but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
Parallel Translations
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but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
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But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
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But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.
Cross-references (22)
Passages linked to Psalms 1:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.
- Psalms 119:92 Unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
- Psalms 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
- Romans 7:22 For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,
- Psalms 119:97-99 How I love your law! It is my meditation all day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for your commandments are always with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
- Psalms 119:15-16 I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways. I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word.
- Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies.
- Psalms 119:35 Direct me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in them.
- Psalms 104:34 Let my meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in Yahweh.
- Psalms 112:1 Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.
- Psalms 40:8 I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”
- Psalms 119:1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to Yahweh’s law.
- 1 John 5:3 For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
- 1 Timothy 4:15 Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all.
- Job 23:12 I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
- Psalms 119:47-48 I will delight myself in your commandments, because I love them. I reach out my hands for your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on your statutes.
- Psalms 119:72 The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
- Luke 2:37 and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail; for working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached to you the Good News of God.
- Luke 18:7 Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
- 2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. How unceasing is my memory of you in my petitions, night and day
- Psalms 88:1 Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain In the second verse, the Psalmist does not simply…
In the second verse, the Psalmist does not simply pronounce those happy who fear God, as in other places, but designates godliness by the study of the law, teaching us that God is only rightly served when his law is obeyed. It is not left to every man to frame a system of religion according to his own judgment, but the standard of godliness is to be taken from the Word of God. When David here speaks of the law, it ought not to be understood as if the other parts of Scripture should be excluded, but rather, since the whole of Scripture is nothing else than an exposition of the law, under it as the head is comprehended the whole body. The prophet, therefore, in commending the law, includes all the rest of the inspired writings. He must, therefore, be understood as meaning to exhort the faithful to the reading of the Psalms also. From his characterising the godly as delighting in the law of the Lord, we may learn that forced or servile obedience is not at all acceptable to God, and that those only are worthy students of the law who come to it with a cheerful mind, and are so delighted with its instructions, as to account nothing more desirable or delicious than to make progress therein. From this love of the law proceeds constant meditation upon it, which the prophet mentions on the last clause of the verse; for all who are truly actuated by love to the law must feel pleasure in the diligent study of it.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In the holy Scriptures.
In the holy Scriptures.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 1:2 But his delight [is] in the law…
Psa 1:2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Ver. 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord] i.e. In the whole doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, that invariable rule of truth, as Irenaeus rightly calleth it, Kανων της αληθειας ακλινης. He findeth rest nowhere, nisi in angulo cum libello, in a nook with this book, as Thomas Kempis was wont to say, who also with his own hand wrote out the Bible. King Alphonsus read it over fourteen times, together with such commentaries as those times afforded. Luther said he would not live in paradise without the word, as with it he could live well enough in hell. Magdalen, wife to Dr Paraeus, after she was married, and forty years of age, out of love to the Scriptures, learned to read, and took such delight in it, and especially in the Psalms, that she got them almost all by heart (Par. in Epist. ad Ja. Newer. Pastor. Heidelb.). Beza, being above fourscore years old, could say perfectly by heart any Greek chapter in St Paul’s Epistles. Cranmer and Ridley had all the New Testament by heart; the former had learned it in his journey to Rome, the latter in the walks of Pembroke Hall in Cambridge.
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And in his law doth he meditate day and night] Hoc primus repetens opus, hoc postremus omittens (Horat.). Having gathered with the bees the sweet of those heavenly flowers, he doth by meditation work his honeycomb within his hive; and at this work he is perdius et pernox, till he feel it to become an ingrafted word, yea, till he hath turned it in succum et sanguinem, and is after a sort transformed into it, 2Co 3:18. The Hebrew word Hagah here signifieth both to speak with the mouth and with the heart, to read and to meditate; because to read is not to run over a chapter, as a child at school, but to muse upon the matter, and to make some benefit of it. It is said of Pythagoras that he lived in a cave for a whole year together, that, being sequestered from the society of men, he might the better meditate upon the abstruser parts of philosophy; he used also with a thread to tie the hair of his head to a beam over him, that so when he did but nod by reason of sleep he might be awakened thereby. Is not this check to our drowsiness and carelessness of searching the Scriptures, and making them our daily and nightly study? Jerome exhorted some godly women to whom he wrote not to lay the Bible out of their hands until, being overcome with sleep, and not able any longer to hold up their heads, they bowed them down, as it were, to salute the leaves below them with a kiss. (Jerome ad Eust. De custod. Virgin.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In the law, i.e. in the study and practice…
In the law, i.e. in the study and practice of it, as appears from the context. The law of God may be here understood of the whole doctrine delivered by God to the church, consisting of doctrines, precepts, promises, and threatening, &c.; as it is taken Psa 37:1; 58:1; Isa 51:7; Joh 10:34; or more particularly of the preceptive part of it, which is commonly so called; and so this is noted as the peculiar character of a good man, that he delighteth himself not only in the promises, which a bad man may do, Mat 13:20, but even in the commands of God, Psa 112:1; 119:47; 127; 143; 1Jo 5:3, which are unwelcome and burdensome to a wicked man.
The word
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meditate implies a deep, and serious, and affectionate thoughtfulness about it: see Psa 19:14; 49:3; Pro 24:2; Isa 33:18.
