Psalm 119:4-6

“You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.”

It is impossible to read the Psalm before us and not see that true religion is altogether of a practical nature. Doubtless, in the first instance, the Inspired Volume reveals to us a way of reconciliation with our offended God, through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ; but its ultimate object is, to bring our hearts into a conformity to the mind and will of God. In the words before us we see all that is most interesting to the child of God:

I. The believer’s indispensable duties.

God commands us, not only to return to him in a way of penitence, but to walk before him in a way of holy obedience.

This he requires throughout the Holy Scriptures.

He requires it by Moses, Deuteronomy, 5:29;
and the prophets, Jeremiah 7:22-23;
by Christ also, Matthew 28:20;
and his holy Apostles, 1 Peter 1:15-16.

Indeed, to bring us to holiness of heart and life was the very end for which he gave his only-begotten Son, 1 John 3:8, and for which Christ himself died, Titus 2:4. And every command is enforced with an authority which it is at our peril to disregard, James 2:10-12.

He requires, too, that in this duty we exert ourselves with “diligence”.

This is again and again insisted on, Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 11:18; Deuteronomy 11:22, both in relation to the keeping of the heart, Proverbs 4:23, and to the whole of our deportment through life, 2 Peter 1:10; 2 Peter 3:14. We are particularly called to “set our heart” to this work, Deuteronomy 32:46, that we may understand it in all its parts, and perform it in its utmost extent. In a word, “This is the will of God, even our sanctification, 1 Thessalonians 4:3.”

How the true saint stands affected towards his duties, may here be seen in:

II. The believer’s impassioned desire.

The genuiness of a Christian is seen far more in his desires than in his actual attainments.

He feels and mourns over his manifold defects.

It might be supposed, that the more holy any man were, the more self-sufficient he would be; but the very reverse of this is the truth; for, the more holy any man is, the clearer and more enlarged are his views of God’s holy law; and, consequently, the deeper his sense of his short-comings and defects, Romans 7:9. Hence he complains with Paul, “O what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Romans 7:24.”

He desires the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, to remedy these defects.

He knows, by sad experience how liable he is to be deceived, even while he is endeavoring to do the will of God. “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked! Jeremiah 17:9,” and easily betrayed into error, by its prejudices, its passions, its interests.

And sin itself also is deceitful, putting on, in ten thousand instances, the garb of holiness, and the semblance of duty, Hebrews 3:13.

And Satan is a subtle adversary, that has at command ten thousand wiles and devices, whereby to ensnare him! 2 Corinthians 11:3.

What then, shall the Christian do? He can look only to God, for his Holy Spirit to guide him aright and to direct his steps, Proverbs 3:6. Hence, from his inmost soul, he prays, “Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip! Psalm 17:5.” Yes, “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ! 2 Thessalonians 3:5.”

But, in the midst of all his troubles, we may behold:

III. The believer’s assured encouragement.

Were he left to himself, he well knows that he must perish. But “his hope is in the Lord his God.”

That which is required of him, is, to be upright before God.

God “requires truth in the inward parts, Psalm 51:6.” However defective we are in our attainments, there must be no insincerity in our desires. We must “account all God’s commandments concerning all things to be right, and must hate every false way, verse 128.” In our regard to them, there must be “no partiality, no hypocrisy, James 3:17;” the smallest commandment must not be considered as light, Matthew 5:19, nor the greatest commandment be deemed “grievous, 1 John 5:3.” “Lord, what will you have me to do, Acts 9:6” must be his daily prayer; and to fulfill every command of God, the constant habit of his mind.

With this one acquisition, he has nothing to fear.

“God will uphold the upright man, Psalm 37:17.” Satan may tempt him; his own indwelling corruptions may assault him; and he may at times be so harassed, as to be almost at his wit’s end! Psalm 77:7-9;” but “God will keep him, by his own power, through faith, unto everlasting salvation, 1 Peter 1:5.” The weaker the Christian feels himself, the more “will God perfect his own strength in his weakness, 2 Corinthians 12:9.” Nor shall “the hope that has been formed in him ever make him ashamed, Romans 5:5.” No, “he shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; and shall not be ashamed or confounded, world without end, Isaiah 45:17.”

Be then, brethren, Christians indeed.

Get just views of your duty, both towards God and man; And be like-minded with God in relation to it, desiring nothing but to be, and do, all that God himself requires; And know where all your help and hope is; not in yourselves, but in the Lord your God, who alone can “guide you by his counsel, so as ultimately to bring you to his glory! Psalm 73:24.”

“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 118:27-28

“The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you!”

However plainly this Psalm refers to David, we are sure that a greater than David is here. The words as applied to David, convey an exceedingly grand and important meaning. He had met with many obstacles in his advancement to the throne of Israel. Oftentimes had his life been sought by Saul; and since the death of Saul there were many formidable conspiracies against him. No sooner was he made king over Israel, than the Philistines sought, and that repeatedly, to destroy him, 2 Samuel 5:17-18; 2 Samuel 5:22; and it was only through the special intervention of God himself that he was able to prevail against them. It appears that many other of the surrounding nations also conspired against him verse 10-12. Four times does he repeat, and, in the last, with a very expressive simile, “They compassed me about.” but through the same Almighty power he was enabled to subdue them. At last, after more than seven years opposition from all the tribes of Israel, 2 Samuel 5:4-5, he was firmly fixed upon the throne, and “the stone which had been so long rejected by the builders, was made the head cornerstone, verse 22.”

This event reflected great “light” upon all God’s purposes respecting him. Darkness had hung over him for a long period; but it was now dispelled; and he saw clearly these two important truths:

That God’s counsel, by whoever opposed, shall stand.

That those who trust in the Lord, however tried they may be, shall never be confounded.

But, as we said, a greater than David is here. It was generally acknowledged among the Jews themselves that David was a type of the Messiah, and that this Psalm had an especial reference to Him who was in due time to sit upon the throne of David. Hence the acclamations which were used by the people on the occasion of David’s installation, were used by the Jews in reference to Christ, Matthew 21:9; and he vindicated their conduct in this particular Matthew 21:16; and afterwards appealed to this very Psalm in confirmation of his predictions respecting his rejection by them, and his subsequent elevation to the throne of David, Matthew 21:42.

In like manner, after the death and resurrection of Christ, Peter, “when he was filled with the Holy Spirit,” expressly applied to Christ this very passage, and affirmed in the presence of all the Rulers and Elders of Israel that it was accomplished in the exaltation of that Jesus whom they had crucified, Acts 4:8; Acts 4:11.

Now in this event, the exaltation of Christ to the throne of glory, God has indeed “showed us light;” and it will be a profitable subject for our meditation at this time, if we consider:

I. The light which God has shown us.

Previous to the resurrection of Christ, all was darkness; the disciples themselves doubted whether they had not been deceived in their expectations respecting him. But from that event, and his consequent ascension to the right hand of God, we learn infallibly,

1. The efficacy of Christ’s atonement.

Had he not risen, we might have conceived of him as a great Prophet indeed, but as nothing more than a prophet, who, like multitudes who had preceded him, sealed his doctrines with his own blood. But he had spoken of his death as a ransom to be paid for the souls of men; and how could we have known that that ransom was accepted, if his resurrection, which he himself taught his disciples to look forward to as the proof and evidence of his acceptance, had not been effected?

But when we see that he did rise from the dead, and ascended to Heaven in the presence of his disciples, and sent the Holy Spirit according to his Word to bear testimony concerning him—then there is no room left for doubt; we are perfectly sure that his offering was accepted by the Father, and that by his obedience unto death he has wrought out eternal redemption for us! Romans 1:4; Romans 8:34.

2. The sufficiency of Christ’s grace.

Even when our blessed Lord was on earth, the whole creation, animate and inanimate, terrestrial and infernal, were obedient to his will; how much more therefore, now that he is exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and has all fullness treasured up in him for the benefit of his people, must he be able to “do all things which we call upon him for!” If he says, as he did to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you”—then we may safely adopt Paul’s language, and say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” If all enemies are put under his feet, they shall assuredly be put under ours also; even “Satan himself shall be bruised under our feet shortly.”

3. The excellency of Christ’s salvation.

Behold what has taken place with respect to him! He is exalted to the throne of God, and possessed of all the glory which he had with the Father before the worlds were made. The same glory is reserved for us also, Luke 22:29, and a participation of that very throne which his Father has given to him, Revelation 3:21.

Believer, contemplate all the glory and felicity of your exalted Head; and then see what is prepared for all his members, “your body shall be like unto his glorious body;” your soul shall be transformed into his perfect image; and all the glory which his Father has given him, shall be your inalienable and everlasting inheritance! John 17:22. 1 Peter 1:4.

What a glorious light is this! Let it lead us to contemplate:

II. The returns which it calls for at our hands.

Surely such discoveries as are here made to us should call forth our devoutest affections; they should lead us,

1. To surrender ourselves entirely to God.

The sacrifices which David and Solomon offered unto God were almost without number, 1 Chronicles 29:21. 1 Kings 8:62-63; but the sacrifice of a broken and contrite spirit, or of a devout and grateful heart, outweighs them all! Psalm 50:13-14; Psalm 51:16-17. Whether the sacrifices were ever “bound to the horns of the altar,” we are not informed. But sure enough our hearts need to be bound; for they are ever ready to “start aside as a broken bow,” and “to backslide from God as a wandering heifer, “and we should labor incessantly to say with David, “O God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise.”

