By the REV. JAS. BUCHANAN, D.D.
“Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”—Psalm xvi. 11.
FROM the commentary of an inspired apostle, we learn that in this Psalm, David speaks concerning Christ: “For David speaketh concerning Him, ‘I foresaw the Lord always before me; for He is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover, also, my flesh shall rest in hope; because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known unto me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance.’ Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the Patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on His throne; he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither did His flesh see corruption.” The passage, therefore, primarily refers to Christ, and we may regard it as expressing that faith in God’s covenant promise, by which He was animated to “endure the cross, despising the shame.” But the covenant promise was not made to Christ alone—it was made to Him as the head of His body the church, and on behalf
of all His believing people; and as through grace, they are made partakers of His reward, and shall share in the glory of His resurrection, the words are equally applicable for the use and comfort of each of His believing followers; and in the exercise of a simple faith in Him, they may appropriate His language to themselves and say, “Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
When viewed in reference to our everlasting prospects, these words may be regarded as descriptive of the perfection of that happiness which is in reserve for us in heaven. To perfect happiness, two conditions are essential; first, that in point of amount, it be adequate to satisfy our capacities and desires; and secondly, that in point of duration, it be so permanent, that at no future time it shall forsake us, and that our comfort, while it lasts, may not be diminished or disturbed by the fear of losing it. In the future happiness of believers, both of these conditions are secured; in its amount, it will be adequate to fill all our capacities of enjoyment—”In Thy presence is fulness of joy”; and in its duration, it will be permanent—”At Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.”
The FULNESS of this happiness will consist in its satisfying the desires, and perfecting the capacities of our immortal nature; and if we would form a right estimate, either of its quality or its amount, we must take a comprehensive view of all the capacities with which that nature is endowed. Man may be considered in several distinct aspects—as a SENTIENT, or an INTELLECTUAL, or a MORAL, or a SOCIAL, or an ACTIVE BEING. In each of these aspects, certain capacities belong to him, and it is on the filling and perfecting of all these capacities, that his highest happiness depends. It is not enough that one class or order of his capacities be satisfied, if the rest be neglected, or denied their proper gratification; for, although they may be considered distinctly, they do not exist separately, but in a state of combination, and from their combined perfection and satisfaction alone, can man enjoy all that such a creature is capable of. It is not enough, whatever the sensualist may say, that our capacities of organic pleasure be gratified, to the exclusion of the higher and nobler enjoyments that are peculiar to our rational and moral nature. Every object around us may be such as to minister delight to the eye and the ear, yet, in the reign of intellectual ignorance, or in the play of unhallowed passions, there may be a hell within. Nor is it enough, whatever the stoic may say, that the mind should be well ordered, and the passions tamed, for, by the constitution of our nature, we are both sentient and social beings, and, as such, we depend for the perfection of our interior happiness on the circumstances of our external condition. Nor is it enough, whatever the philosopher may say, that the intellect be highly cultivated, and the mind stored with knowledge—this is good, but insufficient for our perfect happiness, unless, along with it, we have hearts filled with every moral feeling,
society in harmony with our taste, and such external accommodations as may conduce to our comfort. It is not in one of our capacities being filled, then, but in all of them being full, that our happiness consists; and what the Bible affirms, is, that our condition in heaven will be such as to secure the perfection of every faculty, and the satisfaction of every desire.
The SENTIENT nature of man will then be perfected, and surrounded with circumstances fitted to minister to its enjoyment. Much of our happiness depends on the state of our sentient nature, and still more is derived through means of it, from the impressions made upon us by the scene in which we live. In its present state, our bodily frame is, in itself, imperfect. It is vitiated by disease, liable to frequent derangements, and easily overcome by fatigue; and he who sums up the emotions which may be traced, directly or indirectly, to the state of his material frame, will easily discover how very large a share both of his happiness and misery flows from this source alone. The difference betwixt the enjoyment arising from a state of vigorous health, to which every, even the most ordinary element of nature, ministers gratification, and the misery arising from sickness or disease, which interrupts every mental exercise, and tinges every object with gloom, is so great, that for health, men would esteem it a cheap purchase to exchange all the business, and wealth, and honour of the world; but great as is the difference betwixt these two states of our sentient nature on earth, the difference will be still greater betwixt even the most vigorous and healthy body here, and the state of our frame in heaven. There, our sentient nature will be made perfect; freed from every tendency to disease or decay, and from every accidental evil—”it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more”; “there shall be no more pain, neither crying nor tears; but God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
In whatever scene a body so constituted might be placed, it would be incomparably more conducive to happiness, than the finest scene could be to a diseased or disordered frame; but, while happiness will spring from the healthy and perfect state of our sentient nature itself, we are taught in Scripture that the external scene, from which it will derive its impressions, will be adapted to its state, so as to minister to its enjoyment. We read, not only of a new body, “but of a new heaven and a new earth,” where “there shall be no more curse.” The present world, beautiful and varied as it is, is but an imperfect specimen of creation; for God cursed the ground for man’s sake, and the whole creation groaneth and travaileth under it; but if this world so cursed, be yet so beautiful, what must heaven be, the immediate residence of God! No human eye hath rested on such a scene; it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive what God
hath prepared for them that love Him. In speaking of heaven, the sacred writers seem, as it were, to labour for expressions, and by heaping together every figure descriptive of earthly grandeur or beauty, to convey to our minds some analogical sense of its glory. The new Jerusalem is described as a city, “its foundation laid in precious stones, its walls of jasper, its gates of pearls, its streets of pure gold, like transparent glass”; at another time it is spoken of, as “an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away”—the scenery, the music, the living fountains of heaven, are rather mentioned than described; but we may rest assured that it will furnish ample gratification to every capacity of our sentient nature, in so far as the capacities of that nature shall survive the dissolution of our material frame.
