Psalm 119:31

The thought in the verse for today’s mediation follows upon that of the previous verse.

Psalms 119:31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.

Let’s begin by looking at the meaning of the verb phrase stick to.

Stick to - To give one’s adhesion to (a doctrine, cause, etc.). To adhere, keep or hold to (an argument, demand, resolve, opinion, bargain, covenant, and the like); to refuse to renounce or abandon; to persist in. To refuse to be enticed, led or turned from; to attend unremittingly to (an occupation, course of action, work, etc.).

In the previous verse the psalmist expressed to God that he had chosen the way of truth. In the verse we consider today, the psalmist tells the Lord that he has stuck to that choice. By sticking to God’s testimonies he was sticking to the way of truth since God’s testimonies are the way of truth. The psalmist chose a course of action and adhered to it refusing to give it up. We call this stick-to-itiveness. Another word that describes this trait is the word stedfast.

Stedfast – Fixed or secure in position. Of persons: Unshaken, immovable in faith, resolution, friendship, etc. Also said of belief, purpose, or affection.

The stedfast person sticks to his faith; he stands by his decisions and commitments.

Suffer me to express my personal opinion. I love people who decide to do something and stick to it. So many people flip from thing to thing never staying very long with anything. They become easily burned out and so move on to something else thus never really achieving any degree of excellence in anything. As the old saying goes: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” To be sure, we all try something and discover that it is not for us. Or maybe we stay with something for awhile and then give it up because we realize it is no longer serving our purposes. Everybody does that, okay? But I am talking about people for whom jumping around and never settling down to one thing is a way of life, a defining trait of their character. This is not good! Wishy-washy, indecisive, back and forth, on and off just doesn’t cut it. For once, such people need to make up their mind and stick to it.

Now when it comes to our personal growth in our relationship with God, decisiveness and stedfastness are absolutely essential.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord….

Colossians 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

The stedfast, unmoveable, stablished believer is the one who abounds in faith and in the work of the Lord. He is not stagnant. He is growing. In fact, in the following passage growth in grace is placed in contrast to falling from one’s own stedfastness.

2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

If you fall from your own stedfastness, you don’t grow.

You choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to commit your life to following Him by following His commandments. Then you stick to that choice and you do not let anyone or anything turn you from it. When you do that, you can say to God: I have stuck unto thy testimonies. And being genuinely able to say that, you can then make this request: O LORD, put me not to shame.

If the Lord abandons us, we will be put to shame.

Psalms 44:9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth….

Without God’s help, we will not grow in grace and knowledge of Him. Our ignorance will shame us when the enemy attacks us and we cannot defend our position. Without the strength of the Lord, Satan and our enemy lusts will overpower us and we will succumb to temptations to sin. When this happens, the enemy will reproach us and we will be ashamed. If the Lord is not with us to deliver us, we will be put to shame. Hence, this prayer is a prayer for deliverance.

Psalms 31:1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

But if you are sticking to God’s testimonies, you can call upon the Lord to deliver you from being put to shame and He will answer your prayer. He will deliver you. He will strengthen you. And you will go on to know Him and serve Him more and more.

Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Psalm 119:30

The verse of today’s meditation from Psalm 119 presents a way that stands in stark contrast to the way mentioned in the previous verse. Verse 29 spoke of the way of lying. Today’s verse speaks of the way of truth.

Psalms 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

This verse explains why the psalmist prayed to God in the previous verse to remove from him the way of lying. He wanted nothing to do with the way of lying because he had chosen the way of truth. Matthew Henry had this insightful comment on the psalmist’s choice:

“Observe, I. That those who will make anything to purpose of their religion must first make it their serious and deliberate choice….”

Our eternal salvation is determined by God’s choice, not ours.

Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love….

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation….

But when it comes to the exercise of religion, that is determined by our choice. Thomas Watson said, “Religion is not a matter of chance, but of choice.” We choose whom or what we will worship and serve, and how we will worship. And this choice of whom or what we will worship and serve will affect every other choice we make. Now, to be sure, God has chosen the way He wants to be worshipped. He wills to be worshipped according to the truth.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

But we make the choice as to whether we will worship God the way He wants or not.

