morn, and such, say some, is "the joyful sound" to which the Psalmist refers. But this appears to us fanciful. Something more, certainly, is meant by the people knowing it, than simply, those who lived to see the arrival of the Jubilee and shared its rites.

The Gospel receives many appellations in Scripture. Sometimes it is denominated "the truth;" sometimes "the word of life;" sometimes "the mystery of godliness;" sometimes "the salvation of God;" sometimes "good tidings, or glad tidings of joy." In the passage before us, the phrase, “the joyful sound," in the estimation of many, may not have been intended to signify literally the gospel. Admitting it not to do so, none will deny that by way of accommodation, the words of our text and the verses which immediately follow, may, with the greatest propriety, be applied to those enjoying the proclamations of the gospel; for blessed must any people be that know its joyful sound. But there is no need for such an admission. Our opinion decidedly is, that this passage refers prospectively to the gospel. It contains its sentiment-it employs its very phraseology. Did not the angel who descended on the plains of Bethlehem proclaim the gospel to be "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people," almost the very language of the text? Did not the religion of the Jews include many prophecies respecting that period when Christ was to come into the world and establish a new dynasty? and did not these prophecies speak of it as a period of happiness? Even literally, therefore, we would interpret, "the joyful sound" as referring, in part at at least, to the gospel dispensation.

But although we say the text is not to be understood literally of the Jubilee, we at the same time say, the phraseology of the text is borrowed from it. And, with inimitable beauty is the allusion made to it. Who can tell the thrill of joy which the first blast of the trumpet, falling upon the ear, would give to the captive Jew, or slave? It is asserting no

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more than the truth, when we assert it must have been " a joyful sound." But if the rejoicing among the Jews occasioned by the return of the Jubilee, was so great, how much more should the Gospel, come to us through Jesus Christ, be a joyful sound!" If the Jubilee brought liberty to the captive Israelite, does not the Gospel bring to the sinner freedom from the power and dominion of sin, from the influence of Satan, from the wrath of God, and from the woes of the world to come? If the Jubilee enriched the impoverished Jew by causing his forfeited houses and lands return to his possession, does not the Gospel enrich us, first, with "the pearl of great price," and then " with that inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, and fadeth not away?" If the Jubilee was ushered in with mirth and gladness, and with the sound of trumpets echoing from corner to corner of Judah's realm, was not the Gospel ushered into our world with the song of angels and the minstrelsy of seraphs? The gospel, therefore, when contrasted with the Jubilee of the Jews, is well entitled to the appellation of " the joyful sound." The one was but a short and transient festival, the other is a festival to continue for eternity.

II. The reasons why the gospel may be denominated the joyful sound. It may receive this appellation,

1st, Because it announces a Saviour born. The birth-day of a prince or sovereign is one of general joy to a loyal and patriotic people. It is an event on which depends much of a nation's coming happiness or future misery. It dawns upon it with the sweetness of hope or the anxious forebodings of uncertainty. It comes welcomed as ushering into the world a son of liberty, or hated as the bearer of one rising to oppress and tyrannize. The methods according to which this joy is demonstrated are different in different countries. In ancient times chieftains rallied around their sovereign, the palace was crowded, congratulations were exchanged, and rich and

splendid gifts were presented. In modern times all is bustle and activity; winged couriers speed their flight to tell the tidings to distant provinces; nobles and statesmen are seen hurrying to and fro; the bells of every city and village ring a merry peal; and for a season all is one " wide and rejoicing Jubilee," in palace and cottage, in court and camp.

