Jesus was the sweet and the sweetener

JESUS WAS THE SWEET AND THE SWEETENER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Psalm104:34 34May my meditationbe pleasingto
him, as I rejoice in the LORD.
THE SWEET AND THE SWEETENER NO. 2403
A SERMON INTENDEDFOR READING ON LORD’S DAY, MARCH 10,
1895. DELIVERED BYC. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD’S-DAYEVENING, MARCH 6,
1887.
“My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” Psalm104:34.
THOSE OF YOU who were presentthis morning know that, with all my
heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, I pleaded with men that they would
come to Christ. [Sermon # 1951, Volume 33—The Pleading of the Last
Messenger—Read/downloadentire sermon at http://www.spurgeongems.org ]
If ever in my life I felt that I had spent every particle of my strength, I felt it
when I had finished that discourse. I could have wished to die and end my
ministry, with the testimony that I bore this morning. I know not in what way
I could have more completely poured out my whole being in earnestdesire for
the conversionof my fellow men. I thought that it would not be possible for
me to handle another subject in anything like the same fashion, tonight—I did
not feelthat I could do so. I saidto myself, therefore, “Insteadof preaching,

instead of having anything to do that will costmuch effort and cause much
mental strain, I will just be one among the people and enjoy myself as a
member of the congregation. I will have a subjectupon which we can all
calmly think—I mean, all of us who know the Lord;” and it seemedto me as if
nothing could be more fitting than to think of Him who is the joy of our heart,
to meditate upon Him who is the strength of our spirit, even our blessedLord,
of whom the text says, “Mymeditation of Him shall be sweet.”So, then, I am
not going to preach at this time—I am just going to lead your meditations a
little, myself meditating while you meditate, being a sort of a leaderto pitch
the tune in which, I trust, all who love the Lord will heartily join. May God
the Holy Spirit help us all sweetlyto meditate upon Him of whom the psalmist
here speaks! This 104th Psalmis a very wonderful one. Humboldt wrote a
book which he called, Cosmos, thatis, the world, and this Psalm is a
Cosmos—itis a world set on fire with praise! It is all creation, from the
mountain’s summit down to the brooks that sparkle through the valleys
praising God! I have frequently read this Psalmthrough in the woods and on
the mountainside and, when we have come home from an excursion in the
Italian mountains, I have said to my companions, “Now we will read the 104th
Psalm.” It is the naturalist’s Psalm! It is the Psalmof nature viewed by the eye
of faith and he that learns to look aright on seas andmountains, on beasts and
birds, on sun and moon and stars, sees Godin all things and says with the
psalmist, “My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” But, beloved, redemption is
a choicertheme for meditation than creationis, for its wonders are far
greater!I can understand that God should make the worlds, but that He
should redeemmen from eternal ruin, I cannotunderstand. The Creator
fashioning all things by the Word of His poweris nothing like so remarkable
an object of meditation as that same Creator, veiled in human flesh, yielding
His hands to the nails of the cross and bowing His head beneath the stroke of
death! If creationis marvelous, redemption is a more sublime miracle, a
wonder in the very centerof all wonders! Noris the theme of redemption less
vast than that of creation. Truly, nature is a very wide theme, from the almost
infinite greatnesswhichis discoveredthrough the telescopeto the wonderful
minuteness which is perceived through the microscope. nature seems to have
no boundaries, yet it is a mere fragment compared with redemption, where
everything is infinite, where you have to deal with sin and

2 The Sweetand the SweetenerSermon#2403
2 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 41
love, life and death, eternity and heaven and hell, God and man—and the Son
of God made flesh for man’s sake!Now you are among the sublimities, indeed,
meditating upon redemption—your theme is vastbeyond conception! And let
me add that the theme of redemption is quite as fresh as that of nature.
Nature, it is true, never grows stale—fromthe first day of the year till the last,
it is always young! Did you ever see the oceanlook twice the same? Did you
ever gaze upon the face of nature without always perceiving some fresh
beauty? And it is just the same with redemption. The cross nevergrows old!
The doctrine of Christ Crucified is a spring that wells up forever with a
sparkling freshness!Not even the eternal ages shallexhaust it—when untold
myriads of years have passedaway, this old, old story of the cross will still be
new! There is this much more to sayabout a meditation upon redemption,
that it comes closelyhome to us. I like to think of the stars, but, after all, I can
be happy if the stars are quenched. I delight to think of the rolling ocean, but
still, I could rejoice if there were no more sea. But in redemption we have a
vital and personalinterest—we couldnot live as we now live, in the sight of
God we could not truly live at all—if we had not been redeemedwith the
precious blood of Christ. The seas andthe starry worlds are not ours as
blessedlyas Christ is ours and none of them can bring medicine to the heart
and joy to the spirit as does Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us. So I
think I may say, howeverexcellent the naturalist’s meditations are, and the
more of right meditation upon nature the better—and I wish that we were all
learned after the order of true science,which deals with nature itself, and not
with theories— yet, if you know little about these things in which some take so
deep an interest, your meditations of God may be exceedinglysweet!If you
stay within the boundaries of redemption through Jesus Christ, which are by
no means narrow, you may say, “My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” So,
first, I shall talk about the sweet:“My meditation of Him shall be sweet.”
Then I shall speak of the sweetas a sweetener, forit is not only sweetin itself,
but it imparts sweetness—suchsweetnessas we needamid the many bitters of
this mortal life. I. First, then, let us talk about THE SWEET:“My meditation
of Him shall be sweet.”“OfHim”— that is, of the Well-belovedof the Father,

of the Well-belovedof the Church, of the Well-beloved of my ownsoul—of
Him who loved me, in whose blood I have washedmy robes and made them
white. It is meditation “of Him” that is sweet—notmerelyof doctrine about
Him, but of Him, of Himself: “my meditation of Him.” Not merely of His
offices, and His work, and all that concerns Him, but of His own dear self!
There lies the sweetnessand the closerwe come to His blessedperson, the
more truly have we approachedthe very center of bliss! Then it is
“meditation of Him” that makes the sweetness!Brothers and sisters, it is very
delightful to hear about our Lord. I am sure that I have often been charmed
when I have heard what others have had to say about Him. My hearing of
Him is very sweet, but it does not say that in our text. It is, “my meditation of
Him.” When I hear over and over, again, in the echoes ofmy heart, what I
have heard with my ears. When, like the cattle, having cropped the luscious
food, I lie down, as they do, to ruminate and chew the cud, “my meditation of
Him shall be sweet.” To think over, again, what I have already thought of. To
turn over and over in my soul truths of God with which I am happily familiar,
which I have tasted and handled many times—just to taste and handle them,
again—in doing so, “my meditation of Him shall be sweet.” The more we
know of Christ, the more we want to know of Him! And the sweeterChrist is
to us, already, the more sweetHe will be! We can never exhaust this gold
mine—it gets richer, the deeperwe dig into it. “My meditation of Him shall be
sweet.” Iwill not ask for the glowing periods of the orator. I will not wish for
the profundities of the theologian. I will just sit down, humble as my mind
may be, and think of what I have heard and known, and especiallyof all I
have experiencedof my Lord. And “my meditation of Him shall be sweet.”
But let me dwell a minute on that first word: “My meditation of Him shall be
sweet,” Notanotherman’s meditation, which is afterwards related to me, but
my ownmeditation of Him shall be sweet!Let me say, concerning the wine of
communion with Christ, that it is never so sweetto a man as when he treads
the grapes out himself: “My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” Youget a text
and beat out its
Sermon #2403 The Sweetandthe Sweetener3
Volume 41 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 3

meaning, “working your passage,”as we say, into the very soul of it. Then you
will understand it and you will also enjoy it! Make meditation of Christ to be
your own personalact and deed! GraspHim for yourself and hold Him by the
feet! Put your ownfinger into the prints of the nails and, out of your own
heart’s experience cry, “My Lord and my God!” Then you shall not need that
I tell you how sweetsucha meditation is, for you will be able to say for
yourself, “My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” Itdoes not matter, my dear
friend, who you are, if you do but belong to Christ, your meditation of Him
shall be sweet!You are a very poor and illiterate person, perhaps, but, if you
know Him, it shall be sweetto you to meditate upon Him. Or, it may be you
are a man of large reading and of wide knowledge. ButI am quite sure that
there is not in all the range of your reading, anything for sweetness
comparable to Him! The science ofChrist Crucified leads the van of all the
sciences!This is the most excellentof all knowledge—comparedwith which
every other knowledge is but ignorance dressedin its best! “My meditation of
Him shall be sweet”—evenmine as I stand here in the midst of you—and
yours as you sit in those pews. And as you come presently to this table of
communion, I hope eachone who meditates on Christ will be able to say, “My
meditation of Him shall be sweet.” Now letus meditate on Him for a few
minutes and, first, meditate upon His person. This BlessedOne, who is verily
among us tonight, is God and man. Meditate upon His manhood. He is of a
nature like your own. Sin, alone, excepted;He is a man as you are. Think of it
and rejoice that He has so intense a sympathy with you and that you can have
so intense a sympathy with Him! He is your brother, though He is also the
Prince of the kings of the earth! He is your Husband, bone of your bone and
flesh of your flesh, though He is also “overall, God blessedforever.” Do not
our hearts begin at once to warm towards the man, Christ Jesus—inall our
afflictions, afflicted, in all our griefs a partaker—andshall not our meditation
of Him be sweet? Butthen He is also God, and, as God, He has all dominion
and authority in heaven and on earth. Think, then, how near He has brought
us to the Godhead! There is now no division betweena believing man and
God—the Christ has bridged the chasm betweenthe Creatorand the
creature!One might have thought that this gulf could never have been
bridged. Betweenanangry God and a sinner, reconciliationmay be made, but
betweena Creatorand His creature, what link of union canthere be? There

could have been none if Christ had not become Incarnate! If God had not
takenmanhood into union with Himself, we could never have been brought so
near to God as we now are. Angels, you may stand back!You can never come
so near the throne of God as man has come, for he was made a little lower
than the angels, but now, in the personof Christ, He is set in the place of
dominion and honor, and made to be master overall the works of God’s
hands! My meditation upon the divine person of my blessedMastershallbe
sweet, shallit not? I do but indicate a long vista of delight, as it were. I open
the gate, and say, “Go in there, friend. You shall find goodfood for meditation
that way.” Now let us meditate upon our Lord’s life, for this meditation shall
also be sweet. Suppose I take the four Gospels and read the story of my
blessedMaster’s existencehere among men? Well, it needs meditating on, for
that life is much more than the evangelists couldwrite. The life of Christ has a
wonderful depth in it! The other day I was reading aloud the first chapterof
Luke’s Gospeland trying to expound it. And when I came to the close ofmy
meditation, I said to myself, “If I were shut up to that one chapter for a whole
lifetime, I could never expound all its depths.” That simple life of Christ, from
Nazarethto Golgotha, is a life of fathomless deeps! And the more you shall
meditate upon it, the more sweetness shallyou find in it. Oh, to think of His
fellowship with me if I am poor, for He hungered! His fellowshipwith me if I
am weary, for He, “being weary, satthus on the well”! His fellowship with me
if I have to stand footto footwith the old enemy, to contend, even, for my life!
His fellowshipwith me if I lie in darkness and in the valley of the shadow of
death, and have to cry, “My God, my God, why have You forsakenme?”
Readby the eye of faith, the whole story of the life of Christ is full of
sweetness to the meditative mind, for remember that as He contended, He
became a conqueror! And in this, too, we shall be like He, for we shall
overcome through His blood! Faith in Him will give us the victory—we shall
tread Satan under our feetbefore the battle is finished, even as He has done!
My meditation of His woes,

