My Autumn with Psalm 119 #32

I will be continuing on in my study of Psalm 119 this autumn. I have spent months reading Thomas Manton's exposition of Psalm 119. In December, I hope to cover the next sixteen verses of Psalm 119.

49 Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.
50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.
51 The arrogant mock me unmercifully, but I do not turn from your law.
52 I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them.
53 Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law.
54 Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.
55 In the night, Lord, I remember your name, that I may keep your law.
56 This has been my practice: I obey your precepts.
57 You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey your words.
58 I have sought your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
59 I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.
60 I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.
61 Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law.
62 At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.
63 I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts.
64 The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees.

Sermon 69 (Psalm 119:61)

• Doct. That no temporal loss which can accrue to us by the violence of evil men should make us forsake our duty to God.
• True faith includes in it an election and choice or esteem and valuation of Christ, not only as good, but as more excellent, more necessary for us, more beneficial to us than all other things.
• Religion without self-denial in one kind or another is Christianity of our own making, not of Christ’s.
• We cull out the easy safe part of religion, and then we call this love to God and love to Christ. No; the true Christian love is to love God above all. Now, one branch of loving God above all is to part with things near and dear to us when God calleth us so to do.
• The victory of a Christian doth not consist in not suffering, or not fighting, but in keeping that which we fight for.
• The way to conquer is by patience and zeal, though we be trodden down and ruined; not by getting the best of opposite factions, but by keeping a good conscience, and patience, and contentedness in sufferings.
• If God be honoured, if the kingdom of Christ be advanced by our sufferings, we are victorious.
• Our victory is not to be measured by our prosperity and adversity, but our faithful adherence to God. Though the devil and his instruments get their will over our bodies and bodily interests, yet if he get not his will over our souls, we conquer, and not Satan.
• Heavenly things can never be taken from their owners.

Sermon 70 (Psalm 119:62)

• Doct. 1. One special duty wherein the people of God should be much exercised is thanksgiving. 
• Doct. 2. That, God’s providence rightly considered, we shall in the worst times find much more cause to give thanks than to complain. 
• Doct. 3. That a heart deeply affected with God’s providence will take all occasions to praise God and give thanks to his name, both in season and out of season.
• Thanksgiving may be in word or deed; praise in words only.
• The mercies of every day make way for songs which may sweeten our rest in the night; and his giving us rest by night, and preserving us in our sleep, when we could not help ourselves, giveth us songs in the morning. And all the day long we find new matter of praise: our whole work is divided between receiving and acknowledging.
• Some mercies are so general and beneficial that they should never be forgotten, but remembered before God every day.
• Faith and praise live and die together; if there be faith, there will be praise; and if there be praise, there will be faith. If faith, there will be praise, for faith is a bird that can sing in winter.
• Praise and thanksgiving is an act of love, and then it cherisheth and feedeth love. It is an act of love to God, for if we love God we will praise him. Prayer is a work of necessity, but praise a mere work of duty and respect to God.
• We pray because we need God, and we praise him because we love him.
• Can you receive so much, and beg so much, and never think of a return or any expression of gratitude? Is there such a being as God, have you all your supplies from him, and will you not take some time to acknowledge what he hath done for your souls? Have you received nothing from God? I put this question to you, because great is our unthankfulness, not only for common benefits, but also for special deliverances—the one not noted and observed, the other not improved.
• Surely a sensible heart seeth always new occasions of praising God, and some old occasions that must always be remembered, always for life, and peace, and safety, and daily provision; and always for Christ, and the hopes of eternal life. Surely if we have the comfort, God should have the glory.
• How disingenuous is it to be always craving, and never giving thanks!
• Oh! let us check this complaining spirit; let us consider what is left, not what God hath taken away; what we may or shall have, not what we now want; what God is, and will be to his people, though we see little or nothing in the creature.
• The life of a Christian is a life of love and praise, a hymn to God. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Bible Review: Spurgeon Study Bible

CSB Spurgeon Study Bible, Holman Bible Publishers (B&H). 2017. 1840 pages. [Source: Gift]

I think I have been waiting--actively waiting--for *a* Spurgeon Study Bible to be released, at least eight or ten years. I found out last year that one would actually be released in 2017! It would be in the Christian Standard Bible translation. It would be edited by Alistair Begg. To say I was excited would be an understatement. The year seemed like one long wait until the release date in November. 

