Psalm 119: 121-128

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 

121.  I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my

         oppressors.

122.  Be surety for Your servant for good; do not let the proud oppress me.

123.  My eyes fail from seeking Your salvation and Your righteous Word.

124.  Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy, and teach me Your

         statutes.

125.  I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your

         testimonies.

126.  It is time for You to act, Oh Lord, for they have regarded Your law as void.

127.  Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!

128.  Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right;  I

         hate every false way.

121.  I have done justice and righteousness.  This was a great thing for an eastern ruler to say.  Most of these despots cared more for gain than for justice. Some neglected their duty giving neither justice nor judgment, others gave judgment without justice. Many sold their judgments to the highest bidder. But David gave judgment and justice; he saw that his sentences were carried out He could claim before the Lord that he had dealt out even-handed justice and was still doing so.  On this fact, he founded a plea with which he backed the prayer.

Do not leave me to my oppressors.  He who has been doing right, as far as his power goes, may hope to be delivered when attempts are made to do him wrong.  If I will not oppress others, I may hopefully pray that others may not oppress me.

122.  Be surety for Your servant for good.  Answer for me. Do not leave Your poor servant to die by the hand of our enemy. Take my interests, weave them with Yours, and stand for me.  As my Master, undertake the cause of Your servant and represent me before the faces of haughty people, until they see what an august ally I have in the Lord my God.

Do not let the proud oppress me.  Your intervention will answer the purpose of my rescue.  When the proud see that You are my advocate, they will hide their heads. We would have been crushed beneath our proud adversary, the devil, if our Lord Jesus had not stood between us and the accuser and became our surety.  It is by His surety that we escape like a bird from the snare of the Fowler.  What a blessing to leave matters in the hands of our surety, knowing that all will be well, since He has an answer for every accuser and a rebuke for every reviler.  Good people dread oppression, for it makes even the wise insane, and so they send up cries to heaven for deliverance.  And they will not cry in vain, for the Lord will undertake the cause of His servants and fight their battles against the proud.

123.   My eyes fail from seeking Your salvation.  David wept, waited, and watched for God's saving hand.  He looked to God alone.  He looked eagerly, he looked long, and he looked until his eyes ached.  The Lord will not test you beyond what we are able to bear... with His help. I Corinthians 10:13).

And Your righteous Word.  A word that would silence his oppressors' unrighteous words. David's eyes and ears waited for the Lord's Word.  David left his reputation entirely in the Lord's hand; he as eager to be cleared by the Word of the Judge rather than by his own defense.  He knew he had done right, and he begged for the sentence that would work out for his deliverance.

124.  Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.  Before men, David was so innocent that he could challenge the word of righteousness.  Yet, before the Lord, as His servant, he felt that he must appeal for mercy.  The title of servant covers a plea; a master should clear the character of his servant if he is falsely accused; he should rescue him from those who would oppress.  Moreover, a master should show mercy to a servant even if he deals severely with strangers.  The Lord condescendingly communicates with His servants.  He does not spurn them but fellowships with them in a tender and merciful way;

In any other form of dealing we would be crushed into the dust.

And teach me Your statutes.  This is one way of dealing with us in mercy.  We may expect a master to teach his servant the meaning of his orders.  Yet, since our ignorance arises from sinful stupidity, it is great mercy on God's part that He condescends to instruct us in His commands.  For our ruler to become our teacher is an act of great grace, and we cannot be too grateful. Among our mercies, this is one of the choicest.  Like the atmosphere that surrounds the earth and supports life, God's benevolence surrounds all His creatures, "for in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

125.  I am Your servant.  This is the third time David has repeated this title in this section.  We who rejoice that we are the children of God are delighted to be His servants.  Did not the firstborn Son assume the form of a bond servant (Philippians 2:7)? 

Give me understanding,  that I may know Your testimonies.  In the previous verse David sought teaching.  Here he craves understanding.  We must plead for understanding and teaching and our divine Tutor will furnish us with it.  We confess ourselves fools, and then our Lord makes us wise and gives us knowledge.  The best understanding is that which enables us to give prefect obedience and to exhibit intelligent faith.  This is what David wanted.

Understanding that I may know Your testimonies.  Some would rather not know these things.  They prefer to be at ease in the dark rather than to possess the light that leads to repentance and diligence.  God's servant longs to know, in an understanding manner, all that the Lord reveals. He wished to be instructed so that he may apprehend and comprehend what is taught.  A servant should not be ignorant concerning his master or his master's business.  He should study the mind, will, purpose, and aim of him whom he serves, for only then, can he complete his service.  No one knows these things as well as the master, so the servant should often go to him for instructions, lest his zeal makes him the greater blunderer.

It is remarkable that the psalmist does not pray for understanding through acquiring knowledge, but that he first begs the Lord for the gracious gift of understanding and then that he may obtain the desired instruction. All that we know before we have understanding is abt to spoil us and breed vanity.  But if there is first an understanding heart, then the stores of knowledge enrich the soul and bring neither sin nor sorrow.  In addition, this gift of understanding also aids in discernment; thus, we will know what is or is not the Lord's testimony.  We will see what is false  and dangerous.

