Psalm 103 and Ephesians 1
God is steady, unmovable, in His purposes of mercy. Blessing He will give, and give so as to lay the blessing on the heart, and so lay it as that the heart shall enjoy it and give it back to Him in praise.
In this and the two following psalms we get millennial blessedness, and then the burst of praise from the earth which follows. When God has done it, there is nothing to do but to light the censer of praise, and waft it back to the God who has done it. David could praise, not of David, but of God. I have done nothing, he would say, nothing but failure; but THOU halt done it all. " Bless the Lord, O, my soul." When we can speak of nothing else, we can speak of God.
Is not this the thought running through this psalm, that the poor sinner, entirely ruined, has found God as the God of mercy; that a man who had done every evil, even murder, has so tasted of the springs that are in the God of mercy, that he can rejoice in it as the blessing rushes into his soul? And cannot each of us say, This God of mercy, this mercy in God suits me?
There have been many dispensations, but never did God give blessing under any of them save by mercy. No power -but by the Spirit of God, no way of mercy but this, "the Seed of the woman." [But mark the contrast in the character of the blessing of the saints in the heavenlies.]
In Ephesians the 1st, the apostle begins with God. It is a great thing to say my sins are forgiven me, but it is more to say, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has planned such a scheme of mercy, as that He is glorified by His pardon. In Psa. 103, I get mercy dropping down from above. In Eph., I get the source and beginning of it. Let me ask you, where does your gospel begin? This is in heaven. It is a different thing to be like David, knowing how mercy suits me when I have failed in everything, from being like Paul, who knew that he was just the person suited for God. "I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering," &c. The reason why saints are not more happy and settled in soul, is because they look upon God as dealing out His mercy to them on earth, instead of seeing God is in heaven seeking those in whom He can display His mercy. I have not only found mercy as a ruined sinner, but I have found God, who is rich in mercy, and who says that I as a sinner suit Him. God wants sinners, and I am one in whom He may show forth His mercy.
How comes it that you cannot speak well of God? A worldly man cannot; the christian can. But the disciple says, Alas! how sadly I fail in doing it. The reason of this is that you have not got to the end of yourself. You have not come to this point, to know that God does not think you worth speaking about. That is what you want to make you speak well of God.
We want to be grounded in God's mercy. The leading thought in scripture is mercy. It is in mercy He has plucked brands out of the burning; and when He wanted one to send among the Gentiles to take his special revelation, He chose one who had been a blasphemer and injurious; and when He would send to the hard and stiff-necked Jews, He took the one who was ever dashing on in his impetuosity-blundering, cursing, and then denying his Lord. What a school had these two passed through to fit them to set forth the suitability of poor lost ones to display God's Mercy!
I do hold that the saints are bound to sing. A man in the temple of Jerusalem set as a singer, what else had he to do but to sing? He might get out of tune, but he was bound to sing. If you will let self and circumstances come in, you will never sing; but if occupied with God and Christ, you will never be out of tune. The more broken in heart and spirit I am, the more deep cause I have to sing of Him. Of course we must not express feelings we have not; that would be hypocrisy; but if I sing of what Christ has done, I may sing from the bottom of the pit.