Put all the 'creatures' into a cup

(Thomas Watson, "God is His People's Great Reward")

"I am your exceeding great reward." Genesis 15:1

In the Hebrew it is, "I am your superabundant, very
exceeding much reward." The text rises higher and
higher—"I am your reward; your great reward; and
your exceeding great reward."

God Himself is His people's reward! Nothing
besides God, can be His people's reward. Nothing on
earth can be their reward. The glittering of the world
dazzles men's eyes; but, like the apples of Sodom, it
does not so much delight—as delude. The world is but
"gilded emptiness!" The world is circular; but the heart
is a triangle. A circle cannot fill a triangle. The world is
enough to busy us, not to fill us. When we enjoy most
of 'the creature'—yet there is always something lacking.
When King Solomon had put all the 'creatures' into
a cup, and went to extract and distill out their worth,
they turned to froth! "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly
meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" Ecclesiastes 1:2.
God never intended that we should dig happiness—out of
the earth which He has cursed!

Heaven itself is not a saint's reward! Psalm 73:25, "Whom
have I in heaven but You?" There are angels and archangels
—yes, but though these are for a saint's comfort—yet they
are not properly for his reward. Communion with seraphim
is excellent—but God Himself is His people's reward!

"I am your exceeding great reward." Genesis 15:1