August 12

"Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." Psalms 30:4.

It would be perfectly useless to call upon others to do this in their present state.

"None but the soul that feels his grace, Can triumph in his holiness."

Since the fall, this attribute, which renders God so amiable in himself, and which draws forth the highest praises of heaven, makes him unlovely to an apostate creature. There is nothing the sinner thinks of with so much dislike as a perfection that justifies all his fears, and opposes all his inclinations and pursuits. What an enemy the world naturally is to the holiness of God, may be seen in the practice of the heathens. Among all the heroes they deified, they advanced none for those qualities which approached the most nearly to it, but frequently for passions the most remote from it, and at best only for some physical power, valued or useful in the concerns of this life. Esculapius was deified for his skill in curing diseases; Bacchus for the use of the grape; Vulcan for his operations in fire; Hercules for his destroying monsters. But not one of them all was advanced to this honor for the virtue of holiness, as if this property was beneath their notice in the formation of a deity, or they loved a god better that had nothing to do with it.

It was upon this principle that they who are now saints "would" once themselves have "none of him," and really said unto God, "Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." Hence, if they loved the Sabbath, it was as a day of leisure and recreation, not as "the holy of the Lord." Hence they disliked his people, as renewed, because they were images of this pure original.

What a blessed evidence is it in their favor, that they can now "glory in his holy name," and "sing and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness!" But such is the change they have experienced, that they do contemplate him with pleasure as holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works. It is a relief, a satisfaction to their minds, in every perplexity in nature or providence, that the Judge of all the earth must do right. They delight in the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, after the inward man. The gospel appears to their minds glorious, "because therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." This attribute now smiles upon them. They have a vast interest in it. As he is holy, they can depend upon his truth, and are assured of the fulfilment of his word. They know that He who has said, I will abundantly pardon, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, is a God that cannot lie. Yes, says the Christian, since he who loves me is purity itself, and his influence is almighty, he will sprinkle clean water upon me, and I shall be clean. He will destroy in me the sin which he infinitely hates. He will make me a partake of his holiness, and render me meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.

But without this love to holiness we cannot see the kingdom of God. We are, both by Scripture and by the nature of the case, excluded for ever from his presence, which could only make us miserable. What fellowship hath light with darkness? What communion hath righteousness with unrighteousness?

Some talk of the less amiable views of the Supreme Being, yea, of the darker side of the Deity. And what side is this? The Scripture tells me—and I believe it, I feel it—that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

Therefore thus saith the Lord, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord."