Psalm 119:97 O how I love your law! it is my meditation all the day. I. ITS AUTHORSHIP. It is the Word of God: its contents were dictated by eternal wisdom; its laws are the laws of heaven; its teachings are the teachings of Jehovah. It is an embodiment of the eternal mind God has adopted every method for instructing man. When teaching us about Himself, His milder character is painted in a thousand hues, delightfully blended. Instead of employing a pen, He ordered the sun to photograph His lovelier attributes upon the landscape; while His majesty stands out in bold relief in mountains whose snow-capped heads, towering in haughty grandeur, appear to prop up with their broad based pillar-like support, the spacious firmament. But His mind, in reference to man, is conveyed in the language of men, by inbreathing His thoughts and intentions into the minds of the sacred penmen, and then, by His Spirit's infallible unerringness, guiding the hand to write them. When James I. wrote a book for the edification of his son Charles, it was pompously called by that high-sounding title, "Basilikon Doron" — a royal gift. How much more may the Bible be called "A royal gift," since its Author is the King of kings — compared with whose kingliness the greatest and brightest of earthly crowns no more resembles royalty than a crown of thorns does one sparkling with diamonds! Not only is this Book a royal, but a parental, gift-the gift of our heavenly Father: a Book dedicated to, and designed for, the eternal benefit of His children. Yes, it is our Father's legacy to us. II. ITS CONTENTS. The very first sentence of Scripture dispels a dark cloud of ignorance, which for ages enveloped the most learned and far-seeing sages of the Grecian schools. Even to that great emporium of learning, Athens, the world's origin was enchambered, locked up in some dark, mysterious recess, to which she herself could find no key. But in the very first sentence of the Bible we see the Omnipotent Jehovah emerging from the still quiet of eternal solitude, speaking His creative fiat, and a world is born. Not only do we learn our origin, but our destiny. This was one of the most perplexing enigmas which the ancients tried — but tried in vain — to solve. A dense mist hung heavily over the boundaries of the spirit world, which no optic glass of man's device could penetrate. The wisest and best of heathen philosophers could not follow man beyond the horizon of death. III. ITS STYLE. Here one finds the most majestic imagery, the sublimest figures, and the noblest strains of eloquence. Here is found poetry unparalleled for grandeur, pathos, and fire. "No songs," says Milton, "are like the songs of Zion." Here, in touching, melting passionateness, we are told the most affecting narratives; and here are pictures true to the very life, pencilled from the old world scenery. And though the book is comparatively small, what biographical encyclopaedia ever contained so much useful history? IV. ITS POWER. V. ITS SUITABILITY FOR OUR NEEDS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. It is the guide of youth and the staff of old age. No other lamp sheds such a bright, cheering radiance, as this does, to relieve the gloom in the chamber of sickness. It is a garden of healing balm for the wounded spirit; and to those who are tempest-tossed it affords many a peaceful haven to take refuge in. And then, this is the only book which contains light enough to guide us through the valley of the shadow of death. Shining brightest in the dark, it is then more than ever a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. (G. Terry.) Parallel Verses KJV: MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. |
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