True Christianity

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 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.

5. As to the first, namely, the book of the world, or nature, it is clear that the praise of God is the great end of the whole creation. That this is the grand employment of the angelical choirs, appears from many passages in the Revelation of St. John, as also from Isaiah 6:3 and the 148th Psalm; which, inviting all creatures to praise God, for whose glory they were created, begins with the angels (ver. 2), “Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts.” From the angelical he descends to the sidereal world, saying, “Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.” To which may be referred the words of Job (chap. 38:7): “When the morning stars sang together.” Thence he descends to the sea, calling on the waters, and all the numerous inhabitants of the waters, to praise the God that made them. Thence looking up to the regions of the air, he calls to “the fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling his word.” Thence he passes to the earth: “mountains and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars.” Thence to the living creatures: “beasts, and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl.” Thence to men, beginning with the rulers of the world: “kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth. Both young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the name of the Lord.” And lastly, to the church of God, “his saints, a people near unto him – praise ye the Lord.”

6. The second argument was the efficacy of the prayer of faith. This is attested by the word of God, the examples of holy men, and daily experience. For we are assured by all the promises of God, that not one devout prayer, not one sigh or tear, comes from us in vain. “Put thou my tears into thy bottle.” Ps. 6:9; 56:8. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Ps. 126:5. “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” Ps. 145:18. Nothing, indeed, in this world can be successful without prayer; forasmuch as every good and every perfect gift cometh down from God, and must be asked of him. Without constant prayer a man can neither live nor die in peace. Now, as the offering of praise to God is nothing else but the prayer of a devout soul overflowing with divine joy, in which holy men of God have celebrated and conveyed to posterity the mercies and wonders of God their Creator; it is plain that the singing of praises to God is an act of devotion, full of spiritual comfort and advantage.

7. Thirdly, this is confirmed by many examples found in the Old Testament. Exod. 15; Deut. 32; 1 Sam. 2; Isa. 12; 26; 38; 64; Jon. 2; Hab. 3; and the whole Book of Psalms.

8. Fourthly, this is confirmed by the examples of the New Testament; especially those two divine hymns of Mary and Zacharias (Luke 1:46, 68), of which the Christian Church has appointed one to be sung in the morning, and the other in the evening, as a morning and evening sacrifice unto God; thereby instructing us, that singing psalms and praises unto God ought to begin and end the day. Such, too, is the exhortation of the Psalmist, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.” Ps. 92:1, 2. But why such lovingkindness “in the morning”? Because “it is new every morning.” Lam. 3:23. And why such “faithfulness every night”? Because “the Lord, that neither slumbereth nor sleepeth,” is our guardian by night. Ps. 121:3. To this we may add what we are told by St. Matthew (chap. 26: 30), that Jesus Christ himself at his last Supper, sung a hymn with his disciples. And St. Paul says to the Ephesians (chap. 5:18, 19), “Be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always, etc.” And again: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Col. 3:16, 17. And St. James says, “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” James 5:13.

9. Fifthly, by the praises offered to God by the holy men of the Old Testament and the New, who were filled with the Holy Ghost. Of this we have two instances. First, when Samuel had anointed Saul to be king, he gave him a sign, saying, “Thou shalt meet a company of prophets with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy. And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.” 1 Sam. 10:5, 6. The second is, when Saul had sent messengers to take David, they met several companies of prophets, and both they and Saul himself began to prophesy. 1 Sam. 19:19-24. Similar to this is that which we read concerning Elisha (2 Kings 3:15), that when the minstrel began to play, that holy man prophesied.

10. In the Old Testament there were several kinds of divine music; some of trumpets, some of psalteries and harps, some of cymbals, and other kinds of musical instruments. From this some imagine that the Songs of Degrees, as some of the Psalms are called, took their names. For they did not sing all the Psalms to the same instrument, but adapted their instruments to their subject, whether it were cheerful or sorrowful. All these various kinds of music with which, under the Old Testament, they sang praises unto God, being a part of the external ceremonial service, have now ceased; and our spirit, soul, mind, and mouth are become the trumpet, psaltery, harp, and cymbal of God. To which St. Paul alludes, when he says, “Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Col. 3:16. By which expression we are by no means forbidden, either in public or private, to praise God with voices or instruments of music; but it requires that all this be done with true devotion, in the spirit, and from the heart, lest religion should be thought to consist in empty sounds and the external pomp of divine service. For the New Testament, see, for example, Acts 4:24-31.

