Psalm 119
By Bro David Petersen
The Book of Psalms
Introduction |
Psalm 1 |
Psalm 9 |
Psalm 23 |
Psalm 30 |
Psalm 33 |
Psalm 34 |
Psalm 46 |
Psalm 96 |
Psalm 103 |
Psalm 119
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
Commentary:
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Undefiled In The Way
Blessed are they whose ways are blameless. We will never be perfect while we are in these sinful bodies. But we can "walk in the law of the LORD" and be consistent in that walk. There will be times where we fall by violating the law of the LORD but the trick is to get back up and start walking again.
Walk In The Law
In this psalm the terms law, statutues and precepts are used in a general sense to refer to the entire written instruction of God in the scripture. The terms do not refer specifically to the ten commandments although they would certainly be included as an important part of the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
Keep His Testimonies
Definition of "testify" from Dictionary.com: "To make a declaration of truth or fact under oath; submit testimony: witnesses testifying before a grand jury. To bear witness to; provide evidence for." The meaning in the original Hebrew is the same.
Before you can keep his testimonies you have to receive them. Jesus told Nicodemus:
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness." John 3:11.
In all the scriptures you never see Jesus say "in my opinion" or "I believe" or "I think". He's not speaking on a theoretical basis. He doesn't speculate or form hypotheses. He doesn't ponder the meaning of things. Instead he states the facts. He speaks as one having authority. He knows what he's talking about.
The world is confused about the afterlife. What happens when you die? There is lots of conflicting, speculative dis-information out there. If you want to know about the afterlife, you go to Jesus. "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." John 14:12.
By the way, the Lord's church should speak as one having authority as well. Jesus placed his authority in his churches when he gave the great commission.
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Let's say you are witnessing to a lost person. Try to avoid saying "I believe this or that"; such as "I believe that there will be a judgment day". The second that you say "I believe" you just become another competing world view to the person with whom you are speaking. Beliefs are like opinions: everybody has at least one. Instead you should stand on the authority of the word of God and say "The Bible says that there will be a judgment day". If your listener rejects the authority of the scripture, that's fine. But then they are not just rejecting your personal opinion. Honestly, no one really cares what you believe. Your beliefs carry no more weight than those of the New Ager that they spoke with yesterday. |
That's exaclty what Peter said: "If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God." 1 Peter 4:11.
What do "his testimonies" testify to?
"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." John 5:39.
The entire Bible is about Jesus, beginning to end. It's all about Jesus from where it says "In the beginning God created"; to where it says "Surerly I come quickly" in Revelation 22.
God has testified to the truth in his word.
In John 18:37 Jesus said "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."
That Seek Him
Notice the progressive nature of the first two verses:
- In the way
- Walking in his law
- Receiving and keeping his testimonies
- Seeking the LORD of the way himself
The emphasis in our church is on the LORD and what he has done for us. We focus on the things of God. The emphasis in not on us or what we can get out of our relationship with the LORD. So you don't get lessons on "The Four Steps to Happiness" or "How To Raise Well-Adjusted Children". Though we know him, we keep on seeking him.
This psalm is about the written word of God. And so "seek him" in this context means to seek him in his word.
"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." John 5:39.
The entire Bible is about Jesus, beginning to end from where it says "
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"; to where it says "Surely I come quickly" in Revelation 22. It's all about Jesus. So we seek him in the scriptures.
Those who already have his testimonies are encouraged to seek him We have to keep on seeking him so that we can keep his testimonies. By seeking him with the whole heart we come to know him better. We bask in his beauty.
There is great reward in seeking him:
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Heb 11:6.
With The Whole Heart
"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple." Psalm 27:4.
We need to be singularly focused on seeking the LORD. "One thing" have I desired. We are not to seek the LORD with partial hearts. Yes, we have to work to earn our bread in this world and so we have to devote some attention to the things of this world. But in seeking him with our whole hearts we need to be driven by desire: "I desired of the LORD". This is a desire to "behold the beauty of the LORD".
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
Notice how verse 3 connects back to verses 1 and 2. Those who are in the way and walk in his laws, keeping his testimonies, seeking him with their whole hearts also do no iniquity. Iniquity means lawlessness; and since they walk in his laws they are not lawless. They have his law written on their hearts.
Jer 31:33-34
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
We will never attain sinless perfection during this life. Paul said "who shall deliver me from this body of death?".
" I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good." And again " I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out."
So the only way to completely escape sin is to escape the sinful flesh. But in the meantime we can walk in his ways. We do not want to sin. We agree that the law is good. We have the desire to do what is good. And in our inner being we delight in God's law. (para Rom 7:20-22).
As we walk we will not be willfully practicing iniquity. We may trip and fall, but we get back up and start walking again. And as we do so, our life develops a consistent pattern of walking according to his laws.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts <mandates, statutes> diligently <fully obeyed>.
In verse 2 above we discussed how Jesus doesn't give opinions; he states the facts. As Lord, he also doesn't make suggestions; he gives commands. Notice that it says we are to keep his precepts, not make them. Once you have done everything that the Lord has commanded you to do, THEN let's talk about the things that he didn't command us to do; the things that we made up ourselves; our man-made traditions.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Verses 4 and 5 taken together form a problem: keeping the statutues that the LORD has commanded us to diligently keep. The solution: a short yet direct and profound prayer. This is where David makes personal application of the thoughts in the psalm to himself. The "O that" at the beginning of the verse expresses the intense desire that we read about in Psalm 27:4. He is asking God to affect his will in such a way that will direct hiim to obedience.
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
Sin causes shame and David had both. It was when Adam and Eve listened to the Serpent instead of God that they became ashamed. They were not able to cover up their shame with their own fig leaf theology. It took God to cover them with animal skins to take away their shame. Notice that it says "ALL thy commandments". We can live a spiritual life of obedience, but if we trangress in just one thing it can bring shame upon us. This is not an impossible condition to expect. The Holy Spirit can mold us through the process of sanctification so that we can hold our heads up without shame.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
It's interesting that David is aware that "when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments", then "I will praise THEE", NOT "I will praise ME". As we learn of God's righteous judgments in his word it should make us want to praise him in a sincere way from an upright heart.
8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
There is quiet resolve here coupled with dependence. David has a determination to "keep thy statutes", but a recognition that he cannot do it on his own apart from the LORD's strength.
The Book of Psalms
Introduction |
Psalm 1 |
Psalm 9 |
Psalm 23 |
Psalm 30 |
Psalm 33 |
Psalm 34 |
Psalm 46 |
Psalm 96 |
Psalm 103 |
Psalm 119