Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Are the laws of the Old Testament still binding?Deuteronomy 7:9, 11:1, 12:1, and Psalm 119:151-160 declare the commandments and statutes binding 'forever,' 'always,' and 'to a thousand generations.' Jesus in…
Luke 11:28(v1)But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”
Ezekiel 11:20(v1)that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
Psalms 51:10(v5)Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
2 Thessalonians 3:5(v5)May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love, and into the perseverance of Christ.
James 1:25(v1)But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be…
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Hebrews 13:21(v5)make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom…
Jeremiah 31:33(v5)“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward…
Psalms 128:1(v1)Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways.
John 13:17(v1)If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Psalms 119:36(v5)Turn my heart toward your statutes, not toward selfish gain.
Romans 7:22-24(v5)For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing…
Psalms 119:32(v5)I run in the path of your commandments, for you have set my heart free.
Psalms 119:173(v5)Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
Psalms 119:159(v5)Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your loving kindness.
Jeremiah 29:13(v2)You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
Luke 1:6(v1)They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
Psalms 1:1-3(v1)Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; but…
Titus 2:11-12(v1)For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,…
Psalms 119:44-45(v5)So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever. I will walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-2(v1)Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that…
Deuteronomy 4:29(v2)But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Psalms 119:10(v2)With my whole heart, I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments.
Psalms 112:1(v1)Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.
Psalms 119:131(v5)I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for your commandments.
Proverbs 11:20(v1)Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to Yahweh, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.
Acts 24:16(v1)In this I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.
Psalms 101:2(v1)I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart.
Matthew 5:3-12(v1)“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are…
John 14:23(v2)Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
1 John 5:3(v4)For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
Psalms 32:1-2(v1)Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose…
Hosea 14:9(v1)Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, and the…
John 14:21(v4)One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love…
Revelation 22:14(v1)Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
Psalms 25:10(v2)All the paths of Yahweh are loving kindness and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
Psalms 101:6(v1)My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me.
Matthew 28:20(v4)teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
2 Corinthians 1:12(v1)For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of…
2 Chronicles 31:20-21(v1)Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he did that which was good, right, and faithful before Yahweh his God. In every work that he…
Job 1:8(v1)Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one…
Job 1:1(v1)There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from…
Jeremiah 7:23(v4)but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. Walk in all the way that…
John 1:47(v1)Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
1 John 2:28(v6)Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14(v4)It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you…
Ezekiel 36:27(v2)I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.
Psalms 71:9(v8)Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.
Psalms 119:171(v7)Let my lips utter praise, for you teach me your statutes.
1 John 5:18(v3)We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.
Deuteronomy 6:17(vv2, 4)You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.
Proverbs 23:26(v2)My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
Deuteronomy 12:32(v4)Whatever thing I command you, that you shall observe to do. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it.
1 Kings 2:3(v2)and keep the instruction of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his…
2 Kings 20:3(v1)“Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your…
2 Chronicles 31:21(v2)In every work that he began in the service of God’s house, in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his…
Psalms 51:11(v8)Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
John 14:15(v4)If you love me, keep my commandments.
1 John 3:9(v3)Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him, and he can’t sin, because he is born of God.
Deuteronomy 6:5(v2)You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
Psalms 25:4-5(v7)Show me your ways, Yahweh. Teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth, and teach me, For you are the God of my salvation, I wait for you…
Psalms 119:12(v7)Blessed are you, Yahweh. Teach me your statutes.
John 6:45(v7)It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who hears from the Father and has learned, comes to me.
1 Chronicles 29:13-17(v7)Now therefore, our God, we thank you, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer…
Psalms 105:45(v2)that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise Yah!
Proverbs 13:6(v1)Righteousness guards the way of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.
Philippians 4:8-9(v4)Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever…
Philippians 4:13(v8)I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
1 John 3:20(v2)because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Deuteronomy 30:16(v4)For I command you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that…
Joshua 1:7(v4)Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn…
Job 22:26(v6)For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and will lift up your face to God.
Psalms 9:1(v7)I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous works.
Psalms 25:8-10(v7)Good and upright is Yahweh, therefore he will instruct sinners in the way. He will guide the humble in justice. He will teach the humble…
Psalms 119:22(v2)Take reproach and contempt away from me, for I have kept your statutes.
Psalms 119:80(v6)Let my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be disappointed.
Isaiah 48:17(v7)Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you…
John 15:14(v6)You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
Deuteronomy 4:1(v4)Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land…
Deuteronomy 11:22(v4)For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways,…
Psalms 38:21-22(v8)Don’t forsake me, Yahweh. My God, don’t be far from me. Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation.
Psalms 119:146(v2)I have called to you. Save me! I will obey your statutes.
Deuteronomy 4:9(v4)Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all…
Deuteronomy 11:13(v4)It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him…
Psalms 71:18(v8)Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to…
Psalms 119:31(v6)I cling to your statutes, Yahweh. Don’t let me be disappointed.
Psalms 119:33-34(v7)Teach me, Yahweh, the way of your statutes. I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law. Yes, I will obey…
Psalms 119:128(v6)Therefore I consider all of your precepts to be right. I hate every false way.
Psalms 119:176(v8)I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments.
Daniel 12:2-3(v6)Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those…
James 2:10(v6)For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
1 John 3:20-21(v6)because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have…
Deuteronomy 5:29-33(v4)Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and…
Joshua 24:15(v8)If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the…
Psalms 119:16(v8)I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word.
Psalms 119:27(v7)Let me understand the teaching of your precepts! Then I will meditate on your wondrous works.
Psalms 119:73(v7)Your hands have made me and formed me. Give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
Psalms 119:106(v8)I have sworn, and have confirmed it, that I will obey your righteous ordinances.
Psalms 86:12-13(v7)I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart. I will glorify your name forever more. For your loving kindness is great toward me.…
Psalms 119:64(v7)The earth is full of your loving kindness, Yahweh. Teach me your statutes.
Psalms 143:10(v7)Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (104 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (26 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 5, 7, 81 Blessed are they who are upright In these…
1 Blessed are they who are upright In these words the prophet sets forth the same paradox which we met with at the commencement of the Book of Psalms. All men naturally aspire after happiness, but instead of searching for it in the right path, they designedly prefer wandering up and down through endless by-paths, to their ruin and destruction. The Holy Spirit deservedly condemns this apathy and blindness. And but for man’s cupidity, which, with brutish impetuosity, hurries him in the opposite direction, the meaning of the words would appear quite plain to him. And the further a man wanders from God, the happier does he imagine himself to be; and hence all treat, as a fable, what the Holy Spirit declares about true piety and the service of God. This is a doctrine which scarcely one among a hundred receives.
The term way, is here put for the manner, or course and way of life: and hence he calls those upright in their way, whose sincere and uniform desire it is to practice righteousness, and to devote their life to this purpose. In the next clause of the verse, he specifics more clearly, that a godly and righteous life consists in walking in the law of God If a person follow his own humor and caprice, he is certain to go astray; and even should he enjoy the applause of the whole world, he will only weary himself with very vanity. But it may be asked, whether the prophet excludes from the hope of happiness all who do not worship God perfectly? Were this his meaning, it would follow that none except angels alone would be happy, seeing that the perfect observance of the law is to be found in no part, of the earth. The answer is easy: When uprightness is demanded of the children of God, they do not lose the gracious remission of their sins, in which their salvation alone consists. While, then, the servants of God are happy, they still need to take refuge in his mercy, because their uprightness is not complete. In this manner are they who faithfully observe the law of God said to be truly happy; and thus is fulfilled that which is declared in Psalm 32:2, “Blessed are they to whom God imputeth not sins.” In the second verse, the same doctrine is confirmed more fully, by pronouncing blessed, not. such as are wise in their own conceit, or assume a sort of fantastical holiness, but those who dedicate themselves to the covenant of God, and yield obedience to the dictates of hits law. Farther, by these words, he tells us that God is by no means satisfied with mere external service, for he demands the sincere and honest affection of the heart. And assuredly, if God be the sole judge and disposer of our life:, the truth must occupy the principal place in our heart, because it is not sufficient to have our hands and feet only enlisted in his service.
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 translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 5, 7, 8Here they are not called blessed, which think themselves…
Here they are not called blessed, which think themselves wise in their own judgment, nor which imagine to themselves a certain holiness, but they whose conversation is without hypocrisy.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv1–8Psa 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed [are] the undefiled in the…
Psa 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed [are] the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Ver. 1. Blessed are the undefiled] Pindar and other poets had their Ogdoades or Oetonaries. This alphabetical poem (as Sixtus Senensis calleth it) is David’s, doubtless (though it hath no title to show so much), written in the days of his banishment under Saul; and far more worthy to be written in letters of gold than Pindar’s seventh ode, which that profane fellow Politian preferred before any psalm of David, the sweet singer of Israel. How much better his countryman Jacobus Furnius, who translated this psalm into Greek and Latin verses, in so many Octounties; and beginning each verse thereof with the same letter, after the manner of the Hebrew composure; which is very artificial, both for the excellence of the matter and for the help of memory. The Jews are said to teach it to their little ones being the first thing they learn; wherein they take a very right course, both in regard to the heavenly matter, and plain style fitted for all capacities. David (in his troubles especially) was a man much in meditation of God’s word, and here he giveth us in his thoughts of it. When a book is set forth, verses of commendation are oft prefixed. David seemeth to set this Divine psalm as a poem of commendation before the Book of God; mentioning it in every verse (unless it be one only, Psa 119:122), under the name of testimonies, laws, statutes, word, judgments, precepts, &c.
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Who walk in the law of the Lord] Who walk towards heaven in heaven’s way; avoiding the corruptions that are in the world through lust, 2Pe 1:4.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv1–8The undefiled; or, the perfect or sincere, as this…
ALEPH
The undefiled; or, the perfect or sincere, as this word properly and most frequently signifies; such whose hearts and course of life agree with their profession.
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In the way; either,
1. In their way or course of life, which in Scripture is oft called a man’s way; or,
2. In the way of the Lord, as it seems to be explained by the next clause.
Who walk in the law of the Lord; who order their lives according to the rule of God’s law or word.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn vv1, 4, 7The psalmist here shows that godly people are happy…
The psalmist here shows that godly people are happy people; they are, and shall be, blessed indeed. Felicity is the thing we all pretend to aim at and pursue. He does not say here wherein it consists; it is enough for us to know what we must do and be that we may attain to it, and that we are here told. All men would be happy, but few take the right way; God has here laid before us the right way, which we may be sure will end in happiness, though it be strait and narrow. Blessednesses are to the righteous; all manner of blessedness. Now observe the characters of the happy people. Those are happy, 1. Who make the will of God the rule of all their actions, and govern themselves, in their whole conversation, by that rule: They walk in the law of the Lord, Psa 119:1. God's word is a law to them, not only in this or that instance, but in the whole course of their conversation; they walk within the hedges of that law, which they dare not break through by doing any thing it forbids; and they walk in the paths of that law, which they will not trifle in, but press forward in them towards the mark, taking every step by rule and never walking at all adventures. This is walking in God's ways (Psa 119:3), the ways which he has marked out to us and has appointed us to walk in. It will not serve us to make religion the subject of our discourse, but we must make it the rule of our walk; we must walk in his ways, not in the way of the world, or of our own hearts, Job 23:10, Job 23:11; Job 31:7. 2. Who are upright and honest in their religion - undefiled in the way, not only who keep themselves pure from the pollutions of actual sin, unspotted from the world, but who are habitually sincere in their intentions, in whose spirit there is no guile, who are really as good as they seem to be and row the same way as they look. 3. Who are true to the trust reposed in them as God's professing people. It was the honour of the Jews that to them were committed the oracles of God; and blessed are those who preserve pure and entire that sacred deposit, who keep his testimonies as a treasure of inestimable value, keep them as the apple of their eye, so keep them as to carry the comfort of them themselves to another world and leave the knowledge and profession of them to those who shall come after them in this world. Those who would walk in the law of the Lord must keep his testimonies, that is, his truths. Those will not long make conscience of good practices who do not adhere to good principles. Or his testimonies may denote his covenant; the ark of the covenant is called the ark of the testimony. Those do not keep covenant with God who do not keep the commandments of God. 4. Who have a single eye to God as their chief good and highest end in all they do in religion (Psa 119:2): They seek him with their whole heart. They do not seek themselves and their own things, but God only; this is that which they aim at, that God may be glorified in their obedience and that they may be happy in God's acceptance. he is, and will be, the rewarder, the reward, of all those who thus seek him diligently, seek him with the heart, for that is it that God looks at and requires; and with the whole heart, for if the heart be divided between him and the world it is faulty. 5. Who carefully avoid all sin (Psa 119:3): They do no iniquity; they do not allow themselves in any sin; they do not commit it as those do who are the servants of sin; they do not make a practice of it, do not make a trade of it. They are conscious to themselves of much iniquity that clogs them in the ways of God, but not of that iniquity which draws them out of those ways. Blessed and holy are those who thus exercise themselves to have always consciences void of offence.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv1–8ALEPH.--The First Part.
ALEPH.--The First Part.
ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way,.... Who are in the right way to heaven and happiness, which is Jesus Christ; the strait gate, and narrow way to eternal life; the only true way of life and salvation, in which way believers walk by faith. All out of this way are altogether become filthy; but all in this way are clean, even every bit: they are without spot and blemish, blameless and unreproveable, and without fault, before the throne of God and in his sight; being washed from their sins in the blood of the Lamb, and clothed with his righteousness; and even "perfect" and complete in him, as the Targum renders the word. These are also found in the way of their duty, and walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless before men, and are sincere and upright in the sight of God; and are upon all accounts happy persons:
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who walk in the law of the Lord: within the boundaries and limits of it, according to its direction, as it is a rule of walk and conversation in the hands of Christ the Lawgiver; and who continue to walk in it, as in a pleasant path, with great delight; and cheerfully obey its precepts, as influenced by the love of God, and assisted by the Spirit and grace of Christ. The word "law", or "doctrine", as it signifies, may design every revelation of the divine will; and even the doctrine of Christ, which believers should abide in, and not transgress; and should walk uprightly according to the truth of it, and as becomes it, and as they are enabled to do.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv1, 6, 7, 8Because this psalm was very large, and the matter…
Because this psalm was very large, and the matter of it of the greatest importance, the psalmist thought fit to divide it into two and twenty several parts, according to the number of the Hebrew letters, that he might both prevent tediousness, and fix it in the memory. Each part consists of eight verses. All the verses of the first part beginning with Aleph, all the verses of the second with Beth, and so on. It is observable, that the word of God is here called by the names of law, statutes, precepts or commandments, judgments, ordinances, righteousness, testimonies, way and word. By which variety, he designed to express the nature and perfection of God's word. It is called his word, as revealed by him to us; his way, as prescribed by him for us to walk in; his law, as binding us to obedience; his statutes, as declaring his authority of giving us laws; his precepts as directing our duty; his ordinances, as ordained by him; his righteousness, as exactly agreeable to God's righteous nature and will; his judgments, as proceeding from the great judge of the world, and being his judicial sentence to which all men must submit; and his testimonies, as it contains the witness of God's will, and of man's duty. And there is but one of these one hundred and seventy six verses, in which one or other of these titles is not found. The general scope and design of this psalm is, to magnify the law and make it honourable: to shew the excellency and usefulness of divine Revelation, and recommend it to us, by the psalmist's own example, who speaks by experience of the benefits of it, for which he praises God, and earnestly prays for the continuance of God's grace, to direct and quicken him in his way.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8The various excellencies and important uses of the law…
PSALM CXIX
The various excellencies and important uses of the law or
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revelation of God.
NOTES ON PSALM CXIX
This is another of the alphabetical or acrostic Psalms. It is divided into twenty-two parts, answering to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Every part is divided into eight verses; and each verse begins with that letter of the alphabet which forms the title of the part, e.g.: The eight first verses have א aleph prefixed, the second eight ב beth, each of the eight verses beginning with that letter; and so of the rest. All connexion, as might be naturally expected, is sacrificed to this artificial and methodical arrangement.
It is not easy to give any general Analysis of this Psalm; it is enough to say that it treats in general on the privileges and happiness of those who observe the law of the Lord. That law is exhibited by various names and epithets tending to show its various excellences. Earnest prayers are offered to God for wisdom to understand it, and for grace to observe it faithfully. These particulars may be collected from the whole composition, and appear less or more in every part.
The words which express that revelation which God had then given to men, or some particular characteristic of it, are generally reckoned to be the ten following:
1. Testimonies;
2. Commandments;
3. Precepts;
4. Word;
5. Law;
6. Ways;
7. Truth;
8. Judgments;
9. Righteousness;
10. Statutes.
To these some add the following:
1. Faithfulness;
2. Judgment;
3. Name; but these are not used in the sense of the other ten words.
I believe it is almost universally asserted that in every verse of this Psalm one or other of those ten words is used, except in ver. 122; but on a closer inspection we shall find that none of them is used in the above sense in the 84th, 90th, 121st, 122nd, and 132nd. See the notes on these verses. Ps 119:84; Ps 119:90; Ps 119:121; Ps 119:122; Ps 119:132
To save myself unnecessary repetition, and the reader time and trouble, I shall here, once for all, explain the above words, which the reader will do well to keep in remembrance.
1. The Law, תורה TORAH, from ירה yarah, to direct, guide, teach, make straight, or even, point forward; because it guides, directs, and instructs in the way of righteousness; makes our path straight, shows what is even and right, and points us onward to peace, truth, and happiness. It is even our school-master to bring us to Christ, that we may be justified through faith; and by it is the knowledge of sin.
II. STATUTES, חקים CHUKKIM, from חק chak, to mark, trace out, describe, and ordain; because they mark out our way describe the line of conduct we are to pursue and order or ordain what we are to observe.
III. PRECEPTS, פקודים PIKKUDIM, from פקד pakad, to take notice or care of a thing, to attend, have respect to, to appoint, to visit; because they take notice of our way, have respect to the whole of our life and conversation, superintend, overlook, and visit us in all the concerns and duties of life.
IV. COMMANDMENTS, מצות MITSVOTH, from צוה tasvah to command, order, ordain; because they show us what we should do, and what we should leave undone, and exact our obedience.
V. TESTIMONIES, עדות EDOTH, from עד ad, denoting beyond, farther, all along, to bear witness, or testimony. The rites and ceremonies of the law; because they point out matters beyond themselves, being types and representations of the good things that were to come.
VI. JUDGMENTS, משפטים MISHPATIM, from שפט shaphat, to judge, determine, regulate, order, and discern, because they judge concerning our words and works; show the rules by which they should be regulated; and cause us to discern what is right and wrong, and decide accordingly.
VII. TRUTH, אמונה EMUNAH, from אמן aman, to make steady, constant, to settle, trust, believe. The law that is established steady, confirmed, and ordered in all things, and sure; which should be believed on the authority of God, and trusted to as an infallible testimony from Him who cannot lie nor deceive.
VIII. WORD, דבר dabar, from the same root, to discourse, utter one's sentiments, speak consecutively and intelligibly; in which it appears to differ from מלל malal, to utter articulate sounds. Any prophecy or immediate communication from heaven, as well as the whole body of Divine revelation, is emphatically called דבר יהוה debar Yehovah, the word of Jehovah. On the same ground we call the whole Old and New Testament THE WORD OF THE LORD, as we term the volume in which they are contained THE BIBLE - THE BOOK. In his revelation God speaks to man; shows him, in a clear, concise, intelligible, and rational way, his interest, his duty, his privileges; and, in a word, the reasonable service that he requires of him.
IX. WAY, דרך DERECH, from the same root, to proceed, go on, walk, tread. The way in which God goes in order to instruct and save man; the way in which man must tread in order to be safe, holy, and happy. God's manner of acting or proceeding in providence and grace; and the way that man should take in order to answer the end of his creation and redemption.
X. RIGHTEOUSNESS, צדקה TSEDAKAH from צדק tsadak, to do justice, to give full weight. That which teaches a man to give to all their due; to give GOD his due, MAN his due, and HIMSELF his due; for every man has duties to God, his neighbor, and himself, to perform. This word is applied to God's judgments, testimonies, and commandments; they are all righteous, give to all their due, and require what is due from every one.
The three words, which some add here, are,
1. FAITHFULNESS, אמונה EMUNAH: but see this under No. VII., nor does it appear in Ps 119:90, where it occurs, to be used as a characteristic of God's law, but rather his exact fulfilment of his promises to man.
The second is JUDGMENT, משפט mishpat. See this under No. VI.: it occurs in Ps 119:84; Ps 119:121: "When wilt thou execute judgment," c. but is not used in those places as one of the ten words.
The third is NAME, שם shem, see Ps 119:132: but this is no characteristic of God's law; it refers here simply to himself. Those that love thy NAME is the same as those that love THEE. Bishop Nicholson inserts promises among the ten words: but this occurs no where in the Psalm.
We might, and with much more propriety, add a fourth, אמרה IMRAH, from אמר amar, to branch out, spread, or diffuse itself, as the branches of a tree; and which is often used for a word spoken, a speech. This often occurs in the Psalm: and we regularly translate it word, and put no difference or distinction between it and דבר dabar, No. VIII.: but it is not exactly the same; דבר dabar may apply more properly to history, relation, description, and such like; while, אמרתך imrathecha, thy word, may mean an immediate oracle, delivered solemnly from God to his prophet for the instruction of men. But the two words appear often indifferently used; and it would not be easy to ascertain the different shades of meaning between these two roots.
Having thus far introduced the Psalm to the reader's attention, I should probably speak at large of the elegance of its composition, and the importance and utility of its matter. Like all other portions of Divine revelation, it is elegant, important, and useful; and while I admire the fecundity of the psalmist's genius, the unabating flow of his poetic vein, his numerous synonyms, and his copia verborum, by which he is enabled to expand, diversify, and illustrate the same idea; presenting it to his reader in all possible points of view, so as to render it pleasing, instructive, and impressive; I cannot rob the rest of the book of its just praise by setting this, as many have done, above all the pieces it contains. It is by far the largest, the most artificial, and most diversified; yet, in proportion to its length, it contains the fewest ideas of any Psalm in the Book.
Several of the ancients, particularly the Greek fathers, have considered it as an abridgement of David's life; in which he expresses all the states through which he had passed; the trials, persecutions, succours, and encouragements he had received. The Latin fathers perceive in it all the morality of the Gospel, and rules for a man's conduct in every situation of life. Cassiodorus asserts that it contains the sentiments of the prophets, apostles, martyrs, and all the saints. In the introduction to the Book of Psalms, I have conjectured that many of them were composed from notes taken at different times, and in widely different circumstances; hence the different states described in the same Psalm, which could not have been at one and the same time the experience of the same person. It is most likely that this Psalm was composed in this way, and this, as well as its acrostical arrangement, will account for its general want of connexion.
Though the most judicious interpreters assign it to the times of the Babylonish captivity; yet there are so many things in it descriptive of David's state, experience, and affairs, that I am led to think it might have come from his pen; or if composed at or under the captivity, was formed out of his notes and memoranda.
I shall now make short remarks on the principal subjects in each part; and, at the end of each, endeavour by the Analysis to show the connexion which the eight verses of each have among themselves, and the use which the reader should make of them. In all the Versions except the Chaldee this Psalm is numbered cxviii.
LETTER א ALEPH. - First Division
Verse 1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way] אשרי תמימי דרך ashrey temimey darech, "O the blessedness of the perfect ones in the way." This Psalm begins something like the first, where see the notes. Ps 1:1 By the perfect, which is the proper meaning of the original word, we are to understand those who sincerely believe what God has spoken, religiously observe all the rules and ceremonies of his religion, and have their lives and hearts regulated by the spirit of love, fear, and obedience. This is farther stated in the second verse.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv1, 4, 7Psa 119:1-3. Blessed are the undefiled — Hebrew, תמימי,…
ALEPH.
Psa 119:1-3. Blessed are the undefiled — Hebrew, תמימי, temimee, the perfect, or sincere, as the word properly and most frequently signifies; namely, those whose hearts and lives agree with their profession; in the way — The way of the Lord, as it is explained by the next clause; who walk in the law of the Lord — Who order their lives according to the rule of God’s word. That keep his testimonies — Who, in mind and heart, carefully and diligently observe his precepts. And that seek him — Namely, the Lord: that seek his presence and favour, with the whole heart — Sincerely, diligently, and earnestly, above all other things. They also do no iniquity — That is, knowingly: they make it their constant care to shun every known sin. They walk in his ways — In the paths which God hath prescribed to them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv1–8Blessed are the undefiled in the way - In…
Blessed are the undefiled in the way - In the way or journey of life; in the path of religion; in the road which leads to heaven. As life - the religious life - is represented under the image of a journey, the expression here is equivalent to saying, “Blessed are those who in the journey of life - in their religious course - are pure, Sincere, uncontaminated.” On the word way, see the notes at Psa 1:6. The margin here on the word undefiled, is perfect, or sincere. So the Hebrew. The word is the same as in Job 1:1, where it is rendered “perfect.” See the notes at that passage. The Greek translation is undefiled - ἄμωμοι amōmoi. So the Latin, “immaculati.” Luther renders it, “Who live without blemish” or stain. The idea is, “Blessed are they who are upright, sincere, perfect, in their course.” The whole psalm is designed to illustrate this thought, by showing what the influence of a sincere and conscientious attachment to the principles of the law or word of God in the various circumstances of life must be.
Who walk in the law of the Lord - Who habitually obey his law. This constitutes sincerity, uprightness, perfection in a man’s life, for the law of the Lord is the only just rule of human conduct.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v1Psalms 119
Psalms 119
ALEPH
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1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
And that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity:
They walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us
To keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed
To keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed,
When I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart,
When I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes:
O forsake me not utterly.
BETH
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee:
O let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
That I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Lord:
Teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared
All the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts,
And have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes:
I will not forget thy word.
GIMEL
17 Deal bountifully with thy servant,
That I may live, and keep thy word.
18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold
Wondrous things out of thy law.
19 I am a stranger in the earth:
Hide not thy commandments from me.
20 My soul breaketh for the longing
That it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed,
Which do err from thy commandments.
22 Remove from me reproach and contempt;
For I have kept thy testimonies.
23 Princes also did sit and speak against me:
But thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
24 Thy testimonies also are my delight,
And my counsellors.
DALETH
25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust:
Quicken thou me according to thy word.
26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me:
Teach me thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts:
So shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
28 My soul melteth for heaviness:
Strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
29 Remove from me the way of lying:
And grant me thy law graciously.
30 I have chosen the way of truth:
Thy judgments have I laid before me.
31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies:
O Lord, put me not to shame.
32 I will run the way of thy commandments,
When thou shalt enlarge my heart.
HE
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes;
And I shall keep it unto the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;
For therein do I delight.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
And quicken thou me in thy way.
38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant,
Who is devoted to thy fear.
39 Turn away my reproach which I fear:
For thy judgments are good.
40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:
Quicken me in thy righteousness.
VAU
41 Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord,
Even thy salvation, according to thy word.
42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me:
For I trust in thy word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;
For I have hoped in thy judgments.
44 So shall I keep thy law continually
Forever and ever.
45 And I will walk at liberty:
For I seek thy precepts.
46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings,
And will not be ashamed.
47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments,
Which I have loved.
48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved;
And I will meditate in thy statutes.
ZAIN
49 Remember the word unto thy servant,
Upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction:
For thy word hath quickened me.
51 The proud have had me greatly in derision:
Yet have I not declined from thy law.
52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord:
And have comforted myself.
53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked
That forsake thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night,
And have kept thy law.
56 This I had,
Because I kept thy precepts.
CHETH
57 Thou art my portion, O Lord:
I have said that I would keep thy words.
58 I entreated thy favor with my whole heart:
Be merciful unto me according to thy word.
59 I thought on my ways,
And turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
60 I made haste, and delayed not
To keep thy commandments.
61 The bands of the wicked have robbed me:
But I have not forgotten thy law.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee
Because of thy righteous judgments.
63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee,
And of them that keep thy precepts.
64 The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy:
Teach me thy statutes.
TETH
65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,
O Lord, according unto thy word.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge:
For I have believed thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray
But now have I kept thy word.
68 Thou art good, and doest good:
Teach me thy statutes.
69 The proud have forged a lie against me:
But I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is as fat as grease:
But I delight in thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
That I might learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me
Than thousands of gold and silver.
JOD
73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me:
Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me;
Because I have hoped in thy word.
75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right,
And that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to thy word unto thy servant.
77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live:
For thy law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause:
But I will meditate in thy precepts.
79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me,
And those that have known thy testimonies.
80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes;
That I be not ashamed.
CAPH
81 My soul fainteth for thy salvation:
But I hope in thy word.
82 Mine eyes fail for thy word,
Saying, When wilt thou comfort me?
83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke;
Yet do I not forget thy statutes.
84 How many are the days of thy servant?
When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
85 The proud have digged pits for me,
Which are not after thy law.
86 All thy commandments are faithful:
They persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.
87 They had almost consumed me upon earth;
But I forsook not thy precepts.
88 Quicken me after thy loving-kindness;
So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.
LAMED
89 Forever, O Lord,
Thy word is settled in heaven.
90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:
Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances:
For all are thy servants.
92 Unless thy law had been my delights,
I should then have perished in mine affliction.
93 I will never forget thy precepts:
For with them thou hast quickened me.
94 I am thine, save me;
For I have sought thy precepts.
95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:
But I will consider thy testimonies.
96 I have seen an end of all perfection:
But thy commandment is exceeding broad.
MEM
97 O how love I thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies:
For they are ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers:
For thy testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the ancients,
Because I keep thy precepts.
101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way,
That I might keep thy word.
102 I have not departed from thy judgments:
For thou hast taught me.
103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste!
Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.
104 Through thy precepts I get understanding.
Therefore I hate every false way
NUN
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
And a light unto my path.
106 I have sworn, and I will perform it,
That I will keep thy righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much:
Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.
108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me thy judgments.
109 My soul is continually in my hand:
Yet do I not forget thy law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me:
Yet I erred not from thy precepts.
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever:
For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes
Always, even unto the end.
SAMECH
113 I hate vain thoughts:
But thy law do I love.
114 Thou art my hiding-place and my shield:
I hope in thy word.
115 Depart from me, ye evil doers:
For I will keep the commandments of my God.
116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live:
And let me not be ashamed of my hope.
117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe:
And I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
118 Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes:
For their deceit is falsehood.
119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross:
Therefore I love thy testimonies.
120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee;
And I am afraid of thy judgments.
AIN
121 I have done judgment and justice:
Leave me not to mine oppressors.
122 Be surety for thy servant for good:
Let not the proud oppress me.
123 Mine eyes fail for thy salvation,
And for the word of thy righteousness.
124 Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,
And teach me thy statutes.
125 I am thy servant; give me understanding,
That I may know thy testimonies.
126 It is time for thee, Lord, to work:
For they have made void thy law.
127 Therefore I love thy commandments
Above gold; yea, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right:
And I hate every false way.
PE
129 Thy testimonies are wonderful:
Therefore doth my soul keep them.
130 The entrance of thy words giveth light;
It giveth understanding unto the simple.
131 I opened my mouth, and panted:
For I longed for thy commandments.
132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,
As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
133 Order my steps in thy word:
And let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
134 Deliver me from the oppression of man:
So will I keep thy precepts.
135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;
And teach me thy statutes.
136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,
Because they keep not thy law.
TZADDI
137 Righteous art thou, O Lord,
And upright are thy judgments.
138 Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous
And very faithful.
139 My zeal hath consumed me,
Because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
140 Thy word is very pure:
Therefore thy servant loveth it.
141 I am small and despised:
Yet do not I forget thy precepts.
142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And thy law is the truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me:
Yet thy commandments are my delights.
144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting.
Give me understanding, and I shall live.
KOPH
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.
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.
149 Hear my voice according unto thy loving-kindness:
O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment.
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.
152 Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old
That thou hast founded them forever.
RESH
153 Consider mine affliction, and deliver me:
For I do not forget thy law.
154 Plead my cause, and deliver me:
Quicken me according to thy word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked:
For they seek not thy statutes.
156 Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord:
Quicken me according to thy judgments.
157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies;
Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
158 I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved;
Because they kept not thy word.
159 Consider how I love thy precepts:
Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy loving-kindness.
160 Thy word is true from the beginning:
And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.
SCHIN
161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause:
But my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
162 I rejoice at thy word,
As one that findeth great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor lying:
But thy law do I love.
164 Seven times a day do I praise thee,
Because of thy righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have they which love thy law:
And nothing shall offend them.
166 Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation,
And done thy commandments.
167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies;
And I love them exceedingly.
168 I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies:
For all my ways are before thee.
TAU
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.
171 My lips shall utter praise,
When thou hast taught me thy statutes.
172 My tongue shall speak of thy word:
For all thy commandments are righteousness.
173 Let thine hand help me;
For I have chosen thy precepts.
174 I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord;
And thy law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live and it shall praise thee;
And let thy judgments help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep: seek thy servant;
For I do not forget thy commandments.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—The Christian’s golden A B C of the praise and love of the power and profit of the word of God. This title in the German Bible admirably expresses the character of this Psalm. For in all the 176 verses there is no other subject introduced than the excellence of God’s word, in its blessed influences and obligations. The Psalm is so disposed that every one of the eight verses in each division begins with the same letter, and these letters follow in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. And it was scarcely without design that in every verse, with the exception of Psa_119:122, occurs one of the ten expressions usually employed to designate the law, and that the name Jehovah occurs in the whole 22 times, though not once in every verse.
The carrying out of this artificial plan through such a long series of verses with great comparative simplicity, has not only occasioned many repetitions, with but slight changes in expression and shades of thought, but has made it questionable whether there can be any internal structural connection or progress of thought. It is certainly saying too much to maintain that there is no connection whatever (De Wette) and to designate the Psalm as the most monotonous and barren in thought of all aphoristic collections and a specimen of the trifling of later times (Hupfeld), or a mnemonic book of devotion (Köster), at the same time denying any reference to a special situation or mental posture of the author. But even if the notion be abandoned that there is any regularity of plan, or any inner progress of thought (Hengst.), the Psalm is, at all events, not a collection of apophthegms, but is evidently a Psalm of supplication composed not by an old man (Ewald), but, according to Psa_119:9 f., 99, 100, by a young man (Del.), who prays, particularly after Psa_119:84, for steadfastness in the midst of great trouble, surrounded by evil men and persecutors. Yet it must be allowed that, along with the praise of God’s word and law, which is repeated almost like a refrain, there are interwoven prayers for enlightenment to understand them, and strength to be faithful to them, intermingled here and there with complaints, promises, and hopes, and also with supplications for Divine assistance against mighty and crafty oppressors and persecutors. All these occur so frequently that it is unadvisable to limit the connection of thought to a narrow range.
Whether the author was in imprisonment, and shortened the time by thus weaving together his complaints and comforting thoughts (Hitzig, Del.) cannot be known with any degree of certainty. The same remark applies to the time of composition and the person of the composer. It is only certain that the Poet did not speak for the Jewish people (Rudinger), and that the Psalm is to be reckoned among the latest of the whole collection (Ewald). Some of the older commentators have assigned it to a Jew living in captivity among the Syrians (Sylloge commentt. theoll. ed. Pott. I., p. 314 ff.). There is also something to be said in favor of referring it to the period of Grecian rule, under which the government was unfriendly, and a large party among the Jews themselves, who favored the government, persecuted the pronounced professors of the Thora (Del.). If we go down to the time of the Maccabees, an historical connection is presented with the imprisonment of Jonathan, 1Ma_12:48 (Hitzig). But the closing period of the Persian supremacy affords the contrasts presented here, between a worldly government, hostile to the religion of Jehovah and the Divine dominion revealed in the Law; between that party of presumptuous blasphemers, who appear as national enemies, and the pious worshippers of Jehovah; between disloyal, unfaithful, covenant-breaking Jews, and the friends of the Law, whose companion the Poet is (Ehrt, Abfassungszeit und Abschluss des Psalters, p. 191).
Delitzsch gives the inner progress of thought through the several strophes as follows: After the Poet has praised fidelity to God’s word (1), and characterized it as the virtue of all virtues, which is a blessing to the young, and which he himself labors to gain (2), he prays, in the midst of scornful and persecuting companions, for the mercies of enlightenment (3), of strengthening (4), of preservation (5), of suitable and joyful profession of his faith (6); God’s word is the object of his striving and aspirations (7), he loves the friendship of those who fear God (8), and, though recognizing the salutary influences of his humiliation (9), is yet in need of consolation (10), and sighs: how long! (11). Without the immovable and mighty word of God he would despond (12); it is his wisdom in situations of distress (13); he has sworn to be faithful to it, and in persecution remains faithful (14); he abhors and despises the faithless; he is oppressed, but God will not leave him under oppression (16), or permit a godless conduct, which forces rivers of tears from his eyes, to prevail over him (17), over him who is small (youthful) and despised, whom zeal, on account of the prevailing forgetfulness of God, is consuming (18); he entreats that God might hear his crying by day and by night (19), might soon revive him with His helpful compassion (20), as he remains firm in his fidelity to God, though persecuted by princes (21), and seek the lamb, that was separated from the flock and exposed to such dangers (22).—This is, at least, a guiding thread in the efforts which are necessary to connect the several strophes. The sections are then more or less individualized in their single verses.
[Hengstenberg, holding the view given above under his name, sums up the contents of the Psalm thus: “The praise of God’s word, the assertion that it is the infinitely sure way of salvation, and the only comfort in suffering, the determination to be faithful to God’s word and law, prayer for the spiritual understanding of the law, and for strength to fulfil it, and supplications for the salvation promised in it, form the contents of this Psalm.” With reference to the stand-point of the author, Hengstenberg considers it entirely national, referring to Psa_119:23; Psa_119:46; Psa_119:87, with which he compares Psa_115:14, and Psa_119:161. He therefore considers large portions of it, which appear to represent only individual feelings, as bearing a hortatory character. But the true view appears to me to be that of Alexander: “There is no Psalm in the whole collection which has more the appearance of having been exclusively designed for practical and personal improvement, without any reference to national or even to ecclesiastical relations than the one before us.” After citing some of Hengstenberg’s arguments for the opposite view, he continues: “The opinion that the ideal speaker throughout this Psalm is Israel, considered as the Church or chosen people, will never commend itself as natural or likely to the mass of readers, and is scarcely consistent with such passages as Psa_119:63; Psa_119:74; Psa_119:79, and others, where the speaker expressly distinguishes himself from the body of the people. The same difficulty, in a less degree, attends the national interpretation of the Psalms immediately preceding. Perhaps the best mode of reconciling the two views is by supposing that this Psalm was intended as a manual of pious and instructive thoughts, designed for popular improvement, and especially for that of the younger generation, after the return from exile, and that the person speaking is the individual believer, not as an isolated personality, but as a member of the general body, with which he identifies himself so far, that many expressions of the Psalm are strictly applicable only to the whole as such considered, while others are appropriate only to certain persons or to certain classes in the ancient Israel. To this design of popular instruction, and especially to that of constant repetition and reflection, the Psalm is admirably suited by its form and structure. The alphabetical arrangement, of which it is at once the most extended and the most perfect specimen, and the aphoristic character, common to all alphabetic Psalms, are both adapted to assist the memory as well as to give point to the immediate impression. It follows, of course, that the Psalm was rather meant to be a storehouse of materials for pious meditation, than a discourse for continuous perusal.” On this last question Perowne also agrees with most commentators, against the opinion of Delitzsch that there is a continuity of thought in the Psalm.
On the opinion of Delitzsch and Ewald, referred to above, with regard to the period of the author’s life at the time of the composition, Perowne argues: “The language of ver 9 is rather that of one, who looking back on his own past life, draws the inference, which he seeks to impress upon the young, that youthful purity can only be preserved by those, who from early years take God’s word as their guide. When it is said in Psa_119:99-100 that the Psalmist is wiser than his teachers, wiser than the aged, the only conclusion that can be drawn is, that he is not advanced in life. It is plain that the writer is not an old man, as Ewald would have us believe, or he would not compare his knowledge of the law with the knowledge of the aged. But it does not follow that he is a young man. The teachers whom he had outstript may have been those, whose disciple he once was, not those whose disciple he still is, or he may refer to authorized teachers, to whom he listened because they taught in Moses’ seat, though he felt that they had really nothing to teach him. Indeed the whole strain of the Psalm, its depth and breadth of spiritual life, and the long acquaintance, which is everywhere implied in it, with the word of God, can leave us no doubt that it was written by a man who was no longer young, who had at least reached ‘the middle arch of life.’ ”
The spiritual worth and beauty of the Psalm are not impaired by its artificial form. “If we would fathom the depth of meaning in the written law of Israel: if we would measure the elevation of soul, the hope, the confidence, even before princes and kings, which pious Jews derived from it, we must turn to this Psalm. Here is an epitome of all true religion as conceived by the best spirits of that time. To such a loving study and meditation on the law, the alphabetical arrangement is not inappropriate, and if the poem be necessarily somewhat cramped, it is nevertheless pervaded by the glow of love, and abounds in spiritual life.” (The Psalms Chronologically Arranged by Four Friends, p. 385; quoted by Perowne). See also an estimate of its spiritual teaching in Edwards on the Religious Affections, Part III. Sec. 3.—J. F. M.].
Aleph. Psa_119:1-4. This Psalm in accordance with the more extended treatment of its topics, has a double ascription of blessedness, instead of the single one in Psa_1:1; Psa_112:1. The præterites, mingled as they are with futures in the sense of the present, express the constancy of the relation described.—[The rendering of Psa_119:1 a, in E. V. is not sufficiently perspicuous. The literal translation is: Blessed are those who are blameless in their ways. Its rendering of Psa_119:4 is also incorrect, neglecting the division of the verse according to the accents. It should be: Thou hast enjoined thy precepts; to observe them diligently. The explanation follows.—J. F. M.]. In Psa_119:4 b, the design in enjoining the precepts is given, with the implication that their observance is as earnestly enjoined, as it is difficult to practise.
Psa_119:5-7. The Psalmist does not say that he would have his ways directed to the object expressed in Psa_119:5 b. (Sept., De Wette, Del.), or that he would have them established, standing fast, for the sake of the object to be gained (Hupfeld), Pro_4:26. [The former view which is expressed in E. V. is also that of Alexander. That of Dr. Moll is probably more correct. It is expressed in his translation: Oh that my ways were firmly set, to keep Thy statutes! The difference between the two views is very slight.—J. F. M.] אַחֲלַי, for which in 2Ki_5:3, occurs אַחֲלֵי, is equivalent to Oh if! a sigh of desire. Psa_119:7. The judgments of thy righteousness [E. V. righteous judgments] are those decisions with regard to justice and injustice, which express and fulfil God’s righteousness, and which are to be learnt from Scripture in connection with History (Del.) Exo_21:1; Exo_24:3; Leviticus 18; Lev_19:19 f., and which form the object of praise.
Beth. Psa_119:9. In Psa_119:9 b, the answer given, in the gerund, to the question in Psa_119:9 a, has a form which is not quite suitable (Olshausen). After שׁמר may be supplied according to the analogy of the Psalm: it, that is, the way, or the law (Aben Ezra, J. H. Mich., Rosenmüller, Hupfeld, Hitzig). The reflexive construction (Luther, De Wette, Hengst., Del.) is likewise admissible, Jos_6:18. The cleansing of the way (Psa_73:13; Pro_20:9) alludes to the defilement of sin. [Alexander differs from all these critics. He considers the construction of the infin. as a gerund to be too rare and doubtful to be assumed without necessity, and renders the second member: “(so) as to keep it according to thy word.” He says, “It is much more simple and agreeable to usage, to regard the whole as one interrogative, and the second clause as supplementary to the first. The answer is suppressed, or rather, left to be inferred from the whole tenor of the psalm, which is, that men, and especially young men, whose passions and temptations are strong in proportion to their inexperience, can do nothing of themselves, but are dependent on the grace of God. The omission of an answer, which is thus suggested by the whole psalm, rather strengthens than impairs the impression on the reader.”1—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:14. The Law is equalled in value to all possible riches; that is, to all blessings that can be conceived, and that are most highly prized by men. The rendering should not be: as it were more than all riches (Olsh.), but: as above all riches (comp. Psa_119:162).
Gimel. Psa_119:17-18. In Psa_119:17, according to the accentuation, אֶחְיֶה belongs to the first member, and indicates the end for which the divine bounties are entreated: “that I may live.” Attached to the second member, with the translation: if I live, I will keep (held to be possible by Hupfeld), the vow of obedience, prompted by the divine gift of life, would be uttered. Or, if we adopt the construction: may I live and keep (Hitzig), both of these ends are distinguished in one supplication, as simultaneous objects of entreaty. [According to the accents, the best translation is: Grant to thy servant (that) I may live, and I will keep thy word. So most translators. Alexander remarks that there may be an allusion to the way in which the Law connects life and obedience, and refers to Lev_18:5; Deu_6:24. Hengstenberg, in accordance with his hypothesis given above, holds that it is the preservation of the national existence that is meant.—J. F. M.] The wondrous things in Psa_119:18 are not events in which the direction given by God is shown unexpectedly to have been right (Hitzig), but truths disclosed to faith, and revelations concerning God, lying in the law beneath the veil of the letter, and perplexing to the common understanding, to the knowledge of which the removal of the veil suspended over the eyes by nature is also necessary.
Psa_119:19 ff. On earth we are only lodging as strangers, and, as it were, in a foreign land (1Ch_29:15; Psa_39:13). Nor do we know beforehand what is established there as right and law. This we would faint discover; for the anger of God, which does not concern itself about our ignorance, dwells there too (Hitzig). Therefore we do not need speedy compassion on account of the fleetness of life (Hupfeld); we need instruction (De Wette) in our helplessness (Luther, Hengst., Del.) [Luther explains: “I have no inheritance but thy word; therefore forsake me not.”—J. F. M.]—In Psa_119:22גַל is not instead of נֹל, from גלל to roll off, Jos_5:9 (Isaaki, Ros., De Wette, Hengst.), but it is from נלח, to uncover, draw away the covering (Geier, J. H. Mich.), here that of contempt, [which is regarded as if it were a garment or cloak.—J. F. M.]
Daleth. Psa_119:25-28. The reviving in Psa_119:25 refers as usual, not to the strengthening of the spiritual, but to the restoration of the physical life, welfare, and prosperity, by deliverance from distress and danger. [Alexander: “The first clause seems intended to suggest two consistent but distinct ideas: that of deep degradation as in Psa_44:26, and that of death as in Psa_22:30. The first would be more obvious in itself and in connection with the parallel referred to; but the other seems to be the prominent idea, from the correlative petition in the last clause.…Thy word, the promise annexed to Thy commandment, see Psa_119:28.” Psa_119:28 a, should probably be rendered: My soul weeps from sorrow. The verb means to drop. In Job_16:20 it is applied to the eye.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:30 ff. In Psa_119:30שֵׁוִּיתִי is scarcely to be explained as a setting before the mind; i.e. acknowledging as binding (Köster), or as a mental agreement; i.e. approving (Hitzig), but is to be understood of the act of the subject, by which something was placed before the eyes as a standard of action (Hengst., Del.). That which should be contemplated is contemplated (Ewald). The enlarging of the heart (Psa_119:32) does not refer to the enlargement of the understanding, 1Ki_5:9 (De Wette), but expresses the feeling of well-being and joy (Isa_60:5; 2Co_6:11-13), as contrasted with mental oppression (Geier). [Render: For Thou shalt enlarge my heart.—J. F. M.]
He. Psa_119:37 ff. The outward senses present to the heart the objects of forbidden desire, and excite pleasure in and desire for them (Isa_33:15 : Job_31:1-7); men must therefore shut their ears and eyes against them and let them pass unheeded. In Psa_119:38 the relation can be referred either to the word (Isaaki, J. H. Mich., De Wette, Hengst., Del.), or to the servant (Syr., Geier, Hitzig), without essentially altering the sense. כצעabscindere is used of profiting by defrauding one’s neighbor, 1Sa_8:3. שָׁוְא means that which is without real, intrinsic worth; that is, with relation to God; doctrine and life opposed to God. Psa_119:39 does not speak of the judgments of God, whether merciful (Kimchi, Geier and others) or righteous ones (Hengst.), but, like the whole Psalm, of the revealed ordinances of justice.
Vau. Psa_119:41-42. As the Vau is really only placed here on account of alphabetical requirements, its occurrence in Psa_119:42 is not to be pressed so as to make it indicate the object aimed at in the petition of the preceding verse: in order that I may answer (De W.). The manifestations of God’s mercy in Psa_119:41 are, in the original, not in the singular (Sept.) but in the plural (Chald., Jerome).
Psa_119:46-48. Psa_119:46 is the motto of the Augsburg Confession according to the historical view of the verbs in the Vulgate, which, however, does not correspond with the Heb. text: Et loquebar de (in) testimoniis tuis in conspectu regum et non confundebar. The lifting up of the hands, Psa_119:48, does not refer to the observance of the commandments, (most), still less to the worship of the law in the later Jewish manner (Köster), but to the longing desire expressed by stretching out the hands after the commandments (Hitzig), often parallel to the lifting up of the heart to the highest good, Psa_28:2; Psa_63:5; Lam_3:41 (Hengst., Hupfeld).
Zain. Psa_119:50 ff. Psa_119:50 reminds us of Job_6:10. It is doubtful whether כִּי in the second member of the verse is to be taken as explaining the “this” by mentioning what the comfort consisted in, or as the confirmatory “for” (Hupf.). [In Psa_119:53 render: Indignation hath taken hold of me.—J. F. M.] In Psa_119:54 the reference is not to exile or any other misfortune, but human life is, after Genesis 47, described as “the house of my sojournings.” Man has not upon earth his בֵּית עוֹלָם, Ecc_12:5. The earth has been indeed given to him (Psa_115:16), but not as his abiding-place (see on Psa_119:19).
Cheth.—[Psa_119:57 is translated by Dr. Moll: My portion is Jehovah! I have said to keep thy precepts (I have promised to keep thy precepts). Alexander translates and comments thus: “My portion, oh Jehovah, I have said (is) to keep thy words. This construction is rejected by Hengstenberg and others as forbidden by the accents and the analogy of Psa_16:5; Psa_73:26. But, as the same words may either express the sense here given, or: My portion is Jehovah, we are at liberty to choose the one best suited to the context, even in opposition to the accents, which cannot be regarded as an ultimate authority. In favor of the sense first given is its perfect agreement with the close of the preceding stanza. In reference to the resolution there recorded and described as being fulfilled, he here adds: thus have I said (declared my purpose), oh Lord, to obey thy words.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:61 ff. Psa_119:61 is explained by Psa_119:110. The pointing does not distinguish as clearly as might be expected (Del.) between חֶבְלֵיὠδῖνας and חַבְלֵי (snares). [Dr. Moll translates: The snares of the wicked have surrounded me. So Delitzsch, Hupfeld and Hengst. Perowne translates: cords. Alexander: bands, “the cordage of a net,” Psa_18:5. The meaning: bands, in the sense of companies, troops, given in E. V. is as Del. remarks, never found attached to that word in the plural, though the sing. has that sense in 1Sa_10:5-10. Böttcher, however (§ 800), assigns to it that meaning here. The translation: “robbed” of E. V. in the same verse is entirely unfounded. I cannot discover its source.—J.F. M.] In Psa_119:62 we have the accusative of time as in Job_34:20. With Psa_119:63 comp. Pro_28:24. Psa_119:64 a recalls Psa_33:5.
Teth.
Psa_119:69-70. The poet will not be induced to err from fidelity to God’s word by all the falsehoods which presumptuous men smear upon him (Böttcher) or better (absolutely as in Job_13:4) smear all at once over him, making the true nature of things undiscernible by daubing them over with false colors (Del.), or pasting on deceit (Hitzig). [Del. quotes the Chald., Talmud, and the Syr. in favor of the meaning smear over or on. This is now generally accepted. The idea of forging, devising, in E. V. follows the meaning to sew together, formerly assigned to טפל as the primary idea.—J. F. M.] Psa_119:70. The heart which is overspread with fat or grease is a figure employed to denote want of sensitiveness or hard-heartedness, Psa_17:10; Psa_73:10; Isa_6:10.
Yodh. Psa_119:75-78. In Psa_119:75 it is not God Himself who is called אֱמוּנָה after Deu_32:4 (Hengst.). The word is employed either as an adverbial accusative: in fidelity (most), or as in apposition and parallel to צֶדֶק, the following word becoming a relative clause, attached at the end of the verse (Hupf.). [The first member of Psa_119:78 should be translated: Let the proud be ashamed; for they have wronged me by falsehood.—J. F. M.]
Caph.
Psa_119:83-84. The bottle in the smoke, Psa_119:83, is probably not a figurative representation of one who had become mellow and ripened by affliction (Hupfeld), taken from the custom of the ancients of hanging bottles filled with wine in the smoke high up above the fire; for wine is not the subject of the verse. Nor is there any comparison to a bottle hung up in order to make it dry and wrinkled, so as to adapt it for preserving wine (De Wette). It seems more suitable to refer to the effects of smoke as destroying and rendering useless (Geier, J. H. Mich., Hengst.). Accordingly, the meaning would be, that he allows nothing to force God’s word from his consciousness, although already he has become like a bottle blackened and shrivelled up in the smoke (Del.). The object of hanging such a bottle high up would then be to set it aside in the meantime as not immediately needed. And its contact with the smoke would be merely the consequence of its hanging in an elevated position, whither the smoke, in the absence of chimneys, would naturally rise. The point of comparison would then be the being set aside (Hitzig, Del.).—The expression in Psa_119:84, translated: how many, in Gen_47:8, occurs here in the sense: how few, Psa_39:5. The entreaty of an immediate interference of God is evoked and supported by the thought of the brevity of human life.
Lamedh.
Psa_119:89-91. The heavens are mentioned with reference to their unchangeableness, as in Pss. 89:3; 30:37, not as a locality. So the firm establishment of the earth, as an actual proof and as the theatre of the unchangeable faithfulness of God (Geier, Hupfeld, Del.). The sense of Psa_119:91 is doubtful; its explanation depending upon what is assumed as the subject of עָמְדוּ, and upon the meaning of that word itself. If heaven and earth be taken as the subject of the verb and the latter be understood in the sense of standing firm (Hupf.), the meaning would then be that the heavens and earth stand firm for the judgments and laws of God, serving, as it were, to support them, after the analogy of the preceding figure. If the subject is the judgments (Köster, De Wette, Hitzig), the meaning would be: As for thy judgments, they stand to day. The word would then not be used in the sense which it bears in Isa_55:11, but would mean His declared will, which, as the moral order of the world, is the internal complement of the physical order. The preservation of the world, Psa_119:90, the continuance of the original creation, is an act of His unalterable and gracious purpose, Gen_8:21 f. (Hitzig). If the subject be taken as generally as possible, as in Job_38:15, and with a reference to the following “all,” then it would not be merely meant, that all beings are subject to law, but either that they all, as his servants, stand ready to execute His will, Psa_1:6 (Hengst.), or better, on account of the resemblance which the expressions bear to Num_30:5; Num_30:10; Jos_20:6; Eze_44:24, that they have humbly to obey God’s judicial decisions (Böttcher, Del.), and that they must do so still to-day, because these declarations, long since formulated in the Law, are unalterably valid, as being words of God, and sure from eternity.
Psa_119:96 strictly says only in reference to extent in space, that the Psalmist had seen an end of it, that a limit was to be found to everything in the world. It is, however, usually so explained to mean that all perfection on earth was wanting, and that the Psalmist knew that fact from experience.—The breadth of the Law is its immeasurableness, expressed likewise as though in space, as, in Job_11:7-9, the immeasurableness of God.
Mem. Psa_119:99-102. The meaning of Psa_119:99 is not that the Psalmist had profited in understanding from his teachers and from those who were very old (the Rabbins), but that he was superior in that quality to his teachers and the aged. An opposition is indicated to a worldly wisdom whose source is not the word of revelation. It is less clear, whether opposition is felt by a younger man, in his zeal for the law, to older men, who were hellenizing, or whether the aged men are here mentioned as representatives, like the teachers, of human authority.—[Psa_119:102. Alexander: “The divine judgments in this Psalm are always the external exhibitions of the divine righteousness in word or deed, by precept or by punishment. Here, of course, the former are especially intended. The figure of a way, though not expressed, is still indicated by the verbs depart and guide.”—J. F. M.]
Nun.—To have one’s soul in his hand (Psa_119:110) signifies, according to the context, to remain consciously in danger of death. To take one’s soul in his hand (Jdg_12:3; 1Sa_19:5; 1Sa_28:21; Job_13:14) means: to be prepared to give up one’s life. Delitzsch cites the Talmudical saying: Man’s prayer is not heard unless he takes his life in his hand; i.e. unless he is ready to sacrifice his life.
Samech. Psa_119:113-118. The doubters are called literally: divided persons, divided, that is, between two views, or between two modes of belief with their opposing claims (1Ki_18:21), [E. V. translates the first clause: I hate vain thoughts. The translation supposed the word in question to be another form of סְעִפְּים (written usually with שׂ), thoughts, opinions. Hitzig translates: double-tongued, referring to Sir_5:9. Riehm: “It is certainly more suitable to suppose that the hating is directed against hypocrites, or those wavering in their belief between the true God and false gods, than against doubters; but it may be more correct to explain according to Psa_12:3; 1 Kings 18”
Psa_119:115 b. should be translated: and I will keep the commandments of God. Most translators render: “that I may keep,” etc. But this is meaningless. The true view is that given by Alexander: “The first clause is borrowed from Psa_6:9. The meaning in both cases seems to be that he has no fear of their enmity. The reason given in this case is, because he is resolved to do the will of God, and is therefore sure of His protection.” Psa_119:118 translate: Thou hast despised, i.e., instead of: Thou hast trodden down.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:119-120. Dross, or the residuum of smelted metal, is an image of the separating and purifying process of God’s judgments (Jer_6:28 f.; Eze_22:18 f.; Mal_3:2 f.).—In Psa_119:120, פַּחַד is probably the terror of God, i.e., His dreadful appearing for judgment, Isa_2:10 f. (Hupfeld), before which the hair and skin of the Psalmist trembled (Exo_34:7).
Ayin. [Psa_119:122. Be surety, etc. Alexander: “It means not merely: take me under Thy protection, but: become answerable for me, stand between me and those who, under any pretext, even that of legal right, may seek to oppress me.” See the phrase furtner discussed in Delitzsch on Job_17:3, and in his remarks at the end of that chapter, and comp. Alexander on Isa_38:14.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:128. The words: פָל־פִּקּוּדֵי כֹל, in spite of the analogy of Isa_29:11, as to the meaning, and of Num_8:16; Eze_44:30, as to the form, are rather strange if they are intended to mean: all precepts concerning everything. Yet the correction כָל־פִקּוּדֶיךָ: all Thy precepts (Houbigant, Venema, Ewald, Olsh., Hupfeld), is not absolutely necessary.
Pe. Psa_119:129-132. Psa_119:129 does not allude to the observance of God’s testimonies for the sake of fulfilling them, but to the contemplation of them in order to understand them; for they are designated wonderful and marvellous (paradoxical) things, elevated above every-day life and the common understanding (Del.). There is therefore a light demanded for men, as they are simple (Pro_22:3), which God gives by the פֵּתַח, that is, the opening or unfolding of His word. The opening of the mouth (Psa_119:131) is an expression of the desire (Job_29:23) of the man who pants after the heavenly food of such disclosures. [The second member of Psa_119:132 should be rendered: according to the right of those that love Thy name. In E. V. מִשְׁפָּט was supposed to have here the sense of custom, a meaning which it sometimes has, compare Greek δικὴ), and Arabic dinûn. This translation is retained by Perowne. But it is better, since the suffix is wanting, to take the word, as most do, in the sense of jus (comp. Psa_81:5).—J. F. M.]
Tzadhe. Psa_119:138-141. Since מְאֹד (Psa_119:138) belongs, as in Psa_47:9, to the preceding substantive, it is, perhaps, better to take the substantive: אֱמוּנָה and its parallel צֶדֶק, not adverbially: in righteousness, in truth, or: in justice, in fidelity (Syr., Hupf., Del.), but as in apposition: as righteousness, as truth, or: as justice, as fidelity (Sept., Geier, Hitzig). [In E. V. the Heb. order is entirely abandoned. Alexander and Perowne follow the former of the views above given: “Thou hast commanded thy testimonies in righteousness and exceeding faithfulness.”—J. F. M.]—In Psa_119:141 the term small, applied by the Psalmist to himself, is interpreted by most, after the Sept. and Vulg., as referring to his youth. Yet it may also mean: insignificant (Hitzig).
Koph.
Psa_119:147 does not mean: I hastened to meet thee (Psa_88:14) or: I hastened before thy face (Geier by supplying פָּנֶיךָNor can the meaning be: I anticipated the morning dawn, for קִדֵּם has not the accusative here, as in Psa_119:148, but stands absolutely=to go before (Psa_68:20), or: to hasten one’s self, here followed by the words: in the dawn. But the object with which or to which he hastened is here not connected with what precedes by ל, as in Jon_4:2, but, in a looser construction, with the sentence: and I cried. His eyes then anticipated the night watches, in having not been closed by sleep in the beginning of each of them severally.
Psa_119:152 means: I have long known from thy testimonies that, &c. (most), or: concerning thy testimonies, that (Hitzig). Hupfeld takes objection, and would rather translate, by doing away with the preposition: I have long known thy testimonies, for. Since, however, the preposition cannot be shown to be spurious, and the explanation of some of the older expositors: I know the times of old, or: antiquity, or: what is past, for, etc., is not tenable, he is not disinclined to take ידעתי absolutely: I am instructed, have understanding.
Resh.
Psa_119:160. רֹאשׁ, according to the context, does not mean: the beginning (the ancient translators and most expositors), but the sum, the total number of all the items in the reckoning. “The word of God is reckoned over in its parts and as a whole. Truth is the grand denominator and Truth the result” (Delitzsch).
Sin (Shin).—“While even in the oldest alphabetical Pijutim,2 Sin sometimes represents Samech also, and Shin never does, the reverse is the case in the biblical alphabetical pieces; here Sin and Shin occur together, and to Samech is assigned a place of its own” (Delitzsch)
Psa_119:164. Seven times, as in Lev_26:18; Pro_24:16, comp. Mat_18:21, is not merely a round number, as it is at all events, in Pro_26:16; Pro_26:25 (Hitzig), but a sacred number. It is to be understood here, however, not arithmetically, but symbolically, representing a continued course of devotional exercises, complete in itself, and surrounding and pervading, with its sacred influences, all the duties of the day. In the same way such exercises three times engaged in (Psa_55:18), were shown to be spontaneous, rising above the perfunctory spirit, which might characterize the customary morning and evening devotions. [Alexander: “The use of this form of expression here is not the effect, but the occasion of the use of canonical hours.”—J. F. M.]
Tau.—[Psa_119:171 translate: My lips shall pour forth praise, for Thou wilt teach me Thy statutes.—J. F. M.] Psa_119:176. A lost sheep is one separated from the flock (Isa_27:13), and, therefore, every moment in danger of destruction. The idea is explained by Isa_53:6. The accents (J. H. Mich., Hupf., Del.) are usually not regarded. [Perowne: “The figure cannot be employed here in the same sense in which it is employed in our Lord’s parable. He who is the lost sheep here is one who does not forget God’s commandments. The figure, therefore, seems in this place to denote the helpless condition of the Psalmist, without protectors, exposed to enemies, in the midst of whom he wanders, not knowing where to find rest and shelter.” Alexander: “As the preceding verse sums up the petitions of the psalm, so this sums up its complaints in the first clause, and its professions in the last, connected by the short prayer (seek thy servant) as a single link. The predominant use of the past tense, even to the end, shows how deeply the entire psalm is founded upon actual and previous experience.”—J. F. M.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Psa_119:1-8. The blessedness of those who love, praise, and strive after God’s word, in spite of all its opposers.—From the relation in which thou dost stand to God’s word, thou canst derive knowledge concerning the inclinations of thy heart, the bias of thy soul, and the conduct of thy life.—Be not satisfied with the possession of God’s word in the Holy Scriptures, but grow in the knowledge of it, and exercise thyself in its use.—Open thy heart to God in prayer for the entrance of His Word in its power.
Starke: The blessed use of God’s word consists in a pious life, regulated thereby sincerely and steadfastly.—The world seeks its happiness in riches and honors, and does not find it. God’s word is a mine of gold in which we must dig, if we would be eternally happy.—To walk in God’s ways, and not to do evil consciously, are things inseparably connected.—If thou doest what God bids thee, thou knowest thou canst do no wrong.—We learn faith from the gospel, and love from the law. How can these commands be better kept, than when they are obeyed in the exercise of faith and love?—Where there dwells a heavenly mind there is a longing and sighing after the things of heaven.—It is the highest of all arts, to impress God’s word deeply upon the heart, and to desire to listen to nothing else. We have to keep learning that art as long as we live.—When we have God as our Teacher, and the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we learn Divine things aright.—It is the nature of God’s word, that, the more and the more diligently we read it aud meditate upon it, the richer understanding, instruction, and comfort it imparts. Its teaching can never be exhausted.
Frisch: Follow the known will of God, as in belief, so also in life, and depart neither from the love nor the fear of it.—Rieger: The blessed purpose, to seek God in His word, to cleave to Him according to His word, and to become a man thoroughly furnished to every good work through His word.—The word of God drives us to prayer by revealing to us our needs.—Richter: God’s word is the true expression and mirror of His nature.—Guenther: Having respect to God’s commandments is the condition of deliverance from temporal and eternal ruin. But this spiritual beholding is a looking to the commandments, contemplating them, meditating upon them, and observing them all without exception.—Diedrich: A life according to God’s law is not one of compulsion or servitude, but of the highest delight, of blissful enjoyment, and of lofty sublime security.—Taube: The Psalmist has a lofty aim before him, and yet there is a sigh in his bosom; he aspires to learn and perform assiduously God’s commandments, and yet to rest humbly in the mercy of God alone, and all with the whole heart and with an upright soul.
[Matt. Henry: It will not serve us to make religion the subject of our talk, but we must make it the rule of our walk.—See how the desires and prayers of a good man exactly agree with the will and command of a good God. Thou wouldst have me keep Thy precepts, and, Lord, I fain would keep them.—God’s judgments are all righteous, and therefore it is desirable, not only to learn them, but to be learned in them, mighty in the Scriptures.—We cannot keep God’s commandments, unless we learn them, but we learn them in vain, unless we keep them.—Scott: It is the will of God that we should wisely seek our own happiness; our self-love, indeed, should be properly directed and subordinated: but it cannot and ought not to be extirpated.—Bridges : To exclude any commandment from a supreme regard in the heart, is the brand of hypocrisy.—We always find that as our mind is dark, our tongue is dumb and we are unable to bear a testimony for our God.—J. F. M].
Psa_119:9-16. The greater the perils and the stronger the temptations which beset the young in the world (2Ti_2:22), the more do they need to hold us to God’s word, whose wisdom will help their inexperience, and whose power will help their weakness.—We must begin early to obey God’s word (Pro_8:17; Lam_3:27), and never cease.—From love to God’s word, there flow thanks that we have received it, joy that we now possess it, and desire to make use of it.—Those who have, hear, and learn God’s word, should also keep (Luk_11:28), profess and follow it, as the guide of their faith and life.
Starke: He who would be godly must begin in time, for that to which one is habituated in his boyhood, he does not abandon in his age (Pro_22:6).—God’s word is the best school for the young and the old (2Ti_3:15; Lev. 2:31 f.).—True religion has its seat in the heart, and is proved by words, by works, and by a Christian life.—The more a believer exercises himself in God’s word, and tastes its graciousness, the dearer it becomes to him.—The heart as well as the memory must be a casket that contains the treasure of the Divine word.—Growth in godliness results from delight in God’s word.
Arndt: God’s word must be fulfilled upon thee, whether for life or death.—Richter: Hold to God’s whole word early, earnestly, and joyfully.—Diedrich: I cannot trust in myself to remain steadfast. And the most advanced in spiritual things must implore it as a favor from God, that they may abide only in the truth.—Taube: A youth of unimpaired purity and strength, is a presage of the blessedness of the whole life.
[Scott: As God is both perfectly holy and perfectly happy, and as His blessedness is the result of His infinite excellency, how absurd it must be to expect happiness by being contrary to Him and rebelling against Him!—Bridges: Let it be remembered that daily progress in the heavenly walk is not maintained by yesterday’s supply of grace. A fresh supply must be continually drawn in by humble and dependent prayer.—No better test can be needed of the security of our heart with God, than a willingness to come to the searching light of His holy word.—If our inability to bear a testimony for our Lord is not painful to us (comp. Psa_39:12; Jer_20:9), we have the greatest reason to suspect, if not the sincerity, at least the strength of our attachment to His precious name.—Barnes: Such an apprehension (that there may be a wandering from God’s commandments) is one of the best means of security, for it will lead a man to pray, and while a man prays he is safe.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:17-24. The word of God as the light and the food of His servants, who, as strangers upon earth, journey heavenwards.—Among the benefits and the wonders of God, the gift of His holy word shines forth in power, diffusing help and blessing in its beams.—All men desire life and well-being, and God furnishes the means of obtaining them. But how few are thoroughly acquainted with them, and how few avail themselves of them in the way appointed by God.—In order to discern the truth of revelation, we need not only to have the gift of sight, but also to pray that both our eyes and the Scriptures may be opened for us.
Starke: We can only be said rightly to receive the blessings of God with thanksgiving when they are employed to advance our spiritual life, and the exercise of true godliness.—The wicked act as though they had to remain in the world for ever: the pious, on the contrary, know that their abiding place is in heaven, and they long after that (Heb_13:14).—The longing of believers for the true service of God is not a transient heat, but is hearty, ardent, and constant.—The mystery of affliction is soon solved if we keep God’s testimonies.—It is much better for us to live, so as to please the Supreme King who lives eternally. Then we will find comfort enough in His word.—The fear of men, and the desire to please them, poison true religion and prevent it from ever becoming pure.
Frisch: Thou mayest consult God’s word upon whatever thou wilt, and it will never send thee away without advice. But it rests with thyself to follow it.—Tholuck: God’s law should not be the object of an idle contemplation, but a practical counsellor for all the relations of human life.—Guenther: A strong incitement to a pure life may be found in the nature of man and of his life, His temporal life is only the beginning not the end; the earth is not his enduring dwelling-place, but only a transient lodging-place. Woe to the stranger who has not chosen here the true home.—Diedrich: We must not allow ourselves to be turned from God’s word by the enmity of the world.—Gerok: God’s commands to His strangers on earth as inscribed upon the gates of the new year. They relate (1) to the heavenly Protector, (2) to the earthly companions, (3) to the heavenly goal.—Taube: God’s word is the greatest miracle; it is the key to the knowledge of His whole government.
[Matt. Henry: I am a stranger, and therefore stand in need of a guide, a guard, a companion, a comforter; let me have Thy commandments always in view, for they will be all this to me, all that a poor stranger can desire. I am a stranger here, and must be gone shortly, by Thy commandments let me be prepared for my removal hence.—Bp. Horne: Pride, prejudice, and interest will compose a veil, through which the Christian shall see as little of the New Testament, as the Jew doth of the Old. Lord, convince us of our blindness, and restore us to our sight!—Bridges: It is indeed an unspeakable mercy to know a little of the Lord, and yet, at the same time, to feel that it is only a little that we do know. In this spirit we shall be longing to know more, and yet anxious to know nothing, except as we are taught of God.—We want, not a clearer rule, or a surer guide, but a more single eye.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:25-32.—The sighs, tears, and anxieties of the pious are as little understood by the world, as their prayers, their joys, and their hopes.—God’s testimonies afford consolation, strengthening, and hope, even to him that is persecuted by men, and that in his hours of greatest extremity.—He who walks in the way which the commands of God point out and prescribe to us, learns ever to understand it more deeply, and receives thereby renewed desire and fresh strength to advance upon it.
Starke: That which supports the heart most powerfully against spiritual feebleness, is the gracious word of the gospel.—The word of God is the touch-stone by which we can prove whether a doctrine is true or false.—He who plans before his eyes, as a rule, God’s wise precepts, will find mercy and help with Him.—Human wit and learning may bring to shame, but God’s word and faith in it, never can.—God’s comforts incline and prepare the heart to become more godly.—In the religion of Christ there must be no standing still; the motto of a Christian must be: ever onward through Christ (Eph_4:13).
Arndt: Everything is false (1) which is not and comes not from God; (2) which comes not from the inmost depths of the heart; (3) which does not abide the test of affliction.—Frisch: God is faithful; do thou only keep what thou hast vowed, and, if He has opened wide thy heart from without and from within, continue thou the more zealously and joyfully in His service, so as to please Him well.—Guenther: Sin has crippled the wings of the soul, and it is only through God’s word that it can soar aloft again; and, when it languishes, can revive it with the water of life.—Taube: The heart that resorts constantly and hopefully to God’s word and to prayer, can never be driven from its stronghold, but is preserved therein by God’s power (1Pe_1:5). And then the progress is firm and sure, and the walk in God’s ways, joyful and comforting.
[Matt. Henry: God’s word should be our guide and plea in every prayer.—God by His Spirit enlarges the hearts of His people when He puts wisdom there, 1Ki_4:29, and when He sheds abroad the love of God in the heart, and puts gladness there. The joy of our Lord should be wheels to our obedience.—Bishop Horne: How much depends upon the road we choose! How difficult it is, in a divided and distracted world, to choose aright! Yet this choice, so important, so difficult, often remains to be made by us, when we have neither judgment to choose, nor strength to travel!—Bridges: No one can lay claim to the character and privileges of a Christian, to whom sin is not the greatest sorrow and the heaviest burden.—It is the earthliness of the soul that obstructs our brighter view of the Saviour, dims the eye of faith, and hides those brighter prospects which, if beheld in the clear horizon, would enliven and invigorate us in our heavenly way.—Barnes: Sin contracts the soul, religion enlarges it.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:33-40.—Deviations from the right way are very numerous and perilous, under the allurements of sin. We, therefore, need not merely instruction through God’s word, but also to have our hearts guided and inclined towards what is right and pleasing to God.—We need never flatter ourselves that we are secure. We must labor to remain steadfast even to the end; and we can never do without God’s assistance, for such fidelity demands an observance of the law with the whole heart.—There are few who are contented with the gain which arises from godliness (1Ti_6:6), or who feel that they have enough of the gifts of God (Gen_33:11), and yet avarice is a root of all evil (1Ti_6:10).
Starke: It is with most men, in spiritual things, as with the blossoms on the trees in spring. How many are whirled away by the wind! how many are pierced by the worm! This is why constancy is so much insisted upon in God’s word.—It is impossible to preserve God’s word in the heart, and to obey it from the heart, when there is no love for it (John 14:33).—Pleasure! pleasure! is the cry of the world; in all directions this is the great object. But who seeks and finds pure pleasure in God and His word?—To hate, fear, and flee from sin is a noble, yea, a godlike attribute, and results from love of virtue and good.—When the heart begins to doubt with regard to God’s word, whether it is His word or not, it falls into a most pitiable condition.—The regenerate, in every event of their lives, renew their resolution, not to sin presumptuously, but fear God as little children.
Arndt: I care not for the disgrace of calumniation, which I innocently endure, if only I am not put to shame before God.—Frisch: Why do I complain so much of outward temptations? I have in myself the greatest distress. I find darkness in my understanding, great indolence in my will, and in my inclinations, and still too much anxiety and love for the earthly, and in my thoughts of external things, too great bias towards the vain pursuits of this world.—Rieger : Show me Thy ways, instruct me, guide me, incline my heart. In these prayers there is indeed shown just distrust of ourselves, and a child-like clinging to the hand of God.—Guenther: Thou must free thy soul from earthly good and carnal desires, else thou canst not rise, but wilt remain tied down, and forget at last how to fly.—Diedrich: Be Thou my Teacher, Thou that art the highest Wisdom and the Source of life, and then shall I be able to live and love better.—Dishonor from the world is our honor; it becomes our dishonor only when we by it are drawn away from God.—God’s guidance, which constrains us so gently and yet so powerfully, is the best defence against the evil impulses of the human heart, which His servant feels deeply, and confesses so unreservedly.
[Matt. Henry: Beholding vanity deadens and slackens our pace; but if our eyes be kept from that which will divert us, our hearts will be kept to that which shall excite us.—Bridges: If God loves you, He will not indeed lose you; but unless you “take heed and beware of covetousness,” He will not spare you (1Ti_6:10).—Watchfulness without prayer is presumption; prayer without watchfulness is self-delusion.—In proportion as our interest in the great salvation is assured us, will be the exercise of our faith in pleading our interest in the great salvation included in it.—Barnes: An ugly object loses much of its deformity to us, when we look often upon it. Sin follows this general law.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:41-48.—If we had not God’s gracious promises, we poor sinners would not venture to come before His face with petitions; but now we may and shall draw near unto Him, in penitence and faith, on the ground of His word.—Our calumniators, revilers, and enemies should not rob us of our joy, and drive us from our faith, but only urge us more strongly to God and His word.—God’s commandments are to have more weight with us than the mandates of the mighty of earth.
Gregory of Nazianzus: I have this advantage over my revilers, that I become only more devoted to religion and godliness on account of their attacks.
Starke: God’s mercy, help, and word are closely united with one another; each is based upon the others, or flows from them.—The word of truth does not help us so long as we regard it as an empty husk, and do not strive to have our faith kindled by it.—Dost thou really fear God, oh soul? Then let thyself be heard, so that it may be known what thou art. What is believed in the heart must be confessed.—It is for the honor of Christ, and also for thine own, if thou dost fearlessly confess Him before men—The less earnestness one shows in religion, the more foolish he is, for it is just his half-heartedness in his religion, that makes it painful and harassing to him.—In a profession of faith there must be steadfastness. Whatever is yea and amen according to God’s word remains ever so. Truth to-day is nothing different from what it was yesterday.—Franke: The ten commandments are an old-fashioned thing with the world. None trouble themselves about them for they think that no one can keep them. But with God’s children it is not so. His commandments are to them not a house of correction, but a garden of delights.—Frisch: He, of whom you confess, is greater than they before whom you confess. Only see to it, that the heart and the hand agree with the mouth.—Rieger: A good step is taken forwards, when we become ready to give an answer to him who demands a reason: when we overcome the modesty which would keep itself concealed, and are not kept back from confessing the truth by the unbelief and scorn of others.—Guenther: It is demanded of us that we hold fast to God’s word, that we overcome humiliation by humility, and that we esteem honor from God, more highly than all the praise of the world.—Taube: That freedom, which has its divinely powerful springs in a blessed devotion to God’s precepts, begets great joy, which is manifested outwardly by fearless confession, inwardly by absorbing delight in His commandments.
[Matt. Henry: All that love God love His government, and, therefore, love all His commandments.—Bridges: General notions of the mercy of God, without a distinct apprehension of His salvation, can never have any other origin than in presumption, which God abhors.—The common topics of earthly conversation may furnish a channel for heavenly intercourse, so that our communication, even with the world, may be like Jacob’s ladder whose bottom rested upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.—Acceptable obedience, must flow from love, and be accompanied with a measure of delight.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:49-56. The word of God, as the ground of our hope in life, as a light in our night of trouble, as a song on our pilgrimage.—To continue steadfast, patient, and courageous in the word of God, is, according to the testimony of history and the experience of all believers, the everflowing fountain of blessing in the miseries of this world.—God deigns to be reminded of His word by our mouth. But he who undertakes to do so must not only know God’s word, he must also sincerely love it, believe it from the heart, and earnestly strive to keep it.—God does not forget or abandon us: but oh that we, at all times, by day and by night, in prosperity and in adversity, might remember God and His word, and cleave to them!—To keep God’s word, is the endowment and e tate of the pious.
Starke: If God wills that our faith should not forget His promises, He will surely, in His faithfulness, not leave His promise unfulfilled.—When God’s word and hope and prayer are united in any heart, there are found comfort, life, and revival.—Former judgments of God are a powerful mirror of terrors for the ungodly, but comforting tokens of mercy for believers.—The children of God resemble their heavenly Father, inasmuch as what He abhors is abhorred by them.—To abandon God and His word is the first step to sin, and soon after that comes the greatest degree of obduracy.—It is a burden to the children of the world, to have much to do with God’s word, but to God’s children it is a delight, for it cheers and sweetens this troublous life.—Those who assiduously call God’s word to mind through the day, and who commend themselves earnestly to Him on retiring to rest, have in this the surest remedy against evil thoughts and sinful dreams.—A good conscience, guarded well in accordance with God’s word, is better than all the joys and riches of this world.—Rieger: It is a great privilege, when we have to sustain new assaults, to be able to look back with comfort upon temptations overcome.—Guenther: Thou must now learn to make a difference amongst men, determining thy friendships and thy enmities according to God’s word.—Diedrich: God cannot forsake those who wait for Him: the faith which He Himself has evoked, He cannot leave unjustified.—Taube: God’s words are the concealed roots of His deeds, and His deeds are His words laid bare.—A worldly man is enraged when he himself is insulted, but quite indifferent when God is insulted. It is the reverse with God’s children. Their holy indignation at the despisers of God has, as its reverse side, a holy love for the law of the Lord.
[Matt. Henry: Those that make God’s promises their portion, may with humble boldness make them their plea.—Those can bear but little for Christ, that cannot bear a hard word for Him.—God’s work is its own wages: a heart to obey the will of God is a most valuable reward of obedience; and the more we do, the more we may do in the service of God: the branch that beareth fruit is made more fruitful.—Bridges: Seek to keep your heart in tune.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:57-64. It is impossible to keep God’s word without His gracious assistance, but He affords such assistance to those who pray earnestly for it, and continue thus to pray.—The communion of believers is a rich fountain of mutual comfort, support, and edification.—The better we learn to know ourselves and the world by an impartial trial, with the greater longing will we entreat from God’s mercy the light, the comfort, and the power of His holy word.—Melanchthon’s custom was to rise up soon after midnight, and after praying to meditate upon God’s word.—Starke: How earnestly men strive after earthly possessions! how many disputes are caused thereby! But they despise the heavenly inheritance, and often even trifle it away.—The chief matter of all our prayer should be, that God would be merciful to us, and preserve us in His mercy.—It is sometimes advisable in temporal matters to postpone the execution of a purpose, but in things spiritual, every moment is fraught with peril if repentance be deferred.—Guenther: As soon as thou showest zeal in thy religion, many former friends will forsake thee. No matter.—Lyncker: A retrospect of the past year teaches (1) how much we have to be thankful for, (2) bow much we have to implore pardon for, (3), whom we have to comfort us.—Taube: He who is in haste to deliver his soul evinces a sincere heart.—The riches of God’s mercy, spread as they are over all the earth, are disclosed to the eye of faith; but the greatest of His mercies is His word, which excites faith, and teaches us to recognize God in His ways and works.
[Matt. Henry: Those that take God for their portion, must take Him for their prince, and swear allegiance to Him; and having promised to keep His word, we must often put ourselves in mind of our promise, Psa_39:1.—We must never think the worse of God’s ways for any trouble we may meet with in those ways: nor fear being losers by our religion at last, however we may be losers by it now.—See how the Psalmist husbanded his time: when he could not lie and sleep, he would rise and pray.—Bp. Horne: Mercy is the sole fountain of every good gift for which we ask, and God’s promise the sole ground upon which we ask it.—Bridges : The more there is of our heart in seeking, the more there will be of the Lord’s heart in returning to us.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:65-72. He who humbles himself under God’s powerful hand, will find his sufferings turn to blessings; they make him, especially, learn and feel his own sins and God’s mercy.—He is blessed, who has become wise by experience, and who, by the discovery of his error, has been driven from his own sins, and from the ways of the world, to God and His word.—We err most and most perilously, when we esteem ourselves wise, righteous, and strong.—God’s word a treasure above all treasures; why and for what ends?
Starke: God is the living source of all good.—To this fountain men should trace it all, so that God be not robbed of His glory.—Affliction is a holy and profitable ordinance of God; a school of wisdom, in which is learnt what God and man are.—Human knowledge and scientific understanding of Divine truth does not make any truly taught of God. Faith, prayer, and trials are also necessary.—There is nothing that can be less well endured than prosperity. Men commonly fall away, under it, into false paths and into sin.—God may bring us back to His way by gentle or by harsh means, and yet they are all nothing but goodness and mercy.—The rod makes good children, and the uses of the cross, to those who are exercised thereby, are great and manifold.—That so many are lost and condemned is due to their worshipping gold and silver as their gods, and thus forgetting the Eternal God.—He who is God’s child does not concern himself about gold and silver. If he is God’s child, he is also His heir, and He will give him what he needs, when it is necessary for him.—If men would rightly consider the origin of the Divine word, that it is a word from the mouth of God, they would joyfully become possessors of it; they could not do otherwise.—Frisch: From every work and word of our beloved God, we must taste and see how kind He is.—Rieger: God brings men down from their own wisdom by humiliations, and commonly from their own righteousness by more severe humiliations.—Taube: What are we without God’s word? We know not what we are to do, nor what He does.
[Matt. Henry: God’s favors look best when they are compared with the promise, when they are seen flowing from that fountain.—Sanctified afflictions soften the heart and open the ear for discipline. The prodigal’s distress brought him to himself first and then to his father.—Scott: How dreadful is the case of those who are hardened in sin, even in the furnace of affliction!—Bridges: Let my heart never condemn me when it ought not! Let it never fail to condemn me when it ought!—There is none so communicatively good as God.—The first mark of the touch of grace, is when the heart becomes sensible of its own insensibility, and contrite on account of its own hardness.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:73-80. We owe to God as our Creator our natural life and its preservation. Is it otherwise with our spiritual life?—To those who fear God, His faithfulness is discernible, even in His judgments, as that of a merciful God.—The sincere servant of God soon discovers that he has no other consolation than the mercy of the Lord.
Starke: The creation of a new heart creates also the obligation to strive after progress in the living knowledge of God, and to praise Him for His benefits.—The good that God bestows upon a believer serves not only to console and edify him, but other believers also.—Nothing in God and in great lords is more convenient to their subjects than mercy, but there is nothing that is so much abused or so capriciously drawn upon.—God’s mercy is not for the servants of sin, but for His own.—Our consolation flows from the fountain of eternal Compassion, and we repose upon God’s promise, when we are inclined to receive this consolation.
Frisch: Others are directed to look at thee: look then well at thyself. Oh, let them never discover anything evil; think of the sad effects of wickedness! Rather let thy doing and forbearing be so regulated that they may follow thy example with gladness and a good conscience.—Rieger: It is no small help to those who fear God and yet are unable to throw off the oppression of the service of vanity, when they see one who clings so fast to God in faith, confession, holy deeds, and hope, and allows himself to be overwhelmed by no obstruction.—Diedrich: Like seeks comfort only in like, and so do those who fear God. But they have also a long chain of comforting thoughts behind them, and in these thoughts they are raised up again.—Taube: The flower and quintessence of the whole revealed word is the gracious consolation promised by God, and gained by prayer.
[Matt. Henry : The way in which God recovers and secures His interest in men is by giving them an understanding; for by that door he enters into the soul and gains possession of it.—Bp. Horne: In all our trials let us remember that our brethren as well as ourselves are deeply interested in the event which may either weaken or strengthen the hands of multitudes.—Bridges: Be chiefly afraid of an inward decay, of a barren, sapless notion of experimental truth. Remember that your profession can only be thriving, vigorous, fruitful, as it is watered at the root.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:81-88. God’s word is and remains the subject of our confession, the guide of our path, and the ground of our hope.—If we do not make such rapid progress as we would wish, we go yet more surely forwards, if we do not allow ourselves to be forced or enticed aside from the word and way of God and the influence of His mercy.
Starke: If God removes His consolation there is nothing in the world which can comfort the soul.—God often wounds the body that He may heal the soul.—To have God’s word ever and forever in lively recollection, is an excellent characteristic of hope.—Presumption and pride in the enemies of Christ and of His followers, is a sure fore-token of the severe judgment that impends over them.—As much as the world can afflict, torment, and slay, so much can God’s grace comfort, delight, and revive.—The mercy of God must be beginning, middle, and end. Thou livest in that mercy and upon it.—To God’s children every moment that He delays His help appears too long. But God has His wise reasons. He will surely fulfil His word at the right time.
Frisch: The ungodly can only kill the body; they may take away the natural life and earthly goods and possessions; they must leave us the life eternal.—Diedrich: In God consolation, in the world distress; with God faithfulness, with the world deadly falsehood.—Taube: New troubles and new conflicts, but the old hope and refuge in his God.—It is the consolation of grace, that first opens the way to the prayer for help.
[Matt. Henry: God help me is an excellent comprehensive prayer. It is a pity that it should ever be used lightly or as a by-word.—The surest token of God’s good-will towards us, is His good work in us.—Bridges: Faith is indeed the soul’s venture for eternity, but it is a sure venture upon the ground of the word of God.—Be assured that waiting time is most precious. Not a moment of it will be found eventually to have been lost. And not a moment of it could possibly have been spared. It is the preparation and work by which the Lord has been progressively moulding your heart for the reception of a more refreshing and abundant mercy.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:89-96. Nothing is to be compared with God but His word. From it we may learn to know Him in His truth, and from it, too, we may gain eternal life.—The world has been created by the word of God, and by His word it shall be prepared for His kingdom.—Everything changes; but not God and His word.
Starke: Eternity is a word of terror, or a word of delight, according to the character of the person who contemplates it.—God will not change His word, but men must change themselves according to that word, or it will judge them on that day.—Remember God’s word at all times, and never forget it. If thou wilt forget anything, forget created things, which prevent thee from remembering it continually.—He who rightly appropriates in faith the meaning of the name Jesus, can truly pray: save me.—The friendship between God’s children and the world began with Cain, and will continue to the end of the world.—The pre eminent excellence of God and His word must be so much clearer in the eyes of one who compares with them the things of this world.
Franke: The uniting of the heart with God, so that God becomes ours and we become God’s, is the highest good that can be sought in this life.—Frisch: Be not deluded by Satan, and persuaded that the word of the Lord is of the same nature as that of men. Rather let experience testify in thee, whether thou wouldst not long since have perished in manifold distress, if this word had not continued with thee, and strengthened thy heart.—Diedrich: We know surely, that we have in God the greatest strength for us, as well as the greatest love.—Taube: He who abides by the Father is established with the word that is forever sure, and cannot perish.
[Matt. Henry : See here what is the best help for bad memories, namely, good affections.—Bridges: Will the Christian complain of the exceeding breadth of the commandment? The contemplation of it has lost its terrors in the recollection that the gospel of the Saviour has met its full demands. Broad as it may be, the love that has fulfilled it is immeasurable.—Barnes: A man who feels assured that he is a friend of God, has a right to appeal to Him for protection, and he will not appeal to Him in vain.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:97-104. The longer and the more seriously we have to do with God’s word, the clearer it becomes to us; and the more highly we value it, the more will everything drive us to it.—It will be manifest in our words and conduct how we abide by the word of God.
Luther: Old age does not save from folly if God’s commands are not kept.—Starke: He who has tasted in his soul the graciousness of God’s word, can never be satiated in its enjoyment.—His hunger grows in such excess of supply: in his case it is true: “the longer the fonder.”—As highly as grace surpasses nature, so much do those who are enlightened by God surpass those who are learned in the light of nature. True wisdom is not to be gauged by the number of years, but by the love to God and His word, and a blameless life.—A regenerate Christian is his own severe critic. He will not spare himself if he detects his heart inclining to error.—God’s word is truly that miraculous tree which sweetens the bitter waters of affliction.—Honey is both medicine and food, so also is God’s word to our souls, but its fruit, and taste far surpass earthly honey.—The love of virtue always begets hatred of vice. The devil and Christ, light and darkness, are never united.—Rieger: What a sincere heart seems to say here in its own praise, is really resolved into nothing but praise of God and His word, by which it has been taught, guided, and kept from every evil and false way.—Diedrich: God’s word is of infinite meaning. One never wearies of it, but is ever more refreshed and revived.—Deichert: There is no more precious treasure in the world than God’s word; for (1) it remains when all else disappears; (2) it comforts and revives in distresses and sins; (3) and makes all wise for the blessed overcoming.—Taube: Men cannot love God’s word without constant use of it, and they cannot love the truth obtained from it without hating falsehood.
[Matt. Henry: Heavenly wisdom will carry the point at long run against carnal policy.—By keeping the commandments we secure God on our side, and make Him our friend, and therein are certainly wiser than those who make Him their enemy.—The love of the truth prepares for the light of it.—Bp. Horne: Our heavenly Teacher differeth from all others in this, that with the lesson, he bestoweth on the scholar both a disposition to learn and the ability to perform.—We shall ever find our relish for the word of God to be greatest when that for the world and the flesh is least, in time of affliction, sickness and death; for these are contrary one to the other. In heaven the latter will be no more, and therefore the former will be all in all.—Bridges: Let us remark this frame of enjoyment, this spiritual barometer, the pulse of the soul, marking most accurately our progress or decline in the divine life. With our advancement in spiritual health, the word will be increasingly sweet to our taste, while our declension will be marked by a corresponding abatement in our desires, and love and perception of its delights.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:105-112. In the light of God’s word we see where we are to set our feet in the darkness of this world, so as not to stumble and fall, and whither we are to direct the way of our steps for our salvation.—As God is so much in earnest with His requirements, threatenings and promises, so it is incumbent upon us to govern our lives according to them.—The perils of those who confess God are great; but so also is the reward of faithfulness.—If the heart has been inclined in love to God’s word, then the word impels us, with the vigor of life, to the fulfilment of our resolves and vows, to the praise of the Lord, with the offerings of the lips and the life.—The word of God—a heavenly light, a comfort to the soul, a life giving force.
Starke: If God’s word is a lamp and light, it must, be bright and clear. How do unbelievers say then that it is dark?—Reason may be a light, and a fair one; but it cannot show or discover the way from death to life.—Affliction may indeed subdue and humble us; but God’s word gives, under its influence, rich consolation. If thou lovest life better than God’s word, thou wilt in death lose both thy life and Christ.—What will men not do in order to acquire an earthly inheritance? And should not the eternal inheritance be worth so much as that men would willingly resign everything else, and aspire after it alone?
Frisch: Make a good beginning, and accustom thy heart more and more to be conformed to God’s judgments, even to the end.—Rieger: The best and most fervent resolutions may be followed by the most complete humiliation, so that the strange fire that has been introduced may be separated, the spirit preserved from self-elevation, and the professed zeal be put to a suitable proof.—Diedrich: Worldlings would have, as their inheritance, hard cash or real estate; such possessions give them much vexation.—Taube: The word is always the strong branch, which the believer seizes while about to sink, so that he is not swallowed up in the abyss; and his prayer from the depths is then the outstretched hand.
[Matt. Henry: The commandment is a lamp kept burning by the oil of the Spirit; it is like the lamps in the sanctuary and the pillar of fire to Israel.—Bp. Horne: Man is a traveller, his life is a journey, heaven is his end, his road lies through a wilderness, and he is in the dark.—Bridges: The lamp must be lighted, or no reflection will shine upon our path. The word of God must be accompanied with the teaching of the Spirit, or all is “darkness, gross darkness” still.—Those who have never realized the nearness of eternity can have but a faint idea of the support that is needed in the hour when “flesh and heart fail” to keep the soul in simple dependence upon the Rock of ages.—How encouraging is it to trace every tender prayer, every contrite groan, every working of spiritual desire, to the assisting, upholding influence of the free Spirit of God. The same hand that gave the new bias to direct the soul in a heavenward motion will be put forth from time to time to quicken that motion—to incline the heart even unto the end.—Barnes: All who make a profession of religion solemnly vow or swear. They do it in the house of God; they do it in the presence of the Discerner of hearts; they do it at the communion table; they do it at the family altar; they do it in the closet when alone with God.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:113-120. With half of the heart we can neither love God, nor trust His word truly, nor earnestly hate and forsake evil.—The turning away from the world and the turning to God are mutually conditioned and are the saving fruit of a living fear of God.—The word of God, as a word of truth, assures the deliverance of the righteous and the ruin of the ungodly.
Starke: That man has not a spark of true love to God in his soul who can behold the wickedness of men with indifference and without emotion.—No man can be so secure and free from danger as a believer who dwells under the protection of the Highest.—If a man would withdraw himself gradually from evil society, his endeavors will be useless: he always becomes entangled in it again. The separation must be made completely and at once.—Those reflections are profitable which a believer makes when he examines himself to discover whether he retains his early strength of religious feeling or whether he has declined. If he detects signs of the latter, what is more necessary than the prayer: Strengthen me that I may recover?—All false doctrine and sinful living are seed and fruit sown and raised by the devil; therefore God hates and punishes them.—He who is not terrified before the wrath of God and does not work out his salvation with fear and trembling has in store for himself in eternity unceasing despair and wailing.
Franke: If a man be spiritually sound, God’s word will ever be sweet to him; his heart will ever delight itself in God, and he will do His will with alacrity and cheerfulness in all that is enjoined upon him. By this it can be known whether his soul is healthy or unsound.—Frisch: Many suppose that they can believe what they will, that no one will care anything about it, that there will be no trouble or danger in it, and so they cast God’s word behind them, and follow every changing opinion, and allow themselves to be deceived by false doctrine, and thus are led to fall away; but are they to do this with impunity? They imagine, indeed, that they may live as they please and no misfortune will come upon them. But when they say: There is peace! there is no danger! destruction quickly overtakes them.—Rieger: Hatred of evil must quicken and purify the love of good; while the love of good must control and regulate the hatred of evil.—Diedrich: All the thoughts and desires of the natural man are false; for he wishes what does not, and can never, come to pass, and seeks life and honor in that which is death and the vilest disgrace.—Taube: Fear and love, in one and the same heart, and towards one and the same object, God’s testimonies and judgments.
[Matt. Henry: Whatever others do, this I will do; though I be singular; though all about me be evil-doers and desert me; whatever I have done hitherto, I will for the future walk closely with God. They are the commandments of God, of my God, and therefore I will keep them. He is God, and may command me; my God, and will command me nothing but what is for my good.—We stand no longer than God holds us, and go no further than He carries us.—Bp. Horne: Encompassed with a frail body and a sinful world, we need every possible tie; and the affections both of fear and love must be employed to restrain us from transgression; we must, at the same time, love God’s testimonies and fear His judgments.—Bridges: There is no humble believer that will not have observed how intimately the “fear of the Lord” is connected with the “comfort of the Holy Ghost,” and with his own steady progress in holiness and preparation for heaven.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:121-128. A good conscience comforts and strengthens the soul in the bitter sufferings of persecution which the world never forgets to inflict upon the righteous; but it does not make them vain or secure.—Courage and humility are as closely united in the righteous as are thanksgiving and prayer.—Those are the gloomiest times when the faithless not merely transgress the law of God, but seek to destroy it, and banish the word of revelation from the world.
Starke: Thou must not depart from what is right on account of the friendship or enmity of the world, but must continue courageously therein in the duties of thy profession or calling.—It is ever true that the love of righteousness is attended by persecution; but it is also true that right will ever remain right.—Divine consolation can give far more joy than all calumnies can disturb.—Hope in a true believer is only the stronger and more steadfast, the longer divine help is delayed.—The mercy of God is not to be abused as an occasion for sin, but should urge us to the most strenuous efforts to fulfil the will of God in a holy life.—The longer we learn in God’s school, the more we become conscious of our yet remaining ignorance, and therefore long more for growth in knowledge.—He who will pray against his enemies must be more concerned about the hallowing of God’s name than about his own welfare.—Not to regard God’s word, but to act according to one’s own will, and to do all the works of the flesh, are sure presages of the impending judgments of God.—Thou wilt not be able to fulfil God’s law unless thou hast love. Love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom_13:10).—God’s word must not be divided. If we hold the one portion, we must hold the other.
Frisch: Dishonor done to God should concern thee more than disgrace or injury inflicted upon thyself in the world.—Rieger: Let no pleasure or pain tear me from the love of God and of His word.—Diedrich: God so deals with his servants as to make them wise and make them His familiar friends (Joh_15:14 f.).—Taube: Earnest zeal for God is united in all saints with the deeply humble spirit of the publican.
[Matt. Henry: Though our eyes fail, God’s word doth not; and therefore those that build upon it, though now discouraged, shall in due time see His salvation.—Bp. Horne: How ought a man to fear lest the next sin he commits should fill up his measure and seal his eternal doom!—Bridges: In a season of desertion, 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.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:129-136. The greater the departure from God’s word, the more ardent the prayer for the diffusion of His light. The depth of love in the faithful is gauged by the depth of their sorrow for the fallen and deceived (Jer_1:9; Luk_19:41; Php_3:18 f.).—Why should supplication for God’s merciful upholding never be permitted to cease among His servants?
Starke: The more wonderful the things are which are contained in God’s word, the more time and diligence should be employed in apprehending, comprehending, learning and practising them. Many a troubled heart still experiences the wonderful power of the divine word, drawing from it consolation, joy and life.—The love of God is the true school in which to have the knowledge and mysteries of God.—A pious heart bewails not only its own sins, but also those of others.
Franke: The Holy Scriptures are a mine to which not merely the learned have a right, but which is opened to the whole world.—Frisch: The madness and ruin of others should make us wise to esteem more highly the word of God, full, as it is, of precious secrets and wonders, a treasure-house stored with saving instruction and heart-enlivening consolation.—Rieger: In the anguish of sin, God’s word whispers forgiveness to the heart and preserves us when tempted to new sins.—Diedrich: The greater our joy in God, the more intense is our suffering in the world.—Taube: It is just what is wonderful in God’s Scriptures, that the world stumbles at, but which attracts the single-hearted.
[Matt. Henry: Then we may expect temporal blessings, when we have this in our eye, that we may serve God the better.—Comfort me with the light of Thy countenance on every dark and cloudy day. If the world frown upon me, yet do Thou smile.—The sins of sinners are the sorrows of saints; we must mourn for that which we cannot mend.—Bridges: It is the peculiar character of the Christian, that he is as earnest in his desires for deliverance from the power as from the guilt of sin.—Barnes: Nothing is more remarkable than that pious men ordinarily feel so little on account of the danger of their friends and fellow sinners.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:137-144. Love to God is the fountain of that zeal which seeks not its own advantage, but the honor of God, and consumes not others, but itself.—We cannot value the word of God at nearly its worth, nor praise it so much as it deserves of us.—The word of God has its value and power in this: it contains, reflects and holds forth to the apprehension of men God’s eternal righteousness, His infallible truth, and His unchangeable purity.
Starke: God’s word is a clear mirror of the Divine righteousness, both in its promises and in its threatenings.—The preaching of the law is to be attended to, as well as the preaching of the gospel.—The Holy Scriptures, as they are the oldest, are also the plainest and the best book in the world.—What is best should ever be to us dearest, and above all, God and His word.—Humility, suffering, and fidelity in the ways of God, are infallible tokens of sincerity in religion.—If men believed from the heart, that all God’s words are nothing but truth, they would also seek to walk as children of the truth.—The children of the world glory in their great prosperity and riches; true Christians glory in their tribulations (2Co_12:9).—Delight in God’s word overcomes all misfortunes.
Frisch: If thou wouldst give a token that God is in thee, labor, with God-like zeal, against false doctrine and godless living.—Taube: Whatever God has ordained, kings and beggars are bound to obey, and he who disobeys, does it at his peril and to his own hurt; while he who obeys, enjoys a rich reward.—It is a blessed consequence of the world’s despite, and the wholesome fruit of all affliction, that the faith of the man who cleaves to God, becomes thereby more decided, his love to God more faithful and strong, and his delight in the word more intense (1Co_4:12).
[Matt. Henry: That which we are commanded to practice is righteous; that which we are commanded to believe is faithful.—Bishop Horne: Let our study be now in the Scriptures, if we expect our comfort from it in time to come. Scott: Happy are those who love the whole word of God, because of its purity and its purifying influence upon their hearts.—The law of God is the truth, the standard of holiness, and the rule of happiness.—Bridges: The most satisfactory evidence of our zeal as a Christian principle, is when it begins at home, in a narrow scrutiny and vehement revenge against the sins of our own hearts.—Barnes: He who can bear contempt on account of his opinions, can usually bear anything.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:145-152.—When danger increases, let not anxiety increase, but faith and prayer.—The assurance of being heard in prayer does not flow from our piety and zeal, but from God’s mercy and truth.—When persecutors draw near us, let us draw near to the Omnipresent God, and cast all our cares upon Him.
Starke: God bestows Himself and His gifts only to praying souls. If these gifts are at all of importance to thee, never cease praying.—What does it help a man, that he knows the means of grace, God’s word, and prayer, and yet does not employ them?—If we neglect to do good, we very soon begin to do evil.—God proves that He is nigh His people, especially in times of persecution, and that by unexpected help and protection.—God’s word and promise have an eternal foundation, and therefore nothing earthly can overturn them.
Rieger: The mercy and justice of God, announced and displayed in His word, are a staff of comfort.—Diedrich: God’s word has the power to make us pious and faithful; but it lies with ourselves to win from it a blessing.—Taube: The earnestness of our supplications may be tested, not only by the urgency of our cries, but also by the time when they are offered.
[Matt. Henry: The more intimately we converse with the word of God, and the more we dwell upon it in our thoughts, the better able shall we be to speak to God in His own language, and the better we shall know what to pray for as we ought. Reading the word will not serve, but we must meditate upon it.—Bridges: Near as the Lord is to His people, to shield them from their enemies, is He not nearer still, when He dwells in their hearts?—Barnes: This conviction that God is near us, this manifestation of God to the soul, as a present God, is one of the most certain assurances to our own minds, of the truth of religion and of our acceptance with Him.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:153-160.—God’s dealings follow the rule of His righteousness, as the word of His truth testifies; and therefore He remains far from the despisers of His salvation, but vouchsafes the help of His mercy to those who crave it earnestly.
Starke: It is already the beginning of deliverance when God regards us in mercy.—He who avenges himself robs God of His honor, and encroaches upon His prerogative; for vengeance is His.—All who remain sincerely and steadfastly by God’s word, find in Him a mighty Defender and strong Protector.—There is nothing more precious or helpful, than to approach God by laying hold upon His mercy; for then He can not pass thee by, He must grant to thee what thou dost by faith grasp so hard.—It is as difficult for the penitent in distress to avail themselves of God’s mercy with confidence, as it is easy for the ungodly to abuse it.—The victory of believers is gained by faith and patience in the word of God.—Sincere endeavors to fulfil God’s commands, and unchanging hatred of all that is ungodly, flow from ardent love to God’s word.—If God’s word is nothing but truth, the foundation of faith is immovable and no prayer will be lost.
Frisch: Consider well among what manner of persons thou hast to live in this world. With respect to God, thou wilt find most to be despisers; with respect to themselves, lost, and far from salvation; with respect to thee, persecutors and foes.—We can trace here how the Psalmist’s turning to God, through the medium of His beloved word, becomes ever more tender; how he becomes ever more anxious to separate himself from the desperate condition of the ungodly, who throw away all hope of salvation by forsaking the judgments of God.—Diedrich: I cleave to Thy promise, nor will remain in any sin; and on such distress as mine, Thou must have compassion.—Taube: He who presents his plea to God’s mercy, ceases to boast of his own worthiness; and he who praises that mercy, has discovered the greatness of his guilt and his own inability.
[Matt. Henry: A man that is steady in the way of his duties, though he may have many enemies, need fear none.—Bridges: As often as we feel the hindrance of straitened desires and heartless affections, let us repair to the loving-kindness of the Lord, as the overflowing fountain of life to the soul. Remember, to be “filled” is the promise. We have life, but oh, give it us more abundantly, as much as these houses of clay, as much as these earthen vessels can contain.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:161-168.—To love God’s word, to enjoy His peace, to wait for His salvation—this is the employment, reward, and joy of faith.—God’s word will profit him little who prefers the favor of princes to the mercy of God, and dreads their power more than he does God’s hand.
Starke: The fear of God regards the eternal and does not depart from God’s word, even though life itself should be sacrificed; but the fear of man regards the temporal and prefers honor from men to honor from God.—As long as the heart is rent with restless desires, it cannot be called the peaceful dwelling of God.—In spiritual matters we must flee from all trifling fancies of men and hold fast to God’s word.—If we allow ourselves, wilfully or neglectfully, to commit venial sins, they grow deadly ones, which rob us of all our powers, of spiritual life itself.—The daily spiritual occupation of the Christian, is to endeavor to grow in love to God and His word, to become ever more faithful in striving after holiness, and to keep God’s commandments.—A believer loves both the Law and the Gospel. As the latter leads him to Christ and true faith, so the former urges him to a holy life.—If there is anything which can create holy impressions upon men’s minds, so as to influence them to leave wickedness and do good, it is surely the thought, apprehended by faith, of God’s omnipresence.
Franke: If our hearts are temples of the Holy Ghost, we will no longer keep counting up our times of praising God, but from those hearts, as from an altar of thanksgiving, the flame of devotion and love will unceasingly ascend in fervent praise to Him.—Frisch: If thou dost retain God’s word in thy heart, it will be to thee instead of the richest spoil, and in outward disquietude, thou mayst encourage thyself with inward peace in God.—Diedrich: To men of the world, the word of God is harsh, over-strict, and difficult, but to us, it is the highest delight; and our dread is lest, amid the temptations of the enemy, we may through unfaithfulness and indolence, depart from it.—Taube: The praise of God and the peace of God, are the legitimate consequences of a sanctified life.
[Matt. Henry: The more we see of the amiable beauty of truth, the more we shall see of the detestable deformity of a lie.—They that love the world have great vexation, for it does not answer their expectations; they that love God’s word have great peace, for it outdoes their expectations.—Bishop Horne: Christ alone kept the old law, and He enableth us to observe the new.—Bridges: Conscious unworthiness may give a trembling feebleness to the hand of faith, but the weakest apprehension of one of the least of the gospel promises, assures of our interest in them all.—Why may we not set all the fulness of the covenant before the weakest believer, as well as before the strongest, and proclaim to both, with equal freedom, the triumphant challenge: “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”—How beautiful is that spirit which not only longs for holiness as the way to heaven, but loves heaven better for the holy way that leads to it, and for the perfect holiness that reigns there eternally.—Barnes: Religion is essentially voluntary, and the times of secret devotion must also be voluntary; and therefore a man can easily determine, by his own secret devotion, whether he has any peculiar interest, at any particular time, in religion, or whether he has any religion at all.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:169-176.—Thanksgiving for the hearing of prayer emboldens to renewed supplication, and opens the way for new blessings.—The faithfulness of God our Shepherd the cause of our salvation, and the perpetual subject of our prayers and thanksgiving.
Starke: As ingratitude stops the fountain of the Divine mercy, so gratitude opens it.—Is it not because men are ashamed of God and His word before others, that there are so very few conversations on Divine things?—The more God’s word is read and heard, the more consolation does it impart, like those odoriferous plants and spices, which, the more they are bruised, give forth the sweeter perfume.—The soul cannot praise God if it does not live, and no praise is pleasing to God, unless it comes from a soul which lives in Him.—Whenever a man fancies he is better than others, and belongs to a higher type of Christianity, he soon loses all the good he once had.—The whole of religion is comprised in three things, namely: a true knowledge of the misery of sin, an earnest striving to gain redemption, and a genuine amendment of life according to the precepts of God’s word.—Luther: A Christian is not in being, but in becoming; his life is not piety, but a becoming pious; not health, but convalescence; not rest, but exercise; we are not yet, we are only to be; with us there is no completion, but only progress and ceaseless action; we are not at the goal, but upon the way.—Franke: The cause of the feebleness in religion, which many manifest, is that they soon leave off praying, if God does not hear at once.—The sinful lusts, which are against God’s commandment, contend also against our souls, and slay us if we persist in them.—Diedrich: Let me but understand Thy word truly, and then come what will.—Taube: Poverty of spirit is the beginning and the end of the life of grace.—It was I that strayed and was lost; it was Thou that didst seek and find and keep.
[Matt. Henry: They that pray for God’s grace, must aim at God’s glory.—We are apt to wander like the sheep, and very unapt, when we wander, to find the way again.—Lord, own me for one of them, for, though I am a stray sheep, I have Thy mark. Concern Thyself for me; send after me by the word and conscience and providence; bring me back by Thy grace.—Thus he concludes the Psalm, with a penitent sense of his own sin, and a believing dependence on God’s grace. With these a devout Christian will conclude his duties, will conclude his life; he will live and die repenting and praying.—Bishop Horne: Restore us, oh Lord Jesus, by Thy grace to righteousness, and by Thy power to glory!—Bridges: The life of prayer is the cry of the heart to God. The eloquence of prayer is its earnestness. The power of prayer is the spirit of supplication.—J. F. M.]
Footnotes:
[1][This mode of viewing the verse, which I do not find in any of the other expositors, and which is certainly preferable to the common one, illustrates the critical sagacity of its author, which, together with his exquisite judgment, is in none of his writings better illustrated than in his masterly treatment of this Psalm throughout. It may not be out of place here to call attention to a misconception widely prevalent with regard to his Commentary, that it is very little more than an abridgement of that of Hengstenberg. Numerous instances of disagreement between them are to be found in the additions to this volume, and many more would be observed in a comparison of the two works. The modesty of Dr. Alexander’s preface has misled many with regard to this point; but his Exposition is an evidence of the independence as well as of the power which characterized everything that he wrote.—J. F. M.]
[2][The name applied to Jewish poetry after the 8th Cent. It is evidently derived from the Greek. See Etheridge, Hebrew Literature, pp. 367 ff.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn v1א, Aleph.
א, Aleph.
1-8. Blessed are the undefiled—This, the first division, contains a general declaration of the blessing of faithfulness to the divine law. Here occur very many phrases, already familiar, and explained in the notes on previous psalms.
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Oh that my ways—The view given of their happiness who keep the law, excites this “hungering and thirsting after righteousness.”
Righteous judgments—These mean, here, not so much retributions on bad men, as on Pharaoh, as it does the application of the broad principles of justice which constitute the divine economy.
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–81. Tôrâh, ‘law,’ LXX νόμος, occurs 25 times. Cp.…
1. Tôrâh, ‘law,’ LXX νόμος, occurs 25 times. Cp. Deu_4:8 &c. It has however a much wider range of meaning than ‘law.’ It denotes (a) direction or instruction, whether human (Pro_1:8) or Divine: (b) a body of teaching: (c) more definitely, a law, or (d) a code of laws, whether the Deuteronomic code or the Levitical legislation, ‘the law of Moses’: and so finally (e) the Pentateuch. Here, as in Psalms 1, 19, it must be taken in its widest sense, as synonymous with the ‘word’ of Jehovah (Isa_1:10; Isa_2:3), to include all Divine revelation as the guide of life, prophetic exhortation as well as priestly direction, the sum of an Israelite’s duty. (Cp. the use of ‘the law’ to denote the whole O.T. in Joh_10:34.)
1. Blessed &c.] Happy the perfect (or upright) in way, integri vitae, those whose course of life is directed and governed by single-hearted devotion to Jehovah, and integrity in dealing with their fellow men. Cp. Psa_1:1; Psa_15:2 note; Psa_101:2; Psa_101:6.
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who walk &c.] Integrity of life is defined as a walking in Jehovah’s law. This is the path (Psa_119:33) which man must follow if he would avoid sin. Cp. Exo_16:4; Luk_1:6. For the meaning of ‘law’ see above, p. 703.
1–8. Aleph. Loyal obedience to Jehovah’s law is the source of man’s truest happiness, and therefore the Psalmist prays that it may be the fixed rule of his life, and that he may learn to understand it better.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv1, 5, 6(1) Undefiled.—Better, blameless or perfect.
ALEPH.
(1) Undefiled.—Better, blameless or perfect.
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Way.—See the same use without a qualifying epithet in Psa_2:12. There was only-one way of safety and peace for an Israelite, here by the parallelism defined as “the law of Jehovah.” But even heathen ethics bore witness to the same truth: “Declinandum de viâ sit modo ne summa turpitudo sequatur” (Cic, De Amicitia, 17).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv1–8This is an "alphabetic psalm" of a more stringent…
This is an "alphabetic psalm" of a more stringent character than any other. It consists of twenty-two stanzas, each of eight verses, every verse in each stanza beginning with its own proper letter those of stanza 1 with aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; those of stanza 2 with both, the second letter; and so on. The writer, having thus fettered himself, moves with some difficulty, but still has produced what has been justly called "a sweetly monotonous meditation" (Cheyne). He takes the Law for his one and only subject, and, further, seems to have bound himself, almost absolutely, to introduce the word "Law," or something which he regards as a synonym of "Law," into every verse. The synonyms are nine in number
1. TORAH, "the Law" itself; but not merely the Law given on Mount Sinai; rather, God"s law in the widest sense, all whereby he has intimated his will to man.
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2. "EDVOTH, or "EDOTH, "testimonies." God"s commands, considered as witnesses to his character, and as attesting his will.
3. MISHPATIM, "judgments." Judicial pronouncements by act or word against particular lines of conduct.
4. KHUQQIM, "statutes once translated "ordinances" (ver. 91). Enactments of God as Legislator, but not confined to the written Law.
5. DABAR or DEBARIM, "God"s Word" or "Words." His actual spoken or written utterances.
6. PIQQUDIM, "precepts." Instructions given to men to direct their conduct.
7. MITSROTH, "commandments." Only slightly differing from piqqudim rather wider.
8. IMRAH, properly "promise," but used rather as a variant, instead of dabar, and extending to all God"s utterances.
9. DAREK or DEEAKIM, "way" Or "ways." Prescribed lines of conduct (very seldom used).
The synonyms from 1 to 8 occur, each of them twenty times, or oftener, in the psalm. Darek (derakim) occurs only four times. Emunah, which has been called a synonym (Kay), scarcely deserves to be so considered. It is only wanted as a synonym once (ver. 90). The excellence of "the Law" is considered in almost every possible aspect.
aALEPH.
Blessed are the undefiled in the way; rather, the perfect, or those that are per feet (Revised Version). The "way" intended is, no doubt, "the way of righteousness". (Psa_1:6 Psa_23:3, etc.) Who walk in the Law of the Lord. Compare the introductory paragraph for the meaning of "Law" in this psalm. This clause is exegetical of the preceding.
THE difficulty of treating this "alphabetical psalm" by any arrangement of its subject-matter must be apparent. An attempt has been made to gather its lessons around the more prominent doctrine in its successive sections, and to give a separate treatment of those subjects which cannot be so well included in this way.
Vers. 1-24. The blessedness of obedience.
The first two verses of the psalm leave no mistake as to the nature of true obedience; it includes:
1. Integrity of heart. Sincerity, being "undefiled," seeking the favor and entering the service of God "with the whole heart" (ver. 10), with a spirit in which "is no guile.
2. Consistency of conduct. "Walking in the Law," "keeping his commandments;" it is" he that doeth righteousness that is righteous" (John).
3. Patient continuance in well-doing. Making an earnest and sustained endeavor to do the will of God (ver. 4). Such genuine obedience is attended with great blessedness.
I IT INVOLVES PURITY OF HEART AND LIFE. "They do no iniquity: they walk in his ways" (ver. 3). Obedience is its own reward, apart from any recompense it may secure. To be pure-hearted, to be true and faithful, to be unselfish and helpful, to be like our Lord in spirit and in character, to be living a life that is worthy and honorable in the sight of God, is not this the truest and the largest blessing?
II IT BRINGS SALVATION FROM EVIL.
1. From sin itself, whether in the heart or the life (ver. 11).
2. From the shame to which sin constantly conducts (ver. 6).
3. From Divine condemnation (ver. 21).
4. From the rebuke which comes from the lips of the Lord himself.
III IT IS THE SERVICE OF SACRED JOY. (Vers. 14, 16, 24; see also vers. 35, 47, 54, 103, 111, 127, 162) Sweeter than honey to the taste, more precious than gold in the heart"s esteem, is the Word of God, "the mind of Christ." The sweet substance will soon pail, the spoil will soon he spent, the much-prized wealth may become a snare; but the study of God"s will, meditation upon the truth and grace of Jesus Christ, the welcome given by the heart to the heavenly hopes and the Divine consolations with which the pages of Holy Writ are studded, sitting at the feet of the great Teacher and learning of him, this is the source of pure, unfailing, ever-deepening joy. The acquisition of any kind of knowledge is pleasant to the mind, but the enrichment of the soul by the reception of Divine wisdom means deep "delight," an intense satisfaction to the spirit. If such is the blessedness of obedience, we learn:
1. The excellency of steadfastness (vers. 5-10). How needful to have our feet "firmly fixed" in the way of life; to be saved from "wandering" first into byways and then into highways of evil! Hence:
2. The wisdom of keeping an open mind (ver. 7), of realizing that there is something more to learn. Hence also:
3. The need for serious, strenuous effort (vers. 4, 16), of being "diligent" in duty and of keeping the will of our Lord always before our mind, of continually refreshing our memory from his Word. Hence also:
4. The need for prayer (ver. 10).
5. The duty of teaching as well as learning (ver. 13). Such true and pure blessedness as we ourselves have gained, we should seek to pass on to other souls.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-176. Introductory to whole psalm.
I WHOM WAS IT WRITTEN BY?
1. Some assert that it is Davids work. They profess to be able to find proofs of his style and manner, and there is no limit to the laudations they pass on this psalm; but extravagant rhetoric proves nothing.
2. But all the chief and most reliable of expositors refuse to admit the Davidic authorship. The style is far later than that of David. In the Lamentations of Jeremiah there is a similar alphabetical composition. It is altogether an artificial and didactic composition, widely different from that which we have most reason to assign to the age and pen of David. Moreover, so far as we know, that general reading of the Law, which this psalm presupposes, could not have been without the wide circulation of copies of the Law. But of such circulation we have no evidence until the time of Ezra. Moreover, the life of David, as it is portrayed in the Scriptures, seems quite out of keeping with the tone, spirit, and allusions of this psalm.
3. It is not possible to name any individual person as the author. But we gather from the psalm that it was written by a devoted servant of God, whoever be may have been; that he was probably a young man one of those of whom St. John would say, "I have written unto you young men, because ye are strong, and have overcome the wicked one." Vers. 9, 99, 100, warrant the supposition that he was young. But, nevertheless, deeply taught of God to love the Word of God, and to continually feed upon it. Very lowly minded and humble before God. See the general tone of the psalm, and especially the last eight verses. He seems to have been much tried (vers. 21, 23, 36, 37). His one fear being lest he should prove unworthy, and be ashamed (vers. 6, 7, 22, 31), If we were to look for one in whom the various conditions of authorship meet, we should turn to the Book of Daniel; either he himself, or one of those three noble Hebrew youths his book tells of, might well have been the writer of this psalm.
II WHEREFORE IT WAS WRITTEN.
1. Perhaps as a memoir of the writers own experience, and for his own help.
2. But yet more probably for the instruction of others. Hence the alphabetic, acrostic style, which was adopted as an aid to memory; just as preachers now divide their sermons into various heads.
3. And for the glory of God that his grace might be praised.
4. For the commendation of the Word of God. The psalmist would bear his emphatic testimony to the preciousness of that Word.
5. And for the stirring up of those who should read the psalm to diligent search for the treasures of that Word. Personal testimony such as is so largely given in this psalm has ever great power over the minds of others.
III ITS GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
1. It is from a believer to believers. The infidel and scoffer are not contemplated in the design of the psalm.
2. It is for the edification and growth in holiness of the people of God.
3. It is intensely spiritual. Rites and ceremonies and appeals to the mere reason are absent from it; it speaks to the soul.
4. It is universal in character. Limited to no one period, to no one land, to no one nation, but for all.
5. Its spiritual force and power are witnessed to by the God-fearing of all ages. S.C.
Vers. 1-176. Characteristics of the Word of God as declared by the various names given to it in this psalm.
There are eight such names.
I IT IS CALLED THE "LAW." (Vers. 1, 18, 34, etc.) The word implies that which rules guides, directs, therefore a rule of conduct. And this was evidently the psalmist"s meaning, God"s Word was not something to be merely talked about, praised, or argued over, but it was to order a man"s life, and be his constant guide.
II "TESTIMONIES." The word signifies that which bears witness to. And the Word of God is this.
1. It bears witness to us of God, and of his will concerning us; and:
2. It bears witness to our hearts of the acceptableness or wrong of our lives and conduct in the sight of God. It will ever bear true testimony, which it is at our peril if we neglect. By it God"s sentence upon us will be determined.
III "PRECEPTS." This expression comes from a word which signifies "that which is entrusted to us." And so God"s Word is the deposit of faith, which we are to keep and guard. St. Paul declared, at the end of his career, "I have kept the faith;" and he exhorted Timothy to "keep that which was committed unto" him. We shall be asked at the last what we have done with this precious entrustment. God"s words to us are the talents which, whilst he is absent from our sight, we are to "occupy," that is, trade with, until the Lord comes.
IV "STATUTES." The term is derived from a word which tells of that which is engraved, definitely and clearly drawn, as a chart, a map, and so prescribes the way that is to be taken. And is not this true of the Word of God? Is it not ever saying to us, "This is the way, walk ye in it "? How clear and plain is the course it marks out for us! And, perhaps, the psalmist thought also of the depth and clearness with which this word is written on the human heart, and especially on the believing heart. There God has engraved deeply and definitely his will for us. Christ, the Word, is the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
V "COMMANDMENTS." That which is ordained, as the commander of an army orders what is to be done. God"s people are the army of the living God, and in this holy war success is only to be gained by strict and diligent obedience to his commands.
VI "JUDGMENTS." This expression is used of the verdict in a court of law, that which has legal sanction, and which governs the sentence of the judge. And so the Word of God is the Divine sentence, and is in accordance with the law of nature, of reason, and of righteousness. Who are we to set up our flimsy ideas against the precedents, principles, and judgments of the righteous Judge?
VII "WORD." (Vers. 9, 11, 17, etc.) This answers to that sacred name of Christ, who is the Word of God. It tells, not of a written letter, a series of documents drawn up by men; but it is that inner word of God which the spirit of man hears it may be through the written or spoken Word, but it may be also independently of either. It is that Word which, if not heard, no preaching or teaching of man is of any avail. This is the Word we need to hear.
VIII "WAY." The road, the course, the path, along which God himself walks, and that in which he would have us walk. And that the Word of God is. It is the way of holiness, the King"s highway, and blessed are they that walk therein. S.C.
Vers. 1-8. Whole-hearted service of God.
I THE DESCRIPTION GIVEN OF SUCH AS RENDER IT.
1. They are undefiled in the way. They are not merely in the way, but keep themselves undefiled. How difficult this!
2. They walk in the Law of the Lord. It is the habit of their lives, and its pleasure.
3. They keep his testimonies. Keep them in their memory, their affection, and their conduct.
4. They seek him with the whole heart. This sadly rare. The mass of Christians are of a divided heart; but whole-hearted service, how rare this is!
5. They do no iniquity. It is possible not to sin, and to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God and towards man.
II THEY ARE DECLARED TO BE "BLESSED." And that they are so let all experience tell. Certainly half-hearted service can lay no claim to such blessedness. Such have just enough religion to spoil them for the world, but not near enough to give them the blessedness here spoken of. Theirs is a miserable round of sinning and repenting, falling down and rising up again, a life under the perpetual rebuke of conscience and the sense of God"s displeasure. But the life told of here in this psalm is lived in the sunshine of the love of God, and in the possession of that loving-kindness which is better than life.
III SUCH SERVICE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT ANSWERS TO GOD"S COMMAND. (Ver. 4) It is that which he has specially enjoined. Anything less would be dishonoring to him and disastrous to us, whilst this glorifies him, and is for us most blessed.
IV THE BELIEVER KNOWS THIS AND LONGS FOR IT. (Ver. 5) The vision of the true life has been shown him, and he desires it with a great desire. He would be holy as God is holy. And he has good reasons; for:
1. This only will give him confidence before men, and, what is more important, before God. If he has it not, he must "be ashamed.
2. It will enable him to offer worthy praise praise with uprightness of heart (ver. 7). Insincerity, half-heartedness, vitiates and destroys all praise such as God can accept. He turns from it.
V THEREFORE IN DEEP HUMILITY HE CONSECRATES HIMSELF TO GOD.
1. I will keep thy statutes." It is a sacred vow. He knew that only in the path of obedience could he hope to realize what he so longed for.
2. But he says this in deep humility. "Oh forsake me not utterly!" He knows that God might justly do this, but he trembles lest he should. S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Sincerity is perfectness.
The word "undefiled" in the Authorized Version is rendered "perfect" in the Revised Version; and the terms "sincere" and "upright" are marginal suggestions. The term "perfect" includes a variety of meanings, and the Old Testament use materially differs from that of the New Testament. The apostles express the idea of wholeness, completeness; their word is well represented by "entire," i.e. having every part and faculty according to standard, and every part and faculty in full health, vigor, harmonious development, and activity. The older writers have in mind rather what we understand by "simplicity," "genuineness," "sincerity." To the pious mind the supreme evil was doubleness, the divided heart, fearing God and worshipping other gods the man whose body was in God"s temple, but whose soul was absorbed in self-interests. And therefore, to the pious mind, the perfect became the sincere the man who was what he seemed to be. This readily becomes the "undefiled," the man who is not stained by self-seeking motives or a spirit of hypocrisy; the man who professes to walk in the Law of the Lord, and does. The psalm affirms, in its opening verse, the blessedness of walking genuinely in the way of God"s Word, and thus gives the key-note of the whole psalm, with which may be usefully compared the composition of Tennyson"s "In Memoriam." Like that poem, the psalm represents a variety of moods in which a poetic soul may meditate on some leading thought or fact. It is not only that the subject is dealt with all round; it is that it is approached from a variety of points of view; and the points are decided by the mental and spiritual moods of the poet. It has been well said that in the first three verses we have described the three elements of obedience to the Law.
(1) Purity of intention;
(2) reverence in treasuring up;
(3) and, as a result, freedom from the power of sin.
Absolute perfection, that is Perfection tested by comparison with the sublime idea we have of God, is necessarily unattainable by the creature. The perfection of a creature must be in the range of possible attainment for the creature. We can think of a man reaching the standard or ideal of manhood. We know that the standard manhood has been presented to us historically in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that life helps us to realize the point before us now that, for the created being, man, who must stand in dependent relations to his Creator, perfection is sincerity. We may recall the saying of Shakespeare"To thine own self be true, and it shall follow... Thou canst not then be false to any man.
I INSINCERITY LIMITS PERFECTION IN THE SIGHT OF MEN. Some advantage is gained by putting the truth before us in this negative form, because we are so much quicker to discern the evil than the good, to condemn insincerity than to praise sincerity. The one supreme offence to man, and to our Divine Lord, the Son of man, is hypocrisy. The suspicion of it kills trust. Let a man have an apparently complete set of good qualities, if we suspect insincerity it is all spoiled for us, as is the good shield across which lies the "bar sinister." All the goodness will not suffice to win confidence. And, on the other hand, if we are convinced of a man"s sincerity, we are well able to deal with his infirmities. This may be illustrated from imaginative literature even more effectively than from actual experience. The one thing we look for in the characters presented to us is sincerity; and the most fascinating persons lose all charm for us if we are led to suspect that they are not genuine or true. Nothing so convincingly limits human perfection as the sense of two-facedness the sense that a man is not when away from us what he seems to be when before us.
II INSINCERITY LIMITS PERFECTION IN THE SIGHT OF MEN. Distinguish between God"s idea of perfection for himself and his idea of perfection for man his creature. God looks for no perfection that is not within the range of possibility for the creature man, and for the particular man whose character he may be estimating. But, to use familiar language, God draws the line somewhere. He draws it at sincerity. A man must be true; he must be what he seems to be. No profession can take the place of fact. Illustrate by the glass carefully ground for the telescope. It seems to be perfect. Nay, there is a flaw, and it must be rejected. The acceptance of God is absolutely conditioned upon this the man must be "undefiled in the way" by any trace or suspicion of insincerity. R.T.
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. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv1–8There is no title to this Psalm, neither is…
There is no title to this Psalm, neither is any author's name mentioned. It is THE LONGEST PSALM, and this is a sufficiently distinctive name for it. It equals in bulk twenty-two psalms of the average length of the Songs of Degrees. Nor is it long only; for it equally excels in breadth of thought, depth of meaning, and height of fervour. It is like the celestial city which lieth four square, and the height and the breadth of it are equal. Many superficial readers have imagined that it harps upon one string, and abounds in pious repetitions and redundancies; but this arises from the shallowness of the reader's own mind: those who have studied this divine hymn, and carefully noted each line of it, are amazed at the variety and profundity of the thought. Using only a few words, the writer has produced permutations and combinations of meaning which display his holy familiarity with his subject, and the sanctified ingenuity of his mind. He never repeats himself; for if the same sentiment recurs it is placed in a fresh connection, and so exhibits another interesting shade of meaning. The more one studies it the fresher it becomes. As those who drink the Nile water like it better every time they take a draught, so does this Psalm become the more full and fascinating the oftener you turn to it. It contains no idle word; the grapes of this cluster are almost to bursting full with the new wine of the kingdom. The more you look into this mirror of a gracious heart the more you will see in it. Placid on the surface as the sea of glass before the eternal throne, it yet contains within its depths an ocean of fire, and those who devoutly gaze into it shall not only see the brightness, but feel the glow of the sacred flame. It is loaded with holy sense, and is as weighty as it is bulky. Again and again have we cried while studying it, "Oh the depths!" Yet these depths are hidden beneath an apparent simplicity, as Augustine has well and wisely said, and this makes the exposition all the more difficult. Its obscurity is hidden beneath a veil of light, and hence only those discover it who are in thorough earnest, not only to look on the word, but, like the angels, to look into it.
The Psalm is alphabetical. Eight stanzas commence with one letter, and then another eight with the next letter, and so the whole Psalm proceeds by octonaries quite through the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Besides which, there are multitudes of appositions of sense, and others of those structural formalities with which the oriental mind is pleased, formalities very similar to those in which our older poets indulged. The Holy Spirit thus deigned to speak to men in forms which were attractive to the attention and helpful to the memory. He is often plain or elegant in his manner, but he does not disdain to be quaint or formal if thereby his design of instruction can be the more surely reached. He does not despise even contracted and artificial modes of speech, if by their use he can fix his teaching upon the mind. Isaac Taylor has worthily set forth the lesson of this fact: "In the strictest sense this composition is conditioned;nevertheless in the highest sense is it an utterance of spiritual life; and in thus finding these seemingly opposed elements, intimated commingled as they are throughout this Psalm, a lesson full of meaning is silently conveyed lo those who shall receive it that the conveyance of the things of God to the human spirit is in no way damaged or impeded, much less is it deflected or ciliated by its subjugation to loose modes of utterance which most of all bespeak their adaptation to the infancy and the childlike capacity of the recipient."
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The fashion among modern writers is, as far as possible, to take ever? Psalm from David. As the critics of this school are usually unsound in doctrine and unspiritual in tone, we gravitate in the opposite direction, from a natural suspicion of everything which comes from so unsatisfactory a quarter. We believe that David wrote this Psalm. It is Davidic in tone and expression, and it tallies with David's experience in many interesting points. In our youth our teacher called it "David's pocket book", and we incline to the opinion then expressed that here we have the royal diary written at various times throughout a long life. No, we cannot give up this Psalm to the enemy. "This is David's spoil". After long reading an author one gets to know his style, and a measure of discernment is acquired by which his composition is detected even if his name be concealed; we feel a kind of critical certainty that the hand of David is in this thing, yea, that it is altogether his own.
The one theme is the word of the Lord. The Psalmist sets his subject in many lights, and treats of it in divers ways, but he seldom omits to mention the word of the Lord in each verse under some one or other of the many names by which he knows it; and even if the name be not there, the subject is still heartily pursued in every stanza. He who wrote this wonderful song was saturated with those books of Scripture which he possessed. Andrew Bonar tells of a simple Christian in a farmhouse who had meditated the Bible through three times. This is precisely what this Psalmist had done, he had gone past reading into meditation. Like Luther, David had shaken every fruit tree in God's garden, and gathered golden fruit therefrom. "The most, "says Martin Boos, "read their Bibles like cows that stand in the thick grass, and trample under their feet the finest flowers and herbs." It is to be feared that we too often do the like. This is a miserable way of treating the pages of inspiration. May the Lord prevent us from repeating that sin while reading this priceless Psalm.
There is an evident growth in the subject matter. The earlier verses are of such a character as to lend themselves to the hypothesis that the author was a young man, while many of the later passages could only have suggested themselves to age and wisdom. In every portion, however, it is the fruit of deep experience, careful observation, and earnest meditation. If David did not write in there must have lived another believer of exactly the same order of mind as David, and he must have addicted himself to Psalmody with equal ardour, and have been an equally hearty lover of Holy Writ.
Our best improvement of this sacred composition will come through getting our minds into intense sympathy with its subject. In order to this, we might do well to commit it to memory. Philip Henry's daughter wrote in her diary, "I have of late taken some pains to learn by heart Psalm 119, and have made some progress therein." She was a sensible, godly woman. Having done this, we should consider the fulness, certainty, clearness, and sweetness of the word of God, since by such reflections we are likely to be stirred up to a warm affection for it. What favoured beings are those to whom the Eternal God has written a letter in his own hand and style. What ardour of devotion, what diligence of composition can produce a worthy eulogium for the divine testimonies? If ever one such has fallen from the pen of man it is this 119th Psalm, which might well be called the holy soul's soliloquy before an open Bible.
This sacred ode is a little Bible, the Scriptures condensed, a mass of Bibline, Holy Writ rewritten in holy emotions and actions. Blessed are they who can read and understand these saintly aphorisms; they shall find golden apples in this true Hesperides, and come to reckon that this Psalm, like the whole Scripture which it praises, is a pearl island, or, better still, a garden of sweet flowers.
Eulogium upon the whole Psalm. This Psalm shines and shows itself among the rest,
Velut inter ignes
Luna minores. 1
a star in the firmament of the Psalms, of the first and greatest magnitude. This will readily appear if you consider either the manner it is composed in, or the matter it is composed of. The manner it is composed in is very elegant. The matter it is composed of is very excellent.
