Psalm 119:141

Today’s verse taken from the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Tzaddai, tells us something about the condition of the believer in this world.

Psalms 119:141  I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.

It should come as no surprise that this world that “lieth in wickedness” (1John 5:19) would reckon the godly as small and insignificant, and would despise them.  Nevertheless God has chosen His people from among the small and despised of this world.

1 Corinthians 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Observe that this passage says “not many” rather than “not any” wise, mighty, or noble are called.  God has had a few of His chosen among the great and noble of this world.  Consider how great and esteemed among men Solomon was whose “fame was in all nations round about” (1Kings 4:31). 

2 Chronicles 9:22  And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

23  And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. 

Yet even those who attain a measure of fame from the world should, like the psalmist, remain small in their own estimation.  The great king Solomon himself commended humility and lowliness in his proverbs. 

Proverbs 11:2  When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

Proverbs 16:19  Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Solomon recognized that it would be foolish to let his greatness go to his head.

The apostle Paul, who is the pattern for believers (1Timothy 1:16), was small in his own eyes.  Even though he was “in nothing…behind the very chiefest apostles,” he considered himself nothing (2Corinthians 12:11).  He described himself as “the least of the apostles” and “less than the least of all saints” (1Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:8).  And as for being despised, Paul was that too.

1 Corinthians 4:9  For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

10  We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

11  Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

12  And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

13  Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

From this foregoing passage we can clearly see that Paul and his fellow apostles were small and despised by this world.  And yet these apostles, small and despised though they were, turned the world upside down and left an indelible mark on civilization (Acts 17:6). 

If you are small and despised in the eyes of the world, this places no limitation on Almighty God as to what He might do with you “for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few” (1Samuel 14:6).  The church of Philadelphia was small in that it had but “a little strength.”  And yet the Lord Jesus Christ set before them “an open door” that no man could shut (Revelation 3:8).  No man, no matter how great or powerful, could close the door of evangelistic opportunity that Christ gave to that church.

Even though the psalmist was small and despised, he did not let that discourage his faith and adherence to the word of God:  yet do not I forget thy precepts.  He did not place a great premium on what the world thought of him.  He was too occupied with what God thought of him to be worried about that.  And as he had complained in verse 139 that his enemies had forgotten God’s words, he was careful not to do the same.  I am quite taken with William Cowper’s comments on these words:

“We see by experience that our affection leaves anything from the time it goes out of our remembrance.  We cease to love when we cease to remember; but earnest love ever renews remembrance of that which is beloved.”      

If we would continue to love God’s word, we must keep it ever fixed in our memory.

Before I close, let me connect today’s verse with our Lord Jesus Christ.  Was He small and despised in this world?  These verses that speak of Him should answer that question:

Philippians 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men….

Psalms 22:6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Isaiah 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Yet small and despised though He was, He never forgot a single precept of His God.  He kept all those precepts down to the smallest of them and so fulfilled the law of God, brought in everlasting righteousness, saved His people from their sins, and is now exalted as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Let us never shun His cross though it means being small and despised in the estimation of this world.  And let us never forget His word which this world has discarded as insignificant and despicable.