Salmos 119
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Salmos 119
Spurgeon: In the last verse he had prayed, “Deliver me,” and here he specifies one method in which that deliverance might be vouchsafed, namely, by the advocacy of his cause. In providence the Lord has many ways of clearing the slandered of the accusations brought against them. He can make it manifest to all that they have been belied, and in this way he can practically plead their cause. He can, moreover, raise up friends for the godly who will leave no stone unturned till their characters are cleared; or he can smite their falsehood, and thus the righteous will be delivered without the striking of a blow. Alexander reads it, “Strive my strife, and redeem me”—that is, stand in my stead, bear my burden, fight my fight, pay my price, and bring me out to liberty. When we feel ourselves dumb before the foe, here is a prayer made to our hand. What a comfort that if we sin we have an advocate, and if we do not sin the same pleader is engaged on our side. Quicken me. As the soul is the center of everything, so to be quickened is the central blessing. It means more love, more grace, more faith, more courage, more strength, and if we get these we can hold up our heads before our adversaries. God alone can give this quickening; but to the Lord and giver of life the work is easy enough, and he delights to perform it. According to thy word. David had found such a blessing among the promised things, or at least he perceived that it was according to the general tenor of God’s Word that tried believers should be quickened and brought up again from the dust of the earth; therefore he pleads the Word, and desires the Lord to act to him according to the usual run of that Word. What a mighty plea is this. Statutes and Songs - Vance Havner (in Consider Him) "Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." Ps. 119:54 One does not ordinarily associate law books with song books, mandates with music. But here is a man to whom the law of the Lord is no burdensome thing, a pattern of hard lines. Here is a radiant believer to whom law is liberty and service like unto a happy song. One may be good in such a bad way. Some of us have punctiliously kept the statutes but have failed to sing the songs. We have whiteness but not light. The Christian life does have its stern, unyielding requirements but every law has a song written on the back and between the requirements runs the refrain. Duty leads to delight and mandates become melodies. There must be law if there is to be liberty. Try to play a piano and you run into laws as fixed as the decrees of the Medes and Persians. But through those statutes you reach the songs, drudgery leads to delight. The law of Christ brings the liberty of Christ. Keep his statutes and they become songs. The other side of commandment is conquest. What seems restraint to the outsider means release to you. "Ye shall know the truth"—there are the statutes. "The truth shall make you free"—there is the song. But to know the truth is to know him, otherwise it is legalism. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). His lawbook becomes a songbook! Charles Bridges - Oppressed as the Psalmist appeared to be by the weight of his affliction, he is at no loss where to apply for help. He carries his righteous cause to him, who “stilleth the enemy and the avenger”4—“Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me; say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”5 Thus must we throughout our warfare maintain “the patience of hope,”6 waiting for the Lord, “until he plead our cause, and execute judgment for us.”7 If there is an accuser to resist,8 “we have an Advocate” to plead,9 who could testify of his prevailing acceptance in the court of heaven, “Father, I thank thee, that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me alway.”10 Our Redeemer does indeed “plead our cause” successfully for our “deliverance;” when but for his powerful advocacy we must have stood speechless in the judgment—helpless, without any prospect of acceptance. Awful indeed was the cause which he had to manage. Our adversary had the law on his side. We could not deny the charge, or offer satisfaction. We could neither “stand in the judgment,” nor flee from the impending wrath. But at that moment of infinite peril, our cause was pleaded by a “Counsellor”11 who never was nonsuited in court, who brought irresistible pleas, and produced satisfaction that could not be denied. The voice of deliverance was heard in heaven—“Deliver them from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.”12 This ransom is no less than the price of his own “precious blood,” “shed for many for the remission of sins”13—a ransom, which has merited and obtained eternal “deliverance”14 for his people, and which still pleads for the expiation of the guilt, which attaches to their holiest services, and defiles their happiest approaches to their God. When, therefore, Satan accuses me: yea, when my own heart condemns me, I may look upward to my heavenly Advocate—“Plead my cause and deliver me.”1 “O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. Thou wilt answer, O Lord, my God.”2 Poor trembling sinner! take courage. “Your Redeemer is mighty—he will thoroughly plead your cause,”3 and leave no charge unanswered. But you say, ‘How know I that he speaks for me?’ Yet if not for you, for whom does he speak? Who needs an advocate more than you? He pleads indeed nothing favorable of you; but much, very much, for you. For he pleads the merit of his own blood, “that taketh away the sin of the world”4—even that great sin of “unbelief,” of which his Spirit is now “convincing”5 you; and which you are now made to feel, lament, and resist, as the bitterest foe to your peace. And does he not “ever live to make intercession for you?” Why then hesitate to apply the certain and consoling inference, that “he is able to save to the uttermost?”6 Why discouraged by the sight of sin, temptation, backsliding, difficulty, and fear, arising before you on every side; when, after you have taken the most extended view of the prospect of sorrow, this one word “uttermost” goes beyond it? If you feel it hard to believe, send up your cry—“Help thou mine unbelief.”7 Only do not dishonor him by wilful despondency; and do not add the sin of disobedience, in delaying this moment to come to him. After all, however, even while exercising faith in our heavenly Advocate, we must mourn our sluggishness in his service. Well, therefore, do we accompany our pleading for deliverance with the supplication—“Quicken me.” Every moment’s perseverance depends upon this Divine supply. Blessed be God for the sure warrant of expectation—“According to thy word!” Here we shall receive not only the living principle, but its lively operation; not only the fire to kindle the lamp, but the oil to feed the flame. For he that is our Advocate to “plead” for us, and our Saviour to “deliver” us, is also our quickening Head, filled with “the residue of the Spirit” to “revive his work.” Thou “hast ascended on high, and hast received gifts for men: yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.”8 Do we therefore want a heart to pray, to praise, to believe, to love? Let us only look to an ascended Saviour, sending down the life-giving influence from above, as the purchase of his blood, the fruit of his intercession; and our hope will be enlivened, our faith established, and the graces of the Spirit will abound to the glory of our God. 4 Ps. 8:2. 5 Ps. 35:1–3. 6 1 Thess. 1:3. 7 Micah 7:9. 8 Zech. 3:1. Rev. 12:10. 9 1 John 2:2. 10 John 9:41, 40. 11 Isaiah 9:5. 12 Job 33:24. 13 1 Peter 1:19. Matt. 26:28. 14 Heb 9:12. 1 ‘The word translated “deliver me,” is taken from the office of a redeemer or next of kin amongst the Israelities, to whom it belonged to redeem the inheritance, or ransom the person, of his impoverished or enslaved relative; and also to be his patron and defender against injustice and oppression, and the avenger of his blood, if he was slain.’—Scott. The use therefore of this word in the original, in this verse, naturally points the believer’s attention to him, who is indeed near of kin to him, and has combined all the offices of the ancient redeemer in his one beloved person; and therefore at once illustrates and warrants the view that is here given of the passage. 2 Isaiah 38:14. Psalm 38:15. Margin and P. T. 3 Jer. 50:34. 4 John 1:29. 5 Jn. 16:8, 9. 6 Hebrews 7:25. 7 Mark 9:24. 8 Psalm 68:18. Psalm 119:155 Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your statutes. Salvation (KJV): Ps 18:27 Job 5:4 Isa 46:12 57:19 Eph 2:17,18 for they (KJV): Ps 10:4 Job 21:14,15 Pr 1:7 Lu 16:24 Ro 3:11 YESHUA IS FAR FROM THE WICKED! Salvation is far from the wicked - Salvation is yeshua, JESUS - see Jesus vs Yeshua. Salvation (help, deliverance) (03444) (yeshua see note on related word " Yehoshua/Jehoshua") is from a root in Arabic = "make wide" or "make sufficient' sarar = "narrow," = "be restricted" or "cause distress." The idea of wide connotes freedom from distress and ability to pursue one's objectives. It means to move from distress (enemies, natural catastrophe, plague or famine, sickness) to safety which requires deliverance. Generally deliverance comes from some an outside source. The one who brings deliverance is known as the "SAVIOR." Yeshua may be used in everyday life free of theological overtones at a well Moses saved daughters of Reuel (Ex 2:17) but generally has strong religious meaning. And so we read Yahweh wrought deliverance - God of our salvation Ps 68:19-20. Yeshua can also describe salvation through human agents empowered by God. While the NT idea of salvation is primarily forgiveness of sin, deliverance from sin's power and defeat of Satan, the OT only begins to point in this direction. And so in the OT the majority of references to salvation speak of Yahweh granting deliverance from real enemies and out of real catastrophe. For they do not seek Your statutes - Jesus gives a similar declaration of even those people who claim to know God - notice the parallel with do not seek Your statutes in verse 23 where Jesus says in fact they continually (present tense) practice lawlessness (and lawlessness is sin! 1 Jn 3:4+). Mt 7:21-23+ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does (present tense = habitually, NOT PERFECTION BUT "DIRECTION") the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many (NOT FEW - MANY TODAY ARE DECEIVED THINKING THEY KNOW GOD AND ARE HEADED TO HEAVEN BUT WILL END UP IN HELL! THIS IS THE TRAGEDY OF TRAGEDIES!) will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE (present tense) LAWLESSNESS (AND "PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT" IN THIS CASE MAKES THEM PERFECTLY LOST FOREVER!).’ Charles Bridges - How striking the contrast!—how awfully destitute the condition! They have no one to consider their affliction—no one to deliver them—no one to plead their cause. Indeed, all the misery that an immortal soul is capable of enduring throughout eternity is included in this sentence—“Salvation is far from the wicked.” The full picture of it is drawn by our Lord himself, “The rich man died and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”1 The present enjoyment of “salvation” is “far from the wicked.” “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”2 Their common employments are “sin.”3 Their “sacrifice is an abomination.”4 Their life is “without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world.”5 But who can tell the curse of eternity, with this “salvation far from them?” To be eternally shut out from God—from heaven! To be eternally shut in with the enemies of God, and the heirs of hell! Fellow-christians—look from what ye have escaped—what ye were, when “ye were sometimes afar off”—what ye would have been now and forever, had ye not “in Christ Jesus been made nigh by the blood of Christ:”6 and then “if you hold your peace, the stones will immediately cry out” against you.7 But whence this inexpressibly awful condition of “the wicked?” Is not “salvation” offered to them? Are they shut out from hope, and sternly refused an interest in the covenant? Oh! no; it is their own doing, or rather their own undoing. Would they but seek the ways of God, they might plead for deliverance; yea, they might have a prevailing Advocate to plead their cause, and deliver them. But now salvation is far from them, because “they are far from God’s law.”8 It does not fly from them—but they fly from it. Every act is a stride of mind, more or less vigorous in departure from God. Nay—such is their pride, that “they will not even seek his statutes.”9 They “desire not the knowledge of his ways. They say to God—“Depart from us;”10 God therefore will say to them, “Depart from me.”11 They say to Christ, “We will not have this man to reign over us;” He will say of them, “Those mine enemies, that would not I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.”12 It is not then so much God that punishes them, as they that punish themselves. Their own sin—the necessity of the case—punishes them. They “will not come to Christ, that they might have life:”1 “so that they are without excuse”—die they must.2 But who are “the wicked?” Alas! this is a melancholy question, as involving within its sphere so much that passes for amiable, virtuous, and lovely, in the estimation of the world. Not to speak of those, whose name is broadly written upon their foreheads; it includes “all that forget God,”3 however blameless their moral character, or their external Christian profession. It is determined upon immutable authority—it is the decree of our eternal Judge—“If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his;”4 and if none of his, then it follows in unavoidable consequence, that “salvation is far from him.” Oh! could we but persuade such of their awful state. Oh! could we awake them from their death-like—deadly sleep—slumbering on the brink of ruin! on the borders of hell! But they are impaled in their own self-esteem, or in the favorable comparison drawn between themselves and many around them; forgetting that the rule, by which they will be judged, is not the world’s standard of moral rectitude, but the statutes of a holy, heart-searching God; forgetting too, that all may be decency without, while all is corruption within. Let them test their hearts by an honest and prayerful scrutiny of the statutes; and while they must confess themselves guilty before God, a sense of danger would awaken the hearty cry for salvation5 which would not then “be far from them.”6 For “the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he will also hear their cry, and will save them.”7 O thou Almighty Spirit, whose power is alone able to “turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,”8 “raise up thy power, and come among us;” “rend the heavens, and come down;”9 rend the hearts of sinners, of the ungodly, the moral, the naturally amiable, the self-righteous. “Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord.”10 1 Luke 16:22, 23, 26. 2 Isaiah 57:21. 3 Prov. 21:4. 4 Ps. 15:8. 5 Eph. 2:12. 6 Eph. 2:13. 7 Luke 19:40. 8 Psalm 73:27. 9 Ps. 10:4. 10 Job 21:14. 11 Matt. 7:23; 25:41 12 Luke 19:18, 27. 1 John 5:40. 2 Matt. 23:37, 38. 3 Psalm 9:17. 4 Romans 8:9. 5 Acts 16:30. 6 See Psalm 85:9. 7 Psalm 145:18, 19. 8 Luke 1:17. 9 Isaiah 64:1. 10 Psalm 83:16. Psalm 119:156 Great are Your mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your ordinances. (PRAYER) are thy (KJV): Ps 51:1 86:5,13,15 1Ch 21:13 Isa 55:7 63:7 quicken (KJV): Ps 119:149 Great are Your mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your ordinances - Ps 69:32, 71:20, 80:18, 85:6, 119:25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159 138:7, 143:11 Isa 57:15 Ho6:2 Hab 3:2) Charles Bridges - 156. Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord; quicken me according to thy judgments It is most cheering to pass from judgment to mercy—from the awful state of the wicked, to adore the mercies of God to his own people. We were naturally no better than they. The most eminent saved sinner looks on himself with wonder—“Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”11 Never will he lose the remembrance—“Who maketh thee to differ?”12 To mercy—rich mercy alone—we trace the distinction between those that are “quickened,” and those that remain “dead in trespasses and sins.”13 But let us mark the features of this mercy. How great in extent! Estimate its greatness by the infinite debt which it blots out1—the eternal ruin from which it saves2—the heavenly crown to which it raises.3 Trace it to the mind of God—that first eternal purpose of mercy, which sets us apart for his glory.4 Mark it in that “time of love,” when his mercy rescued us from Satan, sin, death, and hell, and drew us to himself.5 As soon might we span the arch of heaven, as fully grasp the greatness of his mercy.6 And then how tender is it in its exercise! Such was the first beam of mercy that “visited us.”7 Such has been the continued display. So natural as from a Father.8 So yearning, “as one whom his mother comforteth!”9 Such a multitude of those tender-mercies! The overflowing stream follows us through every step of our wilderness journey. The blessing compasses us about, abounds towards us, keeps us steadfast, or restores us when wandering, and will preserve us to the end. Happy are we—not in the general perception—not in the hearsay report10—but in the experimental enjoyment of it. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”11 But what poor returns have we made for this infinite love? Surely the petition for quickening grace suits us well. This was the constant burden of David’s prayer. For he was not like many professors, who can maintain their assurance in a lower and careless walk. No; he was a believer of a very high standard; desirous, not only of proving his title to the blessing, but of living in its habitual and active enjoyment. Often as this petition has been brought before us, in the course of this psalm, it is too important ever to be passed over. Let us at this time use it for the purpose of individual self-inquiry. In what respects do I need quickening grace? Are my views of sin, and especially of the sin of my own heart, slight and superficial? Do they fail in producing humility, abasement, tenderness of conscience, circumspection of conduct? If it be so, “Quicken me, O my God!” Does my apprehension of a Saviour’s love serve to imbitter sin to me? to crucify sin in me, to warm and enliven my heart with love to him, and zeal in his service? If I am convicted of coldness to such a Saviour, and sluggishness in such a service, I need not pray—“O Lord, quicken me!” And how do I find it with regard to prayer itself? Are not my prayers general—unfrequent—wandering? Is not service too often constrained, a forced duty, rather than a privilege and delight? “O Lord, quicken me!” Yet many Christians, through a mistaken perception, know not when they have received the blessing. They have looked for it in strong and sensible excitement; and in defect of this they sink into despondency. Whereas the solid influence is independent of sensations, and consists in a tender sensibility of sin—spiritual appetite for the Gospel—active energy in Christian duties, and continual progress in heavenly exercises. But under no circumstances must the evil of a dead and drooping state be lightly thought of; obscuring as it does the difference between the believer and the worldling, or at least between the believer and the formalist. O believer, you have great need to carry your complaint again and again unto the Lord: “Quicken me—quicken me—according to thy judgments”—according to those gracious promises, which are the method of thy proceedings, and the rule of thy dispensations of grace. You cannot be too earnest to welcome the breathings of the Spirit, or too cautious that your indolence resists not his Divine impression. When he quickens you with his influence, do you quicken him with your supplications—“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south: blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.”1 Persuade—entreat—constrain his stay. Enlivened by his energy, how happy, and in your own sphere how useful, a member of the Church of Christ you may be found! Your soul will be invigorated—your graces strengthened—and your affections elevated—in humble, cheerful, steady dependence upon the Saviour, and in daily renewed devotedness to his service. The more the spiritual life is thus “exercised unto godliness,” the more delightfully will you realize the active service and everlasting praise, which will constitute the perfection of heavenly enjoyment.—“His servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face.”2 11 Zech. 3:2. 12 1 Cor. 4:7. 13 Eph. 2:1, 4, 5. 1 Isaiah 43:22–25; 1:18. 2 Psalm 86:13. 3 Rev. 1:5, 6. 4 Eph. 1:4–6. 5 Ezekiel 16:6–8. 6 Psalm 103:11. Isaiah 55:8, 9. 7 Luke 1:78. 8 2 Cor. 1:3. Psalm 103:13. 9 Isaiah 66:13. 10 John 4:42. 11 Psalm 103:1–3. 1 Song. 4:16. 2 Rev. 22:3, 4. Psalm 119:157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies. Many (KJV): Ps 3:1,2 22:12,16 25:19 56:2 118:10-12 Mt 24:9 26:47 Ac 4:27 yet do I (KJV): Ps 119:51,110 44:17 Job 17:9 23:11 Isa 42:4 Ac 20:23,24 1Co 15:58 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies. Charles Bridges - 157. Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies David’s experience is common to us all. “Many indeed are our persecutors and enemies.” This is a solemn cost. Let those who are setting out in the Christian course count it well. From neglect of our Lord’s rule of scriptural calculation,3 many seem to begin well; but they have been “hindered”4—they turn back; they are zealous, but inconsiderate; warm-hearted, but ignorant of themselves, their work, and their resources. They were allured at first, perhaps by an interest in the Gospel—some delusive excitement of love to the Saviour—the picture of the “paths of pleasantness and peace,”5 or the joys of heaven. But the cross was out of sight and out of mind. But this promise of ease and happiness was no less foolish and unwarrantable than that of a soldier, utterly forgetful of his profession, and who should promise himself peace at the very time that he was called out to the wars. Surely, if like God’s ancient people, we begin our road in sunshine, it is well to be provided against the storms, which will soon overtake us.6 We would say therefore to all—specially to sanguine beginners—Let your course be commenced with serious consideration, and jealous self-scrutiny. Beware of hasty determinations. See to it that your resources are drawn, not from your own resolutions, or from the sincerity and ardor of your love; but from the fulness that is treasured up in Jesus for your present distress. Feel every step of your way by the light of the sacred word. If you expect Christian consistency to command the esteem of an ungodly world, you have forgotten both your Master’s word and example,1 and you will soon be ready to exclaim—“Many are my persecutors and mine enemies.” For if their hostility is not always active, the enmity “is not dead, but sleepeth.” If, however, their unexpected surprisals and inveteracy should daunt you in the conflict, you are again forgetting the word of cheering support in the most awful crisis—“My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”2 Thus the word of God will be “the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.”3 Presumption is cast down, self-confidence is humbled, and the trembling simplicity of dependence upon an Almighty arm is upheld and honored. Count then upon the difficulties, that beset the heavenly path. You will never pluck the Rose of Sharon, if you are afraid of being pricked with the thorns which surround it. You will never reach the crown, if you flinch from the cross in the way to it. Oh! think of the honor of bearing this cross. It is conformity to the Son of God. Let the mind be deeply imbued with the remembrance of his daily cross of suffering and reproach; and we shall gladly “go forth without the camp, bearing his reproach,” yea—even “rejoicing, if we are counted worthy to suffer shame”4 with him and for him. Indeed what is our love, if we will not take up the cross for him? How can we be his followers without his cross?5 How can we be Christians, if we are not confessors of Christ before a world that despises his Gospel? But a steady consistent profession is no matter of course. The crown, is not easily won. “Many are our persecutors and our enemies.” Persecution to the false professor is an occasion of apostasy;6 to the faithful servant of Christ, it is the trial of his faith,7 the source of his richest consolations,8 the guard of his profession,9 and the strength of his perseverance.10 It drives him to his God. He casts himself upon his Saviour for immediate refuge and support; and the quickening influence which he had just been seeking, enables him to say—“Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.” Thus did the great Apostle, at the time when his “persecutors were many,” and human help even from his friends had failed him, maintain an unshaken confidence in the service of his God. “At my first answer”—he tells us—“no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me”11 David himself often acknowledged the same principle of perseverance under similar trial—“Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be, which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter up of my head. O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.”1 But have we never taken a devious path in “declining from the Lord’s testimonies,” to escape the appointed cross? Do we never shrink from “the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth, by reason of the enemy and the avenger?” Can we always in the integrity of our heart appeal to an Omniscient God—“All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant; our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death?”2 This profession is not the foolish confidence of boasting; but the fulfilment of the covenant promise—“I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from me.”3 So beautifully does the promise of perseverance connect itself with the duty of persevering! And so clearly in this, as in every other way, does the “wrath of man” (“howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so”) praise God!4 How glorious is the display of the power of his grace in the constancy of his people! like the rocks in the ocean, immovable amidst the fury of the waves; like the trees of the forest, “rooted and established” by every shaking of the tempest! Must not the world, in witnessing the total defeat of their enmity against the Lord’s people (or rather its eventual results in their increased prosperity,) be constrained to confess to the honor of God, “Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel—What hath God wrought?”5 3 Luke 14:28–33. 4 Gal. 5:7; 3:3. 5 Prov. 3:17. 6 Exodus 15:1; 16:1–3. 1 John 15:20. 2 2 Cor. 12:9. 3 2Co. 6:7. 4 Heb. 13:13. Acts 5:41. 5 See Matt. 16:24. 6 Ib. 13:20, 21. 7 1 Peter 1:6, 7. 8 Matthew 5:10–12. Acts 13:50–52. 1 Peter 4:12, 16. 9 Matt. 10:16. Phil. 2:14–16. 10 Acts 20:22–24. 11 2 Tim. 4:16, 17. 1 Psalm 3:1–3; 140:7. 2 Ps. 44:16–19. 3 Jer. 32:40. 4 Comp. Isaiah 10:7, with Psalm 76:10. 5 Numbers 23:23. Psalm 119:158 I behold the treacherous and loathe them, Because they do not keep Your word. Ps 119:53,136 Eze 9:4 Mk 3:5 I behold the treacherous and loathe them, Because they do not keep Your word. Charles Bridges - 158. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word We shall not tire in listening to this repeated expression6 of the Psalmist’s tenderness for the honor of God. No trouble from his “many persecutors and enemies” came so near to his heart as the sight of the dishonor and contempt of God’s word. The glory of God was dearer to him than life. Oh! that every recollection of this tried servant of God might deepen this special mark of acceptance upon our too cold and indifferent hearts!7 Our joys and sorrows are the pulse of the soul. A fellowship with the joys of angels over repenting sinners8 will be accompanied with bitterness of godly sorrow over the hardness and impenitency of those, who “keep not the word of God.” But even here we need much and earnest prayer in order to obtain a clear perception of our real principles. Sin is so subtle in its nature and workings, that it insinuates itself into our holiest desires, and often so far interweaves itself into the graces of the Spirit, as greatly to mar their beauty, and obstruct their operations. How often is zeal for the honor of God mingled with the unhallowed fire of our own spirit?1 True zeal is indeed a precious fruit of the Spirit, whose other name is love—active, self-denying, compassionate love for sinners. ‘Let me never fancy I have zeal,’ said a Christian of a very high order, ‘till my heart overflows with love to every man living.’2 If then we are really under its holy influence, we shall lose no opportunity of active exertions on behalf of wretched “transgressors;” and the limits of our zeal will be only the limits of a fallen world. Especially within our own sphere shall we employ all our labors and pains to stem the tide of unrighteousness, “saying unto the fools—Deal not foolishly—How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?”3 But the fervency of zeal will express itself in something more difficult than personal service. We can often warn and plead with transgressors, when we are sinfully backward in sending up sighs and cries on their behalf; and in presenting these poor lepers by faith to that great and good Physician, whose “power present to heal”4 has been so abundantly manifested. This is indeed zeal of rare attainment through our own unbelief; but it brings its own rich blessing to the soul; because it is the zeal of the compassionate Jesus; who, though he looked round on sinners with anger, “being grieved for the hardness of their hearts,”5 did not forget to plead on their behalf, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”6 It was the zeal and love of him who identified his Father’s interest with his own, that he endured the reproaches cast upon him in his bosom.7 And should not the members feel, when the Head is wounded?8 Should not we consider every dishonor done to Jesus as a shaft piercing our own breast? Can we bear to “behold” all around us united in a conspiracy against the honor and—if it were possible—against the life, of our dearest friend and benefactor, and not be painfully “grieved?” Yet genuine “grief” must begin with our own hearts—“all of us mourning, every one for his iniquity.”9 The wickedness of others will stir up the conviction within our own consciences, “I do remember my faults this day.”10 And when once we begin the enumeration, where shall we end? “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults!” “Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord.”1 6 Compare Ps 119:53, 136. 7 See Ezekiel 9:4–6. 8 Luke 15:10. 1 See Luke 9:54, 55. 2 Martyn’s Life, p. 192. 3 Psalm 75:4. Proverbs 1:22. Ezekiel 33:11. 4 Luke 5:17. 5 Mark 3:5. 6 Luke 23:34. 7 Psalm 69:9, 20, with Rom. 15:3. 8 Celerinus, in Cyprian’s Epistles acquaints a friend with his great grief for the apostasy of a woman through fear of persecution, which afflicted him so much, that at the feast of Easter (the queen of feasts in the primitive church) he wept night and day, and resolved never to know a moment’s delight, till, through the mercy of God, she should be recovered. 9 Ezekiel 7:16. 10 Genesis 41:9. 1 Psalm 19:12; 143:2. Psalm 119:159 Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness. (PRAYER) Consider: Ps 119:97,153 2Ki 20:3 Ne 5:19 13:22 Revive me: Ps 119:88 Consider how I love Your precepts - (Ps 1:1,2;19:7-11 119:16, 24, 35, 47, 48, 72, 92, 97,103, 111,113,127,159,167,174 Je15:16): The way you treat your Bible is the way you treat Christ. To love Him is to love His Word. The Word is a delight (Ps 119:16, 24, 16, 35, 47, 70) and not a disappointment; we rejoice to read it (Ps 119:14, 162). Revive me, O LORD - Ps 69:32 71:20 80:18 85:6 119:25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159 138:7 143:11 Isa 57:15 Hos 6:2 Hab 3:2): According to Your lovingkindness - According to Your hesed/chesed/heced, Your faithful love in action which refers to God's lovingkindness expressed in His covenant relationship with Israel (His "loyal love" to His "Wife" Israel [cp Hos 2:18, 19, 20-see note, Is 54:5, Je 31:32] = His "loyalty to covenant"). God's hesed His denotes persistent and unconditional tenderness, kindness, and mercy, a relationship in which He seeks after man with love and mercy (cp God immediately seeking man Ge 3:9, who was immediately hiding Ge 3:8 trying to cover their shame Ge 3:7 - contrast God's lovingkindness manifest by spilling blood to provide skins to cover their shame! Ge 3:21). Hesed expresses both God’s loyalty to His covenant and His love for His people along with a faithfulness to keep His promises. Charles Bridges - 159. Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O Lord, according to thy loving-kindness “Love for the precepts,” such as this Psalm describes, is a distinguishing characteristic of a child of God. “The transgressors” neither “love the precepts,” nor desire “quickening” grace to keep them. For though not “grievous”2 in themselves, they are too strict, too humbling for the unrenewed, proud worldly heart.3 Love therefore to them—not being the growth of the natural man—must be “a plant which our heavenly Father hath planted”—a witness of the Spirit of adoption, and the principle of Christian devotedness. And how encouraging is the recollection of the Lord’s readiness to “consider how we love his precepts!” “I know Abraham, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”4 Thus also did he challenge “the accuser of the brethren, to consider his servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.”5 But while love of the precepts realizes the full confidence of the Lord’s consideration, the consciousness of its imperfection and scanty measure will always prevent us from urging it as the ground of acceptance. Christian! you know not—or at least you allow not—the proud boast—“God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are.”6 No, rather—your constant cry to the end is “Quicken me.” Your plea is not merit—but mercy. Not that you deserve to be helped, because you “love the precepts:” but you desire and trust to be helped—“according to thy loving-kindness.” And what must be the loving-kindness of a God of infinite love! Only do not sit still, and wait for the breezes of his love. Rather call to the “north wind to awake, and to the south wind to blow,”7 to fill your sails, and urge you on. God—his word, his works, his perfections, his holiness; Jesus—his pity, his love, his grace—is your delight, your chief delight; yet how infinitely is it below the scriptural standard of privilege, attainment, and expectation! Under the painful influence of straitened desires and heartless affections, how refreshing is it to mark the springs of life flowing from “the loving-kindness of the Lord!” Yes, indeed—he is the overflowing spring of his Church. Every mercy is his grace. Every holy suggestion is his influence. The least thought of our Christian progress, proceeding from our own resources, opens the door of fearful departure from God. And yet such is the self-deceitfulness of the heart—that, in the very act of professing to “rejoice in Christ Jesus,” the Omniscient eye traces a “confidence in the flesh.”8 The real dependence is on the “mountain that stands strong,” not on “the favor that makes” it so.1 Even our first father, in his original unimpaired strength, could “not quicken his own soul.”2 Can we wonder that the fallen nature, even though partially upheld by Divine power, is changeable and unstable? The most advanced Christian needs the supply to the end, as much as he did in his first stage of infantine weakness. And will he not continue to need it throughout eternity, in every exercise of adoring service, as well as for his active existence? But when we ask for this quickening, are we expecting, as we ought to be, a large answer to our prayer?3 Or are we “limiting our God” by the scanty apprehensions of our poor faith? Remember, he is glorified—not in possessing, but in dispensing his gifts.4 If we really expect his blessing, can we be satisfied without it? It is not our unworthiness but our unbelief, that stops the current.5 Would that we gave him full credit for his exuberant flow of free, rich, ceaseless mercy! Blessed Jesus! we plead thy promise to be filled.6 We have life from thee; but give it us “more abundantly”7—as much as these houses of clay—as much as these earthen vessels—can contain. Our taste of thy love, and our knowledge of its unbounded fulness—encourage our plea to ask thee still for more—“Quicken us according to thy loving-kindness.” Often as the Psalmist had repeated his prayer for quickening grace,8 it was not a “vain repetition.”9 Each time was it enlivened with faith, feeling of necessity, and ardent affection; and should we, in the consciousness of our weakness and coldness, offer it a hundred times a day, it would never fail of acceptance. 2 1 John 5:3. 3 Compare Jer. 6:10. 4 Genesis 18:19. 5 Job 1:8. 6 Luke 18:11. 7 Song. 4:16. 8 Phil. 3:3. 1 Psalm 30:7. 2 Ps. 22:29. 3 Ps. 81:10. 4 John 14:13. 5 Matt. 13:58. Mark 6:5. 6 Matt. 5:6. 7 John 10:10. 8 Nine times is this petition urged, Ps 119:25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159. 9 Compare Matt. 6:7. Psalm 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. The sum of Your word is truth Ps 119:86,138 Pr 30:5 2Ti 3:16 And every one: Ps 119:75,142,144,152 Ec 3:14 Mt 5:18 The sum of Your word is truth - (NIV = all, NKJV = entirety)(the beginning) - from the beginning, i.e., “every word from Genesis (called so by the Jews from its first words, ‘In the beginning’) to the end of the Scriptures is true.” The whole body of revelation is truth. “Thy Word is nothing but truth” [Luther]. Sum (07218)(ro'sh) means head, crucial part of the body containing the brain stem and other most crucial sensory input parts such as eyes, mouth, ears, etc. Ge 3:15; 40:19; Ps 74:14. Source, beginning point from which a spatial extension occurs Ge 2:10) The sum, a large amount of items or entities (Ps 139:17). Septuagint - Principality (746)(arche)refers to the commencement of something as an action, process, or state of being. Daniel Webster (1782-1852) emphasized the importance of THE TRUTH: "If truth be not diffused, error will be. If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy. If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will. If the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land...corruption and darkness will reign." And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting - Note note some but every one! Charles Bridges - 160. Thy word is true from the beginning; and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever The “loving-kindness and the truth of God” were two heavenly notes, on which “the sweet Psalmist of Israel” loved to dwell10—his “loving-kindness”—in giving, and his “truth” in fulfilling—his gracious promises. Indeed the displays of his truth—whether to his Church collectively, or to his people individually—have always been every way worthy of himself. Often has his word seemed on the eve of being falsified, clearly with the design of a brighter and more striking display of its faithfulness. The very night previous to the close of the four hundred and thirty years, Israel was, to all human appearances, as far from deliverance as at any former period. But “the vision was for an appointed time:” nothing could hasten, nothing could delay it;1 for “it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, even the self same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.”2 At a subsequent period, the family of David appeared upon the point of extinction, and as if the promise of God would fall to the ground: but to exhibit “the word of God3 as true from the beginning,” a providential, and almost a miraculous, interference was manifested. When Athalia destroyed all the seed-royal of the house of Judah, Joash was stolen away, put under a nurse, hid in the house of the Lord six years, and in God’s appointed time brought forth to the people, as the fulfilment of the express promise of God—“Behold the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.”4 “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.”5 And thus have many of his own people been tempted in seasons of despondency to “charge God foolishly.”6 But who of them has not afterwards, in some unexpected deliverance, “set to his seal”—“Thy word is true from the beginning?”7 “The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left.”8 And how do these recollections put to shame the suggestions of unbelief, and strengthen our confidence in the prospect, or even in the present endurance, of “manifold temptations!” The full acknowledgment of the truths of God’s word is the ground of all our peace and comfort. The believing reception of the testimony opens to us a free access to God.9 We stand before him self-condemned, and yet believe that “there is no condemnation.”10 “The Spirit beareth witness” to and “with our spirits,” that “this God is our God, forever and ever”—unto death,11 in death,12 and through eternity.13 In this simplicity of rest upon the testimony, we go to our God, like Abraham, in sensible hopelessness, but in assured confidence, “strong in faith, giving glory to God.”14 Many, however, have been so used to indulge the pride of their own reasonings, that they scarcely know how to read the book of God without cavilling. If they believe while it is in their hands, they are not prepared to give a reason of their faith. They have ventured into conflict with the enemy with unproved armor, and so have been shaken and troubled. Or perhaps their faith does not reach to the whole testimony, and therefore being partial only, is not genuine. For if we do not give full credence to all, we do not give true credence to any. We do not receive it on the authority of God, but only so far as our reasoning can explain it, or our will may approve it. What need then have we to pray for a teachable simplicity of faith—not asking—‘What thinkest thou?’ but “How readest thou?” In this spirit we shall hold our anchor on solid ground; and should we again be “tossed with the tempest,” we shall look to him, who stilleth the storm, and there shall be “a great calm.”1 Confidence simply built upon the word of God will endure the storm of earth and hell. Yet we may loosely believe all, while we practically believe none. The generalities of truth have no influence without an individual application. The summary look of acquiescence will miss all the solid blessing of a reverential and experimental faith. But to find—as the woman of Samaria found—that ‘it is all true’—because it answers to our convictions, our wants, and our feelings2—to know that the promises are true, because they have been fulfilled in us—this is tasting, feeling, handling—this is indeed blessedness—this makes the word unspeakably precious to us—“a treasure to be desired.”3 To have the witness in ourselves, that “we have not followed cunningly-devised fables,” but that it is “a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”4—this indeed is “life from the dead.” Oh! how should we seek thus to receive the word “with much assurance!”5 The Israelites were not satisfied with inquiring respecting the manna—“What is this?”6—or with discovering that it had descended from heaven; but they gathered it each for himself, and fed upon it as their daily bread. Nor will it be of any avail to us to prove beyond contradiction, and to acknowledge with the fullest assurance the truth of God’s word, unless we thus embrace it, and live upon it as our heavenly portion. Faith alone can give this spiritual apprehension, “He that believeth hath the witness in himself.”7 But if the word be the truth of God “from the beginning,” it must be eternal truth in its character and its results; like its Great Author in every particular, “enduring forever.” “Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven; Thy faithfulness is unto all generations.”8 Here is the rock of my confidence. How could I rest my hope on any salvation, that did not proceed from the primary, unchangeable, eternal mind? What assurance could I have elsewhere, that the grand plan might not be defeated by some unexpected combination? Whereas every heart of reliance in his faithfulness establishes more firmly his title to my confidence, and strengthens the soul into a habit of intelligent vigorous faith. Lord! give unto us that “precious faith,” which makes the acknowledgment of the “truth of thy word from the beginning,” and its “endurance forever,” the spring of continual life and consolation to our souls. 10 See his character described—“Good and upright is the Lord,” Psalm 26:8—and mark these perfections pleaded in their combined connection with his purposes of grace—“Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham”—“mercy” in the original grant—truth in the subsequent ratification and performance. Micah 7:20. Compare Luke 1:72, 73. 1 Hab. 2:3. 2 Exodus 12:41. 3 Compare 2 Sam. 7:16. 4 2 Chron. 22:10–12; 23:3. 5 Psalm 107:43. 6 Job 1:22. 7 Gen. 42:36, with 48:15, 16. 8 Deut. 32:36. Comp. 2 Kings 14:26, 27. 9 Eph. 3:12. 10 Rom. 3:19; 8:1. 11 Ro. 8:16. Psalm 48:14. 12 Psalm 73:26. 13 Rev. 21:3. 14 Rom. 4:19, 20. 1 Mark 4:39. 2 John 4:29. 3 Prov. 21:20. 4 1 Tim. 1:15. 5 1 Thess. 1:5. 6 Exod. 16:15, margin. 7 1 John 5:10. 8 Ps 119:89, 90. THUMBS UP The entirety of Your Word is truth. —Psalm 119:160 Pandora, a website available in America, New Zealand and Australia, is one of the musical marvels of the internet age. It helps users create their own personal radio station by allowing them to customise their music. It plays a song and users then click a ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ sign to indicate whether or not they like it. The users end up with only a grouping of songs that they like. Unfortunately, sometimes we do that with the Bible too. People may choose some Scripture passages they especially like and ignore others, and so they ‘customise’ it to their preferences. The psalmist looked at God’s Word this way: “The entirety of Your Word is truth” (Ps. 119:160). And the apostle Paul told Timothy, a young pastor, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16). The Scriptures were important to Jesus (Matt. 5:17-18), but He looked at them differently than the religious leaders of His day. To Him, “You shall not murder” was on the level of being “angry with [a] brother without a cause” (vv.21-22). Far from customising Scripture, He was concerned about the motivation of people’s hearts in applying all of it. WHEN YOU OPEN YOUR BIBLE, ASK GOD TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND IT. Proclaiming The Truth Read: Psalm 119:145-160 The entirety of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. —Psalm 119:160 Have you noticed that lies are being paraded before us in an endless, morals-destroying stream? Daniel Webster (1782-1852) predicted this when he stated, “If truth be not diffused, error will be. If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy. If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will. If the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, . . . corruption and darkness will reign.” We must proclaim the truth—truth found in the teachings of God’s Word. The psalmist declared, “The entirety of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Ps. 119:160). Those timeless truths are needed in our world today. For example, we must proclaim the truth that as sinful people we need God’s forgiveness (1 Jn. 1:6-7). We must proclaim the truth that Jesus is the only Savior (Jn. 14:6). As we stand against the tide of corrupt messages being printed and broadcast without restraint, we must proclaim the truth, promote the truth, and live the truth. Lord, give us courage to speak out Against the evils of our day; For only when the truth is known Will sinners see a better way. —DJD To proclaim the truth, you must know the One who is the truth. Psalm 119:161 Shin. Princes persecute me without cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your words. Princes (KJV): Ps 119:23,157 1Sa 21:15 24:9-15 26:18 Joh 15:25 my heart (KJV): Ps 4:4 Ge 39:9 42:18 2Ki 22:19 Ne 5:15 Job 31:23 Isa 66:2 Jer 36:23-25 Shin. Princes persecute me without cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your words - (Isa 66:2,v5, Pr 28:14 Ps 119:161 Ezra 9:4, 10:3): Ryrie on Ps 119:161-168 - The psalmist has awe, joy, love, and praise for God's Word. Matthew
