Psalm 119 - He: Lord, Change Me!

"He. Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,

And I shall observe it to the end.

Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law

And keep it with all my heart.

Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,

For I delight in it.

Incline my heart to Your testimonies

And not to dishonest gain.

Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity,

And revive me in Your ways.

Establish Your word to Your servant,

As that which produces reverence for You.

Turn away my reproach which I dread,

For Your ordinances are good.

Behold, I long for Your precepts;

Revive me through Your righteousness." 

(Psalm 119:33-40 NASB)

 

 

How do the prayers of the Psalmist here compare to mine?  What am I asking God FOR?   Notice the Psalmist does not pray things like, ‘Lord enable me to…’, or ‘give the doctors or whoever wisdom to…’, or anything like that.  Those may not be bad things, but I am challenged to find prayers like those modeled for us in the Bible.  No, here the Psalmist essentially pleads, ‘Lord, DO it!’  I must go further to ask You to change me.  Notice the pleas, which start with ‘teach’ me, then escalate from there:

·      ‘give me understanding’ (v.34)

·      ‘make me walk’ (v. 35)

·      ‘incline my heart’ (v. 36)

·      ‘turn away my eyes’ (v. 27)

·      ‘establish Your word’ (v. 38)

·      ‘turn away my reproach’ (v. 39)

All of which result in:

·      observing Your ways with a whole heart (v. 33-34)

·      delighting in Your commandments (v. 35)

·      avoiding dishonest gain (v. 36)

·      a revived and reverent life (vv. 37-40)

In other words, save me and change me, for I cannot save myself!

 

'A sense of dependence and a consciousness of extreme need pervade this section, which is all made up of prayer and plea. Psalm 119:25-32 trembled with a sense of sin, quivering with a childlike sense of weakness and folly, which caused the man of God to cry out for the help by which alone his soul could be preserved from falling back into sin.’[1]


[1] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119 - He, e-Sword edition

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