coupled with my meditation of His ultimate joys shall be exceedinglysweetas
a prophecy that, if I stoop, I, too, shall conquer—andthough I am castdown,
yet shall my casting down be but the means of lifting me up! Now, here is
another road for your thoughts to travel. “My meditation of Him shall be
sweet,” especiallywhen I meditate on His death. The death of our Lord and
Mastershould be the habitual theme of the meditation of God’s people. I am
afraid, in these days, we do not think enough of the cross and passionof our
Divine Redeemer. I read, in the “modern thought” papers and reviews, sneers
about our “sensuous”hymns when we sing about our Lord upon the cross—
they would have us not talk about His blood! Those expressionsare “out of
date.” It is “mediaeval,” (I think that is the word), to set forth a dying Christ,
they say! Now, mark you, the strength of the Church of Rome over many
minds has, for centuries, lain in the fact that she keeps prominent the facts of
our Lord’s passionand death. Pervertedas that truth about His cross oftenis,
yet it has salvation in it—and I doubt not that many find their wayto eternal
life, even in that apostate church, by the factthat Christ Crucified is made to
be a greatreality! If it ever comes to pass among us who are called
Protestants, andthose who are calledProtestantDissenters, thatthe greatfact
of the death of Christ is to be regardedas a kind of myth, out of which certain
obscure doctrines may be fetched, but which is not, itself, to be spokenof, we
shall have cut the Achilles tendon of our strength and our power to bless the
sons of men will have departed! Oh, give me the story of the cross, the
veritable story! Yes, let my eyes behold the wounds of Jesus as I stand and
bow before the Crucified! His death was a literal fact—no phantom dream—
and so would we hold it! And we would meditate upon it as the center of all
our hopes. “My meditation of Him shall be sweet,” is especiallytrue of Christ
on Calvary’s cross. Here I see Atonement completed, satisfactionrendered,
justice honored, grace expounded, love struggling, bleeding, contending,
conquering! In the actualdeath of Christ upon the cross I see the safety of His
electwhom He has purchasedwith His precious blood! I see here the ending
of the reign of evil, the bruising of the old serpent’s head. I see the greatrock
on which the kingdom of God is establishedupon a sure foundation sealed
with the blood of Christ. Oh, go and live on Calvary, you saints! No better air
is to be found beneath the cope of glory—meditate much upon His
intercessionatthe right hand of God. How secure are we because He always

lives to intercede for us! What prophecies of goodthings to come are hidden
awayin the person of our greatHigh Priestbefore the throne. Think, too, of
the glory yet to be revealed. “Behold, He comes.” Everyhour is bringing Him
nearer! We shall see Him in that day, and though we may fall asleepbefore
He comes, yet at His coming He shall raise our bodies from the dust and, in
our flesh we shall see God! Let us meditate much upon the glories of Christ’s
SecondAdvent, the transcendentsplendors of our Divine Conqueror, the
backgroundof His sufferings only making His triumphs to shine the more
brightly! Meditate upon these things— give your minds wholly to them—then
shall you prove the sweetnesswhichdwells in them all. If you, who are
children of God, do not feel that you could traverse any of these paths, I want
you to seek to get sweetnessout of this thought, “HE loves me.” Say to
yourself, believer, “If there is never another one in heaven or on earth that
loves me, yet Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me! It is well-nigh inconceivable, yet
is it true.” II. Now let us turn to the secondpart of the subject, THE SWEET
AS A SWEETENER—“Mymeditationof Him shall be sweet,” Thatis to say,
first, it shall sweetenall my other sweetnesses. Icommend to you who are
happy, to you who are full of joy, this blessedmethod of securing to yourselves
a continuance of that happiness and in such a manner as to prevent its
spoiling. If you have honey and your hands are full of it, be cautious how you
eat it, for you may eat honey till you are sick of it! But if you have a great
store of honey, put something sweeterthanhoney with it, and then it will not
harm you. I mean, if Godhas given you joy in your youth, if you are
prospered in business, if your house is full of happiness, if your children sing
about you knee, if you have health and wealth, and your spirit dances with
joy—all this, by itself, may curdle and spoil. Add to it a sweetmeditation of
your Lord and all will be well, for it is safe to en
joy temporal things when we enjoy eternal things more! If you will put Christ
upon the throne to rule over these goodthings of yours, then all shall be well.
But if you dethrone Him to setthese things up— then they become idols—and
“the idols He shall utterly abolish.” If you are truly His, you shall have great

sorrow in the falling of your Dagons, but it shall surely come to pass. O
cheerful, happy, joyous people, I wish there were more of you! I am not
condemning your joy—I would partake in it—but let the uppermost joy you
have always be “Jesus Christ, Himself.” If the occasionof joy is your
marriage, ask Him to the wedding, for He will turn the water into wine! If it is
your prosperity, ask Him to the harvest festivaland He will bless your
storehouse and your barn, and make your mercies to be real blessings to you!
But, dear friends, I need not say much about this point, because, atleastto
some of us, our very sweetdays are not very long or very many. The comfort
is that this sweetnesscansweetenallour bitters. There was never yet a bitter
in the cup of life but what a meditation upon Christ would overcome that
bitterness and turn it into sweetness!I will suppose that you are, at this time,
undergoing personaltrials of a temporal kind. There are a great many cures
for the cares ofthis life which philosophy would suggest, but I suggestnone of
them to you—I prescribe meditation upon Christ! I have already given your
many hints how the sorrows, the struggles and the conquests ofthe life of
Christ may help to sweetenall your conflicts and your struggles. Half an
hour’s communion with the Lord Jesus will take awaythe keennessofall your
anxieties. Enter into your chamber, shut the door and begin to speak with the
man of Sorrows, and your own sorrows willsoonbe relieved. If you are poor,
get to Him who had not where to lay His head and you will even seemto be
rich as you come back to your place in the world! Have you been despisedand
rejected? Do but look on Him on whom men spat, whom they castout, saying
that it was not fit that He should live—and you will feel as if you never had
true honor except when you were, for Christ’s sake, despisedanddishonored!
You will almostfeel as if it was too greatan honor for you to have been
contemned for His dear sake, who bore the shame and the spitting and the
cruel cross for your sake. Yes, the best sweetenerofall temporal troubles is a
meditation upon Christ Jesus our Lord! So is it with all the troubles that
come of your Christian work and service. I do not know how it is with any of
my fellow workers, here, but I can saythis, my work has about it a joy that
angels might envy, but, at the same time, it has also a sorrow which I would
not wish any to know if it stoodby itself. To preachChrist, oh, what bliss it is!
To tell of my Master’s sweetlove and of His powerto save the guilty, I would
be content to stay out of heaven for sevenages if I might always be permitted

to do nothing else but preach Christ to perishing sinners! But there is the
heartbreak which comes with it, often, in preparing to preach, lesthaply one
should not take the right subject, or should not have one’s heart in a right
condition for the handling of it. Add to that the anxieties that creepover one
occupying such a position as mine. Standing where I stand tonight and
remembering many sorrowfulhistories, many disappointed hopes concerning
the condition of many now before me, I go home, sometimes, wishing that I
could creepinto my bed and never come out of it againbecause ofmy terrible
anguish over some of you who will, I fear, be eternally lost! As surely as you
are here, you will be lost unless you turn to Christ! Nothing seems as if it
could save you—entreaties, invitations, warnings, prayers—all are in vain!
You are still without God and without Christ—and if you remain so, you will
be lost—and we cannot bear the thought of it! We cannotendure to think that
we should preach, and warn, and entreat, and invite and yet that it should all
end in nothing exceptthat we should look from the right hand of the Great
Judge and spy you out among those to whom He will say, “Departfrom Me,
you cursed!” Truly, there is an awful heartbreak that comes to us when we
think of these things! And when we see some, who did run well, turning aside.
Some who held the truth of God, decrying and denying that truth. Some who
once preachedit, beginning to preachup the fancies of the age insteadof the
Gospelof all the ages, thenour heart is, indeed, heavy! But what then? “My
meditation of Him shall be sweet!” He is still the same God over all, blessed
forevermore. He is still exalted a Prince and a Savior. Jesus will surely save
His own and He will overthrow all His adversaries, for, “He shall not fail nor
be discouraged
till He has setjudgment in the earth.” After all is said and done, there is no
dishonor possible to Him! It is true that “He humbled Himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,”but finish the quotation,
“Why God also has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above
every name: that at the name” (or, “in the name”) “of Jesus everyknee should
bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and

that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.” So, my meditation of Him, even amid the anxieties of Christian
service, shallbe exceedinglysweet! Yes, beloved, and it is just the same when
you come to the anxieties concerning your own spiritual condition. I suppose
that the very good, “perfect” people we sometimes meet with, or hear of,
never get into the state I sometimes getinto, but I believe that many of you
feel, at times, castdown and troubled about your own spiritual state. Whether
men laugh at it or not, I know that many a child of God beside John Newton
has had to say— “‘Tis a point I long to know, Oft it causes anxious thought,
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His, or am I not?” I venture to say that as
this was the question which the Lord, Himself, put to Peter, it is, therefore, not
a wrong question for us to ask ourselves. Whendarkness veils the skies and
the spirit sinks, and a sense of sin is more prevalent than the realizationof
divine grace, then it is bitterness, indeed! And at such a time, the very best
sweetenerofthe waters of Marah is to think of Christ—“Mymeditation of
Him shall be sweet.” A sinner’s Savior— oh, how sweetHe is to such a sinner
as I! A Saviorfor those that have no strength—whata precious Savior He is to
a weak one like myself! A Savior who, though we believe not as we ought, still
abides faithful—what a dear Savior He is to a half-believing one who has to
cry, “Lord, I believe, help You my unbelief!” Let me give you a little piece of
advice—do not think of yourself, but think of your Lord! Or, if you must
think of yourself, for every time you give an eye to self, give twice that time to
Christ! Then shall your meditation of Him be sweet. Thus, dear friends, as
long as we live, and when we come to die, our meditation of Him shall be
sweet!I would not have you fear the bitterness of death, any of you, if you are
trusting in Jesus. Godhas a wonderful power of strengthening our souls when
our bodies grow very weak and feeble. I am quite sure that some of my dear
friends were never before in such a condition in all their lives as I have seen
them in when they have evidently been marked for death. The messengerhas
come, and, as John Bunyan puts it, has brought some timely “token” to warn
the spirit that, in a very short time, it is to appearamong the shining ones at
the right hand of God. I have seen, just then, the spirit of the timid grow
strangelybrave and the spirit of the questioning grow singularly assured!The
Lord has manifested Himself in an unusually gracious wayto the poor
fluttering heart. Just as the dove was about to take its lastlong flight, it

