Psalms 119:129-144

Psalms 119:129. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

It is very wonderful that God should speak to us at all, and still more marvellous that he should write to us such a book as this Bible is. The Book itself is full of wonders, and one of those wonders is that it reveals him whose name is «Wonderful.» Observe that the psalmist, having said to the Lord, «Thy testimonies are wonderful,» does not add, «Therefore do I sit down and wonder at them.» No, his appreciation was practical, let ours be the same: «Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.»

Psalms 119:130. The entrance of thy words giveth light;

Those who are most ignorant, and have least confidence in their own abilities, will nevertheless become very wise if they study God's Word.

Psalms 119:130-19. It giveth understanding unto the simple. I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.

What a wonderful verse that is! The psalmist cannot describe his longing for God's commandments except by going to the brute creation for a suitable metaphor. He had probably seen the hunted stag stand still, and pant to get its breath, all the while longing for the waterbrooks. So he says, «I opened my mouth, and panted.» «I could not put my prayer into words, so I panted. My heart, my breath, my lungs, my very soul panted, for I longed for thy commandments.»

Psalms 119:132. Look thou upon me,

That is all the psalmist wants, and all that we want, too. If a look from us to God will save us, what must a look from God to us do for us? «Look thou upon me,»

Psalms 119:132-19. And be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

Some of you, perhaps, may hardly be able to do as you would if you were perfectly free to act, for you are to a certain extent under the government and power of ungodly persons. Well, here is a prayer for you to present to the Lord: «Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.»

Psalms 119:135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;

That is the best sunshine for us; let us but have the light of God's countenance, and nothing can put us out of countenance. If the Lord will smile, men may frown as much as they please. So we pray with the psalmist, «Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.»

Psalms 119:135-19. And teach me thy statues. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

The psalmist felt for others as well as for himself. It was not enough for him to be holy; he would have others to be the same. Sin in other men brought sorrow to his heart: «Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.»

Psalms 119:137. Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.

After having wept over the sin of men, the psalmist turns with sweet calmness of spirit to the goodness of God.

Psalms 119:138. Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.

«Very faithful.» You who have tried and proved God's promises must have found them so; not only faithful, but very faithful, faithful to the letter, faithful to the moment. God seems rather to exceed his promise than ever to fall short of it.

Psalms 119:139-19. My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. Thy word is very pure:

Just now the psalmist said, «Thy testimonies are very faithful. Now he says, «Thy word is very pure.» There is no adulteration in this blessed Book; it is pure truth. You cannot add to it or take from it without making it imperfect: «Thy word is very pure:»

Psalms 119:140. Therefore thy servant loveth it.

It is only a pure heart that loves the pure Word of the Lord; so, if you love the Word of God because of its purity, it is an argument that your heart has been renewed by grace.

Psalms 119:141. I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.

In verse 139 , the psalmist complained that his enemies had forgotten God's words, and he does not complain of the fault in others, and then fall into it himself; but he says, «Yet do not I forget thy percepts.» There are some people who seem to think that it does not much matter what they do. If they were persons of influence, they think that they would be very careful of their example. «But,» says one, «I am only a feeble woman, a poor mother with a few children.» «Oh!» exclaims another, «I am only a child as yet, I cannot influence others.» «Oh!» cries a third, «I am simply an ordinary working man, nobody notices me.» Listen to what the psalmist says, «I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.» «I do not make all excuse out of my littleness, that I may be careless in my living.» Take that message home, dear friends, and learn its lesson, for it applies to many of you.

Psalms 119:142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,

What a wonderful sentence! Just now, the psalmist said, «Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteousness.» (See the marginal reading of verse 138 .) Now he advances another step, and says, «Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness.»

Psalms 119:142. And thy law is the truth.

That is what I believe this Book of God is, «the truth.» I know of nothing infallible but the Bible. Every man must have a fixed point somewhere; some believe in an infallible pope, and some in an infallible church, but I believe in an infallible Book, expounded by the infallible Spirit who is ready to guide us into all truth: «Thy law is the truth.»

Psalms 119:143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delight.

What a curious mixture this verse describes! Here is a man full of trouble and anguish, and yet full of delight at the same time. Little do they understand human nature, and especially gracious human nature, who cannot comprehend this paradox. There are many seeming contradictions in the Christian life, and this is one of them: «Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me:» as dogs lay hold of their prey, «yet thy commandments are my delights.» The apostle Paul pictured another such a case as this when he wrote, «We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed,» and he also described the Christian paradox, «As unknown, and yet well known, as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.» May we all understand these paradoxes is our own experiences!

Psalms 119:144. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

Now let us read what the Lord Jesus said to those who professed to reverence the Scripture, but who really made it void by their traditions.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 119:129-19; and Matthew 15:1.