490 REMNANTS OF TIME. the mount. It is a more sublime glory for a Prince to be found amongst the vulgar in undistinguished raiment, and by his supe- rior conduct and shining virtues to force the world to confess that he is the Son of a Icing, than to walk through the rabble with ensigns of royalty, and demand honour from them by the mere blaze of his ornaments. XVIII. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion. Psalm lxv. L AND does praise wait for God in the congregation of his saints ? Surely it doth not use to be so. Mercy uses to be before- hand with us, and the Lord waiteth to be gracious. Mercy is wont to he ready in the hands of God, before praise is ready on the tongues of men ; and we are sure he waited on us to shew his grace long before we had any songs ready for him, or any thought of praising him. Yet sometimes it is so in this lower world : Holy souls may be waiting at the throne of grace with their praises ready to as- cend as soon as mercy appears : Mercy may be silent for a season, and then praise for a season is silent too. This is the original language of the Psalm, and this is the state of things when the Psalmist wrote ; as Praise is silent for thee in Sion." When the church of God under trouble has been long seeking any particular blessing or deliverance, and God's appointed hour of salvation is not yet come, then the songs of the church are silent : Yet she stands watching and waiting for the desired moment, that she may meet the salvation with praise. But why should God suffer praise to be silent at all in Zion? Is not the church the habitation of his praises ? Yes, but it is the house of prayer too : Prayer and patience must have their proper exercise. If praise were never silent on earth, where would there be any room for prayer to speak ? When would there be any season for the grace of patience to spew itself? God loves prayer as well as praise : His sovereignty is honoured by humble waiting, as well as his goodness by holy gratitude and joy. If praise be silent, then let prayer be more fervent. The absent Saviour loses to hear the voice of his beloved ; the lips 'of the church must never be quite silent, though they are not always employed in hallelujahs. Praise is the sweetest part of divine worship ; it is a short . heaven here on earth. God lets our praises be silent sometimes, to teach us that this is not a state of complete blessedness. After the great day of, decision, praise shall be continual and unceasing, when there shall be no more sighing for the saints, no more death, no more pain. Then churches shall want ordinances no more, nor saints abstain from the bread of life. Jesus their ever- lasting Pastor shall feed them in pastures ever green, and from the tree of life, and lead them to the fountains of joy and the
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