III. A further statement of our duty —
[Whilst we are filled with joy, our God must have the glory. We must wait upon him in his public ordinances, as well as in our private chambers ; and must " enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise : we must be thankful unto him, and from our inmost souls must bless his holy name." Indeed, if we duly contemplate his character, and the wonderful things which, of his sovereign goodness, he has wrought for us, we shall find our minds con- stantly attuned to this holy exercise : methinks, our every feel- ing will be gratitude, and our every word be praise. This is the return which our God looks for at our hands : " Whoso offereth me praise, glorifieth me." It is a better sacrifice than all the cattle upon a thousand hills g ; and in the name of Jesus, our great Redeemer, we should be offering it continually, to the latest hour of our lives11. The inanimate and the brute creation praise their God: but we should bless him1."]
We find also,
IV. Additional grounds for the performance of it —
[The perfections of our God will afford us matter for praise to all eternity. His goodness — who can contemplate it, and not be filled with the profoundest admiration and gratitude? It is seen, wherever we turn our eyes. But O ! how is it seen in the gift of his only-begotten Son for a lost and perishing world ! Well may we say, " What manner of love is this, wherewith the Father hath loved us!" Think of it, my Brethren : yea, dwell upon it day and night. It is not pos- sible to have your minds too frequently or too intensely occu- pied with this mysterious subject.
His mercy, too — how inconceivable, both in its extent and duration ! There is not a sinner in the universe to whom it will not reach, provided it be sought in God's appointed way : nor shall it be withdrawn from any to whom, for Christ's sake, it has been once imparted. Not but that God will punish sin: as he has said, " If his children forsake my Law, and walk not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving- kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faith- fulness to fail ; my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips : for once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David k."
What His mercy has vouchsafed to promise, His truth will
e Ps. 1. 8—14, 23. h Heb. xiii. 15.
1 Ps. cxlv. 10. k Ps. lxxxix. 30—35.