Ps. cxxxvi. 26. O give thanks unto the God of heaven : for his mercy endureth for ever.
PRAISE is the employment of heaven : and praise should be the employment of earth also. " Rejoice evermore," is a special command of God : and to express our joy in praises and thanksgivings is equally commanded : " In every thing give thanks ; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The calls which are given us in the Psalms to the performance of this duty are very numerous : but in none more urgent than in the psalm before us. The particular object here proposed as the subject of our thanksgivings, is the mercy of God, which we are here called upon to contemplate and adore.
Let us then, in compliance with the Psalmist's exhortation, endeavour, I. To contemplate it —
Two things in particular respecting it we would propose to your consideration :
1. Its unbounded extent — [The Psalmist, after speaking of mercy as constituting one of the most glorious perfections of the Deity a, notices the ma- nifestations of it which we behold in all the wonders of creation b, and providence0, and redemption d. Whilst we acknowledge the hand of God in these things, we are but too apt to overlook his mercy as displayed in them. But on this we should principally fix our attention, as being most calculated to inflame our love and gratitude towards our heavenly Benefactor. Contemplate then the benefits which you receive from the sun, and moon, and stars, and from the infinitely diversified productions of this
terraqueous globe Then behold all the interpositions
of God in behalf of his people Israel, and see in them what he is yet daily performing both for the bodies and souls of all who trust in him Then, in the temporal redemptions vouch- safed to Israel under their most desperate and degraded states, behold the redemption of our souls from sin and Satan, death and hell, through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ — • — • — Here are subjects of contemplation which might well occupy the mind of the highest archangel, and which there- fore deserve our most serious attention.
But we would more particularly recommend to every one to consider the mercies which he himself has received : we would have every one trace them from his earliest infancy to the present moment : and, in reference to those interpositions of
-22. d ver. 23, 24.
a ver. 1.
b ver. 5 — 9.
c ver. 10