They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. Sermons
I. THE HEAVENS SPEAK OF GOD; THE WORD DECLARES JEHOVAH. It is too commonly supposed that the use of the several words "Elohim" and "Jehovah" indicates a difference either of date, of document, or of authorship. There does not seem to us to be any adequate ground for such distinctions. As we in one and the same sermon or tract may use a dozen different names for God, why may it not have been so of old? The word "Elohim" indicates God as the God of nature. The word "Jehovah" points to him as the revealed God of our fathers. And it is from our own revealed God that the Word proceeds, from the depths of his heart; it is far more than any works of his hands. Hence the change of the word "God" to the word . "Jehovah." II. JEHOVAH, THE REVEALED GOD, HAS PUT BEFORE US PRICELESS MATERIAL FOR OUR USE. There are six various terms to indicate this. Law; or the great body of truth in which God would have his people instructed. Testimony; or the Divine declaration as to what he is, has done, is doing, and will do. Statutes; or precepts, which indicate specific duty. Commandments; or rules for the regulation of the entire life. Fear; i.e. that fear of him, so repeatedly enjoined, and which in an infantine age was the predominant view of duty towards God. Judgments; the right-settings, in the Divine declarations pronounced against sin and in favour of righteousness. Let us put all these together, and lo! how rich are we in having all these voices from the eternal throne! But how much richer still are we in having the words of the New Testament economy superadded to those of the old! III. THE WORDS OF JEHOVAH ARE AS REMARKABLE FOR QUALITY AS FOR VARIETY. The very names given to them are inspiring: "perfect," "sure," "right," "pure," "true," "righteous," "standing fast." These several terms may be gathered up into three - true in statement, right in direction, everlasting in their duration. Even so. In the words of God we have absolute truth. In the precepts of God we have perfect directories for life and duty. And we know that, change what may, time is on our side, for "the Word of the Lord endureth for ever" Note: The words of God in the Bible are the only ones to which these epithets apply. Then it will be a very serious mistake if in school education or family training we ever allow the Bible to be crowded out or set on one side. For we must note - IV. THAT THE WORDS OF GOD ARE ADDRESSED TO THE INNERMOST PART OF OUR NATURE. (Ver. 7, "the soul.") Although this word, in Hebrew, is very frequently used in as free and popular a sense as it is with us, yet, on the other hand, it often denotes the highest part of our nature - even that which pertains to spirit, conscience, and to the regulation of the moral life of man. Such is the case here; as, indeed, the marvellous effects of the Divine Word (as pointed out under the next heading) plainly indicate. So much is this the case, that the Word is regarded even here as "dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow," and as a "discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." The Old Testament conceptions of man and of sin are very deep and very solemn. As the late Dr. Duncan, Professor of Hebrew, rightly remarked, "The Hebrew language is peculiarly rich in religious and moral terms, though scanty enough in others. The reason is evident - it chronicled a revelation." V. THE EFFECT OF GOD'S WORDS ARE AS MARVELLOUS AS THEIR CONTENTS AND AIM. Some six of these are specified in the psalm. And one other is illustrated by its writer. The six effects referred to are: 1. Converting the soul. Restoring it, calling it back from its wanderings, and causing it to return to God and home. 2. Making arise the simple. Where the words of God arc read, studied, appropriated, by an honest and upright heart, they will lead in the way of understanding, and make wise unto salvation. 3. Rejoicing the heart, by their disclosures of God's glory, grace, wealth, and love. To those who drink in the Word, God is their "exceeding Joy." 4. Enlightening the eyes. This may mean either illumination or refreshment, restoring life and fainting energies (cf. 1 Samuel 14:24, 29). The former meaning, "illumination," is triply true; tot God's commandments enlighten a man concerning God, duty, and himself. There is nothing like the searching Word to reveal to us what we are. 5. Warning is another effect. The exhortations to good and the dissuasion from evil are standing menaces of the peril of refusing the one and choosing the other. 6. Reward. No one can follow the commandments of God without ensuring a rich, ample, constant recompense. Another effect of the Word of God is illustrated by the writer of this very psalm, who shows us the influence it had upon him. It awoke from him an earnest, prayerful response, awakened by the sight of himself which the commandment gave. The prayer is threefold - against involuntary, secret, and presumptuous sins. It is: 1. Cleanse me, which has a double meaning of" Pronounce me clean, and keep me so." 2. Keep me back. It is a prayer that the restraining grace of God may keep in subjection a wayward and impulsive nature. 3. Accept me. (Ver. 14.) It is an earnest prayer that at the moment the Word reveals his guilt, the grace of God may cover it with the mantle of forgiving love, and receive him in spite of all his guilt. And to this prayer there is appended an earnest plea. The praying one invokes two of the names of God in which the Old Testament saints were wont most to delight, "My Rock" and "my Redeemer." The word translated "Redeemer" is specially noticeable. It is Goel. (For illustrations of the use of the former word, see Deuteronomy 32:4, 31; 2 Samuel 22:32; Psalm 62:2, 6, 7; Psalm 73:26; Isaiah 26:4. Of the latter, see (in Hebrew) Numbers 35:12, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27; Job 19:25; Isaiah 41:14; Isaiah 43:14; Isaiah 60:16; Isaiah 63:16.) Note: (1) How unspeakable is the mercy that, though our guilt might welt make us dread the approach to a holy God, yet his grace is such that we may flee to him and find deliverance there! The same Word which unbares our sin also reveals his grace. (2) The revelation of God through the stars will not suffice for us; we want the word of promise too. (3) Those who most luxuriate in the Word should also, more than others, luxuriate in the works of God. (4) Those who accept both know perfectly well that nothing in the book of nature can run counter to the book of grace. - C.
