Psalms 126:3

The Lord hath done great things for us.

Great things for us

I. The fact propounded. Note the personality of the statement. “For us.”

1. As regards our country. Where is there country so fair or land so fertile as ours? Where is such freedom and peace enjoyed?

2. As regards our religious privileges. We have a pure faith, an open Bible, and freedom to worship God as we think best.

3. As regards our individual wants. Homes, friends, food, sustenance, health, etc.

4. As regards our spiritual welfare. We were vile--we are made pure. We were far away--but are now brought nigh. God has done His part in all this, and if our eternal happiness is not assured the fault is ours, not His.

II. The feeling. “Whereof we are glad.” These Jews had been deprived of their privileges for some considerable period, and then, in the desolation of their spirits and in the misery of their servitude, they began to realize the mercies they had so thanklessly enjoyed. Do we not often tempt God to take away our privileges and to deprive us of our mercies? (J. J. S. Bird, B. A.)

Grateful acknowledgment of Divine goodness

I. A pleasing statement. What “great things” God hath done for His people--

1. In redemption.

2. In conversion.

3. In the bestowal of Divine freedom.

4. The enjoyment of Church fellowship.

5. By providential interpositions and deliverances.

6. By spiritual advancement.

II. A joyful statement. This gladness implies--

1. Sensibility.

2. Real enjoyment.

3. Heartfelt gladness.

4. Social gladness. “For us.”

III. Application.

1. Mourn your ingratitude and forgetfulness.

2. Pray for quickening grace.

3. Anticipate the time when you shall be made eternally glad. (Helps for the Pulpit.)

Great things

I. The Lord’s work acknowledged. God is at the head of all our affairs. Many will not give God the glory. Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:30); Herod (Acts 12:21; Acts 12:23).

II. Its greatness recognized.

1. Greater things than we deserved.

2. Greater things than we knew. Greater things than we expected.

III. An interest therein claimed. What advantage is there if we cannot say “for us”? The Jews knew what God had done by the edict of Cyrus. They must take advantage of it. God only opened the way, and constrained them to walk in it.

IV. Joyful gladness expressed.

1. Why are we glad?

(1) The work is so great.

(2) The work is done.

(3) The work is done well.

2. How should we show our gladness?

(1) By a cheerful countenance.

(2) By willing labour.

(3) By generous gifts.

V. Application.

1. Has the Lord done aught for you?

2. Have you acknowledged His hand?

3. Has it made you glad?

4. What are you expecting in the future? (The Study.)

Christian gratitude for the goodness of God: -

I. What things have been done for us?

1. National.

2. Domestic.

3. Personal.

II. Who hath done them?

III. How can we, for whom the Lord has done great things, most properly express our joy, and most profitably evince our gratitude? Those, certainly, may rejoice in benefits received whose consciences only testify to them of judgments deserved. Every one whom God has spared may warrantably believe that he has been spared for purposes of mercy. (T. Dale, M. A.)

Personal experience forceful

In most of the reviews of Mr. Morley’s “Life of Gladstone” attention has been called to the fact that whilst the whole work is a literary masterpiece, the third volume is far above the two previous ones in picturesque and stirring power. The events it records took place under the writer’s own eye, and in them he took a prominent part, and this has given an ease, a freedom, and a force of description that no secondhand reports or most reliable documents can give. That which we have for ourselves seen, tasted, and handled is the part of our testimony that tells and brings conviction to others. (H. O. Mackey.)