Psalm 119:88

We now come to the last verse in this octave of Psalm 119 entitled Caph.  Recall that Charles Spurgeon named this octave “the midnight of the psalm.”  But he said that this “last verse gives promise of the dawn.”  And so it does.

Psalms 119:88  Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.

We have already encountered this prayer to be quickened in verses 25, 37, and 40.  Let’s recall the definition of quicken.

Quicken – To give or restore life to; to make alive; to vivify or revive; to animate.  To give, add, or restore vigour to (a person or thing); to stimulate, stir up, rouse, excite, inspire.

It seems the psalmist sometimes felt dead and in need of quickening.  Commenting on this verse and its application to God’s children William Cowper wrote:

“So desirous are they to live unto God, that when they fail in it and find any inability in their souls to serve God as they would, they account themselves but dead, and pray the Lord to quicken them.”

As we saw in the previous verses of this octave, the psalmist was very beaten down by adversity.  His enemies had almost consumed him upon earth.  When a believer has been as worn down as the psalmist was, he needs to be revived.  He needs added vigour if he is going to stay the course of obedience to God’s word and not lose heart.  And this was precisely the psalmist’s objective is asking the Lord to quicken him:  so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.  If you are feeling lacklustre, down in the dumps, drained by the adversities of life and you want God to give you a boost, ask yourself why you want that.  Do you want renewed vigour to serve Him or to serve your own interests?  Is it for His pleasure or yours?  

Now he prays to be quickened after thy lovingkindness.  To understand this prayer we need to understand the meaning of lovingkindness. 

Lovingkindness - Affectionate tenderness and consideration; kindness arising from a deep personal love, as the active love of God for his creatures.

If God quickens us in answer to our prayer, it is after or according to His lovingkindness.  He quickens us in keeping with His deep personal love for us.  It was after His lovingkindness toward us that God sent His Son into this world to die to save us from our sins.

1 John 4:9  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

It was after His lovingkindness toward us that God quickened us from death in sin unto eternal life with Christ.  And it is God’s purpose to continue to display His lovingkindness toward us throughout the ages to come.

Ephesians 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Therefore, being the objects of God’s lovingkindness we can appeal to Him on that basis to quicken us, to reinvigourate us as we struggle through this life.  If God’s lovingkindness was great enough to move Him to send His Son to die for us to save us for eternity, His lovingkindness is great enough to reach us in our present distress and revive our fainting hearts.

As noted above, the psalmist’s objective in praying this prayer was that he might keep the testimony of thy mouth.  Every word of our Bible "proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).  As you read the Scriptures, notice how many times you read “thus saith the Lord.”  They are the very speech of the Lord coming out of His mouth.  So when you read the Scriptures, read them for what they are:  God speaking to you out of His mouth. 

As of this verse we have reached the halfway mark of this great psalm.  We have eighty-eight more verses to go to complete our study of it.  There are eighty-eight more verses extolling the written word of God.  It certainly appears from this that the Lord answered the psalmist’s prayer to be quickened so that he might keep the testimony of God’s mouth. 

Now you have before you what I have been able to caph up from this octave.  I pray that you have been blessed by these meditations thus far.  We started these blogs on Psalm 119 on 17 August 2010.  It has taken over three years to come halfway.  A lot of work has gone into what I have submitted thus far.  I would like to see this through to completion so as to have my own commentary on this great psalm.  But I ask you, my readers, are you for going further or are you ready to hang it up?  I would appreciate some feedback.  Thank you.

Psalm 119:87

In the foregoing two verses of this octave of Psalm 119 we have found the psalmist suffering persecution from the proud.  In the verse we consider today the psalmist continues to write about his persecutions.

Psalms 119:87  They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.

Again, the antecedent of the pronoun they in this verse is the proud mentioned in verse 85, the same ones who digged pits for the psalmist and who persecuted him wrongfully.  From today’s verse we learn that they almost gained their objective, which was to consume the psalmist.  They wanted his mouth shut and his testimony destroyed, even if it meant killing him outright.  But the Lord answered his prayer for help so the proud fell just short of their objective.

Psalms 94:17  Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

Psalms 118:13  Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.

How often has our experience paralleled that of the psalmist!  William S. Plumer said, “The lives of good men are full of narrow escapes.”  More than once we have been delivered from a situation or a temptation that could have destroyed us.  We were almost, but not altogether, consumed.  Asaph had such a narrow escape.  He wrote:

Psalms 73:2  But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

When your adversaries, including your adversary the devil, cannot gain their objective against you this is an indication that the Lord looks favourably upon you.

Psalms 41:11  By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

Notice that the psalmist stated that the proud had almost consumed him upon earth.  What his enemies could do to him was confined to this earth.  Beyond that they had no power over him whatsoever, which reminds us of the words of our Lord.

