Psalm 119: 33-40

Psalm 119 is called the Alphabet of Divine Love, the Paradise of all Doctrines, the Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, and the School of Truth.

The Theme of Psalm 119

is

The Word of God

33.  Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end.

34.  Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe

       it with my whole heart.

35.  Make me walk in the paths of Your commandments, for I delight in it.

36.  Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness.

37.  Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your

       way.

38.  Establish Your Word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing You.

39.  Turn away my reproach which I dread, for Your judgments are good.

40.  Behold, I long for Your precepts;  revive me in Your righteousness.

A sense of dependence and a consciousness of extreme need pervades this section, which is made up entirely of prayer and plea.

 

33.  Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes.  The psalmist will have the Lord for his teacher; he feels that his heart will not learn from a less effective instructor.  The holy man would not only learn the statutes but also the way of them, their daily use, tenor, spirit, direction, habit, and tendencies.  He wants to know the path of holiness, which is hedged by divine law, along with the Lord's commands; these are signposts and milestones of information to guide and to mark our progress.  The desire to learn this way is an assurance that we will be taught.  He who made us desire to learn will be sure to gratify that longing.

And I shall keep it to the end.  Perseverance to the end is predicted to those whose beginning is God, and with God, and by God.  Those who begin without the Lord's teaching soon forget what they learn, and they leave the way they professed.  People cannot boast that they will hold the way in their own strength, for that depends on the continuous teaching of the Lord.  We will fall like Peter (John 18:27) if we presume on our own firmness.


According to this, our perseverance rests not on any force or compulsion but on the Lord's teaching.  Whoever the teacher, it requires learning on the part of the student.  No one can teach a person who refuses to learn.   Let us drink earnestly, then, in divine instruction so that we may hold fast to our integrity right up to the last hour of our life.  If we receive the living and incorruptible seed of the Word of God, we will live.  Apart from this we have no life eternal.



34.  Give me understanding and I shall keep Your law.  David prayed for understanding, for spiritual discernment. He not only wanted teaching but also the power to learn discernment.  The sure result of regeneration, or the gift of understanding, is a devout reverence for the law and a resolute keeping of it.  The Spirit of God makes us know the Lord and understand some of His love, wisdom, holiness, and majesty.  The result is that we honor the law and yield our hearts to the obedience of the faith.


Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.  Understanding operates on the affections, it convinces the heart of the beauty of the law so that the soul loves it with all its power.  They alone obey God who can say, "My Lord, we would serve You with all our hearts."  But people cannot truly say this until they have received the inner illumination of the Holy Spirit. To observe God's commands with all our heart we must have a teachable spirit to be taught by the Lord.



35.  Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it.  You have made me love the way, now make me move in it.  This is the cry of a child who longs to walk but is too weak; it is the cry of a pilgrim who is exhausted but wants to be on the march. It is a blessed thing to delight in holiness, and surely He who gave this delight will work the higher joy of our possessing and practicing it.    May God work in us, so that we may both will and do His good pleasure. (Eph. 1:9).  The holiness we seek is not forced compliance;  it is the indulgence of a whole-hearted passion  for goodness, which will conform our life to the Lord's will.


Can you say, I delight in it?  Is practical godliness the jewel of your soul, the coveted prize of your mind?  If so, the path of life, however rough, will be clean, and it will lead your soul to indescribable delight.  Those who delight in the law should not doubt that they will be able to run in its ways.  Where the heart finds joy, the feet are sure to follow.

36.  Incline my heart to Your testimonies.  After asking for active virtue, David prayed that his heart would be in all that he did.  What would his action be if his heart did not go with it?  Perhaps David felt a wandering desire, an inordinate leaning of his soul to worldly gain.  It possibly intruded into his meditations, and so immediately he cried for more grace.  The only way to cure a wrong leaning is to have the soul bent in the opposite direction.  Holiness of heart is the cure for covetousness.  The leaning of the heart is the way life will lean, the force of the petition is, Incline my heart.  Our hearts must have some object of desire.  If we are inclined one way, we will be turned from the other.

