The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 36

Berore our friend who leads us in singing begins, we sometimes hear his tuning-fork. He is getting the keynote into his ear. When he comes forward, he often sounds out that keynote before he begins to sing. This is what David does in this wonderful psalm. He sounds the tuning-fork with this clear note — ‘‘ Bless the Lord, O my soul.” It is well for all to be ready to sing harmoniously: it is a pity when those who gather to worship do not know what they are at. I wish I could always have you spiritually in tune, and keep in tune myself. Alas! I fear we are often half a note too flat. The words before us are the keynote of this psalm, and all the music is set to it, and closes with it. Notice that the psalm begins, ‘‘ Bless the Lord, O my soul,” and it ends in the same way, ‘“‘ Bless the Lord, O my soul,” as if to show us that praise is the Alpha and the Omega of a. Christian life. Praise is the life of life. So we begin; so we continue ;. so shall we end, world without end. This psalm has just as many verses in the original as there are letters in the Hebrew alphabet. It is an alphabetical psalm as to number, and so I may say that the A of it is “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” and the Z of it is “Bless the. Lord, O my soul.” Oh, that our infancy would bless the Lord, and our childhood and our youth bless the Lord, and our manhood and our old age bless the Lord! From the cradle to the tomb one line of sapphire, one streak of sparkling crystal should run through the entire mass of life — and that should be praise unto God.

“I would begin the music here,
And so my soul should rise;
Oh, for some heavenly notes to bear
My passions to the skies!”

Oh, to have heaven’s employment and heaven’s enjoyment here below by never-coasing praise! We need never make a pause in that of which we shall never make an end.; - z

As I said in the exposition, there is no prayer in this psalm: if is all praise right through. There are times in a Christian’s life when he feels as if praise employed the whole of his faculties, and his own wants and faults and all about himself sank into insignificance. Usually we mix prayer and praise, and they make up a delightful incense of mingled fragrance; but sometimes, when on Tabor’s top we stand transfigured with the light of God’s goodness, all we can do is to praise his name. All that is within us is blessing him, and there is no faculty left with which to pray him to bless us. This is an anticipation of the occupation and enjoyment of heaven, where for ever and for ever we shall bless and praise and magnify the Thrice-holy God.

At this time I pray that, while I talk about this verse, I may be carrying it out; and may you be each one carrying it out, too, if, indeed, the Lord has blessed you! Let us preach and hear with harps in our hands, and songs in our hearts. If I am to lead your thoughts, I will lead them to the place of adoration. If you are his blessed people, be his blessing people. If he has blessed you for many a day, bless him this day.

I. Icall your attention, then, first, to THE BLESSED OCCUPATION. ‘¢ Bless the Lord, O my soul.” A truly wonderful word this! How can we bless the Lord? For God to bless me I can understand and enjoy; but that it ever should be mentioned in Scripture that I can bless God is one of those incomprehensible things, which are certainly true, but are not to be explained. For man to bless God is a sort of incarnation — God in human flesh. God blessing me — that is divine: but myself blessing him, there is something of the human, but also somewhat of the divine. The divine blesses the human, or the human could not bless the divine. God is with us, or we could not be thus with God: our blessing him can only be the echo of his blessing us. The more you turn it over, the more you will wonder at it. If it had said, “Praise the Lord, O my soul,” that would have been reasonable; but ‘‘ Bless the Lord, O my soul,” rises out of the region of reason into a still higher and more spiritual atmosphere. These are heavenly words — “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”

But how can we bless God? We cannot add to his happiness, or increase his greatness, or enlarge his goodness. “O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not unto thee!” What can our poor drops contribute to the ocean? What can our nothingness bring to his all-sufficiency? What can our darkness contribute to his light? And yet, if the Bible says so, it must be so, for it never speaks in vain. Idle words are in the speech of man, not in the writings of Jehovah. If the Scripture teaches us to say, “‘ Bless the Lord, O my soul,” then it is a correct word. We may wonder at it, but we may not dispute over it.

How, then, can we bless God?

I answer, first, God blesses us by thinking well of us, and we bless God by thinking well of him. When the Lord says in his heart, ‘This people shall be blessed,” before ever he has stretched out his hand to give anything, we are blessed by his favourable regard for us. I beg you, in the same respect, to bless God by sweet, holy, adoring, loving, grateful thoughts of him. Think well of him who thinks so graciously of you. This, surely, is no task, no burden. Such thinking is the happiest exercise of the mental powers. To think of what God has done to me — why, it makes my heart begin to beat more quickly than usual! My God! The very word is music! My Lord! How pleasant the sound! How sweet it is to speak of our Father, who is in heaven! ‘‘ How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!” To turn over thoughts of what God is, what he has done, what he has been, how he has dealt with us, how he has revealed himself unto us, how he has glorified his holy name — why, this is a heavenly pleasure! Some of the best moments of devotion I have ever been able to enjoy I have spent in entire silence, looking up. I sat still, and wondered that God should ever love me, and I found a dew gathering about my eyes. I thought of how he loved me, and what that love had wrought in me and for me; till, not venturing to speak, Ihave been content to be silent before the Lord in rapture inexpressible. It was not possible for me to see him, but yet I felt that he was specially near, and I looked up to him as my Father, my Friend, my Allin all. My heart felt an inward glow under a sense of divine love, and I could not have been happier if I had possessed ten thousand worlds. Oh, this is blessing God, when your heart, not venturing to use words, has learned with every pulse to beat his praise, and with every throb to mean an inward love to him. Spend some time in that quiet, rapt devotion which gets beyond the use of words into a communion of gratitude and love. Words are weak when love has to load them with her treasures; and therefore she is content to spare them the burden. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul.” My soul shall do what my tongue cannot. Think deeply of what the Lord has done. Do not pass his mercies over superficially, but look into them. Pry into their very heart: look into the deep things of God. Do not cease to think of the covenant of electing love, of everlasting faithfulness, of redeeming blood, of pardoning grace, and all the ways in which eternal love has shown itself since that day when you first heard it speak in your ear, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” To think well of God is one of the chief ways in which we can bless him.

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