A Goodly Heritage

“ Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice let thine ears by attentive to the voice of my supplications. ” - Psalm 130:1, 2 The state of the soul here represented, as the basis on which this psalm is built, and which first claims our consideration, is described in the expression, OUT OF THE DEPTHS. Some of the ancients, as Chrysostom, suppose this expression to relate to the depths of the heart of the Psalmist 5 but the obvious sense of the place, and the constant use of the word in the Hebrew, will not admit of this interpretation: it is in the plural number, depths. It is commonly used for valleys, or any deep places whatever, but especially of waters. Valleys and deep places, because of their darkness and solitariness, are accounted places of horror, helplessness, and trouble. Psalm 23:4, “When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death;” that is, in the extremity of danger and trouble. The m...

“ Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice let thine ears by attentive to the voice of my supplications. ” - Psalm 130:1, 2 The state of the soul here represented, as the basis on which this psalm is built, and which first claims our consideration, is described in the expression, OUT OF THE DEPTHS. Some of the ancients, as Chrysostom, suppose this expression to relate to the depths of the heart of the Psalmist 5 but the obvious sense of the place, and the constant use of the word in the Hebrew, will not admit of this interpretation: it is in the plural number, depths. It is commonly used for valleys, or any deep places whatever, but especially of waters. Valleys and deep places, because of their darkness and solitariness, are accounted places of horror, helplessness, and trouble. Psalm 23:4, “When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death;” that is, in the extremity of danger and trouble. The m...

Among the many general causes of decline in grace , we may assign a principal place to  spiritual pride and self-admiration. If our attainments in knowledge and giftedness , and even in grace — seduce us into a good opinion of ourselves , as if we were wise and good — we are already ensnared, in danger of falling every step we take, of mistaking the right path, and proceeding from bad to worse — without a power of correcting or even of discovering our deviations! That is — unless and until the Lord mercifully interposes, by restoring us to a spirit of humility, and dependence upon Himself. For God, who gives more grace to the humble — resists the proud! He beholds them with abhorrence — in proportion to the degree in which they admire themselves! It is the invariable law of His kingdom, that everyone who exalts himself — shall be abased! True Christians, through the remaining evil of their hearts, and the subtle temptations of their enemy, are liable, not only to the workings...

As the act which God punished so severely must have been not a trivial fault, but a heinous crime, it will be necessary to attend to the peculiar nature of the sin which produced Adam’s fall, and provoked God to inflict such fearful vengeance on the whole human race. The common idea of sensual intemperance is childish. The sum and substance of all virtues could not consist in abstinence from a single fruit amid a general abundance of every delicacy that could be desired, the earth, with happy fertility, yielding not only abundance, but also endless variety. We must, therefore, look deeper than sensual intemperance. The prohibition to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a trial of obedience, that Adam, by observing it, might prove his willing submission to the command of God.For the very term shows the end of the precept to have been to keep him contented with his lot, and not allow him arrogantly to aspire beyond it. The promise, which gave him hope of eternal life a...