Category Archives: Psalm 119

01/25/2023

On Psalm 119.81-88 (Kaf)

By Phillip Powers

81 I long for your salvation;
I put my hope in your word.
82 My eyes grow weary
looking for what you have promised;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Though I have become like a wineskin dried by smoke,
I do not forget your statutes.
84 How many days must your servant wait?
When will you execute judgment on my persecutors?
85 The arrogant have dug pits for me;
they violate your instruction.
86 All your commands are true;
people persecute me with lies—help me!
87 They almost ended my life on earth,
but I did not abandon your precepts.
88 Give me life in accordance with your faithful love,
and I will obey the decree you have spoken.

We now come to the eleventh stanza of Psalm 119 (Kaf/Kaph – כ‎, final form – ך), and with this stanza, we are halfway through the longest chapter in the Bible. This is somewhat appropriate since the theme of this stanza concerns waiting. “How many days must your servant wait?” (verse 84a) In the same way that this psalm requires endurance and perseverance to read and work through, so also the life of faith requires endurance and perseverance. Or, to borrow the title of Eugene Peterson’s book on the Psalms of Ascent (120-134), the Christian life is A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. As the subtitle of the book states, Peterson uses these psalms to reflect on “discipleship in an instant society”. As a culture, we are addicted to instant gratification, and the proliferation of social media with its “likes” and “follows” has only made this incessant need more consuming. We desperately need to relearn what it means to wait, to persevere in faith, to appreciate delayed fulfillment. But, of course, waiting is not easy; it is not fun. Most of the time, it is hard, and this is the struggle that our psalmist is wrestling with in these verses.

It would seem that he is facing intense persecution for his devotion to God and His ways. As he writes in verse 86, “people persecute me with lies; they almost ended my life on earth.” This is because “they violate your instruction, but I did not abandon your precepts.” (verse 85) Clearly, the psalmist is facing opposition, ridicule, even the threat of physical harm because of his commitment to the Word and ways of God. Sadly, this is the reality of living in the already but not yet. As believers in Christ, we are already citizens of His kingdom; we live by a set of standards and convictions, principles and values, that stand in complete contradiction to the kingdom of this world. This inevitably leads to conflict with those who are on the outside of the faith, which results in ridicule, ostracism, and eventually outright persecution. The more that we obey the Word of God, the more that we will face criticism for it. As the Apostle Paul puts it in Second Timothy, chapter 3, verse 12, “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” This is a lived reality for our psalmist.

And so, understandably, our psalmist cries out to God, “How many days must your servant wait? When will you execute judgment on my persecutors? When will you comfort me?” (verse 84) This prayer has been the prayer of the people of God for the entirety of history. Every moment, we wonder, “How long, O Lord? How long until you will come to do away with sin, vindicate your people, fulfill your promises, and establish your perfect rule on earth? How long?!” This is our heart’s deepest and truest longing, as our psalmist says, “I long for your salvation.” Of course, salvation here, as our psalmist envisions it, is a much more robust concept than we usually understand. As a post-reformation, post-enlightenment, westernized people, we have been conditioned to understand salvation in individualistic terms. We generally think of salvation as the forgiveness of sin, the removal of guilt, and inheritance of eternal life (when we die). But for our psalmist, salvation is vindication; it the victory of God over those who would oppose Him and His people. However, these two understandings of salvation are not in contradiction. The Bible presents the work of Christ in redeeming His people as a both/and, as an already/not yet. We have already received the forgiveness of sin resulting in eternal life, but we are also waiting for the day when Christ will come again to defeat sin and Satan once and for all and establish His Kingdom on earth.

This is our blessed hope, and as our psalmist writes, “I put my hope in your word.” Our psalmist understands that hope is the source of the strength that is necessary for waiting, and the promises of God found in His Word are the foundation of hope. It is hope that empowers our psalmist’s unflinching obedience in spite of the persecution that he is facing. This is why he prays in verse 88, “Give me life in accordance with your faithful love, and I will obey the decree you have spoken.” The word that is translated as “faithful love” here is the Hebrew word חֶסֶד (hesed), and according to Darrell Bock, it encompasses “all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty–in short, acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty.” It is variously translated as “faithful love, lovingkindness, loyalty, etc.”, and it refers to His promise keeping devotion to His covenant people. Our psalmist is confident that God will keep the promises of His Word, because that is who He is. He is a promise keeping God, and this is the ground of hope for our psalmist. It is what empowers him to step out in obedience expecting that it will result in the abundant life.

In many ways, the Christian life is a life lived in between, a life of the already but not yet, a life of waiting. We understandably wonder how long we will have to wait for the promises of God to be fulfilled, but there is a question that is more important than this. And that question is simply this: how shall we wait? Will we wait in faithfulness and obedience strengthened by our confident hope in the promises of God’s Word? Or will we give in to the pressures of the world as it seeks to conform us to itself? There will certainly be times when our waiting will be difficult, when continuing in faithfulness will feel pointless, when our hope will appear to be in vain. But these are the times that we must renew our faith in God and the promises are found in His Word and live in light of them. Then and only then will hear those most blessed words on that final day when our Lord Jesus says, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.” (Matthew 24.23)

For further study:
Introduction
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16
Psalm 119.17-24
Psalm 119.25-32
Psalm 119.33-40
Psalm 119.41-48
Psalm 119.49-56
Psalm 119.57-64
Psalm 119.65-72
Psalm 119.73-80

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11/02/2022

On Psalm 119.73-80 (Yod)

By Phillip Powers

73 Your hands made me and formed me;
give me understanding
so that I can learn your commands.
74 Those who fear you will see me and rejoice,
for I put my hope in your word.
75 I know, Lord, that your judgments are just
and that you have afflicted me fairly.
76 May your faithful love comfort me
as you promised your servant.
77 May your compassion come to me
so that I may live,
for your instruction is my delight.
78 Let the arrogant be put to shame
for slandering me with lies;
I will meditate on your precepts.
79 Let those who fear you,
those who know your decrees, turn to me.
80 May my heart be blameless regarding your statutes
so that I will not be put to shame.

In the tenth stanza of Psalm 119 ( י/yod), our psalmist continues to reflect on the compassion, comfort, and hope that comes to us through God’s Word. As we read in verses 76 and 77, “May your faithful love comfort me as you promised your servant. May your compassion come to me so that I may live.” This is perhaps what is most challenging about this entire psalm, and yet, at the same time, it is the most encouraging. In every stanza of the psalm, the psalmist is relentless in affirming that the Word of God is the primary means by which we experience God’s grace. The comfort, the peace, the hope, the love, the wisdom that we so desperately need day by day is readily available if we would just open our Bibles and read. And yet, so many Christians today live and long for the mountain top experience, that emotional or spiritual high that thrills and exhilarates in the moment. But our psalmist is clear; lasting transformation happens through the ordinary disciplines of the Spirit and the Word, those repeated rhythms of grace that bring us back time and again to the foot of the cross.

Of course, the God of the Bible is free to dispense His grace by whatever means and in whatever ways He so chooses. Sometimes He does carry us to the top of the mountain of religious experience, but more often than not He meets us in the regular moments of faithfulness in our day to day lives. And this is exactly the point, namely that as our creator, He knows exactly what we need to grow in godliness. As our psalmist says here in verse 73, “Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I can learn your commands.” God has ordained the regular disciplines of the Spirit as the primary means by which we are transformed by His Word; steady, plodding faithfulness in the disciplines of the Spirit is His preferred method of transformation. By way of analogy, we understand that the regular intake of a well balanced diet leads to general health and well being; on the other hand, a diet of large and rich meals eaten only sporadically and intermittently would not provide the nutrition that we need to grow physically. So, also the regular intake of the Word through the classic spiritual disciplines leads to our growth and transformation into the image of Christ.

Another way that the psalmist challenges our experiential expectations is that he affirms that these rhythms are not to be solitary or individual affairs. As we read in verse 74, “Those who fear you will see me and rejoice, for I put my hope in your word”, so also in verse 79, “Let those who fear you, those who know your decrees, turn to me.” While daily devotional reading is a crucial part of the Christian life, God’s grace also comes when we gather with other Christians around the Word. The vision of the New Testament is that the regular gathering of the Christian community, i.e. the church, would be saturated in the Word. The simple fact of the matter is that no one person has exhaustive and complete knowledge of God’s Word; we need each other’s perspectives and experiences to help us grasp God’s Word more fully. As Proverbs 27.17 reminds us, “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another. Or as we read in Colossians 3.16, “Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” In other words, the Spirit of God brings the people of God together by the Word of God that they might grow in the grace of God.

This principle, namely the necessity of each other as we grow in godliness, is even more pressing when we are facing the difficulties and hardships of life. As our psalmist writes in verse 75, “I know, Lord, that your judgments are just and that you have afflicted me fairly.” Now, this verse deserves extensive treatment all on its own, and perhaps we can return to this thought another time. But the Bible is clear that God uses the trials in our lives to bring us to the end of ourselves, so that we have no other choice but to rely upon Him and his Word. As Elihu says in Job 33.29-30, “God certainly does all these things two or three times to a person in order to turn him back from the Pit, so he may shine with the light of life.” After all of the discussion between Job and his three friends, Elihu comes along to minister the grace of God’s Word to Job in his trials, and in the same way, when we are facing hardships and heartaches, we need the Word infused grace of God’s people to help us persevere in godliness. As our psalmist prays in verse 78, “Let the arrogant be put to shame for slandering me with lies; I will meditate on your precepts.” and again in verse 80, “May my heart be blameless regarding your statutes so that I will not be put to shame.”

With all of being said, the main point is that we are fundamentally dependent upon God’s grace; it is a posture that we called to live in, one of dependence, of trust, of faith. And the good news is that God has already provided all that we need through His Son by His Spirit in His Word. As the apostle Peter writes, “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1.3) The resources of His grace come to us through the ordinary means of faith, those classic spiritual disciplines, whose efficacy has been witnessed in every generation of believers. Scripture, prayer, community. These are the primary ways in which God renews and transforms, disciplines and heals. Of course, when God takes us to the mountain top, we should revel in it and enjoy Him to the utmost. But rather than living for the next spiritual or emotional high, we must learn to embrace the grace of the ordinary, to celebrate the small moments of God’s faithfulness, and to pursue steady and intentional growth in Christ through His Word moment by moment, day by day.

For further study:
Introduction
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16
Psalm 119.17-24
Psalm 119.25-32
Psalm 119.33-40
Psalm 119.41-48
Psalm 119.49-56
Psalm 119.57-64
Psalm 119.65-72

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10/14/2022

On Psalm 119.65-72 (Teth)

By Phillip Powers

65 Lord, you have treated your servant well,
just as you promised.
66 Teach me good judgment and discernment,
for I rely on your commands.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.
68 You are good, and you do what is good;
teach me your statutes.
69 The arrogant have smeared me with lies,
but I obey your precepts with all my heart.
70 Their hearts are hard and insensitive,
but I delight in your instruction.
71 It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I could learn your statutes.
72 Instruction from your lips is better for me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

The ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is teth (ט), and in this ninth stanza of Psalm 119, the psalmist repeatedly affirms the essential goodness of God. Five out of the eight verses in this stanza begin with the Hebrew word tov (טוב) which means good, pleasant. It is a seemingly small and insignificant word, but it is perhaps one of richest words in all of the Hebrew language. This is especially so when it is used to describe God, because goodness is a primary attribute of His character. For our psalmist, however, it would seem to be much than this; in his view, God’s goodness is the sum total of all that He is. As our psalmist puts it in verse 69, “You are good, and you do what is good.” Or as we often say in the Bible Belt, “God is good! All the time!”

In other words, goodness is who and what He is; He is the source and standard of all that is good. There is no one and nothing that is good outside of Him. As Jesus says in the Gospels, “No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10.18) This is why our psalmist prays, “Teach me good judgment and discernment, for I rely on your commands.” (verse 66) Literally translated, it reads “goodness of taste”, where the word taste refers to moral and ethical discernment. The law of God is a reflection of His perfect goodness, and when we live according to its precepts, we enjoy the goodness that God intends for us. This is why the Apostle Paul affirms that the law is good, holy, and just. (c.f. Romans 7.12, 1 Timothy 1.8) It is also why our psalmist affirms, “Instruction from you lips is better for me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” (verse 72)

The reality, however, is that Christians are often so quick to doubt their conviction that God is fundamentally good. In fact, this is a point of weakness where we regularly come under the enemy’s attacks. Satan is incredibly adept at getting believers to doubt their belief in God’s thoroughgoing goodness. It is a strategy of his that goes all the way back to the garden, when he tempted Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The clear implication of his words in Genesis 3.5 is that God is not good, that God is holding out on Adam and Eve by restricting them from eating of the tree. And his strategy hasn’t changed since that first sin; he still continually attacks the Christian belief that God is ever and always good in every way. This is why the Apostle Paul tells us, “In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6.16) The shield of faith is the firm and steadfast conviction that God is good and trustworthy.

This is why our psalmist says here in verse 65, “Lord, you have treated your servant well, just as you promised.” When we hold fast to the conviction that God is good, then we will rest by faith in the promises is God’s Word, and no matter what obstacles or difficulties or challenges may come against us, we will continue to walk in faithful obedience. (c.f. verses 69-70) In fact, it is in the trials of life that we are forced to rely on God and His goodness even more; as our psalmist puts it in verse 71, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn your statutes.” Literally, it was tov, not that the affliction was tov, but that what resulted from the affliction was tov. Or as it says in the Letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verse 28, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

The perspective of the psalmist in this stanza, especially in verse 71, is so radical and counter to the prevailing sentiments of our culture. The culture would have us believe that good, or the “good life”, is the absence of difficulty, trial, or trouble, that it is a life of ease and comfort and prosperity. However, this is not the perspective of our psalmist, nor is it the perspective of the Bible more generally. In this stanza, the psalmist wants us not only to know but to believe with conviction that God is the ultimate and highest good, that He is the source of all good, and that He is working out every detail and every circumstance for our good. But, of course, the good He is working in us is not our ease or our comfort; on the contrary, it is our growth into Christlikeness. And according to our psalmist, the good of Christian maturity is more effectively cultivated in our lives during times of testing and trial. As our psalmist says in verse 67, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.” Or as the Apostle James puts it,

