1. The heavens declare the glory of God. The book of nature has three leaves, heaven, earth, and
sea, of which heaven is the first and the most glorious, and by its aid we are
able to see the beauties of the other two. Any book without its first page
would be sadly imperfect, and especially the great Natural Bible, since its
first pages, the sun, moon, and stars, supply light to the rest of the volume.
Man walking erect was evidently made to scan the skies, and he who begins to
read creation by studying the stars begins the book at the right place.
The heavens are plural for their variety, comprising
the watery heavens with their clouds of countless forms, the aerial heavens
with their calms and tempests, the solar heavens with all the glories of the
day, and the starry heavens with all the marvels of the night; what the Heaven
of heavens must be hath not entered into the heart of man, but there in chief
all things are telling the glory of God. Any part of creation has more
instruction in it than the human mind will ever exhaust, but the celestial
realm is particularly rich in spiritual lore. The heavens declare, or
“are declaring,” for the continuance of their testimony is intended by the
participles employed; every moment God’s existence, power, wisdom, and goodness
are being sounded abroad by the heavenly heralds which shine upon us from
above. He who would guess at divine sublimity should gaze upward into the
starry vault; he who would imagine infinity must peer into the boundless
expanse; he who desires to know divine fidelity must mark the regularity of the
planetary motions; and he who would attain some conceptions of divine power,
greatness, and majesty must estimate the forces of attraction, the magnitude of
the fixed stars, and the brightness of the whole celestial train. It is not
merely glory that the heavens declare, but the glory of God, for they
deliver to us such unanswerable arguments for a conscious, planning,
controlling, and presiding Creator, that no unprejudiced person can remain
unconvinced by them. The testimony given by the heavens is no mere hint, but a
plain, unmistakable declaration; and it is a declaration of the most constant
and abiding kind. Yet for all this, to what avail is the clearest showing to
one spiritually blind? God the Holy Spirit must illuminate us, or all the suns
in the milky way never will. The firmament showeth his handiwork. Not
“handy” in the popular use of that term, but hand-work. The expanse is full
of the works of the Lord’s skillfull, creating hands; hands being attributed to
the great creating Spirit to set out his care and workmanlike action, and to
meet the poor comprehension of mortals. In the expanse above us God flies, as
it were, his starry flag to show that the King is at home, that atheists may
see how he despises their denunciations of him. He who looks up to the
firmament and then writes himself down an atheist brands himself at the same
moment as an idiot or a liar. It is strange that some who love God are yet
afraid to study the God-declaring book of nature. The wisest are those who with
pious eagerness trace the goings forth of Jehovah as well in creation as in
grace.
2. As if one
took up the story where the other left it, and each night passed over the
wondrous tale to the next. The original has in it the thought of pouring out,
or welling over, with speech. Oh to drink often at the celestial well, and
learn to utter the glory of God! Even the changes of alternating night and day
are mutely eloquent, and light and shade equally reveal the Invisible One; let
the vicissitudes of our circumstances do the same, and while we bless the God
of our days of joy, let us also extol him who giveth “songs in the night.”
The lesson of day and night is one which it would be well
for everyone to learn. It should be among our day-thoughts and night-thoughts
to remember the flight of time, the changeful character of earthly things, the
brevity both of joy and sorrow, the preciousness of life, our utter
powerlessness to recall the hours once flown, and the irresistible approach of
eternity. Day bids us labor, night reminds us to prepare for our last home; day
bids us work for God, and night invites us to rest in him; day bids us look for
endless day, and night warns us to escape from everlasting night.
3. Everyone
may hear the voices of the stars. Many are the languages of terrestrials, but
to celestials there is but one, and that one may be understood by every willing
mind. The lowest heathen are without excuse if they do not discover the
invisible things of God in the works which he has made. Sun, moon, and stars
are God’s traveling preachers.
4. Although
the heavenly bodies move in solemn silence, yet in reason’s ear they utter
precious teachings. They give out no literal words, yet their
instruction is clear enough to be so described. Nature’s words are like the
signs of the deaf and dumb, but grace tells us plainly of the Father. By their
line is probably meant the measure of their domain which, together
with their testimony, has gone out to the utmost end of the habitable earth. It
is easy to escape from the light of ministers, but even then men with a
conscience unseared will find a Nathan to accuse them, a Jonah to warn them,
and an Elijah to threaten them in the silent stars of night. To gracious souls
the voices of the heavens are more influential far; they are drawn towards
their Father God by the bright bands of Orion.
5. A
bridegroom comes out dressed sumptuously, his face beaming with a joy which he
imparts to all around; such, but with a mighty emphasis, is the rising Sun. As
a champion addresses himself to the race, so does the sun speed onward with
matchless regularity and unwearying swiftness in his orbit. There are no signs
of effort, flagging, or exhaustion. No other creature yields such joy to the
earth; but all his glory is but the glory of God.
6. He bears
his light to the boundaries of the solar heavens, denying his light to none
within his range. The bowels of the earth are stored with the ancient produce
of the solar rays, and even now earth’s inmost caverns feel their power. Where
light is shut out, yet heat and other more subtle influences find their way.
There is no doubt a parallel intended to be drawn between
the heaven of grace and the heaven of nature. God’s way of grace is sublime and
broad, and full of his glory; in all its displays it is to be admired and
studied with diligence; both its lights and its shades are instructive; it has
been proclaimed, in a measure, to every people, and in due time will be yet
more completely published to the ends of the earth. Jesus, like a sun, dwells
in the midst of revelation, tabernacling among men in all his brightness;
rejoicing, as the Bridegroom of his church, to reveal himself to men; and, like
a champion, to win to himself renown. He makes a circuit of mercy,
blessing the remotest comers of the earth; and there are no seeking souls,
however degraded and depraved, who will be denied the comfortable warmth and
benediction of his love—even death will feel the power of his presence, and
resign the bodies of the saints, and this fallen earth will be restored to its
pristine glory.
7–11. In these
verses we have six descriptive tides of the word, six characteristic qualities
mentioned, and six divine effects declared.
7. The law of the Lord
is perfect. He means not merely the law of
Moses but the doctrine of God, the whole run and rule of sacred Writ. The
Gospel is a complete scheme or law of gracious salvation, presenting to the
needy sinner everything that his terrible necessities can possibly demand.
There are no redundancies and no omissions in the Word of God, and in the plan
of grace; why then do people try to paint this lily ? Converting the soul.
Making people to be returned or restored to the place from which sin had cast
them. The practical effect of the Word of God is to turn people to themselves,
to their God, and to holiness; and the turn of conversion is not outward alone—the
soul is moved and renewed. The great means of the conversion of sinners is
the Word of God, and the more closely we keep to it in our ministry the more
likely are we to be successful. It is God’s Word rather than man’s comment on
God’s Word which is made mighty with souls. When the law drives and the Gospel
draws, the action is different but the end is one, for by God’s Spirit the soul
is made to yield, and cries, “Turn me, and I shall be turned.” The
testimony of the Lord is sure.
God bears his testimony against sin, and on behalf of righteousness; he
testifies of our fall and of our restoration; this testimony is plain, decided,
and infallible, and is to be accepted as sure. God’s witness in his Word is so
sure that we may draw solid comfort from it both for time and eternity, and so
sure that no attacks made upon it, however fierce or subde, can ever weaken its
force. What a blessing that in a world of uncertainties we have something sure
to rest upon! We hasten from the quicksands of human speculations to the solid
ground of divine revelation. Making win the simple. Humble, candid,
teachable minds receive the word, and are made wise unto salvation. Things
hidden from the wise and prudent are revealed unto babes. The persuadable grow
wise, but the cavilers continue fools. As a law or plan the Word of God
converts, and then as a testimony it instructs; it is not enough for us to be
converts, we must continue to be disciples; and if we have felt the power of
truth, we must go on to prove its certainty by experience.
8. The statutes of the Lord
are fight. His precepts and decrees are
founded in righteousness, and are such as are right or fitted to the right
reason of man. As a physician gives the right medicine, and a counselor the
right advice, so does the Book of God. Rejoicing the heart. Mark the
progress; he who was converted was next made wise and is now made happy; that
truth which makes the heart right then gives joy to the right heart. Free grace
brings heart-joy. The commandment of the Lord
is pure. No mixture of error defiles it, no stain of sin pollutes it; it is
the unadulterated milk, the undiluted wine. Enlightening the eyes.
Purging away by its own purity the earthly grossness which mars the
intellectual discernment; whether the eye be dim with sorrow or with sin, the
Scripture is a skillfull oculist, and makes the eye clear and bright. Look at
the sun and it puts out your eyes; look at the more than sunlight of Revelation
and it enlightens them. It is well again to observe the gradation; the convert
became a disciple and next a rejoicing soul; he now obtains a discerning eye,
and as a spiritual person discerns all things, though he himself is discerned
by no one.
9. The fear of the Lord
is clean. The doctrine of truth is here
described by its spiritual effect, namely, inward piety or the fear of the
Lord; this is clean in itself, and cleanses out the love of sin, sanctifying
the heart in which it reigns. Mr. Godly-fear is never satisfied till every
street, lane, and alley, yea, and every house and every corner of the town of
Mansoul is clean rid of the Diabolonians who lurk there. Enduring forever.
Filth brings decay, but cleanness is the great foe of corruption. The grace of
God in the heart being a pure principle is also an abiding and incorruptible
principle, which may be crushed for a time, but cannot be utterly destroyed.
