Psalm 119

3. The stimulus to life found in his great and tender presence.

Psalms 119:157*

Ver. 157. Many are my persecutors and mine enemies. Those who actually assail me, or who secretly abhor me, are many. He sets this over against the many tender mercies of God. It seems a strange thing that a truly godly man, as David was, should have many enemies; but it is inevitable. The disciple cannot be loved where his Master is hated. The seed of the serpent must oppose the seed of the woman: it is their nature.

Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. He did not deviate from the truth of God, but proceeded in the straight way, however many adversaries might endeavour to block up his path. Some men have been led astray by one enemy, but here is a saint who held on his way in the teeth of many persecutors. There is enough in the testimonies of God to recompense us for pushing forward against all the hosts that may combine against us. So long as they cannot drive or draw us into a spiritual decline our foes have done us no great harm, and they have accomplished nothing by their malice. If we do not decline they are defeated. If they cannot make us sin they have missed their mark. Faithfulness to the truth is victory over our enemies.

Ver. 157. Persecutors. A participle from the verb rendered pursue, chase. "Enemies, "as in verse 139, the authors of my distress. Until men are hunted and hounded by many enemies, who for the time have power, and are withal fierce and to some extent unscrupulous, they can have but a faint conception of the anguish of the prophet when he experienced the evils noted in this verse. Yet they did not move him from his constancy and integrity. William S. Plurner.

HINTS TO PREACHERS.

Ver. 157.

1. A word of multitude: "many."

2. A tendency of dread, viz., a tendency to decline.

3. A note of consolation: "yet do I not decline, "

Psalms 119:158*

Ver. 158. I beheld the transgressors. I saw the traitors; I understood their character, their object, their way, and their end. I could not help seeing them, for they pushed themselves into my way. As I was obliged to see them I fixed my eyes on them, to learn what I could from them.

And was grieved. I was sorry to see such sinners. I was sick of them, disgusted with them, I could not endure them. I found no pleasure in them, they were a sad sight to me, however fine their clothing or witty their chattering. Even when they were most mirthful a sight of them made my heart heavy; I could not tolerate either them or their doings.

Because they kept not thy word. My grief was occasioned more by their sin against God than by their enmity against myself. I could bear their evil treatment of my words, but not their neglect of thy word. Thy word is so precious to me that those who will not keep it move me to indignation; I cannot keep the company of those who keep not God's word. That they should have no love for me is a trifle; but to despise the teaching of the Lord is abominable.

Ver. 158. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved. Celerinus in Cyprian's Epistles, acquaints a friend with his great grief for the apostasy of a woman through fear of persecution; which afflicted him so much, that at the feast of Easter (the Queen of feasts in the primitive church) he wept night and day, and resolved never to know a moment's delight, till through the mercy of God she should be recovered. Charles Bridges.

Ver. 158. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved. Oh, if you have the hearts of Christians or of men in you, let them yearn towards your poor ignorant, ungodly neighbours. Alas, there is but a step betwixt them and death and hell: many hundred diseases are waiting ready to seize on them, and if they die unregenerate they are lost for ever. Have you hearts of rock, that cannot pity men in such a case as this? If you believe not the word of God, and the danger of sinners, why are you Christians yourselves If you do believe it, why do you not bestir yourself to the helping of others? Do you not care who is damned, so you be saved? If so, you have sufficient cause to pity yourselves, for it is a frame of spirit utterly inconsistent with grace: should you not rather say, as the lepers of Samaria, is it not a day of glad tidings, and do we sit still and hold our peace 2 Kings 7:9. Hath God had so much mercy on you, and will you have no mercy on your poor neighbours? You need not go far to find objects for your pity: look but into your streets, or into the next house to you, and you will probably find some. Have you never an ignorant, an unregenerate neighbour that sets his heart on things below, and neglects eternity? What blessed place do you live in, where there is none such? If there be not some of them in thine own family, it is well; and yet art thou silent? Dost thou live close by them, or meet them in the streets, or labour with them, or travel with them, or sit and talk with them, and say nothing to them of their souls, or the life to come? If their houses were on fire, thou wouldst run and help them; and wilt thou not help them when their souls are almost at the fire of hell? If thou knewest but a remedy for their diseases thou wouldst tell it them, or else thou wouldst judge thyself guilty of their death. Richard Baxter (1615 1691), in "The Saints' Everlasting Rest."

Ver. 158. Grieved, because they kept not thy law. I never thought the world had been so wicked, when the Gospel began, as now I see it is; I rather hoped that every one would have leaped for joy to have found himself freed from the filth of the Pope, from his lamentable molestations of poor troubled consciences, and that through Christ they would by faith obtain the celestial treasure they sought after before with such vast cost and labour, though in vain. And especially I thought the bishops and universities would with joy of heart have received the true doctrines; but I have been lamentably deceived. Moses and Jeremiah, too, complained they had been deceived. Martin Luther.

Ver. 158. Grieved. The word that is here translated "grieved" is from "katat", that signifies to loathe, abhor, and contend. I beheld the transgressors, and I loathed them; I beheld the transgressors, and I abhorred them; I beheld the transgressors, and I contended with them; but not so much because they were mine enemies, as because they were thine. Thomas Brooks.

Ver. 158. The day when I first met Colonel Gardiner at Leicester, I happened to preach a lecture from Psalms 114:158: "I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word." I was large in describing that mixture of indignation and grief, strongly expressed by the original word there, with which a good man looks on the varying transgressors of the divine law; and in tracing the causes of that grief, as arising, from a regard to the divine honour, and the interest of a Redeemer, and a compassionate concern for the misery such offenders bring on themselves, and for the mischief they do to the world about them. I little thought how exactly I was drawing Colonel Gardiner's character under each of those heads; and I have often reflected upon it as a happy providence, which opened a much speedier way than I could have expected, to the breast of one of the most amiable and useful friends which I ever expect to find upon earth. We afterwards sung a hymn, which brought over again some of the leading thoughts in the sermon, and struck him so strongly, that on obtaining a copy of it, he committed it to his memory, and used to repeat it with so forcible an accent, as showed how much every line expressed of his very soul. In this view the reader will pardon my inserting it; especially as I know not when I may get time to publish a volume of these serious though artless compositions, which I sent him in manuscript some years ago, and to which I have since made very large additions:

Arise, my tenderest thoughts, arise,

To torrents melt my streaming eyes;

And thou, my heart, with anguish feel

Those evils which thou canst not heal.

See human nature sunk in shame;

See scandals pour'd on Jesus' name;

The Father wounded through the Son;

The world abused, and souls undone.

See the short course of vain delight

Closing in everlasting night;

In flames that no abatement know,

Though briny tears for ever flow.

My God, I feel the mournful scene;

My bowels yearn o'er dying men,

And fain my pity would reclaim,

And snatch the firebrands from the flame.

But feeble my compassion proves,

And can but weep where most it loves;

Thy own all saving arm employ,

And turn these drops of grief to joy.

Philip Doddridge, in "The Life of Colonel Garainer."

HINTS TO PREACHERS.

Ver. 158. A grievous sight.

1. Transgressors beyond God's bounds.

2. Bounds so kindly set: "thy word."

3. Transgressions so wantonly ungrateful, so terribly dangerous, so fatal.

Ver. 158. Sorrow over sinners.

1. A sight we cannot avoid seeing.

2. A sorrow we ought not to avoid feeling. (See Lot: 2 Peter 2:7, 2 Peter 2:8. Moses: Deuteronomy 9:18, Deuteronomy 9:19. Samuel: 1 Samuel 15:11 Jeremiah 9:1. Paul: Philemon 1:3:18. Christ: Luke 19:41).

3. A reason we will not avoid endorsing.

Ver. 158. A righteous man cannot but be grieved at the sins of the wicked. He sees in them,

1. The violation of the divine law which he loves.

2. Ungrateful rebellion against the God he worships.

3. Contempt for the gospel of salvation and the blood of Christ.

4. The dominion of Satan, the enemy of his God.

5. The degradation of souls which might have been sacred temples.

6. Prophetic signs of an awful, everlasting retribution.

J.F.

