Psalm 143:5














The hunger and thirst after righteousness is ultimately a thirst for God. "Observe how he binds himself to God alone, cuts off every other hope from his soul, and, in short, makes his very need a chariot wherewith to mount up to God." "I remember the days of old;" "I spread forth my hands unto thee."

I. GOD ALWAYS HAS BEEN OUR HOPE. A good man is here speaking in the name of good men. They can never look back over life, and estimate its scenes of trial and strain, without clearly seeing that their hope was in God, and that God had ever met and satisfied their hope. One thing man has to learn over and over again in the experience of life. It is the untrustworthiness of things and people, and the safe foundation of hope that a man has in God. It is not usually long after a man enters on what may be called a personal experience that he discovers there is no hope to be placed in man. One of the most humiliating and depressing experiences of life is finding our most trusted friend fail us in the hour of need. Then we learn that God is our first and only Hope. Then God does not fail. We may trust him. We find him the "Strength of our heart and our Portion for ever." That experience is repeated again and again as life unfolds.

II. GOD ALWAYS WILL BE OUR HOPE. Estimate aright the painful experiences through which we may now be passing; times when our life-erections seem to lie in ruins about us; times when trusted friends fail us; times when the outlook before us is dark; times when the sense of loneliness oppresses us, we look to the right hand and to the left, but there is no helper; - they are all times in which we are recovering and re-establishing our hope in God. It is well to remember that we always have that. The soul's deep rest is in him who is "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever;" always the "Friend of the friendless and the faint." Life rightly viewed is a liberating us from every bond that would keep us from restful, strengthening hope in God. - R.T.

I remember the days of old.
Homilist.
: —

I. AS A NECESSITY OF HUMAN NATURE.

1. By the laws of proximity, likeness, contrast, we are every day thrown back on the past, made in some measure to relive the hours that are gone.

2. This necessary action of memory shows —(1) The conscious unity of human life. However long we have to live, though for ever, from the beginning our life is one.(2) The wondrous frugality of life. Our spiritual life throws nothing away. Memory manages all with the most sparing economy. It gathers up every fragment, so that nothing is lost.(3) The growing importance of life. What a world lies behind the old man — nay, within him.(4) The inevitable retributiveness of life.

II. AS A MORAL OBLIGATION OF HUMAN NATURE. "I remember the days of old." Every man should voluntarily and religiously do this with the past of his life. He should not allow the past to come up to him merely involuntarily, and thus become its victim. He should deal with it so as to make it serve the true interests of his spiritual being. He should make the past —

1. Promote evangelical sorrow within him. The memory of the past must sadden all souls.

2. Promote thanksgiving to God within him. What impressions will the past give man of God's forbearance — God's guidance — God's guardianship — God's ever-flowing goodness!

3. Promote an invincible purpose to improve. The memory of past disappointments should warn us against extravagant hopes. The memory of abused mercies should lead us to a greater appreciation of our present blessings. The memory of lost years should lead us to turn every hour of the present to a right spiritual account.

(Homilist.)

: —

I. THE PAST ENABLES US TO KNOW OURSELVES.

1. We have embodied our character.

2. We have reacted on and moulded them.

3. Hence the past shows what we are.

II. THE PAST IS FITTED TO SUGGEST RULES FOR THE GUIDANCE OF THE FUTURE CONDUCT.

1. It has brought to light our tendencies.

2. It has shown what is dangerous in our circumstances.

3. It has revealed the temptations before which we are in danger of falling.

III. A CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL PREPARE US FOR THE EXERCISE OF CONFESSION, AND WILL SHUT US UP TO CHRIST.

1. Confession should be minute — history portrayed.

2. This requires a knowledge of the past.

3. A sight of our sin drives to Christ.

4. For this sight we must turn to the past.

IV. THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL DISPOSE US TO THANKSGIVING, AND WILL FURNISH US WITH MATERIALS FOR PRAISE.

1. Thanksgiving is difficult, and is neglected.

2. It should be minute, ranging from, etc.

3. It should involve lively and strong feeling.

4. The knowledge and the deep feeling are dependent on, etc. — Individuals.

V. THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL STIMULATE US TO REDEEM THE TIME.

1. The whole life of man is short.

2. How much shorter has it become to us!

3. Had it been spent aright, its increased shortness would not be a matter of regret.

4. But only look back!

VI. THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL PRODUCE DEEP AND SOLEMN IMPRESSIONS OF THE FRAILTY OF MAN.

1. Look back to your childhood.

2. Where are the companions of your youth? Stages marked by grave-stones — mourner — stranger on earth.

VII. THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL SHOW THE UTTER FOLLY OF DEPENDING ON THE THINGS OF THE WORLD FOR SUPPORT AND ENJOYMENT.

1. Ungodliness is an attempt to dispense with God and still be happy.

2. Each man makes the experiment.

3. You have made it.

4. What is the result? A failure!

VIII. A CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL CONFIRM THE BELIEVER IN THE CHOICE HE HAS MADE.

1. The most important part of a believer's life is that which follows his conversion.

2. In reviewing it —

(1)You see the temporal consequences of your act.

