Present recompense.
It is quite certain that the true and loyal servant of God will be abundantly rewarded; it is not certain when or how he will receive his recompense. There are three spheres in which that reward may lie. It may be largely, almost wholly, in the future. Bitter and protracted persecution may make the present life nearly worthless, so far as happiness is concerned (see 1 Corinthians 15:19). Or it may be largely in the sphere of the spiritual—in the cleansed and pure heart; in elevation of character; in fellowship with God. Or it may be partly in the present and the temporal. Commonly, God rewards his children in all these ways. Our text deals with the last and least of these. If a man fears God and keeps his command-meats, he will, under ordinary conditions, have, as the token of Divine favor—
I. THE REAPING OF THE FRUIT OF HIS LABOR. He "eats the labor of his hands." The builder rejoices in the house which he has erected, the farmer in the fields he has made productive, the florist in the garden he has planted, the author in the book he has written, the statesman in the measures he has passed into law, etc. Apart from the physical comfort it may bring us, we have a pure pleasure in the effect of honest and faithful work. And if a man cherishes a humble and grateful spirit, it is permissible that he enjoys the success which he has achieved, and the honor or the pleasure he has earned by patient industry.
II. DOMESTIC DELIGHTS.
1. Conjugal. (Psalms 128:3.) The wife to her husband, the husband to his wife, is a "goodly heritage"—a joy and a treasure which no prince can confer, no money will buy. True conjugal affection, the outgrowth of mutual esteem, is a source of lasting and elevating gladness of heart, for which all who have possessed it should give heartiest thanks to the Giver of all good. And with a sense of recipiency should be associated a sense of duty; it becomes husband and wife to maintain through life the sweetness and excellency of this attachment; to do this by mutual courtesy, self-sacrifice, concession, tender ministry in health and in sickness, united effort on behalf of others.
2. Parental.