Psalm 119:56

We come today to the last verse of the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Zain.

Psalms 119:56 This I had, because I kept thy precepts.

The opening word this is a demonstrative pronoun. Here is its meaning:

This – Indicating a thing or person, present or near (actually in space or time, or ideally in thought, esp. as having just been mentioned and thus being present to the mind).

The psalmist is referring back to something he had just mentioned. In the previous verse he had written: I…have kept thy law. Then he wrote: this I had. The thing the psalmist had was the ability to say that he had kept God’s law. That is a great thing to have to one’s account. But why did he have this? He had this, as he wrote, because I have kept thy precepts. God’s law, singular, is made up of precepts, plural. Therefore, when one has kept God's precepts, one has kept God's law.  One can say he has kept God’s law because he has kept God’s precepts.

Furthermore, keeping the Lord’s precepts enables us to keep the Lord’s precepts. Each act of obedience to God’s law leads to further obedience. Or put it this way: obedience begets more obedience. On the other hand, each act of sin leads to another act of sin unless we “break off thy sins by righteousness” as Daniel counseled King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:27).

Commenting on today’s verse Simon de Muis (1587-1644) wrote:

“The Rabbins have an analogous saying, - The reward of a precept is a precept; or, A precept draws a precept. The meaning of which is, that he who keeps one precept, to him God grants, as if by way of reward, the ability to keep another and more difficult precept. The contrary to this is that other saying of the Rabbins, that the reward of a sin is a sin; or, Transgression draws transgression.”

The apostle Paul conveyed the same thought in this verse:

Romans 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Iniquity leads to iniquity and righteousness leads to holiness. So you can say you have kept God’s law because you have kept God’s precepts. As you obey the Lord, He gives you more grace to obey Him yet more. As our Saviour taught, the branch that bears fruit brings forth more fruit (John 15:2). You have been obedient because you have been obedient. This you have. And this, above anything else, you want to make sure you continue have!

Psalm 119:55

What do you think about at the end of the day, when the shades of night gather around you? Where do your thoughts turn when you come apart from the business of the day? What do you think about when you lie awake on your bed at night? Our verse today from Psalm 119 presents our psalmist’s answer to these questions.

Psalms 119:55 I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law.

For most of us the nighttime is a time of leisure, a time to relax from the work of the day. We might spend some time surfing the internet, or watching television, or chatting with friends on the phone or on the computer, or going bowling, or going to a movie, or reading a good book, or some such. And any of this is fine in its place. But do your thoughts ever turn to the Lord? As you remember the events of the day or the week and muse over them, do you remember Him? In the case of our psalmist, the nighttime found him remembering God’s name: I have remembered by name, O LORD, in the night.

Now God bears the names He does because of Who He is and what He does. God’s name is the revelation of Himself. Observe how the proclamation of what God is called, what God is like, and what God does is the proclamation of His name.

Exodus 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

God reveals Himself in the Scriptures. When you remember something your Bible teaches you about your God, you are remembering His name. So as you remember the episode you saw last week on television and anticipate the following episode that will be featured tonight, do you in all of this remember anything you learned from the Bible recently?

It is very important to note what the psalmist connects with remembering the Lord’s name in the night: and have kept thy law. Remembering the name of the Lord and keeping His law go hand in hand. Commenting on this verse Matthew Henry wrote: “The due remembrance of God’s name, which is prefixed to his law, will have a great influence upon our observance of the law.” You will have more regard for the law when you have more regard for the One Who gave it to you and commanded you to keep it. Charles Spurgeon had some worthy comments on this verse:

“As the actions of the day often create the dreams of the night, so do the thoughts of the night produce the deeds of the day. If we do not keep the name of God in our memory we shall not keep the law of God in our conduct. Forgetfulness of mind leads up to forgetfulness of life.”

Psalm 106 is an account of the repeated sins and backslidings of God’s favoured nation of Israel. This psalm traces their failures back to their forgetfulness of the Lord.

Psalms 106:6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. 7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

Psalms 106:13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: 14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.

Psalms 106:21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt…

May this sad record of Israel’s sins spur us to heed this warning:

DEU 8 11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

If you would avoid sin by keeping God’s law, take care to direct your memory to God’s holy name in the night, during which time you prepare for the work of the next day.

Psalms 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Psalms 16:7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

Psalms 63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.