to frighten him from the ways of God, but they could not prevail; he would sooner forsake all that was dear to him in this world, than forsake the word of God; would sooner lose his life, than lose the comfort of doing his duty.
88. Quicken me after thy loving-kindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.
Here is, 1. David in care to be found in the way of his duty; his constant desire and design are, to keep the testimony of God's mouth, to keep to it as his rule, and to keep hold of it as his confidence and portion for ever. This we must keep, whatever we lose.
2. David at prayer for divine grace to assist him therein; "Quicken me after thy loving-kindness; make me alive, and make me lively, so shall I keep thy testimonies; implying, that otherwise he should not keep them. We cannot proceed, nor persevere, in the good way, unless God quicken us, and put life into us; we are therefore here taught to depend upon the grace of God for strength to do every good work, and to depend upon it as grace, as purely the fruit of God's favour. He had prayed before, Quicken me in thy righteousness; (v. 40.) but here, Quicken me after thy loving-kindness. The surest token of God's good-will toward us, is his good work in us.
12. LAMED.
89. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. 90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations; thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
Here, 1. The psalmist acknowledges the unchangeableness of the word of God, and of all his counsels. "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled. Thou art for ever thyself, so some read it; thou art the same, and with thee there is no variableness, and this is a proof of it. Thy word, by which the heavens were made, is settled there in the abiding products of it;" or the settling of God's word in heaven, is opposed to the changes and revolutions that are here upon earth. All flesh is grass; but the word of the Lord endures for ever. It is settled in heaven, in the secret counsel of God, which is hid in himself, and is far above out of our sight, and is immoveable, as mountains of brass. And his revealed will is as firm as his secret will; as he will fulfil the thoughts of his heart, so no word of his shall fall to the ground; for it follows here, Thy faithfulness is unto all generations; the promise is sure to every age of the church, and it cannot be antiquated by track of time. The promises that look ever so far forward shall be performed in their season.
2. He produces, for proof of it, the constancy of the course of nature; Thou hast established the earth, and it abides; it is what it was at first made, and where it was at first placed, poised with its own weight, and, notwithstanding the convulsions in its own bowels, the agitations of the sea that is interwoven with it, and the violent concussions of the atmosphere that surrounds it, remains unmoved. "They" (the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of both) "continue to this day according to thine ordinances; they remain in the posts wherein thou hast set them, they fill up the place assigned them, and answer the purposes for which they were intended." The stability of the ordinances of day and night, of heaven and earth, is produced, to prove the perpetuity of God's covenant, Jer. xxxi. 35, 36.—xxxiii. 20, 21. It is by virtue of God's promise to Noah, (Gen. viii. 22.) that day and night, summer and winter, observe a steady course. "They have continued to this day, and shall still continue to the end of time, acting according to the ordinances which were at first given them; for all are thy servants, they do thy will, and set forth thy glory, and in both are thy servants." All the creatures are, in their places, and according to their capacities, serviceable to their Creator, and answer the ends of their creation; and shall man be the only rebel, the only revolter from his allegiance, and the only unprofitable burthen of the earth?
92. Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
Here is, 1. The great distress that David was in; he was in affliction, and ready to perish in his affliction; not likely to die, so much as likely to despair: he was ready to give up all for gone, and to look upon himself as cut off from God's sight; he therefore admires the goodness of God to him, that he had not perished, that he kept the possession of his own soul, and was not driven out of his wits by his troubles, but especially that he was enabled to keep close to his God, and was not driven off from his religion by them. Though we are not kept from affliction, yet, if we are kept from perishing in our affliction, we have no reason to say, We have cleansed our hands in vain; or, What profit is it that we have served God?
2. His support in this distress. God's law was his delight, (1.) It had been so formerly, and the remembrance of that was a comfort to him, as it afforded him a good evidence of his integrity. (2.) It was so now in his affliction; it afforded him abundant matter of comfort, and from these fountains of life he drew living waters, when the cisterns of the creature were broken or dried up. His converse with God's law, and his meditations on it, were his delightful entertainment in solitude and sorrow. A Bible is a pleasant companion at any time, if we please.
93. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.
Here is, 1. A very good resolution; "I will never forget thy precepts, but will always retain a remembrance of, and regard to, thy word as my rule." It is a resolution for perpetuity, never to be altered. Note, The best evidence of our love to the word of God, is, never to forget it. We must resolve that, we will never, at any time, cast off our religion, and never, upon any occasion, lay aside our religion, but that we will be constant to it, and presevere in it.
2. A very good reason for it; "For by them thou hast quickened me; not only they are quickening, but," (1.) "They have been so to me, I have found them so." Those speak best of the things of God who speak by experience, who can say, that by the word the spiritual life has been begun in them, maintained and strengthened in them, excited and comforted in them. (2.) "Thou hast made them so;" the word of itself, without the grace of God, would not quicken us; ministers can but prophesy upon the dry bones, they cannot put life into them; but, ordinarily, the grace of God works by the word, and makes use of it as a means of quickening; and this is a good reason why we should never forget it, but should highly value what God has put such honour upon, and dearly love what we have found such benefit by, and hope still to find. See here what is the best help for bad memories, namely, good affections; if we are quickened by the word, we shall never forget it; nay, that word that does really quicken us to, and in, our duty, is not forgotten; though the expressions be lost, if the impressions remain, it is well.
