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Psalm 119
Nun
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path.
106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that
I will keep thy righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O
LORD, according unto thy word.
108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me
thy judgments.
109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet
do I not forget thy law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet
I erred not from thy precepts.
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an
heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing
of my heart.
112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy
statutes alway, even unto the end.
This is the fourteenth section of Psalm 119. Having
covered a more detailed overview of the Psalm, it
is my intention to go more thoroughly through each
section. Briefly, each section is according to the letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each letter contains 8
verses that begin with that specific letter. Nun is
the fourteenth letter, so each verse, in the Hebrew,
begins with a word starting with the letter Nun.
In Hebrew, unlike English, each letter was
originally also a word. We do not know the meaning of every letter today, but we do know most.
Nun means, 'propagate by shoots; figuratively - to
be perpetual'. Since the Psalmist built the Psalm
based on the letters, it is likely the meaning of each
letter played in his thoughts as he composed each
section. In this section, we see the clear theme of
how to perpetuate a faithful consecration to God.
That is its very theme. We also see it ends with
those very words being literally, 'to eternity as a
consequence'.
This Psalm is also based upon the usage of a host
of words that are 'legal' terms in the Hebrew. I
have gone into a more thorough definition of each
word, as it has been encountered, in the previous
sections. I would recommend going there to find
those expansions. I will cover additional words as
we come across them.
The Battle of the Mature
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path.
Nun starts with an interesting sandwich of terms.
In the Hebrew, God's Word is in the middle. Before
His Word we find two Hebrew words, 'lamp' and
'to my feet'. After 'word' we find 'and light' and
'to my path (being particularly the foot path)'. The
first part is personal, in contact. The second part is
that which is ahead. The footpath being the course
for the feet and the light being emitted from the
lamp. The structure is almost like a painting in
form and beauty with God's Word as the focus.
God's Word is shown to be that which enables us
to examine our walk as well as see our way.
Aside from the beauty of these opening words,
there is something to be understood. We do not use
lamps for light unless we are in darkness. The picture is clearly describing the state of this world and
our walk through life. Though this world's sun may
shine brightly. For finding the path of life, this world
is a dark place. The only way to have the light, to
perceive the path, is by delving into God's Word.
It was a stupid thing to do, but my wife and I did
it once. We had gone up into the mountains camping, and went on a late hike without a flashlight.
We figured we would just go a short distance, to
get a peek, and quickly be back. We went a short
distance, but the sunlight went very quickly. With
all the trees around, we couldn't make out so much
as the path. It was getting cold fast and we weren't
ready for it. We had our dog with us, he had no
trouble seeing, or I doubt very much we would have
made it back that night. Even when we came to a
small bridge over a creek, we couldn't make out
the edge. We were like the blind trying to feel our
path. We were so grateful to make it back to our
tent! When you have been in a situation like that,
you gain a real appreciation for even a little light
for your path. In the spiritual sense, it is a matter
of life and death.
106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that
I will keep thy righteous judgments.
This verse presents the vow of the Psalmist. He
has made his consecration. The word for 'perform'
meaning 'to stand'. He is the stalwart servant who
will not back down. He has given his word and he
will stand to it.
It is the second half that tells us what it was he
had sworn to. The 'mishpat' (judgments), being the
judgments of the varied situations we face in life.
The observance of God's commands in application.
We know we are unable to keep all God's law. We
sin. Does this verse present a vain self confidence?
Has the Psalmist not learned the lesson that we
are corrupted through and through? From the remainder of this section, I would have to conclude
our Psalmist is not speaking as an inexperienced
novice. He has been, and continues to undergo,
suffering. He does not write off his consecration
to faithfulness quite so easily as many. When we
understand salvation was the same way in the
Old Testament as in the New Testament, we can
understand his vow, and we can harmonize such
with the quote from the New Testament about John
the Baptist's parents:
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of
Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the
course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters
of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they
were both righteous before God, walking in all
the commandments and ordinances of the Lord
blameless.
Luke 1:5,6
107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me,
O LORD, according unto thy word.
As I had said, salvation was not different in the
Old Testament from the New Testament. Consider
this verse is from the mouth of the same person who
uttered verse 106. The word for 'afflicted' being
'to be bowed down, to be afflicted, to be humbled'.
'Very much' being two words that may literally
be read, 'unto exceedingly'. We can perceive this
Psalmist is not just taking a leisurely stroll down
his lamp lit path. He is not declaring standing to
his consecration of obedience from the position of
never knowing suffering or conflict. This is a man
who has been tried and been found faithful.
I beseech you, fearers of God, never look upon
a suffering Christian, thinking disdainfully, he
must be wrong with God! He just might be the
most right with God of anyone you have ever seen.
Remember, God tests and proves and refines to
bring forth greater glory. It is those who never
suffer that should cause us to wonder.
Now look at the second half of this verse.
There is that word 'quicken' again. It has a literal
translation of 'give me life'! Do you see? He is not
revealing a self confident spirit. This Psalmist
knows the only way to keep his vow. It must come
as God given life!
Though this may be hard to comprehend, notice
in asking for Yahweh to quicken him, he did not
ask for Him to 'remove' the affliction. In fact, if
you look over this whole section, you will notice
he never ONCE asks God to remove the suffering! He asks for God's victory over the suffering.
There is a critical difference. It is like the story of
the boatman who had to journey up the river. He
saw many dangerous rocks and knew they would
certainly smash holes in the sides of his boat. He
could have prayed for God to remove the rocks,
but instead he asked for God to raise the water.
The rocks were still there, but he passed safely,
despite them. The matured saint seeks for the
water to be raised.
