This last octave of
Psalm 119 bears the title of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet
pronounced Tau. The pronunciation guide in my Bible shows
that the au in this letter is
pronounced the same as the au in
our word maul or the
letter a in our words
all, hall, tall. I
have listened to some pronunciations of the Hebrew alphabet online
and I have heard the au in
Tau pronounced like
our word of so that it
has a slight v sound
at the end. Anyway, tau tau, chaps!
This is enough of the Hebrew lesson from someone who does not speak
Hebrew.
Psalms 119:169 ¶TAU. Let my cry
come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy
word.
This is the only verse
in the psalm where we find the word cry in
its noun form. Let’s define it.
Cry – 1. The loud and chiefly
inarticulate utterance of emotion; esp. of
grief, pain, or terror. An exclamation expressive of any emotion. 2.
Shouting, calling in a voice loud and uttered with effort. 3. An
importunate (persistent and pressing) call, a prayer, entreaty; an
appeal for mercy, justice, etc.
When a prayer to God is
a cry, it is not a mindless,
heartless, habitual mumbling of the same words, as many prayers too
often are. It is a fervent, emotional, pressing appeal to God. In
the case of this prayer of the psalmist, the emotion it conveys is
further expressed by the exclamatory word O used
when he addresses the Lord, O LORD.
Now
this verse is a prayer for a prayer. It is a prayer to God to let
his cry come before
Him. This acknowledges that
there is a possibility that his cry might not get through to God.
The idea that God hears all prayers flatly contradicts the clear
teaching of Holy Scripture. That God does not hear all prayers is certainly
the case when men reject the
word of God.
Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth
away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be
abomination.
Proverbs 1:28 Then shall they
call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated
knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30 They would none of my
counsel: they despised all my reproof.
There
are even cries, intense, emotional prayers, that are not heard by the
Lord.
Jeremiah 11:11 Therefore thus
saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall
not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not
hearken unto them.
If
we do not humbly submit to the reproofs of God’s word and repent of
our sins, the Lord will not hear us.
Psalms 66:18 If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me….
So considering what
sinners we are and considering that so many prayers are not received
by the Lord, it is a mark of humility to pray: let my cry come
before thee.
And
think about what happens when your cry does come before the
Lord. Here you are a puny creature upon
this earth pouring out your
heart to God in your distress. The sound of your single, little voice rises
up through the din of all the noise in this world
and is carried all the way from where you are praying, through the
skies, through the galaxies, through the gates of heaven, into heaven
itself, God’s holy dwelling place and temple, and into the ears of
the highest Majesty, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the
Almighty God of heaven and earth. And you
get His attention. He hears you
and considers your
request.
2 Chronicles 30:27 Then the
priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was
heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto
heaven.
Psalms 18:6 In my distress I
called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of
his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
How
this fact should spur us to pray with much more fervency and
earnestness.
This
verse reminds me of the story of a blind man whom Jesus healed. Here
is the account as it is given in the gospel of Luke.
Luke 18:35 ¶And it came to
pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat
by the way side begging:
36 And hearing the multitude
pass by, he asked what it meant.
37 And they told him, that Jesus
of Nazareth passeth by.
38 And he cried, saying,
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
39 And they which went before
rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much
the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
40 And Jesus stood, and
commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near,
he asked him,
41 Saying, What wilt thou that I
shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
42 And Jesus said unto him,
Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received
his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when
they saw it, gave praise unto God.
First
notice the intensity of the blind man’s prayer. He “cried”
and when urged to hold his peace
“he cried so much the more.” Like the psalmist in today’s
verse, his prayer was a cry. It
was an emotional and persistent appeal to the Lord. He wanted the
Lord to let his cry come before him. And the Lord in His mercy did
just that. He let the cry come before him so that it said that the
blind man “was come near.” And coming near he presented his
prayer for the gift of sight and Jesus granted him his request.
Now
the thing the psalmist cried after was this: give me
understanding according to thy word.
This request also reminds me of the story we just read from the
gospel of Luke. In a very real sense, the psalmist was also asking
for sight. Scripture speaks of “the eyes of your understanding”
(Ephesians 1:18). Understanding is to the mind what eyes are to
body. When we finally understand something, we often say, “I see
it now.” Understanding is seeing with the mind. Thus the psalmist
cried to God for sight like the blind man cried to Jesus for
sight.
But
the understanding the psalmist cried for was understanding according
to God’s word. This
makes sense since it is through God’s word that we get
understanding (Psalms 119:104). In order to fully understand, that
is, to fully make sense of anything, you need to understand it in the
light of the teaching of God’s word. The Bible is the single book
that stitches all the branches of knowledge together. And so in
order to really understand where everything came from, why things are
the way they are, and whereunto they are all tending, you need to
earnestly apply to God to give you understanding according to His
word. This will carry you much further along the path of
understanding than any degree acquired from the most prestigious
university could ever carry you.
This is the sixth time
in this psalm that the psalmist prays for understanding of God’s
word (see verses 27, 34, 73, 125, 144). Now the fact that the
psalmist continued to pray for understanding of God’s word shows
that he was seeking to grow in his knowledge and understanding of it,
which is something all Bible believers should do if they would be
truly wise.
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will
hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall
attain unto wise counsels….
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes,
desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby….
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace,
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be
glory both now and for ever. Amen.
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