Salmos 119

Salmos 119

Wesley wrote, God "braks the power of canceled sin; He sets the prisoner free." He says, "If you submit to me, together we will enjoy truth and love." * * * Are you enjoying real freedom in your Christian life? If not, you may have real freedom by submitting to the will of God. He gives us His Word so that we may know His will. Submit to Him and take your first step toward freedom (Psalm 119:41-48 Real Freedom) Charles Bridges - Footnotes follow each section A prayer of deep anxiety—large desire—simple faith! It is a sinner—feeling his need of mercy—yea mercies—abundant mercy1—mercies for every moment—looking for them only in the Lord’s salvation—to be dispensed according to his word. Out of Christ we know only a God of justice and holiness. In Christ we behold a just God, and yet a Saviour:2 and in “his salvation mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”3 Therefore general notions of mercy without a distinct apprehension of “salvation”—have their origin in presumption, not in warranted faith. For can there be any communication of mercy from an unknown God? Can there be any intercourse with an angry God? “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee”4—“The Lord’s mercies, even his salvation.” This prayer, however, is peculiarly suitable to the believer, longing to realize that which sometimes is clouded to his view—his personal interest in the Lord’s salvation! It must come to me; or I shall never come to it. I want not a general apprehension—I am not satisfied with the description of it. Let it come to me—let thy mercies be applied, so that I can claim them and rejoice in them. I see thy salvation come to others. Who needs it more than I? Let it come also unto me. Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou used to do to those that love thy name. “Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest to thy people; O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the felicity of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.”5 Now, are we seeking the assurance of this salvation? Are we waiting to realize its present power, saving us from sin—Satan—the world—ourselves—and “blessing us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus?” Should a trial of faith and patience be ordained for us, yet in the end we shall find an enriching store of experience from His wise dispensations. That he has kept us from turning our backs upon his ways, when we had no comfort in them; that he has upheld us with secret supplies of strength—is not this the work of his own Spirit within, and the pledge of the completion of the work? That he has enabled us, against all discouragements, to “continue instant in prayer,” is surely an answer to that prayer, which in our apprehensions of it had been cast out. That in waiting upon him, we have found no rest in worldly consolation, is an assurance that the Lord himself will be our soul-satisfying and eternal portion. And who is there now in the sensible enjoyment of his love, who does not bless that Divine wisdom, which took the same course with them that has been taken with us, to bring them to these joys? 1 Psalm 51:1. 2 Isa. 45:21. 3 Psalm 85:9, 10. Comp. Rom. 3:26. 4 Job 22:21. 5 Ps 119:132. Psalm 106:4, 5. When did a weeping seed-time fail of bringing a joyful harvest!1 But let not the ground of faith be forgotten—“According to thy word,”—that it shall come fully—freely—eternally—to him that waiteth for it.2 “Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness; those that remember thee in thy ways.”3 Many indeed are satisfied with far too low a standard of spiritual enjoyments. It is comfortless to live at a distance from our Father’s house, when we might be dwelling in the secret of his presence, and rejoicing in the smiles of his love. But let us not charge this dishonorable state upon the sovereignty of the Divine dispensations. Let us rather trace it to its true source—want of desire—want of faith—want of prayer—want of diligence. What infinite need have we of heavenly influence! What gracious encouragement to seek it! The way was blocked up—mercy has cleared the path, opened our access.—“The golden sceptre is always held out.”4 Earnest prayer will bring a sure answer. The blessing is unspeakable. Let thy mercies—thy salvation—come unto me, O Lord. 1 Psalm 126:5, 6. 2 Psalm 33:22. Compare Ps 5:1. 3 Isaiah 64:5. 4 Esther 5:2. Psalm 119:42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word. So shall (KJV): Ps 3:2 42:10 71:10,11 109:25 Mt 27:40-43,63 have wherewith (KJV): etc. or, answer him that reproacheth me in a thing, 2Sa 16:7,8 19:18-20 for I trust (KJV): Ps 119:49,74,81 56:4,10,11 89:19-37 2Sa 7:12-16 1Ch 28:3-6 Ac 27:25 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word - We trust the Bible about everything, because it is right about everything (v128). It is true and can be trusted wholly. To argue with the Bible is to argue with God. We test every other book by what God says in His Word. Charles Bridges - What is the salvation which he had just been speaking of? The whole gift of the mercy of God—redemption from sin, death, and hell—pardon, peace, and acceptance with a reconciled God—constant communication of spiritual blessings—all that God can give or we can want; all that we are able to receive here, or heaven can perfect hereafter. Now, if this “comes to us”—comes to our hearts—surely it will furnish us at all times with “an answer to him that reproacheth us.” The world casts upon us the reproach of the cross. “What profit is there to walk mournfully before the Lord of Hosts?”5 What is there to counterbalance the relinquishment of pleasure, esteem, and worldly comfort? The professor can give no answer. He has heard of it, but it has never come to him. The believer is ready with his answer, I have found in the Lord’s salvation pardon and peace—“not as the world giveth”—and such as the world cannot take away. Here therefore do I abide, finding it my happiness not to live without the cross, and testifying in the midst of abounding tribulation, that there are no comforts like Christ’s comforts. This was David’s answer, when family trials were probably an occasion of reproach, “Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation and all my desire.”1 But there is a far heavier reproach than that of the world—when the grand accuser injects hard thoughts of God—when he throws our guilt and unworthiness—our helplessness and difficulties in our face. And how severe is this exercise in a season of spiritual desertion! Except the believer can stay his soul upon “a God that hideth himself, as still the God of Israel, the Saviour,”2 he is unprepared with an answer to him that reproacheth him. Such appears to have been Job’s condition,3 and Heman’s,4 not to speak of many of the Lord’s most favored people, at different stages of their Christian life. Most important therefore is it for us to pray for a realizing sense of the Lord’s mercies—even of his salvation—not only as necessary for our peace and comfort—but to garrison us against every assault, and to enable us to throw down the challenge, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.”5 Free grace has saved me—an unspotted righteousness covers me—an Almighty arm sustains me—eternal glory awaits me. Who shall condemn? “Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?”6 Now for this bold front to our enemies, nothing is wanted beyond the reach of the weakest child of God. No extraordinary holiness—no Christian establishment in experience—nothing but simple, humble faith, “For I trust in thy word.” Faith makes this salvation ours, in all its fulness 5 Malachi 3:14. 1 2 Sam. 23:5. 2 Isaiah 45:15. 3 Job 6, 7, 9. 4 Ps. 88. 5 Micah 7:8. 6 Rom. 8:33–39. and almighty power; and therefore our confidence “in the word” will make us “ready always to give an answer to every one that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear.”7 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that riseth against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord; and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.8 But how often is our Christian boldness paralyzed by our feeble apprehensions of the salvation of God! Clear and full evangelical views are indispensable for the effective exercise of our weighty obligations. Any indistinctness here, from its necessary mixture of self-righteousness and unbelief, obscures the warrant of our personal interest, and therefore hinders that firm grasp of Almighty strength. Coldness and formality also deaden the power of Christian boldness. Much need therefore have we to pray for a realized perception of the freeness, fulness, holiness, and privileges of the Gospel. Much need have we to use our speedy diligence, without delay; our painful diligence, without indulgence; our continual diligence, without weariness; that we be not satisfied with remaining on the skirts of the kingdom; that it be not a matter of doubt, whether we belong to it or not; but that, grace being added to grace, “so an entrance may be ministered to us abundantly into”1 all its rich consolations and everlasting joys. 7 1 Peter 3:15. 8 Isaiah 54:17. 