4As I was in the prime of my days,
         When the friendship of God was over my tent;

5When the Almighty was yet with me,
         And my children were around me;

6When my steps were bathed in butter,
         And the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

7“When I went out to the gate of the city,
         When I took my seat in the square,

8The young men saw me and hid themselves,
         And the old men arose and stood.

9“The princes stopped talking
         And put their hands on their mouths;

10The voice of the nobles was hushed,
         And their tongue stuck to their palate.

11“For when the ear heard, it called me blessed,
         And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me,

12Because I delivered the poor who cried for help,
         And the orphan who had no helper.

13“The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me,
         And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

14“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
         My justice was like a robe and a turban.

15“I was eyes to the blind
         And feet to the lame.

16“I was a father to the needy,
         And I investigated the case which I did not know.

17“I broke the jaws of the wicked
         And snatched the prey from his teeth.

18“Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
         And I shall multiply my days as the sand.

19‘My root is spread out to the waters,
         And dew lies all night on my branch.

20‘My glory is ever new with me,
         And my bow is renewed in my hand.’

21“To me they listened and waited,
         And kept silent for my counsel.

22“After my words they did not speak again,
         And my speech dropped on them.

23“They waited for me as for the rain,
         And opened their mouth as for the spring rain.

24“I smiled on them when they did not believe,
         And the light of my face they did not cast down.

25“I chose a way for them and sat as chief,
         And dwelt as a king among the troops,
         As one who comforted the mourners.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
As I was in the ripeness of my days, When the friendship of God was upon my tent;

Douay-Rheims Bible
As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in my tabernacle?

Darby Bible Translation
As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret counsel of +God was over my tent,

English Revised Version
As I was in the ripeness of my days, when the secret of God was upon my tent;

Webster's Bible Translation
As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;

World English Bible
as I was in the ripeness of my days, when the friendship of God was in my tent,

Young's Literal Translation
As I have been in days of my maturity, And the counsel of God upon my tent.Comfort for the Desponding
At once to the subject. A complaint; its cause and cure; and then close up with an exhortation to stir up your pure minds, if you are in such a position. I. First, there is a COMPLAINT. How many a Christian looks on the past with pleasure, on the future with dread, and on the present with sorrow! There are many who look back upon the days that they have passed in the fear of the Lord as being the sweetest and the best they have ever had, but as to the present, it is clad in a sable garb of gloom …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Job's Regret and Our Own
I. Let us begin by saying, that regrets such as those expressed in the text are and ought to be very BITTER. If it be the loss of spiritual things that we regret, then may we say from the bottom of our hearts, "Oh that I were as in months past." It is a great thing for a man to be near to God; it is a very choice privilege to be admitted into the inner circle of communion, and to become God's familiar friend. Great as the privilege is, so great is the loss of it. No darkness is so dark as that which …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Case of Spiritual Decay and Languor in Religion
1. Declension in religion, and relapses into sin, with their sorrowful consequences, are in the general too probable.--2. The ease of declension and langour in religion described, negatively.--3. And positively.--4. As discovering itself by a failure in the duties of the closet.--5. By a neglect of social worship.--6. By want of love to our fellow Christians.--7. By an undue attachment to sensual pleasures or secular cares.--8. By prejudices against some important principles in religion.--9,10. A …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

The Case of the Christian under the Hiding of God's Face.
1. The phrase scriptural.--2. It signifies the withdrawing the tokens of the divine favor.--3 chiefly as to spiritual considerations.--4. This may become the case of any Christian.--5. and will be found a very sorrowful one.--6. The following directions, therefore, are given to those who suppose it to be their own: To inquire whether it be indeed a case of spiritual distress, or whether a disconsolate frame may not proceed from indisposition of body,--7. or difficulties as to worldly circumstances.--8, …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

The Blessedness of Giving
"Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble." "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase, so shalt thy barns be filled with plenty." "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it lendeth to poverty." "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself." "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that …
Various—The Wonders of Prayer

Oh that I were as in Months Past! Job 29:02:00
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Field Hymns.
Hymns of the hortatory and persuasive tone are sufficiently numerous to make an "embarrassment of riches" in a compiler's hands. Not a few songs of invitation and awakening are either quoted or mentioned in the chapter on "Old Revival Hymns," and many appear among those in the last chapter, (on the Hymns of Wales;) but the working songs of Christian hymnology deserve a special space as such. "COME HITHER ALL YE WEARY SOULS," Sung to "Federal St.," is one of the older soul-winning calls from …
Theron Brown—The Story of the Hymns and Tunes

How a Desolate Man Ought to Commit Himself into the Hands of God
O Lord, Holy Father, be Thou blessed now and evermore; because as Thou wilt so it is done, and what Thou doest is good. Let Thy servant rejoice in Thee, not in himself, nor in any other; because Thou alone art the true joy, Thou art my hope and my crown, Thou art my joy and my honour, O Lord. What hath Thy servant, which he received not from Thee, even without merit of his own? Thine are all things which Thou hast given, and which Thou hast made. I am poor and in misery even from my youth up,(1) …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Fifth Commandment
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.' Exod 20: 12. Having done with the first table, I am next to speak of the duties of the second table. The commandments may be likened to Jacob's ladder: the first table respects God, and is the top of the ladder that reaches to heaven; the second respects superiors and inferiors, and is the foot of the ladder that rests on the earth. By the first table, we walk religiously towards God; by …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Properties of Sanctifying Grace
By a property (proprium, {GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON}{GREEK SMALL LETTER NU}) we understand a quality which, though not part of the essence of a thing, necessarily flows from that essence by some sort of causation and is consequently found in all individuals of the same species.(1155) A property, as such, is opposed to an accident (accidens, {GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON}{GREEK …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

May one Lose the Blessing?
The question trembles from many a lip--If I get the blessing, may I lose it? Most certainly. But, glory be to God! He has made ample provision for failure. There is no reason why we should fail; God has made ample provision against failure; we must not expect to fail; but in case we do fail, provision has been made. The most prolific cause of loss is disobedience--disobedience either to one of God's written commands, or to the inward promptings of His Holy Spirit. "The Holy Ghost whom God hath …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

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