Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
The verse belongs to David's penitential prayer after he was convicted of sin. In it he pours out his soul before God in penitence, humiliation and humility, seeking mercy and pardon without delay because he values God's favor above his crown and feels he could endure losing the crown but not being deprived of that favor. God hears such penitent prayer, knowing how strong the inclinations of the natural heart are and helping in every time of temptation. Mercy is still extended to the sinner, and God's blessing may be his if he heeds the pleading voice of the Spirit and returns from his wanderings.
To do good to Zion and build the walls of Jerusalem means God shows favor to Zion and strengthens Jerusalem when His workers come with a broken and contrite heart instead of pride, and then He accepts the sacrifices of righteousness. The psalm's lessons are to be practiced, and this call requires genuine purity and Christlikeness, since a merely nominal profession leaves believers without spiritual power and with an unhelpful influence. In opening new fields, doing good condemns keeping the work confined to its own institutions and requires laying aside pride to show earnest sympathy and interest in the schools established for colored people in the South. This is done by visiting them, becoming acquainted with their work, and sharing the principles of true education and the precious truths of present truth. Large institutions such as those at Nashville are to be used as favorable openings to remove prejudice, by inviting opportunities to speak and by sending firm-principled young men to sow seeds of truth, so that the cause is built up.
The verse belongs to David's penitential prayer after he was convicted of sin. In it he pours out his soul before God in penitence, humiliation and humility, seeking mercy and pardon without delay because he values God's favor above his crown and feels he could endure losing the crown but not being deprived of that favor. God hears such penitent prayer, knowing how strong the inclinations of the natural heart are and helping in every time of temptation. Mercy is still extended to the sinner, and God's blessing may be his if he heeds the pleading voice of the Spirit and returns from his wanderings.
To do good to Zion and build the walls of Jerusalem means God shows favor to Zion and strengthens Jerusalem when His workers come with a broken and contrite heart instead of pride, and then He accepts the sacrifices of righteousness. The psalm's lessons are to be practiced, and this call requires genuine purity and Christlikeness, since a merely nominal profession leaves believers without spiritual power and with an unhelpful influence. In opening new fields, doing good condemns keeping the work confined to its own institutions and requires laying aside pride to show earnest sympathy and interest in the schools established for colored people in the South. This is done by visiting them, becoming acquainted with their work, and sharing the principles of true education and the precious truths of present truth. Large institutions such as those at Nashville are to be used as favorable openings to remove prejudice, by inviting opportunities to speak and by sending firm-principled young men to sow seeds of truth, so that the cause is built up.