SERMON XXI. ON SEEKING OUT THE WORKS OF THE LORD AND PRAISING HIM.

Psalm cxi. 1. 2.

I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart; in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

One of the greatest hindrances to the Christian life, in the true believer, is his perpetual intermixture with the world, his constant occupation with the business of his daily calling, with earthly pleasures and pursuits. The world, in its very nature, in the spirit which it breathes, in the cares which it engenders, in the temptations which it spreads, stands in opposition to the gospel, to the Christian’s walk with God; it unfits his mind for spiritual contemplation; it gives him a disrelish for holy delights; it calls aside his thoughts from God, from heaven, and from heavenly things; and makes him forget his obligation to, and dependence upon, the merciful and over-ruling providence of the Most High.

And yet it is undoubtedly our duty to live in the world; to partake, in a certain degree, of its pleasures, as well as of its labours and cares. It is the will and decree of God, that mankind should provide “by the sweat of their brow” for their subsistence and well-being in life: integrity and industry in the exercise of our calling are among the appointed means, by which we must “Work out our salvation.” Since therefore we are obliged to mix with the world, our great object should be, to guard against its engrossing and corrupting influence; to retain all our possessions in a spirit of humble and constant reliance upon the sovereign power and disposal of the Almighty; to be lifting up our hearts, in the course of our daily employment, above all secular concerns, to the author of our being, to the giver of our talents and our time, to the judge of all our actions. And besides, some portion of each day must be distinctly set apart for holy reading, meditation, and prayer. Without such rules and observances, the christian principle cannot possibly be maintained; faith and zeal will grow cold, the communion with God be gradually impaired, the affections estranged, and the obedience destroyed.

These remarks may serve to introduce an exposition of the 2nd verse of the text. “The works of the Lord are great:” yet great as they are, they cannot be understood nor perceived by those, who are absorbed in earthly ideas and pursuits. The attention will thus be entirely drawn off from a contemplation of the works of Jehovah; and the mind will entirely rest upon its own labours and objects. To our own hand and our own arm, to our own skill and enterprise, to our own advantage and honour, we shall refer all the transactions of life, and all the success and enjoyment with which we are blessed. The dealings of our heavenly Father, both with ourselves and with the world around us, will be utterly overlooked; and however we may believe, as a speculative truth, that His “providence orders and governs all things both in heaven and earth,” we shall be in no way improved or affected by that belief; in fact, we shall have no real or practical persuasion of His providential government: we shall be blind to His manifold mercies vouchsafed to ourselves, to our brethren, and to the Church at large.

The works of the Lord must be “sought out;” that is, they must be mindfully and diligently observed, in order to their being adequately understood; nay, if we would know any thing of their vastness or their excellency. We must be continually looking beyond human motives, human exertions, human experience, if we would in any measure, comprehend or perceive the merciful interpositions and dealings of God. We must be in the constant habit of connecting the ordinary operations and occurrences of life with a higher power, with the counsel and government of heaven; a gracious promise is given, that “all things shall work together for good to them that love God;” and we must be always endeavouring to trace this working, and observe the striking manner in which this effect is produced. We shall thus be able to perceive, how continually our merciful Father is watching over us, is crowning our honest designs and labours with success, and is bringing good even out of evil itself. We shall perceive, how wonderfully He directs us to the most suitable means of accomplishing our laudable purposes: how He over-rules those events, over which we had no controul, for our benefit and prosperity; how He raises up to us friends and fellow-workers, when we least expected them; and provides us comforters, where we looked for none; how, in the season of danger, of which we are not even aware, He spreads over us the shield of safety, and we come forth unhurt; how He compels the designs, even of our enemies themselves, to minister in the end to our advantage; how, in the various calamities and sorrows, privations and disappointments, sicknesses and pains, which He does permit to befal us, He brings us consolation under them, and makes us to see and acknowledge, that what we lamented as a grievance, is turned into a signal blessing. And whenever, in any of our concerns or experiences, we fail to trace the mercy of God, it is, for the most part, because we do not sufficiently seek it out; because we are resting in our own short-sighted views; because we are “walking by sight and not by faith,” in “the flesh and not in the spirit;” desiring benefit in our own ways, and not humbly discerning the ways of the Lord; impatient under the means, and not considering the end; looking at the earthly instrument and agent, and forgetting the prime Mover of all.

