Psalm 119:24

Today we consider the last verse in the third octave of Psalm 119, the octave entitled Gimel.

Psalms 119:24 Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

By means of the word also, the psalmist adds this thought to the thought of the previous verse. Recall that in the previous verse the psalmist wrote that “princes also did sit and speak against me.” His way of coping with this persecution was by meditating in God’s statutes. Rather than despairing over what the princes spoke against him, he focused on what God in His word spoke for him. Now in today’s verse, he tells us what God’s word was to him as he meditated in it. The testimonies of the Lord were his delight and his counsellors.

It is interesting to notice the things that the Holy Scriptures link together by the word and. In this particular case delight is linked with counsellors. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense that these two things are joined together. A counselor is one who gives counsel, which is advice or direction. When one is in perplexity or distress, to receive good counsel is one of the most delightful things that can happen. It brings relief and comfort to gain insight into a difficult situation, to get some direction on how to deal with it. To put it straightly, a good counselor is just a pleasure to have around. Solomon acknowledged this in this proverb:

Proverbs 27:9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.

The hearty counsel of a friend rejoices the heart; it brings delight.

But observe that God’s testimonies are our counsellors, plural. Solomon wrote:

Proverbs 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Proverbs 15:22 Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

The Scriptures contain a multitude of counsellors for our safety. None of these counsellors will ever give bad advice. And because of that, your purposes or plans can be established; they can be well-settled rather than being tossed about in indecision and uncertainty. Indeed, there are counsellors in Scripture for every situation that you can be involved in. And no counsellors in this earth are more expert in giving advice than the counsellors of Scripture. In fact, the advice of every other counsellor you may consult should always be weighed in relation to the counsel of Scripture to determine its merit.

Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Thomas Manton made the following interesting comments on this passage that show the advantage of finding our counsellors in a book:

“Alphonsus, king of Arragon, being asked who were the best counsellors? answered, ‘The dead (meaning books), which cannot flatter, but do without partiality declare the truth.’ Now of all such dead counsellors, God’s testimonies have the pre-eminence. A poor, godly man, even then when he is deserted of all, and hath nobody to plead for him, he hath his senate, and his council of state about him, the prophets and apostles, and ‘other holy men of God, that spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ A man so furnished, is never less alone than when alone; for he hath counsellors about him that tell him what is to be believed or done; and they are such counsellors as cannot err, as will not flatter him, nor applaud him in any sin, nor discourage or dissuade him from that which is good, whatever hazard it expose him to.”

Now that is rich!

If you would have God’s testimonies be your delight, then take them for your counsellors. They will bring you little joy if you do not seek their advice. And if you would find in God’s testimonies your counsellors, then take them for your delight. You will not be prone to seek the advice of that which you dislike.

Lastly, we refer to attorneys and psychotherapists as counsellors. A beautiful thing about having God’s testimonies for our counsellors is that their advice and help are free. Imagine having access to a multitude of lawyers and psychotherapists to be consulted as often as you wish for as long as you wish and it costing you nothing but the time you spend seeking their advice. Now that is a deal! This fits well with this admonition with which I close:

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Psalm 119:23

By means of the word also today’s verse from Psalm 119 picks up the thought introduced in the previous verse.

Psalms 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

In the preceding verse the psalmist wrote of being the object of reproach and contempt. In the verse we consider today we find that this reproach and contempt did not just arise from the common folk, but it also came from princes. Let’s define what a prince is.

Prince – 1. A sovereign ruler; a monarch, a king. 2. One who has the chief authority; a ruler, commander, governor, president; also, the head man, chief, or leader of a tribe.

A prince can refer to anyone in authority in any sphere. Those who occupied places of authority in the life of the psalmist were speaking against him, heaping upon him their reproach and contempt.

Observe that our verse does not simply state that princes spoke against him. It rather says that they did sit and speak against him. When someone is functioning in an official capacity as an authority figure, he is spoken of as doing so from a seated position.

