The Happy Duty of Daily Praise
(No. 1902)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORDS-DAY MORNING, MAY 30, 1886,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever
and ever. Every day will I bless You; and I will praise Your name
forever and ever." Psalm 114:1,2.
IF I were to put to you the question, "Do you pray?" the answer would
be very quickly given by every Christian person, "Of course I do."
Suppose I then added, "And do you pray every day?" the prompt reply
would be, "Yes, many times in the day. I could not live without
prayer." This is no more than I expect and I will not ask the question.
But let me change the enquiry and ask, "Do you bless God every day? Is
praise as certain and constant a practice with you as prayer?" I am not
sure that the answer would be quite so certain, so general, or so
prompt. You would have to stop a little while before you gave the reply
and, I fear in some cases, when the reply did come, it would be, "I am
afraid I have been negligent in praise." Well, then, dear Friend, have
you not been wrong? Should we omit praise any more than we omit prayer?
And should not praise come daily and as many times in the day as prayer
does? It strikes me that to fail in praise is as unjustifiable as to
fail in prayer! I shall leave it with your own heart and conscience,
when you have asked and answered the question, to see to it in the
future that far more of the sweet frankincense of praise is mingled
with your daily oblation of devotion.
Praise is certainly not at all so common in family prayer as other
forms of worship. We cannot, all of us, praise God in the family by
joining in song, because we are not all able to raise a tune, but it
would be well if we could. I agree with Matthew Henry when he says,
"They that pray in the family do well; they that pray and read the
Scriptures do better; but they that pray, read and sing do best of
all." There is a completeness in that kind of family worship which is
much to be desired.
Whether in the family or not, yet personally and privately, let us
endeavor to be filled with God's praise and with His honor all the day.
Be this our resolve–"I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will
bless Your name forever and ever. Every day will I bless You; and I
will praise Your name forever and ever."
Brethren, praise cannot be a second-class business, for it is evidently
due to God and that in a very high degree. A sense ofjustice ought to
make us praise the Lord. It is the least we can do and, in some senses,
it is the most that we can do in return for the multiplied benefits
which He bestows upon us. What? No harvest of praise for Him who has
sent the sunshine of His love and the rain of His Grace upon us? What?
No revenue of praise for Him who is our gracious Lord and King! He does
not exact from us any servile labor, but simply says, "Whoever offers
praise glorifies Me."
Praise is good, pleasant and delightful. Let us rank it among those
debts which we would not wish to forget, but are eager to pay at once.
Praise is an act which is pre-eminently characteristic of the true
child of God. The man who does but pretend to piety will fast twice in
the week and stand in the temple and offer something like prayer. But
to praise God with all the heart, this is the mark of true adoption!
This is the sign and token of a heart received by Divine Grace! We lack
one of the most sure evidences of pure love to God if we live without
presenting praise to His ever-blessed name.
Praising God is singularly beneficial to ourselves. If we had more of
it, we should be greatly blessed. What could lift us so much above the
trials of life; what could help us to bear the burden and heat of the
day so well as songs of praise unto the Most High? The soldier marches
without weariness when the band is playing uplifting strains; the
sailor, as he pulls the rope or lifts the anchor, utters a cheery cry
to aid his toil–let us try the animating power of hymns of praise!
Nothing would oil the wheels of the chariot of life so well as more of
the praising of God. Praise would end murmuring and nurse contentment.
If our mouths were filled with the praises of God, there would be no
room for grumbling. Praise
would throw a halo of glory around the head of toil and thought! In its
sunlight, the most common duties of life would be transfigured!
Sanctified by prayer and praise, each duty would be raised into a
hallowed worship akin to that of Heaven! It would make us more happy,
more holy and more heavenly, if we would say, "I will extol You, my
God, O
King."
