Salmos 119
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - The Bible’s ABCs WHAT WOULD YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE BE LIKE IF YOU HAD NO BIBLE? Would that make any difference? After all, what is the Bible supposed to do for our lives? God gives us some answers to those questions in this psalm. Almost every verse in this long psalm in some way refers to the Word of God. The psalm is arranged according to the Hebrew alphabet. The first eight verses all begin with the Hebrew letter aleph; the next eight verses start with beth; the next eight, gimel; and so on. It’s as though God were saying, “Here are the ABCs of how to use the Word of God in your life.” “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD!” (Ps 119:1). Undefiled means “people who are blameless, those who have integrity.” Integrity is the opposite of duplicity and hypocrisy, which is the pretense to be something we are not. If we have integrity, our whole lives are built around the Word of God. The psalmist says, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” (Ps 119:2). Are you wholeheartedly into the Word of God? In the Bible, heart refers to the inner person, and that includes the mind. “I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments” (Ps 119:7). It also includes the will. “I will keep Your statutes” (Ps 119:8). In other words, when you give your whole heart, mind, and will to the Word of God, it starts to put your life together. Is your life or your home “falling apart” today? Turn to the Word of God. The Bible has one Author—God. It has one theme—Jesus Christ. It has one message—the salvation of your soul. And it has one blessing to bring—a life of integrity. The Word of God is a powerful spiritual resource. Its truth feeds your soul. As you walk in the life of faith, the Holy Spirit uses the Bible to minister to you. Get into the Word and allow it to make you whole and build integrity into your life. (Prayer, Praise and Promises Psalm 119:1-8 The Bible ABC's) Related Resource: Wiersbe's Comments on Psalm 119 God's Word - Psalm 119:1–6 God’s Word gives us happiness, holiness, success, worship, cleansing, and joy. There is no substitute for God’s Word. His Word should be a part of our everyday life. His Word will guide and direct us. 1. THE PERSON—vv. 1–4 2. THE PRECEPTS—vv. 5–8 3. THE PURGING—vv. 9–11 4. THE PRAISING—vv. 12–16 Warren Wiersbe - PSALM 119 - Borrow Wiersbe's expository outlines on the Old Testament This psalm is special in several ways. It is the longest psalm (176 verses), and it is an acrostic psalm, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In most editions of the Bible, the twenty-two sections of this psalm are headed by the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet (Aleph, Beth, Gimel, etc.). In the Hebrew Bible, each verse in a section begins with that Hebrew letter. For example, all the verses in the “aleph” section (vv. 1–8) begin with the Hebrew letter “aleph.” Look at the “teth” section (vv. 65–72) and start v. 67 with “Til” and v. 71 with “Tis,” and you will have each line starting with the English letter “T” (which is the same as the Hebrew “teth”). The Jews wrote in this fashion to help them memorize the Scriptures so they could meditate on God’s Word. We do not know who wrote this psalm, although the writer refers to himself many times. He was suffering for his love for God’s Law (vv. 22, 50–53, 95, 98, 115), yet he had determined to obey the Word regardless of the cost. All but five verses mention the Word of God in one way or another. The exceptions are vv. 84, 90, 121, 122, and 132. God is referred to in every verse. The number eight is stamped all over this psalm. Each section has eight verses; there are eight special names for God’s Word listed; there are eight symbols of the Word given; the believer has eight responsibilities to the Word. The word “eight” in Hebrew literally means “abundance, more than enough”; it is the number of new beginnings. It is as though the writer is saying, “God’s Word is enough. If you have the Scriptures, that is all you need for life and godliness.” Indeed the Bible points us to Christ: He is the Living Word about whom the written Word speaks. In one sense, Ps. 119 is an expansion of Ps. 19:7–11. Note the eight basic titles of the Bible in the first nine verses of the psalm: law of the Lord, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, and word. These are repeated many times throughout the psalm. I. What the Bible Is A. Water for cleansing (Psalm 119:9). This whole section (Psalm 119:9–16) deals with victory over sin. Young people in particular need to learn to heed and hide the Word that they might overcome temptation. As you read the Word and meditate on it, it cleanses your inner being, just as water cleanses the body. See John 15:3 and Eph. 5:25–27. B. Wealth and treasure (Psalm 119:14, 72, 127, 162). Many people do not know the difference between prices and values. Your Bible may cost but a few dollars, but what a treasure it is. How would you feel if you lost God’s Word and could not replace it? C. A companion and friend (Psalm 119:24). The writer was a stranger (Psalm 119:19), rejected by the proud (v. 21) and by princes (v. 23), but he always had the Word to be his counselor. Read Prov. 6:20–22. D. A song to sing (Psalm 119:54). Imagine making a song out of statutes—laws! Life is a pilgrimage; we are “tourists” and not residents. The songs of the world mean nothing to us, but God’s Word is a song to our hearts. E. Honey (Psalm 119:103). The sweetness of the Word is like honey to the taste. It is sad when the Christian must have the “honey” of this world to be satisfied. See Ps. 34:8 and Job 23:12. F. A lamp (Psalm 119:105, 130). This is a dark world and the only dependable light is the Word of God (2 Peter 1:19–21). It leads us a step at a time, as we walk in obedience. 1 John 1:5–10 tells us we walk in the light as we obey His Word. G. Great spoil (Psalm 119:162). Poor soldiers were made rich from the spoil left by the defeated enemy. The riches of the Word do not come easy; there must first be that spiritual battle against Satan and the flesh. But it is worth it. Read Luke 11:14–23. H. A heritage (Psalm 119:111). What a precious inheritance is the Bible! And think of those who had to suffer and die that we might have this inheritance. II. What the Bible Does A. It blesses (Psalm 119:1–2). It is the book with a blessing (Ps. 1:1–3). We are blessed in reading the Word, understanding the Word, and obeying the Word. We are also blessed when we share the Word with others. B. It gives life (Psalm 119:25, 37, 40, 50, 88, 93). “Quicken” means “to give life.” The Word gives us eternal life when we believe (1 Peter 1:23). It is the living Word (Heb. 4:12). But the Word also quickens us when we are weak, discouraged, and defeated. Revival comes when we yield to God’s Word. C. It gives strength (Psalm 119:28). Trusting the Word encourages us (Matt. 4:4). God’s Word has power (Heb. 4:12) and can empower us when we believe and obey. D. It gives liberty (Psalm 119:45). A law that gives liberty—what a paradox! Sin would have dominion over us (v. 133), but the Word sets us free (John 8:32). True liberty comes in obeying God’s will. His Word is “the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25). E. It imparts wisdom (Psalm 119:66, 97–104). We may get knowledge and facts in other books, but true spiritual wisdom is found in the Bible. Note in vv. 97–104 that there are various ways to discover truth—from your enemies, from your teachers, from your older friends—and all of these are good. But above them all is a knowledge of the Bible. Teachers may know from books, and elders may know from experience (both deserving respect), but these without the Bible are not sufficient. F. It creates friends (Psalm 119:63). Knowing and obeying the Bible will bring into your life the very finest friends. Those who love God’s Word are friends indeed. There are false friends who may dazzle you with their worldly wisdom and wealth, but their friendship will lead you astray. Stick with those who “stick” with the Bible (Psalm 119:31). G. It gives comfort (Psalm 119:50, 76, 82, 92). More than sixty verses in this psalm mention trial and persecution (vv. 22, 50–53, 95, 98, 115, etc.). The believer who obeys the Word will have trials in this world, but the Bible gives him lasting comfort. The Comforter, the Spirit of God, takes the Word of God and applies it to our hearts to comfort us. H. It gives direction (Psalm 119:133). The Christian life is a “walk,” a day at a time and a step at a time (vv. 1, 3, 45). The Word directs our steps, both for walking and for running (v. 32). Note the prayers in vv. 35 and 116–117. As we pray for guidance, the Lord answers through His Word. III. What We Must Do with the Bible A. Love it (Psalm 119:97, 159). 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 (vv. 16, 24, 16, 35, 47, 70) and not a disappointment; we rejoice to read it (vv. 14, 162). B. Prize it (Psalm 119:72, 128). To hold the Bible in high esteem is the mark of a true saint. It should be more precious to us than any earthly treasure. C. Study it (Psalm 119:7, 12, 18, 26–27). At least twelve times the psalmist prays, “Teach me.” The Christian who daily studies his Bible will be blessed of God. Bible study is not always easy, for it takes the “whole heart” (vv. 2, 10, 34, 69, 145). D. Memorize it (Psalm 119:11). “The best Book, in the best place, for the best purpose!” is the way Campbell
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Ps. 119:145 Sacrificing Sleep Would you rather have the Word of God than sleep? Don't misunderstand me. We need sleep. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that God expects us to take care of our bodies, and sleep is part of that care. But the psalmist says that he would rather have the Word of God than sleep. "I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word" (Psalm 119:147,148). Imagine being married to a person who gets up early in the morning to cry out to God and hope in His Word. Then late at night he's still awake, reading and meditating on the Scriptures. Jesus also was up early in the morning, praying and meditating on the Word. And on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus, Moses and Elijah were discussing Christ's plan to die in Jerusalem. Peter, James and John were there, but they were asleep (Luke 9:32). They slept through perhaps the greatest Bible conference ever held on earth! I'm afraid some of us have done the same thing. We've slept through the blessing. For God to bless us through His Word, we have to start each day with it. Do you set your alarm clock early enough in the morning to read the Bible? Sure, that extra half hour in bed would be pleasant. But like the psalmist, we need to say, "I'm going to anticipate the dawning of the morning. I want to spend time with God and meditate in His Word." * * * Sacrificing sleep to meditate in the Word of God is not a loss; it's an investment in your spiritual life. The Bible contains blessings you can use the rest of the day. Let it be the key that opens and locks your day. (Psalm 119:145-152 Sacrificing Sleep) Charles Bridges - 145. I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord: I will keep thy statutes 146. I cried unto thee: save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies This is indeed the “pouring out of the soul before the Lord”1—“a beautiful and encouraging picture of a soul wrestling with God in a few short sentences, with as much power and success as in the most continued length of supplication. Brief as are the petitions, the whole compass of language could not make them more comprehensive. “Hear me.” The whole heart is engaged in the “cry.” “Save me,” includes a sinner’s whole need—pardon, acceptance, access, holiness, strength, comfort, heaven, all in one word—Christ. Save me—from self, from Satan, from the world, from the curse of sin, from the wrath of God. This is the need of every moment to the end. “I cried unto thee”—What a mercy to know where to go! The way of access must have been implied—though not mentioned—in these short ejaculations. “Hear me”—must have been in the name of the all-prevailing Advocate. “Save me”—through him, whose name is, Jesus the Saviour. A moment’s interruption of our view of Jesus casts, for the time, an impenetrable cloud over our way to God, and paralyzes the spirit of prayer. Prayer is not only the sense of guilt, and the cry for mercy, but the exercise of faith. When I come to God, I would always bring with me the blood of Christ—my price—my plea in my hand. He cannot cast it out. Thus am I “a prince, that hath power with God and prevail.”2 Here is the warrant to believe, that my God does, and will hear me. Here is my encouragement to “look up”3—to be “watching at his gate”4—like the cripple at the “beautiful gate of the temple—expecting to receive somewhat of him.”5 Not a word of such prayer is lost. It is as seed—not cast into the earth, exposed to hazard and loss6—but cast into the bosom of God—and here—as in the natural harvest, “he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”7 The most frequent comers are the largest receivers—always wanting—always asking—living upon what they have, but still hungering for more. With many, however, the ceremony of prayer is everything, without any thought, desire, anxiety, or waiting for an answer. These slight dealings prove low thoughts of God, and deep and guilty insensibility;—that the sense of pressing need is not sharp enough to put an edge upon the affections. But are none of God’s dear children, too, who in days past never missed the presence of God, but they “sought it carefully with tears”—now too easily satisfied with the act of prayer, without this “great object of it—the enjoyment of God?”1 Perhaps you lament your deficiencies, your weakness in the hour of temptation, your indulgence of ease, your unfaithfulness of heart. But is your “cry” continually ascending “with your whole heart?” Your soul would not be so empty of comfort, if your mouth were not so empty of prayer. The Lord never charges presumption upon the frequency or extent of your supplications; but he is often ready to “upbraid you with your unbelief,”2 that you are so reluctant in your approach, and so straitened in your desires—that you are so unready to receive what he is so ready to give—that your vessels are too narrow to take in his full blessing—that you are content with drops, when he has promised “floods,”—yea “rivers of living water,”3—and above all, that you are so negligent in praising him for what you have already received. We must not lightly give up our suit. We must not be content with keeping up duty, without keeping up “continued instancy in prayer”4 in our duty. This alone preserves in temptation. Satan strikes at all of God in the soul. Unbelief readily yields to his suggestions. This is the element in which we live—the warfare of every moment. Will then the customary devotion of morning and evening (even supposing it to be sincere) suffice for such an emergency? No. The Christian must “put on the whole armor of God;” and buckle on his panoply with unceasing “prayer and watchfulness in the Spirit.”5 If his heart be dead and cold, let him rather cry and wait, (as Luther was used to do,) till it was warm and enlivened. The hypocrite, indeed, would be satisfied with the barren performance of the duty. But the child of God, while he mourns in the dust, “Behold I am vile!”6—still holds on, though sometimes with a cry, that probably finds no utterance with his lips;1 that vents itself only with tears, or “groanings that cannot be uttered.”2 And shall such a cry fail to “enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth?” “The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.”3 But why is the believer so earnest for an audience?—why so restless in his cries for salvation? Is it not, that he loves “the statutes” of his God; that he is grieved on account of his inability to keep them; and that he longs for mercy, as the spring of his obedience? “Hear me; I will keep thy statutes. Save me; and I shall keep thy testimonies”—a most satisfactory evidence of an upright heart. Sin can have no fellowship with the statutes. As saved sinners, they are our delight. Lord! thou knowest how our hearts draw back from the spiritual work of prayer; and how we nourish our unbelief by our distance from thee. Oh pour upon us this “Spirit of grace and supplication.” “Teach us to pray”4—even our hearts—“our whole hearts”—to “cry unto thee.” Give us the privilege of real communion with thee—the only satisfying joy of earth or heaven. Then shall we “run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge our hearts.”5 1 1 Sam. 1:15. 2 Gen. 32:28. 3 Psalm 5:3. 4 Prov. 8:34. 5 Acts 3:5. 6 Matt. 13:3–7. 7 2 Cor. 9:6. 1 ‘The great object of prayer should constantly be the enjoyment of God; and however inadequate the believer’s conceptions may be, yet he has a distinct idea of his object; so distinct that you can never impose upon a real saint by offering him something else in the room of it. He knows what he wants; and he knows that this or that is not the thing which he wants.’—Augustine, Epistle 121. In the same Epistle he very judiciously recommends the use of short and quick ejaculations, (like these under consideration,) rather than long protracted supplications, unless the mind be in a fervent frame; in which case the petitions, as he justly observes, may be indefinitely prolonged, without incurring the censure implied in Matthew 6:7. 2 Mark 16:14. 3 Isaiah 44:3. John 7:38. 4 Rom. 12:12. 5 Eph. 6:13–18. ‘The violence of temptation stupefies me,’ said Luther on one occasion, speaking of his own experience, ‘that I cannot open my mouth. As soon as ever it pleases God that I can lift up my heart in prayer, and make use of Scriptural expressions, it ceases to prevail.’—Milner, vol. v. p. 484. 6 Job 40:4; also 42:5, 6. 1 Exodus 14:15. 1 Sam. 1:13. Neh. 2:4. 2 Rom. 8:26. 3 Psalm 6:8; 38:9. 4 Luke 11:1. 5 Ps 119:32. Psalm 119:146 I cried to You; save me And I shall keep Your testimonies. (PRAYER) I shall keep (KJV): or, that I may keep, Ps 119:134 Jud 10:15,16 Mt 1:21 Tit 2:14 3:4-8 A PRAYER FOR SALVATION I cried to You; save me And I shall keep Your testimonies. Charles Bridges - See comment on v145. Psalm 119:147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. I prevented (KJV): That is, I anticipated, or rose before, the morning dawn; and was before hand with the light itself. Ps 5:3 21:3 42:8 88:13 130:6 Isa 26:9 Mk 1:35 hoped (KJV): Ps 119:74,81 56:4 130:5 Heb 6:17-19 A GOOD PRAYER TO PRAY EACH MORNING - HELP! I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. Charles Bridges - 147. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word. 148. Mine eyes prevent the night-watches, that I might meditate in thy word The Psalmist here brings before us not only the fervency, but the seasons of his supplication. Like Daniel he had set times of prayer—“three times a day.”6 Yet did not this frequent exercise satisfy him, without an habitual “waiting all the day upon his God.”7 Prayer was indeed his meat, and drink, and breath. “I give myself unto prayer.”8 His sketch of the “blessed man, delighting in the law of his God, and”—as an evidence of this delight—“meditating therein day and night”9—unconsciously furnished an accurate picture of himself. For early and late was he found in the work of God; “preventing the dawning of the morning” for prayer, and again, “the night-watches, that he might meditate in the word.” But to look above the example of David to David’s Lord; surely “it was written” most peculiarly “for our learning,” that Jesus—after a laborious Sabbath—every moment of which appears to have been spent for the benefit of sinners; and when his body, subject to the same infirmities, and therefore needing the same refreshment with our own, seemed to require repose—“in the morning, rising up a great while before day, went out, and departed into a solitary place and there prayed.”10 On another occasion, when intensely engaged in the service of his Church, and about to lay her foundation in the choice of her first ministers, did his eyes prevent the night-watches. “He continued all night in prayer to God.”1 So long as the duty only of prayer is known, we shall be content with our set seasons. But when the privilege is felt, we shall be early at work, following it closely morning and night.2 While, however, family and social exercises are refreshing—while the tabernacles of the Lord are amiable in our view, and we delight to “wait at the posts of his doors,”3 yet it is the lonely, confidential intercourse with our God—“the door shut”—the Church as well as the world excluded—that makes our closest walk with God.4 Secret prayer is most likely to be true prayer. There is no true prayer without it. It was the “garden” prayer—separate even from his own disciples—that brought special support to the fainting humanity of Jesus.5 And if he needed this perfect retirement, whose affections were always fixed upon their centre, what must be our own need, whose desires are so unstable and languishing! And how cheering is his succoring sympathy, knowing as he does experimentally the heart of a secret, earnest pleader! Such doubtless were David’s cries—penetrating no ear, but his Father’s—yet delightful incense there.6 But to see the King of Israel, with all his urgent responsibilities, “sanctifying” such frequent daily seasons “with the word of God and prayer”—how does it expose the insincerity of the worldling’s excuse, that the pressing avocations of the day afford no time for the service of God! It is not, that such men are busy, and have no time for prayer; but that they are worldly, and have no heart to pray. The consecrated heart will always find time for secret duties, and will rather, as David, redeem it from sleep, than lose it from prayer.7 And does not the uniform experience of the Lord’s people warrant the remark—how much our vital spirituality depends upon the daily consecration of the first fruits of our time to the Lord? How often are opportunities for heavenly communion during the day unavoidably straitened! But “the night watches” and “the dawning of the morning” afford seasons free from interruption, when our God expects to hear from us, and when “the joy” of “fellowship with him” will be “our strength”8 for active service, and our keeping from many a worldly snare. What a standard of enjoyment would it be, with our last thoughts in the night watches, to leave as it were our hearts with him, and to find them with him in the morning, awaking as with our hearts in heaven! Surely the refreshments of our visits to him, and his abidance with us, will often constrain us to acknowledge—“Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”1 The thoughts of God were clearly the first visitors to David’s waking mind;2 and to this may be ascribed his habitual success in realizing his presence throughout the day. Our lukewarmness and our want of spiritual enjoyment may often be traced to that morning indolence (which the zeal of the ungodly3 might put to shame) which not only throws the business of the day into confusion, but also consumes the time in self-indulgence or trifling, which should have been given to sacred intercourse. For—not to speak of the seasonableness of the early hours for devotion—the very exertion made to overcome “this lust of the flesh,” and to steal a march upon the demands of the world, is an exercise of self-denial, honorable to God, “that shall in no wise lose its reward.” No remembrance of the past will be so refreshing at a dying hour, as the time redeemed for communion with God. And, even should there be no actual enjoyment, at least let us honor God by expectancy. “I hoped in thy word!”4 There can be no exercise of faith in the neglect of prayer; but the ground of faith, and that which gives to it life, hope, and joy, is the view of God in his word as a promising God. Therefore when his Providence opens no present encouragement, let us seek it in his covenant. To “hope in his word is to build up ourselves upon our most holy faith,”5 and to lay all our desires, all our cares, all our weights, and burdens, upon a solid unsinking foundation. Well, therefore, were David’s “night-watches” employed in “meditation in the word.” For, in order to stay ourselves upon it in time of need, it must occupy our whole study, thought, and love. Instability of faith arises from a want of fixed recollection of the promises of God. This superficial habit may suffice for times of quietness; but amid the billows of temptation we can only cast “anchor sure and steadfast” in an habitual and intelligent confidence upon the full, free, firm promise of the word. Let it therefore be the food of our meditation, and the ground of our support, when our suit seems to hang at the throne of grace without any tokens of present acceptance. Often will it lift up our fainting hands, and supply strength for fresh conflict, and the earnest of blessed victory. The ground is always sure for faith. May the Lord ever furnish us with faith enough for our daily work, conflict, consolation, and establishment! 6 Psalm 55:17, with Daniel 6:10. 7 Psalm 25:5. 8 Ps. 109:4. ‘But I prayer,’ Heb.—all over prayer—always ready for prayer—at all seasons, besides the frequency of set times of communion—one whose life is a continual prayer—“prayer without ceasing.” 1 Thess. 5:17. 9 Ps. 1:2. 10 Mark 1:21–35. 1 Luke 6:12–16. 2 Psalm 5:3; 88:13. Isaiah 26:9. 3 Psalm 84:1. Prov. 8:34. 4 Matt. 6:6. 5 Luke 22:41–43. 6 Psalm 56:8; 141:2. Prov. 15:8. Cant. 2:14. 7 Most instructive is the example of Mr. Cadogan, as recorded by his admirable biographer. ‘Feeling strongly that he must walk with God in secret at any rate; when he had company, he would often retire from them into his study, rather than omit his accustomed waiting upon his God. Often has he been found there, when most of the family were gone to rest, surprised on his knees by the domestic who usually took care of the house.’—Cecil’s Life of Cadogan. Perhaps in an observation once made to an excellent minister, the importance of the truth may furnish an apology for the quaintness of the dress:—‘If you did not plough in the closet, you would not reap in the pulpit.’ 8 Neh. 8:10. 1 1 John 1:3. 2 See Ps. 139:17, 18. 3 Exod. 32:6. Isa. 5:11. Mic. 2:1. 4 One of Melancthon’s correspondents describes Luther thus:—‘I cannot enough admire the extraordinary cheerfulness, constancy, faith, and hope of the man in these trying and vexatious times. He constantly feeds these gracious affections by a very diligent study of the word of God. Then not a day passes in which he does not employ in prayer at least three of his very best hours. Once I happened to hear him at prayer. Gracious God! what spirit and what faith is there in his expressions! He petitions God with as much reverence, as if he was in the divine presence; and yet with as firm a hope and confidence, as he would address a father or a friend. ‘I know,’ said he, ‘thou art our Father and our God; and therefore I am sure thou wilt bring to nought the persecutors of thy children. For shouldest thou fail to do this, thine own cause being connected with ours, would be endangered. It is entirely thine own concern. We, by thy providence, have been compelled to take a part. Thou therefore wilt be our defence.’ Whilst I was listening to Luther praying in this manner, at a distance, my soul seemed on fire within me, to hear the man address God so like a friend, and yet with so much gravity and reverence; and also to hear him, in the course of his prayer, insisting upon the promises contained in the Psalms, as if he were sure his petitions would be granted.’—Milner’s History, vol. v. p. 565. Again referred to in Scott’s Continuation, vol. i. p. 77. Was not this an illustration of David’s confidence—I hoped in thy word? 5 Jude 20. Psalm 119:148 My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word. eyes (KJV): Ps 119:62 63:1,6 139:17,18 La 2:19 Lu 6:12 the night watches (KJV): The ancient Jews divided the night into three watches of four hours each, beginning at six o'clock in the evening; before the last of which, "the day break," or "morning watch," as the LXX. and Vulgate read, the Psalmist was awake. My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word. (Ps 119:15, 23, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148): The ancient Jews divided the night into three watches of four hours each, beginning at six o'clock in the evening; before the last of which, "the day break," or "morning watch," as the LXX. and Vulgate read, the Psalmist was awake. Meditation (see in depth discussion) 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 (READ THAT AGAIN! BELIEVE IT! THEN MEMORIZE, MEMORIZE, MEMORIZE!). Reading the Bible without meditating on it is like eating without chewing. 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 - See comment on v147. Psalm 119:149 Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your ordinances. (PRAYER) Hear (KJV): Ps 5:2,3 55:2 64:1 according unto (KJV): Ps 51:1 69:16 109:21 Isa 63:7 quicken me (KJV): Ps 119:25,40,154,156 Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; 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 ordinances. Charles Bridges - 149. Hear my voice according unto thy loving-kindness; O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment In the eyes of the world, David appeared “in all his glory,” when seated on his throne, and surrounded with the magnificence of his kingdom. But never did he appear so glorious in the sight of God, as when presenting himself as a suppliant before the mercy-seat, seeking an audience of the King of kings, only to send up reiterated cries for quickening grace. And do not I need the same grace every moment, in every duty? Does not “the gift of God within me” need to be daily “stirred up?”1 Are not “the things that remain” often “ready to die?”2 Then “Hear my voice, O Lord; quicken me.” But to urge my suit successfully, I must “order my cause before God;” I must “fill my mouth with arguments.”3 And if I can draw a favorable plea from the character of my judge—if I can prove that promises have been made in my behalf, these will be most encouraging earnests of a successful issue. Now David had been so used to plead in cases of extremity, that arguments suited to his present distress were always ready at hand. He now pleads with God for quickening grace, on the ground of his own loving-kindness and judgment. Can he “deny himself?” And with what “full assurance of faith,”4 may I ask to be heard on account of that transcendent proof of “loving-kindness” manifested in the gift of God’s dear Son5—not only as his chiefest mercy, but as the pledge of every other mercy6—and manifested too at the fittest time7—“according to his judgment”—after the inefficiency of the power of reason8 and the sanctions of the law9 to influence the heart, had been most clearly displayed! And what a plea is it to ask for quickening influences, that this is the very end for which this gift of loving-kindness was vouchsafed,10 and that the gift itself is the channel, through which the quickening life of the Godhead is imparted!11 Could I ask for this grace on any other ground than loving-kindness? All ground of fitness or merit is swept away.12 On the footing of mercy alone can I stand before him.1 And how is my faith enlivened in retracing the records of my soul from the beginning—how he “betrothed”2—how he “drew me with loving-kindness!3 May I not then cry, “Oh! continue thy loving-kindness?”4 And not less full is my conviction of his judgment, in dealing wisely and tenderly with me, according to his infallible perception of my need. Left to my own judgment—often should I have prayed myself into evil, and asked what it would have been my curse to have received.5 But I have learned, that the child must not be guided by his own will, but by his father’s better mind—nor the patient by his own humor, but by the physician’s skill. Truly, even the Lord’s corrections have been in judgment!6 And in the thankful remembrance of them my confidence for the time to come is established! Gladly will I “set to my seal,” that “the Lord is a God of judgment;” and that “blessed are they that wait for him.”7 He knows not only what grace is needed, but at what time. Not a moment sooner will it come; not a moment later will it be delayed. ‘As thou wilt, what thou wilt, when thou wilt,’8—is the expression of faith and resignation, with which all must be committed to the Lord, waiting for the end, in humility, desire, expectation. And if in pleading my suit for an hearing “according to his loving-kindness” my poor, polluted, lifeless petitions should find no liberty of approach; may I be but enabled to direct one believing look to “the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne!”9 and I will not doubt that my feeblest offering shall come up as a memorial before God. 1 2 Tim. 1:6. 2 Rev. 3:2. 3 Job 23:4. 4 Heb. 10:22. 5 John 3:16. 6 See Rom. 8:32. 7 See Gal. 4:4. 8 Comp. 1 Cor. 1:21. 9 Comp. Jer. 31:31–33. 10 John 10:10. 1 John 4:9. 11 1 John 5:11. 12 Ezek. 36:32. 1 Eph. 2:7. Titus 3:4. 2 Hosea 2:19. 3 Jer. 31:3. 4 Psalm 36:10. 5 Ps. 106:15. 6 Jer. 10:24. 7 Isaiah 30:18. 8 Thomas à Kempis. 9 Rev. 5:6. Psalm 119:150 Those who follow after wickedness draw near; They are far from Your law. draw nigh (KJV): Ps 22:11-13,16 27:2 1Sa 23:16 2Sa 17:16 Mt 26:46,47, for from, Ps 50:17 Job 21:14 Pr 1:7,22 28:9 Eph 2:13,14 Those who follow after wickedness draw near; They are far from Your law. Charles Bridges - 150. They draw nigh that follow after mischief; they are far from thy law. 151. Thou art near, O Lord; and all thy commandments are truth The imminent danger in which David was living10 quickened his cries to his God. Often does the Lord permit this pressing trial. Seldom—but in extremity—are our graces brought to their full exercise. Confidence is then shaken from man, and established in God.11 For now it is that we enjoy our God as “a very present help in trouble,”12 and our dependence on his “commandments” is a “true” and solid foundation of comfort to our soul. An awful character indeed is it of the ungodly. “They are far from God’s law”—and that not from ignorance, but from wilful enmity. This is God’s witness against them;13 and they are not ashamed to consent, that “this witness is true.” No wonder, therefore, that those that “are far from God’s law” should “draw nigh to follow after mischief.”14 But if “they draw nigh,” the Lord is nearer still. “I am thy shield”1—saith he to his distressed child—who echoes back the promise in the cheerfulness of faith, “Thou art my hiding-place, and my shield: and I hope in thy word.”2 Elisha knew the power of this shield, when he quelled the alarm of his terrified servant. He beheld them “draw nigh that follow after mischief,” but the eye of faith assured his heart; and when “the Lord opened the eyes of the young man,” he too was enabled to testify, “Thou art near, O Lord!”3 But near as the Lord is to his people as their outward shield, is he not yet nearer still, as dwelling in their hearts? Here is “his temple,”4 his desired habitation—like Zion of old, of which he said,—“This is my rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.”5 This is the dwelling, which, once possessed of its Divine Inhabitant, will never be left desolate. Our spiritual enemies, like David’s persecutors, are ever present and active. The devouring “lion,”6 or the insinuating “serpent,”7 is “nigh to follow after mischief;” and so much the more dangerous, as his approaches are invisible. Nigh also is a tempting, ensnaring world; and nearer still a lurking world within, separating us from communion with our God. But in turning habitually and immediately to our strong hold, we can enjoy the confidence, “Thou art near, O Lord.” Though “the High and Lofty One, whose name is holy;”8 though the just and terrible God, yet art thou made nigh to thy people,9 and they to thee,10 “by the blood of the Cross.” And thou dost manifest thy presence to them in “the Son of thy love.” Indeed to the Son himself, the nearness of his Father’s presence was a source of consolation and support, when “they drew nigh, that followed after mischief.” “He is near,” said he—“which justifieth me: who will contend with me? let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? So they all shall wax old as doth a garment: the moth shall eat them up.”11 “Behold,” said he to his affrighted disciples, as his hour drew near, “the hour cometh, yea is now come, that ye shall be scattered every one to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.”12 And thus his people in earthly desolation flee to the promises of their God; and in the recollection of his faithful, ever-present help, “set to their seal,” that “all his commandments are truth.” The mischief intended for them only proves, that “Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.”1 But may the Lord not only be brought near in our interest in him, but may we be kept near in communion with him! Let our hearts be sacred to him. Let us be most careful to watch against any strangeness with this beloved Friend, and to cultivate a drawing cordiality and closeness in our walk with him. If our character is formed by the society in which we live, what “treasures of wisdom and knowledge” should we find, what a spirit of unbounded love should we imbibe—by a nearer and more constant intercourse with him; willing as he is to impart himself freely, inexhaustibly unto us! In a backsliding state, we must expect to lose this heavenly nearness.2 In a state of darkness, it is the exercise of faith, to believe that unseen he is near; and the practical influence of faith will lead us to speak, and pray, and think, and praise, as “seeing him who is invisible.”3 In a state of enjoyment, let us anticipate the time, when he will be ever near to us. “And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”4 10 Psalm 57:4. 11 2 Cor. 1:9. 12 Psalm 46:1. 13 Ib. 50:17. Comp. Prov. 1:22, 25, 29. 14 ‘He cannot brook the child that hateth the father; he cannot mind the servant that careth not for the master. If ye were of the world, the world would love you; ye should dwell quietly. There would be no grief, no molestation, if the devil dwelt in you, (which God forbid.) He would not stir up his knights to besiege your house.… but because Christ dwelleth in you, (as he does by faith,) therefore stirreth he up his first-begotten son, the world, to seek how to disquiet you, to rob you, to despoil you, to destroy; and perchance your dear Father, to try to make known to you and to the world, that ye are destinate to another dwelling than here on earth, to another city than man’s eyes have seen at any time, hath given, or will give power to Satan or to the world to take from you the things which he hath lent you; and by taking away, to try your fidelity, obedience, and love towards him, (for ye may not love them above him,) as by giving that ye have, and keeping it, he hath declared his love towards you.’—Bradford’s Epistles—Fathers of the English Church, vol. vi. pp. 58, 59. 1 Gen. 15:1. 2 Ps 119:114. 3 Comp. 2 Kings 6:14–17. 4 2 Cor. 6:16. 5 Psalm 132:13, 14, with Eph. 2:22. 6 1 Peter 5:8. 7 Rev. 12:9. 8 Isaiah 57:15. 9 Col. 1:20. 10 Eph. 2:13. 11 Isaiah 40:8, 9. 12 John 16:32. 1 Psalm 5:12. 2 Song. 5:2–6. 3 Heb. 11:27. 4 Rev. 21:3. Psalm 119:151 You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth. near (KJV): Ps 46:1 75:1 139:2 145:18 De 4:7 Mt 1:23 all (KJV): Ps 119:138,142 GOD IS NEAR HE HAS NOT MOVED You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth - The point is we meet Him in His Word. These words are not just written words but they are actually works spoken from the heart of our Father to His children (2 Ti 3:16, 17+). When the Word speaks, God speaks. And then you truly experience the nearness of Jehovah, the Great I Am. So if you don't feel close to the omnipresent God today, ask yourself a simple question - WHO MOVED? (Read Hebrews 13:5+). Charles Bridges - See comment on v150. Psalm 119:152 Of old I have known from Your testimonies That You have founded them forever. testimonies: Ps 119:144,160 Ps 89:34-37 Ps 111:7,8 Ec 3:14 Lu 21:33 Related Passages: Psalm 119:144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; Give me understanding that I may live. Psalm 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. Of old I have known from Your testimonies That You have founded them forever - "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. " (Lk 21:33+) Charles Bridges - The truth of the commandments, which the Psalmist had just asserted, was an everlasting foundation. He stated it not upon slight conviction. But he knew it—and that not recently—but as the result of early consideration—he had known it of old. It is most important to have a full certainty of the grounds of our faith. How else can we have that “good thing—a heart established with grace?”5—how “continue in the faith grounded and settled?”—how “kept from being moved away from the hopes of the Gospel?”6 Praised be God! We feel our ground to be firm. As God is the same, so must his testimonies be.7 We cannot conceive of his promising without performance, or threatening without effect.8 They are therefore expressly revealed as a firm foundation, in express contrast with this world’s fairest promise.9 But let us mark this eternal basis of “the testimonies.” The whole plan of redemption was emphatically “founded forever.” The Saviour “was foreordained before the foundation of the world.”10 The people of God are “chosen in Christ before the world began!”11 The great Author “declares the end from the beginning,”12 and thus clears his dispensations from any charge of mutability or contingency. Every event in the Church is fixed, permitted, and provided for—not in the passing moment of time, but in the counsels of eternity. All God’s faithful engagements with his people of old are “founded forever” upon the oath and promise of God—the two “immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie.”1 May we not then “have strong consolation” in venturing every hope for eternity upon this rock? nor need we be dismayed to see all our earthly stays, “the world, and the lust, and the fashion of it—passing away” before us.2 Yet we are most of us strangely attached to this fleeting scene, even when experience and divine teaching have instructed us in its vanity: and it is not until repeated proofs of this truth have touched us very closely, in the destruction of our dearest consolations, that we take the full comfort of the enduring foundation of God’s “testimonies,” and of the imperishable character of their treasure. Now let me realize the special support of this view in a dying hour, ‘I am on the borders of an unknown world;’ ‘but “my hope that maketh not ashamed,”3 at this moment of peril is as “an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast;” and in the strength of it I do not fear to plunge into eternity. “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.”4 I know—not his sufficiency merely, but his All-sufficiency. I know his conquering power over the great enemies of my soul. I know that he has “spoiled the principalities and powers”5 of hell, of the strength to triumph over his ransomed people. I know also, that he is “the Lord; he changeth not;”6 his word changes not: his testimonies abide the same: “I have known of old, that he has founded them forever.” ’ Thus we look for the removing of those “things which are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”7 The scoffer may say,—“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do!”8 Let God himself give the answer—“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”9 5 Heb. 13:9. 6 Col. 1:23. 7 Ps. 89:34; 111:7–9. 8 Numb. 23:19. 9 Isaiah 40:1–8. 10 1 Peter 1:20. Comp. Rev. 13:8. 11 Eph. 1:4. 2 Tim. 1:9. 12 Isaiah 46:9, 10 1 Heb. 6:16–18. 2 1 John 2:17. 1 Cor. 7:31. 3 Rom. 5:5. 4 2 Tim. 1:12. 5 Col. 2:15. 6 Mal. 3:6. 7 Heb. 12:27. 8 Psalm 11:3. 9 Isaiah 51:6. Psalm 119:153 Look upon my affliction and rescue me, For I do not forget Your law. (PRAYER) Consider (KJV): Ps 119:159 9:13 13:3,4 25:19 Ex 3:7,8 Ne 9:32 La 2:20 5:1 for I (KJV): Ps 119:16,98,109,141,176 Look upon my affliction and rescue me, For I do not forget Your law. Warren Wiersbe - Ps. 119:153 Plead My Case Nobody enjoys going to court. I once was a character witness in a court case, and it wasn't fun. How much worse it must be for the accused. But if you must stand trial, it's good to know that somebody is there to plead your case. This is what the psalmist talks about when he says to the Lord, "Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word" (Psalm 119:154). The greatest Advocate we have is God. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31). During the week we may go through difficulties. People may lie about us, and uncomfortable situations may arise because people don't like us. Sometimes we are misunderstood and criticized. You may be going through such an experience today. But God is with you in the trials of life. When you and I are on trial, He pleads and defends our case. He can handle the dispute. When we pray to God and say, "Plead my case," He goes to work. He also can accomplish our redemption, our deliverance. We are not going to be found guilty, and we are not going to be put in jail. God sets His people free in the difficulties of life. God can overcome your discouragement. When you've been through a tough experience, you feel discouraged and let down. But God lifts you above discouragement with His reviving power. Today, Jesus is pleading your case in heaven. He is your Heavenly Advocate and your High Priest. He gives you the grace to stay away from temptation and sin. But if you sin, you can go to your Advocate. He will forgive you, cleanse you and plead your case. * * * When others create difficulties for you, let God handle your dispute. He will deliver you and lift you above your discouragement. Likewise, Jesus will plead your case before the Father and forgive you (Psalm 119:153-160 Plead My Case) Charles Bridges - 153. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law Another note of the child of sorrow! Hated by the world1—vexed by his restless enemy2—chastened by his God3—burdened with his “body of death,”4—what else can he do but cry, Consider my affliction? How manifestly is this world not our rest, but our exercise for rest! Well is it that our “days are few,” when they are so “evil.”5 But how could we hold on as we do—had we not our Saviour’s pitying heart and Almighty help? The want of this sympathy was the overwhelming sorrow, that well nigh “broke his” sorrowing “heart”—“I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.”6 This depth of trial combined with every other part of his unknown sufferings to make him “such an High Priest as became us,”7 “touched with the feeling of our infirmities;”8 “considering our afflictions:” and “in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.”9 With what sympathy did he “consider the affliction” of his people in Egypt! “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and I know their sorrows.”10 At a subsequent period, “his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel”11—a cheering example of that compassionate interest, with which, “in all his people’s afflictions he is afflicted.”12 Well may his people take encouragement to pray, “Consider mine affliction.” “Now, therefore, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us.”13 Yet is he not only sympathizing to consider, but mighty to deliver. “Who is this glorious” conqueror with his “dyed garments” of victory—“travailing in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness—mighty to save.”14 Such did the noble confessors in Babylon15—such did Daniel in the den of lions16—find him, fully justifying their unwavering confidence in his love and power. And what age of the Church has been wanting in testimony, that “the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,”17 and that “he that hath delivered, doth deliver, and will even to the end deliver?”18 The consciousness that “we do not forget his law,” is our plea, that he would “consider our affliction and deliver” us;19 and is of itself an evidence, that the affliction has performed its appointed work. Let me then expect in mine affliction the fulfilment of his gracious promise, “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will deliver him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.”1 In the midst of my trials I would prepare my hymn of praise for his kind consideration and faithful deliverance—“I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities, and hast not shut me up in the hand of the enemy; thou hast set my feet in a large room!”2 Let me then remember my affliction, only as it may be the means of increasing my acquaintance with my tender and Almighty Friend. Poor and afflicted as I may be, let me be more poor and afflicted still, if I may but have fresh evidence that he “thinketh upon me”3—that he “considers my affliction,” and in his own gracious time and way will “deliver me.” 154. P 1 John 15:19. 2 Job 1:7. Luke 22:31. 1 Peter 5:8. 3 1 Cor. 11:32. Heb. 12:10, 11. 4 Rom. 7:24; 8:23. 5 Gen. 47:9. 6 Psalm 69:20. Comp. 22:11. 7 Heb. 7:26. 8 Heb. 4:15. 9 Heb. 2:18. 10 Exod. 3:7; also 2:25. 11 Judges 10:16. 12 Isaiah 63:9. 13 Neh. 9:32. Comp. Psalm 132:1. 14 Isaiah 63:1. 15 Dan. 3:17, 25–28. 16 Da. 6:23, 27. 17 2 Peter 2:9. 18 2 Cor. 1:10. 19 The same plea is often urged in this Psalm, verses 94, 173, 176. 1 Psalm 91:14, 15. 2 Psalm 31:7, 8. 3 Ps. 40:17. Psalm 119:154 Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word. (TRIPLE PRAYER) Plead (KJV): Ps 35:1 43:1 1Sa 24:15 Job 5:8 Pr 22:23 Jer 11:20 50:34 51:36 Mic 7:9 1Jn 2:1 quicken (KJV): Ps 119:25,40 REDEEM ME AND REVIVE ME! Plead my cause and redeem me - Revive me according to Your word - 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 Charles
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Wiersbe: Always worth checking for his insightful, devotional and practical comments. Be worshipful : glorifying God for who he is : OT commentary, Psalms 1 - 89 by Warren Wiersbe Wiersbe's Commentary on the entire Old Testament - by Warren Wiersbe - for comments on Psalms scroll down to page 872 Meet yourself in the Psalms by Warren Wiersbe Prayer, praise & promises : a daily walk through the Psalms by Warren Wiersbe - Note this is also online under Psalms Commentaries Wiersbe's expository outlines on the Old Testament by Warren Wiersbe "Even the most difficult Scriptures come alive as Warren Wiersbe leads you book-by-book through the Old Testament and helps you to see the "big picture" of God's revelation. In this unique volume, you will find: • Introductions and/or outlines for every Old Testament book • Practical expositions of strategic chapters • Special studies on key topics, relating the Old Testament to the New Testament • Easy-to-understand expositions that are practical, preachable, and teachable If you have used Dr. Wiersbe's popular BE series, you know how simple and practical his Bible studies are, with outlines that almost teach themselves. If not, you can now discover a wonderful new resource. This work is a unique commentary on every book of the Old Testament. It contains new material not to be found in the BE series. With the Word - Devotional Commentary - Warren Wiersbe - 428 ratings This book gives short explanations and applications of the strategic chapters of each Bible book. Dr Wiersbe's insights into each chapter are always enlightening and challenging. Psalm 119:2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart. Observe Ps 119:22,146 25:10 105:45 De 6:17 1Ki 2:3 Pr 23:26 Eze 36:27 Joh 14:23 1Jn 3:20 seek Ps 119:10 De 4:29 2Ch 31:21 Jer 29:13 OBEDIENCE THE WAY TO BLESSING How blessed are those who observe His testimonies Observe (preserve, keep, watch, guard) (05341) natsar means to guard, keep, observe, hide, preserve, hide. Many of the uses of natsar are nuanced by the object that is being watched or guarded. Natsar is close syn to more common verb shamar "keep, tend." guard, protect, conceal, observe, preserve, watchman. First use is by God: sense of "keeping with faithfulness" in Ex 34:7 Who KEEPS lovingkindness for thousands. Watching the mouth (Pr 13:3 Ps 141:3), one's path in life (Pr 16:17), one's heart (Pr 4:23). Cowper - Blessed... Blessed, in the first verse and second, is to let us see the certainty of the blessing belonging to the godly. Manton - In the former verse a blessed man is described by the course of his actions, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way": in this verse he is described by the frame of his heart. Obedience to God’s Word results in: being treasured by God (Ex 19:5); blessedness (happiness) in life (Ps 119:2); not being ashamed (Ps. 119:4-6); understanding (Ps 119:100); avoidance of evil (Ps 119:101); guidance for life (Ps 119:105); safety and freedom from anxiety (Pr 1:33); life (Pr 19:16; Eze 18:19; Jn 8:51); God’s blessing (Isa1:19); greatness in the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:19); bearing fruit for God (Mt 13:23); manifesting love for God (Jn 14:23; 1Jn 2:5); promise of God’s presence (Jn 14:23; 2Jn 9); abiding in the love of God (Jn 15:10); evidence of the doctrine that has been taught (Ro 6:17); assurance of salvation (1Jn 2:3); eternal life (1 Jn 2:17); dwelling in God (1Jn 3:24); love of God’s children (1Jn5:2); and entrance into heaven (Rev 22:7). Thomas Manton on testimonies - The notion by which the word of God is expressed is "testimonies"; whereby is intended the whole declaration of God's will in doctrines, commands, examples, threatenings, promises. The whole word is the testimony which God hath deposed for the satisfaction of the world about the way of their salvation. Now because the word of God branches itself into two parts, the law and the gospel, this notion may be applied to both. First, to the law, in regard whereof the ark was called "the ark of the testimony" (Exodus 25:16), because the two tables were laid up in it. The gospel is also called the testimony, "the testimony of God concerning his Son." "To the law, and to the testimony" (Isaiah 8:20); where testimony seems to be distinguished from the law. The gospel is so called, because therein God hath testified how a man shall be pardoned, reconciled to God, and obtain a right to eternal life. We need a testimony in this case, because it is more unknown to us. The law was written upon the heart, but the gospel is a stranger. Natural light will discern something of the law, and pry into matters which are of a moral strain and concernment; but evangelical truths are a mystery, and depend upon the mere testimony of God concerning his Son. Cowper on testimonies - The word of God is called his testimony, not only because it testifies his will concerning his service, but also his favour and goodwill concerning his own in Christ Jesus. If God's word were no more than a law, yet were we bound to obey it, because we are his creatures; but since it is also a testimony of his love, wherein as a father he witnesseth his favour towards his children, we are doubly inexcusable if we do not most joyfully embrace it.