Day and night; not seldom and slightly, as hypocrites do; but diligently, frequently, constantly, and upon all occasions.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But his delight is in the law of the…
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,.... Not the law of nature, which was inscribed on Adam's heart in innocence, but now greatly impaired by sin, and become very imperfect and very insufficient to make men happy, or to lead them to true felicity; nor the law of Moses, which is a fiery law, and works wrath, accuses of sin, pronounces guilty, curses and condemns to death; and therefore cannot be delighted in by a sensible sinner, unless as it is in the hands of Christ, and as fulfilled by him, who is the end of it; and as it is written on the heart of a regenerate man, who, so far as it is, delights in it after the inward man, and serves it with his spirit: but rather the Scriptures, as much and as many parts of them as were written in David's time; particularly the five books of Moses, which are called the Law and the Testimony of the Lord; which being inspired by God, were profitable and delightful to read, and to hear explained; and as they were David's delight, and the men of his council, Psa 119:24; so they were the delight of every good man, there being many things in them concerning the Messiah, his grace and kingdom; see Luk 24:44. Moreover the word here used, signifies "doctrine", and may intend the evangelic doctrine, as it does in Psa 19:7; which is a psalm concerning the doctrine of the apostles that went into all the world; and in like sense is the word used in Isa 2:3; of the doctrine of the Messiah, that is, the Gospel; and is the same with the law, or doctrine of faith, in Rom 3:27. And this may be called the doctrine of the Lord, because he is the author of it; it came by him, he revealed it; and because he is the subject of it; it is concerning him, his person, office, grace, and righteousness; and so far as it was published in the times of David, it was a joyful sound, good news and glad tidings, and the delight of good men;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night; as Joshua was directed to do, and David did, Jos 1:8. This is to be understood of a diligent reading and serious consideration of it; and of the employment of the thoughts, and of deep study upon it, in order to find out the sense and meaning of it; and which is to be done constantly, every day, as often as there is leisure and opportunity for it; or, as Kimchi on the place observes, whenever a man is free from the business of life; unless this should be taken figuratively, of the day of prosperity and night of adversity, whether in things temporal or spiritual, which are each of them proper seasons to meditate in, upon the word of God and Gospel of Christ.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Day and night - Not seldom and slightly, but…
Day and night - Not seldom and slightly, but diligently, and constantly.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. But his delight is in the law…
Verse 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord] חפצו chephtso, his will, desire, affection, every motive in his heart, and every moving principle in his soul, are on the side of God and his truth. He takes up the law of the Lord as the rule of his life; he brings all his actions and affections to this holy standard. He looketh into the perfect law of liberty; and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word; and is therefore blessed in his deed. He not only reads to gain knowledge from the Divine oracles, but he meditates on what he has read, feeds on it; and thus receiving the sincere milk of the word, he grows thereby unto eternal life. This is not an occasional study to him; it is his work day and night. As his heart is in it, the employment must be frequent, and the disposition to it perpetual.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 1:2. But his delight is in the law…
Psa 1:2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord — In the study and practice of it, as appears from the context. Having described the character of the truly blessed man negatively, in the preceding verse, he, in this, speaks of it positively. The law of God may be here understood of the whole doctrine delivered by God to his church, consisting of doctrines, precepts, promises, and threatenings, &c.; or more particularly of the preceptive part of it, which is commonly called his law; and so this is recorded as the particular character of a good man, that he takes delight, not only in God’s promises, which a bad man may delight in, but even in his commands, which are unwelcome and disagreeable to the wicked. In his law doth he meditate — The word יהגה, jehgeh, implies that he exercises a deep, serious, and affectionate thoughtfulness about it; and by this it appears that his delight is in it, for what we love, we love to think of. Day and night — Not seldom and slightly, but diligently and constantly. Thus the Psalms, “like the sermon on the mount,” says Dr. Horne, “open with a beatitude; for our comfort and encouragement directing us immediately to that happiness which all mankind, in different ways, are seeking and inquiring after. All would secure themselves from the incursions of misery; but all do not consider that misery is the offspring of sin, from which it is therefore necessary to be delivered and preserved, in order to become happy, or blessed.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain But his delight - His pleasure; his happiness. Instead…
But his delight - His pleasure; his happiness. Instead of finding his happiness in the society and the occupations of the wicked, he finds it in the truth of God. The law or truth of God is not distasteful to him, but he so delights in it as to desire to become more and more acquainted with it, and to have its truths impressed more and more on his heart.
In the law of the Lord - The law of Yahweh - the small capitals in the translation indicating here as elsewhere that the original word is Yahweh. The word law in the Scriptures is used in a considerable variety of significations. The Hebrew word תורה tôrâh, properly means instruction, precept; and then, an injunction, command, law, in the usual sense of the word. It was applied particularly to the Pentateuch, or law of Moses (compare the notes at Luk 24:44), as containing the first written and recorded laws of God; and then the word came, in a more general sense, to be applied to all the books of the Old Testament, as being an exposition and application of the law. Here the word undoubtedly refers to the written revelation of the will of God as far as it was then made known. On the same principle, however, the declaration here made would apply to any part of a divine revelation; and hence, the sentiment is, that a truly pious man finds his highest delight in the revealed truths of God. This is often referred to as characteristic of true piety. Compare Psa 19:10; Psa 119:97, Psa 119:99.
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And in his law - On his law, or his truth. “He doth meditate.” The word used here, הגה hâgâh, means properly to complain, to mutter; then, to speak; then, to utter in a low complaining voice, as is often done by a person in deep meditation; hence, in the usual sense, to meditate on anything; to think of it. So Jos 1:8 : “Thou shalt meditate therein (the law) day and night.” Psa 77:12 : “I meditate on all thy work.” Pro 15:28 : “the heart of the righteous meditateth what to answer.” The meaning here is, he thinks of it; he endeavors to understand its meaning; he has pleasure in reflecting on it. It is not a subject which he puts away from him, or in respect to which he is indifferent, but he keeps it before his mind, and has satisfaction in doing it.
Day and night - That is, continually - as day and night constitute the whole of time. The meaning is:
(a) he does this habitually, or he intentionally forms the habit of meditating on divine truth, by disciplining his mind in order that he may do it;
(b) he takes time to do it - designedly setting apart suitable portions of each day, that, withdrawn from the cares of life, he may refresh his spirit by contemplating divine truth, or may become better acquainted with God, and with his duty to him, and may bring to bear upon his own soul more directly the truths pertaining to eternal realities;
(c) he does this in the intervals of business, the moments of leisure which he may have during the day - having thus an unfailing subject of reflection to which his mind readily reverts, and in which, amid the cares and toils of life, he finds relaxation and comfort; and
(d) he does it in the wakeful hours of night, when sick and tossed upon his bed, or when, for any other reason, his “eyes are held waking.” Psa 63:5-6 : “my soul shall be upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches.” Psa 119:54 : “Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.” Compare Psa 119:23, Psa 119:43; Psa 143:5. It is probable that the psalmist had the injunction in his mind which is contained in Jos 1:8.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain law--all of God's word then written, especially the books…
law--all of God's word then written, especially the books of Moses (compare Psa 119:1, Psa 119:55, Psa 119:97, &c.).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. The writer advances from negative to positive statements.
