The blessedness of the righteous discoursed from Psal. 17, 15 /The blessednesse of the righteous discoursed from Psal. 17, 15 /

1. The Object, the glory beheld: what a spring of pleasure is here? what rivers of pleasure flow hence? In thy presence (saith the Psalmist) is fullness of joy: ¹at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore, The awaking soul, ⟨p. 72⟩having now past the path of life (drawn through Sheol it self, the state of deadly head) appears immediately in this presence; and what makes this presence so joyous, but the pleasant brightness of this face? to be in the presence of any one, and before his face (in conspectu) are equivalent expressions: therefore the Apostle […] this passage, renders it thus, Thou hast […] me with gladness, ²by thy [countenance.] Now in this glorious presence or within view of the face of God is [fullness] of joy, i. e. joy unto satisfaction. And the Apostle Jude speaking of this presence under this name [a presence of glory] tells us of an exceeding joy, ³a jubilation (an [Greek or Hebrew]) that shall attend the presentment of Saints there. The holy Soul now enters the divine Shechinah, the Chamber of presence of the great King, the habitation of his holiness and glory. The place where his honour dwelleth. Here his glory surrounds it with encircling beams: 'tis beset with glory, therefore surely also filled with joy. When the veil is drawn aside: or we are within the veil, in that very presence whither Jesus the forerun••• […] for u• entered (through that path of life) O the satisfying overcoming pleasure of this sight! Now, that it is to us revealed or unveiled glory, which was hidden before. Here the glory set in Majesty (as the expression is,⁴ concerning the glory of the Temple) is presented to view openly and without umbrage. G•d is now no longer seen through an obscuring medium. They are not now shadowed hammerings, transient, oblique glances, but ⟨p. 73⟩