Blessedness (2)

“Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” Psalm 119:2

“The blessed are those who treasure God’s testimonies.  That is, they understand them, love them, and practice them.”

“To keep God’s testimonies means to consider them with the mind.  They must be studied and understood thoroughly.  But certainly it also means more than just cognitive apprehension of propositions.  For unless the “head” knowledge of the law trickles down into the “heart,” it would be impossible to “keep” the testimonies of the Lord in such a way as to affect ones outward life.  To keep the testimonies in one’s heart requires an emotional affection for them.  The believer must love God’s testimony. Simply expressed, the blessed are so attached to the truths of God’s testimonies that they are disposed to abide by them in their daily life,”

“The blessed man has drunk deeply from God’s reservoir of truth written in the Scriptures.  Having tasted this sweet drink, he desires more and more the maker of this elixir of life.”

“The blessed one seeks after God with his whole heart.  He desires to follow his master more closely and to conform his will and lifestyle to the perfect divine will.  Of course, the blessed on e will also be zealous for his Master’s glory here on the earth.  As he seeks after God with his whole heart, he will not tolerate those who despise God and curse him.  As a result of his own delight in the law, his heart and soul will yearn for others to join with him in this seeking.  For the seeking itself is blessedness, and who but a beast would not desire it for others?”

“This Psalm sets before us a way of life.  The blessed stand undefiled, walking in God’s law, keeping his truths hidden deep within their hearts.  The blessed demonstrate this hidden treasure to those about them in their fruitful lives.  Finally, the blessed run toward the giver of all these blessings as they find God’s Word a continuous “well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:14NASB).”
 

Gamble, Richard. The Whole Counsel of God, Vol. 1. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing Company,2009. P534-535

Blessedness

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” ~ Psalms 119:1

“Blessedness is found in being conformed to the word of God. The more complete the Christian’s sanctification is here on earth, the more complete his blessedness will be as well.”


“The blessed walk in the law of the Lord. They do not walk in God’s law only some of the time; they follow his commands each day and every minute. The law of the Lord is not reserved for special times of prayer and devotion; rather, no part of their day is out of the sphere of conformity to God’s holy will. The blessed walk steadily in the law; it is the road map directing today’s journey, and it plots the course for the rest of their days.”

Gamble, Richard. The Whole Counsel of God, Vol. 1. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing Company,2009. P534

“Eyeing and considering the hand of God in an affliction presently becalms and quiets a gracious soul."

“When tribulations come upon you: look to that sovereign Lord, that commisionates and sends them upon you.  You know troubles do not rise out of the dust, nor spring out of the ground, but are framed in heaven, Jeremiah 38:11.  Troubles and afflictions are of the Lord’s framing and devising, to reduce his wandering people to himself.  In the frame of your afflictions you may observe much of divine wisdom in the choice, measure, and season of your troubles: sovereignty, in electing the instruments of your affliction; in making them as afflictive as he pleaseth; and in making them obedient both to his call, in coming and going, when he pleaseth.  Now, could you in times of trouble look up to this sovereign hand, in which your souls, bodies, and all their comforts and mercies are; how quiet would your heart be!  Oh, when we have to do with men, and look no higher how do our spirits swell and rise with revenge and impatience! But if you once come to see, that man as a rod in your Father’s hand, you will be quiet.”

“Be still, and know that I am God;” Psalms 46: 10, q.d. consider with whom you have to do; not with your fellow but with your God, who can puff you to destruction with one blast of his mouth; in whose hand you are, as the clay in the potter’s hand.  It is for want of looking up to God in our troubles, that we fret, murmur, and despond at the rate we do.”

Flavel, John. The Works of. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1997. 364-65. 6 vols. Print.

The Covenant of Grace

“And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” ~ Jeremiah 32:40

"God has made a covenant with His people. He has given Himself for their portion, His Son for their price, His Spirit for their guide in the way, His earth for their accommodation by the way, His angels for their guard, the powers of darkness and death for their spoils, and everlasting glory for their crown. And because their way is difficult and their word is contrary to them, He has given them all the grace that is necessary to bring them to glory. In general, they have a new heart, in all things suited to their way, and thoroughly furnished for every good work. In particular, they have knowledge to guide, oneness to fix and intend, tenderness to submit to and yield, love to constrain and bring on, fear to fence and hold in, obedience to perform and bring forth, and perseverance to go through and hold out to the end – and there grace and glory meet."


