Psalms 101:1

Psalms 101:1

I. Of mercy and judgment. And who among us has not the same mingled strain to utter? Who can say that his mercies have not been tempered with the gentle but solemn remindings of judgment at God's hand? Our very proverbs tell us of this: no day without its cloud; no rose without its thorn. And who can say, on the other hand, that his judgments have not been most tenderly mixed with mercies? Our song may well then be of mercy and judgment: of His dealings towards us who, when He blesses, also chastises, lest we should forget Him; who, when He chastises, also blesses, lest we should distrust Him.

II. The world's song of mercy and judgment is a very different strain from the Christian's song of mercy and judgment. The world, in fact, sees not mercy on the one side nor judgment on the other. The fountain from which all blessings flow is unknown to the ungodly man. It is because such persons abound, and ever will abound, among us that we are exhorted on such occasions as these to sing, not of fair and foul chance, but of mercy and judgment: mercy from One who shows mercy; judgment from One who exercises judgment.

III. Let us endeavour to make use of the present wonderful manifestation of God's mercies combined with His judgments to show our sense of His presence and our humility and thankfulness towards Him. We know of no mercies out of Christ. In Him we have every blessing. It is His satisfaction which has caused the Father to smile on this our world, His blood which has cleansed creation from its defilement.

IV. The joy of the Christian in God's mercies is never a barren joy, never only an inward feeling, a mere paroxysm of selfish exultation; but out of it ever springs from the fountain of his inner life the question, "What shall I render to the Lord for all His mercies to me?"

H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii., p. 107.

Reference: Psalms 101:1 . Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 258.