Judges 5:10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.

Isaiah 16:5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

Matthew 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

When our blessed Lord, Messiah the Prince, gave His authoritative pronouncements in that great Sermon on the Mount, He did so from a seated position.

Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:…
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,….

In fact, notice this definition given of the word sit in the dictionary:

To occupy a seat in the capacity of a judge or with some administrative function.

It is interesting that when someone today runs for office, we say that he is seeking a seat in parliament, or a seat in the senate, or a congressional seat. And when we speak of judges issuing their findings in a case, we say they are speaking from the bench, the place where they sit.

So taking all this together, we see in our verse that these princes were speaking in an official capacity; they were using the power of their office to speak against the psalmist. Sadly, it has happened all too often in history that persons in authority have abused their power by using that authority to speak against the good and godly. Time and space would fail to mention all of the unrighteous laws and decrees throughout history that have been handed down from seats of power against the innocent and the righteous. The ultimate example of this took place when the religious and political rulers of the Jews used their authority to speak against the only perfectly innocent and just Man in all of time, even our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,….

Although reproached and spoken against even by princes, our psalmist did meditate in God’s statutes. He found in God’s words comfort, strength, and refuge when those who should have been his protectors became his persecutors instead. As Matthew Henry pointed out, he found that when they spoke against him, the word of God spoke for him. In those statutes the believer finds that he is not alone when he is reproached for his godliness. He is in the company of the saints spoken of in the Scriptures. He is having fellowship with the sufferings of Christ His Lord. He finds that while princes may persecute him, God stands up for him and will vindicate him in due time as the following passage declares:

Psalms 94:16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts (found in God’s statutes) delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.

It is to the psalmist’s credit that during this time in which he was persecuted by princes, he mediated in God’s statutes. Rather than focusing on what the princes were saying against him, he focused on what God says. He did not envy the princes and spend his time fretting over what they were doing. Instead he meditated in God’s law. His position was vastly superior to the position of those evil princes as the following passage shows:

Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

How much better off some would be if they spent more time and energy meditating in God’s statutes than they do meditating on the unrighteous decrees of wicked princes.

Psalm 119:22

The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12 that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” The verse we consider today from Psalm 119 mentions a persecution heaped upon believers that comes in the form of reproach and contempt.

Psalms 119:22 Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.

We begin by defining reproach and contempt.

Reproach – A source or cause of disgrace or shame (to a person, etc.); a fact, matter, feature or quality bringing disgrace or discredit upon one.

Contempt – The action of contemning or despising; the holding or treating as of little account, or as vile and worthless; the mental attitude in which a thing is so considered.

When, like the psalmist, a person’s life is dedicated to keeping God’s testimonies, he will become the object of reproach and contempt. He will be evil spoken of. He will be discredited, ridiculed, and despised. His keeping of God’s testimonies is precisely the reason reproach and contempt are heaped upon him. The life of a godly man exposes the sin, foolishness, rebellion, and utter stupidity of the ungodly. Instead of repenting and cleaning up their lives, the ungodly will rather try to shame and discredit those who expose them.

Psalms 38:20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

Proverbs 29:27 …he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.

1 Peter 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

1 Peter 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

It has been thus since the dawn of time as witness the case of Cain and Abel.

1 John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

Cain and Abel were brothers. Therefore, we see that reproach and contempt can even come from those of our own family.

Matthew 10:36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

While on the one hand, we should rejoice when we are reproached for the name of Christ and the good we do, on the other hand such reproach is painful to bear. Therefore, the psalmist seeks relief in asking God to remove it from him. We should always ask God to remove the reproach and contempt rather than trying to remove it ourselves by letting up on our obedience to God’s testimonies. It is much to the psalmist’s credit that in spite of the persecution it brought upon him, he continued to keep God’s testimonies. Furthermore, it is best to commit this matter to God in prayer rather than trying to defend yourself. As I have often said, you cannot prove innocence to those who are determined to believe guilt. Thomas Manton said that “prayer many times proves a better vindication than an apology.” God is well able to silence those who reproach and despise you. Matthew Henry said it well:

“God has all men’s hearts and tongues in his hand, and can silence lying lips, and raise up a good name that is trodden in the dust.”

