The Happiness of Heaven.
xxxv. 10. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, &c.
“Zion,” literally speaking, was the proper name of the city where David dwelt (2 Sam. v. 7). But the name was also given to the ancient Jewish polity in church and state (Ps. cii. 13, 16), to the Gospel Church, with all the spiritual blessings of the Christian dispensation (Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7); and also to the Church in glory, or the heavenly state of final and complete happiness with God and Christ for ever (Heb. xii. 22, &c.) We may therefore regard this text as revealing the general features of the happiness of heaven.
I. To whom does the hope of heaven belong? To “the ransomed of the Lord,” whom He has delivered from bondage and is bringing back from exile (H. E. I. 2730, 2829–2832).
II. How do those who attain to heaven come there? Triumphantly, “with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.” This is said perhaps with allusion to the ovations of victorious chiefs, or to troops coming home from hard-fought fields and the privations even of a successful campaign, crowned with garlands and waving palms, singing some martial air, and approaching their homes and families with shouts of gratitude.
III. What do the redeemed realise when they reach heaven? “They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” In heaven—1. There will be an entire cessation of every occasion of grief (H. E. I. 1629; P. D. 1753, 1767). 2. There will no longer be any possibility of falling. What a blessed peace will spring from this fact! In this world the sincerest believers, like pilots steering into port through narrow and winding channels beset with sunken rocks and hidden shoals, must work out daily their own salvation with fear and trembling (1 Cor. ix. 27). But in heaven the spirits of the just are “made perfect,” and, like God Himself, “cannot be tempted of evil.” 3. We shall meet again with our long-lost loved ones, never more to part (Rev. vii. 15–17; P. D. 2996–2998). 4. The companionship of saints and angels. The best and purest friendships here are often marred by the blots and blemishes of good men; but there will be no jarring in the exalted fellowships of heaven. 5. The possession of Christ and the beatific vision of God for ever (1 Pet. i. 8; Isa. xxxiii. 7).—R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 128–149.