As an INTELLECTUAL being, man is capable of a still higher happiness. Knowledge, in all its various forms, is the object—Truth, immortal, imperishable. Truth, the proper aliment and solace of his mind. By this capacity, he is raised immeasurably above the rank of mere sentient beings, and takes his place among the intelligences of heaven. But here, this source of pure and lofty enjoyment is imperfect, partly by reason of the defectiveness of vision and the blindness of understanding which have followed as a consequence of sin; partly, also, by reason of the prejudices preventing the full view and the free admission of truth, which spring from the disordered state of his passions, and the defective nature of his educational discipline; partly, also, by reason of the necessary conditions of his present state, in which he must walk by faith and not by sight, and is prevented by the necessity of daily toil, and by the numerous calls of appetite or business, from improving to the uttermost even those means of knowledge which are within his reach. But in heaven, all these defects and obstacles will be removed; his mind being then disengaged from the contact of a gross earthly body, and fitted with a new and spiritual one, will be aided by it, rather than, as now, hindered in the search of truth; his moral nature being restored to order by the eradication of every unholy passion, will leave his intellect to act in freedom and unfettered, while the subjects of thought will be presented in all their reality and vastness before him, and those things will then be disclosed which are now concealed. God and His works, both in the wide domain of creation, and in the boundless course of providence, will furnish ample scope for his inquiries. New associates, with knowledge acquired in other ages, will be found at once to stimulate his diligence, and to enrich him with information; and the human mind, thus situated, seems to have no limit to its advancement, but a prospect of endless progression in the acquirement of Truth.
As a MORAL being, man is capable of intense misery, or of refined enjoyment, according to the nature of those feelings or passions which prevail in his bosom. Anger, wrath, malice, lust, envy, jealousy,
revenge—these elements of unholy passion make the human heart an inward hell, and deprive him of the power of enjoying either sensible or intellectual gratification, blasting prosperity, and making life itself a burden. But, on the other hand, when the mind is filled with love—with love to God, with love to others—when the heart is pure, the will resigned, the temper meek—these are the elements of a happiness which, as being interior to the mind itself, no outward accident can destroy—they are the springs of perennial peace. This moral happiness may, like the enjoyments formerly mentioned, be tasted on earth, but here, like them also, it is imperfect, even in the maturest believers. The remains of indwelling sin, the roots of bitterness, are still in the heart, and the graces of the Christian character, although implanted and watered by the Spirit, are weak and sickly. But in God’s presence this joy will be full. No evil passion shall enter heaven along with us. Into that high sanctuary nothing shall enter that defileth, or worketh abomination. It is an asylum for pure and holy spirits—the spirits of just men made perfect. Not the prevailing power only, but the very presence of sin shall be abolished for ever. That is a great change which takes place on earth when a sinner is converted unto God; when his eyes are first opened, and he is turned from darkness unto light; delivered from the bondage of corruption, and brought into the moral liberty wherewith Christ maketh His people free. That is a great change—for the dominion of sin is then, for the first time, broken, and, from being the servant of Satan, the convert becomes the servant of God. By that change he is translated from a state of guilt and condemnation, into a state of grace. But another transition is necessary to perfect his blessedness—he must be translated from a state of grace into a state of glory. In the former, his sanctification is imperfect, his moral affections are as yet but feeble, frequently interrupted in their exercise, and their happy influence impaired by the remains of indwelling sin. The believer is engaged, while he lives here, in a continual conflict with his own corruptions, and with the power of moral evil on every side of him. But that conflict ends with death—then the very being of sin in his soul will be destroyed, and, released from all the fetters by which he is now bound, and from all the obstacles by which his progress is now retarded, he enters a career of uninterrupted and perfect holiness. “He shall be presented faultless and blameless before the presence of his God, with exceeding joy”; for “Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it, and present it to Himself, a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.” The completion of our sanctification, the absolute perfection of our moral nature in heaven, will be, in itself, one of the chief sources of our happiness, as well as a means of qualifying us for the enjoyment of all the other springs of comfort with which heaven is filled.
(To be continued)