II. To adore it —
A tribute of praise and thanksgiving for such mercy is the least that can be demanded of us. And well may it be demanded ; for,
1. It is due from us —
[Can we conceive, that, after all the mercies vouchsafed unto us, no return is required ? Are we to be as stupid and insensible as beasts ? Is this a state that becomes persons who have been
redeemed by the blood of God's only dear Son ?
Perhaps it will be said by some, I have not yet obtained an interest in Christ : how then can I render thanks for what I have never received? To this we reply, Have you no temporal mercies for which to give thanks ? and, if you are not yet par- takers of spiritual mercies, have you no reason to thank God for the offer of them, and for not having been yet visited with the judgments which you have so richly merited ? Think what is the state of millions who have not committed either more or greater sins than you ; and what might at this moment have been your state also, if God in his infinite mercy had not spared you; and given you space for repentance? Do but think of this, and you will want no further incentive to grati- tude and thanksgiving. But think also of the offers of salvation now made to you, a salvation free, and full, and everlasting : O ! what thanks does this call for at your hands ! What if one such offer were now made to those who are shut up under chains of everlasting darkness and despair ; would no thanks be ex- pressed by them ? I call upon you then to give thanks unto the God of heaven, who yet waiteth to be gracious unto you, and " whose long-suffering you should account to be salvation."]
2. It is pleasing and acceptable to God —
[The acknowledgment so often repeated in the psalm before us has received more striking tokens of God's approbation than any other that was ever uttered by mortal man : David, know- ing how acceptable it would be to God, appointed officers for the express purpose of repeating it in the service of the taber- nacle*1. And, when Solomon had brought the ark of God into the sanctuary that he had prepared for it, and the priests were singing the praises of God in the very words of our text, at that moment, I say, did God descend into the sanctuary, so that the priests could no longer stand to minister there by reason of the overwhelming presence of the Divine glory r. Another and no less remarkable testimony of God's approbation was that which was given to Jehoshaphat's use of these words at the time that he was going forth against three confederate armies : at the
i 1 Chron. xvi. 41. r 2 Chron. v. 13.
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