Monthly Archives April 2015

Vs. 95 — The wicked wait for me to destroy me, But I will consider Your testimonies.

Charles Spurgeon:

They were like wild beasts crouching by the way, or highwaymen waylaying a defenceless traveller; but the Psalmist went on his way without considering them, for he was considering something better, namely, the witness or testimony which God has borne to the sons of men. He did not allow the malice of the wicked to take him off from his holy study of the divine word. He was so calm that he could “consider”; so holy that he loved to consider the Lord’s “testimonies”; so victorious over all their plots that he did not allow them to drive him from his pious contemplations. If the enemy cannot cause us to withdraw our thoughts from holy study, or our feet from holy walking, or our hearts from holy aspirations, he has met with poor success in his assaults. (Spurgeon, C. H. (2009). The treasury of David: Psalms 111-119 (Vol. 5, p. 317). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

Prayer:

Father, though there are many snares and schemes of the wicked against the godly I will not dwell on them. Your grace is what I will dwell on. Your testimonies have proven the faithfulness of Your care. I will let You deal with the wicked and I will set my mind on truth, justice, and mercy. Neither will I fear the plans of hate towards the righteous, for You neither sleep nor slumber. You are neither weak nor weary. Your arm is not short or slow in revealing Your strength and power. Though my eyes may see temporary ground gained by the wicked and unjust, this merely causes them to grow delusional in false hope and pride. For their end is near and dark it will be. For the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth rules. He reigns in heaven and on earth, and all the affairs of man are His to order. He is GOD! and there is none like Him! AMEN!

Vs. 94 — I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts.

Richard Greenham:

“I am thine.” This is an excellent motive to draw from the Lord help in trouble,—“I am thine.” Thine by creation, I was made by thee; thine by adoption, I was assigned over to thee; thine by donation, I was given to thee; thine by marriage, I was espoused to thee; thine by redemption. I was purchased by thee; thine by stipulation, I have vowed myself unto thee. (Spurgeon, C. H. (2009). The treasury of David: Psalms 111-119 (Vol. 5, p. 326). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

Prayer:

Father, I am Yours, save me; for I have sought Your precepts. Again, I confess that I am Yours, and You call Yourself “My God”, yes even my Father. Jesus prayed that we who believe would be one, as He and You are one. I proclaim that I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Because of Christ, I rest in the covenant of grace. An everlasting covenant that cannot and will not ever be broken. No matter what happens to this body or mind, or any of my possessions I know with all certainty that I am Yours … eternally. I belong to the Living God, I am His! Therefore I will rejoice and live free in Christ! Amen!

Vs. 93 — I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.

Thomas Manton:

This afflicted good man is now comforted; his comfort came from his delight in God’s law; he thinks of it, he feels the force of it, and therefore to the end that he might ever receive the like comforts, he will bind himself by a promise to the Lord that he will never forget his precepts; adding a reason, namely, that they were to him spirit and life.

Prayer:

O’ God, my God, I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life. Before You opened Your ways to me, I walked foolishly in the darkness of this world and in the futility of my mind. I was easily deceived, manipulated, and ensnared in chasing after that which is empty and also destructive to my life and soul. But the Spirit of Life has revealed the way of truth and the way of wisdom through Your Word. Though I am learning, it is clear–Thy way is wonderful and right and they have comforted and strengthened me. As You have shown me Your precepts, guidelines, and counsel please do not let them depart from me. Though I often revert to foolishness and selfishness, I regret it deeply. I love Your ways, for they reveal You. Teach Your precepts to my family, that we may continue to grow in love with our Savior, Jesus Christ. In Him to I pray. Amen.

Vs. 92 — Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.

I happened to be standing in a grocer’s shop one day in a large manufacturing town in the west of Scotland, when a poor, old, frail widow came in to make a few purchases. There never was, perhaps, in that town a more severe time of distress. Nearly every loom was stopped. Decent and respectable tradesmen who had seen better days, were obliged to subsist on public charity. So much money per day (but a trifle at most) was allowed to the really poor and deserving. The poor widow had received her daily pittance, and she had now come into the shop of the grocer to lay it out to the best advantage. She had but a few coppers in her withered hands. Carefully did she expend her little stock—a pennyworth of this and the other necessary of life nearly exhausted all she had. She came to the last penny, and with a singular expression of heroic contentment and cheerful resignation on her wrinkled face, she said, “Now I must buy oil with this, that I may see to read my Bible during these long dark nights, for it is my only comfort now when every other comfort has gone away.”—Alexander Wallace, in “The Bible and the Working Classes,” 1853.

Edmund Calamy (1600–1666), in “The Godly Man’s Ark:

The word of God delighted in is the afflicted saint’s antidote against ruin and destruction. The word of God is the sick saint’s salve, the dying saint’s cordial, a precious medicine to keep God’s people from perishing in time of affliction.

Prayer:

O’ Father, unless Your word and commandments had been my delight, I truly would have perished in my affliction. But Your word was like a light that opened the way of hope and faith in my distress. If I had followed any other way or any other counsel, I would have come undone. Thank You, Father, for giving and revealing Your word to me. I have come to know that Your word IS a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Your commandments are loving and sure. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Vs. 91 — They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants.

Stephen Charnock:

All creatures punctually observe the law he hath implanted on their nature, and in their several capacities acknowledge him their sovereign; they move according to the inclinations he imprinted on them. The sea contains itself in its bounds, and the sun steps not out of his sphere; the stars march in their order: “They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.” If he orders things contrary to their primitive nature they obey him. When he speaks the word, the devouring fire becomes gentle, and toucheth not the hair of the children he will preserve; the hunger-starved lions suspend their ravenous nature when so good a morsel as Daniel is set before them; and the sun, which had been in perpetual motion since its creation, obeys the writ of ease God sent in Joshua’s time, and stands still. (Spurgeon, C. H. (2009). The treasury of David: Psalms 111-119 (Vol. 5, p. 323). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

James Neil, in “Rays from the Realms of Nature,” 1879:

Wilful man may dare to defy his Maker, and set at nought his wise and merciful commands; but not so all nature besides. Well, indeed, is it for us that his other works have not erred after the pattern of our rebellion; that seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, with all their accompanying provision, have not ceased! To the precepts imposed upon vegetation when first called into being on creation’s third day, it still yields implicit submission, and the tenderest plant will die rather than transgress. What an awful contrast to this is the conduct of man, God’s noblest work, endowed with reason and a never-dying soul, yet too often ruining his health, wasting and destroying his mental power, defiling his immortal spirit, and, in a word, madly endeavouring to frustrate every purpose for which he was framed.

Prayer:

Father, all of creation … all that I see around me … as well as that which is beyond my sight, touch, and knowledge, are Your servants. You created them, gave them a purpose, and set them to serve You … and they obey You. Here I am, Your creation. You made me with a divine purpose and reason. You purposely placed me and gifted me. You went further with man than with all other creatures . And with me, I can say, You have given me light that I may see You and know You. Thy Spirit has given me a soul’s desire to love You and a longing to be with You. Am I not Your servant? Yet I cannot confess that I continue each day in Your ordinances. I often stray to please myself, as if I were god. As if I were mine own creator. As if I exist to serve myself. As if I were worthy of any glory or exaltation. Foolishness! Sinful Foolishness! Yet though selfishness desires to lead, You do not forsake me. Jesus, my precious Jesus, You own me, I am Yours. You lead me back to the Father. You have purchased me with Your blood. You are my shepherd and will keep me. Help me, Father, to learn to die to myself and live for Thee. It is in Christ Jesus that I truly live.