Psalm 119: 41-48

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



41.  Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord---Your salvation according to  

       Your Word.

42.  So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in Your

       Word.

43.  And take not the Word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped

       in Your ordinances.

44.  So shall I keep Your law continually;  forever and ever.

45.  And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts.

46.  I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings. And will not be ashamed.

47.  And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.

48.  My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love. And I will 

       meditate on Your statutes.

These eight verses are one continuous plea for grace to abide in his soul

41.  Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord.  David wants mercy as well as teaching.  He who said "Let there be light" (Gen.1:3), can also say, "Let there be mercy."  

Lord, Your enemies reproach me, so let Your mercies come to defend me.  Trials and troubles abound, much labor and suffering approaches me.  Lord, let Your mercies in great number enter the gate at the same hour.  For are You not the God of mercy?

Your salvation.  This is the sum and crown of all mercies; deliverance from all evil, both now and forever more.  This is the first mention of salvation in this Psalm, and it is joined with mercy.  "For by grace you have been saved (Eph 2:8).  What a mass of mercies is heaped together in the one salvation of our Lord Jesus!  It includes the mercies that spared us before our conversion.  Then there is calling mercy, the regenerating mercy, and the pardoning mercy.  Nor can we exclude from complete salvation the many mercies that are needed to conduct the believer safe to glory.

According to Your Word.  The way of salvation is described in the Word.  Salvation is promised in the Word.  Its inner manifestation is worked by the Word.  And the salvation that is in Christ Jesus is in accordance with the Word.  David loved the Scriptures but he personally longed to know the salvation contained in them.  He was not satisfied to just read the Word; he longed to experience its inner sense.  He valued the field of Scripture for the treasure he found in it.  He wanted mercies and salvation.

42.  So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me.  When God, by granting salvation, gives our prayers an answer of peace, we are ready to answer the objections of the unbeliever, the quibbles of the skeptical, and the sneers of the contemptuous.  Revilers should be answered,  and hence we may expect the Lord to save His people in order that a weapon may be put into their hands (The Sword of the Spirit/and the Word of God) with which to rout His adversaries.  When those who are reproaching us are reproaching God, we may ask Him to help us silence them with the proof of His mercy and His faithfulness.

For I trust in Your Word.  His faith was seen by trusting under trial.  I trust in Your Word is a declaration worth making. The Lord has chosen faith to be the hand where He places His mercies and salvation. For Your Word has given me life.

43.  And take not the Word of truth utterly out of my mouth.  How can I continually proclaim Your Word if it fails me?  The Word of truth cannot be a joy to our mouths unless we have an experience of it in our lives.  We must not quench the Holy Spirit by sin of any kind if we are to proclaim the Gospel message to others.  We must confess sin, and turn from it to have a clear conscience to speak freely.

For I have hoped in Your ordinances.  He had expected God to appear and vindicate his cause, that he might speak with confidence concerning God's faithfulness.  God is the author of our hopes, and we may ask Him to fulfill them.  The Judgments of His providence are the outcome of His Word.  What He says in the Scriptures, He actually performs in His government.  We may look for Him to be strong on behalf of His threats and promises, and we will not look in vain.

44.  So shall I keep Your law continually, forever and ever.  Nothing more effectively binds a believer to the way of the Lord than an experience of the truth of His Word in the form of mercies and deliverances.  The Lord's faithfulness not only opens our mouths against His adversaries, but also knits our hearts to His fear and makes our union with Him more intense.  Great mercies lead to inexpressible gratitude, which promises to immerse eternity with praises. 

God's grace alone can enable us to keep His commandments.  There is no other way to ensure our perseverance in holiness but by the Word of truth dwelling in us.  And so David prayed that it might dwell in Him.

Mercy answers all things.  If God gives us salvation, we can conquer hell, commune with heaven, answer reproach, and keep the law to the end, world without end.

By public testimony and personal life, he would fulfill the divine will and confirm the bonds that bound him to the Lord forever.

45.  And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts.  Saints find no bondage in sanctity.  The Spirit of holiness is a free spirit;  He sets people at liberty and enables them to resist every effort of subjection.  The way of holiness is not a track for slaves; it is the Kings highway for free saints, who joyfully journey from the bondage of Egypt to the land of Canaan.  God's mercy and salvation teach us to love the precepts of the Word, and they give us joyful rest.  The More we seek the perfection of our obedience, the more we will enjoy complete emancipation from spiritual slavery.

