Psalm 119:160 True, Eternal

Psalm 119:160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Thinking now of the final octaves of Psalm 119 we focus on verse 160, which says two things about the words or laws of God. Firstly, that those words are true or certain and, secondly, that these righteous laws are eternal, they endure forever. This applies to God's words as a whole, to all his righteous laws. None are exempt. When we come to the words of God we are coming then to words that are reliable and true, words we can depend on. When we come to the righteous laws of God we are coming to laws that are eternal and that will never come to an end, which is a further reason for depending wholly on them. These points have been made already in the psalm. In verse 86a he says All your commands are trustworthy and in verse 138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. In verse 142 it is Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. Verse 144a says Your statutes are forever right and verse 152 says Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever. Jesus himself, of course, makes similar claims regarding his own words. He says, in John 8:31, 32, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. In Matthew 24:35 and the parallel verses he says Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. The words I am studying today and that I meditate on from day to day, therefore, are both true and everlasting and so are worthy of my complete attention and devotion. They can be relied upon always. This, of course, is because they are breathed out by God himself.

Psalm 119:133 Word Directed

Psalm 119:133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
From verses 121-144 we select verse 133. Not every verse here mentions God's promise or decrees or statutes or law or commands or precepts or words but most do and this is the continued theme. In verse 133 it is your word. The prayer to God is that he will direct my footsteps according to this word. This is a prayer not so much for guidance (NLT) as for the ability to do right. The psalmist is concerned about how he lives or walks, the steps he takes. He asks God to direct (NIV) or establish (ASV) or order (AV) or keep steady (ESV) his steps. He wants the word of God to give the right pattern or shape, the right direction to his life. He is particularly concerned that though he may sin, no sin should rule over him or dominate his life as any sin can do if it is not dealt with. It is a great prayer for holiness then, recognising as it does the need to pray to God in this regard and the need to be lead by God's Word. This is one of the reasons that he is so keen that God should teach me your decrees (124, 135) and why he wants to understand your statutes (125, compare 144). He has already said because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path and Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them (128, 129). He now prays to go on hating wrong paths and obeying God's statutes. There is again a partial parallel with Psalm 19, this time verse 13, which says Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. This is how to live then - according to God's word with no sin dominating my life.

Psalm 119:103 Sweet Words

Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

The psalmist continues to meditate on his great theme in verses 97-120. Two of the octaves are very positive (Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long, etc; Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path, etc) but in the third we remember again how this world is inhabited by the double-minded, evildoers, those who stray from your decrees, the wicked of the earth and so hopes can be dashed and deliverance is needed. The first octave ends with verses 103 and 104 - How sweet are your words to my taste, etc and I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Verse 104 partly explains the striking metaphor in verse 103. It is the understanding the psalmist gains from God's precepts that is so sweet to him. Of course, honey not only tastes good but does you goo too and that may be in the background. Both verses make the point that there is something pleasing and rewarding in taking in the word of God and letting it roll around the tongue of your mind. Psalm 19:10 is very similar to verse 103. It is sort of "riff" on verses 72 and 103 of this psalm. There are some who would find such a statements implausible but such people would be those who fail to read and meditate on the commands, statutes, precepts, laws or words of God. When we take the word and really probe and explore it, there is something truly sweet in it. This verse is an example, as its focus on the words of God being sweet, sweeter than honey reminds us of the good things we have tasted in the past and stirs us up to delve deeper and deeper to know more. The God who gave us honey gives us many sweet things in his word.

Psalm 119:83 Kippered Wineskins

Psalm 119:83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.
Coming to verses 73-96 of Psalm 119, the octaves using the Hebrew letters yodh, kaph and lamedh, one notices that the psalmist continues to speak in terms of God's word and to make clear that he struggles at times. There is perhaps a perceptible movement in the three octaves from quite objective prayers (Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands, etc) to a more subjective long night of struggle (My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word, etc) and the final sunshine of a new day (Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens, etc). Certainly the Kaph stanza reflects a struggle, especially with persecutors - My soul faints with longing ... My eyes fail, looking ... How long? ... help me ... preserve my life. The picture in verse 83 is not a familiar one to us today but in days gone by when wine was often stored in animal skins, these containers would often be hung up in a smokey tent or near a busy kitchen chimney and would get dry and shrivelled and covered in soot and smuts. That is how the psalmist felt at times - dry and besmirched - and it is how we feel at times, too. Nevertheless, he was determined, as we must be determined, not to forget the God's decrees. He was not going to make his troubles an excuse for forsaking God's law. Rather he is determined to look to the Lord and his word. Meanwhile, he asks, how long and prays that the Lord will preserve him and his precious contents.

