BLESSED are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.’”.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 9 TO 16
- With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments
- Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee
- Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes
- With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth
- I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches
- I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways
- I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word
For years it had been his joy and bliss to give his soul to the teaching of the word. His rejoicing had not only arisen out of the word of God, but out of the practical characteristics of’ it.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 17 TO 24
- Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law
- I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me
- My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times
- Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments
- Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies
- Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes
- Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors
It is far better to have the eyes opened than to be placed in the midst of the noblest prospects and remain blind to their beauty. To be slandered, and then to be despised in consequence of the vile accusation, is a grievous affliction.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 25 TO 32
Let us always resort to prayer in our desponding times, for it is the surest and shortest way out of the depths. If we beseech the Lord not to put us to shame, surely we ought not ourselves to be ashamed in the presence of the adversary.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 33 TO 40
The judgments of the wicked are bad, and we may therefore appeal from them to the judgment of God. We need quickening every hour of the day, for we are so sadly apt to become slow and languid in the ways of God.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 41 TO 48
Note that he does the same in the corresponding verses of the sections which follow. In the close of this verse there is a declaration of what the Psalmist had done in reference to the word of the Lord, and in this the thirds of the octaves are often alike. So shall’ I keep thy law continually far ever and ever.’” Nothing more effectually binds a man to the way of the Lord than an experience of the truth of his word, embodied :in the form of mercies and deliverance’s.
Whether he delighted others or not when he was speaking, he never failed to delight himself when he was musing on the word of the Lord.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 49 TO 56
It is the nature of the son of the bondwoman to mock the child of the promise. Those who are the firmest believers in the eternal punishment of the wicked are the most grieved at: their doom. It is no proof of tenderness to shut one’s eyes to the awful doom of the ungodly.
When we sing in the ways of the Lord it shows that our hearts are in them.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 57 TO 64
There is not much in the position of the body, but there is something, and that something is to be observed whenever it is helpful to devotion and. No, he was glad of the society of those who had only the beginning of wisdom in the shape of ‘“the fear of the Lord’”: he was pleased to sit with them on the lower forms of the school of faith. He had wandered in deserts and hidden in caves, and there he had seen and felt the lovingkindness of the Lord.
He who does not care to be instructed of the Lord has never honestly resolved to be holy.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 65 TO 72
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes
Even though the affliction came from bad men, it was over-ruled for good ends; though it was bad as it came from them, it was good for David. Whatever he may have thought while under the trial, he perceived himself to be the better for it when it was over. It was not good to the proud to be prosperous, for their hearts grew sensual and insensible;.
A thousand benefits have come to us through our pains and griefs, and among the rest is this — that we have thus been schooled in the law.
The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 73 TO 80
It is good for the eyes to see a man whose witness is that the Lord is true; it is one of the joys of saints to hold converse with their more advanced brethren. Yet no true child of God can live without the tender mercy of the Lord; it is death to him to be under God’s displeasure. We cannot afford to lose the love of the’ least of’ the saints; and if we have lost their esteem we may most properly pray to have it restored.
David was the leader of the godly party in the nation, and it wounded him to the heart when he perceived that those who feared God were not as glad to see him as aforetime they had been.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 81 TO 88
The eyes of the Lord will see to it that such eyes do not actually fail. Yet do I not forget thy statutes.’” Here is the patience of the saints and the victory of faith. While he kept to the law of the Lord he was safe, though even then it was an.
None keep the word of the Lord’s mouth unless the word of the Lord’s mouth quickens them.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 89 TO 96
God’s word which established the world is the same as that which he has embodied in the Scriptures; by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and specially by him who is emphatically THE WORD. Shall we wish to be free of the Lord’s sway and become lords unto ourselves. It seems singular that he should ascribe quickening to the precepts, and yet it lies in them and in all the words of the Lord alike.
It is to be noted that when the Lord raised the dead he addressed to them the word of.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 97 TO 104
David turned away from all else but the word and will of the Lord, for in the preceding verse he tells us that he had seen an end of all. There is more wisdom in the testimonies of the Lord than in all the teachings of men if they were all gathered into one vast library. There is not a grain of boasting in these bold expressions, but only a child-like desire to set forth the excellence of the Lord’s word.
