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.