Exposition
of Psalm 119
צ
TZADDI
God’s Word Is Always Right
Psalm 119:137-144
Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.
My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.
The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.
The key word in this stanza is easy to spot. We see a form of the word “right” no less than six times: righteous (v. 137, 138); upright (v. 137); and righteousness (v. 142, 144). Each verse in the stanza, in fact begins with the first letter of the Hebrew word for “righteous.” This is reinforced all the more with words such as faithful (v. v. 138), pure (v. 140), and truth (v. 142). The Psalmist tells us that the word of God is always right, regardless of actions, adversity, attitudes, or even the ages. This truth is crucial in our day when the Bible is accused of not being “up to date or relevant” and must, therefore, be rethought for our modern age.
Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.
My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
Every person is tempted to say, “Well, my actions don’t really matter as long as my motive is pure.” How often we hear that! David, however, didn’t agree, and neither did any other Scripture writer. He declares here that actions matter, regardless of what someone’s motive is. As we discern truth from error, motive is actually irrelevant. Someone can be sincere in their belief and have the purest of motive in their action, but still be wrong. Uzzah’s motive, for example, was pure in transporting the Ark of Covenant on a cart instead of carrying it by hand using poles. Further, he had the purest of motives when he touched it to prevent it from falling off the cart even though God had commanded never to touch it. But pure motive did not change the fact that God took Uzzah’s life because he disobeyed (Num. 4:5‑6, 15; II Sam. 6:1-9). Likewise, we can be passionately sincere, have the deepest of conviction, and the purest of motives but still be totally wrong in our action because we have not done it according to God’s prescribed manner. In short, action is the issue, not motive.
So again, David declares here that actions matter and no matter what our actions might be, God’s Word is always right. Notice his two observations.
Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.
If there is one truth that is clear in Scripture, it is that God is righteous. Deuteronomy 32:4 declares, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Psalms 145:17 declares, “The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” So important is this doctrine that Paul first words it in the positive—“But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5)—and then in the negative: “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid” (9:14).
Long before my seminary days and deep, advanced courses in theology and other training, the very first doctrine course I ever took was actually in my senior year of High School, based upon William Evan’s classic book, The Great Doctrines of the Bible. The teacher made a statement that I still remember thirty-eight years later (2008) and is one of the best statements I have ever heard concerning the nature of God. He said, “God’s righteousness is plus-righteousness.” God, therefore, is better than just righteous, which would seem impossible. So righteous is He that we have trouble expressing it with language.
The Hebrew behind righteous (sādîq) primarily speaks of conforming to a moral or ethical standard. Because of their fallen nature, men do not want to a moral or ethical standard. That is why many today are fighting to remove the Ten Commandments from the courtroom. With God’s moral and ethical standard plastered on the wall, men are condemned before court is even in session.
The word upright (yāshār) adds the idea of “go straight or direct in the way” or “make (a way) straight and level.” Proverbs 2:6, for example, declares, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:6), that is, make your paths straight, direct, and level. One of the most telling instances of this word is in Judges 17:6, where every man in Israel “did that which was right in his own eyes.” That does, indeed, describe our own day.
David is not done, however. Not only does he perceive that God Himself is righteous and upright, but he goes on to say that the testimonies that [God] hast commanded are righteous and very faithful. As noted back in verse 90, the Hebrew translated faithful (“faithfulness” in verse 90, ‘emuwnah) comes from the same word for “truth” (’emûnâ). Why is God’s Word faithful, perpetual, always the same? Because it is true, because “truth endureth to all generations” (Ps. 100:5), because “endureth for ever” (117:2).
Therefore, God’s Word, David declares, is as righteous as God. Stop and let that sink in for a moment. Yes, God Himself is perfect and righteous, but it is also essential that we look at His Word in the same way. Sadly, many today talk about God and talk about how they love Jesus, but then disregard His righteous revelation. His word is as much “plus-righteousness” as He is. Oh, how we need to see that there is only one right and straight way of doing things, and that is the Word of God alone. David’s perception of this principle then leads us to his passion about this principle.
David’s Passion (v. 139-140)
My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
This was not theory to David; it was reality. He looked around and saw that men of his day (like in our day) had forgotten [God’s] words. They did not care about God’s righteousness or the righteousness of God’s words. As Paul declares, they did not wish to “to retain God in their knowledge” (Rom. 1:28). This drove him to a zeal that totally consumed him. How many of us can say that God’s Word consumes everything about us, consumes our thinking and our living?