There is none like it: give it me,’” said David as to Goliath’s sword, and we may say the same as to the word of the Lord.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 105 TO 112
In his memory of the Lord’s law lay his safety; he was certainly not forgotten of his God, for his God was not forgotten of him. By keeping to the ways of the Lord we shall escape the snares of our adversaries, for his ways are safe and free from treachery. For they are the rejoicing of my heart.’” The gladness which had come to him through the word of the Lord had caused him to make an.
In this verse, which is the seventh of its octave, we have reached the same sweetness as in the seventh of the last eight (103).
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 113 TO 120
The opposite of the fixed and infallible testimony of God is the wavering, changing thought of men. David meant to keep the law of the Lord, but he first needed the Lord of the law to keep him. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.’”.
No, he judges them to be the scum of the earth, and he treats them accordingly by putting them away.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 121 TO 128
It is by his suretyship that we escape like a bird from the snare of the fowler. David left his reputation entirely in the Lord’s hand, and was eager to be cleared by the word of the Judge, rather than by any defense of his own. The Lord can work either by judgments which hurl down the ramparts of the foe, or by revivals which build up the walls of his own Jerusalem.
We state our faith all the more broadly in proportion to the opposition of the foe.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 129 TO 136
He was a servant of God, and his industrious mind longed to receive orders; he was a learner in the school of grace, and his eager spirit longed to be taught of the Lord. And let not any iniquity have dominion over me.’” This is the negative side of the blessing. This is the favor which he considers to be the shining of the face of God upon him.
As we say among men that a good education is a great fortune, so to be taught of the Lord is a gift of special grace.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 137 TO 144
About every portion of the inspired testimonies there is a divine authority: they are published by God’s command, and they bear the impress of the royal style which carries omnipotence in it. God’s word is righteous, and cannot be impeached; it is faithful, and cannot be questioned; it is true from the beginning, and it will be true unto the end. Therefore thy servant loveth it,’” which is a proof that he himself was pure in heart; for only those who are pure love God’s word because of its purity.
The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting,’” First he had said that God’s testimonies were righteous, then that they were everlasting, and now that their righteousness is everlasting.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 145 TO 152
I will keep thy statutes.’” He could not expect the Lord to hear him if he did not hear the Lord, neither would it be true that he prayed with his whole heart unless it was manifest that he labored with all his might to be obedient to the divine will. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried.’” He was up before the sun, and began his pleadings before the dew began to leave the grass. It is according to God’s lovingkindness to answer speedily, to answer frequently, to answer abundantly, yea, exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think.
Observe, that he asks to receive quickening according to God’s judgment, that is, in such a way as should be consistent with infinite wisdom and prudence.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 153 TO 160
For I do not forget thy law.’” His affliction was not sufficient, with all its bitterness, to drive out of his mind the memory of God’s law; nor could it lead him to act contrary to the divine command. According to thy word.’” David had found the blessing of quickening among the promised things, or at least he perceived that it was according to the general tenor of God’s word that tried believers should be quickened and brought up again from the dust of the earth; therefore he pleads the word, and desires the Lord to act to him according to the usual run of that word. Salvation and God’s statutes go together: those who are saved by the King of grace love the statutes of the King of glory.
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.
EXPOSITION ,OF VERSES 161 TO 168
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. It is well if in looking back we can claim to have acted in the way which is commanded of the Lord. It is a blessed thing to see the two forms of the divine word equally known, equally valued, equally confessed: there should be no picking and choosing as to the mind of God.
We know those who endeavor to be careful as to the precepts, but who seem to think that the doctrines of the gospel are mere matters of opinion, which they may shape for themselves.
EXPOSITION OF VERSES 169 TO 176
May we be among those happy children who shall all be taught of the Lord. When the tongue speaks of God’s word it has a most fruitful subject; such speaking will be as a tree of life, whose leaves shall be for the healing of the people. A man may fitly ask help from God’s hand when he has dedicated his own hand entirely to the obedience of the faith.
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