Psalm 119:62

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble going back to sleep?  If so, here is a recommendation of something you can try at such a time:

Psalms 119:62  At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.

The psalmist being awake at midnight would not only give thanks to God, but he would rise to give thanks.  He would stir himself up to get out of his bed to worship God.  This gives us an insight into how zealous the psalmist was to render to God the thanks that is His due.

But observe why the psalmist would rise to thank God at midnight.  It was because of thy righteous judgments.  In our meditation on verse 20 of this psalm, I wrote the following about God’s righteous 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.” 

God’s righteous judgments consist of the commandments He has given to mankind in His law and of His dealings with men based on their obedience or disobedience to that law. 

Like the psalmist, we should continually thank God, even at midnight, for the Holy Scriptures, which contain God’s commandments, and which also contain the record of God’s judgment of men in the past and the prophecy of how He will judge men in the future.  Without God’s judgments expressed in his commandments we would have no sure guide for our conduct.  Without God’s judgments in the affairs of men there would be no restraint of wickedness and no sure reward in doing righteousness.  In giving God thanks because of His righteous judgments we are giving Him thanks that this world is governed by Him, that He is in control.  And well ought believers to give thanks also for God’s righteous judgment meted out on His Son Jesus Christ our Lord as He bore their judgment for sin that they might be judged “holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight” at the last day (Colossians 1:21-22).

Now observe that the psalmist thanked God at midnight for His righteous judgments.  Anything the Lord commands of us is right.  Any judgment He passes upon any man is right.  Unlike ourselves, the Lord never errs in judgment.  It is as David wrote in Psalm 9:4:  “thou satest in the throne judging right.”

This week is the week of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.A.  May I suggest that as you consider the things for which you should be thankful, you make God’s judgments a priority item for giving thanks to the good Lord.  But do no take from this that today’s verse requires you to hold your Thanksgiving celebration with the turkey and dressing at midnight. 

Psalm 119:61

Today’s verse taken from Psalm 119 sets forth what should be our set of values.

Psalms 119:61  The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.

The bands of the wicked had robbed the psalmist.  Let’s understand precisely what it is to be robbed.

Rob – To deprive (a person) of something by unlawful force or the exercise of superior power; to despoil by violence.

Notice that it is the wicked who rob others.  To rob another is to break the holy commandment “thou shalt not steal” and thus to commit wickedness.  Now it was the bands of wicked people that robbed the psalmist.  But what does he mean by bands?

Band – An organized company; a troop.  Said of armed men, also of robbers, assassins, etc.

A band of robbers is a group of thieves organized to carry out a robbery.  They could be a group of punks in the neighbourhood who get together and plan a theft, or they could be a highly organized crime syndicate like the Mafia.  Or they could be a band of political leaders who pass laws that amount to no more than legalized theft, depriving the rightful owners of their property to give it to those who otherwise have no right to it.  In this case the superior power of the state is exercised to deprive a person of something.  This particular form of robbery is called extortion. 

Extort – To obtain from a reluctant person by violence, torture, intimidation, or abuse of legal or official authority, or (in weaker sense) by importunity, overwhelming arguments, or any powerful influence.

Scripture speaks of princes (rulers), who commit robbery.

Isaiah 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

Ezekiel 22:27  Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

But notice that although the psalmist had been robbed, he still retained his most valued possession, the knowledge of the law of God:  but I have not forgotten thy law.  Later in Psalm 119 the psalmist expresses that he esteemed the law of God above the most valuable material possessions that one might have and that thieves might steal.

Psalms 119:72  The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

Psalms 119:127  Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. 

How one responds to being robbed tells something about his set of values.  The psalmist did not let any grief he felt over being robbed drive the knowledge of God’s law out of his memory.  He held onto what he knew from his Bible.  Commenting on this verse Matthew Henry wrote:  “No care nor grief should drive God’s word out of our minds, or hinder our comfortable relish of it and converse with it.”

Have you ever been robbed?  Has your house ever been broken into and your possessions stolen? Mine once was.  Do you feel robbed when you have to pay heavy taxes to support a bureaucratic, socialistic, welfare state?  While any of us would lament being robbed by bands of wicked men, we ought not to settle into bitterness and despair.  If we know and remember God’s law and value that above all earthly possessions, we may still count ourselves rich.  Today’s verse fits well with the instructions of our Lord Jesus:

Matthew 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

God’s law is an ever-enduring heavenly treasure that no thief can steal.

Psalms 119:89  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

For the apostle Paul, anything else he might have possessed was counted but dung in comparison with his knowledge of the Lord, which knowledge is gained from His law (Philippians 3:8).  How much do you value knowing God’s law?  

Psalm 119:60

We continue to make our way through this rich psalm that extols the word of the living God.   We are currently dealing with the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Cheth.

Psalms 119:60  I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

Keeping God’s commandments is the most important thing you will ever do in your life.  It is your whole duty, the purpose for which God has made you and redeemed you.

Ecclesiastes 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Titus 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Christ gave Himself to make you “zealous of good works.”  Good works may be simply defined as doing whatever God has commanded you to do. 

Since keeping God’s commandments is the single most important thing any of us can do and answers to God’s purpose for our lives, then it follows that this should receive our utmost and immediate attention.  The psalmist sets forward his zeal both positively and negatively.  Positively, he made haste to keep God’s commandments.  Negatively, he delayed not to keep God’s commandments.  The time to keep God’s commandments is now, not later!  We are not being “zealous of good works” if we procrastinate obedience to our Lord.  English author and historian Northcote Parkinson, author of Parkinson’s Law and Other Studies in Administration cited this as his fourth law:  “Delay is the deadliest form of denial.”  Nowhere is that more true than in the realm of religion.  People do not procrastinate things that they care passionately about.  Delay is a sure sign of indecisiveness, or indifference, or worse, rebellion.  And indecisiveness, indifference, and rebellion are all deadly to our Christian profession.

Now link today’s verse with the following verses all of which underscore the importance of not putting off obedience to the Lord.

Genesis 19:15  And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

Proverbs 3:27  Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

28  Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

Acts 22:16  And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Hebrews 3:7  Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

8  Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Hebrews 3:13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

2 Corinthians 6:1  We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

2  (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Zacchaeus is a good example of one who made haste to keep the Lord’s commandment.

Luke 19:5  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

6  And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.  

What might Zacchaeus have missed had he delayed keeping the commandment of Christ?   

So if today you are convicted by some commandment of God you need to obey, the time to yield that obedience is today, right now!  Is there something you need to make right with the Lord?  Is there something you need to make right with a neighbour, a co-worker, a family member, or a fellow church member?  If so, then now is the time to make it right.  If you delay, you may not have another opportunity.  Hear the words of our Lord:

John 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.