keep the Lord's statutes

Posted : 11 Feb, 2013 02:17 AM

PSALM 119:8 I will keep Your statutes: O forsake me not utterly.





The resolution to "keep the Lord's statutes" is the natural

result of having "learned His righteous judgments." But how

happily does David combine "simplicity" of dependence with

"godly sincerity" of obedience! Firm in his purpose, but

distrustful of his strength, instantly upon forming his

resolution, he recollects that the performance is beyond his

power; and therefore the next moment, and almost the same

moment, he follows it up with prayer, "I will keep Your

statutes: O forsake me not utterly." Oh! beware of selfconfidence in the Christian course. We stumble or advance,

as we lean upon an arm of flesh, or upon an Almighty Savior.

Temporary desertion may be the seasonable chastisement of

spiritual wantonness. When grace has been given in answer

to prayer, it was not duly prized, or diligently improved. The

"Beloved"-in answer to solicitation-"is come into His garden:"

He knocks at the door, but the spouse is "asleep." The answer

to prayer was not expected, not waited for, and therefore not

enjoyed; and the sleeper awakes too late, and finds herself forsaken by the object of her desire. Again-when we have

given place to temptation; when "our mountain stands strong;"

when love for our Savior "waxes cold," and our earnestness in

seeking Him is fainting; we must not be surprised, if we are

left for a time to the trial of a deserted state.

Yet we sometimes speak of the hidings of God's countenance,

as if it were a sovereign act, calling for implicit submission;

when the cause should at least be sought for, and will

generally be found, in some "secret thing" of indulgence,

unwatchfulness, or self-dependence. It was while David "kept

silence" from the language of contrition, that he felt the

pressure of the heavy hand of his frowning God; and may not

the darkness, which has sometimes clouded our path, be the

voice of our God-"Your own wickedness shall correct you, and

your backslidings shall reprove you; know therefore and see,

that it is an evil thing and bitter, that you have forsaken the

Lord your God."

But in the engagement of the Lord's everlasting covenant,

how clear is the warrant of faith!-how ample the

encouragement for prayer-"Forsake me not utterly!" David

knew and wrote of the Lord's unchangeable faithfulness to His

people; and while he dreaded even a temporary separation

from his God more than any worldly affliction, he could plead

that gracious declaration- "Nevertheless, my loving-kindness

will I not utterly take from him, nor permit my faithfulness to

fail." We would not indeed make the promises of grace an

encouragement to carelessness: yet it is indispensable to our

spiritual establishment that we receive them in their full, free,

and sovereign declaration. How many fainting souls have

been refreshed by the assurances-"For a small moment have

I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you: with

everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the Lord

your Redeemer!" "My sheep shall never perish; neither shall

any pluck them out of My hand." In a lowly, self-abased, and dependent spirit, we shall best, however, learn to "make our

boast in the Lord;" "confident of this very thing, that he who

has begun a good work in us, will perform it until the day of

Jesus Christ." And even if awhile destitute of sensible

consolation, still our language will be, "I will wait upon the

Lord, who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will

look for Him."

Great, indeed, is the danger and evil to the soul, if we

apprehend the Lord to have forsaken us, because we are in

darkness; or that we are out of the way, because we are in

perplexity. These are the very hand-posts, that show us that

we are in the way of His own promised leading-painful

exercise-faithful keeping-eternal salvation: "I will bring the

blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths

that they have not known; I will make darkness light before

them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto

them, and not forsake them." Oh! the rest-the satisfaction of

placing an implicit confidence in a covenant-keeping God!

Forsaken we may be-but not utterly. David was forsaken, not

like Saul. Peter was forsaken, not like Judas, utterly and

forever. What foreboding have you of such desertion? Is your

heart willing to forsake Him? Have you no mournings and

thirstings for His return? "If, indeed, you forsake Him, He will

forsake you." But can you forsake Him? 'Let Him do as seems

Him good (is the language of your heart); I will wait for Him,

follow after Him, cleave to His word, cling to His cross.' Mark

His dealings with you. Inquire into their reason. Submit to His

dispensation. If He forsakes, beg His return: but trust your

forsaking God. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."

Though my comfort is clouded, my hope remains unchanging,

unchangeable-such as I would not resign for the glory of an

earthly crown. What are these earnest breathings-this abiding

confidence, but His own work in us? And can the Lord

"forsake the work of His own hands?" Sooner should heaven and earth pass, than the faithful engagements of the gospel

be thus broken.



by

Charles Bridges

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