12. THE EXERCISE OF THE BLESSED.
12. THE EXERCISE OF THE BLESSED.
O you heavenly multitudes—how are you this night employed? "In beholding him, and praising him, in seeing him, and singing to him. We look on him, and love him; we look to him and are enlightened; we see him, and are like him. No fatigue deadens our devotions, no weakness inclines us to repose! We are immortal, and our theme is eternal—so we cannot be wearied, and it cannot be exhausted!"
What high and beautiful themes are in your songs, then, O you redeemed from among men! O the ravishing paeans of the hosannahs above, and the raptures of the hallelujah on high! O the sweetness of the song of Moses and the Lamb, and the melody of the mingling notes of men and angels! O the sublime subject of the anthem, and the eternity of the concert!
"True, O man! for our day knows no night, our song no pause, our vision no veil, our sun no cloud, our light no shadow, our strength no decay, our felicity no period, our love no allay, and our eternity no end!"
O exalted ones! Do you not pity us, the sons of men—to find us so anxious and eager in the pursuit of lying vanities—as if the things of time could please us? You are honoring Christ to the highest, for he is in your soul, and in your song—in your love, and in your eye. O blessed exercise! O excellency of bliss! The Most High God, in the highest heaven, in the brightest display of his glory, in the sweetest manifestations of his love—is the subject of your song—the object of your adorations—and the plenitude of your possession!
My rest would be your uneasiness; for I must sleep in order to bear the toils of a perishing world—but you rest not day nor night, and yet are sufficient for the ecstasies of an eternal heaven! These are the years of the right hand of the Most High God; the days of the exalted Son of man—of which I long to see. O the strength that flows from that exceeding and eternal weight of glory! the more weight, the more might!
Amazing thought! I shall shortly join in that song, possess that glory, plunge into that bliss, be satisfied with that likeness, see that well-beloved of my soul, burn in that love, share of that fullness, and enter into that joy! Therefore, in my present low condition, it shall be consolation to me to meditate on the sublime employment of the higher house, until I am transported there!