It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. GOOD TO BE THANKFUL 1. Had we no other motive but our own personal happiness, we should find it “a good thing to be thankful.” When we have reviewed the mercies of past years, traced the hand of Providence in all our course from infancy onwards, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_To show forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night._ MORNING AND EVENING SONGS The Jews have for a long while used this psalm in their Sabbath worship; and this, not because there is much if any allusion to Sabbatic rest in it, but because it is fitting that on that... [ Continue Reading ]
_For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work: I will triumph in the works of Thy hands._ DELIGHT IN GOD’S WORKS The Hebrew prophets and psalmists, when their minds were in the most exalted and inspired state, saw God in everything; in the mightiest and in the meanest movements of the univer... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Lord, how great are Thy works! _ MAN’S ADMIRATION AND MARVEL AT GOD’S GREAT WORKS A near connection of Sir David Brewster, but not a relative, who in former years often lived in his house, and formed one of the loving watchers by his death-bed, gives this characteristic and striking anecdote: “... [ Continue Reading ]
_A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this._ THE DEGRADATION OF MAN In this psalm we have a contrast between the animal and the spiritual life, the latter exulting in God, uttering His praise, receiving His thoughts, studying His works; the former cleaving to the earth, wallow... [ Continue Reading ]
_But Thou, Lord, art most high for evermore._ THE UTMOST [OR THE HIGHEST Mr. G. F. Watts, the spiritual seer amongst our modern masters of art, was asked by an enterprising editor to quote the motto which had been most influential in his artistic life. He replied, “I have invented a motto for myse... [ Continue Reading ]
_But my horn shalt Thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil._ CHARACTER: AN ORDINATION CHARGE The image of lifting up the horn denotes strength, courage, victory over enemies--the power and glory which rays out from the Christly life in the soul. In the legends of... [ Continue Reading ]
_The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon._ THE PROSPERITY OF THE RIGHTEOUS I. Who shall flourish? “The righteous.” There are none who are righteous by a righteousness of their own--that is, a righteousness derived from themselves; but there are those w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God._ THE TREES IN GOD’S COURTS I. The planting. It sounds odd to hear of planting a tree in a house, and of its flourishing in courts; but remember an oriental house is a sort of quadrangle. It is a four-square bui... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing._ THE FRUITFULNESS OF AGED CHRISTIANS CONSIDERED AND URGED I. The duty of the righteous. 1. The fruits which may be expected of them. Knowledge, holiness, patience, meekness, quietness of spirit, renunciation of the... [ Continue Reading ]