We have been reading Psalm 119 for the past 4 posts, since the beginning of October. This Psalm 119 , chapter 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, with 176 verses, 22 stanzas, each for a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and 8 verses per stanza. The content seems very repetitive on the surface, with the Psalmist talking about how much he loves God’s word. He refers to God’s Word a number of different ways, referring to God’s word as, His commandments, His precepts, His statutes, decrees, His Law, His Promises. Each of the terms refer to Gods word, or parts of Scripture, but they refer to it from a slightly different angle or perspective

ר Resh

• 153 Look on my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.
• 154 Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.
• 155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees.
• 156 Your compassion, Lord, is great; preserve my life according to your laws.
• 157 Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes.
• 158 I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word.
• 159 See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, Lord, in accordance with your love.
• 160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

The Psalmist asks God to look on his suffering and deliver him. He says, I have not forgotten your law. When we remember God’s laws and study them, when we don’t forget God’s word, we have an expectation of God to deliver us from our suffering. Nowhere in the psalm does the psalmist say he is immune to suffering. We will suffer, but we have promises in God’s word that eventually He will deliver us from suffering. If we are in God’s word, if we treasure God’s promises and his laws, our suffering will not last forever. At the other end of our dark tunnel of suffering and hardship, we have a deeper fellowship with God, a deeper understanding of his Word, and we have instruction and maturity that God gives to us. And at the other end of the suffering, we realize that not only did God deliver us, but while we suffered, He was there alongside of us, comforting us, and sustaining us while we were going through that suffering. The more in tune we are with the word of God, the easier it is for us to be taught and trained by the suffering and hardship we endure. This reminds me of Hebrews 12:11 where the author of that says No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Like the Hebrews author says, We receive a harvest of righteousness and peace, like the psalmist says, we realize it was faithful for God to afflict us. And this happens, as long as we are trained by that hardship or affliction. When I wrote about Hebrews 12, I gave a silly example about there being a Gym , and in that gym was a button. After your workout, you had the option to hit the button, and you would keep all of the soreness, pain, and lost time you spent doing the workout, But you would lose all training benefits from the workout; your muscles wouldn’t get any stronger, you wouldn’t build up any endurance, you wouldn’t improve your metabolism, you wouldn’t have burned any of the calories. Nobody in their right mind would press that button. There’s no logical reason to hit the button, you’d have to be a masochist or enjoy pain to press that button. But when we allow ourselves to go through hardships, and then refuse to be trained by the process, or refuse to use the suffering as an opportunity to grow closer to God, or delve deeper into God’s word, we are acting like that pain seeking gym goer who presses the button. It’s part of human condition to undergo suffering and hardships, that’s the nature of living in a fallen world that’s been impacted by the consequences of sin. So let’s be trained by it, let’s grow in our knowledge and understanding of the word of God, let’s reap that harvest of righteousness and peace that Hebrews 12 alludes to. Righteousness and Peace are bigger concepts than just being good and avoiding conflict. The harvest is Christ Jesus, the Word of God who became flesh. Being imputed with Jesus’s righteousness is Our only way to reap true righteousness, through Christ’s sacrifice, it’s our only way to be at peace with a perfect God. When the Psalmist begs to God to redeem him, and preserve his life according to His promise in verse 154, he is looking for salvation and redemption, being brought back to God’s perfect presence. Even the psalmist acknowledges the need to be saved by God, the need to be redeemed, the need to be delivered from his suffering. The psalmist never says he is saving himself or redeeming himself by following God’s laws. He is saying See how I love your laws, I have tried to obey your laws, Help me to obey, help me to understand. Deliver me! Redeem me. Preserve my life. In this 8 verse stanza, he’s asked God to Preserve his life 3 times (according to God’s promise [154], according to God’s laws [156], according to God’s love [159]). All the Psalmist has is God’s laws and God’s word. But the salvation he describes isn’t one of salvation by works or by obedience to God’s laws! He asks God to save him, not because he Obeys Gods laws, but he remembers God’s Laws and promises, because he loves God’s laws, because he loaths disobedience against God’s laws, he hates the faithless. He basically asks God to save him because God is compassionate because God loves us.

ש Sin and Shin

• 161 Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.
• 162 I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil.
• 163 I hate and detest falsehood but I love your law.
• 164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.
• 165 Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.
• 166 I wait for your salvation, Lord, and I follow your commands.
• 167 I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.
• 168 I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.

The Psalmist is being persecuted by those who are in power. Rulers and people in charge are persecuting him without cause. He’s mentioned this before in the earlier verses, and thinking about what it must be to be in his position. I would hate to be persecuted, I would hate to be mistreated by anyone. But he is being mistreated by those who are in charge. The governors, kings, authorities are persecuting him. It would be very hard be persecuted, and my heart and emotions would be angry, frustrated, bitter. My heart would tremble, but the psalmist says what really makes his heart tremble is the word of God. In verse 162 he says he rejoices in God’s promise like someone who finds great spoil. He has said before that he loves the word of God like pure gold, he rejoices in his following the law like someone who rejoices in great profit or gain. Now he is saying the word of God / the Promise of God is like Great “spoil”. The word “spoil” is booty or plunder, riches taken by force. Spoil isn’t profit, it’s kind of armed theft. Which doesn’t seem right or fair. But if you find this plunder, you aren’t personally the one taking it by force, so we’re talking about finding treasure. This makes me think of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13:44 comparing the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field.

The parable of the hidden treasure A man finds it, he hides it and sells all he has, and buys the field. John Calvin himself writes of this parable,

“The first two of these parables are intended to instruct believers to prefer the Kingdom of Heaven to the whole world, and therefore to deny themselves and all the desires of the flesh, that nothing may prevent them from obtaining so valuable a possession. We are greatly in need of such a warning; for we are so captivated by the allurements of the world, that eternal life fades from our view; and in consequence of our carnality, the spiritual graces of God are far from being held by us in the estimation which they deserve.”

We must remember that compared to the permanent joy of Heaven, this Earth offers us only temporary happiness, but nothing everlasting. Sacrificing all we have here on earth, selling everything we have, giving up our time, it is worth it to gain the treasure of God’s promises / God’s Kingdom. But there’s an interesting interpretation of this parable by Lutheran theologian David P. Scaer. He says that the context and theme of the surrounding parables in Matthew 13 is that Christ has been talking about God or the Son of Man acting on behalf of His church. In that interpretation the man who discovers the treasure is Christ, and the treasure is humanity. Humanity is the treasure and Christ sells all he has, giving up his life to redeem humanity! This parable can be interpreted both ways, with the understanding that we should regard heaven as something of infinite worth, deserving of all the days of our lives, all the wealth we we have and all we are. As fallen humans, we can never live up to the ideal that the parable requires of us. And whenever we see scripture demanding of us something that our sinful nature just can’t seem to do right, that points us to the one Man who could, Jesus Christ. The one who gave up his life for the treasure that is the Kingdom of Heaven. In laying down his life as a ransom for many, Christ has fulfilled the parable, and turned enemies into friends. Now I think David Scaer’s interpretation is compelling, but I might put a small twist on it and say that the Field that he buys is Humanity, and the treasure is the Elect. (I think it’s reasonable because a bunch of the parables are also talking about having wheat planted with weeds among them, and good fish and bad fish that are all caught together by fishermen.) There is this idea that the entire earth has this chance to grow, believers and unbelievers share this time on earth, but in the end, there is a reckoning, there is big separation in outcome. People who hate and mock God, proud sinners who never repent, people who live as if the world is the end all, be all, they don’t end up in God’s presence. Interestingly, going back to the word “spoil”, the promise of God is kind of like spoil or plunder, more than riches or profits. Being redeemed and made right before God is a treasure, but we didn’t earn it. It’s not profit. We are like thugs or pirates taking the righteousness and standing of Christ, and making it our own; and doing that by way of physical violence or force. It doesn’t feel nice, and it is kind of embarrassing and not pretty, but it’s true! So Continuing in Psalm 119 In vs 163 The Psalmist says he hates and detests falsehood, and loves the truth of God’s law. He wants to remind himself that the truth prevails. Even when people persecute him on false pretenses, even when it seems like everyone is ignoring God and nothing seems to be happening to them, he knows that they are living in a delusion. 164 he says he praises God seven times per day. Some think that seven number is representative of perfection, or of general frequency, not necessarily exactly seven, but to mean “whenever I can”, or “at any chance”. Some Jewish rabbis affirm this is a literal practice, because in their practice they say prayers twice before reading the commandments in the morning, once after. And then in the evening they say prayers twice before and twice after, adding up to seven. It is noteworthy that he says he praises God because of God’s righteous Laws. For every characteristic of God, we have reason to praise him, but in this Psalm the reason that God is praiseworthy is because he is the giver of these righteous laws. The Psalmist then talks about great peace that comes from loving God’s law. If you love God’s law, there is nothing that can cause you to stumble or lose direction. When you are relying on God’s law to guide your heart, and you love it, you will hate the path of disobedience. And the nature of his obedience in vs 167 and 168 is motivated by and a result of love, it’s not an obedience based on terror or compulsion. The Psalmist’s relationship to God’s law is love and admiration, so following the law is not a chore, it’s what he wants to do and longs for in his soul. He says he waits for God’s salvation, and that Salvation is something that clearly comes from God, and doesn’t seem to be conditional on the Psalmists obedience. But while he waits he obeys, and acknowledges God’s omniscience, saying that “my ways are known to you”

ת Taw

• 169 May my cry come before you, Lord; give me understanding according to your word.
• 170 May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise.
• 171 May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees.
• 172 May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous.
• 173 May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
• 174 I long for your salvation, Lord, and your law gives me delight.
• 175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.
• 176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.

