“Consider my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget Your Law.” Psalm 119:153
What do you want God to do with your affliction? Consider it and deliver you from it. In Hebrews 4:15, we read, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Our High Priest is Jesus Christ. He was whipped, beaten, spit on, mocked and crucified. Isaiah 52:14 says of Jesus, “His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.” Amidst His sufferings, Jesus did not forget God’s Law. He remembered to forgive His enemies and to pray for them. In Luke 23:34, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
“Plead my cause and redeem me. Revive me according to Your Word.” Psalm 119:154
Psalm 119:154 is applicable to Jesus Christ. In Matthew 27:46, Jesus asked, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He wanted His Father to plead His cause. But first, Jesus had to die for our sins. Three days later, He was revived according to God’s Word, or as Romans 6:4 says, “Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father.”
David also asked God to defend him as a legal advocate would do in a court of law. [2] His cause was right. His enemies suborned false witnesses to falsely accuse him. He asked God to bear witness to his innocence and “redeem” him from all charges levied against him.
David asked God to revive him with His Word. In John 6:63, Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” In Hebrews 4:12, it is written, “The Word of God is living and powerful...”
“Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek Your statutes.” Psalm 119:155
The Hebrew word for “wicked” in the above verse is rasha (רָשָׁע). Rasha carries the legal and forensic meaning of being guilty or condemned in a judgment setting. Rasha describes someone who is legally in the wrong—a “guilty one” who stands condemned before a judge. It is the legal opposite of the righteous person (tzaddik, צַדִּיק). Just as a tzaddik is someone who is vindicated or in the right, a rasha is someone who has been found guilty of a crime.
Wicked people cannot give what they do not have. Only the Savior saves. God’s statutes are God’s statutes. The wicked being void of God, cannot produce what God expects from them. The world may deem the wicked worth their weight in gold, but God condemns them. They will be shut out from heaven unless they repent. Faith in the shed blood of Christ for the remission of sin is the remedy. A personal relationship with God is necessary to enter His kingdom.
At the same time that salvation is far from the wicked, judgment is drawing near to them. In Hebrews 9:27, it is written, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” In James 5:9, it is written, “Behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” [3]
“Great are Your tender mercies. O Lord, revive me according to Your judgments.” Psalm 119:156
God’s mercies are tender because He is compassionate. God is rich in mercy toward everyone who calls on His Name. [4] His grace is sufficient to save the wicked. In Romans 5:20, it is written, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” God has more grace than we have sin, but each of us needs to ask Him to forgive and save us.
“Many are my persecutors and my enemies, yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.” Psalm 119:157
In 1 Samuel 18:23, David said to others about himself, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” After King Saul gave his daughter’s hand in marriage to David, he tried to kill him. King Saul used his nation’s army to pursue David. God’s Word helped David to trust God for victory over his evil father-in-law.
What was David’s strong point? He loved God’s testimonies. He failed God and others in some areas, but he constantly meditated on God’s Word. God loved this quality about David.
In John 15:21, Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” In Mark 10:20, a man declared to Jesus that he had kept God’s commandments since he was a boy. In Mark 10:21, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”
David’s life is a metaphor for Christ and His Church. Just as David had enemies, so do Christ and His followers. Nevertheless, we, the people of God, have many testimonies. [5]
I like the testimony of David Wilkerson. David told Nikki Cruz about Jesus. Nikki was the leader of a violent gang. Nikki spit at David, slapped him, and threatened to kill him. David told him, “Jesus loves you Nikki Cruz.” Nikki was full of bitterness and hatred, but Christ’s unconditional love via David Wilkerson got the best of Nikki Cruz. Nikki believed in Jesus Christ and became a world renowned evangelist afterwards.
“I see the treacherous, and am disgusted, because they do not keep Your Word.” Psalm 119:158
David was grieved that the wicked made every effort to turn people away from God. What did they offer them? Shameful works of darkness, and cruel examples of how to treat others!
“Consider how I love Your precepts. Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.” Psalm 119:159
In Psalm 119:154, David asked God to revive him according to His Word. In Psalm 119:156, David asked God to revive him according to His judgments. In Psalm 119:159, David asked God to revive him according to His lovingkindness. David wanted to live in accordance with God’s Word, His judgments and His lovingkindness. He repeatedly expressed this desire before God.
“The entirety of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” Psalm 119:160
Ever since God first revealed Himself to humanity, everything He has said has been true. God is not like governments that propagate lies yet swear they are telling the truth. [6] In John 14:6, Jesus claimed to be the truth personified. In John 18:37, Jesus told Pontus Pilate. “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
David declared that everyone of God’s righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 96:13 says of the Lord, “He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth.” Revelation 19:11 says of Christ, “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.”
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
[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 153–160 start with the ר RESH, and this exact pattern continues sequentially all the way through the final letter, Tau (ת).
רְאֵֽה־עָנְיִ֥י וְחַלְּצֵ֑נִי כִּי־תֽ֝וֹרָתְךָ֗ לֹ֣א שָׁכָֽחְתִּי׃
רִיבָ֣ה רִ֭יבִי וּגְאָלֵ֑נִי לְאִמְרָתְךָ֥ חַיֵּֽנִי׃
רָח֣וֹק מֵרְשָׁעִ֣ים יְשׁוּעָ֑ה כִּֽי־חֻ֝קֶּיךָ לֹ֣א דָרָֽשׁוּ׃
רַחֲמֶ֖יךָ רַבִּ֥ים׀ יְהוָ֑ה כְּֽמִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ חַיֵּֽנִי׃
רַ֭בִּים רֹדְפַ֣י וְצָרָ֑י מֵ֝עֵדְוֺתֶ֗יךָ לֹ֣א נָטִֽיתִי׃
רָאִ֣יתִי בֹ֭גְדִים וָֽאֶתְקוֹטָ֑טָה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִ֝מְרָתְךָ֗ לֹ֣א שָׁמָֽרוּ׃
רְ֭אֵה כִּי־פִקּוּדֶ֣יךָ אָהָ֑בְתִּי יְ֝הוָ֗ה כְּֽחַסְדְּךָ֥ חַיֵּֽנִי׃
רֹאשׁ־דְּבָרְךָ֥ אֱמֶ֑ת וּ֝לְעוֹלָ֗ם כָּל־מִשְׁפַּ֥ט צִדְקֶֽךָ׃
Historically, each letter name corresponds to a concrete object. Over time, these pictures evolved into the letters used today. For example, ר RESH was originally the symbol for head.
[2-6] Material developed, added to and edited from Matthew Henry’s Commentary
No comments:
Post a Comment