Every day of our life is filled with all kinds of choices. But all these choices really distill to one choice: the choice of our way, the way we will think, the way we will believe, and the way we will conduct ourselves. And that way should always be determined by the truth. The choice of the way of truth will influence everything in your life. It will influence your worldview, your political beliefs, your work habits, your economic practices, your social connections, how you satisfy your appetites, and, of course, your religious beliefs and practices. Whatever other choice you may make, make sure it is governed by this choice: I have chosen the way of thy truth.

Now the next expression in our verse flows out of this choice of the way of truth: Thy judgments have I laid before me. Again, we hear from Matthew Henry:

“Observe, II. That those who have chosen the way of truth must have a constant regard to the word of God as the rule of their walking.”

God’s written word, His law, which consists of His judgments and commandments, is the truth.

Psalms 119:142 …thy law is the truth.

Psalms 119:151 …all thy commandments are truth.

John 17:17 …thy word is truth.

Having chosen the way of God’s truth, we need to have that truth ever before us if we are going to proceed in that way. Like the psalmist, we must have God’s judgments laid before us, right there in front of us so that we may follow their pattern. The lesson here is that we need to read our Bible, hear it taught, and meditate on its teaching thereby keeping it before us. Only by this means will our lives reflect our choice of the way of truth.

Nothing should be more important to you that choosing the way of truth, because Jesus Christ is the way and the truth (John 14:6). And He is the most important Being in the universe. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ the Scriptures declare:

Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

If everything, including you, exists by and for the Lord Jesus Christ, don’t you think that makes Him quite important? The choice we discuss today is the most important choice you will ever make. You will choose either the way of lying or the way of truth. The choice is inescapable.

In conclusion, I exhort you to examine yourself and the choice you have made as to how you will live your life. What way have you chosen? The way of lying? Or the way of truth? And if it doesn’t really matter to you which way you have chosen; if you don’t think it makes a big difference what you believe; if it doesn’t matter to you what Bible you read, what church you attend, what way you worship, or what preacher you hear; then I say unto you, you have without doubt chosen the way of lying.

Psalm 119:29

The verse we consider today expresses the yearning of what our Lord called “an honest and good heart” (Luke 8:15).

Psalms 119:29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.

The righteous God hates lying and so does a righteous man.

Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue….

Proverbs 13:5 A righteous man hateth lying….

The foremost desire of a righteous man is to speak, to know, and to practice the truth. This desire gives rise to the prayer of today’s verse: Remove from me the way of lying.

Commenting on the way of lying, Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“This is the way of sin, error, idolatry, folly, self-righteousness, formalism, hypocrisy. David would not only be kept from that way, but have it kept from him; he cannot endure to have it near him, he would have it swept away from his sight. He desired to be right and upright, true and in the truth; but he feared that a measure of falsehood would cling to him unless the Lord took it away, and therefore he earnestly cried for its removal.”

The righteous man does not want to be deceived. He does not want the way, the course of his life to be influenced by lies. He has an honest and good heart that is open to receiving the truth of God’s word. He wants to know, to believe, and to practice only the truth. He does not want to lie; he does not want to be lied to; and he does not want to live a lie. He will pay whatever it costs him to have the truth and he will not sell it for any price.

Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not….

You hear the petition of today’s verse echoed in these other prayers found in the Scriptures:

Psalms 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

Proverbs 30:7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me….

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Observe that vanity and lies are linked together. To live a lie is to live a life of vanity, a life that is of no value or profit in the eyes of God. If the worship you practice is not in truth, it is worthless. It does neither service nor honour to God.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Is a characteristic of the wicked that they believe and love lies.

Proverbs 17:4 A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips….

Unregenerate men are deceived and enjoy being so.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

The following passage describes those who will be deceived by the coming man of sin.

2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

These wretched souls do not love the truth and, therefore, do not believe it. They would rather have their pleasure than have the truth, even if that pleasure is in something that is not right. When they look for a church, they look for the church that they can enjoy rather than the church that will teach them the truth.

