LivePrayerSermon 1126. A Song Concerning Loving Kindnesses
(No. 1126)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, AUGUST 10, 1873,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has bestowedon us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, and accordingto the multitude of His loving kindnesses." Isaiah 63:7.
THE chapter opens with a declaration of our glorious Lord, as to His ultimate overthrow of His foes. He declares that He willtread down all the enemies of His people, as grapes are trod in the winepress. The chapter, as you know, begins with thatremarkable exclamation, "Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?" The Prophet, having beheld theglorious vision, and heard the proclamation of the victorious Hero, felt his soul stirred within him. It is usual for saints'hearts to burn within them when Christ is near. The glowing flames of his heart unloosed the bonds of his tongue-he couldnot but speak-and the theme which suggested itself to him was the loving kindness of the Lord.
He was ravished with what he saw coming in the future, with the future triumphs of Emmanuel and the overthrow of Israel'sfoes, but he felt that he must not forget the glorious victories of the bygone ages and the triumphs of the days that were.And so with determination he declares, "I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord." There were some in the Prophets'days whose business it was to make mention of the Lord. Do you not remember how He says, "You that make mention of the Lordkeep not silence?" Those were persons who publicly spoke of Him-"they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another." Theywere, also, persons who spoke to Him, who kept the Lord in remembrance and made mention of His mercies to them, as it is written-"Youthat make mention of the Lord keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in theearth."
It was in both senses that Isaiah resolved to mention the loving kindnesses of Jehovah-to the people that they might loveGod-and to God that He might not forget His people, but might continue to smile upon them in the days to come, as He had donein days of yore. This morning we have the same task as that which was set before the Prophet. May the same Spirit rest uponus as rested upon him. And, first, we shall have to give you a delightful catalog of the mercies to be mentioned. Then, astime serves us, we shall call your attention to the special points in these mercies which are to be mentioned. And we willclose by noticing the practical good results of mentioning the loving kindnesses of Jehovah.
I. First, then, we have to give you a list of THE MERCIES TO BE MENTIONED. A complete summary we cannot give, for who cancount the sands of the sea or the stars of the sky? Let him, when he has accomplished that task, attempt to count the merciesof the Lord! I have no need, my Brothers and Sisters, to make a catalog of my own, for I have one before me made to hand andwritten by an Inspired pen in the verses which follow the text. The list commences with special electing love. In the Hebrewthe eighth verse runs thus, "For He said, they only are My people." He had chosen them, alone, of all the nations of the earthto be His portion and the lot of His inheritance. As He said in another place, "You only have I known of all the familiesof the earth."
He had chosen Israel to be a people near unto Him. Though they were a small nation and insignificant among the kingdoms, yetHe set them apart for Himself. He chose their father, Abraham, and called him from an idolatrous family, even from Ur of theChaldees, that he might dwell, alone, in the land of promise. Having chosen the Patriarch, He bound Himself by Covenant tofavor his seed after him, not because of any goodness in then, but of His own sovereign will and good pleasure. This, therefore,the Jewish Prophet dwells upon as a first instance of love-and when we are mentioning
the loving kindnesses of the Lord it is well to begin at the beginning, or rather to magnify that favor which had no beginning.
Praise the stream but forget not the wellhead. He loved His people from everlasting-
"Long before the sun's refulgent rays Primeval shades of slackness drove, They on His sacred bosom lay Loved with an everlastinglove." How ravishing is the thought of eternal love! Try to drink it in-if you are a Believer in Christ you were loved beforetime began its cycles-in that old eternity, before the earth was born, you were Beloved of the Lord! You were dear to Jehovah'sheart when this great world, the sun, the moon, the stars slept in the mind of God like unborn forests in an acorn cup! Heloved you with an everlasting and infinite love. Rejoice in this and let your souls be glad. Never forget that Election isthe source of every favor, for the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with all spiritual blessings inheavenly places in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
Pass on to the next sweet token of Divine loving kindness which is found in the fatherly confidence which the Lord has manifestedtowards His people. Read the verse again. "He said, surely they are My people, children that will not lie: so He was theirSavior." This has sometimes been thought to represent, after the manner of men, a mistaken confidence which God placed inHis people, but I think it is not so. It is not intended to set forth what the Lord secretly thought and knew concerning us,but it is the apparent language of His dealings towards them. It represents the trustful manner in which the Lord actuallytreats His people. There can hardly be much love where there is no confidence and confidence is often a great token of affection.When, for instance, the wife reposes her entire reliance upon her husband, it is because she loves him with all her heart.She proves her love by her restfulness in him.
When a father loves his child he may see many imperfections and much of fickleness, but he does not look on his child withsuspicion and mistrust, but in many ways treats him with confidence. Now the Lord trusted His ancient people Israel. Did Henot commit to them the Law and the Revelation of His will? Whose were the oracles? To no other nation did He give the Truthconcerning Himself to lay up as a precious deposit. All the prophecies concerning Christ and the types which spoke of Him,were placed in their custody, and He said, "They are children that will not lie." Yes, and how sweetly God has trusted us,also, for He has put us in trust with the Gospel! He has trusted us with influence over other men's souls. He has trustedsome of us with little ones whose mortality will feel our influence. He has trusted us with His name and honor, for accordingas we live in holiness will He be honored among the sons of men.
He has placed wondrous confidence in us. Often does it humble me in the dust when I think that "unto me, who am less thanthe least of all saints, is this Grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."It is a wonderful instance of affection that God should pitch upon a poor fallible being and say to him, "I have made youa chosen vessel to bear My name unto the Gentiles." All Believers are, in their measure, trusted in this way. Such honor haveall the saints. You have all some charge to keep, some talent is entrusted to your stewardship, some jewel is placed in yourcustody and the Lord says of you in loving trustfulness, "Surely they will not lie." Alas, how unworthy have we been of thetrust reposed in us! He knew what we should be, yet He has acted towards us as trustfully as if we had been truth itself.
Some of us feel the tears in our eyes as we remember how the Lord has honored us with great responsibilities and how far wehave fallen short! The Holy Spirit has put us into positions which, in our youth, we could not have dreamed of occupying.And He has said to us, "Be My servant and be faithful," and so has given us a sweet proof of His loving kindness and tendermercies. Think that over, Beloved. I know that there are here present many Christian people who are trusted with the teachingand training of young minds. Look upon it as a special favor that you are used of the Lord to shape the immortality of precioussouls! If you are, indeed, His people, you will see much love in this and this will make you the more anxious to be foundfaithful.
But the Prophet goes on to notice another sweet instance of love, namely, His great sympathy with us. There has been muchdispute about the interpretation of the first clause of the ninth verse, but I hope our authorized version is the right oneand I feel sure it must be. It is such a Divine sentence, it must be Inspired. "In all their affliction He was afflicted."Was there ever anything more worthy of being mentioned as a part of the loving kindness of Jehovah than this, that He deeplysympathizes with all His tried and afflicted people? He does not merely sympathize as one man with
another, but as if His people were one with Him, as indeed, is the case, so that He suffers when they suffer. In "all theiraffliction," not in some of their trials, but in all they have to bear, whether little or great, "He was afflicted."
There is never a cross upon a believing shoulder but what the Lord Jesus carries one end of it. There is never a cup put upona saint's table but what the Lord Jesus sips at it and sweetens it by His Divine fellowship. "I am with you, Israel, passingthrough the fire; if nowhere else, I am with you; I will be with you in the furnace, and when the coals glow seven times hotter,there will I, the Son of God, tread the coals with you, and give you strength through My Presence." Was ever love like this?Beloved, you are poor worms of the dust and you never could have dreamed of having fellowship with God, and yet He deignsto be afflicted in your affliction! Are you not glad? Will you not bless His name? Or are your hearts turned to stone? No,we will make mention of the loving kindnesses of the Lord and the praises of the Lord because He knows our sorrows and pitiesus in our griefs.
