Psalm 133:1-3

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore!”

In this Psalm we have a commendation of Christian love and unity. It seems to have been written some time after David’s entire possession of the whole kingdom; when the tribes being all united under one head, the horrors of civil war were exchanged for the blessings of peace; and all who were brethren according to the flesh, enjoyed the fullest exercise of brotherly love, in union with each other, and in communion with their God. He seems to have been contemplating the blessed change, until his soul, filled with holy joy and gratitude, exclaimed, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

He then pursues the same idea, illustrating both the goodness and pleasantness of it, each by an appropriate similitude:

Its pleasantness resembling the fragrance of the ointment poured on Aaron’s head.

Its goodness being justly compared to dews of Hermon or of Zion, by which a continued verdure and fertility are preserved, where without them vegetation would quickly fail.

We shall follow the line he has traced out for us, and point out:

I. The excellence of Christian unity as conducing to our present comfort.

There is no pleasure so refined, so exquisite, as that which results from the exercise of Christian love. It always cheers the bosom in which it dwells, and imparts the sublimest joy to those who meet it with corresponding emotions. It is beautifully compared with the ointment which was poured on Aaron’s head at his consecration to the priestly office.

Let us briefly examine the similitude.

A full account of this ointment is given us in the book of Exodus, Exodus 30:22-33. The ingredients of which it was composed were of the most fragrant kind; the proportions of each were minutely specified by God himself; and its use, when properly compounded, was solely confined to the things or people connected with the service of the sanctuary. It was strictly forbidden to the whole nation to form any other ointment like unto it, or to use any part of it for any other purpose than that which was ordained by God. It was itself most holy; and it made everything holy that came in contact with it. At the consecration of Aaron, it was poured upon his head in rich profusion, so that it ran down upon his beard, even to the collar of his garment; and it diffused on every side a fragrance that was inexpressibly sweet and refreshing.

Let us now consider the application of it.

With this is Christian love to be compared. Now love is altogether of divine original; every ingredient of it is formed by the hand of God himself, and the whole is compounded by him in its due proportions; and every one on whom it is poured is from thenceforth sanctified to the Lord. It is in its own nature so flowing, that when poured upon the head, it will descend upon the whole man; and so fragrant is it, that not the person himself only, but all who come in contact with him, will be refreshed with its fragrances; and more especially when a whole society or church are partakers of this heavenly unction, such is the fragrance, as to resemble as nearly as possible the courts of Heaven itself.

Say, you who have ever received this heavenly gift, whether you have not been brought, as it were, into a new world, and whether you be not breathing from day to day a new atmosphere?

Compare it with that which the world has framed in imitation of it, and which gives grace and ornament to the more polished circles of society; how poor, how vapid, how destitute of all refreshing fragrance, is that which is called politeness! The very people who most cultivate it, are most sensible what an empty formality it is; it is a mere mimicry of what is good; and in all the diversified expressions of it there is a secret consciousness that nothing real is designed; that it is a mere artificial ceremony, invented and practiced in order to keep out of sight those hateful passions, which would destroy all the comfort of social fellowship. Its very forms are burdensome to those who most abound in them; and it is a relief to a man to put them off, and to return to the unconstrained familiarities of domestic life.

We mean not to disparage that which undoubtedly contributes much to the maintenance of public order and decorum; but when compared with that love which grace inspires, it is a mere vanity; it is like a sun painted upon canvass, in comparison with the sun shining in the firmament of Heaven.

Who that lives under the influence of gracious affections, and moves in a circle where Christian love abounds, does not feel this? His spirits are not tumultuous indeed; but they are sweetly elevated towards high and heavenly things; he carries with him a divine savor, wherever he moves; when he enters into the society of the saints, or into the tabernacle of his God, the fragrance is drawn forth and greatly increased, so that “the whole house, as it were, is filled with the fragrance of the ointment.” O, how pleasant is it for brethren to dwell together in unity!

As none could form a just conception of the fragrances of Aaron’s ointment, but those who came within the sphere of its influence, so none can form any adequate idea of the sweetness of love, but those on whom the Spirit of God has poured this divine unction. We may however see that this representation is just, even though we should not be able fully to comprehend it; for Paul, urging with all possible importunity the exercise of love, recommends it from the consideration of the comfort imparted by it, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose! Philippians 2:1-2.”

But the Psalmist speaks of unity as being “good,” as well as pleasant; and in his illustration of it in this view, he leads us to contemplate it,

II. The excellence of Christian unity as administering to our everlasting welfare.

The effect of dew in hot desert countries is exceedingly beneficial.

In England, where rains are frequent, we have comparatively little dew; but in hot countries, where the rains are rare, the dew, as in Paradise, almost supplies the place of rain, Genesis 2:4-5. On Hermon, and on Zion, rain came down in rich abundance. In its descent it was gentle; but in its operation powerfully influential, reviving and invigorating every plant, and fertilizing the earth on every side.

And such also is the influence of love on the souls of men.

On Zion, “God commanded his blessing” in the days of old; and on our Zion also he still commands it, “even life for evermore.” But what is the principle whereby he operates this glorious change? It is love, or “faith working by love;” “Love is of God; and every one that loves, is born of God, and knows God; he who loves not, knows not God; for God is love.” “God is love; and he who dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in him.” “If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us, 1 John 4:7-8; 1 John 4:12; 1 John 4:16.”

It is by the exercise of this divine principle that “we know we have passed from death unto life;” and “by it we are recognized by all men as Christ’s disciples, 1 John 3:14 and John 13:35.” The proper operations of this principle are distinctly and fully marked in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; and they are most beautifully exemplified in the conduct of the primitive Christians, Acts 4:32.

Such will every church be, where love reigns; the graces of the whole collective body will flourish with ever increasing beauty and fruitfulness, Hosea 14:4-7; and that will be verified which God promised previously to every sabbatic year, “I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years, Leviticus 25:21.”

Say then, Whether Christian love and unity are not “good?” Say whether anything in the universe can tend so much to the perfection of our nature as this; or whether there is anything that will so advance us in a fitness for our heavenly inheritance?

APPLICATION.

Cultivate then this heavenly principle of Christian love. If you seek only your own personal happiness, there is nothing that will contribute to it like this. Nor will anything so advance the welfare of the Church. Christians are one body in Christ; and when every member and every joint supplies its proper portion of this divine unction, “the whole body will grow unto the edifying of itself in love,” and will in due time “attain the full measure of the stature of Christ! Ephesians 4:13; Ephesians 4:15-16.”

And need I say that God will be glorified when his enemies are constrained to exclaim, “Behold, how these Christians love one another!” Guard then against every disposition contrary to love; and “if there be any among you who would cause divisions and offences, avoid them.” In mutual forbearance and forgiveness, follow the example of Christ himself, Ephesians 4:31-32; Ephesians 5:1-2. Thus shall you be fitted for those realms of love and joy, where all the countless multitudes of the redeemed unite in one harmonious song of praise to God and to the Lamb forever and ever!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 132:13-16

“The LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it–I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will ever sing for joy.”

The efficacy of fervent prayer is strongly marked in the Holy Scriptures; there is scarcely a saint, respecting whom any information is given to us, who may not be adduced as an example of God’s readiness to answer prayer.

Solomon, if, as some suppose, he was the author of this Psalm, records the answer which God gave to the supplications he had offered at the dedication of his temple; and it is worthy of observation, that the very language of his petition was made the vehicle of God’s promise. Compare verse 8-10 and 2 Chronicles 6:41-42 with the text and the verse following it.

In considering these words we shall notice,

I. God’s love to his redeemed people.

Mount Zion must be numbered among the most distinguished types, not only because its very name is given to the Church of Christ, but because God’s love to his Church was represented to the world by the favors conferred on that chosen hill. As formerly on Mount Zion, so now in the Christian Church:

1. God dispenses his ordinances.

The Jews were not allowed to present their offerings in any other place; there alone were the sacrifices to be slain; and there alone were the means of reconciliation with God to be exhibited before their eyes.

In the same way, in the Church of Christ, and in that alone, have we the way of life and salvation fully opened. Among the heathen world we behold no traces of that path marked out for us in the Gospel; but wherever God has called a people to the knowledge of his Son, and appointed over them a faithful shepherd, there his Word is preached with power; there the sin-atoning blood of Jesus flows; the administration of the sacraments is not there an empty ceremony, but a lively and impressive exhibition of the doctrines of grace!

2. God grants his presence.

When the ark, which had long abode in a moveable tabernacle at Shiloh, was brought to Zion, its residence was fixed; and God, whom it represented, called that place his “rest.” From that time his visible glory was revealed there; he dwelt between the cherubim; and was accessible to all through the blood of the sacrifices, and the mediation of the high-priest.

