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?