Psalms 119:159*

Ver. 159. Consider, or see, how I love thy precepts. A second time he asks for consideration. As he said before, "Consider mine affliction, "so now he says, "Consider mine affection." He loved the precepts of God loved them unspeakably loved them so as to be grieved with those who did not love them. This is a sure test: many there are who have a warm side towards the promises, but as for the precepts, they cannot endure them. The Psalmist so loved everything that was good and excellent that he loved all God had commanded. The precepts are all of them wise and holy, therefore the man of God loved them extremely, loved to know them, to think of them, to reclaim them, and principally to practise them. He asked the Lord to remember and consider this, not upon the ground of merit, but that it should serve as an answer to the slanderous accusations which at this lime were the great, sting of his sorrow.

Quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness. Here he comes back to his former prayer, "Quicken me" (ver. 154), "quicken me" (ver.

156). "Quicken me." He prays again the third time, using the same words. We may understand that David felt like one who was half stunned with the assaults of his foes, ready to faint under their incessant malice. What he wanted was revival, restoration, renewal; therefore he pleaded for more life. O thou who didst quicken me when I was dead, quicken me again that I may not return to the dead! Quicken me that I may outlive the blows of my enemies, the faintness of my faith, and the swooning of my sorrow. This time he does not say, "Quicken me according to thy judgments, "but, "Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy lovingkindness." This is the great gun which he brings up last to the conflict: it is his ultimate argument, if this succeed not he must fail. He has long been knocking at mercy's gate, and with this plea he strikes his heaviest blow. When he had fallen into great sin this was his plea, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, "and now that he is in great trouble he flies to the same effectual reasoning. Because God is love he will give us life; because he is kind he will again kindle the heavenly flame within us.

Ver. 159. Consider how I love thy precepts. Search me. Behold the evidence of my attachment to thy law. This is the confident appeal of one who was conscious that he was truly attached to God; that he really loved his law. It is similar to the appeal of Peter to the Saviour (John 21:17), "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." A man who truly loves God may make this appeal without impropriety. He may he so confident, so certain, that he has true love for the character of God, that he may make a solemn appeal to him on the subject, as he might appeal to a friend, to his wife, to his son, to his daughter, with the utmost confidence that he loved them. A man ought to have such love for them, that he could affirm this without hesitation or doubt; a man ought to have such love for God, that he could, affirm this with equal confidence and propriety. Albert Barnes.

Ver. 159. Consider how I love thy precepts. He saith not, consider how I perform thy precepts; but how I love them. The comfort of a Christian militant, in this body of sin, is rather in the sincerity and fervency of his affections than in the absolute perfection of his actions. He fails many times in his obedience to God's precepts, in regard of his action; but love in his affection still remains; so that both before the temptation to sin, and after it, there is a grief in his soul, that he should find in himself any corrupt will or desire, contrary to the holy will of the Lord his God; and this proves an invincible love in him to the precepts of God. William Cowper.

Ver. 159. Consider, etc. Translate (the Hebrew being the same as in verse 158) "Behold how I love thy precepts, "as is evinced in that when "I beheld the transgressors I was grieved." He begs to God to behold this, not as meritorious of grace, but as a distinctive mark of a godly man. A. R. Fausset.

Ver. 159. I love thy precepts: quicken me. The love wherewith he loved God came from that love wherewith God first loved him. For by seeing the great love wherewith God loved him, he was moved and refereed to love God again. So that his meaning is thus much: Thou seest, Lord, that I am an enemy to sin in myself, for I forget not thy law; thou seest that I am an enemy to sin in others, for I am grieved to see them transgress thy law; wherefore, O Lord, "quicken me, "and let thy loving mercy whereby thou hast created me and redeemed me in Christ, whereby thou hast delivered me from so many troubles, and enriched me with so many and continual benefits, renew, revive, quicken, and restore me. Richard Greenham.

Ver. 159. Quicken me. Often as the Psalmist had repeated his prayer for quickening grace, *it was not a "vain repetition, "or an empty sound. Each time was it enlivened with abundant faith, intense feeling of his necessity, and the vehemency of most ardent affection. If the consciousness of the faintness of our strength and the coldness of our affections should lead us to offer this petition a hundred times a day in this spirit, it would never fail of acceptance. Charles Bridges. *Nine times is the petition urged, verses 25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149 154, 156, and 159.

Ver. 159. According to thy lovingkindness. We need not desire to be quickened any further than God's lovingkindness will quicken us. Matthew Henry.