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - Blessed are they that keep his testimonies. What! A second blessing? Yes, they are doubly blessed whose outward life is supported by an inward zeal for God's glory. In the first verse we had an undefiled way, and it was taken for granted that the purity in the way was not mere surface work, but was attended by the inward truth and life which comes of divine grace. Here that which was implied is expressed. Blessedness is ascribed to those who treasure up the testimonies of the Lord: in which is implied that they search the Scriptures, that they come to an understanding of them, that they love them, and then that they continue in the practice of them. We must first get a thing before we can keep it. In order to keep it well we must get a firm grip of it: we cannot keep in the heart that which we have not heartily embraced by the affections. God's word is his witness or testimony to grand and important truths which concern himself and our relation to him: this we should desire to know; knowing it, we should believe it; believing it, we should love it; and loving it, we should hold it fast against all comers. There is a doctrinal keeping of the word when we are ready to die for its defence, and a practical keeping of it when we actually live under its power. Revealed truth is precious as diamonds, and should be kept or treasured up in the memory and in the heart as jewels in a casket, or as the law was kept in the ark; this however is not enough, for it is meant for practical use, and therefore it must be kept or followed, as men keep to a path, or to a line of business. If we keep God's testimonies they will keep us; they will keep us right in opinion, comfortable in spirit, holy in conversation, and hopeful in expectation. If they were ever worth having, and no thoughtful person will question that, then they are worth keeping; their designed effect does not come through a temporary seizure of them, but by a persevering keeping of them: "in keeping of them there is great reward." We are bound to keep with all care the word of God, because it is his testimonies. He gave them to us, but they are still his own. We are to keep them as a watchman guards his master's house, as a steward husbands his lord's goods, as a shepherd keeps his employer's flock. We shall have to give an account, for we are put in trust with the gospel, and woe to us if we be found unfaithful. We cannot fight a good fight, nor finish our course, unless we keep the faith. To this end the Lord must keep us: only those who are kept by the power of God unto salvation will ever be able to keep his testimonies. What a blessedness is therefore evidenced and testified by a careful belief in God's word, and a continual obedience thereunto. God has blessed them, is blessing them, and will bless them for ever. That blessedness which David saw in others he realized for himself, for in Psalms 119:168 he says, "I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies, "and in Psalms 119:54-56 he traces his joyful songs and happy memories to this same keeping of the law, and he confesses, "This I had because I kept thy precepts." Doctrines which we teach to others we should experience for ourselves. Who seek Him with all their heart - The opposite of a whole heart is a divided heart. The idea is FULL SURRENDER...seeking Christ with ALL my heart. Not a mite would I withhold. I have been bought with a price. Present yourself as living and holy sacrifice.“Heart” refers to intellect, volition, and emotion (cf. Ps 119:7, 10, 11, 32, 34, 36, 58, 69, 70, 80, 111, 112, 145, 161). Complete commitment or “whole heart” appears 6 times (Ps 119:2, 10, 34, 58, 69, 145). Spurgeon - And that seek him with the whole heart. Those who keep the Lord's testimonies are sure to seek after himself. If his word is precious we may be sure that he himself is still more so. Personal dealing with a personal God is the longing of all those who have allowed the word of the Lord to have its full effect upon them. If we once really know the power of the gospel we must seek the God of the gospel. "O that I knew where I might find HIM, "will be our wholehearted cry. See the growth which these sentences indicate: first, in the way, then walking in it, then finding and keeping the treasure of truth, and to crown all, seeking after the Lord of the way himself. Note also that the further a soul advances in grace the more spiritual and divine are its longings: an outward walk does not content the gracious soul, nor even the treasured testimonies; it reaches out in due time after God himself, and when it in a measure finds him, still yearns for more of him, and seeks him still. Seeking after God signifies a desire to commune with him more closely, to follow him more fully, to enter into more perfect union with his mind and will, to promote his glory, and to realize completely all that he is to holy hearts. The blessed man has God already, and for this reason he seeks him. This may seem a contradiction: it is only a paradox. God is not truly sought by the cold researches of the brain: we must seek him with the heart. Love reveals itself to love: God manifests his heart to the heart of his people. It is in vain that we endeavour to comprehend him by reason; we must apprehend him by affection. But the heart must not be divided with many objects if the Lord is to be sought by us. God is one, and we shall not know him till our heart is one. A broken heart need not be distressed at this, for no heart is so whole in its seeking after God as a heart which is broken, whereof every fragment sighs and cries after the great Father's face. It is the divided heart which the doctrine of the text censures, and strange to say, in scriptural phraseology, a heart may be divided and not broken, and it may be broken but not divided; and yet again it may be broken and be whole, and it never can be whole until it is broken. When our whole heart seeks the holy God in Christ Jesus it has come to him of whom it is written, "as many as touched Him were made perfectly whole." That which the Psalmist admires in this verse he claims in the tenth, where he says, "With my whole heart have I sought thee." It is well when admiration of a virtue leads to the attainment of it. Those who do not believe in the blessedness of seeking the Lord will not be likely to arouse their hearts to the pursuit, but he who calls another blessed because of the grace which he sees in him is on the way to gaining the same grace for himself. If those who seek the Lord are blessed, what shall be said of those who actually dwell with him and know that he is theirs? "To those who fall, how kind thou art! How good to those who seek But what to those who find? Ah! this Nor tongue nor pen can show: The love of Jesus— what it is, None but his loved ones know." Building On The Bible Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart. — Psalm 119:2 Today's Scripture: Psalm 119:1-8 What can be done to improve society? An MTV political correspondent had this unexpected but praiseworthy suggestion: “No matter how secular our culture becomes, it will remain drenched in the Bible. Since we will be haunted by the Bible even if we don’t know it, doesn’t it make sense to read it?” Our culture is indeed “drenched in the Bible.” Whether or not the majority of people realize it, the principles on which the United States was founded, and the values which still permeate our national life, were based on the Holy Scriptures. Yet God’s Word no longer occupies the commanding place it held in the past. Its ethics are sometimes still praised even though biblical morality is flagrantly violated. So I agree with the political correspondent’s urging that people read the Bible. We need to do more, however, than just read the Word of God. We need to believe the Bible and put its inspired teachings into practice. The psalmist reminded us that we are to walk in God’s ways, to keep His precepts diligently, and to seek Him with our whole heart (Ps. 119:2-4). For Your Holy Book we thank You; May its message be our guide, May we understand the wisdom Of the truth Your laws provide. —Carter The Bible: read it, believe it, obey it! Charles Bridges - 2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart The “testimony” in the singular number, usually denotes the whole canon of the inspired writings—the revelation of the will of God to mankind—the standard of their faith.5 “Testimonies” appear chiefly, to mark the preceptive part of Scripture6—that part, in which this man of God always found his spiritual delight and perfect freedom. Mark his language: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart.”7 Not however that this blessedness belongs to the mere outward act of obedience;8 but rather to that practical habit of mind, which seeks to know the will of God in order to “keep” it. This habit is under the influence of the promise of God—“I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.”9 And in thus “keeping the testimonies of God,” the believer maintains the character of one that “seeks him with the whole heart.” Oh! how many seek, and seek in vain, for no other reason, than because they do not “seek him with the whole heart!” The worldling’s “heart is divided; now shall he be found faulty.”10 The professor “with his mouth shows much love; but his heart goeth after his covetousness.”11 The backslider “hath not turned unto me with his whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.”12 The faithful, upright believer alone brings his heart, his whole heart, to the Lord—“When thou saidst—Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee—Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”1 For he only has found an object that attracts and fills his whole heart—and if he had a thousand hearts, would attract and fill them all. He has found his way to God by faith in Jesus. In that way he continues to seek. His whole heart is engaged to know and love more and more. Here alone the blessing is enjoyed, and the promise made good—“Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”2 But let me not shrink from the question—Do I “keep his testimonies” from constraint or from love? Surely when I consider my own natural aversion and enmity to the law of God, and the danger of self-deception in the external service of the Lord, I have much need to pray—“Incline my heart to thy testimonies. Give me understanding—save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.”3 And if they are blessed, who seek the Lord with their whole heart, how am I seeking him? Alas! with how much distraction; with how little heart-work! Oh! let me “seek his strength” in order to “seek his face.”4 Lord! search—teach—incline—uphold me. Help me to plead thy gracious promise—“I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.”5 5 Comp. Isa. 8:20. 6 Ps 119:138. 7 Ps 119:14, 111. 8 Treasure up his testimonies—Bp. Horsley. 9 Ezek. 36:27. 10 Hos. 10:2. 11 Ezek. 33:31. 12 Jer. 3:10. 1 Psalm 27:8. 2 Jer. 29:13. 3 Ps 119:36, 125, 145. 4 Ps. 105:4. 5 Jer. 24:7. Psalm 119:3 They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways. 1Jn 3:9 5:18 They also do no unrighteousness Spurgeon - They also do no iniquity. Blessed indeed would those men be of whom this could be asserted without reserve and without explanation: we shall have reached the region of pure blessedness when we altogether cease from sin. Those who follow the word of God do no iniquity, the rule is perfect, and if it be constantly followed no fault will arise. Life, to the outward observer, at any rate, lies much in doing, and he who in his doings never swerves from equity, both towards God and man, has hit upon the way of perfection, and we may be sure that his heart is right. See how a whole heart leads to the avoidance of evil, for the Psalmist says, "That seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity." We fear that no man can claim to be absolutely without sin, and yet we trust there are many who do not designedly, wilfully, knowingly, and continuously do anything that is wicked, ungodly, or unjust. Grace keeps the life righteous as to act even when the Christian has to bemoan the transgressions of the heart. Judged as men should be judged by their fellows, according to such just rules as men make for men, the true people of God do no iniquity: they are honest, upright, and chaste, and touching justice and morality they are blameless. Therefore are they happy. They walk in His ways. Spurgeon - They walk in his ways. They attend not only to the great main highway of the law, but to the smaller paths of the particular precepts. As they will perpetrate no sin of commission, so do they labour to be free from every sin of omission. It is not enough to them to be blameless, they wish also to be actively righteous. A hermit may escape into solitude that he may do no iniquity, but a saint lives in society that he may serve his God by walking in his ways. We must be positively as well as negatively right: we shall not long keep the second unless we attend to the first, for men will be walking one way or another, and if they do not follow the path of God's law they will soon do iniquity. The surest way to abstain from evil is to be fully occupied in doing good. This verse describes believers as they exist among us: although they have their faults and infirmities, yet they hate evil, and will not permit themselves to do it; they love the ways of truth, right and true godliness, and habitually they walk therein. They do not claim to be absolutely perfect except in their desires, and there they are pure indeed, for they pant to be kept from all sin, and to be led into all holiness. Charles Bridges - 3. They also do no iniquity; they walk in his ways This was not their character from their birth. Once they were doing nothing but iniquity. It was without mixture, without cessation—from the fountain-head.6 Now it is written of them—“they do no iniquity.” Once they walked, even as others,7 in the way of their own hearts—“enemies to God by wicked works.” Now “they walk in his ways.” They are “new creatures in Christ; old things are passed away; behold! all things are become new.”8 This is their highly-privileged state—“Sin shall not have dominion over them: for they are not under the law, but under grace.”9 They are “born of God, and they cannot commit sin: for their seed remaineth in them, and they cannot sin, because they are born of God.”10 Their hatred and resistance of sin are therefore now as instinctive, as was their former enmity and opposition to God. Not indeed that the people of God are as “the saints made perfect,” who “do no inquity.” This is a dream of perfection—unscriptural and self-deluding.1 The unceasing advocacy of their Heavenly Friend evidently supposes the indwelling power of sin, to the termination of our earthly pilgrimage. The supplication also in the prayer of our Lord teaches them to ask for daily pardon and deliverance from “temptation,” as for “daily bread.”2 Yes—to our shame be it spoken—we are sinners still; yet—praised be God!—not “walking after the course,” not “fulfilling the desires,” of sin. The acting of sin is now like the motion of a stone upward, violent and unnatural. If it is not cast out, it is dethroned. We are not, as before, “its willing people,” but its reluctant, struggling captives. It is not “the day of its power.” And here lies the holy liberty of the Gospel—not, as some have feigned,—a liberty to “continue in sin, that grace may abound;”3 but a deliverance from the guilt and condemnation of abhorred, resisted, yet still indwelling sin. When our better will hath cast it off—when we can say in the sight of an heart-searching God, “What we hate, that do we”—the responsibility is not ours—“It is not we that do it, but sin that dwelleth in us.”4 Still let us inquire, is the promise of deliverance from sin “sweet to us?”5 And does our successful resistance in the spiritual conflict realize the earnest of its complete fulfilment? Blessed Jesus! what do we owe to thy cross for the present redemption from its guilt and curse, and much more for the blissful prospect of the glorified state, when this hated guest shall be an inmate no more!6 O let us take the very print of thy death into our souls in the daily crucifixion of sin.7 Let us know the “power of thy resurrection” in an habitual “walk in newness of life.”8 6 “Every imagination of the thoughts of the heart is evil—only evil—continually.” And this “God saw”—before whom “all things are naked and open”—who searcheth the heart, and therefore cannot be mistaken. Gen. 6:5. But lest we should conceive this to be the picture of some generation of so peculiarly aggravated a character, that the awful demonstration of his wrath could no longer be restrained, this testimony is repeated by the same Omniscient Judge, immediately subsequent to the flood, (Gen. 8:21,) and confirmed by him in many express declarations. Jer. 17:9, 10. Matt. 15:19. 7 Eph. 2:2, 3. Col. 1:21. 8 2 Cor. 5:17. 9 Rom. 6:14. 10 1 John 3:1. 1 Comp. Eccl. 7:20, with Job 9:20. Phil. 3:12. 2 Matt. 6:11–13. 3 Rom. 6:1, 2. 4 Ro. 7:15–20. 5 Ro. 6:14. 6 Rev. 21:27. 7 Rom. 6:6. 8 Phil. 3:10. Rom. 6:4, 5. Psalm 119:4 You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently. De 4:1,9 5:29-33 6:17 11:13,22 12:32 28:1-14 30:16 Jos 1:7 Jer 7:23 Mt 28:20 Joh 14:15,21 Php 4:8,9 1Jn 5:3 You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently. Spurgeon - Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. So that when we have done all we are unprofitable servants, we have done only that which it was our duty to have done, seeing we have our Lord's command for it. God's precepts require careful obedience: there is no keeping them by accident. Some give to God a careless service, a sort of hit or miss obedience, but the Lord has not commanded such service, nor will he accept it. His law demands the love of all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and a careless religion has none of these. We are also called to zealous obedience. We are to keep the precepts abundantly: the vessels of obedience should be filled to the brim, and the command carried out to the full of its meaning. As a man diligent in business arouses himself to do as much trade as he can, so must we be eager to serve the Lord as much as possible. Nor must we spare pains to do so, for a diligent obedience will also be laborious and self denying. Those who are diligent in business rise up early and sit up late, and deny themselves much of comfort and repose. They are not soon tired, or if they are they persevere even with aching brow and weary eye. So should we serve the Lord. Such a Master deserves diligent servants; such service he demands, and will be content with nothing less. How seldom do men render it, and hence many through their negligence miss the double blessing spoken of in this Psalm. Some are diligent in superstition and will worship; be it ours to be diligent in keeping God's precepts. It is of no use travelling fast if we are not in the right road. Men have been diligent in a losing business, and the more they have traded the more they have lost: this is bad enough in commerce, we cannot afford to have it so in our religion. God has not commanded us to be diligent in making precepts, but in keeping them. Some bind yokes upon their own necks, and make bonds and rules for others: but the wise course is to be satisfied with the rules of holy Scripture, and to strive to keep them all, in all places, towards all men, and in all respects. If we do not this, we may become eminent in our own religion, but we shall not have kept the command of God; nor shall we be accepted of him. The Psalmist began with the third person: he is now coming near home, and has already reached the first person plural, according to our version; we shall soon hear him crying out personally and for himself. As the heart glows with love to holiness, we long to have a personal interest in it. The word of God is a heart affecting book, and when we begin to sing its praises it soon comes home to us, and sets us praying to be ourselves conformed to its teachings. Charles Bridges - 4. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently We have seen the character of the Man of God. Let us mark the authority of God, commanding him to a diligent obedience. The very sight of the command is enough for him. He obeys for the command’s sake, however contrary it may be to his own will. But has he any reason to complain of the yoke? Even under the dispensation which “gendereth unto bondage” most encouraging were the obligations to obedience—“that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever.”9 Much more, then, we, under a dispensation of love, can never want a motive for obedience! Let the daily mercies of Providence stir up the question—“What shall I render unto the Lord?”10 Let the far richer mercies of grace produce “a living sacrifice” to be “presented to the Lord.”11 Let “the love of Christ constrain us.”12 Let the recollection of the “price with which we were bought,” remind us of the Lord’s property in us, and of our obligations to “glorify him in our body, and in our spirit, which are his.”1 Let us only “behold the Lamb of God;” let us hear his wrestling supplications, his deserted cry, his expiring agonies—the price of our redemption; and then let us ask ourselves, Can we want a motive? But what is the scriptural character of Evangelical obedience? It is the work of the Spirit, enabling us to “obey the truth.”2 It is the end of the purpose of God, who “hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”3 It is the only satisfactory test of our profession.4 Then let me begin my morning with the inquiry—“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” “Teach me thy way, O Lord: I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.”5 Let me trade with all my talents for thee: ever watchful, that I may be employed in thy work; setting a guard upon my thoughts, my lips, my tempers, my pursuits, that nothing may hinder, but rather every thing may help me, in keeping thy precepts diligently. But why do I ever find the precepts to be “grievous” to me? Is it not that some indolence is indulged; or some “iniquity regarded in my heart;” or some principle of unfaithfulness divides my service with two masters, when I ought to be “following the Lord fully?” Oh! for the spirit of “simplicity and godly sincerity” in the precepts of God. Oh! for that warm and constant love, which is the main-spring of devoted diligence in the service of God. Oh! for a larger supply of that “wisdom which is from above,” and which is “without partiality and without hypocrisy!”6 9 Deut. 5:29. Comp. Deut. 6:17, 18; 28:1, 2. Jer. 7:23. 10 Psalm 116:12. 11 Rom. 12:1. 12 2 Cor. 5:14. 1 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. 2 1 Peter 1:22. 3 Eph. 1:4. 4 Matt. 12:33. John 14:15, 21. 5 Acts 9:6. Psalm 86:11. 6 James 3:17. Psalm 119:5 Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes! Ps 119:32,36,44,45,131,159,173 51:10 Jer 31:33 Ro 7:22-24 2Th 3:5 Heb 13:21 A PRAYER FOR PRESSING ON! Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes! Spurgeon - O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Divine commands should direct us in the subject of our prayers. We cannot of ourselves keep God's statutes as he would have them kept, and yet we long to do so: what resort have we but prayer? We must ask the Lord to work our works in us, or we shall never work out his commandments. This verse is a sigh of regret because the Psalmist feels that he has not kept the precepts diligently, it is a cry of weakness appealing for help to one who can aid, it is a request of bewilderment from one who has lost his way and would fain be directed in it, and it is a petition of faith from one who loves God and trusts in him for grace. Our ways are by nature opposed to the way of God, and must be turned by the Lord's direction in another direction from that which they originally take or they will lead us down to destruction. God can direct the mind and will without violating our free agency, and he will do so in answer to prayer; in fact, he has begun the work already in those who are heartily praying after the fashion of this verse. It is for present holiness that the desire arises in the heart. O that it were so now with me: but future persevering holiness is also meant, for he longs for grace to keep henceforth and for ever the statutes of the Lord. The sigh of the text is really a prayer, though it does not exactly take that form. Desires and longings are of the essence of supplication, and it little matters what shape they take. "O that" is as acceptable a prayer as "Our Father." One would hardly have expected a prayer for direction; rather should we have looked for a petition for enabling. Can we not direct ourselves? What if we cannot row, we can steer. The Psalmist herein confesses that even for the smallest part of his duty he felt unable without grace. He longed for the Lord to influence his will, as well as to strengthen his hands. We want a rod to point out the way as much as a staff to support us in it. The longing of the text is prompted by admiration of the blessedness of holiness, by a contemplation of the righteous man's beauty of character, and by a reverent awe of the command of God. It is a personal application to the writer's own case of the truths which he had been considering. "O that my ways, "etc. It were well if all who hear and read the word would copy this example and turn all that they hear into prayer. We should have more keepers of the statutes if we had more who sighed and cried after the grace to do so. Charles Bridges - 5. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! The Lord has indeed “commanded us to keep his precepts.” But, alas! where is our power? Satan would make the sense of our weakness an excuse for indolence. The Spirit of God convinces us of it, as an incitement to prayer, and an exercise of faith. If, reader, your heart is perfect with God, you “consent to the law that it is good;” you “delight in it after the inner man;”7 you would not have one jot or tittle altered, mitigated, or repealed, that it might be more conformed to your own will, or allow you more liberty and self-indulgence in the ways of sin. But do you not sigh to think, that when you aim at the perfect standard of holiness, you should, at your best moments, and in your highest attainments, fall so far below it; seeing indeed the way before you, but feeling yourself without ability to walk in it? Then let a sense of your helplessness for the work of the Lord lead you to the throne of grace, to pray, and watch, and wait, for the strengthening and refreshing influences of the Spirit of grace. Here let your faith realize at one and the same view your utter insufficiency, and your complete All-sufficiency.8 Here behold Him, who is ever presenting himself before God as our glorious Head, receiving in himself, according to the good pleasure of the Father,1 the full supply for this and every successive moment of inexpressible need. Our work is not therefore left upon our own hands, or wrought out at our “own charges.” So long as “He hath the residue of the Spirit,”2 “grace” will be found “sufficient”—Divine “strength will be made perfect in weakness.”3 “Without him we can do nothing.”4—“Through Him all things.”5 Even the “worm Jacob shall thresh the mountains,” when the Lord says—“Fear not, I will help thee.”6 In connecting this verse with the preceding, how accurately is the middle path preserved, equally distant from the idea of self-sufficiency to “keep the Lord’s statutes,” and self-justification in neglecting them! The first attempt to render spiritual obedience will quickly convince us of our utter helplessness. We might as soon create a world, as create in our hearts one pulse of spiritual life. And yet our inability does not cancel our obligation. Shall God lose his right, because sin has palsied our ability? Is not a drunken servant still under his master’s law? and is not the sin which prevents him from performing his duty, not his excuse, but his aggravation? Thus our weakness is that of an heart, which “cannot be subject to the law of God,” only because it is “carnal, enmity against God.”7 The obligation therefore remains in full force. Our inability is our sin, our guilt, and condemnation. What then remains for us, but to return the mandate to heaven, accompanied with an earnest prayer, that the Lord would write upon our hearts those statutes, to which he requires obedience in his word?—“Thou hast commanded us to keep thy statutes diligently.” We acknowledge, Lord, our obligation; but we feel our impotency. Lord, help us: we look unto thee, “O that our ways were directed to keep thy statutes!” “Give what thou commandest; and then command what thou wilt.”8 Now, as if to exhibit the fulness and suitableness of the promises of the gospel, the commands and prayers are returned back again from heaven with promises of quickening and directing grace. Thus does the Lord fully answer his end with us. He did not issue the commands, expecting that we could turn our own hearts to them; but that the conviction of our entire helplessness might cast us upon him, who loves to be sought, and never will be thus sought in vain. And indeed this is a part of “the mystery of godliness,” that in proportion as we depend upon him, who is alike “the Lord our righteousness” and our strength, our desires after holiness will increase, and our prayers become more fervent. He who commands our duty, perfectly knows our weakness. And he who feels his own weakness is fully encouraged to depend upon the power of his Saviour. Faith is then the principle of evangelical obedience, and the promises of his grace enable us for duty, at the very time that we are commanded to it.1 In this view are brought together the supreme authority of the Lawgiver, the total insufficiency of the creature, the full provisions of the Saviour, and the all-sufficiency of “the God of all grace.” We pray for what we want; we are thankful for what we have; we trust for what is promised. Thus “all is of God.” Christ “is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”2 Thus “grace reigns” triumphant. The foundation is laid in grace, and the head-stone will be brought forth with shoutings, crying, “Grace, grace unto it!”3—The Saviour’s work is finished, and Jesus is crowned Lord of all for ever. 7 Rom. 7:16, 22. 8 2 Cor. 3:5. 1 Col. 1:18, 19. 2 Mal. 2:15. 3 2 Cor. 12:9. 4 John 15:5. 5 Phil. 4:13. 6 Isa. 41:14, 15. 7 Rom. 7:7. Compare Genesis 37:4. John 8:43; 5:40. 2 Peter 2:14,—where the moral inability is clearly traced to the love of sin, or the obstinate unbelief of the heart, and therefore is inexcusable. The case of the heathen is traced to the same wilful source, Rom. 1:20–28. 8 “Da quod jubes, et jube quod vis.”—Augustine. 1 “Quod lex imperat, fides impetrat.” 2 Rev. 22:13. 3 Zech. 4:7. Psalm 119:6 Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments. shall I Ps 119:31,80 Job 22:26 Da 12:2,3 1Jn 2:28 3:20,21 I have Ps 119:128 Joh 15:14 Jas 2:10 Spurgeon's sermon A Clear Conscience or listen to audio version Then I shall not be ashamed Then shall I not be ashamed. He had known shame, and here he rejoices in the prospect of being freed from it. Sin brings shame, and when sin is gone, the reason for being ashamed is banished. What a deliverance this is, for to some men death is preferable to shame! When I look upon all Your commandments - NLT is interesting = "when I compare my life with your commands." Look upon (05027)(nabat) is a root which means that which one does with the eye (Ps 94:9), everything from a mere glance (1Sa17:42) to a careful, sustained, and favorable contemplation (Isa 5:12; Ps 74:20; Ps 119:6, 15 Hab 1:5) Septuagint - Look at (regard, pay special attention) (1914)(epiblepo from epi = upon + blepo = to observe, to see) means to literally to turn the eyes upon. The root verb blepo frequently implies looking not nonchalantly but with intent and earnest contemplation. BDAG says epiblepo means to "look intently, to pay close attention to (show special respect for - James 2:3), to look attentively at with implication of personal concern for someone or something (God in Lk 1:48+). Spurgeon - When I have respect unto all thy commandments. When he respects God he shall respect himself and be respected. Whenever we err we prepare ourselves for confusion of face and sinking of heart: if no one else is ashamed of me I shall be ashamed of myself if I do iniquity. Our first parents never knew shame till they made the acquaintance of the old serpent, and it never left them till their gracious God had covered them with sacrificial skins. Disobedience made them naked and ashamed. We, ourselves, will always have cause for shame till every sin is vanquished, and every duty is observed. When we pay a continual and universal respect to the will of the Lord, then we shall be able to look ourselves in the face in the looking glass of the law, and we shall not blush at the sight of men or devils, however eager their malice may be to lay somewhat to our charge. Many suffer from excessive diffidence, and this verse suggests a cure. An abiding sense of duty will make us bold, we shall be afraid to be afraid. No shame in the presence of man will hinder us when the fear of God has taken full possession of our minds. When we are on the king's highway by daylight, and are engaged upon royal business, we need ask no man's leave. It would be a dishonour to a king to be ashamed of his livery and his service; no such shame should ever crimson the cheek of a Christian, nor will it if he has due reverence for the Lord his God. There is nothing to be ashamed of in a holy life; a man may be ashamed of his pride, ashamed of his wealth, ashamed of his own children, but he will never be ashamed of having in all things regarded the will of the Lord his God. It is worthy of remark that David promises himself no immunity from shame till he has carefully paid homage to all the precepts. Mind that word "all, "and leave not one command out of your respect. Partial obedience still leaves us liable to be called to account for those commands which we have neglected. A man may have a thousand virtues, and yet a single failing may cover him with shame. To a poor sinner who is buried in despair, it may seem a very unlikely thing that he should ever be delivered from shame. He blushes, and is confounded, and feels that he can never lift up his face again. Let him read these words: "Then shall I not be ashamed." David is not dreaming, nor picturing an impossible case. Be assured, dear friend, that the Holy Spirit can renew in you the image of God, so that you shall yet look up without fear. O for sanctification to direct us in God's way, for then shall we have boldness both towards God and his people, and shall no more crimson with confusion. Charles Bridges - 6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments The Lord expects our obedience to be not only “diligent,” but universal. Willingly to dispense with the least of the commandments, proves that we have yet to learn the spirit of acceptable obedience.4 Grace is given and suited for all, no less than for one of them, “that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.”5 One lust “regarded in the heart” is sufficient to keep possession for the tyrant, however others may be restrained. Even Herod could “do many things;” and yet his adulterous wife cherished in his bosom, too plainly proved the sovereignty of sin to be undisturbed.6 Saul slew all the Amalekites but one; and that single exception to universal obedience marked his unsoundness, cost him the loss of his throne, and brought him under the awful displeasure of his God.7 And thus the corrupt unmortified member brings the whole body to hell.8 Reserves are the canker upon godly sincerity. A secret indulgence—“the rolling of the sweet morsel under the tongue”—“the part of the price kept back”9—stamps our service as a robbery, not as an offering. We may be free, sincere, and earnest in many parts of our prescribed duty; but this “root of bitterness” renders the whole an abomination. Sincerity therefore must be the stamp of my Christian profession. Though utterly unable to render perfect obedience to the least of the commandments, yet my desire and purpose will have respect unto them all. I shall no more venture to break the least than the greatest of them; much less shall I ever think of attempting to atone for the breach of one by the performance of the rest. They are indeed many commandments; yet—like links in a chain—they form but one law; and I know who has said—“Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”10 However the professor may confine his regard to the second table (as if the first were ceremonial, or obsolete, or the regulation of the outward man was the utmost extent of the requirement), I would fix my eye with equal regard to both; yet specially marking any command in either of them, that may appear most directly opposed to my besetting corruptions. Thus “walking in the fear of the Lord,” I may hope to walk “in the comfort of the Holy Ghost;”1 and “hereby shall I know that I am of the truth, and shall assure my heart before God.”2 But where, in my strictest walk, is my hope of acceptance, but in Him, whose obedience has “fulfilled all righteousness”3 in my stead, and whose death “has redeemed me from the curse”4 of my unrighteousness, when repentance, prayers, and tears, would have been of no avail? Yet it is only in the path of holiness that we can realize our acceptance.5 The heart occupied with this world’s pleasure, knows nothing of this heavenly joy. Its brightness is dimmed—its freshness fades—its life withers—in the very breath of an unholy world. A godly assurance of the present favor of God must be weakened by self-indulgence, unwatchfulness, allowance of secret sins, or neglect of secret duties. “If thou return to the Almighty”—said a wise man,—“thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. Then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.”6 Let us then carefully examine the character of our assurance. Does it rest simply and exclusively upon the testimony of the Gospel? Will it abide the test of the word of God? Is it productive of tenderness of conscience, watchfulness, and circumspection of conduct? Does it exercise our diligence in adding grace to grace, that we may “make our calling and election sure,” and that “an entrance may be ministered to us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?”7 How boldly can we plead our Christian confidence in the path of godliness.—“I have stuck unto thy testimonies; O Lord, put me not to shame. Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed.”8 4 Matt. 5:19. 5 Col. 1:10. 6 Mark 6:18–20. 7 1 Sam. 15:21–32. 8 Mark 9:43–48 9 Acts 5:1, 2. 10 James 2:10, 11. 1 Acts 9:31. 2 1 John 3:19. 3 Matt. 3:15. 4 Gal. 3:13. 5 1 John 1:7, 2:5, 3:21, 24. 6 Job 22:23, 26. 7 2 Peter 1:5–11. 8 Ps 119:31, 80. Psalm 119:7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. I shall give thanks l Ps 119:171 9:1 86:12,13 1Ch 29:13-17 when Ps 119:12,18,19,27,33,34,64,73,124 25:4,5,8-10 143:10 Isa 48:17 Joh 6:45 Your righteous judgments, Ps 119:138 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, Spurgeon - I will praise thee. From prayer to praise is here, a long or a difficult journey. Be sure that he who prays for holiness will one day praise for happiness. Shame having vanished, silence is broken, and the formerly silent man declares, "I will praise thee." He cannot but promise praise while he seeks sanctification. Mark how well he knows upon what head to set the crown. "I will praise thee." He would himself be praiseworthy, but he counts God alone worthy of praise. By the sorrow and shame of sin he measures his obligations to the Lord who would teach him the art of living so that he should clean escape from his former misery. Spurgeon - With up righteous of heart. His heart would be upright if the Lord would teach him, and then it should praise its teacher. There is such a thing as false and feigned praise, and this the Lord abhors; but there is no music like that which comes from a pure soul which standeth in its integrity. Heart praise is required, uprightness in that heart, and teaching to make the heart upright. An upright heart is sure to bless the Lord, for grateful adoration is a part of its uprightness; no man can be right unless he is upright towards God, and this involves the rendering to him the praise which is his due. When I learn Your righteous judgments. Learn (03925)(lamad) means "to learn, study, and teach," as well as "to be taught and to be learned." Lamad conveys the idea of learning and teaching in the sense of educating and training. The first use of lamad in the OT is in Dt 4:1+ which emphasizes its importance (because Israel was being given instructions prior to entering the promised land). The idea is to gain information and respond properly to it with regular action, implying acceptance of, or submission to the information. Septuagint - Learn (3129)(manthano related to the noun mathetes = disciple, literally a learner! The shut mind is the end of discipleship!) has the basic meaning of directing one’s mind to something and producing an external effect. Manthano refers to teaching, learning, instructing, and discipling. Manthano to genuinely understand and accept a teaching, to accept it as true and to apply it in one’s life. It was sometimes used of acquiring a life-long habit. Righteous (06664)(tsedeq) the root connotes CONFORMITY to an ETHICAL or MORAL STANDARD. Biblically this is clearly God's holy, perfect standard Judgments (justice, ordinance[s]) (04941)(mishpat/mispat from shaphat = to judge, govern) is a masculine noun used over 400x in the OT and has general meanings including a judgment, a legal decision, a legal case, a claim, proper, rectitude. Vine writes that mishpat/mispat "has two main senses; the first deals with the act of sitting as a judge, hearing a case, and rendering a proper verdict. Eccl. 12:14 is one such occurrence. Mishpat can also refer to the “rights” belonging to someone (Ex 23:6). This second sense carries several nuances: the sphere in which things are in proper relationship to one’s claims (Ge 18:19—first occurrence); a judicial verdict (Dt. 17:9); the statement of the case for the accused (Nu 27:5); and an established ordinance (Exod. 21:1). (Vine's Expository Dictionary) Spurgeon - When I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. We must learn to praise, learn that we may praise, and praise when we have learned. If we are ever to learn, the Lord must teach us, and especially upon such a subject as his judgments, for they are a great deep. While these are passing before our eyes, and we are learning from them, we ought to praise God, for the original is not, "when I have learned, "but, "in my learning." While yet I am a scholar I will be a chorister: my upright heart shall praise thine uprightness, my purified judgment shall admire thy judgments. God's providence is a book full of teaching, and to those whose hearts are right it is a music book, out of which they chant to Jehovah's praise. God's word is full of the record of his righteous providence, and as we read it we feel compelled to burst forth into expressions of holy delight and ardent praise. When we both read of God's judgments and become joyful partakers in them, we are doubly moved to song— song in which there is neither formality, nor hypocrisy, nor lukewarmness, for the heart is upright in the presentation of its praise. Charles Bridges - 7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments The righteous judgments of God include the whole revelation of his word9—so called—as the rule by which he judges our present state, and will pronounce our final sentence.10 David’s attainments here seemed to be as nothing. So much remained unlearned and unknown, that he could only anticipate the time, when he should have learned them. “Thy commandment”—he exclaims—“is exceeding broad.”11 When the Apostle, after twenty years’ acquaintance with the gospel, expressed it as the one desire of his heart—“That I may know Christ”1—evidently he entertained the same humbling views of his high attainments, and the same exalted apprehensions of the value of treasures yet unexplored, and progressively opening before him. Thus the wisest saints are only students in the Divine School. Yet whatever their learning be, it casts them into the mould and spirit of their doctrine.2 Conceit however of knowledge is the greatest enemy to knowledge, and the strongest proof of ignorance; so that, “if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.”—“He deceiveth himself.”3 But what is the motive, that enlivens the believer in this holy learning? Is it that he may live upon the airy breath of human applause? No, rather that he may “praise his God with uprightness of heart.” When our mind is dark, our lips are sealed. But when “he opens our understandings” to “learn his judgments,” he will next “open our lips, and our mouths shall show forth his praise.”4 And this indeed is the end, for which “his people are formed;”5 for which they “are called out of darkness into marvellous light.”6 This is the daily frame, in which our God will be glorified.7 Yet must we live as well as sing his praise. “The praise of the upright heart will be shown in the holy walk and conversation.”8 But let us watch, that our praise really flows “out of the abundance” of what our hearts have “learned” of his “righteous judgments.” For do we not sometimes speak of our Saviour with a secret lurking after self-exaltation? May we not really be seeking and serving ourselves in the very act of seeming to serve and honor him? Surely the very thought of the selfishness that defiles our holiest earthly praise, may well quicken our longings after that world of praise, where the flame burns active, bright, incessant; where we shall offer our sacrifices without defilement, without intermission, without weariness, without end.9 9 John 3:18, 19. 10 Jn. 12:48. 11 Ps 119:96. 1 Phil. 3:10–14. 2 Rom. 6:17. 3 1 Cor. 8:2. Gal. 6:3. 4 Ps. 51:15; also ver. 27, 171. 5 Isa. 43:21. 6 1 Peter 2:9. 7 Psalm 50:23. For an example of the uprightness of heart in the service of praise here alluded to, see 1 Chron. 29:13–18. 8 Psalm 116:12–14. 9 Rev. 4:8. Psalm 119:8 I shall keep Your statutes; Do not forsake me utterly! I shall keep Your statutes Ps 119:16,106,115 Jos 24:15 Do not forsake me utterly Ps 119:116,117,176 38:21,22 51:11 Php 4:13 I shall keep Your statutes - Keep (see shamar) means to watch, to keep, to preserve, to guard, to be careful, to watch over, to watch carefully over, to be on one's guard. This is what Adam was supposed to do in Ge 2:15 but did not do a very good job as we see in Genesis 3! Spurgeon - I will keep thy statutes. A calm resolve. When praise calms down into solid resolution it is well with the soul. Zeal which spends itself in singing, and leaves no practical residuum of holy living, is little worth: "I will praise" should be coupled with "I will keep." This firm resolve is by no means boastful, like Peter's "though I should die with thee, yet will I not forsake thee, "for it is followed by a humble prayer for divine help, Do not forsake me utterly! After his confident assertion that he could keep all God's statutes, testimonies, precepts, walking in His law, respecting His commandments, and learning His judgments he suddenly realizes he simply cannot do all this and right at the end of his first stanza he cries out for God's mercy! (cp Php 2:12,13, Eze 36:27). THOUGHT - And this indeed is my feeble cry...the fear that the Holy God would say "enough of your sin...have your own way then''. Lord I plead with you to not give me over to my flesh and to the lusts of this world. Do not forsake me utterly yea even though I deserve that end. Please visit me afresh Lord. Please be willing to speak to me to make Your presence known to me. Tender my heart to confess quickly my waywardness, rebellion and evil heart. For Thy Name's sake. Amen. Spurgeon - O forsake me not utterly. Feeling his own incapacity, he trembles lest he should be left to himself, and this fear is increased by the horror which he has of falling into sin. The "I will keep" sounds lightly enough now that the humble cry is heard with it. This is a happy amalgam: resolution and dependence. We meet with those who to all appearance humbly pray, but there is no force of character, no decision in them, and consequently the pleading of the closet is not embodied in the life: on the other band, we meet with abundance of resolve attended with an entire absence of dependence upon God, and this makes as poor a character as the former. The Lord grant us to have such a blending of excellences that we may be "perfect and entire, wanting nothing." This prayer is one which is certain to be heard, for assuredly it must be highly pleasing to God to see a man set upon obeying his will, and therefore it must be most agreeable to him to be present with such a person, and to help him in his endeavours. How can he forsake one who does not forsake his law? The peculiar dread which tinges this prayer with a sombre hue is the fear of utter forsaking. Well may the soul cry out against such a calamity. To be left, that we may discover our weakness, is a sufficient trial: To be altogether forsaken would be ruin and death. Hiding the face in a little wrath for a moment brings us very low: an absolute desertion would land us ultimately in the lowest hell. But the Lord never has utterly forsaken his servants, and he never will, blessed be his name. If we long to keep his statutes he will keep us; yea, his grace will keep us keeping his law. There is rather a descent from the mount of benediction with which the first verse began to the almost wail of this eighth verse, yet this is spiritually a growth, for from admiration of goodness we have come to a burning longing after God and communion with him, and an intense horror lest it should not be enjoyed. The sigh of Psalms 119:5 is now supplanted by an actual prayer from the depths of a heart conscious of its undesert, and its entire dependence upon divine love. The two, "I wills" needed to be seasoned with some such lowly petition, or it might have been thought that the good man's dependence was in some degree fixed upon his own determination. He presents his resolutions like a sacrifice, but he cries to heaven for the fire. Charles Bridges - 8. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly The resolution to “keep the Lord’s statutes” is the natural result of having “learned his righteous judgments.” But how happily does David combine “simplicity” of dependence with “godly sincerity” of obedience! Firm in his purpose, but distrustful of his strength, instantly upon forming his resolution, he recollects that the performance is beyond his power; and therefore the next moment, and almost the same moment, he follows it up with prayer—“I will keep thy statutes; O forsake me not utterly.” Oh! beware of self-confidence in the Christian course. We stumble or advance, as we lean upon an arm of flesh, or upon an Almighty Saviour. Temporary desertion may be the seasonable chastisement of spiritual wantonness. When grace has been given in answer to prayer, it was not duly prized, or diligently improved. The “Beloved”—in answer to solicitation—“is come into his garden;” he knocks at the door, but the spouse is “asleep.” The answer to prayer was not expected, not waited for, and therefore not enjoyed; and the sleeper awakes too late, and finds herself forsaken by the object of her desire.1 Again—when we have given place to temptation;2 when “our mountain stands strong;”3 when love for our Saviour “waxes cold,” and our earnestness in seeking him is fainting;4 we must not be surprised, if we are left for a time to the trial of a deserted state. Yet we sometimes speak of the hidings of God’s countenance, as if it were a sovereign act, calling for implicit submission; when the cause should at least be sought for, and will generally be found, in some “secret thing” of indulgence, unwatchfulness, or self-dependence.5 It was while David “kept silence” from the language of contrition, that he felt the pressure of the heavy hand of his frowning God;6 and may not the darkness, which has sometimes clouded our path, be the voice of our God—“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee; know therefore and see, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God.”7 But in the engagement of the Lord’s everlasting covenant, how clear is the warrant of faith!—how ample the encouragement for prayer—“Forsake me not utterly!” David knew and wrote of the Lord’s unchangeable faithfulness to his people; and, while he dreaded even a temporary separation from his God more than any worldly affliction, he could plead that gracious declaration—“Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.”8 We would not indeed make the promises of grace an encouragement to carelessness: yet it is indispensable to our spiritual establishment that we receive them in their full, free, and sovereign declaration. How many fainting souls have been refreshed by the assurances—“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee—with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer!” “My sheep shall never perish: neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.”9 In a lowly, self-abased and dependent spirit we shall best, however, learn to “make our boast in the Lord,” “confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in us, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”10 And even if awhile destitute of sensible consolation, still our language will be—“I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob; and I will look for him.”11 Great indeed is the danger and evil to the soul, if we apprehend the Lord to have forsaken us, because we are in darkness; or that we are out of the way, because we are in perplexity. These are the very hand-posts, that show us that we are in the way of his own promised leading—painful exercise—faithful keeping—eternal salvation;—“I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”1 Oh! the rest, the satisfaction of placing a blind implicit confidence in a covenant-keeping God! Forsaken we may be—but not utterly. David was forsaken, not like Saul2—Peter was forsaken—not like Judas3—utterly and for ever. What foreboding have you of such desertion? Is your heart willing to forsake him? Have you no mournings and thirstings for his return? “If indeed you forsake him, he will forsake you.”4 But can you forsake him? Let him do as seemeth him good, (is the language of your heart;) I will wait for him, follow after him, cleave to his word, cling to his cross. Mark his dealings with you. Inquire into their reason. Submit to his dispensation. If he forsakes, beg his return: but trust your forsaking God. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”5 Though my comfort is clouded, my hope remains unchanging, unchangeable—such as I would not resign for the glory of an earthly crown. What are these earnest breathings—this abiding confidence, but his own work in us? And can the Lord “forsake the work of his own hands?”6 Sooner should heaven and earth pass, than the faithful engagements of the Gospel be thus broken.7 1 Song. 4:16, with 5:1–6. 2 2 Chron. 32:31. 3 Psalm 30:6, 7. 4 Cant. 3:1–4. 5 Job 15:11. 6 Psalm 32:3, 4. 7 Jer. 1:19. 8 Psalm 89:33. 9 Isa. 54:7, 8. John 10:28 10 Psalm 34:2. Phil. 1:6. 11 Isa. 8:17. 1 Isa. 42:16. 2 Psalm 30:7, with 1 Sam. 28:6, 16. 3 Matt. 26:75, with 27:3–5. 4 2 Chron. 15:2. Comp. 1 Chron. 28:9. 5 Job 13:15. Isa. 45:15; 50:10. Heb. 3:17, 18. 6 Psalm 138:8. 7 Augustine’s Paraphrase of this verse is beautifully descriptive of the believer’s conflict in a state of temporary desertion. “O Lord, if—lest I should be proud, and should say in my prosperity, I shall never be removed—it pleaseth thee to tempt me, yet forsake me not over-long;” that is, if thou hast thus forsaken me, that I may know how weak I am without thy help, yet “forsake me not utterly,” lest I perish. I know that of thy good will thou hast given me strength; and if thou turnest away thy face from me, I shall forthwith be troubled. “O forsake me not, that I perish not.” John
