Eminent as David was for his piety, he was equally eminent for the
joyfulness and gladness of his heart. It is often thought by worldly
people, that the contemplation of divine things has a tendency to
depress the spirits. Now, there is no greater mistake. No man is so
happy, but he would be happier still if he had religion. The man who has
a fulness of earthly pleasure, would not lose any part of his happiness,
had he the grace of God in his heart; rather that joy would add
sweetness to all his prosperity; it would strain off many of the bitter
dregs from his cup, and show him how to extract more honey from the
honeycomb. Godliness can make the most melancholy joyful, while it can
make the joyous ones more joyful still, lighting up the face with a
heavenly gladness, making the eyes sparkle with tenfold more brilliance;
and happy as the worldly man may be, he shall find that there is sweeter
nectar than he has ever drunk before, if he comes to the fountain of
atoning mercy; if he knows that his name is registered in the book of
everlasting life. Temporal mercies will then have the charm of
redemption to enhance them. They will be no longer to him as shadowy
phantoms which dance for a transient hour in the sunbeam. He will
account them more precious because they are given to him, as it were, in
some codicils of the divine testament, which hath promise of the life
which now is, as well as of that which is to come. While goodness and
mercy follow him all the days of his life, he will be able to stretch
forth his grateful anticipations to the future when he shall dwell in
the house of the Lord forever, and to say with the Psalmist, “Thou hast
made me most blessed forever: Thou hast made me exceeding glad with Thy countenance.”