Strength and Beauty
Psalm 96:6
Honor and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.


Strength and beauty are not always found in company, either in the works of God or of man. The lily is beautiful, but a child's foot may crush it; the gale is mighty, but it is the opposite of loveliness. In the works of man beauty is often allied to the fragile, and strength to the coarse and ungainly. But in the sanctuary of God they meet in undivided perfection.

I. THE STRENGTH AND BEAUTY OF ATTRACTION. Here is found an attraction mightier than the magnet: it is not a law which acts upon matter, but a life which acts upon mind; a life which enlightens our darkness, quickens the conscience, sways the will, gives hope to the heart, bounding pleasure to the affections.

II. THE STRENGTH AND BEAUTY OF AN UNFLINCHING PURPOSE — to reign, to save, to judge (vers. 2, 10). This golden chain has never been broken, never been damaged, never been seen, by the enemy. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," etc.

III. THE STRENGTH AND BEAUTY OF A PERFECT ORGANIZATION. It does not grow old; it is a stranger to decay; there is no friction, no loss of power. It is sublimely perfect, and immortal as the years of the Most High.

IV. THE STRENGTH AND BEAUTY OF IMPARTED CHARACTER. The true worshipper comes not only to admire, but to imbibe, be assimilated to the Father; justification is imputed, sanctification is imparted; under the robe of righteousness there must be the holy body, and beneath the manners and bearing of the outward man there must be enshrined, enthroned, the Lord and Saviour of the soul (Psalm 100:4).

(H. T. Miller.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

WEB: Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.




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