Psalms 119:73-87

In this Psalm we have, as it were, notes from David's pocket book.

Psalms 119:73. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.

This is a very instructive prayer; the psalmist does as good as say, «Lord, thou hast made me once- make me over again. Thou hast made my body; mould my spirit, form my character, give me understanding.» If God should make us, and then leave us without understanding, what imperfect creations we should be! A man devoid of understanding is only a blood and bone creation; and therefore the psalmist does well to pray, «Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding.» But what sort of an understanding is desired? That I may learn to discuss and dispute? No: «that I may learn thy commandments;» for holiness is the best of wisdom, and the surest proof of a right understanding is obedience to God's commandments.

Psalms 119:74. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.

A hopeful godly man is a continual source of joy to other people. When a man can inspire hope in his fellows, and he cannot do that unless he is full of hope himself, he lights a fire of comfort. Bring such a man into a storm, and he helps you to be brave. «They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.»

Psalms 119:75. I knew, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

We are glad to listen to a man who can tell us that, an old man, a tried man, who can say that God has been faithful in afflicting him, a man who, after having borne the brunt of tribulation, can yet bless God for it. Such testimonies as these are full of joy and gladness to the young folk; they can encounter trial with a joyous heart when they hear what their fathers tell of the goodness of God to them in their troubles.

Psalms 119:76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.

«Lord,» he seems to say, «I have been a comfort to others; be thou a comfort to me. Thou hast made others glad to see me; make me glad with the recollection of all my experience of thy mercy: ‘Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort.'» If you have lost your own comfort, dear friends, see where you are to look for it, to the merciful kindness of God. Those are two beautiful words, are they not? «Merciful»-take that to pieces, and it is mercy-full. Is not God full of mercy? Take the next word to pieces-«kindness.» That means, «kinned-ness»-that kind of feeling that we have to our own kin when they are very dear to us. «Lord, let thy mercy-full kinned-ness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.»

Psalms 119:77. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live:

«I am so broken down, my bones are so full of pain, that if thou dost handle me roughly, I shall die: ‘Let thy tender mercies come unto me.' I am like a poor flower whose stalk is almost broken through, ready to droop and die; let thy tender mercies bind me up, that I may live.»

Psalms 119:77. For thy law is my delight.

God will not let a man die who delights in his law. You are the sort of man who shall live. If you love the law of God, the Word of God, the will of God, the way of God, he will not let you die. There are none too many of your sort in the world, so the Lord will keep you alive so long as you can serve him here.

Psalms 119:78. Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.

That is a delightful turning of the subject: «They dealt perversely with me, without a cause;» but David does not say, «I will envy the proud,» or, «I will be spiteful to them,» «I will fret myself because of them.» No; he seems to say, «They may do what they will; but I will meditate in thy precepts.» When anyone has treated you contemptuously, or dealt perversely with you without a cause, instead of resenting it, get to your Bible, meditate in God's precepts. It is the noblest and at the same time the most successful way of fighting against contempt, so to despise the despising of men as to rejoice in your thoughts of God and his truth.

Psalms 119:79. Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.

«Lord, make me such a man that they who fear thee may seek my acquaintance. Of thy great mercy grant that, if any of them have turned away from me through hearing slanderous reports about me, they may be inclined now to come back to me, for I love them, and I would not willingly offend them. ‘Let those that fear thee turn unto me.'»

Psalms 119:80. Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.

When the heart is right with God, there will be no need to be ashamed. Though you may make some mistakes and blunders, because you are human, yet, if you are sincere, shame shall not overtake you. What a blessing it is to have a sound heart! But when the heart is spiritually unsound, the profession is always in danger. The other day, a friend of ours was taken from us almost in an instant through heart disease; and when Judas sells his Master, or when Demas turns aside to the silver mines of earth, it is the result of heart disease. There are many who go about in the Christian Church with a ruddy face, and apparently with great strength of religion; but on a sudden they prove apostates. Yes, that is the effect of heart disease. Therefore, pray very earnestly with the psalmist, «Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.»

Psalms 119:81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.

What! faint and hoping, too? Yes, a Christian man is a wonder and a contradiction to many, and most of all to himself. He cannot understand himself; he faints, and yet he hopes. Two apparently opposite emotions may be at the same time in the Christian bosom. Every man is two men, if he is a man in Christ Jesus; I sometimes think that there is a triplet of characters in every man of God, so that he has three different experiences at the same time. Certainly he can have two, for here we have them: «My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.»

Psalms 119:82. Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?

«I look for it till my eyes ache; I strain my eyes to see thy word, watching for it till my vision grows dull in waiting: ‘Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying.»' Oh, then, his eyes could speak! Yes, eyes can say a great many things; and blessed are the eyes that have learned to say this: «When wilt thou comfort me?» It is a good way of praying, sometimes, to say nothing at all, but to sit still and look up. The eyes can say what lips and tongue cannot, so learn well the language of the eyes, and talk to God with them, even as he talks to you with his eyes. «I will guide thee,» says he, «with mine eye.» Be you, therefore, able to speak to God with your eyes, as David was when he wrote, «Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?»

Psalms 119:83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke;

An old dried-up skin bottle, that is hung in the smoke of the tent over the fire, till it is wrinkled and cracked, and almost good for nothing.

Psalms 119:83. Yet do I not forget thy statutes.

«Beauty is gone, strength is gone, comeliness is gone; but not my memory of thy word, O Lord.» What a mercy it is that, when the worst comes to the worst with us, still the best remains: «I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.»

Psalms 119:84. How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?

«Lord, I have but a short life; let me not have a long affliction.» Does he mean, «Lord, I have lived too long in this miserable state; I wish my days were shortened»? We must not murmur at the length of our days, but we may plead that persecution may come to an end. We may even go so far as to say with David, «How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?»

Psalms 119:85. The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.

It is not often that proud men take to digging; but here, you see, these children of the pit learn to dig pits for God's people; and they have not given over the practice yet. Pits were dug in olden times to catch wild beasts; but now, often, the wicked dig pits to try to catch good men, seeking if they can to make a fault where there is none, or to lead us into a line of conduct which they shall be able to represent unfavorably: «The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.»

Psalms 119:86. All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.

What a prayer that is! Store it up for use, dear friend, carry it home with you. That is the kind of prayer to be prayed on the roadside, in a railway carriage, ay, even in an accident: «Help thou me.» «Help thou me,» is a wonderful prayer, it seems to turn on a swivel whichever way you wish; you may use it to ask for anything you need in every time of emergency: «Help thou me.»

Psalms 119:87. They had almost consumed me upon earth;

«They had almost eaten me up; they had almost burned my life out. Blessed be God, they could not consume me anywhere except upon earth! My immortal part would escape the burning of their coals of juniper. They had almost consumed me, but almost is not altogether.» When God delivers his people from the lion and the bear, the jaws of the wild beasts may be almost closed, yet they shall be opened wide enough for us to escape: «They had almost consumed me upon earth.»

Psalms 119:87. But I forsook not thy precepts.

You cleave to the right, and God will not turn away from you, nor will he let you turn away from his precepts.

Psalms 119:88. Quicken me after thy lovingkindness;

That is a blessed prayer for us to offer. If any of you feel dull and drowsy, if any of you are heavy and slow in your movements, cry, to the Lord, «Quicken me after thy lovingkindness.»

Psalms 119:88. So shall I keep the testimony of thy month.

Spiritual life is the root of holiness: «Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.» May God bless this reading to our instruction! Amen.