SERMON. ISAIAH XXXVIII. 18, 19. THE GRAVE CANNOT PRAISE THEE: DEATH CANNOT CELEBRATE THEE: THEY THAT GO DOWN INTO THE PIT CANNOT HOPE FOR THY TRUTH: THE LIVING-THE LIVING HE SHALL PRAISE THEE, AS I DO THIS DAY. WHEN we reflect that some of those who at the beginning of this work said unto us "The Lord prosper you, we wish you good luck in the name of the Lord,"* are now passed into that state of which Hezekiah here saith" The Grave cannot praise Thee: Death cannot celebrate Thee," being gathered unto their fathers-we cannot help being touched with a sense of God's mercy to ourselves, in sparing us to see this day. And this, I know, is very strongly the feeling of the aged that are amongst us; who have been accustomed to worship in this House from childhood; to whom it had become, through long use and association, a spiritual home, their refuge from the trials of the world. Their hearts have gone along with Hezekiah's heart as he spake these words; they feel as he felt, when instead of entering into the gates of the grave, he Ps. cxxix. 8. Prayer-Book version. was privileged once again to sing the praises of his Redeemer in the House of the Lord. For this was Hezekiah's chief joy when he was recovered from his sickness. It was not joy in his restoration to power as a Prince; or to wealth, as one possessed of wealth; or to domestic and social sympathies; or to the beauties of the natural creation; which some men speak of as if the enjoyment of them were a final end of our being. But it was emphatically joy in the Lord! joy in God's love to his soul! joy in being enabled once more to sing the praises of God in the place where His Honour dwelt; as you may see by what goes before and after the words of the text. "Thou hast in love to my soul, delivered it from the pit of corruption: for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back." "The Lord was ready to save me : therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the House of the Lord." This was the use of life in Hezekiah's eyes: praise was to be the employment of it: the worship and service of Almighty God entered into his estimate of its value in a manner in which (you will all admit the assertion) it does not enter into our general estimate of it. At the cost of how much time, how much diligence, how much of his earthly substance, he repaired the temple and restored its services, bestowing on each particular an especial care, that all should be worthy of Him unto Whom it was offered, of this no reader of scripture is ignorant. The zeal of God's House did even consume him. In him was the very spirit of his forefather David, "I will not offer unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." It is written of him in the Book of Chronicles, "In every • Is. xxxviii. v. 17-20. † 2 Chron. xxix. xxx. xxxi. Ps. lxix. 9. § 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. work that he began in the service of the House of God, and in the Law, and in the Commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered."§ And albeit his name is come down to us with the stain of human weakness, and pride of heart, stamped on it— yet surely hath he left an example to all generations, that it is acceptable unto God when the kings of the earth and her princes and her mighty men do what lieth in them to set forth His honour among the people; when they count not that time nor that substance lost, which is bestowed unto the praise of His Glory. There is something exalting in his anticipation of the manner in which he would devote the prolonged measure of his days to God. "The grave cannot praise Thee: Death cannot celebrate Thee: The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day." I earnestly commend these words to your devout meditation: as needful to be borne in mind even by us who live in the light of gospel times; before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been set forth crucified for us:* from whom therefore it might have been expected, that with a joy and a willingness worthy of so great Love, with a devotion of ourselves proportionate to so great a sacrifice offered for us, we should be all of Hezekiah's spirit when he thus engaged himself to God's service for ever-all of David's spirit when he said, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord, to enquire in his temple."+ : But, say some among us, "It was well for David and well for Hezekiah, to resort to the place where God dwelt visibly between the Cherubims, to praise and worship Him who § 2 Chron. xxxi. 21. || Eph. i. 14. * Gal. iii. 1. † Ps. xxvii. 4. was there revealed to them. But we are of them who worship God in the Spirit :' our homes, the fields, the valleys, and the hills, speak to us of God. There we can serve and there we can worship, and there pour forth our souls in praise." Now if this language, in the full extent of its meaning, is to be admitted as true -if on the ground that the whole earth is God's Temple and that He filleth all space, our special comfort in assembling ourselves together in places dedicated to His honour and service is to be taken away from us-then, whatever we have gained by the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is something certainly which we have lost. But such words as those above referred to, though alarmingly common, are only heard from the lips of those who are plainly driven to excuse themselves for entire neglect of every acknowledged duty; and who thus take refuge in strange perversion of Scripture Truth. Notwithstanding, this sad feature in our day, that the work of this world has clearly come to be preferred to the worship of God, and has gradually destroyed the habit of it; insomuch that no place at all can be found for it in many men's time, and therefore not in their affections; (for it is proverbial that we can ever find time for that which we set our affection on)-this sad feature must be commented on, on an occasion like the present. It hath been piously suggested that into the place of God's public worship has succeeded a more general use of Family Prayer. But without derogating in the least from the godly simplicity of this custom, that the Father of the Family should every morning and evening assemble his children and his household around him, to praise God for mercies received and pray for their continuance, who is there Phil. iii. 3. |