The example of Abraham may assist us in this particular. The offering of his son was a dark dispensation; but, when God arrested the arm of Abraham, and forbad him to inflict the fatal wound, a light beamed in upon his soul; he saw a risen Savior presented to him under the image of his restored son; and instantly “he took the ram which was caught in the thicket, and offered him up for burnt-offering in the stead of his son, Genesis 22:13.”

Let the sight of a risen Savior operate in like manner upon us; let us take the offering which all of us have at hand, and which we know will be pleasing to the Lord, even “the offering of a willing heart,” and let us present it a living sacrifice to God, as our reasonable and most delightful service, Romans 12:1 with Hebrews 13:15.

2. To rejoice and glory in God as our portion forever.

Like Paul, we may say of Christ, “He has loved me, and given himself for me.” Indeed, without this appropriation of God and his blessings to our own souls, we can never attain to a joyful and thankful spirit; but it is the privilege of every believer to say of Christ, “He is my friend, He is my beloved!” God approves of this language, by whoever used, provided only it is used in sincerity and truth, “You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, I will exalt you.” If under the Old Testament, believers could say, “My beloved is mine, and I am his!” then much more may we regard him as “the strength of our heart, and our portion forever.”

ADDRESS.

1. To those who are yet in darkness.

Long was the night with which David was enclosed, insomuch that he sometimes feared he should “one day perish by the hands of Saul;” yet at last the day dawned upon him, and “God showed him light.”

In the same way, dark were the dispensations towards our blessed Lord, until in his resurrection and ascension the true light was made to shine.

Do not let any of us then indulge desponding fears; let us know assuredly, that “the counsel of God shall stand,” and that “those who trust in him shall never be confounded.” Indeed even “in our darkness, the Lord will be a light unto us;” and soon “our light shall rise in obscurity, and our darkness be as the noon-day.”

2. To those who have been “brought out of darkness into God’s marvelous light”.

Happy, happy you, who behold a risen Savior, and see the fullness which you have in him! You may be sweetly assured, that, as he is able, so also he is engaged to “save your souls to the uttermost, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for you.”

But let this light have its proper influence upon your minds. “Walk as children of the light” and of the day; yes, “walk in the light, as he is in the light.” If you do indeed “behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” “it is God the Lord who has shown it to you;” and “you, as his peculiar people, are called to show forth his praises! 1 Peter 2:9.” Do this then in the way before prescribed; give up yourselves wholly unto him; and take him as your only, your everlasting, portion!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 117

“Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!”

This is the shortest of all the Psalms; but it is by no means the least interesting; the energy with which it is expressed abundantly marks the importance of the truths contained in it, and the feelings with which it should be read by us. The same opinions are surely contained in many other Psalms; but to a mind that is rightly disposed, they are ever new; they need no embellishment to adorn them, no eloquence to set them forth. If any man can hear or reflect upon them without emotion, the fault is in himself alone.

I. Let us consider the Psalm in a general view.

Here is a call to the whole world to praise and adore their God. Those perfections which they are more especially called to celebrate are:

1. The greatness of his mercy.

Reflect on his sparing mercy. Consider the state of the whole world, which has so cast off their allegiance to God, that “he is not in all their thoughts!” Consider the inconceivable mass of iniquity that has been accumulating now nearly six thousand years; and yet we are spared! Once indeed God destroyed the world; but only once. On some few occasions God has marked his indignation against sin; but on very few. An Achan, an Uzzah, an Ananias, have been set up as witnesses for God, that he hates iniquity; but these only serve the more strikingly to illustrate the astonishing forbearance of our God! Let every Christian look back upon his own personal transgressions, and then say whether he himself is not an astonishing monument of God’s forbearance.

But if we so admire the sparing mercy of our God, what shall we say of his redeeming mercy? What words can we ever find sufficient to express the wonders of God’s love, in substituting his own Son, his co-equal, co-eternal Son, in our place, and laying the iniquities of a ruined world on him? Here we are altogether lost in wonder. The idea of redemption is so vast, that we cannot grasp it. We assent to it; we believe it; we trust in it; but it so far exceeds all our comprehension, that it appears rather like “a cunningly-devised fable,” than a reality.

We see a little of the suitableness and sufficiency of this salvation; but only “as in a looking-glass darkly;” it is still a wonder that we view it at all; spelling it out, as it were, from a few scattered hints, and guessing at what we cannot comprehend. The freeness with which it is offered also, no less surpasses knowledge.

By the way in which God himself follows us with offers, and entreaties, it should seem almost as if his happiness, rather than ours, depended on our acceptance of it. The continuance of these offers, made as they are from year to year to people who only pour contempt upon them, and trample on that adorable Savior who shed his blood for them. O! what an emphasis does this give to that expression in our text, “His merciful kindness is great towards us!”

Should not the whole universe adore our God for this?

2. The inviolability of his truth.

Were his truth considered in reference to his threatenings, it would be a solemn subject indeed; but we are called to notice it at present only in connection with his promises. All the mercy which God was pleased to grant to man, he has made over to us by an everlasting covenant, which was confirmed with an oath, and ratified with the blood of his only dear Son. There is not anything which fallen man can want, for body or for soul, for time or for eternity, which has not been made the subject of a distinct promise. And who ever heard of one single promise failing him who trusted in it? Who ever heard of one sinner rejected, who came to God in the way prescribed?

To the Jewish nation many specific promises were made; Did anyone of them fail? Did not Joshua, after the final settlement of the Jews in Canaan, bear testimony for God in this respect, in the presence of the whole assembled nation, and appeal to them for the truth of his assertions? Joshua 23:14. And have not all of you, who have ever rested in, and pleaded, God’s gracious promises, been constrained to bear a similar testimony in his behalf?

Let the whole world then adore and magnify the Lord on this ground; and never be weary of acknowledging, that “his mercy endures forever. See Psalm 136, where it is repeated twenty-six times in as many verses.”

Let us now proceed to consider the Psalm,

II. Let us consider the Psalm with a more immediate reference to the Gentile world.

The Psalm is in reality a prophecy; and so important a prophecy, that Paul expressly quotes one part of it, Romans 15:11, and gives, as it were, an explanation of the remainder, Romans 15:8-9, where God’s truth and mercy are both specified, as illustrated and confirmed by Christ.

It declares the calling of the Gentiles.

In this sense it has been interpreted, even by some of the Jews themselves; and we are sure that this is its true import, because an inspired Apostle has put this construction upon it. And are not we ourselves evidences of its truth? Are not we Gentiles? Has not God’s mercy reached unto us? Are not his promises also fulfilled to us? The promise to Abraham was, that “in him, and in his seed, should all the nations of the earth be blessed;” and this promise was made to him while he was yet uncircumcised, in order that the interest which we uncircumcised Gentiles had in it might be more fully manifest, Romans 4:11.

Behold then, we are living witnesses both of God’s mercy and truth! His promises are fulfilled to us, yes, and are yet daily fulfilling before our eyes. The blessings of salvation are poured down upon us in rich abundance. The Church is daily enlarging on every side of us. Both at home and abroad the Gospel is running and glorified, to an extent that has never been seen since the Apostolic age. And the time for its universal diffusion through the whole earth is manifestly drawing near. We have seen enough with our eyes to assure us, that the fuller accomplishment of God’s promises may be expected in due season; and that, at the appointed hour, “all the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdom of our God, and of his Christ.”

In this view, all the Gentile world are called upon to bless and praise their God.

You, who are here assembled, arise and praise your God. Consider what mercy has been shown to you; consider what truth has been displayed towards you. Arise, I say; yes, again and again would I repeat it: Arise and praise your God!

And, you remotest nations of the earth, O that our voice could reach to you! O that you knew your obligations to your God, and the blessings that are in reserve for you! The Savior was called, “The Desire of all nations;” and such indeed he ought to be. Well! if you know him not, and consequently rejoice not in him, we will rejoice for you; for he is coming to you; the messengers of the Lord Almighty are going forth into every quarter of the globe; and the word that reveals him to you is translating, in purpose and intention at least, into all the languages of the earth; and we anticipate with joy the time, when all the heathen shall serve him, and “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

ADDRESS.

1. Are there any among you who have no disposition to praise the Lord?

Alas! there are too many, who have no delight in this blessed work, and have never spent one hour in it in all their lives! Ah! wretched ingrate! What do you think of yourselves?

Are you not blind, when you cannot see the perfections of your God?

Are you not base, when you can receive such mercies at God’s hands, and never acknowledge them?

Are you not brutish, yes, worse than brutish? for “the ox and donkey know their owner; but you know not,” nor acknowledge, your Creator, your Benefactor, your Redeemer.

See how far you are from being a holy Christian! Tell me not of your moral qualities; you are base ungrateful creatures; and, if a fellow-creature were to treat you as you treat your God, you would abhor him utterly. O repent, and embrace the mercy that is yet offered to you! Or else you will find that He, who is true to his promises, will be true to his threatenings also.

2. Are there among you some who desire to praise the Lord?

We believe it; we rejoice in it; we pray to God to increase their number a hundredfold. But do you not find that your thanks and praises are infinitely short of what the occasion for them demands? Yes, methinks there is nothing so humbling to a Christian as the services which he attempts to render to his God. However, still go on to serve him as you can, when you cannot serve him as you would.

