When Jesus said, “take up your cross” to them, they thought of a cruel instrument of torture and death. They thought of dying in the most agonizing method known to man. They thought of poor, condemned criminals hanging on crosses by the roadside. Doubtless they had seen men executed in that fashion. They understood He was calling them to die for Him. They knew He was asking them to make the ultimate sacrifice, to surrender to Him as Lord in every sense.
John MacArthur

Spurgeon PS1606

Spurgeon PS1606

EXPOSITION.

Jesus found the way of obedience to lead into “_pleasant places_.” Notwithstanding all the sorrows which marred his countenance, he exclaimed, “Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” It may seem strange, but while no other man was ever so thoroughly acquainted with grief, it is our belief that no other man ever experienced so much joy and delight in service, for no other served so faithfully and with such great results in view as his recompense of reward. The joy which was set before him must have sent some of its beams of splendour a-down the rugged places where he endured the cross, despising the shame, and must have made them in some respects pleasant places to the generous heart of the Redeemer. At any rate, we know that Jesus was well content with the blood-bought portion which the lines of electing love marked off as his spoil with the strong and his portion with the great. Therein he solaced himself on earth, and delights himself in heaven; and he asks no more “GOODLY HERITAGE” than that his own beloved may be with him where he is and behold his glory. All the saints can use the language of this verse, and the more thoroughly they can enter into its contented, grateful, joyful spirit the better for themselves, and the more glorious to their God. Our Lord was poorer than we are, for he had not where to lay his head, and yet when he mentioned his poverty he never used a word of murmuring; discontented spirits are as unlike Jesus as the croaking raven is unlike the cooing dove. Martyrs have been happy in dungeons. “From the delectable orchard of the Leonine prison the Italian martyr dated his letter, and the presence of God made the gridiron of Laurence pleasant to him.” Mr. Greenham was bold enough to say, “They never felt God’s love, or tasted forgiveness of sins, who are discontented.” Some divines think that discontent was the first sin, the rock which wrecked our race in paradise; certainly there can be no paradise where this evil spirit has power, its slime will poison all the flowers of the garden.

“_I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel_.” Praise as well as prayer was presented to the Father by our Lord Jesus, and we are not truly his followers unless our resolve be, “I will bless the Lord.” Jesus is called Wonderful, Counsellor, but as man he spake not of himself, but as his Father had taught him. Read in confirmation of this, #Joh 7:16; 8:28; 12:49,50|; and the prophecy concerning him in #Isa 11:2,3|. It was our Redeemer’s wont to repair to his Father for direction, and having received it, he blessed him for giving him counsel. It would be well for us if we would follow his example of lowliness, cease from trusting in our own understanding, and seek to be guided by the Spirit of God. “_My reins also instruct me in the night seasons_.” By the reins understand the inner man, the affections and feelings. The communion of the soul with God brings to it an inner spiritual wisdom which in still seasons is revealed to itself. Our Redeemer spent many nights alone upon the mountain, and we may readily conceive that together with his fellowship with heaven, he carried on a profitable commerce with himself; reviewing his experience, forecasting his work, and considering his position. Great generals fight their battles in their own mind long before the trumpet sounds, and so did our Lord win our battle on his knees before he gained it on the cross. It is a gracious habit after taking counsel from above to take counsel within. Wise men see more with their eyes shut by night than fools can see by day with their eyes open. He who learns from God and so gets the seed, will soon find wisdom within himself growing in the garden of his soul; “Thine ears shall hear a voice behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left.” The night season which the sinner chooses for his sins is the hallowed hour of quiet when believers hear the soft still voices of heaven, and of the heavenly life within themselves.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.

Verse 6.–“_The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage_.” Bitter herbs will go down very well, when a man has such delicious “meats which the world knows not of.” The sense of our Father’s love is like honey at the end of every rod; it turns stones into bread, and water into wine, and the valley of trouble into a door of hope; it makes the biggest evils seem as if they were none, or better than none; for it makes our deserts like the garden of the Lord, and when we are upon the cross for Christ, as if we were in paradise with Christ. Who would quit his duty for the sake of suffering, that hath such relief under it? Who would not rather walk in truth, when he hath such a cordial to support him, than by the conduct of fleshly wisdom, to take any indirect or irregular method for his own deliverance?–^Timothy Cruso.

Verse 6.–“_The lines_.” Probably alluding to the division of the land by lot, and the measuring of it off by ropes and lines. David believed in an overruling destiny which fixed the bounds of his abode, and his possessions; he did more, he was satisfied with all the appointment of the predestinating God.–^C. H. S.

Verse 7.–“_I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel_.” The Holy Ghost is a spirit of counsel, powerfully instructing and convincingly teaching how to act and walk, for he directs us to set right steps, and to walk with a right foot, and thereby prevents us of many a sin, by seasonable instruction set on upon our hearts with a strong hand; as #Isa 8:11|. For, as the same prophet says (#Isa 11:2|), he is the spirit of counsel and of might. Of counsel to direct; of might, to strengthen the inner man. Such he was to Christ the Head, of whom it is there spoken. For instance, in that agony (on the determination of which our salvation depended), and conflict in the garden, when he prayed, “Let this cup pass,” it was this good Spirit that counselled him to die; and he blesseth God for it. “I bless the Lord that hath given me counsel.” It was that counsel that in that case caused his heart to say, “Not my will, but thine.”–^Thomas Goodwin.

Verse 7.–“_My reins_.” Common experience shows that the workings of the mind, particularly the passions of joy, grief, and fear, have a very remarkable effect on the reins or kidneys, and from their retired situation in the body, and their being hid in fat, they are often used in Scripture to denote the most secret working of the soul and affections.–^John Parkhurst.

Verse 7.–“_My reins also instruct me in the night seasons_.” This shows that God, who, he says, was always present to him, had given him some admonition in his dreams, or at least his waking thoughts by night, from whence he gathered a certain assurance of his recovery; possibly he might be directed to some remedy. Antonine thanks the gods for directing him in his sleep to remedies.–^Z. Mudge, in loc, 1744.

Verse 7.–“_My reins also instruct me in the night seasons_.” We have a saying among ourselves that “the pillow is the best counsellor;” and there is much truth in the saying, especially if we have first committed ourselves in prayer to God, and taken a prayerful spirit with us to our bed. In the quiet of its silent hours, undisturbed by the passions, and unharassed by the conflicts of the world, we can commune with our own heart, and be instructed and guarded as to our future course even “_in the night season_.” David especially seems to have made these seasons sources of great profit as well as delight. Sometimes he loved to meditate upon God as he lay upon his bed; and it was no doubt as he meditated on the Lord’s goodness and on the way by which he had led him, that he was, as it were, constrained, even at midnight, to arise and pray. While, therefore, we acknowledge the pillow to be a good counsellor, let us with David here acknowledge also that it is the Lord who gives the counsel, and sends the instruction in the night season.–^Barton Bouchier.

HINTS TO PREACHERS.

Verse 6.–“_Pleasant places_.” Bethlehem, Calvary, Olivet, Tabor, Zion, Paradise, etc. II. _Pleasant purposes_, which made these lines fall to me. III. _Pleasant praises_. By service, sacrifice, and song.

Verse 6 (second clause).–I. A heritage. II. A goodly heritage. III. I have it. IV. Yea, or the Spirit’s witness.

Verse 6.–“_A goodly heritage_.” That which makes our portion good is–I. The favour of God with it. II. That it is from a Father’s hand. III. That it comes through the covenant of grace. IV. That it is the purchase of Christ’s blood. V. That it is an answer to prayer, and a blessing from above upon honest endeavours.

Verse 6.–We may put this acknowledgment into the mouth of–I. _An indulged child of providence_. II. _An inhabitant of this favoured country_. III. _A Christian with regard to his spiritual condition_.–^William Jay.

Verse 7.–Taking counsel’s opinion. Of whom? Upon what? Why? When? How? What then?

Verse 7.–Upward and inward, or two schools of instruction.