1. The manner it is composed in is very elegant; full of art, rule, method theological matter in a logical manner, a spiritual alphabet framed and formed according to the Hebrew alphabet.
2. The matter it is composed of is very excellent; full of rare sublimities, deep mysteries, gracious activities, yea, glorious ecstasies. The Psalm is made up of three things, (a) prayers, (b) praises, (c) protestations. Prayers to God; praises of God; protestations unto God. Rev. W. Simmons, in a sermon in the "Morning Exercises", 1661.
Eulogium. This Psalm is called the Alphabet of Divine Love, the Paradise of all the Doctrines, the Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, the School of Truth, also the deep mystery of the Scriptures, where the whole moral discipline of all the virtues shines brightly. And as all moral instruction is delightsome, therefore this Psalm, because excelling in this kind of instruction, should be called delightsome, inasmuch as it surpasses the rest. The other Psalms, truly, as lesser stars shine somewhat; but this burns with the meridian heat of its full brightness, and is wholly resplendent With moral loveliness. Johannes Paulus Palanterius, 1600.
Eulogium. In our German version it has the appropriate inscription, "The Christian's golden A B C of the praise, love, power, and use of the Word of God." Franz Delitzsch, 1871.
Eulogium. It is recorded of the celebrated St. Augustine, who among his voluminous works left a Comment on the Book of Psalms, that he delayed to comment on this one till he had finished the whole Psalter; and then yielded only to the long and vehement urgency of his friends, "because", he says, "as often as I essayed to think thereon, it always exceeded the powers of my intent thought and the utmost grasp of my faculties". While one ancient father 2 entitles this Psalm "the perfection of teaching and instruction"; another 3 says that "it applies an all containing medicine to the varied spiritual diseases of men sufficing to perfect those who long for perfect virtue, to rouse the slothful, to refresh the dispirited, and to set in order the relaxed"; to which might be added many like testimonies of ancient and modern commentators on it. William De Burgh, 1860.
Eulogium. In proportion as this Psalm seemeth more open, so much the more deep doth it appear to me; so that I cannot show how deep it is. For in others, which are understood with difficulty, although the sense lies hid in obscurity yet the obscurity itself appeareth; but in this, not even this is the case; since it is superficially such, that it seemeth not to need an expositor, but only a reader and listener. Augustine, 354-480.
Eulogium. In Matthew Henry's "Account of the Life and Death of his father, Philip Henry, "he says: "Once, pressing the study of the Scriptures, he advised us to take a verse of this Psalm every morning to meditate upon, and so go over the Psalm twice in the year; and that, saith he, will bring you to be in love with all the rest of the Scriptures." He often said, "All grace grows as love to the word of God grows."
1 And like the moon, the feebler fires among, "Conspicuous shines." Horace.
2 St. Hilary.
3 Theodoret.
Eulogium. It is strange that of all the pieces of the Bible which my mother taught me, that which cost me most to learn, and which was to my child's mind most repulsive the 119th Psalm has now become of all the most precious to me in its overflowing and glorious passion of love for the law of God. John Ruskin, in "Fors Clavigera".
Eulogium. This Psalm is a prolonged meditation upon the excellence of the word of God, upon its effects, and the strength and happiness which it gives to a man in every position. These reflections are interspersed with petitions, in which the Psalmist, deeply feeling his natural infirmity, implores the help of God for assistance to walk in the way mapped out for him in the divine oracles. In order to be able to understand and to enjoy this remarkable Psalm, and that we may not be repelled by its length and by its repetitions, we must have had, in some measure at least, the same experiences as its author, and, like him, have learned to love and practise the sacred word. Moreover, this Psalm is in some sort a touchstone for the spiritual life of those who read it. The sentiments expressed in it perfectly harmonise with what the historical books and other Psalms teach concerning David's obedience and his zeal for God's glory. There are, however, within it words which breathe so elevated a piety, that they can have their full sense and perfect truthfulness only in the mouth of Him of whom the prophet king was the type. From the French of Armand de Mestral, 1856.
Eulogium. The 119th Psalm has been spoken of by a most distinguished living rationalistic critic (Professor Reuss) as "not poetry at all, but simply a litany a species of chaplet." Such does not seem to be the opinion of the angels of God, and of the redeemed spirits, when that very poem supplies With the language of praise the paean of victory, "Just and true are thy ways" (Re 15:3); the cry of the angel of the waters, "Thou art righteous, O Lord!" (Re 16:5); the voice of much people in heaven, "True and righteous are his judgments" (Re 19:2); what is this but the exclamation of him, whoever he may have been, who wrote the Psalm "Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments" (Ps 119:137). William Alexander, in "The Quiver", 1880.
Incident. In the midst of a London season; in the stir and turmoil of a political crisis, 1819; William Wilberforce writes in his Diary "Walked from Hyde Park Corner repeating the 119th Psalm in great comfort". William Alexander, in "The Witness of the Psalms". 1877.
Incident. George Wishart, the chaplain and biographer of "the great Marquis of Montrose, "as he was called, would have shared the fate of his illustrious patron but for the following singular expedient. When upon the scaffold, he availed himself of the custom of the times, which permitted the condemned to choose a Psalm to be sung. He selected the 119th Psalm, and before two thirds of the Psalm had been sung, a pardon arrived, and his life was preserved. It may not be out of place to add that the George Wishart, Bishop of Edinburgh, above referred to, has been too often confounded with the godly martyr of the same name who lived and died a century previously. We only mention the incident because it has often been quoted as a singular instance of the providential escape of a saintly personage; whereas it was the very ingenious device of a person who, according to Woodrow, was more renowned for shrewdness than for sanctity. The length of this Psalm was sagaciously employed as the means of gaining time, and, happily, the expedient succeeded. C.H.S.
Alphabetical Arrangement. It is observed that the 119th Psalm is disposed according to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, perhaps to intimate that children, when they begin to learn their alphabet, should learn that Psalm. Nathanael Hardy, 1618-1670.
Alphabetical Arrangement. True it is that the verses indeed begin not either with the English or yet the Latin letters, but with the Hebrew, wherein David made and wrote this Psalm. The will and purpose of the Holy Ghost is to make us to feel and understand that the doctrine herein contained is not only set down for great clerks which have gone to school for ten or twenty years; but also for the most simple; to the end none should pretend any excuse of ignorance. From Calvin's Twenty-two Sermons upon the 119th Psalm, 1580.
Alphabetical Arrangement. There may be something more than fancy in the remark, that Christ's name, "the Alpha and Omega" equivalent to declaring him all that which every letter of the alphabet could express may have had a reference to the peculiarity of this Psalm, a Psalm in which (with the exception of Ps 119:84, 122, exceptions that make the rule more marked) every verse speaks of God's revelation of himself to man. Andrew A. Bonar, 1859.
Alphabetical Arrangement: Origen says it is alphabetical because it contains the elements or principles of all knowledge and wisdom; and that it repeats each letter eight times, because eight is the number of perfection.
Alphabetical Arrangement. That the unlearned reader may understand what is meant by the Psalm being alphabetical, we append the following specimen upon the section Aleph:
A blessing is on them that are undefiled in the way
and walk in the law of Jehovah;
A blessing is on them that keep his testimonies,
and seek him with their whole heart;
Also on them that do no wickedness,
but walk in his ways.
A law hast thou given unto us,
that we should diligently keep thy commandments.
Ah! Lord, that my ways were made so direct
that I might keep thy statutes!
And then shall I not be confounded.
While I have respect unto all thy commandments.
As for me, I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart,
when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
An eye will I have unto thy ceremonies,
O forsake me not utterly. From "The Psalms Chronologically Arranged By Four Friends". 1867.
Continued...See Psalms "Job 42:15"
Psalms 119:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk…
Psa_119:1-8
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
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Moral law
I. There is a Divine moral law for the regulation of moral life. The Creator has given a law to every creature He has made, and to every creature its own law. This law Christ reduced to two primary obligations--right affection for God, right affection for man.
II. Genuine obedience to this law ensures human happiness. Blessed, etc.
1. The nature of true obedience.
(1) Sincere.
(2) Cordial.
(3) Assiduous.
(4) Divinely inspired.
(5) Spiritual rather than literal, constant rather than occasional.
2. The happiness consequent upon true obedience.
(1) Freedom from shame. This implies consciousness of virtue. Sin is the shameful thing.
(2) Heartiness in worship. The highest happiness of man consists in worshipping with the whole heart. (Homilist.)
Well-doing
I. Human happiness consists in well-doing. Blessed are the undefiled in the way. It is not in theories, professions, ceremonies, but in right-doing. There is true blessedness for man only in his deed, not in his mere thoughts or emotions, but in his actions. Inaction is torpor, wrong action is misery, right action is bliss.
II. Well-doing has respect to the Divine. Who walk in the law of the Lord. If there really be an atheistic world, that world knows nothing of well-doing. Well-doing can only grow out of a practical regard for the Supreme Existence.
III. The respect for the Divine must be thorough. With the whole heart. God must become the Moral Monarch of the soul, inspiring and controlling the whole. (Homilist.)
Gods beatitudes and the world s
The world has its own idea of blessedness. Blessed is the man who is always right. Blessed is the man who is satisfied with himself. Blessed is the man who is strong. Blessed is the man who rules. Blessed is the man who is rich. Blessed is the man who is popular. Blessed is the man who enjoys life. These are the beatitudes of sight and this present world. It comes with a shock and opens a new realm of thought that not one of these men entered Jesus mind when He treated of blessedness. (John Watson, D. D.)
The truly happy man
The happiest life is that of the man who accepts Christ as his friend and model. Good Matthew Henry says, You have heard the dying words of many--these are mine: I have found a life of communion with Christ the happiest life in the world. This is the testimony of all who have tried it. Hear what Coleridge says: The Bible, and only the Bible, shows clearly and certainly what happiness is, and the way to its attainment. Philosophy may culture the mind and uplift the emotions, but it cannot heal a sore heart. Socialism may improve a mans environment, but it cannot give him happiness. True, deep rest of heart can only come as the result of knowing, loving and following Christ. (The Young Man.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible1887 · Public DomainOn v1Psalms 119
Psalms 119
IT is lost labour to seek for close continuity or progress in this psalm. One thought pervades it-the surpassing excellence of the Law; and the beauty and power of the psalm lie in the unwearied reiteration of that single idea. There is music in its monotony, which is subtilely varied. Its verses are like the ripples on a sunny sea, alike and impressive in their continual march, and yet each catching the light with a difference, and breaking on the shore in a tone of its own. A few elements are combined into these hundred and seventy-six gnomic sentences. One or other of the usual synonyms for the Law-viz., word, saying, statutes, commandments, testimonies, judgments-occurs in every verse, except Psa_119:122 and Psa_119:132. The prayers "Teach me, revive me, preserve me-according to Thy word," and the vows "I will keep, observe, meditate on, delight in-Thy law," are frequently repeated. There are but few pieces in the psalmists kaleidoscope, but they fall into many shapes of beauty; and though all his sentences are moulded after the same general plan, the variety within such narrow limits is equally a witness of poetic power which turns the fetters of the acrostic structure into helps, and of devout heartfelt love for the Law of Jehovah.
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The psalm is probably of late date; but its allusions to the singers circumstances, whether they are taken as autobiographical or as having reference to the nation, are too vague to be used as clues to the period of its composition. An early poet is not likely to have adopted such an elaborate acrostic plan, and the praises of the Law naturally suggest a time when it was familiar in an approximately complete form. It may be that the rulers referred to in Psa_119:23, Psa_119:46, were foreigners, but the expression is too general to draw a conclusion from. It may be that the double-minded (Psa_119:113), who err from Gods statutes (Psa_119:118), and forsake His law (Psa_119:53), are Israelites who have yielded to the temptations to apostatise, which came with the early Greek period, to which Baethgen, Cheyne, and others would assign the psalm. But these expressions, too, are of so general a nature that they do not give clear testimony of date.
The first three verses are closely connected. They set forth in general terms the elements of the blessedness of the doers of the Law. To walk in it-i.e., to order the active life in conformity with its requirements-ensures perfectness. To keep Gods testimonies is at once the consequence and the proof of seeking Him with whole-hearted devotion and determination. To walk in His ways is the preservative from evil doing. And such men cannot but be blessed with a deep sacred blessedness, which puts to shame coarse and turbulent delights, and feeds its pure fires from God Himself. Whether these verses are taken as exclamation or declaration, they lead up naturally to Psa_119:4, which reverently gazes upon the loving act of God in the revelation of His will in the Law, and bethinks itself of the obligations bound on us by that act. It is of Gods mercy that He has commanded, and His words are meant to sway our wills, since He has broken the awful silence, not merely to instruct us, but to command; and nothing short of practical obedience will discharge our duties to his revelation. So the psalmist betakes himself to prayer, that he may be helped to realise the purpose of God in giving the Law. His contemplation of the blessedness of obedience and of the Divine act of declaring His will moves him to longing, and his consciousness of weakness and wavering makes the longing into prayer that his wavering may be consolidated into fixity of purpose and continuity of obedience. When a mans ways are established to observe, they will be established by observing, Gods statutes. For nothing can put to the blush one whose eye is directed to these.
"Whatever record leap to light,
He never shall be shamed."
Nor will he cherish hopes that fail, nor desires that, when accomplished, are bitter of taste. To give heed to the commandments is the condition of learning them and recognising how righteous they are; and such learning makes the learners hear righteous like them, and causes it to run over in thankfulness for the boon of knowledge of Gods will. By all these thoughts the psalmist is brought to his fixed resolve in Psa_119:8, to do what God meant him to do when He gave the Law; and what the singer had just longed that he might be able to do-namely, to observe the statutes. But in his resolve he remembers his weakness, and therefore he glides into prayer for that Presence without which resolves are transient and abortive.
The inference drawn from Psa_119:9, that the psalmist was a young man, is precarious. The language would be quite as appropriate to an aged teacher desirous of guiding impetuous youth to sober self-control. While some verses favour the hypothesis of the authors youth (Psa_119:141, and perhaps Psa_119:99-100), the tone of the whole, its rich experience and comprehensive grasp of the manifold relations of the Law to life imply maturity of years and length of meditation. The psalm is the ripe fruit of a life which is surely past its spring. But it is extremely questionable whether these apparently personal traits are really so. Much rather is the poet "thinking of the individuals of different ages and spiritual attainments who may use his works" (Cheyne, in loc.).
The word rendered "By taking heed" has already occurred in Psa_119:4-5 ("observe). The careful study of the Word must be accompanied with as careful study of self. The object observed there was the Law; here, it is the man himself. Study Gods law, says the psalmist, and study Thyself in its light; so shall youthful impulses be bridled, and the lifes path be kept pure. That does not sound so like a young mans thought as an old mans maxim, in which are crystallised many experiences. The rest of the section intermingles petitions, professions, and vows, and is purely personal. The psalmist claims that he is one of those whom he has pronounced blessed, inasmuch as he has "sought" God with his "whole heart." "Such longing is no mere idle aspiration, but must be manifested in obedience, as Psa_119:2 has declared. If a man longs for God, he will best find Him by doing His will. But no heart desire is so rooted as to guarantee that it shall not die, nor is past obedience a certain pledge of a like future. Wherefore the psalmist prays, not in reliance on his past, but in dread that he may falsify it, "Let me not wander." He had not only sought God in his heart, but had there hid Gods law, as its best treasure, and as an inward power controlling and stimulating. Evil cannot flow from a heart in which Gods law is lodged. That is the tree which sweetens the waters of the fountain. But the cry "Teach me Thy statutes" would be but faltering, if the singer could not rise above himself, and take heart by gazing upon God, whose own great character is the guarantee that He will not leave a seeking soul in ignorance.
Professions and vows now take the place of petitions. "From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and the word hid in it will certainly not be concealed. It is buried deep, that it may grow high. It is hidden, that it may come abroad. Therefore Psa_119:13 tells of bold utterance, which is as incumbent on men as obedient deeds.
A sane estimate of earthly good will put it decisively below the knowledge of God and of His will. Lives which despise what the world calls riches, because they are smitten with the desire of any sort of wisdom, are ever nobler than those which keep the low levels. And highest of all is the life which gives effect to its conviction that mans true treasure is to know Gods mind and will to rejoice in His testimonies is to have wealth that cannot be lost and pleasures that cannot wither. That glad estimate will surely lead to happy meditation on them, by which their worth shall be disclosed and their sweep made plain. The miser loves to tell his gold; the saint, to ponder his wealth in God. The same double direction of the mind, already noted, reappears in Psa_119:15, where quiet meditation on Gods statutes is associated with attention to the ways which are called His, as being pointed out by, and pleasing to, Him, but are ours, as being walked in by us. Inward delight in, and practical remembrance of, the Law are vowed in Psa_119:16, which covers the whole field of contemplative and active life.
In Psa_119:17 the psalmist desires continued life, mainly because it affords the opportunity of continued obedience. He will "observe Thy Word," not only in token of gratitude, but because to him life is precious chiefly because in its activities he can serve God. Such a reason for wishing to live may easily change to a willingness to die, as it did with Paul, who had learned that a better obedience was possible when he had passed through the dark gates, and therefore could say, "To die is gain." Psa_119:18-19 are connected in so far as the former desires subjective illumination and the latter objective revelation. Opened eyes are useless, if commandments are hidden; and the disclosure of the latter is in vain unless there are eyes to see them. Two great truths lie in the former petition-namely, that scales cover our spiritual vision which only God can take away, and that His revelation has in its depths truths and treasures which can only be discerned by His help. The cognate petition in Psa_119:19 is based upon the pathetic thought that man is a stranger on earth, and therefore needs what will take away his sense of homelessness and unrest. All other creatures are adapted to their environments, but he has a consciousness that he is an exile here, a haunting, stinging sense, which vaguely feels after repose in his native land. "Thy commandments" can still it. To know Gods will, with knowledge which is acceptance and love, gives rest, and makes every place a mansion in the Fathers house.
There may possibly be a connection between Psa_119:20 and Psa_119:21-the terrible fate of those who wander from the commandments, as described in the latter verse, being the motive for the psalmists longing expressed in the former. The "judgments" for which he longed, with a yearning which seemed to bruise his soul, are not, as might be supposed, Gods judicial acts, but the word is a synonym for "commandments," as throughout the psalm.
The last three verses of the section appear to be linked together. They relate to the persecutions of the psalmist for his faithfulness to Gods law. In Psa_119:22 he prays that reproach and shame, which wrapped him like a covering, may be lifted from him; and his plea in Psa_119:22 b declares that he lay under these because he was true to Gods statutes. In Psa_119:23 we see the source of the reproach and shame, in the conclave of men in authority, whether foreign princes or Jewish rulers, who were busy slandering him and plotting his ruin; while, with wonderful beauty, the contrasted picture in b shows the object of that busy talk, sitting silently absorbed in meditation on the higher things of Gods statutes. As long as a man can do that, he has a magic circle drawn round him, across which fears and cares cannot step. Psa_119:24 heightens the impression of the psalmists rest. Also Thy testimonies are my delight"-not only the subjects of his meditation, but bringing inward sweetness, though earth is in arms against him; and not only are they his delights, but "the men of his counsel," in whom he, solitary as he is, finds companionship that arms him with resources against that knot of whispering enemies.
The exigencies of the acrostic plan are very obvious in this section, five of the verses of which begin with "way" or "ways," and two of the remaining three with "cleaves." The variety secured under such conditions is remarkable. The psalmists soul cleaves to the dust-i.e., is bowed in mourning; {cf. Psa_44:25} but still, though thus darkened by sorrow and weeping itself away for grief (Psa_119:28), it cleaves to "Thy testimonies" (Psa_119:31). Happy in their sorrow are they who, by reason of the force which bows their sensitive nature to the dust, cling the more closely in their true selves to the declared will of God! Their sorrow appeals to Gods heart, and is blessed if it dictates the prayer for His quickening (Psa_119:25). Their cleaving to His law warrants their hope that He will not put them to shame.
The first pair of verses in which "way" is the acrostic word (Psa_119:26-27) sets "my ways" over against "the way of Thy precepts." The psalmist has made God his confidant, telling Him all his lifes story, and has found continual answers, in gifts of mercy and inward whispers. He asks, therefore, for further illumination, which will be in accordance with these past mutual communications. Tell God thy ways and He will teach thee His statutes. The franker our confession, the more fervent our longing for fuller knowledge of His will. "The way of Thy precepts" is the practical life according to these, the ideal which shall rebuke and transform "my ways." The singers crooked course is spread before God, and he longs to see clearly the straight path of duty, on which he vows that he will meditate, and find wonders in the revelation of Gods will. Many a sunbeam is wasted for want of intent eyes. The prayer for understanding is vain without the vow of pondering. The next pair of "way-" verses (Psa_119:29-30) contrasts ways of "lying" and of "faithfulness"-i.e., sinful life which is false towards God and erroneous in its foundation maxims, and life which is true in practice to Him and to mans obligations. The psalmist prays that the former may be put far from him; for he feels that it is only too near, and his unhelped feet too ready to enter on it. He recognises the inmost meaning of the Law as an outcome of Gods favour. It is not harsh, but glowing with love, Gods best gift. The prayer in Psa_119:29 has the psalmists deliberate choice in Psa_119:30 as its plea. That choice does not lift him above the need of Gods help, and it gives him a claim thereon. Our wills may seem fixed, but the gap between choice and practice is wide, and our feebleness will not bridge it, unless He strengthens us. So the last verse of this section humbly vows to transform meditation and choice into action, and to "run the way of Gods commandments," in thanksgiving for the joy with which, while the psalmist prays, he feels that his heart swells.
Psa_119:33 and Psa_119:34 are substantially identical in their prayer for enlightenment and their vow of obedience. Both are based on the conviction that outward revelation is incomplete without inward illumination. Both recognise the necessary priority of enlightened reason as condition of obedient action, and such action as the test and issue of enlightenment. Both vow that knowledge shall not remain barren. They differ in that the former verse pledges the psalmist to obedience unlimited in time and the latter to obedience without reservation. But even in uttering his vow the singer remembers his need of Gods help to keep it, and turns it, in Psa_119:35, into petition, which he very significantly grounds on his hearts delight in the Law. Warm as that delight may be, circumstances and flesh will cool it, and it is ever a struggle to translate desires into deeds. Therefore we need the sweet constraint of our Divine Helper to make us walk in the right way. Again, in Psa_119:36 the preceding profession is caught up and modulated into petition. "Incline my heart" stands to "In it I delight," just as "Make me walk" does to "I will observe it." Our purest joys in God and in His Will depend on Him for their permanence and increase. Our hearts are apt to spill their affection on the earth, even while we would bear the cup filled to God. And one chief rival of "Thy testimonies" is worldly gain, from which there must be forcible detachment in order to, and as accompaniment of, attachment to God. All possessions which come between us and Him are "plunder," unjust gain.
The heart is often led astray by the eyes. The senses bring fuel to its unholy flames. Therefore, the next petition (Psa_119:37) asks that they may be made, as it were, to pass on one side of tempting things, which are branded as being "vanity," without real substance or worth, however they may glitter and solicit the gaze. To look longingly on earths good makes us torpid in Gods ways; and to be earnest in the latter makes us dead to the former. There is but one real life for men, the life of union with God and of obedience to His commandments. Therefore, the singer prays to be revived in Gods ways. Experience of Gods faithfulness to His plighted word will do much to deliver from earths glamour, as Psa_119:38 implies. The second clause is elliptical in Hebrew, and is now usually taken as above, meaning that Gods promise fulfilled leads men to reverence Him. But the rendering "who is [devoted] to Thy fear" is tenable and perhaps better. The "reproach" in Psa_119:39 is probably that which would fall on the psalmist if he were unfaithful to Gods law. This interpretation gives the best meaning to Psa_119:39 b, which would then contain the reason for his desire to keep the "judgments"-i.e., the commandments, not the judicial acts-which he feels to be good. The section ends with a constantly recurring strain. Gods righteousness, His strict discharge of all obligations, guarantees that no longing, turned to Him, can be left unsatisfied. The languishing desire will be changed into fuller joy of more vigorous life. The necessary precursor of deeper draughts from the Fountain of Life is thirst for it, which faithfully turns aside from earths sparkling but drugged potions.
There are practically no Hebrew words beginning with the letter required as the initial in this section, except the copula "and." Each verse begins with it, and it is best to retain it in translation, so as to reproduce in some measure the original impression of uniformity. The verses are aggregated rather than linked. "And" sometimes introduces a consequence, as probably in Psa_119:42, and sometimes is "superfluous in regard to the sense. A predominant reference to the duty of bearing witness to the Truth runs through the section. The prayer in Psa_119:41 for the visits of Gods lovingkindnesses which, in their sum, make salvation, and are guaranteed by His word of promise, is urged on the ground that, by experience of these, the psalmist will have his answer ready for all carpers who scoff at him and his patient faith. Such a prayer is entirely accordant with the hypothesis that the speaker is the collective Israel, but not less so with the supposition that he is an individual. "Whereas I was blind, now I see" is an argument that silences sarcasm. Psa_119:43 carries on the thought of witnessing and asks that "the word of truth"-i.e., the Law considered as disclosure of truth rather than of duty-may not be snatched from the witnesss mouth, as it would be if Gods promised lovingkindnesses failed him. The condition of free utterance is rich experience. If prayers had gone up in vain from the psalmists lips, no glad proclamation could come from them.
The verbs at the beginnings of Psa_119:44-46 are best taken as optatives, expressing what the psalmist would fain do, and, to some extent, has done. There is no true religion without that longing for unbroken conformity with the manifest will of God. Whoever makes that his deepest desire, and seeks after Gods precepts, will "walk at liberty," or at large, for restraints that are loved are not bonds, and freedom consists not in doing as I would, but in willing to do as I ought. Strong in such emancipation from the hindrances of ones own passions, and triumphant over external circumstances which may mould, but not dominate, a God-obeying life, the psalmist would fain open his mouth unabashed before rulers. The "kings" spoken of in Psa_119:46 may be foreign rulers, possibly the representatives of the Persian monarch, or later alien sovereigns, or the expression may be quite general and the speaker be a private person, who feels his courage rising as he enters into the liberty of perfect submission.
Psa_119:47-48 are general expressions of delight in the Law. Lifting the hands towards the commandments seems to be a figure for reverent regard, or longing, as one wistfully stretches them out towards some dear person or thing that one would fain draw closer. The phrase "which I love" in Psa_119:48 overweights the clause, and is probably a scribes erroneous repetition of Psa_119:47 b.
This section has only one verse of petition, the others being mainly avowals of adherence to the Law in the face of various trials. The single petition (Psa_119:49) pleads the relation of servant, as giving a claim on the great Lord of the household, and adduces Gods having encouraged hope as imposing on Him an obligation to fulfil it. Expectations fairly deduced from His word are prophets of their own realisation. In Psa_119:50, "This" points to the fact stated in b-namely, that the Word had already proved its power in the past by quickening the psalmist to new courage and hope-and declares that that remembered experience solaces his present sorrow. A heart that has been revived by life-giving contact with the Word has a hidden warmth beneath the deepest snows, and cleaves the more to that Word.
Psa_119:51-53 describe the attitude of the lover of the Law in presence of the ungodly. He is as unmoved by shafts of ridicule as by the heavier artillery of slander and plots (Psa_119:23). To be laughed out of ones faith is even worse than to be terrified out of it. The lesson is not needless in a day when adherence and obedience to the Word are smiled at in so many quarters as indicating inferior intelligence. The psalmist held fast by it, and while laughter, with more than a trace of bitterness, rung about him, threw himself back on Gods ancient and enduring words, which made the scoffs sound very hollow and transient (Psa_119:52). Righteous indignation, too, rises in a devout soul at sight of mens departure from Gods law (Psa_119:53). The word rendered "fiery anger" is found in Psa_11:6 ("a wind of burning"), and is best taken as above, though some would render horror. The wrath was not unmingled with compassion (Psa_119:136), and, whilst it is clearly an emotion belonging to the Old Testament rather than to the Christian type of devotion, it should be present, in softened form, in our feelings towards evil.
In Psa_119:54 the psalmist turns from gainsayers. He strikes again the note of Psa_119:19, calling earth his place of transitory abode, or, as we might say, his inn. The brevity of life would be crushing, if God had not spoken to us. Since He has, the pilgrims can march "with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads," and all about their moving camp the sound of song may echo. To its lovers, Gods law is not "harsh and crabbedbut musical as is Apollos lute." This psalm is one of the poets songs. Even those of us who are not singers can and should meditate on Gods law, till its melodious beauty is disclosed and its commandments, that sometimes sound stern, set themselves to rhythm and harmony. As Gods words took bitterness out of the thought of mortality, so His name remembered in the night brought light into darkness, whether physical or other. We often lose our memory of God and our hold of His hand when in sorrow, and grief sometimes thinks that it has a dispensation from obedience. So we shall be the better for remembering the psalmists experience, and should, like him, cling to the Name in the dark, and then we shall have light enough to "observe Thy law." Psa_119:56 looks back on the mingled life of good and evil, of which some of the sorrows have just been touched, and speaks deep contentment with its portion. Whatever else is withheld or withdrawn, that lot is blessed which has been helped by God to keep His precepts, and they are happy and wise who deliberately prefer that good to all beside.
Psa_119:57 goes to the root of the matter in setting forth the resolve of obedience as the result of the consciousness of possessing God. He who feels, in his own happy heart, that Jehovah is his portion will be moved thereby to vow to keep His words. This psalmist had learned the evangelical lesson that he did not win God by keeping the Law, but that he was moved to keep the Law because he had won God; and he had also learned the companion truth, that the way to retain that possession is obedience.
Psa_119:58 corresponds in some measure to Psa_119:57, but the order of clauses is inverted, a stating the psalmists prayer, as Psa_119:57 b did his resolve, and b building on his cry the hope that God would be truly his portion and bestow His favour on him. But the true ground of our hope is not our most whole-hearted prayers, but Gods promise. The following five verses change from the key of petition into that of profession of obedience to, and delight in, the Law. The fruit of wise consideration of ones conduct is willing acceptance of Gods law as His witness of what is right for us. The only "ways" which sober consideration will approve are those marked out in mercy by Him, and meditation on conduct is worthless if it does not issue in turning our feet into these. Without such meditation we shall wander on byways and lose ourselves. Want of thought ruins men (Psa_119:59). But such turning of our feet to the right road has many foes, and chief among them is lingering delay. Therefore resolve must never be let cool, but be swiftly carried into action (Psa_119:60). The world is full of snares, and they lie thick round our feet whenever these are turned towards Gods ways. The only means of keeping clear of them is to fix heart and mind on Gods law. Then we shall be able to pick our steps among traps and pits (Psa_119:61). Physical weariness limits obedience, and needful sleep relaxes nervous tension, so that many a strenuous worker and noble aspirant fails beneath his daylight self in wakeful night seasons. Blessed they who in the night see visions of God and meditate on His law, not on earthly vanities or aims (Psa_119:62). Society has its temptations as solitude has. The man whose heart has fed in secret on God and His law will naturally gravitate towards like minded people. Our relation to God and His uttered will should determine our affinities with men, and it is a bad sign when natural impulses do not draw us to those who fear God. Two men who have that fear in common are liker each other in their deepest selves, however different they may be in other respects, than either of them is to those to whom he is likest in surface characteristics and unlike in this supreme trait. (Psa_119:63). One pathetic petition closes the section. In Psa_119:19 the psalmist had based his prayer for illumination on his being a stranger on earth; here he grounds it on the plentitude of Gods lovingkindness, which floods the world. It is the same plea in another form. All creatures bask in the light of Gods love, which fails on each in a manner appropriate to its needs. Mans supreme need is the knowledge of Gods statutes; therefore, the same all-embracing Mercy, which cares for these happy, careless creatures, will not be implored in vain, to satisfy his nobler and more pressing want. All beings get their respective boons unasked; but the preeminence of ours is partly seen in this, that it cannot be given without the cooperation of our desire. It will be given wherever that condition is fulfilled (Psa_119:64).
The restrictions of the acrostic structure are very obvious in this section, five of the eight verses of which begin with "Good." The epithet is first applied in Psa_119:65 to the whole of Gods dealings with the psalmist. To the devout soul all life is of one piece, and its submission and faith exercise transmuting power on pains and sorrows, so that the psalmist can say-
"Let one more attest,
I have lived, seen Gods hand through a lifetime,
And all was for best."
The epithet is next applied (Psa_119:66) to the perception (lit. taste) or faculty of discernment of good and evil, for which the psalmist prays, basing his petition on his belief of Gods word. Swift, sure, and delicate apprehension of right and wrong comes from such belief. The heart in which it reigns is sensitive as a goldsmiths scales or a thermometer which visibly sinks when a cloud passes before the sun. The instincts of faith work surely and rapidly. The settled judgment that life had been good includes apparent evil (Psa_119:67), which is real evil in so far as it pains, but is, in a deeper view, good, inasmuch as it scourges a wandering heart back to true obedience and therefore to well-being. The words of Psa_119:67 are specially appropriate as the utterance of the Israel purified from idolatrous tendencies by captivity, but may also be the expression of individual experience. The epithet is next applied to God Himself (Psa_119:68). How steadfast a gaze into the depths of the Divine nature and over the broad field of the Divine activity is in that short, all-including clause, containing but three words in the Hebrew, "Good art Thou and doing good"! The prayer built on it is the one which continually recurs in this psalm, and is reached by many paths. Every view of mans condition, whether it is bright or dark, and every thought of God, bring the psalmist to the same desire. Here Gods character and beneficence, widespread and continual, prompt to the prayer, both because the knowledge of His will is our highest good, and because a good God cannot but wish His servants to be like Himself, in loving righteousness and hating iniquity.
Psa_119:69 and Psa_119:70 are a pair, setting forth the antithesis, frequent in the psalm, between evil mens conduct to the psalmist and his tranquil contemplation of, and delight in, Gods precepts. False slanders buzz about him, but he cleaves to Gods Law, and is conscious of innocence. Men are dull and insensible, as if their hearts were waterproofed with a layer of grease, through which no gentle rain from heaven could steal; but the psalmist is all the more led to open his heart to the gracious influences of that law, because others close theirs. If a bad man is not made worse by surrounding evil, he is made better by it.
Just as in Psa_119:65 and Psa_119:68 the same thought of Gods goodness is expressed, Psa_119:71 repeats the thought of Psa_119:67, with a slight deepening. There the beneficent influence of sorrow was simply declared as a fact; here it is thankfully accepted, with full submission and consent of the will. "Good for me" means not only good in fact, but in my estimate. The repetition of the phrase at the beginning of the next verse throws light on its meaning in Psa_119:71. The singer thinks that he has two real goods, preeminent among the uniform sequence of such, and these are, first, his sorrows, which he reckons to be blessings, because they have helped him to a firmer grasp of the other, the real good for every man, the Law which is sacred and venerable, because it has come from the very lips of Deity. That is our true wealth. Happy they whose estimate of it corresponds to its real worth, and who have learned, by affliction or anyhow, that material riches are dross, compared with its solid preciousness!
Prayer for illumination is confined to the first: and last verses of this section, the rest of which is mainly occupied with petitions for gracious providences, based upon the grounds of the psalmists love of the Law, and of the encouragement to others to trust, derivable from his experience. Psa_119:73 puts forcibly the thought that man is evidently an incomplete fragment, unless the gift of understanding is infused into his material frame. God has begun by shaping it, and therefore is pledged to go on to bestow spiritual discernment, when His creature asks it. But that prayer wilt only be answered if the suppliant intends to use the gift for its right purpose of learning Gods statutes. Psa_119:74 prays that the psalmist may be a witness that hope in His word is never vain, and so that his deliverances may be occasions of widespread gladness. Gods honour is involved in answering His servants trust. Psa_119:75-77 are linked together. "Judgments" (Psa_119:75) seem to mean here providential acts, not, as generally in this Psalm, the Law. The acknowledgment of the justice and faithfulness which send sorrows precedes the two verses of petition for "lovingkindness" and "compassions." Sorrows stilt sting and burn, though recognised as sent in love, and the tried heart yearns for these other messengers to come from God to sustain and soothe. Gods promise and the psalmists delight in Gods law are the double ground of the twin petitions. Then follow three verses which are discernibly connected, as expressing desires in regard to "the proud," the devout, and the psalmist himself. He prays that the first may be shamed-i.e., that their deceitful or causeless hostility may be balked-and, as in several other verses, contrasts his own peaceful absorption in the Law with their machinations. He repeats the prayer of Psa_119:74 with a slight difference, asking that his deliverance may draw attention to him, and that others may, from contemplating his security, come to know the worth of Gods testimonies. In Psa_119:79 b the text reads they shall know (as the result of observing the psalmist), which the Hebrew margin needlessly alters into "those who know." For himself he prays that his heart may be sound, or thoroughly devoted to keep the law, and then he is sure that nothing shall ever put him to shame. "Who is he who will harm you, if ye be zealous for that which is good?"
This section has more than usual continuity. The psalmist is persecuted, and in these eight verses pours out his heart to God. Taken as a whole, they make a lovely picture of patient endurance and submissive longing. Intense and protracted yearning for deliverance has wasted his very soul, but has not merged in impatience or unbelief, for he has "waited for Thy word." His eyes have ached with straining for the signs of approaching comfort, the coming of which he has not doubted, but the delay of which has tried his faith. This longing has been quickened by troubles, which have wrapped him round like pungent smoke wreaths eddying among the rafters, where disused wine skins hang and get blackened and wrinkled. So has it been with him, but, through all, he has kept hold of Gods statutes. So he plaintively reminds God of the brevity of his life, which has so short a tale of days that judgment on his persecutors must be swift, if it is to be of use. Psa_119:85-87 describe the busy hostility of his foes. It is truculently contrary to Gods law, and therefore, as is implied, worthy of Gods counter working. Psa_119:85 b is best taken as a further description of the "proud," which is spread before God as a reason for His judicial action. The antithesis in Psa_119:86 between the "faithfulness" of the Law and the "lying" persecutors, is the ground of the prayer, "Help Thou me." Even in extremest peril, when he was all but made away with, the psalmist still clung to Gods precepts (Psa_119:87), and therefore he is heartened to pray for reviving, and to vow that then, bound by new chains of gratitude, he will, more than ever, observe Gods testimonies. The measure of the new "wine poured into the shrivelled wine skin is nothing less than the measureless lovingkindness of God; and nothing but experience of His benefits melts to obedience.
The stability of nature witnesses to the steadfastness of the Word which sustains it. The Universe began and continues, because God puts forth His will. The heavens with their pure depths would collapse, and all their stars would flicker into darkness, if that uttered Will did not echo through their overwhelming spaces. The solid earth would not be solid, but for Gods power immanent in it. Heaven and earth are thus His servants. Psa_119:91 a may possibly picture them as standing waiting "for Thine ordinances," but the indefinite preposition is probably better regarded as equivalent to in accordance with. The psalmist has reached the grand conceptions of the universal reign of Gods law, and of the continuous forth-putting of Gods will as the sustaining energy of all things. He seeks to link himself to that great band of Gods servants, to be in harmony with stars and storms, with earth and ocean, as their fellow servant; but yet he feels that his relation to Gods law is closer than theirs, for he can delight in that which they unconsciously obey. Such delight in Gods uttered will changes affliction from a foe, threatening life, to a friend, ministering strength (Psa_119:92). Nor does that Law when loved only avert destruction; it also increases vital power (Psa_119:93) and reinvigorates the better self. There is a sense in which the law can give life, {Gal_3:21} but it must be welcomed and enshrined in the heart, in order to do so. The frequently recurring prayer for "salvation" has a double plea in Psa_119:94. The soul that has yielded itself to God in joyful obedience thereby establishes a claim on Him. He cannot but protect His own possession. Ownership has its obligations, which He recognises. The second plea is drawn from the psalmists seeking after Gods precepts, without which seeking there would be no reality in his profession of being Gods. To seek them is the sure way to find both them and salvation (Psa_119:94). Whom God saves, enemies will vainly try to destroy, and, while they lurk in waiting to spring on the psalmist, his eyes are directed, not towards them, but to Gods testimonies. To give heed to these is the sure way to escape snares (Psa_119:95). Lifelong experience has taught the psalmist that there is a flaw in every human excellence, a limit soon reached and never passed to all that is noblest in man; but high above all achievements, and stretching beyond present vision, is the fair ideal bodied forth in the Law. Since it is Gods commandment, it will not always be an unreached ideal, but may be indefinitely approximated to; and to contemplate it will be joy, when we learn that it is prophecy because it is commandment.
One thought pervades this section, that the Law is the fountain of sweetest wisdom. The rapture of love with which it opens is sustained throughout. The psalmist knows that he has not merely more wisdom of the same sort as his enemies, his teachers, and the aged have, but wisdom of a better kind. His foes were wise in craft, and his teachers drew their instructions from earthly springs, and the elders had learned that bitter, worldly wisdom, which has been disillusioned of youths unsuspectingness and dreams, without being thereby led to grasp that which is no illusion. But a heart which simply keeps to the Law reaches, in its simplicity, a higher truth than these know, and has instinctive discernment of good and evil. Worldly wisdom is transient. "Whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away," but the wisdom that comes with the commandment is enduring as it (Psa_119:98). Meditation must be accompanied with practice, in order to make the true wisdom ones own. The depths of the testimonies must be sounded by patient brooding on them, and then the knowledge thus won must be carried into act. To do what we know is the sure way to know it better, and to know more (Psa_119:99-100). And that positive obedience has to be accompanied by abstinence from evil ways; for in such a world as this "Thou shalt not" is the necessary preliminary to "Thou shalt." The psalmist has a better teacher than those whom he has outgrown, even God Himself, and His instruction has a graciously constraining power, which keeps its conscious scholars in the right path (Psa_119:102). These thoughts draw another exclamation from the poet, who feels, as he reflects on his blessings, that the law beloved ceases to be harsh and is delightsome as well as health giving. It is promise as well as law, for God will help us to be what He commands us to be. They who love the Lawgiver find sweetness in the law (Psa_119:103). And this is the blessed effect of the wisdom which it gives, that it makes us quick to detect sophistries which tempt into forbidden paths, and fills us with wholesome detestation.
A lamp is for night; light shines in the day. The Word is both, to the psalmist. His antithesis may be equivalent to a comprehensive declaration that the Law is light of every sort, or it may intend to lay stress on the varying phases of experience, and turn our thoughts to that Word which will gleam guidance in darkness, and shine, a better sun, on bright hours. The psalmists choice, not merely the inherent power of the Law, is expressed in Psa_119:105. He has taken it for his guide, or, as Psa_119:106 says, has sworn and kept his oath, that he would observe the righteous decisions, which would point to his foot the true path. The affliction bemoaned in Psa_119:107 is probably the direct result of the conduct professed in Psa_119:106. The prayer for reviving, which means deliverance from outward evils rather than spiritual quickening, is, therefore, presented with confidence, and based upon the many promises in the Word of help to sufferers for righteousness. Whatever our afflictions, there is ease in telling God of them, and if our desires for His help are "according to Thy word," they will be as willing to accept help to bear as help which removes the sorrow and thus will not be offered unanswered. That cry for reviving is best understood as being "the free-will offerings" which the psalmist prays may be accepted. Happy in their afflictions are they whose chief desire even then is to learn more of Gods statutes! They will find that their sorrows are their best teachers. If we wish most to make advances in His school, we shall not complain of the guides to whom He commits us. Continual alarms and dangers tend to foster disregard of Duty, as truly as does the opposite state of unbroken security. A man absorbed in keeping himself alive is apt to think he has no attention to spare for Gods law (Psa_119:109), and one ringed about by traps is apt to take a circuit to avoid them, even at the cost of divergence from the path marked out by God (Psa_119:110). But, even in such circumstances, the psalmist did what all good men have to do, deliberately chose his portion, and found Gods law better than any outward good, as being able to diffuse deep, sacred, and perpetual joy through all his inner nature. The heart thus filled with serene gladness is thereby drawn to perform Gods statutes with lifelong persistency, and the heart thus inclined to obedience has tapped the sources of equally enduring joy.
This section is mainly the expression of firm resolve to cleave to the Law. Continuity may be traced in it, since Psa_119:113-115 breathe love and determination, which pass in Psa_119:116-117, into prayer, in view of the psalmists weakness and the strength of temptation, while in Psa_119:118-120 the fate of the despisers of the Law intensifies the psalmists clinging grasp of awe-struck love. Hatred of "double minded" who waver between God and idols, and are weak accordingly, rests upon, and in its turn increases, whole-hearted adherence to the Law.
It is a tepid devotion to it which does not strongly recoil from lives that water down its precepts and try to walk on both sides of the way at once. Whoever has taken God for his defence can afford to bide Gods time for fulfilment of His promises (Psa_119:114). And the natural results of such love to, and waiting for, His word are resolved separation from the society of those whose lives are moulded on opposite principles, and the ordering of external relations in accordance with the supreme purpose of keeping the commandments of Him whom love and waiting claim as "my God" (Psa_119:115). But resolves melt in the fire of temptation, and the psalmist knows life and himself too well to trust himself. So he betakes himself to prayer for Gods upholding, without which he cannot live. A hope built on Gods promise has a claim on Him, and its being put to shame in disappointment would be dishonour to God (Psa_119:116). The psalmist knows that his wavering will can only be fixed by God, and that experience of His sustaining hand will make a stronger bond between God and him than anything besides. The consciousness of salvation must precede steadfast regard to the precepts of the God who saves (Psa_119:117). To stray from the Law is ruin, as is described in Psa_119:118-119. They who wander are despised or made light of, "for their deceit is a lie"-i.e., the hopes and plans with which they deceive themselves are false. It is a gnarled way of saying that all godless life is a blunder as well as a sin, and is fed with unrealisable promises. Dross is flung away when the metal is extracted. Slag from a furnace is hopelessly useless, and this psalmist thinks that the wicked of the earth are "thrown as rubbish to the void." He is not contemplating a future life, but Gods judgments as manifested here in providence, and his faith is assured that, even here, that process is visible. Therefore, gazing upon the fate of evil-doers, his flesh creeps and every particular hair stands on end (as the word means). His dread is full of love, and love is full of dread. Profoundly are the two emotions yoked together in Psa_119:119 b and Psa_119:120 b, " I love Thy testimonies of Thy judgments I am afraid."
Another explanation fixes on the literal meaning of the word-i.e., "goings up"-and points to its use in the singular for the Return from Babylon, {Ezr_7:9} as supporting the view that these were psalms sung by the returning exiles. There is much in the group of songs to favour this view; but against it is the fact that Psalms 122 and 134, imply the existence of the Temple, and the fully organised ceremonial worship.
A third solution is that the name refers to the structure of these psalms, which have a "step-like, progressive rhythm." This is Gesenius explanation, adopted by Delitzsch. But the peculiar structure in question, though very obvious in several of these psalms, is scarcely perceptible in others, and is entirely absent from Psalms 132.
The remaining explanation of the title is the most probable-that the "goings up" were those of the worshippers travelling to Jerusalem for the feasts. This little collection is, then, "The Song Book of the Pilgrims," a designation to which its contents well correspond.
The thought of evil-doers tinges most of this section. It opens with a triplet of verses, occasioned by their oppressions of the psalmist, and closes with a triplet occasioned by their breaches of the Law. In the former, he is conscious that he has followed the "judgment" or law of God, and hence hopes that he will not be abandoned to his foes. The consciousness and the hope equally need limitation, to correspond with true estimates of ourselves and with facts; for there is no absolute fulfilment of the Law, and good men are often left to be footballs for had ones. But in its depths the confidence is true. Precisely because he has it, the psalmist prays that it may be Vindicated by facts. "Be surety for Thy servant"-a profound image, drawn from legal procedure, in which one man becomes security for another and makes good his deficiencies. Thus God will stand between the hunted man and his foes, undertaking for him. "Thou shalt answer, Lord, for me." How much the fulfilment in Christ has exceeded the desire of the psalmist! "The oppressors wrong" had lasted long, and the singers weary eyes had been strained in looking for the help which seemed to tarry (compare Psa_119:82), and that fainting gaze humbly appeals to God. Will He not end the wistful watching speedily? Psa_119:124-125 are a pair, the psalmists relation of servant being adduced in both as the ground of his prayer for teaching. But they differ, in that the former verse lays stress on the consonance of such instruction with Gods lovingkindness, and the latter, on its congruity with the psalmists position and character as His servant. Gods best gift is the knowledge of His will, which He surely will not withhold from spirits willing to serve, if they only knew how. Psa_119:126-128 are closely linked. The psalmists personal wrongs melt into the wider thought of wickedness which does its little best to make void that sovereign, steadfast law. Delitzsch would render "It is time to work for Jehovah"; and the meaning thus obtained is a worthy one. But that given above is more in accordance with the context. It is bold-and would be audacious if a prayer did not underlie the statement-to undertake to determine when evil has reached such height as to demand Gods punitive action. But, however slow we should be to prescribe to Him the when or the how of His intervention, we may learn from the psalmists emphatic "Therefores," which stand coordinately at the beginnings of Psa_119:127-128, that the more men make void the Law, the more should Gods servants prize it, and the more should they bind its precepts on their moral judgment, and heartily loathe all paths which, specious as they may be, are "paths of falsehood," though all the world may avow that they are true.
Devout souls do not take offence at the depths and difficulties of Gods word, but are thereby drawn to intenser contemplation of them. We weary of the Trivial and Obvious. That which tasks and outstrips our powers attracts. But the obscurity must not be arbitrary, but inherent, a clear obscure, like the depths of a pure sea. These wonderful testimonies give light, notwithstanding, or rather because of, their wonderfulness, and it is the simple heart, not the sharpened intellect, that penetrates furthest into them and finds light most surely (Psa_119:130). Therefore the psalmist longs for Gods commandments, like a "wild creature panting open mouthed for water. He puts to shame our indifference. If his longing was not excessive, how defective is ours! Psa_119:132, like Psa_119:122, has no distinct allusion to the Law, though the word rendered in it "right" is that used in the psalm for the Law considered as "judgments." The prayer is a bold one, pleading what is justly, due to the lovers of Gods name. Kay appropriately quotes "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed towards His name". {Heb_6:10} One would have expected "Law" instead of "name"in the last word of the verse, and possibly the conception of Law may be, as it were, latent in "name," for the latter does carry in it imperative commandments and plain revelations of duty. Gods Name holds the Law in germ. The Law is but the expansion of the meaning of the Name. "Promise" in Psa_119:133 (lit. saying) must be taken in a widened sense, as including all Gods revealed will. The only escape from the tyranny of sin is to have our steps established by Gods word, and His help is needed for such establishment. Rebellion against sins dominion is already victory over it, if the rebel summons Gods heavenly reinforcements to his help. It is a high attainment to desire deliverance from men, chiefly in order to observe, unhindered, Gods commandments (Psa_119:134). And it is as high a desire to seek the light of Gods face mainly as the means of seeing His will more clearly. The psalmist did not merely wish for outward prosperity or inward cheer and comfort, but that these might contribute to fulfilling his deepest wish of learning better what God would have him to do (Psa_119:135). The moods of indignation (Psa_119:53) and of hatred (Psa_119:104, Psa_119:113, Psa_119:128) have given place to softer emotions, as they ever should (Psa_119:136). Tears and dewy pity should mingle with righteous anger, as when Jesus "looked round about on them with anger, being with the anger grieved at the hardening of their heart". {Mar_3:5}
The first word suggested to the psalmist under this letter is Righteousness. That august conception was grasped by devout Israelites with a tenacity, and assumed a prominence in their thoughts, unparalleled elsewhere. It is no mere yielding to the requirements of the acrostic scheme which sets that great word in four of the eight. verses of this section (Psa_119:137, Psa_119:138, Psa_119:142, Psa_119:144). Two thoughts are common to them all, that Righteousness has its seat in the bosom of God, and that the Law is a true transcript of that Divine righteousness. These things being so, it follows that the Law is given to men in accordance with the Divine "faithfulness"-i.e., in remembrance and discharge of the obligations which God has undertaken towards them. Nor less certainly does it follow that that Law, which is the "eradiation" of Gods righteousness, is eternal as its fontal source (Psa_119:142, Psa_119:144). The beam must last as long as the sun. No doubt, there are transient elements in the Law which the psalmist loved, but its essence is everlasting, because its origin is Gods everlasting Righteousness. So absorbed is he in adoring contemplation of it, that he even forgets to pray for help to keep it, and not till Psa_119:144 does he ask for understanding that he may live. True life is in the knowledge of the Law by which God is known, as Jesus has taught us that to know the only true God is life eternal. A faint gleam of immortal hope perhaps shines in that prayer, for if the "testimonies" are forever, and the knowledge of them is life, it cannot be that they shall outlast the soul that knows and lives by them. One more characteristic of Gods righteous testimonies is celebrated in Psa_119:140 -namely, that they have stood sharp tests, and, like metal in the furnace, have not been dissolved but brightened by the heat. They have been tested, when the psalmist was afflicted and found them to hold true. The same fire tried him and them, and he does not glorify his own endurance, but the promise which enabled him to stand firm. The remaining verses of the section describe the psalmists afflictions and clinging to the Law. Psa_119:139 recurs to his emotions on seeing mens neglect of it. "Zeal" here takes the place of grief (Psa_119:136) and of indignation and hatred. Friction against widespread godlessness generates a flame of zeal. as it should always do. "Small and despised" was Israel among the great powers of the ancient world, but he who meditates on the Law is armed against contempt and contented in insignificance (Psa_119:141). "Distress and anguish" may surround him, but hidden springs of "delight" well up in the heart that cleaves to the Law, like outbursts of fresh water rising to the surface of a salt sea (Psa_119:144).
The first two verses are a pair, in which former prayers for deliverance and vows of obedience are recalled and repeated. The tone of supplication prevails through the section. The cries now presented are no new things. The psalmists habit has been prayer, whole hearted, continued, and accompanied with the resolve to keep by obedience and to observe with sharpened watchfulness the utterances of Gods will. Another pair of verses follows (Psa_119:147-148), which recall the singers wakeful devotion. His voice rose to God ere the dim morning broke, and his heart kept itself in submissive expectance. His eyes saw Gods promises shining in the nightly darkness, and making meditation better than sleep. The petitions in Psa_119:149 may be taken as based upon the preceding pairs. The psalmists patient continuance gives him ground to expect an answer. But the true ground is Gods character, as witnessed by His deeds of lovingkindness and His revelation of His "judgments" in the Law.
Another pair of verses follows (Psa_119:150-151), in which the hostile nearness of the psalmists foes, gathering round him with malignant purpose, is significantly contrasted, both with their remoteness in temper from the character enjoined in the Law, and with the yet closer proximity of the assailed mans defender. He who has God near him, and who realises that His "commandments are truth," can look untrembling on mustering masses of enemies. This singer had learned that before danger threatened. The last verse of the section breathes the same tone of long-continued and habitual acquaintance with God and His Law as the earlier pairs of verses do. The convictions of a lifetime were too deeply rooted to be disturbed by such a passing storm. There is, as it were, a calm smile of triumphant certitude in that "Long ago." Experience teaches that the foundation, laid for trust as well as for conduct in the Law, is too stable to be moved, and that we need not fear to build our all on it. Let us build rock on that rock, and answer Gods everlasting testmonies with our unwavering reliance and submission.
The prayer "revive me" occurs thrice in this section. It is not a petition for spiritual quickening so much as for removal of calamities, which restrained free, joyous life. Its repetition accords with other characteristics of this section, which is markedly a cry from a burdened heart. The psalmist is in affliction; he is, as it were, the defendant in a suit, a captive needing a strong avenger (Psa_119:154), compassed about by a swarm of enemies (Psa_119:157), forced to endure the sight of the faithless and to recoil from them (Psa_119:158). His thoughts vibrate between his needs and Gods compassions, between his own cleaving to the Law and its grand comprehensiveness and perpetuity. His prayer now is not for fuller knowledge of the Law, but for rescue from his troubles. It is worth while to follow his swift turns of thought, which, in their windings, are shaped by the double sense of need and of Divine fulness. First come two plaintive cries for rescue, based in one case on his adherence to the Law, and in the other on Gods promise. Then his eye turns on those who do not, like him, seek Gods statutes, and these he pronounces, with solemn depth of insight, to be far from the salvation which he feels is his, because they have no desire to know Gods will. That is a pregnant word. Swiftly he turns from these unhappy ones to gaze on the multitude of Gods compassions, which hearten him to repeat his prayer for revival, according to Gods "judgments"-i.e., His decisions contained in the Law. But, again, his critical position among enemies forces itself into remembrance, and he can only plead that, in spite of them, he has held fast by the Law, and, when compelled to see apostates, has felt no temptation to join them, but a wholesome loathing of all departure from Gods word. That loathing was the other side of his love. The more closely we cleave to Gods precepts, the more shall we recoil from modes of thought and life which flout them. And then the psalmist looks wistfully up once more and asks that his love may receive what Gods lovingkindness emboldens it to look for as its result-namely, the reviving, which he thus once more craves. That love or the Law has led him into the depths of understanding Gods Word, and so his lowly petitions swell into the declaration, which he has verified in life, that its sum-total is truth, and a perpetual possession for loving hearts, however ringed round by enemies and "weighed upon by sore distress."
The tone of this section is in striking contrast with that of the preceding. Here, with the exception of the first clause of the first verse, all is sunny, and the thunderclouds are hull down on the horizon. Joy, peace, and hope breathe through the song. Beautifully are reverential awe and exuberant gladness blended as contemporaneous results of listening to Gods word. There is rapture in that awe; there is awe in that bounding gladness. To possess that law is better than to win rich booty. The spoils of the conflict, which we wage with our own negligence or disobedience, are our best wealth. The familiar connection between love of the Law and hatred of lives which depart from it, and are therefore lies and built on lies, reappears, yet not as the ground of prayer for help, but as part of the blessed treasures which the psalmist is recounting. His life is accompanied by music of perpetual praise. Seven times a day-i.e., unceasingly-his glad heart breaks into song, and "the oercome of his song" is ever Gods righteous judgments. His own experience gives assurance of the universal truth that the love of Gods law secures peace, inasmuch as such love brings the heart into contact with absolute good, inasmuch as submission to Gods will is always peace, inasmuch as the fountain of unrest is dried up, inasmuch as all outward things are allies of such a heart and serve the soul that serves God. Such love saves from falling over stumbling blocks, and enables a man "to walk firmly and safely on the clear path of duty." Like the dying Jacob, such a man waits for Gods salvation, patiently expecting that each day will bring its own form of help and deliverance, and his waiting is no idle anticipation, but full of strenuous obedience (Psa_119:166), and of watchful observance, such as the eyes of a servant direct to his master (Psa_119:167 a). Love makes such a man keen to note the slightest indications of Gods will, and eager to obey them all (Psa_119:167 b, Psa_119:168 a). All this joyous profession of the psalmists happy experience he spreads humbly before God, appealing to Him whether it is true. He is not flaunting his selfrighteousness in Gods face, but gladly recounting to Gods honour all the "spoil" that he has found. as he penetrated into the Law and it penetrated into his inmost being.
The threads that have run through the psalm are knotted firmly together in this closing section, which falls into four pairs of verses. In the first, the manifold preceding petitions are concentrated into two for understanding and deliverance, the twin needs of man, of which the one covers the whole ground of inward illumination, and the other comprises all good for outward life, while both are in accordance with the large confidence warranted by Gods faithful words. Petition passes into praise. The psalmist instinctively obeys the command, "By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known." His lips give forth not only shrill cries of need, but well up songs of thanks; and, while a thousand mercies impel the sparkling flood of praise, the chief of these is Gods teaching him His righteous statutes (Psa_119:171-172). In the next pair of verses, the emphasis lies, not on the prayer for help so much as on its grounds in the psalmists deliberate choice of Gods precepts, his patient yearning for Gods salvation, and his delight in the Law, all of which characteristics have been over and over again professed in the psalm. Here, once more, they are massed together, not in self-righteousness, but as making it incredible that, God being the faithful and merciful God which He is, His hand should hang idle when His servant cries for help (Psa_119:173-174). The final pair of verses sets forth the relations of the devout soul with God in their widest and most permanent forms. The true life of the soul must come from Him, the Fountain of Life. A soul thus made to live by communion with, and derivation of life from, God lives to praise, and all its motions are worship. To it the Law is no menace nor unwelcome restriction, but a helper. Life drawn from God, turned to God in continual praise, and invigorated by unfailing helps ministered through His uttered will, is the only life worth living. It is granted to all who ask for it. But a lower, sadder note must ever mingle in our prayers. Aspiration and trust must be intertwined with consciousness of weakness and distrust of ones self. Only those who are ignorant of the steps of the souls pilgrimage to God can wonder that the psalmists last thoughts about himself blend confession of wandering like a straying sheep, and profession of not forgetting Gods commandments. Both phases of consciousness coexist in the true servant of God, as, alas! both have grounds in his experience. But our sense of having wandered should ever be accompanied with the tender thought that the lost sheep is a sheep, beloved and sought for by the great Shepherd, in whose search not in our own docile following of His footsteps lies our firmest hope. The psalmist prayed "Seek Thy servant," for he knew how continually he would be tempted to stray. But we know better than he did how wonderfully the answer has surpassed his petition. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v11. Date and authorship. Some ascribe the authorship to…
INTRODUCTION
1. Date and authorship. Some ascribe the authorship to “David, before his accession to the kingdom, in exile and peril (Psa_119:9; Psa_119:23; Psa_119:46; Psa_119:141; Psa_119:161). Others (of chief authority), from the language and contents, imagine it to be of much later date. Jebb thinks, Daniel; others, Ezra; Dean Stanley says that the rhythm seems to mark the age of Jeremiah; Kay supposes it to depict the mental state of those who have passed through the discipline of the captivity; Hitzig, as usual, refers it to the days of the Maccabees (see Macc. 12:48).”—Speaker’s Com.
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2. Character. There are twenty-two sections in this Psalm, arranged according to the Hebrew alphabet, each consist of eight verses, and every eight begins with the same letter. Thus, there are eight initial Alephs, eight initial Beths, &c. In nearly every verse the divine law is mentioned, and the sacred name of Jehovah is brought in twenty-two times once for each letter. “It contains many repetitions and imitations of earlier Psalms.… No part of Scripture is more suggestive of edifying trains of thought, or more saturated with a spirit all but Christian, of humility, trust, devoted love to God, and realisation of His near presence.… It is an epitome of all true religion, and must be studied by any one who wishes to fathom the meaning of the law, and the elevation, hope, joy, confidence, felt in presence of kings and princes by pious Jews.”—Speaker’s Com.
3. Contents. “There is no grouping or arrangement of the subjects of this Psalm, and little or no connection between the sentiment of its verses. Much in it is proverbial or aphoristic.… It might be possible to make an arrangement under particular heads—such as the following—under the general title of the Word of God:—
1. In youth.
2. In trial.
3. In duty.
4. In meditation.
5. At night.
6. In public.
7. In private.
8. In prosperity.
9. In adversity, &c.”—Barnes.
THE BLESSED LIFE
(Psa_119:1-3)
Notice—
I. That all men are not happy. Our text specifies those who are, and implies that all else are unhappy.
1. All men desire happiness. The heathens were ever in quest of the chief good. Bad men and worldly men are ever pursuing their vices and follies to this end.
2. This happiness is not attained—
(1) Because the end aimed at is only mistaken for happiness. Riches, honour, pleasures, &c., when secured are frequently found to be misery rather than bliss (Luk_16:25). That which makes a man happy must exactly answer all the cravings of his soul and secure the equilibrium of his being, so that intellect, conscience, will, &c., shall cry in harmony, “It is enough.” Again, that which makes a man happy must be enduring, but the things of the world perish in the using (1Co_7:30-31), and the pleasures of sin are only “for a season.”
(2) Because the means employed are not adequate. Some are ignorant of the true means, and some dislike them (Joh_6:34., cf. Joh_6:66);
(3) and if adequate means are not employed, and the right end not secured, all becomes “vanity and vexation of spirit.”
II. That all men can secure happiness only by a right state of the heart. “That seek Him with their whole heart.”
1. A right state of the heart contemplates the true end of happiness. “Him.” God alone is the soul’s satisfying portion. The completest worldly abundance leaves some craving unsatisfied. When the soul is “filled with all the fulness of God,” it can ask no more.
2. A right state of the heart seeks happiness in the right way. “With the whole heart.” The sensualist seeks physical gratification; the intellectualist, mental; the moralist, ethical. A right state of the heart seeks complete happiness, the satisfaction of all its higher cravings, so as to leave none unblessed.
III. That all men can maintain happiness only by a right state of the life. The blessed are those who
1. “Are the undefiled in the way.” (Marg. Sincere; not absolutely perfect men, but men with a clear conscience and an upright intention.)
2. “Walk in the law of the Lord.” The inconsistent, the lawless, are unhappy. The law of God is so exactly suited to all our faculties, that only by keeping it can their well-being be secured.
3. “Do no iniquity.” “The way of transgressors is hard.”
IV. That provision is made for man’s happiness in the Word of God.
1. That word indicates what true happiness is. It tells us that man was originally happy; that angels and the spirits of just men made perfect are happy; that God only can make men happy, and that He does so by the gift of Himself and the “unsearchable riches of Christ.”
2. That word is an infallible guide to true happiness. There can be no happiness where there is uncertainty as to means or ends. Man left to this world’s fluctuating rules of good intention, custom, desire, &c., adopts measures which land him in disappointment. The Bible is the perfect and authoritative counsel of God. Guided by that we shall be received into glory.
3. That word affords us a powerful help towards true happiness. It is God’s “testimony.” It testifies to the facts of God’s fatherhood, goodness, and power; to Christ’s atonement and intercession; to the Holy Spirit’s regenerating, consoling, and sanctifying influences; and to heaven.
LAW, PRAYER, DUTY
(Psa_119:4-6)
I. Law. “Thou hast commanded us,” &c.
1. The Bible is based upon the personal authority of God.” “Thou.
(1.) Not man’s. The obligation to attend to its precepts does not rest upon the fact that great and good men wrote it, acknowledged it, and kept it.
(2.) Not its own. The inherent excellence of its doctrines and morals would be enough if only intellectual or moral assent and admiration were demanded. But
(3.) God’s. This accounts for its moral excellence and commanding influence. But let it be emphasised that primarily it rests upon His sovereign will. There are many things that transcend reason and run counter to merely human interests; but we believe and obey them, because “God spake all these words.”
2. The Bible comes to us on the personal authority of God. “Thou hast commanded.”
(1.) The Bible is not a recommendation from God, which man may or may not accept either as a whole, or on a principle of eclecticism in its parts. The Bible as a whole and in its parts being the charge of sovereign will and the revelation of the only remedy for human sin, therefore man must keep it as a whole.
(2.) The Bible is not the product of man’s intellect in a high spiritual mood. Its philosophy and virtue were not the discovery of good men studying and sympathising with the need of their fellow-men. But
(3.) the Bible is the collection of certain “precepts,” exhibited in the form of doctrine, history, example, &c., binding on the heart and conscience of men, direct from the counsels of the Most High.
3. The Bible must be diligently kept.
(1.) It must be kept. In the mind. It is necessary first to have it, so “he that receiveth the word into good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it.” By the will, in assenting to it. By the heart, in loving it. By the life, in practising it. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”
(2.) Comprehensively; Heb.: very much, all of them. In small duties, as well as great, must we exercise ourselves to have a conscience void of offence, &c. At all times. “Blessed is he that doeth righteousness at all times.” “Blessed are they that sow beside all waters.” With all our powers.
(3.) Diligently.
II. Prayer. The Psalmist contemplating the exceeding breadth of God’s commandments, and his own weakness, implores divine help (Psa_119:5). This shows us—
1. The necessity of prayer. The Heb. particle, “O that!” is an intense sigh, indicative of earnest desire. This necessity is based upon
(1) Our ignorance. We know not what to do till we are told. Religion does not come to us by instinct.
(2) Our forgetfulness. Anxiety and self-conceit often drive the most necessary things out of our mind, we therefore need and must pray for what is promised (Isa_30:21).
(3). Our moral weakness and indisposition. Our hearts are naturally averse and our feet prone to wander from God’s statutes. “These people do err in their hearts,” &c.
2. The substance of prayer. “Were directed.”
(1.) Generally by the Bible, the course of providence, and the example of good men.
(2.) Specifically by the Spirit, in the various ways which we from time to time have to tread. “The Lord directed his steps.” “O Lord, I know that the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man to direct his steps.”
(3.) Literally, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path.” “In all thy ways acknowledge Him,” &c.
(4.) Effectually by the Holy Ghost applying to the heart and disposing it. “The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God,” &c.
3. The end of prayer. “To keep Thy statutes.”
(1.) It is to be remarked that, of all the ends desired in this long Psalm, the first is holiness.
(2.) That end is practical holiness, not contemplative or ascetic “ways,” “statutes.”
(3.) That is the best and most desirable end. “Seek ye first,” &c.
III. Duty. The Psalmist looks forward to the result of answered prayer, and feels that under divine guidance he will not be ashamed when he has respect unto God’s commandments.
1. Duty contemplates a regard for God’s law; implying
(1) moral susceptibility. The wicked are callous, their hearts being hardened, and their wills set.
(2) Mental respect. Unless we respect God’s law, we can never acknowledge it.
(3) Practical observance.
2. Duty consists in an universal obedience to God’s law. “Unto all Thy commandments,” whether
(1) its precious promises,
(2) its elevating precepts, or
(3) its stern obligations.
3. Duty is rewarded by the approbation of God’s law. “Shall not be ashamed,” i.e., shall have no reason to be ashamed.
(1.) God’s law will approve a clear conscience (Rom_8:1).
(2.) God’s law will approve us so that we may dispense with the judgment of man. “With me it is a very small thing to be judged with man’s judgment,” for “God will bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day.”
(3.) God’s law will approve us at the great day. “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed at His coming.”
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) God’s commandments are commandments with promise; if we keep them we shall not be ashamed. (ii.) We are unable to keep them without divine help; let us pray for that help. (iii.) When that help is vouchsafed let us use it diligently, comprehensively, and perpetually.
GOOD RESOLUTIONS
(Psa_119:7-8)
Our text shows—
I. That good resolutions depend on the presence of God for their fulfilment. “O forsake me not utterly.” Therefore—
1. God’s presence should be earnestly supplicated.
(1.) Because of our impotence. “Without Me, ye can do nothing.”
(2.) Because of our instability. Nothing is more fluctuating than mere resolutions. Peter said, “Though all should forsake Thee,” &c.
(3.) Because it is of God to give grace to help,” &c. (Eph_6:10).
2. God’s presence will be vouchsafed. Not always sensibly, but always effectually. “Lo, I am with you alway.” Therefore
(1) Be not discouraged when God seems to be away. When the bird is away from her young, she is in search of food. When pioneers are away from the army, they are preparing the way for it. So God sometimes fulfils the promise, “I will go before thee, to make crooked places straight.”
(2) Be not discouraged when God withdraws His comforts. We may sometimes lose our sense of God’s love, as Asaph did. But is God necessarily away? No (Psa_83:18). But
(3) Be encouraged to resolve under the inspiration of the promise, “Certainly, I will be with thee.”
3. God’s presence may be withdrawn. “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” And nothing will drive Him away more than selfish, conceited, or hypocritical resolutions.
II. That good resolutions have respect to divine law. “I will keep Thy statutes.” All other resolutions are vain which omit this as their great and commanding aim.
1. God demands it.
2. Our new nature demands it.
3. Our desire for blessedness demands it.
III. That the fulfilment of good resolutions depends on the right state of the heart and life. “With uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned Thy righteous statutes.” Good resolutions are easily formed; their fulfilment is a very different matter. God’s presence is easily supplicated; but God’s power is exerted in the employment of adequate means. There must be—
1. A right state of the heart. Before God’s statutes can be kept, the heart must be disposed to keep them. The heart naturally inclined from the law of God, must be re-bent and inclined towards it.
2. A learning of “the judgments of righteousness” concerning our state, Mat_16:6; thoughts, Heb_4:12; actions, Ecc_12:14; the way of justification, Rom_3:22. We must ascertain the things we ought to resolve, and then trust to God’s Spirit to enable us to carry them out.
IV. That the fulfilment of good resolutions should be followed by gratitude. “I will praise Thee.”
1. Duty binds us to it. The fulfilment of resolutions that are really good has been by the help of God, and has secured our highest good.
2. The permanent result depends upon it.
3. Fresh resolutions are strengthened by it.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) Let your life be characterised by strong and noble resolutions. Don’t be discouraged if you fail at first. Resolve, by the grace of God, not rashly, but firmly. (ii.) Compare your resolutions with the Word of God. (iii) Carry them out at all costs (Mat_16:24). (iv.) Crown and glorify them all by profound gratitude.
A SERIOUS WORD FOR YOUNG MEN
(Psa_119:9)
“The case supposed is that of a young man pondering the question how he may be saved from the corruptions of his own heart, and escape the temptations to which he is exposed in early years, and lead a pure and upright life. There can be no more important inquiry for one just entering on the journey of life; there can be found nowhere a more just and comprehensive answer. All the precepts of ancient and modern wisdom, and all the results of the experience of mankind, could furnish nothing in addition to what is here suggested.”—Barnes.
I. A serious question asked.
1. The importance of a way. “A way has a direction, and leads some whither. A way is continuous, and if we are in it we are advancing in it. A way differs in its direction from other ways, and diverges more and more from them the farther one travels upon it. There are in our lives no isolated acts, but only ways. Every present has its closely affiliated future. We are moving on in character as in years. The wrong of which you say, ‘Only this once,’ provokes its own repetition and starts you in its own direction. The violation of truth, &c., involves you in a labyrinth of mole paths. You meant an act, you have found it a way; a precipitous way, too, in which you gain momentum at every step.”—Dr. Peabody.
2. The danger of having an impure way. Our text “is a metaphor which appeals to our experience. What is more disheartening than the necessity of treading muddy streets. There is a consciousness of unfitness for society. There are miry soul paths, miry they are to every eye in their more advanced stages; for there is no evil course that does not tend by sure and generally rapid steps to open shame, squalor, and misery.”—Ibid.
3. The special appropriateness of this question. אָרח, “a track, a rut, such as are made by wheels, &c. A young sinner has no broad beaten path; he has his private ways of offence, his secret pollutions; and how shall he be cleansed from these? how can he be saved from what will destroy body and mind and soul?”—Dr. A. Clarke. The future, too, depends on the young; upon the pure or impure paths they follow depends the intellectual, social, and political life of the future.
II. A satisfactory answer given. “By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.”
1. God’s Word is the only rule of righteousness. All other rules must, in the long run, lead astray. Conscience will never give a wrong direction, but it sometimes fails to give a right. You can’t bribe it into falsehood, but you can drug it into silence. When on the judgment seat you can depend on its decisions; but it is not always there. So with sentiments of honour, self-respect, self-interest, &c.; there is no security in any of them. Only the Word of God is pure. It alone exhibits the sum of all perfection in the holiness of God and the character of Christ. “I have given you an Example.” “Be ye holy, as He who has called you is holy.”
2. The Word of God is the only means by which we can be cleansed. “Sanctify them by Thy truth,” &c.
(1.) It is the only clear revealer of the character of sin.
(2.) It alone urges upon us the necessity of holiness.
(3.) It alone encourages us to seek holiness by its exceeding great and precious promises (2Co_7:1, 2Pe_1:4).
(4.) It alone reveals the all-sufficient remedy for sin.
3. The Word of God must be studied and applied. “By taking heed.”
(1.) A careful study of its principles.
(2.) A careful reference of its precepts to our special requirements.
(3.) A careful walking according to its rule.
III. Sufficient reasons suggested.
1. Because God demands it.
(1.) God should not be long kept out of His rights. “Remember now thy Creator.” The vessel should as soon as possible be made meet for the master’s use. God has made everything ready, so there need be no delay.
(2.) God should have our best at its best. All we enjoy we owe to Him. The Mosaic law recognised this (Lev_2:4). Youth is the best time. Health and vigour belong to it. Shall the best be devoted to the devil, and when you are no longer of use to him will you offer God the dregs? (Rom_12:1.)
2. Because reason demands it.
(1.) Youth is the time of special temptations (2Ti_2:22.) Children are of no use to the devil. The aged he has done with. But he loves to get hold of young men (1Ti_3:6.)
(2.) Evil habits grow and strengthen by every indulgence. A twig may be easily bent, but the branch is fixed; a sapling may be transplanted, an oak never.
(3.) The longer you delay the more useless you are for God and good.
3. Because self-interest demands it
(1.) Life is uncertain. Such a momentous question must not be trifled with. Warning is not always given. Nadab and Abihu were young men. There is but a step between us and death.
(2.) God is provoked to anger by delay, and retribution accumulates both in this life and the next (Job_13:26).
(3.) Divine blessings are delayed. It is good for a man to bear this yoke in his youth.
IN CONCLUSION.—You are beginning life, begin it with God. You have great temptations, but you have great help (Job_2:9-10) and bright prospects (Mar_10:14). There are only two ways, the way of life and the way of death—where are you?
ARGUMENT WITH GOD
(Psa_119:10)
God offers to reason with man. He offers to reason with the sinner, permits him to state his own case and to “bring forth his strong reasons” in support of it. He offers to reason with the saints; and the saint here takes up the challenge. The Psalmist presents before God’s notice a fact. He then bases an argument upon this fact, and then turns the fact and argument into a prayer.
I. The fact, “With my whole heart have I sought Thee.”
1. What is it to seek God? (Psa_24:6). It is an earnest and diligent endeavour to find God in certain definite characters for certain definite purposes.
(1) As our God, Sovereign, Father, Friend;
(2) as our Guide by His Word and Spirit;
(3) as our exceeding great reward.
2. Where should we seek God?
(1.) In sinfulness, notwithstanding Adam’s flight from Him and Peter’s desire that He should depart. That is the one reason why we should desire God’s presence to pardon it, and help us out of it.
(2.) In difficulties. In doubt for His direction; in weakness for His strength; in sickness for His health; in trouble for His consolation; as Paul (2Co_12:7-9).
(3.) In our daily life. The heathen consulted their penates; Laban, his teraphim; Balak, Balaam. Shall God’s people be behind these? Seek God’s permission, counsel, blessing.
(4.) In personal communion, not when we are obliged to go, and simply because we are obliged to go, but because we love to go (Psa_22:26).
3. How should we seek God. “With the whole heart”—
(1.) Personally. “Thee with my.” Men sometimes profess to seek God, when they are but seeking their own interests (Joh_6:26). When we seek from God other than Himself, or send others with our requests, we fail. We cannot find God by proxy.
(2.) Comprehensively. “Whole.” The combined faculties of the soul. Intelligently by the study of His Word and works; morally, by faith and love.
(3.) Earnestly and uniformly, not by fits and starts. Such, then, is the fact that the Psalmist lays before God, and which forms the premises of his argument.
II. The Argumentative value of the fact.
1. The Psalmist does not offer it
(1) Boastfully—the plea goes side by side with confessions of unworthiness—or
(2) Meritoriously. No one can argue with God on that basis. “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” We can only glory that we are in debt to God (1Co_1:31).
2. The Psalmist does offer it as a reason why God should help him.
(1.) He wants to find God. He is using the means. God is implored to bless those means.
(2.) He wants further blessing. God has already commanded and wrought in him the desire to seek. He now asks that he may find.
III. The prayer founded on the argument and fact. This is worthy of special note. He does not ask for temporal advantages, but for steadfastness in God’s ways. Notice—
1. Man’s proneness to wander (Jer_14:10; Isaiah 53; Luke 15.).
2. The saint’s sensibility of this proneness to wander. The more we desire to seek God, and are on the way to find Him, the keener will be our sensibility of error.
3. The saint’s conviction of God’s ability to keep him from wandering.
FINALLY.—Those who seek God shall find Him. Those who have arguments to plead will find those arguments valued. Those who pray shall have their prayers answered.
THE WORD OF GOD, ITS SPHERE AND ITS SERVICE
(Psa_119:11)
The Word of God is the revelation of His person and will. It is the duty of man to treasure it up where it can be preserved most safely. If it is only on our shelves or in our heads, it may be stolen or forgotten; but if it is in our hearts, cherished by our affections and guarded by our will, and embodied in our spiritual life, it is safe from loss or decay. But once in the heart it is not only kept by the heart, but keeps the heart. “Thou bearest Cæsar and his fortunes.” The fortress keeps the granary, but the granary keeps those who man the ramparts.
I. What is done? “Thy Word have I hid in my heart,” which implies—
1. Understanding it. Thoughts must pass into the heart through the mind (Pro_2:10). Not that it is necessary that it should be fully comprehended. Water does not always fill the channel through which it flows. It is enough if it fills the vessel into which it flows. Many mysteries baffle the intellect, but the heart is the proper organ for their comprehension.
2. Believing it. Until unbelief is broken down, the Word appeals for entrance in vain. When, however, it is welcomed by the hand of faith, it enters in and dwells there. It did not profit the ancient Jews, because it was not mixed with faith.
3. Loving it. The heart is the seat of the affections, and where there is no love the Word cannot enter. “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.”
4. Appropriating it. There may be understanding faith and even love, and yet no hiding of the Word. These are but means to an end; its reception into our very heart’s life, so that we may become a law unto ourselves, walking Bibles, living epistles.
II. How it is done.
1. By reading it continuously, constantly, and systematically.
2. By searching it: as the miner does for hid treasures, as the workman does for the best materials and the best tools. Superficial work will produce only superficial results.
3. By meditating upon it. If we simply read it, we shall forget it. If we merely search, we may treat what we find as subjects of interest or curiosity. But if we meditate, what we have found in our search will become seed-corn in our hearts, to bring forth fruit to the glory of God.
III. The advantages of doing it. In the heart the Word of God is—
1. Safe
(1) from the fluctuations of memory; it has become part of ourselves, and is as unchangeable as our identity.
(2) From the assaults of unbelief. It has passed out of the region of speculative belief and tentative hypothesis into the region of facts.
(3) From the deprivations of affliction. We may be unable to hear the Word of God or even to read it, but if it is stored up in the heart we can dispense, if necessity demand it, with external means.
(4) From the hand of the persecutor. Said that lad of whom Foxe speaks, when the Marian persecutors took his Bible from him, “Thank God, you cannot take away those chapters He has written on my heart.”
2. Ready for every emergency. The most powerful remedy and the most valuable blessings are nothing worth if not close at hand when required. “Every scribe that is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven bringeth forth out of his treasures things new and old.” It is ready
(1.) To comfort in distress.
(2.) To provide arguments against unbelief.
(3.) To furnish us with pleas in prayer. Our prayers are effectual in proportion as the word of Christ dwells in us richly
(4.) To make spiritual intercourse more sweet and edifying, Col_3:6.
(5.) To afford instruction, stimulous, sanctity, and diligence in the concerns of daily life.
IV. The grand purpose of doing it. “That I might not sin against Thee.” The Word of God hid in the heart safe from attack, but ready to attack will:—
1. Expel sin. The heart “abhors a vacuum.” It will be filled with something. If not with the Word of God, with sin. But both will not dwell together there. Divine principles, however, will extirpate sin.
2. Preserve from falling into sin. “The law of the Lord is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide.”
3. Enable us to overcome sin. In this great warfare all other weapons but the sword of the Spirit will fail (1Jn_1:8).
THE SOURCE AND MEANS OF BLESSEDNESS
(Psa_119:12)
I. God is the source and fountain of all blessedness. “Blessed art Thou, O God.”
1. God is absolutely blessed in Himself. He is “the blessed God,” “the blessed and only potentate.” “Over all, God blessed for ever;” free from all misery, enjoying all good, all-sufficient in Himself, contented with Himself, delighted with Himself, neither needing any good or fearing any evil from the work of His hands (Psa_16:2).
2. God communicates all blessings from Himself (P. Psa_145:16; Eph_1:3). He is the most conspicuous illustration of His own saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Joh_1:16).
3. God appropriates all blessings to Himself (Psa_145:10; Rev_5:13).
II. Man’s blessedness consists in the enjoyment of God. “Happy is the people whose God is the Lord.” God, being absolutely blessed, has enough for Himself, and therefore enough for us. He is “God all-sufficient.”
1. Man misses happiness if he seeks it from any source short of God. Everything else is
(1) imperfect. Let the world’s contributions be ever so copious they leave some void. Solomon, Ahab, Naboth, &c.
(2) Illusive. The happiness they bring is only apparent. They cannot quell one unquiet passion, or still or satisfy conscience (Pro_14:3).
(3) Transient. An immortal soul can only be satisfied with “pleasures for evermore.”
2. Man gains happiness when he seeks it in God.
(1.) God is “able to supply all our need.” “In His presence is fulness of joy.”
(2.) God’s blessings are real. Sin is cleansed, passions subdued, conscience satisfied, soul fed, and the whole man kept in perfect peace.
(3.) God’s satisfactions are charged with His own immortality.
III. Man’s blessedness is secured through instruction in God’s statutes.
1. They teach us the way to God.
2. They teach us how to partake of the blessed nature of God (2Pe_1:4).
3. How we may live the life of God and engage in His blessed work.
IN CONCLUSION.—Pro_8:34-35.
TESTIMONY
(Psa_119:13)
This verse is closely connected with the two preceding. In Psa_119:11 the Word is hid in the heart, now it finds expression on the lips. To express what we do not feel is hypocrisy; and what is really in the heart will find an outflow. In Psa_119:12 God is asked to teach His statutes: the prayer is now answered, and, mentally and morally qualified, the Psalmist teaches others.
I. The subject of this testimony. “All the judgments of Thy mouth.”
1. God’s judgments are divinely revealed. Not human discoveries or speculations.
2. God’s judgments are the divine criteria whereby to decide in all matters affecting truth, duty, and destiny (Isa_8:20). Not reason, interest: what man thinks or feels; but God’s infallible judgment.
3. God’s judgments are the rule by which He judges the world. Now (Joh_5:45-46). They are not arbitrary and capricious, but fixed, written down. By them He will adjudicate at the last day. (Joh_12:48). Notice, then, that what God has said, and said in His sovereign and official character, is the subject of our testimony.
II. The manner of this testimony.
1. Clearly. “Declared.”
2. Fully. “All the judgments” (Act_20:27).
3. Faithfully. “All the judgments of Thy mouth.” Not our own opinions, speculations, or doubts (1Pe_2:2). ἄδολον γάλα, unmixed milk. “To mix it with sugar and the luscious strains of human evil disguises it and hides it from a spiritual taste. To mix it with lime (as Jerome says of heretics) makes it baneful and noxious.”—M. Henry.
III. The reason for this testimony.
1. It is a duty we owe to God. He gave us the organs of speech (Psa_12:4). When we give our bodies a living sacrifice we must not reserve our tongue (Jas_3:9).
2. Because the lips should be in harmony with the character. “The tongue of the just is as choice silver.” The sensualist will talk of his pleasures, the man of business of his trade, the student of his books, and shall the righteous restrain their testimony? (Mat_12:35.)
2. Because the tongue is the most important member in the propagation of divine truth. Perhaps example is overvalued. True Christianity is not profession, but life. But how can example influence without a declaration of those judgments upon which it is based? The preference of life over testimony may perhaps spring from a shrinking from an arduous duty.
IN CONCLUSION.—Let the example of the Psalmist stimulate us to a more perfect fulfilment of this much-neglected or badly-discharged obligation. How much there is of mere speculation and laboured rhetoric in preaching! How much of foolish talking and jesting, to say no more, in the family and social circle! Let the preacher prepare himself by the more diligent study of the judgments of God, and let private Christians remember Coloss. Psa_4:6, and let the Church in its private gatherings remember Heb_3:13, and Psa_37:30.
GOD’S TESTIMONIES A GROUND OF JOY
(Psa_119:14)
I. What the Psalmist did. “I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies as much as in all riches.” The testimonies themselves are a “way.” God’s Word is a progressive revelation. And the life to which it bears testimony and for which it is a guide is the “way of holiness.” Thus the Psalmist rejoiced in the study and practice of the Word of God. Looking around him he observed that riches were the main elements in human joy, and that men considered themselves happy in proportion to their wealth. But his conclusion is, that all riches could afford him no greater joy than that which he had in the Word of God. He rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies.
1. As truth, which was good for his understanding (Pro_24:13-14). When any capacity is filled with that which is suitable to it, joy and satisfaction will naturally arise. The mind is disordered by perplexities and errors, but is satisfied with truth.
2. As the highest and most absolute truth (Deu_4:6-7). What man calls truth is not always certain truth. The so-called truths of philosophy and science to one generation are often errors to another, and the mind is often bewildered by the dogmatism of its teachers. What men have taught most certainly has frequently been exploded or revised. Only the truth of God is immutable, and subject to no revision. The mind can, therefore, rest upon it without fear.
3. As truth which could satisfy the higher cravings of his soul. All truth is more or less satisfying. More or less, because there are degrees of value even in truth. A truth which shall guide a man to a right destination is of more value to him than a scientific curiosity. Truth which makes a man better and nobler, is of more value than that which tells the number of the stars. God’s truth is of the supremest value, because it guides the soul to God and immortality, and “converts the soul.”
II. Why he did it. The Psalmist rejoiced in God’s testimonies as much as in all riches, because—
1. Of their exact suitability to his need. Joy is that which inevitably results from the reception of a suitable blessing. Food rejoices the hungry soul, not the full one. The parched ground rejoices after a shower, not the saturated morass. So riches are good in their way, they bring bread to the starving, clothes to the naked, &c. In that way do the testimonies of God “rejoice the soul.” There is a class of need which they alone satisfy. They are God’s great spiritual treasure-house of food, raiment, &c., which fully meet all the requirements of our nature.
2. Because the greater covered the less. Profit and pleasure, the sum of the worldling’s store, and the result of his expenditure of his wealth, are these his alone? Nay, verily. God’s people have these and a hundredfold beside if they fulfil the conditions (Psa_19:10-11). The distinction between God’s people and others is that the former seeks true riches and true happiness and gets them, the others false riches and false happiness and do not always get them.
(1.) They get the true profit. True wealth makes not the surroundings but the man more valuable. The value of a picture does not consist in its frame, neither does that of a man in the abundance of the things which he possesses. True wealth relieves in the greatest extremities. Money is of no use in the day of sickness and the hour of death. True wealth purchases things of the highest value. True wealth is that which is so estimated by those who are best capable of judging. The savage may think himself wealthy, and be thought wealthy by his fellow-savages, by his accumulation of shells and beads, but what does civilised man think of him? So true wealth is that which is pronounced so by God (Luk_12:20-21). Knowledge (Col_2:2; Col_3:16). Faith (Jas_2:5). Good works (1Ti_6:17-18). The favour of God (Rom_10:12).
(2.) True pleasures. The pleasures purchased by wealth are transient; those that lie on the path of God’s testimonies are “for evermore.” The one by over-indulgence leads to sin and death (Luk_12:19); the other to joy unspeakable and fulness of glory.
IN CONCLUSION.—Seek the way of God’s testimonies. Riches and joy are there. It is a calumny to speak of religion as an unprofitable or gloomy thing. Riches even of the baser sort are sanctified, and pleasures so far from being abrogated are perfected. The way of God’s testimonies is our way home. Does not that thought generate strength, lighten labour, and ease pain?
A FOURFOLD DETERMINATION
(Psa_119:15-16)
The Psalmist has been mainly speaking of the past; upon that he builds the future. He had sought, hid, declared, rejoiced; now he will meditate, observe, delight, remember. These different determinations suggest to us the refreshing changes of spiritual life.
Rest consists more in the variation than in the cessation of employment. So the Psalmist, while his love for all the departments of his work is the same, yet changes his exercise. Now it is meditation, now observance, now recreation, now the exercise of memory. Observe the twofold order in these verses. The precepts point to the ways, the ways are regulated by the statutes, and the Word covers the whole. Again, meditation on God’s precepts results in respect unto God’s ways. To have respect unto God’s ways is to see the pleasure and profit of God’s statutes; and, finally, rejoicing in God’s statutes is the best protection against forgetfulness of God’s Word.
I. “I will meditate in Thy precepts.” Meditation is the contemplation, digestion, and spiritualisation of truth. The heart sanctified by the grace of God is an alembic in which those noble and profitable thoughts are distilled which are necessary to the spiritual life. God has enforced upon us this duty (Jos_1:8), and promises His approbation and blessing upon it (Psa_1:2). If we would maintain our spiritual health we must meditate. Without it faith, the evidence of things not seen, becomes weak; things hoped for vanish away; love, forgetful of its true object, consumes itself in its own fires; and prayer, lacking both thought and verbiage, droops and dies.
II. Those that meditate in God’s precepts will have respect to God’s ways. Meditation will show that God’s ways are right ways; that God’s ways are the only profitable and useful ways. Meditation will open up the whole way. It will therefore lead to—
1. Deliberate choice of God’s ways. He who meditates will not decide to serve God simply because his fathers did so, or because it is the fashion to do so, or for fear of hell, &c., but from intelligent and conscientious conviction.
2. Avoidance of every other way. Meditation will show a man the impossibility of walking in God’s path and the devil’s at one and the same time. He will be able to resist the fascinations of those ways which diverge on both sides from the way of God, and will elect to keep in that way alone.
3. Firm, steady, and persevering progress in that way. Meditating on his chart, and communing with his divine companion, he will not pursue his journey by fits and starts, with sudden progresses and equally sudden declensions, but will run with patience and walk without faintness.
III. Respect for God’s ways will beget delight in God’s statutes. By keeping to those ways alone and by continuous progress in those ways it will be seen—
1. That God’s statutes deserve delight
(1.) Because of Him who is their Author, and the substance of what they teach about Him. The further we go the more we shall see of His tender fatherhood, His mighty helpfulness, His beneficence and grace, what He is to us, what He does for us, what He will make of us.
(2.) Because of their own intrinsic excellence. The further we travel the more we shall know of their elevating doctrines, their interesting history, their precious promises, and their mighty hopes.
2. That God’s statutes must be our delight.
(1.) They are our charter (Heb_6:18).
(2.) Our infallible directory on the way (Psa_119:105).
(3.) Our encouragement and support (Psa_119:54). They are God’s storehouse of riches for our poverty, comfort for our afflictions, life for our death.
IV. Delight in God’s statutes will be helpful to the memory of His Word. The mind most easily fastens on and treasures up that in which it is most delighted. “Where the treasure is,” &c. That which is displeasing is gladly forgotten, but it is an increased and increasing delight to be able to remember the delightful. If a student has no delight in his book he will soon forget it; but, taking pleasure in it, his comfort will be promoted by his recollection. There are two ways of forgetting God’s Word—
(1.) Forgetfulness of its literal precepts.
(2.) Forgetfulness to obey those precepts. Delight in God’s statutes is the sure corrective of both.
LIFE: ITS SUSTENANCE AND AIM
(Psa_119:17)
Everything depends upon true and adequate views of life. It is perilous to entertain false or one-sided views. The worldling views life as a field for pleasure, the soldier for military prowess, the student for learning, the merchant for wealth, the statesman for politics, the Psalmist as a sphere for divine service.
I. Life. The Psalmist’s idea of life was servitude. He was God’s servant. This conception runs through the Bible. The proud distinction of Patriarchs, Psalmists, Prophets, and Apostles was that they were servants of the King of kings. This view implies honourable acceptance, dignified privilege, and exceeding great reward.
II. The sustenance of life. God’s bounty. Notice that this bounty is—
1. Unmerited. We can lay no natural claim to it.
2. Adequate. By it God is able to supply all our need.
3. Everlasting.
III. The aim of life. The Psalmist prays that life thus sustained may keep God’s word. This aim is—
1. The divinely-ordained aim. God has made man for Himself. It is His will, therefore, man should keep that which shall enable him to fulfil that design.
2. The highest, noblest, and truest aim. It is that which angels consciously reach, and God’s inanimate universe unconsciously.
3. The soul-satisfying aim. The Word of God is the law of our being, and in the keeping of that there is great reward. Learn—
(i.) That the life spiritual is of more value than the life natural. (ii.) That if the latter is of God’s bounty, so is the former. (iii.) That the sustenance of both should be supplicated, that the true aim of both may be reached.
WONDROUS THINGS, AND HOW TO SEE THEM
(Psa_119:8)
The law was a very small portion of what is now the Word of God. Yet the Psalmist saw and hoped still to see in that narrow compass vastly more than we do in the large and complete revelation of God’s will. This is accounted for from the fact that he made the very best use of what he had, and that God, in answer to his prayer, had enabled him to do so. Notice—
I. That man by himself cannot see wondrous things. The Hebrew phrase is, “Unveil mine eyes;” implying—
1. That man is spiritually blind (Rev_3:17; Job_11:12).
(1.) By sin (Eph_4:18).
(2.) By reason of ignorance.
(3.) By reason of self-conceit (1Co_8:1-2).
(4.) By reason of prejudice and disaffection (Luk_16:14; 2Co_4:4).
2. That man is not only thus naturally blind, but lacks that divine light which can alone reveal and illuminate the sacred mysteries. Man is both blind and in the dark. His therefore is “gross darkness.”
3. That this blindness and darkness are universal. The Psalmist’s case before his prayer was not the exception, but the rule.
II. That there is a process by means of which man may not only see, but see wondrous things. The Psalmist did not complain of the inherent obscurity of the law, but of the darkness which rested both on him and it. So he does not ask for another law, nor for a new faculty, just as a blind man would not wish for a new sun, or for new or gans. All he asks is that that which was hidden might be brought to the light, and that in that light he might see light This process is—
1. The unveiling of man’s eyes (2Co_3:14-15; Luk_24:45).
2. The diffusion of spiritual light.
3. The employment of the faculty which has been unveiled in the contemplation of that upon which supernatural light has been thrown. By this means a clear and experimental knowledge of the word of God will be obtained (Heb_8:10).
III. When this process is complete, wondrous things are seen in God’s law.
1. “Wondrous things.” The Bible is a register of facts. Myths are wonderful. Prodigies are wonderful. But the plain truths of the Word of God are more wonderful than the strangest fiction.
2. “Wondrous things.” The things of God’s law are
(1) Wondrously beautiful. No poets have ever had so exquisite a sense of the beauties of nature. No histories are so charming, no examples so sublime, no eloquence so grand.
(2) Wondrously surprising. The Bible is full of surprises. This is so if we consider the way and the form in which the Bible has at length reached us. Every successive step in its development opens up new wonders, and every book has something fresh to say about the wonderful works of God. Then what a history it has had! What escapes, what triumphs!
(3) “Wonderfully mysterious. Its aim is, all through, to lead us to such subjects as the soul and God, and the eternal world, and sin—the great mystery and root of mysteries—and the marvellous remedy which has been provided for it in the descent of the Divine nature into the human, that great mystery of godliness—“God manifest in the flesh.” … If the “powers of the world to come” have anything in them to excite wonder and awe, the Bible, beyond all other books, holds them in his hand.”—Ker.
(4) Wondrously perfect in its wisdom (Deu_4:6), purity (Psa_119:49), equity (Rom_7:12), power (Rom_1:16), unity.
STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS
(Psa_119:19-20)
“When a child is born into the world it is spoken of as a ‘little stranger.’ Strangers indeed come from far, out of immensities from the presence and touch and being of God, and go into the immensities again, into and through all the unreckonable ages of duration. But the little stranger takes vigorous root … and life goes on deepening and broadening in its flow, … and then after elaborate preparations, opening into a great, restful, sunny plain, lo! the shadows begin to fall … and a voice speaks and calls for the ‘little stranger’ to go through that door men call death; and the stranger is not ready, the pilgrim’s staff is not in hand, and his eye, familiar enough with surrounding things, is not accustomed to the onward and ascending way.… Alas! he has made one grand mistake. He has been looking at the things which are seen and temporal, and not at the things which are not seen and eternal; and so there is hurry and confusion and distress in the going away, all which may be helped and throughly hindered if a man will but say, ‘I am a stranger in the earth.’ ”—Dr. Raleigh.
I. The stranger. “A stranger is very well known, not perhaps in the great city where there are always thousands of such, but in a country town or on a country road. See him as he enters the village at nightfall: yon can see at once he is not of the place. The dust is on his raiment; he is footsore and weary; yet he has no mind to stay—he will be away again before the inhabitants are up. His language is different; his questions are those of one who has but a superficial and momentary interest in the answer that may be given; his very look is the life spelling of the word ‘onward;’ his home, wherever it may be, is not here.”—Dr. Raleigh.
1. All men are strangers. Good or bad alike, whether they will or not, are fast travelling to “that undiscovered country,” &c. “One generation passeth away and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth ever.” “The pavement we walk upon, the coals in our grates—how many millenniums old are they? The pebble you kick with your foot—how many millenniums will it outlast? Go into a museum and you will see hanging there, little the worse for centuries, notched swords and gaping helmets—ay, but what has become of the bright eyes that once flashed the light of battle through the bars? what has become of the strong hands that once gripped the hilts?… The money in your purses now will some of it bear the head of a king that died half a century ago? It is bright and useful—where are all the people that in turn said they ‘owned’ it? Other men will live in our houses and preach from this pulpit when you and I are far away.”—Maclaren.
2. Specially are the children of God strangers. Those who are not the children of God would be at home here if they could; but God’s children are conscious of being and willing to be strangers, because
(1) Their native country is elsewhere. Everything tends towards the place of its origin. All men love their native soil. Christians are “born from above.” “Jerusalem which is from above is the mother of us all,” and therefore we “seek those things which are above.”
(2) Their inheritance is elsewhere (Eph_1:3).
(3) Their kindred are elsewhere. Father, elder brother, &c. (Mat_8:11; Hebrews 11).
(4) All the endowments of their nature point to a fuller and unrestricted exercise elsewhere.
II. The stranger’s prayer. “Hide not Thy commandments from me.”
1. God’s commandments are man’s chart and directory on his way to heaven.
2. Those commandments are hidden from the natural man; their dialect is altogether foreign to him.
3. Prayer should be offered that these commandments may be made intelligible.
4. When made known, they should become a “lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path” till our pilgrimage is o’er.
III. The stranger’s longing. “My heart breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all times.”
1. The more cur hearts are bent on the end of our journey, the more shall we desire fully and accurately to know the way.
2. The more we know of the way, the more ardent will be our desire to know all about it at all times.
3. The more we desire to know of the way, the more diligent and practical will be our study of that which can alone guide us to our destination.
IN CONCLUSION.—
(i.) What provision are you making for your journey?
(ii.) Are you astray on your pilgrimage?
PROVIDENTIAL INEQUALITIES READJUSTED
(Psa_119:21-24)
The Psalmist here and elsewhere states the standing problem of the apparent prosperity of evil and adversity of good, and solves it. He was seemingly in great misery, while his enemies flourished; but it was not really so. The Psalmist had privileges to which his oppressors had no title. He had God’s testimonies as his delights and counsellors; while those who oppressed him were of a debased moral character, and were under the condemnation of God. This solution satisfied him; may it satisfy us.
I. The problem stated.
1. The prosperity of the wicked.
(1.) “Princes.” The wicked are often in the ascendant as regards power, wealth, position, popular esteem, &c.
(2.) “Proud.” The wicked are always, when they can be, arrogant and self-sufficient.
2. The adversity of the righteous.
(1.) They are “reproached” for their conscientious scruples, integrity, endeavours, and aims.
(2.) They are treated with ridicule and “contempt,” because of those things that they hold most dear: God’s Word, Christian character, hope of heaven.
(3.) They are unjustly judged (Psa_119:23), because man cannot estimate the worth of godliness.
II. The problem solved.
1. The adversity of the wicked. Our real state is what we are in the sight of God.
(1.) They stand rebuked of God, and are therefore cursed.
(2.) They err from God’s commandments, and thus miss the true end of their being and the full glory and perfection of their life. Can heirs therefore, be true prosperity?
2. The prosperity of the righteous.
(1.) Their reproach and contempt is that of man, and therefore removable, and will be removed by the justice and compassion of God.
(2.) They have a certain and infallible guide. God’s testimonies tell them of God’s will and how to submit to it with resignation and patience.
(3.) They have perennial sources of delight. God’s Word testifies of God’s presence, God’s comfort, God’s heaven. Can there be any real adversity with all this?
“TENEO ET TENEOR”
(Psa_119:22, clause 2, and Psa_119:24)
Those who keep God’s testimonies shall be kept by them.
I. How do we keep God’s testimonies?
1. By remembering them. To forget is to lose. To have them kept in the memory is to have them ready for every time of need.
2. By obeying them. Every act of obedience is an additional stone in the fortress, in which they are kept. Every duty formed strengthens habit and confirms steadfastness.
3. By propagating them. Giving is the condition of keeping all through life. The vitality of a tree is conditional upon its yielding fruit and leaves. Material wealth depends on the outlay of money. So unless we give in proportion as it is given unto us of the word of life, even that which we have will be taken away.
II. How do God’s testimonies keep us?
1. By ministering to our delight.
God’s Word brings that light and gladness which saves the world from suicide. It testifies of God, who is the health of our countenance; of Christ, who cleanses us from the source of all misery; of the Holy Ghost, who comforts us in the day of trial; of the precious promises which buoy us up with hopes of better things to come; of heaven, where all tears are wiped away.
2. By guiding us with their infallible counsel. They keep us in the path of truth, guide us in the way of holiness, direct us in the road to heaven, and as we go shield us from all harm.
IN CONCLUSION.—The principle of our text holds good everywhere. Those who hold good or bad principles are kept or lost by them and with them. The man who knows how to keep his temper, his money, &c., will find that they will keep him. Hold, then, the best things, the firmest things, and you will be ever safe.
THE BENEFIT OF GOD’S TESTIMONIES
(Psa_119:24)
The Psalmist in his trouble and distress, under the contempt and reproach of the proud, and under the oppression of princes, turns to God’s Word, and there finds direction and joy.
I. “Thy testimonies are my delights.” Notice—
1. That there are joys AND joys. Worldlings have their joys, but they are unsubstantial and evanescent. The delight engendered by God’s testimonies is
(1) Divine and powerful. It is the “joy of the Lord,” and is God’s people’s strength.
(2) Real (2Co_6:10).
(3) Great (1Pe_1:8).
(4) Endless. “Everlasting joy.”
2. That God’s people are commanded to rejoice—
(1) Not merely permitted;
(2) Not merely suggested on reasonable grounds;
(3) But enjoined as a necessary duty. It is not a matter of indifference or choice. We must rejoice (Php_4:4; Mat_5:12; Jas_1:2).
3. That this rejoicing is founded on and derived through the Word of God (Rom_15:4; Heb_12:5). Joy is particularly needful in affliction, as in the Psalmist’s ease. God’s testimonies tell us
(1) Who permits it (Joh_18:11);
(2) The benefit of it (Isa_26:19; Heb_12:10);
(3) The brevity of it (Isa_54:7-8);
(4) Helps in it. Consoling help (Rom_5:3), Effectual help (Psa_138:3; Heb_13:5);
(5) Its end (2Co_4:17).
II. “Thy testimonies are my counsellors.” As a divine rule in all matters of faith and practice it is sufficient. Man cannot improve upon it, let him not tinker with it. It is an unerring guide in all perplexities. It will help us to a right decision in all matters of right and wrong. Its counsel is safe for good thinking, good speaking, for the prudent management of our affairs to successful issues (Jas_1:6), and supporting in all painful or difficult duties (Pro_16:3; Psa_37:5).
AFFLICTION AND ITS REMEDY
(Psa_119:25)
Our text teaches us—
I. That God’s children are afflicted. This affliction may be a sorrowful inward experience (Psa_88:3-7; Psa_76:1), or an extreme outward pressure (2Sa_12:16-17; 2Sa_15:30). We know that “God does not willingly afflict.” Why then do His people’s souls sometimes cleave to the dust?
(1.) To humble them (2Co_1:7-9).
(2.) To correct for past transgressions. The righteous have their evil things in this life. God punishes them now that it may not be necessary to do so by and by.
(3.) To test the strength of their character, their faith in the promises, their hope in His mercy, the depth and sincerity of His love.
(4.) To awaken the spirit of prayer (Psa_130:1). To show more of the riches of His grace in their recovery (Psa_71:20-21).
II. That affliction should drive us to God for help. Notice—
1. The unwisdom of any other course.
Man cannot help us.
2. The disastrousness of any other course (Dan_9:13). To choke sorrow is to be choked by it, whereas if we go to God the burden can be thrown off. To depend upon the charlatan or to neglect proper means is suicide.
3. The wisdom and blessedness of this course. God sends the tempest of affliction after His Jonahs, that out of the depths they may cry to Him to be delivered. Because God is powerful, able, and willing to help. Let us (Heb_4:16).
III. That God undertakes to apply the remedy for affliction, not according to our merits, or merely according to His compassion, but according to His pledged and covenant “word.” The remedy must therefore be adequate, firm, and everlasting.
DIVINE EDUCATION
(Psa_119:26-27)
I. The Psalmist presents himself for examination. He puts his whole case, his qualifications and disqualifications, before God, and God hears him.
II. The result of this examination is a consciousness and confession of ignorance and error. His prayer to be taught God’s statutes, to understand the way of God’s precepts, implies ignorance of the one and departure from the other. And he who comes away from the throne of grace with any other consciousness has been there in vain.
III. His ignorance and error leads him to cry to the great Teacher for instruction. This instruction was twofold. Intellectual, “Teach me Thy statutes;” and practical, “Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts.” First the information, then its correct and proper application. Remember that the instructor is God, not man; and the instruction is not in human guesses and speculations, but in divine truth and holiness.
IV. Upon this instruction being vouchsafed and his education complete, he feels that he will then be in a position to instruct others, “So shall I talk of Thy wondrous works.”
1. God’s works, not his own or man’s.
2. God’s wondrous works, in revelation, providence, redemption. This in our case is due to God, due to ourselves, due to man.
STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS
(Psa_119:28)
I. The Psalmist’s case. It was one of extreme trouble. His very soul “dropped away.” Why so extreme? Just as the sorrows of a man are greater than the sorrows of a beast, from his superior knowledge and keener susceptibility. So the knowledge of the spiritual man is clearer and more accurate, and his susceptibilities keener, than those of the natural man. He knows the character of sin and the claims of God, and his conscience responds to the slightest touch of evil.
II. The Psalmist’s prayer. Not for the removal of his affliction, but for the strength of grace to bear it. “Strengthen me.” This implies a recognition of the need and benefit of this disciplinary and sanctifying affliction, and a desire to be sustained until it should have accomplished its perfect work. We would do foolishly with our afflictions what a child would do with its restraints and the discipline of school or home. Better far to be able to say, “Thy grace is sufficient for me.”
III. The Psalmist’s plea. “According to Thy word.” Prayer avails in proportion to the power and prevalence of its pleas. No plea is like that of God’s own pledged word. And what does God promise? Not to deliver us as we wish, but always either to deliver or to give us that grace and strength which renders deliverance a matter of comparative indifference. What God then has promised let man plead, and if prayer is not answered it is not from indifference or unwillingness on the part of God.
THE TWO WAYS
(Psa_119:29-30)
Our text teaches us—
I. That there are two ways, and two ways only, which determine the character and decide the destiny of mankind. The way of lying and the way of truth. The false and the true. There is no third way, and there are no characteristics common to both. A man must either walk in the way of truth or the way of error.
II. That these two ways are open to man’s deliberate preference and choice. God does not urge us towards the one or the other by the force of a predestined and inexorable necessity. Neither is the force of any circumstance such as to leave man no option but to be untrue to himself and to his God. The practical common sense and experience of man laugh at all metaphysical endeavours to deprive him of the freedom of his will.
III. That the false way is most natural to man. The Psalmist felt so, or why his urgent request that it might be removed? All Scripture is emphatic on this point. “They go astray from the womb, speaking lies.” This way is very broad, and many elements enter into its composition. Hypocrisy, insincerity, error, false religions, false maxims, false customs, as well as deliberate lying. Experience is as emphatic as Scripture. No evil habit is so strong, so general, so growing, as the habit of untruthfulness. It is the one habit more than another that grows upon the young.
IV. That in order to walk firmly in the true way divine assistance is indispensable.
1. God must “remove the way of lying.” He alone can break the force of evil habits and check the evil tendency.
2. God must vouchsafe the chart by whose guidance alone we can walk in the way of truth. “Grant me Thy law graciously.” This God has answered in the case of every man. The heathen have the law written on their heart, and their conscience accuses them when they do wrong, and excuses them when they do right. For Christians there is the written law and the living law of the life of Christ in addition, and guided by this threefold law the wayfaring man though a fool shall not err therein.
V. That continuance in the way of truth is conditional on the use of divinely-appointed means. “Thy judgments have I laid before me.” Only by a diligent, careful, and accurate study of the judgments of God can our feet be kept in the way of truth. “As he who learns to write lays his copy before him, that he may write according to it; as the workman lays his model and platform before him, that he may do his work exactly; as we must have the word in our heart by an habitual conformity to it; so we must have it in our eye by an actual regard to it upon all occasions, that we may walk accurately and by rule.”—M. Henry.
PERSEVERANCE
(Psa_119:31-32)
Having chosen the way of truth, the Psalmist does not regret his choice, but adheres steadfastly to it, and makes steady but rapid progress in it. This was perseverance.
I. Steady. “I have stuck.” It was not a restless and fitful movement, but a firm and consistent adhesion to fixed principles. The race is not to the swift, but to the steady. The battle is not to the strong, but to the steadfast. “It is hard pounding, gentlemen,” said Wellington at Waterloo, “but we shall see who will pound the longest.” The man who runs, till he is out of breath, for one hour, and is obliged, panting, to rest for the next, will not win the prize. And so the Christian who is very earnest on set occasions and makes great efforts at certain times, but who tires of service, and is forgetful of his principles on ordinary occasions, is not the man who will take the crown of life. “Run with patience.”
II. Rapid. “I will run.” Steady perseverance is not necessarily slow. It certainly is not slow in the long run. The man who steadfastly runs by rule and with self-restraint, although he may be distanced by him who is careless of rule and impulsive for the moment; time will show who has made the greatest progress. But the perseverance of the Christian life is rapid in its attainment of results, and ought to be. Consider how soon the course is traversed, the number of obstacles overcome, the character of the help vouchsafed, the nature of the incentives offered, and how quickly, comparatively speaking, habits are formed and graces developed and strengthened! In view of all this, it is appropriately likened to the swift flight of the eagle, and to the short, eager race for the incorruptible crown.
III. Shameless. “O Lord, put me not to shame.” There is a perseverance which can only bring shame. Perseverance in an inconsistent, insincere, lying course can only bring contempt on those who run there. The path of truth is the only one in which it is possible to ran secure from shame. Circumstances may arise which may prevent us in other paths from so persevering as to win that towards which we reach forth the hand, and thus, for want of success, others are ashamed of us and we are ashamed of ourselves. Here, however, if we are faithful we shall win, and thus be secure from shame.
IV. Divinely assisted. “Lit., ‘For Thou wilt enlarge my heart.’ Expressing confidence that God would do this, so that he would be thus inclined and enabled to keep His commandments. It is an acknowledgment of dependence and confidence. The phrase means, to make the heart free from all hindrances to what is right; to fill it with noble and holy purposes; to stimulate and animate it. The heart is contracted by selfishness, pride, vanity, ambition, covetousness; it is made large by charity, love, hope, &c. Sin narrows the soul; religion enlarges it.”—Barnes.
CHRISTIAN PROGRESS
(Psa_119:33-35)
Our text suggests—
I. That the way of Christian progress is divinely revealed. “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes.” The way of life is not a path discovered by study, intuition, or speculation. Nor is it a path upon which it is possible to light by happy accident. As it is not human learning, scientific knowledge, or even ethical development, but the knowledge and practise of God’s statutes, God must make those statutes known.
II. That Christian progress is possible only under certain definite conditions. The racer in the old Greek games was not crowned except he had striven according to fixed and stringent rules. So with this and every other path in life worth traversing, the conditions are twofold—
1. Knowledge of the way. “Give me understanding.” This is the prime condition. Ignorance is the fruitful source of failure everywhere. No man can make progress in business, unless he knows his business; in scholarship, unless he is acquainted with his books; in politics, unless he is conversant with affairs of State. So Christians can make no progress without understanding God’s law. Notice—
(1) God gives this understanding. God reveals not only the entrance of the way, or the panorama of the way as a whole, but the details of the way, its dangers, duties, difficulties, blessings, losses, and rewards. And not only so, but also that spiritual enlightenment without which progress is impossible. With this we “shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” But
(2) Man must use the understanding that God gives. Scholarship is of no value unless turned to practical account. Letters are useless unless employed in the formation of words; words are of no service except they convey thought; thoughts are of no use unless adequately expressed. And so all theoretic knowledge in the way of Christian progress is of no effect unless applied “with the whole heart.” Alas! many men know every step of the way to heaven who, from the want of this, fail to get there.
2. Earnestness in the way. “I shall observe it with my whole heart.” Another universe condition. Unless men give “earnest heed” to the securing of a given object, they “let it slip.” This earnestness implies
(1) Love. The “heart” is the seat of the affections. Unless a man loves his career, he will not be successful in it. So our love must be fixed on ours. There is everything in it to excite affection. Christ is at once the entrance and the goal. To “me to live is Christ,” being “built up into Him our living Head, in all things,” who is “the fairest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely,” is the inspired description of the Christian way. Love to Christ, again, is the motive force of Christian progress.
(2) United effort. The earnest man is he who gives his “whole heart” to his work. His motto is, “This one thing I do.” We say a man is not in earnest when his efforts are desultory or divided; and such men never succeed. Alas! there are many Christian men who, for the same reason, come short of the prize.
3. Absorbing interest in the way. “Therein do I delight.” Again, no man will succeed who does not delight in his work. If he entertains ignoble views about it, or depreciates it, or shows he can afford to treat it with carelessness, he will never make himself proficient. Those men who have succeeded in politics, learning, &c., have been the men who have counted their callings most worthy of their supreme interest. And shall we depreciate or be careless about “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” so grand and delightful, and leading to such issues? No, the Christian man, of all men, should take pride in his career; for is it not “ways of pleasantness and paths of peace?”
4. Constancy in the way. “I shall keep it unto the end.” Most failures are due to the want of this. If a man lacks this one thing needful, in spite of genius and practical ability, he will run in vain and labour in vain. And many well-meaning Christians fail because they make no sustained effort. “He that endures to the end shall be saved.” “Wherefore” (1Co_15:58).
III. That Christian progress is impossible without divine assistance. “Make me to go.”
1. God must supply the stimulus. “Make me to go.” A stimulus is needful, for Christianity is not natural to man. No effort can be made without a force behind and an attraction in front. Thank God, these are not wanting. The promises and comforts of God’s Spirit are ever near us lest we should be weary and faint in our souls. Heaven is set before us to gain; hell for us to shun. Yea, “The young men shall faint, and be weary,” &c. (Isa_40:31).
2. God must supply the qualifications. “Make me.” Not certainly in the sense of compulsion, but in the endowment of the requisite ability. As He gives us the knowledge of the way, so He will supply all its requirements. He will give us the elements of moral earnestness, shed abroad His love in our hearts, supply the principle of cohesion which will enable us to serve Him with our whole heart; make us interested in our work, and enable us to continue steadfast unto the end.
3. God must supply the fact. “To go.” He must make us Christians, and thus empower us to begin our progress. He must sow the seed of grace before we can grow in it. It is only by “looking unto Jesus” that we can lay aside every weight, &c. At every stage He must guide us by His counsel, go before us, making “crooked places straight,” &c., and afford us the support and discipline of His rod and staff in every dark ravine. Man cannot go without this great Leader. But our comfort is that we are continually with Him, &c. (Psa_73:23).
Men and brethren, we are all going. Whether we like it or not, we must all go.
(1.) How are we going; with God, or without Him?
(2.) Where are we going; to heaven, or to hell?
THE SERVANT OF GOD
(Psa_119:36-38)
Notice—
I. That God qualifies His servants by a special fitness. “Incline my heart;” which suggests—
1. That man is naturally disqualified for divine service. His heart is inclined in the opposite direction. It is warped and twisted from the straight line of God’s law. Consequently there is a preference for that which is averse from God.
2. That man, if qualified at all, must be qualified by God. No force within a man is capable of doing this, nor any force without, either of example, instruction, or compulsion. But God does so incline the hearts of those who are willing, that, like the great servant of the Lord, they can say, “I delight to do Thy will.” God does not break the will; He softens it, and then stretches it back again. He never compels, but draws by the persuasion of His entreaties, the allurement of His promises, by reason and affection; and then when the heart is prepared He moves it back again by His Spirit into conformity with His will and way. And when man’s heart is inclined to do the will of God, not for what can be got, but because it is felt to be right and joyous, then is man qualified for divine service.
II. That those whom God qualifies for, He consecrates to His service. These two ideas overlap, as indeed do all the Christian doctrines and privileges. Consecration not only implies fitness, but supplies it. It separates from sin, and imparts the power of divine life.
1. God’s servants, by virtue of their consecration, are separate from sin.
(1.) The eyes are turned away “from beholding vanity.” Sin loses its attractiveness, and becomes an object of abhorrence.
(2.) The eye turned away, the whole man is turned away. Men walk in that direction on which their eyes are set.
(3.) The eyes and the whole man turned away from the vanities of sin are glad to look on the realities of God.
2. God’s servants, by virtue of their consecration, are made instinct with divine life. “Quicken Thou me in Thy way.” This life of consecration is
(1) divine. God’s servants are born of His Spirit, born into His house, born from above. They are not slaves or hirelings, but sons; and their duties those of filial affection.
(2) A special gift for a special service: “In Thy way.” Not for our spiritual gratification, or for our safety and blessedness merely, but in and for His way.
(3) Progressive. “In” all departments and stages of “Thy way.” We need moment by moment the divine quickening, and that constant quickening continually enlarges, develops, and intensifies all the powers and faculties of our being.
III. Those whom God consecrates He supports by special encouragements. “Stablish Thy word unto Thy servant.”
1. God’s servants are the subjects of special promises. God undertakes to preserve them from evil in the prosecution of their tasks, and empower them to overcome all their difficulties.
2. God establishes those promises. He fulfils His undertakings. No servant of His, while trusting in His Master’s strength and doing His Master’s work, has ever suffered harm or lacked any good thing.
3. God’s promises established afford a basis for future hopefulness. Since no word of God has failed, man has solid ground to rest upon. Were His word untrustworthy, or His promises broken, nothing but disappointment could result.
IV. Those whom God qualifies, consecrates, and encourages, are expected to exhibit certain traits.
1. Negatively: “Not to covetousness.” That the servant of God should not be inclined to covetousness is seen from the fact that covetousness
(1) Disposes the soul to occupations that are averse from the service of God. It is the root of all evil (1Ti_6:10); leads to violent theft and oppression (Mic_2:2); to treason, as in the case of Judas; dishonour of God, in the case of Gehazi; dishonesty, in that of Achan; murder, in Ahab; apostasy, in Ananias and Sapphira.
(2) It utterly incapacitates for the service of God. It destroys the principle of obedience, which is love of God (1Jn_2:5), is contrary to all the commands of God (Mat_6:14), and it slights all the encouragements of God’s grace by seeking other rewards.
2. Positively. Devotion to God’s fear.
(1.) To fear God is to revere Him and adopt that posture which befits His service.
(2.) Devotion to that fear saves us from sinning against God, and stimulates us to His service.
FEAR AND ITS REMEDY
(Psa_119:39-40)
God’s people are the subjects of a twofold fear: the fear of God and the fear of sin. The former fear is dealt with in the previous verse, the latter in this. “Guard me from the reproach which (alone) I fear of sinning against Thee; for Thy judgments, i.e., revealed laws, are good, and happy is he that keeps them.”—Speaker’s Com. Observe—
I. That the Christian has nothing to fear but sin, and the only reproach he need deprecate is that of having sinned.
1. Because sin is the only evil. Nothing is evil except from its alliance with sin. Trial, persecution, sickness, poverty, pain may be good, and under certain circumstances are to be desired rather than deprecated. But sin can only work harm. It saps the foundation of spiritual life, deteriorates the quality and diminishes the volume of true manhood, blinds the intellect, befouls the heart, destroys hope, kills usefulness, and blasts the soul.
2. Because sin has terrible and eternal consequences. Sin deliberately rejects the sources of the soul’s life and blessedness, and therefore fixes its own destiny, which is the death and misery of hell. Sin, too, entails a terrible “reproach” which man may well fear.
(1.) The reproach of the good.
(2.) Self-reproach. An active conscience will not let the sinner rest, for persisting in his own destruction and wronging his Master and his Friend.
(3.) The reproach of God. God reproaches in love now. “What iniquity have you or your fathers found in Me?” “Why will ye die?” But, by and by, in anger and judicially will He utter that reproach which shall never be wiped away, and dismiss the sinner to “shame and everlasting contempt.”
II. That the only safety from sin and its reproach is the life of righteousness.
1. There is no other safety. Watchfulness and resolution may save us from gross and palpable sins; pardon may remove its guilt, but only a quickening in the divine righteousness can save us permanently from its power.
2. With this we are secure. God does not simply cease to impute sin, He regenerates. So quickens, that sin has no more dominion over us,—quickens us in a new mould, so that we “live unto righteousness.” Thus the cause and the reproach are both rolled away, and God’s approbation secured.
III. That the danger and the safety are revealed by the Word of God. “Thy judgments are good.” Sin is a vague consciousness, and its consequences a vague dread without the judgments of God; and nowhere but there do we read, “Repent ye, and believe the Gospel.”
IV. That the danger is to be deprecated, and the safety sought by prayer. “I have longed after.”
SALVATION
(Psa_119:41-42)
The primary object of this prayer was doubtless providential deliverance. The Psalmist was afflicted, God had promised deliverance. He trusted in that promise, yet salvation stayed. Now the enemy began to reproach, “Where is now thy God?” This led to the passionate entreaty of our text. He prayed for salvation that he might give the enemy to see the stability of “the confidence wherein he trusted.” Learn that salvation is—
I. The outcome of the divine mercies. “Let Thy mercies … even Thy salvation.” Man is lost and ruined—has lost and ruined himself—not by chance, but deliberately. To salvation, therefore, he can lay no moral claim. By disobedience and rebellion he has lost all title to the divine regard. He can, therefore, be saved only by an act of mercy. But his sins are so many, and his depravity so deep, that multiplied mercies can alone meet his case. So thought the Psalmist when he said, “Let Thy mercies,” &c. So thought God when He offered to “multiply to pardon.” So we must think when we consider the wealth and variety of divine grace: the Mosaic and prophetic dispensations, the work of Christ, the operation of the Spirit, the Gospel ministry, and the means of grace. So in every individual case, forbearing, prevenient, saving, sanctifying grace. “Not according to our works, but according to His own mercy.”
II. Not a human effort, but a divine visitation. “Let Thy mercies come unto me.” Salvation is not the effort by which the sinner lifts himself out of one moral atmosphere into another, and loosens his hold of vice, and educates himself into virtue. It is altogether an act of God upon the sinner, and an act which, being essentially supernatural, does not admit of the co-operation of natural agencies. True, these are conditions, but repentance and faith merely put man into a salvable condition. “Mine own arm brought salvation.”
III. The subject of divine promise. “According to Thy Word.” The promises of salvation in God’s word are the most numerous and the most emphatic. It is the subject of the first promise and of the last.
IV. A witness to the steadfastness of the divine word. Professor Tyndall’s proposed experiment was manifestly unfair. There may be reasons, however inscrutable, whereby the sovereign of the universe may see fit not to relieve physical affliction, or save from physical death. Great moral purposes may be in the process of evolution, and for their accomplishment individuals may have to be removed to another sphere. But here the challenge may be taken up. God has promised to save on the condition of believing prayer. Let the vicious try it, pleading God’s promises, and if reformation does not follow the experiment has failed. But it has been tried, and again and again men have had “wherewith to answer” them that reproached them. Learn—
(i.) The value of salvation. The mighty and merciful visitation of God. (ii) The necessity of trusting in God’s Word for salvation. (iii.) The duty of the public exhibition of that salvation for the glory of God, and the refutation of unbelief.
PREACHING AND PRACTICE
(Psa_119:43-44)
Observe:—
I. The Psalmist’s prayer. “Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth.” He regards it both as a duty and a privilege to declare God’s truth. How many, alas, forget this obligation! They have been saved themselves through hearing and obeying this declaration, and that is their only concern. There are others who look upon it merely as a burden to be borne with resignation. God, however, would have us regard the command to testify of His grace as a commandment with promise. We must preach if we would be true to our convictions, and fulfil the divine plan for the conversion of the world. But consider the honour of being ambassadors from God, the blessedness of conveying the tidings of God’s love to sinful and sorrowing men, the glory of the reward. Let this therefore be every Christian’s prayer. If he does not feel called, let him pray God to call him. If circumstances render the practice of this duty and the enjoyment of this privilege difficult, let him ask that the word of truth may not be taken utterly out of his mouth.
II. The Psalmist’s purpose. The Psalmist felt that lip service alone was a mockery. No one would listen to a man whose practice gave the lie to his preaching. Ornate eloquence, profound learning, or subtle logic are useless gifts if the life be wrong. But he felt, too, that living without preaching was but mutilated service; so he wishes to combine the two, and determines to make his preaching not merely subordinate to his practice, but helpful to it. “So shall I keep Thy law.” What he preaches to others he will preach to himself. He will water others and himself at the same time. Preaching shall strengthen his own convictions and promote his own growth in grace. This shall be not occasional, but continual and “for ever and ever.”
III. The Psalmist’s consolation. “I have hoped in Thy judgments.”
1. In the strength of this consolation he goes to God in prayer. He felt that God’s judgments were his only hope. He prayed that he might preach them and keep them lest that hope should die.
2. This consolation is the strength of all powerful preaching. A man who is not hopeful cannot preach at all. But if a man has a well-founded hope on the power of God’s Word, and in the effects of its proclamation, he must preach, and his preaching will be intense and successful.
3. This consolation is the power of holy living. Unless a man has a strong hope that the basis on which he stands is strong and enduring, and that the end at which he is aiming is attainable, he will all his lifetime be the subject of anxious fears. But if he hopes in God’s judgments he will be sure that he is on a rock, and that success will attend all his efforts.
FREEDOM
(Psa_119:45)
Nothing is more precious or desirable than liberty. Yet there is nothing about which men make more mistakes, or enjoy so little. What passes for liberty is frequently the basest servitude. And what men call thraldom is often the finest liberty. Notice—
I. That man’s natural condition is one of bondage. He has deliberately resigned and rejected his title to liberty by transgressing the terms on which it is based. Scripture everywhere represents the unredeemed man as sold under sin, led captive by the devil, desiring good but unable to reach it. This bondage is painful and degrading in its nature, and terrible in its consequences.
II. That man walks at liberty when he seeks and finds God’s precepts. God’s Word is the charter of man’s freedom.
1. It defines true liberty. The subordination of the soul to God (Jas_1:25). The soul is free only when it moves unhampered in that sphere where its true interests lie. Restraints are not laid on the soul, but on those passions and preferences which hinder its full activity. When a command is imposed upon it, it is implied that its breach or negligence would militate against our freedom.
2. It confers true liberty. It is the only revelation of the great redemption, and alone shows how through the death of Christ and the work of the Spirit we may enjoy the liberty of the children of God.
III. That man walks permanently and securely at liberty only as long as he seeks and finds God’s precepts.
1. They must be sought and found by God’s help, for they are God’s precepts.
2. They must be applied by God’s grace.
3. Their requirements must be rigidly kept.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) The exchange of servitude for freedom is an exchange of masters and an exchange of services. (ii.) Serve the new Master who has emancipated you from a terrible tyranny with the same diligence as you did your old.
BIBLE DUTIES
(Psa_119:45-48)
I. To seek for it. If we seek for the word of God literally, or for that word which has special reference to us in given circumstances, we shall find it.
II. To meditate upon it. Finding it, our first duty is to see what it is, what it means, what it is for, and to make it subserve those circumstances which led to our search for it. Meditation does all these.
III. To love it. Meditation will show its infinite beneficence and beauty, its exact suitability to the needs and aspirations of the soul, instruction for the mind, direction for the will, cleansing for the heart, guidance for the life, comfort for affliction, strength for duty, peace for distraction, hope for death, and will beget as it must, love.
IV. To delight in it. The heart that loves the Word will delight in it (Psa_1:2; Psa_111:1; Rom_7:22). Thus the study and practice of God’s Word is not a matter of dry duty, but of joy. Who can help rejoicing in that which is the revelation of God’s character, will, helpfulness, redemption, heaven? Let the soul love these revelations and it will delight in them.
V. Not to be ashamed of it. Suspicion and dislike are at the root of shame. Those who suspect the authority or dislike the teaching of the Word of God are ashamed of it. But those who delight in it say, “God forbid that I should glory,” &c. What are the promises or laws or dignities of earthly monarchs in comparison with it? Even the reproach of Christ is greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. We who delight in God’s commandment are not ashamed to stand with Moses before Pharaoh, Daniel in Babylon, Peter and John in the presence of the Sanhedrin, and Paul at Cæsar’s bar.
VI. To earnestly practise it. What we are not ashamed of we should “lift up our hands to.” It is not enough to seek, find, meditate, love, delight, and glory in God’s Word. The servant who knew his lord’s will but did it not was beaten with many stripes. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (1Jn_2:4; Jas_1:22). Everything depends upon this. If we do not practise God’s commandment with both hands earnestly, our ardour will cool, our love diminish, our meditation cease, and our Bible be withdrawn. But if we practise it, our weakness and ignorance will drive us to its wisdom and strength, finding which our affections will be stirred and our delight and boasting stimulated.
IN CONCLUSION.—Seek God’s Word diligently. While you are musing on it, let the fire burn. That fire will kindle joy. That joy will give us holy boldness before princes and governors, and help us in the prosaic application and practice of it in our daily life.
AFFLICTION: ITS COMFORTS, DUTIES, AND DANGERS
(Psa_119:49-53)
Notice—
I. That God’s servants are permitted to suffer affliction. This Psalm, the whole Bible, and all experience testifies to this. “They that are godly in the world shall suffer persecution.” The glorified “have come out of great tribulation.” “Ye shall have tribulation.”
1. These afflictions are aggravated by, or in some cases mainly consist in, the derision of ungodly men (Psa_119:51). “They ridiculed him, bantered him, did all they could to expose him to contempt; they laughed at him for praying and called it cant, for his seriousness and called it mopishness, for his strictness and called it needless preciseness. They were the proud who sat in the scorners’ seat and valued themselves in so doing.—M. Henry.
2. Whether despised or not, the godly man is always afflicted by the prevalence of sin (Psa_119:53). “The LXX render the word ἀθυμια, by “depression;” Arab. and Syr., “sadness;” Jerome, “horror;” Calvin, “terror.” (See Psa_11:6.) “Probably a burning wind or simoom is meant, which scorches up and destroys vegetation in a moment; and, metoph., a sharp penetrating pain or horror.”—Speaker’s Com. Other aspects of affliction are as nothing when compared with man’s treatment of God and His Word. A sure mark of grace is extreme sensitiveness to the exceeding sinfulness of sin.
II. That God has special comforts for His afflicted servants.
1. His word is the repertory of exceeding great and precious promises for those who are in affliction. All our vicissitudes are divinely provided for. “I remember Thy judgments of old.” God does not wait for His servants’ extremities. The provision for them is antedated by eternity. When the believer goes to the Word of God he finds waiting for him all he wants.
2. His Word quickens (Psa_119:50). The worst feature of affliction is the exhaustion it engenders, and that is intensified sometimes by the thought that it is hopeless. But God tells us that our sickness is not unto death, and thus immortal hope and new life are kindled in the breast.
III. That affliction should lead us to call upon God to fulfil His promises
1. We should plead the promise itself. This is an appeal to God’s faithfulness. We must go to God’s Word to find what promise meets our case and then plead it. Is our case that of sinners: God’s promise is to abundantly pardon. Distress: God has promised peace. Darkness: light. Pain: sufficient grace.
2. We should plead the hope that the promise has excited. This is an appeal to the divine justice and goodness. If God could give rise to groundless expectations, all faith in Him would fail. This we know to be impossible.
3. We should plead God’s fulfilled promises and man’s answered hopes. “The Psalmist remembered that the principles of the divine administration were always the same.” In the trials of life, &c., it is well for us to think of the unchanging principles which mark the divine dealings. Under such an administration those who trust in God must be safe.
IV. That affliction should not lead us to decline from God’s law (Psa_119:51).
1. Pain should not lead us to doubt God’s goodness. Pain is not an evil in itself. The physician and parent have often to inflict pain.
2. Adversity should not lead us to swerve from our principles. Remember the compensations. It is something to suffer for the right. God is always on the side of the right. God will always reward the right
3. Derision should not lead us from an open avowal of our piety (Psa_44:12-22). This is a temptation to which the young are most susceptible. Many a man can face death who quails before sarcasm. Peter. Happy the man in the scoffing world who can say, “I have not declined from Thy law.”
IN CONCLUSION.—(Jas_1:2-5; 1Pe_1:6-7; Rom_5:3, etc.).
THE EARTHLY PILGRIMAGE AND THE HEAVENLY SONGS
(Psa_119:54)
“When the Eastern traveller takes shelter from the scorching heat or halts for the night at some caravansary which is for the time the house of his pilgrimage, he soothes his rest with a song—a song it may be of war, romance, or love. But the poet of Israel finds his theme in the statutes of Jehovah. These have been my pastime, with these I have refreshed myself onward through the wearisome journey, and across the scorching deserts of life. Not songs of old tradition, &c., have supported me, but these have been the solace of my weary hours and the comfort of my rest.”—Bushnell.
I. God’s people are on a pilgrimage.
1. They have here no continuing city (Heb_13:14). This life is but the passage of the soul to its eternal inheritance. All things here are fleeting, are partaken of in haste, while the traveller is moving onward. All things change, avocations, pleasures, friends, &c., but this, that we are journeying to the grave.
