Psalm 119:49,50
Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): David had his afflictions, and so has every good man; none are without them; it is the will and pleasure of God that so it should be; and many are their afflictions, inward and outward.
OCTAVIUS WINSLOW (1808-1878): What is the comfort sought by an unbeliever in his affliction? Alas, he seeks to drown his sorrow by plunging yet deeper into what created it. He goes to the world for his comfort―the world that has already lied to him, betrayed him, and stung and wounded him more keenly and deeply than a serpent.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): The worldling clutches his money-bag, and says, “this is my comfort;” the spendthrift points to his gaiety and shouts, “this is my comfort;” the drunkard lifts his glass and sings, “this is my comfort.”
OCTAVIUS WINSLOW: But turn to the man of God. What was the Psalmist’s comfort in his sorrow?
WILLIAM ARNOT (1808-1875): Hope in His promise.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): “In his word do I hope,” Psalm 130:6. What supported his patience was the confidence which he reposed in the divine promises. Were these promises taken away, the grace of God would necessarily vanish from our sight, and thus our hearts would fail and be overwhelmed with despair. Besides, he teaches us, that our being contented with the Word of God alone affords a genuine proof of our hope.
C. H. SPURGEON: The man whose hope comes from God feels the life-giving power of the Word of the Lord, and he testifies, “this is my comfort.”―the Word frequently comforts us by increasing the force of our inner life; “this is my comfort; thy word hath quickened me.” He means, ‘Thy Word is my comfort,’ or the fact that ‘Thy word has brought quickening to me is my comfort.’ Or, that the hope which God had given him was his comfort, for God had quickened him thereby. Whatever may be the exact sense, it is clear that the Psalmist had affliction and that he had comfort in it―Comfort in affliction is like a lamp in a dark place. Some are unable to find comfort at such times; but it is not so with believers, for their Saviour has said to them, “I will not leave you comfortless,” John 14:18.
HUDSON TAYLOR (1832-1905): He means just what He says, and will do all that He has promised.
C. H. SPURGEON: “Remember the word unto thy servant.” He asks for no new promise, but to have the old word fulfilled…The Psalmist does not fear a failure in the Lord’s memory, but he makes use of the promise as a plea, and this is the form in which he speaks, after the manner of men when they plead with one another―there is a world of meaning in that word “remember,” as it is addressed to God; it is used in Scripture in the tenderest sense, and suits the sorrowing and the depressed. The Psalmist cried, “Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions,” Psalm 132:1; Job also prayed that the Lord would “appoint him a set time, and remember him,” Job 14:13.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): Promises are the cordials which in every age have supported and strengthened the believer.
EDMUND CALAMY (1600-1666): Therefore we read both of Jacob and Jehosaphat, how they urged God in their prayer, with His promises. And certainly the prayers of the saints, winged with David’s promises, will quickly fly up to heaven, and draw down grace and comfort into their souls. And upon this account it is that the promises are so useful to a Christian, because they are so helpful in prayer. When we pray, we must urge God with His promises.
C. H. SPURGEON: “Upon which thou hast caused me to hope.” The argument is that God, having given grace to hope in the promise, would surely never disappoint that hope. He cannot have caused us to hope without cause. If we hope upon His Word we have a sure basis.
ALEXANDER COMRIE (1706-1774): His word shall not fail.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): And ought not the believer to take comfort from the same cause, amidst all the exercises he meets with in his warfare?
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): The promises yield strong consolation.
THOMAS MANTON (1620-1677): Therefore let us treasure up all the promises; all will be little enough when we need comforts. That we may not have them to seek in a time of distress, it is good they should be familiar. As you read the word, collect them for your comfort and profit; happy is the man that hath his garner full of them
WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): The wise Christian will store himself with promises in health for sickness, and in peace for future perils.
THOMAS MANTON: Every time you read the Scriptures, you should lay something up―What have you hidden in your heart for comfort against temptations, desertions, afflictions? What have you laid up against a dear year? “Lay up his words in thine heart,” Job 22:22. In a time of trial you will find one promise will give you more comfort and support than all the arguments that can be produced by reason.
C. H. SPURGEON: God never gives His children a promise which He does not intend them to use. There are some promises in the Bible which I have never yet used; but I am well assured that there will come times of trial and trouble when I shall find that that poor despised promise, which I thought was never meant for me, will be the only one on which I can float. I know that the time is coming when every believer shall know the worth of every promise in the covenant.
J. C. RYLE: I have seen not a few dying persons in my time. I have seen great varieties of manner and deportment among them―but one thing I have never seen. I never saw anyone enjoy what I should call real, solid, calm, reasonable peace on his deathbed, who did not draw his peace from the Bible. And this I am bold to say, that the man who thinks to go to his deathbed without having the Bible for his comforter, his companion, and his friend, is one of the greatest madmen in the world. There are no comforts for the soul but Bible comforts, and he who has not got hold of these, has got hold of nothing at all, unless it be a broken reed.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Believers in Christ die as well as others―but though they die, they shall live again, John 11:25,26: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
C. H. SPURGEON: If you do not need this promise just now, you may very soon. Treasure it up.
