Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word… – Luke 2:29

“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.” Heaven realised and anticipated by hope renders the thought of departure most precious to the heart. And the like, also, is the effect of the grace of love upon us. Love puts the heart, like a sacrifice, on the altar, and then she fetches heavenly fire, and kindles it; and, as soon as ever the heart begins to burn and glow like a sacrifice, what is the consequence? Why, it ascends like pillars of smoke up to the throne of God. It is the very instinct of love to draw us nearer to the person whom we love; and, when love towards God pervades the soul, then the spirit cries, “Make haste, my Beloved, be Thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of separation.” Perfect love, casting out all fear, cries, “Up, and away.”

“Let me be with Thee, where Thou art,
My Savior my eternal rest!
Then only will this longing heart
Be fully and for ever blest.”

I might thus mention all the graces, but suffer one of them to suffice! one which is often overlooked, but is priceless as the gold of Ophir-it is the grace of humility. Is it strange that the lower a man sinks in his own esteem the higher does he rise before his God? Is it not written, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven?” Simeon had no conceit of his own importance in the world, else he would have said, “Lord, let me stay, and be an apostle. Surely I shall be needed at this juncture to lend my aid in the auspicious era which has just commenced?” But no, he felt himself so little so inconsiderable, that now that he had attained his heart’s wish and seen God’s salvation, he was willing to depart in peace. Humility by making us lie low helps us to think highly of God, and, consequently, to desire much to be with God. O to have our graces always flourishing, for then shall we always be ready to depart, and willing to be offered up. Lack of grace entangles us, but to abound in grace is to live in the suburbs of the New Jerusalem. ~ C.H. Spugeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1014.cfm