Ps. xcii. 12 — 15. The righteous shall flourish like the palm- tree : he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be . planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age ; they shall be fat and flourishing ; to shetv that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, arid there is no unrighteousness in him.
WELL may we be filled with gratitude, whilst we contemplate the wonders of creation and of provi- dencea: but deeper far are the wonders of redeeming
a ver. 1 — 5.
658. 1 THE believer's security. 147
love, ! ecured as they are to the saints by the immu- table perfections of God. " A brutish man, indeed, knows them not; nor does a fool understand themb:" but those who " are anointed with that heavenly unction which teacheth them all things0" have an insight into them, and can attest the truth of the assertions of the Psalmist, whilst he declares,
I. The privileges of the righteous —
" The righteous" are indeed highly favoured of the Lord. To them, amidst innumerable other blessings, are secured,
1. Stability —
[" The palm-tree and the cedar" are trees of most majestic growth ; the one retaining its foliage all the year, and the other pre-eminent in respect of strength and durability. And like these shall the righteous " nourish : " nothing shall despoil them
of their beauty, nothing shall subvert their souls They
may indeed be assailed with many storms and tempests ; but they shall not be cast down ; or, if cast down, shall not be de-
stroyedd Being once " planted in the house of the Lord,
they shall flourish in the courts of our God," never withering for want of nourishment6, nor ever decaying by the lapse of yearsf.]
2. Fruitfulness —
[The Gospel, wherever it comes, brings forth fruit g ; and all who receive it aright become " fat and flourishing," " being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of Godh. For every season in the year they have appropriate fruit1 : and even to " old age," when other trees decay, these retain their vigour and fertility. There may, indeed, be a difference in the fruits produced by them at the different periods of life ; that of youth being more beauteous to the eye ; and that of age, more pleasant to the taste, as savouring less of crudity, and as being more richly fla- voured through the influence of many ripening suns. " The fruits of the Spirit," indeed, are seen in bothk ; but in one, the fruit of activity and zeal ; and in the other, a patient waiting for the coming of their Lord1. To the latest hour of their exist- ence shall they bring forth fruit unto Godm, and God shall be " glorified in them11." Never shall their leaf wither or their fruit fail, till they are transplanted to the Paradise above.]
b ver. 6. « 1 John ii. 20, 27.
d Job v. 19. Ps. xxxiv. 19. 2 Cor. iv. 8 — 10.
e Ps. i. 3. and Jer. xvii. 8. f Isai. lxv. 92. b Col. i. G.
h Phil. i. 11. i Ezek. xlvii. 12. k Gal. v. 22, 23.
1 1 Cor. i. 7. m Hos. xiv. .5 — 7. n Isai. Ixi. 3.