2. The writer advances from negative to positive statements.
But—In the Hebrew two particles stand here as a double disjunctive, as but, on the contrary, as if to prepare for the strongest possible contrast.
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Delight—Not obedience only, but the joy of loving obedience. Duty and pleasure unite. Delight in the law of God springs only from a pure heart.
Law—To be taken here in the restricted sense of precept, rather than the general sense of doctrine, yet as implying the latter, for every truth of God comes to us with a preceptive claim upon our faith and obedience.
Meditate—That which engrosses the affections will occupy the thoughts.
Day… night— Continually; through hours of labour and of rest.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. The positive principle and source of the righteous…
2. The positive principle and source of the righteous man’s life. The law of the Lord is his rule of conduct. It is no irksome restriction of his liberty but the object of his love and constant study (Deu_6:6-9). True happiness is to be found not in ways of man’s own devising, but in the revealed will of God. “The purpose of the Law was to make men happy.” Kay. Cp. Deu_33:29.
his delight] The religion of Israel was not an external formalism, but an obedience of the heart. Cp. Psa_37:31; Psa_40:8; Psa_112:1; Psa_119:35; Psa_119:97.
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the law of the Lord] The Hebrew word tôrâh has a much wider range of meaning than law, by which it is always rendered in the A.V. It denotes (1) teaching, instruction, whether human (Pro_1:8), or divine; (2) a precept or law; (3) a body of laws, and in particular the Mosaic law, and so finally the Pentateuch. The parallel to the second clause of the verse in Jos_1:8 suggests a particular reference to Deuteronomy; but the meaning here must not be limited to the Pentateuch or any part of it. Rather as in passages where it is parallel to and synonymous with the word of the Lord (Isa_1:10; Isa_2:3) it should be taken to include all Divine revelation as the guide of life.
meditate] The Psalmists meditate on God Himself (Psa_63:6); on His works in nature and in history (Psa_77:12; Psa_143:5).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) But.—The Hebrew is an elliptical expression implying a…
(2) But.—The Hebrew is an elliptical expression implying a strong contrast, “nay but,” “on the contrary.”
The positive side of a good man’s character is now described according to the standard which prevailed when the written law first came truly into force.
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In the law of Jehovah is his delight.—Or, to the law of Jehovah is his inclination. The Hebrew word means primarily “to bend.”
Meditate.—Literally, murmur (of a dove, Isa_38:14; of men lamenting, Isa_16:7; of a lion growling, Isa_31:4; of muttered charms, Isa_8:19). (Comp. Jos_1:8, which might have suggested this).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain But his delight is in the Law of the…
But his delight is in the Law of the Lord. The righteous man is not described positively, under two heads.
(1) He delights in the Law. (comp. Psa_109:16 Ps 47 Ps 77 Rom_7:22)
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(2) He constantly mediates in it. The "Law" intended hrwOt, not hrwOTh is probably not the mere Law of Moses, but God"s law, as made known to man in any way. Still, the resemblance of the passage to Jos_1:8 shows the Law of Moses to have been very specially in the writer"s thoughts. In his Law doth he meditate day and night; compare, besides Jos_1:8, the following: Psa_63:6 Psa_119:15, Psa_119:48, Psa_119:78, Psa_119:97. Constant meditation in God"s Law has characterized all saint.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Verse 2. And now mark his positive character. "His…
Verse 2. And now mark his positive character. "His delight is in the law of the Lord." He is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it by night. He takes a text and carries it with him all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he museth upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with promises out of the same book. "The law of the Lord" is the daily bread of the true believer. And yet, in David's day, how small was the volume of inspiration, for they had scarcely anything save the first five books of Moses! How much more, then, should we prize the whole written Word which it is our privilege to have in all our houses! But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this angel from heaven! We are not all Berean searchers of the Scriptures. How few among us can lay claim to the benediction of the text! Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God's Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand your best companion and hourly guide? If not, this blessing belongeth not to you.
Verse 2. "But his will is in the law of the Lord." The "will," which is here signified, is that delight of heart, and that certain pleasure, in the law, which does not look at what the law promises, nor at what it threatens, but at this only; that "the law is holy, and just, and good." Hence it is not only a love of the law, but that loving delight in the law which no prosperity, nor adversity, nor the world, nor the prince of it, can either take away or destroy; for it victoriously bursts its way through poverty, evil report, the cross, death, and hell, and in the midst of adversities, shines the brightest. Martin Luther.
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Verse 2. "His delight is in the law of the Lord." This delight which the prophet here speaks of is the only delight that neither blushes nor looks pale; the only delight that gives a repast without an after reckoning; the only delight that stands in construction with all tenses; and like AEneas Anchyses, carries his parents upon his back. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 2. "In His law doth he meditate." In the plainest text there is a world of holiness and spirituality; and if we in prayer and dependence upon God did sit down and study it, we should behold much more than appears to us. It may be, at once reading or looking, we see little or nothing; as Elijah's servant went once, and saw nothing; therefore he was commanded to look seven times. What now? says the prophet, "I see a cloud rising, like a man's hand;" and by-and-by, the whole surface of the heavens was covered with clouds. So you may look lightly upon a Scripture and see nothing; meditate often upon it, and there you shall see a light, like the light of the sun. Joseph Caryl, 1647.
