681 To the chief Musician. Of David. A Psalm: a Song. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, and let them that hate him flee before him. 2 As smoke is driven, thou wilt drive them away; as wax melteth before the fire, the wicked shall perish at the presence of God. 3 But the righteous shall rejoice: they shall exult before God and be glad with joy. 4 Sing unto God, sing forth his name; cast up a way for him that rideth in the deserts: his name is Jah; and rejoice before him. 5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. 6 God maketh the solitary into families; those that were bound he bringeth out into prosperity: but the rebellious dwell in a parched [land].
7 O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness—(Selah)— 8 The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God, yon Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9 Thou, O God, didst pour a plentiful rain upon thine inheritance, and when it was weary thou strengthenedst it. 10 Thy flock hath dwelt therein: thou hast prepared in thy goodness, for the afflicted, O God! 11 The Lord gives the word: great the host of the publishers. 12 Kings of armies flee; they flee, and she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil. 13 Though ye have lain among the sheepfolds, [ye shall be as] wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with green gold. 14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it became snow-white as Zalmon.
15 [As] mount Bashan is the mount of God, a many-peaked mountain, [as] mount Bashan. 16 Why do ye look with envy, ye many-peaked mountains, upon the mount that God hath desired for his abode? yea, Jehovah will dwell [there] for ever. 17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them: it is a Sinai in holiness. 18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts in Man, and even [for] the rebellious, for the dwelling [there] of Jah Elohim. 19 Blessed be the Lord: day by day doth he load us [with good], the God who is our salvation. Selah. 20 Our God is the God of salvation; and with Jehovah, the Lord, are the goings forth [even] from death. 21 Verily God will smite the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of him that goeth on still in his trespasses.
22 The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring [them] again from the depth of the sea; 23 That thou mayest dip thy foot in blood: the tongue of thy dogs has its portion from enemies. 24 They have seen thy goings, O God, the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. 25 The singers went before, the players on stringed instruments after, in the midst of maidens playing on tabrets. 26 In the congregations bless ye God, the Lord,—[ye] from the fountain of Israel. 27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler; the princes of Judah, their company; the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. 28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. 29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. 30 Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the assembly of the strong, with the calves of the peoples: [every one] submitteth himself with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples that delight in war. 31 Great ones shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall quickly stretch out her hands unto God.
32 Ye kingdoms of the earth, sing unto God; sing psalms of the Lord, (Selah,) 33 Of him that rideth upon the heavens, the heavens which are of old: lo, he uttereth his voice, a mighty voice. 34 Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. 35 Terrible art thou, O God, out of thy sanctuaries,—the God of Israel! He it is that giveth strength and might unto the people. Blessed be God!
691 To the chief Musician. Upon Shoshannim. [A Psalm] of David. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto [my] soul. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I am come into the depths of waters, and the flood overfloweth me. 3 I am weary with my crying, my throat is parched; mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. 5 Thou, O God, knowest my foolishness, and my trespasses are not hidden from thee. 6 Let not them that wait on thee, Lord, Jehovah of hosts, be ashamed through me; let not those that seek thee be confounded through me, O God of Israel. 7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; confusion hath covered my face. 8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's sons; 9 For the zeal of thy house hath devoured me, and the reproaches of them that reproach thee have fallen upon me. 10 And I wept, my soul was fasting: that also was to my reproach;— 11 And I made sackcloth my garment: then I became a proverb to them. 12 They that sit in the gate talk of me, and [I am] the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, Jehovah, in an acceptable time: O God, in the abundance of thy loving-kindness answer me, according to the truth of thy salvation: 14 Deliver me out of the mire, let me not sink; let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the depths of waters. 15 Let not the flood of waters overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth upon me. 16 Answer me, O Jehovah; for thy loving-kindness is good: according to the abundance of thy tender mercies, turn toward me; 17 And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble: answer me speedily. 18 Draw nigh unto my soul, be its redeemer; ransom me because of mine enemies. 19 Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20 Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am overwhelmed: and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21 Yea, they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them, and their very welfare a trap; 23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake. 24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let the fierceness of thine anger take hold of them. 25 Let their habitation be desolate; let there be no dweller in their tents. 26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk for the sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded. 27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness. 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous. 29 But I am afflicted and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me secure on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving; 31 And it shall please Jehovah more than an ox,—a bullock with horns and cloven hoofs. 32 The meek shall see it, they shall be glad; ye that seek God, your heart shall live. 33 For Jehovah heareth the needy, and despiseth not his prisoners. 34 Let heavens and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moveth therein. 35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; and they shall dwell there, and possess it: 36 And the seed of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
81 [There is] then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit. 5 For they that are according to flesh mind the things of the flesh; and they that are according to Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind of the flesh [is] death; but the mind of the Spirit life and peace. 7 Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God; for neither indeed can it be: 8 and they that are in flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwell in you; but if any one has not [the] Spirit of Christ he is not of him:
10 but if Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit life on account of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that has raised up Jesus from among [the] dead dwell in you, he that has raised up Christ from among [the] dead shall quicken your mortal bodies also on account of his Spirit which dwells in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to flesh; 13 for if ye live according to flesh, ye are about to die; but if, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live: 14 for as many as are led by [the] Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For ye have not received a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God.
17 And if children, heirs also: heirs of God, and Christ's joint heirs; if indeed we suffer with [him], that we may also be glorified with [him]. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy [to be compared] with the coming glory to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious looking out of the creature expects the revelation of the sons of God: 20 for the creature has been made subject to vanity, not of its will, but by reason of him who has subjected [the same], in hope 21 that the creature itself also shall be set free from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
(Read Romans 8:1-9)
Believers may be chastened of the Lord, but will not be condemned with the world. By their union with Christ through faith, they are thus secured. What is the principle of their walk; the flesh or the Spirit, the old or the new nature, corruption or grace? For which of these do we make provision, by which are we governed? The unrenewed will is unable to keep any commandment fully. And the law, besides outward duties, requires inward obedience. God showed abhorrence of sin by the sufferings of his Son in the flesh, that the believer's person might be pardoned and justified. Thus satisfaction was made to Divine justice, and the way of salvation opened for the sinner. By the Spirit the law of love is written upon the heart, and though the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled by us, yet, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us; there is that in all true believers, which answers the intention of the law. The favour of God, the welfare of the soul, the concerns of eternity, are the things of the Spirit, which those that are after the Spirit do mind. Which way do our thoughts move with most pleasure? Which way go our plans and contrivances? Are we most wise for the world, or for our souls? Those that live in pleasure are dead, 1 Timothy 5:6. A sanctified soul is a living soul; and that life is peace. The carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself. The carnal man may, by the power of Divine grace, be made subject to the law of God, but the carnal mind never can; that must be broken and driven out. We may know our real state and character by inquiring whether we have the Spirit of God and Christ, or not, ver. 9. Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Having the Spirit of Christ, means having a turn of mind in some degree like the mind that was in Christ Jesus, and is to be shown by a life and conversation suitable to his precepts and example.
(Read Romans 8:10-17)
If the Spirit be in us, Christ is in us. He dwells in the heart by faith. Grace in the soul is its new nature; the soul is alive to God, and has begun its holy happiness which shall endure for ever. The righteousness of Christ imputed, secures the soul, the better part, from death. From hence we see how much it is our duty to walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. If any habitually live according to corrupt lustings, they will certainly perish in their sins, whatever they profess. And what can a worldly life present, worthy for a moment to be put against this noble prize of our high calling? Let us then, by the Spirit, endeavour more and more to mortify the flesh. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit brings a new and Divine life to the soul, though in a feeble state. And the sons of God have the Spirit to work in them the disposition of children; they have not the spirit of bondage, which the Old Testament church was under, through the darkness of that dispensation. The Spirit of adoption was not then plentifully poured out. Also it refers to that spirit of bondage, under which many saints were at their conversion. Many speak peace to themselves, to whom God does not speak peace. But those who are sanctified, have God's Spirit witnessing with their spirits, in and by his speaking peace to the soul. Though we may now seem to be losers for Christ, we shall not, we cannot, be losers by him in the end.
(Read Romans 8:18-25)
The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and but for a moment. How vastly different are the sentence of the word and the sentiment of the world, concerning the sufferings of this present time! Indeed the whole creation seems to wait with earnest expectation for the period when the children of God shall be manifested in the glory prepared for them. There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, which has come upon the creature by the fall of man. There is an enmity of one creature to another. And they are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments of sin. Yet this deplorable state of the creation is in hope. God will deliver it from thus being held in bondage to man's depravity. The miseries of the human race, through their own and each other's wickedness, declare that the world is not always to continue as it is. Our having received the first-fruits of the Spirit, quickens our desires, encourages our hopes, and raises our expectations. Sin has been, and is, the guilty cause of all the suffering that exists in the creation of God. It has brought on the woes of earth; it has kindled the flames of hell. As to man, not a tear has been shed, not a groan has been uttered, not a pang has been felt, in body or mind, that has not come from sin. This is not all; sin is to be looked at as it affects the glory of God. Of this how fearfully regardless are the bulk of mankind! Believers have been brought into a state of safety; but their comfort consists rather in hope than in enjoyment. From this hope they cannot be turned by the vain expectation of finding satisfaction in the things of time and sense. We need patience, our way is rough and long; but He that shall come, will come, though he seems to tarry.
