I have treasured the words of
his mouth more than my necessary food. By Charles Simeon. I have treasured the words of
his mouth more than my necessary food. Job chapter 23 verse 12. How much fuller a revelation
of God's mind do we possess than did Job. Doubtless Job's views,
both of himself as a sinner, and of Christ as a Saviour, were,
in many respects, clear and just. Job chapter 9 verses 20-21, Job
chapter 19 verses 25-27 But how incomparably richer is
that discovery of God's revealed will which is transmitted to
us in the writings of the Old and New Testament! In His Word,
God conceals nothing from us which it would be for our advantage
to know. All the eternal counsels of God,
as displayed in the covenant of grace, are exhibited to our
view, together with all the wonders of redeeming love. How highly,
then, should God's Word be esteemed by us! If Job felt such regard
for the partial revelations given to him, then what should we feel
towards this complete system of divine truth which we are
privileged to peruse? But how low is the esteem in
which God's Word is held by many of us? not only is our necessary
food preferred before it, but every base indulgence. The gratifications
of sense which are most sinful, and the acquisition of objects
which are most worthless, have a greater prevalence in our minds
than the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Let us only look
back and see how faint our desires after divine knowledge have been,
and how feeble our endeavors to obtain it have been. In truth,
every worthless book has been preferred before the sacred volume. With most among us, the perusal
of a novel or a newspaper would be resorted to, at any time,
to occupy a leisure hour, rather than a meditation on God's blessed
Word. who in practice regards God's
Word as their sole rule of life and conduct. Does God's Word
reign with unrestricted sway over us? Alas! Among most professing Christians,
its influence is very limited, any worldly interest, any carnal
gratification, is quite sufficient to overpower it. Not even the
gospel itself, with all the wonders of redeeming love, can operate
so as to subject men to its dominion. To what is our ignorance of heavenly
subjects to be ascribed, but to this? and to what else must
our disobedience to God's commandments be traced? We do not treasure
God's Word, and therefore we do not study it. We do not search
its contents, and therefore we neither know it nor obey it.
Though it ought to be our meditation and delight all the day, with
many, the sacred volume is scarcely ever read at all. And with those
who do occasionally take it into their hands, it is read only
in a superficial manner, and without that veneration and love
which it deserves. Study God's precious Word in
your secret chamber, as it were, upon your knees, and implore
from God the teaching of His Holy Spirit, in order that you
may be able to love, comprehend, and obey its glorious contents.
His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates
day and night. Psalm chapter 1 verse 2 When
your words came, I ate them, they were my joy and my heart's
delight. Jeremiah chapter 15 verse 16