2. They have here no home. They sojourn here for a time. Soon they strike their tents for the last time and enter into their rest. All the journey is characterised by the discomfort incident to homelessness. There is nothing to give harmony, satisfaction, or repose.
3. They are ever seeking their country and their home. This implies patient employment of the means at their disposal; the temporary rests and refreshments of the way; the supports and charts of the way; and the companions of the way.
4. This being the case they are not ashamed of the character of strangers and pilgrims, but glory in it. There is nothing here worthy of their inheritance (Joh_15:19; 1Pe_4:4).
II. Delightful provisions are made for God’s people on their pilgrimage. “Thy statutes have been my songs.” “Multitudes of men have a very different conception of this matter. Divine law, divine obligation, responsibility in any form, authority under any conditions, they feel to be a real annoyance.”—Bushnell. God’s statutes are delightful nevertheless, because—
1. They clearly reveal the end of our journey. While other books give only dim hopes or shrewd guesses, God’s Word is most explicit. It is full of assurances of our future home. It tells us of its many mansions, its splendid cities, its wide domain, its freedom from sin, pain, and death; its Fatherly Sovereign; and of the joys which are at His right hand for evermore.
2. They contain directions how we may reach our journey’s end. It is no small joy amidst the questionable maxims and the halting speculations of the world to have a light shining in a dark place, a chart which maps out every day’s march, and indicates every danger, and following which it is impossible to go astray.
3. They contain the history of our ancestors and fellow-countrymen who have gone the way before us and have entered into rest, and encourage us to emulate their patience and heroism. (Heb_6:12; Heb_12:1).
4. They contain the precious promises; assure of the leadership and companionship of God; provide comfort for the anxiety, and solace for the pain, we meet with by the way.
THE NIGHTLY OCCUPATIONS OF THE GODLY
(Psa_119:55; Psa_119:62; Psa_119:148)
That God has given the light is a reason why we should dedicate the day to Him and make Him the end of all our active services. But God has also given the night, and that blessing of blessings, sleep. Should not that be recognised, and at its appropriate season? The Psalmist thought so and then meditated on God’s Word, remembered God’s name, and rose to give thanks to Him.
I. The duties of the night.
1. Meditation on God’s Word. Measuring by that the actions of the day, and composing our thoughts for the night.
2. Remembrance of God’s name; who has preserved us during the day, and under whose protection we hope to be preserved during the darkness and solitude of the night.
3. Celebration of God’s praise. Thankfulness for the blessings of both seasons.
II. How these duties are to be performed.
1. With alacrity (Psa_119:148).
2. With self-forgetfulness. At mid-night. Remembering only the gratitude we owe to God.
3. With joy (Psa_119:62).
III. Why these duties are to be performed.
1. Night is most suitable for profitable meditation on the Word of God. Amidst the distraction of worldly cares the mind is unfitted for the sustained effort that is required.
2. Night is most suitable for remembering God’s name. The mind is then unoccupied. The bustle of life often drives away thoughts of God.
3. Night is most suitable for thanksgiving. The time most suitable to thought is most suitable for gratitude.
IV. These nightly occupations will prepare us for the exercise of daily duties.
1. Nightly meditation will prepare us for daily obedience. The task learned overnight will be easily repeated on the following day.
2. Nightly remembrance of God will stimulate daily thoughts about Him.
3. Nightly thanksgiving will be a healthy preparation for the recognition of daily mercies.
THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE
(Psa_119:56)
Some expositors refer the “this” literally to the blessings enumerated in the preceding verses. It is better, perhaps, to view the expression indefinitely. Taking a review of his whole experience, the Psalmist bursts out in the joyful exclamation, “All is mine, because I kept Thy precepts.” The evangelical results of obedience are—
I. Protection in the further course of obedience (Psa_31:19-20; Job_1:10; Zec_2:5).
II. As much of success in life as God may see good for us (Mat_6:33; Psa_84:11).
III. Gracious manifestations of God’s presence and favour (Psa_17:15; Joh_14:21).
IV. Growth in grace (Psa_84:7; Pro_4:18; Rom_6:19).
V. Peace. Psa_119:165. (Isa_32:17; Gal_6:16; Php_4:8.)
VI. Joy. Psa_119:14. (Rom_5:2; Rom_14:17.)
VII. Heaven (Revelation 3)
THE SOUL’S PORTION
(Psa_119:57-58)
I. What the soul’s portion is.
“Thou art my portion, O Lord.” Not His ordinances, or Word, or Church, or anything about Him, or from Him, but Himself. Heb., “Jehovah (is) my portion, i.e., mine inheritance more precious than any other.” (See Psa_16:5; Psa_113:5; Jos_17:14; Jos_18:10.) The soul’s portion is—
1. Accessible with them who are of a contrite heart.
2. Ever present. “Lo, I am with you alway.”
3. Unchanging. “The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”
4. Soul-satisfying. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy.”
5. Eternal (Psa_73:26).
II. How the soul’s portion is attained. “I entreated Thy face (Heb) with my whole heart.”
1. Not by bribes of benevolence. But
2. By earnest supplication.
3. By the undivided aspirations of our whole nature.
4. By the effective pleading of the divine promise, “According to Thy word.”
III. On what grounds the soul’s portion is given. “Be merciful,” &c.
1. Not on the ground of merit. But
2. On the ground of the divine mercy.
3. On the ground of the divine promise.
IV. For what purpose the soul’s portion is vouchsafed (Psa_119:57).
1. Consecration, “I have said.”
2. Obedience, “I will keep Thy words.”
THE HEAVENLY ROAD
(Psa_119:59-61)
The author of this Psalm reviews the way in which God had been leading him. He looks back on the time when he was on another road, and contemplates with gratitude the thought which induced him to change his destiny. Having changed the tenor of his ways, he sped with joyful haste along the path of God’s commandments and was not driven therefrom by the malice of his foes. These words suggest—
I. That man is naturally in the wrong way. “I thought on my ways.”
1. The wrong way is a hard way. “The way of transgressors is hard.” Christian men are too prone to complain of the difficulties of God’s way. Let them think of the perils they have escaped.
2. The wrong way is an unsatisfying way. No sinner can give a reasonable account of himself. To speak of its pleasures or profits is but irony. They are husks which the swine do eat.
3. It is a ruinous way. It wears out the spiritual energies, and leads to everlasting destruction.
4. It is a selfish way.
5. It is a way peculiar, to the individual transgressor. “We have turned every one to his own way.”
II. That reflection will lead men into the right way. “I thought,” Sin is a reckless absence of thought. In order to sin, a man cannot, must not, think. The sinner is beside himself, and, as in the case of the Prodigal, when he comes to himself and contemplates his own misery and degradation, and the comfort and honours of his father’s house, he turns his feet in a homeward direction.
III. That the choice of the right way must be followed by a deliberate change of habit. “And turned my feet.” “He does not say that he waited for God to turn him, or that he could not turn of himself. Man is always active in conversion. He changes, repents, believes, turns, not God. It is indeed by the grace and help of God,—but the effect of that grace is not to make him idly wait; it is to rouse him to act.”—Barnes.
IV. That the right way is to be pursued with alacrity. “I made haste.”
1. Much time has been lost.
2. Many dangers are pursuing.
3. Much has to be done ere we reach the end, and the day is far spent.
V. That this alacrity is not to be lessened by the dangers and privations of the road (Psa_119:61). The surrounding perils, so far from discouraging us, should hasten us. Does the dispoiled traveller sit down and bemoan his losses when he knows his home is in sight? No, he hastens on, lest worse accidents should happen him. So let our losses and dangers drive us nearer to God, and quicken our pace towards that heavenly country “where thieves do not break through nor steal.”
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS
(Psa_119:63)
Man is a social creature. God has said, “It is not good for men to be alone” (Ecc_4:9-12). For the purposes of mutual help God has set the solitary in families. This being the case for the promotion of spiritual life man should not rush into monasticism, but should seek fellowship with those with whom he has moral affinity (Rom_1:11-12). This can be safely neglected by none. Our text suggests—
I. That religious communion must have a religious basis. The fear of God and the keeping of His precepts.
1. The Bible knows of no basis that is not in some sense theological. The fear of God implies a belief in the person to be feared. We cannot fear an abstraction, or a “stream or tendency which works for righteousness,” nor love it, which indeed is included in that fear. To keep God’s precepts is to believe in their divine inspiration and authority, or we shall deem keeping them optional. To fear God necessitates fearing Him through the divinely-appointed means, through the grace of Christ and in the power of the Holy Ghost. If we keep God’s precepts we must not omit those which demand a full intellectual assent to certain doctrines. It is impossible for the man who believes that the only way to the Father is through Christ, to worship with the Unitarian or the Deist. It is impossible for the man who when he prays believes it is with the help of the Spirit, to pray with the man who believes in no such Spirit. To do so argues either hypocrisy on the one hand, or the suppression of cherished convictions on the other. “What part hath he that believeth with the infidel?”
2. The Bible knows of no basis that is not practically religious. Profession without practice is everywhere sternly condemned. There are no words in the whole Bible stronger than those used by St. Paul to the Corinthian Church for its admission of a known profligate to its communion. The original covenant with the Jews was on the condition of their “circumspection” and their separation from the people and customs among whom they lived. Creed and conduct, therefore, is the broad basis for the communion of saints.
II. That religious communion is the spiritual intercourse between spiritual men, and between spiritual men and God, through the divinely-appointed means. It involves—
1. The common profession of a common faith and obedience. Christian faith, salvation, love and service, are common to all believers, and form the bonds by which Christendom holds together.
2. Common communion with a common God, through a common Saviour, by means of the help of a common Spirit.
3. Participation in a common lot (Rev_1:9). In its fullest extent it involves a communion of suffering as well as of fellowship (Rom_12:15; Heb_10:33; Heb_11:25).
4. The exercise of a common spiritual help (Psa_15:4; Psa_16:2; Rom_1:12).
III. That religious communion is reasonable and natural, when on this basis, e.g.,
1. Religious men are members of the family of God. They are begotten by the same Father, regenerated by the same Spirit, share the same life, are washed in the same blood, and are travelling to the same heaven.
2. The inclinations of the members of this family all flow in this direction (1Th_4:9; 1Jn_5:1)
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) Religious communion is necessary to maintain the faith once delivered to the saints. (ii.) Religious communion is profitable, as promoting the interests of charity and growth in grace.
GOD’S GOODNESS: ITS NATURE AND ITS RELATION TO PRAYER AND LIFE
(Psa_119:64; Psa_119:66; Psa_119:68)
I. The nature of the divine goodness.
1. It is divine. “Thou art good.” God is good in Himself. All the attributes of love, truth, and justice, which go to make up perfect goodness, inhere in Him.
2. It is operative. “Thou doest good.” It is not a negative or passive goodness; it is positive and active. God is good in
(1) Creation. The earth is full of Thy mercy.” No perfection is more resplendently exhibited in the universe than this, and the universe teems with its manifestation. The cheering sun, the shining stars, the singing birds, the waving corn all proclaim that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
(2) In human experience. The course of individual history tells the same tale. His wings have overshadowed us, His arm has upheld us, and into our hearts He has caused to flow the ceaseless benedictions of His grace. Well may we say with the Psalmist, “Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant.”
(3) In the Word. This is the one theme of all the precepts and all the promises. All our wants are there anticipated and fully met. There is light for our understanding, government for our will, cleansing for our conscience, guidance for our life, help for our weakness, comfort for our trouble, God for our portion, and heaven for our home.
II. These views of the divine goodness encourage us to pray.
1. Without them prayer would be impossible. To be uncertain about God, or to know Him only as indifferent or implacable, would stifle prayer. Prayer implies confidence, freedom of access, expectation of answer. But we should not be so foolish as to approach one whom we were sure could not or would not hear us, or so courageous if we knew He would frown upon us or spurn us.
2. But with this assurance we have a sure ground for confidence and expectation, and a mighty plea. God is good, and does good to the fowls of the air, the grass of the field; shall He not much more be good to us? Plead His goodness, His promise to do good, and you will not plead in vain.
III. Our prayer, based upon such sure warrant and such glad encouragement, should be of the largest kind and for the best things. We cannot ask too much, for our text tells us that God is willing as well as able to supply all our need. “Teach me Thy statutes … good judgment and knowledge.” The Psalmist felt that instruction was the best thing to be desired, and he prayed to be instructed in the best things.
1. God’s statutes. The Bible is the best book, because “given by inspiration of God, and profitable,” &c. Some books are good, others bad, others in different. He prays therefore that the contents of this best book may be expounded to him by their true interpreter.
2. Good judgment. This is another of the best things to which all should aspire. To bad judgment may be traced all the evils that are in the world, and to good judgment all that is good. A good judgment will
(1) Accurately distinguish between truth and error, good and evil (1Co_2:15; 1Co_10:15; Heb_5:14).
(2) Determine and decide (Psa_39:1; Act_11:3; 2Ti_3:10).
(3) Guide in the right direction, which is indeed its main end and use (Psa_50:23)
3. Knowledge. God’s statutes are the sources of true and saving knowledge. Good judgment will guide us to them, and apply them, digest them, and use them. Upon these three things thus hang all spiritual good. Having these all the rest will follow.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) Entertain large views of God’s goodness. (ii.) Come for the provisions of that goodness with large petitions.
THE PURPOSE AND BENEFIT OF AFFLICTION
(Psa_119:67; Psa_119:71)
At first sight we are startled by the apparent contradiction, good to be afflicted. Good to be afflicted because driven to the painstaking study of a book whose revelations humble us and imposes further hardships? Good because driven from having our own way to walking in God’s? Even so a storm drives a vessel into harbour when she should be nearing her destination, and the sailors deem that storm a calamity. Not so; they find while in the harbour a leak that would have given them a watery grave, and there they repair the leak, and then proceed on their way. It was good for them to be afflicted. So God tosses us in a sea of trouble to drive us to the harbour of His Word, where our defects may be ascertained and remedied. A traveller bent upon a given destination, through forgetfulness, or self-conceit, or indolence, neglects to consult either way-farers or charts. He resumes his way, but still blindly pushes on. He meets with an accident, and can go no further for the time. Was that a calamity? No. It brought him to his senses. Now he examines his chart, makes inquiries, and finds that he is on the wrong road, and can never that way reach his journey’s end. It was good for him to be afflicted. So a man errs from the way of happiness, the way of truth, the way of his true destiny, the way of God. The Bible is too dry for him, how can he with his sublime genius condescend to examine its tedious details? Ah! that book is the only itinerary to heaven. He goes madly on till he comes to disaster and to ruin. Then he is glad to consult that book, and then he finds how far he has gone wrong and how he may get right. Truly may such use these words, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted. Before that I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word.”
CONTRASTS AND COMPENSATIONS
(Psa_119:69-70)
The lesson to be learned here is the old one, “Things are not what they seem.” There was a great contrast between the Psalmist and his persecutors, to all appearances in favour of the latter. They were in a position which lifted them up with pride; he in a position which cast him down in sorrow. But below the surface the contrast is reversed. Their heart was as fat as grease, unsusceptible to spiritual impressions, and incapable of spiritual enjoyment. He had both the appetite and the privileges, for he delighted in God’s law. Again, he had that which enabled him to triumph over their slanderous accusations, the answer of a good conscience towards God.
I. The contrast.
1. Apparent. Pride and affliction. To his enemies, to the world generally, evil prospered, and goodness played a losing game. So it appears to many now (Psa_73:4-12).
2. Real. Down below the surface, and in the sight of God, there is a contrast which tells altogether the other way. Hearts as fat as grease—delight in God’s law. “Their heart is dull and brutal (Isa_6:10; Psa_17:10; Psa_83:7), so that they understand not Thy statutes, in which I delight; yea, I love them with my whole heart, and above all price.”—Speaker’s Com. “Senseless, secure, and stupid, sensual and voluptuous; they roll themselves in the pleasures of sense and take up with them as their chief good; and much good may it do them. I would not change conditions with them.”—M. Henry.
II. The compensation.
1. “The wicked have forged a lie against me.” Heb., To patch together. “It is applied to accusations made up of shreds and patches,—units, small matters, things having no necessary connection, words dropped here and there which, being artfully woven together, seem to make out a case against a man. Most slanders are formed in this way.”—Barnes. “All the falsehoods which men smeared, or smeared all at once over him, making the true nature of things undiscernible by daubing them over with false colours, or pasting on deceit.”—Moll.
2. The compensation consisted in the fact that they were lies, and that the Psalmist had and would keep God’s precepts with his whole heart. This, with the consequent sense of God’s approbation, supported and cheered him. Learn—
(i.) To judge accurately and not by appearances. (ii.) The needful thing is not to be rich and prosperous, but to be right and good. (iii.) Those who are right and good will have abundant consolation in the midst of trial.
THE BIBLE BETTER THAN RICHES
(Psa_119:72)
This, like all great truths, is a most difficult thing to believe. The real value of wealth has been estimated over and over again, yet men cling to it as the best possible if not the best conceivable thing. But the testimony of those who could best judge the relative value of both, pronounces God’s Word to be the best conceivable and the best possible thing in the world, e.g., David (Psa_19:10), Solomon (Pro_3:14; Pro_8:11).
I. What wealth can do the Bible can do better.
1. Wealth brings honour. Mammon has never wanted worshippers. No title is refused, and no door closed, to the millionaire. The magisterial bench is reached by golden stairs, fashion wields a gilded sceptre, and coronets adorn the brow of gold. But the Bible confers higher dignities than these. By it man obtains the peerage of heaven, enjoys the companionship of God, and obtains a crown of glory that shall never fade away.
2. Wealth can purchase what is supposed to constitute happiness. It lifts a man above the privations of poverty; may give magnificent mansions, costly furniture, gorgeous attire, and luxurious diet. All the arts and adornments of life are open to those who can purchase them. But what are these in comparison with what the true riches of the Bible can purchase; the house not made with hands, the robe of righteousness, the wine of the kingdom, the heavenly manna, fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore?
3. Wealth may purchase learning, buy books, found libraries, pay school fees, and open the doors of colleges. But no money can purchase what the Bible offers freely. True wisdom, the saving knowledge of God in Christ, understanding of the will of God, and immortality. Granted, then, that riches can do much, the Bible can do more, and do it without money and without price.
II. What wealth cannot do the Bible can.
1. Money cannot purchase pardon for sin. If it could, many would part with their all for it. It has been tried. Under a debasing superstition it is tried to-day. But no priestly fees, no costly masses, have or can ease the burdened conscience or cleanse its guilty stains—
“Vainly we offer each ample oblation;
Vainly with gifts would His blessing implore.”
But the Bible leads us to Him “who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,” &c.
2. Money cannot purchase a clear and safe guide in the practical paths of life. It can lead astray, but it cannot lead back again, and cannot train man in the way he should go. Much has been spent in the supposition that it can; but it has been spent on blind guides. The Bible, on the contrary, is “a lamp unto our feet,” &c.
3. Money cannot purchase dignities of character. It has purchased the opposite. Many a man has been weighted down by it into the lowest abysses of moral degradation. The best it can do is to gild the exterior. But the Bible ennobles man. It endows him with the Spirit of God. It enables him to live the life of Christ. It has trained statesmen, heroes, and philanthropists. It has given scholars their wisdom, martyrs to progress their fortitude, and saints their sanctity.
4. Money cannot purchase the needful blessing in time of trial. It straightens no crooked path. It may intensify trouble, but can never remove it; it can wipe no tear from the eye; and in the hour of death man turns to his gilded idol in vain. It can destroy, but it cannot save. And in that land where gold is not the currency the miser has no place. But the Bible gives to the afflicted, the promises; to the poor, the unsearchable riches of Christ; to the dying, the hope and consciousness of heaven. Therefore, “The law of Thy mouth is better,” &c.
III. What wealth will do the Bible wont. Wealth must bring anxieties and cares. Every penny brings its additional solicitude. With increased riches comes the disquieting question, What is to be done with them? Increased possessions mean increased oversight and responsibility. With fresh social honours comes fresh and inexorable demands. And all this means gray hairs, brain exhaustion, heart straining, with no adequate return. But the Bible will not fret the heart; it will comfort it. It will not wear the brain; it will soothe it. It will not injure the nerves; it will brace them. It will not impair the moral sense; it will sanctify and invigorate it. Therefore, because what wealth will do the Bible will not, is “the law of God’s mouth better,” &c.
CREATION A PLEA IN PRAYER
(Psa_119:73)
This Psalm is remarkable for its spiritual aspirations, and the pleas by which their fulfilment is urged. The Psalmist is here seeking the highest moral good. He seeks it in the best and shortest way, by praying for understanding that he may learn God’s commandments. The argument he employs why his prayer should be answered is simple, practical, powerful—viz., that God had created him, and created him that he might seek and gain the end he now desires to reach. Note then—
I. That man is the creation of God. “Thou hast made me.” Either the original creation (Gen_1:26; Gen_2:7), or the creation of the individual himself (Psalms 139), or both.
II. That man was created for divine service (Pro_16:4; Isa_49:5; Rom_11:36). God has “fashioned” man for that purpose. With mind, that man may apprehend and remember Him; with hearing, that he may listen to Him; with speech, that he may testify of Him; with hands and feet, that he may do His will; with a heart, that he may love Him; and a spirit, that he may enjoy Him. Man is full of marks of design. What is that design? That he may eat, and drink, and sleep? Nay, the animals do that; but that he may know God and enjoy Him for ever.
III. That man is not now as he was when he was created. He not only does not fulfil his Maker’s design, but is incapable of doing so (Ecc_7:29; Rom_3:23). By some great injury and loss, and by the infusion of some new principles, he falls short of the divine glory, and is bent on fulfilling precisely opposite ends. All his faculties so exquisitely adapted for divine purposes are prostituted to base and injurious works. His understanding, will, affections, &c., are engaged in warfare against God, the devil’s service, and self-destruction.
IV. Hence the necessity of a new creation. A new heart, a new understanding that can grasp the wisdom, duty, and necessity of God’s commandments, and a new nature that will render the learning and practice of those commandments easy and possible (Deu_5:29; Joh_6:5-6; Rom_8:10-11; Col_3:9-10).
V. Desiring this new nature, so that we may answer the divine purposes, no plea is more appropriate and powerful than the fact that we are God’s creation.
1. It is natural that God should take an interest in His own work; and if it come to grief, that He should desire to repair and perfect it (Job_10:3; Job_14:15; Isa_64:8-9).
2. The divinely-ordained order is that we should ask God to multiply His blessings (Psa_116:12-13; Mat_6:25; Rom_8:32). The more God gives, the more He delights to give.
3. The fact that God has created us is strong ground for the belief that He will not forsake us. We may reasonably suppose that the same hand which imposes the obligation will help us when we endeavour to discharge it.
4. This prayer implies a state of the heart which God will own and bless. It is the expression of a strong and ardent desire to fulfil a divine obligation.
IN CONCLUSION.—Come as creatures to the great and beneficent Creator, and ask Him, your Father, to help you His offspring. (i.) Let the unconverted come. Although you cannot call God Father by the spirit of adoption, yet He has created you. Make this your plea, that yon should receive that filial spirit which will enable you to learn and obey your Father’s will. (ii.) Let believers under trial come for both reasons. Plead creation old and new, and you will not plead in vain.
RELIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP
(Psa_119:74; Psa_119:79)
I. Is possible only to religious persons. Fellowship implies a common experience, bond, and purpose. There is family fellowship, social fellowship, fellowship between those engaged in trade, science, or art, requiring similarity of nature, taste, and aim. “How can two walk together except they are agreed?” So there can be no religious fellowship except between those who fear God and have known His testimonies. That is, the qualities of sainthood are essential to the communion of saints.
II. Is to be desired by religious persons. “Let those that fear thee turn to Me.” Man feels as God felt for Him, that it is not good for him to be alone. He is a social being and longs for society. So God has “set the solitary in families.” This feeling is developed in fraternities, guilds, trades’ unions, &c. So the spiritual man yearns for communion with those who have been baptized into the same spirit. But it is noteworthy how the Psalmist desires this fellowship to be brought about, not by “the selective action of spiritual affinities,” but by the providence and grace of God. Psa_119:79 is not merely the expression of a want, it is a prayer (Jer_15:19). This is just the New Testament idea of the Church. It is not merely a congregation of people who for mutual profit, spiritual or otherwise, have left other things for it. It is a company, every member of which God “has called out of darkness into His marvellous light.” Christians do not simply gravitate to each other, God calls them to Himself, and then the Church finds its true unity. A shade of thought worthy of note is found in the expression, “Let them that fear thee turn to Me,” and shadows forth the principle of Christian evangelisation. “Here am I, yearning for fellowship. Let Thy people in their search for lost members of their fold find me.” What a striking condemnation does the example of this old Jew afford those who shrink from and must be urged to membership in Christ’s Church! The Psalmist’s absorbing desire and prayer is, that the faithful may find him and take him into fellowship.
III. Is profitable to religious persons. “They that fear Thee will be glad when I,” &c. We are glad when we find a fellow-countryman on a foreign shore. The scholar is glad of the company of his fellow-scholar, &c. Converse over identical callings is healthful and stimulating.
1. The Church is glad when it finds one lost member of its body and can bring it back again into union with itself. There is joy not only in heaven but on earth. The members of the Church have been increased, its territory and spiritual life and power augmented, one more jewel is added to its Redeemer’s crown.
2. The Church is glad when one of its members can testify to God’s special grace. The Psalmist had been afflicted, but God had sanctified his affliction and had delivered him. He felt that those who feared God would be glad when they knew that, particularly the sorrowful, whom it would lead to resignation and hope.
3. The Church is glad when one of its members contributes to the common stock of knowledge. The Psalmist had prayed for understanding and had been answered. We can imagine the gladness of the God-fearing company as he would open up the new and enlarged views of truth which had been vouchsafed him.
4. The Church is glad when one of its members can strengthen the common confidences. “They … will be glad because I have hoped in Thy Word.” Nothing is more depressing to a society than for one of its members to lose his hope.
IN CONCLUSION.—Why do some religious men shrink from religious fellowship? This question is of vast importance when we consider that the members of our congregations vastly outnumber the members of our churches. There is something wrong, we may depend upon it, when members of a family or class are out of fellowship with each other. If it is natural and healthy for men in their social or professional capacity to meet together, and if they have no hesitation in speaking to one another about matters which affect their common interest, much more so should the travellers of Zion meet together and comfort and edify one another by the way. Religious fellowship, it is true, may degenerate into sentimentality and unreal sameness, but a thing is not to be neglected because it is abused. The great want of the world is men and women of the type before us. Pentecost, the Reformation, Puritanism, and Methodism resulted from such.
RESIGNATION: ITS DUTIES AND USEFULNESS
(Psa_119:75; Psa_119:79)
I. The Psalmist expresses his resignation to the divine will. This is based on two grounds—
1. God’s judgments are right. God is holy in His nature, and wise and just in all the acts of His government, and therefore His judgments are right in general, though there may be in some particular instances difficulties which we cannot easily resolve.”—M. Henry.
2. God’s judgments are the expression of the divine faithfulness. They are not arbitrary or cruel, but they are necessary, that the divine and beneficent schemes which God has in hand may be worked out.
II. Resignation does not preclude, but rather presupposes and includes prayer for comfort and support. It is impossible without special grace to see and acknowledge the righteousness and faithfulness of God’s dispensations. The heart is naturally prone to resist and rebel against all discipline. We must therefore cry for help in our time of need. This is based on three things.
1. The divine mercy. “Thy merciful kindness.” We may plead that God is too kind to withdraw or not to bestow His help, the thought of which will encourage us under the heaviest trials.
2. The divine promise. “According to Thy word.” God is not only disposed but bound by covenant promise to help. Plead that promise that seems most to suit your case.
3. The divine ownership. “Thy servant.” Despondency, &c., will unfit us for our duties, and we may therefore ask for help because we want to work.
III. Prayer for life is not only not incompatible but consistent with resignation. “That I may live.” Let it be remembered that the Psalmist does not express that desire for life that is common to all men for its own sake. Life may be a blessing or a curse as it gains or fails in gaining the end for which it was given. The prayer here is for a life of holy joy and holy usefulness. “For Thy law is my delight.” Yet he would not wish for it except as the expression of the mercy, and therefore by the will, of God.
IV. Prolonged life is to be desired for the twofold influence that it may wield.
1. The conviction of gainsayers. Life is desired
(1) That imputations of the ungodly may be repelled (Psa_119:69; Psa_119:78);
(2) That their atheistical arguments may be confuted (Psa_115:2), and
(3) Themselves put to shame (Psa_119:72).
2. The comfort and confirmation of God’s people (Psa_119:29). It will stimulate to
(1) stronger confidence in God,
(2) resignation,
(3) hope. What God can do in one case He can do in all.
ORTHODOXY
(Psa_119:80)
I. Orthodoxy implies a correct apprehension of the meaning, purpose, and authority of God’s statutes. How can the heart be sound in that about which the mind is ignorant, uncertain, or hesitating? A law must be known before it can be obeyed. So with God’s statutes. I must know what they are, and assent to their necessity and utility, before they can become governing forces in my life. These statutes “are exceeding broad,” and cover the whole field of doctrine and morals. God’s statutes are, e.g., the Ten Commandments; but they are more. We read, “Believe also in Me,” “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” “Repent ye and believe the Gospel,” &c., and these are as much statutes as, “Thou shalt not steal.” Why then should orthodoxy in the former be of less moment than orthodoxy in the latter? The only difference is that heterodoxy in the latter is an offence against man, and in the former is a dishonour put upon God, which man naturally prefers. True enough orthodoxy by itself is of little value, just as true ideas of health avail nothing except they are practically applied. But we never hear of objections to orthodoxy in science, &c., objected to on these grounds.
II. Orthodoxy consists in soundness of heart in God’s statutes—i.e., experimental piety. As it is not merely correctness of intellectual belief on the one hand, neither is it simply correctness of life on the other. A man may have all the elements of the form of godliness, his morality may be very exact, his duties may be performed with the most scrupulous punctuality, and yet he may be like a whited sepulchre or an apple of Sodom, full of rottenness for the want of spiritual life and power,—e.g., the Pharisees. But for a man to be sound at heart, God’s statutes must dwell in him (Heb_8:10); they must be at the root of the governing forces of his life, transforming him into the image of God, moulding and assimilating him in the form which God would have him take, expelling sin, testifying of the divine favour, and subjecting his whole nature to the will of God. Then is a man orthodox—a living practical rule of faith and practice. If the tree is good the fruit will be good, and if a man is sound at heart he will be sound in his life, and pure and undivided in his allegiance to God and man.
III. The result of orthodoxy is that a man whose heart is sound in God’s statutes will not be ashamed. Unsoundness is the source of shame everywhere, except in those whose faces are steeled against shame. It is very sad when men glory in their shame, and make a boast of their heterodoxy in life, heart, or creed. But those who are sound have—
1. No occasion of shame before God. Soundness of heart will give us confidence in His presence (1Jn_3:21) and boldness of approach to the throne of grace (Heb_13:18, Rom_8:1), and before the throne of judgment by and by. It is quite otherwise when the heart is unsound.
2. No occasion of shame before ourselves. An unsound heart rouses the indignation of conscience (Rom_6:21). As soon as Adam sinned he was ashamed of himself. But the righteous man can approach the tribunal of conscience without fear of shame (2Co_1:2).
3. No occasion of shame before our fellows. We shall neither be stumbling-blocks to them, nor be exposed to the contempt of those whose opinion we value.
IN CONCLUSION.—Let those who would be orthodox, in its fullest sense, learn—(i.) That God alone can make them so (Isa_51:10; Eph_4:24). (ii.) That it should be sought with prayer and earnest purpose, and will be vouchsafed (Ezr_8:10; Psa_139:23-24). Let not the man of sceptical opinions nurse them under the impression that they evidence soundness of intellect, and are therefore desirable, or the man of unsound life under the impression that it is manly. (iii.) That a constant sense of God’s presence and a careful watchfulness of our ways is necessary to the maintenance of a sound creed, a sound heart, and a sound life (Psa_119:168, Jer_17:9; Heb_12:13).
MAN’S ADVERSITY AND GOD’S SALVATION
(Psa_119:81-88)
Our text teaches us—
I. That man’s adversity is often extreme.
1. In its intensity. “My soul fainteth,” “Mine eyes fail,” “When wilt Thou comfort me?” No figures could convey more powerfully than these the Psalmist’s extremity. When man’s comfort is gone and dimness covers his sight, and when his heart sinks within him, his case is extreme indeed.
2. In its duration. “I am like a bottle in the smoke.” “As wineskin in the smoke, my heart is sere and dried.”—Keble. So long have I been afflicted that I have become dried and wrinkled. God allows many a saint to cry out in his trouble, “When wilt Thou comfort me?”
3. In its danger. “The proud have digged pits for me.” “They had almost consumed me.” They were not successful in their snares and temptations, so they turn to active persecution and almost consume him. This is most frequently the order in which tribulations come. If the wicked are successful in their machinations, they are satisfied; if resisted, all their active malice is aroused.
II. That God’s salvation is the remedy for man’s adversity. This salvation is presented under four aspects—
1. “Comfort” is sometimes salvation. Paul, the martyrs, all reformers are saved in this way. It is not always necessary to be actually delivered. Timely comfort is timely succour.
2. The execution of judgment on oppressors (Psa_119:84). This is sometimes God’s way, but not often. Sufficiently often, however, and conspicuous to strike terror in the heart of tyrants, Satan, Pharaoh, the Philistines, Herod, &c.; but not often and conspicuously enough to lead His people to look too much for sanguinary vengeance on their foes.
3. Personal rescue. “Help Thou me.” Sometimes immediate. By the direct exercise of His omnipotence, God effects a complete deliverance for His people. It was so with Israel’s redemption from Egypt. It is so in some of those mysterious cases when long sources of trouble are suddenly dried up, and paths of prosperity suddenly opened. Sometimes with the use of means. By medicine in diseases, by industrious exertion in poverty. Sometimes God saves conspicuously by the unbaring of His arm; sometimes invisibly in the course of His providence.
4. Divine quickening (Psa_119:88). The infusion of the divine life of His Spirit, by means of which man is continually renewed and strengthened either to bear his afflictions or to overcome them.
III. That man’s adversity should lead him to cry mightily for God’s salvation. Powerful pleas are here presented and urged why God should save. The Psalmist here—
1. Expresses his hope in the divine promises. “I hope on Thy word.” This is presented as a reason why God should not disappoint him.
2. Confesses that God is his only comfort. “When wilt Thou comfort me?” God sometimes waits till we have exhausted every other resource. But when man is led to cry to his soul, “Hope thou in God,” that cry will not be in vain.
3. Urges the brevity of his life (Psa_119:84). “Are my days so many as to admit of delay in the manifestations of Thy righteous judgments?”—Speaker. “This is not a desire to be told how long he was to live, as if it were an object of desire to know this, but it is a method of saying that He could not live long under these circumstances, and therefore asked that God would save him soon.”—Barnes.
4. Mentions the divine faithfulness and loving-kindness (Psa_119:86, marg., and 88).
5. Reminds God of His own steadfastness (Psa_119:83; Psa_119:86-87). Happy the man whose adversity has not impaired his memory or loosened his hold of God’s law!
IV. That this remedy should be sought for holy ends. The Psalmist did not pray for salvation that he might be happy, but that he might be holy (Psa_119:88).
GOD’S WORKS AND GOD’S WORDS
(Psa_119:89-91)
To the devout and intelligent student there is a very close relationship and analogy between God’s Word and God’s works. Both proceed from the same Author, both teach truth, both answer moral ends, both appeal to man’s faith, hope, and love. The Psalmist traces some features of this analogy.
I. The heavens and the earth rest upon immovable foundations: so do the promises of God. All have a common basis in the divine faithfulness. If the universe came into existence by chance, or continued to exist by chance, it might cease by chance, and thus our confidence in its stability would end, and the gravest apprehensions would arise. So, if the promises rested on any other basis but God’s fidelity and truth; if they were merely imaginations or guesses, or the result of a devout and elevated enthusiasm; our spiritual foundations, all the bases of moral hope and life would be shaken or removed, and what then would the righteous do? But, thank God—
“His every word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies,
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises.”
II. The heavens and the earth continue: so do the promises of God, because held together by the divine faithfulness. Many changes have taken place since matter was first consolidated into worlds, but all these changes have been superintended and controlled by the gracious hand of Him “who upholds all things by the word of His power;” and notwithstanding all those changes it is the same universe. So with the promises. Some have been made to one generation, and some to another; some are of one quality and some of another; but they remain the same in power and beneficence to-day. The Psalmist trod the same soil under the same heavens as we do, and the same kind words which supported him are for our service, because maintained by the faithfulness of God.
III. The heavens and the earth are servants of the divine faithfulness: so are the promises. They all acknowledge one common Lord, and God employs them all for His children’s benefit. The heavens give cheering light, and send down refreshing showers. By the moon our tides are regulated, by the planets our time. The earth yields her increase for the children of men, and all the elements are ministers of the divine pleasure, and hearken unto the voice of His word. Much more so the promises. God has given man a spiritual nature, which requires food, support, and encouragement, and to this end in faithfulness as well as mercy are the divine promises sent on their errands.
IV. The heavens and the earth now so stable, according to the divine faithfulness will some day cease to be; not so the promises, which by virtue of the same faithfulness “for ever are settled” and are made to “all generations.” The universe was made to accomplish a divine but temporary purpose. “Towards that grand far-off divine event the whole creation moves.” Having reached it they will have accomplished their mission, and will pass away to make room for that “new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.” “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall never pass away.” The words of man, like him who makes them, and his works are subject to revision; but God’s word is above all change, being the unalterable decree of the ever-faithful Jehovah. Learn—
(i.) To trust in God when the fulfilment of His promises is delayed (Heb_6:12). (ii.) To trust in God as the sure anchorage of the soul amidst the mutations of earthly things and when its vanities would entice us away. (iii.) To trust in the Lord as here revealed so faithful and true, and not lean to the intuitions of our own fickle and faithless hearts (Luk_24:25; Rom_4:20).
THE BENEFIT AND OBLIGATION OF THE WORD OF GOD
(Psa_119:92-93)
Learn—
I. That in the order of divine providence God’s people are afflicted.
This is the teaching of all the Bible and all experience.
II. That affliction unsanctified will damage and destroy the spiritual life. God sends it for beneficent purposes, but man may misapply the means and thus defeat the end. The Psalmist was perilously near doing this, and was thus (Psa_119:92).
III. That God’s law delighted in is the means of sanctifying affliction and saving the soul from death.
1. It shows the reason for and the beneficence of affliction.
2. It affords comfort and support in affliction.
3. It reveals and leads us to that life which saves from destruction, and quickens us with its own vitality.
IV. That these benefits involve duties and responsibilities (Psa_119:93). Many a man who has made the Word his constant study in affliction, forgets it altogether in his prosperity.
1. Don’t forget to read it.
2. Don’t forget what it says either by command or promise.
3. Don’t forget to be grateful for what it has done.
4. Don’t forget to practise what it enjoins.
Remember what help it afforded you and the vows you made respecting it during your affliction, now you are well.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) If our delights are in God’s Word while we are ill, much more should they be when we are well. (ii.) If it can quicken us in affliction, it can maintain us in our health and qualify us with living power for service day by day.
AN ALL-PREVAILING PLEA
(Psa_119:94)
I. The plea. “I am Thine.” No plea is so universally prevalent as this. It is the plea of all properties, the plea of all relationships. The reason why things are saved from destruction is because they say to their owner, “We are thine.” The reason why a father is solicitous about his offspring is because they cry, “We are thine.” And the plea most powerful with man is most powerful with God, and can never be urged in vain. How can we urge this plea? We are God’s—
1. By creation (1Ch_29:11).
2. By redemption, “Ye are not your own.”
3. By covenant (Hos_2:23).
4. By re-creation (Eph_2:10), and adoption (Romans 8.).
5. By conquest.
6. By self-dedication to His service.
7. By assimilation to His likeness.
II. The prayer based upon this plea. “Save me.” Having this plea use it, urge it as a reason why God should save from
(1) Sin,
(2) Despair,
(3) Foes,
(4) Unfaithfulness,
(5) Hell.
III. The sources of the Psalmist’s information both as to plea and prayer. “For I have sought Thy precepts.” From no other source could he have known that he was God’s, and that God was willing to save.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) Can we all say when asked, “To whom belongest thou and whence art thou?” “I am thine.”
(1.) When did you take the oath of allegiance? (Deu_26:17-18.)
(2.) Have you the seals and signs of the divine possession? (ii.) Acknowledge God’s full authority. God gave Himself for you, and the least you owe Him is yourselves, and by giving Him yourselves you lose nothing but gain everything. (iii.) Seek upon this basis God’s full salvation.
THE ATTITUDE OF THE WICKED TOWARDS THE RIGHTEOUS, AND THE CONDITION OF THE RIGHTEOUS UNDER OPPRESSION
This Psalm is of peculiar value as exhibiting the characteristic features of wickedness in all ages, and the attitude which evil men will everywhere assume in their opposition to the good. It will be profitable to view all the references to this subject at one glance, and then in their relation to each other. By that means we shall catch many shades of thought we should otherwise miss. In these verses the Christian is informed all that he may expect from the enemies of God and man, and instructed how he should comport himself under this special form of trial.
I. The wicked are here described.
1. Who they are.
(1.) The wicked, a general term covering all the rest. Godless, transgressors of God’s law and therefore transgressors of man’s.
(2.) The oppressors. Those who put burdens on the helpless, and take advantage of, and crush the little strength of the weak.
(3.) Enemies of the righteous, necessarily and perpetually.
(4.) Proud
2. What they are.
(1.) “Many” in number.
(2.) Powerful in influence, “princes.”
(3.) Malicious in designs.
(4.) Subtle in methods of operation.
3. What they do.
(1.) They wait for the righteous for their destruction.
(2.) They lay snares for their ruin.
(3.) They oppress.
(4.) They persecute.
II. The righteous are here by the example of the Psalmist counselled—
1. To pray.
(1.) For protection (Psa_119:121-122).
(2.) For deliverance (Psa_119:134).
2. To consider God’s testimonies,
(1) of His goodness, faithfulness, and power,
(2) against their enemies.
3. Not to err from God’s statutes by falling into the snare of the wicked. Hence watchfulness.
4. To keep God’s statutes in spite of oppression.
5. Not to decline from God’s testimonies.
6. To stand in awe of God’s word.
THE FINITE AND THE INFINITE
(Psa_119:96)
The Psalmist relates what was a matter of experience to him. He had seen the end of all “perfection,” so may we. All finite things are perishable and perish before our eyes—empires, majesty, learning, art, pleasure, life. The first man and the last, and all those and their belongings who have come between, are of the earth earthy, and fade away. But in the midst of all these mutations the word of God lives on. “All flesh is grass,” &c. It has seen the rise and fall of many idolatries, superstitions, infidelities, and persecutions, but it stands to-day unmoved and unshakable. The truth of our text holds good with regard to
I. Earthly life. There is a limit to its perfection. “The days of our years are threescore years and ten,” &c. Beyond that it cannot pass. It is bounded by the bourne of an undiscovered country, which it cannot pass. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. It covers not only time, but the eternity which bounds it on both sides. It was in God’s mind innumerable ages before man breathed the breath of life, and will survive the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.
II. Earthly greatness and grandeur. The limitations to that we see day after day. The popular favour which has built it up may be withdrawn, the friends who contributed it may fall away or die, the enemies who are waiting their opportunity to undermine it may succeed, health may fail, and life. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. It can confer honours which are supernatural and immortal, “crowns of glory which can never fade away.”
III. The development of human character. There is a point to which a man’s character without God may reach, beyond which it is impossible to go. And how often do men reach that point and then utterly break down in the line of wisdom, goodness, or charity! But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. There is no “hitherto shalt thou go and no farther” to those whose character is based upon that. By following the lines indicated there, and securing the power offered there, a man who has scaled the loftiest height of saintliness there known could still say, “I count not myself to have attained it.”
IV. The acquisition of human knowledge. The mind has limitations beyond which, “madness lies.” It can be stretched to a certain tension, but if stretched further it breaks. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. It provides for the indefinite expansion of the mind it has sanctified, and offers subjects which shall occupy without wearying it to all eternity. The subjects of human knowledge are bounded, and it is not impossible when scientific instruments reach the perfection that they promise, to imagine the time when the circle of human information will be complete; when our telescopes shall have swept every star, and our microscopes revealed every molecule, and our natural philosophy the details of every element. But God’s commandment contains things into which we shall desire to look for ever. The records of human knowledge perish; inscriptions become illegible; books and parchments wear out; but God’s commandment will endure for ever.
V. Human pleasures and satisfactions. Sensual gratifications soon pall upon the taste. Sinful appetites are soon jaded. The worldling sooner or later comes to the old conclusion, “All is vanity and vexation of spirit.” The “pleasures of sin are for a season.” Even innocent enjoyments lose their recreative power. They must be changed again and again, for without variety they cease to satisfy at all. When over indulged, or sought as an end and not a means to an end, they lose their pleasurableness altogether. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. It contains and leads us to fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore.
VI. Human institutions. These are mostly local. As a rule the institutions of a country are confined to that country. The manners and customs of a race or clime usually belong only to that race or clime. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. Its institutions and principles are adapted to the whole world. Human institutions are all temporary. They are founded to answer passing needs. The institution of God’s word will last through the eternity of man’s spiritual want. They are the bread and water of his life by which he shall be satisfied for evermore.
IN CONCLUSION.—Why? Because all things merely human are confined to time. God’s commandment, covers time and eternity. Things human cannot touch the immortal life and satisfy it, cannot cleanse the sinful conscience, soothe the troubled heart, or give peace to the agitated soul. They cannot aid us in our great concerns, cannot tell us about God, duty, acceptance with heaven, death, preparation for a life to come. God’s commandment can and does all this, and therefore is it “exceeding broad.” Therefore our text is a solemn word for everybody. It is an encouragement to the weak, a warning to the great, a comfort for the old, an exhortation to the young. All perfection has an end, but God’s commandment is exceeding broad.
THE SAINT’S ENJOYMENT OF THE LAW OF GOD
(Psa_119:97; Psa_119:103)
I. The law of God is lovable. It is worthy of notice, that the Psalmist’s appreciation was not only of its promises (Psa_119:103), but of its injunctions (Psa_119:97).
1. Because of its author. It is our Father’s legacy. The commandment and promises of Him who sticketh closer than a brother. It is the counsel and loving assurance of our best and truest Friend.
2. Because of its subject-matter.
(1.) It is truth divine and infallible. “Thy word is truth” (Psa_19:9; Eph_1:13). It is necessary truth that would never have been discovered by the unaided use of our understandings. All truth should excite affection, because of its suitability to the mind and its power to satisfy it.
(2.) It is the revelation of perfect love and goodness. Tells us of our Father’s character and the beneficence of His intentions, how sin may be pardoned, the soul sanctified, the whole nature blessed, and heaven gained.
3. Because of the benefit it confers. It convinces the sinner of the error of his ways (Jeremiah 23), Paul before Felix. It converts the soul from sin (Psa_19:7). It promises comfort in all times of distress. It is a safe guide in the affairs of life. It initiates and increases in the knowledge of God, and is able to make us perfect in every good word and work (2Ti_3:7, 2Pe_1:19).
II. God’s saints possess a spiritual taste which enables them to appreciate the law of God. The soul has faculties which perform the same functions for it as the senses do for the body (Heb_5:14). Thus it is said to hear, see, handle, feel, speak; and as here and in Psa_34:8, taste. These are the most acute of all senses. The higher the life, the keener the sense. Animals feel more than plants; men more than animals; spiritual men more than carnal men.
1. What this taste presupposes. Soul hunger. A jaded or satisfied appetite more or less impairs the sense of taste. Taste, too, has frequently to be created Things which before were noxious then become enjoyable. And to the hungry soul, whose taste has been quickened by God, is God’s law sweet (Proverbs 27; Rom_8:5).
2. What this taste involves, a relish for the word of God (Jer_15:16; Eze_3:3; Rev_10:10). No man who does not relish God’s words can use the language of our text.
III. God’s saints exercise that taste continually. “It is my meditation all the day.” This is but natural. What we love most, we most desire. What we most delight in, we seek most familiarity with. This holds good all the world over. Fame, pleasure, business, war, &c., so here the saint loves God’s Word, delights in it, and hence “meditates upon it all the day.”
SUPERIOR UNDERSTANDING
(Psa_119:98-102; Psa_119:104)
I. What in? Pre-eminently in holiness. “I have refrained my feet from every evil way;” “I have not departed from Thy judgments.” The Psalmist does not mean simply in intellectual matters, although that may hold good. The man who prays is most likely to keep his intellect clear. He who recognises his mental faculties as a solemn and responsible gift of God is most likely to be industrious in their employment. He who devoutly seeks for divine assistance is most likely to gain it, and thus distance his compeers. But the Psalmist seems to contemplate both superiority of subject, and superiority of attainment in that subject.
II. Over whom?
1. “Mine enemies.” That is most likely from their qualities as mentioned in this Psalm. A man who entertains enmity in his heart is not likely to be an adept in the knowledge of God.
2. “My teachers.” Because of his more diligent use of means. It is not seldom that scholars outstrip their teachers by this method. The Psalmist’s teachers may have been mere surface or fanciful expositors of the Word of God, or mere sinecurists or ceremonialists.
3. “The ancients.” Those older than himself (Job_32:7-8), because he meditated where they only skimmed, and practised where they only theorised. Or his predecessors, because he possessed more of the word of inspiration than they. Can we with “all Scripture” use the words of the text?
III. Through what power? “Thou hast made me wiser;” “Thou hast taught me.”
1. Not by the use of his unaided faculties, or any superiority of intellect, insight, or industry. The one thing which he and his brethren earnestly disclaim is originality. But—
2. By direct divine instruction. To attain this superiority now we must have it from the same source. All that the unaided understanding can do in this direction has been achieved, and that is nothing. No reflection, thought, or study even of the divine oracles can make us “wise unto salvation,” except through “the faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” “They shall be all taught of God.”
IV. By what instrumentality. “Through Thy precepts.”
1. Continual meditation. “They are ever with me.” Knowledge, like life, must be continually fed.
2. Consistent practice. “I keep Thy precepts.” Theories can only keep their hold in so far as they are consistently reduced to practice.
3. Earnest continuance. “I have not departed,” &c.
V. With what results?
1. Distaste for falsehood (Psa_119:104).
2. Unswerving integrity.
GOD’S WORD A LAMP AND A LIGHT
(Psa_119:105)
The Psalmist here employs two powerful and familiar figures to express the enlightening power of the Word of God. In the day it is a light showing us the direction, course, peculiarities, and dangers of our path. At night, when the sun has set and the gloom has settled, and we have to pick our way, it shall be a candle, not perhaps illuminating the entire course, but sufficient to guide our footsteps clear of the stumbling-blocks and difficulties of the way. In the day its light is delightful, displaying all the beauties of the landscape and cheering our onward tread. In the night it is useful, showing us where we may err, where we should tread, and how it is possible to fall.
I. The Word of God is a light.
1. It claims to be a light (Pro_16:23, 2Pe_1:19). Certain types powerfully shadow it forth as such (Exo_13:21; Exo_27:20; Exodus 21; Neh_9:10).
2. Reason supports this claim. It is God’s Word (1Jn_1:5). Holy men wrote it (2Pe_1:21). Moral enlightenment and guidance is the design of it.
3. Experience warrants it. Bad men fear and hate it (Joh_3:20-21). Good men have loved and enjoyed it (Psa_19:8). Those who have gone without it or rejected it have stumbled. Those who have accepted its guidance have had the light of life.
II. The Word of God is a clear light. It is not twilight, or starlight, or moonlight, but daylight.
1. It is a clear light in the right way (Psa_43:3). The wisest men have wandered without it.
2. It is a clear light on the wrong way. It not only tells us what to do, but what not to do. Warns us against going astray. Informs us where sin and madness lie. Urges us to beware of and shun the magic music of the syren’s voice and the pleasant pastures of sin. And, thank God, it shines to lead us back again. It is a revelation of God’s way to bad and fallen men (1Co_14:24).
3. It is a clear light in the dark way. Clouds may settle on the path of God. The sun may hide itself. Our way may lie through dark ravines and the valley of the death-shadow. Trouble may overcast the soul and lead us to say, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious?” But even under circumstances such as these, light breaks forth from God’s holy word which makes it a lamp to our path (Isa_50:10).
III. The Word of God is a full and perennial light. It guides by day and it guides by night. It illumines our path, but it enables us to pick each individual step.
1. Generally it tells us the course of life we should pursue, the grand choice we ought to make, and the sublime destiny we ought to reach (Psa_25:12).
2. In particular. Many men are wise in a general way, but sadly fail when they come to details. A man may be a very good mathematician, yet a very bad accountant. A great statesman may be utterly unable to grasp the minor and subordinate details of state policy. So many a man has taken the Bible as the guide for his general course of conduct, who for want of attention to its details has stumbled and fallen. The Bible not only unveils the whole way, but lights up every successive step of the way (1Pe_1:15). No man need err respecting any duty, responsibility, or privilege in his path. This applies to men of all ages, and conditions everywhere. This being the case—
(i.) How thankful we ought to be for the Word of God!
(ii.) How diligently we ought to study and practise it!
RELIGIOUS PROFESSION
(Psa_119:106)
Our text suggests—
I. That the profession of religion should be of the strongest and most binding character.
1. This has been the practice of the godly in all ages (Job_31:1; 2Ch_15:12-14; 2Ch_34:31).
2. The weakness of our own nature demands it. Our mere purposes and resolutions are like the morning cloud, &c., and require to be bound down under the most solemn obligations.
3. The character of the subject requires it. God has sworn with an oath to fulfil His engagements towards us (Heb_6:18), and requires a responsive oath from us (Exo_24:3). The beneficence and necessity of the laws, in the keeping of which religion consists, demand it.
II. That the profession of religion should be the result of serious thought. The resolution to keep God’s righteous judgments implies a study of those judgments which has resulted in the conclusion that they are righteous. When a man determines to be a Christian, he should know what he is about. He is making a throw for time and for eternity. God Himself demands that the cost should be counted, so that there may be no afterthoughts, for He has no pleasure in the sacrifice of fools.
III. That the profession of religion should be made with a free but resolute will. The individual himself should of himself and for himself say, “I will.” Let parents beware how they compel their children to appear religious. Many a moral wreck has been stranded on the shores of eternity through this. Compulsion will breed distaste. Rather guide the judgment, reason, and affections. Show the duty, need, and lovableness of religion, and lead the child to say of himself, “I will keep Thy righteous judgments.” The will once bent, fix it. Let nothing alter your decision or make you swerve.
IV. That the profession of religion once made should be faithfully and consistently kept. “I will perform it.” The strength of the Psalmist’s accumulated expressions will be seen at once.
1. To break our oath is to aggravate our sin. Better not swear at all than swear and not perform (Ecc_5:5).
2. The same motives that urged us to take the vow hold good all the way through. After the most protracted test and trial of religion, the godly man sees no reason to repent his choice. God is the same, and His judgments lose none of their righteousness by lapse of years.
3. God is the severe and just avenger of broken fidelity. Young man! (i.) Resolve to be religious. It is the noblest, most reasonable, and safest thing to do. (ii.) Resolve and fulfil your resolutions, not in your own strength, but in the strength of God. (iii.) Resolve and expect God’s blessing and reward.
This Psalm is emphatically a psalm for the afflicted. Sorrow and trouble are here delineated in every form in which they may be expected to occur. But not only so: all the consolations and remedies that are at the disposal of the afflicted are here opened up, and also all the obligations which comfort or restoration imposes, and all the results which may be expected to follow. It will be profitable, therefore, to survey the whole field displayed in these verses as briefly as possible.
I. The characteristics of affliction.
1. It is sometimes extreme (Psa_119:107; Psa_119:143).
2. It is sometimes perilous (Psa_119:109). “The image is taken from a traveller carrying precious jewels in his hand through dangerous paths, or from soldiers who carry their lives in their hands, in that their lives depend upon their valour in fight, or perhaps from a game of chance. “Though I play with my life and risk it always,” &c. Vaihnger interprets “my soul is in, or upon my hand, apt to fall off and perish, as anything in or upon the hand easily falls off.”—Speaker’s Com.
3. It is sometimes a judicial infliction (Psa_119:120; Lam_3:39). (See also Job_4:15; Isa_2:10; Jer_51:27; Exo_34:7.)
II. The consolations of affliction.
1. That God permits it. This is the assumption of the whole Psalm, and what quiets and comforts the Psalmist’s soul. If God permits it, it must be for the bringing about of some beneficent end.
2. That it does not produce forgetfulness of God’s law (Psa_119:109). When men do forget God’s law, let them not charge affliction with this terrible discomfort. In many cases it is sent to stimulate memory.
3. That it has opened to him the supports and pleasures of the Word of God (Psa_119:143). Happy the man whose affliction has given him time for, and driven him to, the study of God’s law.
III. The remedy for affliction.
1. The divine favour (Psa_119:124; Psa_119:156).
2. The divine promise (Psa_119:154).
3. The divine wisdom (Psa_119:156).
4. The divine assistance (Psa_35:1; Psa_43:1; Psa_74:22). “The expression belongs properly to judicial proceedings. The Psalmist is wrongfully accused, and prays to God to be his advocate; but inasmuch as the cause is carried on, not in a court of justice, but in the battlefield, the advocate must be also a champion.”—Speaker’s Com.
IV. The results of affliction.
1. Quickened vitality (Psa_119:154; Psa_119:156). Painful operations sometimes save life, and life is all the stronger for these operations. The cancer must be cut out, that the life that is being consumed may be spared and made more healthy.
2. Instruction in God’s statutes. Affliction is what we run into sometimes in our flight from the divine ways. It is beneficial for a child to feel the pain of fire that he may avoid it, and so God’s child is made to feel the bitterness of sin, that he may value and be faithful to his Father’s law.
3. The special favour of God (Psa_119:135). A parent regards with peculiar complacency and love his child who has been rescued from peril and disease.
Lessons—
(i.) Let affliction drive us in prayer to God (Psa_119:153).
(ii.) Let no affliction drive us to transgress God’s law (Psa_119:109, &c).
(iii.) Let affliction stimulate us to expect quickened life, a more earnest fidelity, and double favour.
SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES
(Psa_119:108)
This verse appropriately follows the Psalmist’s contemplation of his affliction. God had afflicted him in mercy and with judgment. God had wonderfully delivered him. He feels as the Apostle felt centuries afterwards (Rom_12:1), that in recognition of the Divine beneficence it was incumbent upon him to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. Note comparisons and contrasts, and the word beseech in both. We have here—
I. A recognition of the spiritual priesthood of believers. The offering presupposes the priesthood. God’s people throughout the ages have been members of a royal priesthood. The Jewish nation was such (Exo_19:5-6). The prophets contemplated the time when pious Gentiles would be such (Isa_61:6; Isa_66:21; Mal_1:11). The New Testament recognises all Christians as such (1Pe_2:9; Rev_1:6).
II. Spiritual priests must have a spiritual preparation. Under the law, the priests were to be separate from the commonalty. Under the Gospel, they are a holy nation and a peculiar people. Under the law they received a special anointing; under the Gospel they receive the unction of the Holy One (1Jn_2:20). Under the law the priests were prepared for their office by a lustration; Christians are baptized with the Holy Ghost (Tit_3:6). All priestly orders, whether received from Greece or Rome, are invalid, except those conferred by Him who alone can “make” “kings and priests.”
III. Spiritual priests must offer and can only offer spiritual sacrifices. Not expiatory, but eucharistic; not sin offerings, but peace and thank offerings (Heb_7:27; Heb_10:14; Heb_13:15). As the priesthood is purely spiritual so must be the sacrifices (Joh_4:24; Psa_50:13-15; Psa_69:30-31). The particular offering here specified includes or presupposes all the rest. Prayer (Psa_141:2). Praise (Psa_54:6). Thanksgiving (Psa_50:1; Psa_50:4). The body (Rom_12:1). Body and spirit (1Co_6:20). Ourselves (2Co_8:5). Almsgiving (Php_4:18; Heb_13:16). Notice, further, that these are sacrifices because they are true to the laws which underlie the whole doctrine of sacrifice—viz., self-denial, recognition of what is due to God (Psa_50:5), contrition for sin (Psa_51:17), trust in the Redeemer’s sacrifice (Eph_5:2), acknowledgment of individual undeservedness of the divine favour.
IV. Spiritual offerings must be freewill offerings.
1. Because God deserves a service that is free.
2. Because the spiritual man is upheld by “a free spirit,” and has been made “willing in the day of God’s power.”
3. Because free-will offerings are those which are most likely to be permanent.
V. Free-will offerings are most acceptable to God. “God loveth the cheerful giver” (Isa_60:7; Mal_3:4).
VI. God’s gracious acceptance of free-will offerings must be regarded as a great blessing, and as therefore incurring corresponding obligations. “Teach me Thy statutes” (Psa_19:14).
(Psa_119:109), see Psa_119:107
(Psa_119:110), see Psa_119:95
GOD’S WORD THE HERITAGE OF HIS PEOPLE
(Psa_119:111-112)
Notice—
I. That God’s Word is a heritage.
A heritage is that which has been specially bequeathed. Heritages are not purchased, but testated. So the Word of God has not been made or purchased by man, but has been freely given to us by our Father God.
II. That God’s Word is a valuable heritage. “They are the rejoicings of my heart.”
1. It is an undeserved heritage. We can lay no natural claim or title to it. When made out for us we were “alienated and enemies in our mind by wicked works.”
2. It is a full heritage. Nothing can be added to it. It contains all things necessary and profitable to life, godliness, and eternity. The ever-blessed Trinity, providence, grace, earth, heaven, all are there; and all are his to whom the testimonies of God belong (Psa_16:5; 1Co_3:21; 2Co_6:10).
3. It is a sure heritage. There are no flaws in the title (Heb_6:17).
4. It is an abiding heritage. Estates are valuable in proportion to the time they last. God’s Word is not leasehold as are all His temporal gifts. They are the saints’ freehold (Psa_73:26).
III. It is a responsible heritage.
1. It is offered to our choice. “I have taken.” It is not forced upon us. We may reject it. If other things are more rejoicing to the heart we are welcome to them—if we can get them—with the consequences.
2. That choice is the result of a preparation. “I have inclined.” A child’s faculties must be developed before he is fit to become the responsible owner of property. So man must incline himself by Divine grace for the duties and responsibilities which devolve upon him as the proprietor of the Word of God.
3. That choice involves the agent in grand and eternal responsibilities. “To perform Thy statutes alway even unto the end.” Free as is our heritage there is a tax upon it. The same tax that is upon all property—viz., right use. If this is not observed within certain limits in worldly estates, the right is lost. The profligate and sprendthrift neglecting to pay this tax squanders an ample portion and is reduced to beggary. The careless heir who neglects it, finds it squandered for him. He who uses it to violate the law of the land has it taken from him. So those who do not carefully and responsibly use this great heritage of God will lose it.
LOVE AND HATE
(Psa_119:113; Psa_119:128; Psa_119:163)
These verses view the two great and influential affections in their relation to one another. Let us view them first together and then separately. Together observe—
I. Affection is set against affection; hatred against love. Love and hatred are good or evil according to their objects. Nothing is worse than love of the world, sin, and vanity, or hatred of God and holiness; but set upon proper objects, hatred upon evil, and love upon good (Amo_5:15), they exhibit the soul as divinely constituted at the first. For as has been well said, “Man fallen is but an anagram of man in innocency; we have the same affections, but they are misplaced. Love was made for God; hatred for sin. Hatred was put on us that we might fly from evil. Love was given us that we might attach ourselves to God and the things which glorify Him.”
II. Object is set against object. As love is opposed to hatred, so are vain thoughts and lying to God’s law, and every false way to God’s precepts. For as God’s Word is solemn, practical, and necessary truth, so it requires solemnity and truth in those who would observe it.
We have already considered love in contrast with hate, and God’s Word in contrast with vain thoughts, lying and every false way. Let us now isolate those passages which regard the supreme affection of man’s heart as set upon God’s Word.
I. What is it to love God’s Word?
1. Negatively. Not
(1.) The bare acknowledgment of its divinity. This many do from the force of external evidence.
(2.) Nor a bare approval of its excellence. Many admire where they do not trust and follow.
(3.) A mere spasm of delight, as Herod rejoiced in John’s light for a season (Mar_6:20).
2. Positively.
(1.) Such a love as is rooted in the heart (Jas_1:21), and stirs all the affections to their inmost depths.
(2.) Such a love as leads us to consult it on all occasions (Psa_1:2; Psa_19:10-11).
(3.) Such a love as lays its sweet constraint on our obedience (1Jn_2:4; Rom_6:17).
II. What degree of love ought we to have for God’s Word?
1. Supreme, “above gold, yea even fine gold.” We ought to love God’s Word more than riches, because it is more valuable than riches. Wealth is not prized for its own sake, but only for what it represents and can do. The Word of God contains “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” This love, then, is such as will render us willing to sell all we have, so that we may obtain “the pearl of great price” (Psa_119:72).
2. Intense and abundant. “Consider how I love Thy laws.” God only can measure the depth of it. “I love them exceedingly.” Not with the transcient affection of children for things which excite their passing inclinations, but with a love whose power cannot be broken, and whose ardour many waters cannot quench (Psa_119:48; Psa_119:97; 1Jn_2:5).
III. Why should we love God’s Word?
1. Because its precepts concerning all things are right” (Psa_119:128). All things, all persons, considered every way, universally, God’s Word is right.
2. Because it is “very pure” or “purifying.”
(1.) Pure in itself (Psa_19:8). Refined from all dross, error, or falsehood.
(2.) Pure in the examples it presents (Heb_6:12; 1Jn_3:3; 1Pe_1:15).
(3.) Purifying in the influence it exerts (Psa_119:9; Joh_15:3; Joh_17:17). Showing us our impurity (Mat_16:19; Jer_4:14). Exhorting us to be clean (Psa_119:1; Isaiah 1; Jas_4:8). Revealing the cleansing fountain (Eph_5:26; Eze_36:25-27). Encouraging to purity (Mat_5:8; 2Co_7:1).
2. Because it is tranquillising (Psa_119:165).
(1.) It reveals the “peace of God” which “keeps the heart and mind.”
(2.) Christ the Prince of Peace there confers it (Joh_14:27).
(3.) The Spirit of Peace through it breathes His own tranquillity (Rom_15:13; Gal_5:22; Gal_6:16).
IV. How should we show our love to God’s Word?
1. By hating “vain thoughts,” “false ways,” and “lying.”
2. By loving obedience (Psa_119:167).
3. By prayer for more lively service (Psa_119:159).
V. What results will follow our love of God’s Word?
1. It will afford a powerful plea in prayer (Psa_119:159). This was the confident appeal of one who was conscious that he was truly attached to God (Joh_21:17).
2. It will stimulate to active service (Psa_119:140).
3. It will afford a powerful protection (165, marg.). “No event of providence shall be an invincible temptation or powerful affliction, they shall hold fast their integrity and preserve their tranquillity. Nothing shall offend or hurt them, for everything shall work for their good. They will not perplex themselves with needless scruples, nor take offence at their brethren” (1Co_13:6-7).
HOLY HATRED
(Psa_119:113; Psa_119:128; Psa_119:163)
I. In its nature. Hate is that passion which is aroused by the presence and antagonism of that which is repugnant, and which is excited to injure or exterminate that to which it is irreconcilably opposed. This is strong language, but justifiable and appropriate when applied to the believer’s attitude against sin. Note a few of its attributes—
1. Implacability. It is not a passing spasm of indignation; it aims at nothing short of extermination. Those who hate sin pursue it with relentless vigour.
2. Universality. Anger is aroused against individuals; hatred against species. So the Christian hates all sin.
3. Growth. It is a principle which develops with our own spiritual strength (Act_24:16; 1Jn_3:9).
4. Intensity (Psa_119:163). Mere detestation is not enough. Anything short of abhorrent hatred will not meet the necessities of the case. Resolution will not, nor fear, nor dislike.
1. “Vain thoughts.” The original word with a different punctuation occurs in 1Ki_18:21, “opinions.” LXX here have παρανόμους, “lawless men;” Syr., “Perversely-minded men;” Chal., “Thinkers of vain thoughts.” “The Psalmist describes mischievous speculations, subtle, useless, and perilous; heterodox pernicious teachings; opposed to truth revealed, and likely to interfere with its acceptance in its simplicity.”—Geier. “The word is probably concrete and not abstract, ‘doubters,’ ‘sceptics,’ ‘double-minded men’ (Jas_1:8), ἀνὴρ δίψυχος, a double-minded man divided between two opinions.—Speaker’s Com.
2. “False ways.” “Every course of life not based on truth or a right view of things.”—Barnes.
3. “Lying.”
(1.) The speaking of that which is false with an intention to deceive.
(2.) The suppression of truth that should be told (Joh_12:42-43).
(3.) Hypocrisy.
(4.) Disobedience to the law which we profess to believe and obey. Lies can be acted as well as told (Hos_11:12; 1Jn_1:6; 1Jn_2:4).
IN CONCLUSION.—We should hate all sin, because it is what it is, and because of what it does. It is the contempt of God’s authority (Exo_5:4). It is a breach of His righteous law (1Jn_3:4). It separates from God (Isa_59:2). It defaces the divine image (Psa_44:12). It is the abominable thing which God hates, and works ruin and damnation to the soul.
THE DIVINE PROTECTION
(Psa_119:114)
I. The divine protection.
1. A need implied. The soul is in continual danger (Eph_6:12). It is beset by enemies who excel in craft, malice, pertinacity, numbers, and power. Hence it needs a shield to protect it in active warfare and a hiding-place to render it secure when at rest.
2. Protection vouchsafed. God is a shield to keep us in danger, and a hiding-place to keep us out of it. This promise guarantees that danger shall be entirely warded off, or if not, it shall not overwhelm us, but shall the rather make us sensible of the divine defence.
(1.) “Thou art my hiding-place.” When sorely beset by danger, or unable to defend themselves, or wanting rest from conflict, men run to a hiding-place (1Sa_3:6; Psa_32:7; Pro_22:3). A hiding-place must have capacity. God has room for us (Psa_31:20; 2Ti_1:12). Secrecy (Psa_27:5); God’s protection of His saints is a mystery, hidden from the eyes of men. “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” Comfort (Psa_34:22; Psa_91:1). Safety till trouble is over (Psa_57:1; Isa_26:20).
(2.) “Thou art my shield” (Psa_5:12; Psa_28:7; Psa_91:4). For a shield to afford safety it must have sufficient breadth (Psa_5:12). Resistance, impenetrability, and power to repel the missiles that are hurled against it, back upon the foe (Psa_59:11).
II. Where the divine protection is revealed. In God’s Word—
1. It sets God forth at His people’s sure defence (Psa_84:11; Gen_15:1).
2. It gives infallible assurance of the Divine protection. Pro_30:5; Psa_18:30).
3. It invites and encourages us to avail ourselves of that protection.
4. It tells us what qualifications he must have who would avail himself of that protection. Faith (Pro_30:5; Psa_18:30). Obedience (Psa_84:11; Pro_2:7; Isa_33:15-16).
5. It tells us how to enjoy that protection (Zep_2:3).
III. The comfort this revelation brings. “I hope in Thy word.”
1. It tranquillises the soul while it waits for God’s own time (Psa_33:20; Isa_28:16).
2. It fortifies the heart in present difficulties, and when danger is, or promises to be extreme. Moses in the wilderness (Psa_90:1), David in exile (Psa_3:3).
3. It empowers us cheerfully to do what God would have us do, and go where God would have us go, fearlessly trusting in God’s goodness and power (Psa_31:5).
IN CONCLUSION.—
(1.) A word of comfort. No hurt can happen to us without God’s leave. (ii.) A word of warning. There is no safety for us except behind God’s power. (iii.) A word of exhortation. Acknowledge God at all times as your protector, and seek Him in every time of need.
SEPARATION AND CONSISTENCY
(Psa_119:115)
These two ideas stand or fall with each other. It is impossible to be obedient to the law of God while associating with wicked men, and equally impossible to keep bad company while doing good works. Observe—
I. The necessity of separation from evil doers.
1. Its limitations.
(1.) Not in mere matters of business (1Co_5:5), nor while it is possible to do them good. Nor should we renounce Church fellowship because evil or inconsistent men are there—a most absurd, but, alas! frequent course. There are black or unsound sheep in every flock, tares in every harvest, chaff in every threshing-floor. “I fly from the chaff that I may not be it; but I fly not the floor lest I be nothing.”—Augustine. But
(2) We are required not to be unequally yoked with them in cordial friendship or matrimonial alliances (Exo_34:15; 2Co_6:14), not to imitate their manners and customs, and not to partake of their sins (Eph_5:11). But by virtue of our new nature, our spiritual sonship, our moral inheritance, our communion with God, and our hope of heaven, we are enjoined to come out from among them and be the saintly and peculiar people of God.
2. Its reasons.
(1.) Our love of God should prevent us being on terms of amity and fellowship with those who are at enmity with Him. It would argue but poor patriotism for a soldier to be on terms of cordiality with a rebel or a foe (Psa_139:21-22; 2Pe_2:8).
(3.) Our familiarity will harden them in their sins, while our separation from them may promote reflection (2Th_3:6-14).
(4.) Friendship with them will bring a blemish on our fair fame. A man is known by the company he keeps (2Jn_1:2; Heb_12:15; Psa_50:18).
(5.) We stand in danger of sharing their ruin (Gen_14:12; Pro_13:20; Rev_18:4).
II. The duty of keeping God’s commandments.
1. We are under the most solemn obligations to do so. They are the commandments of our God. Ours by covenant engagement. He has promised to be ours only on the condition of the fulfilment of our duty (Deu_27:9-10).
2. We owe it as a debt of gratitude to God for revealing them. Since God has been at the trouble of revealing them, holy and just and good as they are, we ought to be at the trouble of keeping them.
3. Upon keeping God’s commandments our wellbeing absolutely depends. To transgress them is to transgress the fundamental laws of spiritual life.
4. Upon our constant obedience depends our hope of heaven. “Be thou faithful unto death,” &c.
III. The importance of prompt and decisive resolution. “Depart.” “I will.”
1. God has no pleasure in an unstable, double-minded man.
2. Without resolute determination all desires are vain.
3. Unless we are prompt and decisive, evildoers will take advantage of us and easily win us to their ways.
GOD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
(Psa_119:116-119)
I. God’s attitude towards the righteous.
1. What that attitude is. Twofold. Something to hold. Some one who holds. Teneo et teneor.
(1.) God is something to hold. A prop, a rock, a sure foundation; something clinging to which we shall not be swept away by the surging billows.
(2.) God is someone who holds. The Psalmist thinks of the strong and tenacious grasp of God; “They shall never perish,” &c. This double idea is expressed in Psa_73:23.
2. Upon what that attitude depends. Twofold again. The divine promise and cheerful obedience.
(1.) “According to Thy word.” The Bible is full of promises in this direction too numerous to quote.
(2.) “I love Thy testimonies.” “I will have respect unto Thy statutes continually.”
3. What this attitude implies.
(1.) Life.
(2.) Glorious hope.
(3.) Safety.
II. God’s attitude towards the wicked.
1. What that attitude is.
(1.) Contempt. Sept. and Vulg., “Thou dost despise (Psa_119:118).
(2.) Rejection (Psa_119:119). “There is no true metal in them when they are tried by the refining fire, they are burnt up; they fly off in fumes. There is probably an allusion to the scum or scoriæ at the surface of melting metals, which is swept off previously to casting the metal into the mould.”—Clarke.
2. Why that attitude is assumed.
(1.) Because of their falsehood.
(2.) Because of their worthlessness: “dross.”
3. What that attitude implies. One word describes it all. “Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”
(Psa_119:120), see Psa_119:107
(Psa_119:121), see Psa_119:95
(Psa_119:122), see Psa_119:95
LOFTY ASPIRATIONS
(Psa_119:123-125)
I. The objects of these aspirations.
(1.) Salvation.
(2.) The words of God’s righteousness. This may refer to some precious promise, some solemn injunction, or some righteous law.
(3.) Divine teaching. The Word of God is a sealed word without the illumination of the Divine Spirit.
II. The quality of these aspirations.
1. Intensity. “Mine eyes fail.” “The idea here is that of looking out for a thing—of ‘straining the eyes’ so that their power becomes exhausted.”
2. Resignation. “Deal with Thy servant according to Thy mercy.” What is best for me grant. If I ask amiss withhold.
THE LORD’S TIME AND OURS
(Psa_119:126)
The Hebrew literally rendered is, “Time to do for Jehovah,” and means either that it is time for the Lord to work, or time for us to work for the Lord. As expositors are divided, its vagueness warrants us to learn the blessed truths taught by both interpretations; for are not we “workers together with God”? Notice—
I. A time common to both to work. When man makes void the law of God. When is this time? Alas! when is it not? Men make void the law of God every day, every moment. The time, then, for God and man to work together is now. Not to-morrow, not on special days or special occasions, but “now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.”
II. A work common for both to do. The work of salvation. Man saves instrumentally, by example, by exhortation, by influence, in leading men to a knowledge of their sins, to repentance, and to trust in Christ. God saves effectually by the restraining influences of His grace, by the convictions and regeneration of the Holy Ghost, by cleansing in the precious blood, by pardon.
III. A time for God alone to work. Where men have made void God’s law, without repentance or remedy. Such a time has often occurred in human history. The iniquities of men and nations have become full, and God has visited them with vengeance. This time occurred to Sodom, Assyria, Babylon, Israel, Rome, &c. Such a time will occur when human history has closed. Of this time and season it is not for man to know.
IV. A work for God alone to do. Vengeance and destruction. In this man can and must play no part except as the merest instrument in God’s hands. “Vengeance is Mine.”
A DANGER AND ITS REMEDY
(Psa_119:126-128)
The force of “therefore” in Psa_119:127-128, may be taken in three different ways.
1. It may mean that as a consequence of the evil of the times, the superior value of God’s Word was shown by contrast, and that, therefore, the Psalmist loved it intensely.
2. That as the times were so evil, therefore he would do all that he could to counterbalance that evil by a superior religious excellence. But
3. There seems to underlie these latter verses the reason for the general ungodliness of the times as described in Psa_119:126; and viewed in connection with the thought that runs through the whole Psalm, the danger of the Psalmist from the number of his powerful enemies, the therefore seems to point to love of God’s Word, &c., as a sure protection and remedy from the evil.
I. The danger. A time of great religious declension is a time of great danger, because of the difficulties and temptations that are in the way of religious consistency. The question of time now-a-days resolves itself into a question of space. Whenever men live in a neighbourhood of intense ungodliness, they are always in great danger. This danger consists in—
1. The lust of gain (Psa_119:127). To this danger all business men are exposed. In the midst of a community to which “gold” is the one thing needful, there is great danger of succumbing to the prevalent fever, and pursuing the popular but godless course.
2. Infidelity (Psa_119:128). To this danger all reading and thinking men are exposed. Just now the very atmosphere is charged with unbelief. Newspapers and periodicals are published, and societies are founded for the express purpose of trying to show God’s precept concerning all things to be wrong, and there is a great danger of even Christian men running with this giddy multitude.
3. Sin, alas! abounds everywhere. The false way in which men make void God’s law is a very broad way, and many men are in it. False sentiments, false judgments, false practices are extremely prevalent, and men are strongly tempted to live down to the times and avoid the singularity of walking in the true and narrow way.
This danger is a present danger, an increasing danger, and often a subtle danger.
II. The remedy is not at all times or usually flight from danger, but by the “expulsive force of a new affection” to make danger flee. “Therefore,” &c. The remedy—
1. For lust of gain, is to love God’s commandments above gold. Wealth will then sink into its proper and useful place. We have not to be taken out of the world, but to be kept from its evil, and this will do it. It is better to be good than to be rich; for by becoming good a man often makes the best of both worlds, and only the love of God’s commandments can make men good.
2. For infidelity, is to esteem all God’s precepts concerning all things to be right. Let a sincere and intelligent study of those precepts decide. Let history decide. Let the lives of those men who have been without, or who have rejected, God’s Word decide; and the lives of those men who have followed its counsels and commands.
3. For sin, is to hate every false way. That which we hate we endeavour to injure or destroy; and when this is impossible we avoid it.
III. The danger is avoided and the remedy applied by earnest prayer for God to work and by earnest cooperation with God in working (Psa_119:126). See previous outline.
1. God only can work in us to will and to do, &c.
2. But we must work out what God has worked in, and
(1) apply ourselves to the earnest love of God’s commandments, &c.
(2) Apply ourselves to the work of grappling with selfishness, infidelity, and sin. The more we work with God for man’s salvation, the more we shall lessen our danger.
GOD’S WORD: DESIRED, INSTRUCTIVE, WONDERFUL, KEPT
(Psa_119:129-131)
I. Desired (Psa_119:131). “When under an enforced absence from God’s ordinances he longed to be restored to them; when he enjoyed them he greedily sucked in the Word of God as new-born babes desire the milk.”—M. Henry. “A metaphor taken from an animal in the chase. He runs open-mouthed to take in the cooling air, the heart beating high and the muscular force nearly expended through fatigue. The Psalmist sought for ‘God’s commandment’ as he would run from a ferocious beast for life.”—A. Clarke.
II. Instructive (Psa_119:130). “As a beam of light illumines a dark chamber. But פָּתַח lit opening, unfolding, or revelation, LXX. and Vulg. δήλωσις, declaratio, means not so much entrance of the word into the soul, but rather its being made open to us so that we may perceive its beauty, or may ourselves “enter” into its meaning, its mysteries, and its beauties. Simple, means those who are open to persuasion, or who are easily enticed or seduced. Then it refers to the credulous (Pro_14:15), and then to the inexperienced.”—Speaker’s Com. and Barnes.
III. Wonderful (Psa_119:129).
1. In the character of its revelations. God, the soul, and the future state.
2. In its forbearance and benignity towards the lost and the erring.
3. In the self-consistency of its separate books, dispensations, &c.
4. In its sin-convincing and soul-converting power.
5. In its purity and sublimity.
6. In its supporting and comforting promises and helps and hopes.
IV. Kept (Psa_119:129). “ ‘As a treasure of inestimable value that I cannot be without.’ We do not keep them to any purpose unless our souls keep them. They must be deposited, as the tables of testimony were in the ark; there they must have the innermost and uppermost place. Those that see God’s Word to be admirable, will prize it highly and preserve it carefully, as that which they promise themselves great things from.”—M. Henry.
PRAYER
(Psa_119:132-135)
I. The character of prayer. Personal intercourse with a personal God. “Look Thou upon me.” We cannot worship an abstraction at all. And we cannot worship the living and true God by proxy.
II. The matter of prayer.
1. Supplication of the divine mercy (Psa_119:132).
(1.) A sense of personal unworthiness.
(2.) A recognition of the divine beneficence.
(3.) An ardent expectation of the divine salvation.
2. Petition for practical direction. “Order my steps in Thy word,” “Teach me Thy statutes.”
(1.) A confession of ignorance and departure.
(2.) A desire for restoration.
(3.) A high valuation of obedience.
3. Request for personal deliverance (Psa_119:134).
4. Desire for divine favours (Psa_119:135).
III. The manner of prayer.
1. Humble and reverent. “Look Thou upon me.” Permit me to pray.
2. Confident. These verses breathe an intense hopefulness.
3. Sincere. “So will I keep Thy precepts.”
IV. The plea to be used in prayer (Psa_119:132). Marg., “According to the custom towards,” &c. Heb., “According to the judgment.” What is right, “what is due; or of what is usually determined; i.e., as God usually determines, judges, acts towards those who love Him. The idea is according to the rules which regulate the treatment of Thy people.”—Barnes.
V. The purpose which should sustain prayer (Psa_119:133). Holiness. For Psa_119:134 see also Psa_119:95. For Psa_119:135 see also Psa_119:107.
THE PROPER ATTITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS TOWARDS THE UNGODLY
Whatever interpretation we attach to the “Imprecatory Psalms,” certainly the Psalmists do not indiscriminately curse all ungodly men. That David could be susceptible of such forbearance towards his great and influential enemies, and that this Psalmist could be instinct with such evangelical charity as to weep over sinners, and to be consumed with zeal for their reclamation, seems to point to a meaning in the above-named Psalms which perhaps does not lie upon the surface. At any rate the meaning of these verses is clear.
I. The ungodly are described as—
1. Malignant. “Mine enemies.” Opposers of righteous words and persecutors of godly people. They are known everywhere by their antagonism to God’s children. The carnal mind being at enmity against God is at enmity with the family of God. Let it not be overlooked that this is not a general classification here. The Psalmist had particular persons in his eye.
2. Wicked. From רָשַע. To make a wilful mistake. This fixes on the sinner conscious and deliberate guilt.
3. Transgressors. בָגוֹד. Faithless to God and man.
Let these powerful expressions be particularly noted as bringing out the Psalmist’s large-hearted charity.
II. The ungodly are the subjects of the tenderest compassion and the bitterest grief. “Mine eyes descend in rivers of waters because men despise Thee and destroy themselves. Most of the Easterns shed tears much more copiously than Europeans. I have myself seen Arabs shed tears like streams.”—Speaker’s Com.
1. This attitude has always characterised the righteous. Jeremiah (Jer_9:18; Jer_13:17; Jer_14:17; Lam_1:16; Lam_2:18; Lam_3:48); Our Lord (Mark 5; Luk_19:41); Paul (Php_3:8, Rom_9:2-3).
2. This attitude is right. Nothing should stir our hearts so deeply as the ruin and degradation of our fellow-men. God’s Word singles it out as a conspicuous mark of grace (Eze_9:4; 1Co_5:2). “There is nothing which more certainly indicates true piety, and which is certainly more connected with a work of grace or a revival of religion, than when such deep compassion for men as sinners pervades a church.”—Barnes.
3. This attitude is necessary.
(1.) How is it possible for us to contemplate with dry eyes and unmoved heart such sights as are every day seen! Drunkenness, swearing, dishonesty, &c. To see men bent on thwarting the divine providence and damning their own souls.
(2.) Because the prevalence of sin deprives God of glory, and spreads ruin and desolation over God’s fair world.
(3.) Because this is the first step in the direction of zeal for the sinner’s reclamation. “Then Christians will pray, labour to save sinners, feel their dependence on God, and then the Spirit will descend and bless the effort put forth.”—Barnes.
III. The ungodly are the subjects of zealous evangelisation.
1. All the compassion in the world by itself will not only do the sinner no good, but rather perhaps excite his contempt.
2. Compassion must receive a practical expression in intense and all-consuming zeal (Psa_119:139). This word is elsewhere rendered consumed, cut off, vanished, destroyed. “He pined away; his strength was exhausted; he was sinking under the efforts he had put forth.”—Barnes. (Psa_69:9; 1Ki_19:10.)
IV. The ungodly are pitied and evangelised not for sentimental but for practical reasons. Note—“It was not because they were His foes,—not because He was endeavouring to destroy them, or take vengeance upon them. It is a great triumph when in looking at persecutors and slanderers,—we are more grieved because they violate the law of God, when our solicitude turns from ourselves to God.”
The reasons are because—
1. They have not kept God’s laws. Hence his tears.
2. They have forgotten God’s works and despised His salvation. Hence His zeal. Would to God, these considerations would produce the same effect in every Christian now.
THE DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS
(Psa_119:137-138; Psa_119:142; Psa_119:144)
The Psalmist here deals with the righteousness of God from a fourfold point of view. First he declares God to be absolutely and inherently righteous; then the judgment of the righteous God to be righteous, i.e., God is actively righteous; then that God has revealed both His active and passive righteousness is His testimonies, i.e., God is declaratively righteous. This being the case, he points out that those testimonies are a faithful record of that righteousness, and therefore are to be depended upon by man.
I. God is absolutely righteous (Psa_119:137). From the fundamental principles of His nature the conception is impossible that God in thought, word, or deed, should swerve from the lines of strict and immutable equity.
II. God is relatively and actively righteous. “Upright are Thy judgments.” This follows upon His absolute righteousness. He cannot do unjustly, but must award every man according to his work (Rom_2:5-9; 1Pe_1:17), forgiving on confession of sin (1Jn_1:9), approving obedience (Heb_6:10), rewarding (2Ti_4:8), punishing (Rom_2:9; 2Th_1:8; 1Jn_3:18-19). Hence His active righteousness is everlasting. “Human governments change. New laws are enacted under new administrations. Old dynasties pass away. Custom, opinion, the world, men, all change. But as God Himself never changes, so it is with His law. Founded on eternal truth it can never change.”—Barnes.
III. God is declaratively righteous through those testimonies which are (Marg.) righteousness. No truer or sublimer definition could be given of God’s Word. It is a perfect delineation of the righteousness of God’s character and ways, without admixture of error.
“Thy law is the truth.” It is founded not on mere arbitrary will, but on the reality of things, and can therefore never change.
IV. Therefore those testimonies which declare God’s righteousness are to be depended on by man. Thy testimonies are very faithfulness.
IN CONCLUSION (Psa_119:144).—(i.) Those who would see and enjoy the divine righteousness must pray for understanding. (ii.) Those who have that understanding shall live. How? The just shall live by faith. Faith in what? Rom_3:24-26.
(Psa_119:139), see Psa_119:126
GOD’S WORD A TRIED WORD AND A LOVED WORD
(Psa_119:140)
The margin renders “tried.” P. B. version, “Tried to the uttermost.” These words describe the test to which the Word of God in every age has been subjected, and the result. It has come out of the fire as refined gold (Psalms 12). No error has been proved to be in it or cast from it. Therefore God’s people love it. In this age everything is put upon its trial. Modern criticism subjects every institution and relic of antiquity to the keenest tests. Our philosophers place everything in their crucibles, and subject everything to their dissecting knives. Every day we hear of history which has proved to be myth, and belief but exploded superstition. But into whatever alembic the Word of God has been plunged, it has come out without diminution and very pure.
I. The trial to which the Word of God has been subjected.
1. The conflict with sin.
2. The contradictions of unbelief.
3. The inconsistencies of its apparent friends.
4. The experience of saints and sinners.
II. The love with which it is received.
“I use the Scriptures not as an arsenal to be resorted to only for arms and weapons … but as a matchless temple, where I delight to contemplate the beauty, the symmetry, and the magnificence of the structure; and to increase my awe and excite my devotion to the Deity there preached and adored.… Whereas at my entrance I took even the choicest to be at best but like some Indian province, wherein though mines and gems were more abundant than in other countries, yet they were but sparingly to be met with, here and there; after a competent stay, my ensuing perusals presented it to me, if not as a royal jewel made of gold and precious stones, yet (which is more glorious) like Aaron’s breast-plate, a sacred jewel, the particular instructions for which were given by God Himself, and which besides the various number of flaming gems set in fine gold and placed in a mysterious order, was ennobled by that Urim-ve-Thummim wherein God vouchsafed to reveal Himself.… This experiment keeps me from wondering to find that the poet attributes blessedness to ‘delight in the law of the Lord.’ ”—The Hon. Robert Boyle.
TRUE GREATNESS
(Psa_119:141)
Notice—
I. That true greatness may be consistent with external humiliation. A man may be very poor and mean in the world’s estimation. He may be small because he does not aim at political and social greatness. He may be despised because all his principles are against that wholesale murder which men denominate valour. He may be afraid to do what is wrong and sin against God, and thus be open to the scoffs of the profligate and the sneers of the bravo. But if he does not forget God’s precepts he has the essentials of true greatness. True greatness does not consist in those external exhibitions which pass off as such. A man may be a great philosopher and yet be morally small as Bacon. A man may be great in war as Bonaparte and yet have a little soul. True greatness is greatness in the sight of God. And that greatness has he who does not forget God’s precepts. He will have power with God, and in the long run with man, as well.
II. That external humiliation should not be-little a man. This is a sad and prevalent tendency. When a man is esteemed small and despised, he aspires to what is termed greatness and honour by trying to forget God’s precepts. When a man is ashamed of his father’s Bible and his mother’s piety, he is on the true road to be-little himself in the sight of God, and in the long run, in the sight of man.
(Psa_119:142), see Psa_119:137
(Psa_119:143), see Psa_119:107
(Psa_119:144), see Psa_119:137
EFFECTUAL, FERVENT, AND BELIEVING PRAYER
(Psa_119:145-152)
I. Its Object. “O Lord,” “I cried unto Thee.” The Psalmist entertained no idea of intervening or interceding saints or angels. He had been taught and believed that worship must be directed to God alone. Therefore all his aspirations ascended to the personal God.
II. Its reasons.
1. Affliction. The whole of this clause breathes out a spirit that was in sore distress.
2. Personal and imminent danger (Psa_119:150). This holds good with every Christian. Satan and all the forces of evil are ever near to work damage to the soul.
3. Inability to do the will of God. All Christians share this consciousness. God’s “statutes” cannot be kept without the help of God’s Spirit, whose presence must be supplicated in prayer.
III. Its petitions.
1. “Hear me.” This should be the primary petition. Without God’s condescending attention all supplication is vain.
2. “Save me.” Those whom God hears He saves. Unless God saves, all ground for hope and prayer is taken away. Salvation is the most urgent petition that man can offer.
3. “Quicken me.” Those whom God saves God quickens, and without this quickening, salvation is vain. Salvation is a rescue from danger; quickening is the invigoration of new life, and unless that takes place the end of prayer is unattained.
IV. Its characteristics.
1. Earnestness. “I cried.” Unless God sees our eagerness and our intense desire to prevail, He will not listen to our prayer.
2. Undividedness. “With my whole heart.” Unless our whole nature is bent upon securing the answer to our prayer God will not save. The worship of the lips is a mockery in the sight of God. Mind, emotions, will, tongues, must all be engaged in this service.
3. Importunity (Psa_119:147-148). Sometimes God delays His quickening to test this importunity and to draw it forth (Luke 18). The ten days which preceded Pentecost: Morning, noon, and night must be spent directly or indirectly in this service.
4. Faith. “I hoped in Thy word.” Hope based on the promises and expectant of their realisation is the sublimest faith.
V. Its warrants.
1. The divine loving-kindness (Psa_119:149). If God is not gracious and kind, we have no warrant to approach His august and terrible majesty.
2. The divine nearness (Psa_119:151). If God is not near He cannot hear. The Psalmist held this to be one of the primary tenets of the faith (Psalms 139). So do Christians. “Lo, I am with you alway.”
3. The truth of the divine promise (Psa_119:147; Psalms cf.151). Man may break his promise. There may be no sincerity in his promise. But when God says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble,” &c., we know that He means what He says.
4. Past experience (Psa_119:152). What God has done He can still do; and therefore the Psalmist argues what He did for me of old He will do for me again, and thus—
“Old experience doth attain
To somewhat of prophetic strain.”
VI. Its resolutions.
1. Obedience. “I will keep Thy statutes.”
2. Witness-bearing. “I will keep Thy testimonies.”
VII. Its basis (Psa_119:148). By continual meditation on God’s Word he was instructed how to pray, what to pray for, and when to pray.
MORNING PRAYER
(Psa_119:147)
“I cried unto Thee early, i.e., before others, in the gloom, before the dawning of the morning: my fixed hope in Thy promise suffered me not to rest.”—Speaker’s Com.
I. The Bible speaks much of morning prayer (Exo_32:4; Mar_1:35). “It is full of morning. ‘My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; and in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.’ ‘The Lord’s mercies are new every morning.’ Of old ‘the morning stars sang together.’ ‘I, Jesus, am the bright and morning Star.’ Truly the day declines; but at ‘eventide there is light,’ when in the morning there has been converse with God. The morning makes the day. A morning misspent is a day ruined; a morning saved is a day completed. Lord, awake me at sunrise, and by the beauty of the coming light give hope for the whole day.”—Dr. J. Parker.
II. Morning is the most favourable time for prayer. It is calm. The cares and anxieties of the day have not broken upon us. Our mind is then clearest; and away from our families and our businesses, we can be alone.
III. Morning is the time God demands for prayer. “The morning is the time fixed for my meeting with God. What meaning there is in time as well as place! In the morning—then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope. In the night I have buried yesterday’s fatigue, and in the morning I take a new lease of energy. Give God all thy strength. In the morning—then He may mean to keep me long that He may make me rich.”—Dr. J. Parker.
IV. Morning is the most appropriate time for prayer. The day is before us, and the day will be wasted if not sanctified by God.
THE CONSTITUENTS OF A COMPLETE AND HOLY DAY
(Psa_119:146-148)
I. The day begins with prayer. “The first thing he did in the morning, before he admitted any business, was to pray when his mind was most fresh and in the best frame. If our thoughts in the morning be of God, they will help to keep us in His fear all the day long.”—M. Henry. Observe that this morning prayer stimulated his hope in God’s promises, and thus braced and encouraged him for the exercises of the day.
II. The day continues with practical obedience. “I shall keep Thy statutes.”
Beginning well it continues well. Prayer secured the fulfilment of the divine promises in the divine guidance and the divine protection. Hence consistency and holiness.
III. The day closes with meditation on God’s Word. The crown and completion of a good day. All anxieties are over. The time due to our fellow-men has been spent, and well spent; and now the man of God recognises God’s claim upon his eventide.
See also for Psa_119:148 on Psa_119:55.
GOD’S NEARNESS AND MAN’S
(Psa_119:150-151)
1. Man is near to harass; God is near to help.
2. Man is near to hurt; God is near to protect.
3. Man is near to discourage; God is near to comfort.
4. Man is near to tempt to sin; God is near to save from sin.
5. Man is near to cast doubts; God is near to resolve doubts.
6. Man is near to drag down to the world, flesh, and devil; God is near to lift up to heavenly things, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.
7. Man is near to kill; God is near to give life and immortality.
THE DIVINE CONSIDERATION
(Psa_119:153-157)
I. The Psalmist’s need of it.
1. Personal affliction.
2. Numerous persecutors.
II. The Psalmist’s estimate concerning it—
1. Contemplation of his case. “Take it into thy thoughts and all the circumstances of it, and sit not by as one unconcerned.”—M. Henry.
2. Pleading his cause (Psa_119:154). “Be Thou my patron and advocate, and take me for Thy client.”
3. Deliverance from his affliction.
4. Quickened life.
III. The Psalmist’s pleas for it.
1. His remembrance of the divine law (Psa_119:153).
2. His trust in the divine promises (Psa_119:154).
3. The fact that salvation was for such as he (Psa_119:155).
4. The manifold character of God’s tender mercies (Psa_119:156).
5. His love for God’s precepts (Psa_119:158).
6. The immutability of the divine word (Psa_119:160).
See also for Psa_119:153-154; Psa_119:156, see Psa_119:107; for Psa_119:155; Psa_119:158, see Psa_119:136; for Psa_119:157, see Psa_119:95; for Psa_119:159, see Psa_119:113.
THE TRUTH AND ENDURANCE OF GOD’S WORD
(Psa_119:160)
“Literally, ‘The head of Thy Word is truth,’ ”probably meaning that its principles and basis were truth. It was not made truth by the mere will of God, but it was founded on essential truth.—Marg., The beginning of Thy Word is true.’ Its origin, foundation, and essential nature is truth.”—Barnes. “Does he refer to the first word in God’s Word, בראשת. ‘In the beginning, ראש is the root of that word. Every word that Thou hast spoken from the first in Bereshith to the end of the law, and all Thou wilt yet speak, as flowing from the fountain of truth, must be true, and all shall have in due time their fulfilment.”—A. Clarke.
I. God’s Word is based upon truth, and therefore endures. It does not rest on tentative hypotheses or speculations, but upon the infallible and immutable declarations of God. Every thing not built on this solid foundation will not bear the tear and wear and fret of time.
II. God’s Word had its beginning in truth, and therefore its righteous judgments endure for ever. As the spring so the stream. If the source is tainted so will be the river. But God’s Word sprang from Him who is “the Truth,” and therefore it continues true all along its course.
III. God’s Word is true all through, and therefore endures. Man’s building may be upon unstable foundations, may be of defective materials, and be erected on a false plan. Earthly rivers may be pure in their source, but may receive poisoned waters from tributary streams. But the Word of God is built on, composed of, and designed by truth, and with its waters errors will not mix. Delitzsch says that truth “is the total number of all the items in the reckoning. The Word of God is reckoned over in its parts and as a whole. Truth is the grand denominator, and truth the result.”
IN CONCLUSION.—God’s Word is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. (i.) Are you based upon it? (ii.) Are you drinking from it? (iii.) Are you moulded by it? (iv.) Will you continue with it?
(Psa_119:161), see Psa_119:95.
GOD’S WORD THE OBJECT OF REVERENCE AND JOY
(Psa_119:161, last clause, and Psa_119:162)
I. God’s Word the object of joy. The expression is as true as it is remarkable.
1. The joy of victory in conflict. To gain spoil, fighting is necessary, and success over the foe. So we do not find the unsearchable riches of Christ without contest. We must battle with doubts, drawbacks, disinclinations, &c. The mere obtaining a victory is a cause of joy even when no substantial result is achieved.
2. The joy of enrichment after victory.
(1.) Victory over unbelief gains stronger ground for faith.
(2.) Victory over disinclination is rewarded by some new truth.
(3.) Victory over darkness is the acquisition of light.
(4.) Victory over tribulation secures fresh comfort.
(5.) Victory over sin finds the great spoil of holiness.
II. God’s Word the object of reverence. The two clauses are to be united as in Psa_112:1. Sometimes the gaining of spoil is worse for an army than defeat. Men are demoralised. Nations become arrogant. And lest man should be lifted up by pride with the knowledge he has of the Word of God, let it be remembered that it is the Word of God, and stand in awe of it.
(Psa_119:163), see Psa_119:113.
CONSTANT PRAISE
(Psa_119:164)
“Not only morning and evening, not thrice only (Psa_55:17), but seven times, i.e., again and again, and many times (Psa_12:6; Psa_69:12; Lev_26:18; Lev_26:24; Gen_4:15; Pro_24:16), each day, so as to hallow the day, the Psalmist thanks God for His word.”—Speaker’s Com. “Rabbi Solomon says this is to be understood literally, for they praised God twice in the morning before reading the decalogue, and once after; twice in evening before the same reading, and twice after; thus making seven times. The Roman Church has prescribed a similar service.”—A. Clarke.
I. Constant praise is demanded, because of the constancy of the divine judgments. They never fail. By them the universe is held together, society made possible, and human blessedness secured.
II. Constant praise is due to God for the beneficence of His judgments. They are given in mercy, not in wrath.
They are not impracticable, nor burdens too heavy to be borne. They are made for and given to man for his safety and peace.
III. Constant praise is due to God for the clearness of His divine judgments. They are not enveloped in a cloud of mystery, or hidden behind perplexing technicalities, or in such a way as to be out of the reach of the common people. “The way-faring man, though a fool, cannot err therein.”
VI. Constant praise is due to God for the help He vouchsafes to keep His righteous judgments. The Holy Spirit is given to help our infirmities. We are invited to approach the throne of grace, to obtain grace to help in time of need.
V. Constant praise is due to God for the forgiveness. He offers when we have broken His righteous judgments. “If we confess our sins,” &c. “If any man sin we have an Advocate,” &c.
PEACE
(Psa_119:165)
Peace is man’s highest hope and best inheritance. All other blessings are valued only as they promote it, and the loftiest dignity and wealthiest affluence are worth nothing without it. Obstacles to peace abound, and the largest part of life is spent in overcoming them. Offences and stumblingblocks are the greatest obstacles. Genuine difficulty and hard work promote peace. Let a man know there is a difficulty in the way, or a work to be done, and he composes his mind to grapple with them. But when he meets with a stubborn obstacle, or stumbles over it, his mind is hurt and his peace is gone. So the believer may be unmoved amidst the greatest afflictions and trials, and yet through some unforeseen and insignificant impediment he may stumble and lose all his tranquillity. Notice—
I. A qualification. Love of God’s law. “To love a law may seem strange; but it is the only true divine life. To keep it because we are afraid of its penalties is only a form of fear or prudential consideration. To keep it to preserve a good name may be propriety and respectability. To keep it because it is best for society may be worldly self-interest. To keep it because of physical health may be the policy of epicurean philosophy. To keep it because we love it is to show that it is already part of us—has entered into the moral texture of our being. Sin then becomes distasteful, and temptations lose their power.”—Statham.
II. A process. “Nothing shall offend them,” i.e., nothing shall be a stumbling-block to them and so hurt them. Those whose hearts and minds are embued with and thus protected and directed by God’s law, although there must needs be stumblingblocks in their way, yet they shall not stumble over them nor be hurt by them.
1. They will not stumble over apparent discrepancies in God’s law. He who loves God’s law will not go to God’s Word to find or make them. When they come across his path, the Divine Interpreter explains them, and a sanctified insight and experience will discover their true harmony.
2. They will not stumble at temptations. Those who are protected by the law of God are safe. Temptations find nothing in common with them on which they can take hold. The world has no equivalent to offer for the pleasures and profit of the law of the Lord.
3. They will not stumble at circumstances. If adversity comes, those who love God’s law are prepared for that. They know it to be necessary for them or it would not come. If prosperity comes, that prosperity is sanctified by the sanctity of those in whom it meets. God’s law teaches that “all things work together for good,” &c.
4. They do not stumble at death. The law of God has robbed death of its terrors. That law shows that Christ has withdrawn death’s sting, that it is now not only harmless, but is pressed into the service of the people of God. “Death is yours.” Now your friend to conduct you to a place where its office is at an end. Those who love God’s law know that Christ has vanquished “him that had the power of death, and delivered them who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
III. The result. Having no fear of stumblingblocks, and not being hurt by them, the lovers of God’s law have great peace. Not mere peace, but great peace.
1. Great, because divine. It is the “peace of God.” “My peace.” “Not as the world giveth.”
2. Great, because powerful. It “keeps the heart and mind.” It eases tremendous anxieties, removes perturbing fears.
3. Great, because incomprehensible. “It passeth all understanding.” It cannot be defined. The Christian only knows he has it.
4. Great, because eternal. “Peace shall flow as a river,” unexhausted, always running, yet never running to waste or away.
GOD’S SALVATION
(Psa_119:166-175)
The closing verses of this long Psalm are in harmony with all that has gone before. The themes are the same, the prayers are the same, the purposes are the same. The Psalmist’s one desire is to taste the fulness and sweetness of God’s salvation, to know more of His Word, and to praise His name. Taking as our leading thought God’s salvation we have—
I. The nature of that salvation (Psa_119:166-174).
1. Personal rescue (Psa_119:170).
2. Divine teaching. It is quite a mistake to suppose that salvation is exclusively a single act. It is a process as well. Man is delivered out of darkness into God’s marvellous light; and to be saved from lapsing into darkness again, he must have the Divine Teacher near him, showing him how to walk in the light (Psa_119:171).
3. Divine help (Psa_119:173). Teaching alone is insufficient. Countless multitudes of even Christian people know the way, who, from lack of the help they ought to have, do not walk with firmness and consistency. Vain is the attempt to work out our own salvation without divine help. Thank God, that help is abundantly vouchsafed.
4. Soul life (Psa_119:175). This is the prime vital and all-essential characteristic of salvation. It is the synonym for it both in the Old Testament and the New. The unsaved soul is like the valley of dry bones, and dead in trespasses and sins. Salvation is not only deliverance from sin. It is the perpetual indwelling of the Divine and quickening Spirit.
II. The conditions upon which God saves.
1. Obedience to God’s commandments (Psa_119:166). But this is mere legality? Is it? Who said, “Repent ye and believe the Gospel.” “Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.
2. Keeping and loving God’s testimonies (Psa_119:167-168). What do they testify? God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s willingness to save. How can God save? how can man be saved, unless it is the rejoicing of his heart to know and to keep the testimony that “God so loved the world,” &c., “that God willeth not the death of the sinner”?
3. Thankfulness for God’s promises (Psa_119:172). Unless man has these promises, and is grateful for them, he is unwilling to be saved, and even God cannot save the thankless soul. “The goodness of God” should lead to repentance and trust (Rom_2:4-5).
4. Choice of the right way and love of it (Psa_119:173-174). Our salvation largely depends on our own choice. God will not force it upon us. This choice must have respect to the ulterior duties of salvation. This choice must not be determined by fear, interest, but intelligent appreciation of what is best and love of it for its own sake.
III. The characteristics of the prayer for God to save. Those who desire salvation must pray, will pray. How?
1. Hopefully (Psa_119:166). Faith enters largely into the composition of evangelical hope. They have the same attributes as well as the same objects. Hope longs (Psa_119:174) with confident expectation.
2. Sincerely (Psa_119:168). The prayer of the hypocrite is an abomination to God. The man who prays for salvation must be prepared to display all his ways before God. He must conceal nothing, omit nothing.
4. Availingly (Psa_119:170). The divine promise was never pleaded in vain.
IV. The obligations of God’s salvation. The one word twice uttered by the Psalmist reveals them all, “Praise,” (Psa_119:171; Psa_119:175). It was not personal blessing so much as the Divine glory.
THE LOST SHEEP
(Psa_119:176)
“The Psalmist begins with, ‘Blessed are the undefiled in the way,’ &c. He concludes with, ‘I have gone astray,’ &c. And thus conscious of the blessedness of those who are in the way of righteousness, he desires to be brought into it, that he may walk in newness of life. Verse first. It is a good way, and they are blessed who walk in it. Verse the last, ‘Bring me into this way that I may be blessed.’ And thus the Psalm in sentiment returns into itself; and the latter verse is so connected with the former as to make the whole a perfect circle.”—Dr. A. Clarke.
The text may be applied with equal propriety to sinners and backsliders.
I. The wandering. Men, like sheep, have broken through the hedge of God’s law, have forsaken the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls, and have gone astray into the paths of error and sin. “Like a sheep,” i.e., like a beast, an animal; for sin appeals to the lower instincts of humanity, and develops them, and so man sinks to the level of a brute Mark, not like a lion or a horse, some noble or gifted creature, but like a poor, silly, unintelligent sheep. Why? Because sin is stupidity, and the sinner is no more a criminal than he is a fool.
1. The wandering sheep displays the greatest folly. Its safety, food, very existence, depends upon the shepherd’s presence.
2. The wandering sheep displays the deepest ingratitude. It owes everything to the vigilance, sympathy, and activity of the shepherd.
3. The wandering sheep displays but one symptom of intelligence, that of going astray. If there be but one gap in the hedge he will find it. If the chances are a thousand to one against his straying, he will avail himself of it.
4. The wandering sheep displays perseverance in straying. If found to-day it will lose itself again to-morrow if it can. And once out of the fold it wanders on and on and never dreams of returning till sought, found, and brought back.
Brethren, each one of us must say, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.” We have all gone astray ungratefully and foolishly from Him who alone can, and who alone has, vouchsafed all the benefits that we want and enjoy. In departing from God we have displayed an ingenuity worthy of a better cause. We have wandered where it has been perilous to wander, and have gone farther and farther from God, and from worse to worse, till we have become lost. Straying, men lose their owner, lose their fellows, lose themselves.
II. The search. The sheep having gone astray, what more natural than that the shepherd should go in search of it? So God is in search of lost men. “Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
1. This search was the prompting of love. The relation between the eastern shepherd and his sheep is very different from the western, and is fitly typical of God’s relation to man. God loves man with an everlasting love, and cannot afford to lose him, the latest born in His vast house-hold, and therefore preserves him with a love which many waters cannot quench.
2. This search was pursued by the most wonderful self-sacrifice. The shepherd seeking the sheep far from home, amidst winter snows, and among prowling beasts, and on dark and dismal nights, is very feeble as a symbol of God’s search for man. Christ came to “lay down His life for His sheep.” Such was His fixed intention, and such His accomplished purpose. “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
3. This search was rewarded by success. Such was the case with the Psalmist. Such is the case of all who will be found. Here man is unlike a sheep. Its will cannot resist the more powerful will of its owner. Alas! man can resist God.
III. The recollection. “In all my wandering, with my consciousness of error, with my sense of guilt, I still do feel that I love Thy laws. They are the joy of my heart, and I desire to be recalled from all my wanderings that I may find perfect happiness in Thee and in Thy service evermore. Such is the earnest wish of every regenerated heart. Far as such an one may have wandered from God, yet he is conscious of true attachment to Him and His service; he desires and earnestly prays that he may be ‘sought out’ and brought back and kept from wandering any more.”—Barnes.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible1900 · Public DomainOn v1I. It must be at once apparent that seeking…
Psa 119:2
I. It must be at once apparent that seeking God is a right thing—a thing fitting and becoming for man, as the creature and the child of God, to do. Whom or what should he seek if he seek not God? Is not God the Author of his being, the Supporter of his existence, the Source of all his advantages, the Giver of every good gift that he enjoys? It becomes us to seek Him that we may know Him in all the glory of His perfections and all the plenitude of His grace, to seek Him that we may bring our emptiness to His fulness, our poverty to His riches, our darkness to His light, that He may help us according to our need.
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II. One reason why there is so little of earnest, hearty seeking after God on the part of His people is that we do not sufficiently keep before us the idea that this is what above everything else it is our duty and our privilege to do. There is so much said about men seeking pardon, and seeking peace, and seeking acceptance with God that we are apt to fall into a belief that these are in themselves the ultimate ends of our religion. But the Bible never represents them in that light, nor does it dwell upon them to such an extent as we are accustomed to do. It brings them forward as means to an end. Having found these inestimable blessings, we are not to rest there; there is something higher and better to which they are designed to lead us. In them we lay the foundation of the Divine life, but they are not that life itself. That life is in God, and it is only as we seek Him with our whole heart that we can enjoy that life. To bring us to Himself is the crowning design of the Gospel scheme.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Christian Thought and Work, p. 50.
References: Psa 119:5.—J. P. Gledstone, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 205. Psa 119:6.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv., No. 1443.
Psa 119:9
I. The Bible makes a great deal in its teaching about the ways of men. And nothing is plainer than that it contemplates as great a variety of ways as there are kinds of men. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? "Not any way, not somebody else’s way, not the old man’s way, not the way of the man in mid-life, but his own way: the young man’s way. Your way is a way of hope. Your face is towards the future. You have all the possibilities still before you. Every step, therefore, is solemn, is of everlasting importance, may be a step into blessedness or a step into woe.
II. Try, next, to understand what is meant by "cleansing the way." It is the cleanness which is part of God’s life which is intended. God is of purer eyes than to look upon sin. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever. It is the cleanness which is also the holiness of God—cleanness from sin, from evil, from guile, from insincerity. And the question, read in the light of this explanation, means, "Wherewithal shall a young man lead a holy life, like the life of the holy God? Wherewithal shall he make his way the way of a saint?"
III. The answer to this question is, "By taking heed thereto according to God’s word:" by taking God’s word as the light, the guide, and the director of the way; by considering your steps in the light of that word; by taking that word as the chart, the pilot, and the propeller of your way. (1) A great practical step has been taken when you see that you are to a certain extent God’s stewards over your own life and character. (2) Another great step is taken when you see that there is a contrast between the light of God’s word and the life on which it falls. (3) The next step places you face to face with the grand choice submitted to every soul who follows God’s word: the choice between the life you are leading and the life which that light expresses.
A. Macleod, Days of Heaven upon Earth, p. 229.
References: Psa 119:9.— A. P. Peabody, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 198; H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxix., p. 315; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 196; F. Tholuck, Hours of Devotion, p. 519. Psa 119:9-11.— H. Allon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 40. Psa 119:9-12.— H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxiv., p. 90.
Psa 119:15
I. The Hebrew word here translated "meditate" signifies properly to speak or converse with one’s self. Hence it conveys the idea of seclusion, retirement, solitude, and, at the same time, of mental activity. In meditation the mind retreats within itself; but it retreats thither to think, to ponder, to reflect. To meditate one must, therefore, first of all retire. To converse with self we must be alone, our sole companion our own thoughts, our sole witness God and nature.
II. But it is not enough that we be alone. Mere solitude is not meditation, and as little is mere quietude or mere musing. There are some minds that are given to a still, half-sleeping, half-waking passivity of thought, a habit which seems to be most seductive, but which is utterly unprofitable. Meditation involves the ideas of reflectiveness, of reverence. It is a fixing of the mind upon something interesting to ourselves and, at the same time, impressive. The man who meditates has his mind occupied by some lofty theme; especially in religious meditation the mind fixes upon God and the things of God.
III. It needs only that we should make the experiment to satisfy ourselves that the practice thus commended to us is intimately connected with our spiritual welfare and growth in holiness. (1) Meditation is that which rivets Divine truth in the memory. (2) Meditation on Divine things makes them really profitable to us. (3) Meditation gives depth, seriousness, and earnestness to our religious profession and character. Religion, whatever else it is, is a mode of thought; and hence it is only as deep and earnest thoughtfulness is bestowed upon it that it can be developed in its higher and nobler forms.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Christian Thought and Work, p. 1.
Reference: Psa 119:15.— Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 286.
Psa 119:18
I. Consider the sense of wonder in man, and what generally excites it. That God has bestowed on man such a faculty we all know. It is one of the first and most constant emotions in our nature. The greatest minds and the truest hearts preserve this feeling fresh to the very last, and go through life finding new cause for intelligent wonder day after day. The feeling may be excited: (1) by the new or unexpected; (2) by the beautiful or grand; (3) by the mysterious which surrounds man.
II. God has made provision for this sense of wonder in His revealed word. (1) The Bible addresses our sense of wonder by constantly presenting the new and unexpected to us. (2) It sets before us also things beautiful and grand, without which the new would be a matter of idle curiosity. (3) If we come to the third source of wonder, that which raises it to awe, it is the peculiar province of the Bible to deal with this.
III.. Notice the means we are to use in order to have God’s word thus unfolded. The prayer of the Psalmist may be our guide, "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may see." (1) He asks for no new revelation. The request is not for more, but that he may employ well that which he possesses. (2) He asks for no new faculty. The eyes are there already, and they need only to be opened.
J. Ker, Sermons, p. 29.
I. We are all born spiritually blind. When man lost his innocence, he lost also his sight. Blindness is the effect of sin.
II. Consider some of the characteristics of this blindness. (1) Blindness deprives its subjects of many pleasures which God’s goodness lavishes on us, and through our eyes pours into our hearts. (2) Blindness makes the condition of its subjects one of. painful dependence. (3) Blindness exposes its subjects to deception. (4) Blindness exposes us to danger.
III. The eyes of the blind being opened, they behold wondrous things out of the law of God. Open a blind man’s eyes. With what amazement, happiness, overflowing joy, will he gaze, nor tire gazing, on all above and around him, from the sun blazing in heaven to the tiniest flower that springs in beauty at his feet! And let God open a sinner’s eyes, the Bible will seem to him a new book, and he seem to himself a new creature. He will see his heart, and wonder at its wickedness. He will see the Saviour, and wonder at His love. He will see how God has spared him, and wonder at His longsuffering. He will see salvation as the one thing needful, and wonder he could have taken a night’s rest, ventured to close his eyes in sleep, till he had found peace with God.
IV. God only can open our eyes. We need sight as well as light. Abroad, among the Alps, where the road, leaving the gay and smiling valley, climbs into the realms of eternal winter, or is cut out of the face of precipices, down which one false step hurls the traveller into a gorge where the foaming torrent seems but a silver thread, tall crosses stand. And so, when the path is buried in the drift that spreads a treacherous crust over yawning crevice and deadly crag, he, by keeping the line of crosses, braves the tempest, and walks safely where otherwise it were death to venture. But set a blind man on such a road, and he never reaches home; the earth his bed and the snow his shroud, he sleeps the sleep that knows no waking. Now there is a Cross that points out man’s way to heaven; but unless the eyes that sin sealed are open—have been opened by God to see it, and all the way-marks that mercy has set up to that happy home—our feet shall "stumble upon the dark mountains,", and we shall perish for ever.
T. Guthrie, Speaking to the Heart, p. 183.
Two forms of Divine teaching are implied in these words: revelation and spiritual apprehension to receive that which is revealed, truth in the written word and the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit, the one therefore universal, common to all men—the open Bible, the Gospel preached to every creature under heaven—the other personal, private, incommunicable by man to man. And in this prayer both these are equally recognised as God’s gift. "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law."
I. Notice, first, that the distinction which is here implied is in perfect harmony and analogy with all the conditions of human knowledge. Every branch of human knowledge has its objective and subjective side. In every art, every science, every pursuit, there are these two things: (1) general laws, rules, theories, principles, illustrations, examples, which can be committed to writing, stored up in books, taught in words by the teacher to the scholar; and (2) there is the personal aptitude, which may be developed by culture if it be latent, but which can never be bestowed when it is wanting.
II. The Bible amply recognises and abundantly teaches this double character of Divine knowledge, this analogy between Divine knowledge and every other kind of knowledge, but at the same time with a broad and vital difference. According to the teaching of the Bible, incapacity for spiritual truth is not the misfortune of individuals; it is the calamity of the human race: and, on the other hand, power to receive and apprehend spiritual truth is not the gift of genius, not the acquirement of plodding industry; it is the dark gift of God; it is the open eye, which God has opened to behold the great things out of His law.
III. It is an unspeakably consoling and delightful reflection that this impossibility of attaining spiritual truth apart from Divine teaching, which God’s word so plainly sets forth, puts no hindrance in any man’s way, no hindrance in the way of the simplest learner, no hindrance in the way of the unbeliever any more than of the believer, if only the unbeliever is desirous of knowing what is truth.
IV. This prayer implies the Divine inspiration and authority of the Bible; for is it not plainly incontrovertible that if the Bible be a book which the wisest man cannot understand, and therefore cannot interpret, without Divine teaching direct from God, it must be a book which no man could have written without such teaching?
E. R. Conder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 280.
The life of the soul has its wonders as well as the life of the body and the life of nature. It is a complex and mysterious thing. None but "opened eyes" can discern its marvellous treasures; and with them the further we see the greater is the wonder. God’s discipline, God’s patience, God’s adjustment of men’s powers and defects, God’s method of answering prayer or seeming to be deaf to it—in these and similar dealings we can, if we will, find ever-fresh food for wonder, if only He grant us the gift of a teachable heart and an open eye.
I. Think of that phenomenon, so well known to all Christians, God’s strength made perfect in weakness. Sometimes it is in spite of men’s weakness; sometimes it is actually in consequence of it. The wonderful thing is to see how God’s strength often takes hold of a weak character, and works upon it His miracles of purification. Where the worldly critic despairs, the instructed Christian hopes.
II. Consider another phenomenon in God’s discipline: the use which He makes of disappointment. Is there no room for wonder here? To a very young boy disappointment is crushing and blinding. Everything and everybody seem set against him. But when growing years or a riper Christian experience has at last opened his eyes, he begins to discern "wondrous things" in the Divine law of disappointment. He sees, and others perhaps see still more plainly that that was the rock on which his character was built.
III. Notice another wondrous thing of God’s law: His permission of sin. Sin is overruled into a trainer of righteousness. There are few more wondrous things in the moral world than to trace how a good man has been trained by his own sins, or rather trained by the Holy. Spirit of God through the permitted instrumentality of his own personal sins.
IV. Once more, if we look at the method by which God works His plans of improvement, may we not find abundant cause for reverent wonder? Think of His patience; His choice of feeble instruments; His choice, too, of unexpected and, as we should have thought, inappropriate means to work out His own ends; His discouragement sometimes of the higher agencies, and apparent preference for the lower. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 169.
The man who uttered these words felt that he was under Divine law. He felt that he knew it badly, and that it deeply concerned him to know it well; that to realise its sublimity and comprehensiveness, its marvellous wisdom, its perfect righteousness, would be light, and strength, and life to his soul, but that so to realise it God must vouchsafe to him a sacred influence, a spiritual enlightenment, and, he adds, sufficient faith in his God to believe that He was able and willing thus to help him.
I. There are assuredly countless wonders to be beheld in God’s law, and we need only open eyes to behold them. In the Bible and other books we have the statements of God’s laws; but these laws themselves are far too real to be in any book. No law of God, natural or spiritual, can be shut up in a book.
II. While all the laws of God should, as far as possible, be objects of interest and admiration, yet these laws are not all of the same practical importance to us. There are many of them which we must all be ignorant of, and which we may safely be ignorant of; there are many of them which we might know had we only time to make ourselves acquainted with them, yet we cannot consistently with duty spare the time necessary to understand them. On the other hand, there is a class of laws of awful significance to us, of which we must on no account be ignorant. Clearly it was these laws, which he also describes as the commandments, and precepts, and statutes of God, His righteous judgments, and His testimonies, that the Psalmist prayed to behold.
III. It is not enough to have God’s law before us, or His truth disclosed; but we need also to have our eyes opened to see the law, our minds helped to understand the truth. The reason of man can no more act independently of God than his will can. Just as the will has been made to find its life in the holiness of God, reason has been made to find its life in the wisdom of God. Unless God open our eyes to behold the wonders of His law, no clearness in the outward revelation of its wonders will give us a true view of it. We shall see and yet not perceive.
R. Flint, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 8.
References: Psa 119:18.—F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. v., p. 77; J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 312; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 59.
Psa 119:19
I. The stranger. The literal stranger is easily recognised, not so easily, perhaps, in a great city, where there are always thousands of strangers and foreigners, but easily in country towns and villages and on country roads. The life-spelling of the word "onward" sits in his look. His home, wherever it may be, is not here. There is one word which, as it seems to me, expresses more than any other single word of the real meaning of the principal term of this verse: "stranger"—the word "reserve." A principle, an instinct, a habit, of reserve will be found running through the whole of life on the earthly side of it with the stranger, as, for instance, (1) reserve in secular occupations, in what we call the business of life; (2) reserve in pleasure; (3) reserve even in the sphere of highest duty. The stranger is one who holds himself in reserve, who lifts himself up, who looks far and high, who directs his being inwards.
II. The prayer is perfectly suited to the condition which has been described. "A stranger"—here but for a little, and yet morally beginning the great hereafter, "never continuing in one stay," and yet possessing one being, and developing and settling that being into character. God’s commandments, revealed and brought home to the heart, will yield plentifully all that can be needed in the pilgrim state. In one way or other they touch all the chances and hazards of the journey and all the requirements of the traveller, while they all combine to make one supreme influence of preparation for what will come when the earthly journey is over.
A. Raleigh, The Little Sanctuary, p. 313.
I. Man’s solitude: "I am a stranger upon earth."
II. Man’s true companionship: "Thy commandments."
III. Man’s true source of power: "Hide not"—teach me—"Thy commandments."
Bishop King, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. i., p. 243.
I. I am as a stranger in the earth because of the impermanence of my position.
II. I am as a stranger in the earth because of my life and language.
III. I am as a stranger in the earth because of the perils to which I am exposed.
IV. "Hide not Thy commandments from me." These words show that God has not been unmindful of the earthly life of His saints, but has provided for its effectual protection.
Parker, Pulpit Analyst, vol. i., p. 601.
Psa 119:19, Psa 119:54
Taken together, these words set forth our condition as strangers and pilgrims on the earth, and God’s bountiful provision for meeting that condition in Christ.
I. The fact that we are strangers is forced upon us by our ignorance. Apart from revelation, we know almost nothing of the world we live in, and absolutely nothing of its Lord. In every age and to every thinking soul arise the great questions, Who sent me into this earth? Why am I here? Whither am I going? A yearning for replies to these questions springs up in every heart. "O unknown Maker, I am a stranger on the earth; hide not Thy laws from me." The Gospel is God’s answer to this cry. It is the revelation of the light which is behind sun and stars. Christ puts that great word "Father" into all our thoughts. He lifts the light of it over the whole universe. And the knowledge and glory of a living, loving, personal Father stream in upon us from every side.
II. Our sins still more than our ignorance have put the sense of strangeness into our hearts and the marks of it upon our countenance. When the soul awakens to spiritual consciousness and finds itself in the presence of this great truth of the Fatherhood of God, the first fact which confronts it is a sense of farness from the Father. It is God’s mercy that He has not left us to rest in this depth of strangeness. He has made a way for us in Christ—the new and living way by the blood. God’s own Son has died to put our estrangement away. "We are no more strangers and foreigners." The blood has brought us near.
III. Another proof that we are strangers is the estrangement we find among men. Of this problem also the solution is provided in the Gospel. Christ comes as the great Uniter and Binder together. He comes sowing over all the waste of estrangement and alienation this healing word: "One is your Father." He comes with the grand purpose of binding those who receive that word into a holy and abiding fellowship.
IV. The last and saddest mark of the stranger upon us is death. If there had been no light for this shadow, how great our misery should be. But, blessed be God, He has not hidden the future from His child. This also is laid bare to our hungering hearts in Christ. A home awaits us beyond the grave. A new life blooms for us in the very presence of God. Our torn and suffering earthly existence is to be crowned with: glory and immortality in the world of the risen dead. Christ the Resurrection! Christ the Life!—that is our song in the home on which the shadows have begun to fall.
A. Macleod, Days of Heaven upon Earth, p. 291.
References: Psa 119:20.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1586. Psa 119:24.—J. R. Macduff, Good Words, 1861, p. 525.
Psa 119:25
These words express, with great intensity of humiliation, a consciousness which is universal among all sincere Christians—I mean, the power of the world and of the body over the soul. Our slowness and sluggishness in spiritual obedience is a special proof of the power of the Fall still abiding upon us, and of our proneness to linger and hold fast by earth and its attractions.
I. One cause of this disheartening feeling is that people aim at models and examples which are too high for them. There is one example for all: the life of Christ; one tendency wholly unlimited in the direction of which all must press towards His example; but the standard—that is, the manner and measure in which we are permitted to advance in that tendency—is of God. He proportions it by His providence and His grace. All that we can do, the holiest thing we can do, is to apply and mould ourselves entirely upon the lot He has meted out to us.
II. But perhaps it may be said, "This is not my distress. I have no desire to go out of my lot into disproportioned habits; but I do not comply with this tendency of which you speak. This is the point where I cleave to the dust. I make no advance in the spiritual life." In answer it may be said that we are too hasty in looking for signs of advancement. We cannot too much desire to become sinless; but whatever may be our desire, patience is our duty. God has a seedtime, and a burial, sometimes long and strange, of the germs of spiritual life, before the feast of ingathering is fully come. We must not look out for the harvest when we have only cast the seed, nor for the vintage when we have but yesterday bound up the vines. Growth in grace is slow, because it is to be attained by the progressive and persevering action of our moral nature, under the conditions of the Fall, and against the antagonist powers of temptation.
III. But perhaps it may be said again, "This would be all very well if I were not conscious of positive faults, and sometimes even of falling back into those of which I have repented. Positive evils are alive within me, and I often see them even more active than before." Speaking still to sincere minds, it may be said that we are no sure judges of this matter. A growing consciousness of sin is no certain sign of growing sinfulness, but, on the contrary, a probable sign of growing sanctification. The same will which, in wisdom, has ordained the law of slow growth for our spiritual life, has also, in love, ordained a slow perception of our sinfulness. The surest remedy for such complaints will be found in practical rules. (1) The first is to reduce our self-examination to definite points. (2) Having reduced our self-examination to definite points, let us from the sins we have so detected choose out someone against which to direct our chief watchfulness and strength.
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 134.
Psa 119:25
I. The character of David, the son of Jesse, the king and sweet Psalmist of Israel, is one in which so many common points of our own characters meet, that it would be very difficult for us to lay hold of one thread of the loom and to draw it out from the others and study it separately. One leading idea runs through his whole life. David’s is the character of a man who had intense human affections, tending even towards sensuous appetite, while to a strong degree he possessed a sense of all the higher aspirations of our nature. There are no stronger cables that bind down our tabernacle to the soil of this world than these two: strong affections and high ambition. A character with such conflicting elements, if it is to reach the desired haven under the guidance of God, must have very peculiar discipline and trials all its own.
II. It is remarkable to see the peculiar way in which Joab’s influence over David was calculated to chasten and to keep in check the infirmities of the servant of God. Instances: the death of Abner; the affair of Uriah; the rebellion of Absalom.
III. We cannot but be struck with the almost necessity that there is that certain characters, if they are ever to be perfectly purified, should be placed in the same crucible of affliction. In a character like that of David, the grace of humility would have been left a plucked and withered flower far back on the path of life had it not been for the continual presence of Joab, whose hand, as it were, nurtured, though unconsciously, the lowly plant. We soon forget ourselves; we cannot help it. No voice more often with syren softness decoys us from the path of rectitude and lowliness of mind than that of a strong consciousness of personal influence over those around us; and where this is exercised for good, and not for evil, it is the more dangerous.
IV. It is necessary for the Church as well as for the individual that the faults of good men should be known. There is in man, and ever has been, a tendency to extol unduly, to elevate beyond their due place, the attainments of the saints of God. The faults of the good seem permitted to float on the surface that the holy may not overrate their fellow-man, nor the saint lose his balance and equipoise by the undue admiration of his fellow.
E. Monro, Practical Sermons on the Characters of the Old Testament, vol. i., p. 39.
I. "My soul cleaveth unto the dust." There is nothing to guide us in determining what were the circumstances of the man who said this, not the least need to inquire what they may have been. The words fit all circumstances. They carry us out of the region of circumstances. In any condition a man may cry, "My soul cleaveth unto the dust. There is a great weight upon me. You tell me I should exert myself to shake off the sloth, the despondency, which is preying upon me. But sloth and despondency are not raindrops that hang about my clothes; they are not even the clothes themselves; they have got hold of myself; they appear to be parts of my nature." The king who is after God’s own heart must learn by some discipline or other that he has a soul which—by very slight causes indeed, by some sickness of body, something less than that: a trivial disappointment or the mere satiety of success—may be brought down to the dust, may cleave to it, may be utterly unable to lift itself up.
II. From this confession when it is really one, when it rises as a sigh out of the deeps, there comes the prayer, "Quicken Thou me according to Thy word." Then it is that man begins to believe in God, for then he begins to believe that he himself is not God. This sentence seems to contain the very essence of prayer, to be the explanation of all prayer, the necessity for it lying in a man’s discovery of his weakness, the hope of it lying in the nature of God Himself and in His relation to man.
F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. iv., p. 259.
I. It is not a strange experience for believers to be in this depressed condition: the soul cleaving to the dust. Sometimes there may be physical causes connected with a man’s state of health, and sometimes other providences of God are concerned in producing this state of things; but it is a stage in a man’s spiritual history. Generally it is connected with indwelling sin. More particularly it arises in connection with the failure of faith on the part of believers. Looking at it from the side of God’s providence, it is permitted by God just as a step in the believer’s history, because it is necessary that the believer’s history should include an enlarged acquaintance with himself, with his own insufficiency, with his own tendency to unbelief, and darkness, and sin.
II. It is not characteristic of a believer to be contented in this condition. How can any one who believes in the reality and presence of a living God be content with a feeling of this deadness and depression, this awful contrast to the life and glory of that life-giving God? More than that, the believer has faith in the presence and power of a life-giving Christ. He has faith also in the life-giving Spirit, and in the mission and work of the Holy Ghost in its power, and gentleness, and love. How can a man who believes this be content to go on with his soul cleaving to the dust? Therefore he casts himself on God in prayer, and you find him declaring to God the condition in which he is: "My soul cleaveth to the dust," and applying to God to meet this case of his: "Quicken Thou me according to Thy word."
III. There is a sure refuge for the believer with reference to this case of his. There is life for those who feel in themselves so much that looks like death. "Quicken Thou me"—give me life; cause me to live—"according to Thy word." This cry is not merely a cry of distress. He has the word which he can plead made known to him. It is a sure refuge and resource.
Application: (1) There is great reason for hopefulness in the condition of believers even when their souls cleave unto the dust. (2) There is great reason for earnestness. (3) There is a sure reward for those that seek the Lord.
R. Rainy, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 237.
References: Psa 119:25.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 308; C. J. Vaughan, Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 141. Psa 119:27.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1344.
Psa 119:31
It is difficult to tell men what being confounded means, difficult and almost needless, for there are those who know what it means without being told, and those who do not know what it means without being told are not likely to know by any man’s telling.
I. The Psalmist who wrote Psalm cxix. was a man, on his own showing, intensely open to the feeling of shame, and felt intensely what men said of him, felt intensely slander and insult. Isaiah was such a man; Jeremiah was such a man; Ezekiel was such a man: their writings show that they felt intensely the rebukes and the contempt which they had to endure from those whom they tried to warn and save. St. Paul, as may be seen from his own Epistles, was such a man, a man who was intensely sensitive of what men thought and said of him, yearning after the love and approbation of his fellow-men, and above all of his fellow-countrymen, his own flesh and blood. Of all men the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of man, had that feeling, that longing for the love and appreciation of men, and above all for the love and appreciation of His countrymen after the flesh, the Jews. He had, strange as it may seem—yet there it is in the Gospels, written for ever and undeniable—that capacity of shame which is the mark of true nobleness of soul.
If He had not felt the shame, what merit in despising it? It was His glory that He felt the shame and yet conquered the shame and crushed it down by the might of His love for fallen man.
II. Our Lord and Saviour stooped to be confounded for a moment that we might not be confounded to all eternity. As He did, so must we try to do. Every man who makes up his mind to do right and to be good must expect ridicule now and then. And the more tender your heart, the more you wish for the love and approbation of your fellow-men, the more of noble and modest self-distrust there is in you, the more painful will that be to you. The fear of man brings a snare, and nothing can deliver you out of that snare save the opposite fear: the fear of God, which is the same as trust in God.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 71.
Psa 119:32
There are two things especially remarkable in this Psalm: the variety of expressions used to describe the word of God and the corresponding variety of expressions used to describe the Son of man. In the text the Psalmist considers sin as a state of captivity and confinement.
I. The words express a consciousness of actual captivity. There is a stress laid on the words "Thy commandments." The Psalmist recognised their goodness and excellence, and desired to follow them; but he was at the same time conscious of an opposing force, of a constraint exercised on him from which he was unable to get free, and which not only prevented his going in the way of God’s commandments, but compelled him to go in another way, and perhaps a totally contrary one. There is hope in such a state. There is hope for those who see God and God’s word to be good, and wish, however faintly, that they could walk by it. When a soul once begins to sigh for freedom, it will not probably be very long before it is free; for that very sigh is itself the beginning of spiritual liberty.
II. The words express the consciousness of confinement and of narrowness of affection and desire after God. Thus considered, they belong to a higher religious state than the one just described. The Psalmist was conscious that his heart was narrow. He craved for more freedom of faith, for larger desires after God, for fuller trust in Him, and for warmer and stronger love towards Him. There are few Christians who will not have the same feeling, and will not be conscious how small and low is their state of grace, how poor their service to their God, compared to what it should be, and what it might be with God to help them. Here, again, our hope is in God. He can enlarge our hearts by more perfectly revealing Himself within them. He enters into the soul, and the soul grows with His presence. His glory, and greatness, and beauty snap the restraining bands, and stretch the heart in which He dwells till it becomes capable of peace and joy unknown before.
E. Garbett, Experiences of the Inner Life, p. 213.
I. It is evident that we may "go" in the way of commandments and not "run." There is the slow creeping of a mere abstract sense of stern duty. There is the slow walk of simple conscientiousness. There is the slavish course propelled by fear. There is the capricious step, half feeling, half principle, which is continually halting. But all this is not to run. To run is a joyous thing, and shows that the affections and the heart are drawn to it. To run is free, and tells a mind unbound. To run is quick and constant progress; and the attainments are clear, and distinct, and large. To run is a light and easy motion, and marks facility. To run makes the goal of hope near, and gives the confidence of success.
II. "Largeness of heart" is a pure gift of God. Still in this, as in everything, while all is of God’s grace, the grace itself lies within man’s responsibility. Notice one or two methods for "the enlargement of the heart." (1) The Bible is a very expanding book to man’s intellect and to man’s affections. (2) Meditation on the character, and the work, and the being of God is very "enlarging" to the character of man. (3) To embrace many in our love is a great secret of enlargement of spirit. (4) Acts of open-handed charity have a strange effect to increase the heart. (5) This growth of the heart is not by sudden impulses, but by gradual increments. (6) The most enlarging thing of all is the sense of pardon; the peace of forgiveness; the feeling, "I am loved."
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 95.
I. We have here a condition before we can attain that joyous spirit expressed in those words, "I will run the way of Thy commandments:" to turn from sin first of all. Many a man on looking back at his life says, "I will be devout; I will break with old associations; I will run the way of God’s commandments; I will be another and better man." How about the past? How about that fortress left in the enemy’s country? How about the sin? Have you dealt with that? Deal with the past before you deal with the future.
II. Repentance is a habit of mind which is continued in our life in order that we may be like-minded with God, in order that we may look on our sins in the same mind that God looks upon them. God hates sin, though He loves the penitent. We must do that; we must hate sin and remember our sin with the same sort of shame which makes us like-minded with God.
III. And then, as the Revised Version puts it, we require liberty—liberty from ignorance which prevents us from receiving the mind of God. That is the liberty which we all desire. We must enlarge our capacity for receiving large things from God. When we have fulfilled this condition and have been set free from the bondage of sin, how blessed, and happy, and joyous is the career before us. The resources of God are simply inexhaustible; the resources of the Christian life are the same.
C. W. Furse, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 188.
References: Psa 119:32.—J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 3rd series, p. 141; New Manual of Sunday-school Addresses, p. 71; J. Keble, Sermons for the Sundays after Trinity, Part I., p. 417.
Psa 119:33-34
There were two thoughts in the Psalmist’s mind:—
I. That there was something in the world which he must learn and would learn, for everything in this life and the next depended on his learning it. And this thing which he wants to learn he calls God’s statutes, God’s law, God’s testimonies, God’s commandments, God’s everlasting judgments. That is what he feels he must learn, or else come to utter grief, both body and soul.
II. That if he is to learn them, God Himself must teach them to him. The Psalmist held that a man could see nothing unless God showed it to him. He held that a man could learn nothing unless God taught him, and taught him, moreover, in two ways: first taught him what he ought to do, and then taught him how to do it.
III. We must learn: (1) God’s law. The moment you do wrong you put yourself under the Law, and the Law will punish you. Therefore your only chance for safety in this life and for ever is to learn God’s laws and statutes about your life, that you may pass through it justly, honourably, virtuously, successfully. (2) God’s commandments. "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." (3) God’s testimonies; what He has witnessed and declared about Himself and His own character: His power and His goodness, His severity and His love. (4). God’s judgments; the way in which He rewards and punishes men. The Bible is full of accounts of the just and merciful judgments of God.
IV. God has not only commanded us to learn; He has promised to teach. He who wrote the hundred and nineteenth Psalm knew that well, and therefore his psalm is a prayer for teaching and a prayer for light.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 120.
Psa 119:33, Psa 119:94
I. There are too many people in the world who pray to God to help them when they are in difficulties, or in danger, or in fear of death and of hell, but never pray at any other time or for any other thing. They pray to be helped out of what is disagreeable, but they never pray to be made good. The only men who can have any hope of their prayers being heard are those who, like the Psalmist, are trying to do something for Christ, and their neighbours, and the human race; who are, in a word, trying to be good. Those who have already prayed earnestly and often the first prayer—"Teach me, O Lord, Thy statutes; and I shall keep them to the end"—they have not a right, but a hope, through Christ’s most precious and undeserved promises, that their prayers will be heard, and that Christ will save them from destruction, because they are at least likely to become worth saving, because they are likely to be of use in Christ’s world and to do some little work in Christ’s kingdom.
II. To all such, who long for light that by the light they may see to live the life, God answers, through His only-begotten Son, the Word, who endureth for ever in heaven, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." If you wish to have reasonable hope when you have to pray, "Lord, save me," pray first, and pray continually, "Teach me, O Lord, Thy statutes; and I shall keep them to the end."
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 130.
References: Psa 119:37.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1072; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 20.
Psa 119:38
There is a saying of Clough to which I take exception, and I quote it because it may represent the conclusion of more minds than the writer’s: "The belief that religion is, or in any way requires, devotionality, is, if not the most noxious, at least the most obstinate, form of irreligion."
I. The question arises, What is meant by devotionality? We should most of us be disposed to say, A devotional spirit and tone of mind. But surely a devotional spirit is not only appropriate and in accordance with the fitness of things, but also the highest in quality of our various emotions. The only emotion which is appropriate, rational, I may say natural, when the mighty Presence of whom are all things is revealed, is awe. When that Presence is brought still nearer to us in a saving form, and through Christ we find a loving, pardoning heavenly Father, the only emotion possible is adoring, confiding reverence. Is this devotionality? Then a man who is incapable of it is less than a boor; he is a clod: to quote a verse of the same writer,—
"Neither man’s aristocracy this, nor God’s, God knoweth."
II. But it is possible that by devotionality may be meant the neglect of practical life for absorption in Divine contemplation. Now that this is to be condemned is evident. For he who neglects his worldly duties is as imperfect and one-sided as he who does not respond to his heavenly environment. But is there much danger of our leading a life of absorption in religion? The danger which most of us feel is that of absorption in the world and destitution in religion. I know you are not afraid of becoming too prayerful. There is no need to guard you against an encroaching devotionality.
III. It is clear that the devotional temper is necessary to all who can perceive greatness. Everything is liable to disease. But a healthy body is not to be despised because you may poison it. And just so it is with true devotion. It has its rare moments of intuition, of spiritual delight; but these moments shed a refreshing dew on all the life,—
"And touch the apathetic ghosts with joy."
W. Page-Roberts, Liberalism in Religion, p. 168.
Some more than others, but all less or more, may pray for the confirmation of God’s word in respect to its truth, its preciousness, and its power.
I. In respect to its truth. Are there any serious intellectual doubts about the word of God? (1) The book itself should be read. (2) There are doubts and irresolute conditions of mind which can only be exchanged for faith and fixedness by the instrumentality of work—honest, earnest work for God. (3) There are some doubts which will yield only to prayer.
II. In respect to its preciousness. The Gospel is exceedingly precious. When first consciously received, it is accepted with thankfulness and joy. The first love is fed by fresh discoveries, by wondering thought, by rapid acts of faith, by grateful memories, by new-born hopes; these all make fuel for that holy flame. Alas that it should change, and cool, and wane, and darken! Reproachfully one day there comes a voice through the chill, through the dark, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." If you have lost anything, then take instant means to have the loss repaired. Get a baptism of repentance to cleanse your soul afresh. Pray back the dews of your youth. Pray, as with your face to the east, until morning lights quiver up the sky. For those lights will come as you pray. While you are yet speaking "the dews will gather." God will "stablish His word unto His servant, who is devoted to His fear."
III. In respect to its practical power. If there be one point in human experience more dangerous than another, it is exactly the point between faith and practice, between inward love and outward work. Let us pray God to "stablish His word" to us in this respect also, to make religion to us more than clear intellectual faith, more even than heart-joy. Let us ask Him to make it the supreme and practically regulative force of our whole life, calm, steady, onwards, guiding and ruling us from duty to duty and from day to day.
I. At liberty! The very word has music in it. How full of suggestion of all that is bright and cheerful. To the captive Apostle it speaks of the bursting of chains, the angel deliverer, the restoration to friends, the recovered power of proclaiming to the people the glad tidings of the Gospel of Christ; to the nation roused at last to make a vigorous effort and throw off the long-worn fetters of despotism and superstition it speaks of the power to lift the head once more in conscious majesty to heaven, and to feel that now at length a noble future may be connected with a glorious past. To such the very word seems dearer than life itself, the only thing almost for which life is valuable, the one single atmosphere in which the breath of life can be inhaled with pleasure. And yet what advantageth freedom if we know not how to use it? The true use of freedom requires in every case, either for the individual or for the nation, moderation, thoughtfulness, self-restraint, respect for the feelings of others, definite conceptions of duty, and a deep and adequate sense of responsibility. Without these liberty is simply suicidal; with them, and just in proportion to the firmness of its hold on these principles, it grows ever more and more unto perfection.
II. Man’s liberty is twofold. There is a liberty from without: freedom from all outward check or control; and there is a liberty also from within. This is the liberty without which all other liberty is valueless. Thought, speech, and action may all be free; but if the soul itself be not free also, we shall still, whatever we may be in name, be but slaves in deed and truth. The text ascends with us to this higher thought: "I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts." This is the very keynote to the music of heaven, God’s will acting upon our will, the Spirit of Christ subduing and assimilating our spirit to itself; this alone is true liberty; this is taking captivity captive, and bursting the bonds of the soul in sunder. Such service is indeed perfect freedom.
T. H. Steel, Sermons in Harrow Chapel, p. 329.
Psa 119:46
A silent religion or a speaking religion—which shall it be? David says, "I will speak." What do we say? Too often we resolve that we will keep silence.
I. I hold that the difference between a silent religion and a speaking religion is the difference between a dead Church and a living one. Living men must speak. Earnestness cannot be dumb; if it pause for a moment, it is but the pause of a gathering stream, which deepens that it may flow with a stronger rapidity. Silence may be ruin. The neglect of an opportunity of speaking the right word may not only imperil, but absolutely destroy, the destiny of a soul.
II. The theme on which David says he will speak is God’s testimonies. Has he chosen a barren topic? Look at the range, the explicitness, and the emphasis of these testimonies, and you will say that never did man choose so fruitful, so abounding, a theme. If there is one lesson clearer than another, it is that we are left without excuse if we fail to speak of the Divine testimonies. Opportunities occur every day. Circumstances arise under which no words can be so beautiful, so touching, so pithy, so real.
III. David says he will speak of the Divine testimonies before kings. We commit a serious error in not speaking to our equals, especially to those round about us. The testimonies of God are for every day in the week. There is something very marvellous, yet not altogether inexplicable, about human shame in relation to the Divine testimonies. In our day Gospel and sect have become synonymous terms. But let me remind you that if the believer will not speak of the Divine testimony, the unbeliever will! If there is silence in the Church, there is no silence in the camp of the enemy.
Parker, Wednesday Evenings at Cavendish Chapel, p. 87.
Psa 119:47
The love of God’s laws is to be distinguished from the mere outward observance of them. As in the law of Moses, so far more in the Gospel of Christ, religion is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, consisting not in the mere observance of certain rules, however good, but in the love and delight we have in observing them, as being the gracious means appointed by our heavenly Father and Redeemer to bring us to His eternal rest.
I. Looking, then, impartially into our course of life and conduct, we ought to observe whether or not it is a sincere delight and consolation to us to meditate on what our heavenly Father and Redeemer has done for us, and to hold communion with Him in prayer, thanksgiving, and continual aspirations after His eternal rest.
II. In the same manner we should examine ourselves as to our conduct towards each other: whether that is founded on the high Christian principle of love for, and delight in, our Redeemer’s will, or upon some other mean, unworthy grounds.
III. If we seriously wish to follow the way which leadeth unto life, we are bound to examine ourselves as to our self-command and power over our temper and disposition. Suppose we are called on in the way of daily duty to do or to suffer things which are naturally vexatious, irksome, and unpleasant to us. In proportion as we love our God and Saviour, we shall delight even in such trials, simply for this reason: because they are sent us by Him. If we make it our business through life to love and delight in the commands of our Redeemer, we shall not fail at last, through the atonement of His blood, to be admitted to obtain His heavenly promises, His kingdom of eternal glory.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. x., p. 215.
References: Psa 119:49.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 119. Psa 119:50.—Ibid., My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 163; Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1872. Psa 119:53.—Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 309.
Psa 119:54
The doctrine of the Psalmist, removing the poetry of the form, is this: that obligation to God is our privilege.
I. Consider how it would be with us if we existed under no terms of obligation. (1) There could be no such thing as criminal law for the defence of property, reputation, and life, because the moral distinctions on which criminal law is grounded would be all wanting. (2) What we call society, as far as there is any element of dignity or blessing in it, depends on these moral obligations. Without these it would be intercourse without friendship, truth, charity, or mercy. All that is warm, and trustful, and dear in society rests in the keeping of these moral bonds.
II. Consider, as regards the spiritual nature, how much there is depending on this great privilege of obligation to God. (1) This claim of God’s authority, this bond of duty laid upon us, is virtually the throne of God erected in the soul. When violated, it will scorch the bosom with pangs of remorse that are the most fiery and implacable of all mental sufferings. But of this there is no need; all such pains are avoidable by due obedience. And then obligation to God becomes the spring instead of the most dignified, fullest, healthiest joys anywhere attainable. The self-approving consciousness, the consciousness of good—what can raise one to a loftier pitch of confidence and blessing? (2) Consider the truly fraternal relation between our obligations to God and what we call our liberty. Instead of restraining our liberty, they only show us, in fact, how to use our liberty, and how to air it, in great and heroic actions. (3) Obligation to God also imparts zest to life by giving to our actions a higher import, and, when they are right, a more consciously elevated spirit. The most serene, the most truly Godlike, enjoyment open to man, is that which he receives in the testimony that he pleases God and the moral self-approbation of his own mind. (4) It is also a great fact, as regards a due impression of obligation to God and of what is conferred in it, that it raises and tones the spiritual emotions of obedient souls into a key of sublimity which is the completeness of their joy. "For ye are complete in Him," says the Apostle, well knowing that it is not what we are in ourselves that makes our completeness, but that our measure of being is full only when we come unto God as an object and unite ourselves to the good and great emotions of God. Before Him all the deep and powerful emotions that lie in the vicinity of fear are waked into life; every chord of feeling is pitched to its highest key or capacity; and the soul quivers eternally in the sacred awe of God and His commandments, thrilled as by the sound of many waters or the roll of some anthem that stirs the framework of the worlds.
H. Bushnell, The New Life, p. 194.
Notice the striking combination here of one’s identity, one’s house, and one’s pilgrimage. The great Father’s children are not flesh and blood, but for a little while are "partakers of flesh and blood." The songs which are given to cheer us on our journey are not the songs of our flesh nor the songs of the world, but our songs in the flesh. They are the songs of our identity and our home, which accompany us in our pilgrimage through the world.
I. When we meet together as spirits on pilgrimage, song comes in because God comes in. We sing because we are not citizens of the world, but simply pilgrims passing through it. Love hath eternity, and eternity sings in our hearts because we are from eternity and on our way back.
II. Statutes are things that stand, things that have always stood, and will stand to eternity. These certainties of God are the sources whence comes the inspiration of all true songs. Find and enter the sphere where the eternal realities and eternal laws have their scope, and you are in the home of everlasting song. We must strongly rebuke the idea which would ascribe the songs of the soul to enthusiasm or mere impulse. It is law that sings. There is a shallow mirth of the flesh, as there is a momentary blaze from a sky-rocket; but the stars, which shine for ever and ever, are set in the eternal order of musical law.
III. If you would be lifted above the dull level and routine of mortal life, if you would silence your self-reproach and annihilate the canker of discontent, ask the statutes of God to sing your soul into order. Jesus embodies them, and by leading them into you, by establishing them in the centre of your soul, will lead you in the "way everlasting." The sweetest, the loftiest, and most soul-thrilling music of the world is an inspiration from the ascended Man. He is pulsing the harmony of His own nature through the race.
IV. If the eternal statutes sing within us in this strange land, with what songs may we expect to be greeted as we approach the gates of our true home! The way, in Christ, leads thither, and can end nowhere else. "Where I am, there ye shall be also."
V. Notice the inseverability of God and man, suggested by the "Thy" and the "my" of the text. "Thy statutes are my songs."
J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 254.
References: Psa 119:54.—W. G. Horder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 27; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1652; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 197. Psa 119:54, Psa 119:55.—A. Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 106.
Psa 119:55-56
I. The keeping of God’s law is promoted by the remembering of God’s name. The name of God includes all the attributes of God. (1) If I remember the attributes of God, I must remember amongst them a power before which every created thing must do homage; and if I couple with the memory of this power the thought that the undying principle I carry within me must become hereafter an organ of infinite pleasure or of infinite pain, subject as it will be to the irreversible allotments of this power, what is there which can more nerve me to obedience than the remembering God’s name? (2) Or suppose that it was the love of God which was specially present to the Psalmist’s mind. Who will step forward and produce a motive to Christian obedience which shall be half as stirring as the sense of having been loved with an everlasting love, and embraced from all eternity by the compassions of the Almighty?
II. Consider how the keeper of God’s law is rewarded by keeping it. "I have kept Thy law. This I had, because I kept Thy precepts." While God puts man in a state of grace and afterwards keeps him there, man has a great deal to do with his own progress in grace. The Christian life is a race; no man can start in it unless he has an impulse from God: but once started, he may linger if he will, or he may press onwards if he will. Where grace is improved, more grace is imparted. If the more the Christian keeps the more he finds he has to keep, then keeping one part of the law is clearly preparatory to keeping another. From keeping we are led on to keep. If the keeping of the precepts do thus lead to the keeping of the precepts, every Christian may discern that there is a present reward allotted to those that strive after obedience; and increasing conformity to the image of Christ is that great privilege of the believer which, commencing in time, shall be completed in eternity.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2292.
Although the grace and mercy of the Holy Ghost is indeed free, all-powerful, sovereign, "blowing," as our Lord said, "where it listeth," there is yet a certain frame and temper, certain habits of conduct and behaviour, a certain disposition and preparation of heart and mind, which is likely, if not sure, wherever it is found, to draw down God’s further blessing on him who has it. It is itself the good gift of God; and it prepares the way for other and better gifts. This rule and law of God’s working is wonderfully illustrated by the manner in which the Gospel was first made known to the Gentiles, and the door of the kingdom of heaven thrown open, by the extension of the gift of the Holy Ghost to them also. This we read in the history of Cornelius, part of which is the Epistle for this day.
I. We see the sort of person whom the Lord delights to honour when we look at Cornelius’s condition and observe under how many drawbacks and difficulties, the like of which are too commonly found enough to discourage almost any one, he contrived to be an acceptable worshipper. (1) He was not a Jew, but a Gentile, not one of God’s people, but a heathen. Who can express the amount of this disadvantage? (2) He was a soldier, a pursuit and way of life not thought in general particularly favourable to the exercise of true devotion. Yet he was a devout man, and used himself to serve God, with all his house.
II. Consider the sort of service which Almighty God is likely to bless and approve in persons unfavourably situated, as Cornelius was. (1) He was a devout man, and lived in a sense of God’s presence. (2) He served God, with all his house. No doubt he brought on himself the wonder, and sometimes the laughter, of his associates in the Roman army; but still he went on praying himself, and teaching and encouraging his servants to pray. (3) To his prayers he added both alms and fasting—the two wings, as they are called, of prayer. This part of Scripture teaches that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, every condition, under every sort of disadvantage, he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness will surely be accepted of Him.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. ii., p. 118.
References: Psa 119:57.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1372; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 134. Psa 119:58-60.—J. Natt, Posthumous Sermons, p. 198.
Psa 119:59
I. Hebrew scholars tell us that when they get to the root of these words, "I thought on my ways," they find a weaver there working at his loom. That is the figure that lies deep beneath this word—the figure of a man working skilfully at his web, looking to his garment, that he may not be ashamed whatever side may be exposed, careful that on both sides his workmanship is faultless. "I thought on my ways." I turned my life upside down, round about, looked at it from all points of view, as a weaver with his web, so as to have no seamy side, but that it might be equally perfect in its workmanship in all its parts. And when I saw I was wrong, I turned my feet unto God’s testimonies.
II. We are not too ready to think about our ways; it is not so easily done as you may think. We learn from the words of David that there are various ways of helping ourselves to look at our ways, to get a sight of ourselves. When David looked at his web embroidery, after looking at the pattern on his frame, he would, as he was anxious to work, and in the measure of his being anxious, and as it grew in his hands—he would become displeased. That is always the sign of a fine worker. No matter what the work is, it is always the sign of a first-rate craftsman to be never content. That is one feature of the good artist, whatever he is working at; he goes back to the inception of it in his mind, and thinks how fair, and beautiful, and without flaw it lay in his mind: and when he sees it on the frame, on the loom, he sees how far short it has fallen of the image he had about it when it lay on his mind. Always when we look from the stage of hope and intuition we see how far short our present life is. But we can also look at our present ways not only from the past, but by going forward and looking down on them as they are now. Nothing is more stimulating or more improving than to go out of the present and look back, or to ask how we would wish it to be when the work is no longer in our hands. What is it that demoralises the present and makes us weary? That demoralising thing we have yet the present spared us to turn from into the way of God’s commands.
Such is the history of almost all solid conversion. The great destroyer of the souls of men, which throughout the whole world is so widely wasting, is not so much wilful, deliberate sin as thoughtlessness. At first sinners do not think; then they will not think; at last they cannot think.
I. This is the history of most of mankind: a thoughtless childhood, careless youth, too thoughtful manhood; one half of life without thought, the other with misplaced thought—thoughtful to things of time and sense, thoughtless of Him who made them and of their real selves.
II. "I thought on my ways." Before this, then, he had not thought on them. "I took account of, reckoned up, calculated, my ways," for our ways, although leading in one direction, are many; there are as many ways as there are acts, or passions, or temptations: and he reckoned them up and took account of them all, whither they were all leading, to turn them all and his whole self into the way of God. Such is the way of all solid conversion.
III. We cannot understand what we are now unless we look back, as far as we may, on all we have been. Not fully to know thyself, as far as thou canst, is to walk blindly on a precipice, where to fall is to perish for ever. Make haste and delay not to keep God’s commandments. Nothing besides lingers. Time is sweeping by. Thy life is hasting away. "Make haste and delay not."
E. B. Pusey, Occasional Sermons, p. 142.
References: Psa 119:59, Psa 119:60.—Sermons for Sundays, Festivals, and Fasts, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 48. Psa 119:63.—Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. vi., p. 172; W. Braden, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 52.
Psa 119:64
The Bible has been constructed in such a way that it is an armoury of mercy, a magazine of kindness. It is a great institution of mercifulness.
I. Notice the mercifulness of its eminent secularity, united to tendencies towards eminent spirituality. The Bible is a book of business from beginning to end. It is a book in which a man, although his thoughts touch some of the pinnacles of the new Jerusalem, stands with his feet on the ground. The temporal and secular element of the Scriptures tends to the growth of the great ideal of manhood.
II. Notice the mercifulness of Scripture in using the highest ideal of life in such a manner as not to oppress the great mass of mankind. Throughout the Old Testament and the New, there is this lenity in dealing with men who are striving for an ideal, which makes the Bible the most wonderful of books. On the one side it keeps the picture radiant, so that the eye is dazzled in looking at it, and turns toward the ground; on the other side, with arms about us and with kindly words, as a schoolmaster, it helps us to Christ: and Christ, as our elder Brother, brings us to the Father.
H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, July 30th, 1873.
Psa 119:67
I. The Psalmist was certainly of a different opinion from nine persons out of ten of every country, every age, and every religion. For he says, "Before I was troubled I went wrong: but now have I kept Thy word," whereas nine people out of ten would say to God, if they dared, "Before I was troubled I kept Thy word; but now that I am troubled, of course I cannot help going wrong." The general opinion of the world is that right-doing, justice, truth, and honesty are very graceful luxuries for those who can afford them, very good things when a man is easy, prosperous, and well-off, and without much serious business on hand, but not for the real hard work of life, not for times of ambition and struggle, any more than of distress and anxiety or of danger and difficulty.
II. What the special trouble was in which the Psalmist found himself, we are not told. But it is plain from his words that it was just that very sort of trouble in which the world is most ready to excuse a man for lying, cringing, plotting, and acting on the old devil’s maxim that "cunning is the natural weapon of the weak." His honour and his faith were sorely tried. The ungodly laid wait to destroy him. But against them all he had but one weapon and one defence. However much afraid he might be of his enemies, he was still more afraid of doing wrong. His only safety was in pleasing God, and not men. This man had one precious possession, which he determined not to lose, not though he died in trying to hold it fast; namely, the Eternal Spirit of God, the Spirit of righteousness, and truth, and justice, which leads men into all truth. By that Spirit he saw into the eternal laws of God. By that Spirit he saw that his only hope was to keep those eternal laws. By that Spirit he vowed to keep them. By that Spirit when he failed he tried again; when he fell he rose and fought on once more to keep the commandments of the Lord.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 142.
Reference: Psa 119:67.— F. Tholuck, Hours of Devotion, p. 178.
Psa 119:71
Times of political decadence are times of spiritual growth. It is out of the inner experience of hidden lives, in ages when statesmen saw little hope, that such priceless contributions have been made to the devotional treasury of humanity as the hymn of Cleanthes, the Meditations of Aurelius, the Confessions of Augustine, and the Imitation of Christ. But first and foremost among these products of the ages of the hidden life is the great Psalm of which the text is the summary. To the literary critic it has all the notes of a silver age. Its structure is artificial, its language stereotyped, its length excessive, its thought monotonous. It might be almost the latest utterance of the dying voice of Hebrew psalmody. And yet the words of this nameless sufferer epitomise exhaustively the religious aspirations and joys and sorrows of the human soul, and have remained, and will remain, without doubt, to the end of time, the great manual of Christian devotion. And at a time like the present it would be well to strengthen our wavering faith by looking as boldly as did the psalmist at the spiritual fruitfulness of sorrow, and to ask ourselves whether we are making our own sorrows bear their fruit.
I. The earliest form of trouble is for most of us physical pain, and our instinctive tendency is to view pain as an unmitigated evil. But such a view of pain is not in accordance with the facts of life. Pain is beyond question the great educator of the soul. Pain makes men real. It indurates their character. It endows them with spiritual insight. But, beyond all this, pain invests a man with a mysterious attractiveness for others. There is a heroism in the very fact of suffering which lifts the sufferer above us, and makes us feel that he is moving in a realm of being to us unknown, till our sympathy is hushed into something of awe-struck admiration, and from the blending of sympathy with awe comes love.
II. But pain is, after all, but the beginning of troubles. There is the pain which does not unite, but separates—the pain which ends in death. Look below the surface, and death is everywhere. But if it is good for us to have been in the trouble of pain, still more is it good for us to have been in the trouble of parting. The use of death and parting is not to end our human ties, but to translate them into that region where alone they can be everlasting.
III. There is yet another trouble which casts a shadow upon death itself—the trouble of doubt. Many men who are willing enough to believe other troubles good and God-sent shrink back cowardly from the pain of doubt, as if that alone were devil-born. But it is not so. From the moment when the cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" went up out of the deep of the midday midnight upon Calvary, doubt was for ever consecrated as the last trial of the sons of God, and a trial needed for their purification, no less than pain or parting.
J. R. Illingworth, Sermons in a College Chapel, p. 18.
This is a very hard thing to believe. We are to prove that the Bible is a better thing than heaps of money taken by themselves. The Bible can give you better things than money can ever buy, and the Bible can give you some things that money will not buy at all.
I. Money can buy fine clothes, but the Bible can tell you where you will get better, and get them for nothing. Many a bad man wears a fine coat, just as many a ragged coat covers a glorious soul. The Bible, by telling you where to get your souls adorned by Christ’s righteousness and the grace of the Spirit, has a power of adorning the body too. The clothing which Christ gives is better immeasurably than all the fine clothing that all the gold in the world could buy.
II. Money can buy fine houses, but the Bible can tell you where to get a better house for nothing. If you want to know what kind of a house it is, read the account of the new Jerusalem. There you will find your own proper mansion, and nobody will turn you out.
III. Money can buy fine lands, but the Bible tells you where you can get better. For every human being that trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ there is an estate in the heavenly Canaan; there is a lot in the land for him, as was said to Daniel, "at the end of days."
IV. Money can buy friends. Rich people have fine friends; but when the money goes, their friendship cools. Christ is a Friend that will stick closer than a brother.
V. The things which money cannot buy, but which the Bible gives, are: (1) pardon of sin; (2) peace with God; (3) holiness; (4) a happy death.
J. Edmond, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 312.
I. This glowing expression of David’s love toward God does not stand alone. It is not a solitary, nor even a rare, revelation of his thoughts. Psalm after psalm flows forth in the same strong strain of love; his heart continually overflows; he cannot but give vent to what he feels; he seems constrained to free or ease himself of his thoughts; he is urged by the spirit within him to frequent utterance; and whenever he speaks, he seems to search for the strongest expressions, the strongest figures and forms of speech, to represent what he feels within.
II. In regarding David’s state of feeling toward God, this sustained and constant warmth of love which he continually reveals, the sort of holy rapture with which he speaks continually of heavenly tilings, we feel that it is in this very point of devout warmth, of religious zeal, we fail to resemble or to approach him. He hurries us beyond our pace; it is difficult to us to praise, to lift up the voice with thanksgiving. There is the want of any strong emotion among us about heavenly things.
III. Some may be greatly sorrowing over their want of zeal and longing to catch David’s spirit. Let such patiently persevere in all acts of Christian service, in all Christian duties, in all prayer and supplication, in all faithful use of the means of grace, and the stream will at last break forth in the desert, and the dry heart will blossom as a rose.
J. Armstrong, Parochial Sermons, p. 104.
References: Psa 119:72.—H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Children’s Bread, p. 11; W. A. Essery, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 212. Psa 119:73.—S. Gregory, Ibid., vol. xxix., p. 252.
Psa 119:73, Psa 119:116
I. Consider the care of the Creator for the lower creatures of His hand. The lower creatures have instincts given to them by God for their preservation. These instincts are adapted to their wants, and they never mislead the creatures to which they are given. In man’s spiritual nature, so far removed above the level of the beasts, we find certain instincts implanted by God—instincts evidently given to us to be to our souls in a spiritual way just the same sort of guide that the instincts of the lower creatures are to them in a bodily way.
II. Let us see what these spiritual instincts are. (1) Conscience. We have within us a moral instinct which directs us towards that which is good, which warns us against that which is wrong. Why does God give us this instinct, why does He speak to us through and by it, but because He would guard us from spiritual evil? (2) The sense of justice. This sense of justice is as purely an instinctive feeling as any that man has. And this being so, does it not bear witness to the nature of that Divine Being who has implanted it in man? (3) Prayer is an instinct of the soul of man.
III. It is certainly true that many of the highest of our instinctive moral feelings and powers point towards a life beyond the grave. The whole energy of our spiritual nature does so. For what is this hope that burns within us so vehemently? What is this but an instinctive feeling of our nature? Deep as our faith in God Himself is seated the hope of a life beyond the grave. It is not a belief which is derived from the outward world. It has its roots deep in man’s spiritual nature; it springs from the depths of the soul—an instinct implanted by God to guide man to his distant home. The psalmists had not received the blessed promises of God in Christ; yet they believed that at God’s right hand there are pleasures for evermore, so plainly do the spiritual instincts which God has given to man confirm the blessed promises of God in Christ.
G. Forbes, The Voice of God in the Psalms, p. 109.
References: Psa 119:83.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 71; S. Cox, Expositions, 2nd series, p. 19. Psa 119:88.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx., No. 1779. Psa 119:89-91.—S. Cox, Expositions, 2nd series, p. 34. Psa 119:89-92.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1656.
Psa 119:89-96
I. In the Bible usually the Word of the Lord means not only the message which God sends, but Him by whom God sends it. The Word of God, Word of the Lord, is spoken of again and again not as a thing, but as a Person, a living, rational Being, who comes to men, and speaks to them, and teaches them, sometimes seemingly by actual word of mouth, sometimes, again, by putting thoughts into their minds and words into their mouths.
II. The Psalmist wants to know his way through this world and his duty in this mortal life. Therefore he must learn the laws and rules of this world. And he has the sense to see that no one can teach him the rules of the world but the Ruler of the world and the Maker of the world. Then comes the terrible question, Are there any rules at all in the world? Does the Lord manage the world by rules and laws? Or does He let things go by chance and accident, and take no care about them? To that the Psalmist answers firmly, because be is inspired by the Spirit of God, "O Lord, Thy Word endureth "—is settled—"forever in heaven. In Thee is no carelessness, neglect, slothfulness, nor caprice." The world is full of settled and enduring rules and laws, and God keeps to them.
III. Jesus Christ is the Word of God, who speaks to men God’s words, because He speaks not His own words, but His Father’s, and does not His own will, but His Father’s, who sends Him. He speaks to us and to all men in many ways, and to each according to his needs. He is the Word who endures for ever in heaven; and though heaven and earth may pass away, His words cannot pass away.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 151 (see also Town and Country Sermons, p. 403).
References: Psa 119:94.—C. Kingsley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 346, and Westminster Sermons, p. 165.
Psa 119:96
It is not difficult, at least for an earnest and thoughtful person, to see "an end of all perfection" among men; and here below nothing comes to perfection. But we are reminded that there is something else that does not come to an end, something that cannot be exhausted, lost, depreciated, something that rises above us immeasurably high and stretches away around us immeasurably far, with which, too, we are in vital relations from which we can never be released. "Thy commandment is exceeding broad."
I. We understand the word "commandment" in its proper meaning: a law, an authoritative announcement of the will of God. "As the man is, so is his strength." As God is, so are His commandment, word, will, and way.
II. This commandment extends over all the universe of intelligent life, higher and lower, over angels of every rank and men of every colour and clime, over them, again, in no merely external way, for restraint and direction, but over all intelligence, over all responsibility, over all emotion, over all motive, and of course over words, and action, and conduct.
III. The law or commandment is "exceeding broad" because it is gospel. It is an education, a development, a joy that never palls, a prospect that is never darkened, although our eyes are not always open to see it. This commandment of God, with the Gospel in it, is the very soul of consideration, and tenderness, and grace. It drops down rest on the weary, and brings balm to the wounded, and breathes fresh hope into despairing hearts. It seems to speak to us as though it were a God, and says, "Cast all your cares on me. I am broad enough and strong enough to bear them all."
A. Raleigh, The Way to the City, p. 126.
The lesson of the Psalmist, in modern Christian language, is this: "Amidst all the limitations of nature there is one law which has an infinite working; it is the law of righteousness. And there is one form of life which is exempted from the general decay; it is the life of holiness, truth, and love."
I. Consider this truth with reference to the lives of individuals. Life may be compared to a various web, in which the bright woof is crossed with many sombre threads; and while the dark warp becomes closer at the further end, the strength of the whole fabric depends in part on the skill and care of the weaver, who is the human soul. Mankind have tried various devices with a view to obviating the great, dark, inevitable fact of human loss and change. Christ clearly taught the blessedness of sorrow. "Blessed are they that mourn." (1) In sorrow we are often best able to realise the love and faithfulness of God. (2) The experience of sorrow gives a deeper and more comprehensive view of the whole meaning and purpose of our existence. (3) The power of sympathy is also increased. (4) Out of the ashes of sorrow there break forth new fires of practical devotion. (5) Suffering, change, logs, appear generally to strengthen in reflective minds the hope of immortality.
II. The life of a community has often been compared to that of an individual. The resemblance is necessarily imperfect. No community can have a unity or continuity of life approaching that of personal consciousness. But the individual and the community have at least this in common, that they are alike liable to change. They have a past and future and also a present, which is different from either past or future, while possessing the elements of both. They have in them the certainty of alteration, the possibilities of progress and decay. They have also their crises of transition, when old things are passing and the new things are not yet clearly seen. What is the practical religious lesson for such a time? How is the reality of progress to be secured? How shall men secure that change be not decay? It may be answered briefly, By the candid recognition of facts; by unabated faith in God and His goodwill to men; and by labouring honestly, according to the light that is given us, to promote what seems to us to be the cause of truth and goodness.
L. Campbell, Some Aspects of the Christian Ideal, p. 109.
Psa 119:96
Our text means not the wide compass of the scene and subjects, but the quality of the law, as imperative on man; its authority and requirement applied to so many points; the comprehensiveness, the universality, of its jurisdiction. It reaches and comprehends the whole extent of things in which there is the distinction of right and wrong, good and evil.
I. In multitudes of minds there is apprehension enough of such a widely extended law to cause disquietude, to excite reaction and a recourse to anything that will seem to narrow that law. We might notice several of the expedients and the aiding causes for this effect of contracting and reducing the extent and magnitude of the Divine law. (1) The bold, direct, decisive one is infidelity, to deny the existence of the supreme Lawgiver Himself. (2) To reject revelation is an expedient little less summary and effectual for the purpose. (3) The indulgence of sin in action or in the heart throws a thick obscurity over the whole vision of the Divine law. (4) The general operation of self-love in a corrupted being is adverse to any clear and effectual acknowledgment of the exceeding breadth of the Divine law. (5) Add to this the influence of the maxims and customs of the world. There is among us a great deal of an accommodating way of thinking of the Divine law, an unsound and treacherous casuistry, a sort of middle principles, by which those of Divine authority are altered, and qualified, and shaped to suit better the habits of the world and the temper of the times, and a defective faith in our Lord’s declaration, "No man can serve two masters."
II. All the while, and after all, the Divine law remains in its exceeding breadth. (1) It is "exceeding broad" by the comprehensive applicableness of its grand, simple rules. (2) It is so by the ample order of its special injunctions. (3) It is so by laying an authoritative hand on the first principles and origin from which anything can proceed in human spirit and action; then it reaches to all things that do or can proceed thence.
III. We infer from this: (1) Great self-complacency is a treacherous, deluded, and dangerous state. (2) If such be the law, how impossible is human salvation by it! This gives beforehand a high and rational probability to the new economy constituted in the Mediator: acceptance, justification, salvation, solely and entirely through the work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
J. Foster, Lectures, 1st series, p. 324.
If we use the word "perfection" as meaning the attainment of completeness, the writer would seem to say this: "I have seen that everything has its limits; it grows up to a certain stature, it develops certain qualities, and then comes the end: it finishes its work, and can be and do no more. But the Divine law, the truth of God, is not of this character; its boundaries have never yet been reached; it knows nothing of age, of limitations, of decay. Its heights and lengths, its breadths and depths, have never yet been fully perceived by man, and assuredly never yet manifested in his life and conduct. There is far more than he has yet understood, far more than he has ever obeyed."
Consider:—
I. Present attainments. Few persons will dispute the statement that it is every man’s duty to make his nature as complete as possible, to set before himself some ideal of perfection and to work towards that. Having souls capable of growing into the beauty of Divine virtue, capable of becoming Christlike, we ought to have that object as a clear, constant, unfailing purpose before us. Yet with all this, with such an ideal and such aspirations, what cause there is to take up the lament of the words, "I have seen an end of all perfection"! The results of the struggle do sometimes seem to be very disheartening and full of disappointment. The attainments are exceedingly limited when judged by the expectation. There is no reason for despair, for despair even of the ultimate result; but there is reason that we should cast ourselves more on God. Though we are often disappointed, and exclaim, "I have seen an end of all perfection," yet we ought to add, "I will reach toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
II. Unfulfilled demands. By this I understand that, though our attainments in the Divine life are limited, the law of the Divine life is unlimited, and always will be so, so that we set over in direct contrast against human frailty and imperfection the demands which are made by God upon us. The law of life is embodied in Christ; what He is we are to be; the commandment is as broad as that, and nothing less. We are called to be imitators of Him, to be perfect even as He is perfect. It is better to have a perfect law to obey even though the obedience fail again and yet again. We shall be more like Christ, because we try to be perfect even as He was perfect.
"Sink not in spirit; who aimeth at the sky
Shoots higher much than he who means a tree."
W. Braden, Catholic Sermons, vol. ii., p. 49.
Psa 119:96
The text describes the difference between everything that is of man and everything that is of God. The one has limits, has an end; the other is exceeding broad.
I. "I see that all things come to an end, but Thy word endureth for ever in heaven." What an impression is forced upon us, by the progress of life, of the poverty of man and all that belongs to him in point of duration! It is not only as observers that we feel this. How fleeting are our own possessions, our own treasures, our own topics of absorbing interest. "I see that all things come to an end," not least human wishes, human aims, and human ambitions. How comforting, then, how satisfying, ought it to be to us to know of just one thing which will not thus fail and terminate. "Thy commandment, Thy word, endureth for ever in heaven." The march of centuries affects not that. That is still right which God commanded; that is still wrong which God has forbidden: that is still true which God has revealed; that is still false which God has contradicted.
II. "I have seen an end of all perfection." That which has been said of human life may be said also of human character. Human excellence, human goodness, have a bound, and a narrow one; if you sound it, you reach the bottom; if you measure it, you can take its compass: there is an end of all human perfection, as there is an end of all human duration. We turn with relief to that character, that mind, that word, "exceeding broad," in which there has been no risk of reaching the end, of sounding the depth, or exhausting the fulness.
III. The breadth of God’s word, in contrast with the narrowness of human doctrine, is a topic full of interest. How does the Bible comprehend and gather into one all the good parts of all the human systems of theology that were ever framed! The revelation of God as made by Himself is exceeding broad, and the largest of minds and hearts can find room for themselves within it.
C. J. Vaughan, Lessons of Life and Godliness, p. 239.
References: Psa 119:96.—Bishop King, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 149; C. Pritchard, Good Words, 1875, p. 843; H. Thompson, Concionalia: Outlines of Sermons for Parochial Use, 1st series, vol. i., p. 341. Psa 119:97.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 17.
Psa 119:99-100
By obeying the commands of Scripture we learn that these commands really come from God; by trying we make proof; by doing we come to know. Now how comes this to pass? It happens in several ways.
I. Consider that the Bible tells us to be meek, humble, single-hearted, and teachable. Now it is plain that humility and teachableness are qualities of mind necessary for arriving at the truth in any subject, and in religious matters as well as others. By obeying Scripture then, in practising humility and teachableness, it is evident we are at least in the way to arrive at the knowledge of God. On the other hand, impatient, proud, self-confident, obstinate men are generally wrong in the opinions they form of persons and things.
II. Consider, next, that those who are trained carefully according to the precepts of Scripture gain an elevation, a delicacy, refinement, and sanctity of mind which is most necessary for judging fairly of the truth of Scripture.
III. Those who try to obey God evidently gain a knowledge of themselves at least, and this is the first and principal step towards knowing God. The more a man understands his own heart, the more are the Gospel doctrines recommended to his reason. The Bible then seems to say, "God is not a hard Master to require belief without affording grounds for believing. Only follow your own sense of right, and you will gain from that very obedience to your Maker which natural conscience enjoins a conviction of the truth and power of that Redeemer whom a supernatural message has revealed: you will bear witness to the truth of one doctrine by your own past experience of yourselves; of another, by seeing that it is suited to your necessity; of a third, by finding it fulfilled upon your obeying it."
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. v., p. 239.
Consider the facts in which lie the germs of the control which the Scriptures must exert over the progress of mankind.
I. The Scriptures contain the most ancient forms of truth now known to men. In any enlarged form of the forces which civilise communities, a place must be found for the instinctive reverence of the human mind for antiquity. A thing is presumptively true if it is old, and an old truth men will revere.
II. The sovereignty of the Scriptures in the progress of mankind is further suggested by the fact that they contain the only development of Oriental mind which can be an authority in the civilisation of the future.
III. The Bible is already wrought into all the dominant forces of the civilisation of the West. Christianity has wrought such revolutions of opinion; it has thrown into the world so much of original thought; it has organised so many institutions, customs, unwritten laws of life; it has leavened society with such a powerful antiseptic to the putrescent elements of depravity; and it has therefore positively created so much of the best material of humanity, that now the noblest type of civilisation cannot be conceived of otherwise than as a debtor to the Christian Scriptures.
IV. The Bible discloses the only groundwork and process of a perfect civilisation, as a practicable result. The idea out of which the future civilisation must grow is here, there, everywhere, in the book of life. That idea is the moral regeneration of the individual. (1) Christianity exalts spiritual over material forces. (2) It intensifies individual being. (3) Its whole process is a process of symmetrical elevation. (4) It works a power which is diffusive. (5) It is affluent in the production of certain auxiliary ideas. These, like itself, are spiritual; and they take on social, and civil, and political forms. (6) While throwing out these ideas, the Bible does exhibit a certain Divine consciousness that they must and will, and a purpose that they shall, become constructive elements in society. This is exhibited, e.g., in that most luminous fact in Scriptural history that God educates nations as the representatives of principles. Starting thus with the idea of the moral regeneration of the individual, the word of God conducts us, by easy and inevitable stages, to that truth which becomes its own witness to a Christian believer that the civilisation of the future and the triumph of Christianity are identical.
A. Phelps, Sermon, preached Jan. 2nd, 1861.
References: Psa 119:99, Psa 119:100.—J. Keble, Sermons Academical and Occasional, pp. 1, 24; J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. viii., p. no.
Psa 119:105
The two parts of this verse are not two different ways of saying the same thing. The word of God is a lamp or lantern to the feet at night; it is a light like that of the sun by day. It makes provision in this way for the whole of life. It is the secret of life’s true sunshine; it is the guide when all around is dark. Now here we are met by the fact that in an age and country like ours the Bible is everywhere to be met with; and yet of the millions who possess, and now and then read, it how many can say at all seriously, "Thy word is a lantern unto my feet and a light unto my path"? What is the reason? The answer must be that certain conditions are attached to this guiding and illuminating function of the Bible, and that when it fails to guide and to lighten these conditions cannot be complied with. It is important to ask, What are they?
I. The first condition is that the Bible should be diligently searched for those truths, those precepts, those examples, which will directly guide us through life to our eternal home.
II. Again, in order to succeed in the search for the true import of Scripture, we need method, order, regularity, purpose—above all, purpose in reading it.
III. If the Bible is to light us on the road to eternity, we should surely welcome the guidance of the Church of Christ when we read it.
IV. If the Bible is to do its work, we must be careful to act upon each truth it teaches us as we learn it. While ordinary knowledge, as a rule, is remembered until the memory decays, moral and religious knowledge is soon forgotten if it is not acted out. The reason for this is that in the one case the will is interested and in the other it is not interested. Just so far as the will is exerted in order to make truth practically our own, just so far does it become to us present and real, not merely a light without, but a light within, us.
H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 369.
What a lamp is to us in the night or in darkness, the word of God is said to be to us in the journey of life; it is a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. This implies that life is like a journey in the dark or a sojourn in some place of gloom, and that it is the Bible which is to supply to us the illumination that is needful for us in such circumstances.
I. Whether we view man in relation to the great end of his existence as a free agent, subject to the law and responsible to the judgment of God, or as a moral being, capable of appreciating the right and finding his true felicity and dignity in choosing and following it, or as a creature capable of happiness, yet exposed to many accidents, by which he is sorely tried and his peace is apt to be utterly disturbed, we shall alike arrive at the conclusion that without such a guide as the Bible supplies his path through life would indeed be dark, hopeless, disastrous.
II. Think of the certainty of this light. In it there is no wavering, no ambiguity, no indefiniteness. It is a pure light, a dear light, a steady light, an unfailing light. It burns with a lustre that never grows feeble, and casts a radiance from which nothing is hid.
III. Think of its sufficiency. It is not only a light to lighten the eyes, not only a lamp to throw its lustre over our path; it is also a light to the feet, discovering to us all even the minutest features of the path we have to tread—all its roughnesses, all its breaks and hollows, all on it that would impede our progress or cause us to stumble if unobserved, but which observed we can avoid.
IV. And what a marvellous vitality there is in this light! Other lights have flashed and faded; other guides have offered themselves and been followed, and the blind has led the blind into the ditch, and both have perished. But this light abides as clear, and bright, and beneficent as ever.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Christian Thought and Work, p. 39.
References: Psa 119:105.—J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 257; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 199; T. Champness, Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 424; Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 336.
Psa 119:109
The character of Isaiah.
I. The character of Isaiah is apparent through his writings, in all its clear and separate parts, as the pebbles of a beach seen at the bottom of translucent water or the objects of the wood and hill seen through the atmosphere which bathes and penetrates them. His writings show him to have been a man having a greater tendency towards objective than subjective religion. While Jeremiah is ever studying and lamenting over his own internal condition, Isaiah is ever looking outwards on the external objects of the kingdom of God; Jeremiah seems to discover God through personal experience, Isaiah through His word and works; while Jeremiah laments over his own shortcomings, Isaiah rejoices over the coming glories of the Gospel.
II. We might without much difficulty divide the whole of Isaiah’s prophecy into three parts, the first being the description of the sinfulness of the people, the second the remedy in the atonement of Christ, the third the establishment of the Church in its great external system, each of the portions being considered in a peculiarly objective manner.
III. Men who are described in Holy Scripture range themselves under each class: the objective and the subjective. The deep self-searchings of David, the melancholy wailings of Jeremiah, the mournful dirges of Jacob, the wild death-song of Hezekiah, the pathetic appeals to God’s protection of Micah, the communings of Moses, and the bold yet morbid reasonings of Jonah range these under the standard of what I have called subjectiveness. On the other hand, the sombre dignity of Samuel, the unquestioning obedience of Abraham, the magnificent hosannas of Isaiah, the stern simplicity of Daniel, the unflinching rebukes of Elijah, and the mystic parables of Ezekiel make them fitting heralds for the silent footsteps of the ever-pondering Virgin, the rapt gaze of St. John, and the unhesitating simplicity of St. Andrew and St. Nathanael.
IV. Both spirits are needed for the Church. But neither spirit is safe by itself. It is as a single wing to a bird, wanting the other wing to bear it safely through the counter-currents of mid-air. Without the one tone we may fail in reverence, without the other in love. Without the one we may fail in obedience, without the other in a living hope.
E. Monro, Practical Sermons on the Characters of the Old Testament, vol. i., p. 177.
Psa 119:111
I. Consider, first, the claim asserted by David: that God’s testimonies are his heritage for ever. The term "testimonies" denotes all those revelations of His own nature, attributes, and will which God has been pleased to make of Himself. They are facts which we know not by the light of reason, but by God’s witness, facts not which man demonstrates, but which God testifies. Speaking as a Jew, David declares, with feelings of thanksgiving and triumph, that he from his birth has had a rightful possession of God’s revelations. In examining into the cause of David’s thankfulness, we are brought to the broad subject of ancestral religion. If we had not received our religion as a heritage, we might never have enjoyed it at all. Those who have inherited their religion and walk in righteousness have nothing to regret, but all to be thankful for, in their present position. Those who have inherited their religion and walk unrighteously in all likelihood, if they had not inherited it, would never have believed. Which of us is certain that if we had met Christ face to face in the valleys of Judah, we should not have despised Him?
II. The Jewish king claims God’s testimonies as his inheritance not for the brief period of his mortal life, but for ever, as though implying that they would hereafter form the source of his joy and triumph. The world and the works that are therein shall pass away, but in the midst of the universal wreck one thing shall remain: the word of God. The testimony of the Most High has been the heritage of the elect, and that shall endure. Inheritors of Christ’s faith, let us walk worthy of our portion; inheriting it from the saints of old, let us keep it undefiled, using it while we live for our own salvation, and labouring to hand it down unmutilated to the generation to come.
Bishop Woodford, Occasional Sermons, vol. i., p. 15.
References: Psa 119:111.—J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 6th series, p. 94; M. R. Vincent, Gates into the Psalm Country, p. 231; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 199.
Psa 119:113
I. First, what are vain thoughts? (1) There are the vain, worldly thoughts, which we must hate. Thoughts which in themselves are perfectly harmless and innocent may become vain through being welcomed and entertained at the wrong season. The same thoughts may become sinful and vain through mere excess, through occupying our minds overmuch. The world must be very near us when the worldly thought is ever with us. Our treasure, our best treasure, must assuredly be there, else our heart and the thought of our heart would not be always there also. (2) But if a wise man will watch against these thoughts about this world, which are only sinful when indulged or allowed at a wrong time or in excess, how much more will he hate those that in their nature and essence are sinful, as, for example, impure thoughts, being such as more than any other sully and defile the mirror of the soul, and render it incapable of giving back the pure image of God. (3) The transition to other thoughts, to such as we more immediately ascribe to the devil, is easy. It will be enough to indicate proud thoughts in general as the third division of those we have to consider.
II. Consider the remedies for vain thoughts. Chase them wholly away we never shall, but let them find no entertainment from us. As often as they visit us, let them drive us to Him by whose holy inspiration alone we are able either to think those things which be good, or to refuse to think those things which be evil; let them drive us to Him in a real, though it may be a voiceless, prayer, in a brief meditation on the glories of heaven or on the pains of hell, or on Christ hanging upon His Cross and bearing there the penalty of our sins, or on Christ coming to judgment and bringing to light all hidden things of darkness, and this wicked thought of ours among the rest. In devices such as these we must find our help.
R. C. Trench, Sermons New and Old, p. 123 (see also Sermons Preached in Ireland, p. 201).
References: Psa 119:113.—J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 1875, pp. 109, 120; H. F. Burder, Sermons, p. 13; New Manual of Sunday-school Addresses, p. 253.
Psa 119:116
The fact that hope may spring from tribulation, though only hinted at by the Psalmist in the text, is largely asserted by St. Paul when he says, "Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope."
I. Take the case of those in whom a work of grace is going forward, who are striving to submit themselves to the operations of God’s Spirit; and how true it is of them that "tribulation worketh patience." There is nothing else which can work it. We can only know ourselves possessed of any particular quality when God, in His providence, shall put that quality to the proof. Patience is wrought out by tribulation, not by tribulation in itself, but by tribulation bringing the Christian to reflection and to prayer.
II. "Patience worketh experience." There are various senses in which the word "experience" may be taken; but it properly denotes the putting something to the proof, making the sort of trial which is made of metals by placing them in the fire, in order to the detecting and disentangling the dross. Hence the experience here mentioned by St. Paul must be the ascertaining the precise worth, veracity, and power of the consolations and promises of God. The season of tribulation is the season chosen of God for the especial manifestation of His faithfulness and love.
III. And from experience how natural, how easy, the transition to hope. Surely he who has tried the chart and found it correct, so far as he had the power of trying it, has the best ground for confidence in that chart with regard to ports which he has never yet entered. If we do not register our mercies, or if we never recount them, they are not likely to throw light on coming events. He must be grateful for the past who would be hopeful for the future.
IV. "Ashamed of my hope." This accords accurately with the concluding words of the passage from St. Paul, "Hope maketh not ashamed." How different, then, from any other hope. For is not hope commonly spoken of as most delusive and deceitful? There is nothing airy and unsubstantial which is not taken as too faithful a representation of hope. But Christian hope "maketh not ashamed." It paints no vision which shall not be more than realised; it points to no inheritance which shall not be reached. How should it make ashamed, when it altogether rests itself upon Christ, who is not "ashamed to call us brethren"?
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2080.
References: Psa 119:117.—J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 10th series, p. 180; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1657; Archbishop Thomson, Anglican Pulpit of Today, p. 16.
Psa 119:126
The text brings before us:
I. A melancholy fact: "Men have made void Thy law." This might at first view seem impossible, as if it were the defeat of Omnipotence itself by the creature it has made; but there is a sphere in which even the function of Omnipotence itself becomes restrained or transformed, in order that there may exist created wills, and that there may be a kingdom in which subjects obey not because they must, but because they choose. The sphere and sweep of these laws and their action are not to be without the man, but within him. God stands related to us now chiefly through these laws. In conscience, in the Decalogue, and in the Gospel of His Son, the law of the Spirit of life—in all that expresses the Divine will—He speaks to us. They together make up that law which, in the words of our text, "men have made void." If it be inquired how men have made void the law of God, we answer: (1) By assailing its authority (a) in denying the personality of its source; (b) in palliating the gravity of its transgression; (c) in restricting the area of its rule. (2) By disparaging its sufficiency.
II. The urgent appeal, "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work." There is a wonderful boldness, I might say audacity, in this language of the Psalmist—a summons of God to the rescue of His own world. And yet such challenge is the privilege of earnest men. It is the violence which takes heaven by force. God does not resent it; He hears it; He invites it; He answers it. When God arises to work, we know not what will be the form and fashion of His operations. If the Lord begins to work, we may expect a wondrous effusion of the Holy Spirit both upon His Church and the world, which is still estranged from His law and love. With the outpouring of the Spirit the Church in reality began. In the New Testament the work of Christ has no meaning except as it is unfolded by the Holy Spirit; it has no power except as it is applied by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is as much the Gospel of the Holy Spirit as it is the Gospel of the Son of God.
E. Mellor, The Hem of Christ’s Garment, p. 19.
I. Look, first, at the complaint. A law is made void: (1) by misinterpretation; (2) by being encumbered with contradictory or inconsistent requirements; (3) when, being understood, it is in practice ignored and accounted a dead letter; (4) when the obligation is denied; (5) when, the obligation being acknowledged, the penalty is incurred and braved, and the lawgiver defied.
II. The appeal, "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work." What in such a case can God do? (1) Vindicate His law by punishment. This He did in the Flood. (2) Bring forward His law by republishing it. Thus did He work at Sinai. (3) Pardon the transgression and rewrite His law on the heart. This is the work of God alone. Creature may punish creature; man may republish God’s law, and call to it universal attention; but who can forgive sins but God alone? who can write his law so as to secure obedience upon the heart? Pardon is God’s prerogative, and purification is God’s own work.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 3rd series, No. xvii.
References: Psa 119:126-128.—A. Maclaren, The Secret of Power, p. 81, and Old Testament Outlines, p. 146.
Psa 119:129
I. Consider, first, how the wonderfulness of God’s word is calculated to produce the observance of it. The human mind is possessed of certain faculties, and subject to certain sensations. Amidst these sensations very prominent is that feeling of surprise which overtakes us at the sight of what is unexpected, or exceeds all our conceptions, or extends beyond the grasp of our understanding. This is the faculty of wonder. We have many instances before us of wonder acting upon the soul and constraining it to obey. The mind is more moved by the words of one whom we have not seen, and whom we image to ourselves vaguely, often untruly, than by one of whom we feel that we know all about him. And we can easily transfer our argument to the instance of God and revelation. If God were a being whom we felt we could measure, if there was nothing to baffle our deepest inquiries, nothing to awe, to prostrate, to overwhelm, we might not indeed have to meet the jest of the scoffer or the sneer of the infidel; but neither, on the other hand, should we find spirits rapt away from earth and earthly things and loving to build their homes in the word of the Lord. The wonderfulness of the law constitutes its bondage over the spirit.
II. From the above doctrine flow several important practical lessons. (1) It it be true that wonder is closely connected with reverence, that, in short, the marvellous exerts in religion, as in other things, a great power over the soul of man, then we shall cease to be surprised that the Almighty has not spoken more clearly. (2) The statutes which are to be kept must be not a theory of reason, but of wonder; they must afford food for the imagination as well as exercise for the understanding. (3) There is also an application of the text to the subject of public worship. You must have in your religious ceremonial also something which will appeal to the imagination as well as to the reason, otherwise you will soon have coldness and indifference.
Bishop Woodford, Occasional Sermons, vol. i., p. 258.
Reference: Psa 119:129.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 200.
Psa 119:130
I. There is no book by the perusal of which the mind is so much strengthened and so much enlarged as it is by the perusal of the Bible. There is nothing so likely to elevate and endow with new vigour our faculties as the bringing them into contact with stupendous truths and the setting them to grasp and measure these truths. If the human mind grows dwarfish and enfeebled, it is ordinarily because left to deal with commonplace facts, and never summoned to the effort of taking the span and altitude of broad and lofty disclosures. The Bible, whilst the only book for the soul, is the best book for the intellect, The sublimity of the topics of which it treats, the dignified simplicity of its manner of handling them, the nobleness of the mysteries which it develops, the illumination which it throws on points the most interesting to those conscious of immortality—all these conspire to bring round a result which we insist upon as actual and necessary; namely, that the man who should study the Bible and not be benefited by it spiritually would be benefited by it intellectually.
II. The text ascribes to the Bible precisely that energy for which we have contended. The assertion is that the entrance of God’s word gives light, and that it gives also understanding to the simple. We have shown that a mind dark through want of instruction or weak through its powers being naturally poor or long unexercised would become either illuminated or strengthened through acquaintance with the contents of Scripture. But the passage applies with far greater force to the converted than to the unconverted. (1) On conversion there is given to man an increased measure of understanding. In all cases a marked change passes over the human spirit when the heart is renewed by the influences of God’s Spirit. The man will have a clearer and less biassed judgment. His views will be wider, his estimates more correct. His understanding, having been exercised on truths the most stupendous, will be more competent for the examination of what is difficult or obscure. His reason, having learned that much lies beyond her province, as well as much within, will give herself to inquiries with greater humility and greater caution, and therefore, almost to a moral certainty, with greater success. (2) Consider certain of the reasons of this fact. (a) The truths which have been commended to the belief are the most sublime and spirit-stirring of all that can engage the attention of mankind. (b) The moral renovation at conversion will be also to a certain extent an intellectual one. Since at the entrance of God’s word the man is renewed in holiness, we have a right to expect that he will also be renewed in understanding. (c) The entrance of God’s words denotes such an application to the soul of the truths of revelation that they become influential on the life and conversation.
H. Melvill, Sermons, vol. i., p. 147.
Psa 119:131
We shall consider the Psalmist as here drawing a contrast between the unsatisfying character of what is finite and the power which there is in Divine things of filling all the desires of the soul.
I. David is speaking as a man who had made trial of created good, and had proved its insufficiency. He had not indeed exhausted the good, though its pursuit had exhausted him; but he had tried it to such a point as to ascertain that it was limited. He saw how far wealth or wisdom could go in filling the desires of man, and he ascertained their inadequacy; they would still leave him exhausted and panting. With the generality of men the opinion seems to be that the dissatisfaction arises from there remaining still so much unpossessed, but we maintain that the soul can be satisfied with nothing of which it can discover the limits. It will exhaust all which it can prove to be not inexhaustible. And therefore wherein can the soul be satisfied but in God, of whom alone we may affirm that He is not to be overtaken by the marching of the soul, not weighed in her balances, not comprehended within her horizon?
II. "I longed for Thy commandments." The whole Law is summed up in the injunction of love—the love of our Maker and of all men for His sake. And if love be thus the fulfilling of the Law, we cannot wonder that David should set the commandments in contrast with all created things, as though you could not take the span of the one, though you might of the other. It is the surprising property of the law of God that, though condensed into few precepts, it spreads itself over every department of conduct, so that no possible ease is left unprovided for. And yet, notwithstanding this largeness of the commandment of God, the Divine law is not that which at first sight we should be disposed to compare, in respect of satisfying power, with finite perfection. We should have been inclined to fix on the favour of God, or on the joys which He communicates to His people, as affording that material of satisfaction which is so vainly sought in any earthly good. But let the matter be carefully examined, and we shall find that it is strictly for the commandment that the wearied soul ought to long. (1) Man’s happiness lies in obedience to the commandment. (2) The commandments are summed up in love. In loving God, we throw down the burden which, if unremoved, must press us down everlastingly into the depths of wretchedness, and we take hold of immortality, as purchased for us, and prepared, and reserved.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2380.
Psa 119:132
What is this love of God’s name which is so very precious, and how is it to be obtained?
I. We know how it is with us when we love any person among men very dearly. It is a joy and satisfaction to us only to hear his name, or to see it anywhere written or printed. So it is with those who have any spark of true love towards God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God. They are glad to see these sacred names in the Bible or in any other good book, and to hear them pronounced with religious reverence.
II. If we truly loved that name, would we not bear it in mind continually, and hide it in our heart, that we might not sin against it? Would not this saying of the wise man be ever present in our minds: "I will not sin, knowing that I am accounted Thine"? One way or another, true love will make us evermore on the watch that the name of the Beloved which we carry about with us may in no way suffer through our neglect.
III. Those who so love God’s name see what a mighty encouragement is held out to them. They are sure of being looked on and of obtaining mercy. For it is said, "Thou usest to do so unto those that love Thy name." Almighty God will look upon devout persons; He will not turn His face away from them; He will be merciful to them when they confess their sins. He promises that nothing at all shall be lost which we do simply and truly for the love of His name.
J. Kehle, Sermons for the Christian Year: Sundays after Trinity, Part I., p. 245.
Psa 119:133
I. This verse recognises and accepts the obligation of moral order: "Order my steps."
II. It fixes the legitimate source and centre of that order: "In Thy word." The Bible centres, regulates, restrains, and establishes a man.
III. It deprecates the consequences of moral lawlessness, the dominion of iniquity.
M. R. Vincent, Gates into the Psalm Country, p. 247.
References: Psa 119:133.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 878. Psa 119:136.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xxi., p. 15. Psa 119:140.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages of the Psalms, pp. 290, 299; A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 25.
Psa 119:141
I. Man, among all his other weaknesses, is so prone to vanity, conceit, and pride that in teaching the lesson of self-respect, in pressing on you the truth that we are greater than we know, some might fear that we were but putting one more stumbling-block in the path of that humility which is the rarest, as it is the sweetest, of all Christian virtues. But the self-respect which God would have us yield is the parent of humility and the annihilation of pride; it is founded on just those things which every one of us enjoys, which none can monopolise, wherein no man differs from another. It is founded on the possession of that immortal soul which God has given alike to the prince and to the beggar.
II. All but a few of us have a lot in life all the harder to bear because in the pathos of it everything is below the level of tragedy, except the passionate egotism of the sufferer. Our complaints and miseries arise in no small measure from our failure to grasp the real meaning and to understand the universal experience of life; they rise because, dropping the substance, we grasp at the shadow; they rise because we take for solid realities the bubbles which burst at a touch. It is of infinite importance to ourselves and to the world that we should not yield to these feelings. We need for ourselves, the world needs for us as fellow-workers with God, all the joy, all the spring, all the elasticity, all the vigour, all the hope, which man will leave us.
III. Our lot is nothing exceptional, nothing to complain of, nothing to be depressed at. It is just the common, the all but universal, lot. Be good and true, and you cannot then be in reality or in the truth of things commonplace or insignificant. Each one of us is exactly as great as he is in God’s sight, and no greater. You may think yourself nothing now and here, but for every good soldier of Jesus Christ all trumpets shall sound on the other side. The Psalmist deeply felt this truth when he wrote the words of the text: "I am small and of no reputation: yet—"and what a burst of triumph, what a rush of hope, what a force of conviction, lies in that word "yet"!—"yet do I not forget Thy commandments."
F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 337.
Consider what there is in the breaking of God’s law to justify such manifestation of grief as you read of in the writings of David.
I. Look, first, at the dishonour done to God by the violation of His law. Every one who reflects at all on his relationship to his Maker and the accuracy with which that Maker has written Himself in His laws must readily acknowledge that it is to insult the Supreme Being to set at nought His precepts. If a man loves God, zeal for the glory of God will be necessarily the chief and dominant feeling of his mind. Can it then be with indifference, can it be without emotions of the most lively concern, that he beholds this Being dishonoured by his fellow-men?
II. Consider the ruin which transgressors are bringing upon themselves. The good man is not void of affection for his fellow-men, but, on the contrary, feels for them a love which true religion is sure to produce. He must feel for the wicked as he beholds them following courses which he is sure will issue in destruction.
III. Think of the injury which transgressors are causing to others. Let the Law be universally kept, and all that is most glorious in prophecy would be rapidly realised. And shall it not, then, be with a genuine and deep sorrow that the righteous man, eager for a period of universal happiness, beholds the transgressors who are deferring that period and prolonging the reign of confusion and misery? Let none, therefore, rest till, having sorrowed deeply for their own sins, they feel themselves made sorrowful by the sins also of others. "This," as Archbishop Leighton says, "is perhaps a stronger evidence of sincerity. There seems to be more of God in it, because less of ourselves and our own particular interest."
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2053.
Psa 119:160
I. We cannot read the Old Testament without seeing that the whole of it rests on the basis of a history—the history contained in what we call the books of Moses. Now, if you turn to the New Testament, you will find that it begins, in like manner, with a history: the history of the four Gospels; and what the Pentateuch is to the Old Testament, the Gospels are to the New. Here, then, is a symmetry in the two parts of the Bible. Each begins with a history which pervades and inspires all that follows. Only, the two histories are different, while they are connected. The one is that of a Divinely chosen people, selected for a special purpose. The other is that of a Divine Person. And a person is superior to a people merely as a people, as a corporate body, for a person has an immortality: a nation has not; and a person can be charged with far higher lessons than a nation. The two histories are on two planes, a lower and a higher; the lower is imperfect without the higher, and the higher assumes and completes the lower.
II. If you look to the Old Testament, you will find that there is a second stage after the Pentateuch. It is a struggle to obtain a place where the original history may find a firm footing, and may unfold itself for the good of the world. This is the history of Joshua, and Judges, and Samuel, and those that follow after. In the New Testament there is a similar period, contained chiefly in the Acts of the Apostles; but it penetrates also the Epistles. The Apostles and disciples are struggling to find a lodgment for the history of the great Person with whom they have come in contact. Only, the place is no more one country, but the whole earth.
III. If you turn again to the Old Testament, you will find a third stage. It is the period of reflection. Thought is folded over on the past in meditation. This brings us into the centre of the Old Testament—to the books of Psalms and many of the prophets. In the New Testament there is a corresponding period, showing the same marks. It is in the Epistles of Paul and of his fellow-disciples. The Gospels give us great events, but the conclusions are not fully drawn; and Christ promises the Spirit of Truth to guide, to show the way into all truth.
IV. Notice one closing period in this comparison. We may call it the sense of incompleteness. This is the period of prophecy proper, of many of the Psalms, of Isaiah and the later prophets. As the sun of the past is setting, another Sun arises: the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in His wings; and that Sun shall no more go down. The Old Testament closes with this intent, bending gaze on the future, and closes not having received the promise, but being persuaded of it and embracing it. And the New Testament has this period also. As the Old Testament ends by looking for Christ’s first coming, the New finishes with a cry for His second. Its last words breathe out a response to His promise, "Behold, I come quickly:" "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
In the margin of the Bible the latter words of this verse are rendered, "They shall have no stumbling-block."
I. Consider the character of the parties whom the Psalmist describes: they "love the law of God." It is no ordinary degree of spiritual attainment which is indicated by the fact of loving God’s law. If a man do not feel assured of pardon through the blood of the Redeemer, what but terror—heartfelt terror—can be excited by the contemplation? We must have stepped much beyond the first elements of religion if we can vouch as a truth that we love God because His essence is holiness, and that we love Him because His essence is justice. When we have come to love redemption because into it are gathered all the attributes of God, we are prepared also to love the law in which all these attributes are imaged.
II. Consider why there are no stumbling-blocks to those who thus love God’s law. (1) The unequal distribution both of good and evil in this life is often a perplexing thing to the righteous; but he who loves the law is quite assured of the justice and faithfulness of God, and can refer with the greatest cheerfulness to the disclosures of the final assize for the solution of every problem which is too hard for present investigation. (2) When afflictions come thick on the godly man, they have a tendency to stagger him or to serve as a stumbling-block. But the man who loves God’s law, knowing each attribute, loving each attribute, will be meekly confident that the issue must be right, though the process may be dark. (3) Christ Jesus Himself is a stumbling-block to the great mass of mankind. But let a man have that knowledge of the law which shows him its requirements, and therefore that love of the law which would make him shrink from its compromise, and it is not possible that he should be offended at all at what St. Paul calls the "offence of the Cross;" and thus it is as a lover of the law that he surmounts the stumbling-block.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 4984.
From these words we learn:—
I. That true religious peace consists in maintaining a sincere love of Almighty God and of His declared will: "Great peace have they which love Thy law." By the law of God may be understood either the exercise of that providential power by which He sustains, governs, and directs the whole course of the world, the circumstances of nations and of individuals, or more strictly that revealed law of life and conduct by which we are bound wholly to regulate ourselves, as they who must hereafter "give an account of their own works." (1) Great is the peace of those who love to live "soberly." They are thoroughly and heartily satisfied with their own condition in life, whatever it be. (2) Great is the peace of those who love to live "righteously;" that is, with a sincere love of all others. For whereas it is the want of this love which causes so much quarrelling, malice, and unkindness in the world, the possession of it would at once produce peace and harmony, if not in others towards us, at least in us towards others. (3) Great is the peace also of those who love to live "godly" in this present world of darkness and corruption. For, having their affections set on things above and their conversation in heaven, they sit loose to all the interests of this transitory state.
II. "Nothing shall offend them"—offend, that is, make them to stumble or fall. Whosoever then truly loves God’s law, nothing will offend him; nothing will be of power sufficient to turn him aside from his steady course of faithful obedience. (1) Thus as he sincerely loves to live soberly, so, whatever difficulties or obstacles occur, he is not offended, will not give up his resolution. (2) Again, as he loves to live righteously, so nothing will offend him in the practice of it. (3) As he loves to live godly, so nothing will prevent him availing himself of all the privileges which accompany the practice of true devotion. He endeavours to make everything which befalls him the occasion of some direct religious act of confession, faith, or thanksgiving.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times," vol. i., p. 28.
I. We see here, first, a possession: great peace. (1) There may be peace without great peace. (2) This peace is connected with obedience. (3) Love must be the affectional bond.
II. An exemption: "Nothing shall offend them." (1) Circumstances do not hurt them, or are not a stumbling-block to them. (2) Temptations do not hurt them. (3) Death does not hurt them.
W. M. Statham, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 88.
Psa 119:176
I. Like all true prayer, the text begins with confession. It describes our condition as it is in God’s sight; it penetrates to the heart, and shows us whence it is that sin flows, whatever be its visible and outward manifestations. "I have gone astray like a lost sheep." We know well who is that Shepherd of our souls from whom we have wandered. We know, with our understandings at least, what God has done for us in redeeming us by the blood of Christ. We know, too, what it must be to have wandered from Him; that it implies a want of love to God, a want of gratitude for His kindness to us, a want of interest in thinking and hearing of Him, a want of regard for His word and for all the means of grace which He has given us.
II. "O seek Thy servant." How much is implied in these few words. We have wandered from God; and now, like a sheep that has strayed from its fold and lost all trace of the way by which it should return, we ask God to seek us: we ask Him by His Spirit to track, as it were, our wanderings, to come after us into that waste, howling wilderness in which we have lost ourselves, and to give us at once the will and the power to hear His voice and follow Him. Such is the mystery of our spiritual life. God must first seek us if we are truly to seek Him, and yet it is in our seeking of Him that we can best recognise His search after us.
III. "Seek Thy servant." How does God seek man? Not alone in the direct call of His Son’s Gospel, which is come unto us, as it is to all the world; but in every circumstance of our life, in every mercy we enjoy from His hands, nay in every interruption of our comfort and happiness, we have a speaking sign of His presence, a fresh pledge of that love which will scarcely allow us to forget it, unless already our eyes and ears be closed in wilful hardness against its appeal.
C. J. Vaughan, Harrow Sermons, 1st series, p. 1.
References: Psa 119:176.—T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. v., p. 171; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 25. Psalm 119—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 261. Psa 120:5.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 249. Psa 120:6.—Preacher’s Lantern, vol. ii., p. 182. Psalm 120—S. Cox, The Pilgrim Psalms, p. 1.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant1903 · Public DomainOn v1Faith’s testimony to the Word, in love and service.
Faith’s testimony to the Word, in love and service.
"That which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin; condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." So the apostle describes for the Christian the efficacy of the grace that has in Christ been shown us. The law could not work in men the obedience it required. The cross, beheld by faith, condemned sin for us, so as to deliver us from it, and implant in our hearts the very principle of obedience, in a faith that worketh by love. And this is the connection between the present psalm and the one preceding it, though Israel and not Christians are before us in them. The law is written on their hearts, according to the promise of the new covenant (Jer 31:31-34); and here all is promise, that is, grace. The longest psalm in the whole book is the utterance of Israel’s heart in praise of the law.
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We need not wonder to find it to be an alphabetic acrostic, and that of the most regular and perfect kind. There is an eight fold alphabet, this number eight showing what is new, in contrast with the old,* -thus the new covenant number -being stamped upon the whole psalm. Every letter of man’s language now is taken up with the praise of that, which was but an intolerable yoke before.
{*Notice that 8 is the cube of 2; which is itself the expression of difference, otherness, here therefore fully realized.}
"The Masora observes that the psalm contains only the one verse, 122,* in which some reference or other to the word of revelation is not found as in all the 175 others, -a many-linked name of synonyms which runs through the whole. In connection with this," says Delitzsch, "it may also not be merely accidental that the address, Jehovah, occurs 22 times, as Bengel has observed": though not in regular correspondence with the 22 sections.
{*To which, however, verse 90 must surely be added.}
There are also just ten synonyms of the law used by the psalmist, and which naturally remind us of the ten commandments of the decalogue, "word, saying; way, path; testimonies, judgments; precepts, statutes; commandment, law."* And these seem (though this may be disputed) to fall naturally into five pairs, as I have given them.
{*Here again the Masora seems to have made a faulty enumeration, strangely enough substituting for "path" "truth," or, according to another reading, "righteousness." But both these are attributes, not synonyms, of the law; and are so used.}
All this arrangement may seem artificial enough, if we take (as so often done) our knowledge for the measure of what is possible: which in Scripture is hardy enough. On the other hand, commentators have mostly renounced the idea of finding in the psalm any internal connection of thought. Only Delitzsch, so far as I am aware, has attempted a sketch of it, and this has met with little acceptance. Indeed the difficulty must needs be great of discerning links which are throughout moral and experimental, and which unite sentences which have the look of independence and ability to stand alone which these have. The numerical structure may here be expected, if anywhere, to show its worth as a guide to understanding; as the alphabetic arrangement would seem,in fact,to be intended to point out. It was one of the first clues which guided me, a good while since, in this direction; and I may be pardoned in preferring this to the despairing refuge of a help to remembrance, generally urged.
The psalmist has thus plainly marked out for us 22 sections. If the last were omitted, the rest would naturally fall into a triple septenary order, suiting well the regularity of structure otherwise; and capable, as I believe, Of satisfactory comparison in this way, numerically and otherwise. The first seven would, then, seem to refer to individual condition; the second to relation to external circumstances; the third to divine holiness -the sanctuary view. Taking now the headings of the sections, as well as I have been able to give them; they would stand thus: —
1. individually.
(1) harmonious righteousness.
(2) cleansing by the word.
(3) realizations.
(4) in creature feebleness.
(5) but with the God of might.
(6) thus overcoming.
(7) full rest of heart.
2. in external relations.
(1) persistent purpose.
(2) things working together for good.
(3) recognitions.
(4) in trial from man.
(5) but with God governing.
(6) overcoming in wisdom.
(7) complete obedience.
3. in view of divine holiness.
(1) the rebellious.
(2) deliverance sought from them.
(3) sanctuary revelations.
(4) in trial from defection.
(5) exercises.
(6) overcoming in judgment.
(7) perfection of the Word.
In any full way we cannot compare these yet, and it will be enough, at present, to invite comparison. The last section of all is left out of this table. It plainly cannot be compared, since there is no other 8th section; if it is to stand as such; and there are difficulties as to this, which also must be reserved for after-consideration.
Division 1.
The individual believer.
The first division of the psalm speaks of what the Word is to the individual believer. There is absolutely no mention of others, except twice (verses 21, 23), and by implication once (22), in the first five sections. In the 6th the thought of overcoming brings them in (42, 46), and we find them in the 7th (51, 53); but there is as yet no hint of persecution; save by reproach. In the very next section -the first of the second division -(v. 61) "the cords of the wicked have wrapped him round," and in ten other verses they are spoken of; his life is continually in his hand; while those that fear God are mentioned five times. In the third division the wicked are mentioned fifteen times; but here he sees them trodden down, and put away like dross.
Section 1. (Aleph.)
Harmonious righteousness.
1. The theme of the psalm begins, as so often; in its opening verses. The "way" for man is simply the way of Jehovah’s law; and "happiness" is to be perfect in it. How blessed, indeed, just to have abidingly in the soul the consciousness that this only is happiness. To be delivered from the misery of one’s own will, one’s own way, -the very definition of sin (Isa 53:6) -how complete a deliverance is this! It is to have the law written upon one’s heart, which is not a natural state but a supernatural, a work of divine grace. And this law is not merely arbitrary, the expression of authority: it is a "testimony" also, and one to which the awakened conscience responds. In this He is Himself declared: so that to "observe His testimonies" is to "seek Him with the whole heart." With such all is in accordance with the real nature of things: they do not twist them: "they practise no perversity; they walk in His ways." Safe, holy, and happy must be "His ways."
2. Now the soul pours itself out to Him. "Thou halt commanded Thy precepts" -the separate applications of the divine principles -"that they may be kept diligently." God does not speak positively, and then put up with trifling with what He says. Nor is this in the least what is meant by grace. There is no non-essential in what God has spoken: obedience is always what is essential; obedience to which we can affix limits means for us a wisdom which is above God’s.
Nay, it is we who need to be taught wisdom: and for this, therefore, the heart cries out: "Oh that my ways" -my goings in the path -"may be directed to keep Thy statutes: then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Thy commandments." And it foresees that His judgments -His decisions in the court of conscience -will so approve His righteousness, that to learn these will produce a spirit of praise in an upright heart.
The last verse is an appeal to divine government not to go far away from one who had in heart to keep the divine statutes.
Section 2. (Beth.)
Cleansing from evil by the Word.
The next section is more difficult to put together and find meaning for as a whole; but we are in general (at least) right in seeking this at the beginning of any distinct part of Scripture, where we should put the title, and where God in His goodness hastens, as it were, to meet us with what is a real introduction to all that follows. This is why so often the psalms begin with what is the conclusion, then going back to lead us again toward it. In this case, the power of the Word to cleanse that is, to separate the soul from evil will be the theme of the section; and its two portions seem to harmonize well with this: the first part speaking of its inherent power for this; while the second shows how, in fact, the soul is drawn away and detached from all else by the love that absorbs and takes it up with God.
1. The young man is spoken of, no doubt, because life is strong in him; and the yet untried world full of natural attraction. Here, therefore, is the test-case for the word of God to prove its power; and it is perfectly able to do this, by the light shed by it upon the whole scene, which gives things their true character, by bringing God (who alone is Light) into connection with all. The soul, finding here its attraction; is set truly free, made master of itself and of its circumstances; while it realizes at the same time its dependence and its only safe shelter in the divine strength. Seeking Him with the whole heart, it has yet to pray, "Let me not wander." But it clasps all the more to its heart the divine sayings, that it may not sin against Him: hiding them there as a possession of which it must not be robbed. And the world is full of robbers, who find its value to them only in its value to those from whom they would snatch it.
2. But now we see the heart in the presence and under the control of God: "Blessed art Thou, Jehovah"; to whom it turns with its consciousness of ignorance and its yearning desire, -"teach me Thy statutes."
Already, however, he has been speaking of what he knew, declaring God’s judgments, the decisions He had given as to good and evil, right and wrong, and that faithfully, -holding back nothing. And how great a matter is this, for keeping a clean path, -the confession of God in all things, the committing one’s self fully to all that He has made known as of Himself! The attitude of indecision tempts the assault of evil, while, God not being honored in it, He cannot honor one who is ashamed of Him. Joy in what is confessed thus goes with a true confession; and thus it follows here: "I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches." The mind, too, naturally employs itself upon that which the heart enjoys. God’s precepts are meditated on; and His paths regarded.
The section closes with the renewed experience of a joy in His statutes which is a sure preservative against a bad memory: "I delight myself in Thy statutes: I do not forget thy word."
Section 3. (Gimel.)
Realizations.
The third section speaks of realization by the soul of what God’s word is, and of what things are as seen in the light of that word. Essentially, this is sanctification; because holiness is "holiness of truth." (Eph 4:24, marg.) Eternity reveals time: the presence of God all things as good or evil; and the world is then seen as a place of continual conflict from which no man can withdraw himself. This gives the second part of the section here.
1. We are wholly dependent upon God for ability to realize things in this way. Naturally, man "walks in a vain show, and disquiets himself in vain." True life begins for us in the bountiful grace of God, and is manifested in the keeping of His word; and the same energy which acts to bring us into this must still operate to retain us there. But in this way what marvelous things become known to us, and with eyes fully awake what glories may be revealed! It is simple that here we have the language of prayer. Nothing is more needed than the constant sense of dependence.
And how touching is the plea of the 19th verse,which reminds us not so much (as it is usually taken) of man’s transience on earth, as the divine care for the stranger-guest in Israel, as the provisions of the law manifest it. We are apt to judge things rather by the narrow and sectarian spirit actually manifested by the nation in its later history than by the precepts of the inspired lawgiver. Yet, separated as they were by the law itself from the abominations to which the nations in their departure from God had given themselves up, He had placed them upon the very lines of intercourse between these nations, and at the throbbing centre of the world’s traffic. Here was their mountain fastness in which the Word that was entrusted to them was to be maintained for the blessing of the whole human race; and here, in the presence of all the powers of the world, so frank an asylum was offered to the one who sought it, that a mere fugitive slave escaping there was sheltered and free to find his home under the protection of the Lord God of Israel, and no man might deliver him up. (Deu 23:15-16.)
Israel themselves had known the "the heart of a stranger" by bitter experience, and God declared Himself to them as One that "loveth the stranger in giving Him food and raiment." They are exhorted, "Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Deu 10:18-19.) Nay, they were taught still to account themselves as strangers, even in their land, and to prove to themselves that love of His to strangers of which He speaks: "The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is Mine: for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me." (Lev 25:23.)
This seems to be the key to the language in the psalm here: "I am a sojourner [or stranger] in the land." The Israelite, even if home-born, might still say that He was thus, in frailty and dependence, entertained by God. Still more would these Israelites, brought home at last from all their wanderings, realize this. If the land had been their own; they would have lost it; but God could not forfeit His right to it, nor to put into it whomsover He might see fit. And for these, coming back from their long alienation; as prodigals to learn afresh the ways of Him whose grace now welcomed them, effectual indeed would be the plea: "hide not Thy commandments from me." As guests of His they will find a portion worthy of Him, -their lodging, food, and raiment, as His grace will give it; and His commands as their sweet enfranchisement from the ways of sin.
2. Thus the eyes open to the reality of things. Evil and good are seen in the sharp antagonism which exists between them. And, the eye affecting the heart, the soul breaks with the longing it has after those judgments of God which penetrate to the heart of things and make clear the essential, necessary opposition. It is no mere cold, colorless discrimination that is reached by this passionate longing after His mind, nor does the fervor of this spirit exhaust itself by its intensity, but abides "at all times." God abides the same, and communion with Him; if real, forms His character within us. God is not coldly right: He is "a consuming fire." His patience is not slowness of heart, but the pleading (if we may say so) of His love with men until all hope is over. Then the "wrath of the Lamb" will manifest itself, not pitiless, but not restrained by pity. The Lamb will be still the Lamb, and thus will such wrath be terrible indeed.
He sees it already taking effect: "Thou hast rebuked the proud": the creature exalting itself above its place, -against Him who has ordained it its place; "they are cursed who go astray from Thy commandments."
And then; suffering from the opposition of a world which has turned its back on God, the speaker pleads: "Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept Thy testimonies."
"Testimonies" are to fact and truth: and God’s facts will assert themselves as that, and His truth will manifest itself at last, beyond all controversy. Then; at least, will reproach and contempt pass from those who have identified themselves with that which will be seen in its true character. And this may take place sooner than the inevitable time in which it surely shall. Meanwhile present reproach helps of itself to test and free from suspicion the soul that through it all makes the divine statutes its occupation and delight. And with this the section ends, -the expression of unfeigned joy and confidence in that which is realized to be true and the living word of unfailing wisdom: "Thy testimonies are my delight, -my counsellors."
Section 4. (Daleth.)
In creature feebleness.
We have, now another kind of realization -experience of a sorrowful kind, but most needful, that of the weakness of the creature, not in another but in one’s self. This is the necessary complement of the truth that all power is of God. Only that this is realized now, not merely as what is necessary to the creature, what would be as true of an angel as a man; but in the moral collapse of a fallen being. This is more before us in the first part here,which begins with the confession of a soul cleaving to the dust; while in the second confidence is expressed though in dependence, and a steadfast course is contemplated, spite of -rather because all rests so absolutely upon God.
1. The soul, though the dweller in a dust-formed tenement,cleaves to the dust only because fallen. Out of the consciousness of this, the psalmist cries for the power of God to energize it according to the gracious promises of the Word. He has bared before God his whole practical condition; and has the consciousness of being answered by Him. But He longs to know more His statutes, and the whole way in which His precepts lead. There He is satisfied that he will find the wondrous works of God for fruitful meditation: in truth what glories may be realized in the path ordained of God! If an Israelite could say so, how much more we! We dull the prospect by unbelief, and shut ourselves out of it by a path self-chosen, and shut ourselves in to the dull, common lives we live, alas, so much. This is because we will, not because God will have it. And yet this path with God is ordained for the abasement of all human pride, and the valley of humiliation lies in it. "My soul melteth for heaviness," he cries; but then there is pledged strength to meet him: "make me to arise, according to Thy word." Exercised by the sense of frailty, he seeks also to have removed from him the way of falsehood, and that God would graciously grant him (according to the character of the psalm throughout) His authoritative law.
2. For He can speak of having chosen the way of truth, of setting God’s judgments before him; and that not in momentary resolve, but cleaving to His testimonies: and thus can confidently plead not to be put to shame. In truth it is impossible to one who does this, that he ever should be. So the soul assures itself; gathers up its strength, and contemplates the way opening up before it; yet in perfect conviction at the same time of the feebleness of all human faculties in the realization of the divine: -of entire dependence therefore upon God in all things: "I will run the way of Thy commandments when Thou shalt enlarge my heart."
Section 5. (He.)
But with the God of might.
Accordingly the next section is in every verse a prayer. The soul is with God, where the language of faith, in a place of constant need, becomes naturally that of prayer. This is not strange to us in Christianity, nor unsuitable to its joyous spirit of praise. "Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks" (1Th 5:16-18) are precepts which the apostle puts in the closest possible conjunction.
1. For enlightenment and supporting power the psalmist cries therefore here to the One with whom he goes. He must be taught the way of His statutes. He looks for this as meaning to walk in it,and to walk in it without any mental reservation; which is, indeed, the utter contrary of obedience, and the leaven of unbelief which (wherever found) will leaven all the life. will keep it unto the end," says the psalmist; or "to the heel," -the lowest and least noticed part.
"Give me discernment," he says again in his earnestness, "and I shall keep Thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart": these two things, the "whole heart" and "unto the end," go naturally together. And again he affirms in the next verse: "therein is my delight." Thus slavery there is none: he who is constrained by his affections is the freest man possible; and so it is here.
But the power of the world is felt, and the feebleness to resist temptation. He who has judged the world in general knows but too well how specific forms of it nevertheless may appeal to us, in which the characters of the world have not been recognized, -and how much cleaves to us, to which we would not cleave. Here God’s "testimonies" have their place, as such: which bring in the revealing sunshine, never capable of gilding a thing that is evil. Yet he says, "Incline my heart," on the one side, and on the other "turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." He has his heart inclined, when he says, incline it. He is turning away his eyes when he prays to have it done. But so conscious is he of the infirmity that cleaves to him, and so desirous to be wholly right with God, that he can only find rest for his heart in this perfect Will and Wisdom to which he commits himself: "quicken me," he supplicates, "in Thy way."
The last three verses seem to depend upon the first two here; and the whole to express the need and craving of that light from the holy presence of God Himself which shall dispel all darkness and prevent the shadows of a dead world wrecked by sin from intruding on and deceiving the possessors of what is really life.
2. The second part is still an appeal, but in a different way: namely, that God would as a living God confirm His Word by His deed,and thus gloriously answer to the faith of His people. It is one of the glories of Scripture to touch in so many ways the whole state of things by which we are surrounded. Prophecy fulfilling shows it to be the voice of Him who is Lord of all circumstances and generations. Then history in it we find to be also prophecy, taking its place with other types and shadows of the future thus. Its moral judgments, too, appeal not merely to the conscience but also to the experience of all men and times. While again there are special promises which bring Him still nearer to the individual and into the most secluded lives. Naturally this comes into the experience of these psalms throughout; and here is the very place to find it spoken of, -in the fifth section of this great experimental psalm: here then we find it.
"Establish Thy saying to Thy servant" would thus be a prayer for the fulfillment of specific promise; where the state of the pleader may be brought forward as not (at least) barring the claim of faith. "Devoted" is perhaps too strong a word to insert, where the text has only the preposition;* but it needs only to be noted as inserted, to escape this difficulty.
{*Which belongeth unto Thy fear" (R.V.); "leadeth to thy fear," (Cheyne) give somewhat different renderings of another construction, where it is the promise (in its being fulfilled, of course) which leads to this. But Cheyne’s translation seems too free; that of the Revised Version too vague.}
The next verse, by the reason given; "for Thy judgments are good," would show that the reproach mentioned would have to do with some apparent nonfulfillment of these judgments in God’s governmental ways among men. And such reproaches are being often cast upon the Lord’s people: "Where is now their God?" (Psa 115:2.) But the heart of the psalmist realizes the goodness of these "judgments," -the decisions as to good and evil, which in the day of God’s long-suffering His dealings with men do not always seem to affirm. Under the Old Testament dispensation; this was necessarily a much greater enigma than since the cross; and it is the occasion of much of the misapprehension of the friends of Job. With the enemies of the believer it is always a favorite reproach against him.
But the third verse takes a ground which seems clearer and surer. How can God but answer the longing of a heart after His precepts, where the clog of earth is felt and pleaded against? And the appeal is more confident, proportionally, however lowly it may be in its very nature: "quicken me in Thy righteousness."
Section 6. (Vau.)
There are but two prayers in the sixth section; upon the answer to which all the rest of it hangs. The number (6) is that of overcoming; and this is clearly and prominently the thought in verses 42, 45, and 46.
We need not wonder that in a world whose course is contrary to God, overcoming should have a marked place in divine testimony. Christ Himself was the great Overcomer; and for all who have faith in Him; the "victory that overcometh the world" is in their "faith." (1Jn 5:4.) One of Israel’s tribes, that of Naphtali, as we have seen at length elsewhere (Jos 19:32-39, notes), speaks typically of this aspect of the Christian as an overcomer. The epistles to the seven churches in Asia speak loudly as in trumpet-calls to him as that, all through the present period.
1. The first part here grounds all its assurance upon Jehovah’s sufficiency; and this abides the same throughout all ages. Our claim upon it, through the work of Christ, has been indeed established, enlarged, and handed over to us in its completeness, since the Mediator of the New Covenant, by the blood of the Covenant, entered heaven itself and sat down there for us; but in all ages the assurance of the saint has been in the unchanging faithfulness of the Eternal God. For the psalmist it was the "saying of God," the "word of God," the "word of truth," upon which he rested; and for us today it is the same. For him also, that word revealed Jehovah’s "loving-kindness," and a pledged "salvation," for which he waited; and so do we wait today. But we have a salvation wrought out by Another for us, as to which we can say, in a sense no Israelite could, "He hath saved us": and with this the Person of the Redeemer has come into view, and God Himself been revealed to us in Him; as otherwise He never could be. The poverty of the Psalms in these respects, when they express, not what prophetically refers to Christ Himself, but the experiences and knowledge of an Israelite of that day, strikes one painfully indeed. We, in the midst of the full glory of divine revelation now, what instruments of praise should our hearts be! May our gracious God awaken their full music!
The soul of the psalmist leans upon the promise of God while it waits for a salvation which is yet future; and it gathers confidence from the Word in which it trusts, to answer the reproaches of the enemy. God’s word he realizes to be the "word of truth," and prays that it may not be taken utterly out of his mouth, weak as he may be in standing for it: for he waits in hope for His judgments to manifest themselves.
2. The consequences are developed in the second part, which result from the realized sufficiency of Jehovah and His word. And the first, for one upon whose heart the law is written; is the joy of continuous, uninterrupted obedience to it. "For ever and aye," he says with enthusiasm. Oh for our "easy yoke" to be accepted in like manner! For him it is easy: "I will walk at liberty," he says: it is freedom to walk in ways that approve themselves to the heart, -are the choice of it; and this is our blessedness, whose "rule" is not the law, but the "new creation in Christ Jesus," the perfect and heavenly walk of the "Second Man."
The opposition of the world is realized, but without alarm. He will speak of God’s testimonies before kings, and not be ashamed; and will delight himself in His commandments which he has loved. These things, I think, go together. The former is an exemplification of the latter: while the boldness of the confession of the truth maintains the joy of it also in the heart. So it ever is.
The last verse shows this delight more and more increasing, the hands (or palms) lifted up showing, as in prayer, the longing and fervor of the soul, as it implies also the realization of the depths and mysteries of that blessed Word, upon which it meditates therefore continually.
Section 7. (Zayin.)
Full rest of heart.
The division of the eight verses in each section hitherto has been into five and three, the order of which, however, may be reversed. This first five is in the present one again divided, so that the whole psalm presents a 2, 3, 3 structure.
It is not easy always to characterize a seventh division. "Completion," for which it stands, necessarily implies "rest," because the thing is ended: the only way in which such a thought can be applied to God. The last verse here unites clearly the thoughts of accomplishment and satisfaction: "This has been mine, that I have kept Thy precepts," reminds us of the apostle’s similar utterance,
"I have finished my course; I have kept the faith." There is but one prayer in the section; and that about a promise now to be fulfilled, for which he is looking, and has looked. All the rest is review of the past, and that in peace of heart. Thus the heading of the section is justified in itself, and justifies its numerical place.
1. The word has been to him a word of promise, -a comforting, energizing, vivifying word. How good is it to realize it in this character! What a fullness of promise to us is there, in fact, in the word of God; and how this testifies to us of the wondrous grace Of God that so displays itself! "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." "They that fear the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good." How more than sufficient -how divine are such assurances!
True, there is affliction in fact,and much of it. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." But these are either the necessary chastenings of love; because even the "righteous" are that so inconstantly; or else they are the results of what the world is in its opposition to God, and will be found to be gain in the day of account. All this will be seen then, and should be realized now, to require no abatement from the exact truth of the Word.
Nay, it is in the affliction that faith grows and is established, and its energizing character is found. The Word is living and life-giving; while it tests and searches us out, as with a divine search-warrant, clothed with an authority beyond any of earth, to which all earthly authority must give way. What a Word is this!
2. Yet the opposition to it is everywhere and none the less manifest. Wherever it goes it stirs up, just by its demand for righteousness and goodness, the innate resistance of the heart to good and God. So here the psalmist testifies to the derision of men that he had encountered. These were the proud, who would not suffer its rebuke. Their character revealed what was that of their opposition; and he had not declined from the law on account of it. He had read history to purpose, and remembered God’s judgments of old. It was the same God now; and so he comforted himself: while, as he reflected on this falling away of man from God, indignation ("burning heat") possessed him. Well it might, indeed: for what has man’s history been! Read it in the masses of heathenism today; and in the condition of the foremost of the so-called Christian populations.
3. He reverts to what the Word has done for him and is to him; and now he can give as to this a precious testimony. God’s statutes, against which men have been thus rebelling, why, they have made his life music. In the house of his sojournings, -in the place of frailty, mortality, and strangership, -they have brought out of it, not merely "songs," as in our common version; but "psalms"; -melody, and melody to God, and to which the whole creation is in profound subtle, harmonious accompaniment. How entrancing is a "Psalm of Life" so realized!
Then it will bear the soberest thought. "In the night," when earth lies in shadow, "visions of God" have been at all times most realized; then "I remembered Thy Name," he says, "and have kept Thy law."
So he finds what more and more those who have it prove to be a substantial possession: "this has been mine, that I have kept Thy precepts." By and by "the righteousnesses of the saints" will deck them even at the marriage of the Lamb; although those pure white robes will acquire their lustre only as "washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb." (Rev 7:14; Rev 19:8, Gk.)
Here, then; the first division of the psalm ends.
Division 2.
The Believer, in external relationships.
The second division, as has been already noticed, deals more with external surroundings, the circumstances and persons favorable or adverse. This, of course, will be seen, not in all the verses, but in special, leading, dominant ones, with which the others are connected, and around which they group themselves. The apparent independency of the verses has been remarked before also, and indeed by every one who has commented on them. Nor can one by any means always prove the connection to be such as is here represented. That which is most natural and most fruitful will necessarily most commend itself to us; but it is upon the numerical structure that we must principally depend for the discovery of this, as it will then also be large confirmation of it. The spiritual result will speak to the spiritual mind.
Section 1. (Cheth.)
Persistent purpose.
1. In the first section we have, naturally, the introduction to the whole. In the first part you see the man himself; in the second, his enemies and his associates. The thing emphasized as to man is what is needed to make him master of his circumstances, that persistent purpose of heart which delivers from the temptations which ensnare and carry away the unstable. Here he begins with reaffirming what he has said just before, that his portion, what he has for himself, in contrast with the name, power, or substance of which others might boast, is to be a keeper of Jehovah’s words. And this truly brings a great revenue. Here one finds that for which His word is pledged, a favor better than life, and every way worthy as an object of pursuit with the whole heart.
This had been to the psalmist also the fruit of his coming to himself. He had thought upon his own ways, a sad enough but profitable contemplation. Thus with clear understanding of what he was turning from, he turned, not his eyes merely, but his feet unto those divine "testimonies," which ever appear more self-evidencing as there is self-judgment as to the paths that lead away from them. So he came then to realize what is indeed reality.
2. He can now speak of having followed with prompt, unhesitating decision; the new path thus found. But here, too, is the opposition of the wicked, manifested in snares set to entangle his feet; spite of which he has gone on his way unhindered. And in the night his heart would run over with a praise which he had to rise up to express, on account of the righteousness of divine judgments, -the perfect moral way in which every question received its settlement through these.
With those that feared Jehovah he took his place. Oneness of mind drew these together, as it necessarily will do; and a man becomes known by the company he keeps. Associations are also a part of the ways by which we approve ourselves or not to God, and are insisted on, as we know, at the very threshold of the whole book. (Psa 1:1.) In close walking with those that fear the Lord, the experiences and joys of each become a common blessing of all. They are multiplied in being shared together.
And "the earth is full of Jehovah’s loving-kindness," who makes all things work together for good to His own. This looks on to what we find in the next section, -one of those connecting links which are so frequent in the Psalms. The joy of this loving-kindness realized in the soul becomes in it a fervent desire to be taught His statutes.
Section 2. (Teth.)
Things working together for good.
The working together of all things for good is the theme of the next section. Good and evil in this checkered scene are thus seen to be in harmony; and the work of the enemy is even made, spite of itself, to be a minister of the good. These are in fact the two divisions of this section.
1. The psalmist approves thoroughly, in looking back, Jehovah’s faithfulness in his case. He has been truly the covenant-God, and has dealt well, and only well, with His servant: according to His word so freely pledged to him. Faith responds fully to this on his part, owning the need of divine teaching, and which implies much more than the lesson-book, for scholars whose unaptness is so much a moral condition. The rod has been surely among the "all things" working good to all the people of God; and so he who speaks here has found it. "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I have kept Thy saying."
2. But this may have only to do with physical evil; the deeper question is the moral evil, and the second part of the section takes up this. In Eden man’s perfection was to abide in good where evil was not, and to be a stranger to this altogether. Now, on the contrary, it is in having the "senses exercised to discern between good and evil"; both being before him. (Heb 5:14.) The presence of evil around is therefore permitted with this end in view; and in ourselves we come into nearer contact with it,and learn to hate it with corresponding energy. In all this we find One over all who is good and does good; whose acts are truly accordant with His nature. Joy indeed is it, then; to be taught His statutes, which enlighten the conscience and preserve moral vision. In the darkness of the cave the organ of sight is well known to atrophy from mere disuse.
The psalmist is suffering from the slander of men; whose character is clearly to be seen as the proud: men that have a spirit of rebellion against restraint, literally, that boil up, like water. The mere subjection of the heart to God rouses the opposition of such, who traduce what they have no mind to imitate. In answer to which he affirms his whole-hearted observance of the precepts of Jehovah. But their heart is as fat as grease; the grossness of their nature hindering all right affections: "for me," he says, "I delight in Thy law."
And the very affliction through which he has passed has been serviceable to him in making him learn more deeply the character of those statutes, from the violation of which he has himself suffered. How certainly we learn in this way all must be aware. In result, the law of Jehovah’s mouth has acquired for him a value beyond that of earthly riches: it is his real possession.
Section 3. (Jod.)
Recognitions.
The theme of the third section of the second division much resembles that of the first, which we have considered. Yet there is a difference; and that according to the respective characters of the divisions themselves. It is for this reason that "recognitions" seems a more suited title here than "realizations." The soul is more upon the outlook. Circumstances and men are more before it: and these both for and against, -the brotherhood of faith upon the one hand, and the adversaries on the other. The first part, I take it, gives us certain foundations or broad facts which are clearly recognizable; the second, reckonings of faith which deal with the future rather than the present, and in which confidence takes the form of prayer.
1. The basis-fact here is that of a Creator-God, who cannot therefore but be for the work of His hands. His hands have made us, and not rudely; but fashioned us so as to be witnesses of His handiwork. He must design; then, to have His creature filling the place for which He made him; and will surely not deny the understanding necessary to this. This is an argument which the 139th psalm dwells upon at large, and which the New Testament for the Christian puts in the strongest possible way. Here we can speak of new creation, and of the word of God as that by which He has begotten us to Himself. No fear that He may deny it to us. To us it is as milk to a new-born babe -the one necessity of its nature.
Of new birth the Old Testament did not yet speak; but men had need of it none the less, and came thus into a communion which, though not yet marked off externally from the mass, was necessarily distinguished by the characteristics of the new spiritual life which had been received. And this is the second basis-fact here. As the first touched the centre of the circle, -ascertained the whence of relationship, though not with the clearness of present knowledge, so the second defines the circumference, the with whom, the family. And they recognize one another also, as belonging to a company known even then as a family of faith. So the psalmist says here: "they that fear Thee are glad when they see me," -there is a joyful glance of recognition. And here is the mark by which they recognize: "because I have waited in hope on Thy word."
But there is a third thing now; and this assures us of a Living Presence, not simply at the beginning or in the past, but abiding throughout human history, faithful to His own nature, which is holy, and to His people in His dealings with them. "I know, Jehovah, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." Thus, in these three things, God, His people, and the relationship between them, are all recognized; and His word is authoritative over them; their joyful confidence, and that to which His acts at all times are found correspondent.
2. The psalmist now pours out his heart to God, whom he knows, and who is so necessary to him. He prays that His loving-kindness may be his comfort, according to His promise to him. For God has pledged Himself to His people: it has not sufficed Him to say "Ye know me, and that I cannot err or do wrong; and let this be enough for you." We are too frail, too dim-sighted, too little able to anticipate His ways, for this to satisfy us, or to satisfy Him as to us. Divine love has therefore pledged itself to us, made its covenant with man; and swears, if His word is not enough: "that by two immutable things" -"His word and His oath" -"we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." (Heb 6:17-18.)
We may have "boldness," therefore, in coming to what is characterized for us as a "throne of grace" (Heb 4:16), to find help for all the way which is His way for us. For any other way we could neither expect nor rightly desire it. Thus the force of "according to Thy word unto Thy servant" here. For prayer is crippled, confidence as to it gone, if our wills are struggling in it against God’s will.
And this is the argument of the next verse also: "For Thy law is my delight." His tender mercies, therefore, can be freely shown; so necessary as they are for life itself in a woad of conflict, -so necessary for the invigoration of spiritual life. This brings him to the conflict: and he prays that the proud, the independent asserters of their own will, may be ashamed: their own will proving itself in his case to be mere perversity and falsehood; while for him the divine precepts were his meditation.
Thus would God’s holiness be manifested in the presence of those who feared Him, and who would have in him -in God’s ways with him -experimental proof of this, to which they might turn,with His testimonies in their hand thus fully corroborated. Nor can it be in haughtiness on his own side that he claims this. Nay, he has need of the mercy of God to be shown to himself also, that his heart may be made perfect in His statutes, that be himself may not be ashamed.
Section 4. (Caph.)
In trial from man.
The fourth section speaks of the trial from man, which had reached almost the extreme point. The first part, of his integrity under it; the second, of the persecution itself, on account of which’ the psalmist appeals to God. Throughout, His faithful word is that to which he cleaves and which is his support,while yet the hand of God has not interposed to put an end to the trial.
1. In the extreme of necessity, his soul fainting for the deliverance which can be from God alone, His word is that upon which in hope he waits. Plenty of comfort there, which yet necessitates a living God to make it good. For this it fearlessly pledges Him; but the pledge sometimes seems long in being redeemed. Hence the room for exercise, which after all is not against faith, -which supposes it, and in it finds its only means of existence: for faith has to do with that which is not seen.
The pressure has been great, however: he has been dried up, like a skin bottle in the smoke, while yet he has not by all this been made to forget Jehovah’s statutes.
2. But he feels the briefness of his days, and pleads for the judgment which is needed for the fulfillment to Israel of their earthly promises. When shall that time be? Here the prophecies of those times and seasons, which from us are hidden as to definite fulfillment (Act 1:7), in the present Christian gap of time, will open up to them abundant comfort (Dan 12:4; Dan 12:9). Meanwhile the pits of the proud yawn before them, unchecked by Jewish law. The psalmist thinks of those commandments which in their maintenance of righteousness necessarily imply a God who will be faithful to the righteous, so that he can plead them as if they were promises -"faithful commandments." And to these he, too, has striven to be faithful: he seeks therefore his sanctuary shelter from those that persecute him wrongfully. Almost consumed upon earth, he has not forsaken the divine precepts; for which yet he realizes his need of quickening, that he may keep the testimonies of His mouth.
Section 5. (Lamed.)
But with God who governs.
As generally in a fifth section, now, after the pressure of trial has been felt in its bitterness, the joyful sense of the supremacy of God rises in fresh power upon the soul. God rules, when winds and waves are at their worst; and His word, upon which alone we can rest amid the confusion; is that which is law everywhere, while by the sense of its glorious perfection it attaches the soul to Him with an indissoluble bond. These are the two parts that are found here.
1. In the heavens above His word stands firm for ever, as illustrated, no doubt, by the stars that roll in their circuits, the sun and the moon that keep their ordered path. The earth, too, is established, -in relation, I suppose, to the sea, in which the foundations of the dry land are, spite of the restless warfare of the sea upon them; fixed abidingly. There they all remain; servants of God in their several spheres, a permanent condition of things, amid all the apparent susceptibility to change, showing everywhere the impress of a governing hand.
In the soul God’s law likewise proves its sustaining power, acting in a very different way, yet so as to manifest the divine virtue that is in it. As law it brings in the assertion of sovereignty to which the conscience responds with its homage, and the heart with its delight. Thus then, spite of the felt disorder, God is; and the soul is cheered and energized, and that which has done this remains in its unique effect, impossible to be forgotten.
One lives by it to God.
2. This introduces the second part, the psalmist turning to Him who is thus made known with the declaration of his devotion and of his need. It is not merely a cry forced from him by outward distress: "I have sought," he says, "Thy precepts." And this, though the wicked had desired and plotted for his destruction; clearly for his adherence to them: "I attend unto Thy testimonies."
Then his whole heart opens out. He has looked out upon all human perfection and seen in every particular how limited it is. Easy enough to find everywhere an end in this way; but to the word of God, controlling him as his commandment, he has found none: "it is exceeding broad": like space itself it has no boundary-wall; but it has an infinite fullness, not an emptiness, -an infinite speech, and not a silence. It is the speech of God.
Section 6. (Mem.)
Overcoming in wisdom.
He proceeds to show how this word of God, itself so supreme, has lifted him up by its inherent power into a supreme place among men. It is divine knowledge that he gets by it, beyond the capacity of any man at his best. Nay, man’s wisdom is so opposed to God’s that the gaining of this knowledge is a true "overcoming," the sifting and analyzing and separation of true from false, always with a moral interest also, or, to say better, a spiritual. "Wisdom" has necessarily always this character in her, as the "fool" is he who "hath said in his heart, There is no God."
1. The psalmist begins by once more expressing his delight in the law: it gives him constant occupation: "all the day." Let us remember that it is one who can speak so, who can tell us of the wisdom it has communicated to him. We shall not, perhaps, get the same results without some similar devotion to it; and yet the estimate has no touch of exaggeration in it. If it be God’s word, what can all the wisdom outside it be, compared with that? In the perfect knowledge of our need, -with perfect love and perfect ability to meet it, -what must we say, even in anticipation of inquiry, such a book must be?
Yet, must we not fear that there are few who give it even now the day and night study which the psalmist gave to his so much smaller and poorer Bible?
Let us listen; then; to his account of the result, with the remembrance of the almost unspeakable difference in our minds. It is of the law in the main he speaks; and though we must not limit that, wherever we hear of it, just to the ten commandments, or even to the Mosaic institutions as a whole, yet it is plain that it is in fact largely of this that he is thinking here. "Law," "commandments," "keeping" God’s "precepts," "refraining the feet," show this quite clearly; and it is spiritual ethics with which he is, at least, very largely concerned. To make this evangelical, we have only to remember that the Mosaic law had very definite teaching as to what sin was before God, and of the impossibility of a sinner approaching Him without the blood of atonement. This, too, was ethics, if it was much more. It was this in the highest sense; and there would be none, except it were an ethics of despair, without it. But an ethics of despair is really none.
Enemies the psalmist has, and that on account of the law of his God; but this makes him wiser than all of them. Necessarily; if "iniquity" is, as Scripture calls it, "vanity," and ignorance of God is "folly," and the government of the world is one that makes for righteousness. Thus the enemies of the righteous can neither understand God, nor the world, nor the men they have to deal with; and even the hearts of their fellows, and their own hearts, are most unreliable quantities: "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know" them?
But more than this: the testimonies of God being his meditation; he is wiser than all his teachers. And notable it is how rapidly the mind awakens and is strengthened and enlarged under the influence of Scripture. The countries in possession of an "open Bible" may be traced by the comparative intellectual gain in other directions, as is well known; and yet even this does not give a just idea of the Bible in its power as the true educator of the human race. For, alas, where the heart is not possessed by it for God, men refuse submission to the light itself, and thus in the places of greatest enlightenment there is yet an undercurrent at least of opposition to it. Nay, more, among those who are genuinely converted by it, how few receive the word of God in the whole-hearted manner of the psalmist here! It is not too much to say that for most Christians even; the blank pages of their Bibles are more numerous than the full ones; the sun is half darkened by the spots upon it.
Received fully, whole-heartedly, unreservedly, -allowed to do all the work of which it is capable, -mind, heart, conscience alike submitted to its restorative, invigorating,divinely quickening influence, what equal development would there not be of every human faculty! what light shed upon Nature, history, every question of right interest possible to man! Take all the men of special gift, the aptest to receive, the most fitted to communicate knowledge, yet uncontrolled by Scripture in what they affirm, -after all, the poor man uneducated otherwise, cleaving only to the Word, may truly and unaffectedly say with the psalmist, "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy testimonies are my meditation."
So with the "elders," the men of long experience: clearly this is all too limited, in duration; in sphere of application; in inherent capacity, to be put for a moment in comparison with the knowledge derivable from the word of God. But notice all through, how there is insisted on the practical nature of its requirements as to the condition of all such knowledge being imparted: "I discern more than the elders, because I keep Thy precepts."
And he closes all this with "I have refrained my feet from every evil way: that I may keep Thy word."
2. And now we see the character of this "overcoming" from another side: the attractive and separative power of the Word, moving the affections as well as regulating the walk. One of the first necessities for which is the assurance of that direct contact in the Word between God and the soul which the next verse expresses: "I have not departed from Thy judgments: for Thou hast taught me." Here is the simple "book," become the divine "oracle": God has indeed spoken in it; what an inexpressible joy to have heard the voice of God! God speaking! and to me! How the heart is moved by it! "How sweet are Thy sayings to my taste! sweeter than honey to my mouth!" And this attraction is necessary repulsion from the opposite pole: "through Thy precepts I get discernment: therefore I hate every false way." All this is so simple as to require no comment.
Section 7. (Nun.)
Complete obedience in view of all circumstances.
The seventh section carries this out to full obedience in spirit, though with the consciousness of much infirmity and constant need of God. It seems to divide, exactly as the seventh of the first division, into 2,3,3; the ordinary five verses of the larger part being again divided, precisely as there.
1. We have first the steadfast purpose of heart which underlies all true obedience. And this is based upon the consciousness of what the Word is, -a light shining amid the darkness of the world, and which reveals the footpath, sure if narrow, through it. The path is not dark, if the world is; and the wayfarer resolvedly undertakes it: he will keep the judgments of righteousness, the decisions of God as to good and evil which largely (but not wholly) define his way.
2. The opposition of man brings him into continual peril: affliction which has but too much power over him. He realizes and pleads his need of divine energy, which has been pledged to him, indeed, so that he can reckon upon it. Thus he can bring the free-will offerings of his mouth, the recognition of help given; and still pray to be taught Jehovah’s judgments. And through the peril he passes, not distracted into forgetfulness of that which abides in its supremacy over him; the law of his God.
3. He advances further, to speak of more positive attainment. The snare of the wicked had not made him swerve from the path of divine precept. Yea,his whole portion; his chosen inheritance was the testimonies of God. They were the rejoicing of his heart, which he had inclined to perform them for ever, -"to the end," or thoroughly, without reserve.
Division 3.
In contemplation of divine holiness.
The third division seems to emphasize the holiness of God. The enemies are looked at more as the enemies of God than personally such, and the exercises have correspondingly their character less with regard to external trouble: in this respect the third division returns toward the first.
Section 1. (Samech.)
The rebellious.
In the first section; accordingly, the rebellious are looked at in their character and conduct, as abhorrent to God and man. The righteous turn from them; and God puts them away in judgment from the earth; and this is, roughly, the two parts of the psalm.
1. "I hate the double-minded," begins the psalmist; "and I love Thy law." His own integrity of heart cannot abide the wavering of those who at one moment are for Jehovah, at another for Baal; who have therefore no true conviction, but in the conflict of opinion follow only their own wills. For himself his heart is in the path of obedience; and more, he has the experience of what it is to have Jehovah his hiding-place and shield, -a living God making Himself known in the day of trial, so that His word becomes his confidence. From evil-doers his path necessarily separates; for he is set to keep the commandments of his God.
2. He turns to Him in the consciousness of dependence,with the word pledged to him; which makes him hope in it, and beseeching Him that it may not leave him to be ashamed. Confident he is that he is secure who is upheld by God; and this safety he would use to run unhindered continually in the path of His will.
From his shelter he looks out to see the judgment fall upon all that go astray from the path: for their laxity -"letting fall," like the string of a deceitful bow -is falsehood: not failure where the heart may yet be right. Thus God treats them; not as silver which may yet have to be purified from dross, but as dross itself and nothing else. The psalmist sees and approves this judgment, and so clings the more to those testimonies which deliver from the way of destruction; while his flesh trembles with awe at the holiness of God, and he is afraid as he realizes His righteous judgments.
Section 2. (Ayin.)
Deliverance sought from them.
1. Yet he is in fact still among the enemies of God’s way, and who are therefore necessarily also the enemies of His people; and he seeks deliverance from these on the ground of that very righteousness. He has himself followed it; and he prays therefore not to be left in the hand of his oppressors. May He, the righteous One, be as that, surety for good to one who is His servant, and not permit the oppression of the proud, who because of pride refuse the servant’s place. God’s pledged word he has, but His salvation lingers, and in distress his eyes fail for longing for it.
2. He pleads the servant’s place that he has taken, that he may be dealt with in divine love, and taught His statutes. For he is His servant, and as such needs and may urge that he needs, discernment to know the testimonies that he has to maintain amid a state of daring rebellion which speaks for the time being come for Jehovah’s own intervention. But this disorder only makes him realize the more the value of those commandments which are more to him than the wealth of much and purest gold. For here all is pure, -every precept,whatever it concerns; and every false way is exposed to reprobation.
Section 3. (Pe.)
Sanctuary-revelations.
In the third section the psalmist turns to speak more of the joy in Jehovah’s testimonies that he has found, of the revelation that they have been to him. All his heart is awake with longing after God Himself, to whom His word brings, as its power is known; and thus this is a true sanctuary portion; although it be more longed for than enjoyed. Yet the door is opening, has partially opened, and the inner light is already breaking out.
1. Wonderful are the testimonies of God, which by their glorious character win the soul to their obedience. Light breaks out as the Word is opened up; and even the simple acquire by it the faculty of discernment. The heart is drawn out in longings which are not lawless, but the very contrary: "I longed for Thy commandments."
Thus the Word as an educator makes no monsters. It does not develop the intellect, while leaving the heart and conscience unaffected; but the whole man grows in beautiful correspondence of all parts to one another.
2. The soul thus wrought upon becomes a seeker after God, in the apprehension of constant grace which is shown to all who love His name, -that is, the manifestation of Himself; for that is what His name is. Such an one realizes what the liberty is of walking in God’s ways, and the miserable bondage which results from any iniquity having dominion over one. From man; too, he seeks to be free, in order to keep the divine precepts. Above all, to walk in the sunshine of God’s face, as one brought near, and there to be taught His statutes. There it is that the awful horror of sin is felt, with the longing after men who know not its deformity: "Mine eyes run down with streams of water, because they keep not Thy law."
Section 4. (Tsaddi.)
The trial from defection.
The last verse contains in it, as not uncommonly, the theme very much of the following section. In it we have the trial of spirit from the defection around, along with that abiding sense of preciousness of the Word itself, which is what makes the defection so full of anguish.
1. Jehovah’s word is what Jehovah is: if He is righteous, so are His judgments. And so too are His testimonies, of whatever nature: He cannot be aught but a faithful witness, in whatever it has pleased Him to give any testimony.
Here, as he thinks of it, the psalmist’s zeal breaks out: it consumes him as the altar-flame the sacrifice; as with Christ in the temple, where He flames out in a testimony against the evil, which puts Him in opposition to the heads of the people, identified with the wickedness that was then in power. It is not with the psalmist that men are his adversaries merely, but "because mine adversaries have forgotten Thy words."
That leads him back to think of the Word, how pure it is, and how he loves it. Little he is, it is true -he who has this spirit is ever little -and despised, for so has the mass got away from God that they can afford to despise such feeble opposition: yet he clings with all this to that which links his feebleness with the Lord of all: "I have not forgotten Thy precepts."
2. And faith affirms, amid the confusion in which all might seem buried, Jehovah’s righteousness to be eternal righteousness, and His law truth which must always then abide truth. Trouble and anguish possess him, as he thinks of the madness of the adversaries; but this does not bring even the shadow of a summer cloud over those commandments which are his delight. Again he affirms: "the righteousness of Thy testimonies is eternal"; and he only needs himself to be sustained of God in ability to discern their blessedness, the bringing into that life which is alone true life: "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God shall men live."
Section 5. (Koph.)
Exercises.
The next section is more difficult to characterize; but as a fifth it seems to speak of exercise: not, in the first part at least, so much from the difficulties and trials of the way, as over the word of God itself. that healthful exercise which would that we all knew more of. In the second part the enmity of the wicked is spoken of, though briefly; and the soul comforts itself in Jehovah being near.
1. The psalmist calls with his whole heart upon Jehovah, earnestly professing his purpose of obedience. Where this is found, it naturally and necessarily leads to exercise over the Word: it is the foundation of it. The path is not so simple that we can find it without God; nor is it meant to be; but then we find Him our companion in it. The suppliant needs salvation also: he does not say from what; indeed, from how many things, the hindrances which so constantly present themselves to obedience, but which are helps to faith as everything is that casts us upon God. The Word with all this gets a large place with him, just as surely as God gets His. He is up before the dawn; crying out to God, yet with hopeful expectancy which the Word had wrought in him. Nay, before the night-watches he is awake, meditating on God’s sayings, testing his knowledge; finding continually indeed the drag of nature on him, for which he has to betake himself to Jehovah’s loving-kindness for quickening energy, to discern what is of Him; according to His unfailing judgment.
2. He is not allowed to do this undisturbed. The wicked are near, and threatening mischief; enemies in heart and will to that which occupies him. But Jehovah too is near, the Rock upon which all these waves break in vain. The truth abides: nothing can alter that; and this His commandments are. Yea, His testimonies have of old been known as for ever fixed upon His own immutable foundations.
Section 6. (Resh.)
Overcoming in judgment.
The sixth section has as its keynote the prayer of the second verse, "Plead my cause," -in order to which the psalmist spreads it before God. The wicked cannot hope for deliverance; but he doubts not to stand in the judgment he invites, which, of course, is not at all as to any absolute righteousness, but only as to integrity of heart amid much weakness and many adversaries.
1. The affliction that he is in makes him seek for deliverance, and thus -because the wicked cannot hope for it -appeal for the taking up of his cause; yea, that Jehovah, who fully knows, would Himself plead it. He has not forgotten. Jehovah’s law, though he owns at the outset the need that he has of the impartation of living energy from Him; who has pledged Himself to him for such need. Utter weakness then on his part is recognized: he needs not to hide it: but he is not among the wicked who seek not the divine statutes.
2. He casts himself, therefore, afresh upon Jehovah’s tender mercies for this living power, for a life according to the judgments of His truth and holiness. His adversaries are many, but they have not perverted him from the path of His testimonies, from the recognition of things according to His declaration of them. Nay, he had beheld with grief the faithlessness of those who kept not these sayings. And he invites Jehovah Himself to behold how he loves His precepts, whatever the backwardness of nature for which, the third time, he beseeches that he may know His quickening power. But as to the ways of God, these his whole heart embraces. The whole of His word is truth, and every one of His righteous judgments -judgments which have their foundation in His own nature -abide as He Himself.
Section 7. (Schin.)
Perfection of the Word.
The seventh section naturally gives us now the perfection of that which has been the psalmist’s theme all through, the word of God. The first and larger part views it in its peerless supremacy in whatever way it is contemplated. The second sets the seal to it of heartfelt subjection. The affirmation is of little value which lacks this element of true witness.
1. He has realized the opposition to God’s word in the high places of the earth. Princes had persecuted him without cause beside, but his heart stands in awe of that in which God Himself has spoken to his conscience. His heart also has responded to it, so that it has become to him like the rich and varied booty of the soldier. But more, his moral estimate of it is similar: it is the holiness of truth that attracts him in it, as he hates the falsehood which it also hates. Constantly through the day does it lift up his heart in praise, because of the judgments which he realizes to be those of divine righteousness, and which he finds in the government of God illustrated and enforced. For "great peace have they who love thy law," and their path is free from the stumbling-blocks over which others fall.
2. This word has been wrought into his practical life. The salvation which it assures of he has waited for in hope; its commandments he has obeyed; loving exceedingly the testimonies that it gives; keeping its precepts as being manifested in all things to Him before whom he walked. Unspeakable blessedness to walk thus in the Eternal Light of that glorious Presence before we enter the joy of the presence-chamber itself.
Division 4. (Tau.)
Jacob in his trouble.
The twenty-one sections of the psalm fall then; plainly, into three equal and parallel series of seven sections each, which together would seem to complete the subject naturally, and leave room for nothing more. But in fact we find another section; which, of course, is necessary also for the completion of the alphabetic arrangement. What, then; is its place, in connection with what has gone before? Is it an eighth section of the third division? or is it by itself a fourth division of the psalms? There can be no doubt, when we have examined it, that it is a fourth division.
Its structure is clearly different from that of any of the former sections. Each of these we have found to divide into 3+5 or 5+3; or else, as in the seventh of both the first and second divisions, the first five verses are again divided into 2 3. Here, on the other hand, the eight verses can only divide as 4+4; the last part being evidently a fourfold prayer, or plea for salvation. The last verse of the whole in no wise suggests an eighth section. It is, as a whole, a descent from and not a continuation of the last one. The number 4 seems suited to and stamped on it throughout; even the acrostic letter here, the Tau, standing for 400 in the Hebrew notation. The drop in the character of what we find here is thus accounted for.
Looking more closely into it, it is evident that, as a fourfold plea for salvation it occupies the latter half: the former one is, in fact, a promise or vow to the Lord in the event of deliverance. And as this cannot be the King (as in the sixty-first psalm) whose vows are before us,we naturally think of Israel. Looked at in this way, the meaning of the whole comes clearly into view.
This final section is in reality an appendix to the psalm; in which we have indicated the reference of it to Israel in the tribulation of the latter days predicted as to them. This is, as we know, their spiritual birthtime as a nation; when they come into the new covenant. There is no difficulty, therefore. in the application; and this section is practically. whatever else, an inspired note as to the "times and seasons" to which the psalm relates.
1. The first part is, as already intimated, Israel’s vow in their distress, -a vow, not like that of the old covenant, made in self-righteousness at Sinai, the covenant so quickly broken, though the patience of God might long endure with them. Here all is based upon what God is looked to to work for them and in them, so that they may step into their predestined place, and be the witnesses of His grace and salvation to the ends of the earth. They promise no legal obedience, but only to declare this; which prophecy has of old assured us that they will do. All this, therefore, is quite accordant with a new covenant blessing.
Their cry goes up to Jehovah for light to break out from His word for them: no true knowledge could there be but through the Word, by which they are quickened also that they may have it. They plead the promise also of deliverance; and when delivered and taught His statutes, their lips shall pour forth praise. So, indeed, they shall. The last verse here implies, I think, their testimony to the nations, and that is what its numerical place points out. Their tongue shall speak aloud of God’s saying, and the world shall hear it.
2. The second part gives their plea for God’s salvation. This is, first, that they have chosen Jehovah’s precepts: a plea already allowed in Deu 30:1-3. The second is their longing for His salvation. They are not ignorant of their need, and they seek no more to other saviours. The third is the praise that shall result: and God acts for the glory of His own great Name: being in this most gracious. That Jehovah would dwell among the praises of His people was a joy in the heart of the dying Saviour, and what that precious death was designed to accomplish (Psa 22:3, notes). Lastly, they put before God the misery which wrought in the heart of the Good Shepherd, according to His own appealing picture (Luk 15:1-32): gone astray like a lost sheep, they ask Him the Shepherd to seek them out, already touched by the grace which has wrought in them to put into their hearts that desire for His commandments in which they come back to their first plea in which the promise in Deuteronomy applies plainly to them.
Here their plea ends; and in the "songs of degrees" which directly follow,we shall find the divine answer to it.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow1909 · Public DomainOn v1The longest Ps. and the best example of an…
The longest Ps. and the best example of an alphabetical Ps. There are in it twenty-two stanzas; each of the 8 vv. of each stanza commences with the same Hebrew letter. The subject is practically the same throughout, viz. the great help and guidance and comfort to be derived from studying continually the Law of the Lord. Much ingenuity is displayed in expressing the same thoughts under various forms.
Note in this connexion the following variety of terms—Law, or instruction (torali) Testimonies, or affirmations of God's will; Judgments, or judicial pronouncements as to the Law; Statutes (lit. 'inscriptions'), or published enactments; Commandments, Precepts, or injunctions.
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It is difficult to locate the Ps. in time or circumstances. Such devoted meditation on the Law is a feature of later Judaism which arose chiefly after the exile. This is also true of the mechanical arrangement of the Ps. If the writer records his own experiences they must have been very trying—trouble, sorrow, the hostility of powerful foes, and even captivity. But some scholars believe that the writer sometimes records his own experiences, sometimes the experiences of the pious remnant of Israel.
19. Stranger] or, 'sojourner,' passenger, with but a short time to learn God's will.
21. The proud] perhaps Jews who had been influenced by foreign culture.
25. Quicken] i.e. revive.
29. Way of lying] i.e. faithlessness to God's law.
39. My reproach which I fear] viz. of sinning against God.
43. He prays never to be deprived of the power of testifying to God's trathfulness.
46, Before kings] i.e. in exile.
54. 'Melodies have thy statutes been to me in the house of my sojourning,' i.e. in this brief life: cp. Psa_39:12.
56. 'This (comfort) I have that I have kept thy law.'
70. Fat as grease] dull, gross: cp. Job_15:26-27; Isa_6:10.
83. Bottle] RM 'wine skin.' Bottles were made of the untanned hide of an animal. In the smoke they would be dried up, shrivelled and useless. Such Israel seemed to be in captivity.
84. How many, etc.] i.e. my days are few.
91. They] i.e. the heavens and the earth.
96. The most perfect earthly things are finite and limited; but God's law is for all needs and for all time.
109. My soul, etc.] i.e. my life is ever in jeopardy.
118. Their deceit is falsehood] better, 'their self-deception is a lie.'
123. Fail for] fail through longing for.
130. The entrance] RV 'the opening,' i.e. the unfolding.
132. Usest to do] i.e. art wont to do.
140. Very pure] i.e. true metal: cp. Psa_18:30.
147. I prevented, etc.] i.e. Before daybreak I cried.
148. 'Mine eyes forestall the night-watches,' i.e. when each watch comes I am already awake.
161. Princes] probably it was Israel, i.e. the Jewish nation, that was so persecuted.
164. Seven times] i.e. very often.
165. Nothing shall offend them] RV 'they have none occasion of stumbling.'
176. Like a lost sheep] probably refers to the Jews scattered in exile. The last clause of the v. precludes the idea of straying into sin.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein1922 · Public DomainOn v1Psalm 119
Psalm 119
The Law Written on Their Hearts and the Praise of the Word
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This is the longest and most perfect Psalm in the whole collection. It is an alphabetical acrostic. It is composed of 22 sections, each having eight verses, 176 verses in all. Each section begins with a different letter of the alphabet and each verse of the different sections begins also with the corresponding letter of the section. Eight times each letter of the alphabet is mentioned in the 22 sections. The number eight in the Word has the meaning of resurrection, death is gone and life has come. Israel has passed from death to life and now extols the Word and the Law of God. The time has come when it is fulfilled what the Lord spoke through Jeremiah concerning the new covenant, “I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts.” We behold then in this Psalm the joy of Israel in knowing the Word, in praising the Word and being obedient to the Word. In each verse except Psa 119:90 and Psa 119:122 the Word is mentioned and the following terms are employed: Law, commandment, word, saying, path, way, testimonies, judgments, precepts and statutes.
We give the twenty-two sections under the different Hebrew letters with a brief succession as to their contents:
Aleph: 1-8. The blessedness of those who obey His Word.
Beth: 9-16. Cleansing by the Word.
Gimmel: 17-24. The quickening by the Word.
Daleth: 25-32. The uplift of the Word.
He: 33-40. The power of the Word.
Vav: 41-48. Victory through the Word.
Zayin: 49-56. Comfort through the Word.
Cheth: 57-64. Preservation through the Word.
Teth: 65-72. The pricelessness of the Word.
Jod: 73-80. Testimony through the Word.
Caph: 81-88. Affliction and the Word.
Lamed: 89-96. The Word eternal.
Mem: 97-104. Wisdom through the Word.
Nun: 105-112. The Word the lamp and the light for all occasions.
Samech: 113-120. The wicked and the Word.
Ain: 121-128. Separation and deliverance through the Word.
Pe: 129-136. Communion through the Word.
Tsaddi: 137-144. Zeal for the Word.
Koph: 145-152. Experience through the Word.
Resh: 153-160. Salvation through the Word.
Schin: 161-168. The perfection of the Word.
Tav: 169-176. Prayer and praise through the Word.
The whole Psalm is a marvellous evidence of verbal inspiration. But what will it be when the Word will thus be exalted and lifted to its proper place of supremacy through righteous Israel!
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v1The Christian’s Golden ABC of the Praise, Power, and…
The Christian’s Golden ABC of the Praise, Power, and Value of God’s Word.
This beautiful psalm, whose writer is not known, is divided into twenty-two sections of eight verses each. All the verses in the same paragraph open with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet, all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew language thus being used. The outstanding characteristic of this wonderful psalm is the fact that in all but two verses (122 and 132) the Word of God is designated by some expression, such as commandments, judgments, statutes, precepts, testimonies, law, and others, all these terms being used here as synonyms, a fact which makes the psalm of direct value to all believers of all times, a manual of pious thought, especially for all teachers of the Word.