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

~James 1.2-4

For further study:
Introduction
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16
Psalm 119.17-24
Psalm 119.25-32
Psalm 119.33-40
Psalm 119.41-48
Psalm 119.49-56
Psalm 119.57-64

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11/17/2021

On Psalm 119.57-64 (Heth)

By Phillip Powers

57 The Lord is my portion;
I have promised to keep your words.
58 I have sought your favor with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
59 I thought about my ways
and turned my steps back to your decrees.
60 I hurried, not hesitating
to keep your commands.
61 Though the ropes of the wicked
were wrapped around me,
I did not forget your instruction.
62 I rise at midnight to thank you
for your righteous judgments.
63 I am a friend to all who fear you,
to those who keep your precepts.
64 Lord, the earth is filled with your faithful love;
teach me your statutes.

The eight stanza of Psalm 119 (ח/heth – sounds like the ch in Bach, you have to get a little phlegm in the back of your throat when you say it), but this stanza begins with the line “The Lord is my portion.” This is an image that occurs frequently throughout the Old Testament, and especially in the Book of Psalms. The word typically refers to a share or a portion of land received by inheritance. In an agrarian society like ancient Israel, owning land was a source of economic, political, and societal security. Those who owned land had standing and influence. But here, our psalmist affirms that the Lord is his portion. “The Lord” here (printed in all caps on most versions) represents the personal covenant name of God, i.e. יהוה, Yahweh; this is the name that He revealed to Moses from the burning bush, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3.14). In other words, our psalmist understands that Yahweh, the one true and living God, the personal covenant keeping God, is the only one in whom we may find safety, security, stability, satisfaction, and contentment in this life. As the old hymn goes, “All other ground is sinking sand.”

This principle is not unlike that famous slogan of pastor and author John Piper, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Or as question 1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism states, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” This is the point, namely that glad and joyful obedience to the Word of God springs forth from a heart that is perfectly satisfied and wholly content in Him. This is why our psalmist says in verse 57, “I have promised to keep your words.” And again in verse 60, “I hurried, not hesitating to keep your commands.” And again in verse 62, “I rise at midnight to thank you for your righteous judgments.” Of course, the counter point is equally true, that when we begin to look for sources of satisfaction and contentment outside of Him, we quickly fall into sin. The world we live in is constantly offering us a plethora of competing products and services intended to satisfy and fulfill; this is the essence of an advertisement rich consumeristic society. But, these options overpromise and under deliver, because nothing can satisfy and fill the deepest longings of the human heart like the God who made it. This is why our psalmist writes in verse 59, “I thought about my ways and turned my steps back to your decrees.” Or again in verse 61, “Though the ropes of the wicked were wrapped around me, I did not forget your instruction.“

But not only does this inner contentment in God free us from the allure of sinful temptations, but its also changes our entire outlook on life, as our psalmist writes in verse 64, “Lord, the earth is filled with your faithful love; teach me your statutes.” Of course, this world is polluted, even overrun, by sin everywhere we turn, such that even the stoutest of hearts might be shaken with fear, but when our hearts are completely secure in God, then we may have that rest which Jesus promised His disciples. Then, we may have confidence that sin is not the end of the story, that evil will not win the day, because we know that where sin abounds grace abounds even more, that where the darkness seems to consume, there the light of God’s grace and love can still shine through. And this hopeful confidence energizes the desire to live in faithful obedience. But more than that, it also empowers us to live in authentic community with others. As our psalmist puts it in verse 63, “I am a friend to all who fear you, to those who keep your precepts.” In other words, when we our hearts are completely whole in God, then we are set free to love others without the need to receive anything in return. We can love others for their sake and nor for our own, because we are complete in the love of Christ. This is the essential foundation for Christian community, that we love each other even as Christ loves us, and we can only do this when are completely satisfied and wholly loved in Christ by God.

Only that life which is lived in willing and fervent obedience to God’s Word can experience genuine human flourishing to the fullest degree, and this kind of obedience can only come from a heart that is perfectly content and satisfied in God and Him alone. As our psalmist writes in verse 58, “I have sought your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.” This is no works based attempt to merit God’s grace. Rather, it is the reflection of a heart that understands and trusts in the promise of God. It is the perspective of a soul that is perfectly at rest in the good news of the Gospel, that pursues faithful obedience to God and His Word from the wholeness that is only available by His grace. It is by grace because Christ has already completely fulfilled God’s law; He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father. The good news of the gospel is that He has taken our disobedience upon himself, and in a glorious exchange, He has given us His obedient righteousness. And this is why He says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11.28-30)