Besides, Brothers and Sisters, unless we praise God here, are we
preparing for our eternal Home? There, all is praise! How can we hope
to enter there if we are strangers to that exercise? This life is a
preparatory school and in it we are preparing for the high engagements
of the perfected. Are you not eager to rehearse the everlasting
hallelujahs?–
"I would begin the music here,
And so my soul should rise.
Oh, for some heavenly notes to bear
My passions to the skies!"
Learn the essential elements of heavenly praise by the practice of
joyful thanksgiving, adoring reverence and wondering love, so that,
when you step into Heaven, you may take your place among the singers
and say, "I have been practicing these songs for years. I have praised
God while I was in a world of sin and suffering and when I was weighed
down by a feeble body. And now that I am set free from earth and sin
and the bondage of the flesh, I take up the same strain to sing more
sweetly to the same Lord and God!"
I wish I knew how to speak so as to stir up every child of God to
praise. As for you that are not His children–oh, that you were! You
must be born again! You cannot praise God aright till you are. "Unto
the wicked, God says, What have you to do to declare My statutes, or
that you should take My Covenant in your mouth?" You can offer Him no
real praise while your hearts are at enmity to Him. Be you reconciled
to God by the death of His Son and then you will praise Him! Let no one
that has tasted that the Lord is gracious; let no one that has ever
been delivered from sin by the Atonement of Christ ever fail to pay
unto the Lord his daily tribute of thanksgiving! To help us in this
joyful duty of praise we will turn to our text and keep to it. May the
Holy Spirit instruct us by it!
I. In our text we have, first of all, THE RESOLVE OF PERSONAL
LOYALTY–"I will extol You, my God, O King." David personally comes
before his God and King and utters this deliberate resolution that he
will praise the Divine Majesty forever.
Note here, first, that he pays homage to God as his King. There is no
praising God aright if we do not see Him upon the Throne, reigning with
unquestioned sway. Disobedient subjects cannot praise their sovereign.
You must take up the Lord's yoke–it is easy and His burden is light.
You must come and touch His silver scepter and receive His mercy–and
acknowledge Him to be your rightful Monarch, Lawgiver and Ruler. Where
Jesus comes, He comes to reign–where God is truly known, He is always
known as supreme. Over the united kingdom of our body, soul and spirit
the Lord must reign with undisputed authority. What a joy it is to have
such a King! "O King," says David, and it seems to have been a sweet
morsel in his mouth. He was, himself, a king after the earthly fashion,
but to him, God, alone, was King. Our King is no tyrant, no maker of
cruel laws. He demands no crushing tribute or forced service! His ways
are ways of pleasantness and all His paths are peace. His Laws are just
and good and in the keeping of them there is great reward. Let others
exult that they are their own masters–our joy is that God is our King!
Let others yield to this or that passion, or desire–as for us, we find
our freedom in complete subjection to our heavenly King! Let us, then,
praise God by loyally accepting Him as our King. Let us repeat with
exultation the hymn we just now sang–
"Crown Him, crown Him, King of kings, and Lord of lords." Let us not be
satisfied that He should reign over us, alone, but let us long that the
whole earth should be filled with His Glory. Be this our daily
prayer–"Your Kingdom come. Your will be done, in earth as it is in
Heaven." Let this be our constant ascription of praise–"For Yours is
the Kingdom, and the power, and the Glory, forever. Amen."
Note that the Psalmist, also, in this first sentence, praises the Lord
by a present personal appropriation of God to himself by faith–"I will
extol You, my God." That word, "my," is a drop of honey. No, it is like
Jonathan's woods, full of honey–it seems to drip from every bough and
he that comes into it stands knee-deep in sweetness! "My God" is as
high a note as an angel can reach! What is another man's god to me? He
must be my God or I shall not extol Him! Say, dear Heart, have you ever
taken God to be your God? Can you say with David in another place,
"This God is our God forever and ever. He shall be our guide, even unto
death"? Blessed was Thomas when he bowed down and put his finger into
the
print of his Master's wounds and cried, "My Lord and my God!" That
double-handed grip of appropriation marked the death of his painful
unbelief! Can you say, "Jehovah is my God?" To us there are Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, but these are one God, and this one God is our own
God! Let others worship whom they will, this God our soul adores and
loves– yes, claims to be her personal possession! O Beloved, if you
can say, "My God," you will be bound to exalt Him! If He has given
Himself to you so that you can say, "My Beloved is mine," you will give
yourself to Him and you will add, "And I am His." Those two sentences,
like two silken covers of a book, shut in, within them, the full score
of the music of Heaven!
