Exposition
of Psalm 119
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God’s Word Produces Consistency
Ps. 119:33-40
Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
What struck me first in this stanza were the words unto the end, which are all one word in the Hebrew (‘ēqeb) that “refers to a goal, end, or purpose to something or the chronological end of a process.”[1] David’s desire and prayer in this stanza, his goal in life, is to remain consistently true to God’s Word throughout his life.
All of us have difficulty with being consistent in our Christian walk. Changing emotions, pressures of life, and other factors affect us more than we like to admit. How, then, can we be consist? We see here seven principles of a consistent Christian life: always learning, always obeying, always delighting, always reaching, always watching, always longing, and always growing.
Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes;
Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
Here, in fact, is the very foundation of consistency. If we are not learning, it is impossible to be consistent. If I might share a sincere personal note, if I don’t learn something today, today is “a bust.” Whether it be a biblical truth I haven’t seen before, an historical fact I’ve not read about before, a new piece of trivia to stimulate the mind, or something else, the day seems wasted. Young people sometimes think, “Boy, when I get out of school, I won’t have to learn anything else!” We all know, of course, that learning has only just begun in those school days. We must be always learning, or life will be a failure.
The word teach appears nine times in this Psalm (vs. 12, 26, 33, 64, 66, 68, 108, 124, 135). In every case, except here, it is the Hebrew lāmad, which means to teach in the sense of “training as well as educating.”[2] Along with the translation of “taught” in verse 171, this Hebrew word also appears nine times in this Psalm.
The word that appears here, however, is yārâ, a very interesting word. As one authority tells us, the fundamental idea of this root is to throw or cast “with the strong sense of control by the subject.” That writer goes on to say:
Lots were cast in regards to dividing the land among the various tribes (Joshua 18:6). God cast the Egyptian army into the Red Sea (Exodus 15:4; cf. Job 30:19). With stones it has the idea of placing them in a certain place; God laid the cornerstone of the world (Job 38:6) and Laban set up a heap of stones and a pillar as a witness between Jacob and himself to their covenant of peace (Genesis 31:51f.). The three most frequent uses of this root deal with shooting arrows, sending rain, and teaching.[3]
This creates a graphic image for us when we think about teaching. It is essential for a teacher to control what is taught, to place what is taught in a certain place and way, to teach principles that are foundational, as pictured by the cornerstone of a building, and to properly aim those principles as an archer aims and shoots his arrows.
What a marvelous description of teaching! Sadly, however, the general fare in churches today is a far cry from such a foundational, aimed, and systematic presentation of Truth. It is appalling how many professing Christians today simply do not want, and absolutely refuse to sit under, deep, systematic Truth. Preaching and substantive teaching have all but disappeared, being replaced by entertainment and feelings-oriented and motivational speeches. But what David wanted from God, and what the truly spiritual Christian wants, is Truth, to be always learning.
If I may be so bold, there is, indeed, something seriously wrong when that is not the desire of the leaders and people in our churches. Truly spiritual people want Truth, which means the reverse is also true: those who do not want truth are not spiritual, rather they are “carnal” (I Cor. 3:1-4), if not even the “natural man” (I Cor. 2:14). While that statement might seem “judgmental” or “intolerant,” it is biblically true.
David adds something else, however, that is equally important—he prays, Give me understanding. He first mentions this principle back in verse 27: “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.” The Hebrew word in both verses (bîn) means “to discern, to perceive, to observe, to pay attention to, to be intelligent, to be discreet, to understand.” As vital as knowledge is, by itself it is virtually worthless. For example, a man might know by heart every medical work that has ever been written, and yet be the worst doctor in the world. What, then, is the difference between knowledge and understanding?
To illustrate further, I was reminded here of the near disaster of the Apollo 13 moon mission back in April 1970. After an oxygen tank exploded, the ship was severally crippled and demanded that most of its systems be shut down for the long four-day return trip to earth. Of several crises that arose, the most serious was whether or not there was enough power to bring the necessary systems back on line for reentry. Any draw of power that exceeded twenty amps would drain the power reserves, making reentry impossible and the death of the astronauts certain. What the flight controllers and engineers had to do was figure out an entirely new startup sequence that had never before been tried, needed, or even anticipated. The quadruple failure that Apollo 13 suffered simple “couldn’t happen,” so no one foresaw such an “impossible” scenario. The point is that it wasn’t enough to know which switches to flip but to know in what sequence to flip them, and that could only be accomplished by a total understanding of precisely what every switch did and what consequence each had on the rest of the procedure and the entire spacecraft.
