Fear drove David to pray these words. Something whispered in his ear: "What if, in the end, you are gathered with the wicked after all?"

That fear, though marred by unbelief, springs mainly from a holy anxiety. It rises from remembering past sins. Even the pardoned man asks, "What if, at the end, my sins are remembered? What if I'm left out of the catalogue of the saved?" He thinks about his present unfruitfulness—so little grace, so little love, so little holiness. And looking ahead, he sees his own weakness and the countless temptations that beset him. He fears he might fall and become the enemy's prey.

The weight of past sin, the reality of present evil, his prevailing corruptions—all of it compels him to pray with fear and trembling: "Do not gather my soul with sinners."

Reader, if you have prayed this prayer, and if David's psalm describes your heart, then stop being afraid. You will never be gathered with sinners.

Do you have David's two marks? The outward walking in integrity and the inward trusting in the Lord? Are you resting on Christ's sacrifice? Can you compass the altar of God with humble hope? If so, then rest assured: with the wicked you shall never be gathered. That calamity is impossible.

At the judgment, like gathers with like. "First gather the tares and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn." If you are like God's people, you shall be with God's people. You cannot be gathered with the wicked because you are too dearly bought. Redeemed by the blood of Christ, you are his forever. And where he is, there must his people be.

You are loved too much to be cast away with reprobates. Shall one dear to Christ perish? Impossible! Hell cannot hold you! Heaven claims you! Trust in your Surety and fear not!