Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1013
Delivered on Lord’s-day Morning, October 1st, 1871, by, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
“Let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.”—Psalm 70:4.
THESE WORDS OCCUR at least three times in the book of Psalms, and therefore we may regard them as especially important. When God speaks once, twice, thrice, he doth as it were awaken us to peculiar attention, and call for prompt obedience to what he saith. Let us not be deaf to the divine voice, but let each one say, “Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.”
You will observe that in this, and in the fortieth Psalm, this holy saying is put in opposition to the ungodly speeches of persecutors. The wicked say, “Aha, aha,” therefore let those who love God’s salvation have a common watchword with which to silence the malicious mockeries of the ungodly; let them say, “LET GOD BE MAGNIFIED.” The earnestness of the wicked should be a stimulus to the fervency of the righteous. Surely, if God’s enemies do not spare blasphemy and profanity, if they are always upon the watch to find reasons for casting reproach upon the name and church of Christ, we ought to be more than equally vigilant and diligent in spreading abroad the knowledge of the gospel, which magnifies the name of the Lord. Would to God his church were half as earnest as the synagogue of Satan! Oh that we had, in our holy cause, a tithe of the indefatigable spirit of those Scribes and Pharisees, who compass sea and land to make one proselyte! Even the archfiend shames us by his preserving industry, for he goeth up and down in the earth seeking whom he may destroy!
The clause which we have selected for our text also follows immediately after another which may be looked upon as a stepping-stone to it. Before we can love God’s salvation, we must be seekers of it; hence we read, “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.” There is a duty peculiar to seekers, let them see to it; and then there follows a further obligation peculiar to those who have found what they sought for. Let joy and rejoicing be first realised by the seeker through his receiving personally the grace of God, and then let us go on to a stage further. The fresh convert has his business mainly within; it will be well for him if his heart can, in sincerity, be glad in the Lord. When believers are young and feeble they are not fit for the battle; therefore, let them tarry at home awhile, and under their vine and fig-tree eat the sweet fruits of the gospel, none making them afraid. We do not send our children to hard service; we wait till their limbs are developed, and then appoint them their share in life’s labors. Let the newly called be carried like lambs in the Savior’s bosom, and borne as on eagles’ wings. “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.” But when men have advanced beyond the earliest stage, when they are persuaded that Christ is theirs, and that they have been adopted into the family of God, then let them cheerfully accept active service. Let it not be now the main concern with them to possess a joyous experience on their own account, but let them studiously seek the good of their fellow creatures, and the glory of God. Strong men have strength given them that they may bear burdens and perform labors; light is this burden and blessed is this labor. Let them “say continually, Let God be magnified.” I shall, therefore, hope that anything of earnest exhortation which shall be addressed to believers at this time, will come with double power to those of you who are advanced in the divine life. The more you know of God’s salvation the more you will love it, and the more you love it the more are you bound to recognize the sacred duty and privilege of saying continually, “Let God be magnified.” May each one of you here be willing to take up the obligation if you have enjoyed the benefit.
It may simplify our discourse this morning if we arrange it under three heads. Here is, first, the character: “They that love thy salvation. Here is secondly, the saying: “Let them say continually, Let God be magnified. And here is, thirdly, the wish, the wish of the psalmist and of the psalmist’s master, that all who answer to the character shall use the watchword, and say continually, Let God be magnified.”
I. We will begin, then, by discriminating THE CHARACTER.
The individuals here spoken of are those who love God’s salvation. Then it is implied that they are persons who are saved, because it is not according to nature to love a salvation in which we have no part. We may admire the salvation which is preached, but we shall only love the salvation which is experienced. We may hold orthodox views as to salvation, though not ourselves saved; but we shall not have earnest affection towards it unless we are ourselves redeemed by it from the wrath to come. Saved ones, then, are meant here, and we may add that they are so saved as to be assured of it, and consequently to feel the warm glow of ardent, grateful love. They love God’s salvation because they have grasped it; they possess it, they know they possess it, and, therefore, they prize it, and their hearts are wedded to it. Beloved, I hope that the large proportion of this congregation could say before the heart searching God, “We are saved; we have come all guilty and heavy laden to the foot of the cross; we have looked up, we have seen the flowing of the Savior’s precious blood, we have trusted in him as our atoning sacrifice, and by faith we have received full pardon through his precious blood.” Happy people who have this blessing and know it! May no doubts ever becloud your sky! May you clearly read your titles to the mansions in the skies, written legibly and indelibly in the precious blood of Jesus Christ your Savior. You are the persons to whom we speak to-day; you know, and therefore love the salvation of God.