Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.—Ps. 85:10.
The goodness of God comes forth to meet us, and gives merciful answers to the prayers of faith; “for mercy shall compass us about.” Ps. 32:10. It calls to us: “Return, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God.” Jer. 3:12, 13. To which faith answers, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.” Ps. 51:1. Mercy calls, “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37. Faith answers, “Draw me; we will run after thee.” Cant. 1:4. Mercy says, “The Lord hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to comfort all that mourn.” Isa. 61:1, 2. Faith answers out of Psalm 51:12: “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit.” Mercy says, out of Isaiah 43:25 and 44:22, “I have blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.” Faith answers out of Psalm 25:18, “Look upon mine affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.” Mercy comforts us and says, out of Psalm 103:13, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” To which faith answers, out of Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, thou art our Father.” Mercy says, “Come unto me.” Matt. 11:28. Faith answers, “Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.” Ps. 25:1. Mercy says, “Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.” Jer. 3:1. Faith answers, “I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him: Father, I have [pg 305] sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.” Luke 15:18, 19. Mercy says, “This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” Luke 15:24. To which faith answers, “I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.” Ps. 13:5. Mercy proclaims, out of Isaiah 55:1, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” To which faith answers, “As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” Ps. 42:1, 2. Mercy says, “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” Ps. 103:3. Faith exclaims, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant.” Ps. 143:2. Mercy says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6. Faith answers, “Shew me thy way, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me.” Ps. 25:4, 5. Mercy promises, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Hosea 13:14. Faith answers, “He that is our God, is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.” Ps. 68:20. Mercy says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” John 11:25. To which faith answers, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19:25, 26. Mercy says, “Fear thou not; behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” Isa. 41:10; 49:16. “Thou art mine; neither shall any man pluck thee out of my hand.” John 10:28. To which faith answers, “Into thine hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” Ps. 31:5.
Chapter XLI.
The Great Benefits, And The Great Efficacy Of Praise Offered To God.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. I call to remembrance my song in the night; I commune with mine own heart.—Ps. 77:2.
This passage is an excellent rule of life, teaching every man how to conduct himself under the cross. As the word of God is the rule of our life in prosperity, according to the Psalmist: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” (Ps. 32:8); and “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Ps. 73:24): yea, moreover, as the word of God ought to be the rule of our faith, as the Psalmist tells us, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105): and “Hold [pg 306] up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not” (Ps. 17:5)—so also ought it to be our rule and direction in bearing the cross, as David teaches us, saying, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;” that is, I will look up to God, who has laid this cross upon me, and beg of him comfort and assistance in the day of my trouble.
2. Hence may every Christian learn, when he is in affliction, not to fix his thoughts too much upon the immediate causes or instruments of his sufferings; but to lift up his heart to God; to apply to himself the divine promises; to pray and sing praises to his God: and these are the true and certain consolations of an afflicted soul. David says, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.” As a mind oppressed with grief eases itself by communicating its troubles to a faithful friend, so is our afflicted spirit refreshed and comforted when we offer prayer and thanksgiving to God. Thus David “called to remembrance his song in the night, and communed with his own heart” (Ps. 77:6); that is, when it was night he longed earnestly for the morning, that he might rise and comfort his weary soul by prayers and thanksgiving unto God his Comforter: in the mean time, he communed with his own heart, and poured out his soul in secret; and God, who saw and heard in secret, who understood even the most secret sighs and breathings of his dejected spirit, comforted, strengthened, and refreshed him.
3. Amongst other things that may be learned from this beautiful passage of the Psalmist, this is one, that the singing of holy hymns and praises to God, proceeding from a truly devout soul, are attended with great advantages and spiritual blessings.
4. The truth of this appears, 1. From nature itself. 2. From the efficacy of prayer. 3. From the examples found in the Old Testament. 4. From the examples in the New. 5. From the examples of holy men in both, who were by this means filled with the Holy Ghost. 6. From the nature and properties of the Psalms. 7. From the frequent use of the blessed Psalms among the ancients, whenever they were under any adversity. All these considerations prove that there is a great virtue or efficacy in psalms and hymns of praise. By this I would not be understood to mean nothing but bare words and empty sounds, void of faith and devotion; but rather such a vigorous faith, such an ardent devotion, as may break forth into holy hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in the heart unto the Lord. Let us briefly describe this subject.