HINTS TO PREACHERS.

Ver. 159.

1. His own love avowed.

2. God's love pleaded.

3. Renewed life implored.

Ver. 159.

1. Attention invited: "Consider how."

2. Profession made: "I love thy precepts."

3. Petition offered: "quicken me, "etc.

4. Plea suggested: "according to, "etc.

G.R.

Ver. 159. My love and thy lovingkindness. The saint's love.

1. Avowed. "Thou knowest all things, "etc.

2. Submitted. In humble insistence on its sincerity. In sense of its insufficiency. In prayer to God not to over look it.

3. Lost sight of in the sudden glory of God's lovingkindness. Where is my love now?

4. Recovered and humbly brought for quickening. Lord, I'll say no more about it: "Quicken me." W.B.H.

Ver. 159. Quicken, me for love's sake.

1. A prayer for quickened life.

2. Awakened by love to the divine rule of life.

3. Enforced by the plea of that love.

4. Addressed to the God of love.

C.A.D.

Ver. 159. Consider,

1. The holy unsatisfaction of the believer: "Quicken me, "etc.

(a) A prayer frequently occurring in the psalm, and always urged with great earnestness.

(b) Its importunity proves the possession of spiritual life; in fact, none but the living ones crave quickening.

(d) Thus, this is, perhaps, the only unsatisfaction perfectly pure in its character.

2. The assuring Divine attribute to which he can appeal: "According to thy lovingkindness."

(a) An attribute, not only made known in tile word, but made manifest to us in our experience of its gentle dealing.

(b) An attribute that covers sin, and is touched with a feeling of our infirmities.

3. The consideration he ought to be able to lay before God: "Consider how I love thy precepts."

(a) Because from the word he learnt of the lovingkindness, and through it received life.

(b) Without it the prayer cannot be genuine.

J.F.

Psalms 119:160*

Ver. 160. The sweet singer finishes up this section in the same way as the last by dwelling upon the sureness of the truth of God. It will be well for the reader to note the likeness between Psalms 119:144, Psalms 119:152, and the present one.

Thy word is true. Whatever the transgressors may say, God is true, and his word is true. The ungodly are false, but God's word is true. They charge us with being false, but our solace is that God's true word will clear us.

From the beginning. God's word has been true from the first moment in which it was spoken, true throughout the whole of history, true to us from the instant in which we believed it, and true to us before we were true to it. Some read it, "Thy word is true from the head; "true as a whole, true from top to bottom. Experience had taught David this lesson, and experience is teaching us the same. The Scriptures are as true in Genesis as in Revelation, and the five books of: Moses are as inspired as the four Gospels.

And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. That which thou hast decided remains irreversible in every case. Against the decisions of the Lord no writ of error can be demanded, neither will there ever be a repealing of any of the acts of his sovereignty. There is not one single mistake either in the word of God or in the providential dealings of God. Neither in the book of revelation nor of providence will there be any need to put a single note of errata. The Lord has nothing to regret or to retract, nothing to amend or to reverse. All God's judgments, decrees, commands, and purposes are righteous, and as righteous things are lasting things, every one of them will outlive the stars. "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." God's justice endureth for ever. This is a cheering thought, but there is a much sweeter one, which of old was the song of the priests in the temple; let it be ours, "His mercy endureth for ever."

Ver. 160. Thy word is true from the beginning. Literally, "The beginning of thy word is truth, "in antithesis to the "enduring for ever, "in the future, in the next clause. Cocceius and Hengstenberg take it, "The sum of thy word is true, "as in Numbers 26:2 Numbers 26:31:26. But the antithesis noticed above in the English version is thus lost; and the old versions support the English version. Also, if it were "the sum, " the plural ought to follow, viz., "of thy words, "not "word." A. R. Fausset.

Ver. 160. Thy word is true from the beginning, etc. As if he should say, I believe that thou wilt thus quicken me, because the very beginning of thy word is most just and true; and when thou didst first enter into covenant with me, I did find that thou didst not deceive me, not beguile me. And when by thy Spirit thou madest me believe thy covenant, thou meanest truth; and I know that as thou didst promise, thou wilt perform, for thou art no more liberal in promising than faithful and just in performing, and thy judgment will be as righteous as thy promise is true. I know that as soon as thou speakest, truth proceedeth from thee; and even so I know thou wilt defend and preserve me, that thy judgments may shine as righteous in thee. Richard Greenham.

