And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;
For I have hoped in thy judgments (Psa 119.43).
Discerning with certainty the exact sense in which these words were originally intended is difficult, if not impossible, yet we may glean some doctrine from it which is certain, being plainly stated and implied here, and confirmed and enlarged in other places of Scripture.
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Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes;
And I shall keep it unto the end (Psa 119.33).
The well-known maxim, “all’s well that ends well,” has a counterpart in Scripture. “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof” (Eccl 7.8). This truism will be most wonderfully seen in the spiritual realm when the end of God’s saving work in countless sinners will emerge for the public and everlasting praise of His grace and power.
Cheer up, then, poor Christian. “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). Be content to be like him, a worm and no man, that like Him you may be satisfied when you wake up in His likeness.
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I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O Lord, put me not to shame (Psa 119.31).
The Christian life begins with a principled decision to believe and obey God’s Word, as the psalmist himself confessed in the previous verse, “I have chosen the way of truth: / Thy judgments have I laid before me” (119.30). Oh, magnify the grace that first changed your heart to make this holy choice, my brethren! Many still walk as enemies of Christ (Phil 3.18) and you are no more inherently worthy of God’s favor than they.
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Thy testimonies also are my delight And my counsellors (Psa 119.24).
The psalmist has just testified of the dire circumstances he faced. “Princes” or rulers, people with power over him, humanly speaking, “did sit and speak against” him (119.23), bringing him to “reproach and contempt” (119.22). Hostile words, especially from our functional superiors (whether civil authorities, employers, teachers, parents, etc.), are apt to demoralize us and throw us into confusion with respect to our best response. Even the innocent can suffer a sense of false shame, as if he had done something terrible, and this may easily induce great and deep spiritual grief, especially to those who are most spiritually-sensitive. Further, knowing what to do in the face of such enemies is much more complicated than when we are living comfortably amongst godly people seeking our best interests. How can a believer escape these common pitfalls of being persecuted?
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With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
“All’s well that ends well.” This cliché is true, and nowhere is it more important to end well than in your relationship with God. The redeemed in heaven had widely differing spiritual experiences while they lived on earth. Some were saved so young they cannot even remember being converted, while others received saving faith just moments before death. Of those who knew God over many years, some made steady soul-progress with good consistency, while others had grievous moral lapses, like David, only to recover by God’s grace. Many mere professors of faith do not finish well, as they return to their sins and ultimately to perdition. All true believers, in contrast, persevere to the end, and the apostasy they suffer is only partial and temporary. They all end well. As the 1689 LBCF puts it, in spite of all the grievous sins they may actually commit, “yet they shall renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end” (XVII.3).
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