How delightfully this verse closeth in upon what went before! Wherefore are such blessings bestowed? it might be well asked: Why hath Jehovah made us, and new made us, in Christ Jesus? Why opened his heavenly courts, and called upon us to come in? Is it because man is deserving, and faithful, and just? Oh no; for in ourselves we are most undeserving. Wherefore is the vast mercy then? Because the Lord is good; the Lord is gracious; he delighteth in mercy. He will have compassion on whom he will have compassion. And that grace and mercy, like himself, is unchangeable: the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Hallelujah, then, Amen. Hallelujah. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
REFLECTIONS
PAUSE, Reader, panse my soul, and contemplate the numberless beauties, and the vast sweetness contained in this short, but comprehensive Psalm. No wonder it is so often sung in our churches. No wonder, while it is sung, so many souls of true believers should feel such rich enjoyment in it: holding forth, as it doth, the persons both of God and of his Christ; with the many rich blessings contained in the covenant relations of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And shall not all lands, which are to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, join in the joyful noise? Shall not both Jew and Gentile, bond and free, rejoice together? Shall not, in every place, as the Lord hath said, be incense offered unto Jehovah's name, with a pure offering, from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same? - Come, all ye people, all ye nations, both high and low, rich and poor, one with another: come, sing forth the praises of Jehovah, the Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier! Come into his presence with thanksgiving; enter his courts with praise. For he is indeed gracious, and will receive the homage of his creatures in Jesus. Come, Reader! Come my soul! Come, come before him. He is justly entitled to our praise. He demands it; he expects it from us. Oh! for grace to worship him in the beauty of holiness, and to sing the jubilee song of salvation, in and by Jesus Christ. Amen.