Your statutes have been my songs in the house where I live.
I have remembered your name, Yahweh, in the night, and I obey your law.
This is my way, that I keep your precepts.
Parallel Translations
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Your statutes have been my songs in the house where I live.
I have remembered your name, Yahweh, in the night, and I obey your law.
This is my way, that I keep your precepts.
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Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law.
This I had, because I kept thy precepts.
Show all 3 translations
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Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
I have remembered Thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have observed Thy law.
This I have had, that I have kept Thy precepts.
Cross-references (20)
- Psalms 63:6 (v55) when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.
- Hebrews 11:13-16 (v54) These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they…
- Psalms 42:8 (v55) Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life.
- Genesis 47:9 (v54) Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil.…
- Psalms 119:165 (v56) Those who love your law have great peace. Nothing causes them to stumble.
Show all 20 cross-references
- Isaiah 26:9 (v55) With my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the…
- 1 John 3:19-24 (v56) And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our…
- Job 35:9-10 (v55) “By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out. They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty. But no one says, ‘Where is…
- Psalms 10:1 (v54) Why do you stand far off, Yahweh? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
- Psalms 18:18-22 (v56) They came on me in the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my support. He brought me out also into a large place. He delivered me, because…
- Psalms 89:1 (v54) I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
- Psalms 139:18 (v55) If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
- Acts 16:25 (v55) But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
- Genesis 32:24-28 (v55) Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man…
- Psalms 77:6 (v55) I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires:
- Psalms 119:17 (v55) Do good to your servant. I will live and I will obey your word.
- Psalms 119:34 (v55) Give me understanding, and I will keep your law. Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.
- Luke 6:12 (v55) In these days, he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God.
- John 14:21 (v55) 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…
- John 15:10 (v55) If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv54–56 54. Thy statutes have been my songs. He repeats…
54. Thy statutes have been my songs. He repeats in different words what he had formerly mentioned, that the law of God was his sole or special delight during all his life. Singing is an indication of joy. The saints are pilgrims in this world, and must be regarded as God’s children and heirs of heaven, from the fact that they are sojourners on earth. By the house of their pilgrimage, then, may be understood their journey through life. One circumstance merits particular notice, that David, during his exile from his native country, ceased not to draw consolation, amid all his hardships, from the law of God, or rather a joy which rose above all the sadness which his banishment occasioned to him. It was a noble specimen of rare virtue, that when he was denied a sight of the temple, could not draw near to the sacrifices, and was deprived of the ordinances of religion, he yet never departed from his God. The phrase, the house of his pilgrimage, is employed, therefore, to enhance the conduct of David, who, when banished from his country, still retained the law of God deeply engraved on his heart, and who, amid the severity of that exile, which was calculated to deject his spirits, cheered himself by meditating upon the law of God.
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 vv54–56 In the course of this life and sorrowful exit.
In the course of this life and sorrowful exit.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv54–56 Psa 119:54 Thy statutes have been my songs in…
Psa 119:54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
Ver. 54. Thy statutes have been my songs] Thy promises, which bind thee by grace, as statutes do us by duty, and are every whit as sure. By these I lopped off my cares, fears, and griefs, as with a pruning or paring knife; I pared them round till none was left. Metaphors falcibus.
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In the house of my pilgrimage] In hoc exilio, in hoc ergastulo, in hac peregrinatione, in hac valle lachrymarum (Bern.). Travellers sing to deceive the tediousness of the way; so did David, and hereby he solaced himself under that horror, Psa 119:53. Great is the comfort that cometh in by singing of psalms with grace in our hearts.
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 vv54–56 My songs; the matter of my songs, my delight…
My songs; the matter of my songs, my delight and recreation.
In the house of my pilgrimage; either,
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1. In this present world, which I do not own for my home, wherein I am a stranger and pilgrim, as all my fathers were, Psa 39:12; compare Gen 47:9. Or,
2. In mine exile, and in the wildernesses and other places where I have been oft forced to wander, when I was banished from all my friends, and from the place of thy worship, and had no other support or comfort but the remembrance of thy statutes.
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 vv54–55 Here is, 1. David's state and condition; he was…
Here is, 1. David's state and condition; he was in the house of his pilgrimage, which may be understood either as his peculiar trouble (he was often tossed and hurried, and forced to fly) or as his lot in common with all. This world is the house of our pilgrimage, the house in which we are pilgrims; it is our tabernacle; it is our inn. We must confess ourselves strangers and pilgrims upon earth, who are not at home here, nor must be here long. Even David's palace is but the house of his pilgrimage. 2. His comfort in this state: "Thy statutes have been my songs, with which I here entertain myself," as travellers are wont to divert the thoughts of their weariness, and take off something of the tediousness of their journey, by singing a pleasant song now and then. David was the sweet singer of Israel, and here we are told whence he fetched his songs; they were all borrowed from the word of God. God's statutes were as familiar to him as the songs which a man is accustomed to sing; and he conversed with them in his pilgrimage-solitudes. They were as pleasant to him as songs, and put gladness into his heart more than those have that chant to the sound of the viol, Amo 6:5. Is any afflicted then? Let him sing over God's statutes, and try if he cannot so sing away sorrow, Psa 138:5.
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 vv54–56 This I had, because I kept thy precepts. Either…
This I had, because I kept thy precepts. Either the comfort he had from the word, the pleasure and delight he had in it, being his songs in his pilgrimage, Psa 119:50; see Psa 119:165; or this knowledge of the name of God, and the remembrance of it, and his carefulness and diligence in it in the night season, were of the Lord, and gifts of his: or rather this he had from the Lord, that he kept the precepts and commands of God in the manner that he did; it was all owing to grace and strength received from him; for so the words may be rendered, "this was given unto me, that I have kept thy precepts" (k).
(k) "quod", Pagninus, Montanus.
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 vv54–56 The house - In this world, wherein I am…
The house - In this world, wherein I am a stranger and pilgrim, as all my fathers were.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv54–56 Verse 54. Thy statutes have been my songs] During…
Verse 54. Thy statutes have been my songs] During our captivity all our consolation was derived from singing thy praises, and chanting among our fellow-captives portions of thy law, and the precepts it contains.
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 v54 Psa 119:54-56. Thy statutes have been my songs —…
Psa 119:54-56. Thy statutes have been my songs — The matter of my songs, my delight and recreation; in the house of my pilgrimage — In this present world, wherein I am a pilgrim, as all my fathers were. I have remembered thy name — Thy holy nature and attributes; thy blessed word and thy wonderful works; in the night — When darkness causeth fear to others, I took pleasure in remembering thee; and when others gave themselves up to sleeps my thoughts and affections were working toward thee; and have kept thy law — This was the fruit of my serious remembrance of thee. This I had — This comfortable and profitable remembrance of thy name and statutes; because I kept thy precepts — Which if I had wilfully and wickedly broken, the remembrance of these would have been a cause of grief and terror to me, as now it is a source of peace and comfort.
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 vv54–56 Thy statutes - Thy law; thy commandments.
Thy statutes - Thy law; thy commandments.
Have been my songs - Have been to me a source of joy; have been my happiness, my consolation, my delight. I have found pleasure in meditating on them; I have had peace and joy in them in the day of loneliness and trouble. The psalmist rejoiced, doubtless, as the good now do,
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(a) in law itself; law, as a rule of order; law, as a guide of conduct; law, as a security for safety;
(b) in such a law as that of God - so pure, so holy, so suited to promote “the happiness of man;
(c) in the stability of that law, as constituting his own personal security, the ground of his hope;
(d) in law in its influence on the universe, preserving order, and securing harmony.
In the house of my pilgrimage - In my life considered as a journey to another world; in my pilgrimage through the desert of this world; amidst rocks, and sands, and desolation; among tribes of savage men, wanderers, robbers, freebooters; with no home, no place of shelter; exposed to cold, and rain, and sleet, and ice, and snow, as pilgrims are - for to all these is the “pilgrim” - the way-farer - exposed, and all these represent the condition of one passing through this world to a better (compare Heb 11:13). Here, says the psalmist, I sang. I found joy in these scenes by thinking on the pure law - the pure and holy truth of God. I comforted myself with the feeling that there “is” law; that there is just government; that there is a God; that I am under the protection of law; that I am not alone, but that there is one who guides me by his truth. Compare the notes at Job 35:10. See Act 16:25; Psa 34:1.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv54–56 54. God’s statutes form the theme of his songs;…
54. God’s statutes form the theme of his songs; they calm his mind and refresh his spirit in this transitory life of trial (Gen_47:9; 1Ch_29:15), as songs beguile the night (Job_35:10), or cheer the traveller on his journey.
pilgrimage] Lit. sojoumings. Cp.v. 19.
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 vv54, 56 (54) Songs.—Or, Thy statutes were my music in the…
(54) Songs.—Or, Thy statutes were my music in the house of my sojournings. Possibly with reference to the exile (comp. Psa_137:4), but with comparison with Psa_119:9 (see Note), more probably the reference is to the transitoriness of human life. In connection with the next verse comp. Job_35:10.
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 vv54–56 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house…
Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage; literally, songs have thy statutes been to me in the house of my sojournings. I have made thy statutes the theme of my songs, as they are of this present one. "The house of my sojournings" is either this present world, where all men are "strangers and pilgrims", (Heb_11:13) or perhaps some foreign land in which the writer had been a sojourner.
A good man"s songs.
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"Thy statutes have been my songs." "When the Eastern traveler takes shelter from the scorching heat of noon, or halts for the night in some inn or caravansary, which is for the time the house of his pilgrimage, he takes the sackbut or the lyre, and 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 my resting hours by the way, and cheered myself onward through the wearisome journey and across the scorching deserts of life. Not songs of old tradition, not ballads of war, or wine, or love, have supported me; but I have sung of God"s commandments, and these have been the solace of my weary hours, the comfort of my rest." What is striking in this expression of the psalmist is that he makes his obligations appear as if they were, what he sincerely esteems them to be, his privilege. Here is surely an unusual thing; the man is glad to be placed under restraint, only it must be clearly seen that it is Divine restraint. "Let me fall into the hands of God, and not into the hands of man.
I A GOOD MAN"S SONGS BEAR THEIR OWN PECULIAR STAMP. Song is the relief of life; but it is one of the most genuine expressions of life. It may be said that a man can be judged by the songs that he loves to sing or to hear sung.
1. The good man always wants to sing. Joy is one of the necessary constituents of goodness.
2. The good man wants the singing to match himself. And since his joy is in God, his singing must be about God.
3. The good man"s supreme concern is loyalty and duty, and therefore his songs are about the statutes by which duty is controlled.
II A GOOD MAN"S SONGS ARE THE EVIDENCE OF HIS GOODNESS. They surprise his fellow-men, who wonder how he can find rest and pleasure in what seems to them so dull. He could not but for that vital change through which he has passed, which we recognize in calling him a good man." "I thirst, but not as once I did, The vain delights of earth to share.
1. The delight in vulgar and comic songs evidences the low, uncultured man.
2. The delight in high-class music evidences the educated taste.
3. The delight in songs whose interest lies in their religious tone and suggestion rather than in their music, evidences the renewed man. The delight in songs that encourage and inspire obedience evidences a noble sense of the Divine obligations and responsibilities that rest on human life. 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 vv54–56 Ver. 54. Thy statutes have been my songs. The…
Ver. 54. Thy statutes have been my songs. The Psalmist rejoiced, doubtless, as the good do now,
1. In law itself; law, as a rule of order; law, as a guide of conduct; law, as a security for safety.
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2. In such a law as that of God: so pure, so holy, so fitted to promote the happiness of man.
3. In the stability of that law, as constituting his own personal security, the ground of his hope.
4. In law in its influence on the universe, preserving order and securing harmony, Albert Barnes.
Ver. 54. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. Like others of God's servants, David knew that he was not at home in this world, but a pilgrim through it, seeking a better country. He did not, however, sigh over this fact, but he sang about it. He tells us nothing about his pilgrim sighs, but speaks of his pilgrim songs. Even the palace in which he dwelt was but "the house of his pilgrimage, "the inn at which he rested, the station at which he halted for a little while. Men are wont to sing when they come to their inn, and so did this godly sojourner; he sang the songs of Zion, the statutes of the great King. The commands of God were as well known to him as the ballads of his country, and they were pleasant to his taste and musical to his ear. Happy is the heart which finds its joy in the commands of God, and makes obedience its recreation. When religion is set to music it goes well. When we sing in the ways of the Lord it shows that our hearts are in them. Ours are pilgrim psalms, songs of degrees; but they are such as we may sing throughout eternity; for the statutes of the Lord are the psalmody of heaven itself.
Saints find horror in sin, and harmony in holiness. The wicked shun the law, and the righteous sing of it. In past days we have sung the Lord's statutes, and in this fact we may find comfort in present affliction. Since our songs are so very different from those of the proud, we may expect to join a very different choir at the last, and sing in a place far removed from their abode.
Note how in the sixth verses of their respective octaves we often find resolves to bless God, or records of testimony. In Ps 119:46 it is, "I will speak, "and in Ps 119:2, "I will give thanks, " while here he speaks of songs.
Ver. 54. Thy statutes have been my songs. In the early ages it was customary to versify the laws, that the people might learn them by heart, and sing them. Williams.
Ver. 54. Thy statutes have been my songs. God's statutes are here his "songs, "which give him spiritual refreshing, sweeten the hardships of the pilgrimage: and measure and hasten his steps. Franz Delitzsch.
Ver. 54. Songs. Travellers sing to deceive the tediousness of the way; so did David; and hereby he solaced himself under that horror which he speaks of in verse Ps 119:53. Great is the comfort that cometh in by singing of Psalms with grace in our hearts. John Trapp.
Ver. 54. "Songs."
"Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer."
"And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).
Ver. 54. Songs in the house of my pilgrimage. Wherefore is everything like warmth in religion branded with the name of enthusiasm? Warmth is expected in the poet, in the musician, in the scholar, in the lover and even in the tradesman it is allowed, if not commended why then is it condemned in the concerns of the soul a subject which, infinitely above all others, demands and deserves all the energy of the mind? Would a prisoner exult at the proclamation of deliverance, and is the redeemed sinner to walk forth from his bondage, unmoved, unaffected, without gratitude or joy? No, "Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." Shall the condemned criminal feel I know not what emotions, when instead of the execution of the sentence he receives a pardon? and is the absolved transgressor to be senseless and silent? No. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: and not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."
Other travellers are accustomed to relieve the tediousness of their journey with a song. The Israelites, when they repaired from the extremities of the country three times a year to Jerusalem to worship, had songs appointed for the purpose, and travelled singing as they went. And of the righteous it is said, "They shall sing in the ways of the Lord. The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads." William Jay.
Ver. 54. Songs in the house of my pilgrimage. See how the Lord in his wise dispensation attempers himself to our infirmities. Our life is subject to many changes, and God by his word hath provided for us also many instructions and remedies. Every cross hath its own remedy, and every state of life its own instruction. Sometimes our grief is so great that we cannot sing; then let us pray: sometimes our deliverance so joyful that we must break out in thanksgiving; then let us sing. "If any man among you be afflicted, let him pray; if he be merry, let him sing." Prayers for every cross, and psalms for every deliverance, hath God by his own Spirit penned for us; so that now we are more than inexcusable if we fail in this duty. William Cowper.
Ver. 54. In the house of my pilgrimage. According to the original, "the house of my pilgrimages"; that is, whatever places I have wandered to during Saul's persecution of me. Samuel Burder.
Ver. 54. In the house of my pilgrimage. Natablus expounds this of his banishment amongst the Philistines; that when he was put from his native country and kindred, and all other comforts failed him, the word of the Lord furnished matter of joy to him. And indeed, the banishment of God's servants may cast them far from their.kindred and acquaintance; but it chaseth them nearer to the Lord, and the Lord nearer to them. Proof of this in Jacob, when he was banished, and lay without, all night in the fields, he found a more familiar presence of God than he did when he slept in the tent with father and mother.
But we may rather, with Basil, refer it to the whole time of David's mortal life: "oranera vitam suam peregrinationera vocare arbitror". So Jacob acknowledgeth to Pharaoh, that his life was a pilgrimage; and Abraham and Isaac dwelt in the world as strangers.
S. Peter therefore teacheth us as pilgrims to abstain from the lusts of the flesh; and S. Paul, to use this world as if we used it not; for the fashion thereof goeth away. Many ways are we taught this lesson; but slow are we to learn it. Alas, what folly is this, that a man should desire to dwell in the earth, when God calleth him to be a citizen of heaven! Yet great is the comfort we have of this, that the houses wherein we lodge upon earth are but houses of our pilgrimage. The faithful Israelites endured their bondage in Egypt the more patiently, because they knew they were to be delivered from it. If the houses of our servitude were eternal mansions, how lamentable were our condition! But God be thanked, they are but way faring cottages, and houses of our pilgrimage. Such a house was the womb of our mother: if we had been enclosed there for ever, what burden had it been to her, what bondage to ourselves! Such a house will be the grave; of the which we must all say with Job, "The grave shall be my house, and I shall make my bed in the dark." If we were there to abide for ever, how comfortless were our estate. But, God be praised, our mansion house is above; and the houses we exchange here on earth are but the houses of our pilgrimage; and happy is he who can so live in the world as esteeming himself in his own house, in his own bed, yea, in his own body, to be but a stranger, in respect of his absence from the Lord. William Cowper.
Ver. 54. My pilgrimage. If men have been termed pilgrims, and life a journey, then we may add that the Christian pilgrimage far surpasses all others in the following important particulars: in the goodness of the road, in the beauty of the prospects, in the excellence of the company, and in the vast superiority of the accommodation provided for the Christian traveller when he has finished his course. H.G. Salter, in "The Book of Illustrations", 1840.
Ver. 54. Here is
1. Light in darkness.
2. Companionship in solitude.
3. Activity in rest: "house of pilgrimage." G.R.
Ver. 54. The cheerful pilgrim.
1. A good man views his residence in this world as only the house of his pilgrimage.
2. The situation, however disadvantageous, admits of cheerfulness.
3. The sources of his joy are derived from the Scriptures. W. Jay.
Ver. 54. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 1652: "The Singing Pilgrim."
Psalms 119:55*
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 vv54–55 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house…
Psa_119:54
Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
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Obligation a privilege
When the Eastern traveller takes shelter from the scorching heat of noon, or halts for the night in some inn or caravansary, which is for the time the house of his pilgrimage, he takes the sackbut, or the lyre, and 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. Multitudes of men feel Divine law, Divine obligation, responsibility in any form, authority under any conditions, to be a real annoyance to life. They want their own will and way. The psalmists doctrine is that obligation to God is our privilege. Every man, even the most licentious and reckless, is a pilgrim. But the pilgrimage of the text is made by no sense of restriction. Here is perfect harmony between obligation to God and all the sources of pleasure and happiness God has provided, so that there is no real collision between the statutes over us and the conditions around us. It is a false impression that the very enforcements of penalty and terror added to Gods law, to compel an acceptance of it, or obedience to it, are a kind of concession that it is not a privilege, but a restriction or severity rather, which cannot otherwise be carried. But terrors are only restrictions to the lawless and disobedient, never to the good. A right-minded people will value their laws, and cherish them as the safeguard even of their liberty. Just so the righteous man will have Gods statutes for his songs in all the course of his pilgrimage. How would it be with us if we existed under no terms of obligation? The true alternative between obligation and no obligation supposes, on the negative side, that we are not even to have the sense of obligation, or of moral distinctions; for the sense of obligation is the same thing as being obliged, or put in responsibility. In such a case, our external condition must obviously be as different as possible from what it is now.
1. There could, of course, be no such thing as criminal law for the defence of property, reputation, and life; because the moral distinctions in which criminal law is grounded are all wanting. The defences of civil society must all be wanting where there is no recognized obligation to God. Having no moral and religious ideas, we cannot legislate.
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. Where there is no law, there is no sin or guilt; as little is there any virtue. There is nothing to praise or confide in. Enter now the spiritual nature itself, and see how much is there depending on this great privilege of obligation to God. This claim of Gods authority, this bond of duty laid upon us, is virtually the throne of God erected in the soul. It is sovereign, of course, unaccommodating, therefore, and may be felt as a sore annoyance. When violated, it will scorch the bosom ever 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 their obligation to God becomes the spring instead of the most dignified, fullest, healthiest joys anywhere attainable. Consider the truly paternal relation between our obligations to God, and what we call liberty. Instead of restraining our liberty, they only show us, in fact, how to use our liberty, and how to enjoy it, if I may so speak, in great and heroic actions. How insipid and foolish a thing were life, if there were nothing laid upon us to do l It is well that we are put upon doing what is not always agreeable to the flesh. When God lays upon us the duties of self-command, and self-sacrifice, when He calls us to act and suffer heroically, how could He more effectually dignify or ennoble our liberty? 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. In this article of obligation to God you are set also in immediate relation to God Himself; and in a relation so high, everything in you and about you changes its import. God is in the world, training the creatures for Himself. 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. Before God, 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 world. On this subject, too, experimental proofs may be cited. Conclusion:--It is only religion, the great bond of love and duty to God, that makes our existence valuable, or even tolerable. Without this to live were only to graze. How appalling a proof is it of some dire disorder and depravation of mankind that, when obligation to God is the spring of all that is dearest, noblest in thought, and most exalted in experience, we are yet compelled to urge it on them by so many entreaties, and even to force it on their fears by Gods threatened penalties! (Horace Bushnell, D. D.)
The singing pilgrim
I. A pilgrim.
1. We belong to another country. We are aliens, foreigners, strangers in this world.
2. We are hurrying through this world as through a foreign land.
3. A pilgrims main business is to get on and pass through the land as quickly as he may.
4. As pilgrims, it is true in our case that our relatives are not, the most of them, in this country. We have a few brethren and sisters with us who are going on pilgrimage, and we are very thankful for them; for good company cheers the way. Yet the majority of those dear to us are already over yonder. If I may not say the majority by counting heads, yet certainly in weight the great majority will be found to be in the far country. Where is our Father? And where is our Elder Brother? And where is the Bridegroom of our soul?
5. A pilgrim reckons that land to be his country in which he expects to remain the longest. Through the country which he traverses he makes his way with all speed; but when he gets home he abides at his leisure, for it is the end of his toil and travail. What a little part of life shall we spend on earth!
II. A singing pilgrim: Thy statutes have been my songs, etc. Pilgrims to heaven are a merry sort of people after all. They have their trims, some trials more than those which ether men know; but then they have their joys, and among these joys are sweet delights such as worldlings can never taste. The singing pilgrim is a man who has a world of joy within him, and is journeying to another world, where for him all will be joy to a still higher degree. He sings high praises unto God, and blesses His name beyond measure, for he has reason to do so, reason which never slackens or lessens. Oh that we were always as we are sometimes, then would our breath be praise.
III. The song book. Thy statutes. The Bible is a wonderful book. It serves a thousand purposes in the household of God. I recollect, a book my father used to have, entitled Family Medicine, which was consulted when any of us fell sick with juvenile diseases. The Bible is our book of family medicine. In some houses, the book they most consult is a Household Guide. The Bible is the best guide for all families. This Book may be consulted in every case, and its oracle will never mislead. You can use it at funerals. There are no such words as those which Paul has written concerning the resurrection of the dead. You can use it for marriages--where else find such holy advice to a wedded pair? You can use it for birthdays. You can use it, for a lamp at night. You can use it for a screen by day. It is a universal Book; it is the Book of books, and has furnished material for mountains of books; it is made of what I call bibline, or the essence of books. We use this Book for a song-book as pilgrims, because it tells us the way to heaven. We often sing as we come to a fresh spot on the route, and bless God that we find the road to be just, as we have read in the way-book, just as our Divine Master said it should be. Well may we sing a song of gratitude for an infallible Word. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Thy Christians song in his pilgrimage
I. The light in which David regarded the world was that, of a foreign country, through which he was travelling to his native land.
1. The world is a place which the Christian has ceased to love.
2. The world is a place which cannot make the Christian happy.
3. The world is a place in which the Christian must calculate on trials and difficulties.
4. The world is a place which the Christian expects soon to leave.
II. The cheerfulness which the Christian enjoys in the house of his pilgrimage.
1. His song is a heartfelt song.
2. His song is a rational song.
3. His song is a Divine song.
III. The source of the Christians joy.
1. The Bible rejoices the Christian by telling him that though a pilgrim in a foreign land, he shall have all his wants supplied.
2. The Bible brings joy to him by reminding him of the end of his pilgrimage, even his home, and that a peaceful, glorious, and heavenly home.
3. The Scriptures not only tell the Christian of this heavenly home, they cheer his heart by pointing out to him the way which leads to it.
4. The same Scriptures, too, that tell the Christian of his home, and point out to him the way which leads to it, give him the assurance that he shall soon be there. They remind him of the love, the power, and the faithfulness of Christ.
Conclusion: Learn from this subject--
1. One reason why so many professors of Christianity are habitually comfortless. They do not love the statutes of the Lord; or, if they love them, they do not seek their happiness in them.
