Psalm 119:48

(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.)

 

"And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments,

Which I love;

And I will meditate on Your statutes."

 

My mind goes immediately to Psalm 138:2, where Your word is spoken of in worshipful terms.  This makes people uncomfortable, bringing accusations of ‘bibliolatry’.  I often reflect on two things in response.  First, that Your word is personal and that You come with it (Psalm 119:151); You cannot be separated from Your word.  As an example, both You and Your word - written and incarnate - are truth (John 14:6, John 17:17).  Second, the accusation is an empty one; I have never met someone who has too high a view of Scripture, nor have I seen an outbreak of it.  Yet, there is the warning of Jesus in John 5:39-40, which actually reinforces the truth of this verse, namely, that the word is a source of true worship; in fact, we cannot worship without it (John 4:24).  So what is the Psalmist’s response here?  To lift up his hands in the heights of worship, and meditate on Your statutes to the depths of his soul.  He exalts You in this way within and without in love.  Personally, I am just in awe at the perfection and power of Your word, and am grieved to my core when it is neglected.

 

‘Prayer with lifted hands, and meditation with upward-glancing eyes will in happy union work out the best inward results. The prayer of Psa 119:41 is already fulfilled in the man who is thus struggling upward and studying deeply. The whole of this verse is in the future, and may be viewed not only as a determination of David's mind, but as a result which he knew would follow from the Lord's sending him his mercies and his salvation.’[1]

[1] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:48, e-Sword edition


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