1 2 Peter 1:5–11. Psalm 119:43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. take not (KJV): Ps 119:13 50:16 51:14,15 71:17,18 Isa 59:21 Eph 1:13 Jas 1:18 for I have (KJV): Ps 119:52,120,175 7:6-9 9:4,16 43:1 1Pe 2:23 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. Charles Bridges - For the sake of the Church and the world, not less than for our own sakes, let us give diligence to clear up our interest in the Gospel, that “the joy of the Lord may be our strength” in his service. The want of personal assurance not only brings a loss to our soul’s own experience, but a hindrance to our own usefulness. Not only is our answer feeble to “him that reproaches us;” but our attempts to “strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees”2 of our brethren are unavailing. The dread of the charge of hypocrisy—the absence of the only “constraining” principle—“the love of Christ,”3 or the indulgence of worldly habits and conversation—stops the utterance of the word of truth, and obscures our character as a “saint of God,”4 and a witness for his name.5 Justly indeed might he punish our unfaithfulness by forbidding us to speak any more in his name; and therefore in deprecating this grievous judgment, the child of God, conscious of guilt, casts himself at the footstool of mercy—“Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth.” Not only take it not out of my heart; but let it be ready in my mouth for a confession of my master. This is a valuable prayer to preserve us from denying Christ in worldly intercourse. Let the whole weight of Christian obligation be deeply felt—faith in the heart, and confession with the mouth6—the active principle, and the practical exercise. Should we be content with the dormant principle, where would be the Church—the ordinances—the witness for God in the world? Shall we shrink from the bold confession of him who “despised the shame of the cross for us?”7 Would not this imply a distrust of our own testimony—the word of truth? Wisdom is indeed required to know when, as well as what, to speak. There is indeed “a time to keep silence,” “and the prudent shall keep silence in that time.”8 But too often a judicious caution is a self-deluding cover for the real cause of restraint—the want of apprehension of the Lord’s mercy to the soul. It will always therefore be made to examine, whether it is our cross to be “dumb with silence”—whether, when we “hold our peace even from good, our sorrow is stirred,” and our “heart hot within us, and the fire burning.”9 Sometimes the Lord may see it needful to straiten our spirits, for the discovery of our weakness, for our deeper humiliation, and more simple dependence on himself. But then will the cry—“Take not the word utterly out of my mouth”—be heard and answered. And a word spoken in weakness may be a word of Almighty power to one of the Lord’s “little ones.” Many opportunities also in our connections with the world will unexpectedly offer for the improvement 2 Isaiah 35:3. 3 2 Cor. 5:14. 4 Psalm 145:10–13. 5 See Isaiah 43:10. 6 Rom. 10:9, 10. 7 Heb. 12:2. 8 Eccl. 3:7. Amos 5:13. 9 Psalm 39:2, 3. of the wakeful heart. The common topics of earthly conversation may furnish a channel for heavenly intercourse; so that our communications even with the world may be like Jacob’s ladder, whose foot rested upon the earth, but the top reached unto the heavens.1 And oh! what a relief is it to the burdened conscience, if but a few words can be stammered out for God, even though there are no sensible refreshings of his presence upon the soul! But in order that the word of truth may come out of our mouth, it must be well stored in the heart. “Let then the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom;” that it may be ready for every opportunity of usefulness.2 When the heart is full, the mouth will flow.3 When “the heart is inditing a good matter, speaking of the things touching the king,” “our tongue will be the pen of a ready writer.”4 This prayer is the same confidence of faith that was expressed in the preceding verse, “For I have hoped in thy judgments,” an acceptable spirit of approach to God, and an earnest of the revival of life and comfort in the Lord’s best time and way. 1 Gen. 28:12. “Why do I make any of my visits to any of my neighbors, or countenance their visits unto me? Lord, I desire to let fall something, that may be for the good of the company; even, that more may be known of thee, and done for thee, from what passes in it. And when I propose to ingratiate myself unto any people by the civilities of conversation, it shall be, that I may gain thereby the better advantages to prosecute purposes upon them. In conversation, I would especially lay hold on all advantages to introduce as much as I can of a lovely Christ into the view of all that I come near unto.”—Cotton Mather, Student and Pastor, pp. 74, 75. 2 Col. 3:16. 3 Matt. 12:34. Comp. Ps. 116:10. 