VAU

God’s Word Produces Confidence

Ps. 119:41-48

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.

So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.

So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.

And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

One of the great joys I experienced in studying Psalm 119 was the reading of several expositions and commentaries by various godly authors. What was interesting about those resources was how differently each teacher would approach each stanza of this psalm. I was amazed many times at the different outlines and principles that each brought out but at the same time noticed the unity of thought of all of them no matter what the approach. This is a powerful testimony to the unity of Scripture.

What struck me in my study of this sixth stanza is that God’s Word produces confidence in the Believer’s heart and mind. We see, in fact, that that confidence lies in no less than seven realities.

I. The Confidence of Salvation (v. 41)

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.

Two words in this verse address the subject of salvation: mercies and the word salvation itself. Mercies translates the Hebrew hesed, which is “one of the most important [words] in the vocabulary of Old Testament theology and ethics,” appearing some 240 times, most frequently in the Psalms.[1] It speaks of kindness, loving-kindness, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, love, and acts of kindness. It’s most notable appearance is in Psalm 136, where the Psalmist declares twenty-six times of God: “his mercy endureth for ever.”

It is also noteworthy that with few exceptions, the Septuagint translates hesed with the common Greek word eleos, which speaks of “kindness or good will towards the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them.”[2] The whole point of mercy, therefore, is to relieve the affliction that man suffers because he cannot relieve it himself. In one of the most pointed verses in Scripture about salvation not being by works, Paul wrote to Titus: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (3:5). Man, who is helpless afflicted in his sin, has only one hope: God’s mercy, energized and applied by the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn. 3:5). This word was so imbedded in Paul’s thinking, in fact, that he even used it often in salutations (1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4). Mercy is always to the helpless.

The word salvation, then, is the Hebrew teshû‘â, which means deliverance, victory, and safety. The word is often used in the context of military conflict (Judg. 15:18; 1 Sam. 11:13; 1 Chron. 11:14). Spiritually, salvation is, indeed, a great conflict, a conflict between Satan and God, death and life, and such salvation is found only in God. As David declares in Psalm 144:10: “It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.”

What, then, is the source of David’s confidence? His confidence lies in [God’s] word. He knows that Scripture declares that God alone is the source of salvation and deliverance from sin. As the Psalmist again declares:

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine (33:16-18).

Salvation is not found in man’s strength, rather in God’s sufficiency.

II. The Confidence of Answering (v. 42)

So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.

The words so shall couple this verse with the previous one. As a result of knowing the source of true salvation, the psalmist now declares that he is ready to give the skeptic or infidel that very answer. Spurgeon well writes here:

It is most desirable that revilers should be answered, and hence we may expect the Lord to save his people in order that a weapon may be put into their hands with which to rout his adversaries. When those who reproach us are also reproaching God, we may ask him to help us to silence them by sure proofs of his mercy and faithfulness.

What is the offensive weapon of the Christian soldier?—“the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). What is the source of David’s confidence? It lies in His trust in [God’s] word. Oh, how we should imbed those words into our thinking! We trust nothing else but the Word of God. We rely on nothing else. How do we answer the skeptic and the infidel? Not with the arguments of men, but with the announcement of Truth. While the field of Christian apologetics has its place, what matters most in our witness to a lost world is the declaration, “Thus saith the Lord,” a phrase we encounter some 415 times in Scripture. Commentator Albert Barnes well says:

So the Saviour replied to the suggestions of the tempter almost wholly by passages of Scripture (Matt. 4:4, Matt. 4:7; Matt. 4:10); and so, in many cases, the best answer that can be given to reproaches on the subject of religion will be found in the very words of Scripture. A man of little learning, except that which he has derived from the Bible, may often thus silence the cavils and reproaches of the learned sceptic; a man of simplehearted, pure piety, with no weapon but the word of God, may often thus be better armed than if he had all the arguments of the schools at his command.

If we may say it again, it is not for us to argue trifles, rather to announce Truth. Will such an approach invite criticism and accusation of simple-mindedness? Yes, but as Paul declared to the Corinthians:

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 (I Cor. 2:1-5).

Our confidence is God’s Truth as it alone answers the foolish ramblings of men. This leads right to a third principle.

