SERMON V.

PREACHED FEBRUARY 7, 1808.

PSALM LXXXIV. 4.

66 BLESSED ARE THEY THAT DWELL IN THY HOUSE: THEY

THIS Psalm is generally supposed to have been penned by David at the time, when, by the ambitious and rebellious disposition and conduct of his son Absalom, he was driven from his city. The chief subject of it appears to be the sanctuary of God, and the ordinances of his house, for by their loss he had learned more highly to estimate their worth.

With the most animated language, the holy man expresses the amiableness, the loveliness of the tabernacles of the Lord of hosts; breaks out in ardent longings towards the courts of the Lord; represents his heart and his flesh crying out for the living God; envies the sparrow her house and the swallow her nest, because they were near the altars of his King and his God; and in the verse which we have selected as a text, pronounces a blessing upon those who dwell in his house. We are per

suaded that this subject is highly interesting to every one in the divine presence, who is saying, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple." From the text then we shall attempt to raise, illustrate, and confirm these three propositions:

I. That there is a place peculiarly distinguished as the house of God.

II. That there are persons who find an abiding residence in it.

III. That such characters are truly blessed.

We remark,

I. That there is a place peculiarly distinguished as the house of God.

The whole creation is the workmanship of God; for he is the Former of all things visible and invisible; for his pleasure they are and were created; to him all beings bow, angels and archangels; men and devils submit to his control, and are subject to his disposal. He is the Sovereign of universal nature, and the Manager of all worlds. He filleth all in all. This great God, in making known to us his mind and will, in order to suit our circumstances, and in compassion to our infirmities, has been pleased to represent the great things of his love in familiar language, and in terms with which we are well acquainted. Hence we read such language as our text, when mention is made of the

house of God. The question then is,-What is intended by the expression, and what place is that which is so honoured, as to be called Jehovah's house? For since "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof," how can he be said to have any particular dwelling-place? The place of glorified spirits is in scripture called "a house;" hence, says our Lord, "In my Father's house are many mansions ;" and the apostle, contrasting the future with the present state, exclaims, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." In that heavenly house, all the spirits of just men made perfect, all the angels of God, securely, happily rest and dwell; for that is a house which cannot be removed, but abideth for evermore. And justly may the words of the text be applied to its heavenly inhabitants; for they indeed are truly blessed, being for ever engaged in the worship, and employed in the service of a present Saviour. But to us, it does not appear, from the connection of the text, that heaven is here intended, but rather, reference is made to the house of God below, to the church militant, to the worshipping assemblies of the saints, to the tabernacles of the Most High. David refers evidently to the Jewish tabernacle, whither, no doubt, he constantly went up to worship, and the term, house of God, applies at large to the whole church, to every congregation of believers, and to every assembly of the people of God. The church of

God, we say, is a house; it is called so in different passages of Scripture; thus, we read, that "wisdom hath builded her house:" that the spouse was "brought to Christ's banqueting house, and his banner over her was love:" that "Christ, as a Son, was faithful over his own house, whose house are we" "that he was a High Priest over the house of God:" "that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it:" that "holiness becometh the house of God."

With respect to this house, be it observed, that Jesus Christ is the foundation on which it rests: for "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." The inhabitants of it are redeemed sinners, who have been taken from the ruins of the fall, and adopted into the family of God; here they reside and share domestic blessings, expecting, ere long, to be transplanted from this earthly residence, to the house of God above; where they shall all be made pillars, to go no more out for ever. Spirituality is the characteristic feature of the men who dwell in this house, of the code of laws by which every thing is regulated, and of the employments and engagements of all belonging to it. But the idea of our text is not merely that the church is a house, but that it is the house of God. Let us for a moment investigate the propriety of the term, and show the claims of God to this building. The psalmist calls it thy

house, and it will evidently appear to belong to no less a person than Jehovah, if we consider him as the planner, the former,-the furnisher,—and the inhabitant of the church. Observe then

1. That Jehovah planned it.

In the councils of eternity, he determined to make man, foresaw his fall, and devised a scheme for his recovery. He was resolved, in his almighty mind, to rescue man from the pit of perdition, and frustrate the designs of hell, by sending his dear Son into the world, to lay down his life to redeem him. Hence he knew the number of all his saints, and determined on the objects of his sanctifying grace, so that those who really belong to the church of Christ are the chosen of God; thus saith David in another Psalm: "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts." Nor less did the Almighty fore-ordain the means by which this church should rise in the world; for he beheld it from eternity, withstanding all opposition, and looking like the temple of God amidst all the attacks of his enemies; he so ordained it, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and he well knows the time when its great Zerubbabel "shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shouting, crying, Grace, grace unto it." The Almighty, however, not only planned, but

2. He actually formed the church.

Every house is builded by some man, but he that built all things is God:" all the creation is the