Psalm 119
Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem, meaning that each of the 22 stanzas begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza consists of eight verses all beginning with the same letter of the alphabet. The letter is often the first letter of a keyword in that stanza. This insight is from Laurence Kriegshauser’s commentary on the Psalms, and I have included his keywords in parentheses next to the letter for each stanza.
Aleph (Keep)
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!
Psalm 119 is the great Torah psalm, an elaborate acrostic meditation on the revealed word of God. The longest psalm by far, it consists of twenty-two stanzas of eight verses each. Each stanza is built around a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the first word of each verse starting with the same letter. There are eight synonyms for the law, and one of them is found in practically every verse. Each stanza is loosely related in theme as well, in part due to common words and the nature of the acrostic structure. The first stanza is based on the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, the letter aleph. The second letter in the alphabet is bet. So aleph + bet = alphabet, reminding us that it was this ancient semitic language that gave us the alphabet, a huge leap forward in developing the written languages that we know today (moving from hieroglyphics to letters). The first three verses of this first stanza correspond to Psalm 1:1-3, promising blessing to the one who walks in the laws of God, who keep his testimonies, and who seek him with their whole heart. The word “walk” is a metaphor for day to day living, lifestyle, or pattern of living. Parallel to “walk” is the word “way” which also suggests a pattern, a path, an orientation, a way of seeing the world. The word “blessing” occurs 19 times in the book of Psalms, twice in this first stanza. It may best be translated as “well-off” in God’s economy. It doesn’t necessarily mean material wealth, although that can be a byproduct. It is in short, “the good life”, “a life well-lived”, “favored by God”. It doesn’t mean that everything goes well and life is charmed. It does mean that such a person has internal wholeness because their thinking and actions are in line with the reality of God. The verbs here are relentless: blameless in the way they live, walk in the law, keep His testimonies, seek YHWH, do no wrong. These encompass every aspect of one’s being - actions, inclinations, thoughts, and motivations. It is a totality of devotion that is rewarded by the fruits of a good life.
4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
Because there is blessing that results from obeying the Torah, The LORD has commanded us to keep his precepts diligently so that we might gain that blessing. We don’t keep the law for His sake, but for ours. It is for our God that God has revealed how to live the life He’s given us. This command to obedience causes the psalmist to have a moment of self examination where he realizes that he is not always obedient. He immediately prays that he would be consistent in keeping God’s statutes, steadfast in keeping them. There is God’s way (vs. 3) and the way of the psalmist (vs. 4), and these two are not always in alignment. He prays that he would fix his eyes on all of God’s commandments so that he would not be ashamed. Disobedience has consequences both personally and socially. In a culture that valued personal honor above all, disobeying the law brought negative social consequences in the form of loss of honor before the eyes of the community. As a result, the psalmist vows to live a steadfastly faithful life, fixing his eyes on all of God’s commandments. “Fixing the eyes” is literally “look into” in a verb form that suggests causation and intentionality. This suggests that we are to read scripture for understanding, looking long and hard at it through study and meditation. And we are to do so with the engagement of our hearts, the way that we might look into the eyes of our beloved. Finally, notice the word “all”. We are not to be selective in our obedience. Due to our nature and circumstances some commands may be easier to obey than others. There are some commands that I’ve never even been tempted to disobey, others I have grown accustomed to disregarding flagrantly. It’s easy to pride ourselves on our easy obedience to some commands to give us an excuse for our disobedience of others, as if we are being scored on an exam -- “Well a B is still passing!” God desires the totality of our obedience, not for his sake, but for ours. Look intently into all of his commands so that you might enjoy the good life that he desires and receive the honor of others, blessing the community as well by your obedience.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. [Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164]
8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!
Our response to learning God’s righteous rules is worship. “I will praise you with an upright heart”. With utmost “straightness”, “sincerity”, “integrity” the psalm will use words and actions to elevate God as ultimate for the gift that is his law. This reality will be stated multiple times in this psalm. The law is not a burden, a weight that we must carry to earn favor from God. Rather it is one of his many gifts. He shares with us through the law the very nature of reality and tells us how to live well within that reality. The word “learn” also carries the idea of “training”. This is not just learning the information that the law contains, memorizing statutes in order to pass an exam. This is training in keeping them, essentially obedience training, so that our adherence to the law is automatic, natural, and reactionary. Exercising obedience to God becomes natural and one of the results is worship. The psalmist concludes this stanza with a promise to keep God’s statues. The verb “keep” occurs in verses, 2,4,5 and 8, making it the most common key word for this stanza. The psalmist will keep God’s statutes, and in exchange, the psalmist asks the LORD “keep” him. “Do not utterly forsake me” is literally, “do not forsake me utterly utterly.” This is covenant language, relationship talk of mutually assured promise keeping. There is joy in knowing God as he is revealed through his word. What a blessing to have a book from God in which we read the story of his pursuit of us and the explanation of our origin, identity, purpose and destiny. It would be a shame if we kept such a wonderful thing to ourselves.
Beth (Delight)
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
The psalmist asks and then answers his own question. How can a young man cleanse his way? In other words, how can one leave a clean, pure life? The answer is simple: guard it according to God’s word. Live within the boundaries that God’s law sets. Do what it prescribes and carefully avoid crossing it. There is always the temptation to wander from the path that God has set forth in his commandments, to question his intentions and assume that his word just hasn’t kept up with the times, and that we know best. It is the same temptation that Adam and Eve faced in the garden. Can God’s restrictions really be for our good? This is particularly tempting for a young person who has lived within their parent’s boundaries and is yearning for independence. Perhaps that’s what a youth is described here. It’s easy to wander, to see another path that looks enticing, that is more well traveled, where you might find more companions. Sometimes the path of God is a lonely one. Sometimes it seems to be taking you in the opposite direction of everyone else. The hymn writer Robert Robinson said it well, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart Lord take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” The psalmist answers the temptation to stray with a promise, “with my whole heart I seek you.” Whole-hearted obedience is a frequent theme of this psalm and it sets up a theme in this stanza, that of delight and devotion. Obedience is not a cruel taskmaster when you are in love. In fact, the traditional wedding vows were to “honor and obey”. Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments…and my commands are not burdensome.” Loving God means surrendering our will to the One who desires the best for us. Seek him with your whole heart.
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!
The result of the psalmist’s wholehearted devotion to God is to treasure His words, to store them up as one might keep valuables, safe and secure. The location of that storage is the human heart, the center of one’s being. We tend to think of the heart as the seat of emotions, but it was bigger than that in Hebrew thinking. The “heart” was the center, the core, the essence of a person encapsulating thoughts, feelings and motivations. The statement implies memorization for sure as a practical matter. Most people did not have access to the written word, so it had to be memorized through oral transmission. But it’s not just the storage in memory that is suggested here, but storage in the heart. There are plenty of people who have studied and memorized the scriptures, but they do not treasure them in their heart. In fact, they may spend their hours rationalizing those words away until they have no effect on their lives. However, the result of truly valuing and treasuring the words of God is that one will live a life free from sinning against God. Note that the sin is against God echoing Psalm 51:4, “against you and you only [ultimately] have I sinned.” The word of God is described in Ephesians 6 as a sword, a weapon for fighting the enemy who is the father of lies. Jesus showed us how to wield this weapon when he was tempted in the wilderness. The treasure of storing scripture in your heart is that you can produce it on demand. It readily comes to mind at the moment of need because you have accessed it before and used it. Another effect of storing scripture in your heart is that it transforms your thinking. God’s words and thoughts become your words and thoughts through repetition in the same way that we learned to speak and think as children. We used the words of our parents until they became our own. The psalmist erupts in praise as he thinks about the treasure of truth in his heart, blessing the LORD and desiring further training in his statutes. The word “teach” here implies training, not just the transfer of knowledge from God to us, but the ability to embody that knowledge in action, something that is also known as wisdom.
13 With my lips I declare all the rules [Or all the just decrees] of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
As evidence that the psalmist has stored up the words of God, he states that he recounts all the rules of God’s mouth with his own mouth. He repeats them because he has memorized them. The word “declare” suggests that others were listening, but that’s not necessarily the case every time. The guarding, storing, learning, and recounting of the law in verses 9-14 are all very personal, private things as well. They overflow into the public square as God’s words transform our thinking and language following our consumption of them. Such rote repetition and memorization however are not drudgery. They are not a burden that the psalmist places on himself to please God in some way. On the contrary, he delights in the way of the LORD’s testimonies. He’s thrilled about the wisdom and the narrow path of life that is prescribed in the word. It’s as exciting as having great wealth. It would be as if you had all the money in the world, reading, reciting, praying the word of God brings that much joy and security. Imagine yourself as the richest person in the world. Money is no object, buy whatever you want, be as generous as you want, never fear for want. That kind of security and pleasure is yours in the law of God. Having a full savings account, your house paid off, being debt-free, having a good stable job with regular income, and being in a position to retire without worries -- this is everyone’s dream. As sweet as it is to have all those things, God’s word is sweeter. God’s word offers greater security and joy.
15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
As in the previous stanza, the psalmist concludes with a series of promises. First, he will meditate (se-ach) on the LORD’s precepts. This word translated meditate occurs 8 times in this psalm in some form, and this is the first. It is translated elsewhere as “complain” or “muse” so, like its companion, hagah, it contains the idea of murmuring and mumbling, speaking under one’s breath. An aspect of storing and recounting God’s word is that act of reciting those words out loud and doing the thinking or musing that goes along with it. He speaks the words of God aloud and thinks about their meaning, turning them over in his mind, getting every morsel of truth that they contain into his thinking. Second, he promises to fix his eyes on God’s ways, to look at them in wonder, to behold their mystery and beauty. While in context, this may refer to the revelation of God’s will for us in the law, but even larger than that, we may behold the mysteries of creation, incarnation, redemption, and restoration -- how God is at work in the world. Third, he pledges to delight himself in the LORD’s statutes. This is a reflexive form of the verb suggesting an action that involves the doer of the action. This theme of delight runs throughout the stanza -- “With my whole heart I seek you” (10), “In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches” (14) -- reminding us of the “joy of the Torah”, a phrase in the Jewish community describing the pleasure that comes from reading and hearing the words of God. It is a message from outside of our world that speaks truth into the deepest part of our souls. There is joy in connecting our souls to the author of life. Finally, the psalmist promises, “I will not forget your word.” As anyone who has memorized scripture can tell you, the hard part is not the initial memorization, it is the perpetual remembering of the text. I’ve memorized large chunks of scripture at various times in my life, but I can’t recall much of it in any kind of exact way. The psalmist vows to continue his habit of storing, recounting, and delighting as a regular feature of his life.
Gimel (Longing)
17 Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
The first word of verse 17, ge-mol ,has the same letters as the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, gimel, making it a nice hook for anyone praying this in Hebrew. The word means to reward, to deal fully with someone. Here the psalmist prays that the LORD would reward him with long life so that he will have even more time to keep his word, to embody its message and demonstrate its goodness in his life. Bounty may also include the usual blessings of a good life -- peace, good health, a large family, rich relationships, character and honor. The prayer of verse 18 is one that I’ve prayed countless times as a habit, preparing my heart to listen to the word of God as I read and study. It is my prayer when I preach and teach. I want to see extraordinary things, ideas that I had never considered before, metaphors that suddenly have a new facet, mysteries that compel me to worship, to be lost in the wonder of the unknowable God who has given me a safe glimpse of his majesty and glory. The word translated, “open” can also mean “uncover”, suggesting a veil that needs to be lifted, a filter that prevents seeing what is actually there. This is a fantastic prayer that prepares the heart to discover new and marvelous things in God’s word.
19 I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
20 My soul is consumed with longing for your rules [Or your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175] at all times.
The psalmist identifies himself as a sojourner on the earth. It’s the common word for a foreigner, an outsider, a traveler looking for a permanent home. It’s a very biblical way of thinking about ourselves in relation to the society in which people of faith live. We come from a long line of sojourners. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph — all travelers, nomads. It would be 600 years before the Jews would have a land of their own, and they were often ejected from it. In the New Testament Peter tells us that we are aliens and strangers in this world, exiles in Babylon. It’s a metaphor that reminds us not to sink our roots down too deep in the soil of an unbelieving populace. The psalmist asks that God keep his commandments accessible to him, in plain sight, so that he doesn’t take his eyes off of them (vs. 18), particularly amidst the temptation to assimilate to the world views around him. Verse 20 supplies us with the theme of this stanza, longing. His soul is crushed (literally broken) with longing (the only occurrence of that word in the Bible) for the LORD’s just decrees. Is this because he is a sojourner and he feels particularly out of place? Is this like homesickness when traveling, culture shock? Perhaps. At least is it a metaphor for the feeling of longing that we have for the truth of God in the midst of a world that has abandoned it. We speak of a “soul-crushing” event, and this is one of them — living without the knowledge of God.
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.
22 Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.
