The Law of the Lord II (Ps. 119:17-32)
Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.
My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes!
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart! — Psalms 119:1-16
When traveling to another country, we often encounter different cultures and social rules. A traveler from America going to France, for example, might be quite confused with the differences in culture. A traveler from Japan visiting America would definitely be shocked at some of our cultural differences. One can even see differences in culture traveling to different parts of the same country.
A Sojourner in Another Country
If one were only visiting for a short time, such things might only become a nuisance. but if one is planning to live in the new country, many problems can arise. This is the situation in which the Psalmist finds himself in this part of Psalm 119. Notice what he writes in verse 19: I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! The word translated sojourner simply means “a guest, visitor, foreigner.” The Psalmist finds himself in a place that is not home but in which he has to live. It’s the same idea employed by the writer of Hebrews when talking of the saints of old:
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth (Hebrews 11:13, emphasis added).
So, the Psalmist, like the other Old Testament saints is acknowledging that he too is in a place other than home, a place through which he is passing. Notice what he says after that acknowledgment: don’t hide your commandments from me! Translation? “I’m in a strange and unfamiliar place, a place in which I don’t know how to live. Tell me how to live here!”In fact, this part of the Psalm opens with a plea for grace: Deal bountifully with your servant . . . open my eyes . . . (vv. 17-18). He continues to ask God for mercy and grace to understand His ways.
He wants to know the Lord’s ways for living so intensely that his “soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times” (v. 20). He knows that the Lord rebukes and disciplines “the insolent, accursed ones who wander from your commandments” (v. 21). He reminds the Lord that he longs to know and obey the Lord’s ways, to avoid that scorn and contempt. Indeed, he doesn’t care if the power people of the land sit plotting against him; the Psalmist’s mind will be on the Lord’s ways (vv. 23-24).
Difficulties on the Journey
The Psalmist’s journey is hard, he says. Notice the two examples he gives:
My soul clings to the dust . . .
My soul melts away for sorrow . . .
What does he say each time?
Give me life according to your word!
Give me strength according to your word!
The Psalmist says the Lord’s word is what he needs. Can’t you hear him say to the Lord, “When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes” (v. 26)? Not only did he tell the Lord how difficult his way has been but this also has the idea of confession–wandering from the path. Again, he implores the Lord to teach him.
As the Lord teaches him, the Psalmist changes his position, so to speak. At first his soul was clinging to the dust, now he says, “I cling to your testimonies, O Lord” (v. 31). He has begun to walk in the ways of the Lord, holding fast to His statues and testimonies.
A Word for Today
Like the Psalmist and the saints of the Old (and New) Testament, we are also sojourners, aliens and strangers on this earth. Though we are fallen (and redeemed), we were not created for the fallen world we live in. Thus, we need the Lord to show us how to live in this world. The Psalmist reminds us to cling to the Lord and His Word–not only referring to the written Word, also to the ultimate Word, Christ.
As we do cling to His precepts and testimonies, an amazing thing begins to happen. Notice the last thing the Psalmist says. He is now not walking but running “in the way of your commandments” (v. 32). Though the ESV translates it as “when you enlarge my heart,” it may also be translated as “when you set my heart free.” This is perhaps a preferable translation, and that is exactly what the Lord does for us at salvation. He frees us to know, live in, walk in, and eventually run in His ways.