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Aleph. Of the Believer’s Conduct in Accordance with God’s Word. —
v. 1. Blessed are the undefiled, the blessed, sincere, irreproachable, in the way, in their entire conduct of life, who walk in the Law of the Lord, being guided by His Word in their entire life.
v. 2. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, the Word in which He testifies of Himself, for the truth and against sin, and that seek Him with the whole heart, desiring to have such a perfect knowledge of Him and His holy will that they will readily conform to it in all their actions.
v. 3. They also do no iniquity, no deliberate wickedness; they walk in His ways, arrange their entire life in agreement with the manner prescribed in His Word.
v. 4. Thou hast commanded us to keep Thy precepts, the directions which relate to the conduct of men in every circumstance of life, diligently, to observe them most carefully.
v. 5. O that my ways, the behavior of the believer in every condition in which he finds himself, were directed to keep Thy statutes, the express laws relating to the various relations in life!
v. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed, be brought to shame, heaped with disgrace, when I have respect unto all Thy commandments, those enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, to guard against both sins of commission and of omission.
v. 7. I will praise Thee with uprightness of heart, without a trace of hypocrisy, when I shall have learned Thy righteous judgments, the decisions based upon God’s justice, of approval as well as of condemnation.
v. 8. I will keep Thy statutes, the commands of God’s Word which are of permanent value for all men. O forsake me not utterly, for he who is forsaken of God is condemned to a life of unhappiness and to an eternity of woe. The prayer for faithfulness in making one’s conduct agree with the Word of God must ever be in the mouth of every Christian.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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ALEPH
This is the name of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Blessed are those
"How good it is for those"
those whose ways are blameless
How a person behaves is spoken of as "ways" or "paths." AT: "those whose behavior is blameless" or "those whom no one can blame for doing wrong" (See: Metaphor)
who walk in the law of Yahweh
The way a person lives or behaves is spoken of as walking. AT: "who live according to the law of Yahweh" or "who obey the law of Yahweh." This phrase clarifies the meaning of "whose ways are blameless" (See: Metaphor)
who seek him with all their heart
To "seek" God means to want to know him.
with all their heart
This is an idiom which means intensely or sincerely. AT: "with all their being" or "with everything in them" or "sincerely" (See: Idiom)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1, 4Ps 119 This psalm combines elements of wisdom, lament,…
Ps 119 This psalm combines elements of wisdom, lament, praise, thanksgiving, and confession. Eight Hebrew words are used frequently, translated as “instructions,” “laws,” “words,” “regulations,” “statutes,” “commands,” “decrees,” “commandments,” and “promises.” Together, these words encourage love for and obedience to God’s instructions, as found in the Scriptures (see 2 Tim 3:14-17). The expression of deep commitment to these instructions unifies the psalm.
119:1-8 Aleph (א): God, the author of these instructions, commands that his followers live by them. The psalmist prays to be given the grace to live by that revelation.
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119:1-4 The wise are happy. They are people of integrity (see 84:11) who follow the path of divine instruction. They obey God’s revelation and search for it with all their hearts (see 27:7; 119:10, 45, 94, 155), and they reject all forms of evil. Cp. 1:1-2.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 8 1 Blessed are they who are upright In these…
1 Blessed are they who are upright In these words the prophet sets forth the same paradox which we met with at the commencement of the Book of Psalms. All men naturally aspire after happiness, but instead of searching for it in the right path, they designedly prefer wandering up and down through endless by-paths, to their ruin and destruction. The Holy Spirit deservedly condemns this apathy and blindness. And but for man’s cupidity, which, with brutish impetuosity, hurries him in the opposite direction, the meaning of the words would appear quite plain to him. And the further a man wanders from God, the happier does he imagine himself to be; and hence all treat, as a fable, what the Holy Spirit declares about true piety and the service of God. This is a doctrine which scarcely one among a hundred receives.
The term way, is here put for the manner, or course and way of life: and hence he calls those upright in their way, whose sincere and uniform desire it is to practice righteousness, and to devote their life to this purpose. In the next clause of the verse, he specifics more clearly, that a godly and righteous life consists in walking in the law of God If a person follow his own humor and caprice, he is certain to go astray; and even should he enjoy the applause of the whole world, he will only weary himself with very vanity. But it may be asked, whether the prophet excludes from the hope of happiness all who do not worship God perfectly? Were this his meaning, it would follow that none except angels alone would be happy, seeing that the perfect observance of the law is to be found in no part, of the earth. The answer is easy: When uprightness is demanded of the children of God, they do not lose the gracious remission of their sins, in which their salvation alone consists. While, then, the servants of God are happy, they still need to take refuge in his mercy, because their uprightness is not complete. In this manner are they who faithfully observe the law of God said to be truly happy; and thus is fulfilled that which is declared in Psalm 32:2, “Blessed are they to whom God imputeth not sins.” In the second verse, the same doctrine is confirmed more fully, by pronouncing blessed, not. such as are wise in their own conceit, or assume a sort of fantastical holiness, but those who dedicate themselves to the covenant of God, and yield obedience to the dictates of hits law. Farther, by these words, he tells us that God is by no means satisfied with mere external service, for he demands the sincere and honest affection of the heart. And assuredly, if God be the sole judge and disposer of our life:, the truth must occupy the principal place in our heart, because it is not sufficient to have our hands and feet only enlisted in his service.
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 On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 8 Here they are not called blessed, which think themselves…
Here they are not called blessed, which think themselves wise in their own judgment, nor which imagine to themselves a certain holiness, but they whose conversation is without hypocrisy.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–8 Psa 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed [are] the undefiled in the…
Psa 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed [are] the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Ver. 1. Blessed are the undefiled] Pindar and other poets had their Ogdoades or Oetonaries. This alphabetical poem (as Sixtus Senensis calleth it) is David’s, doubtless (though it hath no title to show so much), written in the days of his banishment under Saul; and far more worthy to be written in letters of gold than Pindar’s seventh ode, which that profane fellow Politian preferred before any psalm of David, the sweet singer of Israel. How much better his countryman Jacobus Furnius, who translated this psalm into Greek and Latin verses, in so many Octounties; and beginning each verse thereof with the same letter, after the manner of the Hebrew composure; which is very artificial, both for the excellence of the matter and for the help of memory. The Jews are said to teach it to their little ones being the first thing they learn; wherein they take a very right course, both in regard to the heavenly matter, and plain style fitted for all capacities. David (in his troubles especially) was a man much in meditation of God’s word, and here he giveth us in his thoughts of it. When a book is set forth, verses of commendation are oft prefixed. David seemeth to set this Divine psalm as a poem of commendation before the Book of God; mentioning it in every verse (unless it be one only, Psa 119:122), under the name of testimonies, laws, statutes, word, judgments, precepts, &c.
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Who walk in the law of the Lord] Who walk towards heaven in heaven’s way; avoiding the corruptions that are in the world through lust, 2Pe 1:4.
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 On vv1–8 The undefiled; or, the perfect or sincere, as this…
ALEPH
The undefiled; or, the perfect or sincere, as this word properly and most frequently signifies; such whose hearts and course of life agree with their profession.
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In the way; either,
1. In their way or course of life, which in Scripture is oft called a man’s way; or,
2. In the way of the Lord, as it seems to be explained by the next clause.
Who walk in the law of the Lord; who order their lives according to the rule of God’s law or word.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 7 The psalmist here shows that godly people are happy…
The psalmist here shows that godly people are happy people; they are, and shall be, blessed indeed. Felicity is the thing we all pretend to aim at and pursue. He does not say here wherein it consists; it is enough for us to know what we must do and be that we may attain to it, and that we are here told. All men would be happy, but few take the right way; God has here laid before us the right way, which we may be sure will end in happiness, though it be strait and narrow. Blessednesses are to the righteous; all manner of blessedness. Now observe the characters of the happy people. Those are happy, 1. Who make the will of God the rule of all their actions, and govern themselves, in their whole conversation, by that rule: They walk in the law of the Lord, Psa 119:1. God's word is a law to them, not only in this or that instance, but in the whole course of their conversation; they walk within the hedges of that law, which they dare not break through by doing any thing it forbids; and they walk in the paths of that law, which they will not trifle in, but press forward in them towards the mark, taking every step by rule and never walking at all adventures. This is walking in God's ways (Psa 119:3), the ways which he has marked out to us and has appointed us to walk in. It will not serve us to make religion the subject of our discourse, but we must make it the rule of our walk; we must walk in his ways, not in the way of the world, or of our own hearts, Job 23:10, Job 23:11; Job 31:7. 2. Who are upright and honest in their religion - undefiled in the way, not only who keep themselves pure from the pollutions of actual sin, unspotted from the world, but who are habitually sincere in their intentions, in whose spirit there is no guile, who are really as good as they seem to be and row the same way as they look. 3. Who are true to the trust reposed in them as God's professing people. It was the honour of the Jews that to them were committed the oracles of God; and blessed are those who preserve pure and entire that sacred deposit, who keep his testimonies as a treasure of inestimable value, keep them as the apple of their eye, so keep them as to carry the comfort of them themselves to another world and leave the knowledge and profession of them to those who shall come after them in this world. Those who would walk in the law of the Lord must keep his testimonies, that is, his truths. Those will not long make conscience of good practices who do not adhere to good principles. Or his testimonies may denote his covenant; the ark of the covenant is called the ark of the testimony. Those do not keep covenant with God who do not keep the commandments of God. 4. Who have a single eye to God as their chief good and highest end in all they do in religion (Psa 119:2): They seek him with their whole heart. They do not seek themselves and their own things, but God only; this is that which they aim at, that God may be glorified in their obedience and that they may be happy in God's acceptance. he is, and will be, the rewarder, the reward, of all those who thus seek him diligently, seek him with the heart, for that is it that God looks at and requires; and with the whole heart, for if the heart be divided between him and the world it is faulty. 5. Who carefully avoid all sin (Psa 119:3): They do no iniquity; they do not allow themselves in any sin; they do not commit it as those do who are the servants of sin; they do not make a practice of it, do not make a trade of it. They are conscious to themselves of much iniquity that clogs them in the ways of God, but not of that iniquity which draws them out of those ways. Blessed and holy are those who thus exercise themselves to have always consciences void of offence.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–8 ALEPH.--The First Part.
ALEPH.--The First Part.
ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way,.... Who are in the right way to heaven and happiness, which is Jesus Christ; the strait gate, and narrow way to eternal life; the only true way of life and salvation, in which way believers walk by faith. All out of this way are altogether become filthy; but all in this way are clean, even every bit: they are without spot and blemish, blameless and unreproveable, and without fault, before the throne of God and in his sight; being washed from their sins in the blood of the Lamb, and clothed with his righteousness; and even "perfect" and complete in him, as the Targum renders the word. These are also found in the way of their duty, and walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless before men, and are sincere and upright in the sight of God; and are upon all accounts happy persons:
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who walk in the law of the Lord: within the boundaries and limits of it, according to its direction, as it is a rule of walk and conversation in the hands of Christ the Lawgiver; and who continue to walk in it, as in a pleasant path, with great delight; and cheerfully obey its precepts, as influenced by the love of God, and assisted by the Spirit and grace of Christ. The word "law", or "doctrine", as it signifies, may design every revelation of the divine will; and even the doctrine of Christ, which believers should abide in, and not transgress; and should walk uprightly according to the truth of it, and as becomes it, and as they are enabled to do.
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 On vv1, 6, 7, 8 Because this psalm was very large, and the matter…
Because this psalm was very large, and the matter of it of the greatest importance, the psalmist thought fit to divide it into two and twenty several parts, according to the number of the Hebrew letters, that he might both prevent tediousness, and fix it in the memory. Each part consists of eight verses. All the verses of the first part beginning with Aleph, all the verses of the second with Beth, and so on. It is observable, that the word of God is here called by the names of law, statutes, precepts or commandments, judgments, ordinances, righteousness, testimonies, way and word. By which variety, he designed to express the nature and perfection of God's word. It is called his word, as revealed by him to us; his way, as prescribed by him for us to walk in; his law, as binding us to obedience; his statutes, as declaring his authority of giving us laws; his precepts as directing our duty; his ordinances, as ordained by him; his righteousness, as exactly agreeable to God's righteous nature and will; his judgments, as proceeding from the great judge of the world, and being his judicial sentence to which all men must submit; and his testimonies, as it contains the witness of God's will, and of man's duty. And there is but one of these one hundred and seventy six verses, in which one or other of these titles is not found. The general scope and design of this psalm is, to magnify the law and make it honourable: to shew the excellency and usefulness of divine Revelation, and recommend it to us, by the psalmist's own example, who speaks by experience of the benefits of it, for which he praises God, and earnestly prays for the continuance of God's grace, to direct and quicken him in his way.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 The various excellencies and important uses of the law…
PSALM CXIX
The various excellencies and important uses of the law or
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revelation of God.
NOTES ON PSALM CXIX
This is another of the alphabetical or acrostic Psalms. It is divided into twenty-two parts, answering to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Every part is divided into eight verses; and each verse begins with that letter of the alphabet which forms the title of the part, e.g.: The eight first verses have א aleph prefixed, the second eight ב beth, each of the eight verses beginning with that letter; and so of the rest. All connexion, as might be naturally expected, is sacrificed to this artificial and methodical arrangement.
It is not easy to give any general Analysis of this Psalm; it is enough to say that it treats in general on the privileges and happiness of those who observe the law of the Lord. That law is exhibited by various names and epithets tending to show its various excellences. Earnest prayers are offered to God for wisdom to understand it, and for grace to observe it faithfully. These particulars may be collected from the whole composition, and appear less or more in every part.
The words which express that revelation which God had then given to men, or some particular characteristic of it, are generally reckoned to be the ten following:
1. Testimonies;
2. Commandments;
3. Precepts;
4. Word;
5. Law;
6. Ways;
7. Truth;
8. Judgments;
9. Righteousness;
10. Statutes.
To these some add the following:
1. Faithfulness;
2. Judgment;
3. Name; but these are not used in the sense of the other ten words.
I believe it is almost universally asserted that in every verse of this Psalm one or other of those ten words is used, except in ver. 122; but on a closer inspection we shall find that none of them is used in the above sense in the 84th, 90th, 121st, 122nd, and 132nd. See the notes on these verses. Ps 119:84; Ps 119:90; Ps 119:121; Ps 119:122; Ps 119:132
To save myself unnecessary repetition, and the reader time and trouble, I shall here, once for all, explain the above words, which the reader will do well to keep in remembrance.
1. The Law, תורה TORAH, from ירה yarah, to direct, guide, teach, make straight, or even, point forward; because it guides, directs, and instructs in the way of righteousness; makes our path straight, shows what is even and right, and points us onward to peace, truth, and happiness. It is even our school-master to bring us to Christ, that we may be justified through faith; and by it is the knowledge of sin.
II. STATUTES, חקים CHUKKIM, from חק chak, to mark, trace out, describe, and ordain; because they mark out our way describe the line of conduct we are to pursue and order or ordain what we are to observe.
III. PRECEPTS, פקודים PIKKUDIM, from פקד pakad, to take notice or care of a thing, to attend, have respect to, to appoint, to visit; because they take notice of our way, have respect to the whole of our life and conversation, superintend, overlook, and visit us in all the concerns and duties of life.
IV. COMMANDMENTS, מצות MITSVOTH, from צוה tasvah to command, order, ordain; because they show us what we should do, and what we should leave undone, and exact our obedience.
V. TESTIMONIES, עדות EDOTH, from עד ad, denoting beyond, farther, all along, to bear witness, or testimony. The rites and ceremonies of the law; because they point out matters beyond themselves, being types and representations of the good things that were to come.
VI. JUDGMENTS, משפטים MISHPATIM, from שפט shaphat, to judge, determine, regulate, order, and discern, because they judge concerning our words and works; show the rules by which they should be regulated; and cause us to discern what is right and wrong, and decide accordingly.
VII. TRUTH, אמונה EMUNAH, from אמן aman, to make steady, constant, to settle, trust, believe. The law that is established steady, confirmed, and ordered in all things, and sure; which should be believed on the authority of God, and trusted to as an infallible testimony from Him who cannot lie nor deceive.
VIII. WORD, דבר dabar, from the same root, to discourse, utter one's sentiments, speak consecutively and intelligibly; in which it appears to differ from מלל malal, to utter articulate sounds. Any prophecy or immediate communication from heaven, as well as the whole body of Divine revelation, is emphatically called דבר יהוה debar Yehovah, the word of Jehovah. On the same ground we call the whole Old and New Testament THE WORD OF THE LORD, as we term the volume in which they are contained THE BIBLE - THE BOOK. In his revelation God speaks to man; shows him, in a clear, concise, intelligible, and rational way, his interest, his duty, his privileges; and, in a word, the reasonable service that he requires of him.
IX. WAY, דרך DERECH, from the same root, to proceed, go on, walk, tread. The way in which God goes in order to instruct and save man; the way in which man must tread in order to be safe, holy, and happy. God's manner of acting or proceeding in providence and grace; and the way that man should take in order to answer the end of his creation and redemption.
X. RIGHTEOUSNESS, צדקה TSEDAKAH from צדק tsadak, to do justice, to give full weight. That which teaches a man to give to all their due; to give GOD his due, MAN his due, and HIMSELF his due; for every man has duties to God, his neighbor, and himself, to perform. This word is applied to God's judgments, testimonies, and commandments; they are all righteous, give to all their due, and require what is due from every one.
The three words, which some add here, are,
1. FAITHFULNESS, אמונה EMUNAH: but see this under No. VII., nor does it appear in Ps 119:90, where it occurs, to be used as a characteristic of God's law, but rather his exact fulfilment of his promises to man.
The second is JUDGMENT, משפט mishpat. See this under No. VI.: it occurs in Ps 119:84; Ps 119:121: "When wilt thou execute judgment," c. but is not used in those places as one of the ten words.
The third is NAME, שם shem, see Ps 119:132: but this is no characteristic of God's law; it refers here simply to himself. Those that love thy NAME is the same as those that love THEE. Bishop Nicholson inserts promises among the ten words: but this occurs no where in the Psalm.
We might, and with much more propriety, add a fourth, אמרה IMRAH, from אמר amar, to branch out, spread, or diffuse itself, as the branches of a tree; and which is often used for a word spoken, a speech. This often occurs in the Psalm: and we regularly translate it word, and put no difference or distinction between it and דבר dabar, No. VIII.: but it is not exactly the same; דבר dabar may apply more properly to history, relation, description, and such like; while, אמרתך imrathecha, thy word, may mean an immediate oracle, delivered solemnly from God to his prophet for the instruction of men. But the two words appear often indifferently used; and it would not be easy to ascertain the different shades of meaning between these two roots.
Having thus far introduced the Psalm to the reader's attention, I should probably speak at large of the elegance of its composition, and the importance and utility of its matter. Like all other portions of Divine revelation, it is elegant, important, and useful; and while I admire the fecundity of the psalmist's genius, the unabating flow of his poetic vein, his numerous synonyms, and his copia verborum, by which he is enabled to expand, diversify, and illustrate the same idea; presenting it to his reader in all possible points of view, so as to render it pleasing, instructive, and impressive; I cannot rob the rest of the book of its just praise by setting this, as many have done, above all the pieces it contains. It is by far the largest, the most artificial, and most diversified; yet, in proportion to its length, it contains the fewest ideas of any Psalm in the Book.
Several of the ancients, particularly the Greek fathers, have considered it as an abridgement of David's life; in which he expresses all the states through which he had passed; the trials, persecutions, succours, and encouragements he had received. The Latin fathers perceive in it all the morality of the Gospel, and rules for a man's conduct in every situation of life. Cassiodorus asserts that it contains the sentiments of the prophets, apostles, martyrs, and all the saints. In the introduction to the Book of Psalms, I have conjectured that many of them were composed from notes taken at different times, and in widely different circumstances; hence the different states described in the same Psalm, which could not have been at one and the same time the experience of the same person. It is most likely that this Psalm was composed in this way, and this, as well as its acrostical arrangement, will account for its general want of connexion.
Though the most judicious interpreters assign it to the times of the Babylonish captivity; yet there are so many things in it descriptive of David's state, experience, and affairs, that I am led to think it might have come from his pen; or if composed at or under the captivity, was formed out of his notes and memoranda.
I shall now make short remarks on the principal subjects in each part; and, at the end of each, endeavour by the Analysis to show the connexion which the eight verses of each have among themselves, and the use which the reader should make of them. In all the Versions except the Chaldee this Psalm is numbered cxviii.
LETTER א ALEPH. - First Division
Verse 1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way] אשרי תמימי דרך ashrey temimey darech, "O the blessedness of the perfect ones in the way." This Psalm begins something like the first, where see the notes. Ps 1:1 By the perfect, which is the proper meaning of the original word, we are to understand those who sincerely believe what God has spoken, religiously observe all the rules and ceremonies of his religion, and have their lives and hearts regulated by the spirit of love, fear, and obedience. This is farther stated in the second verse.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 7 Psa 119:1-3. Blessed are the undefiled — Hebrew, תמימי,…
ALEPH.
Psa 119:1-3. Blessed are the undefiled — Hebrew, תמימי, temimee, the perfect, or sincere, as the word properly and most frequently signifies; namely, those whose hearts and lives agree with their profession; in the way — The way of the Lord, as it is explained by the next clause; who walk in the law of the Lord — Who order their lives according to the rule of God’s word. That keep his testimonies — Who, in mind and heart, carefully and diligently observe his precepts. And that seek him — Namely, the Lord: that seek his presence and favour, with the whole heart — Sincerely, diligently, and earnestly, above all other things. They also do no iniquity — That is, knowingly: they make it their constant care to shun every known sin. They walk in his ways — In the paths which God hath prescribed to them.
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 On vv1–8 Blessed are the undefiled in the way - In…
Blessed are the undefiled in the way - In the way or journey of life; in the path of religion; in the road which leads to heaven. As life - the religious life - is represented under the image of a journey, the expression here is equivalent to saying, “Blessed are those who in the journey of life - in their religious course - are pure, Sincere, uncontaminated.” On the word way, see the notes at Psa 1:6. The margin here on the word undefiled, is perfect, or sincere. So the Hebrew. The word is the same as in Job 1:1, where it is rendered “perfect.” See the notes at that passage. The Greek translation is undefiled - ἄμωμοι amōmoi. So the Latin, “immaculati.” Luther renders it, “Who live without blemish” or stain. The idea is, “Blessed are they who are upright, sincere, perfect, in their course.” The whole psalm is designed to illustrate this thought, by showing what the influence of a sincere and conscientious attachment to the principles of the law or word of God in the various circumstances of life must be.
Who walk in the law of the Lord - Who habitually obey his law. This constitutes sincerity, uprightness, perfection in a man’s life, for the law of the Lord is the only just rule of human conduct.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 119
Psalms 119
ALEPH
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1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
And that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity:
They walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us
To keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed
To keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed,
When I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart,
When I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes:
O forsake me not utterly.
BETH
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee:
O let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
That I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Lord:
Teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared
All the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts,
And have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes:
I will not forget thy word.
GIMEL
17 Deal bountifully with thy servant,
That I may live, and keep thy word.
18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold
Wondrous things out of thy law.
19 I am a stranger in the earth:
Hide not thy commandments from me.
20 My soul breaketh for the longing
That it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed,
Which do err from thy commandments.
22 Remove from me reproach and contempt;
For I have kept thy testimonies.
23 Princes also did sit and speak against me:
But thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
24 Thy testimonies also are my delight,
And my counsellors.
DALETH
25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust:
Quicken thou me according to thy word.
26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me:
Teach me thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts:
So shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
28 My soul melteth for heaviness:
Strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
29 Remove from me the way of lying:
And grant me thy law graciously.
30 I have chosen the way of truth:
Thy judgments have I laid before me.
31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies:
O Lord, put me not to shame.
32 I will run the way of thy commandments,
When thou shalt enlarge my heart.
HE
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes;
And I shall keep it unto the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;
For therein do I delight.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
And quicken thou me in thy way.
38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant,
Who is devoted to thy fear.
39 Turn away my reproach which I fear:
For thy judgments are good.
40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:
Quicken me in thy righteousness.
VAU
41 Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord,
Even thy salvation, according to thy word.
42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me:
For I trust in thy word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;
For I have hoped in thy judgments.
44 So shall I keep thy law continually
Forever and ever.
45 And I will walk at liberty:
For I seek thy precepts.
46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings,
And will not be ashamed.
47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments,
Which I have loved.
48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved;
And I will meditate in thy statutes.
ZAIN
49 Remember the word unto thy servant,
Upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction:
For thy word hath quickened me.
51 The proud have had me greatly in derision:
Yet have I not declined from thy law.
52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord:
And have comforted myself.
53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked
That forsake thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night,
And have kept thy law.
56 This I had,
Because I kept thy precepts.
CHETH
57 Thou art my portion, O Lord:
I have said that I would keep thy words.
58 I entreated thy favor with my whole heart:
Be merciful unto me according to thy word.
59 I thought on my ways,
And turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
60 I made haste, and delayed not
To keep thy commandments.
61 The bands of the wicked have robbed me:
But I have not forgotten thy law.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee
Because of thy righteous judgments.
63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee,
And of them that keep thy precepts.
64 The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy:
Teach me thy statutes.
TETH
65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,
O Lord, according unto thy word.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge:
For I have believed thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray
But now have I kept thy word.
68 Thou art good, and doest good:
Teach me thy statutes.
69 The proud have forged a lie against me:
But I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is as fat as grease:
But I delight in thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
That I might learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me
Than thousands of gold and silver.
JOD
73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me:
Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me;
Because I have hoped in thy word.
75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right,
And that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to thy word unto thy servant.
77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live:
For thy law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause:
But I will meditate in thy precepts.
79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me,
And those that have known thy testimonies.
80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes;
That I be not ashamed.
CAPH
81 My soul fainteth for thy salvation:
But I hope in thy word.
82 Mine eyes fail for thy word,
Saying, When wilt thou comfort me?
83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke;
Yet do I not forget thy statutes.
84 How many are the days of thy servant?
When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
85 The proud have digged pits for me,
Which are not after thy law.
86 All thy commandments are faithful:
They persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.
87 They had almost consumed me upon earth;
But I forsook not thy precepts.
88 Quicken me after thy loving-kindness;
So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.
LAMED
89 Forever, O Lord,
Thy word is settled in heaven.
90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:
Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances:
For all are thy servants.
92 Unless thy law had been my delights,
I should then have perished in mine affliction.
93 I will never forget thy precepts:
For with them thou hast quickened me.
94 I am thine, save me;
For I have sought thy precepts.
95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:
But I will consider thy testimonies.
96 I have seen an end of all perfection:
But thy commandment is exceeding broad.
MEM
97 O how love I thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies:
For they are ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers:
For thy testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the ancients,
Because I keep thy precepts.
101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way,
That I might keep thy word.
102 I have not departed from thy judgments:
For thou hast taught me.
103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste!
Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.
104 Through thy precepts I get understanding.
Therefore I hate every false way
NUN
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
And a light unto my path.
106 I have sworn, and I will perform it,
That I will keep thy righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much:
Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.
108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me thy judgments.
109 My soul is continually in my hand:
Yet do I not forget thy law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me:
Yet I erred not from thy precepts.
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever:
For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes
Always, even unto the end.
SAMECH
113 I hate vain thoughts:
But thy law do I love.
114 Thou art my hiding-place and my shield:
I hope in thy word.
115 Depart from me, ye evil doers:
For I will keep the commandments of my God.
116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live:
And let me not be ashamed of my hope.
117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe:
And I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
118 Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes:
For their deceit is falsehood.
119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross:
Therefore I love thy testimonies.
120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee;
And I am afraid of thy judgments.
AIN
121 I have done judgment and justice:
Leave me not to mine oppressors.
122 Be surety for thy servant for good:
Let not the proud oppress me.
123 Mine eyes fail for thy salvation,
And for the word of thy righteousness.
124 Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,
And teach me thy statutes.
125 I am thy servant; give me understanding,
That I may know thy testimonies.
126 It is time for thee, Lord, to work:
For they have made void thy law.
127 Therefore I love thy commandments
Above gold; yea, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right:
And I hate every false way.
PE
129 Thy testimonies are wonderful:
Therefore doth my soul keep them.
130 The entrance of thy words giveth light;
It giveth understanding unto the simple.
131 I opened my mouth, and panted:
For I longed for thy commandments.
132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,
As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
133 Order my steps in thy word:
And let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
134 Deliver me from the oppression of man:
So will I keep thy precepts.
135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;
And teach me thy statutes.
136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,
Because they keep not thy law.
TZADDI
137 Righteous art thou, O Lord,
And upright are thy judgments.
138 Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous
And very faithful.
139 My zeal hath consumed me,
Because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
140 Thy word is very pure:
Therefore thy servant loveth it.
141 I am small and despised:
Yet do not I forget thy precepts.
142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And thy law is the truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me:
Yet thy commandments are my delights.
144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting.
Give me understanding, and I shall live.
KOPH
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.
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.
149 Hear my voice according unto thy loving-kindness:
O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment.
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.
152 Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old
That thou hast founded them forever.
RESH
153 Consider mine affliction, and deliver me:
For I do not forget thy law.
154 Plead my cause, and deliver me:
Quicken me according to thy word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked:
For they seek not thy statutes.
156 Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord:
Quicken me according to thy judgments.
157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies;
Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
158 I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved;
Because they kept not thy word.
159 Consider how I love thy precepts:
Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy loving-kindness.
160 Thy word is true from the beginning:
And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.
SCHIN
161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause:
But my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
162 I rejoice at thy word,
As one that findeth great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor lying:
But thy law do I love.
164 Seven times a day do I praise thee,
Because of thy righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have they which love thy law:
And nothing shall offend them.
166 Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation,
And done thy commandments.
167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies;
And I love them exceedingly.
168 I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies:
For all my ways are before thee.
TAU
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.
171 My lips shall utter praise,
When thou hast taught me thy statutes.
172 My tongue shall speak of thy word:
For all thy commandments are righteousness.
173 Let thine hand help me;
For I have chosen thy precepts.
174 I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord;
And thy law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live and it shall praise thee;
And let thy judgments help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep: seek thy servant;
For I do not forget thy commandments.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—The Christian’s golden A B C of the praise and love of the power and profit of the word of God. This title in the German Bible admirably expresses the character of this Psalm. For in all the 176 verses there is no other subject introduced than the excellence of God’s word, in its blessed influences and obligations. The Psalm is so disposed that every one of the eight verses in each division begins with the same letter, and these letters follow in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. And it was scarcely without design that in every verse, with the exception of Psa_119:122, occurs one of the ten expressions usually employed to designate the law, and that the name Jehovah occurs in the whole 22 times, though not once in every verse.
The carrying out of this artificial plan through such a long series of verses with great comparative simplicity, has not only occasioned many repetitions, with but slight changes in expression and shades of thought, but has made it questionable whether there can be any internal structural connection or progress of thought. It is certainly saying too much to maintain that there is no connection whatever (De Wette) and to designate the Psalm as the most monotonous and barren in thought of all aphoristic collections and a specimen of the trifling of later times (Hupfeld), or a mnemonic book of devotion (Köster), at the same time denying any reference to a special situation or mental posture of the author. But even if the notion be abandoned that there is any regularity of plan, or any inner progress of thought (Hengst.), the Psalm is, at all events, not a collection of apophthegms, but is evidently a Psalm of supplication composed not by an old man (Ewald), but, according to Psa_119:9 f., 99, 100, by a young man (Del.), who prays, particularly after Psa_119:84, for steadfastness in the midst of great trouble, surrounded by evil men and persecutors. Yet it must be allowed that, along with the praise of God’s word and law, which is repeated almost like a refrain, there are interwoven prayers for enlightenment to understand them, and strength to be faithful to them, intermingled here and there with complaints, promises, and hopes, and also with supplications for Divine assistance against mighty and crafty oppressors and persecutors. All these occur so frequently that it is unadvisable to limit the connection of thought to a narrow range.
Whether the author was in imprisonment, and shortened the time by thus weaving together his complaints and comforting thoughts (Hitzig, Del.) cannot be known with any degree of certainty. The same remark applies to the time of composition and the person of the composer. It is only certain that the Poet did not speak for the Jewish people (Rudinger), and that the Psalm is to be reckoned among the latest of the whole collection (Ewald). Some of the older commentators have assigned it to a Jew living in captivity among the Syrians (Sylloge commentt. theoll. ed. Pott. I., p. 314 ff.). There is also something to be said in favor of referring it to the period of Grecian rule, under which the government was unfriendly, and a large party among the Jews themselves, who favored the government, persecuted the pronounced professors of the Thora (Del.). If we go down to the time of the Maccabees, an historical connection is presented with the imprisonment of Jonathan, 1Ma_12:48 (Hitzig). But the closing period of the Persian supremacy affords the contrasts presented here, between a worldly government, hostile to the religion of Jehovah and the Divine dominion revealed in the Law; between that party of presumptuous blasphemers, who appear as national enemies, and the pious worshippers of Jehovah; between disloyal, unfaithful, covenant-breaking Jews, and the friends of the Law, whose companion the Poet is (Ehrt, Abfassungszeit und Abschluss des Psalters, p. 191).
Delitzsch gives the inner progress of thought through the several strophes as follows: After the Poet has praised fidelity to God’s word (1), and characterized it as the virtue of all virtues, which is a blessing to the young, and which he himself labors to gain (2), he prays, in the midst of scornful and persecuting companions, for the mercies of enlightenment (3), of strengthening (4), of preservation (5), of suitable and joyful profession of his faith (6); God’s word is the object of his striving and aspirations (7), he loves the friendship of those who fear God (8), and, though recognizing the salutary influences of his humiliation (9), is yet in need of consolation (10), and sighs: how long! (11). Without the immovable and mighty word of God he would despond (12); it is his wisdom in situations of distress (13); he has sworn to be faithful to it, and in persecution remains faithful (14); he abhors and despises the faithless; he is oppressed, but God will not leave him under oppression (16), or permit a godless conduct, which forces rivers of tears from his eyes, to prevail over him (17), over him who is small (youthful) and despised, whom zeal, on account of the prevailing forgetfulness of God, is consuming (18); he entreats that God might hear his crying by day and by night (19), might soon revive him with His helpful compassion (20), as he remains firm in his fidelity to God, though persecuted by princes (21), and seek the lamb, that was separated from the flock and exposed to such dangers (22).—This is, at least, a guiding thread in the efforts which are necessary to connect the several strophes. The sections are then more or less individualized in their single verses.
[Hengstenberg, holding the view given above under his name, sums up the contents of the Psalm thus: “The praise of God’s word, the assertion that it is the infinitely sure way of salvation, and the only comfort in suffering, the determination to be faithful to God’s word and law, prayer for the spiritual understanding of the law, and for strength to fulfil it, and supplications for the salvation promised in it, form the contents of this Psalm.” With reference to the stand-point of the author, Hengstenberg considers it entirely national, referring to Psa_119:23; Psa_119:46; Psa_119:87, with which he compares Psa_115:14, and Psa_119:161. He therefore considers large portions of it, which appear to represent only individual feelings, as bearing a hortatory character. But the true view appears to me to be that of Alexander: “There is no Psalm in the whole collection which has more the appearance of having been exclusively designed for practical and personal improvement, without any reference to national or even to ecclesiastical relations than the one before us.” After citing some of Hengstenberg’s arguments for the opposite view, he continues: “The opinion that the ideal speaker throughout this Psalm is Israel, considered as the Church or chosen people, will never commend itself as natural or likely to the mass of readers, and is scarcely consistent with such passages as Psa_119:63; Psa_119:74; Psa_119:79, and others, where the speaker expressly distinguishes himself from the body of the people. The same difficulty, in a less degree, attends the national interpretation of the Psalms immediately preceding. Perhaps the best mode of reconciling the two views is by supposing that this Psalm was intended as a manual of pious and instructive thoughts, designed for popular improvement, and especially for that of the younger generation, after the return from exile, and that the person speaking is the individual believer, not as an isolated personality, but as a member of the general body, with which he identifies himself so far, that many expressions of the Psalm are strictly applicable only to the whole as such considered, while others are appropriate only to certain persons or to certain classes in the ancient Israel. To this design of popular instruction, and especially to that of constant repetition and reflection, the Psalm is admirably suited by its form and structure. The alphabetical arrangement, of which it is at once the most extended and the most perfect specimen, and the aphoristic character, common to all alphabetic Psalms, are both adapted to assist the memory as well as to give point to the immediate impression. It follows, of course, that the Psalm was rather meant to be a storehouse of materials for pious meditation, than a discourse for continuous perusal.” On this last question Perowne also agrees with most commentators, against the opinion of Delitzsch that there is a continuity of thought in the Psalm.
On the opinion of Delitzsch and Ewald, referred to above, with regard to the period of the author’s life at the time of the composition, Perowne argues: “The language of ver 9 is rather that of one, who looking back on his own past life, draws the inference, which he seeks to impress upon the young, that youthful purity can only be preserved by those, who from early years take God’s word as their guide. When it is said in Psa_119:99-100 that the Psalmist is wiser than his teachers, wiser than the aged, the only conclusion that can be drawn is, that he is not advanced in life. It is plain that the writer is not an old man, as Ewald would have us believe, or he would not compare his knowledge of the law with the knowledge of the aged. But it does not follow that he is a young man. The teachers whom he had outstript may have been those, whose disciple he once was, not those whose disciple he still is, or he may refer to authorized teachers, to whom he listened because they taught in Moses’ seat, though he felt that they had really nothing to teach him. Indeed the whole strain of the Psalm, its depth and breadth of spiritual life, and the long acquaintance, which is everywhere implied in it, with the word of God, can leave us no doubt that it was written by a man who was no longer young, who had at least reached ‘the middle arch of life.’ ”
The spiritual worth and beauty of the Psalm are not impaired by its artificial form. “If we would fathom the depth of meaning in the written law of Israel: if we would measure the elevation of soul, the hope, the confidence, even before princes and kings, which pious Jews derived from it, we must turn to this Psalm. Here is an epitome of all true religion as conceived by the best spirits of that time. To such a loving study and meditation on the law, the alphabetical arrangement is not inappropriate, and if the poem be necessarily somewhat cramped, it is nevertheless pervaded by the glow of love, and abounds in spiritual life.” (The Psalms Chronologically Arranged by Four Friends, p. 385; quoted by Perowne). See also an estimate of its spiritual teaching in Edwards on the Religious Affections, Part III. Sec. 3.—J. F. M.].
Aleph. Psa_119:1-4. This Psalm in accordance with the more extended treatment of its topics, has a double ascription of blessedness, instead of the single one in Psa_1:1; Psa_112:1. The præterites, mingled as they are with futures in the sense of the present, express the constancy of the relation described.—[The rendering of Psa_119:1 a, in E. V. is not sufficiently perspicuous. The literal translation is: Blessed are those who are blameless in their ways. Its rendering of Psa_119:4 is also incorrect, neglecting the division of the verse according to the accents. It should be: Thou hast enjoined thy precepts; to observe them diligently. The explanation follows.—J. F. M.]. In Psa_119:4 b, the design in enjoining the precepts is given, with the implication that their observance is as earnestly enjoined, as it is difficult to practise.
Psa_119:5-7. The Psalmist does not say that he would have his ways directed to the object expressed in Psa_119:5 b. (Sept., De Wette, Del.), or that he would have them established, standing fast, for the sake of the object to be gained (Hupfeld), Pro_4:26. [The former view which is expressed in E. V. is also that of Alexander. That of Dr. Moll is probably more correct. It is expressed in his translation: Oh that my ways were firmly set, to keep Thy statutes! The difference between the two views is very slight.—J. F. M.] אַחֲלַי, for which in 2Ki_5:3, occurs אַחֲלֵי, is equivalent to Oh if! a sigh of desire. Psa_119:7. The judgments of thy righteousness [E. V. righteous judgments] are those decisions with regard to justice and injustice, which express and fulfil God’s righteousness, and which are to be learnt from Scripture in connection with History (Del.) Exo_21:1; Exo_24:3; Leviticus 18; Lev_19:19 f., and which form the object of praise.
Beth. Psa_119:9. In Psa_119:9 b, the answer given, in the gerund, to the question in Psa_119:9 a, has a form which is not quite suitable (Olshausen). After שׁמר may be supplied according to the analogy of the Psalm: it, that is, the way, or the law (Aben Ezra, J. H. Mich., Rosenmüller, Hupfeld, Hitzig). The reflexive construction (Luther, De Wette, Hengst., Del.) is likewise admissible, Jos_6:18. The cleansing of the way (Psa_73:13; Pro_20:9) alludes to the defilement of sin. [Alexander differs from all these critics. He considers the construction of the infin. as a gerund to be too rare and doubtful to be assumed without necessity, and renders the second member: “(so) as to keep it according to thy word.” He says, “It is much more simple and agreeable to usage, to regard the whole as one interrogative, and the second clause as supplementary to the first. The answer is suppressed, or rather, left to be inferred from the whole tenor of the psalm, which is, that men, and especially young men, whose passions and temptations are strong in proportion to their inexperience, can do nothing of themselves, but are dependent on the grace of God. The omission of an answer, which is thus suggested by the whole psalm, rather strengthens than impairs the impression on the reader.”1—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:14. The Law is equalled in value to all possible riches; that is, to all blessings that can be conceived, and that are most highly prized by men. The rendering should not be: as it were more than all riches (Olsh.), but: as above all riches (comp. Psa_119:162).
Gimel. Psa_119:17-18. In Psa_119:17, according to the accentuation, אֶחְיֶה belongs to the first member, and indicates the end for which the divine bounties are entreated: “that I may live.” Attached to the second member, with the translation: if I live, I will keep (held to be possible by Hupfeld), the vow of obedience, prompted by the divine gift of life, would be uttered. Or, if we adopt the construction: may I live and keep (Hitzig), both of these ends are distinguished in one supplication, as simultaneous objects of entreaty. [According to the accents, the best translation is: Grant to thy servant (that) I may live, and I will keep thy word. So most translators. Alexander remarks that there may be an allusion to the way in which the Law connects life and obedience, and refers to Lev_18:5; Deu_6:24. Hengstenberg, in accordance with his hypothesis given above, holds that it is the preservation of the national existence that is meant.—J. F. M.] The wondrous things in Psa_119:18 are not events in which the direction given by God is shown unexpectedly to have been right (Hitzig), but truths disclosed to faith, and revelations concerning God, lying in the law beneath the veil of the letter, and perplexing to the common understanding, to the knowledge of which the removal of the veil suspended over the eyes by nature is also necessary.
Psa_119:19 ff. On earth we are only lodging as strangers, and, as it were, in a foreign land (1Ch_29:15; Psa_39:13). Nor do we know beforehand what is established there as right and law. This we would faint discover; for the anger of God, which does not concern itself about our ignorance, dwells there too (Hitzig). Therefore we do not need speedy compassion on account of the fleetness of life (Hupfeld); we need instruction (De Wette) in our helplessness (Luther, Hengst., Del.) [Luther explains: “I have no inheritance but thy word; therefore forsake me not.”—J. F. M.]—In Psa_119:22גַל is not instead of נֹל, from גלל to roll off, Jos_5:9 (Isaaki, Ros., De Wette, Hengst.), but it is from נלח, to uncover, draw away the covering (Geier, J. H. Mich.), here that of contempt, [which is regarded as if it were a garment or cloak.—J. F. M.]
Daleth. Psa_119:25-28. The reviving in Psa_119:25 refers as usual, not to the strengthening of the spiritual, but to the restoration of the physical life, welfare, and prosperity, by deliverance from distress and danger. [Alexander: “The first clause seems intended to suggest two consistent but distinct ideas: that of deep degradation as in Psa_44:26, and that of death as in Psa_22:30. The first would be more obvious in itself and in connection with the parallel referred to; but the other seems to be the prominent idea, from the correlative petition in the last clause.…Thy word, the promise annexed to Thy commandment, see Psa_119:28.” Psa_119:28 a, should probably be rendered: My soul weeps from sorrow. The verb means to drop. In Job_16:20 it is applied to the eye.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:30 ff. In Psa_119:30שֵׁוִּיתִי is scarcely to be explained as a setting before the mind; i.e. acknowledging as binding (Köster), or as a mental agreement; i.e. approving (Hitzig), but is to be understood of the act of the subject, by which something was placed before the eyes as a standard of action (Hengst., Del.). That which should be contemplated is contemplated (Ewald). The enlarging of the heart (Psa_119:32) does not refer to the enlargement of the understanding, 1Ki_5:9 (De Wette), but expresses the feeling of well-being and joy (Isa_60:5; 2Co_6:11-13), as contrasted with mental oppression (Geier). [Render: For Thou shalt enlarge my heart.—J. F. M.]
He. Psa_119:37 ff. The outward senses present to the heart the objects of forbidden desire, and excite pleasure in and desire for them (Isa_33:15 : Job_31:1-7); men must therefore shut their ears and eyes against them and let them pass unheeded. In Psa_119:38 the relation can be referred either to the word (Isaaki, J. H. Mich., De Wette, Hengst., Del.), or to the servant (Syr., Geier, Hitzig), without essentially altering the sense. כצעabscindere is used of profiting by defrauding one’s neighbor, 1Sa_8:3. שָׁוְא means that which is without real, intrinsic worth; that is, with relation to God; doctrine and life opposed to God. Psa_119:39 does not speak of the judgments of God, whether merciful (Kimchi, Geier and others) or righteous ones (Hengst.), but, like the whole Psalm, of the revealed ordinances of justice.
Vau. Psa_119:41-42. As the Vau is really only placed here on account of alphabetical requirements, its occurrence in Psa_119:42 is not to be pressed so as to make it indicate the object aimed at in the petition of the preceding verse: in order that I may answer (De W.). The manifestations of God’s mercy in Psa_119:41 are, in the original, not in the singular (Sept.) but in the plural (Chald., Jerome).
Psa_119:46-48. Psa_119:46 is the motto of the Augsburg Confession according to the historical view of the verbs in the Vulgate, which, however, does not correspond with the Heb. text: Et loquebar de (in) testimoniis tuis in conspectu regum et non confundebar. The lifting up of the hands, Psa_119:48, does not refer to the observance of the commandments, (most), still less to the worship of the law in the later Jewish manner (Köster), but to the longing desire expressed by stretching out the hands after the commandments (Hitzig), often parallel to the lifting up of the heart to the highest good, Psa_28:2; Psa_63:5; Lam_3:41 (Hengst., Hupfeld).
Zain. Psa_119:50 ff. Psa_119:50 reminds us of Job_6:10. It is doubtful whether כִּי in the second member of the verse is to be taken as explaining the “this” by mentioning what the comfort consisted in, or as the confirmatory “for” (Hupf.). [In Psa_119:53 render: Indignation hath taken hold of me.—J. F. M.] In Psa_119:54 the reference is not to exile or any other misfortune, but human life is, after Genesis 47, described as “the house of my sojournings.” Man has not upon earth his בֵּית עוֹלָם, Ecc_12:5. The earth has been indeed given to him (Psa_115:16), but not as his abiding-place (see on Psa_119:19).
Cheth.—[Psa_119:57 is translated by Dr. Moll: My portion is Jehovah! I have said to keep thy precepts (I have promised to keep thy precepts). Alexander translates and comments thus: “My portion, oh Jehovah, I have said (is) to keep thy words. This construction is rejected by Hengstenberg and others as forbidden by the accents and the analogy of Psa_16:5; Psa_73:26. But, as the same words may either express the sense here given, or: My portion is Jehovah, we are at liberty to choose the one best suited to the context, even in opposition to the accents, which cannot be regarded as an ultimate authority. In favor of the sense first given is its perfect agreement with the close of the preceding stanza. In reference to the resolution there recorded and described as being fulfilled, he here adds: thus have I said (declared my purpose), oh Lord, to obey thy words.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:61 ff. Psa_119:61 is explained by Psa_119:110. The pointing does not distinguish as clearly as might be expected (Del.) between חֶבְלֵיὠδῖνας and חַבְלֵי (snares). [Dr. Moll translates: The snares of the wicked have surrounded me. So Delitzsch, Hupfeld and Hengst. Perowne translates: cords. Alexander: bands, “the cordage of a net,” Psa_18:5. The meaning: bands, in the sense of companies, troops, given in E. V. is as Del. remarks, never found attached to that word in the plural, though the sing. has that sense in 1Sa_10:5-10. Böttcher, however (§ 800), assigns to it that meaning here. The translation: “robbed” of E. V. in the same verse is entirely unfounded. I cannot discover its source.—J.F. M.] In Psa_119:62 we have the accusative of time as in Job_34:20. With Psa_119:63 comp. Pro_28:24. Psa_119:64 a recalls Psa_33:5.
Teth.
Psa_119:69-70. The poet will not be induced to err from fidelity to God’s word by all the falsehoods which presumptuous men smear upon him (Böttcher) or better (absolutely as in Job_13:4) smear all at once over him, making the true nature of things undiscernible by daubing them over with false colors (Del.), or pasting on deceit (Hitzig). [Del. quotes the Chald., Talmud, and the Syr. in favor of the meaning smear over or on. This is now generally accepted. The idea of forging, devising, in E. V. follows the meaning to sew together, formerly assigned to טפל as the primary idea.—J. F. M.] Psa_119:70. The heart which is overspread with fat or grease is a figure employed to denote want of sensitiveness or hard-heartedness, Psa_17:10; Psa_73:10; Isa_6:10.
Yodh. Psa_119:75-78. In Psa_119:75 it is not God Himself who is called אֱמוּנָה after Deu_32:4 (Hengst.). The word is employed either as an adverbial accusative: in fidelity (most), or as in apposition and parallel to צֶדֶק, the following word becoming a relative clause, attached at the end of the verse (Hupf.). [The first member of Psa_119:78 should be translated: Let the proud be ashamed; for they have wronged me by falsehood.—J. F. M.]
Caph.
Psa_119:83-84. The bottle in the smoke, Psa_119:83, is probably not a figurative representation of one who had become mellow and ripened by affliction (Hupfeld), taken from the custom of the ancients of hanging bottles filled with wine in the smoke high up above the fire; for wine is not the subject of the verse. Nor is there any comparison to a bottle hung up in order to make it dry and wrinkled, so as to adapt it for preserving wine (De Wette). It seems more suitable to refer to the effects of smoke as destroying and rendering useless (Geier, J. H. Mich., Hengst.). Accordingly, the meaning would be, that he allows nothing to force God’s word from his consciousness, although already he has become like a bottle blackened and shrivelled up in the smoke (Del.). The object of hanging such a bottle high up would then be to set it aside in the meantime as not immediately needed. And its contact with the smoke would be merely the consequence of its hanging in an elevated position, whither the smoke, in the absence of chimneys, would naturally rise. The point of comparison would then be the being set aside (Hitzig, Del.).—The expression in Psa_119:84, translated: how many, in Gen_47:8, occurs here in the sense: how few, Psa_39:5. The entreaty of an immediate interference of God is evoked and supported by the thought of the brevity of human life.
Lamedh.
Psa_119:89-91. The heavens are mentioned with reference to their unchangeableness, as in Pss. 89:3; 30:37, not as a locality. So the firm establishment of the earth, as an actual proof and as the theatre of the unchangeable faithfulness of God (Geier, Hupfeld, Del.). The sense of Psa_119:91 is doubtful; its explanation depending upon what is assumed as the subject of עָמְדוּ, and upon the meaning of that word itself. If heaven and earth be taken as the subject of the verb and the latter be understood in the sense of standing firm (Hupf.), the meaning would then be that the heavens and earth stand firm for the judgments and laws of God, serving, as it were, to support them, after the analogy of the preceding figure. If the subject is the judgments (Köster, De Wette, Hitzig), the meaning would be: As for thy judgments, they stand to day. The word would then not be used in the sense which it bears in Isa_55:11, but would mean His declared will, which, as the moral order of the world, is the internal complement of the physical order. The preservation of the world, Psa_119:90, the continuance of the original creation, is an act of His unalterable and gracious purpose, Gen_8:21 f. (Hitzig). If the subject be taken as generally as possible, as in Job_38:15, and with a reference to the following “all,” then it would not be merely meant, that all beings are subject to law, but either that they all, as his servants, stand ready to execute His will, Psa_1:6 (Hengst.), or better, on account of the resemblance which the expressions bear to Num_30:5; Num_30:10; Jos_20:6; Eze_44:24, that they have humbly to obey God’s judicial decisions (Böttcher, Del.), and that they must do so still to-day, because these declarations, long since formulated in the Law, are unalterably valid, as being words of God, and sure from eternity.
Psa_119:96 strictly says only in reference to extent in space, that the Psalmist had seen an end of it, that a limit was to be found to everything in the world. It is, however, usually so explained to mean that all perfection on earth was wanting, and that the Psalmist knew that fact from experience.—The breadth of the Law is its immeasurableness, expressed likewise as though in space, as, in Job_11:7-9, the immeasurableness of God.
Mem. Psa_119:99-102. The meaning of Psa_119:99 is not that the Psalmist had profited in understanding from his teachers and from those who were very old (the Rabbins), but that he was superior in that quality to his teachers and the aged. An opposition is indicated to a worldly wisdom whose source is not the word of revelation. It is less clear, whether opposition is felt by a younger man, in his zeal for the law, to older men, who were hellenizing, or whether the aged men are here mentioned as representatives, like the teachers, of human authority.—[Psa_119:102. Alexander: “The divine judgments in this Psalm are always the external exhibitions of the divine righteousness in word or deed, by precept or by punishment. Here, of course, the former are especially intended. The figure of a way, though not expressed, is still indicated by the verbs depart and guide.”—J. F. M.]
Nun.—To have one’s soul in his hand (Psa_119:110) signifies, according to the context, to remain consciously in danger of death. To take one’s soul in his hand (Jdg_12:3; 1Sa_19:5; 1Sa_28:21; Job_13:14) means: to be prepared to give up one’s life. Delitzsch cites the Talmudical saying: Man’s prayer is not heard unless he takes his life in his hand; i.e. unless he is ready to sacrifice his life.
Samech. Psa_119:113-118. The doubters are called literally: divided persons, divided, that is, between two views, or between two modes of belief with their opposing claims (1Ki_18:21), [E. V. translates the first clause: I hate vain thoughts. The translation supposed the word in question to be another form of סְעִפְּים (written usually with שׂ), thoughts, opinions. Hitzig translates: double-tongued, referring to Sir_5:9. Riehm: “It is certainly more suitable to suppose that the hating is directed against hypocrites, or those wavering in their belief between the true God and false gods, than against doubters; but it may be more correct to explain according to Psa_12:3; 1 Kings 18”
Psa_119:115 b. should be translated: and I will keep the commandments of God. Most translators render: “that I may keep,” etc. But this is meaningless. The true view is that given by Alexander: “The first clause is borrowed from Psa_6:9. The meaning in both cases seems to be that he has no fear of their enmity. The reason given in this case is, because he is resolved to do the will of God, and is therefore sure of His protection.” Psa_119:118 translate: Thou hast despised, i.e., instead of: Thou hast trodden down.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:119-120. Dross, or the residuum of smelted metal, is an image of the separating and purifying process of God’s judgments (Jer_6:28 f.; Eze_22:18 f.; Mal_3:2 f.).—In Psa_119:120, פַּחַד is probably the terror of God, i.e., His dreadful appearing for judgment, Isa_2:10 f. (Hupfeld), before which the hair and skin of the Psalmist trembled (Exo_34:7).
Ayin. [Psa_119:122. Be surety, etc. Alexander: “It means not merely: take me under Thy protection, but: become answerable for me, stand between me and those who, under any pretext, even that of legal right, may seek to oppress me.” See the phrase furtner discussed in Delitzsch on Job_17:3, and in his remarks at the end of that chapter, and comp. Alexander on Isa_38:14.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:128. The words: פָל־פִּקּוּדֵי כֹל, in spite of the analogy of Isa_29:11, as to the meaning, and of Num_8:16; Eze_44:30, as to the form, are rather strange if they are intended to mean: all precepts concerning everything. Yet the correction כָל־פִקּוּדֶיךָ: all Thy precepts (Houbigant, Venema, Ewald, Olsh., Hupfeld), is not absolutely necessary.
Pe. Psa_119:129-132. Psa_119:129 does not allude to the observance of God’s testimonies for the sake of fulfilling them, but to the contemplation of them in order to understand them; for they are designated wonderful and marvellous (paradoxical) things, elevated above every-day life and the common understanding (Del.). There is therefore a light demanded for men, as they are simple (Pro_22:3), which God gives by the פֵּתַח, that is, the opening or unfolding of His word. The opening of the mouth (Psa_119:131) is an expression of the desire (Job_29:23) of the man who pants after the heavenly food of such disclosures. [The second member of Psa_119:132 should be rendered: according to the right of those that love Thy name. In E. V. מִשְׁפָּט was supposed to have here the sense of custom, a meaning which it sometimes has, compare Greek δικὴ), and Arabic dinûn. This translation is retained by Perowne. But it is better, since the suffix is wanting, to take the word, as most do, in the sense of jus (comp. Psa_81:5).—J. F. M.]
Tzadhe. Psa_119:138-141. Since מְאֹד (Psa_119:138) belongs, as in Psa_47:9, to the preceding substantive, it is, perhaps, better to take the substantive: אֱמוּנָה and its parallel צֶדֶק, not adverbially: in righteousness, in truth, or: in justice, in fidelity (Syr., Hupf., Del.), but as in apposition: as righteousness, as truth, or: as justice, as fidelity (Sept., Geier, Hitzig). [In E. V. the Heb. order is entirely abandoned. Alexander and Perowne follow the former of the views above given: “Thou hast commanded thy testimonies in righteousness and exceeding faithfulness.”—J. F. M.]—In Psa_119:141 the term small, applied by the Psalmist to himself, is interpreted by most, after the Sept. and Vulg., as referring to his youth. Yet it may also mean: insignificant (Hitzig).
Koph.
Psa_119:147 does not mean: I hastened to meet thee (Psa_88:14) or: I hastened before thy face (Geier by supplying פָּנֶיךָNor can the meaning be: I anticipated the morning dawn, for קִדֵּם has not the accusative here, as in Psa_119:148, but stands absolutely=to go before (Psa_68:20), or: to hasten one’s self, here followed by the words: in the dawn. But the object with which or to which he hastened is here not connected with what precedes by ל, as in Jon_4:2, but, in a looser construction, with the sentence: and I cried. His eyes then anticipated the night watches, in having not been closed by sleep in the beginning of each of them severally.
Psa_119:152 means: I have long known from thy testimonies that, &c. (most), or: concerning thy testimonies, that (Hitzig). Hupfeld takes objection, and would rather translate, by doing away with the preposition: I have long known thy testimonies, for. Since, however, the preposition cannot be shown to be spurious, and the explanation of some of the older expositors: I know the times of old, or: antiquity, or: what is past, for, etc., is not tenable, he is not disinclined to take ידעתי absolutely: I am instructed, have understanding.
Resh.
Psa_119:160. רֹאשׁ, according to the context, does not mean: the beginning (the ancient translators and most expositors), but the sum, the total number of all the items in the reckoning. “The word of God is reckoned over in its parts and as a whole. Truth is the grand denominator and Truth the result” (Delitzsch).
Sin (Shin).—“While even in the oldest alphabetical Pijutim,2 Sin sometimes represents Samech also, and Shin never does, the reverse is the case in the biblical alphabetical pieces; here Sin and Shin occur together, and to Samech is assigned a place of its own” (Delitzsch)
Psa_119:164. Seven times, as in Lev_26:18; Pro_24:16, comp. Mat_18:21, is not merely a round number, as it is at all events, in Pro_26:16; Pro_26:25 (Hitzig), but a sacred number. It is to be understood here, however, not arithmetically, but symbolically, representing a continued course of devotional exercises, complete in itself, and surrounding and pervading, with its sacred influences, all the duties of the day. In the same way such exercises three times engaged in (Psa_55:18), were shown to be spontaneous, rising above the perfunctory spirit, which might characterize the customary morning and evening devotions. [Alexander: “The use of this form of expression here is not the effect, but the occasion of the use of canonical hours.”—J. F. M.]
Tau.—[Psa_119:171 translate: My lips shall pour forth praise, for Thou wilt teach me Thy statutes.—J. F. M.] Psa_119:176. A lost sheep is one separated from the flock (Isa_27:13), and, therefore, every moment in danger of destruction. The idea is explained by Isa_53:6. The accents (J. H. Mich., Hupf., Del.) are usually not regarded. [Perowne: “The figure cannot be employed here in the same sense in which it is employed in our Lord’s parable. He who is the lost sheep here is one who does not forget God’s commandments. The figure, therefore, seems in this place to denote the helpless condition of the Psalmist, without protectors, exposed to enemies, in the midst of whom he wanders, not knowing where to find rest and shelter.” Alexander: “As the preceding verse sums up the petitions of the psalm, so this sums up its complaints in the first clause, and its professions in the last, connected by the short prayer (seek thy servant) as a single link. The predominant use of the past tense, even to the end, shows how deeply the entire psalm is founded upon actual and previous experience.”—J. F. M.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Psa_119:1-8. The blessedness of those who love, praise, and strive after God’s word, in spite of all its opposers.—From the relation in which thou dost stand to God’s word, thou canst derive knowledge concerning the inclinations of thy heart, the bias of thy soul, and the conduct of thy life.—Be not satisfied with the possession of God’s word in the Holy Scriptures, but grow in the knowledge of it, and exercise thyself in its use.—Open thy heart to God in prayer for the entrance of His Word in its power.
Starke: The blessed use of God’s word consists in a pious life, regulated thereby sincerely and steadfastly.—The world seeks its happiness in riches and honors, and does not find it. God’s word is a mine of gold in which we must dig, if we would be eternally happy.—To walk in God’s ways, and not to do evil consciously, are things inseparably connected.—If thou doest what God bids thee, thou knowest thou canst do no wrong.—We learn faith from the gospel, and love from the law. How can these commands be better kept, than when they are obeyed in the exercise of faith and love?—Where there dwells a heavenly mind there is a longing and sighing after the things of heaven.—It is the highest of all arts, to impress God’s word deeply upon the heart, and to desire to listen to nothing else. We have to keep learning that art as long as we live.—When we have God as our Teacher, and the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we learn Divine things aright.—It is the nature of God’s word, that, the more and the more diligently we read it aud meditate upon it, the richer understanding, instruction, and comfort it imparts. Its teaching can never be exhausted.
Frisch: Follow the known will of God, as in belief, so also in life, and depart neither from the love nor the fear of it.—Rieger: The blessed purpose, to seek God in His word, to cleave to Him according to His word, and to become a man thoroughly furnished to every good work through His word.—The word of God drives us to prayer by revealing to us our needs.—Richter: God’s word is the true expression and mirror of His nature.—Guenther: Having respect to God’s commandments is the condition of deliverance from temporal and eternal ruin. But this spiritual beholding is a looking to the commandments, contemplating them, meditating upon them, and observing them all without exception.—Diedrich: A life according to God’s law is not one of compulsion or servitude, but of the highest delight, of blissful enjoyment, and of lofty sublime security.—Taube: The Psalmist has a lofty aim before him, and yet there is a sigh in his bosom; he aspires to learn and perform assiduously God’s commandments, and yet to rest humbly in the mercy of God alone, and all with the whole heart and with an upright soul.
[Matt. Henry: It will not serve us to make religion the subject of our talk, but we must make it the rule of our walk.—See how the desires and prayers of a good man exactly agree with the will and command of a good God. Thou wouldst have me keep Thy precepts, and, Lord, I fain would keep them.—God’s judgments are all righteous, and therefore it is desirable, not only to learn them, but to be learned in them, mighty in the Scriptures.—We cannot keep God’s commandments, unless we learn them, but we learn them in vain, unless we keep them.—Scott: It is the will of God that we should wisely seek our own happiness; our self-love, indeed, should be properly directed and subordinated: but it cannot and ought not to be extirpated.—Bridges : To exclude any commandment from a supreme regard in the heart, is the brand of hypocrisy.—We always find that as our mind is dark, our tongue is dumb and we are unable to bear a testimony for our God.—J. F. M].
Psa_119:9-16. The greater the perils and the stronger the temptations which beset the young in the world (2Ti_2:22), the more do they need to hold us to God’s word, whose wisdom will help their inexperience, and whose power will help their weakness.—We must begin early to obey God’s word (Pro_8:17; Lam_3:27), and never cease.—From love to God’s word, there flow thanks that we have received it, joy that we now possess it, and desire to make use of it.—Those who have, hear, and learn God’s word, should also keep (Luk_11:28), profess and follow it, as the guide of their faith and life.
Starke: He who would be godly must begin in time, for that to which one is habituated in his boyhood, he does not abandon in his age (Pro_22:6).—God’s word is the best school for the young and the old (2Ti_3:15; Lev. 2:31 f.).—True religion has its seat in the heart, and is proved by words, by works, and by a Christian life.—The more a believer exercises himself in God’s word, and tastes its graciousness, the dearer it becomes to him.—The heart as well as the memory must be a casket that contains the treasure of the Divine word.—Growth in godliness results from delight in God’s word.
Arndt: God’s word must be fulfilled upon thee, whether for life or death.—Richter: Hold to God’s whole word early, earnestly, and joyfully.—Diedrich: I cannot trust in myself to remain steadfast. And the most advanced in spiritual things must implore it as a favor from God, that they may abide only in the truth.—Taube: A youth of unimpaired purity and strength, is a presage of the blessedness of the whole life.
[Scott: As God is both perfectly holy and perfectly happy, and as His blessedness is the result of His infinite excellency, how absurd it must be to expect happiness by being contrary to Him and rebelling against Him!—Bridges: Let it be remembered that daily progress in the heavenly walk is not maintained by yesterday’s supply of grace. A fresh supply must be continually drawn in by humble and dependent prayer.—No better test can be needed of the security of our heart with God, than a willingness to come to the searching light of His holy word.—If our inability to bear a testimony for our Lord is not painful to us (comp. Psa_39:12; Jer_20:9), we have the greatest reason to suspect, if not the sincerity, at least the strength of our attachment to His precious name.—Barnes: Such an apprehension (that there may be a wandering from God’s commandments) is one of the best means of security, for it will lead a man to pray, and while a man prays he is safe.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:17-24. The word of God as the light and the food of His servants, who, as strangers upon earth, journey heavenwards.—Among the benefits and the wonders of God, the gift of His holy word shines forth in power, diffusing help and blessing in its beams.—All men desire life and well-being, and God furnishes the means of obtaining them. But how few are thoroughly acquainted with them, and how few avail themselves of them in the way appointed by God.—In order to discern the truth of revelation, we need not only to have the gift of sight, but also to pray that both our eyes and the Scriptures may be opened for us.
Starke: We can only be said rightly to receive the blessings of God with thanksgiving when they are employed to advance our spiritual life, and the exercise of true godliness.—The wicked act as though they had to remain in the world for ever: the pious, on the contrary, know that their abiding place is in heaven, and they long after that (Heb_13:14).—The longing of believers for the true service of God is not a transient heat, but is hearty, ardent, and constant.—The mystery of affliction is soon solved if we keep God’s testimonies.—It is much better for us to live, so as to please the Supreme King who lives eternally. Then we will find comfort enough in His word.—The fear of men, and the desire to please them, poison true religion and prevent it from ever becoming pure.
Frisch: Thou mayest consult God’s word upon whatever thou wilt, and it will never send thee away without advice. But it rests with thyself to follow it.—Tholuck: God’s law should not be the object of an idle contemplation, but a practical counsellor for all the relations of human life.—Guenther: A strong incitement to a pure life may be found in the nature of man and of his life, His temporal life is only the beginning not the end; the earth is not his enduring dwelling-place, but only a transient lodging-place. Woe to the stranger who has not chosen here the true home.—Diedrich: We must not allow ourselves to be turned from God’s word by the enmity of the world.—Gerok: God’s commands to His strangers on earth as inscribed upon the gates of the new year. They relate (1) to the heavenly Protector, (2) to the earthly companions, (3) to the heavenly goal.—Taube: God’s word is the greatest miracle; it is the key to the knowledge of His whole government.
[Matt. Henry: I am a stranger, and therefore stand in need of a guide, a guard, a companion, a comforter; let me have Thy commandments always in view, for they will be all this to me, all that a poor stranger can desire. I am a stranger here, and must be gone shortly, by Thy commandments let me be prepared for my removal hence.—Bp. Horne: Pride, prejudice, and interest will compose a veil, through which the Christian shall see as little of the New Testament, as the Jew doth of the Old. Lord, convince us of our blindness, and restore us to our sight!—Bridges: It is indeed an unspeakable mercy to know a little of the Lord, and yet, at the same time, to feel that it is only a little that we do know. In this spirit we shall be longing to know more, and yet anxious to know nothing, except as we are taught of God.—We want, not a clearer rule, or a surer guide, but a more single eye.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:25-32.—The sighs, tears, and anxieties of the pious are as little understood by the world, as their prayers, their joys, and their hopes.—God’s testimonies afford consolation, strengthening, and hope, even to him that is persecuted by men, and that in his hours of greatest extremity.—He who walks in the way which the commands of God point out and prescribe to us, learns ever to understand it more deeply, and receives thereby renewed desire and fresh strength to advance upon it.
Starke: That which supports the heart most powerfully against spiritual feebleness, is the gracious word of the gospel.—The word of God is the touch-stone by which we can prove whether a doctrine is true or false.—He who plans before his eyes, as a rule, God’s wise precepts, will find mercy and help with Him.—Human wit and learning may bring to shame, but God’s word and faith in it, never can.—God’s comforts incline and prepare the heart to become more godly.—In the religion of Christ there must be no standing still; the motto of a Christian must be: ever onward through Christ (Eph_4:13).
Arndt: Everything is false (1) which is not and comes not from God; (2) which comes not from the inmost depths of the heart; (3) which does not abide the test of affliction.—Frisch: God is faithful; do thou only keep what thou hast vowed, and, if He has opened wide thy heart from without and from within, continue thou the more zealously and joyfully in His service, so as to please Him well.—Guenther: Sin has crippled the wings of the soul, and it is only through God’s word that it can soar aloft again; and, when it languishes, can revive it with the water of life.—Taube: The heart that resorts constantly and hopefully to God’s word and to prayer, can never be driven from its stronghold, but is preserved therein by God’s power (1Pe_1:5). And then the progress is firm and sure, and the walk in God’s ways, joyful and comforting.
[Matt. Henry: God’s word should be our guide and plea in every prayer.—God by His Spirit enlarges the hearts of His people when He puts wisdom there, 1Ki_4:29, and when He sheds abroad the love of God in the heart, and puts gladness there. The joy of our Lord should be wheels to our obedience.—Bishop Horne: How much depends upon the road we choose! How difficult it is, in a divided and distracted world, to choose aright! Yet this choice, so important, so difficult, often remains to be made by us, when we have neither judgment to choose, nor strength to travel!—Bridges: No one can lay claim to the character and privileges of a Christian, to whom sin is not the greatest sorrow and the heaviest burden.—It is the earthliness of the soul that obstructs our brighter view of the Saviour, dims the eye of faith, and hides those brighter prospects which, if beheld in the clear horizon, would enliven and invigorate us in our heavenly way.—Barnes: Sin contracts the soul, religion enlarges it.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:33-40.—Deviations from the right way are very numerous and perilous, under the allurements of sin. We, therefore, need not merely instruction through God’s word, but also to have our hearts guided and inclined towards what is right and pleasing to God.—We need never flatter ourselves that we are secure. We must labor to remain steadfast even to the end; and we can never do without God’s assistance, for such fidelity demands an observance of the law with the whole heart.—There are few who are contented with the gain which arises from godliness (1Ti_6:6), or who feel that they have enough of the gifts of God (Gen_33:11), and yet avarice is a root of all evil (1Ti_6:10).
Starke: It is with most men, in spiritual things, as with the blossoms on the trees in spring. How many are whirled away by the wind! how many are pierced by the worm! This is why constancy is so much insisted upon in God’s word.—It is impossible to preserve God’s word in the heart, and to obey it from the heart, when there is no love for it (John 14:33).—Pleasure! pleasure! is the cry of the world; in all directions this is the great object. But who seeks and finds pure pleasure in God and His word?—To hate, fear, and flee from sin is a noble, yea, a godlike attribute, and results from love of virtue and good.—When the heart begins to doubt with regard to God’s word, whether it is His word or not, it falls into a most pitiable condition.—The regenerate, in every event of their lives, renew their resolution, not to sin presumptuously, but fear God as little children.
Arndt: I care not for the disgrace of calumniation, which I innocently endure, if only I am not put to shame before God.—Frisch: Why do I complain so much of outward temptations? I have in myself the greatest distress. I find darkness in my understanding, great indolence in my will, and in my inclinations, and still too much anxiety and love for the earthly, and in my thoughts of external things, too great bias towards the vain pursuits of this world.—Rieger : Show me Thy ways, instruct me, guide me, incline my heart. In these prayers there is indeed shown just distrust of ourselves, and a child-like clinging to the hand of God.—Guenther: Thou must free thy soul from earthly good and carnal desires, else thou canst not rise, but wilt remain tied down, and forget at last how to fly.—Diedrich: Be Thou my Teacher, Thou that art the highest Wisdom and the Source of life, and then shall I be able to live and love better.—Dishonor from the world is our honor; it becomes our dishonor only when we by it are drawn away from God.—God’s guidance, which constrains us so gently and yet so powerfully, is the best defence against the evil impulses of the human heart, which His servant feels deeply, and confesses so unreservedly.
[Matt. Henry: Beholding vanity deadens and slackens our pace; but if our eyes be kept from that which will divert us, our hearts will be kept to that which shall excite us.—Bridges: If God loves you, He will not indeed lose you; but unless you “take heed and beware of covetousness,” He will not spare you (1Ti_6:10).—Watchfulness without prayer is presumption; prayer without watchfulness is self-delusion.—In proportion as our interest in the great salvation is assured us, will be the exercise of our faith in pleading our interest in the great salvation included in it.—Barnes: An ugly object loses much of its deformity to us, when we look often upon it. Sin follows this general law.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:41-48.—If we had not God’s gracious promises, we poor sinners would not venture to come before His face with petitions; but now we may and shall draw near unto Him, in penitence and faith, on the ground of His word.—Our calumniators, revilers, and enemies should not rob us of our joy, and drive us from our faith, but only urge us more strongly to God and His word.—God’s commandments are to have more weight with us than the mandates of the mighty of earth.
Gregory of Nazianzus: I have this advantage over my revilers, that I become only more devoted to religion and godliness on account of their attacks.
Starke: God’s mercy, help, and word are closely united with one another; each is based upon the others, or flows from them.—The word of truth does not help us so long as we regard it as an empty husk, and do not strive to have our faith kindled by it.—Dost thou really fear God, oh soul? Then let thyself be heard, so that it may be known what thou art. What is believed in the heart must be confessed.—It is for the honor of Christ, and also for thine own, if thou dost fearlessly confess Him before men—The less earnestness one shows in religion, the more foolish he is, for it is just his half-heartedness in his religion, that makes it painful and harassing to him.—In a profession of faith there must be steadfastness. Whatever is yea and amen according to God’s word remains ever so. Truth to-day is nothing different from what it was yesterday.—Franke: The ten commandments are an old-fashioned thing with the world. None trouble themselves about them for they think that no one can keep them. But with God’s children it is not so. His commandments are to them not a house of correction, but a garden of delights.—Frisch: He, of whom you confess, is greater than they before whom you confess. Only see to it, that the heart and the hand agree with the mouth.—Rieger: A good step is taken forwards, when we become ready to give an answer to him who demands a reason: when we overcome the modesty which would keep itself concealed, and are not kept back from confessing the truth by the unbelief and scorn of others.—Guenther: It is demanded of us that we hold fast to God’s word, that we overcome humiliation by humility, and that we esteem honor from God, more highly than all the praise of the world.—Taube: That freedom, which has its divinely powerful springs in a blessed devotion to God’s precepts, begets great joy, which is manifested outwardly by fearless confession, inwardly by absorbing delight in His commandments.
[Matt. Henry: All that love God love His government, and, therefore, love all His commandments.—Bridges: General notions of the mercy of God, without a distinct apprehension of His salvation, can never have any other origin than in presumption, which God abhors.—The common topics of earthly conversation may furnish a channel for heavenly intercourse, so that our communication, even with the world, may be like Jacob’s ladder whose bottom rested upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.—Acceptable obedience, must flow from love, and be accompanied with a measure of delight.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:49-56. The word of God, as the ground of our hope in life, as a light in our night of trouble, as a song on our pilgrimage.—To continue steadfast, patient, and courageous in the word of God, is, according to the testimony of history and the experience of all believers, the everflowing fountain of blessing in the miseries of this world.—God deigns to be reminded of His word by our mouth. But he who undertakes to do so must not only know God’s word, he must also sincerely love it, believe it from the heart, and earnestly strive to keep it.—God does not forget or abandon us: but oh that we, at all times, by day and by night, in prosperity and in adversity, might remember God and His word, and cleave to them!—To keep God’s word, is the endowment and e tate of the pious.
Starke: If God wills that our faith should not forget His promises, He will surely, in His faithfulness, not leave His promise unfulfilled.—When God’s word and hope and prayer are united in any heart, there are found comfort, life, and revival.—Former judgments of God are a powerful mirror of terrors for the ungodly, but comforting tokens of mercy for believers.—The children of God resemble their heavenly Father, inasmuch as what He abhors is abhorred by them.—To abandon God and His word is the first step to sin, and soon after that comes the greatest degree of obduracy.—It is a burden to the children of the world, to have much to do with God’s word, but to God’s children it is a delight, for it cheers and sweetens this troublous life.—Those who assiduously call God’s word to mind through the day, and who commend themselves earnestly to Him on retiring to rest, have in this the surest remedy against evil thoughts and sinful dreams.—A good conscience, guarded well in accordance with God’s word, is better than all the joys and riches of this world.—Rieger: It is a great privilege, when we have to sustain new assaults, to be able to look back with comfort upon temptations overcome.—Guenther: Thou must now learn to make a difference amongst men, determining thy friendships and thy enmities according to God’s word.—Diedrich: God cannot forsake those who wait for Him: the faith which He Himself has evoked, He cannot leave unjustified.—Taube: God’s words are the concealed roots of His deeds, and His deeds are His words laid bare.—A worldly man is enraged when he himself is insulted, but quite indifferent when God is insulted. It is the reverse with God’s children. Their holy indignation at the despisers of God has, as its reverse side, a holy love for the law of the Lord.
[Matt. Henry: Those that make God’s promises their portion, may with humble boldness make them their plea.—Those can bear but little for Christ, that cannot bear a hard word for Him.—God’s work is its own wages: a heart to obey the will of God is a most valuable reward of obedience; and the more we do, the more we may do in the service of God: the branch that beareth fruit is made more fruitful.—Bridges: Seek to keep your heart in tune.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:57-64. It is impossible to keep God’s word without His gracious assistance, but He affords such assistance to those who pray earnestly for it, and continue thus to pray.—The communion of believers is a rich fountain of mutual comfort, support, and edification.—The better we learn to know ourselves and the world by an impartial trial, with the greater longing will we entreat from God’s mercy the light, the comfort, and the power of His holy word.—Melanchthon’s custom was to rise up soon after midnight, and after praying to meditate upon God’s word.—Starke: How earnestly men strive after earthly possessions! how many disputes are caused thereby! But they despise the heavenly inheritance, and often even trifle it away.—The chief matter of all our prayer should be, that God would be merciful to us, and preserve us in His mercy.—It is sometimes advisable in temporal matters to postpone the execution of a purpose, but in things spiritual, every moment is fraught with peril if repentance be deferred.—Guenther: As soon as thou showest zeal in thy religion, many former friends will forsake thee. No matter.—Lyncker: A retrospect of the past year teaches (1) how much we have to be thankful for, (2) bow much we have to implore pardon for, (3), whom we have to comfort us.—Taube: He who is in haste to deliver his soul evinces a sincere heart.—The riches of God’s mercy, spread as they are over all the earth, are disclosed to the eye of faith; but the greatest of His mercies is His word, which excites faith, and teaches us to recognize God in His ways and works.
[Matt. Henry: Those that take God for their portion, must take Him for their prince, and swear allegiance to Him; and having promised to keep His word, we must often put ourselves in mind of our promise, Psa_39:1.—We must never think the worse of God’s ways for any trouble we may meet with in those ways: nor fear being losers by our religion at last, however we may be losers by it now.—See how the Psalmist husbanded his time: when he could not lie and sleep, he would rise and pray.—Bp. Horne: Mercy is the sole fountain of every good gift for which we ask, and God’s promise the sole ground upon which we ask it.—Bridges : The more there is of our heart in seeking, the more there will be of the Lord’s heart in returning to us.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:65-72. He who humbles himself under God’s powerful hand, will find his sufferings turn to blessings; they make him, especially, learn and feel his own sins and God’s mercy.—He is blessed, who has become wise by experience, and who, by the discovery of his error, has been driven from his own sins, and from the ways of the world, to God and His word.—We err most and most perilously, when we esteem ourselves wise, righteous, and strong.—God’s word a treasure above all treasures; why and for what ends?
Starke: God is the living source of all good.—To this fountain men should trace it all, so that God be not robbed of His glory.—Affliction is a holy and profitable ordinance of God; a school of wisdom, in which is learnt what God and man are.—Human knowledge and scientific understanding of Divine truth does not make any truly taught of God. Faith, prayer, and trials are also necessary.—There is nothing that can be less well endured than prosperity. Men commonly fall away, under it, into false paths and into sin.—God may bring us back to His way by gentle or by harsh means, and yet they are all nothing but goodness and mercy.—The rod makes good children, and the uses of the cross, to those who are exercised thereby, are great and manifold.—That so many are lost and condemned is due to their worshipping gold and silver as their gods, and thus forgetting the Eternal God.—He who is God’s child does not concern himself about gold and silver. If he is God’s child, he is also His heir, and He will give him what he needs, when it is necessary for him.—If men would rightly consider the origin of the Divine word, that it is a word from the mouth of God, they would joyfully become possessors of it; they could not do otherwise.—Frisch: From every work and word of our beloved God, we must taste and see how kind He is.—Rieger: God brings men down from their own wisdom by humiliations, and commonly from their own righteousness by more severe humiliations.—Taube: What are we without God’s word? We know not what we are to do, nor what He does.
[Matt. Henry: God’s favors look best when they are compared with the promise, when they are seen flowing from that fountain.—Sanctified afflictions soften the heart and open the ear for discipline. The prodigal’s distress brought him to himself first and then to his father.—Scott: How dreadful is the case of those who are hardened in sin, even in the furnace of affliction!—Bridges: Let my heart never condemn me when it ought not! Let it never fail to condemn me when it ought!—There is none so communicatively good as God.—The first mark of the touch of grace, is when the heart becomes sensible of its own insensibility, and contrite on account of its own hardness.—J. F. M.].
Psa_119:73-80. We owe to God as our Creator our natural life and its preservation. Is it otherwise with our spiritual life?—To those who fear God, His faithfulness is discernible, even in His judgments, as that of a merciful God.—The sincere servant of God soon discovers that he has no other consolation than the mercy of the Lord.
Starke: The creation of a new heart creates also the obligation to strive after progress in the living knowledge of God, and to praise Him for His benefits.—The good that God bestows upon a believer serves not only to console and edify him, but other believers also.—Nothing in God and in great lords is more convenient to their subjects than mercy, but there is nothing that is so much abused or so capriciously drawn upon.—God’s mercy is not for the servants of sin, but for His own.—Our consolation flows from the fountain of eternal Compassion, and we repose upon God’s promise, when we are inclined to receive this consolation.
Frisch: Others are directed to look at thee: look then well at thyself. Oh, let them never discover anything evil; think of the sad effects of wickedness! Rather let thy doing and forbearing be so regulated that they may follow thy example with gladness and a good conscience.—Rieger: It is no small help to those who fear God and yet are unable to throw off the oppression of the service of vanity, when they see one who clings so fast to God in faith, confession, holy deeds, and hope, and allows himself to be overwhelmed by no obstruction.—Diedrich: Like seeks comfort only in like, and so do those who fear God. But they have also a long chain of comforting thoughts behind them, and in these thoughts they are raised up again.—Taube: The flower and quintessence of the whole revealed word is the gracious consolation promised by God, and gained by prayer.
[Matt. Henry : The way in which God recovers and secures His interest in men is by giving them an understanding; for by that door he enters into the soul and gains possession of it.—Bp. Horne: In all our trials let us remember that our brethren as well as ourselves are deeply interested in the event which may either weaken or strengthen the hands of multitudes.—Bridges: Be chiefly afraid of an inward decay, of a barren, sapless notion of experimental truth. Remember that your profession can only be thriving, vigorous, fruitful, as it is watered at the root.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:81-88. God’s word is and remains the subject of our confession, the guide of our path, and the ground of our hope.—If we do not make such rapid progress as we would wish, we go yet more surely forwards, if we do not allow ourselves to be forced or enticed aside from the word and way of God and the influence of His mercy.
Starke: If God removes His consolation there is nothing in the world which can comfort the soul.—God often wounds the body that He may heal the soul.—To have God’s word ever and forever in lively recollection, is an excellent characteristic of hope.—Presumption and pride in the enemies of Christ and of His followers, is a sure fore-token of the severe judgment that impends over them.—As much as the world can afflict, torment, and slay, so much can God’s grace comfort, delight, and revive.—The mercy of God must be beginning, middle, and end. Thou livest in that mercy and upon it.—To God’s children every moment that He delays His help appears too long. But God has His wise reasons. He will surely fulfil His word at the right time.
Frisch: The ungodly can only kill the body; they may take away the natural life and earthly goods and possessions; they must leave us the life eternal.—Diedrich: In God consolation, in the world distress; with God faithfulness, with the world deadly falsehood.—Taube: New troubles and new conflicts, but the old hope and refuge in his God.—It is the consolation of grace, that first opens the way to the prayer for help.
[Matt. Henry: God help me is an excellent comprehensive prayer. It is a pity that it should ever be used lightly or as a by-word.—The surest token of God’s good-will towards us, is His good work in us.—Bridges: Faith is indeed the soul’s venture for eternity, but it is a sure venture upon the ground of the word of God.—Be assured that waiting time is most precious. Not a moment of it will be found eventually to have been lost. And not a moment of it could possibly have been spared. It is the preparation and work by which the Lord has been progressively moulding your heart for the reception of a more refreshing and abundant mercy.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:89-96. Nothing is to be compared with God but His word. From it we may learn to know Him in His truth, and from it, too, we may gain eternal life.—The world has been created by the word of God, and by His word it shall be prepared for His kingdom.—Everything changes; but not God and His word.
Starke: Eternity is a word of terror, or a word of delight, according to the character of the person who contemplates it.—God will not change His word, but men must change themselves according to that word, or it will judge them on that day.—Remember God’s word at all times, and never forget it. If thou wilt forget anything, forget created things, which prevent thee from remembering it continually.—He who rightly appropriates in faith the meaning of the name Jesus, can truly pray: save me.—The friendship between God’s children and the world began with Cain, and will continue to the end of the world.—The pre eminent excellence of God and His word must be so much clearer in the eyes of one who compares with them the things of this world.
Franke: The uniting of the heart with God, so that God becomes ours and we become God’s, is the highest good that can be sought in this life.—Frisch: Be not deluded by Satan, and persuaded that the word of the Lord is of the same nature as that of men. Rather let experience testify in thee, whether thou wouldst not long since have perished in manifold distress, if this word had not continued with thee, and strengthened thy heart.—Diedrich: We know surely, that we have in God the greatest strength for us, as well as the greatest love.—Taube: He who abides by the Father is established with the word that is forever sure, and cannot perish.
[Matt. Henry : See here what is the best help for bad memories, namely, good affections.—Bridges: Will the Christian complain of the exceeding breadth of the commandment? The contemplation of it has lost its terrors in the recollection that the gospel of the Saviour has met its full demands. Broad as it may be, the love that has fulfilled it is immeasurable.—Barnes: A man who feels assured that he is a friend of God, has a right to appeal to Him for protection, and he will not appeal to Him in vain.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:97-104. The longer and the more seriously we have to do with God’s word, the clearer it becomes to us; and the more highly we value it, the more will everything drive us to it.—It will be manifest in our words and conduct how we abide by the word of God.
Luther: Old age does not save from folly if God’s commands are not kept.—Starke: He who has tasted in his soul the graciousness of God’s word, can never be satiated in its enjoyment.—His hunger grows in such excess of supply: in his case it is true: “the longer the fonder.”—As highly as grace surpasses nature, so much do those who are enlightened by God surpass those who are learned in the light of nature. True wisdom is not to be gauged by the number of years, but by the love to God and His word, and a blameless life.—A regenerate Christian is his own severe critic. He will not spare himself if he detects his heart inclining to error.—God’s word is truly that miraculous tree which sweetens the bitter waters of affliction.—Honey is both medicine and food, so also is God’s word to our souls, but its fruit, and taste far surpass earthly honey.—The love of virtue always begets hatred of vice. The devil and Christ, light and darkness, are never united.—Rieger: What a sincere heart seems to say here in its own praise, is really resolved into nothing but praise of God and His word, by which it has been taught, guided, and kept from every evil and false way.—Diedrich: God’s word is of infinite meaning. One never wearies of it, but is ever more refreshed and revived.—Deichert: There is no more precious treasure in the world than God’s word; for (1) it remains when all else disappears; (2) it comforts and revives in distresses and sins; (3) and makes all wise for the blessed overcoming.—Taube: Men cannot love God’s word without constant use of it, and they cannot love the truth obtained from it without hating falsehood.
[Matt. Henry: Heavenly wisdom will carry the point at long run against carnal policy.—By keeping the commandments we secure God on our side, and make Him our friend, and therein are certainly wiser than those who make Him their enemy.—The love of the truth prepares for the light of it.—Bp. Horne: Our heavenly Teacher differeth from all others in this, that with the lesson, he bestoweth on the scholar both a disposition to learn and the ability to perform.—We shall ever find our relish for the word of God to be greatest when that for the world and the flesh is least, in time of affliction, sickness and death; for these are contrary one to the other. In heaven the latter will be no more, and therefore the former will be all in all.—Bridges: Let us remark this frame of enjoyment, this spiritual barometer, the pulse of the soul, marking most accurately our progress or decline in the divine life. With our advancement in spiritual health, the word will be increasingly sweet to our taste, while our declension will be marked by a corresponding abatement in our desires, and love and perception of its delights.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:105-112. In the light of God’s word we see where we are to set our feet in the darkness of this world, so as not to stumble and fall, and whither we are to direct the way of our steps for our salvation.—As God is so much in earnest with His requirements, threatenings and promises, so it is incumbent upon us to govern our lives according to them.—The perils of those who confess God are great; but so also is the reward of faithfulness.—If the heart has been inclined in love to God’s word, then the word impels us, with the vigor of life, to the fulfilment of our resolves and vows, to the praise of the Lord, with the offerings of the lips and the life.—The word of God—a heavenly light, a comfort to the soul, a life giving force.
Starke: If God’s word is a lamp and light, it must, be bright and clear. How do unbelievers say then that it is dark?—Reason may be a light, and a fair one; but it cannot show or discover the way from death to life.—Affliction may indeed subdue and humble us; but God’s word gives, under its influence, rich consolation. If thou lovest life better than God’s word, thou wilt in death lose both thy life and Christ.—What will men not do in order to acquire an earthly inheritance? And should not the eternal inheritance be worth so much as that men would willingly resign everything else, and aspire after it alone?
Frisch: Make a good beginning, and accustom thy heart more and more to be conformed to God’s judgments, even to the end.—Rieger: The best and most fervent resolutions may be followed by the most complete humiliation, so that the strange fire that has been introduced may be separated, the spirit preserved from self-elevation, and the professed zeal be put to a suitable proof.—Diedrich: Worldlings would have, as their inheritance, hard cash or real estate; such possessions give them much vexation.—Taube: The word is always the strong branch, which the believer seizes while about to sink, so that he is not swallowed up in the abyss; and his prayer from the depths is then the outstretched hand.
[Matt. Henry: The commandment is a lamp kept burning by the oil of the Spirit; it is like the lamps in the sanctuary and the pillar of fire to Israel.—Bp. Horne: Man is a traveller, his life is a journey, heaven is his end, his road lies through a wilderness, and he is in the dark.—Bridges: The lamp must be lighted, or no reflection will shine upon our path. The word of God must be accompanied with the teaching of the Spirit, or all is “darkness, gross darkness” still.—Those who have never realized the nearness of eternity can have but a faint idea of the support that is needed in the hour when “flesh and heart fail” to keep the soul in simple dependence upon the Rock of ages.—How encouraging is it to trace every tender prayer, every contrite groan, every working of spiritual desire, to the assisting, upholding influence of the free Spirit of God. The same hand that gave the new bias to direct the soul in a heavenward motion will be put forth from time to time to quicken that motion—to incline the heart even unto the end.—Barnes: All who make a profession of religion solemnly vow or swear. They do it in the house of God; they do it in the presence of the Discerner of hearts; they do it at the communion table; they do it at the family altar; they do it in the closet when alone with God.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:113-120. With half of the heart we can neither love God, nor trust His word truly, nor earnestly hate and forsake evil.—The turning away from the world and the turning to God are mutually conditioned and are the saving fruit of a living fear of God.—The word of God, as a word of truth, assures the deliverance of the righteous and the ruin of the ungodly.
Starke: That man has not a spark of true love to God in his soul who can behold the wickedness of men with indifference and without emotion.—No man can be so secure and free from danger as a believer who dwells under the protection of the Highest.—If a man would withdraw himself gradually from evil society, his endeavors will be useless: he always becomes entangled in it again. The separation must be made completely and at once.—Those reflections are profitable which a believer makes when he examines himself to discover whether he retains his early strength of religious feeling or whether he has declined. If he detects signs of the latter, what is more necessary than the prayer: Strengthen me that I may recover?—All false doctrine and sinful living are seed and fruit sown and raised by the devil; therefore God hates and punishes them.—He who is not terrified before the wrath of God and does not work out his salvation with fear and trembling has in store for himself in eternity unceasing despair and wailing.
Franke: If a man be spiritually sound, God’s word will ever be sweet to him; his heart will ever delight itself in God, and he will do His will with alacrity and cheerfulness in all that is enjoined upon him. By this it can be known whether his soul is healthy or unsound.—Frisch: Many suppose that they can believe what they will, that no one will care anything about it, that there will be no trouble or danger in it, and so they cast God’s word behind them, and follow every changing opinion, and allow themselves to be deceived by false doctrine, and thus are led to fall away; but are they to do this with impunity? They imagine, indeed, that they may live as they please and no misfortune will come upon them. But when they say: There is peace! there is no danger! destruction quickly overtakes them.—Rieger: Hatred of evil must quicken and purify the love of good; while the love of good must control and regulate the hatred of evil.—Diedrich: All the thoughts and desires of the natural man are false; for he wishes what does not, and can never, come to pass, and seeks life and honor in that which is death and the vilest disgrace.—Taube: Fear and love, in one and the same heart, and towards one and the same object, God’s testimonies and judgments.
[Matt. Henry: Whatever others do, this I will do; though I be singular; though all about me be evil-doers and desert me; whatever I have done hitherto, I will for the future walk closely with God. They are the commandments of God, of my God, and therefore I will keep them. He is God, and may command me; my God, and will command me nothing but what is for my good.—We stand no longer than God holds us, and go no further than He carries us.—Bp. Horne: Encompassed with a frail body and a sinful world, we need every possible tie; and the affections both of fear and love must be employed to restrain us from transgression; we must, at the same time, love God’s testimonies and fear His judgments.—Bridges: There is no humble believer that will not have observed how intimately the “fear of the Lord” is connected with the “comfort of the Holy Ghost,” and with his own steady progress in holiness and preparation for heaven.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:121-128. A good conscience comforts and strengthens the soul in the bitter sufferings of persecution which the world never forgets to inflict upon the righteous; but it does not make them vain or secure.—Courage and humility are as closely united in the righteous as are thanksgiving and prayer.—Those are the gloomiest times when the faithless not merely transgress the law of God, but seek to destroy it, and banish the word of revelation from the world.
Starke: Thou must not depart from what is right on account of the friendship or enmity of the world, but must continue courageously therein in the duties of thy profession or calling.—It is ever true that the love of righteousness is attended by persecution; but it is also true that right will ever remain right.—Divine consolation can give far more joy than all calumnies can disturb.—Hope in a true believer is only the stronger and more steadfast, the longer divine help is delayed.—The mercy of God is not to be abused as an occasion for sin, but should urge us to the most strenuous efforts to fulfil the will of God in a holy life.—The longer we learn in God’s school, the more we become conscious of our yet remaining ignorance, and therefore long more for growth in knowledge.—He who will pray against his enemies must be more concerned about the hallowing of God’s name than about his own welfare.—Not to regard God’s word, but to act according to one’s own will, and to do all the works of the flesh, are sure presages of the impending judgments of God.—Thou wilt not be able to fulfil God’s law unless thou hast love. Love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom_13:10).—God’s word must not be divided. If we hold the one portion, we must hold the other.
Frisch: Dishonor done to God should concern thee more than disgrace or injury inflicted upon thyself in the world.—Rieger: Let no pleasure or pain tear me from the love of God and of His word.—Diedrich: God so deals with his servants as to make them wise and make them His familiar friends (Joh_15:14 f.).—Taube: Earnest zeal for God is united in all saints with the deeply humble spirit of the publican.
[Matt. Henry: Though our eyes fail, God’s word doth not; and therefore those that build upon it, though now discouraged, shall in due time see His salvation.—Bp. Horne: How ought a man to fear lest the next sin he commits should fill up his measure and seal his eternal doom!—Bridges: In a season of desertion, 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.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:129-136. The greater the departure from God’s word, the more ardent the prayer for the diffusion of His light. The depth of love in the faithful is gauged by the depth of their sorrow for the fallen and deceived (Jer_1:9; Luk_19:41; Php_3:18 f.).—Why should supplication for God’s merciful upholding never be permitted to cease among His servants?
Starke: The more wonderful the things are which are contained in God’s word, the more time and diligence should be employed in apprehending, comprehending, learning and practising them. Many a troubled heart still experiences the wonderful power of the divine word, drawing from it consolation, joy and life.—The love of God is the true school in which to have the knowledge and mysteries of God.—A pious heart bewails not only its own sins, but also those of others.
Franke: The Holy Scriptures are a mine to which not merely the learned have a right, but which is opened to the whole world.—Frisch: The madness and ruin of others should make us wise to esteem more highly the word of God, full, as it is, of precious secrets and wonders, a treasure-house stored with saving instruction and heart-enlivening consolation.—Rieger: In the anguish of sin, God’s word whispers forgiveness to the heart and preserves us when tempted to new sins.—Diedrich: The greater our joy in God, the more intense is our suffering in the world.—Taube: It is just what is wonderful in God’s Scriptures, that the world stumbles at, but which attracts the single-hearted.
[Matt. Henry: Then we may expect temporal blessings, when we have this in our eye, that we may serve God the better.—Comfort me with the light of Thy countenance on every dark and cloudy day. If the world frown upon me, yet do Thou smile.—The sins of sinners are the sorrows of saints; we must mourn for that which we cannot mend.—Bridges: It is the peculiar character of the Christian, that he is as earnest in his desires for deliverance from the power as from the guilt of sin.—Barnes: Nothing is more remarkable than that pious men ordinarily feel so little on account of the danger of their friends and fellow sinners.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:137-144. Love to God is the fountain of that zeal which seeks not its own advantage, but the honor of God, and consumes not others, but itself.—We cannot value the word of God at nearly its worth, nor praise it so much as it deserves of us.—The word of God has its value and power in this: it contains, reflects and holds forth to the apprehension of men God’s eternal righteousness, His infallible truth, and His unchangeable purity.
Starke: God’s word is a clear mirror of the Divine righteousness, both in its promises and in its threatenings.—The preaching of the law is to be attended to, as well as the preaching of the gospel.—The Holy Scriptures, as they are the oldest, are also the plainest and the best book in the world.—What is best should ever be to us dearest, and above all, God and His word.—Humility, suffering, and fidelity in the ways of God, are infallible tokens of sincerity in religion.—If men believed from the heart, that all God’s words are nothing but truth, they would also seek to walk as children of the truth.—The children of the world glory in their great prosperity and riches; true Christians glory in their tribulations (2Co_12:9).—Delight in God’s word overcomes all misfortunes.
Frisch: If thou wouldst give a token that God is in thee, labor, with God-like zeal, against false doctrine and godless living.—Taube: Whatever God has ordained, kings and beggars are bound to obey, and he who disobeys, does it at his peril and to his own hurt; while he who obeys, enjoys a rich reward.—It is a blessed consequence of the world’s despite, and the wholesome fruit of all affliction, that the faith of the man who cleaves to God, becomes thereby more decided, his love to God more faithful and strong, and his delight in the word more intense (1Co_4:12).
[Matt. Henry: That which we are commanded to practice is righteous; that which we are commanded to believe is faithful.—Bishop Horne: Let our study be now in the Scriptures, if we expect our comfort from it in time to come. Scott: Happy are those who love the whole word of God, because of its purity and its purifying influence upon their hearts.—The law of God is the truth, the standard of holiness, and the rule of happiness.—Bridges: The most satisfactory evidence of our zeal as a Christian principle, is when it begins at home, in a narrow scrutiny and vehement revenge against the sins of our own hearts.—Barnes: He who can bear contempt on account of his opinions, can usually bear anything.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:145-152.—When danger increases, let not anxiety increase, but faith and prayer.—The assurance of being heard in prayer does not flow from our piety and zeal, but from God’s mercy and truth.—When persecutors draw near us, let us draw near to the Omnipresent God, and cast all our cares upon Him.
Starke: God bestows Himself and His gifts only to praying souls. If these gifts are at all of importance to thee, never cease praying.—What does it help a man, that he knows the means of grace, God’s word, and prayer, and yet does not employ them?—If we neglect to do good, we very soon begin to do evil.—God proves that He is nigh His people, especially in times of persecution, and that by unexpected help and protection.—God’s word and promise have an eternal foundation, and therefore nothing earthly can overturn them.
Rieger: The mercy and justice of God, announced and displayed in His word, are a staff of comfort.—Diedrich: God’s word has the power to make us pious and faithful; but it lies with ourselves to win from it a blessing.—Taube: The earnestness of our supplications may be tested, not only by the urgency of our cries, but also by the time when they are offered.
[Matt. Henry: The more intimately we converse with the word of God, and the more we dwell upon it in our thoughts, the better able shall we be to speak to God in His own language, and the better we shall know what to pray for as we ought. Reading the word will not serve, but we must meditate upon it.—Bridges: Near as the Lord is to His people, to shield them from their enemies, is He not nearer still, when He dwells in their hearts?—Barnes: This conviction that God is near us, this manifestation of God to the soul, as a present God, is one of the most certain assurances to our own minds, of the truth of religion and of our acceptance with Him.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:153-160.—God’s dealings follow the rule of His righteousness, as the word of His truth testifies; and therefore He remains far from the despisers of His salvation, but vouchsafes the help of His mercy to those who crave it earnestly.
Starke: It is already the beginning of deliverance when God regards us in mercy.—He who avenges himself robs God of His honor, and encroaches upon His prerogative; for vengeance is His.—All who remain sincerely and steadfastly by God’s word, find in Him a mighty Defender and strong Protector.—There is nothing more precious or helpful, than to approach God by laying hold upon His mercy; for then He can not pass thee by, He must grant to thee what thou dost by faith grasp so hard.—It is as difficult for the penitent in distress to avail themselves of God’s mercy with confidence, as it is easy for the ungodly to abuse it.—The victory of believers is gained by faith and patience in the word of God.—Sincere endeavors to fulfil God’s commands, and unchanging hatred of all that is ungodly, flow from ardent love to God’s word.—If God’s word is nothing but truth, the foundation of faith is immovable and no prayer will be lost.
Frisch: Consider well among what manner of persons thou hast to live in this world. With respect to God, thou wilt find most to be despisers; with respect to themselves, lost, and far from salvation; with respect to thee, persecutors and foes.—We can trace here how the Psalmist’s turning to God, through the medium of His beloved word, becomes ever more tender; how he becomes ever more anxious to separate himself from the desperate condition of the ungodly, who throw away all hope of salvation by forsaking the judgments of God.—Diedrich: I cleave to Thy promise, nor will remain in any sin; and on such distress as mine, Thou must have compassion.—Taube: He who presents his plea to God’s mercy, ceases to boast of his own worthiness; and he who praises that mercy, has discovered the greatness of his guilt and his own inability.
[Matt. Henry: A man that is steady in the way of his duties, though he may have many enemies, need fear none.—Bridges: As often as we feel the hindrance of straitened desires and heartless affections, let us repair to the loving-kindness of the Lord, as the overflowing fountain of life to the soul. Remember, to be “filled” is the promise. We have life, but oh, give it us more abundantly, as much as these houses of clay, as much as these earthen vessels can contain.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:161-168.—To love God’s word, to enjoy His peace, to wait for His salvation—this is the employment, reward, and joy of faith.—God’s word will profit him little who prefers the favor of princes to the mercy of God, and dreads their power more than he does God’s hand.
Starke: The fear of God regards the eternal and does not depart from God’s word, even though life itself should be sacrificed; but the fear of man regards the temporal and prefers honor from men to honor from God.—As long as the heart is rent with restless desires, it cannot be called the peaceful dwelling of God.—In spiritual matters we must flee from all trifling fancies of men and hold fast to God’s word.—If we allow ourselves, wilfully or neglectfully, to commit venial sins, they grow deadly ones, which rob us of all our powers, of spiritual life itself.—The daily spiritual occupation of the Christian, is to endeavor to grow in love to God and His word, to become ever more faithful in striving after holiness, and to keep God’s commandments.—A believer loves both the Law and the Gospel. As the latter leads him to Christ and true faith, so the former urges him to a holy life.—If there is anything which can create holy impressions upon men’s minds, so as to influence them to leave wickedness and do good, it is surely the thought, apprehended by faith, of God’s omnipresence.
Franke: If our hearts are temples of the Holy Ghost, we will no longer keep counting up our times of praising God, but from those hearts, as from an altar of thanksgiving, the flame of devotion and love will unceasingly ascend in fervent praise to Him.—Frisch: If thou dost retain God’s word in thy heart, it will be to thee instead of the richest spoil, and in outward disquietude, thou mayst encourage thyself with inward peace in God.—Diedrich: To men of the world, the word of God is harsh, over-strict, and difficult, but to us, it is the highest delight; and our dread is lest, amid the temptations of the enemy, we may through unfaithfulness and indolence, depart from it.—Taube: The praise of God and the peace of God, are the legitimate consequences of a sanctified life.
[Matt. Henry: The more we see of the amiable beauty of truth, the more we shall see of the detestable deformity of a lie.—They that love the world have great vexation, for it does not answer their expectations; they that love God’s word have great peace, for it outdoes their expectations.—Bishop Horne: Christ alone kept the old law, and He enableth us to observe the new.—Bridges: Conscious unworthiness may give a trembling feebleness to the hand of faith, but the weakest apprehension of one of the least of the gospel promises, assures of our interest in them all.—Why may we not set all the fulness of the covenant before the weakest believer, as well as before the strongest, and proclaim to both, with equal freedom, the triumphant challenge: “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”—How beautiful is that spirit which not only longs for holiness as the way to heaven, but loves heaven better for the holy way that leads to it, and for the perfect holiness that reigns there eternally.—Barnes: Religion is essentially voluntary, and the times of secret devotion must also be voluntary; and therefore a man can easily determine, by his own secret devotion, whether he has any peculiar interest, at any particular time, in religion, or whether he has any religion at all.—J. F. M.]
Psa_119:169-176.—Thanksgiving for the hearing of prayer emboldens to renewed supplication, and opens the way for new blessings.—The faithfulness of God our Shepherd the cause of our salvation, and the perpetual subject of our prayers and thanksgiving.
Starke: As ingratitude stops the fountain of the Divine mercy, so gratitude opens it.—Is it not because men are ashamed of God and His word before others, that there are so very few conversations on Divine things?—The more God’s word is read and heard, the more consolation does it impart, like those odoriferous plants and spices, which, the more they are bruised, give forth the sweeter perfume.—The soul cannot praise God if it does not live, and no praise is pleasing to God, unless it comes from a soul which lives in Him.—Whenever a man fancies he is better than others, and belongs to a higher type of Christianity, he soon loses all the good he once had.—The whole of religion is comprised in three things, namely: a true knowledge of the misery of sin, an earnest striving to gain redemption, and a genuine amendment of life according to the precepts of God’s word.—Luther: A Christian is not in being, but in becoming; his life is not piety, but a becoming pious; not health, but convalescence; not rest, but exercise; we are not yet, we are only to be; with us there is no completion, but only progress and ceaseless action; we are not at the goal, but upon the way.—Franke: The cause of the feebleness in religion, which many manifest, is that they soon leave off praying, if God does not hear at once.—The sinful lusts, which are against God’s commandment, contend also against our souls, and slay us if we persist in them.—Diedrich: Let me but understand Thy word truly, and then come what will.—Taube: Poverty of spirit is the beginning and the end of the life of grace.—It was I that strayed and was lost; it was Thou that didst seek and find and keep.
[Matt. Henry: They that pray for God’s grace, must aim at God’s glory.—We are apt to wander like the sheep, and very unapt, when we wander, to find the way again.—Lord, own me for one of them, for, though I am a stray sheep, I have Thy mark. Concern Thyself for me; send after me by the word and conscience and providence; bring me back by Thy grace.—Thus he concludes the Psalm, with a penitent sense of his own sin, and a believing dependence on God’s grace. With these a devout Christian will conclude his duties, will conclude his life; he will live and die repenting and praying.—Bishop Horne: Restore us, oh Lord Jesus, by Thy grace to righteousness, and by Thy power to glory!—Bridges: The life of prayer is the cry of the heart to God. The eloquence of prayer is its earnestness. The power of prayer is the spirit of supplication.—J. F. M.]
Footnotes:
[1][This mode of viewing the verse, which I do not find in any of the other expositors, and which is certainly preferable to the common one, illustrates the critical sagacity of its author, which, together with his exquisite judgment, is in none of his writings better illustrated than in his masterly treatment of this Psalm throughout. It may not be out of place here to call attention to a misconception widely prevalent with regard to his Commentary, that it is very little more than an abridgement of that of Hengstenberg. Numerous instances of disagreement between them are to be found in the additions to this volume, and many more would be observed in a comparison of the two works. The modesty of Dr. Alexander’s preface has misled many with regard to this point; but his Exposition is an evidence of the independence as well as of the power which characterized everything that he wrote.—J. F. M.]
[2][The name applied to Jewish poetry after the 8th Cent. It is evidently derived from the Greek. See Etheridge, Hebrew Literature, pp. 367 ff.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v1 א, Aleph.
א, Aleph.
1-8. Blessed are the undefiled—This, the first division, contains a general declaration of the blessing of faithfulness to the divine law. Here occur very many phrases, already familiar, and explained in the notes on previous psalms.
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Oh that my ways—The view given of their happiness who keep the law, excites this “hungering and thirsting after righteousness.”
Righteous judgments—These mean, here, not so much retributions on bad men, as on Pharaoh, as it does the application of the broad principles of justice which constitute the divine economy.
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 On vv1–8 1. Tôrâh, ‘law,’ LXX νόμος, occurs 25 times. Cp.…
1. Tôrâh, ‘law,’ LXX νόμος, occurs 25 times. Cp. Deu_4:8 &c. It has however a much wider range of meaning than ‘law.’ It denotes (a) direction or instruction, whether human (Pro_1:8) or Divine: (b) a body of teaching: (c) more definitely, a law, or (d) a code of laws, whether the Deuteronomic code or the Levitical legislation, ‘the law of Moses’: and so finally (e) the Pentateuch. Here, as in Psalms 1, 19, it must be taken in its widest sense, as synonymous with the ‘word’ of Jehovah (Isa_1:10; Isa_2:3), to include all Divine revelation as the guide of life, prophetic exhortation as well as priestly direction, the sum of an Israelite’s duty. (Cp. the use of ‘the law’ to denote the whole O.T. in Joh_10:34.)
1. Blessed &c.] Happy the perfect (or upright) in way, integri vitae, those whose course of life is directed and governed by single-hearted devotion to Jehovah, and integrity in dealing with their fellow men. Cp. Psa_1:1; Psa_15:2 note; Psa_101:2; Psa_101:6.
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who walk &c.] Integrity of life is defined as a walking in Jehovah’s law. This is the path (Psa_119:33) which man must follow if he would avoid sin. Cp. Exo_16:4; Luk_1:6. For the meaning of ‘law’ see above, p. 703.
1–8. Aleph. Loyal obedience to Jehovah’s law is the source of man’s truest happiness, and therefore the Psalmist prays that it may be the fixed rule of his life, and that he may learn to understand it better.
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 On vv1, 5, 6 (1) Undefiled.—Better, blameless or perfect.
ALEPH.
(1) Undefiled.—Better, blameless or perfect.
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Way.—See the same use without a qualifying epithet in Psa_2:12. There was only-one way of safety and peace for an Israelite, here by the parallelism defined as “the law of Jehovah.” But even heathen ethics bore witness to the same truth: “Declinandum de viâ sit modo ne summa turpitudo sequatur” (Cic, De Amicitia, 17).
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 On vv1–8 This is an "alphabetic psalm" of a more stringent…
This is an "alphabetic psalm" of a more stringent character than any other. It consists of twenty-two stanzas, each of eight verses, every verse in each stanza beginning with its own proper letter those of stanza 1 with aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; those of stanza 2 with both, the second letter; and so on. The writer, having thus fettered himself, moves with some difficulty, but still has produced what has been justly called "a sweetly monotonous meditation" (Cheyne). He takes the Law for his one and only subject, and, further, seems to have bound himself, almost absolutely, to introduce the word "Law," or something which he regards as a synonym of "Law," into every verse. The synonyms are nine in number
1. TORAH, "the Law" itself; but not merely the Law given on Mount Sinai; rather, God"s law in the widest sense, all whereby he has intimated his will to man.
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2. "EDVOTH, or "EDOTH, "testimonies." God"s commands, considered as witnesses to his character, and as attesting his will.
3. MISHPATIM, "judgments." Judicial pronouncements by act or word against particular lines of conduct.
4. KHUQQIM, "statutes once translated "ordinances" (ver. 91). Enactments of God as Legislator, but not confined to the written Law.
5. DABAR or DEBARIM, "God"s Word" or "Words." His actual spoken or written utterances.
6. PIQQUDIM, "precepts." Instructions given to men to direct their conduct.
7. MITSROTH, "commandments." Only slightly differing from piqqudim rather wider.
8. IMRAH, properly "promise," but used rather as a variant, instead of dabar, and extending to all God"s utterances.
9. DAREK or DEEAKIM, "way" Or "ways." Prescribed lines of conduct (very seldom used).
The synonyms from 1 to 8 occur, each of them twenty times, or oftener, in the psalm. Darek (derakim) occurs only four times. Emunah, which has been called a synonym (Kay), scarcely deserves to be so considered. It is only wanted as a synonym once (ver. 90). The excellence of "the Law" is considered in almost every possible aspect.
aALEPH.
Blessed are the undefiled in the way; rather, the perfect, or those that are per feet (Revised Version). The "way" intended is, no doubt, "the way of righteousness". (Psa_1:6 Psa_23:3, etc.) Who walk in the Law of the Lord. Compare the introductory paragraph for the meaning of "Law" in this psalm. This clause is exegetical of the preceding.
THE difficulty of treating this "alphabetical psalm" by any arrangement of its subject-matter must be apparent. An attempt has been made to gather its lessons around the more prominent doctrine in its successive sections, and to give a separate treatment of those subjects which cannot be so well included in this way.
Vers. 1-24. The blessedness of obedience.
The first two verses of the psalm leave no mistake as to the nature of true obedience; it includes:
1. Integrity of heart. Sincerity, being "undefiled," seeking the favor and entering the service of God "with the whole heart" (ver. 10), with a spirit in which "is no guile.
2. Consistency of conduct. "Walking in the Law," "keeping his commandments;" it is" he that doeth righteousness that is righteous" (John).
3. Patient continuance in well-doing. Making an earnest and sustained endeavor to do the will of God (ver. 4). Such genuine obedience is attended with great blessedness.
I IT INVOLVES PURITY OF HEART AND LIFE. "They do no iniquity: they walk in his ways" (ver. 3). Obedience is its own reward, apart from any recompense it may secure. To be pure-hearted, to be true and faithful, to be unselfish and helpful, to be like our Lord in spirit and in character, to be living a life that is worthy and honorable in the sight of God, is not this the truest and the largest blessing?
II IT BRINGS SALVATION FROM EVIL.
1. From sin itself, whether in the heart or the life (ver. 11).
2. From the shame to which sin constantly conducts (ver. 6).
3. From Divine condemnation (ver. 21).
4. From the rebuke which comes from the lips of the Lord himself.
III IT IS THE SERVICE OF SACRED JOY. (Vers. 14, 16, 24; see also vers. 35, 47, 54, 103, 111, 127, 162) Sweeter than honey to the taste, more precious than gold in the heart"s esteem, is the Word of God, "the mind of Christ." The sweet substance will soon pail, the spoil will soon he spent, the much-prized wealth may become a snare; but the study of God"s will, meditation upon the truth and grace of Jesus Christ, the welcome given by the heart to the heavenly hopes and the Divine consolations with which the pages of Holy Writ are studded, sitting at the feet of the great Teacher and learning of him, this is the source of pure, unfailing, ever-deepening joy. The acquisition of any kind of knowledge is pleasant to the mind, but the enrichment of the soul by the reception of Divine wisdom means deep "delight," an intense satisfaction to the spirit. If such is the blessedness of obedience, we learn:
1. The excellency of steadfastness (vers. 5-10). How needful to have our feet "firmly fixed" in the way of life; to be saved from "wandering" first into byways and then into highways of evil! Hence:
2. The wisdom of keeping an open mind (ver. 7), of realizing that there is something more to learn. Hence also:
3. The need for serious, strenuous effort (vers. 4, 16), of being "diligent" in duty and of keeping the will of our Lord always before our mind, of continually refreshing our memory from his Word. Hence also:
4. The need for prayer (ver. 10).
5. The duty of teaching as well as learning (ver. 13). Such true and pure blessedness as we ourselves have gained, we should seek to pass on to other souls.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-176. Introductory to whole psalm.
I WHOM WAS IT WRITTEN BY?
1. Some assert that it is Davids work. They profess to be able to find proofs of his style and manner, and there is no limit to the laudations they pass on this psalm; but extravagant rhetoric proves nothing.
2. But all the chief and most reliable of expositors refuse to admit the Davidic authorship. The style is far later than that of David. In the Lamentations of Jeremiah there is a similar alphabetical composition. It is altogether an artificial and didactic composition, widely different from that which we have most reason to assign to the age and pen of David. Moreover, so far as we know, that general reading of the Law, which this psalm presupposes, could not have been without the wide circulation of copies of the Law. But of such circulation we have no evidence until the time of Ezra. Moreover, the life of David, as it is portrayed in the Scriptures, seems quite out of keeping with the tone, spirit, and allusions of this psalm.
3. It is not possible to name any individual person as the author. But we gather from the psalm that it was written by a devoted servant of God, whoever be may have been; that he was probably a young man one of those of whom St. John would say, "I have written unto you young men, because ye are strong, and have overcome the wicked one." Vers. 9, 99, 100, warrant the supposition that he was young. But, nevertheless, deeply taught of God to love the Word of God, and to continually feed upon it. Very lowly minded and humble before God. See the general tone of the psalm, and especially the last eight verses. He seems to have been much tried (vers. 21, 23, 36, 37). His one fear being lest he should prove unworthy, and be ashamed (vers. 6, 7, 22, 31), If we were to look for one in whom the various conditions of authorship meet, we should turn to the Book of Daniel; either he himself, or one of those three noble Hebrew youths his book tells of, might well have been the writer of this psalm.
II WHEREFORE IT WAS WRITTEN.
1. Perhaps as a memoir of the writers own experience, and for his own help.
2. But yet more probably for the instruction of others. Hence the alphabetic, acrostic style, which was adopted as an aid to memory; just as preachers now divide their sermons into various heads.
3. And for the glory of God that his grace might be praised.
4. For the commendation of the Word of God. The psalmist would bear his emphatic testimony to the preciousness of that Word.
5. And for the stirring up of those who should read the psalm to diligent search for the treasures of that Word. Personal testimony such as is so largely given in this psalm has ever great power over the minds of others.
III ITS GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
1. It is from a believer to believers. The infidel and scoffer are not contemplated in the design of the psalm.
2. It is for the edification and growth in holiness of the people of God.
3. It is intensely spiritual. Rites and ceremonies and appeals to the mere reason are absent from it; it speaks to the soul.
4. It is universal in character. Limited to no one period, to no one land, to no one nation, but for all.
5. Its spiritual force and power are witnessed to by the God-fearing of all ages. S.C.
Vers. 1-176. Characteristics of the Word of God as declared by the various names given to it in this psalm.
There are eight such names.
I IT IS CALLED THE "LAW." (Vers. 1, 18, 34, etc.) The word implies that which rules guides, directs, therefore a rule of conduct. And this was evidently the psalmist"s meaning, God"s Word was not something to be merely talked about, praised, or argued over, but it was to order a man"s life, and be his constant guide.
II "TESTIMONIES." The word signifies that which bears witness to. And the Word of God is this.
1. It bears witness to us of God, and of his will concerning us; and:
2. It bears witness to our hearts of the acceptableness or wrong of our lives and conduct in the sight of God. It will ever bear true testimony, which it is at our peril if we neglect. By it God"s sentence upon us will be determined.
III "PRECEPTS." This expression comes from a word which signifies "that which is entrusted to us." And so God"s Word is the deposit of faith, which we are to keep and guard. St. Paul declared, at the end of his career, "I have kept the faith;" and he exhorted Timothy to "keep that which was committed unto" him. We shall be asked at the last what we have done with this precious entrustment. God"s words to us are the talents which, whilst he is absent from our sight, we are to "occupy," that is, trade with, until the Lord comes.
IV "STATUTES." The term is derived from a word which tells of that which is engraved, definitely and clearly drawn, as a chart, a map, and so prescribes the way that is to be taken. And is not this true of the Word of God? Is it not ever saying to us, "This is the way, walk ye in it "? How clear and plain is the course it marks out for us! And, perhaps, the psalmist thought also of the depth and clearness with which this word is written on the human heart, and especially on the believing heart. There God has engraved deeply and definitely his will for us. Christ, the Word, is the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
V "COMMANDMENTS." That which is ordained, as the commander of an army orders what is to be done. God"s people are the army of the living God, and in this holy war success is only to be gained by strict and diligent obedience to his commands.
VI "JUDGMENTS." This expression is used of the verdict in a court of law, that which has legal sanction, and which governs the sentence of the judge. And so the Word of God is the Divine sentence, and is in accordance with the law of nature, of reason, and of righteousness. Who are we to set up our flimsy ideas against the precedents, principles, and judgments of the righteous Judge?
VII "WORD." (Vers. 9, 11, 17, etc.) This answers to that sacred name of Christ, who is the Word of God. It tells, not of a written letter, a series of documents drawn up by men; but it is that inner word of God which the spirit of man hears it may be through the written or spoken Word, but it may be also independently of either. It is that Word which, if not heard, no preaching or teaching of man is of any avail. This is the Word we need to hear.
VIII "WAY." The road, the course, the path, along which God himself walks, and that in which he would have us walk. And that the Word of God is. It is the way of holiness, the King"s highway, and blessed are they that walk therein. S.C.
Vers. 1-8. Whole-hearted service of God.
I THE DESCRIPTION GIVEN OF SUCH AS RENDER IT.
1. They are undefiled in the way. They are not merely in the way, but keep themselves undefiled. How difficult this!
2. They walk in the Law of the Lord. It is the habit of their lives, and its pleasure.
3. They keep his testimonies. Keep them in their memory, their affection, and their conduct.
4. They seek him with the whole heart. This sadly rare. The mass of Christians are of a divided heart; but whole-hearted service, how rare this is!
5. They do no iniquity. It is possible not to sin, and to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God and towards man.
II THEY ARE DECLARED TO BE "BLESSED." And that they are so let all experience tell. Certainly half-hearted service can lay no claim to such blessedness. Such have just enough religion to spoil them for the world, but not near enough to give them the blessedness here spoken of. Theirs is a miserable round of sinning and repenting, falling down and rising up again, a life under the perpetual rebuke of conscience and the sense of God"s displeasure. But the life told of here in this psalm is lived in the sunshine of the love of God, and in the possession of that loving-kindness which is better than life.
III SUCH SERVICE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT ANSWERS TO GOD"S COMMAND. (Ver. 4) It is that which he has specially enjoined. Anything less would be dishonoring to him and disastrous to us, whilst this glorifies him, and is for us most blessed.
IV THE BELIEVER KNOWS THIS AND LONGS FOR IT. (Ver. 5) The vision of the true life has been shown him, and he desires it with a great desire. He would be holy as God is holy. And he has good reasons; for:
1. This only will give him confidence before men, and, what is more important, before God. If he has it not, he must "be ashamed.
2. It will enable him to offer worthy praise praise with uprightness of heart (ver. 7). Insincerity, half-heartedness, vitiates and destroys all praise such as God can accept. He turns from it.
V THEREFORE IN DEEP HUMILITY HE CONSECRATES HIMSELF TO GOD.
1. I will keep thy statutes." It is a sacred vow. He knew that only in the path of obedience could he hope to realize what he so longed for.
2. But he says this in deep humility. "Oh forsake me not utterly!" He knows that God might justly do this, but he trembles lest he should. S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Sincerity is perfectness.
The word "undefiled" in the Authorized Version is rendered "perfect" in the Revised Version; and the terms "sincere" and "upright" are marginal suggestions. The term "perfect" includes a variety of meanings, and the Old Testament use materially differs from that of the New Testament. The apostles express the idea of wholeness, completeness; their word is well represented by "entire," i.e. having every part and faculty according to standard, and every part and faculty in full health, vigor, harmonious development, and activity. The older writers have in mind rather what we understand by "simplicity," "genuineness," "sincerity." To the pious mind the supreme evil was doubleness, the divided heart, fearing God and worshipping other gods the man whose body was in God"s temple, but whose soul was absorbed in self-interests. And therefore, to the pious mind, the perfect became the sincere the man who was what he seemed to be. This readily becomes the "undefiled," the man who is not stained by self-seeking motives or a spirit of hypocrisy; the man who professes to walk in the Law of the Lord, and does. The psalm affirms, in its opening verse, the blessedness of walking genuinely in the way of God"s Word, and thus gives the key-note of the whole psalm, with which may be usefully compared the composition of Tennyson"s "In Memoriam." Like that poem, the psalm represents a variety of moods in which a poetic soul may meditate on some leading thought or fact. It is not only that the subject is dealt with all round; it is that it is approached from a variety of points of view; and the points are decided by the mental and spiritual moods of the poet. It has been well said that in the first three verses we have described the three elements of obedience to the Law.
(1) Purity of intention;
(2) reverence in treasuring up;
(3) and, as a result, freedom from the power of sin.
Absolute perfection, that is Perfection tested by comparison with the sublime idea we have of God, is necessarily unattainable by the creature. The perfection of a creature must be in the range of possible attainment for the creature. We can think of a man reaching the standard or ideal of manhood. We know that the standard manhood has been presented to us historically in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that life helps us to realize the point before us now that, for the created being, man, who must stand in dependent relations to his Creator, perfection is sincerity. We may recall the saying of Shakespeare"To thine own self be true, and it shall follow... Thou canst not then be false to any man.
I INSINCERITY LIMITS PERFECTION IN THE SIGHT OF MEN. Some advantage is gained by putting the truth before us in this negative form, because we are so much quicker to discern the evil than the good, to condemn insincerity than to praise sincerity. The one supreme offence to man, and to our Divine Lord, the Son of man, is hypocrisy. The suspicion of it kills trust. Let a man have an apparently complete set of good qualities, if we suspect insincerity it is all spoiled for us, as is the good shield across which lies the "bar sinister." All the goodness will not suffice to win confidence. And, on the other hand, if we are convinced of a man"s sincerity, we are well able to deal with his infirmities. This may be illustrated from imaginative literature even more effectively than from actual experience. The one thing we look for in the characters presented to us is sincerity; and the most fascinating persons lose all charm for us if we are led to suspect that they are not genuine or true. Nothing so convincingly limits human perfection as the sense of two-facedness the sense that a man is not when away from us what he seems to be when before us.
II INSINCERITY LIMITS PERFECTION IN THE SIGHT OF MEN. Distinguish between God"s idea of perfection for himself and his idea of perfection for man his creature. God looks for no perfection that is not within the range of possibility for the creature man, and for the particular man whose character he may be estimating. But, to use familiar language, God draws the line somewhere. He draws it at sincerity. A man must be true; he must be what he seems to be. No profession can take the place of fact. Illustrate by the glass carefully ground for the telescope. It seems to be perfect. Nay, there is a flaw, and it must be rejected. The acceptance of God is absolutely conditioned upon this the man must be "undefiled in the way" by any trace or suspicion of insincerity. R.T.
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 On vv1–8 There is no title to this Psalm, neither is…
There is no title to this Psalm, neither is any author's name mentioned. It is THE LONGEST PSALM, and this is a sufficiently distinctive name for it. It equals in bulk twenty-two psalms of the average length of the Songs of Degrees. Nor is it long only; for it equally excels in breadth of thought, depth of meaning, and height of fervour. It is like the celestial city which lieth four square, and the height and the breadth of it are equal. Many superficial readers have imagined that it harps upon one string, and abounds in pious repetitions and redundancies; but this arises from the shallowness of the reader's own mind: those who have studied this divine hymn, and carefully noted each line of it, are amazed at the variety and profundity of the thought. Using only a few words, the writer has produced permutations and combinations of meaning which display his holy familiarity with his subject, and the sanctified ingenuity of his mind. He never repeats himself; for if the same sentiment recurs it is placed in a fresh connection, and so exhibits another interesting shade of meaning. The more one studies it the fresher it becomes. As those who drink the Nile water like it better every time they take a draught, so does this Psalm become the more full and fascinating the oftener you turn to it. It contains no idle word; the grapes of this cluster are almost to bursting full with the new wine of the kingdom. The more you look into this mirror of a gracious heart the more you will see in it. Placid on the surface as the sea of glass before the eternal throne, it yet contains within its depths an ocean of fire, and those who devoutly gaze into it shall not only see the brightness, but feel the glow of the sacred flame. It is loaded with holy sense, and is as weighty as it is bulky. Again and again have we cried while studying it, "Oh the depths!" Yet these depths are hidden beneath an apparent simplicity, as Augustine has well and wisely said, and this makes the exposition all the more difficult. Its obscurity is hidden beneath a veil of light, and hence only those discover it who are in thorough earnest, not only to look on the word, but, like the angels, to look into it.
The Psalm is alphabetical. Eight stanzas commence with one letter, and then another eight with the next letter, and so the whole Psalm proceeds by octonaries quite through the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Besides which, there are multitudes of appositions of sense, and others of those structural formalities with which the oriental mind is pleased, formalities very similar to those in which our older poets indulged. The Holy Spirit thus deigned to speak to men in forms which were attractive to the attention and helpful to the memory. He is often plain or elegant in his manner, but he does not disdain to be quaint or formal if thereby his design of instruction can be the more surely reached. He does not despise even contracted and artificial modes of speech, if by their use he can fix his teaching upon the mind. Isaac Taylor has worthily set forth the lesson of this fact: "In the strictest sense this composition is conditioned;nevertheless in the highest sense is it an utterance of spiritual life; and in thus finding these seemingly opposed elements, intimated commingled as they are throughout this Psalm, a lesson full of meaning is silently conveyed lo those who shall receive it that the conveyance of the things of God to the human spirit is in no way damaged or impeded, much less is it deflected or ciliated by its subjugation to loose modes of utterance which most of all bespeak their adaptation to the infancy and the childlike capacity of the recipient."
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The fashion among modern writers is, as far as possible, to take ever? Psalm from David. As the critics of this school are usually unsound in doctrine and unspiritual in tone, we gravitate in the opposite direction, from a natural suspicion of everything which comes from so unsatisfactory a quarter. We believe that David wrote this Psalm. It is Davidic in tone and expression, and it tallies with David's experience in many interesting points. In our youth our teacher called it "David's pocket book", and we incline to the opinion then expressed that here we have the royal diary written at various times throughout a long life. No, we cannot give up this Psalm to the enemy. "This is David's spoil". After long reading an author one gets to know his style, and a measure of discernment is acquired by which his composition is detected even if his name be concealed; we feel a kind of critical certainty that the hand of David is in this thing, yea, that it is altogether his own.
The one theme is the word of the Lord. The Psalmist sets his subject in many lights, and treats of it in divers ways, but he seldom omits to mention the word of the Lord in each verse under some one or other of the many names by which he knows it; and even if the name be not there, the subject is still heartily pursued in every stanza. He who wrote this wonderful song was saturated with those books of Scripture which he possessed. Andrew Bonar tells of a simple Christian in a farmhouse who had meditated the Bible through three times. This is precisely what this Psalmist had done, he had gone past reading into meditation. Like Luther, David had shaken every fruit tree in God's garden, and gathered golden fruit therefrom. "The most, "says Martin Boos, "read their Bibles like cows that stand in the thick grass, and trample under their feet the finest flowers and herbs." It is to be feared that we too often do the like. This is a miserable way of treating the pages of inspiration. May the Lord prevent us from repeating that sin while reading this priceless Psalm.
There is an evident growth in the subject matter. The earlier verses are of such a character as to lend themselves to the hypothesis that the author was a young man, while many of the later passages could only have suggested themselves to age and wisdom. In every portion, however, it is the fruit of deep experience, careful observation, and earnest meditation. If David did not write in there must have lived another believer of exactly the same order of mind as David, and he must have addicted himself to Psalmody with equal ardour, and have been an equally hearty lover of Holy Writ.
Our best improvement of this sacred composition will come through getting our minds into intense sympathy with its subject. In order to this, we might do well to commit it to memory. Philip Henry's daughter wrote in her diary, "I have of late taken some pains to learn by heart Psalm 119, and have made some progress therein." She was a sensible, godly woman. Having done this, we should consider the fulness, certainty, clearness, and sweetness of the word of God, since by such reflections we are likely to be stirred up to a warm affection for it. What favoured beings are those to whom the Eternal God has written a letter in his own hand and style. What ardour of devotion, what diligence of composition can produce a worthy eulogium for the divine testimonies? If ever one such has fallen from the pen of man it is this 119th Psalm, which might well be called the holy soul's soliloquy before an open Bible.
This sacred ode is a little Bible, the Scriptures condensed, a mass of Bibline, Holy Writ rewritten in holy emotions and actions. Blessed are they who can read and understand these saintly aphorisms; they shall find golden apples in this true Hesperides, and come to reckon that this Psalm, like the whole Scripture which it praises, is a pearl island, or, better still, a garden of sweet flowers.
Eulogium upon the whole Psalm. This Psalm shines and shows itself among the rest,
Velut inter ignes
Luna minores. 1
a star in the firmament of the Psalms, of the first and greatest magnitude. This will readily appear if you consider either the manner it is composed in, or the matter it is composed of. The manner it is composed in is very elegant. The matter it is composed of is very excellent.
1. The manner it is composed in is very elegant; full of art, rule, method theological matter in a logical manner, a spiritual alphabet framed and formed according to the Hebrew alphabet.
2. The matter it is composed of is very excellent; full of rare sublimities, deep mysteries, gracious activities, yea, glorious ecstasies. The Psalm is made up of three things, (a) prayers, (b) praises, (c) protestations. Prayers to God; praises of God; protestations unto God. Rev. W. Simmons, in a sermon in the "Morning Exercises", 1661.
Eulogium. This Psalm is called the Alphabet of Divine Love, the Paradise of all the Doctrines, the Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, the School of Truth, also the deep mystery of the Scriptures, where the whole moral discipline of all the virtues shines brightly. And as all moral instruction is delightsome, therefore this Psalm, because excelling in this kind of instruction, should be called delightsome, inasmuch as it surpasses the rest. The other Psalms, truly, as lesser stars shine somewhat; but this burns with the meridian heat of its full brightness, and is wholly resplendent With moral loveliness. Johannes Paulus Palanterius, 1600.
Eulogium. In our German version it has the appropriate inscription, "The Christian's golden A B C of the praise, love, power, and use of the Word of God." Franz Delitzsch, 1871.
Eulogium. It is recorded of the celebrated St. Augustine, who among his voluminous works left a Comment on the Book of Psalms, that he delayed to comment on this one till he had finished the whole Psalter; and then yielded only to the long and vehement urgency of his friends, "because", he says, "as often as I essayed to think thereon, it always exceeded the powers of my intent thought and the utmost grasp of my faculties". While one ancient father 2 entitles this Psalm "the perfection of teaching and instruction"; another 3 says that "it applies an all containing medicine to the varied spiritual diseases of men sufficing to perfect those who long for perfect virtue, to rouse the slothful, to refresh the dispirited, and to set in order the relaxed"; to which might be added many like testimonies of ancient and modern commentators on it. William De Burgh, 1860.
Eulogium. In proportion as this Psalm seemeth more open, so much the more deep doth it appear to me; so that I cannot show how deep it is. For in others, which are understood with difficulty, although the sense lies hid in obscurity yet the obscurity itself appeareth; but in this, not even this is the case; since it is superficially such, that it seemeth not to need an expositor, but only a reader and listener. Augustine, 354-480.
Eulogium. In Matthew Henry's "Account of the Life and Death of his father, Philip Henry, "he says: "Once, pressing the study of the Scriptures, he advised us to take a verse of this Psalm every morning to meditate upon, and so go over the Psalm twice in the year; and that, saith he, will bring you to be in love with all the rest of the Scriptures." He often said, "All grace grows as love to the word of God grows."
1 And like the moon, the feebler fires among, "Conspicuous shines." Horace.
2 St. Hilary.
3 Theodoret.
Eulogium. It is strange that of all the pieces of the Bible which my mother taught me, that which cost me most to learn, and which was to my child's mind most repulsive the 119th Psalm has now become of all the most precious to me in its overflowing and glorious passion of love for the law of God. John Ruskin, in "Fors Clavigera".
Eulogium. This Psalm is a prolonged meditation upon the excellence of the word of God, upon its effects, and the strength and happiness which it gives to a man in every position. These reflections are interspersed with petitions, in which the Psalmist, deeply feeling his natural infirmity, implores the help of God for assistance to walk in the way mapped out for him in the divine oracles. In order to be able to understand and to enjoy this remarkable Psalm, and that we may not be repelled by its length and by its repetitions, we must have had, in some measure at least, the same experiences as its author, and, like him, have learned to love and practise the sacred word. Moreover, this Psalm is in some sort a touchstone for the spiritual life of those who read it. The sentiments expressed in it perfectly harmonise with what the historical books and other Psalms teach concerning David's obedience and his zeal for God's glory. There are, however, within it words which breathe so elevated a piety, that they can have their full sense and perfect truthfulness only in the mouth of Him of whom the prophet king was the type. From the French of Armand de Mestral, 1856.
Eulogium. The 119th Psalm has been spoken of by a most distinguished living rationalistic critic (Professor Reuss) as "not poetry at all, but simply a litany a species of chaplet." Such does not seem to be the opinion of the angels of God, and of the redeemed spirits, when that very poem supplies With the language of praise the paean of victory, "Just and true are thy ways" (Re 15:3); the cry of the angel of the waters, "Thou art righteous, O Lord!" (Re 16:5); the voice of much people in heaven, "True and righteous are his judgments" (Re 19:2); what is this but the exclamation of him, whoever he may have been, who wrote the Psalm "Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments" (Ps 119:137). William Alexander, in "The Quiver", 1880.
Incident. In the midst of a London season; in the stir and turmoil of a political crisis, 1819; William Wilberforce writes in his Diary "Walked from Hyde Park Corner repeating the 119th Psalm in great comfort". William Alexander, in "The Witness of the Psalms". 1877.
Incident. George Wishart, the chaplain and biographer of "the great Marquis of Montrose, "as he was called, would have shared the fate of his illustrious patron but for the following singular expedient. When upon the scaffold, he availed himself of the custom of the times, which permitted the condemned to choose a Psalm to be sung. He selected the 119th Psalm, and before two thirds of the Psalm had been sung, a pardon arrived, and his life was preserved. It may not be out of place to add that the George Wishart, Bishop of Edinburgh, above referred to, has been too often confounded with the godly martyr of the same name who lived and died a century previously. We only mention the incident because it has often been quoted as a singular instance of the providential escape of a saintly personage; whereas it was the very ingenious device of a person who, according to Woodrow, was more renowned for shrewdness than for sanctity. The length of this Psalm was sagaciously employed as the means of gaining time, and, happily, the expedient succeeded. C.H.S.
Alphabetical Arrangement. It is observed that the 119th Psalm is disposed according to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, perhaps to intimate that children, when they begin to learn their alphabet, should learn that Psalm. Nathanael Hardy, 1618-1670.
Alphabetical Arrangement. True it is that the verses indeed begin not either with the English or yet the Latin letters, but with the Hebrew, wherein David made and wrote this Psalm. The will and purpose of the Holy Ghost is to make us to feel and understand that the doctrine herein contained is not only set down for great clerks which have gone to school for ten or twenty years; but also for the most simple; to the end none should pretend any excuse of ignorance. From Calvin's Twenty-two Sermons upon the 119th Psalm, 1580.
Alphabetical Arrangement. There may be something more than fancy in the remark, that Christ's name, "the Alpha and Omega" equivalent to declaring him all that which every letter of the alphabet could express may have had a reference to the peculiarity of this Psalm, a Psalm in which (with the exception of Ps 119:84, 122, exceptions that make the rule more marked) every verse speaks of God's revelation of himself to man. Andrew A. Bonar, 1859.
Alphabetical Arrangement: Origen says it is alphabetical because it contains the elements or principles of all knowledge and wisdom; and that it repeats each letter eight times, because eight is the number of perfection.
Alphabetical Arrangement. That the unlearned reader may understand what is meant by the Psalm being alphabetical, we append the following specimen upon the section Aleph:
A blessing is on them that are undefiled in the way
and walk in the law of Jehovah;
A blessing is on them that keep his testimonies,
and seek him with their whole heart;
Also on them that do no wickedness,
but walk in his ways.
A law hast thou given unto us,
that we should diligently keep thy commandments.
Ah! Lord, that my ways were made so direct
that I might keep thy statutes!
And then shall I not be confounded.
While I have respect unto all thy commandments.
As for me, I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart,
when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
An eye will I have unto thy ceremonies,
O forsake me not utterly. From "The Psalms Chronologically Arranged By Four Friends". 1867.
Continued...See Psalms "Job 42:15"
Psalms 119:2*
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 On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk…
Psa_119:1-8
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
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Moral law
I. There is a Divine moral law for the regulation of moral life. The Creator has given a law to every creature He has made, and to every creature its own law. This law Christ reduced to two primary obligations--right affection for God, right affection for man.
II. Genuine obedience to this law ensures human happiness. Blessed, etc.
1. The nature of true obedience.
(1) Sincere.
(2) Cordial.
(3) Assiduous.
(4) Divinely inspired.
(5) Spiritual rather than literal, constant rather than occasional.
2. The happiness consequent upon true obedience.
(1) Freedom from shame. This implies consciousness of virtue. Sin is the shameful thing.
(2) Heartiness in worship. The highest happiness of man consists in worshipping with the whole heart. (Homilist.)
Well-doing
I. Human happiness consists in well-doing. Blessed are the undefiled in the way. It is not in theories, professions, ceremonies, but in right-doing. There is true blessedness for man only in his deed, not in his mere thoughts or emotions, but in his actions. Inaction is torpor, wrong action is misery, right action is bliss.
II. Well-doing has respect to the Divine. Who walk in the law of the Lord. If there really be an atheistic world, that world knows nothing of well-doing. Well-doing can only grow out of a practical regard for the Supreme Existence.
III. The respect for the Divine must be thorough. With the whole heart. God must become the Moral Monarch of the soul, inspiring and controlling the whole. (Homilist.)
Gods beatitudes and the world s
The world has its own idea of blessedness. Blessed is the man who is always right. Blessed is the man who is satisfied with himself. Blessed is the man who is strong. Blessed is the man who rules. Blessed is the man who is rich. Blessed is the man who is popular. Blessed is the man who enjoys life. These are the beatitudes of sight and this present world. It comes with a shock and opens a new realm of thought that not one of these men entered Jesus mind when He treated of blessedness. (John Watson, D. D.)
The truly happy man
The happiest life is that of the man who accepts Christ as his friend and model. Good Matthew Henry says, You have heard the dying words of many--these are mine: I have found a life of communion with Christ the happiest life in the world. This is the testimony of all who have tried it. Hear what Coleridge says: The Bible, and only the Bible, shows clearly and certainly what happiness is, and the way to its attainment. Philosophy may culture the mind and uplift the emotions, but it cannot heal a sore heart. Socialism may improve a mans environment, but it cannot give him happiness. True, deep rest of heart can only come as the result of knowing, loving and following Christ. (The Young Man.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 119
Psalms 119
IT is lost labour to seek for close continuity or progress in this psalm. One thought pervades it-the surpassing excellence of the Law; and the beauty and power of the psalm lie in the unwearied reiteration of that single idea. There is music in its monotony, which is subtilely varied. Its verses are like the ripples on a sunny sea, alike and impressive in their continual march, and yet each catching the light with a difference, and breaking on the shore in a tone of its own. A few elements are combined into these hundred and seventy-six gnomic sentences. One or other of the usual synonyms for the Law-viz., word, saying, statutes, commandments, testimonies, judgments-occurs in every verse, except Psa_119:122 and Psa_119:132. The prayers "Teach me, revive me, preserve me-according to Thy word," and the vows "I will keep, observe, meditate on, delight in-Thy law," are frequently repeated. There are but few pieces in the psalmists kaleidoscope, but they fall into many shapes of beauty; and though all his sentences are moulded after the same general plan, the variety within such narrow limits is equally a witness of poetic power which turns the fetters of the acrostic structure into helps, and of devout heartfelt love for the Law of Jehovah.
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The psalm is probably of late date; but its allusions to the singers circumstances, whether they are taken as autobiographical or as having reference to the nation, are too vague to be used as clues to the period of its composition. An early poet is not likely to have adopted such an elaborate acrostic plan, and the praises of the Law naturally suggest a time when it was familiar in an approximately complete form. It may be that the rulers referred to in Psa_119:23, Psa_119:46, were foreigners, but the expression is too general to draw a conclusion from. It may be that the double-minded (Psa_119:113), who err from Gods statutes (Psa_119:118), and forsake His law (Psa_119:53), are Israelites who have yielded to the temptations to apostatise, which came with the early Greek period, to which Baethgen, Cheyne, and others would assign the psalm. But these expressions, too, are of so general a nature that they do not give clear testimony of date.
The first three verses are closely connected. They set forth in general terms the elements of the blessedness of the doers of the Law. To walk in it-i.e., to order the active life in conformity with its requirements-ensures perfectness. To keep Gods testimonies is at once the consequence and the proof of seeking Him with whole-hearted devotion and determination. To walk in His ways is the preservative from evil doing. And such men cannot but be blessed with a deep sacred blessedness, which puts to shame coarse and turbulent delights, and feeds its pure fires from God Himself. Whether these verses are taken as exclamation or declaration, they lead up naturally to Psa_119:4, which reverently gazes upon the loving act of God in the revelation of His will in the Law, and bethinks itself of the obligations bound on us by that act. It is of Gods mercy that He has commanded, and His words are meant to sway our wills, since He has broken the awful silence, not merely to instruct us, but to command; and nothing short of practical obedience will discharge our duties to his revelation. So the psalmist betakes himself to prayer, that he may be helped to realise the purpose of God in giving the Law. His contemplation of the blessedness of obedience and of the Divine act of declaring His will moves him to longing, and his consciousness of weakness and wavering makes the longing into prayer that his wavering may be consolidated into fixity of purpose and continuity of obedience. When a mans ways are established to observe, they will be established by observing, Gods statutes. For nothing can put to the blush one whose eye is directed to these.
"Whatever record leap to light,
He never shall be shamed."
Nor will he cherish hopes that fail, nor desires that, when accomplished, are bitter of taste. To give heed to the commandments is the condition of learning them and recognising how righteous they are; and such learning makes the learners hear righteous like them, and causes it to run over in thankfulness for the boon of knowledge of Gods will. By all these thoughts the psalmist is brought to his fixed resolve in Psa_119:8, to do what God meant him to do when He gave the Law; and what the singer had just longed that he might be able to do-namely, to observe the statutes. But in his resolve he remembers his weakness, and therefore he glides into prayer for that Presence without which resolves are transient and abortive.
The inference drawn from Psa_119:9, that the psalmist was a young man, is precarious. The language would be quite as appropriate to an aged teacher desirous of guiding impetuous youth to sober self-control. While some verses favour the hypothesis of the authors youth (Psa_119:141, and perhaps Psa_119:99-100), the tone of the whole, its rich experience and comprehensive grasp of the manifold relations of the Law to life imply maturity of years and length of meditation. The psalm is the ripe fruit of a life which is surely past its spring. But it is extremely questionable whether these apparently personal traits are really so. Much rather is the poet "thinking of the individuals of different ages and spiritual attainments who may use his works" (Cheyne, in loc.).
The word rendered "By taking heed" has already occurred in Psa_119:4-5 ("observe). The careful study of the Word must be accompanied with as careful study of self. The object observed there was the Law; here, it is the man himself. Study Gods law, says the psalmist, and study Thyself in its light; so shall youthful impulses be bridled, and the lifes path be kept pure. That does not sound so like a young mans thought as an old mans maxim, in which are crystallised many experiences. The rest of the section intermingles petitions, professions, and vows, and is purely personal. The psalmist claims that he is one of those whom he has pronounced blessed, inasmuch as he has "sought" God with his "whole heart." "Such longing is no mere idle aspiration, but must be manifested in obedience, as Psa_119:2 has declared. If a man longs for God, he will best find Him by doing His will. But no heart desire is so rooted as to guarantee that it shall not die, nor is past obedience a certain pledge of a like future. Wherefore the psalmist prays, not in reliance on his past, but in dread that he may falsify it, "Let me not wander." He had not only sought God in his heart, but had there hid Gods law, as its best treasure, and as an inward power controlling and stimulating. Evil cannot flow from a heart in which Gods law is lodged. That is the tree which sweetens the waters of the fountain. But the cry "Teach me Thy statutes" would be but faltering, if the singer could not rise above himself, and take heart by gazing upon God, whose own great character is the guarantee that He will not leave a seeking soul in ignorance.
Professions and vows now take the place of petitions. "From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and the word hid in it will certainly not be concealed. It is buried deep, that it may grow high. It is hidden, that it may come abroad. Therefore Psa_119:13 tells of bold utterance, which is as incumbent on men as obedient deeds.
A sane estimate of earthly good will put it decisively below the knowledge of God and of His will. Lives which despise what the world calls riches, because they are smitten with the desire of any sort of wisdom, are ever nobler than those which keep the low levels. And highest of all is the life which gives effect to its conviction that mans true treasure is to know Gods mind and will to rejoice in His testimonies is to have wealth that cannot be lost and pleasures that cannot wither. That glad estimate will surely lead to happy meditation on them, by which their worth shall be disclosed and their sweep made plain. The miser loves to tell his gold; the saint, to ponder his wealth in God. The same double direction of the mind, already noted, reappears in Psa_119:15, where quiet meditation on Gods statutes is associated with attention to the ways which are called His, as being pointed out by, and pleasing to, Him, but are ours, as being walked in by us. Inward delight in, and practical remembrance of, the Law are vowed in Psa_119:16, which covers the whole field of contemplative and active life.
In Psa_119:17 the psalmist desires continued life, mainly because it affords the opportunity of continued obedience. He will "observe Thy Word," not only in token of gratitude, but because to him life is precious chiefly because in its activities he can serve God. Such a reason for wishing to live may easily change to a willingness to die, as it did with Paul, who had learned that a better obedience was possible when he had passed through the dark gates, and therefore could say, "To die is gain." Psa_119:18-19 are connected in so far as the former desires subjective illumination and the latter objective revelation. Opened eyes are useless, if commandments are hidden; and the disclosure of the latter is in vain unless there are eyes to see them. Two great truths lie in the former petition-namely, that scales cover our spiritual vision which only God can take away, and that His revelation has in its depths truths and treasures which can only be discerned by His help. The cognate petition in Psa_119:19 is based upon the pathetic thought that man is a stranger on earth, and therefore needs what will take away his sense of homelessness and unrest. All other creatures are adapted to their environments, but he has a consciousness that he is an exile here, a haunting, stinging sense, which vaguely feels after repose in his native land. "Thy commandments" can still it. To know Gods will, with knowledge which is acceptance and love, gives rest, and makes every place a mansion in the Fathers house.
There may possibly be a connection between Psa_119:20 and Psa_119:21-the terrible fate of those who wander from the commandments, as described in the latter verse, being the motive for the psalmists longing expressed in the former. The "judgments" for which he longed, with a yearning which seemed to bruise his soul, are not, as might be supposed, Gods judicial acts, but the word is a synonym for "commandments," as throughout the psalm.
The last three verses of the section appear to be linked together. They relate to the persecutions of the psalmist for his faithfulness to Gods law. In Psa_119:22 he prays that reproach and shame, which wrapped him like a covering, may be lifted from him; and his plea in Psa_119:22 b declares that he lay under these because he was true to Gods statutes. In Psa_119:23 we see the source of the reproach and shame, in the conclave of men in authority, whether foreign princes or Jewish rulers, who were busy slandering him and plotting his ruin; while, with wonderful beauty, the contrasted picture in b shows the object of that busy talk, sitting silently absorbed in meditation on the higher things of Gods statutes. As long as a man can do that, he has a magic circle drawn round him, across which fears and cares cannot step. Psa_119:24 heightens the impression of the psalmists rest. Also Thy testimonies are my delight"-not only the subjects of his meditation, but bringing inward sweetness, though earth is in arms against him; and not only are they his delights, but "the men of his counsel," in whom he, solitary as he is, finds companionship that arms him with resources against that knot of whispering enemies.
The exigencies of the acrostic plan are very obvious in this section, five of the verses of which begin with "way" or "ways," and two of the remaining three with "cleaves." The variety secured under such conditions is remarkable. The psalmists soul cleaves to the dust-i.e., is bowed in mourning; {cf. Psa_44:25} but still, though thus darkened by sorrow and weeping itself away for grief (Psa_119:28), it cleaves to "Thy testimonies" (Psa_119:31). Happy in their sorrow are they who, by reason of the force which bows their sensitive nature to the dust, cling the more closely in their true selves to the declared will of God! Their sorrow appeals to Gods heart, and is blessed if it dictates the prayer for His quickening (Psa_119:25). Their cleaving to His law warrants their hope that He will not put them to shame.
The first pair of verses in which "way" is the acrostic word (Psa_119:26-27) sets "my ways" over against "the way of Thy precepts." The psalmist has made God his confidant, telling Him all his lifes story, and has found continual answers, in gifts of mercy and inward whispers. He asks, therefore, for further illumination, which will be in accordance with these past mutual communications. Tell God thy ways and He will teach thee His statutes. The franker our confession, the more fervent our longing for fuller knowledge of His will. "The way of Thy precepts" is the practical life according to these, the ideal which shall rebuke and transform "my ways." The singers crooked course is spread before God, and he longs to see clearly the straight path of duty, on which he vows that he will meditate, and find wonders in the revelation of Gods will. Many a sunbeam is wasted for want of intent eyes. The prayer for understanding is vain without the vow of pondering. The next pair of "way-" verses (Psa_119:29-30) contrasts ways of "lying" and of "faithfulness"-i.e., sinful life which is false towards God and erroneous in its foundation maxims, and life which is true in practice to Him and to mans obligations. The psalmist prays that the former may be put far from him; for he feels that it is only too near, and his unhelped feet too ready to enter on it. He recognises the inmost meaning of the Law as an outcome of Gods favour. It is not harsh, but glowing with love, Gods best gift. The prayer in Psa_119:29 has the psalmists deliberate choice in Psa_119:30 as its plea. That choice does not lift him above the need of Gods help, and it gives him a claim thereon. Our wills may seem fixed, but the gap between choice and practice is wide, and our feebleness will not bridge it, unless He strengthens us. So the last verse of this section humbly vows to transform meditation and choice into action, and to "run the way of Gods commandments," in thanksgiving for the joy with which, while the psalmist prays, he feels that his heart swells.
Psa_119:33 and Psa_119:34 are substantially identical in their prayer for enlightenment and their vow of obedience. Both are based on the conviction that outward revelation is incomplete without inward illumination. Both recognise the necessary priority of enlightened reason as condition of obedient action, and such action as the test and issue of enlightenment. Both vow that knowledge shall not remain barren. They differ in that the former verse pledges the psalmist to obedience unlimited in time and the latter to obedience without reservation. But even in uttering his vow the singer remembers his need of Gods help to keep it, and turns it, in Psa_119:35, into petition, which he very significantly grounds on his hearts delight in the Law. Warm as that delight may be, circumstances and flesh will cool it, and it is ever a struggle to translate desires into deeds. Therefore we need the sweet constraint of our Divine Helper to make us walk in the right way. Again, in Psa_119:36 the preceding profession is caught up and modulated into petition. "Incline my heart" stands to "In it I delight," just as "Make me walk" does to "I will observe it." Our purest joys in God and in His Will depend on Him for their permanence and increase. Our hearts are apt to spill their affection on the earth, even while we would bear the cup filled to God. And one chief rival of "Thy testimonies" is worldly gain, from which there must be forcible detachment in order to, and as accompaniment of, attachment to God. All possessions which come between us and Him are "plunder," unjust gain.
The heart is often led astray by the eyes. The senses bring fuel to its unholy flames. Therefore, the next petition (Psa_119:37) asks that they may be made, as it were, to pass on one side of tempting things, which are branded as being "vanity," without real substance or worth, however they may glitter and solicit the gaze. To look longingly on earths good makes us torpid in Gods ways; and to be earnest in the latter makes us dead to the former. There is but one real life for men, the life of union with God and of obedience to His commandments. Therefore, the singer prays to be revived in Gods ways. Experience of Gods faithfulness to His plighted word will do much to deliver from earths glamour, as Psa_119:38 implies. The second clause is elliptical in Hebrew, and is now usually taken as above, meaning that Gods promise fulfilled leads men to reverence Him. But the rendering "who is [devoted] to Thy fear" is tenable and perhaps better. The "reproach" in Psa_119:39 is probably that which would fall on the psalmist if he were unfaithful to Gods law. This interpretation gives the best meaning to Psa_119:39 b, which would then contain the reason for his desire to keep the "judgments"-i.e., the commandments, not the judicial acts-which he feels to be good. The section ends with a constantly recurring strain. Gods righteousness, His strict discharge of all obligations, guarantees that no longing, turned to Him, can be left unsatisfied. The languishing desire will be changed into fuller joy of more vigorous life. The necessary precursor of deeper draughts from the Fountain of Life is thirst for it, which faithfully turns aside from earths sparkling but drugged potions.
There are practically no Hebrew words beginning with the letter required as the initial in this section, except the copula "and." Each verse begins with it, and it is best to retain it in translation, so as to reproduce in some measure the original impression of uniformity. The verses are aggregated rather than linked. "And" sometimes introduces a consequence, as probably in Psa_119:42, and sometimes is "superfluous in regard to the sense. A predominant reference to the duty of bearing witness to the Truth runs through the section. The prayer in Psa_119:41 for the visits of Gods lovingkindnesses which, in their sum, make salvation, and are guaranteed by His word of promise, is urged on the ground that, by experience of these, the psalmist will have his answer ready for all carpers who scoff at him and his patient faith. Such a prayer is entirely accordant with the hypothesis that the speaker is the collective Israel, but not less so with the supposition that he is an individual. "Whereas I was blind, now I see" is an argument that silences sarcasm. Psa_119:43 carries on the thought of witnessing and asks that "the word of truth"-i.e., the Law considered as disclosure of truth rather than of duty-may not be snatched from the witnesss mouth, as it would be if Gods promised lovingkindnesses failed him. The condition of free utterance is rich experience. If prayers had gone up in vain from the psalmists lips, no glad proclamation could come from them.
The verbs at the beginnings of Psa_119:44-46 are best taken as optatives, expressing what the psalmist would fain do, and, to some extent, has done. There is no true religion without that longing for unbroken conformity with the manifest will of God. Whoever makes that his deepest desire, and seeks after Gods precepts, will "walk at liberty," or at large, for restraints that are loved are not bonds, and freedom consists not in doing as I would, but in willing to do as I ought. Strong in such emancipation from the hindrances of ones own passions, and triumphant over external circumstances which may mould, but not dominate, a God-obeying life, the psalmist would fain open his mouth unabashed before rulers. The "kings" spoken of in Psa_119:46 may be foreign rulers, possibly the representatives of the Persian monarch, or later alien sovereigns, or the expression may be quite general and the speaker be a private person, who feels his courage rising as he enters into the liberty of perfect submission.
Psa_119:47-48 are general expressions of delight in the Law. Lifting the hands towards the commandments seems to be a figure for reverent regard, or longing, as one wistfully stretches them out towards some dear person or thing that one would fain draw closer. The phrase "which I love" in Psa_119:48 overweights the clause, and is probably a scribes erroneous repetition of Psa_119:47 b.
This section has only one verse of petition, the others being mainly avowals of adherence to the Law in the face of various trials. The single petition (Psa_119:49) pleads the relation of servant, as giving a claim on the great Lord of the household, and adduces Gods having encouraged hope as imposing on Him an obligation to fulfil it. Expectations fairly deduced from His word are prophets of their own realisation. In Psa_119:50, "This" points to the fact stated in b-namely, that the Word had already proved its power in the past by quickening the psalmist to new courage and hope-and declares that that remembered experience solaces his present sorrow. A heart that has been revived by life-giving contact with the Word has a hidden warmth beneath the deepest snows, and cleaves the more to that Word.
Psa_119:51-53 describe the attitude of the lover of the Law in presence of the ungodly. He is as unmoved by shafts of ridicule as by the heavier artillery of slander and plots (Psa_119:23). To be laughed out of ones faith is even worse than to be terrified out of it. The lesson is not needless in a day when adherence and obedience to the Word are smiled at in so many quarters as indicating inferior intelligence. The psalmist held fast by it, and while laughter, with more than a trace of bitterness, rung about him, threw himself back on Gods ancient and enduring words, which made the scoffs sound very hollow and transient (Psa_119:52). Righteous indignation, too, rises in a devout soul at sight of mens departure from Gods law (Psa_119:53). The word rendered "fiery anger" is found in Psa_11:6 ("a wind of burning"), and is best taken as above, though some would render horror. The wrath was not unmingled with compassion (Psa_119:136), and, whilst it is clearly an emotion belonging to the Old Testament rather than to the Christian type of devotion, it should be present, in softened form, in our feelings towards evil.
In Psa_119:54 the psalmist turns from gainsayers. He strikes again the note of Psa_119:19, calling earth his place of transitory abode, or, as we might say, his inn. The brevity of life would be crushing, if God had not spoken to us. Since He has, the pilgrims can march "with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads," and all about their moving camp the sound of song may echo. To its lovers, Gods law is not "harsh and crabbedbut musical as is Apollos lute." This psalm is one of the poets songs. Even those of us who are not singers can and should meditate on Gods law, till its melodious beauty is disclosed and its commandments, that sometimes sound stern, set themselves to rhythm and harmony. As Gods words took bitterness out of the thought of mortality, so His name remembered in the night brought light into darkness, whether physical or other. We often lose our memory of God and our hold of His hand when in sorrow, and grief sometimes thinks that it has a dispensation from obedience. So we shall be the better for remembering the psalmists experience, and should, like him, cling to the Name in the dark, and then we shall have light enough to "observe Thy law." Psa_119:56 looks back on the mingled life of good and evil, of which some of the sorrows have just been touched, and speaks deep contentment with its portion. Whatever else is withheld or withdrawn, that lot is blessed which has been helped by God to keep His precepts, and they are happy and wise who deliberately prefer that good to all beside.
Psa_119:57 goes to the root of the matter in setting forth the resolve of obedience as the result of the consciousness of possessing God. He who feels, in his own happy heart, that Jehovah is his portion will be moved thereby to vow to keep His words. This psalmist had learned the evangelical lesson that he did not win God by keeping the Law, but that he was moved to keep the Law because he had won God; and he had also learned the companion truth, that the way to retain that possession is obedience.
Psa_119:58 corresponds in some measure to Psa_119:57, but the order of clauses is inverted, a stating the psalmists prayer, as Psa_119:57 b did his resolve, and b building on his cry the hope that God would be truly his portion and bestow His favour on him. But the true ground of our hope is not our most whole-hearted prayers, but Gods promise. The following five verses change from the key of petition into that of profession of obedience to, and delight in, the Law. The fruit of wise consideration of ones conduct is willing acceptance of Gods law as His witness of what is right for us. The only "ways" which sober consideration will approve are those marked out in mercy by Him, and meditation on conduct is worthless if it does not issue in turning our feet into these. Without such meditation we shall wander on byways and lose ourselves. Want of thought ruins men (Psa_119:59). But such turning of our feet to the right road has many foes, and chief among them is lingering delay. Therefore resolve must never be let cool, but be swiftly carried into action (Psa_119:60). The world is full of snares, and they lie thick round our feet whenever these are turned towards Gods ways. The only means of keeping clear of them is to fix heart and mind on Gods law. Then we shall be able to pick our steps among traps and pits (Psa_119:61). Physical weariness limits obedience, and needful sleep relaxes nervous tension, so that many a strenuous worker and noble aspirant fails beneath his daylight self in wakeful night seasons. Blessed they who in the night see visions of God and meditate on His law, not on earthly vanities or aims (Psa_119:62). Society has its temptations as solitude has. The man whose heart has fed in secret on God and His law will naturally gravitate towards like minded people. Our relation to God and His uttered will should determine our affinities with men, and it is a bad sign when natural impulses do not draw us to those who fear God. Two men who have that fear in common are liker each other in their deepest selves, however different they may be in other respects, than either of them is to those to whom he is likest in surface characteristics and unlike in this supreme trait. (Psa_119:63). One pathetic petition closes the section. In Psa_119:19 the psalmist had based his prayer for illumination on his being a stranger on earth; here he grounds it on the plentitude of Gods lovingkindness, which floods the world. It is the same plea in another form. All creatures bask in the light of Gods love, which fails on each in a manner appropriate to its needs. Mans supreme need is the knowledge of Gods statutes; therefore, the same all-embracing Mercy, which cares for these happy, careless creatures, will not be implored in vain, to satisfy his nobler and more pressing want. All beings get their respective boons unasked; but the preeminence of ours is partly seen in this, that it cannot be given without the cooperation of our desire. It will be given wherever that condition is fulfilled (Psa_119:64).
The restrictions of the acrostic structure are very obvious in this section, five of the eight verses of which begin with "Good." The epithet is first applied in Psa_119:65 to the whole of Gods dealings with the psalmist. To the devout soul all life is of one piece, and its submission and faith exercise transmuting power on pains and sorrows, so that the psalmist can say-
"Let one more attest,
I have lived, seen Gods hand through a lifetime,
And all was for best."
The epithet is next applied (Psa_119:66) to the perception (lit. taste) or faculty of discernment of good and evil, for which the psalmist prays, basing his petition on his belief of Gods word. Swift, sure, and delicate apprehension of right and wrong comes from such belief. The heart in which it reigns is sensitive as a goldsmiths scales or a thermometer which visibly sinks when a cloud passes before the sun. The instincts of faith work surely and rapidly. The settled judgment that life had been good includes apparent evil (Psa_119:67), which is real evil in so far as it pains, but is, in a deeper view, good, inasmuch as it scourges a wandering heart back to true obedience and therefore to well-being. The words of Psa_119:67 are specially appropriate as the utterance of the Israel purified from idolatrous tendencies by captivity, but may also be the expression of individual experience. The epithet is next applied to God Himself (Psa_119:68). How steadfast a gaze into the depths of the Divine nature and over the broad field of the Divine activity is in that short, all-including clause, containing but three words in the Hebrew, "Good art Thou and doing good"! The prayer built on it is the one which continually recurs in this psalm, and is reached by many paths. Every view of mans condition, whether it is bright or dark, and every thought of God, bring the psalmist to the same desire. Here Gods character and beneficence, widespread and continual, prompt to the prayer, both because the knowledge of His will is our highest good, and because a good God cannot but wish His servants to be like Himself, in loving righteousness and hating iniquity.
Psa_119:69 and Psa_119:70 are a pair, setting forth the antithesis, frequent in the psalm, between evil mens conduct to the psalmist and his tranquil contemplation of, and delight in, Gods precepts. False slanders buzz about him, but he cleaves to Gods Law, and is conscious of innocence. Men are dull and insensible, as if their hearts were waterproofed with a layer of grease, through which no gentle rain from heaven could steal; but the psalmist is all the more led to open his heart to the gracious influences of that law, because others close theirs. If a bad man is not made worse by surrounding evil, he is made better by it.
Just as in Psa_119:65 and Psa_119:68 the same thought of Gods goodness is expressed, Psa_119:71 repeats the thought of Psa_119:67, with a slight deepening. There the beneficent influence of sorrow was simply declared as a fact; here it is thankfully accepted, with full submission and consent of the will. "Good for me" means not only good in fact, but in my estimate. The repetition of the phrase at the beginning of the next verse throws light on its meaning in Psa_119:71. The singer thinks that he has two real goods, preeminent among the uniform sequence of such, and these are, first, his sorrows, which he reckons to be blessings, because they have helped him to a firmer grasp of the other, the real good for every man, the Law which is sacred and venerable, because it has come from the very lips of Deity. That is our true wealth. Happy they whose estimate of it corresponds to its real worth, and who have learned, by affliction or anyhow, that material riches are dross, compared with its solid preciousness!
Prayer for illumination is confined to the first: and last verses of this section, the rest of which is mainly occupied with petitions for gracious providences, based upon the grounds of the psalmists love of the Law, and of the encouragement to others to trust, derivable from his experience. Psa_119:73 puts forcibly the thought that man is evidently an incomplete fragment, unless the gift of understanding is infused into his material frame. God has begun by shaping it, and therefore is pledged to go on to bestow spiritual discernment, when His creature asks it. But that prayer wilt only be answered if the suppliant intends to use the gift for its right purpose of learning Gods statutes. Psa_119:74 prays that the psalmist may be a witness that hope in His word is never vain, and so that his deliverances may be occasions of widespread gladness. Gods honour is involved in answering His servants trust. Psa_119:75-77 are linked together. "Judgments" (Psa_119:75) seem to mean here providential acts, not, as generally in this Psalm, the Law. The acknowledgment of the justice and faithfulness which send sorrows precedes the two verses of petition for "lovingkindness" and "compassions." Sorrows stilt sting and burn, though recognised as sent in love, and the tried heart yearns for these other messengers to come from God to sustain and soothe. Gods promise and the psalmists delight in Gods law are the double ground of the twin petitions. Then follow three verses which are discernibly connected, as expressing desires in regard to "the proud," the devout, and the psalmist himself. He prays that the first may be shamed-i.e., that their deceitful or causeless hostility may be balked-and, as in several other verses, contrasts his own peaceful absorption in the Law with their machinations. He repeats the prayer of Psa_119:74 with a slight difference, asking that his deliverance may draw attention to him, and that others may, from contemplating his security, come to know the worth of Gods testimonies. In Psa_119:79 b the text reads they shall know (as the result of observing the psalmist), which the Hebrew margin needlessly alters into "those who know." For himself he prays that his heart may be sound, or thoroughly devoted to keep the law, and then he is sure that nothing shall ever put him to shame. "Who is he who will harm you, if ye be zealous for that which is good?"
This section has more than usual continuity. The psalmist is persecuted, and in these eight verses pours out his heart to God. Taken as a whole, they make a lovely picture of patient endurance and submissive longing. Intense and protracted yearning for deliverance has wasted his very soul, but has not merged in impatience or unbelief, for he has "waited for Thy word." His eyes have ached with straining for the signs of approaching comfort, the coming of which he has not doubted, but the delay of which has tried his faith. This longing has been quickened by troubles, which have wrapped him round like pungent smoke wreaths eddying among the rafters, where disused wine skins hang and get blackened and wrinkled. So has it been with him, but, through all, he has kept hold of Gods statutes. So he plaintively reminds God of the brevity of his life, which has so short a tale of days that judgment on his persecutors must be swift, if it is to be of use. Psa_119:85-87 describe the busy hostility of his foes. It is truculently contrary to Gods law, and therefore, as is implied, worthy of Gods counter working. Psa_119:85 b is best taken as a further description of the "proud," which is spread before God as a reason for His judicial action. The antithesis in Psa_119:86 between the "faithfulness" of the Law and the "lying" persecutors, is the ground of the prayer, "Help Thou me." Even in extremest peril, when he was all but made away with, the psalmist still clung to Gods precepts (Psa_119:87), and therefore he is heartened to pray for reviving, and to vow that then, bound by new chains of gratitude, he will, more than ever, observe Gods testimonies. The measure of the new "wine poured into the shrivelled wine skin is nothing less than the measureless lovingkindness of God; and nothing but experience of His benefits melts to obedience.
The stability of nature witnesses to the steadfastness of the Word which sustains it. The Universe began and continues, because God puts forth His will. The heavens with their pure depths would collapse, and all their stars would flicker into darkness, if that uttered Will did not echo through their overwhelming spaces. The solid earth would not be solid, but for Gods power immanent in it. Heaven and earth are thus His servants. Psa_119:91 a may possibly picture them as standing waiting "for Thine ordinances," but the indefinite preposition is probably better regarded as equivalent to in accordance with. The psalmist has reached the grand conceptions of the universal reign of Gods law, and of the continuous forth-putting of Gods will as the sustaining energy of all things. He seeks to link himself to that great band of Gods servants, to be in harmony with stars and storms, with earth and ocean, as their fellow servant; but yet he feels that his relation to Gods law is closer than theirs, for he can delight in that which they unconsciously obey. Such delight in Gods uttered will changes affliction from a foe, threatening life, to a friend, ministering strength (Psa_119:92). Nor does that Law when loved only avert destruction; it also increases vital power (Psa_119:93) and reinvigorates the better self. There is a sense in which the law can give life, {Gal_3:21} but it must be welcomed and enshrined in the heart, in order to do so. The frequently recurring prayer for "salvation" has a double plea in Psa_119:94. The soul that has yielded itself to God in joyful obedience thereby establishes a claim on Him. He cannot but protect His own possession. Ownership has its obligations, which He recognises. The second plea is drawn from the psalmists seeking after Gods precepts, without which seeking there would be no reality in his profession of being Gods. To seek them is the sure way to find both them and salvation (Psa_119:94). Whom God saves, enemies will vainly try to destroy, and, while they lurk in waiting to spring on the psalmist, his eyes are directed, not towards them, but to Gods testimonies. To give heed to these is the sure way to escape snares (Psa_119:95). Lifelong experience has taught the psalmist that there is a flaw in every human excellence, a limit soon reached and never passed to all that is noblest in man; but high above all achievements, and stretching beyond present vision, is the fair ideal bodied forth in the Law. Since it is Gods commandment, it will not always be an unreached ideal, but may be indefinitely approximated to; and to contemplate it will be joy, when we learn that it is prophecy because it is commandment.
One thought pervades this section, that the Law is the fountain of sweetest wisdom. The rapture of love with which it opens is sustained throughout. The psalmist knows that he has not merely more wisdom of the same sort as his enemies, his teachers, and the aged have, but wisdom of a better kind. His foes were wise in craft, and his teachers drew their instructions from earthly springs, and the elders had learned that bitter, worldly wisdom, which has been disillusioned of youths unsuspectingness and dreams, without being thereby led to grasp that which is no illusion. But a heart which simply keeps to the Law reaches, in its simplicity, a higher truth than these know, and has instinctive discernment of good and evil. Worldly wisdom is transient. "Whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away," but the wisdom that comes with the commandment is enduring as it (Psa_119:98). Meditation must be accompanied with practice, in order to make the true wisdom ones own. The depths of the testimonies must be sounded by patient brooding on them, and then the knowledge thus won must be carried into act. To do what we know is the sure way to know it better, and to know more (Psa_119:99-100). And that positive obedience has to be accompanied by abstinence from evil ways; for in such a world as this "Thou shalt not" is the necessary preliminary to "Thou shalt." The psalmist has a better teacher than those whom he has outgrown, even God Himself, and His instruction has a graciously constraining power, which keeps its conscious scholars in the right path (Psa_119:102). These thoughts draw another exclamation from the poet, who feels, as he reflects on his blessings, that the law beloved ceases to be harsh and is delightsome as well as health giving. It is promise as well as law, for God will help us to be what He commands us to be. They who love the Lawgiver find sweetness in the law (Psa_119:103). And this is the blessed effect of the wisdom which it gives, that it makes us quick to detect sophistries which tempt into forbidden paths, and fills us with wholesome detestation.
A lamp is for night; light shines in the day. The Word is both, to the psalmist. His antithesis may be equivalent to a comprehensive declaration that the Law is light of every sort, or it may intend to lay stress on the varying phases of experience, and turn our thoughts to that Word which will gleam guidance in darkness, and shine, a better sun, on bright hours. The psalmists choice, not merely the inherent power of the Law, is expressed in Psa_119:105. He has taken it for his guide, or, as Psa_119:106 says, has sworn and kept his oath, that he would observe the righteous decisions, which would point to his foot the true path. The affliction bemoaned in Psa_119:107 is probably the direct result of the conduct professed in Psa_119:106. The prayer for reviving, which means deliverance from outward evils rather than spiritual quickening, is, therefore, presented with confidence, and based upon the many promises in the Word of help to sufferers for righteousness. Whatever our afflictions, there is ease in telling God of them, and if our desires for His help are "according to Thy word," they will be as willing to accept help to bear as help which removes the sorrow and thus will not be offered unanswered. That cry for reviving is best understood as being "the free-will offerings" which the psalmist prays may be accepted. Happy in their afflictions are they whose chief desire even then is to learn more of Gods statutes! They will find that their sorrows are their best teachers. If we wish most to make advances in His school, we shall not complain of the guides to whom He commits us. Continual alarms and dangers tend to foster disregard of Duty, as truly as does the opposite state of unbroken security. A man absorbed in keeping himself alive is apt to think he has no attention to spare for Gods law (Psa_119:109), and one ringed about by traps is apt to take a circuit to avoid them, even at the cost of divergence from the path marked out by God (Psa_119:110). But, even in such circumstances, the psalmist did what all good men have to do, deliberately chose his portion, and found Gods law better than any outward good, as being able to diffuse deep, sacred, and perpetual joy through all his inner nature. The heart thus filled with serene gladness is thereby drawn to perform Gods statutes with lifelong persistency, and the heart thus inclined to obedience has tapped the sources of equally enduring joy.
This section is mainly the expression of firm resolve to cleave to the Law. Continuity may be traced in it, since Psa_119:113-115 breathe love and determination, which pass in Psa_119:116-117, into prayer, in view of the psalmists weakness and the strength of temptation, while in Psa_119:118-120 the fate of the despisers of the Law intensifies the psalmists clinging grasp of awe-struck love. Hatred of "double minded" who waver between God and idols, and are weak accordingly, rests upon, and in its turn increases, whole-hearted adherence to the Law.
It is a tepid devotion to it which does not strongly recoil from lives that water down its precepts and try to walk on both sides of the way at once. Whoever has taken God for his defence can afford to bide Gods time for fulfilment of His promises (Psa_119:114). And the natural results of such love to, and waiting for, His word are resolved separation from the society of those whose lives are moulded on opposite principles, and the ordering of external relations in accordance with the supreme purpose of keeping the commandments of Him whom love and waiting claim as "my God" (Psa_119:115). But resolves melt in the fire of temptation, and the psalmist knows life and himself too well to trust himself. So he betakes himself to prayer for Gods upholding, without which he cannot live. A hope built on Gods promise has a claim on Him, and its being put to shame in disappointment would be dishonour to God (Psa_119:116). The psalmist knows that his wavering will can only be fixed by God, and that experience of His sustaining hand will make a stronger bond between God and him than anything besides. The consciousness of salvation must precede steadfast regard to the precepts of the God who saves (Psa_119:117). To stray from the Law is ruin, as is described in Psa_119:118-119. They who wander are despised or made light of, "for their deceit is a lie"-i.e., the hopes and plans with which they deceive themselves are false. It is a gnarled way of saying that all godless life is a blunder as well as a sin, and is fed with unrealisable promises. Dross is flung away when the metal is extracted. Slag from a furnace is hopelessly useless, and this psalmist thinks that the wicked of the earth are "thrown as rubbish to the void." He is not contemplating a future life, but Gods judgments as manifested here in providence, and his faith is assured that, even here, that process is visible. Therefore, gazing upon the fate of evil-doers, his flesh creeps and every particular hair stands on end (as the word means). His dread is full of love, and love is full of dread. Profoundly are the two emotions yoked together in Psa_119:119 b and Psa_119:120 b, " I love Thy testimonies of Thy judgments I am afraid."
Another explanation fixes on the literal meaning of the word-i.e., "goings up"-and points to its use in the singular for the Return from Babylon, {Ezr_7:9} as supporting the view that these were psalms sung by the returning exiles. There is much in the group of songs to favour this view; but against it is the fact that Psalms 122 and 134, imply the existence of the Temple, and the fully organised ceremonial worship.
A third solution is that the name refers to the structure of these psalms, which have a "step-like, progressive rhythm." This is Gesenius explanation, adopted by Delitzsch. But the peculiar structure in question, though very obvious in several of these psalms, is scarcely perceptible in others, and is entirely absent from Psalms 132.
The remaining explanation of the title is the most probable-that the "goings up" were those of the worshippers travelling to Jerusalem for the feasts. This little collection is, then, "The Song Book of the Pilgrims," a designation to which its contents well correspond.
The thought of evil-doers tinges most of this section. It opens with a triplet of verses, occasioned by their oppressions of the psalmist, and closes with a triplet occasioned by their breaches of the Law. In the former, he is conscious that he has followed the "judgment" or law of God, and hence hopes that he will not be abandoned to his foes. The consciousness and the hope equally need limitation, to correspond with true estimates of ourselves and with facts; for there is no absolute fulfilment of the Law, and good men are often left to be footballs for had ones. But in its depths the confidence is true. Precisely because he has it, the psalmist prays that it may be Vindicated by facts. "Be surety for Thy servant"-a profound image, drawn from legal procedure, in which one man becomes security for another and makes good his deficiencies. Thus God will stand between the hunted man and his foes, undertaking for him. "Thou shalt answer, Lord, for me." How much the fulfilment in Christ has exceeded the desire of the psalmist! "The oppressors wrong" had lasted long, and the singers weary eyes had been strained in looking for the help which seemed to tarry (compare Psa_119:82), and that fainting gaze humbly appeals to God. Will He not end the wistful watching speedily? Psa_119:124-125 are a pair, the psalmists relation of servant being adduced in both as the ground of his prayer for teaching. But they differ, in that the former verse lays stress on the consonance of such instruction with Gods lovingkindness, and the latter, on its congruity with the psalmists position and character as His servant. Gods best gift is the knowledge of His will, which He surely will not withhold from spirits willing to serve, if they only knew how. Psa_119:126-128 are closely linked. The psalmists personal wrongs melt into the wider thought of wickedness which does its little best to make void that sovereign, steadfast law. Delitzsch would render "It is time to work for Jehovah"; and the meaning thus obtained is a worthy one. But that given above is more in accordance with the context. It is bold-and would be audacious if a prayer did not underlie the statement-to undertake to determine when evil has reached such height as to demand Gods punitive action. But, however slow we should be to prescribe to Him the when or the how of His intervention, we may learn from the psalmists emphatic "Therefores," which stand coordinately at the beginnings of Psa_119:127-128, that the more men make void the Law, the more should Gods servants prize it, and the more should they bind its precepts on their moral judgment, and heartily loathe all paths which, specious as they may be, are "paths of falsehood," though all the world may avow that they are true.
Devout souls do not take offence at the depths and difficulties of Gods word, but are thereby drawn to intenser contemplation of them. We weary of the Trivial and Obvious. That which tasks and outstrips our powers attracts. But the obscurity must not be arbitrary, but inherent, a clear obscure, like the depths of a pure sea. These wonderful testimonies give light, notwithstanding, or rather because of, their wonderfulness, and it is the simple heart, not the sharpened intellect, that penetrates furthest into them and finds light most surely (Psa_119:130). Therefore the psalmist longs for Gods commandments, like a "wild creature panting open mouthed for water. He puts to shame our indifference. If his longing was not excessive, how defective is ours! Psa_119:132, like Psa_119:122, has no distinct allusion to the Law, though the word rendered in it "right" is that used in the psalm for the Law considered as "judgments." The prayer is a bold one, pleading what is justly, due to the lovers of Gods name. Kay appropriately quotes "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed towards His name". {Heb_6:10} One would have expected "Law" instead of "name"in the last word of the verse, and possibly the conception of Law may be, as it were, latent in "name," for the latter does carry in it imperative commandments and plain revelations of duty. Gods Name holds the Law in germ. The Law is but the expansion of the meaning of the Name. "Promise" in Psa_119:133 (lit. saying) must be taken in a widened sense, as including all Gods revealed will. The only escape from the tyranny of sin is to have our steps established by Gods word, and His help is needed for such establishment. Rebellion against sins dominion is already victory over it, if the rebel summons Gods heavenly reinforcements to his help. It is a high attainment to desire deliverance from men, chiefly in order to observe, unhindered, Gods commandments (Psa_119:134). And it is as high a desire to seek the light of Gods face mainly as the means of seeing His will more clearly. The psalmist did not merely wish for outward prosperity or inward cheer and comfort, but that these might contribute to fulfilling his deepest wish of learning better what God would have him to do (Psa_119:135). The moods of indignation (Psa_119:53) and of hatred (Psa_119:104, Psa_119:113, Psa_119:128) have given place to softer emotions, as they ever should (Psa_119:136). Tears and dewy pity should mingle with righteous anger, as when Jesus "looked round about on them with anger, being with the anger grieved at the hardening of their heart". {Mar_3:5}
The first word suggested to the psalmist under this letter is Righteousness. That august conception was grasped by devout Israelites with a tenacity, and assumed a prominence in their thoughts, unparalleled elsewhere. It is no mere yielding to the requirements of the acrostic scheme which sets that great word in four of the eight. verses of this section (Psa_119:137, Psa_119:138, Psa_119:142, Psa_119:144). Two thoughts are common to them all, that Righteousness has its seat in the bosom of God, and that the Law is a true transcript of that Divine righteousness. These things being so, it follows that the Law is given to men in accordance with the Divine "faithfulness"-i.e., in remembrance and discharge of the obligations which God has undertaken towards them. Nor less certainly does it follow that that Law, which is the "eradiation" of Gods righteousness, is eternal as its fontal source (Psa_119:142, Psa_119:144). The beam must last as long as the sun. No doubt, there are transient elements in the Law which the psalmist loved, but its essence is everlasting, because its origin is Gods everlasting Righteousness. So absorbed is he in adoring contemplation of it, that he even forgets to pray for help to keep it, and not till Psa_119:144 does he ask for understanding that he may live. True life is in the knowledge of the Law by which God is known, as Jesus has taught us that to know the only true God is life eternal. A faint gleam of immortal hope perhaps shines in that prayer, for if the "testimonies" are forever, and the knowledge of them is life, it cannot be that they shall outlast the soul that knows and lives by them. One more characteristic of Gods righteous testimonies is celebrated in Psa_119:140 -namely, that they have stood sharp tests, and, like metal in the furnace, have not been dissolved but brightened by the heat. They have been tested, when the psalmist was afflicted and found them to hold true. The same fire tried him and them, and he does not glorify his own endurance, but the promise which enabled him to stand firm. The remaining verses of the section describe the psalmists afflictions and clinging to the Law. Psa_119:139 recurs to his emotions on seeing mens neglect of it. "Zeal" here takes the place of grief (Psa_119:136) and of indignation and hatred. Friction against widespread godlessness generates a flame of zeal. as it should always do. "Small and despised" was Israel among the great powers of the ancient world, but he who meditates on the Law is armed against contempt and contented in insignificance (Psa_119:141). "Distress and anguish" may surround him, but hidden springs of "delight" well up in the heart that cleaves to the Law, like outbursts of fresh water rising to the surface of a salt sea (Psa_119:144).
The first two verses are a pair, in which former prayers for deliverance and vows of obedience are recalled and repeated. The tone of supplication prevails through the section. The cries now presented are no new things. The psalmists habit has been prayer, whole hearted, continued, and accompanied with the resolve to keep by obedience and to observe with sharpened watchfulness the utterances of Gods will. Another pair of verses follows (Psa_119:147-148), which recall the singers wakeful devotion. His voice rose to God ere the dim morning broke, and his heart kept itself in submissive expectance. His eyes saw Gods promises shining in the nightly darkness, and making meditation better than sleep. The petitions in Psa_119:149 may be taken as based upon the preceding pairs. The psalmists patient continuance gives him ground to expect an answer. But the true ground is Gods character, as witnessed by His deeds of lovingkindness and His revelation of His "judgments" in the Law.
Another pair of verses follows (Psa_119:150-151), in which the hostile nearness of the psalmists foes, gathering round him with malignant purpose, is significantly contrasted, both with their remoteness in temper from the character enjoined in the Law, and with the yet closer proximity of the assailed mans defender. He who has God near him, and who realises that His "commandments are truth," can look untrembling on mustering masses of enemies. This singer had learned that before danger threatened. The last verse of the section breathes the same tone of long-continued and habitual acquaintance with God and His Law as the earlier pairs of verses do. The convictions of a lifetime were too deeply rooted to be disturbed by such a passing storm. There is, as it were, a calm smile of triumphant certitude in that "Long ago." Experience teaches that the foundation, laid for trust as well as for conduct in the Law, is too stable to be moved, and that we need not fear to build our all on it. Let us build rock on that rock, and answer Gods everlasting testmonies with our unwavering reliance and submission.
The prayer "revive me" occurs thrice in this section. It is not a petition for spiritual quickening so much as for removal of calamities, which restrained free, joyous life. Its repetition accords with other characteristics of this section, which is markedly a cry from a burdened heart. The psalmist is in affliction; he is, as it were, the defendant in a suit, a captive needing a strong avenger (Psa_119:154), compassed about by a swarm of enemies (Psa_119:157), forced to endure the sight of the faithless and to recoil from them (Psa_119:158). His thoughts vibrate between his needs and Gods compassions, between his own cleaving to the Law and its grand comprehensiveness and perpetuity. His prayer now is not for fuller knowledge of the Law, but for rescue from his troubles. It is worth while to follow his swift turns of thought, which, in their windings, are shaped by the double sense of need and of Divine fulness. First come two plaintive cries for rescue, based in one case on his adherence to the Law, and in the other on Gods promise. Then his eye turns on those who do not, like him, seek Gods statutes, and these he pronounces, with solemn depth of insight, to be far from the salvation which he feels is his, because they have no desire to know Gods will. That is a pregnant word. Swiftly he turns from these unhappy ones to gaze on the multitude of Gods compassions, which hearten him to repeat his prayer for revival, according to Gods "judgments"-i.e., His decisions contained in the Law. But, again, his critical position among enemies forces itself into remembrance, and he can only plead that, in spite of them, he has held fast by the Law, and, when compelled to see apostates, has felt no temptation to join them, but a wholesome loathing of all departure from Gods word. That loathing was the other side of his love. The more closely we cleave to Gods precepts, the more shall we recoil from modes of thought and life which flout them. And then the psalmist looks wistfully up once more and asks that his love may receive what Gods lovingkindness emboldens it to look for as its result-namely, the reviving, which he thus once more craves. That love or the Law has led him into the depths of understanding Gods Word, and so his lowly petitions swell into the declaration, which he has verified in life, that its sum-total is truth, and a perpetual possession for loving hearts, however ringed round by enemies and "weighed upon by sore distress."
The tone of this section is in striking contrast with that of the preceding. Here, with the exception of the first clause of the first verse, all is sunny, and the thunderclouds are hull down on the horizon. Joy, peace, and hope breathe through the song. Beautifully are reverential awe and exuberant gladness blended as contemporaneous results of listening to Gods word. There is rapture in that awe; there is awe in that bounding gladness. To possess that law is better than to win rich booty. The spoils of the conflict, which we wage with our own negligence or disobedience, are our best wealth. The familiar connection between love of the Law and hatred of lives which depart from it, and are therefore lies and built on lies, reappears, yet not as the ground of prayer for help, but as part of the blessed treasures which the psalmist is recounting. His life is accompanied by music of perpetual praise. Seven times a day-i.e., unceasingly-his glad heart breaks into song, and "the oercome of his song" is ever Gods righteous judgments. His own experience gives assurance of the universal truth that the love of Gods law secures peace, inasmuch as such love brings the heart into contact with absolute good, inasmuch as submission to Gods will is always peace, inasmuch as the fountain of unrest is dried up, inasmuch as all outward things are allies of such a heart and serve the soul that serves God. Such love saves from falling over stumbling blocks, and enables a man "to walk firmly and safely on the clear path of duty." Like the dying Jacob, such a man waits for Gods salvation, patiently expecting that each day will bring its own form of help and deliverance, and his waiting is no idle anticipation, but full of strenuous obedience (Psa_119:166), and of watchful observance, such as the eyes of a servant direct to his master (Psa_119:167 a). Love makes such a man keen to note the slightest indications of Gods will, and eager to obey them all (Psa_119:167 b, Psa_119:168 a). All this joyous profession of the psalmists happy experience he spreads humbly before God, appealing to Him whether it is true. He is not flaunting his selfrighteousness in Gods face, but gladly recounting to Gods honour all the "spoil" that he has found. as he penetrated into the Law and it penetrated into his inmost being.
The threads that have run through the psalm are knotted firmly together in this closing section, which falls into four pairs of verses. In the first, the manifold preceding petitions are concentrated into two for understanding and deliverance, the twin needs of man, of which the one covers the whole ground of inward illumination, and the other comprises all good for outward life, while both are in accordance with the large confidence warranted by Gods faithful words. Petition passes into praise. The psalmist instinctively obeys the command, "By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known." His lips give forth not only shrill cries of need, but well up songs of thanks; and, while a thousand mercies impel the sparkling flood of praise, the chief of these is Gods teaching him His righteous statutes (Psa_119:171-172). In the next pair of verses, the emphasis lies, not on the prayer for help so much as on its grounds in the psalmists deliberate choice of Gods precepts, his patient yearning for Gods salvation, and his delight in the Law, all of which characteristics have been over and over again professed in the psalm. Here, once more, they are massed together, not in self-righteousness, but as making it incredible that, God being the faithful and merciful God which He is, His hand should hang idle when His servant cries for help (Psa_119:173-174). The final pair of verses sets forth the relations of the devout soul with God in their widest and most permanent forms. The true life of the soul must come from Him, the Fountain of Life. A soul thus made to live by communion with, and derivation of life from, God lives to praise, and all its motions are worship. To it the Law is no menace nor unwelcome restriction, but a helper. Life drawn from God, turned to God in continual praise, and invigorated by unfailing helps ministered through His uttered will, is the only life worth living. It is granted to all who ask for it. But a lower, sadder note must ever mingle in our prayers. Aspiration and trust must be intertwined with consciousness of weakness and distrust of ones self. Only those who are ignorant of the steps of the souls pilgrimage to God can wonder that the psalmists last thoughts about himself blend confession of wandering like a straying sheep, and profession of not forgetting Gods commandments. Both phases of consciousness coexist in the true servant of God, as, alas! both have grounds in his experience. But our sense of having wandered should ever be accompanied with the tender thought that the lost sheep is a sheep, beloved and sought for by the great Shepherd, in whose search not in our own docile following of His footsteps lies our firmest hope. The psalmist prayed "Seek Thy servant," for he knew how continually he would be tempted to stray. But we know better than he did how wonderfully the answer has surpassed his petition. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 1. Date and authorship. Some ascribe the authorship to…
INTRODUCTION
1. Date and authorship. Some ascribe the authorship to “David, before his accession to the kingdom, in exile and peril (Psa_119:9; Psa_119:23; Psa_119:46; Psa_119:141; Psa_119:161). Others (of chief authority), from the language and contents, imagine it to be of much later date. Jebb thinks, Daniel; others, Ezra; Dean Stanley says that the rhythm seems to mark the age of Jeremiah; Kay supposes it to depict the mental state of those who have passed through the discipline of the captivity; Hitzig, as usual, refers it to the days of the Maccabees (see Macc. 12:48).”—Speaker’s Com.
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2. Character. There are twenty-two sections in this Psalm, arranged according to the Hebrew alphabet, each consist of eight verses, and every eight begins with the same letter. Thus, there are eight initial Alephs, eight initial Beths, &c. In nearly every verse the divine law is mentioned, and the sacred name of Jehovah is brought in twenty-two times once for each letter. “It contains many repetitions and imitations of earlier Psalms.… No part of Scripture is more suggestive of edifying trains of thought, or more saturated with a spirit all but Christian, of humility, trust, devoted love to God, and realisation of His near presence.… It is an epitome of all true religion, and must be studied by any one who wishes to fathom the meaning of the law, and the elevation, hope, joy, confidence, felt in presence of kings and princes by pious Jews.”—Speaker’s Com.
3. Contents. “There is no grouping or arrangement of the subjects of this Psalm, and little or no connection between the sentiment of its verses. Much in it is proverbial or aphoristic.… It might be possible to make an arrangement under particular heads—such as the following—under the general title of the Word of God:—
1. In youth.
2. In trial.
3. In duty.
4. In meditation.
5. At night.
6. In public.
7. In private.
8. In prosperity.
9. In adversity, &c.”—Barnes.
THE BLESSED LIFE
(Psa_119:1-3)
Notice—
I. That all men are not happy. Our text specifies those who are, and implies that all else are unhappy.
1. All men desire happiness. The heathens were ever in quest of the chief good. Bad men and worldly men are ever pursuing their vices and follies to this end.
2. This happiness is not attained—
(1) Because the end aimed at is only mistaken for happiness. Riches, honour, pleasures, &c., when secured are frequently found to be misery rather than bliss (Luk_16:25). That which makes a man happy must exactly answer all the cravings of his soul and secure the equilibrium of his being, so that intellect, conscience, will, &c., shall cry in harmony, “It is enough.” Again, that which makes a man happy must be enduring, but the things of the world perish in the using (1Co_7:30-31), and the pleasures of sin are only “for a season.”
(2) Because the means employed are not adequate. Some are ignorant of the true means, and some dislike them (Joh_6:34., cf. Joh_6:66);
(3) and if adequate means are not employed, and the right end not secured, all becomes “vanity and vexation of spirit.”
II. That all men can secure happiness only by a right state of the heart. “That seek Him with their whole heart.”
1. A right state of the heart contemplates the true end of happiness. “Him.” God alone is the soul’s satisfying portion. The completest worldly abundance leaves some craving unsatisfied. When the soul is “filled with all the fulness of God,” it can ask no more.
2. A right state of the heart seeks happiness in the right way. “With the whole heart.” The sensualist seeks physical gratification; the intellectualist, mental; the moralist, ethical. A right state of the heart seeks complete happiness, the satisfaction of all its higher cravings, so as to leave none unblessed.
III. That all men can maintain happiness only by a right state of the life. The blessed are those who
1. “Are the undefiled in the way.” (Marg. Sincere; not absolutely perfect men, but men with a clear conscience and an upright intention.)
2. “Walk in the law of the Lord.” The inconsistent, the lawless, are unhappy. The law of God is so exactly suited to all our faculties, that only by keeping it can their well-being be secured.
3. “Do no iniquity.” “The way of transgressors is hard.”
IV. That provision is made for man’s happiness in the Word of God.
1. That word indicates what true happiness is. It tells us that man was originally happy; that angels and the spirits of just men made perfect are happy; that God only can make men happy, and that He does so by the gift of Himself and the “unsearchable riches of Christ.”
2. That word is an infallible guide to true happiness. There can be no happiness where there is uncertainty as to means or ends. Man left to this world’s fluctuating rules of good intention, custom, desire, &c., adopts measures which land him in disappointment. The Bible is the perfect and authoritative counsel of God. Guided by that we shall be received into glory.
3. That word affords us a powerful help towards true happiness. It is God’s “testimony.” It testifies to the facts of God’s fatherhood, goodness, and power; to Christ’s atonement and intercession; to the Holy Spirit’s regenerating, consoling, and sanctifying influences; and to heaven.
LAW, PRAYER, DUTY
(Psa_119:4-6)
I. Law. “Thou hast commanded us,” &c.
1. The Bible is based upon the personal authority of God.” “Thou.
(1.) Not man’s. The obligation to attend to its precepts does not rest upon the fact that great and good men wrote it, acknowledged it, and kept it.
(2.) Not its own. The inherent excellence of its doctrines and morals would be enough if only intellectual or moral assent and admiration were demanded. But
(3.) God’s. This accounts for its moral excellence and commanding influence. But let it be emphasised that primarily it rests upon His sovereign will. There are many things that transcend reason and run counter to merely human interests; but we believe and obey them, because “God spake all these words.”
2. The Bible comes to us on the personal authority of God. “Thou hast commanded.”
(1.) The Bible is not a recommendation from God, which man may or may not accept either as a whole, or on a principle of eclecticism in its parts. The Bible as a whole and in its parts being the charge of sovereign will and the revelation of the only remedy for human sin, therefore man must keep it as a whole.
(2.) The Bible is not the product of man’s intellect in a high spiritual mood. Its philosophy and virtue were not the discovery of good men studying and sympathising with the need of their fellow-men. But
(3.) the Bible is the collection of certain “precepts,” exhibited in the form of doctrine, history, example, &c., binding on the heart and conscience of men, direct from the counsels of the Most High.
3. The Bible must be diligently kept.
(1.) It must be kept. In the mind. It is necessary first to have it, so “he that receiveth the word into good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it.” By the will, in assenting to it. By the heart, in loving it. By the life, in practising it. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”
(2.) Comprehensively; Heb.: very much, all of them. In small duties, as well as great, must we exercise ourselves to have a conscience void of offence, &c. At all times. “Blessed is he that doeth righteousness at all times.” “Blessed are they that sow beside all waters.” With all our powers.
(3.) Diligently.
II. Prayer. The Psalmist contemplating the exceeding breadth of God’s commandments, and his own weakness, implores divine help (Psa_119:5). This shows us—
1. The necessity of prayer. The Heb. particle, “O that!” is an intense sigh, indicative of earnest desire. This necessity is based upon
(1) Our ignorance. We know not what to do till we are told. Religion does not come to us by instinct.
(2) Our forgetfulness. Anxiety and self-conceit often drive the most necessary things out of our mind, we therefore need and must pray for what is promised (Isa_30:21).
(3). Our moral weakness and indisposition. Our hearts are naturally averse and our feet prone to wander from God’s statutes. “These people do err in their hearts,” &c.
2. The substance of prayer. “Were directed.”
(1.) Generally by the Bible, the course of providence, and the example of good men.
(2.) Specifically by the Spirit, in the various ways which we from time to time have to tread. “The Lord directed his steps.” “O Lord, I know that the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man to direct his steps.”
(3.) Literally, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path.” “In all thy ways acknowledge Him,” &c.
(4.) Effectually by the Holy Ghost applying to the heart and disposing it. “The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God,” &c.
3. The end of prayer. “To keep Thy statutes.”
(1.) It is to be remarked that, of all the ends desired in this long Psalm, the first is holiness.
(2.) That end is practical holiness, not contemplative or ascetic “ways,” “statutes.”
(3.) That is the best and most desirable end. “Seek ye first,” &c.
III. Duty. The Psalmist looks forward to the result of answered prayer, and feels that under divine guidance he will not be ashamed when he has respect unto God’s commandments.
1. Duty contemplates a regard for God’s law; implying
(1) moral susceptibility. The wicked are callous, their hearts being hardened, and their wills set.
(2) Mental respect. Unless we respect God’s law, we can never acknowledge it.
(3) Practical observance.
2. Duty consists in an universal obedience to God’s law. “Unto all Thy commandments,” whether
(1) its precious promises,
(2) its elevating precepts, or
(3) its stern obligations.
3. Duty is rewarded by the approbation of God’s law. “Shall not be ashamed,” i.e., shall have no reason to be ashamed.
(1.) God’s law will approve a clear conscience (Rom_8:1).
(2.) God’s law will approve us so that we may dispense with the judgment of man. “With me it is a very small thing to be judged with man’s judgment,” for “God will bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day.”
(3.) God’s law will approve us at the great day. “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed at His coming.”
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) God’s commandments are commandments with promise; if we keep them we shall not be ashamed. (ii.) We are unable to keep them without divine help; let us pray for that help. (iii.) When that help is vouchsafed let us use it diligently, comprehensively, and perpetually.
GOOD RESOLUTIONS
(Psa_119:7-8)
Our text shows—
I. That good resolutions depend on the presence of God for their fulfilment. “O forsake me not utterly.” Therefore—
1. God’s presence should be earnestly supplicated.
(1.) Because of our impotence. “Without Me, ye can do nothing.”
(2.) Because of our instability. Nothing is more fluctuating than mere resolutions. Peter said, “Though all should forsake Thee,” &c.
(3.) Because it is of God to give grace to help,” &c. (Eph_6:10).
2. God’s presence will be vouchsafed. Not always sensibly, but always effectually. “Lo, I am with you alway.” Therefore
(1) Be not discouraged when God seems to be away. When the bird is away from her young, she is in search of food. When pioneers are away from the army, they are preparing the way for it. So God sometimes fulfils the promise, “I will go before thee, to make crooked places straight.”
(2) Be not discouraged when God withdraws His comforts. We may sometimes lose our sense of God’s love, as Asaph did. But is God necessarily away? No (Psa_83:18). But
(3) Be encouraged to resolve under the inspiration of the promise, “Certainly, I will be with thee.”
3. God’s presence may be withdrawn. “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” And nothing will drive Him away more than selfish, conceited, or hypocritical resolutions.
II. That good resolutions have respect to divine law. “I will keep Thy statutes.” All other resolutions are vain which omit this as their great and commanding aim.
1. God demands it.
2. Our new nature demands it.
3. Our desire for blessedness demands it.
III. That the fulfilment of good resolutions depends on the right state of the heart and life. “With uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned Thy righteous statutes.” Good resolutions are easily formed; their fulfilment is a very different matter. God’s presence is easily supplicated; but God’s power is exerted in the employment of adequate means. There must be—
1. A right state of the heart. Before God’s statutes can be kept, the heart must be disposed to keep them. The heart naturally inclined from the law of God, must be re-bent and inclined towards it.
2. A learning of “the judgments of righteousness” concerning our state, Mat_16:6; thoughts, Heb_4:12; actions, Ecc_12:14; the way of justification, Rom_3:22. We must ascertain the things we ought to resolve, and then trust to God’s Spirit to enable us to carry them out.
IV. That the fulfilment of good resolutions should be followed by gratitude. “I will praise Thee.”
1. Duty binds us to it. The fulfilment of resolutions that are really good has been by the help of God, and has secured our highest good.
2. The permanent result depends upon it.
3. Fresh resolutions are strengthened by it.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) Let your life be characterised by strong and noble resolutions. Don’t be discouraged if you fail at first. Resolve, by the grace of God, not rashly, but firmly. (ii.) Compare your resolutions with the Word of God. (iii) Carry them out at all costs (Mat_16:24). (iv.) Crown and glorify them all by profound gratitude.
A SERIOUS WORD FOR YOUNG MEN
(Psa_119:9)
“The case supposed is that of a young man pondering the question how he may be saved from the corruptions of his own heart, and escape the temptations to which he is exposed in early years, and lead a pure and upright life. There can be no more important inquiry for one just entering on the journey of life; there can be found nowhere a more just and comprehensive answer. All the precepts of ancient and modern wisdom, and all the results of the experience of mankind, could furnish nothing in addition to what is here suggested.”—Barnes.
I. A serious question asked.
1. The importance of a way. “A way has a direction, and leads some whither. A way is continuous, and if we are in it we are advancing in it. A way differs in its direction from other ways, and diverges more and more from them the farther one travels upon it. There are in our lives no isolated acts, but only ways. Every present has its closely affiliated future. We are moving on in character as in years. The wrong of which you say, ‘Only this once,’ provokes its own repetition and starts you in its own direction. The violation of truth, &c., involves you in a labyrinth of mole paths. You meant an act, you have found it a way; a precipitous way, too, in which you gain momentum at every step.”—Dr. Peabody.
2. The danger of having an impure way. Our text “is a metaphor which appeals to our experience. What is more disheartening than the necessity of treading muddy streets. There is a consciousness of unfitness for society. There are miry soul paths, miry they are to every eye in their more advanced stages; for there is no evil course that does not tend by sure and generally rapid steps to open shame, squalor, and misery.”—Ibid.
3. The special appropriateness of this question. אָרח, “a track, a rut, such as are made by wheels, &c. A young sinner has no broad beaten path; he has his private ways of offence, his secret pollutions; and how shall he be cleansed from these? how can he be saved from what will destroy body and mind and soul?”—Dr. A. Clarke. The future, too, depends on the young; upon the pure or impure paths they follow depends the intellectual, social, and political life of the future.
II. A satisfactory answer given. “By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.”
1. God’s Word is the only rule of righteousness. All other rules must, in the long run, lead astray. Conscience will never give a wrong direction, but it sometimes fails to give a right. You can’t bribe it into falsehood, but you can drug it into silence. When on the judgment seat you can depend on its decisions; but it is not always there. So with sentiments of honour, self-respect, self-interest, &c.; there is no security in any of them. Only the Word of God is pure. It alone exhibits the sum of all perfection in the holiness of God and the character of Christ. “I have given you an Example.” “Be ye holy, as He who has called you is holy.”
2. The Word of God is the only means by which we can be cleansed. “Sanctify them by Thy truth,” &c.
(1.) It is the only clear revealer of the character of sin.
(2.) It alone urges upon us the necessity of holiness.
(3.) It alone encourages us to seek holiness by its exceeding great and precious promises (2Co_7:1, 2Pe_1:4).
(4.) It alone reveals the all-sufficient remedy for sin.
3. The Word of God must be studied and applied. “By taking heed.”
(1.) A careful study of its principles.
(2.) A careful reference of its precepts to our special requirements.
(3.) A careful walking according to its rule.
III. Sufficient reasons suggested.
1. Because God demands it.
(1.) God should not be long kept out of His rights. “Remember now thy Creator.” The vessel should as soon as possible be made meet for the master’s use. God has made everything ready, so there need be no delay.
(2.) God should have our best at its best. All we enjoy we owe to Him. The Mosaic law recognised this (Lev_2:4). Youth is the best time. Health and vigour belong to it. Shall the best be devoted to the devil, and when you are no longer of use to him will you offer God the dregs? (Rom_12:1.)
2. Because reason demands it.
(1.) Youth is the time of special temptations (2Ti_2:22.) Children are of no use to the devil. The aged he has done with. But he loves to get hold of young men (1Ti_3:6.)
(2.) Evil habits grow and strengthen by every indulgence. A twig may be easily bent, but the branch is fixed; a sapling may be transplanted, an oak never.
(3.) The longer you delay the more useless you are for God and good.
3. Because self-interest demands it
(1.) Life is uncertain. Such a momentous question must not be trifled with. Warning is not always given. Nadab and Abihu were young men. There is but a step between us and death.
(2.) God is provoked to anger by delay, and retribution accumulates both in this life and the next (Job_13:26).
(3.) Divine blessings are delayed. It is good for a man to bear this yoke in his youth.
IN CONCLUSION.—You are beginning life, begin it with God. You have great temptations, but you have great help (Job_2:9-10) and bright prospects (Mar_10:14). There are only two ways, the way of life and the way of death—where are you?
ARGUMENT WITH GOD
(Psa_119:10)
God offers to reason with man. He offers to reason with the sinner, permits him to state his own case and to “bring forth his strong reasons” in support of it. He offers to reason with the saints; and the saint here takes up the challenge. The Psalmist presents before God’s notice a fact. He then bases an argument upon this fact, and then turns the fact and argument into a prayer.
I. The fact, “With my whole heart have I sought Thee.”
1. What is it to seek God? (Psa_24:6). It is an earnest and diligent endeavour to find God in certain definite characters for certain definite purposes.
(1) As our God, Sovereign, Father, Friend;
(2) as our Guide by His Word and Spirit;
(3) as our exceeding great reward.
2. Where should we seek God?
(1.) In sinfulness, notwithstanding Adam’s flight from Him and Peter’s desire that He should depart. That is the one reason why we should desire God’s presence to pardon it, and help us out of it.
(2.) In difficulties. In doubt for His direction; in weakness for His strength; in sickness for His health; in trouble for His consolation; as Paul (2Co_12:7-9).
(3.) In our daily life. The heathen consulted their penates; Laban, his teraphim; Balak, Balaam. Shall God’s people be behind these? Seek God’s permission, counsel, blessing.
(4.) In personal communion, not when we are obliged to go, and simply because we are obliged to go, but because we love to go (Psa_22:26).
3. How should we seek God. “With the whole heart”—
(1.) Personally. “Thee with my.” Men sometimes profess to seek God, when they are but seeking their own interests (Joh_6:26). When we seek from God other than Himself, or send others with our requests, we fail. We cannot find God by proxy.
(2.) Comprehensively. “Whole.” The combined faculties of the soul. Intelligently by the study of His Word and works; morally, by faith and love.
(3.) Earnestly and uniformly, not by fits and starts. Such, then, is the fact that the Psalmist lays before God, and which forms the premises of his argument.
II. The Argumentative value of the fact.
1. The Psalmist does not offer it
(1) Boastfully—the plea goes side by side with confessions of unworthiness—or
(2) Meritoriously. No one can argue with God on that basis. “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” We can only glory that we are in debt to God (1Co_1:31).
2. The Psalmist does offer it as a reason why God should help him.
(1.) He wants to find God. He is using the means. God is implored to bless those means.
(2.) He wants further blessing. God has already commanded and wrought in him the desire to seek. He now asks that he may find.
III. The prayer founded on the argument and fact. This is worthy of special note. He does not ask for temporal advantages, but for steadfastness in God’s ways. Notice—
1. Man’s proneness to wander (Jer_14:10; Isaiah 53; Luke 15.).
2. The saint’s sensibility of this proneness to wander. The more we desire to seek God, and are on the way to find Him, the keener will be our sensibility of error.
3. The saint’s conviction of God’s ability to keep him from wandering.
FINALLY.—Those who seek God shall find Him. Those who have arguments to plead will find those arguments valued. Those who pray shall have their prayers answered.
THE WORD OF GOD, ITS SPHERE AND ITS SERVICE
(Psa_119:11)
The Word of God is the revelation of His person and will. It is the duty of man to treasure it up where it can be preserved most safely. If it is only on our shelves or in our heads, it may be stolen or forgotten; but if it is in our hearts, cherished by our affections and guarded by our will, and embodied in our spiritual life, it is safe from loss or decay. But once in the heart it is not only kept by the heart, but keeps the heart. “Thou bearest Cæsar and his fortunes.” The fortress keeps the granary, but the granary keeps those who man the ramparts.
I. What is done? “Thy Word have I hid in my heart,” which implies—
1. Understanding it. Thoughts must pass into the heart through the mind (Pro_2:10). Not that it is necessary that it should be fully comprehended. Water does not always fill the channel through which it flows. It is enough if it fills the vessel into which it flows. Many mysteries baffle the intellect, but the heart is the proper organ for their comprehension.
2. Believing it. Until unbelief is broken down, the Word appeals for entrance in vain. When, however, it is welcomed by the hand of faith, it enters in and dwells there. It did not profit the ancient Jews, because it was not mixed with faith.
3. Loving it. The heart is the seat of the affections, and where there is no love the Word cannot enter. “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.”
4. Appropriating it. There may be understanding faith and even love, and yet no hiding of the Word. These are but means to an end; its reception into our very heart’s life, so that we may become a law unto ourselves, walking Bibles, living epistles.
II. How it is done.
1. By reading it continuously, constantly, and systematically.
2. By searching it: as the miner does for hid treasures, as the workman does for the best materials and the best tools. Superficial work will produce only superficial results.
3. By meditating upon it. If we simply read it, we shall forget it. If we merely search, we may treat what we find as subjects of interest or curiosity. But if we meditate, what we have found in our search will become seed-corn in our hearts, to bring forth fruit to the glory of God.
III. The advantages of doing it. In the heart the Word of God is—
1. Safe
(1) from the fluctuations of memory; it has become part of ourselves, and is as unchangeable as our identity.
(2) From the assaults of unbelief. It has passed out of the region of speculative belief and tentative hypothesis into the region of facts.
(3) From the deprivations of affliction. We may be unable to hear the Word of God or even to read it, but if it is stored up in the heart we can dispense, if necessity demand it, with external means.
(4) From the hand of the persecutor. Said that lad of whom Foxe speaks, when the Marian persecutors took his Bible from him, “Thank God, you cannot take away those chapters He has written on my heart.”
2. Ready for every emergency. The most powerful remedy and the most valuable blessings are nothing worth if not close at hand when required. “Every scribe that is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven bringeth forth out of his treasures things new and old.” It is ready
(1.) To comfort in distress.
(2.) To provide arguments against unbelief.
(3.) To furnish us with pleas in prayer. Our prayers are effectual in proportion as the word of Christ dwells in us richly
(4.) To make spiritual intercourse more sweet and edifying, Col_3:6.
(5.) To afford instruction, stimulous, sanctity, and diligence in the concerns of daily life.
IV. The grand purpose of doing it. “That I might not sin against Thee.” The Word of God hid in the heart safe from attack, but ready to attack will:—
1. Expel sin. The heart “abhors a vacuum.” It will be filled with something. If not with the Word of God, with sin. But both will not dwell together there. Divine principles, however, will extirpate sin.
2. Preserve from falling into sin. “The law of the Lord is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide.”
3. Enable us to overcome sin. In this great warfare all other weapons but the sword of the Spirit will fail (1Jn_1:8).
THE SOURCE AND MEANS OF BLESSEDNESS
(Psa_119:12)
I. God is the source and fountain of all blessedness. “Blessed art Thou, O God.”
1. God is absolutely blessed in Himself. He is “the blessed God,” “the blessed and only potentate.” “Over all, God blessed for ever;” free from all misery, enjoying all good, all-sufficient in Himself, contented with Himself, delighted with Himself, neither needing any good or fearing any evil from the work of His hands (Psa_16:2).
2. God communicates all blessings from Himself (P. Psa_145:16; Eph_1:3). He is the most conspicuous illustration of His own saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Joh_1:16).
3. God appropriates all blessings to Himself (Psa_145:10; Rev_5:13).
II. Man’s blessedness consists in the enjoyment of God. “Happy is the people whose God is the Lord.” God, being absolutely blessed, has enough for Himself, and therefore enough for us. He is “God all-sufficient.”
1. Man misses happiness if he seeks it from any source short of God. Everything else is
(1) imperfect. Let the world’s contributions be ever so copious they leave some void. Solomon, Ahab, Naboth, &c.
(2) Illusive. The happiness they bring is only apparent. They cannot quell one unquiet passion, or still or satisfy conscience (Pro_14:3).
(3) Transient. An immortal soul can only be satisfied with “pleasures for evermore.”
2. Man gains happiness when he seeks it in God.
(1.) God is “able to supply all our need.” “In His presence is fulness of joy.”
(2.) God’s blessings are real. Sin is cleansed, passions subdued, conscience satisfied, soul fed, and the whole man kept in perfect peace.
(3.) God’s satisfactions are charged with His own immortality.
III. Man’s blessedness is secured through instruction in God’s statutes.
1. They teach us the way to God.
2. They teach us how to partake of the blessed nature of God (2Pe_1:4).
3. How we may live the life of God and engage in His blessed work.
IN CONCLUSION.—Pro_8:34-35.
TESTIMONY
(Psa_119:13)
This verse is closely connected with the two preceding. In Psa_119:11 the Word is hid in the heart, now it finds expression on the lips. To express what we do not feel is hypocrisy; and what is really in the heart will find an outflow. In Psa_119:12 God is asked to teach His statutes: the prayer is now answered, and, mentally and morally qualified, the Psalmist teaches others.
I. The subject of this testimony. “All the judgments of Thy mouth.”
1. God’s judgments are divinely revealed. Not human discoveries or speculations.
2. God’s judgments are the divine criteria whereby to decide in all matters affecting truth, duty, and destiny (Isa_8:20). Not reason, interest: what man thinks or feels; but God’s infallible judgment.
3. God’s judgments are the rule by which He judges the world. Now (Joh_5:45-46). They are not arbitrary and capricious, but fixed, written down. By them He will adjudicate at the last day. (Joh_12:48). Notice, then, that what God has said, and said in His sovereign and official character, is the subject of our testimony.
II. The manner of this testimony.
1. Clearly. “Declared.”
2. Fully. “All the judgments” (Act_20:27).
3. Faithfully. “All the judgments of Thy mouth.” Not our own opinions, speculations, or doubts (1Pe_2:2). ἄδολον γάλα, unmixed milk. “To mix it with sugar and the luscious strains of human evil disguises it and hides it from a spiritual taste. To mix it with lime (as Jerome says of heretics) makes it baneful and noxious.”—M. Henry.
III. The reason for this testimony.
1. It is a duty we owe to God. He gave us the organs of speech (Psa_12:4). When we give our bodies a living sacrifice we must not reserve our tongue (Jas_3:9).
2. Because the lips should be in harmony with the character. “The tongue of the just is as choice silver.” The sensualist will talk of his pleasures, the man of business of his trade, the student of his books, and shall the righteous restrain their testimony? (Mat_12:35.)
2. Because the tongue is the most important member in the propagation of divine truth. Perhaps example is overvalued. True Christianity is not profession, but life. But how can example influence without a declaration of those judgments upon which it is based? The preference of life over testimony may perhaps spring from a shrinking from an arduous duty.
IN CONCLUSION.—Let the example of the Psalmist stimulate us to a more perfect fulfilment of this much-neglected or badly-discharged obligation. How much there is of mere speculation and laboured rhetoric in preaching! How much of foolish talking and jesting, to say no more, in the family and social circle! Let the preacher prepare himself by the more diligent study of the judgments of God, and let private Christians remember Coloss. Psa_4:6, and let the Church in its private gatherings remember Heb_3:13, and Psa_37:30.
GOD’S TESTIMONIES A GROUND OF JOY
(Psa_119:14)
I. What the Psalmist did. “I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies as much as in all riches.” The testimonies themselves are a “way.” God’s Word is a progressive revelation. And the life to which it bears testimony and for which it is a guide is the “way of holiness.” Thus the Psalmist rejoiced in the study and practice of the Word of God. Looking around him he observed that riches were the main elements in human joy, and that men considered themselves happy in proportion to their wealth. But his conclusion is, that all riches could afford him no greater joy than that which he had in the Word of God. He rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies.
1. As truth, which was good for his understanding (Pro_24:13-14). When any capacity is filled with that which is suitable to it, joy and satisfaction will naturally arise. The mind is disordered by perplexities and errors, but is satisfied with truth.
2. As the highest and most absolute truth (Deu_4:6-7). What man calls truth is not always certain truth. The so-called truths of philosophy and science to one generation are often errors to another, and the mind is often bewildered by the dogmatism of its teachers. What men have taught most certainly has frequently been exploded or revised. Only the truth of God is immutable, and subject to no revision. The mind can, therefore, rest upon it without fear.
3. As truth which could satisfy the higher cravings of his soul. All truth is more or less satisfying. More or less, because there are degrees of value even in truth. A truth which shall guide a man to a right destination is of more value to him than a scientific curiosity. Truth which makes a man better and nobler, is of more value than that which tells the number of the stars. God’s truth is of the supremest value, because it guides the soul to God and immortality, and “converts the soul.”
II. Why he did it. The Psalmist rejoiced in God’s testimonies as much as in all riches, because—
1. Of their exact suitability to his need. Joy is that which inevitably results from the reception of a suitable blessing. Food rejoices the hungry soul, not the full one. The parched ground rejoices after a shower, not the saturated morass. So riches are good in their way, they bring bread to the starving, clothes to the naked, &c. In that way do the testimonies of God “rejoice the soul.” There is a class of need which they alone satisfy. They are God’s great spiritual treasure-house of food, raiment, &c., which fully meet all the requirements of our nature.
2. Because the greater covered the less. Profit and pleasure, the sum of the worldling’s store, and the result of his expenditure of his wealth, are these his alone? Nay, verily. God’s people have these and a hundredfold beside if they fulfil the conditions (Psa_19:10-11). The distinction between God’s people and others is that the former seeks true riches and true happiness and gets them, the others false riches and false happiness and do not always get them.
(1.) They get the true profit. True wealth makes not the surroundings but the man more valuable. The value of a picture does not consist in its frame, neither does that of a man in the abundance of the things which he possesses. True wealth relieves in the greatest extremities. Money is of no use in the day of sickness and the hour of death. True wealth purchases things of the highest value. True wealth is that which is so estimated by those who are best capable of judging. The savage may think himself wealthy, and be thought wealthy by his fellow-savages, by his accumulation of shells and beads, but what does civilised man think of him? So true wealth is that which is pronounced so by God (Luk_12:20-21). Knowledge (Col_2:2; Col_3:16). Faith (Jas_2:5). Good works (1Ti_6:17-18). The favour of God (Rom_10:12).
(2.) True pleasures. The pleasures purchased by wealth are transient; those that lie on the path of God’s testimonies are “for evermore.” The one by over-indulgence leads to sin and death (Luk_12:19); the other to joy unspeakable and fulness of glory.
IN CONCLUSION.—Seek the way of God’s testimonies. Riches and joy are there. It is a calumny to speak of religion as an unprofitable or gloomy thing. Riches even of the baser sort are sanctified, and pleasures so far from being abrogated are perfected. The way of God’s testimonies is our way home. Does not that thought generate strength, lighten labour, and ease pain?
A FOURFOLD DETERMINATION
(Psa_119:15-16)
The Psalmist has been mainly speaking of the past; upon that he builds the future. He had sought, hid, declared, rejoiced; now he will meditate, observe, delight, remember. These different determinations suggest to us the refreshing changes of spiritual life.
Rest consists more in the variation than in the cessation of employment. So the Psalmist, while his love for all the departments of his work is the same, yet changes his exercise. Now it is meditation, now observance, now recreation, now the exercise of memory. Observe the twofold order in these verses. The precepts point to the ways, the ways are regulated by the statutes, and the Word covers the whole. Again, meditation on God’s precepts results in respect unto God’s ways. To have respect unto God’s ways is to see the pleasure and profit of God’s statutes; and, finally, rejoicing in God’s statutes is the best protection against forgetfulness of God’s Word.
I. “I will meditate in Thy precepts.” Meditation is the contemplation, digestion, and spiritualisation of truth. The heart sanctified by the grace of God is an alembic in which those noble and profitable thoughts are distilled which are necessary to the spiritual life. God has enforced upon us this duty (Jos_1:8), and promises His approbation and blessing upon it (Psa_1:2). If we would maintain our spiritual health we must meditate. Without it faith, the evidence of things not seen, becomes weak; things hoped for vanish away; love, forgetful of its true object, consumes itself in its own fires; and prayer, lacking both thought and verbiage, droops and dies.
II. Those that meditate in God’s precepts will have respect to God’s ways. Meditation will show that God’s ways are right ways; that God’s ways are the only profitable and useful ways. Meditation will open up the whole way. It will therefore lead to—
1. Deliberate choice of God’s ways. He who meditates will not decide to serve God simply because his fathers did so, or because it is the fashion to do so, or for fear of hell, &c., but from intelligent and conscientious conviction.
2. Avoidance of every other way. Meditation will show a man the impossibility of walking in God’s path and the devil’s at one and the same time. He will be able to resist the fascinations of those ways which diverge on both sides from the way of God, and will elect to keep in that way alone.
3. Firm, steady, and persevering progress in that way. Meditating on his chart, and communing with his divine companion, he will not pursue his journey by fits and starts, with sudden progresses and equally sudden declensions, but will run with patience and walk without faintness.
III. Respect for God’s ways will beget delight in God’s statutes. By keeping to those ways alone and by continuous progress in those ways it will be seen—
1. That God’s statutes deserve delight
(1.) Because of Him who is their Author, and the substance of what they teach about Him. The further we go the more we shall see of His tender fatherhood, His mighty helpfulness, His beneficence and grace, what He is to us, what He does for us, what He will make of us.
(2.) Because of their own intrinsic excellence. The further we travel the more we shall know of their elevating doctrines, their interesting history, their precious promises, and their mighty hopes.
2. That God’s statutes must be our delight.
(1.) They are our charter (Heb_6:18).
(2.) Our infallible directory on the way (Psa_119:105).
(3.) Our encouragement and support (Psa_119:54). They are God’s storehouse of riches for our poverty, comfort for our afflictions, life for our death.
IV. Delight in God’s statutes will be helpful to the memory of His Word. The mind most easily fastens on and treasures up that in which it is most delighted. “Where the treasure is,” &c. That which is displeasing is gladly forgotten, but it is an increased and increasing delight to be able to remember the delightful. If a student has no delight in his book he will soon forget it; but, taking pleasure in it, his comfort will be promoted by his recollection. There are two ways of forgetting God’s Word—
(1.) Forgetfulness of its literal precepts.
(2.) Forgetfulness to obey those precepts. Delight in God’s statutes is the sure corrective of both.
LIFE: ITS SUSTENANCE AND AIM
(Psa_119:17)
Everything depends upon true and adequate views of life. It is perilous to entertain false or one-sided views. The worldling views life as a field for pleasure, the soldier for military prowess, the student for learning, the merchant for wealth, the statesman for politics, the Psalmist as a sphere for divine service.
I. Life. The Psalmist’s idea of life was servitude. He was God’s servant. This conception runs through the Bible. The proud distinction of Patriarchs, Psalmists, Prophets, and Apostles was that they were servants of the King of kings. This view implies honourable acceptance, dignified privilege, and exceeding great reward.
II. The sustenance of life. God’s bounty. Notice that this bounty is—
1. Unmerited. We can lay no natural claim to it.
2. Adequate. By it God is able to supply all our need.
3. Everlasting.
III. The aim of life. The Psalmist prays that life thus sustained may keep God’s word. This aim is—
1. The divinely-ordained aim. God has made man for Himself. It is His will, therefore, man should keep that which shall enable him to fulfil that design.
2. The highest, noblest, and truest aim. It is that which angels consciously reach, and God’s inanimate universe unconsciously.
3. The soul-satisfying aim. The Word of God is the law of our being, and in the keeping of that there is great reward. Learn—
(i.) That the life spiritual is of more value than the life natural. (ii.) That if the latter is of God’s bounty, so is the former. (iii.) That the sustenance of both should be supplicated, that the true aim of both may be reached.
WONDROUS THINGS, AND HOW TO SEE THEM
(Psa_119:8)
The law was a very small portion of what is now the Word of God. Yet the Psalmist saw and hoped still to see in that narrow compass vastly more than we do in the large and complete revelation of God’s will. This is accounted for from the fact that he made the very best use of what he had, and that God, in answer to his prayer, had enabled him to do so. Notice—
I. That man by himself cannot see wondrous things. The Hebrew phrase is, “Unveil mine eyes;” implying—
1. That man is spiritually blind (Rev_3:17; Job_11:12).
(1.) By sin (Eph_4:18).
(2.) By reason of ignorance.
(3.) By reason of self-conceit (1Co_8:1-2).
(4.) By reason of prejudice and disaffection (Luk_16:14; 2Co_4:4).
2. That man is not only thus naturally blind, but lacks that divine light which can alone reveal and illuminate the sacred mysteries. Man is both blind and in the dark. His therefore is “gross darkness.”
3. That this blindness and darkness are universal. The Psalmist’s case before his prayer was not the exception, but the rule.
II. That there is a process by means of which man may not only see, but see wondrous things. The Psalmist did not complain of the inherent obscurity of the law, but of the darkness which rested both on him and it. So he does not ask for another law, nor for a new faculty, just as a blind man would not wish for a new sun, or for new or gans. All he asks is that that which was hidden might be brought to the light, and that in that light he might see light This process is—
1. The unveiling of man’s eyes (2Co_3:14-15; Luk_24:45).
2. The diffusion of spiritual light.
3. The employment of the faculty which has been unveiled in the contemplation of that upon which supernatural light has been thrown. By this means a clear and experimental knowledge of the word of God will be obtained (Heb_8:10).
III. When this process is complete, wondrous things are seen in God’s law.
1. “Wondrous things.” The Bible is a register of facts. Myths are wonderful. Prodigies are wonderful. But the plain truths of the Word of God are more wonderful than the strangest fiction.
2. “Wondrous things.” The things of God’s law are
(1) Wondrously beautiful. No poets have ever had so exquisite a sense of the beauties of nature. No histories are so charming, no examples so sublime, no eloquence so grand.
(2) Wondrously surprising. The Bible is full of surprises. This is so if we consider the way and the form in which the Bible has at length reached us. Every successive step in its development opens up new wonders, and every book has something fresh to say about the wonderful works of God. Then what a history it has had! What escapes, what triumphs!
(3) “Wonderfully mysterious. Its aim is, all through, to lead us to such subjects as the soul and God, and the eternal world, and sin—the great mystery and root of mysteries—and the marvellous remedy which has been provided for it in the descent of the Divine nature into the human, that great mystery of godliness—“God manifest in the flesh.” … If the “powers of the world to come” have anything in them to excite wonder and awe, the Bible, beyond all other books, holds them in his hand.”—Ker.
(4) Wondrously perfect in its wisdom (Deu_4:6), purity (Psa_119:49), equity (Rom_7:12), power (Rom_1:16), unity.
STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS
(Psa_119:19-20)
“When a child is born into the world it is spoken of as a ‘little stranger.’ Strangers indeed come from far, out of immensities from the presence and touch and being of God, and go into the immensities again, into and through all the unreckonable ages of duration. But the little stranger takes vigorous root … and life goes on deepening and broadening in its flow, … and then after elaborate preparations, opening into a great, restful, sunny plain, lo! the shadows begin to fall … and a voice speaks and calls for the ‘little stranger’ to go through that door men call death; and the stranger is not ready, the pilgrim’s staff is not in hand, and his eye, familiar enough with surrounding things, is not accustomed to the onward and ascending way.… Alas! he has made one grand mistake. He has been looking at the things which are seen and temporal, and not at the things which are not seen and eternal; and so there is hurry and confusion and distress in the going away, all which may be helped and throughly hindered if a man will but say, ‘I am a stranger in the earth.’ ”—Dr. Raleigh.
I. The stranger. “A stranger is very well known, not perhaps in the great city where there are always thousands of such, but in a country town or on a country road. See him as he enters the village at nightfall: yon can see at once he is not of the place. The dust is on his raiment; he is footsore and weary; yet he has no mind to stay—he will be away again before the inhabitants are up. His language is different; his questions are those of one who has but a superficial and momentary interest in the answer that may be given; his very look is the life spelling of the word ‘onward;’ his home, wherever it may be, is not here.”—Dr. Raleigh.
1. All men are strangers. Good or bad alike, whether they will or not, are fast travelling to “that undiscovered country,” &c. “One generation passeth away and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth ever.” “The pavement we walk upon, the coals in our grates—how many millenniums old are they? The pebble you kick with your foot—how many millenniums will it outlast? Go into a museum and you will see hanging there, little the worse for centuries, notched swords and gaping helmets—ay, but what has become of the bright eyes that once flashed the light of battle through the bars? what has become of the strong hands that once gripped the hilts?… The money in your purses now will some of it bear the head of a king that died half a century ago? It is bright and useful—where are all the people that in turn said they ‘owned’ it? Other men will live in our houses and preach from this pulpit when you and I are far away.”—Maclaren.
2. Specially are the children of God strangers. Those who are not the children of God would be at home here if they could; but God’s children are conscious of being and willing to be strangers, because
(1) Their native country is elsewhere. Everything tends towards the place of its origin. All men love their native soil. Christians are “born from above.” “Jerusalem which is from above is the mother of us all,” and therefore we “seek those things which are above.”
(2) Their inheritance is elsewhere (Eph_1:3).
(3) Their kindred are elsewhere. Father, elder brother, &c. (Mat_8:11; Hebrews 11).
(4) All the endowments of their nature point to a fuller and unrestricted exercise elsewhere.
II. The stranger’s prayer. “Hide not Thy commandments from me.”
1. God’s commandments are man’s chart and directory on his way to heaven.
2. Those commandments are hidden from the natural man; their dialect is altogether foreign to him.
3. Prayer should be offered that these commandments may be made intelligible.
4. When made known, they should become a “lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path” till our pilgrimage is o’er.
III. The stranger’s longing. “My heart breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all times.”
1. The more cur hearts are bent on the end of our journey, the more shall we desire fully and accurately to know the way.
2. The more we know of the way, the more ardent will be our desire to know all about it at all times.
3. The more we desire to know of the way, the more diligent and practical will be our study of that which can alone guide us to our destination.
IN CONCLUSION.—
(i.) What provision are you making for your journey?
(ii.) Are you astray on your pilgrimage?
PROVIDENTIAL INEQUALITIES READJUSTED
(Psa_119:21-24)
The Psalmist here and elsewhere states the standing problem of the apparent prosperity of evil and adversity of good, and solves it. He was seemingly in great misery, while his enemies flourished; but it was not really so. The Psalmist had privileges to which his oppressors had no title. He had God’s testimonies as his delights and counsellors; while those who oppressed him were of a debased moral character, and were under the condemnation of God. This solution satisfied him; may it satisfy us.
I. The problem stated.
1. The prosperity of the wicked.
(1.) “Princes.” The wicked are often in the ascendant as regards power, wealth, position, popular esteem, &c.
(2.) “Proud.” The wicked are always, when they can be, arrogant and self-sufficient.
2. The adversity of the righteous.
(1.) They are “reproached” for their conscientious scruples, integrity, endeavours, and aims.
(2.) They are treated with ridicule and “contempt,” because of those things that they hold most dear: God’s Word, Christian character, hope of heaven.
(3.) They are unjustly judged (Psa_119:23), because man cannot estimate the worth of godliness.
II. The problem solved.
1. The adversity of the wicked. Our real state is what we are in the sight of God.
(1.) They stand rebuked of God, and are therefore cursed.
(2.) They err from God’s commandments, and thus miss the true end of their being and the full glory and perfection of their life. Can heirs therefore, be true prosperity?
2. The prosperity of the righteous.
(1.) Their reproach and contempt is that of man, and therefore removable, and will be removed by the justice and compassion of God.
(2.) They have a certain and infallible guide. God’s testimonies tell them of God’s will and how to submit to it with resignation and patience.
(3.) They have perennial sources of delight. God’s Word testifies of God’s presence, God’s comfort, God’s heaven. Can there be any real adversity with all this?
“TENEO ET TENEOR”
(Psa_119:22, clause 2, and Psa_119:24)
Those who keep God’s testimonies shall be kept by them.
I. How do we keep God’s testimonies?
1. By remembering them. To forget is to lose. To have them kept in the memory is to have them ready for every time of need.
2. By obeying them. Every act of obedience is an additional stone in the fortress, in which they are kept. Every duty formed strengthens habit and confirms steadfastness.
3. By propagating them. Giving is the condition of keeping all through life. The vitality of a tree is conditional upon its yielding fruit and leaves. Material wealth depends on the outlay of money. So unless we give in proportion as it is given unto us of the word of life, even that which we have will be taken away.
II. How do God’s testimonies keep us?
1. By ministering to our delight.
God’s Word brings that light and gladness which saves the world from suicide. It testifies of God, who is the health of our countenance; of Christ, who cleanses us from the source of all misery; of the Holy Ghost, who comforts us in the day of trial; of the precious promises which buoy us up with hopes of better things to come; of heaven, where all tears are wiped away.
2. By guiding us with their infallible counsel. They keep us in the path of truth, guide us in the way of holiness, direct us in the road to heaven, and as we go shield us from all harm.
IN CONCLUSION.—The principle of our text holds good everywhere. Those who hold good or bad principles are kept or lost by them and with them. The man who knows how to keep his temper, his money, &c., will find that they will keep him. Hold, then, the best things, the firmest things, and you will be ever safe.
THE BENEFIT OF GOD’S TESTIMONIES
(Psa_119:24)
The Psalmist in his trouble and distress, under the contempt and reproach of the proud, and under the oppression of princes, turns to God’s Word, and there finds direction and joy.
I. “Thy testimonies are my delights.” Notice—
1. That there are joys AND joys. Worldlings have their joys, but they are unsubstantial and evanescent. The delight engendered by God’s testimonies is
(1) Divine and powerful. It is the “joy of the Lord,” and is God’s people’s strength.
(2) Real (2Co_6:10).
(3) Great (1Pe_1:8).
(4) Endless. “Everlasting joy.”
2. That God’s people are commanded to rejoice—
(1) Not merely permitted;
(2) Not merely suggested on reasonable grounds;
(3) But enjoined as a necessary duty. It is not a matter of indifference or choice. We must rejoice (Php_4:4; Mat_5:12; Jas_1:2).
3. That this rejoicing is founded on and derived through the Word of God (Rom_15:4; Heb_12:5). Joy is particularly needful in affliction, as in the Psalmist’s ease. God’s testimonies tell us
(1) Who permits it (Joh_18:11);
(2) The benefit of it (Isa_26:19; Heb_12:10);
(3) The brevity of it (Isa_54:7-8);
(4) Helps in it. Consoling help (Rom_5:3), Effectual help (Psa_138:3; Heb_13:5);
(5) Its end (2Co_4:17).
II. “Thy testimonies are my counsellors.” As a divine rule in all matters of faith and practice it is sufficient. Man cannot improve upon it, let him not tinker with it. It is an unerring guide in all perplexities. It will help us to a right decision in all matters of right and wrong. Its counsel is safe for good thinking, good speaking, for the prudent management of our affairs to successful issues (Jas_1:6), and supporting in all painful or difficult duties (Pro_16:3; Psa_37:5).
AFFLICTION AND ITS REMEDY
(Psa_119:25)
Our text teaches us—
I. That God’s children are afflicted. This affliction may be a sorrowful inward experience (Psa_88:3-7; Psa_76:1), or an extreme outward pressure (2Sa_12:16-17; 2Sa_15:30). We know that “God does not willingly afflict.” Why then do His people’s souls sometimes cleave to the dust?
(1.) To humble them (2Co_1:7-9).
(2.) To correct for past transgressions. The righteous have their evil things in this life. God punishes them now that it may not be necessary to do so by and by.
(3.) To test the strength of their character, their faith in the promises, their hope in His mercy, the depth and sincerity of His love.
(4.) To awaken the spirit of prayer (Psa_130:1). To show more of the riches of His grace in their recovery (Psa_71:20-21).
II. That affliction should drive us to God for help. Notice—
1. The unwisdom of any other course.
Man cannot help us.
2. The disastrousness of any other course (Dan_9:13). To choke sorrow is to be choked by it, whereas if we go to God the burden can be thrown off. To depend upon the charlatan or to neglect proper means is suicide.
3. The wisdom and blessedness of this course. God sends the tempest of affliction after His Jonahs, that out of the depths they may cry to Him to be delivered. Because God is powerful, able, and willing to help. Let us (Heb_4:16).
III. That God undertakes to apply the remedy for affliction, not according to our merits, or merely according to His compassion, but according to His pledged and covenant “word.” The remedy must therefore be adequate, firm, and everlasting.
DIVINE EDUCATION
(Psa_119:26-27)
I. The Psalmist presents himself for examination. He puts his whole case, his qualifications and disqualifications, before God, and God hears him.
II. The result of this examination is a consciousness and confession of ignorance and error. His prayer to be taught God’s statutes, to understand the way of God’s precepts, implies ignorance of the one and departure from the other. And he who comes away from the throne of grace with any other consciousness has been there in vain.
III. His ignorance and error leads him to cry to the great Teacher for instruction. This instruction was twofold. Intellectual, “Teach me Thy statutes;” and practical, “Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts.” First the information, then its correct and proper application. Remember that the instructor is God, not man; and the instruction is not in human guesses and speculations, but in divine truth and holiness.
IV. Upon this instruction being vouchsafed and his education complete, he feels that he will then be in a position to instruct others, “So shall I talk of Thy wondrous works.”
1. God’s works, not his own or man’s.
2. God’s wondrous works, in revelation, providence, redemption. This in our case is due to God, due to ourselves, due to man.
STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS
(Psa_119:28)
I. The Psalmist’s case. It was one of extreme trouble. His very soul “dropped away.” Why so extreme? Just as the sorrows of a man are greater than the sorrows of a beast, from his superior knowledge and keener susceptibility. So the knowledge of the spiritual man is clearer and more accurate, and his susceptibilities keener, than those of the natural man. He knows the character of sin and the claims of God, and his conscience responds to the slightest touch of evil.
II. The Psalmist’s prayer. Not for the removal of his affliction, but for the strength of grace to bear it. “Strengthen me.” This implies a recognition of the need and benefit of this disciplinary and sanctifying affliction, and a desire to be sustained until it should have accomplished its perfect work. We would do foolishly with our afflictions what a child would do with its restraints and the discipline of school or home. Better far to be able to say, “Thy grace is sufficient for me.”
III. The Psalmist’s plea. “According to Thy word.” Prayer avails in proportion to the power and prevalence of its pleas. No plea is like that of God’s own pledged word. And what does God promise? Not to deliver us as we wish, but always either to deliver or to give us that grace and strength which renders deliverance a matter of comparative indifference. What God then has promised let man plead, and if prayer is not answered it is not from indifference or unwillingness on the part of God.
THE TWO WAYS
(Psa_119:29-30)
Our text teaches us—
I. That there are two ways, and two ways only, which determine the character and decide the destiny of mankind. The way of lying and the way of truth. The false and the true. There is no third way, and there are no characteristics common to both. A man must either walk in the way of truth or the way of error.
II. That these two ways are open to man’s deliberate preference and choice. God does not urge us towards the one or the other by the force of a predestined and inexorable necessity. Neither is the force of any circumstance such as to leave man no option but to be untrue to himself and to his God. The practical common sense and experience of man laugh at all metaphysical endeavours to deprive him of the freedom of his will.
III. That the false way is most natural to man. The Psalmist felt so, or why his urgent request that it might be removed? All Scripture is emphatic on this point. “They go astray from the womb, speaking lies.” This way is very broad, and many elements enter into its composition. Hypocrisy, insincerity, error, false religions, false maxims, false customs, as well as deliberate lying. Experience is as emphatic as Scripture. No evil habit is so strong, so general, so growing, as the habit of untruthfulness. It is the one habit more than another that grows upon the young.
IV. That in order to walk firmly in the true way divine assistance is indispensable.
1. God must “remove the way of lying.” He alone can break the force of evil habits and check the evil tendency.
2. God must vouchsafe the chart by whose guidance alone we can walk in the way of truth. “Grant me Thy law graciously.” This God has answered in the case of every man. The heathen have the law written on their heart, and their conscience accuses them when they do wrong, and excuses them when they do right. For Christians there is the written law and the living law of the life of Christ in addition, and guided by this threefold law the wayfaring man though a fool shall not err therein.
V. That continuance in the way of truth is conditional on the use of divinely-appointed means. “Thy judgments have I laid before me.” Only by a diligent, careful, and accurate study of the judgments of God can our feet be kept in the way of truth. “As he who learns to write lays his copy before him, that he may write according to it; as the workman lays his model and platform before him, that he may do his work exactly; as we must have the word in our heart by an habitual conformity to it; so we must have it in our eye by an actual regard to it upon all occasions, that we may walk accurately and by rule.”—M. Henry.
PERSEVERANCE
(Psa_119:31-32)
Having chosen the way of truth, the Psalmist does not regret his choice, but adheres steadfastly to it, and makes steady but rapid progress in it. This was perseverance.
I. Steady. “I have stuck.” It was not a restless and fitful movement, but a firm and consistent adhesion to fixed principles. The race is not to the swift, but to the steady. The battle is not to the strong, but to the steadfast. “It is hard pounding, gentlemen,” said Wellington at Waterloo, “but we shall see who will pound the longest.” The man who runs, till he is out of breath, for one hour, and is obliged, panting, to rest for the next, will not win the prize. And so the Christian who is very earnest on set occasions and makes great efforts at certain times, but who tires of service, and is forgetful of his principles on ordinary occasions, is not the man who will take the crown of life. “Run with patience.”
II. Rapid. “I will run.” Steady perseverance is not necessarily slow. It certainly is not slow in the long run. The man who steadfastly runs by rule and with self-restraint, although he may be distanced by him who is careless of rule and impulsive for the moment; time will show who has made the greatest progress. But the perseverance of the Christian life is rapid in its attainment of results, and ought to be. Consider how soon the course is traversed, the number of obstacles overcome, the character of the help vouchsafed, the nature of the incentives offered, and how quickly, comparatively speaking, habits are formed and graces developed and strengthened! In view of all this, it is appropriately likened to the swift flight of the eagle, and to the short, eager race for the incorruptible crown.
III. Shameless. “O Lord, put me not to shame.” There is a perseverance which can only bring shame. Perseverance in an inconsistent, insincere, lying course can only bring contempt on those who run there. The path of truth is the only one in which it is possible to ran secure from shame. Circumstances may arise which may prevent us in other paths from so persevering as to win that towards which we reach forth the hand, and thus, for want of success, others are ashamed of us and we are ashamed of ourselves. Here, however, if we are faithful we shall win, and thus be secure from shame.
IV. Divinely assisted. “Lit., ‘For Thou wilt enlarge my heart.’ Expressing confidence that God would do this, so that he would be thus inclined and enabled to keep His commandments. It is an acknowledgment of dependence and confidence. The phrase means, to make the heart free from all hindrances to what is right; to fill it with noble and holy purposes; to stimulate and animate it. The heart is contracted by selfishness, pride, vanity, ambition, covetousness; it is made large by charity, love, hope, &c. Sin narrows the soul; religion enlarges it.”—Barnes.
CHRISTIAN PROGRESS
(Psa_119:33-35)
Our text suggests—
I. That the way of Christian progress is divinely revealed. “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes.” The way of life is not a path discovered by study, intuition, or speculation. Nor is it a path upon which it is possible to light by happy accident. As it is not human learning, scientific knowledge, or even ethical development, but the knowledge and practise of God’s statutes, God must make those statutes known.
II. That Christian progress is possible only under certain definite conditions. The racer in the old Greek games was not crowned except he had striven according to fixed and stringent rules. So with this and every other path in life worth traversing, the conditions are twofold—
1. Knowledge of the way. “Give me understanding.” This is the prime condition. Ignorance is the fruitful source of failure everywhere. No man can make progress in business, unless he knows his business; in scholarship, unless he is acquainted with his books; in politics, unless he is conversant with affairs of State. So Christians can make no progress without understanding God’s law. Notice—
(1) God gives this understanding. God reveals not only the entrance of the way, or the panorama of the way as a whole, but the details of the way, its dangers, duties, difficulties, blessings, losses, and rewards. And not only so, but also that spiritual enlightenment without which progress is impossible. With this we “shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” But
(2) Man must use the understanding that God gives. Scholarship is of no value unless turned to practical account. Letters are useless unless employed in the formation of words; words are of no service except they convey thought; thoughts are of no use unless adequately expressed. And so all theoretic knowledge in the way of Christian progress is of no effect unless applied “with the whole heart.” Alas! many men know every step of the way to heaven who, from the want of this, fail to get there.
2. Earnestness in the way. “I shall observe it with my whole heart.” Another universe condition. Unless men give “earnest heed” to the securing of a given object, they “let it slip.” This earnestness implies
(1) Love. The “heart” is the seat of the affections. Unless a man loves his career, he will not be successful in it. So our love must be fixed on ours. There is everything in it to excite affection. Christ is at once the entrance and the goal. To “me to live is Christ,” being “built up into Him our living Head, in all things,” who is “the fairest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely,” is the inspired description of the Christian way. Love to Christ, again, is the motive force of Christian progress.
(2) United effort. The earnest man is he who gives his “whole heart” to his work. His motto is, “This one thing I do.” We say a man is not in earnest when his efforts are desultory or divided; and such men never succeed. Alas! there are many Christian men who, for the same reason, come short of the prize.
3. Absorbing interest in the way. “Therein do I delight.” Again, no man will succeed who does not delight in his work. If he entertains ignoble views about it, or depreciates it, or shows he can afford to treat it with carelessness, he will never make himself proficient. Those men who have succeeded in politics, learning, &c., have been the men who have counted their callings most worthy of their supreme interest. And shall we depreciate or be careless about “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” so grand and delightful, and leading to such issues? No, the Christian man, of all men, should take pride in his career; for is it not “ways of pleasantness and paths of peace?”
4. Constancy in the way. “I shall keep it unto the end.” Most failures are due to the want of this. If a man lacks this one thing needful, in spite of genius and practical ability, he will run in vain and labour in vain. And many well-meaning Christians fail because they make no sustained effort. “He that endures to the end shall be saved.” “Wherefore” (1Co_15:58).
III. That Christian progress is impossible without divine assistance. “Make me to go.”
1. God must supply the stimulus. “Make me to go.” A stimulus is needful, for Christianity is not natural to man. No effort can be made without a force behind and an attraction in front. Thank God, these are not wanting. The promises and comforts of God’s Spirit are ever near us lest we should be weary and faint in our souls. Heaven is set before us to gain; hell for us to shun. Yea, “The young men shall faint, and be weary,” &c. (Isa_40:31).
2. God must supply the qualifications. “Make me.” Not certainly in the sense of compulsion, but in the endowment of the requisite ability. As He gives us the knowledge of the way, so He will supply all its requirements. He will give us the elements of moral earnestness, shed abroad His love in our hearts, supply the principle of cohesion which will enable us to serve Him with our whole heart; make us interested in our work, and enable us to continue steadfast unto the end.
3. God must supply the fact. “To go.” He must make us Christians, and thus empower us to begin our progress. He must sow the seed of grace before we can grow in it. It is only by “looking unto Jesus” that we can lay aside every weight, &c. At every stage He must guide us by His counsel, go before us, making “crooked places straight,” &c., and afford us the support and discipline of His rod and staff in every dark ravine. Man cannot go without this great Leader. But our comfort is that we are continually with Him, &c. (Psa_73:23).
Men and brethren, we are all going. Whether we like it or not, we must all go.
(1.) How are we going; with God, or without Him?
(2.) Where are we going; to heaven, or to hell?
THE SERVANT OF GOD
(Psa_119:36-38)
Notice—
I. That God qualifies His servants by a special fitness. “Incline my heart;” which suggests—
1. That man is naturally disqualified for divine service. His heart is inclined in the opposite direction. It is warped and twisted from the straight line of God’s law. Consequently there is a preference for that which is averse from God.
2. That man, if qualified at all, must be qualified by God. No force within a man is capable of doing this, nor any force without, either of example, instruction, or compulsion. But God does so incline the hearts of those who are willing, that, like the great servant of the Lord, they can say, “I delight to do Thy will.” God does not break the will; He softens it, and then stretches it back again. He never compels, but draws by the persuasion of His entreaties, the allurement of His promises, by reason and affection; and then when the heart is prepared He moves it back again by His Spirit into conformity with His will and way. And when man’s heart is inclined to do the will of God, not for what can be got, but because it is felt to be right and joyous, then is man qualified for divine service.
II. That those whom God qualifies for, He consecrates to His service. These two ideas overlap, as indeed do all the Christian doctrines and privileges. Consecration not only implies fitness, but supplies it. It separates from sin, and imparts the power of divine life.
1. God’s servants, by virtue of their consecration, are separate from sin.
(1.) The eyes are turned away “from beholding vanity.” Sin loses its attractiveness, and becomes an object of abhorrence.
(2.) The eye turned away, the whole man is turned away. Men walk in that direction on which their eyes are set.
(3.) The eyes and the whole man turned away from the vanities of sin are glad to look on the realities of God.
2. God’s servants, by virtue of their consecration, are made instinct with divine life. “Quicken Thou me in Thy way.” This life of consecration is
(1) divine. God’s servants are born of His Spirit, born into His house, born from above. They are not slaves or hirelings, but sons; and their duties those of filial affection.
(2) A special gift for a special service: “In Thy way.” Not for our spiritual gratification, or for our safety and blessedness merely, but in and for His way.
(3) Progressive. “In” all departments and stages of “Thy way.” We need moment by moment the divine quickening, and that constant quickening continually enlarges, develops, and intensifies all the powers and faculties of our being.
III. Those whom God consecrates He supports by special encouragements. “Stablish Thy word unto Thy servant.”
1. God’s servants are the subjects of special promises. God undertakes to preserve them from evil in the prosecution of their tasks, and empower them to overcome all their difficulties.
2. God establishes those promises. He fulfils His undertakings. No servant of His, while trusting in His Master’s strength and doing His Master’s work, has ever suffered harm or lacked any good thing.
3. God’s promises established afford a basis for future hopefulness. Since no word of God has failed, man has solid ground to rest upon. Were His word untrustworthy, or His promises broken, nothing but disappointment could result.
IV. Those whom God qualifies, consecrates, and encourages, are expected to exhibit certain traits.
1. Negatively: “Not to covetousness.” That the servant of God should not be inclined to covetousness is seen from the fact that covetousness
(1) Disposes the soul to occupations that are averse from the service of God. It is the root of all evil (1Ti_6:10); leads to violent theft and oppression (Mic_2:2); to treason, as in the case of Judas; dishonour of God, in the case of Gehazi; dishonesty, in that of Achan; murder, in Ahab; apostasy, in Ananias and Sapphira.
(2) It utterly incapacitates for the service of God. It destroys the principle of obedience, which is love of God (1Jn_2:5), is contrary to all the commands of God (Mat_6:14), and it slights all the encouragements of God’s grace by seeking other rewards.
2. Positively. Devotion to God’s fear.
(1.) To fear God is to revere Him and adopt that posture which befits His service.
(2.) Devotion to that fear saves us from sinning against God, and stimulates us to His service.
FEAR AND ITS REMEDY
(Psa_119:39-40)
God’s people are the subjects of a twofold fear: the fear of God and the fear of sin. The former fear is dealt with in the previous verse, the latter in this. “Guard me from the reproach which (alone) I fear of sinning against Thee; for Thy judgments, i.e., revealed laws, are good, and happy is he that keeps them.”—Speaker’s Com. Observe—
I. That the Christian has nothing to fear but sin, and the only reproach he need deprecate is that of having sinned.
1. Because sin is the only evil. Nothing is evil except from its alliance with sin. Trial, persecution, sickness, poverty, pain may be good, and under certain circumstances are to be desired rather than deprecated. But sin can only work harm. It saps the foundation of spiritual life, deteriorates the quality and diminishes the volume of true manhood, blinds the intellect, befouls the heart, destroys hope, kills usefulness, and blasts the soul.
2. Because sin has terrible and eternal consequences. Sin deliberately rejects the sources of the soul’s life and blessedness, and therefore fixes its own destiny, which is the death and misery of hell. Sin, too, entails a terrible “reproach” which man may well fear.
(1.) The reproach of the good.
(2.) Self-reproach. An active conscience will not let the sinner rest, for persisting in his own destruction and wronging his Master and his Friend.
(3.) The reproach of God. God reproaches in love now. “What iniquity have you or your fathers found in Me?” “Why will ye die?” But, by and by, in anger and judicially will He utter that reproach which shall never be wiped away, and dismiss the sinner to “shame and everlasting contempt.”
II. That the only safety from sin and its reproach is the life of righteousness.
1. There is no other safety. Watchfulness and resolution may save us from gross and palpable sins; pardon may remove its guilt, but only a quickening in the divine righteousness can save us permanently from its power.
2. With this we are secure. God does not simply cease to impute sin, He regenerates. So quickens, that sin has no more dominion over us,—quickens us in a new mould, so that we “live unto righteousness.” Thus the cause and the reproach are both rolled away, and God’s approbation secured.
III. That the danger and the safety are revealed by the Word of God. “Thy judgments are good.” Sin is a vague consciousness, and its consequences a vague dread without the judgments of God; and nowhere but there do we read, “Repent ye, and believe the Gospel.”
IV. That the danger is to be deprecated, and the safety sought by prayer. “I have longed after.”
SALVATION
(Psa_119:41-42)
The primary object of this prayer was doubtless providential deliverance. The Psalmist was afflicted, God had promised deliverance. He trusted in that promise, yet salvation stayed. Now the enemy began to reproach, “Where is now thy God?” This led to the passionate entreaty of our text. He prayed for salvation that he might give the enemy to see the stability of “the confidence wherein he trusted.” Learn that salvation is—
I. The outcome of the divine mercies. “Let Thy mercies … even Thy salvation.” Man is lost and ruined—has lost and ruined himself—not by chance, but deliberately. To salvation, therefore, he can lay no moral claim. By disobedience and rebellion he has lost all title to the divine regard. He can, therefore, be saved only by an act of mercy. But his sins are so many, and his depravity so deep, that multiplied mercies can alone meet his case. So thought the Psalmist when he said, “Let Thy mercies,” &c. So thought God when He offered to “multiply to pardon.” So we must think when we consider the wealth and variety of divine grace: the Mosaic and prophetic dispensations, the work of Christ, the operation of the Spirit, the Gospel ministry, and the means of grace. So in every individual case, forbearing, prevenient, saving, sanctifying grace. “Not according to our works, but according to His own mercy.”
II. Not a human effort, but a divine visitation. “Let Thy mercies come unto me.” Salvation is not the effort by which the sinner lifts himself out of one moral atmosphere into another, and loosens his hold of vice, and educates himself into virtue. It is altogether an act of God upon the sinner, and an act which, being essentially supernatural, does not admit of the co-operation of natural agencies. True, these are conditions, but repentance and faith merely put man into a salvable condition. “Mine own arm brought salvation.”
III. The subject of divine promise. “According to Thy Word.” The promises of salvation in God’s word are the most numerous and the most emphatic. It is the subject of the first promise and of the last.
IV. A witness to the steadfastness of the divine word. Professor Tyndall’s proposed experiment was manifestly unfair. There may be reasons, however inscrutable, whereby the sovereign of the universe may see fit not to relieve physical affliction, or save from physical death. Great moral purposes may be in the process of evolution, and for their accomplishment individuals may have to be removed to another sphere. But here the challenge may be taken up. God has promised to save on the condition of believing prayer. Let the vicious try it, pleading God’s promises, and if reformation does not follow the experiment has failed. But it has been tried, and again and again men have had “wherewith to answer” them that reproached them. Learn—
(i.) The value of salvation. The mighty and merciful visitation of God. (ii) The necessity of trusting in God’s Word for salvation. (iii.) The duty of the public exhibition of that salvation for the glory of God, and the refutation of unbelief.
PREACHING AND PRACTICE
(Psa_119:43-44)
Observe:—
I. The Psalmist’s prayer. “Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth.” He regards it both as a duty and a privilege to declare God’s truth. How many, alas, forget this obligation! They have been saved themselves through hearing and obeying this declaration, and that is their only concern. There are others who look upon it merely as a burden to be borne with resignation. God, however, would have us regard the command to testify of His grace as a commandment with promise. We must preach if we would be true to our convictions, and fulfil the divine plan for the conversion of the world. But consider the honour of being ambassadors from God, the blessedness of conveying the tidings of God’s love to sinful and sorrowing men, the glory of the reward. Let this therefore be every Christian’s prayer. If he does not feel called, let him pray God to call him. If circumstances render the practice of this duty and the enjoyment of this privilege difficult, let him ask that the word of truth may not be taken utterly out of his mouth.
II. The Psalmist’s purpose. The Psalmist felt that lip service alone was a mockery. No one would listen to a man whose practice gave the lie to his preaching. Ornate eloquence, profound learning, or subtle logic are useless gifts if the life be wrong. But he felt, too, that living without preaching was but mutilated service; so he wishes to combine the two, and determines to make his preaching not merely subordinate to his practice, but helpful to it. “So shall I keep Thy law.” What he preaches to others he will preach to himself. He will water others and himself at the same time. Preaching shall strengthen his own convictions and promote his own growth in grace. This shall be not occasional, but continual and “for ever and ever.”
III. The Psalmist’s consolation. “I have hoped in Thy judgments.”
1. In the strength of this consolation he goes to God in prayer. He felt that God’s judgments were his only hope. He prayed that he might preach them and keep them lest that hope should die.
2. This consolation is the strength of all powerful preaching. A man who is not hopeful cannot preach at all. But if a man has a well-founded hope on the power of God’s Word, and in the effects of its proclamation, he must preach, and his preaching will be intense and successful.
3. This consolation is the power of holy living. Unless a man has a strong hope that the basis on which he stands is strong and enduring, and that the end at which he is aiming is attainable, he will all his lifetime be the subject of anxious fears. But if he hopes in God’s judgments he will be sure that he is on a rock, and that success will attend all his efforts.
FREEDOM
(Psa_119:45)
Nothing is more precious or desirable than liberty. Yet there is nothing about which men make more mistakes, or enjoy so little. What passes for liberty is frequently the basest servitude. And what men call thraldom is often the finest liberty. Notice—
I. That man’s natural condition is one of bondage. He has deliberately resigned and rejected his title to liberty by transgressing the terms on which it is based. Scripture everywhere represents the unredeemed man as sold under sin, led captive by the devil, desiring good but unable to reach it. This bondage is painful and degrading in its nature, and terrible in its consequences.
II. That man walks at liberty when he seeks and finds God’s precepts. God’s Word is the charter of man’s freedom.
1. It defines true liberty. The subordination of the soul to God (Jas_1:25). The soul is free only when it moves unhampered in that sphere where its true interests lie. Restraints are not laid on the soul, but on those passions and preferences which hinder its full activity. When a command is imposed upon it, it is implied that its breach or negligence would militate against our freedom.
2. It confers true liberty. It is the only revelation of the great redemption, and alone shows how through the death of Christ and the work of the Spirit we may enjoy the liberty of the children of God.
III. That man walks permanently and securely at liberty only as long as he seeks and finds God’s precepts.
1. They must be sought and found by God’s help, for they are God’s precepts.
2. They must be applied by God’s grace.
3. Their requirements must be rigidly kept.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) The exchange of servitude for freedom is an exchange of masters and an exchange of services. (ii.) Serve the new Master who has emancipated you from a terrible tyranny with the same diligence as you did your old.
BIBLE DUTIES
(Psa_119:45-48)
I. To seek for it. If we seek for the word of God literally, or for that word which has special reference to us in given circumstances, we shall find it.
II. To meditate upon it. Finding it, our first duty is to see what it is, what it means, what it is for, and to make it subserve those circumstances which led to our search for it. Meditation does all these.
III. To love it. Meditation will show its infinite beneficence and beauty, its exact suitability to the needs and aspirations of the soul, instruction for the mind, direction for the will, cleansing for the heart, guidance for the life, comfort for affliction, strength for duty, peace for distraction, hope for death, and will beget as it must, love.
IV. To delight in it. The heart that loves the Word will delight in it (Psa_1:2; Psa_111:1; Rom_7:22). Thus the study and practice of God’s Word is not a matter of dry duty, but of joy. Who can help rejoicing in that which is the revelation of God’s character, will, helpfulness, redemption, heaven? Let the soul love these revelations and it will delight in them.
V. Not to be ashamed of it. Suspicion and dislike are at the root of shame. Those who suspect the authority or dislike the teaching of the Word of God are ashamed of it. But those who delight in it say, “God forbid that I should glory,” &c. What are the promises or laws or dignities of earthly monarchs in comparison with it? Even the reproach of Christ is greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. We who delight in God’s commandment are not ashamed to stand with Moses before Pharaoh, Daniel in Babylon, Peter and John in the presence of the Sanhedrin, and Paul at Cæsar’s bar.
VI. To earnestly practise it. What we are not ashamed of we should “lift up our hands to.” It is not enough to seek, find, meditate, love, delight, and glory in God’s Word. The servant who knew his lord’s will but did it not was beaten with many stripes. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (1Jn_2:4; Jas_1:22). Everything depends upon this. If we do not practise God’s commandment with both hands earnestly, our ardour will cool, our love diminish, our meditation cease, and our Bible be withdrawn. But if we practise it, our weakness and ignorance will drive us to its wisdom and strength, finding which our affections will be stirred and our delight and boasting stimulated.
IN CONCLUSION.—Seek God’s Word diligently. While you are musing on it, let the fire burn. That fire will kindle joy. That joy will give us holy boldness before princes and governors, and help us in the prosaic application and practice of it in our daily life.
AFFLICTION: ITS COMFORTS, DUTIES, AND DANGERS
(Psa_119:49-53)
Notice—
I. That God’s servants are permitted to suffer affliction. This Psalm, the whole Bible, and all experience testifies to this. “They that are godly in the world shall suffer persecution.” The glorified “have come out of great tribulation.” “Ye shall have tribulation.”
1. These afflictions are aggravated by, or in some cases mainly consist in, the derision of ungodly men (Psa_119:51). “They ridiculed him, bantered him, did all they could to expose him to contempt; they laughed at him for praying and called it cant, for his seriousness and called it mopishness, for his strictness and called it needless preciseness. They were the proud who sat in the scorners’ seat and valued themselves in so doing.—M. Henry.
2. Whether despised or not, the godly man is always afflicted by the prevalence of sin (Psa_119:53). “The LXX render the word ἀθυμια, by “depression;” Arab. and Syr., “sadness;” Jerome, “horror;” Calvin, “terror.” (See Psa_11:6.) “Probably a burning wind or simoom is meant, which scorches up and destroys vegetation in a moment; and, metoph., a sharp penetrating pain or horror.”—Speaker’s Com. Other aspects of affliction are as nothing when compared with man’s treatment of God and His Word. A sure mark of grace is extreme sensitiveness to the exceeding sinfulness of sin.
II. That God has special comforts for His afflicted servants.
1. His word is the repertory of exceeding great and precious promises for those who are in affliction. All our vicissitudes are divinely provided for. “I remember Thy judgments of old.” God does not wait for His servants’ extremities. The provision for them is antedated by eternity. When the believer goes to the Word of God he finds waiting for him all he wants.
2. His Word quickens (Psa_119:50). The worst feature of affliction is the exhaustion it engenders, and that is intensified sometimes by the thought that it is hopeless. But God tells us that our sickness is not unto death, and thus immortal hope and new life are kindled in the breast.
III. That affliction should lead us to call upon God to fulfil His promises
1. We should plead the promise itself. This is an appeal to God’s faithfulness. We must go to God’s Word to find what promise meets our case and then plead it. Is our case that of sinners: God’s promise is to abundantly pardon. Distress: God has promised peace. Darkness: light. Pain: sufficient grace.
2. We should plead the hope that the promise has excited. This is an appeal to the divine justice and goodness. If God could give rise to groundless expectations, all faith in Him would fail. This we know to be impossible.
3. We should plead God’s fulfilled promises and man’s answered hopes. “The Psalmist remembered that the principles of the divine administration were always the same.” In the trials of life, &c., it is well for us to think of the unchanging principles which mark the divine dealings. Under such an administration those who trust in God must be safe.
IV. That affliction should not lead us to decline from God’s law (Psa_119:51).
1. Pain should not lead us to doubt God’s goodness. Pain is not an evil in itself. The physician and parent have often to inflict pain.
2. Adversity should not lead us to swerve from our principles. Remember the compensations. It is something to suffer for the right. God is always on the side of the right. God will always reward the right
3. Derision should not lead us from an open avowal of our piety (Psa_44:12-22). This is a temptation to which the young are most susceptible. Many a man can face death who quails before sarcasm. Peter. Happy the man in the scoffing world who can say, “I have not declined from Thy law.”
IN CONCLUSION.—(Jas_1:2-5; 1Pe_1:6-7; Rom_5:3, etc.).
THE EARTHLY PILGRIMAGE AND THE HEAVENLY SONGS
(Psa_119:54)
“When the Eastern traveller takes shelter from the scorching heat or halts for the night at some caravansary which is for the time the house of his pilgrimage, he soothes his rest with a song—a song it may be of war, romance, or love. But the poet of Israel finds his theme in the statutes of Jehovah. These have been my pastime, with these I have refreshed myself onward through the wearisome journey, and across the scorching deserts of life. Not songs of old tradition, &c., have supported me, but these have been the solace of my weary hours and the comfort of my rest.”—Bushnell.
I. God’s people are on a pilgrimage.
1. They have here no continuing city (Heb_13:14). This life is but the passage of the soul to its eternal inheritance. All things here are fleeting, are partaken of in haste, while the traveller is moving onward. All things change, avocations, pleasures, friends, &c., but this, that we are journeying to the grave.
2. They have here no home. They sojourn here for a time. Soon they strike their tents for the last time and enter into their rest. All the journey is characterised by the discomfort incident to homelessness. There is nothing to give harmony, satisfaction, or repose.
3. They are ever seeking their country and their home. This implies patient employment of the means at their disposal; the temporary rests and refreshments of the way; the supports and charts of the way; and the companions of the way.
4. This being the case they are not ashamed of the character of strangers and pilgrims, but glory in it. There is nothing here worthy of their inheritance (Joh_15:19; 1Pe_4:4).
II. Delightful provisions are made for God’s people on their pilgrimage. “Thy statutes have been my songs.” “Multitudes of men have a very different conception of this matter. Divine law, divine obligation, responsibility in any form, authority under any conditions, they feel to be a real annoyance.”—Bushnell. God’s statutes are delightful nevertheless, because—
1. They clearly reveal the end of our journey. While other books give only dim hopes or shrewd guesses, God’s Word is most explicit. It is full of assurances of our future home. It tells us of its many mansions, its splendid cities, its wide domain, its freedom from sin, pain, and death; its Fatherly Sovereign; and of the joys which are at His right hand for evermore.
2. They contain directions how we may reach our journey’s end. It is no small joy amidst the questionable maxims and the halting speculations of the world to have a light shining in a dark place, a chart which maps out every day’s march, and indicates every danger, and following which it is impossible to go astray.
3. They contain the history of our ancestors and fellow-countrymen who have gone the way before us and have entered into rest, and encourage us to emulate their patience and heroism. (Heb_6:12; Heb_12:1).
4. They contain the precious promises; assure of the leadership and companionship of God; provide comfort for the anxiety, and solace for the pain, we meet with by the way.
THE NIGHTLY OCCUPATIONS OF THE GODLY
(Psa_119:55; Psa_119:62; Psa_119:148)
That God has given the light is a reason why we should dedicate the day to Him and make Him the end of all our active services. But God has also given the night, and that blessing of blessings, sleep. Should not that be recognised, and at its appropriate season? The Psalmist thought so and then meditated on God’s Word, remembered God’s name, and rose to give thanks to Him.
I. The duties of the night.
1. Meditation on God’s Word. Measuring by that the actions of the day, and composing our thoughts for the night.
2. Remembrance of God’s name; who has preserved us during the day, and under whose protection we hope to be preserved during the darkness and solitude of the night.
3. Celebration of God’s praise. Thankfulness for the blessings of both seasons.
II. How these duties are to be performed.
1. With alacrity (Psa_119:148).
2. With self-forgetfulness. At mid-night. Remembering only the gratitude we owe to God.
3. With joy (Psa_119:62).
III. Why these duties are to be performed.
1. Night is most suitable for profitable meditation on the Word of God. Amidst the distraction of worldly cares the mind is unfitted for the sustained effort that is required.
2. Night is most suitable for remembering God’s name. The mind is then unoccupied. The bustle of life often drives away thoughts of God.
3. Night is most suitable for thanksgiving. The time most suitable to thought is most suitable for gratitude.
IV. These nightly occupations will prepare us for the exercise of daily duties.
1. Nightly meditation will prepare us for daily obedience. The task learned overnight will be easily repeated on the following day.