Observe that David is firmly resolved to praise God. My text has four,
"I wills," in it. Frequently it is foolish for us poor mortals to say,
"I will," because our will is so feeble and fickle. But when we resolve
upon the praise of God, we may say, "I will," and, "I will," and, "I
will," and, "I will," till we make a solid square of determinations!
Let me tell you, you will have need to say, "I will," a great many
times, for many obstacles will hinder your resolve. There will come
depression of spirit and then you must say, "I will extol You, my God,
O King." Poverty, sickness, losses and crosses may assail you–and then
you must say, "I will praise Your name forever and ever." The devil
will come and tell you that you have no interest in Christ, but you
must say, "Every day will I bless You." Death will come and, perhaps,
you will be under the fear of it–then it will be incumbent upon you to
cry, "And I will praise Your name forever and ever!"–
"Sing, though sense and carnal reason
Gladly would stop the joyful song!
Sing and count it highest treason
For a saint to hold his tongue."
A bold man took this motto–"While I live, I'll crow." But our motto
is, "While I live, I'll praise." An old motto was, "Dum spiro spero,"
but the saint improves upon it, and cries, "Dum expiro spero." Not only
while I live, I will hope, but when I die, I will hope! And he even
gets beyond all that, and determines–"Whether I live or die I will
praise my God!" "O God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed; I will
sing and give praise."
While David is thus resolute, I want you to notice that the resolution
is strictly personal. He says, "/ will extol You." Whatever others do,
my own mind is made up. David was very glad when others praised God. He
delighted to join with the great congregation that kept Holy Day, but
still, he was attentive to his own heart and his own praise. There is
no selfishness in looking well to your own personal state and condition
before the Lord. He cannot be called a selfish citizen who is very
careful to render his own personal suit and service to his king. A
company of persons praising God would be nothing unless each individual
was sincere and earnest in the worship. The praise of the great
congregation is precious in proportion as each individual, with all his
heart, is saying, "I will extol You, my God, O King." Come, my Soul, I
will not sit silent because so many others are singing! However many
songsters there may be, they cannot sing for me–they cannot pay my
private debt of praise–therefore awake, my Heart, and extol your God
and King! What if others refuse to sing? What if a shameful silence is
observed in reference to the praises of God? Then, my Heart, I must
bestir you all the more to a double diligence that you may, with even
greater zeal, extol your God and King! I will sing a solo if I cannot
find a choir in which I may take my part! Anyway, my God, I will extol
You. At this hour men go off to other lords and they set up this and
that new-made god, but as for me, my ear is bored to Jehovah's
doorpost. I will not go out from His service forever. Bind the
sacrifice with cords, even with cords to the horns of the altar.
Whatever happens, I will extol You, my God, O King!
Now Brothers and Sisters, have you been losing your own personality in
the multitude? As members of a large Church, have you thought, "Things
will go on very well without me"? Correct that mistake! Each individual
trust has its own note to bring to God. Let Him not have to say to you,
"Fou have bought Me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled
Me with the fat of your sacrifices." Let us not be slow in His praise,
since He has been so swift in His Grace.
