II. LIVING IN THE DIVINE LIGHT. "They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance." The walking of which the Bible has so much to say is a sustained progression from sin to holiness. To hear and obey the joyful sound is to live in the Divine light, and to live in the Divine light is to live in the Divine favour. But we can only live thus as we set Him before us; regarding His honour as having the first claim, seeking first the kingdom of God.

III. REJOICING IN THE DIVINE NAME. "In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day." Our joy need not depend upon our mood of the moment: for knowing that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, we may rejoice ever in the saving name of our God.

IV. BEING EXALTED IN THE DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS. "In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted," or, "they are exalted." The people that know the joyful sound are lifted up, not by any power of their own, but by God's adherence to His own gracious covenant. In Adam we were abased, but in Christ we are exalted. What a paradox that the believer, lowly and poor, taking ofttimes a humble place among men, often cast down by the burdens of life, yet should be sitting with Christ in the heavenly places.

(F. Burnett.)

1. It comes from a world of joy, the happiest world in the universe.

2. It calls to a world of joy.

II. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS JOYFUL SOUND. It is not so easy as we suppose to get the light of Divine truth into a sinner's darkened mind. It may shine down upon him from heaven so clear and bright that we may think it must penetrate his understanding at least; but let God leave him alone, it will be found perhaps in the great majority of cases that it has scarcely entered even that; that the man's understanding has been almost as completely closed against God's truth as the man's heart.

III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO POSSESS THIS KNOWLEDGE.

1. An habitual enjoyment of the Divine favour. "They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance;" that is, as long as their knowledge of the Gospel is clear and their faith in it undisturbed, they shall go on their way with a consciousness within them that He is at peace with them, full of love to them.

2. A rejoicing in the Divine perfections. "In Thy name," etc. If we have learnt the Gospel aright, we have learnt that there is something in God which can meet our case under all circumstances; that let the day change as it will, there is always a refuge for us in Him. He is like a port ever near the soul when the storm comes; and such a port, that let the soul be in it, all the storms that can blow will do the soul no harm. It will be as safe and may be as happy as though all around it were a calm.

3. A conscious elevation in the Lord's righteousness. They are invested, as it were, with it. And this exalts the soul; exalts it in fact — lifts it up above the law's curses and penalties; gives it in Christ a right and title to the law's promises; places it on a level in Christ with those of God's creatures who have never sinned. And it exalts the soul within, in its own apprehensions and feelings. With a righteousness upon me wrought out by God's holy, everlasting Son, where are my fears, my shame, and my native vileness? And feeling thus, the believer's soul becomes morally exalted, exalted in character. With his Saviour's righteousness upon him, he longs increasingly to be righteous within, like that Saviour. He feels impelled to rise, to live above sin and self and the world, above the ordinary level of his fellow-men; and so through grace in some measure he does rise and does live.

(C. Bradley, M.A.)

1. They shall not sit still, doing nothing to purpose for God and their immortal souls, like the rest of the world, dead in trespasses and sins.

2. They shall not go back to their former lusts in their ignorance.

3. They shall hold forward in their way in spite of all opposition.

4. They shall walk on in the sight of the Lord, as he who walketh in the light walks in the sight of the sun.

II. THE PRIVILEGES WHICH THEY THAT KNOW AND BELIEVE THE JOYFUL SOUND SHALL THEREBY HAVE IN THEIR WALK HEAVENWARDS. "They shell walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance."

1. They shall be ever in a state of favour, peace and reconciliation with God,

2. No cloud of revenging wrath shall ever gather above their heads any more, no curse of the law, no guilt of eternal wrath.

3. Whatever cloud may gather above their head in their way heavenward, it shall never be so thick but the light of the Lord's countenance shall shine through it (Psalm 89:31-34).

4. They shall be directed in their way (Psalm 32:8).

5. They shall be strengthened in their way, for this light is the light of life.

6. They shall be cheered and comforted in their way. Hence we may learn —(1) Whence it is that many communicants are nothing bettered by Gospel ordinances, but even go away as they come, a prey to their lusts and an evil world. They sit down to the feast, but they rise not up to the journey. Why? Alas! they never get into the saving knowledge of the joyful sound. They hear it, but they do not believe it. They believe it not with application to themselves. Hence it hath no quickening, nor sanctifying influence on them.(2) Whence it is that many of the saints are so weak and comfortless in their way heavenward, walking so much in the dark. It is all owing to the small measure of their faith of the joyful sound.(3) That the faith of the Gospel is the sovereign remedy in all darkness and distresses in which a person can be. Believing is a duty that can never be out of season. This is the way to bring one out of darkness into the light. If then thou art in desertion, temptation, or affliction, go to the promise and embrace it by faith. Believers, bless God for what your ears do hear and for what your eyes do see. Seek for more of this blessedness. As ever ye would walk on your way heavenward, safely and comfortably, labour more and more to know the joyful sound; and to know it so as to believe it; and to believe it so as to apply it to your own souls, according to your several exigencies.

