My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved;
And I will meditate in thy statutes (Psa. 119.48).
Real faith, the saving kind, engages the whole person. This is the only kind of religion God requires and approves. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy [...]
And I will delight myself in thy commandments,
Which I have loved (Psa 119.47).
By “saints” we mean nothing more or less than real Christians, sincere and real and persevering followers of Jesus Christ (John 8.31), such as have new hearts by the grace of regeneration or being born again (Tit 3.5; 2 Cor [...]
I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings,
And will not be ashamed (Psa 119.46).
The Christian life is a pursuit of thinking and acting in accordance with reality, the way things really are, as revealed and interpreted by Scripture. This is walking by faith, not by sight, because the reality often differs [...]
And I will walk at liberty:
For I seek thy precepts (Psa 119.45).
Sinners naturally consider the Lordship of Christ over them as some kind of restriction that is not to be endured even for a moment. The very thought of yielding to His authority and conducting their lives according to His revealed will [...]
So shall I keep thy law continually
For ever and ever (Psa 119.44).
The great-by-grace Jonathan Edwards believed in making and keeping resolutions. In 1722-23 before his twentieth birthday, he wrote his famous seventy, which include a promise of periodic self-examination in the light of these resolutions:
3. Resolved, If ever I shall fall [...]
And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;
For I have hoped in thy judgments (Psa 119.43).
Discerning with certainty the exact sense in which these words were originally intended is difficult, if not impossible, yet we may glean some doctrine from it which is certain, being plainly stated and [...]
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me:
For I trust in thy word (Psa 119.42).
The statement, “I don’t care what people think about me,” may reflect an unholy attitude. A man might say this because he has no concern about others, or because he is given to some life-dominating [...]
Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD,
Even thy salvation, according to thy word (Psa 119.41).
“Lord, save me—again!” This title may indeed sound like heresy to some, an outbreak of the inevitable Arminian error that true believers may lose their salvation because of their free will, and then they may regain [...]
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: Quicken me in thy righteousness (Psa 119.40).
I believe in the possibility of revival, not only on a wide scale, but also in the quiet, personal experience of an individual believer. We learn from this verse that even real Christians need spiritual renewal, and that this comes from [...]
Turn away my reproach which I fear: For thy judgments are good (Psa 119.39).
Psalm 119 lets us into the prayer closet of an eminent saint, deeply devout, and expressing his sincere and innermost thoughts and feelings to the Lord. Yet it was composed under the controlling prophetic influence of the Spirit of God as [...]
