Psalm 119:17

Now that I am safely returned home from my evangelistic trip to Asia, I am ready to resume this series of meditations on the 119th Psalm. We come today to the first verse of the third octave, which is entitled by the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Gimel.

Psalms 119:17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

This verse is a prayer to God. It contains a specific request with a specific objective in mind, should God grant the request. The request is that God would “deal bountifully” with His servant. Although my trip to Asia was in some ways a life-changing experience for me, there is one thing that remains unchanged about me and that is my method of teaching the word of God. We begin by defining terms. In this case, we define the key word bountifully.

Bountifully – In a bountiful manner; with generous liberality, munificently, plentifully, amply.

The psalmist brings a large petition. He begs for liberal, plentiful, abundant supplies from God. He brings a large petition because He is addresses a very large God Who has large amounts to give. “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). It is His to give to as much as He will to whomever He will. All things seen and unseen belong to the Lord.

Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

God is “abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6). He has a multitude of tender mercies and lovingkindnesses to bestow (Psalm 51:1; Isaiah 63:7). “With him is plenteous redemption” (Psalm 130:7). He abundantly pardons (Isaiah 55:7). And considering the abundance of my sin, this is an abundance I certainly need. His grace is exceeding abundant (1Timothy 1:14). Our Saviour came that we might have life, and “have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Because of “his riches in glory” we have the promise that our “God shall supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19). Indeed, as Paul wrote, God is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). It is no imposition to ask a God like this to deal bountifully with us.

And the psalmist brings a large petition because he has a large need. Without God’s liberal dealings with us, even at our best we are the extremity of weakness, emptiness, and nothingness.

Psalms 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

We have an abundance of sin. Thank God He has a greater abundance of grace.

Romans 5:20 ....But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

Now the psalmist’s specific objective in asking God to deal bountifully with him is that he might “live, and keep thy word.” Whenever you ask God to live, to spare your life and lengthen your days, what is your reason for asking this? Is it that you might achieve certain professional goals? Is it that you might see your children or your grandchildren grow up? Is it that you might experience more of the delights of this world? Or is it that you might keep God’s word? If you ask God for life with a selfish end in view, do not be surprised if your request is denied.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

In this prayer the psalmist speaks of himself as God’s servant. As servants of God, our chief aim and purpose is to do the will of our Master. God’s will is expressed in His word. You serve God by keeping His word. And it to this end the psalmist asks God to deal bountifully with him that he might live.

So if you pray and expect God to deal bountifully with you, make sure that you aim to use the bounty He bestows to serve Him and keep His word. The thought of this verse is well expressed in the following verse taken from the hymn written by Samuel Stennett entitled Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned:

Since from His bounty I receive
Such proof of love divine,
Had I a thousand hearts to give,
Lord, they should all be Thine,
Lord, they should all be Thine.

It is good to be back home doing this work of a pastor and teacher. I pray that this may bless you in reading as it has blessed me in writing.

Psalm 119:16

We now come to the last verse of this second section of Psalm 119 entitled Beth.

Psalms 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

We note again the expression “I will.” The psalmist resolves that he will delight himself in God’s statutes and will not forget His word. He will do these two things because he wants to do them and, therefore, he intends to do them. It is a fact that most people do what they want to do most of the time. If you really want to do something, you will generally find a way to do it. Most of our negligence does not arise from a lack of opportunity, but from a lack of will!

Now let’s focus on what it is to delight oneself in God’s statutes.

Delight – To be highly pleased, take great pleasure, rejoice in or to do (anything).

The psalmist is determined to take great pleasure in God’s statutes and to rejoice in them. It is interesting to note that in verse 15 he wrote: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies.” Now he states that he “will delight in God’s statutes.” The verb tense of have rejoiced is the present perfect tense. The present perfect tense sets forth action that took place in the past. The verb phrase will delight is in the future tense. The enjoyment the psalmist had in God’s statutes in the past was an enjoyment he would have in the future. Commenting on this verse Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“We may not promise for the future if we have altogether failed in the past; but where grace has enabled us to accomplish something, we may hopefully expect that it will enable us to do more.”

We noted in our last blog that the psalmist said he would meditate in God’s words after he had said that he had rejoiced in them. We pointed out at that time that you will devote more thought to those things that you enjoy. Now notice that after having determined to meditate in God’s precepts, the psalmist further determines to rejoice in them. Just as delight leads to meditation, meditation leads to further delight. You see, once you get into God’s word and it gets into you, you will enjoy it more and more. The joy you have had in it will provoke you to enjoy it more. Habits, be they good or bad, reinforce themselves because habits bring us some kind of pleasure or satisfaction. The more you indulge your habit the more you want to indulge it. The same holds true for the habit of meditating in God’s statutes. The more you do it, the more pleasure it brings you and the more you will want to do it.

