blessings
* Ps. Ixxiii. 1. '' Isai. Ixiv. 4. with 1 Cor, ii, g, 10.
" Eph. iii. 18, Ip. * ib. ver. 8.
90 PSALMS, XXXI. ig, 20. [351.
blessings which God has treasured up for us in the Son of his
love , the more shall we exclaim with David, " O how
great is his goodness !"]
1. That which God has actually " wrought for them"—
[Every Believer was once ^^ dead in trespasses and sins," even as others. But he has been quickened by the mighty energy of God's Spirit, and been raised up to newness of life. He is " a new creature in Christ Jesus ;" all his views, his
desires, his purposes, being altogether changed He has
the heart of stone taken from him, and an heart of flesh substi- tuted in its place. He has been "; made a partaker of the Divine nature," and " been renewed after God's image ; and that, not in knowledge only, but in righteousness also and true holiness." He is brought altogether into a new state, having been " translated from the kingdom of darkness into the king- dom of God's dear Son," and been made '' an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ." In a word, he is " begotten to an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and never-fading, reserved in heaven for him ;" and for the full possession of which he also is reserved by the power of God, through the simple ex- ercise of faith^ All this he has wrought for them
*' before the sons of men." They are evidently " a seed which the Lord has blessed :" they are " lights in a dark world," " epistles of Christ, known and read of all men " '\
But in the latter part of our text, we are called to consider the goodness of God towards his people,
II. With a particular reference to their intercourse with the ungodly world — Exceeding bitter are those pains which men inflict on each other by calumnies and reproaches —
[To speak good one of another affords no particular plea- sure ; but to hear and circulate some evil report affords to the carnal mind the highest gratification : and in such employment all the corruptions of our fallen nature find ample scope for exercise and indulgence. Who can estimate the evils arising from ''pride," and "the strife of tongues?" Some little idea may be formed from the description given of the tongue by an inspired Apostle: '' Behold," says he, " how great a matter a little fire kindleth ! The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : so is the tongue amongst our members, that it defileth the whole body, and settetVi on fire the course of nature ; and it is set on fire of hell ^," How exceedingly strong are these terms ! Yet it is by no means an exaggerated statement of the evils
proceeding " 2 Pet. i. 4. f Jam. iii. 5, G.
351.] god's goodness to his believing people. 01
proceeding from calumny in the world at large : but as repre- senting the virulence and malignity with which men calumniate the people of God, they come yet nearer to the truth. In the very words preceding my text, David faintly portrays the conduct of the ungodly in relation to this matter : " Let the lying lips he put to silence, which speak grievous things proudly and con- temptuously against the righteous." In another psalm he speaks in far stronger terms: " My soul," says he, " is among lions : and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword ^." The truth is, that men can inflict, and often do inflict, far deeper wounds with their tongue than they could with the most powerful weapon. With a sword they can only wound the body : but with bitter and cruel words they wound the inmost soul. Under the former we may easily support ourselves j but "a wounded spirit who can bear?"]