For further study:
Introduction
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16
Psalm 119.17-24
Psalm 119.25-32
Psalm 119.33-40
Psalm 119.41-48
Psalm 119.49-56

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10/13/2021

On Psalm 119.49-56 (Zayin)

By Phillip Powers

49 Remember your word to your servant;
you have given me hope through it.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction:
Your promise has given me life.
51 The arrogant constantly ridicule me,
but I do not turn away from your instruction.
52 Lord, I remember your judgments from long ago
and find comfort.
53 Fury seizes me because of the wicked
who reject your instruction.
54 Your statutes are the theme of my song
during my earthly life.
55 Lord, I remember your name in the night,
and I obey your instruction.
56 This is my practice:
I obey your precepts.

Zayin (ז) is the seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet; accordingly, this is now the seventh stanza of Psalm 119. In this stanza, our psalmist begins to reflect on the relationship between hope and perseverance in the face of intense grief. This is a topic that I have written on recently here, but the main point is that the Christian hope is grounded in the promises of God’s Word. As our psalmist writes, “Remember your word to your servant; you have given me hope through it.” The God of the Bible is eternal, without beginning or end, and so, He always remembers His Word. And not only does He remember His Word, He always keeps it. He is a God of His Word, because His Word is the revelation of Himself. Therefore, His Word is certain and sure, and this is why Christians should be people of unconquerable hope.

In the New Testament, hope is one of a triad of primary virtues that distinguish the followers of Christ. As the scriptures so poetically remind us, “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13.13). Of course, hope is one of the most powerful emotions in all the human experience, and it is hope, along with faith and love, that is the primary source of motivation and strength in the Christian life. For our psalmist, it is his comfort in affliction (verse 50), his courage in the face of ridicule (verse 51), his zeal in the face of sinfulness (verse 53), and his joy in the regular responsibilities of life (verse 54). This hope, a hope that is firmly grounded the promises of God’s Word by faith, gives our psalmist the strength to persevere in obedience no matter what obstacles or difficulties may come against him(verses 55-56).

However, in trusting in His promises, we are not simply left to some kind of blind faith. In many ways the story of the Bible is a record of promises that have been kept. As our psalmist puts it, “Lord, I remember your judgments from long ago and find comfort” (verse 52). The Word of God is the evidence that God keeps His promises. In his the two book set that surveys of the Bible’s message, Mark Dever describes the Old and New Testaments as “Promises Made” and “Promises Kept” respectively. And the gospel writers, in particular, are at great pains to demonstrate that “these things happened so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.” (John 19.36, among others) This is the unanimous affirmation of the Bible’s authors, that “whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.” (Romans 15.4)

This is the point, namely that our hope is not in vain, because we know beyond any shadow of doubt that God keeps His Word in every detail. In fact, He has already kept it by sending His Son incarnate to die on the cross for sin and rise again. This is why the author of Hebrews writes, “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (Hebrews 11.1) When it is all said and done, Christians are people of hope, and our hope cannot be extinguished no matter what difficulties or hardships may come our way. “We wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2.13) While we wait, let us learn from our the commitment of our psalmist, “This is my practice: I obey your precepts.” (verse 56).

For further study:
Introduction/Overview
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16
Psalm 119.17-24
Psalm 119.25-32
Psalm 119.33-40
Psalm 119.41-48

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10/04/2021

On Psalm 119.41-48 (Waw)

By Phillip Powers
Waw

41 Let your faithful love come to me, Lord,
your salvation, as you promised.
42 Then I can answer the one who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
43 Never take the word of truth from my mouth,
for I hope in your judgments.
44 I will always obey your instruction,
forever and ever.
45 I will walk freely in an open place
because I study your precepts.
46 I will speak of your decrees before kings
and not be ashamed.
47 I delight in your commands,
which I love.
48 I will lift up my hands to your commands,
which I love,
and will meditate on your statutes.

The sixth stanza of Psalm 119 (ו/waw – though modern Hebrew pronounces it vav) begins with, “Let your faithful love come to me, Lord, your salvation, as you promised.” Literally translated, it reads “according to Your word.” (NASB). Here we learn a fundamental truth for living the Christian life, namely that the primary way in which we receive and experience the love of God is through the Word of God. It is in, by, and through His Word that He communicates His love to us, and it is in, by, and through the Spirit working through the Word that we receive that love. In other words, our communion with God is always by the Spirit through the Word, and outside of the Word of God, there is no other way to know Him.

Experientialism and emotionalism have taken the place of word-centered formation when it comes to how we understand and experience growth as disciples of Christ. Simply put, there is a lot of craziness out there that flies under the banner of Christian spirituality, a lot of amorphous mystical speculations that are passed off as piety and devotion. What Christians need most in their spiritual life is to return to those classic word-centered spiritual disciplines that have been the staple of the spiritual life for God’s people going all the way back to the time when this psalm was written. It is only upon the firm foundation of God’s Word that we can come to know and experience the fullness of God’s everlasting love.

