Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalms 89:1

Sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. S. Gregory the Great raises the question here as to how a perpetual singing of the mercies of God is compatible with unalloyed bliss in heaven, inasmuch as the thought of mercy connotes the memory of sin and sorrow, which needed mercy, whereas Isaiah saith that "the former troubles are forgotten", and "the former things shall not be remembered, nor come upon the heart" (Isa 65:16-17). And he replies that it will be like the memory of past sickness in time of health, without stain, without grief, and serving only to heighten the felicity of the redeemed, by the contrast with the past, and to increase their love and gratitude towards God. And so sings the Cluniac: (Bernard of Clairvaux.)

"Their breasts are filled with gladness,

Their mouths are tuned to praise,

What time, now safe for ever,

On former sins they gaze:

The fouler was the error,

The sadder was the fall,

The ampler are the praises

Of him who pardoned all."

Note, too, that he says, "with my mouth", not with that of any deputy; I will make known, not secretly or timidly, not in a whisper, but boldly preach, Thy faithfulness, or truth, not my own opinion, far less my own falsehood, but Thy Truth, which is, Thine Only begotten Son. —Gregory, Bernard, Hugo, and Augustine: quoted by Neale and Littledale.