Oh gratitude, gratitude !--What amount of thankfulness can ever equal infinite obligations? "Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can show forth all His praise?" Psa. cvi. 2. Surely "it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High. To show forth Thy loving kindness in the morning and Thy faithfulness every night." Psa. xcii. 1, 2. Gratitude adorns the believing soul. "Praise is comely for the upright." A thankful heart must needs be a happy heart. Let us, then, cultivate gratitude. It is one of the fairest and most useful flowers in the garden of the soul. It should be the first to blossom, and the last to fade, in every believer's breast. Its presence is always pleasant, and its odor sweeter than the richest perfumes. Gratitude gladdens the heart in which it dwells, and imparts its gladness. to the hearts of others. It dispels melancholy. It dissipates care. It begets cheerfulness, and it throws a charm over all the little incidents of life. A grateful man is sure to be a contented man. No fretful thought, no murmuring disposition, can remain long in the breast of a grateful Christian. Whatsoever his lot in life may be, he will neither envy the position of others, nor repine against his own. He will look around him with a contented mind, because he looks upward with a thankful heart. Holy gratitude is an assemblage of graces-a combination of virtues-the gathered honey of the choicest flowers a moral constellation of the brightest stars. Examine it steadfastly by the glass of the Word, and you will observe in it the collected lights of faith and love, of humility and contentment, of obedience and temperance, of meekness and goodness, of peace and hope, and joy. Gratitude is a mirror in the soul, reflecting the image of its several benefits. It is as a bright rainbow in our spiritual atmosphere, displaying the various colors of the rays that call it into being. It is as the "apple-tree amongst the trees of the wood," Cant. ii. 3, dropping its ripest fruits upon the earth, which gives existence to itself and them. It has been likened to a verdant willow, bending gracefully her boughs to kiss the waters that refresh her roots. Gratitude is like a tidal wave returning with all its gatherings to the ocean whence it flowed. It is like a sunbeam sparkling on the waters, and then darting a bright ray to heaven ere it dies. It is like an infant with its joyous countenance smiling back a mother's look of love. It is like an awakened echo in the heart, responding to the voice of its gracious benefactor. Gratitude is a noble and ennobling virtue. It glorifies the Lord and enriches the believer. It elevates its possessor, and inspires him with joy. Who shall describe the happiness of a believing grateful heart "When o'er the soul a pleasure steals A little heaven ?" H. V. T. Yes, sanctified gratitude is heaven begun. The city of the living God abounds with worshippers, it resounds with hallelujahs. The voice of angels is praise. The language of the saints is adoration. The anthems of the Church below, are her responses to the symphonies of the Church above. Gratitude is the music of heaven in the soul. The full swell of the benevolence of the Most High, meets a most perfect concord in the everlasting gratitude of the redeemed. Let gratitude then abound on the earth. Let it continually actuate every believer's breast. Let us set ourselves diligently to prayer; let us also set ourselves diligently to praise. "Pray without ceasing," says the apostle; and immediately adds, "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess. v. 17, 18. Obey this command, O believer. Look around you for causes of thankfulness. Be eagle-eyed to discern › your mercies, rather than your miseries. See how many they are in the house, and in the street-in the country, and in the city-in your own person, and in your familyamong your relatives, and throughout your friends-in your native country, and in the world at large. Look not always at the dark spots in every picture, lest your mind be darkened like them. Fix your eyes also on the bright and the beautiful, that your mind may reflect your image. Let the one teach you to pray. Let the other teach you to praise. Stir thyself up, O Christian, and be not slothful. Call home thy wandering thoughts; be not ungrateful. It is the will of God that thou shouldst be thankful, and He has given thee innumerable reasons to be so. Search the two worlds of matter and of spirit, with which thou art closely connected in soul and body. Behold how they abound with tokens of the beneficence of thy God. Thy creation is a marvel. Thy preservation is a miracle. Thy redemption is a theme of love and joy unspeakable and full of glory. Who called thee out of nothing, and gave thee being ?-The God of love. Who preserved thy being in its frailest hour, and fed and nourished thee to thy present strength ?—The God of love. Who gives thee health and raiment, and friends and fortune, encircling thee with His zone of blessings?—The God of love. Who bears with thy waywardness, and forbears with thy provocations, the coldness of thy affection, and the shortcomings of thy gratitude?—The God of love. Who gives thee "means of grace" for the well-being of thy soul, and sets before thee the "hope of glory" for the encouragement of thy fainting spirit?-The God of love. Who spared not His own Son, but freely delivered Him unto death for us all ?—The God of love. Wilt thou not, then, most fervently say with David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits?" Yes, O believer, it is the Lord Jehovah who "performeth all things" for thee. Psa. lvii. 2. Give Him then the honor which is so justly due; and let not even affliction hinder His name is holy. His nature is holy and just and good. What thee from praising God. holy. All His ways are ever may have been the trials of thy past life, believe that the Lord is holy in every thought of His mind, in every feeling of His heart, and in every act of His hand, towards thee. And whatever may be the burdens that now press down thy soul, believe that the Lord is holy in laying them thee. Yea, seek to rise higher than this. Seek with the apostle to glory even in infirmities, and to bless God. upon unfeignedly for afflictions. Those burdens by which he bows thee down are blessings in disguise. Those burdens are benefits. Despise them not. The drag upon thy chariot-wheel saves thee from destruction. The time is coming when each afflicted believer shall be enabled to say of the Lord, "Bless His holy name, all my bitterest sorrows have worked together for my eternal good." Anticipate, then, this song of gratitude. If thou art to bless God in heaven for all things, bless Him also now for them on the earth. Stir up thy heart. Call loudly on thy slumbering soul. Invoke continually the quickening Spirit to rouse "all that is within thee" to this angelic work of praising God. up Remember, O Christian, for thy encouragement, that it is the blessed office of the Spirit of God to fill thy heart with thankfulness. It was not from mere natural disposition that David here praised God. Of ourselves we should never exhibit true spiritual gratitude to our Maker. Our lips are closed, because our hearts are dead in spiritual insensibility. God is not regarded as the Giver, and the Doer, of all things. In our sleep by night, and our food by day, in the light we see, and in the air we breathe, we behold not the Lord, and therefore we give Him not the tribute of special thanksgiving. The natural heart takes all these mercies as its right, and as matters of course; therefore it must be quickened and instructed by the Spirit of Grace. The cold, ungrateful soul, must be warmed by the fire of a Saviour's love, and then will the closed lips be opened; then will the voice of gratitude be heard saying, |