Psalm 119:111

Today’s meditation turns a searchlight onto our heart and reveals how much we truly value the Scriptures.

Psalms 119:111  Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.

Let’s begin by defining the word heritage.

Heritage – That which has been or may be inherited; any property, and esp. land, which devolves by right of inheritance.

Have you ever thought of your Bible as an inheritance?  Today’s verse is teaching us to do just that.  Although the Bible is everywhere available for anyone to read, it is especially the property of God’s chosen and professed people, which God has bequeathed to them.  Hence, it is theirs by inheritance.

Psalms 147:19  He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

20  He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.

Romans 3:1  What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

2  Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

Of course, the psalmist was a professed Jew and a member of the church of the Old Testament, to which the testimonies of the Lord were committed.  The testimonies were, therefore, his heritage. The same can be said for those who comprise the church of the New Testament.

Ephesians 1:9  Having made known unto us (the saints, see verse 1) the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself….

Colossians 1:25  Whereof I (Paul) am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you (the saints, see verse 1), to fulfil the word of God;

26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

God gave the Old Testament to the predominantly Jewish church, called Jacob or Israel, and God has given the New Testament to the predominantly Gentile church, called the saints.  The church is represented as a woman in Revelation 12 and it is she and her seed that “have the testimony of Jesus Christ,” that is, they possess the Scriptures, which testify of Christ (Revelation 12:17 with John 5:39).  So if you are a baptized believer in a New Testament church, the Bible is your inheritance.  It is specifically written to you.  This is evident from the fact of how much of the New Testament is specifically addressed to local churches, their members, or their officers. 

But if you are to enjoy your inheritance, you must do as the psalmist did, you must take it unto you.  If someone left you an inheritance of one million dollars, how quick would you be to take it unto you?  Well, here is an inheritance of far greater value.  Why then do you just let it sit on a table or a shelf without taking it unto you?  Could it be that, truth known, you do not value it as much as you do money?  Perhaps you and the psalmist do not share the same values.  Said he:

Psalms 119:72  The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

Now the next part of today’s verse explains why the psalmist took God’s testimonies for his heritage:  for they are the rejoicing of my heart.  When your heart finds joy in something, then you are moved to take that something that you enjoy for your possession.  We want to own and take unto ourselves what we most enjoy.  This principle drives markets in the economy.  If you enjoy something, then you are far more likely to spend your time and money acquiring it.  So if you are not taking the Bible for your heritage, it is probably owing to the fact that you don’t find much joy in it.  Therefore, you neglect this wonderful inheritance.  Now that is a sad and sorry state of affairs!

Lastly, observe that the psalmist said that he had taken the Lord’s testimonies as an heritage for ever.  He held tightly to his Bible and would not be parted from it.  It was his by inheritance and he aimed to keep that inheritance.  Furthermore, the Scriptures are the Lord’s testimonies.  That is, they testify of Him, Who is an infinite, inexhaustible Being.  This explains why one can spend a lifetime studying the Bible and yet only scratch the surface of all there is to know in that Volume.  It will take us an eternity to explore “the depth of the riches” of the God and Saviour revealed in the pages of the Scriptures (Romans 11:33).  That is why the psalmist could say that he had taken God’s testimonies as an heritage for ever.  This is something you can inherit that will never pass away.

Isaiah 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Matthew 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Psalm 119:110

Today’s meditation from Psalm 119 follows closely upon the meditation of verse 109 that precedes it.  Both verses deal with the themes of danger and duty.  In the preceding verse we saw that the psalmist was in continual danger of losing his life.  A major reason for this danger is stated in the verse we take up today.

Psalms 119:110  The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.

David had many snares laid for him as we note from his pen in these two passages:

Psalms 38:12  They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.

Psalms 140:4  Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

5  The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.

These snares set David to calling upon the Lord for help.  

As we think of the wicked laying a snare for us, let us not forget the devil, called by our Lord “the wicked one” (Matthew 13:19).  Satan is ever laying snares to entrap men in error and sin. 

When this verse is compared with the preceding one, we can say that since our soul is continually in our hand, the wicked are continually laying snares for us.  In his book The Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon cited the following poem by Quarels.  It demonstrates how we encounter snares everywhere.

“The close pursuers’ busy hands do plant

Snares in thy substance; snares attend thy wants;

Snares in thy credit; snares in thy disgrace;

Snares in thy high estate; snares in thy base;

Snares tuck thy bed; and snares surround thy board;

Snares watch thy thoughts; and snares attack thy word;

Snares in thy quiet; snares in thy commotion;

Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion;

Snares lurk in thy resolves; snares in thy doubt;

Snares lie within thy heart, and snares without;

Snares are above thy head, and snares beneath;

Snares in thy sickness; snares are in thy death.”

That poem quite describes my daily life.  How about yours?  Girolamo Savanarola also vividly depicts the snares the wicked everywhere lay for us.

“In eating, he (the wicked) sets before us gluttony; in love he impels to lust; in labour, sluggishness; in conversing, envy; in governing, covetousness; in correcting, anger; in honour, pride; in the heart, he sets evil thoughts; in the mouth, evil words; in actions, evil works; when awake, he move us to evil actions; when asleep, to filthy dreams.”

Now that says it, doesn’t it?  Snares!  Snares!  Everywhere a snare!  And since the wicked are continually setting traps for us, we need to be ever watching lest we be ensnared. 

Matthew 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

But even though the wicked were laying snares for the psalmist, he could state:  yet I erred not from thy precepts.  Again we encounter that conjunctive adverb yet joining the two clauses of this sentence (refer to the preceding meditation for the definition of yet). The psalmist had so much danger to contend with. However, contrary to what you might expect, he did not let that distress take his focus off of God’s precepts.  His safety and his deliverance lay in the fact that he kept to God’s precepts and did not stray from them.  If he walked according to God’s precepts, he would walk safe from many snares that he might otherwise stumble into.

Proverbs 3:21  My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

22  So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

23  Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

Proverbs 13:14  The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

But if he stumbled into one of the traps the wicked laid for him, he would be able to recover himself from that snare by repenting and turning again to God’s precepts.

2 Timothy 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth (the Lord’s precepts);

26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

May the good Lord keep us safe from every snare.