Chapter 6. The Garment of Praise-excerpts

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness... (Isaiah 61:3d)

"...whereas the first [sacred exchange] adorned the face with beauty, and the second anointed the head with joy, this last and widest covers the whole person with a garment of praise. Man's first garment was of his own making, and it could not cover his shame; but this garment is of God's making, and it makes us comfortable in ourselves and comely in the sight of God and man. Those to whom God gives the garment of praise are better adorned than Solomon in all his glory." (page 113)

The spirit of heaviness..."shall be removed. The blessings that Jesus gives to us are not surface ones, yet they touch the center of our being. At first, we may not perceive their depth, but only know that beauty is given instead of ashes....However, in the words before us, the very spirit of heaviness--the fountain from where the mourning flows, the hearth upon which the ashes are burned--is dealt with and taken away." (page 114)

"Faith, too, that blessed gift of God, works to the clearing away of heaviness, wherever it resides....Faith takes the telescope, looks beyond the narrow range of time into the eternal heavens, and sees a crown laid up for the faithful. ...

"Hope enters, too, with her silver light, borrowed from faithful promises. She expects the future glory....so, again, she drives away the gloom of the heart.

"Love, also, the sweetest of the three, comes in and teaches us to be resigned to the will of God, and then sweetly charms us into acquiescence with all the divine purposes. When we reach that point--and so love God that whatever He may do with us we are resolved to trust Him and praise His name--then the spirit of heaviness must vanish." (page 124)

Faith takes the telescope, looks beyond the narrow range of time into the eternal heavens, and sees a crown laid up for the faithful. 

With appreciation, thanks to Bing images for the traditional Christmas scene.