To quicken your zeal, contemplate much and deeply the greatness of God’s mercy to you, and the inviolability of his truth. God has designed that such contemplations should be a rich source of comfort to yourselves, as they will be also of love and gratitude to him. And, while your own souls are filled with these divine affections, endeavor to diffuse the sacred flame, that all around you, and, if possible, all the nations of the world, may be stirred up to render unto God the praises due unto his name.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 116:15

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints!”

The meaning of these words will be best marked from the occasion on which we suppose them to have been uttered. The Psalm appears to have been written after Absalom’s rebellion. Most imminent were the dangers from which David had been delivered. For this mercy he renders thanks; and acknowledges, to the praise of his heavenly Protector, that, while his own son had sought his life, and instigated multitudes to seek his destruction, God had interposed for his deliverance, and had inflicted merited judgments on his enemies. So precious had God accounted his death, that he would make those to pay dearly who had labored to effect it; or, as it is said in another Psalm, “He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to him! Psalm 72:14.”

From the words which I have read, I shall take occasion to show,

I. In what light God regards the death of the saints.

We are not to understand that the death of his saints is pleasing to God, but rather, that he places a high value on them, and that he will allow none to accomplish their death with impunity.

1. So precious is their death, that God watches over them to prevent it.

Incessant is his care over his Church; as he has said, “I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day, Isaiah 27:4.” He assures us that “no weapon that is formed against his people shall prosper, Isaiah 54:17.” So that, as has been often said, “God’s people are immortal, until their work is done.” Not that they are at liberty to tempt the Lord by rushing needlessly into danger; but, if called by God to perform any duty, they have nothing to fear. David’s deliverances were numberless, as were those also of the Apostle Paul. Our Lord himself, too, was encompassed for years by those who sought his life; but none could prevail against him, until “his hour was come.” As weak as his people are, even “as lambs in the midst of wolves,” none can effect their ruin, “none can ever pluck them out of his hands.” “There is an appointed time” for every one of them to die; and, as they must wait, so must their enemies also wait, until that time is come.

2. So precious is their death, that God will come forth to avenge it.

God does allow his people to be assaulted, and to be put to death; but he will call their enemies to a severe account for all that they do against the lowest of his saints. It is said, “He who touches you, touches the apple of his eye! Zechariah 2:8.” We well know the force of this figure, if but a mote gets into our eye; and we may therefore understand from thence how God feels when any of his people are assaulted. He has told us, that “It would have been better for any man that a millstone were hanged round his neck, and that he were cast into the depths of the sea, than that he should offend one of God’s little ones!”

We see, in the history of David, how Ahithophel suffered for his treachery, and Absalom for his rebellion; and sooner or later shall every man who, either in a way of direct assault or of silent contempt, harms the people of the Lord, surely “give account thereof in the day of judgment 1 Peter 4:4-5.”

3. So precious is their death, that God will never allow it, until he has accomplished his good work within them.

To every one of his people has God assigned his proper work; to some, as to the dying thief, little more is given than an opportunity of confessing Christ; to others, as to Paul and John, are long and arduous labors allotted; but the times of all are in God’s hands; and he will enable every one of them to say, “Father, I have glorified you on earth; I have finished the work which you gave me to do, John 17:4.”

To his blood-thirsty enemies our Savior said, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again!” And even to the most potent among them we may say, “You could have no power at all against me, except it were given you from above.” Men may think they have accomplished their purposes; as when Peter was kept in prison until the very night preceding his intended execution; or as when Paul had been stoned, and left for dead. But “there is no counsel or might against the Lord.” He will make “the wrath of man to praise him; and the remainder of it,” which would counteract his purposes, “he will restrain.”

Such being God’s estimate of his people’s death, we may see,

II. In what light we also should regard the death of the godly.

However we may encourage souls on their removal to the eternal world, we cannot but regard their death:

1. As an event to be deplored.

The world little thinks how much they are indebted to the saints. It is for their sakes that the world itself is kept in existence. If their number were complete, and their graces arrived at the measure ordained for them, we have reason to think that an end would be put to the present state of things, as we know there will be at the day of judgment. The usefulness of some who are in very conspicuous stations is seen and acknowledged; but it is hard to conceive how much good may be done by the lowest saint, through the prayers which he offers up from time to time.

The prayer of Moses repeatedly saved the whole Jewish nation, when for their iniquities God had determined to sweep them all away.

Abraham prevailed, to the full extent of his petitions, in behalf of Sodom and all the cities of the plain.

And who can tell what blessings the prayers of God’s people have brought on our guilty land, or what blessings may be obtained through the most humble individual among them? As a public loss, therefore, I think the removal of any saint may be deplored. As it respects him personally, we may indeed, from a variety of circumstances, be led to rejoice in it; because he rests from his labors, and may therefore be accounted blessed; but as far as the work of God on earth and the benefit of mankind are concerned, his death may be regarded as a ground of general regret.

2. As a dispensation to be carefully improved.

In the death of a saint, God himself calls upon us to inquire, whether we, if we had been taken, should have been found ready. He bids us to “work while it is day, since the night is coming when no man can work.” He leads us to consider the blessedness of dying in the Lord; and bids us to “be followers of those who, through faith and patience, now inherit the promises.”

ADDRESS.

1. Those who make light of death.

It is surprising how little effect the death of any saint produces on the minds of survivors; and how speedily any impression wears away. The conversation of mourners assembled to attend a funeral gives us a melancholy picture of the human mind, and of the extreme indifference with which the concerns of eternity are regarded by us. But, brethren, will death appear so light a matter when we shall have entered into the eternal world? Is there one of us who will not wish that he had labored far move to prepare for his great account? I beg you, trifle not with your souls; but know assuredly, that one soul is of more value than the whole world.

2. Those who estimate death according to its real importance.

You well know the true value of life. Its great use is, to prepare for death. Let every hour be pressed into the service of your God. Let everything be valued according to its bearing on eternity. Above all, let the Savior be dear to you. It is He who has taken away the sting of death, and authorised you to number it among your richest treasures. Through his sin-atoning blood you may look forward to death and judgment with far other eyes than they can be viewed by the ungodly world. You may regard death as the commencement of eternal life, and the very gate of Heaven. Only take care, therefore, that in your experience it be “Christ to live,” and then you shall assuredly and that it will “be gain to die!”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 116:12-14

“What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me! I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.”

The influence of faith on our eternal salvation is obvious to all who have any just views of the Gospel; but its operation on the mind in this present life, and its efficacy to produce peace and holiness, are by no means generally understood.

In this view however the Psalm before us is peculiarly instructive. David, when his faith failed him, overlooked all the mercies that he had received at the Lord’s hands, and rashly concluded, that all which had been declared to him respecting the purpose of God to establish him on the throne of Israel, was false, “I said in my haste, all men are liars!” But, when his faith was strengthened, he no longer gave way to such querulous expressions and desponding fears; on the contrary, he then was full of peace and joy; and with the liveliest emotions of love and gratitude, exclaimed, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me?” That we may be brought to this happy state of mind, and may be led to abound in praise and thanksgiving, let us contemplate,

I. The benefits which our God has conferred upon us.

On such an inexhaustible subject as this, we can do no more than suggest a few leading thoughts, which may be more largely prosecuted in our secret retirement. To contemplate them in all their fullness will be the blissful employment of eternity. Let us notice:

1. God’s blessings of creation.

How distinguished is our condition above all other creatures upon the face of the earth! In bodily powers, it is true, we are exceeded by many; who have not only far greater strength and agility than we, but their senses also, of sight, and hearing, and taste, and smelling, and of feeling also, far more exquisite than ours. But the endowment of reason elevates us far above them all, and puts them all, in some degree at least, in subjection under our feet.

In the animals indeed is instinct, and that too in such perfection as almost to border on the province of reason.

But in us is a capacity to comprehend things of spiritual and eternal import, and an ability to know, to love, to enjoy, to glorify our God. Say whether these be not mercies which call for the devoutest gratitude at our hands?

Nor is it a small matter that we have been brought into the world at such a time, when the light of God’s truth is so clearly seen, and in such a place as Britain, where it shines forth, as it were, in meridian splendor. We might have been born of Mohammedan or Heathen parents; or even in our own country have been so situated, as to hear but little of Christ and his salvation. Surely we should not overlook these great benefits, nor forget what a mercy it is to live in this present day, when there exists such an ardent zeal for the propagation of the Gospel, and such unprecedented efforts are made for its diffusion throughout the world.

2. God’s blessings of Providence.

Innumerable are the deliverances which we have all received from seen and unseen dangers. Millions have been taken out of the world before they had attained our age; and it is to God’s gracious care alone we owe it, that we have yet “space given us for repentance,” and time afforded us for securing the things belonging to our peace.

How different might be our condition from what it is! We might be so destitute of every comfort, and so oppressed with pain and anguish, that our very existence, instead of being a blessing, might be a burden and a curse! We all, it is true, have trials of some kind or other; but we all have our consolations also; and those who have most afflictions, have in themselves an evidence, how greatly we are all indebted to our God for that measure of consolation which is given to mitigate our sorrows, and how infinitely short of our deserts is any trouble which is allotted to us in this world.

3. God’s blessings of Redemption.

But how shall we speak of this? Who can “comprehend the height and depth of God’s love” displayed in the salvation of his people? That God should so pity us as to give his only-begotten Son to die for us! that he should lay our iniquities on him, as our sin-bearer, and thus make a way for the display of all his own glorious perfections in the salvation of man! What shall we say to this? It is “a love that surpasses knowledge!” Every part of it is described as far exceeding all finite comprehension.