When we stand complete and secure upon the love of God through His word, then and only then are we able to step out with courage and obedience. As the psalmist goes on here to say, “Then I can answer the one who taunts me. [Then] I will always obey, [then] I will walk freely, [then] I will speak … before kings.” It is only from a place of safety and wholeness in the love of God that we are then able to walk in faithfulness to its principles and precepts. And when we are secure in His love, we know that even if we fail, even if we stumble, we remain secure in the love of God. This kind of security, this certainty, is more than a feeling or emotion; it is a confident assurance based on the promises that are found in God’s Word.

This is why our psalmist concludes this stanza with his love for the Word of God. “I will delight in your commands which I love. I will lift up my hands to your commands which I love.” These are the distinctive characteristics which identify those who are loved by God, those who are genuinely saved by faith, namely that they find their deepest sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in knowing and doing the Word of God. When we know the love of God in Christ through the Spirit, we will be people of His Word, and if we are not people of His Word, then the danger is that we have not in fact received the everlasting, never ending love of Christ. May we learn from our psalmist and find ourselves complete in God’s love as it comes to us through His everlasting and inspired Word.

For further study:
Introduction and Overview
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16
Psalm 119.17-24
Psalm 119.25-32
Psalm 119.33-40

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01/01/2020

On Psalm 119:33-40 (He)

By Phillip Powers

Hebrew he33 Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your statutes,
and I will always keep them.
34 Help me understand your instruction,
and I will obey it
and follow it with all my heart.
35 Help me stay on the path of your commands,
for I take pleasure in it.
36 Turn my heart to your decrees
and not to dishonest profit.
37 Turn my eyes
from looking at what is worthless;
give me life in your ways.
38 Confirm what you said to your servant,
for it produces reverence for you.
39 Turn away the disgrace I dread;
indeed, your judgments are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
Give me life through your righteousness.

In the the fifth stanza of Psalm 119 ( ה/he – pronounced “hey”), the psalmist expresses his complete dependency upon God for understanding His Word. And so, he prays to God for illumination. “Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your statues, and I will always keep them. Help me to understand your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.” (Verses 33-34) Illumination is simply that work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer by which He opens our minds to understand and apply the Scriptures. And it is this “spiritual” understanding that distinguishes the believer’s reading of Holy Scripture from the nonbeliever.

The reality is that there are secular scholars (historians, linguists, philosophers) who know the history, language, and theology of the Bible better than the average Christian. Their historical reconstructions are more compelling, their literary analyses are more sophisticated, their exposition perhaps even more accurate. However, they do not believe in the one who said, “and yet they testify about me.” (John 5.39) The difference being that they do not have the indwelling Holy Spirit whose specific job is to lead believers into all truth. Therefore, we must conclude that illumination gives us an understanding that is more than merely intellectual. It goes beyond the literary and the historical to the transformational. It is the Spirit who brings the dead words to life, who renews and revives the weary soul.

And so, we must affirm that illumination is not the imparting of new information, as opposed to that which is largely gained simply by being a good reader. Rather, illumination is the creation of a new capacity to receive the inspired Word of God and to be changed by it. As our psalmist goes on to pray, “Turn my heart to your decrees and not to dishonest profit. Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; give me life in your ways.” (Verses 36-37) Our psalmist clearly understands that what he needs is more than a mere intellectual reading of Holy Scripture; what he needs, and what we all need, is that Spirit given illumination leading to transformation. “How I long for your precepts! Give me life through your righteousness.” (Verse 40)

It is somewhat appropriate, I think, that I am writing on this on the day in which many Christians will make a “New Years Resolution” to read the Bible more in 2020, perhaps, by starting some kind of Bible reading plan, e.g. the Bible in one year, etc. And, of course, this is a worthy goal to aim for. But there must be a realization that we are not simply reading for information; we are reading for transformation. This does not mean that every reading will be some kind of mountain top spiritual experience. Some, in fact, will be dull drudgery (re: Leviticus). But faithfulness over time, daily dependence upon the Spirit, humbly praying for eyes to see and ears to hear will slowly result in the transformation of our being into the image of Christ. This is why we call it a spiritual discipline, faithful obedience while relying upon the Spirit.

For further study:
Introduction and Overview
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16
Psalm 119.17-24
Psalm 119.25-32

See also:
Sermon: On the Spirit and the Word

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12/27/2019

On Psalm 119.25-32 (Daleth)

By Phillip Powers

dalet

25 My life is down in the dust;
give me life through your word.
26 I told you about my life,
and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
27 Help me understand
the meaning of your precepts
so that I can meditate on your wonders.
28 I am weary from grief;
strengthen me through your word.
29 Keep me from the way of deceit
and graciously give me your instruction.
30 I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set your ordinances before me.
31 I cling to your decrees;
Lord, do not put me to shame.
32 I pursue the way of your commands,
for you broaden my understanding.