Ver. 160. Thy word is true from the beginning, etc. God's commandment and promise is exceeding broad, reaching to all times. Was a word of command "the guide of thy youth"? I assure thee it will be as good a staff of thine age. A good promise is a good nurse, both to the young babe and to the decrepit old man. Your apothecaries' best cordials in time will lose their spirits, and sometimes the stronger they are, the sooner. But hath a promise cheered thee, say, twenty, thirty, forty years ago? Taste it but now afresh, and thou shalt find it as fresh, and as full of refreshment as ever. If it hath been thy greatest joy in thy joyful youth, I tell thee, it hath as much joy in it for thy sad old age. That may be said of God's word, which the prophet saith of God himself (Isaiah 46:4): "And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you." Doth not the Psalmist say as much here, "Thy word is true from the beginning"? It's well, it begins well. But will it last as well? Yes: he adds, "and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever." Answerable to which is that other expression (verse 152), "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever." "For ever, "and "founded for ever." O sweet expression! O grounded comfort! Brethren, get acquainted with God's word and promise as soon as you can, and maintain that acquaintance everlastingly; and your knowledge of it shall not either go before, or go beyond its truth. Know it as soon and as long as you will or can, and you shall never find it tripping or failing; but you may after long experience of God say of it, "I have known of old that thou hast founded it for ever." Anthony Tuckhey, 1599 1670.

HINTS TO PREACHERS.

Ver. 160.

1. Early: "true from the beginning."

2. Late: "endureth for ever." Or, Truth and immutability the believer's Jachin and Boaz.

Psalms 119:161*

Ver. 161. Princes have persecuted me without a cause. Such persons ought to have known better; they should have had sympathy with one of their own rank. A man expects a fair trial at the hand of his peers: it is ignoble to be prejudiced. Moreover, if honour be banished from all other breasts it should remain in the bosom of kings, and honour forbids the persecution of the innocent. Princes are appointed to protect the innocent and avenge the oppressed, and it is a shame when they themselves become the assailants of the righteous. It was a sad case when the man of God found himself attacked by the judges of the earth, for eminent position added weight and venom to their enmity. It was well that the sufferer could truthfully assert that this persecution was without cause. He had not broken their laws, he had not injured them, he had not even desired to see them injured, he had not been an advocate of rebellion or anarchy, he had neither openly nor secretly opposed their power, and therefore, while this made their oppression the more inexcusable, it took away a part of its sting, and helped the brave hearted servant of God to bear up.

But my heart standeth in awe of thy word. He might have been overcome by awe of the princes had it not been that a greater fear drove out the less, and he was swayed by awe of God's word. How little do crowns and sceptres become in the judgment of that man who perceives a more majestic royalty in the commands of his God. We are not likely to be disheartened by persecution, or driven by it into sin, if the word of God continually has supreme power over our minds.

Ver. 161. Princes have persecuted me. The evil is aggravated from the consideration that it is the very persons who ought to be as bucklers to defend us, who employ their strength in hurting us. Yea, when the afflicted are stricken by those in high places, they in a manner think that the hand of God is against them. There was also this peculiarity in the case of the prophet, that he had to encounter the grandees of the chosen people men whom God had placed in such honourable stations, to the end they might be the pillars of the Church. John Calvin.

Ver. 161. Without a cause. I settle it as an established point with me, that the more diligently and faithfully I serve Christ, the greater reproach and the more injury I must expect. I have drank deep of the cup of slander and reproach of late, but I am in no Wise discouraged; no, nor by, what is much harder to bear, the unsuccessfulness of my endeavours to mend this bad world. Philip Doddridge.

