Jeremiah Answering the Call Bible Bible Study Topical Studies Jeremiah Answering the Call Wednesday October 8 2014 Save The rabbis called him the Weeping Prophet They said he began wailing the moment he was born When Michelangelo painted him on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel he presented him in a posture of despair He looks like a man who has wept so long he has no tears left to shed His face is turned to one side like a man who has been battered by many blows His shoulders are hunched forward weighed down by the sins of Judah His eyes also are cast down as if he can no longer bear to see Gods people suffer His name was Jeremiah His story begins like this The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah when the people of Jerusalem went into exile Jeremiah 113 This introduction tells us a great deal about Jeremiah He was a preachers son for his father Hilkiah was a priest He was born in the village of Anathoth close enough to Jerusalem to see the city walls but at the edge of the wilderness where the land slopes down to the Dead Sea He labored as Gods prophet for forty years or more from 627 bc to some time after 586 bc Four decades is a long time to be a weeping prophet Jeremiah lived when little Israel was tossed around by three great superpowers Assyria to the north Egypt to the south and Babylon to the east He served and suffered through the administrations of three kings Josiah the reformer Jehoiakim the despot and Zedekiah the puppet He was a prophet during the cold November winds of Judahs life as a nation right up to the time Gods people were deported to Babylon Jeremiah himself was exiled to Egypt where he died A Divine Call Jeremiahs sufferings began with a divine call The word of the Lord came to me saying Before I formed you in the womb I knew you before you were born I set you apart I appointed you as a prophet to the nations Jeremiah 145 God did wonderful things for Jeremiah before he was even born He knew him He formed him He set him apart and appointed him as a prophet to the nations He did all this long before Jeremiah drew his first breath or shed his first tear The call of Jeremiah is rich in its doctrinal and practical content Among its important teachings are the following 1 God is the Lord of life God formed Jeremiah in the womb Jeremiah had biological parents of course but God himself fashioned him and knit him together in his mothers womb Telling children who ask where babies come from that they come from God is good theology And it is not bad science either The Lord of life uses the natural processes he designed to plant human life in the womb 2 A fetus is a person A person is a human being created in the image of God living in relationship to God This verse testifies that the personal relationship between God and his child takes place in the womb or even earlier Birth is not our beginning Not even conception is our real beginning In some ineffable way God has a personal knowledge of the individual that precedes conception Before I formed you in the womb I knew you This is the strong intimate Hebrew word for know that is also used to describe sexual intimacy between husband and wife I knew you What a beautiful thing for God to say to his children I loved you and cared for you in eternity past I made a personal commitment to you even before you were born And what a beautiful thing for parents to say to their children God knows you God loves you and God has entered into a personal relationship with you This verse holds special comfort for mothers who have had miscarriages It gives hope to parents who have lost children in infancy and even for women who aborted their own babies God knew your child and 3 We do not choose God before God chooses us If you want to know who you are you have to know whose you are For the Christian the answer to that question is that you belong to Jesus Christ When did Jeremiah start belonging to God When did God choose him The prophet was set apart before he was born While Jeremiah was being carried around in his mothers womb God was making preparations for his salvation and his ministry To set something apart is to sanctify it or to dedicate it to holy service Long before Jeremiah was born God chose him and consecrated him for ministry Given the intimacy of Gods knowledge of Jeremiah it is appropriate for Jeremiah to address him with the title Sovereign Lord Jeremiah 16 God is sovereign He not only forms his people in the womb he sets them apart for salvation from all eternity Gods choice is not unique to Jeremiah it is true for every believer This is known as the doctrine of divine election You did not choose me Jesus said to his disciples but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit John 1516 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight Ephesians 134 This promise is for the whole church Therefore it is for the comfort of every Christian God not only knows you he chose you and he did so long before you were ever conceived Eugene Peterson offers these practical conclusions about Gods choice of Jeremiah My identity does not begin when I begin to understand myself There is something previous to what I think about myself and it is what God thinks of me That means that everything I think and feel is by nature a response and the one to whom I respond is God I never speak the first word I never make the first move Jeremiahs life didnt start with Jeremiah Jeremiahs salvation didnt start with Jeremiah Jeremiahs truth didnt start with Jeremiah He entered the world in which the essential parts of his existence were already ancient history So do we 1 4 Every Christian has a calling There is a general call of course to believe in Jesus Christ But everyone who believes in Christ also has a special calling to a particular sphere of obedience and ministry Jeremiah was not just set apart for salvation he was set apart for vocation God had work for him to do The prophet had a mission to accomplish and a message to deliver to his generation Jeremiahs unique appointment was to be a prophet to the nations God intended his ministry to be international in scope Part of Jeremiahs job was to promise Gods grace to the nations proclaiming all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord Jeremiah 317 But to be a prophet to the nations also includes announcing Gods judgment By the time he reached the end of his ministry Jeremiah had pronounced a divine sentence of judgment upon every nation from Ammon to Babylon Just as all nations receive Gods sovereign grace all nations are subject to Gods severe justice Jeremiahs calling is not for everyone The first chapter of Jeremiah is mainly about his call for his times not your call for your times But you do have a call God not only knows you and chose you he has a plan for your life As F B Meyer so eloquently puts it From the foot of the cross where we are cradled in our second birth to the brink of the river where we lay down our armor there is a path which he has prepared for us to walk in 2 Perhaps you are still trying to figure out what Gods plan is for you Many Christians long to know what God is calling them to do If you are not sure there are at least two things you ought to do The first is to do everything you already know God wants you to do You can not expect to be ready for Gods call or even to recognize Gods call unless you are obeying what God has already revealed to you This includes the obvious things such as spending time in prayer and Bible study serving the people with whom you live remaining active in the worship of the church and being Gods witness in the world Second ask God to reveal his will for your life If you ask he has promised to answer If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him James 15 A Dubious Candidate Jeremiah knew what God wanted him to do Yet even after he received his divine call he was still a dubious candidate Ah Sovereign Lord he said I do not know how to speak I am only a child Jeremiah 16 Jeremiah had two main objections to becoming a prophet his lack of eloquence and his lack of experience To paraphrase Ahhh wait a second Lord about this whole prophettothenations thing It doesnt sound like that great an idea Prophecy is not one of my spiritual gifts As you know I am getting a C in rhetoric at the synagogue Besides I am just a teenager Was Jeremiah being modest or faithless Was it right for him to object to Gods call or not A good way to answer those questions is to compare Jeremiah with some other prophets Later the Lord reaches out his hand and touches Jeremiahs mouth Jeremiah 19 This reminds us of Isaiahs experience when he saw the Lord seated on a throne high and exalted and the train of his robe filled the temple Isaiah 61 Isaiah had one or two doubts about his calling too but his doubts were