Matthew Henry - thoughts on Psalm 37

I have taken great encouragement and joy recently in reading Matthew Henry's commentary on a host of different passages. It is available entirely online for free, just Google Matthew Henry. He has a pure and devout way of explaining scripture. This is an excerpt from his meditation on Psalm 37. If you can wade through some of the older English language, it is worth reading.

I love the perspective in the psalm, which Henry points out well - the righteous can take great joy in their eternal destiny, and see temporal blessings and luxuries for what they are, especially those gained by the wicked, through wicked measure. Yet I fear that, as Hank Hanegraaff is fond of saying, "we as a church have become microcosms of the culture, rather than change agents in the culture." That is, for some of us, we value, desire, and pursue all of the same things as those that have no hope, those that don't know God. This should not be.

Its a bit of a long entry for us modern people with short attention spans, but then, its my blog. So I can do what I want.

Enjoy.

Now, 1. When we look abroad we see the world full of evil-doers and workers of iniquity, that flourish and prosper, that have what they will and do what they will, that live in ease and pomp themselves and have power in their hands to do mischief to those about them. So it was in David’s time; and therefore, if it is so still, let us not marvel at the matter, as though it were some new or strange thing. 2. When we look within we find ourselves tempted to fret at this, and to be envious against these scandals and burdens, these blemishes and common nuisances, of this earth. We are apt to fret at God, as if he were unkind to the world and unkind to his church in permitting such men to live, and prosper, and prevail, as they do. We are apt to fret ourselves with vexation at their success in their evil projects. We are apt to envy them the liberty they take in getting wealth, and perhaps by unlawful means, and in the indulgence of their lusts, and to wish that we could shake off the restraints of conscience and do so too. We are tempted to think them the only happy people, and to incline to imitate them, and to join ourselves with them, that we may share in their gains and eat of their dainties; and this is that which we are warned against: Fret not thyself, neither be thou envious. Fretfulness and envy are sins that are their own punishments; they are the uneasiness of the spirit and the rottenness of the bones; it is therefore in kindness to ourselves that we are warned against them. Yet that is not all; for, 3. When we look forward with an eye of faith we shall see no reason to envy wicked people their prosperity, for their ruin is at the door and they are ripening apace for it, v. 2. They flourish, but as the grass, and as the green herb, which nobody envies nor frets at. The flourishing of a godly man is like that of a fruitful tree (Ps. 1:3), but that of the wicked man is like grass and herbs, which are very short-lived. (1.) They will soon wither of themselves. Outward prosperity is a fading thing, and so is the life itself to which it is confined. (2.) They will sooner be cut down by the judgments of God. Their triumphing is short, but their weeping and wailing will be everlasting.II. We are here counselled to live a life on confidence and complacency in God, and that will keep us from fretting at the prosperity of evil-doers; if we do well for our own souls, we shall see little reason to envy those that do so ill for theirs. Here are three excellent precepts, which we are to be ruled by, and, to enforce them, three precious promises, which we may rely upon.1. We must make God our hope in the way of duty and then we shall have a comfortable subsistence in this world, v. 3. (1.) It is required that we trust in the Lord and do good, that we confide in God and conform to him. The life of religion lies much in a believing reliance on God, his favour, his providence, his promise, his grace, and a diligent care to serve him and our generation, according to his will. We must not think to trust in God and then live as we list. No; it is not trusting God, but tempting him, if we do not make conscience of our duty to him. Nor must we think to do good, and then to trust to ourselves, and our own righteousness and strength. No; we must both trust in the Lord and do good. And then, (2.) It is promised that we shall be well provided for in this world: So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. He does not say, "So shalt thou get preferment, dwell in a palace, and be feasted.’’ This is not necessary; a man’s life consists not in the abundance of these things; but, "Thou shalt have a place to live in, and that in the land, in Canaan, the valley of vision, and thou shalt have food convenient for thee.’’ This is more than we deserve; it is as much as a good man will stipulate for (Gen. 28:20) and it is enough for one that is going to heaven. "Thou shalt have a settlement, a quiet settlement, and a maintenance, a comfortable maintenance: Verily thou shalt be fed.’’ Some read it, Thou shalt be fed by faith, as the just are said to live by faith, and it is good living, good feeding, upon the promises. "Verily thou shalt be fed, as Elijah in the famine, with what is needful for thee.’’ God himself is a shepherd, a feeder, to all those that trust in him, Ps. 23:1.2. We must make God our heart’s delight and then we shall have our heart’s desire, v. 4. We must not only depend upon God, but solace ourselves in him. We must be well pleased that there is a God, that he is such a one as he has revealed himself to be, and that he is our God in covenant. We must delight ourselves in his beauty, bounty, and benignity; our souls must return to him, and repose in him, as their rest, and their portion for ever. Being satisfied of his loving-kindness, we must be satisfied with it, and make that our exceeding joy, Ps. 43:4. We were commanded (v. 3) to do good, and then follows this command to delight in God, which is as much a privilege as a duty. If we make conscience of obedience to God, we may then take the comfort of a complacency in him. And even this pleasant duty of delighting in God has a promise annexed to it, which is very full and precious, enough to recompense the hardest services: He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humours of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.3. We must make God our guide, and submit in every thing to his guidance and disposal; and then all our affairs, even those that seem most intricate and perplexed, shall be made to issue well and to our satisfaction.