The “riches” of grace contained in it, are “unsearchable!” The “peace” flowing from it, “surpasses understanding!”

The “joy”imparted by it, is “unspeakable and full of glory!”

The whole mystery of salvation . . .
as planned by the Father in election,
as accomplished by the Son in redemption,
as applied by the Spirit in regeneration,
as experienced in the souls of the elect,
is so great, that we cannot contemplate it a moment, without exclaiming, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Romans 11:33.”

Having thus briefly touched upon the mercies of our God, let us proceed to mark,

II. The sense we should have of God’s mercies.

It is not any slight acknowledgment that befits us:

1. We should contemplate God’s mercies with overwhelming gratitude.

This is implied in the Psalmist’s expression, “What shall I render unto the Lord?” It is not a calm inquiry, but the language of a heart oppressed, as it were, with a load of obligation. A man who can speak calmly on such a subject, nay, I had almost said, a man who can speak at all upon it—feels it not as he ought; it is too big for utterance; as, in a mind overwhelmed with conscious unworthiness, “the Spirit of God makes intercession with groans which cannot be uttered”—so methinks, if we had a just apprehension of the benefits conferred upon us, our sense of them would be expressed rather in a way of silent adoration, than of verbal acknowledgment.

We do not mean by this, that men should not sing praises to their God, and tell of all his wondrous works; for it is our bounden duty to celebrate them to the utmost of our power, Isaiah 12:4-6; but, in our present state of darkness and ignorance, it is rarely given to men so fully to behold all the wonders of God’s love, as to have their organs of vision blinded by the overwhelming splendor of the light; we “see at present only in part;” we “behold things only, as in a mirror, darkly.” As “Moses put a veil upon his face” to hide from the admiring Israelites that glory which they were “unable steadfastly to behold,” so God has, in mercy, veiled even his goodness from us, because we are incapable of supporting the ineffable effulgence of his glory. Of what we do see, we must say, with Job, “Lo, these are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him! but the thunder of his power” (we may add too, the riches of his goodness) “who can understand? Job 26:14.”

2. We should contemplate God’s mercies with practical self-devotion.

However overwhelmed our minds may be, there must be in us a determination of heart to render to the Lord all the service of which he has made us capable. Our gratitude to him must be, “not in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” His love must have a constraining influence on our souls; it must “constrain us no longer to live unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us, and rose again, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.” Every blessing we enjoy must lead us to Him, who of his great mercy and bounty has bestowed it on us; and the consideration of redeeming love especially must animate us to a total surrender of ourselves, in body, soul, and spirit, to the service of our God! 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

As, under the Law, the slaughtered victims were wholly burnt by fire upon the altar, so, under the Gospel, must we offer ourselves up wholly to the Lord “as living sacrifices.” This is nothing more than our reasonable service, Romans 12:1. “We are not our own; we are bought with a price; and therefore we should glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are his, 1 Corinthians 6:20.”

But let us somewhat more distinctly consider,

III. The way in which we should requite God’s mercies.

The example of the pious Jews is very instructive.

The Jews were encouraged under their troubles to betake themselves to God, and to make vows unto the Most High; and these vows they were required strictly to perform. On paying their vows to their heavenly Benefactor, they presented certain sacrifices, of which they and their families were permitted to partake, in remembrance of God’s mercies towards them, and as an expression of their gratitude to him, Leviticus 7:12. Deuteronomy 12:6-7; Deuteronomy 12:17-18. On these occasions, it was common for the master of the family to close the feast by taking a cup of wine, and drinking of it, first himself, and afterwards all his family in succession; and then to close the whole with a hymn. To this custom it should seem that David refers in other Psalms, Psalm 66:13-16; Psalm 107:22, as well as in the passage before us. In the same way, our blessed Lord adopted it as a suitable method of commemorating the wonders of his dying love, Matthew 26:27. He took a cup, and blessed it, and gave it to his disciples, that they, and all his followers, to the very end of time, might drink it in remembrance of his blood shed for the remission of their sins, 1 Corinthians 11:25.

After this example we should pay our vows, and “receive the cup of salvation,” or, as that used by the Jews was called, “the cup of deliverances”.

Is it asked, What sacrifice are we to offer? I answer, The sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, Hebrews 13:15. “The calves of our lips” are far more acceptable to God than all the burnt-offerings that ever were offered, Psalm 50:13-14 with Hosea 14:2.

And surely the sacramental cup, of which every believer should frequently partake, should ever remind us of all the saving mercies we have ever received; and be taken by us as a memorial of God’s unbounded love to us, and of our sincere surrender of ourselves to him. In these expressions of our love and gratitude we should have all the powers of our souls called forth, “all that is within us should bless the name of our God;” and the entire devotion of ourselves to his service should bear witness to our sincerity before him. Never are we to be restrained by fear or shame. No, we must pay our vows “in the presence of all his people.” If we are ashamed of Christ, what can we expect, but that he will be ashamed of us? But, “if we confess him before men, then he will also confess us in the presence of his Father and his holy angels.”

Here then is the service which we are to render unto God in return for all his benefits; we are to confess him, to magnify him, to adore him, to give up ourselves to him as his redeemed people, to live altogether by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving all out of his fullness, and improving all for the honor of his name. So entirely should we be the Lord’s, that “whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, we should do all to his glory! 1 Corinthians 10:31.”

ADDRESS.

1. Those who have never yet instituted this inquiry.

Alas! how many have never made any other use of God’s mercies, but to render them the means of self-destruction, and instruments of dishonoring their God!

Has he given them abundance! They have employed it in riot and excess.

Has he given to them health and strength? They have turned these blessings into an occasion of more unbridled license for sin.

Has he bestowed intellectual powers upon them? They have perverted these to justify their evil ways, and to dispute the authority of God.

The very Gospel itself, they have abused as sanctioning their presumptuous hopes, and as affording reason for dissipating all fear of God’s displeasure.

Ah, brethren! what will be the end of these things? “Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish and unwise people?” How will you answer it at the last day?

When your Judge shall put the question, “What could I have done more for my vineyard than I did? What excuse will you offer for bringing forth only wild grapes? Isaiah 5:1-4.” Do but think of these things, before it is too late. But if you will not lay these things to heart, then know assuredly, that, if you will not render unto the Lord according to his works of mercy, he will render unto you according to your aggravated iniquities!

2. Those who profess to feel their obligations to their God.

Examine, I beseech you, the returns which you have made; do they not “fill you with shame and confusion of face?” Are you not perfectly astonished at your own ingratitude? O! see what need there is to walk humbly before God. But yet, do not despond. Your “God is able to make all grace abound towards you;” and, if you call upon him, “he will give you more grace,” even grace sufficient for you, so that you shall be able to “render to him, in some measure at least, according to the benefits he has conferred upon you.”

You see how he wrought in David, and in his holy Apostles. Is his arm shortened, that it cannot reach to you? Arise, and bless your God; walk joyfully before him, “let your hearts be lifted up in his ways;” come, and take the cup of salvation; and, as one great family, hand it round, each, as it were, to the other, that all of you may be encouraged, and all be comforted, and all be strengthened.

“Now,” even now, take the blessed cup into your hands; and drink of it “in the presence of all his people;” yes, drink, and live forever. And inquire with yourselves, inquire of each other, yes, inquire of God himself, what you can do for him; and let your capacity for his service be the only measure of your exertion.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 116:8-9

“You have delivered . . .
my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my feet from falling.

I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living!”

It is justly said by David, in another Psalm, “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein, Psalm 111:2;” and great indeed they will appear, to all who endeavor to trace them even in the narrow sphere of their own experience.

David, it is true, had a greater variety of extraordinary incidents to enumerate, and of mercies to be thankful for, than almost any other person whatever; but still there is no such difference between his experience and that of other men, but that his complaints may be poured out by them, and his thanksgivings be adopted by them.

In the Psalm before us he seems to have been delivered from some heavy afflictions; and to have been raised from the depths of sorrow to an extraordinary elevation of peace and joy. He had been encompassed with the sorrows of death, and the pains of Hell had got hold upon him; but God, in answer to his prayers, had graciously delivered him from all his troubles.

In the words which we have just read, we see

I. David’s review of past mercies.

1. God had delivered David’s soul from death.

In its primary sense, these words refer to the death of the body. Saul had sought to the utmost of his power to destroy him; but God had on many occasions signally interposed for his protection, and had preserved him to the present hour. And have not we also reason to adore our God for the interpositions of his providence in our behalf? Though we have not been in similar circumstances with David, we have been exposed to many dangers, both seen and unseen; and have therefore just occasion to adopt before God the same expressions of reverential gratitude.

But we must surely include under these terms a deliverance from eternal death also. Compare Psalm 86:13 and Isaiah 38:17.” David was assured that God had “forgiven all his sins, Psalm 103:3,” including those committed in the matter of Uriah, 2 Samuel 12:13; well therefore might he magnify the grace which had been exercised towards him.

And have not we also reason to magnify our God for having rescued our souls from perdition? True, many of us, it is to be feared, are yet in an unpardoned state; nevertheless, even they have cause to bless God that they have not long since been consigned over to everlasting and irremediable misery!

Millions of the human race have been cut off in their sins, though they had not, it may be, attained one half of the measure of iniquity that lies upon our souls; and yet they have been taken, and we left. O let us admire and adore this inscrutable mystery, and let us give unto God the glory due unto his name!

But it may be that our souls are in a pardoned state; and that God has “taken a live coal from off the altar, and applied it to our lips, saying, Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged! Isaiah 6:6-7.” If so, what acknowledgments should we make? Truly there can be no circumstances whatever in which such people should not bless God from their very inmost souls, 1 Peter 1:3-4. This is the very commencement of an Epistle written to “Strangers who were scattered all the world over by cruel persecutions.”

2. God had delivered David’s eyes from tears.

David often found occasion to weep, either on his own account or on account of others, Psalm 42:3, 2 Samuel 13:36; 2 Samuel 15:30; 2 Samuel 18:33. Indeed his whole life was tempestuous and full of trouble. What the particular affliction was from which he had now been delivered, we do not exactly know. If it was sickness and death, his tears must have proceeded, as Hezekiah’s did, from an apprehension of the distraction and misery that were likely to ensue to the whole state by his removal from it at that time, Isaiah 38:9-14. But whatever it was, his mind was now at ease in relation to it.

And are we at this time free from any great affliction? Surely we have reason to be thankful for it; for how numberless are the sources of grief from whence our whole souls may speedily be overwhelmed! In our own persons we are exposed to diseases and accidents every moment. In our relative connections too, how many occasions of sorrow are ever ready to arise! The misconduct of one, the unkindness of another, the misfortunes of a third, the death of one that was to us as our own souls. Alas! alas! it is a valley of tears that we are passing through, moaning or bemoaned every hour. Our very pleasures frequently become occasions of the bitterest pains. If then we have been kept for any time in a good measure of peaceful serenity, we may well account it a rich blessing for which we are bound to adore and magnify our God.

It is not from the dust that either our trials or our comforts spring; and, if God has dealt to us an abundance of earthly comfort, while so many thousands of our fellow-creatures are racked with pain, or bowed down with sorrows, we ought to acknowledge him as the author and giver of these distinguished privileges!

3. God had delivered David’s feet from falling.

On more than one occasion, David’s “feet had well near slipped.” When urged to kill Saul, and when hastening to avenge himself on Nabal, he was on the brink of a dangerous precipice, from whence however it pleased God to deliver him.

And what a miracle of mercy is it, if our feet are kept! Consider with what innumerable snares and temptations we are beset on every side, and what corruptions reign in our own hearts, ready to precipitate us into any evil! Consider the deceitfulness of sin too, what pleasing and even innocent forms it will assume!

Consider also the malice and subtlety of our great adversary, who is going about continually as a roaring lion seeking to devour us!

Consider more particularly how many people of eminence in the religious world have fallen; a David, a Solomon, a Peter; O have not we reason to adore our God, if our feet have been kept from falling; more especially when we reflect, how near we have been to many grievous falls, when nothing but God’s infinite mercy has held us up!

Let us look back then on these mercies given unto us, and, from the review, let us follow David in,

II. David’s determination arising from it.

By “the land of the living” we understand this present world, Psalm 27:13. Isaiah 53:8, where alone there is any opportunity of making suitable returns to God. “The living, shall praise you, as I do this day,” says, Hezekiah Isaiah 38:19. As long as he should live, David determined, with God’s help, to walk before God:

1. In a constant attendance on his ordinances.

This is particularly intended in the words of our text; twice is the idea expressly stated in the following, verses Psalm 116:12; Psalm 116:14; Psalm 116:17-19. And where should a person go to make his acknowledgments to God, but to His house, where the free-will offerings and thank-offerings of old were accustomed to be brought? A grateful heart will pant after these public opportunities of glorifying God, even “as the deer pants after the water-brooks, Psalm 42:1-2;” and to be deprived of access to them will be a source of pain and grief, Psalm 42:3-4. David envied the very swallows their liberty of access to the house of God, when he was kept at a distance from it, Psalm 84:1-4.

Let us show our gratitude in the same way. And let not our attendance on his courts, after a recovery from sickness, be a mere prelude to our return to all the gaieties and follies of the world; but let our delight be in the worship of our God on earth, as a pledge and foretaste of our enjoyment of him in the eternal world.

2. Under an abiding sense of his presence.

To “set the Lord always before us” is the sure way to honor him. Whether we think of him or not, “he is always about our bed and about our paths, and spies out all our ways.” Wherever we are, therefore, there should be that inscription which Hagar saw, “God You see me.” O how circumspect would our conduct then be! How continually would that question recur to our minds, “What will my God approve?”

That this is the frame of mind which every child of God will cultivate, is beautifully represented by Paul in his address to servants; he tells them how the servant of God does act towards his heavenly Master, and proposes it as a pattern for them towards their earthly masters, Ephesians 6:5-8; Let us “not be mere eye-servants, as men-pleasers,” but exert ourselves at all times to please our God, as servants do under the immediate eye of their master.

3. In a cheerful obedience to his commands.

This is to walk before God in deed and in truth, 1 Kings 2:3-4; and to produce this, is the very end of all God’s mercies towards us. Surely, if we are in any measure sensible of our obligations to God, we shall not account any of “his commandments grievous.” We shall not wish so much as one of them to be relaxed, but shall attend to all of them without partiality and without hypocrisy. Happy would it be for us if more of this gratitude were found among us. Happy would it be if the love which God has shown to us in Christ Jesus constrained us to live altogether unto God; so that we could make the same appeal to him that Hezekiah did, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech you, how I have walked before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight, Isaiah 38:3.” This is the surest test of our integrity, and the most acceptable expression of our gratitude to God.

In our reflections on this subject, we cannot but view in it abundant matter:

1. For our humiliation.

How many mercies have we received, yet never stood amazed at the goodness of our God! Were it only this, that our souls are not consigned over to everlasting death, we should have cause to bless our God day and night. Only reflect a moment, how dreadful it would have been to be cut off in our sins, and to be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where there is nothing but weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth! Yet who among us has not richly deserved it? who has not been in constant danger of it from day to day? Our sins have been more in number than the hairs of our head; yet not a thousandth part so great as they would have been, if we had been left to carry into act all the evil dispositions of our hearts. Truly if we have not run into the same enormities as others, it is God, and God alone, who has made the difference between us.

What shall we say then to the insensibility which we have manifested under all these stupendous mercies? Are we not ashamed? Have we not reason to be ashamed, yes, and to abase ourselves before God in dust and ashes? O let us remember that ingratitude is a sin of the most crimson dye! Romans 1:21; and that, if we will not notice as we ought the operations of God’s hands—then his loving-kindness will before long be shut up in everlasting displeasure, Psalm 28:5.

2. For our encouragement.

To the evil and to the unthankful have all these mercies been given; What then shall not be done for us, if we will seek after God in sincerity and truth? Surely these present blessings shall be only as the drop before the shower; they shall be a prelude to that blessedness, “where there shall be no more death nor sorrow, nor sin, but where all tears shall be wiped away from our eyes for ever! Revelation 21:4.” God offers himself to every one of us, as a Covenant God; he says to each of us, as he did to Abraham of old, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be perfect! Genesis 17:1.” In Christ Jesus he is already reconciled to his redeemed people. He now requires that we come to him through Christ, embracing his offered mercies, and yielding up ourselves to him as those that are alive from the dead. O that he may so draw us, that we may run after him; and so subdue us to the obedience of faith, that we may become a peculiar people, zealous of good works!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 116:1-7

“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, save me!” The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling!”

The abruptness of this Psalm shows that it was the fruit of much previous meditation; the writer of it had been “musing in his heart, until at last the fire kindled, and he spoke with his tongue.” It begins, “I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy!” The fact is, that nothing so endears God to the souls of men as answers to prayer; nor does anything so encourage sinners to address him with unwearied importunity.

The two first verses of the Psalm are a kind of summary of the whole; setting forth in few words what he afterwards expatiates upon more at length; but though we shall, on this account, pass them over in our discussion, we shall not be unmindful of the resolution contained in them, but shall conclude our subject with commending it to your most serious attention.

The points which now call for our notice are:

I. The troubles which the Psalmist had endured.

We know not for certain what these were; but we are sure, that the Psalm was written after the ark had been brought up to mount Zion, and the worship of God had been permanently settled at Jerusalem, verse 18, 19; and therefore we apprehend, that is was written on occasion of David’s deliverance from some overwhelming distress both of body and mind, resembling that specified in the sixth Psalm, Psalm 6:2-3.

The terms used in our text might indeed be interpreted of death only; because the word “Hell” often means nothing more than the grave; but we rather think that terrors of conscience, on account of his sin committed in the matter of Uriah—had given a ten-fold poignancy to the fear of death, and that his experience was similar to that described in the 25th Psalm, where he says, “The troubles of my heart are enlarged; O bring me out of my distresses! Look upon my affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins! Psalm 25:17-18.”

But whatever was the precise occasion of David’s sorrows, it is manifest, that, sooner or later, we must all be brought into a situation wherein his language will be exactly suitable to us. “The sorrows of death” will shortly “encompass us,” and “the pains of Hell,” if we have not previously obtained a sense of reconciliation with God, will “get hold upon us;” and, in the contemplation of an approaching eternity, “we shall find trouble and sorrow,” such as in our present state of carelessness and security we have no conception of.

O that we could but bring our hearers to realize that awful hour, when we shall look back upon our misspent hours with unavailing regret, and look forward to our great account with fear and trembling, wishing, if it were possible, that we might have a fresh term of probation allowed us, or that the hills and mountains might cover us from the face of our offended God!

