Ps. ci. 1. I will sing of mercy and judgment : unto thee, 0
Lord, will I sing.
THERE are many things in the Christian's expe- rience, the precise quality of which he would find it difficult to determine, if they had not been recorded, as experienced by others, of whose piety we can have no doubt. To sing of mercy, and to be resigned to judgment, would appear to most Christians a suitable
expression of their feelings under the different dis- pensations. But David, in a review of his past life, and under circumstances as they existed at the time when he wrote this psalm, declared both mercy and judgment to be equally proper grounds for praise and thanksgiving ; and the repetition of his determi- nation to praise God for them shewed that he spake not inconsiderately, but the deliberate and determined purpose of his mind.
That we may be led to adopt the same pious de- termination, I will endeavour to set before you, I. The dealings of God with his people —
We should naturally expect that God would act in a way of mercy only to his friends, and of judgment only to his enemies. But towards both the one and the other he sees fit to dispense a mixed lot, reserving the unmixed portion for the eternal world. The un- godly, whilst partakers of some judgments, certainly enjoy many mercies : and the godly, whilst abound- ing in mercies, are exposed also to some judgments.
Some they feel in common with the world at large —
[In their bodies, they are liable to pain, sickness, and death, even as others. In their minds, too, they may be afflicted with the loss of friends, with ill-treatment from enemies, with dis- tress in their families, with embarrassment in their worldly circumstances. In these respects, one lot comes to all ; nor can we discern God's love towards them by any thing of this out- ward nature3.]
To some also they are subjected, that are peculiar to themselves —
[The ungodly are not, in general, sensible of any particular tokens of God's displeasure, as arising out of any variations of their conduct towards him : but the saints, who know what it is to have the light of his countenance lifted up upon them, are very keenly sensible of his withdrawment from them, when, by any secret neglects, they have provoked him to hide his face from them : and such frowns from their heavenly Father are
inexpressibly painful to their soulb The temptations of
Satan, too, to which the ungodly are, for the most part, utter strangers, are sometimes like fiery darts in the souls of the righteous. None can tell what " wrestlings" many a devout
a Eccl. ix. 1. b Ps.lxxvii. 7 — 9. and lxxxviii. 14 — 16.
667.1 MERCY AND JUDGMENT GROUNDS OF PRAISE. ISo
soul has " with the principalities and powers of hell :" but verily, those, whose lot it is to sustain them, find them a source of extreme pain at the time0. Holy Jobd, and the Apostle Paule, yea, and our blessed Lord himself, complained bitterly under these trials f; from which the vassals of Satan are exempt, and to which they only who are his determined enemies are exposed. Nor must I omit to mention the persecutions to which many are called to submit for righteousness sake. Those recorded in the 1 1 th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews are amply sufficient to shew that they are not easy to be borne g, nor altogether to be avoided, by any who will serve their God with fidelity and zealh. Of course, in respect of the measure of these trials, there will be found a great difference amongst the saints of God : but of some measure, all, in their season, are called to participate.]
But, mixed as these dispensations are, we are nevertheless prepared to contemplate,
II. The wisdom and goodness of God displayed in them — Mercies may be sent to the ungodly in judgment ; as when " God gave the Israelites their desires, but sent leanness withal into their souls1." So, in like manner, to his own people he often sends judgment in mercy. In truth, so are we constituted in our pre- sent imperfect state, that we could not bear either mercies or judgments, if they came alone. Mercies, if unmixed, would "exalt us above measure k;" and judgments, if unmixed, would sink us into despon- dency. A ship needs both sails and ballast, to carry it forward in safety : and so the Christian needs a diversity of dispensations, in order to accomplish in him the purposes of God's grace. God sends them to his people,