III. The Confidence of Certainty (vs. 43)

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.

If there is one word that sums up modern society, it is the word uncertainty. We live in an age of unprecedented relativism, where truth is up for grabs, is different for each person, and changes according to circumstances.

In the verse before us, however, the Psalmist writes of the word of truth. Oh, that every Christian would be in love with this word truth! As noted back in verse 30, there are four occurrences of the word truth in this Psalm (vs. 30, 43, 142, 151). A different Hebrew word is used in verse 30 (’emûnâ) than in the other three occurrences. At the root of the word used in these other three verses (‘emeth), is the idea of certainty[3] and includes such concepts as truth, right, and faithful.

It is extremely significant that the Septuagint translates this Hebrew word as the Greek alētheia in some 100 instances, including the three here in Psalm 119. As one Greek authority puts it: “etymologically alētheia means nonconcealment. It thus denotes what is seen, indicated, expressed, or disclosed, i.e., a thing as it really is, not as it is concealed or falsified. Alētheia is the real state of affairs.”[4] The fundamental concept concerning truth is that it is that which is absolute, that which is incontrovertible, irrefutable, incontestable, unarguable, and unchanging. If something is true, it’s always true and can never be untrue, no matter what the circumstances.

Note what David prays: take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth. He desperately depended upon the truth and prayed that nothing would remove it from his life. Oh, that the church today would pray that prayer! Would that Christians desired truth and nothing else! While David prayed that truth would never be taken from him, modern church leaders are working overtime to eliminate it from our midst.

David goes on to add that he hoped in [God’s] judgments. Hoped is the Hebrew yāhal, which means “confident expectation, trust, and patient waiting.” The Septuagint translation is again significant, where yāhal is often translated by the Greek elpizō, “to expect with desire.”[5] Unlike its use today, biblically, hope always means certainty; it expresses an attitude of absolute assurance and rest in that assurance.

That’s the message of the psalmist and every other Bible author, and that is the message needed today. In a day when truth has been redefined and even denied as not existing at all, it is the Christian believer who must stand on Scripture alone as the only source of truth. This again leads to another principle.

IV. The Confidence of Permanence (vs. 44)

So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.

So certain is the Word of God, so sure is the psalmist of its truth, he declares that he will keep it continually for ever and ever. It is truly fascinating that three separate Hebrew words are used here. The first (tāmîd, continually) means always, continually, regularly and refers to something being done regularly with no interruption. It’s used most often of the daily rituals in the tabernacle and temple: “Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually” (Ex. 29:38). The second word (‘ôlām, for ever) speaks of “indefinite continuance into the very distant future.”[6] In other words, one looks toward the future but finds no end to this. The third word (‘ad, ever) simple means eternity or the unforeseeable future. In other words, not only can I not see an end to this, but there is no end to this. True confidence comes only with such an attitude to the Word of God, that without interruption, It is continually, permanently in us and will remain there forever into the unforeseeable future.

Oh, if we could only grasp that truth in the church today! In light of all the “stuff” we have added to “ministry,” in light of the relativism and pragmatism that rule, how we need to return to Scripture alone.

V. The Confidence of Liberty (v. 45)

And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

Young’s Literal Translation renders this: “And I walk habitually in a broad place, For Thy precepts I have sought.” The reason for that rendering lies in the word liberty, which translates the Hebrew rāhāb, meaning broad, wide, spacious, or large. Exodus 3:8, for example, describes the Promised Land as a good land and a large [rāhāb] . . . a land flowing with milk and honey.” In the present context, therefore, as one Hebrew authority puts it, “It refers to the broad freedom or openness of God’s Law.”[7] In other words, no longer restrained by corrupt desires and bound by sinful passions, David had confidence in the broad freedom he had in God’s Word. In this New Testament economy, we call this “Christian liberty.” As Puritan Matthew writes, “The service of sin is perfect slavery; the service of God is perfect liberty.”

How many people today think they are “free” in their sin! They think they are at liberty to do whatever they want. But the Psalmist understood the sobering truth that only God makes us free. The Apostle John also understood this when he declared, “[Satan] hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted (Jn. 12:40). He also declared: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. . . . If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (Jn. 8:32, 36). There is no freedom, no liberty, unless we embrace the truth.