different Isaiahs main problem was that he had a guilty conscience Woe to me I cried I am ruined For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King the Lord Almighty Isaiah 65 Jeremiah 15 Isaiah did not doubt his ability he doubted his integrity When the seraph flew from the altar to touch Isaiahs lips with a live coal he said See this has touched your lips your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for Isaiah 67 Isaiahs experience was somewhat different from Jeremiahs When God touched Jeremiahs lips it was not to take away his sins it was to give him Gods words What about the call of Moses Was Jeremiahs call like the call of Moses Jeremiahs objection sounds very much like the objection Moses made when God called him O Lord I have never been eloquent neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant I am slow of speech and tongue Exodus 410 Unlike Isaiah Moses doubted his competence rather than his righteousness This was precisely Jeremiahs objection He was not sure what to say or how to say it He may have even been concerned about his foreign language skills since God was calling him to an international ministry Perhaps his grasp of Akkadian and Ugaritic was deficient In any case Jeremiah had his doubts about whether he could do the job Jeremiahs doubts find an echo in J R R Tolkiens novel The Fellowship of the Ring A hobbit named Frodo has been chosen to make a long and dangerous quest to destroy the one ring of power a quest he himself would not wish to choose I am not made for perilous quests cried Frodo I wish I had never seen the Ring Why did it come to me Why was I chosen The answer Frodo is given is similar to the one Gods prophets often receive Such questions can not be answered You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess not for power or wisdom at any rate But you have been chosen and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have 3 When God gives his servants a clear calling he does not accept any excuses The Lord said to him Moses Who gave man his mouth Who makes him deaf or mute Who gives him sight or makes him blind Is it not I the Lord Now go I will help you speak and will teach you what to say Exodus 41112 God said much the same thing to Jeremiah To put it plainly he said Dont give me that stuff Do not say I am only a child You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you Jeremiah 17 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me Now I have put my words in your mouth Jeremiah 19 God did not disqualify Jeremiah on the basis of his youth and inexperience In fact he treated him the same way he treated Moses He did not deny the basis for the prophets objection He did not argue with Jeremiah about his speaking credentials or quibble with him about his age Jeremiah may have had reasonable doubts But God exposed his false humility for what it really was a lack of faith Jeremiah had forgotten that God is not limited by human weakness God himself possesses everything Jeremiah needs to answer his call In fact enabling weak tools to do strong jobs is Gods standard operating procedure His entire work force is comprised of dubious candidates When God calls someone to do a job he gives him or her all the gifts needed to get the job done With Gods calling comes Gods gifting This does not mean that your gifts and abilities do not matter when you are trying to figure out what God wants you to do with your life They do matter If you do not know what God is calling you to do take an honest look at the gifts he has given you If necessary ask others to help you figure out what your gifts are But once you know what God has called you to do trust him to equip you to do it God equipped Jeremiah to be an international prophet in some amazing ways He was a polymath a great scholar a man of prodigious learning He was able to converse in the fields of politics economics comparative religion geography theology botany zoology anthropology military strategy architecture industry agriculture fine arts and poetry 4 If God has actually called you to do a particular job then he will do for you what he did for Jeremiah He will give you everything you need to do that job If you think you know what the Lord wants you to do with your life get busy trusting him to give you the grace to answer his call A Dangerous Commission Once God had issued his divine call and dealt with his dubious candidate he gave him a dangerous commission You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you Jeremiah 178 Frankly that sounds a little ominous God does not spell things out but it is easy to tell that Jeremiahs job will be dangerous Telling someone Do not be afraid is the kind of advice that tends to have the opposite effect than the one intended The more people tell you not to be afraid the more you start to wonder what you ought to be afraid of It is like the king who sent one of his knights off to rescue his fair princess Just as the knight rode away from the castle and just as the drawbridge was Gods promise to rescue Jeremiah is also a bit worrisome Rescued from what The promise suggests that the prophet will fall into grave danger God does not promise that Jeremiah has nothing to fear or that he will not need to be rescued But he does command him not to be afraid and he does promise to rescue him The reason Jeremiah did not need to be afraid was that he had the promise of Gods presence The Lord gave him the same promise he made to Moses to Joshua and to all his children I will be with you Once there was a man who understood the danger of the prophets commission and the comfort of Gods presence He was an evangelist God used to bring renewal to the Colombian church during the 1980s and 1990s Since he was an enemy of the drug cartels his life was in constant danger until he was finally gunned down by assassins Yet shortly before he died he said I know that I am absolutely immortal until I have finished the work that God intends for me to do Gods servants are indeed immortal until they have completed their service Not only did Jeremiah have Gods presence at his side he also had Gods words on his lips Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me Now I have put my words in your mouth Jeremiah 19 This is another connection between Jeremiah and Moses God promised that he would raise up a prophet for his people like Moses I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell them everything I command him Deuteronomy 1818 Whenever Jeremiah spoke in Gods name God was the one doing the talking Who wrote the book of Jeremiah From one point of view it contains the words of Jeremiah as the Scripture says The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah Jeremiah 11 From another point of view however these are the words of God himself The word of the Lord came to him v 2 The Bible is never embarrassed to speak this way There is a meaningful sense in which the words of Jeremiah are recorded in the pages of the Old Testament The book of Jeremiah gives us a glimpse of the personality and experiences of the man Jeremiah But at the same time the Holy Spirit is the One who breathed out the words of the book of Jeremiah Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit 2 Peter 121 The book of Jeremiah is Gods words and Jeremiahs words When we read them we do not just see God through Jeremiahs lens God speaks to us directly The reason Jeremiah has authority over nations and kingdoms Jeremiah 110 is that he is not speaking on his own behalf God is sovereign over the nations and he rules them by his Word When prophets speak in his name they are mightier than kings When preachers preach according to Gods Word they are mightier than presidents Once when I was interviewed by a pastoral search committee I was asked if I was easily intimidated The church was frequented by scholars and other learned individuals Would you feel comfortable preaching to soandso I was asked Before taking time to think about my answer I blurted out Yes Id preach to the Queen of England I think it was a good answer God rules the nations of this world by his Word Those who have been appointed to preach that Word have a spiritual authority over the nations The Lord instructed Jeremiah to be a bold prophet not because of his preaching ability or because of his age and experience but because he was called to speak Gods own words A Depressing Conclusion It was not always easy for Jeremiah to speak Gods words His commission was not only dangerous it was often depressing We have already been given a clue that the book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending It ends with the people of Jerusalem being sent into exile Thus the book of Jeremiah is a tragedy rather than a comedy It is about the unraveling of a nation It is the sad story of the decline of Gods people