I. WE MIGHT FILL UP THE TEXT IN MANY WAYS. As St. John does, "because God first loved us." Or because of what he is in himself. Or because of what he has done for us, is doing, and will do for us or for others dear to us. And there are other ways still.
II. HOW IT IS FILLED UP. "Because he hath heard my voice," etc. God's heating of our prayer is the reason given for loving him.
1. Now, can we say this? Not if we never pray. Not if we do not look out for the answers in the right way - believing - and in the place where they are to be looked for.
2. But many, like the psalmist, can say this.
III. AND HOW REASONABLE IS THIS FILLING UP! It is fitting that we should "love the Lord, because," etc. If we think of the sad characteristics of our prayers. How unworthy! How slow we are to pray I What a number of desires we have! What unbelief mingles with them! How trivial! How impatient! How misused! What his answering of our prayers has cost!
CONCLUSION.
1. If he hears our prayer, he shall hear our praise, and we will hear his word.
2. And we will tell others of this. - S.C.
They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
A false religion has all the outward signs of importance. A false religion could not live if it showed only its lying side. Even a lie could not live but for the one grain of truth that may be in it: it may be a grain of probability only, or even of possibility, but the lie owes its life, however brief, to the element of at least seeming truth, or possible truth, that may be in it. So with false religions: enumerate them, set them all out in a line, and one looks very much like another as to outward appearance. How long would a piece of lead be in the market-place if offered as a coin? Not one moment. But if treated, if smelted, minted, stamped, drilled, and made to look like a coin, it might deceive somebody, it might live a little while. To what would it owe its life? Not to its intrinsic quality, but to its appearance. So when you cite the religions of the world, and set them all in a line, you are perfectly right in saying, Behold them, and see how very strikingly they resemble one another. The counterfeit coin lives in its resemblance: take away this resemblance, and you take away its whole value; its similitude is its life. What wonder, then, that we find men deceived by religions that are superficial, and merely human inventions, that have nothing to live upon that is of an eternal and Divine nature? It is quite possible that the counterfeit coin may be more brilliant than the real coin. How did the five-pound note pass? Because it was like a five-pound note: the paper was the same, the mill mark was the same, the writing was the same; the resemblance was the reason of the successful deception. Much is mistaken for faith that is not faith, that is mere intellectual assent, or mere intellectual indifference. A man does not believe things which he simply names with his mouth. He only believes those things for which he would die. What havoc this makes in the professed beliefs of the Church! Yet everything must be judged by the degree in which it realizes its own pretensions. To pretend to have hands means power of handling, or it is a lie: to profess to have feet and yet to be unable to walk is to contradict your own statement: to have ears carved by an Angelo which yet cannot hear a thunderburst is to have ears that are visible falsehoods. Where we find hands we have a right to expect handling: where we find faith we have a right to expect morality, or service, or action: and if we with all Christian profession of an intellectual kind are not balancing that profession by actual, living, useful service, then let all the mockers of the universe taunt us, saying, They have hands, but they handle not. The taunt is not a mere taunt; it is a sneer justified by reason. If there were no hands we should pity the sufferer. Who expects to refresh himself from the branches of an oak tree? Yet if the hungry soul should come to a fig tree in the time of figs, and should find upon the tree nothing but leaves, hunger has priestly rights of cursing, hunger may excommunicate that tree from the trees of the garden, because it pretended to be a fruit tree and yet it grew nothing but leaves.
