Psalm 119:48

We come today to the last verse in this octave entitled Vau. Recall that unlike the other octaves, every verse in this octave is connected by some word to the verse that precedes it. And such is the case with verse 48. By means of the word also it links up with verse 47.

Psalms 119:48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

Both verses 47 and 48 mention that the psalmist has loved God’s commandments. In verse 47 we saw that loving God’s commandments leads to delighting oneself in them. In verse 48 the psalmist brings forth something else that loving God’s commandments will also lead to. So both verses are talking about the effect in one’s life of loving God’s commandments.

My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments. Think about this. Anytime you undertake to do any work with your hands, you lift up your hands unto the task, whether it be driving a vehicle, washing dishes, combing your hair, raking leaves, typing a document on your computer keyboard, reading a book, or repairing something. You can’t very well work with hands that are hanging down. By this expression of lifting up his hands unto God’s commandments the psalmist is telling us that he is going to apply himself to the task of keeping them.

Recall from our last meditation that the verb phrase I have loved is in the present perfect tense, meaning that the psalmist loved God’s commandments in the past and continued to love them in the present. Now the effect of loving God’s commandments is doing them. We pointed out last week the general principle that what you have loved up to now will determine what you will enjoy in the future. Now we can state another general principle from the verse we consider today: What you have loved up to now will determine what you will do in the future. The character of our lives is shaped by what we love. If we have loved God’s commandments we will lift up our hands to them. It will not be drudgery to execute the tasks God has assigned us in His commandments if we love them.

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

And I will meditate in thy statutes. This is something else that will flow out of having loved God’s commandments. Not only will he apply his hands to God’s commandments, but he will also apply his heart and mind to them, by meditating in them. He will consider them, study them, which is what it means to meditate in them. It is not enough just to hear and read God’s word. You need to think about what you hear or read. If you love it, you will think about it. And that brings us to a third general principle that we can add to the other two: What you have loved up to now will determine what you will think about in the future. We more readily think about the things we truly love.