There may be a play on words here with “wander” in verse 21 and “sojourner” in verse 19. The psalmist is a wanderer in relation to the world, unwilling to settle down on a foundation of sand, while the arrogant man wanders from God’s commandments. The psalmist is wandering to a person, while the insolent man is wandering away from a person. As as result, the arrogant person who rejects God’s law out of pride suffers a curse, rebuked by his own actions, proving the error of his ways. His pursuit of happiness apart from God only results in frustration and perhaps ultimately the realization that God was right all along. Meanwhile the psalmist suffers for having been true to God, experiencing the scorn and contempt of a world that has no place for him. He has been faithful to keep God’s testimonies, and he is shamed for his efforts. In many parts of the world believers suffer as a minority in the culture, second class citizens with little power. Even in majority Christian cultures like the west, believers are still cultural outsiders, increasingly pushed to the margins for their conservative beliefs. Don’t expect it to get any better. Be faithful regardless.
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.
The psalmist continues to position himself outside of the mainstream powers in society. He describes opposition from princes, those in authority (indicated by the fact that they were sitting) speaking against him. It is true that people of faith have always been on the outside, even in societies that embraced Christianity and may be referred to as “Christian” nations. There has always been a distinction between those who are Christian in name only and those who are Christ-followers. The psalmist feels the power arrayed against him and responds by meditating on God’s statutes (the second of eight times the word mediate se-ach is used in this psalm). He looks for truth and wisdom in the eternal words of God. They are his counselors. They are also his delight, a word that occurs 5 times in this psalm. While the world around him is soul-crushing in its rejection of the wisdom of God, the psalmist finds pleasure in the words of God. They are restorative, attractive, and refreshing. He is energized by them and empowered to speak to princes because of their counsel. The Hebrew word enosh (man, mankind) is more common in poetry and it occurs before the word counselors. It’s an example of an occasion where the word is used but not expressed. Perhaps it has the sense of, “in my humanity, they are my counselors.”
Daleth (Way)
25 My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!
26 When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes!
The first and seventh verses of this stanza begin with the word “cling”, perhaps a subtheme of the stanza. The word derek (way) is used five times, forming a theme of sorts. The psalmist begins on the ground, perhaps face down in abject humility and brokenness. In the previous stanza he described himself as being crushed with longing for the law, but this is a different kind of crushing. He is down, lying in the dust, dry and lifeless, needing the life-giving power of God’s words. It was the word of God that spoke all of creation into existence and it was the breath of God that animated the first humans. It is reminiscent of Psalm 104:30, “When you send forth your Spirit, [breath] they are created, and you renew the face of the ground” as it speaks of the power of God to create and renew life. This power is available to us every day in the word of God. If you’re down on the floor, beaten and discouraged, a promise from God can lift you up. Verse 26 sounds like confession and prayer. When the psalmist recounted what he had done, God answered him. God responded to his plea for help and breathed life back into him through his word. And so the psalmist prays for more, “teach me your statutes.” The word “teach” has the connotation of training and exercise. This is not a request for more factual information. It is a request that the words of God become ingrained in his life, just as muscles are built through exercise and discipline. Exercise me in your statues. Train me in your word. Build muscles of faith as I study, memorize, and ponder your words.
27 Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!
The psalmist continues his quest for learning God’s statutes with a request for understanding and discernment in verse 27. This understanding will come through meditation (the third time se-ach) is used in the psalm. Here the meditating is not on the word of God but the works of God. Of course those works are recorded in God’s word. They are his deeds throughout history, his intervention in the lives of men, women, and the nations. We can also meditate on the broader deeds of God, his creating of the universe and his sustaining care of it all. Returning to the theme of the opening verse of his soul clinging to the dust, the psalmist now describes his soul as melting away in sorrow. As a candle might melt wax slowly but consistently through heat, the psalmist feels his strength melt away under the heat of his dire circumstances. So he prays for strength, for the hardening of his resolve in the midst of the pressure to melt and go soft. That hardening of resolve will come from the word, from being reminded of its timeless truth. Even as morals and mores are changing all around us, we can cling to the timeless word of God, ever true, to guard and guide our character. The word “way” is used differently here in verse 27, contrasting with its use in verse 26 where the psalmist recounted his “ways”. Immediately he prays for the understanding of God’s ways. Oh that my ways were always God’s ways.
29 Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
These two verses correspond to one another as both a prayer to reject lies and to embrace truth, each using the keyword way. First, the psalmist says, “the way of lying, remove from me.” It’s easy to fall into the way of lying. We start at a young age. It’s probably one of the first sins we commit, lying to protect ourselves. We get better at it as we grow older, learning to deceive, and to conceal certain information to lead to a false impression. Lying is almost always self-protective, a method of enhancing our reputation or of covering up our misdeeds to avoid negative consequences. The antidote to lying seems to be the gracious gift of the law, as the psalmist prays, “graciously give me to your law!” Knowing who we are as God’s children can keep us from the need for self-aggrandizement (lying to build ourselves up) and from deception (hiding our sins rather than confessing them). There is security in being in Christ that allows us to be completely honest. Verse 30 contains two commitments from the psalmist. First, he has chosen the way of truth (faithfulness). He is committed to honesty at all times, making him trustworthy and faithful. This is made possible by his decision to set God’s rules in front of him, to read, memorize, and meditate on them so that he is guided by them. As Isaiah 30:21 says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”
31 I cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! [Or for you set my heart free]
The psalmist returns to the verb cling, used in the first verse of the stanza to describe his posture in relation to the ground, clinging to the dust, face down before God. Now he promises to cling to the LORD’s testimonies. He prays for his reputation in the community to be positive as his behavior is shaped by obedience to God’s commands. What are you holding onto? There are many less worthy things that we cling to, but grasping truth tightly will always reward. The result for the psalmist is freedom. This may seem counterintuitive because laws tend to restrict and set boundaries, prescribing things which cannot be done. And yet the psalmist discovers that there is liberty in law. He runs, he moves quickly, he advances rapidly in the way of the LORD’s commandments. I remember the days when my knees allowed me the ability to run. There was tremendous freedom in hitting the road, and while it felt like there were no bounds, I most certainly stayed on the path. Getting off the path would inevitably slow me down and possibly cause injury. The same is true of following God’s laws. Life is smoother and more free from injury when you run on the path. The other metaphor in verse 32 is the enlarged heart, not in a physiological sense of course, but in the sense of health -- a strong, liberated heart, a heart that knows what true freedom is and will not surrender to the slavery of sin any longer, a heart that experienced the expansiveness of living God’s way. The cords of sin entangle and trip us up, but running in the path of God’s command, we are healthy and whole. Enlarge my heart, make it stronger and more free than ever by training me in the way of obedience. This is the fifth time that the word way (derek) occurs in this stanza. May your ways be my ways.
He (Imperative)
33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. [Or keep it as my reward]
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.
This stanza contains a series of imperatives, verbs in the form of a command or request. Eech request is followed by a promise or a consequence. First, the psalmist asks to be taught by the LORD in the way of his statues. The LORD as teacher is a common metaphor in the psalm, and it is a beautiful one. There’s nothing quite like having the author of the book teach the course. His authority and clarity are unmatched. As a result the psalmist promises obedience. It’s not about increasing information but character formation. Knowing facts about the Bible and its story is all well and good, but if it doesn’t result in obedience it’s ultimately pointless. May God’s words be character-forming and obedience-building for me. The Hebrew for the second half of verse 33 is literally, “and I will keep it because [or as a consequence]”. You teach it. I will obey it. The second prayer is for understanding, again with the same intended result: obedience. He will keep the word of God as a consequence (vs. 33) and in verse 34, with his whole heart. The keeping of God’s commands is a complete way of life, all-encompassing, engaging the heart and the mind (understanding). I believe the LORD will answer our prayers for discernment because he doesn’t want us to be lost. He has gone out of his way to make himself known to us, revealing it all in human language. Later the psalmist will declare that he has more understanding and insight than even his elders and teachers because he meditates on the law (119:99,100). That has long been my aspiration, not to be the smartest guy in the room, but at least of the people in the room who have thought deeply about scripture and converted those thoughts into actions. It’s something that I would like to be a notable feature of my life, not out of pride, but because it seems to be the best way to live.
35 Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!
The word “lead” here is elsewhere translated as “march” or “trample”. This suggests order, purpose, and obedience. “March me down the road established by your commands”. The metaphor of marching might make one think of drudgery, but that’s not the case. He loves it! Think of every picture or movie of soldiers marching. Are they smiling? Happy? Delighted? Probably not. It is serious business. And while learning and obeying the commandments is serious business, it is absolutely delightful. There is the joy of learning new things, seeing things in the text that you never saw before. Hearing a teacher bring out an aspect of a narrative or doctrine that you had never considered or heard put in quite the same way. But this delight is not just limited to the study of God’s word, but to the obedience of it. There is joy in marching down the road of God’s command. And it is not just about obedience. The psalmist asks that the LORD incline his heart toward his testimonies. In other words, may his heart, his internal being be shaped by God’s story, reformed to no longer be self-centered. If this life only consists of our days on this earth, the temptation to selfish gain is strong. But the revelation of God opens us up to a different understanding of the world and a reshaping of our human nature, from selfishness to selflessness.
37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.
38 Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.
The prayer here is for repentance. “Turn my eyes away from looking at vanity and enliven me in your ways.” Help me avoid wasting time on worthless things, particularly since they have the power to captivate my heart. “Worthless things” here may refer to idols specifically, as this is a common way of expressing the emptiness of valuing deities who are not worthy of it. Or it may refer to vain things in general, those things that have no ultimate value. They are things that steal our time and energy when we could be doing other things. In our culture, entertainment may very well be in this category. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a good story on film -- that is a very human thing. But binge watching, or burning hours every day playing games (video or otherwise), even reading for hours day after day is probably not the best. Rather the psalmist asks that he be refreshed in God’s ways. Rest and refreshment is something that we need as God-image-bearing beings, but this is best achieved through God’s ways and not empty pursuits. We were made to create, and creation is life-giving. Enliven us in your ways God. Establish your word to your servant and we will worship you.
39 Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!
In a culture where honor was supreme, the psalmist asks that any reproach or shame he might experience would be avoided. He wants to be above reproach, without fear of accusation from his neighbors. He believes that this will come from following God’s rules. This is true. I’ve known people who seem downright perfect. I know (and they know) that is not the case, but from all outward appearances, they manifest an upright character in all they do and say. The psalmist wants to avoid public shame, and he knows the path to this is adherence to God’s rules. For this reason he longs for them and is confident that the keeping of them will bring him life. This is the same word “enliven” as in verse 37. The psalmist asks for life in “God’s ways” (vs. 37) and “in your righteousness” (vs. 40). At this point it’s good to note that this psalm is aspirational. In other words, it expresses the desire of the psalmist. Of course, no one can keep the law perfectly and even as the psalmist prays these words, he knows that he will fail. It is all the more amazing then that Jesus did keep the law perfectly. He fulfilled the law in every sense of the word. Because of this we can pray with the psalmist, “in your righteousness give me life!” It is the righteousness of Christ who fulfilled the law and then grants justification to us upon his merit that we have hope, not in our own righteousness. It is the righteousness of Christ that gives us life.
Waw (Witness)
41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;
42 then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your word.
The theme of this stanza is “witness”, and the first opportunity to testify to the truth of God comes in the form of answering the one who taunts. There are plenty of mockers in this world even as there were in the days of the psalmist. Human nature does not change, and the scramble to get to the top by stomping on others is nothing new. The psalmist is mocked, presumably for his faith in God and adherence to the law. He prays that he might experience the faithful love and salvation of God in the midst of opposition. This experience of God’s faithfulness then becomes evidence that he can use to answer the one who taunts him. The psalmist also trusts in the word of God. Much can be said about the dependability of God’s word. It was been faithfully transmitted through the centuries, and this is now beyond dispute. The New Testament was written within a few decades of the events it describes, making it hard to believe that it could have been crafted to create a narrative rather than describe one. The Bible also proves true culturally, pushing against human tendencies throughout history. While it does provide a mirror for humanity, it also tells us things we don’t want to hear, the same things that will make for a better life and society. It challenges us -- something that a book of human origin would not do. Finally, the word of God has proven to be true in my experience and countless others throughout history. Those who bear witness on behalf of the veracity of the word of God, even to the point of death, are innumerable. You stand in good company when you stand for the Word of God.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules.