4 Ps. 45:1, 2. Psalm 119:44 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. So shall (KJV): The language of this verse is very emphatic. Perfect obedience will constitute a large proportion of heavenly happiness to all eternity; and the nearer we approach to it on earth, the more we anticipate the felicity of heaven. keep (KJV): Ps 119:33,34 Rev 7:15 22:11 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. Charles Bridges - The heaping up of so many words in this short verse, appears to be the struggle of the soul to express the vehemency of its longings to glorify its Saviour. And indeed the Lord’s return to us, unsealing the lips of the dumb, and putting his word again into our mouth, brings with it a fresh sense of constraining obligation. This fresh occupation in his praise and service is not only our present privilege, but an antepast of our heavenly employment, when the word will never more “be taken out of our mouth,” but we shall “talk of his wondrous works”5 “for ever and ever.” The defects in the constancy and extent of our obedience (as far as our hearts are alive to the honor of God,) must ever be our grief and burden; and the prospect of its completeness in a better world, is that which renders the anticipation of heaven so delightful. There we shall be blest with suitable feelings, and therefore be enabled to render suitable obedience—even one unbroken consecration of all our powers to his work. Then “shall we keep his law continually for ever and ever.” Once admitted to the throne of God, we “shall serve him day and night in his temple,”1—without sin—without inconstancy,—without weariness,—without end! We speak of heaven; but oh! to be there! To be engaged throughout eternity in the service of love to a God of love! In one day’s continuance in the path of obedience even here, in the midst of the defilement which stains our holiest services, how sweetly do the minutes roll away! But to be for ever employed for him, in that place, where “there shall in no wise enter anything that defileth”2—this gives an emphasis and a dignity to the heavenly joy, which may well stamp it as “unspeakable and full of glory.”3 May we not then encourage the hope, that the Lord is making us meet for heaven, by the strength and constancy of our desires to “keep the laws of God?” And is it not evident that heaven itself can afford no real delight to one, who feels the service of God on earth to be irksome? He stands self-excluded by the constitution of his nature, by the necessity of the case. He has no heart for heaven, no taste for heaven, no capacity for the enjoyment of heaven—“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”4 Heavenly, gracious Father! who and what are we, that our hearts should be made the unworthy recipients of thy grace? that our wills should be subdued into “the obedience of faith?” and that we should be permitted to anticipate that blessed period, when we shall “keep thy law continually for ever and ever!” May this prospect realize the happiness of our present obedience! May he, who has “bought us with a price” for his glory, reign in our hearts, and live upon our lips; that each of us may have his mark upon our foreheads—the seal of his property in us, and of our obligation to him—“Whose I am, and whom I serve!”5 5 Ps 119:27. 1 Rev. 7:15. 2 Rev 21:27. 3 1 Peter 1:8. 4 Rev. 22:11. 5 Acts 27:23. Psalm 119:45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. And I will (KJV): Ps 119:133 Lu 4:18 Joh 8:30-36 Jas 1:25 2:12 2Pe 2:19 at liberty (KJV): Heb. at large, Ps 119:32 for I seek (KJV): Ps 119:19,71,94,148,162 Pr 2:4,5 18:1 Ec 1:13 Joh 5:39 Eph 5:17 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. A law that gives liberty—what a paradox! Sin would have dominion over us (v133), but the Word sets us free (Jn 8:32 cp Ro6:2ff). True liberty comes in obeying God’s will. His Word is “the perfect law of liberty” (Ja1:25). Charles Bridges - Not only perseverance but liberty, is the fruit of the Lord’s mercy to our souls—not the liberty of sin—to do what we please—but of holiness—to do what we ought; the one, the iron bondage of our own will;6 the other, the easy yoke of a God of love. It was a fine expression of a heathen, “to serve God is to reign.”7 Certainly in this service David found the liberty of a king. The precepts of God were not forced upon him; for he sought them. “More to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb.”8 The way of the Lord, which to the ungodly is beset with thorns and briers, is the King’s highway of liberty. The child of God walks here in the gladness of his heart and the rejoicing of his conscience. Even in “seeking these precepts,” there is “liberty” and enlargement of heart; a natural motion, like that of the sun in his course, “going forth as a bridegroom, and rejoicing as a strong man to run a race.”1 What must it be then, to walk in the full enjoyment of the precepts! “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” “They shall sing in the ways of the Lord”—“for how great is his goodness how great is his beauty!”2 Are we then obeying the precepts as our duty, or “seeking” them as our privilege? Do we complain of the strictness of the law or the corruption of the flesh? Are the precepts or our own hearts our burden? Is sin or holiness our bondage? The only way to make religion easy is to be always in it. The glow of