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"The Scriptures," says an old bishop, "are wonderful with respect to the matter which they contain, the manner in which they are written, and the effects which they produce.'' What, then, is the Bible? The reply is this — the Bible is the history of sin; and so viewed, it stands forth, indeed, as a record surprisingly wonderful. It may be said that it is in a measure the history of righteousness also; but indeed the history of God's righteousness is the history of man's sin. There is a strange unity in the Bible thus viewed. It is not on the excellency of this or that portion, but upon their unity and self-completeness, that we would base our assertion of the wonderfulness of the testimonies of God. Let us, then, assuming its wonderfulness, inquire how this should produce obedience. The whole of this psalm is occupied in setting forth the Divine law in every variety of aspect, and David's own appreciation of it; and it is observable that it is on the depth, the vastness, the wonderfulness of God's Word that he dwells. In the text he assigns, expressly, the motive of his own obedience. His language is not that of a deep thinker, who has examined and understood more thoroughly than his brethren; it is that of a child gazing upwards to the firmament, and impressed with an awe which it cannot explain; it is language not of reason, but of faith: not of understanding, but of astonishment, in which he sketches the impulse of his own obedience. His spirit, as he meditated upon God's law, beheld therein a mighty mystery, wide as the east from the west; and as he gazed, he saw in that law unsearchable doctrines, and dispensations not to be accounted for, and rules and regulations laid down but not explained; there was much which might be regarded as superfluous, much which man would have ordered otherwise; so, as he pondered, he marvelled; and then his heart grew at once humbled, yet elevated, by the mysterious web that was around him. Now, if it be true that wonder is closely connected with reverence, that in short the marvellous exerts in religion, as in other things, a great power over the soul of man, then we shall cease to be surprised that the Almighty has not spoken more clearly. Strip religion of whatever baffles the understanding, and you will have a system quite incapable of enlisting the heart in its cause. No deeds of high, unselfish heroism, such as those which have rendered everlastingly illustrious the names of apostles and confessors; no lives of self-denying exertion like those which adorn the annals of missionary enterprise will be produced by this religion of reason. "His Name shall be called Wonderful." By such title did the Hebrew prophet proclaim Him, around whose cradle all Christendom is about to gather. Wonderful in His nature, being both God and man; Wonderful in the ordinances of His kingdom; Wonderful in His continual presence with His people; Wonderful in the dispensations of His grace. Even, then, as Wonderful, let us bow down before Him; never seeking to rend, with unhallowed hand, the veil that is upon His face; never recoiling from His Word by reason of its marvellousness; never trying to bring Him down to us because we cannot rise up to Him. Yea, rather, in the wonderfulness of all that emanates from Him, let us recognize a propriety. Rightly viewed, the incomprehensibleness of Christ is a bond to obedience. His statutes are wonderful, and therefore should our souls not resist, but keep them.

(Bp. Woodford.)

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KJV: PE. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

WEB: Your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them.