Psalms 119:89-104

Psalms 119:89. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

It is not a changeable or vanishing thing: «Thy word is settled,» settled for ever, settled «for ever in heaven.» As God changes not, so the Word which he has spoken to his servants changes not. If the foundations of the faith could be removed, what would the righteous do? What would any of us do? But, with an eternally fixed Word of God, we have something solid to build upon, a foundation on which we may confidently rest our everlasting hopes.

Psalms 119:90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:

God, who kept his promise to Abraham, keeps it also to us though we are far down the ages, and he will keep it to our children and our children's children as long as the world endures, and then for ever and ever. We need not be afraid to leave the generations to come in his hands. «Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:»

Psalms 119:90. Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.

This material world whose laws appear to be so fixed, abides only because God has established it; but a day will come in which he will roll these things up like an outworn vesture, and he that sitteth upon the throne shall make all things new. But, at present, we have, in the fixity of the laws of nature, a type of the fixity of the promises and purposes of God.

Psalms 119:92. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

Notice the love of God's servant to God's Word: «Unless thy law had been my delights.» The word is in the plural, for the psalmist not only took a delight in it, but all his delights were there. It was the sea of happiness wherein he bathed his entire soul. «Unless it had been so,» says he, «I should then have perished in mine affliction.» One of the best preservatives for the heart in times of trouble is an intense delight in the Word of God. Oh, to get away from this noisy world, from the turmoil of life, and its endless discussions and controversies, and to sit down, and quietly listen to what that Word has to say to us! This is the best way to recuperate drooping and fainting spirits.

Psalms 119:93. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

Nothing makes a man remember the Word so well as the fact that it has quickened him. If you owe your spiritual life and the support of it to the Word of God, you will not forget that Word. If you feel that, every time you come into contact with it, it inspires you with fresh life, you will be anxious to be often diligently reading it.

Psalms 119:94. I am thine,

That is a grand thing for anyone to be able to say, what a heaven of bliss lies slumbering in these three words, «I am thine,»

Psalms 119:94. Save me;

That is a good argument: «‘I am thine' by redemption, so do not lose me. ‘I am thine' by a new creation, so let not the enemy steal me away from thee. I am thy servant, so exercise a master's rights over me, and protect me from all my foes. ‘I am thine, save me;'»

Psalms 119:94. For I have sought thy precepts.

Notice how the psalmist here twice singles out the precepts rather than the promises; even hypocrites may love the promises, but only sincere believers love the precepts. The true servant of God loves the burdens which his Lord and Master lays upon him, and he only wishes that he had more strength to bear still more of them.

Psalms 119:95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:

«They have lain in ambush, they have waited to catch me tripping, to ruin my character if possible, so what shall I do, Counterplot them? No. Watch them night and day? No. ‘The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:'»

Psalms 119:95. But I will consider thy testimonies.

There is something that seems to me calmly defiant about the psalmist's resolve. He does not say, «The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will fight them.» No, but he says, «I shall read my Bible, and I shall follow its directions. I shall act in obedience to my God, and in that way I shall baffle them.» To be obedient to God is the surest way to be victorious over wicked men. Keep thou God's Word, and God will guard thy head in the day of danger.

Psalms 119:96. I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment

«Ah, there I find perfection: ‘Thy commandment'»

Psalms 119:96. Is exceeding broad.

It is so broad that there is no limit to it. One of the early fathers used to say, «I delight in the infinity of Scripture,» and well he might, for there is no limit to it. Even one single text might suffice for a man's meditation for a whole year; if it did not, it would be because of the scantiness of the man's meditative power, and not because of the exhaustion of the meaning of the verse.

Psalms 119:97. O how love I thy law!

The psalmist breaks out into a transport of delight. He does not say how much he loved God's law, for the simple reason that he could not tell us that; but he says, «O how love I thy law!»

Psalms 119:97. It is my meditation all the day.

That is the best proof of the psalmist's love of God's law, for love shows itself by its constant familiarity with it's chosen object. «‘It is my meditation all the day.' Every day, wherever I may be, I turn my daily experience into instructive meditation upon thy Word.» One of the best commentaries on God's written Book is God's Book of Providence when it is explained to us by his Holy Spirit.

Psalms 119:98. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

David knew how well God's Word had instructed him, and first he declared that he was wiser than his enemies; and, next, that he was wiser than his former instructors:

Psalms 119:99. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

The man who rightly meditates upon this wondrous Book is, after all, the truly wise man. His wisdom is that of the heart, received by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and it has a power of understanding in it that will make him wiser than those who are merely book-learned or man-taught.

Psalms 119:100. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

First his enemies, then his teachers, and now his elders, the ancients, he could excel them all; and he gave the reason for it: «Because I keep thy precepts.» Take this Book away, and give the man all the human learning that he could ever acquire, and how little he would know, after all! But let him study the Book, and even in the absence of other books, (though that need not be the case with him, such a man will still be wise, wise for eternity.

Psalms 119:101. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

The Bible is a very sanctifying Book. If we keep its precepts, it holds us back from many things into which we might otherwise have run. «I have refrained my feet from every evil way.» Notice the universality of the obedience of a true saint. He does not say, «I will avoid all sin except a certain one for which I have a great liking.» Oh, no: «I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.»

Psalms 119:102. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

Those who are taught of God are always well taught; they never unlearn what they have learned at the feet of Jesus. Those who backslide and apostatize were never truly taught of the Spirit of God.

Psalms 119:103. How sweet are thy words unto my taste!

Have you a spiritual taste, dear hearer? It is one thing to hear the Word it is another thing to taste it. Hearing the Word is often blessed, but tasting it is a more inward and spiritual thing; it is the enjoyment of the truth in the innermost parts of our being. Oh, that we were all as fond of the Word as were the old mystics who chewed the cud of meditation till they were fattened upon the Word of the Lord, and their souls grew strong in the divine love! I am sure of this, the more you know of God's Word, the more you will love it. It is ignorance that misses the sweetness of it.

Psalms 119:103. Yea, sweeter than honey to my month!

There is an indescribable sweetness in it. It is sweet to my heart, and when I utter it, how sweet it is to my mouth! I heard one observe, the other day, that he noted a great difference between the preachers of his youth and many of those of the present day. He said, «Tthe old men used to enjoy the Word so much while they were preaching it; they preached it with their eyes beaming with delight in it. You could see that, if there was no savour in it for other people, there was a divine savour about it for the preachers themselves.» This is the mark of the man who is taught of God, that the Word is sweet to his mouth when he preaches it to others as well as sweet to his taste when he meditates upon it himself.

Psalms 119:104. Through thy precepts I get understanding:

The practical parts of God's Word not only appeal to our understanding but they give us understanding. That is a marvellous thing, but it is true. Sometimes, when you are arguing with a man who is dull of comprehension, you are apt to say, «Well, I can give you arguments, but I cannot give you an understanding with which to appreciate them;» but this Word can give us understanding: «Through thy precepts I get understanding:»

Psalms 119:104. Therefore I hate every false way.

The best test of a true spiritual understanding is an intense and vigorous hatred of every thing that is false. The lover of truth is a follower of the truth, he is not a man of craft and guile. He keeps to the straight line and in the long run it shall be proved that he is the man who is indeed taught of God.