Once more upon this head–while David is thus loyally resolving to
praise God, you will observe that he is doing it all the time. The
resolution to praise can only come from the man who is already praising
God. When he says, "I will extol You," he is already extolling! We go
from praise to praise. The heart resolves and so plants the seed. And
then the life is affected and the harvest springs up and ripens. O
Brothers and Sisters, do not let us say, "I will extol You tomorrow,"
or, "I will hope to praise You when I grow old, or when I have less
business on hand." No, no! You are this day in debt! This day
acknowledge your obligation. We cannot praise God too soon. Our very
first breath is a gift from God and it
should be spent to the Creator's praise! The early morning hour should
he dedicated to praise–do not the birds set us the example? In this
matter he gives twice who gives quickly. Let your praise follow quickly
upon the benefit you receive, lest even during the delay you be found
guilty of ingratitude! As soon as a mercy touches our coasts, we should
welcome it with acclamation. Let us copy the little chick, which, as it
drinks, lifts up its head, as if to give thanks. Our thanksgiving
should echo the voice of Divine loving kindness. Before the Lord our
King, let us continually rejoice as we bless Him and speak well of His
name.
Thus I have set before you the resolve of a loyal spirit. Are you loyal
to your God and King? Then I charge you to glorify His name. Lift up
your hearts in His praise and in all manner of ways make His name
great. Praise Him with your lips. Praise Him with your lives. Praise
Him with your substance. Praise Him with every faculty and capacity. Be
inventive in methods of praise–"sing unto the Lord a new song." Bring
forth the long-stored and costly alabaster box! Break it and pour the
sweet nard upon your Redeemer's head and feet. With penitents and
martyrs extol Him! With Prophets and Apostles extol Him! With saints
and angels extol Him! Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.
II. And now I must conduct you to the second clause of the text which
is equally full and instructive. We have in the second part of it THE
CONCLUSION OF AN INTELLIGENT APPRECIATION–"And I will bless Your name
forever and ever." Blind praise is not fit for the all-seeing God. God
forbade of old the bringing of blind sacrifices to His altar. Our
praise ought to have a brain as well as a tongue. We ought to know who
the God is whom we praise–therefore David says, "I will bless Your
name," by which he means–Your Character, Your deeds, Your revealed
attributes.
First, observe that he presents the worship of inward admiration–he
knows and, therefore, he blesses the Divine name. What is this act of
blessing? Sometimes, "bless," would appear to be used interchangeably
with, "praise," yet there is a difference, for it is written, "All your
works shall praise You, O Lord; and Your saints shall bless You." You
can praise a man and yet you may never bless him. A great artist, for
instance–you may praise him, but he may be so ungenerous to you and
others that it may never occur to you to bless him. Blessing has
something in it of love and delight. It is a nearer, dearer, heartier
thing than praise. "I will bless Your name," that is to say–"I will
take an intense delight in Your name–I will lovingly rejoice in it."
The very thought is that God is a source of happiness to our hearts and
the more we muse upon His Character, the more joyous we become. The
Lord's name is Love. He is merciful and gracious, tender and pitiful.
Moreover, He is a just God and righteous, faithful, true and holy. He
is a mighty God and wise and unchanging. He is a prayer-hearing God and
He always keeps His promise. We would not have Him other than He is. We
have a sweet contentment in God as He is revealed in Holy Scripture. It
is not everybody that can say this, for a great many professors
nowadays desire a god of their own making and shaping. If they find
anything in Scripture concerning God which grates upon their tender
susceptibilities, they cannot stand it! The God that casts the wicked
from His Presence forever–they cannot believe in Him– they therefore
make unto themselves a false deity who is indifferent to sin! All that
is revealed concerning God is, to me, abundantly satisfactory. If I do
not comprehend its full meaning, I bow before its mystery. If I hear
anything of my God which does not yield me delight, I feel that in it I
must be out of order with Him, either through sin or ignorance, and I
say, "What I know not, teach me, O God." I doubt not that perfectly
holy and completely instructed beings are fully content with everything
that God does and are ready to praise Him for all. Do not our souls
even now bless the Lord our God who chose us, redeemed us and called us
by His Grace? Whether we view Him as Maker, Provider, Savior, King, or
Father, we find in Him an unfathomable sea of joy! He is God, our
exceeding joy. Therefore we sit down in holy quiet and feel our soul
saying, "Bless the Lord! Bless the Lord!" He is what we would have Him
to be. He is better than we could have supposed or imagined! He is the
crown of delight, the climax of goodness, the sum of all perfection! As
often as we see the light, or feel the sun, we would bless the name of
the Lord!