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - How can a young man keep his way pure How shall he become and remain practically holy? He is but a young man, full of hot passions, and poor in knowledge and experience; how shall he get right, and keep right? Never was there a more important question for any man; never was there a fitter time for asking it than at the commencement of life. It is by no means an easy task which the prudent young man sets before him. He wishes to choose a clean way, to be himself clean in it, to cleanse it of any foulness which may arise in the future, and to end by showing a clear course from the first step to the last; but, alas, his way is already unclean by actual sin which he has already committed, and he himself has within his nature a tendency towards that which defileth. Here, then, is the difficulty, first of beginning aright, next of being always able to know and choose the right, and of continuing in the right till perfection is ultimately reached: this is hard for any man, how shall a youth accomplish it? The way, or life, of the man has to be cleansed from the sins of his youth behind him, and kept clear of the sins which temptation will place before him: this is the work, this is the difficulty. No nobler ambition can lie before a youth, none to which he is called by so sure a calling; but none in which greater difficulties can be found. Let him not, however, shrink from the glorious enterprise of living a pure and gracious life; rather let him enquire the way by which all obstacles may be overcome. Let him not think that he knows the road to easy victory, nor dream that he can keep himself by his own wisdom; he will do well to follow the Psalmist, and become an earnest enquirer asking how he may cleanse his way. Let him become a practical disciple of the holy God, who alone can teach him how to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, that trinity of defilers by whom many a hopeful life has been spoiled. He is young and unaccustomed to the road, let him not be ashamed often to enquire his way of him who is so ready and so able to instruct him in it. Our "way" is a subject which concerns us deeply, and it is far better to enquire about it than to speculate upon mysterious themes which rather puzzle than enlighten the mind. Among all the questions which a young man asks, and they are many, let this be the first and chief: "Wherewithal shall I cleanse my way?" This is a question suggested by common sense, and pressed home by daily occurrences; but it is not to be answered by unaided reason, nor, when answered, can the directions be carried out by unsupported human power. It is ours to ask the question, it is God's to give the answer and enable us to carry it out. (Treasury of David) What is the "4D" process suggested in these verses? 1). Desire to remain pure 2). Devour it: Treasure or store up God's Word of life, Word of truth in your control center [(your heart...all your heart = a whole heart not a divided heart for you will be double-minded and unstable in all your ways (Jas 1:8) for you cannot serve two masters (Mt 6:24)] 3). Do it: Keep it according to the treasured Word (v10 sought Thee...the idea of fixing your eyes on Jesus Heb12:2) 4). Depend on God's power ("Do not let me wander from Thy commandments") 5). RESULT: Not sin against God...keep way pure By keeping it according to Your word - Note that God provides His Word, but we are responsible to keep it. He will not force us to keep it, but in the Church age God has also provided His Spirit to enable us to make the choice daily to keep it. Keeping (careful, guard, kept, observe, watch) (08104)(shamar) means to keep, watch, preserve, to guard, to be careful, to watch over, to watch carefully over, to be on one’s guard. The first use of shamar in Ge 2:15 is instructive as Adam was placed in the garden (a perfect environment) and was commanded to "keep" it which in the Septuagint is translated with phulasso (used here in Ps 119:9 to translate shamar) which means to guard like a military sentinel would at his post. Clearly Adam did not do a good job at "keeping" the garden safe from intruders! And because of this failure he was cast out of the garden and angels stationed to "guard (Lxx = phulasso) the way to the tree of life" so that he would not eat of it (Ge 3:24). We are charge not with watching the Garden of Eden but to watch over the "garden" of our heart, to make sure we quickly pull (confess) "weeds" of sin! Phulasso in Ps 119:9 is in the middle voice which means the subject (us) initiates the action (guarding our heart - see Pr 4:23+) and participates in the results (fruit) of zealously guarding our heart! Shamar is a "key verb" in Psalm 119 - Ps. 119:4; Ps. 119:5; Ps. 119:8; Ps. 119:9; Ps. 119:17; Ps. 119:34; Ps. 119:44; Ps. 119:55; Ps. 119:57; Ps. 119:60; Ps. 119:63; Ps. 119:67; Ps. 119:88; Ps. 119:101; Ps. 119:106 Spurgeon - By keeping it according to Your word - Young man, the Bible must be your chart, and you must exercise great watchfulness that your way may be according to its directions. You must take heed to your daily life as well as study your Bible, and you must study your Bible that you may take heed to your daily life (STUDY YOUR BIBLE BUT BE SURE TO LET IT "STUDY YOU!"). With the greatest care a man will go astray if his map misleads him; but with the most accurate map he will still lose his road if he does not take heed to it. (SEE EXAMPLE OF A MAN WHO KNEW THE WORD BUT DID NOT PRACTICE IT - HIS NAME WAS NIKITA KRUSHCHEV!) The narrow way was never hit upon by chance, neither did any heedless man ever lead a holy life. We can sin without thought, we have only to neglect the great salvation and ruin our souls; BUT to obey the Lord and walk uprightly will need all our heart and soul and mind. Let the careless remember this. Yet the "word" is absolutely necessary; for, otherwise, care will darken into morbid anxiety, and conscientiousness may become superstition. A captain may watch from his deck all night; but if he knows nothing of the coast, and has no pilot on board, he may be carefully hastening on to shipwreck. It is not enough to desire to he right; for ignorance may make us think that we are doing God service when we are provoking him, and the fact of our ignorance will not reverse the character of our action, however much it may mitigate its criminality. Should a man carefully measure out what he believes to be a dose of useful medicine, he will die if it should turn out that he has taken up the wrong vial, and has poured out a deadly poison: the fact that he did it ignorantly will not alter the result. Even so, a young man may surround himself with ten thousand ills, by carefully using an unenlightened judgment, and refusing to receive instruction from the word of God. Wilful ignorance is in itself wilful sin, and the evil which comes of it is without excuse. Let each man, whether young or old, who desires to be holy have a holy watchfulness in his heart, and keep his Holy Bible before his open eye. (AND OPEN HEART). There he will find every turn of the road marked down, every slough and miry place pointed out, with the way to go through unsoiled; and there, too, he will find light for his darkness, comfort for his weariness, and company for his loneliness, so that by its help he shall reach the benediction of the first verse of the Psalm (Psalm 119:1), which suggested the Psalmist's enquiry, and awakened his desires.Note how the first section of eight verses has for its first verse, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way." and the second section runs parallel to it, with the question, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" The blessedness which is set before us in a conditional promise should be practically sought for in the way appointed. The Lord saith, "For this will I be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them." (Treasury of David) Warren
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - With my whole heart have I sought thee. His heart had gone after God himself: he had not only desired to obey his laws, but to commune with his person. This is a right royal search and pursuit, and well may it be followed with the whole heart. The surest mode of cleansing the way of our life is to seek after God himself, and to endeavour to abide in fellowship with him. Up to the good hour in which he was speaking to his Lord, the Psalmist had been an eager seeker after the Lord, and if faint, he was still pursuing. Had he not sought the Lord he would never have been so anxious to cleanse his way. It is pleasant to see how the writer's heart turns distinctly and directly to God. He had been considering an important truth in the preceding verse, but here he so powerfully feels the presence of his God that he speaks to him, and prays to him as to one who is near. A true heart cannot long live without fellowship with God. Spurgeon - His petition is founded on his life's purpose: he is seeking the Lord, and he prays the Lord to prevent his going astray in or from his search. It is by obedience that we follow after God, hence the prayer, Do not let me wander from Your commandments - A prayer that recognizes his dependence on God's power to keep him from wandering. While he is responsible to choose, he cries out for God's sovereign protection and power to enable him to walk uprightly. A good prayer. It reflects a humble recognition that we need God all the time! Even when we are seeking Him with a whole heart. We are always vulnerable to slip and fall, for the flesh is ever looking for a crack in our armor! Spurgeon - O let me not wander from thy commandments; for if we leave the ways of God's appointment we certainly shall not find the God who appointed them. The more a man's whole heart is set upon holiness the more does he dread falling into sin; he is not so much fearful of deliberate transgression as of inadvertent wandering: he cannot endure a wandering look, or a rambling thought, which might stray beyond the pale of the precept. We are to be such wholehearted seekers that we have neither time nor will to be wanderers, and yet with all our wholeheartedness we are to cultivate a jealous fear lest even then we should wander from the path of holiness. Two things may be very like and yet altogether different: saints are "strangers" — "I am a stranger in the earth" (Psalms 119:19), but they are not wanderers: they are passing through an enemy's country, but their route is direct; they are seeking their Lord while they traverse this foreign land. Their way is hidden from men; but yet they have not lost their way. The man of God exerts himself, but does not trust himself: his heart is in his walking with God: but he knows that even his whole strength is not enough to keep him right unless his King shall be his keeper, and he who made the commands shall make him constant in obeying them: hence the prayer, "O let me not wander." Still, this sense of need was never turned into an argument for idleness; for while he prayed to be kept in the right road he took care to run in it with his whole heart seeking the Lord. It is curious again to note how the second part of the Psalm keeps step with the first; for where Psalms 119:2 pronounces that man to be blessed who seeks the Lord with his whole heart, the present verse claims the blessing by pleading the character: With my whole heart have I sought thee. Henry
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - Thy word have I hid in mine heart. His heart would be kept by the word because he kept the word in his heart. All that he had of the word written, and all that had been revealed to him by the voice of God, — all, without exception, he had stored away in his affections, as a treasure to be preserved in a casket, or as a choice seed to be buried in a fruitful soil: what soil more fruitful than a renewed heart, wholly seeking the Lord? The word was God's own, and therefore precious to God's servant. He did not wear a text on his heart as a charm, but he hid it in his heart as a rule. He laid it up in the place of love and life, and it filled the chamber with sweetness and light. We must in this imitate David, copying his heart work as well as his outward character. First, we must mind that what we believe is truly God's word; that being done, we must hide or treasure it each man for himself; and we must see that this is done, not as a mere feat of the memory, but as the joyful act of the affections. That I may not sin against You - Notice that first and foremost when we sin, we sin against God. That truth should enter our minds when we are being tempted to sin and can be an effective deterrent! What else serves as a fortress against temptation to sin? God's Word is the "wall" that temptations have leap over or penetrate in order to take down the castle of our heart. What greater motivation do we need to memorize God's Word than Psalm 119:11. When the word is hidden in the heart the life shall be hidden from sin. Spurgeon - That I may not sin against You - Note our sin is first and foremost against a Holy God! (cf Ge 39:9, Ps 51:4) That I might not sin against thee. Here was the object aimed at. As one has well said, ” Here is the best thing” "thy word"; hidden in the best place, "in my heart; "for the best of purposes, ” "that I might not sin against thee." This was done by the Psalmist with personal care, as a man carefully hides away his money when he fears thieves, — in this case the thief dreaded was sin. Sinning "against God" is the believer's view of moral evil; other men care only when they offend against men. God's word is the best preventive against offending God, for it tells us his mind and will, and tends to bring our spirit into conformity with the divine Spirit. No cure for sin in the life is equal to the word in the seat of life, which is the heart. There is no hiding from sin unless we hide the truth in our souls. A very pleasant variety of meaning is obtained by laying stress upon the words "thy" and "thee." He speaks to God, he loves the word because it is God's word, and he hates sin because it is sin against God himself. If he vexed others, he minded not so long as he did not offend his God. If we would not cause God displeasure we must treasure up his own word. The personal way in which the man of God did this is also noteworthy: "With my whole heart have I sought thee." Whatever others might choose to do he had already made his choice and placed the Word in his innermost soul as his dearest delight, and however others might transgress, his aim was after holiness: "That I might not sin against thee." This was not what he purposed to do, but what he had already done: many are great at promising, but the Psalmist had been true in performing: hence he hoped to see a sure result. When the word is hidden in the heart the life shall be hidden from sin. The parallelism between the second octave and the first is still continued. Psalms 119:3 speaks of doing no iniquity, while this verse treats of the method of not sinning. When we form an idea of a blessedly holy man (Ps 119:3) it becomes us to make an earnest effort to attain unto the same sacred innocence and divine happiness, and this can only be through heart piety founded on the Scriptures. Related Resources: The Power of God's Word The Word of God - Quotations and Illustrations Meditate Primer on Biblical Meditation Thoughts on the Quiet Time Memorizing His Word Memory Verses by Topic Quiet Time: 7 Minutes With God I. The Word of God is in its very nature expulsive of sin and cleansing therefrom (John 15:3.) II. Hid like a sword in its sheath to be drawn out at a moment's notice. Christ's answer to Satan: "It is written." Hid like a guard in a house, a sentinel in a fort, to watch diligently against the approach of temptation. (Homiletic Monthly) Scripture is the source of spiritual victory. Many Christians struggle with spiritual defeat or recurring sins because they haven’t learned to apply Biblical principles to specific situations. Perhaps they don’t know God’s will because they haven’t matured in the Word. Or maybe they know what He expects of them, but they disregard His counsel. In either case, the result is the same. Jesus Himself repelled Satan’s attacks by quoting specific portions of Scripture that applied to specific temptations (Matt. 4:1–11). He knew the Word, believed it, and refused to compromise its principles. In so doing, He set a pattern for us to follow. Using metaphorical language, the Apostle John emphasized the priority of the Word when he described three levels of spiritual maturity: children, young men, and fathers. In 1 John 2:13 he says, “I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.” Spiritual children aren’t yet mature in their faith, but they know who their Heavenly Father is. They know they belong to God. John continues: “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (v. 14). Spiritual young men are healthy, vibrant, and aggressive because the Word abides in them—it has found a home in their hearts. They’re victorious over the evil one because their doctrine is sound and they’ve cultivated spiritual wisdom and discernment (Phil. 1:9). They recognize Satan’s lies and reject them. First John 2:14 also says, “I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.” Spiritual fathers have a deep, mature relationship with God that comes from prolonged time in prayer and the Word. Which of those terms best describes you—spiritual child, young man, or father? What specific things can you do today to move toward a more mature and victorious Christian life? (Drawing Near - John MacArthur) BRAIN GAMES Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. —Romans 12:2 A saying among scientists who study the human brain is “Use it before you lose it.” We have the power to help keep our brain fit and working well. Dr Lawrence Katz, a neurologist, urges people to perform daily mental exercises such as brushing your teeth with the nondominant hand or taking a new route to work to help stimulate the brain and keep it healthy. The goal is to replace routine with fresh awareness and new focus. There’s a lesson here for us as followers of Jesus Christ. Even the most valuable spiritual disciplines of Bible reading and prayer can become so habitual that our minds are not fully engaged. To avoid slipping into a spiritual rut, why not add Scripture memory to your daily devotional time? It’s a mental effort designed to produce spiritual change. The psalmist wrote, “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11). Paul said, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2). LET GOD’S WORD FILL YOUR MEMORY, RULE YOUR HEART AND GUIDE YOUR FEET. Memorize It! Read: 2 Timothy 3:10-17 Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. —Psalm 119:11 Before the choir began to sing an anthem of praise, Cindy quoted the first Bible verse she had ever memorized. It was inspirational for our congregation to hear her repeat from memory that passage from the Psalms. At the same time, in another part of the church, adult workers were listening to more than 50 children recite verses they had memorized. They were involved in a Scripture memory program designed to hide God’s Word in their hearts for a lifetime. I remember when I first became a believer as a teenager. A godly woman was conducting a similar memorization program in our little church. I learned 110 verses and won an award—a book that told the story of the Bible. I no longer have that book, but I am still carrying the best prize—those precious verses. When I need them—while visiting a sick friend, while making an important decision, while going through difficult days, while I’m talking about or writing about the Lord—the Holy Spirit brings the appropriate verses to my mind. Hiding God's Word in our hearts Will strengthen our spirit within, Giving the help that we need To turn from temptation and sin. —Sper When the Bible becomes a part of you, you'll be less likely to come apart. DEVELOP A SPIRITUAL IMMUNE SYSTEM Ps 119:9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. One of the things I’ve learned a lot about in the last few years is the immune system. Our God-given immune systems help us fight off the forces that would destroy our bodies. If our immune systems are functioning at 100 percent, we don’t have to take medicines because they will just fight off the disease seeking to take over our bodies. But if our immune systems aren’t healthy, then we become susceptible to lots of things. If we get in the condition of an AIDS patient, our bodies lose their ability to fight off almost anything. To fight off sickness, we have to strengthen the body’s immune system. That may mean stopping some things we enjoy doing and starting some things we haven’t been doing. It’s a matter of critical importance. The same is true spiritually. In order to increase our immunity to sin, we must strengthen ourselves through prayer, the Word, and fellowship with other strong Christians. (David Jeremiah - Sanctuary) Don't Use a Crooked Ruler "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy word."—Ps. 119:9 "The Bible is so strict and old-fashioned," said a young man to a grey-haired friend, who was advising him to study God's Word if he would learn how to live. "There are plenty of books written now-a-days that are moral enough in their teaching, and do not bind one down as the Bible." The old merchant turned to his desk, and took out two rulers, one of which was slightly bent With each of these he ruled a line, and silently handed the ruled paper to his companion. "Well," said the lad, "what do you mean?" "One line is not straight and true, is it? When you mark out your path in life do not take a crooked ruler!" How full of promised cleansing is the Laver of the Word! The very Book, which as the mirror reveals my sin, is likewise the laver showing me how every stain can be cleansed. In the outer court of the Tabernacle there stood the Brazen Altar and The Laver. After serving at the first, the Priest, having dealt with the sacrifice, had to wash his hands (work) and his feet (walk) and thereby remove all defilement as he sought to enter the Holy Place to worship God. (Herbert Lockyer) Rod Mattoon - God reveals biblical principles for cleansing in His Word 1. We are cleansed by the power & blood of the Lord Jesus Christ 1 John 1:7—But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 2. We are cleansed by confessing our sin to the Lord 1 John 1:9—If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 3. The Word of God has a cleansing effect on our lives when we put it into practice Ephesians 5:26—That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, John 15:3—Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Psalm 119:9—Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 4. The expectancy of the Lord's Return helps motivate us to keep ourselves pure 1 John 3:2—Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure. Adrian Rogers - Watch his video - How to Control Your Thought Life (excerpts below) I. Three Steps to a Pure Thought Life A. Purification B. Determination C. Fortification Conclusion A. Purification Number one: There must be the purification of the mind. Your mind has got to get clean to begin with... B. Determination Now here's the second thing: Not only after there comes that cleansing—that's step number one—and that is purification. After that comes determination. Sorry about that. But if you're looking for a cheap way, an easy way, I can't give it to you... C. Fortification Now, first of all, purification. Secondly, determination. Now that's still not enough. That is still not enough. You can get clean and you can say, "By the grace of God and everything in me that is, I will keep my heart clean and pure," and you'll still fall if you fail on this third and most vital thing. Purification. Determination. And then, fortification..... It is the Word of God hidden in your heart that is the antidote, the bulwark, that keep the thoughts, the impure thoughts out, and it is the, that you're not being overcome with evil, but you're overcoming evil with good. You must saturate your being with the Word of God. These hath God married and no man shall part; dust on the Bible and drought in the heart. Now you say, "Pastor Rogers, I have a wonderful Bible. I bought it over here in the Bellevue bookstore." Wonderful. I'm glad you have. But do you read it? Do you memorize it? Do you apply it? Is it real to you? A dime and a gold nugget are of the same value to you personally if both of them are lying on the bottom of the ocean floor. What good is all of the treasure in this Word of God if it's, if it's not taken and used? I mean, it can be there like a gold nugget, but somehow you have to, you have to get this into your heart and in your mind. How does the Bible keep us pure? Look again in verse 11: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." How does the Bible keep us pure? Well, God is a holy God. And when you read the Bible, understand the Bible, and apply the Bible, what you're doing is thinking God's thoughts after Him. Now put this verse in your margin: Philippians 4:8, 9. (for full message see How to Control Your Thought Life) Charles Bridges - Ps 119:11. Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You. WHAT an aggregate of guilt and misery is comprehended in this short word “sin”—the greatest curse that ever entered the universe of God, and the parent of every other curse! Its guilt is aggravated beyond the conception of thought. Injury to a Superior—a Father—a Sovereign! Its power is misery, wherever it extends—in the heart—in the family—in the world. In eternity its power is unrestrained. Sometimes the death-bed scene casts a fearful gleam of light upon “the worm that never dieth, and the fire that never shall be quenched:”2 but experience only can develop its full-grown horrors. How supremely important therefore is the object of our preservation from sin! and how wisely adapted are the means to the end! That word—which the man of God had just before mentioned as the guide to the cleansing of the way,3—he hides within his heart—not for concealment, but for security,4 that it may be ready for constant use.5 It is not therefore a mere acquaintance with the word, that will avail us. There must be a cordial assent—a sound digestion—a constant respect. It must be to us the rule that we would not transgress—the treasure that we are afraid to lose.6 Often indeed Satan shuts out its entrance. He “catches away that which was sown.” Too often, again, it is withered or choked in the soil. But “the honest and good heart” “hides it, keeps it, and brings forth fruit with patience, unto perfection.”7 Here it “dwells richly in all wisdom,”8 the storehouse, as occasion requires; a principle of holiness; a covering from sin. In this view it is recommended by one, who had well acquainted himself with its valuable uses—“My son, let them not” (the Divine precepts) “depart from thine eyes; keep sound wisdom and discretion. So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.”9 David also gives us the same experience—“By the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”10 2 Mark 9:44. 3 Ps 119:9. 4 Matt. 25:25. Ps. 21:10, with Ex. 25:21. Job 22:22. 5 Joshua 1:8. 6 Matt. 13:44. 7 Luke 8:15, with the whole parable. 8 Col. 3:16. 9 Prov. 3:21–24. Compare Prov. 2:10–15. 10 Ps. 17:4. And it was probably this recollection, combined with a sense of continual danger, that suggested the prayer—“Order my steps in thy word; and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.”1 The value of the word is inestimable, as our means of walking with God in the hurry, business, and temptation of the day. The Psalms furnish precious materials for ejaculatory prayer; the promises food for comfort;2 the rules such light in perplexity;3 the instruction such solid matter for godly conference4—all operating for one end—a preservation from sin. Being from the word—a manifestation of the Saviour’s love—what a keeping of the heart! what a quickening motive! How seasonable in worldly temptation is the warning of the word hid in the heart—“No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God!”5 So in the spiritual conflict, let this word—“Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out”—be hid in the heart—what a preservative is it against unbelief!6 Take the word to the unbelieving believer, (if the expression may be allowed,) alarmed by ridicule or persecution—“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.”7—Fearing that he shall never hold out unto the end; “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”8—Trembling, lest his sins should rise up to his condemnation; “The blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth from all sin.”9 And then as to duties: Let his Saviour’s word rebuke his indolence and unwatchfulness,—“What! could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch, and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”10 Hide in the heart the sorrowful story of his agony in the garden, and his death on the cross, that “sin may appear yet more exceeding sinful.” But how is the word to gain entrance into hearts like ours? How shall it be “hid” in so unkindly a soil? No power of man surely can plant it there. The Holy Spirit’s almighty agency must be diligently sought; for in proportion as we are filled with his gracious influences, shall we be armed, as was our Master, for the effectual resistance of our spiritual temptations.11Lastly, connected with this subject, mark the Christian’s character—“In whose heart is my law.”12—His security—“None of his steps shall slide.”13—His happiness—“O how I love thy law!”14—His victory—“The word of God abideth in him, and he hath overcome the wicked one.”15—All infallibly provided by the covenant-promise—“I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.”16 O let us not then shrink from a close contact with the word, though the cost may be the cutting off a right hand for the saving of the life. There is no better test of our security, than a willingness to come to the searching light of the word.17 ------------------- 1 Ps 119:133. 2 Ps 119:50, 92. 3 Ps 119:105. Prov. 3:5, 6. 4 Col. 3:16. 5 Luke 9:61, 62. 6 John 6:37. 7 Jn 15:18. 8 Heb. 13:5. 9 1 John 1:7. 10 Matt. 26:40, 41. 11 Comp. Luke 4:1–12. 12 Isaiah 51:7. 13 Psalm 37:31. 14 Ps 119:97. 15 1 John 2:14, with Eph. 6:17. 16 Jer. 31:33. 17 Comp. John 3:20, 21. Hiding the Bible in the Heart "Thy word have I hid in my hearty that I might not sin against Thee."—Ps. 119:11 The late excellent Rev. Dr. James W. Alexander was, in many respects, a model Christian man and minister. One important secret of it lay in some of his habits. One of these was that of taking, every morning, a verse or passage from the Bible for his meditation during the day, and with the view, he said, of having his entire life filled with its spirit and influence. David said to God: "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee." Psalm 119 is all about the Word of God. This text is one of the texts that emphasizes the value of the Word of God. FIRST—THE POSSESSION OF THE WORD "Thy Word." The Psalmist possessed the Word of God. He did not possess all that we have, in fact, he only had the first five books of our Bible, namely the Pentateuch. But he possessed it and prized that great possession. We do not appreciate possessing the Scriptures as we do. Every six months I get a catalog from a book company which is just about the Bibles they sell. What a treasure we have in being able to purchase all kinds of Bibles in our day. I had a missionary friend in Detroit who was from the Ukraine. In the late 1960s on a visit to Ukraine they gave a Bible to a Christian lady. Upon receipt of the Bible the lady cried and hugged the Bible, she prized it so. Yet we in our country practically despise the Bible though we can buy it cheaply at the local dime store. To possess the Bible is a great privilege. SECOND—THE PLACE FOR THE WORD "I hid in mine heart." "Hid" does not mean you have concealed the Word from others but that you have deposited it as a treasure in your heart. The heart is the best possible place for the Bible. Many have the Bible in their hands, their head, on the shelf or on the table, but it needs to be in their heart. When we memorize Scripture we often say we know the Word by heart, but the Psalmist means much more than that in our text. Being in the heart means at least three things. First, it means that you will live the Word, for if it is in your heart it will show in your life. Second, it also means the you will laud the Word, for in your heart is a place of honor. And third, if means you will love the Word, for the heart is the place of affection. The Word needs to be in our heart in these three ways. THIRD—THE PURPOSE OF THE WORD "That I might not sin against thee. "Two main purposes can be seen in this statement, The holy purpose. "That I might not sin." Some want to know the Bible to win an argument, others to satisfy curiosity, the skeptics want to know the Bible so they can criticize it. The psalmist wants to know the Bible to be holy. If you would live holy, live the Word. The honor purpose. "Against God." All sin is against God. This does not mean that our sin is not against our fellow man, but it means that it is primarily against God. Therefore if the Word abides in our heart and we walk a holy life it will bring honor to God. Sin dishonors God, Nathan in rebuking David for his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah said, "By this deed [sin] thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme" (II Samuel 12:14). Therefore, if you have the Word in your heart, you life will be holy and will honor God. (John Butler - Sermon Starters) John
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - There is an enlargement of the heart that is very dangerous, but this kind of enlargement of the heart is the most healthy thing that can happen to a man. A great heart, you see, is a running heart. A little heart goes slowly, but an enlarged heart runs in the way of God’s commandments. Oh, for a heart full of love to God; and then to have that heart made larger, so as to hold more of God’s love! Lord, enlarge my heart in that sense! Let me feel at home and at liberty with Thee; let the last link of my bondage be snapped. Amen. By the help of God’s Holy Spirit, this psalm may serve for the purposes of self-examination, for we may ask ourselves as we read, “Do I feel in that way? Are my prayers like those of this good man? Is my experience like his: “We may often ask ourselves, “Am I as watchful, and as careful, and as fond of God’s Word as he was?” Such questions will do us good. I will go quicker and faster, I will have more energy, more flaming zeal, in thy service — “When thou shalt enlarge my heart.” O Lord, it is very narrow and very contracted, I cannot think great thoughts, nor do great things, nor believe great promises, unless thou shalt enlarge my heart. Lord, give me a larger heart, stronger to obey, tenderer to love, for Thy Name’s sake! Speedy obedience - Promptness is one of the brightest excellencies in faith’s acting. Delay spoils all. Some one asked Alexander to what he owed his conquests, and he said, “I have conquered because I never delayed.” While the enemy were preparing he had begun the battle, and they were routed before they knew where they were. After that fashion faith overcomes temptation. She runs in the way of obedience, or rather she mounts on the wings of eagles, and so speeds on her way. With regard to the things of God, our first thoughts are best; considerations of difficulty entangle us. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Warren
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - Incline my heart unto thy testimonies. Does not this prayer appear to be superfluous, since it is evident that the Psalmist's heart was set upon obedience? We are sure that there is never a word to spare in Scripture. After asking for active virtue it was meet that the man of God should beg that his heart might be in all that he did. What would his goings be if his heart did not go? It may be that David felt a wandering desire, an inordinate leaning of his soul to worldly gain (Ed: Can we not identify dear reader? And do we not oft times need to utter this prayer?), -- possibly it even intruded into his most devout meditations, and at once he cried out for more grace. The only way to cure a wrong leaning is to have the soul bent in the opposite direction. Holiness of heart is the cure for covetousness. What a blessing it is that we may ask the Lord even for an inclination. Our wills are free, and yet without violating their liberty, grace can incline us in the right direction. This can be done by enlightening the understanding as to the excellence of obedience, by strengthening our habits of virtue, by giving us an experience of the sweetness of piety, and by many other ways. If any one duty is irksome to us it behooves us to offer this prayer with special reference thereto: we are to love all the Lord's testimonies, and if we fail in any one point we must pay double attention to it. The leaning of the heart is the way in which the life will lean: hence the force of the petition, "Incline my heart." Happy shall we be when we feel habitually inclined to all that is good. This is not the way in which a carnal heart ever leans; all its inclinations are in opposition to the divine testimonies. And not to dishonest gain - Spurgeon - And not to covetousness. This is the inclination of nature, and grace must put a negative upon it. This vice is as injurious as it is common; it is as mean as it is miserable. It is idolatry, and so it dethrones God; it is selfishness, and so it is cruel to all in its power; it is sordid greed, and so it would sell the Lord himself for pieces of silver. It is a degrading, grovelling, hardening, deadening sin, which withers everything around it that is lovely and Christlike. He who is covetous is of the race of Judas, and will in all probability turn out to be himself a son of perdition. The crime of covetousness is common, but very few will confess it; for when a man heaps up gold in his heart, the dust of it blows into his eyes, and he cannot see his own fault. Our hearts must have some object of desire, and the only way to keep out worldly gain is to put in its place the testimonies of the Lord. If we are inclined or bent one way, we shall be turned from the other: the negative virtue is most surely attained by making sure of the positive grace which inevitably produces it. Charles Bridges - 36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,—and not to covetousness But what “makes us to go in the path of God’s commandments?” The force of his Almighty love effectually inclines the will, as with a Divine touch. “The day of his power, in which he makes us willing,” is a time of love. “I drew them”—saith he—“with cords of a man, and with bands of love.”5 Every man, who is conscious of the counteracting bias within, will deeply feel the need of this prayer—“Incline my heart.” The native principle of man draws him to his own self—to his own indulgence—pleasure—covetousness—assuming a thousand forms of gratifying self, at the expense of love to God. Few but are ready to condemn this principle in others, while perhaps it may be their own “easily besetting sin.” When the mind is grasping after the world, as if it were our portion, we have the greatest reason to “take heed” to our Lord’s admonition, and “beware of covetousness.”6 When we invest earthly gratifications with any inherent excellency—virtually putting them in the place of God—then will be a season for special supplication—Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. There is probably no principle so opposed to the Lord’s testimonies. It casts out the principle of obedience, since the love of God cannot co-exist with the love of the world;7 and the very desire to serve Mammon is a proof of unfaithfulness to God.8 We mark the deadly influence in direct breaches of the law of God. Balaam, in the indulgence of this propensity, set his will in mad contradiction to God.9 Ahab was tempted to murder.10 David to murder and adultery.11 Achan to steal.12 Judas—both to steal from his fellows and to betray his master.13 Gehazi and Ananias to lying.14 And besides—what is the matter of common but painful observation—how much of the good seed of the kingdom, that was springing up with the promise of a plentiful harvest, has this weed of rank luxuriance “choked, that it has become unfruitful!”1 Out Lord’s parables therefore2—his providence3—his promises4—his terms of discipleship5—his counsels6—his own example of poverty and renunciation of this world’s comforts7—all are directed against this destructive principle. The power of the love of Christ delivered Matthew8 and Zaccheus9 from its influence, and “inclined their hearts to the testimonies of God.” And has not faith still the same power to turn the heart from the world, from sin, from self to Christ? Learn then to rest upon the promises of his love,10 and to delight in his testimonies. Earthly cares will be cast upon him, and earthly prospects will lose their splendor.11 This life of faith—living in union with a heavenly Saviour, involves the only effective principle of resistance. Those who are risen with Christ will be temperate in earthly things, “setting their affections on things above.” Such—such alone—will “mortify the members that are upon the earth—evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”12 We desire to sit loose to our earthly comforts.13 Are we enabled to check our natural discontent with the Lord’s dealings with us, and to restrain our eagerness to “seek great things for ourselves”14 by the recollection of his word—“Seek them not?”15 Let us not forget, that the inclination—even if it is not brought into active and perceptible motion, is fatally destructive of the life of religion. “They that will be rich16 fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” Awful warning to professors!—“The love of money is the root of all evil; which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”17 A most important exhortation to the people of God!—“But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness.”18 If the Lord loves you, he will not indeed lose you; but unless you “take heed, and beware of covetousness,” he will not spare you. In the midst therefore of temptation without, and a world of sin within, go onwards with the pilgrim’s19 prayer indelibly fixed on your heart—“Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.” 5 Psalm 110:3. Ezek. 16:8. Hosea 11:4. 6 Luke 12:15. 7 1 John 2:15. 8 Matt. 6:24. 9 Numb. 22:15–21. 2 Peter 2:14–16. 10 1 Kings 21:1–13. 11 2 Sam. 11:2–17. 12 Joshua 7:21. 13 John 12:6. Matt. 26:14–16. 14 2 Kings 5:20–26. Acts 5:1, 8. 1 Mark 4:19.—The example of the rich young man, Matt. 19:21, 22. Demas, 2 Tim. 4:10. 2 Luke 12:16–21; 16:14, 19, &c. 3 Matt. 6:25–31. 4 Mt. 5:33. Psalm 34:9, 10. Isaiah 33:15, 16. 1 Peter 5:7. 5 Matt. 16:24; 19:27–29. Luke 14:33. 6 1 Cor. 7:29–31. Phil. 4:5. 7 Matt. 8:20. 8 Mt. 9:9. 9 Luke 19:1–10. 10 Heb. 13:5. 11 Compare Luke 12:15, with parallel verses 16–21. 12 Col. 3:1–5. 13 Gen. 3:5, 6. 14 Jer. 6:13. 15 Jer. 45:5. 16 Οι Βουλομενοι πλουτειν. 1 Tim. 6:9.—The very inclination to be rich is alienation from him, who by just right claims the supreme undisputed whole—“My son, give me thine heart.” Prov. 23:26. 17 1 Tim. 6:10. 18 1Ti. 11. 