0474. I Will Praise Thee, O Lord

I Will Praise Thee, O Lord

"I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all Thy marvellous works.

"I will be glad and rejoice in Thee: I will sing praise to Thy name, O Thou Most High" (Psa_9:1-2).

This note of praise is not appropriate to past history. It is not to be sung by the Church. It is anticipatory. It looks onward.

This note of praise, by natural sequence, follows the 8th Psalm. Its rhymic cadence follows the time when Jehovah, our Sovereign Lord, has a most excellent name in all the earth.

This note of praise is to be sounded forth, only under certain conditions. Some things must first occur. These conditions and occurrences are clearly marked in the verses immediately following. Let us observe them.

1. "When mine enemies are turned back." Then Israel will praise the Lord. And, when will the enemies of Israel be turned back? "They shall fall and perish at Thy presence." They will be turned back when the Lord’s sword is hot in their hearts; when He overthrows them at Armageddon.

2. "When mine enemies are turned back." Then, and then only, can the following statements contained in Isa_64:4-10 be true:

1. "Thou hast maintained my right and my cause."

2. "Thou satest in the throne judging right."

3. "Thou hast rebuked the heathen."

4. "Thou hast destroyed the wicked."

5. "Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever."

6. "Destructions are come to a perpetual end."

7. "The Lord shall endure for ever."

8. "He shall judge the world in righteousness."

9. He "will be a refuge to the oppressed."

When will the note of praise be sounded? The only answer that can be given, is, when the enemies are turned back, and the nine statements above have met fulfillment.

Surely no one, for a moment, can imagine that statements such as these tabulated above, have already been fulfilled. Destruction has not come to a perpetual end. The Lord is not judging the world in righteousness. Act_17:31 says, "Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man Whom He hath ordained; He hath given assurance of this reign in righteousness, in that He hath raised Christ from the dead. Israel will sing these words of praise, only when Christ reigns; when He maintains His cause; when He sits on His throne; when He has rebuked the heathen, etc., and thus far none of these things have been done.

All Israel will praise the Lord,

When He unsheaths His mighty sword;

When enemies are all turn’d back,

When fierce destruction and attack

Are all forever overthrown;

When Christ sits down on David’s throne,

When He doth judge fom east to west

And refuge gives to the oppressed.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR