Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc21/v23900

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 6KB | 110 lines

23905
 #49-56 Those that make God's promises their portion, may with
 humble boldness make them their plea. He that by his Spirit
 works faith in us, will work for us. The word of God speaks
 comfort in affliction. If, through grace, it makes us holy,
 there is enough in it to make us easy, in all conditions. Let us
 be certain we have the Divine law for what we believe, and then
 let not scoffers prevail upon us to decline from it. God's
 judgments of old comfort and encourage us, for he is still the
 same. Sin is horrible in the eyes of all that are sanctified.
 Ere long the believer will be absent from the body, and present
 with the Lord. In the mean time, the statutes of the Lord supply
 subjects for grateful praise. In the season of affliction, and
 in the silent hours of the night, he remembers the name of the
 Lord, and is stirred up to keep the law. All who have made
 religion the first thing, will own that they have been
 unspeakable gainers by it.

23913
 #57-64 True believers take the Lord for the portion of their
 inheritance, and nothing less will satisfy them. The psalmist
 prayed with his whole heart, knowing how to value the blessing
 he prayed for: he desired the mercy promised, and depended on
 the promise for it. He turned from by-paths, and returned to
 God's testimonies. He delayed not. It behooves sinners to hasten
 to escape; and the believer will be equally in haste to glorify
 God. No care or grief should take away God's word out of our
 minds, or hinder the comfort it bestows. There is no situation
 on earth in which a believer has not cause to be thankful. Let
 us feel ashamed that others are more willing to keep from sleep
 to spend the time in sinful pleasures, than we are to praise
 God. And we should be more earnest in prayer, that our hearts
 may be filled with his mercy, grace, and peace.

23921
 #65-72 However God has dealt with us, he has dealt with us
 better than we deserve; and all in love, and for our good. Many
 have knowledge, but little judgment; those who have both, are
 fortified against the snares of Satan, and furnished for the
 service of God. We are most apt to wander from God, when we are
 easy in the world. We should leave our concerns to the disposal
 of God, seeing we know not what is good for us. Lord, thou art
 our bountiful Benefactor; incline our hearts to faith and
 obedience. The psalmist will go on in his duty with constancy
 and resolution. The proud are full of the world, and its wealth
 and pleasures; these make them senseless, secure, and stupid.
 God visits his people with affliction, that they may learn his
 statutes. Not only God's promises, but even his law, his
 percepts, though hard to ungodly men, are desirable, and
 profitable, because they lead us with safety and delight unto
 eternal life.

23929
 #73-80 God made us to serve him, and enjoy him; but by sin we
 have made ourselves unfit to serve him, and to enjoy him. We
 ought, therefore, continually to beseech him, by his Holy
 Spirit, to give us understanding. The comforts some have in God,
 should be matter of joy to others. But it is easy to own, that
 God's judgments are right, until it comes to be our own case.
 All supports under affliction must come from mercy and
 compassion. The mercies of God are tender mercies; the mercies
 of a father, the compassion of a mother to her son. They come to
 us when we are not able to go to them. Causeless reproach does
 not hurt, and should not move us. The psalmist could go on in
 the way of his duty, and find comfort in it. He valued the good
 will of saints, and was desirous to keep up his communion with
 them. Soundness of heart signifies sincerity in dependence on
 God, and devotedness to him.

23937
 #81-88 The psalmist sought deliverance from his sins, his foes,
 and his fears. Hope deferred made him faint; his eyes failed by
 looking out for this expected salvation. But when the eyes fail,
 yet faith must not. His affliction was great. He was become like
 a leathern bottle, which, if hung up in the smoke, is dried and
 shrivelled up. We must ever be mindful of God's statutes. The
 days of the believer's mourning shall be ended; they are but for
 a moment, compared with eternal happiness. His enemies used
 craft as well as power for his ruin, in contempt of the law of
 God. The commandments of God are true and faithful guides in the
 path of peace and safety. We may best expect help from God when,
 like our Master, we do well and suffer for it. Wicked men may
 almost consume the believer upon earth, but he would sooner
 forsake all than forsake the word of the Lord. We should depend
 upon the grace of God for strength to do every good work. The
 surest token of God's good-will toward us, is his good work in
 us.

23945
 #89-96 The settling of God's word in heaven, is opposed to the
 changes and revolutions of the earth. And the engagements of
 God's covenant are established more firmly than the earth
 itself. All the creatures answer the ends of their creation:
 shall man, who alone is endued with reason, be the only
 unprofitable burden of the earth? We may make the Bible a
 pleasant companion at any time. But the word, without the grace
 of God, would not quicken us. See the best help for bad
 memories, namely, good affections; and though the exact words be
 lost, if the meaning remain, that is well. I am thine, not my
 own, not the world's; save me from sin, save me from ruin. The
 Lord will keep the man in peace, whose mind is stayed on him. It
 is poor perfection which one sees an end of. Such are all
 things in this world, which pass for perfections. The glory of
 man is but as the flower of the grass. The psalmist had seen the
 fulness of the word of God, and its sufficiency. The word of the
 Lord reaches to all cases, to all times. It will take us from
 all confidence in man, or in our own wisdom, strength, and
 righteousness. Thus shall we seek comfort and happiness from
 Christ alone.