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People
PsalmistPlaces
JerusalemTopics
Cries, Cry, Ear, Heareth, Hears, Listens, Love, Loved, Mercy, Prayer, Supplication, Supplications, VoiceOutline
1. The psalmist professes his love and duty to God for his deliverance12. He studies to be thankfulDictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 116:1 5763 attitudes, positive to God
5844 emotions
8297 love, for God
8632 adoration
Psalm 116:1-2
5148 ear
8614 prayer, answers
Psalm 116:1-6
5970 unhappiness
Psalm 116:1-19
8609 prayer, as praise and thanksgiving
Library
Requiting God
'What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? 13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.'--PSALM cxvi. 12, 13. There may possibly be a reference here to a part of the Passover ritual. It seems to have become the custom in later times to lift high the wine cup at that feast and drink it with solemn invocation and glad thanksgiving. So we find our Lord taking the cup--the 'cup of blessing' as Paul calls it--and giving thanks. But as there is no record …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureExperience, Resolve, and Hope
'Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.'--PSALM cxvi. 8, 9. This is a quotation from an earlier psalm, with variations which are interesting, whether we suppose that the Psalmist was quoting from memory and made them unconsciously, or whether, as is more probable, he did so, deliberately and for a purpose. The variations are these. The words in the original psalm (lvi.) according to the Revised …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Precious Deaths
The text informs us that the deaths of God's saints are precious to him. How different, then, is the estimate of human life which God forms from that which has ruled the minds of great warriors and mighty conquerors. Had Napoleon spoken forth his mind about the lives of men in the day of battle, he would have likened them to so much water spilt upon the ground. To win a victory, or subdue a province, it mattered not though he strewed the ground with corpses thick as autumn leaves, nor did it signify …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872
Prayer Answered, Love Nourished
"Oh the transporting, rapturous scene That rises to my sight! Sweet fields arrayed in living green, And rivers of delight. Filled with delight my raptured soul Would here no longer stay, Though Jordan's waves around me roll, Fearless I'd launch away." Yet nevertheless the Christian may do well sometimes to look backward; he may look back to the hole of the pit and the miry clay whence he was digged--the retrospect will help him to be humble, it will urge him to be faithful. He may look back with …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859
Personal Service
THESE SENTENCES SUGGEST a contrast. David's religion was one of perfect liberty;--"Thou hast loosed my bonds." It was one of complete service;--"Truly l am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid." Did I say the text suggested a contrast? Indeed the two things need never be contrasted, for they are found to be but part of one divine experience in the Jives of all God's people. The religion of Jesus is the religion of liberty. The true believer can say, when his soul is in a healthy …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860
Called Up
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."--Ps. cxvi. 15. Mechthild of Hellfde, 1277. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 He laid him down upon the breast of God In measureless delight-- Enfolded in the tenderness untold, The sweetness infinite. …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)
What Shall I Render Ps 116:12,13
What shall I render Ps 116:12,13 [5] For mercies, countless as the sands, Which daily I receive From Jesus, my Redeemer's hands, My soul what canst thou give? Alas! from such a heart as mine, What can I bring him forth? My best is stained and dyed with sin, My all is nothing worth. Yet this acknowledgment I'll make For all he has bestowed; Salvation's sacred cup I'll take And call upon my God. The best returns for one like me, So wretched and so poor; Is from his gifts to draw a plea, And ask …
John Newton—Olney Hymns
But this Only Son of God, the Father Almighty...
6. But this Only Son of God, the Father Almighty, let us see what He did for us, what He suffered for us. "Born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary." He, so great God, equal with the Father, born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, born lowly, that thereby He might heal the proud. Man exalted himself and fell; God humbled Himself and raised him up. Christ's lowliness, what is it? God hath stretched out an hand to man laid low. We fell, He descended: we lay low, He stooped. Let us lay hold …
St. Augustine—On the Creeds
"O Lord! I Beseech Thee, Deliver My Soul. " --Ps. cxvi. 4
"O Lord! I beseech Thee, deliver my Soul."--Ps. cxvi. 4. O take away this evil heart; This heart of unbelief renew; So prone, so eager to depart From Thee, the living God and true. O crucify this carnal mind, 'Tis enmity, my God, to Thee; I cannot love Thee, till I find The mind that was in Christ in me. O sanctify this sinful soul; Health to the dying leper give; Thou, if Thou wilt, canst make me whole; Speak but the word, and I shall live. O disenthrall this captive will, (Free only when Thou …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns
Rest for the Soul --Psalm cxvi. 7
Rest for the Soul--Psalm cxvi. 7. Return, my soul, unto thy rest, From vain pursuits and madd'ning cares, From lonely woes that wring thy breast, The world's allurements,--Satan's snares. Return unto thy rest, my soul, From all the wanderings of thy thought, From sickness unto death made whole, Safe through a thousand perils brought. Then to thy rest, my soul, return From passions every hour at strife; Sin's works, and ways, and wages spurn, Lay hold upon eternal life. God is thy Rest,--with …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns
Gratitude for Redemption. --Ps. cxvi.
Gratitude for Redemption.--Ps. cxvi. I love the Lord;--He lent an ear, When I for help implored; He rescued me from all my fear, Therefore I love the Lord. Bound hand and foot with chains of sin, Death dragg'd me for his prey; The pit was moved to take me in, All hope was far away. I cried in agony of mind, "Lord, I beseech Thee, save:" He held me;--Death his prey resign'd, And Mercy shut the grave. Return, my soul, unto thy rest, From God no longer roam: His hand hath bountifally blest, His …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns
That we must not Believe Everyone, and that we are Prone to Fall in Our Words
Lord, be thou my help in trouble, for vain is the help of man.(1) How often have I failed to find faithfulness, where I thought I possessed it. How many times I have found it where I least expected. Vain therefore is hope in men, but the salvation of the just, O God, is in Thee. Blessed be thou, O Lord my God, in all things which happen unto us. We are weak and unstable, we are quickly deceived and quite changed. 2. Who is the man who is able to keep himself so warily and circumspectly as not …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ
But Some Man Will Say, Would Then those Midwives and Rahab have done Better...
