Psalm 119: 105-112

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

 

105.  Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

106.  I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.

107.  I am afflicted very much; revive me, O Lord, according to Your Word.

108.  Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me 

         Your judgments.

109.  Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I do not forget Your law.

110.  The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not strayed from Your

         precepts.

111.  Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the

         rejoicing of my heart.

112.  I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, to the very

         end.

 

 

105.  Your Word is a lamp to my feet.  We are walkers of the cities of this world and we are often called to go into the darkness.  Never venture there without the life-giving Word, less you slip.  Use God's Word personally, practically, and habitually to see the way and what lies in it.  When darkness settles around me, the Lord's Word, like a flaming torch, reveals my way.  Having no fixed lamps in certain ancient towns, each person carried a lantern to avoid falling into the open sewer or stumbling over the heaps of manure that defiled the road.  This is a true picture of our path through this dark world.  We would not know the way or how to walk in it if the Scripture, like a blazing torch, did not reveal it.  One of the most practical benefits of the Bible is guidance in the acts of daily life.  Scripture is not sent to astound us with its brilliance, but to guide us by its instruction.  It is true that the head needs illumination, but the feet need direction even more, lest both feet and head fall into a ditch.

And a light to my path.  It is a lamp by night, a light by day, and a delight at all times.  David guided his steps by it.  He saw the difficulties of the road from its beams.  Whoever walks in darkness will stumble sooner or later.  The person who walks by the light of day or by the lamp of night does not stumble, but keeps upright.  Ignorance about practical subjects is painful; it breeds indecision and anxiety, and these are uncomfortable.  The Word of God, by imparting heavenly knowledge, leads to decision, and when that is followed by determined resolution, as in this case, it brings great restfulness of heart.

106.  I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.  Under the influence of the clear light of knowledge, David had firmly made up his mind and solemnly declared his resolve in the sight of God.  Whatever path was open to him, David had sworn to follow only where the lamp of the Word was shining.  The Scriptures are God's judgments or verdicts on great moral questions.  These are righteous, and righteous people should resolve to keep them at all costs.  The bonds of God's love are no less sacred than the chains of His law.  Will not every believer acknowledge that they are under bonds to the redeeming Lord to follow His example and keep His Words? This is especially so for those who have made a profession of discipleship, have been baptised in to the thrice-holy name, have eaten the consecrated memorials, and have spoken in the name of he Lord Jesus.  We are enlisted, sworn in, and bound to be loyal soldiers throughout the war.  Having taken the Word into our hearts by a firm resolve to obey it, we have a lamp in our souls as well as in the Book.  And our course will be light to the end.

 

107.  I am afflicted very much.  According to the previous verse he had been sworn in as a soldier of the Lord.  In this verse he is called to suffer affliction in that capacity.  Our service to the Lord does not screen us from trials; rather, it secures them.  The psalmist was consecrated, yet chastened.  The chastisements were not light, and it seemed the more he was obedient, the more he was afflicted.  He evidently felt the rod cutting deep, and this he pleads before the Lord.  He does not complain.  He pleads from great affliction for great reviving.

Revive me, O Lord, according to Your Word.  This is the best remedy for trials.  Affliction grows light when the soul is raised above the thought of present distress, for then it is filled with the holy joy that attends all vigorous spiritual life.  Jehovah alone can revive.  He has life in Himself and can readily communicate it.  He can give life at any moment, yes, at this present instant.  the nature of reviving is to be quick in the operation.  The Lord has promised, prepared and provided this blessing of renewed life for all His waiting servants.  It is a covenant blessing and it is as obtainable as it is necessary.  Frequently, affliction becomes the means of reviving, just as stirring a fire increases heat.  In affliction, some desire death, but let us pray for life.  Our forecasts under trials are often gloomy, so let us entreat the Lord to deal with us not according to our fears but according to His Word. 