Verse 2. "In His law doth he meditate day and night." The good man doth meditate on the law of God day and night. The pontificians beat off the common people from this common treasury, by objecting this supposed difficulty. Oh, the Scriptures are hard to be understood, do not you trouble your heads about them; we will tell you the meaning of them. They might as well say, heaven is a blessed place, but it is a hard way to it; do not trouble yourselves, we will go thither for you. Thus in the great day of trial, when they should be saved by their book, alas! they have no book to save them. Instead of the Scriptures they can present images; these are the layman's books; as if they were to be tried by a jury of carvers and painters, and not by the twelve apostles. Be not you so cheated; but study the gospel as you look for comfort by the gospel. He that hopes for the inheritance, will make much of the conveyance. Thomas Adams.
Verse 2. To "meditate," as it is generally understood, signifies to discuss, to dispute; and its meaning is always confined to a being employed in words, as in Psalm 32:30, "The mouth of the righteous shall meditate wisdom." Hence Augustine has, in his translation, "chatter;" and a beautiful metaphor it is as chattering is the employment of birds, so a continual conversing in the law of the Lord (for talking is peculiar to man), ought to be the employment of man. But I cannot worthily and fully set forth the gracious meaning and force of this word; for this "meditating" consists first in an intent observing of the words of the law, and then in a comparing of the different Scriptures; which is a certain delightful hunting, nay, rather a playing with stags in a forest, where the Lord furnishes us with the stags, and opens to us their secret coverts. And from this kind of employment, there comes forth at length a man well instructed in the law of the Lord to speak unto the people. Martin Luther.
Verse 2. "In his law doth he meditate day and night." The godly man will read the Word by day, that men, seeing his good works, may glorify his Father who is in heaven; he will do it in the night, that he may not be seen of men: by day, to show that he is not one of those who dread the light; by night, to show that he is one who can shine in the shade: by day, for that is the time for working work whilst it is day; by night, lest his Master should come as a thief, and find him idle. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 2. I have no rest, but in a nook, with the book. Thomas a Kempis, 1380 - 1471.
Verse 2. "Meditate." Meditation doth discriminate and characterise a man; by this he may take a measure of his heart, whether it be good or bad; let me allude to that; "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7. As the meditation is, such is the man. Meditation is the touchstone of a Christian; it shows what metal he is made of. It is a spiritual index; the index shows what is in the book, so meditation shows what is in the heart. Thomas Watson's Saints' Spiritual Delight.
Verse 2. Meditation chews the cud, and gets the sweetness and nutritive virtue of the Word into the heart and life: this is the way the godly bring forth much fruit. Bartholomew Ashwood's Heavenly Trade, 1688.
Verse 2. The naturalists observe that to uphold and accommodate bodily life, there are diverse sorts of faculties communicated, and these among the rest:
1. An attractive faculty, to assume and draw in the food;
2. A retentive faculty, to retain it when taken in; 3. As assimilating faculty to concoct the nourishment; 4. An augmenting faculty, for drawing to perfection.
Meditation is all these. It helps judgment, wisdom, and faith to ponder, discern, and credit the things which reading and hearing supply and furnish. It assists the memory to lock up the jewels of divine truth in her sure treasury. It has a digesting power, and turns special truth into spiritual nourishment; and lastly, it helps the renewed heart to grow upward and increase its power to know the things which are freely given to us of God. Condensed from Nathaniel Ranew, 1670.
Verse 2. THE WORD OF GOD.
1. The believer's delight in it.
2. The believer's acquaintance with it. We long to be in the company of those we love.
Verse 2. I. What is meant by "the law of the Lord."
II. What there is in it for the believer to delight in.
III. How he shows his delight, thinks of it, reads much, speaks
of it, obeys it, does not delight in evil.
Verse 2. (last clause). The benefits, helps, and hindrances of meditation.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain But his delight is in the law of the…
Psa_1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord.
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The law of the Lord
We should all like to be blessed, and here is the way--delight in the law of the Lord.
I. What is this law? Not the Mosaic, not the ceremonial law, for which God often cared nothing; but the law according to which the Lord hath ordered all things. This is the law which God says He will put into our hearts and write on our minds. This is that true and eternal law of which Solomon speaks in his Proverbs as the Wisdom by which God made the heavens: and he tells us that that Wisdom is a tree of life to all who lay hold on her. This is that law which the inspired philosopher--for philosopher he was indeed--who wrote that 119th Psalm, continually prayed and strove to learn. Christ perfectly fulfilled it. He said, with His whole heart, I delight to do Thy will, O My God. The will of God, for this law is nothing else. By keeping it we are blessed. What God has willed we should be and do. But if so, it is plain we must heed the warnings of the first verse. For no one will learn Gods will if he takes counsel from the ungodly; or if he stand in the way of profligate and dishonest men. If he do this, all he will learn of Gods law is the dreadful part of it told of in the 2nd Psalm. God will rule him with a rod of iron, and break, etc. But there is more hope for him--if he repent--than if he sits in the seat of the scorners--the sneering, the frivolous, the unbelieving, who laugh down religion as enthusiasm and worse. When the greatest poet of our days tried to picture his idea of a fiend tempting man to ruin, he gave him just such a character as this: a very clever, agreeable, courteous man of the world, and yet a being who could not love anyone, and believed not in anyone; who mocked at both man and God, and who tempted and mined men in mere sport as a cruel child may torment a fly. Such was Mephistopheles. Beware, therefore, of the scornful as well as of the openly sinful. And remember--
II. This law is the law of the Lord--our Lord Jesus Christ. Who can stand with Him? Why do the heathen rage, etc. Men will not believe in this law. But sooner or later they have to, and often in terrible ways they find out their mistake. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. For Christ is on the throne of the universe. And His might and power are continually being made known. Even now He bruises His enemies as with a rod of iron. It is of no use to talk about the goodness of God and of the gentleness of Christ. We flatter ourselves that if gentle, He may be also indulgent and weak. But there is an awful side to His character. Think of these things. You are kings--at least over yourselves; and judges--at least of your own conduct. Therefore let each and all of us, high and low, take the warning and love law--for that is the true meaning--before the Son of God, as subjects before an absolute monarch, because His will is only and always a good will. (Charles Kingsley.)
