Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1886-11-27

men to remember the goodness of
God and to praise him for it. In fact
"Hallelujah" is the alpha and omega
as well as the keynote and refrain, of
a large majority of the Psalms. Es-
pecially is this true of the one under
consideration. 1t begins with hallelu-
jah and ends with hallelujah. In fact
the exortation to praise God occurs
three times in the very first verse,
and twice again in the text itself,
which very clearly shows that in the
opinion of David it is not only an
important duty, but one likely to be
forgotten, or at any rate neglected,
and as a matter of fact we find this to
be true. Men generally have their
memories loaded with recollections
of dark days and bitter disappoint-
ments, while the mercies of God we
soon forget, so that to murmur and
complain is the rule of human life,
while the song of praise and the note
of gratitude constitute the exception.
Very few indeed come to God as the
agectionate child sometimes comes to
the fond father, throwing its little
arms around the parental neck, and
when asked what it wants, replies,
Nothing, just want to love you"
Seldom indeed do we come to God
lust simply to express our love for
him and our gratitude to him. AS
a rule we come as chronic beggars,
with prayer rather than praise upon
our lips, with requests for future bless
ings, and perhaps with but little graft
tude for past mercies. The Psalmist
guided by inspiration, well under
stood this trait of human nature, and
hence his frequent exhortations to
remind men of their neglect of this
important duty.
The text assigns two reasons why
men should praise COM LIST because
it is a duty, and I'd because it is a
privilege, both of which we find
abnndantly exemplified and illustra-
ted in the life of the Psalmist him
self. Guided then by David's tongue
and David's pen, let us briefly consid-
err, LIST mans duty to praise God. I'd
the privilege Of praising him, and
Sd, the motives melting to praise
That it is a duty, and very impor-
tant one, is abundantly clear from
Gods word. The duty Of prayer is
mentioned in the Bible, it is said
more than five hundred times, and
the eXhortation to praise God occur:
much oftener, so that if the one be q
duty, manifestly so is the other.
To say nothing of the other inspired
pensmen, it is evident that David re
garded it as mans duty not only to be
,. joyous, but togive frequent expression
to his joy and gladness, and that his
opinion was correct is evident from
y the command given by Christ, ere
joice and be exceeding glad" anC
the twice repeated command of Paul
"Rejoice in the Lord Away, anC
again l say, rejoice" From these
oft repeated exhortations it is abun
dainty evident that the Bible regards
it as mans duty not only to be CRATE
full, but glad, and oftentimes to Civ
expression to his gratitude and o
gladness, for praise is but the joyous
! expression of gratitude, but the natur
al and instructive overhowings of tn,
) appreciative soulin thesweetsympho
MES of song, but the feelings of tn
grateful heart set to music.
, Not to feel grateful and glad j
therefore sinful, and not to give eX
preston to these feelings is equal.
) sinful. 1t is doubtless as displeasin!
to God to conceal our joy and graft
tude, as not to cherish such feeling
at all. But to conceal true gratitud
; is perhaps impossible, as it photo
, graphs itself upon the face, manifest
l itself in every movement, and echoe
in every word. That it is mans du
ty to give expression to his feelings c
[ joy and gratitude, both by life ant
lip, is evident again from contras
between the effects produced by sue
expression and those produced by tn
want of it.
), In every community two classes c
men may be found. They may b
u members of the same church, adopt
ing thesame creed, and observing tn
Z same form of worship, or it may bt
: members of the same family, fed W
IL on the same food; breathing the sam
: air, receiving the same blessings, an
u influenced by the same surrounding
and yet their influence upon tn
i would iS nc 1iffarapt DC non NUnll h