The next mercy mentioned is His intimate union with us, for the text adds, "The Angel of His Presence saved them." The childrenof Israel in the wilderness were led and guided by the Messiah Himself! Invisible to them, He was none the less present. TheSchekinah which blazed between the cherubim was the type of the Presence of redeeming love in the midst of the people. Themessenger of God's Presence saved them-who could that have been but He of whom it is written, He "is the brightness of theFather's Glory, and the express image of His Person, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"? Who but He isthe "Messenger of the Covenant whom we delight in," anointed of the Lord to come forth as the Savior of men?
Now, Beloved, think of this, that Jesus the Son of God abides with us spiritually even unto this day! He has been here inbody-"the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father."He is here in spirit, still. Yes, we are in Him, for we are "members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones." Our fellowshipwith this "Angel of His Presence" is very near and very dear. He does not make Himself strange unto His own flesh-He manifestsHimself to us as He does not unto the world. Have you ever seen Him? Have you ever felt His shadow falling upon you when alone?Did you ever look up into His face and see Him regarding you with deepest tenderness? Have you ever walked with Him in thecool of the day? Have you ever taken His arm in the rough places of your pilgrimage, that you might come up from the wildernessleaning upon your Beloved? Oh, I know you have and of all the delightful tokens of love which you have received, the Presenceof the Covenant Angel of God has been the most consoling! But we can only say a little upon each, we cannot dwell long uponany one.
Next the Prophet records the gracious interpositions of God on the behalf of His people-"In His love and in His pity He redeemedthem." Brothers and Sisters, we have been saved! Those of us who believe in Jesus do not only expect to be saved at the last,but we rejoice that we are saved already! Already we have come up out of Egypt and our sins are drowned in the Red Sea-weshall see them no more, forever. Christ has forever put away our sins, so that if they are sought, they shall not be found,no, they shall not be, says the Lord. What a wonderful deliverance ours has been! Forget not, Beloved, the destroying angeland how he passed us by! Forget not the Paschal Lamb and the sprinkling of the precious blood! Forget not the deep sea throughwhich you passed when you were baptized unto the Lord in the blood of His great atoning Sacrifice-yourself saved while allyour sins were drowned, like Pharaoh, in the flood.
Forget not all these wonders, I pray you. Many other deliverances have you experienced since then. Which of us could not tellof choice and crowning mercies? Some of us have newly come up from the sick bed, where we thought we should see men no morein the land of the living, and yet we are still living to praise God. Perhaps you have come up from the deeps of poverty whereyou thought surely you should famish, but you have known no lack. The Lord has set your feet in a large room and given youbread enough and to spare. Or, it may be you have come up from soul conflict, wherein you were thrown down by the enemy, sothat he put his foot upon you, but you had Grace to say, "Rejoice not over me, O my adversary; though I fall, yet shall Irise again," and you have risen again, and this morning you are remembering the loving kindnesses of the Lord!
Sing you, then, of the hill Mizar and the Hermons. Anoint anew those ancient Ebenezers, when you said, "Up to now has theLord helped me"-I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord. Have you not many to mention? Cannot you, also-
"Arise and tell The wonders of Immanuel.
He plucked your feet from the miry clay, And set you upon the King's highway." I know you can thus speak! Take care that youdo and often make mention of the great goodness of the Lord to His people. This is not all, however. Let us go back to ourcatalog. The Prophet tells you God provided for, led, protected and upheld His people by a wondrous special Providence whilethey were in the wilderness. "He bore them and carried them all the days of old." Like a nurse who carries her little child-itcannot walk, it can only take a few tottering footsteps-and she carries it. Or like an eagle, which is said to take its youngupon its back and fly aloft, bearing the eaglets towards the sun-even so did God carry His people in the wilderness-and inlike fashion He has carried us.
