Psalm 119:93

In verse 16 of Psalm 119 the psalmist had stated:  “I will not forget thy word.”  In the verse we consider today, taken from the octave entitled Lamed, we find the psalmist resolving again not to forget his Bible. 

Psalms 119:93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

In this verse the psalmist said he would never forget the Lord’s precepts.

Never – At no time, on no occasion.

The psalmist was determined that there would never be a time or an occasion in which he would forget the precepts of Scripture.  The Lord’s precepts are His rules for our conduct.  The psalmist always consulted with those precepts to see what they had to say about whatever he encountered in life.  His Bible was indeed the manual by which he lived.    

As we noted before when we considered verse 16, the will plays a major role in remembering something.  I will never forget.  You tend to remember the things you want to remember.  If you will to remember something, you will focus your attention on it and make greater effort not to forget it.  So much of our forgetting arises not from a lack of ability to remember, but from a lack of will to remember.    

The reason the psalmist determined never to forget God’s precepts was that with them thou hast quickened me.  Let us consider again 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.

Now some erroneously use this verse to teach that the Scriptures are the means God uses to give everlasting life to sinners.  However, if one hears and believes the word of God he is already in possession of everlasting life as the following verse makes quite clear. 

John 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath (not “will have) everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed (not “will pass”) from death unto life.

Therefore, the precepts are not the instrument to give us everlasting life, but they are the instrument the Lord uses to nourish that life and to stir it up.

1 Peter 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby….

Acts 2:40  And with many other words did he testify and exhort (to urge by stimulating words to conduct regarded as laudable), saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Acts 20:32  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

In the psalmist’s experience, the precepts of Scripture had revived him when he was worn down.  They roused him to action when he needed a boost.  We do indeed have a tendency to remember those things that stimulate us, that restore our vigour when it is depleted.  As I write these words you can probably recall someone or something that lifted your spirit when you were down.  This was what the precepts had done for the psalmist and would continue to do for him.  Hence, he resolved he would never forget them.  If you would stay the course in running the Christian’s race, if you would keep up the good fight of faith, if you would maintain your zeal in the cause of Christ, then make it a point to never forget the precepts of the Lord for with them He quickens you.

Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the year 2014.  Let me take this opportunity to wish all of my readers who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth a most blessed new year.