In order to be delivered from the way of lying, the psalmist prays to God: grant me thy law graciously. God’s law is the truth and as such stands in contrast to the way of lying.

Psalms 119:142 …thy law is the truth.

The psalmist wanted God to grant him His law. He wanted God’s Bible, the true text of the Scriptures. And He wanted the true understanding of that law. The psalmist no doubt had a copy of the law, but he still prayed for God to grant the law to him. It is one thing to have a Bible and it is quite another thing to know and understand it. He did not merely want the law in his hand; he wanted it in his heart. With the true understanding of the law in his heart, he would be able to discern lies when confronted with them. By this means the way of lying would be removed from him. It is by knowing the truth that we can discern truth from falsehood. It is truth that chases away error.

But observe that the psalmist prays for God to grant him His law graciously. For God to let us have His law and to give us understanding of His law, is an act of pure grace. We are like Jacob who confessed: “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto they servant” (Genesis 32:10). When God grants us His law, He is not dealing with us according to what we deserve. He is rather bestowing upon us an unmerited favour. Let us thank God for this grant of His amazing grace.

I close with this observation: If you are in the way of lying, you are in the way of the devil, who “is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44); but if you are in the way of truth, you are in the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Whose way do you seek to be in?

Psalm 119:28

As we saw in the first verse of this octave, so we see it again in the verse we consider today: the psalmist was experiencing soul-trouble.

Psalms 119:28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

The soul of the psalmist was melting for heaviness. Heaviness is the opposite of joy and gladness.

James 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

Do you ever feel like you are being hit on all sides? Perhaps you are struggling with personal health issues, family troubles, vehicle problems, stress on the job, and tight finances all at the same time. Many and varied troubles will cause one to be in heaviness.

1 Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations….

The heaviness the psalmist encountered was causing his soul to melt. One could say he was having a meltdown. What does it mean to have a melting soul?

Melt – Of a person, his ‘soul’ or ‘heart’, feelings, etc. To be overwhelmed with dismay or grief.

The psalmist was dealing with hardship that was weighing him down so heavily that he felt overwhelmed. He felt like his very inmost being was dissolving away. Heaviness can definitely bear down on our heart and soul to the point that we collapse under the weight of it.

Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

Charles Spurgeon eloquently described what heaviness can do to a person:

“Heaviness of heart is a killing thing, and when it abounds it threatens to turn life into a long death, in which a man seems to drop away in a perpetual drip of grief.”

Obviously when one is melting under pressure, one is weak. Therefore, the psalmist prays: Strengthen thou me according unto thy word. This request echoes the one that was made in verse 25: Quicken thou me according to thy word. As we noted then, God has promised in His word to give strength to those who humbly seek His help. If we ask God for strength and trust Him to give it, we shall be strengthened in our souls so that we can bear the heaviness that would otherwise cause us to melt away in weakness. We have the promises of God’s word for this. This is that good word that maketh our heart glad. The following verses speak powerfully to our need!

Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength….

Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

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.

In that last verse the Lord defines strengthening us as helping us. When you are weak, nothing helps like a fresh supply of energy.

Now it is precisely at the point of our weakness, when we are melting for heaviness that we discover God’s strength, for that is when we most realize our need of it. God lets us come to the end of our resources that we might discover the sufficiency of His.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

God orders it this way so that He gets all the glory for our strength.

Psalms 89:16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

But let us probe more deeply into this verse. Recall that when I introduced this series of meditations on Psalm 119, I wrote the following: “As I dive into these verses I fully expect to also cry, ‘Oh, the depths!’ And as I pore over them, I shall keep an eye out to behold the Lord Jesus Christ as He is certain to show Himself here as in all the other Scriptures. For He said:

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”

Our Lord Himself knew what it was like to melt for heaviness, to have His strength exhausted. Consider the following two prophecies that paint the scene of our Lord’s sufferings for our salvation:

Psalms 69:20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

Psalms 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

When Jesus entered into Gethsemane, it was written of Him:

Matthew 26:36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death…..

In that dark moment in that dark place His soul was melting for heaviness. He looked for comforters and found none. His disciples slept while He wrestled with God in prayer. He was overwhelmed with grief (see the definition of melt above). In that hour He cried to God for help.