The word consumed (sāmat), in fact, is shockingly graphic (and certainly is not considered “tolerant” in our day). One Hebrew authority explains:
The verb is a very strong word for destruction or for completely silencing someone. . . . It describes the intense desire of one to obliterate completely his enemies (cf. Psalm 143:12). . . . Similarly one who serves God zealously is consumed by that very zeal, especially when he sees his adversaries forgetting God’s word (Psalm 119:139).[1]
In other words, David wanted to see the obliteration of those who disregard God’s words. “But how unloving!” many would cry today. But we submit, “Unloving to whom?” Whom do we truly love? Is it loving to God when men hate his word and we then tolerate their attacks on it? It is loving to God to coddle those who have heard the Word and reject it out of hand? Is it even truly loving to men not to tell them the consequences of their sin and rebellion? Spurgeon captures David’s passion here:
These men had gone so far in iniquity that they not only violated and neglected the commands of God, but they appeared actually to have forgotten them. This put David into a great heat; he burned with indignation. How dare they trample on sacred things! How could they utterly ignore the commands of God himself! He was astonished, and filled with holy anger.
Such an attitude is precisely what proves our love for God’s Word. Instead of the typical mantra of today, “Oh, well everyone is entitled to their opinion,” let us say with Spurgeon, “How dare they on sacred things!” or as Hebrews 10:29 declares: “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”
Thy word is very pure, David goes on to say, which is why he therefore loveth it. This is the single time in this Psalm that David speaks of God’s Word as being pure (sārap), although he does elsewhere (Ps. 12:6; 18:30). This word “describes the purifying process of a refiner, who heats metal, takes away the dross, and is left with a pure substance,”[2] as in Proverbs 25:4: “Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.” That was not enough for David, however, for he adds the modifier very, demonstrating that God’s Word is even purer than pure. What a description of the Word of God! It’s “plus-pure,” purer than pure. No dross, no impurities, just the absolute pure truth of God. Is there any wonder that David loved it? Do we?
I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.
The first cross-references that come to mind when I read this verse are both in I Corinthians. First, there is 1:21-25:
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Paul then goes on to write in 2:1-5:
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Paul absolutely refused to mix philosophy with preaching, “lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect” (i.e., empty, void, and useless), as he wrote in 1:17. By mixing man’s ideas, philosophies, and traditions with God’s Word makes the Word useless. It would take another whole book to list to instances in history of men adding philosophy and negating truth. So Paul says in effect, “All I am going to give you is the Word of God. I will mix it with nothing else.” He goes on to say, however, that both Jew and Gentile mock this approach. Jews want signs and wonders (as do many today who want something exciting and entertaining), and Gentiles want philosophy, debate, rationalism, and “scientific empiricism.”
In the world’s eyes, then, both David and Paul are small and despised. Small (sā‘îr) means little, insignificant, or young. In other words, in the world’s eyes we are nothing more than children babbling away with their insignificant Bible verses. Further, despised means to hold in contempt. It is an absolute certainty that to stand on biblical authority alone will invite criticism. People will say we are young, naïve simpletons, and they will even hold us in contempt if we dare point out their error. “If the world hate you,” Jesus said to His disciples, “ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (Jn. 15:18), and “shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake” (Matt. 24:9). That is the price of truth.
In God’s eyes, however, David and Paul were right because they did not . . . forget [God’s] precepts. It is sad, indeed, how many preachers today will not stand for God’s Word alone because it won’t be popular, it won’t make people happy or make them feel good, or simply will not give people the church programs that they think they should have. Few statements in our day are more frustrating than, “We are looking for a church that will meet our needs.” What that really means is, “We are looking for a church that will meet our wants.” The fact of the matter is that what most people want today is based in fleshly, selfish desire. They want to be conformable, entertained, and most of all unchallenged. What they need, however, is the truth and that is found in the Word of God alone.
Yes, to stand on God’s Word alone will, indeed, make us small and despised, but it will
also makes us right. We do not mean here that we are act superior or take on an
attitude of arrogance that says, “Oh, I know I am right and I have all the
answers.” No, such attitudes are prideful and sinful.” Rather, our attitude is
a humbleness of heart that says, “Here is what God’s Word says, and I am
compelled not only to believe it but to speak the truth to you in love (Eph.
4:15).”
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.