from faith to idolatry to exile It is this decline that makes Jeremiah a prophet for postChristian times He lived in a time very much like our own when people no longer think God matters for daily life Public life is increasingly dominated by pagan ideas and rituals Some people still meet their religious obligations but they do so out of duty rather than devotion The spiritual problems we face at the dawn of the twentyfirst century were the same problems that Jeremiah found depressing 2500 years ago The discouragement of his ministry is evident from the verbs God uses to describe it See today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down to destroy and overthrow to build and to plant Jeremiah 110 The prophets job description includes six tasks and four of them are negative Two to one his words to the nations will be words of judgment To uproot is to dig up nations by the roots and turn them under It is a word that Jeremiah uses more than all the other biblical writers combined often to describe the uprooting of idols eg Jeremiah 121417 To tear down is to tear down a standing structure like knocking down a city wall or toppling a tower To destroy is another word for knocking things down To overthrow is to demolish to bring to complete ruin Once the Lord uproots tears down destroys and overthrows a nation there is not much left There is a great deal of that kind of judgment in the rest of Jeremiahs book This verse is not only Jeremiahs job description it is also a helpful plotsummary of his book He lives in such evil days that judgment will outnumber grace two to one But grace will have the last word When the cities of evil have been torn down and plowed under God will start afresh He will begin a new work He will build and he will plant He will bring renewal out of demolition This is Gods plan for the kingdoms of this world cf Jeremiah 18710 He is the one who is in charge of the beginnings and endings of history He is the one who uproots some nations and plants others He is the one who tears down some kingdoms and rebuilds others This is also Gods plan for salvation in Jesus Christ Jesus said Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days John 219 The temple of Jesus body was uprooted and torn down from the cross It was destroyed and overthrown to the grave But God built and planted resurrection life into the body of Jesus Christ Now God builds and plants that same resurrection power into the life of every believer First the Holy Spirit uproots and tears down sin in your heart and then he plants faith and builds obedience into your life Like Jeremiah you were a dubious candidate at the beginning Yet God has known you from all eternity and he has set you apart for new life in Christ If God has done all that for you will you go wherever he tells you to go and say whatever he wants you to say even if it turns out to be a dangerous commission Notes 1 Eugene H Peterson Run with the Horses The Quest for Life at Its Best Downers Grove IL InterVarsity 1983 p 38 2 F B Meyer Jeremiah Priest and Prophet rev ed Fort Washington PA Christian Literature Crusade 1993 p 17 3 J R R Tolkien The Fellowship of the Ring Boston Houghton Mifflin 1965 p 70 4 R E O White The Indomitable Prophet A Biographical Commentary on Jeremiah Grand Rapids MI Eerdmans 1992 pp 45 Taken from Jeremiah and Lamentations From Sorrow to Hope by Philip Graham Ryken Used by permission of Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers Wheaton Il 60187 wwwcrosswayorg While the book of Jeremiah shared the last desperate days of the Jerusalem the prophet loved Lamentations expresses the cries of his heart Yet they reveal more than the prophets griefthey are an attempt to reflect on the meaning of human suffering Lamentations gives voice to the deepest agonies with the hope that some comfort may come from crying out to God for mercy Together the two books illustrate the eternal principle that man reaps what he sows

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O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


1 John 4 Bible Commentaries Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible Complete 1 John 1 John 4 Save 1 John 3 1 John 5 Chapter 4 In this chapter the apostle exhorts to try spirits v 1 gives a note to try by v 2 v 3 shows who are of the world and who of God v 46 urges Christian love by divers considerations v 716 describes our love to God and the effect of it v 1721 Verses 13 The apostle having said that Gods dwelling in and with us may be known by the Spirit that he hath given us intimates that that Spirit may be discerned and distinguished from other spirits that appear in the world and so here I He calls the disciples to whom he writes to caution and scrutiny about the spirits and spiritual professors that had now risen 1 To caution Beloved believe not every spirit regard not trust not follow not every pretender to the Spirit of God or every professor of vision or inspiration or revelation from God Truth is the foundation of simulation and counterfeits there had been real communications from the divine Spirit and therefore others pretended thereto God will take the way of his own wisdom and goodness though it may be liable to abuse he has sent inspired teachers to the world and given us a supernatural revelation though others may be so evil and so impudent as to pretend the same every pretender to the divine Spirit or to Hos 97 To scrutiny to examination of the claims that are laid to the Spirit But try the spirits whether they be of God v 1 God has given of his Spirit in these latter ages of the world but not to all who profess to come furnished therewith to the disciples is allowed a judgment of discretion in reference to the spirits that would be believed and trusted in the affairs of religion A reason is given for this trial Because many false prophets have gone out into the world v 1 There being much about the time of our Saviours appearance in the world a general expectation among the Jews of a Redeemer to Israel and the humiliation spiritual reformation and sufferings of the Saviour being taken as a prejudice against him others were induced to set up as prophets and messiahs to Israel according to the Saviours prediction Mt 2423 Mt 2424 It should not seem strange to us that false teachers set themselves up in the church it was so in the apostles times fatal is the spirit of delusion sad that men should vaunt themselves for prophets and inspired preachers that are by no means so II He gives a test whereby the disciples may try these pretending spirits These spirits set up for prophets doctors or dictators in religion and so they were to be tried by their doctrine and the test whereby in that day or in that part of the world where the apostle now resided for in various seasons and in various churches tests were different must be this Hereby know you the Spirit of God Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh or that confesseth Jesus Christ that came in the flesh is of God v 2 Jesus Christ is to be confessed as the Son of God the eternal life and Word that was with the Father from the beginning as the Son of God that came into and came in our human mortal nature and therein suffered and died at Jerusalem He who confesses and preaches this by a mind supernaturally instructed and enlightened therein does it by the Spirit of God or God is the author of that illumination On the contrary Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh or Jesus Christ that came in the flesh is not of God v 3 God has given so much testimony to Jesus Christ who was lately here in the world and in the flesh or in a fleshly body like ours though now in heaven that you may be assured that any impulse or pretended inspiration that contradicts this is far from being from heaven and of God The sum of revealed religion is comprehended in the doctrine concerning Christ his person and office We see then the aggravation of a systematic opposition to him and it And this is that spirit of antichrist whereof you have heard that it should come and even now already is it in the world v 3 It was foreknown by God that antichrists would arise and antichristian spirits oppose his Spirit and his truth it was foreknown also that one eminent antichrist would arise and make a long and fatal war against the Christ of God and his institution and honour and kingdom in the world This great antichrist would have his way prepared and his rise facilitated by other less antichrists and the spirit of error working and disposing mens minds for him the antichristian spirit began betimes even in the apostles days Dreadful and unsearchable is the judgment of God that persons should be Verses 46 In these verses the apostle encourages the disciples against the fear and danger of this seducing antichristian spirit and