Psalm 119:19
I am a stranger in the earth:
hide not thy commandments from me.
~ Psalm 119:19
The Psalmist, as a true child of God, confesses he has not a square inch of earth to call home. He is seeking a better home. Like the weary traveling pilgrim, he needs and depends on others. Here he claims dependence upon God. The food and shelter he needs is the food and shelter of God’s Word.
A stranger does not know how richly he will be treated or what his host may hide from him. He is at the mercy of another. The Psalmist seeks a mercy that the commandments not be hidden. He pleads to feast with the table spread. He does not beg crumbs of God’s Word. He seeks the feast of fine things.
He knows God’s character with the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:17-18). Therefore, his petition is made with reason to hope. This teaches us to humbly wait and call upon God. We are to desire His kingdom above food and drink (Matthew 6:31-33) and rely upon His mercy and goodness to show us His Word (Psalm 25:8-10).
Psalm 119:18
Open thou mine eyes,
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
~ Psalm 119:18
Open thou mine eyes
God formed the eye (Psalm 94:9) and He opens the blind eyes (Psalm 146:8). The Psalmist seeks eye-opening from God. If the light of truth and wisdom is sought, it is best sought from the source of truth and wisdom, God. He begins at the right starting point in acknowledging God as the One who opens eyes.
The words of this verse come from the mouth of a humble learner. Humility is required in learning anything. You have to acknowledge that you don’t know something and seek out someone who does know that you may be instructed (Proverbs 1:7). If you’ve ever taught a class, coached a team, or tried to train someone on a job, you know that if they are proud and stubborn, they are unteachable. Many such come to hard knocks that wisdom could have prevented. The fool thinks he knows everything, or at least all he needs to know, and so sets wise instruction aside (Proverbs 12:15). The sluggard, who is a special brand of fool, knows better in his own mind than seven men who actually know what they are talking about (Proverbs 26:16). The fool’s folly is his own undoing.
That I may behold wondrous things out of thy law
The Psalmist manifests wisdom in this request. He knows God’s law is filled with wondrous things. The word signifies depth, beauty, hidden, high, and wonderful. You could also infer valuable from the description, like a prize treasure (Psalm 19:10). He will go on to speak of God’s Word as something he savored (Psalm 119:103).
His desire is to the Word of God and not something else. He is not bored and clamoring after something new and different. He assumes the posture of a humble disciple at the feet of the Master. Too often we approach the Word of God like we do a dictionary. We want to turn to the precise page to find only the definition of the word we are interested in. Thumb tabs help and so does alphabetical arrangement. God’s Word is not alphabetized nor indexed. It is meant to be read, savored, and treasured.
This is the proper posture of the humble learner. “God, open my eyes. Teach me what You would have me learn.”
Psalm 119:17
Deal bountifully with thy servant,
that I may live, and keep thy word.
~ Psalm 119:17
Deal bountifully with thy servant
The written Word of God is the grand theme of Psalm 119, but prayer is also prominent. Much of this Psalm is a prayer. The meditations are requests to God for light and life. The three statements in verse 17 are prayers.
The first petition asks for God to deal bountifully with His servant. In respect to people, to deal bountifully (gamal) means to benefit, requite, or reward. It can mean to treat a person well or ill. It is variously translated: bestow on, deal bountifully, do good, recompense, requite, reward, etc.
The prayer here concerns what God bestows on the petitioner. The obvious meaning is that he asks for mercy and grace from God. The very gifts David sang praises to God for (Psalm 13:5-6). He does not request reward for his merit. He seeks God’s gracious and merciful bestowal.
That I may live, and keep thy word
The second petition seeks grace to live. James taught us to say, “If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:15). Jeremiah knew that “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Every day of life is an incalculable gift of God’s grace.
The life he seeks is a part of the bountiful dealing he seeks. He is not after bare existence. He does not seek the minimum. He appeals for a bountiful life. His request, though, does not terminate on himself. He is not seeking to fill up his own personal reservoir of benefit. He wants bountiful life that he may keep God’s Word. This is the third petition or culmination of the first two. He sees God as the author of life and faith. Life and faith that are worked out in obedience. Apart from God’s mercy and grace, he will neither live nor keep His Word.
Psalm 119:16
I will delight myself in thy statutes:
I will not forget thy word.
~ Psalm 119:16
I will delight myself in thy statutes
The seeds of meditation in verse 15 have yielded the fruit of delight in verse 16. Delight refers to satisfaction, contentment, and a deep, abiding joy. The statutes of God are His commandments, His law. The blessed man of God delights in God’s law and meditates in it continually (Psalm 1:2). The wicked do not delight in God’s law. They are described variously as forsaking it (Psalm 119:53), breaking it (Ezra 9:14), refusing to keep it (Exodus 16:8), not hearing it (Nehemiah 9:16. 29, 34), and despising it (Amos 2:4)[ref]Craft, Bert 2013. Learning to Delight in the Law of God. Oaxaca, Oaxaca Mexico: Ministerio Gracia Abundante.[/ref].
I will not forget thy word
Treasuring up the Word, meditating in the Word, and delighting in the Word lead us to remember God’s Word. Sooner could a mother forget her nursing child than could we forget God’s Word (Isaiah 49:15) when we have counted it greater riches than earthly wealth (Psalm 119:72) and made it our daily counselor. Forgetting the Word comes through neglecting it. We cannot drift into remembering it but we do drift into forgetting it. We must take heed to hold fast God’s Word that we not let it slip (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 2 Timothy 1:13).
The second stanza of this Psalm, verses 9-16, follow a progression: treasuring the Word in verse 11, declaring the Word in verse 13, rejoicing in the Word in verse 14, meditating in the Word in verse 15, and delighting in the Word in verse 16. The delight is produced through the previous efforts. They are testing, trying, and proving the Word of God in real life. The further the Psalmist walks with the Word, the more precious God’s Word becomes to him.