Ver. 161. Without a cause. We know what persecutions the body of Christ, that is, the holy Church, suffered from the kings of the earth. Let us therefore here also recognize the words of the Church: "Princes have persecuted me without a cause." For how had the Christians injured the kingdoms of the earth? Although their King promised them the kingdom of heaven, how, I ask, had they injured the kingdoms of earth? Did their King forbid his soldiers to pay and to render due service to the kings of the earth? Saith he not to the Jews who were striving to calumniate him, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's"? Matthew 22:21. Did he not even in his own person pay tribute from the mouth of a fish? Did not his forerunner, when the soldiers of this kingdom were seeking what they ought to do for their everlasting salvation, instead of replying." Loose your belts, throw away your arms, desert your king, that ye may wage war for the Lord, "answer, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with wages?" Luke 3:14. Did not one of his soldiers, his most beloved your companion, say to his fellow soldiers, the provincials, so to speak, of Christ, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers"? and a little lower he addeth, "Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man anything, but to love one another." Romans 13:1, Romans 13:7, Romans 13:8. Does he not enjoin the Church to pray even for kings themselves? How, then, have the Christians offended against them? What due have they not rendered? In what have not Christians obeyed the monarchs of earth? The kings of the earth therefore have persecuted the Christians without a cause. Augustine.

Ver. 161. But my heart standeth in awe of thy word. If there remains any qualm of fear on thy heart, fear from the wrath of bloody men threatening thee for thy profession of the truth, then to a heart inflamed with the love of truth, labour to add a heart filled with the fear of that wrath which God hath in store for all that apostatize from the truth. When you chance to burn your finger, you hold it to the fire, which being a greater fire draws out the other. Thus, when thy thoughts are scorched, and thy heart scared with the fire of man's wrath, hold them a while to hell fire, which God hath prepared for the fearful (Revelation 21:8), and all that run away from truth's colours (Hebrews 10:39), and thou wilt lose the sense of the one for fear of the other. Ignosee imperator, saith the holy man, tu carcerem, Dens gehennam minatur;"Pardon me, O Emperor, if I obey not thy command; thou threatenest a prison, but God a hell." Observable is that of David: "Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word." He had no cause to fear them that had no cause to persecute him. One threatening out of the word, that sets the point of God's wrath to his heart, scares him more than the worst that the greatest on earth can do to him. Man's wrath, when hottest, is but a temperate climate to the wrath of the living God. They who have felt both have testified as much. Man's wrath cannot hinder the access of God's love to the creature, which hath made the saints sing in the fire, in spite of their enemies' teeth. But the creature under God's wrath is like one shut up in a close oven, no crevice is open to let any of the heat out, or any refreshing in to him. William Gurnall.

Ver. 161. My heart standeth in awe of thy word. There is an awe of the word, not that maketh us shy of it, but tender of violating it, or doing anything contrary to it. This is not the fruit of slavish fear, but of holy love; it is not afraid of the word, but delighteth in it, as it discovereth the mind of God to us; as in the next verse it is written, "I rejoice at thy word." This awe is called by a proper name, reverence, or godly fear; when we consider whose word it is, namely, the word of the Lord, who is our God, and hath a right to command what he pleaseth; to whose will and word we have already yielded obedience, and devoted ourselves to walk worthy of him in all well pleasing; who can find us out in all our failings, as knowing our very thoughts afar of (Psalms 139:2), and having all our ways before him, and being one of whom we read, "He is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins" (Joshua 24:19), that is to say, if we impenitently continue in them. Considering these things we receive the word with that trembling of heart which God so much respects. Thomas Manton.

Ver. 161. In awe of thy word. I would advise you all, that come to the reading or hearing of this book, which is the word of God, the most precious jewel, and most holy relic that remaineth upon earth, that ye bring with you the fear of God, and that ye do it with all due reverence, and use your knowledge thereof, not to vain glory of frivolous disputation, but to the honour of God, increase of virtue, and edification both of yourselves and others. Thomas Cranmer, 1489-1555.

Ver. 161. Awe of thy word. They that tremble at the convictions of the word may triumph in the consolations of it. Matthew Henry.

HINTS TO PREACHERS.

Outlines Upon Keywords of the Psalm, By Pastor C. A. Davis.

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

Ver. 161,162. God's word, the object of godly fear and godly joy.

1. It makes the heart quake by its purity and power.

2. It makes the heart rejoice by its grace and truth.

W.H.J.P.

Ver. 161.

1. Wrong without cause.

2. Right with abundant cause.

Ver. 161 (second clause). Awe of God's word its propriety, its hallowed influence, the evil of its absence.

