fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls ; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation6."]
Nor need, we despair of resembling David. ; since he points out, in our text,
II. The way in which it may be attained — As he attained it, so should we,
1. By meditation —
[His " meditations on God were sweet," though in the psalm before us, they related only to the creation and provi- dence of God. But the minuteness with which he describes all these things clearly shews what delight he found in surveying every particular which might illustrate his subject. What delight, then, should we feel in contemplating all the wonders of redemption ! Of these there is no end. In meditating on these, we should soon be constrained to say, " How precious are thy thoughts to me, O God ! how great is the sum of them ! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with theeh." Let us, then, address ourselves to this holy employment. Let us say, with David, " I will remember the works of the Lord ; surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings1."]
2. By resolving to rest in nothing short of it —
[We do well to say, ' I will fear the Lord ;' and well to say, ' I will serve him.' But these are far below our duty. We should aspire after higher attainments than these : we should say, with David, " I will be glad in the Lord:" ' I will never be satisfied, till I have such views of his excellency, and such a sense of his love, that I can rejoice in him, yea, till I can re- joice in him all the day.' Men attain not this, because they do not aim at it. They are contented with lower acquirements ; and hence they know but little of delight in God. O beloved Brethren! I would have " your hearts to be hfted up in the ways of the Lord." Why should any of you be strangers to this holy frame ? Why should you not " sing in the ways of the Lord," as others have done before you ? I know, indeed, that you cannot of yourselves create these heavenly joys : but I know what God has said; " They shall praise the Lord that seek him :" and if you set yourselves in earnest to enjoy him, you shall receive from him " the Spirit of adoption," whereby you shall be able to call him Father ; and have " the witness of the Spirit," whereby you shall know that you are his children.
s Hab. iii. 17, 18. h Ps, cxxxix. 17, 18. * Ps. lxxvii. 11, 12.