The good mans delight
I. Such delight is necessary. By the law of the Lord we mean religion both experimental and practical. Now such delight in it is necessary for a Christian man, because--
1. Without it there is no heart in religion. But the very essence of religion lies in the heart.
2. Works and acts acceptable to God will not be produced. But it is for these that religion is designed.
3. A man cannot be a true Christian and understand the true gospel without feeling a delight in it. The true gospel, mark you, for there are gospels preached by some men that no man can delight in, But the true gospel must make the heart happy.
II. The manifestations of this delight.
1. He will continually think of the law of the Lord.
2. He will be sure to speak of it. There is too little conversation now about Christ. I suppose it is with some Christians as the sailor said it was with the parrot. He had a remarkable parrot which he sold to a good woman, telling her it could talk no end of things. After she had kept it a week and it had said nothing, she took it back to the sailor. Well, maam, said he, I dare say it has not said much, but it has thought the more. And there are people like that parrot. Like it, too, in that the parrot did not think, though the sailor said it did. Nor do they, or else if they had thought they would have spoken. What is in the well will come up in the bucket.
3. Endeavours to spread the knowledge of it.
4. And will not rest until he has brought others to delight in it also.
III. The happy effects of this delight.
1. It Will make a man bold.
2. Very calm and quiet in the day of affliction.
3. It will prepare him for heaven. To you who have no such delight, this law of the Lord, which was designed to be your delight, will become your scourge. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A meditative life
I. This Psalm is not a commendation of a meditative life only. We cannot in this world of imperative work live such a life. Those in cloisters and convents have tried and failed. As when we fix the eyes on one object only, they get weary, filmy, dull. But rightly understood, our life is to be fat more than meditation. It is to be like a tree planted and bringing forth fruit. The man is to be a doer, and what he does is to prosper. The law on which he meditates is specially related to mens active life. It is not merely to be thought about, but practically obeyed. Merely to meditate on it would be as if a soldier, having received from the generals hand the order book, were to take that book to his tent and were to sit down and spend all the hours of the day admiring his generals skill and the grasp of his mind instead of proceeding to obey the orders and to prepare the army for the impending battle.
II. The meditation here commended is one thoroughly consistent with working, active life; indeed, is for this very thing. And the happy man is he who through meditation on Gods law comes to live the life of holy service. He is to be like a tree as contrasted with the chaff Our lives must be as one or the other.
III. Note the force of the image employed. For a tree vividly sets forth the connection between thinking and working; between the roots and the fruit of conduct. Strong characters are produced only by strong thinking. Occasional, weak, fugitive thinking, even on good things, may exist--too often does--with evil lives. Thoughts must be deep, and go down to the roots of the soul and take possession of it. The ungodly man is he who does not take God into account. He acts upon expediency. Hence he is like the chaff. There are different sorts of trees, but any tree is better than the chaff. But seek to be like the tree told of here.
IV. How? You must be planted, that is, transplanted. The tree has been put where it is designedly. And this is what meditation means. It is the self-planting of the man by the rivers of waters God has caused to flow forth for us from His Word. The rivers told of are not natural rivers, but artificial streams made for the purpose of irrigation. Solomon made many such in his day. And Hezekiah also. The Turkish Government has let them fall into decay, and hence Palestine is now nearly desert. Lord Lawrence made such streams for Northwest India, to its vast advantage. Merv in Central Asia is an oasis in the desert, for the Turcomans have dammed up the streams that flow down form the Afghan mountains and led their waters along artificial canals, and so the country is watered and reclaimed. Day and night the dam is watched by Turcoman sentinels, for if it were once destroyed the country would again become desert. But the herbs and the trees will never lack for water while these streams are preserved, and as long as the snows abide on the hills which lift their white peaks against the distant sky. What a parable all this is! If we would toil so to bring the living waters of Gods Word into the moral desert of our souls, what a reclamation of waste places there would be, what lives like trees bearing fruit! Missions, churches, worship are all such endeavours. And what a channel for such streams is a godly, consistent life! Such lives are ever a blessing. As a tree is a thing both of beauty and of use, so are they. And every God-filled man and woman is such a tree. This is the secret of the happy life. (J. Vincent Tymms.)
The godly mans pleasure
Note the Christian duty and holy practice of a godly man. He is much and often in serious and Christian meditation. He is conversant with Holy Scriptures; his meditation is concerning the law, that is, the heavenly doctrine which shows the will of God and His worship, what man must and ought to believe and do to gain eternal life. It is his daily study and continual exercise. Not that he doth nothing else; the meaning is, he setteth some time apart daily to serve God. The godly man, who is truly blessed and happy, doth wonderfully love, and is greatly affected with the Word of Almighty God, and hath exceeding delight and joy in the doctrine of God, because there is revealed the will of God, whereunto men must be careful to frame and conform all their desires, thoughts, words, and deeds, because herein is chalked out and declared the very highway of eternal life and salvation. It is a special note and property of a godly man to perform Christian duties to God willingly and cheerfully, and to make them his delight and joy. (Samuel Smith.)
Blessed Bible reading
I. Its characteristics. It is read--
1. Independently.
2. Thoughtfully.
3. Frequently.
4. Submissively.
5. Gladly.
6. Prayerfully.
II. The results of such reading.
1. Stability of Christian character.
2. Fruitfulness.
3. Freshness and beauty.
4. Success in all his righteous undertakings. (J. Morgan.)
The good man in relation to the Word of God
I. His practice. His delight is in, etc. How does he use the Bible?
1. He studies it independently.
2. Deeply.
3. Sympathetically.
II. His pleasure. His delight is in, etc.
1. He enjoys the pleasure of congeniality.
2. Novelty.
3. Profit.
III. His prosperity.
1. He is stable.
2. Fair and fruitful.
3. Successful. (J. Spencer Hill.)
The believers delight
1. The feeling with which the believer views the Holy Scriptures.
2. Some of the grounds which give rise to this delight in the heart of the believer. Its own intrinsic worth and excellence. He knows by experience its quickening and converting power. It has given and still gives the believer light. In the Word of God he has found peace. The Word gives the believer freedom. It consoles and supports the true believer in distress and temptation.