126.  It is time for You to act, O Lord, for they have regarded Your law as void.  David, the servant of God, was oppressed by ungodly behaviour, he feels that His Master's hand is needed, and so appeals to Him to work against evil.  People void God's Law by denying it to be His Law, by promulgating commands and doctrines in opposition to it, by setting up tradition in its place, or by utterly disregarding or scorning the authority of the Lawgiver. Sin becomes fashionable, a holy walk is considered contemptible puritanism, vice is styled as pleasure, and vanity rings the bell. Then the saints sigh for God's presence and power.

They have regarded Your Law as void, as if they would not only sin against the law but also sin away the Law, not only withdraw themselves from obedience to it but also drive it out of the world.  They would void and repeal God's holy acts, that their wicked acts might not be questioned.  Lest the law should have a power to punish them, they will deny it a power to rule them. This is the force of the simple rule applied here, as to the highest transgressing against the Law of God.     (Joseph Caryl, 1602-1673)

This sounds like what has been, and is more and more happening, in our time.

127.  Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, then fine gold!  As it was God's time to work, it was David's time to love.  Far from being swayed by evil people, to join them in slighting the Scriptures, David was led into a more fervent love of them.  As he saw the commandments slighted by the ungodly, his heart was in sympathy with God; he felt a burning affection for His holy precepts.  It is the mark of a true believer that they do not depend on others for religion, but get their bread and water from the Word of God and the well of the Spirit.  David, amid a general depreciation of the Law, felt his esteem of the commandments rising so high that gold and silver sank in comparison.  God's laws are more enriching and bring more comfort than all the choicest treasures.  David could not boast that he always kept the commands, but he could declare that he loved them.  David was perfect in heart and wanted to be perfect in life.

128.  Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right.  Because the ungodly found fault with God's precepts, David was certain that the precepts were right.  The censure of the wicked is a certificate of merit.  what they sanction, we may justly suspect; what they abhor, we may ardently admire.  The delight of the good man in the law of God is unreserved.  He believes in all God's precepts in all things.

I hate every false way.  Love of truth breeds hatred of falsehoods. The godly man was not indifferent to anything; what he did not love he hated.  David was not a waverer, he knew what he felt, and he expressed it.  He was no Gallio, caring for nothing. The psalmist's detestation was as unreserved as his affection.  He did not always have a good word for any practice that could not stand the light of truth.  He was determined to avoid every form of  error and sin.  May the Holy Spirit so rule in our hearts that our affections toward the precepts of the Word will be the same as David's.

Commentary taken from the Treasury of David - by Charles Spurgeon

My thoughts on this passage...

Today, we see books to do with "A loving God would not send anyone to hell."   They state God is love, and a loving God cannot send anyone to hell because that would go against who He is by nature.  They ignore what Jesus says about hell in the Bible. 

The Bible does say God is love.  Love permeates His whole being.  It is the essence of who He is.  God is also holy, just, righteous, and many other good things.  The thing is, God isn't part holy, part just, part righteous and so on, covered by a blanket of love.  He is completely holy, completely just, completely righteous, and completely love. He is not part anything, but wholly everything good. 

This is why because of His holiness, He cannot look upon sin; because of His justice, sin must be punished; because of His love, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, died in our place, and imputed His perfect righteous life to all those who would put their faith in His shed blood, and His substitutionary act on our behalf.   

We believe He died, was buried, rose on the third day, and was witnessed by over 500 people,  plus the disciples. When he ascended back to heaven 40 days later in a flesh and bone body, He promised to return.  In the meantime, He would send the Holy Spirit to be with all those who belonged to Him.
(The resurrection: 1 Cor.15:3-8; 20-23; Lk 24:13-45; the first four chapters of Acts).

According to Jesus, (according to Scripture) there is a hell, and all those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will have their part in it, along with Satan and his apostate angels.  Being in denial of it does not make it untrue.  It will not save you.  There will be no sin in heaven.  The only way into heaven is by recognizing we are a sinner in need of a Savior,  and putting our faith in Christ Jesus' substitutionary atonement on the cross, and believing that He died and rose again from the dead.   He will one day return, not as Savior, but as Judge against all those who have rejected Him.  Revelation 19:11-16;  Rev.20:11-15; Rev.21:6-8).  If He is not your Savior and Lord yet, please seek Him.  He says that if you will seek Him with all your heart and mind you will find Him.  He is able to forgive all your sins, regenerate your heart to love Him, and give the Holy Spirit to bring God's Word to life for you so you can grow spiritually, progressively taking on His character and love, for Him and others.

We all know others, family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, that may still be believing the lies of Satan and have not yet recognized they are sinners in need of a Saviour.  We must not give up praying for them to come to a saving faith in Christ Jesus and ask God to work in their hearts and lives to draw them to His Son, whatever it takes.  We want them regenerated and in heaven with us!

~Annie~