His countenance doth behold the upright— His countenance beholds equity; i.e. with approbation and favour. Houb.
REFLECTIONS.—Temptation and prayer brighten the true believer's soul; none, perhaps, were ever more exercised with the one, or abundant in the other, than the son of Jesse. We have him here,
1. Expressing his confidence in God, as an answer to the temptation suggested to him. In the Lord put I my trust, not in any human contrivances, or human help, but solely in him, whose faithfulness and truth shall be my shield and buckler. Note; Fixed and abiding faith in God, like an anchor, sure and steadfast, keeps the soul unmoved in every storm.
2. Repelling the temptation suggested to him by his fearful friends. How say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain. Note; Uprightness is no protection from persecution; the most blameless characters must expect in the world to meet the greatest malignity. No marvel: they testify of the world, that its deeds are evil.
3. He suggests the solid grounds on which his trust was founded, in opposition to all unbelieving fears.
The Lord is in his holy temple, high and lifted up, able to see and to defeat the counsels of the wicked: the Lord's throne is in heaven, a throne of grace for all the needy supplicants: a throne of justice, for all who are oppressed with wrong; a throne of judgment, to condemn and sentence the wicked to his deserved punishment. His eyes behold, he is acquainted with all the difficulties and distresses of his suffering people; his eyelids try the children of men, piercing the secret recesses of their bosoms, and beholding every device conceived against the faithful; and therefore, having such a guardian, they may contentedly trust him. For the Lord trieth the righteous, putteth them in the furnace of affliction, not to consume, but purify them, to strengthen their faith, exercise their patience, and make his great love more known to them. But the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth; although at present they may seem prosperous, and not plagued like other men, there is a louring cloud over their head, ready to burst in an eternal storm. The day is near, even at the door, when upon the wicked, those who persist in their iniquities, and die as they live, servants of corruption, he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; sudden as a snare it shall seize them, and horrible, yea infinitely more horrible than that storm of vengeance which broke upon the devoted cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, shall this tempest of Divine wrath overtake them; the scorching fire consuming the body, curst only with immortality to be tormented, and furious blasts of his displeasure beating upon the guilty soul, with anguish unutterable and eternal. Read, sinner, and tremble, for this is the portion of thy cup. The sweet droughts of sin which now intoxicate thee will put into thy hand this cup of trembling, to be thy portion for ever and for ever. For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, and will certainly manifest it by such exemplary punishment on the sinner, and protection of those who, from a divine principle of faith and love, walk in holiness before him. His countenance doth behold the upright; he regards them with the tokens of his favour, lifts up now the light of his countenance to comfort and support them, and will bring them to that beatific vision, where in glory they shall see him face to face. Happy the people who are in such a case!