Well, after taking a short break for the season of Advent, we are back to working our way through Psalm 119. And so, we come to the fourth stanza (daleth/ד), where our psalmist turns his attention to the turmoil of human existence. “My life is down in the dust; give me life through your word.” (verse 25) “I am weary from grief; strengthen me through your word.” (verse 28) This may not seem like a very positive outlook on life, especially when it is compared with the first three stanzas, but it is a brutally honest confession about the reality of the struggle. We live in a world that is stained, polluted, even controlled by sin, a world that is absolutely hostile to the ways of God and His word. And so it is understandable that those who try to live according to God’s Word will inevitably suffer pain and difficulty, whether directly or indirectly. As the Apostle Paul said, “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3.12)

Pain, heartache, suffering, loss; these are staples of the human experience in this already but not yet phase of God’s kingdom. And the temptation that we all will eventually face is to simply give up, to stop trying, to abandon the ways of God and His Word. Because, on the surface, there doesn’t seem to be a difference between our experience and that of the non-believer. But our psalmist understands that in the midst of this chaos, there is only one place to turn for stability and perspective, namely to God’s Word. “I cling to your decrees; Lord, do not put me to shame. I pursue the way of your commands, for you broaden my understanding.” (Verses 31-32) In fact, our psalmist even prays, “Keep me from the way of deceit and graciously give me your instruction.” (Verse 29) “Help me to understand the meaning of your precepts so that I can meditate on your wonders.” (Verse 27)

And so when we face inexplicable suffering in this life, what can we do? Well, our psalmist gives us two answers. First, we should be honest about our pain. As He says, “I told you about my life, and you answered me; teach me your statutes.” (Verse 26) In prayer, we can be honest with God about the depth of our sufferings, the difficulty of our heartaches; we open them up to Him so that He can comfort us with the gracious compassion of His promises. But not only must we be honest with God, but we must be honest with each other in the body of Christ. We need not suffer alone, as the Scriptures tell us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12.15) Our psalmist is doing just that in the writing of this Psalm, as it would be shared with the gathered assembly. We must learn to share our deepest and most painful heartaches with the community of God’s people, so that they can be the means of His comfort in our lives.

And secondly, we must resolve anew to stand firm on the ways of God which are given in His word. “I have chosen the way of truth; I have set your ordinances before me.” (Verse 30). The reality is that there will be times when obeying the Word of God will be the absolute last thing we want to do. We may not understand why God has commanded us in this way, or we may simply not feel like keeping it at that given moment. However, this is where faith steps in, because we trust that God is fundamentally good and all of His commands are good, even when we can’t see it. This is what comes across most vividly in this stanza, the psalmist’s faith even in the face of difficulty and doubt. And here again, we simply cannot do this alone. When we are hurting, the temptation is to withdraw and isolate our selves, but this is when we need the support and encouragement of the people of God the most, which is why we are told, “And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10.24-25)

But our psalmist is clear, that in the midst of the chaos and turmoil and heartache of this world, the only footing, the only foundation, the only security that we have available to us is to be found in the Word of God, because it forces us to set our faith, our hope on something, or I should say someone, other than ourselves, namely the one true and living God.

For further study:
Introduction and Overview
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16
Psalm 119.17-24

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11/17/2019

On Psalm 119.17-24 (Gimel)

By Phillip Powers

340px-Gimel_Hebrew.svg17 Deal generously with your servant
so that I might live;
then I will keep your word.
18 Open my eyes so that I may contemplate
wondrous things from your instruction.
19 I am a resident alien on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.
20 I am continually overcome
with longing for your judgments.
21 You rebuke the arrogant,
the ones under a curse,
who wander from your commands.
22 Take insult and contempt away from me,
for I have kept your decrees.
23 Though princes sit together speaking against me,
your servant will think about your statutes;
24 your decrees are my delight
and my counselors.

In the third stanza, ג (gimel), our psalmist begins with what seems to be a condition to his obedience. Verse 17 reads, “Deal generously with your servant so that I might live; then I will keep your word.” However, we must not read this is a quid pro quo request. Our psalmist is not basing his obedience on the condition of God’s grace. He is not saying, “if you do this for me, then I’ll do this for you.” The footnotes in the NET Bible state that the cohortative verbal forms in this line indicate purpose or result. In other words, our psalmist is requesting the empowerment of God’s grace so that he will be able to keep God’s Word. This understanding is confirmed in verse 18, where we read, “Open my eyes so that I may contemplate wondrous things from your instruction.”