44 I will keep your law continually, forever and ever,
The letter that starts each verse of this stanza is “vaw” and is commonly attached to the beginning of a word and is translated “and”. I suppose this makes this stanza one of the easiest to form into an acrostic. The prayer of verse 43 is stated in the negative, “Don’t take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth.” Of course the LORD would never remove his word from us, so this is more an expression of desire, “I always want to be speaking the truth, God’s honest truth.” The word “utterly” is literally a repetition of the same word for emphasis, an idiom that expresses totality. The only thing that could remove God’s word from our mouths is our own will, our own decision to neglect and forget it. Without the truth of God, there is no hope. The psalmist’s hope is in God’s rules. In them are life and justice. As a result, the psalmist pledges to keep God’s law continually, forever and ever -- another expression of totality. “Don’t completely remove your law from me” and “I will completely keep your law until time is no longer measured.” The longer we are believers, the easier it can become to take God’s word for granted and neglect it. We know enough to be saved and walk in relationship with him, and so we can become tepid in our desire for knowing and consistently keeping God’s word. God’s truth can be subtly replaced with our wisdom and the wisdom of the world. Compromising with the truth for the sake of getting along with others is a strong temptation. These verses are prayers of absolute commitment and obedience. May nothing turn me away from the truth. In a world that has relativized truth, it is our only hope.
45 and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.
46 I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame,
The metaphor of walking in a wide place suggests freedom in many ways. In a wide place, one is free to run in any direction. There are no obstacles to work around or ups and downs to slow the pace. Second, there is security. When you are in a wide place there is safety because you can see the enemy (human or animal) and have time to react. A wide place could also suggest cultivation (as opposed to a forest) and therefore fruitfulness and abundance. There are limits to the metaphor but the force of it is to make the point that the law is not restrictive even though it seems to be at first glance. Yes, there are many things that the law forbids and that means that it is necessarily restrictive, but those same boundaries provide freedom, safety and abundance to those that live within them. This is a paradox, but it is one that the psalmist frequently cites as a blessing of law-living. To cite one example, the biblical sexual ethic is restrictive: be intimate with only one person, your spouse. This limit allows the opportunity for ultimate freedom in marriage because trust is possible. One can know and be fully known in this wide space. This limitation also provides security and safety (no worry about sexually transmitted diseases). And third, it creates a situation for maximum fruitfulness and abundance, children and a rich family life. The psalmist returns to the theme of “witness” in verse 46 as he promises to testify before kings of the truth of God’s law, and he’s not the least bit embarrassed about it. While speaking of the Bible authoritatively today can generate laughter among some, that shouldn’t stop us from proclaiming its truth and authority. Truth is truth, regardless of how one feels.
47 for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.
48 I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
The psalmist cannot be ashamed of that which he loves. He delights himself in the LORD’s commandments, lifting his hands toward them and meditating on them. The posture of lifting hands is a typical posture of prayer, although here he is not praying to the law, but reaching toward it in desire and adoration. In modern Jewish worship, the Torah is paraded around the synagogue in reverence, the eyes of the worshipers fixed on it. In some congregations may even be kissed. This seems to be an embodiment of the sentiment of these verses. Reflecting on the metaphor of lifting hands reminds one of a child who lifts his hands to a parent to be carried. There are times I lift my hands up to grab onto the promises of God and ask those promises to carry me. The lifting of the hands toward the law should not be confused with bibliolatry, worshiping the book itself (although it can degenerate into that kind of superstition). Rather it is an expression of the high value that we place on the words of God. These are not ordinary words, not a great work of human literature (although humans were involved in the process). In many ways, the words of God are incarnational. God made himself known, coming down to our level in a book, in story and law. Then he completed the process that he had begun by becoming human as well, fulfilling (completing) the law. Jesus was God in the flesh, living among us, the Word of God with skeleton and skin. Our eyes saw him, our hands touched him, and our ears heard his teaching. We delight in this ultimate revelation of God, reaching our hands to him, meditating on his life and words, and loving him.
Zayin (Remember)
49 Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
Asking God to remember something seems like a strange request to the One who knows all and is eternally present. “Remembering” in the Bible means “to bring to the forefront of one’s attention, to focus, and to act accordingly.” Thus, the psalmist is called on God to attend to his situation and act, remembering the covenant promises that God had made to him and acting accordingly. God’s promises and his faithfulness in keeping those promises is the foundation of the psalmist’s hope. They are his comfort in his affliction, and they are life-giving. Affliction is a reality of life. Accidents, illnesses, and ultimately death find us all and render us helpless. Yet the psalmist finds hope in the midst of his affliction through God’s word. First, there are God’s promises to be with us, to be aware of our suffering and to actually suffer with us. This was verified on the cross when Jesus bore our sorrow and carried our grief (Isaiah 53:3). Second, there is the wisdom of God’s word that guides us in decision-making that is needed during times of affliction. And finally, there is the hope of an afterlife, or meaning beyond this material existence. If this life is all that there is, it’s easy to become nihilistic when hurting. But the Bible points to more, revealing that we are immortals and what we do in this life echoes into eternity.
51 The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law.
52 When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O LORD.
A person who is devoted to following God will be mocked by others. The word “deride” here is the same as the “mocker” of Psalm 1:1. Social pressure is one of many reasons that believers abandon the laws of God, so strong is the desire to fit in and be seen as modern and hip. It feels that obeying God as the highest priority in life is the type of thing that will get you plenty of ridicule these days. Yet, this pressure is not a strong enough reason to turn away from God’s law. In fact, the psalmist takes comfort when he thinks about the lasting power of these rules. They are timeless truths that have been proven through centuries of history. You are not on the wrong side of history (whatever that means) when you cling to God’s laws. History is written by the winners, so whoever dominates gets to write their own account. If the Nazis had won WWII they would have won and history would have been written as if their perspective were right. (Just illustrating the silliness of the “right side of history” statement). The right side of anything is always God’s side, that which aligns with his rules, that conforms to reality rather than trying to bend reality to man made rules. So don’t grow weary in defending God’s laws from an arrogant culture. History proves them to be true. They endure while the customs and mores of human societies change with the times.
53 Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.
As one who tries to live according to the commandments of God, it’s frustrating when others flaunt them. It’s maddening because of its stupidity. Watching someone disregard the laws of God is like watching someone blissfully floating down the river upstream of Niagara falls, ignoring all of the signs that predict their imminent doom. It’s going to get really bad very suddenly and they don’t seem to care, so confident are they in their invincibility. This describes so much about humanity. When we live as if there were no god and no laws but our own, we invite brokenness and death into our lives. It’s not only frustrating, but it’s infuriating because these same arrogant people are leading so many innocent lives astray, down the same path of destruction. Whole generations of young people are misled by these lies, and adults will bear responsibility in the judgment. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. In contrast, the believer sings the words of God. They are in his mouth, on his lips, and in his heart. They are the lyrics that he mutters under his breath while going about his day to day business. Wherever he sojourns (travels), God’s word is with him because he has committed it to memory through song (the root of the word psalm). Guided and mentally shaped by His precepts, he knows danger when he sees it and avoids catastrophe. His will power is strengthened by what he sees and what he sings. He sees the folly of disobedience, and he sings of the goodness of God.
55 I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law.
56 This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.
Again using the Hebrew word zachar (remember), the psalmist describes how YHWH is in his thoughts even at night. When the lights are out and everyone has gone to bed, he lies awake thinking about God and it affirms his desire to keep his law. The night time is often associated with greater temptation. We are tired mentally and physically, it is dark and we think that God cannot see, and perhaps we are alone. All of these combine to create an environment where sin is more tempting. Perhaps it is in that context that the psalmist remembers the name of God and the effect of verse 11 comes into play -- “I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The word blessing is not actually in the text. Verse 56 reads literally, “This has become mine because your precepts I kept.” The blessing is implied. Keeping God’s law and precepts comes with a promised blessing, namely that you will live your life firmly in reality. You cannot overturn the moral universe. Moral laws are as certain as physical laws. You can’t make demands of the universe and expect it to accommodate you. Yet this is where we find ourselves as human beings, resisting reality in the name of personal freedom. The psalmist has discovered the liberty and blessing that come from aligning his life with the firm truths of God as revealed in his written word. It keeps him awake at night in joy and contemplation. It keeps him from sin and this makes life all the better.
Heth (Hesed)
57 The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep your words.
58 I entreat your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.
“My portion YHWH” are the first two words of verse 57, reminding us of Psalm 16:5 “The LORD is my portion and my cup.” The “portion” is literally a share of property, a plot of land, its ownership passed down as an inheritance. If the psalmist was a levite, this meant that he didn’t have land. When the land was originally divided among the twelve tribes of Israel the tribe of Levi didn’t receive a share of the land. They were scattered among the tribes and had the mission of caring for the spiritual needs of the people. They entrusted themselves to God and depended on him for their material needs. They ate a share of the offerings and lived off the gifts that worshipers brought. This may be what the psalmist is suggesting even for non-Levites, that we ultimately place our trust in God and not the things that we have attained. He is our share, our portion, our security, our inheritance. The psalmist pledges to keep his portion of the covenant, to obey the LORD’s words even as the LORD pledges to be all that he needs. The first two words of verse 58 are literally “I intensely sought your face”. This is a metaphor for seeking one’s favor, asking face to face. The psalmist is seeking the presence of God, the light of his face to shine upon him, the favor of his gaze. Even as he promises to keep God’s words, he also asks for grace, knowing that this is what God has promised.
59 When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies;
60 I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.
Self-reflection results in a deeper commitment to obey God’s commands. As James tells us (1:22-25) that the law is like a mirror for the heart. We see ourselves more clearly when we get close to it. And we see ourselves as we really are, not as we think we are. The mirror doesn’t lie. A good look in the mirror tells us to clean up, fix our hair, lose some weight, we’re not the airbrushed models that we think we are. Knowing ourselves in this way prompts change, or at least it should. Otherwise the exercise is futile. But as James says, “whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” (1:25). This is not legalism. It’s not salvation by works. It is faith in action. The grace that brought us salvation also brings us transformation, and this happens day by day when we consider our ways and walk toward God’s testimonies. His story transforms us not just at the level of behavior, but more importantly, the level of motivation. There is a paradox of behavior change. Do we think ourselves into acting, or do we act ourselves into thinking? Here the psalmist lands on the thinking side of the behavior change equation. Change the mind and heart and you will change the actions. However, we also know that doing the actions (regardless of your thoughts or feelings) can cause you to embrace a new way of thinking once you’ve done the action. It’s the approach of “do the right thing and the feelings will follow.” May I be honest with myself when I gaze intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and daily walk away as a newer and better man.
61 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law.
62 At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules.
The “cords of the wicked” may refer to traps that have been set for the psalmist. These may be in the form of direct attacks against his character and motives or in the form of temptations to sin, particularly with the focus on “ensnaring”. Those who set their heart on keeping God’s law will often find themselves on the outside of certain social circles. They march to the beat of a different drummer and so appear strange and can become tempting targets, particularly when their very lives stand as a testimony against the foolishness of the wicked. Jesus said we are blessed when persecuted for righteousness sake. The “cords of the wicked” may also represent the temptations to sin that come our way. In Hebrews 12:1 the writer speaks of “the cords of sin that so easily entangle.” When tied up in those cords, the psalmist declares, “I do not forget your law.” It is the word of God that calls us to escape those cords. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word” (119:9). Perhaps it is in this context that the psalmist rises in the middle of the night to worship. Temptation often comes in the night. Alone, dark, hidden from sight -- it is a moment when we may find ourselves vulnerable to greater temptation. Yet this is exactly the time when we need to remember and worship. Midnight was the middle of the night (we tend to think of it as the early part of the night but only because we have electric lights and many people go to bed between 10-12. So think of the darkest part of the night, the darkest seasons of life, this is when we must not forget his law and when we must remember to rise and give thanks. Resist the cords of wickedness by rising to praise.
63 I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.
64 The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes!
The psalmist declares his connection with all who fear the LORD. This is a great statement of unity in the faith. From all appearances the church is quite divided by denomination, socio-economics, race, history and tradition. And yet there is a remarkable unity of core beliefs that allows us to call one another brother and sister. The central cord is willingness to obey God’s precepts, or we might say, “submission to the authority of scripture”. Believers interpret those scriptures in many different ways using the lenses of history and tradition they have inherited, but faith in God and the veracity of his word are fundamental to all who genuinely worship the LORD. Be grateful that you are a member of such a diverse body of God-fearers, and embrace those who believe a little differently from you. You are on the same team because you share the same coach, the Holy Spirit who speaks through the living word of God. Finally, God’s steadfast love (the first mention of it in this stanza) is everywhere to be seen. The earth is packed full of it. From the rain that waters the land to the sun that gives it light and life, from the plants that nourish living things to the animals that frolic in it, from the birth of a newborn to the death of a saint who has lived a good and full life -- God’s steadfast love is everywhere to be seen if we will look. See his faithful love expressed today in all that he is making and managing. See it in the grace you have received and share with others. Teach me your statutes that I may see your steadfast love throughout the entire story of your dealing with mankind. History is “his story” and steadfast love is the plotline. From the moment of the fall in the garden, the plan of redemption was set in motion, culminating in the redemption of mankind purchased by Jesus on the cross. The faithful love of God is on display for all the world to see in the cross of Jesus. May we labor today to fill up the world with that knowledge.
