These touching words unfold to us the deep joy of the Lord Himself, in the matter of our salvation. This is not sufficiently seen or thought of. We are apt to forget that God has His own especial joy in receiving back to His bosom of love, the poor wanderer—a joy so peculiar that He can say, “Rejoice with Me” —“Let us eat and be merry” — “It was meet that we should make merry and be glad.” He does not say, “Let him eat and be merry.” This would never do.
God has His own joy in redemption. This is the sweet lesson taught in Luke 15. The shepherd was glad to find his sheep. The woman was glad to find her piece of silver. The father was glad to embrace his son. God is glad to get back the lost one. The tide of joy that rolls through the hosts above when a sinner returns, finds its deep, exhaustless source in the eternal bosom of God. “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10:) There is no one has such deep joy in the salvation of a soul as God Himself.
The thought of this is most soul-subduing and heart-melting. Nothing can exceed it. It gives a full, clear and convincing answer to Satan’s lie in the garden, and to all the dark suspicion of our hearts. Who could listen for a moment to those accents, “Let us be merry,” issuing from the Father’s lips, the Father’s heart, and continue to doubt His perfect love?
How could the prodigal have had a doubt in his heart when he saw that there was not one in all the house so glad to get him back as the father himself? Surely the words, “Let us be merry,” must have fallen upon his heart with peculiar power. He could never have presumed to hope for such a reception. To be let in at all—to be made an hired servant—to get any place in the house, would have fully equaled his highest expectation. But O! to hear the father say, “Let us be merry!” This truly was beyond all human thought. Yet these were the father’s veritable words. It was really true that he was glad to get back the poor, undeserving spendthrift. He could not tell why, but so it was. The father had embraced and kissed him, even in his rags. Without a single upbraiding word, he had received him to his bosom. At the very moment when he was full of doubt as to whether he would be let in at all, he found the father on his neck. And, as if to crown all and banish every trace of doubt and every shadow of fear, he hears the father’s cry, “Let us eat and be merry.”
Reader, pause and think of all this. Think deeply of it. Remember, God is glad to get back to Himself the very vilest of the vile. A returning sinner makes God happy. Wondrous thought! Profound mystery of love! A poor sinner can minister to the joy of God! O! who can cherish a doubt or harbor a fear in the presence of such grace? May the sense of it fill my reader’s heart with sweetest confidence and peace.