19 1 Peter 2:11. Fifteen-Minute Challenge Turn my heart toward your statutes. Psalm 119:36 Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 119:33–40 Dr. Charles W. Eliot, longtime president of Harvard University, believed that ordinary people who read consistently from the world’s great literature for even a few minutes a day could gain a valuable education. In 1910, he compiled selections from books of history, science, philosophy, and fine art into fifty volumes called The Harvard Classics. Each set of books included Dr. Eliot’s Reading Guide titled “Fifteen Minutes A Day” containing recommended selections of eight to ten pages for each day of the year. What if we spent fifteen minutes a day reading God’s Word? We could say with the psalmist, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word” (Ps. 119:36–37). Fifteen minutes a day adds up to ninety-one hours a year. But for whatever amount of time we decide to read the Bible each day, consistency is the secret and the key ingredient is not perfection but persistence. If we miss a day or a week, we can start reading again. As the Holy Spirit teaches us, God’s Word moves from our minds to our hearts, then to our hands and feet—taking us beyond education to transformation. I turn to You, the Author, to teach me as I read Your Word today. I want to hear from You, to know You, and to grow closer to You. Join the Fifteen-Minute Bible Reading Challenge! Visit Facebook.com/ourdailybread. The Bible is the only Book whose Author is always present when it is read. SOME OTHER USES OF NATAH Ps 17:6 I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline (Imperative. Heb = natah; Lxx = klino) Your ear to me, hear my speech. Spurgeon: Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. Stoop out of heaven and put thine ear to my mouth; give me thine ear all to myself, as men do when they lean over to catch every word from their friend. The Psalmist here comes back to his first prayer, and thus sets us an example of pressing our suit again and again, until we have a full assurance that we have succeeded. Ps 18:9 He bowed (Heb = natah; Lxx = klino) the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet. NET Bible Note: The Hebrew verb natah can carry the sense "[cause to] bend, bow down." For example Ge 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that "bends" its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the LORD causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as He descends in the storm. Spurgeon: He bowed the heavens also, and came down. He came in haste, and spurned everything which impeded His rapidity. The thickest gloom concealed His splendour, and darkness was under His feet; He fought within the dense vapours, as a warrior in clouds of smoke and dust, and found out the hearts of His enemies with the sharp falchion of his vengeance. Darkness is no impediment to God; its densest gloom He makes His tent and secret pavilion. See how prayer moves earth and heaven, and raises storms to overthrow in a moment the foes of God's Israel. Things were bad for David before he prayed, but they were much worse for his foes so soon as the petition had gone up to heaven. A trustful heart, by enlisting the divine aid, turns the tables on its enemies. If I must have an enemy let him not be a man of prayer, or he will soon get the better of me by calling in his God into the quarrel. Psalm 78:1 A Maskil of Asaph. Listen, O My people, to My instruction; Incline (Imperative. Heb = natah; Lxx = klino) your ears to the words of My mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, (Note: A number of the uses of klino in Lxx of the Psalms refer to a call for God to incline His ear. The repetition suggests that this would be a good prayer for modern saints to utter! And see especially Ps 119:36 below) Spurgeon: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Give earnest attention, bow your stiff necks, lean forward to catch every syllable. We are at this day, as readers of the sacred records, bound to study them deeply, exploring their meaning, and laboring to practice their teaching. As the officer of an army commences his drill by calling for "Attention," even so every trained soldier of Christ is called upon to give ear to His words. Men lend their ears to music, how much more then should they listen to the harmonies of the gospel; they sit enthralled in the presence of an orator, how much rather should they yield to the eloquence of Heaven. Incline your ears. Lay them close to my lips, that no parcel of this sacred language fall to the ground by your default. John Trapp. Psalm 86:1 A Prayer of David. Incline (Imperative. Heb = natah; Lxx = klino) Your ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy. Spurgeon: Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me. In condescension to my littleness, and in pity to my weakness, "bow down thine ear, O Lord." When our prayers are lowly by reason of our humility, or feeble by reason of our sickness, or without wing by reason of our despondency, the Lord will bow down to them, the infinitely exalted Jehovah will have respect unto them. Faith, when she has the loftiest name of God on her tongue, and calls him Jehovah, yet dares to ask from him the most tender and condescending acts of love. Great as he is he loves his children to be bold with him. For I am poor and needy -- doubly a son of poverty, because, first, poor and without supply for my needs, and next needy, and so full of wants, though unable to supply them. Our distress is a forcible reason for our being heard by the Lord God, merciful, and gracious, for misery is ever the master argument with mercy. Such reasoning as this would never be adopted by a proud man, and when we hear it repeated in the public congregation by those great ones of the earth who count the peasantry to be little better than the earth they tread upon, it sounds like a mockery of the Most High. Of all despicable sinners those are the worst who use the language of spiritual poverty while they think themselves to be rich and increased in goods. Pr 21:1 The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand (speaks of power) of the LORD; He turns (Heb = natah; Lxx = klino) it wherever He wishes. NET Bible Note: The farmer channels irrigation ditches where he wants them, where they will do the most good; so does the LORD with the king. No king is supreme; the LORD rules. Psalm 119:37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Thy ways. (PRAYER) NET Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from what is worthless! Revive me with your word! LXE Psalm 119:37 Turn away mine eyes that I may not behold vanity: quicken thou me in thy way. NLT Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word. KJV Psalm 119:37 Turn away <05674> (08685) mine eyes <05869> from beholding <07200> (08800) vanity <07723>; and quicken <02421> (08761) thou me in thy way <01870>. ESV Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. NIV Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. ASV Psalm 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, And quicken me in thy ways. CSB Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; give me life in Your ways. NKJ Psalm 119:37 Turn away <05674> (08685) my eyes <05869> from looking <07200> (08800) at worthless <07723> things, And revive <02421> (08761) me in Your way <01870>. NRS Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways. YLT Psalm 119:37 Remove mine eyes from seeing vanity, In Thy way quicken Thou me. NAB Psalm 119:37 Avert my eyes from what is worthless; by your way give me life. NJB Psalm 119:37 Avert my eyes from pointless images, by your word give me life. GWN Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things. Give me a new life in your ways. BHT Psalm 119:37 ha`ábër `ênay mër´ôt šäºw´ Bidräkeºkä Hayyëºnî BBE Psalm 119:37 Let my eyes be turned away from what is false; give me life in your ways. Turn away: Nu 15:39 Jos 7:21 2Sa 11:2 Job 31:1 Pr 4:25 23:5 Isa 33:15 Mt 5:28 1Jn 2:16 Revive me: Ps 119:25,40 TWO PRAYERS THAT WILL LEAD TO PERSONAL REVIVAL! Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity - Literally "Make my eyes pass by from looking at what is worthless." As men of God we need God's power to turn away our eyes for the plethora of temptations now found everywhere in a nation that has jettisoned morality and accepted wanton immorality! Help us O God! Amen. This is the prayer of a humble heart, the heart of a man who realizes he is always one step away from falling into sin (cf 1 Cor 10:12). In English vanity describes the quality of being valueless, empty or futile. It is interesting that Turn (05674)('abar) is used of movement as a rule it is the movement of one thing in relation to some other object which is stationary, moving, or motivating. Abar figuratively indicates a specific spiritual concept. Men transgress the covenant or the law, i.e. move outside or beyond the requirements of the covenant or law by committing adultery and practicing idolatry (Deut. 17:2) or other sin. Moses uses the word when charging the people with disobeying and overstepping the Lord's commands (Num. 14:41; Josh. 7:11, 15). Esther 3:3 depicts Mordecai's transgressing of the king's command. Septuagint - Turn away (in aorist imperative) (654)(apostrepho from apo = away from, a marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former association and indicates separation, departure, cessation, reversal + strepho = turn quite around, twist, reverse, turn oneself about) means literally to turn back or away. Classic use of apostrepho - turn, turn to, turn oneself, turn round. Describes a largely intentional turning of the body, or thoughts, to a person or thing. Looking (07200)(ra'ah) means to see especially to see with the eyes (Ge 27:1) which various nuances such as to see so that one can learn to know, whether it be another person (Dt. 33:9) or God (Dt. 1:31; 11:2), to experience (Jer 5:12; 14:13; 20:18; 42:14), to perceive (Ge 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31; Ex. 3:4), to see by volition or personal choice of one's will (Ge 9:22, 23; 42:9, 12); to look after or to visit (Ge 37:14; 1 Sa 20:29); to watch (1 Sa 6:9); to find (1 Sa 16:17); to select (2 Ki 10:3); to be concerned with (Ge 39:23). Vanity (worthless, deceitful, empty, false) (07723)(shav) means deceit, lie, or falsehood. THOUGHT - A good example of something that is deceitful and full of lies is idolatry. Idols were declared worthless (shav) in Jeremiah 18:15 ("worthless gods"). These idols led the people of God to forget Him, because God tolerates no usurpers (see Mt 6:24+). Have you ever considered some of the things you are looking at (at times with lustful eyes) are in effect idols?! We don't normally think that way in the 21st century, but idols are absolutely everywhere today! And since they deceive and lie, they will promise one thing (e.g., pleasure, cf Heb 11:25+), but will steal from our life. The NT warnes us repeatedly "Do not be deceived (in the form of a command ) - read these passages in context - 1 Co. 6:9; 1 Co. 15:33; Gal. 6:7+; Jas. 1:16+ (cf Hebrews 3:13b+). Septuagint - Vanity (3153)(mataiotes from mataios = vain, empty <> derived from maten = to no purpose or in vain) means emptiness, vanity, nonsense, nothingness! Thayer says mataiotes is a "purely Biblical and ecclesiastical word" which describes "what is devoid of truth and appropriateness". It defines the inability to reach a goal or achieve a purpose. Mataiotes describes the state of being without use or value, emptiness, futility, purposelessness, transitoriness. It has the quality of being empty, fruitless, nonproductive, useless. Mataiotes speaks of want of attainment with the idea of aimlessness or of leading to no object or end. As discussed above "vain things" was a Jewish name for the Gentile idols, which represented ideas and conceptions of a god that had no intrinsic value or correspondence to the real truth about the Living God. The heathen are concerned with empty things which do not matter in the eternal scheme of things. Their mind was void of useful aims or goals (eternally speaking). A good verse to memorize which parallels this passage is Psalm 101:3 - I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me. Comment - Notice the personal pronouns (I, my, I, me). David is not saying he could do this in his strength. He knew about setting worthless things before his eyes, experiencing their power to fasten a grip on his heart (adultery with Bathsheba)! While each of us is personally responsible for what we allow before our eyes, God's Spirit today is in us to give us the desire and power to accomplish this objective (see Php 2:13NLT+). Note the word fasten is dabaq which means to stick like glue (first use in Ge 2:24 is poignant = "be joined" or cleave)! Beware what you watch or it will stick like glue! And revive me in Thy ways - This prayer indicates the psalmist senses his need for revival. And it is linked with God's Spirit causing him to turn from looking at vain, empty, worthless things. You (I) don't wrestle continually with your eyes, do you? (A rhetorical question of course!) In our visually stimulating society where youtube videos go viral, where cell phones allow viewing of all manner of visual stimuli, our eyes are bombarded hundreds, if not thousands of times a day! If you don't think you need revival you won't pray this prayer. If you don't think you need revival, you are prideful, deluded and in desperate need of humility, for as James says "He gives a greater grace (AND GRACE IS OUR GREAT NEED!). Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” (James 4:6+) The Greek translates "revive" in Ps 119:37 with the verb zao which means to live and it is not a shy asking of God but is in the aorist imperative which is a desperate cry for God's Spirit to breathe new life into our hearts! Guarding the Eyegate (Inspired by Matthew 18:9+) Oh, the eyes, the soul's clear gate, Through which desires infiltrate. A fleeting glance, a subtle snare, Can lead the heart to dark despair. Guard your gaze, let virtue reign, Turn from sights that lead to pain. For what you see can plant a seed, Of either joy or sinful greed. If your eye should tempt your heart, To stray from truth, to sin's dark art, Pluck it out, the Savior pleads, Lest it guide to hell's dire deeds. The cost of purity may seem steep, To shield your soul, the watch must keep. But better the sacrifice today, Than lose eternity's bright ray. Fix your eyes on what is pure, On heaven's treasures that endure. Let light, not darkness, fill your sight, And lead you to the path of right. For through the gate of guarded view, Flows life that's holy, just, and true. So guard it well, this sacred door, And find His peace forevermore. (See Proverbs 4:23+, Philippians 4:8+) Spurgeon Comments: Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. He had prayed about his heart, and one would have thought that the eyes would so surely have been influenced by the heart that there was no need to make them the objects of a special petition; but our author is resolved to make assurance doubly sure. If the eyes do not see, perhaps the heart may not desire: at any rate, one door of temptation is closed when we do not even look at the painted bauble. Sin first entered man's mind by the eye, and it is still a favourite gate for the incoming of Satan's allurements: hence the need of a double watch upon that portal. The prayer is not so much that the eyes may be shut as "turned away"; for we need to have them open, but directed to right objects. Perhaps we are now gazing upon folly, we need to have our eyes turned away; and if we are beholding heavenly things we shall be wise to beg that our eyes may be kept away from vanity. Why should we look on vanity? -- it melts away as a vapour. Why not look upon things eternal? Sin is vanity, unjust gain is vanity, self conceit is vanity, and, indeed, all that is not of God comes under the same head. From all this we must turn away. It is a proof of the sense of weakness felt by the Psalmist and of his entire dependence upon God that he even asks to have his eyes turned for him; he meant not to make himself passive, but he intended to set forth his own utter helplessness apart from the grace of God. For fear he should forget himself and gaze with a lingering longing upon forbidden objects, he entreats the Lord speedily to make him turn away his eyes, hurrying him off from so dangerous a parley with iniquity. If we are kept from looking on vanity we shall be preserved from loving iniquity. Whatever is of vanity, make me to pass without seeing it. The sentiment is strikingly like that in our Lord's prayer: "Lead us not into temptation." Having prayed for what he wanted to see, the Psalmist here prays for the hiding of what he would not see. And quicken thou me in thy way. Give me so much life that dead vanity may have no power over me. Enable me to travel so swiftly in the road to heaven that I may not stop long enough within sight of vanity to be fascinated thereby. The prayer indicates our greatest need, -- more life in our obedience. It shows the preserving power of increased life to keep us from the evils which are around us, and it, also, tells us where that increased life must come from, namely, from the Lord alone. Vitality is the cure of vanity. When the heart is full of grace the eyes will be cleansed from impurity. On the other hand, if we would be full of life as to the things of God we must keep ourselves apart from sin and folly, or the eyes will soon captivate the mind, and, like Samson, who could slay his thousands, we may ourselves be overcome through the lusts which enter by the eye. William Cowper on Psalm 119:37: By the eyes oftentimes, as by windows, death enters into the heart; therefore to keep the heart in a good estate three things are requisite, First, careful study of the senses, specially of the eyes; for it is a righteous working of the Lord… that he who negligently uses the external eye of his body, should punished with blindness in the internal eye of his mind. And for this cause Nazianzen, deploring the calamities of his soul, wished that a door might set before his eyes and ears, to close them when they opened to anything that is not good… The second thing is, a subduing of the body by discipline (cp Titus 2:11, 12, 13-note). And the third is, continuance in prayer (Col 4:2-note, 1Th 5:17-note, Eph 6:18-note, Ro 12:12b-note). Wolfgang Musculus (1563) Notice that he does not say, I will turn away mine eyes; but, "Turn away mine eyes." This shows that it is not possible for us sufficiently to keep our by our own caution and diligence; but there must be divine keeping. For, first, where soever in this world you turn yourself, provocations to [commit sin] are met with. Secondly, with the unwary, and with far different persons, the eyes, the servants of a corrupt heart, wander after the things which are the vanities. Thirdly, before you are aware, the evil contracted through eyes creeps in to the inmost recesses of the heart, and [sows] the seeds or perdition (cp Mt 5:29, 30-note). This the Psalmist himself had experienced, not without greatest trouble both of heart and condition. Albert Barnes makes a great (and pragmatic) point that… An ugly object loses much of its deformity when we look often upon it. Sin follows this general law, and is to be avoided altogether, even in its contemplation, if we would be safe. A man should be thankful in this world that he has eyelids; and as he can close his eyes, so he should often do it. Thomas Manton Turn away, then quicken (revive). The first request is for the removing the impediments of obedience, the other for the addition of new degrees of grace. These two are fitly joined, for they have a natural influence upon one another. Unless we turn away our eyes from vanity, we shall soon contract deadness of heart. Nothing causes it so much as an inordinate liberty in carnal vanities. When our affections are alive to other things, they are dead to God. Therefore the less we let loose our heart to [focus on] these things, the more lively [revived] and cheerful are we in the work of obedience. On the other side, the more the rigour of grace is renewed, and the habits of it quickened into actual exercise, the more is sin mortified and subdued. Sin dieth, and our senses are restored to their proper use. Joseph Caryl Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. That sin may be avoided we must avoid whatsoever leads to or occasions it. As this caused Job (Job 31:1) to covenant strongly with his eyes, so it caused David (Ed: The author of Ps 119 may be David but we cannot be dogmatic) to pray earnestly about his eyes. "Turn away mine eyes (or as the Hebrew may be rendered, make them to pass), from beholding vanity." The eye is apt to make a stand, or fix itself, when we come in view of an ensnaring object; therefore it is our duty to hasten it away, or to pray that God would make it pass off from it… He that fears burning must take heed of playing with fire: he that fears drowning must keep out of deep waters. He that fears the plague must not go into an infected house. Would they avoid sin who present themselves to the opportunities of it? (Of course not!) John Morison Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. It is a most dangerous experiment for a child of God to place himself (or herself) within the sphere of seductive temptations. Every feeling of duty, every recollection of his own weakness, every remembrance of the failure of others, should induce him to hasten to the greatest possible distance from the scene of unnecessary conflict and danger. William Kay Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. From gazing at the delusive mirages which tempt the pilgrim to leave the safe highway. Charles Bridges Is it asked -- "What will most effectually turn my eyes from vanity?" Not the seclusion of contemplative retirement -- not the relinquishment of our lawful connection with the world ["in the world, but no of the world"!] -- but the transcendent beauty of Jesus unveiled to our eyes, and fixing our hearts (cp Heb 12:2, Ro 13:14 - put on Jesus). William Seeker (1660) Turn away mine eyes, etc. The fort royal of your souls is in danger of a surprise while the outworks of your senses are unguarded. Your eyes, which may be floodgates to pour out tears, should not be casements to let in lusts. A careless eye is an index to a graceless heart. Remember, the whole world died by a wound in the eye. The eyes of a Christian should be like sunflowers, which are opened to no blaze but that of the sun (Son). Matthew Henry For restraining grace that he might be prevented and kept back from that which would hinder him in the way of his duty: "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." For constraining grace, that he might not only be kept from everything that would obstruct his progress heavenward, but that he might have that grace which was necessary to forward him in that progress: "Quicken (revive) thou me in thy way." J I Packer - Knowing God's Purpose For Your Life Mortifying sin, however painful, is a necessity for life in Christ. While surrendering sins into which you drifted casually is not so hard, mortifying what the Puritans called besetting sins—dispositional sins to which your temperament inclines you, and habitual sins that have become addictive and defiant—is regularly a long-drawn-out, bruising struggle. No one who is a spiritual realist will ever pretend otherwise. It is a matter of negating, wishing dead, and laboring to thwart inclinations, cravings, and habits that have been in you for a long time. Pain and grief, moans and groans, will certainly be involved, for your sin does not want to die, nor will it enjoy the killing process. Jesus told us, very vividly, that mortifying a sin could well feel like plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand or foot, in other words, self-mutilation. You will feel you are saying good-bye to something that is so much part of you that without it you cannot live. Charles Bridges - 37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way So strongly does the man of God deprecate temptation to self-indulgence, that he prays to be kept at the greatest possible distance from it. That his heart may not be inclined to it; he desires that his eyes may be turned from beholding it. Keeping the eye is a grand means of “keeping the heart.”1 Satan has infused his poison into all the objects around us, that all furnishes fuel for temptation, and the heart—naturally inclined to evil and hankering after vanity—is stolen away in a moment. Vanity includes “all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.” All is sin, because “it is not of the Father, but is of the world.”2 Of all that belongs to earth—“the preacher, the son of David”—standing on the vantage-ground, and having taken within his view the widest horizon of this world’s excellency, has pronounced his judgment—“Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities! all is vanity.”3 We have just mentioned the lusts of other things choking many a promising profession. Our Lord’s solemn caution to his own disciples implies their injury to a sincere profession—“Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life; and so that day come upon you unawares.”4 Some indeed seem to walk, as if they were proof against temptation. They venture to the very edge of the precipice, under a vain assurance that no danger is to be apprehended. But such a confidence is upon the brink of a grievous fall.5 The tender-hearted child of God, trusting in the promise, that “Sin shall not have dominion over him,” knows that he can only enjoy the security of it, while he is shrinking from every occasion of sin.6 He “hates even the garment spotted by the flesh;”7 and, remembering how often his outward senses have ministered to the workings of his weak and treacherous heart,8 he continues in prayer—“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” Probably the recollection of the circumstance of his own sin,9 would to the end of his life remind David of his special need of this prayer. Yet who that is conscious of his own weakness and corruption, will find the prayer unsuitable to his circumstances of daily temptation? But we must watch as well as pray. For as watchfulness without prayer is presumption, so prayer without watchfulness is self-delusion. To pray that “our eyes” may be “turned from vanity,” without “making a covenant with our eyes,”10 that they should not behold it, is like “taking fire in our bosoms,” and expecting “not to be burnt,”11 because we have prayed that we might not be burnt. If we pray not to be “led into temptation,” we must “watch, that we enter not into it.”1 The sincerity of our prayer will be proved by the watchfully avoiding the circumstances and occasions of temptation. The fear of sin will manifest itself by a fear of temptation to sin. “The knife will be put to the throat, if we be given to appetite.”2 We shall be afraid of the wine sparkling in the glass.3 But where is the harm of beholding vanity, if we do not follow it? When Eve beheld the forbidden fruit, perhaps she did not think of taking it: and when she took it, she did not think of eating it: but the beginning of sin “is as the letting out of water,” whose progress once opened, beats down all before it.4 And who, after our “beguiled mother,” has not found the eye an inlet to sin?5 When Bunyan’s pilgrims were obliged to pass through Vanity Fair, beset on every side with temptations and allurements, they stopped their eyes and ears, and quickening their pace, cried—“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” A striking reproof to us, who too often loiter and gaze, until we begin to covet those vanities, to which, as Christians, we “are dead!”6 Is it asked—What will most effectually “turn my eyes from vanity?” Not the seclusion of contemplative retirement—not the relinquishment of our lawful connection with the world; but the transcendent beauty of Jesus unveiled to our eyes, and fixing our hearts. This will “turn our eyes from vanity” in its most glittering forms! The sight of the “pearl of great price”7 dims the lustre of the “goodliest pearls” of earth; at once deadens us to the enticements of the world, and urges us forward in the pursuit of the prize. And is not this our object? It is not enough that through special mercy I am preserved from temptations. I want to be quickened to more life, energy, delight, and devotedness in the way of my God. The secret of Christian progress is simplicity and diligence. “This one thing I do—forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth to those things that are before; I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”8 The spirit leaves no wish of the heart for beholding vanity. The world, with all its flowery paths, is a dreary wilderness: and Christ and heaven are the only objects of desire—“He that shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”9—Precious promises to those that flee from temptation, and desire to walk in the ways of God! 1 Nu. 15:39. Job 31:1. 2 John 2:16. 3 Eccl. 1:2; also 2:1–12. 4 Luke 21:34. 5 Prov. 16:18. 6 Rom. 6:14. 7 Jude 23. 8 See Prov. 23:33. Josh. 7:21. 9 2 Sam. 11:2. 10 Job 30:1. 11 Prov. 6:27, 28. 1 Compare Matt. 6:13, with 26:41. 2 Prov. 23:2. 3 Verses 31, 32. 4 Gen. 3:6, with Prov. 17:14. 5 Lot’s wife; Gen. 19:26. Shechem; 34:2. Potiphar’s wife; 39:7. Joshua 7:21. Samson; Judges 16:1. Even the man after God’s own heart; 2 Sam. 11:2. Comp. Prov. 6:25. Matt. 5:28. 2 Peter 2:14. 6 See Col. 3:2, 3. 7 Matt. 13:46. 8 Phil. 3:13, 14. 9 Isaiah 33:15–17. Watch What You Watch Read: 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things. —Psalm 119:37 Is your living room the site of daily murders? Do you routinely entertain guests who swear at you and make fun of your faith? Have you ever had somebody drop by and try to convince you that sexual sin is a joking matter and that violence is entertaining? You’ve had all these things happen in your house if you’ve watched many of the programs on TV. This is not late-breaking news. The moral content of television has been on the decline for years. But that doesn’t mean we have to go down with it. The psalmist, who knew as much about TV as most of us know about tending sheep, said, “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things” (Ps. 119:37). That’s a good verse to post over our TV set. For the most part, the entertainment world is serious about casting off restraints. Just as seriously, we should protect our minds. These guidelines can help: Avoid jokes about sex (1 Cor. 6:18; Eph. 5:3-4,12). Don’t listen to vulgar language (Eph. 5:4). Don’t let ads cause you to covet (Ex. 20:17; Col. 3:5). Don’t let your eyes cause you to sin (Mt. 18:9). Temptation's face is young and soft And smooth in its appeal; But when it's through it ruins lives With velvet fists of steel. —Gustafson Use self-control with your remote control. Failing Memory Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way. —Psalm 119:37 Today's Scripture: Psalm 119:33-40 A New York Times article linked the increase of computer storage with the decrease of data in the human mind. Our electronic aids now remember phone numbers, driving directions, and other information we used to learn by repeated use. In schools, memorization and oral recitation are disappearing from the curriculum. We have become, according to the Times, “products of a culture that does not enforce the development of memory skills.” Yet never have we as followers of Christ been in greater need of hiding God’s Word in our hearts (Ps. 119:9-11). Scripture memory is more than a helpful mental exercise. The goal is to saturate our minds with God’s truth so that our lives will conform to His ways. The psalmist wrote: “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. . . . Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way” (Ps. 119:33,37). Why not begin committing Scripture to memory? Daily consistency and review are keys to success. And just like physical exercise, this spiritual discipline is enhanced when done with a small group or with a friend. God’s Word will change your life If you will do your part To read, to study, and obey, And hide it in your heart. —Sper Let the Bible fill your mind, rule your heart, and guide your life. REVIVAL: Definitions & Descriptions Vance Havner defined REVIVAL as "a work of God's Spirit among His own people . . . what we call revival is simply New Testament Christianity, the saints getting back to normal.'' Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "The essence of revival is that the Holy Spirit comes down upon a number of people together; upon a whole church, a number of churches, districts or perhaps a whole country. It is a visitation or outpouring of the Holy Spirit - God has come down among them." True revival is marked by powerful and often widespread outpourings of the Spirit. Many times preaching has to cease because the hearers were prostrate or because the voice of the preacher was drowned by cries for mercy. "The Holy Spirit FELL ON all them which heard the Word." (Acts 10:44) Jonathan Edwards son-in-law David Brainherd who prayed in the snow until it melted around him and was stained by his blood as he coughed away his life with T.B. prevailed in prayer for revival among the American Indians. Before he died he describes in his journal how it finally began in 1745: "The power of God seemed to descend on the assembly 'like a rushing mighty wind' and with an astonishing energy bore all down before it. I stood amazed at the influence that seized the audience almost universally and could compare it to nothing more aptly than the irresistible force of a mighty torrent . . . Almost all persons of all ages were bowed down with concern together and scarce one was able to withstand the shock of the astonishing operation." Brian Edwards comments: "Someone has described revival as 'the top blowing off' and that is very true. But the top does not blow off before the bottom has fallen out." (Brian H. Edwards: Revival: A People Saturated With God" p.130) Arthur Wallis in his classic study "In The Day Of Thy Power" points out the word is determined by its usage. It had historical consistency of meaning up until recent years, where (especially in America) it began to take on a lesser, more limited sense.Nevertheless, he says: "Numerous writings on the subject preserved confirm that revival is Divine intervention in the normal course of spiritual things. It is God revealing Himself to man in aweful holiness and irresistible power. It is such a manifest working of God that human personalities are overshadowed and human programmes abandoned. It is man retiring into the background because God has taken the field. It is the Lord . . . working in extraordinary power on saint and sinner." J. Edwin Orr, a prolific writer and eminent authority of both scholarship and experience in the subject defined a spiritual awakening as "a movement of the Holy Spirit bringing about a revival of New Testament Christianity in the Church of Christ and its related community." It may significantly change an individual, a group of believers, a congregation, a city, a country or even eventually the world but it accomplishes "the reviving of the Church, the awakening of the masses and the movement of uninstructed peoples towards the Christian faith; the revived church by many or few is moved to engage in evangelism, teaching and social action." A.W. Tozer defined revival as that which "changes the moral climate of a community." Revival is essentially manifestation of God; it has the stamp of Deity on it which even the unregenerate and uninitiated are quick to recognize. Duncan Campbell described it as a "community saturated with God." Revival must of necessity make an impact on the community and this is one means by which we may distinguish it from the more usual operations of the Holy Spirit." (Wallis,op. cit.) John Dawson points out that the community of the twentieth century is different from that of previous ages; modern communities are "linked vocational villages of communication" not necessarily geographically connected. A revival in the 18th Century affected your neighbor who probably lived next door; a revival that affects your neighbor in the Twentieth Century may touch neighbors in touch with you who live hundreds or even thousands of miles away, and are linked not by geographic location but by common vocation and communication. Revival is what the church first experiences; evangelism is then what she engages in. Revival is periodic; evangelism is continuous. Revival cannot last; evangelism must not stop. Do we want a revival? Do we really? James Burns writing in "Revival, Their Laws and Leaders" said in 1909: "To the church, a revival means humiliation, a bitter knowledge of unworthiness and an open and humiliating confession of sin on the part of her minsters and people. It is not the easy and glorious thing many think it to be, who imagine it fills pews and reinstates the church in power and authority. "It comes to scorch before it heals; it comes to condemn ministers and people for their unfaithful witness, for their selfish living, for their neglect of the cross, and to call them to daily renunciation, to an evangelical poverty and to a deep and daily consecration. That is why a revival has ever been unpopular with large numbers within the church. Because it says nothing to them of power such as they have learned to love, or of ease, or of success; it accuses them of sin, it tells them they are dead, it calls them to awake, to renounce the world and to follow Christ." "The inevitable and constant preliminary to revival has always been a thirst for God, a thirst, a living thirst for a knowledge of the living God and a longing and a burning desire to see Him acting, manifesting himself and his power, rising and scattering his enemies . . . The thirst for God and longing for the exhibition of His glory are the essential preliminaries." D.M. Lloyd-Jones: Revival pp.90-91) SUDDENNESS "and suddenly there came . . ." v.2. Revival is a Divine attack on society. In revival God's work may be sudden and unexpected; often even believers are caught unawares, while fear and astonishment grip unbelievers hearts: "There was nothing, humanly speaking to account for what happened" noted Joseph Kemp of Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh in 1905. "Quite suddenly, upon one and another came an overwhelming sense of the reality and awfulness of His Presence and of eternal things. Life, death and eternity seemed suddenly laid bare." Revival is God springing a convicting surprise on His creation: "I have declared the former things from of old; yea they went forth out of My mouth and I shewed them; SUDDENLY I did them and they came to pass, and new things do I declare; before they SPRING FORTH I tell you of them." (Isa 42:9; 2 Chron.29:36) "The effect of the sudden working of the Spirit in revival is very striking in the conviction of sinners. Often without any preparatory concern or even thought for spiritual things, a sinner will be suddenly seized with overwhelming conviction of sin." (Acts 3:19 - "seasons of refreshing . . . from the presence of the Lord") . . . "a movement bears this mark of spontaneity when men cannot account for what has taken place in terms of personalities, organizations, meetings, preachings, or any other consecrated activity; and when the work continues unabated without any human control. As soon as a movement becomes controlled or organized, it has ceased to be spontaneous - it is no longer a revival. The course of the 1904 revival has been outlined thus: "God began to work; then the Devil began to work in opposition; then God began to work all the harder; then man began to work and the revival came to an end." The spirit of revival is the consciousness of God. Men were "pricked in their heart" (Acts 3:7) "fear came on every soul" (v.43) "The effects of such manifestations of God are twofold; men are made aware both of His power and His holiness. This manifestation . . . was intensely personal.". . . It is God moving in power and holiness toward you; God coming for you, and calling your name! "Here is an outstanding feature of revival; it is easy to see why it results in overwhelming conviction both among the saved and the lost whenever there is unjudged sin . . . At such times man is not only conscious God is there; but that He is there, it seems to deal with him alone, until he is oblivious of all but his own soul in the agonizing grip of a holy God. If these facts are bourne in mind, the extraordinary effects of past revivals will not seem incredible. The ruthless logic of Jonathan Edwards famous discourse "Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God" could not have produced the effect it did had not God been in the midst.""When they went into the meeting house the appearance of the assembly was thoughtless and vain; the people scarcely conducted themselves with common decency." recorded Trumbull, but goes on to describe the effects of the sermon: "the assembly appeared bowed with an awful conviction of their sin and danger. There was such a breathing of distress and weeping that the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence that he might be heard." Conant says, "Many of the hearers were seen unconsciously holding themselves up against the pillars and the sides of the pews as though they already felt themselves sliding into the pit." This overwhelming sense of God bringing deep conviction of sin is perhaps the outstanding feature of true revival. Its manifestation is not always the same; to cleansed hearts it is heaven; to convicted hearts it is Hell. Spurgeon noted "If you read the story of the Reformation, or the later story . . . of Whitefield and Wesley, you are struck with the singular spirit that went with the preachers. The world said they were mad; the caricaturists drew them as being fanatical beyond all endurance; but there it was, their zeal was their power. Of course the world scoffed at that of which it was afraid. The world fears enthusiasm, the sacred enthusiasm kindled by the thought of the ruin of men and by the desire to pluck the firebrands from the flame, the enthusiasm which believes in the Holy Ghost, which believes God is still present with His church to do wonders.""Dislike of enthusiasm," said D.M.Lloyd-Jones "is to quench the Spirit. Those . . . familiar with the history of the Church and in particular the history of revivals will know this charge of enthusiasm is one always brought against people most active in a period of revival. (Revival op. cit p.72) SEVEN ''REVIVALS'' IN THE OT: Dr. Wilbur Smith notes seven "outstanding revivals" in the Old Testament in addition to the one under Jonah. 1) In Jacob's household (Gen. 35:1-15); 2). Under Asa (2 Chron.15:1ff); 3). Jehoash (2 Kings 11,12; 2 Chron 23,24); 4. Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4-7; 2 Chron. 29:31) 5). Josiah (2 Kings 22,23; 2 Chron. 34,35) 6&7). Two revivals after the Exile under Zerubbabel (Ezra 5,6) in which Haggai and Zechariah play a prominent part and finally in Nehemiah's time in which Ezra was the outstanding figure (Neh.9:9; 12:44-47) NINE CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE REVIVALS: (1) They occurred in a day of deep moral darkness and national depression (2) They began in the heart of one consecrated servant of God who became the energizing power behind it, the agent used of God to quicken and lead the nation back to faith in and obedience to Him (3) Each revival rested on the Word of God and most were the result of preaching and proclaiming Gods law with power (4) All resulted in a return to the worship of Jehovah (5) Each witnessed the destruction of idols where they existed (6) In each revival there was a recorded separation from sin. (7) In every revival they returned to offering blood sacrifices (8) Almost all recorded show restored great joy and gladness (9) Each revival was followed by a period of great national prosperity. The Greek equivalent of the OT word for revive is only used five times in the NT. "Why is it not more of a N.T. word? For the simple reason that New Testament Christianity IS revived Christianity." (Spurgeon On Revival: Eric W. Hayden). This Greek word-- anazao (G 326) is used for the restoration of the prodigal son (Luke 15:24,32) the resurrection of Christ (Rom. 14:9) and the physical resurrection of the dead in the last days (Rev.20:5) but also for the deadly effect of sin (Rom. 7:9). The primary aim is to lead souls to repentance . . . There is so much emphasis today on believing,receiving, deciding and so on and so little on the vital step of repenting . . . the men dealt faithfullywith the question of sin that the conscience might be aroused." "It was a precept of Wesley to his evangelists in unfolding their message to speak first in general of the love of God to man; then with all possible energy so as to search the conscience to its depths, to preach the law of holiness; and then, and not till then, to uplift the glories of the gospel of pardon and of life. Intentionally or not, his directions follow the lines of the epistle to Romans." (Bishop Hadley Moule on Romans) John Nelson records of Wesley at Moorfields, "His countenance struck such an awful dread upon me before I heard him speak that it made my heart beat like the pendulum of a clock; and when he did speak, I thought his whole discourse was aimed at me." (Wesley, Pollock p.154) Try this little survey: 1). How many of you know we NEED a revival? Almost everyone raises their hands here. The knowledge of this fact hardly takes scholarship or devotion. 2). How many of you WANT a revival? Again, a majority opinion in church groups. And in the 80's so did around 80% of the country according to George Gallup Jr. Even the lost know we need a revival! 3). How many of you know WHAT a revival is? The number drops off alarmingly now. Here is something we all want, we all know we need, but we don't have a clue what it is! 4). How many of you have ever EXPERIENCED a real revival? And here, very few if any, ever respond. "Another generation arose that did not know the mighty works of the Lord". And that, friend, is the reason for this book. Jdg 2:10 Psalm 119:38 Establish Thy word to Thy servant, As that which produces reverence for Thee. (PRAYER) NET Psalm 119:38 Confirm to your servant your promise, which you made to the one who honors you. LXE Psalm 119:38 Confirm thine oracle to thy servant, that he may fear thee. NLT Psalm 119:38 Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you. KJV Psalm 119:38 Stablish <06965> (08685) thy word <0565> unto thy servant <05650>, who is devoted to thy fear <03374>. ESV Psalm 119:38 Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared. NIV Psalm 119:38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. ASV Psalm 119:38 Confirm unto thy servant thy word, Which is in order unto the fear of thee. CSB Psalm 119:38 Confirm what You said to Your servant, for it produces reverence for You. NKJ Psalm 119:38 Establish <06965> (08685) Your word <0565> to Your servant <05650>, Who is devoted to fearing <03374> You. NRS Psalm 119:38 Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you. YLT Psalm 119:38 Establish to Thy servant Thy saying, That is concerning Thy fear. NAB Psalm 119:38 For your servant fulfill your promise made to those who fear you. NJB Psalm 119:38 Keep your promise to your servant so that all may hold you in awe. GWN Psalm 119:38 Keep your promise to me so that I can fear you. BHT Psalm 119:38 häqëm lü`abDükä ´imräteºkä ´ášer lüyir´äteºkä BBE Psalm 119:38 Give effect to your word to your servant, in whose heart is the fear of you. Establish: Ps 119:49 2Sa 7:25-29 2Co 1:20 that which produces reverence for Thee: Ps 103:11,13,17 145:19 147:11 Jer 32:39-41 Establish Thy word to Thy servant, As that which produces reverence for Thee - This is a great prayer to pray to God. Servant acknowledges our submission to Him and His will for our life. The effect of God's Word should be to produce a holy, reverential fear of God, and an associated dread of committing sin which grieves Him. Spurgeon - That is, “Make thy word to me real and true. Put away my natural skepticism, my proneness to question, my tendency to doubt.” “Stablish thy word.” “Make me to know how firm, how true, how real it is, for I would love it more and more. I do believe it, for I am devoted to thy fear, but I long to be still further established in the faith.” Charles Bridges - Often—instead of being quickened in the way—I am fainting under the pressure of unbelief. What then is my resource? Only the word of promise. Lord! seal—stablish thy word unto thy servant—devoted as I am—as I would be—to thy fear. If “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”1—a “treasure”2—a “strong confidence”3—“a fountain of life”4—how wise—how rich—how safe—how happy—is he that “is devoted to” it! “Blessed” indeed is he—with the favor of his God,5 the secret of his love,6 the teaching of his grace,7 and the mercy of his covenant.8 The promises of the Old Testament are generally connected with the fear of God, as in the New Testament they are linked with faith. But in truth, so identified are these two principles in their operation, that the faith, by which we apprehend the forgiveness of God, and the privileges of his kingdom, issues in a godly, reverential, filial fear?9 To be devoted to this fear, completes the character of a servant of God—the highest honor in the universe—the substantial joy of heaven itself.10 It is an obedience of choice, of reverence, and of love. “Joining himself to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord,—to be his servant.”11 Yes, gracious Lord, I had rather be bound than looked. I only wished to be loosed from the bonds of sin, that I might be bound to thee for ever. My heart is treacherous; lay thine own bonds upon me. “O Lord, truly I am thy servant: thou hast loosed my bonds;”12 I am “devoted to thy fear.” Is this my desire, my mind, my determination, my character? Then let me plead my title to an interest in the promises of the word—rich and free, “exceeding great and precious”13—all mine—“yea, and amen in Christ Jesus”14 let me plead, that every word may be “established” in my victory over sin, advancing knowledge of Christ, experience of his love, conformity to his image, and finally, in my preservation in him unto eternal life. 1 Psalm 111:10. 