11. Sixthly, the nature and properties of the Psalms prove the same thing. Some of them are supplicatory, others consolatory; some penitential, others doctrinal; and, lastly, others prophetical: from which variety of style and intention the devout soul may reap a correspondent variety of comforts and benefits.

12. Seventhly, we are instructed by the examples of Moses and David that songs of praise were used upon different occasions. As (1) Against enemies. These may be called prayers for protection. Such is Psalm 68, which the man of God sang when he was advancing against his enemies: “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered.” Some think that Psalm 91 was composed by David in the time of that great pestilence, which, in the space of three days, swept away 70,000 men. 2 Sam. 24:15. And I doubt not that many a man has been protected in national calamities by a proper use of this Psalm. (2) In time of victory over enemies. These we may call Psalms of victory. Thus David, when he had gained six victories, composed the 18th Psalm, as may be gathered from 2 Sam. 22: 1. So Jehoshaphat marched against the Moabites with singers going before him, who were to bless and praise the Lord with a loud voice; and he conquered. 2 Chron. 20:21, etc. (3) In great calamities. Thus we read (1 Sam. 21:13) that David, when he changed his behavior before Achish, composed the 34th Psalm, as appears by the title. So he sang Psalm 3, when he fled from Absalom. So when the apostles, in great difficulties, prayed in the words of the 2d Psalm, “the place was shaken where they were assembled together.” Acts 4:31. And these are Psalms of mourning or lamentation. (4) There are also eucharistical Psalms. So David sung the 105th Psalm before the ark of the covenant. 1 Chron. 17:16. (5) There are complaining Psalms, as the 102d appears to be by the inscription; also some against calumniators, as the 4th, 7th, 52d; also against diseases, as the 30th.

13. Thus much concerning the efficacy and admirable benefits of divine hymns and thanksgivings. Whence it appears that it is the duty of a Christian to praise God as well as to pray to him every day. For (1), it being the constant employment of the holy angels to bless and praise God, when the Church on earth does the same, there arises thence a divine and heavenly communion betwixt the Church on earth and the Church in heaven; fulfilling, in some measure, that petition of the Lord's prayer, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matt. 6:10. Come, then, ye devout souls, and when ye retire into your closets to pour out your souls before God in secret, remember also to praise him with a Psalm of thanksgiving. (2) Moreover, it would be quite proper, and becoming a Christian, to accustom children, from their infancy, to sing psalms and praises unto God, according to the Psalmist, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies” (Ps. 8:2): the advantage of which, is expressed in the following words – “that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” (3) We are encouraged to this duty by God's gracious acceptance of it, and delight in it; upon which account the Psalmist calls upon him, saying, “Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” Ps. 22:3. (4) Experience itself teaches us that by divine hymns we kindle flames of devotion in our souls, and receive rich returns of spiritual joy, lively comfort, solid peace, and rest in God.

Chapter XLII.

The Reasons For Which We Ought Daily To Offer Praises To God

Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. Ps. 106:1; 107:1; 118:1.

Thus saith the devout David, “Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments” (Ps. 119:164); that is, many times in a day do I sing praises in honor of thy holy name. By this he teaches us, that a man cannot spend his time better than by retiring at least once a day into his closet, and praising God in secret. Yea, though his hands be employed in labor and business, yet may he, in the quiet stillness of his heart, offer up his praises unto God wheresoever he is. For the prayer of a true Christian is not confined to any certain time or place, since he worships “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23); and the Spirit is not circumscribed by any limits of time or place. To which also relates the admonition of St. Paul, when he commands us “to sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16); that being, indeed, the fittest place wherein God may be praised.

2. But as we are by nature dull and inactive in the discharge of this duty, therefore God has given us, in his Word, certain helps to quicken us.

