Verse 1. Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous for praise is comely for the
upright.
False gods were worshipped with dolorous sounds, accompanied by cutting with
knives and with lancets; but our God is the happy God, and he would have his
people happy. “Rejoice in Jehovah, O ye righteous.” The praises of God are
very beautiful when they are sung by holy people: “for praise is comely for
the upright.” But the praises of God on the lips of godless men are
altogether out of place. I wonder how Christians can allow those to lead
their praises in the sanctuary who never can from their hearts praise God.
They who sing to the worldling all the week should not be employed to sing
to the God of the holy on the Sabbath, surely. “Praise is comely for the
upright.” Hymns and psalms sung by the ungodly are but as sweet spices laid
upon a dunghill; but “praise is comely for the upright.”
2, 3. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery, and an
instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a
loud noise.
Under a dispensation of types and shadows, the use of musical instruments
seemed to be necessary and suitable; but in the early Christian Church, in
her purest ages, these things were discarded as tending towards Judaism; and
at this day, the sweetest singing in the world is heard in the assembly
which utterly abjures the use of every musical instrument. Yet I believe
that there is Christian liberty about these things; and, for my part, I like
to think of Luther with his lute and of George Herbert with his harp. If
they were helped to praise God the better, let them have the music. Yet the
singing is never sweeter than when it is all song; and there is no better
music than that which comes from hearts and tongues that are alive, and that
know what sounds they make, and wherefore they make them. Anyhow, let us
sing unto Jehovah. Hang not your harps on the willows, suspend not your
music. Praise God somehow, praise him anyhow; but do praise him.
4. For the word of the LORD is right;
Praise him for his Word, then. It is truth, it is righteousness. If we had
nothing else but the Bible for which. to praise God, there would he reason
enough for giving him endless praise for bestowing upon us such a priceless
treasure.
4. And all his works are done in truth.
Praise him for his providence. There is never a mistake in what he does “All
his works are done in truth.”
5. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness
of the LORD.
Therefore praise him. So good a God should not be without your gratitude.
6. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them
by the breath of his mouth.
Praise your Creator, then, the Maker of the universe.
7-9. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up
the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done;
he commanded, and it stood fast.
These are simple but grand words. The work of creation was very wonderful,
and it was all wrought by the word of the Lord. There were no angelic
agencies. “He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.”
10. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought
They plot and they contrive, but he baffles them; men may think and scheme
as they will, but God has his way, after all.
10, 11. He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of
the LORD standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
His decrees stand fast. Still Jehovah reigns, and still he must reign
forever and ever.
12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath
chosen for his own inheritance.
There is the reason why they are blessed, it is all owing to God’s electing
love: “the people whom he hath chosen.” If God has chosen them, they are
blessed people indeed. Whom he determines to bless none cats effectually
curse.
13. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beboldeth all the sons of men.
As we look out of a window, and see the people passing in the street below,
“he beholdeth all the sons of men,” whether at the pole or at the equator.
None are hidden from his omniscient eye.
14, 13. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants
of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike;
Not that their hearts are alike, but it means that he only fashioneth all
tbeir hearts they were all made by him. There is no understanding so great
but he made it, and there is no mind so feeble but still he made it:
“he fashioneth their hearts.”
13, 16. He considereth all their works. There is no king saved by the
multitude of an host
See what vast companies of soldiers Darius gathered together, yet Alexander
smote them; and Napoleon led into Russia more than half a million of men,
yet they melted away like snow.
16. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
Sooner or later, he dies, however strong he is.
17. A horse is a vain thing for safety
It throws its rider, or falls upon him, or is killed with him.
17, 18. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye
of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy
Beautiful expression! I always like that mixture of fear and hope. An old
fisherman used to compare it to his net. “Fear,” said he, “is the weight
that sinks it, and hope is the cork that floats it.” To make a perfect
character, there must he both fear and hope. The man that never fears may
begin to fear; but he that is all fear is a miserable creature. God help him
to begin to hope!
19. To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
When ethers die of want, the Lord will take care of them that fear him. I
remember a story of the siege of Rochelle, when the city was in such straits
that the people had to eat eats, and dogs, and rats, and all manner of
filthiness. There was one Christian woman, who, having some stores, fed the
poor therewith, whereat her friends said she was a fool, for she would soon
be starving. They asked, “Who is to take care of you when all is gene?” She
answered, “The Lord will provide for me.” At last her stores were exhausted.
She went to beg of her friends, but they refused her. She was nearly
famished when, strange to tell (as we put it), some one, unknown to her,
shot down a sackful of wheat at her door. She never knew who it was, and
then she said to her friends, “God has provided for me,” and. while others
died she lived, for she had practiced holy charity. She had feared God, and
given to her neighbors, she had not selfishly hoarded what she had; and the
Lord rewarded her. Let me read these two verses again: “Behold, the eye of
the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to
deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”
20. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
Notice the three “ours.” Personal possession is the very soul of piety; all
else is mere verbiage. Not, “What hearest thou?” but, “What hast thou?” Not,
“What he thou talk about?” but, “What dost thou possess?” That is the thing:
“Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.”
21. For our heart shall rejoice in h in, because we have trusted in his holy
name.
If you do but trust in his holy name, you shall one day rejoice in him.
Trust him in the dark, and you shall see the light. Trust him in famine, and
you shall surely be fed.
22. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according us we hope in thee.
Let us each one pray that prayer now: “Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
according as we hope in thee.” Amen.
Now turn to the 1st chapter of the 1st General Epistle of John, that you
many see what an apostle had to say concerning joy.
1 John 1:1. That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled, of the Word of life;
You know who that is, who it is that John had heard, and seen, and looked
upon, and handled, even Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
2, 3. (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear
witness,and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and
was manifested unto us,) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto
you, that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
The Father delights in his risen Son, no more to suffer and to die, having
accomplished all his work; and I am sure that we have fellowship with the
Father in that rejoicing. Then think what is the joy of Christ, who has
passed through the shades of death, and risen from all the gloom of the
sepulcher no more to die. I trust, dear brethren and sisters in Christ, that
we have fellowship with him, for we also have risen with him unto newness of
life.
4. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
“There,” the apostle seems to say, “if you have doubts, they will kill your
joy. Doubt is a great joy-killer; but we have seen him, we have heard him,
we have handled him who is the fountain of all true joy. Let no doubts come
into your hearts, for these are well-attested facts of which we speak. We
live still,” saith John,-though, perhaps, when he wrote, he may have been
the last survivor of the eleven,-”we live still, by our testimony concerning
Christ, to confirm your faith, that your joy may be full.”
5-7. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto
you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. if use say that
eve have fellowship with him, and walls in darkness, we lie, and do not the
truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin.
That is, if we walk in the brightest light we can ever know, and if our
fellowship with God is the highest that can be enjoyed this side heaven, we
shall still need the cleansing blood of Jesus; and, blessed be God, we shall
still have it, and we shall still find that it “cleanseth us from all sin.’’
8. If eve say that we have no sin., we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us.
We are walking in darkness when we thus talk of light. It is easy for a
blind man to talk of light though he cannot see it; and there are some who
boast of very superior light who, nevertheless, are so much in the dark that
they cannot even see their own sin.
9, 10. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have
notsinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The Lord bless to us the reading of his Word! Amen.
In Celebration of Life in Him,
Dr. Jim DeBruhl, gembeaux@bellsouth.net
" Everything is wrong until God makes it right. "
