Biblog

Re: Psalm 17:5
Let me observe David and learn to pray as he prayed, "Hold up my
goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not."

I. See his course. He speaks of his "goings." Religion does not allow a man to
sit still. He speaks of his goings "in God's paths." These are threefold.
(1). The path of his commands.
(2). The path of his ordinances.
(3). The path of his dispensations.

II. His concern respecting this course. It is the language of—
(1). Conviction;
(2). of apprehension;
(3). of weakness;
(4). of confidence.
—William Jay.

re: Psalm 17:5
"Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not." Lord, hold
me up, that I may hold out. Thou hast set the crown at the end of the race; let me
run the race, that I may wear the crown. It was Beza's prayer, and let it be ours,
"Lord, perfect what thou hast begun in me, that I may not suffer shipwreck when I
am almost at the haven."—Thomas Watson.

Found a cool-web-site by a guy with the pseudename of "DataRat".
DataRat published some writings of John Murray

http://www.blogger.com was down yesterday morning...
so back to my friendly html text-editor notepad...(notetab-pro)
(I pasted this in the next day)

Psalm 17 observations

I am observing the request for providential
direction in vs. 5.
A hope? a request? a prayer? a declaration?

It seems the NKJV/KJV translators render
the thought as a request (plea) for God's help:
"Uphold my steps"
while the NIV/NASB folks render the verse
as a declaration.
"My feet have held"
"My feet have not slipped"

Psalm 17:5
(NKJV)
Uphold my steps in Your paths,
That my footsteps may not slip.

(KJV)
Hold up my goings in thy paths,
that my footsteps slip not.

(NIV)
My steps have held to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.

(NASB)
My steps have held fast to Your paths.
My feet have not slipped.


see also
Psalm 119:133 (NASB)
Establish my footsteps in Your word,
And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

Either way, the Psalmist is still very much aware of needing God's help
and providential care and protection in the pathways of life.

see esp. vs. 6-8
6 I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your
right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings

You have tested my heart...
see also Psalm 26:1 and 139

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

The Book of Psalms is a prayer book and a song book.

Psalm 17
Psalm 17:3
You have tested my heart.
You have visited me in the night....

Sometimes when I am really thinking about an issue or problem, or sin in my life, or maybe
someone has died, and I am struggling with the loss, and
thinking about my own mortality... I wake up in the middle of the night
and feel the presence of God comforting me and letting me know
that He is working all things according to his plan for me in Christ Jesus.

Found an eText version of

Thomas Watson's Commentary on the Ten Commandments

Psalm 15

Psalm 15
vs. 1 Lord, who may abide in Your holy tabernacle? (tent)
Who may dwell in Your holy hill? (Mt. Zion)

The symbol of God's dwelling with his people was a tent.
The ten requirements are ethical, (based on God's law, the ten commandments)
not formal or liturgical.

It appears there are ten ethical requirements given in Psalm 15...
1. Walk uprightly
2. Work righteousness
3. Speak the truth
(with my mouth, and in my heart and mind.)
4. No backbiting
5. No evil (against my neighbor)
6. Does not reproach.
7. Hates vile and wicked behavior
- Honoring those who fear the Lord
8. All promises are kept.
9. Does not loan money with interest (usury).
10. Does not take a bribe.

Intelligent Fools
To see rare effects, and no cause;
an excellent government and no prince;
a motion without an immovable;
a circle without a centre;
a time without eternity;
a second without a first;
a thing that begins not from itself, and therefore,
not to perceive there is something from whence it does begin,
which must be without beginning;
these things are so against philosophy and natural reason,
that he must needs be a beast in his understanding that
does not assent to them; this is the atheist:
"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."
That is his character; the thing framed, says that nothing framed it;
the tongue never made itself to speak, and yet talks against him that did;
saying, that which is made, is, and that which made it, is not.
But this folly is as infinite as hell, as much without light or bound,
as the chaos or the primitive nothing. Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667.

Intelligent Fools

Psalm 14:1
The fool has said in his heart,
"There is no God".

NGSB notes:
The fool may be highly intelligent by the world's
standards, but is oblivious to the true nature of reality.
The fool denies the existense of God as a matter
of practical concern. This is practical atheism.

Psalm 1
Psalm 1 sits as a gateway into the sanctuary of all the Psalms.
I am called to consider the way of the blessed man. I am confronted by the blessed man.
I have been going to church for 42 years, and enjoy
singing this Psalm. I claim to follow Jesus and worship
the one true God, but where is my love for God's word.
I have sometimes avoided the study of God's word. Why?
Do I hate God? What's wrong with me?

My NGSB study note says:
Before having close conversation with God...
The reader's attitude toward the law of God has to be considered.
The righteous person loves and studies it; the wicked person hates it.

I want to be like the blessed man.
In fact, it is stronger than that -- I must be like him.
Bless me God. Bless me...
Make me like that tree planted by the water!
So that whatever I do will prosper!
I am sick (unto vomiting) -- of a life that is lived
in my own power -- of little lasting fruit for my labor.

BLESS - A stronger word than "happy"; to be "blessed" is to enjoy God's special favor and grace.