In the Church also is his glory seen, even “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Whatever may be known of him in the works of creation and providence is darkness itself, in comparison with that light which shines in his Gospel. To those, who seek his face, “he manifests himself, as he does not unto the world;” and often constrains them to cry out with astonishment, “How great is his goodness! How great is his beauty!”

3. God communicates his blessings.

When the high-priest had finished his work within the veil, he came forth to bless the people; and his Word was confirmed by God to all penitent and believing worshipers.

So now in his Church does God bless his people with all spiritual blessings. He imparts:
pardon to the guilty,
strength to the weak,
and consolation to the troubled.

Whatever any of his redeemed people stand in need of, they are sure to obtain it, if they come to him in his appointed way, Psalm 48:2-3. This, thousands can attest; this, thousands yet unborn shall, in every succeeding age, experience.

But his love to his redeemed people will yet further appear by considering,

II. The promises which God makes to his redeemed people.

These, as has been observed, precisely accord with the petitions offered. In them God assures his Church that he will bestow abundant blessings:

1. On the ordinances.

There may be in the text some reference to the assembling of all the males three times a year at Jerusalem, when it was probable that the conflux of such multitudes to one place might produce a scarcity of provisions, and thereby distress the poor. This effect God promises to counteract by giving them abundant crops.

But certainly we must understand this as relating also to spiritual food; and how delightfully is it verified under the ministration of the Gospel! The Word, dispensed in one short hour, has, like the bread multiplied by our Lord, been food for thousands! And though simple, and unadorned, has, like the vegetables given to Daniel and his companions, been more nutritious than all the dainties sent from the monarch’s table! Daniel 1:12-13.

2. On those who administer the ordinances.

The priests who served in the temple were clad with linen, to denote the purity that was expected of them.

But those who minister under the Gospel, provided they walk worthy of their high and holy office, shall be “clothed with salvation” itself, “in watering others, they themselves shall be watered;” and “in saving others, they themselves shall be saved.”

Nor is this a blessing to themselves alone; for, in proportion as ignorant and ungodly ministers are a curse to those over whom they are placed, the superintendence of pious, intelligent, and faithful ministers must be esteemed a blessing.

3. On those who attend the ordinances.

The request made by Solomon was, that “the saints might shout for joy;” and God tells him that they shall shout aloud for joy; thus does God on numberless occasions give us more than we either asked or thought.

A faithful dispensation of the ordinances is a source of joy to many souls. The saints especially, who receive the truth in the love of it, are often enabled by it to “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” And this is a blessing, not to themselves only, but to the whole Church. By this they adorn, and recommend the Gospel; and are stimulated to diffuse the savor of it all around them.

INFERENCES.

1. How little reason have mere formal worshipers, to think that they belong to the true church of God!

The enjoyment of these promises is inconsistent with habitual formality; either therefore God falsifies his Word (which it were the vilest blasphemy to imagine), or the formalist is yet an “alien from the commonwealth of Israel.”

2. How impotent are all attempts to destroy the Church. Psalm 125:1; Psalm 48:12-13; Psalm 46:5 and Matthew 16:18.

3. How strong is the Christian’s obligation to serve and honor God!

Does God so delight in his Church as to make it his rest, and to load it with so many benefits? Surely every member of it should testify his gratitude by a cheerful and unreserved obedience!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 131:2

“My soul is even as a weaned child!”

Among the great variety of representations whereby the Christian’s character is set forth in the Holy Scriptures, that of a little child holds a very distinguished place, Matthew 18:3. To this we annex the idea of humility, and teachableness, and resignation to the will of our heavenly Father.

In this last view more especially, the behavior of a child was beautifully exemplified in the conduct of David. He had been anointed to the kingly office by God’s command; yet he waited patiently for many years without ever aspiring to the kingdom, until the Lord’s time came to give it him. Though he was persecuted with murderous rage and jealousy by Saul, he would never lift up his hand against the Lord’s anointed, or give occasion of offence to the government under which he lived. On the contrary, he appeals to God in this Psalm, that he had not indulged any ambitious thoughts, or interfered in any affairs of state, but had acquiesced in the disposals of an all-wise Providence, even as a weaned child does in the directions and government of his mother, verses 1, 2.

To illustrate this disposition of mind, we shall show,

I. What those things are from which we ought to be weaned.

The circumstances alluded to in the text will serve to direct our thoughts. David’s indifference to all the pomp of royalty shows, that we should be weaned:
from pleasure,
from riches,
from honor,
from everything which we possess in this world.

Pleasure is but ill-suited to the advancement of a soul in the divine life. There are indeed pleasures which we may lawfully enjoy; but if the heart is set upon them, we cannot properly engage in that race which we are to run, or that warfare we are to maintain; nor can we have any more decisive evidence of our being still unrenewed by divine grace, Luke 8:14. 2 Timothy 3:4. James 5:1; James 5:5. 1 Timothy 5:6.

Riches also may be possessed with innocence; but they must not be coveted. They should rather be considered as a snare which we are to dread, than as a blessing we are eager to obtain. They are as clay upon the feet of one that is running a race, Habakkuk 2:6, or as a weight tied to the neck of one that is swimming for his life, Matthew 19:23-24. There has scarcely ever occurred an instance wherein the acquisition of them has furthered the divine life; but thousands have been retarded by them, and not a few eternally destroyed! 1 Timothy 6:9-11.

Reputation is that which men in general are most averse to sacrifice; but we must be willing to part with that, if we would be Christians indeed. If we seek the honor that comes from men, we cannot possibly be steadfast in the faith, John 5:44; we shall shrink from reproach, and prove unfaithful to God in the time of trial, John 12:42-43; and being ashamed of Christ, we shall cause him to be ashamed of us in the day of judgment, Mark 8:38.

There is nothing—not health, nor friends, nor liberty, nor life itself, that we should value any further than as it may be improved to the glory of God! Colossians 3:2. 1 John 2:15-17. Luke 14:26. Our hearts must be weaned from all, so as to be ready to part with everything, whenever God, in his providence, shall call for it.

To evince that such a state is attainable, we shall show,

II. What methods God employs to wean us from them.

Without any indelicacy or impropriety we may observe, in allusion to the metaphor in the text, that to wean us from creature-comforts, our heavenly Parent embitters them to us, withdraws them from us, and gives us something more suitable in their stead.

Such is our attachment to earthly things, that we would never be willing to part from them, if they were not in some way or other embittered to us. God therefore, in mercy to us, mixes gall and wormwood with every cup he puts into our hands.

In the pursuit of pleasure, our brightest prospects become clouded, our highest gratifications cloy, and numberless unforeseen accidents arise to damp our joys, and to disappoint our expectations.

In the attainment of wealth, there are many cares to corrode, many vexations to disquiet us, so that we must write on all the bags that we have amassed, “This is vanity and vexation of spirit!”

The acquisition of knowledge seems to promise the most permanent satisfaction; but such is the labor requisite to attain it, and so little, after all, is within the reach of human intellect, that the wisest of men was constrained to say, “Much study is a weariness to the flesh; and he who increases knowledge, increases sorrow! Ecclesiastes 1:18; Ecclesiastes 12:12.”

Even those dear relations of life which God has given for our richest consolation, the wife of our bosom, or the fruit of our body, are not without their attendant troubles; which are designed to teach us, that “this world is not our rest, Micah 2:10,” and that God alone is the proper portion of the soul.

But notwithstanding all our disappointments, we are prone to seek our happiness in the creature; on which account God is necessitated, as it were, to deprive us of things, which, if, continued to us, would rob him of our hearts. Hence it is that the dearest of God’s children are often most heavily afflicted. He sees perhaps that our health, our riches, our friends, have drawn us aside from him, or impeded our progress in the divine life, or that they will prove disadvantageous to us in the outcome; and therefore he lays us on a bed of languishing, or causes our “riches to fly away,” or “cuts off the desire of our eyes with a stroke.”

But his design in all this is to weaken our idolatrous regard for created enjoyments, and to make us seek our happiness in him alone. And thousands have had more reason to bless him for the bereavements they have experienced, than for all the bounties he ever bestowed upon them! Psalm 119:71; Psalm 119:75.

Nothing however will finally destroy our attachment to earthly things, until we have learned how much more suitable provision God has made for the souls of his people. When therefore God, by his providence, has embittered or withdrawn our comforts, he leads us, by his grace, to that fountain of consolation, the sacred Oracles. There he proposes himself to us as a reconciled God and Father in Christ. He sets before our eyes,
“the unsearchable riches of Christ,”
the “honor that comes of God,”
and the “pleasures that are at his right hand forevermore.”