What I am seeking to recommend to you is this, not a mere principle or matter of belief, but the importance of a constant, daily observance of the events and transactions of life, in reference to the almighty power and goodness of God. It is a point not attended to, even by many sincere Christians, as it ought to be; as to the generality, day after day passes by, without any such reference at all. Every thing proceeds, in their notion and view, from their own will and work, from the good or evil working of others; and they are affected accordingly; rejoicing or complaining, elevated or cast down. They have no consideration of the great Ruler and Preserver; they might almost be said to “live without God in the world;” it amounts, at least, to a practical disowning of His providence.

But I must repeat, that even from many sincere Christians this great influential doctrine does not receive all the attention, which its importance demands. They are convinced, that “the works of the Lord are great;” that His mighty operations are continually manifested, in the moral and spiritual government of mankind; but they do not sufficiently carry this conviction into their own daily walk in life. Far would we be from implying, that such reflections ought, in any way, to interfere with our circumspection or diligence in worldly concerns; or that we are familiarly to mix up religious observations with ordinary business or pleasure; but we should have a mind and heart ever open to perceive the gracious interpositions and visitations of heaven; we should be alive to every providential deliverance from accident or danger, both in ourselves and others: to the vouchsafement of every blessing, both temporal and spiritual. And they, who are thus disposed and ready, will find many opportunities drawing them to God: many circumstances and events, which they once regarded somewhat in the light of chance, they will then clearly ascribe to the sure, though silent working of that invisible power, by which every thing in the universe is governed and sustained.

But the works of the Lord are “sought out” by those only, “who have pleasure therein:” and this will explain to us the true cause, why such lamentable numbers of professed believers seldom or never seek them out at all. They have no pleasure in their thoughts upon the Almighty: they love Him not, serve Him not with a devoted and delighted heart; their conscience is uneasy and self-condemning, and therefore they reluctantly turn their thoughts to their great Sovereign and Judge; it is rather a pain than a pleasure to them, so to do. “Loving the world and the things of the world,” they have no taste for spiritual enjoyment of any kind: in extraordinary emergencies, when the interference of an over-ruling power is irresistibly thrust upon their notice, they do not refuse to join with their brethren in acknowledging the fact: but as for searching out His ways and dealings in their daily experience, they are decidedly disinclined and averse to it; the injunction of such a practice is repugnant to their views and feelings and desires.

Nor can any, but the pious and faithful servant of God, find delight in this holy and profitable exercise: and the longer he lives, the more clearly he perceives the hand of the Almighty in every thing; in discomfiting the evil and blessing the good: he sees and admires the wonders of grace, as well as the wonders of providence, vouchsafed to others as well as himself; to the Church in all ages. He reads, in the word of truth, of the signal manner, in which the Lord has delivered His people from the foundation of the world; not only by the miraculous interposition of His omnipotent arm; but also in the ordinary course of His dealings with them. How merciful and manifold have been His ways of enlightening them when in ignorance, and converting them when in sin. How pitifully and patiently has He borne, not only with their infirmities, but with their guilt and rebellion; and graciously reclaimed them from the path of error and ruin, by the mercies of His chastising rod. Nor do the defeat and destruction of wicked men afford less decisive proof, than the deliverance of the righteous, of the greatness of the Lord’s works: the whole history of the Church shews Him to have been great in justice, as in mercy: and, we may add, in truth also. Often indeed have the promises of divine favour, and the denunciations of vengeance, been fulfilled in the most unexpected and marvellous manner; by instruments apparently altogether unequal to the momentous object designed. But “the Lord worked for His people; and there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.” [395]

And amongst his friends and brethren in the Lord, the christian also beholds many satisfactory and encouraging instances of the working of heavenly power: he sees them advancing in their spiritual course, steadier in principle, and improved in character, “growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” And wherever he observes the increase of true religion, there he also finds, to his heart’s delight, a correspondent increase of contentment and happiness; the power of the gospel is manifest before him, in the altered characters and lives of men; and in all this, he perceives and admires the gracious operations of a merciful God.

But the christian is best acquainted with himself; studies the most narrowly his own conduct, and life; he judges indeed, with deep humility, of the manifestation of divine power in his behalf, sincerely conscious of his undeservings; still he can truly bear witness that in his own case, his own experience also, the works of the Lord have been great. Though still far, in spirit and in character, from what he ought to be and would be; he finds himself continually gaining the mastery over his evil affections and habits, and drawing nearer to God; perpetually advancing in holiness, as in knowledge; more “hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and more filled;” taking more delight in spiritual ordinances, and shewing the fruit of them in his life and conversation. And when he considers his own sinful nature, and the powerful enemies opposed to him, he cannot but ascribe this change in his heart, this improvement in his conduct, to the mighty workings of heavenly grace. Unworthy as he is of God’s favour, he does find a well-spring of comfort established in his soul; comfort at all times, especially in the hour of tribulation; either he is provided with the means of deliverance, or the tribulation itself is converted into a blessing. He is also made in many ways, the instrument of benefit to others, to his family or friends; and every door of usefulness that is opened to him, he gratefully acknowledges to be opened of the Lord. In all the good he receives or does, and all the evil he escapes or prevents, he traces the power and mercy of his God; “not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto Thy name be the glory and the praise.” Thus he imitates the conduct of the Psalmist, recorded in the text; “I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart:” it is not a formal service, not a partial tribute, not a reluctant offering: all the powers of his understanding and all the affections of his soul are employed in magnifying the majesty and loving-kindness of the “author and giver of every good gift.”