The stanza opened with a question and answer: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). Verses 10-16 expand and explain what it means to take heed according to the Word.
Psalm 119:15
I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
~ Psalm 119:15
I will meditate in thy precepts
To meditate is turn over in your mind. It is to think on something, turn it over, look at it mentally from different angles, and to search a matter out thoroughly. Among various eastern idolatries, meditation is the pursuit of an alternative consciousness or even sought as an end in itself where the mind is emptied. This is done to relieve stress or to bring yourself into one with all things. Regardless of any benefit, real or imagined, that is not the meditation taught in the Bible.
God instructs us to meditate on His Word, that is to think on His Word (Psalm 1:2). Those who do not meditate on Scripture are called forgetful hearers (James 1:23-25). It is through thinking deeply on the Word that we hide it in our hearts.
Biblical meditation always has a good object. Here it is God’s “precepts.” The Psalmist is resolved to think carefully on the commands of God. He is going to savor the sweetness to bring out every drop of goodness from God’s law.
And have respect unto thy ways
Respect is similar to meditation. It means to look at intently and connotes to regard with pleasure, favor, or care. The “ways” refers to a well-trodden path. The whole statement is that he will meditate on the words of God and behold the works of God with joy.
We don’t want to overstate the case, but this verse reveals an important principle. We cannot understand, much less behold with pleasure, the works of God apart from the words of God. To some, the rigorous study of Scripture, including the mental discipline of meditation, is too scholastic. They prefer experience or a relationship. However, apart from the words of God we cannot understand His works and then we don’t really know Him.
Psalm 119:14
I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
~ Psalm 119:14
Here the rejoicing is “in the way of thy testimonies.” This rejoicing runs deeper than only joy at hearing the Word. The stony ground hearers heard the Word with joy, but they had no root in them to persevere in the way of the Word (Matthew 13:20-21). Psalm 119:13 speaks not only of joy at hearing the Word, but joy in doing and keeping the Word of God. “The way” is a way of life. It is a living of the Word.
The rejoicing in the Word is compared to rejoicing “in all riches.” God’s testimonies are greater treasure than all the riches of the world. The sum of wealth on the earth at any given time is not equal to the treasure of God and His Word. It seems the Psalmist had experience with riches and he rejoiced in the Word more.
Psalm 119:13
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
~ Psalm 119:13
Twelve verses have been between the Psalmist and God and now he speaks to others. He has first cleansed his way by taking heed to the Word of God. He has first sought God with his whole heart. He has first hidden the Word of God in his heart. He has first praised God and learned His statutes. After that, his lips are parted and his voice is raised to tell out loud the judgments of God.
His words flow out from his communion with God and out of the treasure of his heart. He has been treasuring God and His Word such that when he opens his mouth, the judgments of God are declared. Jesus made plain the truth that our heart is the internal storehouse for our words (Luke 6:45) and actions (Matthew 15:18-20). An abundance of vain and empty talk is a sign of a vain and empty heart.
This verse also illustrates the profound effect of God’s Word. What he has learned, loved, and lived in private is declared in public. He is consistent then in the closet and the street. Secret times of communion with God is the key to fruitful times of conversation with men.
Psalm 119:12
Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach my thy statutes.
~ Psalm 119:12
Blessed art thou, O LORD
This verse expresses praise to God. The previous verses have been seeking after God. Seeking God results in praising God, because seeking God results first in learning more of God. Learning more of God inevitably produces the fruit of praise.
Seeking God is a continual task that always yields reward. It is continual because God is limitless and we are limited. Job exulted in the works of God in His wisdom and power, but ultimately declared:
Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?
Job 26:14
Job marveled at the wonder of God and knew that he was only getting at the surface with infinite depths beyond. So we are set up for and everlasting pursuit of the knowledge of God (Ephesians 2:7).
Teach me thy statutes
The Psalmist is now in an upward cycle of learning and praise. The pursuit of God leads to praise and that leads to more pursuit. Job was not declaring he was finished learning about God. The infinite, incomprehensible nature of God did not leave him nor the Psalmist frustrated and finished. Every fruit they enjoyed gave them a taste for more fruit and increased their capacities for more and greater fruit.
The Psalmist acknowledges God as the true source of teaching and learning for the creature. Growing knowledge should also accompany growing obedience. Tasting of the goodness of the Lord makes us ache to be good, like Him.
Psalm 119:20
Posted by Jeff Short on April 2, 2014 · Leave a Comment
My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
Being a pilgrim, a stranger in a strange land, makes one a seeker. A pilgrim is looking for something. He is not settled. The Psalmist stated in verse 19 that he was a stranger in the earth. He was not at home in the world and did not find lasting satisfaction in the things of the world. In verse 20, he revealed his soul-breaking desire for God’s judgments.~ Psalm 119:20
The truly hungry long after food. The truly thirsty long after drink. Jesus promised that those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness . . . shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Food and drink do not satisfy very long. They perish with the using. Only God can bring lasting satisfaction to a longing soul.
The Psalmist’s longings are “at all times.” His desire is not a fit of passion. Rather, it is a sustained, persistent reaching-out of his soul. He is not a lukewarm poser. The church at Laodicea was full of self-confident, self-reliant, self-satisfied souls. They said within themselves that they were rich and needed nothing. These are not longing, seeking souls. These are not souls breaking from the enduring strain of stretching out to be filled with God’s Word.
The reality is that we have a hunger and thirst that cannot be satisfied with anything silver and gold can buy. The Psalmist knew this and thus longed after “the judgments of the LORD,” which “are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold” (Psalm 19:9-10).
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