PSALM 119: 105-112 Nun
Word of God guides believersverse 105
YOUR word is a lamp unto my feet – and a light unto my path
Word of God to be obeyedverse 106
I have sworn – I will perform it – that I will keep
YOUR righteous judgments
Word of God makes one aliveverse 107
I am afflicted very much – quicken me – O LORD
according to YOUR word
Word of God needs to be learnedverses 108-109
Accept I beseech YOU
the freewill offerings of my mouth – O LORD
and teach me YOUR judgments
my soul is continually in my hand
yet I do not forget YOUR law
Word of God brings persecutionverse 110
The wicked have laid a snare for me
yet I erred not from YOUR precepts
Word of God brings joyverse 111
YOUR testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever
for they are the rejoicing my heart
Word of God gives direction for liveverse 112
I have inclined mine heart to perform
YOUR statutes always
even to the end
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). Lamp – 5216 נִיר, נֵר [niyr, nir, neyr, ner, nerah /neer/] n m. From a primitive root [see 5214, 5135] properly, meaning to glisten; TWOT 1333b; GK 5775 and 5944; 48 occurrences; AV translates as “lamp” 35 times, “candle” nine times, and “light” four times. 1 lamp. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: Recognizing that God’s Word was his light to direct him (cf. v. 130; Prov. 6:23) the psalmist vowed to follow it (Ps. 119:105–106). The Bible Knowledge Commentary, 881. This is made as the psalmist realizes that regardless of what comes against him the Word of God gives direction and is a compass for him. It is God’s flashlight for a dark path, v. 105 (cf. Prov 6:23). The psalmist resolves to observe God’s word, whatever risk, because he knows its value as a moral guide to life.
As we navigate in the difficult waters of our culture are we as sure of the direction and guide of the Word of God? It is unchanging even when the circumstances are different, it is true even when the darkness of night makes seeing tradition landmarks impossible to sight. May we trust the light of the word.
CHALLENGE: When you cannot discern the path pull out your lamp and get light and direction all at the same time. (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
: 105 YOUR word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (5216 “lamp” [ner] means candle, wicks, life.)
DEVOTION: This is the fourteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
In the Word of God we find individuals lighting a candle to search for something. We also find it used to knock holes in the darkness that surrounded the individuals who lit them. Light is used to help people see where they are going.
The Psalmist wanted to walk the right way. He wanted to follow the path set before him by the LORD. He not only read the Word of God but he also applied it to his life. His worldview was wrapped around the Word of God.
Even when he was afflicted he looked to the LORD for his direction in life. Once he followed the LORD he thanked the LORD by offering freewill offerings. He also wasn’t done learning the Word of God. He asked the LORD to continue teaching him how to live his life.
We need to never be satisfied where we are in our knowledge and application of the Word of God. Paul stated that he had not apprehended all the truths of God but was still pressing on toward the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus. We have to press on also.
If we find an individual who is a believer who thinks they know it all, they are wrong. Pride had taken over their life. That is one of the snares the enemy can put in any believers life.
CHALLENGE: How much light are you receiving each day? How much light are you sharing with others each day? Our responsibility is to help others grow in the LORD.)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep YOUR righteous judgments. (6965 “perform” [quwm] means to establish the validity of, to fulfil, to conform, ratify, establish, impose, to come to fruition, or endure.)
DEVOTION: Once we make a genuine commitment to follow the LORD it is something that should influence the rest of our life.
Each one of us that call ourselves a believer at one time said “YES” to Jesus and asked HIM to come into our life to lead us and guide us in a direction that is pleasing to HIM. This can be made when we are young and it can be made as an adult. Each time of conversion is different. I asked Jesus into my heart at the age of twelve at a summer camp. I came from a family that was religious but most of the time my parents seemed to go to church but do as they pleased.
I started attending the Baptist church that paid my way to camp. I joined Youth for Christ and became active in the quiz program. This meant I traveled with the quiz team to different locations and it was a lot of fun and a time of learning.
