shall shine forth above the sun in the firmament for ever and ever z. And when Christ himself shall come in his glory, he will be admired in them, and glorified in them a.]
After viewing the obligations we owe to God, we cannot but be prepared to hear,
II. Our duty to him —
There is a correspondence between the mercies we receive from God, and the service which he requires at our hands : Does he take pleasure in us ? we should delight ourselves in him : Does he exert himself to beautify us ? we should labour to glorify him.
1. We should delight ourselves in God —
[They whom God has set apart for himself as " his people," and rendered " meek" after the example of Jesus, are pro- perly called " his saints:" and though men scoff at that name, and make it a term of reproach, they whom God has honoured with it, have reason to rejoice and glory in such an honourable appellation. With them, praise should be the subject of their thoughts, the language of their lips, the very element in which they breathe b. It is their privilege as well as their duty to rejoice in the Lord, to rejoice in him evermore0, to rejoice in him with joy unspeakable and full of glory d. When they rise in the morning, their praise should ascend up as incense ; yea, when they are lying " upon their beds," they should have their waking thoughts occupied with God, and " sing aloud" for joy. Nor should they be contented with the solitary expressions of their love to God : they should commend him to others, and stir up all around them to magnify his name. Such was the delightful employment of the Psalmist e; and such a devoted- ness of soul to God is no other than our reasonable serviced]
2. We should fight the Lord's battles —
[The Jews were to approve their love to God by extir- pating his enemies among the heathen. There are enemies also with whom he requires us to contend : but " the weapons of our warfare are not carnal : " it is not our fellow-creatures that we are called to destroy, but " the lusts that war in our members." The world, the flesh, and the devil, are our enemies, and God's. Against them we vowed eternal enmity in our baptism ; nor are we ever to sheathe the sword till they are all put under our feet. God has prepared for us a divine
z Dan. xii. 3. Matt. xiii. 43. a 2 Thess. i. 10.
b Ps. xxxiii. 1. c Phil. iv. 4. M Pet. i. 8.
e Ps. Ixiii. 3 — 6. and xcvi. 1 — 4. f Rom. xii. 1.