(T. Boston, D.D.)

1. Because it is a proclamation of mercy and forgiveness to the guilty and rebellious.

2. Because it proclaims liberty to the enslaved.

3. Because it produces peace to them that are in trouble.

II. WHAT IS MEANT BY KNOWING THE JOYFUL SOUND.

III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE PEOPLE THAT KNOW THE JOYFUL SOUND.

1. They are blessed in their life. O what invaluable privileges are contained in this blessedness!

2. They are blessed in their death.

(J. Hay, D.D.)

1. The Gospel is intended to make us blessed, because He, in whose will it has originated, is full of compassion, and announces that here His compassion has had its richest and most determinate exercise.

2. It is fitted to make us blessed; for the same God, whose compassion prompted it, has also contrived all its arrangements and operations, and the infinite wisdom which belongs to Him must have so adapted the means to the end as effectually to secure whatsoever it designs.

3. It is sure to make us blessed; its machinery being moved, and its effects being produced, by the power to which all opposition is feeble, and before which all difficulties vanish away.

4. It is known to make us blessed; for we have only to appeal to the experience of the Church in every successive age, and in every variety of its features, in proof of the fact that the Gospel has done for its disciples what nothing else has been able to accomplish — has put a joy into their hearts, and shed a brightness over their prospects, beyond all that worldly minds have experienced or conceived.

II. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN KNOWING THE SOUND OF THE GOSPEl.

1. That the Gospel is communicated to us. And why is this annunciation requisite? Because the plan of saving mercy which it unfolds clearly embraces the character as well as the condition of the sinner; and this connection is so close, and of such a nature, that the condition of the sinner cannot become what his safety requires it to be, unless the character of the sinner is made to undergo a corresponding change. And this change cannot take place without the concurrence of his will, and that movement among all the affections and principles of his moral frame which presupposes him to be acquainted with what the Gospel demands of him, as well as with what the Gospel has effected for him.

2. That we attend to the Gospel and understand it. The blessedness flowing from the Gospel is to be received and enjoyed, not by chance or according to human fancy and caprice, but in a certain instituted way. There is a plan by which this blessedness is secured for the sinner, so far as to be brought within his reach: and there is a plan by which it is made over to him as an actual and personal attainment. If this plan be not studied and comprehended, how can any individual so betake himself to it, and so make use of its provisions, and so submit to its direction and influence, as that he may reasonably expect to derive the benefits by which it will contribute effectually to his safety and his happiness?

3. That we welcome, believe and obey the Gospel.

(A. Thomson, D. D.)

1. The trumpet in the year of Jubilee announced that all captives and slaves were to be set at liberty: and is not the Gospel's "joyful sound" a universal proclamation of "liberty to the captives"? But to what description of captives? To all sinners — to all mankind.

2. The debtors also heard with joy the cheering sound of the jubilee trumpet, for they, too, were set at liberty when it was heard. And who are the debtors to whom the "joyful sound" of the Gospel proclaims a like release? Which of us have not broken God's holy law, and failed to render to Him the debt of gratitude and obedience that is our rightful due and reasonable service?

3. The jubilee trumpet also announced that all who had forfeited or mortgaged their possessions were to be restored to their full right to them. Similar was our state; and similar also is the "joyful sound" of the Gospel.

II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO KNOW THIS JOYFUL SOUND, AND WHEREIN IT CONSISTS.

(J. L. F. Russell, M.A.)

I. "WALKING," A SIMPLE METAPHOR OF PRACTICAL LIFE. Our knowledge of our Father's character should make common life radiant. We should have continual consciousness of that sunny presence in all occupations. God has done His part, we must do ours, and determine whether that knowledge shall lead us into habitual, happy fellowship with Him. Life with God, for God, in God, is "walking in the light of His face." We may choose the sunny or the shady side of the road. Does that name steal into our hearts like sweet, beguiling melody? Hard it is, but possible, to "set the Lord always before us." They who walk in the light are surely blessed.

II. Such a walk is A WALK IN GLADNESS. Light is the emblem of joy. Two landscapes: — Winter, black fortress, grey rocks, dreary moor, dismal black tarns among the heather. Summer changes it into a dream of beauty. Our lives may be either; in the dark, cloudy days the light will break through many a chink in the cloud; men may not see it, but the eye, purged by faith, can behold it. Tropical sky not half as beautiful as ours. Nobody knows what brightness is until they have seen the gilded thunder-cloud; nobody knows God's presence until in the hour of darkness.

