Directions, Encouragements And Warnings From Psalm 119

Feature 3 – January 2023 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Directions, Encouragements And Warnings
From Psalm 119

Psalm 119 is amazing in several ways! Its ingenious design and the skillful manner in which the writer used the Hebrew language truly are mindboggling. Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew; its alphabet has twenty-two letters. Accordingly, Psalm 119 has 22 sections that are put together in the exact order of the Hebrew alphabet. Furthermore, each of these sections has eight strophes, or stanzas, of two lines each, with the first section starting with the letter  Aleph . The next eight strophes begin with the second letter Beth , and the same pattern continues until we reach the last letter, which brings us to a total of 22x8, or 176, strophes. In Scripture the number eight often represents a new order or a new beginning. These few introductory remarks may help you discover other aspects of the remarkable design of this psalm as you read it through. God’s Word is incredibly rich, diverse and wonderful, bringing blessing to all who read, hear and practice it (see Rev. 1:3). 

The first word of Psalm 119 links it with Psalm 1, since both start with the term “blessed.” This word begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful” (Ps. 1:1 NKJV). Compare this with Psalm 119:1, which under the heading of “ALEPH” says, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD!” The term “blessed” occurs 25 (5x5) times in the Psalms. The number five emphasizes human responsibility – five fingers, five toes, five human senses. The word “blessed” is sometimes translated “happy,” and it is derived from a Hebrew root word meaning “right” or “correct.”

We sometimes say, “The matter of the heart is the heart of the matter.” Psalm 119 mentions the word “heart” 14 times! This number includes the expression “with the whole heart,” which occurs in this psalm five1 times. The integrity of the heart (v.1) is demonstrated in a walk that honors God by those who seek Him wholeheartedly, as “they keep His testimonies” (v.2). We have here an example of the balance of grace and truth, as well as another important principle, namely that the inward and outward are inseparable. This is often found in Scripture. “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” (v.2).

Psalm 119 uses eight different terms (KJV) that refer to the Scriptures:

1. Law.
2. Testimonies.
3. Precepts.
4. Statutes.
5. Commandments.
6. Judgments.
7. Word.
8. Words.

There are other terms or concepts that also occur eight times in this remarkable psalm, which impress us in many ways and demonstrate the perfections of God’s Word. The psalmist encouraged his readers to put their trust in the Lord, who gave us His perfect Word. The human writer is not known, but in the final analysis it is clear that God is its Author, having used those prepared for this task (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Let us thank Him for this wonderful psalm! 

Directions
The integrity of the psalmist is something that all the believers should take to heart, as it provides incentives to walk in God’s ways. The concept of walking with God and being blameless in His ways presupposes fellowship with God, which is precious to Him. Before their fall Adam and Eve enjoyed happy communion with God, for He walked with them in the garden. However, they lost this fellowship because of their sin and disobedience (Gen. 2–3).

Nevertheless, God restored them from sin on the basis of the sacrifice He provided, after which He clothed them with the skins of the sacrificed animal. All this implies that they repented, believed and were brought back to God. In this way they became blameless in the sense of Psalm 119:1, as those who walk in integrity in His ways, according to His law (vv.1,3). Generally speaking, such a happy development as is illustrated in Adam and Eve’s salvation and restoration will lead to true worship (v.7). This is God’s desire, for He seeks true worshipers, just as the Lord Jesus told the woman at the well (Jn. 4:24).

In Psalm 119:5 the psalmist expressed his sincere desire that his ways might be directed in such a manner that he would keep the LORD’s statutes. This last word implies directions believers need to follow according to God’s precepts.2

Encouragements
God is the great Encourager, as the apostle Paul experienced when he was fearing for his life in Ephesus (Acts 19; 2 Cor. 1:3-4). We find many striking examples of His help in God’s Word. Even the directions He gives are meant as encouragements, that we may walk in His ways.

Enoch walked with God in days that were very difficult, before Noah’s flood (Gen. 5:22,24). Living in those challenging times, Enoch was the first prophet (see Jude 1:14), as he prophesied about the Lord’s coming. The fact that he gave his son the name “Methuselah” implied a prophecy as well. This name means something like “when he dies it will come / be sent,” but God allowed Methuselah to become the oldest man of the human race, as He took him just before the flood came over the whole earth. In those days, people lived much longer, a fact that demonstrated God’s patience (2 Pet. 3:15). Enoch walked with God for 300 years after his son Methuselah was born, and then God took Enoch to heaven (Heb. 11:5; Gen. 5:22-24).

Noah also walked with God even though he was living in a society marked by sin and rebellion (6:1-8), very similar to our days. “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God” (v.9 NKJV). His name means “rest” or “comfort” (see 5:29). His father Lamech died before his own father did, about whom Enoch had made the remarkable prediction that he would die when “it” comes. Even though he was not called a prophet as was Enoch, Lamech was a prophet in the sense that he looked forward to the world after the flood. For this reason he gave his son the name Noah, even though the flood would take place about 500 years later! However, we read that during the very dark days just before the flood, Noah walked with God as his grandfather Enoch had been doing. Both are real examples for us today.

These two men picture two different groups of believers:

1. Enoch speaks of those who will be raptured when the Lord Jesus comes according to His promise (Jn. 14:3; 1 Th. 4:16-18).
2. Noah illustrates those who will be saved after the rapture and who will go through the great tribulation, just as Noah went through the flood.

Warnings
Psalm 119 is full of instructions and encouragements for all believers of every dispensation, but it also has warnings. When God gave the law, this implied commandments to do certain things and warnings to abstain from other things. Jewish students of the law have counted 613 commandments in total. Of these, 365 were prohibitions, or matters not to do, while 248 were about things needing to be done.

However, in the day of grace in which we now live we are not under the Mosaic law, but under the “law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2) as those who are led by the Holy Spirit (5:18). The new nature we received when we were born again (Jn. 1:12-13, 3:3-21) delights to do God’s will (consider 4:34). This implies that we are under a higher rule with even more things to do or not to do than was the case under the Mosaic law, but these are not a burden to us (see 1 Jn. 5:3). In other words, instead of observing 613 commandments as was the case under the Mosaic law – an unbearable yoke – the law of Christ demands and forbids many more things.

Yet these commandments are not as a yoke that we are not able to bear as was the case with the law of Moses (Acts 15:10). Instead, they represent something that the Lord Jesus in His grace invites us to take up. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mt. 11:28-30). There are incredible riches in the law of Christ and great encouragements, as well as incentives, in doing God’s will. Even His warnings are not harsh, for they show His great care and provisions to help us. These are given to us in His great love.

In Closing
Let us briefly consider the word “testimonies.” 3 This term refers to matters under the Mosaic law in which the believers delighted – “How I love Your law” (Ps. 119:97). If that was true then, which it was, how much more now as it applies to the things of the law of Christ in which we may delight. If the commandments for the psalmist were something in which he found his delight, how much more for us in the day of grace!

Another example: “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name” (Mal. 3:16). The things we just read in this verse were a blessed reality for people under the law – how much greater is our delight because we have the Spirit of Christ in us to help us practice the law of Christ. In other words, the Lord Jesus, glorified and exalted in heaven, is now also dwelling in us through His Spirit whom He has given us. It is His delight and promise to be with us (Mt. 28:20) and to lead us by His Spirit (Rom. 8:14).

ENDNOTES
1. “With the whole heart,” or slight variations, is an expression that occurs seven times in the Hebrew Old Testament (2 Ki. 23:3; Ps. 119:2,34,58,69,145; Zeph. 3:14).
2. The Hebrew term pikkudim, usually translated “precepts,” only occurs in the Psalms, of which 21 (3x7) times are in Psalm 119 (vv.4,15,27,40,45,56,63,69,78,87,93,94,100,104,110,128,134, 141,159,168,173). The other three uses are in 19:8 (“commandment”), 103:18 (“commandments”), 111:7 (“precepts”). The word “statutes” (from the Hebrew root chôk) also occurs 21 times in Psalm 119, “Your statutes” (vv.5,8,12,23,26,33, 48,54,64,68,71,80,83,112,117,118,124, 135,145,155,171). 
3. This term, “testimonies,” occurs 23 times in the Hebrew text of Psalm 119 (vv.2,14,22, 24,31,36,46,59,79,88,95,99,111,119,125, 129,138,144,146,152,157,167,168).

By Alfred Bouter