When He so pleases, God can even make our enemies to be at peace with us (Proverbs 16:7).

Now our psalmist advances the fact that he had kept God’s testimonies as a reason why God should remove this reproach and contempt. The psalmist was not bragging. He was simply acknowledging the truth about his own conduct. He knew it was only through God’s mercy and strength that he could keep His testimonies. But, like Paul, he had not received God’s grace in vain (1Corinthians 15:10). He had rather used it in pursuing a constant obedience to God. And when he failed, as do we all, he consistently applied the remedy of repentance and confession and thus stayed on course in keeping God’s testimonies. Anyone who lives like that has a plea that he can bring to God when he is reproached by his enemies. It is a plea that God will vindicate in due time as the following passage assures us:

Psalms 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Of course, today’s verse has its ultimate realization in our Lord Jesus Christ of Whom it is written:

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

Psalms 69:7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Psalms 69:20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

At His second coming in glory every reproach and contempt ever heaped on our sinless Saviour will be completely removed and His enemies will be forced to bow the knee and confess that He is Lord. And all Christ’s followers will share in His vindication. Then shall the prayer of this psalm be fully and eternally answered.

Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Psalm 119:21

Sometimes God’s commandments are not kept because sinners are ignorant of them. But all too often, God’s commandments are disobeyed because of an attitude problem. The verse we take up today speaks directly to this latter cause of disobedience.

Psalms 119:21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.

The word proud in this verse is a noun and refers to a proud person. To know what a proud person is like, we need to define the adjective proud that is describing him.

Proud – Having or cherishing a high or lofty opinion of oneself; valuing oneself highly on account of one’s position, rank, attainments, possessions, etc.; Usually in a bad sense: Disposed to take an attitude of superiority to and contempt for others; arrogant, haughty, overweening, supercilious.

The proud have such a high opinion of themselves that they look down on others. They are too stuck on themselves. But our verse takes this a step further in that it characterizes the proud as they which do err from thy commandments. In this case, the attitude of the proud goes beyond seeing themselves as superior to other men. Their attitude is also taking them to the point of defying Almighty God. They are daring to pit their opinions against those of God. They think they know better than the only wise God what is best for their lives. They are not going to let anything God commands get in their way. Thus they err from His commandments.

What is it to err?

Err – To ramble, roam, stray, wander. To go astray; to stray from (one’s path or line of direction). To go wrong in judgment or opinion; to make mistakes, blunder. To go astray morally; to sin.

The attitude of the proud interferes with the process of making good decisions. This applies to every area of life whether it be work, education, relationships, sex, or religion. Once we think too highly of ourselves and our opinions, we set ourselves up to go astray. When you see someone who has been taught the right path of God’s commandments veering from it, you can charge it to this: they have let pride take over.

We all have a problem with pride. If you do not think you do, then that is proof positive that pride has the upper hand in your thinking. Speaking of pride, Joseph Hall wrote:

“Honourable and beloved, this vice is a close one; it will cleave fast to you; yea, so close that ye can hardly discern it from a piece of yourselves: this is it that aggravates the danger of it.”

One of the best kings that Judah ever had was King Hezekiah. It is written of him that he “wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God” and that “he did it with all his heart” (2 Chronicles 31:20-21). After Hezekiah had been granted an additional fifteen years of life in answer to his prayer, we read this sad chapter from his life:

2 Chronicles 32:25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

My point is this: if good King Hezekiah had a problem with being proud, so can you and I. Pride reared its ugly head in Hezekiah’s life when he was experiencing great blessing. And just as today’s verse teaches, God rebuked Hezekiah for it. When we are making advances in spiritual growth and blessedness, we need more than ever to be on our guard against the subtle workings of pride. For it is at such times that we are prone to feel the least vulnerable to a downfall. We must never entertain too high of an opinion of our ability to withstand the temptation to err. Beware of ever thinking too highly of your spiritual growth. You have not yet reached such a degree of perfection as to be beyond the reach of pride. Hence it is written:

1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

And nothing will bring about a downfall more quickly than pride.