I received this one for a birthday present in mid-November. I was THRILLED from the start. The print size is very good. The notes were of the "just right" variety. Not too few, not too many. The content of the notes was great. And it was black letter, not red letter. It seemed like it was designed cover to cover with me in mind. 

The only thing that would make this one even better would be if it was also available in other translations. I'm thinking the King James Version, since that is the translation Spurgeon used. OR the English Revised Version from 1885, again because Spurgeon would have read. 

For the record, I did find one typo in one of the notes in Revelation. They say something about "hating" a new heart--from the context, I'm guessing it's supposed to be HAVING a new heart. Since those in heaven certainly won't be hating their new hearts. 

Here are ten of my favorite quotes:

It is a great truth that you will rise again. It is a sweeter truth that you will "always be with the Lord." Whatever else you draw comfort from, neglect not this deep, clear, and over-flowing well of delight. There are other sources of good cheer in connection with the glory to be revealed, for heaven is a many-sided joy, but still none can excel the glory of communion with Jesus Christ, wherefore comfort one another in the first place and most constantly, with these words, "So we will always be with the Lord." Spurgeon Study Bible, 1 Thessalonians 4:17

"Sharper than any double-edged sword." A sword with two edges has no blunt side; it cuts both this way and that. The Word of God is edge all over. It is alive in every part, and in every part keen to cut the conscience and wound the heart. Depend on it: not a verse in the Bible is superfluous or a chapter that is useless. Spurgeon Study Bible, Hebrews 4:12

If we do not love the Bible, we certainly do not love the God who gave it to us; but if we do love God, then no other book in the entire world will be comparable in our minds. When God speaks, it is the delight of our ears to hear what he says. In other books there is some truth and some error. Apart from the Bible, the best book ever written has mistakes in it. It is not possible for fallible men to write infallible books. Somehow or other we either say more than is true or less than is true. The most skillful writer does not always keep along that hairline of truth that is more difficult to tread than a razor's edge. But Scripture never errs. Spurgeon Study Bible, Psalm 119:97-99

Nothing in the past has shaken the foundation of our faith. Nothing in the present can move it. Nothing in the future will undermine it. Whatever may occur in the ages to come, there will always be good reason for believing in Jehovah and his faithful Word. The great truths he has revealed will never be disproved. The great promises he has made will never be retracted. The great purposes he has devised will never be abandoned. So long as we live, we will always have a refuge, a hope, a confidence, that can never be removed. "I will bear you up when you turn gray" is not just a promise for those in old age. But it is also a promise to the people of God at any and every period between their birth and their death. Spurgeon Study Bible, Isaiah 46:3-4

Let us trace all the mercies we get to our God, for he has worked all our works in us. He has chosen us, he has redeemed us, he has called us, he has quickened us, he has preserved us, he has sanctified us, and he will perfect us in Christ Jesus. The glory is all the Lord's. When we read human history, we should read it to see the finger of God in it--trace through the human story the silver line of covenant working--observe how the Lord casts the horse and his rider into the sea when they come out against him or his people. Spurgeon Study Bible, Exodus 15:1  

It is not sin as we see it that was laid on Christ but sin as God sees it, not sin as our conscience feebly reveals it to us but sin as God beholds it in all its unmitigated malignity and unconcealed loathsomeness. Sin, in its exceeding sinfulness, Jesus has put away. But when we perceive sin, then we are to trust the blood. Leviticus 4:3, Spurgeon Study Bible

We are all sowing; we cannot help it. No one goes forth in the morning without a seed-basket. As we are all sowing, the great question we have to consider is, :What will the harvest be?" Hosea 8:7; Spurgeon Study Bible

Walking with God denotes an active habit, a communion in the common movements of the day. Some bow humbly before God in the hour of prayer. Other sit humbly in his presence at the time of meditation, and others work themselves up to draw near to God in seasons of religious excitement. But all this falls short of walking with God. Walking is a common pace, an ordinary rate of progress, and it does not seem to require great effort; but then it is a practical working pace, a rate at which one can continue on and on and make a day's journey by the time the sun is down. So walking with God means being with God always, being with him in common things, being with him on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday--as well as on the Sabbath. It means being with him in the shop, with him in the kitchen, with him in the field, feeling his presence in buying and selling, in weighing and measuring, in plowing and reaping--doing as for the Lord the most common acts of life. Then comes the in the qualifying word of "humbly". When our walk with God is closest and clearest, we must be overwhelmed with adoring wonder at the condescension that permits us to think of speaking with the eternal one. To this reverence must be added a constant sense of dependence--walking humbly with God in the sense of daily drawing all supplies from him and gratefully admitting that it is so. We are never to indulge a thought of independence from God, as if we were anything or could do anything apart from him. Spurgeon Study Bible, Micah 6:8 

Walking implies the possession of life...Walking is also a position that signifies activity. As genuine Christians we do no merely learn; we practice what we know. We are to be engaged in displaying to others the blessings we have received and are to exhibit in our daily actions the fruits we have gathered from communion with God. "We walk" is more than some can say. They can affirm, "We talk; we think; we experience; we feel:--but true Christians say, "We walk." Walking also implies progress. A person who walks makes some headway. True believers are always making advances; we are to be going from faith in its beginnings to faith in its perfections, waxing stronger and stronger. There is a progress to be made in every Christian grace...
Walking also implies perseverance. When a person only takes a step or two and then stops, we do not call that walking. The true Christian keeps on going. Further, walking is the ordinary manner of the Christian life. Running is not best for progress; it cannot be kept up for long; it fatigues and tires. But walking is that kind of progress in which a person continues hour after hour, and after a night's rest he rises again to walk on as before until reaching the goal...Walking also implies perseverance. When a person only takes a step or two and then stops, we do not call that walking. The true Christian keeps on going. Further, walking is the ordinary manner of the Christian life. Running is not best for progress; it cannot be kept up for long; it fatigues and tires. But walking is that kind of progress in which a person continues hour after hour, and after a night's rest he rises again to walk on as before until reaching the goal... Walking also implies perseverance. When a person only takes a step or two and then stops, we do not call that walking. The true Christian keeps on going. Further, walking is the ordinary manner of the Christian life. Running is not best for progress; it cannot be kept up for long; it fatigues and tires. But walking is that kind of progress in which a person continues hour after hour, and after a night's rest he rises again to walk on as before until reaching the goal...Walking by sight is just this--"I believe in myself." Whereas walking by faith is this--"I believe in God." Spurgeon Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:7 

"Our Father in heaven" -- I am a child away from home."Your name be honored as holy"--I am a worshiper."Your kingdom come"--I am a subject."Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"--I am a servant."Give us today our daily bread"--I am a beggar."And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors"--I am a sinner."And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one"--I am a sinner in danger of being a still greater sinner. ~ Spurgeon Study Bible, Matthew 6:13

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Week in Review: December 17-23

CSB Spurgeon Study Bible

• John
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Titus 
• Philemon
• Hebrews 9-13
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude
• Revelation

King James Version

• Psalms

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

My Autumn with Psalm 119 #31

I will be continuing on in my study of Psalm 119 this autumn. I have spent months reading Thomas Manton's exposition of Psalm 119. In December, I hope to cover the next sixteen verses of Psalm 119.