And, having enabled us to taste of these, he makes us to despise everything in comparison with them, and willingly to relinquish the husks of this world, for the bread that is in our Father’s house.

But that we may not form a wrong opinion of our state, we shall declare,

III. When our souls may be said to be as a weaned child.

The whole world, with respect to earthly enjoyments, are like a child either before it is weaned, or while it is weaning, or when it is altogether weaned.

The generality of people are like a child feeding at the mother’s bosom, minding nothing but their carnal gratifications. The world, in its pleasures, riches, or honors, is the one object of their desire, the one source of their comfort. They feed upon it all the day long; they fell asleep, as it were, with it in their mouths; they are clamorous for it as soon as they are awake. In their very slumbers they frequently show, how wholly their minds have been occupied with that one object. Give them their favorite gratification, and they care for nothing else; rob them of that, and not all the world can pacify them. Such are those who have a fullness of earthly comforts.

But others, to whom these things have been embittered, or from whom they have been withdrawn, are, like a weaning child, disquieted beyond measure. They are unhappy in themselves; and they disturb all around them with their peevishness and discontent. Having lost that in which alone they found delight, they can take comfort in nothing else; yes, because of one thing of which they are deprived, they have no enjoyment of all the other things that they possess. In vain have they more suitable and substantial blessings offered them; they have no appetite for the provisions of the Gospel; they refuse that which would infinitely overbalance their loss; and they pine away in querulous lamentations, when they might be nourished with “angels’ food.”

Some there are, however, who with David, resemble a weaned child. They have become indifferent to carnal enjoyments. They use with gratitude whatever God has bestowed; but they do not set their hearts upon it, or consider it as essential to their happiness, Philippians 4:12. Hebrews 11:24-26. They suffer the loss of all earthly things with a holy resignation and composure of mind. Doubtless they have their feelings, like other men; but these feelings are moderated by religion, and brought into subjection to the Divine will, 2 Samuel 15:25-26. The more they are bereaved of earthly comforts, the more entirely do they live by faith on Christ, and the more abundantly do they grow in every grace. Afflictions drive them, not from God, but to him; and in the midst of all their bereavements they show, that they “have food to eat which the world knows not of,” and “joys with which the stranger intermeddles not.”

APPLICATION.

Let those whose hearts are set upon the world, remember how transient and unsatisfying their enjoyments are!

Let those who are disconsolate on account of their troubles, consider for what gracious ends God has caused them to be afflicted!

And let those who feel a measure of David’s spirit, strive for yet higher attainments, in the assured expectation that the more they are weaned from all but God, the more will God communicate to them out of his inexhaustible fullness!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 130:7-8

“O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins!”

That advice which flows from experience is at all times most worthy of our attention. In this view the words of our text claim peculiar regard. David, in the Psalm before us, records a very signal deliverance which he had recently experienced, probably from an overwhelming sense of his own guilt and corruption; and, having informed us what methods he had used to obtain deliverance, and how effectual they had proved for his restoration to happiness, he recommends the adoption of them to all the people of God under all difficulties whatever; and assures them, that they shall not in any instance fail of success, “O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins!”

He sets before us:

I. Our duty to hope in God.

Hope in God, as men generally use the term, is nothing more than an unfounded expectation that God will save us, whatever is our state, and whatever is our conduct. But a scriptural hope implies a suitable regard to the things we hope for, and to him in whom our hope is placed. It implies,

1. Scriptural hope in God implies that we pray to him with fervor.

This was united with the Psalmist’s hope, verses 1, 2; and it must also be with ours, Matthew 7:7-8. To pretend to hope in God while we neglect to spread our needs before him, is the grossest hypocrisy, and the most fatal delusion! Ezekiel 36:37.

2. Scriptural hope in God implies that we wait for him with patience.

It was in this manner that David exercised his hope, verses 5, 6. Nor can we act otherwise, if we are sincere in our profession, Romans 8:25. To be impatient, is an unequivocal mark of unbelief and despondency, Isaiah 28:16. 1 Samuel 13:11-12. But to wait patiently upon the Lord’s leisure, is the office and evidence of faith and hope, Habakkuk 2:3.

3. Scriptural hope in God implies that we depend on him with steadfastness.

The promises of God to those who seek him, must be the ground of our hope, verse 5. We are not to regard difficulties of any kind, as though they could prove any obstacle to God. However circumstances, both within and without, may seem to justify despair, we must “hope beyond and against hope, Romans 4:18. Job 13:15. Isaiah 1:10,” assured that, as nothing is impossible with God, so not one jot or tittle of his Word shall ever fail.

This duty being of infinite importance, and of universal obligation, let us consider,

II. Our encouragements to to hope in God.

If we look inward, we shall find nothing but discouragement. But if, with David, we look to God, we may find abundant encouragement:

1. In God’s attributes.

While justice bears a frowning aspect, mercy smiles on the repenting sinner. God has opened a way for the exercise of his mercy in perfect consistency with the demands of justice; and to exercise it is his delight, Micah 7:18. This attribute is as essential to his nature as wisdom, or power, or any other, Exodus 34:6-7. Nor needs he to have it excited by a view of our misery (much less by any meritorious services of ours;) it is ever “with him;” and is ready to manifest itself towards all those who call upon him, Romans 10:12.

2. In God’s works.

“Redemption” is the crown of all his works; and this also is with him, that he may impart it to those who groan under their sore bondage. Yes, with him is “full” redemption; he himself, as our near kinsman, (bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, Ephesians 5:30.) has the right of redemption vested in him, Leviticus 25:25; Leviticus 25:47-49; and, having ability to pay the price, he will discharge our debt, and restore us, not only to liberty, but also to the inheritance which we have so basely alienated.

3. In God’s Word.

The declaration of his determined purpose by an inspired writer, is equivalent to an express promise. And, if the extent and certainty of this promise is considered, what an encouragement will it afford us to hope in God! There is no limitation whatever to the promise, provided, like “Israel” of old, we wrestle with God for the performance of it, Genesis 32:24-28. However numerous and inveterate our iniquities may be, they shall “all” be pardoned, and “all” subdued, Isaiah 1:18.

APPLICATION.

1. To prevent any abuse of this subject, we shall guard it.

The repetition of the name “Israel” distinctly marks the characters to whom the text is more immediately to be applied. It is the praying, waiting, and depending sinner that is exhorted to hope in God; and it is he alone who can expect redemption at the hands of God. Let such therefore see their duty and their privilege; but let those who live in the habitual neglect of God know that their “hope is as a spider’s web that shall soon be swept away with the broom of destruction! Job 8:13-14.”

2. To impress the subject more deeply on our minds, we shall enforce it.

The advice here given is the most suitable that can be given, and if followed, will be productive of the greatest happiness. Were any of us directed to indulge a hope of salvation from our own endeavors, we would soon perceive the folly of such advice. Every day and hour would bring us fresh occasion for despair. But in God there is nothing lacking; he has the right, the power, and the will to redeem us. Nor, if we trust in him, shall we ever be confounded, Isaiah 45:17.

Let us therefore not limit either the mercy or power of our God; but putting away all self-righteous hopes, Philippians 3:3, or unbelieving fears, Psalm 42:11—let us repose an unlimited confidence in our merciful and faithful Redeemer.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 130:5-6

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning!”

Many of God’s people are at times reduced to great straits, either through the violence of persecution, or the force of temptation; and, under such circumstances, what refuge have they, but in God? It is in vain for them to look to the creature; and it sometimes appears to them to no purpose to wait even upon God, because the desired relief is so long delayed.

David, under delays of this kind, was sometimes discouraged; but, whatever were the depths into which he had fallen on the present occasion, it is manifest that he cast himself upon the mercy of his God, and determined to “hold fast by God,” and to maintain his confidence in him even to the end.

I. I will unfold to you the experience of David.

He declares it to us in few words, “he waited upon God.” And the comparison by which he illustrates the frame of his mind, will serve us as a clue, whereby to find the full import of his words.

He may possibly refer to watchmen in general, who, during a long and tedious night, wait for the morning, when they shall be released from their fatigues, and retire to their rest.

But I rather think that he refers to the Priests and Levites, whom he had appointed to watch nightly in the Tabernacle, Psalm 134:1, and who, if they were not filled with a spirit of devotion, by which they might enjoy communion with their God, would long earnestly for the morning, when they might terminate their irksome task. But more than they, did David long for the return of God to his soul:

1. David waited upon the Lord with earnest desire.

No temporal distress will bear any comparison with that which is spiritual. The troubles of an awakened or tempted soul are very heavy; and the depths into which it is plunged, by an apprehension of God’s wrath, are very terrible. No wonder that David “panted after the Lord, as the deer after the water-brooks, Psalm 42:1-3.” No wonder that David, when God’s answers to his prayers were delayed, he cried, “How long, O Lord! how long Psalm 6:3; Psalm 13:1-2, four times.”

