Let thine hand help me;
For I have chosen thy precepts (Psa 119.173).

A proper interpretation of even the simplest words of Scripture often requires an appreciation of its grand message of the law and the gospel. At every point the sinner devoid of the Spirit would wrest the sacred words from their biblical context and their divinely-intended sense to make use of them for the gratification of human pride. Such is the case with the verse before us now.

The bare and literal sense is plain enough. The psalmist once again is addressing the Lord in prayer. In this setting, the absence of a subject signals a plea. “Thou,” referring to God, is implied. Grammatically it is in exactly the same form as an imperative or command, but the saints never command our Sovereign; instead, we make humble and earnest appeals, as here.

The reference to God’s hand is a figure of speech called “anthropomorphism,” speaking about him as if he were a human being. Of course our glorious God is “without body, parts, or [human] passions,” as the Confession says,¹ but since a man typically uses his hand when he begins to perform an action, this figure is not unsuitably used when a Christian feeling his need of divine help calls upon the Lord. “Let thine hand help me,” that is, “Come to my rescue.”

The second line begins with the word “for,” an indication that cause is in view, “because I have chosen,” and etc. (some alternative translations).

So what does the psalmist identify as the cause related to his plea for God’s benevolent assistance? Something that had already happened, something spiritually antecedent to this prayer request, namely, “I have chosen thy precepts.” Once again, the text of Holy Scripture is the reference of the expected word or phrase in each verse of this 119th Psalm. Surely he means he had deliberately chosen God’s Word to be his recognized standard of truth and his rule of life.

Now this is where one’s overall understanding of the law and the gospel come into play. The possibilities for interpretation fall into two groups: legalism or evangelicalism.

The legalist seizes upon such a text to justify his misguided system of salvation by his own efforts. “You can’t expect God to help you unless you have first become a good person and attained some consistency in obeying his commandments,” Mr. Legalist argues. “See how the psalmist bases his expectation of deliverance upon his own performance of the law!”

Admittedly, the vocabulary, syntax, and grammar of this particular verse is not enough to save us from the legalist’s heresy, but rather an appreciation of the entire biblical revelation of God’s plan of salvation for his chosen people.

First, notice that the plea of the first line is a tacit admission of the psalmist’s realization of his own helplessness should the Lord ignore him. “My hand is inadequate in my distress, O Lord. I have tried and failed, learning by experience how utterly impotent I am in the spiritual realm to effect a self-salvation. I am in desperate need of divine consideration. Unless you take positive action to save me, Lord, I am completely undone.”

This evangelical humility is one of the first signs that gospel grace is already powerfully at work in a sinner’s soul. This humility is also an abiding reality in all the saints.

The wicked heart is the unhumbled heart. Self-confidence is the mark of a fool. “A wise man fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident” (Prov 14.16). Such naïve ones remind us of a precocious 4-year-old child mounting a bicycle without training wheels for the very first time and insisting that he already knows how to do it, “all by myself.” If the parent were to yield, the inexperienced child is sure to fall and hurt himself, since balancing atop a two-wheeled contraption is a learned skill which no one possesses innately.

Many people strive to be moral without Christ. They either convince themselves they are good and do good because of their gross ignorance of the spiritual nature of the moral law, or else they keep getting up with bloodied knees, convinced that next time, they will not fall down. If they persist in this misery, they will eventually come to utter despair when for the umpteenth time they know in their consciences that they have blown it again, even though they tried really, really hard to do what was right.

The person who knows Christ in a saving way thinks very differently. Yes, we must mount the moral bicycle and pedal, but we know that our Lord must always keep his hand on the back of the seat and steady us or down we will go. However, we know he is there to help us for the asking, and “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4.13). This inspires prayers like this of the psalmist. “Let thine hand help me.” With hope in God’s grace alone, the Christian perseveres in the way of righteousness.

Now what about that second line? Does it support the legalist’s contention of salvation by works? In no way! You must see this through gospel-colored glasses to realize how consistent it is with the pure grace of God to his people.

First, we do well to ask and consider, “Had the psalmist attained in his actual experience a ‘perfect, personal, and perpetual obedience’² to the whole moral law of God?” Of course not! Even in this psalm he confesses his sins against that law (for example, Psa 119.5-7). Anyone who thinks he has attained sinless perfection in this life knows nothing yet as he ought to know in the spiritual realm (1 John 1.8-10; cf. Jas 3.2). And yet a personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience to God’s law is what would be necessary to be justified by that holy standard, for the one who falls short is judged a sinner and under the law’s curse. Remember the principle contained in James 2.10-11.

Second, we must realize that the testimony here of having “chosen thy precepts” conveys the deliberate movement of a faith-filled heart towards God’s law, and the reality of sincere if imperfect obedience to that law fueled by the grace of God to an unworthy sinner. Grace is never to be thought of as a license to sin but as a liberation to righteousness. The sinner is in bondage to his inner corruption. He has already been squeezed into the mold of the wicked world. He has no inherent power to escape enslavement to the devil, being under his infernal sway. Only when it pleases God to act in gracious favor toward the pitiful, fallen man, will the shackles begin to fall, and will he start experiencing something of true righteousness in his heart and conduct.

Third, all this being the case, the second line of this verse must then be understood as the godly petitioner taking comfort from God’s grace already shown to him, for hoping that his current petitions have an assured prospect of an answer according to grace. The fruit of the Spirit in and through us is our confidence that the God who has already begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1.6).

So a godly soul prays, “O Lord, in your very presence I testify to your praise that you have made me a new creation in Christ Jesus, and you now dwell in me by the Holy Spirit. O my great Redeemer, you have made me spiritually alive, caused me to love you and to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Like a sheep I was going astray from you, but you arrested me in the way to more sin and certain ruin, and you turned me completely around and made me your servant. Yet, Lord, left to myself I remain fickle and weak and sure to fall. Therefore I plead with you, my Father who has already owned me for your beloved child, to keep your guiding and supporting hand upon me. Keep me from stumbling and lead me in the way everlasting until you have completely renewed me in your glorious image, to be like your only begotten Son and my Savior, Jesus Christ.”

You see, there is nothing whatsoever of any legalism here, but rather a revelation of the gospel of grace that saves us not only from the guilt of our sins, but from our sins themselves. Yes, we have personal responsibility. We must repent; God will not repent for us. We must believe, for faith is man’s act, not God’s. We must choose God’s precepts for our own, but when we have done the will of God, we must praise him alone who makes us to differ from another, and we must continue to rely upon his gracious favor who alone by his power keeps his saints for our inheritance undefiled, and that fades not away.

Salvation is of the Lord, and by grace alone from beginning to end! The more we realize this blessed gospel, the less we will rely upon our own strength, and our petitions to God for saving and preserving grace will multiply. Like David and all truly righteous people, we will be counting on the gospel promise. Amen.

Notes:

1 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, II.1.
2 Westminster Larger Catechism, #20.

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