Psalm 119
The emphasis in this, the longest psalm, is on the vital ministry of the Word of God in the inner spiritual life of God's children. It describes how the Word enables us to grow in holiness and handle the persecutions and pressures that always accompany an obedient walk of faith. The psalm is an acrostic with eight lines in each section, and the successive sections follow the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight lines of 1–8 begins with the Hebrew letter aleph, the lines in 9–16 begin with beth, in 17–24 with gimel, and so on. The unknown author used eight different words for the Scriptures: law (torah), testimony, precept, statute, commandment, judgment (in the sense of "a rule for living"), word (of God), and promise. All eight are found in 33–40, 41–48, 57–64, 73–80, 81–88, and 129–136. Students disagree on this, but it appears that every verse contains a direct mention of God's Word except seven: verses 3, 37, 84, 90, 121, 122, and 132. If you count "ways" as a synonym for God's Word, then you can eliminate verses 3 and 37. (The niv has "your word" in v. 37, but most Hebrew texts read "your ways.") The writer may have been meditating on Psalm 19 where David listed six names for the Scriptures, five of which are found in 119—law, testimony, precept, commandment, and judgment. Some of the vocabulary of 19 is also found in 119, including perfect or blameless (13/119:1, 80); pure (8/119:9, 140); righteous and righteousness (9; 119:7, 40, 62, 75, 106, etc.); and meditate or meditation (14/119:21, 51, 69, 78, 85, 122). Both compare the Word of God to gold (10/119:72, 127) and honey (10/119:103), and in
Psalm 119
Many believers today stand guilty of ignoring the Old Testament, except for reading "favorite psalms," and therefore many are ignorant of what God's law teaches. "The law is a yoke," they exclaim, and point to Acts 15:10 and Galatians 5:1, but the psalmist found freedom through the law (vv. 45, 133). "To pay attention to the law is to move into the shadows!" they argue, referring to Colossians 2:16–17 and Hebrews 10:1, but the writer of Psalm 119 found the law to be his light (vv. 105, 130). "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20), but the psalmist used the law to get victory over sin (vv. 9–11). "The law kills!" (Rom. 7:9–11), but the law brought the psalmist new life when he was down in the dust (see NASB vv. 25, 40, 88, 107, 149, etc.). "Law and grace are in opposition!" many declare, but the psalmist testified that law and grace worked together in his life (vv. 29, 58). God used Moses to liberate the people from Egypt, but then God gave Moses the law to give to Israel at Sinai. The German philosopher Goethe wrote, "Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us self-control is disastrous." Law and grace are not enemies, for law sets the standard and grace enables us to meet it (Rom. 8:1–3). The writer of Psalm 119 delighted in God's law (vv. 16, 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92, 43; and see 1:1; 19:8, 10), and this joy was echoed by Paul (Rom. 7:22). Paul did not annul God's law and set it aside; rather, he said that the law was "holy, just and good" and even "spiritual" (Rom. 7:12–14). Though we are carnal (fleshly), there is a lawful use of the law in our inner person. The law of God is spiritual and can be used by the Spirit to minister to our spirit. To be sure, nobody is saved or sanctified by striving to obey the law. But for the dedicated Christian believer, there is a deeper meaning to the law, a writing of the Word upon our hearts (Deut. 4:9, 29, 39; 6:5; 10:12; etc.), because of the new covenant in Jesus Christ (Jer. 31:31–34; Heb. 8:8–12; 10:16–17; 2 Cor. 3). To unsaved sinners, the law is an enemy because it announces their condemnation and cannot save them. To legalistic believers, the law is a master that robs them of their freedom. But to spiritually minded believers, the law is a servant that helps them see the character of God and the work of Christ. The Old Testament believer who wrote Psalm 119 was not satisfied with having the law in his home, his head, or his hand; he wanted the law in his heart, where it could help him love what was holy and do what was right (v. 11). It was this approach that Jesus took in the Sermon on the Mount. The attributes of God as revealed in the Old Testament parallel the characteristics of the Word of God as seen in Psalm 119. Both are gracious (vv. 29, 58; 86:15), true and the truth (vv. 30, 43, 160; Ex. 34:6), righteous (vv. 106, 123, 137–138, 143, 151), good (vv. 39, 68), trustworthy (vv. 9, 73, 86, 90, 138), eternal (vv. 89, 152, 160; Deut. 33:27), and light (v. 107; 27:1). The way we treat the Word of God is the way we treat the God of the Word.
heart, not just a "ritual" following of God's rules. Jeremiah was a priest as well as a prophet and had a working knowledge of Deuteronomy.
The Theme The basic theme of Psalm 119 is the practical use of the Word of God in the life of the believer. When you consider that the writer probably did not have a complete Old Testament, let alone a complete Bible, this emphasis is both remarkable and important. Christian believers today own complete Bibles, yet how many of them say that they love God's Word and get up at night or early in the morning to read it and meditate on it (vv. 55, 62, 147–148)? How many Christian believers ignore the Old Testament Scriptures or read the Old Testament in a careless and cursory manner? Yet here was a man who rejoiced in the Old Testament Scriptures—which was the only Word of God he had—and considered God's Word his food (v. 103) and his greatest wealth! (vv. 14, 72, 127, 162). His love for the Word of God puts today's believers to shame. If the psalmist with his limited knowledge and resources could live a godly and victorious life feeding on the Old Testament, how much more ought Christians today live for the Lord. After all, we have the entire Bible before us and two millennia of church history behind us!
When the psalmist used the word "law" (torah), or any of the seven other words for the Scriptures, he was referring to much more than the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial instructions that have now been fulfilled in Christ. He was referring to the entire revelation of God as found in the Old Testament Scriptures. Until the books in our New Testament were written and distributed in the first century, the Old Testament Scriptures were the only Word of God possessed by the early church! Yet with the Old Testament and the help of the Holy Spirit, the first Christians were able to minister and win the lost in a dynamic way. Peter used Psalms 69:25 and 109:8 to receive guidance in choosing a new disciple (Acts 1:15–26). He quoted Joel 2:28–32 at Pentecost to explain the advent of the Holy Spirit and Psalms 16:8–11 and 110:1 to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:14–39). In his defense before the council (Acts 7), Stephen opened with Genesis 12:1 and closed with Isaiah 66:1–2, and between those two referred to Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Amos. Philip led a man to faith in Christ by using only Isaiah 53 (Acts 8:26–40). Paul found in Isaiah 49:6 a mandate to continue ministering to the Gentiles (Acts 13:47), and James concluded the Jerusalem conference by quoting Amos 9:11–15 (Acts 15:13–21). Paul even quoted an Old Testament verse about oxen to encourage churches to support their spiritual leaders (Deut. 25:4; 1 Cor. 9:9; 1 Tim. 5:18). (Hab. 2:4 is quoted as a key verse in Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; and Heb. 10:37–38.) In their theology, decisions, and ministry, the first Christians depended on guidance from the Old Testament Scriptures.