I was president of the local high school club for Youth for Christ. I had an opportunity to witness to the wresting team at school. It was a time when I even witnessed to family members who made commitments to Jesus.
Each of us has a story of what happened when we became a follower of Jesus Christ. We did promise to try to serve HIM with our whole heart and at times it was not easy but the LORD has blessed my time of service so far.
Our prayer is that all those who receive the devotional has a story of what happened after they made a commitment to Jesus Christ. Our word is important to the LORD. HE knows we will never be perfect but HE expects us to serve HIM to the best of our ability for the rest of our life.
CHALLENGE: David made a commitment and we have to too. Then we need to go on and conform our life to a life that is pleasing to HIM. Some days we do better than others.
: 108 Accept, I beseech YOU, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me YOUR judgments. (3925 “teach” [lamad] means to be instructed in, be skillful, to impart knowledge to, exercise in, to accustom oneself, be instructed, or to learn.)
DEVOTION: Once we become a genuine believer in Jesus Christ and promise to serve HIM the rest of our life it becomes a time of learning what the LORD expects of those who are genuine believer.
It is not easy to follow the LORD when the rest of the world seems to be following their own ways including individuals who say they are believers.
Too often we look at other people who claim to be believers and think that their lifestyle is what it is to be a genuine believer but as we mature we see that many of those who claim Christ are not leading a life that is pleasing to the LORD.
None of us is even close to perfect but those who are genuinely trying find it hard most of the time because it is a constant battle between the world, the flesh and the devil which the Bible promises is going to happen.
Each day is a new adventure in our growth in the LORD. Some days are better than others and we will even have days that we have failed to live a life that is pleasing to HIM.
God doesn’t want us to give us but to keep looking to HIM for guidance and direction and HE will through the ministry of the Holy Spirit continue to help us with our growth if we are genuinely trying.
CHALLENGE: The Christian life is not easy but the LORD is there to guide and help us each day. Trust HIM to forgive your sins and continue to cause you to grow.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from YOUR precepts. (3925 “precepts” [lamad] means instructions, procedures, rule of personal conduct, directions, orders, teach, commandments, or proposes thing appointed.)
DEVOTION: There are a lot of wicked people in our world. I have met some of them and they seem to enjoy giving those who are trying to follow the LORD a hard time. Sometimes we give them reasons but we also know that the LORD is a forgiving God more than some people.
God wants us to realize that each day is a new challenge in our Christian life. There are many roadblocks that come our way and we need to ask for HIS assistance when we face them.
However, sometimes we try to handle things on our own and it doesn’t work. Sometimes the snares are bigger than they look and we need to depend on the LORD to help us out of the trips set for us by the enemy.
The author of this Psalm has found the right solution to what is put in his path and we need to continually ask the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom, so that, we can get around all the trips the enemy has set for us to fail in our service for the LORD.
Victory is ours. The author states that HE has not erred. This means has had victory over the snare at that time. We need to have victories in our life and even when we have defeats we can still turn to the LORD and ask forgiveness and then continue to serve HIM to the best of our ability.
CHALLENGE: We need to watch out for the snares that Satan sets in our path. We can have victory with the HELP of the LORD daily.
: 112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end. (5186 “inclined” [natah] means to stretch, to spread out, apply, bow down, extend, intend, or cause to yield.)
DEVOTION: In this section we have the wicked laying snares in front of the people of God. Our world is full of snares. They work the best in the darkness. It is easier to fall into one in the dark.
Our enemy knows this fact and wants us to think that we are safe without being close to the LORD. God’s word is a light in a dark world. All around us is darkness in a spiritual sense. The world is trying to lead us away from the LORD. The flesh is trying to lead us away from the LORD. Our enemy the devil is trying to lead us away from the LORD.
When we look toward to the LORD it is always into a light. We have to yield ourselves to the light of the Word of God.