49 Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.
50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.
51 The arrogant mock me unmercifully, but I do not turn from your law.
52 I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them.
53 Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law.
54 Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.
55 In the night, Lord, I remember your name, that I may keep your law.
56 This has been my practice: I obey your precepts.
57 You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey your words.
58 I have sought your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
59 I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.
60 I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.
61 Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law.
62 At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.
63 I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts.
64 The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees.

Sermon 68 (Psalm 119:60)

• I COME now to the application. 
• Use 1. To reprove the dallying with God which we are conscious to in the work of conversion, which is so common and natural to us. We are apt to put off God from time to time, from childhood to youth, from youth to man’s age, from man’s age to old age, and from old age to death-bed; and so the devil steals away one hour after another till all time be past.
• If men were persuaded of eternal life and eternal death, they would not stand hovering so long between heaven and hell, but presently engage their hearts to draw nigh to God.
• If men have a cold belief of heaven and hell, if they take up the current opinions of the country, yet do not take it into their serious thoughts, they put far away the evil day.
• Things at a distance do not startle us, as a clap of thunder afar off doth not fright us so much as when it is just over our heads in our own zenith. We look upon these things as to come, so put off the thought of them.
• If we had the same thoughts living and dying, our motions would be more earnest and ready. When death and eternity is near, we are otherwise affected than when we look upon it as afar off.
• Let us see what this delay and putting off God is, when he comes with a great deal of importunity and affectionate earnestness, inviting us to partake of his grace.
• 1. It is flat disobedience to God. You think it is but putting it off for a while; no, it is flat disobedience. Why? God is as peremptory for the time and season as he is for the duty itself. If he saith, To-day, it is flat disobedience for you to say, To-morrow.
• 2. It is ingratitude and unthankfulness for God’s eternal love. rom all eternity God was mindful of us, and before the world was. With reverence we may speak it: ever since he was God he was our God: from eternity to eternity his lovingkindness is great; and shall we adjourn and put him off to an odd corner of our lives, when he thought he could never soon enough think of us?
• 3. It is base disingenuity: we do not deal with God as we would have God to deal with us.
• 4. It is base self-love when we can be content to dishonour God longer, provided that at length we may be saved. Shall I say that this is to prefer our salvation before God? No, but it is to prefer our sins before God. And it shows that we are not willing to part with sin upon reasons of duty, or any real inclination of heart towards God, but only upon reasons of interest, that we maybe saved; yea, never to part with it at all if you might have your wills.
• Christ did not redeem us only that we might die well, but that we might live well; not only that we might be safe at last, but glorify God here upon earth; not only that we might enter into heaven, but do him service, and that all our days.
• 5. It is great injustice and injury to God, who hath been too long kept out of his right already.
• Use 2. To exhort us with speed to turn to the Lord, and to comply with his motions. Let us not put off God from day to day. I shall urge it—(1.) As to the general case; (2.) As to particular duties which are pressed upon you.
• Now, shall sin have a more ready entertainment than God? Will you rush upon the practice of sin like a horse into the battle, and come on in the service of God like a snail?
• There was never any that came to God too soon; many have come too late, the foolish virgins are an instance.
• Surely there is good and evil, there is hope and fear, therefore there is heaven and hell.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Journaling the CSB Spurgeon Bible #6

Today marks SIX weeks since I received the Spurgeon Study Bible. I finished the Old Testament last week, and this week I finished the New Testament too.

When God glorifies his grace, he glorifies his whole character. Grace becomes a platform upon which all the perfections of deity exhibit themselves, and grace becomes a light which shines on all the rest; and they, albeit bright enough in themselves, seem to be doubly bright when they glow in its brilliance. Spurgeon Study Bible, Ephesians 1:6

As soon as we become Christians, we cannot hate anybody. It is utterly inconsistent with grace in the heart to harbor malice against others. Through our weakness we may be, and sometimes are, quick of temper and sharp--and this we ought to regret and mourn over--but to carry in our soul any enmity against others is contrary to the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Spurgeon Study Bible, Ephesians 2:14

Jesus resides in our hearts, which is the center of our love, and then we know his love. He teaches us to love him, and as we learn the sweet lesson, we begin to know how Jesus loves us. We come to know him by personal acquaintance, by having Christ dwelling in us so that we see him, hear him, feel his touch, and enjoy his blessed company. This kind of knowledge is the most precious of all knowledge, whatever the subject may be. Spurgeon Study Bible, Ephesians 3:17

Adoration is the fullness, the height and depth, the length and breadth of praise. Spurgeon Study Bible, Ephesians 3:20-21

Sitting at the feet of Jesus must be succeeded by following in the footsteps of Jesus. Spurgeon Study Bible, Ephesians 5:1-2

It is a great truth that you will rise again. It is a sweeter truth that you will "always be with the Lord." Whatever else you draw comfort from, neglect not this deep, clear, and over-flowing well of delight. There are other sources of good cheer in connection with the glory to be revealed, for heaven is a many-sided joy, but still none can excel the glory of communion with Jesus Christ, wherefore comfort one another in the first place and most constantly, with these words, "So we will always be with the Lord." Spurgeon Study Bible, 1 Thessalonians 4:17

The more we pray, the more we rejoice. Prayer gives a channel to the pent-up sorrows of the soul; they flow away, and in their place streams of sacred delight pour into the heart... When joy and prayer are married, their firstborn child is gratitude. Spurgeon Study Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Enlarge your thoughts concerning the Lord Jesus. Think most highly of him. Extol him with your heart and with your tongue. Spurgeon Study Bible, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Our Father loves each of his children as if he had no others. We must peer into this abyss of love; plunge into this sea; dive into this depth unsearchable. Spurgeon Study Bible, 2 Thessalonians 3:5 

"Sharper than any double-edged sword." A sword with two edges has no blunt side; it cuts both this way and that. The Word of God is edge all over. It is alive in every part, and in every part keen to cut the conscience and wound the heart. Depend on it: not a verse in the Bible is superfluous or a chapter that is useless. Spurgeon Study Bible, Hebrews 4:12

We must keep going forward. There is no such thing in the Christian life as standing still, and we dare not turn back. Spurgeon Study Bible, Hebrews 6:3

If a man comes to God, he must leave his sins and his righteousness. He must leave both his bad works and his good ones. How do they come? They come by Jesus Christ. Do not consider that any will be heard and saved by God apart from the merits of his Son. Spurgeon Study Bible, Hebrews 7:25

God's pardon of sin is so complete that he himself describes it as not remembering our iniquity. Spurgeon Study Bible, Hebrews 8:12

The blood of Christ has been sprinkled on us; and, therefore, our standing before God is the standing of perfection. And we are always perfect, always fit to come to the throne of God, whatever our doubts, whatever our sins. I do not say this of our character. We come before God in our station not in our character; and, therefore, we may come as perfect people at all times. Spurgeon Study Bible, Hebrews 10:14 

The scars of suffering saints will shine like diamonds, and they that were most abused will be the brightest of the shining ones. Spurgeon Study Bible, Hebrews 10:35

Without faith we are without God, for God is only apprehended by faith. Without faith we are without hope, for a true hope can only spring out of a true faith. Without faith we are without Christ and, consequently, without a Savior. It would be infinitely better to be without eyes, without hearing, without wealth, without bread, without garments, without a home rather than to be without the faith that brings everything the soul requires. Without faith we are spiritually naked, poor, miserable, lost, condemned--and without a hope of escape. Spurgeon Study Bible, Hebrews 11:6

We live because he lives, and never is our life more joyous than when we look most steadily to him. Spurgeon Study Bible, Philippians 3:20-21

