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.