Reading The Psalms Daily

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MHCC

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.

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KAPH

Ps 119:81 ¶ My soul faints for Your salvation, But I hope in Your word.

Ps 119:82 My eyes fail from searching Your word, Saying, "When will You comfort me?"

Ps 119:83 ¶ For I have become like a wineskin in smoke, Yet I do not forget Your statutes.

Ps 119:84 ¶ How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?

Ps 119:85 ¶ The proud have dug pits for me, Which is not according to Your law.

Ps 119:86 All Your commandments are faithful; They persecute me wrongfully; Help me!

Ps 119:87 They almost made an end of me on earth, But I did not forsake Your precepts.

Ps 119:88 ¶ Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.

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MHCC

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.

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LAMED

Ps 119:89 ¶ Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.

Ps 119:90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.

Ps 119:91 They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants.

Ps 119:92 ¶ Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.

Ps 119:93 ¶ I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.

Ps 119:94 ¶ I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts.

Ps 119:95 ¶ The wicked wait for me to destroy me, But I will consider Your testimonies.

Ps 119:96 ¶ I have seen the consummation of all perfection, But Your commandment is exceedingly broad.

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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.

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MEM

Ps 119:97 ¶  Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

Ps 119:98 ¶ You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me.

Ps 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.

Ps 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts.

Ps 119:101 ¶ I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.

Ps 119:102 ¶ I have not departed from Your judgments, For You Yourself have taught me.

Ps 119:103 ¶ How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Ps 119:104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.

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MHCC

97-104 What we love, we love to think of. All true wisdom is from God. A good man carries his Bible with him, if not in his hands, yet in his head and in his heart. By meditation on God's testimonies we understand more than our teachers, when we understand our own hearts. The written word is a more sure guide to heaven, than all the fathers, the teachers, and ancients of the church. We cannot, with any comfort or boldness, attend God in holy duties, while under guilt, or in any by-way. It was Divine grace in his heart, that enabled the psalmist to receive these instructions. The soul has its tastes as well as the body. Our relish for the word of God will be greatest, when that for the world and the flesh is least. The way of sin is a wrong way; and the more understanding we get by the precepts of God, the more rooted will be our hatred of sin; and the more ready we are in the Scriptures, the better furnished we are with answers to temptation.

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NUN

Ps 119:105 ¶ Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Ps 119:106 ¶ I have sworn and confirmed That I will keep Your righteous judgments.

Ps 119:107 ¶ I am afflicted very much; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.

Ps 119:108 ¶ Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, And teach me Your judgments.

Ps 119:109 ¶ My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law.

Ps 119:110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.

Ps 119:111 ¶ Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, For they are the rejoicing of my heart.

Ps 119:112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, to the very end.

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MHCC

 
105-112 The word of God directs us in our work and way, and a dark place indeed the world would be without it. The commandment is a lamp kept burning with the oil of the Spirit, as a light to direct us in the choice of our way, and the steps we take in that way. The keeping of God's commands here meant, was that of a sinner under a dispensation of mercy, of a believer having part in the covenant of grace. The psalmist is often afflicted; but with longing desires to become more holy, offers up daily prayers for quickening grace. We cannot offer any thing to God, that he will accept but what he is pleased to teach us to do. To have our soul or life continually in our hands, implies constant danger of life; yet he did not forget God's promises nor his precepts. Numberless are the snares laid by the wicked; and happy is that servant of God, whom they have not caused to err from his Master's precepts. Heavenly treasures are a heritage for ever; all the saints accept them as such, therefore they can be content with little of this world. We must look for comfort only in the way of duty, and that duty must be done. A good man, by the grace of God, brings his heart to his work, then it is done well.

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SAMEK

Ps 119:113 ¶ I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law.

Ps 119:114 ¶ You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.

Ps 119:115 ¶ Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my God!

Ps 119:116 ¶ Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.

Ps 119:117 Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes continually.

Ps 119:118 ¶ You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, For their deceit is falsehood.

Ps 119:119 You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies.

Ps 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.

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MHCC

 
113-120 Here is a dread of the risings of sin, and the first beginnings of it. The more we love the law of God, the more watchful we shall be, lest vain thoughts draw us from what we love. Would we make progress in keeping God's commands, we must be separate from evil-doers. The believer could not live without the grace of God; but, supported by his hand, his spiritual life shall be maintained. Our holy security is grounded on Divine supports. All departure from God's statutes is error, and will prove fatal. Their cunning is falsehood. There is a day coming which will put the wicked into everlasting fire, the fit place for the dross. See what comes of sin. Surely we who fall so low in devout affections, should fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into heavenly rest, any of us should be found to come short of it, Heb 4:1.

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AYIN

Ps 119:121 ¶ I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors.

Ps 119:122 Be surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the proud oppress me.

Ps 119:123 ¶ My eyes fail from seeking Your salvation And Your righteous word.

Ps 119:124 ¶ Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy, And teach me Your statutes.

Ps 119:125 I am Your servant; Give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies.

Ps 119:126 ¶ It is time for You to act, O LORD, For they have regarded Your law as void.

Ps 119:127 ¶ Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold!

Ps 119:128 Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.

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MHCC

 
121-128 Happy is the man, who, acting upon gospel principles, does justice to all around. Christ our Surety, having paid our debt and ransom, secures all the blessings of salvation to every true believer. The psalmist expects the word of God's righteousness, and no other salvation than what is secured by that word, which cannot fall to the ground. We deserve no favour form God; we are most easy when we cast ourselves upon God's mercy, and refer ourselves to it. If any man resolve to do God's will as his servant, he shall be made to know his testimonies. We must do what we can for the support of religion, and, after all, must beg of God to take the work into his own hands. It is hypocrisy to say we love God's commandments more than our worldly interests. The way of sin is a false way, being directly contrary to God's precepts, which are right: those that love and esteem God's law, hate sin, and will not be reconciled to it.

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PE

Ps 119:129 ¶ Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul keeps them.

Ps 119:130 ¶ The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

Ps 119:131 ¶ I opened my mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.

Ps 119:132 ¶ Look upon me and be merciful to me, As Your custom is toward those who love Your name.

Ps 119:133 ¶ Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.

Ps 119:134 ¶ Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts.

Ps 119:135 ¶ Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes.

Ps 119:136 ¶ Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep Your law.

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MHCC

29-136 The wonders of redeeming love will fix the heart in adoration of them. The Scriptures show us what we were, what we are, and what we shall be. They show us the mercy and the justice of the Lord, the joys of heaven, and the pains of hell. Thus they give to the simple, in a few days, understanding of those matters, which philosophers for ages sought in vain. The believer, wearied with the cares of life and his conflicts with sin, pants for the consolations conveyed to him by means of the sacred word. And every one may pray, Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. We must beg that the Holy Spirit would order our steps. The dominion of sin is to be dreaded and prayed against by every one. The oppression of men is often more than flesh and blood can bear; and He who knoweth our frame, will not refuse to remove it in answer to the prayers of his people. Whatever obscurity may appear as to the faith of the Old Testament believers, their confidence at the throne of grace can only be explained by their having obtained more distinct views of gospel privileges, through the sacrifices and services of their law, than is generally imagined. Go to the same place, plead the name and merits of Jesus, and you will not, you cannot plead in vain. Commonly, where there is a gracious heart, there is a weeping eye. Accept, O Lord, the tears our blessed Redeemer shed in the days of his flesh, for us who should weep for our brethren or ourselves.