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Thanksgiving and Praise

You will say in that day:

I will give thanks to you, O L ord,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away,

and you comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid,

for the L ord G od is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation.

³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴And you will say in that day:

Give thanks to the L ord,

call on his name;

make known his deeds among the nations;

proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing praises to the L ord, for he has done gloriously;

let this be known in all the earth.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

6. Shout and sing. He again exhorts the godly to rejoice in the Lord, at the same time reminding them what is the nature of true joy, and on what it is founded. We have no other happiness than to have God dwelling in the midst of us. But for this, our life would be wretched and unhappy, though we should have abundance of other blessings and of every kind of riches. Now, if our heart be set on our treasure, (Matthew 6:21,) this happiness will attract all our feelings.

The Holy One of Israel. He calls him the Holy One, in order to inform us what he intends to prove himself to be to us, while he dwells with us; that is, that not only his majesty may fill our minds with reverence towards him, for it would at the same time overwhelm us with terror; but that he may vouchsafe to make us the objects of his peculiar care, though separated from the rest of the world. He calls him the Holy One, from the effect produced; for, by gathering us to himself, (Ephesians 1:10,) and saving us by his grace, he may be said to sanctify us to be his own property. Accordingly, if God is with us, the conviction of his presence will fill us with inconceivable joy. Hence it follows that, when he is absent, we continue to be exposed to grief and sadness.

By the words, Shout and sing, he means that when God magnifies his power in the midst of us, he gives us occasion for no ordinary joy. Again, by directly addressing the inhabitants of Zion, he intimates that all are not capable of so great a blessing, and at the same time indirectly exhorts them to maintain unity of faith, that, by being united to the Church, we may partake of this blessed joy.