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.