37.  Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things.  Sin first entered man's mind by the eye, and it is still a favorite gate for Satan's allurements.  It is proof of the psalmist's weakness and dependence on God that he asks to have his eyes turned away from worthless things.

And revive me in Your ways.  Give me so much life that dead worthless things will have no power over me.  The prayer shows our greatest need:  more life in our obedience.  It shows the preserving power of increased life, which keeps us from the evils that are around, and it tells us that increased life must come from the Lord alone.  If we would be full of life, regarding the things of God, we must keep away from sin and folly, or the eyes will soon captivate the mind.

38.  Establish Your Word to Your servant.  Make me sure of Your sure Word.  Make it sure to me, and make me sure of it.  Establish me in Your truth.  Establish us in the faith, for You would have all Your servants instructed and confirmed in Your Word.  We must make sure we are the Lord's servants, or else we will not be sound in His truth.  Practical holiness is a great help toward doctrinal certainty.  If we are God's servants, He will confirm His Word in our experience.  "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine. (John 7:17)

Who is devoted to fearing You.  A sure faith in the divine promise is the fountain and foundation of godly fear.  People will never worship a God in whom they do not believe.  More faith will lead to more godly fear.  We cannot look for the fulfillment of promises in our experience unless we live under the influence of the fear of the Lord.  Establishment in grace is the result of holy watchfulness and prayerful energy.  We will never be rooted and grounded in our belief unless we daily practice what we believe.  Full assurance is the reward of obedience.  Answers to prayer are given to those whose hearts answer to the Lord's command.   Skepticism  is the parent and the child of impurity, but strong faith brings holiness.

39.  Turn away my reproach which I dread.  David feared just reproach, dreading that he would cause the enemy to blaspheme through his inconsistency.  We should fear this and avoid it.  Persecution in the form of slander may be prayed against; it is a difficult trial, perhaps the hardest trial for sensitive minds.

For You judgments are good.  He is anxious that no one will speak evil of God's ways because someone heard a bad report about him.  If people would be content to attribute evil to us and go no further, we might bear it, for we are evil.  But our sorrow is that they slur the Word and the character of God.

40.  Behold, I long for Your precepts.  David is deeply bowed by a sense of weakness and a need of grace;  he wants to conform to the divine will.  Where our longings are, there are we in God's sight.  Your precepts are grievous to the ungodly.  When we are changed so much that we long for them, there is clear evidence of conversion.  Then we may safely conclude "that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil.1:6).

Revive me in Your righteousness.  Give me more life to follow Your righteous law.  Give me more life because You have promised to hear prayer, and it is Your righteousness to keep Your Word.  David offers pleas for reviving, but never too often.  We need reviving every hour of he day.  It is the Holy Spirit who can pour new life into us, so let us never stop crying to Him.  Let the life we already possess show itself by longing for more of it.

I long for Your precepts.  We are sometimes unconsciously led to long after the promises more than after the precepts.  We forget that is is our privilege and safety to have an equal regard to obey His precepts in dependence on His promises, and to expect the accomplishment of the promises in the way of obedience to the precepts.  (Charles Bridges, 1794-1869)

Commentary taken from The Treasury of David (Charles Spurgeon).

If you would like to share a personal insight into anything you have learned from this section of the Psalms, please do so in the comments section. Thank you.


~Annie~

Psalm 119: 25-32

Psalm 119 is called the Alphabet of Divine Love, the Paradise of all Doctrines, the Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, and the School of Truth

The Theme of Psalm 119

is

The Word of God

25.  My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your Word.

26.  I have declared my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes.

27.  Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your

       wonderful works.

28.  My soul melts from heaviness; strengthen me according to Your Word.

29.  Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously.

30.  I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me.

31.  I cling to Your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame!

32.  I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my

       heart.

 

This portion has "D" for its alphabetical letter.  It sings of Depression in the spirit, Determination, and Dependence.

 

25.  David was depressed because his soul was weighed down by the flesh.  It doesn't strain the language to think that he regretted his earthly mindedness and spiritual deadness.  There was a tendency in his soul to cling to earth, and this he greatly grieved in his spirit.  

Revive me according to Your Word.  The cure for all our ailments is more life. And only the Lord can give it. He can provide it, according to His Word without departing from the usual course of His grace which is mapped out in the Scriptures. It is well to know what to pray for.  David seeks reviving, yet one would have thought that he would have asked for comfort or lifting, but he knew this would come out of increased life.  He sought that blessing which is the root of the rest.  When a person is depressed, weak, and bent, the main thing is to increase the stamina and put more life into the person.  Then the spirit revives, and the body stands tall.  In reviving the life, the whole person is renewed.

According to Your Word revive me.  According to Your revealed way of reviving Your saints. The Word of God shows us that He who first made us must keep us alive, and it tells of the Spirit of God who, through the ordinances, pours fresh life into our souls.  Perhaps David remembered the Lord's Word, "Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God beside Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand (Deut.32:39).  He implores the Lord to give him that power to His almost dead servant.  "That I may live" (v.17) While happy he begs for a bountiful dealing, and when forlorn, he prays for reviving.  Life in both cases is the object of pursuit. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10)

26.  I have declared my ways.  Open confession is good for the soul. David's declaration proves that he knew his condition and is no longer blinded by pride.  Our confessions are not meant to make God know our sins but to make us know them.  And You answered me.  His confession had been accepted;  God had drawn near to him. Pardon follows penitent confession, and David felt that he had obtained it.  It is God's way to forgive our sinful way when we, from our hearts, confess our wrong.

Teach me Your statutes.  Truly sorry for his fault, and having obtained full forgiveness, he is anxious to avoid offending again.  He begs to be taught obedience. Not willing to sin through ignorance, he wished to know the mind of God by being taught by the best of teachers.  He longed for holiness.  The cry for teaching is frequent in this Psalm. In v.12, it followed a sight of God, and here, it follows a sight of self.  Every experience should teach us to plead with God, teach me Your statutes.

27.  Make me understand the way of Your precepts.  Give me deep insight into the practical meaning of Your Word.  God would have us follow Him with our eyes open.  To obey the letter of the Word is all that the ignorant can hope for.  If we wish to keep God's precepts in their spirit we must understand them and that can be gained nowhere but at the Lord's hands.  Our understanding needs enlightenment and direction.  He who made our understanding must make us understand.  We need the Holy Spirit to teach us by giving us understanding of God's Word.  The Psalmist is most interested in the precepts of the law for daily living.

So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.  It is ill to talk about what we do not understand.  God must teach us until we understand. Then we may hope to help others by communicating our knowledge.  When our hearts have been opened to understand, our lips will be opened to impart knowledge.  We may hope to be taught when we feel a willingness to teach the Lord's way.

Your wonderful works.  The more we know of God's doings, the more we admire them and the more ready we are to speak.  Holy wonder is the child of understanding.  When people understand the ways of divine precepts, they never talk about their own works, and as the tongue must have some theme to speak about, they extol the works of the all perfect Lord.   As David understood the Word of God, he meditated on it more and more.  The thoughtless do not care to know the inner meaning of the Scriptures, while those who know them best strive after a greater familiarity with them.

28.  My soul melts from heaviness.  He was dissolving in tears.  The solid strength of his constitution was turning to liquid, as if it were being melted by the furnace of affliction.  There is one good point in this depression; it is better to be melted with grief than hardened by impenitence.

Strengthen me according to Your Word.  David's hope to get out of depression did not lie in himself but in God.  If he is strengthened from on high, he will shake his depression and rise to joy.  David pleads the promises of God's Word only.  God strengthen us by infusing grace through His Word.  The Word that creates can certainly sustain.  It can give us the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3).  Always pray when you are depressed and always pray God's Word only.  Always pray when you are depressed, for it is the surest and shortest way out of the depths. And in that prayer, plead only the Word of God.

