“Let my cry come near before Thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to Thy word” (Psalm 119:169).

You are now at the end of the longest song in the Bible, having heard the voice of this psalmist again and again cry out to God in intense fervor.  What would you expect to hear as the grand finale?  In light of this psalm’s messianic application, what would you expect to hear as a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ?  More personally, what is this psalm saying to you and to me about the nature of an authentic walk with God?

Three pairs begin this stanza, followed by a summary line and then a mysterious ending that breaks up the cadence:

First, the psalmist pleads for his prayer to reach God, asking for understanding and deliverance (vv. 169-170).
Second, the psalmist pleads for his mouth to praise God, knowing he will be taught and be saved (vv. 171-172).
Third, as Maclaren has noted, the psalmist pleads for help on the basis of choosing God’s word (vv. 173-174).

Prayer for salvation, praise in salvation, and the word behind salvation–in other words, the means of, the result of, and the motive of salvation–all reappear in the summary line, as if to reiterate their importance: “Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me” (v. 175).  Then, as stated earlier, the mysterious ending appears.

Before addressing the ending, let me speak a bit about the significance of prayer, praise, and the word.  The preacher Read the rest of this entry »

“Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of Thy word” (Psalm 119:161).

If we hear of persecution, we should not assume that those persecuted have done something wrong. Unjust persecution by a government is a reality. In Muslim countries like Iran, and in communist countries like North Korea, Christians are being unjustly persecuted for their faith, with full sanction by the leading officials (the “princes”). Jesus Himself experienced such persecution from the chief priests. In explaining this treatment, Jesus not only explained to His disciples, “They hated me without a cause” (John 15:25; cf. Psalm 69:4); He also forewarned them, “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). And so it has came to pass. Christians from the apostles onward have been persecuted for no legitimate reason.

How should we endure such persecution? This stanza gives us two key insights.

First, the battle in persecution is won or lost in the affectionate domain (vv. 161-164). In other words, what you fear, what do you love, and what do you hate will ultimately foretell your victory or defeat at the hands of government officials. Be warned: Demas “loved this present world;” therefore, he deserted Paul (2 Timothy 4:10).

Specifically, we must be in dread of the word of God, not the word of the government (v. 161). When the government gives orders in accordance with God’s law, we obey (1 Peter 2:13-14); but when the government gives orders contrary to God’s law, we must be empowered, as the apostles were, to say, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). As Jesus taught us, we must fight the fear of man with the fear of God (see Matthew 10:28).

Moreover, we must rejoice over the word of God with the same intensity Read the rest of this entry »

“Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget Thy law” (Psalm 119:153).

Life. The word itself speaks of all that is good, of all that makes existence worth having. Not all who exist truly live. Those in hell exist, but they endure endless punishment in what is called “the second death.” Not even all who exist on earth truly live, for “she that liveth in pleasure,” says the Bible, “is dead while she liveth” (1 Timothy 5:6); and, even among those who live, having been born of God, there is a significant difference between having life and having it more abundantly (John 10:10). How precious is this gift called life!

Not only precious, but how precarious is this gift called life. Threatened on earth by evildoers, and threatened in judgment by one’s own guilt, the gift of life is not automatic. It also a matter of justice, for not all deserve to live on earth, and not all deserve to live after earth.

It is within this context of justice that the psalmist cries out three times, “Cause me to live!” Read the rest of this entry »

“I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep Thy statutes” (Psalm 119:145).

Are you frustrated with your prayer life?  Does it seem to be lacking in confidence, being more of a routine than a reality?  How blessed would it be to pray, “Hear my voice!” (v. 149), and then to know that God on high not only hears but is eager to answer!  What gives the psalmist such confidence in his praying? Thanks to an insight given through Alexander Maclaren, two causes for confidence can be discerned.  Both of them are loosely marked by a play on the Hebrew words qiddam and qedem, which begin with the Hebrew letter for this stanza (qoph).

First, confidence in prayer comes through continuance in sincere, regular prayer (vv. 145-148). Please mark the word “continuance.”  The reality of God is not to be judged on the basis of a short-term experiment.  When the Bible says, “O taste and see that the LORD is good,” it does not have in mind a session of cheese sampling, where nibbling comes before committing, but rather the start of a lifelong trust in the Lord (Psalm 34:8; cf. 1 Peter 2:3).  In other words, the proof of God comes to those who abandon their skepticism and cast themselves on the Lord.  Then, and then only, as they believe and persevere in believing, they begin to see again and again how faithful God is–that “the LORD is good” (cf. Hebrews 6:11-12).

Prayer is no different.  The confident cry of the fifth verse (“Hear me!”) does not occur without the habits of the previous four verses–habits of sincerity and regularity.  How silly, then, Read the rest of this entry »

“Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments” (Psalm 119:137).

In our culture, we Christians often feel small and insignificant, due to the relentless pace of relativism.  What was true and right yesterday is no longer true and right today; and what is true and right today for one person may not be true and right today for another, or so says our culture.  Against this rationalized forgetfulness of God’s word, we appear frozen in time, adhering to an old Book, which the culture despises as long outdated.  Consequently, we are marginalized, caught in “trouble and anguish” as between the proverbial rock and a hard place (v. 143).  Given such a cultural context, what should we do?

At the very least, we should resist the temptation to assert our own significance.  In light of the world’s pride, and in the context of a self-esteem “gospel,” which is not a gospel, it would be tempting to fight fire with fire, answering their proud words with our own proud words; however, this temptation must be resisted.  The psalmist points to a better way.  Instead of asserting ourselves, let us instead assert God, as the implicit contrast in the two halves of the stanza demonstrates:

“Righteous art thou, O LORD” (v. 137a).
“I am small and despised” (v. 141a).

Regarding ourselves, we agree, “I am ‘last-born’ (as if I were born yesterday) and despised by fellow men;” but, as the verse continues, “I do not forget Your precepts.”  Ultimately, it is not our own word that counts, but God’s word.  Specifically, it is the righteousness of God in His word that must be asserted against this present culture.  Five times in eight verses, the psalmist uses the word “righteous” or “righteousness.”  Why is the righteousness of God so necessary in combating a culture of relativism?

First, the righteousness of God guarantees the perfection of His word (vv. 137-140). Please note the logical sequence in the opening verse: “You’re right, Lord; and Your decisions are right on.”  All that God decides Read the rest of this entry »

“Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them” (Psalm 119:129).

It is not uncommon for Christians today, especially older Christians, to bemoan the rebellion of our culture.  In its purest form, it is grief over the moral death of a nation, and is well expressed by the words that close out this stanza: “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (v. 136; cf. Jer. 13:17).  Amid such darkness, what is the Christian to do, especially with the threat that such a culture poses to personal safety?  This stanza teaches that the Christian needs to move from light to light–from the light of God’s word to the light of God’s face.

Let us consider these two lights in reverse order.

Second Light: The Christian should supplicate the light of God’s face (v. 135). In the context of the stanza, this light is the counterpart to perpetual sadness:

“Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.  Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (vv. 135-136).

My face is dark with sadness; therefore, shine Your face and bring me gladness.  Such a light Read the rest of this entry »

“I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors” (Psalm 119:121).

Oppression is the abuse of authority in trampling those underneath.  According to the apostle Peter, oppression often occurs within slavery, whenever slaves under a harsh master “endure grief, suffering wrongfully” (1 Peter 2:19).  Broadening this principle, oppression occurs whenever lawful authority turns into unlawful slavery, whether it be dictatorial heads of households or totalitarian governments, which treat citizens as slaves.  In all three arenas–family, government, and the workplace–we see elements of oppression.

What should we do when we are oppressed?  Or, how should we counsel and pray for those who are oppressed?

According to this stanza, there are three specific answers.

Fundamentally, we should stress our identity as slaves of God. After introducing the topic of oppression (vv. 121-122), the psalmist Read the rest of this entry »

“I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love” (Psalm 119:113).

Literally, this stanza begins: “Branched ones, I hate; but Your law, I love.”  In other words, I hate those who cannot make up their mind about You, O God, whether You are good enough and wise enough to obey or not; but as for Your law, I love it.  What a way to begin a stanza that was written to be sung!

Two things here are striking.  First, it is sometimes right to hate a fellow human being.  Such hatred is found elsewhere in the Psalms, and should be interpreted according to its context (e.g. 139:21-22).  Second, if we do not hate certain individuals, we do not love God’s law.  In other words, there is something important about hating these “branched ones” in order to maintain a love for God’s law.  Given this importance, we must ask, Who are these “branched ones”?  And what makes them so dangerous to my spiritual health?

In the world of sinners, there are different kinds.  Some Read the rest of this entry »

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Every year, about 1.5 million immigrants join the United States of America.  On the court date of their naturalization, these new citizens are required to take, not the Pledge of Allegiance, but the stronger Oath of Allegiance–to swear to God, in promising to

renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty; to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; to bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law [though some, for religious reasons, omit this part]; to perform noncombatant service in the armed forces when required by law; to perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by law; and to take the oath freely.

While such solemnity is often lost on us native-born Americans, for the immigrant, the break with the past can be as absolute as it is solemn.  As one Armenian survivor of the Turkish holocaust put it: “One moment you belong with your fathers to a million dead yesterdays–the next you belong with America to a million unborn tomorrows” (quotes from Mindy Belz, “A Million Unborn Tomorrows,” WORLD, 29 August 2009, 42).

Such is the solemnity of the psalmist: “I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments” (v. 106).  In other words, “My obedient allegiance to Your law is as certain as the fact that You, O God, live.”  I have sworn it, and I have begun to fulfill it.

Then, if the oath were not enough, the psalmist also seems to add a vow: Read the rest of this entry »