From J. C. Philpot's Daily Portions
November 23 "Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O Lord; the man you
teach out of your law." Psalm 94:12 We may observe in the words before us, that the Lord puts
chastening before teaching. Is there not something remarkable
in this? Why should chastening precede teaching? For this reason. We have no
ear to hear except so far as we are chastened. It was so with the prodigal.
Until he was brought to his right mind by strokes of hunger, he did not
think of his father's house; he had no heart to return; but a mighty famine
sent him home. So it is with God's children; as long as they are allowed to
wander in their backslidings, they have no heart to return. But let the rod
come; let them be driven home by stripes; then they have an ear to listen,
while God teaches them to profit, instructs them by his blessed Spirit, and
speaks into their heart those lessons which are for their eternal good. "And teach him out of your law." "The law" in the
Scriptures has a very wide signification; it means, in the original,
instruction. The word is Torah, which signifies "teaching," or
"direction." Thus the word "law" is not confined to the law of Moses given
in thunder and lightning upon Mount Sinai; but it includes also the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ--"the perfect law of liberty;" "the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus;" that law which was in the heart of the
Redeemer, when he said, "I come to do your will, O God; yes, your law is
within my heart." Now, as the Lord teaches his children "out of the law,"
strictly so called, so he teaches them "out of the gospel"; and to my mind,
there is something exceedingly sweet and expressive in the words "out of
the law." It seems to convey, not only that the law is a treasure-house of
wrath, but that the gospel also is a treasure-house of mercy. And as those
who know most of the law are only taught "out of the law," and not the whole
of the law, only a few drops, as it were, out of the inexhaustible wrath of
God; so out of the heavenly treasure-house of the gospel, "the perfect law
of liberty," it is but a little of grace and mercy that in this life can be
known. As Christ said to his disciples in promising the
Spirit--"He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you." He
cannot take "all," and show it unto them; for none could live under the
sight. The Spirit, therefore, takes of the things of Christ, and
shows here a little, and there a little; some little blessedness here, and
some little blessedness there; a suitable promise, a gracious testimony, a
comforting text, an encouraging word, a sight of atoning blood, a smile of
his countenance, a view of his Person, a discovery of his righteousness, or
a glimpse of his love. This is taking of the things of Christ, and revealing
them to the soul. And thus, the man whom the Lord takes in hand, he teaches
"out of" the gospel by making Christ experimentally known, and revealing his
dying love. And thus he teaches each and all "out of his law "--both the law
from Sinai, and the law from Zion.