Psalms 119:2-58 - Supplementary

Whole-heartedness.

Success in every sphere of action is attained by thoroughness, by concentrating our forces, and working "with our whole heart." Many a man has allowed his life to be a failure because he has dissipated his strength. He "has done a great many things badly." But in no sphere of thought or action is thoroughness so much demanded as in that of religion. Surely we should offer the very best, our whole self, to our Creator, to our Savior. This applies to—

I. OUR APPROACH TO HIM AND PURSUIT OF HIS FAVOR . ( Psalms 119:2 , Psalms 119:10 , Psalms 119:58 .) To engage in the worship of God, or to read his Word, or to seek his friendship and forgiving love, in a formal and ceremonious fashion, with little seriousness and no earnestness of spirit, is to make a sad mistake; it is to lose the battle. Our relation to God is immeasurably higher than any other relation can be; his claims are absolutely supreme; our interest in his merciful regard is surpassingly great; and there cannot possibly be any engagement of the soul that demands such strenuousness, such concentration of powers, such fixedness and fullness of soul, as prayer, as devotion, as the seeking after God.

II. OUR LIFE - SERVICE . ( Psalms 119:4 , Psalms 119:34 .) The languid and listless efforts which some "religious" men make in the service of God must be wholly unacceptable, as they are altogether unbecoming. "Worthy is the Lamb to receive riches"—the riches of our remembrance, our obedience, our submission, our service. To make a few feeble efforts to subdue our temper, to quell our repining, to preserve a sustained tranquility or cheerfulness of spirit, to show friendliness to Christian brethren, or to speak words of guidance or warning, but to give up the attempt because we do not immediately succeed,—this is not to keep God's precepts "diligently," to observe his will " with our whole heart." It is to relegate religion to the second or third place in our esteem. Christ claims the first . He tells us that if we love any one or anything more than him, we are not worthy of him. He promises us that if we subordinate all other things to him and to his service, we shall receive a large reward at his hands.