Let all, even though, like David, they are monarchs upon their thrones, know, that the time must shortly arrive, when the things of time and sense will appear in all their real insignificance; and nothing will be deemed of any importance but the eternal welfare of the soul!

Whatever his troubles had been, we have no doubt respecting:

II. The means the Psalmist had used for his relief from them.

David had had recourse to prayer, “Then I called on the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul!”

Prayer is the proper remedy for all our troubles.

“Is any afflicted? let him pray;” says the inspired apostle. God himself says, “Call upon me in the time of trouble; and I will hear you; and you shall glorify me.” Indeed, where else can we go with any hope of relief?

If it is the death of the body that we dread, man can do nothing for us, any farther than it shall please God to employ him as an instrument for our good.

If it is the death of the soul which we fear, who but God can help us? Who can interpose between a sinner and his Judge?

If we betake ourselves to a throne of grace, and “pray unto our God with strong crying and tears,” we shall find that He “is able to save us from death;” but the best of men are at best, physicians of no value.

We must however, in our prayers, resemble David.

Behold what humility and fervor were manifested in this petition, “O Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul!” Prayer does not consist in fluent or eloquent expressions, but in ardent desires of the soul; and it may as well be uttered in sighs and groans, as in the most energetic words that language can afford. “God knows the mind of the Spirit,” by whose inspiration all acceptable supplications are suggested. Never was there a petition more pleasing to God than that of the publican, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” Nor did any prayer prove more effectual for immediate relief than that recorded in our text.

Truly this is a comfortable consideration to the broken-hearted penitent; the greatness of his sorrows perhaps prevents the enlargement of his heart in prayer; but God estimates his prayers, not by their fluency, but by their sincerity; and that which is offered in indistinct and unutterable groans, is as intelligible and as acceptable to him, as if every request were offered in the most measured terms. Prayer thus offered, shall never go forth in vain.

This appears from,

III. The success of those means.

Most encouraging is the testimony which the Psalmist bears to the condescension and goodness of God.

Not a word intervenes between his petition for mercy and his acknowledgment of mercy received, “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful.” Here the Psalmist marks the union of justice and mercy in the dispensations of God’s grace towards him; and that union is invariable, whenever we plead before him that great sacrifice which was made for the sins of men, and which has fully satisfied the justice of our God. Moreover, he represents this mercy as the common lot of all who in simplicity and godly sincerity implore it at God’s hands, “The Lord preserves the simple,” and will never allow one of them to perish. But then he brings it back again to his own experience, and acknowledges with heartfelt gratitude that God had received his prayer, and made him a most distinguished monument of his mercy.

Such is the testimony which every contrite and believing suppliant shall be able to bear.

Yes, justice is on the believer’s side, as well as mercy. Whoever comes to God in the name of Christ, may plead, that all his debts have been discharged by his great Surety, and that all the glory of Heaven has been purchased for him by his Redeemer’s blood. Through this infinitely meritorious atonement God is reconciled to man, and “the righteousness of Jehovah, no less than his mercy, is declared in the remission of sins, Romans 3:25-26;” so that, “if we humbly confess our sins, God will be faithful and just in forgiving our sins, and in cleansing us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9.” Let the simple-hearted penitent rejoice in this assurance; and let every one labor from his own experience to say, “I was brought low, and he helped me.”

In the close of our text we see,

IV. The improvement which the Psalmist made of his whole experience.

He determined henceforth to make God “the rest” of his soul.

Truly there is no rest for the soul in any other. We may renew our attempts to seek soul-rest in this lower world, but we shall find none, except in the ark of God. Indeed the great use of troubles is to bring us to a conviction of this truth; and, whatever we may have suffered from “the sorrows of death,” or “the pains of Hell,” we may bless and adore our God for the dispensation, if it disposes us at last to seek all our happiness in him.

To the same “Rest” must we also continually “return”

As the needle of a compass which has sustained some violent concussion will continue its tremulous motion until it returns to the pole again, so must our souls do, if at any time through the violence of temptation they be diverted for a season from their God. Not a moment’s rest should we even wish to have, until we find it in him alone. In all his perfections we have “chambers into which we may enter,” and in which we may enjoy security from every impending danger.

His omniscience will prevent surprise.

His omnipotence will defeat our most potent adversaries.

His love will comfort us under our most painful circumstances.

His faithfulness will preserve us even to the end.

Let our troubles then drive us to him, and our experience of past mercies determine us to “cleave unto him with full purpose of heart.”

ADDRESS.

We now revert to the resolution announced by the Psalmist at the very beginning of the Psalm, “I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live!” This shows how justly he appreciated the Divine goodness; that he regarded it as an inexhaustible fountain, from whence the whole creation may incessantly “draw water with joy.” The very command which God himself has given us, attests the same, and proves, that it is no less our privilege than our duty to “pray without ceasing,” to “pray, and not faint.”

O brethren, let every answer to prayer bring you back again more speedily to the throne of grace; and every communication of blessings to your souls make you more importunate for further blessings, until “your cup runs over,” and you are “filled with all the fullness of God.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 115:9-13

“O house of Israel, trust in the LORD—he is their help and shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD—he is their help and shield. You who fear him, trust in the LORD—he is their help and shield. The LORD remembers us and will bless us: He will bless the house of Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, he will bless those who fear the LORD—small and great alike!”

As great as the stupidity of fallen man is, one would not have imagined that it should ever enter into his mind to worship the works of his own hands. To come before those idols who cannot see; and address ourselves to those that cannot answer; and offer sacrifices to those who can smell no sweet savor from them; and to rely on those who have no operative or locomotive powers—all this seems to be a degree of imbecility beyond what one would conceive a creature possessed of reason should labor under. But so it is.

There are millions of such people, who are, in fact, as senseless as the objects they worship. But there is one who is able either to save or to destroy, even Jehovah, “who dwells in the heavens, and does whatever pleases him verse 3-8.” And to him I will now call your most devout attention, in the words of my text, “O house of Israel, trust in the LORD—he is their help and shield!”

I. In these words we behold our duty.

This is specified again and again, “Trust in the Lord.” Now this is,

1. Trust in the Lord is a comprehensive duty.

Our necessities are numberless; our trust in Him, therefore, for the supply of them must extend to our every need-temporal, spiritual, eternal.

We must trust in his Word; which, as it is in reality the only proper ground of confidence, must also be the measure of it. We have no authority to trust in God for anything which he has not promised; and we are bound to trust in him for everything that he has promised. To do the former is presumption; to decline the latter is unbelief.

We must trust, also, in his Providence; for everything is ordered by him, even to “the falling of a sparrow upon the ground, “and we are incapable of ordering anything for ourselves, “it is not in man that walks to direct his steps Jeremiah 10:23.”

We must trust also in his grace; for “we cannot do any good thing without him, John 15:5.” It is from him that we must obtain “power either to do, or even to will,” what is acceptable in his sight, Philippians 2:13; and in every stage of our existence must we depend on him for “more grace, James 4:6,” and receive from him “the grace that shall be sufficient for us, 2 Corinthians 12:9.”

Thus must we look up to him as the source of all good, James 1:17, whether for the body or the soul, for time or for eternity.

2. Trust in the Lord is a universal duty.

Every person, in every condition, is equally dependent on God, and must equally look to him for a supply of his necessities.

“O Israel, trust in the Lord!” Though you have been admitted into covenant with God, and are numbered by him among his peculiar people, you have not on that account any more sufficiency in yourself than others. You are still, and will be to your dying hour, as helpless as a little child, and must be borne by him as an infant in its mother’s arms.

“O House of Aaron, trust in the Lord!” You, who are exercising the office of the priesthood, have peculiar need of help from above, in order to discharge it to the satisfaction of your God. Your difficulties are great; your duties arduous; and you have no more strength in yourself than other men. Even the Apostle Paul exclaimed, “Who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:16.” You have to give an account of the souls of others, as well as of your own; and methinks, a double portion of help from above is necessary for you, in order that you may prevail at last to “save yourself and those who hear you.”

“You also that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!” As there were proselytes among the Jews who were not considered on the high footing of native Israelites, so are there many at this time who are not publicly known and recognized as God’s peculiar people, who yet do truly “fear him;” and shall these be overlooked? No! You are privileged to trust in the Lord, as much as others; and may expect from him all needful blessings, as much as others; for “God is no respecter of persons; but, in every nation, he who fears God, and works righteousness shall be accepted by him, Acts 10:34-35.”

Such being the duty enjoined on all, let us consider,

II. In these words we behold our encouragement to perform our duty.

This is twofold, arising,

1. From what God has already done for us.

“He has been mindful of us,” of all of us, without exception. To whom of those who ever trusted in him, has he not been both “a help and a shield?” Whom has he not protected from innumerable dangers, and assisted in times of difficulty? Can anyone doubt but that he would have long since perished from the assaults of sin and Satan, if God had not been with him to preserve and uphold him?

But it is not in time only that God has been mindful of us; from all eternity has his eye been fixed upon us, and his infinite wisdom been occupied in our behalf. Long before we were in existence, or the foundations of the earth were laid, he made provision for our eternal happiness. He foresaw that we should fall; and he entered into covenant with his own Son to redeem us. He engaged also his Holy Spirit, to execute within us all the purposes of his love.

Say, Is not this a sufficient ground for trusting in him? What greater encouragement can we have?

2. From what he is engaged to do for us.

“He will bless us.” We need not fear it; for it is a work in which he greatly delights.