Teth (Good)
65 You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
The Hebrew word translated “good” is tov and this word begins five of the eight verses of this stanza, making it something of a theme. Verse 65 is literally, “Good you have with your servant” and verse 66, “Good judgment and knowledge teach me”. First, as the psalmist considers his experience with God, he can confidently say, “You’ve done good”. This is according to his word, his promise of blessing to those who keep his law. This was fundamental in the giving of the law in the Bible. There were blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Moses said, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Deuteronomy 30:19,20). This is a fact of life. The moral law does not change with the times. Obey it and it will be good for you; resist it and you will be broken. For this reason the psalm asks for the LORD to be his teacher when it comes to sound judgment and knowledge. Good judgment is rooted in the wisdom of God’s commandments. We begin there by trusting in their goodness and living according to them. The Hebrew word for “believe” here is rooted in the word “truth” and “trustworthiness”. We say a form of this word everytime we say “amen, that’s true, that’s right, we trust it”. James said that if we lack wisdom we should ask God who gives it to us generously. That wisdom will most likely come from his words. If it comes in the form of a voice in your head, that voice will have been informed by his words. There is no substitute for reading, knowing, pondering, and obeying the words of God. They are at the foundation of a good life.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
68 You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.
The psalmist describes his life before he became diligent about keeping God’s word. He was carefree and walked wherever he wanted. He describes himself as going astray, wandering away from the right path. He was following his heart and being true to himself, guided by his feelings. It was all good at first but then he experienced affliction, presumably because of the poor choices he had made. It was a hard lesson to learn, but now he keeps God’s word. Now he sees reality: God is good and he does good. Before his affliction perhaps he thought that God was a cruel taskmaster, demanding strict rule-following. But after suffering the consequences of disobedience he sees the real taskmaster: sin. It is the cords of sin that entangle and break our hearts and our bodies. It is the laws of God that prescribe the right path, the good path. Now the psalmist simply wants more of God’s ways. He is good and his way for us to live is good. The desire to be taught cannot just be the acquisition of information, as important as that is. We also need to be taught the value of the truth and its practical application in our daily lives. The teaching of God’s statutes that the psalmist desires is obedience training. “Teach me to obey your statutes”. Like the disciplines of physical training, practicing an instrument, or studying for an exam, these behaviors shape our thinking and our bodies. The training for godliness has ultimate value. It is the good that God desires for us.
69 The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;
70 their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law.
Following God invites opposition. Arrogant people attack him with lies, misrepresenting him, telling half truths to tarnish his reputation. But this doesn’t stop him from keeping God’s precepts with his whole heart. This is one of the greatest fears of those who would follow God today, they will be branded as narrow-minded, bigoted, theocratic, archaic, phobes, and haters. The old axiom is true -- you know you’ve won the argument when your opponents call you names. The attempt to shame Christians into denying the truths of the Bible is nothing new. The psalmist felt that pressure in his day and yet it only strengthened his resolve. Verse 70 contrasts the heart of the faithful with the heart of the critic. It is literally, “as fat as grease is their heart”, the fatness suggesting a state of being hard and uncaring, shut off from the pain they are causing and the pain they are feeling. A “greasy heart” is quite a metaphor, particularly from what we know about heart disease today. A diet high in fat can lead to heart disease, a condition where the arteries become blocked, leading to heart failure. And while the fat heart is hardened and unfeeling, the God-seeker is intensely enjoying God’s law. The word “delight” here is used three times in Psalm 119, but elsewhere in the Old Testament it is translated with its usual meaning of “blind” as in “smeared over”, making it the perfect word to contrast with the “smearing” with lies in verse 69. While the arrogant may smear the godly with lies, the one who keeps God’s precepts is able to find pleasure in them, negating the impact of the attacks and achieving a fully functioning, feeling heart.
71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
72 The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Among the things that are counted as good, affliction is not usually one of them. But if suffering draws us closer to God, then it is good. This is one of the most wonderful and important teachings of Christianity. Every faith and worldview has to deal with the problem of suffering. Some deny it (stoicism, Buddhism), some embrace it (masochism), some hope to earn a better future live (Hinduism), some are fatalistic and accept it (Islam), and some try to escape it by medicating it (atheism, hedonism). Only Christianity offers a more satisfying path. Suffering is a reality of the human condition, but God can redeem it. He can make something of it, giving it meaning and purpose. This text is an example of this. Suffering forces us to consider the big questions of life and it drives us to the word of God for answers. Our senses are heightened in suffering and our ears and minds may be opened because we are looking for solutions. Affliction can drive us to God, and that is good. Once there, we realize the immeasurable value of God’s words. “Better” is the first word of verse 72, setting the theme: the law of God is better than a fortune in gold and silver. The word “pieces” is not in the text, but implied. In the ancient world, having thousands of pieces of gold and silver was unheard of. Perhaps kings might accumulate such wealth, but most people could only see this in their imaginations. Yet the law from God’s mouth is something that everyone can have, and it is of greater value. Wealth gives us security, power, and freedom presumably, but it is a false security. It cannot help you in death and it may actually cause you a lot of trouble in life. The word of God has ultimate value because it is with you in this life and it endures to the next. Treat it with the value it deserves.
Yodh (Hand)
73 Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
74 Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word.
Moving to the letter yohd (y), the psalmist begins with the word that is the same as the letter, hand. The PaleoHebrew alphabet was essentially pictographs, each letter representing a specific word. The curved, apostrophe-like letter looked like a curved hand. It is the hands of the LORD that made and fashioned us. The word fashioned has the meaning of making firm associated with it, in the way that a potter shapes a lump of clay into something firm, establishing its shape and purpose. We are each made and shaped by the LORD for a purpose. The psalmist then asks for understanding to learn his commandments. The word learn is a frequent one in this psalm. Our learning is never complete. We’re never too old to learn more about the LORD and his word. The psalmist hopes to be an example to others, that those who see him will be inspired and encouraged, that they may rejoice because they are not alone in their faith, and they see the fruit of it working out in his life. It’s a good reminder that we don’t just obey the law of the LORD for our own sake, but also for the sake of others and ultimately for the sake of the broader community. Our hope in God’s word manifested in obedience, is one of the goods that people of faith bring to the world. A community of law-abiding citizens is a good place to live and raise a family. Lawlessness destroys trust between one another and the community suffers. You wouldn’t want to live in a world where the vast majority of people had no belief in God or divine accountability. Your learning of the word and your obedience to that word is a good that everyone shares in.
75 I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
76 Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.
In verse 71 the psalmist spoke of the good result of his affliction, that he might learn and value God’s word even more. Here he states that God is the one that has afflicted him but that He has done so in faithfulness. We don't know the nature of his affliction, but because God is sovereign it ultimately can be traced back to him in some way. His affliction may have been the result of his sin, and he was simply experiencing the negative consequences that are built into the system. In that sense God is the ultimate cause, but the psalmist is the primary cause. Perhaps his affliction was the result of persecution, that he was doing the right thing, but was punished for it by unbelievers. Again, not God’s fault except for the fact that he allowed it. Or finally, God’s permissive will allowed the psalmist to suffer something randomly -- disease, accident, financial loss -- from things beyond the psalmist’s control. In any case, the psalmist doesn’t debate the origin of his suffering. It doesn’t seem to be a concern even as he lays the blame directly on God. All of that is overshadowed by the fact that the affliction was equally an experience of God’s faithfulness. In his suffering, the steadfast love of God brought comfort and consolation to his servant. This is good news because suffering is a universal aspect of the human experience and it comes in all of the forms above. God allows us to suffer within the context of his protective faithfulness. God promised his love and faithfulness to us, and we experience that most profoundly while afflicted.
77 Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
78 Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
Continuing on the theme of affliction, the psalmist prays for mercy that he might live. HIs suffering seems to be coming from other people, adversaries who have wronged him with falsehood. Verse 78 describes them as insolent, arrogant, presumptuous. They are not the kind of people who delight in the law of God and they are no doubt mocking the psalmist for his devotion. His response in both verses is to delight and meditate on the law. These two verbs are often linked (1:2). In other words, he doubles down on his devotion. The pressure to reject the LORD from without only pushes him to seek him deeper. The word “delight” occurs five times in the book of Psalms, and all of them in Psalm 119. The word mediate occurs 8 times in this psalm and it expresses the action of deep reflection and thought about the word. There is a great deal of pressure to go along with perceived public opinion and question the authority of God and his word. At best there is an attempt to accommodate the word of God to include behaviors that we like. At worst there is outright rejection of the Bible as a book of entirely human ideas. Stand with the word of God and let opposition to its message push you to trust in its authority even more, to dig deeper and deeper to know its truth even better. Verse 78 stands out as a three line verse, breaking the typical two line pattern. This provides emphasis on the psalmist’s commitment to meditate on God’s precepts regardless of the actions of his enemies.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me, that they may know your testimonies.
80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame!
The psalmist prays that he might be a teacher of others, that those who fear God would turn to him to know God’s testimonies. He desires for his devotion to be an example to others, and he believes that through his own study and reflection on God’s word he can be a worthy teacher of others. The Hebrew word “know” extends beyond mere knowledge of information but rather focuses on experiential knowledge. The psalmist wants his students to know both the content of scripture as well as the working out of that content in their lives. “May they experience your testimonies the way that I have.” For this reason the psalmist prays for a blameless heart when it comes to God’s statues. He doesn’t want to be called out as a hypocrite, teaching one thing and then failing to align his behavior with those precepts. This would bring shame to him and to the faith community. The desire to be a teacher and example to others flows out of love for God and his law. When we have been so thoroughly blessed by our relationship with God and our obedience to his commandments, we want others to share in that blessing. That is not pushing our religion on others, rather it is the natural result of a heart transformed by truth and love.
Kaph (Languish)
81 My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.
82 My eyes long for your promise I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
This stanza is essentially a lament as the psalmist gets real honest with God about his circumstances. The first word of verse 81 is striking, “It is spent, my soul, for your salvation”. The root of the word means complete, total, finished. (The Hebrew word translated “all” is related to it). The psalmist is emptied completely, finished, spent for God’s salvation. He’s got nothing left in his tank. He is empty as he desires God’s rescue. He’s got nowhere else to go, no one else in whom he can trust. So he hopes in God’s word. The same word starts the following verse. His eyes are finished for God’s promise. He’s done looking. He’s seen all that he can, looked far and wide and still there is no answer from God. He asks, “when will God bring him any consolation?” It seems impossible that his suffering will ever end. This is the kind of grief we experience when someone that we love is gone. We can’t imagine a world without them. We can’t imagine a time when we will not think about them and long for their presence. The psalmist sees no consolation even as his soul and his eyes are finished. He’s ready to give up, to close his tired eyes, and yet he hopes in God’s words. His promises are still speaking to him even as he exhausts himself in pursuit of answers. For some questions there are no answers. There is only faith.
83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
84 How long must your servant endure? [Hebrew How many are the days of your servant?] When will you judge those who persecute me?
The dominant metaphor here is a wineskin in smoke. This suggests that the supple leather has dried out and is no longer fit for its original purpose. It may still be used to transport liquid, but it is no longer suitable for fermenting wine. The word “smoke” could possibly refer to ash rather than smoke. This from the NIV OT Backgrounds Commentary: “In Genesis 19:28 it fills the air after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and is said to come out of a furnace. In Psalm 148:8 it is paired with snow in a series of destructive forces of nature (in which case it would refer to the ash from a volcano, see 104:32). Snow and ash (different word) are also compared in Psalm 147:16. Here in Psalm 119 the metaphor that would fit the context is one of waiting with no apparent response. Placing a skin sack in ash would reflect a situation where low-level heat was required over a sustained period of time, such as in the production of yogurt. Though ghee was the more common dairy product (see comment on Is 7:15), yogurt was known in antiquity.” The use of ash in mourning (as in “sackcloth and ashes”) is also brought to mind. In short, the psalmist is weary from dryness and grieving publicly, enduring the taunts of those who persecute him. Yet in all of this, he has not forgotten God’s statutes. They are his lifeline. He believes that there is an end to his suffering and a beginning to God’s justice on his enemies.
85 The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; they do not live according to your law.
86 All your commandments are sure; they persecute me with falsehood; help me!
When one doesn’t live according to the law of God, they live according to the law of the jungle. Kill or be killed. Eat or be eaten. As Nietsche said, all that is left is the will to power. The most powerful get what they want, and what they want is the silence of those that assert the reality of a greater power and authority, anyone that challenges their power. There is much truth about the way power dynamics work in our culture, but it sure leaves a lot of victims. A better way is to recognize the ultimate authority of God and submit to his power and authority. This will keep us from harming others, setting pitfalls (traps in the woods, holes covered in branches that others might unknowingly fall through). It will steer us away from focusing on self-preservation and make us better neighbors. All of God’s commands are true and faithful. They are trustworthy. We hear them and say, “Amen! That’s absolutely right!” Don’t wander in the wilderness of asserting your own authority, particularly when your authority has no basis in reality. When we define ourselves by ourselves, we are fools. When we create fantasies that appeal to our desires, we leave the firm footing of truth and we ourselves fall in the pit that we have dug. Gravity has a way of winning in the end. Entropy always has its way. The persecution that believers experience is always because of falsehood. Believers are misunderstood or deliberately targeted because their very existence is a threat to those who claim ultimate authority. There is no god but God, and his laws are inviolable. Yesterday I was dangling my feet in the moving water of a creek. As the swirls of water made eddies as they moved past my legs I thought about the laws of fluid dynamics. As the breeze blew across my face I thought about the laws of air pressure. As the sun rose in the east I thought about the rules that govern the movement of heavenly bodies -- gravity, centrifugal force, inertia, the strong and weak nuclear forces. These lyrics from “Let All Things Now Living” came to mind. “His law he enforces, the stars in their courses, the sun in its orbit obediently shines. The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains, the deeps of the oceans proclaim him divine.” All of nature follows the rules of God, and so should we. Your commandments are sure.
