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Getting Intimate with God (Psa 119.132)

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Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,
As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name (Psa 119.132).

God is a holy, glorious, loving, spiritual, and personal Being with deep thoughts, intense feelings, and deliberate plans. Our personhood derives from his, and reflects his. God created us in his image because he designed us, unique among his creatures, for special intimacy with him. He intends us to get close to him, to draw near, to be enveloped in his bosom, to commune with him, as one spiritual being to Another.
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Longing for Scripture (Psa 119.131)

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I opened my mouth, and panted:
For I longed for thy commandments (Psa 119.131).

True religion (Jas 1.27 illustrates the positive use of the word “religion”) is first a matter of the heart, of longing and strong desire, with hunger and thirst serving as appropriate if inadequate metaphors, since the object of true religion is God, not the mere physical and temporal needs of the body.
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Enlightening Words (Psa 119.130)

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The entrance of thy words giveth light;
it giveth understanding unto the simple (Psa 119.130).

The Middle Ages are not known for widespread biblical scholarship and preaching. Dominant Christendom in the West, the Roman Catholic Church conducted public worship services only in Latin. Even the priesthood, not to mention the laity, was largely ignorant of the Bible.
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Thy Word Enchants Me (Psa 119.129)

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Thy testimonies are wonderful:
Therefore doth my soul keep them (Psa 119.129).

Straightforward exposition of these words should lead us into deep and practical contemplation. That is my aim in this study.

Our text is addressed to God in prayer. “Thy” is a possessive pronoun with the “LORD” (v. 126) as referent. “Testimonies” (Heb. ’edot, “what God solemnly testifies to be his will”1) is clearly Holy Scripture, as it means this repeatedly throughout the Psalm (vv. 14, 31, 36, 88, 99, 111, 144, 157) along with six other terms so used (law, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, word). This is David’s sincere reflection upon Holy Scripture, the message from God that preceded and provoked David’s speech back to God. Continue reading →

Agreeing with God (Psa 119.128)

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Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right;
And I hate every false way (Psa 119.128).

The psalmist is praising God in prayer, and testifying of his fellowship with God, to the glory of God. Redemption is on display in this, for although the psalmist was a sinner by nature, he is beginning more and more to fulfill the end for which he was created in the first place—to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
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Loving the Most Desirable Treasure (Psa 119.127)

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Therefore I love thy commandments
Above gold; yea, above fine gold (Psa 119.127).

Some desires are good, and some things you cannot desire too much. This contradicts the so-called “Second Noble Truth” of Buddhism, that the root cause of all suffering is “thirst” or desire, with its corollary, the so-called “Third Noble Truth,” that “nirvana” or bliss comes through the cessation of desire altogether.1 Well may we feel pity for the poor deluded souls in this ascetic false religion who think that desire itself is inherently evil, who hope in vain to eradicate all their desires, and who dream that spiritual progress comes by repudiating any and all gratification of desire!
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Their Sin, Our Prayer (Psa 119.126)

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It is time for thee, LORD, to work:
For they have made void thy law (Psa 119.126).

The 176 verses of Psalm 119 weave together a beautiful tapestry of spiritual teaching and experience constantly referring to Holy Scripture. With a relatively limited list of words, the psalmist evokes many moods, concerns, hopes, and prayers, all without being repetitious.
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Dedication, Illumination, and Progression (Psa 119.125)

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I am thy servant; give me understanding,
That I may know thy testimonies (Psa 119.125).

When it comes to God’s Word, we must approach it in faith that we may understand it and do it. This is an inexorable law of the kingdom of our Almighty Sovereign with whom no one can trifle. Although unbelievers can have the Word preached to them just like believers, and while unbelievers may grasp intellectually just like believers much of the information the Bible contains, and unbelievers even can see, in common with believers, some of the practical implications of divine truth for everyday life, yet there is an intimacy of fellowship with God in his Word from which unbelievers are totally excluded, and which is the common, blessed experience in some degree of every real Christian.
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God’s Mercy and Mentoring (Psa 119.124)

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Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,
and teach me thy statutes (Psa 119.124).

Some divorces are fatal. Spiritually, that is the case when one tries to rend asunder God’s mercy and his mentoring. Those who imagine they enjoy the former and have no interest in the latter are self-deceived, presumptuous fools. Likewise, it is utter folly to fantasize about acquiring divine wisdom apart from forgiveness of sins and the gift of the illuminating Holy Spirit. God frustrates his enemies who twist grace into a license to sin, and who think to barge into his kingdom unhumbled.
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Waiting for Salvation (Psa 119.123)

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Mine eyes fail for thy salvation,
and for the word of thy righteousness (Psa 119.123).

“A watched pot never boils.” Of course this maxim is an exaggeration, but it speaks of an experience familiar to us all. We hate to wait for anything. We like microwaves, email, and instant oatmeal. Of course the watched pot eventually boils; it just seems like it happens faster when we pay it no mind. Standing there waiting seems to stretch the seconds into minutes and the minutes to nearly an hour.
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