2 Isaiah 33:6. 3 Prov. 14:26. 4 Prov 14: 27. 5 Psalm 33:18. 6 Ps 25:14. 7 Ps 25:12. 8 Ps 103:17. 9 Ps 130:4. Compare Jer. 33:8, 9. Hosea 3:5; also Heb. 12:28. 10 Rev. 7:15; 22:3. 11 Isaiah 56:6. 12 Psalm 116:16. 13 2 Peter 1:4. 14 2 Cor. 1:20. But how far has the fear of God operated with me as a safe guard from sin,15 and an habitual rule of conduct?16 David’s confidence in the promises of God, far from lessening his jealousy over himself, only made him more “devoted to the fear” of God. And if my assurance be well-grounded, it will be ever accompanied with holy fear; the influence will be known by “standing more in awe of God’s word;”17 having a more steady abhorrence of sin, and a dread of “grieving the Holy Spirit of God.” Thus this filial fear produces a holy confidence; while confidence serves to strengthen fear: and their mutual influence quickens devotedness to the work of the Lord. It is interesting to remark, that the Christian privilege of assurance is not confined to the New Testament dispensation. David’s pleading to have the “word of his God stablished unto him,”1 was grounded upon the tried foundations of faith. And this direct act of faith, as it regards God in Christ, his engagements, and his promises, cannot be too confident. The promises are made to the whole Church, that we might each look for our part and interest in them. God loves to have his own seal and hand-writing brought before him. “Put me in remembrance”—saith he: “let us plead together.” “He cannot deny himself.”2 This is the exercise and the power of faith. I bring my wants. I bring thy word of promise. Stablish thy word unto thy servant. Thou hast bought me with a precious price: thou hast made me thine: thou hast subdued my heart to thyself, so that it is now “devoted to thy fear.” Whatsoever, therefore, thy covenant has provided for my sanctification, my humiliation, my chastisement, my present and everlasting consolation—“Stablish this word:” let it be fulfilled in me; for I am “thy servant, devoted to thy fear.” 15 Gen. 39, 9. Neh. 5:15. Prov. 16:6. 16 Prov. 23:17. 17 Ps 119:161. 1 Mark this petition, drawn out by David into a full pleading with his God, 2 Sam. 7:25, 28, 29. The expression also of the same confidence will afterwards be noticed. Verse 49. 2 Isaiah 43:26. 2 Tim. 2:13. Psalm 119:39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Thine ordinances are good. (PRAYER) NET Psalm 119:39 Take away the insults that I dread! Indeed, your regulations are good. LXE Psalm 119:39 Take away my reproach which I have feared: for thy judgments are good. NLT Psalm 119:39 Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good. KJV Psalm 119:39 Turn away <05674> (08685) my reproach <02781> which I fear <03025> (08804): for thy judgments <04941> are good <02896>. ESV Psalm 119:39 Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. NIV Psalm 119:39 Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. ASV Psalm 119:39 Turn away my reproach whereof I am afraid; For thine ordinances are good. CSB Psalm 119:39 Turn away the disgrace I dread; indeed, Your judgments are good. NKJ Psalm 119:39 Turn away <05674> (08685) my reproach <02781> which I dread <03025> (08804), For Your judgments <04941> are good <02896>. NRS Psalm 119:39 Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good. YLT Psalm 119:39 Remove my reproach that I have feared, For Thy judgments are good. NAB Psalm 119:39 Turn away from me the taunts I dread, for your edicts bring good. NJB Psalm 119:39 Avert the taunts that I dread, for your judgements are generous. GWN Psalm 119:39 Take away insults, which I dread, because your regulations are good. BHT Psalm 119:39 ha`ábër HerPätî ´ášer yägöºrTî Kî mišPä†Êºkä †ôbîm BBE Psalm 119:39 Take away the shame which is my fear; for your decisions are good. run: Song 1:4 Isa 40:31 1Co 9:24-26 Heb 12:1 enlarge: Ps 119:45 18:36 1Ki 4:29 Job 36:15,16 Isa 60:5 61:1 Lu 1:74,75 Joh 8:32,36 2Co 3:17 6:11 1Pe 2:16 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Thine ordinances are good. Charles Bridges - There is a reproach, that we have no cause to fear, but rather to glory in. It is one of the chief privileges of the Gospel3—the honorable badge of our profession.4 But it was the “reproach” of bringing dishonor upon the name of his God, that David feared,5 and deprecated with most anxious importunate prayer. The fear of this reproach is a practical principle of tender watchfulness and circumspection, and of habitual dependence upon an Almighty upholding power. “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe”6—will be the constant supplication of one that fears the Lord, and fears himself. We do not perhaps sufficiently consider the active malice of the enemies of the Gospel “watching for our halting;”7 else should we be more careful to remove all occasions of “reproach” on account of inconsistency of temper or conversation. None therefore that feel their own weakness, the continual apprehension of danger, the tendency of their heart to backslide from God, and to disgrace “that worthy name by which they are called,”8 will think this prayer unseasonable or unnecessary—“Turn away my reproach which I fear.” Perhaps also the conflicting Christian may find this a suitable prayer. Sometimes Satan has succeeded in beguiling him into some worldly compliance, or weakened his confidence, by tempting him to look to himself for some warrant of acceptance, (in all which suggestions he is aided and abetted by his treacherous heart:) and then will this “accuser of the brethren” turn back upon him, and change himself into “an angel of light,” presenting before him a black catalogue of those very falls, into which he had successfully led him. Bunyan does not fail to enumerate these “reproaches” as amongst the most harassing assaults of Apollyon. In his desperate conflict with Christian, he taunts him with his fall into the Slough of Despond, and every successive deviation from his path, as blotting out his warrant of present favor with the king, and blasting all hopes of reaching the celestial city. Christian does not attempt to conceal or palliate the charge. He knows it is all true, and much more besides; but he knows this is true also—“Where sin abounded, grace hath much more abounded.” “The blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth from all sin.”1 Believers! In the heat of your conflict remember the only effective covering. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”2 Do you not hate the sins, with which you have been overtaken? 3 Matt. 5:10–12. Compare Phil. 1:29. 4 Acts 5:41; 24:5; 28:22. Heb. 13:13. 1 Pet. 4:12–16. 5 2 Sam. 12:14. We find Saul strongly deprecating this reproach,—“I have sinned; yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel.” (1 Sam. 15:30.) But how different the principle in these two instances under a similar trial! The one tremblingly alive, that the name of God might not be reproached through his shameful fall. The other earnest only to secure his own reputation. 6 Ps 119:1. 7 Jer. 20:10. 8 James 2:7. 1 Rom. 5:20. 1 John 1:7. 2 Ephes. 6:16. Are you not earnestly longing for deliverance from their power? Then even while the recollections of their guilt and defilement humble you before the Lord, take fresh hold of the Gospel, and you shall “overcome by the blood of the Lamb.”3 Victory must come from the cross. And the soul that is directing its eye thither for pardon, strength, and consolation, may sigh out the prayer with acceptance—“Turn away my reproach which I fear.” But how deeply is the guilt of apostasy or backsliding aggravated by the acknowledgment which all are constrained to make—“Thy judgments are good!” How affecting is the Lord’s expostulation with us!—“What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? O my people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.”4 No, surely we have nothing to complain of our Master, of his work, or of his wages; but much, very much, to complain of ourselves, of our watchfulness, neglect, backsliding, and to humble ourselves on account of the consequent reproach upon our profession. Never, however, let us cease to cry, that all the reproach which we fear on account of our allowed inconsistencies of profession, may for the Church’s sake, be “turned away from us.” Meanwhile, “let us accept it as the punishment of our iniquity;”5 and in the recollection of the “goodness of the Lord’s judgments,” still venture to hope and look for the best things to come out of it, from our gracious Lord. 3 Rev. 12:9–11. 4 Jer. 2:5. Micah 6:3. Isaiah 43:23 5 Lev. 26:41. Psalm 119:40 Behold, I long for Thy precepts; Revive me through Thy righteousness. (PRAYER) NET Psalm 119:40 Look, I long for your precepts. Revive me with your deliverance! LXE Psalm 119:40 Behold, I have desired thy commandments: quicken me in thy righteousness. NLT Psalm 119:40 I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness. Waw KJV Psalm 119:40 Behold, I have longed <08373> (08804) after thy precepts <06490>: quicken <02421> (08761) me in thy righteousness <06666>. ESV Psalm 119:40 Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life! NIV Psalm 119:40 How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness. ASV Psalm 119:40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: Quicken me in thy righteousness. CSB Psalm 119:40 How I long for Your precepts! Give me life through Your righteousness. NKJ Psalm 119:40 Behold, I long <08373> (08804) for Your precepts <06490>; Revive <02421> (08761) me in Your righteousness <06666>. NRS Psalm 119:40 See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life. YLT Psalm 119:40 Lo, I have longed for Thy precepts, In Thy righteousness quicken Thou me, NAB Psalm 119:40 See how I long for your precepts; in your justice give me life. NJB Psalm 119:40 See how I yearn for your precepts; in your saving justice give me life. GWN Psalm 119:40 I long for your guiding principles. Give me a new life in your righteousness. BHT Psalm 119:40 hinnË Tä´aºbTî lüpiqqùdʺkä Bücidqätkä Hayyëºnî BBE Psalm 119:40 See how great is my desire for your orders: give me life in your righteousness. I long: Ps 119:5,20 Mt 26:41 Ro 7:24 2Co 7:1 Ga 5:17 Php 3:13,14 Revive: Ps 119:25,37,88,107,149,156,159 Mk 9:24 Joh 5:21 10:10 1Co 15:45 Eph 2:5 3Jn 1:2 Behold, I long for Thy precepts - Long for is (Qal Perfect) and only other use is Ps 119:174 " I long for Your salvation, O LORD." Septuagint (Lxx) = Long for (1937)(epithumeo from epí = upon, used intensively + thumós = passion) is literally one's passion upon, to have a strong desire, to desire greatly, in this case God's precepts! The idea is he had fixed his desire upon God's precepts. It is interesting that the preposition epi can express motion toward or upon and thus one lexicon defines it as to set one's heart upon. In sum, epithumeo describes a strong impulse toward something so that one's passions or affections directed toward some object, thing or person. Jesus used epithumeo with its evil connotation here in Mt 5:28+, where epithumeo describes a husband's lustful passion directly toward a woman who is not his wife. THOUGHT Notice that the use of epithumeo in Ps 119:40 gives us a great pattern as to how we can fight the good fight against the sinful longing Jesus warned about in Mt 5:28+. What is the pattern? In context it is to "long for Thy precepts!" This powerful principle is also known as the Expulsive Power of a New Affection the new longing directed toward the Lord in effect negating the longing of the Old Man for gratification of the flesh! Revive me through Thy righteousness - Note the juxtaposition of God's precepts and revival. As David said in Psalm 19:7 "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul." This recalls the earlier prayer by the psalmist "My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word." (Psalm 119:25, cf Ps 119:107, Ps 119:149) THOUGHT Note that the word "revive" appears only 18x in the entire OT but Psalm 119 has 11 uses! Ps. 119:25; Ps. 119:37; Ps. 119:40; Ps. 119:50; Ps. 119:88; Ps. 119:93; Ps. 119:107; Ps. 119:149; Ps. 119:154; Ps. 119:156; Ps. 119:159. Given this concentration of the word "revive" in Psalm 119 and our dire need for daily revival because of the "spiritual leakage" inherent in living in a godless world, it behooves all God's children to frequently immerse themselves in the living waters of Psalm 119! When was the last time you read and meditated on some of the verses in this life giving psalm? Charles Bridges - Behold! An appeal to the heart-searching God—“Thou knowest that I love”1 thy precepts! The heart-felt acknowledgment of their goodness naturally leads to long after them.2 The professor longs after the promises, and too often builds a delusive—because an unsanctifying hope upon them. The believer feels it to be his privilege and safety to have an equal regard to both—to obey the precepts of God in dependence on his promises, and to expect the accomplishment of the promises, in way of obedience to the precepts. The utmost extent of the professor’s service is the heavy yoke of outward conformity. He knows nothing of an inward delight, and “longing after them.” Of many of them his heart complains, “This is a hard saying: who can hear it?”3 The Christian can give a good reason for his delight even in the most difficult and painful “precepts.” The moments of deepest repentance are his times of the sweetest “refreshing from the presence of the Lord.”4 Whatever be the pleasure of indulgence in sin, far greater is the ultimate enjoyment arising out of the mortification of it.5 Most fruitful is our Saviour’s precept, which inculcates on his followers self-denial and the daily cross.6 For by this wholesome discipline we lose our own perverse will; the power of sin is restrained, the pride of the heart humbled; and our real happiness fixed upon a solid and permanent basis. So that, whatever dispensation some might desire for breaking the precept without forfeiting the promise, the Christian blesses God for the strictness that binds him to a steady obedience to it. To him it is grievous, not to keep it, but to break it. A “longing” therefore “after the precepts,” marks the character of the child of God, and may be considered as the pulse of the soul. It forms our meetness and ripeness for heaven. There are indeed times, when the violence of temptation, or the paralyzing effect of indolence, hide the movements of the “hidden man of the heart.” And yet even in these gloomy hours, when the mouth is shut, and the heart dumb, before God—“so troubled that it cannot speak,”7—even then, acceptable incense is ascending before the throne of God. We have a powerful intercessor “helping our infirmities”—interpreting our desires, and crying from within, “with groanings that cannot be uttered;”8 yet such as being indited by our advocate within, and 1 Compare John 21:17. 2 Compare the same acknowledgment, Rom. 7:12, connected with similar delight, 22. 3 John 6:60. 4 Acts 3:19. Luther says the practice of repentance was ever sweeter to him, after hearing the expression of an old divine—“That is kind repentance, which begins from the love of God.” 5 See David’s lively expression of gratitude—first to his God—then to the instrument employed by him—(Abigail) in restraining him from the gratification of most unjustifiable revenge.—1 Sam. 25:32, 33. 6 Luke 9:23. 7 Psalm 77:4. 8 Rom. 8:26. presented by our Advocate above,9 are cheering earnests of their fulfilment. “He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.”1 These longings might seem to betoken a vigorous exercise of grace. But shall I be satisfied, while the most fervent desires are so disproportioned to their grand object—so overborne by the corruption of the flesh2—and while a heartless state is so hateful to my Saviour?3 Idle confessions and complaints are unseemly and unfruitful. Let me rather besiege the mercy-seat with incessant importunity4—“Quicken me in thy righteousness.” “I plead thy righteousness—thy righteous promise for the reviving of my spiritual life. I long for more lively apprehensions of thy spotless righteousness. Oh! let it invigorate my delight, my obedience, my secret communion, my Christian walk and conversation.” Such longings, poured out before the Lord for a fresh supply of quickening grace, are far different from “the desire of the slothful which killeth him,”5 and will not be forgotten before God. “Delight thyself in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”6 O for a more enlarged expectation, and a more abundant vouchsafement of blessing; that we may burst forth and break out, as from a living fountain within,7 in more ardent longings for the Lord’s precepts! But it may be asked—What weariness in, and reluctancy to duties, may consist with the principle and exercise of grace? Where it is only in the members, not in the mind—where it is only partial, not prevalent—where it is only occasional, not habitual—where it is lamented and resisted, and not allowed—and where, in spite of its influence, the Christian still holds on the way of duty—“grace reigns” in the midst of conflict, and will ultimately and gloriously triumph over all hindrance and opposition. But in the midst of the humbling views of sin that present themselves on every side, let me diligently inquire—Have I an habitual “hungering and thirsting after righteousness?” And since, at the best, I do but get my longings increased, and not satisfied, let the full satisfaction of heaven be much in my heart. ‘As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”8 And what an expectation is this to pretend to! To think what the infinitely—eternally blessed God is—and what “man is at his best estate”9—then to conceive of man the worm of the dust— 9 Heb. 9:24. Rev. 8:3, 4. 1 Psalm 145:19. 2 Rom. 7:18–24. 3 Rev. 3:16. 4 Matt. 11:12. 5 Prov. 21:25. 6 Psalm 37:4 7 John 4:14; 7:38. 8 Psalm 17:15. 9 Ib. 39:5. the child of sin and wrath—transformed into the likeness of God—bow weighty is the sound of this hope! What then must its substantiation be? If the initial privilege be glorious,10 what will the fulness be!11 Glory revealed to us! transfused through us! becoming our very being? To have the soul filled—not with evanescent shadows—but with massive, weighty, eternal glory!12 Worlds are mere empty bubbles compared with this our sure, satisfying, unfading inheritance. 10 2 Cor. 3:18. 11 1 John 3:2. 12 2 Cor. 4:17. Psalm 119:41 Vav. May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O LORD, Your salvation according to Your word; Ps 119:58,76,77,132 69:16 106:4,5 Lu 2:28-32 Vav. May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O LORD, Your salvation according to Your word; Warren
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - An old Puritan said, “God’s people are like birds; they sing best in cages, they sing best when in the deepest trouble.” Said old Master Brooks, “The deeper the flood was, the higher the ark went up to heaven.” So it is with the child of God: the deeper his troubles the nearer to heaven he goeth, if he lives close to his Master. Troubles are called weights; and a weight, you know, generally cloggeth and keepeth down to the earth; but there are ways, by the use of the laws of mechanics, by which you can make a weight lift you; and so it is possible to make your troubles lift you nearer heaven instead of making them sink you. Ah! we thank our God, He has sometimes opened our mouth when we were dumb; when we were ungrateful, and did not praise Him, He has opened our mouth by a trial; and though when we had a thousand mercies we did not bless Him, when He sent a sharp affliction, then we began to bless Him....Often our trials act as a thorn-hedge to keep us in the good pasture; but our prosperity is a gap through which we go astray. John Butler - Sermon Starters - SANCTIFYING AFFLICTION Psalm 119:67 “Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now have I kept thy word” (Psalm 119:67). This text will help us view our trials and troubles with a positive perspective, not a negative perspective. FIRST—THE SIN BEFORE THE AFFLICTION “Before I was afflicted … I went astray.” The Psalmist confesses his sinfulness. • The period of sin. “Before.” Humans do not have a good record of conduct when the road is easy and prosperous and without pain. The Psalmist sinned when he was living an easy life. Prosperity more than poverty, imperils our character, and makes our conduct impious. • The path of sin. “I went astray.” We glamorize this path, write about it, make Hollywood films about it and encourage it, but it is still “astray.” “Astray” from what? “Astray” from the Word of God as the last part of our text indicates. The Word is our standard, failure to abide by the Word and you are walking astray. The Bible says this problem is universal (Isaiah 53:6) and a bad one. SECOND—THE SUFFERING IN THE AFFLICTION “I was afflicted.” Walking astray brought affliction. • The prediction of suffering. “If ye be without chastisement … then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Hebrews 12:8). If you belong to the Lord, as the psalmist did, God will take you to the woodshed when you walk astray from His Word. God is a God of purpose. Everything He does has reason. When we walk astray He brings affliction, but not without reason as we will see more about later. • The pain of suffering. The word “afflicted” involves misery. “No chastening for the present seems joyous, but grievous” (Hebrews 12:11). Affliction hurts. When I was a boy and got spanked (and that happened quite often), it hurt, otherwise it did not get my attention or do any good. I would yell and cry but my folks practiced Proverbs 19:18 and I had to quiet down before they stopped the spanking. THIRD—THE SANCTIFICATION FROM THE AFFLICTION “But now have I kept thy word.” Here is the value of affliction. • The path of sanctification. “Kept thy word.” Sin does not walk in the path of the Word of God, but sanctification does. If you want to be holy, you must be obedient to the word. Much of the world disobeys the Word and mocks obedience. God’s people, however, should not act like the world nor mock obeying the Word. • The product of sanctification. “Kept thy word.” God allows troubles and trials to afflict us not without purpose. Keeping the Word of God is another way of saying you are obeying the Word of God. We can thank God for these afflictions which drive us to the Word of God in obedience. The afflictions may have been very painful but they are also very profitable, if they cause us to obey the Word of God where we had been disobedient. John
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - The air from the sea of affliction is extremely beneficial to invalid Christians. Continued prosperity, like a warm atmosphere, has a tendency to unbind the sinews and soften the bones; but the cold winds of trouble make us sturdy, hardy, and well-braced in every part. Unbroken success often leads to an undervaluing of mercies, and forgetfulness of the giver; but the withdrawal of the sunshine leads us to look for the sun. Spurgeon's exposition - The psalmist, was so impressed with the benefits which he had derived from his afflictions, that he returned to the subject: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” There is much teaching power about God’s rod. He always keeps one in his school, and it is greatly needed for such dull scholars as we are. Many a child of God can repeat the psalmist’s testimony: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” “Thou hast whipped a little knowledge into me, and not much has come in any other way.” D L Moody - A DEAD level in a man’s life would be his ruin? If he had nothing but prosperity, he would be ruined. A man can stand adversity better than prosperity. I know a great many who have become very prosperous, but I know few such that haven’t lost all their piety, that haven’t lost sight of that city eternal in the heavens, whose builder and maker is God. Earthly things have drawn their heart’s affections away from eternal things. Dear tried and tested, suffering saint, beloved of God (1Jn 3:1+, 1Th 1:4+) consider praying this song to your loving Father... Refiner's Fire Purify my heart Let me be as gold And precious silver Purify my heart Let me be as gold Pure gold Refiner's fire My heart's one desire Is to be holy Set apart for you Lord I choose to be holy Set apart for you my master Ready to do your will Purify my heart Cleanse me from within And make me holy Purify my heart Cleanse me from my sin Deep within Refiner's fire My heart's one desire Is to be holy Set apart for you Lord I choose to be holy Set apart for you my master Ready to do your will Refiner's fire My heart's one desire Is to be holy Set apart for you Lord I choose to be holy Set apart for you my master Ready to do your will And I am ready to do your will Make me ready to do your will Charles Bridges - If I mark in myself any difference from the ungodly—if I can feel that my natural insensibility is yielding to the influence of grace—if I am enabled to “delight in God’s law,” which before I had neglected as a “strange thing,”1 if this softening transformation2 has been wrought in the school of affliction; let me thankfully acknowledge, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” None indeed but the Lord’s scholars can know the benefit of this school, and this teaching. The first lessons are usually learned under the power of the words pricking and piercing the heart; yet issuing in joyous good.3 All special lessons afterward will probably be learned here.4 ‘I never,’ said Luther, ‘knew the meaning of God’s word, until I came into affliction. I have always found it one of my best schoolmasters.’5 This teaching marks the sanctified from the unsanctified cross, explaining many a hard text, and sealing many a precious promise—the rod expounding the word, and the Divine Teacher effectually applying both. Indeed, but for this discipline we should miss much of the meaning and spiritual blessing of the word. For how can we have any experimental acquaintance with the promises of God, under those circumstances, for which the promises are made? When, for example, but in the day of trouble, could we understand the full mercy of such a gracious word, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”6 And how much more profitable is this experimental learning than mere human instruction! When therefore we pray for a clearer apprehension and interest in the blessed book, and for a deeper experience of its power upon our hearts; we are in fact often unconsciously supplicating for the chastening rod of our Father’s love. For it is the man “whom the Lord chasteneth, that he “teacheth out of his law.”7 Peter indeed, when on the mount of transfiguration, said, “It is good for us to be here. Let us build here three tabernacles.” Here let us abide in a state of comfort, indulgence, and sunshine. But well was it added by the sacred historian, “Not knowing what he said.”1 The judgment of David was far more correct, when he pronounced, that “it was good for him that he had been afflicted.” For so often are we convicted of inattention to the voice of the Lord—so often do we find ourselves looking back upon forsaken Sodom, or lingering in the plains, instead of pressing onward to Zoar,2 that the indulgence of our own liberty would shortly hurry us along the pathway of destruction. Alas! often do we feel the spirit of prayer to be quenched for a season by “a heart overcharged with the cares of this life”3—or by the overprizing of some lawful comfort—or by a temper inconsistent with our Christian profession—or by an undue confidence in the flesh. And at such season of backsliding, we must count among our choicest mercies, the gracious discipline, by which the Lord schools us with the cross, “that we may learn His statutes.” After all, however, this must be a paradox to the unenlightened man. He can only “count it” all grief, not “all joy, when he falls into divers temptations.”4 His testimony is—It is evil—not it is good for me that I have been afflicted. And even God’s children, as we have before remarked, do not always take up this word while smarting under the rod. The common picture of happiness is freedom from trouble, not, as Scripture describes it,5 the portion of trouble. Yet how true is God’s judgment, when it is the very end of affliction to remove the source of all trouble,6 and consequently to secure—not to destroy—solid happiness. Yet we must determine the standard of real good by its opposition—not its accordance—to our own fancy or indulgence. The promise of “every good thing” may be fulfilled by a plentiful cup of affliction.7 Present evil may be “working together for” ultimate “good.”8 Let God take his own way with us.9 Let us interpret his providences by his covenant10—his means by his end,11 and instead of fainting under the sharpness of his rod, earnestly desire the improvement of it. Are you, then, tried believer, disposed to regret the lessons you have already learned in this school? Or have you purchased them at too dear a cost? Do you grieve over the bleedings of a contrite heart, that have brought you under the care of the healing physician? Or could you by any other way have obtained so rich a knowledge of his love, or have been trained to such implicit obedience to his will? As Jesus, “though he were a Son, yet learned obedience by the things that he suffered;”12 so may we “rejoice, inasmuch as we are partakers of his sufferings,”13 and be thankful to learn the same obedience, as the evidence and fruit of our conformity to him. The Lord save us from the greatest of all afflictions, an affliction lost!1 “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.”2 “He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”3 A call to tremble and repent, to watch and pray, and “turn to him that smiteth us!”4 Oh! is there one of that countless throng surrounding the everlasting throne, who has not sung, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted?” “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”5 1 Hosea 8:12. 2 Job 23:16. 3 Acts 2:37–47; 16:27–34. 4 See Job 36:8–10. 5 On another occasion, referring to some spiritual temptation on the morning of the preceding day, he added to a friend (Justin Jonas,) “Doctor, I must mark the day; I was yesterday at school.” Milner v. 484. In one of his works, he most accurately calls affliction “the theology of Christians”—“theologium Christianorum.” To the same purport is the testimony of a learned French divine and tried saint of God—“I have learned more divinity,” said Dr. Rivet, confessing to God of his last days of affliction—“in these ten days that thou art come to visit me, than I did in fifty years before. Thou hast brought me to myself. ‘Before I was afflicted I went astray,’ and was in the world; but now I am conversant in the school of my God; and he teacheth me after another manner than all those doctors, in reading whom I spent so much time.”—Middleton’s Biog. Evan. iii. 238. 6 Psalm 50:15. 7 Psalm 94:12. The use of the word paideia in the acceptation of chastening (LXX. in this verse, and Heb. 12:5.) is remarkable, as describing literally the instruction, by which a child is trained to the acquisition of useful knowledge, which, however not being generally affected without chastening, accounts for the use of the word, to mark the discipline which usually attends instruction. 1 Luke 9:33. 2 Compare Gen. 19:17–23. 3 Luke 21:34. “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; 4 James 1:2.Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 5 Job 5:17.“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. 6 Isa. 27:9. 7 Ps. 34:10, 19.Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. 8 Rom. 8:28. Comp. Jer. 24:5. 9 Ib. 29:11. John 16:6, 7. 10 Gen. 32:10–12. 11 James 5:11. 12 Heb. 5:8. 13 1 Peter 4:13. 1 Comp. 1 Kings 13:33. 2 Chron. 28:22. 2 Jer. 6:8. 3 Prov. 19:1. 4 Isaiah 9:13. 5 Rev. 7:13, 14. What Good Is Affliction? Read: Lamentations 1:12-20 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes. —Psalm 119:71 During a television interview, David Frost asked former president George Bush how he could square his belief in a loving and all-powerful God with the miseries and injustices of life. Frost reminded Bush of the time he shed tears at the sight of starving children and of his grief when his own daughter had died. President Bush said, “It never occurred to me to blame God for that.” He insisted that the Lord has provided enough food for everyone, but that starvation occurs because of human greed and ineptitude. The President said that his daughter’s illness had drawn the family closer to one another and to God. He was comforted because he knew that she had been caught up in the arms of her loving heavenly Father. Like those starving children, we may suffer because of the greed and selfishness of others. Like the Bush family, we may endure sorrow for reasons we can’t understand. Or we may suffer because of our own sin, as Jeremiah recounted in his lament for the wayward tribe of Judah (Lam. 1:5). In any case, we can trust God and say with the psalmist, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” (Ps. 119:71). With confidence, we can ask with Abraham, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25).By Herbert Vander Lugt There is so much within this world Of brokenness and pain, Yet nothing God in grace allows Is ever done in vain. —DJD God will spare you from suffering or He'll give you the grace to bear it. Rock Bottom Read: Psalm 119:65-72 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes. —Psalm 119:71 I was in my early thirties, a dedicated wife and mother, a Christian worker at my husband’s side. Yet inwardly I found myself on a trip nobody wants to take, the trip downward. I was heading for that certain sort of breakdown that most of us resist, the breakdown of my stubborn self-sufficiency. Finally I experienced the odd relief of hitting rock bottom, where I made an unexpected discovery: The rock on which I had been thrown was none other than Christ Himself. Cast on Him alone, I was in a position to rebuild the rest of my life, this time as a God-dependent person rather than the self-dependent person I had been. My rock-bottom experience became a turning point and one of the most vital spiritual developments of my life. Lift up your eyes, discouraged one, The Lord your help will be; New strength will come from Him who said, “For rest, come unto Me.” —Anon. When a Christian hits rock bottom, he finds that Christ is a firm foundation. J C Philpot - We may have everything naturally that the carnal heart desires, and only be hardened thereby into worldliness and ungodliness. But to be brought down in body and soul, to be weaned and separated from an ungodly world by affliction sanctified and made spiritually profitable, to be brought to feel our need of Christ, and that without an interest in His precious blood our soul must be for ever lost—how much better it is really and truly, to be laid on a bed of affliction, with a hope in God’s mercy, than to be left to our own carnality and thoughtlessness. Affliction of any kind is very hard to bear, and especially so when we begin to murmur and fret under the weight of the cross; but when the Lord afflicts, it is in good earnest; He means to make us feel. Some strong measures are required to bring us down; and affliction would not be affliction, unless it were full of grief and sorrow. But when affliction makes us seek the Lord with a deep feeling in the soul that none but Himself can save or bless, and we are enabled to look up unto Him, with sincerity and earnestness, that He would manifest His love and mercy to our heart, He will appear sooner or later. The Lord, who searcheth the heart, knoweth all the real desires of the soul, and can and does listen to a sigh, a desire, a breath of supplication within. He knows our state, both of body and soul, and is not a hard taskmaster to require what we cannot give, or lay upon us more than we can bear, but can and does give all that He desires from us. But very often He delays to appear, that He may teach us thereby we have no claim upon Him, and that anything granted is of His pure compassion and grace. John
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - A hopeful godly man is a continual source of joy to other people. When a man can inspire hope in his fellows, and he cannot do that unless he is full of hope himself, he lights a fire of comfort. Bring such a man into a storm, and he helps you to be brave. “They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.” Because I wait for Your word - NLT = "for I have put my hope in your word." Wait is the Hebrew word yahal/yachal which conveys the idea of tarrying, of confident expectation, of trust. The central idea of this verb is to wait as Noah literally did in Ge 8:12 (cp 1Sa 10:8, 13:8, et al). Wait means to stay or rest in expectation, to remain stationary until the arrival of some person or event. The Septuagint has an interesting translation using the verb epelpizo which means to buoy up with hope. And it is interesting that most of the uses of epelpizo are found in Psalm 119 (no uses in NT)... Epelpizo - 2 Ki. 18:30; Ps. 52:7; Ps. 119:43; Ps. 119:49; Ps. 119:74; Ps. 119:81; Ps. 119:114; Ps. 119:147 Charles Bridges - How cheering is the sight of a man of God! How refreshing his converse! How satisfactory and enlivening is the exhibition of his faith! The goodness of God to one becomes thus the joy and comfort of all. What an excitement is this to close communion with our God, that the light which we thus receive will shine on those around us! What a comfort will it be, even in our own hour of temptation, that the hope which we may then be enabled to maintain in the word of God, shall prove the stay, not only of our own souls, but of the Lord’s people! Many a desponding Christian, oppressed with such fears as this—“I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul,”1—when he hears of one and another exercised in the same trials, and who have “hoped in God’s word,” and have not been disappointed, “will be glad when he sees them.” Thus David recorded his conflicts, that we may not despair of our own; and his triumphs, that “in the name of our God we might set up our banners”2—“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, upon the Lord.”3 Thus also, under affliction, he was comforted with the thought of comforting others with the history of his own experience—“My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O praise the Lord with me, and let us magnify his name together. He hath put a new song into my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name; the righteous shall compass me about, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.”4 In this view, the believer, who has been “sifted in the sieve” of temptation, without the least “grain” of faith or hope “falling upon the earth,”5 stands forth as a monument of the Lord’s faithfulness, to “strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees, and to say to them that are of a feeble heart, Be strong, fear not.”6 Those that are “fearful, and of little faith,” “are glad when they see him.” They “thank God” for him, and “take courage”7 for themselves. What a motive is this to keep us from despondency; that instead of destroying, by our unbelief, those who are already “cast down,” we may enjoy the privilege of upholding their confidence, and ministering to their comfort! And how should the weak and distressed seek for and prize the society of those, who have been instructed by the discipline of the Lord’s school! Believer! what have you to tell to your discouraged brethren of the faithfulness of your God? Cannot you put courage into their hearts, by declaring that you have never been “ashamed of your hope?” Cannot you tell them from your own experience, that Jesus “is for a foundation-stone, a tried stone, a sure foundation?”8 Cannot you show them, that, because he has borne the burden of their sins, he is able to “bear their griefs, and to carry their sorrows?”9 that you have tried him, and that you have found him so? Oh! be animated to know more of Christ yourself; let your hope in him be strengthened, that you may cause gladness in the hearts of those that see you; so that “whether you be afflicted, or whether you be comforted, it may be for their consolation and salvation.”1 But O my God! how much cause have I for shame, that I impart so little of thy glorious light to those around me. Perhaps some poor trembling sinner “has been glad when he saw me,” hoping to hear something of the Saviour from my lips, and has found me straitened, and cold, and dumb. Oh! that I may be so “filled with the Spirit,” so experienced in thy heavenly ways, that I may invite “all that fear thee to come to me,” that I may “tell them what thou hast done for my soul;”2 so that, “when men are cast down, they may say, There is lifting up.”3 1 1 Sam. 27:1. 2 Psalm 20:5. 3 Ps 27:13, 14. 4 Ps. 34:2, 3; 40:3; 142:7. Compare also 69:30–32. 5 Amos 9:9. 6 Isa. 35:3, 4. 7 Acts 28:15. 8 Isa. 26:16. 9 Ps. 53:4. 1 2 Cor. 1:6. 2 Psalm 66:16. 3 Job 22:29. Psalm 119:75 I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. I know (KJV): Ps 119:7,62,128,160 De 32:4 Job 34:23 Jer 12:1 right (KJV): Heb. righteousness, Ge 18:25 Ro 3:4,5 thou in (KJV): Ps 25:10 89:30-33 Heb 12:10,11 Rev 3:19 I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. See Ps 119:50, 67, 71, 92 law of God comforts in lowliness Spurgeon - We are glad to listen to a man who can tell us that, an old man, a tried man, who can say that God has been faithful in afflicting him, a man who, after having borne the brunt of tribulation, can yet bless God for it. Such testimonies as these are full of joy and gladness to the young folk; they can encounter trial with a joyous heart when they hear what their fathers tell of the goodness of God to them in their troubles. Charles Bridges - This is the Christian’s acknowledgment—fully satisfied with the dispensations of God. This is his confidence—so invigorating to his own soul—so cheering to the Church. The Lord’s dealings are called his judgments—not as having judicial curses, but as the acts of his justice in the chastening of sin.4 Perhaps also—as the administration of his wise judgment in their measure and application.5 But here is not only the confession of the Lord’s general judgment, but of his especial faithfulness to himself. And this he knew—not from the dictates of the flesh, (which would have given a contrary verdict,) but from the testimony of the word,6 and the witness of his own experience.7 It could not be doubted—much less denied—‘I know, O Lord, that thy rules of proceeding are agreeable to thy perfect justice and wisdom; and I am equally satisfied, that the afflictions that thou hast laid upon me from time to time, are only to fulfil thy gracious and faithful promise of making me eternally happy in thyself.’ Blessed fruit of affliction! when we can thus “see the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy”—that his “thoughts towards us are thoughts of peace, and not of evil!”8 “The patience and faith of the saints” teach this difficult but most consoling lesson in deciphering the mysterious lines in God’s providence. The child of God, under the severest chastisement, must acknowledge justice. Our gracious reward is always more—our “punishment always less, than our iniquities deserve.”9 “Wherefore should a living man complain?”10 In trouble, indeed—but not in hell. If he complain, let it be of none but himself, and his own wayward choice. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right—and who can doubt the wisdom? Who would charge the operator with cruelty, in cutting out the proud flesh that was bringing death upon the man? Who would not acknowledge the right judgment of his piercing work? Thus, when the Lord’s painful work separates us from our sins, weans us from the world, and brings us nearer to himself, what remains for us, but thankfully to acknowledge his righteousness and truth? Unbelief is put to rebuke; and we, of any suspicion “that God has forgotten to be gracious,” must confess, “This is our infirmity.”1 This assurance of the Lord’s perfect justice, wisdom, and intimate knowledge of our respective cases, leads us to yield to his appointments in dutiful silence. Thus Aaron, under his most afflictive domestic calamity, “held his peace.”2 Job under a similar dispensation was enabled to say, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord!”3 Eli’s language in the same trial was, “It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good.”4 David hushed his impatient spirit, “I was dumb; I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.” And when Shimei cursed him, he said, “Let him alone; let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.”5 The Shunammite, in the meek resignation of faith, acknowledged, “It is well.”6 Hezekiah kissed the rod, while it was smiting him to the dust, “Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken.”7 Thus uniform is the language of the Lord’s people under chastisement, I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right. But the confession of justice may be mere natural conviction.8 Faith goes further, and speaks of faithfulness. David not only acknowledges God’s right to deal with him as he saw fit, and even his wisdom in dealing with him as he actually had done, but his faithfulness in afflicting—not his faithfulness, though he afflicted—but in afflicting him; not as if it were consistent with his love, but as the fruit of his love. It is not enough, to justify God. What abundant cause is there to praise him! It is not enough to forbear to murmur. How exciting is the display of his faithfulness and love! Yes—the trials appointed for us are none else than the faithful performance of his everlasting engagements. And to this cause we may always trace (and it is our privilege to believe it, where we cannot visibly trace it) the reason of much that is painful to the flesh.9 Let us only mark its gracious effects in our restoration10—instruction11—healing of our backslidings,12 and the continual purging of sins13—and then say, ‘Is not the faithfulness of God gloriously displayed?’ The Philistines could not understand Samson’s riddle—how “Meat could come out of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong.”14 As little can the world comprehend the fruitfulness of the Christian’s trials; how his gracious Lord sweetens to him the bitter waters of Marah,15 and makes the cross not so much the punishment, as the remedy of sin. He finds therefore no inclination, and he feels that he has no interest in having any change made in the Lord’s appointments, painful as they may be to the flesh. He readily acknowledges that his merciful designs could not have been accomplished in any other way; while under trials many sweet tokens of love are vouchsafed, which, under circumstances of outward prosperity, could not have been received with the same gratitude and delight. You that are living at ease in the indulgence of what this poor world can afford, how little does the Christian envy your portion! How surely in some future day will you be taught by experience to envy his! The world’s riches are daily becoming poorer, and its pleasures more tasteless. And what will they be, and how will they appear, when eternity is at hand! Whereas affliction is the special token of our Father’s love,1 conformity to the image of Jesus, and preparation for his service and kingdom. It is the only blessing that the Lord gives, without requiring us to ask for it.2 We receive it therefore as promised, not as threatened; and when “the peaceable fruits of righteousness,”3 which it worketh in God’s time and way, spring up in our hearts, humbly and gratefully will we acknowledge the righteousness of his “judgments,” and the “faithfulness” of his corrections. 4 1 Peter 4:17. 5 Jer. 10:24. Comp. Isa. 27:8. 6 Deut. 32:4. 7 Verse 137; 145:17. 8 James 5:11. Jer. 29:11. 9 Ezra 9:13. Comp. Job 11:6. 10 Lam. 3:39. 1 Psalm 77:7–10. 2 Lev. 10:1–3. 3 Job 1:21. Comp. 2:10. 4 1 Sam. 3:18. 5 Psalm 39:9. 2 Sam. 16:11, 12. 6 2 Kings 4:26. 7 Isa. 39:8. 8 Exod. 9:27. Judges 1:7. 2 Chron. 12:6. 9 Psalm 89:30–32. Deut 8:16. Comp. Psalm 107:43. 10 Ps 119:67, and texts referred to on that verse. 11 Ps 119:71, and texts. 12 Hosea 2:6, 7, 14. 13 Isa. 27:9; 48:10. Zech. 13:9. John 15:2. 14 Judges 14:14. 15 See Exodus 15:23–25. 1 Heb. 12:6. Rev. 3:19. 2 Phil. 1:29. Lord Bacon somewhere remarks, “that, however temporal prosperity may have been promised to the Church under the Old Testament; affliction, and suffering, and trial, are the promises made to the Church under the Gospel dispensation. 