“He will bless the House of Israel.” They are “his peculiar people,” “his household,” “his sons and daughters, 2 Corinthians 6:18;” Will he forget them? “They are engraved upon the palms of his hands;” and sooner may “a mother forget her nursing child, than he forget” to minister to them whatever they may stand in need of, Isaiah 49:15-16. His word is pledged to them; and “sooner shall Heaven and earth pass away, than one jot or tittle of his Word shall fail, Isaiah 54:9-10.”

“He will bless the House of Aaron” too, and give to them such communications of grace and peace as the world have no conception of, “clothing them with salvation, and making them to shout aloud for joy! Psalm 132:16.”

The priest, when offering incense, may give us some idea of what the Lord imparts to his faithful servants while occupied in his service. No other person was privileged to offer incense, nor he himself on any other occasion than that; but then, while honoring God with it, he was richly regaled with its fragrances.

Such is the privilege of all God’s faithful servants, in the midst of their laborious duties. Their face often shines with radiance from God upon the holy mount; though, by reason of the veil they wear, it is not discerned in their fellowship with the world.

“He will indeed bless all who fear the Lord, both small and great.” They may be overlooked by men; but they are known to God; and his eye is over them for good. It matters not whether they be great or small. The great are not so great, but that they need his blessing; nor are the small so insignificant, that they shall be deemed unworthy of his notice. If they are as beggars on a dunghill, even there will he visit them; and from thence will he take them, “to set them among the princes, and to make them inherit a throne of glory, 1 Samuel 2:8.”

To all of them, without exception, will he give occasion for that devout acknowledgment, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ!”

ADDRESS.

1. Those who are ignorant of God.

This is the state of all who are not living in the habitual performance of the duty here enjoined; for, “if they knew God’s name, they would put their trust in him, Psalm 9:10.”

Let me then ask of you, Who will be your help, and your shield? Who in this world? Who, when you shall be standing at the judgment-seat of Christ, and the sword of vengeance is lifted up for your destruction? O seek to know God, especially as he is revealed to us in Christ Jesus! And tremble now for fear of his judgments; and flee for refuge to the hope that is set before you. So shall you even yet escape his wrath, and receive at his hands all the blessings of salvation!

2. Those who are putting their trust in him.

Whom among you all has he ever disappointed of his hope? Are you not all witnesses for him, that he is faithful to his Word, and that “of all the good things that he has promised you, not so much as one has ever failed! Joshua 23:14.” He has been ever “mindful of you, and blessed you!”

Be then, “mindful” of him, and “bless” him. Bear in remembrance your obligations to him; and go to him “in every time of need, both for mercy to pardon, and for grace to help! Hebrews 4:16.” And bless him from your inmost souls, as David, specifying your respective characters, exhorts you, “Let Israel now say, that his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endures forever. Let them now, who fear the Lord, say, that his mercy endures forever! Psalm 118:2-4.” Let this song be begun by you on earth, and you shall sing it to all eternity in Heaven.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 113:5-8

“Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.”

Truly, God is to be praised, “from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, his name” should be glorious, “He is above all blessing and praise.” Whether we consider what he is in himself, or what he is to us, we cannot but exclaim, “Who is like unto the Lord?” If men be not filled with admiring and adoring thoughts of him, it is because they know him not, neither contemplate him; but we can scarcely fail of being in some measure suitably impressed with his excellency, if we consider those perfections of his which are set before us in our text:

I. God’s greatness.

“Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”

But how shall we convey any idea of this! If we speak of created things, however great, we can give some kind of statement, which, though very inadequate, will convey a slight notion at least of the subject. However great the disparity between a monarch and a worm, or between the globe and a grain of sand, there is something whereon we may ground a comparison between them, and something to which we may affix tolerably definite ideas. But between the Creator and the creature there is no point of comparison.

If we attempt to declare his immensity, and say, that in all the boundless regions of space God is everywhere, and as entirely present in every different spot as if he were no where in the universe besides, what are we the nearer to any just apprehension of him? Our intellect is not capable of conceiving of him aright. Were a peasant told respecting the motions and distances and mutual dependence of the heavenly bodies, how much of it would he understand? It would be far above his comprehension; he could not embrace any part of the system. Just so, if we presume to speak of the greatness and incomprehensibility of Jehovah, we only “darken counsel by words without knowledge;” “it is a knowledge too wonderful for us; we cannot attain unto it.”

The opinions of Zophar on this subject are well worthy of our attention,

“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea! Job 11:7-9.” And Elihu, another of Job’s friends, exactly to the same purpose says, “Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out! Job 37:23.”

Sometimes indeed God is pleased to give us some little glimpse of his majesty; light enough, if we may so speak, to make our darkness visible. Thus by the Prophet Isaiah he asks, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out Heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; he takes up the islands as a very little thing. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.” He then adds, “To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare unto him? Isaiah 40:12; Isaiah 40:15; Isaiah 40:17-18.”

The Psalmist also, with exquisite beauty, thus sets forth the glory of his majesty, “Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved! Psalm 104:1-5.”

But, after all, what idea does this description give us of Him, who “fills all things,” “whom the Heaven of heavens cannot contain?” We are altogether at a loss on so mysterious a subject; which therefore we close with that declaration of the Psalmist, “His greatness is unsearchable! Psalm 145:3.”

But though we can add nothing to what is said in the words before our text, “The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory is above the heavens,” yet we see in this what will serve to illustrate the depth of,

II. God’s condescension.

“He humbles himself to behold the things that are in Heaven;” yes, if he deigns to cast an eye upon the highest angels and archangels, it is an act of infinite condescension; for, as intelligent as they are in comparison with us, “he charges them with folly!” And as pure as Heaven itself is in comparison with earth, it is “not clean in his sight! Job 4:18; Job 15:15.” But he will stoop even to look down on earth, yes and on the lowest and vilest of its inhabitants, provided they do but humble themselves before him.

The believing poor and needy, even in their lowest state, ever have been, and ever shall be, objects of his peculiar regard. Men may be low in station, in character, and in spirit; but he will notice them notwithstanding.

The description given us of Lazarus, represents a condition more deplorable than usually falls to the lot of man; yet was he set forth as an object of the tenderest compassion to Almighty God.

The dying thief may well be adduced as among the most degraded of the human race; yet did the Savior honor him with an express and audible assurance, that he should that very day be with him in Paradise.

“To the man that is poor and of a contrite spirit” God has promised in a more especial manner to “look, in order to revive and comfort his drooping spirit.” Only let a person lie in the dust before God, and sit, like Job, upon the dunghill, from a consciousness of his own extreme unworthiness; and God will fly instantly to his relief, “he will raise the poor out of the dust, and lift up the needy out of the dunghill!”

Nor is there any dignity, however high, to which he will not exalt him, “he will set him among the princes, even with the princes of his people!” Yes, he will cause him to “sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven,” and to reign with them in glory forever and ever!

Perhaps the primary import of our text may be found in the elevation of such men as Saul and David from the lowest offices to the throne of Israel. But in the Psalm, as well as in the Song of Hannah, from whence it is taken, 1 Samuel 2:8, we must undoubtedly look for a higher meaning, even the elevation of an immortal soul from the lowest state of sin and misery to all the glory and felicity of Heaven. Would we have a just conception of the change which by the tender mercy of our God shall be wrought on the poor and contrite, we may behold our blessed Lord raised from the grave, to which with unparalleled ignominy he had been committed, and exalted to the right hand of God, above all the principalities and powers both of earth and Heaven. Thus will the poor and contrite soul be raised from guilt to peace, from sin to holiness, from the very gates of Hell even to the throne of God.

Does our God so condescend to you?

1. Then let me call on you to adore him.

Frequently does this expression occur in the Holy Scriptures, “O Lord, who is like unto you?” And continually should the thought be in our minds. It is impossible to know anything of the condescension and grace of God, and not be lost in wonder and in praise. We do not say that livelier emotions of joy are wrong; but they are always to be suspected, if they be not blended with a considerable measure of self-loathing and self-abhorrence. Profound adoration and devotion seems to be the proper posture of a redeemed soul. O you poor, whose station is so low that the greater part of your fellow-creatures would scarcely deign to notice you, think what love God has shown towards you, if he has made you rich in faith and heirs of his kingdom! James 2:5. And you whose character has been so degraded as to have almost resembled that of the Corinthians, think what reason you have to adore your God, if it can be said of you, as of them, “But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God! 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.”

Above all, you drooping and desponding souls, who once were ready to say, “There is no hope!” What thanks can you give for those rich assurances and consolations which now form a very foretaste of Heaven in your souls? And in all these changes, consider chiefly the means which have been used to effect them.

It is not by a mere act of mercy that God has wrought these things for you, but by taking on himself your miseries, that you may be partakers of his glory. To view the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ aright, you must bear in mind, that “though he was rich—yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich! 2 Corinthians 8:9.” Yes, “He was made sin for you, that you might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Corinthians 5:21.” O extol him, praise him, magnify him, and adore him and let all that is within you bless his holy name!

2. Then let me call on you to trust in him.

The greatest discouragements of the saints arise from a view of their own unworthiness. But God, if I may so speak, loves to see you in the dust and on the dunghill. The lower you are abased before him, the more he delights to exalt you. He even derives to himself a glory from the very depths to which he condescends for you. Add not then to all your other sins, that most hateful one of limiting his mercy. If your “sins have ever so much abounded, his grace will much more abound,” if only you seek it in Christ Jesus, your Mediator and Redeemer. If you attempt to measure God’s love and mercy by any created standard, then you must of necessity dishonor him exceedingly; for there is nothing finite that will admit of a comparison with him who is infinite.

