Psalm 116 (19 of 19 notes)

19. In the courts of the Lord’s house. In the proper place, where God had ordained that he should be worshiped. See how he is stirred up at the remembrance of the house of the Lord, and must speak of the holy city with a note of joyful exclamation—In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. There would he pay his last vows, in the abode of fellowship, in the very heart of Judea. There is nothing like witnessing for Jesus where the report will be carried into a thousand homes. God’s praise is not to be confined to a closet, nor his name to be whispered in holes and corners, as if we were afraid that men should hear us. We should lift up heart and voice unto the Lord, and invite others to join with us in adoring him, saying, Praise ye the Lord, or Hallelujah. This was a very fit conclusion of a song to be sung when all the people were gathered together at Jerusalem to keep the feast. When we worship the Lord we ought with great care to select the words of prayer and praise, and not to trust to the opening of a hymn-book, or to the unconsidered extemporizing of the moment. Let all things be done decently and in order, and let all things begin and end with Hallelujah.