1. A very humble sense of his distance from, and dependence upon, God as His creature.

2. A confession of it is being bound by particular covenant and consent unto God, and a repetition of the same by a new adherence.

3. An expression of his peculiar and special relation to God.

4. A sense of gratitude for signal mercies.

5. A solemn dedication and surrender of himself to God and His service for the time to come.

II. PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENT.

1. Plead with every one the right of his Maker to his service.

2. Warp. such as are living in open and avowed profanity. They are so far from being the servants of God that they are His enemies, his confederated enemies, and the enemies of everything that stands in a visible relation to Him.

(J. Witherspoon, D.D.)

1. A voluntary one, willing in every sense of the word to do the bidding of his Master, even when it is opposed to the wishes of men.

2. Earnest.

3. Unselfish.

4. Humble.

5. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, who dwells within him.

II. DIVINE SERVICE. Cathedrals and chapels may be likened to spiritual stables, where divine servants are born and fed and rested; but our workshops, our families, our school-rooms, our editorial chairs are the places where we should do our divine service.

(W. Birch.)

I. HOW THE BELIEVER BECOMES A SERVANT OF THE LORD.

1. By birth. It must not be confounded with that birth which the believer has experienced in common with all the race, and which brought him into a world of sin, and sorrow, and death. This is his second birth. This is his new birth. It is a birth which is peculiar to the believer. He is born of water, figuratively, symbolically; of the Word, instrumentally; of the Spirit, efficiently.

2. By purchase. Christ gave Himself for you, that He might redeem you from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

3. By conquest.

4. By voluntary engagement. He will have nothing more to do with his old master. He desires that his ears may be bored, and that he may be the servant of Christ for ever.

II. THE STATE OF MIND WHICH THE BELIEVER, AS A SERVANT OF GOD, SHOULD CULTIVATE.

1. He ought to remember that he is a servant of God. It will be easy to do this in heaven. The difficulty would be to forget it for an instant amid the fellowships of that glorious place. But there are strong temptations to forget it here. The service of God is unpopular. It is unfashionable. And it is inconsistent with many practices which are pleasant to the flesh.

2. He should remember how he became the Lord's servant.

3. He should keep his duty as a servant of God always in view. We conjoin these two — the obeying of God's commandments with the doing of God's work — because it is not enough, and does not come up to the full idea of what a servant should be, that he be zealous in his master's cause, and devote himself to his master's interests; for it is necessary also that he be guided implicitly by the master's will, and that he do God's work in God's way.

(A. Gray.)

II. THE NEW BONDS WHICH HAVE COME IN PLACE OF THE OLD FOR EVER.

1. The nature of the new bonds. As they consist in the service of God, so that service is, as to the character of it, first, true; second, entire; and third, hearty and free.

2. The spring and source of the new bonds. It is taught here as to this, that it is the loosing of the old bonds which is the source and spring of the new.(1) The loosing of the old bonds is the source and spring of the new, in that it is indispensable to the whole formation of them. So long as the old are not loosed, the new cannot exist.(2) The loosing of the old bonds is the source and spring of the new, inasmuch as it fixes the new, many ways, sweetly and strongly on the soul, — enhances many ways the obligation of God's service on the soul.(3) The loosing of the old bonds is the source and spring of the new, in that God's express purpose and design in the loosing of the old was to fix the new for ever upon the soul, — to set the soul free in order to its serving and glorifying Him for ever.(4) The loosing of the old bonds is the source and spring of the new, in that it brings into the soul a Divine power and strength, — the power of the Holy Ghost, effectually to persuade, enable, constrain, the soul to the service of God.(5) The loosing of the old bonds is the source and spring of the new, in that, besides the power, it brings into the soul all manner of inducements, persuasives, motives, to the service of God; and specially among these, the motive of an overpowering gratitude and love, under whose blessed influence it comes to pass that, whereas we could not serve God before, now we cannot but serve Him, as David sings in this psalm, "What shall I render unto the Lord," etc.

(C. J. Brown, D. D.)

I. THE NATURE OF PERSONAL SERVICE. Let me explain it by a contrast. The service of God among us has grown more and more a service by proxy. Do we not observe, even in the outward worship of God, at times a great attempt towards worship by proxy? Do we not often hear singing the praises of God confined to some five or six or more trained men and women who are to praise God for us? Do we not sometimes have the dreary thought when we are in our churches and chapels that even the prayer is said and prayed by the minister for us? We shall never see great things in the world till we have all roused ourselves to our personal responsibilities. God will not give the honour of saving the world to His ministers. He meant it for His Church; and until His Church is prepared to grasp it, God will withhold the crown which He has prepared for her brow, and for hers alone, and which none but she can ever win.

II. ITS REASONABLENESS. Heir of heaven, blood-bought and blood-washed, Jesus did not save thee by another. But, again, have you not a personal religion? You live, if you be a true Christian — you live upon the personal realization of your interest in the covenant of grace. What more reasonable than that you should give personal service? Further, this personal service is reasonable from the fact that personal service is the only kind of service at all available. I scarcely know whether you can serve God except by individual consecration.

III. ITS EXCELLENCE. This excellence is manifold. Among the first of its charms, personal service is the main argument of the Christian religion against the sceptic. Let every private man have his mission; let every man and woman begin to build nearest to their own house, and from that day scepticism begins to lose, at least, one of its arguments; and, with it, it loses one of its most formidable elements — one of its deadliest weapons with which it has attacked the Church. But, further, I am persuaded that while it would be a grand argument against sceptics, it would be one of the greatest means of deciding that class of waverers who, although they are not sceptical, are negligent of the things of the Kingdom. There is no way to make another man earnest like being earnest oneself. But, further, excellency of personal service, it strikes me, is not confined to the good we do, but should be argued from the good we get. We have in our Churches men and women who are always looking for an opportunity for finding fault. They are never consistent in anything but in their inconsistent grumbling. The mightiest cure for the Church is to set them to work.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

(Christian Weekly.)

(Quiver.)

     7476   thank-offering
     8640   calling upon God

Psalm 116:1-19

     8609   prayer, as praise and thanksgiving

Psalm 116:17-18

     5741   vows

Experience, Resolve, and Hope
'Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.'--PSALM cxvi. 8, 9. This is a quotation from an earlier psalm, with variations which are interesting, whether we suppose that the Psalmist was quoting from memory and made them unconsciously, or whether, as is more probable, he did so, deliberately and for a purpose. The variations are these. The words in the original psalm (lvi.) according to the Revised …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Precious Deaths
The text informs us that the deaths of God's saints are precious to him. How different, then, is the estimate of human life which God forms from that which has ruled the minds of great warriors and mighty conquerors. Had Napoleon spoken forth his mind about the lives of men in the day of battle, he would have likened them to so much water spilt upon the ground. To win a victory, or subdue a province, it mattered not though he strewed the ground with corpses thick as autumn leaves, nor did it signify …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

Prayer Answered, Love Nourished
"Oh the transporting, rapturous scene That rises to my sight! Sweet fields arrayed in living green, And rivers of delight. Filled with delight my raptured soul Would here no longer stay, Though Jordan's waves around me roll, Fearless I'd launch away." Yet nevertheless the Christian may do well sometimes to look backward; he may look back to the hole of the pit and the miry clay whence he was digged--the retrospect will help him to be humble, it will urge him to be faithful. He may look back with …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Personal Service
THESE SENTENCES SUGGEST a contrast. David's religion was one of perfect liberty;--"Thou hast loosed my bonds." It was one of complete service;--"Truly l am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid." Did I say the text suggested a contrast? Indeed the two things need never be contrasted, for they are found to be but part of one divine experience in the Jives of all God's people. The religion of Jesus is the religion of liberty. The true believer can say, when his soul is in a healthy …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Called Up
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."--Ps. cxvi. 15. Mechthild of Hellfde, 1277. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 He laid him down upon the breast of God In measureless delight-- Enfolded in the tenderness untold, The sweetness infinite. …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

What Shall I Render Ps 116:12,13
What shall I render Ps 116:12,13 [5] For mercies, countless as the sands, Which daily I receive From Jesus, my Redeemer's hands, My soul what canst thou give? Alas! from such a heart as mine, What can I bring him forth? My best is stained and dyed with sin, My all is nothing worth. Yet this acknowledgment I'll make For all he has bestowed; Salvation's sacred cup I'll take And call upon my God. The best returns for one like me, So wretched and so poor; Is from his gifts to draw a plea, And ask …
John Newton—Olney Hymns

But this Only Son of God, the Father Almighty...
6. But this Only Son of God, the Father Almighty, let us see what He did for us, what He suffered for us. "Born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary." He, so great God, equal with the Father, born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, born lowly, that thereby He might heal the proud. Man exalted himself and fell; God humbled Himself and raised him up. Christ's lowliness, what is it? God hath stretched out an hand to man laid low. We fell, He descended: we lay low, He stooped. Let us lay hold …
St. Augustine—On the Creeds

"O Lord! I Beseech Thee, Deliver My Soul. " --Ps. cxvi. 4
"O Lord! I beseech Thee, deliver my Soul."--Ps. cxvi. 4. O take away this evil heart; This heart of unbelief renew; So prone, so eager to depart From Thee, the living God and true. O crucify this carnal mind, 'Tis enmity, my God, to Thee; I cannot love Thee, till I find The mind that was in Christ in me. O sanctify this sinful soul; Health to the dying leper give; Thou, if Thou wilt, canst make me whole; Speak but the word, and I shall live. O disenthrall this captive will, (Free only when Thou …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Rest for the Soul --Psalm cxvi. 7
Rest for the Soul--Psalm cxvi. 7. Return, my soul, unto thy rest, From vain pursuits and madd'ning cares, From lonely woes that wring thy breast, The world's allurements,--Satan's snares. Return unto thy rest, my soul, From all the wanderings of thy thought, From sickness unto death made whole, Safe through a thousand perils brought. Then to thy rest, my soul, return From passions every hour at strife; Sin's works, and ways, and wages spurn, Lay hold upon eternal life. God is thy Rest,--with …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Gratitude for Redemption. --Ps. cxvi.
Gratitude for Redemption.--Ps. cxvi. I love the Lord;--He lent an ear, When I for help implored; He rescued me from all my fear, Therefore I love the Lord. Bound hand and foot with chains of sin, Death dragg'd me for his prey; The pit was moved to take me in, All hope was far away. I cried in agony of mind, "Lord, I beseech Thee, save:" He held me;--Death his prey resign'd, And Mercy shut the grave. Return, my soul, unto thy rest, From God no longer roam: His hand hath bountifally blest, His …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

That we must not Believe Everyone, and that we are Prone to Fall in Our Words
Lord, be thou my help in trouble, for vain is the help of man.(1) How often have I failed to find faithfulness, where I thought I possessed it. How many times I have found it where I least expected. Vain therefore is hope in men, but the salvation of the just, O God, is in Thee. Blessed be thou, O Lord my God, in all things which happen unto us. We are weak and unstable, we are quickly deceived and quite changed. 2. Who is the man who is able to keep himself so warily and circumspectly as not …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

But Some Man Will Say, Would Then those Midwives and Rahab have done Better...
34. But some man will say, Would then those midwives and Rahab have done better if they had shown no mercy, by refusing to lie? Nay verily, those Hebrew women, if they were such as that sort of persons of whom we ask whether they ought ever to tell a lie, would both eschew to say aught false, and would most frankly refuse that foul service of killing the babes. But, thou wilt say, themselves would die. Yea, but see what follows. They would die with an heavenly habitation for their incomparably more …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

But Sometimes a Peril to Eternal Salvation Itself is Put Forth against Us...
40. But sometimes a peril to eternal salvation itself is put forth against us; [2466] which peril, they cry out, we by telling a lie, if otherwise it cannot be, must ward off. As, for instance, if a person who is to be baptized be in the power of impious and infidel men, and cannot be got at that he may be washed with the laver of regeneration, but by deceiving his keepers with a lie. From this most invidious cry, by which we are compelled, not for a man's wealth or honors in this world which are …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Palestine Eighteen Centuries Ago
Eighteen and a half centuries ago, and the land which now lies desolate--its bare, grey hills looking into ill-tilled or neglected valleys, its timber cut down, its olive- and vine-clad terraces crumbled into dust, its villages stricken with poverty and squalor, its thoroughfares insecure and deserted, its native population well-nigh gone, and with them its industry, wealth, and strength--presented a scene of beauty, richness, and busy life almost unsurpassed in the then known world. The Rabbis never …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Puritan Innovations
The causes which led to the further change. The Revised Prayer-book, after the opposition in Devonshire and Norfolk had subsided, received very general recognition. Of course there were some who, while grateful for the reforms which had been effected, could ill suppress their conviction that the hands of the Reformers had been stayed too soon. These, however, in England at least, were not a numerous body; and if no influence from without had been brought to bear upon them, they would probably have …
Herbert Mortimer Luckock—Studies in the Book of Common Prayer

John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;
COMPRISING I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1] ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Dryness of Preachers, and the Various Evils which Arise from their Failing to Teach Heart-Prayer --Exhortation to Pastors to Lead People Towards this Form Of
If all those who are working for the conquest of souls sought to win them by the heart, leading them first of all to prayer and to the inner life, they would see many and lasting conversions. But so long as they only address themselves to the outside, and instead of drawing people to Christ by occupying their hearts with Him, they only give them a thousand precepts for outward observances, they will see but little fruit, and that will not be lasting. When once the heart is won, other defects are …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Letter Xlix to Romanus, Sub-Deacon of the Roman Curia.
To Romanus, Sub-Deacon of the Roman Curia. He urges upon him the proposal of the religious life, recalling the thought of death. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, to his dear Romanus, as to his friend. MY DEAREST FRIEND, How good you are to me in renewing by a letter the sweet recollection of yourself and in excusing my tiresome delay. It is not possible that any forgetfulness of your affection could ever invade the hearts of those who love you; but, I confess, I thought you had almost forgotten yourself …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Out of the Deep of Death.
My heart is disquieted within me, and the fear of death has fallen upon me.--Ps. iv. 4. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart.--Ps. lxiii. 25. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.--Ps. xxiii. 4. Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.--Ps. cxvi. 8. What will become of us after we die? What will the next world be like? What is heaven like? Shall I be able …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

Out of the Deep of Loneliness, Failure, and Disappointment.
My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass. I am even as a sparrow that sitteth alone on the housetop--Ps. cii. 4, 6. My lovers and friends hast Thou put away from me, and hid mine acquaintance out of my sight--Ps. lxxviii. 18. I looked on my right hand, and saw there was no man that would know me. I had no place to flee unto, and no man cared for my soul. I cried unto Thee, O Lord, and said, Thou art my Hope. When my spirit was in heaviness, then Thou knewest my path.--Ps. cxlii. 4, 5. …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

"Nunc Dimittis"
We shall note, this morning, first, that every believer may be assured of departing in peace; but that, secondly, some believers feel a special readiness to depart now: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace;" and, thirdly, that there are words of encouragement to produce in us the like readiness: "according to thy word." There are words of Holy Writ which afford richest consolation in prospect of departure. I. First, then, let us start with the great general principle, which is full of comfort; …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

A Treatise on Good Works
I. We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God's commandments. Thus Christ says, Matthew xix, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And when the young man asks Him, Matthew xix, what he shall do that he may inherit eternal life, Christ sets before him naught else but the Ten Commandments. …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works