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Wiersbe - Keeping Clean How does a person keep clean in this dirty world? The psalmist asks this question in verse 9: "How can a young man cleanse his way?" The answer: "By taking heed according to Your word." Of course this doesn't apply only to a young man. The same is true for a young woman, a child or an older person. We are living in a dirty world, and because of the pollution around us, we have to walk in the Word of God. The psalmist gives us several instructions to follow to keep us spiritually clean. First, heed the Word. We first have to read and study the Word so we know it. And if we know it, we should obey it. Second, hide the Word. "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11). G. Campbell Morgan used to say of this verse, "It tells us about the best book--'Thy Word'--in the best place--'my heart'--for the best purpose--'that I might not sin' against God." Are you obeying the Word of God? Are you treasuring it in your heart? Third, herald the Word by sharing it with others. "With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth" (Psalm 119:13). If we have Scripture in our hearts, it has to come out through our lips, because "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:34). Finally, honor the Word. "I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways" (Psalm 119:15). In other words, "I will honor God's Word. I will respect what He wants me to do. My Father is telling me what to do, and I am going to obey Him." * * * God's Word has a cleansing effect. But you must get into the Word before it can become effective in your life. Obey God's Word, and He will keep you clean in this dirty world (Psalm 119:9-16 Keeping Clean) We are drowning in a sea of sexual images and sinful attractions. Everywhere we look we find temptation to fill our minds with thoughts of sexual relationships that God wouldn't approve. The writer asked a question that troubles us all: How do we stay pure in a contaminating environment? We cannot do this on our own but must have counsel and strength more dynamic than the tempting influences around us. Where can we find that strength and wisdom? By reading God's Word and doing what it says. - Life Application Study Bible HOW DO WE "PUT ON THE FULL ARMOR"? Thy Word is like an armory, Where soldiers may repair, And find, for life's long battle-day, All needful weapons there. --Hodder If your life depended on knowing the Bible,how long would you last? Even though children can understand the Bible's basic truths, it is no simple book. Anyone who bothers to study it finds it to be as limitless as the cosmos. We can go back to the same text countless times and still find more there. No one has ever mastered the Scriptures. The Bible is like the ocean. You can wade in it, feed from it, live on it--or drown in it. But those who take the time to learn its truths and practice them will be changed forever. The Bible is simple enough for a child to read and too deep for a scholar to master. CLEANSING Psalm 119:9–16 I. The purging—v. 9 A. Concern—“How can a young man cleanse his way?” More simply, “How can a person live a holy life?” B. Cleansing—“By taking heed thereto according to thy Word.” “By reading your Word and following its rules” (LB). A person who follows God’s Word will live a holy life. II. The plea—v. 10 A. Prayer—“With my whole heart have I sought Thee.” Perhaps the psalmist knew the truth of Jer. 29:13. B. Plea—“O let me not wander from thy commandments.” In plain words, “Help me to obey all thy commandments.” A Christian should always be seeking to improve his Christian living. He should never be satisfied. To be satisfied is to be backslidden. III. The power—v. 11 A. Scripture—“Thy Word.” God’s Word will not pass away. His Word is settled forever in heaven—Ps. 119:89. B. Security—“Have I hid in my heart.” If we hide His Word in our hearts, we’ll not sin against God! Jesus said that out of the heart man speaks—Matt. 15:18. C. Sinlessness—“That I might not sin against thee.” The more we hide God’s Word in our hearts, the less we will sin against Him. IV. The prayer—v. 12 A. Praise—“Blessed art thou.” All prayer should begin with thanksgiving. Daniel prayed and gave thanks—Dan. 6:10. B. Plea—“O Lord: teach me thy statutes.” He will teach us if we are willing to study—2 Tim. 2:15. V. The Person—vv. 13–15 A. Witness—v. 13. The Psalmist talked about the good things of God. God seeks people who will witness for Him. B. Worship—v. 14. Rejoicing is a very important part of worship. The Psalmist rejoiced in God’s ways. C. Ways—v. 15. He respected and meditated upon God’s ways. Many have never learned to meditate. VI. The praise—v. 16 A. Delight. Delight in God’s statutes. He was happy to keep God’s laws. B. Dedication. He would not forget God’s Word! Croft Pence Charles Bridges - 9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word Why is the young man so especially called to cleanse his way? Because God justly claims the first and the best. And is it not a most affecting proof of the alienation of the heart from God, that the youth of man—the bloom and freshness of his mind—his “first love”—should naturally be devoted to the service of sin? Ever since fallen man “begat a son in his own likeness,” “the imagination of man’s heart has been evil from his youth.”1 For “who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?”2 And never does the heart utter the cry, “My Father! thou art the guide of my youth,”3 until the misery of wandering without a guide has been painfully felt. And even when Divine grace has awakened the desire to return homewards, the habit of wandering from God, and the long-cherished pollutions of sin, seem to form an almost invincible barrier to progress. The fearful power of “youthful lusts,” and the madness with which the heart is hurried into forbidden indulgences, give solemn weight to the inquiry—“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” And the answer is ready. Let him “take heed thereto according to the word.” Thus did Joseph4 and Daniel with his young companions5 “cleanse their way” in the defilement of an heathen atmosphere. It was probably the recollection of this purifying efficacy of the word, that induced the venerable Beza to mention in his will, among his chief matters of thankfulness to God, the mercy of having been called to the knowledge of the truth at the age of sixteen; thus, during a course of more than seventy years’ walk with God, “escaping the pollutions of the world through lust.” But the “way can only be cleansed” by the cleansing of the heart: for how can a corrupt fountain “send forth” other than “bitter waters?”6 “Out of the heart are the issues of life.” Hence the urgent need to cry—“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”7 How precious, therefore, is the word of God, as the means of this cleansing operation! When our Saviour had been setting forth himself as “the way, the truth, and the life,” and exhibiting the high privilege of union with himself—“Now,” he adds, “ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”8 This is “the truth,” which he pleaded with his Father as the means of our sanctification.9 This sets out our purifying hope.10 Here are the promises, by which we “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”11 Thus is restored to man that golden “crown”—the stamp of his Maker’s holiness—which “fell from his head when he sinned.”12 But oh! how does the recollection force itself upon us,—that our way wants daily cleansing! so defiled are our actions, our thoughts, our motives,—nay more, our prayers and services. Let us then “take heed according to the word of God”—specially thankful for its heavenly light, which guides us to the “fountain that is opened for sin and for uncleanness.”1 Let us also under the same Divine light seek for the daily sanctifying influence of the Spirit of God. “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”2 ‘Cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit.’3 1 Gen. 5:3; 8:21. 2 Job 14:4. 3 Jer. 3:4. 4 Gen. 39:9. 5 Dan. 1:8–20; 3:12–18. 6 James 3:11, 12. 7 Prov. 4:23. Psalm 51:10. 8 John 14; 15:1–3. 9 Ib. 17:17. 10 1 John 3:3. 11 2 Cor. 7:1. Comp. 2 Peter 1:4. Augustine’s recorded account of his own conversion furnishes a striking illustration of this subject. Confessions, Books viii. ix. The substance of it may be found in Milner’s Church History, vol. ii. 353–356. See Dr. Owen’s valuable work on the Spirit for a most instructive use made of it, as throwing light upon the doctrine of conversion. Book iii. chap. vi. 12 Lam. 5:16, with Gen. 1:27. Eph. 4:24. 1 Zech. 13:1. 2 Psalm 19:12. 3 Prayer-Book. Thy Word I Have Treasured in My Heart - John
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Wiersbe - Handling the Critics What do you do when people criticize you? What goes through your mind when you are in the presence of people who are unkind, especially people who don't believe the Word of God? The psalmist gives one answer: "Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors" (Psalm 119:23,24). Meditate on the Word of God. Get your mind fixed upon what God says. If we ponder and think about the things other people say, we will be agitated and anxious and uptight. But if we meditate on what God says, those things that are true and right and holy and beautiful, His peace will fill us. Delight in the Word of God. "Your testimonies also are my delight" (Psalm 119:24). Some people delight in gossip. They enjoy listening to rumors about people. But the psalmist says, "While they were gossiping and telling lies, I was meditating on the Word of God, because I delight in it." Obey the Word of God. "Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors" (Psalm 119:24). The Hebrew text means, "the men of my counsel." Authorities, friends and even enemies may want to give you counsel. But get your counsel from the Word of God. * * * Whatever your difficulty today, turn to the Bible and let it counsel you. Let it saturate your mind, heart and will. (Psalm 119:17-24 Handling the Critics) Charles Bridges - 17. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word This prayer appears to have been much upon David’s heart, and in the substance and object of it is again repeated.7 Nor does he fail to acknowledge the answer to it.1 The believer like David, is a man of large expectations. As regards himself—his own daily provocations and backslidings—he cannot stand upon his own ground. But when he brings with him the name, the blood, the intercession of Jesus, as soon could God deny his own beloved Son, as resist the supplication of those who present this all-prevailing plea.2 Nay—is not this his own gift to his children, as the pledge of every other gift?3 And what other pledge can they need, to encourage them to draw nigh with the largest desire, and the most heavenly expectation? We may indeed be too bold in our manner of approach to God;4 but we cannot be too bold in our expectations from him. Standing as we do upon such high and sure ground, it is equally dishonorable to him, and impoverishing to ourselves, to ask only a little of him. Rather let us, according to his own command, “open our mouths wide; and he will fill them.”5 Rather let us expect that he will deal—not only favorably—but bountifully with his servants—that, as “our God, he will supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”6 And, indeed, the most experienced believer cannot forget, that he is in himself still the same poor, weak, empty, helpless creature as at first. Nothing therefore short of a bountiful supply can answer his emergency. Such a supply is always at hand. The act of prayer increases the power to pray. The throne of grace is a well, which no power or malice of the Philistines can stop up.7 We need not say,—“We have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.”8 Faith will enable us “with joy to draw water out of this well of salvation.”9 Let us bring our empty vessels, until “there is not a vessel more.”10 Yes—believer—there is indeed a bountiful supply of grace—of every kind—suited to every want—grace to pardon—grace to quicken—grace to bless. Oh! see, then, that you come not empty away. Remember—who it is that pleads before the throne. Remember—that the grace you need is in his hand. From eternity he foreknew your case. He laid your portion by: He has kept it for the time of need; and now he only waits for an empty vessel into which to pour his supply. He is ready to show you, how infinitely his grace exceeds all thoughts—all prayers—all desires—all praises. And say—what has been the fruit of your pleading, waiting expectancy at “the throne of grace?” Have you not returned thence with a fresh spring of devotedness in this service, with every selfish thought forgotten in the desire, that you “may live and keep his word.” Nothing touched or moved your reluctant heart, but the apprehension of bountiful redeeming love. This makes obedience easy—delightful—natural—in a manner unavoidable. It “constrains”11 to it. The man now lives—not the animal life of appetite—not the sensual life of vanity and pleasure—but the only life that deserves the name. He lives singly, supremely “to him that died for him, and rose again.”1 He “lives, and keeps his word.” His motto and character now is—“To me to live is Christ.”2 He values life only by its opportunities of serving his God.3 The first archangel knows not a higher object of existence. And how encouraging the reflection, that in this glorious object the meanest servant in the household of God is an equal participant with the most blessed inhabitant of heaven! 7 Ps 119:77. 1 Ps 119:65. Comp. Ps. 13:6; 116:7, 8. 2 John 16:23, 24. 3 Rom. 8:32. 4 A beautiful example of reverential approach, and of the acceptance manifested, is given in Abram’s history, (Gen. 17:3,) and is in some degree illustrated by the private records of Luther.—Note on verses 147, 148. 5 Psalm 81:10. 6 Phil. 4:19. 7 Com. Gen. 26:15. 8 John 4:11. 9 Isaiah 12:3. 10 Comp. 2 Kings 4:3–6. 11 2 Cor. 5:14. 1 2 Cor. 5:15. 2 Phil. 1:21. Comp. Acts 13:36. 3 Phil 1:20. Psalm 119:18 Open (galah) my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful (pala; Lxx - thaumasios) things from Your law. Open Heb. Reveal, Isa 29:10-12,18 32:3 35:5 Mt 13:13 16:17 Joh 9:39 Ac 26:18 2Co 3:14-18 4:4-6 Eph 1:17,18 Rev 3:18 Wonderful Ps 119:96 Ho 8:12 2Co 3:13 Heb 8:5 10:1 A PRAYER FOR INSIGHT INTO THE SUPERNATURAL! This is a simple but powerful prayer for spiritual illumination, asking God by His Spirit to remove the scales from our natural, spiritually blind eyes, that we might see and receive supernatural truth. Supernatural (spiritual) truth cannot be apprehended in a natural way, but requires a supernatural means. J Vernon McGee on Ps 119:18 - This is the verse I used to begin the “Thru the Bible” program years ago when I first taught it in a little weather-beaten church on the side of a red clay hill in Georgia. I used this verse as a theme for many years. This is a good one—“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law [thy word].” (Thru the Bible commentary) While the verb open is in the imperative form, in context as alluded to above, it is clearly the cry of a beggar who recognizes his abject spiritual poverty and his desperate need of spiritual bread The Bible is filled with spiritual truth that can only be seen with an eye opened by the Spirit of God. 🙏 THOUGHT - A basic principle is that unless the Spirit of God opens our natural eyes, we are unable to see supernatural truth. Human intellect, religious upbringing, or moral sincerity alone cannot pierce the veil of the unseen; only divine illumination can. Just as Elisha’s servant could only see blazing chariots of fire when the Lord opened his eyes (2 Ki 6:17+), so it is with us in grasping the truths of God. By nature we are spiritually blind (1 Cor 2:14+), but the Spirit grants sight, enabling us to see Christ’s glory, God’s purposes, and the hope secured for us (Eph 1:18+). We do not need new truth so much as opened eyes to the truth already present. Spiritual clarity is not achieved but is received. Therefore, the believer’s continual prayer must echo David’s “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law” (Ps 119:18+). When God opens our eyes, fear gives way to faith, confusion to confidence, and earthly perspective to eternal conviction. Do you pray this or a similar prayer EVERY time you open God's supernatural Word? If not, you are missing out on what the Spirit Alone can show you. Donald Williams - He must open us up and show us His wondrous things (Ps 119:18). Apart from this, in the words of Bob Dylan, “I’m a little too blind to see.” (The Preacher’s Commentary ) Kidner - To feel the force of this request, cf. the sight that met the opened eyes of Balaam (Num. 22:31) or of Elisha’s servant (2 Kgs 6:17, using another word). (Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary) David
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Wiersbe - Open, Obedient, Occupied Psalm 119:25-32 An enlarged heart, in the physical sense, is dangerous. But spiritually speaking, an enlarged heart can be a blessing. An enlarged heart, in the physical sense, is dangerous. But spiritually speaking, an enlarged heart can be a blessing. "I will run in the way of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart" (Psalm 119:32). If you have an enlarged heart physically, you don't do much running. But if you have an enlarged heart spiritually, you are ready to walk and run with the Lord and accomplish His purposes. When an athlete is running, he is on a path and has a goal in mind, which gives him the energy to continue. That's what God wants for us today. He has a goal for us to reach and a path for us to follow. And He gives us His strength through His Word. What does it mean to have an enlarged heart? First, an enlarged heart is open to God's truth. It's a heart that's honest and says, "Lord, I want Your truth even if it hurts." Second, an enlarged heart is obedient to God's will. It's a humble heart that says, "O God, what You have said, I will do. I am the servant. You are the master." Third, an enlarged heart is occupied with God's glory. It's a happy heart. Some people's hearts are small and narrow. They live in their own little world and have their own narrow view. What a wonderful thing it is to grow in grace and the knowledge of truth (2 Pet. 3:18)! Our horizons are expanded. We can see what we haven't seen before. We can hear what we haven't heard before. God gives us an enlarged life because we have an enlarged heart. Open your heart to God's truth and be obedient to His will. Every step of obedience expands your horizon of blessing and ministry. Most of all, be occupied with God's glory Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Thy statutes, And I shall observe it to the end. (PRAYER) NET Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O LORD, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes, so that I might observe it continually. LXE Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thine ordinances, and I will seek it out continually. NLT Psalm 119:33 Teach me your decrees, O LORD; I will keep them to the end. KJV Psalm 119:33 HE. Teach <03384> (08685) me, O LORD <03068>, the way <01870> of thy statutes <02706>; and I shall keep <05341> (08799) it unto the end <06118>. ESV Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. NIV Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. ASV Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O Jehovah, the way of thy statutes; And I shall keep it unto the end. CSB Psalm 119:33 Teach me, LORD, the meaning of Your statutes, and I will always keep them. NKJ Psalm 119:33 HE. Teach <03384> (08685) me, O LORD <03068>, the way <01870> of Your statutes <02706>, And I shall keep <05341> (08799) it to the end <06118>. NRS Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end. YLT Psalm 119:33 He. Show me, O Jehovah, the way of Thy statutes, And I keep it -- to the end. NAB Psalm 119:33 LORD, teach me the way of your laws; I shall observe them with care. NJB Psalm 119:33 Teach me, Yahweh, the way of your will, and I will observe it. GWN Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O LORD, how to live by your laws, and I will obey them to the end. BHT Psalm 119:33 hôrëºnî yhwh(´ädönäy) Deºrek Huqqʺkä wü´eccüreºnnâ `ëºqeb BBE Psalm 119:33 HE O Lord, let me see the way of your rules, and I will keep it to the end. Teach: Ps 119:12,26,27 Isa 54:13 Joh 6:45 I shall observe: Ps 119:8,112 Mt 10:22 24:13 1Co 1:7,8 Php 1:6 1Jn 2:19,20,27 Rev 2:26 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Thy statutes - This is a great prayer to utter frequently, because we are all like the hymnist who portrayed us as "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above." (See short clip on Robert Robinson's conviction by his own hymn). THOUGHT - Would we be so prone to wander if we prayed this prayed (sincerely, not ritualistically) each morning of the new day? We are always at risk of wandering but God's grace in answer to this prayer will help "stabilize the rudder" of our vessel! Septuagint (Lxx) = Teach (aorist imperative -see note below) (3549)(nomotheteo from nomos = a law + títhemi = to put, set) literally means to put a law and means to enact laws, make laws, give laws or establish as law (legislate) (Only 2 NT uses - Heb 7:11, Heb 8:6). There are 11 uses of nomotheteo in the Lxx (Ex 24:12; Dt 17:10; Ps. 25:8, 12; 27:11; 84:6; 119:33, 102, 104) and in 8/11 uses it translated yarah (to instruct) and thus conveys the sense of to instruct or to teach And I shall observe it to the end - NET NOTE - Hebrew "and I will keep it to the end." The prefixed verbal form with vav (w) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. The Hebrew term bq,[e ('eqev) is understood to mean "end" here. Another option is to take bq,[e ('eqev) as meaning "reward" here (see Ps 19:11) and to translate, "so that I might observe it and be rewarded." Warren Wiersbe - You Become What You See Outlook determines outcome. What you are seeing helps to determine what you are becoming. So you'd better be careful what you look at. It's no wonder that the psalmist prays, "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way" (Psalm 119:37). Worthless things here literally means "vanity." Much of what we see every day in the media, for example, is worthless and false. It doesn't come from God, who is Truth; it comes from Satan and the world. And it doesn't last; it's all vanity. The word for vanity means "emptiness"--what is left after you break a soap bubble. Look at the Word of God. It is truth. It is God's treasure. It will endure forever. "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven" (Ps. 119:89). When we fill our lives with the Word of God, we fight vanity. When we turn our eyes upon the pages of the Bible, we grow in truth and value and are in touch with eternity. It's an interesting coincidence that we find the letters "T" and "V" in Psalm 119:37 (in the words turn and vanity). I think a lot of people need to put this verse on their television sets. You may say, "TV is just harmless entertainment." But so much of what you see goes right into your mind and heart, making you cheap, false, worthless and temporary. The Bible tells us that "he who does the will of God abides forever" (I John 2:17). * * * So much of what the world offers is trivial, false and worthless. Don't build your life on the world's foundations. Build your life instead on the Word of God, for it endures forever. (Psalm 119:33-40 You Become What You See) Charles Bridges - 33. Teach me, O Lord, the way of the statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end We need no instruction in the way of sin. That has been our way, ever since Adam “sought out his own invention.”8 The ungodly “desire no knowledge of the way of God’s statutes.”9 The heart leads the judgment, and “their heart is enmity to the law of God.”10 But for a child of God, this is a prayer for daily use. For the more he is taught, the more he feels his need of teaching, and the more earnest are his cries for this invaluable blessing. We know nothing spiritually, except as we are taught of God. The blind man must be led the plainest and most direct, as well as in the more difficult and rugged paths. And thus do we need the shining of light from above—not only in “the deep things of God”—but for the reception of the most elementary truths. And yet we want not this knowledge for its own sake—to feed pride or speculation—but for its practical influence. For of what avail is the discovery even of important truth, if we be not moulded into its likeness, and constrained “into the obedience of faith?” The connection of every thought with Christian practice, here directed to its proper end, is a most striking proof of the Divine origin of the statutes. The most clear instructions for the regulation of our conduct flow from single sentences or expressions in these “statutes!” and this clearly proves an infinite wisdom in their distribution, a reference in the eternal mind to every detail of practical duty, and a Divine power and unction, applying the word to the several circumstances of daily conduct! For, indeed, what mind but the mind of God could have comprehended in so small a compass such a vast system of instruction? In this view, therefore, the Lord’s teaching becomes the spring of obedience. For how can we “keep” a way which we do not understand? And who was ever “taught the way of the Lord’s statutes,” who had not his heart constrained and directed by their spiritual beauty and sweetness? In this path we realize union with the Saviour;1 “the love of God is perfected in us;”2 and our confidence is established before God.3 The object nearest to the believer’s heart, and which causes him many an anxious and too often—many an unbelieving thought—is the grace of perseverance. Now the Lord’s teaching is the principle of perseverance. It is “the light of life”4—enlightening the mind, and quickening the heart. Under this influence therefore we live—we endure—we cannot fail of keeping the way unto the end.5 Thus the end crowns the work. For with this blessing of perseverance, is sealed to us the hope of victory over our spiritual enemies, and the participation of our Saviour’s glory.6 Confidence, indeed, without prayer and dependence upon our glorious Head, is most daring presumption; but that “well-ordered and sure covenant,” which “is all our salvation, and all our desire,” engages for our continuance in “the way of the Lord’s statutes!” I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”7 8 Eccl. 7:29. Isa. 53:6. 9 Job 21:14. 10 Rom. 8:7. 1 1 John 3:24. 2 1Jn 2:5. 3 1Jn. 3:22. 4 John 1:4; 8:12. 5 1 John 2:27. 6 Rev. 2:26–28. 7 Jer. 32:40; 31:33; with 2 Sam. 23:5. Hold everything! Wait a minute! Have you read the Scripture for today? It's only eight short verses, and it will take you only 45 seconds. No, don't lay this booklet down and mumble to me, "I'm in a hurry and you're delaying me." I see you're eating breakfast this morning even though you're late. You take time to feed your body, but you were going to starve your soul. Take 45 seconds and read Psalm 119:33-40. If you don't read the rest of this devotional, that's okay--as long as you read the Bible. Job said, "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job23:12). Jesus taught, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt4:4). Read Ps 119:33-40 and make its words your prayer: Teach me (Ps 119:33). Give me (Ps 119:34). Make me (Ps 119:35). Incline me (Ps 119:36). Turn me (Ps 119:37). Establish me (Ps 119:38). Spare me (Ps 119:39). Revive me (Ps 119:40). If you're too busy to read the Bible, you're too busy! Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, And keep it with all my heart. (PRAYER) NET Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding so that I might observe your law, and keep it with all my heart. LXE Psalm 119:34 Instruct me, and I will search out thy law, and will keep it with my whole heart. NLT Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. KJV Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding <0995> (08685), and I shall keep <05341> (08799) thy law <08451>; yea, I shall observe <08104> (08799) it with my whole heart <03820>. ESV Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. NIV Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. ASV Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. CSB Psalm 119:34 Help me understand Your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart. NKJ Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding <0995> (08685), and I shall keep <05341> (08799) Your law <08451>; Indeed, I shall observe <08104> (08799) it with my whole heart <03820>. NRS Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. YLT Psalm 119:34 Cause me to understand, and I keep Thy law, And observe it with the whole heart. NAB Psalm 119:34 Give me insight to observe your teaching, to keep it with all my heart. NJB Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding and I will observe your Law, and keep it wholeheartedly. GWN Psalm 119:34 Help me understand so that I can follow your teachings. I will guard them with all my heart. BHT Psalm 119:34 hábînënî wü´eccürâ tô|räteºkä wü´ešmüreºnnâ bükol-lëb BBE Psalm 119:34 Give me wisdom, so that I may keep your law; going after it with all my heart. Give me: Ps 119:73 111:10 Job 28:28 Pr 2:5,6 John 7:17 Jas 1:5 Jas 3:13-18 I may observe Thy law: Dt 4:6 Mt 5:19 7:24 Jas 1:25 2:8-12 4:11 I shall keep it: Ps 119:10,58,69 Give me understanding - Understanding is biyn which means insight, discernment (Ps 19:12, Ps 73:17), ability to distinguish between good and evil (1 Ki 3:9). Lxx for understanding is sunetizo (aorist imperative) which means to cause to understand Septuagint (Lxx) = Understanding (Sunetizo, cf sunetos = intelligent, wise) means to cause to understand, to instruct. Not found in the NT. Notice the concentration in Psalm 119 - Neh. 8:7; Neh. 8:9; Neh. 9:20; Ps. 16:7; Ps. 32:8; Ps. 119:27; Ps. 119:34; Ps. 119:73; Ps. 119:125; Ps. 119:130; Ps. 119:144; Ps. 119:169; Dan. 8:16; Dan. 9:22; Dan. 10:14 that I may observe Thy law - The Hebrew for observe is natsar/nasar is a rich word that means far more than casual obedience. It speaks of watching over something with careful attention, guarding it like a precious treasure (Ps 119:11+, Job 23:12+), and keeping it with unwavering vigilance. The Septuagint uses phulasso, a term used for a watchman, sentinel, or guard on duty, someone alert, committed, and unwilling to let what is entrusted to him be neglected or violated. This means believers are not merely to possess God’s Word, but we are to protect it in our hearts, preserve it in our minds, and practice it in our lives. We are to stand watch over it, so that the pressures of the world, the subtle distortions of false teaching, and the drifting of our own hearts (WOE) do not rob it of its rightful place in us. As a sentinel never abandons his post, so the child of God must not relax in guarding, honoring, and obeying God’s truth. In summary, to observe God’s law, then, is to treat it as priceless, to remain spiritually awake, and to live with a deliberate (Spirit enabled) determination that His Word will govern our thinking, direct our choices, and shape our character. In short, natsar calls us not to passive reception of Scripture, but to active, alert, disciplined stewardship of it in every part of life. And keep it with all my heart - This phrase emphasizes not merely outward conformity, but wholehearted devotion. To keep God’s Word is not simply to perform religious duty or observe commandments mechanically; it is (enabled by the Spirit) to embrace His truth with undivided loyalty, sincere affection, and willing submission. The psalmist is not content to obey partially, occasionally, or selectively but he longs to guard, cherish, and live God’s Word from the very center of his being. Remember that in Scripture the heart represents the control center of life—mind, will, affections, motives, and desires. To keep God’s Word “with all my heart” means: intellectually, I believe it, emotionally, I love it, volitionally, I submit to it, and practically, I live it. This verse calls for obedience without reservation, discipleship without divided allegiance. It echoes Deuteronomy 6:5+: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,” and resonates with Psalm 119 overall, where love for God’s Word and loyalty to God’s ways are inseparably linked. Such wholehearted keeping stands in contrast to half-hearted obedience, surface religion, and duty-driven faith. God does not desire mechanical observance but affectionate allegiance. True obedience flows from a heart captured by God, not pressured by obligation. Therefore, this line is both a confession of dependence (“Lord, I cannot keep Your Word rightly without Your Spirit's help”) and a declaration of intent (“With all that I am, I want to live in joyful submission to Your truth”). Charles Bridges - 34. Give me understanding, and I will keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart ‘He that is his own teacher’—says Bernard—and one greater than Bernard,8 ‘has a fool for his master.’ Man cannot teach what he does not know; and of God, and of his law, he knows nothing. Therefore the beginning of wisdom is a consciousness of ignorance, a distrust of our own understanding, and the heart-felt prayer—“Give me understanding.” The spiritual understanding is the gift of Jesus Christ.9 He directs us to himself, as its fountain—“I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’10 This understanding differs from mere intellectual discernment or speculative knowledge. It is the spring of spiritual activity in our walk with God;1 so that our obedience is not outward and reluctant, but filial delight and wholeness of heart:—we desire not only to keep the law of God to the end, but every day to the end—“with our whole heart.”—Such are our obligations towards him, that we ought to study very accurately the character of our walk with him; always remembering that service without the heart—the whole heart—is hateful in his sight,2 and that what is now wilfully withheld, will gradually draw away the rest in apostasy from him. Now are we seeking more “engagedness of heart” for him. Then will this prayer be a suitable expression of our need, and the utterance of a humble, resolute petitioner. It is not, however, enough that we have once received, unless we are constantly receiving. We must ask, that we may receive; but after we have received, we must ask again. Yet is this prayer never offered up, until the soul has in part received what it is here seeking for. The natural man is “wise in his own conceit,” and has therefore no idea of his need of Divine teaching. But we must not be satisfied with even a clear apprehension of the doctrines of the Bible, and of the “truth as it is in Jesus.” “Give me understanding”—‘not only that I may believe these doctrines, but that I may keep and observe them.’ In every path of duty, this cry is repeated, with an importunity that is never wearisome to the ears of our gracious Father. And in how many unnoticed instances has the answer been vouchsafed when some clear and heavenly ray, darting unexpectedly into the mind, or some providential concurrence of unforeseen circumstances, has disentangled a path before intricate and involved, and marked it before us with the light of a sunbeam! How many whispers of conscience! how many seasonable suggestions in moments of darkness and perplexity may the observant child of God record, as the answer to this needful prayer—“Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.”3 Nor will our growth in spiritual understanding fail to evidence itself in the steady consistency of a well-ordered conversation—“Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”4 If then knowledge is valuable according to its usefulness, one ray of this practical knowledge—the result of prayer for heavenly teaching,—is more to be prized than the highest attainments of speculative religion—flowing from mere human instruction. 8 Prov. 28:26. 9 1 John 2:20; 5:20. 10 John 8:12; also 12:46. 1 See Col. 1:9, 10. 2 Isaiah 1:11–15. Hosea 10:2. Acts 5:1–10. 3 Psalm 107:43. 4 James 3:13. Give me understanding. - John Flavel Prayer is a proper means for the increase of knowledge. Prayer is the golden key that unlocks that treasure. When Daniel was to expound the secret contained in the king’s dream, about which the Chaldean magicians had racked their brains to no purpose; what course did Daniel take? “He went to his house,” Dan. 2:17, 18, “and made the thing known to Hananiah, Michael, and Azariah, his companions; that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning his secret.” And then was the secret revealed to Daniel. Psalm 119:35 Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments, For I delight in it. (PRAYER) NET Psalm 119:35 Guide me in the path of your commands, for I delight to walk in it. LXE Psalm 119:35 Guide me in the path of thy commandments; for I have delighted in it. NLT Psalm 119:35 Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. KJV Psalm 119:35 Make me to go <01869> (08685) in the path <05410> of thy commandments <04687>; for therein do I delight <02654> (08804). ESV Psalm 119:35 Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. NIV Psalm 119:35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. ASV Psalm 119:35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; For therein do I delight. CSB Psalm 119:35 Help me stay on the path of Your commands, for I take pleasure in it. NKJ Psalm 119:35 Make me walk <01869> (08685) in the path <05410> of Your commandments <04687>, For I delight <02654> (08804) in it. NRS Psalm 119:35 Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. YLT Psalm 119:35 Cause me to tread in the path of Thy commands, For in it I have delighted. NAB Psalm 119:35 Lead me in the path of your commands, for that is my delight. NJB Psalm 119:35 Guide me in the way of your commandments, for my delight is there. GWN Psalm 119:35 Lead me on the path of your commandments, because I am happy with them. BHT Psalm 119:35 hadrîkënî bintîb miswötey käkî-bô häpästî BBE Psalm 119:35 Make me go in the way of your teachings; for they are my delight. Make me: Ps 119:27,36,173 Eze 36:26,27 Php 2:13 Heb 13:21 for I delight in it.: Ps 23:3 Pr 3:17 4:11,18 8:20 Isa 2:3 48:17 or I delight in it.: Ps 119:16 Isa 58:13,14 Ro 7:22 1Jn 5:3 Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments, For I delight in it. Charles Bridges - 35. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight We are equally ignorant of the path of God’s commandments, and impotent to go in it. We need therefore double assistance. Our mind must be enlightened; our hearts constrained; else our knowledge of this humbling path would make us shrink from it. But under the complete influence of Divine grace, when understanding has been given to discern the beauty of it, the soul’s warmest desire is fixed upon it—Conscious helplessness looks upward—Make me to go; and he who said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house,” speaks the same word of quickening life and power to the soul, “giving heed,” “expecting to receive something of him.”1 It is delightful to acknowledge of this work, that “All is of God”—that “it is he that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”2 To him only can it belong. For since the natural inclination “is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be;”3 Almighty power must introduce a new and active bias—“Turn thou me, and I shall be turned”4—“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments.” But even when brought into this path, still we want accelerated motion to run with increasing alacrity. We want to take “the Lord God for our strength; and he shall make our feet like hind’s feet, and shall make us to walk upon our high places.”5 The path, indeed, is uninviting to the eye of sense. This distorted vision brings all its difficulties into full view; hiding all its counterbalancing enjoyments. Let us, however, exercise that “faith, which is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”6 Let us exhibit our proper character, “walking by faith, and not by sight,”7 and our discernment of unseen things will be more clear, and our enjoyment of them more permanent. The prayer will then be with increasing earnestness—“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments.” But we must not be content with walking in this way; we must seek to “delight in it.” Delight is the marrow of religion. “God loveth a cheerful giver,”8 and accepts obedience only when it is given, not when it is forced. He loves the service of that man, who considers it his highest privilege to render it, and whose heart rejoices in the way, “as a giant to run his race.”9 Fervent prayer and cheerful obedience, mark the experience of the thriving Christian. As a true “child of Zion, he is joyful in his king;”10 he loves his service, and counts it “perfect freedom”—the rule of love, mercy, and grace. But is the self-condemned penitent distressed by this description of a child of God? He cannot find the same marks in himself; and he too hastily concludes, that he does not belong to the heavenly family; not considering, that his very grief is caused by his love to, and “delight in” that way in which he is so hindered, and in which he daily prays—“Make me to go.” It was probably the same sense of weakness and inability, “to go in the path of God’s commandments,” which urged David’s prayer; and if it urges yours, poor trembling penitent,—if it sends you to a throne of grace, you will, ere long, receive an answer of peace, and “go on your way rejoicing.” This delight in the path is not only following the “man after God’s own heart;” but it is the image of David’s Lord, and our forerunner in this path. He could testify to his Father—“I delight to do thy will, O my God:”1 and to his disciples, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work:”2 and as a proof of the intenseness of his delight, he could to their great amazement, “go before them”3 to Jerusalem, unappalled by the “baptism” of blood which awaited him; yea, even “straitened” with the unquenchable ardor of his love, “until it was accomplished.”4 1 Matt. 9:6, with Acts 3:4, 5. 2 2 Cor. 5:18. Phil. 2:13. 3 Rom. 8:7. 4 Jer. 31:18. 5 Hab. 3:19. 6 Heb. 11:1. 7 2 Cor. 5:7. 8 2 Cor. 9:7. 9 Psalm 19:5; 112:1. 10 Ps. 149:2. 1 Psalm 40:8, with Heb. 10:7. 2 John 4:32, 34. 3 Mark 10:32. 4 Luke 12:50. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments. The path of fellowship—with God. The path of holiness—before God. The path of obedience—after God. Psalm 119:36 Incline my heart to Thy testimonies, And not to dishonest gain. (PRAYER) NET Psalm 119:36 Give me a desire for your rules, rather than for wealth gained unjustly. LXE Psalm 119:36 Incline mine heart to thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. NLT Psalm 119:36 Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! KJV Psalm 119:36 Incline <05186> (08685) my heart <03820> unto thy testimonies <05715>, and not to covetousness <01215>. ESV Psalm 119:36 Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! NIV Psalm 119:36 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. ASV Psalm 119:36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, And not to covetousness. CSB Psalm 119:36 Turn my heart to Your decrees and not to material gain. NKJ Psalm 119:36 Incline <05186> (08685) my heart <03820> to Your testimonies <05715>, And not to covetousness <01215>. NRS Psalm 119:36 Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. YLT Psalm 119:36 Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies, And not unto dishonest gain. NAB Psalm 119:36 Direct my heart toward your decrees and away from unjust gain. NJB Psalm 119:36 Bend my heart to your instructions, not to selfish gain. GWN Psalm 119:36 Direct my heart toward your written instructions rather than getting rich in underhanded ways. BHT Psalm 119:36 hat--libbî ´el-`ëdwötey kä we´al ´el-bäsa` BBE Psalm 119:36 Let my heart be turned to your unchanging word, and not to evil desire. REQUEST FOR A "DIVINE REBOOT" The leaning of the heart is the way in which the life will lean. --Spurgeon If Spurgeon's words are true (and they are), it behooves each of us to frequently pray Psalm 119:36. Think of it this way. What do we usually do when our computer freezes up? We have to reboot it so that it works properly. Similarly, out heart frequently needs a "divine reboot" that we might choose to order our steps in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord and not pursuing the path of this passing world (1 Jn 2:17+). Incline my heart to Thy testimonies - The verb incline is found only one other time in Ps 119:112 "I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, even to the end," where the end (eqeb) can mean reward or recompense, which we will all experience at the end of this earthly life. The same Hebrew word (eqeb) is used in the prayer in Ps 119:33+ "And I shall observe it to the end." Simplistically, our human hearts are inclined one of two ways, either toward God or away from God. Is that not true? Jesus alludes to this when He teaches "“No one (absolutely no one) can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Mt 6:24+) NOTE ON THE IMPERATIVE IN PRAYER - Usually when an imperative is spoken or stated, it comes from one who is superior and is spoken to one who is an inferior. For example, in Mark 5:8+ Jesus confronts the demoniac and commands the demon "Come out (aorist imperative) of the man, you unclean spirit!" Then in Mark 5:12+ the unclean spirit "commands" Jesus "Send (aorist imperative) us into the pigs." Clearly Jesus has unequaled Authority, for the unclean spirit know he must obey Jesus' command to come out and yet he still speaks a command. And this is relevant in both the Old and New Testaments, for even the Disciple's model prayer has six commands (all in aorist imperative)! (Mt 6:9-14+). So what is the answer? When we recite the "Disciple's Prayer" with its six aorist imperatives, we are not being presumptuous or prideful toward God. In fact, in this context the imperative is what is known as a "weakened imperative," which functions to turn the verb into a request. (as shown in Mt 6:9-14+) Inherent in this request is the idea that we are expressing our faith that God is willing and able to fulfill our request (Sometimes He say yes, sometimes no and sometimes wait a while but He always answers). Does that help you understand the "commands" in the prayers directed to the God? This is important to understand because "weakened imperatives" are very common in the prayers in Psalm 119. Incline (05186)(natah) means to stretch out, to extend; to pay attention. It has 3 primary nuanes (1) spreading or stretching things (2 Sa 21:10, Jer 43:10, et al). (2) To turn aside - alteration in the present course of action (Nu 20:17, 21, Nu 22:23, 2 Sa 3:27, Ge 38:16 a bad turning aside!). "Turn aside justice (pervert) (Ex 23:6) (3) To bend (Ge 24:14, Ge 49:16, Hos 11:4, 2 Sa 22:10, Ps 144:5). Most usages are figurative. One's heart may "turn away" (Solomon in 1 Ki 11:2-4, 9, 2 Sa 19:14). On the other hand one's heart may be inclined to God and his commands (Josh 24:23; 1 Ki 8:58; Ps 119:36). Also common is the expression "to incline the ear" (listen with intent to obey God) (Jer 7:24, 26; Jer 11:8; Jer 17:23 et al.). God inclining His ear toward men (2 Ki 19:16; Isa 37:17; Da 9:18). Men inclining their ear to the words of a sage (Pr 4:20; Pr 5:1, 13; Pr 22:17). Natah is used meaning "decline" = a shadow (2 Ki 20:10), day (Jdg 19:8-9), rapid physical decline (Ps 102:11; Ps 109:23).The Lord extends His arm or hand to deliver His people (Ex. 6:6; Dt. 4:34; Jer. 32:21); or to bring judgments on them and the nations (Isa. 5:25; 23:11; Ezek. 6:14). .A measuring line is "stretched over" a city (2 Ki 21:13; Zech. 1:16; cf. Isa 44:13). Inclining one's heart a certain way, of giving attention -- of turning from being loyal (1 Ki. 2:28); turning from righteousness or justice (Ex. 23:2; 1 Sa 8:3); or preventing it (Pr 18:5). Turning one's heart in a certain direction (1 Sa 14:7); of being loyal (Josh. 24:23); to turn, to show love (ḥesed̠) to someone (Ezra 7:28). Natah is used of iniquities and sin turning away the good benefits of God from His people (Jer. 5:25). There are those who turn aside, away, to twisted, crooked ways (Ps. 125:5). Outstretched arms often represent power and the miraculous in the OT (Ex 6:6, Ex 7:5). Stretching out something: a hand, an arm is extended or a staff, javelin (Josh 8:18, 26) or sword (Ezekiel 30:25). Moses "stretched out" his hand (or his rod) over the waters of Egypt (Ex 7:19), over the land of Egypt (Ex 10:13), toward heaven (Ex 9:23; Ex 10:21-22) and over the Red Sea (Ex 14:16, 21, 26-27). A woman displays her pride with an "outstretched neck" (Isa 3:16). God's call to stretch out the curtains of their tents, was symbolic of growth and prosperity (Isa. 54:2). The idiom, to stretch out one's hand against someone, means to act in a hostile manner toward that person (Job 15:25). 207 verses - afternoon*(1), bend down(1), bent(1), bent down(1), bow(1), bowed(3), came to stumbling(1), cast down(1), decline(1), defraud(1), deprive(2), deviated(1), distort(1), distorts(1), entices(1), extend(1), extended(3), extends(2), followed*(2), held high(1), incline(27), inclined(7), intended(1), leaning(1), lengthen(1), lengthened(1), lengthens(1), let down(1), offer(1), outstretched(17), pervert(4), perverted(1), pitch(1), pitched(11), push aside(1), spread(3), stretch(28), stretched(32), stretched-out(1), stretches(5), stretching(2), thrust aside(1), took aside(3), turn(6), turn back(1), turn aside(9), turn away(3), turned(3), turned aside(6), turned away(4), turned...away(1), turning(1), turns(1), visited(1). Gen. 12:8; Gen. 24:14; Gen. 26:25; Gen. 33:19; Gen. 35:21; Gen. 38:1; Gen. 38:16; Gen. 39:21; Gen. 49:15; Exod. 6:6; Exod. 7:5; Exod. 7:19; Exod. 8:5; Exod. 8:6; Exod. 8:16; Exod. 8:17; Exod. 9:22; Exod. 9:23; Exod. 10:12; Exod. 10:13; Exod. 10:21; Exod. 10:22; Exod. 14:16; Exod. 14:21; Exod. 14:26; Exod. 14:27; Exod. 15:12; Exod. 23:2; Exod. 23:6; Exod. 33:7; Num. 20:17; Num. 20:21; Num. 21:15; Num. 21:22; Num. 22:23; Num. 22:26; Num. 22:33; Num. 24:6; Deut. 4:34; Deut. 5:15; Deut. 7:19; Deut. 9:29; Deut. 11:2; Deut. 16:19; Deut. 24:17; Deut. 26:8; Deut. 27:19; Jos. 8:18; Jos. 8:19; Jos. 8:26; Jos. 24:23; Jdg. 4:11; Jdg. 9:3; Jdg. 16:30; Jdg. 19:8; 1 Sam. 8:3; 1 Sam. 14:7; 2 Sam. 2:19; 2 Sam. 2:21; 2 Sam. 3:27; 2 Sam. 6:10; 2 Sam. 6:17; 2 Sam. 16:22; 2 Sam. 19:14; 2 Sam. 21:10; 2 Sam. 22:10; 1 Ki. 2:28; 1 Ki. 8:42; 1 Ki. 8:58; 1 Ki. 11:2; 1 Ki. 11:3; 1 Ki. 11:4; 1 Ki. 11:9; 2 Ki. 17:36; 2 Ki. 19:16; 2 Ki. 20:10; 2 Ki. 21:13; 1 Chr. 13:13; 1 Chr. 15:1; 1 Chr. 16:1; 1 Chr. 21:10; 1 Chr. 21:16; 2 Chr. 1:4; 2 Chr. 6:32; Ezr. 7:28; Ezr. 9:9; Job 9:8; Job 15:25; Job 15:29; Job 23:11; Job 24:4; Job 26:7; Job 31:7; Job 36:18; Job 38:5; Ps. 17:6; Ps. 17:11; Ps. 18:9; Ps. 21:11; Ps. 27:9; Ps. 31:2; Ps. 40:1; Ps. 44:18; Ps. 45:10; Ps. 49:4; Ps. 62:3; Ps. 71:2; Ps. 73:2; Ps. 78:1; Ps. 86:1; Ps. 88:2; Ps. 102:2; Ps. 102:11; Ps. 104:2; Ps. 109:23; Ps. 116:2; Ps. 119:36; Ps. 119:51; Ps. 119:112; Ps. 119:157; Ps. 125:5; Ps. 136:12; Ps. 141:4; Ps. 144:5; Prov. 1:24; Prov. 2:2; Prov. 4:5; Prov. 4:20; Prov. 4:27; Prov. 5:1; Prov. 5:13; Prov. 7:21; Prov. 17:23; Prov. 18:5; Prov. 21:1; Prov. 22:17; Isa. 3:16; Isa. 5:25; Isa. 9:12; Isa. 9:17; Isa. 9:21; Isa. 10:2; Isa. 10:4; Isa. 14:26; Isa. 14:27; Isa. 23:11; Isa. 29:21; Isa. 30:11; Isa. 31:3; Isa. 34:11; Isa. 37:17; Isa. 40:22; Isa. 42:5; Isa. 44:13; Isa. 44:20; Isa. 44:24; Isa. 45:12; Isa. 51:13; Isa. 54:2; Isa. 55:3; Isa. 66:12; Jer. 5:25; Jer. 6:4; Jer. 6:12; Jer. 7:24; Jer. 7:26; Jer. 10:12; Jer. 10:20; Jer. 11:8; Jer. 14:8; Jer. 15:6; Jer. 17:23; Jer. 21:5; Jer. 25:4; Jer. 27:5; Jer. 32:17; Jer. 32:21; Jer. 34:14; Jer. 35:15; Jer. 43:10; Jer. 44:5; Jer. 51:15; Jer. 51:25; Lam. 2:8; Lam. 3:35; Ezek. 1:22; Ezek. 6:14; Ezek. 14:9; Ezek. 14:13; Ezek. 16:27; Ezek. 20:33; Ezek. 20:34; Ezek. 25:7; Ezek. 25:13; Ezek. 25:16; Ezek. 30:25; Ezek. 35:3; Dan. 9:18; Hos. 11:4; Amos 2:7; Amos 2:8; Amos 5:12; Zeph. 1:4; Zeph. 2:13; Zech. 1:16; Zech. 12:1; Mal. 3:5 Septuagint (Lxx) = Incline (aorist imperative) (2827)(klino) literally means to slant, slope, incline, bend. In the Septuagint, klino is often used of a prayer to God to "Incline His ear". It is used figuratively of inclining one's heart (Ps 119:36, 112 THOUGHTS: Have I prayed for a heart inclined toward God, the things of eternity, the things that bring glory and honor to His Name? What will my reward be? Have I abided in the Vine (Jn 15:5)? Have I carried out the works that were prepared for me in Christ (Eph 2:10)? Have I done it enabled by the Spirit of Christ (Eph 5:18, cf Gal 5:22-23)? Have I sought earnestly to redeem the time for the glory of the Lord? (Eph 5:16) Have I sought by the enabling power of the Spirit to store up for myself (and for His glory) treasure in Heaven where moth and rust will not destroy and thief will not break in and steal? (Mt 6:19-21).
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Real Freedom Many people have the strange idea that God's Law and man's liberty are enemies. They say, "I want freedom. I want to do my own thing." How wrong they are. God's Law and your liberty go hand-in-hand, and Psalm 119:45 makes this clear. "And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts." Now, the world would write that verse like this: "And I will walk at liberty, for I reject and break Thy precepts. I'm going to do my own thing, my own way." Let's get down to basics. What is freedom? Some may say freedom means the privilege of doing what you want to do. But that is not freedom. In fact, that's the worst kind of slavery in the world--to be controlled only by your impulses and inclinations. Real freedom is a life controlled by God's truth and motivated by His love. This is true in every area of life. If we obey the traffic laws, we have the freedom to drive on the streets and highways. If we obey the laws of truth, we have the freedom to speak, and people will believe us. If we obey the laws of science, we won't blow up the laboratory. If the airplane pilot obeys the laws of aerodynamics, he will be able to fly his plane. You see, we have the freedom to enjoy the power of the Law when we have yielded to the commandment of the Law. So when I submit myself to the will of God, I am taking my first step toward freedom. As Charles
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Sing the Law I enjoy classical music. I often tune my radio to classical music while I'm studying. I also enjoy going to concerts. Before a concert begins, I browse through the concert program to see what will be played. I might read that the orchestra is going to play Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique." Or perhaps I will hear a Bordin string quartet. But what if, right in the middle of the program, I read that the choir is going to sing the local housing code? I'd ask, "What is going on? Choirs don't sing the law. What musician would waste time putting the housing code to music?" Look at verse 54: "Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." The psalmist says, "I sing the Law." This verse presents three different attitudes toward life. To a child, life is like a prison, with nothing but rules. "Don't do this. Don't do that. Don't go there." We have to protect children so they can grow up and live their own lives. To adolescents, life is a party. They don't want statutes. "Don't tell me what to do," they say. They just want the songs. But when we become mature adults, we realize that life is not a prison or a party. It's a pilgrimage. We make this pilgrimage in obedience to God's Word. I don't know where I would have been during all these years of my life without the guidance of the Bible. God's Word is not a burden; it's a blessing. Duty becomes delight when you are yielded to the will of God. I hope you are not trying to run away from the will of God and turn life into one continual party. Realize that your life is a pilgrimage and that, as a pilgrim and a stranger in this world, you need the guidance of Scripture. * * * Are you having difficulty today on the pilgrim road? Take the mature view--yield to God's will and seek guidance in His Word. Without it, you will lose your way (Psalm 119:49-56 Sing the Law) Charles Bridges - What is faith? It is hope upon God’s word. The warrant of faith is therefore the word. The spring of faith is he that causeth us to hope. He has not forgotten—he cannot forget his word. But he permits—nay, commands his servants to remind him of it,6 in order to exercise their faith, diligence, and patience. Often indeed “hope deferred maketh the heart sick.”7 But it is not needless delay8—not ignorance of the fittest time9—not forgetfulness10—not changeableness11—not weakness.12 Meanwhile, however, constantly plead the promise—Remember the word unto thy servant. This is the proper use of the promises, as “arguments, wherewith to fill our mouths, when we order our cause before God.”13 When thus pleaded with the earnestness and humility of faith, they will be found to be the blessed realities of unchanging love. Now—have not circumstances of Providence, or the distinct application of the Spirit, made some words of God especially precious to your soul? Such words are thus made your own, to be laid up against some future time of trial, when you may “put your God in remembrance”1 of them. Apply this exercise of faith to such a word as this, “Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.”2 Then plead your interest in it as a coming sinner, “Lord, I hope in this thy word.” “Thou hast caused me to hope” in it. “Remember this word unto thy servant.” Thus is prayer grounded upon the promise, which it forms into a prevailing argument, and sends back to heaven; nothing doubting, but that it will be verified in God’s best time and way.3 Take another case. God has engaged himself to be the God of the seed of believers. His sacramental ordinance is the seal of this promise.4 The believer brings his child to this ordinance, as the exercise of his faith upon the faithfulness of God. Let him daily put his finger upon this promise, Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is, as Augustine said of his mother, ‘bringing before God his own handwriting.’ Will he not remember his word? Faith may be tried, perhaps long tried. “But he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself.”5 Faith trusts—not what the eye sees, but what the word promises. Again—Have we ever found God’s word hoped on, a covering and strength against besetting sin? This will surely be an encouragement to cry under the same temptation, Remember thy word, “He who hath delivered, doth deliver, and will even to the end deliver.”6 He “hath done great things for us.” And is not this an earnest of continued mercy? “Because thou hast been my help, therefore under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.”7 Thus may we confidently receive a promise as the distinct message to our soul, where we are conscious of a readiness to receive the whole word as the rule of our life. And does it not set an edge upon prayer to eye a promising God, and to consider his promises, not as hanging in the air, without any definite direction or meaning, but as individually spoken and belonging to myself as a child and servant of God? This is the experience and comfort of the life of faith. This unfolds the true secret of living to God; ending at last with the honorable death-bed testimony, “Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth; and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things, which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you; and not one thing hath failed thereof.”8 6 Isa. 62:6, M. R. 7 Prov. 13:13. 8 Hab. 3:3. 9 Isa. 30:18. 10 Psalm 112:5. 11 Mal. 3:6. 12 1 Sam. 15:29. 13 Job 23:4. 1 Isaiah 43:26. 2 John 6:37. 3 We may observe Jacob making precisely this use of the word of promise to great advantage, at a time of personal extremity. Gen. 32:9, 10, 12, with 31:3, 13, 28:13–15. Was not this in fact pleading—“Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope?” Compare also verse 38 of this Psalm. 4 Gen. 17:7, 10, with Acts 2:38, 39. 5 2 Tim. 2:13. 6 2 Cor. 1:10. 7 Psalm 63:7. 8 Joshua 23:14. Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me. BGT Psalm 118:50 αὕτη με παρεκάλεσεν ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει μου ὅτι τὸ λόγιόν σου ἔζησέν με KJV Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. NET Psalm 119:50 This is what comforts me in my trouble, for your promise revives me. CSB Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: Your promise has given me life. ESV Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. NIV Psalm 119:50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life. NLT Psalm 119:50 Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles. NRS Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my distress, that your promise gives me life. RSV Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction that thy promise gives me life. YLT Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in mine affliction, That Thy saying hath quickened me. NKJ Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life. NJB Psalm 119:50 It is my comfort in distress, that your promise gives me life. NAB Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in affliction, your promise that gives me life. LXE Psalm 119:50 This has comforted me in mine affliction: for thine oracle has quickened me. This: Ps 27:13 28:7 42:8,11 94:19 Jer 15:16 Ro 5:3-5 15:4 Heb 6:17-19 Heb 12:11,12 That your word Ps 119:25 Eze 37:10 Joh 6:63 Jas 1:18 1Pe 1:3 2:2 This is my comfort in my affliction (oniy) - [Cp Ps 119:67, 71, 75, 92 v50, 76, 82, 92): More than sixty verses in this psalm mention trial and persecution (Ps 119:22, 50-53, 95, 98, 115, etc.). The believer who obeys the Word will have trials in this world, but the Bible gives him lasting comfort. The Comforter, the Spirit of God, takes the Word of God and applies it to our hearts to comfort us. The Hebrew word for affliction (oniy) is translated in the Septuagint with tapeinosis meaning humiliation (Ac 8:33; Jas 1:10),as a state of low status, humility, lowly condition (Lk 1:48; Phil 3:21; Heb 11:20) That Your word has revived me - The source of revival for the psalmist and for every believer of every age! See note on Ps 119:25. Canadian missionary J. Goforth: his young budding faith was subjected to a severe testing. His (secular) teacher was a blatant follower of the infidel Tom Paine, and his classmates, influenced by the teacher, made his life miserable by their jeers and mockery. The foundations seemed to be giving way and in a mood of desperation Jonathan turned to God's Word. In consequence of an earnest, day-and-night search of the Word, his faith was firmly established and all his classmates, also his teacher, were brought back from infidelity. Affliction (06040)(oniy from anah = to be bowed down) describes the state of pain caused by affliction miser, a state of oppression or extreme discomfort, physically, mentally, or spiritually. Oniy - 37v - afflicted*(1), affliction(33), great pains(1), misery(2). Gen. 16:11; Gen. 29:32; Gen. 31:42; Gen. 41:52; Exod. 3:7; Exod. 3:17; Exod. 4:31; Deut. 16:3; Deut. 26:7; 1 Sam. 1:11; 2 Sam. 16:12; 2 Ki. 14:26; 1 Chr. 22:14; Neh. 9:9; Job 10:15; Job 30:16; Job 30:27; Job 36:8; Job 36:15; Job 36:21; Ps. 9:13; Ps. 25:18; Ps. 31:7; Ps. 44:24; Ps. 88:9; Ps. 107:10; Ps. 107:41; Ps. 119:50; Ps. 119:92; Ps. 119:153; Prov. 31:5; Isa. 48:10; Lam. 1:3; Lam. 1:7; Lam. 1:9; Lam. 3:1; Lam. 3:19 Gilbrant - Jacob complained to Laban about the affliction of the constantly changing wages imposed on him (Gen. 31:42). Leah hoped that the birth of her son Reuben would end the affliction of being Jacob's unloved wife (Gen. 29:32). The angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar of the mistreatment she suffered from Sarah (Gen. 16:11). Hannah asked God to reverse her woeful situation of barrenness (1 Sam. 1:11). And David described his experience of being cursed by Shimei as an affliction (2 Sam. 16:12). The most obvious instance of affliction in the OT was Israel's enslavement in Egypt (Exo. 3:7, 17; 4:31; Deut. 16:3; 26:7). Nehemiah 9:9 recalls the nation's predicament at the Red Sea. Job, of course, could speak of his affliction (Job 10:15; 30:16, 27). And Psalms speaks both of the distress of the righteous (Ps 9:13; 25:18; 44:24; 88:9; 119:153) and of the deliverance of the Lord (Ps 31:7; 107:41; 119:50, 92). When the armies of Babylon swept over the defenses of Jerusalem, the nation reached its lowest depths of misery. Lamentations depicts the distress (1:3, 9; 3:1, 19) and recalls the contrast of Israel's former days of peace (1:7). The word is used in a vivid idiom to describe the pains (and possible frustration) involved in King David's massive stockpiling of building materials for his son's construction of the Temple (1 Chr. 22:14) (Complete Biblical Library) Charles Bridges - David was encouraged to plead the word of promise in prayer, from the recollection of its “comfort in his affliction.” Never, indeed, are we left unsupported in such a time, or called to drink a cup of unmingled tribulation. In the moments of our bitterest sorrow, how are we compelled to stand amazed at the tenderness, which is daily and hourly exercised toward us! We have always some word exactly suited to our affliction, and which we could not have understood without it; and “a word” thus “spoken in due season, how good is it!” One word of God, sealed to the heart, infuses more sensible relief, than ten thousand words of man.1 When therefore the word assures us of the presence of God in affliction;2 of his continued pity and sympathy in his most severe dispensations;3 and of their certain issue to our everlasting good;4 must not we say of it, “This is our comfort in our affliction?” How does the Saviour’s love stream forth from this channel on every side; imparting life, refreshment, and strength to those, who but for this comfort would have “fainted,”5 and “perished in their affliction!”6 This indeed was the end, for which the Scriptures were written;7 and such power of consolation have they sometimes administered to the afflicted saint, that tribulation has almost ceased to be a trial, and the retrospect has been the source of thankful recollection. But those only, who have felt the quickening power of the word, can realize its consolations. Be thankful, then, reader, if, when dead in sins, it “quickened you:”8 and, when sunk in trouble, once and again it has revived you.9 Yet think not, that it is any innate power of its own, that works so graciously for you. No. The exhibition of the Saviour is the spring of life and consolation. It is because it “testifies of him,”10 “the consolation of Israel,”11—“afflicted in all our afflictions,”12—and never failing to uphold with “grace sufficient for us.”13 It is not, however, the word without the Spirit, nor the Spirit generally without the word; but the Spirit by the word—first putting life into the word,14 and then by the word quickening the soul. The word then is only the instrument. The Spirit is the Almighty agent. Thus the work is the Lord’s; and nothing is left for us, but self-renunciation and praise. 1 Prov. 15:23. “I will show you a privilege that others want, and you have in this case. Such as are in prosperity, and are filled with earthly joys, and increased with children and friends; though the word of God is indeed written for their instruction, yet to you who are in trouble, and from whom the Lord hath taken many children, and whom he hath otherwise exercised, there are some chapters, some particular promises in the word of God, made in an especial manner, which would never have been yours, so as they now are, if you had had your portion in this world like others. It is no small comfort that God hath written some scriptures to you, which he hath not to others. Read these, and think God is like a friend, who sendeth a letter to a whole house and family, but who speaketh in his letter to some by name, that are dearest to him in the house.”—Rutherford’s Letters. 2 Isa. 43:1, 2. 3 Exod. 3:7. 4 Rom. 8:28. 5 Psalm 27:13 6 Verse 92. 7 Rom. 15:4. 8 James 1:18. 1 Peter 1:23. 9 Verses 81, 82. 10 John 5:39. 11 Luke 2:25. 12 Isa 63:9. 13 2 Cor. 12:9. 14 John 6:63. Psalm 119:51 The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law. proud (KJV): Ps 119:21,69 123:3,4 Jer 20:7 Lu 16:14,15 23:35 yet have (KJV): Ps 119:31,157 44:18 Job 23:11 Isa 38:3 42:4 Ac 20:23,24 Heb 12:1-3 The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law. Charles Bridges - The scorn of an ungodly world is one of the afflictions, which realize to us the comfort of the word. And this is a trial, from which no exemption is to be expected—“All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”1 Not even David—though a king—a man of wisdom and prudence, and therefore not likely to provoke unnecessary offence, and whose character and rank might be expected to command respect—not even was he shielded from “the derision of the proud” on account of the profession and service of his God.2 Thus it ever was, and ever will be. Faith in the doctrine of Christ, and conformity to the strict commandments of the Gospel, must expose us to the taunts of the unbeliever and the worlding. Yet, where the heart is right with God, the “derision of the proud,” instead of forcing us to “decline from the law of God,” will strengthen our adherence to it. David answered the bitter “derision of Michal” with a stronger resolution to abide by his God—“I will yet be more vile than thus.”3 He counted it his glory, his duty, his joy. None, however, but a believer knows what it is to bear this cross; and none but a real believer can bear it. It is one of the touchstones of sincerity, the application of which has often been the means of “separating the precious from the vile,” and has unmasked the self-confident professor to his own confusion. Oh! how many make a fair profession, and appear “good soldiers of Jesus Christ,” until the hour of danger proves them deserters, and they reap only the fruits of their self-confidence in their own confusion! It is, therefore, of great importance to those who are just setting out in the warfare, to be well armed with the word of God. It kept David steadfast amidst “the derision of the proud;” and it will keep young Christians from being frightened or overcome by the sneer of an ungodly world. But that it may “dwell in us richly in all wisdom,”4 and be suited to our own case, it will be well, under circumstances of reproach, to acquaint ourselves with the supporting promises and encouragements to suffer for righteousness’ sake.5 Above all, the contemplation of the great sufferer himself—meeting this poignant trial in meekness,6 compassion, and prayer7—will exhibit “a refuge from the storm, and a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as the storm against the wall.”8 The mere professor knows not this refuge; he, possesses not this armor; so that “when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately he is offended.”9 Blessed be God! the weapons of our warfare are drawn from the Divine armory; and therefore, depending on the grace, and following the example, of Jesus, we suffer as the way to victory—the road to an everlasting crown. 1 2 Tim. 3:12. Comp. 1 Cor. 4:13. 2 Psalm 35:15, 16; 123:3, 4. 3 2 Sam. 6:20–22. 4 Col. 3:16. 5 Such is the benediction of the Saviour, Luke 6:22, 23, confirmed by the recorded experience of the Lord’s most favored servants, the apostles, Acts 5:41. Paul especially, 2 Cor. 12:10; Col. 1:24,—the disciples of Thessalonica, 1 Thess. 1:6,—the Hebrew Christians, Heb. 10:34. 6 Psalm 22:6–8. Luke 23:35. 1 Peter 2:23. 7 Luke 23:34. 8 Isaiah 25:4. 9 Mark 4:17. Psalm 119:52 I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O LORD, And comfort myself. remembered (KJV): Ps 77:5,11,12 105:5 143:5 Ex 14:29,30 Nu 16:3-35 De 1:35,36 De 4:3,4 2Pe 2:4-9 I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O LORD, And comfort myself. Charles Bridges - The Lord’s dealings with his people were a frequent subject of meditation to the Psalmist,1 and now were his present support under “the scourge of the tongue.”2 Evidently they are put upon record for the encouragement of future generations.3 We are ready to imagine something peculiar in our own case, and to think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us, “as though some strange thing happened unto” us; but when we “remember the Lord’s judgments of old,” with his people, we “comfort ourselves” in the assurance, that “the same afflictions are accomplished in our brethren, that have been in the world;”4 and that “as the sufferings of Christ have abounded in them, so their consolation also abounded by Christ.”5 They also encountered the same “derision of the proud,” and always experienced the same support from the faithfulness of their God. We do not sufficiently consider the mercy and gracious wisdom of God, in occupying so much of his written word with the records of his “judgments of old.” One class will pay a prominent attention to the preceptive, another to the doctrinal, parts of Revelation—each forgetting that the historical records comprise a full and striking illustration of both, and have always proved most supporting grounds of consolation to the Lord’s people. The important design in casting so large a portion of the small volume of Revelation into a historical form, is every way worthy of its Author. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning; that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope;”6 and how admirably adapted the means are to the end, the diligent student in the Scripture-field will bear ample witness. Wilfully therefore to neglect the historical portion of the sacred volume, from the idea of confining our attention to what we deem the more spiritual parts of Scripture—would show a sad deficiency of spiritual apprehension, and deprive ourselves of the most valuable instruction, and most abundant comfort. This neglect would exclude us from one eminent means of increasing “patience,” in the example of those “who through faith and patience inherit the promises;” of receiving “comfort,” in the experience of the faithfulness of God manifested in every age to his people; and of enlivening our “hope,” in marking the happy issue of the “patience of the saints,” and the heavenly support administered unto them.7 So far, therefore, are we from being little interested in the scriptural records of past ages, that it is evident, that the sacred historians, as well as the prophets, “ministered not unto themselves, but unto us, the things which are now reported.”1 Let us select one or two instances as illustrative of this subject. Why were the records of the deluge, and of the overthrow of the cities of the plain, preserved, but as exhibitions to the Church, that “the Lord”—the Saviour of Noah, the eight persons, and the deliverer of just Lot—“knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished?”2 What a source of comfort then to the tempted people of God is the “remembrance of these judgments of old!” And thus the Church remembers the wonderful overthrow of the Egyptians, and the consequent deliverance of ancient Israel, as a ground of assurance and expectation of the same grand display of Divine faithfulness and love under similar trials. And if we instance the wonderful history of the overthrow of the Egyptians, and the consequent deliverance of God’s ancient people, we may continually observe the Church recollecting this interposition as a ground of assurance, that under similar circumstances of trial, the same illustrious displays of Divine faithfulness and love may be confidently expected. She looks back upon what the “arm of the Lord hath done in ancient days, and in the generation of old,” as the pattern of what he ever would be, and ever would do, for his purchased people.3 Thus also God himself recalls to our mind this overthrow and deliverance as a ground of present encouragement and support, “According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous things”4—and the Church echoes back this remembrance in the expression of her faith, gratitude, and expectation for spiritual blessings: “He will subdue our iniquities! and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”5 Such is the interesting use that may be made of the historical parts of Scripture. Such is the “comfort” to be derived from the “remembrance of the Lord’s judgments of old!” And is not the recollection of his “judgments of old” with ourselves, productive of the same support? Does not the retrospect of his dealings with our own souls serve to convince us, that “all his paths are mercy and truth?”6 And that the assurance is therefore warranted alike by experience and by Scripture, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”7 1 Psalm 77:5, 11, 12; 143:5. 2 Job 5:21. 3 Psalm 44:1–3; 78:3–8; 105:5, 6; 145:4. Joel 1:3. 4 1 Peter 4:12; 5:9. 5 2 Cor. 1:5. 6 Rom. 15:4. 7 In this view, the recollection of the Lord’s judgments of old “puts a new song into the mouth” of the Church, of “thanksgiving unto her God.” Isaiah 25:1–4. 1 1 Peter 1:12. 2 2 Peter 2:5–9. 3 Isaiah 51:9–11. 4 Micah 7:15 5 Micah 7:19. 6 Psalm 25:10. 7 Rom. 8:28. Psalm 119:53 Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, Who forsake Your law. horror (KJV): {Zilaphah} properly signifies the pestilential burning wind called by the Arabs {Simoom,} (see Ps 11:6.) It is here used in a figurative sense for the most horrid mental distress; and strongly marks the idea the Psalmist had of the corrupting, pestilential, and destructive nature of sin. Ps 119:136,158 Ezr 9:3,14 10:6 Jer 13:17 Da 4:19 Hab 3:16 Lu 19:41,42 Ro 9:1-3 2Co 12:21 Php 3:18 Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, Who forsake Your law. Charles Bridges - The remembrance of the Lord’s judgments of old, while it brings comfort to his people as regards themselves, stirs up a poignancy of compassionate reeling for the ungodly. And indeed to a feeling and reflecting mind, the condition of the world must excite commiseration and concern! A “whole world lying in wickedness!”1 lying therefore in ruins! the image of God effaced! the presence of God departed! “Horror hath taken hold of me!” to see the law of Him, who gave being to the world, so utterly forsaken! so much light and love shining from heaven in vain! The earthly heart cannot endure that any restraint should be imposed; much less that any constraint, even of love, should be employed to change its bias, and turn it back to its God. Are you then a believer? then you will be most tender of the honor of the law of God. Every stroke at his law you will feel as a stroke at your own heart. Are you a believer? then will you consider every man as your brother; and weep to see so many of them around you, crowding the broad road to destruction, and perishing as the miserable victims of their own deceivings. The prospect on every side is, as if God were cast down from his throne, and the creatures of his hand were murdering their own souls. But how invariably does a languor respecting our own eternal interest affect the tenderness of our regard for the honor of our God; so that we can look at “the wicked that forsake God’s law” with comparative indifference! Awful indeed is the thought, that it ever can be with us a small matter, that multitudes are sinking! going down into perdition! with the name of Christ—under the seal of baptism—partakers of the means of Gospel grace—yet perishing! Not indeed that we are to yield to such a feeling of “horror” as would paralyze all exertion on their behalf. For do we owe them no duty—no prayer—no labor?2 Shall we look upon souls hurrying on with such dreadful haste to unutterable, everlasting torments; and permit them to rush on blinded, unawakened, unalarmed! If there is a “horror” to see a brand apparently fitting for the fire, will there not be a wrestling endeavor to pluck that brand out of the fire? Have we quite forgotten in our own case the fearful terrors of an unconverted state—the Almighty power of wrath and justice armed against us—the thunder of that voice—“Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord?”3 Oh! if the love of the Saviour and the love of souls were reigning with more mighty influence in our hearts, how much more devoted should we be in our little spheres of labor! how much more enlarged in our supplications, until all the kingdom of Satan were subject to the obedience of the Son of God, and conquered by the force of his omnipotent love! But if the spirit of David, renewed but in part, was thus filled with horror in the contemplation of the wicked, what must have been the affliction—what the intensity of His sufferings, “who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners”4—yea, “of purer eyes than to behold iniquity”5—during thirty-three years of continued contact with a world of sin? What shall we say of the condescension of his love, in wearing “the likeness of sinful flesh”6—dwelling among sinners—yea, “receiving sinners, and eating with them!”1 Blessed Spirit! impart to us more of “the mind that was in Christ Jesus!” that the law of God may be increasingly precious in our eyes, and that we may be “exceedingly jealous for the Lord God of Hosts!” Help us by thy gracious influence, to plead with sinners for God, and to plead for sinners with God! 1 1 John 5:19. 