Psalm 119:79

(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.)

 

"May those who fear You turn to me,

Even those who know Your testimonies."

 

Because of his orientation towards Your word, the Psalmist had those who fear You see him and be glad (v. 74), and now asks that they turn to him, perhaps again.  The truth of Psalm 119:63 is surely reflected here.  Lord, what a unifier Your word is and who You are!  There is no greater companionship.  Note both the affirmation and the equality here.  While the Psalmist may have been more advanced in the word (the fact that he wrote this Psalm makes this likely), yet here we see ‘even those who know Your testimonies’.  The picture here isn’t necessarily that they come to him to know Your word, but that they already have a knowledge of it that draws them to him.  The Psalmist needs them as much as they need him, particularly in light of the oppression described in v.78.  Certainly David experienced this in 2 Chronicles 15:9.  I am reminded of Colossians 3:16 and context, namely, that as Your word dwells in us individually, it draws us together indelibly.   How could it not be so given the reality of Your word?  Being in Your word and sharing it with one another, we recognize the Source, the one Shepherd who is leading, feeding, and caring for us all (Ecclesiastes 12:11). 

 

‘Those who are right with God are also anxious to be right with his children… We cannot afford to lose the love of the least of the saints, and if we have lost their esteem we may most properly pray to have it restored. David was the leader of the godly party in the nation, and it wounded him to the heart when he perceived that those who feared God were not as glad to see him as aforetime they had been… those who are dear to God, and are instructed in his word, should be very precious in our eyes, and we should do our utmost to be upon good terms with them.

     David has two descriptions for the saints, they are God-fearing and God-knowing. They possess both devotion and instruction; they have both the spirit and the science of true religion. We know some believers who are gracious, but not intelligent; and, on the other hand, we also know certain professors who have all head and no heart- he is the man who combines devotion with intelligence. We neither care for devout dunces nor for intellectual icebergs. When fearing and knowing walk hand in hand they cause men to be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. [2 Timothy 3:17]’[1]


[1] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:79, e-Sword edition

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