I think when David said, "I will bless Your name," he meant that he
wished well to the Lord. To bless a person means to do that person
good. By blessing us, what untold benefits the Lord bestows! We cannot
bless God in such a sense as that in which He blesses us, but we would
if we could. If we cannot give anything to God, we can desire that He
may be known, loved and obeyed by all our fellow men. We can wish well
to His Kingdom and cause in the world. We can bless Him by blessing His
people, by working for the fulfillment of His purposes, by obeying His
precepts and by taking delight in His ordinances. We can bless Him by
submission to His chastening hand and by gratitude for His daily
benefits. Sometimes we say with the Psalmist, "O my Soul, you have said
unto the Lord, You are my Lord: my goodness extends
not to You; but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the
excellent, in whom is all my delight." Oh, that I could wash Jesus
Christ's feet! Is there a Believer here, man or woman, but would aspire
to that office? It is not denied you–you can wash His feet by caring
for His poor people and relieving their needs. You cannot feast your
Redeemer–He is not hungry–but some of His people are! Feed them! He
is not thirsty, but some of His disciples are. Give them a cup of cold
water in the Master's name and He will accept it as given to Himself.
Do you not feel, today, you that love Him, as if you wanted to do
something for Him? Arise and do it! And so bless Him. It is one of the
instincts of a true Christian to wish to do something for his God and
King who has done everything for him. He loved me and gave Himself for
me–should I not give myself for Him? Oh, for perfect consecration! Oh,
to bless God by laying our all upon His altar and spending our lives in
His service!
It seems, then, dear Friends, that David studied the Character and
works of God and thus praised Him. Knowledge should lead our song. The
more we know of God, the more acceptably shall we bless Him through
Jesus Christ. I exhort you, therefore, to acquaint yourselves with God!
Study His Holy Book. As in a mirror you may here see the Glory of the
Lord reflected, especially in the Person of the Lord Jesus who is, in
truth, the Word, the very name of the Lord! It would be a pity that we
should spoil our praises by ignorance–they that know the name of the
Lord will trust Him and will praise Him.
It appears from this text that David discovered nothing, after a long
study of God, which would be an exception to this rule. He does not
say, "I will bless Your name in all but one thing. I have seen some
point of terror in what You have revealed of Yourself and, in that
thing I cannot bless You." No, without any exception he reverently
adores and joyfully blesses God! All his heart is contented with all of
God that is revealed. Is it so with us, Beloved? I earnestly hope it
is.
I beg you to notice how intense he grows over this–"I will bless Your
name forever and ever." You have heard the quaint saying of, "forever
and a day"? Here you have an advance upon it–it is, "forever," and
then another, "forever." He says, "I will bless your name forever." Is
not that long enough? No, he adds, "and ever." Are there two forevers,
two eternities? Brothers and Sisters, if there were 50 eternities, we
would spend them all in blessing the name of the Lord our God! "I will
bless Your name forever and ever." It would be absurd to explain this
hyperbolical expression. It runs parallel with the words of Addison,
when he says–
"Through all eternity to You
My song of joy I'll raise!
But oh, eternity's too short
To utter all Your praise!"