that by such methods as these1 He assures them of a more divine principle in them You are of God little children 54 You are Gods little children We are of God v 6 We are born of God taught of God anointed of God and so secured against infectious fatal delusions God has his chosen who shall not be mortally seduced 2 He gives them hope of victory And have overcome them v 4 You have hitherto overcome these deceivers and their temptations and there is good ground of hope that you will do so still and that upon these two accounts1 There is a strong preserver within you Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world v 4 The Spirit of God dwells in you and that Spirit is more mighty than men of devils It is a great happiness to be under the influence of the Holy Ghost 2 You are not of the same temper with these deceivers The Spirit of God hath framed your mind for God and heaven but they are of the world The spirit that prevails in them leads them to this world their heart is addicted thereto they study the pomp the pleasure and interest of the world and therefore speak they of the world they profess a worldly messiah and saviour they project a worldly kingdom and dominion the possessions and treasures of the world would they engross to themselves forgetting that the true Redeemers kingdom is not of this world This worldly design procures them proselytes The world heareth them v 5 They are followed by such as themselves the world will love its own and its own will love it But those are in a fair way to conquer pernicious seductions who have conquered the love of this seducing world Then 3 He represents to them that though their company might be the smaller yet it was the better they had more divine and holy knowledge He that knoweth God heareth us He who knows the purity and holiness of God the love and grace of God the truth and faithfulness of God the ancient word and prophecies of God the signals and testimonials of God must know that he is with us and he who knows this will attend to us and abide with us He that is well furnished with natural religion will the more faithfully cleave to Christianity He that knoweth God in his natural and moral excellences revelations and works heareth us v 6 As on the contrary He that is not of God heareth not us He who knows not God regards not us He that is not born of God walking according to his natural disposition walks not with us The further any are from God as appears in all ages the further they are from Christ and his faithful servants and the more addicted persons are to this world the more remote they are from the spirit of Christianity Thus you have a distinction between us and others Hereby know we the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error v 6 This doctrine concerning the Saviours person leading you from the world to God is a signature of the Spirit of truth in opposition to the spirit of error The more pure and holy any doctrine is the more likely is it to be of God Verses 713 As the Spirit of truth is known by doctrine thus spirits are to be tried it is known by love likewise and so here follows a strong fervent exhortation to holy Christian love Beloved let us love one another v 7 The apostle would unite them in his love that he might unite them in love to each other Beloved I beseech you by the love I bear to you that you put on unfeigned mutual love This exhortation is pressed and urged with variety of argument asI From the high and heavenly descent of love For love is of God He is the fountain author parent and commander of love it is the sum of his law and gospel And every one that loveth whose spirit is framed to judicious holy love is born of God v 7 The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love The new nature in the children of God is the offspring of his love and the temper and complexion of it is love The fruit of the Spirit is love Gal 522 Love comes down from heavenII Love argues a true and just apprehension of the divine nature He that loveth knoweth God v 7 He that loveth not knoweth not God v 8 What attribute of the divine Majesty so clearly shines in all the world as his communicative goodness which is love The wisdom the greatness the harmony and usefulness of the vast creation which so fully demonstrate his being do at the same time show and prove his love and natural reason inferring and collecting the nature and excellence of the most absolute perfect being must collect and find that he is most highly good and he that loveth not is not quickened by the knowledge he hath of God to the affection and practice of love knoweth not God it is a convictive evidence that the sound and due knowledge of God dwells not in such a soul his love must needs shine among his primary brightest perfections for God is love v 8 his nature and essence are love his will and works are primarily love Not that this is the only conception we ought to have of him we have found that he is light as well as love ch 15 and God is principally love to himself and he has such perfections as arise from the necessary love he must bear to his necessary existence excellence and glory but love is natural and essential to the divine Majesty God is love This is argued from the display and demonstration that he hath given of it as 1 That he hath loved us such as we are In this was manifest the love of God towards us v 9 towards us mortals us ungrateful rebels God commandeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Rom 58 Strange that God should love impure vain vile dust and ashes 2 That he has loved us at such a rate at such an incomparable value as he has given for us he has given his own onlybeloved blessed Son for us Because that God sent his onlybegotten Son into the world that we might live through him v 9 This person is in some peculiar distinguishing way the Son of God he is the onlybegotten Should we suppose him begotten as a creature or created being he is not the onlybegotten Should we suppose him a natural necessary eradication from the Fathers glory or glorious essence or substance he must be the onlybegotten and then it will be a mystery and miracle of divine love that such a Son should be sent into our world for us It may well be said So wonderfully so amazingly so incredibly God loved the world 3 That God loved us first and in the circumstances in which we lay Herein is love unusual unprecedented love not that we loved God but that he loved us v 10 He loved us when we had no love for him when we lay in our guilt misery and blood when we were undeserving illdeserving polluted and unclean and wanted to be washed from our sins in sacred blood 4 That he gave us his Son for such service and such an end 1 For such service to be the propitiation for our sins consequently to die for us to die under the law and curse of God to bear our sins in his own body to be crucified to be wounded in his soul and pierced in his side to be dead and buried for us v 10 and then 2 For such an end for such a good and beneficial end to us that we might live through him v 9 might live for ever through him might live in heaven live with God and live in eternal glory and blessedness with him and through him O what love is here ThenIII Divine love to the brethren should constrain ours Beloved I would adjure you by your interest in my love to remember if God so loved us we ought also to love one another v 11 This should be an invincible argument The example of God should press us We should be followers or imitators of him as his dear children The objects of the divine love should be the objects of ours Shall we refuse to love those whom the eternal God hath loved We should be admirers of his love and lovers of his love of the benevolence and complacency that are in him and consequently lovers of those whom he loves The general love of God to the world should induce a universal love among mankind That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth his rain on the just and on the unjust Mt 545 The peculiar love of God to the church and to the saints should be productive of a peculiar love there If God so loved us we ought surely in some measure suitably thereto to love one another IV The Christian love is an assurance of the divine inhabitation If we love one another God dwelleth in us v 12 Now God dwelleth in us not by any visible presence or immediate appearance to the eye no man hath seen God at any time v 12 but by his Spirit v 13 or No man hath seen God at any time he does not here present himself to our eye or to our immediate intuition and so he does not in this way demand and exact our love but he demands and expects it in that way in which he has thought meet to deserve and claim it and that is in the illustration that he has given of himself and of his love and thereupon of his loveliness too in the catholic church and