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TOPIC: Spurgeon - C.H. - The Golden Alphabet (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 21 Exposition of Psalm 119:160-168
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Exposition of Psa_119:161-168
by Charles Spurgeon
161. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart
standeth in awe of thy word.
162. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
163. I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.
164. Seven times a day do praise thee because of thy righteous
judgments.
165. That peace have they which love thy law: and nothing
shall offend them.
166. Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy
commandments.
167. My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them
exceedingly.
168. I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my
ways are before thee.
We are drawing near to the end. The pulse of the Psalm beats more quickly
than usual; the sentences are shorter, the sense is more vivid, the strain is
more full and deep. The veteran of a thousand battles, the receiver often
thousand mercies, rehearses his experience, and anew declares his loyalty
to the Lord and his law. Oh, that when we come to the close of life we may
be able to speak as David does as he closes his life-psalm! Not boastfully,
but still boldly, he places himself among the obedient servants of the Lord.
Oh, to be clear in conscience when life’s sun is setting!
161. “Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth
in awe of thy word.”
“Princes have persecuted me without a cause.” Such persons ought to
have known better; they should have had sympathy with one of their own
rank. A man expects a fair trial at the hands of his peers. It is ignoble for
any one to be prejudiced; but worst of all for noblemen to be so. If honor
were banished from all other breasts it should remain in the bosom of
kings, and certainly honor forbids the persecution of the innocent. Princes
are appointed to protect the virtuous and avenge the oppressed, and it is a
shame when they themselves become the assailants of the righteous. It was
a sad case when the man of God found himself attacked by the judges of
the earth, for their eminent position added weight and venom to their
enmity. It was well that the sufferer could truthfully assert that this;
persecution was “without a cause.” He had not broken their laws, he had
not injured them, he had not even desired to see them injured: he had not
been an advocate of rebellion or anarchy, he had neither openly nor
secretly opposed their power, and therefore, while this made their
oppression the more inexcusable, it took away a part of its sting, and
helped the brave-hearted servant of God to bear up under their
oppressions.
“But my heart standeth in awe of thy word.” He might have been
overcome by awe of the princes, had it not been that a greater fear drove
out the less, and he was swayed by awe of God’s word. How little are
crowns and scepters in the judgment of that man who perceives a more
majestic royalty in the commands of his God! We are not likely to be
disheartened by persecution, nor driven by it into sin, if the word of God
exerts supreme power over our minds.
162. “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.” His awe did
not prevent his joy; his fear of God was not of the kind which perfect love
casts out, but of the sort which it nourishes. He trembled at the word of the
Lord, and yet rejoiced at it. He compares his joy to that of one who has
been long in battle, and has at last won the victory and is dividing the
spoil. This usually falls to the lot of princes; and though David was divided
from other monarchs by their persecution of him, yet he had victories of his
own, which they understood not, and treasures in which they could not
share. He could say, —
“With causeless hate by princes chased,
Still on thy word my heart is placed.
That word I dread; that word I hold
More dear than heaps of captured gold.”
“David’s spoil” was more than equal to the greatest gains of all the
mighty men. His holy booty taken by his earnest: contention for the truth
of God was greater than all the trophies that can be gained in war. Grace
divides greater spoil than falls to the lot of sword or bow.
In the evil times we have to fight hard for divine truth: every doctrine costs
us a battle. But when we gain a full understanding of eternal truth by
personal struggles it becomes doubly precious to us. If we have unusual
battling for the word of God, may we have for our spoil a firmer hold upon
the priceless word!
Perhaps the, passage may mean that the Psalmist rejoiced as one who
comes upon hidden treasure for which he has not fought, in which case we
find the analogy in the man of God who, while reading the Bible, makes
grand and blessed discoveries of the grace of God laid up for him —
discoveries which surprise him, for he looked not to find such a prize.
Whether we come by the truth as finders or as warriors fighting for it, the
heavenly treasure should be equally dear to us. With what quiet joy does
the ploughman steal home with his golden find! How victors shout as they
share the plunder! How glad should that man be who has discovered his
portion in the promises of Holy Writ, and is able to enjoy that portion for
himself, knowing by the witness of the Holy Spirit that it is all his own!
163. “I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.”
“I hate and abhor lying.” A double expression for an inexpressible
loathing. Falsehood in doctrine, in life, or in speech, falsehood in any form
or shape, had become utterly detestable to the Psalmist. This was a
remarkable statement for an Oriental to make; for, generally, lying is the
delight of Easterns, and the only wrong they see in it is when their skill is at
fault, so that the lie is found out. David himself had made much progress
when he had come to this; for he, too, had practiced guile in his day. He
does not, however, alone refer to falsehood in conversation; he evidently
intends perversity in faith and teaching. He wrote down all opposition to
the God of truth as lying, and then he turned his whole soul against it with
the intensest form of indignation. Godly men should detest false doctrine
even as they abhor any other lie.
“But thy law do I love.” He did not merely yield to it, but he had great
pleasure in it. A sullen obedience is essentially rebellion: only a hearty love
will secure sincere loyalty to law. David loved the law of God because it is
the foe of falsehood and the guardian of truth. His love was as ardent as his
hate: he intensely loved the word of God, which is in itself pure truth. True
men love truth, and hate lying. It is well for us to know which way our
hates and loves run; and we may do essential service to others by declaring
what: are the objects of our admiration and detestation. Both love and hate
are contagious, and when they are sanctified the wider their influence the
better.
164. “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous
judgments.”
He labored perfectly to praise his perfect God, and therefore fulfilled the
perfect number of songs — that number being seven. He reached a Sabbath
in his praise, and before he rested on his bed he found sweet rest in the
joyful adoration of Jehovah. Seven may also intend notable frequency.
Frequently he lifted up his heart in thanksgiving to God for his divine
teachings in the word, and for his divine actions in providence. With his
voice he extolled the righteousness of the Judge of all the earth. As often
as he thought of God’s ways a song leaped to his lips. At the sight of the
oppressive princes, and at the hearing of the abounding falsehood around
him, he felt all the more bound to adore and magnify God, who in all things
is truth and righteousness, When others slander us, or in any other way rob
us of our just need of praise, it should be a warning to us not to fall into
the same conduct towards our God, who is so much more worthy of