108.  Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord.  The living praise the living God, and thus the revived one presents his sacrifice.  David offers prayer, praise, confession, and testimony.  These, presented with his voice in the presence of an audience, were his tribute to Jehovah.  He trembles lest these be displeasing to the Lord, and so he implores to be accepted. The psalmist pleads that the praise of his mouth will have been rendered cheerfully and spontaneously.  All his statements were free-will offerings, for there is no value in extorted confessions.  God's revenues are not derived from forced taxation but from free-will offerings.  There can be no acceptance where there is no willingness.  There is no work of free grace when there is no fruit of freewill.  Acceptance is a favor sought from the Lord with all earnestness, and without it, our offerings are worse than useless.

And teach me Your judgments.  When we give the Lord our best, we become all the more concerned to do better.  If the Lord will accept us, we want to be further instructed to be more acceptable.  After reviving, we need teaching. Life without light, or zeal without knowledge, would be half a blessing.  These repeated cries for teaching show the humility of the man of God and point out our need for similar instruction.  Our judgment needs educating until it knows, agrees with, and acts on the judgments of the Lord.  These judgments are not always clear enough to be seen at once.  We need to be taught until we admire their wisdom and adore their goodness.

 

109.  My life is continually in my hand.  David lived in the midst of danger. He was always fighting for existence, hiding in caves or contending in battles.  this is an uncomfortable and trying state of affairs, and people who are in them are apt to think any expedient is justifiable to end such a condition.  David, however, did not turn aside to find safety in sin, for he says, yet I do not forget Your law.  While David carried his life in his hand, he also carried the Law in his heart.  No danger should make us endanger our souls by forgetting what is right.  In his memory of the Lord's Law lay his safety.  He was certain that he was not forgotten by God, for God was not forgotten by him.  It is a special proof of grace when nothing can drive truth from our thoughts or holiness from our lives.  If we remember the law when death is starring us in the face, we may be well assured that the Lord is remembering us.

110.  The wicked have laid a snare for me.  Spiritual life is the scene of constant danger.  The believe lives with his life in his hand.  All seem to be plotting to take it, by cunning, if they cannot by violence.  We will not find it easy to live the life of the faithful.  Wicked people and wicked spirits will leave no stone unturned for our destruction.  If all other devices fail, and if even hidden pits do not succeed, the wicked will still persevere in their treacherous endeavors.  They set snares for the victim of their hate.  Smaller species of game are usually taken by trap, net, or noose.  Wicked people are quite indifferent to the way they destroy the good man, for they think no more of him than if he were a rabbit or a rat.  Cunning and treachery are always the allies of malice.  Anything like a generous or chivalrous feeling is unknown among the graceless.  They treat the godly as if they were vermin to be exterminated.

When a man is assailed, he is too apt to become fearful and rush to some hasty, sinful device for deliverance. But David calmly kept his way.  Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.  He was not snared. He kept his eyes open, and he kept near God.  The psalmist was not trapped and robbed, for he followed the Kings highway of holiness, where God secures safety to every traveler.  He did not err from the right, and he was not deterred from following it because he referred to the Lord for guidance.  If we err from the precepts, we part with the promises.  If we get a way from God's presence, we wander into the wilds, where Fowler's freely spread their nets.  Let us learn from this verse to be on guard, for we have crafty and wicked enemies.  Hunters set traps in the animals usual runs, and our worse snares are laid by our own ways.  Let us keep to the Lord's ways, and then we will escape the snares of the adversary, for God's ways are safe and free from treachery.

 

111.  Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever.  He chose them as his lot, his portion, and his estate.  David took them into his possession and enjoyment. And his choice is our choice.  If we could have our desire we would want to keep God's commands perfectly.  To know the doctrine and to enjoy the promise to practice the command---this is a kingdom large enough for me.  Here, we have an inheritance that cannot fade and from which we cannot be alienated; it is forever, and it is ours forever.  Sometimes, like Israel coming into Canaan, we have to take our heritage by hard fighting (Joshua 8:1), and it is worthy of all our labor and suffering.  But it always has to be taken by a decided choice of the heart and a strong grip of the will.  What God gives we must take.

