Psalm 119:176

At long last we now come to the last verse of Psalm 119 and the end of the octave entitled Tau.

Psalms 119:176  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

We begin by focusing on the expression thy servant. This is the thirteenth time in this psalm that the psalmist designated himself as God’s servant (see verses 17, 23, 38, 49, 65, 76, 84, 122, 124, 125, 135, 140, 176). If one is a servant of God, his chief aim and purpose is to do the will of his Master, God. Every time he addresses God as Lord, he is using a word which means master. And God, the Master, expresses His will for His servants in His word. So God’s servants serve Him by keeping His word. Therefore, being a servant of God, the psalmist prayed this prayer in verse 125 of this psalm:

Psalms 119:125  I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.

Commenting on this verse I wrote:

“As a servant of God, the psalmist wanted to know God’s testimonies. He wanted to know His Master and His will so that he might serve Him. What servant is worth his salt that cares nothing for what his master says?”

As a servant of God the psalmist was living his life in subjection to his Master rather than in rebellion against Him. And he kept His Master’s commandments ever before him as he testifies in today’s verse:  for I do not forget thy commandments.

And yet even though he served the Lord and did not forget His commandments, he still had to confess:  I have gone astray like a lost sheep. The Lord’s people are sheep.

Psalms 100:3  Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

And as sheep they are prone to go astray.

Isaiah 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Therefore, even when we are serving the Lord and keeping His commandments in mind, we will still find ourselves going astray from time to time. If you think about it, you will find this to be true. Have you ever found yourself thinking some abominable thought for a period of time before you caught yourself thinking it? Weren’t you amazed that you could let your mind wander to something like that without realizing it right away? Does your mind ever wander during a sermon you should be listening to? Have you ever been caught up and carried away in a relationship only to realize later on that it was not one that was healthy for you; and, therefore, you had to back out of it at the cost of pain to yourself and perhaps the other? Have you ever been so enthralled with a pleasure or a sport, or have you ever been so consumed with a care or worry, that it was choking the word of God in your life before you realized it? Have you ever involved yourself in a business that seemed so good at the start only to later regret you ever signed on? Have you ever pursued an idea that seemed so grand at the time only then to have it blow up in your face leaving you to ask yourself how you could ever have been so stupid? Have you ever in an unguarded moment been seized by an emotion that carried you where you shouldn’t go? Of course, such things have happened to you. You see, what happened is that you went astray like a lost sheep. And it can happen even with the best of intentions because we are sheep prone to wander from the right way. Being finite there are just so many things we cannot see, we cannot know. Therefore, there are things that may look very good that in reality are very bad, but we just don’t see it.

This is why we must ever pray: seek thy servant. We should ever be asking the Lord to watch over us and reel us back in when He sees us going astray. In essence, this is what we are asking for when we pray: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This prayer of the psalmist was also expressed in these words in verse 10 of this psalm: “O let me not wander from thy commandments.” If the Lord does not seek us, we will wander hopelessly lost. I think it is good to say to the Lord something to this effect: “Lord, do whatever He it takes to keep me in the strait and narrow way, even if it means slamming me upside the head with an iron frying pan; but just don’t give up on me.” And sometimes, being slammed with an iron frying pan is about what it takes for some of the Lord’s sheep to be brought back from their errant ways.

But if you would have the Lord to seek you, be sure you can add this plea to your prayer: for I do not forget thy commandments. Keep the Bible in your life and in your thoughts. Do not cast it aside. It is your rallying point. If you discard the Book, then you will go astray like a lost sheep. And the Lord, as a judgment, may just let you spend the rest of your days in this world wandering about from one error to another with no return as the following two passages declare.

Psalms 81:8  ¶Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

9  There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

10  I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

11  But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

12  So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

Psalms 95:7  ¶For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

8  Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9  When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

10  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

11  Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

And whilst I am on the subject of not forgetting God’s commandments, let me point out that it is not only for your good that you remember them, but also for the good of your children!

Hosea 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Commenting on verse 168 of Psalm 119 and comparing it with today’s verse, Charles Spurgeon had this to say:

“We are struck with the contrast between this verse, which is the last of its octave, and verse 176, which is similarly placed in the next octave. This (verse 168) is a protest of innocence, ‘I have kept thy precepts,’ and that (verse 176) a confession of sin, ‘I have gone astray like a lost sheep.’ Both were sincere, both accurate. Experience makes many a paradox plain, and this is one. Before God we may be clear of open fault and yet at the same time mourn over a thousand heart-wanderings which need his restoring hand.”