spiritual activity, and the healthfulness of Christian liberty are only to be found in a persevering and self-denying pursuit of every track of the ways of God—“If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed: and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”3 To have the whole stream of all our thoughts, actions, motives, desires, affections, carried in one undivided current towards God, is the complete and unrestrained influence of his love upon our hearts. The corrupt and rebellious inclinations will “last”4 to the end. But as long as indulgence is denied, conflict excited, and the constant endeavor maintained to “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”5 our liberty is established, even where it is not always 6 “I gave my will to mine enemy,” said Augustine, “and he made a chain, and bound me with it.”—Confess. viii. 5. 7 “In regno vivimus. Deo servare est regnare.”—Seneca. When the female martyr Agatha was upbraided, because, being descended of an illustrious parentage, she stooped to mean and humble offices—“Our nobility,” she replied, “lies in this; that we are the servants of Christ.”—Bishop Sumner’s Evidences, pp. 359, 360. 8 Psalm 19:10, 11. 1 Psalm 19:5. 2 2 Cor. 3:17. Psalm 138:5. Zech. 9:17. 3 John 8:31, 32, 36. 4 Gal. 5:17. 5 2 Cor. 10:5. enjoyed. Every fresh chain, by which we bind ourselves to the Lord, makes us feel more free.6 While, then, they that “promise us liberty are themselves the servants of corruption,”7 let us live as the children of God—the heirs of the kingdom—grateful—free—blood-bought souls—remembering the infinite cost, at which our liberty was purchased: and the moment of extreme peril, when we were saved. When the flesh was weak, and the “law weak through the flesh,”8 and no resolutions of ours could break us from the yoke of sin—then it was that “Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and living,”9 “delivering us from the hand of our enemies, that we might serve him without fear.”10 And then indeed do we “walk at liberty,” when we “break the bands” of all other lords “asunder,” and consecrate ourselves entirely to his precepts. “O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.”11 6 Jugum Christi non deterit, sed honestat colla.—Bernard. 7 2 Peter 2:19. Compare John 8:34. 8 Rom. 8:3. 9 Ib. 14:9. 10 Luke 1:74. 11 Isaiah 26:13. An incident in the history of ancient Rome may furnish an illustration of that full liberty and entireness of heart which forms the act of acceptable surrender to the Lord. When the people of Collatia were negotiating an unconditional capitulation to the Romans, Egerius, on the part of the Romans, inquired of the ambassadors—“Are the people of Collatia in their own power?” When an affirmative answer was given, it was next inquired—“Do you deliver up yourselves—the people of Collatia—your city, your fields, your waters, your boundaries, your temples, your utensils, all your property, divine and human, into my power and the power of the Roman people?” “We surrender all.” “And so,” said he, “I accept you.”—Livy, Book i. Such may my surrender be to the Lord! Disentangled from every other yoke, under no bonds that ought to bind me, Lord, I offer myself, and all that belongs to me, without exception or reserve, at thy feet. “But who am I, that I should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have I given thee.” 1 Chron. 29:14. Psalm 119:46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed. speak (KJV): Ps 138:1 Da 3:16-18 4:1-3,25-27 Mt 10:18,19 Ac 26:1,2,24-29 will not (KJV): Mk 8:38 Ro 1:16 Php 1:20 2Ti 1:8,16 1Pe 4:14-16 1Jn 2:28 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed. Charles Bridges - “Liberty in walking” in the Lord’s ways will naturally produce boldness in “speaking” of them. Compare the conduct of the three unshaken witnesses of the truth before the Babylonish monarch.1 Mark the difference of the spirit displayed by the Apostles, and especially by Peter, before and after the day of Pentecost.2 Look at Stephen before the council,3 and Paul before Felix,4 Festus,5 and Agrippa.6 “God had not given to them the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”7 Hear the great Apostle testifying of himself—“I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also,”—at the metropolis of the world, in the face of all opposition and contempt, and at the imminent hazard of my life—“For,” says he, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.”8 In the same determination of soul, he exhorts his dear son in the faith—“Be not thou ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me his prisoner.”9 To how many does “the fear of man bring a snare?”10 Many a good soldier has faced the cannon’s mouth with undaunted front, and yet shrunk away with a coward’s heart from the reproach of the cross, and been put to the blush even by the mention of the Saviour’s