III. "WALKING IN THE LIGHT" IS GUIDANCE. No promise of infallible illumination, but those near God catch the wisdom that removes all clouds from our vision. If we dwelt nearer Him we should less often be in perplexity. "I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness."

IV. LIGHT PURIFIES — WE SHOULD LEARN OUR FAULTS (Psalm 90:8). That flashing brightness may be a terror or a joy (Psalm 139:23). An advantage, that every sin He sees shall be manifested also to us. Secret faults do most harm. A little defect may be the leak through which all our gladness ebbs away. Be thankful if you find it; refer all actions and habits to Him, and the light will reveal the evil. Nothing foul can live in that presence.

V. LIGHT BLEACHES; "walk in the light," and the blood will "cleanse from all sin."

(A. Maclaren, D.D.)

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

(A. H. Lee.)

     4020   life, of faith
     4836   light, and people of God
     5197   walking
     5874   happiness

Psalm 89:1-37

     5089   David, significance

December the Ninth National Blessedness
"Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound." --PSALM lxxxix. 1-18. Blessed is the people who love the sound of the silver trumpet which calls to holy convocation! Blessed is the people who are sacredly impatient for the hour of holy communion! Blessed is the people "in whose heart are the highways to Zion." And in what shall their blessedness consist? In illumination. "They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance." The favour of the Lord shall shine upon them when they walk …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

September the Sixteenth the Steadfastness of the Lord
"My covenant shall stand fast." --PSALM lxxxix. 19-29. Such a divine assurance ought to make me perfectly quiet in spirit. Restlessness in a Christian always spells disloyalty. The uncertainty is born of suspicion. There is a rift in the faith, and the disturbing breath of the devil blows through, and destroys my peace. If I am sure of my great Ally, my heart will not be troubled, neither will it be afraid. And such a divine assurance ought to make me bold in will and majestic in labour. I ought …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The People's Christ
We do not believe that Israel or Judah ever had a better ruler than David; and we are bold to affirm that the reign of the man "chosen out of the people" outshines in glory the reigns of high-bred emperors, and princes with the blood of a score of kings running in their veins. Yea, more, we will assert that the humility of his birth and education, so far from making him incompetent to rule, rendered him, in a great degree, more fit for his office, and able to discharge its mighty duties. He could …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

The Blessing of God.
NUMB. VI. 22-27. We have already seen the grace of GOD making provision that His people, who had lost the privilege of priestly service, might draw near to Him by Nazarite separation and consecration. And not as the offence was the free gift: those who had forfeited the privilege of priestly service were the males only, but women and even children might be Nazarites; whosoever desired was free to come, and thus draw near to GOD. We now come to the concluding verses of Numb. vi, and see in them one …
James Hudson Taylor—Separation and Service

A vision of the King.
ONE of the most blessed occupations for the believer is the prayerful searching of God's holy Word to discover there new glories and fresh beauties of Him, who is altogether lovely. Shall we ever find out all which the written Word reveals of Himself and His worthiness? This wonderful theme can never be exhausted. The heart which is devoted to Him and longs through the presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be closer to the Lord, to hear and know more of Himself, will always find something …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The City of God. Index of Subjects.
Abel, the relation of, to Christ, [1]299. See Cain. Abraham, the era in the life of, from which a new succession begins, [2]318; time of the migration of, [3]319, etc.; the order and nature of God's promises to, [4]320, etc.; the three great kingdoms existing at the time of the birth of, [5]321; the repeated promises of the land of Canaan made to, and to his seed, [6]321; his denial of his wife in Egypt, [7]322; the parting of Lot and, [8]322; the third promise of the land to, [9]322; his victory …
St. Augustine—On Christian Doctrine In Four Books.

