Psalm 119 - Resh: Nearness in Affliction

"Resh. Look upon my affliction and rescue me,

For I do not forget Your law.

[154] Plead my cause and redeem me;

Revive me according to Your word.

[155] Salvation is far from the wicked,

For they do not seek Your statutes.

[156] Great are Your mercies, O LORD;

Revive me according to Your ordinances.

[157] Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,

Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies.

[158] I behold the treacherous and loathe them,

Because they do not keep Your word.

[159] Consider how I love Your precepts;

Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness.

[160] The sum of Your word is truth,

And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting." 

(Psalm 119:153-160)

 

If Your nearness is my good (Psalm 73:28), then distance from You is an unbearable terror (Psalm 27:9).  Here we see the Psalmist relish Your attention (v. 153), advocacy and revival (v. 154, 156, 159), lovingkindness (v. 159) and complete and everlasting truth (v. 160).  This stands in sharp contrast with the wicked who do not seek Your statutes (v. 155), many persecutors and adversaries who can take comfort only in one another (v. 157, see also Psalm 2:2-4, Psalm 25:19), and the treacherous who are worthy of godly loathing, rejecting the riches of Your word (v. 158, see also Psalm 139:21, Proverbs 13:13).  How miraculous, Father, that You would use the affliction of those who are far from You to bring Your people near to You.

 

‘In this section the Psalmist seems to draw still nearer to God in prayer, and to state his case and to invoke the divine help with more of boldness and expectation. It is a pleading passage, and the key-word of it is, “Consider.” With much boldness he pleads his intimate union with the Lord's cause as a reason why he should be aided. The special aid that he seeks is personal quickening, for which he cries to the Lord again and again.’[1]


Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119 - Resh, e-Sword edition

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