He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was _done_; he commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed _is_ the nation whose God _is_ the LORD; _and_ the people _whom_ he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse _is_ a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver _any_ by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD _is_ upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy: To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he _is_ our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. This Psalm is a remarkable thanksgiving, where the prophet calls upon all the saints, and those that fear God, to rejoice and give thanks unto God for his preserving the church so wonderfully in the midst of the world, in the midst of the kingdom of the devil, and exposed to so many evils and perils on every side,—to give thanks unto God, I say, who never forsakes the godly, and those that fear him, when tossed to and fro on such waves of temptation, nor suffers them to be overwhelmed, nor to perish, though conflicting in so perilous a manner. God, says David, created the heaven and this whole universe of things by his word. “He spake, and they were made:” therefore he is omnipotent, and nothing is difficult to him: and hence he can deliver his own from the midst of death, and from the midst of hell. And then, again, his goodness and his truth are exceedingly great and infinite. He regardeth and heareth the afflicted, he is ever present with them in the hour of temptation: and, as David says in another Psalm, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.”