Luke 12:4  And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

Although the psalmist was persecuted to the point of being almost consumed upon earth, yet his resolve to keep the Lord’s precepts remained constant:  but I forsook not thy precepts.  I do not think I can do better than cite Matthew Henry’s comments on these words:

“That which they aimed at was to frighten him from the ways of God, but they could not prevail; he would sooner forsake all that was dear to him in this world than forsake the word of God, would sooner lose his life than lose the comfort of doing his duty.”

May God grant us strength to maintain such a determination to be faithful to God’s precepts no matter what happens.

Psalm 119:86

In the foregoing two verses of this octave of Psalm 119 we have found the psalmist suffering persecution from the proud.  In the verse we consider today the psalmist continues to write about his persecutions.

Psalms 119:86  All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.

Of course, the antecedent to the pronoun they in this verse is the proud mentioned in the foregoing verse.  The proud were persecuting the psalmist wrongfully.  They had no just cause to do so.  This leads us straightly to our Lord and His disciples who were, and are, persecuted wrongfully.  Just prior to His death at the hands of His persecutors, our Lord said to His disciples:

John 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

Anytime you are persecuted for Jesus’ sake, you are being persecuted wrongfully.  And the reason such persecutions are heaped upon you is that the persecutors do not know God, even though they may profess to know and serve Him.

John 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

3  And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

Now suffering wrongfully is nothing to be ashamed of.  It is rather thankworthy and a sign that you are a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:19  For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

1 Peter 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

Although proud men treated the psalmist wrongfully, his faith in God’s commandments was unshaken:  All thy commandments are faithful.  Consider the definition of faithful.

Faithful – Firm in fidelity or allegiance to a person to whom one is bound by any tie; constant, loyal, true.

This definition of faithful applies both to persons and to things.  God is faithful.  Therefore, any commandment God gives us is faithful.  God’s commandments are constant and true.  You can rely on them to always lead you in the right direction.  They will never betray you.  And note that this was the psalmist’s estimation of all God’s commandments.  There was not a single commandment in his Bible that the psalmist considered doubtful or unnecessary.  I appreciate Charles Spurgeon’s comments on this point:

“He had no fault to find with God’s law, even though he had fallen into sad trouble through obedience to it.  Whatever the command might cost him it was worth it; he felt that God’s way might be rough, but it was right; it might make him enemies, but still it was his best friend.  He believed that in the end God’s command would turn out to his own profit, and that he should be no loser by obeying it....The fault lay with his persecutors, and neither with his God nor with himself.  He had done no injury to anyone, nor acted otherwise than according to truth and justice; therefore he confidently appeals to his God, and cries, ‘Help thou me.’” 

Under the weight of his afflictions, the psalmist called upon the Lord to help him.  There is no better remedy than this for coping with the distresses of life.

Help thou me is one of the simplest prayers you can pray.  Yet this simple prayer expresses our greatest need:  our need for the help of the Lord.

God can help us when no one else can.

Psalms 60:11  Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

Psalms 146:3  Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

Considering that the Lord made the heavens and the earth, He certainly has the power to help us.

Psalms 121:1  I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 

2   My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

Being one of God’s chosen children you may count on the Lord to help you since He has promised to do just that.

Isaiah 41:10  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Are you presently in trouble?  If so, the Lord is right there to help you, even in the midst of your trouble.

Psalms 46:1  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

The help of the Lord is there.  All you need to do is to come to the throne of grace and ask for it.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

But when you come before the Lord to ask for His help, you must believe that you will receive it.

James 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

And if you have trouble believing the Lord will help you as He promised, well, there is help for that problem too.  The following passage is an excerpt from an exchange between our Lord Jesus and the father of a boy possessed of the devil.

Mark 9:22  And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Our chief problem is not the lack of help from the Lord; it is rather our lack of faith.  But if you call upon the Lord for help trusting Him to help you as He has promised, you will be able to say with David:

Psalms 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

And do not think that you weary your God by continually asking for His help.  When you pray the simple prayer “Lord, help me,” you are actually worshipping the Lord.  He is honoured that you believe in His power and trust Him for His help.

Matthew 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

If you are in affliction, do not think you have to pray long, detailed, and eloquent prayers to gain the help of the Lord.  This simple prayer, “help thou me,” or “Lord, help me,” prayed in faith will secure for you the help of Almighty God, which is the help of nothing less than Omnipotence. 

This blog has been a longer one, but I wanted to expand on this simple prayer for help.  It is simple in its expression but profound beyond words in its implications. 

In conclusion, the psalmist was troubled by his persecutors.  But rather than live in the grip and torment of fearing what they might do to him, he rather lived in the confidence of the Lord’s help.

Hebrews 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.