Conscience - 1

Conscience: "the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action" - Dictionary.com

I have thought about it alot in the past months and years. I have undertaken a journey to know God, to know truth, and to align my life with it. One of the most astounding experiences I have had spiritually is a gradual but steady change in my conscience. I feel differently about my choices, the words I use, the movies I watch, than I did a year ago. Or two. The Bible often uses the word "convicted", which is a word which relates to our conscience. The things I feel conviction about are changing. That is, I feel conviction about deeper things, the state of my heart, my thoughts, and so forth.

Peace of the spirit is certainly to be desired in making decisions, trying to discern God's will. It is sometimes all we have to go on. We come to come to a crossroads, and there seems to be no discernable direction. It is then we covet the peace of God about the decision we make.

The idea, though, that our behavior in a certain area of our life does not bother our conscience, and therfore it is ok - such a conclusion isn't reliable. We will inevitably have peace about whatever we're used to, about the level of degradation to which we've become accustomed. This changes according to how much we are open to God, and whether or not we are desire Him to prune our lives, to cut out the parts that are diseased. The point is this: someone can have "peace" about divorcing their wife. I would contend that this would be an indication not of the positive moral quality of the decision or of God's blessing, but of spiritual darkness.

The truth about the human heart is that it changes according to our decisions and what we subject ourselves to. The conscience, our inner moral compass, is maliable, it is organic. We talk about "cold blooded murderers" and thank God we aren't one of them. But our hearts are made of the same stuff as theirs. Any person who pushes God away long enough, and chooses to live by the dictates of their own will inevitably experiences the hardening and the deadening of their conscience.

The term that perhaps most accurately describes us as a culture is "desensitized". I don't think any examples are necessary. The increasing moral desensitivity is obvious. The term I hope might characterize my walk with God is "resensitized". I hope that as I begin to understand more who God is, my heart would respond and continue to change. I want "a heart of flesh".

People

There is no way to get through this life without pain. Of course we all know that. But I think sometimes I believe if I get things all lined up right in my life, in my heart, if my choices are wise, if I love well, if I put God first, if I become who I should be that I will avoid the hurt and pain that everyone contends with. I only realize I believe this when I come up against hurt myself. To be fair, the disciple of Christ avoids most of the pitfalls of self inflicted pain that accompany unwise and self-centered living. But we are by no means spared from hurt and pain. We may be vessels on the king's voyage, but we travel through the same storms as the boats captained by rebels and lost souls.

I have had the sense recently that even the relationships that I treasure are subject to threats apart from my power, and separate from my responsiblity. I sometimes come up against a wall. Things are so often other than I wish, so often turn out differently that I have in mind or intend. And I will have acted right. That is frustrating. Needless to say, this is not always the case. I do not do what is right always, not even close. But when I do, I suppose I expect heaven to descend to earth. It is a hard reality that in this life, the brokenness, the self-centeredness, the sinfulness of people we love reaches into our heart and forces on us pain for which we are not responsible and did not intend.

I suppose this is the gospel. Jesus underwent this very thing. At the hands of sinners he was mocked and killed. He desired that they would know His love for them, and instead they hated Him. Food for thought I guess.

Set Your Sails

A song called "Set Your Sails" by Future of Forestry. I like these lyrics.



Better be gone
It’s half past eleven now
Get onto the deck
You better get on
It’s half past eleven now
Fairly well, we can tell
Nothing but moving will do
And it will be alright

Hey, hey, hey, the night is waiting for you
Take a picture of the silver moon
Oh, oh, oh, she will be shining for you
On your journey home

Better be gone
So find your pocket watch
And all of your hope now
The hour is long
Before I try to say too much
Fair thee well ‘cause we can tell
Nothing but courage will do
And it will be alright

Set your sails upon
The mighty winds of May
Set your sails upon the hope
Of June
Set your sails upon the air of
Warm July
Set your course for Heaven’s shore