Ver. 161. Restrained by awe.

1. The causelessness of persecution.

2. The temptations to evil occasioned thereby to revenge: to apostasy.

3. The safeguard against falling: awe of God's word. 1 Samuel 24:6 Daniel 3:16-18 Acts 4:19 5:29 C.A.D.

Psalms 119:162*

Ver. 162. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. His awe did not prevent his joy; his fear of God was not of the kind which perfect love casts out, but of the sort which it nourishes. He trembled at the word of the Lord, and yet rejoiced at it. He compares his joy to that of one who has been long in battle, and has at last won the victory and is dividing the spoil. This usually falls to the lot of princes, and though David was not one with them in their persecutions, yet he had his victories, and his spoil was equal to their greatest gains. The profits made in searching the Scriptures were greater than the trophies of war. We too have to fight for divine truth; every doctrine costs us a battle, but when we gain a full understanding of it by personal struggles it becomes doubly precious to us. In these days godly men have a full share of battling for the word of God; may we have for our spoil a firmer hold upon the priceless word. Perhaps, however, the Psalmist may have rejoiced as one who comes upon hidden treasure for which lie had not fought, in which case we find the analogy in the man of God who, while reading the Bible, makes grand and blessed discoveries of the grace of God laid up for him, discoveries which surprise him, for he looked not to find such a prize. Whether we come by the truth as finders or as warriors fighting for it, the heavenly treasure should be equally dear to us. With what quiet joy does the ploughman steal home with his golden find! How victors shout as they share the plunder! How glad should that man be who has discovered his portion in the promises of holy writ, and is able to enjoy it for himself, knowing by the witness of the Holy Spirit that it is all his own.

Ver. 162. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. He never came to an ordinance but as a soldier to the spoil, after a great battle, as having a constant warfare with his corruptions that fought against his soul. Now he comes to see what God will say to him, and he will make himself a saver or gainer, and get a booty out of every commandment, promise, or threatening he hears. John Cotton (1585-1652), in "The way of life."

Ver. 162. I rejoice at thy word. "Euripides, "saith the orator, "hath in his well composed tragedies more sentiments than sayings; " and Thucydides hath so stuffed every syllable of his history with substance, that the one runs parallel along with the other; Lysias's works are so well couched that you cannot take out the least word but you take away the whole sense with it; and Phocion had a special faculty of speaking much in a few words. The Cretians, in Plato's time (however degenerated in St. Paul's), were more weighty than wordy; Timanthes was famous in this, that in his pictures more things were intended than deciphered; and of Homer it is said that none could ever peer him for poetry. Then how much more apt and apposite are these high praises to the book of God, rightly called the Bible or the book as if it were, as indeed it is, both for fitness of terms and fulness of truth, the only book to winch (as Luther saith) all the books in the world are but waste paper. It is called the word, by way of eminency, because it must be the butt and boundary of all our words; and the scripture, as the lord paramount above all other words or writings of men collected into volumes, there being, as the Rabbins say, a mountain of sense hanging upon every tittle of it, whence may be gathered flowers and phrases to polish our speeches with, even sound words, that have a healing property in them, far above all filed phrases of human elocution. Thomas Adams.

Ver. 162. As one that findeth great spoil. This expressive image may remind us of the inward conflict to be endured in acquiring the spoils of this precious word. It is so contrary to our natural taste and temper, that habitual self-denial and struggle with the indisposition of the heart can alone enable us to "find the spoil." But what "great spoil" is divided as the fruit of the conflict! How rich and abundant is the recompense of the "good soldier of Jesus Christ, "who is determined through the power of the Spirit to "endure hardness, "until he overcome the reluctance of his heart to this spiritual duty. He shall "rejoice in finding great spoil." Sometimes as the spoil with which the lepers enriched themselves in the Syrian camp it may be found unexpectedly. Sometimes we see the riches and treasures contained in a passage or doctrine, long before we can make it our own. And often when we gird ourselves to the conflict with indolence, and wanderings, under the weakness of our spiritual perceptions and the power of unbelief, many a prayer, and many a sigh is sent up for Divine aid, before we are crowned with victory, and are enabled, as the fruit of our conquest joyfully to appropriate the word to our present need and distress. Charles Bridges.