particularly in the brethren the members of that church In them and in his appearance for them and with them is God to be loved and if we love one another God dwelleth in us The sacred lovers of the brethren are the temples of God the divine Majesty has a peculiar residence thereV Herein the divine love attains a considerable end and accomplishment in us And his love is perfected in us v 12 It has obtained its completion in and upon us Gods love is not perfected in him but in and with us His love could not be designed to be ineffectual and fruitless upon us when its proper genuine end and issue are attained and produced thereby it may be said to be perfected so faith is perfected by its works and love perfected by its operations When the divine love has wrought us to the same image to the love of God and thereupon to the love of the brethren the children of God for his sake it is therein Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit v 13 Certainly this mutual inhabitation is something more noble and great than we are well acquainted with or can declare One would think that to speak of God dwelling in us and we in him were to use words too high for mortals had not God gone before us therein What this indwelling imports has been briefly explained on ch 324 What it fully is must be left to the revelation of the blessed world But this mutual inhabitation we know says the apostle because he hath given us of his spirit he has lodged the image and fruit of his Spirit in our hearts v 13 and the Spirit that he hath given us appears to be his or of him since it is the Spirit of power of zeal and magnanimity for God of love to God and man and of a sound mind of an understanding well instructed in the affairs of God and religion and his kingdom among men 2 Tim 17 Verses 1416 Since faith in Christ works love to God and love to God must kindle love to the brethren the apostle here confirms the prime article of the Christian faith as the foundation of such love HereI He proclaims the fundamental article of the Christian religion which is so representative of the love of God And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world v 14 We here see 1 The Lord Jesuss relation to God he is Son to the Father such a Son as no one else is and so as to be God with the Father His relation and office towards us the Saviour of the world he saves us by his death example intercession Spirit and power against the enemies of our salvation 3 The ground on which he became soby the mission of him The Father sent the Son he decreed and willed his coming hither in and with the consent of the Son 4 The apostles assurance of thishe and his brethren had seen it they had seen the Son of God in his human nature in his holy converse and works in his transfiguration on the mount and in his death resurrection from the dead and royal ascent to heaven they had so seen him as to be satisfied that he was the onlybegotten of the Father full of grace and truth 5 The apostles attestation of this in pursuance of such evidence We have seen and do testify The weight of this truth obliges us to testify it the salvation of the world lies upon it The evidence of the truth warrants us to testify it our eyes and ears and hands have been witnesses of it ThereuponII The apostle states the excellency or the excellent privilege attending the due acknowledgment of this truth Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God v 15 This confession seems to include faith in the heart as the foundation of it acknowledgment with the mouth to the glory of God and Christ and profession in the life and conduct in opposition to the flatteries or frowns of the world Thus no man says that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost by the external attestation and internal operation of the Holy Ghost 1 Co 123 And so he who thus confesses Christ and God in him is enriched with or possessed by the Spirit of God and has a complacential knowledge of God and much holy enjoyment of him ThenIII The apostle applies this in order to the excitation of holy love Gods love is thus seen and exerted in Christ Jesus and thus have we known and believed the love that God hath to us v 16 The Christian revelation is what should endear it to us the revelation of the divine love the articles of our revealed faith are but so many articles relating to the divine love The history of the Lord Christ is the history of Gods love to us all his transactions in and with his Son were but testifications of his love to us and means to advance us to the love of God God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself 2 Co 519 Hence we may learn1 That God is love v 16 he is essential boundless love he has incomparable incomprehensible love for us of this world which he has demonstrated in the mission and mediation of his beloved Son It is the great objection and prejudice against the Christian revelation that the love of God should be so strange and unaccountable as to give his own eternal Son for us it is the prejudice of many against the eternity and the deity of the Son that so great a person should be given for us It is I confess mysterious and unsearchable but there are unsearchable riches in Christ God is love 2 That hereupon he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him v 16 There is great communion between the God of love and the loving soul that is him who loves the creation of God according to its different relation to God and reception from him and interest in him He that dwells in sacred love has the love God shed abroad upon his heart has the impress of God upon his spirit the Spirit of God sanctifying and sealing him lives in the meditation views and tastes of the divine love and will ere long go to dwell with God for ever Verses 1721 The apostle having thus excited and enforced sacred love from the great pattern and motive of it the love that is and dwells in God himself proceeds to recommend it further by other considerations and he recommends it in both the branches of it both as love to God and love to our brother or Christian neighbourI As love to God to the primum amabilethe first and chief of all amiable beings and objects who has the confluence of all beauty excellence and loveliness in himself and confers on all other beings whatever renders them good and amiable Love to God seems here to be recommended on these accounts1 It will give us peace and satisfaction of spirit in the day when it will be most needed or when it will be the greatest pleasure and blessing imaginable Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment v 17 There must be a day of universal judgment Happy they who shall have holy fiducial boldness before the Judge at that day who shall be able to lift up their heads and to look him in the face as knowing he is their friend and advocate Happy they who have holy boldness and assurance in the prospect of that day who look and wait for it and for the Judges appearance So do and so may do the lovers of God Their love to God assures them of Gods love to them and consequently of the friendship of the Son Thou that knowest all things knowest that we love thee And hope maketh not ashamed our hope conceived by the consideration of Gods love will not disappoint us because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost that is given to us Rom 55 Possibly here by the love of God may be meant our love to God which is shed abroad upon our hearts by the Holy Ghost this is the foundation of our hope or of our assurance that our hope will hold good at last Or if by the love of God be meant the sense and apprehension of his love to us yet this must suppose or include us as lovers of him in this case and indeed the sense and evidence of his love to us do shed abroad upon our hearts love to him and thereupon we have confidence towards him and peace and joy in him He will give the crown of righteousness to all that love his appearing And we have Because as he is so are we in this world v 17 Love hath conformed us to him as he was the great lover of God and man he has taught us in our measure to be so too and he will not deny his own image Love teaches us to conform in sufferings too we suffer for him and with him and therefore can not but hope and trust that we shall also be glorified together with him 2 Tim 212 It prevents or removes the uncomfortable result and fruit of servile fear There is no fear in love v 18 so far as love prevails fear ceases We must here distinguish I judge between fear and being afraid or in this case between the fear of God and being afraid of him The fear of God is often mentioned and commanded as the substance of religion 1 Pt 217 Rev 147 and so it imports the high regard and veneration we have for God and his authority and government Such fear is constant with love yea with perfect love as