You remember, I started out with the text:  “This is my comfort in my affliction.”  I have tried to give you some bits of counsel as to the means and ways by which the afflicted may be comforted physically.  I now turn to the means and ways by which they may be comforted spiritually.  But here a difficulty confronts us at the very start.  We cannot make pathological examinations of the soul’s distress, and conclude from these what therapeutic agents to employ for its relief, as we can in that of the body.  In the last we are governed almost exclusively by the visible and tangible symptoms; but regarding the first, we are deprived of all these, and are compelled to rely mainly upon the oral testimony of the sufferer himself.  I have repeatedly been called to the bedside of the dying in compliance with their wish to receive some comfort, some consolation in their last moments, before launching out on the unknown deep of eternity.  But, alas! with the exception of a few, paid to humble and obedient followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, nearly all such visits have caused me to feel my own absolute incompetence to do them any good, and only left me to witness the sun of their life go down in clouds and darkness.  But David says:  “THIS is my comfort in my affliction.”  In saying this he must have in mind some particular idea; some state of feeling springing out of some previous preparation of heart, which he can claim as his comfort in his affliction.  The few verses preceding the text give a clew to this very state of mind and heart.  Let us look over them and see what it was.  In verse 44 he says:  “I will keep thy law continually for ever and ever.”  Verse 45:  “I seek thy precepts.”  Verse 46:  “Of thy testimonies also, I will not be ashamed.”  Verse 47:  “I delight myself in thy commandments which I have loved.”  These declarations make manifest David’s love for the Lord; and the joy springing out of this love is what he calls his comfort in his affliction.

It was once my privilege, and I can say my happy privilege, to pass a night beside the dying bed of a faithful minister of the Word.  His deathless and joyful spirit took its flight from earth about four o’clock the following morning.  He did not suffer much pain, and had strength to express his feelings and thoughts to a limited degree.  His mind was clear.  He was dying of a hemorrhage which no power on earth could check.  His comfort in his affliction was so great that from the joy and peace in his soul he distinctly said to me, in these exact words:  “This is the happiest night of my life.”  He would sometimes say:  “I love God.  I love all his dear people.  I will soon join the spirits of just men made perfect.”  About four o’clock in the morning he asked to be turned in the bed, and he was gone.  Ah, friends, this brother had comfort in his affliction; nay, more, unspeakable comfort in death.  This is what all may enjoy in a greater or less degree, who are laid on beds of affliction.  A good life, a life lived in obedience