Hope Overflows From God’s Word – Psalm 119:49-56

ז ZAYIN [1]

“Remember the Word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope.” Psalm 119:49

In 1 Chronicles 17:23, David prayed, “And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said.” Similarly, in Psalm 119:49, David asks God to remember what He had promised to do because his hope was in God keeping His promise to him. [2]

God wants us to bring His Word to His remembrance when we pray, not that He has forgot it but He wants us to build our prayers upon it. In Isaiah 43:26, God says, “Put Me in remembrance...” When God threatened to destroy Israel due to their wickedness, Moses reminded God of His promises. In Exodus 32:13, Moses said to God, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by Your own self...” [3]

God supplies us with promises in the Bible, and by His Spirit He gives us power to believe them. The Holy Spirit leads me to quote Bibe verses to God during my prayers for myself and others.

There are Bible verses that speak of God healing us. For example, Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, Exodus 15:26, Psalm 147:3, Psalm 103:2-3, Proverbs 4:20-22, 1 Corinthians 12:9, James 5:14-15 and all the verses in which Jesus or His apostles healed people.

There are Bible verses that speak of God supplying our needs. For example, Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:31-33, Psalm 23:1, and 2 Corinthians 9:8.

There are Bible verses that speak of God winning our battles. For example, Deuteronomy 20:4, Philippians 4:13, John 16:33, 1 Corinthians 15:57, James 1:12-14, Psalm 108:13, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Romans 8:37, Proverbs 24:16, Revelation 21:6-7, 1 John 5:4, Luke 10:19, 2 Peter 3:9, 2 Corinthians 2:14, and Proverbs 21:31.

“This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your Word has given me life.” Psalm 119:50

When David was dead to God, God breathed life into him by His Spirit. When David was weak due to affliction, faith in God’s Word healed him.

In Isaiah 53:4-6, Christ revealed to us the depths to which He was willing to go to heal us: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, every one, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Christ took the wrath of God on sin for us, so we need not bear it. The Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit replaces afflictions with comfort.

In 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.”

“The proud have me in great derision, yet I do not turn aside from Your Law.” Psalm 119:51

David described how he was treated and how he responded to that mistreatment to help us. [5]

Unbelievers mocked David’s faith in God. They likely laughed at his prayers thinking that his “God” was a figment of his imagination. They likely criticized his adherence to God’s commands thinking he deprived himself of sinful pleasures unnecessarily. How could “everybody” be wrong except David? They were proud of their contempt for God and for His followers. [6]

Even though they did everything they could to make him abandon his devotion to God, David remained faithful. He could say to God with a clear conscious, “I do not turn aside from Your Law.”

What path does God advise us to follow? The Lord says to us in Deuteronomy 5:32, “You shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”

In Job 1:1, the Bible says of Job, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.”

So, even if you are from a town with a funny name and you are called by a funny name, God will take note of you as you obey Him. Imagine the jokes people made about the names “Uz” and “Job!”

In Job chapters 4-31, Job’s three friends questioned his integrity. In Job chapters 32-37, a bystander named Elihu also criticized him. Job was attacked from every side, but did not stop believing in God.

Finally, in Job 42:7-8, the Lord said to one of Job’s three friends, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” In Job 42:9, Job’s three “friends” did as the Lord commanded them, “for the Lord had accepted Job.”

Like David and Job, we should not cease doing what is right because we fear the foolish insults of others. [7] In 2 Samuel 6:22, when Michal mocked David for dancing before the Lord, he said to her, “I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”

Those who cannot endure a harsh word for Christ show that they are not yet prepared to endure greater hardships for Him. [8]

“I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself.” Psalm 119:52

God’s judgments of old for David include events in Genesis-Judges. For example, the flood in Noah’s day, the tower of Babel, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the ten plagues on Egypt, Joshua and his armies acquiring the Promised Land, Gideon’s defeat of Midian, Samson’s defeat of the Philistines, and his own victories over a lion, bear, Goliath and over evil king Saul.

