Ps. xxxii. 1 1 . Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous : and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
THERE is in this world, as there will also be in the eternal state, an inconceivable distance between the righteous and the wicked. The Psalmist tells us, that " many sorrows shall be to the wicked :" and so we find it to be, from universal experience. For, where is there an ungodly man, who does not feel within him an aching void, which the world can
never fill ? Whose mind is not agitated with
tormenting passions, which prove a source of disquiet
both to himself and to those around him ?
Who feels not a consciousness of unpardoned guilt ; and a dread of that tribunal, before which he is
shortly to appear ? On the other hand, the
Psalmist assures us, that " the man who trusts in the Lord is encompassed with mercy all around :" he is happy in the favour of his God, in the subjugation of his passions, in the exercise of all holy affections, and in the prospect of everlasting felicity. Hence he adds, " Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous : and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart!"
That we may enter into the spirit of his words, I will endeavour to set before you,
L The character here addressed —
** The righteous" are delineated in the Scriptures, sometimes by one peculiarity, and sometimes by ano- ther. The character here assigned them is peculiarly worthy of our consideration, because it is such as the most ungodly man upon earth must, in theory at least, approve. The whole world unites in applauding integrity, as exercised towards man : but here we shall be led to view it as exercised towards God. Now, *' the upright" man is one,
1. Whose desire after God is supreme —
[Nothing ought to stand in competition with God : we should love him with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and