3 Such as patience, experience, hope—the work of tribulation. Heb. 12:11, with Rom. 5:3–5. Psalm 119:76 O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant. merciful (KJV): Ps 86:5 106:4,5 2Co 1:3-5 for my comfort (KJV): Heb. to comfort me O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant - NLT = "Now let your unfailing love comfort me, just as you promised me, your servant." Charles Bridges - What! does the Psalmist then seek his comfort from the very hand that strikes him? This is genuine faith, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”4 The very arm that seems to be uplifted for my destruction, shall be to me the arm of salvation. Several of the preceding verses have spoken of affliction.5 The Psalmist now prays for alleviation under it. But of what kind? He does not “beseech the Lord, that it might depart from him.”6 No. His repeated acknowledgments of the supports vouchsafed under it, and the benefits he had derived from it, had reconciled him to commit its measure7 and continuance to the Lord. All that he needs, and all that he asks for, is, a sense of his “merciful kindness” upon his soul. Thus he submits to his justice in accumulated trials, and expects consolation under them solely upon the ground of his free favor. Indeed it is hard to hold on under protracted affliction without this precious support. Patience may restrain murmuring—but a sense of love alone keeps from fainting. Holiness is our service—affliction is our exercise—comfort is our gracious reward. All the candles in the world, in the absence of the sun, can never make the day. The whole earth in its brightest visions of fancy, destitute of the Lord’s love, can never cheer nor revive the soul. Indeed it matters little where we are, or what we have. In the fulness of refreshing ordinances, unless the Lord meets us, and blesses us with his “merciful kindness for our comfort,” it is “a thirsty land, where no water is.” Absalom might as well have been at Geshur as at Jerusalem, so long as he “saw not the king’s face.”1 Nothing that the Lord “gives us richly to enjoy,” will satisfy, if this source of refreshment be withheld. The worldling’s inquiry is—“who will show us any good?” The Christian forms his answer into a prayer—“Lord! lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me.”2 “Let thy merciful kindness be for my comfort.” This gives the enjoyment of every real good, and supplies the place of every fancied good. It is a blessing that never cloys, and will never end: and every fresh taste quenches the thirst for earthly pleasures. “Whosoever drinketh of this water”—said our Divine Saviour—“shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst!”3 “Delight thyself in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”4 But, reader, do you wish to realize this comfort? Then seek to approach your God by the only way of access. Learn to contemplate him in the only glass in which a God of love is seen—“in the face of Jesus Christ.”5 Guard against looking for comfort from any other source. Beware especially of that satisfaction in creature cisterns, which draws you away from “the fountain of living waters.”6 Learn also to prize this comfort supremely, and not to be content without some enjoyment, or even with a scanty measure of enjoyment; but rather let every day’s refreshment be made a step for desiring and attaining renewed and sweeter refreshment for tomorrow. Some, however, appear to look at David’s experience, as if at present they could hardly expect to reach its happiness: and so they go on in a low, depressed, and almost sullen state, refusing the privileges, which are as freely offered to them as to others. But such a state of mind is highly dishonorable to God. Let them earnestly plead their interest in the word of promise, “According to thy word unto thy servant.” Let them lay their fingers upon one or all of the promises of their God. Let them spread before the Lord his own hand-writing and seals; and their Saviour hath said, ‘According to your faith be it unto you.”7 “The king is held in the galleries;”1 and, if he should “make as though he would go farther,” he is willing that we should “constrain him, saying, Abide with us.”2 No veil now but the veil of unbelief need hinder us from seeing an unclouded, everlasting smile of “merciful kindness” upon our heavenly Father’s reconciled face. Only let us see to it, that he is the first, the habitual object of our contemplation, the satisfying well-spring of our delight—that he is the one desire, to which ever other is subordinate, and in which every other is absorbed. Lord Jesus! I would seek for a renewed enjoyment in “thy merciful kindness.” I would not forget that it was this that brought thee down from heaven—that led thee to endure the death of the cross—that has washed me in thy precious blood—that visits me with many endearing tokens of thy love. O let all my days be spent in the sense of this “merciful kindness for my comfort,” and in rendering to thee the unworthy returns of grateful, filial service. 4 Job 13:15. 5 Ps 119:67, 71, 75. 6 2 Cor. 12:8. 7 Jer. 10:24. 1 Compare 2 Sam. 14:23, 24. 2 Psalm 4:6. 3 John 4:13, 14. 4 Psalm 37:4. 5 2 Cor. 4:6. Compare John 14:6. 6 Jer. 2:13. 7 Matt. 9:29. The writer cannot forbear indulging himself with a transcript of the prayers of Monica, Augustine’s mother, as a beautiful example of this earnestness and simplicity of faith in pleading the promises of the word—“Lord, these promises were made to be made good to some, and, why not to me? I hunger; I need; I thirst; I wait. Here is thy hand-writing in thy word; and in the last sacrament, I had thy seal affixed to it. I am resolved to be as importunate till I have obtained, and as thankful afterwards, as by thy grace I shall be enabled; being convinced that I am utterly lost and undone, if thou hearest not the desires of the humble; and if thou dost hear and grant, I am so well acquainted with myself and with my own heart, that I have nothing to glory in; but I shall wholly glory in the Lord; and I do resolve and believe, that I shall to all eternity celebrate and magnify the riches of thy grace. Thy promises are the discoveries of thy purposes, and vouchsafed as materials for our prayers; and in my supplications I am resolved every day to present and tender them back to thee; and if thou wilt have regard to them, and appear to be a ‘God of truth’ to my soul; a poor creature, that hath long feared to burn in hell for hypocrisy, will be secured and made happy for ever. I am resolved to wait upon thee, and to cast down my soul upon thee in this way; and thou hast assured me, thou art a ‘God of judgment.’ Thou didst promise in judgment. Thou knewest what thou didst in making such promises; and thou wilt be a ‘God of judgment;’ thou knowest when and where to make them good; and thou hast pronounced—‘Blessed are all they that wait for thee.’ On thee I will wait, and for this blessing I will hope and look.” 1 Song 7:5; also Song 6:5. 2 Compare Luke 24:28, 29, with Gen. 32:26–29. Compare the invitation given, Song 4:16, instantly accepted, Song 5:1. Psalm 119:77 May Your compassion come to me that I may live, For Your law is my delight. thy tender (KJV): Ps 119:41 51:1-3 La 3:22,23 Da 9:18 for thy (KJV): Ps 119:24,47,174 1:2 Heb 8:10-12 May Your compassion come to me that I may live, For Your law is my delight. Charles Bridges - Sin is no light trouble to the man of God. Mercy, therefore, is to him no common blessing. Never can he have—never can he ask enough. Hence his repeated cries. Mercy brought him out of sin and misery. Mercy keeps—holds him on—assures him to the end.3 Every blessing comes in the way of mercy.4 The most careful “walker according to the Gospel rule,”5 needs mercy. The elect are “vessels of mercy”6—filled up to the brim with mercy. The crown of glory at last is received at the hands of mercy.7 The distinguishing character of God is, that his mercies are tender mercies8—a father’s pitying9—yearning10—mercies. When his returning prodigal expected probably upbraiding looks, if not a frown of banishment, how did these tender mercies bring, not only his sins, but also his very confessions in the depths of the sea, and welcome him without a cloud to his forsaken home!11 The same tender consideration puts away from his children all anxiety respecting “what they shall eat, or what they shall drink, or wherewithal they shall be clothed.”12 As a Father, he also “chasteneth”13 them—“he suffereth their manners”14—he “spareth them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him;”15—and finally, he determineth respecting each of them by an act of sovereign power—“Thou shalt call me, My Father, and shalt not depart from me.”1 In a yet more endearing character he speaks—“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. They may forget; yet will I not forget thee.”2 Yet have we no just apprehension of these tender mercies, unless they come unto us. In the midst of the wide distribution, let me claim my interest. Let them come unto me.3 Praised be God! the way is open to me. The mere report is unfruitful. I cannot speak of them with glow and unction. The application of them is life—not the mere breathing of spiritual existence, but the life of my life—the living principle of devotedness and enjoyment—living to and for God in every form and sphere, in every hour and action of the day; my feebleness becoming strength in the Lord; “walking up and down in his name.”4 This truly is “reigning in life;”5 rising to more of its honor and dignity, and reaching forth to more of its excellence and happiness. But let us not lose sight of the abundant overflowing spring, from which our life is maintained. In Christ was life;6 and he “came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly.”7 There can be, therefore, no exercises of life without a vital union to Christ—the source of life. Shall we then give up the hope of believing in Christ, till we feel the influence of this spiritual principle? This would be indeed like refusing to abide in the vine, till we could bring forth fruit; whereas the branch, while separated from the vine, must ever be fruitless and withered.8 We must receive life from Christ, not bring it to him. Faith implants us in him; and “Christ dwelling in the heart by faith” becomes the life of the soul, animating it in the ways of God.9 This life, therefore, will manifest itself in delight in God’s law. We shall not be satisfied to live upon the mere surface of the Gospel (which is barren and unproductive, as any other surface, in spiritual usefulness,) but we shall search into its hidden treasures, and draw forth its real life and consolation. This “delight” will furnish a plea for our use at the throne of grace. ‘If this is the fruit and acting of the life of thine own implanting, Lord! cherish it. Let me live by the influence of “thy tender mercies.” I venture to plead my delight in thy law, as an evidence of my adoption into thy family. And, therefore, I would renew my plea and my petition—“Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that” my life may be not only existence, but enjoyment—the beginning, the earnest of the everlasting life and bliss of heaven.’ 3 Psalm 138:8. 4 Ps 136:23–25. 5 Gal. 6:16. 6 Rom. 9:23. 7 Matthew 25:34. 8 Psalm 51:1; 79:8. 9 Ps 103:13. 10 Hosea 11:8. Jer. 31:20. 11 Compare Luke 15:20–24. 12 Matt. 6:25–34. 13 Deut. 8:5. 14 Acts 13:18. 15 Mal. 3:17. 1 Jer. 3:19. 2 Isa. 66:13; 49:15. 3 Ps 119:41. 4 Zech. 10:12. 5 Rom. 5:17. 6 John 1:4. 7 Jn. 10:10. 8 Jn. 15:4–6 9 Compare Gal. 2:20, with Ezek. 36:27. Psalm 119:78 May the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie; But I shall meditate on Your precepts. the proud (KJV): Ps 119:21,51,85 35:26 without (KJV): Ps 119:86 7:3-5 25:3 35:7 69:4 109:3 1Sa 24:10-12,17 26:18 Joh 15:25 1Pe 2:20 but I will (KJV): Ps 119:23, 1:2 May the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie; But I shall meditate on Your precepts BUT I SHALL MEDITATE ON THY PRECEPTS (Ps 119:15, 23, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148): Meditation is to the soul what digestion is to the body. To meditate means to “turn over” God’s Word in the mind and heart, to examine it, to compare Scripture with Scripture, to “feed on” its wonderful truths. In this day of noise and confusion, such meditation is rare but so needful. Meditation is impossible without memorization.Reading the Bible without meditating on it is like eating without chewing. Mediate - Hebrew . siyach, see'-akh; 21v: Jdg 5:10 1Ch16:9 Job 7:11 12:8 15:4 Ps 55:17 69:12 77:3,v6,12 105:2 119:15,23,27, 48, 78, 97,148 143:5 145:5 Pr6:22 Isa 53:8 basic meaning > rehearse, go over matter in one's mind usually rendered "meditate " or "talk." Speak, talk, converse aloud, or even with oneself. Ponder, muse put forth, mediate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder Jdg 5:10 diegeomai [G1334] (Qal) complain, muse, meditate upon, study, ponder, talk, speak (Polel) to meditate, consider, put forth thoughts Utter with the mouth (Job 12:8; Pr 6:22); to complain pray (Ps 55:17; 77:3), talk disparagingly (Ps 69:12); meditate, esp divine things Ps 77:6,12;119:15,23,27,48,78,148 sing (Ps145:5), celebrate something in song (Ps1 05:2) consider, think upon something (Isa 53:8). silent reflection on God's works (Ps77:12, 143:5) God's word (Ps119:15, 23, 27, 48, 78, 148). rehearsing aloud God's works (1Ch6:9; Ps105:2;145:15). If subject is painful > translated "complain" Ps55:17;Job7:11). One can "talk disparagingly" (Ps69:12]. the "key word" in Ps 77. Here the Psalmist transfers his complaint (Ps 77:3 based on a contemplation (Ps 77:6) of God's absence in contrast to his past deeds precisely by meditating or talking of God's deeds. In Pr 6:22 the son who has bound his father's teaching to his heart will find that the teaching, in turn, will "talk" with him. We must read Scripture every day And meditate on what God said To fight temptation from the world And live a life that's Spirit led. --Sper Charles Bridges - The prophecy with which God himself condescended to open the history of the Church, has ever since been in the course of accomplishment.1 “Enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman,” has been the prevailing character and course of the world. “An unjust man is an abomination to the just; and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.”2 David, however, prayed for the confusion of his enemies—not in a vindictive spirit, as if thirsting for their destruction; but as opening the way for his own more free service of God.3 and as a chastening, that might eventually turn to their salvation—“Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord.”4 That his prayer was the expression of his tender compassion, rather than of resentful feeling, is sufficiently evident from his affectionate weeping concern for their immortal interests.5 Prayers of the same deprecating character dropped from the lips of the gentle and compassionate Saviour:6 while the objects of his awful deprecations were interested in the most yearning sympathies of his heart.7 A regard also for the honor of God dictated this prayer. David knew that the malice of his enemies against him was only the working of their enmity against God; that it was not so much him that they hated and persecuted, as God in him. And therefore as a servant of God he could appeal—“Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved at those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies.”8 The followers of a despised Saviour must indeed expect to be sorely distressed with the perverseness of the proud. But when, like their Master, they can testify that it is “without a cause,”9 how cheering are their Master’s words! “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven.”10 And have you, reader, been exercised with trials from an ungodly world? Has the derision of the proud, or the slight or ill-treatment of the ungodly, never excited revengeful feelings within? Have you always been enabled to set your Saviour’s example before you, and, “in patience possessing your soul,” to refer your cause to your Almighty Friend? “O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me.”11 Remember he has engaged to take up your cause—“Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them! I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.”12 But learn in the hour of trial where to go, and what to do. Go to the word of God for direction and support. “Meditate in his precepts.” There is often a hurry of mind in times of difficulty, which unhinges the soul from the simple exercise of faith. But habit brings practice, and steadiness, and simplicity, enabling us most sweetly to fix our hearts upon the word of God, and to apply its directions and encouragements to the present exigency. Our enemies fight against us with an arm of flesh. We resist them with the armor of the word of God. And how inestimably precious is the armor, refuge, strength, and consolation, here provided for us, against every effort to disturb our peace, “or separate our hearts from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!” 1 Gen. 3:15. Compare Rev. 12:17. 2 Prov. 29:27. 3 Ps 119:134. 4 Psalm 83:16. 5 Verses 53, 136, 158. 6 Psalm 69:21–28. 7 Comp. Matt. 23:37. 8 Psalm 139:21, 22. 9 Ps. 35:19; 69:4, with John 15:25. 10 Matthew 5:11, 12. 11 Isaiah 38:14. Compare Psalm 140:12, 13. 12 Luke 18:7, 8. Psalm 119:79 May those who fear You turn to me, Even those who know Your testimonies. Let those (KJV): Ps 119:63,74 7:7 142:7 May those who fear You turn to me, Even those who know Your testimonies. Charles Bridges - As the believer finds trouble from the world, he prays that he may find help from the Lord’s people. The very sight of our Father’s family is cheering. It brings not only fellowship but help. For the wise distribution of gifts in the body—each having his own gift—were ordained for the mutual help and sympathy of the several members.1 It is painful therefore to see Christians often walking aloof from each other, and suffering coldness, distance, and mutual differences and distrust to divide them from their brethren. Who then will not pray that he who has the hearts of all his people in his hand, would “turn the hearts of those that fear him, and know his testimonies,” unto their brethren? It was the honor of Mordecia, that he was “accepted of the multitude of his brethren.”2 In the primitive Church, “Demetrius had good report of all men, and of the truth itself;”3 and the members of the Church generally “did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart; praising God, and having favor with all the people.”4 ‘Then,’ as Chrysostom exultingly exclaims, ‘the Church was a little heaven.’ Then they could say to each other,—“Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”5 and even their heathen neighbors were awed and constrained into the confession, “See how these Christians love one another.” Alas! that our Jerusalem should no longer exhibit the picture of a “city compact together”6—that so many “walls of partition” should separate brother from brother, so that our Zion has very rarely been exhibited in her “perfection of beauty,” when “the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.”7 Prejudice and misconception divided Job from his friends.8 Want of forbearance cankered the union of the members of the Church of Rome,9 and even prevailed to separate chief friends—Paul and Barnabas.10 Diversity of sentiment injured the influence of brotherly love at Corinth.11 And thus it has been in every successive age of the Church; so that the full answer to the Redeemer’s prayer, and the grand display to the world of the Divine original of the Gospel, is yet to be manifested.1 But as “the communion of saints” was the peculiar feature of primitive Christianity, and ever since has formed an article of her faith; in proportion as we return to the primitive standard, we shall hold closer fellowship with each other—as “members of one body”2—“considering one another, to provoke unto love and to good works”3—“bearing one another’s burdens4—and receiving one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”5 Want of Christian self-denial presents the main hindrance to this “keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.” But—admitting that some of the brethren are “weak in the faith” in comparison with ourselves—are we then to be ‘rolling endlessly the returning stone,’6 obtruding always the same stumbling offence upon them?7 We are “not to please ourselves” in compelling them to adopt our views; but rather to “receive them, and bear their infirmities.”8 Accursed be that charity, that is preserved by “the shipwreck of faith!” But though Scriptural truth must never be denied, there are times when it may be forborne. The Apostle “knew and was persuaded of the Lord Jesus, that there was nothing unclean of itself;”9 yet he would rather allow even the misconception of conscience, until clearer light should be given, than endanger the unity of the Church. Liberty must give place to love: and for himself, he would rather restrain himself from lawful indulgence, than hazard the safety of a weaker brother, or turn from one that loved his Saviour.10 Wherever, therefore, in the judgment of Christian charity we discover those “that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,”11 we must be ready to give them our very hearts, to view them as brethren, as one with ourselves, and to welcome them in brotherly love, as those whom, with all their infirmities, Jesus “is not ashamed to call his brethren.”12 We must be ready to “turn to them,” as those “that fear God, and have known his testimonies.” And does not the believer’s anxiety for the company and assistance of the Lord’s people rebuke Christian professors, who are far too closely linked to the society of the world? Surely, if the lovely attraction of many of its most avowed votaries can compensate for the absence of their Saviour’s image, they can have but little relish for that heavenly enjoyment, which unites the children of God together in close and hallowed communion with God. And do we not see a proof of the deteriorating influence of this worldly spirit, in their readiness to feel disgust at the infirmities of the real brethren of the Lord, and to neglect the image of Christ in them, from the unsightliness of the garb, which may sometimes cover it? But let us mark the completeness of the Christian—combining the fear with the knowledge of God. Knowledge without fear would be self-confidence. Fear without knowledge would be bondage. But the knowledge of his testimonies connected with an acquaintance with his ways, moulds the character of men of God into the spirit of love; and qualifies them, “as fathers”1 in the Gospel, to counsel the weak and inexperienced. Should we, however, be excluded from the privilege of their intercourse; or should they be prevented from “turning unto us;” may it not be the appointed means of leading us to a more simple dependence on Divine teaching and grace, and to a more blessed anticipation of our Father’s house in heaven, where all will be harmony, peace and love? ‘We shall carry truth and the knowledge of God to heaven with us; we shall carry purity thither, devotedness of soul to God and our Redeemer, divine love and joy, if we have their beginnings here, with whatsoever else of permanent excellence, that hath a settled, fixed seat and place in our souls now; and shall there have them in perfection. But do you think we shall carry strife to heaven? Shall we carry anger to heaven? Envyings, heart-burnings, animosities; shall we carry these to heaven with us? Let us labor to divest ourselves, and strike off from our spirits everything that shall not go with us to heaven, or is equally unsuitable to our end and way, that there may be nothing to obstruct and hinder our abundant entrance at length into the everlasting kingdom.’2 1 1 Cor. 12:7. Eph. 4:15, 16. 2 Esther 10:3. 3 John 12. 4 Acts 2:46, 47. 5 Psalm 133:1. Most truly catholic was the rule of the excellent Philip Henry, and most consistently exemplified in his Christian conduct, determining “in those things, in which all the people of God are agreed, to spend my zeal; and as for other things about which they differ, to walk according to the light God hath given me, and charitably to believe others to do so too.”—Life, Williams’s Edition, p. 127. 6 Psalm 122:3. 7 Ib. 50:2, with Acts 4:32. 8 Job. 6:29. 9 Rom. 14, 15:1–7. 10 Acts 15:37. 11 1 Cor. 1:10–12. 1 John 17:21. 2 1 Cor. 12:12–27. 3 Heb. 10:24. 4 Gal. 6:2; 5:13. 5 Rom. 15:7. 6 Morning Exercises, Oct. 1682. 7 Rom. 14:1. 8 Rom. 15:1. 9 Rom. 14:14. 10 Rom. 14:13, 15. 1 Cor. 8:13. Compare Phil. 3:15, 16. 11 Eph. 6:24. Comp. 1 John 3:14. 12 Heb. 2:11, 12. 1 John 2:13, 14. 2 Howe’s Works, vol. iv. 126, 127—“It will be one of the felicities of heaven” (as Milner sweetly remarks upon the prejudices subsisting between Bernard and the supposed heretics of his day,) “that saints shall no longer misunderstand each other.”—Milner’s History of the Church, iii. 384. Psalm 119:80 May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, So that I will not be ashamed. BGT Psalm 118:80 γενηθήτω ἡ καρδία μου ἄμωμος ἐν τοῖς δικαιώμασίν σου ὅπως ἂν μὴ αἰσχυνθῶ KJV Psalm 119:80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed. NET Psalm 119:80 May I be fully committed to your statutes, so that I might not be ashamed. CSB Psalm 119:80 May my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes so that I will not be put to shame. ESV Psalm 119:80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame! NIV Psalm 119:80 May my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame. NLT Psalm 119:80 May I be blameless in keeping your decrees; then I will never be ashamed. Kaph NRS Psalm 119:80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes, so that I may not be put to shame. RSV Psalm 119:80 May my heart be blameless in thy statutes, that I may not be put to shame! YLT Psalm 119:80 My heart is perfect in Thy statutes, So that I am not ashamed. NKJ Psalm 119:80 Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes, That I may not be ashamed. NJB Psalm 119:80 My heart shall be faultless towards your will; then I shall not be ashamed. NAB Psalm 119:80 May I be wholehearted toward your laws, that I may not be put to shame. LXE Psalm 119:80 Let mine heart be blameless in thine ordinances, that I may not be ashamed. ASV Psalm 119:80 Let my heart be perfect in thy statutes, That I be not put to shame. DBY Psalm 119:80 Let my heart be perfect in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed. GWN Psalm 119:80 Let my heart be filled with integrity in regard to your laws so that I will not be put to shame. BBE Psalm 119:80 Let all my heart be given to your orders, so that I may not be put to shame. May my heart be blameless : Ps 25:21 32:2 De 26:16 2Ch 12:14 15:17 25:2 31:20,21 Pr 4:23 Eze 11:9 Joh 1:47 2Co 1:12 So that I will not be ashamed: Ps 119:6 Ps 25:2,3 1Jn 2:28 A PRAYER FOR A BLAMELESS HEART May my heart be blameless in Your statutes - Hebrew literally = "may my heart be complete in your statutes." Septuagint translates tamim with amomos which means above reproach, beyond reproach, blameless, faultless, unblemished (Lxx = aischunomai). Blameless is innocent of wrongdoing and of course the only way that can happen is by God's Spirit cleansing our hearts (cf 1 John 1:7+ = "the blood of Jesus His Son [present tense - continually] cleanses us from all sin"), which is needed continually and thus the charge to confess in 1 John 1:9+ is in the present tense calling for this to be our lifestyle! How are you doing with your daily "cleansing"? So that (term of purpose - always pause to ask "What purpose/result?) I will not be ashamed (bosh). Ashamed means embarrassed or guilty because of one's actions, characteristics, or associations. Psalm 119:6 Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments. Psalm 25:2-3 O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. 3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. 1 John 2:28+ Now, little children, abide (present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. (See many other advantages of abiding in Jesus - e.g., John 15:5, etc) Blameless (without defect or blemish, perfect, integrity) (08549) tamim from the verb tamam = to be complete, entire or whole (literal sense in Lev 3:9, Ezek 15:5), refers to a action which is completed) has both physical (without defect) and spiritual (blameless, devout, upright) significance. Tamim has the fundamental idea of completeness or wholeness. Tamim deals primarily with a state of moral or ceremonial purity (e.g., animal sacrifices - 51x tamim refers to unblemished animals - Passover lamb in Ex 12:5 picturing of course Christ sinless perfection - 1Cor 5:7, "knew no sin" = 2Cor 5:21). Tamim can mean blameless, complete, whole, full, perfect. Tamim can refer to the "entirety" of a period of time (7 complete Sabbaths = Lev 23:15; full year = Lev 25:30). Joshua 10:13 records the miracle of the sun standing still for a "whole (tamim) day," allowing Joshua to extract vengeance on the Amorite coalition that had attacked him. Pr 1:12 refers metaphorically to the fate of the innocent being swallowed "whole" by the wicked, even as happens to those who go to the grave. The first OT use of tamim describes Noah "These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless (Lxx = teleios = "meeting the highest standard" [BDAG]) in his time; Noah walked with God." (Ge 6:9) In the second use God tells Abraham " “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless." And remember God's commandments always include His enablements! It is thus fitting that David describes the Law of the LORD" as "perfect" (Lxx = amomos = without defects) (Ps 19:7). In fact, not only is His Word perfect, but His work is perfect (Dt 32:4) and His way is blameless (Ps 18:30) David says that the man who "may abide in" God's tent and "dwell on" His "holy hill" is the man "who walks with integrity (Lxx = amomos = without fault, morally blameless)." (Ps 15:2) Joshua in some of his parting words of wisdom to Israel declared "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity (Lxx = euthutes = rectitude, honesty, integrity, uprightness) and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD." (Josh 24:14) The psalmist offers a great prayer we would all be wise to echo "May my heart be blameless (Lxx = amomos) in Thy statutes, that (expresses purpose or result of a blameless heart) I may not be ashamed." (Ps 119:80) One of my favorite verses in Psalms uses tamim - "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly (Lxx = akakia = guilelessness, innocence, integrity; "state of not being inclined to that which is base" [BDAG])." (Ps 84:11) The psalmist links tamim with a state of blessedness writing " How blessed are those whose way is blameless (Lxx = amomos), Who walk in the law of the LORD. (Ps 119:1) Tamim - 85v - blameless(22), blamelessly(1), complete(1), entire(1), full(1), intact(1), integrity(4), perfect(5), sincerity(1), unblemished(2), uprightly(1), who is perfect(1), whole(2), without blemish(12), without defect(36). Gen. 6:9; Gen. 17:1; Exod. 12:5; Exod. 29:1; Lev. 1:3; Lev. 1:10; Lev. 3:1; Lev. 3:6; Lev. 3:9; Lev. 4:3; Lev. 4:23; Lev. 4:28; Lev. 4:32; Lev. 5:15; Lev. 5:18; Lev. 6:6; Lev. 9:2; Lev. 9:3; Lev. 14:10; Lev. 22:19; Lev. 22:21; Lev. 23:12; Lev. 23:15; Lev. 23:18; Lev. 25:30; Num. 6:14; Num. 19:2; Num. 28:3; Num. 28:9; Num. 28:11; Num. 28:19; Num. 28:31; Num. 29:2; Num. 29:8; Num. 29:13; Num. 29:17; Num. 29:20; Num. 29:23; Num. 29:26; Num. 29:29; Num. 29:32; Num. 29:36; Deut. 18:13; Deut. 32:4; Jos. 10:13; Jos. 24:14; Jdg. 9:16; Jdg. 9:19; 1 Sam. 14:41; 2 Sam. 22:24; 2 Sam. 22:26; 2 Sam. 22:31; 2 Sam. 22:33; Job 12:4; Job 36:4; Job 37:16; Ps. 15:2; Ps. 18:23; Ps. 18:25; Ps. 18:30; Ps. 18:32; Ps. 19:7; Ps. 37:18; Ps. 84:11; Ps. 101:2; Ps. 101:6; Ps. 119:1; Ps. 119:80; Prov. 1:12; Prov. 2:21; Prov. 11:5; Prov. 11:20; Prov. 28:10; Prov. 28:18; Ezek. 15:5; Ezek. 28:15; Ezek. 43:22; Ezek. 43:23; Ezek. 43:25; Ezek. 45:18; Ezek. 45:23; Ezek. 46:4; Ezek. 46:6; Ezek. 46:13; Amos 5:10 Septuagint - Blameless (beyond reproach, blameless, faultless, unblemished) (299)(amomos from a = without, not + momos = spot, blemish in physical sense or moral sense, blot, flaw, shame or disgrace {as a moral disgrace}) is literally without spot or blemish (blot, blight). It was used literally of the absence of defects in sacrificial animals. Figuratively, it means morally (spiritually) blameless, unblemished by the marring of sin, a perfect description of the Lamb of God. How incredibly incomprehensible that sinners such as we can be described with the same adjective (amomos) used to describe our incomparable, sinless Lord! O the wonder of the "cleansing power" of the Lamb's precious blood, which washes us Whiter than the Snow or Here. Here is a beautiful old Maranatha chorus (see God's desire for His children = Isa 1:18+). Hallelujah. Thank You Jesus! Ashamed (put to shame) (0954) bosh Strong says means "properly to pale and by implication to be ashamed, disappointed or delayed." The TWOT says the primary meaning is "to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either of self or of an object of trust." The word has overtones of being or feeling worthless. Bôsh means "to be ashamed." Spurgeon - WE may regard this inspired prayer as containing within itself the assurance that those who keep close to the Word of God shall never have cause to be ashamed of doing so. See, the prayer is for soundness of heart. A sound creed is good, a sound judgment concerning it is better, but a sound heart towards the truth is best of all. We must love the truth, feel the truth, and obey the truth, otherwise we are not truly sound in God’s statutes. Are there many in these evil days who are sound? Oh, that the writer and the reader may be two of this sort! Many will be ashamed in the last great day, when all disputes will be decided. Then they will see the folly of their inventions, and be filled with remorse because of their proud infidelity and wilful defiance of the Lord; but he who believed what the Lord taught, and did what the Lord commanded, will stand forth justified in what he did. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun. Men much slandered and abused shall find their shame turned into glory in that day. Let us pray the prayer of our text, and we may be sure that its promise will be fulfilled to us. If the Lord makes us sound, he will keep us safe. (Faith's Checkbook) Charles Bridges - The perverseness of the proud will be sure to put them to shame.3 As the preservative from this shame, David prays therefore for a sound heart—filled with solid principle—delivered into the mould of the word4—like the sacrifices of the law—entire for God.5 Often had he prayed for Divine teaching6—now he begs for soundness in the Lord’s statutes. How many “have made shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience,”7 from an unsound heart! Ignorant of the spirituality of God’s requirements, and resting in an outward obedience, they falsely conceive themselves to be “alive without the law,”8 and, “touching the righteousness that is of the law, blameless.”9 Others go a little beyond the surface; while the want of “simplicity and godly sincerity,” of brokenness of heart, love to the Saviour, and dependence upon his grace, sooner or later discovers to their eternal confusion, that “the root of the matter is” not “in them.” “Their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust.” “Their goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.”10 An unsound professor, like beautiful fruit, may attract the careless eye; but a more narrow inspection will show a worm at the core, which has spoiled nearly to the surface.1 Such religion is only a shrivelled mass of inactive formality—a dead image of a living thing. Alas! how common is it to profess to take Christ for a Saviour, while the heart is evidently worshipping Mammon as its God!—constrained—not inclined—to the Lord’s statutes! How possible is it to be “carnally-minded” in the daily routine of spiritual exercises! How important is the recollection, that no change of place, of company, or of circumstances, can of itself effect a change of heart! “Saul among the prophets” was Saul still; with “another heart”2 indeed, but not a new heart. Sin was restrained, but not crucified. He “went out,” therefore, as one of his progenitors, “from the presence of the Lord,”3 and perished, a miserable apostate from the statutes of his God. Will profession—knowledge—gifts—feelings—privileges—avail for a sound heart? Need we speak of Judas—a follower—nay, even, an apostle of Jesus Chirist—living in a familiar intercourse with his Lord—yet with all his privileges—all his profession, “gone to his own place”4—the melancholy victim of his own self-deceitfulness? Need we allude to Balaam—“the man whose eyes were open—which heard the words of God—which saw the vision of the Almighty”—who could in the ken of his eye mark the goodliness of the Lord’s inheritance, and even in the distant horizon catch a glimpse of “Jacob’s star and sceptre,” and yet “loved the wages of unrighteousness?”5 Need we bring to the mind’s eye Ananias and Sapphira6—Alexander7 and Demas8—and others of like stamp—all of whom once shone as stars9 in the firmament of the Church—need we speak of the end of these men, to give energy to the prayer, “Let my heart be sound in thy statutes?” How fearful the thought of being “a branch in the true vine” only by profession! to be “taken away” at length—“cast forth as a branch—withered—gathered—cast into the fire—burned!”10 It is in the inner man that hypocrisy sets up its throne; whence it commands the outward acts in whatever shape or form may be best suited to effect its purpose. The upright Christian will therefore begin with calling in the help and light of God to ascertain the “soundness of his heart.” “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me.”11 Can there be a true and solid work, where there is a professed change of heart, and no manifested change of temper and conduct? Can that “heart,” which is found upon inquiry to be earthly—unprofitable under the power of the word1—regarding “secret iniquity”2—seeking by-ends of praise,3 reputation,4 or gain5—and for the attainment of these ends shrinking from the appointed cross—can that “heart be sound in the Lord’s statutes?” Impossible. But on the other hand, do you find that your trust in God is sincere, your desire towards him supreme, your obedience to him entire? Prize these evidences of “soundness of heart.” Thank God for them. They are the workings of his mighty Spirit in your heart—perhaps the answer to the prayer which that same Spirit had indited, “Let my heart be sound in thy statutes.” Diligently improve all the means of grace for keeping your heart in a vigorous state. Be daily—yea continually—abiding in the vine, and receiving life and health from its fulness.6 Be much conversant with the word of God—loving it for itself—its holiness—its practical influences. Be chiefly afraid of inward decays—of a barren, sapless notion of experimental truth; remembering, that except your profession be constantly watered at the root, “the things that remain in you will be ready to die.”7 Specially “commune with your own heart.” Watch it jealously, because of its proneness to live upon itself—its own graces or fancied goodness (a sure symptom of unsoundness)—instead of “living by the faith of the Son of God.” Examine your settled judgment, your deliberate choice, your outgoing affections, your habitual allowed practice; applying to every detection of unsoundness the blood of Christ, as the sovereign remedy for the diseases of a “deceitful and desperately wicked heart.” But it may be said—will not these exercises of godly jealousy hinder our Christian assurance? Far from it. They will form an efficient preservative from carnal security. They will induce increasing tenderness, activity, and circumspection, in our daily walk; and thus, instead of retarding the enjoyment of our heavenly privilege, they will settle the foundation of a peaceful temperament.8 It is a light and careless frame, that is the real hindrance to confidence. An unsound professor knows nothing of the true spirit of adoption—nothing of that holy familiarity, with which a child of God unbosoms himself to his heavenly Father; and if he preserves an empty name in the Church, he will be put to shame before the universe of God.9 But the “sound heart” is connected with “a hope that maketh not ashamed”—the full blessing of scriptural confidence. For the heart is made “sound” by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ;” and when thus “sprinkled from an evil conscience,” we “have boldness” to “draw near”—yea, even to “enter into the holiest,” “in full assurance of faith.”10 Blessed privilege of access and communion with our reconciled God! Every moment endears the Saviour to our souls, and enlivens the hope of his glorious coming, as the joyful consummation of all the prospects of faith—“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.”1 3 Ps 119:78. 4 Rom. 6:17. 5 Lev. 22:22, 23. Comp. Mal. 1:8. 6 Ps 119:12, 33, 64, 68. 7 1 Tim. 1:19. 8 Rom. 7:9. 9 Phil. 3:6. 10 Isa. 5:24. Hos. 6:4. Comp. Matt. 13:20, 21. 1 “Quæ splendent in conspectu hominis, sordent in conspectu judicis.” Compare Luke 16:15. 1 Sam. 16:7. 2 1 Sam. 10:9–12. 3 Gen. 4:6. 4 Acts 1:25. 5 Num. 24:2–5, 17. 2 Peter 2:15. 6 Acts 5:1–10. 7 Acts 19:33, 34, with 1 Tim. 1:20. 2 Tim. 4:14. 8 Col. 4:14. Philem. 24, with 2 Tim. 4:10. 9 Rev. 12:4. 10 John 15:2, 6. 11 Psalm 139:23, 24. 1 Heb. 7:8. 2 Psalm 66:18. 3 Kings 9:16. 4 John 12:43. 5 Jn. 6:26. 1 Tim. 6:5. 6 1Ti 6:4, 5. 7 Rev. 3:2. 8 Ps 119:6. 1 John 3:20, 21. 9 Compare Dan. 12:2. Luke 12:1, 2. 10 See Heb. 10:19–22. 1 John 4:17. Psalm 119:81 Kaph. My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word. fainteth (KJV): Ps 119:20,40 42:1,2 73:26 84:2 Song 5:8 Rev 3:15,16 but I (KJV): Ps 119:42,74,77,114 Kaph. My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word. Matthew Henry Concise - Verses 81-88. The psalmist sought deliverance from his sins, his foes, and his fears. Hope deferred made him faint; his eyes failed by looking out for this expected salvation. But when the eyes fail, yet faith must not. His affliction was great. He was become like a leathern bottle, which, if hung up in the smoke, is dried and shrivelled up. We must ever be mindful of God's statutes. The days of the believer's mourning shall be ended; they are but for a moment, compared with eternal happiness. His enemies used craft as well as power for his ruin, in contempt of the law of God. The commandments of God are true and faithful guides in the path of peace and safety. We may best expect help from God when, like our Master, we do well and suffer for it. Wicked men may almost consume the believer upon earth, but he would sooner forsake all than forsake the word of the Lord. We should depend upon the grace of God for strength to do every good work. The surest token of God's good-will toward us, is his good work in us. Warren
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - O young man! build thy studio on Calvary; there raise thine observatory, and scan by faith the lofty things of Nature. Take thee a hermit’s cell in the garden of Gethsemane, and lave thy brow with the waters of Siloa. Let the Bible be thy standard classic, thy last appeal in matters of contention; let its light be thine illumination: and thou shalt become more wise than Plato, more truly learned than the seven sages of antiquity. Gurnall - Meditation is prayer’s handmaid, to wait on it both before and after the performance. It is as the plough before the sower to prepare the heart for the duty of prayer, and the harrow to cover the seed when ‘tis sown. As the hopper feeds the mill with grist, so does meditation supply the heart with matter for prayer. Henry
Salmos 119
Spurgeon: I have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes alway, even unto the end. He was not half inclined to virtue, but heartily inclined to it. His whole heart was bent on practical, persevering godliness. He was resolved to keep the statutes of the Lord with all his heart, throughout all his time, without erring or ending. He made it his end to keep the law unto the end, and that without end. He had by prayer, and meditation, and resolution made his whole being lean towards God's commands; or as we should say in other words -- the grace of God had inclined him to incline his heart in a sanctified direction. Many are inclined to preach, but the Psalmist was inclined to practise; many are inclined to perform ceremonies, but he was inclined to perform statutes; many are inclined to obey occasionally, but David would obey alway; and, alas, many are inclined for temporary religion, but this godly man was bound for eternity, he would perform the statutes of his Lord and King even unto the end. Lord, send us such a heavenly inclination of heart as this: then shall we show chat thou hast quickened and taught us. To this end create in us a clean heart, and daily renew a right spirit within us, for only so shall we incline in the right direction. Charles Bridges - The Psalmist had just been rejoicing in his privileges. He now binds himself to his obligations—and that not for a day—but even to the end. Observe where he begins his work—not with the eye—the ear—the tongue—but with the heart, “for out of the heart are the issues of life.”1 And yet this inclining of the heart to the Lord’s statutes is as much the work of God as to create a world; and as soon could “the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots,” as we could “do good, who are accustomed to do evil.”2 And David was very far from meaning that any act of his own power could turn the channel of his affections out of their natural course. But prayer, such as he had often poured out,3 sets every principle of the soul in action, and in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, he inclines his heart. Thus we do what we do; but God enables us, “preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will”4—not working without or against us, but in us—through us—with us—by us. His preventing grace makes the first impression, and his assisting grace enables us to follow.5 Weak indeed are our purposes, and fading our resolutions, unsupported by Divine grace. Yet renewing strength “is given to the waiting” Christian, even to “mount upon eagles’ wings, to run without weariness, and to walk without fainting.”6 Conscious as we are, that “without Christ we can do nothing,” it is no less true, that we “can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth us.”7 Let us exercise then the grace already given, in dependence upon a continued supply; and turning to him with freedom and delight, we shall incline our hearts with full purpose to perform his statutes alway, even unto the end. This is God’s way of quickening the dead soul to life and motion, alluring it by an inexpressible sweetness, and at the same moment, by an invincible power, drawing it to himself. Every step indeed to the end will be a conflict with indwelling sin, in the form of remaining enmity, sloth, or unbelief. But how encouraging it is to trace every tender prayer, every contrite groan, every spiritual desire, to the assisting, upholding influence of the “free Spirit of God!”8 The continual drawing of the Spirit will be the principle to perseverance. The same hand that gave the new bias for a heavenward motion will be put forth to quicken that motion, even unto the end. ‘I can hardly hold on,’ the believer might say, ‘from one step to another. How can I then dare to hope, that I shall hold on a constant course—a daily conflict, “unto the end?’ ” But was it not Almighty power, that supported the first step in your course? And is not the same Divine help pledged to every successive step of difficulty? Doubt not then that “He is faithful that hath promised:”9 dare to be confident of this very thing, that he which hath “begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”1 And in this confidence go on to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”2 1 Prov. 4:23. 2 Jer. 13:23. 3 Jer 13:36, 37. 4 Art x. 5 Jer. 31:18. 6 Isaiah 40:31. 7 John 15:5, with Phil. 4:13. 8 See Rom. 8:26. Psalm 51:12 9 Heb. 10:23. 1 Phil. 1:6. 2 Phil. 2:12, 13. Psalm 119:113 Samekh. I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law. hate (KJV): Ps 94:11 Isa 55:7 Jer 4:14 Mk 7:21 2Co 10:5 vain thoughts (KJV): Or, "divided thoughts," {saiaphim,} or, as Gesenius renders, {bie Bneybeutigen (in ber Religion)} "ambiguities (or indecisions) in Religion;" Luther, {Flattergeister,} "inconstant fellows;" LXX. [paranomoi,] "transgressors," Vulgate {iniqui,} "iniquitous," and Jerome, {tumultuosos,} "tumultuous." thy law (KJV): Ps 119:97,103 Samekh. I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law - Ps 1:1,2;19:7-11;Ps 119:16,24,35, 47, Ps 119:48, 72, 92, 97,103, Ps 119:111,113,127,159,167, 174; Je15:16 Matthew Henry Concise - Ps 119:113-120. Here is a dread of the risings of sin, and the first beginnings of it. The more we love the law of God, the more watchful we shall be, lest vain thoughts draw us from what we love. Would we make progress in keeping God's commands, we must be separate from evil-doers. The believer could not live without the grace of God; but, supported by his hand, his spiritual life shall be maintained. Our holy security is grounded on Divine supports. All departure from God's statutes is error, and will prove fatal. Their cunning is falsehood. There is a day coming which will put the wicked into everlasting fire, the fit place for the dross. See what comes of sin Surely we who fall so low in devout affections, should fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into heavenly rest, any of us should be found to come short of it, Hebrews 4:1. Warren
Salmos 119
