Charles Bridges, one of the outstanding evangelical writers in the Church of England in the nineteenth century, issued his Exposition of Psalm 119 in 1827 when he was 33 years of age. The popularity of the work may be judged by the fact that it passed through at least twenty-four editions before his death in 1869. It is preeminently a book of the heart. In its original Preface, Bridges tells us that his main design in writing it was to \u2018furnish a correct standard of Evangelical sincerity for the habitual scrutiny of his own heart\u2019, corresponding to \u2018the several graces of the Christian system\u2019, which the psalm itself describes. Not surprisingly, a magazine of a century ago told its readers that the Exposition\u2019s \u2018appeals to the heart are such as to approve themselves to the experience of every devout believer in Christ.\u2019 C. H. Spurgeon goes so far as to say that the Exposition is \u2018worth its weight in gold.\u2019 Psalm 119\u2014\u2019twenty-two pearls upon one string\u2019, as Bridges calls it\u2013has ever retained a strong fascination for exercised souls. Jonathan Edwards, Bishop Cowper, Henry Venn, Henry Martyn, William Wilberforce\u2014to name but five\u2014have testified to its charms. Luther said that he would not exchange one leaf of it for the whole world. Philip Henry told his children that to love it would \u2018bring them to be in love with all the rest of Scripture.\u2019<\/p>\n
Bridges uses this psalm, structured according to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, to teach both the ABC of Christian experience and the maturity to which that experience must lead. He does so, says Spurgeon, \u2018with surpassing grace and unction.\u2019 Isaac Watts, in his paraphrase of the psalm, sums up what might well be called the spirit in which Bridges wrote his book, in the words:<\/p>\n
\u2018When nature sinks and spirits droop, Pre-eminently a book of the heart, \u2018worth its weight in gold.\u2019 Bridges uses this Psalm to teach both the ABC of Christian experience and the maturity to which that experience must lead. 512pp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":239426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[1499,20594],"product_tag":[20601,6653],"class_list":{"0":"post-238","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-commentaries","7":"product_cat-pastors-special","8":"product_tag-pastors-special-commentaries","9":"product_tag-psalms","10":"pa_binding-cloth-bound","11":"pa_class-bc","12":"pa_era-19th-century","13":"pa_format-book","14":"pa_isbn-1965","15":"pa_original-pub-date-1966","16":"pa_page-count-1967","17":"pa_recent-pub-date-aug-1-1974","18":"pa_recent-pub-date-year-6183","19":"pa_scripture-psalms","20":"pa_short-isbn-1969","21":"pa_subtitle-an-exposition","22":"pa_theauthor-bridges-charles","23":"pa_topic-no-topic-listed","25":"first","26":"instock","27":"sale","28":"taxable","29":"shipping-taxable","30":"purchasable","31":"product-type-simple"},"bundled_by":[],"bundle_stock_status":"instock","bundle_stock_quantity":127,"bundle_virtual":false,"bundle_layout":"","bundle_add_to_cart_form_location":"","bundle_editable_in_cart":false,"bundle_sold_individually_context":"","bundle_item_grouping":"","bundle_min_size":"","bundle_max_size":"","bundle_price":[],"bundled_items":[],"bundle_sell_ids":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThy promises of grace
\nAre pillars to support my hope,
\nAnd there I write Thy praise.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"