Psalm 119:129

I now take up the next octave of Psalm 119 bearing the title of the Hebrew letter PË.  According to the pronunciation guide in my Bible the letter ë in pë is pronounced like the letter a in our words same, tame, or pay.  Now we shall not pë a whole lot of attention to the letter pë.  We shall rather pë attention to the verses that this letter introduces.  Yes, I know.  My humour is lëm.  Oh, well, let’s turn to serious things.

Psalms 119:129  ¶PE. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

The Lord’s testimonies are wonderful, that is, they are full of wonder.

Wonder – Something that causes astonishment.  A marvellous object; a marvel, prodigy.  A deed performed or an event brought about by miraculous or supernatural power; a miracle.

We dealt with the wonder of God’s written word when we considered verse 18 of this psalm in which the psalmist prayed for the Lord to open his eyes to “behold wondrous things out of thy law.”  I do not wish to repeat here what I wrote then.  You may refer back to that meditation to refresh your memory.  Suffice it to say that the Bible is a miraculous book.  It is not only a miracle considered in its entirety, but each testimony, each verse in it is a miracle.  Every word in it is given by the same power that created and preserves the worlds.  If read and studied with faith, it will never cease to amaze its reader.

We often describe things in this world as wonderful.  We might ask a person returned from a trip, “How was your vacation?”  In response we often hear:  “It was wonderful.”  “How was the weather?”  “It was wonderful!”  “How was the wedding?”  “It was wonderful.”  “What do you think of your new grandbaby?”  “Oh, she’s wonderful!”  “How was the concert?”  “It was wonderful.”  “How would you rate this product?”  “It’s simply wonderful.”  “What did you think of that speech?”  “Oh, I thought it was wonderful.”  And on and on we go chanting the wonders of our experiences.  And, yet, all these “wonders” are nothing compared to that Book that is sadly too often neglected and ignored by even God’s own children, who of all people should appreciate its wonder.  Perhaps one reason we lose sight of the wonder of the Book is that we are taken up with the wonders of this world.  But do we judge things to be wonderful mainly because we find them pleasurable or fun for us?  And if we don’t get pleasure from something, well, then it isn’t so wonderful is it?  At least it is not so wonderful in our estimation. Commenting on this verse George Horne wrote: 

“While we have these holy writings, let us not waste our time, mis-employ our thoughts, and prostitute our admiration, by doating on human follies, and wondering at human trifles.”

Wow!  That is a powerfully convicting statement, especially in our day of digital devices that offer endless follies and trifles at the touch of a screen. 

And why are God’s testimonies wonderful?  Because they testify of Him Whose name is Wonderful, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Now it was precisely because God’s testimonies are wonderful that the psalmist kept them:  therefore doth my soul keep them.  How often do we try to record the things we deem to be wonderful.  We want to keep those things.  It seems that wonder is something we want to hang on to.  Hence it is that photography is a booming business.  And with everyone carrying cameras around with them all the time on their mobile devices, everyone is becoming a photographer.  We are ever trying to preserve the wonder.  Yet a photograph or video cannot capture the wonder of the moment!  Looking at the picture or film of something is not the same as experiencing it first hand.  But the wonder of God’s testimonies will not be lost if we keep them in our lives by referring to them often, remembering them, and obeying them.  In fact, the more significantly they figure into our lives, the more wonderful we will find them to be.       

But observe that the psalmist said his soul kept the Lord’s testimonies.  He did not merely keep them outwardly and on display for other men to see.  Rather, his innermost self kept them.  Look within yourself and consider what most dazzles your soul and what it most holds on to.  Ask yourself, does today’s verse describe your soul?