That delight and meditation work in tandem may be seen from the very first psalm that describes the blessed man:

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.

It is also interesting to note how the psalmist applies his will to his emotion. Delight is an emotion. In this case the psalmist is going to subject his emotion to the direction of his will. Sadly, too many subject their wills to their emotions. They do what they feel like doing. Rather, we should subject our emotions to our wills. The emotion may resist at first, but eventually it will give way if you want it to. And that is the key. You have to be willing to delight in God’s statutes. If you want to enjoy the Bible, you will enjoy the Bible. The delight will come with the willingness.

Next, the psalmist resolved to remember God’s word: “I will not forget thy word.” This verse gives us two things that are helpful in remembering something. The first thing is the will: “I will not forget.” You will more likely forget something if you make no effort to remember it. And sometimes that is the wisest thing to do. We can’t remember everything. One of the keys to having a good memory is being able to sort out what needs to be remembered from what is just as well forgotten. A memory uncluttered with useless information will have more capacity for remembering what is necessary and useful. And God’s word is that one thing most necessary and useful for us to remember. Now if you are going to remember God’s word, you must want to remember it. The will must be involved. And if you really want to remember God’s word, you will focus your attention and effort upon it in order to remember it.

The second thing helpful in remembering something is the emotion. The psalmist said he would delight himself in God’s statutes and not forget His word. We generally have no problem remembering things that bring us pleasure. In his excellent book More Than Meets the Eyes, Dr. Richard A Swenson had this to say about memory: “The amount of effort we put into learning is not necessarily the most important thing. It turns out that meaning is as important to memory as intention.” Following up on this statement, I wrote this in a former blog on the subject of memory:

“You remember those things that mean the most to you. Do you have any trouble remembering the family and friends you love most? Or the experiences you most enjoyed? You can be assured that remembering my grandchildren is quite easy. Why? Because they mean so much to me! They are very much in my affections and thoughts. My wife and I speak often of them. Or turn it around. If someone forgets something that you expect them to remember, then how do you sometimes interpret their forgetfulness? Don’t you sometimes feel that you must not mean that much to them? Otherwise, they would have remembered. It appears we all understand the importance of meaning to memory…. Can you remember what you read in a novel, but not what you read in your Bible? Can you remember the content of a stirring political speech, but not the content of a stirring sermon? Do you remember when your favourite television show is on, but yet you sometimes forget when it’s communion Sunday? You will remember those things and events that your heart is most set upon because of how much they mean to you. You do not have any trouble remembering things that brought you great pleasure, do you? Things that bring you great pleasure mean a lot to you. If you delight in something, the odds are greater that you will remember it….The psalmist resolves that he will not forget God’s word. For him, memory was a matter of the will: “I will not forget.” But connected with his resolve was His delight in God’s word. The more you take pleasure in learning and obeying God’s word, the more you are going to remember it. For things that highly please you are more meaningful to you.”

If you really enjoy God’s word and you want to remember it, you will!

Now there are several other verses in this psalm that speak of delight in God’s word. But do not fear that we shall be saying the same things when we get to those verses. The subject of delight is a great one with broad application. The other verses dealing with this subject will bear this out. In connection with this, consider this comment on Psalm 119 from Charles Spurgeon’s book entitled The Treasury of David:

“Something in the position of each verse affects it meaning, so that even where its words are almost identical with those of another the sense is delightfully varied. If we do not see an infinite variety of fine shades of thought in this psalm we may conclude that we are colour-blind; if we do not hear many sweet harmonies, we may judge our ears to be dull of hearing, but we may not suspect the Spirit of God of monotony.”

To which I add a hearty “Amen.”

This will be the last blog that I shall write until after I return in the middle of May from my evangelistic trip to the Far East. So for now, I leave you with these meditations from Beth. I did not want to leave Beth hanging before I departed for Asia. God has blessed me with the closure that I desired. If the Lord will, we will take up with Gimel when I return and am recovered from the trip. May God bless these meditations to His glory and the good of your souls.

Psalm 119:15

We continue our series of meditations on Psalm 119. We are currently working our way through the second section entitled Beth and we now come to verse 15.

Psalms 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

The psalmist resolves that he will meditate in God’s precepts. Let’s define the word meditate.

Meditate - To muse over or reflect upon; to consider, study, ponder.