seemedto have its eyes strengthened to see the place to which it must fly—and
all timidity was gone forever. “Mymeditation of Him shall be sweet.”WhenI
lie dying, when heart and flesh are failing me, when I shall have little else to
think of but my Lord and the eternal state, then shall thoughts of Him pull up
the floodgatesofthe river of bliss and let the very joy of heaveninto my heart!
And, by His grace, Ishall be eagerto be up and away!I shall not dread the
pains, and groans, and dying strife of which some talk so much—but the
sweetness of“my meditation of Him” shall make me forgeteven the bitterness
of death, itself! I have done when I have just given you one more thought.
Our text might be read thus, “My meditation shall be sweetto Him.” We are
going to uncover the table of communion directly. You will have nothing to
think of but the body and the blood of Him by whose death you live. That
meditation will, I trust, be very sweetto you, but this fact ought to help to
make it so—thatit will be “sweetto Him.” Jesus loves you to love Him—and
He loves you to think of Him! I know what you have said, sometimes. I
remember a Christian woman saying to me, “I have often wished that I could
preach, sir. I have often wished that I had but been a man that I might
constantly preachthe gospel.” Ido not wonder, I should
marvel, indeed, if a goodmany Christian people did not say, “I wish that I
could be a missionary,” or, “I wish that I could be a poetess, like Miss
Havergal, and sweetlysing of Christ.” Perhaps you cannotdo any of those
things, but you canmeditate on Christ, can you not? And your meditation on
Him shall be sweetto Him! He will delight in your delighting in Him! “Oh,
but I am a nobody,” says one. “I am nothing.” I tell even you that your
meditation of Christ, though it seems not to go very deep, though you cannot,
perhaps, keepyour thoughts together, well—yetthat heart meditation of
yours, which longs to meditate on your Lord and craves to know more of
Him— is very sweetto Him. Why, you fathers and mothers, you know how it
is with those little ones of yours—and especiallythat first little one that just
begins to talk! It has saidnothing but nonsense at present, yet you respectthe
little words, do you not? It is a wonderful speechthat little boy of yours

made— but why do you think so much of your child’s little thoughts and
expressions? Is it not because he is your child that you value his words so
much? Well now, you belong to Christ and because youbelong to Him, He
accepts your meditations because He accepts you! And He takes a delight even
in those poor broken perplexed thoughts of yours! He knows that if you could
sing like the seraphim, you would do so. If you could serve Him as the angels
do, you would. Well, if you cannot do that, you canat leastmeditate on
Christ—and your meditation of Him shall be sweetto Him. Oh, then, give
Him much of it, and God bless you, for His dear Son’s sake!Amen.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The BlessedMeditationOf God
Psalm104:34
S. Conway
The text is true -
I. BECAUSE SUCH MEDITATION SO AIDS BOTH KNOWLEDGE AND
MEMORY.
II. IT WARMS THE HEART. "Whilst I was musing the fire burned," etc.
(Psalm 39.).
III. DELIVERS US FROM SINFUL THOUGHTS.
IV. ROUSES THE ENERGIESOF OUR WILL FOR DUTY.
V. PROMOTES GREATLYOUR ADVANCE IN THE LIFE OF GOD.

VI. PROFITABLYFILLS UP THE MARGINS AND ODD MOMENTSOF
OUR TIME.
VII. PURGES OUR EYESIGHT, So that we see the silver lining of the clouds
that distress us.
VIII. ENABLES US TO CONVERSEWITH GOD, and to enjoy him, as
otherwise we could not. - S.C.
Biblical Illustrator
My meditation of Him shall be sweet.
Psalm104:34
Meditation upon God
D. V. Phillips.
I. THE MEDITATIONS OF A PIOUS MAN — HE MEDITATES ON GOD.
Meditation is the actionof the thoughts upon subjects which present

themselves to the mind. As man is by nature, the quality of his thoughts is said
to be evil. The Redeemer, whenon earth, pointed out the connectionexisting
betweenthe heart and the deportment of life (Matthew 12:34).
1. The pious man meditates upon the excellencyof the Divine character. His
holiness, His justice, His truth, His love, His mercy, His grace, His
faithfulness, are all greatparts in His infinite goodness.
2. The pious man meditates upon the works ofGod as they are seenin
creation. Here every objecthas the mark of Divine powerstamped upon it.
These wonderful mountains, whose tops point to the clouds;these vales, these
fields, and majestic forests;the whole of this earth which is beneath our feet,
and the whole of yonder heavens which are above our heads, declare the glory
of God, and show forth His handiwork. Now, a goodman does not pass
through the world without observing these things; and, in all these works, the
Christian can behold his God.
3. The pious man meditates upon the goodnessand wisdom of a Divine
providence in the wonderful and ample provisions which He has made.
Though there are mysteries deep and dark in the dispensations of Divine
providence, yet the goodnessofits characteris evident.
4. The pious man meditates upon the love, the grace, the mercy, and the
wisdom of God as they are manifested in the glorious plan of human
redemption. This is the principal feature, the grand bearing of Scripture: to
revealGod, to reveal Him in that lovely character, the God of grace — yea,
the Godof all grace.
II. THE CHARACTER OF THE PIOUS MAN'S MEDITATION. "My
meditation of Him shall be sweet."
1. To meditate upon the Lord gives strength to the mind. The more we know
of God the more will we trust in Him; the greaterwill be our spiritual
courage, andthe more feeble will be our own fears.
2. Meditation of a pious nature upon God will give pleasure. Indeed, there is
nothing that gives pleasures ofan immortal nature but religious meditations.
The very poorestof individuals, straitened in circumstances and despisedby

men, yet, if he loves God and meditates upon the MostHigh, he has more real
pleasure of soul than the greatestofimpious monarchs upon earth.
3. Religious meditation in a pious frame of mind will enable the Christian to
forgethis other cares — not to forget them so as to be carelesslyunmindful of
the necessaryduties and lawful concerns oflife, but he forgets them so as not
to be spiritually injurious to his soul.
(D. V. Phillips.)
The sweetness ofmeditation
E. Garbett, M.A.
Meditation is the calm and quiet dwelling of the mind upon a greatfact, till
the facthas time to get into the mind and pervade it with its influence. It is the
quiet thinking on single truths; the dwelling of the mind upon them; the
steady setting of attentive thought, drawn awayfrom other things, and
concentratedon this alone.
I. THE TEXT IMPLIES A PERSONALRELATIONSHIP — that is, the
relation of the human person who thinks towards a Divine Personon whom he
meditates. All through the psalm, from end to end, it is not a thing, nor an
abstracttruth, but a living being who is presented. The psalmist speaks of
things indeed. The objects from which he derives illustrations of the glory of
God are takenfrom the realm of nature, although it is evident to a sanctified
intellect that the writer uses the wonders of nature to express the yet deeper
wonders of grace. He speaks ofthe glories of the sky; but it is God who
coverethHimself with light, who makeththe clouds His chariot and walketh
upon the wings of the wind. Sweeteryetshould our meditation be, in
proportion as our knowledge is greater, and the acts of love on which we have
to dwell are more marvellous. But the ground of joy must be the same to us as
it was to the psalmist. We see Godnot only as Creator, but as Redeemer. Not
the doctrine, but Himself; not the Book, but the august Jesus, whose grand
figure fills it from Genesis to Revelation;not the Church, but He in whom the

Church believes — Jesus Himself, with none betweenthe souland Him; Jesus
is our all in all.
II. WHENCE COMES THE SWEETNESSOF THIS EXERCISE?It is sweet
to think of the love of Christ, and especiallyto realize that we, with all our
conscious unworthiness, are the objects of it. That love is wonderful in itself,
wonderful in its freedom and spontaneity, wonderful in its eternal duration,
wonderful in the depth of suffering it led our Lord to endure, wonderful in the
tenderness and affectionate sympathies of His heart towards the wants and
weaknessesofHis people. Again, it is sweetto dwell on the love-tokens ofour
absent Saviour. If a loved one be far parted from us, have we not pleasure in
the letters which tell us of constantlove and undying affection? Yet what are
they to the actualintercourse, daily maintained betweenChrist and His
people? Can we not tell Him of our love in prayer and praise? What are the
sacraments but meeting-places withChrist, the salutations of His mercy and
His love? Is it not sweetto think of the bonds which knit us togetherwith Him
in a union indissoluble as His immutable promises? Lastly, is it not sweetto
anticipate the time when we shall meet Him, "whom, not having seen, we
love," etc.? We shall see Him face to face in the reality of His presence, and
dwell with Him for ever.
(E. Garbett, M.A.)
The sweetness andprofitableness of Divine meditation
W. Bridge, M. A.
I. WHAT THIS MEDITATION IS. In Scripture it is calleda thinking upon
God (Psalm 48:9), a remembering of God (Psalm 63:6), a musing on God
(Psalm 143:5). Meditation is the work of the whole soul. The mind acts, and
the memory acts, and the affections act. "Let the words of my mouth, and the
meditations of my heart:" it is an intense and a vehement application of the
soul unto truth.
II. HOW AND IN WHAT RESPECTSMAY A MAN BE SAID TO
MEDITATE ON GOD?