2. Nightly remembrance of God will stimulate daily thoughts about Him.
3. Nightly thanksgiving will be a healthy preparation for the recognition of daily mercies.
THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE
(Psa_119:56)
Some expositors refer the “this” literally to the blessings enumerated in the preceding verses. It is better, perhaps, to view the expression indefinitely. Taking a review of his whole experience, the Psalmist bursts out in the joyful exclamation, “All is mine, because I kept Thy precepts.” The evangelical results of obedience are—
I. Protection in the further course of obedience (Psa_31:19-20; Job_1:10; Zec_2:5).
II. As much of success in life as God may see good for us (Mat_6:33; Psa_84:11).
III. Gracious manifestations of God’s presence and favour (Psa_17:15; Joh_14:21).
IV. Growth in grace (Psa_84:7; Pro_4:18; Rom_6:19).
V. Peace. Psa_119:165. (Isa_32:17; Gal_6:16; Php_4:8.)
VI. Joy. Psa_119:14. (Rom_5:2; Rom_14:17.)
VII. Heaven (Revelation 3)
THE SOUL’S PORTION
(Psa_119:57-58)
I. What the soul’s portion is.
“Thou art my portion, O Lord.” Not His ordinances, or Word, or Church, or anything about Him, or from Him, but Himself. Heb., “Jehovah (is) my portion, i.e., mine inheritance more precious than any other.” (See Psa_16:5; Psa_113:5; Jos_17:14; Jos_18:10.) The soul’s portion is—
1. Accessible with them who are of a contrite heart.
2. Ever present. “Lo, I am with you alway.”
3. Unchanging. “The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”
4. Soul-satisfying. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy.”
5. Eternal (Psa_73:26).
II. How the soul’s portion is attained. “I entreated Thy face (Heb) with my whole heart.”
1. Not by bribes of benevolence. But
2. By earnest supplication.
3. By the undivided aspirations of our whole nature.
4. By the effective pleading of the divine promise, “According to Thy word.”
III. On what grounds the soul’s portion is given. “Be merciful,” &c.
1. Not on the ground of merit. But
2. On the ground of the divine mercy.
3. On the ground of the divine promise.
IV. For what purpose the soul’s portion is vouchsafed (Psa_119:57).
1. Consecration, “I have said.”
2. Obedience, “I will keep Thy words.”
THE HEAVENLY ROAD
(Psa_119:59-61)
The author of this Psalm reviews the way in which God had been leading him. He looks back on the time when he was on another road, and contemplates with gratitude the thought which induced him to change his destiny. Having changed the tenor of his ways, he sped with joyful haste along the path of God’s commandments and was not driven therefrom by the malice of his foes. These words suggest—
I. That man is naturally in the wrong way. “I thought on my ways.”
1. The wrong way is a hard way. “The way of transgressors is hard.” Christian men are too prone to complain of the difficulties of God’s way. Let them think of the perils they have escaped.
2. The wrong way is an unsatisfying way. No sinner can give a reasonable account of himself. To speak of its pleasures or profits is but irony. They are husks which the swine do eat.
3. It is a ruinous way. It wears out the spiritual energies, and leads to everlasting destruction.
4. It is a selfish way.
5. It is a way peculiar, to the individual transgressor. “We have turned every one to his own way.”
II. That reflection will lead men into the right way. “I thought,” Sin is a reckless absence of thought. In order to sin, a man cannot, must not, think. The sinner is beside himself, and, as in the case of the Prodigal, when he comes to himself and contemplates his own misery and degradation, and the comfort and honours of his father’s house, he turns his feet in a homeward direction.
III. That the choice of the right way must be followed by a deliberate change of habit. “And turned my feet.” “He does not say that he waited for God to turn him, or that he could not turn of himself. Man is always active in conversion. He changes, repents, believes, turns, not God. It is indeed by the grace and help of God,—but the effect of that grace is not to make him idly wait; it is to rouse him to act.”—Barnes.
IV. That the right way is to be pursued with alacrity. “I made haste.”
1. Much time has been lost.
2. Many dangers are pursuing.
3. Much has to be done ere we reach the end, and the day is far spent.
V. That this alacrity is not to be lessened by the dangers and privations of the road (Psa_119:61). The surrounding perils, so far from discouraging us, should hasten us. Does the dispoiled traveller sit down and bemoan his losses when he knows his home is in sight? No, he hastens on, lest worse accidents should happen him. So let our losses and dangers drive us nearer to God, and quicken our pace towards that heavenly country “where thieves do not break through nor steal.”
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS
(Psa_119:63)
Man is a social creature. God has said, “It is not good for men to be alone” (Ecc_4:9-12). For the purposes of mutual help God has set the solitary in families. This being the case for the promotion of spiritual life man should not rush into monasticism, but should seek fellowship with those with whom he has moral affinity (Rom_1:11-12). This can be safely neglected by none. Our text suggests—
I. That religious communion must have a religious basis. The fear of God and the keeping of His precepts.
1. The Bible knows of no basis that is not in some sense theological. The fear of God implies a belief in the person to be feared. We cannot fear an abstraction, or a “stream or tendency which works for righteousness,” nor love it, which indeed is included in that fear. To keep God’s precepts is to believe in their divine inspiration and authority, or we shall deem keeping them optional. To fear God necessitates fearing Him through the divinely-appointed means, through the grace of Christ and in the power of the Holy Ghost. If we keep God’s precepts we must not omit those which demand a full intellectual assent to certain doctrines. It is impossible for the man who believes that the only way to the Father is through Christ, to worship with the Unitarian or the Deist. It is impossible for the man who when he prays believes it is with the help of the Spirit, to pray with the man who believes in no such Spirit. To do so argues either hypocrisy on the one hand, or the suppression of cherished convictions on the other. “What part hath he that believeth with the infidel?”
2. The Bible knows of no basis that is not practically religious. Profession without practice is everywhere sternly condemned. There are no words in the whole Bible stronger than those used by St. Paul to the Corinthian Church for its admission of a known profligate to its communion. The original covenant with the Jews was on the condition of their “circumspection” and their separation from the people and customs among whom they lived. Creed and conduct, therefore, is the broad basis for the communion of saints.
II. That religious communion is the spiritual intercourse between spiritual men, and between spiritual men and God, through the divinely-appointed means. It involves—
1. The common profession of a common faith and obedience. Christian faith, salvation, love and service, are common to all believers, and form the bonds by which Christendom holds together.
2. Common communion with a common God, through a common Saviour, by means of the help of a common Spirit.
3. Participation in a common lot (Rev_1:9). In its fullest extent it involves a communion of suffering as well as of fellowship (Rom_12:15; Heb_10:33; Heb_11:25).
4. The exercise of a common spiritual help (Psa_15:4; Psa_16:2; Rom_1:12).
III. That religious communion is reasonable and natural, when on this basis, e.g.,
1. Religious men are members of the family of God. They are begotten by the same Father, regenerated by the same Spirit, share the same life, are washed in the same blood, and are travelling to the same heaven.
2. The inclinations of the members of this family all flow in this direction (1Th_4:9; 1Jn_5:1)
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) Religious communion is necessary to maintain the faith once delivered to the saints. (ii.) Religious communion is profitable, as promoting the interests of charity and growth in grace.
GOD’S GOODNESS: ITS NATURE AND ITS RELATION TO PRAYER AND LIFE
(Psa_119:64; Psa_119:66; Psa_119:68)
I. The nature of the divine goodness.
1. It is divine. “Thou art good.” God is good in Himself. All the attributes of love, truth, and justice, which go to make up perfect goodness, inhere in Him.
2. It is operative. “Thou doest good.” It is not a negative or passive goodness; it is positive and active. God is good in
(1) Creation. The earth is full of Thy mercy.” No perfection is more resplendently exhibited in the universe than this, and the universe teems with its manifestation. The cheering sun, the shining stars, the singing birds, the waving corn all proclaim that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
(2) In human experience. The course of individual history tells the same tale. His wings have overshadowed us, His arm has upheld us, and into our hearts He has caused to flow the ceaseless benedictions of His grace. Well may we say with the Psalmist, “Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant.”
(3) In the Word. This is the one theme of all the precepts and all the promises. All our wants are there anticipated and fully met. There is light for our understanding, government for our will, cleansing for our conscience, guidance for our life, help for our weakness, comfort for our trouble, God for our portion, and heaven for our home.
II. These views of the divine goodness encourage us to pray.
1. Without them prayer would be impossible. To be uncertain about God, or to know Him only as indifferent or implacable, would stifle prayer. Prayer implies confidence, freedom of access, expectation of answer. But we should not be so foolish as to approach one whom we were sure could not or would not hear us, or so courageous if we knew He would frown upon us or spurn us.
2. But with this assurance we have a sure ground for confidence and expectation, and a mighty plea. God is good, and does good to the fowls of the air, the grass of the field; shall He not much more be good to us? Plead His goodness, His promise to do good, and you will not plead in vain.
III. Our prayer, based upon such sure warrant and such glad encouragement, should be of the largest kind and for the best things. We cannot ask too much, for our text tells us that God is willing as well as able to supply all our need. “Teach me Thy statutes … good judgment and knowledge.” The Psalmist felt that instruction was the best thing to be desired, and he prayed to be instructed in the best things.
1. God’s statutes. The Bible is the best book, because “given by inspiration of God, and profitable,” &c. Some books are good, others bad, others in different. He prays therefore that the contents of this best book may be expounded to him by their true interpreter.
2. Good judgment. This is another of the best things to which all should aspire. To bad judgment may be traced all the evils that are in the world, and to good judgment all that is good. A good judgment will
(1) Accurately distinguish between truth and error, good and evil (1Co_2:15; 1Co_10:15; Heb_5:14).
(2) Determine and decide (Psa_39:1; Act_11:3; 2Ti_3:10).
(3) Guide in the right direction, which is indeed its main end and use (Psa_50:23)
3. Knowledge. God’s statutes are the sources of true and saving knowledge. Good judgment will guide us to them, and apply them, digest them, and use them. Upon these three things thus hang all spiritual good. Having these all the rest will follow.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) Entertain large views of God’s goodness. (ii.) Come for the provisions of that goodness with large petitions.
THE PURPOSE AND BENEFIT OF AFFLICTION
(Psa_119:67; Psa_119:71)
At first sight we are startled by the apparent contradiction, good to be afflicted. Good to be afflicted because driven to the painstaking study of a book whose revelations humble us and imposes further hardships? Good because driven from having our own way to walking in God’s? Even so a storm drives a vessel into harbour when she should be nearing her destination, and the sailors deem that storm a calamity. Not so; they find while in the harbour a leak that would have given them a watery grave, and there they repair the leak, and then proceed on their way. It was good for them to be afflicted. So God tosses us in a sea of trouble to drive us to the harbour of His Word, where our defects may be ascertained and remedied. A traveller bent upon a given destination, through forgetfulness, or self-conceit, or indolence, neglects to consult either way-farers or charts. He resumes his way, but still blindly pushes on. He meets with an accident, and can go no further for the time. Was that a calamity? No. It brought him to his senses. Now he examines his chart, makes inquiries, and finds that he is on the wrong road, and can never that way reach his journey’s end. It was good for him to be afflicted. So a man errs from the way of happiness, the way of truth, the way of his true destiny, the way of God. The Bible is too dry for him, how can he with his sublime genius condescend to examine its tedious details? Ah! that book is the only itinerary to heaven. He goes madly on till he comes to disaster and to ruin. Then he is glad to consult that book, and then he finds how far he has gone wrong and how he may get right. Truly may such use these words, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted. Before that I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word.”
CONTRASTS AND COMPENSATIONS
(Psa_119:69-70)
The lesson to be learned here is the old one, “Things are not what they seem.” There was a great contrast between the Psalmist and his persecutors, to all appearances in favour of the latter. They were in a position which lifted them up with pride; he in a position which cast him down in sorrow. But below the surface the contrast is reversed. Their heart was as fat as grease, unsusceptible to spiritual impressions, and incapable of spiritual enjoyment. He had both the appetite and the privileges, for he delighted in God’s law. Again, he had that which enabled him to triumph over their slanderous accusations, the answer of a good conscience towards God.
I. The contrast.
1. Apparent. Pride and affliction. To his enemies, to the world generally, evil prospered, and goodness played a losing game. So it appears to many now (Psa_73:4-12).
2. Real. Down below the surface, and in the sight of God, there is a contrast which tells altogether the other way. Hearts as fat as grease—delight in God’s law. “Their heart is dull and brutal (Isa_6:10; Psa_17:10; Psa_83:7), so that they understand not Thy statutes, in which I delight; yea, I love them with my whole heart, and above all price.”—Speaker’s Com. “Senseless, secure, and stupid, sensual and voluptuous; they roll themselves in the pleasures of sense and take up with them as their chief good; and much good may it do them. I would not change conditions with them.”—M. Henry.
II. The compensation.
1. “The wicked have forged a lie against me.” Heb., To patch together. “It is applied to accusations made up of shreds and patches,—units, small matters, things having no necessary connection, words dropped here and there which, being artfully woven together, seem to make out a case against a man. Most slanders are formed in this way.”—Barnes. “All the falsehoods which men smeared, or smeared all at once over him, making the true nature of things undiscernible by daubing them over with false colours, or pasting on deceit.”—Moll.
2. The compensation consisted in the fact that they were lies, and that the Psalmist had and would keep God’s precepts with his whole heart. This, with the consequent sense of God’s approbation, supported and cheered him. Learn—
(i.) To judge accurately and not by appearances. (ii.) The needful thing is not to be rich and prosperous, but to be right and good. (iii.) Those who are right and good will have abundant consolation in the midst of trial.
THE BIBLE BETTER THAN RICHES
(Psa_119:72)
This, like all great truths, is a most difficult thing to believe. The real value of wealth has been estimated over and over again, yet men cling to it as the best possible if not the best conceivable thing. But the testimony of those who could best judge the relative value of both, pronounces God’s Word to be the best conceivable and the best possible thing in the world, e.g., David (Psa_19:10), Solomon (Pro_3:14; Pro_8:11).
I. What wealth can do the Bible can do better.
1. Wealth brings honour. Mammon has never wanted worshippers. No title is refused, and no door closed, to the millionaire. The magisterial bench is reached by golden stairs, fashion wields a gilded sceptre, and coronets adorn the brow of gold. But the Bible confers higher dignities than these. By it man obtains the peerage of heaven, enjoys the companionship of God, and obtains a crown of glory that shall never fade away.
2. Wealth can purchase what is supposed to constitute happiness. It lifts a man above the privations of poverty; may give magnificent mansions, costly furniture, gorgeous attire, and luxurious diet. All the arts and adornments of life are open to those who can purchase them. But what are these in comparison with what the true riches of the Bible can purchase; the house not made with hands, the robe of righteousness, the wine of the kingdom, the heavenly manna, fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore?
3. Wealth may purchase learning, buy books, found libraries, pay school fees, and open the doors of colleges. But no money can purchase what the Bible offers freely. True wisdom, the saving knowledge of God in Christ, understanding of the will of God, and immortality. Granted, then, that riches can do much, the Bible can do more, and do it without money and without price.
II. What wealth cannot do the Bible can.
1. Money cannot purchase pardon for sin. If it could, many would part with their all for it. It has been tried. Under a debasing superstition it is tried to-day. But no priestly fees, no costly masses, have or can ease the burdened conscience or cleanse its guilty stains—
“Vainly we offer each ample oblation;
Vainly with gifts would His blessing implore.”
But the Bible leads us to Him “who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,” &c.
2. Money cannot purchase a clear and safe guide in the practical paths of life. It can lead astray, but it cannot lead back again, and cannot train man in the way he should go. Much has been spent in the supposition that it can; but it has been spent on blind guides. The Bible, on the contrary, is “a lamp unto our feet,” &c.
3. Money cannot purchase dignities of character. It has purchased the opposite. Many a man has been weighted down by it into the lowest abysses of moral degradation. The best it can do is to gild the exterior. But the Bible ennobles man. It endows him with the Spirit of God. It enables him to live the life of Christ. It has trained statesmen, heroes, and philanthropists. It has given scholars their wisdom, martyrs to progress their fortitude, and saints their sanctity.
4. Money cannot purchase the needful blessing in time of trial. It straightens no crooked path. It may intensify trouble, but can never remove it; it can wipe no tear from the eye; and in the hour of death man turns to his gilded idol in vain. It can destroy, but it cannot save. And in that land where gold is not the currency the miser has no place. But the Bible gives to the afflicted, the promises; to the poor, the unsearchable riches of Christ; to the dying, the hope and consciousness of heaven. Therefore, “The law of Thy mouth is better,” &c.
III. What wealth will do the Bible wont. Wealth must bring anxieties and cares. Every penny brings its additional solicitude. With increased riches comes the disquieting question, What is to be done with them? Increased possessions mean increased oversight and responsibility. With fresh social honours comes fresh and inexorable demands. And all this means gray hairs, brain exhaustion, heart straining, with no adequate return. But the Bible will not fret the heart; it will comfort it. It will not wear the brain; it will soothe it. It will not injure the nerves; it will brace them. It will not impair the moral sense; it will sanctify and invigorate it. Therefore, because what wealth will do the Bible will not, is “the law of God’s mouth better,” &c.
CREATION A PLEA IN PRAYER
(Psa_119:73)
This Psalm is remarkable for its spiritual aspirations, and the pleas by which their fulfilment is urged. The Psalmist is here seeking the highest moral good. He seeks it in the best and shortest way, by praying for understanding that he may learn God’s commandments. The argument he employs why his prayer should be answered is simple, practical, powerful—viz., that God had created him, and created him that he might seek and gain the end he now desires to reach. Note then—
I. That man is the creation of God. “Thou hast made me.” Either the original creation (Gen_1:26; Gen_2:7), or the creation of the individual himself (Psalms 139), or both.
II. That man was created for divine service (Pro_16:4; Isa_49:5; Rom_11:36). God has “fashioned” man for that purpose. With mind, that man may apprehend and remember Him; with hearing, that he may listen to Him; with speech, that he may testify of Him; with hands and feet, that he may do His will; with a heart, that he may love Him; and a spirit, that he may enjoy Him. Man is full of marks of design. What is that design? That he may eat, and drink, and sleep? Nay, the animals do that; but that he may know God and enjoy Him for ever.
III. That man is not now as he was when he was created. He not only does not fulfil his Maker’s design, but is incapable of doing so (Ecc_7:29; Rom_3:23). By some great injury and loss, and by the infusion of some new principles, he falls short of the divine glory, and is bent on fulfilling precisely opposite ends. All his faculties so exquisitely adapted for divine purposes are prostituted to base and injurious works. His understanding, will, affections, &c., are engaged in warfare against God, the devil’s service, and self-destruction.
IV. Hence the necessity of a new creation. A new heart, a new understanding that can grasp the wisdom, duty, and necessity of God’s commandments, and a new nature that will render the learning and practice of those commandments easy and possible (Deu_5:29; Joh_6:5-6; Rom_8:10-11; Col_3:9-10).
V. Desiring this new nature, so that we may answer the divine purposes, no plea is more appropriate and powerful than the fact that we are God’s creation.
1. It is natural that God should take an interest in His own work; and if it come to grief, that He should desire to repair and perfect it (Job_10:3; Job_14:15; Isa_64:8-9).
2. The divinely-ordained order is that we should ask God to multiply His blessings (Psa_116:12-13; Mat_6:25; Rom_8:32). The more God gives, the more He delights to give.
3. The fact that God has created us is strong ground for the belief that He will not forsake us. We may reasonably suppose that the same hand which imposes the obligation will help us when we endeavour to discharge it.
4. This prayer implies a state of the heart which God will own and bless. It is the expression of a strong and ardent desire to fulfil a divine obligation.
IN CONCLUSION.—Come as creatures to the great and beneficent Creator, and ask Him, your Father, to help you His offspring. (i.) Let the unconverted come. Although you cannot call God Father by the spirit of adoption, yet He has created you. Make this your plea, that yon should receive that filial spirit which will enable you to learn and obey your Father’s will. (ii.) Let believers under trial come for both reasons. Plead creation old and new, and you will not plead in vain.
RELIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP
(Psa_119:74; Psa_119:79)
I. Is possible only to religious persons. Fellowship implies a common experience, bond, and purpose. There is family fellowship, social fellowship, fellowship between those engaged in trade, science, or art, requiring similarity of nature, taste, and aim. “How can two walk together except they are agreed?” So there can be no religious fellowship except between those who fear God and have known His testimonies. That is, the qualities of sainthood are essential to the communion of saints.
II. Is to be desired by religious persons. “Let those that fear thee turn to Me.” Man feels as God felt for Him, that it is not good for him to be alone. He is a social being and longs for society. So God has “set the solitary in families.” This feeling is developed in fraternities, guilds, trades’ unions, &c. So the spiritual man yearns for communion with those who have been baptized into the same spirit. But it is noteworthy how the Psalmist desires this fellowship to be brought about, not by “the selective action of spiritual affinities,” but by the providence and grace of God. Psa_119:79 is not merely the expression of a want, it is a prayer (Jer_15:19). This is just the New Testament idea of the Church. It is not merely a congregation of people who for mutual profit, spiritual or otherwise, have left other things for it. It is a company, every member of which God “has called out of darkness into His marvellous light.” Christians do not simply gravitate to each other, God calls them to Himself, and then the Church finds its true unity. A shade of thought worthy of note is found in the expression, “Let them that fear thee turn to Me,” and shadows forth the principle of Christian evangelisation. “Here am I, yearning for fellowship. Let Thy people in their search for lost members of their fold find me.” What a striking condemnation does the example of this old Jew afford those who shrink from and must be urged to membership in Christ’s Church! The Psalmist’s absorbing desire and prayer is, that the faithful may find him and take him into fellowship.
III. Is profitable to religious persons. “They that fear Thee will be glad when I,” &c. We are glad when we find a fellow-countryman on a foreign shore. The scholar is glad of the company of his fellow-scholar, &c. Converse over identical callings is healthful and stimulating.
1. The Church is glad when it finds one lost member of its body and can bring it back again into union with itself. There is joy not only in heaven but on earth. The members of the Church have been increased, its territory and spiritual life and power augmented, one more jewel is added to its Redeemer’s crown.
2. The Church is glad when one of its members can testify to God’s special grace. The Psalmist had been afflicted, but God had sanctified his affliction and had delivered him. He felt that those who feared God would be glad when they knew that, particularly the sorrowful, whom it would lead to resignation and hope.
3. The Church is glad when one of its members contributes to the common stock of knowledge. The Psalmist had prayed for understanding and had been answered. We can imagine the gladness of the God-fearing company as he would open up the new and enlarged views of truth which had been vouchsafed him.
4. The Church is glad when one of its members can strengthen the common confidences. “They … will be glad because I have hoped in Thy Word.” Nothing is more depressing to a society than for one of its members to lose his hope.
IN CONCLUSION.—Why do some religious men shrink from religious fellowship? This question is of vast importance when we consider that the members of our congregations vastly outnumber the members of our churches. There is something wrong, we may depend upon it, when members of a family or class are out of fellowship with each other. If it is natural and healthy for men in their social or professional capacity to meet together, and if they have no hesitation in speaking to one another about matters which affect their common interest, much more so should the travellers of Zion meet together and comfort and edify one another by the way. Religious fellowship, it is true, may degenerate into sentimentality and unreal sameness, but a thing is not to be neglected because it is abused. The great want of the world is men and women of the type before us. Pentecost, the Reformation, Puritanism, and Methodism resulted from such.
RESIGNATION: ITS DUTIES AND USEFULNESS
(Psa_119:75; Psa_119:79)
I. The Psalmist expresses his resignation to the divine will. This is based on two grounds—
1. God’s judgments are right. God is holy in His nature, and wise and just in all the acts of His government, and therefore His judgments are right in general, though there may be in some particular instances difficulties which we cannot easily resolve.”—M. Henry.
2. God’s judgments are the expression of the divine faithfulness. They are not arbitrary or cruel, but they are necessary, that the divine and beneficent schemes which God has in hand may be worked out.
II. Resignation does not preclude, but rather presupposes and includes prayer for comfort and support. It is impossible without special grace to see and acknowledge the righteousness and faithfulness of God’s dispensations. The heart is naturally prone to resist and rebel against all discipline. We must therefore cry for help in our time of need. This is based on three things.
1. The divine mercy. “Thy merciful kindness.” We may plead that God is too kind to withdraw or not to bestow His help, the thought of which will encourage us under the heaviest trials.
2. The divine promise. “According to Thy word.” God is not only disposed but bound by covenant promise to help. Plead that promise that seems most to suit your case.
3. The divine ownership. “Thy servant.” Despondency, &c., will unfit us for our duties, and we may therefore ask for help because we want to work.
III. Prayer for life is not only not incompatible but consistent with resignation. “That I may live.” Let it be remembered that the Psalmist does not express that desire for life that is common to all men for its own sake. Life may be a blessing or a curse as it gains or fails in gaining the end for which it was given. The prayer here is for a life of holy joy and holy usefulness. “For Thy law is my delight.” Yet he would not wish for it except as the expression of the mercy, and therefore by the will, of God.
IV. Prolonged life is to be desired for the twofold influence that it may wield.
1. The conviction of gainsayers. Life is desired
(1) That imputations of the ungodly may be repelled (Psa_119:69; Psa_119:78);
(2) That their atheistical arguments may be confuted (Psa_115:2), and
(3) Themselves put to shame (Psa_119:72).
2. The comfort and confirmation of God’s people (Psa_119:29). It will stimulate to
(1) stronger confidence in God,
(2) resignation,
(3) hope. What God can do in one case He can do in all.
ORTHODOXY
(Psa_119:80)
I. Orthodoxy implies a correct apprehension of the meaning, purpose, and authority of God’s statutes. How can the heart be sound in that about which the mind is ignorant, uncertain, or hesitating? A law must be known before it can be obeyed. So with God’s statutes. I must know what they are, and assent to their necessity and utility, before they can become governing forces in my life. These statutes “are exceeding broad,” and cover the whole field of doctrine and morals. God’s statutes are, e.g., the Ten Commandments; but they are more. We read, “Believe also in Me,” “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” “Repent ye and believe the Gospel,” &c., and these are as much statutes as, “Thou shalt not steal.” Why then should orthodoxy in the former be of less moment than orthodoxy in the latter? The only difference is that heterodoxy in the latter is an offence against man, and in the former is a dishonour put upon God, which man naturally prefers. True enough orthodoxy by itself is of little value, just as true ideas of health avail nothing except they are practically applied. But we never hear of objections to orthodoxy in science, &c., objected to on these grounds.
II. Orthodoxy consists in soundness of heart in God’s statutes—i.e., experimental piety. As it is not merely correctness of intellectual belief on the one hand, neither is it simply correctness of life on the other. A man may have all the elements of the form of godliness, his morality may be very exact, his duties may be performed with the most scrupulous punctuality, and yet he may be like a whited sepulchre or an apple of Sodom, full of rottenness for the want of spiritual life and power,—e.g., the Pharisees. But for a man to be sound at heart, God’s statutes must dwell in him (Heb_8:10); they must be at the root of the governing forces of his life, transforming him into the image of God, moulding and assimilating him in the form which God would have him take, expelling sin, testifying of the divine favour, and subjecting his whole nature to the will of God. Then is a man orthodox—a living practical rule of faith and practice. If the tree is good the fruit will be good, and if a man is sound at heart he will be sound in his life, and pure and undivided in his allegiance to God and man.
III. The result of orthodoxy is that a man whose heart is sound in God’s statutes will not be ashamed. Unsoundness is the source of shame everywhere, except in those whose faces are steeled against shame. It is very sad when men glory in their shame, and make a boast of their heterodoxy in life, heart, or creed. But those who are sound have—
1. No occasion of shame before God. Soundness of heart will give us confidence in His presence (1Jn_3:21) and boldness of approach to the throne of grace (Heb_13:18, Rom_8:1), and before the throne of judgment by and by. It is quite otherwise when the heart is unsound.
2. No occasion of shame before ourselves. An unsound heart rouses the indignation of conscience (Rom_6:21). As soon as Adam sinned he was ashamed of himself. But the righteous man can approach the tribunal of conscience without fear of shame (2Co_1:2).
3. No occasion of shame before our fellows. We shall neither be stumbling-blocks to them, nor be exposed to the contempt of those whose opinion we value.
IN CONCLUSION.—Let those who would be orthodox, in its fullest sense, learn—(i.) That God alone can make them so (Isa_51:10; Eph_4:24). (ii.) That it should be sought with prayer and earnest purpose, and will be vouchsafed (Ezr_8:10; Psa_139:23-24). Let not the man of sceptical opinions nurse them under the impression that they evidence soundness of intellect, and are therefore desirable, or the man of unsound life under the impression that it is manly. (iii.) That a constant sense of God’s presence and a careful watchfulness of our ways is necessary to the maintenance of a sound creed, a sound heart, and a sound life (Psa_119:168, Jer_17:9; Heb_12:13).
MAN’S ADVERSITY AND GOD’S SALVATION
(Psa_119:81-88)
Our text teaches us—
I. That man’s adversity is often extreme.
1. In its intensity. “My soul fainteth,” “Mine eyes fail,” “When wilt Thou comfort me?” No figures could convey more powerfully than these the Psalmist’s extremity. When man’s comfort is gone and dimness covers his sight, and when his heart sinks within him, his case is extreme indeed.
2. In its duration. “I am like a bottle in the smoke.” “As wineskin in the smoke, my heart is sere and dried.”—Keble. So long have I been afflicted that I have become dried and wrinkled. God allows many a saint to cry out in his trouble, “When wilt Thou comfort me?”
3. In its danger. “The proud have digged pits for me.” “They had almost consumed me.” They were not successful in their snares and temptations, so they turn to active persecution and almost consume him. This is most frequently the order in which tribulations come. If the wicked are successful in their machinations, they are satisfied; if resisted, all their active malice is aroused.
II. That God’s salvation is the remedy for man’s adversity. This salvation is presented under four aspects—
1. “Comfort” is sometimes salvation. Paul, the martyrs, all reformers are saved in this way. It is not always necessary to be actually delivered. Timely comfort is timely succour.
2. The execution of judgment on oppressors (Psa_119:84). This is sometimes God’s way, but not often. Sufficiently often, however, and conspicuous to strike terror in the heart of tyrants, Satan, Pharaoh, the Philistines, Herod, &c.; but not often and conspicuously enough to lead His people to look too much for sanguinary vengeance on their foes.
3. Personal rescue. “Help Thou me.” Sometimes immediate. By the direct exercise of His omnipotence, God effects a complete deliverance for His people. It was so with Israel’s redemption from Egypt. It is so in some of those mysterious cases when long sources of trouble are suddenly dried up, and paths of prosperity suddenly opened. Sometimes with the use of means. By medicine in diseases, by industrious exertion in poverty. Sometimes God saves conspicuously by the unbaring of His arm; sometimes invisibly in the course of His providence.
4. Divine quickening (Psa_119:88). The infusion of the divine life of His Spirit, by means of which man is continually renewed and strengthened either to bear his afflictions or to overcome them.
III. That man’s adversity should lead him to cry mightily for God’s salvation. Powerful pleas are here presented and urged why God should save. The Psalmist here—
1. Expresses his hope in the divine promises. “I hope on Thy word.” This is presented as a reason why God should not disappoint him.
2. Confesses that God is his only comfort. “When wilt Thou comfort me?” God sometimes waits till we have exhausted every other resource. But when man is led to cry to his soul, “Hope thou in God,” that cry will not be in vain.
3. Urges the brevity of his life (Psa_119:84). “Are my days so many as to admit of delay in the manifestations of Thy righteous judgments?”—Speaker. “This is not a desire to be told how long he was to live, as if it were an object of desire to know this, but it is a method of saying that He could not live long under these circumstances, and therefore asked that God would save him soon.”—Barnes.
4. Mentions the divine faithfulness and loving-kindness (Psa_119:86, marg., and 88).
5. Reminds God of His own steadfastness (Psa_119:83; Psa_119:86-87). Happy the man whose adversity has not impaired his memory or loosened his hold of God’s law!
IV. That this remedy should be sought for holy ends. The Psalmist did not pray for salvation that he might be happy, but that he might be holy (Psa_119:88).
GOD’S WORKS AND GOD’S WORDS
(Psa_119:89-91)
To the devout and intelligent student there is a very close relationship and analogy between God’s Word and God’s works. Both proceed from the same Author, both teach truth, both answer moral ends, both appeal to man’s faith, hope, and love. The Psalmist traces some features of this analogy.
I. The heavens and the earth rest upon immovable foundations: so do the promises of God. All have a common basis in the divine faithfulness. If the universe came into existence by chance, or continued to exist by chance, it might cease by chance, and thus our confidence in its stability would end, and the gravest apprehensions would arise. So, if the promises rested on any other basis but God’s fidelity and truth; if they were merely imaginations or guesses, or the result of a devout and elevated enthusiasm; our spiritual foundations, all the bases of moral hope and life would be shaken or removed, and what then would the righteous do? But, thank God—
“His every word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies,
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises.”
II. The heavens and the earth continue: so do the promises of God, because held together by the divine faithfulness. Many changes have taken place since matter was first consolidated into worlds, but all these changes have been superintended and controlled by the gracious hand of Him “who upholds all things by the word of His power;” and notwithstanding all those changes it is the same universe. So with the promises. Some have been made to one generation, and some to another; some are of one quality and some of another; but they remain the same in power and beneficence to-day. The Psalmist trod the same soil under the same heavens as we do, and the same kind words which supported him are for our service, because maintained by the faithfulness of God.
III. The heavens and the earth are servants of the divine faithfulness: so are the promises. They all acknowledge one common Lord, and God employs them all for His children’s benefit. The heavens give cheering light, and send down refreshing showers. By the moon our tides are regulated, by the planets our time. The earth yields her increase for the children of men, and all the elements are ministers of the divine pleasure, and hearken unto the voice of His word. Much more so the promises. God has given man a spiritual nature, which requires food, support, and encouragement, and to this end in faithfulness as well as mercy are the divine promises sent on their errands.
IV. The heavens and the earth now so stable, according to the divine faithfulness will some day cease to be; not so the promises, which by virtue of the same faithfulness “for ever are settled” and are made to “all generations.” The universe was made to accomplish a divine but temporary purpose. “Towards that grand far-off divine event the whole creation moves.” Having reached it they will have accomplished their mission, and will pass away to make room for that “new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.” “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall never pass away.” The words of man, like him who makes them, and his works are subject to revision; but God’s word is above all change, being the unalterable decree of the ever-faithful Jehovah. Learn—
(i.) To trust in God when the fulfilment of His promises is delayed (Heb_6:12). (ii.) To trust in God as the sure anchorage of the soul amidst the mutations of earthly things and when its vanities would entice us away. (iii.) To trust in the Lord as here revealed so faithful and true, and not lean to the intuitions of our own fickle and faithless hearts (Luk_24:25; Rom_4:20).
THE BENEFIT AND OBLIGATION OF THE WORD OF GOD
(Psa_119:92-93)
Learn—
I. That in the order of divine providence God’s people are afflicted.
This is the teaching of all the Bible and all experience.
II. That affliction unsanctified will damage and destroy the spiritual life. God sends it for beneficent purposes, but man may misapply the means and thus defeat the end. The Psalmist was perilously near doing this, and was thus (Psa_119:92).
III. That God’s law delighted in is the means of sanctifying affliction and saving the soul from death.
1. It shows the reason for and the beneficence of affliction.
2. It affords comfort and support in affliction.
3. It reveals and leads us to that life which saves from destruction, and quickens us with its own vitality.
IV. That these benefits involve duties and responsibilities (Psa_119:93). Many a man who has made the Word his constant study in affliction, forgets it altogether in his prosperity.
1. Don’t forget to read it.
2. Don’t forget what it says either by command or promise.
3. Don’t forget to be grateful for what it has done.
4. Don’t forget to practise what it enjoins.
Remember what help it afforded you and the vows you made respecting it during your affliction, now you are well.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) If our delights are in God’s Word while we are ill, much more should they be when we are well. (ii.) If it can quicken us in affliction, it can maintain us in our health and qualify us with living power for service day by day.
AN ALL-PREVAILING PLEA
(Psa_119:94)
I. The plea. “I am Thine.” No plea is so universally prevalent as this. It is the plea of all properties, the plea of all relationships. The reason why things are saved from destruction is because they say to their owner, “We are thine.” The reason why a father is solicitous about his offspring is because they cry, “We are thine.” And the plea most powerful with man is most powerful with God, and can never be urged in vain. How can we urge this plea? We are God’s—
1. By creation (1Ch_29:11).
2. By redemption, “Ye are not your own.”
3. By covenant (Hos_2:23).
4. By re-creation (Eph_2:10), and adoption (Romans 8.).
5. By conquest.
6. By self-dedication to His service.
7. By assimilation to His likeness.
II. The prayer based upon this plea. “Save me.” Having this plea use it, urge it as a reason why God should save from
(1) Sin,
(2) Despair,
(3) Foes,
(4) Unfaithfulness,
(5) Hell.
III. The sources of the Psalmist’s information both as to plea and prayer. “For I have sought Thy precepts.” From no other source could he have known that he was God’s, and that God was willing to save.
IN CONCLUSION.—(i.) Can we all say when asked, “To whom belongest thou and whence art thou?” “I am thine.”
(1.) When did you take the oath of allegiance? (Deu_26:17-18.)
(2.) Have you the seals and signs of the divine possession? (ii.) Acknowledge God’s full authority. God gave Himself for you, and the least you owe Him is yourselves, and by giving Him yourselves you lose nothing but gain everything. (iii.) Seek upon this basis God’s full salvation.
THE ATTITUDE OF THE WICKED TOWARDS THE RIGHTEOUS, AND THE CONDITION OF THE RIGHTEOUS UNDER OPPRESSION
(Psa_119:95; Psa_119:110; Psa_119:121-122; Psa_119:134; Psa_119:157; Psa_119:161)
This Psalm is of peculiar value as exhibiting the characteristic features of wickedness in all ages, and the attitude which evil men will everywhere assume in their opposition to the good. It will be profitable to view all the references to this subject at one glance, and then in their relation to each other. By that means we shall catch many shades of thought we should otherwise miss. In these verses the Christian is informed all that he may expect from the enemies of God and man, and instructed how he should comport himself under this special form of trial.
I. The wicked are here described.
1. Who they are.
(1.) The wicked, a general term covering all the rest. Godless, transgressors of God’s law and therefore transgressors of man’s.
(2.) The oppressors. Those who put burdens on the helpless, and take advantage of, and crush the little strength of the weak.
(3.) Enemies of the righteous, necessarily and perpetually.
(4.) Proud
2. What they are.
(1.) “Many” in number.
(2.) Powerful in influence, “princes.”
(3.) Malicious in designs.
(4.) Subtle in methods of operation.
3. What they do.
(1.) They wait for the righteous for their destruction.
(2.) They lay snares for their ruin.
(3.) They oppress.
(4.) They persecute.
II. The righteous are here by the example of the Psalmist counselled—
1. To pray.
(1.) For protection (Psa_119:121-122).
(2.) For deliverance (Psa_119:134).
2. To consider God’s testimonies,
(1) of His goodness, faithfulness, and power,
(2) against their enemies.
3. Not to err from God’s statutes by falling into the snare of the wicked. Hence watchfulness.
4. To keep God’s statutes in spite of oppression.
5. Not to decline from God’s testimonies.
6. To stand in awe of God’s word.
THE FINITE AND THE INFINITE
(Psa_119:96)
The Psalmist relates what was a matter of experience to him. He had seen the end of all “perfection,” so may we. All finite things are perishable and perish before our eyes—empires, majesty, learning, art, pleasure, life. The first man and the last, and all those and their belongings who have come between, are of the earth earthy, and fade away. But in the midst of all these mutations the word of God lives on. “All flesh is grass,” &c. It has seen the rise and fall of many idolatries, superstitions, infidelities, and persecutions, but it stands to-day unmoved and unshakable. The truth of our text holds good with regard to
I. Earthly life. There is a limit to its perfection. “The days of our years are threescore years and ten,” &c. Beyond that it cannot pass. It is bounded by the bourne of an undiscovered country, which it cannot pass. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. It covers not only time, but the eternity which bounds it on both sides. It was in God’s mind innumerable ages before man breathed the breath of life, and will survive the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.
II. Earthly greatness and grandeur. The limitations to that we see day after day. The popular favour which has built it up may be withdrawn, the friends who contributed it may fall away or die, the enemies who are waiting their opportunity to undermine it may succeed, health may fail, and life. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. It can confer honours which are supernatural and immortal, “crowns of glory which can never fade away.”
III. The development of human character. There is a point to which a man’s character without God may reach, beyond which it is impossible to go. And how often do men reach that point and then utterly break down in the line of wisdom, goodness, or charity! But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. There is no “hitherto shalt thou go and no farther” to those whose character is based upon that. By following the lines indicated there, and securing the power offered there, a man who has scaled the loftiest height of saintliness there known could still say, “I count not myself to have attained it.”
IV. The acquisition of human knowledge. The mind has limitations beyond which, “madness lies.” It can be stretched to a certain tension, but if stretched further it breaks. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. It provides for the indefinite expansion of the mind it has sanctified, and offers subjects which shall occupy without wearying it to all eternity. The subjects of human knowledge are bounded, and it is not impossible when scientific instruments reach the perfection that they promise, to imagine the time when the circle of human information will be complete; when our telescopes shall have swept every star, and our microscopes revealed every molecule, and our natural philosophy the details of every element. But God’s commandment contains things into which we shall desire to look for ever. The records of human knowledge perish; inscriptions become illegible; books and parchments wear out; but God’s commandment will endure for ever.
V. Human pleasures and satisfactions. Sensual gratifications soon pall upon the taste. Sinful appetites are soon jaded. The worldling sooner or later comes to the old conclusion, “All is vanity and vexation of spirit.” The “pleasures of sin are for a season.” Even innocent enjoyments lose their recreative power. They must be changed again and again, for without variety they cease to satisfy at all. When over indulged, or sought as an end and not a means to an end, they lose their pleasurableness altogether. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. It contains and leads us to fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore.
VI. Human institutions. These are mostly local. As a rule the institutions of a country are confined to that country. The manners and customs of a race or clime usually belong only to that race or clime. But God’s commandment is exceeding broad. Its institutions and principles are adapted to the whole world. Human institutions are all temporary. They are founded to answer passing needs. The institution of God’s word will last through the eternity of man’s spiritual want. They are the bread and water of his life by which he shall be satisfied for evermore.
IN CONCLUSION.—Why? Because all things merely human are confined to time. God’s commandment, covers time and eternity. Things human cannot touch the immortal life and satisfy it, cannot cleanse the sinful conscience, soothe the troubled heart, or give peace to the agitated soul. They cannot aid us in our great concerns, cannot tell us about God, duty, acceptance with heaven, death, preparation for a life to come. God’s commandment can and does all this, and therefore is it “exceeding broad.” Therefore our text is a solemn word for everybody. It is an encouragement to the weak, a warning to the great, a comfort for the old, an exhortation to the young. All perfection has an end, but God’s commandment is exceeding broad.
THE SAINT’S ENJOYMENT OF THE LAW OF GOD
(Psa_119:97; Psa_119:103)
I. The law of God is lovable. It is worthy of notice, that the Psalmist’s appreciation was not only of its promises (Psa_119:103), but of its injunctions (Psa_119:97).
1. Because of its author. It is our Father’s legacy. The commandment and promises of Him who sticketh closer than a brother. It is the counsel and loving assurance of our best and truest Friend.
2. Because of its subject-matter.
(1.) It is truth divine and infallible. “Thy word is truth” (Psa_19:9; Eph_1:13). It is necessary truth that would never have been discovered by the unaided use of our understandings. All truth should excite affection, because of its suitability to the mind and its power to satisfy it.
(2.) It is the revelation of perfect love and goodness. Tells us of our Father’s character and the beneficence of His intentions, how sin may be pardoned, the soul sanctified, the whole nature blessed, and heaven gained.
3. Because of the benefit it confers. It convinces the sinner of the error of his ways (Jeremiah 23), Paul before Felix. It converts the soul from sin (Psa_19:7). It promises comfort in all times of distress. It is a safe guide in the affairs of life. It initiates and increases in the knowledge of God, and is able to make us perfect in every good word and work (2Ti_3:7, 2Pe_1:19).
II. God’s saints possess a spiritual taste which enables them to appreciate the law of God. The soul has faculties which perform the same functions for it as the senses do for the body (Heb_5:14). Thus it is said to hear, see, handle, feel, speak; and as here and in Psa_34:8, taste. These are the most acute of all senses. The higher the life, the keener the sense. Animals feel more than plants; men more than animals; spiritual men more than carnal men.
1. What this taste presupposes. Soul hunger. A jaded or satisfied appetite more or less impairs the sense of taste. Taste, too, has frequently to be created Things which before were noxious then become enjoyable. And to the hungry soul, whose taste has been quickened by God, is God’s law sweet (Proverbs 27; Rom_8:5).
2. What this taste involves, a relish for the word of God (Jer_15:16; Eze_3:3; Rev_10:10). No man who does not relish God’s words can use the language of our text.
III. God’s saints exercise that taste continually. “It is my meditation all the day.” This is but natural. What we love most, we most desire. What we most delight in, we seek most familiarity with. This holds good all the world over. Fame, pleasure, business, war, &c., so here the saint loves God’s Word, delights in it, and hence “meditates upon it all the day.”
SUPERIOR UNDERSTANDING
(Psa_119:98-102; Psa_119:104)
I. What in? Pre-eminently in holiness. “I have refrained my feet from every evil way;” “I have not departed from Thy judgments.” The Psalmist does not mean simply in intellectual matters, although that may hold good. The man who prays is most likely to keep his intellect clear. He who recognises his mental faculties as a solemn and responsible gift of God is most likely to be industrious in their employment. He who devoutly seeks for divine assistance is most likely to gain it, and thus distance his compeers. But the Psalmist seems to contemplate both superiority of subject, and superiority of attainment in that subject.
II. Over whom?
1. “Mine enemies.” That is most likely from their qualities as mentioned in this Psalm. A man who entertains enmity in his heart is not likely to be an adept in the knowledge of God.
2. “My teachers.” Because of his more diligent use of means. It is not seldom that scholars outstrip their teachers by this method. The Psalmist’s teachers may have been mere surface or fanciful expositors of the Word of God, or mere sinecurists or ceremonialists.
3. “The ancients.” Those older than himself (Job_32:7-8), because he meditated where they only skimmed, and practised where they only theorised. Or his predecessors, because he possessed more of the word of inspiration than they. Can we with “all Scripture” use the words of the text?
III. Through what power? “Thou hast made me wiser;” “Thou hast taught me.”
1. Not by the use of his unaided faculties, or any superiority of intellect, insight, or industry. The one thing which he and his brethren earnestly disclaim is originality. But—
2. By direct divine instruction. To attain this superiority now we must have it from the same source. All that the unaided understanding can do in this direction has been achieved, and that is nothing. No reflection, thought, or study even of the divine oracles can make us “wise unto salvation,” except through “the faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” “They shall be all taught of God.”
IV. By what instrumentality. “Through Thy precepts.”
1. Continual meditation. “They are ever with me.” Knowledge, like life, must be continually fed.
2. Consistent practice. “I keep Thy precepts.” Theories can only keep their hold in so far as they are consistently reduced to practice.
3. Earnest continuance. “I have not departed,” &c.
V. With what results?
1. Distaste for falsehood (Psa_119:104).
2. Unswerving integrity.
GOD’S WORD A LAMP AND A LIGHT
(Psa_119:105)
The Psalmist here employs two powerful and familiar figures to express the enlightening power of the Word of God. In the day it is a light showing us the direction, course, peculiarities, and dangers of our path. At night, when the sun has set and the gloom has settled, and we have to pick our way, it shall be a candle, not perhaps illuminating the entire course, but sufficient to guide our footsteps clear of the stumbling-blocks and difficulties of the way. In the day its light is delightful, displaying all the beauties of the landscape and cheering our onward tread. In the night it is useful, showing us where we may err, where we should tread, and how it is possible to fall.
I. The Word of God is a light.
1. It claims to be a light (Pro_16:23, 2Pe_1:19). Certain types powerfully shadow it forth as such (Exo_13:21; Exo_27:20; Exodus 21; Neh_9:10).
2. Reason supports this claim. It is God’s Word (1Jn_1:5). Holy men wrote it (2Pe_1:21). Moral enlightenment and guidance is the design of it.
3. Experience warrants it. Bad men fear and hate it (Joh_3:20-21). Good men have loved and enjoyed it (Psa_19:8). Those who have gone without it or rejected it have stumbled. Those who have accepted its guidance have had the light of life.
II. The Word of God is a clear light. It is not twilight, or starlight, or moonlight, but daylight.
1. It is a clear light in the right way (Psa_43:3). The wisest men have wandered without it.
2. It is a clear light on the wrong way. It not only tells us what to do, but what not to do. Warns us against going astray. Informs us where sin and madness lie. Urges us to beware of and shun the magic music of the syren’s voice and the pleasant pastures of sin. And, thank God, it shines to lead us back again. It is a revelation of God’s way to bad and fallen men (1Co_14:24).
3. It is a clear light in the dark way. Clouds may settle on the path of God. The sun may hide itself. Our way may lie through dark ravines and the valley of the death-shadow. Trouble may overcast the soul and lead us to say, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious?” But even under circumstances such as these, light breaks forth from God’s holy word which makes it a lamp to our path (Isa_50:10).
III. The Word of God is a full and perennial light. It guides by day and it guides by night. It illumines our path, but it enables us to pick each individual step.
1. Generally it tells us the course of life we should pursue, the grand choice we ought to make, and the sublime destiny we ought to reach (Psa_25:12).
2. In particular. Many men are wise in a general way, but sadly fail when they come to details. A man may be a very good mathematician, yet a very bad accountant. A great statesman may be utterly unable to grasp the minor and subordinate details of state policy. So many a man has taken the Bible as the guide for his general course of conduct, who for want of attention to its details has stumbled and fallen. The Bible not only unveils the whole way, but lights up every successive step of the way (1Pe_1:15). No man need err respecting any duty, responsibility, or privilege in his path. This applies to men of all ages, and conditions everywhere. This being the case—
(i.) How thankful we ought to be for the Word of God!
(ii.) How diligently we ought to study and practise it!
RELIGIOUS PROFESSION
(Psa_119:106)
Our text suggests—
I. That the profession of religion should be of the strongest and most binding character.
1. This has been the practice of the godly in all ages (Job_31:1; 2Ch_15:12-14; 2Ch_34:31).
2. The weakness of our own nature demands it. Our mere purposes and resolutions are like the morning cloud, &c., and require to be bound down under the most solemn obligations.
3. The character of the subject requires it. God has sworn with an oath to fulfil His engagements towards us (Heb_6:18), and requires a responsive oath from us (Exo_24:3). The beneficence and necessity of the laws, in the keeping of which religion consists, demand it.
II. That the profession of religion should be the result of serious thought. The resolution to keep God’s righteous judgments implies a study of those judgments which has resulted in the conclusion that they are righteous. When a man determines to be a Christian, he should know what he is about. He is making a throw for time and for eternity. God Himself demands that the cost should be counted, so that there may be no afterthoughts, for He has no pleasure in the sacrifice of fools.
III. That the profession of religion should be made with a free but resolute will. The individual himself should of himself and for himself say, “I will.” Let parents beware how they compel their children to appear religious. Many a moral wreck has been stranded on the shores of eternity through this. Compulsion will breed distaste. Rather guide the judgment, reason, and affections. Show the duty, need, and lovableness of religion, and lead the child to say of himself, “I will keep Thy righteous judgments.” The will once bent, fix it. Let nothing alter your decision or make you swerve.
IV. That the profession of religion once made should be faithfully and consistently kept. “I will perform it.” The strength of the Psalmist’s accumulated expressions will be seen at once.
1. To break our oath is to aggravate our sin. Better not swear at all than swear and not perform (Ecc_5:5).
2. The same motives that urged us to take the vow hold good all the way through. After the most protracted test and trial of religion, the godly man sees no reason to repent his choice. God is the same, and His judgments lose none of their righteousness by lapse of years.
3. God is the severe and just avenger of broken fidelity. Young man! (i.) Resolve to be religious. It is the noblest, most reasonable, and safest thing to do. (ii.) Resolve and fulfil your resolutions, not in your own strength, but in the strength of God. (iii.) Resolve and expect God’s blessing and reward.
AFFLICTION
(Psa_119:107; Psa_119:109; Psa_119:120; Psa_119:124; Psa_119:135; Psa_119:143; Psa_119:153-154; Psa_119:156)
This Psalm is emphatically a psalm for the afflicted. Sorrow and trouble are here delineated in every form in which they may be expected to occur. But not only so: all the consolations and remedies that are at the disposal of the afflicted are here opened up, and also all the obligations which comfort or restoration imposes, and all the results which may be expected to follow. It will be profitable, therefore, to survey the whole field displayed in these verses as briefly as possible.
I. The characteristics of affliction.
1. It is sometimes extreme (Psa_119:107; Psa_119:143).
2. It is sometimes perilous (Psa_119:109). “The image is taken from a traveller carrying precious jewels in his hand through dangerous paths, or from soldiers who carry their lives in their hands, in that their lives depend upon their valour in fight, or perhaps from a game of chance. “Though I play with my life and risk it always,” &c. Vaihnger interprets “my soul is in, or upon my hand, apt to fall off and perish, as anything in or upon the hand easily falls off.”—Speaker’s Com.
3. It is sometimes a judicial infliction (Psa_119:120; Lam_3:39). (See also Job_4:15; Isa_2:10; Jer_51:27; Exo_34:7.)
II. The consolations of affliction.
1. That God permits it. This is the assumption of the whole Psalm, and what quiets and comforts the Psalmist’s soul. If God permits it, it must be for the bringing about of some beneficent end.
2. That it does not produce forgetfulness of God’s law (Psa_119:109). When men do forget God’s law, let them not charge affliction with this terrible discomfort. In many cases it is sent to stimulate memory.
3. That it has opened to him the supports and pleasures of the Word of God (Psa_119:143). Happy the man whose affliction has given him time for, and driven him to, the study of God’s law.
III. The remedy for affliction.
1. The divine favour (Psa_119:124; Psa_119:156).
2. The divine promise (Psa_119:154).
3. The divine wisdom (Psa_119:156).
4. The divine assistance (Psa_35:1; Psa_43:1; Psa_74:22). “The expression belongs properly to judicial proceedings. The Psalmist is wrongfully accused, and prays to God to be his advocate; but inasmuch as the cause is carried on, not in a court of justice, but in the battlefield, the advocate must be also a champion.”—Speaker’s Com.
IV. The results of affliction.
1. Quickened vitality (Psa_119:154; Psa_119:156). Painful operations sometimes save life, and life is all the stronger for these operations. The cancer must be cut out, that the life that is being consumed may be spared and made more healthy.
2. Instruction in God’s statutes. Affliction is what we run into sometimes in our flight from the divine ways. It is beneficial for a child to feel the pain of fire that he may avoid it, and so God’s child is made to feel the bitterness of sin, that he may value and be faithful to his Father’s law.
3. The special favour of God (Psa_119:135). A parent regards with peculiar complacency and love his child who has been rescued from peril and disease.
Lessons—
(i.) Let affliction drive us in prayer to God (Psa_119:153).
(ii.) Let no affliction drive us to transgress God’s law (Psa_119:109, &c).
(iii.) Let affliction stimulate us to expect quickened life, a more earnest fidelity, and double favour.
SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES
(Psa_119:108)
This verse appropriately follows the Psalmist’s contemplation of his affliction. God had afflicted him in mercy and with judgment. God had wonderfully delivered him. He feels as the Apostle felt centuries afterwards (Rom_12:1), that in recognition of the Divine beneficence it was incumbent upon him to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. Note comparisons and contrasts, and the word beseech in both. We have here—
I. A recognition of the spiritual priesthood of believers. The offering presupposes the priesthood. God’s people throughout the ages have been members of a royal priesthood. The Jewish nation was such (Exo_19:5-6). The prophets contemplated the time when pious Gentiles would be such (Isa_61:6; Isa_66:21; Mal_1:11). The New Testament recognises all Christians as such (1Pe_2:9; Rev_1:6).
II. Spiritual priests must have a spiritual preparation. Under the law, the priests were to be separate from the commonalty. Under the Gospel, they are a holy nation and a peculiar people. Under the law they received a special anointing; under the Gospel they receive the unction of the Holy One (1Jn_2:20). Under the law the priests were prepared for their office by a lustration; Christians are baptized with the Holy Ghost (Tit_3:6). All priestly orders, whether received from Greece or Rome, are invalid, except those conferred by Him who alone can “make” “kings and priests.”
III. Spiritual priests must offer and can only offer spiritual sacrifices. Not expiatory, but eucharistic; not sin offerings, but peace and thank offerings (Heb_7:27; Heb_10:14; Heb_13:15). As the priesthood is purely spiritual so must be the sacrifices (Joh_4:24; Psa_50:13-15; Psa_69:30-31). The particular offering here specified includes or presupposes all the rest. Prayer (Psa_141:2). Praise (Psa_54:6). Thanksgiving (Psa_50:1; Psa_50:4). The body (Rom_12:1). Body and spirit (1Co_6:20). Ourselves (2Co_8:5). Almsgiving (Php_4:18; Heb_13:16). Notice, further, that these are sacrifices because they are true to the laws which underlie the whole doctrine of sacrifice—viz., self-denial, recognition of what is due to God (Psa_50:5), contrition for sin (Psa_51:17), trust in the Redeemer’s sacrifice (Eph_5:2), acknowledgment of individual undeservedness of the divine favour.
IV. Spiritual offerings must be freewill offerings.
1. Because God deserves a service that is free.
2. Because the spiritual man is upheld by “a free spirit,” and has been made “willing in the day of God’s power.”
3. Because free-will offerings are those which are most likely to be permanent.
V. Free-will offerings are most acceptable to God. “God loveth the cheerful giver” (Isa_60:7; Mal_3:4).
VI. God’s gracious acceptance of free-will offerings must be regarded as a great blessing, and as therefore incurring corresponding obligations. “Teach me Thy statutes” (Psa_19:14).
(Psa_119:109), see Psa_119:107
(Psa_119:110), see Psa_119:95
GOD’S WORD THE HERITAGE OF HIS PEOPLE
(Psa_119:111-112)
Notice—
I. That God’s Word is a heritage.
A heritage is that which has been specially bequeathed. Heritages are not purchased, but testated. So the Word of God has not been made or purchased by man, but has been freely given to us by our Father God.
II. That God’s Word is a valuable heritage. “They are the rejoicings of my heart.”
1. It is an undeserved heritage. We can lay no natural claim or title to it. When made out for us we were “alienated and enemies in our mind by wicked works.”
2. It is a full heritage. Nothing can be added to it. It contains all things necessary and profitable to life, godliness, and eternity. The ever-blessed Trinity, providence, grace, earth, heaven, all are there; and all are his to whom the testimonies of God belong (Psa_16:5; 1Co_3:21; 2Co_6:10).
3. It is a sure heritage. There are no flaws in the title (Heb_6:17).
4. It is an abiding heritage. Estates are valuable in proportion to the time they last. God’s Word is not leasehold as are all His temporal gifts. They are the saints’ freehold (Psa_73:26).
III. It is a responsible heritage.
1. It is offered to our choice. “I have taken.” It is not forced upon us. We may reject it. If other things are more rejoicing to the heart we are welcome to them—if we can get them—with the consequences.
2. That choice is the result of a preparation. “I have inclined.” A child’s faculties must be developed before he is fit to become the responsible owner of property. So man must incline himself by Divine grace for the duties and responsibilities which devolve upon him as the proprietor of the Word of God.
3. That choice involves the agent in grand and eternal responsibilities. “To perform Thy statutes alway even unto the end.” Free as is our heritage there is a tax upon it. The same tax that is upon all property—viz., right use. If this is not observed within certain limits in worldly estates, the right is lost. The profligate and sprendthrift neglecting to pay this tax squanders an ample portion and is reduced to beggary. The careless heir who neglects it, finds it squandered for him. He who uses it to violate the law of the land has it taken from him. So those who do not carefully and responsibly use this great heritage of God will lose it.
LOVE AND HATE
(Psa_119:113; Psa_119:128; Psa_119:163)
These verses view the two great and influential affections in their relation to one another. Let us view them first together and then separately. Together observe—
I. Affection is set against affection; hatred against love. Love and hatred are good or evil according to their objects. Nothing is worse than love of the world, sin, and vanity, or hatred of God and holiness; but set upon proper objects, hatred upon evil, and love upon good (Amo_5:15), they exhibit the soul as divinely constituted at the first. For as has been well said, “Man fallen is but an anagram of man in innocency; we have the same affections, but they are misplaced. Love was made for God; hatred for sin. Hatred was put on us that we might fly from evil. Love was given us that we might attach ourselves to God and the things which glorify Him.”
II. Object is set against object. As love is opposed to hatred, so are vain thoughts and lying to God’s law, and every false way to God’s precepts. For as God’s Word is solemn, practical, and necessary truth, so it requires solemnity and truth in those who would observe it.
LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD
(Psa_119:113; Psa_119:127-128; Psa_119:140; Psa_119:159; Psa_119:163; Psa_119:165; Psa_119:167)
We have already considered love in contrast with hate, and God’s Word in contrast with vain thoughts, lying and every false way. Let us now isolate those passages which regard the supreme affection of man’s heart as set upon God’s Word.
I. What is it to love God’s Word?
1. Negatively. Not
(1.) The bare acknowledgment of its divinity. This many do from the force of external evidence.
(2.) Nor a bare approval of its excellence. Many admire where they do not trust and follow.
(3.) A mere spasm of delight, as Herod rejoiced in John’s light for a season (Mar_6:20).
2. Positively.
(1.) Such a love as is rooted in the heart (Jas_1:21), and stirs all the affections to their inmost depths.
(2.) Such a love as leads us to consult it on all occasions (Psa_1:2; Psa_19:10-11).
(3.) Such a love as lays its sweet constraint on our obedience (1Jn_2:4; Rom_6:17).
II. What degree of love ought we to have for God’s Word?
1. Supreme, “above gold, yea even fine gold.” We ought to love God’s Word more than riches, because it is more valuable than riches. Wealth is not prized for its own sake, but only for what it represents and can do. The Word of God contains “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” This love, then, is such as will render us willing to sell all we have, so that we may obtain “the pearl of great price” (Psa_119:72).
2. Intense and abundant. “Consider how I love Thy laws.” God only can measure the depth of it. “I love them exceedingly.” Not with the transcient affection of children for things which excite their passing inclinations, but with a love whose power cannot be broken, and whose ardour many waters cannot quench (Psa_119:48; Psa_119:97; 1Jn_2:5).
III. Why should we love God’s Word?
1. Because its precepts concerning all things are right” (Psa_119:128). All things, all persons, considered every way, universally, God’s Word is right.
2. Because it is “very pure” or “purifying.”
(1.) Pure in itself (Psa_19:8). Refined from all dross, error, or falsehood.
(2.) Pure in the examples it presents (Heb_6:12; 1Jn_3:3; 1Pe_1:15).
(3.) Purifying in the influence it exerts (Psa_119:9; Joh_15:3; Joh_17:17). Showing us our impurity (Mat_16:19; Jer_4:14). Exhorting us to be clean (Psa_119:1; Isaiah 1; Jas_4:8). Revealing the cleansing fountain (Eph_5:26; Eze_36:25-27). Encouraging to purity (Mat_5:8; 2Co_7:1).
2. Because it is tranquillising (Psa_119:165).
(1.) It reveals the “peace of God” which “keeps the heart and mind.”
(2.) Christ the Prince of Peace there confers it (Joh_14:27).
(3.) The Spirit of Peace through it breathes His own tranquillity (Rom_15:13; Gal_5:22; Gal_6:16).
IV. How should we show our love to God’s Word?
1. By hating “vain thoughts,” “false ways,” and “lying.”
2. By loving obedience (Psa_119:167).
3. By prayer for more lively service (Psa_119:159).
V. What results will follow our love of God’s Word?
1. It will afford a powerful plea in prayer (Psa_119:159). This was the confident appeal of one who was conscious that he was truly attached to God (Joh_21:17).
2. It will stimulate to active service (Psa_119:140).
3. It will afford a powerful protection (165, marg.). “No event of providence shall be an invincible temptation or powerful affliction, they shall hold fast their integrity and preserve their tranquillity. Nothing shall offend or hurt them, for everything shall work for their good. They will not perplex themselves with needless scruples, nor take offence at their brethren” (1Co_13:6-7).
HOLY HATRED
(Psa_119:113; Psa_119:128; Psa_119:163)
I. In its nature. Hate is that passion which is aroused by the presence and antagonism of that which is repugnant, and which is excited to injure or exterminate that to which it is irreconcilably opposed. This is strong language, but justifiable and appropriate when applied to the believer’s attitude against sin. Note a few of its attributes—
1. Implacability. It is not a passing spasm of indignation; it aims at nothing short of extermination. Those who hate sin pursue it with relentless vigour.
2. Universality. Anger is aroused against individuals; hatred against species. So the Christian hates all sin.
3. Growth. It is a principle which develops with our own spiritual strength (Act_24:16; 1Jn_3:9).
4. Intensity (Psa_119:163). Mere detestation is not enough. Anything short of abhorrent hatred will not meet the necessities of the case. Resolution will not, nor fear, nor dislike.
II. In its causes.
1. Spiritual knowledge (Psa_119:11; Psa_119:104; Jer_31:19).
2. The love of God (Psa_97:10).
3. Filial fear of God (Pro_8:13).
4. A spiritual sense of self-preservation.
III. In its specific objects.
1. “Vain thoughts.” The original word with a different punctuation occurs in 1Ki_18:21, “opinions.” LXX here have παρανόμους, “lawless men;” Syr., “Perversely-minded men;” Chal., “Thinkers of vain thoughts.” “The Psalmist describes mischievous speculations, subtle, useless, and perilous; heterodox pernicious teachings; opposed to truth revealed, and likely to interfere with its acceptance in its simplicity.”—Geier. “The word is probably concrete and not abstract, ‘doubters,’ ‘sceptics,’ ‘double-minded men’ (Jas_1:8), ἀνὴρ δίψυχος, a double-minded man divided between two opinions.—Speaker’s Com.
2. “False ways.” “Every course of life not based on truth or a right view of things.”—Barnes.
3. “Lying.”
(1.) The speaking of that which is false with an intention to deceive.
(2.) The suppression of truth that should be told (Joh_12:42-43).
(3.) Hypocrisy.
(4.) Disobedience to the law which we profess to believe and obey. Lies can be acted as well as told (Hos_11:12; 1Jn_1:6; 1Jn_2:4).
IN CONCLUSION.—We should hate all sin, because it is what it is, and because of what it does. It is the contempt of God’s authority (Exo_5:4). It is a breach of His righteous law (1Jn_3:4). It separates from God (Isa_59:2). It defaces the divine image (Psa_44:12). It is the abominable thing which God hates, and works ruin and damnation to the soul.
THE DIVINE PROTECTION
(Psa_119:114)
I. The divine protection.
1. A need implied. The soul is in continual danger (Eph_6:12). It is beset by enemies who excel in craft, malice, pertinacity, numbers, and power. Hence it needs a shield to protect it in active warfare and a hiding-place to render it secure when at rest.
2. Protection vouchsafed. God is a shield to keep us in danger, and a hiding-place to keep us out of it. This promise guarantees that danger shall be entirely warded off, or if not, it shall not overwhelm us, but shall the rather make us sensible of the divine defence.
(1.) “Thou art my hiding-place.” When sorely beset by danger, or unable to defend themselves, or wanting rest from conflict, men run to a hiding-place (1Sa_3:6; Psa_32:7; Pro_22:3). A hiding-place must have capacity. God has room for us (Psa_31:20; 2Ti_1:12). Secrecy (Psa_27:5); God’s protection of His saints is a mystery, hidden from the eyes of men. “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” Comfort (Psa_34:22; Psa_91:1). Safety till trouble is over (Psa_57:1; Isa_26:20).
(2.) “Thou art my shield” (Psa_5:12; Psa_28:7; Psa_91:4). For a shield to afford safety it must have sufficient breadth (Psa_5:12). Resistance, impenetrability, and power to repel the missiles that are hurled against it, back upon the foe (Psa_59:11).
II. Where the divine protection is revealed. In God’s Word—
1. It sets God forth at His people’s sure defence (Psa_84:11; Gen_15:1).
2. It gives infallible assurance of the Divine protection. Pro_30:5; Psa_18:30).
3. It invites and encourages us to avail ourselves of that protection.
4. It tells us what qualifications he must have who would avail himself of that protection. Faith (Pro_30:5; Psa_18:30). Obedience (Psa_84:11; Pro_2:7; Isa_33:15-16).
5. It tells us how to enjoy that protection (Zep_2:3).
III. The comfort this revelation brings. “I hope in Thy word.”
1. It tranquillises the soul while it waits for God’s own time (Psa_33:20; Isa_28:16).
2. It fortifies the heart in present difficulties, and when danger is, or promises to be extreme. Moses in the wilderness (Psa_90:1), David in exile (Psa_3:3).
3. It empowers us cheerfully to do what God would have us do, and go where God would have us go, fearlessly trusting in God’s goodness and power (Psa_31:5).
IN CONCLUSION.—
(1.) A word of comfort. No hurt can happen to us without God’s leave. (ii.) A word of warning. There is no safety for us except behind God’s power. (iii.) A word of exhortation. Acknowledge God at all times as your protector, and seek Him in every time of need.
SEPARATION AND CONSISTENCY
(Psa_119:115)
These two ideas stand or fall with each other. It is impossible to be obedient to the law of God while associating with wicked men, and equally impossible to keep bad company while doing good works. Observe—
I. The necessity of separation from evil doers.
1. Its limitations.
(1.) Not in mere matters of business (1Co_5:5), nor while it is possible to do them good. Nor should we renounce Church fellowship because evil or inconsistent men are there—a most absurd, but, alas! frequent course. There are black or unsound sheep in every flock, tares in every harvest, chaff in every threshing-floor. “I fly from the chaff that I may not be it; but I fly not the floor lest I be nothing.”—Augustine. But
(2) We are required not to be unequally yoked with them in cordial friendship or matrimonial alliances (Exo_34:15; 2Co_6:14), not to imitate their manners and customs, and not to partake of their sins (Eph_5:11). But by virtue of our new nature, our spiritual sonship, our moral inheritance, our communion with God, and our hope of heaven, we are enjoined to come out from among them and be the saintly and peculiar people of God.
2. Its reasons.
(1.) Our love of God should prevent us being on terms of amity and fellowship with those who are at enmity with Him. It would argue but poor patriotism for a soldier to be on terms of cordiality with a rebel or a foe (Psa_139:21-22; 2Pe_2:8).
(2.) Evil communications corrupt good manners (Psa_1:1; Isa_6:5; Pro_1:10; Pro_1:15; 1Co_5:6.)
(3.) Our familiarity will harden them in their sins, while our separation from them may promote reflection (2Th_3:6-14).
(4.) Friendship with them will bring a blemish on our fair fame. A man is known by the company he keeps (2Jn_1:2; Heb_12:15; Psa_50:18).
(5.) We stand in danger of sharing their ruin (Gen_14:12; Pro_13:20; Rev_18:4).
II. The duty of keeping God’s commandments.
1. We are under the most solemn obligations to do so. They are the commandments of our God. Ours by covenant engagement. He has promised to be ours only on the condition of the fulfilment of our duty (Deu_27:9-10).
2. We owe it as a debt of gratitude to God for revealing them. Since God has been at the trouble of revealing them, holy and just and good as they are, we ought to be at the trouble of keeping them.
3. Upon keeping God’s commandments our wellbeing absolutely depends. To transgress them is to transgress the fundamental laws of spiritual life.
4. Upon our constant obedience depends our hope of heaven. “Be thou faithful unto death,” &c.
III. The importance of prompt and decisive resolution. “Depart.” “I will.”
1. God has no pleasure in an unstable, double-minded man.
2. Without resolute determination all desires are vain.
3. Unless we are prompt and decisive, evildoers will take advantage of us and easily win us to their ways.
GOD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
(Psa_119:116-119)
I. God’s attitude towards the righteous.
1. What that attitude is. Twofold. Something to hold. Some one who holds. Teneo et teneor.
(1.) God is something to hold. A prop, a rock, a sure foundation; something clinging to which we shall not be swept away by the surging billows.
(2.) God is someone who holds. The Psalmist thinks of the strong and tenacious grasp of God; “They shall never perish,” &c. This double idea is expressed in Psa_73:23.
2. Upon what that attitude depends. Twofold again. The divine promise and cheerful obedience.
(1.) “According to Thy word.” The Bible is full of promises in this direction too numerous to quote.
(2.) “I love Thy testimonies.” “I will have respect unto Thy statutes continually.”
3. What this attitude implies.
(1.) Life.
(2.) Glorious hope.
(3.) Safety.
II. God’s attitude towards the wicked.
1. What that attitude is.
(1.) Contempt. Sept. and Vulg., “Thou dost despise (Psa_119:118).
(2.) Rejection (Psa_119:119). “There is no true metal in them when they are tried by the refining fire, they are burnt up; they fly off in fumes. There is probably an allusion to the scum or scoriæ at the surface of melting metals, which is swept off previously to casting the metal into the mould.”—Clarke.
2. Why that attitude is assumed.
(1.) Because of their falsehood.
(2.) Because of their worthlessness: “dross.”
3. What that attitude implies. One word describes it all. “Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”
(Psa_119:120), see Psa_119:107
(Psa_119:121), see Psa_119:95
(Psa_119:122), see Psa_119:95
LOFTY ASPIRATIONS
(Psa_119:123-125)
I. The objects of these aspirations.
(1.) Salvation.
(2.) The words of God’s righteousness. This may refer to some precious promise, some solemn injunction, or some righteous law.
(3.) Divine teaching. The Word of God is a sealed word without the illumination of the Divine Spirit.
II. The quality of these aspirations.
1. Intensity. “Mine eyes fail.” “The idea here is that of looking out for a thing—of ‘straining the eyes’ so that their power becomes exhausted.”
2. Resignation. “Deal with Thy servant according to Thy mercy.” What is best for me grant. If I ask amiss withhold.
THE LORD’S TIME AND OURS
(Psa_119:126)
The Hebrew literally rendered is, “Time to do for Jehovah,” and means either that it is time for the Lord to work, or time for us to work for the Lord. As expositors are divided, its vagueness warrants us to learn the blessed truths taught by both interpretations; for are not we “workers together with God”? Notice—
I. A time common to both to work. When man makes void the law of God. When is this time? Alas! when is it not? Men make void the law of God every day, every moment. The time, then, for God and man to work together is now. Not to-morrow, not on special days or special occasions, but “now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.”
II. A work common for both to do. The work of salvation. Man saves instrumentally, by example, by exhortation, by influence, in leading men to a knowledge of their sins, to repentance, and to trust in Christ. God saves effectually by the restraining influences of His grace, by the convictions and regeneration of the Holy Ghost, by cleansing in the precious blood, by pardon.
III. A time for God alone to work. Where men have made void God’s law, without repentance or remedy. Such a time has often occurred in human history. The iniquities of men and nations have become full, and God has visited them with vengeance. This time occurred to Sodom, Assyria, Babylon, Israel, Rome, &c. Such a time will occur when human history has closed. Of this time and season it is not for man to know.
IV. A work for God alone to do. Vengeance and destruction. In this man can and must play no part except as the merest instrument in God’s hands. “Vengeance is Mine.”
A DANGER AND ITS REMEDY
(Psa_119:126-128)
The force of “therefore” in Psa_119:127-128, may be taken in three different ways.
1. It may mean that as a consequence of the evil of the times, the superior value of God’s Word was shown by contrast, and that, therefore, the Psalmist loved it intensely.
2. That as the times were so evil, therefore he would do all that he could to counterbalance that evil by a superior religious excellence. But
3. There seems to underlie these latter verses the reason for the general ungodliness of the times as described in Psa_119:126; and viewed in connection with the thought that runs through the whole Psalm, the danger of the Psalmist from the number of his powerful enemies, the therefore seems to point to love of God’s Word, &c., as a sure protection and remedy from the evil.
I. The danger. A time of great religious declension is a time of great danger, because of the difficulties and temptations that are in the way of religious consistency. The question of time now-a-days resolves itself into a question of space. Whenever men live in a neighbourhood of intense ungodliness, they are always in great danger. This danger consists in—
1. The lust of gain (Psa_119:127). To this danger all business men are exposed. In the midst of a community to which “gold” is the one thing needful, there is great danger of succumbing to the prevalent fever, and pursuing the popular but godless course.
2. Infidelity (Psa_119:128). To this danger all reading and thinking men are exposed. Just now the very atmosphere is charged with unbelief. Newspapers and periodicals are published, and societies are founded for the express purpose of trying to show God’s precept concerning all things to be wrong, and there is a great danger of even Christian men running with this giddy multitude.
3. Sin, alas! abounds everywhere. The false way in which men make void God’s law is a very broad way, and many men are in it. False sentiments, false judgments, false practices are extremely prevalent, and men are strongly tempted to live down to the times and avoid the singularity of walking in the true and narrow way.
This danger is a present danger, an increasing danger, and often a subtle danger.
II. The remedy is not at all times or usually flight from danger, but by the “expulsive force of a new affection” to make danger flee. “Therefore,” &c. The remedy—
1. For lust of gain, is to love God’s commandments above gold. Wealth will then sink into its proper and useful place. We have not to be taken out of the world, but to be kept from its evil, and this will do it. It is better to be good than to be rich; for by becoming good a man often makes the best of both worlds, and only the love of God’s commandments can make men good.
2. For infidelity, is to esteem all God’s precepts concerning all things to be right. Let a sincere and intelligent study of those precepts decide. Let history decide. Let the lives of those men who have been without, or who have rejected, God’s Word decide; and the lives of those men who have followed its counsels and commands.
3. For sin, is to hate every false way. That which we hate we endeavour to injure or destroy; and when this is impossible we avoid it.
III. The danger is avoided and the remedy applied by earnest prayer for God to work and by earnest cooperation with God in working (Psa_119:126). See previous outline.
1. God only can work in us to will and to do, &c.
2. But we must work out what God has worked in, and
(1) apply ourselves to the earnest love of God’s commandments, &c.
(2) Apply ourselves to the work of grappling with selfishness, infidelity, and sin. The more we work with God for man’s salvation, the more we shall lessen our danger.
GOD’S WORD: DESIRED, INSTRUCTIVE, WONDERFUL, KEPT
(Psa_119:129-131)
I. Desired (Psa_119:131). “When under an enforced absence from God’s ordinances he longed to be restored to them; when he enjoyed them he greedily sucked in the Word of God as new-born babes desire the milk.”—M. Henry. “A metaphor taken from an animal in the chase. He runs open-mouthed to take in the cooling air, the heart beating high and the muscular force nearly expended through fatigue. The Psalmist sought for ‘God’s commandment’ as he would run from a ferocious beast for life.”—A. Clarke.
II. Instructive (Psa_119:130). “As a beam of light illumines a dark chamber. But פָּתַח lit opening, unfolding, or revelation, LXX. and Vulg. δήλωσις, declaratio, means not so much entrance of the word into the soul, but rather its being made open to us so that we may perceive its beauty, or may ourselves “enter” into its meaning, its mysteries, and its beauties. Simple, means those who are open to persuasion, or who are easily enticed or seduced. Then it refers to the credulous (Pro_14:15), and then to the inexperienced.”—Speaker’s Com. and Barnes.
III. Wonderful (Psa_119:129).
1. In the character of its revelations. God, the soul, and the future state.
2. In its forbearance and benignity towards the lost and the erring.
3. In the self-consistency of its separate books, dispensations, &c.
4. In its sin-convincing and soul-converting power.
5. In its purity and sublimity.
6. In its supporting and comforting promises and helps and hopes.
IV. Kept (Psa_119:129). “ ‘As a treasure of inestimable value that I cannot be without.’ We do not keep them to any purpose unless our souls keep them. They must be deposited, as the tables of testimony were in the ark; there they must have the innermost and uppermost place. Those that see God’s Word to be admirable, will prize it highly and preserve it carefully, as that which they promise themselves great things from.”—M. Henry.
PRAYER
(Psa_119:132-135)
I. The character of prayer. Personal intercourse with a personal God. “Look Thou upon me.” We cannot worship an abstraction at all. And we cannot worship the living and true God by proxy.
II. The matter of prayer.
1. Supplication of the divine mercy (Psa_119:132).
(1.) A sense of personal unworthiness.
(2.) A recognition of the divine beneficence.
(3.) An ardent expectation of the divine salvation.
2. Petition for practical direction. “Order my steps in Thy word,” “Teach me Thy statutes.”
(1.) A confession of ignorance and departure.
(2.) A desire for restoration.
(3.) A high valuation of obedience.
3. Request for personal deliverance (Psa_119:134).
4. Desire for divine favours (Psa_119:135).
III. The manner of prayer.
1. Humble and reverent. “Look Thou upon me.” Permit me to pray.
2. Confident. These verses breathe an intense hopefulness.
3. Sincere. “So will I keep Thy precepts.”
IV. The plea to be used in prayer (Psa_119:132). Marg., “According to the custom towards,” &c. Heb., “According to the judgment.” What is right, “what is due; or of what is usually determined; i.e., as God usually determines, judges, acts towards those who love Him. The idea is according to the rules which regulate the treatment of Thy people.”—Barnes.
V. The purpose which should sustain prayer (Psa_119:133). Holiness. For Psa_119:134 see also Psa_119:95. For Psa_119:135 see also Psa_119:107.
THE PROPER ATTITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS TOWARDS THE UNGODLY
(Psa_119:136; Psa_119:139; Psa_119:155; Psa_119:158)
Whatever interpretation we attach to the “Imprecatory Psalms,” certainly the Psalmists do not indiscriminately curse all ungodly men. That David could be susceptible of such forbearance towards his great and influential enemies, and that this Psalmist could be instinct with such evangelical charity as to weep over sinners, and to be consumed with zeal for their reclamation, seems to point to a meaning in the above-named Psalms which perhaps does not lie upon the surface. At any rate the meaning of these verses is clear.
I. The ungodly are described as—
1. Malignant. “Mine enemies.” Opposers of righteous words and persecutors of godly people. They are known everywhere by their antagonism to God’s children. The carnal mind being at enmity against God is at enmity with the family of God. Let it not be overlooked that this is not a general classification here. The Psalmist had particular persons in his eye.
2. Wicked. From רָשַע. To make a wilful mistake. This fixes on the sinner conscious and deliberate guilt.
3. Transgressors. בָגוֹד. Faithless to God and man.
Let these powerful expressions be particularly noted as bringing out the Psalmist’s large-hearted charity.
II. The ungodly are the subjects of the tenderest compassion and the bitterest grief. “Mine eyes descend in rivers of waters because men despise Thee and destroy themselves. Most of the Easterns shed tears much more copiously than Europeans. I have myself seen Arabs shed tears like streams.”—Speaker’s Com.
1. This attitude has always characterised the righteous. Jeremiah (Jer_9:18; Jer_13:17; Jer_14:17; Lam_1:16; Lam_2:18; Lam_3:48); Our Lord (Mark 5; Luk_19:41); Paul (Php_3:8, Rom_9:2-3).
2. This attitude is right. Nothing should stir our hearts so deeply as the ruin and degradation of our fellow-men. God’s Word singles it out as a conspicuous mark of grace (Eze_9:4; 1Co_5:2). “There is nothing which more certainly indicates true piety, and which is certainly more connected with a work of grace or a revival of religion, than when such deep compassion for men as sinners pervades a church.”—Barnes.
3. This attitude is necessary.
(1.) How is it possible for us to contemplate with dry eyes and unmoved heart such sights as are every day seen! Drunkenness, swearing, dishonesty, &c. To see men bent on thwarting the divine providence and damning their own souls.
(2.) Because the prevalence of sin deprives God of glory, and spreads ruin and desolation over God’s fair world.
(3.) Because this is the first step in the direction of zeal for the sinner’s reclamation. “Then Christians will pray, labour to save sinners, feel their dependence on God, and then the Spirit will descend and bless the effort put forth.”—Barnes.
III. The ungodly are the subjects of zealous evangelisation.
1. All the compassion in the world by itself will not only do the sinner no good, but rather perhaps excite his contempt.
2. Compassion must receive a practical expression in intense and all-consuming zeal (Psa_119:139). This word is elsewhere rendered consumed, cut off, vanished, destroyed. “He pined away; his strength was exhausted; he was sinking under the efforts he had put forth.”—Barnes. (Psa_69:9; 1Ki_19:10.)
IV. The ungodly are pitied and evangelised not for sentimental but for practical reasons. Note—“It was not because they were His foes,—not because He was endeavouring to destroy them, or take vengeance upon them. It is a great triumph when in looking at persecutors and slanderers,—we are more grieved because they violate the law of God, when our solicitude turns from ourselves to God.”
The reasons are because—
1. They have not kept God’s laws. Hence his tears.
2. They have forgotten God’s works and despised His salvation. Hence His zeal. Would to God, these considerations would produce the same effect in every Christian now.
THE DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS
(Psa_119:137-138; Psa_119:142; Psa_119:144)
The Psalmist here deals with the righteousness of God from a fourfold point of view. First he declares God to be absolutely and inherently righteous; then the judgment of the righteous God to be righteous, i.e., God is actively righteous; then that God has revealed both His active and passive righteousness is His testimonies, i.e., God is declaratively righteous. This being the case, he points out that those testimonies are a faithful record of that righteousness, and therefore are to be depended upon by man.
I. God is absolutely righteous (Psa_119:137). From the fundamental principles of His nature the conception is impossible that God in thought, word, or deed, should swerve from the lines of strict and immutable equity.
II. God is relatively and actively righteous. “Upright are Thy judgments.” This follows upon His absolute righteousness. He cannot do unjustly, but must award every man according to his work (Rom_2:5-9; 1Pe_1:17), forgiving on confession of sin (1Jn_1:9), approving obedience (Heb_6:10), rewarding (2Ti_4:8), punishing (Rom_2:9; 2Th_1:8; 1Jn_3:18-19). Hence His active righteousness is everlasting. “Human governments change. New laws are enacted under new administrations. Old dynasties pass away. Custom, opinion, the world, men, all change. But as God Himself never changes, so it is with His law. Founded on eternal truth it can never change.”—Barnes.
III. God is declaratively righteous through those testimonies which are (Marg.) righteousness. No truer or sublimer definition could be given of God’s Word. It is a perfect delineation of the righteousness of God’s character and ways, without admixture of error.
“Thy law is the truth.” It is founded not on mere arbitrary will, but on the reality of things, and can therefore never change.
IV. Therefore those testimonies which declare God’s righteousness are to be depended on by man. Thy testimonies are very faithfulness.
IN CONCLUSION (Psa_119:144).—(i.) Those who would see and enjoy the divine righteousness must pray for understanding. (ii.) Those who have that understanding shall live. How? The just shall live by faith. Faith in what? Rom_3:24-26.
(Psa_119:139), see Psa_119:126
GOD’S WORD A TRIED WORD AND A LOVED WORD
(Psa_119:140)
The margin renders “tried.” P. B. version, “Tried to the uttermost.” These words describe the test to which the Word of God in every age has been subjected, and the result. It has come out of the fire as refined gold (Psalms 12). No error has been proved to be in it or cast from it. Therefore God’s people love it. In this age everything is put upon its trial. Modern criticism subjects every institution and relic of antiquity to the keenest tests. Our philosophers place everything in their crucibles, and subject everything to their dissecting knives. Every day we hear of history which has proved to be myth, and belief but exploded superstition. But into whatever alembic the Word of God has been plunged, it has come out without diminution and very pure.
I. The trial to which the Word of God has been subjected.
1. The conflict with sin.
2. The contradictions of unbelief.
3. The inconsistencies of its apparent friends.
4. The experience of saints and sinners.
II. The love with which it is received.
“I use the Scriptures not as an arsenal to be resorted to only for arms and weapons … but as a matchless temple, where I delight to contemplate the beauty, the symmetry, and the magnificence of the structure; and to increase my awe and excite my devotion to the Deity there preached and adored.… Whereas at my entrance I took even the choicest to be at best but like some Indian province, wherein though mines and gems were more abundant than in other countries, yet they were but sparingly to be met with, here and there; after a competent stay, my ensuing perusals presented it to me, if not as a royal jewel made of gold and precious stones, yet (which is more glorious) like Aaron’s breast-plate, a sacred jewel, the particular instructions for which were given by God Himself, and which besides the various number of flaming gems set in fine gold and placed in a mysterious order, was ennobled by that Urim-ve-Thummim wherein God vouchsafed to reveal Himself.… This experiment keeps me from wondering to find that the poet attributes blessedness to ‘delight in the law of the Lord.’ ”—The Hon. Robert Boyle.
TRUE GREATNESS
(Psa_119:141)
Notice—
I. That true greatness may be consistent with external humiliation. A man may be very poor and mean in the world’s estimation. He may be small because he does not aim at political and social greatness. He may be despised because all his principles are against that wholesale murder which men denominate valour. He may be afraid to do what is wrong and sin against God, and thus be open to the scoffs of the profligate and the sneers of the bravo. But if he does not forget God’s precepts he has the essentials of true greatness. True greatness does not consist in those external exhibitions which pass off as such. A man may be a great philosopher and yet be morally small as Bacon. A man may be great in war as Bonaparte and yet have a little soul. True greatness is greatness in the sight of God. And that greatness has he who does not forget God’s precepts. He will have power with God, and in the long run with man, as well.
II. That external humiliation should not be-little a man. This is a sad and prevalent tendency. When a man is esteemed small and despised, he aspires to what is termed greatness and honour by trying to forget God’s precepts. When a man is ashamed of his father’s Bible and his mother’s piety, he is on the true road to be-little himself in the sight of God, and in the long run, in the sight of man.
(Psa_119:142), see Psa_119:137
(Psa_119:143), see Psa_119:107
(Psa_119:144), see Psa_119:137
EFFECTUAL, FERVENT, AND BELIEVING PRAYER
(Psa_119:145-152)
I. Its Object. “O Lord,” “I cried unto Thee.” The Psalmist entertained no idea of intervening or interceding saints or angels. He had been taught and believed that worship must be directed to God alone. Therefore all his aspirations ascended to the personal God.
II. Its reasons.
1. Affliction. The whole of this clause breathes out a spirit that was in sore distress.
2. Personal and imminent danger (Psa_119:150). This holds good with every Christian. Satan and all the forces of evil are ever near to work damage to the soul.
3. Inability to do the will of God. All Christians share this consciousness. God’s “statutes” cannot be kept without the help of God’s Spirit, whose presence must be supplicated in prayer.
III. Its petitions.
1. “Hear me.” This should be the primary petition. Without God’s condescending attention all supplication is vain.
2. “Save me.” Those whom God hears He saves. Unless God saves, all ground for hope and prayer is taken away. Salvation is the most urgent petition that man can offer.
3. “Quicken me.” Those whom God saves God quickens, and without this quickening, salvation is vain. Salvation is a rescue from danger; quickening is the invigoration of new life, and unless that takes place the end of prayer is unattained.
IV. Its characteristics.
1. Earnestness. “I cried.” Unless God sees our eagerness and our intense desire to prevail, He will not listen to our prayer.
2. Undividedness. “With my whole heart.” Unless our whole nature is bent upon securing the answer to our prayer God will not save. The worship of the lips is a mockery in the sight of God. Mind, emotions, will, tongues, must all be engaged in this service.
3. Importunity (Psa_119:147-148). Sometimes God delays His quickening to test this importunity and to draw it forth (Luke 18). The ten days which preceded Pentecost: Morning, noon, and night must be spent directly or indirectly in this service.
4. Faith. “I hoped in Thy word.” Hope based on the promises and expectant of their realisation is the sublimest faith.
V. Its warrants.
1. The divine loving-kindness (Psa_119:149). If God is not gracious and kind, we have no warrant to approach His august and terrible majesty.
2. The divine nearness (Psa_119:151). If God is not near He cannot hear. The Psalmist held this to be one of the primary tenets of the faith (Psalms 139). So do Christians. “Lo, I am with you alway.”
3. The truth of the divine promise (Psa_119:147; Psalms cf.151). Man may break his promise. There may be no sincerity in his promise. But when God says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble,” &c., we know that He means what He says.
4. Past experience (Psa_119:152). What God has done He can still do; and therefore the Psalmist argues what He did for me of old He will do for me again, and thus—
“Old experience doth attain
To somewhat of prophetic strain.”
VI. Its resolutions.
1. Obedience. “I will keep Thy statutes.”
2. Witness-bearing. “I will keep Thy testimonies.”
VII. Its basis (Psa_119:148). By continual meditation on God’s Word he was instructed how to pray, what to pray for, and when to pray.
MORNING PRAYER
(Psa_119:147)
“I cried unto Thee early, i.e., before others, in the gloom, before the dawning of the morning: my fixed hope in Thy promise suffered me not to rest.”—Speaker’s Com.
I. The Bible speaks much of morning prayer (Exo_32:4; Mar_1:35). “It is full of morning. ‘My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; and in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.’ ‘The Lord’s mercies are new every morning.’ Of old ‘the morning stars sang together.’ ‘I, Jesus, am the bright and morning Star.’ Truly the day declines; but at ‘eventide there is light,’ when in the morning there has been converse with God. The morning makes the day. A morning misspent is a day ruined; a morning saved is a day completed. Lord, awake me at sunrise, and by the beauty of the coming light give hope for the whole day.”—Dr. J. Parker.
II. Morning is the most favourable time for prayer. It is calm. The cares and anxieties of the day have not broken upon us. Our mind is then clearest; and away from our families and our businesses, we can be alone.
III. Morning is the time God demands for prayer. “The morning is the time fixed for my meeting with God. What meaning there is in time as well as place! In the morning—then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope. In the night I have buried yesterday’s fatigue, and in the morning I take a new lease of energy. Give God all thy strength. In the morning—then He may mean to keep me long that He may make me rich.”—Dr. J. Parker.
IV. Morning is the most appropriate time for prayer. The day is before us, and the day will be wasted if not sanctified by God.
THE CONSTITUENTS OF A COMPLETE AND HOLY DAY
(Psa_119:146-148)
I. The day begins with prayer. “The first thing he did in the morning, before he admitted any business, was to pray when his mind was most fresh and in the best frame. If our thoughts in the morning be of God, they will help to keep us in His fear all the day long.”—M. Henry. Observe that this morning prayer stimulated his hope in God’s promises, and thus braced and encouraged him for the exercises of the day.
II. The day continues with practical obedience. “I shall keep Thy statutes.”
Beginning well it continues well. Prayer secured the fulfilment of the divine promises in the divine guidance and the divine protection. Hence consistency and holiness.
III. The day closes with meditation on God’s Word. The crown and completion of a good day. All anxieties are over. The time due to our fellow-men has been spent, and well spent; and now the man of God recognises God’s claim upon his eventide.
See also for Psa_119:148 on Psa_119:55.
GOD’S NEARNESS AND MAN’S
(Psa_119:150-151)
1. Man is near to harass; God is near to help.
2. Man is near to hurt; God is near to protect.
3. Man is near to discourage; God is near to comfort.
4. Man is near to tempt to sin; God is near to save from sin.
5. Man is near to cast doubts; God is near to resolve doubts.
6. Man is near to drag down to the world, flesh, and devil; God is near to lift up to heavenly things, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.
7. Man is near to kill; God is near to give life and immortality.
THE DIVINE CONSIDERATION
(Psa_119:153-157)
I. The Psalmist’s need of it.
1. Personal affliction.
2. Numerous persecutors.
II. The Psalmist’s estimate concerning it—
1. Contemplation of his case. “Take it into thy thoughts and all the circumstances of it, and sit not by as one unconcerned.”—M. Henry.
2. Pleading his cause (Psa_119:154). “Be Thou my patron and advocate, and take me for Thy client.”
3. Deliverance from his affliction.
4. Quickened life.
III. The Psalmist’s pleas for it.
1. His remembrance of the divine law (Psa_119:153).
2. His trust in the divine promises (Psa_119:154).
3. The fact that salvation was for such as he (Psa_119:155).
4. The manifold character of God’s tender mercies (Psa_119:156).
5. His love for God’s precepts (Psa_119:158).
6. The immutability of the divine word (Psa_119:160).
See also for Psa_119:153-154; Psa_119:156, see Psa_119:107; for Psa_119:155; Psa_119:158, see Psa_119:136; for Psa_119:157, see Psa_119:95; for Psa_119:159, see Psa_119:113.
THE TRUTH AND ENDURANCE OF GOD’S WORD
(Psa_119:160)
“Literally, ‘The head of Thy Word is truth,’ ”probably meaning that its principles and basis were truth. It was not made truth by the mere will of God, but it was founded on essential truth.—Marg., The beginning of Thy Word is true.’ Its origin, foundation, and essential nature is truth.”—Barnes. “Does he refer to the first word in God’s Word, בראשת. ‘In the beginning, ראש is the root of that word. Every word that Thou hast spoken from the first in Bereshith to the end of the law, and all Thou wilt yet speak, as flowing from the fountain of truth, must be true, and all shall have in due time their fulfilment.”—A. Clarke.
I. God’s Word is based upon truth, and therefore endures. It does not rest on tentative hypotheses or speculations, but upon the infallible and immutable declarations of God. Every thing not built on this solid foundation will not bear the tear and wear and fret of time.
II. God’s Word had its beginning in truth, and therefore its righteous judgments endure for ever. As the spring so the stream. If the source is tainted so will be the river. But God’s Word sprang from Him who is “the Truth,” and therefore it continues true all along its course.
III. God’s Word is true all through, and therefore endures. Man’s building may be upon unstable foundations, may be of defective materials, and be erected on a false plan. Earthly rivers may be pure in their source, but may receive poisoned waters from tributary streams. But the Word of God is built on, composed of, and designed by truth, and with its waters errors will not mix. Delitzsch says that truth “is the total number of all the items in the reckoning. The Word of God is reckoned over in its parts and as a whole. Truth is the grand denominator, and truth the result.”
IN CONCLUSION.—God’s Word is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. (i.) Are you based upon it? (ii.) Are you drinking from it? (iii.) Are you moulded by it? (iv.) Will you continue with it?
(Psa_119:161), see Psa_119:95.
GOD’S WORD THE OBJECT OF REVERENCE AND JOY
(Psa_119:161, last clause, and Psa_119:162)
I. God’s Word the object of joy. The expression is as true as it is remarkable.
1. The joy of victory in conflict. To gain spoil, fighting is necessary, and success over the foe. So we do not find the unsearchable riches of Christ without contest. We must battle with doubts, drawbacks, disinclinations, &c. The mere obtaining a victory is a cause of joy even when no substantial result is achieved.
2. The joy of enrichment after victory.
(1.) Victory over unbelief gains stronger ground for faith.
(2.) Victory over disinclination is rewarded by some new truth.
(3.) Victory over darkness is the acquisition of light.
(4.) Victory over tribulation secures fresh comfort.
(5.) Victory over sin finds the great spoil of holiness.
II. God’s Word the object of reverence. The two clauses are to be united as in Psa_112:1. Sometimes the gaining of spoil is worse for an army than defeat. Men are demoralised. Nations become arrogant. And lest man should be lifted up by pride with the knowledge he has of the Word of God, let it be remembered that it is the Word of God, and stand in awe of it.
(Psa_119:163), see Psa_119:113.
CONSTANT PRAISE
(Psa_119:164)
“Not only morning and evening, not thrice only (Psa_55:17), but seven times, i.e., again and again, and many times (Psa_12:6; Psa_69:12; Lev_26:18; Lev_26:24; Gen_4:15; Pro_24:16), each day, so as to hallow the day, the Psalmist thanks God for His word.”—Speaker’s Com. “Rabbi Solomon says this is to be understood literally, for they praised God twice in the morning before reading the decalogue, and once after; twice in evening before the same reading, and twice after; thus making seven times. The Roman Church has prescribed a similar service.”—A. Clarke.
I. Constant praise is demanded, because of the constancy of the divine judgments. They never fail. By them the universe is held together, society made possible, and human blessedness secured.
II. Constant praise is due to God for the beneficence of His judgments. They are given in mercy, not in wrath.
They are not impracticable, nor burdens too heavy to be borne. They are made for and given to man for his safety and peace.
III. Constant praise is due to God for the clearness of His divine judgments. They are not enveloped in a cloud of mystery, or hidden behind perplexing technicalities, or in such a way as to be out of the reach of the common people. “The way-faring man, though a fool, cannot err therein.”
VI. Constant praise is due to God for the help He vouchsafes to keep His righteous judgments. The Holy Spirit is given to help our infirmities. We are invited to approach the throne of grace, to obtain grace to help in time of need.
V. Constant praise is due to God for the forgiveness. He offers when we have broken His righteous judgments. “If we confess our sins,” &c. “If any man sin we have an Advocate,” &c.
PEACE
(Psa_119:165)
Peace is man’s highest hope and best inheritance. All other blessings are valued only as they promote it, and the loftiest dignity and wealthiest affluence are worth nothing without it. Obstacles to peace abound, and the largest part of life is spent in overcoming them. Offences and stumblingblocks are the greatest obstacles. Genuine difficulty and hard work promote peace. Let a man know there is a difficulty in the way, or a work to be done, and he composes his mind to grapple with them. But when he meets with a stubborn obstacle, or stumbles over it, his mind is hurt and his peace is gone. So the believer may be unmoved amidst the greatest afflictions and trials, and yet through some unforeseen and insignificant impediment he may stumble and lose all his tranquillity. Notice—
I. A qualification. Love of God’s law. “To love a law may seem strange; but it is the only true divine life. To keep it because we are afraid of its penalties is only a form of fear or prudential consideration. To keep it to preserve a good name may be propriety and respectability. To keep it because it is best for society may be worldly self-interest. To keep it because of physical health may be the policy of epicurean philosophy. To keep it because we love it is to show that it is already part of us—has entered into the moral texture of our being. Sin then becomes distasteful, and temptations lose their power.”—Statham.
II. A process. “Nothing shall offend them,” i.e., nothing shall be a stumbling-block to them and so hurt them. Those whose hearts and minds are embued with and thus protected and directed by God’s law, although there must needs be stumblingblocks in their way, yet they shall not stumble over them nor be hurt by them.
1. They will not stumble over apparent discrepancies in God’s law. He who loves God’s law will not go to God’s Word to find or make them. When they come across his path, the Divine Interpreter explains them, and a sanctified insight and experience will discover their true harmony.
2. They will not stumble at temptations. Those who are protected by the law of God are safe. Temptations find nothing in common with them on which they can take hold. The world has no equivalent to offer for the pleasures and profit of the law of the Lord.
3. They will not stumble at circumstances. If adversity comes, those who love God’s law are prepared for that. They know it to be necessary for them or it would not come. If prosperity comes, that prosperity is sanctified by the sanctity of those in whom it meets. God’s law teaches that “all things work together for good,” &c.
4. They do not stumble at death. The law of God has robbed death of its terrors. That law shows that Christ has withdrawn death’s sting, that it is now not only harmless, but is pressed into the service of the people of God. “Death is yours.” Now your friend to conduct you to a place where its office is at an end. Those who love God’s law know that Christ has vanquished “him that had the power of death, and delivered them who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
III. The result. Having no fear of stumblingblocks, and not being hurt by them, the lovers of God’s law have great peace. Not mere peace, but great peace.
1. Great, because divine. It is the “peace of God.” “My peace.” “Not as the world giveth.”
2. Great, because powerful. It “keeps the heart and mind.” It eases tremendous anxieties, removes perturbing fears.
3. Great, because incomprehensible. “It passeth all understanding.” It cannot be defined. The Christian only knows he has it.
4. Great, because eternal. “Peace shall flow as a river,” unexhausted, always running, yet never running to waste or away.
GOD’S SALVATION
(Psa_119:166-175)
The closing verses of this long Psalm are in harmony with all that has gone before. The themes are the same, the prayers are the same, the purposes are the same. The Psalmist’s one desire is to taste the fulness and sweetness of God’s salvation, to know more of His Word, and to praise His name. Taking as our leading thought God’s salvation we have—
I. The nature of that salvation (Psa_119:166-174).
1. Personal rescue (Psa_119:170).
2. Divine teaching. It is quite a mistake to suppose that salvation is exclusively a single act. It is a process as well. Man is delivered out of darkness into God’s marvellous light; and to be saved from lapsing into darkness again, he must have the Divine Teacher near him, showing him how to walk in the light (Psa_119:171).
3. Divine help (Psa_119:173). Teaching alone is insufficient. Countless multitudes of even Christian people know the way, who, from lack of the help they ought to have, do not walk with firmness and consistency. Vain is the attempt to work out our own salvation without divine help. Thank God, that help is abundantly vouchsafed.
4. Soul life (Psa_119:175). This is the prime vital and all-essential characteristic of salvation. It is the synonym for it both in the Old Testament and the New. The unsaved soul is like the valley of dry bones, and dead in trespasses and sins. Salvation is not only deliverance from sin. It is the perpetual indwelling of the Divine and quickening Spirit.
II. The conditions upon which God saves.
1. Obedience to God’s commandments (Psa_119:166). But this is mere legality? Is it? Who said, “Repent ye and believe the Gospel.” “Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.
2. Keeping and loving God’s testimonies (Psa_119:167-168). What do they testify? God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s willingness to save. How can God save? how can man be saved, unless it is the rejoicing of his heart to know and to keep the testimony that “God so loved the world,” &c., “that God willeth not the death of the sinner”?
3. Thankfulness for God’s promises (Psa_119:172). Unless man has these promises, and is grateful for them, he is unwilling to be saved, and even God cannot save the thankless soul. “The goodness of God” should lead to repentance and trust (Rom_2:4-5).
4. Choice of the right way and love of it (Psa_119:173-174). Our salvation largely depends on our own choice. God will not force it upon us. This choice must have respect to the ulterior duties of salvation. This choice must not be determined by fear, interest, but intelligent appreciation of what is best and love of it for its own sake.
III. The characteristics of the prayer for God to save. Those who desire salvation must pray, will pray. How?
1. Hopefully (Psa_119:166). Faith enters largely into the composition of evangelical hope. They have the same attributes as well as the same objects. Hope longs (Psa_119:174) with confident expectation.
2. Sincerely (Psa_119:168). The prayer of the hypocrite is an abomination to God. The man who prays for salvation must be prepared to display all his ways before God. He must conceal nothing, omit nothing.
3. Intensely (Psa_119:169-170). “Cry.” “Supplication.”
4. Availingly (Psa_119:170). The divine promise was never pleaded in vain.
IV. The obligations of God’s salvation. The one word twice uttered by the Psalmist reveals them all, “Praise,” (Psa_119:171; Psa_119:175). It was not personal blessing so much as the Divine glory.
THE LOST SHEEP
(Psa_119:176)
“The Psalmist begins with, ‘Blessed are the undefiled in the way,’ &c. He concludes with, ‘I have gone astray,’ &c. And thus conscious of the blessedness of those who are in the way of righteousness, he desires to be brought into it, that he may walk in newness of life. Verse first. It is a good way, and they are blessed who walk in it. Verse the last, ‘Bring me into this way that I may be blessed.’ And thus the Psalm in sentiment returns into itself; and the latter verse is so connected with the former as to make the whole a perfect circle.”—Dr. A. Clarke.
The text may be applied with equal propriety to sinners and backsliders.
I. The wandering. Men, like sheep, have broken through the hedge of God’s law, have forsaken the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls, and have gone astray into the paths of error and sin. “Like a sheep,” i.e., like a beast, an animal; for sin appeals to the lower instincts of humanity, and develops them, and so man sinks to the level of a brute Mark, not like a lion or a horse, some noble or gifted creature, but like a poor, silly, unintelligent sheep. Why? Because sin is stupidity, and the sinner is no more a criminal than he is a fool.
1. The wandering sheep displays the greatest folly. Its safety, food, very existence, depends upon the shepherd’s presence.
2. The wandering sheep displays the deepest ingratitude. It owes everything to the vigilance, sympathy, and activity of the shepherd.
3. The wandering sheep displays but one symptom of intelligence, that of going astray. If there be but one gap in the hedge he will find it. If the chances are a thousand to one against his straying, he will avail himself of it.
4. The wandering sheep displays perseverance in straying. If found to-day it will lose itself again to-morrow if it can. And once out of the fold it wanders on and on and never dreams of returning till sought, found, and brought back.
Brethren, each one of us must say, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.” We have all gone astray ungratefully and foolishly from Him who alone can, and who alone has, vouchsafed all the benefits that we want and enjoy. In departing from God we have displayed an ingenuity worthy of a better cause. We have wandered where it has been perilous to wander, and have gone farther and farther from God, and from worse to worse, till we have become lost. Straying, men lose their owner, lose their fellows, lose themselves.
II. The search. The sheep having gone astray, what more natural than that the shepherd should go in search of it? So God is in search of lost men. “Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
1. This search was the prompting of love. The relation between the eastern shepherd and his sheep is very different from the western, and is fitly typical of God’s relation to man. God loves man with an everlasting love, and cannot afford to lose him, the latest born in His vast house-hold, and therefore preserves him with a love which many waters cannot quench.
2. This search was pursued by the most wonderful self-sacrifice. The shepherd seeking the sheep far from home, amidst winter snows, and among prowling beasts, and on dark and dismal nights, is very feeble as a symbol of God’s search for man. Christ came to “lay down His life for His sheep.” Such was His fixed intention, and such His accomplished purpose. “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
3. This search was rewarded by success. Such was the case with the Psalmist. Such is the case of all who will be found. Here man is unlike a sheep. Its will cannot resist the more powerful will of its owner. Alas! man can resist God.
III. The recollection. “In all my wandering, with my consciousness of error, with my sense of guilt, I still do feel that I love Thy laws. They are the joy of my heart, and I desire to be recalled from all my wanderings that I may find perfect happiness in Thee and in Thy service evermore. Such is the earnest wish of every regenerated heart. Far as such an one may have wandered from God, yet he is conscious of true attachment to Him and His service; he desires and earnestly prays that he may be ‘sought out’ and brought back and kept from wandering any more.”—Barnes.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. It must be at once apparent that seeking…
Psa 119:2
I. It must be at once apparent that seeking God is a right thing—a thing fitting and becoming for man, as the creature and the child of God, to do. Whom or what should he seek if he seek not God? Is not God the Author of his being, the Supporter of his existence, the Source of all his advantages, the Giver of every good gift that he enjoys? It becomes us to seek Him that we may know Him in all the glory of His perfections and all the plenitude of His grace, to seek Him that we may bring our emptiness to His fulness, our poverty to His riches, our darkness to His light, that He may help us according to our need.
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II. One reason why there is so little of earnest, hearty seeking after God on the part of His people is that we do not sufficiently keep before us the idea that this is what above everything else it is our duty and our privilege to do. There is so much said about men seeking pardon, and seeking peace, and seeking acceptance with God that we are apt to fall into a belief that these are in themselves the ultimate ends of our religion. But the Bible never represents them in that light, nor does it dwell upon them to such an extent as we are accustomed to do. It brings them forward as means to an end. Having found these inestimable blessings, we are not to rest there; there is something higher and better to which they are designed to lead us. In them we lay the foundation of the Divine life, but they are not that life itself. That life is in God, and it is only as we seek Him with our whole heart that we can enjoy that life. To bring us to Himself is the crowning design of the Gospel scheme.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Christian Thought and Work, p. 50.
References: Psa 119:5.—J. P. Gledstone, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 205. Psa 119:6.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv., No. 1443.
Psa 119:9
I. The Bible makes a great deal in its teaching about the ways of men. And nothing is plainer than that it contemplates as great a variety of ways as there are kinds of men. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? "Not any way, not somebody else’s way, not the old man’s way, not the way of the man in mid-life, but his own way: the young man’s way. Your way is a way of hope. Your face is towards the future. You have all the possibilities still before you. Every step, therefore, is solemn, is of everlasting importance, may be a step into blessedness or a step into woe.
II. Try, next, to understand what is meant by "cleansing the way." It is the cleanness which is part of God’s life which is intended. God is of purer eyes than to look upon sin. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever. It is the cleanness which is also the holiness of God—cleanness from sin, from evil, from guile, from insincerity. And the question, read in the light of this explanation, means, "Wherewithal shall a young man lead a holy life, like the life of the holy God? Wherewithal shall he make his way the way of a saint?"
III. The answer to this question is, "By taking heed thereto according to God’s word:" by taking God’s word as the light, the guide, and the director of the way; by considering your steps in the light of that word; by taking that word as the chart, the pilot, and the propeller of your way. (1) A great practical step has been taken when you see that you are to a certain extent God’s stewards over your own life and character. (2) Another great step is taken when you see that there is a contrast between the light of God’s word and the life on which it falls. (3) The next step places you face to face with the grand choice submitted to every soul who follows God’s word: the choice between the life you are leading and the life which that light expresses.
A. Macleod, Days of Heaven upon Earth, p. 229.
References: Psa 119:9.— A. P. Peabody, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 198; H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxix., p. 315; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 196; F. Tholuck, Hours of Devotion, p. 519. Psa 119:9-11.— H. Allon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 40. Psa 119:9-12.— H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxiv., p. 90.
Psa 119:15
I. The Hebrew word here translated "meditate" signifies properly to speak or converse with one’s self. Hence it conveys the idea of seclusion, retirement, solitude, and, at the same time, of mental activity. In meditation the mind retreats within itself; but it retreats thither to think, to ponder, to reflect. To meditate one must, therefore, first of all retire. To converse with self we must be alone, our sole companion our own thoughts, our sole witness God and nature.
II. But it is not enough that we be alone. Mere solitude is not meditation, and as little is mere quietude or mere musing. There are some minds that are given to a still, half-sleeping, half-waking passivity of thought, a habit which seems to be most seductive, but which is utterly unprofitable. Meditation involves the ideas of reflectiveness, of reverence. It is a fixing of the mind upon something interesting to ourselves and, at the same time, impressive. The man who meditates has his mind occupied by some lofty theme; especially in religious meditation the mind fixes upon God and the things of God.
III. It needs only that we should make the experiment to satisfy ourselves that the practice thus commended to us is intimately connected with our spiritual welfare and growth in holiness. (1) Meditation is that which rivets Divine truth in the memory. (2) Meditation on Divine things makes them really profitable to us. (3) Meditation gives depth, seriousness, and earnestness to our religious profession and character. Religion, whatever else it is, is a mode of thought; and hence it is only as deep and earnest thoughtfulness is bestowed upon it that it can be developed in its higher and nobler forms.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Christian Thought and Work, p. 1.
Reference: Psa 119:15.— Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 286.
Psa 119:18
I. Consider the sense of wonder in man, and what generally excites it. That God has bestowed on man such a faculty we all know. It is one of the first and most constant emotions in our nature. The greatest minds and the truest hearts preserve this feeling fresh to the very last, and go through life finding new cause for intelligent wonder day after day. The feeling may be excited: (1) by the new or unexpected; (2) by the beautiful or grand; (3) by the mysterious which surrounds man.
II. God has made provision for this sense of wonder in His revealed word. (1) The Bible addresses our sense of wonder by constantly presenting the new and unexpected to us. (2) It sets before us also things beautiful and grand, without which the new would be a matter of idle curiosity. (3) If we come to the third source of wonder, that which raises it to awe, it is the peculiar province of the Bible to deal with this.
III.. Notice the means we are to use in order to have God’s word thus unfolded. The prayer of the Psalmist may be our guide, "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may see." (1) He asks for no new revelation. The request is not for more, but that he may employ well that which he possesses. (2) He asks for no new faculty. The eyes are there already, and they need only to be opened.
J. Ker, Sermons, p. 29.
I. We are all born spiritually blind. When man lost his innocence, he lost also his sight. Blindness is the effect of sin.
II. Consider some of the characteristics of this blindness. (1) Blindness deprives its subjects of many pleasures which God’s goodness lavishes on us, and through our eyes pours into our hearts. (2) Blindness makes the condition of its subjects one of. painful dependence. (3) Blindness exposes its subjects to deception. (4) Blindness exposes us to danger.
III. The eyes of the blind being opened, they behold wondrous things out of the law of God. Open a blind man’s eyes. With what amazement, happiness, overflowing joy, will he gaze, nor tire gazing, on all above and around him, from the sun blazing in heaven to the tiniest flower that springs in beauty at his feet! And let God open a sinner’s eyes, the Bible will seem to him a new book, and he seem to himself a new creature. He will see his heart, and wonder at its wickedness. He will see the Saviour, and wonder at His love. He will see how God has spared him, and wonder at His longsuffering. He will see salvation as the one thing needful, and wonder he could have taken a night’s rest, ventured to close his eyes in sleep, till he had found peace with God.
IV. God only can open our eyes. We need sight as well as light. Abroad, among the Alps, where the road, leaving the gay and smiling valley, climbs into the realms of eternal winter, or is cut out of the face of precipices, down which one false step hurls the traveller into a gorge where the foaming torrent seems but a silver thread, tall crosses stand. And so, when the path is buried in the drift that spreads a treacherous crust over yawning crevice and deadly crag, he, by keeping the line of crosses, braves the tempest, and walks safely where otherwise it were death to venture. But set a blind man on such a road, and he never reaches home; the earth his bed and the snow his shroud, he sleeps the sleep that knows no waking. Now there is a Cross that points out man’s way to heaven; but unless the eyes that sin sealed are open—have been opened by God to see it, and all the way-marks that mercy has set up to that happy home—our feet shall "stumble upon the dark mountains,", and we shall perish for ever.
T. Guthrie, Speaking to the Heart, p. 183.
Two forms of Divine teaching are implied in these words: revelation and spiritual apprehension to receive that which is revealed, truth in the written word and the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit, the one therefore universal, common to all men—the open Bible, the Gospel preached to every creature under heaven—the other personal, private, incommunicable by man to man. And in this prayer both these are equally recognised as God’s gift. "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law."
I. Notice, first, that the distinction which is here implied is in perfect harmony and analogy with all the conditions of human knowledge. Every branch of human knowledge has its objective and subjective side. In every art, every science, every pursuit, there are these two things: (1) general laws, rules, theories, principles, illustrations, examples, which can be committed to writing, stored up in books, taught in words by the teacher to the scholar; and (2) there is the personal aptitude, which may be developed by culture if it be latent, but which can never be bestowed when it is wanting.
II. The Bible amply recognises and abundantly teaches this double character of Divine knowledge, this analogy between Divine knowledge and every other kind of knowledge, but at the same time with a broad and vital difference. According to the teaching of the Bible, incapacity for spiritual truth is not the misfortune of individuals; it is the calamity of the human race: and, on the other hand, power to receive and apprehend spiritual truth is not the gift of genius, not the acquirement of plodding industry; it is the dark gift of God; it is the open eye, which God has opened to behold the great things out of His law.
III. It is an unspeakably consoling and delightful reflection that this impossibility of attaining spiritual truth apart from Divine teaching, which God’s word so plainly sets forth, puts no hindrance in any man’s way, no hindrance in the way of the simplest learner, no hindrance in the way of the unbeliever any more than of the believer, if only the unbeliever is desirous of knowing what is truth.
IV. This prayer implies the Divine inspiration and authority of the Bible; for is it not plainly incontrovertible that if the Bible be a book which the wisest man cannot understand, and therefore cannot interpret, without Divine teaching direct from God, it must be a book which no man could have written without such teaching?
E. R. Conder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 280.
The life of the soul has its wonders as well as the life of the body and the life of nature. It is a complex and mysterious thing. None but "opened eyes" can discern its marvellous treasures; and with them the further we see the greater is the wonder. God’s discipline, God’s patience, God’s adjustment of men’s powers and defects, God’s method of answering prayer or seeming to be deaf to it—in these and similar dealings we can, if we will, find ever-fresh food for wonder, if only He grant us the gift of a teachable heart and an open eye.
I. Think of that phenomenon, so well known to all Christians, God’s strength made perfect in weakness. Sometimes it is in spite of men’s weakness; sometimes it is actually in consequence of it. The wonderful thing is to see how God’s strength often takes hold of a weak character, and works upon it His miracles of purification. Where the worldly critic despairs, the instructed Christian hopes.
II. Consider another phenomenon in God’s discipline: the use which He makes of disappointment. Is there no room for wonder here? To a very young boy disappointment is crushing and blinding. Everything and everybody seem set against him. But when growing years or a riper Christian experience has at last opened his eyes, he begins to discern "wondrous things" in the Divine law of disappointment. He sees, and others perhaps see still more plainly that that was the rock on which his character was built.
III. Notice another wondrous thing of God’s law: His permission of sin. Sin is overruled into a trainer of righteousness. There are few more wondrous things in the moral world than to trace how a good man has been trained by his own sins, or rather trained by the Holy. Spirit of God through the permitted instrumentality of his own personal sins.
IV. Once more, if we look at the method by which God works His plans of improvement, may we not find abundant cause for reverent wonder? Think of His patience; His choice of feeble instruments; His choice, too, of unexpected and, as we should have thought, inappropriate means to work out His own ends; His discouragement sometimes of the higher agencies, and apparent preference for the lower. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 169.
The man who uttered these words felt that he was under Divine law. He felt that he knew it badly, and that it deeply concerned him to know it well; that to realise its sublimity and comprehensiveness, its marvellous wisdom, its perfect righteousness, would be light, and strength, and life to his soul, but that so to realise it God must vouchsafe to him a sacred influence, a spiritual enlightenment, and, he adds, sufficient faith in his God to believe that He was able and willing thus to help him.
I. There are assuredly countless wonders to be beheld in God’s law, and we need only open eyes to behold them. In the Bible and other books we have the statements of God’s laws; but these laws themselves are far too real to be in any book. No law of God, natural or spiritual, can be shut up in a book.
II. While all the laws of God should, as far as possible, be objects of interest and admiration, yet these laws are not all of the same practical importance to us. There are many of them which we must all be ignorant of, and which we may safely be ignorant of; there are many of them which we might know had we only time to make ourselves acquainted with them, yet we cannot consistently with duty spare the time necessary to understand them. On the other hand, there is a class of laws of awful significance to us, of which we must on no account be ignorant. Clearly it was these laws, which he also describes as the commandments, and precepts, and statutes of God, His righteous judgments, and His testimonies, that the Psalmist prayed to behold.
III. It is not enough to have God’s law before us, or His truth disclosed; but we need also to have our eyes opened to see the law, our minds helped to understand the truth. The reason of man can no more act independently of God than his will can. Just as the will has been made to find its life in the holiness of God, reason has been made to find its life in the wisdom of God. Unless God open our eyes to behold the wonders of His law, no clearness in the outward revelation of its wonders will give us a true view of it. We shall see and yet not perceive.
R. Flint, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 8.
References: Psa 119:18.—F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. v., p. 77; J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 312; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 59.
Psa 119:19
I. The stranger. The literal stranger is easily recognised, not so easily, perhaps, in a great city, where there are always thousands of strangers and foreigners, but easily in country towns and villages and on country roads. The life-spelling of the word "onward" sits in his look. His home, wherever it may be, is not here. There is one word which, as it seems to me, expresses more than any other single word of the real meaning of the principal term of this verse: "stranger"—the word "reserve." A principle, an instinct, a habit, of reserve will be found running through the whole of life on the earthly side of it with the stranger, as, for instance, (1) reserve in secular occupations, in what we call the business of life; (2) reserve in pleasure; (3) reserve even in the sphere of highest duty. The stranger is one who holds himself in reserve, who lifts himself up, who looks far and high, who directs his being inwards.
II. The prayer is perfectly suited to the condition which has been described. "A stranger"—here but for a little, and yet morally beginning the great hereafter, "never continuing in one stay," and yet possessing one being, and developing and settling that being into character. God’s commandments, revealed and brought home to the heart, will yield plentifully all that can be needed in the pilgrim state. In one way or other they touch all the chances and hazards of the journey and all the requirements of the traveller, while they all combine to make one supreme influence of preparation for what will come when the earthly journey is over.
A. Raleigh, The Little Sanctuary, p. 313.
I. Man’s solitude: "I am a stranger upon earth."
II. Man’s true companionship: "Thy commandments."
III. Man’s true source of power: "Hide not"—teach me—"Thy commandments."
Bishop King, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. i., p. 243.
I. I am as a stranger in the earth because of the impermanence of my position.
II. I am as a stranger in the earth because of my life and language.
III. I am as a stranger in the earth because of the perils to which I am exposed.
IV. "Hide not Thy commandments from me." These words show that God has not been unmindful of the earthly life of His saints, but has provided for its effectual protection.
Parker, Pulpit Analyst, vol. i., p. 601.
Psa 119:19, Psa 119:54
Taken together, these words set forth our condition as strangers and pilgrims on the earth, and God’s bountiful provision for meeting that condition in Christ.
I. The fact that we are strangers is forced upon us by our ignorance. Apart from revelation, we know almost nothing of the world we live in, and absolutely nothing of its Lord. In every age and to every thinking soul arise the great questions, Who sent me into this earth? Why am I here? Whither am I going? A yearning for replies to these questions springs up in every heart. "O unknown Maker, I am a stranger on the earth; hide not Thy laws from me." The Gospel is God’s answer to this cry. It is the revelation of the light which is behind sun and stars. Christ puts that great word "Father" into all our thoughts. He lifts the light of it over the whole universe. And the knowledge and glory of a living, loving, personal Father stream in upon us from every side.
II. Our sins still more than our ignorance have put the sense of strangeness into our hearts and the marks of it upon our countenance. When the soul awakens to spiritual consciousness and finds itself in the presence of this great truth of the Fatherhood of God, the first fact which confronts it is a sense of farness from the Father. It is God’s mercy that He has not left us to rest in this depth of strangeness. He has made a way for us in Christ—the new and living way by the blood. God’s own Son has died to put our estrangement away. "We are no more strangers and foreigners." The blood has brought us near.
III. Another proof that we are strangers is the estrangement we find among men. Of this problem also the solution is provided in the Gospel. Christ comes as the great Uniter and Binder together. He comes sowing over all the waste of estrangement and alienation this healing word: "One is your Father." He comes with the grand purpose of binding those who receive that word into a holy and abiding fellowship.
IV. The last and saddest mark of the stranger upon us is death. If there had been no light for this shadow, how great our misery should be. But, blessed be God, He has not hidden the future from His child. This also is laid bare to our hungering hearts in Christ. A home awaits us beyond the grave. A new life blooms for us in the very presence of God. Our torn and suffering earthly existence is to be crowned with: glory and immortality in the world of the risen dead. Christ the Resurrection! Christ the Life!—that is our song in the home on which the shadows have begun to fall.
A. Macleod, Days of Heaven upon Earth, p. 291.
References: Psa 119:20.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1586. Psa 119:24.—J. R. Macduff, Good Words, 1861, p. 525.
Psa 119:25
These words express, with great intensity of humiliation, a consciousness which is universal among all sincere Christians—I mean, the power of the world and of the body over the soul. Our slowness and sluggishness in spiritual obedience is a special proof of the power of the Fall still abiding upon us, and of our proneness to linger and hold fast by earth and its attractions.
I. One cause of this disheartening feeling is that people aim at models and examples which are too high for them. There is one example for all: the life of Christ; one tendency wholly unlimited in the direction of which all must press towards His example; but the standard—that is, the manner and measure in which we are permitted to advance in that tendency—is of God. He proportions it by His providence and His grace. All that we can do, the holiest thing we can do, is to apply and mould ourselves entirely upon the lot He has meted out to us.
II. But perhaps it may be said, "This is not my distress. I have no desire to go out of my lot into disproportioned habits; but I do not comply with this tendency of which you speak. This is the point where I cleave to the dust. I make no advance in the spiritual life." In answer it may be said that we are too hasty in looking for signs of advancement. We cannot too much desire to become sinless; but whatever may be our desire, patience is our duty. God has a seedtime, and a burial, sometimes long and strange, of the germs of spiritual life, before the feast of ingathering is fully come. We must not look out for the harvest when we have only cast the seed, nor for the vintage when we have but yesterday bound up the vines. Growth in grace is slow, because it is to be attained by the progressive and persevering action of our moral nature, under the conditions of the Fall, and against the antagonist powers of temptation.
III. But perhaps it may be said again, "This would be all very well if I were not conscious of positive faults, and sometimes even of falling back into those of which I have repented. Positive evils are alive within me, and I often see them even more active than before." Speaking still to sincere minds, it may be said that we are no sure judges of this matter. A growing consciousness of sin is no certain sign of growing sinfulness, but, on the contrary, a probable sign of growing sanctification. The same will which, in wisdom, has ordained the law of slow growth for our spiritual life, has also, in love, ordained a slow perception of our sinfulness. The surest remedy for such complaints will be found in practical rules. (1) The first is to reduce our self-examination to definite points. (2) Having reduced our self-examination to definite points, let us from the sins we have so detected choose out someone against which to direct our chief watchfulness and strength.
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 134.
Psa 119:25
I. The character of David, the son of Jesse, the king and sweet Psalmist of Israel, is one in which so many common points of our own characters meet, that it would be very difficult for us to lay hold of one thread of the loom and to draw it out from the others and study it separately. One leading idea runs through his whole life. David’s is the character of a man who had intense human affections, tending even towards sensuous appetite, while to a strong degree he possessed a sense of all the higher aspirations of our nature. There are no stronger cables that bind down our tabernacle to the soil of this world than these two: strong affections and high ambition. A character with such conflicting elements, if it is to reach the desired haven under the guidance of God, must have very peculiar discipline and trials all its own.
II. It is remarkable to see the peculiar way in which Joab’s influence over David was calculated to chasten and to keep in check the infirmities of the servant of God. Instances: the death of Abner; the affair of Uriah; the rebellion of Absalom.
III. We cannot but be struck with the almost necessity that there is that certain characters, if they are ever to be perfectly purified, should be placed in the same crucible of affliction. In a character like that of David, the grace of humility would have been left a plucked and withered flower far back on the path of life had it not been for the continual presence of Joab, whose hand, as it were, nurtured, though unconsciously, the lowly plant. We soon forget ourselves; we cannot help it. No voice more often with syren softness decoys us from the path of rectitude and lowliness of mind than that of a strong consciousness of personal influence over those around us; and where this is exercised for good, and not for evil, it is the more dangerous.
IV. It is necessary for the Church as well as for the individual that the faults of good men should be known. There is in man, and ever has been, a tendency to extol unduly, to elevate beyond their due place, the attainments of the saints of God. The faults of the good seem permitted to float on the surface that the holy may not overrate their fellow-man, nor the saint lose his balance and equipoise by the undue admiration of his fellow.
E. Monro, Practical Sermons on the Characters of the Old Testament, vol. i., p. 39.
I. "My soul cleaveth unto the dust." There is nothing to guide us in determining what were the circumstances of the man who said this, not the least need to inquire what they may have been. The words fit all circumstances. They carry us out of the region of circumstances. In any condition a man may cry, "My soul cleaveth unto the dust. There is a great weight upon me. You tell me I should exert myself to shake off the sloth, the despondency, which is preying upon me. But sloth and despondency are not raindrops that hang about my clothes; they are not even the clothes themselves; they have got hold of myself; they appear to be parts of my nature." The king who is after God’s own heart must learn by some discipline or other that he has a soul which—by very slight causes indeed, by some sickness of body, something less than that: a trivial disappointment or the mere satiety of success—may be brought down to the dust, may cleave to it, may be utterly unable to lift itself up.
II. From this confession when it is really one, when it rises as a sigh out of the deeps, there comes the prayer, "Quicken Thou me according to Thy word." Then it is that man begins to believe in God, for then he begins to believe that he himself is not God. This sentence seems to contain the very essence of prayer, to be the explanation of all prayer, the necessity for it lying in a man’s discovery of his weakness, the hope of it lying in the nature of God Himself and in His relation to man.
F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. iv., p. 259.
I. It is not a strange experience for believers to be in this depressed condition: the soul cleaving to the dust. Sometimes there may be physical causes connected with a man’s state of health, and sometimes other providences of God are concerned in producing this state of things; but it is a stage in a man’s spiritual history. Generally it is connected with indwelling sin. More particularly it arises in connection with the failure of faith on the part of believers. Looking at it from the side of God’s providence, it is permitted by God just as a step in the believer’s history, because it is necessary that the believer’s history should include an enlarged acquaintance with himself, with his own insufficiency, with his own tendency to unbelief, and darkness, and sin.
II. It is not characteristic of a believer to be contented in this condition. How can any one who believes in the reality and presence of a living God be content with a feeling of this deadness and depression, this awful contrast to the life and glory of that life-giving God? More than that, the believer has faith in the presence and power of a life-giving Christ. He has faith also in the life-giving Spirit, and in the mission and work of the Holy Ghost in its power, and gentleness, and love. How can a man who believes this be content to go on with his soul cleaving to the dust? Therefore he casts himself on God in prayer, and you find him declaring to God the condition in which he is: "My soul cleaveth to the dust," and applying to God to meet this case of his: "Quicken Thou me according to Thy word."
III. There is a sure refuge for the believer with reference to this case of his. There is life for those who feel in themselves so much that looks like death. "Quicken Thou me"—give me life; cause me to live—"according to Thy word." This cry is not merely a cry of distress. He has the word which he can plead made known to him. It is a sure refuge and resource.
Application: (1) There is great reason for hopefulness in the condition of believers even when their souls cleave unto the dust. (2) There is great reason for earnestness. (3) There is a sure reward for those that seek the Lord.
R. Rainy, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 237.
References: Psa 119:25.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 308; C. J. Vaughan, Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 141. Psa 119:27.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1344.
Psa 119:31
It is difficult to tell men what being confounded means, difficult and almost needless, for there are those who know what it means without being told, and those who do not know what it means without being told are not likely to know by any man’s telling.
I. The Psalmist who wrote Psalm cxix. was a man, on his own showing, intensely open to the feeling of shame, and felt intensely what men said of him, felt intensely slander and insult. Isaiah was such a man; Jeremiah was such a man; Ezekiel was such a man: their writings show that they felt intensely the rebukes and the contempt which they had to endure from those whom they tried to warn and save. St. Paul, as may be seen from his own Epistles, was such a man, a man who was intensely sensitive of what men thought and said of him, yearning after the love and approbation of his fellow-men, and above all of his fellow-countrymen, his own flesh and blood. Of all men the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of man, had that feeling, that longing for the love and appreciation of men, and above all for the love and appreciation of His countrymen after the flesh, the Jews. He had, strange as it may seem—yet there it is in the Gospels, written for ever and undeniable—that capacity of shame which is the mark of true nobleness of soul.
If He had not felt the shame, what merit in despising it? It was His glory that He felt the shame and yet conquered the shame and crushed it down by the might of His love for fallen man.
II. Our Lord and Saviour stooped to be confounded for a moment that we might not be confounded to all eternity. As He did, so must we try to do. Every man who makes up his mind to do right and to be good must expect ridicule now and then. And the more tender your heart, the more you wish for the love and approbation of your fellow-men, the more of noble and modest self-distrust there is in you, the more painful will that be to you. The fear of man brings a snare, and nothing can deliver you out of that snare save the opposite fear: the fear of God, which is the same as trust in God.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 71.
Psa 119:32
There are two things especially remarkable in this Psalm: the variety of expressions used to describe the word of God and the corresponding variety of expressions used to describe the Son of man. In the text the Psalmist considers sin as a state of captivity and confinement.
I. The words express a consciousness of actual captivity. There is a stress laid on the words "Thy commandments." The Psalmist recognised their goodness and excellence, and desired to follow them; but he was at the same time conscious of an opposing force, of a constraint exercised on him from which he was unable to get free, and which not only prevented his going in the way of God’s commandments, but compelled him to go in another way, and perhaps a totally contrary one. There is hope in such a state. There is hope for those who see God and God’s word to be good, and wish, however faintly, that they could walk by it. When a soul once begins to sigh for freedom, it will not probably be very long before it is free; for that very sigh is itself the beginning of spiritual liberty.
II. The words express the consciousness of confinement and of narrowness of affection and desire after God. Thus considered, they belong to a higher religious state than the one just described. The Psalmist was conscious that his heart was narrow. He craved for more freedom of faith, for larger desires after God, for fuller trust in Him, and for warmer and stronger love towards Him. There are few Christians who will not have the same feeling, and will not be conscious how small and low is their state of grace, how poor their service to their God, compared to what it should be, and what it might be with God to help them. Here, again, our hope is in God. He can enlarge our hearts by more perfectly revealing Himself within them. He enters into the soul, and the soul grows with His presence. His glory, and greatness, and beauty snap the restraining bands, and stretch the heart in which He dwells till it becomes capable of peace and joy unknown before.
E. Garbett, Experiences of the Inner Life, p. 213.
I. It is evident that we may "go" in the way of commandments and not "run." There is the slow creeping of a mere abstract sense of stern duty. There is the slow walk of simple conscientiousness. There is the slavish course propelled by fear. There is the capricious step, half feeling, half principle, which is continually halting. But all this is not to run. To run is a joyous thing, and shows that the affections and the heart are drawn to it. To run is free, and tells a mind unbound. To run is quick and constant progress; and the attainments are clear, and distinct, and large. To run is a light and easy motion, and marks facility. To run makes the goal of hope near, and gives the confidence of success.
II. "Largeness of heart" is a pure gift of God. Still in this, as in everything, while all is of God’s grace, the grace itself lies within man’s responsibility. Notice one or two methods for "the enlargement of the heart." (1) The Bible is a very expanding book to man’s intellect and to man’s affections. (2) Meditation on the character, and the work, and the being of God is very "enlarging" to the character of man. (3) To embrace many in our love is a great secret of enlargement of spirit. (4) Acts of open-handed charity have a strange effect to increase the heart. (5) This growth of the heart is not by sudden impulses, but by gradual increments. (6) The most enlarging thing of all is the sense of pardon; the peace of forgiveness; the feeling, "I am loved."
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 95.
I. We have here a condition before we can attain that joyous spirit expressed in those words, "I will run the way of Thy commandments:" to turn from sin first of all. Many a man on looking back at his life says, "I will be devout; I will break with old associations; I will run the way of God’s commandments; I will be another and better man." How about the past? How about that fortress left in the enemy’s country? How about the sin? Have you dealt with that? Deal with the past before you deal with the future.
II. Repentance is a habit of mind which is continued in our life in order that we may be like-minded with God, in order that we may look on our sins in the same mind that God looks upon them. God hates sin, though He loves the penitent. We must do that; we must hate sin and remember our sin with the same sort of shame which makes us like-minded with God.
