Posts Tagged ‘Treasury of David’

Spurgeon: He who has been with God in the closet will find God with him in the furnace.

Posted: June 19, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, June, Psalms
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Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalm 119:145-152

This section is given up to memories of prayer. The Psalmist describes the time and the manner of his devotions, and pleads with God for deliverance from his troubles. He who has been with God in the closet will find God with him in the furnace. If we have cried we shall be answered. Delayed answers may drive us to importunity; but we need not fear the ultimate result, since God’s promises are not uncertain, but are founded for ever. The whole passage shows us:

Always right; actively light

Posted: June 18, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, June, Psalms
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Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalm 119:137, from the Treasury of David

This passage deals with the perfect righteousness of Jehovah and his word, and expresses the struggles of a holy soul in reference to that righteousness. The initial letter with which every verse commences in the Hebrew is “P”, and the keyword to us is PURITY.

Psalm 119 Verse 137. Righteous art thou, O LORD. The Psalmist has not often used the name of Jehovah in this vast composition. The whole psalm shows him to have been a deeply religious man, thoroughly familiar with the things of God; and such persons never use the holy name of God carelessly, nor do they even use it at all frequently in comparison with the thoughtless and the ungodly. Familiarity begets reverence in this case. Here he uses the sacred name in worship. He praises God by ascribing to him perfect righteousness. God is always right, and he is always actively light, that is, righteous. This quality is bound up in our very idea of God. We cannot imagine an unrighteous God.

Appeal to God for open eyes

Posted: June 3, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, June, Psalms
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Open my eyes, that I may behold
        wondrous things out of your law.
    I am a sojourner on the earth;
        hide not your commandments from me!
Psalm 119:18-19 ESV

Spurgeon comments on Psalm 119:17-24, our passage for today:

In this section the trials of the way appear to be manifest to the Psalmist’s mind, and he prays accordingly for the help which will meet his case. As in the last eight verses he prayed as a youth newly come into the world, so here he pleads as a servant and a pilgrim, who growingly finds himself to be a stranger in an enemy’s country. His appeal is to God alone, and his prayer is specially direct and personal. He speaks with the Lord as a man speaketh with his friend.

Spurgeon: Whatever else may be questionable, this is absolutely certain

Posted: May 25, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, Psalms
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Psalm 118: Oh give thanks to the Lord……For he is good.

C. H Spurgeon comments:

This is reason enough for giving him thanks; goodness is his essence and nature, and therefore he is always to be praised whether we are receiving anything from him or not. Those who only praise God because he does them good should rise to a higher note and give thanks to him because he is good. In the truest sense he alone is good, “There is none good but one, that is God”; therefore in all gratitude the Lord should have the royal portion.

  • If others seem to be good, he is good.
  • If others are good in a measure, he is good beyond measure.
  • When others behave badly to us, it should only stir us up the more heartily to give thanks unto the Lord because he is good;
  • and when we ourselves are conscious that we are far from being good, we should only the more reverently bless him that “he is good.”

We must never tolerate an instant’s unbelief as to the goodness of the Lord; whatever else may be questionable, this is absolutely certain, that Jehovah is good; his dispensations may vary, but his nature is always the same, and always good. It is not only that he was good, and will be good, but he is good; let his providence be what it may. Therefore let us even at this present moment, though the skies be dark with clouds, yet give thanks unto his name.

What makes you tremble?

Posted: May 21, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, Psalms
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What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs? 

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.
—Psalm 114:5-8

Charles Spurgeon, in The Treasury of David:

Men fear the mountains, but the mountains tremble before the Lord. Sheep and lambs move lightly in the meadows; but the hills, which we are wont to call eternal, were as readily made to move as the most active creatures. Rams in their strength, and lambs in their play, are not more stirred than were the solid hills when Jehovah marched by. Nothing is immovable but God himself: the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but the covenant of his grace abideth fast for ever and ever. Even thus do mountains of sin and hills of trouble move when the Lord comes forth to lead his people to their eternal Canaan. Let us never fear, but rather let our faith say unto this mountain, “Be thou removed hence and cast into the sea, “and it shall be done.

Spurgeon: We must not give the Lord a new name nor invent a new nature

Posted: May 20, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, Psalms
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Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!

Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!

Charles H Spurgeon on Psalm 113:1-2

Gods.nameBy mentioning the name, the Psalmist would teach us to bless each of the attributes of the Most High, which are as it were the letters of his name; not quarrelling with his justice or his severity, nor servilely dreading his power, but accepting him as we find him revealed in the inspired word and by his own acts, and loving him and praising him as such. We must not give the Lord a new name nor invent a new nature, for that would be the setting up of a false god.

Spurgeon: no dread that evil tidings will come, and no alarm when they do come.

Posted: May 19, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, Psalms
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He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. Psalm 112:7

rachel barkeyI would like this verse to be true of me, trusting in God, even when life hurts.  Plans may change, but God’s purpose remains. I was reminded of this when I read of Rachel, a young mom who  went home to her Lord on July 2, 2009 at 37 years of age.  At her website, “Death is not dying…a faith that saves,” she wrote a letter , “Plans that change and ones that don’t”

 Charles H. Spurgeon comments:  

bad newsHe shall not be afraid of evil tidings. He shall have no dread that evil tidings will come, and he shall not be alarmed when they do come. Rumours and reports he despises; prophecies of evil, vented by fanatical mouths, he ridicules; actual and verified information of loss and distress he bears with equanimity, resigning everything into the hands of God. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. He is neither fickle nor cowardly; when he is undecided as to his course he is still fixed in heart: he may change his plan, but not the purpose of his soul. His heart being fixed in solid reliance upon God, a change in his circumstances but slightly affects him; faith has made him firm and steadfast, and therefore if the worst should come to the worst, he would remain quiet and patient, waiting for the salvation of God.

Rachel Barkey was an example of someone who steadfastly relied on God, and whose trust in God brought God great glory. On March 4, 2009, Rachel had an opportunity to share about her hope in the midst of terminal cancer. What began as a small talk to her church women’s group became an event attended by over 600 women and was an experience that left many with a desire to discover more about Rachel’s journey and faith.  Check out her video testimony here:

What is the best proof of intelligence?

Posted: May 18, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, Psalms
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;  all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalm 111:10

IQ_curveMen may know and be very orthodox, they may talk and be very eloquent, they may speculate and be very profound; but the best proof of their intelligence must be found in their actually doing the will of the Lord.

  • The former part of the psalm taught us the doctrine of God’s nature and character, by describing his works:
  • the second part supplies the practical lesson by drawing the inference that to worship and obey him is the dictate of true wisdom.

We joyfully own that it is so. His praise endureth for ever. The praises of God will never cease, because his works will always excite adoration, and it will always be the wisdom of men to extol their glorious Lord.

God steeps his sword of justice in the oil of mercy.

Posted: May 7, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, Psalms
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 I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
        to you, O LORD, I will make music.
Psalm 101:1 ESV

God intermixeth mercy with affliction: he steeps his sword of justice in the oil of mercy; there was no night so dark, but Israel had a pillar of fire in it; there is no condition so dismal, but we may see a pillar of fire to give light. If the body be in pain, conscience is in peace,—there is mercy: affliction is for the prevention of sin,—there is mercy. In the ark there was a rod and a pot of manna, the emblem of a Christian’s condition, mercy interlined with judgment.—Thomas Watson, as quoted in The Treasury of David

He is high above all the people

Posted: May 5, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, Psalms
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The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
—Psalm 99

Spurgeon comments at The Treasury of David:

He is great in the esteem of the gracious, great in his acts of mercy, and really great in himself: great in mercy, power, wisdom, justice, and glory. And he is high above all the people; towering above their highest thoughts and loftiest conceptions. The highest are not high to him, yet, blessed be his name, the lowliest are not despised by him. In such a God we rejoice, his greatness and loftiness are exceedingly delightful in our esteem; the more he is honoured and exalted in the hearts of men, the more exultant are his people. If Israel delighted in Saul because he was head and shoulders above the people, [we have been reading in 1 Samuel about Saul]  how much more should we exult in our God and King, Who is as high above us as the heavens are above the earth.

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