1. When a man doth meditate on the name, nature, titles and attributes of
God, then he is said to meditate on God.
2. When a man doth meditate on Christ the Sonof God, then he is said to
meditate on God, for Christ is God; and therefore saith the apostle (Hebrews
3:1).
3. When a man doth meditate on the Word of God, the law and statutes of
God, then he is said to meditate on God (Psalm1:2).
4. When a man doth meditate on the works and concernments of God (Psalm
77:11, 12).
III. HOW MAY IT APPEAR THAT IT IS A SWEET THING TO
MEDITATE ON GOD? Is it not a sweetthing to enjoy God? Enjoyment of
God is the life of our lives. And how do we enjoy God? Sometimes God doth
come down into our souls;sometimes there is an ascentofthe soul unto God.
And what is the ladder whereby we ascendunto God, and take our turns in
heaven with God, but believing meditation? It is a sweetthing for a good and
gracious man to meditate on God and the things of God, because it is natural
to him. Natural works are pleasantworks. It is a help to knowledge, thereby
your knowledge is raised. Thereby your memory is strengthened. Thereby
your hearts are warmed. Thereby you will be freed from sinful thoughts.
Thereby your hearts will be tuned to every duty. Thereby you will grow in
grace. Therebyyou will fill up all the chinks and crevices ofyour lives, and
know how to spend your spare time, and improve that for God. Thereby you
will draw goodout of evil. And thereby you will converse with God and enjoy
God. And I pray, is not here profit enough to sweetenthe voyage ofyour
thoughts in meditation? But hard work, you say, and therefore how can it be
delightful? The harder the nut is to crack, the sweeterthe meat when it is
cracked;the harder the Scripture is that is to be opened, the sweeteris the
kernel, the truth when it is opened. Would you meditate on God and the
things of God with sweetness? Whenyou are most fearful, put your thoughts
upon that in God which is most cheerful; when you are most cheerful, put
your thoughts upon that in God which is most dreadful; evermore divide your
thoughts if you be to meditate on God, and the name, and nature, and

attributes of God. In case youwould meditate on Christ the Son of God, be
sure of this, that you think on Christ, and meditate on Christ as your great
example as well as your gift, and your gift as well as your example. In case you
would meditate on the works ofGod, be sure of this, that you look upon all the
works of God as enamelledand embroidered with so many attributes of God;
for the more you see the attributes of God shining forth upon His works, the
more sweetnessyouwill take in the meditating thereof.
(W. Bridge, M. A.)
The work and way of meditation
W. Bridge, M. A.
I. IT IS OUR WORK AND DUTY TO MEDITATE ON GOD AND THE
THINGS OF GOD. Wickedmen are blamed that God is not in all their
thoughts (Psalm 10:4). Goodand holy men are commended and rewardedfor
this (Malachi16, 17). It is our duty to praise the Lord. Not only to be thankful
to God upon the accountof benefits received, but to praise the Lord upon the
accountof His own excellencies. And how should the heart be tuned and
framed unto this praising of God, but by meditation on the name and nature
and titles of God? (Psalm 48:1). How doth he tune his heart to this praise?
"We have thought of Thy lovingkindness, O God."
II. THIS WORK OF MEDITATION IS EVERY MAN'S WORK, IT IS
EVERY DAY'S WORK, AND IT IS THAT WORK THAT IS CONSISTENT
WITH EVERY BUSINESS AND CONDITION.
1. It is every man's work.(1)It is the work of the wicked, for it is their first
step to conversion.(2)It is the work of the godly. For, either he is weak or
strong. If weak, he has need of it that he may be strengthened; if strong, that
he may be quickened. If a beginner, he ought to meditate, that he may
proceed;if a proficient, that he may be perfect; if perfectwith Gospel
perfection, that he may hold on his perfection.

2. It is every day's work. Is the Sabbath Day unfit for it? No; there is a prayer
for the Sabbath (Psalm 92), to meditate on the works of God. Is the week day
unfit for this work of meditation? No. The Sabbath Day is our marketday;
and then after we have bought our marketon the Sabbath, we should roastit
by meditation on the week. We do not go to the marketon the market day, to
buy meat into the house only for the marketday, but for all the time until the
market day comes about again.
3. As it is every day's work, so it is that work that is consistentwith every
business and with every condition: a garment that will fit the back of every
condition. What dunghill condition, but this flowerof meditation may grow
thereupon?
III. WHAT HELP OR WHAT MEANS TO THIS WORK OF
MEDITATION?
1. Be very sensible of your want, and of your neglectherein.
2. Labour more and more for a serious spirit.
3. A fixed spirit.
4. Intenseness ofaffection.
5. If you would indeed meditate on God and the things of God, be sure that
you lay out such objects as may give entertainment to your thoughts. For if
there be no corn in the quern, what grinding will there be?
6. If you would meditate on Godand the things of God, strengthen your love
and delight; for meditation grows upon the stalk of love and delight: and the
more a man doth love God and the things of God, the more he meditates
thereon.
7. Labour to geta deep impression of the things of God upon your heart and
souls.
8. Take heedthat your hearts and your hands be not too full of the world, and
the employments thereof.
9. Go to God for this skillof meditation.

IV. HOW SHOULD THIS WORK OF MEDITATION BE CARRIED ON
WITH SWEETNESS AND SUCCESS?
1. In all your retirements be sure that you retire into God Himself.
2. Take heedthat you be not legalin this work.
3. Be sure of this, that nothing fall within the compass ofyour meditation, but
what falls within the compass ofthe Scripture.
4. In all your settled meditation, begin with reading or hearing. Go on with
meditation; end in prayer. For as Mr. Greenham saith well: Reading without
meditation is unfruitful; meditation without reading is hurtful; to meditate
and to read without prayer upon both, is without blessing.
5. If you would have this work of meditation carried on with profit and
sweetness,join with your meditation the examination of your own souls.
6. Observe what those times and seasons are that are most fit for meditation,
and be sure you lay hold thereon.
7. Though there is a greatdeal of profit and sweetnessto be found in this work
of meditation, and it is every day's work, yet take heed that you do not so
meditate on one of God's excellenciesas to neglectanother; nor so spend your
whole time in the work of meditation, that this work of meditation should eat
up other duties: God would have us rise from this work of meditation, as from
any other duty, with a hungry appetite.
(W. Bridge, M. A.)
Spiritual meditation
Anon.
I. THE PROPEROBJECTSOF IT. The truths revealedin the Word of God,
the doctrines and precepts, the invitations and warnings, the promises and
threatenings of the Gospel, in all their bearings and relations to the temporal

and eternalconcerns of mankind, and more especiallywith reference to our
own spiritual state.
II. THE BENEFITSRESULTING FROM IT. It is by reflecting often and
earnestlyupon holy things that the affections become excited, and the heart
filled with a sense oftheir unspeakable importance.
III. THE BEST METHOD OF PROMOTINGAND CONDUCTING IT.
1. Meditation should be regular and frequent,.
2. To make our meditations profitable, we should pray and strive to be
enabled to conduct them with holy and devout affections.
3. We should cultivate all the powers of the spiritual understanding, and all
the gracesofthe renewed heart.
4. We should learn to reflect upon the blessings treasuredin the Gospelin
connectionwith our own wants, and should endeavourso to ascertainthe
reality of our religious characteras to feel that we are not uninterested
spectators, but real inheritors of all that we survey.
(Anon.)
On meditation as a means of grace
Christian Observer.
Meditation is much neglected. And perhaps to that change in the manners and
habits of religious people, which has brought family instruction comparatively
into disuse, is it to be attributed that meditation is so little practised. Owing to
a variety of causes,the Christian has been drawn of late years more into
public life; and time has been occupiedin forwarding the spiritual goodof
others, which, in former days, would have been devoted to reading,
meditation, and prayer.
I. THE NATURE OF MEDITATION. Meditationmay be set, and at regular
times, or habitual and unprepared. And doubtless those Christians who are

favoured with a contemplative habit of mind, have much enjoyment in its
exercise, andfind it very profitable. While engagedin the ordinary business of
life, they can maintain the recollectionofspiritual things in the mind. And
where persons are so constituted as to possess,in a considerable degree, the
powerof abstracting themselves from other things, there is never a want of
time, place, or subjectfor meditation. But meditation, in the usual sense ofthe
word, means deep, clone, and steadythinking: — retired and secret
contemplation. It is not self-examination nor self-communion, though
intimately, if not necessarily, connectedwith both. It is the settled, quiet,
serious thinking over any point or subject; — ruminating upon it; —
pondering it in the mind. It is in the beautiful language ofthe psalmist
"musing": "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy works;I muse
on the works of Thy hands." In considering meditation as subservient to the
best interests of the soul, the subject on which it is employed must be spiritual;
some of the "things by which men live, and in which is the life of the Spirit."
The state of our own souls, — our past lives, — the dealings of God with us, —
and the various truths of God revealedto us in the Scripture, may well form
subjects for profitable meditation. And by meditation on truths, we would
understand the remembering, and retracing, and dwelling on such in our
minds, as we have been previously taught, and made acquainted with, rather
than the investigationof points which as yet we are but feeling after.
II. THE USEFULNESS OF MEDITATION.
1. The practical influence of the truth can only be known and felt, when it is
habitually presentto the mind. A truth absent from the mind is for the time of
no more influence than if it were altogetherunknown, or disbelieved.
Whateverbe the direct tendency of any truth, — whateverbe the effect which
it is calculatedto produce, — whether peace in the conscience, — joy in the
heart, — mortification of sin, — the raising of the affections to high and
heavenly things, — love to God and Christ, — the patient suffering and
cheerful doing of the Lord's will, — it cannothave that tendency in us, — it
cannot produce that effect in us, if it be as a forgottenthing. But it is not
possible that any truth should be thus habitually present to us, unless it be
more or less the subjectof meditation. The mind does not otherwise become
fully imbued with it: though we do understand it, and acknowledgeit, and

believe it; we are not leavenedwith it; it is not become a part and parcel of
our own minds. If the acquisition of knowledge be comparedto the reception
of food, then meditation is as digestion, which alone converts it into the means
of sustenance and vigour. It is thus also, in no slight measure, by the mind
dwelling upon spiritual things, that men become more and more spiritual. The
contemplation of the characterofour Lord, as revealedin the Word of God, is
the ordained means of conforming His people to His likeness (2 Corinthians
3:18).
2. Again, it is by meditation that we apply to our own casesthe things which
we hear and read. Greatexcitement, or impression and conviction, may be
produced by preaching, and yet, unless recalledand revived by meditation,
may very soonentirely pass away. Who has not been a wonder to himself, that
he should remember so little of a discourse which, at the time, pleasedand
interestedhim; and yet in a week scarcelyany traces are retained; — a dim,
indistinct, generalnotion is all that remains floating in the memory. The
simple reasonis, because it was never digested;never by subsequent
meditation made our own. Like a language imperfectly learned, it is soon
forgotten.
3. Meditation is useful, and a means of grace, as it is a medium of holding
communion with God. The psalmist said, "My mediation of Him shall be
sweet;I will be glad in the Lord." And though, doubtless, the love of
meditation has, in some instances, degeneratedinto the error of those who
make the whole of religion to consistin a meditative habit of mind — in quiet
contemplation — still we must not forgetthat it is a means of grace, and that
the people of God often enjoy much blessedintercourse with Him in thought,
in solitude and in silence.
4. Meditation is also useful, as preparatory to other duties; for instance,
prayer. We should considerbeforehand our object in prayer, and what we
intend to make the subjectof our requests.
III. HINTS ON MEDITATION.
1. It is difficult. Scarcelyis any duty more repugnant to the natural man. He
cannot bear to shut himself up to commune with his own spirit, and with God

alone. And at this we need not be surprised; though it is not to our present
purpose to show, that in his ignorance and unbelief, regarding God as his
enemy, "he therefore likes not to retain God in his knowledge."But whence
the difficulty to the Christian believer? Meditation is difficult to many
persons, because it is with them almostan impossibility to think steadily, and
intently, and continuously on any subject, for any length of time. They cannot
control and concentrate their minds. They have thoughts, but they cannot
think. The mind flies off, and will not be fixed down to one point. And besides,
it is difficult to meditate on spiritual things, because ofthe sad reluctance of
even the renewedmind, through the influence of remaining evil, to be
occupiedwith what has more immediate reference to the soul, to God, and to
eternity. Hence it is, that time, which was sincerelyintended to be passedin
meditation, is to our sorrow and shame not unfrequently frittered and trifled
awayin vagaries, vain and profitless.
2. As to the most suitable time for meditation, that depends altogetheron
circumstances. Theywho cannot command opportunities, will be enabled at
those intervals, which even the busiest cancreate, to settle their thoughts in
pious meditation; and in the wakefulhours of the night to revolve in their
minds the words and the works ofGod. "I remember Thee on my bed, I
meditate on Thee in the night-watches." Those, whosetime is at their own
disposal, should choose that portion of it which, by experience, they find most
advantageous. BishopHall and Mr. Baxter loved the tranquil evening-hour,
the twilight stillness; and the latter speaks thus on the subject: "I have always
found the fittest time for myself is the evening, from the sun-setting to the
twilight." And, lastly, let us never forget, that if meditation is to be a means of
grace, it must be made effectualto that end by the power of the Holy Spirit. In
common with all other means, it is entirely dependent on His grace and
blessing.
(Christian Observer.)
Religious meditation
G. T. Shedd, D.D.

