Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous people! Give thanks to his holy Name.
Parallel Translations
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Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous people! Give thanks to his holy Name.
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Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
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Be glad in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks to His holy name.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Psalms 97:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 30:4 Sing praise to Yahweh, you saints of his. Give thanks to his holy name.
- Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”
- Psalms 32:11–33:1 Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart! Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright.
- Hebrews 12:10 For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.
- Psalms 60:6 God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.
- Habakkuk 3:17-18 For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
- Zephaniah 3:14-17 Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more. In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.” Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
- Habakkuk 1:12-13 Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish. You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Be mindful of his benefits and only trust in…
Be mindful of his benefits and only trust in his defense.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 97:12 Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and…
Psa 97:12 Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
Ver. 12. Rejoice in the Lord] See Psa 32:11, {See Trapp on "Psa 32:11"}
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At the remembrance of his holiness] That is, of himself; for whatsoever is in God is God; as also of his works and benefits, whereby he giveth you so good occasion to remember him.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In consideration of his holy and righteous nature and…
In consideration of his holy and righteous nature and government, or of his faithfulness in making good that great promise of sending the Messias into the world; for holiness is sometimes taken for faithfulness, which is one part or branch of it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous,.... In the word…
Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous,.... In the word of the Lord, as the Targum; in Christ, the essential Word, in his person, the greatness, glory, and fulness of it; in his righteousness, and in salvation by him, and that always; see Phi 4:4,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness; of his essential holiness, as a divine Person, in which he is glorious, and which appears in all that he has done; and of the holiness of his nature and life, as man and Mediator, which are imputed to his people for their justification; and at the remembrance of that holiness which they have from him, and are made partakers of in sanctification: and at the remembrance of that perfect holiness which they shall have with him in heaven to all eternity. Holiness may also signify his faithfulness in the discharge of his work and office as Mediator, and in the fulfilment of his promises to his people; See Gill on Psa 30:4.
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Next: Psalms Chapter 98
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous] It…
Verse 12. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous] It is your privilege to be happy. Exult in him through whom ye have received the atonement. Rejoice; but let it be in the Lord. All other joy is the mirth of fools, which is as the crackling of thorns under a pot - it is a luminous blaze for a moment, and leaves nothing but smoke and ashes behind.
At the remembrance of his holiness.] But why should you give thanks at the remembrance that God is holy? Because he has said, Be ye holy; for I am holy: and in holiness alone true happiness is to be found. As he, therefore, who hath called you is holy; so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. False Christians hate the doctrine of Christian holiness; they are willing to be holy in another, but not holy in themselves. There is too much cross-bearing and self-denial in the doctrine of holiness for them. A perfect heart they neither expect nor wish.
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The analysis considers the whole Psalm as relating to Jesus Christ and the last judgment: so it was understood by several of the ancient fathers. The reader may take it in either sense.
ANALYSIS OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH PSALM
There are three parts in this Psalm, if we interpret it as referring to our blessed Lord: -
I. A prophetical description of his power and glory, especially at the day of judgment, Ps 97:1-6.
II. A manifest difference between the states of idolaters and the people of God, Ps 97:7-9.
III. An exhortation to love God and hate evil; and the reason on which it is founded: a two-fold gracious reward, Ps 97:10-12.
I. The psalmist begins with a solemn acclamation: "The Lord reigneth." He is the supreme King; and he will use his kingly power both now and in the day of judgment. 1. For the good of his subjects. 2. For the confusion of his enemies.
1. For "clouds and darkness are round about him," as when he gave the law on Mount Sinai. 2. "Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne;" and therefore a just sentence shall come forth against his enemies, and in behalf of his friends, Ps 97:2-5. 3. His appearance shall be very glorious; for the "heavens shall declare it, and all people shall see it," Ps 97:6.
II. The difference between the state of idolaters and the people of God.
1. Confusion and a curse shall fall upon the former: "They shall be confounded," c., Ps 97:7.
2. He exhorts all in power, men - magistrates, c., and all who excel in strength - angels, to worship him: "Worship him, all ye gods," Ps 97:7. All confidence should be reposed in him.
3. God's people rejoice when they find that it is their own Lord who is coming to judgment: "Zion heard, and was glad the daughters of Judah rejoiced," Ps 97:8.
4. And they rejoiced chiefly in knowing that their God "was high above all the earth, and exalted far above all gods," Ps 97:9.
III. The expostulation, which gives us the character by which God's people may be known. He exhorts them to love God, and to hate evil. Hence we see that the true followers of God, 1. Love him 2. Haste evil, as the infallible consequence of loving him, Ps 97:10.
He shows them the gracious reward which God promises.
1. "He preserveth the souls of his saints." Often their lives, in an especial manner, are preserved by him; but always their souls. The accuser of the brethren shall not hurt them.
2. "He delivereth them out of the hands of the wicked." Sometimes out of their hand, that they fall not into it; and sometimes out of their hand, when they are in it. This is their first reward, Ps 97:10.
A second reward is in the next verse: that in their miseries they shall be filled with spiritual happiness, when perhaps they little expect it: "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart," Ps 97:11.
1. By light we may understand a peculiar manifestation of God's favour; comfort, peace, and joy; or deliverance from their spiritual and temporal oppressors.
2. This is sown as a seed. For the light of comfort, of peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Spirit, though it may be clouded in times of heaviness, through manifold temptations, yet it will spring forth again, like the corn, which, after it is sown, lies hidden for some time, under the clods of the earth; yet all that time it is vegetating and coming forth to public view. And deliverance from their enemies, though slow, will come; though the rod of the wicked come into the lot of the just, it shall not rest there.
3. From these premises the psalmist draws this conclusion: Since God is preparing those blessings for you that fear and love him, then, 1. "Rejoice in the Lord;" glory in him as the Fountain of your blessedness. 2. "Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." Remember the good he has done you, the grace he has bestowed on you, and the holiness you may yet receive from him; and rejoice in the encouragement, and give thanks. Rejoice that ye may be holy, for in that your happiness consists.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous - See the…
Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous - See the notes at Psa 33:1.
And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness - Margin, “to the memorial” (compare Psa 30:4). The idea is, “to the memory of his holiness;” that is, when his holiness comes before the mind; when it is remembered; when it is thought of. Give thanks or rejoice,
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(a) that God is holy; that he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; that there is One eternally pure who presides over the universe; that there is One who will always do what is right;
(b) that such a Being is our God - our covenant-keeping God; that we may look to him, trust in him, enjoy him.
Wicked people do not rejoice that there is a God at all, and especially that God is a “holy God;” but it is one of the characteristics of true piety to rejoice in the thought that there is a God, and that he is perfectly holy, and hence, to feel conscious happiness whenever his name is mentioned, and whenever his attributes are referred to. The highest source of joy for man is that there is a God, and that God is exactly what he is, pure and holy. It would be a source of deepest sorrow if there were no God, or if God were in any respect, even the slightest, a different being from what he is.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. Be glad in Jehovah, ye righteous;
12. Be glad in Jehovah, ye righteous;
And give thanks unto his holy name.
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His holy name, lit. the memorial of his holiness. His name is that which brings to remembrance all that He is and does. See Exo_3:15; Psa_135:13.
The first line is from Psa_32:11 a; the second from Psa_30:4 b.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous. Such being the…
Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous. Such being the blessedness of the righteous, they are finally exhorted to "rejoice in the Lord," i.e. to show forth their gratitude to God in psalms and hymns of joy, (comp. Psa_32:11 Psa_33:1-3) and to give thanks to him at the remembrance of his holiness; or rather, to give thanks to his holy memorial, which is the same as giving thanks to his Name. (comp. Psa_30:4, and the comment ad loc. )
Giving thanks for God"s holiness.
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The psalm tells of the Lord coming in majesty and righteousness to judge the world. And here at the end of the psalm the writer remembers this judgment and the holiness which characterized it, and bids all righteous men rejoice.
I WE ARE COMMANDED TO DO THIS to "give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
1. His holiness. " It means not alone his righteous deeds, but yet more his righteous character; not alone for what he does, but for what he is in himself. He cannot be tempted of evil, cannot be moved away from perfect righteousness. God is holy in all his ways.
2. We are to give thanks for this. We are ready to give thanks for God"s providential love and for his redeeming grace; but for his holiness we commonly cherish reverence and awe rather than joyful praise. This is wrong, and we are bidden here rejoice and give thanks.
3. And this whenever we remember his holiness. We do so in retrospect, looking back upon the righteous acts of the Lord. And we do so in prospect, anticipating the time when his will shall be done on earth as in heaven. We are to stay ourselves on the faith that he cometh to judge the earth, and that he shall judge the people righteously.
II IT IS ASSUMED THAT WE ARE RIGHTEOUS. Such, in the first part of the verse, are distinctly appealed to. For only such can obey this command. To the ungodly the holiness of God is hateful; it is to him a constant and awful threatening, a dark cloud lowering over his life; he shrinks from coming into contact with it. How fearful are, often, the deathbeds of such men! And until we are regenerate, and know that we are accepted in Christ, the holiness of God must excite in us fear rather than thanksgiving.
III And that THERE ARE GOOD REASONS FOR SUCH THANKSGIVING. And there are; for:
1. The holiness of God is the sure pledge and guarantee of our redemption. The atoning work of Christ, on which our redemption rests, is no plan whereby God"s love may be satisfied at the expense of his holiness. For nowhere is that holiness more conspicuous than in that atonement. It magnifies the Law, and makes it honourable as nothing else could. (cf. Rom_8:1, Rom_8:2) The tables of the Law in the ark of the covenant, on which the mercy seat rested, symbolized the eternal fact that God"s mercy rests on righteousness; his love is sustained by and based upon his holiness.
2. And it is the assurance of our own holiness, that we shall be made like him. For whatever be the character of any man, one sure effect of it will be that he seeks to make his surroundings like himself. And so the holy God must seek to make his people holy; he cannot be satisfied until they are holy as he is holy.
3. And of our eternal blessedness. Could sin enter heaven, it would cease to be heaven it would be the world over again. But nothing can enter heaven that defileth. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
4. And of the kingdom of God upon earth. The curse wrought by the Fall shall be banished by the redemption of God. Not in us alone, but in humanity at large, shall God"s blessed holy will for our sanctification be done on earth as it is in heaven.
IV AND THAT THERE NEED RE NO REASONS WHY ANY OF US SHOULD NOT "GIVE THANKS AT," ETC. For the two essentials for our thus giving thanks are ours in Christ.
1. We can be reconciled to God in him. Until we are we cannot be thankful for his holiness. But if we will come away from our sins, and confess them, and believe in him, then we shall be reconciled to God, and to us shall be given the new nature, the regeneration, without which we cannot even see the kingdom of God.
2. And we may be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Not forgiven only, but saved from sin itself. (see Eze_36:25, Eze_36:27) And when this is done, then the very thoughts of our heart will be changed, and whereas we could not heretofore do aught but tremble at the remembrance of God"s holiness, now we shall rejoice and give thanks. S.C.
The inspiration of cherished memories.
"Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." Why does not the psalmist say, "at the thought of his holiness"? See that his point is this you may be full of perplexity as you try to understand God"s dealings with you just now; but you can always get comfort from thinking of God"s ways with you in the past. And then you can very easily argue from what God has always been to what God surely is.
I THE PLEASURE OF OUR CHERISHED MEMORIES. We love to live in the past. Like the old soldiers, we are always "fighting our battles o"er." As we grow older, we find more and more pleasure in thinking of our early days school day scenes; youthful friendships; opening struggles; first love. But the Christian finds his great interest in tracing God"s guiding hand. He has no doubt at all about God"s goodness and mercy as he reads over his past. Life seems to him dotted over with pillars, on which over and over again he has written his "Ebenezer" And the "rightness," the "holiness," of God is the thing that so much impresses him. He can see how God led, and where he led, and can say, "It was a good way." Verily the "Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
II THE ARGUMENT FROM OUR CHERISHED MEMORIES. Whatever may be the appearances of things, God is the Unchangeable One; the Rock; the same yesterday, today, and forever. If we know what he was, we know what he is. The better we know what he has been, the more fully and clearly we know what he is doing. No friend can bear that we should doubt that he will always be what we know him to be. We ourselves are distressed when those about us seem to fear lest we should be other than they know us to be. Never distrust God. All the ages tell what he has done, and what he was, and what he is. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 12. Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous. The…
Ver. 12. Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous. The psalmist had bidden the earth rejoice, and here he turns to the excellent of the earth and bids them lead the song. If all others fail to praise the Lord, the godly must not. To them God is peculiarly revealed, by them he should be specially adored.
And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness which is the harmony of all his attributes, the superlative wholeness of his character. This is a terror to the wicked, and a cause of thankfulness to the gracious. To remember that Jehovah is holy is becoming in those who dwell in his courts, to give thanks in consequence of that remembrance is the sure index of their fitness to abide in his presence. In reference to the triumphs of the gospel, this text teaches us to rejoice greatly in its purifying effect; it is the death of sin and the life of virtue. An unholy gospel is no gospel. The holiness of the religion of Jesus is its glory, it is that which makes it glad tidings, since while man is left in his sins no bliss can be his portion. Salvation from sin is the priceless gift of our thrice holy God, therefore let us magnify him for ever and ever. He will fill the world with holiness, and so with happiness, therefore let us glory in his holy name, world without end. Amen.
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Ver. 12. Rejoice in the LORD. We must "rejoice evermore"; for even holy mourning hath the seed of joy in it, which the soul finds by that time it is over, if not in it. William Cooper, in the "Morning Exercises."
Ver. 12. Rejoice in the Lord.
1. Our rejoicing in the Lord denotes our taking a very sincere and cordial pleasure in whatever relates to the ever blessed God, particularly his existence, perfections, and providence; the discoveries of his will to us, especially in his word; the interest we have in him, and the relations wherein we stand to him; his continual protection, guidance and influence; his gracious intercourse with us in the duties of religious worship; and, finally, the hope he has given us of fulness of joy, in his beatific and most glorious presence above.
2. Rejoicing in the Lord signifies that our joy in God is superior to all our other joys, otherwise it is a joy unworthy of him, and no way, or not savingly, profitable to us.
3. Whatever else we rejoice in, we are to rejoice in such a manner, that we may be properly said to rejoice in the Lord, even when other things are the immediate occasions of our joy. The God we serve is not an envious and a malevolent Being, but exceeding liberal and kind; he has created us with an inextinguishable desire after happiness, as a secret intimation that he intends to make us happy, if we do not make ourselves miserable; and while our principal happiness is lodged in himself, and to be found nowhere else, (in which he has shown the singular regard he has to our nature), he feeds our hearts with a thousand little rivulets of joy and satisfaction from created objects: our bodies are endowed with a variety of senses and appetites, and our souls with powers and faculties of their own; nor was any one sense or faculty made in vain, or to lie always idle and useless; but every sense, and much more every mental faculty, has not one, but a great number of things provided to entertain it. But then the soul is not to lose itself in this maze and labyrinth of delight; it is not by this variety to be diverted from that one infinite good, who eminently contains in himself all the various kinds and degrees of true joy. Henry Grove, 1683-1737-8.
Ver. 12. Rejoice...and give thanks. Two things are to be observed: One, that he unites joy in the Lord and praise of God. Rightly: for it is not possible for a man to praise the Lord truly and from the soul, unless he rejoices in Him. Another, that he connects the praise of God with the remembrance of his holiness. And with good reason: for it is the chief use of divine praise, that by the exercise thereof, we should keep fresh in our souls the remembrance of God and of all the blessings received from Him. Thus this verse contains the root and fruit of divine praise. The root is joy in God; the fruit is the remembrance of God and his goodness. Musculus.
Ver. 12. Ye righteous...all ye that are upright in heart. Some may say the just or the righteous man may thus rejoice; but where are any such? "Who can say", saith Solomon, "I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" No; "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." A vain thing may as seem then to exhort men to rejoice, when the condition annexed is such as excludes all from rejoicing To what end is it to incite the just to rejoice when there are none such that may rejoice? The answer is ready at hand in the latter part of the verse. By just are meant all such as are "upright in heart", which clause is added partly to exclude the hypocrite, and partly to temper and qualify the rigour of the term before used, if it were strictly and exactly taken. So that it is a note as well of extent, as of restraint.
1. Of restraint, to exclude from this joy, and all right therein, all dissemblers, all counterfeit Christians, all hollow hearted hypocrites, that repent in the face but not in the heart; that make a sour face that they may seem to fast, saith our Saviour, that justify themselves in the sight of men, but God seeth their hearts what they are, and seeth them to be far other than either they should be, or they pretend themselves to be.
2. Of extent, to extend and enlarge this joy, the ground of it and the right to it, to all that are single and sincere hearted; and so to give and afford a share and a portion in it as well to those that are sincerely righteous on earth, as to those that are perfectly righteous in heaven. It is as a key to let in the one. It is as a bolt to bar out the other. Thomas Gataker.
Ver. 12. Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Be thankful for
1. Its unsullied perfection.
2. Its wondrous forbearance.
3. Its place in our salvation.
4. Its approachableness through Christ.
5. Its predicted triumphs.
W.J.
Ver. 12.
1. A remembrance at which the world does not give thanks.
2. Reasons which make it a matter of thanksgiving with the righteous. Its bearing on the way of salvation; on the doctrines of the gospel; on the law of the Christian life. C.D.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous.
Psa_97:12
Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous.
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The nature of religious joy
I. What is meant by our rejoicing in the lord.
1. It signifies that cordial pleasure, which the serious and devout mind takes in the meditation of Gods existence, perfection, and providence.
2. It signifies our receiving a very great delight from the discoveries of His will to us in His Word.
3. It imports our rejoicing in the interests which He has been graciously pleased to give His people in Himself; and in those comfortable and honourable relations which we stand in to Him.
4. We rejoice in the Lord when we rejoice in His continual protection, guidance and influence.
5. Rejoicing in His gracious intercourses with us in the duties of Divine worship, is another thing intended.
6. The lively hope, to which all those are begotten who love God, of fulness of joy at His right hand, and of rivers of pleasure for evermore, makes them to rejoice in the Lord with joy unspeakable.
II. Rejoicing in the Lord signifies that our joy in God is superior to all our other joys; otherwise it is a joy unworthy of Him, and no way, or not savingly, profitable to us. We can build nothing on such a feeble joy; we have no ground to regard that joy as a grace and fruit of the Spirit, which is extinguished by the joys and pleasures of sense; or so suppressed and overpowered by them, as to have no considerable and lasting effect.
III. Whatever else we rejoice in, we are to rejoice in such a manner that we may be properly said to rejoice in the Lord, even when other things are the immediate occasions of our joy.
1. We rejoice in the Lord in the use and enjoyment of other things, by considering those things which yield us an innocent satisfaction, as the gifts of God, the effects of His unbounded munificence, and the marks of His creative and providential goodness.
2. Our joy in the Lord should be the chief spring of our joy in all the blessings and advantages with which His goodness hath supplied us.
3. The good mans joy in the Lord regulates his joy and delight in other things; being at once an incentive to it as far as it is lawful, and a restraint upon it when it would pass beyond its proper bounds.
4. Then do we rejoice in the Lord, when other joys lift our hearts to Him, are considered and improved as motives to greater diligence and zeal in serving Him here, and increase our desires of enjoying Him hereafter.
IV. Our rejoicing in the Lord, to be worthy of Him, must be constant and permanent: it must not vary as our outward circumstances vary, but subsist the same in all the changes of life. It may be we are deprived of health, or perhaps have trouble in the world; however that be, we are still to rejoice in God.
V. Thus to rejoice in the Lord is both the privilege and the duty of the righteous or sincerely religious.
1. It is their privilege.
(1) It is a very great privilege and happiness to be able to rejoice in the Lord. The object of this joy is the most excellent in the whole compass of being; the joy itself resides in the highest region of the soul; and the effects of it are of all most extensive, beneficial, and lasting.
(2) This privilege is peculiar to the righteous, or sincerely religious; they only can rejoice in God, and they only have a right to do it.
2. To rejoice in the Lord is the duty of those whose distinguishing privilege it is that they can do it. Let me name some of those things which Christians should practise, in order to their being in an actual disposition or preparedness of mind to rejoice in the Lord.
(1) It is their duty to make their calling and election sure, and by an impartial inquiry into the state of their souls, to decide the great question upon which their peace so much depends, viz. Whose they are, and whom they serve; for if they are the children of God, and serve Him in sincerity, nothing else is necessary to their rejoicing in God, but their knowing it.
(2) It is their duty to remove out of the way whatever things they have found, or their reason tells them are hindrances to this holy joy; particularly these two, a multitude of worldly cares, and a too free indulgence to worldly joys and pleasures.
(3) It is the duty of Christians to call upon their souls to rejoice in the Lord. They are not to allow themselves in a heartless melancholy frame; they must not give way to it, as if it were a temper of mind acceptable to God, and creditable to religion; but must endeavour to chide themselves out of it, expostulating with their own souls as (Psa_42:11).
(4) They must make this a frequent petition in their addresses to the throne of grace, that God would uphold them with His free Spirit, and enable them to rejoice in Him: they should entreat Him who is the Father of lights to dart some beams of heavenly light into their souls, that they may not sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death; but walk and rejoice in the light of life. (H. Bonar, D.D.)
The duty of rejoicing
Christians are ready enough to speak of the privilege of being joyful. They regard joy (and with perfect truth, for it is so reckoned by St. Paul) as one of the fruits of the Spirit; and they are too apt to consider as fruits what they may be permitted to taste, rather than what they may be bidden to do. But throughout Scripture joyfulness is just as much a commanded thing as a promised, even as temperance is a commanded thing, and justice and charitableness, though all the while these may be elsewhere exhibited as fruits of the Spirit, forasmuch as it is only through the operations of the Spirit that these qualities can be produced in such form or maintained in such strength, as a righteous God will approve. But being a commanded thing, and not merely a promised, the being joyful is as actually a duty--a duty to be attempted and laboured at by the Christian, as the being temperate or just or faithful or charitable. Yet how little is this thought of, even by those who are in the main jealous and zealous for the commandments of the Lord! God designed and God constructed religion for a cheerful, happy-making thing; and, as though He knew that had He made joyfulness matter only of privilege, numbers would have wanted it, and would have excused the want under the plea of unworthiness, He made it matter of precept, that all might be ready to strive for its attainment. We wish you, then, to consider whether, when rejoicing is thus presented to you under the aspect of a duty, you may not find ground for accusing yourselves of having neglected a duty. Have you not been far too well contented with a state of compunction and contrition and doubt, in place of striving to advance into the glorious liberty of the children of God, and the full and felt appropriation of those rich provisions of the Gospel, with which it is hard to see how any believer can be sad, and without which it is hard to see how any one who knows himself immortal can be cheerful? And has not this very much sprung from your overlooking joyfulness as a duty to be attempted, and fixing your thoughts on it as a privilege to be bestowed? You may have often said to yourselves, Oh! that we had a greater measure of joy and peace in believing; but have you laboured for this greater measure? Have you wrestled with sadness as with a sin? Have you argued with yourselves on the wrongness of being depressed? Have you made memory do its part in telling up Gods gracious acts? Have you made hope do its part in arraying Gods glorious promises? If you have not thus endeavoured to rejoice in the Lord, you are chargeable with having neglected a positive duty, just as much as if you had omitted to use the known means of grace, or to strive after conformity of life to Gods holy law; and the continued spiritual gloom which you find so distressing, may not be more an evidence of disobedience to a command, than the punishment with which God ordains that the disobedience should be followed. And do not for a moment think that you yourselves alone are the sufferers, if rejoicing be a duty and the duty be neglected. The believer has to give an exhibition--a representation of religion; it rests with him to furnish practical evidence of what religion is, and of what religion does. If he fall into sin, then he brings disgrace upon religion, and strengthens many in their persuasion of its having no reality, no worth, as a restraining, sanctifying system. If he be always dispirited and downcast, then he equally brings disgrace upon religion, and strengthens many in their persuasion of its having no reality and no worth as an elevating, happy-making system. Yet there may be a lingering suspicion that the rejoicing in the Lord, so distinctly commanded, is not always possible; that, like some other precepts, it rather marks out what we are bound to aim at than what we may hope to attain. And we may perhaps safely admit that, compassed with infirmities, exposed to trials, and harassed by enemies, the Christian must alternate, in a measure, between gladness and gloom; nay, that since it is more than we can hope, that he may never commit sin, it is more than we can wish that he should never feel sad. Yet is it to be strenuously held that there is such provision in the Gospel for the continued joyfulness of the believer in Christ, that if his joy be ever interrupted, it ought only to be as the suns brightness may be dimmed by the passing cloud, which quickly leaves the firmament as radiant as before? When betrayed into sin, but only then, has the real cause for sorrow; and if he have no heart for sin, and is a true Christian (sin being that which he abhors, although he may be betrayed into its commission), he will indeed grieve at the having failed in obedience, but quickly remembering the power of the Mediators intercession, his heaviness may endure for a night, but joy should return to him in the morning. And it would seem as if the latter clause in our text were intended to meet the objection that there are causes of sorrow which must prevent continued rejoicing. Not content with bidding the righteous rejoice in the Lord, he singles out one of the attributes, one of the distinguishing properties of God, and requires that it be made a subject of special thanksgiving--Give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. We suppose that by adding to the general call for rejoicing, a call for thanksgiving at the remembrance of Gods holiness--that property at which the timid might feel as though it almost stood in their way--the psalmist wished to show that there was no sufficient reason in the circumstances of the true believer why he should not habitually exult in the Lord. There is nothing, it appears, in the attributes of God to prevent, nay, there is nothing but what must encourage, rejoicing. And is it not too self-evident a proposition, to require the being supported by argument, that if there be nothing in God in which we may not rejoice, there can be nothing in the universe at which we ought to be sad? We may conclude, therefore, that it is not asking too much from the believer,--a redeemed man, a baptized man, a justified man, a man for whose good all things work together, a man who may say that all things are his, whether life or death, things present or things to come,--it is not asking too much from him, to ask that his habitual mood be that of gladness, and that he present religion to the world as a peaceful, cheerful, happy-making thing. (H. Melvill, B.D.)
Rejoicing in God
There is no duty more reasonable, more becoming, and agreeable; and yet there is none more generally misunderstood, less inquired into, and worse regulated, than that of rejoicing. Joy seems to be the peculiar privilege of innocent and happy creatures; when, therefore, we consider ourselves as sinners, as poor, and naked, and miserable; polluted with the stain, and loaded with the guilt, of our iniquities; clothed with infirmities, beset with enemies, born to trouble, exposed to danger, always liable, and sometimes obliged, to grief and sorrow; we may be apt upon this melancholy view to think that joy is not made for man, and least of all for Christians; and be tempted to understand our Saviour in the most strict and rigorous sense, when He tells His disciples that they shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. The methods which men usually take to express their joy, seem, at first view, to give the good Christian still farther objections against it; and when he observes that levity of mind, and vanity of thoughts; that excess, intemperance, and licentiousness, which it too often occasions; he thinks he may well be justified, if, with Solomon, he says of laughter that it is mad; and of mirth, what doth it? But these seeming objections against this duty of rejoicing will easily be removed; the nature of it will be fully opened; the benefits we may hope to reap from it will clearly be discerned; and we shall soon be satisfied that joy and gladness is as suitable to our nature and religion, as it is agreeable to our desires and inclinations; if we consider carefully the exhortation in the text.
I. What it is to rejoice in the Lord. It implies our making God the chief, the supreme, and adequate object of our joy. The true nature of joy consists in that agreeable serenity and satisfaction of mind, which we feel upon the presence and fruition of some good. Good, therefore, is the proper object of our joy; good, not in itself alone, but good to us; such as repairs, preserves, advances, exalts, perfects our nature. The good we are to rejoice in must be full, sufficient, and satisfactory; proportionable to the desires, the wants, the necessities; and suitable to the inclinations, the condition, and circumstances of those who are to be delighted with it. It must be an effectual, prevalent, and sovereign good; able to remove from us, not only the present pressure, but the danger, the possibility, or at least the fear of evil. It must be a substantial, lasting, durable good; immortal, like the soul, that is to be satisfied; ever yielding fresh delight, and yet never to be exhausted: in a word, it must be our own proper good; a good, which we may be able to attain, and sure to hold fast; a good always present with us, and never to be taken from us. Now, on all these accounts God alone is the proper and adequate object of our joy. It is He only whom we can truly look upon as a pure, perfect, suitable, sovereign, eternal, and, what is still more, our own, proper, peculiar God. Our joy must be fixed on Him, as our universal, chief, and ultimate good; and upon other things as occasional, subordinate, and instrumental to that.
II. We lawfully may, and are in duty bound, so to rejoice. True joy, when it is founded upon a right principle, directed to its proper object, kept within its due compass, and not suffered to exceed either in its measure, or in its duration, is not only lawful, but commendable; not only what we may, without sin, allow ourselves in, but what we cannot, without folly, abridge ourselves of. Pleasure and good, pain and evil, are but different expressions for one and the same thing. No action is ever forbidden us, but what, upon the whole, brings more pain than pleasure; none is commanded us, but what, all things considered, yields greater degrees of pleasure than it does of pain. And it can never, therefore, be an objection against anything we undertake, that it will cause joy; nor a commendation of any action, that it will produce sorrow. True it is, the great duty of repentance does in the very nature of it include sorrow; but then the end of this sorrow is, that we may be put into a condition of rejoicing the more abundantly. The sense of our sins must make us weep and lament; but then our sorrow will be soon turned into joy. Though our conversion hath its pangs, yet we shall no more remember the anguish, for joy that a new man is born into the world. Whatever reasons we may have for our grief and sorrow, they are mightily overbalanced by those motives that recommend joy and gladness. If the sense of our manifold infirmities, our heinous sins, our grievous sufferings, our violent temptations; if the prosperity of our and Gods enemies; if the calamities of our brethren, and His faithful servants lie hard upon us, and may seem to justify and require a more than ordinary degree of grief; yet in the Lord we have still sufficient matter of rejoicing; of rejoicing in God, who is our Creator, our Preserver, our Father, our Friend; of rejoicing in Christ, in His person, in His office, in the graces He vouchsafes us, in the light of His countenance, in the hopes of His glory, in the greatness of His love, in the exceeding riches of His pardoning mercy, in the fidelity of His promises, in the efficacy of His intercession, in His readiness to assist, in His power to support us in time of need. (Bishop Smalridge.)
Give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.--
Giving thanks at the remembrance of Gods holiness
This command is addressed to the righteous, not because they only ought to obey it, but because they only can obey it, and because, indeed, only they can understand it. If one thing more than another can show the entire and radical change which the Spirit of God, in the hour of regeneration, works upon the hearts of sinners, it is, that after this change has passed upon them they are not merely reconciled to Gods holiness--cannot merely bear the thought of it, even when apprehended far more clearly and powerfully than before--but regard it with complacency and delight.