2. Highly to value the Scriptures.
3. The extent to which we should endeavour to circulate the Scriptures.
4. The spirit, which becomes the Christian is a cheerful and rejoicing spirit. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
A pilgrims songs
I. The pilgrims house.
1. It is lodgment, not home.
2. It is shelter, not safety.
3. It affords convenience, but nor happiness.
II. The pilgrims song. If Gods statutes are our song, they supply a theme which can never fail us; for in all situations we have the opportunity of keeping His commandments. In all circumstances, high or low, pleasant or painful, we have to keep the statutes of the Lord. Poverty cannot silence this song; sorrow cannot dispense with it. For in poverty as in wealth, in sorrow as in joy, in keeping His commandments there is great delight. (R. Halley, M. A.)
Gods statutes, the Christians song
The human spirit is warmly and delicately alive to many external influences and impressions. Music and song are often called to aid the conceptions and feelings of the heart. And for this reason the believer applies to the Divine law all those invigorating and animating feelings which, in reference to other subjects, the men of this world fetch from minstrelsy and music.
I. Song is enlisted to animate loyalty; and the Christian makes Gods statutes his song in the house of his pilgrmage, because they animate his loyalty to his Sovereign who is in heaven.
II. Song is enlisted to animate patriotism; and the Christian makes Gods statutes his song in the house of his pilgrimage, because they animate his patriotism to the land that is afar off.
III. Song is appropriated to cherish the love of home; and the Christian makes Gods statutes his songs in the house of his pilgrimage because they foster his love of his eternal home in heaven.
IV. Song is resorted to by the traveller, in order to beguile the length and weariness of the way; and the Christian makes Gods statutes his song in the house of his pilgrimage, because they beguile the length and weariness of his pilgrimage journey through this life.
V. Song is resorted to for encouraging and emboldening the mind; and the Christian makes Gods statutes his songs in the house of his pilgrimage, because they encourage and embolden him in the face of the dangers that lie in his way.
VI. Song is employed to cherish social feeling; and the Christian makes Gods statutes his songs in the house of his pilgrimage, because they cherish and develop the social pleasures of religion.
VII. Song is employed for the sake of relaxation and amusement; and the Christian makes Gods statutes his song in the house of his pilgrimage, because his hours of relaxation and amusement cannot be more cheerfully and pleasantly spent than in awakening the music of Judahs harp. (A. Nisbet.)
Songs in the house of pilgrimage
I. True religion is an unsatisfied anticipation.
1. It is an anticipation, for there comes out in the language clearly enough--
(1) The consciousness of an indwelling spiritual nature.
(2) A consciousness of the greatness of the spiritual nature.
2. It is unsatisfied anticipation. This is suggested by the word pilgrimage, and is implied in the very sentence which tells the joy. This must be to a certain extent the result of the awakening of the religious life. It is quite true, on the one hand, that they who drink up of the water which Christ gives shall never thirst: and yet it is equally true, on the other, that we who are in this tabernacle do groan, not because we are dissatisfied, for that we would be unclothed, but because we are unsatisfied, for that we should be clothed upon.
II. True religion is a present joyous appropriation.
1. The statutes of Jehovah are the definite and authoritative declaration of the supreme law of right. The good is also the beautiful. The light which flows from Gods throne excites in us a holy glow (Rom_7:22).
2. It makes all the difference in the world in respect of the aspect of Gods statutes towards you, on which side of the wicket gate you are. If on the outside, these statutes will lift themselves up as an overhanging mountain burning with tempestuous fires and thundering forth eternal anathemas. But if on the inside, and especially if near the Cross, these statutes will become a firm path, along which your feet will run.
3. Gods statutes are the instrument of discipline. Take the yoke, and ye shall find rest.
4. Gods statutes--that is, Gods ordinances--minister unto us seasons of gracious visitation and exalted spiritual delight. (H. R. Roberts, B. A.)
Holy pilgrimage
I. What is a Christian pilgrim? He is a traveller, and as such does not expect to meet with ease and comfort, as if he were at home.