87 They have almost made an end of me on earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.
The psalmist continues his lament, stating that his enemies have almost finished him off. When it comes to his life on earth, there’s not much left. But he remains faithful, not forsaking God’s precepts even if it might seem to make things easier. He prays on the basis of God’s steadfast love that God would give him life, restore his vitality, sustain and strengthen him through this season of pain and persecution. His desire is to live so that he might obey the words that have come from the mouth of God. This is another example of the deep reverence the psalmist has for the words of God. Even while he seems to be losing everything on earth, he clings to the words of God (which aren’t even things) and this sustains him. He recites the promises of God. He speaks aloud the commands of God that regulate his behavior. He recounts the stories of God’s miraculous deeds for his people and his life is restored. His complaint isn’t necessarily resolved. His enemies are still probably hounding him, but recalling the words of God has renewed his strength and his desire to walk faithfully in His ways.
Lamedh (Everlasting)
89 Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
These are some of my favorite verses in the entire psalm. In the modern world where everything seems to shift constantly, it’s good to know that the word of God does not change. The metaphors here of the heavens and earth are illustrative of the thorough, constant, unchanging nature of God’s word. The laws of physics and chemistry that govern the movement of the planets, the forming of clouds, the rise and fall of the tides, and the cycle of erosion and geologic formation are inviolable. The machinery of biology in all of its complexity functions like clockwork, following the rules that God set up at the moment of creation. It's quite reasonable to assume that God’s moral laws work the same way, and these moral laws are expressed in the narratives and commandments of scripture. They have served well the societies that have ordered themselves around them, and individuals who align their behavior and thinking with them have experienced the blessings of a good life. This is the testimony of believers through the ages. You can build your life upon the firm foundation of God’s word and have no doubts about its veracity and applicability for all time. Modern people like to think that they are smarter and wiser than their ancestors. But just because you can operate a smartphone doesn’t mean you’re any smarter. In fact, in many ways we are much duller than those who came before us because we are so dependent on others to do our thinking for us. May these verses remind us once more that there is no other metaphysical foundation that can be laid that is as secure as that revealed in the written word of God, the Bible.
91 By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants.
92 If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
The motions of the heavens and the earth are constants because they are the servants of God. They operate at his command and within his rules. They cannot violate the laws of nature. God’s laws are the tracks on which the train of the universe runs. The sun rises and sets as does the moon and all the celestial objects because they are keeping their appointments with God. What a pleasure to be a scientist who studies these things, who can see God’s handiwork up close every day, who depends on the consistency of these laws to make accurate calculations. Science is essentially the process of uncovering and understanding the laws of God. The psalmist is no scientist, but he can make observations about the predictability of the universe and come to the conclusion that there is a mind behind it. The words that this mind has revealed are then his delight and they sustain him in times of affliction. The sure promises of God, the foundational reality of his existence and his goodness -- these provide a resting place for his soul, and even pleasure in the midst of pain. No matter how difficult life can be, look for the evidence of God’s ordered universe. These inviolable laws are signs of his unchanging nature and promises, truth that will sustain you through trials.
93 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
94 I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts.
The Hebrew acrostic for these two verses is literally, “Forever not I will forget...” and “Yours I am, save me…” What a beautiful pair of statements of devotion. The reason God’s statements are unforgettable is that they have been the source of life to the psalmist. The precepts of God give us life in many ways. First, they direct us in the best way to live, giving us wisdom in decision making, establishing moral boundaries for the safety of our bodies and our hearts. Second, they inspire us, telling stories of faith that move us to trust in seasons of hardship. Third, the word of God describes God’s nature and we are blessed when we conform to his image and design for us in the way that we live and treat others. Fourth, the law of God tells the story of salvation in which we can take a part. The law is life-giving while legalism is life-destroying. The love that the psalmist has for the law is not a love for legalism that results in either pride or frustration, but for the Law-giver, the One who loves us enough to guide us in every situation. In verse 94 the psalmist declares his devotion by simply saying, “I’m yours, save me” (hosanni). Salvation in Hebrew is not just rescue from a difficult situation, it also implies wholeness and healing. This will come through the presence of the words of God in your life as they shape your thinking and actions.
95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies.
96 I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.
There will always be enemies of the truth because there are enemies of God, and He is truth. There are those who resist authority because they have set themselves up as the authority and all other contenders must be disparaged. For this reason, they look for an opportunity to destroy the psalmist, likely bringing him to shame as a hypocrite. This is a favorite tactic: they accuse a believer of failing to keep all the commandments and thereby imply that his worldview is false or that he is less than honest. Because his enemies are looking for a way to trap him, the psalmist devotes himself to discerning God’s testimonies, to considering their meaning and how he can fully obey them. Verse 96 is another favorite from this psalm. “To all perfection there is a limit, but your command is vast”. It is literally, “to all perfection I have seen the end, broad your command exceedingly.” Achieving perfection at anything is rare. The perfect game, the perfect song, the perfect performance, the perfect score, the perfect person -- these are elusive. But when we look at the words of God, we find complete perfection. It becomes clear that these are not the words of men concocted to appear as the words of God. The more we discern and consider them, the more amazing we realize they are. The language of scripture has been scrutinized by more people for more time than any other book by far in history, and yet it still yields new insights and power for living. It still shows itself to be divine in its origin, even as scholars pick apart every phrase and attempt to limit its scope. There is no end to studying the word for God for it reveals the mind of God. His command is wide not in the sense that it allows you to follow your heart and do whatever you want, rather the scope of it provides freedom to live and serve God in a variety of ways while still staying in his will. It is wide in the sense that there is so much of it to explore and investigate. It is a frontier that invites surveying and documenting.
Mem (More)
97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.
In this stanza the psalmist proclaims the superior value of the law in each succeeding verse. He begins with a declaration of love for God’s law. The psalmist will declare this love three times in this psalm (in verses 97, 119, and 127) while he declares his love for God only twice in the entire Psalter (18:1, 116:1). Perhaps this is because the law is the means of his relationship with God. It is the way he learns about God and obedience to the law is how he shows his love for God and his trust in him. The law is the closest thing to the incarnation in the old covenant. As such, it is the psalmist’s meditates all the day. (This is not the word hagah that occurs elsewhere in the psalms, but se-ach, the word for meditation that occurs 8 times in Psalm 119). When a person is in love, their beloved is never far from their mind. Everything seems to remind them of their character, nature and actions in some way. When your beloved is on your mind, you see her everywhere. So it is with the psalmist as he takes the word of God with him. It is forever with him, hidden in his heart, slipping from his lips as prayer and song. As a result of this affection and constant attention, meditating on the commandments of God makes the psalmist wiser than his enemies. Not smarter, not more full of information, but wisser. Wisdom is applied knowledge, the ability to do what is right, discernment and the moral courage to act in ways that are best for all. The commandments not only tell us the right actions but the motivation and inspiration to follow through. Moral courage is often sorely lacking in our world. The mantra of our day is, “just follow your heart”, but this ultimately leads to self-absorption and despair. It’s not how we were made. It reminds me of the lyrics of the chorus of Rich Mullin’s Maker of Noses. “They said boy you just follow your heart, but my heart just led me into my chest. They said follow your nose, but the direction changed every time I went and turned my head. And they said boy you just follow your dreams, but my dreams were only misty notions. but the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses, and the Giver of dreams He's the one I have chosen and I will follow Him
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged, [Or the elders] for I keep your precepts.
In Hebrew the word order is reversed placing emphasis on the “more” aspect of both verses. “More than all my teachers, I have prudence…more than the elders, I have discernment”. The reason for this superior level of understanding is not that the psalmist has studied more but he has meditated and obeyed more than they. The additional ingredient, the secret sauce to wisdom is the heart. Love for the law is the prerequisite for gaining discernment and prudence. Critics of the law (as many scholars become) do not love the law and so do not have their hearts and minds shaped by it. They stand outside of it, dissecting and judging it, so they cannot be changed by it. I’ve always loved the inherent promise of these verses. It’s not about smarts and academic credentials, it’s about love for God and his word. Begin there and the most poorly educated person can make the academics look like fools simply because they have chosen to reflect on the text and put it into regular practice. Think of the disciples who were labeled “unlearned, uneducated men”, and yet observers took note that they had been with Jesus, the incarnate word of God. There is value in academic study and the application of principles of interpretation, but it must be accompanied by a heart that is willing to be shaped by the subject of study.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.
The psalmist promises to control his steps, to deny himself in order to keep God’s word. There are any number of evil paths that one may take and they can be tempting in the moment, but the psalmist turns again and again to his commitment to walk in God’s ways alone. This verse recalls the very first verse of the Psalms, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.” The path of the wicked is wide and well-traveled, so much that one can easily justify themselves in walking it with the phrase, “everyone else is doing it, it’s perfectly natural, and it’s preferred in fact.” The godly person stops in their tracks when tempted to join the crowds in sin. He is walking a different path and he’s unwilling to deviate from it because he has been taught by God. The psalmist has greater wisdom than teachers or elders because he meditates on and keeps God’s law. This discipline empowers him to resist the temptation to sin while strengthening his faithfulness.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
The psalmist concludes this stanza with an expression of pleasure for the experience of having the words of God in his mouth. Reading them outloud, reciting them for memory, recalling them throughout the day and particularly in moments of need -- these are like savoring the sweetest desserts in your mouth. Think about the pleasure that food brings -- it satisfies hunger, it fills the stomach and nourishes the body, it is pleasurable to the taste and enticing to the eyes and nose. The words of God are all of these things to us and we should crave and consume them like the body consumes good food. Honey was the sweetener of the ancient world, a natural sugar, somewhat difficult to come by, so valued and appreciated, an extravagance that I presume many people could not afford. Here it is a metaphor for the pleasing satisfaction of speaking and meditating on the words of God. Because of these words we gain understanding and discernment. We can know with greater confidence which direction we should go, our moral choices become clearer, our perception into human nature and the human condition is more precise, and we have a framework for understanding everything that is rooted in reality, not merely our own limited perspective. This frees us from the tyranny of self, and is as sweet as a peach pie. Not only does the word of God direct us, but it shapes our emotions and motivations. As a result of reflecting on the precepts of God, the psalmist hates falsehood. Hate is a strong word and it suggests a passion against the lies that people live by. The psalmist doesn’t hate people but rather the ideas that they believe, falsehoods that make their lives miserable. Love those who believe lies by convincing them of the truth, both in word and in your lifestyle.
Nun (Pledge)
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.
“A lamp to my feet [is] your word, and a light to my path” is probably the most familiar of the 176 verses of this psalm. It is a metaphor that is easily grasped by young and old. The natural light from the sun and moon order our lives and dictate when we work and sleep. The light from the sun is the source of life and all energy for human flourishing. The energy of sunlight can be captured and stored in plants and later burned as oil to give us light when the sun isn’t available. The all-encompassing power and beauty of the sun is described in Psalm 19:5-6, preceding a five verse exposition of the law, a prelude to Psalm 119. So the link between light and the word of God is an obvious one. The focus here is on the word as a lamp, a source of light when natural light is not available. First, this metaphor reminds us that the word of God can quell our fears. The darkness is frightening and dangerous. Human and animal enemies prowl in the dark, and our imaginations can run with terror at noises in the hight. All it takes is the igniting of a lamp, and our fears can be dispelled. The word of God does this as well. Our fears -- rational and irrational -- are dispelled by the light of the promises of God. Second, we also use a lamp (or flashlight these days) to light our path, our journey in life. When we don’t know our next step, a lamp shows us where to place our feet immediately in front of us, even when we can’t see our final destination. While it may be dark all around us, a lamp will illuminate a radius of several feet in every direction, orienting us and showing us where we can safely move next. Third, a lamp helps to clarify. In the dimness of dusk, a lamp helps us to see things more clearly. In the moral fog of our time, God’s word cuts through the ambiguity and sharpens our understanding of reality. The mariner is at risk of crashing against the rocks of the shore until the beam of the lighthouse slices the fog and reorients him, guiding him safely through the passage and to his home. For this reason, the psalmist dedicates himself to keep God’s righteous rules. He does this through an oath, a solemn promise. Oaths are underrated these days. One of the most solemn oaths we can make is to our spouse -- to love and to cherish until death do we part. This is not easy and should never be made lightly. You won’t always feel like keeping this oath, even though it is the best thing for you. In the same way, keeping your promises to God isn’t always the most convenient thing to do, but is always the best thing for you to do.