We live in a day when people are driven by “feelings.” No one has said it better than Herbert Spencer, 19th Century English philosopher and political theorist, who wrote, “Opinion is ultimately determined by the feelings, and not by the intellect.”[3] How true that is today. Feelings drive people’s belief system. Whether they are voting for a political candidate, looking for a church, or accepting a new teaching, it is all based on feelings. Facts are not the issue, faith in what God says in His Word is not the issue, rather how it makes them feel is the issue. It is not the intellect that rules, rather it’s an impulse that rules. There is great zeal, but nothing real. This has even kicked open the door to the growing frequency of mysticism, which teaches finding God through visions and revelations, that God impresses new ideas and truth upon our hearts that are not already contained in Scripture. Such teaching is no less, however, than apostasy.
Further, and this is the real issue, truth has been realigned. No longer is Truth aligned with what God says, but rather realigned to what each person thinks or feels truth to be. Truth is no longer propositional rather experiential. In other words, truth is not made up of propositions, statements of facts, or theorems to be demonstrated; rather it is comprised of what each person feels, what is true for them, how they view based upon their life experience and the context of each situation in which they find themselves. Neither is Truth absolute nowadays but relative. It is not unconditional, definite or conclusive, rather it depends upon each person’s perspective or circumstance; it is in flux and adaptive. Neither is Truth today exclusive rather inclusive; it does not reject anyone, no matter what his view, rather it embraces everyone.
In stark contrast, David was not driven by his feelings, his attitudes, his views, or his opinions. He was driven by truth. It did not matter that trouble and anguish [had] taken hold on [him]. What mattered was God’s everlasting righteousness, God’s law, and God’s commandments. It did not matter how he felt; what mattered was what God said.
Some time ago, I was broken-hearted by the words I heard from one Christian who had “been in therapy” as the expression goes. Repeating the mantra that is typical today, that Christian said, “It’s all about my needs right now; it’s about how I feel.” Where is such foolishness in Scripture? Where do we read, “It’s all about me?”
In wonderful contrast, I once heard Dr. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, tell a story on himself. He said that he admittedly does not have the greatest counseling technique (at least according to modern opinion). He said, “I ask three questions when someone comes for counsel: first, what’s your problem?; second, what do you think God would have you do about it?; and third, why are we having this conversation?” That is absolutely right. Many people think counseling is coddling when it should be commanding. It is simply a matter of recognizing what God says and then doing it. Stop living in the past, stop living based upon feelings, and simply obey what God says. Stop wallowing in self and start walking with God.
Oh, that we can say with David, Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my
delights.
The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.
As David wrote earlier in verse 89: “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” Such statements immediately bring to mind our Lord’s own words: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). He also declared, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18). As noted in our study of verse 89, so permanent is God’s Word that not even the smallest letter (yod) or the smallest part of a letter (tittle) will be lost. Deeper yet, “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail” (Lk. 16:17). Think of it! It would be easier for the whole universe to wink out of existence than for even to smallest stroke of the pen of God’s Word to fail. Should not that be what we love?
To say that nothing comes even remotely close to the longevity of the Bible is the height of understatement. One such feeble example is L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics, a handbook to his self-founded religion Scientology that has been on several bestseller lists, one for over 100 weeks, and has, of course sold millions of copies. The Bible, however, tops the bestseller lists every year. Further, while Dianetics has been translated into some 40 languages, which is certainly impressive for any book, the Bible has been translated in whole or in part into more than 1,500 languages. Further still, as noted in our last study, its longevity is demonstrated by the fact that thousands of manuscripts have survived the ravages of time and that its truth has survived the violence of both direct and critical attack. The more men try to destroy it, the more it thrives. While Dianetics will one day fade away, God’s Word endures forever.
In closing, I cringe whenever I hear a Christian say, “Well, times change.” While that statement is certainly true, more often than not what those Christians actually mean is that we also must change, that our methods, our ministries, and even our message must change to fit the times. But that is a blatantly unbiblical idea. God’s Word is everlasting because truth is absolute or it is not truth. As commentator Albert Barnes observes (on v. 142):
Human governments change. Old dynasties pass away. New laws are enacted under new administrations. Customs change. Opinions change. People change. The world changes. But as God himself never changes, so it is with his law. That law is founded on eternal truth, and can never change.
Commentator Adam Clarke adds:
[God’s] moral law was not made for one people, or for one particular time; it is as imperishable as [His] nature, and of endless obligation. It is that law by which all the children of Adam shall be Judged.
Mark it down: God’s Law will never change! We ignore that truth at our peril. God’s Word is always right, so let us stand on what is right.