PSALM 106

TEHILLIM 106

2 Who can utter the mighty acts of Yahweh? who can shew forth all his praise?

...we, thanks to God's unmerited favour, have had our attention called back to the truth concerning him, and are waiting in silence, in quietness and patience, for his return from heaven.

Are we worthy of this position? Are we quite ready to go and meet him, with the account which every one of us will have to render? James indicates the principle of readiness, in the chapter read, James 1. He says,

"Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves; for if any be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."

Now that is very plain and simple, there is no mistaking the meaning of it.

The "perfect law of liberty" is to be found in the Bible. Jesus says,

"ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,"

that is to say, the unfolding of God's mind to us in various matters made known to us in the Bible constitutes the law of liberty. What we have to do, is to look into it, and not to forget what we read. A great deal depends on memory, in reference to salvation; in fact, it is true what was once said by Dr. Thomas,

"that salvation is very much a matter of good memory."

...But some may say that some persons have good memories, and some bad ones, by natural constitution. The answer to this is, that everybody has a good memory for what they give their attention to, and what they like. Nobody forgets the house he lives in, no one forgets his friends; no one ever forgets the money that is owing to him. Why? Because these things are continually under cognisance, seen by the eyes or heard by the ears.

Now the reason the majority of people are forgetful hearers of the Word is because they are not constant readers of it. They do not "continue" in this law; they allow themselves to be diverted by the ephemeral things of life, from the important business of making themselves familiar with God's Word, by reading.

They are without excuse. They plead bad memories, but they forget they have the power of making a good one. They have a good memory for what they continually busy themselves about. This is a universal rule.

Do you think anybody would have a good memory for Greek or Algebra if they did not apply themselves with diligence? People dive into musty and intricate studies to qualify themselves for a good position in society. In this way they make a memory for learning and gain their object. So it must be with us.

We must qualify ourselves for the great future, by studying day and night those disclosures of the divine mind which have been preserved in the record for our benefit.

We must be diligent readers of the Bible, and thus we shall gain a good and serviceable memory of all that God would have us to remember, viz., the truth concerning Christ and His will concerning us. In this way we shall stand ready for the summons which may at any time come forth.

Seasons 2.4.

3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

The human mind tires of monotony just as the body tires of one position. It is pleasant to have a change for mere change's sake. Hence new things have an attraction for many people who resemble the ancient Athenians in nothing else.

New things may be all right, but they may be much the reverse. They may be a mere appeal to the weakness that tires of one mental attitude. A liking for them, regarded as a system of intellectual superiority, may be due to a mere love of change, such as marks and constitutes the shallow and the fickle mind. The change of fashion from age to age, in every department of human activity, is the result of this. Taste roves and returns in an aimless whirligig of change.

God changes not, and His children partake of this characteristic. Enlightened and well-balanced intelligence stably rests in that which is true and eternal. It is the mark of wisdom to be established-to be steadfast-to abide in the same thing from year to year as time rolls. Of course, this presupposes the attainment of truth.

Pilate asked what this was. He did not wait for the answer. Those who know the gospel know the Truth, and recognise the wisdom of being "steadfast, immovable." In this connection, change is not progress.

In divine things, change is always more likely to be retrogression than progress. The inherent tendency of the natural mind is to indulge in thoughts and fancies in harmony with its own predilections, which are opposed to divine thoughts and ways, and as the process is combined with the pleasing sensation of the relief that comes from variety, it has resulted in past ages of the world's history, first in the slight declension and then in the complete apostasy from the ways of God - as in the case of Israel in Canaan after the death of Joshua; and 1,500 years afterwards, in the case of the Christ[adelphian] community when the apostles had all gone to their graves.

Seasons 2.16