The Psalmist, in his childlike faith, saw deeper and more truly than
many would-be theologians and thinkers of this day, when he proclaimed
in one breath 'Good _and_ upright is the Lord.' Let us not forget that
the Apostle, whose great message to the world was, as the last utterance
completing the process of revelation, 'God is Love,' had it also in
charge to 'declare unto us that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness
at all.'

II. And so, secondly, mark the calm confidence builded on this
conception of the divine character.

What a wonderful 'therefore' that is!--the logic of faith and not of
sense. 'Good and upright is the Lord; _therefore_ will He teach sinners
in the way.' The coexistence of these two aspects in the perfect divine
character is for us a guarantee that He cannot leave men, however guilty
they may be, to grope in the dark, or keep His lips locked in silence.
The Psalmist does not mean guidance as to practical advantages and
worldly prosperity. That may also be looked for, in a modified degree.
But what he means is guidance as to the one important thing, the
sovereign conception of duty, the eternal law of right and wrong. God
will not leave a man without adequate teaching as to that, just because
He is loving and righteous.

For what _is_ love, in its loftiest, purest, and therefore in its divine
aspect? What is it except an infinite desire to impart, and that the
object on which it falls shall be blessed. So because 'the Lord is good,
and His tender mercies are over all His works,' certainly He must
desire, if one may so say, as His deepest desire, the blessedness of His
creatures. He is a God whose nature and property it is to love, and His