3. What is the result of this delight? What effect, does this feeling produce upon the believers practice? He meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. (C. R. Hay, M. A.)
The saints spiritual delight
I. The godly man is described by way of negation, in three particulars. Sitting implies a habit in sin, familiarity with sinners. Diamonds and stones may lie together, but they will not solder or cement.
II. By way of position. The not being scandalous will no more make a good Christian than a cipher will make a sum. It is not enough for the servant of the vineyard that he cloth no hurt there, he doth not break the trees or destroy the hedges; if he doth not work in the vineyard he loseth his pay.
1. You may not be outwardly bad, and yet not inwardly good. Though you do not hang out your bush, yet you may secretly vend your commodity; a tree may be full of vermin, yet the fair leaves may cover them that they are not seen.
2. If you are only negatively good, God makes no reckoning of you, you are as so many ciphers in Gods arithmetic, and He writes down no ciphers in the book of life.
3. A man may as well go to hell for not doing good as for doing evil. One may as well die with not eating food as with poison. A ground may as well be spoiled for want of good seed as with having tares sown in it. A two-fold description of a godly man.
III. He delights in Gods law. A man may work in his trade and not delight in it, but a godly man serves God with delight. What is meant by the Law? Take the word more strictly and it means the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments. Take it more largely, it is the whole written Word of God; those truths deducted from the Word; the whole business of religion. The word is a setting forth, and religion a showing forth, of God and Law. What is meant by delight in the law? Hebrews and Sept. render, his will is in the law of the Lord, and that which is voluntary is delightful. A child of God, though he cannot serve the Lord perfectly, yet serves Him willingly. He is not a pressed soldier, but a volunteer. The saints delight in the law of the Lord proceeds from--
1. Soundness of judgment. The mind apprehends a beauty in Gods law, now the judgment draws the affections, like so many orbs, after it.
2. From the predominancy of grace. When grace comes with authority and majesty upon the heart it fills it with delight. Grace puts a new bias into the will, it works a spontaneity and cheerfulness in Gods service.
3. From the sweetness of the end. Well may we with cheerfulness let down the net of our endeavour when we have so excellent a draught. Heaven at the end of duty causeth delight in the way of duty.
Two cases to be put.
1. Whether a regenerate person may not serve God with weariness. Yes; but this lassitude may arise from the inbeing of corruption (Rom_7:24). It is not, however, habitual, and it is involuntary. He is troubled by it. He is weary of his weariness.
2. Whether a hypocrite may not serve God with delight? He may, but his delight is carnal. How may this spiritual delight be known? He that delights in Gods law is often thinking of it. If we delight in religion there is nothing can keep us from it, but we will be conversant in Word, prayer, sacraments. He that loves gold will trade for it. Those that delight in religion are often speaking of it. He that delights in God will give Him the best in every service. And he doth not much delight in anything else but God. True delight is constant. Hypocrites have their pangs of desire, and flashes of joy which are soon over. Delight in religion crowns all our services, evidenceth grace, will make the business of religion more facile to us. All the duties of religion are for our good. Delight in Gods service makes us resemble the angels in heaven. Delight in Gods law will not breed surfeit. Carnal objects do oft cause a loathing and nauseating. We soon grow weary of our delights. For the attaining of this delight set a high estimate upon the Word. Pray for a spiritual heart. Purge out the delight of sin. (T. Watson.)
Meditative Bible reading
He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water. Who shall? He whose delight is in the law of the Lord. His life shall be rooted in the richest of soils; he shall never lack resources; his soul shall delight itself in fatness. But what is the law of the Lord? The laws of the Lord are scattered over this book with almost bewildering plentitude and variety. They are almost as thick as autumn leaves. The Orientalist takes great masses of rose leaves, and from them distils that precious essence we call otto of roses. Can anyone take these scattered leaves of law, mass them together, and give us the essence of all law? Can anyone take these almost unmanageable quantities, and return them to us in a small phial, which can be carried in the hand of a little child? Yes, Jesus Christ has done it. All the law is fulfilled in one word--thou shelf love. Love is the essence of law. He who delights in love and loving shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water. Now we are permitted to look into the mind of Christ, into loves great laboratory and see the great Lover at work. Love is the only element in which He works, but it is prepared in different ways. At one time love is very tender, to woo a tender blade; again it is very fierce, to burn a stubborn weed. It reveals itself in different ways to suit mens different needs. If, then, I would know how love should work I must study the mind of Christ, and meditate thereon both night and day. To delight in the law of the Lord is to live as devoted students in the mind of Christ. That mind is opened out for us in the gospel. All the dispositions of Jesus are laid bare. It is revealed to us how His love disposed itself in very varied circumstances and to very different needs. If we would be planted in a rich soil, and have a fruitful and luxuriant life, we must be rooted in the mind of Christ, delight ourselves in the mind of Christ. Now the mind of Christ cannot be known at a glance. It demands earnest and persistent study. We shall have to meditate in it day and night. The word meditation has an antique, old-world flavour about it, as though it belongs to an age when men took slow, measured strides, and the wheels of time moved leisurely. How many of us meditate, hold the mind before a subject until it becomes steeped in it, saturated with it, through and through? We live in an age of mental haste and gallop. Impressions are abundant; convictions are scarce. Go to the academy in any of the summer months, and see how the crowds gallop round the galleries, hastily glancing at the hundreds of pictures which adorn the walls, with the result that the memory retains nothing in distinction, but only a recollection of masses of colour in endless confusion. How is it with the art student? He goes early in the morning. He selects his picture. He sits down before it. He studies it--its perspective, its grouping, its colouring, the artists mannerisms, every line, every light and shade. He meditates upon it. The picture becomes imprinted upon his mind and educates his taste. It steals into his own soul, and afterwards imperceptibly influences his own pencil and brush, and becomes part of the man forever. Well, in the four Gospels we have four picture galleries, and the different pictures are different phases of the mind of Christ. Christ is depicted in different attitudes and conditions: alone on a mountain at prayer; in the midst of a vast inquisitive multitude; in the severities of temptation in a wilderness; in a quiet home at Bethany; facing the Cross; the triumph of Calvary. The real student, the real disciple of the Master, wants to know the mind of his Master, and he sits down before one picture at a time, and lingers before it, and studies every line and feature of it, and beauty after beauty breaks upon his delighted vision. He meditates upon it, and the beauty of the picture steeps into his soul, refines his moral taste, influences his hand and heart, and becomes part of himself forever. I tell you, we know almost nothing of the moral