Psalm 119:125

The next verse in this octave of Psalm 119 expands on the prayer of the preceding verse in which the psalmist asked the Lord to teach him His statutes.

Psalms 119:125  I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.

For the third time in this octave, the psalmist identifies himself as God’s servant:  I am thy servant.  No matter what position we may occupy in this world or in the church, we ought always to see ourselves as servants of God.  God gives us our gifts and offices not that we may serve ourselves, but that we may serve Him.  Even the Son of God, Whom we call Lord and Master, “took upon him the form of a servant,” whilst He was upon this earth (Philippians 2:7).  And we will never be above Him as He said:  “The servant is not greater than his lord” (JOH 13:16). 

As a servant of God, the psalmist wanted to know God’s testimonies.  He wanted to know His Master and His will so that he might serve Him.  What servant is worth his salt that cares nothing for what his master says?  But that he might know God’s testimonies the psalmist prayed:  give me understanding.  In order to really know a thing, you need to understand it.  We have all had the experience of receiving information that we did not understand.  Understanding is the ability to apprehend the meaning of something, to be able to make sense of it.  Oh, the blessing of being able to grasp the meaning of a passage of Scripture so that is makes perfect sense!

As we have had occasion to point out before in these meditations, any teachers we have that help us to understand God’s testimonies are but God’s instruments.  Ultimately, the understanding comes from the Lord and He must be sought for it.

Proverbs 2:6  For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

2 Timothy 2:7  Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

Charles Spurgeon had this to say about this prayer for understanding:

“Moreover this gift of understanding acts also in the form of discernment and thus the good man is preserved from hoarding up that which is false and dangerous; he knows what are and what are not the testimonies of the Lord.”

In this age of so many perversions of the Bible claiming to be God’s testimonies, there is a special need for understanding to know the true testimonies of the Lord, which in English are found in the King James Bible.  But that is a subject all unto itself.

If you have the mindset of a servant of God desirous of doing His will, you will be given the understanding you need to know His testimonies so that you may keep them.  As our Lord said:

John 7:17  If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.