Showing posts with label confidence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confidence. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Even He alone

From Charles Spurgeon's notes on Psalm 124: 8, in The Treasury of David.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, our hope for the future, our ground of confidence in all trials present and to come is in the name of the Lord. Jehovah's revealed character is our foundation of confidence, his person is our sure fountain of strength. Who made heaven and earth. Our Creator is our preserver. He is immensely great in his creating work; he has not fashioned a few little things alone, but all heaven and the whole round earth are the works of his hands. When we worship the Creator let us increase our trust in our Comforter. Did he create all that we see, and can he not preserve us from evils which we cannot see? Blessed be his name, he that has fashioned us will watch over us; yea, he has done so, and rendered us help in the moment of jeopardy. He is our help and our shield, even he alone. He will to the end break every snare. He made heaven for us, and he will keep us for heaven; he made the earth, and he will succour us right until the hour comes for our departure. Every work of his hand preaches to us the duty and the delight of reposing upon him only. All nature cries, "Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength." "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

Friday, January 03, 2014

Confidence



Psalm 119: 167 - My soul keeps your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly
Let not our consciousness of daily failures make us shrink from this strong expression of confidence. It is alleged as an evidence of grace, not as a claim of merit, and therefore the most humble believer need not hesitate to adopt it as the expression of Christian sincerity before God. David aspired to no higher character than that of a poor sinner: but he was conscious of spirituality of obedience, "exceeding love" to the divine word, and an habitual walk under the eye of his God— the evidences of a heart (often mentioned in the Old Testament) "perfect with him." 

Charles Bridges, quoted in Charles Spurgeon's The Treasury of David. 

Bridges (1794-1869)was a preacher and theologian in the Church of England, and a leader of that denomination's Evangelical Party. As a preacher he was well regarded by his contemporaries, but is remembered today for his literary contributions. He also wrote an exposition on Psalm 119, when he was only 33. The book went through twenty-four editions before his death, is still available and is somewhat shorter - at 534 pages - than Spurgeon's massive tome. 

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Reproach and contempt

From the additional notes to Charles Spurgeon's The Treasury of David, on Psalm 119, verse 22: Remove from me reproach and contempt for I have kept your testimonies.
The points from hence are many.
1. It is no strange thing that they which keep God's testimonies should be slandered and reproached.
2. As it is the usual lot of God's people to be reproached; so it is very grievous to them, and heavy to bear.
3. It being grievous, we may lawfully seek the removal of it. So doth David, and so may we, with submission to God's will.
4. In removal of it, it is best to deal with God about it; for God is the great witness of our sincerity, as knowing all things, and so to be appealed to in the case. Again, God is the most powerful asserter of our innocency; he hath the hearts and tongues of men in his own hands, and can either prevent the slanderer from uttering reproach, or the hearer from the entertainment of the reproach. He that hath such power over the consciences of men can clear up our innocency; therefore it is best to deal with God about it; and prayer many times proves a better vindication than an apology.
5. In seeking relief with God from this evil, it is a great comfort and ground of confidence when we are innocent of what is charged. In some cases we must humble ourselves, and then God will take care for our credit; we must plead guilty when, by our own fault, we have given occasion to the slanders of the wicked: so, "Turn away my reproach, which I fear: for thy judgments are good" (Psalms 119:39). "My reproach, "for it was in part deserved by himself, and therefore he feared the sad consequences of it, and humbled himself before God. But at other times we may stand upon our integrity, as David saith here: "Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good." Thomas Manton.