2 Acts 17:16–18. 3 Heb. 10:30, with Deut. 32:35. 4 Heb. 7:26. 5 Hab. 1:13. Compare Psalm 5:5. 6 Rom. 8:3. 1 Luke 15:2. Psalm 119:54 Your statutes are my songs In the house of my pilgrimage. Ps 89:1 10:1 Ge 47:9 Heb 11:13-16 Your statutes are my songs In the house of my pilgrimage. Charles Bridges - Come, Christian pilgrim, and beguile your wearisome journey heavenward by “singing the Lord’s song in this strange land”.2 With “the statutes of God” in your hand and in your heart, you are furnished with a song for every step of your way—“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”3 How delightfully does this song bring before you Him, who having laid down his life for you, engages himself as your Provider, your Keeper, your Guide, your faithful and unchangeable friend! Such a song therefore will smooth your path, and reconcile you to the many inconveniences of the way; while the recollection, that this is only “the house of your pilgrimage” and not your home; and that “there remaineth a rest for the people of God,”4 will support the exercise of faith and patience to the end. How striking the contrast between the wicked that forsake the law, and the Christian pilgrim, who makes it the subject of his daily song, and the source of his daily comfort! Yes, these same statutes, which are the yoke and burden of the ungodly, lead the true servant of the Lord from pleasure to pleasure; and, cherished by their vigorous influence, his way is made easy and prosperous. Evidently, therefore, our knowledge and delight in the Lord’s statutes will furnish a decisive test of our real state before him. But what reason have we every moment to guard against the debasing, stupefying influence of the world, which makes us forget the proper character of a pilgrim! And what an habitual conflict must be maintained with the sloth and aversion of a reluctant heart to maintain our progress in the journey towards Zion! Reader! have you entered upon a pilgrim’s life? Then what is your solace and refreshment on the road? It is dull, heavy, wearisome, to be a pilgrim without a “song.” And yet it is only the blessed experience of the Lord’s statutes that will tune our “song.” “If therefore you have tasted that the Lord is gracious,”5 if “he has thus put a new song into your mouth,”1 oh! do not suffer any carelessness or neglect to rob you of this heavenly anticipation And, that your lips be not found mute, seek to keep your heart in tune. Seek to maintain a lively contemplation of the place whither you are going—of Him, who as your “forerunner is for you entered”2 thither—and of the prospect, that, having “prepared a place for you, he will come again, and take you to himself; that where he is, there you may be also.”3 In this spirit, and with these hopes before you, you may take up your song—“O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing, and give praise. I will bless the Lord at all times—his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”4 Thus may you go on your pilgrimage, “singing in the ways of the Lord,”5 and commencing a song below, which in the world of praise above, shall never, never cease.6 2 Ps. 137:4. 3 Ps. 23. 4 Heb. 4:9. 5 1 Pet. 2:3. 1 Ps. 40:3. 2 Heb. 6:20. 3 John 14:2, 3. 4 Ps. 108:1; 34:1 5 Ps 138:5. 6 Rev. 4:8. Psalm 119:55 O LORD, I remember Your name in the night, And keep Your law. night (KJV): Ps 42:8 63:6 77:6 139:18 Ge 32:24-28 Job 35:9,10 Isa 26:9 Lu 6:12 Ac 16:25 kept (KJV): Ps 119:17,34 Joh 14:21 15:10 O LORD, I remember Your name in the night, And keep Your law. Charles Bridges - How did this man of God live in the statutes of God! In the day they were his pilgrim song—in the night his happy meditation.7 And truly if we can ever spend the waking moments of the night with God, “the darkness is no darkness with us, but the night shineth as the day.” Many a tried believer has found this cordial for the restlessness of a wakeful night more restorative to the quiet and health of his earthly frame, than the most sovereign specifics of the medical world. “So he giveth his beloved sleep.”8 And if in any “night” of affliction we feel the hand of the Lord grievous to us, do we not find in “the remembrance of the Lord” a never-failing support? What does our darkness arise from, but from our forgetfulness of God, blotting out for awhile the lively impressions of his tender care, his unchanging faithfulness, and his mysterious methods of working his gracious will? And to bring up as it were from the grave, the remembrance of God’s name, as manifested in his promises, and in the dispensation of his love; this is indeed the “light that is sown for the righteous,”9 and which “springeth up out of darkness.”10 It is to eye the character of the Lord as All-wise to appoint, Almighty to secure, All-compassionate to sympathize and support. It is to recollect him as a “father pitying his children;”11 as a “friend that loveth at all times,”12 and that “sticketh closer than a brother.”13 And even in those seasons of depression, when unwatchfulness or indulgence of sin have brought the darkness of night upon the soul, though “the remembrance of the name of the Lord” may be grievous, yet it opens the way to consolation. It tells us, that there is a way made for our return; that “the Lord waiteth, that he may be gracious;”14 and that in the first step of our return to our father, we shall find him full of mercy to his backsliding children.15 Thus, though “weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning.”16 Study the Lord’s revelation of his own name, and what more full perception can we conceive of its support in the darkest midnight of tribulations? “And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him, (Moses,) and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed—The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.”1 Can we wonder that such a name as this should be exhibited as a ground of trust? “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe.” “They that know thy name will put their trust in thee.”2 Even our suffering Lord appears to have derived support from “the remembrance of the name of the Lord in the night” of desertion—“O my God, I cry in the day-time, and thou hearest not; and in the night-season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”3 And from the experience of this source of consolation, we find the tempted Saviour directing his tempted people to the same support—“Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.”4 The main principles of the Gospel are involved in this remembrance of the Lord’s name. Memory is the storehouse, in which the substance of our knowledge is treasured up. Recollections without faith are shadowy notions. But we have confidence that our God in himself—and as engaged to us—is all that the Bible declares him to be. How vast then are our obligations to his dear Son—the only medium by which his name could be known or remembered—“who hath” so “declared him!”5 And there is the spring of practical religion. We shall “keep his law,” when we “remember his name.” A sense of our obligations will impel us forward in diligence, heavenly-mindedness, and self-devotedness in our appointed sphere. Obedience will partake far more of the character of privilege than of duty, when an enlightened knowledge of God is the principle of action. 7 Ps. 63:5, 6. 8 Ps 127:2. 9 Ps. 97:11. 10 Ps. 112:4. 11 Ps 103:13. 12 Prov. 17:17. 13 Pr. 18:24. 14 Isa. 30:18. 15 See Luke 15:20–24. 16 Ps. 30:5. 1 Exod. 34:5–7. 2 Prov. 18:10. Ps. 9:10. 3 Ps. 22:2, 3. 4 Isaiah 50:10. 5 John 1:18; also Jn 14:6. Matt. 11:27. Psalm 119:56 This has become mine, That I observe Your precepts. because (KJV): Ps 119:165 18:18-22 1Jn 3:19-24 This has become mine, That I observe Your precepts. Charles Bridges - How is it, believer, that you are enabled to “sing of the Lord’s statutes”—and to “remember his name?” This you have, because you keep his precepts. Thus you are able to tell the world, that “in keeping his commandments there is great reward”6—that the “work of righteousness is peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance for ever.”7 Christian! let your testimony be clear and decided—that ten thousand worlds cannot bestow the happiness of one day’s devotedness to the service of your Lord. For is it not in this path that you realize fulness of joy in “fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ?” “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father; and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him—my Father will love him; and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”1 If you were walking more closely with God in “the obedience of faith,” the world would never dare to accuse religion as the source of melancholy and despondency. No man has any right to the hope of happiness in a world of tribulation, but he that seeks it in the favor of his God. Nor can any enjoy this favor, except as connected, in the exercise of faith, with conformity to the will, and delight in the law, of his God. Thus not only are “the statutes of the Lord right,” but they “rejoice the heart.”2 There is a sweetness and satisfaction in the work, as well as a good flowing out of it—a current as well as a consequent privilege—cheering the soul in the act of exercise, just as the senses are regaled at the very instant with the object of their gratification. But let us remark how continually David was enriching his treasury of spiritual experience with some fresh view of the dealings of God with his soul; some answer to prayer, or some increase of consolation, which he records for his own encouragement, and for the use of the Church of God. Let us seek to imitate him in this respect; and we shall often be enabled to say as he does, “This I had”—this comfort I enjoyed—this support in trouble—this remarkable manifestation of his love—this confidence I was enabled to maintain—not this I hoped for—but “this I had”—it was made my own, “because I kept thy precepts.” And how important, in the absence of spiritual enjoyment, to examine, “is there not a cause?” and what is the cause? Have not “strangers devoured my strength; and I knew it not?”3 Is the Lord “with me as in months past?4—with me in my closet?—with me in my family?—with me at my table?—with me in my daily employments and intercourse with the world? When I hear the faithful people of God telling of his love, and saying, “This I had,” must I not, if unable to join their cheerful acknowledgment, trace it to my unfaithful walk, and say, “This I had” not, because I have failed in obedience to thy precepts; because I have been careless and self-indulgent; because I have slighted thy love; because I have “grieved thy Holy Spirit,” and forgotten to ask for the “old paths, that I might walk therein, and find rest to my soul?”5 Oh let this scrutiny and recollection of our ways realize the constant need of the finished work of Jesus, as our ground of acceptance, and source of strength. This will bring healing, restoration, increasing devotedness, tenderness of conscience, circumspection of walk, and a determination not to rest, until we can make this grateful acknowledgment our own. At the same time, instead of boasting that our own arm, our own diligence, or holiness, “have gotten us” into this favor, we shall cast all our attainments at the feet of Jesus, and crown him Lord of all for ever. 6 Psalm 19:11. 7 Isaiah 32:17. 1 John 14:21, 23, with 1 John 1:3, 4; 3:24. 2 Psalm 19:8. 3 Hosea 7:9. 4 Job 29:2. 5 Jer. 6:16. Psalm 119:57 Heth. The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words. BGT Psalm 118:57 η᾽ ηθ μερίς μου κύριε εἶπα φυλάξασθαι τὸν νόμον σου KJV Psalm 119:57 CHETH. Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words. NET Psalm 119:57 The LORD is my source of security. I have determined to follow your instructions. CSB Psalm 119:57 The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words. ESV Psalm 119:57 The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep your words. NIV Psalm 119:57 You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words. NLT Psalm 119:57 LORD, you are mine! I promise to obey your words! NRS Psalm 119:57 The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep your words. RSV Psalm 119:57 The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep thy words. YLT Psalm 119:57 Cheth. My portion is Jehovah; I have said -- to keep Thy words, NKJ Psalm 119:57 HETH. You are my portion, O LORD; I have said that I would keep Your words. NJB Psalm 119:57 My task, I have said, Yahweh, is to keep your word. NAB Psalm 119:57 My portion is the LORD; I promise to keep your words. LXE Psalm 119:57 Thou art my portion, O Lord: I said that I would keep thy law. ASV Psalm 119:57 Jehovah is my portion: I have said that I would observe thy words. DBY Psalm 119:57 CHETH. My portion, O Jehovah, I have said, is to keep thy words. GWN Psalm 119:57 You are my inheritance, O LORD. I promised to hold on to your words. BBE Psalm 119:57 CHETH The Lord is my heritage: I have said that I would be ruled by your words. my portion: Ps 16:5 Ps 73:26 Ps 142:5 Jer 10:16 La 3:24 I have: Ps 119:106,115 66:14 De 26:17,18 Jos 24:15,18,21,24-27 Ne 10:29-39 Related Passages: Psalm 16:5 The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 142:5 I cried out to You, O LORD; I said, “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living. A PORTION AND A PROMISE The LORD is my portion - Portion is the first word in the Hebrew sentence! Literally "My Portion O Yahweh." When we are His, He is ours, forever. Lam 3:24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." Comment on Jeremiah's declaration - This statement reflects an absolute dependence upon God. Jeremiah is saying that the Lord alone is enough. It is God who sustains and satisfies, even in the midst of deep disappointment. This passage challenges us all to believe that relationship with God is more satisfying than the things of the world. This is a truth to which most of us quickly give mental assent. But when we look at our lives, we find that too often we simply do not believe it. We often turn instead to the empty idols of the world in a futile search of satisfaction. David repeatedly attests in the psalms to the satisfaction he experienced in his relationship with God (Ps63:4,v5 16:11 cp 73:25,26). Jeremiah also discovered this crucial difference between hoping for something from God and hoping in Him. Hope by its very nature captivates both our hearts and heads. It evokes deep emotion. It moves in and makes itself at home in our souls. It takes up residence at the very core of who we are. That is why it is so vital that we begin to place our hope in the Lord. Hoping in the Lord means recognizing that the things of this world aren’t going to satisfy the ache in our souls, no matter how good they are or how much we long to believe they will. Christian hope is not a hope so, but a hope sure! Hope in the Lord = Ps. 31:24; Ps. 130:7; Ps. 131:3 Portion (02506) (cheleq from chalaq = to divide, share) commonly refers to a share in an inheritance, share, lot. Early in OT is used with a technical nuance of share of land given to all the tribes when they entered the land. Cheleq may refer to a "portion" or "share" of booty divided among competitors (Gen. 14:24; 1 Sam. 30:24), or it may be a share of property or possession. "A share, a piece of territory in many ways: a part of booty or spoil (Gen. 14:24; Num. 31:36); of food (Lev. 6:17[10]); a tract or portion of land (Josh. 19:9; Hos. 5:7; Mic. 2:4); of Israel as a possession of the Lord (Deut. 32:9). It is used metaphorically of a person's doing his or her part in something (Job 32:17); of one's association or part or sharing in another group or way of life (Ps. 50:18; Isa. 57:6); or of the portion or share of fortune that the Lord gives to persons (Job 31:2). The portion or proper share for the wicked is punishment or calamity (Isa. 17:14)." (Complete Word Study Dictionary OT) Gilbrant - Meaning "lot," "share" or "portion," this noun occurs sixty-two times in the OT. It is derived from the verb chālaq, "to be smooth" or "to divide." It is attested in Middle Hebrew, Jewish Aramaic and derived dialects. Cheleq may refer to a "portion" or "share" of booty divided among competitors (Gen. 14:24; 1 Sam. 30:24), or it may be a share of property or possession. Ephraim and Manasseh did not give a portion of land to the Levites, only cities to live in (Josh. 14:4). This same use occurs in the plural "lots of property" (Josh. 18:5-9). The concept of a share of land in the Promised Land became an important concept for the Jew. The land of the inheritance was to be to the east of the Jordan. Those tribes living outside this area were believed to have been denied their "portion of the Lord" (Josh. 22:25ff). "Portion" became a metaphor for the relationship of God and humans. Deuteronomy 32:9 says that God's "portion" or "inheritance" is his people. The psalmist, in turn, claims the Lord as his portion (Ps. 16:5). Even the wicked person has a portion from God, though it is not one of prosperity (Job 20:29). Thus, the concept of portion was integral to both the physical existence of Israel in the land of Palestine, which is their portion, and the spiritual portion they had in God. (Complete Biblical Library) Cheleq - 62 verses - associate(1), catch(1), divisions(2), equal portions(1), farm land(1), inheritance(1), land(1), legacy(1), lot(1), portion(36), portions(4), property(2), reward(4), share(9), territory(1). Gen. 14:24; Gen. 31:14; Lev. 6:17; Num. 18:20; Num. 31:36; Deut. 10:9; Deut. 12:12; Deut. 14:27; Deut. 14:29; Deut. 18:1; Deut. 18:8; Deut. 32:9; Jos. 14:4; Jos. 15:13; Jos. 18:5; Jos. 18:6; Jos. 18:7; Jos. 18:9; Jos. 19:9; Jos. 22:25; Jos. 22:27; 1 Sam. 30:24; 2 Sam. 20:1; 1 Ki. 12:16; 2 Ki. 9:10; 2 Ki. 9:36; 2 Ki. 9:37; 2 Chr. 10:16; Neh. 2:20; Job 17:5; Job 20:29; Job 27:13; Job 31:2; Job 32:17; Ps. 16:5; Ps. 17:14; Ps. 50:18; Ps. 73:26; Ps. 119:57; Ps. 142:5; Eccl. 2:10; Eccl. 2:21; Eccl. 3:22; Eccl. 5:18; Eccl. 5:19; Eccl. 9:6; Eccl. 9:9; Eccl. 11:2; Isa. 17:14; Isa. 57:6; Isa. 61:7; Jer. 10:16; Jer. 51:19; Lam. 3:24; Ezek. 45:7; Ezek. 48:8; Ezek. 48:21; Hos. 5:7; Amos 7:4; Mic. 2:4; Hab. 1:16; Zech. 2:12 Translated in the Septuagint with Part (share) (3310)(meris) refers to (1) a portion of a whole that has been divided ("district" in Acts 16:12). (2) a share or an assigned portion (Lk 10:42, 2Co 6:15, Acts 8:21, Col 1:12). In the OT, God’s people had an earthly inheritance, the land of Canaan, and each tribe received its portion of the lot. Christians have a spiritual inheritance in Christ (cf prayer of the hymn "Be Thou My Vision"). Crossing the Jordan to Canaan is unfortunately often portrayed as a picture of heaven but this is not an accurate portrayal for there will be no battles or defeats in heaven. More accurately, Canaan can be considered a picture of our present inheritance in kingdom of God's beloved Son, Jesus Christ. I have promised to keep Your words - Have you ever promised to keep His words saying "I'll never do that sin against God again?" That's a glass house we all live in. No one except Jesus kept God's words perfectly. We will never achieve perfection, but they should evidence direction (Heaven-ward rather than Hell-ward!) only possible as we daily are filled with His Spirit, relying on Him to give us the desire and the power to work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Php 2:12+, Php 2:13NLT+). Warren Wiersbe - Choosing Your Friends All of us enjoy having friends. We need them. The psalmist says that the Word of God pertains to our friendships. "I am a companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts" (Psalm 119:63). He let the Word of God guide him in his choice of friends and associates. We have many acquaintances but few real friends. A friend is someone you don't have to talk to all the time. You can be together for long periods without saying a word, yet your hearts are united. At the other extreme, a friend is someone you aren't afraid to talk to. You can unburden your heart, and you are a better person for having been with him. God is our best friend. Abraham was called the friend of God, and we can be His friends also. Jesus said to His disciples, "I'm not going to call you slaves. I'm going to call you friends" (John 15:15). Friends talk to each other. And if we talk to God and let Him speak to us through His Word, we will be a companion of those who fear Him and keep His commandments. One of the most important tests of friendship is what my friend's attitude is toward the Bible. Does he accept it? Does he receive the Word of God as truth? Does he fear God with a reverential awe and love for Him? If I am in a right relationship to God through His Word, I will be in a right relationship with people. My friends will be God's friends. The Bible calls this separation--not isolation, but separation. It's the blessed by-product of a life lived in Scriptures. * * * Choose your friends carefully. Do they fear God? Do they receive the Word of God in their hearts? Use your friends' attitudes toward the Bible as an important test of friendship. Relationships are investments of our time and other resources. Make them count for eternity. (Psalm 119:57-64 Choosing Your Friends) (Ed: See Jesus' Command to "Make Friends" who will welcome you into eternity in the future! Luke 16:9 - comments. See also comments under "Vertical Vision") Charles Bridges - Man, as a dependent being, must be possessed of some portion. He cannot live upon himself. He must also have a large portion, because the powers and capacities to be filled are large. If he has not a satisfying portion, he is a wretched empty creature. But where and how shall he find this portion? “There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us!”1 Oh! the goodness of the Lord, in having offered himself as the portion of an unworthy sinner, and having engaged to employ his perfections for his happiness! Oh! the folly, and madness, and guilt, of the sinner, in choosing his “portion in this life;”2 as if there were no God on the earth, no way of access to him, or no happiness to be found in him! That such madness should be found in the heart of man, is a most affecting illustration of his departure from God; but that God’s own people should commit these two evils—forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out broken cisterns for themselves—is the fearful astonishment of heaven itself.3 But we cannot know and enjoy God as our portion, except as he has manifested himself in his dear Son. And in the knowledge and enjoyment of him, can we envy those, who “in their lifetime receive their good things,”4 and therefore have nothing more to expect? Never indeed does the poverty of the worldling’s portion appear more striking than when contrasted with the enjoyment of a child of God5—“Soul,” said the rich fool, “thou hast much goods laid up for many years.” But God said, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.”6 Augustine’s prayer was, “Lord, give me thyself!”7 And thus the believer exults, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire but thee. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. The Lord himself is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel.”8 Elsewhere the believer makes this confession to himself—“The Lord is my portion—saith my soul.”1 Here, as if to prove his sincerity, he “lifts up his face unto God.”2—“Thou art my portion, O Lord.” And surely the whole world cannot weigh against the comfort of this Christian confidence. For it is as impossible, that his own people should ever be impoverished, as that his own perfections should moulder away. But a portion implies not a source of ordinary pleasure, but of rest and satisfaction, such as leaves nothing else to be desired. Thus the Lord can never be enjoyed, even by his own children—except as a portion—not only above all, but in the place of all. Other objects indeed may be subordinately loved; but of none but himself must we say—“He is altogether lovely.”4 “In all things he must have the pre-eminence”3—one with the Father in our affections, as in his own subsistence.5 The moment that any rival is allowed to usurp the throne of the heart, we open the door to disappointment and unsatisfied desires. But if we take the Lord as our “portion,” we must take him as our king. “I have said—this is my deliberate resolution,—that I would keep thy words.” Here is the Christian complete—taking the Lord as his “portion,” and his word as his rule. And what energy for holy devotedness flows from the enjoyment of this our heavenly portion! Thus “delighting ourselves in the Lord, he gives us our heart’s desire;”6 and every desire identifies itself with his service. All that we are and all that we have, are his; cheerfully surrendered as his right, and willingly employed in his work. Thus do we evidence our interest in his salvation; for “Christ became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.”7 Reader! inquire—was my choice of this Divine portion considerate, free, unreserved? Am I resolved that it shall be steadfast and abiding? that death itself shall not separate me from the enjoyment of it? Am I ready to receive a Sovereign as well as a Saviour?8 Oh! let me have a whole Christ for my portion! Oh! let him have a whole heart for his possession. Oh! let me call nothing mine but Him. 1 Psalm 4:6. 2 Ps 17:14. 3 Jer. 2:12, 13. 4 Luke 16:25; 6:24. 5 Comp. Psalm 17:14, 15. 6 Luke 12:19, 20. 7 Da mihi te, Domine. 8 Psalm 73:25; 116:7; 16:5–7. 1 Lam. 3:24. 2 John 21:17. Job 22:26. 4 Col. 1:18. 3 Song 5:16. 5 John 10:30. 6 Psalm 37:4. 7 Heb. 5:9. 8 See Acts 5:31. he Best Portion of All I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. Philippians 4:12 Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 73:21–28 “His piece is bigger than mine!” When I was a boy my brothers and I would sometimes bicker about the size of the piece of homemade pie mom served us. One day Dad observed our antics with a lifted eyebrow, and smiled at Mom as he lifted his plate: “Please just give me a piece as big as your heart.” My brothers and I watched in stunned silence as Mom laughed and offered him the largest portion of all. If we focus on others’ possessions, jealousy too often results. Yet God’s Word lifts our eyes to something of far greater worth than earthly possessions. The psalmist writes, “You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey your words. I have sought your face with all my heart” (Ps. 119:57–58). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the writer conveyed the truth that nothing matters more than closeness to God. Loving Lord, thank You that nothing and no one can meet my every need like You can. When we are His, He is ours, forever. You have made us for yourself, Lord. Our hearts are restless until they can find rest in You. --Augustine of Hippo Psalm 119:58 I sought Your favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word. I entreated (KJV): Ps 119:10 4:6 51:1-3 86:1-3 Ho 7:14 Heb 10:22 favour (KJV): Heb. face, Ps 27:8 Job 11:19 *marg: be merciful (KJV): Ps 119:41,65,76,170 56:4,10 138:2 Mt 24:35 I sought Your favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word. Charles Bridges - Delight in the Lord as our “portion,” naturally leads us to “entreat his favor” as “life,”9 and “better than life,”10 to our souls. And if we have “said, that we would keep his words,” we shall still “entreat his favor” to strengthen and encourage us in his way. We shall “entreat it with our whole hearts,” as though we felt our infinite need of it, and were determined to wrestle for it in Jacob’s spirit—“I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”11 If we have known what unspeakable happiness it is to be brought into the favor of God, “by the blood of Christ;”12 and if “by him also we have access unto that grace wherein we stand,”1 how shall we prize the sense of Divine favor, the light of our Father’s countenance! We shall never be weary of this source of daily enjoyment. It is to us as the light of the sun, which shineth every day with renewed and unabated pleasure. We “joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”2 Mercy, however, is the source of that “favor which we entreat;” and the word is the warrant of our expectation—“Be merciful unto us, according to thy word.” As sinners, we need this “favor.” As believers, we “entreat” it in the assurance that praying breath, as the breath of faith, will not be spent in vain. Any indulged indolence, or neglect, or unfaithfulness—relaxing our diligence, and keeping back the “whole heart” from God—will indeed never fail to remove the sunshine from the soul. But the blood of Christ still opens the way of return to the backslider, even though he may have wandered, as it were, to the ends of the earth. For “if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thine heart and all thy soul.”3 “A whole heart,” in seeking the Lord, is the seal of the Lord’s heart in returning to us—“I will rejoice over them,” saith he, “to do them good: and I will plant them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”4 Reader! if you are a child of God, the favor of God will be to you the “one thing needful.” In other things, you will not venture to choose for yourself; “for who knoweth what is good for man in this life?”5 But in this choice you will be decided. This grand, incomparable desire will fill your heart. This will be to you as the portion of ten thousand worlds. Nothing will satisfy besides. 9 Psalm 30:5. 10 Ps . 63:3. 11 Gen. 32:26. 12 Eph. 2:13. 1 Rom. 5:1, 2. 2 Ro 5:11. 3 Deut. 4:29. 4 Jer. 32:41. 5 Eccl. 6:12. Psalm 119:59 I considered my ways And turned my feet to Your testimonies. thought (KJV): La 3:40 Eze 18:28,30 Hag 1:5,7 Lu 15:17-20 2Co 13:5 turned (KJV): De 4:30,31 Jer 8:4-6 31:18,19 Eze 33:14-16,19 Joe 2:13 2Co 12:21 I considered my ways And turned my feet to Your testimonies. Charles Bridges - The Psalmist’s determination, lately mentioned, to keep God’s word, was not a hasty impulse, but a considerate resolve, the result of much thinking on his former ways of sin and folly. How many, on the other hand, seem to pass through the world into eternity without a serious “thought on their ways!” Multitudes live for the world—forget God and die! This is their history. What their state is, is written as with a sunbeam in the word of truth—“the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”6 When “no man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?”7—this banishing of reflection is the character and ruin of an unthinking world. Perhaps one serious thought might be the new birth of the soul to God—the first step of the way to heaven. For when a man is arrested by the power of grace, he is as one awaking out of sleep, lost in solemn and serious thought,—‘What am I?8 where am I? what have I been? what have I been doing? I have a soul, which is my everlasting all—yet a soul without a Saviour—lost—undone. What is my prospect for its happiness? Behind me is a world of vanity, an empty void. Before me a fearful unknown eternity. Within me an awakened conscience, to remind me of an angry God, and a devouring hell. If I stay here, I perish; if I go forward, I perish; if I return home to my offended Father, I can but perish.’1 The resolution is formed, ‘ “I will arise,”2 and fight my way through all difficulties and discouragements to my Father’s house.’ Thus does every prodigal child of God “come to himself;” and this his first step of return to his God3 involves the whole work of repentance. The wanderer thinks on his own ways, and turns his feet unto the testimonies of his God; witnessing, to his joyful surprise, every hindrance removed, the way marked with the blood of his Saviour, and his Father’s smiles in this way welcoming his return homeward. This turn is the practical exercise of a genuine faith; and “because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live—he shall not die!”4 But this considerate exercise is needed not only upon the first instance into the ways of God, but in every successive step of our path. It will form the habit of daily “communion with our own heart;”5 without which, disorder and confusion will bewilder our steps. Probably David did not know how far his feet had backslidden from the ways of his God, until this serious consideration of his state brought conviction to his soul—so imperceptible is the declining of the heart from God! Nor is it a few transient thoughts or resolutions, that will effect this turn of the heart to God. A man may maintain a fruitless struggle to return to God for many years in sincerity and earnestness; while, the simple act of faith in the power and love of Jesus will at once bring him back. Thus while “thinking on his ways,” let him walk in Christ as the way of return—and he will walk in the way of God’s testimonies with acceptance and delight. In this spirit of simplicity, he will be ready to listen to the first whisper of the convincing voice of the Spirit, which marks the early steps of secret declension from God.6 He will also thankfully accept the chastening rod, as the Lord’s appointed instrument of restoring his wandering children to himself. For so prone are they to turn their feet away from the Lord—so continually are they “turning aside like a deceitful bow,”7—and so deaf are they from the constitution of their sinful nature, to the ordinary calls of God, that in love and tender faithfulness to their souls, is he often constrained by the stroke of his heavy hand to arrest them in their career of thoughtlessness, and turn them back to himself. Most suitable then for such a state is the prayer of Basil—“Give me any cross, that may bring me into subjection to thy cross; and save me in spite of myself!” 6 Psalm 9:17. 7 Jer. 8:6. 8 How utterly unmeaning was the celebrated aphorism of antiquity, “Know thyself,” until explained and illustrated by the light of Revelation! 1 Compare 2 Kings 7:4. 2 Luke 15:18. 3 Lk 15:17. 4 Ezek. 18:28. 5 Psalm 4:4. 6 See Isa. 30:21. 7 Psalm 78:57. If enough people believe that a wrong thing is right, does that make it so? For instance, if people from all educational levels persist in writing it's when they mean its, does that make it correct? From executive memos to newspaper articles to billboard ads, the misuse of it's goes on. To be correct, you would use it's for a contraction of it is. (It's a nice day.) And you would use its to denote a possessive of it. (The dog wagged its tail.) It seems that more people use this construction incorrectly than correctly. Does that mean we should condone its improper use? I hope not. The same is true of biblical teachings that are twisted so often we might consider not making such a big deal about them. For instance, what if people continually suggest that hell is not a real place and that people without Jesus are not really lost? (Mt. 5:22; Lk. 12:5). Should we reconsider the accuracy of what Scripture teaches about hell? Or what about the common practice of lying? Should we redefine biblical teaching about honesty? (Ps. 51:6; Prov. 19:5). Do we live by majority rule, setting life patterns by what we see others doing, or do we live by God's standards? It's a question that answers itself if we want to please Him. --JDB When reading God's Word, take special care To find the rich treasures hidden there; Give thought to each line, each precept clear, Then practice it well with godly fear. --Anon. Trust God's authority--not man's majority. Psalm 119:60 I hastened and did not delay To keep Your commandments. made (KJV): Ps 95:7,8 Eze 10:6-8 Pr 27:1 Ec 9:10 Ga 1:16 I hastened and did not delay To keep Your commandments. We live in a day of instant foods, instant service and instant this and that. Instant obedience to the revealed will of God is something to ponder—and to produce. Charles Bridges - A superficial conviction brings with it a sense of duty without constraining to it. Men stand reasoning and doubting, instead of making haste. But a sound conviction sweeps away all excuses and delays. No time will be lost between making and performing resolutions. Indeed, in a matter of life and death—of eternal life and eternal death1—the call is too clear for debate, and there is no room for delay. Many a precious soul has been lost by waiting for “a more convenient season”2—a period, which probably may never arrive, and which the wilful neglect of present opportunity provokes God to put far away. To-day is God’s time. To-morrow ruins thousands. To-morrow is another world. “To-day—while it is called to-day; if you will hear his voice”3—“make haste, and delay not.” Resolutions, however sincere, and convictions, however serious, “will pass away as the morning cloud and as the early dew,”4 unless they are carefully cherished, and instantly improved. The bonds of iniquity will soon prove too strong for the bonds of your own resolutions; and in the first hour of temptation, convictions, left to chance to grow, will prove as powerless as the “seven green withs” to bind the giant Samson.5 If ever delays are dangerous, much more are they in this concern of eternity. If, therefore, convictions begin to work, instantly yield to their influence. If any worldly or sinful desire is touched, let this be the moment for its crucifixion. If any affection is kindled towards the Saviour, give immediate expression to its voice. If any grace is reviving, let it be called forth into instant duty. This is the best—the only—expedient to fix and detain the motion of the Spirit now striving in the heart: and who knoweth but the improvement of the present advantage may be the moment of victory over difficulties hitherto found insuperable, and may open the path to heaven with less interruption, and more steady progress? It is from the neglect of this “haste” that convictions often alternately ebb and flow so long, before they settle in a sound conversion. Indeed the instant movement—“making haste and delaying not”—marks the principle of the spiritual life. Thus was the prodigal’s resolution no sooner formed than in action. He said, “I will arise and go to my father—and he arose, and came to his father.”6 When Matthew heard the voice—“Follow me—he left all, rose up and followed him.”7 When Zaccheus was called from the top of the sycamore-tree, “Make haste, and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house—he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”8 Ah! as you prize a hope for eternity; as you wish to “flee from the wrath to come,” and to “flee for refuge to the hope set before you”—beware of smothering early convictions. They may prove the first dawn of eternal day upon the soul—the first visit of the quickening spirit of the heart. Guard them with unceasing watchfulness. Nourish them with believing prayer. “Exercise” them “unto” practical “godliness.”1 “Quench not the Spirit.”2 Let not the spark be extinguished by opposition of the world. Let it not expire for want of the fuel of grace. Let it not lie dormant or inactive. “Stir up the gift of God which is in thee.”3 Every exercise, every motion, adds grace to grace, and increases its vigor, health, and fruitfulness. The more we do, the more we find we can do. The withered hand, whenever stretched forth in obedience to the Saviour’s word, and in dependence on his grace, will never fail of a supply of spiritual strength.4 Every successive act strengthens the disposition, until a continued succession has formed a ready and active habit of godliness. Thus the Lord works in setting us to work. Therefore think—determine—turn—“make haste, and delay not; and we wish you God speed;” “we bless you in the name of the Lord.”5 Professor! did you realize eternity, would you hover as you do between heaven and hell? If you were truly alive and awake, no motion would be swift enough for your desire to “flee from the wrath”—to “flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before you.”6 If ever God should touch your heart, to feel the heavenly sweetness of communion with him, will there be no regret that the privilege was not sooner sought and enjoyed? Had I betaken myself earlier to a hearty interest in the ways of God, how much more knowledge, experience and comfort should I have attained! how much more honor should I have brought to God! how much more profit to my fellow-sinners! Remember—every day of carnal pleasure or lukewarm formality is a day lost to God—to your own happiness—to eternity. A word to the believer—Have you any doubts to clear up, any peace to regain in the ways of the Lord? “Make haste” to set your heart to the work. Make haste to the blood of atonement. Be on the watch to “hear the shepherd’s voice,”7 even if it be the voice of reproof. Promptness is a most important exercise of the habit of faith. Delay brings guilt to the conscience. The blessing of conviction—the comfortable sense of acceptance—the freedom of the Lord’s service is sacrificed to sloth and procrastination. The work that is hard to-day will be harder still to-morrow, by the resistance of this day’s convictions. A greater cost of self-denial, a heavier burden of sorrow and increasing unfitness for the service of God, will be the issue of delay. Be continually, therefore, looking for some beam of light to descend, and some influence of grace to flow in upon you from your exalted Head. A simple and vigorous faith will quickly enliven you with that love, delight, rejoicing in the Lord, readiness to work, and cheerfulness to suffer, which will once again make the ways of God “pleasantness and peace” to your soul. 1 See Deut. 30:18. 2 Acts 24:25. 3 Heb. 4:7. 4 Hosea 6:4. 5 Judges 16:9. 6 Luke 15:18–20. 7 Luke 5:27, 28. Comp. Matt. 4:18–22. 8 Luke 19:5, 6. Compare also the example of Paul, Gal. 1:15, 16. 1 1 Tim. 4:7. 2 1 Thess. 5:19. 3 2 Tim. 1:6. 4 Mark 3:5. 5 Psalm 129:8. 6 Matt. 3:7. Heb. 6:18. 7 John 10:27. Psalm 119:61 The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law. The bands (KJV): or, The companies, Ps 119:95 3:1 1Sa 30:3-5 Job 1:17 Ho 6:9 but I (KJV): Ps 119:176 1Sa 24:9-11 26:9-11 Pr 24:29 Ro 12:17-21 The cords of the wicked have encircled me - Wicked are those hostile to God & His people (cp: Jn 15:18,19,20) Encircled is Piel Perf: The snares & cords of those hostile to God have ensnared me, have bound me, have surrounded me, bind me with ropes (NIV), have wrapped me round; have laid a trap for me (TEV);have tried to drag me into sin (TLB);The cords of evil-doers are round me (BBE). But I have not forgotten Your law. Charles Bridges - Are we not too apt to cull out the easy work of the Gospel, and to call this love to God? Whereas true love is supreme, and ready to be at some loss, and to part with near and dear objects, knowing that he “is able to give us much more than” our love for him.1 Our resolution to keep his commandments will soon be put to the test. Some trial to the flesh will prove whether we flinch from the cross, or study to prepare ourselves for it. Few of us, perhaps, have literally known this trial of David.2 But the lesson to be learnt from his frame of mind under it, is of great importance to all who profess to have their “treasure in heaven.” It teaches us, that only exercised faith will sustain us in the time of trouble. This faith will enable us instantly to recollect our heavenly portion, and to assure our interest in it, in a remembrance of the law of our God. Had David “forgotten God’s law,” no other resource of comfort opened before him. But it was ready—substantiating to his mind “the things that were not seen and eternal.”3 Look again at the Apostle’s deliberate estimate of this very trial—not only bearing his loss, but absolutely forgetting it in the enjoyment of his better portion. “Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things; and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”4 The temper of mind under such trials as this serves indeed most clearly to discover the real bent of the heart. If we are in possession of a spiritual and heavenly portion, we shall bear to be “robbed by the bands of the wicked,” and yet, “hold fast our profession.” David, under this calamity, “encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”5 Job under the same visitation, “fell down upon the ground, and worshipped.”6 The blessings indeed we lose, are but as a feather compared with the blessings which we retain. The Providence of God is abundant support for his children. Their prospects (not to speak of their present privileges) effectually secure them from ultimate loss, even in the spoiling of their worldly all.7 Thus the early Christians suffered “the bands of the wicked to rob them”—nay—they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods; knowing in themselves, that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance.”8 We have indeed little reason to be frightened from religion by the anticipation of its trials. The exchange of the world for God, and of the service of sin for the ways of heaven, leaves no room for regret in life, in death, or in eternity. The Christian’s darkest hour is ten thousand times brighter than the brightest day of the ungodly. The hope of the crown will enable us to bear the cross, and to realize its sanctifying support as a matter for unbounded praise. But how desolate are the poor votaries of the world in the hour of trouble! Ignorant of the all-sufficiency of the refuge of the Gospel; instead of being driven to it by the gracious visitations of God, they would rather retreat into any hiding-place of their own, than direct their steps backward to him. Their circumstances of distress are most intensely aggravated by the sullen rebellion of the heart, which refuses to listen to those breathings of the Saviour’s love, that would guide them to himself, as their sure, and peaceful, and eternal rest!1 Would that we could persuade them to cast their souls in penitence and faith before his blessed cross!2 The burden of sin, as Bunyan’s pilgrim found, would then drop from their backs. And this burden once removed—other burdens before intolerable would be found comparatively light; nay—all burdens would be removed in the enjoyment of the Christian privilege of casting all—sin—care—and trouble—upon Jesus. Contrast the state of destitution without him, with the abundant resources of the people of God. We have a double heaven—a heaven on earth, and a heaven above—one in present sunshine—the other in “the city, which hath no need of the sun”3—where our joys will be immediate—unclouded—eternal. Thus our portion embraces both worlds. Our present “joy no man taketh from us;”4 and we have “laid up treasure in heaven,” where the bands of the wicked can “never break through, nor steal.”5 Christian! Does not your faith realize a subsistence of things not seen? The only reality in the apprehensions of the world are “the things that are seen, and are temporal.” Your realities are “the things that are not seen, and are eternal.” Then remember—if you be robbed of your earthly all, your treasure is beyond the reach of harm. You can still say—“I have all and abound.”6 You can live splendidly upon your God, though all is beggary around you. You confess the remembrance of the law of your God to be your unfailing stay—“Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in my affliction.”7 1 2 Chron. 25:9. Comp. Job 42:10–12. 2 See 1 Sam. 30:1–3. 3 2 Cor. 4:18. Heb. 11:1. 4 Phil. 3:8. 5 1 Sam. 30:6. 6 Job 1:13–17, 20. 7 See Mark 10:29, 30. 8 Heb. 10:34. 1 See Matt. 11:28. 2 1 Peter 5:7. 3 Rev. 21:23. 4 John 16:22. 5 Matt. 6:20. 6 Phil. 4:18; also 2 Cor. 6:10. 7 Ps 119:92. Psalm 119:62 At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You Because of Your righteous ordinances. midnight (KJV): Ps 119:147,164 42:8 Mk 1:35 Ac 16:25 thy (KJV): Ps 119:7,75,106,137 19:9 De 4:8 Ro 7:12 At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You Because of Your righteous ordinances. TO GIVE THANKS: YADAH: overlaps in meaning with a number of other Hebrew words implying "praise," such as halal (whence halleluyah). The usual context seems to be public worship, where the worshipers affirm and renew their relationship with God. An affirmation or confession of God's undeserved kindness throws man's unworthiness into sharp relief. THY RIGHTEOUS ORDINANCES: TSEDEQ MISHPAT: verdict favorable or unfavorable pronounced judicially, esp. a sentence or formal decree Mt
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - True Riches "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver" (Psalm 119:72). Can we honestly say that we would rather have God's Word than money? Many people in the Bible had that testimony. For example, Abraham led his army to a great victory. He brought back all of the captives and all the spoil. The King of Sodom showed up and said, "Abraham, you can have all this spoil. Just give me the people." But Abraham said, "Before this battle started, I lifted my hand to the Lord and said, 'When I win this battle, I'm not taking one thing from these people.' I would rather have the Word of God than have thousands of shekels of gold and silver" (see Gen. 14). Abraham kept his testimony clean. But I also think of Achan in Joshua 7. God had commanded that no spoil be taken from Jericho. But Achan stole some silver and gold and clothing and buried them under his tent. He thought no one knew, but God knew. Achan wanted riches rather than God. Judas made the same mistake. He sold Jesus Christ, the greatest Treasure in the universe, for 30 pieces of silver. If we love the Word of God, we'll read it, meditate on it and seek to obey it. If the Bible does not change our values, it will not change our lives. Jesus was the poorest of the poor. He made Himself poor to make us rich. We, in turn, should make ourselves poor to make other people rich, for we have the riches of the Word of God. * * * You have a choice to make today: you can seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, or you can bow down to the kingdom of man and seek riches. Would you rather have the temporal possessions of this world or the spiritual riches of God's Word? (Psalm 119:65-72 True Riches) Charles Bridges - There is a time for all things in the believer’s experience—for confession, prayer, praise. This Psalm mostly expresses the professions and prayers of the man of God—yet mingled with thankful acknowledgment of mercy. He had prayed, “Deal bountifully with thy servant.”3 Perhaps here is the acknowledgment of the answer to his prayer, “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word.” And who among us has not daily reason to make the same acknowledgment? Even in those trials, when we have indulged hard thoughts of God, a clearer view of his judgments, and a more simple dependence upon his faithfulness and love, will rebuke our impatience and unbelief, and encourage our trust.4 Subsequent experience altered Jacob’s hasty view of the Lord’s dealings with him. In a moment of peevishness, the recollection of the supposed death of a beloved son, and the threatened bereavement of another, tempted him to say, “All these things are against me.”5 At a brighter period of his day, when clouds were beginning to disperse, we hear that “the spirit of Jacob revived. And Jacob said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die.”6 And when his evening sun was going down almost without a cloud, in the believing act of “blessing the sons of” his beloved “Joseph,”7 how clearly does he retract the language of his former sinful impatience.—“God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, did walk—the God which fed me all my life long unto this day—the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads.”1 This surely was in the true spirit of the acknowledgment, Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word. And how is it that any of us have ever harbored a suspicion of unbelief? Has God in any one instance falsified his promise? Has “the vision” failed to come at the end? Has it ever “lied?”2 Has he not “confirmed his promise by an oath,” “that we might have two immutable things” as the ground of “strong consolation?”3 Any degree less than the full credit that he deserves, is admitting the false principle, that God is a man that he should lie, and the son of a man that he should repent. It weakens the whole spiritual frame, shakes our grasp of the promise, destroys our present comfort, and brings foreboding apprehensions of the future. Whereas, if we have faith and patience to wait,—“in the mount the Lord shall be seen.”4 “All things” may seem to be “against us,” while at the very moment under the wonder-working hand of God, they are “working together for our good.”5 When therefore we “are in heaviness through manifold temptations,” and we discover a “needs be” for it all, and “the trial of faith is found unto praise and honor and glory”6—when we are thus reaping the fruitful discipline of our Father’s school,7 must we not put a fresh seal to our testimony, “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord?” But why should we delay our acknowledgment till we come out of our trial? Ought we not to give it even in the midst of our “heaviness?”8 Faith has enabled many, and would enable us, to “glorify God in the fires;”9 to “trust” him, even when “walking in darkness, and having no light;”10 and, even while smarting under his chastening rod, to acknowledge, that he “has dealt well with us.” But if I doubt the reasonableness of this acknowledgment, then let me, while suffering under trial, endeavor to take up different language. ‘Lord, thou hast dealt ill with thy servant; thou hast not kept thy word.’ If in a moment of unbelief my impatient heart, like Jacob’s, could harbor such a dishonorable suspicion, my conscience would soon smite me with conviction—‘What! shall I, who am “called out of darkness into marvellous light”—shall I, who am rescued from slavery and death, and brought into a glorious state of liberty and life, complain? Shall I, who have been redeemed at so great a price, and who have a right to “all the promises of God in Christ Jesus,”11 and who am now an “heir of God, and joint heir with Christ”12—murmur at my Father’s will? Alas, that my heart should prove so foolish, so weak, so ungrateful! Lord! I would acknowledge with thankfulness, and yet with humiliation, “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, according to thy word.” But how sinfully do we neglect these honorable and cheering acknowledgments! Were we habitually to mark them for future remembrance, we should be surprised to see how their numbers would multiply. “If we should count them, they are more in number than the sand.”1 And truly such recollections—enhancing every common, as well as every special mercy—would come up as a sweet savor to God “by Christ Jesus.”2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name; and forget not all his benefits.”3 3 Ps 119:17. 4 “If all the sad losses trials, sicknesses, infirmities, griefs, heaviness, and inconstancy of the creature be expounded to be, as I am sure they are, the rods of the jealousy of a Father in heaven, contending with all your lovers on earth, though there were millions of them, for your love, to fetch it home to heaven, single, unmixed, you will forgive (if we may use that word) every rod of God, and ‘let not the sun go down upon your wrath’ against any messenger of your afflicting and correcting Father.”—Rutherford’s Letters. 5 Gen. 42:36. 6 Ge 45:27, 28. 7 Heb. 11:21. 1 Gen. 48:15, 16. 2 Hab. 2:3. 3 Heb. 6:17, 18. 4 Gen. 22:14. See Scott in loco. 5 Rom. 8:28. 6 1 Peter 1:6, 7. 7 Heb. 12:11. 8 Ps 119:71, 75. “In everything (therefore including affliction) by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,” &c. Phil. 4:6. Compare also 1 Thess. 5:18. 9 Isaiah 24:15. 10 Isa. 50:10. 11 2 Cor. 1:20. 12 Rom. 8:17. 1 Psalm 139:18. 2 Heb. 13:15. 3 Psalm 103:1, 2. Psalm 119:66 Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments. Teach me (KJV): Ps 119:34 72:1,2 1Ki 3:9,28 Pr 2:1-9 8:20 Isa 11:2-4 Jud 3:15 Mt 13:11 Php 1:9 Jas 3:13-18 I Have (KJV): Ps 119:128,160,172 Ne 9:13,14 Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments. TEACH ME: LAMAD: Piel Imp: has the idea of training as well as educating. The training aspect can be seen in the derived term for "oxgoad," malme'd. The principle use is in Ps119:12, 26, 64, 66, 68, 108, 124, 135, 171.) Greek uses two different words for "to learn" (manthano) and "to teach" (didasko), each having its own content, goal, and methods, Hebrew uses the same root for both words because all learning and teaching is ultimately to be found in the fear of the Lord. Each of the following passages has some variation of the phrase "learn (LAMAD) to fear Jehovah": (Dt 4:10,14:23,17:19, 31:12,13 ) GOOD DISCERNMENT: TUWB TA'AM: The root of "tuwb" is "towb/tob" which means "to be pleasing". Ta'am literally means "taste" which fig gives the idea of discerning. This is an excellent prayer in a day when "absolutes" are absolutely "politically incorrect"! Some things are easy to "taste" -- they are foul, rotten, spoiled, but others are more subtle and thus we stand in constant need of God's grace to be able to discern so that we do not "eat" of the world's fetid, false fare but partake only of God's good Word. Cp to the subtlety of the deception in the last days in Mt 24:24. AND KNOWLEDGE: DA'ATH: experiential knowledge of the living God. Knowledge of His written Word cannot be separated from personal knowledge of God. To know God is to live in harmony with His will, and to live in harmony with His will we must know His will. Loss of the knowledge of God leaves a destructive vacuum in personal and national life. Compare to Isa 5:13,(Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge...) Hos 4:6. (My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.) Thus this prayer is a "life & death" prayer. God show me(us) Your Truth that I may discern good from evil. (Heb 5:14) FOR I BELIEVE IN: AMAN: Hiphil Perf: trusted, leaned on God's commandments. At the heart of the meaning of the root is the idea of certainty. Faith is not a blind leap into the dark. THY COMMANDMENTS: MITSVAH: Charles Bridges - If the perception of the Lord’s merciful dealings with my soul is obscure—Teach me good judgment and knowledge. Give me a clear and enlarged apprehension, that I may be ready with my acknowledgment—All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.4 Or even with an enlightened assurance of his wise and faithful dispensations, still would I urge this petition before him, as needful for every step of my path. Indeed this prayer illustrates the simplicity and intelligence of Christian faith—always desiring, asking, and expecting the most suitable blessings. For what blessings can be more suitable to an ignorant sinner, than good judgment and knowledge: “knowledge” of ourselves, of our Saviour, of the way of obedience—and “good judgment,” to apply this knowledge to some valuable end? These two parts of our intellectual furniture have a most important connection and dependence upon each other. “Knowledge” is the speculative perception of general truth. “Judgment” is the practical application of it to the heart and conduct. No school, but the school of Christ, no teaching, but the teaching of the Spirit—can ever give this “good judgment and knowledge.” Solomon asks it for himself5—Paul for his people.6 Both direct us to God as the sole fountain and author.7 We cannot fail of observing a very common defect in Christians—warm affections connected with a blind or loose judgment. Hence too often a lightness in religion, equally unsteady in profession and in practice—easily satisfied with a narrow compass in the vast field of Scripture, instead of grasping a full survey of those truths, which are so intimately connected with our Christian establishment and privilege. Much perplexing doubt, discouragement, and fear; much mistaken apprehension of important truth, much coldness and backsliding of heart and conduct, arises from the want of an accurate and full apprehension of the scriptural system. This prayer has a special application to the tender and sensitive child of God. The disease of his constitution is too often a scrupulous conscience—one of the most active and successful enemies to his settled peace and quietness.1 The faculty of conscience partakes with every other power of man of the injury of the fall; and therefore, with all its intelligence, honesty, and power, is liable to misconception. Like a defect of vision, it often displaces objects: and, in apparently conflicting duties, that which touches the feeling, or accords with the temper, is preferred to one, which though more remotely viewed, really possessed a higher claim. Thus it pronounces its verdict from the predominance of feeling, rather than from the exercise of judgment—more from an indistinct perception of the subject presented to the mind, than from a simple immediate reference “to the law and testimony.” Again—matters of trivial moment are often insisted upon, to the neglect of important principles.2 External points of offence are more considered, than the habitual mortification of the inward principle. Conformity to the world in dress and appearance is more strongly censured than the general spirit of worldliness in the temper and conduct of outward non-conformists; while the spirit of separation from the world (which may exist in a somewhat wider range of Christian liberty, than the narrow perception of some professors has conceived,3) is totally disregarded. Thus are non-essentials confounded with fundamentals—things indifferent with things unlawful, from a narrow misconception of what is directly forbidden and allowed.4 Conscience, therefore, must not be trusted without the light of the word of God; and most important is the prayer, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge.” The exercises of this state of feeling are both endless and causeless. In the well-intended endeavor to guard against a devious track, the mind is constantly harassed with an over-anxious inquiry, whether the right path is accurately discovered; and thus at once the pleasure and the progress of the journey are materially hindered. The influence, therefore, of this morbid sensibility is strenuously to be resisted. It renders the strait way more strait. It retards the work of grace in the soul. It is usually connected with self-righteousness. It savors of, and tends to produce, hard thoughts of God. It damps our cheerfulness in his service, and unfits us for the duty of the present moment. What, however, is more than all to be deprecated, is, that it multiplies sin; or, to speak more clearly, it superinduces another species of sin, besides the actual transgression of the law of God. For opposition to the dictates of conscience in any particular is sin, even though the act itself may be allowed by the law of God. We may, therefore, sin in the act of doing good, or in obedience to the liberty and enjoyment of the Gospel, as well as in the allowed transgression of the law. Indeed, under the bondage of scrupulous conscience, we seem to be entangled in the sad necessity of sinning. The dictates of conscience, even when grounded upon misconception, are authoritative.1 Listening to its suggestions may be sinning against the liberty, wherewith Christ has made us “free,” and in which we are commanded to “stand fast.”2 No human authority can free from its bonds. Resistance to its voice is disobedience to God’s vicegerent, and therefore, in a qualified sense at least, disobedience to God himself. And thus it is sin, even when that which conscience condemns may be innocent.3 The evil of a scrupulous conscience may often be traced to a diseased temperament of body, to a naturally weak or perverted understanding, to the unfavorable influence of early prejudice—to a want of simple exercise of faith, or perception of the matters of faith. In these cases faith may be sincere, though weak; and the sin, such as it is, is a sin of infirmity, calling for our pity, forbearance, prayer, and help. In many instances, however, wilful ignorance, false shame that will not inquire, or a pertinacious adherence to deep-rooted opinion is the source of the disease. Now such persons must be roused, even at the hazard of wounding the conscience of the more tenderly scrupulous. But as the one class decidedly sin, and the other too frequently indulge their infirmity, the excitement will probably be ultimately useful to both. Both need to have the conscience enlightened; and to obtain “a right judgment in all things”—by a more diligent “search in the Scriptures”—by “seeking the law at the mouth of the priest”4—and, above all, by earnest prayer with the Psalmist—“Teach me good judgment and knowledge.” Thus they will discern between what is imperative, and what is indifferent: what is lawful, and what is expedient. If “whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” then the only prospect of the removal of the doubt will be increase of faith—that is, a more full persuasion of the Divine warrant and instruction.1 “Howbeit there is not in every one this knowledge;”2 yet the exhortation speaks alike to all—“Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”3 Indeed the most favorable symptoms of scrupulosity (except where the disease originates in external causes) partake of the guilt of wilful ignorance; because none can be said sincerely to ask for “good judgment and knowledge” who do not diligently improve all means of obtaining it. If, therefore, the scrupulous shrink from honestly seeking the resolution of their difficulties in private conferences (where they are to be had) with ministers or experienced Christians, so far they must be considered as wilfully ignorant. We would indeed “receive them,” “bear with their infirmities,”4 and encourage them to expect relief from their hard bondage in the way of increasing diligence, humility, and prayer. While their minds are in doubt concerning the path of duty, their actions must be imperfect and unsatisfactory. Let them, therefore, wait, inquire, and pray, until their way be made plain. This done, let them act according to their conscience, allowing nothing that it condemns, neglecting nothing which it requires. The responsibility of error (should error be eventually detected) will not be—the too implicit following of the guidance of conscience—but the want of due care and diligence for its more clear illumination. Generally, however, the rule will apply—“If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”5 But, besides the scrupulous conscience, the imperfectly enlightened conscience presents a case equally to be deprecated. Often does it charge to a sinful source those incessant variations of feeling, which originate in bodily indisposition, or accidental influence of temptation. Sins of infirmity are confounded with sins of indulgence; occasional with habitual transgressions of duty. Only a part of the character is brought under cognizance; and while short comings or surprisals are justly condemned; yet the exercise of contrition, faith, love, and watchfulness, is passed by unnoticed. Thus the Gospel becomes the very reverse of the appointment of its gracious Author.6 It brings ashes for beauty, mourning for the oil of joy, and the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise. If this evil is “not a sin unto death,” it is “a sore evil under the sun,” which may often give occasion for the prayer—“Teach me good judgment and knowledge;” that, in the simplicity of faith, I may be blessed with a tender conscience, and be delivered from the bondage of a scrupulous, and from the perplexity of an unenlightened conscience. Let my heart never condemn me where it ought not. Let it never fail to condemn me where it ought. But alas! the perception of our need of this “good judgment and knowledge,” is far too indistinct and uninfluential. We need to cry for these valuable blessings with deeper earnestness, and more diligent and patient waiting upon God. Divine wisdom is a treasury, that does not spend by giving; and we may ask to be enriched to the utmost extent of our wants, “in full assurance of faith.” But this faith embraces the whole revelation of God—the commandments as well as the promises. And thus it becomes the principle of Christian obedience. For can we believe these commandments to be as they are represented—“holy, just, and good,” and not delight in them?1 “In those is continuance”—saith the prophet—“and we shall be saved.”2 Convinced of their perfection, acknowledging their obligations, loving them, and living in them, we shall “come to full age” in the knowledge of the Gospel, and, “by reason of use have our senses exercised to discern good and evil.”3 4 Ps. 25:10. 5 1 Kings 3:9. 6 Phil. 1:9, 10. Col. 1:9. 7 Prov. 2:6. 1 Cor. 1:5. 2 Tim. 1:7. It is recorded of one of the Reformers, that, when he had well acquitted himself in a public disputation, a friend begged to see the notes, which he had been observed to write, supposing that he had taken down the arguments of his opponents, and sketched the substance of his own reply. Greatly was he surprised to find that they consisted simply of these ejaculatory petitions—“More light, Lord,—more light,—more light!” How fully was the true spirit of prayer compressed in these short aspirations! Could they fail of success? “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5. Greenham, being asked his judgment of some important matters, answered: “Sir, neither am I able to speak, nor you to hear; for we have not prayed. I may indeed talk, and you may answer, as natural men; but we are not now prepared to confer as children of God.” Works, p. 19. 1 “Scruple,” as Bishop Taylor justly observes, “is a little stone in the foot. If you set it on the ground, it hurts you. If you hold it up, you cannot go forward. It is a trouble, when trouble is over; a doubt, when doubts are resolved; a little party behind the hedge when the main army is broken and cleared; and when conscience is instructed in its way, and girt for action, a light trifling reason, or an absurd fear, hinders it from beginning the journey, or proceeding in the way, or resting at the journey’s end.” Duct. Dubitant. Book i. chap. vi. See Calvin’s lively description of scrupulosity in Scott’s Analysis of his Institutes.—Continuation of Milner, iii. 563. 2 Col. 2:18. 3 See 1 Cor. 8:4, 7. 4 “Measuring actions by atoms is the way, not to govern, but to disorder, conscience.—Bishop Taylor, ut supra. 1 See Rom. 14:14. “To him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, (though clean by the express appointment of God. Acts 10:9–15, 1 Tim. 4:3–5, and only “unclean” therefore by the misconception of conscience,) to him it is unclean,”—i.e., he must not touch it upon the ground of conscience, though the Gospel allowed the use of it, and it was an infringement of Christian liberty to abstain from it. Thus did his ignorance make to himself an occasion of sin. 2 Gal. 5:1, with 4:9, 10. 3 Compare Rom. 14:20–23. 4 Mal. 2:7. See the example of the primitive church, Acts 15:1, 2. 1 Rom. 14:5. 2 1 Cor. 8:7. 3 2 Peter 3:18. 4 Rom. 14:1; 15:1. 5 Matt. 6:22. Compare Prov. 24:5. For a similar view of this case, see Baxter’s Christian Directory, Book i. chap. iii. The sacrifices appointed for sins of ignorance under the law, (Lev. 4,) mark God’s sense of this case; while the frequent breaches of Christian unity and forbearance arising from it may well justify this extended consideration of it. 6 Compare Isaiah 61:3. 1 Rom. 7:12, with 22. 2 Isa. 64:5. 3 Heb. 5:14. Psalm 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. Before (KJV): Ps 119:176 73:5-28 De 32:15 2Sa 10:19 11:2-27 2Ch 33:9-13 Pr 1:32 Jer 22:21 but now (KJV): Ps 119:71,75 Jer 31:18,19 Ho 2:6,7 5:15 6:1 Heb 12:10,11 Rev 3:10 See in depth article on Afflictions-Suffering-Quotes, Devotionals, Illustrations THE PURIFYING EFFECT OF AFFLICTIONS Before I was afflicted I went astray, Qal Impf: Before I was bowed down, humbled. God's discipline has divine purpose. Parallels [2Co12:9,10 Ja4:6 See Ps 119:50, 71, 75, 92] law of God comforts in lowliness; But now - 'ATTAH: Praise the Lord for the fact that we even can exclaim about the "but now's" in our life. The truth is our sin demands death but in His mercy, He has afforded us "but now's" that we might return & repent & receive the times of refreshing (Ac 3:19). I keep Your word. hedge about as with thorns so as to preserve God's Word. (NIV = now I obey Your word.) TIMES OF AFFLICTION: Lieutenant Paul Galanti, a US Navy pilot, spent 6 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. The experience has given him a heightened sense of ordinary privileges that most of us take for granted. Speaking of his life today, nearly three decades after being released, Galanti says, "There's no such thing as a bad day when there's a doorknob on the inside of the door." After 2,300 straight days in a locked cell, you might consider the privilege of walking outside whenever you please to be one of life's greatest luxuries. The writer of Ps 119 makes the startling statement, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes" (v71). From a time of suffering, the psalmist gained a greater love for God and an increased appreciation for His commands. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your Word" (v67). Perhaps you can identify with the words of the psalmist. You've "been there" and you know what he means. Or you may be in the middle of a great hardship today. When the days are dark and relief is out of sight, we need to cling to what we know to be true about the goodness and faithfulness of God. And then, when He brings us out into the light, we too will see the results and thank God for the legacy of affliction. —DCM In times of greatest trouble, I've learned to trust God's Word; For through the Spirit's teaching My Savior's voice I've heard. —Fitzhugh Tough times teach trust. Charles Bridges - The teaching of good judgment and knowledge will lead us to deprecate, instead of desiring, a prosperous state. But should the Christian, by the appointment of God, be thrown into this seductive atmosphere, he will feel the prayer that is so often put into his lips, most peculiarly expressive of his need—“In all time of our wealth—Good Lord! deliver us!”4 A time of wealth is indeed a time of special need. It is hard to restrain the flesh, when so many are the baits for its indulgence. Such mighty power is here given to the enemy, while our perception of his power is fearfully weakened! Many and affecting instances are recorded of the heart of the Lord’s people, in the deadening influence of a proud and worldly spirit.5 But the unmitigated curse to the ungodly is written as with a sunbeam for our warning—“When Jeshurun waxed fat, he kicked—I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear.”6 But how awful will be the period, when the question shall speak to the conscience with all the poignancy of self-conviction—“What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?” What is the end of this flowery path? “Death?”7 “Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors!”8 “the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.”9 Our Saviour’s allotment for his people—“In the world ye shall have tribulation”10—marks not less his wisdom than his love. This is the gracious rod, by which he scourges back his prodigal children to himself. This is the wise discipline, by which he preserves them from the poisoned sweetness of carnal allurements, and keeps their hearts in a simple direction towards himself, as the well-spring of their everlasting joy. With all of them this one method has been pursued. All have been taught in one school. All have known the power of affliction in some of its varied forms of inward conflict or outward trouble. All have found a time of affliction a time of love. All have given proof, that the pains bestowed upon them have not been in vain. Thus did Manasseh in affliction beseech “the Lord, and humble himself greatly before the Lord God of his fathers.”1 Thus also in afflictions the Lord “heard Ephraim bemoaning himself;”2 and beheld Israel “seeking him early,”3 and the forlorn wandering child casting a wishful, penitent look towards his Father’s house, as if the pleasures, that had enticed his heart from home, were now embittered to the soul.4 And thus the Christian can give some account of the means by which his Father is leading and preparing him for heaven. Perhaps he did not at first see the reason.5 It was matter of faith, not of consciousness. But in looking back, how clear the path, how valuable the benefit—Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. I never prized it before. I could, indeed, scarcely be said to know it. I never understood its comfort until affliction expounded it to me. I never till now saw its suitableness to my case. But what an heightened aggravation of guilt, when these especial mercies fail of their gracious end—when vanity, worldliness, and sin still reign with uncontrolled sway! Ah! when sinners are unhumbled “under the mighty hand of God”—when they are afflicted, and not purged by affliction—when it is said of them—“They received not correction”6—it seems the forerunner of that tremendous judgment—“Why should ye be stricken any more.”7 Heavenly Father! keep thy poor weak erring child from this fearful doom. Let not that measure of prosperity, which thou mayest be pleased to vouchsafe, prove my curse. But especially let every cross, every affliction, which thou art pleased to mingle in my cup, conform me more to my Saviour’s image, restrain my heart from its daily wanderings, and give thy holy ways and word to my soul, and give me sweeter anticipations of that blessed home, where I shall never wander more, but find my eternal happiness in “keeping thy word.” 4 Litany. 5 The histories of David, 1 Chron. 21:1–4; Solomon, 1 Kings 11:1–8; Uzziah, 2 Chron. 26:16; and Hezekiah, 2 Chron. 32:25–32, will readily occur to the mind. 6 Deut. 32:15. Jer. 22:21. 7 Rom. 6:21. 8 Psalm 73:18, 19. 9 Prov. 1:32. 10 John 16:33. Acts 14:22. 1 Thess. 3:3. 1 2 Chron. 33:12. Compare Dan. 4:36, 37. 2 Jer. 31:18, 19. 3 Hosea 5:15; 6:1, 2. 4 Luke 15:16, 17. 5 See Heb. 12:11. 6 Zeph. 3:2. 7 Isaiah 1:5.
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Ps. 119:73 Consult the Manual Whenever my wife and I purchase a new appliance, we add another instruction manual to our collection. We have instruction manuals for the various appliances in our home, for the automobile and for office equipment, such as tape recorders, computers and copying machines. Someone may say, "I wish we had a manual of instruction for life." We do. It's called the Bible, the Word of God. "Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments" (v. 73). God made and fashioned us in His image. According to Psalm 139, He had plans for each of our lives before we were born. He gave each of us a unique mind and genetic structure. He wrote into His book the days that He assigned to us, and He planned the best for us. He also wrote a manual to help us live the way we ought. He gives us the Bible and says, "I want to give you understanding. The better you understand this Book, the better you will understand yourself. You are made in My image. I want to reveal to you from My Word how to use your hands, your feet, your eyes, your ears and your tongue. I want to tell you how My Word can make your heart work the way it is supposed to work." The psalmist says, "Your hands have made me and fashioned me"--that's our origin. "Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments"--that's our operation. The Bible is the operation manual for life. How strange it is that people try to live their lives without an instruction book. They wonder why their marriages fall apart, why their bodies are in trouble and why they've gotten themselves into a jam. Before all else fails, read the Word of God, the instruction manual for everyday living. * * * The Word of God covers the spectrum of life and provides guidelines for living in faith. When life presents new challenges and problems, refer to God's operation manual for life. It will help you align with His plans for your life. (Psalm 119:73-80 Consult the Manual) Charles Bridges - In the vast universe of wonder, man is the greatest wonder—the noblest work of God. A council of the Sacred Trinity was held respecting his creation—“God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”4 Every part of creation bears the impress of God. Man—man alone—bears his image, his likeness. Everywhere we see his track—his footsteps. Here we behold his face. What an amazing thought, that the three Eternal subsistents in the glorious Godhead, should have united in gracious design and operation towards the dust of the earth! But thus man was formed—thus was he raised out of his parent dust, from this low original, to be the living temple and habitation of Divine glory—a being full of God. The first moment that he opened his eyes to behold the light and beauty of the new-made world, the Lord separated him for his own service, to receive the continual supply of his own life. His body was fitted as a tabernacle for his soul, “curiously wrought” by the hand of God; and all its parts and “members written in his book, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” Most naturally therefore does the contemplation of this “perfection of beauty” raise the adoring mind upward—“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”5 “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me.” Could we suppose that man was framed to eat, to sleep, and to die—that, after taking a few turns upon the grand walk of life, he was to descend into the world of eternal silence, we might well ask the question of God—“Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?”1 But the first awakening of man from his death-like sleep enlightens him in the right knowledge of the end of his creation. If I am conscious of being the workmanship of God, I shall feel my relationship to him, and the responsibility of acting according to it. I would plead then this relation before him in asking for light, life, and love. I cannot serve thee as a creature, except I be made a new creature. Give me a spiritual being, without which my natural being cannot glorify thee. Thou hast indeed “curiously wrought” my frame; but sin has marred all. Make me thy spiritual “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.”2 “Give me understanding”—spiritual knowledge, “that I may learn thy commandments”—“Renew a right spirit within me.”3 But the natural man feels no need of this prayer. No, he is puffed up in his own wisdom. He cannot receive the divine testimony, which levels him, while he “understandeth not,” with “the beasts that perish,”4 and tells him, that he must “become a fool, that he may be wise.”5 But should he ever know his new state of existence, he will offer up this prayer eagerly and frequently; and every step of his way heavenward he will feel increasing need of Divine “wisdom and spiritual understanding.” How does the song of heaven remind us of this end of our creation!—“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power; for thou hast created all things; and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”6 In harmony with this song we must acknowledge, that the “Lord hath made all things for himself”7—that he “created all things for his glory.”8 And the recollection that he “created us by Jesus Christ,”9 brings before us the grand work of redemption, and the work of the new creation consequent upon it. He who created us in his own image, when that image was lost, that he might not lose his property in us, put a fresh seal upon his natural right, and “purchased us with his own blood.” Oh! let us not be insensible to this constraining motive to “learn his commandments.” “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”10 4 Gen. 1:26. 5 Psalm 139:14–16. 1 Ps. 89:47. 2 Eph. 2:10. 3 Ps. 51:10. 4 Ps 49:20. 5 1 Cor. 3:18. 6 Rev. 4:11. 7 Prov. 16:4. 8 Isa. 43:7. 9 Eph. 3:9. Col. 1:16. John 1:1–3. 10 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. Psalm 119:74 May those who fear You see me and be glad, Because I wait for Your word. fear thee (KJV): Ps 119:79 34:2-6 66:16 Mal 3:16 I have (KJV): Ps 119:42,147 108:7 Ge 32:11,12 Lu 21:33 May those who fear You see me and be glad - Who are those who fear God? In the fullest sense, they are believers, for even in the last clarion call of the Gospel in the Revelation, we see that fear of God is equated with salvation. Revelation 14:6-7+ And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, (NOTE THIS "EARTH SHAKING" EVENT OCCURS JUST BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION, 3.5 YEARS BEFORE THE KING RETURNS! SO EVEN IN THE MIDST OF WRATH, GOD REMEMBERS MERCY! WHAT AN AWESOME, LOVING GOD WE WORSHIP! - SEE THE RESULT OF THIS POWERFUL PROCLAMATION IN Rev 7:9, 14+ NOTICE WHERE THIS COUNTLESS NUMBER OF SAVED SOULS COME FROM!) 7 and he said with a loud voice (NOTE 3 COMMANDS CALLING FOR URGENT RESPONSE!), “Fear (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) God, and give (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come (LAST 3.5 YEARS WHICH INCLUDE THE HORRIBLE "BOWL JUDGMENTS"!); worship (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) Him Who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters (WHO? THE FATHER AND THE SON - Col 1:16+, Heb 1:2+).” A non-believer might have a shaking fear of God and His future judgment, but he won't give God the glory and worship Him. In fact, Paul states in Romans 3:18+ in his verdict on every man (every lost soul dead in their trespasses and sins Eph 2:1+) still in Adam (Ro 5:12+) "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Reviving Power Some days everything seems to go wrong. Every phone call brings bad news. The mail is nothing but bills. The children come home from school with some kind of injury or a bad report. Work is frustrating. What do you do when you have one of these days? "My soul faints for Your salvation, but I hope in Your word. My eyes fail from searching Your word, saying, 'When will You comfort me?' For I have become like a wineskin in smoke, yet I do not forget Your statutes.... The proud have dug pits for me, which is not according to Your law" (Psalm 119:81-83,85). Here's a man who was fainting and failing. He was like a wineskin in the smoke. Wherever he walked there was a pit for him to drop into. What did he do? He turned to God. His source of hope was His Word. If you hope in circumstances, you will be disappointed, because they change. The psalmist hoped in the Word and trusted in God's faithfulness, and God comforted him. People will fail you, but God never will. "All Your commandments are faithful" (v. 86). The psalmist clung to the comfort, hope and faithfulness of God, and as a result he experienced revival. "Revive me according to Your lovingkindness" (Psalm 119:88). God came with a Breath of fresh, heavenly air--the Holy Spirit--and revived him. * * * Thank God for His faithfulness. If you are having a rough day, remember that you can depend on Him. He is your Hope and your Comfort, and He's always faithful. He'll give you the reviving power you need to rise above your circumstances and continue. (Psalm 119:81-88 Reviving Power) Charles Bridges - The salvation of the Gospel was the constant object of faith and desire to the Lord’s people under the old dispensation. Long had the Church triumphed in the glowing anticipation, as if in the full possession of the promised blessing—“It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness; as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”2 And as it was the joy of their living moments, so was it the support and consolation of their dying hours. “I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord,”3—was the expression of the dying patriarch’s faith. And how cheering were the last words of this “sweet Psalmist of Israel,” whose “soul was now fainting for God’s salvation,” even in his dark and foreboding family prospect!—“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, although he make it not to grow.”4 Good old Simeon, in the break of the gospel-day, was ready to “depart in peace, for his eyes had seen God’s salvation.”5 And shall not we, under this heavenly influence, naturally appropriate these feelings of ancient believers to ourselves? What interpreter but experience will be needed to explain them? The uneasiness felt in any interruption of our enjoyment, will show the soul to be “fainting for this salvation.” Nothing will satisfy but the Saviour. The tempting offer of “all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,” will fail in attraction. Still the cry will be, “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”6 “Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord; even thy salvation, according to thy word.”7 As the lowest expectant of this salvation, am not I richer than the sole possessor of this world’s portion? And therefore if the Lord hides his face, I would look to no other quarter; I would stay by him, and “wait on him,” though days and months and years may pass away, “until he have mercy upon me.”1 “My soul fainteth for his salvation;” and—pressing to my lips the fullest cup of earth’s best joy—my heart would burst with despair of satisfaction, “but” that “I hope in his word.”2 “By this hope I am saved.”3 In “the patience of hope”4 I am resolved to wait until the last moment, lying at the footstool of my Saviour. I am looking for the “assurance of this hope”5—when, in the joyous anticipation of eternity, and with “the earnest of” the heavenly “inheritance” in my soul, I shall echo the voice of my coming Saviour—“Even so come, Lord Jesus.”6 Oh, how precious and important a part of our armor is Hope! As a “helmet,”7 it has “covered our head in the day of battle” from many a “fiery dart of the wicked.” In times of darkness—when the restless foe hides the prospect from the eye of faith, and the child of God can scarcely, if at all, mount up and sing—even then hope remains, and lights a taper in moments dark as the chamber of the grave—“Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the day-time; and in the night-season his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.”8 And when the afflicted, tempest-tost soul is trembling at the prospect of impending danger—at this moment of infinite peril, Hope holds out the “anchor sure and steadfast;”9 so that in the awful crisis, when “deep calleth unto deep, and all the waves and billows are going over us,” most unexpectedly “an entrance is ministered unto us abundantly,”10 in the Lord’s best time, into our desired haven.11 And it is this hope alone that sustains us. Were we to conceive of God according to the notions of our own hearts, we should give way to most unbelieving impatience. But the Divine character—as it shines forth in the word, with such love and wisdom, such tenderness and grace—invigorates our hope. The strength of the strongest of God’s people proves but small, when afflictions press heavy, and expected help is delayed. But though the “soul fainteth,” it cannot fail. We depend not on what we see or feel, but on what the word promises. If God has engaged, it must be fulfilled, be the difficulties—nay, impossibilities—what they may. Fixed, therefore, upon this sure foundation, with our father Abraham, against hope from what we see, “we believe in hope from what God has promised.”12 Thus the word is faith’s sure venture for eternity—stamped with such a marvellous, mysterious impression of Divine glory and faithfulness, and communicating such Divine power and refreshment, that the believer cannot but produce his experience of its efficacy for the support of his tempted brethren—“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, on the Lord.”1 2 Isaiah 25:9; 61:10. 3 Gen. 49:18. 4 2 Sam. 23:5. 5 Luke 2:28–30, also 25. 6 Psalm 35:3. 7 Ps 119:41. 1 Psalm 123:1, 2. Compare Isaiah 8:17. Micah 7:9. 2 Psalm 130:5. 3 Rom. 8:24. 4 1 Thess. 1:3. 5 Heb. 6:11. 6 Rev. 22:20. 7 Eph. 6:17. 1 Thess. 5:8 8 Psalm 42:8. 9 Heb. 6:19. 10 Psalm 42:7. 11 2 Peter 1:11. Psalm 107:30. 12 Rom. 4:18. 1 Psalm 27:13, 14. Psalm 119:82 My eyes fail [with longing] for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?” eyes (KJV): Ps 119:123 69:3 De 28:32 Pr 13:12 Isa 38:11 When wilt (KJV): Ps 86:17 90:13-15 My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?” Charles Bridges - Though the believer may be enabled, in the habitual working of faith, to sustain his “hope in the word,” yet “hope deferred maketh the heart sick.”2 Still, Christian, as you value the promise, trust the assurance. Do not be discouraged by present appearances. The sunshine is behind the storm. “The vision is for an appointed time; though it tarry, wait for it.”3 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise,” but we are hasty in looking for it.4 The failing of our eyes is the impatience of the will, “limiting God”5 to our own time, ways, and means. Faith may be exercised in not seeing his reasons—not being able to harmonize his promises with his providences, or his outward dispensations with his Divine perfections.6 But let us leave this to him, and “be still, and know that he is God.”7 We shall find in the end, that perseverance in waiting has turned to double advantage; and that even when the present answer to prayer, and also sensible comfort and acceptance have been withheld; yet that important blessings have been accomplished, and the merciful purposes vouchsafed in bringing the wayward will into more entire subjection to himself. Yea, the blessing will be so much the sweeter, from being vouchsafed in the Lord’s best time. Waiting time—whatever weariness may attend it—is precious time, and not a moment of it will be lost. The Lord secretly upholds faith and patience, so that every step of feeble perseverance in the way brings with it unspeakable delight. Even while our eyes fail for the fulfilment of the word, peace is found in submission and joyful expectation; and instead of a time of hardness, indolence, or carelessness, the Lord’s return is anticipated the more intensely, as his absence had been felt to be the most painful trial. For as well might the stars supply the place of the sun, as outward comforts, or even the external duties of religion, supply to the waiting soul the place of an absent God. Never, however, let us forget, that the real cause of separation between God and a sinner is removed. The way of access is opened by the blood of Jesus;8 and in this way we must be found waiting, until he look upon us. Here will our cry—“When wilt thou comfort me?” be abundantly answered; and though the sovereignty of God will be exhibited in the time and measure of his consolations, yet the general rule will be—“According to your faith be it unto you.”9 But if unbelief clouds our comfort, turn the eye more simply to the “word” as testifying of Jesus. Here alone is the ground of comfort; and the more confidently we expect, the more patiently we will look. Nor shall we ever look in vain. Sin will be rebuked10 But restoration and acceptance are assured. We shall obtain—not the spurious comfort of delusion—but those wholesome comforts, founded upon the word of promise, and connected with contrition, peace, love, joy, and triumph. The Gospel shows hell deserved, and heaven purchased—thus combining conviction and faith. Indeed, conviction without faith would be legal sorrow; as assurance without conviction would be Gospel presumption. Paul’s experience happily united both. Never was man at the same moment more exercised with conflict, and yet more established in assurance.1 Thus may we maintain our assurance as really in wrestling trouble as in exulting joy; honoring the Lord by a humble, patient spirit—in Bernard’s resolution—‘I will never come away from thee without thee’—in the true spirit of the wrestling patriarch—“I will not let thee go except thou bless me.”2 But we sometimes seem to go “mourning without the sun”3—“shut up, and we cannot come forth”4—straitened in our desires and expectations—doing little for the Lord—with little enjoyment in our own souls, and little apparent usefulness to the Church. At such seasons it is our clear duty and privilege to “wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and to look for him.”5 “He waiteth that he may be gracious. He is a God of judgment: and blessed are all they that wait for him.”6 He waits—not because he is reluctant to give, but that we may be fitted to receive. 2 Prov. 13:12. 3 Hab. 2:3. 4 Comp. 2 Pet. 3:9, with Isa. 5:19; 28:16. 5 Ps. 78:41. 6 Jer. 12:1. 7 Psalm 46:10. 8 Hebrews 10:19, 20. 9 Matthew 9:29. 10 Psalm 89:30–32. 1 Comp. Rom. 7:14–25; 8:33–39. 2 Gen. 32:26. 3 Job 30:28. 4 Psalm 88:8. 5 Isaiah 8:17. 6 Isa. 30:18. “Thou mayest seek after honors, and not obtain them; thou mayest labor for riches, and yet remain poor; thou mayest dote on pleasures, and have many sorrows. But our God, of his supreme goodness, says—Who ever sought me, and found me not? Who ever desired me, and obtained me not? Who ever loved me, and missed of me? I am with him, that seeks for me. He hath me already, that wisheth for me; and he that loveth me is sure of my love. The way to come to me is neither long nor difficult.”—Augustine. Psalm 119:83 Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes. like a bottle in the smoke (KJV): As the bottles in the East are made of skin, it is evident that one of these hung up in the smoke must soon be parched, shrivelled up, lose all its strength, and become unsightly and useless. Thus the Psalmist appeared to himself to have become useless and despicable, through the exhausted state of his body and mind, by long bodily afflictions and mental distress. Ps 22:15 102:3,4 Job 30:30 yet do I (KJV): Ps 119:16,61,176 Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes - Such a wineskin is shriveled up and useless. Charles Bridges - What an affecting picture of misery! Not only were his patience and hope—but his very body—“dried up” by long-continued affliction.7 This is he, who in the prime of youth was “ruddy and of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to”8—now shrivelled up like a bottle of skin9 hung up in the smoke! “Such is the mark that the rod of “chastening” leaves on the body of humiliation.”10 The soul is strengthened—the body withers—under the stroke. What might naturally have been expected to have been the result of this lengthened exercise? Saul, under protracted trial, resorted to the devil for relief.11 An infidel nation took occasion from thence to throw off the yoke.12 Even a good man, under a few hours’ trial, murmurs against God—nay, even defends his murmuring. How did this man of God behave?13 When his soul was fainting, his hope in the word kept him from sinking.1 Under the further continuance of the trial, the same recollection gives him support—yet I do not forget thy statutes.2 Now—Christian—do not expect a new way to heaven to be made for you. Prepare for the cross. It may be—as with David—a heavy, long-continued burden; and, should it come—look on it as your appointed trial of faith, and your training discipline for more enduring conflicts. And remember that your determined resolution rather to pine away in affliction, than “make a way of escape” by sin—is the proof of the reality of his own grace in you, and of his faithful love towards you. Think how honorably he manifests your relation to Christ, by causing “his sufferings to abound in you,” and making you “bear in your body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”3 And do you not thus realize, as you could not otherwise do, the sympathy of our High Priest, who was himself “a root out of a dry ground, having no form nor comeliness, and no beauty that he should be desired—despised and rejected of men”4 to the end? Oh, what a supporting cordial to his afflicted people is the sympathy of this suffering, tempted Saviour!5 But to look at David, under his long-continued trials, preserving his recollection of the Lord’s statutes—what a striking evidence of the presence of his God, and the sustaining power of his word! If we then—blessed with much larger Scriptures than he—fail in deriving from them the same support, it can only be, that we do not search them in a dependent, prayerful, and humble spirit—that we do not simply look for the revelation of Christ; to mark his glory, and to increase in the knowledge of Him.”6 In this spirit we should have more to say of the comfort of remembering “the Lord’s statutes;” and of their upholding influence, when all other stays were found as “the trust in the shadow of Egypt—shame and confusion.”7 Job’s history strikingly illustrates both the trial and its sanctified results. When “scraping himself with a potsherd, and sitting down among the ashes,”—the temporary victim of Satanic power—he might well have taken up the complaint, “I am become like a bottle in the smoke.” But when in this hour of temptation he was enabled to resist the tempter in the person of his own wife, and commit himself with implicit resignation into the hands of his faithful God, “What! shall we receive good at the hand of God; and shall we not receive evil?”8—was not this the confidence,—yet do I not forget thy statutes? This confidence is indeed an encouraging seal of the Lord’s love on our souls. For we never should have remembered “his statutes,” had he not written his covenant promises upon our hearts.9 And how much more honorable to our God is it than the desponding complaint, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me!”1 Let us watch then against a proud sullenness under every little trial—such as the coldness of friends, the unkindness of enemies, or our Father’s providential dispensations. How sinful to allow hard thoughts of him, whose name and character, “without variableness or shadow of turning,” is “Love!” A steady trust in the long and wearisome seasons of tribulation, is indeed to “glorify God in the fires.”2 Nothing honors him so much as this enduring, overcoming faith, persevering in despite of opposition, in destitution of all outward prospects of relief. It is when “against hope we believe in hope, not staggering at the promise of God through unbelief,” that we are “strong in faith, giving glory to God.”3 7 Prov. 17:22. 8 1 Sam. 16:12. 9 Josh. 9:4. Matt. 9:17. 10 Ps. 39:11. Comp. 31:12; 102:3. The history of Job. 30:30. The woful misery of the church: Lam. 4:8; 5:10. The sufferings of the Saviour; Psalm 22:15. Isaiah 52:14. 11 1 Sam. 28:6, 7. 12 Mal. 3:13, 14, with 2:17. 13 Jonah 4:7–9. 1 Ps 119:81. 2 Compare Ps 119:51, 61, 109, 141; 44:17–19. 3 2 Cor. 1:5. Gal. 6:17. 1 Pet. 4:13. 4 Isaiah 53:2, 3. 5 Heb. 4:15; 2:18. 6 John. 5:39. 7 Isa. 30:1–3. 8 Job 2:7–10. 9 Jer. 31:31–34. 1 Isaiah 49:14. 2 Isa 24:15. 3 Romans 4:18, 20. Psalm 119:84 How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me? How (KJV): Ps 39:4,5 89:47,48 Ps 90:12 Job 7:6-8 when (KJV): Ps 7:6 Rev 6:10,11 Related Passages: Psalm 39:4 “LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. 5 “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah. Ps 39:13 “Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again Before I depart and am no more.” Psalm 90:12 So (WHY? See Ps 90:11) teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Job 7:6-8 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And come to an end without hope. 7“Remember that my life is but breath; My eye will not again see good. 8 “The eye of him who sees me will behold me no longer; Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be. James 4:14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor (WOE!) that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (UPSHOT? REDEEM THE SHORT TIME YOU HAVE LEFT) How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me? Charles Bridges - Though a steady confidence in severe and protracted exercise may enable us “not to forget the statutes;” yet we shall hasten to carry our complaint before him, “How many are the days of thy servant?”—my days of affliction under the “fury of the oppressor.” To complain of God is dishonorable unbelief.4 To complain to God is the mark of his “elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bears long with them.”5 Christian! study this instructive pattern; and, when exposed to the lawless devices of “the proud,” forget not your hiding-place. God in Christ is your strong hold, “whereunto you may continually resort.” He “hath given commandment to save you.”6 Your trial has done its appointed work, when it has brought you to him; and inclined you, after your blessed Master’s example, instead of taking the vengeance into your own hands, to commit yourself and your cause “to him that judgeth righteously.”7 ‘And this,’ as Archbishop Leighton excellently observes, ‘is the true method of Christian patience—that which quiets the mind, and keeps it from the boiling tumultuous thoughts of revenge; to turn the whole matter into God’s hands; to resign it over to him, to prosecute when and as He thinks good. Not as the most, who had rather, if they had power, do for themselves, and be their own avengers; and, because they have not power, do offer up such bitter curses and prayers for revenge unto God, as are most hateful to him, and are far from this calm and holy way of committing matters to his judgment. The common way of referring things to God is indeed impious and dishonorable to him, being really no other than calling him to be a servant and executioner of our passion. We ordinarily mistake his justice, and judge of it according to our own precipitate and distempered minds. If wicked men be not crossed in their designs, and their wickedness evidently crushed, just when we would have it, we are ready to give up the matter as desperate; or at least to abate of those confident and reverent thoughts of Divine justice which we owe Him. However things go, this ought to be fixed in our hearts that He that sits in heaven judgeth righteously, and executes that his righteous judgment in the fittest season.’ Usually the Psalmist is expressing his love for the law. Here he is complaining against his enemies; yet still implying the same spirit, that the pits, which the proud dug for him,1 were not after God’s law. The martyrs’ cry under the altar shows the acceptance of this complaint;2 “seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble” his people, “and to them that are troubled rest.”3 Some of us indeed have known but little of “cruel mockings”4 and bitter persecutions. Let such be thankful for the merciful exemption from this “hardness:”5 but let us gird on their armor for the conflict. Let none of us, in the determination to “live godly in Christ Jesus,” expect to escape “persecution.”6 Let us “count the cost”7 of suffering for Christ, whether we shall be able to abide it. For the mere spiritless notions, or for the unenlivened forms of religion, of which we have never felt the power, nor tasted the sweetness, it would be little worth our while to expose ourselves to inconvenience. But if we understand the grand substantials of the Gospel—if we are clearly assured of their reality, practically acknowledge their influence, and experimentally realize their enjoyment, we shall dare the persecuting malice of “the proud” in defence of a treasure dearer to us than life itself. Should we, however, be too rich to part with all for Christ, or too high in the estimation of the world to confess his despised followers, it will be no marvel, or rather a marvel of mercy, if he should sweep away our riches, and suffer “the proud to dig pits for us.” To make this world “a wilderness or a land of darkness” to us, may be his wisely-ordained means to turn us back to himself as our portion, to his word as our support, to his people as our choice companions, and to heaven as our eternal rest. 4 Jonah 4:1–3. 5 Luke 18:7, with Ps. 6:3; 13:1, 2. 6 Psalm 71:3. 7 1 Peter 2:23, and Archbishop Leighton on the passage. 1 Psalm 35:7. 2 See Rev. 6:9–11. 3 2 Thess. 1:6, 7. 4 Hebrews 11:36. 5 2 Tim. 2:3. 6 2 Ti. 3:12. 7 Luke 14:28. Psalm 119:85 The arrogant have dug pits for me, Men who are not in accord with Your law. The proud (KJV): This metaphor is taken from the mode in which wild beasts are caught in the East: deep pits are dug in the earth, and slightly covered over with reeds, turf, etc., so as not to be discerned from the solid ground; and the animals attempting to walk over them, the surface breaks, they fall in, and are taken alive. Thus the Psalmist's enemies employed craft as well as power in order to effect his ruin. Ps 119:78 7:15 35:7 36:11 Pr 16:27 Jer 18:20 which (KJV): Ps 58:1,2 The arrogant have dug pits for me, Men who are not in accord with Your law. Charles Bridges - see his discussion above. Psalm 119:86 All Your commandments are faithful; They have persecuted me with a lie; help me! All thy (KJV): Ps 119:128,138,142,151 19:9 Ro 7:12 faithful (KJV): Heb. faithfulness they (KJV): Ps 119:78 7:1-5 35:7,19 38:19 59:3,4 Jer 18:20 help (KJV): Ps 70:5 142:4-6 143:9 HELP ME GOD! All Your commandments are faithful; They have persecuted me with a lie; help me! Help (05826) 'azar means to protect, aid, help, succor, support, give material or nonmaterial encouragement. Azar often refers to aid in the form of military assistance and in many instances refers to help from Jehovah as illustrated by the uses. Webster says to help means to aid, to assist, to succour (see below), to lend strength or means towards effecting a purpose. To relieve; to cure, or to mitigate pain or disease. To remedy; to change for the better. The Septuagint translates 'azar most often with the word group that includes boáo, boetheo (boetheo is used in Ps 119:86) , boethos, all conveying the general idea of running to the aid of one who cries out for help (e.g., see He 2:18+ which uses boetheo) which is similar to the English word succour (from Latin succurrere = to run up, run to help) means literally to run to and so to run to to support, to go to the aid of, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want or distress; to assist and deliver front suffering; as, to succor a besieged city; to succor prisoners. Azar - 70v - Gen. 49:25; Deut. 32:38; Jos. 1:14; Jos. 10:4; Jos. 10:6; Jos. 10:33; 1 Sam. 7:12; 2 Sam. 8:5; 2 Sam. 18:3; 2 Sam. 21:17; 1 Ki. 1:7; 1 Ki. 20:16; 2 Ki. 14:26; 1 Chr. 5:20; 1 Chr. 12:1; 1 Chr. 12:17; 1 Chr. 12:18; 1 Chr. 12:19; 1 Chr. 12:21; 1 Chr. 12:22; 1 Chr. 15:26; 1 Chr. 18:5; 1 Chr. 22:17; 2 Chr. 14:11; 2 Chr. 18:31; 2 Chr. 19:2; 2 Chr. 20:23; 2 Chr. 25:8; 2 Chr. 26:7; 2 Chr. 26:13; 2 Chr. 26:15; 2 Chr. 28:16; 2 Chr. 28:23; 2 Chr. 32:3; 2 Chr. 32:8; Ezr. 8:22; Ezr. 10:15; Job 9:13; Job 26:2; Job 29:12; Job 30:13; Ps. 10:14; Ps. 22:11; Ps. 28:7; Ps. 30:10; Ps. 37:40; Ps. 46:5; Ps. 54:4; Ps. 72:12; Ps. 79:9; Ps. 86:17; Ps. 107:12; Ps. 109:26; Ps. 118:7; Ps. 118:13; Ps. 119:86; Ps. 119:173; Ps. 119:175; Isa. 30:7; Isa. 31:3; Isa. 41:6; Isa. 41:10; Isa. 41:13; Isa. 41:14; Isa. 44:2; Isa. 49:8; Isa. 50:7; Isa. 50:9; Isa. 63:5; Jer. 47:4; Lam. 1:7; Ezek. 30:8; Dan. 10:13; Dan. 11:34; Dan. 11:45; Zech. 1:15 Charles Bridges - In the lengthened duration of trials, the “eyes fail with looking upward,” the voice of prayer grows faint, and in a moment of weakness, the faithfulness of God is almost questioned, as if we should go mourning to the very end of our days. It is at such a season that he, who delights to “comfort them that are cast down,”8 realizes to the view of faith the unchangeable faithfulness of his commandments with respect to his people. In this recollection we can “look up and lift up our heads,” and “go on our way,” if not “rejoicing,” yet at least with humble acquiescence; assured, that in the perseverance of faith and hope, we shall ultimately be “more than conquerors through him that loved us.”9 Many Old Testament Histories beautifully illustrate the reward of this simplicity of faith in temporal emergencies.1 When Asa’s “hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob” “his bow abode in strength.”2 When, at a subsequent period, he “trusted in man, and made flesh his arm, and his heart departed from the Lord”3 he became, like Samson, “weak, and as another man.”4 So true is it, that no past communications of Divine strength can stand in the stead of the daily habit of dependence upon the Lord, without which we are utterly helpless, and are overthrown in every conflict. Our best prosperity therefore is to leave our cause in his hands, looking upward in the simplicity of wretchedness for his help, ‘All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully: help thou me. Wretched and forlorn I am; but thy truth is my shield.’ Believer! this is your only posture of resistance. Should you enter the field of conflict without this “shield of faith,” some crevice will be found in your panoply, through which a “fiery dart” will inflict a poisonous wound.5 But how can faith be exercised without a distinct acquaintance with the object of faith? We cannot repose trust or expect help, in an unknown God—in an offended God, whom every day’s transgression has made our enemy. There must, then, be reconciliation, before there can be help. Those, therefore, who are unreconciled by the death of Christ, cry for help to a God, who does not hear, accept, or answer, them. But when Christ is known as “the peace,” and the way of access to God, what instance can there be of trial or difficulty, when our reliance upon the Lord will fail? Not indeed that we shall always return from the throne of grace with the wished-for relief. For too often we bring our burden before the Lord, and yet through distrust neglect to leave it with him. Oh! let us remember when we go to Jesus, that we go to a tried, long-proved, and faithful friend. Dependence upon him is victory. The “good fight” is the fight “of faith.”6 We are best able to resist our enemy upon our knees; and even such a short prayer as this, “Help thou me,” will bring down the strength of Omnipotence on our side. But we might as well expect to crush a giant with a straw, as to enter the spiritual conflict with weapons of carnal warfare. Every trial realizes experimentally the help of a faithful Saviour. He does indeed deliver gloriously; and leaves us nothing to do but stand still, wonder, and praise—“Fear ye not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to-day; for the Egyptians, whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”7 8 2 Cor. 7:6. 9 Rom. 8:37. 1 The examples of Asa, 2 Chron. 14:10–12, and Jehosaphat, 2 Chron. 20:1–30 may be referred to. 2 Gen. 49:24. 3 Comp. Jer. 17:5–8. 4 Judges 16:7, with 2 Chron. 16:7. 5 Eph. 6:16. 6 1 Tim. 6:12. 7 Exodus 14:13. Psalm 119:87 They almost destroyed me on earth, But as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts. almost (KJV): 1Sa 20:3 23:26,27 2Sa 17:16 Mt 10:28 but I forsook (KJV): Ps 119:51,61 1Sa 24:6,7 26:9,24 They almost destroyed me on earth, But as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts. Charles Bridges - And why did they not quite consume him? Because “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in behalf of them, whose heart is perfect toward him.”1 “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.”2 And why have not our spiritual enemies “consumed us upon earth?” “Satan hath desired to have us, that he may sift us as wheat.” “But”, saith the Saviour, “I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not.”3 “My sheep shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.”4 Steadfastness of profession is the evidence of the life of faith: grounded upon this security, the more we are shaken, the more we shall hold fast. Neither long-continued distress,5 nor determined opposition,6 will turn us from the ways of God. We would rather “forsake” all that our heart held dear upon earth, than “the precepts” of our God. With whatever intensity of affection we love father and mother, (and the influence of the Gospel has increased the sensibilities of relative affections,) we remember who hath said, “He that loveth father and mother more than me, is not worthy of me.”7 Unlike the deluded professor,8 we have counted the cost of the tribulation and persecution of the Gospel; and the result has only served to confirm our love and adherence to our heavenly Master. Shall not we find in heaven—nay, do not we find in the Gospel—a far better portion that we lose?9 When, therefore, we are tempted to neglect the precepts; or when we fail to live in them and to delight in them, let us each bring our hearts to this test. ‘What would I take in exchange for them? Will the good will and approbation of the world compensate for the loss of the favor of God? Could I be content to forego my greatest comforts, to “suffer the loss of all things,”10 yea, of life itself,11 rather than forsake one of the ways of God? When I meet with such precepts as link me to the daily cross, can I throw myself with simple dependence upon that Saviour, who has engaged to supply strength for what he has commanded?’ How often in times of spiritual temptation, if not of temporal danger, “they had almost consumed us upon earth!” but “in the mount” of difficulty “the Lord has been seen.”12 Oh! let each of us mark our road to Zion with multiplied Ebenezers, inscribed Jehovah-jireh—Jehovah-nissi13—“By this I know that thou favorest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever.”14 What a fine testimony of the upholding grace of God! How could a helpless believer stand against such an appalling array? Yet it is a great, but a true word, suitable for a babe in Christ as well as for an Apostle—“I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me.”15 Yes, I can “wrestle even against principalities and powers” of darkness, if I be “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”1 1 2 Chron. 16:9. 2 Ps. 76:10. 3 Luke 22:31, 32. 4 John 10:28. 5 Ps 119:83. 6 Verses 84–86. 7 Matt. 10:37. 8 Mt. 13:21. 9 Mt. 19:29. 10 Phil. 3:8. 11 Acts 20:24. 12 “In the Mount the Lord shall be seen, or shall appear, Jehovah-jireh.” (Gen. 22:14.)—Scott, in loco. 13 Exod. 17:15. 14 Psalm 41:11, 12. 15 Phil. 4:13. 1 Eph. 6:10, 12. Psalm 119:88 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. Quicken (KJV): Ps 119:25,40,159 so shall I (KJV): Ps 119:2,146 25:10 78:5 132:12 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. REVIVE ME (in the Old Testament - P69:32 Ps 71:20 Ps 80:18 Ps 85:6 Ps 119:25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159 Ps 138:7 Ps 143:11 Isa 57:15 Ho 6:2 Hab 3:2 Reports on "effects" of Revival from the Welsh Revival: In Cardiff alone, as yet only slightly moved by the revival, police reports show that drunkenness has diminished 60%, whilst on Saturday last the Mayor was presented by the Chief Constable with a pair of white gloves, there being no case at all on the charge sheet an unprecedented fact for the last day of the year. The same thing happened at the Swansea County Court on the previous Saturday, and the magistrate said, "All the years I've been sitting here I've never seen anything like it, and I attribute this happy state of things entirely to the revival." The streets of Aberdare on Christmas Eve were almost entirely free from drunkenness, and on Christmas Day there were no prisoners at all in the cells. Related Resources: Welsh Revival - youtube Welsh Revival 2 - youtube Charles Bridges - We need continual quickening to maintain our steadfastness in the precepts. “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.”2 But without daily “quickening after” the same “loving kindness” “the things which remain will be ready to die.” For every breath of prayer, Divine influence must flow—“Quicken us, and we shall call upon thy name.”3 For the work of praise, without the same influence we are dumb.—“O let my soul live, and it shall praise thee.”4 For the exercise of every spiritual grace there must be the commanding voice of our Divine Head—“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south: blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.”5 Thus is the creature laid in the dust, and all the glory is given to God. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.”6 Why is it, then, that at one time we spring to duty as the joy of our life; while at other times the soul is so chained down under the power of corruption, that it scarcely can put forth the feeblest exercise of life? The source of our life is the same—“hid with Christ in God.”7 But the power of the flesh hinders its every motion.8 Such a spiritual sloth has benumbed us—such backwardness to prayer, and disrelish for heavenly things—sins deeply humbling in themselves, and aggravated by the neglect of the plentiful provision laid up in Christ, not only for the life, but for the peace, joy, and strength of the soul. Nothing but indolence or unbelief straitens our supplies. Oh! stir up the prayer for quickening influence, and we shall be rich and fruitful. Sometimes also self-confidence paralyzes our spiritual energy. We expect our recovery from a lifeless state by more determined resolutions, or increased improvement of the various means of grace. Let these means indeed be used with all diligence, but with the fullest conviction, that all means, all instruments, all helps of every kind, without the influence of the Spirit of grace, are dead. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.”9 These records of David’s prayers strikingly mark the intensity of his desire to live to God. Every decay of strength and activity was, as it were, death to him, and awakened his reiterated cries. Do we desire to keep the testimony of his mouth? Do we mourn over our short-comings in service? Oh! then, for our own sake, for the Lord’s sake, and for the Church’s and the world’s sake, let our petitions be incessant, each one for himself—‘ “quicken me”—Quicken this slothful heart of mine. Enkindle afresh the sacred spark within, and let me be all alive for thee.’ Let faith be kept alive and active at the throne of grace, and all will be alive; our obligation will be deeply felt, and practically acknowledged. The title here given to the directory of our duty—“the testimony of God’s mouth”—adds strength to our obligations. Thus let every word we read or hear be regarded, as coming directly from the “mouth of God.”1 What reverence, what implicit submission does it demand! May it ever find us in the posture of attention, humility, and faith, each one of us ready to say—“Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth!”2 2 Eph. 2:4, 5. 3 Psalm 80:18. 4 Ps 119:175. 5 Song. 4:16. 6 2 Cor. 3:5. 7 Col. 3:3. 8 See Gal. 5:17. 9 John 6:63. 1 Compare Judges 3:20. 2 1 Sam. 3:9, 10. Psalm 119:89 Lamedh. Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. For ever (KJV): Ps 119:152,160 89:2 Mt 5:18 24:34,35 1Pe 1:25 2Pe 3:13 Lamedh. Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. THY WORD IS SETTLED (established, fixed) IN HEAVEN: basic sense of "settled" is illustrated in God's order to Moses to stand (i.e. station himself ) by the river's brink" to meet Pharaoh (Ex7:15). This verse avows the immutability of God's Word; it shall stand forever (cf. Ps89:2 Isa40:8; Mt24:34,35; 1Pe1:25). Henry
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Settled Questions Have you ever noticed that very little gets settled in this world? Few things are resolved politically. We sign treaties and contracts, and then they're broken or reinterpreted. Nothing seems final. Your life may be unsettled because of a situation or person. If that's the case, consider Psalm 119:89: "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven." My word--or anyone's, for that matter--is not settled. I've changed my opinions and my beliefs on certain things. I hope that when I give my word it is trustworthy. But God's Word is always true. We can trust it. We don't have to worry about Him lying to us. He can't. God's Word is eternal. I often go to used bookstores and find bestsellers from years ago being sold for 25 cents each. Not so with God's Word. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away" (Matt. 24:35). God's Word also is changeless. God is not a diplomat who argues endlessly. He simply says, "This is the way it is going to be." If you want to find out how He has settled things, read His Word. I'm glad that when I open my Bible, I find that things are settled. God tells us how to stop wars, how to solve problems, how to take care of sin. Best of all, He tells us how we can go to heaven. That's all settled. The Lord Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, rose again and will save all who will come to Him by faith. * * * The strength and stability of God's Word stand out as a beacon in the instability and unsettledness of life. Because it is true, eternal and changeless, we may trust it and live by its truths. God has settled the questions of sin, death, salvation and eternal life. Do you need to settle these questions for yourself? Read and study His Word. (Psalm 119:89-96 Settled Questions) Charles Bridges - The Christian extends his survey far beyond the limits of his individual sphere. His view of the operations of God in creation enlarges his apprehensions of the Divine attributes, and especially that of unchanging faithfulness. Indeed, the very fact of a creation in ruins—a world in rebellion against its Maker, failing of the grand end of existence, and yet still continued in existence—manifests “his faithfulness unto all generations.”3 How different is the contemplation of the Christian from the philosopher! His is not a mere cold, speculative admiration, but the establishment of his faith upon a clear discovery of the faithfulness of God. Thus he stays his soul upon the assured unchangeableness of the Divine word—“Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.”4 How striking is the contrast between the transient glory of man’s goodliness, and the solid foundation of all the promises, hopes, and prospects of the children of God!—“The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”5 “Unbelief” is the character of our “evil hearts.”6 Man chooses his own measure and objects of faith; he believes no more than he pleases. But it is a fearful prospect, that the threatenings of God rest upon the same solid foundation with his promises. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”7 Need we any further proof of his faithfulness? Look at the earth established by his word of power.1 See how “he hangeth it upon nothing,”2 as if it might fall at any moment; and yet it is immovably fixed3—it abideth4—and with all its furniture continueth according to his ordinances. This—though the scoff of the infidel5—is the encouragement to Christian faith; it is at once a token of his covenant with nature, that “while the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease;”6 and an emblem of his covenant with the seed of David, that he “will not cast them off for all that they have done.”7 Thus every view of the heavens—yea—every time we set our foot on the earth8—shows the unchangeableness of his everlasting covenant, and the security of the salvation of his own people. In this vast universe, “all are his servants.” “The stars in their courses”—“fire and hail, snow and vapors, stormy winds—fulfil his word. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.”9 Man—the child of his Maker10—“created in his image”11—destined for his glory12—is the only rebel and revolter. Most affecting is the appeal, that his own Father and God is constrained to make concerning him, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me!”13 Is not then the universe of nature a parable of grace—setting out on every side—in every view—a cheering display of the faithfulness of God?14 If his providence fails not, will the promise of his covenant disappoint us? Why should he change? Does he see or know anything now, that he has not foreseen and foreknown from eternity? What more sure ground of salvation than the unchangeableness of God?15 If I can prove a word to have been spoken by God, I must no more question it than his own being. It may seem to fail on earth; but it is for ever settled in heaven. The decrees of the kings of the earth, “settled” on earth, are exposed to all the variations and weakness of a changing world. They may be revoked by themselves or their successors, or they may die away. The empty sound of the “law of the Medes and Persians that altereth not,”16 has long since been swept away into oblivion. But while “the word settled” on earth has “waxed old like a garment, and perished:” the word settled in heaven—is raised above all the revolutions of the universe, and remaineth as the throne of God—unshaken and eternal; exhibiting the foundation of the believer’s hope and of the unbeliever’s terror, to be alike unalterably fixed. But we also remark the foreknowledge as well as the faithfulness of God. From the eternity that is past, as well as for the eternity that is to come, “thy word is settled in heaven.” Before this fair creation was marred, yea, before it was called into existence, its ruin was foreseen, and a remedy provided. “The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world,”1 and foreordained before2 that era. Coeval with this period, a people were “chosen in him,”3 and “for ever the word was settled heaven.”—“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.”4 For the establishment of the Redeemer’s kingdom upon earth, “the decree is declared;” however earth and hell may combine against it—“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Sion.”5 And what a blessed encouragement in the grand work of bringing back “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,”6 and those “other sheep” with them, which are not of this fold”7 is it, that we do not depend upon the earnestness of our prayers, the wisdom of our plans, and the diligence of our endeavors; but upon “the word,” which “is for ever settled in heaven!”—“The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them saith the Lord—My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words, which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.” “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return,—That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”8 3 Gen. 8:22. 4 Ps 119:152, 160. 5 Isaiah 40:6–8. Compare 1 Peter 1:24, 25. 6 Hebrews 3:12. 7 Compare Luke 21:28–33. 1 Psalm 33:9. Heb. 1:3. 2 Job 26:7. 3 Psalm 24:2; 104:5; 148:6. 4 Eccles. 1:4. 5 2 Peter 3:4. 6 Genesis 8:22. 7 Jer. 31:35, 36; 33:20, 21, 25, 26. 8 Isaiah 54:9, 10. 9 Judges 5:20. Ps. 148:8; 147:15. Compare Job 37:12. Isaiah 48:13. 10 Deut. 32:6. 11 Genesis 1:27; 5:1. 12 Isaiah 43:7. 13 Isaiah 1:2. 14 Ps. 89:2. 15 Mal. 3:6. Heb. 6:17, 18; 7:21–25. 16 Daniel 6:8. 1 Rev. 13:8. 2 1 Peter 1:20. 3 Eph. 1:4. 4 John 6:37. 5 Psalm 2:6–8. 6 Matt. 15:24. 7 John 10:16. 8 Isa. 59:20, 21; 45:23. Someone has written a poem that talks about the problem of using a spell-checking program on a computer. The first stanza says: I have a spelling checker I disk covered four my PC. It plane lee marks four my revue Miss steaks aye can knot see. The words are spelled correctly, but they aren't the right words to convey the message of the writer. It's proof positive that if you're looking to the wrong source for correctness, then you aren't right. It's like that with matters of faith. It is possible to trust the wrong source of information about spiritual things. For instance, there are people who teach that salvation depends on keeping rituals, performing good works, joining a church, or being baptized. But they are wrong. So where can we go for the truth? We need a perfect, fool-proof source. That source is the Bible. God's Word says that salvation is by grace through faith. "It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). There are so many sources of information today, it's easy to pick the wrong one. Be sure you carefully check out what you hear and read about God and eternal life. The Bible is the only source of what is true and right. --JDB The Bible is a gift from God, A lamp of truth and light; It searches heart and soul and mind, And tells us what is right. --Bosch Like a compass, the Bible always points you in the right direction. Talmage - The balances of God never lose their adjustment. With them, a pound is a pound, and right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a soul is a soul, and eternity is eternity. Two writers whose books were penned in an era far different from our late 20th-century techno-society have made comebacks recently. Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility became popular again when film producers put their stories on the screen. How could that be? Hasn't our society advanced so far that yesteryear's books couldn't possibly have any relevance to today's situations? The great thing about classic literature is that just the opposite is true. Fine writing has enduring value when it speaks to the heart-issues people have always shared--issues like relationships, love, and surviving in this world. But there's one old book that tops them all. It stands above the rest not only because it speaks clearly and accurately about the human condition but also because it was inspired by the One who created us. It's the Bible, God's Word to us. When it talks about marriage, it's right on target. When it talks about how to treat others, it's more helpful than today's advice column. But most important, when it talks about the purpose of life, it's the only source of truth. The Bible--it's an old book, but it's still the best. --JDB The Bible stands though the hills may tumble, It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble; I will plant my feet on its firm foundation, For the Bible stands. --Lillenas To stay on course, trust the unfailing compass of God's Word. Your words of pure, eternal truth Shall yet unshaken stay, When all that man has thought or planned, Like chaff shall pass away. --Anon. In a changing world you can trust God's unchanging Word. God’s Enduring Word Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Matthew 24:35 Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 119:89-96 At the beginning of World War II, aerial bombings flattened much of Warsaw, Poland. Cement blocks, ruptured plumbing, and shards of glass lay strewn across the great city. In the downtown area, however, most of one damaged building still stubbornly stood. It was the Polish headquarters for the British and Foreign Bible Society. Still legible on a surviving wall were these words: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35). Jesus made that statement to encourage His disciples when they asked Him about the “end of the age” (v. 3). But His words also give us courage in the midst of our embattled situation today. Standing in the rubble of our shattered dreams, we can still find confidence in God’s indestructible character, sovereignty, and promises. The psalmist wrote: “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Ps. 119:89). But it is more than the word of the Lord; it is His very character. That is why the psalmist could also say, “Your faithfulness continues through all generations” (v. 90). Thank You, Lord, for the gift of Your Word. Thank You for its truth, its timelessness, and the guidance You give us by that Word. Help us believe and trust everything You say. We can trust God’s unchanging Word. Psalm 119:90 Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. faithfulness (KJV): De 7:9 Mic 7:20 unto all generations (KJV): Heb. to generation and generation, Ps 89:1,2 100:5 thou hast (KJV): Ps 89:11 93:1 104:5 Job 38:4-7 2Pe 3:5-7 abideth (KJV): Heb. standeth Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. Henry
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Sweeter Than Honey How well I remember the day my doctor looked at me and said, "Reverend, you will not eat any more sweets." I've learned to do without desserts, but there's one sweet I cannot do without--God's Word: "How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103). Is the Word of God like honey or medicine to you? The way some people treat it, you'd think it is castor oil. True, there are times when we need the healing medicine of the Scripture. But the Bible is much more than medicine. It also is honey. Having an appetite for God's Word is one sign that a person is truly born again, for the Bible is food for the soul. Job said, "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12). Jeremiah said, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart" (Jer. 15:16). Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). And Peter urges us to "desire the pure milk of the word" (1 Pet. 2:2). When people are sick, their appetites change--in fact, they often lose their appetites completely. Likewise, sin in our lives robs our spiritual appetite, and we lose our desire for the Word. May we always have an appetite for the sweetness of the Word of God, even when we have to read things that convict us. That first bite of Scripture may taste sour sometimes, but it will turn sweet. * * * It's important to feed your soul a proper diet. Do you feed and nourish on God's Word? The Bible is sweet to those who love it. Learn it and live it. (Psalm 119:97-104 Sweeter Than Honey) Charles Bridges - Mark the man of God giving utterance to his feelings of heavenly delight—expressing most, by intimating, that he cannot adequately express what he desires. He seems unable to restrain his acknowledgments of Divine influence springing up in his heart—“Oh! how love I thy law!” This experience is most distinctive of a spiritual character. The professor may read, and understand, and even externally obey the law; but the believer only loves it; and he lives in it, as if he could not live without it. To the professor it is a task imposed to satisfy conscience. “The veil upon the heart”2 darkens all his spiritual apprehension, and consequently excludes spiritual delight. To the child of God it is food and medicine, light and comfort—yea, “life from the dead.” The law of precept in the world is a “law of liberty”3—a law of love—in his heart. His former obedience was the bondage of fear. But how different is the effect of constraining love! He now delights to view it in every lineament. He dwells upon every feature with intense enjoyment. Before, it was his confinement—his chain. Now, it is his liberty—his ornament. He is not what he was, “Old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new.”4 Think what good reason there is to love the law. It is the epistle of our most beloved friend—not to be slighted, but to be placed in our bosom—nearest our hearts. It sets out that relief, without which the conscience would have been tortured with the never-dying worm.5 There is more of glory—more of God—in this, than in any other manifestation of his name.6 It has ever been the mirror, that has reflected Christ to his Church. The spiritual eye discerns him in every part.7 Now—reader—do you search for him in his law? Do you “love his law” because it “testifies of him?” Do you pray for his Spirit, that his law may guide you to him? This is the evidence, that you have “turned unto the Lord, when the veil is taken away,” and you “with unveiled face behold in this glass the glory of the Lord.”1 Then if you do love his law, you will love the whole of it—its obligations as well as its privileges. You will love it at all times,2 even when it is thwarting your own will and way. The whole law is light and love—wisdom and faithfulness. But this heavenly spirit can only be grounded upon a sense of reconciliation. Can an unreconciled sinner be interested in the law, in every page of which he reads his own condemnation? This explains the enmity of the ungodly.4 But the cultivation of this spirit upon the ground of the Gospel is a most important principle of Christian steadfastness, the want of which has been the source of fearful delusion;5 and in the exercise of which we shall realize a deeper insight, and more spiritual discernment of Scriptural Truth. Warm affections will be far more influential than talent, or mere external knowledge. This habit of love and holy meditation will spread its influence over our whole character. It will fill our hearts with heavenly matter for prayer, diffuse a sweet savor over our earthly employments, sanctify the common bounties of Providence,6 realize the presence of God throughout the day, command prosperity upon our lawful undertakings,7 and enlarge our usefulness in the Church.8 Thus the man of God is formed in his completeness, symmetry, and attraction—such as the world is often constrained secretly to admire, even where the heart is unready to follow. Lord! implant in my heart a supreme “love to thy law.” Write it upon my heart—even that new law, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”1 May I love it so that I may be always meditating upon it, and by continual meditation yet more enlarging my love and delight in it! So let it prove an ever-springing source of heavenly enjoyment and holy conversation! 2 2 Cor. 3:15. 3 James 1:25. 4 2 Cor. 5:17. 5 2 Cor. 5:19. 6 Psalm 138:2. Eph. 3:10. 2 Tim. 1:10. 7 John 5:39. “Were I to enjoy Hezekiah’s grant, and to have fifteen years added to my life, I would be much more frequent in my applications to the throne of grace. Were I to renew my studies, I would take my leave of those accomplished triflers—the historians, the orators, the poets of antiquity—and devote my attention to the Scriptures of truth. I would sit with much greater assiduity at my Divine Master’s feet, and desire to know nothing but ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified.’ This wisdom, whose fruits are peace in life, consolation in death, and everlasting salvation after death—this I would trace—this I would seek—this I would explore through the spacious and delightful fields of the Old and New Testament.” Such was the testimony of one, who had cultivated the classic fields with no inconsiderable success, and who above most men had enriched his soul with the glorious treasures of the word of God—whose praise is in all the churches as the Author of “Theron and Aspasio.” 1 2 Cor. 3:15–18. 2 Verse 20. 3 Psalm 1:2. 4 Compare 1 Kings 22:8. 5 See 2 Thess. 2:10, 11. 6 1 Tim. 4:4, 5. 7 Ps. 1:3. Comp. Jos. 1:7, 8. 8 1 Tim. 4:15. 1 Rom. 8:2. Love Letter Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. —Psalm 119:97 Today's Scripture & Insight:Psalm 119:97-104 Each morning when I reach my office, I have one simple habit—check all my emails. Most of the time, I’ll work through them in a perfunctory fashion. There are some emails, however, that I’m eager to open. You guessed it—those from loved ones. Someone has said that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. But perhaps on some days, like me, you just don’t feel like opening it and your heart doesn’t resonate with the words of the psalmist: “Oh, how I love Your law!” (Ps. 119:97). The Scriptures are “Your commandments” (v.98), “Your testimonies” (v.99), “Your precepts” (v.100), “Your word” (v.101, emphasis added). A question by Thomas Manton (1620–1677), once a lecturer at Westminster Abbey, still holds relevance for us today. He asked: “Who is the author of Scripture? God. . . . What is the end of Scripture? God. Why was the Scripture written, but that we might everlastingly enjoy the blessed God?” It is said of some people that the more you know them the less you admire them; but the reverse is true of God. Familiarity with the Word of God, or rather the God of the Word, breeds affection, and affection seeks yet greater familiarity. Oh, may I love Thy precious Word, May I explore the mine, May I its fragrant flowers glean, May light upon me shine! —Hodder Knowing the Bible helps us know the God of the Bible. The jacana is a unique tropical bird. It has spindly legs with long protruding toes, enabling it to skip along on floating weeds or stroll across lily pads. It has been given the nickname "lily-trotter." Even though it is capable of majestic flight, it seems content to move lazily from flower to flower or to drift slowly downstream. Many Christians are like the jacana bird in their Bible reading. They skip around on the surface, lighting on a few favorite verses that are beautiful and comforting. But they fail to learn the deeper truths of God's Word that can stabilize their lives. They seldom spend time studying their Bibles. To search the Scriptures is our need, To gain new strength and light, For there we'll find God's precepts true To guide our steps aright. --HGB When you study the Bible "hit or miss," you MISS more than you HIT. I love the sight of cows lying in the field, chewing their cud. But what is cud? And why do they spend so much time chewing it? Cows first fill their stomachs with grass and other food. Then they settle down for a good, long chew. They bring the food back up from their stomachs and rework what they've already eaten, assimilating its goodness and transforming it into rich milk. Time-consuming? Yes. A waste of time? Not if they want to give good milk. Break Thou the bread of life, dear Lord to me, As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea; Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee Lord; My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word. --Lathbury To be a healthy Christian, don't treat the Bible as snack food. Psalm 119:98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. through (KJV): Ps 119:104 De 4:6,8 1Sa 18:5,14,30 Pr 2:6 Col 3:16 they are ever (KJV): Heb. it is ever, Ps 119:11,30,105 Jas 1:25 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. We may get knowledge and facts in other books, but true spiritual wisdom is found in the Bible. Note in vv. 97–104 that there are various ways to discover truth—from your enemies, from your teachers, from your older friends—and all of these are good. But above them all is a knowledge of the Bible. Teachers may know from books, and elders may know from experience (both deserving respect), but these without the Bible are not sufficient. Charles Bridges - What a fruitful harvest did David reap from his glowing love, and “daily meditation on the law of God!” He became “wiser than his enemies” in “subtlety,”2—“than all his teachers” in doctrine, “than the ancients” in experience. Yet he is not speaking of his extraordinary gift as a prophet, but of his knowledge gained by ordinary means. Nor is he here boasting of his own attainments; but commending the grace of God in and towards him—“Thou, through thy commandments hast made me wiser.”3 How much more wisdom does the persecuted believer draw from the word of God, than his persecutors have ever acquired from the learning of this world! Those, however, who have been effectually taught of God, need to be daily taught of him. While they rest upon their God, and seek counsel at his word, they are wise indeed; yet when they trust to their own wisdom, and turn to their own counsel, they become a by-word and occasion of offence by their own folly. Was David “wiser than his enemies or his teachers,” when he dissembled himself to fight against his own people4—or when he yielded to the indulgence of lust5—or when in the pride of his heart he numbered the people?6 Alas! how often do even God’s children befool themselves in the ways of sin! But how did David attain this Divine wisdom? Not by habits of extensive reading—not by natural intelligence—but by a diligent meditation in the testimonies.7 In order to avail ourselves however of this means—a simple reception of the Divine testimony is of absolute importance. We can never obtain that assurance of the certainty of our faith, which is indispensable to our peace, or resist the influence of unenlightened “teachers”—or the long-established worldly maxims of “the ancients,” except by entire submission to the supreme authority of Scripture. Many sincere Christians—especially at the outset of their course—are much hindered—either by the scepticism of others, or of their own minds; or from their previous habit of studying the Bible in the light of carnal wisdom, or in dependence upon human teaching. Such need special prayer for humility of mind and simplicity of faith. Under this gracious influence they will discern that path to glory, which in infinite condescension is made so plain, that “the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein,” and the unlearned believer, who has the word before his eyes, in his heart, and in his life, shall become “perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”1 In our Christian progress, David’s habit of scriptural meditation will prove of essential service. For while those who “confer with flesh and blood” cannot have their counsellors always at hand; we, seeking our wisdom from the word of God, have the best Counsellor “ever with us,” teaching us what to do, and what to expect. Obedience also, as well as meditation, directs our way. David found understanding, because he kept the precepts. And David’s Lord has pointed out the same path of light: “If any man will do God’s will, he shall know of the doctrine.”2 “Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, and worketh righteousness—those that remember thee in thy ways.”3 Thy ways truly are ways of light, joy and love! Now let us turn in, and inquire—What is our daily use of the word of God? Are we satisfied with a slight looking, or seeking an intimate acquaintance with it? Is its influence ever present—ever practical? Do we prize it as a welcome guest? Is it our delightful companion and guide? Oh! meditate in this blessed book. “Eat the word,” when you have “found it; and it will be unto you the joy and rejoicing of your heart.”4 The name of Jesus—its great subject—will be more precious—your love will be inflamed5—your perseverance established6—and your heart enlivened in the spirit of praise.7 Thus bringing your mind into close and continual contact with “the testimonies of God,” and pressing out the sweetness from the precious volume, it will drop, as from the honeycomb, daily comfort and refreshment upon your heart.8 2 Prov. 1:1, 4. 3 Pr 2:6. James 1:17. 4 1 Sam. 27. 5 2 Sam. 11. 6 Ib. 24. 7 This was bound upon him as a king. Deut. 17:18, 19. 1 Isaiah 35:8. 2 Tim. 3:17. 2 John 7:17. 3 Isaiah 64:5. Comp. John 14:21–23. 4 Jer. 15:16. 5 Psalm 39:3. 6 Ps 23, 95. 7 Psalm 63:5, 6. 8 Thus Luther recommends us to “pause at any verse of Scripture we choose, and to shake, as it were, every bough of it; that, if possible, some fruit at least may drop down to us. Should this mode”—he remarks—“appear somewhat difficult at first, and no thought suggest itself immediately to the mind capable of affording matter for a short ejaculation; yet persevere, and try another and another bough. If your soul really hungers, the Spirit of God will not send you away empty. You shall at length find in one, and that perhaps a short verse in Scripture, such an abundance of delicious fruit, that you will gladly seat yourself under its shade, and abide there, as under a tree laden with fruit.” Psalm 119:99 I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. than all (KJV): De 4:6-8 2Sa 15:24-26 1Ch 15:11-13 2Ch 29:15-36 30:22 Jer 2:8 Jer 8:8,9 Mt 11:25 13:11 15:6-9,14 23:24-36 Heb 5:12 for thy (KJV): Ps 119:24 2Ti 3:15-17 I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. (Job15:4 Ps19:14 49:3 104:34 119:97 119:99):Such meditation on the true history and meaning of life as found in the Bible, will indeed yield more true wisdom than can be obtained in modern education as it is influenced by the false philosophy of evolutionary humanism. The psalmist taught an important educational principle. Only one who obeys the Word of the Lord can fully understand it (119:33-34). Divine truth is not something to be contemplated from a distance. It must be grappled with in the arena of everyday experience. True wisdom depends upon obedience to God's precepts. (86:11 Jn7:17). 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. 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
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - A Light in the Darkness You probably know the following verse well, but read it aloud as though you were hearing it for the first time. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). What lessons can we learn from that statement? The world is dark. It is in a constant state of moral and intellectual darkness. We have more education today and less wisdom. People make foolish decisions. The world is also dark spiritually. Satan has numbed people's minds. They don't want to see the light of the glory of God in Jesus Christ. The way is definite. How do we make it through this dark world? God has marked out a definite path for each one of us, and we don't have to be afraid of where it leads. It is a path of life, blessing and righteousness. Our walk is deliberate. As we take each step, we see more of what God has for us. Sometimes I would like to have a spotlight that shines for miles down the road. But God says, "You're going to learn to walk by faith. You're going to learn to walk by patience, by My promise." The Word is dependable. That lamp of the Word will not go out, and it will not lead us astray. When you read your Bible and let its truth shine on your path, God will show you what He wants you to do. * * * Because your walk is by faith, you can see ahead only a step at a time. Be encouraged that the way is definite and deliberate and that God's Word is dependable. Let it be the light of life that guides you as you walk through this dark world today. (Psalm 119:105 How the Light Works) Charles Bridges - The nightly journeys of Israel were guided by a pillar of fire1—not only directing their course, but every step and movement.2 Thus is our passage in a dark and perilous way irradiated by the lamp and light of the word. But except the lamp be lighted—except the teaching of the Spirit accompany the word, all is darkness—thick darkness. Let us not then be content to read the word without obtaining some light from it in our understanding—in our experience—in our Providential path. Did we more habitually wait to receive, and watch to improve the light, we should not so often complain of the perplexity of our path. It would generally determine our steps under infallible guidance; while in the presumptuous neglect of it—like Israel of old3—we are sure to come into trouble. Yet it may sometimes be difficult to trace our light to this heavenly source. A promise may seem to be applied to my mind, as I conceive, suitable to my present need. But how may I determine, whether it is “the lamp of the word;” or some delusive light from him, who can at any time, for the accomplishment of his own purpose, transform himself “into an angel of light?” Or if a threatening be impressed upon my conscience, how can I accurately distinguish between the voice of “the accuser of the brethren,” and the warning of my heavenly guide? Let me mark the state of my own mind. If I am living in the indulgence of any known sin, or in the neglect of any known duty—if my spirit is careless, or my walk unsteady; a consoling promise, being unsuitable to my case, even though it awakened some excitement of joy, would be of doubtful application. “The lamp” of God, under the circumstances supposed, would rather reflect the light of conviction than of consolation. For, though God as a Sovereign may speak comfort when and where he pleases; yet we can only expect him to deal with us according to the prescribed rules of his own covenant, chastening, not comforting, his backsliding people.4 In a spirit of contrition, however, I should not hesitate to receive a word of encouragement, as the lamp of God to direct and cheer my progress; being conscious of that state of feeling, in which the Lord has expressly promised to restore and guide his people.5 Let me also inquire into the terms and character of the promise. When he “that dwelleth in the high and holy place,” engages to dwell “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit;”6 any symptoms of tenderness and humility would naturally lead me to consider this word of promise, as sent by my kind and watchful Father, to be “a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Again—a distinct and experimental view of the Saviour in his promises, endearing him to me, and encouraging my trust on his faithfulness and love—this is manifestly light from above.1 Or if the purpose of the promise answers any proper end—to excite or to encourage to any present duty connected with the promise; I cannot doubt, but the lamp of the Lord is directing my path. For example—when the promise was given to Joshua, “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee;”2 he could not misconstrue “a word” so “fitly spoken” “in a time of need.” And when the same promise was subsequently given to the Church, the application was equally clear, as a dissuasive from inordinate attachment to the things of time and sense, and an encouragement to entire dependence upon the Lord.3 Further—The practical influence of the word will also enable me clearly to distinguish the light of heaven from any illusion of fancy or presumption. The effect of an unconditional promise of deliverance given to the Apostle in a moment of extremity, was exhibited in a diligent use of all the appointed means of safety.4 An absolute promise of prolonged life given to Hezekiah when lying at the point of death, produced the same practical result, in a scrupulous attention to the means for his recovery.5 Upon the warrant of a general promise of Divine protection, Ezra and the Jews “fasted, and besought their God for this.”6 Now in these and other instances, the power of the word, working diligence, simplicity, and prayer, evidently proved its sacred origin. An assurance of safety proceeding from another source, would have produced sloth, carelessness, and presumption; and therefore may I not presume the quickening word in darkness and perplexity, to be the Lord’s “lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path,” “to guide my feet into the way of peace?” Let me apply the same test to the threatenings of the word. Its influence, meeting me in a watchful and humble walk with God, I should at once consider as the suggestion of the great enemy of the soul, ever ready to whisper distrust and despondency to the child of God. But in a self-confident, self-indulgent state, I should have as little hesitation in marking an alarming word to be the light of the word of God. It would be well for me at such a time to be exercised with fear;7 not as arguing any insecurity in my state; but as leading me to “great searchings of heart, to increasing watchfulness, humiliation and prayer.” “The commandment is a lamp, and the law is a light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.”8 Oh that I may be enabled to make use of this lamp, to direct every step of my heavenly way! Whence then—it may be asked—the various tracks even of the sincere servants of God? Though there is clear light in the word yet there is remaining darkness in the most enlightened heart. There is no eye without a speck—no eye with perfect singleness of vision—consequently without some liability to error. There is light for the teachable—not for the curious;—light to satisfy faith—not cavilling. Add to this the office of the ministry—the Lord’s gracious ordinance for Christian instruction1 and establishment2—not to enslave,3 but to direct4 the judgment in the light of the word. To honor this ordinance is therefore the path of light. To neglect it, is the exposure to all the evils of a wayward will and undisciplined judgment.5 Lord! as every action of the day is a step to heaven or hell—Oh! save me from ever turning my face away from the path, into which thy word would guide me. Enable me to avail myself of its light, in the constant exercise of faith, prudence, and simplicity. 1 Exod. 13:21, 22. 2 Numb. 9:15–23. 3 Nu 14:44, 45. 4 Comp. Psalm 89:30–32. 5 Comp. Isaiah 57:18. 6 Isa 57:15. 1 Comp. 2 Cor. 1:20. 2 Joshua 1:5. 3 Hebrews 13:5. 4 Acts 27:24, 31. 5 Isaiah 38:5, 21. 6 Ezra 8:21–23. 7 Compare 1 Cor. 9:27. 8 Prov. 6:23. 1 Mal. 2:7. 2 Eph. 4:10–14. 3 2 Cor. 1:24. 1 Peter 5:3. 4 2 Cor. 13:10. Eph. 4:13. 1 Thess. 3:10. 5 2 Tim. 4:3, 4. SPURGEON:Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. We are often called to go out into the darkness; let us never venture without the light-giving Word. Each of us should use the Word of God personally, practically, and habitually, to see the way and what lies in it. Having no fixed lamps in eastern towns, in old time each passenger carried a lantern with him that he might not fall into the open sewer, or stumble over the heaps of excrement which defiled the road. This is a true picture of our path through this dark world. One of the most practical benefits of Holy Writ is guidance in the acts of daily life: it is not sent to astound us with its brilliance, but to guide us by its instruction. It is true the head needs illumination, but even more the feet need direction, else head and feet may both fall into a ditch. And a light unto my path. Whoever walks in darkness is sure, sooner or later, to stumble, while the one who walks by the light of day, or by the lamp of night, does not stumble but keeps upright. Ignorance is painful upon practical subjects; it breeds indecision and suspense, and these are uncomfortable: the Word of God, by imparting heavenly knowledge, leads to decision, and when that is followed by determined resolution, as in this case, it brings with it great restfulness of heart. This verse converses with God in adoring and yet familiar tones. Have we not something of like tenor to address to our Heavenly Father? Note how like v1 this is, and the first verse of other octaves. Metaphors for the Bible and the Words of God a) Scripture Is like a Counselor Ps. 119:24 b) Scripture Is like Fire Je 5:14; Je 23:29 c) Scripture Is like Gold Ps. 19:9–10 d) Scripture Is like a Hammer Jer. 23:29 e) Scripture Is like a Heritage Ps. 119:111 f) Scripture Is like Honey Ps. 19:9–10; Ps. 119:103 g) Scripture Is like a Lamp Ps. 119:105 h) Scripture Is like a Light Ps 119:105; Ps 119:130; 2 Pe 1:19 i) Scripture Is like Milk 1 Co 3:1–3; Heb. 5:11–13; 1 Pe 2:2 j) Scripture Is like a Mirror Jas 1:23–25 k) Scripture Is like Rain Isa 55:10–11 l) Scripture Is like a Seed 1 Pe 1:23 m) Scripture Is like Snow Isa 55:10–11 n) Scripture Is like Solid Food Heb 5:11–12, 14 o) Scripture Is like a Sword Eph 6:17; Heb. 4:12 p) Scripture Is like Water Eph. 5:25–26 God’s Compass Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105 During World War II, small compasses saved the lives of 27 sailors 300 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Waldemar Semenov, a retired merchant seaman, was serving as a junior engineer aboard the SS Alcoa Guide when a German submarine surfaced and opened fire on the ship. The ship was hit, caught fire, and began to sink. Semenov and his crew lowered compass-equipped lifeboats into the water and used the compasses to guide them toward the shipping lanes closer to shore. After three days, the men were rescued. When we lose our bearings in life, we can trust our God who gives His trustworthy Word as our compass, using it to lead us into deeper fellowship with Him. Heavenly Father, it is difficult to navigate life. I drift sometimes, but I will trust in You. Lead me and guide me by the faithfulness and reliability of Your Word. God has given us His Word to help us know and follow Him. What Does It Really Mean? Read: Psalm 119:105-112 Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. —Psalm 119:105 A father was telling his son the Bible story about Lot. He said, “God was going to destroy the city of Sodom, so He warned Lot to take his wife and flee. But when Lot’s wife looked back, she turned into a pillar of salt.” Puzzled, the boy asked, “What happened to the flea?” This humorous misunderstanding points out a deeper problem some of us have with the words of the Bible. Although we believe that every word of Scripture is inspired, this doesn’t mean we should take every word literally regardless of its context. Some people seem to do this and thereby miss the true meaning of many Bible passages. The Bible is filled with images—word pictures we call similes and metaphors. The book of James gives us a classic example, calling the tongue “a fire” (James 3:6). We know it doesn’t mean that we have a literal flame in our mouth. Jesus used figurative language too. He said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out” (Mt. 5:29). What He meant, of course, is that we should take strong measures to keep ourselves from sin. HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE Observation: What does the context say? Interpretation: What does the text mean? Application: What does it mean to your life? A text taken out of context becomes a pretext. Henry Ward Beecher -- “The Bible is God’s chart for you to steer by, to keep you from the bottom of the sea, and to show you where the harbour is, and how to reach it without running on rocks or bars.” D. L. Moody - “There’s no better book with which to defend the Bible than the Bible itself.” Oliver Wendell Holmes - “What you bring away from the Bible depends to some extent on what you carry to it.” D. L. Moody - “The study of God’s Word brings peace to the heart. In it, we find a light for every darkness, life in death, the promise of our Lord’s return, and the assurance of everlasting glory.” Phillips Brooks - “The Bible is like a telescope. If a man looks through his telescope, then he sees worlds beyond: but if he looks at his telescope, then he does not see anything but that. The Bible is a thing to be looked through, to see that which is beyond; but most people only look at it; and so they see only the dead letter.” Related Resources: The Word of God - Quotations and Illustrations Spiritual Navigation Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. —Psalm 119:105 Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 119:97-106 Dava Sobel’s award-winning book Longitude describes a dilemma faced by early sailors. They could readily determine their latitude north or south of the equator by the length of the day or height of the sun. Calculating east/west longitude, however, remained complex and unreliable until English clockmaker John Harrison invented the marine chronometer. This was “a clock that would carry the true time from the home port . . . to any remote corner of the world,” thus enabling sailors to determine longitude. As we navigate the seas of life, we also have a reliable source of spiritual direction—the Bible. The psalmist wrote, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97). Rather than occasionally glancing at God’s Word, he spoke of pondering the Lord’s directions throughout each day: “Your testimonies are my meditation” (v.99). This was coupled with a commitment to obey the Author: “I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments” (v.106). Reflect & Pray We need God’s guidance from above, His daily leading and His love; As we trust Him for direction, To our course He’ll give correction. —Fitzhugh With God as your navigator, you’re headed in the right direction. Psalm 119:106 I have sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances. sworn (KJV): Ps 56:12 66:13,14 2Ch 15:13,14 Ne 10:29 Ec 5:4,5 Mt 5:33 2Co 8:5 that I will (KJV): Ps 119:115 2Ki 23:3 I have sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances. Charles Bridges - The blessing of the guidance of the Lord’s word naturally strengthens our resolution to walk in its path. And as if a simple resolution would prove too weak, the Psalmist strengthens it with an oath. Nay more, as if an oath was hardly sufficient security, he seconds it again with a firm resolution, “I have sworn, and I will perform it.” ‘There shall be but one will between me and my God; and that will shall be his, not mine.’ Some timid Christians, under a morbid sense of their weakness, would shrink from this solemn engagement. And some, perhaps, may have burdened their consciences with unadvised or self-dependent obligations.6 Still, however, when it is a free-will offering, it is a delightful service, well-pleasing to God. Such it was in the days of Asa, when “all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them.”7 Vows under the law were both binding and acceptable.8 Nor are they less so—in their spirit at least—under “the perfect law of liberty.” A holy promise, originating in serious consideration, and established by a more solemn obligation, so far from being repugnant to the liberty of the Gospel, appears to have been enjoined by God himself;1 nay, his people are described as animating each other to it, as to a most joyous privilege;2 as a renewed act of faith and daily dedication. Yet we would warn the inconsiderate Christian not to entangle his conscience by multiplied vows (as if they were—like prayer—a component part of our daily religion;) nor by perpetual obligation—whether of restraint or of extraordinary exercises; nor by connecting them with trifles—thus weakening the deep solemnity of the purpose. Christian simplicity must be their principle. Our engagements to God must be grounded on his engagements to us. His faithfulness—not ours3—must be our confidence. There is no innate power in these obligations; and except they be made in self-renouncing dedication, they will only issue in despondency and deeper captivity in sin. But the inconsiderateness of the unwary is no legitimate argument against their importance. If Jephthah was entangled in a rash and heedless vow,4 David manifestly enjoyed the “perfect freedom” of the “service” of his God, when “binding his soul with a bond” equally fixed, but more advised, in its obligation.5 And have we, with “the vows of God upon us,”6 baptismal vows—perhaps also confirmation or sacramental vows—found our souls brought into bondage by these solemn engagements? Does not a humbling sense of forgetfulness suggest sometimes the need of a more solemn engagement? And may we not thus secure our duty without being ensnared by it? Have not covenanting seasons often restrained our feet from devious paths, and quickened our souls in his service? Daily indeed do we need “the blood of sprinkling” to pardon our innumerable failures, and the Spirit of grace to strengthen us for a more devoted obligation.7 But yet in dependence upon the work and Spirit of Christ, often have these holy transactions realized to us a peace and joy, that leads us to look back upon such times as seasons of favored enjoyment. “If” therefore “we sin” in a “perpetual backsliding”8 from these engagements, it is still our privilege without presumption to believe, that “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins.”9 And as for necessary grace, there is One, who hath said, “My grace is sufficient for thee;”10 and that One has given no less a proof of his interest in us than by dying for us. May we not therefore trust, that he will “perfect that which concerneth us;”11 that he will “work all our works in us”12—“to will and to do of his good pleasure?”13 Perhaps however “a messenger of Satan” may “buffet us.” ‘Thou hast broken thy bond; now it will be worse with thee than before.’ But did not Jesus die for sins of infirmity, and even of presumption? Does every failing annul the marriage covenant? So neither does every infirmity or backsliding dissolve our covenant with God. Was our faithfulness the basis of this covenant? Rather, does not “the blood of this covenant”1 make constant provision for our foreseen unfaithfulness? And does not our gracious God overrule even our backsliding to establish a more simple reliance upon himself, and a more circumspect and tender walk before him? But let us take a case of conscience. A Christian has been drawn away from a set season of extraordinary devotion by some unforeseen present duty, or some unlooked-for opportunity of actively glorifying God. Has he then broken his obligation? Certainly not. It was, or ought to have been, formed with an implied subserviency to paramount duty. It cannot therefore be impaired by any such providential interference. Yet let it not be a light matter to remove a free-will offering from the altar. Let godly care be exercised to discover the subtle indulgence of the flesh in the service of God. Let double diligence redeem the lost privilege of more immediate and solemn self-dedication. In guarding against legal bondage, let us not mistake the liberty of the flesh for the liberty of the Gospel. Let us be simple, and ready for self-denying service; and the Lord our God will not fail to vouchsafe “some token for good.” “Come” then, my fellow Christian, “and let us join ourselves to she Lord in a perpetual covenant, never to be forgotten”2 by God; never to be forsaken by us. Let each of us renew our surrender, “O Lord, truly I am thy servant;” I offer myself to thee. “Thou hast loosed my bonds.”3 Oh! bind me to thyself with fresh bonds of love, that may never be loosed. Glad am I, that I am anything—though the meanest of all; that I have anything—poor and vile as it is—capable of being employed in thy service. I yield myself to Thee with my full bent of heart and will, entirely and for ever; asking only, that I may be “a vessel meet for the Master’s use.”4 6 It is related of Mr. Pearce, by his excellent biographer, that at the period of the first awakening of his mind—“having read Doddridge’s Rise and Progress of Religion, he determined formally to dedicate himself to the Lord in the manner recommended in the seventeenth chapter of that work. The form of a covenant there drawn up he also adopted as his own; and that he might bind himself in the most solemn and affecting manner, signed it with his blood. But afterwards, failing in his engagements, he was plunged into great distress, and almost into despair. On a review of his covenant, he seems to have accused himself of pharisaical reliance upon the strength of his resolutions, and therefore taking the paper to the top of his father’s house, he tore it into small pieces, and threw it from him to be scattered by the wind. He did not, however, consider his obligation to be the Lord’s as thereby nullified; but feeling more suspicion of himself, he depended solely upon the blood of the cross”—Fuller’s Life of Pearce, pp. 3, 4. This instance must be considered, not as an example of the entangling nature of covenant engagements, but as an illustration, by way of contrast, of the enlightened deliberation and simplicity with which they should ever be undertaken. See some admirable remarks on this subject from Mr. Newton’s pen.—Life of Grimshawe, pp. 16–18. 7 2 Chron. 15:12–15. 8 Num. 30:1, 2. Deut. 23:21–23. 1 Isaiah 19:21. Comp. also Isaiah 44:5, and Scott on this verse. 2 Jer. 50:4, 5. 3 Contrast Matt. 26:35. 4 Judges 11:35. 5 Ps. 116:12–14. 6 Ps. 56:12. 7 Gen. 35:1, with 28:20–22. Compare 2 Peter 1:9. 8 Jer. 8:5. 9 1 John 2:1, 2. 10 2 Cor. 12:9. 11 Psalm 138:8. 12 Isaiah 26:12. 13 Phil. 2:13. 1 Heb. 13:20. 2 Jer. 50:5. 3 Psalm 116:16. 4 2 Tim. 2:21. Psalm 119:107 I am exceedingly afflicted; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word. afflicted (KJV): Ps 6:1 22:14-18 34:19 quicken (KJV): Ps 119:25,88 143:11 I am exceedingly afflicted: 'anah Niphal (passive of Qal) Perfect: (Qal) to be occupied, be busied with; to afflict, oppress, humble, be afflicted, be bowed down (Niphal) to be afflicted, be humbled /// to depress lit. or fig., abase self, afflict Afflicted (Humbled) (06031) 'anah means to be afflicted, be bowed down, be humbled, be meek. 'Anah frequently expresses the idea God sends affliction to discipline (Dt 8:2-3, see context Dt 8:5, 1Ki 11:39; Ps 90:15 Luke 3:5). It often speaks of harsh and painful treatment (Isa 53:4, Ge16:6). 'Anah is most translated in LXX with tapeinoo. In Lev 16:29 God commanded them to “afflict themselves” (“deny yourselves” Lev 16:31NIV), which is the same word used to describe the pain that the Egyptians inflicted on the Hebrews (Ex 1:11,12) and the suffering Joseph felt in prison (Ps 105:18)! Revive me, O LORD (Ps 69:32 Ps 71:20 Ps 80:18 Ps 85:6 Ps 119:25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159 138:7 143:11 Isa 57:15 Ho 6:2 Hab 3:2): CHAYAH: piel imperative (intensive, intentional) Lxx = zao = live ACCORDING TO THY WORD - Ps 19:7+ describes the "reviving" power of God's Word - "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul (literally it "restores life"); The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple." Charles Bridges - It would seem, that this holy saint’s covenanting season was a time of deep affliction; while his determined resolution to “keep” God’s word of obedience, gave boldness to his pleading, that God would perform his word of promise, “Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy word.” And this is our high privilege, that we are permitted to pour our troubles into the ear of One, who is able perfectly to enter into, and to sympathize with us in them; “who knoweth our frame,”5 who hath himself laid the affliction upon us:6 yea, more than all, who in “all our affliction is” himself “afflicted;”7 and who “suffered being tempted, that he might be able to succor them that are tempted.”1 There are none—not even those most dear to us—to whom we can unbosom ourselves, as we do to our heavenly Friend. Our wants, griefs, burdens of every kind—we roll them all upon him, with special relief in the hour of affliction. An affecting contrast to those, who are indeed “afflicted very much;” whose souls, “drawing nigh unto death,” and knowing no refuge, are ready to burst with their own sorrows, “the sorrows of the world”—unmitigated—unrelieved—“working death!”2 There is a “need be”3 for the afflictions of the Lord’s people. The stones of the spiritual temple cannot be polished or fitted to their place without the strokes of the hammer. The gold cannot be purified without the furnace. The vine must be pruned for greater fruitfulness.4 The measure of discipline varies indefinitely. But such is the inveteracy of fleshly lusts, that very much affliction may often be the needful regimen.5 Yet will it be tempered by one, who knows the precise measure,6 who can make no mistakes in our constitutions, and whose fatherly pity will chasten “not for his pleasure, but for our profit.”7 And need we speak of the alleviations of our trials, that they are infinitely disproportioned to our deserts8—that they are “light, and but for a moment,” compared with eternity9—that greater comfort is vouchsafed in the endurance of them, than we even venture to anticipate from their removal10—that the fruit at the end more than balances the trials themselves?11 Need we say—how richly they ought to be prized, as conforming us to the image of our suffering Lord; how clearly we shall one day read in them our Father’s commission, as messengers of love; and how certainly “the end of the Lord” will be “that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy?”12 Perhaps affliction—at least very much affliction—may not be our present lot. Yet it is our duty and wisdom, as the good soldier in the time of truce, to burnish our armor for the fight. “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. Because the wicked have no changes, therefore they fear not God.”13 The continual changes in Christian experience may well remind us of the necessity of “walking humbly with God,” that we may not, by an unprepared spirit, lose the blessing of the sanctified cross. How many of the Lord’s dear children may bear Ephraim’s name, “For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction!”14 Sometimes they are so conscious of the present good, that they dread affliction leaving them, more, probably, than the inexperienced professor dreads its coming. But great affliction is as hard to bear as great prosperity. Some whose Christian profession had drawn out the esteem of others—perhaps also their own complacency—have shown by “faintness in the day of extremity their strength to be small,”1 and themselves to be almost untaught in this school of discipline—shaken, confused, broken. Special need indeed have we under the smart of the rod, of quickening grace, to preserve us from stout-heartedness or dejection. We think we could bear the stroke, did we know it to be paternal, not judicial. Have we, then “forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto us as unto children?” Do we despise the chastening of the Lord? ‘ “Quicken me, O Lord,” that I may be preserved in a humble, wakeful, listening posture, to hear and improve the message of thy blessing of the sanctified cross.’ Do we “faint, when we are rebuked of him?”2 “Quicken me, O Lord,” that I sink not under the “blow of thy hand.”3 Thus will this Divine influence save us from the horrible sin of being offended with God in our fretting spirit. We shall receive his chastisement with humility without despondency, and with reverence without distrust; hearkening to the voice that speaks, while we tremble under the rod that strikes: yet so mingling fear with confidence, that we may at the same moment adore the hand which we feel, and rest in the mercy that is promised.4 Our best support, in the depths of affliction, is for “quickening, according to thy word!” And which of the exercised children of God has ever found “one jot or one tittle of it to fail?” “Patience working experience, and experience hope, and hope making not ashamed,” in the sense of “the love of God shed abroad upon the heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us”—all this is the abundant answer to our prayer, “Thou which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.”5 Nothing will bear looking back to with comfort, like those trials, which though painful to the flesh, have tended to break our spirit, mould our will, and strengthen the simplicity of our walk with God. 5 Psalm 103:14. 6 Ps 39:9. 7 Isaiah 48:9. 1 Heb. 2:18. 2 2 Cor. 7:10. 3 Peter 1:6, 7. 4 John 15:2. 5 2 Cor. 12:7. 6 Job 34:23. 7 Psalm 103:13, 14. Heb. 12:10. 8 Ezra 9:13. 9 2 Cor. 4:17. 10 2Cor 12:8–10. 11 Deut. 8:15, 16, Jer. 29:11. 12 James 5:11, with Job 13:10–12. 13 1 Kings 20:11. Psalm 55:19. 14 Gen. 41:52 1 Prov. 24:10. Comp. Jonah 4:5–9. 2 Heb. 12:5. 3 Psalm 39:10; 38:1–3. 4 Mic. 7:8, 9. 5 Rom. 5:3–5, with Psalm 71:20, 21. Psalm 119:108 O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, And teach me Your ordinances. Accept (KJV): Nu 29:39 Ho 14:2 Heb 13:15 teach (KJV): Ps 119:12,26,130,169 Related Passage: Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, And teach me Your ordinances. Charles Bridges - As the first fruits of his entire self-devotion to the Lord;6 as the only service he could render in his affliction; and as an acknowledgment of his answered prayer for quickening grace,7 behold this faithful servant of God presenting “the free-will offerings of his mouth for acceptance.” Such he knew to be an acceptable service. For the sacrifices of the Old Testament were not only typical of the One sacrifice for sin, but of the spiritual worship of the people of God.8 To those who are interested in the atonement of Jesus, there needeth “no more sacrifice for sin.” That which is now required of us, and in which we would delight, is to “take with us words, and turn to him, and say unto him—Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips.”1 No offering but a “free-will offering” is accepted. Such was the service under the law:2 such must it be under the Gospel.3 Yet neither can this offering be accepted until the offerer has found acceptance with his God. “The Lord had respect,” first to the person of “Abel,” then “to his offering.”4 But if our persons are covered with the robe of acceptance—if the “offering up of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” has “perfected” us before God;5 however defiled our services may be, however mixed with infirmity, and in every way most unworthy; even a God of ineffable holiness “beholds no iniquity”6 in them. No offering is so pure as to obtain acceptance in any other way; no offering so sinful as to fail of acceptance in this way. Most abundant indeed and satisfactory is the provision made in heaven for the continual and everlasting acceptance of our polluted and distracted services—“Another angel came, and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it, with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”7 With such a High Priest and Intercessor, not only is unworthiness dismissed, but boldness and assurance of faith is encouraged.8 But, as we remarked, it was “a free-will offering” that was here presented—the overflowings of a heart filled with love. No constraint was necessary. Prayer was delightful. He was not forced upon his knees. Let me seek fellowship with him in presenting my free-offering before my God. Does not he love it?9 Does not his free love to me deserve it?10 Did not my beloved Saviour give a free-will offering of delight—nay even of joy?11 And shall not his free-flowing love be my pattern and my principle?12 Shall his offering be free for me, and mine be reluctant for him? Shall he be ready with his blood for me, and I be backward with my mouth for him? “Oh my God, work thine own Almighty work—make me not only living, but willing in the day of thy power.”13 Let the stream flow in the full tide of affectionate devotedness. Blessed Jesus! I would be thine, and none other’s. I would tell the world, that I am captivated by thy love, and consecrated to thy service. Oh let me “rejoice, for that I offered willingly.” Great grace is it, that he is willing to accept my service. For what have I to offer, that is not already “his own?”14 But let me not forget to supplicate for further instruction—‘ “Teach me thy judgments,” that I may be directed to present a purer offering; that by more distinct and accurate knowledge of thy ways, my love may be enlarged, and my obedience more entire, until I “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” ’1 6 Ps 119:106. 7 Ps 119:107. 8 Compare Psalm 51:16, 17. Mal. 3:3, with Phil. 4:18. Heb. 13:15, 16. 1 Peter 2:5. 1 Hosea 14:2. Comp. Ps. 54:6. 2 Num. 29:39. Deut. 16:10. 2 Chron. 31:14. Amos 4:4. 3 Rom. 12:1. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15; 8:5. 4 Gen. 4:4, 5. 5 Heb. 10:10. 6 Num. 23:21. 7 Rev. 8:3, 4. 8 Heb. 4:14–16; 10:21, 22. 9 2 Cor. 9:7. 10 Eph. 2:4, 5. 11 Ps. 40:8. Heb. 12:2. 12 2 Cor. 5:14, 15. 13 Ps. 110:3. 14 1 Chron. 29:9, 14, 17. 1 Col. 4:12. Psalm 119:109 My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law. My soul (KJV): Rather, "My life {naphshee} is continually in my hand;" i.e., it is in constant danger; every hour I am on the confines of death. The LXX., Syriac, and Ethiopic read, "in thy hand;" but this is a conjectural and useless alteration. Jdg 12:3 1Sa 19:5 20:3 Job 13:14 Ro 8:36 1Co 15:31 2Co 11:23 yet do I not (KJV): Ps 119:83,117,152 My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law. Charles Bridges - Precarious health, or familiarity with the dangers of war, may give peculiar emphasis to the phrase (of not unfrequent use in the word of God2)—“My soul is continually in my hand.” David, in his early public life, was in constant apprehension from the open violence3 and the secret machinations4 of his bitter enemy. Hunted down “as a partridge in the mountains,”5 and often scarcely escaping the “snare, which the wicked laid for him,”6 at one time he could but acknowledge—“there is but a step between me and death;”7 at another time he was tempted to say, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.”8 Subsequently the hand of his own son was aimed at his throne and his life.9 Yet could no peril shake his undaunted adherence to the law and precepts of God.10 What was the life of Jesus upon earth? Through the enmity of foes—various, opposite, yet combined11—his “soul was continually in his hand.” Yet how wonderful was his calmness and serenity of mind, when surrounded by them all, like “lions” in power, “dogs” in cruelty, wolves in malice?12 A measure of this spirit belongs to every faithful disciple—not natural courage, but “the spirit of power,” as the gift of God,13 enabling him in the path of the precepts “to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”14 Let us again mark this confidence, illustrated in the open trials of the servants of God. Mark the Apostle, when “the Holy Ghost witnessed to him in every city, that bonds and imprisonment awaited him.” “None of these things”—said he—“move me. I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”15 He could look “tribulation, or persecution, or peril, or sword,” in the face; and while he “carried his soul continually in his hand,” in true Christian heroism, in the most exalted triumph of faith, he could say in the name of himself and his companions in tribulation, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors.” Nothing could make him flinch. Nothing could turn him back. Nothing could wring the love of the service of his God out of his heart. His principle was found invincible in the hour of trial—not, however, as a native energy of his heart, but “through him that loved him.”16 Did he not speak and live the spirit of this fearless confidence, “Yet do I not forget thy law?” Daniel’s history again shows the utter impotency of secret devices to produce apostasy in the children of God. When the wicked, after many an ineffectual attempt to “find occasion or fault” were driven to lay a snare for him in “the law of his God,”1 this noble confessor of the faith continued to “kneel upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, a: he did aforetime.”2 The den of lions was far less fearful in his eyes, than one devious step from the straight and narrow path.3 Sin was dreaded as worse than a thousand deaths. He surely then could have said, “Yet I erred not from thy precepts.” But how striking must it have been to David, in his imminent peril, to have seen the “counsel of Ahithophel”—regarded as oracular, when employed in the cause of God—now, when directed against the Church, “turned to foolishness!”4—an instance, “only one of a thousand,” of the ever-watchful keeping of the Great Head and Guardian of his Church.”5 Thus does he overrule the devices of the enemy for the establishment of his people’s dependence upon himself. “The wrath of man praiseth him,”6 and he “taketh the wise in his own craftiness.”7 But the day of difficulty is a “perilous time” in the Church. “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.”8 Have we been able to sustain the shock in a steady adherence to the law and precepts of God?9 This is indeed the time, when genuine faith will be found of inestimable value. In such a time, David experienced the present blessing of having chosen the Lord for his God. When clouds began to gather blackness, and surrounding circumstances to the eye of sense engendered despondency—faith realized All-sufficient support; and “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”10 And is not David’s God “our God, the health of our countenance,”11 the guide of our path,12 the God of our salvation?13 Oh! let us not rest, till his confidence becomes ours, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”14 But the cross, that proves and establishes the Christian, sifts the unsound professor as chaff. Nothing but this solid principle of faith can resist either the persecution15 or the snare.16 Many desire conformity to Christ and his people in everything but in their cross. They would attain their honor without the steps that led them to it. Dread this flinching spirit. Reject it—as did our Lord—with indignation. It “savoreth not of God.” It is the voice of Satan.17 who would promise a pillow of carnal ease under our heads—a path of roses under our feet—but a path of slumber, of delusion, and of ruin. The time of special need is at hand with us all, when we shall need substance and reality for our support—the true confidence of a living faith. Those who have never felt the nearness of eternity, can have but a faint idea of what we shall need in the hour, when “flesh and heart fail,”1 to fix a sure unshaken foot upon “the Rock of Ages.” “Watch therefore;” for you know not2 how soon you may be ready to say, “My soul is in my hand,” quivering on the eve of departure to the Judge. “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning! and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for the Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.”3 2 Comp. Judges 12:3. 1 Sam. 19:5; 28:21. Job 13:14. 3 1 Sam. 18:10, 11; 19:9, 10. 4 1Sa. 18:17; 19:11–17. 5 1Sa. 26:20. 6 The men of Keilah, 1Sa. 23:11, 12. The Ziphites, 1Sa. 23:9. 26:1 7 1Sa. 20:3. 8 1Sa. 27:1. 9 2 Sam. 15:13, 14; 17:1–3. 10 Ps 119:87. 11 Luke 23:12. 12 Ps. 22:16, 20, 21, with Isaiah 53:7 13 2 Tim. 1:7. 14 Eph. 6:13. 15 Acts 20:23, 24; 21:13. 16 Rom. 8:37. 1 Dan. 6:5. 2 Da 6: 6–10. 3 Compare Luke 12:4, 5. 4 Compare 2 Samuel 16:23, with 15:31; 17:14. 5 Isaiah 27:3. 6 Psalm 76:10. 7 Job 5:13, with 1 Cor. 3:19. 8 Dan. 12:10. 9 Da 12:51, 69. Rev. 2:10. 10 1 Sam. 30:6. 11 Psalm 42:11. 12 Ib. 48:14. 13 Ib. 68:20. 14 Ps. 56:3. 15 Matt. 13:20, 21. 16 1 Kings 13:11–19. 17 Matt. 16:22, 23. 1 Psalm 73:26. 2 Mark 13:35, 36. 3 Luke 12:35–37. Psalm 119:110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts. wicked (KJV): Ps 119:85 10:8-18 124:6,7 140:5 141:9 Pr 1:11,12 Jer 18:22 yet I erred (KJV): Ps 119:10,21,51,87,95 Da 6:10 Lu 20:19-26 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts. Charles Bridges - see comment on v109 Psalm 119:111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever, For they are the joy of my heart. Your testimonies: Ps 119:14,127,162 16:5 De 33:4 Isa 54:17 Acts 26:18 Col 1:12 Heb 9:15 1Pe 1:4 for they: Ps 119:74,92,174 19:8 Jer 15:16 1Pe 1:8 The psalmist repeatedly emphasizes the eternal truth of God's words (cf Jesus' words in Mt 24:35) Forever = Ps. 119:44; Ps. 119:89; Ps. 119:111; Ps. 119:112; Ps. 119:144; Ps. 119:152 Everlasting = Ps. 119:142; Ps. 119:160 C Graham - It is said of some mines of Cornwall, that the deeper they are sunk the richer they prove; and though some lodes have been followed a thousand and even fifteen hundred feet, they have not come to an end. Such is the Book of God. It is a mine of wealth which can never be exhausted. The deeper we sink into it the richer it becomes. Charles Bridges - ‘Precious Bible! what a treasure!’ The testimonies of God—the declaration of his will in doctrine—obligation—and privilege! David had felt their value, as the stay of his soul in shaking and sifting trial.4 But how did he claim his interest in them? Not by purchase, or by merit, it was his heritage. As a child of Abraham, he was an “heir according to promise.”5 They—all that is contained in them, “the Lord himself,” the sum and substance of all, “was the portion of his inheritance.”6 Man looks at his heritage. ‘This land—this estate—or this kingdom is mine.’ The child of God looks round on the universe—on both worlds—on God himself with his infinite perfections—and says, “All things are mine.”7 My title is more sure than to any earthly heritage. Every promise is sprinkled with “the blood of the everlasting covenant,” as the seal of its blessings, and the pledge of their performance. But not only are they my heritage:—But by my own intelligent choice I have taken them so. A blessing is it to have them. But the blessing of blessings is to have them made good—applied—sealed—made my own; so that, like the minor come to age, I take possession of my heritage, I live on it, I live in it, it is my treasure, my portion. If a man is known by his heritage, let me be known by mine. Let it be “known and read of all men,” that I count not the world my happiness, but that I take my Bible, ‘Here is my heritage. Here I can live royally—richer upon bare promises than all the treasures of earth could make me. My resources never fail, when all besides fail.8 When all earthly heritage shall have passed away, mine endureth for ever.’9 Let me not then entertain a low estimate of this precious heritage. “Heirs of promise” are entitled to “strong consolation.”10 What belongs to a joint-heir with Christ, interested in the unchanging love of Jehovah from eternity, but the language of triumphant exultation?1 The first view, as it passed before my eyes, was the rejoicing of my heart; and never could I be satisfied, till I had taken it as my soul-satisfying and eternal portion. Need we then entreat you, believer, to exhibit to the world, that the promises of your heritage are not an empty sound—that they impart a Divine reality of support and enjoyment—and that an interest in them habitually realized is a blessed, a heavenly portion? Should your heart, however, at any time be captivated by the transient prospect before your eyes: should you be led to imagine some substantial value in this world’s treasures—you will have forgotten the peculiar pre-eminence of your heritage—its enduring character. But what are the gaudy follies—the glittering emptiness of this passing scene, in comparison with your heavenly prospects, or even of your present sources of enjoyment? We can readily account for the affecting indifference, with which “the men of the world” barter away these treasures, as Esau did his birthright, for very trifles.2 They have no present interest in them. “They have their portion in this life. They have received their consolation.”3 But oh! how soon, having spent their all, will they “begin to be in” infinite eternal “want!”4 Yet, having no interest in this heavenly heritage, they can have no pleasure in surveying it. If, therefore, conscience imposes upon them the drudgery of casting their careless eye over it, what wonder if they should find nothing to enliven their hopes, or to attract their hearts? What communion can worldly hearts hold with this heavenly treasure? What spiritual light, as the source of heavenly comfort, can penetrate this dark recess? As well might the inhabitant of the subterraneous cavern expect the cheerful light of the sun; as the man, whose eyes and heart are in the centre of the earth, enjoy the spiritual perception of an interest in “the heritage,” of the people of God. If, however, the darkness and difficulties of the word are pleaded in excuse for ignorance; let those indolent triflers confess, now small a portion of that persevering devotedness, which has been employed in gathering together the perishing stores of this world, has been given to search into this hidden mine of unsearchable riches! Oh, my soul, if I can lay claim to this blessed “heritage,” I envy not the miser his gold! Rather would I adore that grace, which has “made me to differ” from him; and given me a far happier and far richer heritage. But let me be daily enriching myself from this imperishable store; so that, poor as I am in myself, and seeming to “have nothing,” I may in reality be “possessing all things.”5 Let the recollection of the rich heritage of light, comfort, peace and strength, furnished in the word, be my abundant joy; and bind my heart to a closer adherence to its obligations, and to a more habitual apprehension of its privileges. 4 Ps 119:109, 110. 5 Gal 3:29. 6 Ps. 16:5. 7 1 Cor. 3:21, 22. 8 Hab. 3:17, 18. Ps. 73:26. 9 1 Peter 1:24, 25. 10 Heb. 6:17, 18. 1 Rom. 8:17–34. 2 Heb. 12:16. Gen. 25:29–34. 3 Ps. 17:4. Luke 6:24. 4 Luke 15:14. 5 2 Cor. 6:10. Psalm 119:112 I have inclined my heart to perform Thy statutes Forever, even to the end. NET Psalm 119:112 I am determined to obey your statutes at all times, to the very end. LXE Psalm 119:112 I have inclined my heart to perform thine ordinances for ever, in return for thy mercies. NLT Psalm 119:112 I am determined to keep your decrees to the very end. Samekh KJV Psalm 119:112 I have inclined <05186> (08804) mine heart <03820> to perform <06213> (08800) thy statutes <02706> alway <05769>, even unto the end <06118>. ESV Psalm 119:112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. NIV Psalm 119:112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end. ASV Psalm 119:112 I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes For ever, even unto the end. CSB Psalm 119:112 I am resolved to obey Your statutes to the very end. NKJ Psalm 119:112 I have inclined <05186> (08804) my heart <03820> to perform <06213> (08800) Your statutes <02706> Forever <05769>, to the very end <06118>. NRS Psalm 119:112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. YLT Psalm 119:112 I have inclined my heart To do Thy statutes, to the age -- to the end! NAB Psalm 119:112 My heart is set on fulfilling your laws; they are my reward forever. NJB Psalm 119:112 I devote myself to obeying your statutes, their recompense is eternal. GWN Psalm 119:112 I have decided to obey your laws. They offer a reward that never ends. BHT Psalm 119:112 nätitî libbî la`ásôt huqqeykä le`ôläm `ëqeb BBE Psalm 119:112 My heart is ever ready to keep your rules, even to the end. inclined: Ps 119:36 141:4 Jos 24:23 1Ki 8:58 2Ch 19:3 Php 2:13 the end: Ps 119:33,44 1Pe 1:13 Rev 2:10 AN INCLINATION OF THE HEART I have inclined my heart to perform Thy statutes - Recall that earlier he had prayed "Incline my heart to Thy testimonies" (Ps 119:36+) and this is in effect an answer to that prayer. Our natural inclination is NOT to perform God's statutes, so the psalmist's inclination to do them indicates that God is enabling him (and I think it is by the supernatural power of the Spirit, Who clearly was active in the OT, even if He was not indwelling the believers as we see in the New Covenant). I have inclined (2827)(see above on klino) is in the aorist tense, Forever, even to the end -
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Ps. 119:113 Inventory Time Let's take time for a spiritual inventory and ask three simple questions: What do you hate? Where are you hiding? In what do you hope? The best answers to those questions are found in Psalm 119:113 -114. "I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law. You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word." What do you hate? The psalmist hated vain thoughts (Ps. 119:37). Vanity means that which is empty, false and temporary. Thoughts are important, because what you think is what you become. "As he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). Thinking leads to doing, and doing leads to being. Sow a thought and you reap an action. Sow an action and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. If we love God's Law, we will hate the things that are contrary to His will. Where are you hiding? "You are my hiding place and my shield." Are you hiding in the Lord? Is He your Shield? Christians have enemies who want to rob us of the blessing of God. Maybe you are hurting today. Run and hide in Jesus Christ. In what do you hope? "I hope in Your word." If your hope is anywhere other than in God, your future is hopeless. But if you are hoping in the Word of God, the future is secure, because God is preparing the way for you. What a glory it is to be able to hope in the Word of God. * * * Spiritual inventories force you to see if you are aligning with God's will and Word. Today, ponder the three questions found in these verses. Stay aligned to God's Word. (Psalm 119:113-120 Inventory Time) Charles Bridges - The fall of man has misplaced his affections. Love was originally made for God and his law—hatred for sin. Now man loves what he ought to hate,3 and hates what he ought to love.4 The work of Divine grace is to restore the disordered affections to their proper centre, and to bestow them on their right object—hating vain thoughts, and loving the law of God. Few think of the responsibility of their thoughts; as if they were too trifling to be connected with any solemn account. The enlightened soul however learns to make a conscience of his thoughts. Here is the seminal principle of sin.5 How must a radical remedy be applied. Vain thoughts are the natural produce of the unrenewed heart, and of the yet unrenewed part of the believer’s heart. Who that “knows the plague of his own heart,” and the spirituality of the Christian walk with God, does not constantly complain of their baneful influence! The child of God longs that his “every thought may be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”6 But he “sees another law in his members, warring against the law of his mind;” so that when he would “do good, evil is present with him.”7 When he would “attend upon the Lord without distraction;”8 many times, even in a single exercise, does he forget his sacred employment. Sin seems to enter into every pore of his soul; and a cloud of vain thoughts darkens every avenue to communion with God. He would gladly say, “My heart is fixed, my heart is fixed;”9 but he finds his affections wandering, as “the eyes of the fool, in the ends of the earth,”10 as if there were no object of Divine attraction to his soul. We do not hear the worldling, or indeed the servant of God in his worldly employments, complaining of this burden. He can bring to deep, important, and anxious concerns of this world, all that intensity and fixedness of attention which the emergency may demand. Indeed the wily adversary would rather assist than hinder this concentration of mind, as diverting the soul from the far more momentous and interesting subjects of eternity. But never do the “sons of God come to present themselves before the Lord,” except “Satan comes also among them.”1 “Vain thoughts” are his ceaseless hinderances to our spiritual communion with God. Are we aware of the subtilty, and therefore the peculiar danger of this temptation? We should instinctively start from an enticement to open transgression. The incursion of defiling or blasphemous thoughts would be such a burden, that we should “have no rest in our spirit,” while they remain undisturbed within us. But perhaps neither of these temptations are so formidable as the crowd of thoughts of every kind, incessantly running to and fro in the mind; the indulgence of which, though not actually sinful in itself, yet as effectually restrains the soul from intercourse with God, as the most hateful injections. These are “the little foxes, that spoil the tender grapes.”2 Nay—the “thoughts” may be even spiritual in their nature, and yet “vain” in their tendency; because unsuitable to the present frame, and calculated, and indeed intended by the great enemy, to divert the mind from some positive duty. Who has not felt a serious thought upon an unseasonable subject, and at an unseasonable time, to be in its consequences a “vain thought”—the secret impulse of the false “angel of light,”3 dividing the attention between two things, so that neither of them may be wholly done, done to any purpose, done at all?4 If at any time “iniquity has been regarded in the heart;” if the world in any of its thousand forms has regained a temporary ascendency: or if lusting imaginations are not constantly “held in” as “with bit and bridle;” these “vain thoughts,” ever ready to force their entrance, will at such seasons, “get an advantage of us.” Restless in their workings, they keep no Sabbaths: and can only be successfully met by a watchful and unceasing warfare. It may inded be sometimes difficult, in the midst of this contined trial, to maintain a clear sense of adoption. But this is the distinctive mark of Christian sincerity. Do we cordially “hate” them, as exceeding sinful in the sight of God,5 hurtful to our own souls,6 and contrary to our new nature?7 If we cannot altogether prevent their entrance, or eject them from their settlement, are we careful not to invite them, not to entertain them, not to suffer them to “lodge within”1 us? This active hatred is a satisfactory proof that they are not so much the natural suggestion of the heart, as the injections of the enemy of our peace. They are at least so directly opposed to our better will and dominant bias, that we may say, “If I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin, that dwelleth in me.”2 Our affliction and conflict with them prove that they dwell with us—not as welcome guests, or as the family of the house—but as “thieves and robbers.” Their indulgence constitutes our sin. Their indwelling may be considered only as our temptation. They supply indeed continued matter for watchfulness, humiliation, and resistance; yet so far as they are abhorred and resisted, they are rather our infirmities than our iniquities, and leave no stain of actual guilt upon the conscience. An increasing sense of the sinfulness of sin, and of the extent of duty, will indeed show their deeper aggravations and more persevering opposition. Still, however, even while we groan under their defiling, distracting influence in our best services, we may assure our confidence in him, who “spareth us, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him,”3 and who will ever gather up the broken parts of our prayers with merciful acceptance. But the subjugation of this evil—even though we be secured from its condemnation—is a matter of the deepest concern. Forget not—oh, may the impression be indelible!—that it was for these vain thoughts that the Saviour was nailed to the cross. Here lies the ground of self-loathing—the quickening principle of conflict and exertion. Let the heart—the seat of this evil disease—be daily washed in the cleansing blood of Calvary; for until the corrupt fountain be cleansed, it must ever “send forth bitter waters.”4 Let it be diligently “kept,”5 and carefully filled, so that it may be a “good treasure bringing forth good things.”6 Let there be the continued exercise of that “watchfulness” “which is unto prayer,”7 combined with an unflinching adherence to plain and obvious duty. Let the temptation to desist awhile from services so polluted, that they appear rather to mock God than to worship him, be met on the onset with the most determined opposition. Once admit this suggestion, and our active enemy will pour in successive incursions of vain thoughts into our perplexed and yielding minds, to turn us back step by step in our attempts to approach to God. If, therefore, we cannot advance as we could wish, let us advance as we can. If a connected train of thought or expression fails us, let us only change—not surrender—our posture of resistance; substituting sighs, desires, tears, and groaning for words, and casting ourselves upon our God in the simple confidence of faith, “Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee. Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”1 It is far better to wander in duty than from it. For if any duty be neglected on account of the defilement that is mingled with it, for the same reason we must neglect every other duty: and, as the final consequence, the worship of God would be abolished from the earth. Much of our successful warfare, however, depends upon an accurate and well-digested acquaintance with our own hearts—upon a discovery of the bias of the mind in our unoccupied moments, and of the peculiar seasons and circumstances that give most power to temptation. This once known, set a double watch against those doors, by which the enemy has been accustomed to find his most convenient and unobstructed entrance. But we must not forget the effective means suggested by David’s experience—the love of God’s law. Here rises the native enmity against God—not as the Creator, but the Lawgiver—and therefore against his law as the dictate of his will.2 Here then is the power of grace subduing this enmity. Not only I fear, and therefore through fear I keep, but I love, thy law. And ‘He that loves a holy law,’ remarks an excellent old writer, ‘cannot but hate a vain thought.’3 For if the law be the transcript of the image of God, the thoughts affectionately drawn out towards him must naturally fix the image of the beloved friend upon the mind, and by a sweet constraint fasten down the thoughts to Divine contemplation. Are we then ever winged with an elevating love to the Saviour? And do not we find our hearts start out from their worldly employments with frequent glances and flights towards the object of our desire? And will not this communion of love gradually mould the soil into a fixed delight, exciting our hatred, and strengthening our resistance of every sinful affection? Thus, as love to the law stirs up the powers of the renewed man, “spiritual wickedness” will be abhorred, conflicted with, and overcome. Yet these defilements will remain to die with the last breathings of the old man; which though crucified indeed, and expiring, will struggle with fearful strength and unabated enmity to the end. And let them remain as humbling mementos of our unclean nature, “shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin;”4 and as enlivening our anticipations of that blessed place, where “shall in no wise enter anything that defileth;”5 where “vain thoughts,” and whatever besides might “separate between us and our God,” will be unknown for ever. Meanwhile let them endear to us the free justification of the Gospel; let them lead us daily and hourly to “the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness;”6 and enhance in our view that heavenly intercession, which provides for the perfect cleansing and acceptance of services even such as ours. Blessed contemplation! Jesus prays not for us as we do for ourselves. His intercession is without distraction—without interruption. If we are then so dead, that we cannot, and so guilty that we dare not, pray, and so wandering in our “vain thoughts,” that our prayers appear to be scattered to the winds, rather than to ascend to heaven—if on these accounts combined, we “are so troubled that we cannot speak;”1 yet always is there one to speak for us, of whom “a voice from heaven” testified for our encouragement, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”2 With such hopes, motives, and encouragements, let us “continue instant in prayer,”3 until we pray, and that we may pray. Let us supplicate our Lord with restless importunity, that his omnipotent love would take hold of these hearts, which every moment sin and Satan seem ready to seize. At the same time, conscious of our hatred of every interruption to his service, and of the simplicity of our affection to his holy law, let us hold fast that confidence before him, which will issue in perfect peace and established consolation. 3 John 3:19. Rom. 1:32; 6:13. 4 Job 21:14. Ps. 14:1. Rom. 8:7. 5 Gen. 6:5. Pro. 23:7; 24:9. 6 2 Cor. 10:5. 7 Rom. 7:21, 23. 8 1 Cor. 7:35. 9 Ps. 57:7. 10 Prov. 17:24. 1 Job 1:6. 2 Cant. 2:15. 3 2 Cor. 11:14. 4 Greenham (one of the most valuable of the Puritan writers upon experimental subjects) used to bring his distractions of mind to this test—If they brought any past sin to mind for his humiliation, or any comfort to excite his thankfulness, or any instruction suitable to the present moment—he took them to be of God. But if they drew off his mind from present duty to rove after other objects, he suspected their source, and girded himself to prayer for increasing steadiness of application to the matter in hand. See his works, folio, p. 23. Being asked to account for distractions in holy meditations, he said—It was either want of preparation and sanctifying the heart by prayer before we set upon so holy an exercise, and therefore a rebuke from the Lord for our “presumption in being bold to work upon holy matters in our own strength”—or else a dependence upon a general purpose of thinking good, or restraining evil, without fastening our minds upon some particular object, but rather ‘ranging up and down,’ leaving some part of our mind and meditation void for other matters, without wholly and seriously setting on a thing propounded. When any complained to him of blasphemous thoughts, he would say—“Do not fear them, but abhor them.” 5 Prov. 24:9. 6 Song 2:15, and Scott, in loco. 7 Rom. 7:22. 1 Compare Jer. 4:14. 2 Rom. 7:20. 3 Malachi 3:17. 4 Compare 2 Kings 2:19–22. Jer. 4:14. 5 Proverbs 4:23. 6 Matthew 12:35. 7 Mt. 26:41. 1 Ps. 38:9. 56:8. 2 Rom. 8:7. 3 Steele’s Antidote against Distractions. 4 Psalm. 51:5. 5 Rev. 21:27. 6 Zech. 13:1. 1 Ps. 77:4. 2 Matt. 3:17. 3 Rom. 12:12. Psalm 119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word. my hiding (KJV): Ps 32:7 91:1,2 Isa 32:2 my shield (KJV): Ps 3:3 84:11 I hope (KJV): Ps 119:81 130:5,6 Related Passage: Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. You are my hiding place and my shield - The Septuagint reads "Thou art my helper (boethos) and my protector I have hoped in thy words." I wait (yachal) for Your word - Wait is the Hebrew yahal/yachal which conveys the idea of tarrying, of confident expectation, of trust. 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 - We have seen the unremitting vigilance of the enemy pursuing the man of God in his secret retirement with painful distraction. See how he runs to his hiding-place. Here is our main principle of safety—not our strivings, or our watchfulness, but our faith. Flee instantly to Jesus.4 He is the sinner’s hiding-place, “the man,” that wondrous man, “in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”5 Yes, Jesus exposed himself to the fury of “the tempest,” that he might provide “a hiding-place” for us. The broken law pursued with its relentless curse—‘The sinner ought to die’—But “thou art my hiding-place,” who hast “redeemed me from the curse of the law, being made a curse for me.”6 “The fiery darts” pour in on every side; but the recollection of past security awakens my song of acknowledgment, “Thou hast been a strength to the poor, to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.”7 Our hiding-place covers us from the power of the world. “In me,” saith our Saviour, “ye shall have peace. Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”8 Helpless to resist the great enemy, our Lord brings us to his wounded side, and hides us there. We “overcome him by the blood of the Lamb.”9 To all accusations from every quarter, our challenge is ready, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”10 From the fear of death, our hiding-place still covers us. “Jesus through death hath destroyed him that had the power of death.”11 Against the sting of this last enemy, a song of thanksgiving is put into our mouth, “O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”1 Thus is “the smoking flax,” which the malice of Satan strives to extinguish, not “quenched;” nor is “the bruised reed,” which seems beyond the hope of restoration “broken.” But the completeness of our security is graphically portrayed—Thou art my hiding-place, to cover from danger—my shield,2 also to protect me in it. Either I shall be kept from trouble, that it shall not come; or in trouble, that it shall not hurt me. The hiding-place alone would be imperfect security, as being limited to one place. But my shield is movable, wherever be the point of danger or assault. I can “quench the dart” that is aimed at my soul. But a hiding-place implies also secrecy.3 And truly the believer’s is a “hidden life,”4 beyond the comprehension of the world. He mixes with them in the common intercourse of life. But while seen of man, he is dwelling “in the secret of the Lord’s tabernacle,”5 safe in the midst of surrounding danger, guarded by invincible strength.6 Often, indeed, must the world be surprised at his constancy, amidst all their varied efforts to shake his steadfastness. They know not “the secret of the Lord, which is with them that fear him.”7 And never could he have had a just conception of the all-sufficiency of his God, until he finds it above him, around him, underneath him, in all the fulness of everlasting love—his hiding-place, and his shield. Thus in the heart of the enemy’s country “the dwelleth on high, and his place of defence is the munitions of rocks.”8 But are we acquainted with this hiding-place? How have we discovered it? Are we found in it, and careful to abide in it? Within its walls “that wicked one toucheth us not.”9 Yet never shall we venture outside the walls unprotected, but his assault will give us some painful remembrance of our unwatchfulness. And then do we prize our shield, and run behind it for constant security. Remember, every other hiding-place “the waters will overflow.”10 Every other shield is a powerless defence. Surely then the word, which has discovered this security to us, is a firm warrant for our “hope.” And therefore every sinner, enclosed in the covert of love, will be ready to declare, “I hope in thy word.” 4 Ps. 143:9. Prov. 18:10. 5 Isaiah 32:2. Col. 2:9. 6 Gal. 3:10, 13. 7 Isaiah 25:4. 8 John 16:33. 9 Rev. 12:11. 10 Rom. 8:33, 34. 11 Heb. 2:14, 15. 1 1 Cor. 15:55, 57. 2 Gen. 15:1. Ps. 3:3; 5:12. Comp. Eph. 6:17. 3 Psalm 31:20. 4 Col. 3:3. 5 Ps. 27:5. 6 Isaiah 26:1. 7 Psalm 25:14. 8 Isaiah 33:16. 9 1 John 5:18. 10 Isaiah 28:16, 17. Psalm 119:115 Depart from me, evildoers, That I may observe the commandments of my God. Depart (KJV): Ps 6:8 26:5,9 139:19 Mt 7:23 25:41 1Co 15:33 for I will (KJV): Ps 119:106 Jos 24:15 Depart from me, evildoers, That I may observe the commandments of my God - Godly won't bring the evildoers down, but the converse is almost a guarantee. Thus the command for them to depart. Depart is rendered in Septuagint with the verb ekklino basically means to lean in the wrong direction, to bend out of the regular line, to bend away. In this context it is a command to turn away from. Paul uses ekklino in Romans writing " Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away (ekklino in the present imperative) from them." (Ro 16:17) Charles Bridges - Safe and quiet in his “hiding-place, and behind his shield,” David deprecates all attempts to disturb his peace, “Depart from me, ye evil doers.” He had found them to be opposed to his best interests; and he dreaded their influence in shaking his resolution for his God. Indeed such society must always hinder alike the enjoyment and the service of God. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”1 And can we be “agreed,” and walk in fellow ship with God, except we be at variance with the principles, the standard, and conduct of a world that is enmity against him?”2 Not more needful was the exhortation to the first Christians than to ourselves, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation.”3 True fellowship with God implies therefore a resolute separation from the ungodly. Secure in the “hiding-place,” and covered with the “shield” of our covenant God, let us meet their malice, and resist their enticements, with the undaunted front of “a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”4 Not that we would indulge morose or ascetic seclusion. We are expressly enjoined to courtesy and kindness;5 to that wise and considerate “walk towards them that are without,”6 which “adorns the doctrine of God our Saviour,”7 and indeed in some instances has been more powerful even than the word itself,8 to “win souls to Christ.” But when they would tempt us to a devious or backsliding step—when our connection with them entices us to a single act of conformity to their standard, dishonorable to God, and inconsistent with our profession—then must we take a bold and unflinching stand, “Depart from me, ye evil doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.” This resolution gives no countenance to the self-delusive notion of maintaining an intimate connection with professed “evil doers” for the kind purpose of recommending our religion to their acceptance—a scheme, which requires a rare degree of caution and simplicity to attempt without entangling the conscience; and which, for the most part at least, it is to be feared, is only a specious covering for the indulgence of a worldly spirit. If the men of the world are to be met, and their society invited, for the accomplishment of this benevolent intention, let it be upon the principle of the Lord’s command to his prophet, “Let them return unto thee; but return not thou to them.”9 The amiable desire to “please our neighbor” is limited to the single end, that it should be “for his good to edification.”10 And whenever this end and restriction has been overlooked, it is sufficiently evident that self-gratification has been the moving principle; and that the distinctive mark of the Christian character—bearing the cross, and confessing the name of our Divine Master—has been obscured. Sometimes, however, in the struggle of conscience, an apprehension of danger is not altogether forgotten; and the question is asked, with some trembling of spirit, “How far may I conform to the world, without endangering the loss of my religion?” But, not to speak of the insincerity and self-deception of such a question, it would be better answered by substituting another in its place. “How far may I be separate from the world, and yet be destitute of the vital principle?” Scrutinize, in every advancing step toward the world, the workings of your own heart. Suspect its reasonings. Listen to the first awakened conviction of conscience. Though it be only a whisper, or a hint, it is probably the indication of the Divine will. And never forget, that this experiment of worldly conformity, often as it has been tried, has never answered the desired end. However this compromise may have recommended ourselves, no progress has been made in recommending our Master; since his name—whether from unwatchfulness or cowardice on our part, or from the overpowering flow of the world on the other side—has probably in such society scarcely passed over our lips with any refreshment or attentiveness. Indeed, so far from commending our religion by this accommodation, we have succeeded in ingratiating ourselves in their favor, only so far as we have been content to keep it out of sight; while at the same time, our yielding conformity to their taste, and habits, and conversation, has virtually sanctioned their erroneous standard of conduct; and tended to deceive them with the self-complacent conviction, that it approaches as near to the Scriptural elevation, as is absolutely required. The final result, therefore, of this attempt to conciliate the Gospel to those who “have no heart to it,” is—that now our own consciences have been ensnared, while they retain all their principles unaltered. It must surely be obvious, that such a course is plainly opposed to the revealed declarations of Scripture, and bears the decisive character of unfaithfulness to our Great Master. We might also ask, whether our love to the Lord can be in fervent exercise, while we “love them that hate him?”1—whether our hatred of sin can be active and powerful, while we can find pleasure in the society of those, whose life, “without God in the world,”2 is an habitual wilful course of rebellion against him?”3—whether we can have any deep and experimental sense of our own weakness, when thus venturing into temptation?—whether by unnecessary contact with the world, we can expect to “go upon hot coals,” and our “feet not be burned?”4—or, in fact, whether we are not forgetting the dictates of common prudence in forsaking the path of safety for a slippery, but more congenial, path? Is no harm to be anticipated from a wilful, self-pleasing association? Is it likely to be less dangerous to us than it was to an Apostle?5 or because we conceive ourselves to have more strength, shall we use less watchfulness, and show more presumption? But, supposing Scripture not to determine the path of duty with infallible certainty; let this line of conduct be subjected to the impartial scrutiny of our own hearts, and of the effects, whether neutral or positively detrimental, which have resulted from it to ourselves, or to the Church. Have we not felt this fellowship with “evil doers” to be an hindrance in “keeping the commandments of our God?” If it has not always ended in open conformity to their maxims; or, if contrary to our apprehensions, it does not appear to sanction their principles, yet have we realized no deadening unfavorable influence? Has the spirit of prayer sustained no injury in this atmosphere? Have we never felt the danger of imbibing their taste, the spirit of their conversation and general conduct; which, without fixing any blot upon our external profession must insensibly estrange our best affections from God? And have we never considered the injury of this worldly association to the Gospel in weakening by an apparent want of decision “on the Lord’s side,”1 the sacred cause which we are pledged to support; and obscuring the Scriptural character of the people of God as a distinct and separate people?2 In a providential connection with evil doers, we go safely in the spirit of humility, watchfulness, and prayer; and this connection, felt to be a cross, is not likely to prove a snare.”3 But does not union of spirit with them, to whom David says, with holy determination, “depart from me,”—and to whom David’s Lord will one day say, “depart”4—prove a want of fellowship with his spirit, and an essential unfitness for communion with the society of heaven? The children of this world can have no more real communion with the children of light, than darkness has with light.5 As great is the difference between the Christian and the world, as between heaven and hell—as between the sounds, “Come, ye blessed,” and, “Depart, ye cursed.”6 The difference, which at that solemn day will be made for eternity, must therefore be visibly made now. They must depart from us, or we from God. We cannot walk with them both. ‘Defilement,’ as Mr. Cecil remarks, ‘is inseparable from the world.’7 We cannot hold communion with God, in the spirit of the world; and, therefore, separation from the world, or separation from God, is the alternative. Which way—which company—is most congenial to our taste? Fellowship will be a component part of our heavenly happiness.8 Shall we not then walk on earth with those with whom we hope to spend our eternity, that our removal hence may be a change of place only, not of company? May we have grace to listen to our Father’s voice of love, “Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord; and touch not the unclean thing: and I will receive you, and will be a Father to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty!”9 1 Amos 3:3. 2 Comp. Matt. 6:24. James 4:4. 3 Acts 2:40. 4 2 Tim. 2:3. 5 1 Peter 3:8. 6 Col. 2:5. 7 Titus 2:10 8 Comp. 1 Peter 3:1. 9 Jer. 15:19. 10 Comp. Rom 15:4. 1 2 Chron. 19:2. 2 Eph. 2:12. 3 Who are the wicked, but those that forget God? Ps. 9:17; 10:4. 4 Prov. 6:28. 5 Matt. 26:58, 69–75. 1 Compare Exodus 32:26. Judges 5:23. Matt. 12:30. 2 Compare Numb. 23:9. John 17:16. 3 Ps. 120:5, 6. 4 Matt. 25:41. 5 2 Cor. 6:14. 6 Matt. 25:34, 41. 7 Cecil’s Remains. 8 Heb. 12:22–24. 9 2 Cor. 6:17, 18. Psalm 119:116 Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Uphold (KJV): Ps 37:17,24 41:12 63:8 94:18 Isa 41:10 42:1 and let me (KJV): Ps 25:2 Isa 45:17 Ro 5:5 9:32 10:11 1Pe 2:6 Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Charles Bridges - Lest the Psalmist should seem to have been self-confident in his rejection of the society of the ungodly, and determination to adhere to to his God; here, as on former occasions,10 mindful of his own weakness, he commits himself to the upholding grace of God. He does not content himself with commanding the evil doer to depart. He pleads for his God to come to him. He wants not only the hindrances to be removed, but the vouchsafement of present supporting grace. Such is our urgent continual view! Every circumstance has its temptation. Every change of condition is specially trying—and what is he in himself? unstable as water! Indeed the highest archangel before the throne stands only as he is upheld by the Lord, and may unite with the weakest child in the Lord’s family in the acknowledgment, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”1 Much more, therefore, must I, pressed on every side with daily conflict and temptation, and conscious of my own weakness and liability to fall, “come to the throne of grace” for “grace to help in time of need.”2 My plea is the word of promise, “according to thy word”—“as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”3 “Fear thou not,” is the language of my upholding God—“for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee: yea, I will help thee: yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”4 Blessed be the goodness that made the promise, and that guides the hand of my faith, as it were, to fasten upon it! But why do I need the promise? why do I plead it? but “that I may live”—that I may know that life which is found and enjoyed “in the favor” of God?5 Nothing seems worth a serious thought beside; nothing else deserves the name. And therefore new life—“life more abundantly”6—let it be the burden of every prayer—the cry of every moment. Thus upheld by the Lord’s grace, and living in his presence, I hope to feel the increasing support of my Christian hope. Though I have just before expressed it in God’s word,—though I have “made my boast in the Lord,” as “my hiding-place and my shield,”7 yet conscious helplessness leads me earnestly to pray, “Let me not be ashamed of my hope.” Yes—Jesus is the sinner’s hope—“the hope set before” his people, to which they “flee for the refuge” of their souls. And well may our “hope” in him be called “an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast.”8 How does the distressed Church plead with The hope of Israel, and put her God in remembrance of this his own name,9 that she might not be ashamed of her hope! And how does she—with every member of her body—eventually learn by this pleading, to say in the confidence of faith, “I know whom I have believed!”10 And is there not a solid ground for this confidence? Is not the “stone that is laid in Zion for a foundation,” a “tried stone?” Has it not been tried by thousands and millions of sinners—nay, more, tried by God himself, and found to be “a sure foundation”1 Yet still, that I may “hold fast the beginning of my confidence,” and “the rejoicing of my hope, firm unto the end,”2 I must persevere in prayer, “Uphold me according unto thy word.” David, when left to his own weakness, was “ashamed of his hope”—“I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes.”3 At another time, when upheld in a season of accumulated trial, “he encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”4 Thus I see “wherein my great strength lieth,” and how impotent I am when left to myself. What a mercy, that my salvation will never for a single moment be in my own keeping! what need have I to pray to be saved from myself! How delightful is the exercise of faith in going to the Strong for strength! The issue of my spiritual conflicts is certain. He who is the author will ever be the upholder, of the “hidden life” in his people. It is a part of his own life, and therefore can never perish. The tempter himself will flee, when he marks the poor, feeble, fainting soul, “upheld according to the word of his God,” and placed in safety beyond the reach of his malice.5 Not, however, that, as I once supposed, my weakness will ever be made strong; but that I shall daily grow more sensible of it, shall stay myself more simply upon infinite everlasting strength; and “most gladly shall I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”6 10 Verses 8, 31. The same frame is marked—Psalm 17:4, 5. 1 1 Cor. 15:10. Compare 2 Peter 2:4. ‘Man’s wisdom is to seek His strength in God alone; And e’en an angel would be weak, Who trusted in his own.’—Cowper. 2 Heb. 4:16. 3 Deut. 33:25. 4 Isaiah 41:10. 5 Psalm 30:5. 6 John 10:10. 7 Verse 114. 8 Heb. 6:18. 19. 9 Jer. 14:6. 10 2 Tim. 1:12. 1 Isa. 28:16. 2 Heb. 3:6, 14. 3 Psalm 21:2. 4 1 Sam. 30:6. 5 See 1 Peter 1:5. 6 2 Cor. 12:9. Psalm 119:117 Uphold me that I may be safe, That I may have regard for Your statutes continually. Uphold me: Ps 17:5 71:6 73:23 139:10 Isa 41:13 Joh 10:28,29 Ro 14:4 1Pe 1:5 Jude 1:24 That I may have regard : Ps 119:6,48,111,112 Uphold me that I may be safe - A great prayer expressing our continual need to recall our great and total dependence upon God and His Spirit in order to live as a believer, a "Christ one", a SUPERnatural life, an abundant life. If He were not for us, all hell and corruption would prevail over us beloved! In Christ, by His grace, we are overcomers!
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Ps. 119:121 The Answer Book I have a large library, and I've written a few books myself, but I cannot point to the books I've written or collected and say that everything in them is absolutely right. In fact, I've been embarrassed to find typographical, factual or other kinds of errors in the ones I've written. Only one book can carry an unqualified endorsement, and that is the Word of God. That's why the psalmist writes, "Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:128). All of the Bible is inspired. That means it is God-breathed. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable" (II Tim. 3:16). Inspiration is a miracle. The Spirit of God spoke through Moses, Isaiah, Matthew, Mark, Paul and others, and each put his own fingerprints on what he wrote. Yet this is God's Word. Remember also that all of God's Word is inerrant. It is absolute truth. What the Bible says about history is correct. What the Bible says about prophecy is correct. Even what it says about science is correct, although it's not a science book. We don't test the Bible by the wisdom of men. We test the wisdom of men by the Bible. This means that we should live by all of Scripture. Jesus said we must live "by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). Every word. Oh, what you might be missing if you are not reading the whole Word of God! Because the Bible is inspired and true, we can go to it and say, "Lord, what should I do?" He has an answer for us. * * * The Bible is a miracle, for it is inspired by God. Live by its wisdom and truth. It leads to a miraculous life when you accept and obey it. (Psalm 119:121-128 The Answer Book) Charles Bridges - There is something very solemn in the reflection, that God has set up a Vicegerent in the heart—an internal Judge, who takes cognizance of every thought, every emotion, every act—determining its character, and pronouncing its sentence. This tribunal tries every cause without respect to persons, time, place, or any circumstances, that might seem to separate it from other cases under the same jurisdiction. No criminal can escape detection from defect of evidence. No earthly power can hinder the immediate execution of the sentence. The sentence then, of this awful Judge, whether “accusing or excusing,”1 is of infinite moment. The ignorant expression, ‘Thank God, I have a clear conscience!’ is used alike by the self-righteous and the careless. The awakened sinner, however, pleads guilty to its accusations, and knows not how to answer them. Blessed be God for the revelation of his Gospel, which proclaims the blood of Jesus—sprinkling the conscience—silencing its charges—and setting before the sinner the way of peace! And now through Jesus, “the new and living way” of access to God, conscience, sitting on the throne—speaks peace and acceptance; and though sins of infirmity will remain, defiling every thought, desire and act, yet, like the motes on the face of the sun in the clearest day, they have little or no influence to obstruct the shining of the cheerful light upon the heart.2 The clearing of conscience is however connected with Christian integrity. “If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.”3 This “testimony of conscience” has often been “the rejoicing”4 of the Lord’s people, when suffering under unmerited reproach or “proud oppression.” They have been enabled to plead it without offence in the presence of their holy heart-searching God5—nay, even when in the near prospect of the great and final account, they might have been supposed to shrink from the strict and unerring scrutiny of their Omniscient Judge.6 But observe the influence of this testimony upon our spiritual comfort. David was at this time under persecution—no new trial to a child of God,7 and one that will never cease, so long as Satan has instruments at his command. But see the blessings which conscious uprightness gave to his prayers, “I have done judgment and justice; leave me not to mine oppressors.” Can my heart and conscience respond to this appeal? Then may I plead my cause before God, “Leave me not to my oppressors. Let not the proud oppress me.” Plead my cause with them. Let my righteousness be made known. Let it be seen, that thou “wilt not leave me in their hand, nor condemn me when I am judged. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me: for I wait on thee.”1 But if any deviation from the exact rule of righteousness between man and man2 has been allowed—if the world charge me as ungodly, because they have proved me unrighteous—then let me not wonder, that “the consolations of God shall be small with me;”3 nor let me expect a return of the Lord’s cheering manifestations, until the Achan has been removed from the camp,4 and by confession to God,5 and reparation to man,6 I have “given glory to the Lord God of Israel.” But let not this appeal be thought to savor of Pharisaical pride. He pleads not merit. He only asserts his innocence—the righteousness of his cause—not of his person. Though upright before man, he ever felt himself a sinner before God. The highest tone of conscious integrity is therefore consistent with the deepest prostration of evangelical humility. The difference is infinite between the proud Pharisee and the upright believer. The Pharisee makes the appeal with undisturbed self-complacency and self-righteous pleading. The believer would ever accompany it with the Publican’s prayer for mercy.7 Instantly—in a deep conviction of need—he appends the supplication, “Be surety for thy servant for good.”8 The keen eye of the world may possibly not be able to affix any blot upon my outward profession; but, “if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities; O Lord, who shall stand?”9 The debt is continually accumulating, and the prospect of payment as distant as ever. I might well expect to be “left to my oppressors,” until I should pay all that was due10 unto my Lord. But behold! “Where is the fury of the oppressor?”11 The surety is found—the debt is paid—the ransom is accepted—the sinner is free. There was a voice heard in heaven, “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.”12 Yes, the Son of God himself became “surety for a stranger,” and “smarted for it.”13 At an infinite cost—the cost of his own precious blood—he delivered me from “mine oppressors”—sin—Satan—the world—death—hell. “It was exacted; and he answered.”14 As Judah in the place of Benjamin, he was ready to stand in my stead before his Father. “I will be surety for him: of mine hand shalt thou require him.”15 As Paul in the stead of Onesimus, he was ready to plead, before the same tribunal, “If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account; I will repay it.”16 Let this subject be ever present to my mind. Well indeed was it for me, that Jesus did not “hate suretyship.”1 Had he refused the vast undertaking, how could I have answered before the bar of God? Or had he undertaken only for those that loved him, again should I have been left without a plea. But when as my surety he has brought me under his yoke, and made me his “servant,” I can plead with acceptance before his throne, “Be surety for thy servant for good”2—for the good which thou knowest me to need—my present and eternal deliverance from my proud oppressors. And do not I need such a surety every moment? And need I be told how fully he has performed the Surety’s part? “So that I may boldly say,” “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. It is Christ that lives. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”3 1 Rom. 2:15. 2 See Heb. 10:19–22. 3 1 John 3:21. 4 2 Cor. 1:12. 5 Samuel—1 Sam. 12:3–5. Nehemiah—13:14, 22. Job—10:7. David—Psalm 7:3–7; 18:20–24; 26:1–6. Paul—Rom. 9:1; and the Apostles—1 Thess. 2:10. 6 Isa. 38:1–3. 7 1 Peter 4:12. 2 Tim. 3:12. 1 Ps. 37:33; 25:21. 2 Matt. 7:12. 3 Job 15:11. Comp. Ps. 66:18. 4 Josh. 7:10–15. 5 Ib. 19. 6 Luke 19:8. 7 Ib. 18:9–13. 8 Comp. Psalm 26:11. Neh. 13:22, with 14—a bold testimony of integrity presented in the character of a sinner. 9 Psalm 130:3. 10 Matt. 18:34. 11 Isaiah 51:13. 12 Job. 33:24 13 Prov. 11:15. 14 Isa. 53:7. Bishop Lowth. 15 Gen. 43:9. 16 Philemon 18, 19. 1 See Prov. 11:15, last clause. 2 Compare Isaiah 38:14, where the same word is used in the original. “Be surety.” “Undertake for me.” The same plea is urged. “Let not the proud oppress me.” “O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake.” The same frame of conflict is marked, “Mine eyes fail for thy salvation,” verse 123. “Mine eyes fail with looking upward.” 3 Psalm 69:3. Rom. 8:33, 34, 1. Psalm 119:122 Be surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the arrogant oppress me. surety (KJV): Ge 43:9 Pr 22:26,27 Isa 38:14 Phm 1:18,19 Heb 7:22 let not (KJV): Ps 119:21 36:11 Be surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the arrogant oppress me - NLT = "Please guarantee a blessing for me. Don't let those who are arrogant oppress me!" Charles Bridges - see comment on v121 Psalm 119:123 My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation And for Your righteous word. Ps 119:81,82 69:3 130:6 143:7 La 4:17 My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation And for Your righteous word - This man has an uplook, with transforms his outlook, a picture of the power of Vertical Vision, a principle that permeates the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. NET Note - Heb "my eyes fail for your deliverance." The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision. See the similar phrase in Ps 119:82. Charles Bridges - And do thine “eyes,” tried believer, begin to “fail?” So did thy Redeemer’s before Thee. He, whom thou hast been recollecting as thy Surety, when he stood in thy place burdened with the intolerable load of thy sin—bearing the weighty strokes of Infinite justice upon his soul—he too was constrained to cry out, “Mine eyes fail, while I wait for my God.”4 Listen, then, to thy deserted Saviour counselling his deserted people; “gifted with the tongue of the learned, that he should know how to speak a word in season to you that are weary”—Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.”5 That our Surety will plead for our good, doubt not. Yet “the vision is for an appointed time.”6 But shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?”7 Salvation—a gift of such comprehensive and en during blessing—is it not worth the waiting trial? Wonderful is that arrangement by which the word of grace is made the word of righteousness! God hath bound himself to us by his promises of grace which are not—yea and nay, but “yea and amen”8—under his own hand and seal. Who that has tried them, but will “set to his seal that God is true?”9 Cheering indeed is the thought, that, amidst the incessant changes in Christian experience, our hope is unchangeably fixed. We may not indeed always enjoy it; but our salvation does not depend upon our present enjoyment of its consolation. Is not the blessing as certain—yea—is not our assurance of an interest in it as clear, when we are brought to the dust under a sense of sin, as if we were “caught up into the third heaven” in a vision of glory? In a season of desertion, therefore, while we maintain a godly jealousy over our own hearts, let us beware of a mistrustful jealousy of God. Distrust will not cure our wound, or quicken us to prayer, or recommend us to the favor of God, or prepare us for the mercy of the Gospel. Complaining is not humility. Prayer without waiting is not faith. The path is plain as noonday. Continue to believe as you can. Wait on the Lord. This is the act of faith, depending on him—the act of hope, looking for him—the act of patience, waiting his time—the act of submission, resigned, even if he should not come. Like thy Saviour, in his “agony” of desertion, “pray more earnestly.”1 Condemn thyself for the sins of which thou art asking forgiveness. Bless him for his past mercy, even if thou shouldest never taste it again. Can he frown thee from his presence? Can he belie his promise to his waiting people?2 Impossible! Nay! while he has taken away the sensible apprehensions of his love, and in its room kindled longing desires for the lost blessing; is not this to show himself—if he be “verily a God that hideth himself”—yet still “the God of Israel, the Saviour?”3 Though he delays his promise, and holds us as it were in suspense; yet he would have us know, that he has not forgotten “the word of his righteousness.” But this is his wise and effectual mode of trying his own gift of faith. And it is this “trial of faith”—and not faith untried—that will be “found to praise, and honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”4 The full consolation of the Gospel is therefore the fruit of patient, humble waiting for the Lord, and of earnest desire, conflicting with impatience and unbelief, and at length issuing in a state of childlike submission and dependence. The man who was here expressing his longing expectation for God’s salvation, was evidently, though unconsciously, in possession of the promise. Nor would he at this moment have exchanged his hope, clouded as it was to his own view, for all “the pleasures of sin,” or the riches of the world. Although at this moment he appeared to be under the partial hidings of his Father’s countenance, yet it is important to observe, that he was not satisfied, as an indolent professor, to “lie upon his face”5 in this sad condition. His “eyes failed with looking upward”—stretched up with earnest expectation to catch the first rising rays of the beaming Sun of Righteousness. He knew, what all Christians know, who walk closely with God, that his perseverance in waiting upon God would issue in the eventual fulfilment of every desire of his heart.6 But can we assuredly plead “the word of his righteousness” for the anticipation of the object of our desire? Have we always an express promise answering to our expectations, “putting God in remembrance”1 of his word? Possibly we may have been asking not “according to his will,”2 and therefore may have “charged God foolishly,”3 as if he had been unfaithful to his word, when no engagement had been pledged: when we had no warrant to build upon from “the word of his righteousness.” If, however, our petition should be found to be agreeable to his word of promise, and faith and patience hold on in submission to his will, we must not, we cannot, suppose, that one tittle that we have asked will fail. Whether the Lord deliver us or not, prayer and waiting will not be lost. It is a blessed posture for him to find us in, such as will not fail to insure his acceptance, even though our request should be denied. An enlivening view of the Saviour is in reserve for us; and “the word of righteousness” will yet speak, “This is the rest, wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing.”4 To every passing doubt and rising fear, oppose this word of his righteousness. But let me bring my own heart to the test. Am I longing for the manifestation of God? Surely if I am content with what I already know, I know very little of the unsearchable depths of the love of Christ; and I have abundant need to pray for more enlarged desires, and a more tender enjoyment of his Divine presence. If faith is not dead, yet it may have lost its conquering and quickening vigor. Let me then exercise my soul in diligent, careful, patient waiting upon God, equally removed from sloth and frowardness—and I shall yet find the truth of that consoling “word of his righteousness,” “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”5 4 Comp. Ps 22:1–3. 5 Isaiah 50:4, 10. 6 Hab. 2:3. 7 Luke 18:7, 8. 8 2 Cor. 1:20. 9 Josh. 23:12. Psalm 111:8, with John 3:33 1 Luke 22:44. 2 Isaiah 30:18; 49:23. 3 Isaiah 45:15. 4 1 Peter 1:7. 5 Joshua 7:10. 6 Fox tells us of Mr. Robert Glover, martyr at Coventry, two or three days before his death, overwhelmed with the prospect of martyrdom, and mentioning to a friend his earnest supplication for the light of God’s countenance, yet without any sense of comfort. His darkness continued up to the period of his arriving within sight of the stake, when suddenly his whole soul was so filled with consolation that he could not forbear clapping his hands and crying out, ‘He is come—he is come.’ He appeared to go up to heaven in a chariot of fire, exhibiting little or no sensibility of his cruel death. Was not this the “word of his righteousness” to one whose “eyes failed the looking for it?”—Fox’s Acts and Monuments, 1555. 1 Isaiah 43:26. 2 1 John 5:14. James 4:3. 3 Job 1:22. 4 Isaiah 28:12; also 30:15. 5 Psalm 97:11. The same plea under similar circumstances of conflict is urged, Psalm 143:1. Psalm 119:124 Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness And teach me Your statutes. Deal: Ps 119:41,76,77,132 Ps 51:1 Ps 69:13,16 79:8 103:10 130:3,4,7 Da 9:18 Lu 18:13 2Ti 1:16-18 teach: Ps 119:12,26 143:10-12 Ne 9:20 Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness (hesed/chesed/heced) And teach me Your statutes - Another great prayer. Unless the Spirit opens our eyes and teaches the Word, the Word is veiled to our natural mind (Lk 24:45+, cf 1Cor 2:14+). Charles Bridges - A sense of mercy, and the privilege of divine teaching, were the earnest of the Lord’s “salvation” for which “the eyes of his servant were failing,” and for which he was waiting in dependence upon the sure “word of his righteousness.” And indeed these two wants daily press upon every “servant” of God as matter for earnest supplication. Both are intimately connected. A deeper sense of mercy will bind us more strongly to his statutes;6 while a more spiritual teaching in the statutes will humble us in a sense of sin, and consequent need of mercy.7 As it respects the first—if there is a sinner upon the earth, who needs the special mercy of God, it is his own “servant.” For as the Lord sees abundantly more excellence in his feeblest desire, than in the professor’s most splendid external duties; so he sees far more sinfulness and provocation in the workings of his sin, than in the palpably defective services of professors, or in the open transgression of “the wicked of the earth.” Let him scrutinize his motives, thoughts, and affections, even in his moments of nearest and happiest approach unto his God; and he will find such defilement cleaving to every offering, with all the aggravations of mercy, light and knowledge, vouchsafed, that the confession of his soul, when comparing himself with his fellow-sinners, will be “Of whom I am chief.”1 And therefore, as a “servant of God,” I can only come before him upon the ground of “mercy.” For my best performances I need an immeasurable world of mercy—pardoning—saving—everlasting mercy; and yet by the blood of Jesus I dare to plead, “Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy.” But then I am ignorant as well as guilty; and yet I dare not pray for teaching—much and hourly as I need it—until I have afresh obtained mercy. These two blessings lead me at once to the foundations of the Gospel—in the work of Christ, and the work of the Spirit—mercy flowing from the blood of the Son2—teaching from the office of the Spirit.3 “Mercy” is the first blessing, not only in point of importance, but in point of order. I must know the Lord as a Saviour, before I can go to him with any confidence to be my teacher. But when once I have found acceptance for my petition, “Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy”—my way will be opened to enlarge my petition—yea, once and again to repeat it, “Teach me thy statutes. Give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies”—that I may know with intelligent conviction, walk, yea, “run in the way of thy commandments”4 with an enlarged heart. For let me never forget, that I am “redeemed from the curse” only—not from the “service of the law”—yea, redeemed from its curse, that I may be bound to its service.5 And does not my especial relation to my God as his servant, furnish me with a plea for his acceptance?6 For when this “earth is full of his mercy”—much more may I, as belonging to his house, plead for the special mercy of his teaching7—his own covenant promise8—so needful for his servant, who desires to know, that he may do, his will.”9 But if I am the Lord’s servant, how did I become so? Time was (let me be ashamed and confounded at the remembrance of it) when I was engaged for another master, and another service.10 But his sovereign grace called me from the dominion of sin—from the chains of Satan—from the bondage of the world, and drew me to himself. “His I am—and him I serve.”1 His service is my highest privilege: his reward of grace is my glorious hope. “If any man serve me,” saith my Master, “let him follow me: and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.”2 As his servant, therefore, I cast myself with confidence upon his mercy, and expect to be “dealt with according to that mercy.” Nay—I shall be denied nothing that I “ask according to his will.” For he has condescended to call me—not “his servant,” but “his friend”3—yea more, to call himself “my brother.”4 Lord! thou hast shown me this great favor and grace to make me “thy servant.” I would be thine forever. I love thy service too well to wish to change it; yet must I mourn over my dulness, my backwardness in doing thy will, and walking in thy way. Oh! “teach me thy statutes” more clearly, more experimentally! “Give me understanding” to discern their heavenly sweetness and their holy liberty, that I may live in a more simple and devoted obedience to them, until I come to see thy face, and to be “thy servant” in thy heavenly temple, “no more to go out.”5 6 Ps 116:12–14. 7 Jer. 31:19. 1 1 Tim. 1:15. 2 Eph. 1:7. 3 John 14:26; 16:13. 4 Ps 119:32. 5 Gal. 2:19. Luke 1:74, 75. 6 Ps 119:94. Ps. 143:12. 7 Ps 119:64. 8 Heb. 8:10. 9 Ps 119:33, 34; 86:11; 143:8, 10. 10 Rom. 6:16, 20. Titus 3:3. 1 Acts 27:23. 2 John 12:26. 3 Jn. 15:15. 4 Jn. 20:17. Heb. 2:11, 12. 5 Rev. 7:15; 3:12. The Annals of the Reformation furnish a beautiful record of George of Anhalt—a godly young prince, of twelve years old. ‘He put up constant and fervent prayer to God, beseeching him to bring his heart under the power of the truth; and often, in the privacy of his cabinet, he exclaimed, with tears—Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes. His prayers were answered. Under strong conviction, and constrained to action upon it, he fearlessly ranged himself on the side of the Gospel.’—D’Aubigné’s History of the Reformation, Book v. ch. 6. Psalm 119:125 I am Your servant; give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies. I am Your servant: Ps 119:94 86:16 116:16 Ro 6:22 give me understanding: Ps 119:34,66 2Ch 1:7-10 2Co 3:5,6 2Ti 2:7 Jas 1:5 3:13-17 That I may know Your testimonies. : Ps 119:11,18,19,29 Pr 9:10 14:8 PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING I am Your servant - I am you ''ebed, your bondservant. Would you call yourself a bondservant of Christ? The Septuagint translates ''ebed with doulos describing one bound to another in servitude and conveys the idea of the slave's close, binding ties with his master, belonging to him, obligated to and desiring to do his will and in a permanent relation of servitude. In sum, the will of the doulos is consumed in the will of the master. A bondservant is one who surrendered wholly to another’s will and thus devoted to another to the disregard of his own interest. Paul and Timothy were not their own but had been bought with the price of the blood of Christ. They were now the property of our Lord Jesus Christ and were His slaves exclusively. No man can serve two masters (Mt 6:24+). Paul and Timothy had been slaves of Sin (see note on "the Sin") by their birth into Adam's likeness, but now they are slaves of Christ by their new, second birth. They had no will of their own, no business of their own, no time of their own and were acting for their Master, Christ; dependent upon Him and obedient to Him. Bondservant was a name applied to many in the Old Testament, even the Messiah, so it was used particularly of godly men: 1). Abraham Ps 105:6, 42, Ge 26:24 , Jos 1:2 2). Job Job 1:8; 2:3; 42:7,8 3). Joshua Jos 24:29; Jdg 2:8 4). David Ps 89:3, 20;Ps18:1 Je33:21, Eze 34:23, 2Sa 3:18, 7:5, 7:8, 1Ki 8:24, 8:25,26 1Ki 11:14, 1Ki 11:32,34,38, 1Ki 14:8, 2Ki 19:34, 2Ki 20:6, 1Ch 17:4,7, 2Chr 6:15,16, Isa 37:35 , Jer 33:21,22,26, Ezek 34:23,24,37:24,25 (1Ki 8:28 Solomon called himself a servant but God did not!) 5). Eliakim Isa 22:20 6). Zerubbabel Hag 2:23 7). Caleb Nu 14:24 8). Moses Nu 12:7,8, Lxx = therapon; 2Ki 21:8, Mal 4:4 latter two uses in Lxx = doulos 9). Isaiah Isa 20:3 10) Israel (Jacob)...the land Isa 41:8,9,44:1,2 ,44:21 ,45:4 ,49:3 ,Jer 30:10, 46:27,28, Eze 28:25 11). Messiah: Isa 42:1,19,43:10, 49:5,6, 52:13,53:11, Zech 3:8 (Branch) 12). Nebuchadnezzar Jer 25:9, 27:6, 43:10 Give me understanding - A good prayer to pray frequently! A command, not like we can command God to do something, but reflecting our desperate desire for Him to answer. Understanding (discern, consider) (0995)(bin/biyn) conveys the same idea as our word discrimination. It entails the idea of making a distinction as in 1Ki 3:9 where Solomon ask God for the ability "to discern (bin/biyn) between good and evil". Many of the OT uses of bin/biyn are translated "understanding," an understanding which is the result of comparative "study" or "mental separation". Septuagint = Sunetizo (aorist imperative) not found in NT - means actively to cause to understand or in passive to be given insight. It is notable that 7 of the 16 uses in the Septuagint are in Psalm 119 and most are a plea to God for understanding! How important is this prayer? That's rhetorical of course. It is clearly very important, even vital for a bondservant to know His Master's will. All uses of sunetizo Neh. 8:7; Neh. 8:9; Neh. 9:20; Ps. 16:7; Ps. 32:8; Ps. 119:27; Ps. 119:34; Ps. 119:73; Ps. 119:125; Ps. 119:130; Ps. 119:144; Ps. 119:169; Dan. 8:16; Dan. 9:22; Dan. 10:14 That I may know Your testimonies - The purpose of praying for understanding. Knowing His testimonies is knowing Him. Testimonies (05713) is from word denoting permanence or from root "ud" meaning return or repeat, do again which conveys the idea of witness by reiteration, emphatically affirms the testimony. A Witness refers to someone who will be accepted to bear a true testimony in various situations for various reasons. Charles Bridges - see comment on v124 Integrity—Is It Possible? Give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies. — Psalm 119:125 Today's Scripture: Psalm 119:121-128 Samuel DiPiazza, CEO of a major public accounting firm, co-authored a book on building trust in the business world. The book proposes a spirit of transparency, a culture of accountability, and a people of integrity. But in an interview in Singapore, he noted there is one thing the book cannot teach—integrity. “Either you have it or you don’t,” he said. Is he right? In our world of shifting standards, can integrity be acquired by those who don’t have it? The answer is found in our unchanging standard—God’s Word, the Bible. David the psalmist did not head a multinational corporation. But he did rule over a kingdom, and he was serious about doing what was right. He recognized how easy it is to slide down the slippery path of unethical behavior simply because it seems advantageous. So David asked God, “Teach me Your statutes” (Ps. 119:124). “Give me understanding,” he said, “that I may know Your testimonies” (v.125). David hated “every false way,” and based his life on the principle that “all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right” (v.128). For Further Study How can faith flourish in a hostile work environment? Read Daniel: Spiritual Living In A Secular Culture on the Web at www.discoveryseries.org/q0724 The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out. —Macauley Related Resources: Integrity - A Whole Heart Daniel - Man of Integrity Are You Entangled? Psalm 119:126 It is time for the LORD to act, For they have broken Your law. time (KJV): Ps 9:19 102:13 Ge 22:10,11,14 De 32:36 Isa 42:14 to work (KJV): That is, "to take vengeance," as {asah} signifies, Jer 18:23; Mal 3:17, by an ellipsis of the noun. When infidels, profligates, and Pharisees, "make void the law of God," generally, then it is time for God to arise to vindicate His own honour and maintain His cause among men. they (KJV): Jer 8:8 Hab 1:4 Mal 2:8 Mt 15:6 Ro 3:31 4:14 It is time for the LORD to act, For they have broken Your law. Charles Bridges - If I desire a more spiritual understanding of the revelation of God, how can I but mourn to witness its awful neglect and contempt? It seems as if the ungodly not only sin against it, but would drive it out of the world.6 They make it void—denying its power to rule, to annul its power to punish. Oh! let us cherish that distinguishing feature of the Lord’s people, “sighing and crying for all the abominations of the land,”7—that we cannot hear or see the name of God dishonored, without feeling as for our Father’s wounded reputation.8 Can we suffer the world quietly to go on their course? Must we not throw in our weight of influence, whatever it may be, to stem the flowing torrent: and when (as, alas! is too often the case) all efforts are unavailing, carry the cause to the Lord, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work?” This deprecation does not contradict the law of love which requires us to love, pray for, and to bless our enemies;1 for the Lord’s people are not angry for their own cause, but for His. David had no regard to his own honor, but to God’s law. He had not injured his enemies. He had labored to “overcome their evil with good.”2 He had often wept for their sins,3 and prayed for their conversion.4 But all was in vain. ‘Now, Lord, take the rod into thine own hand, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work.” ’ This was true zeal—zeal of the Spirit, not of the flesh. How gracious is our God in permitting his servants thus to plead with him, and, as it were, to give him no rest, until5 “he shall arise,” and work, and sit upon the throne of the kingdoms of the earth! But why does he not break out with some overpowering manifestation of his power? They are “his sword and rod” for the chastening of his people,6 to discipline their watchfulness into constant exercise.7 They are the trial of their faith—believing the Lord’s justice against apparent inconsistency,8 and of their patience “waiting the set time of deliverance.9 Thus they become a profitable ministry for the Church—and this valuable end accomplished, God works his own work upon them,10 and “will avenge his own elect speedily.”11 Meanwhile—waiting for this “little while,” let us “live by faith.”12 Let us be found on the Lord’s side—laboring for sinners—pleading with their hardness and rebellion in our Master’s name, and for our Master’s sake. Let all the weight of personal exertion and influence, consistent example, and wrestling supplication, be concentrated in “coming to the help of the Lord against the mighty.”13 Let us see to it, that, if we cannot do what we would, we do what we can.14 And if at last overborne by the torrent of ungodliness, we shall find our refuge and rest in pleading with our Lord for the honor of his name—“Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.”15 “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.”16 Often, when He has seen “it time for him to work,” have his judgments made the earth to tremble. “Sodom and Gomorrah” have “known the power of his anger, and are “set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”17 And when his “time to work” is fully come, what is all the resistance of earth and hell, but as “setting the briers and thorns against him in battle?” “I would” saith he, “go through them. I would burn them together.1” A word—a frown—a look—is destruction. “He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?”2 Or “who hath resisted his will?”3 But what shall we say of that stupendous work of his hand, by which—when men “had made void his law”—when no restrictions could bind, no forbearance win them—when he “saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor, therefore his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness, it sustained him?”4 Surely, if we could conceive the hosts of heaven to have taken up this expression of ardent concern for the glory of God, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work”—they could little have thought of such a work as this—they could never have conceived to themselves such an unlooked-for, combined display of power, justice, and mercy. To set at nought then this work—is it not to refuse all hope—all remedy? To persist in “making void the law” after so magnificent an exhibition of Almighty working—must it not expose the transgressors to reap the fruit of their own obstinacy, and to prepare to meet him as their Judge, whom they refuse to receive as their Saviour? Nor must they wonder, if the Lord’s people, with a holy indignation against sin, and fervent zeal for his glory, should appeal to his faithfulness for the fulfilment of his judgments, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.” 6 Exodus 5:2. Psalm 12:4. 7 Ezekiel 9:4. 8 What a Christian ought to feel under these circumstances, let us learn from the following extract of the diary of the saintly Martyn. Upon hearing at Shiraz, in the course of his disputations, some reproach of his Saviour’s name, he writes thus:—‘I was cut to the soul by this blasphemy. In prayer I could think of nothing else but that great day, when the Son of God should come in the clouds of heaven, “taking vengeance on them that know not God,” and convince men of all their hard speeches which they have spoken against him.’ (We might almost think that this verse was upon his mind at this moment.) ‘Mirza Seid Ali perceived that I was considerably disordered, and was sorry for having repeated the verse, but asked what it was that was so offensive. I told him, that I could not endure existence if Jesus were not glorified; that it would be hell to me if he were to be always thus dishonored. He was astonished, and again asked the reason why. ‘If any one pluck out your eyes,’ I replied, ‘there is no saying why you feel pain. It is feeling. It is because I am one with Christ, that I am thus dreadfully wounded.’ On his again apologizing, I told him, ‘that I rejoiced at what had happened, inasmuch as it made me feel nearer me Lord than ever.’ It is when the head or heart is struck, that every member feels its membership.’—Martyn’s Life, p. 420, 8vo edition. 1 Matt. 5:44. 2 Ps. 35:11–14. 3 Ps 119:136, 158. 4 Ps. 83:16. 5 Isaiah 62:7. 6 Ps. 17:13, 14. Isa. 10:5, 6. 7 Ps. 59:11. 8 Ib. 73:16–18. 9 Rev. 13:10. 10 Isaiah 10:12. 11 Luke 18:8. 12 Heb. 10:37, 38. 13 Judges 5:23. 14 Mark 14:8. 15 Ps. 74:18; also 10, 11, 22. 16 Gen. 6:3. 17 Jude 7. 1 Isaiah 27:4. 2 Job 9:4. 3 Rom. 9:19. 4 Isa. 59:16. Psalm 119:127 Therefore I love Your commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold. I love (KJV): Ps 119:72 19:10 Pr 3:13-18 8:11 16:16 Mt 13:45,46 Eph 3:8 Therefore - Term of conclusion, based on the truth in Ps 119:126 that divine judgment is imminent, this truth motivates his loyalty to God's law. I love Your commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold - Gold perishes. Gold corrupts many a heart. God's Word endures. God's Word heals and edifies. There is simply no comparison between gold and God (exception 3 identical letters!) Charles Bridges - Therefore I love thy commandments. Yes—shall they not have double valuation in mine eyes, for the scorn and reproach which the world cast upon them? They count them dross—I love them above gold—yea, above fine gold. This hope, confidence, and idol of the worldling,5 the love of which has been the ruin of thousands,6—is not the commandment of God more to be desired than it?7 “The merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. It is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto it.”8 Here has the Lord unlocked to us his golden treasure, and enriched our souls with “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” This image brings the miser before us. His heart and treasure are in his gold. With what delight he counts it! with what watchfulness he keeps it! hiding it in safe custody, lest he should be despoiled of that which is dearer to him than life. Such should Christians be: spiritual misers: counting their treasure, which is “above fine gold;” and “hiding it in their heart,”9 in safe keeping, where the great despoiler shall not be able to reach it. Oh, Christians! how much more is your portion to you than the miser’s treasure! Hide it; watch it; retain it. You need not be afraid of covetousness in spiritual things: rather “covet earnestly”1 to increase your store: and by living upon it, and living in it, it will grow richer in extent, and more precious in value. But have I through Divine grace been enabled to withdraw my love from the unworthy objects, which once possessed it; and to fix it on that which alone offers satisfaction? Let me attempt to give a reason to myself of the high estimation in which I hold it as infinitely transcending those things which the world ventures their all—even their temporal happiness—to obtain. “Therefore I love the commandments of God above gold: yea, above fine gold”—because, while the world, and my own heart have only combined to flatter me, they have discovered to me my real state, as a self-deceived,2 guilty,3 defiled4 sinner before God: because they have been as a “schoolmaster to bring me to Christ”5—the only remedy for sin, the only rest for my soul. “I love them;” because they have often supplied wholesome reproofs in my wanderings; and plain directions in my perplexity. “I love them:” because they restrict me from that which would prove my certain ruin; and because in the way of obedience to them, the Lord has “accepted me with my sweet savor.”6 Should I not “love them?” Can “gold, yea, fine gold,” offer to me blessings such as these? Can it heal my broken heart? Can it give relief to my wounded spirit? Has it any peace or prospect of comfort for me on my death-bed? And what cannot—what has not—what will not—the precious word of God do at that awful season of trial? O my God, I would be deeply ashamed, that “I love thy commandments” so coldly—that they are so little influential upon my conduct—that they so often give place to objects of comparative nothingness in thy sight. O that my heart might be wholly and habitually exercised in them, that I may find the “work of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever?”7 5 Job 31:24. 6 1 Tim. 6:9, 10. 7 Psalm 19:10. 8 Prov. 3:14, 15. 9 Verse 11. Augustine tells us of himself, that while a Manichee, he slighted the Scripture for the plainness of its style, which appeared to him (from a false standard of criticism) not to be compared with the dignity of Ciceronian eloquence. (Visa mihi est indigna scriptura quam Tullianæ dignitati compararem. Confess. lib. iii. cap. 5.) But after his blessed acquaintance with Christ, though Tully was still read with pleasure, yet this thing alone, said he, abated his former interest—that the name of Christ was not there. Lib. 3:4. 1 1 Cor. 12:31. 2 Rom. 7:9. 3 James 2:10. 4 Rom. 7:14. 5 Gal. 3:24. 6 Ezek. 20:41. Comp. Isa. 64:5. 7 Isa. 32:17. London music student Richard Steel prized the old violin that had once been his grandfather's. One day Richard tried to help a bus driver who couldn't get close to the curb because of a barrier. Putting aside his old violin, he removed the obstacle. But then the driver, unable to see the books and the violin, drove over them. The crushed books could be replaced. And the old violin, though valued for sentimental reasons, could be replaced too--or could it? As Richard examined his splintered instrument, inside he found the signature of Stradivarius, the greatest of all violin makers. The old violin was a priceless and irreplaceable masterpiece. The Sotheby auction firm estimated that it had been worth more than $700,000. Many families pass treasured Bibles from one generation to the next as spiritual heirlooms. But these treasures are often treated as mere antiques while their pages go unread and their promises remain unclaimed. The message of salvation goes unheeded. Its true value is never realized. Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine, And jewels rich and rare Are hidden in its mighty depths For every searcher there. -Hodder Many people store the Bible on the shelf instead of in their heart. Psalm 119:128 Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way. I esteem (KJV): Ps 119:6 19:7,8 De 4:8 Job 33:27 Pr 30:5 Ro 7:12,14,16,22 all things (KJV): {Kol,} "all" seems to have been omitted by all the versions, except the Chaldee; which reads simply, "all thy precepts;" and this renders the text more perspicuous and unembarrassed. and I (KJV): Ps 119:104,118 Therefore - Another term of conclusion. NLT = "Truly, each of your commandments is right. That is why I hate every false way." I esteem (piel perfect) right all Your precepts concerning everything - To hold the Bible in high esteem is the mark of a true saint. It should be more precious to us than any earthly treasure. The Bible is a banquet table, not a snack tray Henry
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Ps. 119:129 A Perfect Book Have you ever faced the problems of dullness, darkness and dryness? Certain days come to us that are simply dull. There may be sameness and tameness about them. And sometimes we have to go through periods of darkness, and we wonder what in the world God is doing. Or we experience dryness--we are so spiritually dry, hungry and thirsty. What is the answer to dullness? The Word of God. "Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them" (Psalm 119:129). Life cannot be dull when we read and obey the Bible. It has a way of taking the ordinary things of life and making them wonderful. When our minds and hearts are filled with Scripture, everything we see appears different. What is the answer to darkness? "The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple" (v. 130). Entrance means the opening up, the expounding, the unfolding of God's Word. As Scripture is explained to us, it illuminates us. If you find yourself in darkness today, read your Bible, and it will give you light. What is the answer to dryness? Sometimes we feel so dry and needy. "I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for Your commandments" (Psalm 119:131). The Word of God is like fresh air when we feel smothered, like water when we are parched, like food when we are famished. * * * If you are having a dull, dark or dry day, turn to the Word of God. Its truths will brighten your soul, and its promises will encourage you. God designed the Bible to meet your needs. So when the discouraging days come, feed your mind and heart with the Word. (Psalm 119:129-136 A Perfect Book) Charles Bridges - Can the professor make this acknowledgment? He knows only the letter—the shell, which excites no interest. Yet hidden from his eye is an unsearchable depth, which will make the believer a learner to the end of his life. Even he, who “was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter,”1 was brought to this adoring contemplation. “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”2 Every way indeed is this revelation worthy of him, the first letter of whose name is “Wonderful.”3 It lays open to the heaven-taught soul, what “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man.”4 Think of the Creator of the world becoming a creature—yea, “a curse for”5 man. Think of man—guilty and condemned—made just with God by a righteousness not his own.6 Think of God bringing out of the ruinous fall more glory to himself, and more happiness to man, than from his former innocence—in the display of his mercy—the glory of his justice, and the investment of sinners—not, as before, with a creature’s righteousness, security, and reward, but with his own righteousness,7 guardianship,8 and glory.9 Think how “the way into the holiest of all is” thus “made manifest.”10 Think how abounding grace is the death as well as the pardon of sin11—the present as well as the everlasting life of the soul.12 These are among the stupendous discoveries of the sacred book, that bow the humble and reflecting mind to the confession, “Thy testimonies are wonderful!” Let us therefore join with the Apostle, in “bowing our knees to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”—that we “might be able to comprehend with all saints” (for, blessed be God! the privilege is common to all his people) “what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height: and to know the” unsearchable “love of Christ,”13 “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”14 And how delightful is the recollection of these “testimonies” being our “heritage forever!”15 For they are not less “wonderful” in their practical fulness, than in their deep unfathomable mysteries of love. Such is the infinite enlargement of this “heritage,” that he, who foreknew every thought that would find an entrance into the minds of his people, has here secretly laid up seasonable direction and encouragement for every, even the most minute, occasion and circumstance of need. Here again is wrapped up, in words fitted by wisdom to receive the revelation, all that intercourse between God and man, throughout all ages of the Church, which is treasured up in the vast unsearchable depository of the Divine mind and purpose. Can we then forbear repeating the exclamation, “Thy testimonies are wonderful?” But it is not enough to ‘adore the fulness of Scripture:’16 We must seek to imbibe and exhibit its practical influence. Holy admiration of the “testimonies” will kindle spiritual devotedness to them, “Therefore doth my soul keep them.” The stamp of Divine authority upon them, while it deepens our reverence, commands our steady and cheerful obedience. To keep them is our privilege, no less than our obligation; and in this path we shall delight to persevere to the end. But how affecting is the thought of the mass, who look at these wonders with a careless or unmeaning eye, unconscious of their interesting import! They pass by the door of the treasury, hardly condescending to look aside into it: or only taking a transient glance, which comprehends nothing of its inexhaustible stores. “I have written to them,” saith the Lord, “the great things of my law: but they are counted as a strange thing.”1 But far more wonderful is it, that we, enlightened, in answer to prayer,2 with “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation”3—should often be so indifferent to the mysteries of redeeming love here unfolded before us, and should experience so little of their practical influence! Oh! let the recollection of our indolence, and want of conformity to them, never cease to humble us. Let us not enter into the testimonies as a dry task, or an ordinary study; but let us concentrate our minds, our faith, humility, and prayer, in a more devoted contemplation of them. Every such exercise will extend our view of those parts, with which we had conceived ourselves to have been competently acquainted: opening a new field of wonders on every side, far beyond our present contracted apprehensions.4 And can any joy be imagined so sublime as the adoring contemplation of this revelation? It reflects even to angels a new and glorious manifestation of their God.1 It engages their every faculty with intense admiration and delight.2 And while they behold and worship with self-abasement, their obedience is lively. “With twain he” (the seraphim before the throne) “covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”3 Thus may we study the same lessons, and with the same spirit! May our contemplation humble us in the dust, and animate us in the service of our God! “Thy testimonies are wonderful; therefore doth my soul keep them.” 1 2 Cor. 12:4. 2 Rom. 11:33. 3 Isa. 9:6. 4 1 Cor. 2:9. 5 John 1:1–3, 14, with Gal. 3:13. Phil. 2:6–8. 6 Rom. 3:19–22. 7 Jer. 23:6. 1 Cor. 1:30. 8 John 6:39; 10:28. Col. 3:3, 4. 9 John 17:21–24. Rev. 3:21. 10 Heb. 9:8, with 10:19, 20. 11 Rom. 5:20, with 6:1–6. 12 John 4:14; 6:57; 14:6, 19. 13 Eph. 3:14, 18, 19. 14 Col. 2:3. 15 Ps 119:111. 16 ‘Adoro plenitudinem Scripturarum,’ was the exclamation of Tertullian—‘in which posture of holy admiration,’ said the deeply learned and pious Dr. Owen, ‘I desire my mind may be found while I am in this world.’ ‘What do I not owe to the Lord for permitting me to take a part in the translation of his word? Never did I see such wonders, and wisdom, and love, in the blessed book, as since I have been obliged to study every expression; and it is a delightful reflection, that death cannot deprive us of the pleasure of studying its mysteries.’—Martyn’s Life, p. 271. The same testimony was given by a kindred spirit employed in the same work. Shortly before his death, Dr. Buchanan, giving to a friend some details of his laborious revisions of his Syriac Testament, suddenly stopped and burst into tears. On recovering himself, he said, ‘I am not ill, but I was completely overcome with the recollection of the delight which I had enjoyed in this exercise. At first I was disposed to shrink from the task as irksome, and apprehended that I should find even the Scriptures fail by the frequency of this critical examination. But so far from it, every fresh perusal seemed to throw fresh light on the word of God, and to convey additional joy and consolation to my mind.’ ‘How delightful,’ observes his biographer, ‘is the contemplation of a servant of Christ thus devoutly engaged in his heavenly Master’s work, almost to the very moment of his transition to the Divine source of light and truth itself!’ 1 Hosea 8:12. 2 See verse 18. 3 Eph. 1:17, 18. 4 Augustine found this so experimentally true, that he tells us, ‘that though he should with better capacity and greater diligence study all his life-time, from the beginning of his childhood to decrepit age, nothing else but the Holy Scriptures; yet they are so compacted and thickly set with truths, that he might daily learn something which before he knew not.’—Aug. Epis. To this truth the late venerable Antistes Hess set his seal at the age of eighty-six, when he informed a young missionary to the Jews, that ‘for seventy years the word of God had been the daily object of his unremitting researches; and that still he discovered in it new traces of the mysterious love and wisdom of God.’—Jewish Expositor, Nov. 1825. 1 Eph. 3:10. 2 See 1 Pet. 1:12. 3 Isa. 6:2. Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Unfolding - Ps 119:105 Pr 6:23 Isa 8:20 Lu 1:77-79 Ac 26:18 2Co 4:4,6 Eph 5:13,14 2Pe 1:19 Gives: Ps 19:7 Pr 1:4,22,23 9:4-6 Ro 16:18,19 2Ti 3:15-17 SPIRITUAL LIGHT FROM SPIRITUAL WORDS The unfolding of Your words gives light: Pr 29:13 Ps 19:8, Ex 4:11: Scripture give satisfactory light to the mind upon every subject treated; and speedily communicates more useful knowledge to the simplest believer, taking them from spiritual immaturity as a baby who can't talk (1Co 3:1) or take solid food to a mature man (Heb 5:12-14), to full stature (Ep 4:13), to Christlikeness. The word succinctly & accurately uncovers more on the the most important concerns of mankind than all the acutest philosophers have been able to develop through successive ages. Unfolding (06608)(pethach from pathach = open wide) means revelation, formally, opening, unfolding, disclosure of knowledge or an understanding of something difficult. Figurative extension of opening or doorway of an entrance. LIGHT = JESUS > Jn1:9, Jn 3:19, 20, 21, Jn 8:12, 9:5, 2Ti 1:10 Isa 9:2 Mal 4:2 It gives understanding to the simple. Job 33:16,17 2Co 4:6 Ac16:14 2Cor 3:14,15,16 Rev 3:18 2Cor 3:14,15,16 Rev 3:18 JOB 33:16,17 Isa 29:10-14, Jn 8:12 Charles Bridges - ‘So “Wonderful are thy testimonies,” gracious God, that even by touching as it were only their threshold, “the entrance of thy words giveth light and understanding unto” my heart. The study commenced in simplicity and prayer, opens an “entrance” to the first dawning “light” of the word into the soul; often only sufficient to make darkness visible, but still “shining more and more unto the perfect day.”5 Indeed all the spiritual light known in this dark world has flowed from the word, forcing its “entrance,” like the beams of the sun, upon the opening eyes of “a man that was born blind.” It is a most striking instance of Divine condescension, that this word—so “wonderful” in its high and heavenly mysteries—should yet open a path so plain, that the most unlearned may find and walk in it.6 Indeed the entrance of the word into unintellectual and uncultivated minds, often gives an enlargement and elevation of thought which is the earnest of the restoration of man to his original glory, when doubtless every mental as well as spiritual faculty was “filled with all the fulness of God.”7 So astonishing is the power of this heavenly light, that from any one page of this holy book, a child or even an idiot, under heavenly teaching, may draw more instruction than the most acute philosopher could ever obtain from any other fountain of light! Nay—he may acquire a more intelligent perception of its contents, than the student, untaught by the Spirit of God, who may have devoted to its study the persevering industry of many successive years. For very possible is it to be possessed of all the treasures of literature, and yet to remain in total ignorance of everything that is most important for a sinner to know.8 The Apostle’s paradox unfolds the secret, “If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.”1 We do not mean to disparage human wisdom; but it is the pride of wisdom, so opposed to the simplicity of the Gospel, which prevents us from “sitting at the feet of Jesus, and hearing his word.” It makes the teacher instruct in “the words of man’s wisdom,” rather than in the knowledge of “Christ and him crucified;”2 and hinders the learner from receiving Christ in the light and love of the truth. It is painful to remember how much light may be shining around us on every side, without finding an “entrance” into the heart. “The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”3 Not only the pride of human reason, but the love of sin, shuts out the light, “Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.”4 And thus because “the eye is evil, the whole body is full of darkness;” and “if the light that is in them is darkness, how great is that darkness!”5 Most awful is the view given us of the conflict between the contending powers of light and darkness—“The god of this world blinding the eyes of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”—the Almighty God resisting his hateful influence, and shining into the hearts “of his people, ‘to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”6 How necessary is it to watch vigilantly against the pride that “rebels against the light,”7 and the indifference that neglects to cherish it!’ How much more “entrance” would have been given to the word, and consequently how much clearer would have been the diffusion of light in the soul, were we as earnest and diligent in secret prayer for heavenly teaching, as we are accustomed to be in the public hearing of the word! But the enthusiast is not satisfied with the light of the word. The delusion of his own heart dreams of a light within—an immediate revelation of the Spirit, independent of the word. It cannot however be safe to separate the light of the Spirit from the light of the word. The word indeed moves in subserviency to the Spirit; but the light of the Spirit is nowhere promised separate from the word. If it does not always guide directly by the word; yet it is only manifested in the direction of the word. The word is in the matter, if not in the mode; and, though the Spirit may by immediate light direct us to any path of duty, yet it is invariably to that path, which had been previously marked by the light of the word. Thus the Spirit and the word conjointly become our guide—the Spirit enlightening and quickening the word—and the word evidencing the light of the Spirit. Nor will their combined influence ever leave the church of God, until she has joyfully and completely entered into Immanuel’s land, where she shall need no other light, than that of the glory of God, and of the Lamb, which shall shine in her forever.1 But—Reader—rest not satisfied with whatever measure of light may have been hitherto vouchsafed. Seek that the word may have “an entrance ministered unto you abundantly.” The most advanced believer is most ready to acknowledge, how much of the word yet remains unexplored before him.2 Cultivate the disposition of simplicity—the spirit of a “little child”3—willing to receive, embrace, submit to, whatever the revelation of God may produce before you. There will be many things that we do not understand; but there is nothing that we shall not believe. “Thus saith the Lord—” is sufficient to satisfy reverential faith. To this spirit the promise of heavenly light is exclusively made, “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The meek will he guide in judgment; the meek will he teach his way.”4 It is beautiful to see a man, like Solomon, endued with enlarged powers of mind5—acknowledging himself to be a little child;6 afraid of trusting in his own light; and seeking instruction from above. But never will a proud unhumbled mind know the benefit of this Divine instruction. To such a student, the Bible must ever be a dark book; since it is its very design to destroy that disposition which he brings to the inquiry. That knowledge, therefore, which is unable to direct our way to heaven—nay, which by closing the avenues of spiritual light, obstructs our entrance thither, is far more a curse than a blessing. Far more glorious is the simplicity of the word than the wisdom of the world. “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said; I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.”7 5 Prov. 4:18. 6 Isaiah 35:8. 7 Eph. 3:19. Comp. Col. 3:10. 8 ‘A very extraordinary thing,’ said one, ‘if I, who have read the Bible over and over in the original languages, have studied it day and night, and have written criticism and comments on it—a very extraordinary thing that I should not be able to understand that meaning in the Scriptures, which is said to be so plain, that a “wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err” in the discovering of it.’ And so it is extraordinary, until we open the Bible; and there we see the fact explained. The man who approaches the word of God in his own wisdom, shall not find what the “fool” will discover under the teaching of Divine wisdom. “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent;” and “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.”—Cecil’s Remains. 1 1 Cor. 3:18. 2 Compare 1Cor. 2:1–4. 3 John 1:5, “apprehended it not.”—Scott. “Admitted it not.”—Campbell. 4 John 3:19, 20. 5 Matt. 6:23. 6 Comp. 2 Cor. 4–6. 7 Job 24:13. 1 See Rev. 21:23. 2 See the testimonies cited in the notes on the preceding verse. 3 Matt. 18:3. 4 Ps. 19:7; 25:9. 5 1 Kings 4:29–34. 6 1Ki. 3:7. 7 Luke 10:21. J C Philpot - The word “simple” means literally something which is not folded or twisted together. But owing to the treacherous and desperately deceitful heart of man, all, without exception, in a state of nature are the reverse of this. All their plots and contrivances for worldly profit or fleshly pleasure are tangled and complicated; and they are continually twisting together some thread or other of carnal policy. But when God the Holy Ghost begins the work of grace upon the souls of the elect, He proceeds (if I may use the expression) to untwist them. He takes hold of that rope which Satan and their own hearts have been twisting together for years, and He untwists it throughout its whole lenght, so as to leave the strands not intertwined as before, but riven, separated, and torn from each other. The light that shines into the soul out of the fulness of Jesus discovers to a man the tortuousness, the crookedness, the complicated deceit and hypocrisy of which he is guilty. A man then is made “simple,” when the folds and rumples of his heart are shaken out, and he is brought to see and feel that God looks into him; that His eye penetrates into every recess of his bosom; and that there is not a thought in his heart, nor “a word in his tongue, but the Lord knoweth it altogether.” This character is aptly represented by Nathaniel. He had gone through this untwisting work in his soul. He had been under the fig-tree, and whilst kneeling and praying there, the eye of God looked into him, and just as a flash of lightning runs, in a moment, through a coil of wire, so, when the eye of God looked into Nathaniel’s soul, that instantaneous flash unravelled and untwisted the devices of his heart, and made him a simple man before him—“an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile.” Ears from Harvested Sheaves. James Hastings - THE OPENING OF GOD’S WORD The opening of thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple.—Ps. 119:130 1. THE section of the psalm in which the text occurs is a gem of spiritual beauty. In verse after verse we are led through the deep places of religious faith and love, and the Psalmist guides our feet like one conversant with the holiest secrets of the spiritual pilgrim’s way. His thoughts are perennial, and his words sound like the utterance of a believing soul here and now in this present generation. “God’s word is wonderful, mysterious.” It holds a great mystery which is an offence to the pretentious intellectualism of the wise, but in this very wonderfulness the obedient soul finds rest. Through obedience comes fuller knowledge. “God’s word opens.” And fuller knowledge creates fuller trust and devotion. For “the light grows with the opening of the word,” and in it there is no darkness at all. New light produces new longing, a more eager “panting” of the spirit for the word of God. The longing for God’s word quickly reveals itself as a longing for God Himself, a hungering for His mercy and love. In the vision of God’s face the desire for purity of life is intensified and the soul pleads for deliverance from the “dominion of iniquity.” Then the man rises into full consciousness of his privilege as one of God’s freemen, whom no power shall enslave and no fetters shall bind. “The oppression of man shall not hold him in bondage.” And so he stands in the gladness of spiritual strength while God’s face “shines upon him” like the sun from heaven. Living in God’s light, his heart, like God’s, becomes full of compassion for a sinful world. As the Son of God in later days wept for the sins and woes of Jerusalem, so this ancient Psalmist says: “Mine eyes run down with rivers of water, because they observe not thy law.” 2. The object of Christian faith may be compared to a jewel enclosed in a casket. The jewel is the Lord Jesus Christ; the casket is the Bible. Now, we believe that a man may possess the jewel who has never seen the casket, or who has got it in his hands in an imperfect and broken form. There is such an efficacy in the Lord Jesus Christ, such a fitness in Him for the sins and sorrows and wants of poor fallen humanity, that the Holy Spirit of God can bring Him home to the soul with saving power by a small portion of knowledge. A single Gospel, a single Epistle, a Psalm such as the Twenty-third, or a verse such as “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” if explained simply and brought home by God’s Spirit, may become God’s power unto salvation. The Bible came to men in fragments, piece after piece, through many generations, and a fragment of it still does its proper work. It has a principle of life that is complete in its separate parts, and you may see all its truth in one text, as you can see all the sun’s image in one drop of dew in a flower. This is a wise, Divine arrangement, which may reassure some who fear they are losing Christ, when the question is about the meaning of some parts of the Bible. If a man were so driven about on seas of difficulty that he could have only a board or broken piece of the ship, it would “bring him safe to land.” Nevertheless, the care and completeness of the casket are of very great moment. Our salvation may be gained by one word about Christ, but our edification, our Christian comfort and well-being, depend on the full word of Christ. Whenever He is set forth, however dimly, there is something for us to learn, something needful to make us thoroughly furnished unto every good work. Here the Bible may be compared, not to a casket enclosing a jewel, but to a piece of tapestry on which a figure is inwoven. If it be mutilated, or the golden threads that meet and intermingle be torn and tarnished, we lose, so far, the complete image of truth that is the inheritance of the Church of Christ—the inheritance which the Apostle thus describes: “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” ¶ Bartholdi’s statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World” occupies a fine position on Bedloes Island, which commands the approach to New York Harbour. It holds up a torch which is lit at night by an immense electric light. The statue was cast in portions in Paris. The separate pieces were very different, and, taken apart, of uncouth shape. It was only when all was brought together, each in its right place, that the complete design was apparent. Then the omission of any one would have left the work imperfect. In this it is an emblem of Holy Scripture. We do not always see the object of certain portions; nevertheless each has its place, and the whole is a magnificent statue of Christ Jesus, who is the true “Liberty Enlightening the World,” casting illuminative rays across the dark, rocky ocean of time, and guiding anxious souls to the desired haven. I THE LIGHT HID 1. The word of God is not a book. There are plenty of Bibles in the world to-day. Indeed there never was a time when so many were distributed. The printing presses of Christendom fairly groan with the innumerable volumes. Nor is the word of God preaching. Churches abound and times of prosperity see them built and rebuilt in ever more magnificent form. The greater the wealth of the community and the more easy and abundant its luxury, the more gorgeous become its churches, the more elegant their ritual, and the more eloquent their preaching. The word of God is the voice of God in a man’s soul. As the Saviour put it: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” That is the voice which, through whatever channel it comes and in whatever words it declares itself, becomes the compelling voice in a man’s heart, awakening him to a new consciousness of his relations to his Maker. 2. The word of God is a living word, addressed to men, and it brings the power of God Himself along with it. God did not wait to speak to men until they had advanced so far that they were able to provide themselves with some kind of record of what He said. Far back in the infancy and childhood of the human race, God condescended to men in their weakness and frailty, spoke to them and made Himself intelligible, and lodged the incorruptible seed in their hearts. All the epistles in those days were living epistles, and the living word of God was not written down, but passed like fire, with all its power to quicken and redeem, from heart to heart. 3. No book can adequately express God’s word. What God had to say to men, what God at last actually did say to men, was something too great for human words to record. “God,” we read in the Bible itself, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” “By his Son”—revelation was consummated in Christ. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us … full of grace and truth,” and Christ, in all the fulness of His grace and truth, is God’s last word to man. Could anybody produce an adequate record of Christ? Could any words that man could use ever tell all the wonderful meaning of that manifestation of God? Evangelists, after they had done their best, declared that half had never been told. You remember how the last of them, John, says at the end of his Gospel, after he had tried to tell everything: “The world itself would not contain the books that should be written.” No human word, the most wonderful or searching or patient, could ever tell out for men everything that God meant when He sent His Son to save the world. ¶ You do right to call it “The Book,” but you must not forget that it is a book. It has the limitations of a book, the mistakes of a book, the obscurities of a book, the impotence of a book. And while it is the treasury of the most profound and unquestionable and authoritative in books, it is still only a book. There is something more than the Book. There is a life, a living passion, a moulding faith, a lifting hope; and they are greater than the Book. ¶ What is a word, a sentence, a book, a library? What are all libraries? A mere peep into the inexpressible. The best writers know this, and are not surprised if they find out their most important things in between the lines, and the best readers soon learn where to look for them. The best speakers know this, and feel when all is done that they have left their most impressive thoughts unspoken because they are unspeakable. However, the best hearers understand perfectly well, perhaps better than if they had been spoken. The poets know best how to use language. They often express their most inexpressible, or evanescent thoughts by means of repugnant, or somewhat paradoxical epithets; as, for example, Coleridge when he says: The stilly murmur of the distant sea Tells us of silence. The belief that it is easy to speak plainly on these great subjects is at the bottom of nearly all the mistakes which divide men in religion, and, it may be added, of nearly all the scepticism which has ever existed. 4. Multitudes are unconscious of the highest truths, incapable of them. They lack a sense, the sublimest sense of all, the faculty to discern the reality of the Divine and eternal. Clever enough in the arts of this life, they are stone-blind to the higher. Standing beneath the visible world, patent to us all, is an invisible underworld of atoms, ether, colours, and subtle movements, which only the disciplined sense of the scientist can detect and measure; all around us is another world of beauty, music, and poetry, perceived and appreciated only by those possessed of the artistic sense; and again, above us is a supreme world of which God is the everlasting light and glory, a realm evident only to those whose senses are exercised in holy thought, constant purity, and willing obedience. We say that the eye creates half that it sees: but no eye is nearly so creative as a blind one; and the proud critic, knowing nothing as he ought to know, enlarges copiously and confidently on his speculations. It is the astronomy of the blind. Competent on questions of the lower spheres, these talkers are of no account in regard to the reality and blessedness of personal godliness. Their astronomy is the veriest superstition set forth in the language of philosophy. The least in the Kingdom of God is greater than these. Only men born again see the eternal light clearly and steadily. Only as we experience the truths Divine do we comprehend them. Only as we do the will of God in daily obedience do we know the doctrine. As Carlyle puts it: “He who has done nothing has known nothing.” Then do we see light in God’s light, and know the secret of the world, of life, of the future when we believe in our heart and obey in our life. That Thou art nowhere to be found, agree Wise men, whose eyes are but for surfaces; Men with eyes opened by the second birth, To whom the seen, husk of the unseen is, Descry the soul of everything on earth. Who knows Thy ends, Thy means and motions see; Eyes made for glory soon discover Thee. ¶ Not very long ago The Times newspaper contained a correspondence on the desirableness of science lecturers making their great themes more clear to the ordinary audience. In defence the lecturers maintained that it is almost impossible to make lucid the problems of nature to listeners so entirely destitute of knowledge and sympathy as the majority are. More difficult still is it for certain minds to grasp mathematical or metaphysical problems. How completely the ungifted and undisciplined stand away from the mysteries of music! While Glinka was writing his immortal work, his wife complained before everyone that “he was wasting ruled paper.” The obtuse content themselves with the sarcasm that “music is a noise costlier than other noises.” And as to the arts, the critics declare that genuine work is unintelligible to the crowd. “The beautiful is what your servant instinctively thinks is frightful.” II THE LIGHT REVEALED “The opening of thy words giveth light.” When the book is opened, the light streams forth. The term translated “giveth light” is a transitive verb which means “to cause to shine.” The direct object of the verb may be supplied by using any term which will indicate the lover of God’s word. “The opening of God’s Word maketh the attentive heart to shine.” That is, the Word of God gives light by enkindling the light of truth within our souls. It is the same word that is used concerning God in the 135th verse—“Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.” As His face shines upon us, He makes our hearts shine back upon Him and upon the world. He does not illuminate our path mechanically, but sets His light within us livingly. He uses us, not as passive reflectors of His brightness, but as burning and shining lights. 1. We must learn to open the book. If God has given us a heavenly Word, a Divinely communicated Word, the first thing we should do is to learn diligently to understand that Word. If God has spoken, then our greatest business is to try to understand what God has said. Suppose a great prince or a great sage spoke words of wisdom, and a thoughtless, foolish person rushed in and began to babble his inanities, instead of trying to understand the wisdom of the counsellor, what would you think? You would probably think more than you would like to say. Are we any better, if, when God has spoken, and in the face of that utterance, instead of setting ourselves in lowliness to understand His great message, we go on babbling our own little passing speculations? We are people of many books to-day, and we speak of our fathers sarcastically as “men of one book.” There is no objection to many books, but we would do well to get back to the one, and to understand something more of the great mystery of Divine love which God has revealed to us. ¶ Mr. Moody tells us in an amusing way of his own experience: “I used at one time to read so many chapters a day, and if I did not I thought I was cold and backsliding, but, mind you, if a man had asked me an hour afterwards what I had read, I could not have told him—I had forgotten nearly it all. When I was a boy I used to hoe turnips on a farm, and I used to hoe them so badly to get over so much ground that at night I had to put a stick into the ground so as to know next morning where I had left off.” That was somewhat in the same fashion as much Bible reading. A man will say: “Wife, did I read that chapter?” “Well,” she says, “I don’t remember”; and neither of them can recollect. Now, there is no sort of merit or profit in that sort of Bible reading; no blessing comes with it. It is of no more use than galloping through so many columns of advertisements or so many pages of the dictionary. If the Scriptures are to profit us, we must ask, as we read, “What does this mean? What does it teach? What lesson may I learn from it? Does it suggest prayer? Does it prompt praise? Does it prescribe duty?” It would be well if all of us might sometimes be pulled up in our reading by the question, “Understandest thou that which thou readest?” 2. The more we study the Word, the more freely the light breaks upon us. “The opening of thy words giveth light” means not only that God’s Word gives light, but that this light grows with the growing revelation or understanding of the Word. As the Word opens before the soul the Divine shines forth from it more clearly, and the glory of the God it exhibits becomes more wonderful. The more we understand the Word, the more we see of God. The deeper we go into the revelation, the nearer we get to the blaze of the eternal Light. ¶ A friend of mine visited Mr. Prang’s chromo establishment in Boston. Mr. Prang showed him a stone on which was laid the colour for making the first impression toward producing the portrait of a distinguished public man, but he could see only the faintest possible line of tinting. The next stone that the paper was submitted to deepened the colour a little, but still no trace of the man’s face was visible. Again and again was the sheet passed over successive stones, until at last the outline of a man’s face was dimly discerned. Finally, after some twenty impressions from as many different stones, the portrait of the distinguished man stood forth so perfectly that it seemed to lack only the power of speech to make it living. Thus it is with Christ in the Scriptures. ¶ A Hindoo gentleman, holding a high office in the Presidency of Bombay, told me a few years ago that during his vacation he was anxious to read with his son for an hour or two daily a book of high moral and spiritual influence. He thought of many, and at last decided to take the Book of Psalms. “We treat it,” he said, “like any other book; we investigate questions of authorship, we try to discover the circumstances in which each psalm was written, we separate the purely Jewish elements from those of more general interest and importance, we try to discriminate between what is human and faulty, and what is lofty and spiritual. By doing this we seem often to hear the voice of God speaking in our hearts, showing us the way of truth and duty, and calling us to higher aspirations and efforts.” The man who said this to me was not a Christian. It shows us what hope there is in presenting our Scriptures to non-Christians in the right way, and how true it is that these Scriptures possess a universal adaptation to the human spirit. III THE LIGHT UTILIZED 1. “It giveth understanding unto the simple.” We all know what it means to have the intellect enlightened. Everywhere we are encountering new knowledge. The sciences are all new, the practical affairs of life are conducted on new methods, with new instruments and, we may also say, with new purposes. We live not only on a new continent, but in a veritable new world. Enlightenment of the understanding seems at times the single, all-important necessity. All our great system of schools and colleges and universities is to the one end of providing this enlightened understanding for the growing generation; and we summon the young people to every sacrifice to attain to the enlightenment which is so much needed. We are charmed when we come upon any indication of what it holds in store for them. ¶ When Professor Agassiz came to America and made his first journey westward from the sea-coast, he sat all day in the train looking out of the window, for everywhere he quickly discovered what no one else had seen—signs of the action of the great glaciers of the ice period upon the surface of the continent. Every rounded hill, every pond in Massachusetts, every undulation in the levels south of Lake Erie was to him the proof of the theory of the Ice Age as he had held it. And these indisputable signs of a great geological epoch had laid openly before the eyes of generations of men who had been blind to see them. The record of geological history was written on the very face of the continent, and up to that hour no one had read it. With what excitement he turned the leaf of the great story! With what interest he told what he saw! With what open-eyed wonder people responded to the new teaching! We want enlightened intelligence in matters of religion. There are truths as new, as important, and as interesting in regard to revelation, and in regard to the Bible. We may well pray that the Church everywhere, and all believers, may have as a gift of God, enlightenment of their understanding. ¶ India has a venerable civilization, such as it is, and sacred books which contain a great deal of wisdom and beauty; but the Light of Asia has never brought enlightenment to the millions who receive it. With all the intellectual glory of ancient Greece, popular education was a thing unknown. Rome trained her people to war and plunder for the aggrandizement of the State. Certain of the slaves were educated to teach their master’s sons, but the plebeian multitude were poor, ignorant, and despised. Let the intellectual status of the people of Russia, Italy, Spain, or even France be compared with that of the people in Germany, England, or the United States, and how significant are the facts which appear. 2. But if we need enlightenment of the intellect, we need still more the dew of heaven upon the heart. The heart is the man, and the man must be reached if the work of God is to go forward. Sadly we discover that the enlightenment of the intellect goes but a short way in changing the character. Character rests upon decisions of the will, the abiding purposes of life, and these are determined primarily by the feelings. It is therefore the enlightenment of the heart, the stirring up of the feelings, the opening of the deep wells of the soul, and the appeal to the essential nature of the man himself that alone answers the call of God, and that alone can make men free, in the large sense of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The mere accumulation of knowledge is like the stuffing of the stove with fuel—it remains as cold and dead as the iron itself until the fire is kindled, which alone can transform it, and set free its imprisoned energies. This is the unique triumph of God’s word that it recreates the soul, and changes the unrighteous into the image of Christ. No other power on earth has been able thus to renew the spirit of man. But this word of God renews its power in every generation. Into the dark soul its light enters, and in the lowly spirit the fire of God burns with inextinguishable blaze. In God’s light we see light, and the enkindled soul communes with the glory of God. In Christ Jesus the fallen one rises to be a new creation, and hears a holy voice cry, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” ¶ This characteristic has been splendidly manifest in the propagation of the gospel in foreign lands. The hindrances to the exercise of this power are enormous among the devotees of false religions. Custom, tradition, sentiment, imagination, and all the vast conservatism of social forces, are arrayed against the incoming of the light of the Gospel. The feeble groundwork of truth upon which the false superstructure is reared has an ancient influence which counts for much. Yet, wherever the Word of God gets an opportunity, its results are similar to those which we have ourselves experienced. In Africa, India, China, and the islands of the sea, men and women rise to the same childlike assurance of pardon and peace in Jesus Christ, and confess in the common language of Christian faith the light-giving and life-giving virtue of the Word of God. The people that sat in darkness have seen a great slight, and that light is the Son of God. ¶ The other day I was reading a story of a Frenchman who was being entertained by a Christian chief in one of the Pacific Islands. The chief had a Bible, which the Frenchman sneered at, saying that in Europe they had got past that. The chief led his guest out of the house, showed him where they used to cook and eat their meals in cannibal days, and clinched everything by saying, “My friend, if it had not been for that Book, I should have been dining upon you now.” 3. Understanding comes only to the simple-hearted: “Unto the simple.” A simple person is often supposed to be a person who has no understanding or wisdom. But here “simple” means sincere, honest—a person who has a right aim, a right eye. What says the Saviour of such? “If thine eye be single”—rendered sometimes “simple”—if thine eye be simple, “thy whole body shall be full of light.” There is the entrance of God’s word. “But if thine eye be evil,”—if it be double, if it be hypocritical, if it be deceitful,—“thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!” And how gracious it is of God, how merciful, that He should put the condition of our receiving the inward light, not upon intellectual and moral capacity. What if He had rested it on intellect, on philosophy, on science, or rank, or natural power of intellect: if He had promised it to the man who could muster different languages, or solve profound and difficult problems! But, so far from this, it is just the reverse; for this is what the Spirit of God tells us of His work, “Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence”; and, it is added, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” ¶ A teacher eminent in scientific research in describing the wondrous beauty and the mysterious structure of a leaf, has said that any tyro can see the facts for himself if he is provided with a leaf and a microscope. But how helpless would the tyro be if he had only the leaf, and not the microscope! The leaf would be perfect in all its parts, it would contain rare beauty of form, colour, and structure, though the tyro was ignorant of it, and had not a microscope to see it. Without the aid of a microscope, a scientific teacher even could not see the mysterious substance, the strange movements, and the beautiful structure of the leaf. The optical instrument is as necessary for the intelligent as for the ignorant, for the scientific as for the uneducated. If a man were to examine the leaf, without the aid of the instrument, and declare his inability to see any inner beauty, form, and structure in the leaf, the simple answer would be that these are things which can only be microscopically discerned. Now this is not merely the teaching of scientists, it is the teaching of the Apostle. Spiritual things can be seen and known only by a spiritual mind—a mind aided and strengthened by the higher power of vision which the Spirit of God imparts. ¶ There was a literary woman who stood high among book critics. One day in reviewing a book she said, “Who wrote this book? It is beautifully written, but there is something wrong here and there!” She proceeded to criticize with a good deal of severity. Some months afterwards this lady became acquainted with the author of the book, fell in love, and married him. She took the same book again and said, “What a beautiful book! There are some mistakes here and there, but they ought to be overlooked.” The book was just the same as it had been before, but the critic had changed. When she began to love the author it changed her attitude toward the book. So it is with us and the Bible. People do not love the Bible because they do not love Christ. Psalm 119:13 I opened my mouth wide and panted, For I longed for Your commandments. opened: Ps 119:20 Ps 42:1 Isa 26:8-9 1Pe 2:2 I longed: Ps 119:40,162,174 Heb 12:14 Related Passages: Psalm 119:20 My soul is crushed with longing After Your ordinances at all times. Psalm 42:1 For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. Isaiah 26:8-9 Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O LORD, We have waited for You eagerly; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls. 9At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 1 Peter 2:2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, ARE YOU HUNGRY OR THIRSTY SPIRITUALLY? I opened my mouth wide and panted - Like a newborn baby (1Pe 2:2) or like a baby bird opening to the food the mother brings home (watch these baby birds open wide!) For (term of explanation) I longed for Your commandments - Longed for in the Septuagint is epipotheo used in a similar context in 1Pe 2:2+. THOUGHT - Does this passage picture your hunger for God's Word? If not it could be because you have unconfessed sin as described in 1Pe 2:1. Unholy thoughts, words or deeds will always blunt your desire for God's holy Word! Get right (1Jn 1:9+) and then get reading (His Word). Charles Bridges - When the “wonderful” character of God’s “testimonies” is apprehended; and when their “entrance has given light to the soul:” something far beyond ordinary affection and desire is excited. A thirsty man—burning with inward heat on a sultry day, and “opening his mouth, and panting” for some alleviation of his thirst—is a fine image of the child of God intensely longing for the attainment of his object. Or, if we suppose before us the man nearly exhausted by the heat of his race, and “opening his mouth, and panting” to take in fresh breath to renew his course; so would the believer “rejoice;” like the sun, to “run his heavenward race.”8 He cannot satisfy himself in his desires. The motions of his soul to his God are his life and his joy. It is a spring of perpetual motion beating within—perpetual because natural—not a rapture, but a habit—a principle, having indeed its faintings, and its sickness, but still returning to its original spring of life and vigor. It seems as if the soul could never draw in enough of the influences of the spiritual life. Its longings are insatiable—as if the heart would “break with”1 the overpowering strength of its own desires, until at length wearied with the conflict, the believer “opens his mouth, and pants” to fetch in a fresh supply of invigorating grace. He enjoys “a little reviving”2 in his Lord’s commandments; enjoying the Lord himself as his well-spring of refreshment.3 Hear the man of God elsewhere giving, or rather attempting to give, expression to his “pantings.” “As the heart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. I stretch forth my hands unto thee; my soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land.”4 Thus did Job “open his mouth, and pant.” “O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even unto his seat!”5 And the church—pouring out her heart before the Lord, “With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early.”6 St. Paul also describes the same intenseness of his own desire, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do; forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”7 But amidst all these examples, and infinitely beyond them all—behold the ardor of our blessed Master in his work. Such was the “panting” of his heavenly desire, that, when “wearied with his journey,” and “sitting at Jacob’s well,” he forgot even his natural want for his thirsty frame, in the joyous conversion of a lost sinner to himself.8 And thus must our affections be fully engaged.9 The soul must be kept open to heavenly influence; so that, when the Lord touches us with conviction, inclines our hearts to himself, and constrains us to his service, we may be ready to “exercise ourselves unto godliness,”10 in receiving, cherishing, and improving the heavenly “longing after his commandments;” and may “open our mouths, and pant” for more advanced progress in them. We look not so much to the quantity, as to the activity of faith; always at work, stirring up a holy fire within, for the utmost stretch of human attainment; like men of large projects and high determinations, still aspiring to know more of God, both in the enjoyment of his love, and in conformity to his will. And shall we be ashamed of these feelings? Shall we not rather be deeply humbled, that we know so little of them—encouraged, if we have any springing of them—alarmed, if we be utterly destitute of their influence? Shall we not be “opening our mouth, and panting,” when any new path of service is opened before us? For if we are content to be strangers to this “longing” after God—this readiness for duty; what else can be expected, but “sliding back from the Lord by a perpetual backsliding?”1 Growing in sin, declining in love, and gradually relinquishing the habit of prayer, we shall shortly find little attaching to us but the empty name—Christianity without Christ. The world will despise these exercises as enthusiasm, the distemper of a misguided imagination. But is it—can it be—otherwise than a “reasonable service,”2 as well as a bounden obligation, to give up our whole desires to him, who is alone worthy of them? There can be no evidence of their sincerity, unless they are supreme. But let union with Christ, and the life flowing from him, be the constant spring of this holy ardor. Thus shall I enjoy a more habitual influence of his love—that all-constraining principle, which overcomes all my complaints of coolness and deadness of heart, and fills me with panting and longing in his service. But am I ready to shrink from this elevated standard? If my heart is drawing back, let me force it on. Let me lay my command, or rather God’s command upon it. Let conscience do its office, until my heart is brought into actual and close contact with this touchstone of my spiritual prosperity. What then—let me ask myself—is the pulse of my desires after spiritual things? What exercises of grace do I find in them? What improvement of grace do I derive from them? Do I pant, thirst, long, after the enjoyment of heavenly pleasure? Do I mourn over, and conflict with that indolence and indifference, which so often hinders my race? Oh! let me be found a frequent suppliant at the throne of grace; bewailing my dulness, yet “stirring up” my faith “to lay hold on”3 my God; seeking for larger views of the Gospel, a warmer experience of its promises, a more intense appetite for its enjoyments, and a more devoted attachment to its service. Surely such desires will issue in the confidence of faith. “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness.”4 8 Ps. 19:5. For another illustration, see Job 29:23. 1 Ps 19:20. 2 Ezra 9:8. 3 See on Ezra 9:20. 4 Ps. 42:1; 63:1; 143:6. 5 Job 23:3. 6 Isaiah 26:9. 7 Phil. 3:12–14. 8 John 4:6, 31–34. 9 ‘Be always displeased with what thou art, if thou desirest to attain to what thou art not; for where thou hast pleased thyself, there thou abidest. But if thou sayest, ‘I have enough,’ thou perishest. Always add—always walk—always proceed. Neither stand still, nor go back, nor deviate.’—Augustine. 10 1 Tim. 4:7. 1 Jer. 8:5. 2 Rom. 12:1. 3 Isaiah 64:7. 4 Psalm 63:5 Psalm 119:132 Turn to me and be gracious to me, After Your manner with those who love Your name. (PRAYER) Look (KJV): Ps 119:124 25:18 Ex 4:31 1Sa 1:11 2Sa 16:12 Isa 63:7-9 as thou usest to do unto those (KJV): Heb. according to the custom toward those, Ps 106:4 2Th 1:6,7 Turn to me and be gracious to me, After Your manner with those who love Your name - Another great prayer. Charles Bridges - The highest ardency of holy desire is no ground of satisfaction before God. Nor does the believer in his most elevated moments forget his proper character—always a sinner—needing mercy every moment—in every duty. His prayer for mercy therefore suitably follows his exalted expression of love, “Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me” Mercy is indeed secured to him beyond the powers of earth and hell to despoil him of it; but the comfortable sense of this mercy is vouchsafed only according to the earnestness of his desires, and the simplicity of his faith. And this is indeed a blessing, with which no earthly source of satisfaction can compare.1 What are all the riches of the world without it, but splendid poverty, as little able to supply the place of Jesus in the soul, as the magnificent array of the starry firmament is to compensate for the absence of the sun? It is night with the child of God—Egyptian night—“darkness which may be felt,”2 until his Sun appear to chase away his gloom—until his Lord hear his cry, “Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me.” To have this portion of “those that love the name” of God, is, then, the grand object. To have our offering, as Abel’s was,3 accepted with God—to walk as Enoch walked,4 with God—to commune with him as Abraham5 and Moses6 were privileged to do—to be conformed with the holy Apostle7 to the death of Christ—in a word, to be interested in all the purchase of a Saviour’s blood—“this is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,” this is the “one thing that we have desired of the Lord, and are seeking after,”8—“this,” with the dying Psalmist, “is all our salvation, and all our desire.”9 “Remember me then, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people; O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the good of thy chosen; that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation; that I may glory with thine inheritance.”10 And yet, alas! how often has the power and deceitfulness of sin cast us into so lifeless a state, that we are not only living without the enjoyment of this portion, but at rest without it; scarcely knowing or caring whether the Lord look on us or not! Can we wonder, that our holy, jealous God, should “hide himself,”11 and “go, and return to his place?”12 His next manifestation will probably be in the way of sharp conviction, making us to feel our distance, our coldness, our barrenness; awakening us to search into the cause; and, in the contrast of our sad condition with those who are walking in his favor, again bringing forth the cry, “Look thou unto me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.” The prayer of humility, earnestness and perseverance, though it may be tried awhile, will surely never be forgotten.13 If therefore we cannot yet “sing in the ways of the Lord,”14 yet let us not cease to mourn after him, till he look upon us, and “satisfy us with his mercy.”15 And oh! let us remember, that there is but one way, through which one gracious look, or one expression of tender mercy, can visit our souls. Let our eyes and heart then be ever fixed on Jesus. It is only in this his “beloved” Son that the Lord can look upon us, so as not to “behold iniquity in us.” But we “are complete in Him.”1 Here then let us wait; and when this our prayer has received its answer in the Lord’s best time—whether it be in “the goings of our God in the sanctuary,”2 or in the more secret manifestations3 of his love—now then, Christians, “arise, and shine.”4 Let it be known, that you have been on the mount with God, by the lustre of your face, the adorning of your profession, before the world. Lord! since our looks to thee are often so slight, so cold, so distant, that no impression is made upon our hearts; do thou condescend continually to look upon us with mercy and with power. Vouchsafe us such a look, as may touch us with tenderness and contrition, in the remembrance of that sin, unbelief, and disobedience, which pierced the hands, the feet, the heart of our dearest Lord and Saviour.5 Oh! for that contrite spirit, in which we shall enjoy the look of thy special favor!6 Oh! for a glimpse of thy love, that will put our spiritual enemies to shame!7 Oh! for that sunshine of thy countenance, which brings present salvation to out souls!8 1 Psalm 4:6, 7. 2 Exod. 10:21. 3 Gen. 4:4. 4 Ge. 5:24. 5 Ge. 18:17–33. 6 Exod. 33:11. Deut. 34:10. 7 Phil. 3:10. Gal. 2:20. 8 Psalm 27:4. 9 2 Sam. 23:5. 10 Psalm 106:4, 5. 11 Isaiah 57:17. 12 Hosea 5:15. 13 Comp. Isa. 30:18. Hab. 2:3. 14 Ps. 138:5. 15 Ps. 90:14. 1 Comp. Numb. 23:21. Eph. 1:6. Col. 2:10. 2 Psalm 68:24. 3 Matt. 6:6. John 14:21–23. 4 Isaiah 60:1. 5 Comp. Luke 23:56 6 Isaiah 66:2. 7 Psalm 86:17. 8 Ps. 80:19. Psalm 119:133 Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. (PRAYER) Establish my footsteps: Ps 119:116 17:5 32:8 121:3 1Sa 2:9 do not let any iniquity: Ps 19:13 Ro 6:12-14 7:23,24 Mt 6:13 Related Passage: Ps 119:38 - Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You. A GREAT PRAYER FOR SANCTIFICATION Establish my footsteps in Your word - One of my favorite prayers especially in concert with Ps 119:38. Establish is Hiphil Imperative. We don't command God but the command expresses our desperate need and desire. The psalmist is in essence making a request of the Almighty. We are all prone to wander and Lord we feel it. Here's my heart take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above. Where you "walk" (walk used as a picture of one's general conduct of life in the NT and also apropos here) reflects what you truly believe, especially where you walk when no one but God sees you. It's interesting that the psalmist did not say establish my eyes in Thy word...how easy it is to look at the Word and then go away forgetting what kind of person e were (Jas 1:22-24+). We must prove (a command in the present imperative calling for us to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) ourselves doers & not merely hearers lest we deceive ourselves (and sin is deceptive Heb 3:13+ and entangling and enslaving Jn 8:34). Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked because before long you will be standing in the path of sinners and eventually even seated with the scoffers! Oh, the inevitable downward, destructive pull of our old sin nature, even resident (albeit crucified Ro 6:6+, cf Ro 6:11+) in those who are born again. Wage war valiant soldiers of the cross (see 1Pe 2:11+). The night is almost over and the day of His glorious return is at hand (Ro 13:12+). So fix your hope on the One above (Heb 12:2+) the things above (Col 3:2+) lest you become entangled in the affairs of the things below ("everyday life" 2Ti 2:4+) This is one of the Lord’s customary mercies to his chosen—“He keepeth the feet of his saints.” By his grace he enables us to put our feet step by step in the very place which his Word ordains. This does not stop short of perfect holiness, neither will the believer’s desires be satisfied with anything beneath that blessed consummation. And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. :Hiphil Impf: This is the negative side of the blessing. We ask to do all that is right, and to fall under the power of nothing that is wrong. Believers pant for perfect liberty from the power of evil, and being conscious that they cannot obtain it of themselves, they cry unto God for it. Here is a NT Parallel Passage (Ro 6:11-14+) Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign (present imperative with a negative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting (present imperative with a negative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Sin (Sin = Principle in Ro 6:1-11) allures us with false promises of grandeur. Its real intent is to control and rule our lives. A person can have only one type of relationship to sin -- slave to master. The alternative is to let God's Word rule our lives. The Christian life is a “walk,” a day at a time and a step at a time (Ps 119:1, 3, 45). The Word directs our steps, both for walking and for running (Ps 119:32). Note the prayers in [Ps 119:35,116,117]. As we pray for guidance, the Lord answers through His Word. Have dominion (07980)(shalat) essential idea of root = to exercise autocratic control over = to have one's way with anyone. To dominate, govern; by impl. to permit=have mastery over, have rule, have dominion, give (have) power. The basic meaning of the root is well illustrated in Neh 5:15, in which the officials serving under the government of Judah before Nehemiah acted in a tyrannical, self-serving, domineering way with the people in imposing heavy burdens of taxation on them. The people were powerless to resist. Baker - to domineer, to be master of. In the simple form, it takes the connotation of ruling. This can be ruling over people (Neh. 5:15; Eccl. 8:9); or possessions which one has been given control of (Eccl. 2:19). It can also mean to obtain power or to get mastery over something. Examples of this would be how sin can have power over a person (Ps. 119:133); or people can have power over each other (Esth. 9:1). This verb is also used in the causative form, meaning to give power (Eccl. 5:19[18]; 6:2). In these contexts, God gives people power over their lives, possessions, honor, and wealth. God is the only legitimate source of power, and all power flows from Him. (Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament) TWOT - The essential idea of this root is "to exercise autocratic control over," "to have one's way with" anyone. It appears with its derivatives fifteen times in the Hebrew and thirty-two times in the Aramaic, where the meaning is similar to the Hebrew. Akkadian and Arabic use the root in similar fashion. (The Arabic word "Sultan" is formed from the same root.) In Ugaritic, shlyṭ is used as an epithet of ltn (Leviathan). The basic meaning of the root is well illustrated in Neh. 5:15, in which the officials serving under the government of Judah before Nehemiah acted in a tyrannical, self-serving, domineering way with the people in imposing heavy burdens of taxation on them. The people were powerless to resist. In Psalm 119:133, the psalmist prays that iniquity shall not have dominion over him. He wants to be firmly established in the Word of God so that he can be free from the terrible tyranny of sin. In a slightly modified sense the verb appears in Eccles. 2:19, with the meaning "to exercise control over" the fruit of one's labor. The causative force of the Hiphil is seen in Eccles. 5:18 and Eccles. 6:2 with the sense "empower." In the one passage God gives a man riches and wealth with the power or ability to enjoy them, whereas in the other, he has riches and wealth but lacks the power to enjoy them. (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament) Gilbrant - Occurring eight times in the OT, this verb, as is generally true of its cognates, conveys abusive "dominance." Nehemiah contrasts in Neh. 5:15 his reign as provincial governor under the Persians with his predecessors' reigns. Those before him abused the people, taking more than the required taxes. Further, even their subordinates "lorded over the people," abusing the negligible power they should have possessed. The verb is used four times in Ecclesiastes, twice in the imagery of the pointlessness of accumulating wealth, since after a person dies, someone else will rule the wealth, whether they be idiots (Ecc. 2:19) or total strangers (6:2). Ecclesiastes 8:9 indicates that the abuse of the weak, in which one person lords over another person in order to humiliate the weaker one, is a great evil. Finally, among the few things which are certain in life is that Yahweh grants a person material things to lord over and use for enjoyment (5:19). The verb is employed twice in Esther 9:1, where the irony of the reversal of events surrounding Purim is celebrated. On the precise day that the foes of the Jews in the Persian world were about to gain the power to lord over and abuse the Jews, the Jews instead gained the power to lord over their enemies. The final occurrence of this verb is found in Ps. 119:133 where the psalmist begs in this verse that Yahweh order his steps to keep him from harm: "Let not any iniquity have dominion over me." (Complete Biblical Library Hebrew-English Dictionary) In Ps 119:133, the psalmist prays that iniquity shall not have dominion over him. He wants to be firmly established in the Word of God so that he can be free from the terrible tyranny of sin. In a slightly modified sense the verb appears in Eccl 2:19, with the meaning "to exercise control over" the fruit of one's labor. The causative force of the Hiphil is seen in Ec5:18, 6:2 with the sense "empower." In the one passage God gives a man riches and wealth with the power or ability to enjoy them, whereas in the other, he has riches and wealth but lacks the power to enjoy them. Seven Uses - control over(1), domineered(1), empowered(2), exercised authority(1), gain the mastery over(1), gained the mastery over(1), have dominion(1), mastery over(2). Neh. 5:15; Est. 9:1; Ps. 119:133; Eccl. 2:19; Eccl. 5:19; Eccl. 6:2; Eccl. 8:9 Charles Bridges - Order9 my steps in thy word; and let not any iniquity have dominion over me To expect the favor of the Lord without an habitual desire of conformity to his image, is one among the many delusions of a self-deceiving heart. It is the peculiar character of the Christian, that his desires are as earnest for deliverance from the power as from the guilt of sin. Having therefore prayed for acceptance, he now cries for holiness. For even could we conceive the Lord “to look upon him” with a sense of his favor, he would still feel himself a miserable creature, until he had received an answer to his prayer, “Let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” But it is often difficult to distinguish the power of temptation from the prevalence of sin, and thus precisely to ascertain, when “iniquity” may be said to “have dominion over us.” Is it not, however, the influence of temptation—not acting upon the mind, but admitted with consent into the heart? It is this actual consent of the will, obtained by the deceitfulness and solicitations of sin, that marks its real “dominion.” Light, knowledge, and conscience, may open the path of holiness; but while the will—the sovereign power in the soul—dissents, the reigning power of sin continues undisputed. Much care, however, much singleness, and a most jealous scrutiny of the springs of action, are required, accurately to determine the bias of the will, and consequently the “dominion of iniquity.” The perplexed conflicting soul may mistake the rebellion for the “dominion of iniquity”—its continued impression upon the heart for its ruling sway. On the other hand, a constrained opposition of conviction may present some hopeful symptoms of deliverance, while the dominant principle is still unshaken. The present resolution to any particular act of sin may be weakened, while the love and habit of it remains unaffected. Sin is not always hated, when it is condemned, or even forsaken: nor are duties always loved in the act of their performance. The opposition to sin, which the awakened superficial professor considers as his evidence of uprightness of heart, is often only the unavailing resistance of a natural enlightened conscience to the ruling principle of the heart. The light and power of conscience may do much in condemning every known sin, and in restraining from many; in illustrating every known duty, and insisting upon the external performance of many; while yet the full “dominion of iniquity” is undisturbed. Were not Ahab and Judas as completely under this “dominion” after their repentance as they were before?1 Did not Balaam, with all his knowledge—and the young ruler, with all his natural loveliness and semblance of sincerity—“lack that one thing”—a heart delivered from the “dominion of its own iniquity?”2 Yet it is not occasional surprisals, resisted workings, abhorred lusts, nor immediate injections of evil and blasphemous thoughts; but only the ascendency of sin in the affections that proves its reigning power. The throne can admit but of one ruler; and therefore, though grace and iniquity may and do co-exist within, they cannot be co-partners in one sovereignty. Yet forget not that every sinful indulgence is for the moment putting the sceptre into the hands of our worst enemies. The setting up of an usurper is the virtual dethronement of the rightful sovereign. The subjection to sin is therefore the rejection of Christ. How inestimably precious is the thought, that deliverance from this cursed dominion is inseparably connected with a state of acceptance with God! The man who enjoys the unspeakable blessing of pardoned iniquity, is he “in whose spirit there is no guile.”3 He has a work done within him, as well as for him. His Saviour is a whole Christ—“made of God unto him Sanctification and” complete “Redemption,” as well as “Righteousness.”4 He comes to the cleansing fountain,5 as the double cure of his iniquity—equally effectual to wash from its power as from its guilt. But let us duly estimate the value of David’s preservation. He had been used to “hide the word in his heart,” as his safeguard against sin,6 and from his own experience of its power he had recommended it to the especial attention of the young.7 Yet the recollection of his continual forgetfulness and conscious weakness, leads him to turn his rule into a matter of prayer—Order my steps in thy word—implying, that if his steps were not ordered, from want of their keeping, iniquity would regain its dominion. And who of us have not daily need of this ruling discipline? Without it, all is disorder. Our scattered affections need to be “united” in one central principle,1 under the direction of the word. The universal influence of this rule also is so important. The word not only cheers our path, but orders our steps.2—Every act—every duty—are as steps in the heavenward path—guarding us from the devious paths on either side, beset with imperceptible danger, and spread with the fowler’s snare. And what a blessed path would this be for us, if we had singleness and simplicity always to “look right on, and straight before us!”3 But alas! we are often only half roused from our security. The word is forgotten; or there is an unreadiness to receive its Divine impressions. Our own wisdom is consulted: and, “or ever we are aware,” “iniquity” regains a temporary “dominion over us.” Now I would ask myself—What do I know of this godly, careful walk? Am I frequently during the day looking upward to my heavenly guide; and then looking into his word as my direction in the way; and lastly, considering my heart and conduct, whether it is “ordered in the word?” The man, who has “the law of God in his heart,” alone possesses the security, that “none of his steps shall slide.”4 When I take therefore a step into the world, let me ask—Is it “ordered in God’s word,” which exhibits Christ as my perfect example; so that, walking after him, and following in his steps, I may be able to frame my temper and habits according to this unsullied pattern? But let us mark, how fully is this prayer warranted by the special promise of the Gospel, “Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”5 The law stirred up sin, and gave it increased power; while it left us to our unassisted exertions to subdue it. We watch, pray, and strive against it: yet, alas! it mocks our efforts—rages, yea, tyrannizes more than ever.6 But it is the cross of Calvary, that gave the child of God his first right view of sin, that first made him loathe it, that first enabled him to contemplate a holy God without fear, and even with confidence.—This—this alone subdues his pride, rebellion, enmity, selfishness. In him that hung there, we trust as an Almighty conqueror; and we are made ourselves “more than conquerors through him that loved us.”7 His very name of Jesus8 marks his office, his crown, his glory. Here therefore—not in doubts and fears—not in indolent mourning for sin—here lies the appointed means of present relief—the only hope of final victory. “Iniquity” even when subdued, will struggle to the last for “dominion:” but looking to and living on Jesus, we have the victory still. The more clear our view of Jesus the more complete is our victory. Supplies of continual strength will ever be vouchsafed to restrain the “dominion of iniquity,” and even to “keep under” its daily risings; except as they may be needful for the exercise of our graces, and be eventually overruled for the glory and praise of our faithful God. 9 ‘Set straight my steps.’—LXX. ‘Firmly direct.’—Ainsworth. 1 1 Kings 21:27; 22. Matt. 27:3–5. 2 2 Peter 2:15. Mark 10:21, 22. 3 Psalm 32:1, 2. 4 1 Cor. 1:30. 5 Zech. 13:1. 6 1 Cor. 15:56. 7 Ps 119:9. 1 Psalm 86:11. 2 Ps 119:105; 17:4; 19:11. Prov. 6:23. 3 Prov. 4:25. 4 Psalm 37:31. 5 Rom. 6:14, with 12 6 Ib. 7:8. 1 Cor. 15:16. 7 Rom. 8:37. 