For they are the rejoicing of my heart.  The gladness that had come through the Word of the Lord had caused David to make an unalterable choice.  All the parts of Scripture had been pleasing, and so he stuck to them and meant to stick to them forever.  That which rejoices the heart is sure to be chosen and treasured.  It is not head knowledge, but heart experience that brings joy.

 

 

It is a good thing when experience ripens into joy, when it passes through  sorrow, prayer, conflict, hope, decision, and holy contentment into rejoicing!  Joy fixes the spirit.  When hearts rejoice in the divine Word, they greatly value it and are forever united to it.

 

As the Old Testament gave testimony to God, the New Testament gives testimony to Christ.  "To Him all the prophets witness"  (Acts 10:43), not only the Old Testament but also the New Testament prophets.  "These are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39).  Everywhere there is testimony of Christ, of His humility in taking our nature, of His power in working miracles,  of His wisdom in the parables He spoke, in His patience and love in the torments that He suffered for us.  Both Law and Gospel, the whole Book of Scripture, is properly called Your Testimonies.

 

112.  I have inclined my heart to  perform Your statutes forever, to the very end.   His heart was not half inclined but heartily inclined to virtue.  His heart was bent on practical, persevering godliness.  David resolved to keep the statues of the Lord with all his heart, throughout all his time, without error or end.  He made it his end to keep the law to the end without end.  The psalmist had by prayer, meditation, and resolution, made his entire being lean toward God's commands.  In other words, God's grace had inclined him to incline his heart in a sanctified direction.

 

The sinful heart will run on anything---earthly things, evil things, impertinent and unseasonable things, but it will not come to, or keep that which it should mind.  It must be taken as by a strong hand and set on spiritual things, to muse and meditate on heavenly things.  A carnal heart is like a magnet; it holds to nothing but steel or iron.  But the heart must be of a different material and act in a higher way.  A good heart, though it thinks too much earthward and often runs wrong, will set itself on the right objects.  David tells us how he did it. I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes, both to keep and to meditate on them. He took and inclined his heart, as a thing that had been bending too much to other things.  He pondered, set his mind, and found that his heart was too far away from the law of God.  He then brought them together and made them one.  If he had not brought his heart to the Word, he would never had meditated.  The object cannot apply itself to the mind; the mind must bring itself to the object. No holy duties will come to us.  We must go to them. (Nathaniel Ranew, 1670)

Commentary taken from Treasury of David...Charles Spurgeon

105. Your Word is a lamp to my feet. We are walkers of the cities of this world and we are often called to go into the darkness. Never venture there without the life-giving Word, less you slip. Use God's Word personally, practically, and habitually to see the way and what lies in it. When darkness settles around me, the Lord's Word, like a flaming torch, reveals my way. Having no fixed lamps in certain ancient towns, each person carried a lantern to avoid falling into the open sewer or stumbling over the heaps of manure that defiled the road. This is a true picture of our path through this dark world. We would not know the way or how to walk in it if the Scripture, like a blazing torch, did not reveal it. One of the most practical benefits of the Bible is guidance in the acts of daily life. Scripture is not sent to astound us with its brilliance, but to guide us by its instruction. It is true that the head needs illumination, but the feet need direction even more, lest both feet and head fall into a ditch.

My thoughts on verse 105...                                                                            
Without the light of God's Word to illuminate our understanding and give us wisdom, we would be in big trouble.  Without the light to shine on our path in this dark world, we may be unaware of the danger up ahead, or we may take the wrong direction and get lost.   We are pilgrims here in this land and are on our journey back home where we belong.  There are many obstacles, traps, and snares on the pathway. There are also temptations and other allurements to distract us and carry us off the path that leads home.   We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Light of the world to show us the way, and to be our Guide all the way home.

~Annie~