Unity of Moral Action.
CAN OBEDIENCE TO MORAL LAW BE PARTIAL? 1. What constitutes obedience to moral law? We have seen in former lectures, that disinterested benevolence is all that the spirit of moral law requires; that is, that the love which it requires to God and our neighbor is good-willing, willing the highest good or well-being of God, and of being in general, as an end, or for its own sake; that this willing is a consecration of all the powers, so far as they are under the control of the will, to this end. Entire …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Letter Lv. Replies to Questions of Januarius.
Or Book II. of Replies to Questions of Januarius. (a.d. 400.) Chap. I. 1. Having read the letter in which you have put me in mind of my obligation to give answers to the remainder of those questions which you submitted to me a long time ago, I cannot bear to defer any longer the gratification of that desire for instruction which it gives me so much pleasure and comfort to see in you; and although encompassed by an accumulation of engagements, I have given the first place to the work of supplying …
St. Augustine—The Confessions and Letters of St

The Promised King and Temple-Builder
'And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, 5. Go and tell My servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me an house for Me to dwell in! 6. Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"He is the Rock, his Work is Perfect. For all his Ways are Judgment. A God of Truth, and Without Iniquity, Just and Right is He.
Deut. xxxii. 4, 5.--"He is the rock, his work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment. A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children. They are a perverse and crooked generation." "All his ways are judgment," both the ways of his commandments and the ways of his providence, both his word which he hath given as a lantern to men's paths, and his works among men. And this were the blessedness of men, to be found …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Atonement.
We come now to the consideration of a very important feature of the moral government of God; namely, the atonement. In discussing this subject, I will-- I. Call attention to several well-established principles of government. 1. We have already seen that moral law is not founded in the mere arbitrary will of God or of any other being, but that it has its foundation in the nature and relations of moral agents, that it is that rule of action or of willing which is imposed on them by the law of their …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Second Sunday in Lent
Text: First Thessalonians 4, 1-7. 1 Finally then, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, even as ye do walk,--that ye abound more and more. 2 For ye know what charge we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication; 4 that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

The Justice of God
The next attribute is God's justice. All God's attributes are identical, and are the same with his essence. Though he has several attributes whereby he is made known to us, yet he has but one essence. A cedar tree may have several branches, yet it is but one cedar. So there are several attributes of God whereby we conceive of him, but only one entire essence. Well, then, concerning God's justice. Deut 32:4. Just and right is he.' Job 37:23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

His Future Work
The Lord Jesus Christ, who finished the work on earth the Father gave Him to do, who is now bodily present in the highest heaven, occupying the Father's throne and exercising His priesthood in behalf of His people, is also King. To Him belongeth a Kingdom and a kingly Glory. He has therefore a kingly work to do. While His past work was foretold by the Spirit of God and His priestly work foreshadowed in the Old Testament, His work as King and His glorious Kingdom to come are likewise the subjects …
A. C. Gaebelein—The Work Of Christ

Assurance
Q-xxxvi: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS WHICH FLOW FROM SANCTIFICATION? A: Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. The first benefit flowing from sanctification is assurance of God's love. 'Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.' 2 Pet 1:10. Sanctification is the seed, assurance is the flower which grows out of it: assurance is a consequent of sanctification. The saints of old had it. We know that we know …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Of the Name of God
Exod. iii. 13, 14.--"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." We are now about this question, What God is. But who can answer it? Or, if answered, who can understand it? It should astonish us in …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Poetical Books (Including Also Ecclesiastes and Canticles).
1. The Hebrews reckon but three books as poetical, namely: Job, Psalms, and Proverbs, which are distinguished from the rest by a stricter rhythm--the rhythm not of feet, but of clauses (see below, No. 3)--and a peculiar system of accentuation. It is obvious to every reader that the poetry of the Old Testament, in the usual sense of the word, is not restricted to these three books. But they are called poetical in a special and technical sense. In any natural classification of the books of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Firstborn.
"THE Firstborn" or "The Firstbegotten" is one of the names of our blessed Lord. It is applied to Him after His resurrection from the dead. As the Only Begotten He came into this world, the unspeakable gift of God to a lost and ruined world; after the accomplishment of His work on the cross He left the earth, He had created, as the Firstborn. As the Firstbegotten He is now in the highest heaven and as the Firstbegotten the Man of Glory He will be sent back to this earth and rule in power and glory. …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Call of Matthew - the Saviour's Welcome to Sinners - Rabbinic Theology as Regards the Doctrine of Forgiveness in Contrast to the Gospel of Christ
In two things chiefly does the fundamental difference appear between Christianity and all other religious systems, notably Rabbinism. And in these two things, therefore, lies the main characteristic of Christ's work; or, taking a wider view, the fundamental idea of all religions. Subjectively, they concern sin and the sinner; or, to put it objectively, the forgiveness of sin and the welcome to the sinner. But Rabbinism, and every other system down to modern humanitarianism - if it rises so high in …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Being of God
Q-III: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES PRINCIPALLY TEACH? A: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q-IV: WHAT IS GOD? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is, 1: Something implied. That there is a God. 2: Expressed. That he is a Spirit. 3: What kind of Spirit? I. Implied. That there is a God. The question, What is God? takes for granted that there …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity