Psalms 110:3

Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.

Christ subdues a people to Himself

The glory of a king consists in the multitude of his people. Messiah is a king, but He is described as ruling in the midst of His enemies. Has He, then, none but these over whom He is to reign--none that willingly do Him service? Was He to spend His labour in vain, His time and strength for that which profiteth nothing? No! He should see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in His hand. Jehovah promises to Him, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.”

I. The character and condition of Messiah’s subjects. They are His people--

1. Because they are given to Him by the Father.

2. Because they are bought with a price, even with His own precious blood.

3. Because they are created anew by His Holy Spirit, and so fitted for His service here, and for the full enjoyment of heaven hereafter.

II. The prediction regarding them. They “shall be willing.” Worldly kingdoms have often been established by violence--they rule over the body only, they govern by fear and terror. In all these respects, Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. His people are willing to enter into His kingdom in the way of His own appointment, they are willing to obey the laws of His kingdom, and they are willing to submit to that discipline which His infinite wisdom sees meet for them.

III. The time when, and the means by which, they shall be made willing. “In the day of Thy power.” The exertion of Messiah’s power is requisite to bring the most amiable of the human race cordially to submit to Him as their rightful Lord; and by the exertion of this power, the most hardened rebel may be transformed into a willing subject. (C. Greig, M. A.)

Christ’s triumph and our glory

I. Christ’s triumph.

1. Christ triumphs through us, manifesting His power to destroy sin in the flesh, and to restore the God-like image. He works in us, enabling us to will and to do His good pleasure.

2. His triumph waits upon us. Because He lives, His people shall live for ever.

3. There will come a day when we shall be willing--

(1) To learn of Him. To receive with meekness the truth; to be taught of Him.

(2) To suffer with Him. We shall be willing to humble ourselves, and sacrifice every heart’s desire and ambition to His glory.

(3) To follow Him, in going out after all the lost and erring ones.

(4) To do His will, promptly and perfectly as the angels, who stand around the throne, awaiting His bidding.

II. Our glory. We have a victorious Leader. Our King will come forth in the beauties of holiness. His reign will be refreshing and quickening as dew, every drop reflecting all heaven. He will lead His people gloriously, while they shout their song of triumph. Christ is also our royal priest, the mystery of His birth and succession being prefigured in the person of Melchizedek. His Word is our battle-axe, which strikes devastating blows in the ranks of the enemy. We read of the triumphal entrance of Pompey into Rome, when for two days the procession moved along the Via Sacra. At the head of the procession were carried the brazen tablets, engraven with the names of the conquered nations, the record of the wealth amassed, and the vast increase in the revenues of the empire. The captives followed the triumphal chariot, and as many trophies were displayed as there had been victories gained, either by Pompey or his officers. But how vastly more magnificent and dazzling will be the procession of the heavenly hosts of the redeemed of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues as they enter the New Jerusalem with their King of kings, to crown Him Lord of all. (J. B. Donaldson, D.D.)

Soldier priests

We have here the very heart of the Christian character set forth as being willing consecration; then we have the work which Christian men have to do, and the spirit in which they are to do it, expressed in that metaphor of their priestly attire; and then we have their refreshing and quickening influence upon the world.

I. The subjects of the Priest-King are willing soldiers. We are all soldiers, and He only has to determine our work. We are responsible for the spirit of it, He for its success. Again, there are no mercenaries in these ranks, no pressed men. The soldiers are all volunteers. “Thy people shall be willing.” Constrained obedience is no obedience. The word here rendered “willing” is employed throughout the Levitical law for “freewill offerings.” This glad submission comes from self-consecration and surrender.

II. The soldiers are priests. “The beauties of holiness” is a frequent phrase for the sacerdotal garments, the holy festal attire of the priests of the Lord. So considered, how beautifully it comes in here. The conquering King whom the psalm hymns is a Priest for ever; and He is followed by an army of priests. The soldiers are gathered in the day of the muster, with high courage and willing devotion, ready to fling away their lives; but they are clad not in mail, but in priestly robes, like those who wait before the altar rather than like those who plunge into the fight, like those who encompassed Jericho with the ark for their standard and the trumpets for all their weapons. “The servant of the Lord must not strive.” We cannot scold nor dragoon men to love Jesus Christ. We are to be gentle, long-suffering, not doing our work with passion and self-will, but remembering that gentleness is mightiest, and that we shall best adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour when we go among men with the light caught in the inner sanctuary still irradiating our faces, and our hands full of blessings to bestow on our brethren.

III. The soldier-priests are as dew upon the earth. There are two points in this last clause which may occupy us--that picture of the army as a band of youthful warriors; and that lovely emblem of the dew as applied to Christ’s servants. As to the former--there are many other words of Scripture which carry the same thought, that he who has fellowship with God, and lives in the constant reception of the supernatural life and grace which come from Jesus Christ, possesses the secret of perpetual youth. If we live near Christ, and draw our life from Him, then we may blend the hopes of youth with the experience and memory of age; be at once calm and joyous, wise and strong, preserving the blessedness of each stage of life into that which follows, and thus at last possessing the sweetness and the good of all at once. We may not only bear fruit in old age, but have blossoms, fruit, and flowers--the varying product and adornment of every stage of life united in our characters. Then, with regard to the other point in this final clause--that emblem of the dew comes into view here, I suppose, mainly for the sake of its effect upon the earth. It is as a symbol of the refreshing which a weary world will receive from the conquests and presence of the King and His host, that they are likened to the glittering morning dew. We are meant to gladden, to adorn, to refresh this parched, prosaic world, with a freshness brought from the chambers of the sunrise. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

A willing people and an immutable Leader

I. A promise made to Christ’s people. Here is a promise of time: “in the day of Thy power.” Here is a promise of people: “Thy people.” Here is a promise of disposition: “Thy people shall be willing.” Here is a promise of character: “Thy people shall be willing in the beauties of holiness.” And here is a majestic figure to show the manner in which they shall be brought forth. By a very bold metaphor, they are said to come out as mysteriously as the dew-drops from the womb of the morning. We know not how, but they are produced by God. Philosophy has laboured to discover the origin of dew, and perhaps has guessed it; but to the Eastern, one of the greatest riddles was, out of whose womb came the dew? Who is the mother of those pearly drops? Now, so will God’s people come mysteriously. It will be said by the bystander, “There was nothing in that man’s preaching; I thought I should hear an orator; this man has been made the means of salvation to thousands, and I thought I should hear an eloquent man, but I have heard a great many preachers far more intelligent and intellectual than he; how were these souls converted?” Why, they have come from the womb of the morning, mysterously. Again, the dew-drops--who made them? God speaks; He whispers in the ears of nature, and it weeps for joy at the glad news that the morning is coming. That is how God’s people shall be saved; they come forth from the “womb of the morning” divinely called, divinely brought, divinely blessed, divinely numbered, divinely scattered over the entire surface of the globe, divinely refreshing to the world, they proceed from the “womb of the morning.”

II. A promise made to Christ. “Thou hast the dew of Thy youth.” Ah! believer, this is the great source of Gospel success, that Christ has the dew of His youth. Jesus Christ, personally, has the dew of His youth. Certain leaders in their young days have led their troops to battle, and by the loudness of their voice, and the strength of their bodies, they have inspired their men with courage; but the old warrior hath his hair sown with grey; he begins to be decrepit, and no longer can lead men to battle. It is not so with Jesus Christ. He has still the dew of His youth. The same Christ who led His troops to battle in His early youth leads them now. The arm which smote the sinner with His Word smites now; it is as unpalsied as it was before. The eye which looked upon His friends with gladness, and upon his foemen with a glance most stern and high--that same eye is regarding us now, undimmed, like that of Moses. He has the dew of His youth. So also doctrinally, Christ hath the dew of His youth. Usually, when a religion starts it is very rampant, but it afterwards decays. Look at the religion of Mahommed. For one hundred years or more it threatened to subvert kingdoms, and overturn the whole world, but where are the blades that flashed then? Where are now the willing hands that smote down the foes of Mahommed? Why, his religion has become an old worn-out thing; no one cares about it; and the Turk, sitting on his divan, with his legs crossed, smoking his pipe, is the best image of the Mahommedan religion--old, infirm, effete. But the Christian religion,--ah, it is as fresh as when it shafted from its cradle at Jerusalem; it is as hale, and hearty, and mighty, as when Paul preached it at Athens, or Peter at Jerusalem. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Christ’s people, a willing people

There is here--

1. Something supposed. Namely, that Christ hath a people in the world where He erects His standard, that He hath a special relation to, and interest in. “Thy people,” even His people (Matthew 1:21). He hath bought them with His blood (John 10:15). It is supposed also, that He finds these unwilling to submit to Him, as well as the rest of the world. The corruption of the will is common to them with others.

2. Something ensured to the Mediator, respecting this people of His; namely, that these unwilling people shall be willing, Hebrew, “willingnesses”; which imports that they shall submit to Him, and give away themselves to Him; acknowledge the right which Christ hath to them, and be His people by their own consent (Isaiah 49:18; Isaiah 55:5).

3. The time when, and the way how this shall be done. “In the day of Thy power.” That is, in a day of the Gospel’s coming with power. “For the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.”

I. That corruption of the will, with which Christ finds His people, as well as others, possessed.

1. There is a weakness in their will; they cannot will what is spiritually good and acceptable to God.

2. An aversion to good.

3. A proneness to evil, a woful bent of the will carrying it to sin.

4. A contrariety in the will, to the will of God.

5. Contumacy: the will is wilful or obstinate in evil.

II. The willingness of the soul submitting to Christ. What makes the change? They are made, they do not make themselves willing. The Lord changes their wills, takes away the evil qualities of their will, and gives new qualities.

1. They are willing to part with sin.

2. They are willing to go out of themselves; to cast off all confidence in their attainments and duties; to come to Christ empty, with nothing in them or on them to recommend them to Him but misery.

3. They are willing to take Christ as their Saviour, and to submit to His righteousness.

4. They are willing to take on the yoke of Christ’s commandments.

5. Willing to bear Christ’s Cross, to cleave to Him and His ways, and to follow Him through fire and water.

6. Willing to go away with Christ, for altogether, home to His Father’s house.

III. The day of power.

1. Though the Gospel may be long preached unto a people, yet there are some special seasons that may be looked on as days of power. Days when the Gospel is new to a people, days of persecution, days when there is a spirit of prayer poured out, and times of sealing ordinances, these are more likely than others to be days of power.

2. There is an appointed time for the inbringing of all the elect of God, and that is the particular day of power to them.

3. A dark night usually goes before this day of power.

4. Whenever this day of power comes, the soul is made willing, the fort of the heart is taken, and the King of glory enters in state, turns out the old inhabitants, and puts in new. (T. Boston, D.D.)

The necessity and claims of the missionary enterprise

I. The nature of the work itself. The Gospel is just a voice from heaven calling on the Church to evangelize the world.

II. The necessity of this work. Ill. The prospects of this work.

IV. The relation in which Christians stand to this work. (D. Young.)

The willingness of God’s people

I. God has a people in the world, and there never was a period when He had not.

II. There is a day of His power that shall pass on them for their regeneration and conversion.

1. It is a day, not a natural day of twenty-four hours, that is interrupted by night, but I conceive it means three things--

(1) A period destined for the conversion of His people,

(2) A period perfectly clear to God,

(3) A period limited to time.

2. It is the day of His power. To the perishing sinner the Gospel comes, “not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” It is an arresting power; it meets the sinner, and stays his mad career, as in the case of Saul of Tarsus. It is a convincing power; it teaches the sinner that he is ruined in every respect, and leads him to cry out, “What shall I do to be saved?” It is a life-giving power; it quickens dead souls, and will eventually bring the dead bodies from their graves.

III. The result; that they shall be brought to Him, made willing to part with all things, and to be His voluntary subjects and followers in the world. The power of God does not do away with the liberty of the will, nor does the liberty of the will render unnecessary the exercise of the power of God. (J. Jones.)

The law of least resistance

I. The day of Christ’s power. The day of our Lord’s power was the day when, like Samson, He burst the green withes of death, and carried the gates of the grave up the hill of God. The day of His power was proclaimed to all the world when He ascended up on high and sat down at the right hand of God; and the day of Pentecost witnessed, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the assembled thousands, that, the work of Christ was finished and accepted, and had achieved all the mighty results for which it was undertaken. Ever since then, the day of Christ’s power has continued. All power on earth and in heaven has been given to Him for the purpose of carrying on His mediatorial work.

II. The willingness of the people in the day of the Lord’s power. What a world of meaning is there in that word “willing”! It denotes the condition of one who offers the least resistance to the saving power of Jesus, and in whom, therefore, that power finds it easiest to work and to carry on its gracious purposes. Such a person has no self-will, giving it freely up to be moulded by the Divine will; willing to give up all--to give first the heart and then the life, a living sacrifice.. Such a person is not compelled by law, but impelled by love. “Not my will, but Thine be done,” is his rule not only in regard to the salvation of his soul, but also in regard to all the duties and relations of life. Christ will bless such an one up to the fulness of His own loving heart, because there is nothing in his heart to prevent it.

III. What will the day of power do for them? It will adorn them with the beauty of holiness, and it will renew their youth. The will of God is our sanctification. The dearest wish of His heart is that the fair image in which He created us, and which we have marred by our sin, should be restored. He wishes us to place ourselves unreservedly in His hands, that He may create us anew in Christ Jesus. The glory of the Godhead shines in Him who assumed our nature; and all power is given to Him in order that He may make us conformable to His image. Who would not accept a king to reign over them who could thus make them what they were meant to be--sons of God and heirs of heaven; who could fulfil here and hereafter, to the fullest extent, their prayer, “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us”? But, besides the beauties of holiness, perpetual youthfulness is also what the grace of Christ will produce in those who are willing in the day of His power. In His service the dew of their youth, the brightness of life’s morning, will be ever upon them. He who has the power of an endless life, who is the same yesterday, today, and for ever, will renew their strength from day to day from the fountainhead of His own strength. Eternal life is eternal youth; and He who takes away the old nature of sin and gives the new nature of grace, with it makes all things new. (H. Macmillan, D.D.)

The increase of the Messiah’s kingdom prophetically anticipated

I. The prospect which the text affords.

1. Its nature. Light pours in upon his understanding--Divine influence renews his heart. The kingdom of God is within him, and he is swayed by the sceptre of redeeming love.

2. Its effects. True holiness is, in strict propriety of expression, the holiness of truth--it is excellence of character, produced by excellence of principle. Its moral influence is Divinely designed to be, and actually has been in every age, for the healing of the nations.

3. Its extent. The subjects of the Redeemer’s kingdom shall be numerous as the drops of morning dew, which sparkle upon the grass in countless profusion when the day breaks, and the glory of the rising sun is poured over the earth. Sinners of every class will perceive so much beauty and evidence in Divine truth, that they will have no more power to resist its illumination, to elude its force, and to remain longer in subjection to their errors, their vices, and their prejudices.

II. The certainty of its accomplishment.

1. The immutability of Jehovah’s counsel.

2. The perfection of the Redeemer’s atonement.

3. The invincibility of Divine grace. (W. Hutchings.)

The Gospel dispensation one of power

I. Look at its extent. Superstitions the most powerful and beloved,--systems of philosophy the most specious and plausible,--opinions which are congenial to the human heart, and have been entertained for ages,--and habits, strengthened not merely by personal indulgence, but by the influence of the most remote antiquity,--all give way before the Cross. Conversion of the most degraded and ignorant tribes takes place,--the change effected, and the contrast furnished by it, being more visible, and, therefore, more impressive than former dispensations have witnessed. And the most glorious displays are yet future. The close of this day of power is to be most excessive in its brightness,--at eventide there is to be the purest and the fullest light.

II. The production and increase of piety in men’s souls is more natural to this dispensation than the preceding ones. What was made known under them is not to be compared with what has been made known since, for explicitness and fulness.

III. It is the dispensation of the Spirit. He is the official agent in the conversion and sanctification of men. (A. J. Morris.)

When God marshals His forces

The word rendered “power” has the same ambiguity which that word has in the English of the date of our translation, and for a century later, as you may find in Shakespeare and Milton, who both used it in the sense of “army.” We do not employ “powers” in that meaning, but we do another word which means the same thing, and talk of “forces,” meaning thereby “troops.” “The day of thy power” is not a mere synonym for “the time of thy might,” but means specifically “the day of thine army”; that is, the day when thou dost muster thy forces, and set them in array for the war. The King is going forth to conquest. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)

In the beauties of holiness.

The excellence of Christian morality

The words of the text evidently describe the subjects of the Messiah They illustrate the most distinguishing features of their character and principles. They display the predicted, expected, and now realized superiority of the morality of the Gospel.

I. Its principles. Strictly speaking, religion and true morality are in substance the same. In the Scriptures, the application of religion to practice is expressed by the term “holiness,” and the maturity or perfection of its principles, appearing in the demeanour and actions of men, is elegantly called “the beauties of holiness.” Religion refuses not the aid of reason, when unsophisticated; of the moral sense, when enlightened; or of the eternal distinctions of things, when rightly understood. Nay, religion requires, employs, and retains them all in her service. But above these she exalts, as her peculiar principles of morality.

1. The authority of an all-perfect Being.

2. The operation of faith. True faith is the offspring of light, and the parent of purity. It originates in knowledge and in reason. It is cherished by inquiry and research. It is perfected in the free and full assent of the will, communicated by the Spirit of God, when men are “made willing in the day of His power.”

3. Supreme love to God.

4. To live to the glory of God.

II. Its extent. Social and relative duties are unquestionably of high importance in morality, and politicians and legislators will ever regard them as the most valuable part of religion, because they are most immediately conducive to the external peace and order of states. But shall philosophers, admirers of wisdom, and students of virtue, pious and aspiring inquirers, extend no farther their conceptions of morality? Let persons of this character prosecute their researches with candour and fidelity, and in the Scriptures of truth they shall soon attain to many new and elevating discoveries. In that sacred volume, does not the great God and our Saviour demand assent, not merely to the common position, that He exists, but require that the conviction of His perfections and presence should affect all our actions? Does He not reveal, not merely His counsels, but challenge an active and universal obedience to His will? Does He not claim, not merely respect for His laws, but zeal for His glory? not merely the homage of the body, but fervour of the spirit in serving Him; not merely submission, but confidence; not merely gratitude, but joy; not merely hope, but assurance; not merely desire, but delight in His communion?

III. Its efficacy. The Gospel is, in more respects than one, like the principle of light to which it has been so justly compared. It may be distorted by a false medium, or obscured by the intervention of clouds, yet still it assists vision, still it may be beneficial, still it is light, and preferable, in every case, to darkness. Or it is like the element of heat, which, even though unseen, may latently support and invigorate life. Thus even the worst corruptions of the Christian religion have not utterly extinguished its beneficial tendency. To what but the influence of the Gospel is Europe indebted for her boasted superiority of civilization? What has exalted the whole female sex to respectability, to deference and to love? Without a question it was Christianity. What has mitigated the horrors of war, civilized the manners of nations, attempered the power of the great, and exalted the condition of the poor? It was the same cause. And no system of philosophy, before its appearance, ever produced any similar effects, or ever even attempted such designs.

IV. Its consequences.

1. Exemption from the power of sin and the practice of vice (Romans 6:14; John 8:36).

2. A willing mind in the performance of every duty, with its attendant satisfaction and delight, follows this exemption from the dominion of sin.

3. The evidence thus established, that we are in a state of grace and acceptance with God, is a new consequence and fruit of this invaluable morality. Upon no other presumption can the persuasion of this opinion be founded, than the evidence of our conformity to the standards and precepts of the Gospel, the palpable and genuine proof that we are actually redeemed from sin, exempted from its dominion, habituated to holiness, active in virtue, and made willing in a favoured time of power.

4. The true enjoyment of life results from these principles. Without them all is dark, cheerless, and uncertain. With their support, all is light, joyous, and secure.

5. How delightful a talk would it be to describe the peculiar resources in affliction, which flow from these principles, and the triumph in the arms of death, to which they lead!

6. The preparation for heaven, which they confer, the anticipation of its joys, and consequently the proof of its assured existence, which they afford, is their last and most important consequence. (W. Bennet.)

The secret of moral beauty

If you would make your life truly graceful, truly beautiful, you must go back to conscience, principle, conviction; there must be within you reality, a true godliness and a true consecration to God and to man. You often meet with people whose beauty disappoints you--I mean their moral beauty. They are excellent people, charming people, but somehow or other you are not satisfied with them. What is the matter? There is more amiability than energy. You never like to speak discouragingly about nice people, because there are so few of them; but really some people who are exceedingly amiable are exceedingly unsatisfying. What is the matter with them? It is this--lack of depth, reality, force. They have got more graciousness than they have grit. They make a great many gracious concessions that at last question their conscientiousness. They have a supply of amiability about them that makes you suspect a flabbiness within. No amiability is really satisfactory to men except as it springs from deep, radical, organic conscientiousness, conviction, and devotion. To see lilywork upon a pillar is admirable, but frosted work on a bride-cake is another thing altogether. And I say to you that if you would make your character as you are anxious to make it--graceful, noble, beautiful--there is no way for you but to go back to the roots and foundations of life. If you wish to make yourself right, I say to you: Don’t paint your face; see to it that there is health in the central organs. Don’t revise your etiquette; see to it that you are transformed in the spirit of your mind. Out of the heart are the issues of life, and out of the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit spring at last the real majesty and sweetness of human character. (W. L. Watkinson.)

Thou hast the dew of thy youth.--

The youth of Godhead

Everything young and fresh, everything bright and smiling, everything buoyant and happy, may be traced to the perpetual youth of Godhead, which streams forth for ever and ever, impregnating all receptive souls and substances with its own quality; and it is owing to the unchangeable youth of the Son of God, that every new-born babe, after thousands of years, preserves the freshness and the beauteous innocence of the first-born child of Adam. The fulness of life which rises and dances in every young heart, and the living sunbeams which play upon the face of youth, are from the same one and only eternal source. And after myriads of springtimes in myriads of planets, each succeeding spring is as fresh and full of young vigour and beauty as were the springs before the flood. Every babe, and every spring, and every new morning, are world-types of the everlasting youth of our God. There is no light like the early morning light, there is no air like the early morning air, there is no water like the dew of early morning, and when do the birds sing as they sing in the opening day? Every morning is a new sermon on the youth of Jesus. And the new life that rises with us in the morning, after our nightly death in sleep, is a daily demonstration that life continues young and fresh in its fountain-head. (John Pulsford.)

The dew of Christ’s youth

I. Christ has the dew of His youth.

1. Let me speak first of Christ personally; has He not all the freshness, all the vigour, all the strength of ancient times?

2. It is the same if you think of Him as revealed in His doctrine. The Gospel is always fresh.

3. Our text is also specially true of Christ as revealed in the Bible. There are many other valuable books that have been written; but, as a rule, however valuable they may be, when you have read them half-a-dozen times, you may be quite satisfied that you need not read them any more. You can get to the bottom of all other books; you dive into them, and at first they seem to be very deep; but every time you plunge, they appear to get shallower and shallower, until at last you can see the bottom at a glance. But in God’s Word, every time you dive, the depths grow deeper.

4. Everything that has to do with Christ is always young. Everything lives where He is; for He is life, and in Him there is no death at all; and because lie is life, He is always full of freshness, and therefore doth He scatter living force wheresoever He goeth.

II. What is the reason for this freshness?

1. No man, who understands what it is to have Christ in his heart, will ever get tired of Him through want of variety. You may look at Christ a thousand times, and you shall have, if you please, a thousand different aspects of His beauty.

2. Christ has the dew of His youth because of His excellence. Ah, you thought Christ was sweet when first you tasted Him; but you will know Him to be sweeter still when you know more of Him, and taste and see that He is good; but you can never know all His sweetness, for you can eat, and eat, and yet not discover it all; possibly, scarcely in heaven itself will you know all the sweetness of Christ.

3. Christ will never lose His freshness to us, because He is Divine, and therefore inexhaustible.

4. Another reason why Christ will always have the dew of His youth is, because He meets all the cravings of our nature. When we really have Christ, we feel that we have nothing else that we can wish for.