Both in the Word and in the heart, when the Lord writes, he says with Pilate,
“What I have written, I have written.” He will make no erasures himself, much
less allow others to do so. The revealed will of God is never changed; even
Jesus came not to destroy but to fulfill, and even the ceremonial law was only
changed as to its shadow; the substance intended by it is eternal. When the
governments of nations are shaken with revolution, and ancient constitutions
are being repealed, it is comforting to know that the throne of God is unshaken,
and his law unaltered. The judgments of the Lord
are true and righteous altogether. The words of the Lord are true; that
which is good in detail is excellent in the mass; no exception may be taken to
a single clause separately, or to the book as a whole. God’s judgments need no
laborious excuses to justify them. They commend themselves to every truthful
mind; not only is their power invincible, but their justice is unimpeachable.
10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much
fine gold. Bible truth is enriching to the
soul in the highest degree; the metaphor is one which gathers force as it is
brought out; gold—fine gold—much fine gold; it is good, better, best, and
therefore it is not only to be desired with a miser’s avidity, but with more than
that. As spiritual treasure is more noble than mere material wealth, so should
it be desired and sought after with greater eagerness. Sweeter also than
honey and the honeycomb. The pleasures arising from a right understanding
of the divine testimonies are of the most delightful order; earthly enjoyments
are utterly contemptible, if compared with them. The sweetest joys, yea, the
sweetest of the sweetest falls to his portion who has God’s truth to be his
heritage.
11. Moreover by them is thy servant warned. We are warned by the Word both of our duty, our danger, and
our remedy. On the sea of life there would be many more wrecks, if it were not
for the divine storm-signals which give to the watchful a timely warning. The
Bible should be our mentor, our monitor, our remembrancer, and the keeper of
our conscience. In keeping of them there is great reward. Servants of
God not only find his service delightful in itself, but they receive good
recompense. Though we earn no wages of debt, we win great wages of grace.
However, the main reward is yet to come, and the word here used hints at much,
for it signifies the “heel,” as if the reward would come to us at the end of
life when the work was done; not while the labor was in the hand, but when it
was done and we could see the heel of it. Oh the glory yet to be revealed!
12. Who can understand his errors? A question which is its own answer. It requires an
exclamation point rather than a question mark. By the law is the knowledge of
sin, and in the presence of divine truth the psalmist marvels at the number and
heinousness of his sins. He best knows himself who best knows the Word, but
even such a person will be in a maze of wonder as to what he does not know,
rather than on the mount of congratulation as to what he does know. Augustine
wrote in his older days a series of Retractations; ours might make a library if
we had enough grace to be convinced of our mistakes and to confess them. Cleanse
thou me from secret faults. Thou canst mark in me faults entirely hidden
from myself. It is hopeless to expect to see all my spots; therefore, O Lord,
wash away in the atoning blood even those sins which my conscience has been
unable to detect. Secret sins, like private conspirators, must be hunted out,
or they may do deadly mischief; it is well to be much in prayer concerning
them. If we had eyes like those of God, we should think very differently of
ourselves.
13. Keep beck thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let
them not have dominion over me.
This earnest and humble prayer teaches us that saints may fall into the worst
of sins unless restrained by grace, and that therefore they must watch and pray
lest they enter into temptation. There is a natural proneness to sin in the
best of people, and they must be held back as a horse is held back by the bit
or they will run into it. Presumptuous sins are particularly dangerous. All
sins are great sins, but yet some sins are greater than others. Every sin has
in it the very venom of rebellion; but there are some sins which have in them a
greater development of the essential mischief of rebellion, and which wear upon
their faces more of the brazen pride which defies the Most High. It is wrong to
suppose that because all sins will condemn us, that therefore one sin is not
greater than another. The presumptuous sins of our text are the chief and worst
of all sins. It is remarkable that though an atonement was provided under the
Jewish law for every kind of sin, there was this one exception: “But the soul
that sinneth presumptuously shall have no atonement; it shall be cut off from
the midst of my people.” And now under the Christian dispensation, although in
the sacrifice of our blessed Lord there is a great and precious atonement for
presumptuous sins, whereby sinners who have erred in this manner are made
clean, yet without doubt presumptuous sinners, dying without pardon, must
expect to receive a double portion of the wrath of God. For this reason is
David so anxious that he may never come under the reigning power of these giant
evils. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great
transgression. He shudders at the thought of the unpardonable sin. Secret
sin is a stepping-stone to presumptuous sin, and that is the vestibule of “the
sin which is unto death.” He who is not willfull in his sin will be in a fair
way to be innocent so far as poor sinful man can be; but he who tempts the
devil to tempt him is in a path which will lead him from bad to worse, and from
the worse to the worst.
14. A sweet
prayer, and so spiritual that it is almost as commonly used in Christian
worship as the apostolic benediction. Words are mockery if the heart does not
meditate; but both together are useless unless accepted; and even if accepted
by man, it is all vanity if not acceptable in the sight of God. We must in
prayer view Jehovah as our strength enabling, and our Redeemer
saving, or we shall not pray aright, and it is well to feel our personal
interest so as to use the word my, or our prayers will be hindered.
Blessed Redeemer, give us now to meditate acceptably upon thy most sweet love
and tenderness.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
