by speaking of the contrast which is implied in it.
3. I. First, then, the SPIRIT OF THIS UTTERANCE, for I always love to look at the spirit in which a man writes, or the spirit in which he preaches; in fact, there is vastly more in that than in the words he uses.
4. Now, what would you think is the spirit of these words? “As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness.”
5. First, they breathe the spirit of a man entirely free from envy. Notice, that the Psalmist has been speaking of the wicked. “They are enclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.” “They are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.” But David does not envy them. “Go,” he says, “rich man, in all your riches — go, proud man, in all your pride — go, you happy man, with your abundance of children; I do not envy you; as for me, my lot is different: I can look on you without desiring to have your possessions; I can well keep that commandment, ‘You shall not covet,’ for in your possessions there is nothing worth my love; I set no value upon your earthly treasures; I do not envy you your heaps of glittering dust; for my Redeemer is mine.” The man is above envy, because he thinks that the joy would be no joy to him — that the portion would not suit his disposition. Therefore, he turns his eye heavenward, and says, “As for me I shall behold your face in righteousness.” Oh! beloved, it is a happy thing to be free from envy. Envy is a curse which blights creation; and even Eden’s garden itself would have become defaced, and no longer fair, if the wind of envy could have blown on it; envy tarnishes the gold; envy dims the silver; if envy could breathe on the hot sun, it would quench it; if she could cast her evil eye on the moon, it would be turned into blood, and the stars would flee astonished at her. Envy is accursed of heaven; yes, it is Satan’s firstborn — the vilest of vices. Give a man riches, but let him have envy, and there is the worm at the root of the fair tree; give him happiness, and if he envies another’s lot, what would have been happiness becomes his misery, because it is not as great as that of someone else. But give me freedom from envy; let me be content with what God has given me, let me say, “You may have yours, I will not envy you — I am satisfied with mine”; indeed, give me such a love to my fellow creatures that I can rejoice in their joy, and the more they have the more glad I am for it. My candle will burn no less brightly because theirs outshines it. I can rejoice in their prosperity. Then am I happy, for all around tends to make me blissful, when I can rejoice in the joys of others, and make their gladness my own. Envy! oh! may God deliver us from it! But how, in truth, can we get rid of it so well as by believing that you have something that is not on earth, but in heaven? If we can look upon all the things in the world and say, “As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied by and by!” then we cannot envy other men, because their lot would not be adapted to our peculiar taste. Does the ox envy the lion? No, for it cannot feed upon the carcass. Does the dove grieve because the raven can gloat itself on carrion? No, for it lives on other food. Will the eagle envy the wren for his tiny nest? Oh, no! So the Christian will mount aloft as the eagle, spreading his broad wings, he will fly up to his eyrie among the stars, where God has made him his nest, saying, “As for me, I will dwell here; I look upon the low places of this earth with contempt; I do not envy your greatness, you mighty emperors; I do not desire your fame, you mighty warriors; I do not ask for wealth, oh Croesus; {a} I do not beg for your power, oh Caesar; as for me, I have something else; my portion is the Lord.” The text breathes the spirit of a man free from envy. May God give that to us!
6. Then, secondly, you can see that there is about it the air of a man who is looking into the future. Read the passage thoroughly, and you will see that it all relates to the future; because it says, “As for me, I shall.” It has nothing to do with the present: it does not say, “As for me I do, or I am, So-and-So,” but “As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake.” The Psalmist looks beyond the grave into another world; he overlooks the narrow deathbed where he has to sleep, and he says, “When I awake.” How happy is that man who has an eye to the future; even in worldly things we esteem that man who looks beyond the present day; he who spends all his money as it comes in will soon bring himself to rags. He who lives on the present is a fool; but wise men are content to look after future things. When Milton penned his book he might know, perhaps, that he would have little fame in his lifetime; but he said, “I shall be honoured when my head shall sleep in the grave.” Thus have other worthies been content to tarry until time has broken the earthen pitcher, and allowed the lamp to blaze; as for honour, they said, “We will leave that to the future, for that fame which comes late is often most enduring,” and they lived upon the “shall” and fed upon the future. “I shall be satisfied” by and by. So says the Christian. I ask no royal pomp or fame now; I am prepared to wait, I have an interest in my future estate; I do not want a pitiful estate here — I will tarry until I get my domains in heaven, those broad and beautiful domains that God has provided for those who love him. Well content will I be to fold my arms and sit down in the cottage, for I shall have a mansion from God, “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Do any of you know what it is to live on the future — to live on expectation — to live on what you are to have in the next world — to feast yourselves with some of the fruit of the tree of life that fall from heaven — to live upon the manna of expectation which falls in the wilderness, and to drink that stream of nectar which gushes from the throne of God? Have you ever gone to the great Niagara of hope, and drank the spray with ravishing delight; for the very spray of heaven is glory to one’s soul! Have you ever lived on the future, and said, “As for me I shall have something, by and by?” Why, this is the highest motive that can actuate a man. I suppose this was what made Luther so bold, when he stood before his great audience of kings and lords, and said, “I stand by the truth that I have written, and will so stand by it until I die; so help me God!” I think he must have said, “I shall be satisfied by and by; I am not satisfied now, but I shall be soon.” For this the missionary ventures the stormy sea; for this he treads the barbarous shore; for this he goes into inhospitable climes, and risks his life, because he knows there is a payment to come by and by. I sometimes laughingly tell my friends when I receive a favour from them, that I cannot return it, but chalk it up to my Master in heaven, for they shall be satisfied when they awake in his likeness. There are many things that we may never hope to be rewarded for here, but that shall be remembered before the throne hereafter, not of debt, but of grace. Like a poor minister I heard of, who, walking to a rustic chapel to preach, was met by a clergyman who had a far richer berth. He asked the poor man what he expected to have for his preaching. “Well,” he said, “I expect to have a crown.” “Ah!” said the clergyman, “I have not been in the habit of preaching for less than a guinea, anyhow.” “Oh!” said the other, “I am obliged to be content with a crown, and what is more, I do not have my crown now, but I have to wait for that in the future.” The clergyman little thought that he meant the “crown of life that fades not away!” Christian! live on the future; seek nothing here, but expect that you shall shine when you shall come in the likeness of Jesus, with him to be admired, and to kneel before his face adoringly. The Psalmist had an eye to the future.
7. And again, upon this point, you can see that David, at the time he wrote this, was full of faith. The text is fragrant with confidence. “As for me,” says David, no perhaps about it; “I will behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I wake in your likeness.” If some men should say so now, they would be called fanatics, and it would be considered presumption for any man to say, “I will behold your face, I shall be satisfied”; and I think there are many now in this world who think it is quite impossible for a man to say for a certainty, “I know, I am sure, I am certain.” But, beloved, there are not one or two, but there are thousands and thousands of God’s people alive in this world who can say with an assured confidence, no more doubting it than their very existence, “I will behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake in your likeness.” It is possible, though perhaps not very easy, to attain to that high and eminent position when we can say no longer, do I hope, but I know; no longer do I trust, but I am persuaded; I have a happy confidence; I am sure of it; I am certain; for God has so revealed