DISCOURSE: 695 PRACTICAL RELIGION ENFORCED Psalms 119:4. _Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently: O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not he ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments._ IT is impossible to read the psalm before us and not see... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 696 GOD’S WORD THE MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION Psalms 119:9. _Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word._ THERE is much despondency in the human mind, especially in reference to the great work of sanctification. There are many who wish to bec... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 697 HOW TO ATTAIN DIVINE KNOWLEDGE Psalms 119:18. _Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law!_ THE necessity of Divine teaching, in order to a spiritual acquaintance with the truth of God, is by many denied; and all expectation of the Holy Spirit’s influence... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 698 DAVID’S DESIRE AFTER GOD’S WORD Psalms 119:20. _My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times._ IN general, there is no other connexion between the different verses of this psalm, than the accidental one of their beginning with the same letter of the H... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 699 CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE Psalms 119:30. _I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O Lord, put me not to shame! I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart._ EVERY thing which has an aspect of egot... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 700 WISDOM OF TRUE PIETY Psalms 119:34. _Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart._ A SPIRITUAL discernment essentially differs from the mere exercise of our intellectual powers. A man may have the richest stores of human knowledge, and... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 701 THE VANITIES OF THIS WORLD AN OBSTACLE TO SPIRITUAL PROGRESS Psalms 119:37. _Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way_. THE depths of the human heart are never more plainly disclosed, than when a man comes into the presence of his Maker. Then he opens... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 702 TRUE LIBERTY Psalms 119:45. _I will walk at liberty; for I seek thy precepts_. JUSTLY as civil liberty is appreciated amongst us, there are but few who have just conceptions of that liberty which has respect to morality and religion. Every one knows that unrestrained liberty is lice... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 703 COMFORT UNDER PERSECUTION Psalms 119:51. _The proud have had me greatly in derision; yet have I not declined from thy Law. I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; and have comforted myself_. THERE is not, throughout the whole Scriptures, any woe so little feared, so little thought... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 704 SERIOUS AND SPEEDY CONVERSION TO GOD RECOMMENDED Psalms 119:59. _I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments_. AT what period of David’s life these words were written, we are not informed: if in his early youth... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 705 THE GOODNESS OF GOD Psalms 119:68. _Thou art good, and doest good: teach me thy statutes_. THE perfections of God, if considered only in a speculative view, must excite our admiration; but, if contemplated in reference to our state and conduct, they will be to us a source of unspeak... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 706 THE BENEFIT OF AFFLICTION Psalms 119:71. _It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes_. DAVID had “been afflicted from his youth up” — — — and we think it highly probable that to that very circumstance he was indebted, under God, for those extraordin... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 707 THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF GOD Psalms 119:76. _Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant._ THE peculiar construction of this psalm forbids us to look for much connexion between its several parts. It is composed of short detached sen... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 708 DAVID’S BOASTING EXPLAINED AND VINDICATED Psalms 119:97. _O how love I thy Law! It is my meditation all the day. Thou, through thy commandments, hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 709 THE TRUE TEST OF RELIGION IN THE SOUL Psalms 119:128. _I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way._ RELIGION is the same in every age. The doctrines of it, though they have been more fully and clearly revealed under the Christian dispensat... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 710 THE CHRISTIAN’S CHIEF DESIRES Psalms 119:132. _Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me._ TO many, the Psalms are less interesting than most other parts of... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 711 REASONS FOR WEEPING OVER SINNERS Psalms 119:136. _Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law._ THE generality, if exhorted to labour for the salvation of others, are ready to reply, “Am I my brother’s keeper [Note: Genesis 4:9.]?” But they who have truly the... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 712 DAVID’S DESIRE TO SERVE GOD Psalms 119:145. _I cried with my whole heart; Hear me, O Lord: I will keep thy statutes. I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word. Mine eyes prevent the night watch... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 713 BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO LOVE GOD’S LAW Psalms 119:165. _Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them._ THE force of principle is exceeding great, even where the principle itself is erroneous and vicious, but much more where it is founded upon the unerring... [ Continue Reading ]