"The Lord. The Holy One of Israel." We rejoice in what we have
desired, hoped for, and obtained. This does not exclude enjoyment of
the blessings of the present life. They are closely associated with
it. They suggest it. We ask whence they come. The habit of regarding
earthly advantage as gifts from the hand of God keeps the Divine
character before us as that of a Being to be regarded with pleasure.
Thus, if we ascend to the spiritual region and contemplate the
salvation of man, it includes the compassionate love of God, which
gave His Son to impoverishment, suffering, and death; full
forgiveness of sin; the various influences of the Divine Spirit; the
elevated spiritual privileges and hopes bestowed on fallen men. All
this came from the grace of God; it originated in His nature. "God is
love." But the God whose nature can be read in this way is not a God
to repel, but attract; not a god of whom to stand in terrified awe,
but a God in whom to rejoice.
And this result emerges if we take a more direct look at the Divine
character. We are supplied with verbal asservations as well as
historical illustrations. We read of the Almighty, the All-wise, the
All-righteous, the All-holy, as well as the All-loving. Power, even
with justice, would fail to produce joy. But a God of power, and
love, and holiness can be a delight, because He can be loved.
But no object of delight can be considered apart from its subject.
Nothing is universally delightful. Before you can enjoy anything you
must have sympathy with it, a taste for it. There are people who
cannot enjoy the finest concert. There must be the heart that is
capable of joy in the Holy One of Israel, the heart of "the meek, the
poor among men;" the heart changed by the grace of God.