Somebody quibbled at that verse the other day. He said, "Eternity
cannot be too short." Ah, my dear Friend, you are not a poet, I can
see. But if you could get just a spark of poetry into your soul,
literalism would vanish! Truly, in poetry and in praise, the letter
kills! Language is a poor vehicle of expression when the soul is on
fire. Words are good enough things for our cool judgement, but when
thoughts are full of praise, they break the back of words! How often
have I stood here and felt that if I could throw my tongue away and let
my heart speak without these syllables and arbitrary sounds, then I
might express myself! David speaks as if he scorned to be limited by
language. He must leap over even time and possibility to get room for
his heart! "I will bless Your name forever and ever." How I enjoy these
enthusiastic expressions! It shows that when David blessed the Lord, he
did it heartily. While he was musing, the fire burned. He felt like
dancing before the ark. He was in much the same frame of mind as Dr.
Watts when he sang–
"From You, my God, my joys shall rise
And run eternal rounds,
Beyond the limits of the skies,
And all created bounds."
III. But time will fail me unless I pass on at once to the third
sentence of our text, which is, THE PLEDGE OF DAILY REMEMBRANCE. Upon
this I would dwell with very great earnestness. If you forget my
discourse, I would like you to remember this part of the text. "Every
day will I bless You." I will not do it now and have done with it. I
will not take a week of the year in which to praise You and then leave
the other 51 weeks silent, but, "every day will I bless You." All the
year round will I extol my God. Why should it be so?
The greatness of the gifts we have already received demands it. We can
never fully express our gratitude for saving Grace and, therefore, we
must keep on at it. A few years ago we were lost and dead, but we were
found and made alive
again. We must praise God every day for this. We were black as night
with sin, but now we are washed whiter than snow–when can we leave off
praising our Lord for this? He loved me and gave Himself for me–when
can the day come that I shall cease to praise Him for this? Gethsemane
and the bloody sweat; Calvary and the precious blood–when shall we
ever have done with praising our dear Lord for all He suffered when He
bought us with His own heart's blood? No, if it were only the first
mercies, the mercy of election, the mercy of redemption, the mercy of
effectual calling, the mercy of adoption–we would have had enough to
begin with to make us sing unto the Lord every day of our lives! The
Light of God which has risen upon us warms all our days with
gladness–it shall also light them up with praise!
Today it becomes us to sing of the mercy of yesterday. The waves of
love as well as of time have washed us up upon the shore of today and
the beach is strewn with love! Here I find myself on a Sunday morning,
exulting because another six days work is done and strength has been
given for it! Some of us have experienced a world of loving kindness
between one Sabbath and another. If we had never had anything else from
God but what we have received during the last week, we have
overwhelming reason for extolling Him today! If there is any day in
which we would leave off praising God, it must not be the Lord's Day,
for–
"This is the day the Lord has made, He calls the hours His own. Let Hea
ven rejoice, let earth be glad, And praise surround the Throne." Oh,
let us magnify the Lord on the day of which it can be said–
"Today He rose and left the dead And Satan's empire fell!
Today the saints His triumphs spread, And all His wonders tell."
When we reach tomorrow, shall we not praise God for the blessing of the
Sabbath? Surely you cannot have forgotten the Lord so soon as Monday!
Before you go out into the world, wash your face in the clear crystal
of praise. Bury each yesterday in the fine linen and spices of
thankfulness.
Each day has its mercy and should render its praise. When Monday is
over, you will have something to praise God for on Tuesday. He that
watches for God's hand will never be long without seeing it. If you
will only spy out God's mercies with half an eye, you will see them
every day of the year. Fresh are the dews of each morning and equally
fresh are its blessings. "Fresh trouble," says one. Praise God for the
trouble, for it is a richer form of blessing! "Fresh care," says one.
Cast all your care on Him who cares for you and that act will, in
itself, bless you. "Fresh labor," says another. Yes, but fresh
strength, too.
There is never a night but what there comes a day after it–never an
affliction without its consolation. Every day you must utter the memory
of His great goodness.
If we cannot praise God on any one day for what we have had that day,
let us praise Him for tomorrow. "It is better on before." Let us learn
that quaint verse–
"And a new song is in my mouth, To long-lived music set– Glory to You
for all the Grace I have not tasted yet."
