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.