name. Far better—the son of man “strengthening you”—to brave the fiery furnace or the den of lions in his service, than like Jonah, by flinching from the cross, incur the sting of conscience and the frown of God.11 Professing Christians! Are we ready to bear our testimony for Jesus, against the sneer and ridicule of the ungodly? We are not likely to “be brought before kings and rulers for the Son of Man’s sake.”12 Yet no less do we need Divine help and strong faith in withstanding the enmity of a prejudiced relative or scornful neighbor. Young people! you are perhaps in especial danger of being ashamed of your Bible, your religion, your Saviour. You may be brought under the “snare” of the “fear of man,” and be tempted to compromise your religion, and to sacrifice your everlasting all from a dread of “the reproach of Christ.” But remember him, who for your sake 1 Dan. 3:16–18. 2 Contrast Matt. 26:56, 69, 75, with Acts 2, 3, 4, 5. We can scarcely believe that the same persons are alluded to. But the explanation of the difficulty had been given by anticipation. John 7:39. 3 Acts 6, 7. 4 Ib. 24. 5 Ib. 25. 6 Ib. 26. 7 2 Tim. 1:7. 8 Rom. 1:15, 16. 9 2 Tim. 1:8. 10 Prov. 29:25. 11 Dan. 3:16–18; 6:16–22, with Jonah 1:1–15. 12 Luke 21:12. Mark 13:9. “before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;”1 and shall the dread of a name restrain you from sharing his reproach, and banish the obligations of love and gratitude from your hearts? Have you forgotten, that you once owned the service of Satan? and will you not be as bold for Christ, as you were for him? Were you once “glorying in your shame;” and will you now be ashamed of your glory? Oh! remember who hath said, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”2 Think much and often of this word. Think on this day. Think on the station of “the fearful and unbelieving” on the left hand on that day. Think on their eternal doom.3 What is a prison to hell? What need to pray and tremble! If you are sincere in your determination, and simple in your dependence, then will the “love of Christ constrain you,”4 not to a cold, calculating, reluctant service; but to a confession of your Saviour, bold, unfettered, and “faithful even unto death.”5 Every deviation from the straight path bears the character of being ashamed of Christ. How much have you to speak in behalf of his testimonies, his ways, his love! When in danger of the influence of the fear of man, look to him for strength. He will give to you—as he gave to Stephen—“a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist.”6 Thus will you, like them, be strengthened “to profess a good profession before many witnesses.”7 1 1 Tim. 6:13. 2 Mark 8:38. 3 Rev. 21:8. 4 2 Cor. 5:14. 5 Rev. 2:10. 6 Luke 21:15, with Acts 6:10. 7 1 Tim. 6:12. Psalm 119:47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. I will delight (KJV): Ps 119:16,24 112:1 Joh 4:34 Php 2:5 1Pe 2:21 which (KJV): Ps 119:48,97,127,140,167,174 19:7-10 Job 23:11,12 Ro 7:12,16,22 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love (Ps 119:47, 48, 97,113, 119,127,159,163,167) Charles Bridges - It is but poor comfort to the believer to be able to talk well to others upon the ways of God, and even to “bear the reproach” of his people, when his own heart is cold, insensible, and dull. But why does he not rouse himself to the active exercise of faith—“I will delight myself in thy commandments?” That which is the burden of the carnal heart is the delight of the renewed soul. The former “is enmity against God; and therefore is not, and cannot be, subject to his law.”8 The latter can delight in nothing else If the Gospel separates the heart from sinful delights, it is only to make room for delights of a more elevated, satisfying, and enduring nature.9 Satan indeed generally baits his temptations with that seductive witchery, which the world calls pleasure. But has he engrossed all pleasure into his service? Are there no pleasures besides “the pleasures of sin?” Do the ways of the Lord promise nothing but difficulty and trial? What means then the experience of him, who could “rejoice in them, as much as in all riches,” and who “loved them above gold, yea, above fine gold?”10 The “fatted calf” of our Father’s house is surely a most gainful exchange for “the husks” of the “far country.”1 The delights of holiness go deeper than sensual pleasures.2 The joy of the saint is not that false, polluted, deadly joy, which is all that the worldling knows, and all that he has to look for; but it flows spontaneously from the fountain of living waters, through the pure channel of “the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” Nay, so independent is it of any earthly spring, that it never flourishes more than in the desolate wilderness or the sick-bed solitude; so that, “although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, yet we