Inducements to Public Worship
J. F. Haynes, LL. D. Psalm 122:1-9 I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.… It should be a source of joy to us, even as it was to David, to be regular and punctual in our attendance upon the public means of grace — I. WITH A VIEW TO GOD'S HONOUR AND GLORY. If, on the one hand, the devout and humble worshipper contributes, as he most undoubtedly does, to that great end, then, I ask you whether it does not follow, upon the other hand, that his unnecessary or inexcusable neglect to attend the services of the sanctuary positively dishonours God? II. FOR OUR OWN SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT AND EDIFICATION. We have our own individual cares and anxieties, and our own hard struggles in the race of life, and ofttimes we feel so worn and fagged with the hurry and bustle of the world that we are well nigh ready to sink beneath the pressure upon us, and we experience an intense yearning for rest, an earnest longing for something — perhaps some of us scarcely know what — but something that certainly we find not in the whirl of business or the excitement of pleasure. Ah! thank God, that peace which the world cannot give is to be found here, here in the house of prayer. Every time these doors are opened for public worship, God awaits His hungry, and thirsty, and fainting people, and whispers to each poor, needy, longing soul, "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." III. THAT WE MAY BECOME EXAMPLES FOR GOOD TO THOSE AROUND US. Let me assure you that when you give up for a time the sweet converse of friends and the cheerful glow of the bright fireside, and turn out, it may be, into the blinding snow, or the pelting rain, or the dismal fog, that you may go into the house of the Lord, you do far more by these your silent, but practical, examples than we can hope to accomplish by any amount of persuasion. It was a noble answer that an old saint of God who had been for years very deaf once gave to her minister when he asked her why she was so constant in her attendance at church: — "Though I cannot hear, I come to God's house because I love it, and I love the service, and I wish to be found in His ways, and He gives me many a sweet thought upon the text when it is pointed out to me. Another reason is because I am in the best company, in the most immediate presence of God, and among His saints, the honourable of the earth. I am not satisfied with serving God in private; it is my duty and privilege to honour Him regularly and constantly in public." (J. F. Haynes, LL. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Song of degrees of David.} I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. WEB: I was glad when they said to me, "Let's go to Yahweh's house!"