Psalm 119:153-160

RESH

 

This stanza is a "pleading" passage, and the key word of it is Consider.  With much boldness David pleads his intimate union with the Lord's cause as a reason why he should be aided. The special aid that he seeks is personal quickening, some Bible translations use the word "revival,"  for which he cries to the Lord again and again.

 

 

Matthew Henry made a wonderful summation of David's prayer in these verses:

• He has an eye to God's pity and prays "Consider my affliction"
• He has an eye to God's power and prays "Deliver me"
• He has an eye to God's righteousness and prays "plead my cause"
• He has an eye to God's grace and prays "Revive me!"

In verse 154 David is asking God to "plead his cause," much like a lawyer or advocate.  You know that wonderful grateful feeling you have when someone comes alongside you and takes up for you, defending you?  David is asking God to be his Advocate.  The New Living Translation states the verse this way: 

 

Argue my case; take my side! Protect my life as you promised. 

 

In John Gill's Exposition of the Bible, he remind us:

Christ is the advocate of His people, their Redeemer, who is mighty, and thoroughly pleads their cause against the accusations of Satan, the charges of law and justice, and the condemnation of their own hearts; as well as defends their innocence from the calumnies of wicked men, and rights their wrongs, and redresses their grievances.

 

God has promised deliverance and we may pray for it with submission to His will, and with regard to His glory, that we may serve Him the better.  ~ Spurgeon

 

David pleads his dependence upon the word of God, and his devotedness to his conduct. "Revive" and "deliver me according to Thy word" of promise, "for I do not forget Thy precepts." The closer we cleave to the word of God, both as our rule and as our stay, the more assurance we may have of deliverance in due time. ~ M. Henry

Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord

~ Ps. 119:156

 

Have you ever had difficulty with a Bible passage?  Hard to understand or comprehend?  Maybe a passage that is telling you a certain way to live that you really don't want to apply to your life, or that you feel is "outdated" and not in sync with popular cultural views anymore?  Verse 160 is a wonderful reminder that God's word is truth in it's entirety - and that it endures forever.  It was true in David's day, and it is true in ours today.  It spans time eternal.


The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
~ Ps. 119:160

WHAT CAN I LEARN ABOUT GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:

• God sees my afflictions and is my deliverance
• God is my Redeemer
• God's tender mercies are great
• God revives me according to His lovingkindness
• The entirety of God's word is truth
• God's righteous judgments endure forever

HOW CAN I PRAISE GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:

• I praise the Lord for His tender mercies - that He considers my afflictions and delivers me
• I praise the Lord that He is my Advocate - He pleads my cause with those who strive against me
• I bless God that the entirety of His word is truth . . and endures forever

PRAYER:
     My Father, teach me to trust Your love.  May I date to believe in it when the dark clouds build as well as when the sun shines.  May I never doubt that You are doing Your best for me and that what I do not know now, I shall know hereafter.  Amen and amen!  ~ F. B. Meyer