The Treasury of David (Psalms)

Verse 176. — "For I do not forget thy commandments." In all my wandering; with my consciousness of error; with my sense of guilt; I still do feel that I love thy law, thy service, thy commandments. 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. For as such a 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," brought back, and kept from wandering any more. — Albert Barnes.

Verses 176. — "For I do not forget thy commandments." The godly never so fall but there remains in them some grace, which reserves a hope of medicine to cure them: so David here. Albeit he transgressed some of God's commandments, yet he fell not into any full oblivion of them. — William Cowper.

Verse 176. — I do not think that there could possibly be a more appropriate conclusion of such a Psalm as this, so full of the varied experience and the everchanging frames and feelings even of a child of God, in the sunshine and the cloud, in the calm and in the storm, than this ever-clinging sense of his propensity to wander, and the expression of his utter inability to find his way back without the Lord's guiding hand to restore him; and at the same time with it all, his fixed and abiding determination never to forget the Lord's commandments. What an insight into our poor wayward hearts does this verse give us — not merely liable to wander, but ever wandering, ever losing our way, ever stumbling on the dark mountains, even while cleaving to God's commandments 1 But at the same time what a prayer does it put into our mouths, "Seek thy servant," — " I am thine, save me." Yes, blessed be God I there is One mighty to save. " Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." — Barton Bouchier.

As far as I have been able, as far as I have been aided by the Lord, I have treated throughout, and expounded, this great Psalm. A task which more able and learned expositors have performed, or will perform better; nevertheless, my services were not to be withheld from it on that account, when my brethren earnestly required it of me. — Augustine.

A good memory. — I. What it should retain: God's "name " (ver. 55); God's "word " (ver. 16); God's "law " (ver. 109). The law is dilated upon under various names, "statutes " (ver. 83); "precepts " (ver. 141); "commandments " (ver. 176); "judgments " (ver. 52). II. How its retentive power may be fostered. By effort of will (ver. 16; 93). By delight in the theme (ver. 16). By a consideration of blessings received (ver. 93). III. Hindrances that must be overcome. Such as arise from severe affliction (ver. 83); from personal danger (ver. 109); and from insignificance and relative contempt (ver. 141). IV. Reasons for its cultivation. Former blessings derived (ver. 93). It furnishes ground of appeal to God (ver. 153; 176). V. The good that will spring from it. Consistent fidelity (ver. 55); or, if necessary, restoration from backsliding (ver. 176). Divine consideration (ver. 153); comfort (ver. 52); delight (ver. 16). And now the believer may appeal to the remembrance of God (ver. 49).

Spiritual understanding. — I. Is the gift of God. Jehovah (the only wise), 169. Creator (who has endowed us with our other faculties, therefore with this), 73. Master (who allots our service and therefore our qualification), 125. II. Must be sought from God. With deep sense of need, 169. With faith, 169. With per severance and importunity, 27, 34, 73, 125, 144, 169. III. Pleas to be used in the prayer for understanding. That I may learn, 73, and know thy commandments, 125. That thus I may live, 144. Hating every false way, 104. Rendering whole-hearted obedience, 34, and engaging in godly conversation, 27. IV. When obtained it must be improved by exercise in the Word of God. The entrance of the word into the heart is its dawn, 130. It increases by meditation in the word, 99. Is brought to perfection by faithful observance of the precepts of the word, 100. John vii. 17.

Show the particular shade of meaning in each of these titles, and the light they cast on the divine law and on the duty of the believer.

Holy meditation. — I. Its theme: The revealed will of God in its varied aspects; i.e. " precepts "; " statutes "; " law "; " testimonies "; " word." II. The spirit which prompts it: Love (vers. 48 and 97). Love to God will induce meditation. Neglect of meditation argues want of love. III. Its times: By " day " (ver. 97). By " night " (ver. 148); when maltreated by the world (ver. 78); when falsely accused (ver. 23). IV. Its results: A holy walk (ver. 15). Proficiency in under standing (ver. 99). Support In trial (ver. 23, 78).

If you would gladden your nights and days and your times of trial, if you would excel in heavenly wisdom, and hallow your life, abundantly occupy yourself with sacred meditation.

The subject of each portion is indicated in its first verse. Each section may serve as the subject for a discourse.

Verses 1 — 8. — The undeflled; described, in vers. 1 — 3. Such a life commanded by God is prayed for in ver. 5, and with its attendant happiness is anticipated in ver. 6 — 7, and resolved upon in ver. 8.

Verses 17 — 24. — Divine bounties desired. Life, for godly service (ver. 17). Illumination (ver. 18). Guidance homeward for the stranger (" thy command ments ") (ver. 19 — 20), and, glancing at the proud who err from this guidance (ver. 21), the Psalmist prays for removal of the " reproach " entailed by fidelity to God (ver. 22 — 24).

Verses 25 — 32. — Quickening. Prayed for with confession (ver. 25, 26). When obtained shall be talked of (ver. 27). Desired for the sake of strength (ver. 28), of truthfulness (ver. 29 — 31), and of activity (ver. 32).

Verses 33 — 40. — Faithfulness secured by divine inworking. Prayer for divine teaching, understanding, constraint, and control of heart and eyes, to ensure persevering and whole-hearted faithfulness (ver. 33 — 37). The Psalmist, thus established in the word, prays for the establishment of the word to himself (ver. 38); deprecates the reproach of unfaithfulness (ver. 39); and enforces the whole prayer by the vehemence of the desire which prompts it (ver. 40).

Verses 49 — 56. — Hope in affliction. It arises from God's word (ver. 49). It

Produces comfort (ver. 50), even in trouble caused by the wicked (ver. 51 — 53). t gladdens the believer's pilgrimage and his holy night-seasons (ver. 54 — 56).

Verses 57 — 64. — The believer's portion. The Lord is the believer's portion (ver. 57); heartily sought (ver. 58 — 60); remaining though all else be taken away (ver. 61); causing joy even at midnight (ver. 62), and the selection of congenial company (ver. 63, 64).

Verses 65 — 72. — The Lord's dealings. Gratefully acknowledged (ver. 65), and their instructiveness still desired (ver. 66), even affliction from him is " good " (ver. 67, 68), and with its beneficial result is preferred te the prosperity of the wicked (ver. 69—72).

Verses 73 — 80. — Natural and spiritual creation. The Psalmist prays to the Creator for spiritual life or " understanding " (ver. 73), he will then be welcomed by the spiritual (ver. 74). He submissively receives affliction for spiritual training (vers. 75 — 77), deprecates the hostility of the proud (ver. 78), craves the company of the spiritual (ver. 79), and prays for heart-soundness (ver. 80).

Verses 81 — 88. — Hope in depression. In the depression arising from mortal frailness (ver. 81 — 84), and from unjust persecution (ver. 85 — 87), the word of God is the source of joy and comfort.

Verses 89 — 96. — The immutable word of God. Is enthroned in heaven (ver. 89), and on earth (ver. 90, 91), is the salvation of the believer in affliction (ver. 92 — 94), his resource in danger (ver. 95), and the embodiment of perfection (ver. 96).

Verses 105 — 112. — The word a lamp. For guidance (ver. 105, 106). For life in affliction (ver. 107). For preservation in peril of enemies (ver. 109, 110). For joy of heart (ver. Ill, 112).

Verses 113 — 120. — Vain thoughts contrasted with God's law. The believer takes sides (ver. 113 — 115); prays for upholding in the law (ver. 116, 117); contemplates the fate of the followers of vain thoughts (ver. 118, 119); and expresses the godly fear thereby inspired (ver. 120).

Verses 121 — 128. — The just man's prayer against injustice. Out of the prison of oppression he appeals to God to be his surety (ver. 121, 122); utters his weary longing for deliverance (ver. 123 — 125); points to the " time " (ver. 126); and 'professes his supreme love for God's law in contrast to the oppressors' contempt of it (ver. 127, 128).

Verses 129 — 136. — The wonderfulness of God's testimonies. Declared (ver. 129), instanced as light-giving (ver. 130), pantingly longed for (ver. 131). An appeal for divine ordering in the word (ver. 132 — 135). Grief at its rejection by others (ver. 136).

Verses 137 — 144. — The righteousness of God and his word. Declared (ver. 137, 138). Indignation at the forgetfulness of the enemies (ver. 139). The purity of the word

(ver. 140, 141). This righteousness of God and of his testimonies is everlasting (ver. 142 — 144).

Verses 145—152. — The believer's cry. The reiterated cry (ver. 145 — 148). An appeal for audience (ver. 149). The nearness of the enemy perceived (ver. 150). But, in response to the cry, God is also near (ver. 151).

Verses 161 — 168. — What the word is to the believer. The object of awe (ver. 161), joy (ver. 162), love (ver. 163), praise (ver. 164), the producer of peace Tver. 165), and hope (166); therefore exceedingly loved (ver. 167), and faithfully kept (ver. 168).

Verses 169 — 176. — The concluding cry. Bespeaking audience for his cry, the Psalmist asks for understanding and deliverance (ver. 169, 170); promises to praise God (ver. 171), and to speak of God (ver. 172), and again cries for help (ver. 173), salvation (ver. 174), life (ver. 175), and restoration (ver. 176).

Verse 1. — "Blessed." True blessedness lies in — I. Deniement avoided by the word. II. Delight experienced in the word.

Verse 1. — Spiritual pedestrians are often mentioned in this Psalm. Model travellers are described in this passage. Observe, — I. Their Character: " Undefiled." They are so (1) m Christ: found in him; complete; accepted. They are so (2) by Christ: His spirit, truth, and grace are in them. " Chosen generation," " peculiar people." II. Their path: " the law of the Lord." This path is (1) Conspicuoushigh, visible, distinguished from every other. (2) Ancient. The old path. Holiness is older than sin, wisdom than folly, life than death, joy than sorrow. (3) Safe. Christ has repaired it. Apart from his work none can pass safely over. He has brought down mountains, raised up valleys, made crooked places straight, and rough places smooth. He has driven away the lion. (4) Narrow. It has a fence of commands on one side, and of prohibitions on the other. It is entered by a strait gate, which renders it necessary for the great to become as little children. III. Their progress: "walk." Not only talk, but s^ep in the footprints of Jesus. Follow the law-fulflller. They proceed in the exercise of his graces, in the exhibition of his virtues, in the fulfilment of his injunctions, and in the enjoyment of his favours. IV. Their happiness: " Blessed." They have unfailing help, suitable company, animating prospects on the way. — W. Jackson, 1882.

Verse 2. — "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart." I. The sacred Quest: " Seek him." He has been sought among the trees, the hills, the planets, the stars. He has been sought in his own defaced image, man. He has been sought amid the mysterious wheels of Providence. But these quests have often been prompted simply by intellect, or compelled by conscience, and have therefore resulted but in a cold, faint light. He has been sought in the word which this Psalm so highly extols, when it has led up the smoke-covered and gleaming peaks of Sinai. It has been followed, when it has led beneath the olives of Gethsemane to witness a mysterious struggle hi blood-sweating and anguish; to Calvary, where, in the place of a skull, life and immortality are brought to light. The sacred quest but there begins. II. The Conduct of the Quest. Seekers might be mistakenly dejected by so literal an interpretation of the " whole heart." We do not hesitate to say a stream is in its whole volume flowing toward sea while there are little side creeks in which the water eddies backward; or to say the tide is coming despite receding waves; or that spring is upon us despite hail-storm and biting wind. Indication of, 1. Unity. 2. Intensity. 3. Determination. No one conducts this quest aright who is not prompted to or sustained in it by the gracious Spirit. III. Blessedness both in the pursuit and issue. 1. Blessedness in the bitterness of penitence. The door-handle touched by him drops of myrrh. The rising sun sends kindling beams upon the highest peaks. 2. Blessedness in the gladsome findings of salvation and adoption. 3. Blessedness in the perpetual pursuit. — William Anderson, 1882.

Verse 2. — The double blessing.* I. On keeping the testimonies. II. On seeking the Lord.

Verse 2. — "That seek him with the whole heart." I. Seek what? God himself. No peace until he is found. II. Seek where? In his testimonies. 1. By studying them. 2. By keeping to them. III. Seek how? With the whole heart. — George Rogers.

Verse 2. — Seeking for God. I. The Psalmist's way of seeking God. 1. He sought God with the heart. Only the heart can find God. Sight fails. " The scientific method " fails. All reason fails. Only love and trust can succeed. Love sees much where all other perception finds nothing. Faith generally goes with discovery, and nowhere so much as in finding God. 2. He sought God with all his heart. (1) Halfheartedness seldom finds anything worth having. (2) Half-heartedness shows contempt for God. (3) God will not reveal himself to half-heartedness. It would be putting the highest premium possible upon indifference. II. The Psalmist's plea in seeking God: " Let me not wander from thy commandments." 1. God's com mandments lead, presently, into his own presence. If we take even the moral law,

every one of the ten commandments leads away from the world, and sin, Into that seclusion of holiness in which he hides. It is thus vrith all the commandments of the Scriptures. 2. The earnestness of the soul's search for God becomes, in itself, a plea with God that he will be found of us. God. who loves importunity in prayer, loves it no less when it takes the form of searching with all the heart. He who seeks with all the heart finds special encouragement to pray: " Let me not wander from thy commandments." — F. G. Marchant.

Verse 2. — "That seek him." We must remember six conditions required in them who would seek the Lord rightly. I. We must seek him in Christ the Mediator. John xiv. 6. II. We must seek him in truth. Jer. x. 10; John iv. 24; Ps. vii. 6. III. We must seek him in holiness. 2 Tim. ii. 19; Heb. xii. 14; 1 John iii. IV. We must seek him above all things and for himself. V. We must seek him by the light of his own word. VI. We must seek him diligently and with perseverance, never resting till we find him, with the spouse in the Canticles. — William Coivper.

Verses 2, 4, 5, 8. — " Blessed are they that keep." " Thou hast commanded us to keep." " O that my ways were directed to keep." " I will keep." The blessedness of keeping God's precepts — displayed (2), commanded (4), prayed for (5), resolved upon (8).— C. A. D.

Verse 3. — "They also do no iniquity." They work no iniquity with — 1. Purpose of heart; 2. Delight; 3. Perseverance; 4. Nor at all when the heart is fully sanctified unto God; Christ dwelling in it by faith, and casting out sin. — Adam Clarke.

Verse 3. — The relation between negative and positive virtue. Or walking with God the best preventive of iniquity.

Verse 4. — I. Take notice of the law-giver: " Thou." Not thy equal, or one that will be baffled, but the great God. II. He hath interposed his authority: " hast commanded." III. The nature of this obedience, or the thing commanded: " To keep thy precepts." — T. Manlon.

Verse 4. — The supplementary commandment. God having ordained the moral law, supplements it with a commandment prescribing the manner of keeping it. Hence: I. God is not indifferent to men's treatment of his law — whether they observe, neglect, or defy it. II. When observed, God discriminates the spirit of its observance, whether slavish, partial, careless, or diligent. III. There is but one spirit of obedience, whether slavish, partial, careless, or diligent. III. There is but one spirit of obedience which satisfies God's requirements. " Diligently " implies an obedience which is, — careful to ascertain the law — prompt to fulfil it (ver. 60) — unreserved — love-inspired (" diligently," old meaning, through the Latin, " lovingly," ver. 47, 97, 113). IV. Does our obedience come up to this standard? — C. A. D.

Verse 4. — Not only is service commanded, but the manner of it. Heartiness, care, perseverance required, because without these it will not be true, uniform, or victorious over difficulty.

Verse 5. — The prayer of the gracious. I. Suggested by eacli preceding clause of blessing. II. By a consciousness of failure. III. By a loving clinging to the Lord.

Verse 5. — I. The end desired: " To keep thy statutes." Not to be safe merely, or happy, but holy. II. The help implored. 1. To understand the divine precepts.

Verse 5. — Longing to obey. 1. It is a noble aspiration. There is nothing grander than the desire to do this except the doing of it. 2. // is a spiritual aspiration. Not the offspring of our carnal nature. It is the heart of God in the new creature.

3. It is a practicable aspiration. We sometimes sigh for the impossible. But this may be attained by divine grace. 4. It is an intense aspiration. It is the " Oh 1 " of a burning wish. 5. It is an influential aspiration. It does not evaporate in sighs. It is a mighty incentive implanted by grace which will not let us rest without holiness. — W. J.

Verse 6. — The armour of proof. I. Universal obedience will give unabashed confidence — 1. Before the criticising world. 2. In the court of conscience. 3. At the throne of grace. 4. In the day of judgment. II. But our obedience is far from

universal, and leaves us open to — 1. The world's shafts. 2. The rebukes of con science. 3. It paralyses our prayers, and, 4. It dares not appear for us at the bar of God. III. Then let us by faith wrap ourselves in the perfect righteousness of Christ. Our answer to the world's cavil. We are not faultless, and for salvation we rest wholly on another. This righteousness is — 1. The salve of our wounded conscience. 2. Our mighty plea in prayer. 3. Our triumphant vindication in the judgment day. — C. A. D.

Verse 6. — Topic: — Self-respect depends on respect for one greater than self. —

Verse 7. — The best of praise, the best of learning, the best of blendings, viz., praise and holiness.

Verse 7. — Learning and praising. I. They are two spiritual exercises. It is possible for learners and singers to be carnal and sensual; but in this case they are employed about the righteous ends, works, and ways of the Lord. II. They are two appro priate exercises. What can be more seemly than to learn of God and to praise him? III. They are two profitable exercises. The expectations of the most utilitarian are surpassed. The pleasure and the profit yield abundant reward. Heart, head, life are all benefited. IV. They are two mutually-assisting exercises. In the one we are receptive, and in the other communicative. By the one we are fitted to do the other. By the former we are stimulated to do the latter. How wonderfully the lesson is turned into a song, and the learner into a singer. — W. J.

Verse 7. — I. Deficiency confessed: " When I shall have learned." This is essential to growth. It is an admission all can truly make. II. Progress anticipated. He gave his heart to the work of learning. He sought divine help. III. Praise promised. He promised it to God alone. He vowed it should be sincere: " with upright heart."— W. Williams, 1882.

Verse 8. — I. The resolution: " I will keep," etc. II. The petition: " O forsake me not utterly." 1. Filial submission. I deserve it occasionally. 2. Filial con fidence. " Not utterly." III. The connection between the two. Obedience without prayer and prayer without obedience are equally in vain. To make headway both oars must be applied. God cannot abide lazy beggars, who while they can get anything by asking will not work. — G. R.

Verse 8. — "0 forsake me not utterly." Divine desertion deprecated. I. The anguished prayer. 1. Sovereign forsakings. Sovereignty is not arbitrariness or capriciousness; perhaps its right definition is mysterious kingly love; unknown now, but justified when revealed. 2. Vicarious forsakings. 3. Forsakings on account of sin. David, Jonah, and Peter. The seven churches of Asia; the Jews. But to know what "utter " both in regard to degree and time means, we must go to hell. Like one trembling on the very verge of hell, he prays. Like belated traveller, in vast wood and surrounded by beasts of prey, sighs at day's departure. Like the watch on the raft, seeing the sail that he has shouted himself hoarse to stop fading away in the sky line. II. Its doctrinal foundation. Where he condescendeth to dwell, his abode is perpetual. He can only utterly forsake us because he was deceived in us. He can only utterly forsake because baffled. Both imply blasphemy. Thou who hatest putting away, thou who hast never yet utterly forsaken any saint, make not me the solitary exception. III. Historical certainty of answer. The saint and the church in all time delivered. It may tarry till " eventide," as in Cowper's case. His face bore after death an expression of delighted suprprise. — W. A.

Verse 9. — In the word of God, when applied to the heart by the Spirit of God, there is, I. A sufficiency of light to discover to men the need of cleansing their way. II. Sufficiency of energy for the cleansing their way. III. A sufficiency of pleasure to encourage them to choose to cleanse their way. IV. A sufficiency of support to sustain them in their cleansed way. — Theophilus Jones, in a "Sermon to the Young," 1829.

Verse 9. — The word of God provides for the cleansing of the way, I. By pointing out to the young man the evil of the way. II. By discovering an infallible remedy

for the disorders of his nature — the salvation that is by Jesus Christ. III. By becoming a directory in all the paths of duty to which he may be called. — Daniel Wilson, 1828.

Verse 9. — The Psalmist's rules for the attainment of holiness deduced from his own experience. 1. Seek God with thy " whole heart " (ver. 2). Be truly sensible of your wants. 2. Keep and remember what God says (ver. 11): "Thy word have I hidden," etc. 3. Reduce all this to practice (ver. 11): " That I might not sin against thee." 4. Bless God for what he has given (ver. 12): " Blessed art thou," etc. 5. Ask more (ver. 12): " Teach me thy statutes." 6. Be ready to communicate his knowledge to others (ver. 13): " With my lips have I declared." 7. Let it have a due effect on thy own heart (ver. 14): " I have rejoiced," etc. 8. Meditate frequently upon them (ver. 15): " I will meditate," etc. 9. Deeply reflect on them (ver. 16): " I will have respect," etc. As food undigested will not nourish the body, so the word of God not considered with deep meditation and reflection will not feed the soul. 10. Having pursued the above course he should continue in it, and then his happiness would be secured (ver. 16): " I will not forget thy word: I will (in consequence) delight myself in thy statutes." — Adam Clarke.

Verse 9. — A question and answer for the young. The Bible is a book for young people. Here it intimates, I. That the young man's way needs to be cleansed. His way of thinking, feeling, speaking, acting. II. That he must take an active part in the work. The efficient cause in the operation is God. Other good influences are also at work. But the young man must be in hearty and practical sympathy with the work. III. That he must use the Bible for the purpose. This records facts, presents incitations, enjoins precepts, utters promises, and sets up examples, all which are adapted to make a young man holy. By reading, studying, and imitating the Scriptures in a lowly and prayerful spirit the young shall escape pollution and ornament society. — W. J.

Verse 9. — A word to the young. I. Show how the young man is in special danger of defiling his way. Through, 1. His strong passions. 2. His immature judgment. 3. His inexperience. 4. His rash self-sufficiency. 5. His light com panions, and, 6. His general heedlessness. II. The circumspection he should use to cleanse his way. "Taking heed," 1. Of his evil propensities. 2. Of his companions. 3. Of his pursuits. 4. Of the tendencies of all he does. III. The infallible guide by which his circumspection is to be regulated: "according to thy word " — that is to say, 1. Its precepts. 2. Its examples. 3. Its motives. 4. Its warnings. 5. Its allurements. — C. A. D.

Verse 10. — The believer's two great solicitudes. 1. What he is anxious to find: " I have sought thee." 2. What he is afraid of losing: " Thy commandments." — W.D.

Verse 10. — Sincerity not self-sufficiency. I. The believer must be conscious of whole-heartedness in seeking God. II. But consciousness of sincerity does not warrant self-sufficiency. III. The most whole-hearted seeker must still look to divine grace to keep him from wandering. — C. A. D.

Verse 11. — The best thing, in the best place, for the best of purposes.

Verse 12. — The blessedness of God, and the mode of entering into it.

Verse 12. — I. What it is, or how God doth teach us. 1. God doth teach us outwardly; by his ordinances, by the ministry of men. 2. Inwardly; by the inspiration and work of the Holy Ghost. II. The necessity of his teaching. III. The benefit and utility of it. — T. Manton.

Verse 12. — Desire for Divine Teaching excited by the Recognition of Divine Blessed ness. I. Unveil in some inadequate degree the happiness of the ever blessed God, arising from his purity, benevolence, love. II. Show the way in which man may become partaker of that blessedness by conformity to his precepts. III. Utter the prayer of the text. — C. A. D.

Verse 13. — Speech fitly employed. It is occupied with a choice subject, a full subject, a subject profitable to men, and glorifying to God.

Verse 14. — Practical religion, the source of a comfort surpassing riches. It gives a man ease of mind, independence of carriage, weight of influence, and other matters supposed to arise out of wealth.

Verse 14. — I. The subject of rejoicing. Not the " testimonies " merely, but their observances, " the way of," etc. II. The rejoicing in that subject. 1. In its inward peace. 2. In its external consequences. III. The degree of the rejoicing: " as much as," etc. — G. R.

Verse 14. — The two scales of the balance. Whatever riches are good for, God's testimonies are good for. I. Riches are desirable as the means of procuring the necessaries of life; but God's testimonies supply the necessities of the soul. II. Riches are desirable as a means of procuring personal enjoyment; but God's testimonies produce the highest joy. III. Riches are desirable as a means of attaining personal improvement; but God's testimonies are the highest educators.

IV. Riches are desirable as a means of doing good; but God's testimonies work the highest good. — C. A. D.

Verse 15. — The contemplative and active life; their common food, object, and reward.

Verse 16. — I. What there is to be delighted in. II. WThat comes of such delight: ' I will never forget." III. What comes of such memory — more delight.

Verse 17. — We are here taught, I. That we owe our lives to God's mercy. II. That therefore we ought to spend our lives in God's service. — Matthew Henry.

Verse 18. — The hidden wonders of the gospel. There are many hidden things in nature; many in our fellow men; so there are many in the Bible. The things of the Bible are hidden because of the blindness of man. I. The blind man's sorrow: " Open mine eyes." I cannot see. I have eyes and see not. The pain of this conscious blindness when a man really feels it. II. The blind man's conviction: " That I may behold wondrous," etc. There are wondrous things there to be seen. I am sure of it. There is a wonderful view, — (1) of sin; (2) of hell, as its desert; (3) of One ready to save; (4) of perfect pardon; (5) of God's love; (6) of all-sufficient grace; (7) of heaven. III. The blind man's wisdom. The fault is in my eyes, not in thy word. " Open my eyes," and all will be well. The reason for not seeing is because the eyes are blinded by sin. There is nothing wanting in the Bible. IV. The blind man's prayer: " Open thou mine eyes." 1. I cannot open them. 2. My dearest friends cannot. 3. Only thou canst. " Lord, I pray thee, now open them." Many seek to stop such praying. Be like Bartimeus who "cried so much the more."

V. The blind man's anticipation: " That I may behold." 1. The joy of a cured blind man when he is about to behold, for the first time, the beauties of nature. 2. The joy of the spiritually healed when they begin " looking unto Jesus." 3. The personal character of the joy: " Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold." I have hitherto had to see through the eyes of others. I would depend on other eyes no longer. The glad anticipation of Job: " Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another." — Frederick G. Marchant, 1882.

Verse 18. — God's word suited to man's sense of wonder. I. We shall make some remarks on the sense of wonder in man, and what generally excites it. One of the first causes of wonder is the new or unexpected. The second source is to be found in things beautiful and grand. A third source is the mysterious which surrounds manthere are things unknowable. II. God has made provision for this sense of wonder in his revealed word. The Bible addresses our sense of wonder by constantly pre senting the new and unexpected to us; it sets before us things beautiful and grand. 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. 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 behold wondrous things out of thy law." — John Ker, of Glasgow, 1877.

Verse 18. — Wondrous sights for opened eyes. I. The wondrous things in God's law. A wondrous rule of life. A wondrous curse against transgression. A wondrous redemption from the curse shadowed forth in the ceremonial law. II. Special eyesight needed to behold them. They are spiritual things. Men are spiritually blind. 1 Cor. ii. 14. III. Personal prayer to the Great Opener of eyes. — C. A. D.

Verse 19. — An insight into the divine will, the best assistance in our journey through the earth. Or, what I am; where I am; where I am going: how am I to get there?

Verse 19 (first clause). — The stranger in the earth. I. A short exposition. The text means, — 1. That the saint is not born of the earth. 2. That the saint is not known on earth. 3. The saint's portion is not upon the earth. 4. The saint is compassed with sorrows and trials upon earth. 5. The saint is soon to leave the earth. II. A short application. 1. Do not be like the world. 2. Be prepared to be a sufferer on the earth. 3. Sit loose to the world. 4. Correspond with home. 5. Cherish brotherly love for your fellow-strangers on the earth. 6. Hasten home. 7. Press others to come with you. — Duncan Macgregor's Sermon in "The Shepherd in Israel," 1869.

Verse 19. — The stranger's prayer. I. How he came to be a stranger in the earth. He was born again. He learned the manners of his foreign home. He spoke the language of his Fatherland; and so was misunderstood and rejected on earth.

II. How he longed after everything homelike. Home rules: " thy commandments." Home teaching: " hide not." Specially his Father's voice. III. How in his loneliness he solaced himself by communication with his Father. IV. Would you not like to be a stranger? — C. A. D.

Verse 20. — I. The word sought, and sought at all times. II. The word sought, and sought with intense desire. III. The word sought, and sought the more in tensely the more it is found. It was because he had found so much in the word of the Lord already, that the soul of the Psalmist was breaking to find more. Those who have been once admitted to " the secret of the Lord " find their highest joy in knowing that secret still more fully. It is to those who know that secret that the promise is given: " He will shew them his covenant: " Ps. xxv. 14. — F. G. M.

Verse 20. — One of the best tests of character and prophecies of what a man will be, are his longings. I. The saint's absorbing object: " Thy judgments." The word here is synonymous with the " word " of God. 1. The Psalmist greatly reverenced the word. 2. He intensely desired to know its contents. 3. He wishes to feed upon God's word. 4. He longed to obey it. 5. He longed to feel the power of God's judgments in his own heart. II. The saint's ardent longings. 1. They constitute a living experience. 2. The expression used in the text represents a humble sense of imperfection. 3. It indicates an advanced experience. 4. It is an experience which we may term a bitter sweet. 5. These longings may become very wearying to a man's soul. III. Cheering reflections. 1. God is at work in your soul. 2. The result of God's work is very precious. 3. It is leading on to something more precious. 4. The desire itself is doing you good. 5. It makes Christ precious. See " Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1586: " Holy Longings."

Verse 21. — I. The character of the proud. II. God's dealings with them. III. Our own relation to them.

Verse 23. — Meditation. I. Our best employment while others slander. II. Our best comfort under their falsehood. III. Our best preservative from a spirit of revenge. IV. Our best mode of showing our superiority to their attacks.

Verse 24. — I. He reverenced them as God's testimonies. II. He revelled in them as his delight. III. He referred to them as his counsellors.

Verse 25. — I. Nature and its tendency. II. Grace and its mode of operation.

III. Both truths in their personal application.

Verse 25. — "Quicken thou me," etc. I. There are many reasons why we should seek quickening. 1. Because of the deadening influence of the world. " My soul cleaveth," etc. 2. The influence of vanity (see ver. 37). 3. Because we are sur rounded by deceivers (see ver. 87, 88). 4. Because of the effect of seasons of affliction upon us (see ver. 7). II. Some of the motives for seeking quickening. 1. Because of what you are — a Christian; life seeks more life. 2. Because of what you ought to be. 3. Because of what we shall be. 4. In order to obedience (see ver. 88). 5. For your comfort (ver. 107 and 50). 6. As the best security against the attacks of enemies (ver. 87 and 88). 7. To invigorate our memories (ver. 93). 8. Consider (as a motive to seek this quickening) the terrible consequences of losing spiritual life or, in other words, lacking it in its manifest display. III. Some of the ways in which the quickening may be brought to us. 1. It must be by the Lord himself.

" Quicken me, O Lord." 2. By the turning of the eyes (ver. 37). 3. By the word (ver. 50). 4. By the precepts (ver. 93). 5. By affliction (ver. 107). 6. By divine comforts. IV. Enquire where are our pleas when we come before God to ask for quickening. 1. Our necessity (ver. 107, etc.). 2. Our earnest desire (ver. 40). 3. Appeal to God's righteousness (ver. 40). 4. To his lovingkindness (ver. 88, 149, 156). 5. The plea in the text: " according to thy word " (ver. 28 and 107). See " Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1350: " Enlivening and Invigorating."

Verse 26. — I. The duty: " I have declared my ways " — made known my experience of thy word to others. II. Its notice by God: " Thou heardest me." III. Its reward. More knowledge will be given: " Teach me," etc. — G. R.

Verse 27. — I. A student's prayer. 1. It deals with the main subject of the conversation which is to be that student's occupation — " the way of God's precepts." 2. A confession is implied: " Make me," etc. 3. A great boon is asked — to under stand, to know, thy statutes. 4. The Fountain of all wisdom is applied to. II. The occupation of the instructed man. 1. He testifies of God's works — his wondrous works — Christ's work for us; the Holy Spirit's work in us. The wonderful character of these works of God, a wide field for devout study. 2. He speaks very plainly: " I will talk," etc. 3. He will speak very frequently: " I will talk." 4. He will speak to the point: " So " — i.e., according to understanding. III. The intimate relation between the prayer of the student and the pursuit that he subsequently followed. See " Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1344: " The Student's Prayer."

Verse 29. — The way of lying. I. Describe the way of lying. Various paths, e.g., erroneous views of doctrine: false grounds of faith: looseness of practice: shrinking from the daily cross. II. Show why it is thus named. It does not furnish its promised pleasures. It does not lead to its professed goal. It lies through the territory of the father of lies. III. Notice the peculiarity in the prayer against it. Not remove me from, but remove from me: for the way of lying is within us. IV. Our deliverance from the way of lying lies with God. — C. A. D.

Verses 29, 30. — I. The way of lying, our wish to have it removed, and the method of answer. II. The way of truth, our choice, and the method of carrying it out.

Verse 31. — Reasons for sticking to the Divine testimonies.

Verse 32. — The Fettered Racer set free. I. The course that invited him. II. The shackles that bound him. III. The impatience that prompted him. IV. The Lord that freed him. V. Now let him go. — C. A. D.

Verse 32.— I. Liberty desired. II. Liberty rightly used. Or, the effect of the heart upon the feet.

Verse 32. — The text will give us occasion to speak, 1. Of the benefit of an enlarged heart. The necessary precedency of this work on God's part, before there can be any serious bent or motion of heart towards God on our part. 3. The subsequent resolution of the saints to engage their hearts to live to God. 4. With what earnest ness, alacrity and vigour of spirit this work is to be carried on: "I will run." — T. Manton.

Verse 32. — I. The way of obedience: " Thy commandments." II. The duty of obedience: " I will run " — not stand still — not loiter — not creep — not walk, but run. III. The life of obedience. 1. Where it lies— in the heart. 2. Whence it comes: " When thou shalt," etc. 3. What it does — enlarges the heart. — G. R.

Verse 33. — In this prayer for grace observe, 1. The person to whom he prays: "0 Lord." 2. The person for whom: " teach me." 3. The grace for which he prayeth: to be taught. 4. The object of this teaching: " The way of thy statutes." The teaching which he beggeth, is not speculative, but practical, to learn how to walk in the way of God. — T. Manton.

Verse 33. — The superior efficacy of divine teaching: it secures holy practice and insures its perpetuity.

Verses 33, 34. — Light from above. I. The blinding power of sin. " Teach me," i.e., " point out to me." " Give me understanding." Whatever may have been

the original amount of light which came from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that light has long been insufficient. 1. Men need light to discern the right way from the wrong. 2. Men need light to understand the beauties of the right way. Such beauties line the way of truth on either hand, but only the Godtaught mind appreciates them. Even Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, is as a root out of a dry ground, till the mind is taught of the Lord. Sin is the cause of this blindness. The farther any man walks in the way of sin, the less can he see of the beauties of holiness. II. The enlightening grace of the Lord. " Teach me." " Give me understanding." This grace, 1. May be boldly asked: " If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God." 2. Will be freely given. " \Vho giveth to all men liberally." " Ask, and it shall be given." 3. Will be amply sufficient. " I shall keep it unto the end." " I shall keep Thy law." To see is to follow. III. The stimulating power of clearly revealed truth. " I shall observe it with my whole heart." To see is not only to follow, but to follow with love and gladness. It is written of the light which will come before the throne, " We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." " O thou, that dwellest between the Cherubim, shine forth," even here, on the way that leads to thy presence. — F. G. M.

Verses 33 — 36. — Human Dependence on Divine help. I. There can be no steady keeping in the way of the Lord without the Lord's guidance: ver. 33. II. There can be no observing of the way with the heart without Divine light for the mind: ver. 34. III. There can be no diligent pursuit of the way till divine energy be given to the will: ver. 35. IV. There can be no true love of the way unless the heart be constrained by the love of God: ver. 36. He who said, " Without me ye can do nothing," is necessary for us to see the way, to understand the way, to walk in the way, and to love the way. — F. G. M.

Verse 34. — The influence of the understanding upon the heart, and the united power of understanding and heart over the life.

Verse 34. — Seeing and loving. I. When men see they love (the whole verse).

II. When men love they see. Only the loving heart would have seen enough to write such a verse. — F. G. M.

Verse 35. — The prayer of a child, and the delight of a child. Or, Our pleasure in holiness a plea for grace.

Verse 36. — Holiness a cure for covetousness.

Verses 36, 112. — The Co-operation of the Divine and the Human in Salvation.

1. It is God that workcth in you: ver. 36. II. Therefore work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: ver. 112. — C. A. D.

Verse 37. — "Quicken thou me in thy way." This brief prayer — 1. Deals with the believer's frequent need. II It directs us to the sole worker of quickening: " Thou."

III. It describes the sphere of renewed vigour: " in thy way." IV. It denotes that there may be special reasons and special seasons for this prayer — times of temptation: ver. 37; seasons of aflliction: ver. 107; when called to some extraordinary service. See " Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1073: " A Honeycomb."

Verse 37. — David prays, (1) for restraining grace that he might be prevented and kept back from that which would hinder him in the way of his duty: " Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." He prays (2) for constraining grace, that he might not only be kept from everything that would obstruct his progress heaven-ward, but that he might have that grace which was necessary to forward him in that progress: " Quicken thou me in thy way." — A/. Henry.

Verse 38. — Fear of God evidences itself, 1. By a dread of his displeasure.

2. Desire of his favour. 3. Regard for his excellencies. 4. Submission to his will. 5. Gratitude for his benefits. 6. Conscientious obedience to his com mands. — Charles Buck.

Verse 38. — The four kinds of fear. 1. The fear of man, by which we are led rather to do wrong than to suffer evil. 2. Servile fear, through which we are induced to avoid sin only from the dread of hell. 3. Initial fear, in which we avoid sin partly from the fear of hell, but partly also from the love of God, which is the fear of ordinary Christians. 4. Filial fear, when we are afraid to disobey God only and altogether from the love we bear him. Jer. xxxii. 40. — Ayguan, in J. Edward Vaux's "Preacher's Storehouse," 1878.

Verse 39. — The reproach of inconsistency. I. The dishonour caused by it (2 Sam. xii. 14). II. The danger of incurring it. III. The prayer against it. — C. A. D.

Verse 40. — I. Gracious longings experienced. II. Great necessity felt — more life needed. III. Wise petition offered.

Verse 41. — I. God's mercies come to us unsought continually. His sparing mercies, temporal mercies, etc. II. The chief outcome of God's mercies is his salvation. It is our greatest need; it is his greatest gift. III. We should have a personal interest in tllis salvation: " Let thy mercies come also unto me." IV. When we seek God's salvation, we may plead his promise: " according to thy word."— Horatio Wilkins, 1882.

Verse 41. — " Even me." I. In me there is need of mercy. II. To me mercy can come. III. Thy salvation suits me. IV. Special difficulties would daunt me. V. Thy word encourages me.

Verse 41. — I. Salvation is all of mercy. II. All mercies are in salvation. III. All men should be anxious for salvation to come to them. IV. It can only come according to God's word. — W. W.

Verse 42. — Faith's answer to reproach found in the fact that she trusts God's word.

Verse 43. — How the true preacher could be silenced, and his plea that he may not be so.

Verse 44. — The perpetuity of gracious living. On what it is conditioned: " So." How entirely it is consistent with free agency: " I keep." How continuous it is, and how eternal.

Verse 44. — Heaven begun below. I. The present life of the believer — keeping God's law. II. The continual care of the believer — to keep God's law. III. The eternal prospect of the believer — keeping God's law for ever and ever. — C. A. D.

Verses 45 — 47.— Liberty of walk. Liberty of speech. Liberty of heart.

Verses 45 — 48. — The true freeman enjoys — 1. Free walk with God. 2. Free talk about God. 3. Free love unto God. 4. Free exercise of soul, (1) in holy practice; (2) in heavenly meditation. — W. Durban.

Verses 45 — 48. — Five things the Psalmist promiseth himself here in the strength of God's grace. 1. That he should be free and easy in his duty: " I will walk at liberty." 2. That he should be bold and courageous in his duty: " I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings." 3. That he should be cheeiful and pleasant in his duty: " I will delight myself in thy commandments." 4. That he should be diligent and vigorous in his duty: " I will delight myself in thy commandments." 5. That he should be thoughtful and considerate in his duty: " I will meditate in thy statutes." — M. Henry.

Verse 46. — I. The truly earnest must speak. II. They are at no loss for good subjects: " Thy testimonies." The range is boundless — the variety endless. III. They never fear any audience: " before kings." — W. W.

Verse 48. — I. Love renewing its activity. II. Love refreshing itself with spiritual food.

Verse 48.— I. Scripture in the hand for reading. Often in the hand. II. In

Verse 48. — Religion engaged the whole manhood of David: hands, heart, head. I. The uplifted hands. 1. Taking an oath of allegiance to God's word. Gen. xiv. 22; Ezek. xx. 28. To receive its doctrines, obey its precepts, regard its warnings, uphold its honour. 2. Imploring a blessing upon God's word. Gen. xlviii. 14; Lev. ix. 22; Luke xxiv. 50. That its light might spread: " Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel; " that its influence may become universal. II. The loyal heart.

1. This accounts for uplifted hands. He had loved the word himself. Religion is inward first, then outward. We must love it before we are anxious to spread it.

2. But what accounts for the loyal heart? The word had brought him salvation, yielded him sustenance, afforded him guidance. We love the word for its joyous effects upon ourselves. III. The studious mind. 1. Devout meditation the best employment. 2. The word of God affords a grand field for it. 3. To meditate in it learn to love it: " have loved," " will meditate." — W. W.

Verse 48. — I. God's commandments loved. We love the law when we love the Lawgiver. We love his will only when our hearts are reconciled and renewed. Hence the need of spiritual renewal. II. God's commandments the subject of prayer: " My hands also will I lift up." Perowne says, " The expression denotes the act of prayer." We may pray for a fuller knowledge, a deeper experience, a readier and more perfect obedience. III. A theme for meditation. Amidst the hurry of outward activities we must not forget the need of quiet meditation. — H. W.

Verse 49. — I. The personality of the word: " the word unto thy servant."

II. The application of the word: " upon which thou hast caused me to hope."

III. The pleading of the word: " Remember the word," etc.

Verse 49. — The word of hope. I. God's word the foundation of human hope. (The fact of a revelation. The substance of the revelation.) II. Particular words of God which have been found peculiarly hope-enkindling. III. The pleading of such words at the throne of grace. — C. A. D.

Verse 50. — Each man has his own affliction and his own consolotion. Quickened piety the best comfort. The word the means of it.

Verse 51. — The proud man's contumely, and the gracious man's constancy.

Verse 51. — Fidelity in the face of contempt. I. The proud deride the believer's subjection to God's law. II. They ridicule the believer's delight in God's service. III. They are met by the believer's resolution to cleave to God. 2 Sam. vi. 20, 22. — C. A. D.

Verse 52. — Comfort derived from a review of the ancient doings of the Lord towards the wicked and his people.

Verse 52. — I. The dead speaking to the living. II. The living listening to the dead.— G. R.

Verse 52. — Sweet water from a dark well. I. God's judgments are calculated to inspire terror. II. But they prove God's superintending care over the world. III. They are ever against sin, and for holiness. IV. In all times of judgment God delivers his people. Noah, Lot, etc. V. Therefore God's judgments are a source of comfort to the believer. — C. A. D.

Verse 53. — The sensations of godly men at the sight of sinners: horror at their crime, their perseverance in it, their rejection of grace, and their end.

Verse 53. — Horror-stricken. I. The guilt and danger of impenitent sinners.

II. The horror and concern of godly spectators. III. The prayer and labour which such concern should dictate. — C. A. D.

Verse 54. — Here is — I. Light in darkness. II. Companionship in solitude.

Verse 54. — The cheerful pilgrim. I. A good man views his residence in this world as only the house of his pilgrimage. II. The situation, however disad vantageous, admits of cheerfulness. III. The sources of his joy are derived from the Scriptures. — W. Jay.

Verse 56. — The gains of godliness; or, what a man gets through holy living.

Verse 57. — I. The infinite possession: " Thou art my portion, O LORD." Notice— 1. A clear distinction made by the Psalmist between his portion and that of the ungodly here and hereafter: See Ps. Ixxiii. 2. A positive claim: " Thou art my portion, O LORD." This " portion " is boundless, abiding, appropriate, satisfying, elevating, all of grace. II. The appropriate resolution: " I have said that I would keep thy words." 1. Notice the preface: " I have said." 2. The link between the portion possessed and the resolution made. 3. The work of keeping God's words. Keep him who is the Word — Christ Jesus. Keep the word of the gospel — doctrines, precepts, promises (kept in the heart to comfort the believer). This blessed subject suggests a solemn contrast. See the portion of that servant who did not keep his Lord's word: Matt. xxix. 48 — 51. See " Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1372: " God our Portion, and his Word our Treasure."

Verse 57 (first clause). — The believer's portion. I. Show the validity of his claim: " my." 1. A gift by covenant: Heb. viii. 10 — 13. 2. Involved in joint heirship with Christ: Rom. viii. 17. 3. Confirmed by the experience of faith. II. Survey, the superlative value of his possession: " The Lord." 1. Absolutely good. 2. Infinitely precious. 3. Inexhaustibly full. 4. Everlastingly sure. III. Suggest a method of deriving the greatest present advantage from it. 1. Meditate much upon God, under the conviction that he is your portion. 2. Carry all cares to him, and cast every burden on him. 3. Refer every temptation to the word of his law, and every doubt to the word of his promise. 4. Draw largely upon his riches to meet every need as it arises. — John Field, 1882.

Verse 58. — The soul's sunshine. I. God's favour the one thing needful. II. Whole-heartedness the one mode of entreating it. III. Covenant mercy the one plea for obtaining it. — C. A. D.

Verse 58. — We may learn how a seeker may come to enjoy saving favour, by a careful study of — I. The Profession: " I intreated thy favour with my whole heart." 1. What he did: " I intreated." Heb. " I painfully sought thy face." Earnest desire. Importunate supplication. Painful sorrow for sin. 2. How he did it: " With my whole heart." The intellect, affections, will, all engaged and concen trating effoit. Otherwise, seeking is solemn trifling. This only worthy of our purpose, pleasing to God, and successful. 3. The evidence that we are doing it. Frequent prayer, searching the word, often enquiring. The first and main business — Giving up for Christ. II. The Petition: "Be merciful unto me." 1. God's favour to be expected on the terms of mercy only. 2. Happily, this is a prayer every sinner can and should use. 3. Blessedly true it is, that it never fails. III. The Plea: " According to thy word." 1. A plea that cannot be gainsaid is a great thing in an entreaty. 2. The promise of God is just such a plea. 3. Seek it out, lay hold of it, and urge it. — J. F.

Verse 59. — Thinking on our own ways. Enquire, I. Why so generally neglected?

I. Want of courage. 2. Occupied too much. 3. Unpleasant, and therefore the chief care of many is to banish it. II. When is it wisely conducted? 1. When honestly engaged in. 2. When thoroughly carried out. 3. When Scripture is made the referee and standard. 4. When Divine help is sought. III. What end will it serve? 1. Turn us from our own ways with shame and penitence. 2. Turn us to God's testimonies with earnestness, reverence, and hopefulness. — J. F.

Verse 59. — I. Right thinking: " I thought on my ways." 1. That this thought upon his ways caused the Psalmist dissatisfaction is evident. 2. Right thinking upon our ways will suggest a practical change. 3. The retrospect we take of our life should suggest that any turn we make should be Godward: " Unto thy testimonies." 4. Right thinking also suggests that such a turning is possible.

Verse 60. — The dangers of delay. The reasons for prompt action.

Verse 60. — A sermon to loiterers. I. Reflection. Keeping God's commandments is my duty; is my welfare. Commandments delayed may be never kept. Delay is in itself disobedience. Alacrity is the soul of obedience. II. Resolve. I will make haste and delay not. — C. A. D.

Verse 60. — Procrastination considered in its most important application; that Is, to religion. I. This procrastination is irrational. II. It is unpleasant, disagree able, painful. II. It is disgraceful. IV. It is sinful, and that is the highest degree. V. It is dangerous. — John Angell James.

Verse 61. — I. Spiritual highway-robbery. II. The traveller keeping his road. Or, what enemies can do, and what they cannot do.

Verse 62. — I. The duty of gratitude: " give thanks." II. The subject for gratitude: " thy righteous judgments." III. The season for gratitude: at night as well as in the day. — G. R.

Verse 62.— Up in the night. Singing in the night. Reasons for such singular conduct.

Verse 62. — The nightingale. I. A natural association of thought: " midnight " and " judgments." Exod. xii., etc. II. An incongruous association of feeling: " thanks " and " judgments." III. A full justification of this apparent incongruity: "thanks because of thy righteous judgments." IV. A vigorous performance of an incumbent duty: " at midnight I will rise to give thanks."— C. A. D.

Verse 63. — I. True religion is friendly. II. Our friendliness should be catholic. II. Our friendliness should be discriminating. IV. Such friendliness is most useful.

Verse 63. — The believer's choice of companions. I. Ought to be decided by their piety: " Them that fear thee." II. Is directed by their conduct: " Them that keep thy precepts." III. Should be extended as far as possible: "All."

Verse 64. — The sum and substance of this verse will be comprised in these five propositions: — I. That saving knowledge is a benefit that must be asked of God. II. That this benefit cannot be too often or sufficiently enough asked: it is his continual request. III. In asking, we are encouraged by the bounty or mercy of God. IV. That God is merciful all his creatures declare. V. That his goodness to all his creatures should confirm us in hoping for saving grace or spiritual good things — T. Manton.

Verse 64. — I. Observations in the school of nature. II. Supplications to enter the school of grace.

Verse 64. — The mercy of God in nature and his mercy as revealed in the word.

I. The one excellent; the other super-excellent. II. The one easily given; the other coming through a great sacrifice. III. The one may be enjoyed, and even increase condemnation; the other, if enjoyed, is sure salvation. IV. The one should lead to repentance; the other is specially adapted for the penitent's restoration to holiness. — J. F.

Verse 65. — The servant giving his master a character; or, experience tallying with Scripture: two fruitful themes.

Verse 65. — I. Experience confirmed by the word. II. The word confirmed by experience. — G. R.

Verse 65. — A servant's story. I. Although he knew my faults he engaged me.

II. Although I am so far beneath him, yet he familiarly teaches me. III. Although I am always ailing, he is very kind to me in my afflictions. IV. Although I am one of the meanest of his servants, he permits me to feast at his own table.

V. Although I do little work, he will pay me good wages. VI. Although I am to have such great wages, I have very many perquisites. VII. Although my Master is all this to me (can you believe it?) I murmur and repine at him if he crosses me in anything. Application: — 1. Does not the word " servant " sound like a

misnomer? — " not servants but I have called you friends." 2. Though he calls me " friend," I shall never cease to call him " Master." — Richard Andrew Griffin, in "Stems and Twigs."

Verse 66. — The value of a good judgment to sound knowledge. I. It carefully discriminates between truth and error. II. It puts each truth in its proper relation to other truths. III. It holds every truth firmly, but has the greater care for the more important. IV. It rather avoids the curious and the speculative, but really loves the plain and useful. V. Knowing that truths are rightly held only, when applied, it turns all to practical account. VI. Knowing also, that good food may, under some circumstances, become poisonous, it is careful in its selection and use of truths. — J. F.

Verse 67. — The restraining power of affliction.

Verse 68. — The double plea for a choice blessing. The goodness of God the hope of our ignorance.

Verse 68. — "Thou art good and doest good." The nature and work of God are manifest in nature, providence, grace, and glory. They are morally good; bene ficially good; perfectly good; immeasurably good; immutably good; experimentally good; satisfactorily good. — W. J.

Verse 69. — Whole-hearted obedience the best solace under slander; the best answer to it; and the best way of converting the slanderers.

Verse 70. — I. Fatty degeneration of the heart. II. Thorough regeneration of the heart.

Verse 71. — I. David knew what was good for him. II. David learned what is good essentially. Active obedience is learned by passive obedience.

Verse 71. — The school of affliction. I. The reluctant scholar sent to school.

Verse 72. — The advantages of riches Jar excelled by the blessings of the word.

Verse 72. — A valuation. I. The saints' high estimate of God's law. II. Show when it was formed: in affliction: ver. 71. III. Vindicate its truth — by illustrating the hollo wness of riches, and the satisfaction found in godliness. — C. A. D.

Verse 72. — The word, better than gold and silver. I. It gives what gold and silver cannot purchase. II. Without what it gives, gold and silver may be a curse.

III. Without gold and silver, it may yield its treasure more freely and fully than with them. IV. The word and what it gives shall rejoice the heart when gold and silver shall be useless to their disappointed worshippers. — J. F.

Verse 72. — "The law of thy mouth is better," etc. I. It is more refining, and makes me a better man. II. It is more enriching, and makes me a wealthier man. III. It is more distinguishing, and makes me a greater man. IV. It is more sustaining, and makes me a stronger man. V. It is more preserving, and makes me a safer man. VI. It is more satisfying and makes me a happier man. VII. It is more lasting, and belter suited to me as an immortal man. — W. J.

Verse 73. — I. Consider the Lord's great care in our creation. II. See in it a reason for his perfecting the new creation writhin us. III. Observe the method of tliis perfecting.

Verse 74. — I. The encouraging influence of good men upon others. II. The instructive influence of others upon them. — G. R.

Verse 74. — Converse with a tried but steadfast believer is a source of gladness to the children of God. I. He has a thrilling tale of experience to tell. II. He has valuable counsels and cautions to give. III. He is a monument of God's faithfulness, confirming the hope of others. IV. He is an epistle of Christ, written expressly to illustrate the preciousness and the power of the gospel. — J. F.

Verse 75. — Experimental knowledge: positive, personal, glorifying to God, consoling to the saints.

Verse 76. — Comfort. I. May be a matter of prayer. II. Is provided for in the Lord. III. Is promised in the word. IV. Is of great value to the believer.

Verse 76. — I. The need of comfort. II. The source of comfort: " Thy merciful kindness " III. The rule of comfort: " According to thy word." — G. R.

Verse 79. — Restoration to church fellowship. I. Good men may be in such a case as to need to be restored. II. They should not be ashamed to seek it. III. They should pray about it.

Verse 79. — Select society. I. Sociableness is an instinct of human nature. II. Sociableness is helpful to a wholesome Christian life. III. The choice of society should be a subject of prayer. — C. A. D.

Verse 80. — I. David's prayer for sincerity — that his heart might be brought to God's statutes, and that it might be sound in them, not rotten or deceitful. II. His dread of the consequences of hypocrisy: "that I be not ashamed." Shame is the portion of hypocrites, here or hereafter. — M. Henry.

Verse 80. — I. The heart in religion. II. The necessity of its being sound in It. III. The result of such sound-heartedness.

Verse 81. — Text suitable for a missionary sermon. I. The condition of the heathen world, enough to make the Christian faint for the salvation of God to visit it. 1. The grossness of its darkness. 2. Its wide area. 3. Its long continuance. 4. The limited character and effort of mission labour. 5. The opposing influences. II. This condition, though exceedingly sad, is not hopeless. Because — 1. Of the intention, adaptation, and universal call of the gospel. 2. Of Christ's commission to his church. 3. Of the compassionate character of the spiritually enlightened, produced by their faith in the word. 4. Of the prophecies and promises. Thus, there is hope in the word. III. If Christians are fainting for the salvation, but hoping in the word, their interest in mission work will be intense, and will show itself. 1. In earnest prayer for more labourers, and greater results. 2. In devoting themselves, if possible, to the work. 3. In free and generous giving, to help on the work. — J. F.

Verse 81. — I. Eagerness of expectation. II. Energy of hope. III. Establish ment of promise: " in thy word."

Verse 81. — "Salvation," in Scripture, hath divers acceptations: it is put — 1. For that temporal deliverance which God giveth, or hath promised to give to his people: so it is taken. Exod. xiv. 13. 2. For the exhibition of Christ in the flesh. Ps. xcviii. 2, 3; Luke ii. 29, 30. 3. For the benefits which we have by Christ on this side of heaven; as the pardon of sin, and the renovation of our natures. Matt. i. 21; Titus iii. 5; Ps. li. 12. 4. For everlasting life: "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls " (1 Pet. i. 9); meaning thereby our final reward. — T. A/an/on.

Verse 82.— Answer to the enquiry — " When wilt thou comfort me? " 1. When

your grief has answered its purpose. 2. When you believe. 3. When you leave sin. 4. When you obey. 5. When you submit to my will. 6. When you seek my glory.

Verse 82. — I. How longingly the believer turns to God for comfort in his affliction: "When wilt thou comfort me?" II. How intently he gazes upon the Divine promises: " My eyes fail for thy word." III. How the weariness of waiting cannot wear out his patience, while hope increases his importunity: " When wilt thou? " — J. F.

II. What the eyes say. " When wilt thou comfort me? Brushing aside all other comforters, thou art my sun: my life: my love: my all." III. How the pleading eyes shall meet the responsive Eye of the Lord: Heb. ix. 18. In the look of the recognition of grief, Ex. ii. 25; in the look of pardon, Luke xxiii. 61; of strengthgiving, Jud. vi. 14; of complacent love, Isa. Ixvi. 2. — C. A. D.

Verse 83.— I. The outward man in ill case. II. Character blackened. III. Con stantly exposed to discomfort. IV. Contents maturing.

Verse 83. — "A bottle in the smoke." I. God's people have their trials. 1. From the poverty of their condition. 2. Our trials frequently result from our comforts. 3. The ministry hath made much smoke with it. 4. The poor bottle in the smoke keeps there for a long time, till it gets black. II. Christian men feel their troubles; they are like " bottles " in the smoke. 1. The trial that we do not feel is no trial at all. 2. Trials which are not felt are unprofitable trials. A bottle in the smoke gets very black, becomes very useless, is an empty bottle. III. Christians do not, in their tioubles, forget God's statutes of command, the statutes of promise. Why was it that David still held fast by God's statutes? 1. He was not a bottle in the fire, or he would have forgotten them. 2. Jesus Christ was in the smoke with him, and the statutes were in the smoke with him too. 3. The statutes were in the soul, where the smoke does not enter. — From "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 71.

Verse 84. — A solemn question pointing to the shortness of life, the severity of sorrow, the necessity of industry, the nearness of the reward.

Verse 85. — Pits; or, the secret schemes of wicked men against the godly.

Verse 86 (last clause). — A prayer for all occasions. See the many cases in which it is used in Scripture.

Verse 87. — I. What the good man loses by gaining. II. Wfhat he gains by losing. — G. R.

Verse 87. — Passing through fires, and the asbestos covering.

Verse 88. — I. New life is the cause of new obedience. II. New obedience is the effect of new life. — G. R.

III. The guarantee of our steadfastness; and so, IV. The promotor of God's glory.

Verse 88. — 1. He closes with a frequent petition: "Quicken thou me — make me alive." All true religion consists in the LIFE of God in the SOUL of man. 2. The manner in which he wishes to be quickened: "After thy lovingkindness." He wishes not to be raised from the death of sin by God's thunder, but by the loving voice of a tender Father. 3. The effect it should have upon him: "So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth." Whatever thou speakest I will hear, receive, love, and obey. — Adam Clarke.

Verses 89 — 92. — The Psalmist here tells us the prescription which soothed his pains and sustained his spirits. Here we have strong consolation. I. In certain facts which he remembered. 1. The eternal existence of God. 2. The immutability of his word. 3. The faithfulness of the fulfilment of that word. 4. The perpetuity of the word in nature. 5. The perpetuity of the word in experience. II. The delights which he experienced in the time of his trouble. In bereavements; when everything seemed shifting and inconstant; when his own faith failed him; when all helpers failed him; he fell back upon the eternal settlements: " O Lord, thy word is settled," etc. See " Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1656: " My Solace in my Affliction."

Verse 89. — God's eternal calm (In contrast with earth's mutations) imaged in the starry heavens. — William Bickle Hayncs, 1882.

Verse 89. — Consider, I. The term, " thy word." 1. A word is a revealed thought. The Scriptures are just this: the thoughts and purposes of God made intelligible to man. 2. But a " word " also marks specially unity (it is one word) and wholeness or completeness, a word, not a syllable. The Scriptures are one and complete.

II. The statement, " for ever settled in heaven." 1. " Settled in heaven " before it came to earth; therefore it could come as a continuous unfolding, through various dispensations, without the shadow of hesitation or contradiction manifest in it. 2. Abides " settled in heaven," for its central revelation; the atonement is a completed fact, and Christ is now in heaven a perfected Saviour; thus the word is unalterable. 3. " For ever settled in heaven." Not only because God in heaven is of one mind and cannot be turned; but because righteousness itself, the righteous ness of heaven, demands that an atonement by suffering shall be fully and ever lastingly answered by its due reward. III. The lessons. 1. If settled in heaven, men on earth can never unsettle it. 2. The wicked may not indulge a future hope arising from any new dispensation beyond the grave; God's present word to us cannot then be unsettled. 3. The godly may rely on a settled word amidst the unsettled experiences and feelings incident to earth. — J. F.

Verse 90. — The stability of the earth a present picture of everlasting faithfulness.

Verses 90, 91. — Consider, I. The steadfastness of nature as dependent upon the divine decree: " according to thy ordinances." II. The subserviency of nature to the divine will: " for all are thy servants." III. The fixedness of nature's laws, together with their subserviency to God's purposes, as a confirmation of the Christian's faith in the written word, in the care of a divine providence, and in the sureness of spiritual and heavenly things. " Thy faithfulness is," etc. — J. F.

Verse 91. — Our starry monitors. They teach us, I. To serve: though we cannot shine with their brightness. II. To do all with strict regard to God's will.

IV. Derived: " thou hast established the earth." Verse 92. — The sustaining power of joy in God.

Verse 92. — The word of God as a sustaining power amid the greater sorrows of life. I. Its necessity. 1. For want of it, men have become drunkards to drown their sorrows, have become suicides because life was unbearable, have become broken and hopeless because they had no strength to struggle against misfortune, have become atheists in creed as, alas, they were before in practice; all, in fact, become subject to sorrow's worst bitterness and calamity's worst effects. 2. Nothing can supply the place of God's word. Nature throws no light on the mystery of suffering. Human philosophy is at best cold comfort, and when most needed most fails. II. Its efficiency. Proved — 1. In the experience of those who have tried it. 2. By the character of its promises. 3. By the discovery it makes of a beneficent providence working through calamity and sorrow. 4. By the revelation it gives of the pity of God and the sympathy of Christ. 5. By its record of the " Man of sorrows," who through suffering wrought out man's salvation, and entered into glory. 6. By its teaching concerning the Incarnate Word; thus showing a suffering God, which may well be a solace to suffering men. 7. By displaying the glory of heaven and the eternal felicity awaiting those who overcome through the blood of the Lamb. — J. F.

Verse 92. — The Godly Man's Ark; or, City of Refuge in the day of his Distress.

Verse 92. — We have here set before us by the Psalmist, I. The case which he had been in, and which he now refers to — one sad and sinking. He was under such affliction that he was ready to perish; which seems to include inward and outward trouble at once; trials without and pressure within. II. What it was that gave him relief, and this when nothing else could, etc., the law of God. III. How he looked back upon this relief received, namely, with thankfulness to God, to whom he speaks, and records it for the encouragement and direction of others: " Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. "- Daniel Wilcox, 1676—1733.

Verse 92.— The life-buoy. Under the form of the narrative of a shipwrecked

mariner, describe the experience of the soul struggling in the sea of affliction; almost overwhelmed: yet buoyed up over each successive billow: and finally saved by clinging to the Word of God. — C. A. D.

Verse 93. — Experience fixes the word upon the memory.

Verse 93. — I. A good resolve: " I will never forget thy precepts." 1. The precepts are worth remembering. 2. Safety lies in remembering them. 3. Fidelity to God cannot be without remembering them. 4. Not to remember them is shameful ingratitude. II. An excellent reason for making it: " For with them thou hast quickened me." 1. A reason founded upon personal experience: " me." 2. A reason appreciative of the benefit received: " quickened." 3. A reason indicative of gratitude to God: " thou." — J. F.

Verse 93. — " Never forget "; an often-uttered phrase. Here golden. I. Some thing that could not be forgotten: life and pardon received. How could it?

II. Something that should not be forgotten: the precious instrumentality. — W. B.H.

Verse 93. — I. The instrumental power of truth. 1. Used by God in our regenera tion: James i. 18; Ps. xix. 7. 2. Used in our liberation: John viii. 32. 3. Used in our sanctification: John xvii. 7. II. Our consequent affection for it. We cannot forget. 1. Our past obligations to it. 2. Our present dependence upon it. 3. Our future needs of it.— W. W.

Verse 94. — 1. David claims relation to God: " I am thine " — devoted to thee, and owned by thee, thine in covenant. 2. He proves his claim: " I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts "; i.e., I have carefully enquired concerning my duty, and diligently endeavoured to do it. 3. He improves his claim: " I am thine, save me." Save me from sin, save me from ruin. — M. Henry.

Verse 94. — God's child humbly points out to him his responsibility: " I am thine." II. Ventures to urge his own sincerity: he has at least " sought." III. With these two hands extended, he utters a sharp cry for help: " save me." — W. B. H.

Verse 94. — The courage obedience gives. I. It emboldens us to a firm assurance: " I am thine, for I have," etc. 1. We become God's by faith alone. 2. But the assurance of being his cannot exist without obedience; obedience proves the faith to ourselves; satisfies us concerning grace received. 3. Poor obedience always interferes with assurance. II. It emboldens us to pray, and in prayer: " Save me." 1. The Christian's prayers are only of faith and offered in faith. 2. Yet disobedience makes him shrink from approaching God in prayer, and renders him feeble in petitioning. 3. Obedience is humble but bold. The middle clause of the text applies equally to the first and third clauses. — J. F.

Verse 95. — Wicked men patient in carrying out their evil designs. Good men patient in considering the ways of the Lord.

Verse 95. — The hatred of the wicked towards the righteous. I. Show that it ever has been, and still is. 1. Select Scriptural instances, beginning with Abel. 2. Notice the persecutions of the church. 3. Treatment in the workshop. 4. Often in the home. 5. The contemptuous manner the " saints " are spoken of, etc. II. Enquire as to why it is so. 1. The enmity of the carnal heart to God. 2. The jealousy excited by the Christian's assurance of eternal blessedness. 3. The con sciousness of being rebuked by a holy life. 4. Excited to it by Satan. 5. The restless mischievousness of sin which, if it cannot hinder holiness, will maliciously hurt its advocates. III. Direct how to act when exposed to it: "I will consider thy testimonies." That means — 1. Be the more obedient to God. 2. Have the more watchful control over words and feelings. 3. Love your enemies. 4. Pray for those who hate you. 5. Do good to them on every opportunity. 6. Be thankful that you are among the hated and not the haters. 7. Especially consider the holy testimony of Christ's forbearing patience. — J. F.

Verse 95. — Waiting counterwrought by waiting. I. Temptations in ambush.

Verse 96. — I. An end: — " seen "; seen by one man where It should not have been; seen where there was no end of boasting; seen in all perfection. II. No end: — to the extent, spirituality, perpetuity, and perfectness of the law.

Verse 96. — Perfection — perfect and imperfect. I. Loud professions of perfection arise from ignorance (of self, or of God's requirements). II. Are peculiarly liable to collapse: " I have seen an end." III. Are best corrected by a survey of the breadth of the divine law. — C. A. D.

Verse 97. — Indescribable love and insatiable thought. The action and reaction of affection and meditation.

Verse 97. — Love to the law. I. An ardent confession of love. II. An unanswer able evidence of love. — C. A. D.

Verse 97 (first clause). — Vehemcncy of love for God's word. I. Its recognisable marks. 1. Profound reverence for the authority of the word. 2. Admiration for its holiness. 3. Jealousy for its honour; God's servant feels acute pain when men show it any slight. 4. Respect for its wholeness; he would not divorce precepts from promises, nor ignore a single statement in it. 5. Indefatigability in its study. 6. Eager desire to obey it. 7. Forwardness in praising it. 8. Activity in spreading it abroad. II. Its reasonableness. 1. The word well deserves it. 2. It is a proof of true intelligence. 3. It is not less than a regard for our own interest demands.

III. Its requisiteness to the true worship of God. Men sneeringly call such an affection bibliolatry, as though it were the worship of a book. In truth, it is an essential element in the due worship of God. For — 1. Without it there cannot be the faith which honours God. 2. It is involved in that love to God which constitutes the very essence of worship. 3. It is itself an act of homage that a worshipper dare not withhold. — J. F.

Verses 97 — 100. — Spiritual wisdom. I. God's word the source of surpassing wisdom — excelling that of " mine enemies," " my teachers," " the ancients."

II. The three methods of acquiring this wisdom — love, meditation, practice.

Verse 98. — Constant communion with truth the student's road to proficiency.

Verses 98, 99, 100. — The truly wise man. 1. The source of his wisdom. The word of " the only wise God," here described as (1) Thy commandments. (2) Thy testimonies. (3) Thy precepts. 2. The increase of his wisdom. It arises from (1) The abiding indwelling of the word: " ever with me," ver. 98. (2) Meditation upon the word, ver. 99. (3) Obedience to the word, ver. 100. 3. The measure of his wisdom. (1) Wiser than his enemies, whose wisdom was " not from above, but earthly, sensual, devilish." (2) W'iser than his teachers, whose wisdom was " of this world." (3) Wiser than the ancients, whose wisdom was that of unsanctified age and experience. — W. H. J. Page, 1882.

Verse 100. — Antiquity no security for truth as contrasted with revelation: old age no proof of wisdom as contrasted with holy living: open confession no evidence of boasting as contrasted with sullen pride.

Verse 100.— Obedience the high road to understanding.— W. B. PL

Verse 100. — Obedience the key of knowledge. John vii. 17.

Verse 102. — Divine teaching necessary to secure perseverance, and effectual to that end.

Verse 102. — Consider, — I. The path appointed for men to walk in: " Thy

I. Persecution would drive from it. 2. Pleasures would allure from it. 3. The flesh would weary in it. 4. But the true believer determines to hold on his way to the end. 5. And carefully watches his steps lest they depart. III. The preserving power that holds the traveller to it: " For thou hast taught me." 1. The traveller walks with God, and receives instruction by the special illumination of the Holy Spirit. 2. The choice property of this teaching is, not only that it makes wise, but that it captivates the soul, strengthens it, and holds it to a holy obedience. — J. F.

Verse 103. — Experience in religion the source of enjoyment in it; or, I. Tasting the word: its sweetness. II. Declaring the word with the mouth: its greater sweetness.

Verse 103. — The comparison, setting forth the precious property of sweetness in the word: " Sweeter than honey." " Better than honey," would not do as well. It is — 1. The purest sweetness; even precepts and rebukes. 2. Un cloy ing sweetness. 3. Always a beneficial sweetness. 4. A specially grateful sweetness — • in affliction, in the hour of death. — J. F.

Verse 103. — Spiritual delicacy. I. The taste needed to relish it. II. The life that alone is nourished by it. III. The rare enjoyment derived from it. — C. A. D.

Verse 103.— I. It is sweet. II. Let us enjoy it. III. The best effects will follow. George Herbert says: —

" O Book! infinite sweetness! let my heart Suck every letter, and a honey gain, Precious for any grief in any part; To clear the breast, to mollify all pain."

Verse 103. — If we would taste the honey of God, we must have the palate of faith. — A. R. Fausset.

Verse 104. — The influence of the precepts. I. Upon the understanding.

II. Upon the affections. III. Upon the life.

Verse 104. — I. The intellectual effect of the Scriptures: " I get understanding."

Verse 104. — The understanding derived from God's precepts begets holy hatred, I. To the false ways of conventional morality. II. To the false ways of a formal religiousness. III. To the false ways of an erring theology. IV. To the false ways of hypocritical practice. V. To the false ways of sinful suggestions. VI. To the false ways of one's own deceitful heart. — J. F.

Verse 105. — The practical, personal, everyday use of the word of God.

Verse 105. — Lamp-light. I. The believer's dangerous night-journey through the world. II. The lamp that illumines his path. III. The eternal day towards which he travels (when the lamp will be laid aside: Rev. xxii. 5). — C. A. D.

Verse 106. — Decision for God, and fit modes of expressing it.

Verse 106. — I. Veneration for the word. II. Consecration to the word.

Verse 107. — I. A good man greatly afflicted. II. A sure cure for the ills of affliction: " Quicken me." III. A safe rule to pray by when afflicted: " according unto thy word."

Verse 107. — I. The " very much " afflicted. 1. The world has such — widows, orphans, etc, etc. 2. Most take their turn. II. But there is " very much " grace. 1. God's word promises the needed quickening. 2. Himself very much greater than all our needs. 3. Christ tried " in all points " has all help. III. Therefore

bring " very much " faith, as the Psalmist here. 1. Keen-eyed for promises

Verse 108. — Consider, — I. The instructive title given to prayer and praise: " The free-will offerings of my mouth." 1. It shows the believer to be a priest: " offerings." 2. It shows the peculiarity of his service: " free-will." 3. It implies whole-hearted consecration. II. The humility portrayed in the prayer: " Accept, I beseech thee." 1. Here is no pharisaic boasting. 2. Even the free-will offering is felt to need an " I beseech thee." III. The longing desire for further instruction in order to a more perfect obedience: " Teach me thy judgments." — J. F.

Verse 108. — Work for Free-willers. I. Offerings of Prayer — for each of the blessings of salvation. II. Offerings of Repudiation — of all claim to unassisted good. III. Offerings of Praise — for sovereign grace. — W. B. H.

Vers" 109. — The soul's life in jeopardy. The life of the soul secured.

Verses 109, 110. — Here is — I. David in danger of losing his life. There is but a step between him and death; for " the wicked have laid a snare " for him. Wherever he was he found some design or other laid against him; which made him say, " My soul is continually in my hand." It was not so only as a man — it is true of us all that we are exposed to the strokes of death — but as a man of war, and especially as " a man after God's own heart." II. David in no danger of losing his religion through this peril; for, 1. He " doth not forget the law," and therefore is likely to persevere. 2. He hath not yet erred from God's precepts, and therefore it is to be hoped he will not. — M. Henry.

Verse 110. — Various kinds of snares, and the one way of escaping them.

Verse 110. — Consider, — I. Some of the snares set for saints by sinners. 1. Doc trinal snares, by intellectual sinners. 2. False accusations, by malignant sinners.

3. False flatteries, by deceitful sinners. 4. False charity, by a large number of sinners nowadays. II. The secure safeguard for a saint's safety: " I erred not from thy precepts." Obedience to God gives security, because — 1. The snares are then suspected and watched against. 2. The feet cannot become entangled by them. 3. God keeps him who keeps his word. — J. F.

Verse 111. — Notice, — I. How rich the Psalmist was determined to be: "Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage." Rich, — 1. In knowledge. 2. In holiness. 3. In comfort. 4. In companionship, for God's company goes with his word. 5. In hope. II. How he clung to his wealth: " For ever." 1. He hurt none by so doing; he could give generously his portion, and yet not waste. 2. He was right; for he had the only wealth of which an everlasting possession is possible. 3. He was wise. III. How he rejoiced in his wealth: " They are the rejoicing of my heart." 1. Here is internal and deep joy; not always possible to the possession of wealth. 2. Pure, unalloyed joy; it is never so with other wealth.

Verse 112. — The godly man's obedience. I. Its reality. 1. " To perform "; not words or feelings merely; but deeds. 2. " Thy statutes "; not human inventions, nor self conceits, nor conventional maxims. II. Its cordiality: " inclined my heart." 1. Heart inclination is requisite for pleasing a heart-searching God. 2. And to make obedience easy and even delightful. 3. " I have," he says; was it therefore his doing? Yes. Was it his work alone? No. See verse 36.

4. The proofs. (1) Universality: " statutes," the whole of them. (2) Uniformity: " alway." III. Its constancy: "even unto the end." 1. Though a man should be cautious when planning for the future, yet this life-long purpose is right, wise, and safe. 2. Nor can he purpose less, if holy fervency fill the heart. 3. It is no more than what God and consistency demand. — J. F.

Verse 113. — The thought of the age, and the truth of all ages.

Verse 113.— I. The object of hatred. II. The object of love. Or— I. Love the cause of hatred. II. Hatred the effect of love. — G. R.

Verse 113.— "Vain thoughts." What they are. Whence they arise. The mischief they cause. How they should be treated. — W. H. J. P.