Here we see the desperate cry to the Almighty.
We see God's name invoked here, and in the following verse. He pleads in the position of standing
on God's Word. This is the same 'word' as the
lamp and light bearer of verse 105. He has walked
by this word, and kept to its revealing light. He
cries to God, based upon it. He knows it well.
He is not a proud man. He is faithful and obedient in the midst of suffering. He is one of the
mighty warriors of the King.
108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill
offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach
me thy judgments.
The word translated 'Accept' is a word meaning
'to be pleased with'. He heartily desires for God to
accept his voluntarily consecration. The offering
we have seen in this section is that oath to keep
God's righteous judgments. The heart of this man
is one that does not shirk learning God's ways. He
has seen great suffering, yet he has a one track
mind. His whole desire is to be taught of God.
There are those who like to look good, so make
a show of offering to help someone. They make the
offer, knowing the person will simply pass on it, and
they'd not have to follow through. For others, they
make the offer, but when the day of need comes,
they have convenient excuses for not showing up.
Their heart is really one of vain pride. All is for
show. If this Psalmist was of such a character, he
would not have gone the extra mile to seek for God
to teach him. He had already made his consecration
in verse 106, but here he goes further. He committed himself to obedience, here he asks for teaching.
His consecration is not for show, he is not seeking
to get out of it. This shows he is actually willing to
study and learn. It also shows he knows 'understanding' is separate from 'knowledge'.
This verse is showing us the man who knows his
weakness, but is committed to not being stopped.
He is the athlete, who is determined to not let any
little weight stop him from getting his goal.
He Holds His Ground
109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet
do I not forget thy law.
The first half is an expression. I didn't want to just
assume its meaning, based upon English expressions, so I found another Bible passage that actually
used the same expression. The passage was about a
witch, but the meaning is still the same. The word
translated 'life' in the following verse is the same
word, in verse 109, translated 'soul':
21 And the woman came unto Saul, and saw
that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I
have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened
unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.
1 Samuel 28:21
The expression is a clear reference to risking
one's life. The Psalmist's life is one at constant
risk. He has no lack of enemies, but even so, he is
firm in holding his ground.
The 'law' being 'torath', plural for all God's
directions to us. What the Psalmist shows us, is
his holding his ground in remembering. There
are a number of ways in which we can loose our
ground to the enemy. The first victory starts with
simply remembering.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me:
yet I erred not from thy precepts.
To lay a snare is to set a trap, as for a bird. The
wicked have sought to bait and catch him. They
didn't just watch him to see if he would fall, though
they undoubtedly did that as well. They actively
went out to get him. From this, we can gain a better grasp of what way he was taking his life in his
hand. As long as he remained faithful to God, the
wicked would be seeking to destroy him.
The second way in which he has held his ground,
is in not 'erring' from God's precepts. The word
translated 'erred' means 'go astray, wander'. He
has remembered them and continues to follow
and obey them. Such is the commitment of not
forsaking God's precepts.
These last two verses were a Hebrew parallelism. The one amplifying the other, shedding more
light for our understanding.
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an
heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing
of my heart.
These final ending verses look away from the enemies. Holding our ground for the LORD doesn't
just mean we are a miserable lot. There is blessing
in this path, though there will always be enemies.
Jesus told us of this:
29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say
unto you, There is no man that hath left house,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the
gospel's, 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold
now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with
persecutions; and in the world to come eternal
life.
Matthew 10:29,30
The Psalmist turns, as it were, to speak of the
joy of his heart. He looks, and beholds that which
tells us of God's character, His 'testimonies'. He
has voluntarily chosen them as his heritage. This
world looks to its lands and riches, that it may gain
by inheritance. The Psalmist's eyes are elsewhere.
His 'heritage' of choice, being heavenward.
I wanted to look back for a moment at his great
'joy of heart'. In a natural, and slightly limited
way of illustrating this, think of the young godly
man who has fallen in love with a special woman.
His heart has been captivated. She is the joy of
his heart. Now this woman has a lot of unsavory
relatives. This young man knows that if he marries her, there will be constant suffering from her
family. He carefully considers having the joy of his
heart, or not having her. To have her will mean
suffering from those relatives. Knowing the cost,
he still chooses to marry the joy of his heart. The
possession of that joy will make the hardships as
mosquitoes that will soon pass away.
112 I have inclined mine heart to perform
thy statutes alway, even unto the end.
We see the choice the Psalmist made. He actively
committed his heart to follow God obediently.
A literal reading being, 'I have stretched forth
my heart to do (plural) your statutes, to eternity
as a consequence.' Now the young man who has
chosen his bride can only say, 'til death do us
part'. Not so with God. The ending, in its literal
reading, does cause one to kind of wonder. I would
just toss this thought up for consideration. Since
he has chosen to follow God, he has chosen the
path of eternal life. By his making the choice
of heart commitment to walk in God's ways, as
a consequence, he has chosen an eternal path.
The heritages of this world are not eternal. They
will be broken at death. Not so with choosing the
Kingdom of Heaven.
One last thing I would like to consider here.
When many 'westerners' think of love, they have
that romantic imagery portrayed by Hollywood.
God's Word here shows us something different.
The Psalmist made the choice 'of inclination'
of his heart. He didn't just follow an emotional
whim. He didn't just obey, when and in what areas
he felt like it. His heart had to be involved, but he
also made a choice and soldier-like determination
in following through. He has held his ground. Unfortunately, many who call themselves 'Christians'
know nothing more than a Hollywood-styled heart
romance. They know nothing of the obedience.
They are the kind that Jesus spoke of He would be
facing in the Day of Judgment:
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is
hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by
their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 7:16-23
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