Psalms 118:1

...We are taught in this Psalm, when we chaunt Allelujah, which meaneth, Praise the Lord, that we should, when we hear the words, "Confess unto the Lord" (ver. 1), praise the Lord. The praise of God could not be expressed in fewer words than these, "For He is good." I see not what can be more solemn than this brevity, since goodness is so peculiarly the quality of God, that the Son of God Himself when addressed by some one as "Good Master," by one, namely, who beholding His flesh, and comprehending not the fulness of His divine nature, considered Him as man only, replied, "Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God." And what is this but to say, If thou wishest to call Me good, recognise Me as God? But since it is addressed, in revelation of things to come, to a people freed from all toil and wandering in pilgrimage, and from all admixture with the wicked, which freedom was given it through the grace of God, who not only doth not evil for evil, but even returneth good for evil; it is most appropriately added, "Because His mercy endureth for ever."

We have been warned and instructed by the Spirit of God to confess to the Lord. And this is the reason given for confessing to the Lord, because He is good. It is briefly said what is deeply thought. Confess, he says, to the Lord. And as if we asked: "Why," the answer is: Because He is good. What more do you seek, or if you seek anything else, what do you seek but the good? Such is the strength of the good that even the wicked seek the good. But the things that are called good are good because they owe their goodness to some good. If we seek all good things from where they have their goodness, let us remember: And God made everything, and behold, it was very good. Therefore there would be nothing good unless it were made by the good. And by what kind of good? A good that nobody made. Therefore, there would be nothing good unless it were made by the good, which itself was not made. The heavens are good, but created good; the angels are good, but created good; the stars, sun and moon, the alternation of night and day, the changes of seasons, the ages of the world, the cycles of the years, the sprouts of trees and herbs, the nature of animals, and among all these, the praising creature, man. All are good, but created good. And they are good from God, not from themselves. He who made these things is above all and is good, because nobody made Him good, but He is good in Himself. Yet He is not good to Himself alone, but also to us. Therefore, confess to the Lord, for He is good.

): O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is not only good in himself, but good to you, and his mercy endures for ever, not only in the everlasting fountain, God himself, but in the never-failing streams of that mercy, which shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity, and in the chosen vessels of mercy, who will be everlasting monuments of it.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

), for God's glory must be the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, of all our addresses to him. Hallowed by thy name, and thine is the glory. And this fitly closes a prophecy of Christ.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

O give thanks unto the Lord,....