107 I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
108 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your rules.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the psalmist declares that he is severely afflicted. This is likely due to the nature of the acrostic structure where it is challenging to keep a consistent theme when constrained by the alphabet. There is some lament scattered throughout the psalm for this reason. Here the psalmist uses very strong language to indicate an intense level of pain. This is a reality of life. There will be great pain at various times -- disease, death, disappointment -- they are an unfortunate aspect of life. When those times come, the source of life is YHWH and this life will come from his word. His promises will sustain and renew us when nothing else in the world will. As verse 105 reminds us, God’s word is a light that shines when all others grow dim. In his affliction, the psalmist choses to worship, to offer a freewill gift of praise. Worship is not compelled but is a genuine response to the enlivening that the psalmist has received from God’s word. As such he asks for more, “teach me your rules”. Affliction is God’s great teacher. As metal is forged in the furnace, so our character is tested and strengthened through hardship.
109 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.
The psalmist will often speak of his life being in the LORD’s hand, but here he says that his life is in his own hands. He seems to be saying that he is in control of his own life, that he has agency. He could choose to walk away from God, but instead he promises, “I do not forget your law.” The temptation to walk away is made greater by the snares of the wicked. The wicked are those who do not trust in God, the fools who have said in their hearts, “there is no God, no one sees, there is no accountability” (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). It’s tempting to follow their ways and discount the rules of God. This is a type of snare that we can fall into, having been indoctrinated by a culture that denies the ultimate moral authority of God. In addition to humans who have embraced this worldview, the scriptures also tell us of a spiritual enemy, who, like a lion, is hunting us for his next meal. In spite of the very real temptation to forsake the moral behavior that God prescribes, the psalmist affirms his intention to avoid straying from God’s precepts. “Stray” is a good word to describe how we can easily become entangled in sin. We are walking along a path that is clear but our attention is drawn to a thing off to the side and as we make our way there, the underbrush becomes thicker and the thing we seek more elusive until we suddenly realize that we have left the path and are lost in the wilderness. We didn’t intend to get lost, we didn’t intend to get entangled, but here we are. Our lives are in our hands. We have agency to stay on God’s path or to stray and fall into the devil’s pitfall (a type of trap used in the forest where a hole is covered with brush).
111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. [Or statutes; the reward is eternal]
The psalmist wraps up this stanza with an exuberant declaration of heartfelt love for God’s testimonies, emphasizing his eternal commitment to their keeping. The stories of God are his eternal heritage. They are ultimate in his life and they will be with him in eternity. As he walks with God into the unknown beyond this life, he will still have God’s words, his eternal truth rendering him unshakeable. God’s stories are the joy of his heart, not rules that chafe and bind and limit, but paths of freedom and genuine pleasure. As such his heart is inclined to perform them forever, to the very end of his life, faithful in obedience. This kind of language is anathema to many in our culture today who view freedom as the catapulting of moral rules as far away as possible. The limitations of nature, biology and divine authority are seen as restrictions to true happiness and freedom, and so they are to be rejected without regret in order to embrace one’s true self, one’s inner feelings and desires. To follow one’s heart, this is said to be the ultimate path to happiness. Ignoring the brokenness that this thinking and acting has caused, its proponents scream for more. In their own words, “You see the problem is that we still do not have enough freedom, there are still boundaries that need to be crossed. We won’t be happy until everyone agrees with us. You people of the book are keeping us from happiness because you won’t accept our version of reality.” It is a fool’s journey. The psalmist saw this in his day as well, and so he weds his heart to the reality of God and his moral laws. God will be his compass forever and his heritage will be a blessing to all who are impacted by his life. May I be such a man.
Samekh (Separation)
113 I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
The psalmist feels pretty strongly about two things. He hates the double-minded (the half-hearted, the divided), but he loves God’s law. The word for double-minded occurs only here in the entire OT and has the idea of “division” at its core. When the psalmist speaks of “divided people” (plural), he is referring to others who try to have things both ways, following God sometimes but also rejecting his authority at other times and doing their own thing. It’s easy to see duplicity in others, but perhaps the psalmist sees himself in that word as well. I know I do. I am often double-minded and half-hearted, divided in my loyalties. In Psalm 86:11, David prays, “Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” He recognizes that even the ability to follow God wholeheartedly is a gift from him. Love for the law of God will keep one from being half-hearted (119:11), and so “love” and “hate” are placed in opposition here. When we love someone or something we resist that which is opposed to it. Loving God’s word means knowing it, remembering it, and embodying it, and yet my heart wars against this at times. The next verse reminds us that God is our hiding place and shield, our ultimate hope in this life and beyond. A hiding place is handy when you are being pursued and a shield is handy when you’ve been discovered, blocking the blows of sword and arrow. Put your hope in God and his word, and you will be in a place of safety. You’ll still have enemies and you will still suffer from attacks, but you will be in the safest place possible.
115 Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
116 Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
A key theme of this stanza is “separation”. In the previous verses the psalmist drew a distinction between the double-minded and those who love the law. Here he asks for separation from evildoers in order that he may keep the commandments of God. Perhaps these evildoers were tempting him to forsake his promises to God. Even if not directly, the apparent freedom of those unbound by the laws of God can be enticing. In our culture this is paraded before us every day to the point that those who are committed to keeping the commandments of God are made to feel like complete outliers. In Psalm 73, the psalmist is plagued by the happy life of the wicked, all while he is struggling to keep the faith, wondering why he should bother being good. The prayer in verse 115 is a prayer of devotion, that he might avoid the temptation to do evil and instead embrace the life that God has for him. Furthermore, he prays in verse 116 for God to uphold him, to keep his promise that the life of obeying God is indeed the good life. Otherwise he would be put to public shame for believing in such a thing. We who hope in the commandments of God are taking a risk. What if this whole God-thing turns out to be a hoax perpetrated by very clever men who wrote the Bible in order to keep people in line? That would be embarrassing. However, based on all available evidence, it would still be the best life. It certainly has been for me. Verse 115 is echoed in Jesus’ words at the end of the sermon on the mount, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you.” This reminds us that the evildoer can just as easily be someone who seems to be a member of God’s community. It could even be me.
117 Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!
118 You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain.
The psalmist continues the theme of “hold me” with a prayer for God’s sustaining power. He prays for safety, presumably from the evildoers mentioned in verse 115, and it’s not just physical safety for he prays that he would have continual regard for God’s statutes. He doesn’t want to disregard the commands of God in the least even as others may tempt him to compromise. The idea of separation recurs in verse 118 where YHWH is said to spurn those who go astray from his statutes. The straying is a willful act involving cunning and premeditation. However, it is all in vain because God’s law is inviolable. You can break it, but it will break you. We experience the consequences of disobedience as God’s spurning, his rejection, but it is really simply our choice. God will not force himself on an unwilling person. He will persuade but not coerce. Woo me LORD to have high regard for your statutes that I might not stray from them. Prop me up when I am tired of doing what is right, when I feel that I am the only one, when my will is weak. Captivate me with your beauty and greatness so that I will not consider attempting to violate the perfect law of God.
119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
The psalmist uses the metaphor of refining to describe God’s actions in separating the wicked from the righteous, discarding the wicked like dross. Applying intense heat to an ore causes the elements to separate, the dross being the useless parts of the ore that are naturally discarded.The refining fire is a metaphor for trials, difficulties, challenges that test us and reveal what we are made of. The trials of life on this earth serve as a refining tool, separating the faithful from the faithless. The psalmist very much wants to survive these trials and believes that the key is loving God’s testimonies. Passionately following God’s story is a sure fire way to grow in character and moral strength to endure the hardships of life. After a statement of love and devotion, in verse 120 the psalmist expresses the emotion of fear and dread. I don’t think this is a fear of God’s judgment as much as an awe of his wisdom expressed in his law. It is a deep reverence for the moral laws conveyed in the text of the covenant. There are blessings for obedience (longevity, prosperity, and flourishing) and curses for disobedience (loss, pain, grief). It would do us well to consider the weight of God’s commandments before we so flippantly disregard them. The wicked of the earth don’t give thought to those commandments and they destroy themselves raging against them. The godly person has a deep regard for them and orders his life upon them.
Ayin (Servant)
121 I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Give your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me.
In this stanza the psalmist identifies himself as the LORD’s servant, and asserts that he has been a person of integrity. He has done what is just and right, so the LORD should protect him from the predations of his oppressors. Furthermore, he asks the LORD for a pledge, a promise that he would not allow the insolent (presumptuous, arrogant) person to oppress him. This statement and prayer is rooted in the belief in God’s justice. The psalmist believes that he should be treated fairly by God who is all merciful and perfectly just. If the psalmist is innocent, he reasons, he should not experience harm for doing what is right, for he is simply doing what God has commanded him. And yet that’s not how the world works. The righteous suffer unjustly. In fact, they suffer specifically because they are just, because they do what is right without compromise. It puts them at odds with the world and it’s wishful thinking as it regards reality. So the psalmist may ask for God’s favor and freedom from harm, but there is no promise from God here.
123 My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
124 Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.
The Hebrew in verse 123 is literally, “My eyes are finished [complete, done] for your salvation and your righteous word.” He is at the end of his longing. He has desired for so long and he cannot wait anymore, so desperate is he for an answer. Likewise he longs to see God’s word vindicated. This may be in reference to the oppression noted in the previous verse. Yet it is when we are pushed to our limits that we grow. Muscles that are pushed grow stronger, and the same is true with one’s spiritual muscles. His endurance is building faith as he continues to trust in God’s faithful love and sure promises. He places his future in God’s hands, identifying himself as a servant throughout this stanza. Indeed a servant is completely dependent on the mercy of his master. While a servant is an equal image bearer of God, in his circumstance, he is also subject to the rule of his master. The psalmist yields his will in his use of that one word “servant”, and he trusts his future to this benevolent master while evermore learning.
125 I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!
126 It is time for the LORD to act, for your law has been broken.
The psalmist continues his identification as a servant, this time asking for discernment to know fully God’s story. The word “know” here is the common word for knowledge that implies knowing through experience, existentially. His response to the oppression that he feels is to go deeper into the word of God and seek discernment there. This leads to a statement, perhaps of frustration, that YHWH needs to do something now because his law is being voided by people. The more that we love YHWH and his Word, the more emotionally upsetting it is to see others who don’t. This is not because we are angry at them but because we grieve for them. We grieve for what they are losing by rejecting the person who loves them more than anyone in the world. We grieve because of the very real consequences of disobedience, not just the eternal consequences, but the temporal ones as well. There is an immense amount of suffering that takes place in this world every moment of every day simply because people are declaring void the words of God. When they say that there is no God, they are saying that there are no laws. There is no ultimate authority to judge, so everyone is “free” to do what is right. The Rousseauian idea of the “noble savage”, that every person is born into the world as a blank slate, free to choose their own path according to their feelings has led to unfathomable brokenness. This breaks my heart because it does not have to be. The truth has been made known to us. The cross of Jesus proclaims God’s love and his written word contains the worldview that makes the most sense of the world and offers the best possibility of human flourishing. And yet, God and his law are routinely ignored as obsolete and irrelevant in our enlightened age, an age that ironically is looking darker every day. So we pray with the psalmist, O LORD, it is time to act. Come in judgment. Come in mercy. Don’t let us linger in our own mess.
127 Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.
The servant psalmist concludes this stanza with a logical conclusion, indicated by the use of the word “therefore” (or phrase in Hebrew, “upon this”). Because God’s word is trustworthy and right, and even though many despise it, the psalmist places ultimate value upon it. He declares his emotional, passionate love for God’s commandments, and states that they are superlative to those things of greatest value in the world, that being material things, gold ore and even more, refined gold. Money and all the happiness and security it can buy are the dreams and desires of most people. For example, when our government thinks about fixing problems, there is only one solution: throw money at it. The problem is that the greatest challenges of our society and our individual lives are not financial, they are spiritual. The psalmist declares his choice unequivocally, God’s laws are right, and everything that is not aligned with them is false. The love that he expresses toward God’s commandments is countered in verse 128 by his hatred for false ways. It’s been said that the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. Thus, the psalmist has both love and hatred, passionate feelings that are necessarily joined together. For example, because I love my family, I hate everything and everyone that would attempt to harm them in any way. If I didn’t hate, I couldn’t love. Note the completeness of this statement: “I consider all of your precepts to be right”. Many modern believers would take exception to this statement, evaluating the “rightness” of God’s word by their own feelings, making themselves the author of the law they are following. The psalmist leaves no room for such squishiness. All God’s precepts are right, and anything that doesn’t align with them is false (regardless of how “right” it might feel.”
