Psalm 119:41
Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD,
even thy salvation,
according to thy word.
~ Psalm 119:41
Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD
A prayer for mercy is an acknowledgement of need. It is not the prayer of the proud or self-sufficient. He acknowledges that God’s mercies must come to him because he cannot go to them. It is a prayer for preservation for by God’s mercies we are not consumed and daily there is a fresh supply (Lamentations 3:22-23). He seeks it like his daily bread.even thy salvation, according to thy word.
Salvation is the chief of God’s mercies. It is a rescue, a deliverance. It refers to these in both temporary, physical ways and in the ultimate, spiritual way. It is a prayer to be delivered from temptation and every evil snare.
He prays best who lays hold of God’s word to pray. Prayer is mighty effectual when we plead God’s own writ promises before His throne. Let us never forget that throne is a throne of grace where we obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Psalm 119:40
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:
quicken me in thy righteousness.
~ Psalm 119:40
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts
Desire for God’s Word has been expressed in terms of God’s word, judgments, commandments, precepts, way, and testimonies. Taken together these express a longing for the entire Word of God. His desire is for every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.The godly do not find God’s commandments grievous (1 John 5:3), but rather delight in them (Psalm 1:2). While unbelievers may cherry-pick some sweet expression of love from the Bible and think it beautiful, they despise God’s judgment and wrath. Greedy unbelievers will misinterpret the Proverbs and think they teach how to get rich, but they will all the while despise the true wisdom of God. The heart of the godly is truly manifest in the hunger and desire for all of God’s Word.
quicken me in thy righteousness
This is the final plea of this stanza and it is a renewed request for life. He seeks to be enlivened by the Word that he might keep it, walk in it, and do it. His aforementioned longing is not satisfied in hearing only (James 1:22).
The Psalmist frequently prays for life in this Psalm. He is seeking the vital energy to walk in God’s ways. It is an humble admission that we so often lack the power in ourselves to perform what we want and know to be right (Romans 7:18). It is only by continual reliance upon and renewal in the Spirit that we can walk after the Spirit (Romans 8:5, 13).
Psalm 119:39
Turn away my reproach which I fear:
for thy judgments are good.
~ Psalm 119:39
Turn away my reproach which I fear
When there is any cause for legitimate reproach in a believer’s life, it discredits God and the Word. The testimony of our mouth is only so much hot air when the walk of our life discords with it.We are blessed when we are reproached for righteousness’ sake (1 Peter 3:14). We are blessed when we are reproached for the name of Christ (1 Peter 4:14). However, we are brought to shame when we are reproached as a thief, liar, or gossip (1 Peter 4:15).
The Psalmist’s prayer is to be turned from shameful reproach. He doesn’t want a profession-practice dissonance to be the source of God, Christ, the Word, or the faith being blasphemed.
for thy judgments are good
The world continually criticizes the Bible and charges that it is not good. It is scoffed, mocked, scorned, slandered, and disbelieved in every age. But the Word of God is eternally settled (Psalm 119:89) and cannot be removed. It will stand and all things in it shall come to pass (Matthew 5:18).
Regardless of man’s accusations, the Word is good, holy, and pure (Proverbs 30:5). The goodness of God’s word is the basis for the Psalmist’s prayer. His heart-desire is for a life that will shine a light and will reflect the goodness of God.
Psalm 119:38
Stablish thy word unto thy servant,
who is devoted to thy fear.
~ Psalm 119:38
Stablish thy word unto thy servant
Stablish carries the thought of making sure in the sense of establishing. It also conveys the thought of arising so as to go. The color of the meaning here is for God to do His word that He has promised. He makes sure His word in the sense that He does it and ensures it comes to pass. It is a prayer for God’s word to be fulfilled.
who is devoted to thy fear
The prayer requests such for the servant who fears. There are many words to those who fear God (Psalm 103:11, 13, 17; 145:19; 147:11). The longing of a fearing heart is for God to be glorified through fulfilling His word.