will rejoice in the Lord, we will joy in the God of our salvation.”3 The world see what religion takes away, but they see little of what it gives;4 else they would reproach—not their own folly—but their own blindness. “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.”5 The love and complacency of the soul first fixes on the commandments. Then how natural is the flow of delight in them! even at the very time that we are “abhorring ourselves in dust and ashes” for our neglect of them; and God never has our hearts, until something of this delight is felt and enjoyed. But do we complain of the dulness of our hearts, that restrains this pleasure? Let us seek for a deeper impression of redeeming love. This will be the spring of grateful obedience and holy delight. Let us turn our complaints into prayers, and the Lord will quickly turn them into praises. Let us watch against everything, that would intercept our communion with Jesus. Distance from him must be accompanied with poverty of spiritual enjoyment—“They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life; and in thy light shall we see light.”6 8 Rom. 8:7. 9 “Delectationes non amittimus, sed mutamus,” was the expression of one of the ancients. “I live a voluptuous life,” said the excellent Joseph Alleine to his wife; “but it is upon spiritual dainties, such as the world know not, nor taste not of.” 10 Ps 119:14, 127. 1 Luke 15:13–24. 2 Psalm 4:7. 3 Hab. 3:17, 18. 4 Cyprian, in one of his Epistles, (ad Donat.) mentions the great difficulty he found in overcoming the false view of the gloom of religion—little suspecting that the cause of the gloom was in himself—not in the gospel. But this is explained, Matt. 6:23. 5 Isa. 65:13, 14. 6 Ps. 36:8, 9. LOVE OF GOD'S WORD - The story is told of a poor, blind French girl who obtained a Braille copy of Mark and learned to read it with her fingers. But eventually her fingers became so calloused she could no longer distinguish letters and words. In desperation for the Word, she cut the calluses in an attempt to restore the sense of touch, but sadly the scarring had the opposite effect. Faced with the reality that she must give up her beloved Book, with weeping she pressed the Braille copy of Mark to her lips, lamenting “Farewell, farewell, sweet Word of my Heavenly Father!” To her surprise, she discovered that her lips were even more sensitive to touch than her fingers had been! And from that moment on she "read" the Bible with her lips, and doubtless offered praises like the psalmist who cried "Let my lips utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes." (Ps 119:171) When Mary Jones was 10 years old, she began saving money for something special she wanted to buy. She babysat, tended neighbors' gardens, and sold eggs from her own chickens. By the time she was 16, she had accumulated enough money to get what she so desperately wanted. Was it a new car? A fresh wardrobe? A Nintendo? No, Mary Jones was 16 in the year 1800, and what she had been saving for was a Bible. But there was no place to buy one in the tiny Welsh village where she lived, so she walked to Bala--25 miles away. There Rev. Thomas Charles had one Bible left to sell, and after some convincing, Mary talked him into selling it to her. Because of Mary's hunger for the Bible, Rev. Charles and others began discussing the need of making the Scriptures more readily available. The British and Foreign Bible Society was started, and during the next 100 years it distributed more than 200 million copies of God's Word worldwide. To Mary, nothing was more important than the Bible, and her persistence paid huge spiritual dividends. Cling to the Bible--this wonderful treasure Brings life eternal and saves fallen man; Surely its value no mortal can measure-- Seek for its blessing, O soul, while you can. --Anon. Many people store the Bible on a shelf instead of in their heart Psalm 119:48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes. hands (KJV): Ps 10:12 Eze 44:12 Mic 5:9 unto thy (KJV): Mt 7:21 Joh 13:17 15:14 Jas 1:22-25 and I will (KJV): Ps 119:15 1:2 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love - An expression of praise and adoration from a heart of love. And I will meditate on Your statutes. (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. See Meditation 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 WHICH I LOVE: AHAB: 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;Jer. 15:16). Charles Bridges - Scarcely any expression seems to be equal to set forth the fervency of David’s love and delight in the ways and word of God. Here we find him “lifting up his hands” with the gesture of one, who is longing to embrace the object of his desire with both hands and his whole heart.7 Perhaps also in “lifting up his hands unto the commandments,” he might mean to express his looking upward for assistance to keep