My experience certainly confirms what Mr. Spurgeon wrote. Then I would also like to pass on to you the comments first of Matthew Henry and then of Charles Bridges on today’s verse.

“Thus he concludes the psalm with a penitent sense of his own sin and a believing dependence on God’s grace. With these a devout Christian will conclude his duties, will conclude his life; he will live and die repenting and praying.”

“And thus will our Christian progress be chequered, until we reach the regions of unmixed praise, where we shall no longer mourn over our wanderings, no longer feel any inclination to err from him, or the difficulty of returning to him – where we shall be eternally safe in the heavenly fold, to ‘go no more out.’ (Rev. iii.12).”

As we have now come to the end of this psalm let me remind you of something that I said at the outset that I would do. I said that as I pored over the verses of Psalm 119 I would “keep an eye out to behold the Lord Jesus Christ as He is certain to show Himself here as in all the other Scriptures.” As we consider today’s verse we see the Lord Jesus Christ showing Himself, for the psalmist speaks of himself as a lost sheep needing to be sought. And who seeks the sheep but the shepherd? And Who is the Shepherd of God’s sheep but the Lord Jesus Christ. Speaking of Himself He said, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14). And being the good Shepherd, it is He that seeks the sheep when they are lost.

Ezekiel 34:11  For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

12  As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

Who of us that profess to be the Lord’s sheep have not from time to time experienced “the cloudy and dark day” when we lost our way? And yet the Lord Jesus brings us back into the way so that we can say with David as he wrote of his Shepherd: “He restoreth my soul” (Psalms 23:3).

This concludes the verses of Psalm 119. God willing, I shall write a conclusion to this series of meditations in the next installment.

Psalm 119:175

Today we come to the next to the last verse of Psalm 119.

Psalms 119:175  Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.

As we have walked through this psalm we have found that the psalmist lived amidst enemies, enemies that doubtless would have rejoiced to see him dead. But even though death would have meant an end to the conflicts of his life and an entrance into heavenly rest, the psalmist yet wanted to live. He wanted his soul to abide a while longer in the body on this earth. And all of us who live and enjoy a degree of health and happiness in this world understand this desire. But why did the psalmist want to live longer? Was it that he might see his children and grandchildren grow up? Was it that he might serve his country? Was it that he might continue to play sports? Was it that he might pay off his house and leave his loved ones provided for? No! He wanted his soul to live that it might praise God. For if the psalmist died, while his soul would praise God in heaven it would no longer do so on this earth. And it is a great honour to God when a soul praises Him in a body of depraved flesh that is indisposed to His worship in the midst of a world that is in rebellion against Him.

This prayer of the psalmist reminds us of the prayer of Hezekiah when he pled with God for an extension of his life. He, too, wanted his days lengthened so that He might praise the Lord.

Isaiah 38:18  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

19  The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

20  The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.

21  For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

22  Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

Hezekiah reasoned with God that if he died, he could not praise God and make known His truth to the next generation. But, like the psalmist, he reasoned that if the Lord would let his soul live, he could and would praise God. So if you perceive you are facing some situation that is threatening to shorten your days, let this be your bargaining chip with the Lord: Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee.

As the psalmist resolved to praise his God, he sought this help: and let thy judgments help me. Charles Spurgeon noted that this was the second time in this octave that he asked for help. He wrote: “He was always in need of help, and so are we.” In this case it was God’s judgments that would help the psalmist. That word judgments is one of the ten words used in this psalm to refer to the Holy Scriptures, which we call the Bible. Now if you want to praise God, you need to know how to do so acceptably and for that you need the help of your Bible. If we would praise God, we must do so according to His word. Since God is the Judge Who pronounces righteous judgments, it is His to decide how He will be worshipped. That is not left to our judgment! To worship God we need the right doctrine, the right method, and the right attitude. Not just anything will do no matter how sincere it might be. “They that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). That is why the psalmist said early on in this psalm:

Psalms 119:7  I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

True worship requires the instruction of God’s judgments laid down in the Scriptures.