Jesus is said to be the LIGHT of the world. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. The psalmist always has his heart leaning toward the LORD.
Which way is our heart leaning today? Are we too busy for the LORD? Are we too busy for HIS word? Is HE lighting our world with HIS lamp? Praise the LORD for HIS light in our lives!
CHALLENGE: We need to get excited about the truths we learn from the Word of God. Don’t be part of the 85% of people who don’t open their Bibles between Sundays. Encourage those around you to look into the Bible with you.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Lamp unto my feetverse 105
Light unto my pathverse 105
Teach meverse 108
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Quicken meverse 107
Accept my prayerverse 108
I beseech YOUverse 108
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Freewill offering of mouthverse 108
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Judgmentsverse 108
Lawverse 109
Preceptsverse 110
Testimoniesverse 111
Statutesverse 112
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
Righteous judgmentsverse 106
Can quicken believersverse 107
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 107, 108
Teacherverse 108
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Wickedverse 110
Laying a snare before believersverse 110
Errverse 110
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Word of God is a lamp & lightverse 105
Staying on the pathverse 105
Perform word of Godverses 106, 112
Keep word of Godverse 106
Afflictedverse 107
Quickenverse 107
Freewill offeringsverse 108
Taughtverse 108
Remember God’s lawverse 109
Rejoicingverse 111
Inclining heart toward LORDverse 112
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Soul in God’s handsverse 109
Testimonies of the LORD a heritageverse 111
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Endverse 112
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QUOTES regarding passage
Godly living is far from easy. Even in affliction the psalmist has learned to give the Lord “willing praise” (v. 108; cf. 50:14; 51:17; Heb 13:15), praying that the Lord may accept his offering (cf. 19:14; Lev 7:18; 19:7), his praise, his thanksgiving, and his receptivity to divine instruction (“teach me,” v. 108; see v. 12).
The nature of the affliction is such that the psalmist is continually at risk (v. 109; cf. Judg 12:3; 1 Sam 19:5; 28:21; Job 13:14). He is determined to be loyal to the Lord, even when the wicked attempt to hunt him down and catch him (v. 110; cf. vv. 85–87; Amos 3:5). Thus far he has not yet strayed from the way of God (cf. 58:3). His joy and determination to please the Lord are much greater than the affliction with which he lives constantly. (Van Gemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 754). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
119:105–112. Recognizing that God’s Word was his light to direct him (cf. v. 130; Prov. 6:23) the psalmist vowed to follow it (Ps. 119:105–106). In his distress (vv. 107–110) he called for help and affirmed that he would joyfully follow God’s statutes and decrees (vv. 111–112). (Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 881). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Faithful words (vv. 106–108). Making vows constantly to the Lord will not lift us to the highest levels of Christian living (Rom. 7:14–8:4), but when we do make promises to the Lord or to our friends, we should keep them (Matt. 5:33–37; Num. 30:2; Deut. 23:21; Eccl. 5:1–7). The Holy Spirit can help us fulfill new resolutions if we depend on His power. What we say when we are praying (v. 107) should also be truthful. To talk to God piously without being willing to obey Him in the matters we are praying about is to bring hypocrisy into our fellowship with God. After we have prayed, are we available to be a part of the answer (Eph. 3:20–21)? Perhaps the highest use of speech is in the worship of the Lord (v. 108), and we must see our words as sacrifices offered to the Lord (Hos. 14:1–2; Heb. 13:15). Do we sing to Him from the heart (Eph. 5:19)? Do we mean the words that we pray, sing, and read aloud from the litany? If worship is the highest use of words, then to be careless in worship is to commit a great sin.