"This is the covenant of grace; this is the word which, by the gospel, is preached unto you."


Alleine, Richard. Heaven Opened The Riches of God's Covenant. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 2000. 235-236. Print.

The soul’s meditation of Him shall be sweet. He who loves dwells in God.

“There is also an acquiescence of the heart in Him.” 

            “Return unto thy rest, O my soul.” ~ Psalms 116:7 

“But this is not felt till love has obtained, till the soul feels itself to love, and to have what it loves; to love and to be loved; to accept and to be accepted by God.  When it comes to this, then we have enough.” 

            “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” ~ Song of Solomon 6:3

“And here is the sweetness of religion, the marrow and fatness of godliness, the pleasure of love.  When I love, I can rest; when I can rest, I can rejoice; when I feel myself to love, I know I am beloved.  And what is then wanting?  Where love is a stranger, joy is not known. We can never take comfort in anything but in that which we love.  What is a friend, a wife, a child, if we do not love them?   What is society or communion where love has not first made a union?  Can two walk together unless they are agreed? With little comfort, sure; they would be better pleased if they were parted asunder.  It is love that is the pleasure of our lives.  It is love that makes heaven sweet.  There we shall have our fill of joy because there we have our fill of love.  Heaven would not be heaven, God Himself could not be the joy if He were not the love of His saints.”

“There are no feasts but love feasts.  Love is both the best dish, and the only sauce for every dish.  It is the best dish, and he who feeds on divine love will never complain of a short meal.  And love is the sauce for every dish; it is but unsavory meat that is not seasoned with love. Be the meat ever so excellent, it will not relish if it is not loved.  Love will make anything relish.  Get love for Christ, love for religion, and you will never demand, “Where is the blessedness? Where is the sweetness?”

Alleine, Richard. Heaven Opened The Riches of God's Covenant. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 2000. 163-164. Print.

Gird up the Loins of Your Mind

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;” ~ 1 Peter 1:13-15

“Gird up the loins of your minds; gird and be sober; gird and hope perfectly; gird and be obedient; gird and be holy. This girding is gathering in the strength of the heart to do its work.  Call in your hearts and hold them in; be always ready for every duty, ready against every temptation.”

“Oh, how loose we are! What loose praying, loose hearing, loose meditation, and loose walking we satisfy ourselves with! Our hearts are to seek, and instead our hearts and affections are gadding abroad; we know not where to find them, and our work is done thereafter.  We excuse our non-proficiency in religion by our many hindrances, by the difficulties of our work; but the great hindrance lies in that our loins are ungirded, and our hearts are neither united in our work nor intent upon it.   When God and the things of eternity get so deep into the heart; when there is such a deep sense of the weight and importance of the things that are eternal and abiding upon us, such as can overpower carnal objects and loose the hearts from them; when we feel the evidence and consequence of these things commanding our entire souls after them, then there is religion in earnest; then we go on and prosper.”

“Let others do what they will, run where they please, choose whom they will serve and what they will follow after; come, my soul, follow the Lord; gird up your loins and come away for the other world.  Make haste; linger not; let others loiter as they will, escape for your life.  Do not look behind; get up to the mountain and live.”

Alleine, Richard. Heaven Opened The Riches of God's Covenant. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 2000. 120-122. Print

The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth and direction.

 

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” ~ John 16:13

He shall guide us by His counsel, and He shall lead us in the way that we should go.

“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” ~ Isaiah 30:21

He shall lead His people into all truth (to prevent mistakes) and into all righteousness (to prevent miscarriages).  Nay, more, He shall not only be their star, but their strength too.  He shall guide His people on and help them on.  They shall be led by the Spirit, bound in the Spirit, and pressed in the Spirit.  They shall be excited, assisted, and carried on in the power of the Spirit in the way that they should go.  He will cause them to walk in the statutes of the Lord.  Whatsoever your waywardness and your wanderings have been, whatever your feebleness and fickleness are, whatever false lights and false ways are before you, whatever temptations you meet with to turn you aside out of the right way, whatever doubts hence rise in your heart, if you think, “I shall one day or another perish from the way and be a lost sheep at last,” yet His conduct shall be prosperous and the event shall be sure.  He shall so guide you by His counsel that He shall bring you to glory.  He shall gather His lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom, gently leading those who are with young.”

Alleine, Richard. Heaven Opened The Riches of God's Covenant. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 2000. 45-46. Print.