I. MEDITATION UPON GOD IS A HIGH AND ELEVATING MENTAL
ACT, BECAUSE OF THE IMMENSITYOF THE OBJECT."Beholdthe
heaven of heavens cannot containthee," said the awe-struck Solomon.
Meditation upon that which is immense produces a lofty mood of mind. Says
the thoughtful and moral Schiller: "The vision of unlimited distances and
immeasurable heights, of the greatoceanat his feet and the still greaterocean
above him, draws man's spirit awayfrom the narrow sphere of sense, and
from the oppressive stricture of physical existence. A grander rule of
measurement is held out to him in the simple majestyof nature, and
environed by her greatforms he can no longer endure a little and narrow way
of thinking. Who knows how many a bright thought and heroic resolve, which
the student's chamber or the academic hall never would have originated, has
been started out by this lofty struggle of the soul with the greatspirit of
nature; who knows whetherit is not in part to be ascribedto a less frequent
intercourse with the grandeur of the material world, that the mind of man in
cities more readily stoops to trifles, and is crippled and weak, while the mind
of the dweller beneath the broad skyremains open and free as the firmament
under which it lives." But if this is true of the immensity of nature, much
more is it of the immensity of God. Forthe immensity of God is the immensity
of mind. The infinity of God is an infinity of truth, of purity, of justice, of
mercy, of love, and of glory.
II. MEDITATION UPON GOD IS A SANCTIFYING ACT, BECAUSE GOD
IS HOLY AND PERFECTIN HIS NATURE AND ATTRIBUTES. The
meditation of which the psalmist speaks in the text is not that of the
schoolman, or the poet, but of the devout, saintly, and adoring mind. That
meditation upon God which is "sweeterthan honey and the honey-comb" is
not speculative, but practical. That which is speculative and scholastic springs
from curiosity. That which is practicalflows from love. All merely speculative
thinking is inquisitive, acute, and wholly destitute of affectionfor the object.
But all practicalthinking is affectionate, sympathetic, and in harmony with
the object. When I meditate upon God because I love Him, my reflectionis
practical. True meditation, thus proceeding from filial love and sympathy,
brings the soul into intercourse and communion with its object. Such a soul
shall know God as the natural man does not, and cannot. True meditation,

then, being practical, and thereby bringing the subject of it into communion
with the objectof it, is of necessitysanctifying. For the object is Infinite
Holiness and purity. It is He in whom is centredand gatheredand crowdedall
possible perfections. And can our minds muse upon such a Being and not
become purer and better?
III. MEDITATION UPON GOD IS A BLESSED ACT OF THE MIND,
BECAUSE GOD HIMSELF IS AN INFINITELY BLESSED BEING,AND
COMMUNICATES OF HIS FULNESS OF JOY TO ALL WHO
CONTEMPLATE IT. Mere thinking, in and of itself, is not sufficient to secure
happiness. Everything depends upon the quality of the thought, and this again
upon the nature of the object, upon which it is expended. There are various
kinds and degrees ofmental enjoyment, eachproduced by a particular species
of mental reflection;but there is no thinking that gives rest and satisfaction
and joy to the soul, but thinking upon the glorious and blessedGod. There is a
strange unearthly joy, when a pure and spiritual mind is granted a clearview
of the Divine perfections. I rejoices with a joy unspeakable and full of
glorying. All finite beauty, all createdglory, is but a shadow in comparison.
(G. T. Shedd, D.D.)
Meditation on God
R. Bogg, D.D.
I. THE EXALTED, INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF HIM WHO IS
THE OBJECT OF OUR MEDITATION.
1. The source of being, the author and parent of all that exists. If the acts of
almighty power should produce reverence and awe — if the displays of
unerring wisdom should excite admiration and esteem — if the exertions of
unbounded goodness shouldcommand gratitude and love — devout
meditation on the Source of being should be attended with feelings of pure
delight.

2. The source of all moral excellence. Whatbeauty is, in material objects,
moral excellence is, among rational beings: it is that which renders them at all
attractive, and to the reflecting, and cultivated mind, is the direct objectof
esteemand love.
3. Let us recollectthat these excellenciesexistin One with whom we are most
intimately connected, and that they are all continually exercisedin our belief.
4. In surveying the circumstances ofourselves or others, we cannot shut our
eyes on the painful and trying situations in which, by the providence of God,
men may at times be placed. But this presents another most amiable view of
the Supreme Being as attending to the different circumstances ofHis
creatures, and accommodating His dealings to their respective characters, and
situations.
5. There is yet another characterin which He appears, that claims our most
attentive regards, and which must call up our most ardent affections. And this
is — As the Saviour of His offending and wretched creatures. Doomedto
death, and destined to return to dust, He is to raise us from the grave, free us
from all imperfections, place us beyond the reachof sorrow or the possibility
of suffering, enlarge our powers, extend our knowledge, perfectour
characters, introduce us into the societyof angels, and crown all His gifts with
everlasting life.
II. IN ALL THESE CHARACTERS OUR MEDITATION OF HIM SHOULD
DELIGHT THE SOUL; because allthat is great, and excellent, and glorious,
and good, and attractive, passes before our minds in contemplating the
character, the works, the ways, and the purposes of God; objects, the
contemplation of which, not only gives scope forthe exercise ofits noblest
powers, but excites all the most pleasing affections ofthe soul; reverence,
esteem, love, gratitude, faith and hope.
(R. Bogg, D.D.)
Meditation on God, the pleasure of a saint

T. Hannam.
I. HOW WE SHOULD MEDITATE ON GOD.
1. We should meditate upon the perfections of God: His immensity and
eternity, to fill us with fearand reverence;His power, as our protection and
defence;His wisdom, to fill us with praise and admiration; His holiness, to
excite us to imitate Him, and to abhor sin; His truth, to encourage ourbelief
in His promises;His justice, to make us dread being obnoxious to His wrath,
and to magnify His judgments to ourselves and others;His goodness,whichis
the sweetesttheme to employ our thoughts upon, it being His most amiable
perfection. Well might David say (Psalm48:9).
2. Upon His works.(1)His works of creation. Thus we read: "The works of the
Lord are great," etc. (Psalm111:2;Psalm 8:3; Job 36:24, 25).(2)His works of
providence. How wiselyand graciouslyGodgoverns, preserves, and provides
for His creatures, and upholds the world He has formed, and His special
providences towards ourselves, and keepa memorial of them!(3) The work of
redemption. Herein the perfections of God are wonderfully displayed.
3. Upon His Word. Christ requires it (John 5:39). In this is the godly man's
delight (Psalm119:11, 92). Moses recommendedit to the children of Israel
(Deuteronomy 11:18;Deuteronomy 6:6, 7). The Word of God should dwell in
us richly: it should be often in our hands, but oftenerin our hearts.
4. Upon the future glory of God. If heaven were more in our thoughts, we
should leada more heavenly life.
II. AT WHAT SPECIAL TIMES WE SHOULD MEDITATE ON GOD. He
desires to be in all our thoughts, and the continual companion of our minds,
and the delight of our souls. But we should meditate upon Him more
especially—
1. In our seasons ofprivate retirement: then the mind enjoys itself most, and
then it may enjoy God most (Genesis 24:63).
2. In the time of trouble and affliction (Jonah2:7; Hosea 5:15). This is a time
when we canthink more impartially of God, of the things that are above, and

of the true interestof our souls. On a bed of sickness, itgives delight and
refreshment, strengthens the weak heart, and sweetens the bitterest pains.
3. By night on our beds (Psalm 42:8; Psalm 63:6). Paul and Silas (Acts 16:25).
We should endeavour to close our eyes in the love of God, and in peace with
Him, that our slumbers may be sweet.
III. THE HAPPINESS ARISING FROM SUCH MEDITATIONS. The soulis
insensibly warmed with love to God, while it views Him, and runs over his
adorable perfections. The thoughts of His powerestablishand strengthen him.
The thoughts of His wisdom resignhim to all His providences. And the
thought of His eternallove and goodness fill him with triumph in hope and
joy. The more we are with God, the more shall we have of God and of His
image in us. Mosescame downfrom the mount with a heavenly brightness on
his countenance. Holy meditation will prepare our hearts for every duty and
ordinance. Finally, it will help us to live above the world, and be a means for
fitting us for death and eternity.
(T. Hannam.)
David's contemplation
T. Horton, D. D.
I. THE PERFORMANCEIMPLIED — Divine meditation. God's servants are
much employed and takenup in the thought of God, in holy and Divine
meditation. Reasons —
1. The gracious and heavenly frame and temper of a Christian soul, being
sanctifiedand renewedby grace.
2. The servants of God are much in thoughts and meditations of Him, because
as their hearts are made like unto Him, so (which also follows thereupon)
fastenedupon Him.

3. They are much employed in Divine exercises, prayer, reading and hearing
the Word, etc.;and these performances suggestholy thoughts and
meditations.
4. From the Spirit of God dwelling in them.
II. THE QUALIFICATIONS EXPRESSED — pleasantnessorsweetness.
1. The attributes of God, there's a great dealof delight in thinking upon them
in their severalkinds.(1) The power of God, how much sweetness is there in
that to a Christian that shall seriously considerit and think upon it, that God
is almighty, and all-sufficient, and cando whatsoeverHe pleases both in
heaven and earth, as the Scripture represents Him.(2) The goodness and
mercy of God, there's a greatdeal of sweetnessin that also to be suckedout by
us in meditation, that the Lord is gracious, andmerciful, and long-suffering,
and pitiful; there is very much contentment in it.(3) The wisdom of God, to
meditate on that also, that He is greatin counsel, etc., and the Scripture
proclaims Him, that He can foresee allevents, and discern all hearts, and
searchinto the secretcorners ofthe soul.(4)The truth and faithfulness of God,
the Godthat keeps covenantand mercy, that is true to all His promises, and
that performs whateverHe undertakes.
2. The Word of God which is a part of Himself, the meditation on that is sweet
also. If we look into Scripture we shall find variety of gracious intimations
suited to particular conditions; now, these cannotbut be very comfortable to
those that are in them, in sickness, in poverty, in captivity, in temptation, and
the like, and we cannot better provide for our own comfort, and contentation
in them, than by thinking and meditating upon them in our own minds; and
where we are not furnished with particulars, yet at leastto close with the
generals, whichhave a miraculous sweetnessin them also:I mean such
promises as are made to God's children at large; that God will give His Spirit
to them that ask it. That no goodthing will He withhold from them that walk
uprightly, that He will never leave them, nor forsake them. That all things
shall work togetherfor goodto them that love Him.
3. The works of God, the meditation on them also, it is very sweet, and that in
all kinds.(1) His works ofcreation, to considerof them, as they are all very

goodand beautiful consideredin their nature and kind, so the contemplation
on them is also remarkable (Psalm8:1, etc.).(2)The works of Providence, how
sweetit is to meditate on these also, to reflectupon all ages, andto consider
what greatthings God has done for His Church and people in them. What
mercies He has bestowedupon them, what deliverances He has wrought for
them; and that also sometimes afterwhat a strange and miraculous manner:
it is very delightful to think of it.(3) The works ofredemption, how sweetis it
likewise to meditate on these:to meditate upon God in Christ (2 Corinthians
5:18). This is the sweetmeditation of all, and without which we cannot
meditate upon God without any true comfort or contentment.
III. THE QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED.
1. A savouriness and heavenliness ofspirit, as it is this which must put men
upon such meditations, so it is this only which must make them relish and take
delight in them.
2. A speciallove to God.
3. A persuasionof the love of God to him.
4. A specialsense ofa man's own wants.
(T. Horton, D. D.).
The sweetness ofmeditation on God
T. Horton, D. D.
The Hebrew word which is here used signifies three things especially, and
eachof them very considerable of us. First, meditation; secondly, prayer;
thirdly, discourse. According to the former notion, it signifies the sweetness
which is in Divine and spiritual contemplation, and the musing on heavenly
matters; according to the secondmotion, it signifies the sweetnesswhichis in
Divine and spiritual communion and converse with God in prayer. According
to the third notion, it signifies the sweetness whichis in holy and religious

conference, andthe speaking ofGod one to another. All of them very useful
and profitable duties, and such as are to be practisedby us.
I. First, take it in the first sense:MEDITATION ON GOD IS SWEET. And
the sweetnessofit should stir us up to the putting of it in practice. We have
very greatcause to be careful what we meditate and pitch upon in our
thoughts, which are of greatimportance to us, and that as they are a very
greatdiscovery of the frame and temper of our hearts. There's nothing which
does more show what men like, than their meditations. Flittering and
transitory thoughts, which do pass through the mind, but do not stick, they
are not such an infallible discovery, because they may not have that tincture
and impression of the soul upon them. But meditations they have much of the
will in them, and are carried with more deliberation attending upon them.
And therefore it concerns us to look to them, and to see what they be in us;
and of this nature that we now speak of, we should cherish in ourselves as
much as may be these holy and heavenly meditations which are of God, and
things belonging to Him, as being such as He takes specialnotice and
observationof in us (1 Timothy 4:13, 14). First, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine, and then meditate upon these things. And so much of
the first notion of this word, which is here used in the text, as it denotes Divine
contemplation, and meditation on the things of God, there's a greatdeal of
sweetness in this.
II. The secondis, as it denotes, CONVERSE AND COMMUNION WITH
GOD IN PRAYER. There's no friends that have such mutual complacency
and contentment in one another's societyas God and His servants have in One
another; it is pleasing to them to think of God, but to speak to Him, and He to
them is a greatdeal more comfortable; when the heart opens itself at any time
to God, and He againreturns upon it, there's most unspeakable contentment
in it.
III. The third notion of this word in this text is DISCOURSE,whichrefers to
the communion of saints, and the converse of Christians one with another.
Christians find a greatdeal of contentment in holy and religious
communication; not only when they think upon Him within themselves, which
is meditation, not only when they speak unto Him, which is done in prayer,

but also when they speak ofHim, and about Him in converse, and Christian
discourse.
(T. Horton, D. D.)
Meditation on God
I. A VERY PROFITABLE EXERCISE — MEDITATION. Do not imagine
that the meditative man is necessarilylazy; contrariwise, he lays the best
foundation for useful works. He is not the best student who reads the most
books, but he who meditates the most upon them! he shall not learn most of
divinity who hears the greatestnumber of sermons, but he who meditates the
most devoutly upon what he does hear; nor shall he be so profound a scholar
who takes downponderous volumes one after the other, as he who, reading
little by little, precept upon precept, and line upon line, digests whathe reads,
and assimilates eachsentiment to his heart by meditation, — receiving the
word first into his understanding, and afterwards receiving the spirit of it into
his ownsoul.
1. Meditation is the couch of the soul, the rest of the spirit.
2. Meditation is the machine in which the raw material of knowledge is
convertedto the best uses.
3. Meditation is to the soul what oil was to the body of the wrestlers. Who are
the authors to write your books, and keepup the constantsupply of
literature? They are meditative men. They keeptheir bones supple and their
limbs fit for exercise by continually bathing themselves in the oil of
meditation. How important, therefore, is meditation as a mental exercise,to
have our minds in constant readiness forany Service!
II. A VERY PRECIOUS SUBJECT. "Mymeditation of Him shall be sweet."
To whom does that word "Him" refer? I suppose it may refer to all the three
Persons ofthe glorious Trinity: "My meditation upon Jehovahshall be
sweet." And, verily, if you sit down to meditate upon God the Father, and
muse upon His sovereign, immutable, unchangeable love towards His elect

people, — if you think of God the Father as the greatAuthor and Originator
of the plan of salvation, — if you think of Him as the mighty Being who, by
two immutable things, wherein it is impossible for Him to lie, hath given us
strong consolationwho have fled for refuge to Christ Jesus, — if you look to
Him as the Giver of His only-begotten Son, and who, for the sake of that Son,
His bestgift, will, with Him also, freely give us all things, — if you consider
Him as having ratified the covenant, and pledged Himself ultimately to
complete all His stipulations, in the ingathering of every chosen, ransomed
soul, you will perceive that there is enough to engross your meditation for
ever, even were your attention limited to the manifestation of the Father's
love. Or, if you choose to do so, you may meditate upon Godthe Holy Spirit.
ConsiderHis marvellous operations on your own heart, — how He quickened
it when you were dead in trespassesand sins, — how He brought you nigh to
Jesus whenyou were a lost sheep, wandering far from the fold, — how He
calledyou, with such a mighty efficacy, — how He drew you with the bands of
love which would not let you go. But I prefer rather to confine this word
"Him" to the person of our adorable Saviour: "My meditation of Him shall be
sweet." Ah! if it be possible that the meditation upon one Personofthe Trinity
can excelthe meditation upon another, it is meditation upon Jesus Christ.
Jesus may be compared to some of those lenses which you may take up, and
hold in one way, and you see one light; you hold them in another way, and you
see anotherlight; and whichever way you turn them, you will always see some
precious sparkling of light, and some new colours starting up to your view.
Ah! take Jesus forthe theme of your meditation, sit down and consider Him,
think of His relation to your own soul, and you will never get to the end of that
one subject.
III. A VERY BLESSED RESULT. "Mymeditation of Him shall be sweet."
What a mercy that there is something sweetin this world for us! We need it, I
am sure; for, as for most other things in the world, they are very, very bitter.
"My meditation of Him shall be sweet;" so sweet, that all the other bitters are
quite swallowedup in its sweetness.Have I not seenthe widow, when her
husband has been calledaway, and he who was her strength, the stay and
sustenance ofher life, has been laid in the grave, — have I not seenher hold
up her hands, and say, "Ah! though he is gone, still my Makeris my

Husband; 'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath takenaway;' blessedbe His holy
name"? What was the reasonofher patient submission to the will of God?
Becauseshe had a sweetmeditation to neutralize the bitterness of her
reflections. And do I not remember, even now, seeing a man, whose property
had been washedawayby the tide, and whose lands had been swallowedup,
and become quicksands, insteadof being any longer profitable to him?
Beggaredand bankrupt, with streaming eyes, he held up his hands, and
repeatedHabakkuk's words:"Although the fig tree shall not blossom," etc.
Was it not because his meditation on Christ was so sweet, that it absorbedthe
bitterness of his trouble? And oh! how many, when they have come to the
dark waters of death, have found that surely their bitterness was past, for they
perceivedthat death was swallowedup in victory, through their meditation
upon Jesus Christ!
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
The sweetand the sweetener
I. First let us talk about THE SWEET:"My meditation of Him shall be
sweet." "OfHim" — that is, of the Well-beloved of the Father, of the Well-
beloved of the Church, of the Well-belovedof my own soul; of Him who loved
me, in whose blood I have washedmy robes, and made them white; — it is
meditation "ofHim" that is sweet;not merely of doctrine about Him, but of
Him, of Himself; "my meditation of Him" — not merely of His offices, and
His work, and all that concerns Him, but of His own dear self. There lies the
sweetness;and the closerwe come to His blessedperson, the more truly we
have approachedthe very centre of bliss. But let me dwell a minute on that
first word: "My." Not another man's meditation, which is afterwards related
to me, but my own meditation of Him shall be sweet. Makemeditation of
Christ to be your own personalact and deed; graspHim for yourself, and
hold Him by the feet.
II. Now let us turn to the secondpart of the subject, THE SWEET AS A
SWEETENER:"My meditation of Him shall be sweet."That is to say, first, it
shall sweetenallmy other sweetnesses. If thou hast honey, and thy hands are

full of it, be cautious how thou eatestofit, for thou mayesteat honey till thou
art sick of it; but if thou hasta great store of honey, put something sweeter
than honey with it, and then it will not harm thee. I mean, if God has given
thee joy in thy youth, if thou art prosperedin business, if thy house is full of
happiness, if thy children sing about thy knee, if thou hasthealth and wealth,
and thy spirit danceth with joy, all this by itself may curdle and spoil. Add to
it a sweetmeditation of thy Lord, and all will be well; for it is safe to enjoy
temporal things when we still more enjoy eternal things. If thou wilt put
Christ upon the throne, to rule overthese goodthings of thine, then all shall
be well. But I need not say much about this point, because, atleastto some of
us, our very sweetdays are not very long or very many. The comfort is, that
this sweetnesscansweetenallour bitters. There was never yet a bitter in the
cup of life but what a meditation upon Christ would overcome that bitterness,
and turn it into sweetness. If thou art poor, get thee to Him who had not
where to lay His head, and thou wilt even seemto be rich as thou comestback
to thy place in the world. Hast thou been despisedand rejected? Do but look
on Him on whom men spat, whom they castout, saying that it was not fit that
He should live, and you will feelas if you never had true honour except when
you were, for Christ's sake, despisedanddishonoured. You will almost feelas
if it was too great an honour for you to have been contemned for His dear
sake, who bore the shame and the spitting and the cruel cross for your sake.
Yes, the best sweetenerofall temporal troubles is a meditation upon Christ
Jesus our Lord. One thought more. Our text might be read thus, "My
meditation shall be sweetto Him." We are going to uncover the table of
communion directly; you will have nothing to think of but the body and the
blood of Him by whose death you live. That meditation will, I trust, be very
sweetto you; but this fact ought to help to make it so, that it will be "sweetto
Him." Jesus loves you to love Him, and he loves you to think of Him.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Meditation
WeeklyPulpit.

