Take away from me scorn and contempt,for I have kept your testimonies. Psalm 119:22 ESV This verse seems to be a natural follow-up to the previous one. Having remembered that God rightly rebukes the insolent ones who bring the LORD’s curse upon themselves by wandering from His commandments, the psalmist now pleads for a different, …
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You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,who wander from your commandments. Psalm 119:21 ESV The LORD rebukes the insolent, accursed ones. The fact that they are accursed implies that this rebuke is not merely corrective. God rebukes and disciplines His people as an earthly father does with his children. Yet His rebukes lead to life. They …
I am a sojourner on the earth;hide not your commandments from me! Psalm 119:19 ESV Having already referred to himself as God’s servant, the psalmist now calls himself a sojourner. In the ancient world, a sojourner was quite different from being a modern-day tourist. Today, we are able to go to the other side of …
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The following quotation is from one of Calvin’s sermons that were collected together as a short book. Its subject is a heavy one. Many who claimed to agree with the Reformation were buckling under the threat of (and often enacted) persecution. A common mentality was of private support of Protestantism, while maintaining the public motions …
Continue reading God’s Word Prepares Us for Suffering | John Calvin
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Ephesians 6:17 ESV As we rapidly approach the conclusion of Ephesians as a whole and of Kingdom War particularly, we conclude our study of the individual pieces of the armor of God with the only weapon of offense in the set. Gurnall comments …
Open my eyes, that I may beholdwondrous things in your law. Psalm 119:18 ESV In this verse, we find the second of the psalmist’s prayer for direct intervention from the LORD of this stanza. After praying for God to deal bountifully with him, he now prays for God to open his eyes that he may …
Deal bountifully with your servant,that I may live and keep your word. Psalm 119:17 ESV With this verse, we begin Psalm 119’s third stanza, which is titled gimel because each verse begins that Hebrew letter. Like Beth (verses 9-16), Gimel (verses 17-24) continues the psalmist’s prayer for God’s instructing grace to guard him, while also …
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I will delight in your statutes;I will not forget your word. Psalm 119:16 ESV The psalmist concludes the second eight-verse stanza of Psalm 119 with this two-fold resolution, which he begins by reiterating the theme of verse 14. Just as the psalmist previously resolved to rejoice in God’s testimonies more highly than in all riches, …
à Brakel, who was a pastor during the Second Dutch Reformation, wrote a four-volume systematic theology called The Christian’s Reasonable Service. Thus far, as I have been reading, it has been living up to its reputation as being one of the most practical and pastoral systemic theologies ever written. The following quotation is from his …
Continue reading Reflecting on the Word | Wilhelmus à Brakel
I will meditate on your preceptsand fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:15 ESV In the penultimate verse of this stanza, the psalmist continues to his resolutions for how he will store God’s Word in his heart and guard his way with it. Just as he has determined to declare and delight in the …
B. C. Newton 