Pe (Body)
129 Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
The stanza opens with the word, “wonder”, literally, “A wonder are your testimonies!” Because of the remarkable nature of God’s word, the psalmist is compelled to keep them. The word “keep” is alternately translated as “guard, keep, observe”. He guards the word because it is something of value. Words are important and there can be no sloppiness connected with the word of God. This is one of the hallmarks of the Jewish and Christian tradition of faithfully copying the scriptures. They had such a high view of scripture that they wouldn’t consider changing a single letter. That’s likely not the meaning of “guard” in this context, but it is worth noting. More likely the psalmist is stating that the natural response to the recognition of the extraordinary nature of the words of God is to obey them. This is done not merely outwardly, bodily only, but from the deepest part of who we are, our “inmost being” (Ps 103:1), from our soul. The object is to have our interior and exterior lives in correspondence in obedience to the law. Verse 130 contains a type of play on words. The “unfolding” of God’s words is literally “opening”. As God’s words are opened, heard, and received, a light begins to dawn on the soul. We have those “aha” moments of connection and inspiration. The word play is found in the final word, “simple” which is based on the same root, “open”. Here the word suggests an “open-mind”. A simple, foolish person is open-minded, thoughtless, carefree, living without moral and reasonable boundaries. The wonderful word of God can impart light even to such an open-minded person. I recall a lyric from a song many years ago that declared, “You’re so open-minded that your brain leaked out.” That is the sense here of the “simple” person. They are open to everything and lack discernment as to what is true and right.
131 I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.
The psalmist opens his mouth wide in his desire to receive nourishment from the word of God. He longs for them as one might hunger for food when fasting. The verse reminds us of Jesus fasting in the wilderness, who after forty days without food declared, “Man doesn’t live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” There is food from God that satisfies a deeper need than physical hunger. Jesus was nourished by this food, and so the absence of physical food was of secondary importance. The tempter could offer Jesus physical food to sate his physical hunger, but only the real presence of God experienced through his word can satisfy the deep spiritual hunger of every human being. The verse also makes me think back to the days of feeding our children. We told them to “Open wide…” as we brought the food to their waiting mouth. This metaphor of receptivity is a great way to approach our daily feeding on the word of God as if we were saying, “I want to receive everything you have for me.” As the psalmist expresses his desire to feed on the words of God, he also asks for God’s favor, knowing that it is in the nature of God to show such favor to those who love him.
133 Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
134 Redeem me from man's oppression, that I may keep your precepts.
The end result of longing for God’s words is obedience. It’s not enough to just admire and be impressed by them. Their true end is transformation through obedience. Thus the psalmist prays for steadiness of step, faithfulness in his daily walk, a lifestyle conformed to the commands of the author of life. The result of such obedience is freedom. No iniquity will gain dominion over him. He will not be controlled by societal pressures nor by bodily urges. He is shaped by the perfect law that gives freedom. He prays for redemption from man’s oppression, the challenges that come at him from an unbelieving world. He feels like an outsider, obeying God’s law makes him a non-conformist and this can work against his need for community. Relief from this oppression will help him to fully keep God’s precepts. The irony of the modern world is that it promises freedom from God and his old rules, encouraging self-expression and boundaryless lifestyles. This is said to be the key to happiness and flourishing. It is a lie that many people find themselves trapped in as they find themselves enslaved to iniquity. The ability to say no to yourself, specifically to desires that can potentially destroy you, is key to a happy life. Too many people are miserable in their “freedom”, unaware of the chains of iniquity that keep them in the dominion and oppression of the enemy.
135 Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.
136 My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.
The psalmist asks for God’s favor using a familiar metaphor, “Make your face shine upon your servant.” This is a phrase from the great priestly blessing, requesting that the psalmist experience the smile of God’s face, the enlightenment that comes from his law, and the favor that comes from a parent who wants what’s best for their child. Like a child the psalmist needs to always be learning the rules of life, so he asks for instruction in them. He desires to know both the content and the application of the revealed wisdom of God in human language. As he thinks about the favor he has experienced by knowing God and his word, his thoughts turn to his neighbors who labor under the weight of the consequences of their disobedience. And this is the response of God-followers to a world that has rejected Him. It is not anger (how dare you!) and it is not arrogance (Too bad you can’t be like me). It is grief. A continual flood of tears come from the eyes of those who love God and his word when they see their God and his word ignored and actively resisted. It is heart-breaking to see the needless suffering all around us. It is human caused and yet often God is blamed for it. On the night before he was betrayed, Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. This is God’s response to broken people -- not anger, not arrogance, but compassion. May this be my response as well. It’s far easier to judge and distance oneself from the kind of self-inflicted human suffering we see all around us. The Jesus way is to stop and cry tears of compassion. Then get back to the work of healing the wounds and redeeming souls.
Tsadhe (Just)
137 Righteous are you, O LORD, and right are your rules.
138 You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness.
This stanza’s theme of righteousness couldn’t be more clear. YHWH is righteous, and thus his rules are as well. As he is, so he speaks. He has ordered his testimonies in rightness and faithfulness. They can be fully trusted for all time. Modern man considers statements like this to be dogmatic and questionable. Instead they trust in their own intuition and interpretation of the world based on their limited personal experience. To do otherwise requires a leap of faith that they are not willing to make, even though such a leap is entirely rational. Which is more rational, that there is no ultimate truth beyond my personal experience, or that there is an all-powerful, all-knowing being who created the universe, ordered all things, and is the ultimate truth and reality? Are you going to trust yourself or another authority? Are God’s rules right or can I live by my own rules? You certainly can live by your own rules, but the consequences will not be ideal. Many want to live somewhere in the middle, following some of God’s rules while spurning others. We disregard those that seem too traditional and limiting as well as those that ask too much of us. If all of God’s rules are right, then they are all to be followed. He established them for our good. He is faithful and he asks the same of us.
139 My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words.
140 Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.
The psalmist is spent, exhausted, consumed in his zeal to know God and keep his law. It angers him to see others who despise God and have no interest in knowing him or keeping his law. It places him at odds with others as he realizes how differently they see things. We often feel the same way in our culture when others take positions that seem incomprehensible to us as followers of God. Abortion, marriage, sexuality, what does it meant to be male and female -- many have views on these issues that are completely at odds with life and human flourishing. Their positions are logically incoherent, and yet they hold to them ferociously and irrationally. I cling to the laws of nature and nature’s God. They have served humanity well from the beginning of time, logically coherent and tested. My zeal for them distinguishes me most in popular culture, but that doesn’t change my love for God and his laws. His promises have been “well tried.” This is the Hebrew word for “refined, tested”, used in the context of purifying metal. Psalm 12:6 tells us that “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.” Indeed, God’s words have been tested throughout the centuries by saints who have trusted in them even to the point of losing their lives. Take their word for it, God’s word can be trusted, even when it puts you at odds with kings.
141 I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.
The word small is usually translated as insignificant, little, or young. The psalmist is not likely very young, but he may feel like it. A young person was often marginalized due to their lack of strength, abilities, and wisdom. Perhaps the psalmist feels even more marginalized because of his devotion to the law. Because he takes it seriously he finds himself on the outside of the power structures, unwilling to make the ethical compromises society has come to expect. Whatever his circumstance, he is committed to remembering (keeping) God’s precepts. Remember/forgetting always has the force of obedience/disobedience in Hebrew. Obviously, the psalmist is not merely remembering God’s precepts intellectually. Rather he is actualizing them through obedience. He has confidence in the value of obedience because God’s righteousness is eternal and unchanging, and his law is true. His standards will not change and bend with the times. Popular opinion has no effect, nor do your subjective feelings. I recall Jesus’ words in the sermon on the mount to seek first the kingdom (rule) of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33). It’s the same righteousness -- concern for the poor and needy, pursuit of moral purity and integrity (inner and outer lives in harmony), love for one’s neighbor and open-handed generosity. This is what righteousness looks like and when you do these things you reflect the very nature of God and you will find yourself fully satisfied. As Jesus promised the righteousness-seeker - “All these things will be added to you as well.”
143 Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.
144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.
The life of a law keeper is not easy. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. There’s bound to be trouble in this life regardless of your level of moral purity. The psalmist knows that trouble and anguish will find him as they always do. The difference is that God’s commands are his delight. This word occurs five times in the psalms, all in the 119th psalm (24,77,92,143,174), and this delight in the unchanging, inspiring, transforming words of God will sustain him in trouble. God’s testimonies are righteous forever. They are never out of date. There is never a time or culture where they do not bring life through their application. The psalmist prays for understanding as he seeks to obey God’s laws and teach them through word and deed to others. This is the prescription for what ails the world. Following the designer and maker’s instructions makes more sense than any of the other things that the world is trying in its pursuit of happiness. Give me understanding that I may truly live the life you have intended for all human beings, walking with you in the garden as you did with the first man and woman.
Qoph (Hope)
145 With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! I will keep your statutes.
146 I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies.
The psalmist offers a whole-hearted cry for help. We don’t know the circumstance, but he is in need of salvation and he recognizes that there is nowhere else to go. The LORD is his ultimate, and so he will keep his statutes and observe his testimonies. The two lines are a perfect example of Hebrew parallelism, each with a three part structure: “I cry, answer me, I will keep” and “I call, save me, that I may observe”. How often do I offer such a whole-hearted cry to God? Only when I’m in desperate need I’m afraid. I can handle all the day to day things myself, thank you. I’ll just go to God for the big things, and I’ll take care of the rest. No need to bother him with things that I am capable of doing on my own. The example of the psalmist is one of continual prayer, no half-hearted, performance-oriented prayer life will suffice. He recognizes his need for salvation continually, and thus he’s in an on-going conversation with the Savior. Such a life of dependence is hard to practice when my pride offers another approach, the kind of pull yourself up by your bootstraps Christianity that appeals to my own need for superiority. So I cry to you today for everything. I can’t keep your statutes without your help. I can’t observe your testimonies with my own willpower. Save me, make me whole, transform my mind so that I can obey you in humility.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.
148 My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.
The psalmist’s cries for help continue through the night. Unable or unwilling to sleep, he is up all night praying and meditating on God’s promise, hoping for an answer. I’ve always seen this verse as a statement of devotion, suggesting that the psalmist is so enthralled with God and his law that he cannot close his eyes, he doesn’t want to stop studying, reading, reflecting. Instead I think in context this is a prayer of grief, and the psalmist is awake all night in conversation with God, alternately crying out to him and seeking the scriptures for answers. Such grief is borne out of tragedy and loss. An inability to quiet one’s soul in the face of unthinkable loss -- this kind of thing is common in seasons of grief. The mind cannot shut down as it replays past events. Looking ahead it seems impossible to go on. And so the faithful turn to God and cry for help. They turn to his word for his sustaining promises. They stay awake all night in search of answers. The watches of the night were signaled every few hours at the changing of the guard. Like a clock chiming through the night, these markers of time only served to make the night feel longer. “It’s only 2:00 AM? Why can’t it be morning?” What is notable is that the psalmist is not giving up. He trusts that God and his word are the answer, and so he refuses to let go of his faith and surrender to despair.
149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, according to your justice give me life.
150 They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.
The psalmist draws strength from these two aspects of God’s nature -- his steadfast love and his justice. These are the rocks upon which he will stand while all else crumbles. These foundations are seen throughout the psalms. Here I imagine a mighty torrent rushing all around him while the psalmist has each foot on these two rocks. He knows that God hears him because of his steadfast love. He knows that he will endure because God is just and fair. These two realities give the psalmist life, reviving him when he is tempted to give up the faith. The psalmist feels the nearness of those who are far from God’s law (a play on words there). They persecute him with evil purpose because the psalmist’s very life and existence stand as a contrast to theirs refuting their “truth”. Throughout history, believers have stood against the cultural tides, standing firmly on the foundation of God’s word. No doubt in the west we are in such a time and the tide continues to rise. Persecution will only increase as the chasm between truth and falsehood widens. Those in power enforce falsehoods that believers cannot accept.
151 But you are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are true.
152 Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.
The “you are near” phrase is meant to contrast with the statement in the previous verse, “they are far from your law.” When those who are far from God’s law threaten to persecute with evil purpose, God is near. This phrase recalls Psalm 75:1, “We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.” Psalm 73:28 reflects the same idea, “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” The psalmist experiences the nearness of God through the words of God. The voice of God in the text that the psalmist hears as he meditates upon it is a powerful reminder that God is real and he has not abandoned his people. His commandments are true, they are from of old, they were founded to last forever. They are the bedrock of a flourishing life and society. They do not change like the shifting sands of the modern world, blown by the winds of human will and emotion. Experience the nearness of God when you recite his words. Rest your feet firmly on the rock that doesn’t move in a world where truth is daily redefined. Be confident that God is near when persecution comes for standing on truth.
Resh (Life)
153 Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.
154 Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise!
