Penance Or Pleasure

Psalm 119:1-16

1Happy are people of integrity,

who follow the law of the LORD.

2Happy are those who obey his decrees

and search for him with all their hearts.

3They do not compromise with evil,

and they walk only in his paths.

4You have charged us

to keep your commandments carefully.

5Oh, that my actions would consistently

reflect your principles!

6Then I will not be disgraced

when I compare my life with your commands.

7When I learn your righteous laws,

I will thank you by living as I should!

8I will obey your principles.

Please don’t give up on me!

9How can a young person stay pure?

By obeying your word and following its rules.

10I have tried my best to find you—

don’t let me wander from your commands.

11I have hidden your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

12Blessed are you, O LORD;

teach me your principles.

13I have recited aloud

all the laws you have given us.

14I have rejoiced in your decrees

as much as in riches.

15I will study your commandments

and reflect on your ways.

16I will delight in your principles

and not forget your word.

If you are going to memorize an entire chapter of Scripture, it is much simpler to memorize Psalm 117 than it is to memorize Psalm 119. But it’s Psalm 119 that reminds us to hide God’s Word in our heart, to recite it aloud, to study it, to reflect on it, and not to forget it.

David Livingstone, the intrepid explorer-missionary to Africa, memorized this entire psalm when he was nine years old and won a New Testament from his Sunday school teacher for doing so.

Another who memorized the entire psalm was John Ruskin, the brilliant writer and art critic of the nineteenth century. Later he admitted, “It is strange that of all the pieces of the Bible that my mother taught me, that which cost me most to learn, and which was to my child’s mind most repulsive, the 119th psalm, has now become, of all, the most precious to me.”

Many of us may have the same sentiment as seventeenth-century British minister Thomas Fuller, who confessed, “Lord, I discover an errant laziness in my soul. For when I am to read a chapter in the Bible, before I begin it, I look where it endeth, and if it endeth not on the same side, I cannot keep my hand from turning over the leaf to measure the length thereof. . . . Were I truly hungry after heavenly food, I would not complain of meat. Make the reading of thy Word not a penance but a pleasure for me, so that I may esteem that chapter in thy Word the best which is the longest.”

Who can tell the pleasure, who recount the treasure,

By your Word imparted to the simple-hearted?

O that we, discerning its most holy learning,

May always love and fear you, and evermore be near you.

HENRY W. BAKER

Notable Quotable

“If you have the Word in your mouth only, it shall be taken from you. If you have it in your book only, you shall miss it when you need it most; but if you lay it up in your heart, as Mary did the words of the angel, no enemy shall ever be able to take it from you, and you shall find it a comfortable treasure in your time of need.”

WILLIAM COWPER