David strengthened himself by remembering the ways God had worked in the past—His acts of mercy toward His people and His justice against those who opposed them. [9]

We should remember God’s judgments of old because they encourage us to keep trusting God. God does not change. The same God who helped His people in the past will remain faithful to His people today. [10]

“Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked, who forsake Your Law.” Psalm 119:53

When people abandoned God it upset David. The wicked wanted sinful attitudes and deeds to have government approval, and faith in God and obedience to God’s commands to be a crime. They wanted to move the goal posts so that evil was considered good, and good was considered evil. No one is safe when such people prevail.

“Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.” Psalm 119:54

Generally speaking, people like music. David took God’s statutes and composed them into songs that people could sing. It is likely that some of his songs about God’s commandments played over and over again in people’s minds and inspired them to do what was right in God’s sight.

David’s “house” was a “pilgrimage.” Many of Christianity’s popular hymns were composed during trials. David’s “house of pilgrimage” may refer to the period in his life when he fled from one place to another due to persecution. It may refer to this world because it is our temporary home until we reach heaven.

In Hebrews 11:13, the people of faith are described as pilgrims on the earth. In Hebrews 11:16, the author wrote that they desired a heavenly country so God prepared a city for them.

David said, “Your statutes have been my songs.” Just as travelers sing to make their journey more enjoyable and to take their minds off their weariness, David found encouragement and comfort by singing and meditating on God’s commands. [11]

In 2 Samuel 23:1, David is called the sweet psalmist of Israel. His songs sprang forth from the Word of God. He sang away his sorrow by remembering God’s promises. [12]

“I remember Your Name in the night, O Lord, and I keep Your Law. This has become mine because I kept Your precepts.” Psalm 119:55-56

While others slept, David thought about God’s Law. David said, “This I had because I keep Your precepts.” Whatever we sow, we reap. As pieces of a puzzles complete a picture when they all come together, so meditating on God’s Law brings God into high definition focus.


[1] From Googles sources and Bible Gateway: “Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem. It contains 176 verses divided into 22 sections, with each section named after one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Instead of just one line per letter, all eight verses in a given section begin with that specific letter. For example, verses 49–56 start with the ז ZAYIN, and this exact pattern continues sequentially all the way through the final letter, Tau (ת).

זְכֹר־דָּבָ֥ר לְעַבְדֶּ֑ךָ עַ֝֗ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִֽחַלְתָּֽנִי׃
זֹ֣את נֶחָמָתִ֣י בְעָנְיִ֑י כִּ֖י אִמְרָתְךָ֣ חִיָּֽתְנִי׃
זֵ֭דִים הֱלִיצֻ֣נִי עַד־מְאֹ֑ד מִ֝תּֽוֹרָתְךָ֗ לֹ֣א נָטִֽיתִי׃
זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּי מִשְׁפָּטֶ֖יךָ מֵעוֹלָ֥ם׀ יְהוָ֗ה וָֽאֶתְנֶחָֽם׃
זַלְעָפָ֣ה אֲ֭חָזַתְנִי מֵרְשָׁעִ֑ים עֹ֝זְבֵ֗י תּוֹרָתֶֽךָ׃
זְ֭מִרוֹת הָֽיוּ־לִ֥י חֻקֶּ֗יךָ בְּבֵ֣ית מְגוּרָֽי׃
זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּי בַלַּ֣יְלָה שִׁמְךָ֣ יְהוָ֑ה וָֽ֝אֶשְׁמְרָ֗ה תּוֹרָתֶֽךָ׃
זֹ֥את הָֽיְתָה־לִּ֑י כִּ֖י פִקֻּדֶ֣יךָ נָצָֽרְתִּי׃

Historically, each letter name corresponds to a concrete object. Over time, these pictures evolved into the letters used today. For example, ז ZAYIN was originally the symbol for weapon.

[2-12] Material developed, added to and edited from Matthew Henry’s Commentary