Spurgeon - Hold thou me up: as a nurse holds up a little child. "And I shall be safe," and not else; for unless Thou hold me up I shall be falling about like an infant that is weak upon its knees. We are saved by past grace, but we are not safe unless we receive present grace. The Psalmist had vowed to keep the Lord's commands, but here he pleads with the Lord to keep him: a very sensible course of procedure. Our version reads the word "uphold," and then "hold up;" and truly we need this blessing in every shape in which it can come, for in all manner of ways our adversaries seek to cast us down. To be safe is a happy condition; there is only one door to it, and that is to be held up by God Himself; thank God, that door is open to the least among us. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe. Not only the consciousness of my weakness, but the danger of the slippery path before me, reminds me, that the safety of every moment depends upon the upholding power of my faithful God. The ways of temptation are so many and imperceptible -- the influence of it so appalling -- the entrance into it so deceitful, so specious, so insensible -- and my own weakness and unwatchfulness are so unspeakable -- that I can do nothing but go on my way, praying at every step, "Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." --Charles Ridges. Verse 117. -- Hold thou me up. Three things made David afraid. First, great temptation without; for from every air the wind of temptation blows upon a Christian. Secondly, great corruption within. Thirdly, examples of other worthy men that had fallen before him, and are written for us: not that we should learn to fall, but to fear lest we fall. These three should always hold us humble, according to that warning, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (1Cor 10:12) --William Cowper. Verse 117. -- Up, up above the littleness in which I have lived too long, -- above the snares which have so often caught me, -- above the stumbling blocks upon which I have so often fallen, -- above the world, -- above myself, -- higher than I have ever reached yet, -- above the level of my own mortality: worthy of thee, -- worthy of the blood, with which I have been bought, -- nearer to heaven, -- nearer to thee, -- "hold thou me up." God's methods of holding his people up are many. Sometimes it is by the preacher's word, when the word comes fitly spoken to the heart and conscience. May God, in his infinite condescension, enable his servants in this church so to hold you up. Sometimes it is by the ordained means and sacraments which his grace commanded. Sometimes it is by the efficacy of the Holy Scriptures, when some passage in your own room strikes the mind, Just in season; or the stay of some sweet promise comes in sustaining to your spirit. Sometimes by the simple in working of the Holy Ghost in a man's own thoughts, as he will work "Uphold me with thy free Spirit." Sometimes by the ministration of angels, -- "They shall hold thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Sometimes by putting you very low indeed, making you feel that the safe place is the valley. There is no elevation like the elevation of abasement. Sometimes by severe discipline to brace up the heart, and strengthen it, and make it independent of external things. Sometimes by heavy affliction, which is the grasp of his hand, that he may hold you tighter. Sometimes by putting into your heart to think the exact thing that you need, -- to pray the very prayer which he intends at the moment to grant. Sometimes by appearing to let you go, and forsake you, while at the same time -- like the Syro Phoenician woman -- he is giving you the wish to hold on that he may give you the more at the last. --James Vaughan, of Brighton, 1877. Verse 117. -- I will have respect unto that statutes continually. I will employ myself, so some; I will delight myself, so others; in thy statutes. If God's right hand uphold us, we must in His strength go on in our duty, both with diligence and With pleasure. -- Matthew Henry. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 117. -- Upholding -- God's holding us up. It implies a danger, and that danger takes many forms. The believer's life may be described as walking in uprightness; he is a pilgrim. He needs upholding, for -- (a) The way is slippery. (b) Our feet make the danger as well as the way. (c) Cunning foes seek to trip us up. (d) Sometimes the difficulty is not caused by the way, but by the height to which God may elevate us. (e) The prayer is all the more needful because the most of people do not keep upright. Two blessed things that come out of this holding up. (a) We shall be safe for ourselves, as examples, and as pillars of the church. (b) We shall be watchful and sensitive: "I will have respect unto thy statutes continually." Without this no man is safe. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1657: "My Hourly Prayer." Verse 117. -- Hold thou me up, etc. The good man is up. The good man wishes to keep up. The good man prays to be held up. The good man knows that divine support is abundantly sufficient. --W.J. Verse 117. -- Dependence for the future: "Hold," etc. Resolution for the future: "I will have," etc. --G.R. IN OBEDIENCE IS SAFETY! That I may have regard for Your statutes continually - Notice how the protection of the Lord from spiritual danger enlivens our regard for God's Word. Sin will keep you from the Bible or the Bible will keep you from sin. No man will outwardly keep the Lord's statutes for long together UNLESS he has an inward respect for them, and this will never be UNLESS the hand of the Lord perpetually upholds the heart in holy love -- C H Spurgeon Spurgeon - And I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. In obedience is safety; in being held up is obedience. No man will outwardly keep the Lord's statutes for long together UNLESS he has an inward respect for them, and this will never be UNLESS the hand of the Lord perpetually upholds the heart in holy love (cp Php 2:13NLT+, Ezek 36:27+, 1Jn 4:19+). Perseverance to the end, obedience continually, comes only through the divine power; we start aside as a deceitful bow unless we are kept right by Him that first gave us grace. Happy is the man who realizes this verse in his life: upheld through his whole life in a course of unswerving integrity, he becomes a safe and trusted man, and maintains a sacred delicacy of conscience which is unknown to others. He feels a tender respect for the statutes of the Lord, which keeps him clear of inconsistencies and conformities to the world that are so common among others, and hence he is a pillar in the house of the Lord. Alas, we know some professors who are not upright, and therefore they lean to sin till they fall over, and though they are restored they are never safe or reliable, neither have they that sweet purity of soul which is the charm of the more sanctified who have been kept from falling into the mire. Charles Bridges - Such is my sense of need and peril, that my only refuge lies in “continuing instant in prayer.”7 I must send up one cry after another into my Father’s ear for the support of his upholding grace. For not only the consciousness of my weakness, but the danger of the slippery path before me, reminds me that the safety of every moment depends upon my upholding faithful God. The ways of temptation are so many and imperceptible—the influence of it so appalling—the entrance into it so deceitful, so specious, so insensible—my own weakness and unwatchfulness so unspeakable—that I can do nothing but go on my way, praying at every step, “Hold thou me up and I shall be safe.” Often indeed can I remember, when “my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped:8 that I have been enabled to record, “Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.”9 How beautiful is the picture given of the Church of old, “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?”10 This state of dependence was familiar to the Psalmist, and aptly delineates his affectionate, though conflicting confidence. “My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”11 The recollection of the care of his God, from his earliest life, supplied encouragement for his present faith, and matter for unceasing praise, “By thee have I been holden up from the womb; thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.”1 We cannot wonder, then, that this confidence should sustain his soul in the contemplation of the remaining steps of his pilgrimage, and his prospects for eternity. “Nevertheless,” saith he, “I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by thy right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory.”2 And indeed the more lively my spiritual apprehensions are, the more I shall realize the Lord by the operations of his grace as well as of his providence, “compassing my path and my lying down;”3 “lest any hurt me, keeping me night and day.”4 It is inquired—how the Lord “holds up” his people in this slippery path? “Of the fulness of Jesus they all receive, and grace for grace;”5 so that “the life which they now live in the flesh, they live by the faith of the Son of God.”6 And therefore if I am upheld, it is by the indwelling of the Spirit, who supplies from his infinite fountain of life all the strength and support I need throughout my dangerous way. By his Divine influence the dispensations of providence also become the appointed means of drawing and keeping me near to my God. If, therefore, prosperity is endangering my soul, and strengthening my worldly bonds, may I not trust to the ever-watchful kindness of the Lord, to keep me low, and not to suffer me to be at ease in my forgetfulness? If the pleasures of sense, if the esteem of the world, or the good report of the church, are bringing a bewitching snare upon my soul, my God will lead me into the pathway of the cross—in the ‘valley of humiliation.’ Here, then, is the secret of an unsteady walk—the neglect of leaning upon an Almighty arm! How fearfully is the danger of self-confidence unveiled! Standing by my own strength, very soon shall I be made to feel, that I cannot stand at all. No “mountain” seemed to “stand stronger” than Solomon’s: yet when he became the very “fool” that he describes—“trusting in his own heart”—how quickly was it moved!7 Peter thought in the foolishness of his heart, that he could have walked upon the water unsupported by the arm of his Lord: but a moment’s sense of weakness and danger brought him to his right mind: “and, begining to sink, he cried, saying—Lord, save me.”8 Well would it have been for him, if his deliverance at that moment of peril had effectually rebuked his presumption. We should not then have heard from the same lips that language of most unwarranted self-confidence:—“Although all shall be offended, yet will not I:—If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise.”9 Poor deluded disciple! thou art on the brink of a grievous fall!10 Yet was he “held up” from utterly sinking. “I have prayed for thee,” said the gracious Saviour, “that thy faith fail not.”1 And thus “held up” by the same faithful intercession of my powerful friend (whose prayers are not weak as mine, “nor will he fail or be discouraged”2 by my continual backslidings,) “I” too—though in the atmosphere of danger, in the slippery path of temptation, “shall be safe”—safe from an ensnaring world—safe from a treacherous heart—safe in life—safe in death—safe in eternity. Thus does an interest in the covenant encourage—not presumption—but faith, in all its exercises of humility, watchfulness, diligence, and prayer; and in this appointed way does the Lord securely “keep the feet of his saints.” Let me not, then, forget, either my continual liability to fall if left to myself, or the faithful engagements of my covenant God, to “keep me from falling.” While I recollect for my comfort, that I “stand by faith,” still is the exhortation most needful, “Be not high-minded, but fear.”3 “By faith I stand,” as it concerns God; by fear, as regards myself. As light is composed of neither brilliant nor sombre rays, but of the combination of both in simultaneous action, so is every Christian grace combined with its opposite, “that it may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.” Hope, therefore, combined with fear, issues in that genuine, evangelical confidence, in which alone I can walk safely and closely with God. Let, then, the self-confident learn to distrust themselves, and the fearful be encouraged to trust their Saviour; and in each let the recollection of grace and help vouchsafed “in time of need,” lead to the steadfast resolution, “I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.” However self denying they may be in their requirements: however opposed in their tendency to “the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” I take my God as the surety of my performance of them; and I desire to love them as the rule of my daily conduct, and as the very element of heavenly happiness to my soul. 7 Rom. 12:12. 8 Ps. 73:2. 9 Ps. 94:18. 10 Cant. 8:5. 11 Psalm 63:8. 1 Ps. 71:6. 2 Ps. 73:23, 24. 3 Ps. 139:3. 4 Isa. 27:3. 5 John 1:16. 6 Gal. 2:20. 7 Comp. Psalm 30:6, 7. 1 Kings 11:1–10. Prov. 28:26. 8 Matt 14:28–30. 9 Mark 14:29, 31. 10 Prov. 16:18. 1 Luke 22:31, 32. 2 Isaiah 42:4. 3 Rom. 11:20. Psalm 119:118 You have rejected all those who wander from Your statutes, For their deceitfulness is useless. trodden (KJV): Isa 25:10 63:3 Mal 4:3 Lu 21:24 Rev 14:20 err (KJV): Ps 119:10,21 95:10 their deceit (KJV): Ps 119:29 78:36,37,57 Isa 44:20 Eph 4:22 5:6 2Th 2:9-11 2Ti 3:13 1Jn 2:21 Rev 18:23 You have rejected all those who wander from Your statutes - The Septuagint translates rejected with the verb exoutheneo which means to despise, disdain, consider of no account. Men and women made in His image come to no account when they reject His statues as the guides of their life (cf use of exoutheneo in Acts 4:11+). For their deceitfulness is useless - NLT = They are only fooling themselves. Charles Bridges - The Psalmist’s determination to keep the statutes of God was strengthened by marking his judgment on those that erred from them. And thus the Lord expects us to learn at their cost.4 The cheerful, grateful respect to his statutes marks also a difference of character indicative of a difference of state. “His saints are in his hand, or sitting down at his feet;5 his enemies are trodden down under his feet” in full conquest,6 and disgraceful punishment.7 His own people he has exalted to be “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.”8 Even now “he hath made them to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus;” and shortly will they “be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of their God;1 while the ungodly “are put away like dross” from the precious gold. “Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.”2 The same difference he makes even in chastening—upholding his own children under the scourging rod, lest they faint; but “breaking the wicked with a rod of iron, and dashing them in pieces.”3 This separation has been from the beginning; in his conduct to the two first children of men;4 and in his selection of Enoch,5 Noah,6 and Abraham7 from the world of the ungodly, “as vessels of honor meet for the Master’s use.”8 In after ages, he made Egypt “know, that he put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.”9 They were his own people, that should dwell alone, and not “be reckoned among the nations”10—a people, whom he had “formed for himself, that they should show forth his praise.”11 And the same difference he has made ever since, between his people and the world—in their character12—their way13—their exercises of mind14—their services15—their privileges16—and their prospects.17 At the day of judgment the separation will be complete—final—everlasting. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left; and these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.”18 But mark the character—They “err from God’s statutes”—not in their minds, through ignorance; but “in their hearts”19 through obstinacy. They do not say, ‘Lord, we know not,’ but “we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.”20 It is not frailty, but unbelief; not want of knowledge, but love of sin—wilful, damnable. Justly, therefore, are they stamped as the “wicked of the earth,” and marked out as objects of the Lord’s eternal frown—expectants of “the vengeance of eternal fire.” And is not this a solemn warning to those “that forget God”—that “they shall be turned into hell”21—to “the proud”—that in “the day that shall burn as an oven, they shall be as stubble”22—to the worldly—that in some “night” of forgetfulness, their “souls will be required of them”23—to the “hypocrites in heart”—that they “are heaping up wrath?”24 Thus does the eye of faith discern through the apparent disorder of a world in ruins, the just, holy, and wise, government of God. “Clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.”1 If the wicked seem to triumph, and the righteous to be trodden down under their feet, it shall not be always so. “The end”2 and “wages of sin is death.”3 “The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”4 How awful, then, and almost desperate their condition! “Their deceit is falsehood;” “deceiving and being deceived”5—perhaps giving up to believe their own lie—perhaps one or another “blessing themselves in their own heart,” saying “ ‘I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my own heart, to add drunkenness to thirst.’ ”6 What then is our duty? Carnal selfishness says, ‘Be quiet—let them alone’—that is, “Destroy them by our” indolence and unfaithfulness, “for whom Christ died.”7 But what does Scripture, conscience, nay more—what does common humanity say? “Cry aloud, spare not.”8 Awake the sleepers—sound the alarm, “Now is the accepted time—the day of salvation,”9 the moment to lift up the prayer and stretch forth the hand for plucking the brands out of the fire.”10 “To-morrow the door may be shut, never to be opened more.”11 How awful the judgment of being “put away like dross!” Look at Saul,12 when “put away”—going out, to harden himself in the sullen pride of despondency. Hear the fearful doom of Israel, “Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross; all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore saith the Lord God—Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, as they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin into the midst of the furnaces to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury; and I will leave you there, and melt you.”13 But how should this justice of the Lord’s proceedings endear his statutes to us! It is such a sensible demonstration of their truth, bringing with it such a close conviction of sovereign mercy to ourselves—not less guilty than they! Add to this—If he were less observant of sin—less strict in its punishment as a transgression of his word—we should lose that awful display of the holiness of the word, which commends it supremely to our love, “Thy word is very pure; therefore thy servant loveth it.”14 4 Ps. 58:10. Isa. 26:9. Zeph. 3:6, 7. 5 Deut. 33:3. 6 Ps. 110:1. Comp. Josh. 10:24. 7 2 Kings 9:33. Mic. 7:10. Mal. 4:3. 8 Rom. 8:17. 1 Eph. 2:6. Isa. 62:3. Comp. Matt. 13:43. 2 Jer. 6:30. 3 Isa. 57:16–18, with Psalm 2:9. 4 Gen. 4:4, 5. Heb. 11:4. 5 Gen. 5:22–24. Heb. 11:5. 6 Ge 7:1. 7 Ge. 12:1–3. 8 2 Tim. 2:21. 9 Exod. 11:7. 10 Numb. 23:9. 11 Isa. 43:21. 12 1 John 5:19. 13 Prov. 15:9. 14 Rom. 7:5. 15 Prov. 15:8. 16 Pr. 3:32, 33. 17 Dan. 12:2. 18 Matt. 25:31–33, 46. Comp. 3:12; 13:30. Mal. 3:16–18. 19 Ps. 95:10. Com. verse 21. 20 Job 21:14. 21 Ps. 9:17. 22 Mal. 4:1. 23 Luke 12:19, 20. Dan. 5:30. 24 Job 36:13. 1 Psalm 97:2. 2 Rom. 6:21. 3 Ro 6: 23. 4 Psalm 1:5. 5 2 Tim. 3:13. 6 Deut. 29:19. 7 Comp. Rom. 14:15. 8 Isa. 58:1. 9 2 Cor. 6:2. 10 Zech. 3:2. Jude 23. 11 Matt. 25:10. 12 1 Sam. 28:5–25. 13 Ezek. 22:18–20. 14 Ps 119:140. Psalm 119:119 You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies. Thou (KJV): When Thou triest them in the refining fire, they are burnt up, fly off in fumes, or in {scorie,} which Thou sweepest away. puttest away (KJV): Heb. causest to cease, 1Sa 15:23 Jer 6:30 Eze 22:18-22 Mal 3:2,3 Mt 3:12 7:23 Mt 13:40-42,49,50 therefore (KJV): Ps 119:111,126-128 You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies (Ps 119:47, 48, 97,113, 119,127,159,163,167) - NLT = "All the wicked of the earth are the scum you skim off; no wonder I love to obey your decrees!" This is spoken in the past tense, but there is clearly a sense in which it will be perfectly fulfilled in the New Heavens and New Earth, which has no sin or unredeemed sinners. Charles Bridges - See comment on v118 Psalm 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments. My flesh: Ps 119:53 Lev 10:1-3 1Sa 6:20 2Sa 6:8,9 1Chr 24:16,17,30 2Ch 34:21,27 Isa 66:2 Da 10:8-11 Hab 3:16 Php 2:12 Heb 12:21,28,29 Rev 1:17,18 Related Passages: Luke 12:5+ "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! Habakkuk 3:16+ I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us. A GOOD FEAR TO CULTIVATE My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments - Note double fear - God Himself and His judgments, which are a reflection of His righteous character. This reminds me of Paul's command to the saints at Philippi "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out (present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) your salvation with fear and trembling." (Php 2:12+) Note how proper fear of God is a motivating factor in one's working out his or her salvation (aka progressive sanctification). Paul presents a similar exhortation in 2Cor 7:1+ "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness (aka progressive sanctification) in (locative of sphere) the fear of God. Charles Bridges - The justice of God is a tremendously awful subject of contemplation, even to those who are safely shielded from its terrors. The believer, in the act of witnessing its righteous stroke upon “the wicked of the earth,” cannot forbear to cry out, “My flesh trembleth for fear of thee.”1 Thus did the holy men of old tremble even with a frame approaching horror in the presence of the Divine judgments—David trembled at the stroke of Uzzah—as if it came very near to himself,2 “Destruction from God,” saith holy Job, “was a terror to me: and by reason of his highness I could not endure.”3 Such also was the Prophet’s strong sensation, “When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones.”4 And thus, when God comes to “tread down and put away” his enemies for the display of the holiness of his character, and to excite the “love” of his people—those that stand by, secure under the covert of their hiding-place5—cannot but “take up their parable and say—Alas! who shall live, when God doeth this!”6 The children of God reverence their Father’s anger. They cannot see it (such is his “terrible Majesty!”7) without an awful fear; and this trembling at his judgments upon the ungodly covers them from the heavy stroke. Those that refuse to tremble shall be made to feel, while those that are “afraid of his judgments” shall be secure, “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the wicked.”8 “I trembled in myself,” said the Prophet, “that I might rest in the day of trouble.”9 Even the manifestations of his coming “for the salvation of his people” are attended with all the marks of the most fearful terror—as if his voice would shake the earth to its very foundation, “Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven—the earth feared, and was still; when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.”10 To mark this trembling as the character of the child of God, we need only contrast it with the ungodly scoffing, “Where is the God of judgment? Where is the promise of his coming? The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.”11 Thus do men dare to “run upon the thick bosses of his buckler,”12 instead of “trembling for fear of him!” This “stoutness against the Lord,”13 excites the astonishment of the hosts of heaven; so discordant is it to their notes of humble praise, “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name; for thy judgments are made manifest!”14 Such is the special acceptance of this trembling spirit, that some shadow of it obtained a respite even for wicked Ahab,15 and a pardon for the penitent Ninevites;16 while its genuine “tenderness of heart” screened Josiah from the doom of his people,17 and will ever be regarded with the tokens of the favor of this terrible God. “To this man,” saith he, “I will look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.”1 Believers in Christ! Rejoice in your deliverance from that “fear which hath torment.”2 Yet cherish that holy reverential fear of the character and judgments of God, which will form your most effectual safeguard “from presumptuous sins.”3 The very supposition, that, if God had not engaged himself to you by an unchangeable covenant, his eternal judgments would have been your eternal portion, is of itself sufficient to mingle the wholesome ingredient of fear into the most established assurance. What! Can you look down into the burning bottomless gulf beneath your feet, without the recollection—If I were not immovably fastened to “the Rock of Ages” by the strong chain of everlasting love, there must have been my abode through the countless ages of eternity. If I had not been thus upheld by the grace, as well as by the providence, of God, I might have dropped out of his hand, as one and another not more rebellious than I have fallen, into this intolerable perdition? O God! “my flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments.”4 Thus the dread of the judgments of God is not necessarily of a slavish and tormenting character. “His saints are called to fear him;”5 and their fear, so far from “gendering unto bondage,” is consistent with the strongest assurance;6 nay even, is its fruit and effect.7 It is at once the principle of present obedience,8 and of final perseverance.9 It is the confession of weakness, unworthiness, and sinfulness, laying us low before our God. It is our most valuable discipline. It is the “bit and bridle” that curbs the frowardness of the flesh, and enables us to “serve God acceptably,” in the remembrance, that, though in love he is a reconciled Father, yet in holiness he is “a consuming fire.”10 Now, if we are under the influence of this reverential awe and seriousness of spirit, we shall learn to attach a supreme authority and consideration to the least of his commands. We shall dread the thought of wilfully offending him. The fear of grieving him will be far more operative now, than was the fear of hell in our unconverted state. Those who presume upon their Gospel liberty, will not, probably, understand this language. But the humble believer well knows how intimately “the fear of the Lord” is connected with “the comfort of the Holy Ghost,”11 and with his own steady progress in holiness, and preparation for heaven. 1 ‘A thrilling horror curdles my skin.’ The thing cannot be poetically expressed without periphrasis.—Bishop Horsley. 2 Sam. 6:6–9. 3 Job 31:23. 4 Hab. 3:16. Comp. Jer. 4:19. Dan. 4:19. 5 Ps 119:114. 6 Numb. 24:23. 7 Job 37:22. 8 Psalm 91:8. 9 Hab. 3:16. 10 Psalm 76:7–9. See the effect of a manifestation of the glory of the Saviour to the Evangelist for the purpose of special consolation and support. Rev. 1:17, 18. Compare also Daniel 10:8–17. 11 Mal. 2:17. 2 Peter 3:4. Zeph. 1:12. 12 Job 15:26. 13 Mal. 3:13. 14 Rev. 15:4. 15 1 Kings 21:27–29. 16 Jonah 3:5–10. 17 2 Chron. 34:27. 1 Isaiah 66:2, 5. 2 1 John 4:18. 3 Psalm 19:13. 4 How striking was H. Martin’s experimental apprehensions of this subject! ‘In prayer in the evening I had such near and terrific views of God’s judgments upon sinners in hell, that my flesh trembled for fear of them. The passages of God’s holy word, that proved the certainty of hell torments, were brought to me in such a way as I never before felt. I flew trembling to Jesus Christ, as if the flame were taking hold of me! Oh! Christ will indeed save me, or else I perish.’—Journals, vol. 382. 5 Psalm 34:9. 6 Comp. Hab. 3:16, with Hab 3:17, 18. 7 Heb. 12:28. 8 Heb. 11:7. 9 Heb. 4:1. 10 Heb. 12:29, with 28. 11 Acts 9:31. Compare Matt. 28:8. Psalm 119:121 Ayin. I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors. I have (KJV): Ps 7:3-5 18:20-24 75:2 1Sa 24:11-15 25:28 2Sa 8:15 Ac 21:16 Ac 25:10,11 2Co 1:12 leave me (KJV): Ps 37:33 57:3,4 2Pe 2:9 Ayin. I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors - NLT = "Don't leave me to the mercy of my enemies, for I have done what is just and right." A great prayer to pray! Warren
Salmos 119
Spurgeon: I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. His awe did not prevent his joy; his fear of God was not of the kind which perfect love casts out, but of the sort which it nourishes. He trembled at the word of the Lord, and yet rejoiced at it. He compares his joy to that of one who has been long in battle, and has at last won the victory and is dividing the spoil. This usually falls to the lot of princes, and though David was not one with them in their persecutions, yet he had his victories, and his spoil was equal to their greatest gains. The profits made in searching the Scriptures were greater than the trophies of war. We too have to fight for divine truth; every doctrine costs us a battle, but when we gain a full understanding of it by personal struggles it becomes doubly precious to us. In these days godly men have a full share of battling for the word of God; may we have for our spoil a firmer hold upon the priceless word. Perhaps, however, the Psalmist may have rejoiced as one who comes upon hidden treasure for which lie had not fought, in which case we find the analogy in the man of God who, while reading the Bible, makes grand and blessed discoveries of the grace of God laid up for him, -- discoveries which surprise him, for he looked not to find such a prize. Whether we come by the truth as finders or as warriors fighting for it, the heavenly treasure should be equally dear to us. With what quiet joy does the ploughman steal home with his golden find! How victors shout as they share the plunder! How glad should that man be who has discovered his portion in the promises of holy writ, and is able to enjoy it for himself, knowing by the witness of the Holy Spirit that it is all his own. Charles Bridges - 162. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil The “awe” in which we should “stand of God’s word,” so far from hindering our delight in it, is, as we have just hinted, the most suitable preparation for its most happy enjoyment.6 In receiving every word of it as the condescending message from him, before whom angels veil their faces, we shall “rejoice at it, as those that find great spoil.” Often had David found “great spoil” in his many wars;7 but never had his greatest victories brought him such rich spoil, as he had now discovered in the word of God. The joy in this treasure (like that of the church at the advent of Christ,1 described by this figure) evidently implied no common delight. If then the saints of old could so largely enrich their souls from their scanty portion of the word; must not we, who are favored with the entire revelation of God, acknowledge, “the lines are fallen unto us in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly heritage?”2 This expressive image may remind us, that the spoils of this precious word are not to be gained without conflict: Here “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence.” Our natural taste and temper revolt from the word. Our indolence indisposes for the necessary habitual effort of prayer, self-denial, and faith. But still “the violent do take the kingdom by force.”3 No pains are lost—no struggle ineffectual. What great spoil is divided as the fruit of the conflict! What abundant recompense is in reserve for the “good soldier of Jesus Christ, who is determined, in Divine strength, to “endure hardness,”4 until he overcomes the reluctance of his heart for the spiritual duty! It is not a sudden flash, or impression upon the imagination; but the conqueror’s joy in spoiling the field of conflict—solid and enriching. Sometimes indeed (as in the Syrian camp5) we find the spoil unexpectedly. Sometimes we see the treasure long before we can make it our own. And when we gird ourselves to the conflict, paralyzed by the weakness of our spiritual perceptions and the power of unbelief; many a prayer, and many a sigh is sent up for Divine aid, before we are crowned with victory, and as the fruit of our conquest, joyfully appropriate the word to our present distress. But from a cursory, superficial reading of the word of God, no such fruit can be anticipated. When therefore the flesh or the world have deadened our delight, and taken from us this “great spoil,” should we not arm ourselves for a repossession of it? Should we be unaffected by our loss? Oh, then, since there are such treasures found and enjoyed in this field of conflict, let us not lose our interest in them by the indulgence of presumption, heartlessness, or despondency. Before we attempt to read, cry to the Lord, under the sense of utter helplessness to perform one spiritual act, for his powerful help and Almighty teaching. Then we shall persevere with unconquerable and unwearied vigor, and not fail to share in the blessed spoil of victory, views of a Saviour’s dying love—an interest in the precious blessings of the cross—“great spoil”—“unsearchable riches.”6 6 Ps. 112:1. Acts 9:31. 7 At Ziklag—1 Samuel 30:19, 26–30 From the children of Ammon—2 Samuel 12:20. 1 Isaiah 9:3. 2 Psalm 16:6. 3 Matt. 11:12. 4 2 Tim. 2:3. 5 2 Kings 7:8. 6 Eph. 3:8. Psalm 119:163 I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Your law. hate (KJV): Ps 119:29,113,128 101:7 Pr 6:16-19 30:8 Am 5:15 Ro 12:9 Eph 4:25 Rev 22:15 I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Your law. Ps 119:47, 48, 97,113, 119,127,159,163,167, Charles Bridges - 163. I hate and abhor lying; but thy law do I love We can neither “stand in awe of God’s word,” nor “rejoice at it,” unless we abhor all contrary ways. And here lies the spiritual conflict. For so opposed are our natural affections to the character and will of God, that we love what God hates, and we hate what God loves. Our new principle and bias, however, as directly falls in with the dictates of God’s law, as before we had revolted from it. “Lying” is now “hated and abhorred” as contrary to “a God of truth;” and the “law” is now “loved” as the reflection of his image, and the manifestation of his will. David had before prayed to have “lying ways removed from him” and a love for the law of God imparted.1 His utter detestation shows, that these ways had been removed, and a renewed inclination to the law granted to him. To have avoided “lying,” and to have practised the law, might have been sufficient for the regulation of his outward conduct. But his was the religion of the heart—not meant only to control his actions; but to renew his habits, motions, tempers, and taste. He would not therefore only refrain from lying, or manifest a disinclination to it—he must “hate and abhor”2 it as hell itself. Nor was external conformity, or approval of the law, his standard; he must “love” it. If sin was counted common, fashionable, venial, profitable, or pleasant; if contempt was cast upon the law of God—this stopped him not. Every sin—though only a hairbreath deviation from the rule—was in his eyes hateful, defiling, damning. He would “resist unto blood, striving against it.”3 Every act, desire, and habit of conformity, with whatever shame it might be attended, was his delight. Such—Christian—should be our standard. Lord! humble us in the daily sense of deviation and defect. Vouchsafe to us larger desires, growing conformity to thy perfect rule. Well had it been for Eve and for her children, had she turned from the tempter’s lie with this strong determination.4 But—“Ye shall not surely die”—has from that fatal moment been a most effectual instrument in captivating unwary souls. So plausible is it in itself, so agreeable to our natural inclinations, that it is readily cherished, even where the first contact with temptation assures the wretched victims, that its “deceit is falsehood.” But they do not “hate and abhor it:” they do not flee from it, as a concern for the honor of God and their own safety would lead them; and therefore justly are they “given up to believe it,”5 as the fruit of their delusion, and the punishment of their unfaithfulness. Oh! if we are ever tempted by the flattery and allurements of the world, let us only mark the opposition of their standard, taste, maxims, and pursuits to the truth of God, and we shall turn away with hatred and abhorrence. The “overseers of the purchased flock”6 of Christ—yea, all “who earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”1—will anxiously watch any deterioration of doctrine or principle—any deviation from the simplicity of the Gospel, and brand it as a lie. “I have not written unto you,” said the venerable Apostle, “because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?”2 How does the great Apostle teach us to look at the adulteration of the doctrine of grace before referred to3—a system not of faith, but of fear—not of joy, but of slavish awe—not of confidence, but of doubt—palsying the springs of life; withering—blighting—chilling—the glow of love; “entangling again the free-born children of God in a yoke of bondage!”4 The champion of the faith would not tolerate it for a moment.5 And he bids his people hate and abhor it—even though from an angel’s mouth—as the beguiling lie of the great “corrupter” of the Church.6 Equally would he have us abhor the licentious abuse of the Gospel—flowing from the same source—“Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid!”7 After all however—this verse must include an abhorrence of the literal sin of lying in all its forms. A lie is so gross a sin, that we might be disposed to spiritualize this expression, rather than to analyze some of the plausible shapes, in which the sin may be detected in our own profession. Exaggeration—a false gloss—a slight deviation (hardly perceptible) from the straight line—excuses for faults made to one another, which we dared not make to God—want of accuracy in relating what we hear—all these are forms of lying to be shunned, hated and abhorred by the man, who is really “walking in the light, and having fellowship with God,”8 as much as the more palpable falsehoods, with which the world abounds, which it excuses, and even boasts of. Believer! would you have your hatred and abhorrence of every kind of lying yet further deepened? Would you summon every passion of the soul—“indignation, vehement desire, zeal, revenge”9—against it? Then learn to “abhor” it, not only as your enemy, but as God’s.10 Pray that the arrow of conviction may be dipped in the blood of Christ; and then, however deep and painful be the wound, it cannot be mortal. Mortal indeed it will be to the sin, but healing to the soul. Pray that your hatred of sin may flow from a sense of reconciliation; for never will it be so perfect, as when you feel yourself sheltered from its everlasting curse.11 To lie before your Saviour as his redeemed sinner, and to wash his feet with your tears of contrition, will be your highest and happiest privilege on this side heaven. In this spirit and daily posture you will most clearly manifest the inseparable connection of a hatred of lying ways with a love for the law of God. 1 See Ps 119:29. 2 Under this “hated and abhorred lying” he intended to include, not only those more or less direct deviations from truth, of which he had himself been guilty, (with Abimelech, 1 Sam. 21:2—twice with Achish, 1 Sam. 21:13; 27:10,) but, as we before remarked, whatever in any shape, or form, or degree, is inconsistent with the truth of God. Compare on verse 22. 3 Heb. 12:4. 4 Gen. 3:4–6. 5 2 Thess. 2:11. 6 Acts 20:28. 1 Jude 3. 2 1 John 2:21, 22. 3 Page 298. 4 Gal. 4:31; 5:1. 5 Gal. 2:4, 5. 6 Gal. 1:8, 9, with 2 Cor. 11:2–4. 7 Rom. 6:1, 2. 8 1 John 1:5–7. 9 2 Cor. 7:11. 10 Comp. Psalm 139:21, 22. 11 Comp. Ezekiel 16:63; 23:28; 20:43. Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous ordinances. Seven times (KJV): That is, probably many times, or frequently, as the term seven frequently denotes; but Rabbi Solomon says that this is to be understood literally; for they praised God twice in the morning before reading the decalogue, and once after; twice in the evening before the same reading, and twice after; making in the whole seven times. Ps 119:62 55:17 because (KJV): Ps 48:11 97:8 Rev 19:2 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous ordinances. He labored perfectly to praise his perfect God, and therefore fulfilled the perfect number of songs. Seven may also intend frequency. Frequently he lifted up his heart in thanksgiving to God for his divine teaching in the Word, and for his divine actions in providence. With his voice he extolled the righteousness of the Judge of all the earth. As often as ever he thought of God’s ways, a song leaped to his lips. At the sight of the oppressive princes, and at the hearing of the abounding falsehood around him, he felt all the more bound to adore and magnify God, who in all things is truth and righteousness. When others rob us of our praise it should be a caution to us not to fall into the same conduct towards our God, who is so much more worthy of honor. If we praise God when we are persecuted, our music will be all the sweeter to him because of our constancy in suffering. If we keep clear of all lying, our song will be the more acceptable because it comes out of pure lips. If we never flatter other people we shall be in the better condition for honoring the Lord. Do we praise God seven times a day? Do we praise him once in seven days? Charles Bridges - 164. Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments David had just spoken of his fear, joy, hatred and love. He now expresses his love in praise. And indeed it is the mixture of praise with prayer, that makes this Psalm so complete an exhibition of Christian experience. Early and late, and habitually throughout the day, have we seen this man of God “give himself to prayer.”1 But his “spirit of supplication,” in strict conformity with the Apostolical rule, was ever mingled “with thanksgiving.”2 Indeed, self-love—the sense of want—may prompt us to pray. But love to God is the spirit of praise. The neglect therefore of this service is robbing God, no less than ourselves. Not that he needs it, but that he deserves and desires it. Not that it brings any merit to us, but that it strengthens our dependence, and elevates our love. If then we feel it to be “good,3 comely,4 and pleasant,”5 it will be as needless to define its frequency, as to prescribe the limit of our service to a beloved friend, to whom our obligations were daily increasing. The casuistry of love would answer all the entangling scruples of a bondage system. We should aim at living in praise,6 as the element of our souls, the atmosphere of our enjoyment, our reward more than our duty—that which identifies our interest with heaven, and forms our meetness for it. Young Christians indeed sometimes unwarily bring themselves into “bondage,” in forcing their consciences to a frequency of set times for duty, intrenching either upon outward circumstances or the weakness of the flesh. Our rule of service, though not measured by our indolence, yet should be accommodated to those legitimate daily engagements, which, when “done as to the Lord,”7 form as real and necessary a part of our religion, as the more spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise. To observe any particular time (beyond the Sabbath, and “the morning and evening sacrifice,”) because it is the time—however wearied our spirits may be, or however immediate obligations may interfere, is to forget the weighty instruction of one well qualified to speak, “Bodily exercise profiteth little;”8 and we must “go and learn what that meaneth, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”9 Growth in grace will however gradually mould our profession into habitual intercourse with God. As our views become more solid and settled, each duty of the day will find its proper place, our services will become more free, and our obedience more evangelical. But the formalist considers “seven times a day”—to be an infringement of the sacred canon—“Be not righteous overmuch.”10 He pays his customary service twice a-day; he says his prayers, and his praises too; and his conscience slumbers again. And alas! there are times of slumber, when we little differ from him. Oh! Let us be alarmed at every symptom of such a state, and “find no rest to our spirit,” until we have regained some measure of this frame of hearty and overflowing praise. If there be a heavenly nature, there must be a heavenly work. Tongue and heart should be set on fire by love. Thus we will go to our work—whatever it may be—and sing at it. But the Christian sometimes feels, that he has no heart, and—he almost fears—no right to praise. Having no sensible token of love to call him forth, his harp “hangs upon the willows;” nor does he care to take it down, even to “sing one of the Lord’s songs in this strange land.”1 But how many have found with Bunyan—‘When I believe and sing, my doubting ceases!’ “Meat cometh out of the eater”—cheering rays out of the darkest cloud. Endeavor, therefore, to bring to mind some spiritual, or even temporal, mercies. Or, if recollection fails you, open your Bible; turn to some subject of praise, such as the song of the Angels at the birth of our Saviour,2 or the song of the Redeemed to the honor of the Lamb.3 Have you no part or interest in it? Do you not need the Saviour? Can you be happy without him? Then inquire, and feel, and try, whether you cannot give “thanks unto God for his unspeakable gift.”4 Peradventure your notes may rise into praise, and in the excitement of praise, prayer will again mingle itself with its wonted enjoyment. It is your sinful folly to yield to that continual depression, which unfits you for the exercise of your duties and your privileges. How fully do our Liturgical services elevate and sustain the elevation of the soul heavenwards! Language better adapted for strengthening its feeble aspiration will not readily be found; consecrated as it is in the remembrance of its acceptable use by a throng of the Lord’s favored people during successive generations, now united to the general assembly above, and worshipping with everlasting acceptance “before the throne of God and the Lamb.” The Lord’s righteous judgments in his word are a constant matter for praise. Such light, food, and comfort! Such a strong hold of God! Such a firm hope to anchor on! Such a clear rule to walk by! Truly the distinguishing favor of this gracious gift stirs up the song—“Praise ye the Lord.”5 Add to which—the righteous judgments—his decrees and declarations respecting his Church—occupied the Psalmist’s “midnight,”6 as well as his daily, song—“O Lord, thou art my God”—said the enraptured prophet in the name of the Church—“I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name;7 for thou hast done wonderful things: thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Inscrutable indeed they may sometimes appear: and opposed to our best prospects of happiness; yet the language of faith in the darkest hour will be—“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”8 But neither “seven times a-day” nor “seventy times seven,” will satisfy us in heaven Then our song—even “the song of Moses and the Lamb—will still be the “Lord’s righteous judgments;”1 and for this ever “new song” the harps of God will never be unstrung, and never out of tune, throughout an eternity of praise.2 But a moment, and we shall be engaged in this heavenly employ—no reluctancy of the spirit—no weariness of the flesh. Every moment is hastening on this near—this cheering—this overwhelming glorious—prospect. Blessed be God! 1 See on Ps 119:147, 148. 2 Phil. 4:6. Seven times. Comp. Prov. 24:16. 3 Psalm 92:1. 4 Ps. 33:1. 5 Ps. 135:3. 6 Ps. 34:1; 71:8, 14. Luke 24:53. 7 Col. 3:23. Eph. 6:7; 5:20. Heb. 13:15. 8 1 Tim. 4:8. 9 Hosea 6:6, with Matt. 9:13; 12:7. 10 Eccles. 7:16. 1 Ps. 137:2, 4. 2 Luke 2:13, 14. 3 Rev. 5:12. 4 2 Cor. 9:15. 5 Ps. 147:19, 20, 56:10. 6 Ps 119:62. 7 Isa. 25:1. 8 Rom. 8:28. 1 Rev. 15:3, 4; 16:7. 2 Rev. 4:8. Psalm 119:165 Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble. Great: Pr 3:1,2,17 Isa 32:17 Isa 57:21 Joh 14:27 Ga 5:22,23 6:15,16 Php 4:7 nothing causes them to stumble, Isa 8:13-15 28:13 57:14 Mt 13:21 24:24 1Pe 2:6-8 Related Passage: Isaiah 57:21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” GOD'S SECRET OF LASTING PEACE Those who love Your law have great peace - Peace is not a theological precept (it is but it is more), it is a True Person, Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Glory. Hallelujah! John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Philippians 4:7+ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Spurgeon - This verse deals not with those who perfectly keep the law (for where should such people be found?), but with those who love it, whose hearts and hands are made to square with its precepts and demands. They are ever striving with all their hearts to walk in obedience to the law, and though they are often persecuted they have great peace; for they have learned the secret of the reconciling blood, they have felt the power of the comforting Spirit, and they stand before the Father accepted. They have many troubles, and are likely to be persecuted by the proud, but their usual condition is that of deep calm?a peace too great for this little world to break. And nothing shall offend them, or, "shall really injure them." Offenses must come, but these lovers of the law are peacemakers, and so they neither give nor take offense. That peace which is founded upon conformity to God's will is a living and lasting one, worth writing of with enthusiasm, as the psalmist does here. Spurgeon, C. H. (1993). Psalms.
