Short Comments

Then shall I not be ashamed,
when I have respect unto all thy commandments
~ Psalm 119:6

To be ashamed is to feel guilt or worthlessness. Both are the result of sin, the transgression of God’s law. The Psalmist knew this from bitter experience. He confessed:

Before I was afflicted I went astray
Psalm 119:67

I have gone astray like a lost sheep
Psalm 119:176

By God’s help, he will be delivered from shame.

Commandments here are constitutional commands. The word is used 22 times in this Psalm and is one of the related words that reference the Word of God. The word signifies commands given with authority. Authority makes all the difference in commands. I could go out into my neighborhood and begin proclaiming commands to all who are there, but they will have no binding power for I have no authority to so command. I would be mocked and spurned, or worse. The underlying power here is obviously the sovereign Creator. He has the authority to both command and expect obedience.

The word also refers to command given to us in trust. We are to observe them yes, but we are also to preserve them. We are to keep them in both senses and pass them on to proceeding generations.

O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
~ Psalm 119:5

This verse is a pleading prayer. It is a cry of weakness that seems to acknowledge failure on the part of the Psalmist. This prayer is a call for help. It reveals the true desire to keep God’s statutes and also the admission that he cannot apart from help.

Verse 4 speaks of the command to keep God’s precepts. Verse 5 show the right response to God’s commands—a desire to keep and to do them. This truth tempers the Psalmist’s declaration of love for God’s law. He loves the Word and responds with increased desire for it, to know it, to live it.

The word statute appears first here. It means a decree or ordinance. This is one of the related words used to reference the Word of God. In particular, it appears 22 times in the text of this chapter.

The root of the word in the Hebrew means hewn, cut, engraved, inscribed. It signifies something that is set in stone or some other durable material. The use of this word shows God’s law to be fixed and perpetual. You do not engrave something on a whim. You do not engrave something that will change soon or ever.

There is a contrast between our ways and the statutes. The statutes are fixed and do not need adjustment. It is our ways that must be directed to keep them.

Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
~ Psalm 119:4

The previous verses have dealt with the blessed state. It has been described and now is commanded. There may be few who truly exist daily in this blessed state, but we are all alike commanded to it.

The command necessarily relieves the godly man of any right to glory in himself. If he keeps the precepts, he is but doing what is commanded of him to do. He is as the unprofitable servant in Luke 17:10.

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

On the other hand, we note that the blessed man is not one by accident. He is commanded to keep the precepts of God. This requires diligence and labor. To keep God’s precepts requires deliberate and determined purpose. We need the exhortation of Barnabas to the Antioch Christians, “Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord” (Acts 11:23).

The word for precepts means mandates or charges and appears 21 times in this Psalm. This refers to God’s charges or mandates which are prescribed to us in His Word. Also, we are to attend to them diligently, which word comprehends the idea of vehemence, speed, and exceeding. Surely this would allow no cavalier attitude toward the precepts of God. Certainly, we are to expend energy and haste to keep His Word.

They also do no iniquity:
they walk in his ways.
~ Psalm 119:3

This verse continues the description of the blessed. Here they are considered negatively and positively. Negatively, they do not do iniquity. Positively, they do walk in His ways.

They also do no iniquity—The standard is here raised, but there is not the intention of earthly perfection. We know this at least from the later confessions and acknowledgments of failure in this Psalm. The truth is that Christians do not make a habit or regular practice of sin. That is not the general trend of their life. Consider the words of John:

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1 John 3:9

We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
1 John 5:18

They walk in his ways—It is not enough to keep from sin, though that is much. We must do righteousness. We must go in the right path. Just as the first part considered the general trend of the life and absolute perfection, here that trend is toward God’s ways. We must be acquainted, even more than acquainted, with God’s word, but that is not all. Jesus said, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17).

The way of the blessed tends toward God and away from sin. This is sometimes called progressive sanctification. It is a work that God does in us and the fruit is known.

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
and that seek him with the whole heart.
~ Psalm 119:2

Blessed are they—Verse 2 begins as verse 1, continuing the theme of the blessed. The writer of this Psalm will go on to acknowledge his failures. We need not think the “blessed” are without any error this side of heaven. Their character is described and we may safely assume they are directives to us to come to this condition.

That keep his testimonies—”To keep” here signifies to watch or to guard. The thought is of one guarding something of great value, such as a treasure. To guard something means to at least have some notion of the value of what is being guarded. It also indicates a desire to retain what is being guarded. The Psalmist finds such treasure in the testimonies of God. He will go on later to say they are more valuable than hordes of earthly treasure.

The blessed are keeping “His testimonies.” The word here means to turn back again or go over again. The thought is of giving an account of some event or truth. It is similar to the idea we have of someone giving a testimony in court. They are recounting the event, the character of someone, some scientific fact, etc. These are God’s testimonies concerning Himself. It occurs 23 times in this Psalm and refers to God’s self-revelation to man.

God’s testimonies are worth guarding and keeping. Another to say that is to say they are worth treasuring. The Psalmist treasure the testimonies of God in his heart and mind.

That seek him with the whole heart—Two great keys are given here. The first might be easily missed. The blessed “seek him.” In all the keeping of the Word, exulting in promises, rejoicing in blessings, the truly blessed are seeking Him. This theme is worthy of greater development, but suffice it to say there is a difference in seeking God’s benefits and seeking God.

The second key is that the seeking is “with the whole heart.” It is no half-hearted effort. Men of the world will give their whole heart to pursuing earthly riches, pleasure, and power. The blessed give their whole heart to seeking God. I have never seen a list of great accomplishments in history through half-hearted effort. I suspect it would be a short list.

God requires that we seek Him with our whole heart. “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). God will suffer our hearts to be broken, but not divided. Whole-heartedness is a sub-theme that will continue throughout this long Psalm.