There are reflective moments in all lives, but set times for meditation are not
as frequent as they might be.
I. MEDITATION IN GENERAL. It is not the pressing act of mind, as when
pursuing knowledge, orseeking to unravel some mystery, but the mind, in its
own seclusion, dwelling calmly and seriously on matters affecting life and
death.
1. Retrospect.We have a wonderful grasp of the past in spite of the ravages of
time. Sometimes meditation produces a profounder impression than the event
itself. The lessonwhichthis teaches is our sense ofresponsibility. We cannot
wipe out the past. Inasmuch as there is a possibility of the present becoming
past, care should be taken that its memories shall be sweet.
2. Introspect. To dwell on things around us in a coolmoment is of greatvalue
to life. Men who live by rushes often make mistakes. The busiest man would
facilitate his work by reflection on the nature of things immediately affecting
life. The true estimate comes aftera calm examination.
3. Prospect. In nature the future is the sequence of the present, — summer
follows winter. Human life is built on the same plan, therefore the acts of to-
day ought to be consideredin relation to the morrow.
II. RELIGIOUS MEDITATION IN PARTICULAR. God canonly be known
to us through His works. Certainportions of the work are beautiful, and they
lead us to a contemplation of God, as the consummation of every attraction.
Some translate the words, — "My meditation shall be acceptable to Him."
1. When centred upon Himself. It is not an uncommon thing that children who
have left home, after a while forgetting to write. After the lapse of years they
have need to write, and how acceptable to the parents to hear from them. The
Divine Fatherdelights to see the wandering heart coming home again. To
think upon, when reconciledto Him, is the sweetestthoughtthat can enter the
human breast. "Callupon Me, and I will answerthee."
2. When we think according to His own will. Meditation may take a wrong
turn, and dwell upon matters in the wrong spirit. Many people brood over
their cares, and make their lives miserable. The train of thought which brings

sweetness to the breast is the fact that by every stepHe draws us nearer to
Himself. The nearer the fountain the clearerthe water. The highest joy of the
soul is communion with God.
3. When our meditation ends in a closerwalk with Himself. There can be no
virtue in recalling matters, or causing the mind to dwell on objects which have
neither an intrinsic nor a relationalvalue. Let us meditate upon one Jesus
Christ — our Prophet, Priest, and King. The theme is endless. Nothing can
surpass the beauty of the Rose ofSharon. In eternity the soul shall dwell on
the glory of His person, and join in the anthem of His praise.
(WeeklyPulpit.)
Christian meditation
Anon.
1. Let there be greatersolicitude cherished, so to meditate on the presence of
Christ as to make us consciousthat we are with Him. Then the thought of His
presence will be connectedwith a subduing power and friendly influence.
2. To meditate, and so to meditate on the characterof the Shepherd of Israel,
until we are sensible that He is leading us in the paths of righteousness,for His
name's sake. To protectand sustain, are views of Him eminently calculatedto
impart the feelings of safety and supply.
3. Meditate, and so meditate on the powerof subduing grace, until it is felt
that the dominion of sin is becoming increasinglyweak.
4. Meditate, and so meditate on the ability and qualifications of Christ aa the
greatTeacher, until the soul feels at home with His instructions. What a
teacher, and what instructions! One who is infinite in knowledge teaching the
ignorant. How patient and compassionate is the greatand loving Instructor!
How ready to open the understanding and the heart!
5. Meditate, and so meditate on the love of Christ until that love is felt in the
heart, — felt as a heavenly impulse bearing the soul onwardand upwards, —

felt in its hallowedand stirring emotions, as a heavenly fire kindled upon the
altar of the broken and contrite heart, and burning there night and day.
6. Meditate, and so meditate on the promised Spirit of Christ, that there may
be now the earnestof what is to come. Meditation on the work and office of
the Spirit of Christ, is to find that there has been not only a work finished on
Calvary, but that there is a work also going on in the believing heart. It is to
know that there is not only wealthand light in Him, but to have that wealth
and light within.
(Anon.)
Meditation on God a delight
Foster, the essayist'snatural tendency to solitary meditation never showed
itself more strikingly than in his last hours. Aware of the near approach of
death, he requested to be left entirely alone, and was found, shortly after he
had expired, in a composedand contemplative attitude, as if he had thought
his wayto the mysteries of another world.
I will he glad in the Lord
The province of the will in Christian experience
W. L. Watkinson.
The Christian, in common with the greatmajority of men, recognizes the
force of the will in the realm of circumstances. We cannotsay, I will be rich, I
will be great, I will be successful — this would be presumptuous and vain; yet
in the realm of circumstances we allow the reality and significance ofwilling.
We canhope to be little or to do little without firm purpose and resolution. So
far as characteris concerned, the Christian maintains the sovereigntyof the
will. In fierce and bitter temptation we are bound to interpose our resolution
and keepourselves pure. The sanctifiedwill is equivalent to all practical
righteousness Butas Christians we do not sufficiently recognize the force of

will in regulating the soul's moods. We sit down as perfectly helpless, and
permit sentiments of coldness, fear, and melancholy to rule us in the most
despotic fashion. "I will be glad in the Lord." Often we resignourselves to
sadness and gloom;we feelthat to fight with melancholy is to smite with a
swordthe fluid air. But the psalmist thought otherwise:he felt that he could
command the sunshine. We too may vanquish these moods of the night and
walk in the day. We acknowledge,as I say, the dominion of the will in all
questions of conduct; we have power to speak whatis true, to do what is kind,
to act in consistencywith wisdom and righteousness. But we must not forget
that there is a morality of feeling as well as of conduct. In a true sense coldness
of heart is a sin equally with a lapse in action, fear is a sin as well as
dishonesty, and sadness is a sin as well as selfishness. The will has a wider
dominion than we sometimes think, and we are responsible for our moods as
well as for our doings.
1. To will aright gives the mind the right attitude. How important this is! We
fail to secure various blessings because we have not the proper attitude and
bias of soul. To will aright is to put the soul in position to see greattruths, to
receive precious gifts. It is part of the preparation of the heart, without which
we cannot receive the answerof the tongue.
2. To will aright fixes the mind on the right objects. In coldness think of God's
love and beauty; in fearsing of His faithfulness; in every sorrow remember
the word of grace strong as that which built the skies, the hope of glory which
shall not make us ashamed. Your miserable moods will vanish then as ghosts
before the morning lights.
3. To will aright gives to the mind the right impetus. The will is a cause, a
master cause. Whatamazing vigour a resolute volition shoots through the
whole of Christian life and experience!
(W. L. Watkinson.)
COMMENTARIES

EXPOSITORY(ENGLISHBIBLE)
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(34) My meditation.—Rather, my singing or my poetry.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
104:31-35 Man's gloryis fading; God's glory is everlasting:creatures change,
but with the Creatorthere is no variableness. And if mediation on the glories
of creationbe so sweetto the soul, what greaterglory appears to the
enlightened mind, when contemplating the great work of redemption! There
alone can a sinner perceive ground of confidence and joy in God. While he
with pleasure upholds all, governs all, and rejoices in all his works, letour
souls, touched by his grace, meditate on and praise him.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
My meditation of him shall be sweet - That is, I will find pleasure in
meditating on his characterand works. See the notes at Psalm1:2. It is one of
the characteristics oftrue piety that there is a "disposition" to think about
God; that the mind is "naturally" drawn to that subject;that it does not turn
awayfrom it, when it is suggested;that this fills up the intervals of business in
the day-time, and that it occupies the mind when wakeful at night. Psalm 63:6.
It is also a characteristic oftrue piety that there is "pleasure" in such
meditations; happiness in thinking of God. The sinner has no such pleasure.
The thought of God is painful to him; he does not desire to have it suggested
to him; he turns awayfrom it, and avoids it. Compare the notes at Isaiah
30:11. It is one of the evidences oftrue piety when a man "begins" to find
pleasure in thinking about God; when the subject, instead of being unpleasant
to him, becomes pleasant;when he no longer turns awayfrom it, but is
sensible of a desire to cherish the thought of God, and to know more of him.
I will be glad in the Lord - That is, I will rejoice that there is such a Being; I
will seek my happiness in him as my God.

Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
31-34. While God could equally glorify His power in destruction, that He does
it in preservation is of His rich goodness andmercy, so that we may well
spend our lives in grateful praise, honoring to Him, and delightful to pious
hearts (Ps 147:1).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
My meditation; or, my speech, or discourse;my praising of God, mentioned
Psalm104:33. Of him; concerning the glory of his works.
Shall be sweet;either,
1. To God; he will graciouslyacceptit; praise being his most acceptable
sacrifice, as is affirmed, Psalm69:30,31. Orrather,
2. To myself, as may be gatheredfrom the next clause. He implies that he shall
not only do this work, which a man may do unwillingly, or by constraint, but
that he will do it cheerfully, and with delight; which is most pleasing to God.
I will be glad in the Lord; I will rejoice in the contemplation of God’s works,
and in praising him for them.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
My meditation of him shall be sweet,.... Ofthe glories, excellencies, and
perfections of his person;of his offices, as Mediator, King, Priest, and
Prophet, the Saviour and Redeemer;of his works of creation, providence, and
redemption; of his word, the blessedtruths and comfortable doctrines of it; of
his providential dispensations, and gracious dealings with his people in the
present state;which to meditate upon, when grace is in exercise, is very sweet,
delightful, and comfortable. The Targum renders it as a petition,

"let my meditation be sweetbefore him;''
that is, grateful and acceptable to him: or, as the Septuagint and Vulgate
Latin versions, "let my speech", discourse,colloquy, address in prayer; see
Psalm141:2, or, "let my praise", so the Arabic and Syriac versions:the
spiritual sacrifices bothof prayer and praise are acceptable to God through
Christ; and the speechof the church, and every believer, whether in the one
way or the other, is sweetto Christ, very pleasantand delightful to him, Sol
2:14.
I will be glad in the Lord: the Targum is,
"in the Word of the Lord;''
in the essentialWord, the Lord Jesus Christ; in his person, the greatness,
glory, beauty, and fulness of it; in his righteousness,its purity, perfection, and
perpetuity; in his salvation, being so suitable, complete, and glorious.
Geneva Study Bible
My meditation of him shall be sweet:I will be glad in the LORD.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
34. Let my meditation be sweetunto him:
As for me, I will rejoice in Jehovah.
Sweet, i.e. acceptable,a word used of sacrifices in Jeremiah6:20; Hosea 9:4;
Malachi3:4. Cp. Psalm 19:14. As Jehovahrejoices in His works (Psalm
104:31), so the Psalmistrejoices in Jehovah.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 34. - My meditation of him shall be sweet;rather, may my meditation
be pleasing to him! (Kay, Cheyne, RevisedVersion). I be glad in the Lord

(comp. Psalm 32:11;Psalm33:1, etc.). Rejoicing in the Lord is a form of
praising him.
Keil and DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Fixing his eye upon the sea with its small and greatcreatures, and the care of
God for all self-living beings, the poet passes overto the fifth and sixth days of
creation. The rich contents of this sixth group flow over and exceedthe
decastich. With ‫ּוּבר־המ‬ (not ‫,ּוּברּג־המ‬ Psalm92:6) the poet expresseshis wonder
at the greatnumber of God's works, eachone at the same time having its
adjustment in accordancewith its design, and all, mutually serving one
another, co-operating one with another. ‫,ןינק‬ which signifies both bringing
forth and acquiring, has the former meaning here according to the predicate:
full of creatures, whichbear in themselves the traces ofthe Name of their
Creator(‫.)ּבנק‬ Beside ‫,ךיניק‬ however, we also find the reading ‫,קנינך‬ which is
adopted by Norzi, Heidenheim, and Baer, representedby the versions (lxx,
Vulgate, and Jerome), by expositors (Rashi: ‫ינך‬ ‫,)קנין‬ by the majority of the
MSS (according to Norzi) and old printed copies, whichwould signify τῆς
κτίσεώς σου, or according to the Latin versions κτήσεώς σου (possessione tua,
Luther "they possessions"),but is inferior to the plural ktisma'toonσου, as an
accusative ofthe object to ‫.ּבאהּו‬ The sea more particularly is a world of
moving creatures innumerable (Psalm 69:35). ‫ּבהז‬ ‫םּב‬ does not properly signify
this sea, but that sea, yonder sea (cf. Psalm68:9, Isaiah23:13; Joshua 9:13).
The attributes follow in an appositional relation, the loosenessofwhich admits
of the non-determination (cf. Psalm68:28; Jeremiah2:21; Genesis 43:14, and
the reverse caseabove in Psalm104:18). ‫אנהּב‬ .) in relation to ‫ינא‬ is a nomen
unitatis (the single ship). It is an old word, which is also Egyptian in the form
hani and ana.
(Note:Vide Chabas, Le papyrus magique Harris, p. 246, No. 826:HANI (‫,)ינא‬
vaisseau, navire, and the Book of the Dead1. 10, where hani occurs with the
determinative picture of a ship. As to the form ana, vid., Chabas loc. cit. p.
33.)
Leviathan, in the Book of Job, the crocodile, is in this passage the name of the
whale (vid., Lewysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds, 178-180,505). Ewaldand

Hitzig, with the Jewishtradition, understand ‫הּב‬ in Psalm 104:26 according to
Job 41:5 : in order to play with him, which, however, gives no idea that is
worthy of God. It may be takenas an alternative word for ‫יז‬ (cf. ‫הּב‬ in Psalm
104:20, Job40:20): to play therein, viz., in the sea (Saadia). In ‫,םנז‬ Psalm
104:27, the range of vision is widened from the creatures ofthe sea to all the
living things of the earth; cf. the borrowed passagesPsalm 145:15., Psalm
147:9. ‫,םנז‬ by an obliteration of the suffix, signifies directly "altogether,"and
‫הּתעּב‬ (cf. Job 38:32):when it is time for it. With reference to the change of the
subject in the principal and in the infinitival clause, vid., Ew. 338, a. The
existence, passing away, andorigin of all beings is conditioned by God. His
hand provides everything; the turning of His countenance towards them
upholds everything; and His breath, the creative breath, animates and renews
all things. The spirit of life of every creature is the disposing of the divine
Spirit, which hovered over the primordial waters and transformed the chaos
into the cosmos. ‫עסּת‬ in Psalm 104:29 is equivalent to ‫,עאסּת‬ as in 1 Samuel
15:6, and frequently. The full future forms accentedonthe ultima, from
Psalm104:27 onwards, give emphasis to the statements. Job34:14. may be
compared with Psalm 104:29.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
A. BARNES
Verse 34
My meditation of him shall be sweet- That is, I will find pleasure in
meditating on his characterand works. See the notes at Psalm1:2. It is one of
the characteristics oftrue piety that there is a “disposition” to think about
God; that the mind is “naturally” drawn to that subject; that it does not turn

awayfrom it, when it is suggested;that this fills up the intervals of business in
the day-time, and that it occupies the mind when wakefulat night. Psalm 63:6.
It is also a characteristic oftrue piety that there is “pleasure” in such
meditations; happiness in thinking of God. The sinner has no such pleasure.
The thought of God is painful to him; he does not desire to have it suggested
to him; he turns awayfrom it, and avoids it. Compare the notes at Isaiah
30:11. It is one of the evidences oftrue piety when a man “begins” to find
pleasure in thinking about God; when the subject, instead of being unpleasant
to him, becomes pleasant;when he no longer turns awayfrom it, but is
sensible of a desire to cherish the thought of God, and to know more of him.
I will be glad in the Lord - That is, I will rejoice that there is such a Being; I
will seek my happiness in him as my God.
Cyril J. Barber
Very beautifully and profoundly does the psalmist ask, in Psalms 104:33-34,
that some echo of the Divine joy may gladden his own heart, and that his
praise may be coevalwith God’s glory and his own life. This is the Divine
purpose in creation-that God may rejoice in it and chiefly in man its crown,
and that man may rejoice in Him. Such sweetcommerce is possible between
heaven and earth; and they have learnedthe lessonof creative powerand love
aright who by it have been led to share in the joy of God. The psalm has been
shaped in part by reminiscences ofthe creative days of creation. It ends with
the Divine Sabbath, and with the prayer, which is also a hope, that man may
enter into God’s rest.
But there is one discordantnote in creation’s full-toned hymn, "the fair music
that all creatures made." There are sinners on earth: and the lastprayer of
the psalmist is that that blot may be removed, and so nothing may mar the
realisationof God’s ideal, nor be left to lessenthe completeness ofHis delight
in His work. And so the psalm ends, as it began, with the singer’s callto his
own soul to bless Jehovah.

This is the first psalm which closes with Hallelujah (Praise Jehovah). It is
appended to the two following psalms, which close Book 4, and is againfound
in Book 5, in Psalms 111:1-10;Psalms 112:1-10;Psalms 113:1-9;Psalms
115:1-18;Psalms 116:1-19;Psalms 117:1-2, and in the final group, Psalms
146:1-10;Psalms 147:1-20;Psalms 148:1-14;Psalms 149:1-9;Psalms 150:1-6.
It is probably a liturgical addition.
A New World
ReadPsalm 104:31-35
When Jesus Christ is your Savior and God is your Father, when the Holy
Spirit is within you and the Word of God is teaching you, all of creationtakes
on new beauty and new blessing. The sky is a deeperblue, and the earth is a
richer green. You don't see just creation;you see the Creator. And you don't
simply see a Creator;you see the Heavenly Father, who cares foryou.
"I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I
have my being. Maymy meditation be sweetto Him; I will be glad in the
Lord" (vv. 33,34). The psalmistwrote these words after considering all of
God's creation. He lookedatthe waters, the mountains springs and the
rushing rivers. He heard the birds singing in the branches. He saw the cattle
eating grass. He saw man baking bread and making oil. He watchedthe sun
rise and set. "See allthis?" he said. "I'm going to rejoice in this Creator, who
is my God."

All creationis travailing in pain because of sin (Rom. 8:22). But our Creatoris
still in charge, and His creation, in spite of sin, still has great beauty and great
wealth. Did you know that God rejoices in His creation? "The glory of the
Lord shall endure forever; the Lord shall rejoice in His works" (v. 31). He
rejoices to hear the birds sing. He rejoices to see the rivers flow.
Let's rejoice in His works also. And let's rejoice that God is glorified as we
obey Him today.
* * *
God is glorified by His works, for they reflectHis greatness. Whenyou look at
creation, do you see His greatness?Rejoice withHim as He rejoices in His
creative works. "Rejoicein the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" (Phil.
4:4).
BakerBooks, a division of BakerPublishing Group
(bakerpublishinggroup.com). Used by permission. All rights to this material
are reserved. Materialis not to be reproduced, scanned, copied, or distributed
in any printed or electronic form without permission from BakerPublishing
Group.
WARREN WIERSBE
MEDITATION ON GOD NO. 2690

A SERMON INTENDEDFOR READING ON LORD’S-DAY, SEPTEMBER
2, 1900. DELIVEREDBY C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET
CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON A THURSDAY EVENING IN THE
SUMMER OF 1858.
“My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” Psalm104:34.
DAVID, certainly, was not a melancholy man. Eminent as he was for his piety
and for his religion, he was equally eminent for his joyfulness and gladness of
heart. Readthe verse that precedes my text, “I will sing unto the Lord as long
as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of
Him shall be sweet:I will be glad in the Lord.” It has often been insinuated, if
it has not been openly said, that the contemplation of divine things has a
tendency to depress the spirits. Religion, many thoughtful persons have
supposed, does not become the young; it checks the ardor of their youthful
blood. It may be very well for men with grey heads, who need something to
comfort and solacethem as they descendthe hill of life into the grave; it may
be well enough for those who are in poverty and deep trial; but that it is at all
congruous with the condition of a healthy, able-bodied, successful, and happy
man, is generallysaid to be out of the question. Now, there is no greaterlie
than this. No man is so happy but he would be happier still if he had true
religion. The man with a fullness of earthly pleasures, whose barns are full of
corn, and whose presses burst with new wine, would not lose any part of his
happiness, had he the grace ofGod in his heart; rather, that joy would add
sweetness to all his prosperity, it would strain off many of the bitter dregs
from his cup, it would purify his heart, and freshen his tastes for delights, and
show him how to extract more honey from the honeycomb. Religionis a thing
that can make the most melancholy joyful; at the same time that it canmake
the joyous ones more joyful still. It can make the gloomybright, as it gives the
oil of joy in the place of mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness. Moreover, itcan light up the face that is joyous with a heavenly
gladness;it can make the eye sparkle with tenfold more brilliance; and happy

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