Let us forestall our future and draw upon the promises. What if today I
am down? Tomorrow I shall be up! What if today I cast ashes on my head?
Tomorrow the Lord shall crown me with loving kindness! What if today my
pains trouble me, they will soon be gone! It will be all the same a
hundred years from now, at any rate, and so let me praise God for what
is within measurable distance. In a few years I shall be with the
angels and be with my Lord, Himself. Blessed be His name! Begin to
enjoy your Heaven now! What says the Apostle? "For our citizenship is
in Heaven"–not is to be, but is! We belong to Heaven, now, our names
are enrolled among its citizens and the privileges of the New Jerusalem
belong to us at this present moment. Christ is ours and God is ours!–
"This world is ours and worlds to come!
Earth is our lodge and Hea ven our home." Therefore let us rejoice and
be exceedingly glad and praise the name of God this very day.
"Every day," he says, "will I bless You." There is a seasonableness
about the praising of God every day. Praise is in season every month.
You awoke, the sunlight streamed into the windows and touched your
eyelids. And you said, "Bless God. Here is a charming summer's day."
Birds were singing and flowers were pouring out their perfume. You
could not help praising God. But another day it was dark at the time of
your rising. You struck a match and lit your candle. A thick fog hung
like a blanket over all. If you were a wise man, you said, "Come, I
shall not get through the day if I do not make up my mind to praise
God. This is the kind of weather in which I must bless God or else go
down in despair." So you woke yourself up and began to adore the Lord.
One morning you awoke after a refreshing night's rest and you praised
God for it. But on another occasion you had tossed about through a
sleepless night and then you thanked God that the weary night was over.
You smile, dear Friends, but there is always some reason for praising
God. Certain fruits and meats are in season at special times, but the
praise of God is always in season. It is good to praise the Lord in the
daytime–how charming is the lark's song as it carols up to Heaven's
gate! It is good to bless God at night–how delicious are the liquid
notes of the nightingale as it thrills the night with its music! I do,
therefore, say to you right heartily, "Come, let us together praise the
Lord, in all sorts of weather and in all sorts of places."
Sometimes I have said to myself, "During this last week I have been so
full of pain that I am afraid I have forgotten to praise God as much as
I should have done and, therefore, I will have a double draught of it
now. I will get alone and have a special time of thankful thought. I
would make up some of my old arrears and magnify the Lord above
measure. I do not like feeling that there can ever be a day in which I
have not praised Him. That day would surely be a blank in my life.
Surely the sweetest praise that ever ascends to God is that which is
poured forth by saints from beds of languishing. Praise in sad times is
praise, indeed! When your dog loves you because it is dinnertime, you
are not sure of him, but when somebody else tempts him with a bone and
he will not leave you, though just now you struck him, then you feel
that he is truly attached to you! We may learn from dogs that true
affection is not dependent upon what it is just now receiving.
Let us not have a cupboard love for God because of His kind Providence,
but let us love Him and praise Him for what He is and what He has done.
Let us follow hard after Him when He seems to forsake us–and praise
Him when He deals harshly with us–for this is true praise. For my
part, though I am not long without affliction, I have no faults to find
with my Lord, but I desire to praise Him and praise Him–and only to
praise Him! Oh, that I knew how to do it worthily! Here is my
resolve–"I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name
forever and ever. Every day will I bless You."
IV. The last sentence of the text sets forth THE HOPE OF ETERNAL
ADORATION. David here exclaims, "And I will praise Your name forever
and ever."
I am quite sure when David said that, he believed that God was
unchangeable, for if God can change, how can I be sure that He will
always be worthy of my praise? David knew that what God had been, He
was and what He was, then, He would always be. He had not heard the
sentence, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever,"
nor yet that other, "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore you sons of
Jacob are not consumed," but he knew the Truth of God contained in both
these texts and, therefore, he said, "I will praise Your name forever
and ever." As long as God Is, He will be worthy to be praised!