being in the angels themselves But then there is a being afraid of God which arises from a sense of guilt and a view of his vindictive perfections in the view of them God is represented as a consuming fire and so fear here may be rendered dread There is no dread in love Love considers its object as good and excellent and therefore amiable and worthy to be beloved Love considers God as most eminently good and most eminently loving us in Christ and so puts off dread and puts on joy in him and as love grows joy grows too so that perfect love casteth out fear or dread Those who perfectly love God are from his nature and counsel and covenant perfectly assured of his love and consequently are perfectly free from any dismal dreadful suspicions of his punitive power and justice as armed against them they well know that God loves them and they thereupon triumph in his love That perfect love casteth out fear the apostle thus sensibly argues that which casteth out torment casteth out fear or dread Because fear hath torment v 18 fear is known to be a disquieting torturing passion especially such a fear as is the dread of an almighty avenging God but perfect love casteth out torment for it teaches the mind a perfect acquiescence and complacency in the beloved and therefore perfect love casteth out fear Or which is here equivalent he that feareth is not made perfect in love v 18 it is a sign that our love is far from being perfect since our doubts and fears and dismal apprehensions of God are so many Let us long for and hasten to the world of perfect love where our serenity and joy in God will be as perfect as our love 3 From the source and rise of it which is the antecedent love of God We love him because he first loved us v 19 His love is the incentive the motive and moral cause of ours We can not but love so good a God who was first in the act and work of love who loved us when we were both unloving and unlovely who loved us at so great a rate who has been seeking and soliciting our love at the expense of his Sons blood and has condescended to beseech us to be reconciled unto him Let heaven and earth stand amazed at such love His love is the productive cause of ours Of his own will of his own free loving will begat he us To those that love him all things work together for good to those who are the called according to his purpose Those that love God are the called thereto according to his purpose Rom 828 according to whose purpose they are called is sufficiently intimated in the following clauses whom he did predestinate or antecedently purpose to the image of his Son those he also called effectually recovered thereto The divine love stamped love upon our souls may the Lord still and further direct our hearts into the love of God 2 Th 35 II As love to our brother and neighbour in Christ such love is argued and urged on these accounts1 As suitable and consonant to our Christian profession In the profession of Christianity we profess to love God as the root of religion If then a man say or profess as much as thereby to say I love God I am a lover of his name and house and worship and yet hate his brother whom he should love for Gods sake he is a liar v 20 he therein gives his profession the lie That such a one loves not God the apostle proves by the usual facility of loving what is seen rather than what is unseen For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen v 20 The eye is wont to affect the heart things unseen less catch the mind and thereby the heart The incomprehensibleness of God very much arises from his invisibility the member of Christ has much of God visible in him How then shall the hater of a visible image of God pretend to love the unseen original the invisible God himself 2 As suitable to the express law of God and the just reason of it And this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also v 21 As God has communicated his image in nature and in grace so he would have our love to be suitably diffused We must love God originally and supremely and others in him on the account of their derivation and reception from him and of his interest in them Now our Christian brethren having a new nature and excellent privileges derived from God and God having his interest in them as well as in us it can not but be a natural suitable obligation that he who loves God should love his brother also 1 John 3 1 John 5 Read 1 John 4

B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I


Psalm 1391 Bible Our Library Commentaries The Treasury of David Psalm Psalm 139 Psalm 1391 Save Psalm 1392 PSALM 139 OVERVIEW One of the most notable of the sacred hymns It sings the omniscience and omnipresence of God inferring from these the overthrow of the powers of wickedness since he who sees and hears the abominable deeds and words of the rebellious will surely deal with them according to his justice The brightness of this Psalm is like unto a sapphire stone or Ezekiels terrible crystal it flames out with such flashes of light as to turn night into day Like a Pharos this holy song casts a clear light even to the uttermost parts of the sea and warns its Title To the Chief Musician The fast time this title occurred was in Psalms 109131 This sacred song is worthy of the most excellent of the singers and is fitly dedicated to the leader of the Temple Psalmody that he might set it to music and see that it was devoutly sung in the solemn worship of the Most High A Psalm of David It bears the image and superscription of King David and could have come from no other mint than that of the son of Jesse Of course the critics take this composition away from David on account of certain Aramaic expressions in it We believe that upon the principles of criticism now EXPOSITION Verse 1 O LORD thou hast searched me and known me He invokes in adoration Jehovah the all knowing God and he proceeds to adore him by proclaiming one of his peculiar attributes If we would praise God aright we must draw the matter of our praise from himself O Jehovah thou hast No pretended god knows aught of us but the true God Jehovah understands us and is most intimately acquainted with our persons nature and character How well it is for us to know the God who knows us The divine knowledge is extremely thorough and searching it is as EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm Aben Ezra observes that this is the most glorious and excellent Psalm in all the book a very excellent one it is but whether the most excellent it is hard to say John Gill Whole Psalm There is one Psalm which it were well if Christians would do by it as Pythagoras by his Golden Precepts every morning and evening repeat it It is Davids appeal of a good conscience unto God against the malicious suspicions and calumnies of men in Psalms 139124 Samuel Annesley 16201696 in The Morning Exercises Whole Psalm This Psalm is one of the most sublime compositions in the world How came a shepherd boy to conceive so sublime a theme and to write in so sublime a strain Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost What themes are more sublime than the Divine attributes And which of these attributes is more sublime than Omnipresence Omniscience spirituality infinity immutability and eternity are necessarily included in it George Rogers Whole Psalm Let the modern wits after this look upon the honest shepherds of Palestine as a company of rude and unpolished clowns let them if they can produce from profane authors thoughts that are more sublime more delicate or better turned not to mention the sound divinity and solid piety which are apparent under these expressions Claude Fleury 16401723 Whole Psalm Here the poet inverts his gaze from the blaze of suns to the strange atoms composing his own frame He stands shuddering over the precipice of himself Above is the All encompassing Spirit from whom the morning wings can not save and below at a deep distance appears amid the branching forest of his animal frame so fearfully and wonderfully made the abyss of his spiritual existence lying like a dark lake in the midst How between mystery and mystery his mind his wonder his very reason seem to rock like a little boat between the sea and sky But Whole Psalm The Psalm has an immediately practical aim which is unfolded near the close It is not an abstract description of the Divine attributes with a mere indirect purpose in view If God is such a being if his vital agency reaches over all his creation pervades all objects illumines the deepest and darkest recesses if his knowledge has no limits piercing into the mysterious processes of creation into the smallest and most elemental germs of life if his eye can discern the still more subtle and recondite processes of mind comprehending the half formed conception the germinating desire afar off Whole Psalm Searcher of hearts to thee