III. And then, as the Revised Version puts it, we require liberty—liberty from ignorance which prevents us from receiving the mind of God. That is the liberty which we all desire. We must enlarge our capacity for receiving large things from God. When we have fulfilled this condition and have been set free from the bondage of sin, how blessed, and happy, and joyous is the career before us. The resources of God are simply inexhaustible; the resources of the Christian life are the same.
C. W. Furse, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 188.
References: Psa 119:32.—J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 3rd series, p. 141; New Manual of Sunday-school Addresses, p. 71; J. Keble, Sermons for the Sundays after Trinity, Part I., p. 417.
Psa 119:33-34
There were two thoughts in the Psalmist’s mind:—
I. That there was something in the world which he must learn and would learn, for everything in this life and the next depended on his learning it. And this thing which he wants to learn he calls God’s statutes, God’s law, God’s testimonies, God’s commandments, God’s everlasting judgments. That is what he feels he must learn, or else come to utter grief, both body and soul.
II. That if he is to learn them, God Himself must teach them to him. The Psalmist held that a man could see nothing unless God showed it to him. He held that a man could learn nothing unless God taught him, and taught him, moreover, in two ways: first taught him what he ought to do, and then taught him how to do it.
III. We must learn: (1) God’s law. The moment you do wrong you put yourself under the Law, and the Law will punish you. Therefore your only chance for safety in this life and for ever is to learn God’s laws and statutes about your life, that you may pass through it justly, honourably, virtuously, successfully. (2) God’s commandments. "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." (3) God’s testimonies; what He has witnessed and declared about Himself and His own character: His power and His goodness, His severity and His love. (4). God’s judgments; the way in which He rewards and punishes men. The Bible is full of accounts of the just and merciful judgments of God.
IV. God has not only commanded us to learn; He has promised to teach. He who wrote the hundred and nineteenth Psalm knew that well, and therefore his psalm is a prayer for teaching and a prayer for light.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 120.
Psa 119:33, Psa 119:94
I. There are too many people in the world who pray to God to help them when they are in difficulties, or in danger, or in fear of death and of hell, but never pray at any other time or for any other thing. They pray to be helped out of what is disagreeable, but they never pray to be made good. The only men who can have any hope of their prayers being heard are those who, like the Psalmist, are trying to do something for Christ, and their neighbours, and the human race; who are, in a word, trying to be good. Those who have already prayed earnestly and often the first prayer—"Teach me, O Lord, Thy statutes; and I shall keep them to the end"—they have not a right, but a hope, through Christ’s most precious and undeserved promises, that their prayers will be heard, and that Christ will save them from destruction, because they are at least likely to become worth saving, because they are likely to be of use in Christ’s world and to do some little work in Christ’s kingdom.
II. To all such, who long for light that by the light they may see to live the life, God answers, through His only-begotten Son, the Word, who endureth for ever in heaven, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." If you wish to have reasonable hope when you have to pray, "Lord, save me," pray first, and pray continually, "Teach me, O Lord, Thy statutes; and I shall keep them to the end."
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 130.
References: Psa 119:37.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1072; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 20.
Psa 119:38
There is a saying of Clough to which I take exception, and I quote it because it may represent the conclusion of more minds than the writer’s: "The belief that religion is, or in any way requires, devotionality, is, if not the most noxious, at least the most obstinate, form of irreligion."
I. The question arises, What is meant by devotionality? We should most of us be disposed to say, A devotional spirit and tone of mind. But surely a devotional spirit is not only appropriate and in accordance with the fitness of things, but also the highest in quality of our various emotions. The only emotion which is appropriate, rational, I may say natural, when the mighty Presence of whom are all things is revealed, is awe. When that Presence is brought still nearer to us in a saving form, and through Christ we find a loving, pardoning heavenly Father, the only emotion possible is adoring, confiding reverence. Is this devotionality? Then a man who is incapable of it is less than a boor; he is a clod: to quote a verse of the same writer,—
"Neither man’s aristocracy this, nor God’s, God knoweth."
II. But it is possible that by devotionality may be meant the neglect of practical life for absorption in Divine contemplation. Now that this is to be condemned is evident. For he who neglects his worldly duties is as imperfect and one-sided as he who does not respond to his heavenly environment. But is there much danger of our leading a life of absorption in religion? The danger which most of us feel is that of absorption in the world and destitution in religion. I know you are not afraid of becoming too prayerful. There is no need to guard you against an encroaching devotionality.
III. It is clear that the devotional temper is necessary to all who can perceive greatness. Everything is liable to disease. But a healthy body is not to be despised because you may poison it. And just so it is with true devotion. It has its rare moments of intuition, of spiritual delight; but these moments shed a refreshing dew on all the life,—
"And touch the apathetic ghosts with joy."
W. Page-Roberts, Liberalism in Religion, p. 168.
Some more than others, but all less or more, may pray for the confirmation of God’s word in respect to its truth, its preciousness, and its power.
I. In respect to its truth. Are there any serious intellectual doubts about the word of God? (1) The book itself should be read. (2) There are doubts and irresolute conditions of mind which can only be exchanged for faith and fixedness by the instrumentality of work—honest, earnest work for God. (3) There are some doubts which will yield only to prayer.
II. In respect to its preciousness. The Gospel is exceedingly precious. When first consciously received, it is accepted with thankfulness and joy. The first love is fed by fresh discoveries, by wondering thought, by rapid acts of faith, by grateful memories, by new-born hopes; these all make fuel for that holy flame. Alas that it should change, and cool, and wane, and darken! Reproachfully one day there comes a voice through the chill, through the dark, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." If you have lost anything, then take instant means to have the loss repaired. Get a baptism of repentance to cleanse your soul afresh. Pray back the dews of your youth. Pray, as with your face to the east, until morning lights quiver up the sky. For those lights will come as you pray. While you are yet speaking "the dews will gather." God will "stablish His word unto His servant, who is devoted to His fear."
III. In respect to its practical power. If there be one point in human experience more dangerous than another, it is exactly the point between faith and practice, between inward love and outward work. Let us pray God to "stablish His word" to us in this respect also, to make religion to us more than clear intellectual faith, more even than heart-joy. Let us ask Him to make it the supreme and practically regulative force of our whole life, calm, steady, onwards, guiding and ruling us from duty to duty and from day to day.
A. Raleigh, The Little Sanctuary, p. 135.
Reference: Psa 119:41.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1524.
Psa 119:45
I. At liberty! The very word has music in it. How full of suggestion of all that is bright and cheerful. To the captive Apostle it speaks of the bursting of chains, the angel deliverer, the restoration to friends, the recovered power of proclaiming to the people the glad tidings of the Gospel of Christ; to the nation roused at last to make a vigorous effort and throw off the long-worn fetters of despotism and superstition it speaks of the power to lift the head once more in conscious majesty to heaven, and to feel that now at length a noble future may be connected with a glorious past. To such the very word seems dearer than life itself, the only thing almost for which life is valuable, the one single atmosphere in which the breath of life can be inhaled with pleasure. And yet what advantageth freedom if we know not how to use it? The true use of freedom requires in every case, either for the individual or for the nation, moderation, thoughtfulness, self-restraint, respect for the feelings of others, definite conceptions of duty, and a deep and adequate sense of responsibility. Without these liberty is simply suicidal; with them, and just in proportion to the firmness of its hold on these principles, it grows ever more and more unto perfection.
II. Man’s liberty is twofold. There is a liberty from without: freedom from all outward check or control; and there is a liberty also from within. This is the liberty without which all other liberty is valueless. Thought, speech, and action may all be free; but if the soul itself be not free also, we shall still, whatever we may be in name, be but slaves in deed and truth. The text ascends with us to this higher thought: "I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts." This is the very keynote to the music of heaven, God’s will acting upon our will, the Spirit of Christ subduing and assimilating our spirit to itself; this alone is true liberty; this is taking captivity captive, and bursting the bonds of the soul in sunder. Such service is indeed perfect freedom.
T. H. Steel, Sermons in Harrow Chapel, p. 329.
Psa 119:46
A silent religion or a speaking religion—which shall it be? David says, "I will speak." What do we say? Too often we resolve that we will keep silence.
I. I hold that the difference between a silent religion and a speaking religion is the difference between a dead Church and a living one. Living men must speak. Earnestness cannot be dumb; if it pause for a moment, it is but the pause of a gathering stream, which deepens that it may flow with a stronger rapidity. Silence may be ruin. The neglect of an opportunity of speaking the right word may not only imperil, but absolutely destroy, the destiny of a soul.
II. The theme on which David says he will speak is God’s testimonies. Has he chosen a barren topic? Look at the range, the explicitness, and the emphasis of these testimonies, and you will say that never did man choose so fruitful, so abounding, a theme. If there is one lesson clearer than another, it is that we are left without excuse if we fail to speak of the Divine testimonies. Opportunities occur every day. Circumstances arise under which no words can be so beautiful, so touching, so pithy, so real.
III. David says he will speak of the Divine testimonies before kings. We commit a serious error in not speaking to our equals, especially to those round about us. The testimonies of God are for every day in the week. There is something very marvellous, yet not altogether inexplicable, about human shame in relation to the Divine testimonies. In our day Gospel and sect have become synonymous terms. But let me remind you that if the believer will not speak of the Divine testimony, the unbeliever will! If there is silence in the Church, there is no silence in the camp of the enemy.
Parker, Wednesday Evenings at Cavendish Chapel, p. 87.
Psa 119:47
The love of God’s laws is to be distinguished from the mere outward observance of them. As in the law of Moses, so far more in the Gospel of Christ, religion is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, consisting not in the mere observance of certain rules, however good, but in the love and delight we have in observing them, as being the gracious means appointed by our heavenly Father and Redeemer to bring us to His eternal rest.
I. Looking, then, impartially into our course of life and conduct, we ought to observe whether or not it is a sincere delight and consolation to us to meditate on what our heavenly Father and Redeemer has done for us, and to hold communion with Him in prayer, thanksgiving, and continual aspirations after His eternal rest.
II. In the same manner we should examine ourselves as to our conduct towards each other: whether that is founded on the high Christian principle of love for, and delight in, our Redeemer’s will, or upon some other mean, unworthy grounds.
III. If we seriously wish to follow the way which leadeth unto life, we are bound to examine ourselves as to our self-command and power over our temper and disposition. Suppose we are called on in the way of daily duty to do or to suffer things which are naturally vexatious, irksome, and unpleasant to us. In proportion as we love our God and Saviour, we shall delight even in such trials, simply for this reason: because they are sent us by Him. If we make it our business through life to love and delight in the commands of our Redeemer, we shall not fail at last, through the atonement of His blood, to be admitted to obtain His heavenly promises, His kingdom of eternal glory.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. x., p. 215.
References: Psa 119:49.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 119. Psa 119:50.—Ibid., My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 163; Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1872. Psa 119:53.—Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 309.
Psa 119:54
The doctrine of the Psalmist, removing the poetry of the form, is this: that obligation to God is our privilege.
I. Consider how it would be with us if we existed under no terms of obligation. (1) There could be no such thing as criminal law for the defence of property, reputation, and life, because the moral distinctions on which criminal law is grounded would be all wanting. (2) What we call society, as far as there is any element of dignity or blessing in it, depends on these moral obligations. Without these it would be intercourse without friendship, truth, charity, or mercy. All that is warm, and trustful, and dear in society rests in the keeping of these moral bonds.
II. Consider, as regards the spiritual nature, how much there is depending on this great privilege of obligation to God. (1) This claim of God’s authority, this bond of duty laid upon us, is virtually the throne of God erected in the soul. When violated, it will scorch the bosom with pangs of remorse that are the most fiery and implacable of all mental sufferings. But of this there is no need; all such pains are avoidable by due obedience. And then obligation to God becomes the spring instead of the most dignified, fullest, healthiest joys anywhere attainable. The self-approving consciousness, the consciousness of good—what can raise one to a loftier pitch of confidence and blessing? (2) Consider the truly fraternal relation between our obligations to God and what we call our liberty. Instead of restraining our liberty, they only show us, in fact, how to use our liberty, and how to air it, in great and heroic actions. (3) Obligation to God also imparts zest to life by giving to our actions a higher import, and, when they are right, a more consciously elevated spirit. The most serene, the most truly Godlike, enjoyment open to man, is that which he receives in the testimony that he pleases God and the moral self-approbation of his own mind. (4) It is also a great fact, as regards a due impression of obligation to God and of what is conferred in it, that it raises and tones the spiritual emotions of obedient souls into a key of sublimity which is the completeness of their joy. "For ye are complete in Him," says the Apostle, well knowing that it is not what we are in ourselves that makes our completeness, but that our measure of being is full only when we come unto God as an object and unite ourselves to the good and great emotions of God. Before Him all the deep and powerful emotions that lie in the vicinity of fear are waked into life; every chord of feeling is pitched to its highest key or capacity; and the soul quivers eternally in the sacred awe of God and His commandments, thrilled as by the sound of many waters or the roll of some anthem that stirs the framework of the worlds.
H. Bushnell, The New Life, p. 194.
Notice the striking combination here of one’s identity, one’s house, and one’s pilgrimage. The great Father’s children are not flesh and blood, but for a little while are "partakers of flesh and blood." The songs which are given to cheer us on our journey are not the songs of our flesh nor the songs of the world, but our songs in the flesh. They are the songs of our identity and our home, which accompany us in our pilgrimage through the world.
I. When we meet together as spirits on pilgrimage, song comes in because God comes in. We sing because we are not citizens of the world, but simply pilgrims passing through it. Love hath eternity, and eternity sings in our hearts because we are from eternity and on our way back.
II. Statutes are things that stand, things that have always stood, and will stand to eternity. These certainties of God are the sources whence comes the inspiration of all true songs. Find and enter the sphere where the eternal realities and eternal laws have their scope, and you are in the home of everlasting song. We must strongly rebuke the idea which would ascribe the songs of the soul to enthusiasm or mere impulse. It is law that sings. There is a shallow mirth of the flesh, as there is a momentary blaze from a sky-rocket; but the stars, which shine for ever and ever, are set in the eternal order of musical law.
III. If you would be lifted above the dull level and routine of mortal life, if you would silence your self-reproach and annihilate the canker of discontent, ask the statutes of God to sing your soul into order. Jesus embodies them, and by leading them into you, by establishing them in the centre of your soul, will lead you in the "way everlasting." The sweetest, the loftiest, and most soul-thrilling music of the world is an inspiration from the ascended Man. He is pulsing the harmony of His own nature through the race.
IV. If the eternal statutes sing within us in this strange land, with what songs may we expect to be greeted as we approach the gates of our true home! The way, in Christ, leads thither, and can end nowhere else. "Where I am, there ye shall be also."
V. Notice the inseverability of God and man, suggested by the "Thy" and the "my" of the text. "Thy statutes are my songs."
J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 254.
References: Psa 119:54.—W. G. Horder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 27; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1652; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 197. Psa 119:54, Psa 119:55.—A. Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 106.
Psa 119:55-56
I. The keeping of God’s law is promoted by the remembering of God’s name. The name of God includes all the attributes of God. (1) If I remember the attributes of God, I must remember amongst them a power before which every created thing must do homage; and if I couple with the memory of this power the thought that the undying principle I carry within me must become hereafter an organ of infinite pleasure or of infinite pain, subject as it will be to the irreversible allotments of this power, what is there which can more nerve me to obedience than the remembering God’s name? (2) Or suppose that it was the love of God which was specially present to the Psalmist’s mind. Who will step forward and produce a motive to Christian obedience which shall be half as stirring as the sense of having been loved with an everlasting love, and embraced from all eternity by the compassions of the Almighty?
II. Consider how the keeper of God’s law is rewarded by keeping it. "I have kept Thy law. This I had, because I kept Thy precepts." While God puts man in a state of grace and afterwards keeps him there, man has a great deal to do with his own progress in grace. The Christian life is a race; no man can start in it unless he has an impulse from God: but once started, he may linger if he will, or he may press onwards if he will. Where grace is improved, more grace is imparted. If the more the Christian keeps the more he finds he has to keep, then keeping one part of the law is clearly preparatory to keeping another. From keeping we are led on to keep. If the keeping of the precepts do thus lead to the keeping of the precepts, every Christian may discern that there is a present reward allotted to those that strive after obedience; and increasing conformity to the image of Christ is that great privilege of the believer which, commencing in time, shall be completed in eternity.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2292.
Although the grace and mercy of the Holy Ghost is indeed free, all-powerful, sovereign, "blowing," as our Lord said, "where it listeth," there is yet a certain frame and temper, certain habits of conduct and behaviour, a certain disposition and preparation of heart and mind, which is likely, if not sure, wherever it is found, to draw down God’s further blessing on him who has it. It is itself the good gift of God; and it prepares the way for other and better gifts. This rule and law of God’s working is wonderfully illustrated by the manner in which the Gospel was first made known to the Gentiles, and the door of the kingdom of heaven thrown open, by the extension of the gift of the Holy Ghost to them also. This we read in the history of Cornelius, part of which is the Epistle for this day.
I. We see the sort of person whom the Lord delights to honour when we look at Cornelius’s condition and observe under how many drawbacks and difficulties, the like of which are too commonly found enough to discourage almost any one, he contrived to be an acceptable worshipper. (1) He was not a Jew, but a Gentile, not one of God’s people, but a heathen. Who can express the amount of this disadvantage? (2) He was a soldier, a pursuit and way of life not thought in general particularly favourable to the exercise of true devotion. Yet he was a devout man, and used himself to serve God, with all his house.
II. Consider the sort of service which Almighty God is likely to bless and approve in persons unfavourably situated, as Cornelius was. (1) He was a devout man, and lived in a sense of God’s presence. (2) He served God, with all his house. No doubt he brought on himself the wonder, and sometimes the laughter, of his associates in the Roman army; but still he went on praying himself, and teaching and encouraging his servants to pray. (3) To his prayers he added both alms and fasting—the two wings, as they are called, of prayer. This part of Scripture teaches that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, every condition, under every sort of disadvantage, he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness will surely be accepted of Him.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. ii., p. 118.
References: Psa 119:57.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1372; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 134. Psa 119:58-60.—J. Natt, Posthumous Sermons, p. 198.
Psa 119:59
I. Hebrew scholars tell us that when they get to the root of these words, "I thought on my ways," they find a weaver there working at his loom. That is the figure that lies deep beneath this word—the figure of a man working skilfully at his web, looking to his garment, that he may not be ashamed whatever side may be exposed, careful that on both sides his workmanship is faultless. "I thought on my ways." I turned my life upside down, round about, looked at it from all points of view, as a weaver with his web, so as to have no seamy side, but that it might be equally perfect in its workmanship in all its parts. And when I saw I was wrong, I turned my feet unto God’s testimonies.
II. We are not too ready to think about our ways; it is not so easily done as you may think. We learn from the words of David that there are various ways of helping ourselves to look at our ways, to get a sight of ourselves. When David looked at his web embroidery, after looking at the pattern on his frame, he would, as he was anxious to work, and in the measure of his being anxious, and as it grew in his hands—he would become displeased. That is always the sign of a fine worker. No matter what the work is, it is always the sign of a first-rate craftsman to be never content. That is one feature of the good artist, whatever he is working at; he goes back to the inception of it in his mind, and thinks how fair, and beautiful, and without flaw it lay in his mind: and when he sees it on the frame, on the loom, he sees how far short it has fallen of the image he had about it when it lay on his mind. Always when we look from the stage of hope and intuition we see how far short our present life is. But we can also look at our present ways not only from the past, but by going forward and looking down on them as they are now. Nothing is more stimulating or more improving than to go out of the present and look back, or to ask how we would wish it to be when the work is no longer in our hands. What is it that demoralises the present and makes us weary? That demoralising thing we have yet the present spared us to turn from into the way of God’s commands.
A. Whyte, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. v., p. 165.
Reference: Psa 119:59.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx., No. 1181.
Psa 119:59-60
Such is the history of almost all solid conversion. The great destroyer of the souls of men, which throughout the whole world is so widely wasting, is not so much wilful, deliberate sin as thoughtlessness. At first sinners do not think; then they will not think; at last they cannot think.
I. This is the history of most of mankind: a thoughtless childhood, careless youth, too thoughtful manhood; one half of life without thought, the other with misplaced thought—thoughtful to things of time and sense, thoughtless of Him who made them and of their real selves.
II. "I thought on my ways." Before this, then, he had not thought on them. "I took account of, reckoned up, calculated, my ways," for our ways, although leading in one direction, are many; there are as many ways as there are acts, or passions, or temptations: and he reckoned them up and took account of them all, whither they were all leading, to turn them all and his whole self into the way of God. Such is the way of all solid conversion.
III. We cannot understand what we are now unless we look back, as far as we may, on all we have been. Not fully to know thyself, as far as thou canst, is to walk blindly on a precipice, where to fall is to perish for ever. Make haste and delay not to keep God’s commandments. Nothing besides lingers. Time is sweeping by. Thy life is hasting away. "Make haste and delay not."
E. B. Pusey, Occasional Sermons, p. 142.
References: Psa 119:59, Psa 119:60.—Sermons for Sundays, Festivals, and Fasts, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 48. Psa 119:63.—Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. vi., p. 172; W. Braden, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 52.
Psa 119:64
The Bible has been constructed in such a way that it is an armoury of mercy, a magazine of kindness. It is a great institution of mercifulness.
I. Notice the mercifulness of its eminent secularity, united to tendencies towards eminent spirituality. The Bible is a book of business from beginning to end. It is a book in which a man, although his thoughts touch some of the pinnacles of the new Jerusalem, stands with his feet on the ground. The temporal and secular element of the Scriptures tends to the growth of the great ideal of manhood.
II. Notice the mercifulness of Scripture in using the highest ideal of life in such a manner as not to oppress the great mass of mankind. Throughout the Old Testament and the New, there is this lenity in dealing with men who are striving for an ideal, which makes the Bible the most wonderful of books. On the one side it keeps the picture radiant, so that the eye is dazzled in looking at it, and turns toward the ground; on the other side, with arms about us and with kindly words, as a schoolmaster, it helps us to Christ: and Christ, as our elder Brother, brings us to the Father.
H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, July 30th, 1873.
Psa 119:67
I. The Psalmist was certainly of a different opinion from nine persons out of ten of every country, every age, and every religion. For he says, "Before I was troubled I went wrong: but now have I kept Thy word," whereas nine people out of ten would say to God, if they dared, "Before I was troubled I kept Thy word; but now that I am troubled, of course I cannot help going wrong." The general opinion of the world is that right-doing, justice, truth, and honesty are very graceful luxuries for those who can afford them, very good things when a man is easy, prosperous, and well-off, and without much serious business on hand, but not for the real hard work of life, not for times of ambition and struggle, any more than of distress and anxiety or of danger and difficulty.
II. What the special trouble was in which the Psalmist found himself, we are not told. But it is plain from his words that it was just that very sort of trouble in which the world is most ready to excuse a man for lying, cringing, plotting, and acting on the old devil’s maxim that "cunning is the natural weapon of the weak." His honour and his faith were sorely tried. The ungodly laid wait to destroy him. But against them all he had but one weapon and one defence. However much afraid he might be of his enemies, he was still more afraid of doing wrong. His only safety was in pleasing God, and not men. This man had one precious possession, which he determined not to lose, not though he died in trying to hold it fast; namely, the Eternal Spirit of God, the Spirit of righteousness, and truth, and justice, which leads men into all truth. By that Spirit he saw into the eternal laws of God. By that Spirit he saw that his only hope was to keep those eternal laws. By that Spirit he vowed to keep them. By that Spirit when he failed he tried again; when he fell he rose and fought on once more to keep the commandments of the Lord.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 142.
Reference: Psa 119:67.— F. Tholuck, Hours of Devotion, p. 178.
Psa 119:71
Times of political decadence are times of spiritual growth. It is out of the inner experience of hidden lives, in ages when statesmen saw little hope, that such priceless contributions have been made to the devotional treasury of humanity as the hymn of Cleanthes, the Meditations of Aurelius, the Confessions of Augustine, and the Imitation of Christ. But first and foremost among these products of the ages of the hidden life is the great Psalm of which the text is the summary. To the literary critic it has all the notes of a silver age. Its structure is artificial, its language stereotyped, its length excessive, its thought monotonous. It might be almost the latest utterance of the dying voice of Hebrew psalmody. And yet the words of this nameless sufferer epitomise exhaustively the religious aspirations and joys and sorrows of the human soul, and have remained, and will remain, without doubt, to the end of time, the great manual of Christian devotion. And at a time like the present it would be well to strengthen our wavering faith by looking as boldly as did the psalmist at the spiritual fruitfulness of sorrow, and to ask ourselves whether we are making our own sorrows bear their fruit.
I. The earliest form of trouble is for most of us physical pain, and our instinctive tendency is to view pain as an unmitigated evil. But such a view of pain is not in accordance with the facts of life. Pain is beyond question the great educator of the soul. Pain makes men real. It indurates their character. It endows them with spiritual insight. But, beyond all this, pain invests a man with a mysterious attractiveness for others. There is a heroism in the very fact of suffering which lifts the sufferer above us, and makes us feel that he is moving in a realm of being to us unknown, till our sympathy is hushed into something of awe-struck admiration, and from the blending of sympathy with awe comes love.
II. But pain is, after all, but the beginning of troubles. There is the pain which does not unite, but separates—the pain which ends in death. Look below the surface, and death is everywhere. But if it is good for us to have been in the trouble of pain, still more is it good for us to have been in the trouble of parting. The use of death and parting is not to end our human ties, but to translate them into that region where alone they can be everlasting.
III. There is yet another trouble which casts a shadow upon death itself—the trouble of doubt. Many men who are willing enough to believe other troubles good and God-sent shrink back cowardly from the pain of doubt, as if that alone were devil-born. But it is not so. From the moment when the cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" went up out of the deep of the midday midnight upon Calvary, doubt was for ever consecrated as the last trial of the sons of God, and a trial needed for their purification, no less than pain or parting.
J. R. Illingworth, Sermons in a College Chapel, p. 18.
Reference: Psa 119:71.— Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1629.
Psa 119:72
This is a very hard thing to believe. We are to prove that the Bible is a better thing than heaps of money taken by themselves. The Bible can give you better things than money can ever buy, and the Bible can give you some things that money will not buy at all.
I. Money can buy fine clothes, but the Bible can tell you where you will get better, and get them for nothing. Many a bad man wears a fine coat, just as many a ragged coat covers a glorious soul. The Bible, by telling you where to get your souls adorned by Christ’s righteousness and the grace of the Spirit, has a power of adorning the body too. The clothing which Christ gives is better immeasurably than all the fine clothing that all the gold in the world could buy.
II. Money can buy fine houses, but the Bible can tell you where to get a better house for nothing. If you want to know what kind of a house it is, read the account of the new Jerusalem. There you will find your own proper mansion, and nobody will turn you out.
III. Money can buy fine lands, but the Bible tells you where you can get better. For every human being that trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ there is an estate in the heavenly Canaan; there is a lot in the land for him, as was said to Daniel, "at the end of days."
IV. Money can buy friends. Rich people have fine friends; but when the money goes, their friendship cools. Christ is a Friend that will stick closer than a brother.
V. The things which money cannot buy, but which the Bible gives, are: (1) pardon of sin; (2) peace with God; (3) holiness; (4) a happy death.
J. Edmond, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 312.
I. This glowing expression of David’s love toward God does not stand alone. It is not a solitary, nor even a rare, revelation of his thoughts. Psalm after psalm flows forth in the same strong strain of love; his heart continually overflows; he cannot but give vent to what he feels; he seems constrained to free or ease himself of his thoughts; he is urged by the spirit within him to frequent utterance; and whenever he speaks, he seems to search for the strongest expressions, the strongest figures and forms of speech, to represent what he feels within.
II. In regarding David’s state of feeling toward God, this sustained and constant warmth of love which he continually reveals, the sort of holy rapture with which he speaks continually of heavenly tilings, we feel that it is in this very point of devout warmth, of religious zeal, we fail to resemble or to approach him. He hurries us beyond our pace; it is difficult to us to praise, to lift up the voice with thanksgiving. There is the want of any strong emotion among us about heavenly things.
III. Some may be greatly sorrowing over their want of zeal and longing to catch David’s spirit. Let such patiently persevere in all acts of Christian service, in all Christian duties, in all prayer and supplication, in all faithful use of the means of grace, and the stream will at last break forth in the desert, and the dry heart will blossom as a rose.
J. Armstrong, Parochial Sermons, p. 104.
References: Psa 119:72.—H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Children’s Bread, p. 11; W. A. Essery, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 212. Psa 119:73.—S. Gregory, Ibid., vol. xxix., p. 252.
Psa 119:73, Psa 119:116
I. Consider the care of the Creator for the lower creatures of His hand. The lower creatures have instincts given to them by God for their preservation. These instincts are adapted to their wants, and they never mislead the creatures to which they are given. In man’s spiritual nature, so far removed above the level of the beasts, we find certain instincts implanted by God—instincts evidently given to us to be to our souls in a spiritual way just the same sort of guide that the instincts of the lower creatures are to them in a bodily way.
II. Let us see what these spiritual instincts are. (1) Conscience. We have within us a moral instinct which directs us towards that which is good, which warns us against that which is wrong. Why does God give us this instinct, why does He speak to us through and by it, but because He would guard us from spiritual evil? (2) The sense of justice. This sense of justice is as purely an instinctive feeling as any that man has. And this being so, does it not bear witness to the nature of that Divine Being who has implanted it in man? (3) Prayer is an instinct of the soul of man.
III. It is certainly true that many of the highest of our instinctive moral feelings and powers point towards a life beyond the grave. The whole energy of our spiritual nature does so. For what is this hope that burns within us so vehemently? What is this but an instinctive feeling of our nature? Deep as our faith in God Himself is seated the hope of a life beyond the grave. It is not a belief which is derived from the outward world. It has its roots deep in man’s spiritual nature; it springs from the depths of the soul—an instinct implanted by God to guide man to his distant home. The psalmists had not received the blessed promises of God in Christ; yet they believed that at God’s right hand there are pleasures for evermore, so plainly do the spiritual instincts which God has given to man confirm the blessed promises of God in Christ.
G. Forbes, The Voice of God in the Psalms, p. 109.
References: Psa 119:83.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 71; S. Cox, Expositions, 2nd series, p. 19. Psa 119:88.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx., No. 1779. Psa 119:89-91.—S. Cox, Expositions, 2nd series, p. 34. Psa 119:89-92.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1656.
Psa 119:89-96
I. In the Bible usually the Word of the Lord means not only the message which God sends, but Him by whom God sends it. The Word of God, Word of the Lord, is spoken of again and again not as a thing, but as a Person, a living, rational Being, who comes to men, and speaks to them, and teaches them, sometimes seemingly by actual word of mouth, sometimes, again, by putting thoughts into their minds and words into their mouths.
II. The Psalmist wants to know his way through this world and his duty in this mortal life. Therefore he must learn the laws and rules of this world. And he has the sense to see that no one can teach him the rules of the world but the Ruler of the world and the Maker of the world. Then comes the terrible question, Are there any rules at all in the world? Does the Lord manage the world by rules and laws? Or does He let things go by chance and accident, and take no care about them? To that the Psalmist answers firmly, because be is inspired by the Spirit of God, "O Lord, Thy Word endureth "—is settled—"forever in heaven. In Thee is no carelessness, neglect, slothfulness, nor caprice." The world is full of settled and enduring rules and laws, and God keeps to them.
III. Jesus Christ is the Word of God, who speaks to men God’s words, because He speaks not His own words, but His Father’s, and does not His own will, but His Father’s, who sends Him. He speaks to us and to all men in many ways, and to each according to his needs. He is the Word who endures for ever in heaven; and though heaven and earth may pass away, His words cannot pass away.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 151 (see also Town and Country Sermons, p. 403).
References: Psa 119:94.—C. Kingsley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 346, and Westminster Sermons, p. 165.
Psa 119:96
It is not difficult, at least for an earnest and thoughtful person, to see "an end of all perfection" among men; and here below nothing comes to perfection. But we are reminded that there is something else that does not come to an end, something that cannot be exhausted, lost, depreciated, something that rises above us immeasurably high and stretches away around us immeasurably far, with which, too, we are in vital relations from which we can never be released. "Thy commandment is exceeding broad."
I. We understand the word "commandment" in its proper meaning: a law, an authoritative announcement of the will of God. "As the man is, so is his strength." As God is, so are His commandment, word, will, and way.
II. This commandment extends over all the universe of intelligent life, higher and lower, over angels of every rank and men of every colour and clime, over them, again, in no merely external way, for restraint and direction, but over all intelligence, over all responsibility, over all emotion, over all motive, and of course over words, and action, and conduct.
III. The law or commandment is "exceeding broad" because it is gospel. It is an education, a development, a joy that never palls, a prospect that is never darkened, although our eyes are not always open to see it. This commandment of God, with the Gospel in it, is the very soul of consideration, and tenderness, and grace. It drops down rest on the weary, and brings balm to the wounded, and breathes fresh hope into despairing hearts. It seems to speak to us as though it were a God, and says, "Cast all your cares on me. I am broad enough and strong enough to bear them all."
A. Raleigh, The Way to the City, p. 126.
The lesson of the Psalmist, in modern Christian language, is this: "Amidst all the limitations of nature there is one law which has an infinite working; it is the law of righteousness. And there is one form of life which is exempted from the general decay; it is the life of holiness, truth, and love."
I. Consider this truth with reference to the lives of individuals. Life may be compared to a various web, in which the bright woof is crossed with many sombre threads; and while the dark warp becomes closer at the further end, the strength of the whole fabric depends in part on the skill and care of the weaver, who is the human soul. Mankind have tried various devices with a view to obviating the great, dark, inevitable fact of human loss and change. Christ clearly taught the blessedness of sorrow. "Blessed are they that mourn." (1) In sorrow we are often best able to realise the love and faithfulness of God. (2) The experience of sorrow gives a deeper and more comprehensive view of the whole meaning and purpose of our existence. (3) The power of sympathy is also increased. (4) Out of the ashes of sorrow there break forth new fires of practical devotion. (5) Suffering, change, logs, appear generally to strengthen in reflective minds the hope of immortality.
II. The life of a community has often been compared to that of an individual. The resemblance is necessarily imperfect. No community can have a unity or continuity of life approaching that of personal consciousness. But the individual and the community have at least this in common, that they are alike liable to change. They have a past and future and also a present, which is different from either past or future, while possessing the elements of both. They have in them the certainty of alteration, the possibilities of progress and decay. They have also their crises of transition, when old things are passing and the new things are not yet clearly seen. What is the practical religious lesson for such a time? How is the reality of progress to be secured? How shall men secure that change be not decay? It may be answered briefly, By the candid recognition of facts; by unabated faith in God and His goodwill to men; and by labouring honestly, according to the light that is given us, to promote what seems to us to be the cause of truth and goodness.
L. Campbell, Some Aspects of the Christian Ideal, p. 109.
Psa 119:96
Our text means not the wide compass of the scene and subjects, but the quality of the law, as imperative on man; its authority and requirement applied to so many points; the comprehensiveness, the universality, of its jurisdiction. It reaches and comprehends the whole extent of things in which there is the distinction of right and wrong, good and evil.
I. In multitudes of minds there is apprehension enough of such a widely extended law to cause disquietude, to excite reaction and a recourse to anything that will seem to narrow that law. We might notice several of the expedients and the aiding causes for this effect of contracting and reducing the extent and magnitude of the Divine law. (1) The bold, direct, decisive one is infidelity, to deny the existence of the supreme Lawgiver Himself. (2) To reject revelation is an expedient little less summary and effectual for the purpose. (3) The indulgence of sin in action or in the heart throws a thick obscurity over the whole vision of the Divine law. (4) The general operation of self-love in a corrupted being is adverse to any clear and effectual acknowledgment of the exceeding breadth of the Divine law. (5) Add to this the influence of the maxims and customs of the world. There is among us a great deal of an accommodating way of thinking of the Divine law, an unsound and treacherous casuistry, a sort of middle principles, by which those of Divine authority are altered, and qualified, and shaped to suit better the habits of the world and the temper of the times, and a defective faith in our Lord’s declaration, "No man can serve two masters."
II. All the while, and after all, the Divine law remains in its exceeding breadth. (1) It is "exceeding broad" by the comprehensive applicableness of its grand, simple rules. (2) It is so by the ample order of its special injunctions. (3) It is so by laying an authoritative hand on the first principles and origin from which anything can proceed in human spirit and action; then it reaches to all things that do or can proceed thence.
III. We infer from this: (1) Great self-complacency is a treacherous, deluded, and dangerous state. (2) If such be the law, how impossible is human salvation by it! This gives beforehand a high and rational probability to the new economy constituted in the Mediator: acceptance, justification, salvation, solely and entirely through the work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
J. Foster, Lectures, 1st series, p. 324.
If we use the word "perfection" as meaning the attainment of completeness, the writer would seem to say this: "I have seen that everything has its limits; it grows up to a certain stature, it develops certain qualities, and then comes the end: it finishes its work, and can be and do no more. But the Divine law, the truth of God, is not of this character; its boundaries have never yet been reached; it knows nothing of age, of limitations, of decay. Its heights and lengths, its breadths and depths, have never yet been fully perceived by man, and assuredly never yet manifested in his life and conduct. There is far more than he has yet understood, far more than he has ever obeyed."
Consider:—
I. Present attainments. Few persons will dispute the statement that it is every man’s duty to make his nature as complete as possible, to set before himself some ideal of perfection and to work towards that. Having souls capable of growing into the beauty of Divine virtue, capable of becoming Christlike, we ought to have that object as a clear, constant, unfailing purpose before us. Yet with all this, with such an ideal and such aspirations, what cause there is to take up the lament of the words, "I have seen an end of all perfection"! The results of the struggle do sometimes seem to be very disheartening and full of disappointment. The attainments are exceedingly limited when judged by the expectation. There is no reason for despair, for despair even of the ultimate result; but there is reason that we should cast ourselves more on God. Though we are often disappointed, and exclaim, "I have seen an end of all perfection," yet we ought to add, "I will reach toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
II. Unfulfilled demands. By this I understand that, though our attainments in the Divine life are limited, the law of the Divine life is unlimited, and always will be so, so that we set over in direct contrast against human frailty and imperfection the demands which are made by God upon us. The law of life is embodied in Christ; what He is we are to be; the commandment is as broad as that, and nothing less. We are called to be imitators of Him, to be perfect even as He is perfect. It is better to have a perfect law to obey even though the obedience fail again and yet again. We shall be more like Christ, because we try to be perfect even as He was perfect.
"Sink not in spirit; who aimeth at the sky
Shoots higher much than he who means a tree."
W. Braden, Catholic Sermons, vol. ii., p. 49.
Psa 119:96
The text describes the difference between everything that is of man and everything that is of God. The one has limits, has an end; the other is exceeding broad.
I. "I see that all things come to an end, but Thy word endureth for ever in heaven." What an impression is forced upon us, by the progress of life, of the poverty of man and all that belongs to him in point of duration! It is not only as observers that we feel this. How fleeting are our own possessions, our own treasures, our own topics of absorbing interest. "I see that all things come to an end," not least human wishes, human aims, and human ambitions. How comforting, then, how satisfying, ought it to be to us to know of just one thing which will not thus fail and terminate. "Thy commandment, Thy word, endureth for ever in heaven." The march of centuries affects not that. That is still right which God commanded; that is still wrong which God has forbidden: that is still true which God has revealed; that is still false which God has contradicted.
II. "I have seen an end of all perfection." That which has been said of human life may be said also of human character. Human excellence, human goodness, have a bound, and a narrow one; if you sound it, you reach the bottom; if you measure it, you can take its compass: there is an end of all human perfection, as there is an end of all human duration. We turn with relief to that character, that mind, that word, "exceeding broad," in which there has been no risk of reaching the end, of sounding the depth, or exhausting the fulness.
III. The breadth of God’s word, in contrast with the narrowness of human doctrine, is a topic full of interest. How does the Bible comprehend and gather into one all the good parts of all the human systems of theology that were ever framed! The revelation of God as made by Himself is exceeding broad, and the largest of minds and hearts can find room for themselves within it.
C. J. Vaughan, Lessons of Life and Godliness, p. 239.
References: Psa 119:96.—Bishop King, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 149; C. Pritchard, Good Words, 1875, p. 843; H. Thompson, Concionalia: Outlines of Sermons for Parochial Use, 1st series, vol. i., p. 341. Psa 119:97.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 17.
Psa 119:99-100
By obeying the commands of Scripture we learn that these commands really come from God; by trying we make proof; by doing we come to know. Now how comes this to pass? It happens in several ways.
I. Consider that the Bible tells us to be meek, humble, single-hearted, and teachable. Now it is plain that humility and teachableness are qualities of mind necessary for arriving at the truth in any subject, and in religious matters as well as others. By obeying Scripture then, in practising humility and teachableness, it is evident we are at least in the way to arrive at the knowledge of God. On the other hand, impatient, proud, self-confident, obstinate men are generally wrong in the opinions they form of persons and things.
II. Consider, next, that those who are trained carefully according to the precepts of Scripture gain an elevation, a delicacy, refinement, and sanctity of mind which is most necessary for judging fairly of the truth of Scripture.
III. Those who try to obey God evidently gain a knowledge of themselves at least, and this is the first and principal step towards knowing God. The more a man understands his own heart, the more are the Gospel doctrines recommended to his reason. The Bible then seems to say, "God is not a hard Master to require belief without affording grounds for believing. Only follow your own sense of right, and you will gain from that very obedience to your Maker which natural conscience enjoins a conviction of the truth and power of that Redeemer whom a supernatural message has revealed: you will bear witness to the truth of one doctrine by your own past experience of yourselves; of another, by seeing that it is suited to your necessity; of a third, by finding it fulfilled upon your obeying it."
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. v., p. 239.
Consider the facts in which lie the germs of the control which the Scriptures must exert over the progress of mankind.
I. The Scriptures contain the most ancient forms of truth now known to men. In any enlarged form of the forces which civilise communities, a place must be found for the instinctive reverence of the human mind for antiquity. A thing is presumptively true if it is old, and an old truth men will revere.
II. The sovereignty of the Scriptures in the progress of mankind is further suggested by the fact that they contain the only development of Oriental mind which can be an authority in the civilisation of the future.
III. The Bible is already wrought into all the dominant forces of the civilisation of the West. Christianity has wrought such revolutions of opinion; it has thrown into the world so much of original thought; it has organised so many institutions, customs, unwritten laws of life; it has leavened society with such a powerful antiseptic to the putrescent elements of depravity; and it has therefore positively created so much of the best material of humanity, that now the noblest type of civilisation cannot be conceived of otherwise than as a debtor to the Christian Scriptures.
IV. The Bible discloses the only groundwork and process of a perfect civilisation, as a practicable result. The idea out of which the future civilisation must grow is here, there, everywhere, in the book of life. That idea is the moral regeneration of the individual. (1) Christianity exalts spiritual over material forces. (2) It intensifies individual being. (3) Its whole process is a process of symmetrical elevation. (4) It works a power which is diffusive. (5) It is affluent in the production of certain auxiliary ideas. These, like itself, are spiritual; and they take on social, and civil, and political forms. (6) While throwing out these ideas, the Bible does exhibit a certain Divine consciousness that they must and will, and a purpose that they shall, become constructive elements in society. This is exhibited, e.g., in that most luminous fact in Scriptural history that God educates nations as the representatives of principles. Starting thus with the idea of the moral regeneration of the individual, the word of God conducts us, by easy and inevitable stages, to that truth which becomes its own witness to a Christian believer that the civilisation of the future and the triumph of Christianity are identical.
A. Phelps, Sermon, preached Jan. 2nd, 1861.
References: Psa 119:99, Psa 119:100.—J. Keble, Sermons Academical and Occasional, pp. 1, 24; J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. viii., p. no.
Psa 119:105
The two parts of this verse are not two different ways of saying the same thing. The word of God is a lamp or lantern to the feet at night; it is a light like that of the sun by day. It makes provision in this way for the whole of life. It is the secret of life’s true sunshine; it is the guide when all around is dark. Now here we are met by the fact that in an age and country like ours the Bible is everywhere to be met with; and yet of the millions who possess, and now and then read, it how many can say at all seriously, "Thy word is a lantern unto my feet and a light unto my path"? What is the reason? The answer must be that certain conditions are attached to this guiding and illuminating function of the Bible, and that when it fails to guide and to lighten these conditions cannot be complied with. It is important to ask, What are they?
I. The first condition is that the Bible should be diligently searched for those truths, those precepts, those examples, which will directly guide us through life to our eternal home.
II. Again, in order to succeed in the search for the true import of Scripture, we need method, order, regularity, purpose—above all, purpose in reading it.
III. If the Bible is to light us on the road to eternity, we should surely welcome the guidance of the Church of Christ when we read it.
IV. If the Bible is to do its work, we must be careful to act upon each truth it teaches us as we learn it. While ordinary knowledge, as a rule, is remembered until the memory decays, moral and religious knowledge is soon forgotten if it is not acted out. The reason for this is that in the one case the will is interested and in the other it is not interested. Just so far as the will is exerted in order to make truth practically our own, just so far does it become to us present and real, not merely a light without, but a light within, us.
H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 369.
What a lamp is to us in the night or in darkness, the word of God is said to be to us in the journey of life; it is a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. This implies that life is like a journey in the dark or a sojourn in some place of gloom, and that it is the Bible which is to supply to us the illumination that is needful for us in such circumstances.
I. Whether we view man in relation to the great end of his existence as a free agent, subject to the law and responsible to the judgment of God, or as a moral being, capable of appreciating the right and finding his true felicity and dignity in choosing and following it, or as a creature capable of happiness, yet exposed to many accidents, by which he is sorely tried and his peace is apt to be utterly disturbed, we shall alike arrive at the conclusion that without such a guide as the Bible supplies his path through life would indeed be dark, hopeless, disastrous.
II. Think of the certainty of this light. In it there is no wavering, no ambiguity, no indefiniteness. It is a pure light, a dear light, a steady light, an unfailing light. It burns with a lustre that never grows feeble, and casts a radiance from which nothing is hid.
III. Think of its sufficiency. It is not only a light to lighten the eyes, not only a lamp to throw its lustre over our path; it is also a light to the feet, discovering to us all even the minutest features of the path we have to tread—all its roughnesses, all its breaks and hollows, all on it that would impede our progress or cause us to stumble if unobserved, but which observed we can avoid.
IV. And what a marvellous vitality there is in this light! Other lights have flashed and faded; other guides have offered themselves and been followed, and the blind has led the blind into the ditch, and both have perished. But this light abides as clear, and bright, and beneficent as ever.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Christian Thought and Work, p. 39.
References: Psa 119:105.—J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 257; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 199; T. Champness, Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 424; Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 336.
Psa 119:109
The character of Isaiah.
I. The character of Isaiah is apparent through his writings, in all its clear and separate parts, as the pebbles of a beach seen at the bottom of translucent water or the objects of the wood and hill seen through the atmosphere which bathes and penetrates them. His writings show him to have been a man having a greater tendency towards objective than subjective religion. While Jeremiah is ever studying and lamenting over his own internal condition, Isaiah is ever looking outwards on the external objects of the kingdom of God; Jeremiah seems to discover God through personal experience, Isaiah through His word and works; while Jeremiah laments over his own shortcomings, Isaiah rejoices over the coming glories of the Gospel.
II. We might without much difficulty divide the whole of Isaiah’s prophecy into three parts, the first being the description of the sinfulness of the people, the second the remedy in the atonement of Christ, the third the establishment of the Church in its great external system, each of the portions being considered in a peculiarly objective manner.
III. Men who are described in Holy Scripture range themselves under each class: the objective and the subjective. The deep self-searchings of David, the melancholy wailings of Jeremiah, the mournful dirges of Jacob, the wild death-song of Hezekiah, the pathetic appeals to God’s protection of Micah, the communings of Moses, and the bold yet morbid reasonings of Jonah range these under the standard of what I have called subjectiveness. On the other hand, the sombre dignity of Samuel, the unquestioning obedience of Abraham, the magnificent hosannas of Isaiah, the stern simplicity of Daniel, the unflinching rebukes of Elijah, and the mystic parables of Ezekiel make them fitting heralds for the silent footsteps of the ever-pondering Virgin, the rapt gaze of St. John, and the unhesitating simplicity of St. Andrew and St. Nathanael.
IV. Both spirits are needed for the Church. But neither spirit is safe by itself. It is as a single wing to a bird, wanting the other wing to bear it safely through the counter-currents of mid-air. Without the one tone we may fail in reverence, without the other in love. Without the one we may fail in obedience, without the other in a living hope.
E. Monro, Practical Sermons on the Characters of the Old Testament, vol. i., p. 177.
Psa 119:111
I. Consider, first, the claim asserted by David: that God’s testimonies are his heritage for ever. The term "testimonies" denotes all those revelations of His own nature, attributes, and will which God has been pleased to make of Himself. They are facts which we know not by the light of reason, but by God’s witness, facts not which man demonstrates, but which God testifies. Speaking as a Jew, David declares, with feelings of thanksgiving and triumph, that he from his birth has had a rightful possession of God’s revelations. In examining into the cause of David’s thankfulness, we are brought to the broad subject of ancestral religion. If we had not received our religion as a heritage, we might never have enjoyed it at all. Those who have inherited their religion and walk in righteousness have nothing to regret, but all to be thankful for, in their present position. Those who have inherited their religion and walk unrighteously in all likelihood, if they had not inherited it, would never have believed. Which of us is certain that if we had met Christ face to face in the valleys of Judah, we should not have despised Him?
II. The Jewish king claims God’s testimonies as his inheritance not for the brief period of his mortal life, but for ever, as though implying that they would hereafter form the source of his joy and triumph. The world and the works that are therein shall pass away, but in the midst of the universal wreck one thing shall remain: the word of God. The testimony of the Most High has been the heritage of the elect, and that shall endure. Inheritors of Christ’s faith, let us walk worthy of our portion; inheriting it from the saints of old, let us keep it undefiled, using it while we live for our own salvation, and labouring to hand it down unmutilated to the generation to come.
Bishop Woodford, Occasional Sermons, vol. i., p. 15.
References: Psa 119:111.—J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 6th series, p. 94; M. R. Vincent, Gates into the Psalm Country, p. 231; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 199.
Psa 119:113
I. First, what are vain thoughts? (1) There are the vain, worldly thoughts, which we must hate. Thoughts which in themselves are perfectly harmless and innocent may become vain through being welcomed and entertained at the wrong season. The same thoughts may become sinful and vain through mere excess, through occupying our minds overmuch. The world must be very near us when the worldly thought is ever with us. Our treasure, our best treasure, must assuredly be there, else our heart and the thought of our heart would not be always there also. (2) But if a wise man will watch against these thoughts about this world, which are only sinful when indulged or allowed at a wrong time or in excess, how much more will he hate those that in their nature and essence are sinful, as, for example, impure thoughts, being such as more than any other sully and defile the mirror of the soul, and render it incapable of giving back the pure image of God. (3) The transition to other thoughts, to such as we more immediately ascribe to the devil, is easy. It will be enough to indicate proud thoughts in general as the third division of those we have to consider.
II. Consider the remedies for vain thoughts. Chase them wholly away we never shall, but let them find no entertainment from us. As often as they visit us, let them drive us to Him by whose holy inspiration alone we are able either to think those things which be good, or to refuse to think those things which be evil; let them drive us to Him in a real, though it may be a voiceless, prayer, in a brief meditation on the glories of heaven or on the pains of hell, or on Christ hanging upon His Cross and bearing there the penalty of our sins, or on Christ coming to judgment and bringing to light all hidden things of darkness, and this wicked thought of ours among the rest. In devices such as these we must find our help.
R. C. Trench, Sermons New and Old, p. 123 (see also Sermons Preached in Ireland, p. 201).
References: Psa 119:113.—J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 1875, pp. 109, 120; H. F. Burder, Sermons, p. 13; New Manual of Sunday-school Addresses, p. 253.
Psa 119:116
The fact that hope may spring from tribulation, though only hinted at by the Psalmist in the text, is largely asserted by St. Paul when he says, "Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope."
I. Take the case of those in whom a work of grace is going forward, who are striving to submit themselves to the operations of God’s Spirit; and how true it is of them that "tribulation worketh patience." There is nothing else which can work it. We can only know ourselves possessed of any particular quality when God, in His providence, shall put that quality to the proof. Patience is wrought out by tribulation, not by tribulation in itself, but by tribulation bringing the Christian to reflection and to prayer.
II. "Patience worketh experience." There are various senses in which the word "experience" may be taken; but it properly denotes the putting something to the proof, making the sort of trial which is made of metals by placing them in the fire, in order to the detecting and disentangling the dross. Hence the experience here mentioned by St. Paul must be the ascertaining the precise worth, veracity, and power of the consolations and promises of God. The season of tribulation is the season chosen of God for the especial manifestation of His faithfulness and love.
III. And from experience how natural, how easy, the transition to hope. Surely he who has tried the chart and found it correct, so far as he had the power of trying it, has the best ground for confidence in that chart with regard to ports which he has never yet entered. If we do not register our mercies, or if we never recount them, they are not likely to throw light on coming events. He must be grateful for the past who would be hopeful for the future.
IV. "Ashamed of my hope." This accords accurately with the concluding words of the passage from St. Paul, "Hope maketh not ashamed." How different, then, from any other hope. For is not hope commonly spoken of as most delusive and deceitful? There is nothing airy and unsubstantial which is not taken as too faithful a representation of hope. But Christian hope "maketh not ashamed." It paints no vision which shall not be more than realised; it points to no inheritance which shall not be reached. How should it make ashamed, when it altogether rests itself upon Christ, who is not "ashamed to call us brethren"?
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2080.
References: Psa 119:117.—J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 10th series, p. 180; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1657; Archbishop Thomson, Anglican Pulpit of Today, p. 16.
Psa 119:126
The text brings before us:
I. A melancholy fact: "Men have made void Thy law." This might at first view seem impossible, as if it were the defeat of Omnipotence itself by the creature it has made; but there is a sphere in which even the function of Omnipotence itself becomes restrained or transformed, in order that there may exist created wills, and that there may be a kingdom in which subjects obey not because they must, but because they choose. The sphere and sweep of these laws and their action are not to be without the man, but within him. God stands related to us now chiefly through these laws. In conscience, in the Decalogue, and in the Gospel of His Son, the law of the Spirit of life—in all that expresses the Divine will—He speaks to us. They together make up that law which, in the words of our text, "men have made void." If it be inquired how men have made void the law of God, we answer: (1) By assailing its authority (a) in denying the personality of its source; (b) in palliating the gravity of its transgression; (c) in restricting the area of its rule. (2) By disparaging its sufficiency.
II. The urgent appeal, "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work." There is a wonderful boldness, I might say audacity, in this language of the Psalmist—a summons of God to the rescue of His own world. And yet such challenge is the privilege of earnest men. It is the violence which takes heaven by force. God does not resent it; He hears it; He invites it; He answers it. When God arises to work, we know not what will be the form and fashion of His operations. If the Lord begins to work, we may expect a wondrous effusion of the Holy Spirit both upon His Church and the world, which is still estranged from His law and love. With the outpouring of the Spirit the Church in reality began. In the New Testament the work of Christ has no meaning except as it is unfolded by the Holy Spirit; it has no power except as it is applied by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is as much the Gospel of the Holy Spirit as it is the Gospel of the Son of God.
E. Mellor, The Hem of Christ’s Garment, p. 19.
I. Look, first, at the complaint. A law is made void: (1) by misinterpretation; (2) by being encumbered with contradictory or inconsistent requirements; (3) when, being understood, it is in practice ignored and accounted a dead letter; (4) when the obligation is denied; (5) when, the obligation being acknowledged, the penalty is incurred and braved, and the lawgiver defied.
II. The appeal, "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work." What in such a case can God do? (1) Vindicate His law by punishment. This He did in the Flood. (2) Bring forward His law by republishing it. Thus did He work at Sinai. (3) Pardon the transgression and rewrite His law on the heart. This is the work of God alone. Creature may punish creature; man may republish God’s law, and call to it universal attention; but who can forgive sins but God alone? who can write his law so as to secure obedience upon the heart? Pardon is God’s prerogative, and purification is God’s own work.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 3rd series, No. xvii.
References: Psa 119:126-128.—A. Maclaren, The Secret of Power, p. 81, and Old Testament Outlines, p. 146.
Psa 119:129
I. Consider, first, how the wonderfulness of God’s word is calculated to produce the observance of it. The human mind is possessed of certain faculties, and subject to certain sensations. Amidst these sensations very prominent is that feeling of surprise which overtakes us at the sight of what is unexpected, or exceeds all our conceptions, or extends beyond the grasp of our understanding. This is the faculty of wonder. We have many instances before us of wonder acting upon the soul and constraining it to obey. The mind is more moved by the words of one whom we have not seen, and whom we image to ourselves vaguely, often untruly, than by one of whom we feel that we know all about him. And we can easily transfer our argument to the instance of God and revelation. If God were a being whom we felt we could measure, if there was nothing to baffle our deepest inquiries, nothing to awe, to prostrate, to overwhelm, we might not indeed have to meet the jest of the scoffer or the sneer of the infidel; but neither, on the other hand, should we find spirits rapt away from earth and earthly things and loving to build their homes in the word of the Lord. The wonderfulness of the law constitutes its bondage over the spirit.
II. From the above doctrine flow several important practical lessons. (1) It it be true that wonder is closely connected with reverence, that, in short, the marvellous exerts in religion, as in other things, a great power over the soul of man, then we shall cease to be surprised that the Almighty has not spoken more clearly. (2) The statutes which are to be kept must be not a theory of reason, but of wonder; they must afford food for the imagination as well as exercise for the understanding. (3) There is also an application of the text to the subject of public worship. You must have in your religious ceremonial also something which will appeal to the imagination as well as to the reason, otherwise you will soon have coldness and indifference.
Bishop Woodford, Occasional Sermons, vol. i., p. 258.
Reference: Psa 119:129.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 200.
Psa 119:130
I. There is no book by the perusal of which the mind is so much strengthened and so much enlarged as it is by the perusal of the Bible. There is nothing so likely to elevate and endow with new vigour our faculties as the bringing them into contact with stupendous truths and the setting them to grasp and measure these truths. If the human mind grows dwarfish and enfeebled, it is ordinarily because left to deal with commonplace facts, and never summoned to the effort of taking the span and altitude of broad and lofty disclosures. The Bible, whilst the only book for the soul, is the best book for the intellect, The sublimity of the topics of which it treats, the dignified simplicity of its manner of handling them, the nobleness of the mysteries which it develops, the illumination which it throws on points the most interesting to those conscious of immortality—all these conspire to bring round a result which we insist upon as actual and necessary; namely, that the man who should study the Bible and not be benefited by it spiritually would be benefited by it intellectually.
II. The text ascribes to the Bible precisely that energy for which we have contended. The assertion is that the entrance of God’s word gives light, and that it gives also understanding to the simple. We have shown that a mind dark through want of instruction or weak through its powers being naturally poor or long unexercised would become either illuminated or strengthened through acquaintance with the contents of Scripture. But the passage applies with far greater force to the converted than to the unconverted. (1) On conversion there is given to man an increased measure of understanding. In all cases a marked change passes over the human spirit when the heart is renewed by the influences of God’s Spirit. The man will have a clearer and less biassed judgment. His views will be wider, his estimates more correct. His understanding, having been exercised on truths the most stupendous, will be more competent for the examination of what is difficult or obscure. His reason, having learned that much lies beyond her province, as well as much within, will give herself to inquiries with greater humility and greater caution, and therefore, almost to a moral certainty, with greater success. (2) Consider certain of the reasons of this fact. (a) The truths which have been commended to the belief are the most sublime and spirit-stirring of all that can engage the attention of mankind. (b) The moral renovation at conversion will be also to a certain extent an intellectual one. Since at the entrance of God’s word the man is renewed in holiness, we have a right to expect that he will also be renewed in understanding. (c) The entrance of God’s words denotes such an application to the soul of the truths of revelation that they become influential on the life and conversation.
H. Melvill, Sermons, vol. i., p. 147.
Psa 119:131
We shall consider the Psalmist as here drawing a contrast between the unsatisfying character of what is finite and the power which there is in Divine things of filling all the desires of the soul.
I. David is speaking as a man who had made trial of created good, and had proved its insufficiency. He had not indeed exhausted the good, though its pursuit had exhausted him; but he had tried it to such a point as to ascertain that it was limited. He saw how far wealth or wisdom could go in filling the desires of man, and he ascertained their inadequacy; they would still leave him exhausted and panting. With the generality of men the opinion seems to be that the dissatisfaction arises from there remaining still so much unpossessed, but we maintain that the soul can be satisfied with nothing of which it can discover the limits. It will exhaust all which it can prove to be not inexhaustible. And therefore wherein can the soul be satisfied but in God, of whom alone we may affirm that He is not to be overtaken by the marching of the soul, not weighed in her balances, not comprehended within her horizon?
II. "I longed for Thy commandments." The whole Law is summed up in the injunction of love—the love of our Maker and of all men for His sake. And if love be thus the fulfilling of the Law, we cannot wonder that David should set the commandments in contrast with all created things, as though you could not take the span of the one, though you might of the other. It is the surprising property of the law of God that, though condensed into few precepts, it spreads itself over every department of conduct, so that no possible ease is left unprovided for. And yet, notwithstanding this largeness of the commandment of God, the Divine law is not that which at first sight we should be disposed to compare, in respect of satisfying power, with finite perfection. We should have been inclined to fix on the favour of God, or on the joys which He communicates to His people, as affording that material of satisfaction which is so vainly sought in any earthly good. But let the matter be carefully examined, and we shall find that it is strictly for the commandment that the wearied soul ought to long. (1) Man’s happiness lies in obedience to the commandment. (2) The commandments are summed up in love. In loving God, we throw down the burden which, if unremoved, must press us down everlastingly into the depths of wretchedness, and we take hold of immortality, as purchased for us, and prepared, and reserved.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2380.
Psa 119:132
What is this love of God’s name which is so very precious, and how is it to be obtained?
I. We know how it is with us when we love any person among men very dearly. It is a joy and satisfaction to us only to hear his name, or to see it anywhere written or printed. So it is with those who have any spark of true love towards God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God. They are glad to see these sacred names in the Bible or in any other good book, and to hear them pronounced with religious reverence.
II. If we truly loved that name, would we not bear it in mind continually, and hide it in our heart, that we might not sin against it? Would not this saying of the wise man be ever present in our minds: "I will not sin, knowing that I am accounted Thine"? One way or another, true love will make us evermore on the watch that the name of the Beloved which we carry about with us may in no way suffer through our neglect.
III. Those who so love God’s name see what a mighty encouragement is held out to them. They are sure of being looked on and of obtaining mercy. For it is said, "Thou usest to do so unto those that love Thy name." Almighty God will look upon devout persons; He will not turn His face away from them; He will be merciful to them when they confess their sins. He promises that nothing at all shall be lost which we do simply and truly for the love of His name.
J. Kehle, Sermons for the Christian Year: Sundays after Trinity, Part I., p. 245.
Psa 119:133
I. This verse recognises and accepts the obligation of moral order: "Order my steps."
II. It fixes the legitimate source and centre of that order: "In Thy word." The Bible centres, regulates, restrains, and establishes a man.
III. It deprecates the consequences of moral lawlessness, the dominion of iniquity.
M. R. Vincent, Gates into the Psalm Country, p. 247.
References: Psa 119:133.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 878. Psa 119:136.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xxi., p. 15. Psa 119:140.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages of the Psalms, pp. 290, 299; A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 25.
Psa 119:141
I. Man, among all his other weaknesses, is so prone to vanity, conceit, and pride that in teaching the lesson of self-respect, in pressing on you the truth that we are greater than we know, some might fear that we were but putting one more stumbling-block in the path of that humility which is the rarest, as it is the sweetest, of all Christian virtues. But the self-respect which God would have us yield is the parent of humility and the annihilation of pride; it is founded on just those things which every one of us enjoys, which none can monopolise, wherein no man differs from another. It is founded on the possession of that immortal soul which God has given alike to the prince and to the beggar.
II. All but a few of us have a lot in life all the harder to bear because in the pathos of it everything is below the level of tragedy, except the passionate egotism of the sufferer. Our complaints and miseries arise in no small measure from our failure to grasp the real meaning and to understand the universal experience of life; they rise because, dropping the substance, we grasp at the shadow; they rise because we take for solid realities the bubbles which burst at a touch. It is of infinite importance to ourselves and to the world that we should not yield to these feelings. We need for ourselves, the world needs for us as fellow-workers with God, all the joy, all the spring, all the elasticity, all the vigour, all the hope, which man will leave us.
III. Our lot is nothing exceptional, nothing to complain of, nothing to be depressed at. It is just the common, the all but universal, lot. Be good and true, and you cannot then be in reality or in the truth of things commonplace or insignificant. Each one of us is exactly as great as he is in God’s sight, and no greater. You may think yourself nothing now and here, but for every good soldier of Jesus Christ all trumpets shall sound on the other side. The Psalmist deeply felt this truth when he wrote the words of the text: "I am small and of no reputation: yet—"and what a burst of triumph, what a rush of hope, what a force of conviction, lies in that word "yet"!—"yet do I not forget Thy commandments."
F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 337.
References: Psa 119:144.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1572. Psa 119:148.—H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1613. Psa 119:151.—Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iv., p. 445.
Psa 119:158
Consider what there is in the breaking of God’s law to justify such manifestation of grief as you read of in the writings of David.
I. Look, first, at the dishonour done to God by the violation of His law. Every one who reflects at all on his relationship to his Maker and the accuracy with which that Maker has written Himself in His laws must readily acknowledge that it is to insult the Supreme Being to set at nought His precepts. If a man loves God, zeal for the glory of God will be necessarily the chief and dominant feeling of his mind. Can it then be with indifference, can it be without emotions of the most lively concern, that he beholds this Being dishonoured by his fellow-men?
II. Consider the ruin which transgressors are bringing upon themselves. The good man is not void of affection for his fellow-men, but, on the contrary, feels for them a love which true religion is sure to produce. He must feel for the wicked as he beholds them following courses which he is sure will issue in destruction.
III. Think of the injury which transgressors are causing to others. Let the Law be universally kept, and all that is most glorious in prophecy would be rapidly realised. And shall it not, then, be with a genuine and deep sorrow that the righteous man, eager for a period of universal happiness, beholds the transgressors who are deferring that period and prolonging the reign of confusion and misery? Let none, therefore, rest till, having sorrowed deeply for their own sins, they feel themselves made sorrowful by the sins also of others. "This," as Archbishop Leighton says, "is perhaps a stronger evidence of sincerity. There seems to be more of God in it, because less of ourselves and our own particular interest."
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2053.
Psa 119:160
I. We cannot read the Old Testament without seeing that the whole of it rests on the basis of a history—the history contained in what we call the books of Moses. Now, if you turn to the New Testament, you will find that it begins, in like manner, with a history: the history of the four Gospels; and what the Pentateuch is to the Old Testament, the Gospels are to the New. Here, then, is a symmetry in the two parts of the Bible. Each begins with a history which pervades and inspires all that follows. Only, the two histories are different, while they are connected. The one is that of a Divinely chosen people, selected for a special purpose. The other is that of a Divine Person. And a person is superior to a people merely as a people, as a corporate body, for a person has an immortality: a nation has not; and a person can be charged with far higher lessons than a nation. The two histories are on two planes, a lower and a higher; the lower is imperfect without the higher, and the higher assumes and completes the lower.
II. If you look to the Old Testament, you will find that there is a second stage after the Pentateuch. It is a struggle to obtain a place where the original history may find a firm footing, and may unfold itself for the good of the world. This is the history of Joshua, and Judges, and Samuel, and those that follow after. In the New Testament there is a similar period, contained chiefly in the Acts of the Apostles; but it penetrates also the Epistles. The Apostles and disciples are struggling to find a lodgment for the history of the great Person with whom they have come in contact. Only, the place is no more one country, but the whole earth.
III. If you turn again to the Old Testament, you will find a third stage. It is the period of reflection. Thought is folded over on the past in meditation. This brings us into the centre of the Old Testament—to the books of Psalms and many of the prophets. In the New Testament there is a corresponding period, showing the same marks. It is in the Epistles of Paul and of his fellow-disciples. The Gospels give us great events, but the conclusions are not fully drawn; and Christ promises the Spirit of Truth to guide, to show the way into all truth.
IV. Notice one closing period in this comparison. We may call it the sense of incompleteness. This is the period of prophecy proper, of many of the Psalms, of Isaiah and the later prophets. As the sun of the past is setting, another Sun arises: the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in His wings; and that Sun shall no more go down. The Old Testament closes with this intent, bending gaze on the future, and closes not having received the promise, but being persuaded of it and embracing it. And the New Testament has this period also. As the Old Testament ends by looking for Christ’s first coming, the New finishes with a cry for His second. Its last words breathe out a response to His promise, "Behold, I come quickly:" "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
J. Ker, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 186.
Reference: Psa 119:162.— Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1641.
Psa 119:165
In the margin of the Bible the latter words of this verse are rendered, "They shall have no stumbling-block."
I. Consider the character of the parties whom the Psalmist describes: they "love the law of God." It is no ordinary degree of spiritual attainment which is indicated by the fact of loving God’s law. If a man do not feel assured of pardon through the blood of the Redeemer, what but terror—heartfelt terror—can be excited by the contemplation? We must have stepped much beyond the first elements of religion if we can vouch as a truth that we love God because His essence is holiness, and that we love Him because His essence is justice. When we have come to love redemption because into it are gathered all the attributes of God, we are prepared also to love the law in which all these attributes are imaged.
II. Consider why there are no stumbling-blocks to those who thus love God’s law. (1) The unequal distribution both of good and evil in this life is often a perplexing thing to the righteous; but he who loves the law is quite assured of the justice and faithfulness of God, and can refer with the greatest cheerfulness to the disclosures of the final assize for the solution of every problem which is too hard for present investigation. (2) When afflictions come thick on the godly man, they have a tendency to stagger him or to serve as a stumbling-block. But the man who loves God’s law, knowing each attribute, loving each attribute, will be meekly confident that the issue must be right, though the process may be dark. (3) Christ Jesus Himself is a stumbling-block to the great mass of mankind. But let a man have that knowledge of the law which shows him its requirements, and therefore that love of the law which would make him shrink from its compromise, and it is not possible that he should be offended at all at what St. Paul calls the "offence of the Cross;" and thus it is as a lover of the law that he surmounts the stumbling-block.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 4984.
From these words we learn:—
I. That true religious peace consists in maintaining a sincere love of Almighty God and of His declared will: "Great peace have they which love Thy law." By the law of God may be understood either the exercise of that providential power by which He sustains, governs, and directs the whole course of the world, the circumstances of nations and of individuals, or more strictly that revealed law of life and conduct by which we are bound wholly to regulate ourselves, as they who must hereafter "give an account of their own works." (1) Great is the peace of those who love to live "soberly." They are thoroughly and heartily satisfied with their own condition in life, whatever it be. (2) Great is the peace of those who love to live "righteously;" that is, with a sincere love of all others. For whereas it is the want of this love which causes so much quarrelling, malice, and unkindness in the world, the possession of it would at once produce peace and harmony, if not in others towards us, at least in us towards others. (3) Great is the peace also of those who love to live "godly" in this present world of darkness and corruption. For, having their affections set on things above and their conversation in heaven, they sit loose to all the interests of this transitory state.
II. "Nothing shall offend them"—offend, that is, make them to stumble or fall. Whosoever then truly loves God’s law, nothing will offend him; nothing will be of power sufficient to turn him aside from his steady course of faithful obedience. (1) Thus as he sincerely loves to live soberly, so, whatever difficulties or obstacles occur, he is not offended, will not give up his resolution. (2) Again, as he loves to live righteously, so nothing will offend him in the practice of it. (3) As he loves to live godly, so nothing will prevent him availing himself of all the privileges which accompany the practice of true devotion. He endeavours to make everything which befalls him the occasion of some direct religious act of confession, faith, or thanksgiving.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times," vol. i., p. 28.
I. We see here, first, a possession: great peace. (1) There may be peace without great peace. (2) This peace is connected with obedience. (3) Love must be the affectional bond.
II. An exemption: "Nothing shall offend them." (1) Circumstances do not hurt them, or are not a stumbling-block to them. (2) Temptations do not hurt them. (3) Death does not hurt them.
W. M. Statham, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 88.
Psa 119:176
I. Like all true prayer, the text begins with confession. It describes our condition as it is in God’s sight; it penetrates to the heart, and shows us whence it is that sin flows, whatever be its visible and outward manifestations. "I have gone astray like a lost sheep." We know well who is that Shepherd of our souls from whom we have wandered. We know, with our understandings at least, what God has done for us in redeeming us by the blood of Christ. We know, too, what it must be to have wandered from Him; that it implies a want of love to God, a want of gratitude for His kindness to us, a want of interest in thinking and hearing of Him, a want of regard for His word and for all the means of grace which He has given us.
II. "O seek Thy servant." How much is implied in these few words. We have wandered from God; and now, like a sheep that has strayed from its fold and lost all trace of the way by which it should return, we ask God to seek us: we ask Him by His Spirit to track, as it were, our wanderings, to come after us into that waste, howling wilderness in which we have lost ourselves, and to give us at once the will and the power to hear His voice and follow Him. Such is the mystery of our spiritual life. God must first seek us if we are truly to seek Him, and yet it is in our seeking of Him that we can best recognise His search after us.
III. "Seek Thy servant." How does God seek man? Not alone in the direct call of His Son’s Gospel, which is come unto us, as it is to all the world; but in every circumstance of our life, in every mercy we enjoy from His hands, nay in every interruption of our comfort and happiness, we have a speaking sign of His presence, a fresh pledge of that love which will scarcely allow us to forget it, unless already our eyes and ears be closed in wilful hardness against its appeal.
C. J. Vaughan, Harrow Sermons, 1st series, p. 1.
References: Psa 119:176.—T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. v., p. 171; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 25. Psalm 119—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 261. Psa 120:5.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 249. Psa 120:6.—Preacher’s Lantern, vol. ii., p. 182. Psalm 120—S. Cox, The Pilgrim Psalms, p. 1.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 Faith’s testimony to the Word, in love and service.
Faith’s testimony to the Word, in love and service.
"That which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin; condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." So the apostle describes for the Christian the efficacy of the grace that has in Christ been shown us. The law could not work in men the obedience it required. The cross, beheld by faith, condemned sin for us, so as to deliver us from it, and implant in our hearts the very principle of obedience, in a faith that worketh by love. And this is the connection between the present psalm and the one preceding it, though Israel and not Christians are before us in them. The law is written on their hearts, according to the promise of the new covenant (Jer 31:31-34); and here all is promise, that is, grace. The longest psalm in the whole book is the utterance of Israel’s heart in praise of the law.
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We need not wonder to find it to be an alphabetic acrostic, and that of the most regular and perfect kind. There is an eight fold alphabet, this number eight showing what is new, in contrast with the old,* -thus the new covenant number -being stamped upon the whole psalm. Every letter of man’s language now is taken up with the praise of that, which was but an intolerable yoke before.
{*Notice that 8 is the cube of 2; which is itself the expression of difference, otherness, here therefore fully realized.}
"The Masora observes that the psalm contains only the one verse, 122,* in which some reference or other to the word of revelation is not found as in all the 175 others, -a many-linked name of synonyms which runs through the whole. In connection with this," says Delitzsch, "it may also not be merely accidental that the address, Jehovah, occurs 22 times, as Bengel has observed": though not in regular correspondence with the 22 sections.
{*To which, however, verse 90 must surely be added.}
There are also just ten synonyms of the law used by the psalmist, and which naturally remind us of the ten commandments of the decalogue, "word, saying; way, path; testimonies, judgments; precepts, statutes; commandment, law."* And these seem (though this may be disputed) to fall naturally into five pairs, as I have given them.
{*Here again the Masora seems to have made a faulty enumeration, strangely enough substituting for "path" "truth," or, according to another reading, "righteousness." But both these are attributes, not synonyms, of the law; and are so used.}
All this arrangement may seem artificial enough, if we take (as so often done) our knowledge for the measure of what is possible: which in Scripture is hardy enough. On the other hand, commentators have mostly renounced the idea of finding in the psalm any internal connection of thought. Only Delitzsch, so far as I am aware, has attempted a sketch of it, and this has met with little acceptance. Indeed the difficulty must needs be great of discerning links which are throughout moral and experimental, and which unite sentences which have the look of independence and ability to stand alone which these have. The numerical structure may here be expected, if anywhere, to show its worth as a guide to understanding; as the alphabetic arrangement would seem,in fact,to be intended to point out. It was one of the first clues which guided me, a good while since, in this direction; and I may be pardoned in preferring this to the despairing refuge of a help to remembrance, generally urged.
The psalmist has thus plainly marked out for us 22 sections. If the last were omitted, the rest would naturally fall into a triple septenary order, suiting well the regularity of structure otherwise; and capable, as I believe, Of satisfactory comparison in this way, numerically and otherwise. The first seven would, then, seem to refer to individual condition; the second to relation to external circumstances; the third to divine holiness -the sanctuary view. Taking now the headings of the sections, as well as I have been able to give them; they would stand thus: —
1. individually.
(1) harmonious righteousness.
(2) cleansing by the word.
(3) realizations.
(4) in creature feebleness.
(5) but with the God of might.
(6) thus overcoming.
(7) full rest of heart.
2. in external relations.
(1) persistent purpose.
(2) things working together for good.
(3) recognitions.
(4) in trial from man.
(5) but with God governing.
(6) overcoming in wisdom.
(7) complete obedience.
3. in view of divine holiness.
(1) the rebellious.
(2) deliverance sought from them.
(3) sanctuary revelations.
(4) in trial from defection.
(5) exercises.
(6) overcoming in judgment.
(7) perfection of the Word.
In any full way we cannot compare these yet, and it will be enough, at present, to invite comparison. The last section of all is left out of this table. It plainly cannot be compared, since there is no other 8th section; if it is to stand as such; and there are difficulties as to this, which also must be reserved for after-consideration.
Division 1.
The individual believer.
The first division of the psalm speaks of what the Word is to the individual believer. There is absolutely no mention of others, except twice (verses 21, 23), and by implication once (22), in the first five sections. In the 6th the thought of overcoming brings them in (42, 46), and we find them in the 7th (51, 53); but there is as yet no hint of persecution; save by reproach. In the very next section -the first of the second division -(v. 61) "the cords of the wicked have wrapped him round," and in ten other verses they are spoken of; his life is continually in his hand; while those that fear God are mentioned five times. In the third division the wicked are mentioned fifteen times; but here he sees them trodden down, and put away like dross.
Section 1. (Aleph.)
Harmonious righteousness.
1. The theme of the psalm begins, as so often; in its opening verses. The "way" for man is simply the way of Jehovah’s law; and "happiness" is to be perfect in it. How blessed, indeed, just to have abidingly in the soul the consciousness that this only is happiness. To be delivered from the misery of one’s own will, one’s own way, -the very definition of sin (Isa 53:6) -how complete a deliverance is this! It is to have the law written upon one’s heart, which is not a natural state but a supernatural, a work of divine grace. And this law is not merely arbitrary, the expression of authority: it is a "testimony" also, and one to which the awakened conscience responds. In this He is Himself declared: so that to "observe His testimonies" is to "seek Him with the whole heart." With such all is in accordance with the real nature of things: they do not twist them: "they practise no perversity; they walk in His ways." Safe, holy, and happy must be "His ways."
2. Now the soul pours itself out to Him. "Thou halt commanded Thy precepts" -the separate applications of the divine principles -"that they may be kept diligently." God does not speak positively, and then put up with trifling with what He says. Nor is this in the least what is meant by grace. There is no non-essential in what God has spoken: obedience is always what is essential; obedience to which we can affix limits means for us a wisdom which is above God’s.
Nay, it is we who need to be taught wisdom: and for this, therefore, the heart cries out: "Oh that my ways" -my goings in the path -"may be directed to keep Thy statutes: then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Thy commandments." And it foresees that His judgments -His decisions in the court of conscience -will so approve His righteousness, that to learn these will produce a spirit of praise in an upright heart.
The last verse is an appeal to divine government not to go far away from one who had in heart to keep the divine statutes.
Section 2. (Beth.)
Cleansing from evil by the Word.
The next section is more difficult to put together and find meaning for as a whole; but we are in general (at least) right in seeking this at the beginning of any distinct part of Scripture, where we should put the title, and where God in His goodness hastens, as it were, to meet us with what is a real introduction to all that follows. This is why so often the psalms begin with what is the conclusion, then going back to lead us again toward it. In this case, the power of the Word to cleanse that is, to separate the soul from evil will be the theme of the section; and its two portions seem to harmonize well with this: the first part speaking of its inherent power for this; while the second shows how, in fact, the soul is drawn away and detached from all else by the love that absorbs and takes it up with God.
1. The young man is spoken of, no doubt, because life is strong in him; and the yet untried world full of natural attraction. Here, therefore, is the test-case for the word of God to prove its power; and it is perfectly able to do this, by the light shed by it upon the whole scene, which gives things their true character, by bringing God (who alone is Light) into connection with all. The soul, finding here its attraction; is set truly free, made master of itself and of its circumstances; while it realizes at the same time its dependence and its only safe shelter in the divine strength. Seeking Him with the whole heart, it has yet to pray, "Let me not wander." But it clasps all the more to its heart the divine sayings, that it may not sin against Him: hiding them there as a possession of which it must not be robbed. And the world is full of robbers, who find its value to them only in its value to those from whom they would snatch it.
2. But now we see the heart in the presence and under the control of God: "Blessed art Thou, Jehovah"; to whom it turns with its consciousness of ignorance and its yearning desire, -"teach me Thy statutes."
Already, however, he has been speaking of what he knew, declaring God’s judgments, the decisions He had given as to good and evil, right and wrong, and that faithfully, -holding back nothing. And how great a matter is this, for keeping a clean path, -the confession of God in all things, the committing one’s self fully to all that He has made known as of Himself! The attitude of indecision tempts the assault of evil, while, God not being honored in it, He cannot honor one who is ashamed of Him. Joy in what is confessed thus goes with a true confession; and thus it follows here: "I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches." The mind, too, naturally employs itself upon that which the heart enjoys. God’s precepts are meditated on; and His paths regarded.
The section closes with the renewed experience of a joy in His statutes which is a sure preservative against a bad memory: "I delight myself in Thy statutes: I do not forget thy word."
Section 3. (Gimel.)
Realizations.
The third section speaks of realization by the soul of what God’s word is, and of what things are as seen in the light of that word. Essentially, this is sanctification; because holiness is "holiness of truth." (Eph 4:24, marg.) Eternity reveals time: the presence of God all things as good or evil; and the world is then seen as a place of continual conflict from which no man can withdraw himself. This gives the second part of the section here.
1. We are wholly dependent upon God for ability to realize things in this way. Naturally, man "walks in a vain show, and disquiets himself in vain." True life begins for us in the bountiful grace of God, and is manifested in the keeping of His word; and the same energy which acts to bring us into this must still operate to retain us there. But in this way what marvelous things become known to us, and with eyes fully awake what glories may be revealed! It is simple that here we have the language of prayer. Nothing is more needed than the constant sense of dependence.
And how touching is the plea of the 19th verse,which reminds us not so much (as it is usually taken) of man’s transience on earth, as the divine care for the stranger-guest in Israel, as the provisions of the law manifest it. We are apt to judge things rather by the narrow and sectarian spirit actually manifested by the nation in its later history than by the precepts of the inspired lawgiver. Yet, separated as they were by the law itself from the abominations to which the nations in their departure from God had given themselves up, He had placed them upon the very lines of intercourse between these nations, and at the throbbing centre of the world’s traffic. Here was their mountain fastness in which the Word that was entrusted to them was to be maintained for the blessing of the whole human race; and here, in the presence of all the powers of the world, so frank an asylum was offered to the one who sought it, that a mere fugitive slave escaping there was sheltered and free to find his home under the protection of the Lord God of Israel, and no man might deliver him up. (Deu 23:15-16.)
Israel themselves had known the "the heart of a stranger" by bitter experience, and God declared Himself to them as One that "loveth the stranger in giving Him food and raiment." They are exhorted, "Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Deu 10:18-19.) Nay, they were taught still to account themselves as strangers, even in their land, and to prove to themselves that love of His to strangers of which He speaks: "The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is Mine: for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me." (Lev 25:23.)
This seems to be the key to the language in the psalm here: "I am a sojourner [or stranger] in the land." The Israelite, even if home-born, might still say that He was thus, in frailty and dependence, entertained by God. Still more would these Israelites, brought home at last from all their wanderings, realize this. If the land had been their own; they would have lost it; but God could not forfeit His right to it, nor to put into it whomsover He might see fit. And for these, coming back from their long alienation; as prodigals to learn afresh the ways of Him whose grace now welcomed them, effectual indeed would be the plea: "hide not Thy commandments from me." As guests of His they will find a portion worthy of Him, -their lodging, food, and raiment, as His grace will give it; and His commands as their sweet enfranchisement from the ways of sin.
2. Thus the eyes open to the reality of things. Evil and good are seen in the sharp antagonism which exists between them. And, the eye affecting the heart, the soul breaks with the longing it has after those judgments of God which penetrate to the heart of things and make clear the essential, necessary opposition. It is no mere cold, colorless discrimination that is reached by this passionate longing after His mind, nor does the fervor of this spirit exhaust itself by its intensity, but abides "at all times." God abides the same, and communion with Him; if real, forms His character within us. God is not coldly right: He is "a consuming fire." His patience is not slowness of heart, but the pleading (if we may say so) of His love with men until all hope is over. Then the "wrath of the Lamb" will manifest itself, not pitiless, but not restrained by pity. The Lamb will be still the Lamb, and thus will such wrath be terrible indeed.
He sees it already taking effect: "Thou hast rebuked the proud": the creature exalting itself above its place, -against Him who has ordained it its place; "they are cursed who go astray from Thy commandments."
And then; suffering from the opposition of a world which has turned its back on God, the speaker pleads: "Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept Thy testimonies."
"Testimonies" are to fact and truth: and God’s facts will assert themselves as that, and His truth will manifest itself at last, beyond all controversy. Then; at least, will reproach and contempt pass from those who have identified themselves with that which will be seen in its true character. And this may take place sooner than the inevitable time in which it surely shall. Meanwhile present reproach helps of itself to test and free from suspicion the soul that through it all makes the divine statutes its occupation and delight. And with this the section ends, -the expression of unfeigned joy and confidence in that which is realized to be true and the living word of unfailing wisdom: "Thy testimonies are my delight, -my counsellors."
Section 4. (Daleth.)
In creature feebleness.
We have, now another kind of realization -experience of a sorrowful kind, but most needful, that of the weakness of the creature, not in another but in one’s self. This is the necessary complement of the truth that all power is of God. Only that this is realized now, not merely as what is necessary to the creature, what would be as true of an angel as a man; but in the moral collapse of a fallen being. This is more before us in the first part here,which begins with the confession of a soul cleaving to the dust; while in the second confidence is expressed though in dependence, and a steadfast course is contemplated, spite of -rather because all rests so absolutely upon God.
1. The soul, though the dweller in a dust-formed tenement,cleaves to the dust only because fallen. Out of the consciousness of this, the psalmist cries for the power of God to energize it according to the gracious promises of the Word. He has bared before God his whole practical condition; and has the consciousness of being answered by Him. But He longs to know more His statutes, and the whole way in which His precepts lead. There He is satisfied that he will find the wondrous works of God for fruitful meditation: in truth what glories may be realized in the path ordained of God! If an Israelite could say so, how much more we! We dull the prospect by unbelief, and shut ourselves out of it by a path self-chosen, and shut ourselves in to the dull, common lives we live, alas, so much. This is because we will, not because God will have it. And yet this path with God is ordained for the abasement of all human pride, and the valley of humiliation lies in it. "My soul melteth for heaviness," he cries; but then there is pledged strength to meet him: "make me to arise, according to Thy word." Exercised by the sense of frailty, he seeks also to have removed from him the way of falsehood, and that God would graciously grant him (according to the character of the psalm throughout) His authoritative law.
2. For He can speak of having chosen the way of truth, of setting God’s judgments before him; and that not in momentary resolve, but cleaving to His testimonies: and thus can confidently plead not to be put to shame. In truth it is impossible to one who does this, that he ever should be. So the soul assures itself; gathers up its strength, and contemplates the way opening up before it; yet in perfect conviction at the same time of the feebleness of all human faculties in the realization of the divine: -of entire dependence therefore upon God in all things: "I will run the way of Thy commandments when Thou shalt enlarge my heart."
Section 5. (He.)
But with the God of might.
Accordingly the next section is in every verse a prayer. The soul is with God, where the language of faith, in a place of constant need, becomes naturally that of prayer. This is not strange to us in Christianity, nor unsuitable to its joyous spirit of praise. "Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks" (1Th 5:16-18) are precepts which the apostle puts in the closest possible conjunction.
1. For enlightenment and supporting power the psalmist cries therefore here to the One with whom he goes. He must be taught the way of His statutes. He looks for this as meaning to walk in it,and to walk in it without any mental reservation; which is, indeed, the utter contrary of obedience, and the leaven of unbelief which (wherever found) will leaven all the life. will keep it unto the end," says the psalmist; or "to the heel," -the lowest and least noticed part.
"Give me discernment," he says again in his earnestness, "and I shall keep Thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart": these two things, the "whole heart" and "unto the end," go naturally together. And again he affirms in the next verse: "therein is my delight." Thus slavery there is none: he who is constrained by his affections is the freest man possible; and so it is here.
But the power of the world is felt, and the feebleness to resist temptation. He who has judged the world in general knows but too well how specific forms of it nevertheless may appeal to us, in which the characters of the world have not been recognized, -and how much cleaves to us, to which we would not cleave. Here God’s "testimonies" have their place, as such: which bring in the revealing sunshine, never capable of gilding a thing that is evil. Yet he says, "Incline my heart," on the one side, and on the other "turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." He has his heart inclined, when he says, incline it. He is turning away his eyes when he prays to have it done. But so conscious is he of the infirmity that cleaves to him, and so desirous to be wholly right with God, that he can only find rest for his heart in this perfect Will and Wisdom to which he commits himself: "quicken me," he supplicates, "in Thy way."
The last three verses seem to depend upon the first two here; and the whole to express the need and craving of that light from the holy presence of God Himself which shall dispel all darkness and prevent the shadows of a dead world wrecked by sin from intruding on and deceiving the possessors of what is really life.
2. The second part is still an appeal, but in a different way: namely, that God would as a living God confirm His Word by His deed,and thus gloriously answer to the faith of His people. It is one of the glories of Scripture to touch in so many ways the whole state of things by which we are surrounded. Prophecy fulfilling shows it to be the voice of Him who is Lord of all circumstances and generations. Then history in it we find to be also prophecy, taking its place with other types and shadows of the future thus. Its moral judgments, too, appeal not merely to the conscience but also to the experience of all men and times. While again there are special promises which bring Him still nearer to the individual and into the most secluded lives. Naturally this comes into the experience of these psalms throughout; and here is the very place to find it spoken of, -in the fifth section of this great experimental psalm: here then we find it.
"Establish Thy saying to Thy servant" would thus be a prayer for the fulfillment of specific promise; where the state of the pleader may be brought forward as not (at least) barring the claim of faith. "Devoted" is perhaps too strong a word to insert, where the text has only the preposition;* but it needs only to be noted as inserted, to escape this difficulty.
{*Which belongeth unto Thy fear" (R.V.); "leadeth to thy fear," (Cheyne) give somewhat different renderings of another construction, where it is the promise (in its being fulfilled, of course) which leads to this. But Cheyne’s translation seems too free; that of the Revised Version too vague.}
The next verse, by the reason given; "for Thy judgments are good," would show that the reproach mentioned would have to do with some apparent nonfulfillment of these judgments in God’s governmental ways among men. And such reproaches are being often cast upon the Lord’s people: "Where is now their God?" (Psa 115:2.) But the heart of the psalmist realizes the goodness of these "judgments," -the decisions as to good and evil, which in the day of God’s long-suffering His dealings with men do not always seem to affirm. Under the Old Testament dispensation; this was necessarily a much greater enigma than since the cross; and it is the occasion of much of the misapprehension of the friends of Job. With the enemies of the believer it is always a favorite reproach against him.
But the third verse takes a ground which seems clearer and surer. How can God but answer the longing of a heart after His precepts, where the clog of earth is felt and pleaded against? And the appeal is more confident, proportionally, however lowly it may be in its very nature: "quicken me in Thy righteousness."
Section 6. (Vau.)
There are but two prayers in the sixth section; upon the answer to which all the rest of it hangs. The number (6) is that of overcoming; and this is clearly and prominently the thought in verses 42, 45, and 46.
We need not wonder that in a world whose course is contrary to God, overcoming should have a marked place in divine testimony. Christ Himself was the great Overcomer; and for all who have faith in Him; the "victory that overcometh the world" is in their "faith." (1Jn 5:4.) One of Israel’s tribes, that of Naphtali, as we have seen at length elsewhere (Jos 19:32-39, notes), speaks typically of this aspect of the Christian as an overcomer. The epistles to the seven churches in Asia speak loudly as in trumpet-calls to him as that, all through the present period.
1. The first part here grounds all its assurance upon Jehovah’s sufficiency; and this abides the same throughout all ages. Our claim upon it, through the work of Christ, has been indeed established, enlarged, and handed over to us in its completeness, since the Mediator of the New Covenant, by the blood of the Covenant, entered heaven itself and sat down there for us; but in all ages the assurance of the saint has been in the unchanging faithfulness of the Eternal God. For the psalmist it was the "saying of God," the "word of God," the "word of truth," upon which he rested; and for us today it is the same. For him also, that word revealed Jehovah’s "loving-kindness," and a pledged "salvation," for which he waited; and so do we wait today. But we have a salvation wrought out by Another for us, as to which we can say, in a sense no Israelite could, "He hath saved us": and with this the Person of the Redeemer has come into view, and God Himself been revealed to us in Him; as otherwise He never could be. The poverty of the Psalms in these respects, when they express, not what prophetically refers to Christ Himself, but the experiences and knowledge of an Israelite of that day, strikes one painfully indeed. We, in the midst of the full glory of divine revelation now, what instruments of praise should our hearts be! May our gracious God awaken their full music!
The soul of the psalmist leans upon the promise of God while it waits for a salvation which is yet future; and it gathers confidence from the Word in which it trusts, to answer the reproaches of the enemy. God’s word he realizes to be the "word of truth," and prays that it may not be taken utterly out of his mouth, weak as he may be in standing for it: for he waits in hope for His judgments to manifest themselves.
2. The consequences are developed in the second part, which result from the realized sufficiency of Jehovah and His word. And the first, for one upon whose heart the law is written; is the joy of continuous, uninterrupted obedience to it. "For ever and aye," he says with enthusiasm. Oh for our "easy yoke" to be accepted in like manner! For him it is easy: "I will walk at liberty," he says: it is freedom to walk in ways that approve themselves to the heart, -are the choice of it; and this is our blessedness, whose "rule" is not the law, but the "new creation in Christ Jesus," the perfect and heavenly walk of the "Second Man."
The opposition of the world is realized, but without alarm. He will speak of God’s testimonies before kings, and not be ashamed; and will delight himself in His commandments which he has loved. These things, I think, go together. The former is an exemplification of the latter: while the boldness of the confession of the truth maintains the joy of it also in the heart. So it ever is.
The last verse shows this delight more and more increasing, the hands (or palms) lifted up showing, as in prayer, the longing and fervor of the soul, as it implies also the realization of the depths and mysteries of that blessed Word, upon which it meditates therefore continually.
Section 7. (Zayin.)
Full rest of heart.
The division of the eight verses in each section hitherto has been into five and three, the order of which, however, may be reversed. This first five is in the present one again divided, so that the whole psalm presents a 2, 3, 3 structure.
It is not easy always to characterize a seventh division. "Completion," for which it stands, necessarily implies "rest," because the thing is ended: the only way in which such a thought can be applied to God. The last verse here unites clearly the thoughts of accomplishment and satisfaction: "This has been mine, that I have kept Thy precepts," reminds us of the apostle’s similar utterance,
"I have finished my course; I have kept the faith." There is but one prayer in the section; and that about a promise now to be fulfilled, for which he is looking, and has looked. All the rest is review of the past, and that in peace of heart. Thus the heading of the section is justified in itself, and justifies its numerical place.
1. The word has been to him a word of promise, -a comforting, energizing, vivifying word. How good is it to realize it in this character! What a fullness of promise to us is there, in fact, in the word of God; and how this testifies to us of the wondrous grace Of God that so displays itself! "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." "They that fear the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good." How more than sufficient -how divine are such assurances!
True, there is affliction in fact,and much of it. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." But these are either the necessary chastenings of love; because even the "righteous" are that so inconstantly; or else they are the results of what the world is in its opposition to God, and will be found to be gain in the day of account. All this will be seen then, and should be realized now, to require no abatement from the exact truth of the Word.
Nay, it is in the affliction that faith grows and is established, and its energizing character is found. The Word is living and life-giving; while it tests and searches us out, as with a divine search-warrant, clothed with an authority beyond any of earth, to which all earthly authority must give way. What a Word is this!
2. Yet the opposition to it is everywhere and none the less manifest. Wherever it goes it stirs up, just by its demand for righteousness and goodness, the innate resistance of the heart to good and God. So here the psalmist testifies to the derision of men that he had encountered. These were the proud, who would not suffer its rebuke. Their character revealed what was that of their opposition; and he had not declined from the law on account of it. He had read history to purpose, and remembered God’s judgments of old. It was the same God now; and so he comforted himself: while, as he reflected on this falling away of man from God, indignation ("burning heat") possessed him. Well it might, indeed: for what has man’s history been! Read it in the masses of heathenism today; and in the condition of the foremost of the so-called Christian populations.
3. He reverts to what the Word has done for him and is to him; and now he can give as to this a precious testimony. God’s statutes, against which men have been thus rebelling, why, they have made his life music. In the house of his sojournings, -in the place of frailty, mortality, and strangership, -they have brought out of it, not merely "songs," as in our common version; but "psalms"; -melody, and melody to God, and to which the whole creation is in profound subtle, harmonious accompaniment. How entrancing is a "Psalm of Life" so realized!
Then it will bear the soberest thought. "In the night," when earth lies in shadow, "visions of God" have been at all times most realized; then "I remembered Thy Name," he says, "and have kept Thy law."
So he finds what more and more those who have it prove to be a substantial possession: "this has been mine, that I have kept Thy precepts." By and by "the righteousnesses of the saints" will deck them even at the marriage of the Lamb; although those pure white robes will acquire their lustre only as "washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb." (Rev 7:14; Rev 19:8, Gk.)
Here, then; the first division of the psalm ends.
Division 2.
The Believer, in external relationships.
The second division, as has been already noticed, deals more with external surroundings, the circumstances and persons favorable or adverse. This, of course, will be seen, not in all the verses, but in special, leading, dominant ones, with which the others are connected, and around which they group themselves. The apparent independency of the verses has been remarked before also, and indeed by every one who has commented on them. Nor can one by any means always prove the connection to be such as is here represented. That which is most natural and most fruitful will necessarily most commend itself to us; but it is upon the numerical structure that we must principally depend for the discovery of this, as it will then also be large confirmation of it. The spiritual result will speak to the spiritual mind.
Section 1. (Cheth.)
Persistent purpose.
1. In the first section we have, naturally, the introduction to the whole. In the first part you see the man himself; in the second, his enemies and his associates. The thing emphasized as to man is what is needed to make him master of his circumstances, that persistent purpose of heart which delivers from the temptations which ensnare and carry away the unstable. Here he begins with reaffirming what he has said just before, that his portion, what he has for himself, in contrast with the name, power, or substance of which others might boast, is to be a keeper of Jehovah’s words. And this truly brings a great revenue. Here one finds that for which His word is pledged, a favor better than life, and every way worthy as an object of pursuit with the whole heart.
This had been to the psalmist also the fruit of his coming to himself. He had thought upon his own ways, a sad enough but profitable contemplation. Thus with clear understanding of what he was turning from, he turned, not his eyes merely, but his feet unto those divine "testimonies," which ever appear more self-evidencing as there is self-judgment as to the paths that lead away from them. So he came then to realize what is indeed reality.
2. He can now speak of having followed with prompt, unhesitating decision; the new path thus found. But here, too, is the opposition of the wicked, manifested in snares set to entangle his feet; spite of which he has gone on his way unhindered. And in the night his heart would run over with a praise which he had to rise up to express, on account of the righteousness of divine judgments, -the perfect moral way in which every question received its settlement through these.
With those that feared Jehovah he took his place. Oneness of mind drew these together, as it necessarily will do; and a man becomes known by the company he keeps. Associations are also a part of the ways by which we approve ourselves or not to God, and are insisted on, as we know, at the very threshold of the whole book. (Psa 1:1.) In close walking with those that fear the Lord, the experiences and joys of each become a common blessing of all. They are multiplied in being shared together.
And "the earth is full of Jehovah’s loving-kindness," who makes all things work together for good to His own. This looks on to what we find in the next section, -one of those connecting links which are so frequent in the Psalms. The joy of this loving-kindness realized in the soul becomes in it a fervent desire to be taught His statutes.
Section 2. (Teth.)
Things working together for good.
The working together of all things for good is the theme of the next section. Good and evil in this checkered scene are thus seen to be in harmony; and the work of the enemy is even made, spite of itself, to be a minister of the good. These are in fact the two divisions of this section.
1. The psalmist approves thoroughly, in looking back, Jehovah’s faithfulness in his case. He has been truly the covenant-God, and has dealt well, and only well, with His servant: according to His word so freely pledged to him. Faith responds fully to this on his part, owning the need of divine teaching, and which implies much more than the lesson-book, for scholars whose unaptness is so much a moral condition. The rod has been surely among the "all things" working good to all the people of God; and so he who speaks here has found it. "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I have kept Thy saying."
2. But this may have only to do with physical evil; the deeper question is the moral evil, and the second part of the section takes up this. In Eden man’s perfection was to abide in good where evil was not, and to be a stranger to this altogether. Now, on the contrary, it is in having the "senses exercised to discern between good and evil"; both being before him. (Heb 5:14.) The presence of evil around is therefore permitted with this end in view; and in ourselves we come into nearer contact with it,and learn to hate it with corresponding energy. In all this we find One over all who is good and does good; whose acts are truly accordant with His nature. Joy indeed is it, then; to be taught His statutes, which enlighten the conscience and preserve moral vision. In the darkness of the cave the organ of sight is well known to atrophy from mere disuse.
The psalmist is suffering from the slander of men; whose character is clearly to be seen as the proud: men that have a spirit of rebellion against restraint, literally, that boil up, like water. The mere subjection of the heart to God rouses the opposition of such, who traduce what they have no mind to imitate. In answer to which he affirms his whole-hearted observance of the precepts of Jehovah. But their heart is as fat as grease; the grossness of their nature hindering all right affections: "for me," he says, "I delight in Thy law."
And the very affliction through which he has passed has been serviceable to him in making him learn more deeply the character of those statutes, from the violation of which he has himself suffered. How certainly we learn in this way all must be aware. In result, the law of Jehovah’s mouth has acquired for him a value beyond that of earthly riches: it is his real possession.
Section 3. (Jod.)
Recognitions.
The theme of the third section of the second division much resembles that of the first, which we have considered. Yet there is a difference; and that according to the respective characters of the divisions themselves. It is for this reason that "recognitions" seems a more suited title here than "realizations." The soul is more upon the outlook. Circumstances and men are more before it: and these both for and against, -the brotherhood of faith upon the one hand, and the adversaries on the other. The first part, I take it, gives us certain foundations or broad facts which are clearly recognizable; the second, reckonings of faith which deal with the future rather than the present, and in which confidence takes the form of prayer.
1. The basis-fact here is that of a Creator-God, who cannot therefore but be for the work of His hands. His hands have made us, and not rudely; but fashioned us so as to be witnesses of His handiwork. He must design; then, to have His creature filling the place for which He made him; and will surely not deny the understanding necessary to this. This is an argument which the 139th psalm dwells upon at large, and which the New Testament for the Christian puts in the strongest possible way. Here we can speak of new creation, and of the word of God as that by which He has begotten us to Himself. No fear that He may deny it to us. To us it is as milk to a new-born babe -the one necessity of its nature.
Of new birth the Old Testament did not yet speak; but men had need of it none the less, and came thus into a communion which, though not yet marked off externally from the mass, was necessarily distinguished by the characteristics of the new spiritual life which had been received. And this is the second basis-fact here. As the first touched the centre of the circle, -ascertained the whence of relationship, though not with the clearness of present knowledge, so the second defines the circumference, the with whom, the family. And they recognize one another also, as belonging to a company known even then as a family of faith. So the psalmist says here: "they that fear Thee are glad when they see me," -there is a joyful glance of recognition. And here is the mark by which they recognize: "because I have waited in hope on Thy word."
But there is a third thing now; and this assures us of a Living Presence, not simply at the beginning or in the past, but abiding throughout human history, faithful to His own nature, which is holy, and to His people in His dealings with them. "I know, Jehovah, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." Thus, in these three things, God, His people, and the relationship between them, are all recognized; and His word is authoritative over them; their joyful confidence, and that to which His acts at all times are found correspondent.
2. The psalmist now pours out his heart to God, whom he knows, and who is so necessary to him. He prays that His loving-kindness may be his comfort, according to His promise to him. For God has pledged Himself to His people: it has not sufficed Him to say "Ye know me, and that I cannot err or do wrong; and let this be enough for you." We are too frail, too dim-sighted, too little able to anticipate His ways, for this to satisfy us, or to satisfy Him as to us. Divine love has therefore pledged itself to us, made its covenant with man; and swears, if His word is not enough: "that by two immutable things" -"His word and His oath" -"we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." (Heb 6:17-18.)
We may have "boldness," therefore, in coming to what is characterized for us as a "throne of grace" (Heb 4:16), to find help for all the way which is His way for us. For any other way we could neither expect nor rightly desire it. Thus the force of "according to Thy word unto Thy servant" here. For prayer is crippled, confidence as to it gone, if our wills are struggling in it against God’s will.
And this is the argument of the next verse also: "For Thy law is my delight." His tender mercies, therefore, can be freely shown; so necessary as they are for life itself in a woad of conflict, -so necessary for the invigoration of spiritual life. This brings him to the conflict: and he prays that the proud, the independent asserters of their own will, may be ashamed: their own will proving itself in his case to be mere perversity and falsehood; while for him the divine precepts were his meditation.
Thus would God’s holiness be manifested in the presence of those who feared Him, and who would have in him -in God’s ways with him -experimental proof of this, to which they might turn,with His testimonies in their hand thus fully corroborated. Nor can it be in haughtiness on his own side that he claims this. Nay, he has need of the mercy of God to be shown to himself also, that his heart may be made perfect in His statutes, that be himself may not be ashamed.
Section 4. (Caph.)
In trial from man.
The fourth section speaks of the trial from man, which had reached almost the extreme point. The first part, of his integrity under it; the second, of the persecution itself, on account of which’ the psalmist appeals to God. Throughout, His faithful word is that to which he cleaves and which is his support,while yet the hand of God has not interposed to put an end to the trial.
1. In the extreme of necessity, his soul fainting for the deliverance which can be from God alone, His word is that upon which in hope he waits. Plenty of comfort there, which yet necessitates a living God to make it good. For this it fearlessly pledges Him; but the pledge sometimes seems long in being redeemed. Hence the room for exercise, which after all is not against faith, -which supposes it, and in it finds its only means of existence: for faith has to do with that which is not seen.
The pressure has been great, however: he has been dried up, like a skin bottle in the smoke, while yet he has not by all this been made to forget Jehovah’s statutes.
2. But he feels the briefness of his days, and pleads for the judgment which is needed for the fulfillment to Israel of their earthly promises. When shall that time be? Here the prophecies of those times and seasons, which from us are hidden as to definite fulfillment (Act 1:7), in the present Christian gap of time, will open up to them abundant comfort (Dan 12:4; Dan 12:9). Meanwhile the pits of the proud yawn before them, unchecked by Jewish law. The psalmist thinks of those commandments which in their maintenance of righteousness necessarily imply a God who will be faithful to the righteous, so that he can plead them as if they were promises -"faithful commandments." And to these he, too, has striven to be faithful: he seeks therefore his sanctuary shelter from those that persecute him wrongfully. Almost consumed upon earth, he has not forsaken the divine precepts; for which yet he realizes his need of quickening, that he may keep the testimonies of His mouth.
Section 5. (Lamed.)
But with God who governs.
As generally in a fifth section, now, after the pressure of trial has been felt in its bitterness, the joyful sense of the supremacy of God rises in fresh power upon the soul. God rules, when winds and waves are at their worst; and His word, upon which alone we can rest amid the confusion; is that which is law everywhere, while by the sense of its glorious perfection it attaches the soul to Him with an indissoluble bond. These are the two parts that are found here.
1. In the heavens above His word stands firm for ever, as illustrated, no doubt, by the stars that roll in their circuits, the sun and the moon that keep their ordered path. The earth, too, is established, -in relation, I suppose, to the sea, in which the foundations of the dry land are, spite of the restless warfare of the sea upon them; fixed abidingly. There they all remain; servants of God in their several spheres, a permanent condition of things, amid all the apparent susceptibility to change, showing everywhere the impress of a governing hand.
In the soul God’s law likewise proves its sustaining power, acting in a very different way, yet so as to manifest the divine virtue that is in it. As law it brings in the assertion of sovereignty to which the conscience responds with its homage, and the heart with its delight. Thus then, spite of the felt disorder, God is; and the soul is cheered and energized, and that which has done this remains in its unique effect, impossible to be forgotten.
One lives by it to God.
2. This introduces the second part, the psalmist turning to Him who is thus made known with the declaration of his devotion and of his need. It is not merely a cry forced from him by outward distress: "I have sought," he says, "Thy precepts." And this, though the wicked had desired and plotted for his destruction; clearly for his adherence to them: "I attend unto Thy testimonies."
Then his whole heart opens out. He has looked out upon all human perfection and seen in every particular how limited it is. Easy enough to find everywhere an end in this way; but to the word of God, controlling him as his commandment, he has found none: "it is exceeding broad": like space itself it has no boundary-wall; but it has an infinite fullness, not an emptiness, -an infinite speech, and not a silence. It is the speech of God.
Section 6. (Mem.)
Overcoming in wisdom.
He proceeds to show how this word of God, itself so supreme, has lifted him up by its inherent power into a supreme place among men. It is divine knowledge that he gets by it, beyond the capacity of any man at his best. Nay, man’s wisdom is so opposed to God’s that the gaining of this knowledge is a true "overcoming," the sifting and analyzing and separation of true from false, always with a moral interest also, or, to say better, a spiritual. "Wisdom" has necessarily always this character in her, as the "fool" is he who "hath said in his heart, There is no God."
1. The psalmist begins by once more expressing his delight in the law: it gives him constant occupation: "all the day." Let us remember that it is one who can speak so, who can tell us of the wisdom it has communicated to him. We shall not, perhaps, get the same results without some similar devotion to it; and yet the estimate has no touch of exaggeration in it. If it be God’s word, what can all the wisdom outside it be, compared with that? In the perfect knowledge of our need, -with perfect love and perfect ability to meet it, -what must we say, even in anticipation of inquiry, such a book must be?
Yet, must we not fear that there are few who give it even now the day and night study which the psalmist gave to his so much smaller and poorer Bible?
Let us listen; then; to his account of the result, with the remembrance of the almost unspeakable difference in our minds. It is of the law in the main he speaks; and though we must not limit that, wherever we hear of it, just to the ten commandments, or even to the Mosaic institutions as a whole, yet it is plain that it is in fact largely of this that he is thinking here. "Law," "commandments," "keeping" God’s "precepts," "refraining the feet," show this quite clearly; and it is spiritual ethics with which he is, at least, very largely concerned. To make this evangelical, we have only to remember that the Mosaic law had very definite teaching as to what sin was before God, and of the impossibility of a sinner approaching Him without the blood of atonement. This, too, was ethics, if it was much more. It was this in the highest sense; and there would be none, except it were an ethics of despair, without it. But an ethics of despair is really none.
Enemies the psalmist has, and that on account of the law of his God; but this makes him wiser than all of them. Necessarily; if "iniquity" is, as Scripture calls it, "vanity," and ignorance of God is "folly," and the government of the world is one that makes for righteousness. Thus the enemies of the righteous can neither understand God, nor the world, nor the men they have to deal with; and even the hearts of their fellows, and their own hearts, are most unreliable quantities: "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know" them?
But more than this: the testimonies of God being his meditation; he is wiser than all his teachers. And notable it is how rapidly the mind awakens and is strengthened and enlarged under the influence of Scripture. The countries in possession of an "open Bible" may be traced by the comparative intellectual gain in other directions, as is well known; and yet even this does not give a just idea of the Bible in its power as the true educator of the human race. For, alas, where the heart is not possessed by it for God, men refuse submission to the light itself, and thus in the places of greatest enlightenment there is yet an undercurrent at least of opposition to it. Nay, more, among those who are genuinely converted by it, how few receive the word of God in the whole-hearted manner of the psalmist here! It is not too much to say that for most Christians even; the blank pages of their Bibles are more numerous than the full ones; the sun is half darkened by the spots upon it.
Received fully, whole-heartedly, unreservedly, -allowed to do all the work of which it is capable, -mind, heart, conscience alike submitted to its restorative, invigorating,divinely quickening influence, what equal development would there not be of every human faculty! what light shed upon Nature, history, every question of right interest possible to man! Take all the men of special gift, the aptest to receive, the most fitted to communicate knowledge, yet uncontrolled by Scripture in what they affirm, -after all, the poor man uneducated otherwise, cleaving only to the Word, may truly and unaffectedly say with the psalmist, "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy testimonies are my meditation."
So with the "elders," the men of long experience: clearly this is all too limited, in duration; in sphere of application; in inherent capacity, to be put for a moment in comparison with the knowledge derivable from the word of God. But notice all through, how there is insisted on the practical nature of its requirements as to the condition of all such knowledge being imparted: "I discern more than the elders, because I keep Thy precepts."
And he closes all this with "I have refrained my feet from every evil way: that I may keep Thy word."
2. And now we see the character of this "overcoming" from another side: the attractive and separative power of the Word, moving the affections as well as regulating the walk. One of the first necessities for which is the assurance of that direct contact in the Word between God and the soul which the next verse expresses: "I have not departed from Thy judgments: for Thou hast taught me." Here is the simple "book," become the divine "oracle": God has indeed spoken in it; what an inexpressible joy to have heard the voice of God! God speaking! and to me! How the heart is moved by it! "How sweet are Thy sayings to my taste! sweeter than honey to my mouth!" And this attraction is necessary repulsion from the opposite pole: "through Thy precepts I get discernment: therefore I hate every false way." All this is so simple as to require no comment.
Section 7. (Nun.)
Complete obedience in view of all circumstances.
The seventh section carries this out to full obedience in spirit, though with the consciousness of much infirmity and constant need of God. It seems to divide, exactly as the seventh of the first division, into 2,3,3; the ordinary five verses of the larger part being again divided, precisely as there.
1. We have first the steadfast purpose of heart which underlies all true obedience. And this is based upon the consciousness of what the Word is, -a light shining amid the darkness of the world, and which reveals the footpath, sure if narrow, through it. The path is not dark, if the world is; and the wayfarer resolvedly undertakes it: he will keep the judgments of righteousness, the decisions of God as to good and evil which largely (but not wholly) define his way.
2. The opposition of man brings him into continual peril: affliction which has but too much power over him. He realizes and pleads his need of divine energy, which has been pledged to him, indeed, so that he can reckon upon it. Thus he can bring the free-will offerings of his mouth, the recognition of help given; and still pray to be taught Jehovah’s judgments. And through the peril he passes, not distracted into forgetfulness of that which abides in its supremacy over him; the law of his God.
3. He advances further, to speak of more positive attainment. The snare of the wicked had not made him swerve from the path of divine precept. Yea,his whole portion; his chosen inheritance was the testimonies of God. They were the rejoicing of his heart, which he had inclined to perform them for ever, -"to the end," or thoroughly, without reserve.
Division 3.
In contemplation of divine holiness.
The third division seems to emphasize the holiness of God. The enemies are looked at more as the enemies of God than personally such, and the exercises have correspondingly their character less with regard to external trouble: in this respect the third division returns toward the first.
Section 1. (Samech.)
The rebellious.
In the first section; accordingly, the rebellious are looked at in their character and conduct, as abhorrent to God and man. The righteous turn from them; and God puts them away in judgment from the earth; and this is, roughly, the two parts of the psalm.
1. "I hate the double-minded," begins the psalmist; "and I love Thy law." His own integrity of heart cannot abide the wavering of those who at one moment are for Jehovah, at another for Baal; who have therefore no true conviction, but in the conflict of opinion follow only their own wills. For himself his heart is in the path of obedience; and more, he has the experience of what it is to have Jehovah his hiding-place and shield, -a living God making Himself known in the day of trial, so that His word becomes his confidence. From evil-doers his path necessarily separates; for he is set to keep the commandments of his God.
2. He turns to Him in the consciousness of dependence,with the word pledged to him; which makes him hope in it, and beseeching Him that it may not leave him to be ashamed. Confident he is that he is secure who is upheld by God; and this safety he would use to run unhindered continually in the path of His will.
From his shelter he looks out to see the judgment fall upon all that go astray from the path: for their laxity -"letting fall," like the string of a deceitful bow -is falsehood: not failure where the heart may yet be right. Thus God treats them; not as silver which may yet have to be purified from dross, but as dross itself and nothing else. The psalmist sees and approves this judgment, and so clings the more to those testimonies which deliver from the way of destruction; while his flesh trembles with awe at the holiness of God, and he is afraid as he realizes His righteous judgments.
Section 2. (Ayin.)
Deliverance sought from them.
1. Yet he is in fact still among the enemies of God’s way, and who are therefore necessarily also the enemies of His people; and he seeks deliverance from these on the ground of that very righteousness. He has himself followed it; and he prays therefore not to be left in the hand of his oppressors. May He, the righteous One, be as that, surety for good to one who is His servant, and not permit the oppression of the proud, who because of pride refuse the servant’s place. God’s pledged word he has, but His salvation lingers, and in distress his eyes fail for longing for it.
2. He pleads the servant’s place that he has taken, that he may be dealt with in divine love, and taught His statutes. For he is His servant, and as such needs and may urge that he needs, discernment to know the testimonies that he has to maintain amid a state of daring rebellion which speaks for the time being come for Jehovah’s own intervention. But this disorder only makes him realize the more the value of those commandments which are more to him than the wealth of much and purest gold. For here all is pure, -every precept,whatever it concerns; and every false way is exposed to reprobation.
Section 3. (Pe.)
Sanctuary-revelations.
In the third section the psalmist turns to speak more of the joy in Jehovah’s testimonies that he has found, of the revelation that they have been to him. All his heart is awake with longing after God Himself, to whom His word brings, as its power is known; and thus this is a true sanctuary portion; although it be more longed for than enjoyed. Yet the door is opening, has partially opened, and the inner light is already breaking out.
1. Wonderful are the testimonies of God, which by their glorious character win the soul to their obedience. Light breaks out as the Word is opened up; and even the simple acquire by it the faculty of discernment. The heart is drawn out in longings which are not lawless, but the very contrary: "I longed for Thy commandments."
Thus the Word as an educator makes no monsters. It does not develop the intellect, while leaving the heart and conscience unaffected; but the whole man grows in beautiful correspondence of all parts to one another.
2. The soul thus wrought upon becomes a seeker after God, in the apprehension of constant grace which is shown to all who love His name, -that is, the manifestation of Himself; for that is what His name is. Such an one realizes what the liberty is of walking in God’s ways, and the miserable bondage which results from any iniquity having dominion over one. From man; too, he seeks to be free, in order to keep the divine precepts. Above all, to walk in the sunshine of God’s face, as one brought near, and there to be taught His statutes. There it is that the awful horror of sin is felt, with the longing after men who know not its deformity: "Mine eyes run down with streams of water, because they keep not Thy law."
Section 4. (Tsaddi.)
The trial from defection.
The last verse contains in it, as not uncommonly, the theme very much of the following section. In it we have the trial of spirit from the defection around, along with that abiding sense of preciousness of the Word itself, which is what makes the defection so full of anguish.
1. Jehovah’s word is what Jehovah is: if He is righteous, so are His judgments. And so too are His testimonies, of whatever nature: He cannot be aught but a faithful witness, in whatever it has pleased Him to give any testimony.
Here, as he thinks of it, the psalmist’s zeal breaks out: it consumes him as the altar-flame the sacrifice; as with Christ in the temple, where He flames out in a testimony against the evil, which puts Him in opposition to the heads of the people, identified with the wickedness that was then in power. It is not with the psalmist that men are his adversaries merely, but "because mine adversaries have forgotten Thy words."
That leads him back to think of the Word, how pure it is, and how he loves it. Little he is, it is true -he who has this spirit is ever little -and despised, for so has the mass got away from God that they can afford to despise such feeble opposition: yet he clings with all this to that which links his feebleness with the Lord of all: "I have not forgotten Thy precepts."
2. And faith affirms, amid the confusion in which all might seem buried, Jehovah’s righteousness to be eternal righteousness, and His law truth which must always then abide truth. Trouble and anguish possess him, as he thinks of the madness of the adversaries; but this does not bring even the shadow of a summer cloud over those commandments which are his delight. Again he affirms: "the righteousness of Thy testimonies is eternal"; and he only needs himself to be sustained of God in ability to discern their blessedness, the bringing into that life which is alone true life: "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God shall men live."
Section 5. (Koph.)
Exercises.
The next section is more difficult to characterize; but as a fifth it seems to speak of exercise: not, in the first part at least, so much from the difficulties and trials of the way, as over the word of God itself. that healthful exercise which would that we all knew more of. In the second part the enmity of the wicked is spoken of, though briefly; and the soul comforts itself in Jehovah being near.
1. The psalmist calls with his whole heart upon Jehovah, earnestly professing his purpose of obedience. Where this is found, it naturally and necessarily leads to exercise over the Word: it is the foundation of it. The path is not so simple that we can find it without God; nor is it meant to be; but then we find Him our companion in it. The suppliant needs salvation also: he does not say from what; indeed, from how many things, the hindrances which so constantly present themselves to obedience, but which are helps to faith as everything is that casts us upon God. The Word with all this gets a large place with him, just as surely as God gets His. He is up before the dawn; crying out to God, yet with hopeful expectancy which the Word had wrought in him. Nay, before the night-watches he is awake, meditating on God’s sayings, testing his knowledge; finding continually indeed the drag of nature on him, for which he has to betake himself to Jehovah’s loving-kindness for quickening energy, to discern what is of Him; according to His unfailing judgment.
2. He is not allowed to do this undisturbed. The wicked are near, and threatening mischief; enemies in heart and will to that which occupies him. But Jehovah too is near, the Rock upon which all these waves break in vain. The truth abides: nothing can alter that; and this His commandments are. Yea, His testimonies have of old been known as for ever fixed upon His own immutable foundations.
Section 6. (Resh.)
Overcoming in judgment.
The sixth section has as its keynote the prayer of the second verse, "Plead my cause," -in order to which the psalmist spreads it before God. The wicked cannot hope for deliverance; but he doubts not to stand in the judgment he invites, which, of course, is not at all as to any absolute righteousness, but only as to integrity of heart amid much weakness and many adversaries.
1. The affliction that he is in makes him seek for deliverance, and thus -because the wicked cannot hope for it -appeal for the taking up of his cause; yea, that Jehovah, who fully knows, would Himself plead it. He has not forgotten. Jehovah’s law, though he owns at the outset the need that he has of the impartation of living energy from Him; who has pledged Himself to him for such need. Utter weakness then on his part is recognized: he needs not to hide it: but he is not among the wicked who seek not the divine statutes.
2. He casts himself, therefore, afresh upon Jehovah’s tender mercies for this living power, for a life according to the judgments of His truth and holiness. His adversaries are many, but they have not perverted him from the path of His testimonies, from the recognition of things according to His declaration of them. Nay, he had beheld with grief the faithlessness of those who kept not these sayings. And he invites Jehovah Himself to behold how he loves His precepts, whatever the backwardness of nature for which, the third time, he beseeches that he may know His quickening power. But as to the ways of God, these his whole heart embraces. The whole of His word is truth, and every one of His righteous judgments -judgments which have their foundation in His own nature -abide as He Himself.
Section 7. (Schin.)
Perfection of the Word.
The seventh section naturally gives us now the perfection of that which has been the psalmist’s theme all through, the word of God. The first and larger part views it in its peerless supremacy in whatever way it is contemplated. The second sets the seal to it of heartfelt subjection. The affirmation is of little value which lacks this element of true witness.
1. He has realized the opposition to God’s word in the high places of the earth. Princes had persecuted him without cause beside, but his heart stands in awe of that in which God Himself has spoken to his conscience. His heart also has responded to it, so that it has become to him like the rich and varied booty of the soldier. But more, his moral estimate of it is similar: it is the holiness of truth that attracts him in it, as he hates the falsehood which it also hates. Constantly through the day does it lift up his heart in praise, because of the judgments which he realizes to be those of divine righteousness, and which he finds in the government of God illustrated and enforced. For "great peace have they who love thy law," and their path is free from the stumbling-blocks over which others fall.
2. This word has been wrought into his practical life. The salvation which it assures of he has waited for in hope; its commandments he has obeyed; loving exceedingly the testimonies that it gives; keeping its precepts as being manifested in all things to Him before whom he walked. Unspeakable blessedness to walk thus in the Eternal Light of that glorious Presence before we enter the joy of the presence-chamber itself.
Division 4. (Tau.)
Jacob in his trouble.
The twenty-one sections of the psalm fall then; plainly, into three equal and parallel series of seven sections each, which together would seem to complete the subject naturally, and leave room for nothing more. But in fact we find another section; which, of course, is necessary also for the completion of the alphabetic arrangement. What, then; is its place, in connection with what has gone before? Is it an eighth section of the third division? or is it by itself a fourth division of the psalms? There can be no doubt, when we have examined it, that it is a fourth division.
Its structure is clearly different from that of any of the former sections. Each of these we have found to divide into 3+5 or 5+3; or else, as in the seventh of both the first and second divisions, the first five verses are again divided into 2 3. Here, on the other hand, the eight verses can only divide as 4+4; the last part being evidently a fourfold prayer, or plea for salvation. The last verse of the whole in no wise suggests an eighth section. It is, as a whole, a descent from and not a continuation of the last one. The number 4 seems suited to and stamped on it throughout; even the acrostic letter here, the Tau, standing for 400 in the Hebrew notation. The drop in the character of what we find here is thus accounted for.
Looking more closely into it, it is evident that, as a fourfold plea for salvation it occupies the latter half: the former one is, in fact, a promise or vow to the Lord in the event of deliverance. And as this cannot be the King (as in the sixty-first psalm) whose vows are before us,we naturally think of Israel. Looked at in this way, the meaning of the whole comes clearly into view.
This final section is in reality an appendix to the psalm; in which we have indicated the reference of it to Israel in the tribulation of the latter days predicted as to them. This is, as we know, their spiritual birthtime as a nation; when they come into the new covenant. There is no difficulty, therefore. in the application; and this section is practically. whatever else, an inspired note as to the "times and seasons" to which the psalm relates.
1. The first part is, as already intimated, Israel’s vow in their distress, -a vow, not like that of the old covenant, made in self-righteousness at Sinai, the covenant so quickly broken, though the patience of God might long endure with them. Here all is based upon what God is looked to to work for them and in them, so that they may step into their predestined place, and be the witnesses of His grace and salvation to the ends of the earth. They promise no legal obedience, but only to declare this; which prophecy has of old assured us that they will do. All this, therefore, is quite accordant with a new covenant blessing.
Their cry goes up to Jehovah for light to break out from His word for them: no true knowledge could there be but through the Word, by which they are quickened also that they may have it. They plead the promise also of deliverance; and when delivered and taught His statutes, their lips shall pour forth praise. So, indeed, they shall. The last verse here implies, I think, their testimony to the nations, and that is what its numerical place points out. Their tongue shall speak aloud of God’s saying, and the world shall hear it.
2. The second part gives their plea for God’s salvation. This is, first, that they have chosen Jehovah’s precepts: a plea already allowed in Deu 30:1-3. The second is their longing for His salvation. They are not ignorant of their need, and they seek no more to other saviours. The third is the praise that shall result: and God acts for the glory of His own great Name: being in this most gracious. That Jehovah would dwell among the praises of His people was a joy in the heart of the dying Saviour, and what that precious death was designed to accomplish (Psa 22:3, notes). Lastly, they put before God the misery which wrought in the heart of the Good Shepherd, according to His own appealing picture (Luk 15:1-32): gone astray like a lost sheep, they ask Him the Shepherd to seek them out, already touched by the grace which has wrought in them to put into their hearts that desire for His commandments in which they come back to their first plea in which the promise in Deuteronomy applies plainly to them.
Here their plea ends; and in the "songs of degrees" which directly follow,we shall find the divine answer to it.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The longest Ps. and the best example of an…
The longest Ps. and the best example of an alphabetical Ps. There are in it twenty-two stanzas; each of the 8 vv. of each stanza commences with the same Hebrew letter. The subject is practically the same throughout, viz. the great help and guidance and comfort to be derived from studying continually the Law of the Lord. Much ingenuity is displayed in expressing the same thoughts under various forms.
Note in this connexion the following variety of terms—Law, or instruction (torali) Testimonies, or affirmations of God's will; Judgments, or judicial pronouncements as to the Law; Statutes (lit. 'inscriptions'), or published enactments; Commandments, Precepts, or injunctions.
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It is difficult to locate the Ps. in time or circumstances. Such devoted meditation on the Law is a feature of later Judaism which arose chiefly after the exile. This is also true of the mechanical arrangement of the Ps. If the writer records his own experiences they must have been very trying—trouble, sorrow, the hostility of powerful foes, and even captivity. But some scholars believe that the writer sometimes records his own experiences, sometimes the experiences of the pious remnant of Israel.
19. Stranger] or, 'sojourner,' passenger, with but a short time to learn God's will.
21. The proud] perhaps Jews who had been influenced by foreign culture.
25. Quicken] i.e. revive.
29. Way of lying] i.e. faithlessness to God's law.
39. My reproach which I fear] viz. of sinning against God.
43. He prays never to be deprived of the power of testifying to God's trathfulness.
46, Before kings] i.e. in exile.
54. 'Melodies have thy statutes been to me in the house of my sojourning,' i.e. in this brief life: cp. Psa_39:12.
56. 'This (comfort) I have that I have kept thy law.'
70. Fat as grease] dull, gross: cp. Job_15:26-27; Isa_6:10.
83. Bottle] RM 'wine skin.' Bottles were made of the untanned hide of an animal. In the smoke they would be dried up, shrivelled and useless. Such Israel seemed to be in captivity.
84. How many, etc.] i.e. my days are few.
91. They] i.e. the heavens and the earth.
96. The most perfect earthly things are finite and limited; but God's law is for all needs and for all time.
109. My soul, etc.] i.e. my life is ever in jeopardy.
118. Their deceit is falsehood] better, 'their self-deception is a lie.'
123. Fail for] fail through longing for.
130. The entrance] RV 'the opening,' i.e. the unfolding.
132. Usest to do] i.e. art wont to do.
140. Very pure] i.e. true metal: cp. Psa_18:30.
147. I prevented, etc.] i.e. Before daybreak I cried.
148. 'Mine eyes forestall the night-watches,' i.e. when each watch comes I am already awake.
161. Princes] probably it was Israel, i.e. the Jewish nation, that was so persecuted.
164. Seven times] i.e. very often.
165. Nothing shall offend them] RV 'they have none occasion of stumbling.'
176. Like a lost sheep] probably refers to the Jews scattered in exile. The last clause of the v. precludes the idea of straying into sin.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Psalm 119
Psalm 119
The Law Written on Their Hearts and the Praise of the Word
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This is the longest and most perfect Psalm in the whole collection. It is an alphabetical acrostic. It is composed of 22 sections, each having eight verses, 176 verses in all. Each section begins with a different letter of the alphabet and each verse of the different sections begins also with the corresponding letter of the section. Eight times each letter of the alphabet is mentioned in the 22 sections. The number eight in the Word has the meaning of resurrection, death is gone and life has come. Israel has passed from death to life and now extols the Word and the Law of God. The time has come when it is fulfilled what the Lord spoke through Jeremiah concerning the new covenant, “I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts.” We behold then in this Psalm the joy of Israel in knowing the Word, in praising the Word and being obedient to the Word. In each verse except Psa 119:90 and Psa 119:122 the Word is mentioned and the following terms are employed: Law, commandment, word, saying, path, way, testimonies, judgments, precepts and statutes.
We give the twenty-two sections under the different Hebrew letters with a brief succession as to their contents:
Aleph: 1-8. The blessedness of those who obey His Word.
Beth: 9-16. Cleansing by the Word.
Gimmel: 17-24. The quickening by the Word.
Daleth: 25-32. The uplift of the Word.
He: 33-40. The power of the Word.
Vav: 41-48. Victory through the Word.
Zayin: 49-56. Comfort through the Word.
Cheth: 57-64. Preservation through the Word.
Teth: 65-72. The pricelessness of the Word.
Jod: 73-80. Testimony through the Word.
Caph: 81-88. Affliction and the Word.
Lamed: 89-96. The Word eternal.
Mem: 97-104. Wisdom through the Word.
Nun: 105-112. The Word the lamp and the light for all occasions.
Samech: 113-120. The wicked and the Word.
Ain: 121-128. Separation and deliverance through the Word.
Pe: 129-136. Communion through the Word.
Tsaddi: 137-144. Zeal for the Word.
Koph: 145-152. Experience through the Word.
Resh: 153-160. Salvation through the Word.
Schin: 161-168. The perfection of the Word.
Tav: 169-176. Prayer and praise through the Word.
The whole Psalm is a marvellous evidence of verbal inspiration. But what will it be when the Word will thus be exalted and lifted to its proper place of supremacy through righteous Israel!
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Christian’s Golden ABC of the Praise, Power, and…
The Christian’s Golden ABC of the Praise, Power, and Value of God’s Word.
This beautiful psalm, whose writer is not known, is divided into twenty-two sections of eight verses each. All the verses in the same paragraph open with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet, all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew language thus being used. The outstanding characteristic of this wonderful psalm is the fact that in all but two verses (122 and 132) the Word of God is designated by some expression, such as commandments, judgments, statutes, precepts, testimonies, law, and others, all these terms being used here as synonyms, a fact which makes the psalm of direct value to all believers of all times, a manual of pious thought, especially for all teachers of the Word.
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Aleph. Of the Believer’s Conduct in Accordance with God’s Word. —
v. 1. Blessed are the undefiled, the blessed, sincere, irreproachable, in the way, in their entire conduct of life, who walk in the Law of the Lord, being guided by His Word in their entire life.
v. 2. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, the Word in which He testifies of Himself, for the truth and against sin, and that seek Him with the whole heart, desiring to have such a perfect knowledge of Him and His holy will that they will readily conform to it in all their actions.
v. 3. They also do no iniquity, no deliberate wickedness; they walk in His ways, arrange their entire life in agreement with the manner prescribed in His Word.
v. 4. Thou hast commanded us to keep Thy precepts, the directions which relate to the conduct of men in every circumstance of life, diligently, to observe them most carefully.
v. 5. O that my ways, the behavior of the believer in every condition in which he finds himself, were directed to keep Thy statutes, the express laws relating to the various relations in life!
v. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed, be brought to shame, heaped with disgrace, when I have respect unto all Thy commandments, those enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, to guard against both sins of commission and of omission.
v. 7. I will praise Thee with uprightness of heart, without a trace of hypocrisy, when I shall have learned Thy righteous judgments, the decisions based upon God’s justice, of approval as well as of condemnation.
v. 8. I will keep Thy statutes, the commands of God’s Word which are of permanent value for all men. O forsake me not utterly, for he who is forsaken of God is condemned to a life of unhappiness and to an eternity of woe. The prayer for faithfulness in making one’s conduct agree with the Word of God must ever be in the mouth of every Christian.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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ALEPH
This is the name of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Blessed are those
"How good it is for those"
those whose ways are blameless
How a person behaves is spoken of as "ways" or "paths." AT: "those whose behavior is blameless" or "those whom no one can blame for doing wrong" (See: Metaphor)
who walk in the law of Yahweh
The way a person lives or behaves is spoken of as walking. AT: "who live according to the law of Yahweh" or "who obey the law of Yahweh." This phrase clarifies the meaning of "whose ways are blameless" (See: Metaphor)
who seek him with all their heart
To "seek" God means to want to know him.
with all their heart
This is an idiom which means intensely or sincerely. AT: "with all their being" or "with everything in them" or "sincerely" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
bless
blameless
walk
law
Yahweh
command
heart
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4 Ps 119 This psalm combines elements of wisdom, lament,…
Ps 119 This psalm combines elements of wisdom, lament, praise, thanksgiving, and confession. Eight Hebrew words are used frequently, translated as “instructions,” “laws,” “words,” “regulations,” “statutes,” “commands,” “decrees,” “commandments,” and “promises.” Together, these words encourage love for and obedience to God’s instructions, as found in the Scriptures (see 2 Tim 3:14-17). The expression of deep commitment to these instructions unifies the psalm.
119:1-8 Aleph (א): God, the author of these instructions, commands that his followers live by them. The psalmist prays to be given the grace to live by that revelation.
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119:1-4 The wise are happy. They are people of integrity (see 84:11) who follow the path of divine instruction. They obey God’s revelation and search for it with all their hearts (see 27:7; 119:10, 45, 94, 155), and they reject all forms of evil. Cp. 1:1-2.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.