Psalms 48:14

For this God - Who did all these wonderful things: -

Is our God - He is our portion, and he has taken us for his people.

He will be our guide - Through all the snares and difficulties of life: -

Even unto death - He will never leave us; and we, by his grace, will never abandon him. He is just such a God as we need; infinite in mercy, goodness, and truth. He is our Father, and we are the sons and daughters of God Almighty. Even unto and in death, he will be our portion.

For this God is our God forever and ever - The God who has thus made his abode in the city, and who has manifested himself as its prorector. It is our comfort to reflect that such a God is "our" God; that he has manifested himself as our friend; that we may habitually feel that he is our own. And he is not only our God now, but he will be such for ever and ever. A feeling that the true God is "our" God - that he is ours and that we are his - always carries with it the idea that this is to be "forever;" that what is true now in this respect, will be true to all eternity. He is not a God for the present only, but for all time to come; not merely for this world, but for that unending duration which awaits us beyond the tomb.

He will be our guide even unto death - The Septuagint and the Vulgate render this "he will rule or govern ποιμανεῖ poimanei - reget) forever." The more correct rendering, however, is that in our version, which is a literal translation of the Hebrew. Some have translated it upon death, על־מות ‛al-mûth; others, beyond death; but the true idea is that he will be our guide, or will conduct us all along through life; that he will never forsake us until the close has come; that he will accompany us faithfully to the end. The thought does not, of course, "exclude" the idea that he will be our guide - our protector - our friend - beyond death; but it is simply that as long as we live on the earth, we may have the assurance that he will lead and guide us. This he will do in behalf of those who put their trust in him

(a) by the counsels of His word;

(b) by the influences of His Spirit;

(c) by His providential interpositions;

(d) by special help in special trials;

(e) by shedding light upon our path when in perplexity and doubt; and

(f) by support and direction when we tread that dark and to us unknown way which conducts to the grave.

Man needs nothing more for this life than the confident assurance that he has the Eternal God for his guide, and that he will never be left or forsaken by Him in any possible situation in which he may be placed. If God, by His own hand, will conduct me through this world, and lead me safely through the dark valley - that valley which lies at the end of every traveler's path - I have nothing to fear beyond.