 

29.  Remove from me the way of lying.  This is the way of sin, error, idolatry, folly, self-righteousness, formalism, and hypocrisy.  David wanted to be right and upright, true and in the truth.  Yet he feared that a measure of falsehoods would cling to him unless the Lord took it away, so he cried for its removal.  False motives may sway us, and we may fall into mistaken notions of our spiritual condition.  These erroneous conceits may be kept up by a natural prejudice in our favor.  Thus, we may be confirmed in a delusion and live under error unless grace comes to the rescue.  No heart can rest in a false view.  It finds no anchorage, but is tossed to and fro until it gets into the truth and the truth gets into it.  The true-born child of heaven cries out against a lie.  It wants it taken away as much as anyone wants to be kept away from a poisonous snake or hungry lion.

And grant me Your law graciously.  The person who looks on God's Word as a gift of grace is in a gracious state.  David wishes to have the law opened to his understanding, engraved on his heart, and carried out in his life.  He seeks the Lord about it and pleads for it as a gracious grant.  No doubt he viewed this as the only method of deliverance from falsehoods.  If the law is not in our hearts, the lie will enter.  The only way to expel the lie is to accept the truth.  I have chosen the way of truth.  Grace and truth are linked together.

30.  I have chosen the way of truth.  David abhorred the way of lying, so he chose the way of truth.  You must choose one or the other, for there cannot be neutrality.  People do not drop into the right way by chance. They must choose it, and continue to choose it, or they will soon wander.  There is a doctrinal way of truth, and we ought to choose it, rejecting every dogma of man's devising.  There is a ceremonial way of truth, and we should follow it, detesting all the forms the apostate churches have invented.  Then there is a practical way of truth, the way of holiness, to which we must adhere, whatever temptations there are to forsake it.

Your judgments I have laid before me.  What he had chosen, he kept in mind, laying it out before him.  People do not become holy with a careless wish.  There must be study, consideration, deliberation, and earnest inquiry, or the way of truth will be missed.  God's commands must be laid before us like the target, like the model to work by, the road to walk in.  If we put God's judgments into the background we will soon part from them.

31.  I cling to your testimonies.  Though David was depressed,  he kept a strong grip on the divine Word.  This was his comfort.  His faith stuck to it.  His love and obedience held onto it, and his heart and his mind lived in meditation on it.  His choice was so heartily and deliberately made that he stuck to it for life.  He could not be moved from it by the reproaches of those who despised the way of the Lord.

O Lord, do not put me to shame.  The only way this might happen is through a believer acting in an inconsistent manner, as David did when he lied, and pretended to be insane (1 Sam.21:13).  If we are not true to our profession of faith, we may reap the fruit of our folly and that will be the bitter thing called shame.  A believer should never be ashamed, but should be as brave as one who has done nothing to be ashamed of, in believing in God.  We should not adopt a cowardly tone in the presence of the Lord's enemies.

I will run the course of Your commandments.  With energy, promptness, and zeal, he would perform God's will, but he needed more life and liberty from God's hand.

For You shall enlarge my heart.  Yes, the heart is the master, and the feet soon run when the heart is free and energetic  If our affections are aroused and eagerly set on divine things, our reactions will be full of force, speed, and delight.  God must work in us, and then we will do His good pleasure.  He must change the heart, unite the heart, encourage the heart, strengthen the heart, and enlarge the heart.  Then the course of life will be gracious, sincere, happy, and earnest.  From our lowest to our highest state, we must in grace attribute all to the free favor of God.  We must run, for grace is not an overwhelming force that compels unwilling minds to move contrary to there wills.  Our running is the spontaneous leaping of a mind that has been set free by God's hand and delights to show its freedom with bounding speed.

Commentary taken from The Treasury of David (Charles Spurgeon).

Note: 

Having a problem with my "g," "y," and "p," in other words, all letters with tails.  The tails for some reason have disappeared for the most part, although some still have them.  This is a mystery...  If anyone knows what to do about this, I would appreciate your help. 



 

To share your own insights...  click on "comment" to open comment box.



Psalm 119: 17-24

This Psalm is called the Alphabet of Divine Love, the Paradise of all Doctrines, the Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, and the School of Truth.

The Theme of Psalm 119
 is
 the Word of God

17. Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your Word.

18.  Open my eyes that I might see wondrous things from Your law.

19.  I am a stranger in the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.

20.  My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times.

21.  You rebuke the proud---the cursed, who stray from Your commandments.

22.  Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies.

23.  Princes also sit and speak against me, but your servant meditates on Your  
       statutes.

24.  Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

17.   Deal bountifully with Your servant.  David's great needs required a bountiful provision.  Thus he throws himself on God's grace and looks to the Lord and His great goodness for the great things he needs.  He begs for heavy grace.

That I may live.  Without abundant mercy he could not live.  Only the Lord can keep us alive, and it is His mighty grace that preserves the life we have forfeited by sin. Spiritual life, without which natural life is but mere existence, is also to be sought from the Lord's bounty. It is the highest work of divine grace, as the Lord's servants cannot serve Him in their own strength.

And keep Your Word.  It is only through divine grace that we can live as faithful servants of God and obey His commands.  If we give God service it is because He gives grace.  We work for Him because He works in us.

18.  Open my eyes.  This is part of the bountiful dealing that he asked for.
No bounty is greater than what benefits our person, our soul, our mind, and our eye.  It is far better to have our eyes opened than to be placed at a scenic outlook and remain blind to its beauty.

That I may see wondrous things from your law.  David felt that God had laid up great bounties in His Word and he begs for power to perceive, appreciate, and enjoy them.  We do not need God to give us more benefits but the ability to see what He has given.  God must reveal revelation to each heart.  Scripture needs opening, but not half so much as our eyes do.  The veil is not on the Book but on our hearts.  What David had seen made him long for a clearer and wider sight.  This longing proved the genuineness of what he possessed.  The mark of the true knowledge of God is that it causes a thirst for deeper knowledge.

19.  I am a stranger in the earth.  The Divine command orders us to be kind to strangers, and what God commands in others, He exemplifies in Himself.  The Psalmist was a stranger for God's sake, or else he would have been as much at home in the earth as worldly people are.  David was not a stranger to God, but to the world.

Do not hide Your commandments from me.   David cries, what will I do if I fail to see Your commands that guide my steps to the land where You dwell?  If the heavenly things that make our peace are hidden from our eyes, we will be at sea without a compass, in a desert without a guide, in enemy country without a friend.

This prayer is a supplement to "Open my eyes" (v.18).  The one prayer is to see, the other deplores the negative of seeing, namely, that the command is hidden and out of sight.  It is well to look at both sides of the blessing we are seeking and to plead for it from every point of view.  The prayers are appropriate to the characters mentioned.  He is a servant, and so he asks for opened eyes to see his Lord, as the eyes of a servant should.  He is a stranger, but he begs not to be a stranger to the way he is to walk home.  In each case, his dependence is on God alone.

20.  My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times.  True godliness lies in desires.  As we are not what we will be, we are also not what we could be.  A high value of the Lord's commands leads to a pressing desire to know and to do His will.

David had such reverence for the Word, such desire to know and be conformed to it, that his longings broke his heart, and this he brings to God.  The most intimate communion between the soul and God is described in the text.  God reveals His will, and our hearts long to be conformed to it.

21.  You rebuke the proud...the cursed.  The proud is a name commonly given to the wicked. It is our oldest evil, and so is it the strongest and first that strives in our corrupt nature to make us transgress the bounds appointed by the Lord.  From the time that pride entered Adam's heart, he would be higher than God had made him. And what else is the cause of all transgression, other than our ignorant pride will have its will over God's will? (William Cowper, 1566-1619).

Who stray from Your commandments.  Only humble hearts are obedient, for they yield to rule and governments.  Proud looks are too high to mark their feet and keep to the Lord's way.  Pride lies at the root of all sin. If people were not arrogant, they would not be disobedient.

God rebukes pride even when the multitudes pay it homage.  He sees pride as rebellion against His Majesty and the seeds of further rebellion.  Pride is the sum of sin.  Yet the proud know so little of their true condition under the curse of God that they censure the godly and express their contempt by slandering the godly.

22.  Remove from me reproach and contempt. These are painful to tender minds.  To be slandered and then despised is grievous affliction.  Those who say,  "I care nothing about my reputation,"  are not wise. Solomon said, "A good name is better than precious ointment" (Eccl.7:1).  The best way to deal with slander is to pray.  God will either remove it, or its sting.  Our attempts to clear our name are usually failures. Like a little boy who tried to remove the inkblot from his paper and by bungling made it tens times worse.  We are to take these matters to the highest Judge of all the earth and He will rebuke the proud accuser. The Lord will fight for you and you should hold your peace. (Ex.14:14).  Be still, and let Your Advocate plead your case.

For I have kept Your testimonies.  Our safety lies in sticking close to the truth and the right.  God will keep those who keep His testimonies.  A good conscience is the best security for a good name.  Reproach will not abide with Christ; contempt will not remain on any who remain faithful to the Lord's ways.

23.  Princes also sit and speak against me.  David was high game, and the great ones of the earth hunted him.  Most people covet a prince's good word. 
To  be spoken ill of by a great man is a great discouragement, but the Psalmist bore his trial with holy calmness.

But your servant meditates on Your statutes.  He was God's servant and he attended to his Master's business.  He was God's servant and he was sure that the Lord would defend him.  He gave no heed to royal slanderers.  He did not allow his thoughts to be disturbed by a knowledge of their plotting conclave.  Who were these malignants that they should rob God of the attention of His servant or deprive the Lord's chosen of a moment's devout fellowship?  Those who feed on God's Word grow strong and peaceful and are by God's grace hidden from the strife of tongues.

24.  Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.  They were not only themes for meditation but also sources of delight and means of guidance.  While his enemies took counsel against him, David took counsel with the testimonies of God.  The words of the Lord serve many purposes; in sorrow, they are our delight, and in difficulty they are our guide.  We derive joy from them and discover wisdom in them.  Let us give more heed to the true testimonies of the Lord than to the false witness of our foes.

My counselors.  Here is a sentence worth meditating on.  David calls God's commandments his counselors, First, he can scorn all the wisdom of the world's experts, since he was governed and guided by the Word of God.  Second, when he is governed by the Word of God, he will not only be truly wise but also have all the wisdom in the world, and a great deal more. (John Calvin, 1509-1564).

Commentary is taken from Treasury of David (Charles Spurgeon).

For so long I had been intending to really focus and reflect on the whole of Psalm 119.  Finally, I am doing it.  Upon finding such insights and blessing, I now realize I was depriving myself of a feast.  Psalm 119 is a table full of delectable appetizers waiting to be tasted, chewed on, and digested. And by doing so, we would benefit from the spiritual nutrients it so richly supplies...  bringing a richer vitality to our spiritual lives. The theme of this Psalm is the Word of God.  What better to feast on than the Bread of Life? (Annie)

Please share your insights...


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 Every Saturday morning a blog will be published.

Psalm 119: 9-16

Psalm 119 is called the Alphabet of Divine Love, the Paradise of all Doctrines, the Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, and the School of Truth.

 

The Theme of Psalm 119

   is

The Word   of God

The subject of this section is purifying the life


 9.  How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your 
      Word.   
10. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your
      commandments!   
11. Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
12. Blessed are You, O Lord!  Teach me Your statutes.
13. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth
14. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15. I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways.
16. I will delight myself in Your statues;  I will not forget Your Word.




Commentary from Treasury of David


 9)   How can a young man cleanse his way?  Let him enter that great school of the Holy Spirit, the divine Scriptures.  Let him be committed to the conduct of those blessed oracles, and he will effectively be convinced by his own experience of the incredible virtue, the vast and mighty power, of God's Word.  It will be successful with him, as he daily advances in heavenly wisdom.
(John Gibbon, 1660)


How can a young man cleanse his way?  Let him become a practical disciple of the holy God, who alone can teach how to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. He is young and unaccustomed to the road, so let him not be ashamed to ask often of the way of Him who is ready and able to instruct.


10) With my whole heart I have sought You.  His whole heart had gone after God.  He not only wanted to obey His laws but also to fellowship with Him. 


His petition is founded in the purpose of his life.  He is seeking the Lord, and he asks the Lord to prevent him from going astray. The more one's heart is set on holiness the more one dreads falling into sin.


