Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Reflecting on the Psalms: Chapter 119 verses 113-128

Psalm 119:113-128

113I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.
 
114Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
 
115Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.
 
116Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
 
117Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
 
118Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.
 
119Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.
 
120My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
 
121I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.
 
122Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.
 
123Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
 
124Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.
 
125I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
 
126It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
 
127Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

128Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

Chapter 119 verses 113-128

What verse 113 means to me is that I should continue to not associate with double -minded men who try to get me to fall away from God. They could influence me to have vain thoughts and chase after the flesh, which wouldn't be a good thing. His law is something I keep held of and I express love (towards Him) regarding it by applying it to my life, which I think I've talked about before. In my darkest moment, He was my hiding place and my shield (v. 114), which means to me that He protected me from the enemy's influence so I could focus on my relationship with Him and focus on hoping in His Word. The enemy did depart from me as soon as I cried out to Him, which is commandment given by God for His people to apply when they are in trouble (v. 115). I also kept the commandments of not giving up on Him and relying on Him to help me out. When the enemy knows I'm gonna keep God's commandments, he gets outta there. To provide clarity for verse 116, here's Henry's thoughts on verse 116, "The believer could not live without the grace of God; but, supported by his hand, his spiritual life shall be maintained. Our holy security is grounded on Divine supports." When I'm facing trials in life, I can depend on Him to uphold (or sustain me), which I find comfort in. In algebra, He upheld me by helping me to maintain a passing record on my tests and quizzes. I wasn't ashamed of my hope because I didn't take crap from people if they had a problem with me being a Christian. My hope in Him was what kept me going in order to cross over my Jordan. If I was ashamed of my hope in Him, I would've felt that I wouldn't have been able to make it through math even if He did help me. I think I'll also relate verses 116-117 to my darkest moment because God did uphold me according to His Word so I could maintain my spiritual walk. He helped me up by freeing me from the enemy's grip, which meant to me that I was safe from tne enemy's influence. I'm not sure if my drifiting away from God during my darkest moment was a sign of disrespect towards His statutes, but I will say that since my relationship with Him was renewed, I saw His statutes for what they really were: ways He wants me to follow. I can't say I can relate to verse 118, but I will take it as a warning as to what God does to those who stray (or err) from His statutes. I'm not sure if verse 119 could possibly apply to my darkest moment, so I think I'll leave it alone in that aspect. However, when God does put away the wicked, I will know that that is part of His ways, which is what I get out of "therefore I love thy testimonies." How I would relate to verse 120 would be that sometimes I get choked up when prasing Him out loud, which I think I've talked about before, so I'm not gonna go into detail about it. What "My flesh trembleth for fear of thee" means to me in terms of getting choked up while prasing Him out loud is that since I am showing reverence towards Him, my flesh is trembles when I get choked up. I don't have much to expand on about His judgments (or laws), but I am sure that part of my praising Him out loud -- which I should do more often -- tends to include thanking Him for His judgments.

I try to do the right things that will glorify God when the opportunities present themselves (v. 121). One time, in high school, there was just kid who was showing me picutres of girls on his phones. I didn't care to see them and I said that what he was doing could lead to sin, which I said I was saying to him out of love. I don't think he knew what I meant by that, but at least I still did the right thing. I think by doing the right thing for His glory, I will not give into association with the oppressors. I can't think of a time I've dealt with the proud, expect for that time I dealt with that kid in my math class (v. 122). God watched over me during that time and never engaged in a fight with the guy -- which he porbably would have started -- due to His watching over me even though the guy tried to intimidate me. Since verse 123 is a similar verse to verse 82, just look at my reflection on the latter verse. To add to that, however, here's Henry's insight on the verse, "The psalmist expects the word of God's righteousness, and no other salvation than what is secured by that word, which cannot fall to the ground." In my darkest moment, my eyes did fail to see what God was going to do, but I ended up crying out to Him and having faith in Him since, in the flesh, I didn't know what He was going to do. He did deal with me according to His mercy (or love, v. 124) by protecting me from the enemy's influence while He took care of him. I resumed learning His statutes so I could work on incorporating thme in my relationship with Him. I like Henry's insight on verse 125, "If any man resolve to do God's will as his servant, he shall be made to know his testimonies." That verse means to me that if I serve Him, I will be blessed by knowing His ways (or testimonies or statutes in this case). I know that His ways are higher above my ways and that I should try and address others' needs as if they are higher than my own, for example. I can't personally relate to verse 126, but I take comfort in the fact that God will deal with those who try to make void His Word. In these end times, I wouldn't be surprised if sometime tried to do that only to have his or her gourd thumped by the living God. I do love His commandments (v. 127), which I feel I express when I live them out, which I've talk about before. It's not always an easy thing to love by His commandments, but when I do, I'm letting God know that I am thankful to have Him as my teacher. The aspect of loving His law above gold means that I am to love it more than worldly things, which I try to maintain by reading it and applying it. Another way I express my love for His laws is by lining myself with His precepts (v. 128), which is the true I've decided to follow when I became a Christian. Like I said, living by His precepts and following them isn't always an easy thing, particularly because I mess up sometimes and I am thankful that He forgives me. I need help taming my tongue in some instances, so I think I'll ask Him for guidance on that.

                                                    Source used:

Henry, Matthew. "Concise Commentary on Psalms 119". "Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
on the Whole Bible". <http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/mhc-con/view.cgi?book=ps&chapter=119>.
  

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