Unto this day what have you lacked, O Believers? You fretful people of God, what cause have you had for murmuring? Has Henot given His angels charge concerning you, to bear you up in their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone? Has henot been your refuge up to now? Has He not covered you with His feathers and made His wings to be your shelter? Have you notreceived daily bread and water? Has not your raiment been given you? Have you not been housed? To this hour where has theLord failed you? Has He been a wilderness unto you? Has He broken one of His promises? I challenge you to prove a single instancein which He has been untrue! My own witness is that, "Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life."
This is the verdict of all the saints. They can tell of the great goodness of the Lord and record His loving kindnesses. Letus join with them. If these blessings were to cease for a moment, where would we be? What if the Lord were no longer to bethe God of Providence? What if He would no longer hold us up? What if He shuts up the granaries of His Grace? What if Histender mercies should be removed and the heart of His compassion should be changed into wrath-where would we be? But as itis not so and never shall be so, let us make mention of the loving kindnesses of the Lord and the praises of the Lord!
Nor is this all. The Prophet goes on further to mention the Lord's chastening, for I do verily believe he puts it down asa thing for which to bless him. It is to be sorrowed over, that we need chastening, but God is to be praised that He doesnot withhold it from us. "But they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and Hefought against them." Yes, but He loved them, even then, blessed be His name! The mother gives her child a pat, but she lovesit, still. It often grieves her more that her child should be chastened than it can ever grieve the child. And this is oneway in which, in all our afflictions, the Lord is afflicted, because He "does not afflict willingly nor grieve the childrenof men." He does not take delight in the sorrows of His people, but His heart relents towards them when He sees their tearsand hears their cries.
I bless God this day with all my heart that I have not been left unchastened-and every child of God, in looking back uponhis life will say the same. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept Your Word." O, my Brothers and Sisters,how much we owe to the hammer and the anvil and the file and the fire! Thanks be to God for the little crosses of every day,yes, and for the heavy crosses which He sends us at certain seasons. He does not gather the twigs of His rod on the mountainsof wrath, but He plucks them in the garden of love. And though He sometimes makes blue marks upon us as He smites us heavily,yet-
"His strokes are fewer than our crimes And lighter than our guilt."
Love bathes all the wounds which it makes and kisses away the smart. Blessed be a chastening God! Set down your chasteningamong your choicest mercies and mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord.
Notice that the next thing the Prophet sings about is God's faithfulness, for though He did smite His people, yet in a veryshort time we find that, "He remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, "Where is He that brought them upout of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within them? That led them by the righthand of Moses with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make Himself an everlasting name? That led them throughthe deep as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?" He recollected what He had done and He resolved todo the like again. He was smiting them, but it came to His thoughts, "I have loved them of old, I have aforetime blessed them,I have kept them, I have delivered them for My name's sake, and therefore will I do it again." If God reasons thus with Himself,well may we say-
"And can He ha ve taught me To trust in His name,
And thus far have brought me To put me to shroud?" If He had meant to destroy me, would He have done so much for me?
"His love in time past Forbids me to think, He'll leave me at last In trouble to sink: Each sweetEbenezer Ihave in review,Confirms His good pleasure To help me quite through."
We will close this catalog with one more choice mercy, for the Prophet tells of God's giving His people rest, after all. Hedescribes Him first as leading them through the deeps like a horse in the wilderness, where the horse would not stumble. Ahorse on our stony streets or on rugged roads may stumble, but a horse out on the smooth expanse of desert sand is quite anothercreature and he flies like the wind in ecstasy of freedom, fearing no fall. Thus the Lord has made His people to enjoy libertyand standing safe in an even place. The Prophet next uses another figure. He says, "As a beast goes down into the valley,the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest." This is an exceedingly delightful metaphor. As the cattle descend into the valesto feed under the shady trees by the flowing brooks, so God makes His people to rest.
