_The heavens declare the glory of God._ THE GLORY OF GOD Nature exists not for a merely natural, but for a moral end; not for what it is, but for what it says or declares. I. What nature tells us to think of God. 1. Nature reveals God. The race as a whole have heard the declaration of His eterna... [ Continue Reading ]
_Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge._ INSTRUCTION TO BE DERIVED FROM THE REVOLUTION OF DAY AND NIGHT I. The almighty power of the Creator and Preserver of the universe. The very act of creation, or the producing of any being out of nothing, gives us the most enlar... [ Continue Reading ]
_No speech nor language; their voice cannot be heard._ SILENT VOICES The Psalmist, like a true poet, had a keen eye and ear. He saw in the firmament the glory of God, and he heard, around him and beneath, a chorus of praise to the Most High. Two interpretations have been put upon this verse. The f... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their line is gone out through all the earth._ THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERHOOD THE SUPPORT OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS All tradition has interpreted this Psalm of the goings forth of the Spirit in the everlasting Gospel. Nor could a nobler image of the diffusion, the all-pervading and all-penetrating progress... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is nothing hid from the heat thereof._ THE MORAL USES OF THE WEATHER 1. The contrasts and the changes of the season’s. What a picture of the vicissitudes of human life is in them! The experience of thousands has ranged from the extreme severity of winter’s poverty to the scorching blaze of... [ Continue Reading ]
_The law of the Lord is perfect._ THE BEST BOOK I would not have you forget the true and proper mission of the Bible,--to reveal saving truth. But it is well to remember that, even as a classic, no book equals the Word of God. The Bible has exercised a remarkable influence in the department of lite... [ Continue Reading ]
_The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart._ JOY IN GOD’S STATUTES Not content with celebrating the eternal fitness and rectitude of the Divine statutes, the Psalmist recommends them by an argument of a less abstract nature, more closely adapted to our feelings and interests, by addin... [ Continue Reading ]
_The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever._ THE WORD OF GOD ENDURING FOREVER We are to consider the abiding and habitual effect of the Word of God upon believing hearts. And this effect is expressed in this phrase, “the fear of the Lord.” Note what is said of it. I. It is clean--its purity... [ Continue Reading ]
_More to be desired are they than gold._ THE HOLY SCRIPTURES I. The excellence of the holy scriptures. None are ignorant of the value of money. Money gives access to every other possession. Point out the vanity of riches. They cannot benefit the possessor beyond this life. They are unsatisfying in... [ Continue Reading ]
_By them is Thy servant warned._ SCRIPTURE WARNINGS We are not to confuse the imperfections of religious professors with the unchangeable sovereignty of the Divine laws. I. Call attention to some of them thus connected with our own history, and the warnings they give. 1. Those which relate to th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who can understand his errors?_ Cleanse Thou me from secret faults. THE TENACITY AND SOPHISTRY OF SIN The vulgar vices reappear subtly disguised in cultured circles. The grossness of the vices has been purged, but the viciousness is not extinct. Is there not something like this in the saintly lif... [ Continue Reading ]
_Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins._ A CONJUNCTION OF REQUESTS I. There may and should be a conjunction, even of great petitions and requests (at once) unto God. David ends not at that request (keep me from secret sins), but goes on also, O Lord, keep me from presumptuous sins; he... [ Continue Reading ]
_The words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart._ WORDS AND THOUGHTS The prayer speaks for itself, as the prayer of a truly righteous man. One might almost call that man a perfect man whose whole life was lived in perfect accord with it. For the majority of us, it is far easier to control on... [ Continue Reading ]