Say whether any thing in the universe can tend so much to the perfection of our nature as this ; or whether there be any thing that will so advance us in a meetness for our heavenly inheritance ? ]
Application—
[Cultivate then this heavenly principle. If you seek only your own personal happiness, there is nothing that will con- tribute to it like this- Nor will any thing 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'" And need I say, how
God will be glorified, when his enemies are constrained to ex- claim, " 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™ 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 for ever and ever.]
' Eph.iv. 13, 15, 16. '" Eph. iv.31,32. & v. 1,2.
Ps.cxxxvi. 26. 0 give thanks unto the God of Jieaven; for his mercy endureth for ever.
PRAISE is the employment of heaven: and praise should be the employment of earth also. " Rejoice evermore," is a special command of God : and to express our joy in praises and thanksgivings is equally commanded : " Tn every thing give thanks ; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The calls which are given us in the Psalms to the performance of this duty are very numerous : but in none more urgent than in the psalm before us. The particular object here proposed as the subject of our thanksgivings, is the Mercy of God, which we are here called upon to contemplate and adore.
HH2 Let
468 PSALMS, cxxxvi. 26. [4S4.
Let us then, in compliance with the Psalmist's exhortation, endeavour,
I. To contemplate it —
Two things in particular respecting it we would propose to your consideration :
1. Its unbounded extent — [The Psalmist, after speaking of mercy as constituting one of the most glorious perfections of the Deity "*, notices the ma- nifestations of it which we behold in all the wonders of Creation'', and Providence % and Redemption '^. Whilst we acknowledge the hand of God in these things, we are but too apt to overlook his mercij as displayed in them. But on this we should principally fix our attention, as being most calculated to inflame our love and gratitude towards our heavenly Benefactor. Contemplate then the benefits which you receive from the sun, and moon, and stars, and from the infinitely diversified productions of this terraqueous
globe Then behold all the interpositions of God in behalf
of his people Israel, and see in them what he is yet daily performing both for the bodies and souls of all who trust in
him— Then, in the temporal redemptions vouchsafed to
Israel under their most desperate and degraded states, behold the redemption of our souls from sin and Satan, death and hell, through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ
Here are subjects of contemplation which might well
occupv the mind of the highest Archangel, and which therefore deserve our most serious attention.
But we would more particularly recommend to every one to consider the mercies which he himself has received : we would have every one trace them from his earliest infancy to the present moment: and, in reference to those interpositions of the Deitv v.'hich appear to have been more conspicuous, we would recommend that they be inspected with peculiar care, entering minutely into all the particulars of each, and viewing in each distinct particular the transcendent tnercy of God. Let the psalm before us be particularly noticed in this view as a pattern^. When we take only a superficial view of things in the general, we remain unaffected by them : it is by entering into them in the detail, and dwelling on the minutest particulars, that we get our hearts properly affected with them. 'J'his therefore we would most earneijtly recommend to all who would obtain a due sense of the mercies conferred upon them.