VI. The Confidence of Witness (v. 46)

I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

Here is wondrous statement of witness to the lost without the slightest note of shame or apology. As we have noted before, testimonies is the Hebrew ‘ēdāh (or ‘ēdut), meaning a “testimony, witness, or warning sign.” It eventually came to be used for a solemn testimony of the will of God, a sober and serious expression of God’s standards for human behavior. It’s extremely significant that the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments are called God’s “testimony” (Ex. 25:16; 31:18; 32:15).

This is what David declared that he would speak of even to kings, without shame or apology, no matter how it might be taken or how much a person of great power might intimidate him. He says he will tell such men about God’s standards for human behavior. There are other examples throughout Scripture: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before the King of Babylon (Dan. 3:1-16), Peter before the religious leaders (Acts 4), Stephen before the council (Acts 6:15ff), and Paul before Felix (22:14), Festus (25:1ff), and Agrippa (26:1ff).

If we might bring this down to real practice today, is this not what we should be telling our political leaders, some of whom have not an ounce of moral fiber? Should we not be telling them about God’s standards for human behavior? We are not only reminded that former president Bill Clinton had sexual relations with a White House intern in the oval office and then lied about it on national television, but that the American then turned right around and reelected him! Such things are unimaginable! Likewise, we read about scandal after scandal among such leaders, who even have the unmitigated gall to say that “character doesn’t matter.”

In contrast, let us, with David, stand and declare God’s standards for human behavior. Sadly, in today’s atmosphere of “political correctness,” “tolerance,” and “openness,” fewer and fewer Christians are standing for the Truth. Intimated by modern thought, they are fearful and even ashamed of the Gospel and biblical absolutes. We need to follow the challenge Paul gave to timid Timothy:

Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. . . . For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus (II Tim. 1:8, 12-13).

Paul likewise wrote to the Believers at Rome: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). Let us also be warned, as our Lord Himself declared, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mk. 8:38).

Oh, how we need Christians today who will stand for the Truth without apology! We cannot help but recall Martin Luther as he stood before Charles V and other dignitaries who tried to shame and intimidate him into silence. On that day at the Diet of Worms in April 1521, Luther boldly declared:

Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.

Oh, how we need men today who will do the same!

VII. The Confidence of Joy (v. 47-48)

And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

For the fourth time in this Psalm, David expresses his total delight in God’s Word, specifically, God’s commandments, that is, the miswāh, His clear, definite, and authoritative commands. He further adds that these are the commandments that I have loved. This is the first of eleven statements in this Psalm of David’s love for the Word of God.[8] The Hebrew here (’āhab), which is used in all eleven statements, speaks of “a strong emotional attachment to and desire either to possess or to be in the presence of the object.”[9] Do not we all want to possess and be in the presence of the things we love? Abraham loved Isaac (Gen. 22:2), Isaac loved Rebekah (24:67), Jacob loved Joseph “more than all his children” (37:3), and Ruth loved her mother-in-law Naomi (Ruth 4:15). Using the same word, God commands men to love Him: “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deut. 6:5). Let us, with David, truly love the Word of God, desire to be with it.

David adds, however, My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which is a further expression of delight. As John Gill submits here, we can see David “stretching out his hands, and embracing [God’s commandments] with both arms.” What a picture! Matthew Henry agrees: “I will lay hold of them as one afraid of missing them, or letting them go.”

As proof of that love, David vows I will meditate in thy statutes. As Puritan Charles Bridges observes, “Meditation kindled love.”[10] In other words, the more we meditate the more we will love, and the more we love the more we will mediate, and the circle continues. One meaning of the Hebrew behind meditate (śîah) is a “silent reflection on God’s works (Psalm 77:8; Psalm 9:12), and God’s word (Psalm 119:15, 23, 27, 48, 78, 148).”[11] Indeed, the more we truly mediate on the Word, the more we will love it, and more we love it the more we will meditate on it.

What an indictment and challenge this stanza presents to us! In what do we find joy? What do we really love? What do we desire more than anything else? If our answer to all those questions is not God’s Word, we are in grave error, and we will be “of all men most miserable” (I Cor. 15:19).

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