Psalm 119:168

We now arrive at the last verse of this octave of Psalm 119 bearing the title of the Hebrew letter Schin.

Psalms 119:168  I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.

The psalmist reaffirms what he had stated in the previous verse and that is that he had kept God’s testimonies. However, in this verse he attaches the word precepts to the word testimonies. As we noted in the beginning of our treatment of this great psalm, the words precepts and testimonies both refer to the written words of God, the Holy Scriptures. The definitions of those terms are cited in that introduction.

As can be deduced from the definitions, the psalmist was not being needlessly redundant in using these two words. The precepts refer specifically to the commands the Lord has issued to regulate our conduct whereas the testimonies are broader in scope. While God’s testimonies do indeed include His precepts, they also include the documentary evidence given in Scripture that supports God’s claims about Himself and His works. The testimonies provide the evidence that establishes God’s authority to issue precepts.  The psalmist was careful to cling to anything his Bible taught both by way of commandment and by way of testimony.

Now the psalmist cites both a proof that he had kept God’s precepts and testimonies, and a reason why he did so: for all my ways are before thee. There is nothing about us, nothing we are and nothing we do that is not known to the Lord. The following verses make this abundantly clear:

Psalms 139:1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

5  Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Proverbs 15:11  Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?

Hebrews 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

So when the psalmist was declaring that he had kept God’s precepts and testimonies, he could call God to bear record that he had indeed done so for God had seen him doing it. All his ways were before the Lord. He could say with Job: “Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high” (Job 16:19).

But this statement, all my way are before thee, is also a reason why the psalmist kept God’s precepts and testimonies. He knew that everything he thought, said, and did was under the watchful eye of God and nothing could be hidden from Him. And this prompted him to render to God’s word a most careful attentiveness and obedience.

Jeremiah 23:23  Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

24  Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

Job was also motivated to fear God and eschew evil by the realization that God saw all his ways as he himself testified: “Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?” (JOB 31:4).

It is the wicked who think they can do evil and God will not see it.

Psalms 94:3  LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

4  How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

5  They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.

6  They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.

7  Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

8  Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9  He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

10  He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?

Therefore, the psalmist advanced the words for all my ways are before thee as both a proof and a reason that he kept God’s precepts and His testimonies.

And this brings us to the end of this octave of Psalm 119 entitled Schin. This leaves us with one more octave to cover before we reach the conclusion of Psalm 119. May God grant us grace to see it through to the finish, if the Lord Jesus tarries and we live. And should our Lord come before I finish this series, we will have all eternity to delve into the riches of that last octave so that in the end, we will have missed nothing. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”