I have sworn, and I will perform it,
That I will keep thy righteous judgments (Psa 119.106).
Real, saving faith involves commitment to God, which arises from faith in his promises, is expressed in worship and adoration of him, and leads to obedience to his commands.1 Without such faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11.6). Without such fruits of faith, it is impossible to enjoy full assurance that we have eternal life (Heb 6.11; 1 John 2.3-5).
The psalmist’s holy example exudes profound commitment to God and therefore the reality of his faith. These words show that it is a good and righteous thing to swear obedience to God’s commandments. Notice their several leading thoughts.
TO SWEAR, OR NOT TO SWEAR
First, the psalmist solemnly testifies in prayer that he has “sworn” something. The original word means “to bind oneself by an oath,” that is, by an expressed wish to be held accountable by God for keeping one’s word.
To swear in the Old Testament was to give one’s sacred unbreakable word in testimony that the one swearing would faithfully perform some promised deed, or that he would faithfully refrain from some evil act (Gen 21.23, “swear . . . that thou will not deal falsely with me”).2
Many believe that “the NT suggests that it is best to refrain from making oaths”3 based on the counsel of Jas 5.12, which says, “but above all things, my brethren, swear not,” and Matt 5.33-37, where Jesus said, “swear not at all.” One Bible dictionary claims that “Christ prohibited oaths absolutely (Matt 5.34). The reasoning behind this was: the old covenant was ending,”4 but the matter is not so simple.
Jesus himself gave testimony under oath (Matt 26.63-64). Later, Paul the apostle used the language of swearing an oath in his epistles (2 Cor 1.23; Gal 1.20). Thus we cannot interpret the NT prohibitions as absolute, but rather as condemning a specific form or instance of swearing. The context in both James and Matthew suggests that one not use oaths to bolster credibility because one is not generally trustworthy in his speech. Reformed confessions like our own, the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, explain the biblical warnings about swearing.
The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear; and therein it is to be used, with all holy fear and reverence; therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful, and to be abhorred; yet as in matter of weight and moment, for confirmation of truth, and ending all strife, an oath is warranted by the word of God; so a lawful oath being imposed by lawful authority in such matters, ought to be taken (XXIII.2).
However, the psalmist was swearing here in a different way. His was more in the form of a holy vow taken before the Lord as an act of deep religious devotion. Such vows, too, have biblical precedent elsewhere. In general, vowing to the Lord is regarded positively, as it sometimes occurred during times of special revival.
For example, when Nehemiah’s Jewish contemporaries realized they had been living for some time in flagrant, if ignorant, violation of basic demands in the law of God, they came under conviction of their sin and their almost intuitive and impulsive response was to make confession and a solemn vow to the Lord as part of a “church covenant” with him (Neh 9.38). The account contains language similar to our text when it says they “entered into . . . an oath to walk in God’s law and to observe and do all . . . his judgments” (carefully read the entirety of Neh 10.29-31).
A FIRM RESOLUTION
Second, notice that the psalmist expresses his resolve to keep his vow. “I will perform it.” One translation conflates the two expressions of the AV into one: “I have firmly sworn . . .” (Tanakh), and this helps us appreciate the sense of the original. This prayer is not some flippant, momentary sentiment, but the deliberate, sincere, and earnest purpose of one who is a worshiper of the true and living God. Clearly, this is part of how God’s people exalt him in their hearts and before men, as David’s prayer was published in this psalm to the encouragement of his fellow believers, and as a testimony to everyone. David’s conduct contrasts with some who never vow at all, and with others who take the name of false gods upon their lips.
The seriousness of Nehemiah and his fellows is plain from the fact that they “entered into a curse . . . to walk in God’s law” (Neh 10.29). This is just an acknowledgement that if they broke their promise, they deserved to be cursed for it, without forsaking desire for and dependence upon his mercy in that event. We already have moral obligations before God, and the breach of them merits punishment, but for one to say this sincerely and aloud as pertaining to himself reveals a heart of gritty determination.
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Third, the psalmist’s vow recognizes his own responsibilities in his relationship with God. “I will perform it” and “I will keep thy righteous judgments.” Being a man under grace, in a covenant of salvation with God, with assurance of eternal life, did not release him from moral obligations, and these were nowhere more pressing than in the area of his freely-taken holy vows. Not the vow alone, but the vow coupled with faithful fulfillment is pleasing to God.
When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay (Eccl 5.4-5).
Practical godliness is not only a matter of our hearts and intentions, however sincere, but also of our actual conduct. We are far too apt to think that grace makes our godly performance strictly optional, but this is to turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness (Jude 4), that is, a license to sin.
Further, passivity in the Christian life is not safe; we must strive with all our might, and “in the power of his might” (Eph 6.10), to excel in every virtue and duty. You will never find yourself mortifying sin and pursuing righteousness by accident or without trying, anymore than a boxer knocks out his opponent or a runner finishes first. The apostle Peter exhorted in vigorous language: “giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity” (2 Pet 1.5-7). All diligence! You (implied), add these things (imperative voice, the mood of command, implying personal responsibility, and ability by God’s grace).
GOD’S SUFFICIENT WORD
Fourth, the psalmist’s vow fixes upon obedience to God’s “righteous judgments,” that is, the revealed will of God spelled out already in the Scriptures. Have you ever stopped to realize that any good thing you might possibly do is no more than what has already been commanded you in God’s Word? That is because “thy commandment is exceeding broad” (Psa 119.96), “a sufficient guide into all the will of God for all people in all cultures in all times and in all situations.”5 You cannot imagine any good work, or any vice to be avoided, that is not covered by the careful application of biblical principle, and within the bounds of God’s moral law in Scripture.
What then of the many things religious people do, ostensibly from exceptional devotion to God, which are not contained in Scripture? For example, your neighbor tells you he has made a vow to the Lord for Lent this year, to give up his favorite treat, chocolate. Some are impressed, but without good reason. There is no sin in eating chocolate in moderation, and so total abstinence from chocolate, whether for a season for for one’s life, is not pleasing to God—no, not in the slightest degree. This kind of superstitious belief and practice is actually sinful, as our Reformed forefathers recognized:
A vow, which is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone, is to be made and performed with all religious care and faithfulness; but popish monastical vows of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious and sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle himself (1689 LBCF XXIII.5).
How then should we apply this verse of Psalm 119? Let us be earnest and determined in our devotion to Christ, willing even to commit to him in prayer that we shall tend to our spiritual responsibilities as he teaches them to us from his Word. Let us avoid two sinful extremes: refusing to vow anything at all from an overwhelming sense of our liability to fall, or hastily vowing anything without a humble reliance on God’s grace to grant us the strength for performance. Don’t give up chocolate; give up your bad temper. Resolve, for example, to read his Word faithfully every day unless providentially hindered, for this is a plain application of biblical truth. Do these kind of things because “he who cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him” (Heb 11.6). This is the godliness exhibited by Christ, and it will be the fruit of his life in you. Amen.
Notes:
1. NIV Thematic Reference Bible #8208.
2. TWOT #2319.
3. NIV Thematic Reference Bible #5430.
4. The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, “Oaths.”
5. From our previous study on Psa 119.96.