8 Matt. 1:21. Psalm 119:134 Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts. (PRAYER) Ps 119:122 56:1,2,13 105:43-45 Eze 11:17-20 36:24-27 Lu 1:74,75 Ac 9:31 Redeem me from the oppression of man, That (term of purpose) I may keep Your precepts. Charles Bridges - “Many are the afflictions of the righteous,”1 from external as well as from internal enemies—not only from their own “iniquity,” but “from the oppression of man.” Yet “man is only the Lord’s hand and sword,”2 and he can only move under the overruling guidance of our Father’s wisdom and love. Not indeed that the believer would (except in submission to the will of God)3 desire his “deliverance” from this trouble on account of personal pain and distress; but he sometimes finds peculiar circumstances of trial an unavoidable hindrance in the service of his God. And his conviction sends him to the throne of grace: and there he never makes interest in vain. “He cries unto the Lord because of the oppressors: and he sends a Saviour, and a great one: and he delivers him.”4 The power of faith is indeed Omnipotent. Mountains are removed from their place, or they become “plains before”5 it; “or the worm” is enabled to “thresh them, and beat them small, and make them as chaff.”6 Often is the Christian strengthened to overcome the most formidable opposition, and to “profess a good profession before many witnesses,”7 who are “watching for his halting.”8 The grace of Christ will make the hardest duty easy! and the love of Christ will make the sharpest trials sweet: yet, where in the continued exercise of faith the obstacles to conscientious service remain unmoved, (as, for instance, a child of God restrained in the fetters of a worldly family from a free and avowed obedience,) we may lawfully pray, that the providence of God would deliver from the oppression of man, that we might keep his precepts. A time of deliverance, as well as a time of persecution, has proved a season of extraordinary prosperity in the church of God. When “the Churches had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria,” they “were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”9 And thus in individual experience, whatever be the benefit of persecution, yet the weariness of a long protracted conflict is often more than flesh and blood can bear; and which he who “knoweth our frame,”10 will not refuse to look upon, and remove, in answer to the prayers of his afflicted people.11 At the same time, our proneness to self-indulgence, and our natural inclination to shrink from discipline—as needful as our food—require this prayer to be presented with exceeding caution and self-jealousy. There is great danger, lest, in our eagerness to escape from the difficulties of our path, we should lose the important benefit intended by them. We must therefore accompany the petition for deliverance with a sincere purpose to “keep God’s precepts.”12 For how many have exposed the unsoundness of their own hearts, when the supplicator has been heard, the deliverance granted, and the promise of obedience been forgotten! Fellow-Christian! have your circumstances of trial ever dictated this prayer? How then have you improved your liberty, when the answer has been vouchsafed? Has the “way of escape made” for you been kept in grateful remembrance?1 Has the effect of your “deliverance” been visible in an increasing love and devotedness to the Lord’s service? Oh! let a special Ebenezer be set up to mark this special achievement of prayer.2 Let the mercy be connected with the sympathy of our “faithful and merciful High-Priest, who being himself touched with the feeling of your infirmities” has pleaded for your succor and release.3 And be encouraged henceforth to tread the ways of God with more firmness and sensible stay, “having your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.”4 But remember—the blessing of the cross is lost, if it does not issue in a song of praise—if we have not taken it up as a token of fatherly love. At all times the safest and shortest way to peace, is to let God use his own methods with us; to live the present moment to him in the situation in which he has placed us; not dreaming of other circumstances more favorable to our spiritual prosperity; but leaving ourselves, our difficulties, our discouragements, in his hands, who makes no mistakes in any of his dispensations—but who orders them all, that they may “turn to our salvation, through our prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”5 1 Psalm 34:19. 2 Ps. 17:13, 14. 3 See the example of David, 2 Sam. 15:25, 26; and of David’s Lord, Luke 22:42 4 Isaiah 19:20. 5 Matt. 21:21, 22. Zech. 4:7. 6 Isaiah 41:14, 15. 7 1 Tim. 6:12. 8 Jer. 20:10. 9 Acts 9:31. 10 Psalm 103:14. 11 Psalm 135:3. 1 Cor. 10:13. 12 Luke 1:74. 1 Comp. 2 Chron. 32:22–25, with Psalm 9:13, 14. 2 1 Sam. 7:12. 3 Heb. 4:15; 2:18. 4 Eph. 6:15. 5 Phil. 1:19. Psalm 119:135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes. (PRAYER) Make (KJV): Ps 4:6 80:1,3,7,19 Nu 6:25,26 Job 33:26 Rev 22:4,5 and teach (KJV): Ps 119:12,26 Job 34:32 35:11 36:22 Lu 24:45 Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes. Charles Bridges - If the Lord “deliver us from the oppression of man,” and “make even our enemies to be at peace with us;”6 still, if we are in spiritual health, we shall be restless and uneasy, until he “make his face to shine upon us.” And in the Scripture revelation of God, “dwelling between the cherubims,”7 and therefore on the mercy-seat8—with the “rainbow,” the emblem of “the covenant of peace,” “round about the throne,”9 as if to invite the access of sinners, from every quarter—have we not full warrant to plead, “Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth; stir up thy strength, and come and save us? Turn us again, O God; and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.”10 Others we see eagerly asking, “Who will show us any good?” Alas! they will discover in the end, that they have “spent their money for that which is not bread, and their labor for that which satisfieth not.”11 The believer’s incessant cry is—Let me see “the King’s face.”12 This is a blessing worth praying for. It is his heart’s desire, his present privilege, and—what is infinitely better—his sure and everlasting joy. “They shall see his face.”1 It is both important and interesting to mark the repetitions—always new—in this beautiful Psalm. David had just before prayed, “Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me.”2 Perhaps another passing cloud had passed his sky. Again he darts up the same prayer, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.” Such cries in the mouth of this holy servant of God, must have been most hopeless petitions—nay, the expression of the most daring presumption,—had he not been acquainted with the only true way of access to God, joyfully led to renounce every other way, and enabled diligently to improve this acceptable approach to his God. Indeed whatever obscurity may hang over the question relating to the faith of the Old Testament believers, their confidence at the throne of grace shows them to have attained a far more distinct perception of Christian privilege, through the shadowy representations of their law, than is commonly imagined. Else how could they have been so wrestling and persevering in their petitions; overcoming the spirit of bondage, and breathing out the spirit of adoption in the expression of their wants and desires before the Lord? The prayers of the Old Testament church are not more distinguished for their simplicity, spirituality, and earnestness, than for their unfettered, evangelical confidence. When they approached the footstool of the Divine Majesty, with the supplications, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant”—“Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth”—it was as if they had pleaded, ‘Reconciled Father, thou that sittest upon a throne of grace—look upon us!—Abba. Father, be gracious to us!’ Many, however, seem to despise this child-like confidence. They go on in heartless complaining and uncertain apprehensions of their state; as if doubting was their life, and as if they might rest upon the presumption, that the “shining of God’s face upon them” is not indispensable to their salvation. But will they then be content to “be saved, yet so as by fire,” instead of having “an entrance ministered unto them abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour?”3 Is it enough for them to be just alive, when “the things that remain,” from want of being duly cherished, “are ready to die?” If they can be safe without a conscious interest in the favor of God, can they be so without the desire for it? Is not this assurance attainable? Is it not commanded?4 Is it not most desirable? This cold contentment clouds the integrity of their profession. For God’s real people are living habitually either in spiritual enjoyment, or in restless dissatisfaction. Their dark seasons are times of wrestling supplication5—seasons of deep humiliation,6 tenderness of spirit,7 and constant waiting upon God,8 until he “makes his face to shine upon his servants.” They can dispense with ordinary comforts. But it is death to be without him. “All their springs are in him.” They estimate their happiness by the shining—and their misery by the clouding—of his face. This is the true principle of assurance, even if this most important blessing be not sensibly enjoyed. How then stands the case between us and God? From ourselves originates the mist, which darkens the shining.1 His sovereign free grace blots the cloud away.2 We raise the mountains of separation.3 The Almighty power of our great Zerubbabel removes them.4 To ourselves then be all the shame. To him be all the praise! But how may we realize more constant sunshine? Apart from the hindrances just alluded to, others are mainly to be found in mistaken or contracted views of the Gospel. Hence, therefore, the value of enlarged apprehensions of the Gospel of the grace of God—of its fulness, satisfying every claim, and supplying every want—of its freeness, unincumbered with conditions, and holding forth encouragement to the most unworthy—of its holiness, restraining the hindrances to enjoyment—and of its security, affording permanent rest in the foundations of the covenant of grace. The life of faith will thus be maintained in more full contemplation of Jesus, and renewed reliance upon him; and walking in closer communion with him, our hope will be enlivened with the constant sense of reconciliation and love. We need not wonder at the Psalmist’s persevering determination to seek “the shining of the Lord’s face.” This high privilege is connected no less with the Christian’s public usefulness than with his personal enjoyment. For who is most likely to win others to the love of the Saviour, and to the service of God—to enliven the drooping soul, or to recover the backslider? Is it not he, who lives most in the sunshine of the Gospel, and who therefore has most to tell of its heavenly joy? But you say, ‘My heart, alas! is so cold and barren, my affections so languid, my desires so faint, my sky so often clouded. I do not forget that I am a child; but a child in disgrace is too often my dishonorable character and wretched condition.’ Then exercise your faith in going where David was wont to go. As a penitent child, “arise, and go to your Father”—“only acknowledge your iniquity”5—tell your complaint before him—resort much and often to him; be importunate; be patient; plead the name6 and merits of Jesus; and you will not, you cannot, plead in vain; you will once more walk happily, holily, as well as confidently, in the light of your Father’s countenance. And in marking more carefully his gracious dealings with your soul, you will be kept from formality, hardness, and despondency. But we cannot expect this shining, save in the paths of God;7 and he who looks for comfort, while careless of duty, is only the victim of his own delusions. Well, therefore, does the child of God—longing for higher enjoyment, and learning more of his own ignorance, add his petition, “Teach me, thy statutes.” And he that taught us this petition, will himself, according to his promise, be our teacher in the way of holiness.1 And if, under his teaching, in the pathway to glory—our God “makes his face to shine upon us,” what more want we to beguile the toil and weariness of the way? And if one beam of his countenance, though but dimly seen through this sinful medium, exceeds the glories of ten thousand worlds—what will it be to live under the perpetual cloudless “shining of his face!” Believer! does not this prospect invigorate every step of your journey? Your Lord is at hand. Soon will he appear to gladden with his inexpressible smile every soul that is in readiness for him. Oh! seek to realize his approach, and with holy aspirations and joyful expectancy respond to his welcome voice, “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”2 6 Prov. 16:7. 7 2 Kings 19:15. Psalm 99:1. Ezek. 10:1–5. 8 Exod. 25:17–22, with Rom. 3:25. 9 Rev. 4:3. 10 Ps. 80:1–3. 11 Isaiah 55:2, with Psalm 4:6. 12 Comp. Prov. 16:15. 1 Rev. 22:4. 2 Ps 119:132. 3 Comp. 1 Cor. 3:15. 2 Peter 1:11. 4 See 2 Cor. 13:5. Heb. 6:11. 2 Peter 1:10. 5 Ps. 88:1–3; 130:1, 2. 6 Lam. 3:20–22. Micah 7:9. 7 Lam. 3:31–40. 8 Psalm 40:1–3; 130:5, 6. Isaiah 8:17; 50:10. 1 Isaiah 57:17. 2 Isa. 44:22. 3 Isa. 59:2. 4 Zech. 4:7. 5 Jer. 3:13. 6 John 14:13, 14. 7 Ib. 21–23. Isa. 64:5. Gal. 6:16. 1 Ezek. 36:27. 2 Rev. 22:20. Psalm 119:136 My eyes shed streams of water, Because they do not keep Your law. Ps 119:53,158 1Sa 15:11 Jer 9:1,18 13:17 14:17 Eze 9:4 Lu 19:41 Ro 9:2,3 Related Passages: Ezekiel 9:4 The LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” Luke 18:10-14+ Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” PRAY FOR THE GIFT OF TEARS! My eyes shed streams of water, Because they do not keep Your law - The old Puritans used to pray for the "gift of tears." When was the last time you (I) shed even one tear over your (my) sin? Conviction of sin is portrayed in the words My eyes shed streams of water, “My sins, my sins, my Saviour, How sad on Thee they fall.” Oswald Chambers - Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses a man’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God—“against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.” The marvels of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to this point: I have sinned. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it. Anything less than this is merely remorse for having made blunders— the reflex action of disgust at himself [and a further expression of self-love and “worldly sorrow which brings death”].The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Ghost, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life. The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about. The bedrock of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a man cannot truly and fully repent when just he chooses [lest he or she become prideful of their own “repentance”]; repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If ever you cease to know the virtue of repentance, you are in darkness. Examine yourself and see if you have forgotten how to be truly and deeply sorry [without excuse or blame-shift]. Charles Bridges - If the Lord teaches us the privileges of his statutes, he will teach us compassion for those who keep them not. This was the mind of Jesus. His life exhibited one, whose ‘heart was made of tenderness.’ But there were some occasions, when the display of his compassion was peculiarly striking. Near the close of his life, it is recorded, that, “when he was come near, and beheld the city”—“beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth”4—but now given up to its own ways, and “wrath coming upon it to the uttermost,” he “wept over it.”5 It was then a moment of triumph. The air was rent with hosannahs. The road was strewed with branches from the trees, and all was joy and praise.6 Amid all this exultation, the Saviour alone seemed to have no voice for the triumph—no heart for joy. His omniscient mind embraced all the spiritual desolation of this sad case; and he could only weep in the midst of a solemn triumph. “Rivers of waters ran down his eyes, because they kept not his law.” Now a Christian in this as in every other feature will be conformed to the image of his Lord. His heart will therefore be touched with a tender concern for the honor of his God, and a pitying concern for those wretched sinners, that “keep not his law,” and are perishing in their own transgressions. Thus was “just Lot” in Sodom, “vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.”7 Thus did Moses “fall down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread nor drink water, because of all their sins which they had sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.”8 Thus also Samuel, in the anticipation of the Lord’s judgments upon Saul, “grieved himself, and cried unto the Lord all night.”1 Ezra, on a similar occasion in the deepest prostration of sorrow, “rent his garment and his mantle, and plucked off the hair of his head and of his beard, and sat down astonied until the evening sacrifice.”2 And if David was now suffering from the oppression of man,3 yet his own injuries never drew from him such expressions of overwhelming sorrow, as did the sight of the despised law of his God. Need we advert to this tender spirit, as a special characteristic of “the minister of the Lord?” Can they fail in this day of abounding wickedness—even within the bounds of their own sphere—to hear the call to “weep between the porch and the altar?”4 How instructive is the posture of the ancient prophet—first pleading openly with the rebellion of the people—then “his soul weeping in secret places for their pride?”5 Not less instructive is the great apostle—his “conscience bearing witness in the Holy Ghost to his great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart for his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh.”6 In reproving transgressors, he could only write to them “out of much affliction and anguish of heart with many tears,”7 and in speaking of them to others, with the same tenderness of spirit, he adds, “Of whom I tell you even weeping.”8 Tears were these, of Christian eloquence no less than of Christian compassion. Thus uniformly is the character of God’s people represented—not merely as those that are free from, but as “those that sigh and that cry for all the abominations, that be done in the midst of the land.” They—they alone—are marked out for mercy in the midst of impending, universal ruin.9 The want of this spirit is ever a feature of hardness and pride—a painful blot upon the profession of the Gospel.10 How wide the sphere presenting itself on every side for the unrestrained exercise of this yearning compassion! The appalling spectacle of a world apostatized from God, of multitudes sporting with everlasting destruction—as if the God of heaven were “a man that he should lie,”11 is surely enough to force “rivers of waters” from the hearts of those who are concerned for his honor. What a mass of sin ascends as a cloud before the Lord, from a single heart! Add the aggregate of a village—a town—a country—a world! every day—every hour—every moment—well might the “rivers of waters” rise to an overflowing tide, ready to burst its barriers. We speak not of outward sensibility (in which some may be constitutionally deficient, and the exuberance of which may be no sign of real spiritual affection) but we ask—Do we lay to heart the perishing condition of our fellow-sinners? Could we witness a house on fire, without speedy and practical evidence of our compassion for the inhabitants? And yet, alas! how often do we witness souls on the brink of destruction—unconscious of danger, or bidding defiance to it—with comparative indifference! How are we Christians, if we believe not the Scripture warnings of their danger? or if, believing them, we do not bestir ourselves to their help? What hypocrisy is it to pray for their conversion, while we are making no effort to promote it? Oh! let it be our daily supplication, that this indifference concerning their everlasting state may give place to a spirit of weeping tenderness; that we may not be living, as if this world were really, what it appears to be, ‘a world without souls;’ that we may never see the Sabbaths of God profaned, his laws trampled under foot, the ungodly “breaking their bands asunder, and casting away their cords from them,”1 without a more determined resolution ourselves to keep these laws of our God, and to plead for their honor with these obstinate transgressors. Have we no near and dear relatives, yet “lying in wickedness—dead in trespasses and sins?” To what blessed family, reader, do you belong, where there are no such objects of pity? But be it so—it is well. Yet are you silent? Have you no ungodly, ignorant neighbors around you? And are they unwarned as well as unconverted? Do you visit them in the way of courtesy or kindness, yet give them no word of affectionate entreaty on the concerns of eternity? Let our families indeed possess, as they ought to possess, the first claim to our compassionate regard. Then let our parishes, our neighborhood, our country, the world, find a place in our affectionate, prayerful, and earnest consideration. Nor let it be supposed, that the doctrine of sovereign and effectual grace has any tendency to paralyze exertion. So far from it, the most powerful supports to perseverance are derived from this source. Left to himself—with only the invitations of the Gospel—not a sinner could ever have been saved. Added to these—there must be the Almighty energy of God—the seal of his secret purpose—working upon the sinner’s will, and winning the heart to God. Not that this sovereign work prevents any from being saved. But it prevents the salvation from being in vain to all, by securing its application to some. The invitations manifest the pardoning love of God; but they change not the rebel heart of man. They show his enmity; but they slay it not. They leave him without excuse—yet at the same time—they be applied—without salvation. The moment of life in the history of the saved sinner is, when he is “made willing in the day of the Lord’s power,”2—when he comes—he looks—he lives. It is this dispensation alone gives the Christian laborer the spring of energy and hope. The palpable and awful proofs on every side, of the “enmity of the carnal mind against God,” rejecting alike both his law and his Gospel, threaten to sink him in despondency. And nothing sustains his tender and compassionate interest, but the assurance of the power of God to remove the resisting medium, and of his purpose to accomplish the subjugation of natural corruption in a countless multitude of his redeemed people. The same yearning sympathy forms the life, the pulse, and the strength of Missionary exertion, and has ever distinguished those honored servants of God, who have devoted their time, their health, their talents, their all, to the blessed work of “saving souls from death; and covering a multitude of sins.”1 Can we conceive of a Missionary living in the spirit of his work—surrounded with thousands of mad idolaters, hearing their shouts, and witnessing their abominations, without a weeping spirit? Indignant grief for the dishonor done to God—amazement at this affecting spectacle of human blindness—detestation of human impiety—compassionate yearnings over human wretchedness and ruin—all combine to force tears of the deepest sorrow from a heart enlightened and constrained by the influence of a Saviour’s love.2 This, as we have seen, was our Master’s spirit. And let none presume themselves to be Christians, if they are destitute of “this mind that was in Christ Jesus;”3 if they know nothing of His melting compassion for a lost world, or of his burning zeal for his heavenly Father’s glory. Oh! for that deep realizing sense of the preciousness of immortal souls, that would make us look at every sinner we meet as a soul to be “pulled out of the fire,” and to be drawn to Christ;—which would render us willing to endure suffering, reproach, and the loss of all, so that we might win one soul to God, and raise one monument to His everlasting praise! Happy mourner in Zion! whose tears over the guilt and wretchedness of a perishing world are the outward indications of thy secret pleadings with God, and the effusion of a heart solemnly dedicated to the salvation of thy fellow-sinners! 4 Psalm 48:2. 5 Luke 19:41. Comp. Matt. 23:37, also Mark 3:5. 6 Comp. Luke 19:36–40. 7 2 Peter 2:7, 8. 8 Deut. 9:18, 19. 1 1 Sam. 15:11, 35. 2 Ezra 9:3, 4. 3 Ps 119:134. 4 Joel 2:17. 5 Jer. 13:17. 6 Rom. 9:1–3. 7 2 Cor. 2:4. 8 Phil. 3:18. Comp. Acts 20:19. 9 Ezek. 9:4. 10 1 Cor. 5:2 11 Numb. 23:16. 2 Ps. 9:3. 1 James 5:20. 2 ‘My God! I feel the mournful scene; My bowels yearn o’er dying men; And fain my pity would reclaim, And snatch the fire-brands from the flame But feeble my compassion proves, And can but weep where most it loves; Thine own all-saving arm employ, And turn these drops of grief to joy.’ 3 See Phil. 2:4–7. Psalm 119:137 Tsadhe. Righteous are You, O LORD, And upright are Your judgments. Ps 99:4, 103:6,145:17 De 32:4 Ezr 9:15 Ne 9:33 Jer 12:1 Da 9:7,14 Ro 2:5 3:5,6 9:14 Rev 15:3,4 16:7 19:2 Related Passage: Ps 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. Daniel 9:7 “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day–to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. Tsadhe. Righteous are You, O LORD, And upright are Your judgments. Warren Wiersbe - Ps. 119:137 Tried and True Whenever we buy appliances, we want a guarantee that they're going to work efficiently. So we look for those special seals of approval that indicate the product has been tested. Similarly, when we buy food at the store, we want to be sure that the ingredients are safe for consumption. God's Word has been tested and found true. It is guaranteed. "Your word is very pure [refined]; therefore Your servant loves it" (Psalm 119:140). It has gone through the furnace. Gold ore is put into a furnace to be tested. The assayer wants to know if it's really gold; likewise with silver. As we read through the Bible and through Church history, we find that the Word of God also has been through the fire. Abraham tested it and found that it was true. He left his home without knowing where he was going, but he had the Word of God, and God saw him through. Moses also tested the Word of God during those 40 years in the wilderness. Furthermore, when we read the Psalms, we see the furnaces that David went through. What was he doing? Testing the Word of God. The Bible has been tested and has passed the test. Therefore, it can be trusted. It's pure, void of falsehoods. All the people who have trusted the Lord throughout history can say, "You can lean upon the Word of God." * * * Have you tested the Word of God in your own life? You may be going through the furnace right now. If so, remember that one reason you endure such difficulties is so you will discover that the Word of God is pure, refined and trustworthy. Test the Word for yourself and find that it is true. (Psalm 119:137-144 Tried and True) Charles Bridges - The advancing Christian learns to adore the awful perfections of his God, and to acknowledge his righteous character and government, even when “his ways are in the sea, and his paths in the great waters.”1 “Clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.”2 We have already brought out the unvarying testimony of his people to the righteous character of his afflictive dispensations.3 Even from haughty Pharaoh was a similar acknowledgment extorted.4 Adonibezek also, under the blow of his hand, cried out, “As I have done, so God hath requited me.”5 Yet in this path “we walk by faith, not by sight.”6 Often in Providence “his footsteps are not known.”7 We cannot trace the reasons of the Divine mind. We must wait, and “see the end of the Lord,” when the disjointed pieces shall be compacted into one complete texture and frame-work. “At evening time it shall be light.”8 Much more in the dispensations of grace do we hear the voice,—“Be still, and know that I am God.”9 Doubtless he could give his grace to all as well as to some. Yet none have a claim upon him. Is it not his to do what he will with his own? “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”10 Thus much is plain—enough to silence cavil, and justify God—grace is freely offered to all. Man’s own will rejects it, and leaves him without excuse.11 Effectual grace is withheld from none, but those who deserve that it should be so. None are forced to sin. None are condemned without guilt.12 Therefore when we stand upon the ocean’s brink, and cry—“Oh! the depth!” are we not constrained to the adoring acknowledgment, Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments. And if this be our praise, even while “we see but as through a glass darkly, and know but in part,” how much more, in the world of unclouded day, when we shall see “face to face, and know even as we are known”13—shall we sing with reverential joy “the song of the Lamb—Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty! just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints!”14 The young Christian, however, less able to grasp those deeper apprehensions, exercises himself chiefly in His more engaging perfections of long-suffering, goodness, and love. It is therefore a satisfactory evidence of growth in grace, when our habitual contemplation of God fixes upon our minds the more full and awful displays of his character; and we gather from thence an increase of light, peace, humility, and consolation. But the cross of Calvary harmonizes to our view at once the most appalling and the most encouraging attributes. Though his own declaration—that “he will by no means clear the guilty”1—seemed to present an insurmountable barrier to the purpose of mercy; yet, rather than the glory of a God of love should be obscured, or his righteous law should be mitigated, “he spared not his own Son”2—he “made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us.”3 And do not we naturally argue from his nature to his testimonies? If he be righteous, nothing unrighteous can come from him. His testimonies therefore are his lively image—like himself—righteous and very faithful—requiring nothing impossible—nothing unsuitable—perfect love to God and man4—“our reasonable service,”5 no less our privilege than our duty to render. None that are blessed with a spiritual apprehension of their nature, and are conformed and framed to them, will hesitate in setting their seal to the inscription, “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good!”6 But let us take care to exhibit the practical influence of our contemplations of the character and government of God. The unconverted—far from understanding or subscribing to our acknowledgment—complain, “The ways of the Lord are not equal.” “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”7 And so opposed are the “righteous judgments of God” to the perverseness of corrupt nature, that even with the child of God there is much murmuring within, that needs to be stilled—much repining to be hushed—much impatience to be repressed—many hard thoughts to be lamented, resisted, and banished. Did we believe more simply, how much more joy would there be in our faith, and readiness in our submission! How clearly would our experience show, that the Lord is upright; he is our rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him!”8 In returning, then, “and rest shall we be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be our strength.”9 In the submissive acknowledgment of the Lord’s dispensations, “our peace” will flow “as a river;”10 more deep and extensive as it approaches the ocean, and fertilizing our souls with an abundant harvest of spiritual peace and enjoyment. 1 Psalm 77:19. 2 Ps. 97:2. Comp. Deut. 32:4. 3 Ps 119: 75. 4 Exod. 9:27. 5 Judges 1:7. Comp. 2 Chron. 12:6. 6 2 Cor. 5:7. 7 Psalm 77:19. 8 Zech. 14:7. 9 Psalm 46:10. 10 Matt. 20:15. Rom. 9:19. Gen. 18:25. 11 Matt. 23:37. John 5:40. 12 Rom. 11:33. 13 1 Cor. 13:12. 14 Rev. 15:3. 1 Exod. 34:7. 2 Rom. 8:32. 3 2 Cor. 5:21. 4 Matt. 22:37–39. 5 Rom. 12:1. 6 Ps. 19:9. Rom. 7:12. 7 Ezek. 18:25. Gen. 4:13. 8 Psalm 92:15. 9 Isaiah 30:15. 10 Isa. 48:18. Psalm 119:138 You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness And exceeding faithfulness. testimonies: Ps 119:86,144 Ps 19:7-9 De 4:8,45 faithfulness, Ps 119:75 Related Passages: Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Lam 3:22-23 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness And exceeding faithfulness - TLB = I am indignant and angry because of the way my enemies have disregarded your laws. Charles Bridges - See comment on v137 Psalm 119:139 My zeal has consumed me, Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words. NET Psalm 119:139 My zeal consumes me, for my enemies forget your instructions. NLT Psalm 119:139 I am overwhelmed with indignation, for my enemies have disregarded your words. ESV Psalm 119:139 My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words. NIV Psalm 119:139 My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words. KJV Psalm 119:139 My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. zeal: Ps 69:9 1Ki 19:10,14 Joh 2:17 consumed me or, cut me off because: Ps 53:4 Mt 9:13 12:3-5 15:4-6 21:13,16,42 22:29 Ac 13:27 Ac 28:23-27 My zeal has consumed me, Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Ps. 119:161 A Treasure to Win "I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure" (Psalm 119:162). When do we find great treasure or spoil? Usually after a battle. Thus, this verse indicates that Bible study involves a battle or conflict that starts with our own flesh. The flesh and the natural mind don't want to be disciplined enough to read and study the Word of God. Of course, the world doesn't want this either. The world wants us to ignore Scripture and believe its own lies and vain thoughts. And Satan hates the Bible. He will do anything he can to keep us from reading, studying, meditating on and obeying the Word of God. So the Bible can become an arena for conflict. Sometimes I'll be reading it and think of something that needs to be done, or I'll see a book out of place on my shelf and want to get up and fix it. The Devil puts distractions all around me to keep me from winning the battle of studying the Word of God. Scripture is indeed a treasure to win. And sometimes there is a battle that must be fought first to win it. But there is also a joy to experience. "I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure." It's beautiful to think your way through a portion of Scripture, to meditate, study and pray and then see the treasure that is revealed. Bible study enriches our lives. It not only helps you understand the Word but also enables you to become more like the Author. * * * The Devil rages a battle against believers who read and study the Bible. Why? Because when you study the Word, you become more like Jesus. If you win the battle, you will gain the spoils. Let the Word enrich your life. Win the treasure and experience the joy of Bible study. (Psalm 119:161-168 A Treasure to Win) Charles Bridges - 161. Princes have persecuted me without a cause; but my heart standeth in awe of thy word So contrary are the principles of God and the world! God chastens his people for their sin.1 The world persecutes them for their godliness.2 So it has been from the beginning,3 and will continue to the end.4 David had before mentioned his persecutors as many.5 Now he tells us, that they were like those of David’s Lord, the princes of the earth.6 In both cases, however, was it confessedly without cause.7 Had it been with cause, it would have been his shame.8 Now it was his glory.9 In the former case it would have been his own—here it was his Master’s—cross. His awe of God’s word was the gracious restraint to his own spirit.10 And this godly fear has always marked the people of God. Witness Joseph,11 Moses,12 Nehemiah,13 and the Jews,14 and the three Babylonish captives.15 Josiah also obtained a special mark of acceptance.16 For the man “that trembleth at God’s word,” whether he be found on the throne or on the dunghill, is the man “to whom the Lord will look.”17 And certainly where—as with David—the wrath of princes and the wrath of God are weighed against each other—who can doubt, but that it is better to incur the persecution of men by a decided adherence to the word of God, than the wrath of God, by declining from it? Our Saviour, “knowing what was in man,” had clearly forewarned and fore-armed his disciples against these difficulties.18 The trial at the first onset proved too hard for them; Peter’s “heart stood in awe” of the “persecuting princes,” and in a moment of temptation he disowned his Master:19 but when “the Spirit of power”20 was poured from on high, such was the “holy awe,” in which himself and his brethren “stood of God’s word,” that they declared, in the face of the whole council—“Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. We ought to obey God rather than men.”21 ‘I fear God,’ Colonel Gardiner used to say, ‘and I have nothing else to fear.’ Indeed the spirit of adoption—the Christian’s distinguishing character and privilege—produces an awe of God, a dread of sinning against the tenderest Father, of grieving the dearest Friend. And this awe of God will naturally extend to his word: so that we shall be more tenderly afraid of disregarding its dictates, than the most faithful subject of breaking the law of his beloved Sovereign. There is nothing slavish or legal in this fear. It is the freedom and the holiness of the Gospel; the very soul of religion; the best preservative of our joys and privileges; and the best evidence of their scriptural character. We shall find, with David, this principle a valuable safeguard against the richest allurements, or the most powerful reproach of men, to “go beyond the word of the Lord to do less or more.”1 But what must be the state of that heart, where the word of the great God—the Creator and Judge of the earth—commands no reverence! Could the sinner hear a voice from heaven, addressed distinctly to himself, would he dare to reject it? Yet “we have a more sure word, whereunto we do well that we take heed;”2 that we receive it with silent awe, bow before it with the most unlimited subjection, and yield ourselves entirely to its holy influence.3 But if it does not stand infinitely higher in our estimation than all—even the best—books of man, we have no just perception of its value, nor can we except any communication of its treasures to our hearts. The holiness of God is stamped upon its every sentence. Let us then cherish an awe of this word—“receiving it”—not as a common book, “not as the word of man; but as it is in truth, the word of God,”4 in the true spirit of Cornelius and his company—“Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.”5 1 Isa. 27:9. 2 John 15:19. 3 Gal. 4:29. 4 2 Tim. 3:12. 5 Ps 119:157. 6 Ps 119:23. 1 Sam. 18:8, 28, 29, with Ps. 2:2. 1 Cor. 2:8. 7 1 Sam. 24:17; 26:21. John 15:25. Matt. 26:59, 60. Comp. Dan. 6:4, 5. 8 Ps 119:39. 1 Peter 2:20; 3:17; 4:15. 9 Ps 119:46. 2 Sam. 6:22. Matt. 5:10–12. 1 Peter 4:14. 10 1 Sam. 24:6. 11 Gen. 39:9. 12 Heb. 11:27. 13 Neh. 5:15. 14 Ezra 9:4; 10:3. 15 Dan. 3:16–18. 16 2 Chron. 34:26, 27. 17 Isa. 66:2. 18 Luke 12:11, 12. 19 Matt. 26:69–75. 20 2 Timothy 1:7. 21 Acts 4:19, 29; 5:29. 1 Nu 22:18. 2 2 Peter 1:19. 3 The Jews’ frontispiece to their great Bible is Jacob’s expression of fear and astonishment upon his vision of God at Bethel—“How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” ‘So ought we,’ as Dr. Owen remarks upon this, ‘to look upon the word with a holy awe and reverence of the presence of God in it.’ ‘I would advise you all, that come to the reading or hearing of this book, which is the word of God, the most precious jewel, and most holy relic that remaineth upon earth, that ye bring with you the fear of God, and that ye do it with all due reverence, and use your knowledge thereof, not to vain glory of frivolous disputation, but to the honor of God, increase of virtue, and edification both of yourselves and others.’—Cranmer’s Judgment of Scripture, p. 20. 4 1 Thess. 2:13. 5 Acts 10:33. On this particular a hint from a heathen may not be unworthy of our remark. “Ehud said to Eglon, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.” Judges 3:20. Psalm 119:162 I rejoice at Your word, As one who finds great spoil. rejoice (KJV): Ps 119:72,111 Jer 15:16 as one (KJV): 1Sa 30:16 Pr 16:19 Isa 9:3 I rejoice at Your word, As one who finds great spoil - Poor soldiers were made rich from the spoil left by the defeated enemy. The riches of the Word do not come easy; there must first be that spiritual battle against Satan and the flesh. But it is worth it. Wiersbe - Scripture is indeed a treasure to win. And sometimes there is a battle that must be fought first to win it. But there is also a joy to experience. "I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure." It's beautiful to think your way through a portion of Scripture, to meditate, study and pray and then see the treasure that is revealed. Bible study enriches our lives. It not only helps you understand the Word but also enables you to become more like the (Prayer, Praise and Promises)
Salmos 119
Wiersbe - Ps. 119:169 A Chain Reaction Let me tell you about a spiritual chain reaction that has the power to transform our lives. It begins in Psalm 119:169: "Let my cry come before You, O Lord; give me understanding according to Your word." Prayer leads to understanding. This is the first part of the chain reaction. Do you pray for understanding as you read your Bible? Do you pray, "Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law" (Ps 119:18)? Next, understanding leads to freedom. "Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your word" (Psalm 119:170). The psalmist asks for the freedom that comes from the truth of God. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). The greatest bondage in the world is the bondage to lies. If you believe a lie, you are in slavery; but if you believe God's truth, you live in freedom. The third stage in this spiritual chain reaction is found in Psalm 119:171: "My lips shall utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes." Freedom leads to praise. When we understand the statutes of God, we can sing. Knowing His Word makes us want to praise Him. Finally, praise leads to witnessing. "My tongue shall speak of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness" (Psalm 119:172). As a result of our witness, people may come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. * * * Read the Word of God and pray, and let the Spirit begin this life-transforming chain reaction in your life (Psalm 119:169-176 A Chain Reaction) Charles Bridges - 169. Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give me understanding, according to thy word. 170. Let my supplication come before thee; deliver me according to thy word We mark David here, where he always loved to be,—a supplicant at the throne of grace. Many had been his “cries and supplications.” His petition now is—that they may “come near before his Lord.” Oh! that our wants of every moment were felt with the same pressure, and carried to the Lord with the same faith, earnestness, humility, and perseverance! Richness of expression, and fluency of utterance, are the mere shell and shadow of prayer. The life of prayer is the “cry” of the heart to God. The eloquence of prayer is its earnestness. The power of prayer is that which cometh, not from education, or from the natural desire of the man; but that “which is from above”—“the spirit of supplication”—“the spirit of adoption.” The urgency of present need calls for instant prayer. The soul is at stake; the enemy is within the walls—perhaps within the citadel. Oh, what a privilege to know that we have “a strong habitation, whereunto we may continually resort”—to be able to remind the Lord—“Thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress!”1 But then we must see, that our “cry comes before—comes near before the Lord;” that nothing blocks up the way, or interrupts the communication. If we are believers, the way is open; “the middle wall of partition is broken down.” Oh, let us be excited to greater nearness of communion! “Having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh,”2 why should we be backward to come? Had we not seen the way marked by this blood of sprinkling, we should (if we have had any sight into our own hearts) no more have dared to take one step into the awful presence of God, than to rush into the devouring flame. If, in a moment of extremity, we had felt, that we must pray or perish, we should have had no boldness to open our mouths before God,—much less expect that our “supplication would come near before him,” had we not been “made nigh by the blood of Christ.”3 But what an amount of privilege is it, that this way to God is always open—that, as members of Christ, we stand in the sight of God as pure as Christ is pure—that we have not only “access” but “access with confidence”4—yea, with the same confidence as the Son of God himself! For the Father is never weary of delighting in his dear Son, or in those who are one with him. If he, therefore, takes our names into the holy place—if he offer sacrifice and incense for us, and sprinkle us with his blood—“in him we are complete,”5—“in him,” therefore, let us “glory.”6 “Having an high-priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith.”7 But where we feel as if we did not, could not, reach the throne of grace, “is there not a cause?” Our distance from God must be traced to a deeper origin than the dulness and insensibility of our hearts. The real difficulty of prayer, and indeed the actual inability to pray, arises in many, and probably in most, cases, from an indistinct perception of the way of access. We must admit this, not only in those who are totally ignorant of Christ, but also in the cases of weak, unestablished, or negligent Christians. Through ignorance of the fulness and freeness of the Gospel in the one, and indulgence of sin or secret unwatchfulness in the other, the way of access (only perceptible by the eye of faith) becomes obscured, the desire faint, the spiritual strength weakened. And instead of the acknowledgment—“The Lord hath heard the voice of my supplications,”8 we have the mournful complaints—“My soul cleaveth to the dust—oh that I were as in months past!”9 It must be so; for prayer without faith is a heartless ceremony in the spirit of bondage. That which gives to it life and acceptance is the believing apprehension of Christ.1 The ignorant and self-righteous may find it a matter of course (as easy as it is fruitless) to bow their knee in the form of prayer. But the light, that darts in upon the awakened conscience, reveals something hitherto unknown of God and of themselves, and shows the ground of confidence for a self-condemned sinner, to be a matter of the deepest mystery, and most amazing difficulty. Such a confidence, however, God has laid open to us. We cannot honor him more than by making use of it. All that come in the name of Jesus are welcome; why, then, penitent sinner, should not you be welcome? The throne of grace was raised for sinners such as you. You cannot want larger promises, or a better plea. You come, not because you are worthy, but be cause you are bid, to come. Take the command, and lay it upon your conscience. Christ is your only way to God. Faith is the act and exercise of coming to Christ. Faith, therefore, will bring you to God, if you have not hitherto come; or restore you to God, if you have wandered from him. But there may be a secret departure from God even in the engagement of active service, or in the exercises of social religion. For if these duties are substituted for secret communion with God, “the things that remain in us will be ready to die;”2 ordinances will fail to enrich; Christian fellowship will bring no refreshment; and the soul, while blessed with the abundance of means of grace, “in the fulness of its sufficiency will be in straits.”3 Indeed, if our affections and feelings are moved in social exercises, and are cold and insensible when we are alone with God, it is a bad symptom of our state. What then do we know of the comforts of the closet? Do we pray, because we love to pray, or only because our consciences constrain us to the duty? Does the Lord mark those secret transactions with himself, that manifest our hearts to be really drawn to him? Is it any pressing business of our soul’s salvation, that brings us to God? Are our services enlivened with spiritual manifestations of Christ? It is possible long to continue in the outward course of duty: and yet not one of our prayers to “come near before the Lord.” We have not come in the appointed way; and therefore we have not really come at all. Or if the name of Christ has been affixed to our prayers, it has been as a component part of a formal system, not as an exercise of dependence in seeking acceptance with God. But it may be, that we have backslidden from God, in a habit of indulged coldness or wilful iniquity. Now if we would expect “the candle of the Lord again to shine upon our heads, and his secret to be upon our tabernacles,”4 we must rest satisfied with nothing short of the full restoration of our privileges. We must return to the Lord with deepened contrition in his appointed way, and wait for him to look upon us, and once more to “let our supplication come near before him.” He had “gone, and returned to his place, till we acknowledged our offence, and sought his face;”1 and he is now sitting on a “throne of grace,” waiting “that he may be gracious.”2 Again and again, therefore, let us fall down at his feet, and never cease to pray, until we feel that our “cry and supplication come near before him,” and spiritual “understanding of our case, and deliverance” from our danger, are vouchsafed. As a God of wisdom and yearning mercy, we may trust him to “perform all things for us.”3 Let him then judge for the time and means of our deliverance. Only let it be according to his own word of faithfulness, and we shall yet praise him.”4 It is beautiful to observe the oil of the Psalmist’s faith feeding the flame of his supplication. Every petition is urged upon the warrant of a promise—“according to thy word.” The promises were the very breath of his supplication; exciting his expectation for a favorable answer, and exercising his patience, until the answer should come. Though in possession of so comparatively small a portion of the blessed book, he seemed always to find a word for the present occasion; always able to show to his God his own hand and seal. Alas! sometimes with the whole word of God before us, we are at a loss to appropriate one of its innumerable promises to the present emergency. Yet with all our contracted views of the covenant, still our interest in it is not denied. Such is the condescension of our tender Father that he accepts even the stammering language of faith in his children! The cry, “Abba Father”—“though” (as Luther sweetly expresses it) “it is but a cry, yet it doth so pierce the clouds, that there is nothing else heard in heaven of God and his angels.”5 And how delightful is the thought, that God’s elect—as they will shortly be gathered a countless multitude around the heavenly throne6—so do they now hold spiritual communion with each other, while “they cry day and night”7 before their Father’s throne of grace! True it is—we understand not one another’s tongues. Yet does our loving Father understand us all. Nor do our different dialects cause any confusion in heaven; but rather unite and form one cloud of incense, ascending with continual acceptance and delight in his presence. Ineffable is the delight, with which our Beloved enjoys that communion with his people, which he purchased with his own blood—“O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rocks, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.”8 1 Psalm 71:3. 2 Heb. 10:19, 20. 3 Eph. 2:13. 4 Eph. 3:12. Esther had “access” to the King—but not “with confidence”—Esther 4:16. 5 Col. 2:10. 6 Isaiah 45:25. 7 Heb. 10:21, 22. 8 Psalm 6:9. 9 Ps 119:25. Job. 29:2. 1 Heb. 4:14–16; 10:19–22. 2 Rev. 3:2. 3 Job 20:22. 4 Job 29:3, 4. 1 Hosea 5:15. 2 Isaiah 30:18. 3 Psalm 57:2. 4 Ps. 42:11. 5 Luther on Gal. 4:6. And again—“This little word, Father, conceived effectually in the heart, passeth all the eloquence of Demosthenes, Cicero, and of the most eloquent rhetoricians that ever were in the world. This matter is not expressed with words, but with groanings; which groanings cannot be uttered with any words of eloquence, for no tongue can express them.” 6 Rev. 7:9. 7 Luke 18:7. 8 Song. 2:14, also 4:11. Psalm 119:170 Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word. deliver me (KJV): Ps 119:41 89:20-25 Ge 32:9-12 2Sa 7:25 Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word. Charles Bridges - See comment on v169 Psalm 119:171 Let my lips utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes. my lips (KJV): etc. Or, more literally, and accordant with the context. "My lips shall pour forth (tabbanah) praise; for (kee) thou hast taught me thy statues." Ps 119:7 50:23 71:17,23,24 Let my lips utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes. Charles Bridges - 171. My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes How happy is it to bring to God a heart as large in praise as in prayer! The answer of the supplication for spiritual understanding and deliverance naturally issues in the sacrifice of praise. Guilt had sealed David’s lips, while living in sin, and restrained alike the utterance of praise and prayer. But when awakened to a sense of his sin, how earnest were his cries!—“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.”1 And if guilt or unbelief has made us dumb, his petitions will tune our hearts to the “songs of Zion.” When the Lord has taught us in his statutes the revelation of himself—as having given his dear Son for us and to us, “the tongue of the dumb is made to sing,”2—“Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!”3 And do I not remember “the time of love,” when I was “a brand plucked out of the fire”—a redeemed sinner—a pardoned rebel—destined for a seat on the throne of God—indulged with a taste, and assured of the completion of heavenly bliss? This was a work worthy of God—a work, which none but God could have wrought. What mercy is this! Everlasting! Unchangeable! Let me cast myself daily upon it; yea, let me bury myself in it! What gratitude is demanded! “My lips shall utter praise, now that he has taught me his statutes.” “O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.”4 Again—I seemed to have sunk beyond all help. No means, no ministers, no providences, could reach my extremity. All were “physicians of no value;”5 tried and tried again, but tried in vain. But “in weakness” thoroughly felt “strength was made perfect.”6 The threatening clouds were dispersed; the breaches were healed; the veil of unbelief was rent. “The right hand of the Lord had brought mighty things to pass”7—“He hath spoken unto me, and himself hath done it;”8 and it is “marvellous in our eyes.”9 Let my stammering “lips utter praise.” What a display of power! It is the spark preserved in the ocean unquenched, the drop in the flames unconsumed—the feather in the storm unshaken. “Who is a God like unto thee!” “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.”10 And again—I was perplexed in a dark and bewildered path. Every dispensation appeared to frown upon me. One dark hour had blotted out all the recollections of my former comforts; and it was as if I never could, never should, rejoice again. But little did I think how the Lord was “abounding towards me in all wisdom and prudence”11—how his arrows were sharpened with love—how he was “humbling me, and proving me, to know what was in my heart,”1 and in the moment of chastening was speaking to me—I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord: thoughts of peace; and not of evil, “to give you an expected end.”2 What a display of “wisdom!” “My lips shall utter praise;” for if I “should hold my peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”3 The thought what I was before my conversion—what I have been since—what I am now-overwhelms me with shame and with praise. “Lord, how is it that thou shouldst have manifested to me, as thou hast not unto the world?” “Who am I, O Lord God, that thou hast brought me hitherto!” And how much more “that thou hast spoken of thy servant for a great while to come!”4 For thou hast prepared for me a happy eternity in thy unclouded presence. Should not then my praise be bubbling up as from a fountain5—pouring forth as from a rich treasure house?6 Should not my instrument—if not always employed—be always kept in tune?7 Yes—when I am most deploring my sins, never let me fail to thank the Lord, that he has not taken away his truth utterly—that he has left me clinging to some twig of hope, instead of leaving me to find—what many who look very calm have found—the depth of this precipice of despair. And has not the time been with you—believer—when you have been almost ready to give up all for lost, and to say, “Evil be thou my good,” and when the thought flashed light and comfort, ‘While I am struggling between despondency and rebellion, and too hard—too cold—too discouraged to look up, my blessed Saviour is pitying and succoring me in my struggle. Then let me put off despair at least till to-morrow’—and before to-morrow’s dawn the cloud was swept away. Ought not we then to glorify our Saviour—a privilege as high as to enjoy him—nay—the very means of increasing our enjoyment of him, in the active excitement of my love, and every grace for his sake. Let not the enemy rob me, as too often he has done, of my high privilege. Let me prize secret prayer. Let me be separated from an ensnaring world. Let me dread separation from my God—and if ever estranged from him, let me never rest, until by “receiving the atonement,” always presented and accepted on my behalf, I once more walk in the light of his countenance. Let me then fix the eye of my faith, weak and dim as it may be, constantly upon Jesus. He must do all for me, in me, by me. He must “teach” me more and more of “the statutes” of my God, that my heart may be delightfully engaged with “my lips in uttering his praise.” 1 Psalm 51:12, 15. 2 Isaiah 35:6. 3 2 Cor. 9:15. 4 Isaiah 12:1. 5 Job 13:4. 6 2 Cor. 12:9. 7 Psalm 118:16, prayer-book version. 8 Isaiah 38:15. 9 Psalm 118:23. 10 Micah 7:18. Psalm 115:1. 11 Eph. 1:8. 1 Deuteronomy 8:2. 2 Jer. 29:11. 3 Luke 19:40. 4 2 Sam. 7:18, 19. 5 Psalm 46. M. R. 6 Matt. 12:34. 7 Psalm 57:7; 108:1. Tender Heart - Without a heart for God, we cannot hear God's Word. Proper understanding of spiritual truth is not dependent on a keen intellect but on a tender heart, a heart that is "humble and contrite of spirit, and which trembles at My Word." (Isa 66:2) We don’t as much need physical eyes to read the Bible, as we need the spiritual eyes of our heart enlightened to love the Author. 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) Psalm 119:172 Let my tongue sing of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness. tongue (KJV): Ps 119:13,46 37:30 40:9,10 78:4 De 6:7 Mt 12:34,35 Eph 4:29 Col 4:6 for all thy (KJV): Ps 119:86,138,142 Ro 7:12,14 Let my tongue sing of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness. Charles Bridges - 172. My tongue shall speak of thy word; for all thy commandments are righteousness To speak of God and for him, will be the desire and delight of him, whose heart and lips have been taught to “utter praise.” Yet alas! how seldom is “our conversation seasoned with grace!”1 So much of this poor world’s nothing! So little of Jesus! If only five minutes can be redeemed for prayer—for Scripture—or for thought—let it be seized as an inestimable jewel. If we can pass five minutes less in foolish or ensnaring company, secure the advantage. If vain words are flowing up from the bottom, look on the restraint that represses them from our lips as a triumphant mercy. This active energy of Christian discipline will communicate a fragrance to our conversation, most acceptable to our Beloved Lord;2 and will make our “lips” enriching,3 feeding,4 and instructive5 to his church. And truly when we see how hardly men judge of him—how they count his “commandments grievous,” and his ways “unequal,”6 it will be delightful to bear our testimony, that “all his commandments are righteousness”—restraining the power of sin, and conforming the soul to his image. “Lord, open thou my lips, that my tongue may speak of thy word.” Honor me, O my God, by helping me to show, that “all thy commandments are righteousness.” In our own atmosphere, and our own spirit, how often do we pour out our words without waiting on the Lord for unction and power—speaking of the things of God without his presence and blessing! Were we living fully in the atmosphere and breathing of prayer—enriched with habitual meditation in the word—how much more fluent would our tongue be to speak of his word “to the use of edifying!”7 It would be made really our own—known experimentally—and then how cheering, how enlivening the conversation of the man of God! His “light so shines before men, that” they are constrained to “glorify his Father which is in heaven.”8 Perhaps, believer, supposed inability, natural bashfulness, or want of seasonable opportunity may restrain your lips. But under most unfavorable circumstances something may generally be said or done in the service of God. And whilst it is well carefully to watch against the “talk of the lips, which tendeth only to penury;”9 beware, lest, through the scrupulous tenderness of conscience, “Satan get advantage” to shut the mouth of the faithful witnesses of God, and thus to weaken that cause, which it is your first desire to support.10 Guard against the influence of unbelief. Bring your weakness and inability daily to the Lord. Let any dreaded inconsistency of profession be searched out, examined, and lamented before him, and opposed in dependence on his grace; but never let it be made a covering for indolence, or supply fuel for despondency. Consider how your interest in a Divine Saviour makes your way open to bring all your wants to him. Be encouraged therefore to ask for the Spirit of God to guide your lips: that a poor weak sinner may be permitted to “show forth the praises of Him,” who is surrounded with all the Hosts of Heaven. When however our silence has arisen from the too feeble assistance of our natural carelessness and indolence, the recollection of many important opportunities of glorifying our Saviour, lost beyond recall, may well excite the prayer—“Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.”1 Oh! to have the preciousness of souls deeply impressed upon our hearts! Oh! for that compassionate love, that would never suffer us to meet a fellow-sinner, without lifting up our hearts to God on his behalf: making an effort to win his soul to Christ: and manifesting an earnest desire for his salvation! What loss is there to our own souls in these neglected opportunities of blessing the souls of others! For never do we receive richer fruit to ourselves, than in the act or endeavor to communicate to others. The heart becomes enlarged by every practical exercise of Christian love. Yet much simplicity—much unction from above—much tenderness of heart—much wisdom combined with boldness—is needed in our daily conversation, that we may “make manifest the savor of the knowledge of Christ in every place;”2 and specially—that our very desires to bring sinners to the Gospel may proceed—not from a goading conscience, much less from pride and vain glory—but from the pure source of love to Christ and to our fellow-sinners. For even if we are as “full of matter” as Elihu3 was, nothing will be said for God—nothing, that will “minister grace to the hearers,” unless the influence of the Divine Spirit fills our hearts,4 as “a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life,”5—a blessing to all around us. 1 Col. 4:6. 2 Song. 4:11. 3 Prov. 10:20. 4 Ib. 5:21. 5 Prov. 15:7. 6 Ezek. 18:25. 7 Eph. 4:29, with Col. 3:16. 8 Matt. 5:16. 9 Prov. 14:23. 10 It was an excellent saying of Archbishop Usher, when in the society of his friends—‘A word of Christ before we part.’ 1 Psalm 51:14. 2 2 Cor. 2:14. 3 Compare Job. 32:18–20. 4 Comp. Eph. 5:18, 19. 5 John 4:14. Psalm 119:173 Let Your hand be ready to help me, For I have chosen Your precepts. Let (KJV): Ps 119:94,117 Isa 41:10-14 Mk 9:24 2Co 12:9 Eph 6:10-20 Php 4:13 for (KJV): Ps 119:30,35,40,111 De 30:19 Jos 24:15,22 1Ki 3:11,12 Pr 1:29 Lu 10:42 Let Your hand be ready to help (see notes on 'azar translated here in the the Lxx with sozo - save, help, deliver) me, For I have chosen Your precepts. Charles Bridges - 173. Let thy hand help me: for I have chosen thy precepts David, having engaged himself to a bold profession of his God, now comes to seek his needful supply of “help.”—“Let thine hand help me.” And if we may “come to the throne of grace,” that we may find “grace to help in time of need,”6 when should we not come? For is not every moment a “time of need,” such as may quicken us to flee to the “strong tower,” whither “the righteous runneth, and is safe?”7 Besieged without; betrayed within: “wrestling against flesh and blood,” and yet not against flesh and blood only;8 disputing every inch of ground, yet often discouraged by the little ground we seem to gain; surely we need all the help of Omnipotence to sustain us in the tremendous conflict. We may plead our “choice of his precepts,” in looking for his “help.”9 David had before “taken the testimonies of God as his heritage”10—including all the precious promises of the Gospel, extending to every necessity of time, and to every prospect for eternity. He now confesses his obligation—“in choosing the precepts—a happy choice—the influence of the Spirit upon his heart.1 This choice is the distinctive mark of the Lord’s people2—the exercise of a well-instructed and deliberate judgment—prompt obedience in the simplicity of faith. It is the choice of all the precepts—no other than the voluntary acknowledgment of our baptismal obligations. Many carnal suggestions offer themselves, the moment that the purpose is forming into the choice. “The things that were gain to us,” and which now must be “counted loss for Christ,”3 (should we allow their weight in the balance at this crisis) will bring much hesitation and perplexity. Conferences “with flesh and blood” are most subtle hindrances to Christian determination.4 ‘What will the world say? If I go too far, I shall give offence; I shall lose all my influence—and blast all my prospects of eventual benefit to those around me. The apprehension also of losing the affection, and of incurring the displeasure, of those whom my heart holds dear, is most fearful. And then, this sacrifice is too costly to make; that pleasure too hard to resign.’ Such thoughts—the injections of the tempter—are ever at the door; and even when effectual resistance is offered, the struggle is often most severe. But it is such a mighty help in this conflict, when one desire has taken sole possession of the heart—“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do;”5 when we are so crucified to worldly influence, whether of pleasure, profit, fear, or esteem, as to be ready to act upon the resolution—“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh.”6 Now the heavenly beauty of the religion of the Gospel breaks in upon us. Experience of our own weakness, and of the great power of the world, is gradually preparing us for victory over it. We shall then most specially find our happiness in losing our own will; and our Master’s cross will be a delightful burden—like wings to a bird, or sails to a ship—assisting, instead of retarding, our course. The more we trust to his help and guidance in everything, the more we shall be able to do, and the more delightful will his service be to us. The want of a determined choice is the secret of the halting profession that prevails among us. A compromise is attempted with the world. “The offence of the cross” begins to “cease.” A middle path of serious religion is marked out, divested of what is called needless offensiveness—forgetting, that the religion that pleases the world will never be acceptable with God; nor can the religion that pleases God be ever accommodated to the inclination of the world. Oh! we shall do well to consider, whether the way of “the Lord’s precepts” may not be found too hard, too strait, too unfrequented—whether we are prepared to brave the pointed finger and whispered scoff of the ungodly—and, perhaps, the mistaken opposition of beloved friends.1 Often has the profession of Christ been hastily taken up and relinquished.2 He that wishes to abide by it, must daily learn this lesson—“Without me ye can do nothing:”3 and, in conscious helplessness, he will often breathe the cry—“Let thine hand help me.” Nor is this petition needful only in the first determination of this choice. In the growing and more decided conviction of its superior happiness, and in the daily endeavor to live in it, we shall find increasing need for the same acknowledgment of helplessness, and the same cry for support. Dependence is a principle of deep humility and mighty energy. The thought that we are entering into the work in the Lord’s strength is a great stay. Blessed indeed is that helplessness, that makes us lie in the bosom of our Saviour, supported and cherished. Blessed be God for the “help laid” for us “upon one that is mighty;”4 so that our insufficiency and all sufficiency are visible at one glance; and “when we are” most “weak, then are we” most “strong!”5 “They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, ‘Fear not, I will help thee.”6 6 Heb. 4:16. 7 Prov. 18:10. 8 Eph. 6:12. 9 Ps 119:94. 10 Ps 119:111. 1 See Ezek. 11:19, 20. 2 Isaiah 56:4. 3 Phil. 3:7. 4 Compare Gal. 1:16. 5 Acts 9:6. 6 2 Cor. 5:16. 1 Compare Luke 14:26. 2 Comp. Matt. 8:19, 20. 3 John 15:5. 4 Psalm 89:19. 5 2 Cor. 12:10. 6 Isaiah 41:12, 13. Compare the whole passage, verses 10–16. Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, O LORD, And Your law is my delight. longed (KJV): Ps 119:81,166 Ge 49:18 2Sa 23:5 Pr 13:12 Song 5:8 Ro 7:22-25 8:23-25 Php 1:23 and thy law (KJV): Ps 119:16,24,47,77,111,162,167 1:2 I long for Your salvation, O LORD - (Jesus' ) salvation (YESHUA) O LORD - Long for = eagerly awaiting for Lord see this same eagerness in OT saints at the time of the Lord's birth for they were "looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" see notes on Lu 2:38+. For salvation see notes on Psalm 119:155 Henry