(2)You see the spiritual consequences.

IX. THE PAST WILL SHOW TO THE UNGODLY HIS ETERNITY.

1. Alas! the sinner is not qualified to see his eternity in his time.

X. THE PAST SHOWS TO THE BELIEVER THE COMPARATIVE MEASURE IN WHICH HE SHALL REAP HEREAFTER. Between the believer's present conduct and future glory —

1. There is no connection of merit.

2. But there is a connection of congruity or fitness.

(Jas. Stewart.)

: —

1. Reflection signifies to think again on what we have already thought, already conceived, to think on it more circumstantially, more steadily, more expressly, and to do this on set purpose and with consciousness in the design of dwelling longer on these thoughts, in order to dissect and analyze them, to obtain a clearer conception of the matter to which they relate, to study them in their several parts, in their principles and consequences, to compare them with others, to observe their analogies to us and to other objects, and thence to draw conclusions in regard to our conduct or to our happiness.

2. It also signifies, by the repeated representation and consideration of what we have already conceived and know, to endeavour to discover or to understand other things which we either do not yet know, or whereof we have only a dark and confused idea, or in regard to which we are still uncertain, whether they be true or false, thus or otherwise constituted.

3. Reflection has commonly in view the examination of some or all of the following questions: What is the object and the nature of it? What results from thence? Is it true and certain, and why is it so? What relations does it bear to me and my happiness? How should I act towards it? In other words, by reflection and consideration we endeavour to render our conceptions and ideas of objects more clear, more complete, more certain, more interesting and useful to us.

4. The reflecting man endeavours to render the objects, the doctrines whereon he reflects more profitable to him by applying them to his conduct, by deducing from them such principles and rules as may regulate him for the rest of his life. Thus he learns real, practical wisdom, and without that all human reflection is of no great value.

(G. J. Zollikofer, D. D.)

I muse on the work of Thy hands.
: — I heard of a good man who went down the Rhine, but took care to read a book all the way, for fear he should have his mind taken off from heavenly topics by the beauties of Nature. I confess I do not understand such a spirit — I do not want to do so. If I go into an artist's house I do that artist a displeasure if I take no notice of his works under the pretext that I am quite absorbed in himself. Why not enjoy the objects in which our heavenly Father has set forth His wisdom and power? Delight yourself in all your heavenly Father's handiwork, and make it to be a ladder by which you climb to Himself.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

: — The same thing will appeal differently to different people according to capacity, sensibility, experience. One may look on a flower with the eye of a florist, another of a market gardener, another of a botanist, another of an artist. William Blake saw angels amid the swaying corn or nestling in a tree. A scene which is dull and uninteresting to the listless eye may be transformed by a touch of creative and interpretative imagination; as James Swetham says, "Gerhard Dew threw a glory over our very pickled cabbage." Culture and restraint.

(Hugh Black.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Acts, Ago, Consider, Contemplate, Doings, Early, Giving, Hands, Hast, Meditate, Meditated, Mind, Muse, Past, Remember, Remembered, Works, Wrought
Outline
1. David prays for favor in judgment
3. He complains of his grief
5. He strengthens his faith by meditation and prayer
7. He prays for grace
9. For deliverance
10. For sanctification
12. For destruction of his enemies

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 143:5

     1265   hand of God
     4963   past, the
     5191   thought
     5831   depression
     8166   theology
     8662   meditation
     8724   doubt, dealing with

Psalm 143:5-6

     6746   sanctification, means and results
     8164   spirituality

Library
The Prayer of Prayers
'Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God! Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.'--PSALM cxliii. 10. These two clauses mean substantially the same thing. The Psalmist's longings are expressed in the first of them in plain words, and in the second in a figure. 'To do God's will' is to be in 'the land of uprightness.' That phrase, in its literal application, means a stretch of level country, and hence is naturally employed as an emblem of a moral or religious condition. A life
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Third Rule to be Added Is: that He who Comes into the Presence Of...
The third rule to be added is: that he who comes into the presence of God to pray must divest himself of all vainglorious thoughts, lay aside all idea of worth; in short, discard all self-confidence, humbly giving God the whole glory, lest by arrogating anything, however little, to himself, vain pride cause him to turn away his face. Of this submission, which casts down all haughtiness, we have numerous examples in the servants of God. The holier they are, the more humbly they prostrate themselves
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

Earnest Supplication, under Trials of Faith. --Ps. cxliii.
Earnest Supplication, under Trials of Faith.--Ps. cxliii. Hear me, O Lord! in my distress, Hear me in truth and righteousness; For, at Thy bar of judgment tried, None living can be justified. Lord! I have foes without, within, The world, the flesh, indwelling sin, Life's daily ills, temptation's power, And Satan roaring to devour. These, these, my fainting soul surround, My strength is smitten to the ground; Like those long dead, beneath their weight, Crush'd is my heart, and desolate. Yet in
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Tell Me, O Thou whom My Soul Loveth, Where Thou Feedest, Where Thou Reposest at Midday, Lest I Should Begin to Wander after the Flocks of Thy Companions.
O Thou whom my soul loveth! exclaims this poor affianced one, thus obliged to leave the sweet employment within, to be engaged about external matters of the lowest description; O Thou, whom I love so much the more as I find my love more thwarted; ah, show me where Thou feedest Thy flocks, and with what food Thou satisfiest the souls that are so blessed as to be under Thy care! We know that when Thou wert upon earth, Thy meat and drink was to do the will of Thy Father (John iv. 34), and now Thy meat
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

The Law Given, not to Retain a People for Itself, but to Keep Alive the Hope of Salvation in Christ Until his Advent.
1. The whole system of religion delivered by the hand of Moses, in many ways pointed to Christ. This exemplified in the case of sacrifices, ablutions, and an endless series of ceremonies. This proved, 1. By the declared purpose of God; 2. By the nature of the ceremonies themselves; 3. From the nature of God; 4. From the grace offered to the Jews; 5. From the consecration of the priests. 2. Proof continued. 6. From a consideration of the kingdom erected in the family of David. 7. From the end of the
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Tests of Love to God
LET us test ourselves impartially whether we are in the number of those that love God. For the deciding of this, as our love will be best seen by the fruits of it, I shall lay down fourteen signs, or fruits, of love to God, and it concerns us to search carefully whether any of these fruits grow in our garden. 1. The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Of Having Confidence in God when Evil Words are Cast at Us
"My Son, stand fast and believe in Me. For what are words but words? They fly through the air, but they bruise no stone. If thou are guilty, think how thou wouldst gladly amend thyself; if thou knowest nothing against thyself, consider that thou wilt gladly bear this for God's sake. It is little enough that thou sometimes hast to bear hard words, for thou art not yet able to bear hard blows. And wherefore do such trivial matters go to thine heart, except that thou art yet carnal, and regardest
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Concerning the Sacrament of Penance
In this third part I shall speak of the sacrament of penance. By the tracts and disputations which I have published on this subject I have given offence to very many, and have amply expressed my own opinions. I must now briefly repeat these statements, in order to unveil the tyranny which attacks us on this point as unsparingly as in the sacrament of the bread. In these two sacraments gain and lucre find a place, and therefore the avarice of the shepherds has raged to an incredible extent against
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He Associates with Malchus
[Sidenote: 1095.] 1. Our Malachy, born in Ireland,[134] of a barbarous people, was brought up there, and there received his education. But from the barbarism of his birth he contracted no taint, any more than the fishes of the sea from their native salt. But how delightful to reflect, that uncultured barbarism should have produced for us so worthy[135] a fellow-citizen with the saints and member of the household of God.[136] He who brings honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock[137]
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Man after God's Own Heart
"A man after mine own heart, who shall fulfil all my will."--ACTS xiii. 22. A BIBLE STUDY ON THE IDEAL OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE No man can be making much of his life who has not a very definite conception of what he is living for. And if you ask, at random, a dozen men what is the end of their life, you will be surprised to find how few have formed to themselves more than the most dim idea. The question of the summum bonum has ever been the most difficult for the human mind to grasp. What shall a man
Henry Drummond—The Ideal Life

Its Meaning
Deliverance from the condemning sentence of the Divine Law is the fundamental blessing in Divine salvation: so long as we continue under the curse, we can neither be holy nor happy. But as to the precise nature of that deliverance, as to exactly what it consists of, as to the ground on which it is obtained, and as to the means whereby it is secured, much confusion now obtains. Most of the errors which have been prevalent on this subject arose from the lack of a clear view of the thing itself, and
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification

Of Prayer --A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It.
1. A general summary of what is contained in the previous part of the work. A transition to the doctrine of prayer. Its connection with the subject of faith. 2. Prayer defined. Its necessity and use. 3. Objection, that prayer seems useless, because God already knows our wants. Answer, from the institution and end of prayer. Confirmation by example. Its necessity and propriety. Perpetually reminds us of our duty, and leads to meditation on divine providence. Conclusion. Prayer a most useful exercise.
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished;
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

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

The Beginning of Justification. In what Sense Progressive.
1. Men either idolatrous, profane, hypocritical, or regenerate. 1. Idolaters void of righteousness, full of unrighteousness, and hence in the sight of God altogether wretched and undone. 2. Still a great difference in the characters of men. This difference manifested. 1. In the gifts of God. 2. In the distinction between honorable and base. 3. In the blessings of he present life. 3. All human virtue, how praiseworthy soever it may appear, is corrupted. 1. By impurity of heart. 2. By the absence of
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Second Great Group of Parables.
(Probably in Peræa.) Subdivision G. Concerning Offenses, Faith, and Service. ^C Luke XVII. 1-10. ^c 1 And he said unto the disciples [Jesus here ceases to speak to the Pharisees, and begins a new series of sayings addressed to the disciples, which sayings are, however, pertinent to the occasion, and not wholly disconnected with what he has just been saying], It is impossible [in a world where Pharisees abound, etc.--I. Cor. xi. 19] but that occasions of stumbling should come; but woe unto him,
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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