Psalm 119:26

(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 have told of my ways, and You have answered me;

Teach me Your statutes." 

 

I see John 15:7 in this verse.  Why? While the Psalmist cries out for help, that help comes in the form of Your word.  I believe that, while it is a wondrous, unspeakable thing that we can come to You in prayer (Psalm 65:2, Psalm 62:8, Hebrews 4:16), it is infinitely more important that we hear from You than that You hear from us.  For You to reprove and direct me away from my own heart to Yours (Proverbs 28:26) is necessary, for only You can show me the path of life (Psalm 16:11), for my ways apart from You can only end in darkness and death (Proverbs 4:19-20, Proverbs 14:12).  Reflecting on the word ‘way’, which means path, journey, pattern of life:

•     I have told of my ways, but I need an answer from You to speak into those ways (Psalm 119:26)

•     In order to understand the way of Your commands, I need to meditate on the wonderful things You do (Psalm 119:27)

•     I need false ways to be removed and replaced by Your living and active law (Psalm 119:29)

•     I need to choose the faithful way of Your ordinances ever before me (Psalm 119:30)

•     Finally, I need to run in the way of Your commandments and in Your strength, unhesitatingly and boldly (I think of Psalm 119:59-60)

 

‘Open confession is good for the soul. Nothing brings more ease and more life to a man than a frank acknowledgment of the evil which has caused the sorrow and the lethargy. Such a declaration proves that the man knows his own condition, and is no longer blinded by pride… It is God's way to forgive our sinful way when we from our hearts confess the wrong… He was not willing to sin through ignorance, he wished to know all the mind of God by being taught it by the best of teachers… This cry for teaching is frequent in the Psalm; in Psa 119:12 it followed a sight of God, here follows from a sight of self. Every experience should lead us thus to plead it with God.’[1]


[1] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:26, e-Sword edition


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