The psalmist makes a series of five requests in these two verses: look on my affliction, deliver me, plead my cause, redeem me, and give me life. The phrase, “plead my cause” is ribah ribi in Hebrew, a nice rhythmic phrase. Clearly he is in a desperate situation whether it is an internal or external foe -- he needs rescue. He needs a lawyer to plead his cause, a defender before the judge. He needs a redeemer who will buy him out of his slavery. He needs new life breathed into his tired lungs. The basis for his appeal is that he has been faithful to God’s law. He is pleading based on his righteousness. No matter how good he has been at keeping the law, he must know that it is not good enough. He certainly must harbor some doubts that he has not been completely faithful and this is why he is suffering. This is the good news that Jesus brings to this prayer. God doesn’t answer us based on our merit but on His. As good as we might be, we still disobey. We still act like we don’t know the law (even though we do). Like a child feigning innocence when they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar, we sin and pretend that we didn’t know or couldn’t help ourselves. The psalmist understands this and thus pleads for God’s mercy. Yes, he has been somewhat faithful in remembering and keeping the law, but ultimately it is the favor of God that will bring about his rescue. We have Jesus as a guarantee of his promise. He has exchanged our unrighteousness for his righteousness, and so we can have confidence when we approach the throne based on his merit, not ours.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.
156 Great is your mercy, O LORD; give me life according to your rules.
The psalmist describes the sorry state of the wicked. They are far from salvation (yeshuah) because they do not seek the LORD’s statutes. They are simply headed in the wrong direction, seeking the wrong things. When we see broken people breaking things, this verse comes to mind. They are following their heart, their feelings, and the path that others are directing them on. The problem is they are not pursuing the right things. Our role as Christ followers is to point them to a different path, the way that leads to salvation. The good news is found in verse 156, “Great is your mercy, O LORD.” For those that have gone down the wrong path and pursued the wrong things, there is hope because God’s mercy is great. Like a shepherd pursuing his lost sheep, the LORD is coming after them and offering a better way. As for the psalmist, he asks once again for YHWH to give him life according to his rules. This is parallel to verse 154, the same Hebrew word, hey-ye-ni, being used for this prayer. “Make me live again.” There is life in the rules of God, despite what loud voices in our culture say. There is death for those who abide by the ungoverned self.
157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies.
158 I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.
Loyalty to God and his word will bring you trouble. Persecutors and adversaries come with the territory when you seek to align your life with an authority higher than them. If Nietzsche was right and it’s all about power, acknowledging a higher power is not an option for the unbeliever. And yet the psalmist doesn’t bend in his observance of the law. He has surrendered himself to the authority of God and is unyielding in his commitment to be torah observant. His reaction to the faithless is disgust and loathing. This seems to be in contrast with his statement in vs. 136, “streams of tears flow from my eyes for you law is not obeyed.” Both can be true. You can be both disgusted by someone’s behavior and also pity them for their ill-advised choices. The psalmist is also making a statement of loyalty, similar to that found in Psalm 139:21 where the same word “loathing” is used to describe the psalmist feelings about those who rise up against his YHWH. This is an expression of hatred for the sin and pity for the sinner.
159 Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love.
160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Once again, the psalmist expresses his love for the law. In the entirety of the Psalms there are more expressions of love stated for the law than for YHWH himself. The law is the “incarnation” of God in a sense, the embodiment of who He is in written form. We relate to God through his words. The law is the mediator between the believer and God, and so it is not inappropriate to love that which connects us to the Divine. For the third time in this stanza, the psalmist prays for YHWH to renew his life. The basis for his request is the faithful love of YHWH. Interestingly, the word YHWH found in the Hebrew text is not in the ESV translation, although it is in others. The psalmist is weary of the persecution and opposition he is facing. It seems that loving the law of God makes him an outlier in society, and in his discouragement he prays for refreshment. The stanza concludes with a summation: God’s word is truth and every single rule is right and eternal. Too many times we are tempted to compromise our interpretation of scripture based on our context. Our interpretations are fallible and so we must approach the scriptures humbly. But when the text speaks plainly, so must we. Without twisting and turning words and contexts to fit our wishes, we must speak without apology where the scriptures speak with authority.
Sin and Shin (Peace)
161 Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.
162 I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.
The theme of persecution continues with the opening line suggesting opposition from civil authorities. This is the way of the world. Those in authority will always be fearful of those who are allegiant to other authorities. And so they persecute without any cause -- not reasonable explanation, just pure power. But in spite of the social stigma, the psalmist’s heart stands in awe of God’s words. The heart is the center of one’s being, and so from his core, the psalmist declares that he is and forever will be a worshiper, in awe of God’s words. His joy over the words of God is like someone who finds a treasure, a vast amount of wealth that required no effort to obtain, a surprise that was never anticipated. Elsewhere the psalmist has likened the words of God to fine silver and gold, refined and pure. This verse describes the emotional rapture that accompanies the possession of such riches. This begs the question, how do you feel about the word of God? Does the search for its hidden riches excite you? Is reading the Bible a chore or do you approach it with the thrill of the hunt?
163 I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.
God’s law is placed in opposition to falsehood. The psalmist despises lies and loves the law of God. Every day we are exposed to countless lies. Some are outright falsehoods, others are more subtle, half-truths and deceit. There are the more benign lies of marketing that are easy to see through and then there are the deep lies that we tell ourselves and our sinful hearts reinforce. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Loving the law means hating the lies of the heart. Perhaps the verse that follows offers a habit to root out the lies of the heart. Seven times a day the psalmist praises YHWH for his righteous rules. The number seven indicates perfection, completion, and rest. The psalmist’s interaction with the word of God is not a “one and done”. He doesn’t just read the word in the morning or before retiring at night. Seven times a day he pauses to acknowledge this ultimate reality in life: there is a God and everything he says is true. As a spiritual discipline, consider setting a reminder on your phone to stop and acknowledge this reality and allow it to work its way out in your life and heart. God’s rules are not meant to restrict as much as they are to give us freedom, to prescribe the ideal way of living to promote human flourishing. This cultural moment of reality-denial that we are in is not a time for compromise. It is not compassionate to stand by while God’s image-bearers succumb to the harsh realities of the lies they’re told. Rather it is a time to rise seven times a day to allow our hearts to stand in awe of God’s good word so that we become more comfortable speaking truth against the lies of this world.
165 Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.
166 I hope for your salvation, O LORD, and I do your commandments.
The fruit of loving God’s law is two-fold. First, you will experience profound peace (shalom). You will have inner harmony, the integration of your interior and exterior life, and relaxation for your soul. The law is more than rules and laws. It is the revelation of God, the means by which we know his nature and ours. It is wisdom for understanding how the world works and how society should be ordered. Loving this knowledge and knowing its certainty is the foundation for security, peace, and rest. Second, when you love the law, nothing can make you stumble. There are many things that may cause you to fall as you walk on your journey of life. Falls can break you and impede your journey, perhaps causing a wound and a permanent limp. Loving the law implies obeying it, staying within its boundaries. When you do so, there is safety. There are some things you will have to worry about if you live by the revealed wisdom of God. The moral boundaries that the law sets prevent us from harming ourselves and others. To the extent that you love the law, you will be free from falling into destructive behavior. In the next verse, however, we recognize that we are in need of salvation. We cannot keep the law perfectly no matter how much we may love and admire it. We hope for YHWH’s salvation while we set our hearts on doing his commandments. Without his help, we cannot love and keep the law, and we will not be able to keep ourselves from stumbling.
167 My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.
168 I keep your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before you.
For the fourth time in nine verses, the psalmist speaks of loving the law (159,163,165 and 167). There are only two places in the Psalter where the psalmist declares his love for YHWH (18:1; 116:1). We need to be careful not to infer too much from this, but it is notable. The law is the means by which we can know and experience a relationship with God. Thus, the law becomes the focus of the psalmist’s life. The law is the means by which the psalmist knows God and through knowing God comes to love God even more. We can know God rather distantly by assuming his reality through what he has made (cosmology and teleology). But we know him personally through written revelation, through words. We can consider in awesome wonder all the worlds God’s hand have made, but we cannot know him personally unless he makes himself known personally to us. And this is what He has done in his word. Of course he came even closer than written words when he put on flesh and walked among us. Eyewitnesses heard, saw, and touched him (I John 1:1-4) and recorded their experiences in words for us. We love the word of God because it is the means by which we can love God. The stanza concludes with acknowledgement that our ways are always before God. He sees all even when we are completely alone. It’s possible to have a hidden life of secret sin, a heart of darkness that is sequestered from all, even those closest to us. But there is no hiding from God. Jesus makes this clear in Luke 12:2-3 “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” The writer of Hebrews links the word of God with the omniscience of God when he declares, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12-13). Love is what it’s all about. Turn your affections to the word and the God who loves you who is revealed in it.
Taw (Praise)
169 Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!
170 Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.
The psalmist concludes his magnum opus with a series of petitions and promises. The first two verses are parallel. “Let my cry come before you,” and “let my plea come before you.” The Hebrew phrase “before you” is literally “to your face”, a way of personalizing the Divine. God has a face, at least figuratively, and while no one may see his face and live, we assume it is a human face since we are made in his image. As John wrote in the prologue to his gospel, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). So when we cry out loudly (Heb. rinnaw, “a ringing cry”), when our plea comes before Him, we imagine a human face, the face of Jesus, not an impersonal cosmic force. Knowing that he is speaking to a person, the psalmist asks for two things, again parallel to one another -- “Give me understanding according to your word” and “deliver me according to your word.” The phrase, “according to your word” is highlighting the fact that God has promised these things. It is as if the psalmist is saying, “you promised, so give me these things.” What he desires is understanding so that he might obey well the commands of God and grace for deliverance from his own failings, from the attacks of others, and from the wounds that inevitably come from living in a fallen world.
171 My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.
172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
The psalmist moves from making requests to offering promises. Again the two verses are parallel -- “My lips will pour forth praise” and “my tongue will sing (lit. answer) of your word.” The word “pour fourth” is used elsewhere of a spring bubbling up with water. It can’t help itself, for it is doing what it must based on the laws of nature. (It’s also used of belching). Coming to the end of this great psalm, the psalmist is so overwhelmed with the greatness of the word of God that praise simply bubbles up from within. It cannot be stopped. It is the natural response, an emotional outburst that flows from the pressure within, our souls responding to the magnificence of God’s self-revelation. What a privilege, what a pleasure to have access to the mind of God! The praise spews out as does the singing. The word “sing” here is usually translated as “answer”, but in this context, “singing” makes more sense. The psalms were written to be sung with instrumental accompaniment, (the root of the word psalm is “to pluck”), so the psalmist breaks out in song, just as a lover may do spontaneously for his beloved. The psalmist’s joy springs from the fact that God teaches him his statutes and His commandments are right. There is delight in knowing reality. When a scientist makes a discovery or proves a theory, there is joy in knowing the existence of a reality that can be depended upon. Each generation builds on the truths previous generations have learned. Like putting together a puzzle, there is a bit of joy in finding the fit for each piece, knowing that one by one it will all come together in the end. The word of God gives us information about reality, and upon it we can build a worldview, a basis for understanding why things are the way they are. That in turn tells us how we should live. We do not have to wander aimlessly. There is design and purpose. For this we sing for joy!
173 Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.
Verse 173 is literally “let your hand become my help”. The psalmist has chosen God’s precepts as the primary formative agent of his life. He will live within the boundaries they prescribe, conforming his thoughts and actions to their confines. Having made this promise, he makes this request of YHWH -- “let your hand become my help.” We cannot perfectly obey God’s precepts without his help. Our own nature will war against us at every turn. Other people will pressure us to fall in line with their thinking and behavior. And so we trust in God’s divine intervention in the everyday course of activities. We believe he is actively involved in every thought, decision and action we take every second of every day. How He does this and what boundaries He places on himself to prevent the violation of our free will is beyond understanding. But this we know: we need his help. The psalmist longs for his salvation (God’s help) even as he delights in his law. This is the fifth time this Hebrew word “delight” has been used in this psalm, the only place where this word is used in the entire psalter. It reminds us of this foundational truth. God desires our obedience of course, but this is not meant to be drudgery. As parents, we want our children to obey us, but not with a scowl and an eye roll. We desire their delight, an inner joy in doing what is good and right. The Westminster catechism says it best, “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”
175 Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.
The great psalm concludes with a prayer and a promise. May God bring life into my soul so that I can continually praise him. Just as He breathed into Adam, may he give life to the lifeless elements found in the periodic table that are uniquely arranged in my body (The Hebrew word “adamah” means dirt or ground). May he animate the deepest part of me with energy and passion for his glory. Let me live in the deepest sense of that word so that I may praise my Creator. May his rules help me by defining reality -- Who is God? What is his nature? Who am I? What is my purpose? What is our destiny? These big questions are all answered in the torah. Help me to align my life with reality and reject the fantasies that this world offers in its place. Like a stupid animal, I’m prone to wander off, out of safe pastures and into danger. Come after me like a good shepherd will do. Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, who even lays down his life for his sheep, seek me when I’m lost. See that I do not forget your commandments. They are life and joy and peace.