2. To obey God's word is our truest happiness —
[We cannot have a more unfavourable picture of religion, nor a more favourable view of a carnal state, than in the text : yet who would hesitate which state to prefer? Who would not rather be " altogether such as Paul," notwithstanding his chain, than be like Festus or Agrippa on their thrones11? Who would not rather be in the destitute condition of Lazarus, and attain his end, than live as Dives for a little time, and then want a drop of water to cool his tongue0? Yes, the most afflictive circumstances of a religious man are infinitely prefer- able, all things considered, to the most prosperous state which an ungodly man can enjoy : the one sows in tears to reap in joy; and the other sows the wind to reap the whirlwind p. Let us then be persuaded that to serve God is to consult our truest happiness, and that in keeping his commandments there is great reward q.]
n Acts xvi. 29. ° Luke xvi. 19 — 24.
p Hos. viii. 7. 1 Ps. xix. 11.
Isai. li. 1 — 3. Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord : look unto the rock 10 hence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you : for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. For the Lord shall comfort Zion : he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord: joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
AN attention to the voice of God in his word would comfort us under all troubles, and keep us steadfast amidst all the vicissitudes of life. God, anxious for the welfare of his people, has just before exhorted them, when walking in darkness, to trust in hima. He now bids them bear in mind his former mercies, and expect yet richer blessings at his hands, when the destined period of their captivity shall have elapsed. Thus did God provide comfort for them against the day of their calamity ; and the same comfort is re- served for all his people in their seasons of darkness
a Isai. 1. 10.