The man of God exerts himself but does not trust himself.  His heart is in walking with God.  Yet, he knows that all his strength is not enough to keep him, unless his King is his keeper.


11) I have hidden Your Word in my heart.  His heart would be kept by the Word because he kept the Word in his heart.  What soil is more fruitful than a renewed heart that is seeking the Lord?


That I might not sin against You.  This was the object.  God's Word is the best preventative against offending God, for it tells us His mind and will, and it brings our spirit into conformity with the divine Spirit.  He loves the Word because it is God's Word, and he hates sin, because it is sin against God.


The way the man of God did this is noteworthy:  "With my whole heart I have sought You".  Whatever others might choose, he had already made his choice and placed the Word in his heart.  Others might transgress, but his aim was holiness.


12)  Blessed are You, O Lord!  These are words of adoration, rising from an intense adoration of the divine character, which the writer is humbly aiming to imitate.  He blesses God for all that He has revealed and worked in him.  He praises Him with the warmth of reverent love and the depth of holy wonder.  These are words of perception, being spoken as he realizes that the Lord is and must be blessed, for He is the perfection of holiness. David has come to the understanding that his way to happiness lies in conformity to God.


Lord, teach me Your statutes.  Faith prompted this prayer and based it solely on the perfection of God.  Lord, You are blessed; therefore, bless me by teaching me.  What an honour to have God for a Teacher!  The Lord put the desire in David's heart to be taught, so he boldly requested God to teach him.  Who would not wish to enter the school of such a Master, to learn the art of holy living?  We must submit to this instructor if we want to keep the statutes of righteousness...in practice.


13)  With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth.  The one taught (David) is now a teacher.  What we learn in secret we are to proclaim from the housetops. This the Psalmist had done; as much as he had know he had spoken.  If we have such a high regard for what comes out of God's mouth that we proclaim it far and wide, we may rest assured that God will respect the prayers that come from our mouths.


An effective method of cleansing a young man's way is to be addicted to preaching the Gospel.  By teaching, we learn; by training the tongue to holy speech, we master the body; by familiarity with divine procedure, we are made to delight in righteousness.  Thus in a three-fold manner, our way is cleansed by our proclaiming the way of the Lord.


14)  I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies.  Delight in the Word of God is sure proof that it has taken effect on the heart and is cleansing the life.  The Psalmist's rejoicing not only rose out of the Word of God but also out of the practical characteristics of it.  The Way was as precious to him as the Truth and the Life.


As much as in all riches.  His intense satisfaction with God's will is compared to all the material riches the world holds.  Yet the way of God's Word had given him more pleasure than even these.  His joy was personal, distinct, remembered, and abundant.


15)  I will meditate on Your precepts.  He who delights in anything will keep it frequently in his mind.  As the miser often returns to look at his treasure, the devout believer, by frequent meditation, turns over the priceless wealth discovered in Scripture.


And contemplate Your ways.  I will contemplate them much, in order to know Your ways. I will think much about them so as to hold Your ways in great reverence and high esteem.  I will see what Your ways are toward me, that I may be filled with reverence, gratitude and love.  Then, I will observe the ways that You have prescribed for me, Your ways, that You would have me follow.  These I will watch carefully in order to become obedient and prove myself to be a true servant of such a Master.


16)  I will delight myself in Your statutes.  This is the choicest and highest of all rejoicing. There is no delighting ourselves with anything down here below but that which God intended for the eternal satisfaction for the soul.  The statute books are intended to be the joy of every loyal subject.  When believers read the sacred pages, their souls burn as they turn to the royal Words of the great King, Words full and firm, immutable and divine.


I will not forget Your Word.  People do not easily forget what they treasure, what they have meditated on.  There was a three-fold internal action of David's soul toward the Word of God.  First, meditation;  second, consideration; third, pleasure.  Every one of these proceeds from another and mutually strengthens the other.  Meditation brings the Word to the mind, and consideration examines it, and this breeds pleasure. (William Cowper, 1566-1619)


I am really enjoying doing this and hope that you will delight in reading and meditating on this Psalm.  If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment. If you would like to share an insight, please do. 

Commentary taken from Treasury of David (Charles Spurgeon).



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