Have you ever seen the cattle and horses make their way to the stream in the heat of the day and stand there knee deep inthe water? They merrily swing their tails to chase away the flies, looking as they lick their foals or calves, or drink longdraughts of the pure liquid, so perfectly content with all around them that we may well conclude that they there find allthe Heaven which cattle can desire! Even so, we that have believed, when we trust our God, when we rest in Jesus, leave thesun's heat and find the cool brooks of the Spirit's gracious influences where we bathe ourselves, and rest in sweet content,for we that have believed do enter into rest!
Jesus is our peace and He has given to us the peace of God which passes all understanding, which does keep our heart and mindthrough Jesus Christ. What a catalog have I laid before you! If you begin to sing according to this musical score, when willyou get to the end of it? Oh, prepare your voices, get your harps! Let every string be well tuned! Here is noble music foryou-music which will last you till you get to Heaven-and then I think you may go over it again, for what sweeter, nobler workshall you require than to make mention of the loving kindnesses of the Lord!
II. But now we must turn to the second head. Isaiah calls our particular attention to CERTAIN POINTS WORTHY OF SPECIAL MENTION.And, first, in the text he directs our thoughts to the fact that whatever has been bestowed upon us by God reveals His lovingkindness, His goodness, His mercy, His compassion. In fact, all that we have received has come to us by the way of free Grace.Do we need to be told this? I fear we do, but if our sense of our own unworthiness is clear-if we know what worse than nothingswe are, what a mass of sin and corruption we are by nature-we shall never think that we receive anything from God by the wayof merit.
Still our proud hearts need to be told over and over again that all the blessings we enjoy come to us by the free and SovereignGrace of God. Therefore the Prophet heaps up words. Notice them-"The loving kindnesses of the Lord." "The great goodness ofthe Lord." The "mercies" of the Lord. O Believer, nothing of all this goodness is deserved by you! The bread on your tableis flavored with Grace. Your meat has Mercy for its sauce. Every drop of water which cools your tongue tastes of Mercy. Charityclothes you. Infinite Love feeds you. And as for your spiritual blessings, where are your streams found, from where do theygush but from the inexhaustible Fountain of Eternal Love?
Let others boast, if they dare, of what they have done for themselves. Let others talk of the dignity of human nature. Letthem glory in the worthiness of their own actions. God forbid that we should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christand in the love which shone from that Cross to such poor, unworthy ones as we are. Those are charming bells, indeed, freeGrace and dying Love! Through the ivory gate of Grace all mercies come to sinners. Through this window of agate, this gateof carbuncle, every good gift is handed out to men. That is the first noticeable thing.
The next is the consequent praise which is due to God on account of this. Does Isaiah not say, "I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord and the praises of the Lord"? O praise the Lord, praise Him for every mercy you possess! We ought tokeep count of God's goodness, keep account, I say, by rendering new notes of praise for each new favor. If
we did this we should never leave off singing. We should never have time for complaining if we gave to God due praise forevery mercy received. Oh for a praising heart! For a praising heart is a happy heart! The occupation of Heaven should be theoccupation of heavenly men, even while they are here. God help us to keep to this!-
"I will praise You every day
Now Your anger's turned away.
I will magnify Your name
As long as Ilive,
For as long as I live
Your mercies magnify me."
The third thing to be noticed is the uniform nature of all God's dealings with us. Observe, "according to all that the Lordhas bestowed on us." We are to praise God in all and for all. "In everything give thanks" is a Christian precept. I do notlike, when I am looking back on my past life, to consider exclusively two or three remarkable mercies, and say, "I will blessthe Lord for these." No, I will bless Him for my whole career. Did He take away my comforts? Did He send me that which I judgedto be evil? Shall we pick and choose the subjects for our praise? Shall we bless the Lord who gives and not the Lord who takes?"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away," said Job, "and blessed be the name of the Lord." Mention His Providences altogether,for all things work for good. No man knows which is the best part of his life. Perhaps that portion which we think to be theworst has been of the most service to us. God knows what is best for us. Let us praise Him according to all that the Lordhas bestowed upon us, blessing Him for bitters and sweets, for blacks and whites, for storms and calms, blessing Him alikefor all. That should be a special note in our song.