5. We shall never be tired of Christ, because the need we have of Christ can never cease. “But,” says one, “we shall not need Him in heaven.” Who told you that? Not need Christ in heaven! Why, if you could take Christ away from heaven, you would take heaven away altogether. If I shall not need Christ to cleanse me in heaven, yet I shall want Christ to commune with Him. If I shall not need to pray to Him, I shall want to praise Him. If I shall not need Him as a Shepherd, I shall need Him as a Priest, as a King, that I may for ever serve Him with joy and gladness.

III. What are the lessons we should learn from this truth?

1. For the pulpit, a lesson of admonition. We who occupy the pulpit must take care that we never entertain the idea that the Gospel has become worn out. It still has the dew of its youth.

2. A lesson of self-examination to each one here present. What you should ask yourself is, “Have I found the right Christ?”If the Christ I have found has lost His freshness, is it not very likely that I have found a wrong Christ, one of my own making, one of my own conception? For the real Christ is always fresh, always interesting, always new. Have I not either laid hold of the wrong truth, or held it in the wrong way?

3. A word of aspiration, if Christ has the dew of His youth upon Him, let us, my dear friends who serve the Lord Jesus Christ, aspire to show the world that we do so. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The dew of youth

1. Make sure that your life’s morning is fresh as the dew. The first thing which strikes us in the dew is its transparency. Is your soul transparently clear? Is your conscience without offence toward God and toward men? How is this purity and beauty of soul to be had? Look at the dew-drop again and ask whence comes its jewelled brightness. It is all the sun’s doing. Now, Christ is the Sun of Righteousness. He is wooing you now from all that is low and unworthy, even as the sun woos the vapour from the murky pool. It cannot resists--you can; but will you?

2. Make sure that you keep the freshness of the dew. First by never allowing a stain to remain on your conscience and in your life. That stains will come is inevitable. But let them not remain. But it is not enough to keep clear of stains, or when stains are contracted to have them at once washed away; there must also be a constant renewal of life. You cannot live on the strength of yesterday; you must have the strength of to-day for the work of to-day. Live in time, and for time, and your morning will soon change to sultry noon, to sad afternoon, darkening down to the blackness of night. But accept the eternal life which God gives you in His Son Christ Jesus, and lo! the freshness of the morning is about you all through life. (J. M. Gibson.)

The dew

I. The dew descends from heaven.

1. Every moral production of the earth is impure. Man--systems--institutions--maxims.

2. The productions of the earth may be known by their distinguishing characteristics. The naturalist knows the country of an animal. The botanist, of a plant. The moralist, of a sentiment, or action, or character.

3. The character of the believer proves him not of the world. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

4. The Bible tells his native country.

(1) He is Divine in his parentage.

(2) The Spirit comes down to regenerate him.

(3) Grace comes down to animate and actuate, etc.

5. Do you feel heaven-born and home affections towards heaven?

II. The dew descends during the night.

1. The present is to the heavenly state as night to day. It is now that the believer is regenerated and sanctified.

2. A season of suffering is to one of personal joy, as night is to day. It is in suffering that the believer is most effectually purified.

III. The dew-drops are very plentiful.

1. Believers are a little flock, in any past time--at present--at any one given time.

2. They shall be more numerous during the latter-day glory.

3. They shall be very numerous in heaven.

IV. The dew-drops refresh the vegetable world.

1. Believers, being themselves refreshed, refresh others.

(1) By their conversation.

(2) By their example.

(3) By their prayers.

(4) By their deeds of kindness.

2. Are you to your neighbourhood as a dew from the Lord?

V. Each dew-drop reflects the sun’s image.

1. Man originally bore God’s image.

2. When renewed he again bears it.

3. What is it to have God’s image?

(1) The same views--Bible views.

(2) The same objects--His glory in redemption.

(3) The same character--in heart and life.

4. When the believer thinks of God, how high is the attainment of bearing His image!

5. Do you love His law--doings--designs--character--fellowship--people?

VI. The dew reascends to heaven when it has refreshed the earth.

1. Even now the believer soars aloft--in thought--desire--conversation--hope--confident anticipation.

2. At death, his soul ascends--a constant ascension.

3. At the resurrection, his body ascends.

4. Are your tendencies heavenward?

VII. When the dew ascends, it is in perfect purity, freed from any mixture of earth. (James Stewart.)