"Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound." -- PSALM lxxxix.1-18. Blessed is the people who love the sound of the silver trumpet which calls to holy convocation! Blessed is the people who are sacredly impatient for the hour of holy communion! Blessed is the people "in whose heart are the highways to Zion." And in what shall their blessedness consist? In illumination. "They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance." The favour of the Lord shall shine upon them when they walk through rough and troublous places. There shall always be a sunny patch where the soul is in communion with its Lord. In exultation. "In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day." There is nothing like sunshine for making the spirits dance! Light is a great emancipator, a great breaker-up of frozen bondages. It thaws "the genial currents of the soul," and the stream of life sings in its progress. In exaltation. "In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted." They will be lifted up above their enemies. In elevation they will find their safety. God lifts us above our passions, above our cares, above our little fears and tempers, and we find our peace upon the heights. |