Verse 113. — How the believer — 1. Is troubled by vain thoughts. A frequent and painful experience. 2. Does not tolerate vain thoughts. Some suffer them to lodge within; he is anxious to expel them. 3. Triumphs over vain thoughts. By his love to the law of God. His prayer is —

" With thoughts of Christ and things divine. Fill up this foolish heart of mine."

Verse 114. — "Thou art my hiding place." I. In thy grace, from condemnation.

Verse 115. — I. Ill company hinders piety. II. Piety quits ill company.

III. Piety, in compelling this departure, acts as God will do at the last.

Verse 115. — Evil companionships incompatible with genuine righteousness.

1. They necessitate concealment and compromise. II. They destroy the capability of communion with God, and the relish for spiritual things. III. They blunt the sensitiveness of conscience. IV. They involve deliberate disobedience to God. — J. F.

Verse 116.— I. Upholding promised. II. Needful for holy living. III. The preventive of shameful acts.

Verse 116. — "Uphold me according unto thy word," etc. 1. The Psalmist pleads the promise of God, his dependence upon the promise, and his expectation from it: " Uphold me according unto thy word," which word I hope in, and if it be not performed I shall be " ashamed of my hope." 2. He pleads the great need he had of God's grace, and the great advantage it would be to him: " Uphold me, that I may live "; intimating that he could not live without the grace of God. — M. Henry.

Verse 117. — I. Upholding — God's holding us up. It implies a danger, and that danger takes many forms. The believer's life may be described as walking in uprightness; he is a pilgrim. He needs upholding, for — 1. The way is slippery.

2. Our feet make the danger as well as the way. 3. Cunning foes seek to trip us up. 4. Sometimes the difficulty is not caused by the way, but by the height to which God may elevate us. 5. The prayer is all the more needful because the most of people do not keep upright. II. Two blessed things that come out of this holding up. 1. We shall be safe for ourselves, as examples, and as pillars of the church. 2. We shall be watchful and sensitive: " I will have respect unto thy statutes continually." Without this no man is safe. See " Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1657: " My Hourly Prayer."

Verse 117. — "Hold thou me up," etc. I. The good man is up. II. The good man wishes to keep up. III. The good man prays to be held up. IV. The good man knows that divine support is abundantly sufficient. — W. J.

Verse 118. — I. Hearken to the tramp of God's armies. In nature; providence; angelic hosts of last day. II. The mangled victims. Cunning deceivers specially obnoxious to God. Examples: Balaam, Pharaoh, Rome, the deceiver of the nations. III. The warnings to us of this Aceldama. Repent. Avoid deceit. Mind God's landmarks. Hide in Christ.— W. B. H.

Verse 118. — God's punishment of the wicked though awfully severe is just and necessary. I. It is due as the merited wages of iniquity. II. It is demanded by the position of God as moral governor, and by his character as righteous. III. It is necessary to mark the real worth of righteousness and its reward. If the wicked are not punished, the full worth of righteousness cannot appear. IV. In the nature of the case, it is absolutely unavoidable, except upon one condition, namely, the gift of genuine repentance and holiness after death; that no man has any right to expect, nor has God given the slightest intimation that he will bestow it. V. Hell

Hes in the bosom of sin; and if the wicked were taken to heaven, they would carry hell thither. Heaven supplies not the things in which the wicked delight while it abounds in those they can neither understand nor sympathise with. — J. F.

Verse 118 (second clause). — The deceits of the wicked are all falsehoods. I. The world they embrace is a false Delilah. II. The pleasure they enjoy is a Satanic snare. III. Their formal religiousness is a vain delusion. IV. Their conceits of God are self-invented lies. — J. F.

Verses 118— 120.— Saved by fear. I. The wrath of God revealed against sin. II. The judgment of God executed upon sinners. III. The fear of God created in the heart.— C. A. D.

Verse 119. — I. Comparison of the wicked to dross. II. Comparison of their doom to the putting away of dross. III. The saint's admiration of divine justice as seen in the rejection of the wicked.

Verse 119. — God's putting away the wicked like dross. I. God's judgments are a searching and separating fire. II. The final judgment of the great day will complete the separating process. III. The great result will be, the true metal and the dross, each gathered to its own place. — J. F.

Verse 120. — The judgments of God on the wicked cause in the righteous, I. Love. II. Awe. III. Fear.

Verse 120. — I. Describe the true character of the fear. 1. It is the fear of reverence for God's authority and power. 2. It is the fear of horror against sin as meriting judgment. II. Show its compatibility with filial love. 1. The more we love God the more firmly we believe in the certainty and awfulness of his judgments. 2. The more we love God the more will we fear to arouse his chastising rod against ourselves. 3. In fact, if we love not God, we shall have no fear lest sin should involve us in judgment. III. Commend it. 1. As it proves a just sense of sin's desert. 2. As it shows a true appreciation of God's righteousness. 3. As it is not a fear that hath torment, but a fear which increases watchfulness, and walks hand in hand with perfect confidence in saving grace. — J. F.

Verse 122 (first clause). — After explaining the Psalmist's meaning as shown in the preceding verse, this sentence may be used for a sermon upon the Suretyship of Christ, by a reference to Heb. VH. 22. I. A Surety for good wanted — the deeply felt, though, perhaps, undefined want of a sin-burdened soul. 1. The mere statement of a gratuitous pardon on the part of God is not thoroughly believable to such a soul, nor, if it could be believed in, would it give peace to the conscience. For, on the one hand, the pardon could not be perceived as just, nor as consistent with God's necessary hatred of sin, yet the conscience demands this perception; on the other hand, mere pardon does not show how the obligation to a perfect fulfilment of God's law, as righteousness, can be met, yet the conscience demands to see this before it can be satisfied to realize peace. Luther's experience. 2. Now the Scriptures tell us that God " justifies the ungodly," and that his " righteousness " is declared in his justifying sinners: Rom. iii. 25. He can forgive sins with justice. He can treat sinners as righteous persons, and yet be righteous in doing so. How? By a Surety. Therefore, a Surety is the real want. II. A Surety existent. Jesus is the Surety. 1. He undertook to bear our obligation to the law's penalty, and fulfilled it in death. Thus pardon, though mercy to us, is an act of justice to Christ.

2. He undertook our obligation to a perfect obedience, and satisfied for that in his fulfilment of the law; thus for God to treat us as righteous is only just to Christ.

3. God has shown his satisfaction with the office of Christ, and with his work, by the resurrection and glorification of Christ. Hence a well-accredited and efficient Surety exists. III. A Surety nigh at hand. 1. In the gospel, Christ as Surety comes to the sinner as truly as though he himself left his throne and came in his own person. 2. Thus, he is so close that a sinner has but to receive the gospel into his heart and he receives Christ. 3. Christ received as a Surety is the Surety for whosoever receives him. — J. F.

Verse 123. — Holy expectation — long maintained, in danger of failing; this fact pleaded; reasons for never renouncing it.

Verse 124. — Heavenly instruction a great mercy.

Verse 124. — I. His confidence in divine mercy. II. His submission to divine authority. III. His prayer for divine teaching. — G. R.

Verse 124. — A Perfect Prayer, I. As to the matter of it. 1. Here is nothing superfluous; no petition for wealth, nor for honours, nor for anything the worldling covets. 2. Here is nothing wanting; " Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy " comprehends everything the guilty soul needs; " Teach me thy statutes " comprehends all a saint needs to be anxious for. II. As to the manner of it. 1. It is direct and definite. 2. It is simple and fervent. 3. It is reverent yet bold. III. As to the spirit of it. 1. " Deal with thy servant "; a sense of obligation; a feeling of devotedness; a spirit of consecration to holy work. 2. " Deal.... according to thy mercy "; a sense of unworthiness; becoming humility; submissiveness to the divine will as to what form the mercy shall take; great faith in the mercy, its freeness and sufficiency. 3. " Teach me thy statutes." Longing for holiness, sense of ignorance, of weakness, of dependence upon special divine spiritual influence. — J. F.

Verses 126. — They make void the law, by denying inspiration, by exalting tradition, by antinomianism, by scepticism, by indifference, etc.

Verse 126. — 1. There are times when sin is specially active and dominant. 2. Such times reveal the dependence of the church upon God. 3. Such times awaken the desires of the church for the intervention of God. 4. Such times are the times when God does arise to plead his own cause. — W. H. J. P.

Verse 126. — I. The work anticipated — the vindication of the divine law. II. The work delayed. III. The work executed: " It is time," etc. — G. R.

Verse 127. — The world's assault upon the truth a reason for our loving it.

Verse 127. — God's will versus the golden idol. I. God's commandments are better than gold. II. The love of them is proportionably nobler. III. The unmeasurable superiority of character they produce. — W. B. H.

Verse 128. — The Bible right. I. Its science is correct. II. Its history is true.

III. Its promises are genuine. IV. Its morality is perfect. V. Its doctrines are divine.— W. W.

Verse 128. — Learn four lessons, — I. It is a good thing when wicked men do not praise the truth they cannot love. II. It is a suspicious circumstance when they are found speaking well of any part of it; it is a Judas' kiss in order to betray its interests. III. It must be right to accept and love what the wicked oppose.

IV. It is always safe to be on the opposite side to them. — J. F.

Verses 129 — 136. — In this division the Psalmist — I. Praises God's word. II. Shows his affection to it. III. Prays for grace to keep it. IV. Mourns for those who do not. — Adam Clarke.

Verse 129. — The wonderful character of the word a reason for obedience. So wonderfully pure, just, balanced, elevating. So much for our own benefit, for the good of society, and for the divine glory.

Verse 129. — I. What is wonderful in God's word should be believed. II. What is believed should be obeyed. — G. R.

Verse 129. — "Thy testimonies are wonderful." 1. The facts which they record

are wonderful — so wonderful, that if the book recording them were now published for the first time, there would be no bounds to the avidity and curiosity with which it would be sought and perused. 2. The morality which they inculcate is wonderful.

3. If you turn from the morality to the doctrines of the Bible, your admiration will rather increase than diminish at the contents of the singular book. 4. These testimonies are wonderful for the style in which they are written. 5. They are wonder ful for their preservation in the world. 6. They are wonderful for the effects which they have produced. — Hugh Hughes, 1838.

Verse 129. — "Thy testimonies are wonderful." The ceremonial law is wonderful, because the mystery of our redemption by the blood of Christ is pointed out in it. 2. The prophecies are wonderful, as predicting things, humanly speaking, so uncertain, and at such great distance of time, with so much accuracy. 3. The decalogue is wonderful, as containing in a very few words all the principles of justice and charity.

4. Were we to go to the New Testament, here wonders rise on wonders! All is astonishing; but the Psalmist could not have had this in view. — Adam Clarke.

Verse 129 (first clause). — I. Let us look at five of the wonders of the Bible.

1. Its authority. It prefaces every statement with a " Thus saith the Lord."

2. Its light. 3. Its power — it has a convincing, awakening, drawing, life-giving power. 4. Its depth. 5. Its universal adaptation. II. Indicate three practical uses. 1. Study the Bible daily. 2. Pray for the Spirit to grave it on your heart with a pen of iron. 3. Practise it daily. — D. Macgregor.