The next notable point is the grandeur of the goodness which is shown in every mercy. Observe the words, "The great goodnesstoward the house of Israel," as if we had received no little goodness, but all was great goodness. Is there a favor that weenjoy from God which we can dare to despise? Ingratitude makes little of much, but gratitude sees much in little. Whatevercomes to us is great goodness. But oh, Beloved, we need not continue to talk about it, for surely upon the very surface wecan see the great goodness of electing love, the great goodness of redeeming love, the great goodness of converting love,the great goodness of pardoning love, the great goodness of upholding love, the great goodness of sanctifying love, the greatgoodness which has sent a Savior to prepare Heaven for us, and the great goodness which is preparing us that we may enterinto the Heaven!
God's goodness is all great! Nothing little comes from our gracious God. O great Sinner, is there not a gleam of hope foryou in this? A great God full of great mercies for a great sinner! Why, that is the very God you need! Fly to Him by the wayof the great Savior! Yet again, we ought to take peculiar note in our song, of the condescending tenderness and pity of God,for such is the force of the next expression, "which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies"-a clearer renderingwould be, "according to His compassion." You know a man may be very good to another, but he may not be tender. There is away of pitching a shilling to a beggar in the street just as if he were a dog. God never gives His mercies to us in that way.A doctor may cure us, but be so rough about it that we may be glad to get rid of him. But the Lord heals lovingly and tenderly.
I have often said in this place, and I venture to repeat it, that I do not know any word in any language which can be comparedwith that word, "loving kindness." Thank God, we are Anglo-Saxons, and therefore can say, "loving kindness." Unrivalled word!It is marrow and fatness. Loving kindness! What a mouthful it is! How it seems to sweeten the soul as it goes down. The Lordhas always dealt graciously with us. He has been as tender as a nurse with her child. He has given us the mercy suitable toour condition. When He has been teaching us He has not taught us too much at once, but little by little as we have been ableto bear it, for He knows our frame. He screens off a strong light from weak eyes. He feeds the famished with convenient food.We received the Gospel at first, not in the glory of its sublime doctrines, but in the simplicity of the plainer Truths. Withtenderness did God instruct us, and in every other part of His dealing towards us, the like tenderness is seen wherein Hehas abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence. For this we extol Him.
One other special note demands to be heard, and that is the multitudinous displays of His love. "According to the multitudeof His loving kindnesses," of all shapes, and at all times, and in all ways, and from all points of the compass! "The multitudeof his loving kindnesses." Now I am lost. I cannot call in the arithmetician. It is not possible for him to calculate here.Sometimes we have before us a long line of figures which must be multiplied and the brain aches in the
very attempt. But you shall never calculate the multitude of the Lord's tender mercies-this is an endless task! Look overthe fields in spring when they are covered with the yellow kingcups and white daisies, and green grass in abundance till themeadows look as though God had spread a field of the cloth of gold for a celestial coronation. Count these flowers if youcan. Count their petals, their leaves, the blades of the green grass and the drops of dew which hang upon them.
Then look upwards to the trees. Count the myriad leaves which make the forest. Detain the dust which stirs in the summer'sgale, count all the grains which make the mountains, all the sands which form the seashore and all the drops which composethe sea. Have you done? Ah, then, you have but begun to estimate the multitude of the loving kindnesses of the Lord! O, mySoul, bless the Lord! Why be silent? "Why should the mercies He has worked be lost in silence and forgot?" Break forth, mySpirit! Break forth my whole Nature! All that is within me be stirred up to magnify and bless His holy name, for He is Godand His mercies are unsearchable! Past finding out are His favors! Glory be unto His name!
