Homiletic Magazine Psalm 66:16-20 Come and hear, all you that fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul.… I. THE GODLY MAN IS ANXIOUS TO IMPART HIS EXPERIENCE TO OTHERS. "Come and hear." I. His confession is volunteered, not enforced. 2. Spiritual experiences should be told at suitable times. "Come and hear." Many have brought religion into disrepute by preaching when they ought to have simply and unostentatiously practised its precepts. 3. Spiritual experience should be addressed to congenial hearers. "All ye that fear God." Some preachers err greatly by discoursing of the deep things of experimental religion to those who need to be taught the first principles of the Gospel. 4. Spiritual experience should be strictly personal. "What He hath done for my soul." Much that has obtained currency for "experience," has been either fiction, or religious scandal. II. THE GODLY MAN'S EXPERIENCE INCLUDES BOTH PENITENCE AND PRAISE. 1. He has to tell of sin mourned over. "I cried unto Him." This is just the language that would describe the outburst of a penitent soul. 2. He has to tell of trouble endured. The trouble has been greater than he could bear; it has been more than he could fight against; hence he has cried to One higher than he. 3. He has to tell of mercies received. "He was extolled with my tongue." This He has done for my soul: I sinned, and He forgave me; I was in trouble, and He helped me. "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard," etc. III. THE GODLY MAN'S LOGIC. "If I regard," etc. The Christian's argument is this: If I cherish sin in my heart, God will not hear my prayer. But God has heard me. Therefore it is clear that His grace has been effective in my heart in subduing the power of sin. The answered prayer is the proof that I have been enabled by grace to overcome sin. IV. THE GODLY MAN'S EXPERIENCE ALWAYS CULMINATES IN A SONG OF PRAISE. Even when he has most plainly established his innocence, he ascribes the glory to God, whose mercy has not been withdrawn, and who still hears and answers prayer. This closing song implies three things — 1. That God's mercy is continuous; else iniquity would prevail, and be cherished in the heart. 2. That God hears prayer unweariedly. 3. That the disposition to pray is also God's gift. (Homiletic Magazine.) Parallel Verses KJV: Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.WEB: Come, and hear, all you who fear God. I will declare what he has done for my soul. |
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