Psalm 119:70

Today’s verse from Psalm 119 refers back to the preceding verse that deals with the proud.  The verse we consider today describes the heart of the proud.

Psalms 119:70  Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.

When someone’s heart is as fat as grease, then it is really fat because grease is pure fat.

Grease – The fat part of the body of an animal; also, corpulence, fatness.  The melted or rendered fat of animals, esp.when it is in a soft state.

Although the word fat is sometimes used in a favourable sense in the Bible, in this verse it is used in an unfavourable sense.  If we compare this verse with other verses that use the word fat in an unfavourable sense, we will understand what it means to have a heart as fat as grease. 

The following passages describe those who grow fat through the indulgence of their fleshly and worldly appetites.

Deuteronomy 32:15  But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

This verse refers to Israel as Jeshurun, which is a name meaning upright.  When Israel waxed fat, they abandoned God and considered Him of little worth.  They became proud through the abundance of their worldly possessions.  They became too high and mighty for the Lord.  They did not sense a great need for Him and His salvation.  Then consider this passage:

Psalms 17:8  Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

9  From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about

10  They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly….

13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

14  From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

In this passage the psalmist David prays to be delivered from the wicked.  These wicked “have their portion in this life.”  They indulge themselves to the full in the things of this world.  Hence, they are said to be “inclosed in their own fat.”  And notice that they are described as proud:  “they speak proudly.”  The next passage brings the same thought before us. 

Psalms 73:3  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4  For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

5  They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

7  Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

Here again we meet with the proud who have an abundance of this world’s goods to the point of fatness, having “more than heart could wish.”  They are described by James as those who “have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter” (James 5:5).  They are fed to the full.  Their hearts are fat.  Commenting on such persons Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“In this condition men have no heart except for luxury, their very being seems to swim and stew in the fat of cookery and banqueting.  Living on the fat of the land, their nature is subdued to that which they have fed upon; the muscle of their nature has gone to softness and grease.”

In the increase of fleshly delights we need to be careful lest our hearts grow fat and we become proud, overconfident, and careless with regard to spiritual things.  Our Lord warned us against this very thing.

Luke 21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

A heart “overcharged with surfeiting” is a heart that indulges the things of this world to excess.  It is overweight with the cares and pleasures of this life.  

This next passage shows that those whose hearts are as fat as grease are insensitive to the word of God.

Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 

One who is overweight physically can become physically sluggish.  He becomes indisposed to physical exercise.  Fat people also have problems with attacks of sleepiness at inappropriate times.  So it is with a heart that is fat.  Such people become sluggish, sleepy, and insensitive to God’s word.  They hear it preached.  They see the words on the page.  But it does not make the impression that it ought.  Their heart sleeps through the message and, therefore, they don’t get it.  This is indeed the case with a proud person.  Their pride blinds them to the warnings and convictions of Scripture.  They do not perceive their sin and neediness.  And one thing that can majorly contribute to pride is the consumption and possession of too much of this world’s goods.  That is why Paul wrote these words to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:17  Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy….

Matthew Henry’s comments on today's verse sum it up quite well:

“The proud are at ease (Ps. 123.4); they are full of the world, and the wealth and pleasures of it; and this makes them, (1.) Senseless, secure, and stupid; they are past feeling:  thus the phrase is used, Isa. 6.10.  Make the heart of this people fat.  They are not sensible of the touch of the word of God or his rod.  (2.) Sensual and voluptuous:  Their eyes stand out with fatness (Ps. 73.7); they roll themselves in the pleasures of sense, and take up with them as their chief good......”  

Now in contrast to the proud whose heart is as fat as grease, the psalmist writes:  but I delight in thy word.  Let the proud fatten their hearts with this world to the point of becoming indifferent and insensitive to God’s word, the psalmist will find his delight in God’s law.  He will fill his heart with the Scriptures rather than the world.  He will relish his Bible above all else this world has to offer to fill the hearts of men.  His sentiments are echoed in these verses:

Job 23:12  …I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Psalms 19:9  …the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether

10  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Jeremiah 15:16  Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart….

Psalm 119:69

I would normally wait until the end of this week to submit this blog.  But since I plan to be out of town at the end of the week, Lord willing, I will go ahead and submit it now.  Read it at your leisure.  May God bless it to your souls.

When we considered verse 51 of Psalm 119, we found the psalmist met with opposition from the proud in that they had him greatly in derision.  In the verse we take up today we again find the proud lining up against this man of God.

Psalms 119:69  The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.

God’s children and the devil’s children are called different names to distinguish them.  They are called the righteous and the wicked, the good and the evil, the just and the unjust.  They are also distinguished as the humble, or lowly, and the proud.

Proverbs 16:19  Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Psalms 138:6  Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

In Psalm 119:21 the proud are described as those “which do err from thy commandments.”  When a sinner chooses to do his own will rather than the will of God, he is pitting his finite, puny, limited knowledge against the infinite knowledge of Almighty God.  That sinner thinks he knows better than God what is best for his life and, therefore, he chooses to go his own way rather than submit to the commandments of God.  Now a man that does that is proud.  That is why stubborn, impenitent sinners are called the proud. 