I. What is implied in this duty.
1. Our being in a state of reconciliation with God. Before we can delight in, and give thanks for the holiness of God, we must be at peace with Him,--we must believe that the flame of consuming wrath which His holiness kindled against us for sin has been quenched by the blood of His own Son poured forth on our behalf,--we must believe that His holiness, which was so awfully against us for sin, is now for us and on our side, because all its demands have been gloriously met by Him who was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him--in short, we must be persuaded that, pacified and propitiated towards us through the atonement of Jesus, Gods holy eye no longer rests on us with the unpitying fury of an avenging Judge, but beams on us with the purest kindness and love of a merciful Father.
2. That we have a new and holy nature; for otherwise we can neither understand nor appreciate the holiness of God. And such a new and holy nature has been wrought by Gods own Spirit in all who have been born again. They have put on the new man which, after God,--that is, in the likeness of God,--is created in righteousness and true holiness. They have been made partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the pollution that is in the world through lust. Possessed of this Divine nature, they begin, in their own finite and imperfect measure, to hate sin as God hates it; they begin, in their own finite and imperfect measure, to love holiness as God loves it; and therefore they remember God with supreme complacency and delight, because they see in Him the perfection of that which their nature loves and approves--the perfection of an absolute and ineffable holiness.
3. The remembrance and contemplation of Gods holiness as this is exhibited in the person and cross of His Son. It is when we behold God subjecting Him who is the partner of His glory and throne, by whom also He made the worlds, to the awful humiliation of taking the nature and the place of His guilty creatures; it is when we survey the sufferings of the worlds Creator and Lord under His Fathers hand,--the sorrow unto death, the bloody sweat, the strong cryings and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, the slow death of shame and woe; and it is when we remember that such suffering on the part of the Divine Sufferer was all absolutely necessary ere God could pardon a single sin, or allow a single sinner to approach the footstool of His mercy:--that we learn how holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.
II. The grounds or reasons of this duty. Why may the righteous well give thanks at the remembrance of Gods holiness?
1. They may well praise God for it, as that which gives lustre and glory to all His other perfections. His holiness is the crown of all His perfections. It ensures, if we may so say, that they shall be exercised in a way worthy of Himself. Oh, when we think that our God is holy, that His wisdom is holy, that His power is holy, that His mercy is holy, that His providence is holy, that all His acts and manifestations of Himself in His government of the universe are, and ever must be, perfectly holy, and worthy of Himself,--well does it become us to join with every creature in heaven, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
2. The righteous may well give thanks at the remembrance of Gods holiness, because the display and vindication of it in the work of their redemption pacify their conscience, and secure their everlasting safety. If He were not absolutely holy, I might well tremble in perpetual terror, lest, after having punished sin in Christ, my Surety, He should refuse to pardon it to me; and lest, having received the price of my redemption from Christ, He should yet deny some of its blessings to me. But well may I give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness, when I think that His absolute holiness is my security,--a security strong and abiding as His own unchangeable nature,--that, having accepted the price of my redemption at the hands of my glorious Surety, He will assuredly bestow on me all its blessings, from the pardon of my sin, to my full investiture with all the riches of glory.
3. The righteous may well give thanks at the remembrance of Gods holiness, when they remember that, however mysterious and trying Gods dealings towards them may be, they are all holy, and designed to promote their holiness.
4. The righteous may well give thanks at the remembrance of Gods holiness, because it is the security and pattern of their own ultimate holiness. You hate sin, O Christian, and long to be delivered from it. Think, then, that the God of your salvation infinitely hates sin, and that His infinite abhorrence of sin is a pledge that He will destroy its power and its being in every soul whom He loves. What comfort, when you are using the means of holiness,--often, as you fear, vainly and with little success,--to think that this is the will of God, even your sanctification; and that, when your will is thus coinciding and co-working with the will of the Omnipotent God, it cannot fail to reach the summit of its highest endeavour! O then, give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness! It is the pledge of the progress and perfection of yours. And not only so, but,--most elevating and ennobling thought of all,--it is the pattern of yours. Your duty is always your privilege; and God commands what He will certainly give, when He says, As He who hath called you is holy, etc. Jesus Christ is the brightness of His Fathers glory. He is the living manifestation of the brightness of the Fathers holiness; and is it not said, We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is? (James Smellie.)
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Psa_98:1-9
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This verse has a command followed by the reason for the command. If your language requires the reason to precede the command: "Because of what Yahweh has done for you, you righteous people, be glad and give thanks when you remember his holiness."
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Be glad in Yahweh
This idiom means to be glad because of what Yahweh has done. AT: "Be glad because of what Yahweh has done" (See: Idiom)
when you remember his holiness
Possible meanings are 1) "when you remember how holy he is" or 2) "to his holy name," a metonym for "to him." (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
holy
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.