4. Blessed. This is an exclamation
similar to that of the first psalm, “Oh, the
happinesses of the man.” God’s
blessings are emphatic. Is that man that maketh the Lord his trust. Faith obtains promises. A simple
single-eyed confidence in God is the sure mark of blessedness. A man may be as
poor as Lazarus, as hated as Mordecai, as sick as Hezekiah, as lonely as
Elijah, but while his hand of faith can keep its hold on God, none of his
outward afflictions can prevent his being numbered among the blessed; but the
wealthiest man who has no faith is accursed. And respecteth not the proud.
The proud expect everyone to bow down and do them reverence, but believers are
too noble to honor mere money-bags, or cringe before bombastic dignity. The
righteous pay their respect to humble goodness, rather than to inflated
self-consequence. Our Lord Jesus was in this our bright example. Nor such as turn aside to lies. Heresies and idolatries are lies, and so are avarice,
worldliness, and pleasure-seeking. Woe to those who follow such deceptions. Our
Lord was ever both the truth and the lover of truth, and the father of lies had
no part in him. We must never pay deference to apostates, time-servers, and
false teachers; the more we purge ourselves of them the better. Many apparently
happy people must be the reverse of blessed, for anything in the shape of a
wealthy establishment commands their reverence, whether the owner be a rake or
a saint, an idiot or a philosopher. If the arch-fiend of hell were to start a
carriage and pair and live like a lord, he would have thousands who would court
his acquaintance.
PREVIOUS
NEXT
No comments:
Post a Comment