are known The inmost secrets of my breast At home abroad in crowds alone Thou markst my rising and my rest My thoughts far off through every maze Source stream and issue all my ways How from thy presence should I go Or whither from thy Spirit flee Since all above around below Exist in thine immensity If up to heaven I take my way I meet thee in eternal day If in the grave I make my bed With worms and dust lo thou art there If on the wings of morning sped Beyond the ocean I repair I feel thine all controlling will And thy right hand upholds me still Let darkness hide me if I say Darkness can no concealment be Night on thy rising shines like day Darkness and light are one with thee For thou mine embryo form didst view Ere her own babe my mother knew In me thy workmanship displayd A miracle of power I stand Fearfully wonderfully made And framed in secret by thine hand I lived ere into being brought Through thine eternity of thought How precious are thy thoughts of peace O God to me how great the sum New every morn they never cease They were they are and yet shall come In number and in compass more Than oceans sands or oceans shore Search me O God and know my heart Try me my inmost soul survey And warn thy servant to depart From every false and evil way So shall thy truth my guidance be To life and immortality James Montgomery Whole Psalm The Psalm may be thus summarized Psalms 1391 O LORD thou hast searched me and known me As though he said O LORD thou art the heart searching God who perfectly knowest all the thoughts counsels studies endeavours and actions of all men and therefore mine Psalms 1392 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising thou understandest my thought afar off As if he had said Thou knowest my rest and motion and my plodding thoughts of both Psalms 1393 Thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways As if he had said You fan and winnow me that is You discuss and try me to the utmost Psalms 1394 For there is not a word in my tongue but lo O LORD thou knowest it altogether As if he had said I can not speak a word though never so secret obscure or subtle but thou knowest what and why and with what mind it was uttered Psalms 1395 Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me As if he had said Thou keepest me within the compass of thy knowledge like a man that will not let his servant go out of his sight I can not break away from thee Psalms 1396 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me it is high I can not attain unto it As if he had said The knowledge of thy great and glorious majesty and infiniteness is utterly past all human comprehension Psalms 1397 Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence As if he had said Whither can I flee from thee whose essence presence and power is everywhere Ps 1398 If I ascend up into heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold thou art there As if he had said There is no height above thee there is no depth below thee Psalms 1399 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea As if he had said If I had wings to fly as swift as the morning light from the east to the west that I could in a moment get to the furthest parts of the world Psalms 13910 Even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me As if he had said Thence shall thy hand lead me back and hold me fast like a fugitive Psalms 13911 If I say Surely the darkness shall cover me even the night shall be light about me As if he had said Though darkness hinders mans sight it doth not thine In a word look which way you will there is no hiding place from God For his eyes are upon the ways of man and he seeth all his goings There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves Job 342122 Therefore Christians do nothing but what you are willing God should take notice of and judge in yourselves whether this be not the way to have a good and quiet conscience Samuel Annesley Whole Psalm In this Aramaizing Psalm what the preceding Psalm says Psalms 1386 comes to be carried into effect viz For Jahve is exalted and he seeth the lowly and the proud he knoweth from afar This Psalm has manifold points of contact with its predecessor Franz Delitzsch To the Chief Musician As a later writer could have no motive for prefixing the title To the Chief Musician it affords an incidental proof of antiquity and genuineness Joseph Addison Alexander A Psalm of David How any critic can assign this Psalm to other than David I can not understand Every line every thought every turn of expression and transition is his and his only As for the arguments drawn from the two Chaldaisms which occur this is really nugatory These Chaldaisms consist merely in the substitution of one letter for another very like it in shape and easily to be mistaken by a transcriber particularly by one who had been used to the Chaldee idiom but the moral arguments for Davids authorship are so strong as to overwhelm any such Verse 1 O LORD thou hast searched me and known me There is no me after known in the Hebrew therefore it is better to take the object after known in a wider sense The omission is intentional that the believing heart of all who use this Psalm may supply the ellipsis Thou hast known and knowest all that concerns the matter in question as well whether I and mine are guilty or innocent Psalms 4421 also my exact circumstances my needs my sorrows and the precise time when to relieve me AR Fausset Verse 1 O LORD thou hast searched me and known me The godly may sometimes be so overclouded with calumnies and reproaches as not to be able to find a way to clear themselves before men but must content and comfort themselves with the testimony of a good conscience and with Gods approbation of their integrity as here David doth David Dickson Verse 1 O LORD thou hast searched me and known me David here lays down the great doctrine that God has a perfect knowledge of us First in the way of an address to God he saith it to him acknowledging it to him and giving him the glory of it Divine truths look full as well when they are prayed over as when they are preached over and much better than when they are disputed over When we speak of God to him himself we find ourselves concerned to speak with the utmost degree both of sincerity and reverence which will be likely Job 527 David was a king and the hearts of kings are unsearchable to their subjects Proverbs 253 but they are not so to their sovereign Matthew Henry Verse 1 O LORD thou hast searched me I would have you observe how thoroughly in the very first verse he brings home the truth to his own heart and his own conscience O LORD thou hast searched me He does not slur it over as a general truth in which such numbers shared that he might hope to escape or evade its solemn appeal to himself but it is Thou hast searched me Barton Bouchier Verse 1 Searched The Hebrew word originally means to dig and is applied to the search for precious metals Job 283 but metaphorically to a moral inquisition into guilt Joseph Addison Alexander Verse 15 God knows everything that passes in our inmost souls better than we do ourselves he reads our most secret thoughts all the cogitations of our hearts pass in review before him and he is as perfectly and entirely employed in the scrutiny of the thoughts and actions of an individual as in the regulation of the most important concerns of the universe This is what we can not comprehend but it is what according to the light of reason must be true and according to revelation is indeed true God can do nothing imperfectly and we may form some idea of his superintending knowledge by conceiving what is indeed the truth that all the powers of the Godhead are employed and solely employed in the observation and examination of the conduct of one individual I say this is indeed the case because all the powers of the Godhead are employed Ver 112 O Lord in me there lieth nought But to thy search revealed lies For when I sit Thou markest it No less thou notest when I rise Yea closest closet of my thought Hath open windows to thine eyes Thou walkest with me when I walk When to my bed for rest I go I find thee there And everywhere Not youngest thought in me doth grow No not one word I cast to talk But yet unuttered thou dost know If forth I march thou goest before If back I turn thou comst behind So forth nor back Thy guard I lack Nay on me too thy hand I find Well I thy wisdom may adore But never reach with earthly mind To shun thy notice leave thine eye O whither might I take my way To starry sphere Thy throne is there To dead mens undelightsome stay There is thy walk and there to lie Unknown in vain I should assay O sun whom light nor flight can match Suppose thy lightful flightful wings Thou lend to me And I could flee As far as thee the evening brings Evn led to west he would me catch