What a gracious God we serve, who makes delight to be a duty and who commands us to rejoice. Should we not at once be obedient to such a command as this? We should be cheerful--more than that, we should be thankful, and that we should rejoice. This word, "rejoice," is not only joy once, but it is joy over again, rejoice! We are to joy, and then we are to re-joy. We are to chew the cud of delight--we are to roll the dainty morsel under our tongue till we get the very essence out of it. Spurgeon Study Bible, Philippians 4:4

People who are most clear in their witness that salvation is by grace are also the people for whom sin is exceedingly sinful. Spurgeon Study Bible, 1 Timothy 1:15

Read and depend on the Spirit of God. Spurgeon Study Bible, 1 Timothy 4:13

If we live unto God, we will need to war a daily warfare and tread down the powers of death and hell. Spurgeon Study Bible, 1 Timothy 6:12

If the Holy Spirit is in us, we shall never trifle with the truth, and we shall press the doctrines of the Word of God and the Word of God, itself, nearer and nearer to our hearts in proportion as the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Spurgeon Study Bible, 2 Timothy 1:14

The Holy Spirit's being with the gospel is the reason for its great power. It is not that truth alone is mighty and will prevail but that the Spirit of truth works mightily by it and causes it to subdue human minds. Spurgeon Study Bible, 2 Timothy 2:9

Fight with the devil. Resist the devil and make him flee, but never fight with the flesh. Run away from that. The only way to avoid the lust of the flesh is to stay out of its way. Spurgeon Study Bible, 2 Timothy 2:22-23

"Give yourself to reading." The person who never reads will never be read; the one who never quotes will never be quoted; those who will not use thoughts from the brains of others will prove that they have no brains of their own. What is true of ministry leaders is true for all Christians. We need to read. We must study as much as possible sound theological works and expositions of the Bible. We are persuaded that the best way to spend leisure time is to be either reading or praying. We may get much instruction from books that afterward we may use as a true weapon in our Lord and Master's service. Spurgeon Study Bible, 2 Timothy 4:13

Did Jesus Christ think salvation so important that he came from heaven to earth to work it out? Did he think the gospel so worthy that he spent his life proclaiming it? Did he think redemption so valuable that he shed his own precious blood to complete it? Then if I profess to believe these truths and yet am indifferent to them, do I not insult Christ by insinuating that there was no need for him to be in such dead earnest? Spurgeon Study Bible, Revelation 3:16

Nakedness was revealed to man by sin. But Christ has come and clothed us completely. The robes are white to indicate purity and as an emblem of triumph over every foe. Oh, how beautiful that righteousness of Christ will be when we stand clothed with it before the eternal throne of God. Our robes will be white because his robes were red. Spurgeon Study Bible, Revelation 7:9

Heaven will largely consist of expanded views of King Jesus and closer views of the glory that follows his sacrificial grief. We know too little of his glory. We scarcely know who he is that has befriended us. We hold the doctrine of his deification tenaciously, but in heaven we will perceive his Godhead in its truth so far as the finite can apprehend the infinite. We have known his friendship to us. But when we behold the King in his beauty in his own halls, and our eyes look into his royal countenance, and his face beams ineffable affection on each one of us, then we will find our heaven in his glory. Spurgeon Study Bible, Revelation 7:17

If God has made a covenant with us, it is not simply for today and tomorrow, or merely for this life, but forever and ever. Spurgeon Study Bible, Revelation 11:19

The death of Christ is the death of sin and the defeat of Satan; therefore, it is the life of our hope and the assurance of Christ's victory. We are to regard Satan as already literally and truly overcome through the death of the Lord Jesus. He is a vanquished enemy. By faith, let us grasp our Lord's victory as our own since he triumphed in our nature and on our behalf. His victory was the victory of all who are in Christ. Spurgeon Study Bible, Revelation 12:11

"No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth." Heaven is not the place to learn that song; it must be learned on the earth. We must learn here the notes of free grace and dying love. And when we have mastered their melody, we will be able to offer to the Lord the tribute of a grateful heart, even in heaven, and blend it with the eternal harmonies. Spurgeon Study Bible, Revelation 14:3

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

My Autumn with Psalm 119 #30

I will be continuing on in my study of Psalm 119 this autumn. I have spent months reading Thomas Manton's exposition of Psalm 119. In December, I hope to cover the next sixteen verses of Psalm 119.