More to be desired are they than gold. 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 their nature. The attainment of them is only within the reach of a few in every community. And they bring temptations to sin. Then, is not the Word of God more to be desired than gold?II. THE WAY TO KNOW THE VALUE OF SCRIPTURE, AND TO TASTE ITS SWEETNESS. Many are but formal readers. To read aright, you must be renewed in the spirit of your minds. There must be a Divine illumination. Pray more for the Spirit's influence. If we would understand the value of the Scriptures, we shall find it useful to reflect upon their designs and our circumstances. And we must read them with patient perseverance. (Carus Wilson.) II. THE EFFECTS WHICH THEY PRODUCE UPON THE CONDITION OF MANKIND. Even in respect of outward civilisation much advantage has arisen to the world from the introduction of the Scriptures. Even where they are not attended with saving efficacy they are often seen to produce a considerable influence upon the external manners, and sometimes too upon the inward dispositions of men. But the transcendent excellence of the Scriptures is peculiarly manifested in their efficacy, when accompanied with the influence of Divine grace. The Scriptures are the means of spiritual illumination, of conversion and regeneration, of sanctification and a meetness for eternal life. III. THE ADMIRABLE ADAPTION OF THE SCRIPTURES TO THE VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES OF MEN. Here is something suited to every rank and every age. The Scriptures set forth a perfect rule of duty, with which no system of heathen morality is once to be compared, and they exhibit incitements and encouragements, as well as examples of holiness, which are nowhere else to be found. Their excellency is especially seen in their tendency and efficacy to afford consolation in time of trouble and in the prospect of death. Lessons — 1. Admire the distinguishing goodness of God toward us. 2. Diligently use God's gift. 3. Recognise the obligation to circulate the Scriptures among our fellow men. (D. Dickson.) Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb Among the insects which subsist on the sweet sap of flowers there are two very different classes. One is remarkable for its imposing plumage, which shows in the sunbeams like the dust of gems; and as you watch its jaunty gyrations over the fields, and its minuet dance from flower to flower, you cannot help admiring its graceful activity. In the same field there is another worker, whose brown vest and straightforward flight may not have arrested your eye. His fluttering neighbour darts down here and there, and sips elegantly wherever he can find a drop of ready nectar; but this dingy plodder makes a point of alighting everywhere, and wherever he alights he either finds honey or makes it. What is the end? The one died last October along with the flower; the other is warm in his hive tonight, amidst the fragrant stores which he gathered beneath the bright beams of summer. Honey is the sweetest of all substances, and the ancients, who were unacquainted with sugar, attached even more importance to it than we do. "A land flowing with milk and honey" presented the very strongest attractions to the Oriental taste. The idea conveyed by the text is this: that the truth of God, as revealed to us in the Bible, affords more real pleasure to the soul than that which epicures consider the most desirable luxury does to the palate. In that remarkable book, The Eclipse of Faith, there is a chapter entitled "The Blank Bible," in which the author describes a dream, wherein he fancied that on taking up his Greek Testament one morning, to read his accustomed chapter, the old familiar volume seemed to be a total blank. Supposing that some book like it had, by accident, got into its place, he did not stop to hunt it up, but took down a large copy of the Bible, and this, to his amazement, proved also to be a blank from beginning to end. While musing on this unaccountable phenomenon, his servant came in and said that thieves must have been in the house during the night, since her Bible had been carried off, and another volume of the same size, but containing but blank paper, had been left in its place. The dreamer then went forth into the street, and heard a similar report from all whom he met. It was curious to observe the different effect of this calamity on the various characters whom he encountered. An interest, almost universal, was now felt for a book which had hitherto been sadly undervalued. Some to whom their Bible had been a "blank" book for twenty years, and who would never have known whether it was full or empty but for the lamentations of their neighbours, were among the loudest in their expressions of sorrow. In marked contrast with these was the sincere regret of an aged woman, long kept a prisoner in her narrow chamber by sickness, and to whom the Bible had been, as to so many thousands more, her faithful companion ill solitude. I found her gazing intently on the blank Bible (says our author), which had been so recently bright to her with the lustre of immortal hopes. She burst into tears as she saw me. "And has your faith left you too, nay gentle friend?" saidI. "No," she answered; "and I trust it never will. He who has taken away the Bible has not taken away my memory, and I now recall all that is most precious in that book which has so long been my meditation. I think I can say that I loved it more than any possession on earth." Even the warnings of the Bible are wholesome for us, for by them we are made to know our own evil. Merle d'Aubigne, during a visit to England, related an incident which happened in 1855, in connection with the circulation of the Bible among soldiers. A colporteur reached Toulon just as the French troops were embarking for the Crimea. He offered a Testament to a soldier, who asked what book it was. "The Word of God," was the answer. "Let me have it, then," said the man; and when he had received it he added most irreverently, "it will do very well to light my pipe." The colporteur felt sorry that a book which might have been of service to somebody had been thus thrown away; but there was no help for it, and he went his way. About a year later he happened to be in the interior of France, and took lodging at an inn, where he found the family in great distress, from the recent death of a son. The poor mother explained that the young man had been wounded in the Crimean War, and had only been able to reach home to die. "I have much consolation," she added; "he was so peaceful and happy, and he brought comfort to his father and to me." "How was this?" asked the colporteur. "Oh," she said, "he found all his comfort in one little book, which he had always with him." So saying, she showed him a soiled copy of the New Testament (the very one which he himself had given to the reckless young soldier), and read on the inside of the cover, "Received at Toulon (with the date), despised, neglected, read, believed, and found salvation." "Sweeter than honey" are these Divine oracles of God, and "in keeping of them there is great reward." (Anon.) People David, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Comb, Desirable, Desired, Drippings, Dropping, Droppings, Extract, Fine, Gold, Honey, Honeycomb, Honey-comb, Liquid, Precious, Pure, Shining, Sweeter, Yea, YesOutline 1. The creatures show God's glory7. The excellence of the divine law 12. David prays for grace Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 19:10 4404 food 1403 God, revelation 1100 God, perfection 5376 law, purpose of 4333 gold Library Secret Faults'Who can understand his errors? cleanse Thou me from secret faults.' PSALM xix. 12. The contemplation of the 'perfect law, enlightening the eyes,' sends the Psalmist to his knees. He is appalled by his own shortcomings, and feels that, beside all those of which he is aware, there is a region, as yet unilluminated by that law, where evil things nestle and breed. The Jewish ritual drew a broad distinction between inadvertent--whether involuntary or ignorant--and deliberate sins; providing atonement … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Open Sins "The Sun of Righteousness" Secret Sins Presumptuous Sins Sin Immeasurable Prayer and the Word of God (Continued) The Heavens Declare the Glory of God. --Ps. xix. The Law and the Testimonies. --Ps. xix. the Spacious Firmament on High The Promises of the Law and the Gospel Reconciled. Letter xxii. St. Ambrose in a Letter to his Sister Gives an Account of the Finding Of... The Progress of the Gospel 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 Of Deeper Matters, and God's Hidden Judgments which are not to be Inquired Into The Pietist and the Perfectionist. Concerning Continence Also Itself Hath it not Been Most Openly Said... Regeneration. The Knowledge of God Conspicuous in the Creation, and Continual Government of the World. The Need of Scripture, as a Guide and Teacher, in Coming to God as a Creator. The Word The Shepherd-King Conversion of all that Come. Effectual Calling Links Psalm 19:10 NIVPsalm 19:10 NLT Psalm 19:10 ESV Psalm 19:10 NASB Psalm 19:10 KJV Psalm 19:10 Bible Apps Psalm 19:10 Parallel Psalm 19:10 Biblia Paralela Psalm 19:10 Chinese Bible Psalm 19:10 French Bible Psalm 19:10 German Bible Psalm 19:10 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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