Psalm 119:29

(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.)

 

"Remove the false way from me,

And graciously grant me Your law.”

 

Something inferior must be removed and replaced with something superior.  Father, You are about our maximum joy, and so You direct us away from that which will destroy and discourage to the invaluable riches of Your word (Proverbs 3:15, Proverbs 8:11).  We see this expulsive power in Psalm 119:104, Psalm 119:128.  Thomas Chalmers wrote of it in ‘The Expulsive Power of a New Affection’, .  Having experienced the Lord (Psalm 34:8), nothing less will do.  Yet, knowing this and even experiencing this, the sin in our hearts is often drawn elsewhere.  So the Psalmist prays in desperation for God to take that away!  He knows that transformation can be sought in God but not accomplished in self.  The section began with the Psalmist cleaving to the dust and he needs help!

 

‘He desired to be right and upright, true and in the truth; but he feared that a measure of falsehood would cling to him unless the Lord took it away, and therefore he earnestly cried for its removal. False motives may at times sway us, and we may fall into mistaken notions of our own spiritual condition before God, which erroneous conceits may be kept up by a natural prejudice in our own favour, and so we may be confirmed in a delusion, and abide under error unless grace comes to the rescue. No true heart can rest in a false view of itself;… if the law be not in our hearts the lie will enter…The only way to expel the lie is to accept the truth…a belief of the doctrines of grace is a grand preservative from deadly error…In Psa 119:21 David cries out against pride, and here against lying - these are much the same thing. Is not pride the greatest of all lies?’[1]

[1] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:29, 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