Nor is such importunity disapproved of God; on the contrary, he would have us “cry day and night to him, Luke 18:7,” and give him no rest, until he arises, and comes to our relief, Isaiah 62:6-7.

2. David waited upon the Lord with patient hope.

Though earnest in prayer, he was willing to tarry the Lord’s leisure; and would not attempt to use any unfitting means for his own relief. Repeatedly had he it in his power to slay Saul; but he would neither perpetrate the act himself, nor allow it to be perpetrated by others. He committed his cause to God, to whom alone vengeance belongs. So, in reference to the mercies he desired at God’s hands, he was willing to wait. His earnestness appears in that he says repeatedly, “My soul does wait.” It was not a mere wish that he entertained for relief, but a most eager desire; yet was he as far from impatience as from indifference.

He rested on the Word of God, “In his Word,” says he, “do I hope.” It was quite sufficient for him that God had promised to support his tempted people; and, whatever apparent contrarieties there might be between God’s providence and his Word, David had no doubt but that they would all be cleared up in due season, and that not a jot or tittle of God’s Word would pass away, until all were fulfilled.

3. David waited upon the Lord with assured expectation.

A watchman knows that the morning will at last appear; and therefore, instead of abandoning his post, he waits until the destined hour for his relief arrives. Thus David assured himself that God would come to him at last, and reveal himself to him out of the abundance of his grace and love. The verses following my text show this to have been the real experience of his soul, and afford me occasion to:

II. Commend the experience of David for your imitation.

Not in the context only, but in other places, does David call upon us to imitate his example, and to avail ourselves of his experience for the comfort and direction of our own souls. “I would have fainted,” says he, “unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say on the Lord! Psalm 27:13-14.” Thus would I now entreat you to mark the posture of David’s soul in this season of trial.

1. Consider how suited is David’s example to every one of you.

You may not have committed David’s sins, or be subjected to David’s trials; but where is there one of you that is not a sinner before God? Who among you does not stand in need of mercy? Who must not find his consolation altogether in the contemplation of God; saying with David, “If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared! verses 3 and 4.”

Then it is plain that the same waiting spirit befits you also. Yes, in a spirit of penitence should you be crying to God, “Lord, hear my voice; let your ear be attentive to the voice of my supplications, verse 2.”

And however long God may defer his answer to your prayers, you should wait with meekness and patience. “If the eyes of a servant are to the hand of his master, and the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress, then should not your eyes be unto the Lord your God until he have mercy upon you? Psalm 123:2.” Surely you may well be as observant of God as you expect your fellow-creature to be of you. And think how long God has waited upon you; calling, but you would not hear; entreating, but you would not regard him. Shall you then be impatient, if he comes not at the first moment that you call; and that too when you are urged by nothing but a fear of his wrath, which you have so richly merited?

Know, every one of you, that it befits you to wait his appointed time; and to be satisfied if the morning never arrives until the very moment of your departure from this world of woe.

2. Consider what honor David’s example gives to God.

A meek, patient, and submissive spirit honors every perfection of God!

It expresses a confidence in God’s wisdom, as alone discerning the fittest time to appear in your behalf.

It shows a persuasion of God’s goodness, that does not willingly afflict you, but orders everything for your greatest good, even to humble you the more deeply, and thereby to prepare you for a richer improvement of his mercy whenever it shall be given unto you.

It honors also God’s power, as able to impart relief, whenever his wisdom and goodness shall judge it expedient to confer the blessing.

Above all, it glorifies God’s truth and faithfulness, in that it makes the written Word a ground of hope, yes, and of an assured hope, that whatever God has promised, he will perform.

I ask then, Is it not desirable that you should be found in a posture by which God is so honored, and with which he cannot but be pleased? Let every one of you, therefore, be able to make that appeal to God, “I have waited for your salvation, O Lord! Genesis 49:18.”

3. Consider what benefit David’s example ensures to the waiting soul.

Justly is it said, “The Lord is good unto those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord! Lamentations 3:25-26.”

But let us hear the Psalmist’s own experience, “I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings; and he has put a new song into my mouth, even praise unto our God! Psalm 40:1-3.”

And who is there, even though he should not have been delivered to the same extent, that must not yet say, “It is good for me to draw near to God! Psalm 73:28.”

I entreat you, then, to adopt the resolution of the Psalmist, “I will wait on your name; for it is good before your saints! Psalm 52:9.” If at any time your mind is disquieted by reason of delay, check and chide your soul even as David did, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God! Psalm 42:11.”

You must never forget that appeal which God himself makes to the whole universe, “I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek me in vain, Isaiah 45:19.” Even in this world you may be sure that God will accept and bless you; for he has said, “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint! Isaiah 40:31.”

And in the world to come, can anyone doubt the acceptance of a penitent, contrite, and believing soul? You might as well doubt the existence of God himself; for he has said, that “we shall reap if we faint not, Galatians 6:9;” and to all his believing Israel he has engaged, that “they shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, and shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end! Isaiah 45:17.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 130:1-4

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared!”

In seasons of affliction, it is a great comfort to see how others in similar circumstances, have found relief. It is in this view that biography is peculiarly interesting; and Scripture biography more especially, because it is more authentic in itself, and a surer ground for wise and profitable observations. The Psalms are a rich repository of such instruction. David was a man of deep experience. His afflictions, both temporal and spiritual, were very abundant; and, as they are faithfully related to us, so do we see under them the workings of his mind. In the passage just read we see,

I. The means David used for deliverance from his distresses.

David’s trials were greatly diversified, and very severe.

Unless it were recorded on divine authority, we would scarcely conceive it possible that a man of David’s character should be an object of such inveterate and envenomed malice as he was in the eyes of Saul; and, after the returns which he made to Saul, we would scarcely think that human malignity could ever arrive at such a height, or rage with such unrelenting fury, as it did in that envious and jealous monarch.

Of his troubles under persecution, David speaks under the same metaphor as that which is used in our text, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me! Psalm 69:1-4.”

It seems, however, that on the present occasion he refers to his spiritual troubles, because it is of his iniquities that he chiefly complains, and of forgiveness that he expresses his chief desire. It might be supposed that so holy a man as he should have no complaints of this kind to make; but the truth is, that the more holy any man is, the more enlarged will be his views of the spirituality of God’s Law, and the more painful his sense of his short-comings and defects and sins; and it should seem that David was permitted to sustain great anguish of mind on this account, so that he might be the better fitted to instruct and comfort God’s tempted people to the very end of time.

Hear his complaints under a sense of God’s displeasure, “You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves! Psalm 88:6-7.” Sometimes he was so overwhelmed, that he thought himself altogether an outcast from God, and doubted whether he would ever find mercy at his hands,

“Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Psalm 77:7-9.”

Under all his trials, David had recourse to God in prayer.

“Out of the depths he cried unto the Lord,” He well knew that none but God could support him under all his temporal afflictions, and that there was no other comforter amidst the troubles of his soul. Hence, on all occasions, he betook himself to God in prayer.

Under trials from man he says, “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies, Psalm 18:3-6.”

And under the frowns of Almighty God David still sought refuge in the arms of him whose displeasure he feared, “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of Hell got hold upon me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul, Psalm 116:3-4.”

Thus did Jeremiah also, under his extremities, “They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. Waters flowed over my head; then I said, I am cut off. I called upon your name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. You have heard my voice; hide not your ear at my breathing, at my cry! Lamentations 3:53-56.”

Thus it is that we also, under all our troubles, should approach our God. Nor should we be discouraged because we cannot find enlargement in prayer; our feelings may be too deep for utterance; and our desires may find vent only in sighs, and groans, and tears; but, if only we are sincere, God will hear our very “breathing and our cry.”

From the account which David gives us of his prayers, we learn,

II. The views of God, from whence David derived his chief encouragement.

David dared not to plead for anything on the footing of justice.

He was sensible that he in no respect came up to the perfect demands of God’s Law; and that, if God should “mark his iniquities,” it would be impossible for him to “stand;” since there was not an act, or word, or thought in his whole life that could endure so severe a scrutiny. Such is the view which all holy men have of their own infirmities; they know that God “charges even his angels with folly! Job 4:18,” and that “the very heavens are not clean in his sight;” how much less can man be pure, who by nature comes from a corrupt source; and, by practice, drinks iniquity like water! Job 15:14-16. Job was the most perfect man of his day; yet he says, “If I should say I am perfect, my own tongue would prove me perverse! Job 9:2-3; Job 9:20.”

