Psalms 119:113-128

Psalms 119:1. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

Presumptuous thoughts, erroneous thoughts, wicked thoughts, foolish thoughts,-all three David hated. A good man ought to be a good hater, as well as a good lover. What should he hate? He should hate sin thoughts. What should he love? He should love the law of the Lord. If we do not hate sin in the very egg, we shall not be likely to hate it in its fuller development. The very thought of sin must be detestable to us; and if we do not think of evil, we shall not speak evil, nor do evil. We ought to begin with David at the beginning, and say, «I hate vain thoughts;» yet negative religion is not sufficient, so we should go on to the positive form: «‘Thy law do I love;' and I love it so much that I wish I could always keep it, and never transgress it, and never forget it.»

Psalms 119:114. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

«Thou art my protection against every kind of danger.» David had been accustomed to hide in the caves of the mountains, but now he says that he hid himself in his God. When he did not hide, but stood out bravely against the serried ranks of his foes, then God was his shield to cover him in the day of battle.

Psalms 119:115. Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

If, by your evil example, you would take me off from serving my God, I will make you take yourselves off so that I may neither see nor follow your ill example: «Depart from me, ye evil-doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.» David puts his foot down firmly, and says, «I will keep the commandments of my God.» It is a grand thing to be able to speak of «my God.» Another man's God would be of little use to me, but when he is my own God, my God in covenant relationship, then I may well say, «I will keep the commandments of my God.»

Psalms 119:116. Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live:

«Lord, I cannot even live unless thou dost uphold me according to thy promise.» The Christian man is so dependent upon God that he owes his life and the continuance of it to upholding grace.

Psalms 119:116. And let me not be ashamed of my hope.

«If thy promise could fail me, then I should have cause to be ashamed of my hope. Therefore, O Lord, let me never at any time have the shadow of a doubt concerning the truthfulness of thy promises, lest I should begin to be ashamed of my hope!»

Psalms 119:117-19. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.

«They are like salt that has lost its savour, which is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out, and tread it under their feet; and this is what thou doest with ungodly men, especially with those ‘that err from thy statutes.' Then treadest them beneath thy feet, ‘for their deceit is falsehood.' They try to make it look like truth, but it is falsehood all the while.» How much of deceit there is in this world which men gloss and varnish so that the thing looks right enough though all the while it is deception and a sham! May God keep us from all the trickeries and falsehoods and errors of the age!

Psalms 119:119. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross:

«As the dross is thrown away when the useful metal has been extracted from it, so, O Lord, when thou hast taken all thy saints out of the world thou will put the wicked of the earth away like dross.»

Psalms 119:119. Therefore I love thy testimonies.

What? Does David love God's testimonies because they are thus severe? Yes, for it is the mark of a true believer that he does not kick against the severities of his God. Worldlings can rejoice in the god of this age, who is said to be nothing but effeminate benevolence, but the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob is the God of justice, who will by no means spare iniquity; and for that very reason a true believer says, with David, «I love thy testimonies.»

Psalms 119:120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

This is the man who truly loves God, and this is the kind of fear that perfect love does not cast out. Though we love God supremely, we become for that very reason God-fearing men, and dread to do anything that would cause him anger or sorrow.

Psalms 119:121. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.

When a man is conscious of doing right, he has a good ground of appeal to God. If, when it was in your power, you did not oppress others, you may plead with God that he will not let others oppress you. If it has been your habit to act with judgment and justice towards others, you may respect that God will defend you against all your oppressors.

Psalms 119:122-19. Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation,-

«I have looked for it so long, I have longed for it so eagerly, that my eyes seem to grow inflamed with watching, a film seems to come over them so that I cannot see out of them: ‘Mine eyes fail for thy salvation.'»

Psalms 119:123. And for the word of thy righteousness.

«I look for no salvation except in the way revealed in thy Word, and I do not wish thee to do an unrighteous thing even to save me from my oppressors.»

Psalms 119:124. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,-

He dare not ask to be dealt with by God on any other ground than that of mercy. Though he is innocent of that which the ungodly laid to his charge, he is not innocent before God, and therefore he pleads for mercy. He owns that God is his Lord and Master, and that he is God's servant, and as a man should deal mercifully with his servant he pleads that God will so deal with him: «Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,»

Psalms 119:124. And teach me thy statutes.

He had kept God's statutes so far as the eyes of men could see; but, before God, he takes a humbler position, and begs to be taught what he is to do, asks to be instructed, like a child, in the statutes of his God.

Psalms 119:125. I am thy servant;-

This is the third time in four verses that David mentions this relationship; he seems proud of being God's servant. Though he were but as a menial, yet would he glory in it: «I am thy servant;»

Psalms 119:125. Give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.

«Lord, do not merely teach me, but give me understanding.» That is what our teachers cannot do. They may put the truth before us so plainly that we ought to understand it, but they cannot give us understanding.

Psalms 119:126. It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.

And surely this is an age in which this prayer is very suitable. On all hands we see God's law ridiculed, or denied, or travestied, or else hidden under tradition or under the dicta of so-called scientific men, or in some way or other «made void.» Oh, that God's right hand of grace might be stretched out to do some miracle of mercy in the land at this very time!

Psalms 119:127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

«Therefore» because the wicked tasted God's law, and made it void, David loved it all the more. It is a live fish that swims against the stream, it is a live man of God who can say, «They have made void thy law, Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yes, above fine gold.»

Psalms 119:128. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right;-

«Ungodly men think they are wrong; that is an additional proof to me that they are right.» When a certain old philosopher had been praised by a bad man, he asked, «What have I done amiss that he should speak well of me?» And there are some men's mouths out of which the praise of Christ or the praise of the Scriptures would be to God's dishonour. They tell me that So-and-so spoke blasphemously against Christ; but why should he not do so? It is natural for him to be a blasphemer. When serpents hiss, do they not act according to their nature? I do not read that Christ stopped men's mouths when they blasphemed him, but I do know that when the demons bore witness to him, he silenced them, for he liked not to be praised by diabolical mouths. Let ungodly men say what they may, we know the value of their speeches, and we are not troubled by them.

Psalms 119:128. And I hate every false way.

Again David mentions his hatred of all falseness. Some men are such «chips in the porridge» that they neither love nor hate; but the believer is a man who has both loves and aversions. He loves the truth, and therefore he hates every false way.