Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for ever more. Two ideas are here brought together, — fulness of joy, and the presence of God. Joy is the realisation of God's presence in heaven. This absolute necessity for some distinct and uniform characteristic in order to the enjoyment of heaven seems to be very generally forgotten. The general idea is that everyone is to be perfectly happy there, according to his own inclinations. Heaven is not a place in which the evil disposed could find pleasure if they were put there. Consider what is happiness. On what it depends. Happiness is a relative term. In circumstances precisely the same, one man would be happy and another miserable. To produce happiness, circumstances and character — position and disposition — must agree, and if they do not, either must change so as to become suited to the other. If a man who is now wicked would be happy in heaven, his character must become changed to suit his circumstances. Our Lord Jesus has secured for all who believe on Him the free pardon of all sins. He has opened to all a heaven which they never could have earned by their own acts. But He has never abolished the necessary qualification for actual admittance there. (J. C. Coghlan, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. |
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