In the same way, every living man must deprecate the being dealt with according to the demands of strict justice, saying, “Enter not into judgment with your servant, O Lord; for in your sight shall no man living be justified! Psalm 143:2.”

David’s only hope was founded on the mercy of his God.

Mercy is an essential perfection of the Divine nature, and, consequently, inseparable from God. But the expression, “There is forgiveness with you,” intimates, that mercy is treasured up, as it were, in the Divine bosom, ready to be bestowed on every weeping penitent. We are told, that “it has pleased the Father that in Christ should all fullness dwell;” and that “out of his fullness we are all to receive,” according to our respective necessities.

This was David’s encouragement. Had he not known this, he would have sat down in utter despair.

It is a consciousness of this that emboldens a penitent to draw near to God, and to ask for mercy at his hands. A soul that is gone beyond the reach of mercy, hates God with a perfect hatred, and “never repents to give him glory, Revelation 16:9; Revelation 16:11.”

But the soul that hopes in God’s mercy, feels towards him a filial fear and reverence; and this holy fear is ever augmented in proportion to the hope that is cherished in the soul.

Hence, when God says respecting his people, “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me;” he adds, “And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity, that I procure unto it, Jeremiah 33:8-9.”

In this view of David’s experience we may see,

1. Our dependence on God.

To whom can we go in a time of trouble? Who can afford us even the smallest help, especially under a sense of sin, and under a dread of God’s displeasure? We may possess all that the world can give, but it will not for a moment soothe the agonies of a guilty conscience. Of all things under the sun, in this view, it must be said, “Miserable comforters are you all!” Our help is in God alone! “He is the only fountain of life; and in his light alone can we see light! Psalm 36:9.”

2. Our obligations to God.

When we see so holy a man as David brought into “depths” where he feels as one ready to perish, what thanks can we render unto God, that we are enabled to pass through life in peaceful tranquility, and with a cheerful hope of eternal life! None but those who have experienced the hidings of God’s face, and the terrors of his wrath, can have any conception what it is to be reduced to such a state.

Does David say, “Fearfulness has taken hold upon me, and a horrible dread has overwhelmed me?” Why, then, is not that the condition of our souls? Who does not deserve it? Who might not well be left to sustain it throughout his whole life? If we were saved from perdition at last, it would be a mercy, for which we should have cause to bless God to all eternity. But to enjoy peace here, and the light of God’s countenance, truly this is a blessing for which we can never be sufficiently thankful.

But there is yet a richer blessing given unto us; and that is, that in all our trials, of whatever kind, we have God himself for our refuge. Who need to be afraid of depths, when he has a God to go unto—a God able and willing to deliver him?

Look at the heathen, who know not God; or at those who, though in a Christian land, are unacquainted with the great mystery of redemption. They are in a pitiable condition indeed; but the believing penitent, though in darkness, has reason to rejoice; because his “sorrow will endure but for a night, and joy will come to him in the morning.” He may descend with Jonah to the very precincts of Hell; but in due season he shall be brought forth to light and liberty and joy.

3. Our true wisdom.

The resolution of David, in the words following our text, should be ours. Whether in trouble or at ease, let us wait on the Lord, and “hold us fast by God.”

The man who has been watching through the night looks with eager desire to the break of day, when he shall be relieved from his toil. But with far greater earnestness, and with sweeter assurance too, should we wait on God, confident that he will appear for us in the hour of need, and grant us that rest which our necessities require. Let us then live in this habit; and then, “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! Habakkuk 3:17-18.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 126:5-6

“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall surely come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

So much of sorrow is entailed on fallen man, that his path through life is properly called a valley of tears. But it is not to the ungodly only that this portion is allotted; the man who is regenerate still finds much occasion to weep; and if he have reasons for joy peculiar to himself, so also has he for grief.

The Israelites, when restored from their captivity in Babylon, felt, as well they might, that the mercies given to them were exceedingly great. The very heathen that surrounded them were constrained to acknowledge this. But, when they came to their own land, and saw the desolations that were spread on every side, and reflected on the time and labor that must be employed in rebuilding their city and temple, on the opposition they were likely to meet with in their work, and on their utter incapacity to restore either the city or temple to their former grandeur, they might well weep.

They were, however, encouraged with the divine assurance, that God would be with them in their labors, and prosper their endeavors; and that, if they were content to “sow in tears, they would reap in joy;” yes, that every one of them who should “go forth, weeping, and bearing precious seed, would surely come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

But we must not confine ourselves to the immediate occasion on which these words were written. They refer to every one that is engaged in raising a spiritual temple to the Lord; and they assure to him a happy outcome to his exertions.

To elucidate the subject, we shall consider,

I. The events here connected.

Between seed-time and harvest there is in the minds of all a necessary connection; and as in the natural world the action of sowing has always a reference to that of reaping, so it has also in the spiritual world.

The seed which the Christian sows is “tears”.

What other can he sow, when he looks back upon the transgressions of his former life? How he, from the first moment that he began to act, lived in rebellion against his God! In no respect has he been subject to the law of God, or regulated himself according to the divine commands. From open and flagrant sins he may be free; but he has lived as without God in the world, making his own will the one rule of his conduct, and his own pleasure the only end of his existence. Does not such a life as this call for deep humiliation, and require to be mourned over with floods of tears?

Nor is this contrition less called for by his sins of daily incursion. Let any man compare the frame of his mind with that which his circumstances, and God’s dealings with him demand:
how faint his gratitude for mercies received!
how superficial his sorrow for sins committed!
how cold his devotions at the throne of grace!
how feeble his efforts to glorify his God!

Truly, in the retrospect of every succeeding day, he may well sit down and weep bitterly, yes, and mourn before God in dust and ashes!

In truth, this is, in a measure, the habit of the Christian’s mind: he is bowed down under a sense of his own manifold infirmities; and he walks softly before God, under a consciousness of his own extreme unworthiness. If David could say, in reference to the sins of others, “Rivers of water run down my eyes, because men keep not your law,” then how much more may every man say it, in reference to his own sins!

In the days to which we are looking forward, when the remnant of Israel shall return to the Lord their God, it is precisely in this way that they will come up to Zion, “They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son, Jeremiah 31:9.”

From this seed, however, shall spring a harvest of “joy”.

In the natural world we expect to reap the very seed which we have sown; but it is not so in the spiritual world. If we sow tears, shall we reap tears? No, never, never, never! Far different shall be the fruit arising from that seed! Even joy, yes, “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Look at the very remnant of whom we have just spoken; and see the outcome of their humiliation, “They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD–the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow! Jeremiah 31:12-13.”

It must be observed that the first-fruits of this harvest are enjoyed even now; for the very scope of the Gospel is not only to “proclaim liberty to the captives; but to give unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them,” I say, “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord; and that He may be glorified! Isaiah 61:1-3.”

But, after all, this is only a foretaste of that which they shall hereafter enjoy, a cluster from Eshcol, a pledge of their future inheritance. The time is coming when they shall reap the full harvest in the fruition of their God, in whose “presence there is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore! Psalm 16:11.”

The connection between these two periods being marked, I proceed to show,

II. The certainty and blessedness of this connection of sowing in tears, and reaping in joy.

1. The certainty of sowing in tears, and reaping in joy.

In the natural world the connection is not sure; every care may have been exercised in preparing the ground, and the best seed may have been sown in it; and yet, through blasting or mildew, or some other unforeseen calamity, the hopes of the gardener may be disappointed.

But in the spiritual world this can never occur. There may be many events which seem unpropitious, and threaten the total destruction of the life of God in the soul; but God will overrule them all for the final accomplishment of his own gracious purposes, agreeably to his own express engagement, that “All things shall work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose! Romans 8:28.”

The untoward circumstances may continue for a considerable length of time; but God engages, that “though their weeping may endure for a night, joy shall assuredly come to them in the morning, Psalm 30:5.” Extremely beautiful is that promise in the Prophet Hosea, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. His goings forth are prepared as the morning, Hosea 6:3.”

The benighted traveler may be ready to imagine that the morning, as it were, will never arrive. But the sun, though as remote as possible from us, will return, and is actually making a progress towards us; and has its radiance ready prepared to pour it forth for the benefit of the earth, at the appointed hour.

In the same way, in the darkest seasons of desertion is God prepared to lift up the light of his reconciled countenance upon us, and to refresh our souls with his enlightening and invigorating beams!

