---

It seems as if God had not done some thing for the psalmist which he wanted him to do; and this troubled the psalmist, and filled him with doubts. He found consolation in thinking how much God had done for him. If he could not see God in a particular circumstance, he could see God in his life. The varied movements in a factory are quite bewildering to us, but the master knows, and guides them all to ends of his fashioning.

I. GOD'S DELIVERANCE FROM BODILY PERILS. "Soul from death." The "soul" here is the animal life. Spiritual need is not, here, in the psalmist's mind. We all have had perils of death - from drowning, accident, or disease. Illust.: Hezekiah. Man walking in the dark, stopped at very edge of quarry. Do we keep the memory of God's restorations of imperiled life? In this God has "dealt bountifully with us." And we are bound to God by the claims

(1) of life given; and

(2) of life restored.

II. GOD'S DELIVERANCE FROM HUMAN SORROWS. "Eyes from tears." The thought here is of the trouble that causes grief-tears. We can look back over trials that were distresses, anxieties. Illustrate by the pathetic picture of David going up Olivet weeping, when fleeing before his willful son Absalom. Cannot bear to see a man disheartened unto tears. It is always a sad sight. It has been such to God. For us he has "wiped the tears away." Illustrate by the fact that, in our family discipline, we let the child cry; but it is very hard to us to see it cry; and all the while we mean to wipe the tears away. See the bountifulness of God in dealing with us thus.

III. GOD'S DELIVERANCE FROM MORAL TEMPTATIONS. "Feet from stumbling." Who can look over life and fail to see times when the "feet were almost gone, the steps had well-nigh slipped"? We are liable to fall. "Prone to wander." Exposed to temptation. We may learn a lesson from the spread of infectious diseases. Every thing depends on the measure of inward susceptibility. Then, should it not be our unceasing wonder that we have not fallen? Why have we not? There can be but one answer: "The Lord hath dealt bountifully with us." There is, then, a threefold memory-bend binding us to God, and ever setting us upon asking, "What shall we render unto the Lord for all his mercy to us?" There is one fitting answer: "I will pay thee my vows." We can just be God's servants, in all holy love and obedience. - R.T.

---

---

KJV: Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

WEB: Return to your rest, my soul, for Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you.