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared….

In answer to His prayer God sent Him the strength He needed for what was ahead of Him.

Luke 22:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Oh, how these words should dissolve our all too often calloused hearts into thankfulness. God strengthened our Saviour so that He could suffer for us.

I close with this testimony of David, which was also the testimony of our Lord, the son of David and the Son of God. It is my testimony as well since God has often strengthened my melting soul.

Psalms 138:3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

Psalm 119:27

We continue our meditation in the fourth octave of Psalm 119 entitled Daleth.

Psalms 119:27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.

If we are to understand God’s word, God must enable us. He must make me to understand. When the verb make is used with an object and infinitive, as it is here, it means to cause a person or thing to do something. In this sentence the object is me, make me, and the infinitive is to understand, make me to understand. So the psalmist is asking God to cause him to understand the way of His precepts.

So how does God cause us to understand His word? First of all, He does not just pour understanding into us. We are commanded to search and study the Scriptures in order to understand them (Proverbs 2:4-5; John 5:39; 2Timothy 2:15). We must be receptive to what God has to say in His word, even if it crosses us. We must submit to and listen to the teachers He sends us. But in order to actually gain understanding from our study, God must energize our thoughts and desires as we apply them. He must restrain the devil and the evil within our flesh that would otherwise obstruct our ability to understand. God must be involved with us as we study and listen. If left to ourselves without His gracious influence, our thoughts will be distracted and confused; and we will not understand His words. But if we are applying ourselves to learn as God teaches us, He will open our understanding. He will make us to understand.

Luke 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Observe that the psalmist does not just ask to understand God’s precepts. He prays that he may be made to understand the way of God’s precepts. All of God’s precepts cohere together to form a single way, a path of life to follow. If you ever wonder which way to go in life, go in the way of God’s precepts. Make sure that the decision you make, the path you choose, fits within the boundaries of God’s commandments rather than transgressing or stepping over them. Learning God’s precepts is all about learning the way to live. Our foremost desire should be to understand and follow the way of God’s precepts, rather than the way of the world’s fashions, ideals, and goals. I quite agree with the assessment Charles Bridges made of understanding the way of God’s precepts: “The smallest attainment in this knowledge is (as the great day will fully declare) of infinitely greater value than the highest intelligence in the field of earthly science.”

Having asked the Lord to cause him to understand the way of His precepts, the psalmist makes this resolve before God: so shall I talk of all thy wondrous works. He will be taught of the Lord first. Then he will talk to others of the Lord’s wondrous works. They are best qualified to speak to others who have been first taught themselves.

Psalms 71:17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.

But before he will talk of all the wonderful works of the Lord, he will first understand how God wants him to live. In other words, he will learn to walk the walk before he talks the talk. It rings hollow with God and with spiritually discerning believers to hear people talk about the wonderful things God has done when they don’t understand the way of His precepts.

Notice also that when he understands the way of God’s precepts, he will talk of God’s wondrous works and not his own. Anyone who boasts of his own wonderful works does not understand the way of God’s precepts. Such persons may be in for a rude awakening in the Day of Judgment.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Lastly, God means for His wondrous works to be talked about and that from one generation to the next.

Psalms 145:4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

God’s wondrous works are worthy of universal acclaim. They are a theme that can and ought to be expressed in all languages.

Acts 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Talking of God’s wondrous works will be one of the activities of God’s redeemed when they stand before Him in glory.

Revelation 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

God’s works are indeed wondrous. There is nothing more wonderful to talk about. Sadly, we all too often hear the inventions and achievements of men spoken of as if they were more fascinating than the things God has done. For example, compare how much you talk about the feats of your favourite athletic team as opposed to how much you talk of the wondrous works of God. Which thrills you the most? Which do you think is most wondrous? Check your speech. Its content will reveal the answer to those questions. I close with this beautiful piece of poetry that fits well with today’s meditation:

Bless, O my soul, the living God;
His favours claim the highest praise;
Let not the wonders He hath wrought
Be lost in silence, and forgot.