Taken, with editing, from Tweedie’s volume, Glad Tidings of the Gospel of Peace.
Psalm 68:18. Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive: Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
No one can be truly happy but the believer in Jesus, for surely no one can be happy while he lies under the load of unpardoned sin, and therefore under the wrath of the Holy One. But when sin is pardoned, and God is our friend, how jubilant may the soul become! How full, how perfect is its peace; how rich its portion, how exhaustless its joy! Light is now sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
The Prince of Peace is at once that soul’s Saviour and its portion. It may walk with “the very God of peace”. It may enjoy “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding”; or to say all in one, “the kingdom of God is within you”; and that is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost”. He who led captivity captive and received gifts for men, even for the rebellious, has taught them to walk with God again. The Lord God is to dwell in them, and walk in them. He is to be their God, and they are to be His sons and daughters.
But the gifts which the Prince of Peace thus received for men are countless. Does the believer veer and change? The unchanging One is now his portion. Does he sin? The God of pardons blots out iniquity. Does the believer pray? God hears and answers. Is the believer afraid? His God defends. Is he bereaved and sad? His God comforts. Is the believer poor? He who led captivity captive imparts unsearchable riches.
In short, his God is a little sanctuary to him. He hides the believer in the hollow of His hand, and even his dying chamber may be turned into the ante-room of glory. Why then should the believer in Jesus be downcast and gloomy? Why should he hang down his head like a bulrush? Why act as if his God were not the Prince of Peace? Away, my soul, with that evil report against the truth. The Lord will no more forget His people than a mother will forget the infant of her love. Arise then from the dust. Look up to the Sun of Righteousness. Reflect some rays of His brightness; walk like a child of the light, and so win others to walk with thee.