And the grateful Christian imitates the Psalmist yet farther; he does not hide the sense of God’s goodness within his own bosom; nor confine the mention of it to the narrow boundary of his closet; but declares it openly as opportunity serves; first of all “in the assembly of the upright,” or, according to the better version of the Prayer Book, “secretly among the faithful;” in the company of his family and his religious friends. When he has experienced or observed the peculiar mercies of his almighty and merciful Father, he delights to speak of them; though with humility, yet with fervour and joy. Such is the natural disposition of man, when he feels deeply the obligation of benefits conferred: if an earthly friend has enriched or favoured him, he thankfully makes mention of the kindness: and shall he do less for the abundant, the infinite goodness of his God? Shall he not rejoice to proclaim it in the very overflowing of his heart?

There are persons, who would draw a line of distinction between the two cases; and say, that our obligations to God should be felt only, and our obligations to man should be both felt and proclaimed. It is probable, that such observations, however sincerely made, generally proceed from the want of spirituality of heart: there is an aversion to the introduction of religious topics, however sober or seasonable. That they are often indiscreetly introduced, often in a spirit of self-righteousness, and fanatical pretension, we cannot deny: but the abuse of any holy exercise is not to prevent us from the use. Look at the recorded lives of any pious Christians, of those who are held up to us as patterns of righteousness, whom in fact we profess to admire; and see how ready and forward they were, on all occasions, to speak of the manifold works which God had wrought for them, of the kindness which they had experienced at His hands. The Psalms are full of such expressions and resolutions: the text is a decided instance: let it have its effect upon us: let every one who has been favoured of the Lord, delight to be “talking of His doings:” not intrusively, not boastingly, as if he were a special favourite of heaven; as if he would make it appear, that the Lord were kinder to him than to others: but with simplicity and singleness of mind. The true believer abhors the two extremes, of spiritual pride on the one hand; and of cold-hearted insensibility on the other. He feels himself all undeserving of the bounty of the Lord, and is astonished that it should be so bestowed upon him, who is “not worthy to gather up the crumbs under his master’s table;” but the bounty is bestowed, and he cannot let it pass unnoticed or undeclared.

Again, the Psalmist says, “in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.” He vows, that not only in the company of his faithful friends, but also in the great congregation, in the holy temple, the power and mercy of Jehovah shall be publicly proclaimed. [401] Not that any particular acts, of providence or grace, could be there mentioned by name; but that the thankfulness, which he feels for them, would put new life and energy into his praises, in the House of God. And this also we shall do well to imitate; this we shall assuredly imitate, if we have the true spirit of faith and piety. At all times, the sincere worshipper has so powerful a sense of the divine goodness in his heart, as to preserve him, in his public thanksgivings, from indifference and languor; but there are times, when he is visited with peculiar favour, with signal deliverances and blessings; and the remembrance of them will inspire him, when he next visits the temple of the Lord, with more than ordinary ardour; “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh;” and as his love and gratitude rise, his tribute of praise will ascend, in a loftier strain, to the fountain of mercy, to the throne of grace.

And God will hear him, and accept the free-will offering; he will return from worship in a holier frame, and with a more heavenly temper; the incense which he has been wafting to the skies, will leave a fragrance behind, and spread to his character; and he will be rendered meet, through the grace and intercession of his Redeemer, for further manifestations of divine love. And O still better fruit, still happier effects of his devout thanksgiving! he will be preparing his soul for more exalted praises in the world to come, amid the countless multitude of worshippers, in the courts of the Lamb; where the holy-angels and the glorified saints shall rejoice together, in seeking out and recounting the surpassing love of God to His church and people, to His universal creation in all ages. Exulting in the light divine, and sharing together the blessedness of the Saviour’s triumph, praise shall be their constant employment; and the vaults of heaven shall eternally echo with this their joyful theme, “Great and marvellous are Thy works. Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of Saints.” [403]