Another point is also clear–David believed in the immortality of the
soul. He says, "I will praise Your name forever and ever." That Truth
was very dimly revealed in the Old Testament, but David knew it right
well. He did not expect to sleep in oblivion, but to go on praising
and, therefore, he said, "I will praise Your name forever and ever." No
cold hand fell upon him and no killing voice said to him "You shall die
and never praise the Lord again." Oh, no! He looked to live forever and
ever–and praise forever and ever! Brothers and Sisters, such is our
hope and we will never give it up. We feel eternal life within our
souls! We challenge the cold hand of death to quench the immortal flame
of our love, or to silence the ceaseless song of our praise! The dead
cannot praise God and God is not the God of the dead, but of the
living! Among the living we are numbered, through the Grace of God, and
we know that we shall live because Jesus lives. When death shall come,
it shall bring no destruction to us!
Though it shall change the conditions of our existence, it shall not
change the object of our existence! Our tongue may be silenced for a
little while, but our spirit, unaffected by the disease of the body,
shall go on praising God in its own fashion and then, by-and-by, in the
resurrection, even this poor tongue shall be revived–and body, soul
and spirit shall together praise the God of Resurrection and eternal
Glory. "I will praise Your name forever and ever." We shall never
grow weary of this hallowed exercise forever and ever. It will always
be new, fresh, delightful! In Heaven they never require any change
beyond those blessed variations of song, those new melodies which make
up the everlasting harmony. On and on, forever telling the tale which
never will be fully told, the saints will praise the name of the Lord
forever and ever!
Of course, dear Friends, David's resolve was that, as long as he was
here below, he would never cease to praise God, and this is ours, also.
Brethren, we may have to leave off some cherished engagements, but this
we will never cease from. At a certain period of life a man may have to
leave off preaching to a large congregation. Good old John Newton
declared that he would never leave off preaching while he had breath in
his body–and I admire his holy perseverance–but it was a pity that he
did not leave off preaching at St. Mary Woolnoth, for he often wearied
the people and forgot the thread of his discourse. He might have done
better in another place. Ah, well, we may leave off preaching, but we
shall never leave off praising! The day will come when you, my dear
Friend, cannot go to Sunday school–I hope you will go as long as you
can toddle there–but it may be you will not be able to interest the
children–your memory will begin to fail. Bt even then you can go on
praising the Lord! And you will.
I have known old people almost forget their own names and forget their
own children, but I have known them still remember their Lord and
Master! I have heard of one who lay dying and his friends tried to make
him remember certain things, but he shook his head. At last one said,
"Do you remember the Lord Jesus?" Then the mind came into full play,
the eyes brightened and the old man eloquently praised his Savior! Our
last gasp shall be given to the praise of the Lord!
When once we have passed through the iron gate and forded the dividing
river, then we will begin to praise God in a manner more satisfactory
than we can reach at present. After a nobler sort we will sing and
adore. What soaring we will attempt upon the eagle wings of love! What
plunges we will take into the crystal stream of praise! I think, for a
while, when we first behold the Throne of God, we shall do no more than
cast our crowns at the feet of Him that loved us and then bow down
under a weight of speechless praise. We shall be overwhelmed with
wonder and thankfulness! When we rise to our feet, again, we will join
in the strain of our Brothers and Sisters redeemed by blood and only
drop out of the song when again we feel overpowered with joyful
adoration and are constrained, again, in holy silence to shrink to
nothing before the infinite, unchanging God of Love.
Oh, to be there! To be there soon! We may be much nearer than we think.
I cannot tell what I shall do, but I know this, I want no other Heaven
than to praise God perfectly and eternally! Is it not so with you? A
heart full of praise is Heaven in the bud! Perfect praise is Heaven
full-blown. Let us close this discourse by asking Grace from God that,
if we have been deficient in praise, we may now mend our ways and put
on the garments of holy adoration. This day and onward, may our
watchword be, "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!"