Psalm 144:15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yes, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. : — There is in this psalm the outline-sketch of an ideal people. The tuneful seer pictures a nation whose every citizen is animated by the love of God, a community in which each separate soul is governed and guided by the wisdom which is from above. Redeemed by Divine grace, every man lives to the full the manifold life that is in him. There is no discord between a man's duties and his desires, no disproportion and no inequity between the functions of the flesh and those of the mind and spirit. Every man achieves and sustains a large and harmonious life. Recognizing the fatherhood of God, every man realizes and ministers to the brotherhood of man. Freedom is unrestrained by law because conditioned by love. Selfishness is banished under the gracious constraint of truth and charity. Righteousness is wedded to peace. The sunshine of plenty is unsullied by shadows of want. Progress leaves in its train no accumulation of poverty. Law is no longer an imposed coercion but an indwelling and spontaneous rule. Culture is sweetened by piety. Power yields to the loving dominance of gentleness. Religion is crowned with humanity. And upon this happy nation bountiful Nature, as the minister of God, showers the blessings of abundance and content. This splendid ideal, lifted up by Hebrew bard and preacher, given them by inspiration of God, naturally found its clearest expression, its most attractive unfolding, in God's Messiah. It was the declared purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ to inaugurate upon earth this kingdom of heaven. With suggestive repetition He spoke of this kingdom, this new society or body politic. He ever looked beyond, while He looked redemptively at, the individuals who gathered around Him. He saw as from a mountain-top the distant beauty of a new heaven and a new earth, and He saw that the path to it lay through the slow achievement of individual conversion. But the end was clear to Him, and certain. The kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. And that is our dream because it is Christ's. I. Here, then, we emerge into THE BROADER OUTLOOKS AND IDEALS OF A TRULY NATIONAL MOVEMENT IN RELIGION. It is a movement to win England for Christ through the regeneration of every Englishman by the Spirit. We may get, we ought to toil for, more Christian laws, fairer conditions and better prospects for the people. We may, through the social elevation of men, and through the cleansing of their environment, help to advance them to a higher stage of life. By the organization and impact of Christian opinion we may prevent national iniquity and promote public righteousness. All these instruments of battle and victory are within the Christian armoury. But only through new men can new nations emerge, and only through the patient evangelization of our people can our country become a truly Christian land. II. Let me now remind you that WE ARE MOVED TO THIS HIGH EFFORT BY REVERENCE FOR CHRIST AND LOVING PASSION FOR MEN. The first of these motives has already been emphasized. It springs from the belief that everything was made for Christ as well as by Him; that the nations are His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth His possession. It proceeds upon a broad conception of Christ's work as the redemption to God of all life's departments and faculties, of all earth's dominions and resources. It is fired by the determination to lay at Christ's feet everything the world counts glorious, and to place on His head the many crowns. Nothing smaller can satisfy our gratitude or reverence. We cannot rest content till the world for which He died acclaims Him Saviour and King. And we are stirred to the same endeavour by our compassion for men, and by our belief that the Gospel holds the secret of all wealth and joy. It is new life men need, the new life of a pardoned and accepted and endowed soul. And because we possess the secret of it in the Gospel we cannot rest. Its possession is an impulse, its experience a contagion. Its incoming peace creates an outgoing sympathy. We can only keep it by giving it; the heart would break did the mouth not speak. Yes, the enthusiasm of humanity is the essential effect of Christ in the heart. III. It is in no sense derogatory to the sublime spirituality of our theme to say that BY LOVE OF COUNTRY, NOT LESS THAN BY PROMPTINGS OF PIETY, ARE WE IMPELLED TO THIS BROAD MISSION. Our desire to see England, the land of our birth and love, foremost among the nations in the cause of Christ and humanity, is a distinct and legitimate factor in our zeal. "Patriotism" is a noble word, and it. stands for a grand quality. The England whose glory shines through many clouds, whose fair fame has won affection and scattered blessing the wide world over, is the England of the martyrs, the confessors, those speakers for God who made room for man, whose blood has been the seed of religion and liberty. It is the England of the missionary, the explorer, the emancipator, the philanthropist; the land of the open Book and the free charter, of the pious home and the sacred sanctuary, of the day of rest and the progressive faith; the land where heroes and saints have wrought to make life possible and to stir the grand enthusiasms of a broad humanity. That is our England. Round her our affections cling. For her our prayers arise. In her our faith and hope find anchorage. Love of such an England is love of all mankind through her. The patriotism which is loyal to such a land is the initial form of an enthusiasm for humanity. Hers is the opportunity, and hers the obligation, to lead the world to the knowledge of Christ; to teach mankind how to blend culture with piety, intelligence with faith, spiritual aspiration with practical service, and freedom of action with gracious constraint of obedience. Yes, that, and that supremely, is England's mission. IV. IS IT POSSIBLE OUR DREAM MAY BE REALIZED? I for one dare believe no less. But as to its probability, that depends. Others before us were called to do God's work, and they perished miserably because of failure. That fate may be ours. Should we grow into a nation of idlers, sensualists, atheists, our candlestick will surely be removed out of its place. It depends upon Christian men and Churches whether our sun is to sink in storm. If we would have England saved for her noble destiny, we must be more true in faith and practice. To that noble undertaking let me once more call you. Then shall the past of our country pale before its future. Our song shall be without discord, our glory shall be as the glory of the Lord, and in the gathering of the nations around the throne of the King our fatherland shall be foremost in service and reward. (C. A. Berry, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. |
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