My zeal hath consumed me,
Because mine enemies have forgotten thy words (Psa 119.139).
A man who truly walks with God is subject to all kinds of emotional experiences, sometimes of a very intense degree. These feelings are not only compatible with true religion, but on account of it even raised to a high pitch, especially when he finds himself in particularly provocative circumstances. Such a man was David, and here he candidly declares his religious feelings and a reason for them. Any professing Christian without such feelings, or whose feelings along these lines barely register in his consciousness, has a symptom that something is seriously amiss in his soul.
In the spectrum of spiritual sensibilities, zeal maintains an important place. It is an indispensable part of a healthy soul’s emotional life and experience.
GOOD ZEAL
Religious zeal is not trading well on the market of public opinion right now. Mention religious zeal and Muslim jihadists come to the popular mind. Synonyms for zeal include these candidates: fanaticism, bigotry, prejudice, and sectarianism—all these being rightly scorned.
Yes, religious zeal can be dangerous, but so can fire, and we do not completely banish it on that account. A fire can destroy your house or warm your house, making it habitable and comfortable in the dead of winter. “It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing” (Gal 4.18). “It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good” (NIV).
Few people would fault being zealous in sincerity or compassion. So it is not zeal per se that deserves condemnation, but ignorant and misguided zeal. So Paul forms a mixed appraisal of his fellow Jews who did not follow Jesus as Lord. “I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom 10.2). Without knowledge, zeal is nothing less than a soul-destroying fire.
David testifies to “zeal,” even his personally-felt zeal, “my zeal.” The English word means “eagerness and ardent interest in the pursuit of something: fervor,”1 and “great energy or enthusiasm for a cause or objective.”2 These are good definitions.
The original Hebrew word used here has been defined as “zeal, ardor, passion, i.e., a strong desire and deep devotion for an object.”3 In general, everyone is zealous for something or other. The test of virtue is the object that excites the greatest desire and devotion. Zeal for an unworthy object, and excessive zeal for only a modest good, is censurable. If the object is proper, then the intensity of that zeal is the measure of virtue, as one ought to desire extremely and be extremely devoted to the noblest good.
GREAT ZEAL
David not only admits his zeal here, but his great zeal. “My zeal has consumed me.” The verb also means “destroyed.” This is a figure of speech which conveys graphically his zeal’s extreme intensity, as a fire so hot that it burns up the oven that did contain it, namely, his own person. We remember Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace heated to seven times its normal temperature, which even slew the king’s servants who threw holy men into it. Yet this zeal is hotter still!
The term [is] used in a favorable sense to denote consuming zeal focused on one that is loved (Psa 69.9).4
GODLY ZEAL
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary adds an important observation about zeal that applies in this context:
Zeal may be manifested either in favor of any person or thing, or in opposition to it, and in a good or bad cause.
David’s zeal was for something (God’s glory) and against something (his enemies’ irreligion) at the same time, and each passion required the other in his situational context.
“Mine enemies have forgotten thy [God’s] words.” Not only did they fail to call them to mind in godly meditation, but they had “forgotten” to practice the righteousness which God’s Word required of them. In other words, as respecting Scripture, David’s enemies were completely lawless and immoral, trampling God’s righteous precepts under their feet. This, and not any fault on David’s part, accounts for their hostility toward him. If they had loved God’s words, they would also have loved God’s faithful servant. John Gill says David was feeling
Zeal for God and his glory, for his word and ordinances and worship; which is a fervor of the mind, burning love, and flaming affections for God, shown in a holy indignation against sin and sinners. This was a zeal according to knowledge, sincere and hearty, and what continued; and which was shown in embracing and defending the truths of the word, and resenting every indignity cast upon them; to such a degree, that it ate up his spirit, wore away his flesh, and almost consumed him (in loc.).
Thus David’s zeal was completely justified from his love and jealousy for God’s glory, and therefore it was godly zeal of a very high order.
Indeed, Psalm 69.9, cited above, is the classic statement about righteous zeal in its perfection discovered as part of the Messiah’s own virtue: “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” This passage of the Psalter was fulfilled when Jesus cleansed the temple of its sacrilegious, religious bandits (cf. John 2.13-17). On this instructive occasion, the Lord Jesus Christ was under the control of an overwhelming, righteous zeal for God that caused him to respond in anger completely justified by those who desecrated the divine honor by their abuse of the sacred Temple and its services.
In other words, zeal is completely justified on the grounds of objective religious truth, when it is neither excessive nor diminished in degree from what is proper considering the circumstantial excitation of that zeal. This commendable zeal is a virtue to be highly prized and sought with all our hearts. Such godly zeal is a sign of strong spiritual health in a truly holy person walking in close communion with God.
This raises a very searching practical application for us today. Do we have a spiritual pulse and a strongly-beating heart for God? One area for self-examination is with respect to what really excites us, even rousing us to heated anger. Is it the driver that will not yield to us on the highway, or the reports of bloody persecutions of Christians in Iran? How could a virtuous person lose his temper over the first matter, while not shedding a single tear in regard to the second? Are we grieved by cold worship, a worldly church, abounding doctrinal errors, and other inconsistencies of professing Christians? Are our own sins more than a slight annoyance to us, and more like a mountainous burden nearly crushing us?
Brethren, how sickly our souls must be if we have only a paltry amount of zeal for God’s glory! Let us humble ourselves, confessing our unbelief, pride, and lukewarmness. Plead for a rekindling of sacred fire with coals from Christ’s own bosom!
GRATIFIED ZEAL
A holy soul contemplating the sins of the church’s enemies suffers a great deal of internal misery. He cries out with genuine anguish,
O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it (Psa 94.1-7).
Let the earth tremble and the heavens be darkened, for the day of righteous retribution is certainly coming upon all the godless, the day of Christ’s second coming. On that very day the great “Alleluia” will arise from all glorified saints, and they shall forever praise the omnipotent God of perfect justice for his finally overthrowing all evildoers, and delivering the church from them decisively, completely, and eternally. The all-consuming zeal of Christ and his brethren will be eased and gratified by the exercise of God’s power and righteous wrath, and there shall be peace for the redeemed forevermore. This is the Christian hope. Now let Christ’s zeal consume you. Amen.
Notes:
1. MWCD.
2. COED.
3. DBLSD #7863.
4. TWOT 2038a.