and spiritual loveliness of our Jesus, almost nothing of the mind of Christ, because we do not hold ourselves before it in lingering meditation. Why dont we? Why are we not devoted students of these pictures of the mind of Christ? Let us be frank with ourselves. Is not Bible studying wearying and wearisome? To how many of us is it a delight? It is because so many put the virtue in the reading itself. We think when we have read a chapter we have discharged a duty. People open their Bibles, and read a few verses, and close them, and think that by their reading they have pleased God. You may have displeased Him! Some people think that when they read the Bible the very act of reading is a kind of talisman to hedge about their lives with increased security. Oh no, it may be that you are falling into the very snare of the tempter! John Ruskin says there is nothing which so tends to destroy the accuracy of the artistic eye as a hurried gallop round an art gallery, even though it contains the works of the most eminent masters. May not that be equally true of this gospel gallery, where the mind of the great Master is exhibited in a hundred different ways; a hurried and half-indifferent gallop may only destroy the accuracy of the moral eye, and impair rather than strengthen your spiritual vision? Bible reading is virtuous when it leads to virtue. My text declares that those who thus live in continual meditation upon the ways of the Lord shall be in a rich rootage. They shall be like trees planted by rivers of water. They shall have vast resources. Are we all planted there? If we are rooted elsewhere our life will be stunted and unhealthy. His leaf shall not wither. The leaf is the thing of the spring time. It is the first thing that comes. Well, in the Christian life spring leaf shall ever remain. The spring greenness of life shall not wither as the years roll by. The beauties of the spring time shall continue through all the seventy years. The beauties of early life, of young life, the beauties of childhood shall never be destroyed. His leaf shall not wither. His childlikeness, the glory of the spring time of life, shall always be fresh and beautiful; it shall never wither away. There shall be other developments. Life shall grow. It shall increase in knowledge. It shall broaden in experience. It shall open out large capacities and powers. But, amid all the developments, the beatifies of childlikeness shall remain; his spring leaf shall not wither; the glory of the spring time shall never be lost. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
Meditations
Grace breeds delight in God, and delight breeds meditation. Meditation is like the watering of the seed, it makes the fruits of grace to flourish. If it be required to show what meditation is, I answer--
1. It is the souls retiring of itself. A Christian, when he goes to meditate, must lock himself up from the world. The world spoils meditation.
2. It is a serious and solemn thinking upon God (Hebrews), with intentness to recollect and gather together the thoughts. Meditation is not a cursory work. A carnal, flitting Christian is like the traveller, his thoughts ride post, he minds nothing of God. A wise Christian is like the artist, he views with seriousness and ponders the things of religion.
3. It is the raising of the heart to holy affections. Meditation is a duty imposed. The same God who hath bid us believe hath bid us meditate. It is a duty opposed. We may conclude it is a good duty, because it is against the stream of corrupt nature. As it is said, You may know that religion is right which Nero persecutes. The meditation of a thing hath more sweetness in it than the bare remembrance. The remembrance of a truth without the serious meditation of it will but create matter of sorrow another day. A sermon remembered, but not ruminated, will only serve to increase our condemnation. Meditation and study differ in three ways. In their nature--Study is the work of the brain, meditation of the heart. In their design--The design of study is notion, the design of meditation is piety. In their issue and result--Study leaves a man never a whit the better; it is like a winter sun that hath little warmth and influence. Meditation leaves one in a more holy frame. It melts the heart when it is frozen, and makes it drop into tears of love. There are things in the law of God which we should principally meditate upon. His attributes. His promises of remission, sanctification, remuneration. Meditate upon the love of Christ; upon sin; upon the vanity of the creature; upon the excellency of grace; upon the state of your souls; upon your experiences. The necessity of meditation will appear in three particulars.
1. The end why God has given us His Word, written and preached, is not only to know it, but that we should meditate in it. Without meditation we never can be good Christians. The truths of God will not stay with us. Meditation imprints and fastens a truth in the mind. Without meditation the truths which we know will never affect our hearts. And we make ourselves guilty of slighting God and His Word. If a man lets a thine, lie by and never minds it, it is a sign he slights it.
Answers to objections--
1. I have so much business in the world that I have no time to meditate. The business of a Christian is meditation, just as the business of the husbandman is ploughing and sowing.
2. This duty of meditation is hard. The price that God hath set heaven is labour. We do not argue so in other things. Entering into meditation may be hard, but once entered it is sweet and pleasant. As to rules about meditation--Be very serious about the work. Read before you meditate. Do not multiply the subjects of meditation. To meditation join examination Shut up meditation with prayer, and pray over your meditations. Reduce it to practice. Live over your meditation. (T. Watson.)
A man known by his delight
And he seems to frame his process in this manner: a man is known what he is by his delight; for such as a mans delight is, such a man himself is; and therefore a godly man delights not to Walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor to stand in the way of sinners, nor to sit in the chair of scorners, for these are all lawless delights--at least, delights of that law of which St. Paul saith, I find another law in my members: they agree not with a godly mans nature, and though a delight there must be, there is not living without it; yet a godly man will rather want it than take it up in such commodities. The godly man begins to appear in his likeness; for this delighting in the law of God is so essential to godliness that it even constitutes a godly man and gives him his being. For what is godliness but the love of God? and what is love without delight? that we may see what a sovereign thing godliness is, which not only brings us delight when we come to blessedness, but brings us to blessedness by a way of delighting. For the Prophet requires not a godliness that bars us of delight; he requires only a godliness that rectifies our delight; for as the wrong placing our delight is the cause of all our miseries, so the right placing it is the cause of all our happiness; and what righter placing it than to place it in the right? and what is the right but only the law? But is there delight, then, in the law of God? Is it not a thing rather that will make us melancholy? and doth it not mortify in us the life of all joy? It mortifies indeed the life of carnal delights, but it quickens in us another delight, as much better than those as heaven is above the earth. For there is no true delight which delights not as much to be remembered as to be felt; which pleaseth not as well the memory as the sense; and takes not as much joy to think of it being done as when it was a-doing. For is it not a miserable delight when it may be threatened with this? You will one day remember this with pain. Is it not a doleful delight, when grief besets the borders of gladness--when sorrow follows it at the heels? Is it not a fearful delight when, like a magicians rod, it is instantly turned into a serpent? (Sir Richard Baker.)
