9.19.2011 PSALM 119.133 ORDER MY STEPS IN THY WORD

just had a good blessing this a.m. as the above verse came to mind as i was having time with God. i was moved to look at charles haddon spurgeon's 'treasury of david', the best commentary on the book of psalms i know of. what follows is some of what was written on psalm 119.133 - 'order my steps in Thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.'

'order my steps in Thy word' - as before he sought mercy (preceeding verse), so now he seeks grace. there are many that seek mercy to forgive sin, who seek not grace to deliver them from the power of sin; this is to abuse God's mercy and turn His grace into wantonness. he that prayeth for mercy to forgive the guilt of sin only, seeks not that by sin he should not offend God; but that he may sin and not hurt himself..but he who craves deliverance also from the commanding power and deceit of sin, seeks not only a benefit to himself, but grace also to please and serve the Lo4rd his God. the first is but a lover of himself; the second is a lover of God, more than of himself. and truly he never knew what it was to seek mercy for sin past, who with it also earnestly sought not grace to keep him from sin in time to come. these benefits cannot be divided; he who hath not the second (howsoever he flatter himself) may be assured that he hath not gotten the first - william cowper

same as above - it is written of boleslaus, one of the kings of poland, that he still carries about him the picture of his father and when he was to do any great work or set upon any design extraordinary, he would look on the picture and pray that he might do nothing unworthy of such a father's name. thus it is that the scriptures are the picture of God's will, therein drawn out to the very life. before a man enter upon or engage himself in any business whatsoever, let him look there and read there what is to be done, what to be undone and what God commands; let that be done; what He forbids, let that be undone; let the balance of the sanctuary weigh all, the oracles of God decide all, the rule of God's word be the square of all, and His glory the ultimate of all intendments whatsoever. - from spencer's 'things new and old'

'order my steps' - the hebrew, hachen = 'make them firm'. let me not walk with a halting or unsteady step. - adam clark

same as above - the people of God would not only have their path right, but their STEPS ORDERED; as not their general course wrong (as those who walk in the way of everlasting perdition), so not a step awry; they would not miss the way to heaven, either in whole or in part. - thomas manton

'my steps' - (speaking of the steps of the temple) these steps, whether cedar, gold, or stone, yet that which added to their adornment, was the wonderment of a queen. and whatever they were made of, to be sure, they were a shadow of those steps, which we should take to and in the house of God...
steps of God psalm 85.13
steps ordered by Him psalm 37.23
steps ordered in His word psalm 119.133
steps of faith romans 4.12
steps of the Spirit II corinthians 7.18
steps of truth III john4
steps washed with butter job 29.6
steps taken before or in the presence of God.
steps butted and bounded by the divine rule.
these are steps indeed - john bunyan in 'solomon's temple spiritualized'

'let not any iniquity' - true obedience to God is inconsistent with the dominion of any one lust or corrupt affection. i say, though a man out of some slender and insufficient touch of religion upon his heart, may go right for a while and do many things gladly; yet that corruption which is indulged and under the power of which a man lieth, will at length draw him off from God; and therefore no one sin shall have dominion over us. when doth sin reign or have dominion over us? when we do not endeavour to mortify it and to cut off the provisions that may feed that lust. chrysostom's observation is, the apostle does not say, let it not tyrannize over you, but, let it not reign over you; that is, when you suffer it to have a quiet reign in your hearts - thomas manton

'let not any iniquity have dominion over me' - i had rather be a prisoner to man all my life than be in bondage to sin one day. he says not, let not this and the other man rule over me; but 'let not sin have dominion over me'. well said! there is hope in such a man's condition as long as it is so. - michael bruce, 1666

in the section 'helps to the village preacher' -

1. a holy life is no work of chance, it is a masterpiece of order - the order of conformity to the prescribed rule; there is arithmetical and geometrical order; the proportional order; the order of relation; an order of period: holiness, as to its order, is seasonable, suitable.
2. the rul of this order: in Thy word
3. the director chosen

1. order in outward life desired
2. order according to the divine idea
3. order in the government within