The first 4 verses of this final stanza start with “May my”, 169, may my cry come before you, 170 may my supplication come before you. 171 May my lips overflow with praise. 172 May my tongue sing of your word. Other translations use the words, “Let my”. It’s intersting because as humans we tend to think we are in control of things we do or the things we say. Normally we would say something like, “ I will cry out to you. I will sing of your word. I will praise you with my lips. But here, The Psalmist is wording things kind of like he’s asking for permission from God to do things that we tend to think we have control over. When we are talking to a sovereign God who is in control of everything, and who has power to make anything come to pass, “may my” and “let my” seem to be more appropriate. God has the power to make anything happen, including the things that come out of our lips, the ideas that go through our mind, the words that we cry out to God. If we are frustrated in our lives because we can’t seem do do the things we want, or we can’t behave the way that scripture demands, we should obviously repent of the sins and disobedience, but we should also ask God to change us. Let my behavior honor you God, may my life be a living form of worship to you. Please change me and help me to grow! When we’re honest with ourselves, and we understand scripture, we recognize we aren’t able to make these changes on our own. Any maturity and growth we experience as Christians is a gift from God, so we might as well ask God to help us. And if you look closely at the Psalmists words, he’s not just asking God to help him to do those things he wants to do. He is also asking God to openly receive the things that the psalmist says and does. For instance, if I cry out to God, but He has forsaken me, My cry or my supplications my prayers will never come before Him, He will have turned away. There are many people who are destined to be forsaken by God, rightfully so. They mock God with their actions, words, beliefs. They flaunt their disobedience and believe they are in charge of their destinies. We know that type of person, because in the past, we were all like that. The very idea that our prayers are heard by God and they come before Him is not to be taken lightly. It’s a blessing and a mercy that God even listens to a selfish sinner like myself. We should never take God’s audience for granted. We should never assume God’s presence is something that we are entitled to. It’s miraculous that God should want us to cry out to Him. We should have that awe and wonder for God’s greatness, and this humble attitude is how we should lift our prayers. He says he will cry out to God asking to be given understanding of God’s word. He will make supplication to God. Supplication is asking, begging, pleading in an earnest or humble way. He will praise God with his lips, because God willingly teaches us his decrees. And his tongue will sing. He’s not just singing idle words or pretty melodies, He wants to sing about God’s Word, particularly how righteous the commands are.

and two of the last 4 verses have the words “May your” . May your hand be ready to help me, and May your Laws sustain me. In 173 he asks May Your [God’s] hand to be ready to help. The powerful hand of God is one that is ready to help those who follow his laws and his precepts. Like he’s said earlier in the psalm, the psalmist realizes that God has shown his mercy and power to help his people when they are in need. If you struggle to see this, then try to do what the Psalmist does. He refers to God’s ancient laws, but all you need to do is look at scripture. The Psalmist obviously doesn’t know the New Testament, but familiarize yourself with the Old Testament. You will see example after example in Genesis and Exodus. God gives deliverance to his people, he gives them promises and precepts and he rescues them and meets them in their times of need. He frees them from slavery, oppression, enemy armies; he provides for them compassionately, feeding them in the wilderness, healing them from their diseases; he gives the people Judges who enforce God’s laws, and protect the nation of Israel from outside threats. In vs 174 The Psalmist says he Longs for God’s salvation, and God’s law gives him delight. He says in 175 that he wants his life, his existence to be to praise God. He doesn’t want any sort of salvation or quick fix that doesn’t honor God’s laws. He lives to praise God, and his sustinance, the thing that keeps him going is the Righteous Laws of God. How does he finish this Psalm? He’s already spoken about how much he loves God’s word. How great God’s laws are. How the word of God sustains him. How he’s tried to obey. But he doesn’t finish the psalm by saying he’s fought the good fight, and has completed the law to his best. Quite the opposite. He finishes in verse 176 saying, “I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands!” The Psalmist is looking for a shepherd. He has strayed and he wants to be sought and found. He wants God to be his shepherd and recognizes that he’s is a lost sheep, he wanders, he strays. It’s bad enough to stray, but it’s even more painful for the psalmist because he hasn’t forgotten God’s commands. He knows the righteous laws, he knows the upright decrees, he loves the truth, and hates all falsehood. He knows the character of the shepherd, And yet, he sees himself straying like a lost sheep. He says he Longs for God’s salvation. He wants to be saved, and he understands the only way to be saved is by God himself seeking his lost sheep. He begs to God, “Seek your servant” When Christ arrives years later, The Laws, Precepts, decrees, promises, commands, all these things that the Psalmist loves so much, these eventually become flesh and dwell with man! The Salvation that the Psalmist was straining to see arrives as a living, breathing, crying, bleeding human. A man who followed the Commands, he obeyed God’s precepts, he fulfilled the prophets decrees, and the promises of God were delivered in Him. He is called the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. What’s more, Jesus claims he is the Good shepherd. Anyone who is familiar with Psalm 23 or 119, or any other number of psalms realizes that By Christ saying He is the Good shepherd, Jesus claims to be God, and he is the one who is seeking and finding and redeeming lost sheep.