Nor should I lurk with western things Do thou thy best O secret night In sable veil to cover me Thy sable veil Shall vainly fail With day unmasked my night shall be For night is day and darkness light O Father of all lights to thee Sir Philip Sidney 15541586 HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 1 and 23 A matter of fact made a matter of prayer Verse 1 A cheering thought for sinners If God knew them not perfectly how could he have prepared a perfect salvation for them A comfortable truth for saints Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things GR Verse 15 In these verses we have Gods Omniscience Described As observing minute and comparatively unimportant actions My downsitting and uprising As taking note of our thoughts and the motives behind them Understandest my thought As investigating all our ways Thou compassest etc better rendered Thou triest my walking and lying down ie my activities and restings Accurately estimating every word at the instant of its utterance For there is not a word etc As being behind men remembering their past and before men acquainted with their future Thou hast beset me etc As every instant holding men under watchful scrutiny And laid etc Personally realized and pondered Thou hast searched me Me and my run through the whole set of statements Thus felt and used the fact of Gods omniscience Begets reverence Inspires confidence Produces carefulness of conduct

B O B O O O O O O O B B O B O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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Psalm 1438 Bible Bible Versions New International Version Psalms Psalm 143 Psalm 1438 8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I have put my trust in you Show me the way I should go for to you I entrust my life Psalm 1437 Psalm 143 Psalm 1439 In Context Parallel Compare Read Psalm 1438 Using Other Translations KJV Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning for in thee do I trust cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my soul unto thee ESV Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love for in you I trust Make me know the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul NLT Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning for I am trusting you Show me where to walk for I give myself to you Scripture quoted by permission Quotations designated NIV are from THE HOLY BIBLE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION NIV Copyright 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica All rights reserved worldwide New International Version Bible Online

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Ecommerce Marketing and Strategy How to translate your website into a foreign language How to translate your website into a foreign language Expanding your ecommerce business internationally is often the next big step for successful companies After all English is only the third most spoken language on Earth running neckandneck with Spanish and Hindi Theoretically there are millions more consumers in the world who have access to your website but are unable to read it The process of taking a website and adjusting it for another culture is known as localization It is a great deal more involved than translating the words out of English however Other cultures have their own standards for design symbolism layout and color and understanding these differences is important to your websites success Deciding where to sell Your first step to success in foreign markets is choosing the right countries Ask yourself some important questions Is there a market for my product in this country Are there taxes or tariffs that make selling there impractical Are there cultural taboos that my product may violate Are there governmental restrictions on the Internet in place that may make it difficult for customers to reach my site Once you know where you want to sell you have to choose your languages for that region While this is often straightforward there are many countries where the population speaks multiple languages For instance the Philippine people speak both Spanish and Tagalog the Swiss are commonly fluent in both German and French and China has seven major dialects and two separate official written languages One solution is to offer customers a choice of languages when they first enter your website using cookies to remember their choice Giving customers options is a good way to start a relationship and makes them feel more comfortable Language At the most basic level localization is translation but this involves more than just changing the words It is very tempting to use machine translation and hope that it gets close enough Machine translation however is notoriously unreliable For instance enter the phrase Expect your package to arrive ten to fifteen days after completing your order into Google Translate translate it into Japanese then back into English and it comes out as Arrival from your package is completing your order after ten in the 15th More importantly even a perfect translation bot would be unable to translate idiom nuance and social mores Adapting your language to their culture is essential to building trust with visitors Professional translators are usually the only way to get highquality copy for your website A good translator understands the nuances of the original language and can properly contextualize them during translation There are many thirdparty companies who specialize in localization While not cheap its ultimately worthwhile to cultivate a longterm partnership with localization houses Adding new products updating features and writing blog posts are just a few ways youll need fresh content for your localized site Design Successful localization begins at the design level If you design your site with localization in mind it will be a great deal easier to accommodate new languages and visual norms Some languages such as German take more space on the page than English Others especially Asian languages use one or two characters where English uses an entire sentence This can significantly impact your layout to assess the impact gauge how ecommerce websites appear in your target region and compare it to your current design Running localized websites means running additional copies of your current website Localized versions can be created as a subfolder of your current site mywebsitecomfrench a subdomain frenchmywebsitecom or as an entirely new domain mywebsitefr Whichever you choose remember that your IT team now has to roll out new content and features to multiple sites each with unique issues Build additional development time into your project schedules to make sure that your localized sites get the same attention as your main More than language There are a few practical considerations in localizing a website that are every bit as important as translation Dates In the US dates are written as Month Day Year In the United Kingdom and elsewhere they are written as Day Month Year Missing this small detail can lead to confusion with your customers as they misinterpret delivery dates release dates or sale dates Measurements The US is one of only a few countries to not adopt the metric system making measurement conversion a step in nearly every localization effort Calendars On a standard US calendar the week begins on a Sunday Local standards vary across the world some beginning on Monday others on Friday Currency Convert all prices to the local currency and keep a close eye on exchange rates to make sure your prices are competitive In addition offer payment options familiar to locals Paypal and major credit cards are prevalent in many countries but not all If appropriate to the culture make available wire transfers installment plans and countryspecific banking services SEO The search terms people use to find your website in English may be very different from those in other languages Research popular queries in other countries and optimize your SEO accordingly While Google is an important SEO player it is not necessarily the most popular search engine everywhere in the world people in China and Russian prefer to use Baidu and Yandex respectively Search engines operating in certain countries may have restrictions in place as well Make sure youre not utilizing any banned keywords in these markets Another important consideration is making sure the proper version of your website is presented to users Google for instance advises webmasters to clearly mark the languageregion via HTML Local regulations Regulations concerning privacy customer support taxes terms of service and so forth vary widely across the globe Some countries have steep regulations so make sure you look into this before investing time and resources into localizing

O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O