Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Ver. 3. Blessed be the God] A stately proem, and such as can hardly be matched again, unless it be that of St Paul to the Ephesians, Ephesians 1:3 .
Unto a lively hope] Sure and solid, clearing the conscience, and cheering the spirit. Vivere spe vidi qui moriturus erat. If it were not for hope, the heart would break; as they do whose lives and hopes end together. True hope lives when the man dies. It hath for its motto, Dum expiro, spero. The righteous hath hope in his death, as St Stephen had; who
" Ibat ovans animis, et spe sua damna levabat, "
Went with good cheer to take his end. (Bembus.) And many of the holy martyrs went as willingly to die as ever they did to dine; they called it their wedding day. They knew it was but winking only, and they should be in heaven immediately; hence their invincible courage at the hour of death. The ungodly are not so; their hopes are dying hopes, they are no better than as the giving up of the ghost, Job 11:20 .