Psalm 119:9

"Beth. How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping it according to Your word."

 

How can Psalm 119:1-2 be possible, especially for a young man full of fleshly passion?  According to Your word.  ‘Pure’ is זָכָה, zāḵāh: A verb meaning to clean, to be clean, to cleanse…it carries the connotation of being pure or cleansed from sin (Psa 119:9; Isa 1:16; Mic 6:11). ‘Keeping’ is the Hebrew שָׁמַר, šāmar: A verb meaning to watch, to keep, to preserve, to guard, to be careful, to watch over, to watch carefully over, to be on one's guard. The verb means to watch, to guard, to care for.  Purity is no accident, yet it cannot be done with one’s own resources (Proverbs 20:9). 

 

‘…the poet desires this, and supplicates God's gracious assistance in order to it. To purify or cleanse one's way or walk (זִכָּה, cf. Psa 73:13; Pro 20:9) signifies to maintain it pure.’[1]

 

‘You must take heed to your daily life, as well as study your Bible, and you must study your Bible that you may take heed to your daily life…Wilful ignorance is in itself wilful sin, and the evil which comes of it is without excuse. Let each man, whether young or old, who desires to be holy have a holy watchfulness in his heart, and keep his Holy Bible before his open eye. There he will find every turn of the road marked down, every slough and miry place pointed out, with the way to go through unsoiled; and there, too, he will find light for his darkness, comfort for his weariness, and company for his loneliness, so that by its help he shall reach the benediction of Psa 119:1 of the Psalm, which suggested the Psalmist's enquiry, and awakened his desires.’[2]


[1] Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on Psalm 119:9, e-Sword edition

[2] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:9, e-Sword edition

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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  seek  her as silver And  search  for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of Yahweh And find the knowledge of God
Read more

Friendship with the World

"The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' ( - Jesus, Luke 7:34 NASB) 'You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.' (James 4:4 NASB) 'It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.' ( - the Apostle Paul, 1 Timothy 1:15 NASB) Was Jesus, in fact, a friend of sinners? What is to be the nature of our relationships as believers with unbelievers? As believers, should we refer to ourselves as ‘sinners’? As I've reflected on much of the teaching I've heard in recent times, as well as many conversations I've had, it seems to me much confusion abounds regarding these questions.  I hear the term 'contextualization'
Read more

Precious in the Sight of the Lord

Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.  (Psalm 116:15 NASB) I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.  (the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:31 NASB) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"   (John 11:25-26 NASB)      Does anyone die too young?      By some accounts, Jesus did.  I have friends and family members for whom many have said that they died an untimely death or that they 'died too young'.  As for me, in many ways I feel that I did not die young enough, so to speak.  Please indulge me to explain.      As I write this, I am in Mt. Lebanon, PA, where my family lived from 1983 - 1999.  When I was in college, my parents went into full time ministry here in the Pittsburgh area with the Navigators.  By many accounts it was a fruitful tim
Read more