The joy of men in a Redeemer.
"They joy before thee," in view of the Redeemer thou hast sent. There can be no joy like that men feel in the acceptance of God's "unspeakable gift." Illustrate by the song and chorus of the angels at Bethlehem: "Unto you is born a Savior;" "Glory to God in the highest." And by the triumph-song of the redeemed ones in the glory: "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, "etc. There had been times of great rejoicing in the history of Israel, such as in the days of Solomon (2 Kings 4:20; 2 Kings 22:13); and of riotous feasting, as in days of Uzziah (Isaiah 5:11-14). But such joy was merely passing excitement; it was as the "crackling of thorns under a pot" compared with the deep, lasting joy of the time when Jesus, the Redeemer from sin and all its consequences, bowed the heavens, came down, and dwelt among men. We ask
I. WHY MEN SHOULD CHIEFLY REJOICE IN A REDEEMER.
1. Because the one thing man needs above all others is redemption; not science, not revelation, not civilization, not morality, not social elevation. Man is in one condition whose interests are, to him, supreme—he is a sinner, and so his supreme need is a Savior. With the need and the supply the Word of God fully deals. It is the Divine message to man, the sinner. Its voice may be translated thus: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help found."
2. Because this one thing, redemption, is wholly beyond man's attainment. We are amazed at what man ear, do, in overcoming material obstacles and yoking to his service the giant forces of nature. Bat at redemption from sin man is arrested; there his power ceases. "No man can redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him." God is represented as saying, "I looked, and there was no man … therefore mine own arm brought salvation."
3. Because man had no reason to expect redemption, and could make no claim to Divine intervention. Redemption is a sovereign device, a display of infinite mercy, a work of unbought love. Its root is, "God is love."
II. WHAT KIND OF JOY THEIRS SHOULD BE WHO HAVE PROVED HOW HE CAN REDEEM. There are two figures blended in the text. Joy of harvest. Joy of victors on dividing the spoil of battle-fields. They suggest—
1. The joy of possession—a harvest of supply for coming needs, spoil from the tents of the foe.
2. The joy of triumph. To possess the enemy's camp is proof that the foe is wholly vanquished. Jesus, as our Redeemer, has "led captivity captive, and received gifts for men."—R.T.