Likewise, David didn’t want just knowledge alone, but the reasons why that knowledge was important, the way that knowledge applied to the real world, and even the consequences that knowledge would have on everything else. That is what is desperately needed today. A consistent Christian is absolutely impossible without constant learning and a growing understanding of what that knowledge will demand in his or her Christian walk. (We’ll return to another aspect of understanding in verse 73.) This leads right to a second principle.
and I shall keep it unto the end.
yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Make me to go . . .
Here is the third step in this essential progression: knowledge, understanding, and now obedience. We see here three strong statements concerning obedience to the Word of God.
First, we are to keep the Word. The Hebrew here (nāsar) originally came from the ancient Akkadian (nasāru), an extinct Semitic language that existed in Assyria and Babylonia, and meant “watch over, protect.” A similar Arabic word (nazara) means “keep in view, look at.” The idea in this word, then, is to guard, observe, and preserve. It’s used, for example, for a watchman over his vineyard (Job 27:18; Prov. 27:18). In this context, therefore, we are to maintain what God has entrusted to us, to keep the truths of God in both actions and mind, and to guard them with all our strength.
Second, we are to observe the Word. While the idea here is similar to keep, there is also in this word (shāmar) the idea of care, as Adam and Eve were to watch over and care for the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:15). It also speaks of protecting something, as when David gave orders to keep Absalom safe (1 Sam. 26:15; 2 Sam. 18:12). Still further, it speaks of paying close attention to something, such as the obligations of God’s Word, as in Leviticus 18:26: “Ye shall therefore keep (shāmar) my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations.” What is our attitude to God’s Word? Do we truly care for it, protect it, and pay close attention to it obligations and demands?
Third, we are to go in the path of the Word. As the word implies, path (netîbâ) speaks of a trail, road, or even a wake that is left in the water. Figuratively, then, it speaks of a way of life. Coupled with that is the word go (dārak), which carries the basic idea of setting foot on territory or objects, sometimes with the sense of trampling them. It’s used, for example, to describe God’s people taking possession of the Promised Land (Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:3). In this context, the idea is walking on the path of God’s commandments. Our way of life is not that of world but rather that of the Word of God alone. As Proverbs 4:11 declares, “I have taught thee in the way [or path, dārak] of wisdom.” Spurgeon beautifully writes here:
Thou hast made me to love the way, now make me to move in it. It is a plain path, which others are treading through thy grace; I see it and admire it; cause me to travel in it. This is the cry of a child that longs to walk, but is too feeble; of a pilgrim who is exhausted, yet pants to be on the march; of a lame man who pines to be able to run.
Putting all three of these statements together dramatically outlines what obedience is all about: obedience is keeping the truths of God, paying close attention to its obligations and demands, and walking on the path of His commandments. This will, indeed, bring about a consistent life.
for therein do I delight.
Wait a moment! Did we say here, “Always happy?” No, for there will be times when circumstantial “happiness” alludes us, as we considered in verses 1-8. What David says here is quite different. This is, in fact, his third mention of his delight in God’s Word. The word he uses in verse 16 (shā‘a‘) speaks of taking joy or enjoyment from something. The one in verse 24 (sha‘ashu‘îm) is another form of that word that is used figuratively in the phrase “a pleasant plant” in Isaiah 5:7 to refer to God's pleasure in the people of Judah. The word used here, however (hāpēs), indicates a stronger emotional delight than the others. Shechem, son of Hamor, for example, had an emotional delight in Jacob’s daughter Dinah (Gen. 34:19). It appears also in Proverbs 31:13, where the Virtuous Woman “worketh willingly [i.e., with emotional delight] with her hands.” (What an encouragement to Christian ladies today!)
David, therefore, declares that he takes emotional delight in God’s clear, definite, and authoritative commandments. At one time or another we’ve all probably thought that God’s commands are burdensome. I once heard a preacher put it well when he said, “Many think God is the Great Cosmic Party Pooper.” Indeed, many think that God just ruins all our fun with His commandments. But as Apostle John proclaims in I John 5:3: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous,” that is, heavy and oppressive. God’s commandments exist to protect us, to keep us from harm and total disaster. Many people talk about “loving God” while at the same time ignore His Word. They think His commands are oppressive so they redefine them according to modern thought. John, however, makes it clear that only those who delight in God’s commands truly love Him. This attitude contributes much to a consistent Christian life.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
The word incline (nātâ) literally means to extend, stretch out, that is, extending something outward and toward, as one would extend his arm (Ex. 7:5) or point a staff (Ex. 7:19) or a spear (Josh. 8:18). The word is often used, however, in a figurative way, such as inclining or leaning toward something. As the psalmist Asaph writes, for example, we are to “incline [our] ears to the words of [God’s] mouth” (Ps. 78:1). The godly Believer, then, is not inclined or reaching toward covetousness (“which is idolatry,” Col. 3:5), not “[inclined] . . . to any evil thing, to practice wicked works” (Ps. 141:4), rather he or she is inclined toward God’s testimonies, that is, the solemn testimonies of His will, the sober and serious expressions of His standards for human behavior.
