did, not merely that we have believed, but that “we have known and believed the love that God hath towards us.” [63b]

Now this is the principle of the text. The Psalm was written when David was in great trouble, having taken flight from Saul in the wilderness of Judah. He was there hidden in such caves as Adullam, and cut off from the sanctuary of God. But it is a very cheerful and thankful Psalm. He was not downhearted because of his troubles, but he had such an assurance of the loving-kindness of the Lord that his heart was full of praise. He could praise Him, and that with joyful lips, even in the wilderness. The reason was that he could trust Him, and though he was only a young man his trust had been confirmed by experience. He had been in difficulty almost the whole time since his call, but he had found a strong arm with him all the way, and therefore he said, “Because thou has been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.” In this verse there are two things to be observed—

I. The Thankful Recognition of Help already given.

The Lord had helped him through many difficulties and he thankfully recognized the help. We do not know to what particular act of help he referred. It may have been to his victory over Goliath, or to the escape from the javelin of Saul. Or it may be to the daily, hourly help given to his own soul in all the difficulties of his situation; to that help which finds no place in history, but which is the unceasing source of life and strength to the child of God. But whatever was the peculiar character of the help, it is perfectly clear that it was accepted and recognized. He asked for help, he found it, he acknowledged it, and he was thankful for it.

Let us learn the lesson that we should not be always praying for help, and fearing to acknowledge it when given. It is our privilege to ask for the gift, but it is also both our privilege and duty to acknowledge it.

II. The Joyful Assurance for the Future.

He knew that he believed in a God that changeth not, just as we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,” [64] and the result was the assurance that He who had helped him thus far would help him to the end. He knew that his God would not change, and therefore he was happy and confident though he was in “a dry and thirsty land.” [65a] His joy did not depend on circumstances, but on God, and being confident in His unchanging grace he could be happy anywhere. He used to delight in the Sanctuary, and we read in verse 2 how he had there seen in his own soul God’s power and glory. But the same Lord who had helped him in the Sanctuary would help him also in the cave, and therefore he was not an unhappy man even in the wilderness, but he said, “Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee.”

And this was no new principle in his mind, for we find him acting on it when he was quite a youth. It was the principle that carried him into the conflict with Goliath, for when Saul dissuaded him from the attempt, he said, “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” [65b] Thus the recognition of past help ought to lead to confident trust. If we have found help actually given, if we have reason to believe that God is helping now, we may boldly look forward into the future, and be perfectly confident that He will help to the end.