III. We close after occupying two or three minutes in hinting at the PRACTICAL REASONS WHY WE SHOULD THUS MENTION THE LOVINGKINDNESSES OF THE LORD. First, we should do this that we may have pleas in
prayer. This is the best way of praying. "Lord, you have done this for Your servant. You have done that for Your servant,therefore I beseech You, do more!" This is not after the manner of men, for when we once relieve a man's necessities we sayto him, "Do not come again." But every gift which God gives is an invitation to come again and the best way in which we canshow our gratitude is to seek for further gifts-
"The best return for one like me,
So wretched and so poor,
Is from His gifts to draw a plea,
And ask Him still for more."
You will pray well when you can mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord.
Next, these memories will act as stays to your faith. When you grow doubting and troubled and I suppose you do, sometimes,then you can remember the Lord's former favors. And since He cannot change, you will be confident that He will do the sameagain. Oh, rest in Him, of what He has been to you He will be to the end. As long as the world stands, trust Him and He willbring your desires to pass. Then, next, these remembered mercies will minister to your present happiness and comfort. Thethought of what God has done for us is enough to make us happy now. If the Lord were not to give me another mercy, I am boundto praise Him for what He has given me already. Blessed be His name, since first I stood a beggar at His door and He stayedmy soul's hunger with Himself-and gave me His own flesh to eat and blood to drink-the sacred nutriment of my hungry spirit,I scarcely have been able to ask for anything before it has come to me!
O Lord, You daily load us with benefits till we sink under the burden of obligation and yet we are so happy. The thought ofall this, dear Brothers and Sisters, should have the other practical influence of making us love God more and obey Him better.Duty becomes pleasure when gratitude rules the hour.-
"It is love that makes our willing feet In swift obedience move."
Has He done so much for me? Then what is there that I could not do for Him if His Grace would help me? To mention the Lord'sgoodness enables us, dear Friends, to cheer others, for when we make mention of the loving kindnesses of God to ourselveswe do not know who may be standing by. There may be some mourner there for whom the gates of consolation have been long closed-butwhen he hears what God has done for one of His people, he plucks up heart and says, "I will even see whether He would notdo the same for me."
Tell of God's loving kindness! Be not slow in speech about these things-this will render your conversation such as becomesan heir of Heaven. Do you not use much idle talk? I am afraid we all do. Do you not often complain when there is nothing tocomplain about? Do you not murmur? Are you not far too ready to break forth in words of lamentation? Waste not your breathon such base uses, but consecrate it all on praise! Tell what His hands have given, what His lips have spoken. Tell how Hehas blessed you with countless mercies and it will make the daughters of despondency rejoice, and the sons of mourning liftup their heads!
Last of all, make mention of the loving kindnesses of God, because it will glorify Him and this should always be your mastermotive. The Christian lives to honor his God. Oh tell what the Lord has done, that men may praise Him! The sons of men areapt enough to forget Him. Keep them in remembrance of Him. They are apt enough to speak hard things concerning Him. Tell themof His loving kindnesses and make them know what a good Master He is whom you serve.
Shout it into their ears! Make them hear it! Tell them again and again and again of the great goodness of the Lord to you!Can you give me any reason why you should not mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord? Can you tell me any company in whichyou ought to be in which you could not mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord? I know some persons who have hobbies andyou cannot be long with them before they will introduce them. They may be very inappropriate but somehow or other they bringthe conversation round to their favorite theme.
I would have you ride this hobby without fear. Rather I would have you take this noble steed and ride it through all companies-makethem feel that it is your manner and habit to tell of God's goodness-and that you cannot help it! Bring it in somehow. I thinkyou never need be short of reasons for praise. Tell men of His goodness in sending the cool wind in this hot summer, or tellthem of His goodness in sending the heat to ripen the harvest. Tell them of His mercy which sends the rain that the grassmay spring up again, or of His love which withholds the rain till the reapers' work is done. If all this congregation wentout today to tell of the loving kindness of the Lord towards His people, we should have such Gospel preaching throughout allLondon as was never known before!
The Lord rinse your mouths out, Brothers and Sisters, if you have a bitter way of talking about other people, or about HisProvidence-and lead you, from now on, to glory in His holy name. Amen and Amen!
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-Psalm 106.