The psalmist would not just read or hear God’s precepts. He would focus his thoughts on them and toss them over in his mind. The verse we consider today follows logically from the preceding verse in which the psalmist stated that he had rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies. If you really enjoy something, you will devote more thought to it. Commenting on this verse, Charles Bridges wrote: “The thoughts follow the affections.” How true! Therefore, we must guard against allowing our minds to become so crowded with the cares and pleasures of this life that they dampen the joy we have in the way of God’s testimonies.

Zero in on those first two words: “I will.” We considered these words when we dealt with verse 8: “I will keep thy statutes.” We pointed out at that time that you must exercise your will in order to obey God’s commandments. If you only obey God on a wave of emotion, you will not stick with it. As soon as the emotion dies down, and it will, you will be on to something else. The same applies to meditation. You have to determine to meditate whether you feel like doing it or not. The thoughts of the mind must be harnessed and forced to focus on God’s word if we are to derive maximum benefit from it. Failure to spend time meditating on God’s word is not really owing to a lack of time. It is owing to a lack of will. If you want to do something enough, you will find a way to do it. If you discipline yourself to study God’s word, it will yield its treasures to you.

In connection with meditating on God’s precepts, the psalmist said to God, “I will…have respect unto thy ways.” To have respect unto God’s ways is to have regard to them, to give them attention and consideration, to have them in view. Meditation in God’s precepts is an essential step in giving due regard to God’s ways.

The expression thy ways can refer to the things God does, how He deals with His creation and especially with His children.

Job 26:12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.
13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

Psalms 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Now we can never exhaustively understand God’s ways.

Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

But while we cannot fully know all of God’s ways, we can know some of them to some extent. And what we can know will be a great help to us. The expression thy ways also refers to the ways that God’s wants us to walk in this world, how He wants us to act and react.

Deuteronomy 8:6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

The more thought you devote to God’s word, the more respect you will have unto it. As you study and consider God’s word, its teaching will become embedded in your mind so that you will be able to recall it as you confront the difficulties and decisions of life. You will better understand how God is dealing with you and what He expects of you. This will not occur if you just casually read and listen to the Scriptures without really focusing your thoughts upon them. Commenting on this verse in his commentary on Psalm 119, Charles Bridges offered this quote by Professor Francke:

“If a chapter be read with the eye merely, while the mind remains inattentive, and the book be shut as soon as the chapter is finished, and thus, what has been read immediately escape the memory; what is there to surprise, if, after the whole Bible has been several times read through, we discover in ourselves no increase of piety and devotion?”

That sums up quite well what Psalm 119:15 is teaching us.

Psalm 119:14

In today’s meditation we gain an insight into the joy of the author of Psalm 119.

Psalms 119:14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.

In the preceding verse the psalmist wrote of the fact that he had declared with his lips all the judgments of God’s mouth. The verse we consider today gives the reason he could speak of God’s word so openly and informedly, that reason being that he rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies. Think about it. Most of us have no difficulty talking at length about anything that we greatly enjoy, whether it be a novel we have read, a movie we have seen, a trip we have taken, a hobby we pursue, a sport we keep up with, or the grandchildren we adore. I can talk with ease and at length about learning foreign languages because I find so much joy in it. I bet some of you wish I enjoyed it a little less, eh? Tired of hearing about it? Well, cast a mantel of charity my way and deal with it. Now if we have trouble talking about the way of God’s testimonies, it is likely owing to a lack of joy that we have in it; and that calls for a serious correction of our priorities.

Now our psalmist did not just rejoice in God’s testimonies, although he did, but he rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies. He not only loved the theology, the science, the history, the prophetic accuracy, and the form of God’s testimonies, but he loved the way of them. He loved the course of life that they prescribe for us to follow. He enjoyed living by God’s law. He enjoyed doing it himself and he enjoyed seeing others do it.

Observe that the psalmist said that he rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies as much as in all riches. Let’s face it: we do rejoice in riches. It gives us a thrill when we get a raise or a bonus, or get paid a dividend, or win a prize, or receive an unexpected gift. And there is nothing wrong with this. After all, it is “the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1Timothy 6:17). But if our hearts are right with God, we should rejoice in the way of His testimonies as much as in all riches. That expression as much as suggests that our rejoicing in the way of God’s testimonies should be to the same degree or extent as our rejoicing in all riches. In fact, God’s testimonies and what they can do for our life are better than any riches this world has to offer. In speaking of God’s testimonies, the psalmist David wrote:

Psalms 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

King Solomon, a man who had everything money could buy in his day, wrote this about God’s testimonies which impart wisdom and understanding:

Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

There should be nothing that we can acquire in this world that brings us greater joy than the way of God’s testimonies. If you have a choice between living by God’s law and acquiring wealth, then live by God’s law. As a parent, it should bring you greater joy to see your children walk according to God’s commandments than to see them acquire a university degree, or a prestigious job, or a big house. My mother always taught me that the greatest gift I could ever give to her is to live a good life, and by that she meant a godly life. As a pastor nothing brings me greater joy than to see those whom I teach walking in the way of God’s testimonies. I share the sentiments of the apostle John when he wrote:

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Charles Spurgeon had the following interesting comment to make on this verse:

"Observe that his joy was personal, distinct, remembered, and abundant. Wonder not that in the previous verse he glories in having spoken much of that which he had so much enjoyed: a man may well talk of that which is his delight."

The psalmist’s joy was personal: “I have rejoiced.” His joy was distinct: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies.” His joy was remembered: “I have rejoiced.” He joy was abundant: “I have rejoiced…as much as in all riches.”

Lastly, those of us who are blessed to live on this side of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this earth rejoice in the way of God’s testimonies in a very special manner. We know the way of life Jesus lived and the example He has set before us to follow. We know Him to be the way to God, the way to which all of God’s testimonies point. To rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, is to rejoice in the way of God’s testimonies.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Psalm 119:13

The next verse we consider in this second section of Psalm 119 is full of matter. I could devote several blogs to this verse alone, but I shall try to condense my comments into a single presentation.

Psalms 119:13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

In the preceding verse the psalmist prayed to be taught God’s statutes. Now, as Charles Spurgeon noted, “the taught one of verse 12 is here a teacher himself.” God’s objective for the believer is not only that he know and believe the truth, but that he speak it. God’s word should not only be in his heart, but also in his mouth so that he may teach others.

Proverbs 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

By declaring God’s judgments with our lips we promote the spiritual growth of others and of ourselves. Again I quote Charles Spurgeon: “By teaching we learn; by training the tongue to holy speech, we master the whole body” (see James 3:2).

But before the judgments can be in our mouths, they must first be received, learned, and retained within us.

Proverbs 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.

You cannot speak forth what you do not have within. It is as our Saviour said:

Matthew 12:34 …for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

So the challenge to us is to treasure up God’s judgments in our hearts that we might declare them with our lips.

Next observe that the psalmist had declared all God’s judgments with his lips. Consider the definition of declare:

Declare - To make clear or plain (anything that is obscure or imperfectly understood); to clear up, explain, expound, interpret, elucidate. To manifest, show forth, make known; to unfold, set forth (facts, circumstances, etc.); to describe, state in detail; to recount, relate.

The method for making God’s judgments clear and plain is set forth in this passage:

Nehemiah 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

This passage records the method used by the Levites as they set forth the words of God’s law before the people of Israel. The result of this method was that the people “understood the words that were declared unto them.” The way to declare God’s judgments is to read them distinctly and to give the sense. By reading the words distinctly one comes to know exactly what the words say. When something is read distinctly each word is emphasized. These Levites did not treat any word of the law as trivial or unnecessary. Then they gave “the sense,” that is, the meaning of the words. When words are defined they are made plain; they are explained or interpreted, that is, they are declared. Observe, the Levites did not give “the senses” (plural), but rather “the sense” (singular) of the words. To give to a word “the sense” is to give it its primary meaning, its most basic and obvious sense. This imparts understanding of the word. On the other hand, to assign to words multiple possible meanings confuses the hearer.

Furthermore, to declare God’s judgments is to make them known. It is the opposite of hiding or concealing them. The following passage is a prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Observe that in His teaching He declared all the judgments of God’s mouth rather than hiding them.

Psalms 40:9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

God’s judgments are declared when they are made known and clearly defined. The failure to clearly define words causes a passage to be obscure and hides its true meaning.

Lastly, note that the psalmist declared “all the judgments of God’s mouth.” Nothing God has to say is unimportant. Paul certainly shared this conviction about God’s words as can be seen from his testimony regarding his own ministry:

Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

Any and everything the Bible teaches is worthy to be declared. No part of God’s word should be swept under the carpet. Any professed teacher who declares some of God’s judgments while ignoring others out of personal preference or the fear of man is contemptible and base.

Malachi 2:9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

Now before anyone takes in hand to declare God’s judgments, he had better be sure he is walking according to them. If one is going to “talk the talk,” he needs to “walk the walk.” It is a wicked man who declares God’s judgments with his lips while at the same time he refuses to follow them.

Psalms 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.

In conclusion, we would all do well to search our hearts in the light of the following question posited by Job:

Job 26:3 …how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?