April 1

Wherein ye greatly rejoice. - 1 Peter 1:6.

THERE are only three things really great in the universe,- God, the soul, and eternity; and, as religion has to do with them all, its dealings have something peculiar and superior to them all.

For instance, Do Christians hate themselves as they are depraved and defiled creatures? This hating is nothing less than loathing and self-abhorrence. Hence it is said, “They shall loathe themselves for all their abominations.” Hence Job says, “Behold, I am vile; wherefore I abhor myself in dust and ashes.” Or do they mourn? They “look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son, and are in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born!” Or do they fear? “He is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints.” Or do they rejoice? “Wherein they greatly rejoice.”

What more expressive of the greatness of this joy can we have than the language of David, when he says, “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted “? And in his admonition, “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”

Why, it is expressed by the joy of harvest and of victory. “They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil!” It is held forth by the joy of marriage. “Behold king Solomon, with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.” And by the mother’s joy, “who forgetteth her anguish in the joy that a man is born into the world.”

So we read in the Scripture that this joy is everlasting also; and that it is “strong consolation;” strong enough to invigorate the trembling heart; strong enough to wean the soul from the world; strong enough to bear it up under its losses and distresses; strong enough to enable the believer to say, “Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, the and fields shall yield no meat; the flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall he no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

Yea, and “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.”