At the birth of Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, no such demonstrations of joy were exhibited. Not a harp in Israel was struck to celebrate the auspicious event ; not a hallelujah of triumph was raised; not a hosannah was sung by priest or Levite. "He came unto his own, but his own received him not." But if earth was silent, and apparently little interested in the birth of this "Prince of Peace," not so mute, not so uninterested was heaven above. From a multitude of the celestial host burst forth the enraptured anthem "Glory to God in the highest;" and as if to make that anthem float more smoothly along, all earth was hushed into uninterrupted peace. The tumults of war had ceased, the trumpet was hung in the hall, the sword was turned into a ploughshare, the spear was beat into a pruning hook; to the eye of angel or seraph the whole world was calm and still, as the expanse of ocean smiling sweetly to the sun of a summer's morn. The joy manifested on that morn has been felt and manifested ever since by the Church of Christ, by "the people" of God. When they meditate on the dignity of the personage born, on the purpose for which he became incarnate, and on the effects which his appearance has produced already; and when they reflect that all this is communicated to them by the gospel, readily do they acknowledge that gospel to be "the joyful sound."

2d, Because it tells of the mercy of God. Mercy is one of the brightest attributes of Jehovah. The sacred writers speak of it in the sublimest language; in language, we had almost said, more befitting the lips of angels than the lips of men. "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faith

fulness reacheth even to the clouds." It was in the scheme of man's redemption that this attribute of the divine nature was, for ought we know, first manifested to the universe. During that eternity which elapsed before the foundations of the earth were laid, no discovery of it was made; angels had not seen a display of it; not one inhabitant of heaven had ever beheld an emanation of this glory of his uncreated God. Of this attribute creation speaks not, and respecting it providence is silent. Creation speaks of the power, the wisdom, the goodness, and the love of Jehovah. "The heavens declare his glory, the firmament showeth forth his handywork.” This much does nature unfold to us of the character of God, but she does not and she cannot unfold to us more; she cannot inform us of mercy, that "darling attribute." No object, no creature in all her wide domain furnishes us with this intelligence. We see it not in the fairest flower, we hear it not in the softest gale, we feel it not in the richest odour, or the sweetest perfume. Creation, with all her wonders, and all her beauties, and all her terrors, only tell us,

"He plants his footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm !"

The gospel reveals the mercy of God to man, and is therefore "the joyful sound." It is true it imparts some other revelations besides those of mercy: it imparts revelations of his wrath and justice. Reference is often made to these in scripture, and the metaphors employed in such references are frequently sublime. "A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about." "He looketh on the earth and it trembleth; he toucheth the hills and they smoke." Such are the exhibitions which the gospel makes, and such are the pictures which the gospel draws of the wrath and justice of the Almighty. But it is upon the enrapturing theme of mercy to man that it principally dwells. This is the burden of "its tidings;" this is the chorus of its every song; this is

the grand and prominent point in its every promise. It runs through the volume of inspiration "like a thread of gold through a web of silk." It utters the first promise to Adam ; it builds the ark to Noah; it spans the heavens with a rainbow, pledging that no deluge is to be repeated; it erects the cities of refuge; it uplifts the brazen serpent in the wilderness for the bitten Israelite, and cries-look and live; it weeps over Jerusalem; it elevates the Saviour on the cross; it shuts hell; it opens heaven. In the gospel "mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace kiss each other.”

3d, Because it animates the Christian to duty. The gospel removes sorrow and dissipates grief. It enables the Christian to "rejoice with a joy unspeakable." It inspires him with zeal, and cheers him with hope. Like a herald of mercy, it proclaims in his ear" the joyful sound." It is to him "a rainbow in the storm."

There is not a duty that is more frequently inculcated in the word of God than perseverance in holiness; and there is not a better evidence than "not being weary in well-doing," of the soul of the Christian being in a healthy and vigorous state. It is cheering-it is truly inspiriting to behold him proceeding from strength to strength, accelerating every day his pace, and with this acceleration acquiring renewed vigour and renewed energy, manifesting greater and greater earnestness in the cause of God and salvation, and becoming more devoted to his Saviour, and less devoted to time, the nearer he approaches an unseen world—becoming firmer in the faith, keener for the conflict and more resolute on victory, till affliction arrest him in his upward course, till death warn him to appear before his judge, till that judge assure him he has gained the prize. For one that we meet with in the world thus resolute and intent on salvation, and thus advancing from grace to grace, we meet with hundreds who are careless and indifferent-who are neither cold nor hot-who are neither proceeding nor retrograding who are neither stead