Now notice the word let in the prayer of this verse: let my soul live….let thy judgments help me. We find this same type of prayer in other verses of this octave: “let my cry come before thee” (verse 169); “let my supplication come before thee” (verse 170); “let thine hand help me” (verse 173). From all these verses we see that the psalmist was beholden to what God lets, that is, to God’s permissive decrees. No prayer or supplication he might utter would get through to the Lord unless He permitted it to get through. He would receive no help from the hand of God unless God willed to let it happen. His soul would not live unless God allowed it to live and God’s judgments would not help him unless the Lord permitted them to do so. Now focus on that last statement. The only way our Bible will ever help us is if God lets it help us. So whenever you are trying to witness to someone and you give them plain Bible verses to show them the truth and they don’t get it, it may be that the Lord is simply not allowing His judgments to help them. From time to time God disallows men the help of His word. Such was the case with many in the days of our Lord as Isaiah prophesied in these fearful words:

Isaiah 29:9  Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

10  For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

11  And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

12  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

It is sobering to realize that you could have a Bible in your hand in a language you understand and yet that Book would be closed to your understanding. In this case, you would have the judgments of God and yet they would not help you because God won’t let them help you. This happened to the Jews of Christ’s day because they laid aside the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men (Mark 7:6-8). If we reject the help of God’s judgments and choose to follow other judgments be they our own or those of others, the day may come when the Lord will no longer let His judgments help us. God forbid! May we never lose sight of just how much we need the help of God’s judgments and may we ever pray to God to let them help us. And, most importantly, when those judgments are made known to our understanding so that they may help us, may we ever choose them above the doctrines and commandments of men.

Psalm 119:174

We continue into the final stretch of Psalm 119.

Psalms 119:174  I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.

We begin as we often do by defining key terms in the verse.

Long – To have a yearning desire; to wish earnestly. Const. for.

Delight – Pleasure, joy, or gratification felt in a high degree.

Show me what a man most desires, what he yearns for, and what is his greatest delight, and I will show you what he is. Think about how much of your life is shaped by what you desire and what you enjoy.

The psalmist longed for God’s salvation. Now God saves His people from troubles of all kinds.

Psalms 34:17  The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Psalms 25:22  Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

But the greatest trouble we all have is the trouble of sin. Sin lies at the foundation of all grief. It was not until Adam sinned that trouble entered into the human experience. When you examine the curse that God pronounced upon Adam and Eve because of their sin, you will find mention of sorrow, thorns, thistles, sweat, and dissolution (Genesis 3:16-19). Any trouble you and I have can be reduced down to some kind of sorrow in body or soul, some kind of resistance to our efforts like thorns and thistles, some kind of strain in work that causes sweat, and the dissolution of our bodies in aging and death. That being the case, God’s salvation ultimately centers in salvation from sin, which is the cause of all trouble.

Matthew 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Psalms 130:8  And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

This fact is brought forth in the incident in which our Lord healed a man sick of the palsy when the disciples let him down through the roof (Mark 2:1-12). At first our Lord said to the sick of the palsy: “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Afterward He said to him: “Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.” Healing this man of his palsy demonstrated that Jesus had “power on earth to forgive sins.” This narrative shows that the ultimate cause of the palsy was sin, which Christ addressed first. By taking away the sin which caused the trouble of the palsy, Jesus took away the palsy. I say all that to say this: God’s salvation is salvation from sin! So if you long for God’s salvation, then the thing you most want to be saved from is sin.

But notice that the psalmist longed for God’s salvation. If you have something in your life that you know you need to be saved from such as a bad habit, a weakness, or a fear, and yet you are still trapped in it, it might be that you are not longing for salvation from it. Perhaps you have become too comfortable with it.

But if you find you are not longing for God’s salvation as you ought, then the second half of the verse may identify the problem: and thy law is my delight. Sin is defined as the transgression of the law (1John 3:4). Therefore, if God’s law is your delight, then sin transgresses what you find a high degree of pleasure in. In other words, sin spoils your greatest joy, as well it should! Thus it follows that you long for God’s salvation from sin. And you especially long for the salvation that is to be brought to us at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when we shall be forever removed from even the presence of sin.

Hebrews 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

2 Timothy 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

If you are not earnestly desiring the appearing of Christ, it is likely owing to the fact that you are not finding much pleasure in the word of God. The more you relish learning the Scriptures, the more you long to see the Saviour of Whom they testify (John 5:39).

This longing expressed by the psalmist echoes the longing of our father Jacob as he lay on his death bed.

Genesis 49:18  I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

May this be our longing as we near the end of our pilgrimage through this world.

As the psalmist nears the conclusion of this great psalm, he repeats something he affirmed eight time previously and that was his delight in the word of God (see verses 16, 24, 35, 47, 70 ,77, 92,143). Any man who delights in God’s word like that is a blessed man. His life has the proper direction, and he is stable, productive, and prosperous in all the ways that count.

Psalms 1:1  ¶Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.