I will walk, showing his daily progress through life, at liberty, as one free from prison.  I seek Your precepts.  The object he seeks is God's will.

46.  I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. This is part of his liberty.  He is free from fear, even of the greatest, proudest, and most tyrannical.  David spoke what he believed and he acknowledged God's Word.  When God gives grace cowardice vanishes.  Those who speak for God in God's power will not be ashamed when beginning to speak, or while speaking, or after speaking.

47.  And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.  After liberty and courage comes delight.  Obey the command and you will love it. carry the easy yoke, and rest will come.  David renewed his strength by feeding on precious truth.  Where our love is there is our delight.  In the Scriptures, David found a home. His heart was in them and they yielded pure pleasure.  Jesus said,  "if anyone loves Me, he will keep my Word (John 14:23).

David spoke of walking in liberty and of speaking boldly, for true love is free and fearless.  Love fulfills the Law.

Let Your mercies come that we may love Your Word and way and find all our delight in them.  Amen.  This verse establishes not only what He has done but also what He will do.  He will delight in the Lord's commands.  David knew they would never fail to give joy.  He also knew that grace would keep his heart feeling the same way toward the Lord's precepts.  Throughout his life, he would take supreme delight in holiness.  His heart was so fixed in love to God's will that he knew grace would always hold him in its delightful influence.

48.  My hands also, I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love. And I will glory in Your faithfulness.  My hands also, I will lift up is full of meaning.  He expresses his love.  A true heart loves to express itself;  it is a fire that must send out flames.  It was natural that he would reach toward a command that he delighted in, just as a child holds out its hands to receive a gift.  When such a lovely object as holiness is set before us, we rise toward it with all our nature.  Until this is accomplished we should lift our hands in prayer toward it.

I will meditate on Your statutes.  He can never meditate enough on the mind of God.  Loving subjects want to be familiar with their sovereign's statutes, for they are anxious not to offend through ignorance. Prayer with lifted hands and meditation with upward eyes work best for inner results.  The prayer is already fulfilled in the person who is struggling upward and studying deeply.

When mercy comes down, our hands will be lifted up.  When God in favor thinks on us, we are sure to think of Him.

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

My personal thoughts on this particular passage...

41. Your salvation. This is the sum and crown of all mercies; deliverance from all evil, both now and forever more. This is the first mention of salvation in this Psalm, and it is joined with mercy. "For by grace you have been saved (Eph 2:8). What a mass of mercies is heaped together in the one salvation of our Lord Jesus! It includes the mercies that spared us before our conversion. Then there is calling mercy, the regenerating mercy, and the pardoning mercy. Nor can we exclude from complete salvation the many mercies that are needed to conduct the believer safe to glory.

When I look back on my life, in retrospect, I see many of God's mercies toward me, even before I knew Him.  There was more than one instance in my life where I should have died, but by God's intervention and mercy, I didn't.  Even in many other circumstances I have experienced God's mercies, although I may not always have recognized them, at that time, as coming from Him.  As we know, God often uses other people to carry some of these mercies to us.  Whatever sources or tools God chooses to use, we need to remember who put it into the hearts of the people, at that specific time of need, to be there for another.  The original source of kindness and mercy is always from God. 

The greatest mercy is that God has been watching over us, preserving us, as well as preparing us by bringing particular people, and circumstances into our lives.  Why?  He loves us as a Father and always had a plan to adopt us as His children.  First, though, because He is holy and cannot tolerate sin in His presence, our Triune God planned a way of freeing us of our sin debt and providing us with His Son's perfect righteousness so that we could be reconciled and have a personal intimate relationship with the Father through Christ Jesus, enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

God is patient with us and will reveal Himself bit by bit to us, over many years, and often through many tears. He knows exactly what circumstances we need, and how long it will take for us to recognize we are sinners in need of a Savior.  We cannot save ourselves through any number of good works.  We must recognize and believe His Word is true and there is only one Savior under heaven who can save, and that is Jesus Christ, (Acts 4:12)  God's only Son.  Romans 10:17 says "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ." 

After we have come to a saving faith in Christ Jesus we shall see mercy after mercy, for they are new every morning (Lam.3:22,23).  We have a new living hope and that is Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col.1:27).  God's Word becomes a delight as we feed on it daily and drink of His Holy Spirit.  We will still have tests and trials to go through before we go home, but we never need to go through them alone, or in our own strength.  He walks us through them.  He has become our Anchor, and our faith will be unmovable as we keep our eyes and heart fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.


~Annie~

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