2. The blessedness of sowing in tears, and reaping in joy.

The joy of the harvestman may be fitly used to characterize the Christian’s consolations here on earth, Isaiah 9:3; but it will convey no idea of his felicity hereafter in glory; for all that here he sought and tasted shall there be enjoyed in its utmost fullness! And if the feast of which the prodigal was made to partake, on returning to his Father’s house, was so blessed—then what must the banquet be which is prepared for us above!

Truly, in comparison with that, the sublimest happiness of man on earth is no more than as a twinkling star, compared to the meridian sun! To attempt to speak of the heavenly glory, is only to “darken counsel by words without knowledge;” for, what conception have we of the immediate vision of our God in the full effulgence of his glory? Or what idea can we form of that throne and that kingdom which we shall possess above? Suffice it to say, that all that the blood of Christ could purchase, and all that the love of God can bestow, is the portion reserved for every believer in the realms of bliss!

Behold, then,

1. How desirable is true repentance.

I grant that repentance, considered without relation to its consequences, is not a pleasing exercise of mind. Nor would a gardener find any pleasure in casting his seed into the ground, if he had no prospect of a future recompense. But both the gardener and the penitent sow in hope. Each of them knows that without sowing he can never reap; and each of them expects, that if he “sows in hope, he shall be partaker of his hope.” Hence the employment is that which each of them affects.

But there is this difference between the two; the gardener is confined to a few weeks for the discharge of his duty, whereas the penitent prosecutes his labors to the very end of life; seeing that there is no day or hour which does not give him fresh occasion for penitential sorrow. He is to go forth bearing “a seed-basket” and exactly as the sower, bearing the seed-basket, scatters the seed as universally as he can over the whole field—so does the penitent, every step he takes in the field of life. And whereas one may sow too early and too much, the penitent knows that he never can too soon begin the blessed work; and that the more profusely he sows, the more abundantly he shall reap; God having ordained, in reference to this as well as to every other duty, that “he who sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully! 2 Corinthians 9:6.”

To all then I say, “Be afflicted, and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into heaviness; humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and he shall lift you up! James 4:9-10.” I say, To all without exception, would I give this advice; for it is by a conformity to it, under the Gospel dispensation, that every child of God shall be known, “In those days, at that time,” declares the LORD, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten! Jeremiah 50:4-5.”

2. How reconciled we should be to trials.

To the Christian there may be many storms and tempests, or a long-protracted season of distress, which may threaten the destruction of all his prospects. But as, in relation to the wheat, the frost is even desirable to destroy the vermin, so are diversities of seasons beneficial to the spiritual seed; as Peter has said, “The trial of our faith, which is much more precious than of gold, which, though it stand the trial of fire, will perish at last, will be to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 Peter 1:7.”

It is remarkable that our blessed Lord, speaking of himself as the true vine, and of his people as the branches, says of “every branch that bears fruit, the gardener prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit, John 15:2.” It might be hoped, that, since it was already fruitful, it might escape the wounds inflicted by the pruning-knife; but that is not consistent with the will of the great Gardener, who consults its ultimate benefit in proportion to the prospect which it affords of progressive fruitfulness.

In the same way, God’s dearest people are often most severely tried; and they whose sheaves shall hereafter be found most abundant, are often made to apprehend an entire failure of all their prospects.

Consider, O tempted believer, how profitable your trials have been to you. Consider how they have tended:
to humble your pride,
to weaken your attachment to earthly things,
to make you feel your need of God’s continual help,
and to quicken you in your way to the heavenly Zion!

And then learn to say, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; and it is in love and faithfulness that you have afflicted me.”

3. How sweet to the Christian should be the thoughts of death.

Death is as the wagons that are about to carry home the produce of the field; or as those which were sent to bear the afflicted Jacob to his beloved Joseph. The sight of these made Jacob forget all his troubles, and become indifferent to all that he possessed in this world, “He regarded not his belongings, because all the good of the land of Egypt was his! Genesis 45:19-20.”

So then, brethren, let it be with you. Behold the wagons sent to bear you home, where you shall “go rejoicing, bearing your sheaves with you.” Yes, the tears that you have shed have been treasured up by God in his vial! Psalm 56:8; and they shall be recompensed into your bosom a hundred and a thousand fold. Hear the declaration of God himself to this effect, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; even so says the Spirit; for they rest from their labors, and their works follow them! Revelation 14:13.” Only view death aright, and you will account it among your most valued treasures! You will even “be looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of the day of Christ.” If it is unto you, “Christ to live”—then do not doubt for a moment but that “to die will be gain! Philippians 1:21.” For this is the irreversible decree of God, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life! Galatians 6:7-8.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 126:5

“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy!”

This seems to be a general truth founded on the experience of those who returned from the Babylonish captivity, and the correspondent experience of all who return from the bondage of sin and Satan. The Israelites, like Peter liberated from his prison, were so astonished at their deliverance, that it seemed to them more like a dream than a reality. The very heathen themselves wondered at it, and ascribed it to the influence of Jehovah, as also the Israelites did with joy and gratitude, taking occasion from it to implore the speedy and perfect restoration of all their tribes, verses 1-4. The rain which descended in torrents on the southern or hilly country of Judea, often filled the valleys with rapid streams, which quickly passing away as soon as the rain ceased, the rivers were suddenly transformed into verdant fields. Thus sudden and perfect the Israelites desired their restoration to be.

Such also are the wonder and joy occasioned by the conversion of a soul to God; and such are the desires which instantly vent themselves in fervent petitions for complete deliverance. But as among the captive Jews, so in the enslaved soul: a season of sorrow precedes the time of emancipation. Nevertheless it shall be found universally true, that they who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Let us inquire,

I. What we are to understand by sowing in tears?

“The sorrow of the world works death;” and therefore cannot be that to which the promise is made. To sow in tears implies:

1. A painful recollection of past sins.

We all are sinners from our earliest youth; and every sin we have ever committed, is as fresh in the remembrance of God as if it had been committed this very hour. Nor should we think the less of our sins because they have been long passed; on the contrary, we should view them with all the shame and sorrow that they excited in our bosoms the very instant that our consciences first accused us.

Like God’s people of old, we should be bowed down greatly in the recollection of them, Psalm 38:3-8. Jeremiah 31:19; Jeremiah 3:25. Ezekiel 16:63, and earnestly entreat, with David, that God would not call us into judgment for them, Psalm 25:7.

2. A penitent concern for present sins and infirmities.

The very best of Christians has much within him to mourn over. It is but in part that any of us are renewed. Many are the corruptions that yet work within us; and the very imperfection of our prayers and praises is enough to make us go mourning all the day long. Paul found so much conflict in his soul by reason of his indwelling corruptions that he exclaimed, “O what a wretched man I am! Romans 7:14-24.” and groaned earnestly for death as the season when he should be freed from all the imperfections of his nature, and serve, as well as enjoy, God with unabated ardor, 2 Corinthians 5:4. Thus should we also “go softly before God in the bitterness of our souls, Isaiah 38:15,” and loath ourselves before him in dust and ashes, Job 40:4; Job 42:6.

3. An overwhelming sense of God’s goodness.

Nothing is more characteristic of true piety than this. Every day and hour we have reason to adore the divine goodness. What patience does God exercise towards us under all our backslidings! What readiness does he manifest to return to our souls the very instant we return to him—yes, often revealing himself to us, and shedding abroad his love in our hearts, when we had no reason to expect anything but some heavy token of his displeasure!

The Psalmist, impressed with such views of God, exclaims, “O how great is your goodness which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have wrought for those who trust in you before the sons of men, Psalm 31:19.”

But the most striking example of this frame of mind is afforded us by the poor woman, who, to express her love and gratitude, kissed the feet of her Savior, and washed them with floods of tears, Luke 7:38. Would to God that such were the state of our minds, and that we might ever be found, as to our souls at least, in that posture!

Omitting many other grounds of weeping, we proceed to inquire,

II. What encouragement we have to weep?

To those who sow their grain, there is but one harvest.

To those who sow in tears, there are two harvests!

1. We shall reap in this world.

God will not despise the broken and contrite heart, Psalm 51:17; on the contrary, “he will hear the voice of our weeping;” tears, when flowing from a contrite soul, have an eloquence which God cannot resist! Psalm 6:8. He will speak peace to the soul; he will blot out its transgressions as a morning cloud, Luke 7:47-48; Luke 7:50. 1 John 1:9. He will cause the light of his countenance to shine upon it; and will give unto it a spirit of adoption, whereby it shall cry with confidence, Abba, Father! Jeremiah 31:9; Jeremiah 31:20.

