Psalm 119 Stanza 3
Psalm 119 Stanza 3
Gimel
17 Deal bountifully with your servant,
that
I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous
things out of your law.
19 I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
20 My soul is consumed with longing
for
your rules at all times.
21 You rebuke
the insolent, accursed ones,
who
wander from your commandments.
22 Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for
I have kept your testimonies.
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your
servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 Your testimonies are my delight;
they
are my counselors. [1]
Devotion
In this stanza, we find the psalmist references of trials
that he was going through. These trials seem to come upon him because of
the fact he is trying to follow God’s direction. They seem to be related to the
kinds of trials we find Jesus mentioning in his sermon on the mount (See
Matthew 5:10). Persecution is not to come as a surprise to anyone trying to
follow after God.
The psalmist also expresses alienation from life on earth.
In verse 19 it reads “I am a sojourner here on this planet. The Hebrew word
translated in the ESV as “sojourner” could be translated as “stranger”. The main
idea here is: “First, the words suggest that we are only passing through this
world for a short while with but little time to know and live by God’s Word.
Therefore, we should devote ourselves to getting to know the Bible.2”
A common theme running
through out the entire psalm is the desire to know and keep God’s commandments.
Verse 20 is a prime example of this “My soul is consumed with longing for your
rules at all time” How many people today can honestly say that? Not many I would
wager. This would be a far better world if we could only get one in ten to
thirst for God’s ways like the psalmist does here.
Verse 21 indicates God’s displeasure with those who ignore
and treat with contempt the word of God. Surely God must be disapproving of
much of what passes for culture and entertainment is today’s world. We would not
fare well were God to call for the end of time today when so many deliberately
or ignorantly wander far from the path that God has laid out in the Bible.
In
verses 22 and 23, the psalmist laments that he is suffering for his zeal for
the Lord. Even though “princes” are plotting against him which might cost the author
his life, he will keep on meditations on the word. Testimonies are called in Greek μαρτύρια, which word we now use for the Latin
word: whence those who on account of their testimony to Christ have been
brought low by various sufferings, and have contended unto death for the truth[2]
Verse 24 is a wonderful statement of the way people
should embrace God’s word. And taking the word of God as their instructor for
living life in this world,
The stanza we have been studying here is of great
encouragement. What it shows is to be able to make the world how a person
should live. This stanza “introduces
the theme of hostility or opposition that is prevalent throughout the psalm. The
psalmist identifies himself as Yahweh’s servant (vv. 17, 24) and views Yahweh’s
directions as his primary way of navigating the opposition he faces (vv. 19,
24).[3]” May we all seek our direction in living
from the word of God.
[1] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016),
Ps 119:17–24.
2Boice,
James Montgomery. Living by the Book (pp. 33-34). Baker Publishing Group.
Kindle Edition.
[2]
Augustine of Hippo, “Expositions on the Book of Psalms,” in Saint Augustin: Expositions on the Book of
Psalms, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 8, A Select Library
of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series
(New York: Christian Literature Company, 1888), 563.
[3] John
D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study
Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ps 119:17–24.
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