Proverbs 16:18  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

It is pride that keeps us from facing our sins and weaknesses and thus dealing with them. We just do not want to accept that we could be so depraved, so vulnerable, as to have such a problem. We like to think we are made of better stuff, that we have come too far in our spiritual growth to be susceptible to such things. And thus we condemn ourselves to erring from God’s commandments. Why do you think some people get stuck in the wrong church and never get out, even when the truth is clearly presented to them? It is because they are too proud to admit that they could have been that wrong. They see themselves as just too sincere, too good to err.

Now our verse tells us that God has rebuked the proud that are cursed. When something is rebuked, it is forced back or repulsed as when Jesus rebuked the winds and waves (Mark 4:39). The Lord finds proud people repulsive. He pushes them away from Himself. His curse rests upon them as the following verses make plain.

Psalms 138:6 Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Proverbs 15:25 The LORD will destroy the house of the proud:….

Proverbs 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Luke 1:51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

If you do not want the Lord to keep His distance from you; if you do not want Him to find you abominable; if you do not want Him to destroy you; if you do not want Him to scatter you and to resist you; then you need to repent of your pride and to be constantly on your guard against it. This monster is ever lurking in the shadows looking for a chance to pounce on you. Be always on the lookout! We would all do well to heed this admonition:

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:….

Psalm 119:20

We continue to work our way through the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119.

Psalms 119:20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

Longing is the action of the verb long, which we would do well to define.

Long – To think long; to have a yearning desire; to wish earnestly.

When you have a yearning desire for someone or something, you tend to think long about that person or thing. This explains why the word long can be connected with desire.

Desire can be an overwhelmingly powerful emotion, even to the point of becoming psychologically crushing. Any parent who has longed for the healing of a child who is dangerously ill, or any parent who has longed for the return of a son gone off to war, knows exactly what I am talking about. A yearning desire to achieve a certain goal, to find a mate or a friend, or to have a child can sometimes press a soul to the point of breaking. This kind of yearning desire is what the psalmist was expressing in today’s verse. But in this case, the crushing desire was toward God’s judgments.

God judgments are those decrees that our righteous Judge has laid down in His word for our obedience. They are also the accounts given in His word of His dealings with the sons of men as the Rewarder of good and the Avenger of evil. The whole course of His government is wrapped up in those words thy judgments. And the psalmist yearned to know and understand these things so far as God has revealed them to us. His longing to hear, to know, and to understand God’s judgments was so great, it exerted such a pressure upon him, that it broke his soul.

Some of my readers can perhaps relate to this when you have been away from church. You feel a pressing desire to get back to the assembly and to hear the word of God expounded. Or if the cares of this life have demanded too much from you, you have a heavy longing to get back into your Bible and to get the Bible back into you. It can be downright depressing to read the Bible and yet glean nothing from it. This is an instance of the breaking of your soul for the longing that it hath unto God’s judgments. Perhaps as you read this, you are smitten in your heart because you fear that you do not have such a powerful yearning for God’s word. But the fact that this fear presses itself upon you may itself be evidence that you do indeed long for God’s judgments. Were that desire not there, these words might make little impression upon you.

But observe that this longing was not an occasional, hit and miss thing with the psalmist. The longing was constant and habitual. “My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.” Whether he was in times of prosperity or times of adversity, the powerful longing of the psalmist unto God’s judgments remained the same. Those things you most long for will form the trend and habit of your soul. I close with these words of Charles Bridges taken from his excellent exposition of this verse: “The longing of the soul can never over-reach its object. The cherished desire, therefore, will become the established habit – the element in which the child of God lives and thrives.” Amen!