Psalm 137:5-6 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.… I. SOME OF ITS CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES. 1. A spirit of enterprise in behalf of religion. The Jew professed his religion in Babylon; he did not merge his Judaism in Babylonianism. He stood out in Babylon a Jew. Why not stand out a Christian? "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ," says one. You are not to blow the trumpet; but there is another thing you are not to do — you are not to hide the light; you are not to place it under a bed, or under a bushel, or hide it in a cupboard. 2. A lively sympathy with the state of the Church. 3. Zeal for the Church's purity. This must be tempered with prudence and steeped in charity. 4. Prayer and effort for the Church's prosperity. II. SOME OF ITS LEADING PRINCIPLES. They are to be found in the Bible. 1. The love of God. This love has prompted the noblest exertions. Shall I take you over the traces where this public spirit has displayed itself? shall I take you to the spots where apostles suffered, where martyrs bled, where confessors were burnt,? Shall I take you to Smithfield and its fires, or the Grass Market in Edinburgh and its martyrs' fires? What prompted men to such a nobility? It was this mighty principle — the love of God, the love of Christ. 2. A consideration of the connection subsisting between a Christian and Christ and His Church. No Christian lives to himself. The Christian is no isolated man; he is no solitary soldier. He feels himself one of a brotherhood; one of a great fellowship. 3. In proportion as we feel not only for our own things, but for the things of others, and especially for the things of grace, and Christ Jesus, just in that proportion do we most promote our own honour and our own happiness. God, in constructing the human heart, putting it together — putting his labours together, and lacing them together, has so adjusted the chemistry of the heart, the mechanism of the heart, that, if you do good to anybody — either to the body or soul of a man, especially the latter — if you do good, a feeling of pleasure will weave all around the pulsation of your heart; for it is your law, your constitution. God has made you all, so that you cannot do good and not promote your own happiness and your own honour. (J. Beaumont, M. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.WEB: If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. |
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