Delight in the Divine law
And as in this study of the law of God there is no fear of melancholy, so in the delight that is taken in it there is no fear of satiety; all other delights must have change, or else they cloy us; must have cessation, or else they tire us; must have moderation, or else they waste us: this only delight is that of which we can never take enough--we can never be so full, but we shall leave with an appetite, or rather never leave, because ever in an appetite. It is but one, yet is still fresh; it is always enjoyed, yet always desired; or, rather, the more it is enjoyed, the more it is desired. All other delights may be barred from us, may be hindered to us; this only delight is free in prison, is at ease in torments, is alive in death; and indeed there is no delight that keeps us company in our death beds, but only this. All other delights are then ashamed of us, and we of them; this only sits by us in all extremities, and gives us a cordial when physic and friends forsake us. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Delight in the law of God
Many delight in the law, because it teacheth many hidden and secret mysteries; but these are vain men, and delight not in the law, but in superfluous knowledge. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The law of God the chief joy of the believer
And how, then, shall we come to know the delighting which is true and perfect from that which is counterfeit and defective? Shall we say, it must be a delighting only, or but only chiefly? Not only, for so we should delight in nothing else; and who doubts but there are many other delights which both Nature requires and God allows? therefore, not only, but chiefly; yet so chiefly as in a manner only; for chiefly is properly where there may be comparison; but this is so chiefly as admits of no comparison. In presence of this, all other delights do lose their light; in balance with this, all other delights are found to be light. (Sir Richard Baker.)
A Constant delight in the Divine law
For as it is but a dead faith that brings not forth the fruit of good works, so it is but a feigned delight that brings not forth the work of exercising; and as it is but an unsound faith that works but intermittingly and by fits, so it is but an aguish delighting that hath its heat but at turns and seasons; but where we see a constancy of good works, as we may be bold to say there is a lively and sound faith, so where we see a continual exercising, we may be confident to say there is a true delighting. The working shows a life of faith; the constancy of working, a true temper of that life. The exercising shows a delighting; the continuance of exercising, a sincerity of that delighting. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Doing the Divine law
Contemplation brings us but to, I see and approve the better; and if I pursue the worse do follow, then godliness is stopped in her race at the very goal: the building is left unperfect when it is come to the roof. We cannot make a demonstration of true godliness out of all the premises, unless that be added which follows, And in His law he will exercise himself day and night; but if this be added, then the roof of the house is set on, and then the goal of godliness is won. And though it may seem a wearisome thing, summer and winter, day and night, all a mans life long, to do nothing else but always one thing, yet this is the godly mans task; he must do so, or he cannot be the man we take him for. For to be godly but sometimes is to be ungodly always; and no man is so wicked but he may sometimes have good thoughts, and do good works. But this serves not our godly mans turn; his sun must never set, for if he ever be in darkness he shall ever be in darkness; at least, he shall find it more work to kindle his fire anew than to have kept it still burning. Or if he should bestow the whole day in the exercise of godliness, and yet at night return to his vomit, that man would be but as a half-moon--bright on one side, and horrid blackness on the other. For godliness is a thing entire; it cannot be had in pieces. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Doing the law day and night
He will do it in the day, that men, seeing his good works, may glorify his Father which is in heaven; and he will do it in the night, that he may not be seen of men, and that his left hand may not know what his right hand doeth. He will do it in the day, to show he is none of those who shun the light; and he will do it in the night, to show that he is one of those who when in darkness shine. He will do it in the daytime, because, the day is the time of doing, as St. Peter [the Lord] saith, Work whilst it is day; and he will do it in the night, lest his Master should come as a thief in the night and find him idle. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Meditation
A fragment of spar at first seems lustreless and unattractive, but as you turn it in your hand and let the light strike it at a certain angle it reveals beautiful radiance and even prismatic colours. A fragment of Scripture which is comparatively lifeless to a superficial reader becomes to the real student a marvel of beauty. He turns it round, views it at every angle till he sees the light of God break through it, and it shines with the sevenfold beauty of the Divine attributes. The true beauty of Scripture does not lie on the surface, or reveal itself to the careless eye. As we reflect one truth is obvious. The principal lesson of the Bible is Christ. He is the light and lustre of each part. Faith cannot look but some new beauty of the Lord appears. (R. Venting.)
Impressions fixed by meditation
The photographer at the first has no security of the picture which he has taken. He cannot be said, in any true sense, to possess it. It is true, the impression is made upon the sensitive plate, but in its first condition, for all practical purposes, it is useless. The slightest exposure to the light would mar it hopelessly. It must be taken into the darkened room, and there, by being immersed in chemical solutions, it becomes fixed and assumes a permanent form. Just so is it with the thoughts which enter the mind. They are volatile and fugitive unless permanently fixed in the chambers of the mind by steadfast meditation. (Charles Deal.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:2 The law (Hebrew torah) of the Lord is…
1:2 The law (Hebrew torah) of the Lord is the full revelation of God’s instructions (see study note on Deut 4:44). • Meditating is a process of inner reflection that can be positive (Pss 1:2; 63:6; 77:12; 143:5) or negative (see 2:1; 38:12). The Lord’s word is the object of godly meditation (119:48). • Day and night includes all times, whether one is walking, standing, sitting, or sleeping (see Deut 6:7).
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