And will not such a harvest recompense a hundred years of weeping? Look but at the state of the Prodigal, and see him, after his short seed-time of weeping, welcomed to his father’s house, and feasting with him on the fatted calf; was he not well repaid? Had he any reason to regret his tears of penitence? Thus then shall it be with us in this world, provided we be content to sow in tears, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy shall come in the morning! Psalm 30:5.”

2. We shall reap also in the world to come.

All that the penitent soul enjoys in this world is but a pledge of what it shall hereafter possess. There is “a full reward, 2 John, verse 8,” “an everlasting life, Galatians 6:8,” which shall be reaped as the fruit of what we now sow. The tears we shed are all treasured up with care in the vial of our heavenly Father; every sigh, and every groan, shall be remembered before him; and shall add to that abundant and eternal weight of glory which we shall then receive. And who can estimate those “sheaves which we shall then bring with us?” How will all our sorrows vanish in an instant, and be turned into unutterable joy! Isaiah 30:10. Let us then look forward to that time, and “not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

ADDRESS.

1. To those who have never known anything about sowing in tears.

Is there not occasion enough for you to weep? Think how you have neglected your God and Father; how you have trampled on the blood of Christ your Savior; and how you have resisted the motions of the Holy Spirit in your hearts!

Think too, how you have made the very consideration of God’s mercy and forbearance an occasion of more boldness in transgressing against him! This, independent of any gross acts of sin, is sufficient to make your head a fountain of tears to run down day and night for your iniquities. “Be afflicted, then, and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into heaviness; humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up, James 4:9-10.”

2. To those who are daily sowing in tears.

Possibly, some may be discouraged, because they do not reap so soon as they expected. But, if this be the case, let them examine whether they do indeed “sorrow after a godly sort;” and, if they have the testimony of a good conscience in this respect, let them wait patiently, as the gardener, James 5:7, for “surely they shall come again with rejoicing;” joy and gladness are sown for them, and shall spring up in due season, Psalm 97:11.

Let them be contented to “go on their way” weeping, even though the way is ever so long; for tears are a “precious” seed unto God, and they shall bring a glorious harvest at the last!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 126:1-4

“When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.”

The great body of the Psalms was composed by David; but some were written many hundred years before his time, as the 90th Psalm was by Moses; and other Psalms many hundred years after him, as that before us, which was evidently written after the Babylonish captivity. It relates in the first instance to the delivery of Israel from their sore bondage, and their restoration to their long desolated country; but it is well applicable to that redemption which is given to the souls of men, and which was shadowed forth by that great event.

Let us consider from the passage,

I. The deliverance here celebrated.

Grievous beyond expression was Israel’s captivity. They were treated with the utmost cruelty by their Babylonian oppressors, Psalm 137:8-9; and their sufferings were greatly heightened by the derision with which their pious lamentations were regarded, Psalm 137:3-4. But in proportion to the greatness of their afflictions was their joy at the unexpected deliverance given to them. Observe,

1. The feelings excited by it.

Among the captives themselves the joy was so great, that they scarcely knew whether it was a reality or a dream. They were like Peter, when delivered from prison by an angel on the very night previous to his intended execution, “He went out and followed the angel; and knew not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision, Acts 12:9.”

All their lamentations were instantly turned to joy, “their mouth was filled with laughter, and their tongue with singing.” The sight of such an unprecedented event filled all the surrounding nations with astonishment, and constrained them to acknowledge that it was the work, not of man, but of God, “Then they said among the heathen: The Lord has done great things for them.” The Israelites themselves readily concurred in this sentiment; and, on hearing the congratulations given to them, thankfully replied, “The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad!”

2. The supplications it drew forth.

Though permission was given to them to return to their own land, and everything was provided for their sustenance along the way, and their assistance at the end of their journey—the Jews saw that there was a great and discouraging work before them; but, as nothing was impossible to Jehovah, they entreated him to perfect what he had begun, and “to turn again their captivity as the streams in the south.” In the southern or hilly country of Judea there were, as in all mountainous countries, frequent and sudden inundations; which however as rapidly subsided, soon after the rains had ceased; so that, where, but a few hours before, the country bore the aspect of universal desolation, it speedily assumed the most lovely and flourishing appearance, the valleys smiling on every side with renovated and augmented verdure. Thus the Jews desired that the ravages made in their now desolated country might be soon repaired, and that, through the influence of their almighty Guardian, their efforts might be crowned with speedy and complete success.

We forbear to dwell upon the event itself, that we may enter somewhat minutely into,

II. The more glorious deliverance that was typified by it.

The event before us is undoubtedly to be regarded as shadowing forth that infinitely greater deliverance which is wrought for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Compare Isaiah 40:3-5 with Luke 3:3-6. Or Isaiah 52:7 with Romans 10:15. And the correspondence between the two is particularly striking. Observe,

1. The deliverance itself.

As grievous as was the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, it was nothing in comparison with that sorer bondage to which we are subjected by the power of sin and the wiles of Satan! All indeed have not the same work assigned to them; but all are walking after the imagination of their own hearts, “being taken in the snare of the devil, and led captive by him at his will.”

The promised Deliverer however has arrived; has entered into the conflict with our great adversary, and utterly subdued him. Jesus, foretold by name hundreds of years before his advent in the flesh, has accomplished the work for which he was raised up; and, having now “ascended up on high and led captivity captive,” he has sent his heralds to “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

This is the very first use he makes of his newly-acquired power. Nor is it an empty proclamation, without any facilities afforded for carrying his gracious purposes into effect; he gives us back for the use and honor of Jehovah, all those vessels of which we had been despoiled, and which, though originally formed for the service of God alone, have, through the influence of our great adversary, been prostituted and debased to the vilest uses; yes, all our faculties and powers are now restored by him to their proper office; and the all-sufficient aid of his Spirit is promised to us throughout all our dreary pilgrimage.

Our almighty Deliverer has gone further still, and issued his commands to all throughout his vast empire, to support us in our work, and to impart to us whatever we may stand in need of, Ezra 1:1-11. The very angels in Heaven are enjoined to attend us in all our way, to encamp round about us, to hold us up lest at any time we dash our foot against a stone, and to minister to us in all that our necessities may require.

All this too is offered to us as a free act of mercy on the part of our great Deliverer. It was one of the most extraordinary parts of the Jews’ deliverance from Babylon, that Cyrus should liberate them without any remuneration; but how does it exalt beyond all estimate the value of our redemption, that it is offered to us freely, “without money and without price!”

2. The effects produced by it.

When first a soul that has been sinking under a load of sin and guilt is made to hear the tidings of a free and full deliverance, they seem to him “as an idle tale;” he can scarcely believe it possible that such mercy should be given to him, and that one who has been all his days a willing captive should be delivered; and, when the joys of this salvation burst upon his soul, he appears to himself to be, as it were, in a dream; so far does the deliverance exceed all that he could previously have conceived.

Then his mouth, which was but lately filled with lamentations and complaints, is “filled with laughter, and his tongue with singing! Isaiah 35:10.”

Nor is the surprise confined to him alone; his friends and neighbors behold with astonishment the change that has taken place in him; they now see the whole course of his life changed. They behold . . .
the chains with which he was tied and bound, now loosed;
the sins that once had dominion over him, now mortified;
and the griefs, which they interpreted as symptoms or forerunners of derangement, now turned to joy, and “thanksgiving and the voice of melody.”

So great is the change in their eyes, that though they hate it, they are constrained to admire it, and to acknowledge the hand of God in it, “The Lord has done great things for them;” and, though they may deride it in public, they envy in their hearts the lot which they affect to despise.

As for those who experience the happy change, they thankfully adore their heavenly Benefactor, “The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad!” They take their harps that have been so long suspended on the willows, and sing the songs of Zion with inexpressible delight!

But the more they have experienced, the more they desire to possess all the fullness of the blessings prepared for them. Gladly would they, if it were possible, have all the remains of sin purged out from their hearts, and all conflicts with it forever terminated. They pant for the full attainment of the Divine image; and cry with fervor to their God, “Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south!” Still however, not discouraged by the length of their journey, or the difficulties to be surmounted, or the toils which they must undergo, before they shall attain the full object of their desires, they set out in humble dependence on their God, assured of final and complete success. They are willing to “sow in tears, confident that in due time they shall reap in joy.”

ADDRESS.

1. To those who have experienced some measure of this deliverance.

You have heard the parallel drawn between the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, and that of which you are the happy subjects. It remains for you to carry it yet further, and to realize it in its utmost extent. Of all the multitudes who set out on their journey towards Zion, there was . . .
not one who was not sensible of the cruel bondage from which he had been delivered;
not one who did not feel his obligations to Cyrus as his great deliverer;
not one, who did not see that his provision by the way, and his supports at the close of his journey, were the fruits of that same grace that first proclaimed the deliverance!