Psalm 119:72 More precious

Psalm 119:72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
Coming to verses 49-72 of the acrostic Psalm 119 the theme continues relentlessly, with every verse a little window into a world where God's word reigns supreme. Perhaps verse 72 sums up what the psalmist is chiefly saying as well as any verse in the psalm. Literally, it is Better to me the law of your mouth than thousands of gold and silver. There are a number of verses quite similar to it in the psalm (see verses 14, 162 and 127: I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches, ... in your promise like one who finds great spoil; I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold ... . See also Psalm 19:10 and trace the theme in Proverbs 3, 8 and 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! Here is the law from God's mouth, the very word of God himself and as you contemplate it, what do you find? May be not at first, not immediately - we can be like little children at times - yet slowly but surely you come to see how precious it is. It is worth more than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. That is why men and women have gone to extraordinary lengths at times just to have God's word for themselves and those around them. Think of someone like Tyndale, for example, or the Samizdat Bible printers of the Communist era in Russia. On the other hand, just as a man can be careless with very expensive jewellery or gadgets, so we can forget just what the law from God's mouth is worth and we can neglect to read it or meditate on it or make it our chief aim to conform to it. At times we are like blind men overlooking the stack of £50 notes or the gold rings even though they are right in front of our noses.

Psalm 119:48 Adulation, Meditation

Psalm 119:48 I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.

The second three octaves of Psalm 119 are perhaps less familiar than the first three and here we enter the murkier waters of the suffering saint and his Bible. Still the focus is the same, however, - your word, your decrees, your law(s), your statutes, your commands, your promise and your precepts. In verse 48 the psalmist says two things with regard to the commands or decrees of the Lord. First, using very striking terms he describe his devotion to the word. Bible believers are often accused of biblolatry but here the writer is actually willing to speak of lifting his hands to God's commands as he would to God in himself in prayer. Does he not see he might be accused of worshipping the Bible? He is not concerned. The fact, of course, is not that he worships the Bible but that he reaches out in absolute dependence on God's commands. That is how it should be with all of us. The second and perhaps more familiar thing is that he also meditates on God's decrees. He fills his mind with the word and lets it go over and over in his mind. Again, this is what we should be doing. Honour the word, meditate on it. Do nothing to demean or to downgrade the word. Do everything you can to fix it in your mind and explore its ramifications. God's word is worthy of such attention.

Psalm 119:4 Full obedience

Psalm 119:4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

The opening three octaves of Psalm 119 contain many striking and well known verses (eg verses 9, 11 and 18). Each verse relates in one way or another to the law of the LORD, his statutes, his ways, precepts, decrees, commands, righteous laws, statutes, his word. In verse 4 the point is that, firstly, the LORD has laid down precepts. In the Bible we find the mandates or requirements that he has sent down from heaven for us to obey. Secondly, these precepts are to be obeyed, of course. There is no question that God expects that we should do what he says, what he requires. More than that, the writer adds an intensifier. This obeying or keeping of God's precepts is to be done fully, with earnestness and commitment. We are not called upon to more or less follow what it says but to follow it absolutely. A good accountant is one who writes down the figures completely accurately not just more or less. With the same attention to detail we must get to know God's word and then apply it in our lives from day to day. God's intention has always been that we follow his word closely and completely just as he laid it down. When someone does a job for you, you want him to do it thoroughly not half heartedly. That is how God wants us to obey, just as the angels do in heaven. This means that we will pay careful attention both to getting a  proper understadning of the word and to seeing that we carry it out in every area of life.