Henry Craik, ed. English Prose. 1916. Vol. II. Sixteenth Century to the Restoration
By Robert Leighton (16111684)
From The Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Peter
NO spot of sin or sorrow there; all pollution wiped away, and all tears with it; no envy nor strife; not as here among men, one supplanting another, one pleading and fighting against another, dividing this point of earth with fire and sword:no, this inheritance is not the less by division, by being parted among so many brethren; everyone hath it all, each his crown, and all agreeing on casting them down before His throne from whom they have received them, and in the harmony of His praises.
This inheritance is often called a kingdom, and a crown of glory. This last word may allude to those garlands of the ancients and this is its property, that the flowers in it are all amaranths (as a certain plant is named) and so it is called (1 Pet. v. 4) a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
No change at all there, no winter and summer: not like the poor comforts here, but a bliss always flourishing. The grief of the saints here is not so much for the changes of outward things as of their inward comforts. Suavis hora, sed brevis mora. Sweet presences of God they sometimes have, but they are short, and often interrupted; but there no cloud shall come betwixt them and their sun; they shall behold Him in His full brightness for ever. As there shall be no change in their beholding, so no weariness nor abatement of their delight in beholding. They sing a new song, always the same, and yet always new. The sweetest of our music, if it were to be heard but for one whole day, would weary them who are most delighted with it. What we have here cloys, but satisfies not; the joys above never cloy and yet always satisfy.