Moreover, all of them without exception would feel a consciousness that they were not yet arrived at the place which their souls longed after; but that they were daily proceeding towards it; they felt no inclination to rest satisfied with anything they met with in the wilderness; but looked forward to the enjoyment of God’s ordinances in Jerusalem as the consummation of their bliss.

Now then let it be so with you. Never for a moment lose the remembrance of your former captivity, or of your obligations to the Lord Jesus Christ, who “by his own death has destroyed death, and him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and has delivered those who through fear of death were all their life subject to bondage.”

Never for a moment forget that you are on a journey towards Zion, and that all your fresh springs are in that adorable Savior, who has redeemed you by his blood. Never for a moment cease to press forward in your heavenly way; but, forgetting what is behind, reach forward, like race horses, to the destined goal. Let all your hopes, and all your happiness be in Heaven.

In a word, be exactly in the state and habit of your minds, what the liberated captives were in their journey towards Zion. Then will you have attained the perfection of Christian pilgrims, and will in due time possess in all its fullness your destined inheritance!

2. To those who are yet the bond-slaves of sin and Satan.

This is the state of every man by nature. It is to little purpose to say, that we are not addicted to any gross iniquity; for “the whole world lies in wickedness,” or, “in the wicked one;” and if the Captain of our Salvation has not rescued us from the hands of “the strong man armed,” our very peace is a sufficient evidence of our bondage. If you are yet strangers to the experience above described, you are yet in bondage to the devil.

But we are authorized to declare that this adversary is cast down; that our Cyrus has prevailed over him; and that liberty is now given to every captive in Babylon to return to Zion. Behold, as a herald of our adorable Savior, I now announce to you these glad tidings. O! be not like so many of that ill-fated nation, who preferred their bondage to liberty, and their dwellings in Babylon to their inheritance in Jerusalem.

Put yourselves under the guidance of the true Zerubbabel, before whom “the mountains shall become a plain!” If you meet with difficulties, know that he has issued his proclamation to all his creatures, to afford you all necessary aid; and if, instead of aiding, they endeavor to obstruct you, he has engaged that all things shall work together for your good. Come out then from Babylon, every one of you; and let this be the one harmonious proposal of you all, “Come, let us go up to Zion, unto the Lord our God.”

Fear not but that the object, when attained, will richly recompense all the difficulties of your way. Even in this world your “joys shall be unspeakable and full of glory;” but who can conceive the joy that awaits you in the Zion above! How will your mouth then be filled with laughter, and your tongue with singing! How will you then, in concert with all the heavenly hosts, exclaim, “The Lord has done great things for us, therefore we are glad!” Be content then to “go on your way weeping, bearing precious seed, knowing assuredly that at last you shall come again with rejoicing, bearing your sheaves with you!”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 125:4-5

“Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers.”

At the commencement of this Psalm, the inspired writer speaks of the Lord’s people as secured both by the providence and grace of God. And it is further promised, in the verse before my text, that their trials shall not prevail beyond their strength, Compare verse 3 with 1 Corinthians 10:13.

But no exemption from trouble is promised to them. It is taken for granted, that “the rod of the wicked shall fall upon them, though it shall not rest upon them.” The wrath of man, like water turned upon a mill, shall come on them with no more force than shall be sufficient for accomplishing God’s gracious purposes on their souls. Nevertheless, the trouble shall be sufficient to test every man, and to prove the truth and measure of his integrity; the man who fairly meets and stands the trial, being approved, while he who sinks under it, or shuns it, shall be deemed altogether unworthy of the Divine favor. Hence the Psalmist pours out his fervent intercession in behalf of the upright, and at the same time warns every man of the danger of declension from the ways of God. The two points for our consideration are:

I. David’s encouragement to the upright.

His prayer shows what every believing soul may expect at the hands of God.

No one, without constant supplies of grace and strength, would be able to endure the trials with which he will be visited in the path of duty. A man’s uprightness may embolden him to ask for divine assistance; but it can never support him without it. The greatest and best of believers are weak, even as others, if for a moment they be left to themselves.

Hezekiah was in some respects as eminent for piety as any of the kings of Israel, 2 Kings 18:5; but, when “God left him to try him,” he fell! 2 Chronicles 32:31.

Even Abraham and Isaac showed themselves weak in the day of trial; each of them denying his wife, and Abraham repeatedly, through fear of the consequences which an acknowledgment of the truth might bring upon them.

The Psalmist therefore prays, “Do good unto them, O Lord”—supply every one of them with that measure of strength which their necessities may require; and uphold them under all the circumstances to which they may be reduced!

The prayer contains nothing which God himself has not made the subject of a direct promise.

With all his believing people God has made an everlasting covenant, that “He will not turn away from them to do them good;” yes, “that he will rejoice over them to do them good,” and assuredly interest himself in their behalf, “with his whole heart, and with his whole soul, Jeremiah 32:40-41.”

God considers his own glory as engaged for his people; and sooner shall Heaven and earth pass away, than one who is truly upright in heart be ever left by him to perish! Psalm 84:11. The good which he designs them may not be of the precise nature that they desire or expect; (as Paul had not “the thorn in his flesh” removed, but grace was given him to sustain it,) but, that which is really best shall be given unto them; and it shall be imparted to them in the time, and manner, and measure, that unerring wisdom sees to be best for them. Their extremity shall be God’s opportunity. See Isaiah 58:10-11.

With his tender concern for the upright, we see combined,

II. His warning to the unstable.

As for open apostates, no one can doubt their fate, “their last end will be worse than their beginning, 2 Peter 2:20-21.” But there are many who secretly decline from God’s holy ways, who yet think that, because they turn not back to open profaneness, they shall “escape the judgment of God.” Now,

These are the people warned.

“The man who puts his hand to the plough, is not to look back,” lest the furrows which he makes disgrace the field, Luke 9:62. In the same way, “those who turn aside unto their crooked paths” are people who, by crooked policy and undue compliances, are laboring to avert the evils which a bold and steadfast conduct would bring upon them. Such was the conduct of Peter, when, for the sake of pacifying the Judaizing teachers, he constrained the Gentiles to conform to the Mosaic ritual; and had not the reproof which Paul administered to him, in the presence of the whole Galatian Church, produced the desired change, this temporizing Apostle would have destroyed his own soul, and the souls of all his followers.

In matters of minor importance we may yield, for the sake of peace, as Paul himself did when he became a Nazarite; but in matters which will in any degree impeach our fidelity to God, “we must not give place, no, not for an hour.” To benefit others, we may yield; to screen ourselves, we must not yield. Not life itself must be held dear, when an adherence to duty calls for the sacrifice of it.

Those only who are “upright” will have peace at the last.

Those who dissemble with God, and are diverted from the paths of righteousness by that “fear of man which brings a snare,” have no real peace in this life, Isaiah 59:8; for there can be no peace where there is not “the testimony of a good conscience.” Much less can there be peace in a dying hour, and in the near prospect of giving up our account to God. But, if we suppose a man to have deceived himself so far as to have prevented any remonstrances from his own conscience, still, the very instant that he shall be summoned into the presence of his God, his delusions will be all dispelled, and he will see himself even as God sees him. Where will his peace then be? Alas! it will be fled forever; for in that day none but the true Israel will be approved by their God. All the rest, however subtle may have been their conduct, “will be led forth with the workers of iniquity,” and take their portion with the most abandoned of the human race! In fact, the portion of hypocrites is declared to be pre-eminently bitter, Matthew 24:51, because of the light they have resisted, and the dissimulation they have practiced. Let the unstable then know this, and avail themselves of the warning thus given them.

Then let every one see, and be convinced of,

1. The importance of uprightness.

None but the upright in heart can expect any “good” at the hands of God. “As for such people as turn aside unto their crooked ways,” “their own wickedness shall correct them, and their backslidings reprove them, Jeremiah 2:10.” Then alone can we be approved of our God, when our heart is right with God. For “the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath;” and will surely perish under an accumulated weight of misery.

2. The necessity of decision.

It should never admit of one moment’s doubt, whom we shall serve. Nothing must be allowed to stand in competition with God’s revealed will. Sufferings are to be only as the dust upon the balance. So, also, must gains be counted but loss by us, if we would approve ourselves to God. Let us, then, ever be ready to answer our opponents, as the Apostles did, “Whether it is right to hearken unto you more than unto God—you judge.” For we cannot but obey him regardless of the outcome, and execute his will, though every man on earth, and every wicked spirit in Hell, should combine against us. We will, God helping us, be faithful unto death; for then, and then alone, can we have any scriptural hope of obtaining eternal life.

Charles Simeon