The Psalmist exclaimed (Ps. 34:1), "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Again and again the word "praise" appears in the Psalms; in fact, more than a hundred times. It is associated with prayer and with the expectation of good.
Isaiah, in describing the work of the true prophet, declared (Isa. 61:1,3), "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me . . . to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." This garment of praise is spiritual, fadeless, and enduring, woven with gratitude, joy, moral courage, and expectancy of good. It is not restricted by quotas or rationing, but is freely available to all.
Might not the prophet have employed the words "the spirit of heaviness" to typify the materiality that was keeping his people in mental darkness? Fear, greed, jealousy, deceit, resentment, and such like, claim to obscure good. They are enmity against God. The student of Christian Science is aware of this, and therefore is alert to the need to clear out of his consciousness all unlovely traits and to fill his thought with good.