34. But some man will say, Would then those midwives and Rahab have done better if they had shown no mercy, by refusing to lie? Nay verily, those Hebrew women, if they were such as that sort of persons of whom we ask whether they ought ever to tell a lie, would both eschew to say aught false, and would most frankly refuse that foul service of killing the babes. But, thou wilt say, themselves would die. Yea, but see what follows. They would die with an heavenly habitation for their incomparably more …
St. Augustine—Against Lying
But Sometimes a Peril to Eternal Salvation Itself is Put Forth against Us...
40. But sometimes a peril to eternal salvation itself is put forth against us; [2466] which peril, they cry out, we by telling a lie, if otherwise it cannot be, must ward off. As, for instance, if a person who is to be baptized be in the power of impious and infidel men, and cannot be got at that he may be washed with the laver of regeneration, but by deceiving his keepers with a lie. From this most invidious cry, by which we are compelled, not for a man's wealth or honors in this world which are …
St. Augustine—Against Lying
Palestine Eighteen Centuries Ago
Eighteen and a half centuries ago, and the land which now lies desolate--its bare, grey hills looking into ill-tilled or neglected valleys, its timber cut down, its olive- and vine-clad terraces crumbled into dust, its villages stricken with poverty and squalor, its thoroughfares insecure and deserted, its native population well-nigh gone, and with them its industry, wealth, and strength--presented a scene of beauty, richness, and busy life almost unsurpassed in the then known world. The Rabbis never …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life
The Puritan Innovations
The causes which led to the further change. The Revised Prayer-book, after the opposition in Devonshire and Norfolk had subsided, received very general recognition. Of course there were some who, while grateful for the reforms which had been effected, could ill suppress their conviction that the hands of the Reformers had been stayed too soon. These, however, in England at least, were not a numerous body; and if no influence from without had been brought to bear upon them, they would probably have …
Herbert Mortimer Luckock—Studies in the Book of Common Prayer
John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;
COMPRISING I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1] ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3
The Dryness of Preachers, and the Various Evils which Arise from their Failing to Teach Heart-Prayer --Exhortation to Pastors to Lead People Towards this Form Of
If all those who are working for the conquest of souls sought to win them by the heart, leading them first of all to prayer and to the inner life, they would see many and lasting conversions. But so long as they only address themselves to the outside, and instead of drawing people to Christ by occupying their hearts with Him, they only give them a thousand precepts for outward observances, they will see but little fruit, and that will not be lasting. When once the heart is won, other defects are …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents
Letter Xlix to Romanus, Sub-Deacon of the Roman Curia.
To Romanus, Sub-Deacon of the Roman Curia. He urges upon him the proposal of the religious life, recalling the thought of death. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, to his dear Romanus, as to his friend. MY DEAREST FRIEND, How good you are to me in renewing by a letter the sweet recollection of yourself and in excusing my tiresome delay. It is not possible that any forgetfulness of your affection could ever invade the hearts of those who love you; but, I confess, I thought you had almost forgotten yourself …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux
Out of the Deep of Death.
My heart is disquieted within me, and the fear of death has fallen upon me.--Ps. iv. 4. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart.--Ps. lxiii. 25. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.--Ps. xxiii. 4. Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.--Ps. cxvi. 8. What will become of us after we die? What will the next world be like? What is heaven like? Shall I be able …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep
Out of the Deep of Loneliness, Failure, and Disappointment.
My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass. I am even as a sparrow that sitteth alone on the housetop--Ps. cii. 4, 6. My lovers and friends hast Thou put away from me, and hid mine acquaintance out of my sight--Ps. lxxviii. 18. I looked on my right hand, and saw there was no man that would know me. I had no place to flee unto, and no man cared for my soul. I cried unto Thee, O Lord, and said, Thou art my Hope. When my spirit was in heaviness, then Thou knewest my path.--Ps. cxlii. 4, 5. …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep
"Nunc Dimittis"
We shall note, this morning, first, that every believer may be assured of departing in peace; but that, secondly, some believers feel a special readiness to depart now: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace;" and, thirdly, that there are words of encouragement to produce in us the like readiness: "according to thy word." There are words of Holy Writ which afford richest consolation in prospect of departure. I. First, then, let us start with the great general principle, which is full of comfort; …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871
A Treatise on Good Works
I. We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God's commandments. Thus Christ says, Matthew xix, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And when the young man asks Him, Matthew xix, what he shall do that he may inherit eternal life, Christ sets before him naught else but the Ten Commandments. …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works
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