3. The first of these is his own command. He made us, his servants and creatures, for his own glory, as we ourselves appoint servants to manage business for us. He, therefore, who does not daily praise God, was created by him in vain, and cannot be his servant. Hence we are commanded, over and over again, in Holy Scripture, above all things, to praise God. Thus, “Praise ye the Lord. Praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.” Ps. 113:1. “O give thanks unto the Lord.” Ps. 118:1. “Thou shalt glorify me.” Ps. 50:15. This is an argument to us, that the chief part of our religious worship, our chief service in this world, and our happiness in the next, consist in the exercise of praise and thanksgiving; upon which account we ought to esteem it our greatest happiness and most honorable employment. So the holy Psalmist says, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.” Ps. 63:4. And again, “Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Ps. 37:4. O how truly happy, then, and blessed is he who is come to such perfection of divine worship as to delight in the Lord, and to be continually offering praises and thanks! “He shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.” Ps. 65:5. If we think it an honorable thing to be employed in the service of any earthly prince, how much more ought a man to rejoice when he considers that he may be admitted to the service of the Lord of lords, and King of kings, being, in his own nature, no better than dust and ashes, and a poor sinner! This single consideration ought to be of sufficient weight to encourage him to praise God daily.

4. Secondly, the advantages that a man derives from this exercise, is another argument. For since God has no need of our praises, and is neither the better nor the worse for our obedience or neglect; and since the most acceptable praise which we can offer him is, at best, but the fruit of “unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5), as the prophet Isaiah speaks, it follows that the advantage redounds only to ourselves, as being the means of drawing down upon us the favor and blessings of heaven: a thankful heart being the proper receptacle of divine grace. This, in short, is that which brings God down into our souls, and makes us truly the living temples of the Holy Ghost; and where God is, there is the fulness of divine blessing. Moreover, by the daily exercise of thanksgiving, we keep up communion with the blessed choirs of triumphant saints and angels in heaven. They are incessantly singing the praises of God above; whilst we below, by the same exercise, are conquering, by degrees, the enemies of our salvation (Ps. 18:29), till at length, by a constant practice of this divine duty, we are filled with an immovable assurance that we are united to God, and that we shall be for ever happy with him in heaven, according to the promise of our blessed Lord, “Where I am, there shall also my servant be.” John 12:26. And now, would to God that wretched man would so lay these considerations to heart, and so sincerely endeavor to practise them, that every soul might become, in truth, a house of prayer!

5. Thirdly, we are encouraged to the daily practice of thanksgiving, from the consideration of the compassion, the lovingkindness, and everlasting goodness of God. This is an argument continually inculcated in the Book of Psalms, to teach us that the chief and fundamental reason why we ought continually to bless and praise God, is, because he is good and gracious, and “his mercy endureth for ever.” No heart of man can conceive, nor tongue express, the height and depth of that love which disposes the great and mighty God to show himself thus loving and merciful to wretched mankind, who are dust and ashes, laden with iniquities, and ungrateful to God; and that he not only continues his wonted mercies to them, notwithstanding their repeated provocations; but is also perpetually dispensing fresh showers of blessings upon the whole rebellious race. And this is what every man must needs experience in himself. Look into thine own soul, whosoever thou art; what canst thou find there but misery and sin? Yet God continues merciful and long-suffering, is slow to anger, and not willing to punish thee as thy sins have deserved. This is a degree of mercy which, as thy own heart must confess, no man living does or can exercise towards his brethren. We cannot so long forbear to punish those that have offended us; and when we punish, mercy seldom pleads for the criminal, till we are satiated with vengeance; whereas the rod of God is often lifted up, but his mercy averts the impending stroke, and rescues the sinner from punishment. So that every man must confess that the punishments of heaven are not only less than we deserve, but are always qualified with a double portion of mercy. Whence it follows, that God is essentially and truly love, which every man daily experiences in himself.

6. Read the Holy Scriptures and see how tenderly, yea, how affectionately God vouchsafes to deal with mankind, so that no father or mother upon earth can be more indulgent to their darling child. Thus, “Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; therefore, my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.” Jer. 31:20.

7. God not only bestows his favors plentifully both on our souls and bodies, but also does it with so much tenderness and good will, that, as he himself says, “He rejoices over us to do us good” (Jer. 32:41); as if he were glad to find men willing to be happy in the blessed manifestations of his love; which is, indeed, the truest demonstration that it is sincere. Were not God thus merciful, our very being would soon be at an end, which nothing but his infinite mercy can sustain; yea, “His lovingkindness is better than life itself” (Ps. 63:3), which “compasseth us about” (Ps. 32:10), as tender mothers embrace their helpless infants.

8. The same goodness of God discovers itself in all his creatures; in which, as in a glass, we may contemplate the wonderful riches of divine mercy: “The earth is full of the riches of God.” Ps. 104:24. For whose sake was all that is good, both in heaven and earth, created? Not for Him certainly, who is Himself all-sufficient, and stands not in need of any creature. The sun, moon, and stars serve not to enlighten him; the fire, the air, the earth, and water do him no service, but us. And when he “fills our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17), it is his goodness that we taste, it is his bounty that feeds and nourishes us. He it is that gives us healthy and sound bodies, which are more valuable to us than an empire. If it should please God to turn the water into blood, as he did in Egypt (Exod. 7:20), we could not, with all our boasted treasure, purchase one single drop to relieve our greatest necessities. Or should he, as he did once (Exod. 10:22), cover the earth with thick darkness, no prince upon earth could, with all his riches, purchase one single gleam of light. Or what would all the world signify to him that should but for one moment be deprived of the benefit of the air? All these are very great blessings of God, but because they are common, few are so sensible of them as to be thankful for them. Reflect, moreover, on the mercies of redemption and sanctification, in which the goodness and grace of God so transcendently appear, that eternity itself would be too short to praise and magnify these blessings as we ought. To redeem a lost world is much more glorious than to create it at first; and to regenerate a man by a spiritual new birth, more wondrous than at first to produce him by a natural birth. Lastly, whosoever will carefully consider the works and providence of God, may read the plain characters of his mercy and love in every part of the creation.

9. Dull, ungrateful creatures that we are, how apt are we to forget our benefactor, and despise the hand that blesses us! God is thus led in mere mercy to use the rod of discipline, and to take away our worldly comforts from us, in order thereby to reduce us to a sober sense of ourselves, and of our dependence on him, to whom all our thanks are due. Thus God speaks by the prophet Hosea, “She did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and her gold: therefore will I return, and take them from her.” Hosea 2:8. So that the cross is, as it were, the light by which we see and discover the true value of divine blessings, and who it is that bestows them. For ingratitude is the greatest degree of blindness, and the highest affront against God. And since the whole world is full of the glory of God, much more ought the heart of man to be full of it.

10. Indeed the excellency of the divine love discovers itself chiefly in this, that he bestows his favors even upon rebels and enemies. “For he maketh his sun to rise, and sendeth his rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt. 5:45.

11. The goodness and mercy of God herein appear still more illustrious, that though we continue ungrateful, and our hearts “cast forth wickedness as a fountain casteth forth her waters” (Jer. 6:7), yet he still strives to conquer our ingratitude by his goodness, and does not take his mercy from us; as the Psalmist says, “His mercy endureth forever.” Ps. 136:1. So that as the heart of man is, as it were, an abyss of iniquity (Jer. 17:9), so God is an abyss of mercy, an ever-flowing fountain of goodness, so much superior in kind, as well as in degree, to that of any created being, that he doeth nothing but good, and receives nothing in return but evil; which the uncreated and infinite Good alone could do or suffer. And when, provoked by our wickedness, he seems sometimes to lay aside his mercy, and “in anger to shut up his tender mercies” (Ps. 77:10), yet even that is nothing but paternal resentment, not tending to destruction, but so tempered with compassion, that mercy triumphs over judgment. So, “If his children forsake my law, I will visit their transgressions with the rod: nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him.” Ps. 89:30-33. And, “In wrath remember mercy.” Hab. 3:2. So, too, we read, “He doth not afflict willingly the children of men.” Lam. 3:33. For punishment is, as it were, contrary to his nature and essential goodness. For though the Scriptures often speak of God's being angry, yet such expressions are used, after the manner of men, only in compliance with the weakness of human capacities. Yea, God is never angry with his faithful servants; but only with wicked and obstinate sinners; and when he corrects the former in mercy, he punishes the latter in his wrath; for “the wrath of God abideth on them.” John 3:36. Hence David prays, “O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger.” Ps. 6:1. As if he had said, “Lord, chasten me with mercy, as a tender father corrects his beloved child.” Wherefore, it is as impossible that the mercy and goodness of God should fail or cease towards mankind (though he sometimes afflicts us), as that the sun should actually be extinguished by a cloud, or the vast ocean be absorbed by a sponge. “For his mercy endureth forever.” Ps. 136:1. And this is the reason of God's reconciliation and forgiveness, not once or twice, but as often as the sinner begins to repent and sue for mercy. This mercy does not last for a few hours, or a few days only, but forever; so that the entire nature and essence of God, infinite as it is, is nothing else but love. No sooner does the sinner sincerely pray for pardon, but the merciful God freely bestows it, yea, he is more willing and ready to pardon, than we to ask it.