Salmos 119:18
Spurgeon - If you do not understand a book by a departed writer you are unable to ask him his meaning, but the Spirit, Who inspired Holy Scripture, lives forever, and He delights to open the Word to those who seek His instruction” Thy law - Other Bible versions translate it as - instruction (Common English Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible), teachings (Easy to Read Version, GWT, International Children's Bible). Law (08451)(torah - derives from yarah that means to shoot an arrow, for a teacher aims to hit the target and achieve specific goals in the lives of the students) is a feminine noun meaning instruction, direction, law, Torah, the whole Law. Torah basically means "teaching" whether it is the wise man instructing his son or God instructing Israel. The wise (Pr 1:8, 6:20) give insight into all aspects of life so that the young may know how to conduct themselves and to live a long blessed life (Pr 3:1ff). Thus the torah encompasses instructions from God to His people on how they should live so that He might be glorified. The torah was to be adhered to as a total way of life, to permeate every decision, every thought, etc. Torah was given to men to make known the way in which they should walk! In summary, torah in this passage refers to instructions or teachings and not strictly speaking to the Law (e.g., as typified by the Ten Commandments). In Psalm 119:18 torah refers to our Father's instructions on how we His children are to live during our short sojourn as aliens in enemy dominated territory (1Jn 5:19). The Septuagint translates torah with the noun nomos, which has the basic meaning of law (that which is proper). D L Moody - We have a great many prayer-meetings, but there is something just as important as prayer, and that is that we read our Bibles, that we have Bible study and Bible lectures and Bible classes, so that we may get hold of the Word of God. When I pray, I talk to God, but when I read the Bible, God is talking to me; and it is really more important that God should speak to me than that I should speak to Him. I believe we should know better how to pray if we knew our Bibles better. (D. L. Moody Year Book) John Newton on the law, the Word of God, in Ps 119:18 - Let me suppose a person to have a curious cabinet, which is opened at his pleasure, and not exposed to common view. He invites all to come and see it, and offers to show it to any one who asks him. It is hid, because he keeps the key, but none can complain, because he is ready to open it whenever he is desired. Some, perhaps, disdain the offer, and say, “Why is it locked at all?” Some think it is not worth seeing, or amuse themselves with guessing at the contents. But those who are simply desirous for themselves, leave others disputing, go according to appointment, and are gratified. These have reason to be thankful for the favor, and the others have no just cause to find fault. Thus the riches of Divine grace may be compared to a richly-furnished cabinet to which “Christ is the door.” The Word of God likewise is a cabinet generally locked up, but the key of prayer will open it. The Lord invites all, but He keeps the dispensation in His own hand. They cannot see these things, except He shows them; but then He refuses none that sincerely ask Him. The wise men of the world can go no further than the outside of this cabinet; they may amuse themselves and surprise others with their ingenious guesses at what is within; but a child that has seen it opened can give us satisfaction, without studying or guessing at all. If men will presume to aim at the knowledge of God, without the knowledge of Christ, Who is the way and the door (Jn 10:7-9); if they have such a high opinion of their own wisdom (1Cor 1:18-25) and penetration as to suppose they can understand the Scriptures without the assistance of His Spirit; or, if their worldly wisdom teaches them that those things are not worth their inquiring, what wonder is it that they should continue to be hid from their eyes? George Morrison (1866-1928) Preacher on "wonderful things" in Psalm 119:18 - True wonder is never dispelled by what we know. That alone is genuine wonder—the wonder not of ignorance but of knowledge, the wonder that does not vanish when we know but grows and deepens with everything we know. It was the wonder of the apostle Paul. It was the wonder in the heart of Jesus. And it is the wonder we will feel forever in the perfected knowledge of eternity. It is not knowledge, then, that is the foe of wonder; it is something far more commonplace than that. The blight that wilts our faculty of wonder is the familiarity that begets contempt. Someone has said that if all the stars were to cease shining for a hundred years and then were suddenly to flash on again, there is not an eye on earth but would be lifted heavenward and not a heart but would break forth in praise to God. But the stars were there when we were little children, and they will be shining in the heavens tonight. And to us the spectacle is so familiar that we have lost the wonder of it all. Live forty years in such a world as this and a certain blindness falls on the eyes. And therefore the need that when the evening falls, the morning breaks, and the summer comes again, we should pray as the psalmist prayed so long ago, “Lord, open my eyes that I may see.” May I say in passing that all great experiences tend to recreate the sense of wonder? Sickness, sorrow, death, conversion have a way of bringing new wonder into everything. And I suggest that in the will of God, which is as merciful as it is wise, that recreating of the sense of wonder may be one purpose of many an hour of discipline. (Woe!) ILLUSTRATION OF SEEKING ILLUMINATION - In 1787 a convention was called in the United States to revise the Articles of Confederation. For weeks delegates reviewed ancient history and analyzed modern governments, searching for insights. But nothing suited the infant nation. Finally, a distinguished gentleman named Benjamin Franklin rose and said, "In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth and scarce able to distinguish it when it is presented to us, how has it happened that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings?" Mr. Franklin believed there was a sovereign God (Ed: Actually he was a Deist [What is deism ? - What do deists believe?]) who could provide guidance to those who sought it. Darlene Zschech's devotional on Ps 119:18 - Two people walk down the same road. One sees the beauty and majesty of God’s creation in a sunrise or sunset, in the color of the sky, in trees and plants. The other sees nothing to find joy in and grumbles. What’s the difference? One had his eyes truly open. How many times do we miss blessings simply because we weren’t looking for them? We get busy and distracted. We get stuck in bad moods. We think too much about ourselves—what I need and want. When our minds are stuck on all that is wrong, we miss all the wonderful things God puts in our path. There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “When the student is ready the teacher will arrive.” Could this be true of God’s Word? Could it be that until our eyes and hearts are open, we are going to miss the wonderful things that God has for us to learn and live? David’s prayer was so simple: “Open my eyes.” But it was profound. He was surrounded on every side by his enemies. What was he asking God to do? He wanted his focus to be on God’s provision as found in His Word—not on his problems. Where are your eyes focused now? God’s promises and provisions or your problems? (Revealing Jesus: a 365-day devotional) Open My Eyes, That I May See Written by Clara H Scott Piano rendition by Nathanael Provis (Beautiful!) Open my eyes, that I may see Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me; Place in my hands the wonderful key That shall unclasp, and set me free. Refrain: Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready, my God, Thy will to see: Open my eyes, illumine me, Savior divine! Open my ears, that I may hear Voices of truth Thou sendest clear; And while the wave notes fall on my ear, Ev’rything false will disappear. Refrain Open my mouth, and let me bear Gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere; Open my heart, and let me prepare Love with Thy children thus to share. Refrain In A Fog - My wife Shirley and I stayed 2 full days in Interlaken, Switzerland, and yet we never saw Jungfrau, one of the highest and most beautiful peaks in the Swiss Alps. "What did you think of Jungfrau?" fellow tourists would ask. We couldn't answer because we never got a glimpse of it. How could we possibly miss such an immense and breathtaking natural wonder? Because a persistent fog had blanketed the entire peak. Sometimes we may be "in a fog" when we try to understand the Bible. We struggle and strain, but we cannot see the beautiful truths that lie within the passage. It may even seem as if God is keeping them hidden from us. Don't forget that we always need the illuminating help of the Holy Spirit. It is not God who wants to keep us from grasping the wonderful truths of Scripture; it is His enemy. The devil knows that we can't put into practice what we don't comprehend. We need to pray as the psalmist did, "Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law" (Ps. 119:18). As we seek the Holy Spirit's guidance each day, He will clear away the fog so that we can see the marvelous truths within God's Word. --D C Egner Open my eyes, that I may see Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me; Place in my hands the wonderful key That shall unclasp and set me free. -Clara Scott Without the light of God's Spirit, we'll be in the dark about God's Word. See sermons/short notes related to Psalm 119:18 - some of these are very insightful: A Necessary Prayer John Ker, D. D. Divine Illumination J. Foot, D. D. Divine Revelation Homilist Eye-Opening R. Tuck God's Word Suited to Man's Sense of Wonder John Ker, D. D. Longing for Spiritual Sight A. Barrett. Moral Blindness Homilist Removing Obstruction to Sight Sunday Circle Spiritual Discernment E. R. Conder, D. D. Spiritual Illumination J. O. Griffiths. Spiritual Sight Christian Age Spiritual Vision Spiritual Vision J. Crafts. The Bible as Containing the Wonderful Homilist The Lifted Veil H. J. Gamble. The Need of Spiritual W. L. Watkinson. The Wonders of God's Law R. Flint, D. D. The Wonders of God's Law Newman Smyth, D. D. Wondrous Things C. Short C H Spurgeon Ps 119:18. Open thou mine eyes. This is a part of the bountiful dealing which he has asked for; no bounty is greater than that which benefits our person, our soul, our mind, and benefits it in so important an organ as the eye. It is far better to have the eyes opened than to be placed in the midst of the noblest prospects and remain blind to their beauty. That l may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Some men can perceive no wonders in the gospel, but David felt sure that there were glorious things in the law: he had not half the Bible, but he prized it more than some men prize the whole. He felt that God had laid up great bounties in His word, and he begs for power to perceive, appreciate, and enjoy the same. We need not so much that God should give us more benefits, as the ability to see what He has given. The prayer implies a conscious darkness, a dimness of spiritual vision, a powerlessness to remove that defect, and a full assurance that God can remove it. It shows also that the writer knew that there were vast treasures in the word which he had not yet fully seen, marvels which he had not yet beheld, mysteries which he had scarcely believed. The Scriptures teem with marvels; the Bible is wonder land; it not only relates miracles, but it is itself a world of wonders. Yet what are these to closed eyes? And what man can open his own eyes, since he is born blind? God himself must reveal revelation to each heart. Scripture needs opening, but not one half so much as our eyes do: the veil is not on the book, but on our hearts. What perfect precepts, what precious promises, what priceless privileges are neglected by us because we wander among them like blind men among the beauties of nature, and they are to us as a landscape shrouded in darkness! The Psalmist had a measure of spiritual perception, or he would never have known that there were wondrous things to be seen, nor would he have prayed, "open thou mine eyes"; but what he had seen made him long for a clearer and wider sight. This longing proved the genuineness of what he possessed, for it is a test mark of the true knowledge of God that it causes its possessor to thirst for deeper knowledge. David's prayer in this verse is a good sequel to Psalms 119:10, which corresponds to it in position in its octave: there he said, "O let me not wander, "and who so apt to wander as a blind man? and there, too, he declared, "with my whole heart have I sought thee, "and hence the desire to see the object of his search. Very singular are the interlacings of the boughs of the huge tree of this Psalm, which has many wonders even within itself if we have opened eyes to mark them. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ps 119:18. Open thou mine eyes. Who is able to know the secret and hidden things of the Scriptures unless Christ opens his eyes? Certainly, no one; for "No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." Wherefore, as suppliants, we draw near to him, saying, "Open thou mine eyes, "etc. The words of God cannot be kept except they be known; neither can they be known unless the eyes shall be opened,” hence it is written, "That I may live and keep thy word"; and then, "Open thou mine eyes." Paulus Palanterius. Ps 119:18. Open thou mine eyes. "What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?" was the gracious inquiry of the loving Jesus to a poor longing one on earth. "Lord! that I may receive my sight, "was the instant answer. So here, in the same spirit, and to the same compassionate and loving Lord, does the Psalmist pray, "Open thou mine eyes"; and both in this and the preceding petition, "Deal bountifully with thy servant, "we see at once who prompted the prayer. Barton Bouchier. Ps 119:18. Open thou mine eyes. If it be asked, seeing David was a regenerate man, and so illumined already, how is it that he prays for the opening of his eyes? The answer is easy: that our regeneration is wrought by degrees. The beginnings of light in his mind made him long for more; for no man can account of sense, but he who hath it. The light which he had caused him to see his own darkness; and therefore, feeling his wants, he sought to have them supplied by the Lord. William Cowper. Ps 119:18. Open thou mine eyes. The saints do not complain of the obscurity of the law, but of their own blindness. The Psalmist doth not say, Lord make a plainer law, but, Lord open mine eyes: blind men might as well complain of God, that he doth not make a sun whereby they might see. The word is "a light that shineth in a dark place" (2Peter 1:19-note). There is no want of light in the Scripture, but there is a veil of darkness upon our hearts; so that if in this clear light we cannot see, the defect is not in the word, but in ourselves. The light which they beg is not anything besides the word. When God is said to enlighten us, it is not that we should expect new revelations, but that we may see the wonders in his word, or get a clear sight of what is already revealed. Those that vent their own dreams under the name of the Spirit, and divine light, they do not give you mysteria, but monstra, portentous opinions; they do not show you the wondrous things of God's law, but the prodigies of their own brain; unhappy abortives, that die as soon as they come to light. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). The light which we have is not without the word, but by the word. The Hebrew phrase signifies "unveil mine eyes." There is a double work, negative and positive. There is a taking away of the veil, and an infusion of light. Paul's cure of his natural blindness is a fit emblem of our cure of spiritual blindness: "Immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith" (Acts 9:18). First, the scales fall from our eyes, and then we receive sight. Thomas Manton. Ps 119:18. The Psalmist asks for no new revelation. It was in God's hand to give this, and he did it in his own time to those ancient believers; but to all of them at every time there was enough given for the purposes of life. The request is not for more, but that he may employ well that which he possesses. Still better does such a form of request suit us, to whom life and immortality have been brought to light in Christ. If we do not find sufficient to exercise our thoughts with constant freshness, and our soul with the grandest and most attractive subjects, it is because we want the eye sight. It is of great importance for us to be persuaded of this truth, that there are many things in the Bible still to be found out, and that, if we come in the right spirit, we may be made discoverers of some of them. These things disclose themselves, not so much to learning, though that is not to be despised, as to spiritual sight, to a humble, loving heart. And this at least is certain, that we shall always find things that are new to ourselves. However frequently we traverse the field, we shall perceive some fresh golden vein turning up its glance to us, and we shall wonder how our eyes were formerly holden that we did not see it. It was all there waiting for us, and we feel that more is waiting, if we had the vision. There is a great Spirit in it that holds deeper and even deeper converse with our souls. This further may be observed, that the Psalmist asks for no new faculty. The eyes are there already, and they need only to be opened. It is not the bestowal of a new and supernatural power which enables a man to read the Bible to profit, but the quickening of a power he already possesses. In one view it is supernatural, as God is the Author of the illumination by a direct act of his Spirit; in another it is natural, as it operates through the faculties existing in a man's soul. God gives "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, that the eyes of man's understanding may be enlightened." (Ephesians 1:17-note) It is important to remember this also, for here lies our responsibility, that we have the faculty, and here also is the point at which we must begin action with the help of God. A man will never grow into the knowledge of God's word by idly waiting for some new gift of discernment, but by diligently using that which God has already bestowed upon him, and using at the same time all other helps that lie within his reach. There are men and books that seem, beyond others, to have the power of aiding insight. All of us have felt it in the contact of some affinity of nature which makes them our best helpers; the kindred clay upon the eyes by which the great Enlightener removes our blindness (John 9:6). Let us seek for such, and if we find them let us employ them without leaning on them. Above all, let us give our whole mind in patient, loving study to the book itself, and where we fail, at any essential part, God will either send his evangelist Philip to our aid (Acts 8:26-40) or instruct us himself. But it is only to patient, loving study that help is given. God could have poured all knowledge into us by easy inspiration, but it is by earnest search alone that it can become the treasure of the soul. But if so, it may still be asked what is the meaning of this prayer, and why does the Bible itself insist so often on the indispensable need of the Spirit of God to teach? Now there is a side here as true as the other, and in no way inconsistent with it. If prayer without effort would be presumptuous, effort without prayer would be vain. The great reason why men do not feel the power and beauty of the Bible is a spiritual one. They do not realize the grand evil which the Bible has come to cure, and they have not a heart to the blessings which it offers to bestow. The film of a fallen nature, self maintained, is upon their eyes while they read: "The eyes of their understanding are darkened, being alienated from the life of God" (Ephesians 4:18-note). All the natural powers will never find the true key to the Bible, till the thoughts of sin and redemption enter the heart, and are put in the centre of the Book. It is the part of the Father of lights, by the teaching of his Spirit, to give this to the soul, and he will, if it humbly approaches him with this request. Thus we shall study as one might a book with the author at hand, to set forth the height of his argument, or as one might look on a noble composition, when the artist breathes into us a portion of his soul, to let us feel the centre of its harmonies of form and colour. Those who have given to the Bible thought and prayer will own that these are not empty promises. John Ker, in a Sermon entitled, "God's Word Suited to Man's Sense of Wonder, "1877. Ps 119:18. O let us never forget; that the wonderful things contained in the divine law can neither be discovered nor relished by the "natural man, "whose powers of perception and enjoyment are limited in their range to the objects of time and sense. It is the divine Spirit alone who can lighten the darkness of our sinful state, and who can enable us to perceive the glory, the harmony, and moral loveliness which everywhere shine forth in the pages of revealed truth. John Morison, 1829. Ps 119:18. Uncover my eyes and I will look at wonders out of thy law. The last clause is a kind of exclamation after his eyes have been uncovered. This figure is often used to denote inspiration or a special divine communication. "Out of thy law, "i.e., brought out to view, as if from a place of concealment. Joseph Addison Alexander. Ps 119:18. Wondrous things. Many were the signs and miracles which God wrought in the midst of the people of Israel, which they did not understand. What was the reason? Moses tells us expressly what if was: "Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day" (Deut 29:4). They had sensitive eyes and ears, yea, they had a rational heart or mind; but they wanted a spiritual ear to hear, a spiritual heart or mind to apprehend and improve those wonderful works of God; and these they had not, because God had not given them such eyes, ears, and hearts. Wonders without grace cannot open the eyes fully; but grace without wonders can. And as man hath not an eye to see the wonderful works of God spiritually, until it is given; so, much less hath he an eye to see the wonders of the word of God till it be given him from above; and therefore David prays, Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. And if the wondrous things of the law are not much seen till God give an eye, then much less are the wondrous things of the Gospel. The light of nature shows us somewhat of the Law; but nothing of the Gospel was ever seen by the light of nature. Many who have seen and admired some excellencies in the Law could never see, and therefore have derided, that which is the excellency of the Gospel, till God had opened their heart to understand. Joseph Caryl, 1602-1673. Ps 119:18. "The word is very nigh" unto us; and, holding in our hand a document that teems with what is wonderful, the sole question is, "Have we an eye to its marvels, a heart for its mercies?" Here is the precise use of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit puts nothing new into the Bible (when we read it); He only so enlightens and strengthens our faculties, that we can discern and admire what is there already. It is not the telescope which draws out that rich sparkling of stars on the blue space, which to the naked eye seem points of light, and untenanted: it is not the microscope which condenses the business of a stirring population into the circumference of a drop of water, and clothes with a thousand tints the scarcely discernible wing of the ephemeral insect. The stars are shining in their glory, whether or not we have the instruments to penetrate the azure; and the tiny tenantry are carrying on their usual concerns, and a rich garniture still forms the covering of the insect, whether or not the powerful lens has turned for us the atom into a world, and transformed the almost imperceptible down into the sparkling plumage of the bird of paradise. Thus the wonderful things are already in the Bible. The Spirit who wrote them at first brings them not as new revelations to the individual; but, by removing the mists of carnal prejudice, by taking away the scales of pride and self sufficiency, and by rectifying the will, which causes the judgment to look at truth through a distorted medium” by influencing the heart, so that the affections shall no longer blind the understanding,” by these and other modes, which might be easily enumerated, the Holy Ghost enables men to recognize what is hid, to perceive beauty and to discover splendour where all before had appeared without form and comeliness; and thus brings round the result of the Bible, in putting on the lip the wonderful prayer which he had himself inspired: Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Henry Melvill, 1798-1871. Ps 119:18. The wondrous things seem to be the great things of an eternal world” he had turned his enquiring eyes upon the wonders of nature, sun, moon, and stars, mountains, trees, and rivers. He had seen many of the wonders of art; but now, he wanted to see the spiritual wonders contained in the Bible. He wanted to know about God himself in all his majesty, purity, and grace. He wanted to learn the way of salvation by a crucified Redeemer, and the glory that is to follow. Open mine eyes. ”David was not blind” his eye was not dim. He could read the Bible from end to end, and yet he felt that he needed more light. He felt that he needed to see deeper, to have the eyes of his understanding opened. He felt that if he had nothing but his own eyes and natural understanding, he would not discover the wonders which he panted to see. He wanted divine teaching” the eye salve of the Spirit; and therefore he would not open the Bible without this prayer, "Open thou mine eyes." Robert Murray M'Cheyne, 1813-1843. Ps 119:18. Wondrous things. How does he this word "wondrous"? It is as if he would have said, Although the world takes the law of God to be but a light thing, and it seems to be given but as it were for simple souls and young children; yet for all that there seems such a wisdom to be in it, as that it surmounts all the wisdom of the world, and that therein lie hid wonderful secrets. John Calvin. Ps 119:18. Thy law. That which is the object of the understanding prayed for, that in the knowledge whereof the Psalmist would be illuminated, is torah. The word signifies instruction; and being referred unto God, it is his teaching or instruction of us by the revelation of himself, the same which we intend by the Scripture. When the books of the Old Testament were completed they were, for distinction's sake, distributed into torah, mizmor, and nabiyim, or the "Law, "the "Psalms, "and the "Prophets," (Lk 24:44). Under that distribution Torah signifies the five books of Moses. But whereas these books of Moses were, as it were, the foundation of all future revelations under the Old Testament, which were given in the explication thereof, all the writings of it were usually called "the Law," (Isaiah 8:20). By the law, therefore, in this place, the Psalmist understands all the books that were then given unto the church by revelation for the rule of its faith and obedience. And that by the law, in the Psalms, the written law is intended, is evident from the first of them, wherein he is declared blessed who "meditates therein day and night, "Psalms 1:2; which hath respect unto the command of reading and meditating on the books thereof in that manner, Joshua 1:8. That, therefore, which is intended by this word is the entire revelation of the will of God, given unto the church for the rule of its faith and obedience” that is, the holy Scripture. In this law there are "wonderful things." Pala' signifies to be "wonderful, "to be "hidden, "to be "great" and "high; "that which men by the use of reason cannot attain unto or understand (hence Pala' are things that have such an impression of divine wisdom and power upon them as that they are justly the object of our admiration); that which is too hard for us as De 17:8, rkr Kmm alpy yk” "If a matter be too hard for thee, "hid from thee. And it is the name whereby the miraculous works of God are expressed, Ps 77:11 78:11. Wherefore, these "wonderful things of the law" are those expressions and effects of divine wisdom in the Scripture which are above the natural reason and understanding of men to find out and comprehend. Such are the mysteries of divine truth in the Scripture, especially because Christ is in them, whose name is" Wonderful, "Isaiah 9:6; for all the great and marvellous effects of infinite wisdom meet in him. John Owen, 1616-1683. Ps 119:18. Wondrous things. There are promises in God's word that no man has ever tried, to find. There are treasures of gold and silver in it that no man has taken the pains to dig for. There are medicines in it for the want of a knowledge of which hundreds have died. It seems to me like some old baronial estate that has descended to a man (who lives in a modern house) and thinks it scarcely worth while to go and look into the venerable mansion. Year after year passes away and he pays no attention to it, since he has no suspicion of the valuable treasures it contains, till, at last, some man says to him, "Have you been up in the country to look at that estate?" He makes up his mind that he will take a look at it. As he goes through the porch he is surprised to see the skill that has been displayed in its construction: he is more and more surprised as he goes through the halls. He enters a large room, and is astonished as he beholds the wealth of pictures on the walls, among which are portraits of many of his revered ancestors. He stands in amazement before them. There is a Titian, there a Raphael, there is a Correggio, and there is a Giorgione. He says, "I never had any idea of these before." "Ah, "says the steward, "there is many another thing that you know nothing about in the castle, "and he takes him from room to room and shows carved plate, and wonderful statues, and the man exclaims, "Here I have been for a score of years the owner of this estate, and have never before known what things were in it." But no architect ever conceived of such an estate as God's word, and no artist, or carver, or sculptor, ever conceived of such pictures, and carved dishes, and statues as adorn its apartments. It contains treasures that silver, and gold, and precious stones are not to be mentioned with. Henry Ward Beecher, 1872. Ps 119:18. That I may behold wondrous things. The great end of the Word of God in the Psalmist's time, as now, was practical; but there is a secondary use here referred to, which is worthy of consideration,” its power of meeting man's faculty of wonder. God knows our frame, for he made it, and he must have adapted the Bible to all its parts. If we can show this, it may be another token that the book comes from Him who made man... That God has bestowed upon man the faculty of wonder we all know. It is one of the first and most constant emotions in our nature. We can see this in children, and in all whose feelings are still fresh and natural. It is the parent of the desire to know, and all through life it is urging men to enquire. John Ker. Ps 119:18. Wondrous things out of thy law. In 118 we had the "wondrous" character of redemption; in Ps 119 we have the "wonders" (Psalms 119:18; Psalms 119:27; Psalms 119:129), of God's revelation. William Kay, 1871. Ps 119:18-19. When I cannot have Moses to tell me the meaning, saith Saint Augustine, give me that Spirit that thou gavest to Moses. And this is that which every man that will understand must pray for: this David prayed for; "Open thou mine eyes that I may see the wonders of the Law" and (Psalms 119:19) hide not thy commandments from me. And Christ saith, "If you, being evil, can give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" so that then we shall see the secrets of God. Richard Stock, (1626). HINTS TO PREACHERS. Ps 119:18. 1. The precious casket: "Thy law." 2. The invisible treasure: "wondrous things." 3. The miraculous eyesight: "that I may behold." 4. The divine oculist: "Open thou mine eyes." Ps 119:18. ”The hidden wonders of the gospel. There are many hidden things in nature; many in our fellow men; so there are many in the Bible. The things of the Bible are hidden because of the blindness of Man. 1. The blind man's sorrow: "Open mine eyes." I cannot see. I have eyes and see not. The pain of this conscious blindness when a man really feels it. 2. The blind man's conviction: "That I may behold wondrous, "etc. There are wondrous things there to be seen. I am sure of it. There is a wonderful view, (a) of sin; (b) of hell, as its desert; (c) of One ready to save; (d) of perfect pardon; (e) of God's love: (f) of all sufficient grace; (g) of heaven. 3. The blind man's wisdom. The fault is in my eyes, not in thy word. "Open my eyes, "and all will be well. The reason for not seeing is because the eyes are blinded by sin. There is nothing wanting in the Bible. 4. The blind man's prayer: "Open thou mine eyes." (a) I cannot open them. (b) My dearest friends cannot. (c) Only thou canst. "Lord, I pray thee, now open them." Many seek to stop such praying. Be like Bartimaeus who "cried so much the more." 5. The blind man's anticipation: "That I may behold." (a) The joy of a cured blind man when he is about to behold, for the first time, the beauties of nature. (b) The joy of the spiritually healed when they begin "looking unto Jesus." (c) The personal character of the joy: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold." I have hitherto had to see through the eyes of others. I would depend on other eyes no longer. The glad anticipation of Job: "Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another." Frederick G. Marchant, 1882. Ps 119:18. God's word suited to man's sense of wonder. 1. We shall make some remarks on the sense of wonder in man, and what generally excites it. One of the first causes of wonder is the new or unexpected. The second source is to be found in things beautiful and grand. A third source is the mysterious which surrounds man” there are things unknowable. 2. God has made provision for this sense of wonder in his revealed word. The Bible addresses our sense of wonder by constantly presenting the new and unexpected to us; it sets before us things beautiful and grand. If we come to the third source of wonder, that which raises it to awe, it is the peculiar province of the Bible to deal with this. 3. The means we are to use in order to have God's word thus unfolded” the prayer of the Psalmist may be our guide” "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." John Ker, of Glasgow, 1877. Ps 119:18. Wondrous sights for opened eyes. 1. The wondrous things in God's law. A wondrous rule of life. A wondrous curse against transgression. A wondrous redemption from the curse shadowed forth in the ceremonial law. 2. Special eyesight needed to behold them. They are spiritual things. Men are spiritually blind. 1Corinthians 2:14. 3. Personal prayer to the Great Opener of eyes. C. A. D. Psam 119:18 The Wondrous Law James Hastings - Great Texts of the Bible (Psalm 119-18 The Wondrous Law) Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold Wondrous things out of thy law. Ps. 119:18. This is a very uncommon idea—that wonder should be the result of intellectual development or the "opening of the eyes." The prevailing notion is the reverse—that wonder belongs to the primitive age alike of the individual and of the race. We say colloquially, "I opened my eyes in astonishment"; the Psalmist’s expression is the converse, "I became astonished by opening my eyes." What the Psalmist says is that the marvels of life escape us by reason of our ignorance. His prayer is just the contrary of the common prayer. The common prayer is, "Make me a simple child again that I may feel the mystery of all things and bow with reverence before them." But the Psalmist says," Emancipate me from the ignorance of childhood, for it is only when I shall see with the eyes of a man that I shall behold the mystery, the marvel, the unfathomable depth, of that ocean on whose bosom I live and move and have my being." ¶ Do we find that the sense of wonder belongs to children? Not so. The sense of mystery is precisely what a child does not feel. He asks many questions; but he will accept the crudest answers as quite adequate explanations. He has not a consciousness of limitation. He has a feeling of power beyond his strength; he will put out his hand to catch the moon. He does not at an early date inquire where he came from. He does not ask who made a watch or who made the sun. To him the watch and the sun are both alive—moving by their own strength, upheld by their own power. His eyes are not opened, and therefore his wonder is not awake. To wake his wonder you must unbar the door of his mind. The mystery comes with his experience—not with the want of it. I do not read that man marvelled in Eden; I do that they marvelled in Galilee. Eden was as wonderful as Galilee; but the eyes were not opened. Knowledge is the parent of mystery. Experience is the forerunner of reverence. Only they who have let down the pitcher can utter the cry, "The well is deep." ¶ Mr. Morley, in his Life of Gladstone, speaking of his entrance into college life at Oxford, says: "It was from Gladstone’s introduction into this enchanted and inspiring world that we recognize the beginning of the wonderful course which was to show how great a thing the life of a man may be made." So with Christian. Here, in the Interpreter’s House, his spiritual experiences really begin. He is no longer in the outer circle of the world’s empty life; he has come within the circle of God’s direct purposes and protecting power. Dangers he will have to meet, trials of faith and courage; the Hill of Difficulty, the Valley of Humiliation, the Castle of Giant Despair, the struggle with Apollyon—all this is before him. But he is on the pilgrim-road to Zion. There is the sweet companionship; there are the wonders by the way—the Interpreter’s House, the Cross where the burden is removed, the Palace Beautiful, the sight of the Delectable Mountains, the River of the Water of Life. So whatever might be the difficulties, Christian was on enchanted ground. He was near to God. He was on the path whose end was heaven. The wicket gate admits him to the rich field of Christian experience: the only experience that has any lasting value. I 1. The sense of wonder is one of our most useful emotions. The mind cannot remain long in a state of monotony without something like pain, or if it does, it is a sign of the low level to which it has sunk. It has a craving after what is fresh, and God has provided for this in the form of the world. He has made the works of nature pass before us with a perpetually diversified face. He has created summer and winter, and so ordered the sun that it has probably never set with the same look since man first saw it. Those works of nature are constantly turning up new subjects of thought and study, and will do so, during the world’s existence; while, at the same time, the world itself is weaving an ever-shifting and many-coloured web of history. In all this there is a stimulus to man to lead him to look and think. ¶ Not by "mathesis," not by deduction, or construction, not by measuring, or searching, canst thou find out God, but only by the faithful cry from the roadside of the world as He passes—"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." In that prayer you have literally expressed to you, not in any wise as we too carelessly assume metaphorically, the two functions of the exercised senses, of which you have so often, I fear incredulously, heard me affirm the necessary connexion—the discerning of what is beautiful and of what is right. "Wondrous things out of thy law." Wondrous, not as to the uneducated senses they are in terror, but wondrous to the educated senses in gentleness and delight; so that while to the modern demonstrator of the laws of Nature they become mysterious as dreadful in their tyranny, to the ancient perceiver of the laws of Heaven they became lovely no less than wondrous: in the tenderness and the voice of the Borgo Allegri, at the feet of the Mother of Christ, was joy no less of allegiance than wonder—"Oh, how love I thy law." 2. Wonder rises into admiration as we contemplate things that are grand and beautiful. There is a chord in the human heart to which the beautiful and sublime respond, whether these appear in the material or in the spiritual world. If we could only take men away for a little out of the dull, dead round, and from the corroding and often debasing things that draw them down in their common life, there are objects such as these appealing to them daily and hourly, and asking them if they have not a soul. Rich sunsets and moonlit skies are there, only requiring eyes to see them, and acts of self-devotion and heroism are being performed, and lives of patient suffering led, under our sight, which are as capable of thrilling us as anything recorded in history. ¶ At a later time the Maréchale delivered addresses in other cities of France—such as Nîmes, Marseilles, Havre, Rouen, Lyons—and she was everywhere astonished to find that the French, who seem the most thoughtless, are yet among the most thoughtful people in the world. The result of such Conférences as these cannot be tabulated. For one thing, they made the Maréchale more than ever a mother-confessor and spiritual director. The thoughts of many hearts were revealed to her at private interviews of which no record was kept, and in letters, one of which may be given:— "Your marvellous faith, your simple and powerful eloquence so deeply moved me that I cannot but thank you. I thank you as an artist, as a sincere admirer of beautiful work, of great characters; I thank you as a man blasé, sceptical, benumbed and deadened. As a child I adored Jesus, and now, after having thought much and suffered infinite pains which you cannot understand, I have said adieu to faith and also adieu to hope! I have become one of those you call sceptics. Ah! do not say ‘terrible’ sceptic, but unfortunate, pitiable, unhappy sceptic. You are, Madame, a great, beautiful, generous heart, and if ever earnest good wishes have been worth anything, I have cherished them for you, your work, and those who fight by your side. You will believe me, an unbeliever, who envies you, admires you, and ideally loves you." 3. Wonder and admiration deepen into awe as we realize the mystery of life. A reflective mind can take but a very few steps in thinking till it comes upon this. It is not so much that there are things unknown around us as that there are things unknowable, that there is an infinite and a mystery in the universe which we cannot now penetrate, and which may for ever stretch beyond us. The tokens of man’s highest nature lie not in his being able to comprehend but in his ability to feel that there are things which he cannot comprehend, and which he yet feels to be true and real, before which he is compelled to fall down in reverent awe. It is here, above all, that man comes into contact with religion, with a God, with an eternity; and he in whom there is little sense of wonder, or in whom it has been blunted and degraded, will have a proportionately feeble impression of these grand subjects which the soul can feel to be real but can never fully grasp. ¶ I can call my Father a brave man (ein Tapferer). Man’s face he did not fear; God he always feared: his Reverence, I think, was considerably mixed with Fear. Yet not slavish Fear; rather Awe, as of unutterable Depths of Silence, through which flickered a trembling Hope. How he used to speak of Death (especially in late years) or rather to be silent, and look of it! There was no feeling in him here that he cared to hide: he trembled at the really terrible; the mock-terrible he cared nought for.—That last act of his Life; when in the last agony, with the thick ghastly vapours of Death rising round him to choke him, he burst through and called with a man’s voice on the great God to have mercy on him: that was like the epitome and concluding summary of his whole Life. God gave him strength to wrestle with the King of Terrors, as it were even then to prevail. All his strength came from God, and ever sought new nourishment there. God be thanked for it. II 1. There is nothing so wonderful as God’s law; indeed, it may justly be said to include in itself all that is most wonderful—all that truly merits our admiration—all that will really reward our curiosity. For what is it? The Psalmist here was not thinking merely of the law given to Moses or of the words written in any book, however sacred. He was not thinking of spoken words or written characters, but of eternal realities. He was an earnest man, and his mind sought to be in contact with truth itself; he was a pious man, and his heart longed for nothing less or lower than communion with the living God. He felt himself in the Divine presence, and he felt that the Divine law was within and around him. The Bible tells us much about the law of God, but it is only by a figure of speech that we call it the law of God or even that it contains the law of God. In the Bible and other books we have the statements of God’s laws, but these laws themselves are far too real to be in any book. 2. It is the law of God that keeps the stars in their courses, regulates the movements of the seas and the revolutions of the earth, develops the plant and organizes the animal, works in our instincts and guides our reason, marks out the path of humanity and determines the rise and fall, the weal and woe, of nations, and measures out to virtue and vice their due rewards in time and eternity. It is not truly separable from God Himself, but is the whole of the modes in which He manifests His power, and wisdom, and goodness in the universe,—the whole of the ways in which He operates through matter and spirit, in creation, providence, and redemption, as Father and King and Judge. Hence it is that we say it is not only most wonderful but includes in itself all that is wonderful. The wonders of physical nature, of the human soul and human history, and of redeeming love and grace, are all wonders of that law of God which the Psalmist longed and prayed to behold—that law which ruleth alike in what is least and in what is greatest, to which all things in heaven and earth do homage, the seat of which is the bosom of the Eternal, the voice of which is the harmony of the universe. ¶ I read in the Bible that God has "set his glory in the heavens," but in merely reading this I do not see that glory; it is only to be seen by "considering the heavens, which are the work of God’s fingers; the moon and the stars, which he has ordained." This terrible law—"the wages of sin is death"—has been published in the Bible, but it does not exist and work in the Bible; it exists and works in the lives of sinful beings like you and me, and if we do not see it in ourselves we shall never see it at all, although we read a thousand times the words which announce it. So with its gracious counterpart—"the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ." These blessed words point us to the most consoling law in all the universe, but they point us away from themselves; and only by our souls coming into communion with a living God through a living Saviour can they behold the wonders of mercy and truth which are in that law. ¶ Really, so far as spiritual vision is concerned, the angels must look upon this earth as a big blind asylum. We see close to us, but not afar off; we see the surface, and miss the depths; we see not as wide awake, but as those who rub their eyes hardly knowing whether they wake or sleep. Have I seen the "wondrous things" out of God’s law—the things which accompany salvation. Many feel the intellectual interest of God’s Word, enjoy its eloquence, extol its moral worth, or they appreciate its prudential wisdom, like Napoleon, who put it in the political section of his library; but they do not grasp its spiritual, saving message. They gather shining pebbles and painted shells, and overlook the pearl of great price. Oh! to see the wondrous depths of redeeming love! Whilst I study systems of theology and search the commentaries of exegetes do I sufficiently remember the promised Revealer and wait His illumination? "Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things." III 1. The most wonderful of all laws are God’s moral and spiritual laws. They are the laws of God in a far higher sense than other laws. The laws of the physical world might have been quite different from what they are. God made them to be what they are by making the physical world itself what it is. If He had made quite a different material world with quite other laws, He would have been none the less God, the true object of our worship. But He did not make the fundamental laws of moral life to be what they are by any mere forthputting of His will. They are eternal and unchangeable. That God should alter them would be for Him to cease to be wise and righteous and holy and loving. It would be for Him to cease to be God. The wonders of these laws are thus the wonders of the Divine nature, and far greater, therefore, than any wonders of created nature. At the same time, these laws are the laws of our natures, of our spirits, of what is much higher and much more wonderful than anything else to be beheld in nature. "On earth," it has been said, "there is nothing great but man, and in man there is nothing great but mind." And certainly a soul is a far more wonderful thing than even a star, a spiritual being than a material world, and its laws are far more wonderful. It is spiritual law that determines men’s relations to their God and to one another, and it is on obedience or disobedience to it that the weal or woe of individuals or societies chiefly depends, so that all the marvels and mysteries of human nature and destiny gather round it. ¶ I am not quite sure that the sole, or even chief, end of punishment is the reformation of the offender. I think a great deal of law. Law rules Deity; and its awful majesty is above individual happiness. That is what Kant calls "the categorical imperative," that is, a sense of duty which commands categorically or absolutely—not saying "it is better," but "thou shalt." Why? Because "thou shalt," that is all. It is not best to do right—thou must do right; and the conscience that feels that, and in that way, is the nearest to Divine humanity. Not that law was made, like the Sabbath, for man, but man was made for it. He is beneath it, a grain of dust before it; it moves on, and if he will not move before it, it crushes him; that is all, and that is punishment. I fancy that grand notion of law is what we have lost, what we require to get, before we are in a position to discuss the question of punishment at all, or to understand what it is. 2. To behold fully how wonderful the law is—how sacred God regards it to be—how terrible disobedience to it is—it is to the cross we must look; to the cross, towering high above all other subjects, in the midst of the ages, in the presence of the nations, to show sin in all its hideousness and righteousness in all its perfections. If we can see no wonders in the law which Christ died to satisfy and glorify, if we do not see it to be unspeakably more wonderful than all the other laws, assuredly our blindness is great indeed, and we cannot too earnestly cry to a merciful God, "Open Thou mine eyes." ¶ In a letter to her father Miss Nightingale says: "What I dislike in Renan is not that it is fine writing, but that it is all fine writing. His Christ is the hero of a novel; he himself, a successful novel-writer. I am revolted by such expressions as charmant, delicieux, religion du pur sentiment, in such a subject.… As for the ‘religion of sentiment,’ I really don’t know what he means. It is an expression of Balzac’s. If he means the ‘religion of love,’ I agree and do not agree. We must love something loveable. And a religion of love must certainly include the explaining of God’s character to be something loveable—of God’s ‘providence,’ which is the self-same thing as God’s Laws, as something loving and loveable. On the other hand I go along with Christ, not with Renan’s Christ, far more than most Christians do. I do not think that ‘Christ on the Cross’ is the highest expression hitherto of God—not in the vulgar meaning of the Atonement—but God does hang on the Cross every day in every one of us; the whole meaning of God’s ‘providence,’ i.e. His laws, is the Cross. When Christ preaches the Cross, when all mystical theology preaches the Cross, I go along with them entirely. It is the self-same thing as what I mean when I say that God educates the world by His laws, i.e. by sin—that man must create mankind—that all this evil, i.e. the Cross, is the proof of God’s goodness, is the only way by which God could work out man’s salvation without a contradiction. You say, but there is too much evil. I say, there is just enough (not a millionth part of a grain more than is necessary) to teach man by his own mistakes,—by his sins, if you will—to show man the way to perfection in eternity—to perfection which is the only happiness." IV Man’s eyes are veiled, so that he sees but a little way into God’s law. Our intellectual perception of law is one thing and I our spiritual perception of God in law is a very different thing. To see law itself we need only a clear and disciplined understanding. To see God in law we need spiritual discernment. The eye sees only what it brings with it the power of seeing. And neither mere bodily vision nor mere intellectual vision will enable us to behold spiritual reality. The things of the spirit must be spiritually discerned. ¶ When on a serene night millions of stars sparkle in the depths of the sky, any man who has bodily eyes, although he may have no talent and culture, has only to raise them upwards to embrace at a glance all the splendours of the firmament, and thereby to receive into his soul, at least in some measure, the impressions which so sublime a spectacle is fitted to produce. But there may stand beside him one whose intellectual ability is far greater, and who has improved that ability to the utmost by diligent and carefully directed exercise, yet if Providence have denied to him the blessing of sight, in vain for him will there be all magnificence. There is another sky, and one far grander than the azure vault which is stretched over our heads, and this mystic sky is filled with the stars of Divine truth, the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of infinite wisdom, the bounties of Divine beneficence, the beauties of absolute holiness, the marvels of redeeming love, the riches of the Godhead, the glories of Father, Son, and Spirit, shining far more bright and pure than the sun at noonday. And yet to great men, to the wise of this world, to the most scholarly and the most scientific of men, they may be quite invisible, although they are lighting up with their Divine radiance the path of the simple peasant and causing his heart to leap and sing with joy as he beholds them. ¶ remember very well when Sir Redvers Buller came home from South Africa, in almost the first speech he made after landing at Southampton, he drew attention to the immense superiority of the Boer over the Briton in the matter of vision. Accustomed to the clear atmosphere and vast distances of South Africa, the Boer had brought his sight faculty to such a pitch of perfection that he could see a moving object a mile or two farther off than the average Englishman could, with the result that he was aware of the approach of the English soldier long before the Englishman became aware of his nearness. And Sir Redvers did not hesitate to set down some of our calamities and disasters and defeats to this cause. 1. One cause of this blindness is a hereditary defect in the unbelieving heart, a natural congenital blindness, which the lapse of years has not cured. We are all born blind, and remain blind to moral and spiritual truth long after birth. Discernment between right and wrong, a sense of duty, a sense of failure and secret shame in consequence, is a state or faculty into which we can grow only after we have lived as mere animals about four or five years. It takes some years longer before we grow into knowledge of the ideas of character, of trustworthiness in parents, of their unselfish love, and of the intense kindness of that discipline which at first we resisted and resented. Before that development we were blind, we could not discern spiritual things; we, could not know what true love is, for love is the most spiritual of all human faculties. It crowns the climax of all strictly human qualities. But, though it seems incredible, it is true that some men and women have grown up without any moral sense being developed, and also without any knowledge or sense of true love. ¶ I came across a man well advanced in years who confided to me that he believed neither in God nor in a future life. I at once asked him: "Did you ever really love any one in the world?" After some days’ reflection, he replied to me: "No, I don’t think I ever did love anybody—at least, not as you define true love." Now, if you cannot get as far as love in human development, you must, of course, be blind to God. You cannot see Him, cannot take any pleasure in the thought of Him, but must be practically dead towards Him. 2. Another cause of blindness is to be found in the conditions of life which are either forced upon us or have been chosen by ourselves. The worst and most widespread of these conditions is absorption in the concerns and pleasures of this life. Rich and poor alike suffer from this absorption, yet the rich suffer from it far more than the poor. Want and distress may open our eyes to God, fulness and luxury never. So long as our hearts are fixed wholly on worldly good and animal indulgence, our souls are utterly blind to God and to all spiritual things. ¶ Christian saw in Interpreter’s House two boys, Passion and Patience. Passion had a bag of gold in his hand, but Patience was willing to take his Governor’s advice and wait for his good things till the next year. And these two boys, says John Bunyan, are typical of the worldly man and the true Christian. The worldly man, with his favourite proverb of "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," wants his good things at once; he wants his bag of gold in the hand, not seeming to realize that his money must perish with him; but the Christian is willing to do without this world’s wealth, because he looks not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. ¶ A scientist delivered a lecture a little time ago in which he maintained, on the basis of studies started by the observation of the eye of a wounded bird, that all diseases of the body register themselves in the eye, that it was even possible to judge the location of the disease by the part of the pupil affected. Whether this can be demonstrated or not, there is no doubt that the eye has its connexion with organs of the body that are less honourably placed, and is affected by their accidents and disquietudes. Diseases of the blood and of the digestive functions cloud and vex the sight. You shall not be careless of your eating and drinking and maintain clear vision. The mists and the filmy globes which float before the eye are the indices of things wrong in parts of the system that are remote from the eye itself, and to be remedied by neither eye-lotions nor glasses. So neglect of the spiritual life results in blurred spiritual vision. 3. Above and beyond these things which naturally darken our souls, there lie the conditions which we may create for ourselves. Not knowing anything about the soul and the spiritual life, some steep themselves in studies and occupations which prevent all entrance of light into their minds concerning God and His ways. They keep the company of irreligious and unbelieving men like themselves. They pore over essays and volumes which not only throw not a gleam of light upon the spiritual world, but are purposely written to shut it out, to make it more and more difficult to see God, to deepen the darkness in which they started on their search for what they call "Truth." Thus, blind at the beginning, they take for their guides men and books still more blind than themselves, and flounder on with ever less and less power to recover their sight. And all the while they studiously neglect those means by which their eyes may be opened. They never lift up their hearts to God. They avoid all thoughts of religion unless only to sneer at it, or to look down upon it with supercilious curiosity. They never attend public worship or put themselves in the way of hearing what they never have heard. "What is the use," cry the more intelligent among them—"what is the use of praying to a God who is absolutely unknowable?" But they forget that God is unknowable only to those who think Him to be so, to those who never pray. If they did but confer with those who have lifted up their hearts to God and have found Him, they might be brought to go down upon their knees to pray, "Lord, open Thou mine eyes that I may see." ¶ A little steam vessel in which I was sailing round the coast of Arran, emitted such a thick pall of smoke as to blot out the vision of Goat Fell. And sometimes our souls create those obscuring clouds and hide the glory of God. It may be the vapour of pride. It may be the steam of unclean passion. It may be the smoke of timidity and fear. O may no earth-born cloud arise To hide Thee from Thy servant’s eyes. Night comes; soon alone shall fancy follow sadly in her flight Where the fiery dust of evening, shaken from the feet of light, Thrusts its monstrous barriers between the pure, the good, the true, That our weeping eyes may strain for, but shall never after view. Only yester eve I watched with heart at rest the nebulæ Looming far within the shadowy shining of the Milky Way; Finding in the stillness joy and hope for all the sons of men; Now what silent anguish fills a night more beautiful than then: For earth’s age of pain has come, and all her sister planets weep, Thinking of her fires of morning passing into dreamless sleep. In this cycle of great sorrow for the moments that we last We too shall be linked by weeping to the greatness of her past: But the coming race shall know not, and the fount of tears shall dry, And the arid heart of man shall be arid as the desert sky. So within my mind the darkness dawned, and round me everywhere Hope departed with the twilight, leaving only dumb despair. V The Psalmist does not ask for a new faculty, but for clearer vision. The eyes are there already; they need only to be opened. It is not the bestowal of a new and supernatural power that enables a man to read the Bible to profit, but the quickening of a power he already possesses. A man will never grow into the knowledge of God’s Word by idly waiting for some new gift of discernment, but by diligently using that which God has already bestowed upon him, and using at the same time all other helps that lie within his reach. There are men and books that seem, beyond others, to have the power of aiding insight. All of us have felt it in the contact of some affinity of nature which makes them our best helpers; the kindred clay upon the eyes by which the great Enlightener removes our blindness (John 9:6). Let us seek for such, and if we find them let us employ them without leaning on them. Above all, let us give our whole mind in patient, loving study to the book itself, and where we fail, at any essential part, God will either send His evangelist Philip to our aid (Acts 8) or instruct us Himself. But it is only to patient, loving study that help is given. God could have poured all knowledge into us by easy inspiration, but it is by earnest search alone that it can become the treasure of the soul. 1. If we are to get spiritual sight our prayer must be sincere. The old Hebrew poet, speaking with a true insight confirmed by experience, says: "If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; yea, if thou seek him diligently with thy whole heart." That is the secret. It will not do to be seeking God with a heart looking back to the idol which had taken His place. It will not do to be wanting to have God and the idol at one and the same time. God has made that to be impossible for the soul of man. One God or idol at a time, or not God at all. And while any lingering love for the idol remains, there is no room for God to enter in. It is not His fault, or His unwillingness, or His jealousy. But it is our own Divine incapacity to trifle or dissemble with Him; it is our own Divine necessity for wholeness, for uprightness and sincerity, that makes any attempt at double-mindedness futile. ¶ An old colleague and friend of Denholm Brash writes:— "Chief among my impressions of his excellences is that of his utter sincerity. It was so invariable that it bewildered the average man. He never troubled about maintaining any position he might have taken up yesterday. He told you what he thought to-day; every passing mood was faithfully reflected in his words; the fleeting opinion or feeling was not concealed. You were allowed to trace processes in his thought which most men hide from view.… I have seen him confound an old fox of a man by sheer candour. He left the enemy breathless with surprise at a simplicity he had thought faded out of the world with Eden. The man’s arts would have been a match for any arts they encountered, but artlessness dumbfounded him. The armour of light not only defended the wearer, but dismayed the assailant. Never was this servant of truth ‘off duty,’ and with the audacious simplicity of love he would attack an apparently impregnable fortress, and with one well-planted shot would bring a whole pile of hypocrisies toppling down. He had a short method with some of these Goliaths which worked wonders." 2. We must bring our hearts into harmony with the law. At South Kensington there is a clock made above 500 years ago under the hammer of a Glastonbury monk. It has measured out the moments of fifteen generations of men. That piece of mechanism has done and is still doing its maker’s will. It has served its maker’s purpose. It fulfils his praiseworthy intention and so praises him. Every stroke of its pendulum is to the glory of the Glastonbury smith. The thing has done good and done right. It keeps (so to say) its maker’s commandment. What he meant it to do it has done well and truly. Perhaps it may seem a little strained to apply such phraseology to a piece of inanimate mechanism, but it will surely aid us in seeing what the moralist means by telling men to live as they were meant to live. Think of this clockwork of the brain, this delicate mechanism of thought and feeling. Year in, year out, the restless wheels of desire and feeling, of thought and passion, play into one another and mark results on the solemn dial of life. Matters may be so mismanaged as to put the machinery into a whirl of wild confusion. It is, on the other hand, possible to secure such inward adjustment, such balance, such regulative control, such true impulse, as to make the soul a splendid harmony and the life a utility which men acknowledge with reverence and benediction. With God’s works as with man’s the essential thing is to be true to the Maker’s purpose. There is a commandment, a Divine intention, to which every one must be true. "Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn thy commandment." ¶ The Lord will draw us and securely lead us to Himself, in a way contrary to all our natural will, until He have divested us thereof, and consumed it and made it thoroughly subject unto the Divine will. For this is His will: that we should cease to regard our own wishes or dislikes; that it should become a light matter to us whether He give or take away, whether we have abundance or suffer want, and let all things go, if only we may receive and apprehend God Himself; that, whether things please or displease us, we may leave all things to take their course and cleave to Him alone. Then first do we attain to the fulness of God’s love as His children, when it is no longer happiness or misery, prosperity or adversity, that draws us to Him, or keeps us back from Him. What we should then experience none can utter; but it would be something far better than when we were burning with the first flame of love, and had great emotion but less true submission; for here, though there may be less show of zeal, and less vehemence of feeling, there is more true faithfulness to God. That we may attain thereunto, may God help us with His grace. Amen! 3. In proportion as we love and obey the law, its wonders unfold themselves to our cleansed vision. Emerson says in his essay on Nature, "The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired so long as we can see far enough." It is quite true that wide vision is refreshing. We have all been more depressingly tired in our own houses than on the broad upland and under the open sky. The mountaineer in his loftiest adventure knows no such oppressive weariness as the woman who sits "in unwomanly rags plying her needle and thread." The man with the widest and furthest vision is the man with the most exuberant energy. Jesus, even with Gethsemane and Calvary before Him, is not so weary of life as Judas. St. Paul in labours more abundant is never so jaded as Nero. The early Christian martyrs, with their vision of the Name, amid all the unspeakable horror of their torture, were not so weary of their sufferings as their persecutors were weary of their persecution. They might still sing, as Chesterton splendidly puts it in the "Ballad of the White Horse," That on you is fallen the shadow, And not upon the Name; That though we scatter and though we fly And you hang over us like the sky, You are more tired of victory Than we are tired of shame. That though you hunt the Christian man Like a hare on the hill side, The hare has still more heart to run Than you have heart to ride. That though all lances split on you, All swords be heaved in vain, We have more lust again to lose Than you to win again. Literature Bramston (J. T.), Fratribus, 125. Campbell (L.), The Christian Ideal, 109. Farrar (F. W.), The Voice front Sinai, 85. Ferguson (F.), in Sermons on the Psalm, 115. King (E.), The Love and Wisdom of God, 294. Knight (W.), Things New and Old, 172. Roberts (A.), Miscellaneous Sermons, 295. Selby (T. G.), The Strenuous Gospel, 380. Stanley (A. P.), Sermons in the East, 123. Thomas (J.), Myrtle Street Pulpit, iii. 19. Christian World Pulpit, xxxvii. 355 (M. Bryce); l. 121 (E. King). Preacher’s Magazine, ii. 220 (W. Hawkins). Sunday Magazine, 1891, p. 171 (S. A. Tipple). Treasury (New York), xxi. 675 (H. C. Swentzel). John