HINTS TO PREACHERS.

Ver. 162.

1. The treasure hid: "great spoil" hidden in the divine word.

2. The treasure found: "as one that findeth, "etc.

(a) By reading.

(b) By meditation.

3. The treasure enjoyed: "I rejoice, "etc.

G.R.

Ver. 162. David's joy over God's word he compares to the joy of the warrior when he finds great spoil.

1. This great joy is sometimes aroused by the fact that there is a word of God.

(a) The Scriptures are a revealing of God.

(b) The guide of our life.

(d) The beginning of communion with God.

(e) The instrument of usefulness.

2. Frequently the joy of the believer in the word arises out of his having had to battle to obtain a grasp of it.

(a) We have had to fight over certain doctrines before we could really come at them.

(b) The same may be said of the promises.

(d) Of the threatenings.

(e) Even about the word which reveals Christ.

3. At times the joy of the believer lies in enjoying God's word without any fighting at all: "One that findeth."

4. There is a joy arising out of the very fact that Holy Scripture may be considered to be a spoil.

(a) A spoil is the end of uncertainty.

(b) It is the weakening of the adversary for any future attacks.

(d) There is, in dividing the spoil, profit, pleasure, and honour.

(e) The spoiling of the enemy is a prophecy of rest. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 1641: "Great Spoil."

Psalms 119:163*

Ver. 163. I hate and abhor lying. A double expression for an inexpressible loathing. Falsehood in doctrine, in life, or in speech, falsehood in any form or shape, had become utterly detestable to the Psalmist. This was a remarkable state for an Oriental, for generally lying is the delight of Easterns, and the only wrong they see in it is a want of skill in its exercise so that the liar is found out. David himself had made much progress when he had come to this. He does not, however, alone refer to falsehood in conversation; he evidently intends perversity in faith and teaching. He set down all opposition to the God of truth as lying, and then he turned his whole soul against it in the most intense form of indignation. Godly men should detest false doctrine even as they abhor a lie.

But thy law do I love, because it is all truth. His love was as ardent as his hate. True men love truth, and hate lying. It is well for us to know which way our hates and loves run, and we may do essential service to others by declaring what are their objects. Both love and hate are contagious, and when they are sanctified the wider their influence the better.

Ver. 163. I hate and abhor lying, etc. One sees here how the light on David's soul was increasing more and more unto the perfect day. In the earlier part of this psalm, David in the recollects of his own sin had prayed, "Remove from me the way of lying, "and the Lord had indeed answered his prayer, for he now declares his utter loathing of every false way: "I hate and abhor lying." And we see, in some measure, the instrument by which the Holy Spirit wrought the change: "Thy law do I love"; nay, as he adds in a later verse, "I love them exceedingly." And so it ever must be, the heart must have some holier object of its affection to fill up the void, or there will be no security against a relapse into sin! might talk for ever on the sin, the disgrace, and the danger of lying, and though at the time and for a time my words might have some influence, yet, unless the heart be filled with the love of God and of God's law, the first temptation would prove too powerful. The Bible teaches us this in a variety of ways. God says to Israel, not only "cease to do evil, "but, "learn to do well." And still more pointedly does the apostle, when he was warring against drunkenness, say, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit." Barton Bouchier.

Ver. 163. I hate and abhor lying. "Lying, "according to Scripture usage, not only signifies speaking contrary to what one thinks, but also thinking contrary to the truth of things, and, particularly, the giving to other of that worship and glory which are due to the true God alone to think and act aside from God's truth. The men who persecuted that godly man thought of earthly prosperity and power as they should not have thought; they judged God's servant falsely, and they thought wickedly Of God himself. The man of God took a view of these things; he saw wickedness and the vileness of them, and he continued "Falsehood I hate and abhor: thy law do I love." From all the false and delusive ways of men, from all the pride and pomp that surround courts, from the sinful and pursuits of worldly men, as well as from the ostentatious idolatry heathen nations, he could turn with heart delight to the contemplation Jehovah, in that wonderful ritual which manifested the divine mercy in vicarious sacrifices, and observances, and festivals; and to that holy law which was given as man's rule of duty and grateful obedience, and these he loved as the manifestations of God's grace. John Stephen.

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