As for his mercy, he most of all is grieved to have that disparaged, because it is the attribute in which he chiefly delights. Whatever then are your sins, or sorrows, or needs, or fears, cast them all on him, and know that you shall never be disappointed; for “as his majesty is, so also is his mercy.”

3. Then let me call on you to glorify him.

We have no fear, but that if once you are led to trust in him aright, your most anxious inquiry will be, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he has done unto me?” Methinks you will of yourselves be panting after opportunities to testify to him your love and gratitude, “No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you! Jeremiah 10:6-7.”

You will see, that to surrender up yourselves wholly to him is your “reasonable service, Romans 12:1.” Knowing that “you are not your own, but are bought with a price, you will long to glorify God with your body and your spirit, which are his! 1 Corinthians 6:20.”

We call you then to this blessed duty, to “live no more unto yourselves, but unto Him who died for you and rose again.” He has made you most blessed among men; for “who is like unto you, O Israel, O people saved by the Lord, Deuteronomy 33:29.” O let it be seen then, that he has made you also the most holy of all the people upon earth. He has set you among the princes now, that you may have fellowship with all the holy Prophets and Apostles of old; and by walking in their steps, you will soon arrive at those blissful mansions, where you shall share with them in their inheritance, and be yourselves “kings and priests unto God and our Father forever and ever!”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 111:10

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise!”

Of all attainments that are made by man, wisdom is confessedly the highest; and well does it deserve the highest place in our esteem, because it elevates and ennobles him in whom it is found. This is true even of human wisdom; how much more, then, of that which is divine!

But where shall divine wisdom be found? Who can ever estimate it aright, when found? These are questions propounded by holy Job; and they deserve our most attentive consideration. “But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver. It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires. Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of gold. Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it; it cannot be bought with pure gold! Job 28:12-19.”

Having stated all this, he again asks the question, “Whence then comes wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?” He then answers, that it is hidden from the eyes of all living; that God alone understands it; and that he has declared where and what it is, “Unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding! Job 28:20-21; Job 28:24; Job 28:27-28.”

Now, as rich and determinate as this passage is, it does not equal the declaration of David, who says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise!” Here he not only identifies the fear of the Lord with wisdom, but carries on the comparison from the beginning to the end, from the first formation of them in the soul, to their final completion in glory.

To enter fully into his meaning, we shall consider

I. The fear of the Lord as existing in the soul.

“Man is born like a wild donkey’s colt,” and is as destitute of true wisdom as the animal. “The fear of the Lord is the very beginning of wisdom;” and then only does wisdom exist in the soul, when the fear of the Lord is implanted in it. But,

What do we understand by the fear of the Lord?

This needs not to be stated at any length, because a very few words will suffice to explain it. The fear of the Lord is here put for true religion; even for such religion as manifests itself by:
a deep humiliation for sin before God,
a simple trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and an unreserved obedience to his will.

The fear of the Lord does not consist in a mere assent to the truths of the gospel, or a mere profession of it as the only way to glory. True fear of God is a real surrender of ourselves to Him as His redeemed people.

The fear of God, when genuinely existing in the soul, is true wisdom.

There is no true wisdom where this fear is not; for without this fear, a man views nothing aright, and does nothing aright. Earthly things have in his eyes an importance which does not properly belong to them; and heavenly things are in no respect appreciated according to their real worth.

But when “God has put his fear into our hearts,” our misconceptions are removed, and our mistakes rectified. Sin is no longer that light and trivial evil which we before supposed it to be. Nor is salvation judged to be of so small consequence, that we can any longer neglect it. The salvation of the soul becomes from that moment, the one thing needful; and all the concerns of time are swallowed up in those of eternity. This may be accounted folly; yes, it is so accounted by an ignorant and ungodly world; but God declares it to be wisdom; and such it will prove itself to be in the outcome.

II. Trace the fear of the Lord as operating in the life.

In all its bearings, and in all its operations, the fear of the Lord approves itself to be true wisdom.

1. Genuine fear of God operates in the different ages and relations of life.

Of whatever age a person be, whether young or old, the fear of the Lord will dictate to him such a deportment as befits him. And in every relation of life it will exalt his character. Husband or wife, parent or child, master or servant, magistrate or subject—all will know their place; all will fulfill their duties; all will execute their respective offices with care. In nothing will the operation of this principle more clearly appear, than in stimulating every Christian to discharge with diligence and propriety the duties of his own peculiar calling.

2. Genuine fear of God operates in the different circumstances in which it may be placed.

Are we in prosperity?

Genuine fear of God will keep us humble, and watchful against the temptations to which prosperity will expose us.

Are we in adversity of any kind?

Genuine fear of God will support us from fainting and murmuring, on the one hand; and from a contemptuous apathy on the other. It will cause us to acknowledge a divine agency in everything that occurs; and to make such an improvement of it, as that God may be glorified in all.

Of course, I must not be understood to say that the fear of God will enlarge a man’s intellectual powers, any more than it will increase his bodily stature; at least, not to such a degree as to divest a man of his natural weakness. A man who is of slender mental capacity will continue so; and he will be liable to misapprehensions as arising out of that circumstance. A person of a weak mind will betray that weakness in anything that may engage his attention; and, if it shows itself in his religious deportment, it will be very unjust to ascribe that to religion which proceeds only from his own imbecility, and would equally show itself in any other occupation or pursuit.

But this I will say, that genuine fear of God will go far to direct him, where his judgment, not so regulated, would err; and that, consequently, he will on the whole excel in wisdom those whose capacity and attainments are in other respects on a level with his own.

I will further say, that, in proportion as he advances in true piety, his profiting in wisdom also will appear unto all.

Let us view this principle yet further,

III. Let us view the fear of God as completed in the eternal world.

The applause which ungodly men gain from their blind companions is of very short continuance. But that which piety secures will endure forever.

The man who fears the Lord is not without applause in this world.

What if he is derided by some? It is only by those who know not what true wisdom is; and who, if they acted in reference to earthly things as they do in relation to their heavenly concerns, would themselves be regarded by all mankind as fools and idiots. By every man whose good opinion is worth having, the godly man is loved and honored; yes, and God himself also honors him with the richest manifestations of his presence and love.

And how is he honored in the eternal world! There the angels of God bear him on their wings, exulting in the office assigned to them of ministering unto him. And no sooner is he arrived at the portals of Heaven, than he is welcomed by God himself, who, in the presence of all the heavenly host, addresses him, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!” Behold the crown prepared for him! Behold the throne also made ready for his reception! Behold the kingdom awarded to him as his inheritance, of which he takes possession as an “heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ!” Yes, truly, this is his praise; and will be so when they who here despised him shall “awake to shame and everlasting contempt.”

“This praise, too, endures forever.” While his once contemptuous enemies are “weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth” in Hell, he will be in the full enjoyment of glory and honor and immortality, in the bosom of his God.

ADDRESS.

1. Those who despise true religion.

Why is it that you despise it? Your contempt of it is altogether founded on your own ignorance and wickedness. “Satan has blinded your eyes,” and hardened your hearts, and is “leading you captive at his will.” And how long, Do you think, will you retain your present opinions?

If God Almighty ever has mercy on your soul, your eyes will be opened to see your folly and impiety; but, if this mercy never be given to you, not a minute will intervene between your departure hence and a total change of your views. You will then be perfectly like-minded with those whom you now despise; but who can express the regret which you will then feel at the review of your conduct? But then your regrets will be in vain; your day of grace will have forever passed away; and you will forever reap the bitter fruits of your wickedness.

2. Those who are afraid of confessing Christ by reason of the contempt which they shall thereby encounter.

It was not thus that your Savior dealt with you. He knew to what shame and ignominy he would be exposed for you; and yet, “for the joy of saving your souls, he endured the cross and despised the shame, and has now sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The same blessed outcome is reserved for you also, if you approve yourselves faithful unto him, “If you deny him, he will deny you;” but, if you submit willingly to “suffer with him, you shall also be glorified together! Romans 8:17 and 2 Timothy 2:12.” Regard not, then, the scoffs of the ungodly world; but “rejoice rather that you are counted worthy to endure them.”

But, after all, what is it that you are afraid of? An unkind look? An opprobrious name? The finger of scorn? Truly you have but little pretense to wisdom, if by such things as these you can be deterred from confessing Him who lived and died for you.

3. Those who by reason of indiscretion “give occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully”.

It is greatly to be lamented that all who profess godliness do not act so wisely as they ought. There are many who, by the extravagance of their notions, or the absurdity of their deportment, cause religion itself to be reproached, and “the way of truth to be evil spoken of.” But I must declare to all such professors, that they incur a fearful responsibility before God; and that for every one who falls over the stumbling-blocks which are thus laid in his way, they must give account in the day of judgment.

See to it then, brethren, that you “walk in wisdom towards those that are outside;” and that instead of giving occasion of offence by any unwise conduct on your part, you “put to silence the ignorance of foolish men by your well-doing.”

Never forget that wisdom is identified with religion. It admits of nothing that is foolish or extravagant in any respect. Prudence, sobriety, soundness of judgment, and true discretion, are inseparable from it; and if we would adorn our profession, or be accepted by our God, we must “walk wisely before him in a perfect way! Psalm 101:2.”

Charles Simeon