This pictures the same truth that Paul declares in Philippians 3:13-14:
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
In spite of three years of training by our Lord Himself (Gal. 1:16-18) and thirty years of Christian growth and ministry, Paul says, “I haven’t arrived yet. I haven’t reached the prize. I don’t even fully comprehend the prize. I therefore continue to reach forth, to press toward, to pursue, to go after the prize of the knowledge of Christ.” “That I may know him,” Paul writes is verse 10.
Therefore, an essential part of a consistent Christian life is that we are always “reaching forth.” Sadly, many Christians, and even Christian leaders, get to a point in their lives where they become complacent and satisfied. They might say, “Well, I think I’m okay. I know the basic truths of Christianity, I know what I believe, and I love the Lord. That’s all I need.” Such folks have already failed! If we are not always reaching, we begin to slide back and stagnate. Dear Christian Friend, are you always reaching?
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
While the primary meaning of the Hebrew behind vanity (shāw’) is deceit, lie, or falsehood, it carries several other meanings: emptiness, evil, ruin, uselessness, worthless, and without result. The prayer of the psalmist, then, is that God would turn away his eyes from looking at such things.
Further, the Hebrew for turn away (‘ābar) is particularly interesting. One authority describes it especially well:
The verb refers primarily to spatial movement, to “moving over, through, or away from.” This basic meaning can be used of “going over or through” a particular location to get to the other side, as when Jacob “crossed over” the Euphrates to escape Laban (Gen. 31:21).[4]
The same authority goes on to outline other usages of this word, including, passing through, by, or over something. All this paints a vivid, poetic picture. David prays that his eyes would simply pass through, pass over, move away from all the evils of vanity. This is, indeed, an essential element of a consistent Christian life. We must be always watching out for the evils of this world and look past them and move away from them.
David uses the same word again in verse 39, Turn away my reproach. This has been taken two ways by expositors. Some think it speaks of the reproach that will come against the writer from others as he stands for God. Others believe that it refers to the reproach and shame brought on by God because of the writer’s sin. The latter was my own first impression as I examined the verse and does seem to better fit the idea of the rest of verse, for thy judgments are good, as well as verse 37. Puritan Charles Bridges puts it well:
It was the reproach of bringing dishonour upon the name of his God, that David feared. . . The fear of this reproach is a practical principle of tender watchfulness and circumspection, and of habitual dependence upon Almighty God.[5]
Whichever idea is correct, however, the point is the same: whether because of other people’s attack or our own sin, we must constantly be constantly be watching and examining our lives.
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:
One of things that has burdened me for the thirty-three years of ministry I have so far experienced (as of 2007) is the ambivalence that is common among many Christians in that I have repeatedly seen a lack of longing for God’s Word. While some don’t want it all and seek the many user-friendly characteristics of modern ministry, others don’t make it a priority when their church does have the Word as the central emphasis. Other activities easily and often replace church attendance. I have seen everything from school activities to family gatherings to frequent weekend getaways that prove that God’s Word is clearly not the priority.
In stark contrast is David’s use of the words longed after. The Hebrew tā’ab appears only three times in the Old Testament, all of them are right here in Psalm 119. David declares in verse 163, “I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love,” and again in verse 174, “I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.” A derivative (ta’abâ) occurs once more back in verse 20: “My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.” As noted there, this word speaks of an intense hunger and David was broken hearted when deprived of God’s Word. How many of us are broken hearted when we can’t be under the preaching and teaching of the Word? Mark it down: the consistent Christian is one who has an insatiable appetite for God’s Word. This leads to one other principle.
and quicken thou me in thy way.
Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
quicken me in thy righteousness.
As noted back in verse 25, quicken (hāyâ) means to live, be alive, and to sustain life and also speaks of reviving someone, as in reviving them from sickness or discouragement. David, therefore, prays here for a sustained spiritual life, one that is truly alive, thriving, and growing in God’s way and God’s righteousness.
He also prays that God will [establish] [His] word in his life. As with many Hebrew words, the one for [establish] (qűm) has “a myriad of derived and figurative meanings.”[6] While the literal idea is to arise, to stand or stand up, figuratively, it speaks of things such as “to endure, to continue, to establish, to strengthen, to perform, and to be victorious.” All those do, indeed, picture the consistent Christian, who is always growing “in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen” (II Pet. 3:18).
Dear Christian Friend, is your Christian life one of consistency? Even on those days that you don’t feel well, those days when the ups have turned to downs, those days when you aren’t “happy,” you can still be consistent.