Bible Study from September 12th, 2020

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God’s word is a treasure worth laying up, and there is no laying it up safely but in our hearts; if we have it only in our houses and hands, enemies may take it from us; if only in our heads, our memories may fail us: but if our hearts be delivered into the mould of it, and the impressions of it remain on our souls, it is safe.

He will have them always in his eye: I will have respect unto thy ways, as the traveller has to his road, which he is in care not to miss and always aims and endeavours to hit. We do not meditate on God’s precepts to good purpose unless we have respect to them as our rule and our good thoughts produce good works and good intentions in them. He will take a constant pleasure in communion with God and obedience to him. It is not for a season that he rejoices in this light, but “I will still, I will for ever, delight myself in thy statutes, not only think of them, but do them with delight,” David took more delight in God’s statutes than in the pleasures of his court or the honours of his camp, more than in his sword or in his harp. When the law is written in the heart duty becomes a delight.

— from Matthew Henry Bible Commentary, by Matthew Henry

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Matthew Henry referred to these verses as “breathings and elevations of [David’s] soul to God, which he wrote down as they occurred,…it is a chest of gold rings, not a chain of gold links….which are an excellent means of maintaining constant communion with God.

— “Psalms 119” from Matthew Henry Bible Commentary, by Matthew Henry

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Eight Words to Describe God’s Word in Psalm 119:
Law: God’s instruction for His people.
Word: God’s general revelation to us as well as his specific commands and promises as revealed in his written Word.
Testimonies: God’s ways written down as a witness and represents the covenant requirements, his guidelines and plans for his chosen people.
Ways: How God wants the journey of our lives to be lived.
Precepts: God’s order, the way He has made life to work. The law or ordinance that will bring a blessing if followed.
Statutes: The law or ordinance that will bring a blessing if followed.
Commandments: Actions God wants us to do.
Rules: What is the just and the right thing to do.

One of these eight words is used in almost every verse of Psalm 119. God’s Word brings blessings, wisdom, and understanding. His Word reveals His heart towards us. We can begin to see from God’s perspective – how He made life to work so that we can live lives that are blessed and full of meaning.

Download Psalm 119 Definitions shared at Bible Study.

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“Luther professed that he prized this Psalm so highly, that he would not take the whole world in exchange for one leaf of it.” (Charles Bridges)

— from 50 Facts and Links for Psalm 119

Matthew Henry – the great 18th century Bible commentator – was introduced to Psalm 119 as a child. His father, Philip Henry, told his children to take one verse of Psalm 119 every morning to meditate on, and thereby go through the entire psalm twice in the year. Philip said to his children, “That will bring you to be in love with all the rest of the Scriptures.” Perhaps that practice was why Matthew Henry loved the Bible so much that he wrote commentary that is used still today.

— from 50 Facts and Links for Psalm 119

George Wishart was the Bishop of Edinburgh in the 17th century (not to be confused with another Scot by the same name who was martyred a century earlier). Wishart was condemned to death for his faith. But when he was on the scaffold, he made use of a custom that allowed the condemned person to choose one psalm to be sung, and he chose Psalm 119. Before two-thirds of the psalm had been sung, his pardon arrived and his life was spared.

— from 50 Facts and Links for Psalm 119

William Wilberforce, a politician in unrestful times similar today was able to recite it on the way to Parliament and he was a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. This is proof this word of God can be read and brought forth to help the world.

— from 50 Facts and Links for Psalm 119

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First thing in the morning, “before your feet hit the floor”:

God is Mind. God is my mind. God is the only pure Mind.

God is Life. God is my life. God is the only Life.

— Plainfield Roundtable

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“The Daily Work at Pleasant View” — Mary Baker Eddy, Her Spiritual Footsteps, Chapter 21, by Gilbert Carpenter

Links — Watching by Various Authors

I am a stranger, and therefore stand in need of a guide, a guard, a companion, a comforter; let me have thy commandments always in view, for they will be all this to me, all that a poor stranger can desire.

— from Matthew Henry Bible Commentary, by Matthew Henry

Prevent: To go before; to precede.
I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried. Psalms 119: 148.

— From 1828 Webster’s Dictionary

“Hear, O Israel, for the Lord, our God, is one God.”
You are not to come in your own name to pray.
You are not to control any mind.
You are to come only in the divine strength, and know that God will rule and does, and that hypnotism and evil minds cannot, and do not, control men or governments.
All power is God, good.
This is my only formula to Christian Scientists for prayer, and God will give you faith that will remove mountains.

from Watches, Prayers, and Arguments, as given by Mary Baker Eddy, page 49

He would rise at midnight to give thanks to God. Great and good thoughts kept him awake, and refreshed him, instead of sleep; and so zealous was he for the honour of God that when others were in their beds he was upon his knees at his devotions. He did not affect to be seen of men in it, but gave thanks in secret, where our heavenly Father sees.

— from Matthew Henry Bible Commentary, by Matthew Henry

God will give needed rest.

— from Bible Study

Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power.

— Citation 13 from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 192

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