This is a much needed corrective in the contemporary understanding of the role of obedience in the Christian life, that the empowerment of God’s grace precedes all our effort to obey. Grace results in obedience, and not the other way around, because that would be legalism. In other words, what our psalmist is requesting is exactly what we have been given in the New Covenant. In Ezekiel’s description of the New Covenant (36.24-30), we read, “I will put my place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statues and carefully observe my ordinances” (verse 27).  And the Apostle Peter confirms, “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1.3).

And why is this gracious empowerment necessary? Well, our psalmist gives us the answer in verse 19, “I am a resident alien on earth.” The word is variously rendered as “foreigner”, “sojourner”, “stranger.” In other words, our psalmist understands that this world is not his native home, that his values, convictions, and principles are of another reality altogether. As he says, “I am continually overcome with longing for your judgments.” However, he also understands that while we live “on earth”, it is so easy to become distracted, confused, and misdirected in our lives, which is why we need the constant favor of God’s empowering grace to regularly reorient our perspectives. As our psalmist understands, “you rebuke the arrogant, the ones under a curse, who wander from your commands” (verse 21).

Of course, our psalmist knows that walking to the beat of God’s drum will necessarily result in misunderstandings, in ridicule, scorn, and contempt. One person’s obedience must necessarily expose someone else’s disobedience, and when that happens, we can automatically expect to face opposition. But our psalmist knows the source of his strength, “Your decrees are my delight and my counselors” (verse 24), and so he prays, “Take insult and contempt away from me, for I have kept your decrees” (verse 22). The psalmist understands that the one who has so graciously empowered his obedience will also graciously protect and sustain him through any circumstance.

This should be the perspective of every follower of Jesus. We are strangers living in a foreign land; we do believe, speak, feel, and behave according to another reality. We are  “continually overcome with longing for [His] judgments.” And as long as we live in this already/not yet season, we can trust that our God will empower us for obedience by His grace, even while He sustains us to perfection in glory.

For further study:
Introduction/Overview
Psalm 119.1-8
Psalm 119.9-16

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10/30/2019

On Psalm 119.9-16 (Beth)

By Phillip Powers

2560px-Hebrew_letter_Beth.svg (2)9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping your word.
10 I have sought you with all my heart;
don’t let me wander from your commands.
11 I have treasured your word in my heart
so that I may not sin against you.
12 Lord, may you be blessed;
teach me your statutes.
13 With my lips I proclaim
all the judgments from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees
as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
and think about your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word. (CSB)

The second stanza of Psalm 119, ב (beth), begins with a verse that has probably been drilled into the mind of every young man who has ever struggled with his thought life. But clearly these verses have application beyond that one application. In the wisdom literature, the word “young man” (verse 9) is metaphor for anyone who is naive, inexperienced, ignorant, or unlearned. And so, here in this stanza, the psalmist is reflecting on how the Word of God trains us in the way of purity. Of course, the basic assumption here is that a “young man” would want to keep his way “pure”, that this is understood as something that is both desirous and beneficial.

Now, purity here is simply another way of saying holy, and it is God’s clear expectation that His people will be holy, even as He is holy. (c.f. Leviticus 11.44-45, Matthew 5.48, 1 Peter 1.16). As it pertains to God, holiness refers to His divine otherness, that He is set apart, unique, and wholly different from His creation. However, it is much more than that; it also implies His moral rectitude, His absolute sinlessness, the unassailable perfections of His character. And we are told to be holy, even as He is holy. So, as it pertains to us, as believers in Jesus, it refers to the distinction of our behavior, values, and attitudes over and against the world. As James writes, “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: … to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1.27)

And, how can we keep ourselves unstained from the world? Answer, “By keeping your Word.” But, the “keeping” that our psalmist has in mind here is much more than a rote dutiful obedience. No, it is to be sought with all the heart (verse 10), treasured in the heart (verse 11), and proclaimed with the lips (verse 13). It is something to be rejoiced in (verse 14), meditated on (verse 15), and delighted in (verse 16). And this is both a timely and a timeless affirmation, that the standards for living a holy life which are commanded in God’s Word are good and glorious and to be joyously embraced rather than begrudgingly accepted.

It is no secret that the current cultural climate is becoming more and more hostile to these standards, that the commands of God are increasingly seen as outdated, bigoted, prejudicial, and simply unfair. But, our psalmist understands that the ways of God as He has prescribed them in His Word are good, and they are meant for our satisfaction and enjoyment. And the way that we learn to enjoy God’s ways is not simply by a begrudging reluctant external obedience. No, we must relish in them internally by pouring over them in meditation, treasuring them in our hearts, and rejoicing gladly in them. And so, may we pray with the Psalmist, “ Lord, may you be blessed; teach me your statutes.”

For further study:
Introduction/Overview
Psalm 119.1-8

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