II. What does a christian pilgrim require?
1. He requires decision.
2. He requires self-effort.
3. He requires self-control.
4. He requires perseverance,
5. He requires an assurance of success. God has given us this.
II. The grand object of the Christian pilgrim. It is not to visit holy places, but to be holy. (W. Birch.)
The cheerful pilgrim
I. A good man views his residence in this world as only the house of his pilgrimage.
II. The situation, however disadvantageous, admits of cheerfulness.
III. The sources of his joy are derived from the Scripture. (W. Jay.)
Duty set to music
I. Duty set to music.
1. This is not a common experience. Men do not generally exult in responsibility and in law.
2. Though uncommon, it is
(1) Desirable. Because duty cannot be got rid of, and because its connection with us must be either a source of misery or happiness. It is--
(2) Attainable. He who loves the Lawgiver supremely will turn His laws into music.
II. Duty set to music in unfavourable circumstances.
1. Our earthly life is a house of pilgrimage--strange, unsettled, inconvenient, temporary.
2. Why, in this house of pilgrimage, we should keep up a spirit of cheerfulness.
(1) It is our best protection in a world of strangers.
(2) It is a permanent possession in a world of change.
(3) It is a spiritualizing power in a world of materialism. (Homilist.)
The transformation of slavery into liberty
Slavery, licence, liberty, law. These four words are often on mans lips. Licence is simply permission to do what one wants to do. But it requires no long experience to learn that licence results in slavery. A man sees some tempting bait of pleasure. It conceals a hook of pain. Yet he thinks it is genuine happiness. But having once caught it, and been caught by it, he is held. He may rush and dash every way in mad fury, hoping to free himself. He may even tear himself free, but he can only do it by tearing out a part of his life. It is more probable that, once caught by it, he will be held by it till what once seemed to him perfect liberty becomes to him assured slavery. A man is obliged to watch his mail as a sheriff watches his prisoner. Letters may be coming to him any morning which, if known to those that stand nearest to him, would throw him into prison or clothe his life with black shame. Licence results in sin, and sin results in slavery. Law and liberty are words quite as common to the human lips as licence and slavery. Law and liberty- law is designed to result in liberty. Perfect law does result in liberty, and liberty is simple obedience to perfect law. At first law seems to be slavery, at last law is known to be liberty. The child at the piano would hold her hand in any form convenient to herself. The faithful teacher carefully and forcibly directs the position of each joint. It is hard for the little fingers thus to keep themselves straight, and to strike from the centre of force. The teacher knows that only as there is this slavery at first can there be liberty at last. The soldier is ordered to restrain his appetite, to discipline his body, to keep every power in subjection; he and his commanding officer know that as he thus disciplines and trains himself, making himself subject to rule and order, can he be free and active in the most efficient movement when freedom and swiftness mean victory and salvation of his native land. Several of the experiences of life present occasions when the statutes of God become the songs of man, in which slavery, limitation and hardship become freedom, joy, delight. One such experience is, I think, that which we call conversion. Conversion means at once so little and so much. Conversion does not usually cause us to give up our work or place, hut conversion broadens, deepens and heightens this work. It pushes further off the grey way of circumstance, it lifts far above us the overhanging dark ceiling of fate. Conversion brings God into our life and seems to give life all that liberty which belongs to God, and therefore to His children. Thy statutes have been my songs. A second experience is common to man in which the laws, the statutes of God, may become the songs of man. It is the experience of each of us in which we try to put down some one sin. The love for money, the love for drink, the love for power, the love of any indulgence, each is still strong; but your soul, your God, have become so much stronger that you shut these baying hounds of desire in the kennel of their own deserved fate. You now rejoice so infinitely more at the righteousness of the law that you now can lament the penalty of disobedience. The law has become your song. I say again that the growth of this song element in our appreciation of Gods law marks the growth of character, A man comes to love God in obedience to the statute, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. It is obedience to a law; it is far better than disobedience. Yet one who loves in obedience to a command has not much real love. But the little love that is thus begotten begets knowledge, and this knowledge begets more love. At last a man comes to love God without thinking of the command any more than a boy loves his father and his mother because of the fifth commandment. The duty has become a right, the right a privilege, and the privilege a joy. (C. F. Thwing, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v55 I think about your name
I think about your name
Here the word "name" represents Yahweh himself. AT: "I think about you, Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
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I keep your law
This is an idiom which means to obey the law. AT: "I obey your law" (See: Idiom)
my practice
"my habit"
I have observed your instructions
This is an idiom which means to follow or to obey those instructions. AT: "I have obeyed your instructions" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
name
Yahweh
law
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.