In His Grip

(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...

(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 see me and be glad, Because I wait for Your word."   Because I am so wonderful?   Surely not.   I have no good besides You (Psalm 16:2).   Those who fear You want more of You, and recognize that comes primarily from Your word, and secondarily the work of the word in others for our mutual benefit (e.g. see Colossians 3:16).   We see a parallel with Psalm 119:79, where those who fear You turn to me.   Why gladness?   ‘Glad’ is the Hebrew ‘ שָׂמַח , śāmaḥ: A verb meaning to rejoice; to be joyful, to be glad; to gloat. It describes a state and agitation of rejoicing, of being happy.   This is the only occurrence of the word in ...

(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.)   "Your hands made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments."   You who crafted me are eminently qualified to rule my life.   In fact, for me to have understanding, You must!   I think of Psalm 139:13, Psalm 139:24, how You, O Lord, are Master and Creator of things seen and unseen, from the ‛āśāh, and has the sense of accomplished or completed.   ‘Fashioned’ is כּוּן , kûn and has the sense of having established or prepared.   This leads me to Ephesians 2:10 and to pray, ‘Lord, You have created me for a purpose, help me to know what it is and how Your commandments enable me to live out that purpose!’   Creation and new crea...

(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.)   "The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces."   If this is to be believed, I am set not only for life, but for eternity.   See also Psalm 119:14, Psalm 119:162.   I think of the worldly exhilaration of having a ‘pile of gold’.   To many, the thought is winning the lottery (notwithstanding the warnings against gaining wealth too quickly (e.g. Proverbs 20:21).   Imagine having access to a supreme king and all his resources.   I believe that is the sense here.   Note ‘law of Your mouth’.   This is personal speech from You, Lord.   Incredible.   How can I not be attentive and receive all that I can as You spe...

(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.)   "It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes."   In the scope of Teth, we see a radical redefinition of what is good compared with our inclinations.   ‘You have dealt well’ (v.65).   How so?   According to Your word, but magnified and focused in affliction, whether that be through Your sovereignty in difficult circumstances, or with difficult people - in this case, crafty, arrogant liars (v. 69).   The pressure within and without grows us (see Romans 5:1-5, Romans 8:28-30,   James 1:2-4 among many others!).   Hope in a perfect result!   See the notes on v. 67.   ‘It is good’ because ‘You are good and do good’ (v.68). ...

(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.)   "Their heart is covered with fat, But I delight in Your law."   Of the arrogant who forge lies against the righteous, ‘their heart is covered with fat’, similarly the Psalmist in contrast observes Your precepts and delights in Your law.   Thinking of the testimony of Scripture, the dead go further into the deadness of their hearts, while the spiritually living go from life to delight.   The idea behind ‘covered’ is ‘insensitive’ or ‘unfeeling’.   Unfortunately we don’t have a comparable as this is the only use of the word in the Old Testament.   But I am reminded of Isaiah 6:10, Proverbs 28:14, the contrast between hardness and softness.   We see this also in ...

(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.)   "The arrogant have forged a lie against me; With all my heart I will observe Your precepts."   Psalm 119:69 may give a clue as to where the affliction of v.67 and v.71 come from.   Arrogant men forge lies against humble men.   I am marveling less, but I still marvel, at the apparent ease and impunity with which this happens.   Is there no shame?   May I not be naïve, let me also not be intimidated.   These poor people, whose heart is so encased in fat (v.70).   Surely You have placed them in slippery places (Psalm 73:18).   The Psalmist directs his attention away from the arrogant and doubles down on his focus on You and the promises of obedience to ...

(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.)   "You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes."   ‘Why do you call Me good?   No one is good except God alone.’ – Jesus (see Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19).   ‘Good’ is the Hebrew ‘ טוֹב , ṭôḇ, טוֹבָה , ṭôḇāh, טֹבָה , ṭōḇāh: An adjective meaning good, well-pleasing, fruitful, morally correct, proper, convenient.’   ‘Do good’ is the Hebrew ‘ יָטַב , yāṭaḇ: A verb meaning to be good, to be well, to be pleasing. In the causative stem, it means to do good, to do well, to please, to make pleasing…The word can also imply morality (Psa 36:3 [4]; Psa 119:68).’   It is the same as ‘well’ in v.65.   Lord, You can only be good and Your actions p...

(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.)   "Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word."   See also Psalm 119:71.   This resonates with me more the more I meditate on it.   As much as my love for Your word grows, so does my realization of the depravity of the sin nature.   This leads to both discouragement and a resolve to fight, seeing the reality of Romans 6:21, that there was only detriment to experienced sin, and of the warnings of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, that unexperienced (although sometimes desired) sin will only lead to death (e.g. Proverbs 12:28, Proverbs 6:32, 1 Peter 2:11), even if just in my thoughts (Matthew 5:27-28, Galatians 6:7-8, James 1:14-16)!   ‘Afflicted’ is the H...