Psalm 119 - Heth: Ask, Seek, Knock, and Go

"Heth. The LORD is my portion;

I have promised to keep Your words.

I sought Your favor with all my heart;

Be gracious to me according to Your word.

I considered my ways

And turned my feet to Your testimonies.

I hastened and did not delay

To keep Your commandments.

The cords of the wicked have encircled me,

But I have not forgotten Your law.

At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You

Because of Your righteous ordinances.

I am a companion of all those who fear You,

And of those who keep Your precepts.

The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O LORD;

Teach me Your statutes." 

(Psalm 119:57-64 NASB95)

 

 

Because You are my portion (v. 57) and Your favor overrules the favor of men (v. 58) , I have promised to keep Your words, live a life that is dependent upon Your grace, examining my ways before You, running in Your commands.  Neither the wicked nor the dark of night can keep me from You.  I seek Your presence in those who fear You (v. 63) and see Your lovingkindness all about in a world that doesn’t.

 

‘In this section the Psalmist seems to take firm hold upon God himself; appropriating him (Psa 119:57), crying out for him (Psa 119:58), returning to him (Psa 119:59), solacing himself in him (Psa 119:61, Psa 119:62), associating with his people (Psa 119:63), and sighing for personal experience of his goodness (Psa 119:64). Note how Psa 119:57 is linked to the last of the former one, of which indeed it is an expanded repetition. “This I had because I kept thy precepts. Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.”’[1]


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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 119:75

(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled ‘God and His Word’.   The introduction can be found here , successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)   "I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me."   In this section, Yodh, the Psalmist seeks comfort (v. 76) and compassion (v. 77) because of Your affliction (v.75) and the subversion of the arrogant (v. 78).   We had just seen in v. 67 and v.71 the good that comes from affliction, and now we see here that this affliction is from You and an expression of Your faithfulness.   Of course this is true, since all good comes from You.   This is part of the ‘exceeding faithfulness’ of Your word (v. 138).   Through affliction we truly seek You (Psalm 78:34, Hosea 5:15).   Through affliction comes praise and satisfac...
Read more

God and His Wisdom: An Introduction to Proverbs

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To  know  wisdom and discipline, To  understand  the sayings of understanding, To  receive  discipline that leads to insight, Righteousness, justice, and equity, To  give  prudence to the simple, To the youth knowledge and discretion; Let the wise man  hear  and  increase  in learning, And a man of understanding will  acquire  guidance, To  understand  a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Proverbs 1:1-7 LSB, with emphasis)   “My son, if you will  receive  my words And  treasure  my commandments within you, To  make your ear pay attention  to wisdom, Incline your heart  to discernment; For if you  call out  for understanding, Give your voice  for discernment; If you  ...
Read more

Psalm 119:76

(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled ‘God and His Word’.   The introduction can be found here , successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)   "O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant."   ‘O may Your lovingkindness comfort me’, yet how often I have refused to be comforted (Psalm 77:2).    Why is that?   ‘According to Your word’ is, in my pride, the last thing I want.   I want to be comforted on my terms, not on Yours Lord!   That is not true comfort, yet my flesh deceives me.   As I learned in my early counseling sessions, I had to come to grips with the reality that I just wanted relief, I didn’t want You.   I wanted temporary relief then to go on running my own life.   Your lovingkindness is such that You won’t allow that.   You know that onl...
Read more