Vs. 144 — The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; Give me understanding, and I shall live.

Charles H. Spurgeon:

First he had said that God’s testimonies were righteous, then that they were everlasting, and now that their righteousness is everlasting. Thus he gives us a larger and more detailed account of the word of God the longer he is engaged in writing upon it. The more we say in praise of holy writ, the more we may say and the more we can say. God’s testimonies to man cannot be assailed, they are righteous from beginning to end; and though ungodly men have opposed the divine justice, especially in the plan of salvation, they have always failed to establish any charge against the Most High. Long as the earth shall stand long as there shall be a single intelligent creature in the universe it will be confessed that God’s plans of mercy are in all respects marvellous proofs of his love of justice: even that he may be gracious Jehovah will not be unjust. “Give me understanding and I shall live.” This is a prayer which he is constantly praying, that God would give him understanding. Here he evidently considers that such a gift is essential to his living. To live without understanding is not to live the life of a man, but to be dead while we live. Only as we know and apprehend the things of God can we be said to enter into life. The more the Lord teaches us to admire the eternal rightness of his word, and the more he quickens us to the love of such rightness, the happier and the better we shall be. (Spurgeon, C. H. (2009). The treasury of David: Psalms 111-119 (Vol. 5, p. 392). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

John Calvin:

Under the term life, however, as I have elsewhere said, the Prophet denotes the utmost he could wish. Lord, as if he had said, although I am already dead, yet if thou art pleased to illumine my mind with the knowledge of heavenly truth, this grace alone will be sufficient to revive me. (Calvin, J., & Anderson, J. (2010). Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Vol. 5, p. 23). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

Prayer:

Father,the righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding, and I shall live. How dependent we are in Your giving of understanding and wisdom. Open our eyes to see righteousness in Your word. Help us never to define or consider truth, perfection, righteousness, or life outside of Your word. Let Your word frame our world and very path in which we travel through this shadowland.

 

 

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