Not only do the proud demonstrate their pride in their defiance of God’s commandments, but they demonstrate their pride in opposing those who do keep God’s commandments.  They want to discredit anyone and anything that exposes their rebellion.  Hence, we read in today’s verse:  the proud have forged a lie against me.

It is interesting to focus on the fact that the proud have forged a lie. 

Forge – To make, fashion, frame, or construct (any material thing).  To fabricate, frame, invent (a false or imaginary story, lie, etc); to devise (evil).

To forge something is to fabricate or invent it.  If the proud cannot get anything on the righteous with which to reproach them, then they will just invent something.  They will forge a lie.  Nowhere was this more the case than with our Lord Jesus Christ.  The following passage taken from Psalm 35 is a prophecy of our Lord, which He cited in John 15:25 when stating that His enemies hated Him “without a cause.”

Psalms 35:19  Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.

20  For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.   

Christ’s enemies devised deceitful matters against Him, that is, they forged a lie.  When Christ was brought before Pontius Pilate, His proud enemies accused Him of “perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar” (Luke 23:1-2).  This was absolutely not true.  It was a fabrication, a forged lie.  And as they did to our Lord, so will they do to His followers.

Matthew 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

But observe that the psalmist was not intimidated by the lie forged against him.  He persevered in keeping God’s precepts with his whole heart.  The lie did not weaken his resolve or cause him to lose heart.  No matter what lies were forged against him, the psalmist would just keep doing what God told Him to do.  He would not return lie for lie or evil for evil.  He would not rail on his opponents in a mad rage.  He would just quietly, with patience, stay the course of obedience submitting the matter to God.  And as long as a God-fearing, righteous man is heartily keeping the Lord’s precepts he is on the winning side, and he will at last prevail as the following verse assures us:

Isaiah 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Psalm 119:68

Today’s verse deals with both the nature and work of God.  It is a simple, clear statement of one of the attributes of God, that being, His goodness.

Psalms 119:68  Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.

God by His very nature is good.  He is necessarily good.  He cannot be not good.  Were He not good, He would not be Who and What He is.  Were He not good, He would deny Himself, which He cannot do.

2 Timothy 2:13  …he cannot deny himself.

God is eternally good.  He has never been not good and He will ever be good.

Psalms 52:1  ….the goodness of God endureth continually.

Stephen Charnock in his excellent book entitled The Existence and Attributes of God, wrote:

“Goodness is the brightness and loveliness of our majestical Creator.  To fancy a God without it, is to fancy a miserable, scanty, narrow-hearted, savage God, and so an unlovely and horrible being; for he is not a God that is not good, he is not a God that is not the highest good.” 

Any goodness we see in the universe or in ourselves is derived from God.  But God’s goodness is not derived from another.  God is good in and of Himself.  God is the supreme good.  All good originates and flows from Him as the Source.  Therefore, only God is good.  There is no goodness apart from Him.  Hence, our Saviour said:  “…there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:18).

Were God not good, there would be neither sufficiency of resources nor loveliness in the universe to satisfy and delight its creatures.  God’s bountiful provisions in the earth are a witness that He is good.

Acts 14:17  Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

Were God not good, there would be no mercy, no relief, no grace, no forgiveness, and no salvation.  Were God not good, there would be no John 3:16, no gift of God’s only begotten Son, and no everlasting life.  There would only be misery and cruelty.  How could we find any comfort or peace in trusting a God who was not good?

Now because God is good, it follows that whatever God does is good, just as today’s verse affirms.  When God does something, He does it freely of His own will.  Nothing outside of God constrains Him to do anything.  But when God chooses to do something, what He does must be good, because God is good.  Being good, God can only do good.  There is no evil in God.  That is why nothing God does is ever wrong. 

One of the chief reasons we worship God and give Him thanks is because He is good and does good.

Psalms 100:4  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5  For the LORD is good….

Psalms 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

And one of the best ways to praise the Lord for His goodness is to do just what the psalmist does in today’s verse:  confess to Him that He is good and does good.  Charles Spurgeon expressed it well:

“Facts about God are the best praise of God.  All the glory we can give to God is to reflect his own glory upon himself.” 

Now in view of the fact that the Lord is good and does good, the psalmist asks this one thing of the Lord:  teach me thy statutes.  God teaches us His statutes because He is good. 

Psalms 25:8  Good and upright is the LORD:  therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

If the Lord is teaching you His word by the means He has ordained, He is being good, very good, to you!

It says a lot about a man that when he would ask something of the Lord’s goodness, he asks to know and understand the Lord’s statutes.  For when you know God’s statutes and you live by them, you are living the good life, the best life possible for a man to live.  There is no better way to experience God’s goodness than through His word, the Holy Scriptures.

In closing let me point out that this prayer to be taught God’s statutes is in the fourth verse of this octave entitled Teth.  Note that this identical prayer, teach me thy statutes, is also found in the fourth verse of the octave entitled Beth.  So leth you forgeth, this requeth is found in Beth and Teth.  I find that quite interethting.  Don’t you?  I know.  It’s a lame attempt at humour, but at least I try.