PSALM CXVI. 17, 18, 19.

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.

How beautiful and how varied are the forms of praise and thanksgiving in the book of Psalms! They appear as the outpourings of a grateful heart before God for the glories of his creation–for succour in the hour of danger–for deliverance from affliction–for national privileges–and for anticipated salvation. There is an earnestness in many of them that lays hold upon our strongest sympathies: for (without speaking of their inspired and prophetic character) they may be truly said to spring from feelings which are natural to every man who is not utterly debased, and in the exercise of which generous tempers ever take delight. The words I have chosen are the conclusion of a Psalm composed by one who had been raised up from some great affliction–his soul had been delivered from death, his eyes from tears, and his feet from falling. I quote them however with no reference to the purpose for which they were first uttered, but because they are well fitted for the occasion that brings us together–to offer in the courts of the Lord's house the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and to call upon the name of the Lord.