Psalm 119:37
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
and quicken thou me in thy way.
~ Psalm 119:37
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity
Vanity has a wide range of meaning. It encompasses from destructive evil to falsehood to empty uselessness. The Psalmist doesn’t want to fix on any of these. We are not to be steeped and expert in evil and malice (1 Corinthians 14:20; Romans 16:19), and the first step from that is to turn away from beholding it.
and quicken thou me in thy way
The turning away on one hand must be a turning toward on the other hand. Quickening is being made alive. The Psalmist pleads for reviving and life energy to pursue the ways of God. Success here requires not only the emptying of vanity but also the filling with good (Philippians 4:8). The vigilant and persistent prayer is to God to turn us from vanity and toward His way.
Psalm 119:36
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,and not to covetousness.
~ Psalm 119:36
The Psalmist recognizes a natural bent to covetousness and that’s why he prays for Divine power in inclining toward the testimonies of God. This verse is similar to the New Testament passages about renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:10). We fight against our natural bent daily and must trust completely in the grace and power of God to overcome it.
Psalm 119:35
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;
for therein do I delight.
~ Psalm 119:35
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments
We don’t want to be overly pragmatic, but God’s law, His word, is a path. It is a way. It isn’t just stimulation for the heart and mind. The capacity to understand and walk in His word comes from God.
This prayer comes from one who has been made to know the Word. He sees the truth, goodness, and beauty in the Word and now longs to go in that way. His struggle seems akin to Paul’s in Romans 7:18, “For to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
for therein do I delight
Here is the key to the previous prayer. We understand the impulse of it when we understand that the Word is the delight and pleasure of his soul. When the eyes are opened to really see God in His Word, we are irresistibly drawn to Him. We experience the frustration of a life that merely syncopates the Word and does not exactly reproduce it.
Psalm 119:34
Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
~ Psalm 119:34
Give me understanding
Understanding is used often in the Proverbs with words related to wisdom. It points to our faculty of discernment; our ability to comprehend spiritual truth. It is not enough to read or hear, we must understand. He seeks understanding from the only source of spiritual understanding. The capacity to understand spiritual things is not native with us. It must be given to us by God (1 Corinthians 2:14; James 1:5).
and I shall keep thy law
Understanding is sought so that the law may be kept. Attempting to keep the law without that understanding only results in self-righteousness and legalism. The publican went down to his house justified rather than the Pharisee (Luke 18:14). Jesus repeatedly reproved the Pharisees because they did not understand the law, though they thought they were righteous. Understanding is vital to walking in the way of righteousness.
yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart
Understanding leads to wholehearted observance. The heart in the Scriptures can stand for the will, emotions, or intellect. Sometimes, it means all of these; our whole inner person or being. That is the intention here where the Psalmist knows that spiritual understanding will engage his whole being in keeping God’s Word
Psalm 119:42
Posted by Jeff Short on May 27, 2015 · 1 Comment
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me:
for I trust in thy word.
~ Psalm 119:42
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me
The Psalmist furnishes further reason for the mercies of God to come to him, that he would have an answer to his enemies. God’s people are quickly reproached whenever their circumstances look grim. Let one of God’s people endure a visible trial and the gainsayers quickly line up to rain reproaches on his head.The relief here sought is similar to David’s prayer in trials (Psalm 86:17; 35:1-4). It is actually a common prayer for God’s people (Psalm 31:17-18; 35:26; 40:14-15; 70:2-3; 71:24). So it is also a guide and comfort to us today when people mock and say, “Where is thy God?” (Psalm 42:3).
for I trust in thy word
This trust is had while he is yet awaiting God’s mercies. He is in the midst of trial and though he does not yet have answer for his enemies, his heart and hope are fixed. The pleader of God’s mercies does not doubt their arrival, it is only a matter of when. Here again he trusts in the word, for God’s mercies will come in His time (Galatians 1:15).
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