them, and to live in them.8 But how humbling this comparison with ourselves! Alas! how often, from the neglect of this influence of the Spirit of God, do our “hands hang down,” instead of being “lifted up” in these holy ways! We are too often content with a scanty measure of love: without any sensible “hungering and thirsting after righteousness;” neither able to pray with life and power, nor to hear with comfort and profit, nor to “do good and to communicate” with cheerfulness, nor to meditate with spiritual delight, nor to live for God with zeal and interest, nor to anticipate the endurance of the cross with unflinching resolution—the soul being equally disabled for heavenly communion, and active devotedness. Shall we look for ease under the power of this deadening malady? Let us rather struggle and cry for deliverance from it. Let us subscribe ourselves before God as wretched, and helpless, and guilty. He can look upon us, and revive us. Let us then “take hold upon his covenant,” and plead, that he will look upon us. Let us “put him in remembrance” of the glory of his name, which is much more concerned in delivering us out of this frame, by his quickening grace, than in leaving us, stupid, corrupt, and carnal, in it. Professor! awake: or beg of the Lord to awaken you! For if your cold sleeping heart is contented with the prospect of a heaven hereafter, without seeking for a present foretaste of its joy, it may be a very questionable matter whether heaven will ever be yours. Delight, however, will exercise itself in an habitual “meditation in the statutes.”1 The breathing of the heart will be, “O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day.”2 It is in holy meditation on the word of God, that all the graces of the spirit are manifested. What is the principle of faith, but the reliance of the soul upon the promises of the word? What is the sensation of godly fear, but the soul trembling before the threatenings of God?3 What is the object of hope, but the apprehended glory of God? What is the excitement of desire or love, but longing, endearing contemplations of the Saviour, and of his unspeakable blessings? Hence we can scarcely conceive of the influence of grace separated from spiritual meditation on the word. It is this which, under Divine teaching, draws out its hidden contents, and exhibits them to the soul, as the objects upon which the principles and affections of the Divine life are habitually exercised. Not that any benefit can be expected from meditation, even upon the word of God, as an abstract duty. If not deeply imbued with prayer, it will degenerate into dry speculative study. Without some distinct practical application, it will be unedifying in itself, and unsatisfactory for its important ends—the discerning of the mind of God, and feeding upon the rich provision of the Gospel. Let it be a matter of daily inquiry, Does my reading of the word of God furnish food for my soul, matter for prayer, direction for conduct? Scriptural study, when entered upon in a prayerful spirit, will never, like many other studies, be unproductive. The mind that is engaged in it, is fitly set for bearing fruit; it will “bring forth fruit in due season.”1 Meditation kindles love, as it is the effect of love, “While I was musing, the fire burned.”2 “Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, this man is blessed in his deed.”3 But let us take heed, that the root of religion in the soul is not cankered by the indulgence of secret sin. The largest supply of Christian ordinances will fail to refresh us, except the heart be kept right with God in simplicity of faith, love, and diligence in the service of Christ. Come then, Christian, let us set our hearts to a vigorous, delighting devotedness to the statutes of our God. To regard some of them, would be to obey our own will, not God’s. Let us lift up our hands to them all. How shadowy is the joy of speculative contemplation, if it does not draw the heart to practical exercise! Let faith return our obligations in the full apprehension of the Lord’s mercy. And then will love constrain us to nothing less than “a living sacrifice”4 to his service. If the professor sleeps in national godliness, let us employ our active meditation, in searching for the mine that lies not on the surface, but which never fails to enrich diligent, patient, persevering labor.5 7 See Ps 63:4; 143:6. 8 See Ps. 28:2. 1 See Psalm 1:2. 2 Ps 119:97. 3 Ps 119:120. 1 Psalm 1:2, 3. 2 Ps 29:3. 3 James 1:25. 4 Rom. 11, 12:1. 5 Prov. 2:4, 5. Psalm 119:49 Zayin. Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope. Remember: Ps 105:2,42 106:4,45 Ge 8:1 32:9 Job 7:7 Isa 62:6 *marg: in which: Ps 119:43,74,81,147 71:14 2Sa 5:2 7:25 Ro 15:13 1Pe 1:13,21 Zayin. Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope - NLT = Remember your promise to me, for it is my only hope. Warren