A faithful memory (vv. 109–110). The Old Testament believer did not have a pocket Bible that he could consult at will, for the Scriptures were written on large scrolls and deposited with the priests. This meant that the people had to listen carefully to the public reading of the Word and remember what they heard, an art that has almost vanished today. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to bring God’s Word to our remembrance when we need it (John 14:25–26; 16:12–15), but we cannot remember what we have never heard and learned (v. 11; Heb. 5:12–14). The psalmist was taking risks, just as we all do as we walk through the mine fields of this world, but he knew the Word would direct him.
A faithful heart (vv. 111–112). What a precious treasure is the Word of God! (vv. 14, 72, 127, 162; 61:5). It is like a deep mine, filled with gold, silver, and precious gems, and we must take time to “dig” for these treasures (Prov. 2:1–9; 3:13–15; 8:10–11; 1 Cor. 3:9–23). A mere surface reading of Scripture will not put spiritual treasure into our hearts. Mining treasure is hard work, but it is joyful work when we “mine” the Bible, as the Spirit guides us into truth. Then, the Spirit helps us to “mint” the treasure so we can invest it in our lives (obedience) and in the lives of others (witness). Sometimes God takes us through the furnace of suffering so we can better receive the treasure into our own lives (1 Peter 1:6–12). The Word needs no purifying (v. 140; 12:6; 19:8), but we need to be cleansed so we can appreciate God’s truth and appropriate it. Once your heart is set on obeying the Word, the life is on the right course (Matt. 6:33; Prov. 4:20–27). (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be exultant (1st ed., pp. 127–128). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
Ver. 107. I am afflicted very much, &c.] In a temporal sense, in his body, in his family, and by his enemies; in a spiritual sense, with the corruptions of his heart, with the temptations of Satan, and with the hidings of God’s face; and what with one thing or another, he was pressed above measure, and his spirits sunk under the weight of the affliction, so that he was as a dead man; and therefore prays, quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word; see the note on ver. 25. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 4, p. 228). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
107. “I am afflicted very much.” According to the last verse he had been sworn in as a soldier of the Lord, and in this next verse he is called to suffer hardness in that capacity. Our service of the Lord does not screen us from trial, but rather secures it for us. The Psalmist was a consecrated man, and yet a chastened man; nor were his chastisements light; for it seemed as if the more he was obedient the more he was afflicted. He evidently felt the rod to be cutting deep, and this he pleads before the Lord. He speaks not by way of murmuring, but by way of pleading; from the very much affliction he argues for very much quickening.
“Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.” This is the best remedy for tribulation; the soul is raised above the thought of present distress, and is filled with that holy joy which attends all vigorous spiritual life, and so the affliction grows light. Jehovah alone can quicken: he has life in himself, and therefore can communicate it readily; he can give us life at any moment, yea, at this present instant; for it is of the nature of quickening to be quick in its operation. The Lord has promised, prepared, and provided this blessing of renewed life for all his waiting servants: it is a covenant blessing, and it is as obtainable as it is needful. Frequently the affliction is made the means of the quickening, even as the stirring of a fire promotes the heat of the flame. In their affliction some desire death, let us pray for life. Our forebodings under trial are often very gloomy, let us entreat the Lord to deal with us, not according to our fears, but according to his own word. David had but few promises to quote, and probably these were in his own Psalms, yet he pleads the word of the Lord; how much more should we do so, since to us so many holy men have spoken by the Spirit of the Lord in that wonderful library which is now our Bible. Seeing we have more promises, let us offer more prayers. (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 111-119 (Vol. 5, p. 343). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
Paul finally arrives in Rome after a harrowing journey by sea.
INSIGHT
Our lives are a constant struggle between our own wills and the will of God. The circumstances of God’s will are often strange and enigmatic; they do not always make sense. However, His will is being worked out even in ways we cannot see or understand. When we relinquish control of our lives and yield to God’s will, then peace, love, and joy will characterize our lives. Paul must have wondered from time to time how shipwreck and imprisonment were working into God’s will; yet with historical perspective, we can see that good came of these events. In the words of the old hymn, we must: “Trust and obey, for there´s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” (Quiet Walk)
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