49 Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.
50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.
51 The arrogant mock me unmercifully, but I do not turn from your law.
52 I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them.
53 Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law.
54 Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.
55 In the night, Lord, I remember your name, that I may keep your law.
56 This has been my practice: I obey your precepts.
57 You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey your words.
58 I have sought your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
59 I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.
60 I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.
61 Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law.
62 At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.
63 I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts.
64 The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees

Sermon 67 (Psalm 119:60)

• Doct. That the call of God, whether to amendment and newness of life, or to any particular duty, must be without delay obeyed.
• Ready obedience is a good evidence of a sound impression of grace left upon our hearts.
• Running is an earnest and speedy motion. From whence comes it? From drawing; it is a fruit of drawing, or the sweet and powerful attraction which the Spirit of God useth in the hearts of the elect.
• When our call is clear, there needs no debate. When men stand reasoning instead of running, there is not a thorough work upon them.
• We value a gift not only by its own worth, but by the readiness of him that gives; if we have it at first asking, we count it a greater kindness, and give the more thanks; so the less we stand bucking with God, and demurring upon his call, the more acceptable is our obedience.
• If ever God touch your hearts, and once you come to experiment what an excellent thing it is to live in communion with God, you will be sorry you began no sooner.
• An early acquaintance with God gives us advantages both in point of enjoyment and service. In point of enjoyment; peace, comfort, joy in the Holy Ghost.
• It is not necessary we should be great and rich in the world. Within a little while it will not be a pin to choose what part we have acted here. But it is necessary we should be gracious, holy, and acquainted with God in Christ; that is our business. Again, that which is eternal should be preferred before that which is temporal.
• Life is short, and we make it shorter by continuing in sin.
• None are nearer to destruction than those that promise themselves a longer time in sin.
• Now mark, if it be hard to-day, it will be harder the next, so the third onward, for it is hardness of heart that makes the work of God hard. Now the more we provoke God, the more we resist his call, the more hard the heart is; the impulsions of his grace are not so strong as before, and the heart every day is more hardened. As a path weareth the harder by frequent treading, so the heart is more hard, the mind more blind, the will more obstinate, the affections more engaged and rooted in a course of sin.
• Always the proportion of our sorrow is according to the measure of our sins. Whether it be godly sorrow, the sorrow of repentance, or despairing sorrow, those horrors which are impressed upon us as a punishment of our rebellion and impenitency, in both senses you still increase your sorrow the more you sin.
• When we begin with God, we begin out of self-love, we come for our ease and interest, that we may be safe and happy; afterwards we come to a delight of spirit in his service, and having opportunity, show in our works the power of our affection to God, and manifest the soundness of our conversion.
• These pleasures of sin must one day be renounced, or you are for ever miserable; and if you must one day, why not now? For mark, sin will be as sweet hereafter as it now is, and salvation is always dispensed upon the same terms; you cannot be saved hereafter with less ado, or bring down Christ and heaven to a lower rate; and, therefore, if this be a reason now, it will ever lie as a reason against Christ and religion, then you will never tend to look after the ways of life; if you are loath to part with sin now, you will never part with it.
• You cannot be too soon out of the power of the devil, or from under the curse of the law, the danger of hell-fire, and the dominion of sin.
• There is no poison so deadly as sin, which hath infected all mankind: no wound so dangerous, for that will be the death of body and soul: no fire so dreadful as the wrath of God; therefore we cannot soon enough come out of this condition.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Check-In With The Cloud

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© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible