Psalms 119:65

Psalms 119:65 says, TETH.  After the divider, verse one says, Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,  David said God had dealt well with Him, according to God's word.  If we are truly following God, we should always believe that no matter what is happening in life that God is treating us well, in accordance with His word.  Verse sixty-six adds, Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. As David asked God then, we need to ask God to teach us good judgment and knowledge, based on our believing in His commandments.  We are not to rely on our own judgment and knowledge, but are to look to God's instead.  Verse sixty-seven states, Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.  David said before he was afflicted because of his following his way instead of God's, but now he was keeping God's word.  We will be spiritually afflicted as long as we go our way instead of following God's way.  Verse sixty-eight adds, Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.  We like David need to acknowledge that God is good all the time and ask Him to teach us His ways.  Verse sixty-nine declares, The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.  If we believe that the world is aligned against us today, we will not be the first to feel that way, because David felt the same way.  David also said he would keep the precepts of God with all his heart, and so must we even if the whole world seems to be against us.  Verse seventy adds, Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.  The hearts of those who are against us as followers of Christ may be filled with their own beliefs, but we are still to delight in God's law.  God's law should never feel like a burden to us, but should always be a delight.  Verse seventy-one says, It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.  David said being afflicted had been good for him, because it had caused him to learn God's statutes, or laws.  We too often complain to God when things go the least bit wrong in life,instead of seeing this as a time to learn more about God.  Verse seventy-two adds, The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.  If we would truly be rich, we must be like David and value God's word about the riches of this world. 

Psalms 119:57

Psalms 119:57 says, CHETH.  We have the identifier, then verse fifty-seven says, Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.  David said that God was his portion.  I believe all this means all that he needed.  God should be all that we need today, and we should be satisfied with whatever He provides for us.  David also said that he would keep God's word, and so must we as Christians.  Verse fifty-eight adds, I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word. David said he wholeheartedly asked for God's favor and that God be merciful to him according to His word.  If we seek God's favor today, we must do so by wholeheartedly putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Then, God will be merciful to us according to His word.  Verse fifty-nine states, I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.  I believe this means that David considered the way he was living and made a deliberate choice to follow God and keep His laws.  We must consider our ways and realize that we need to turn away from our own ideas and deliberately turn to God and follow His laws by first putting our faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse sixty adds, I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.  Like David, we must keep God's commandments quickly, and not wait until everything seems to be going wrong to do so.  Verse sixty-one says, The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.  Even if the wicked, those who do not believe in God, take everything from us, we cannot forget God's law.  David said that the wicked had robbed him, not that God had prevented it from happening.  Verse sixty-two adds, At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.  David said he would give thanks to God at midnight because of God's righteous judgments.  I will not say that we should wake up at midnight to praise God, but I will say that if we are awake at midnight that we should praise God.  Verse sixty-three declares, I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.  David may have been king, but he considered himself to simply be a companion to his fellow believers.  No matter how rich or poor we are in life, we are all just fellow companions, brothers and sisters in faith as followers of Christ.  Verse sixty-four adds, The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.  The earth is still full of God's mercy and we still need Him to teach us His ways.

Psalms 119:49

Psalms 119:49 says, ZAIN. After the letter identifier, verse forty-nine says, Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.  David asked God to remember His word, or promise, to David which he had built his hope on.  We have God's word of salvation through Jesus Christ, and if we have built our hope on it, He will never forget us.  Verse fifty adds, This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.  God's promise of salvation should be our comfort in times of affliction, because through our salvation by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, we are quickened, or made alive spiritually forever.  Verse fifty-one states, The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.  David said that those who were full of self pride held him in derision, as many people do Christians today.  David also said even though this happened, he had not declined from God's law, and neither should we.  Verse fifty-two adds, I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.  David said he remembered God's judgments from old and that they comforted him.  God's judgment should not be something we fear but something that brings comfort to us if we have accepted redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Verse fifty-three declares, Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.  David said he was horrified because the wicked had forsaken God's law.  Instead of being judgmental, we should be horrified by the fact that those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord are forever doomed.  I believe this should inspire us to continue to witness in earnest to them.  Verse fifty-four adds, Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.  Like David, God's law should be our song as we travel through this life.  Verse fifty-five says, I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law.  Just like David, we need to remember God's name day and night.  There shouldn't be a time as Christians that we forget Who God is and what His laws say.  There is no room for our opinion to determine what God's law says or which parts we will keep.  Verse fifty-six, This I had, because I kept thy precepts.  We have everlasting life because of our faith in Jesus Christ, and because of this we should always strive to keep God's precepts, or laws. 

Psalms 119:41

Psalms 119:41 says,VAU. After the identifier, verse one says,  Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.  David asked God to let His mercies come to Him, especially God's salvation of David, in accordance with God's word.  God's mercy to us, which begins with salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, will be accomplished according to His word.  Verse forty-two adds, So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.  We can only answer those who reproach us because of our faith by continuing to live by faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord no matter what.  Verse forty-three continues, And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.  Like David, we need to ask that we never stop speaking the truth of God's word, because it is the only thing we have hope in.  Verse forty-four states, So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.  David said he would keep God's law forever and ever, and this is what our goal as Christians should be as well.  Since we are saved forever, we should be obedient to God's word forever.  Verse forty-five adds, And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.  As followers of Christ, we can walk at liberty from the power of sin, as David said he walked then, and we should always seek to follow God's precepts.  We are not freed from the power of sin to do whatever we want, but are freed to follow God's precepts, or laws.  Verse forty-six continues, I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.  We need to be willing to speak of God's testimonies, or laws, before any leader, and do so without being ashamed.  Of course, we need to be willing to do the same thing before the lowliest person.  A person's status in the world should never keep us from sharing the truth of God with them.  Verse forty-seven declares, And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.  David said he would delight himself in God's commandments because he loved them.  We should feel the same way as Christians.  We should delight in God's commandments, and not view them negatively as some seem to do, and we should delight in them because we love them.  Verse forty-eight adds, My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.  We like David need to be guided by God's commandments in all that we do, because we love them.

Psalms 119:33

Psalms 119:33 says,  HE, After the identifying letter, verse one says, Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.  In order to keep God's statutes, we like David must first ask Him to teach them to us.  Many people read God's word without ever understanding it because they do not have a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse thirty-four adds, Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.  David said that if God gave him an understanding of His law that he would keep it with all his heart.  As followers of Christ, God will give us an understanding of His law, then it is up to us to keep it with all our heart.  Verse thirty-five continues, Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.  Though God will not make us go in His path, we should feel compelled by our faith in Him to do so.  Verse thirty-six states, Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.  We like David should have our heart inclined toward God's law and not be filled with covetousness for the things of the world.  Verse thirty-seven adds, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.  I believe this tells us that if we are coveting the things of this world, which are a vanity or nothing, then we are not completely obeying God.  Instead of looking at vain things for fulfillment, we should be looking for God to quicken us in His way.  Verse thirty-eight continues, Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.  We as Christians should be established in God's word so that we will know what His way is.  Verse thirty-nine says, Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.  If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, then we will not fear God's judgment but will realize that His judgment is good.  God will never falsely condemn anyone, so as Christians we have no need to fear His judgment.  Verse forty adds, Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness. As David said he did, we must long to understand and follow God's laws, because we are quickened, or made alive, by His righteousness, and not our own. 

Psalms 119:25

Psalms 119:25 says, DALETH.  There is the alphabetic identifier, then verse one says, My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.  David said that his body still tends to be tempted by sin, which brings corruption to his soul, and he then asks God to quicken him, or bring him alive spiritually.  If we find ourselves tempted by worldly things, we need to ask God to strengthen us spiritually by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Verse twenty-six adds, I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.  David said he had told God of all his ways, and asked God to teach him God's statutes instead.  Matthew Henry says this implied a close relationship between David and God.  As followers of Christ, we must confess all our sins to God and ask Him to teach us His ways, since we should have a close personal relationship with Him.  Verse twenty-seven states, Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.  Like David, we need for God to help us understand His laws, so that we can tell the world of His wonderous works.  Verse twenty-eight adds, My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.  David then said his soul was weighted down and asked God to strengthen him according to God's word.  If we feel spiritually weighted down today, we need to ask God to strengthen us according to His word.  I believe we start this by studying the Bible, God's written word.  Verse twenty-nine says, Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.  David asked God to remove from him his lying ways and to replace them graciously with God's law.  God's truth must become our guiding principle in life as Christians, replacing the lies that we have lived by before.  Verse thirty adds, I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.  David said that he had chosen the way of God's truth, and so must we.  It will always be our choice, because God will never force us to follow His guidance.   Verse thirty-one states, I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.  David said that he had stuck to God's testimonies and asked God to not put him to shame.  As long as we follow God's guidance, God will never put us to shame spiritually.  Verse thirty-two adds, I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.  Like David, if we follow God's ways, He will enlarge our hearts spiritually.  

Psalms 119:17

Psalms 119:17 says, GIMEL.  First the identifier, then verse one says, Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.  David asked God to deal bountifully with him so that he might live and keep God's word.  If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, God has already dealt bountifully with us by giving us salvation, so we should keep His word for as long as we live.  Verse eighteen adds, Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.  I believe that David was asking for his eyes to be opened specifically so that he could see the wonderous things of God, and we should ask the same thing of God.  Someone may have perfect vision physically and still be spiritually blind.  Verse nineteen states, I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.  Though man was created to have dominion over the earth, due to sin, we have become strangers to the earth spiritually.  Heaven is our home spiritually, so we are simply passing through this world.  Verse twenty adds, My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.  David said his soul broke in longing for the judgments of God at all time.  We should long to follow God's judgments, or laws, at all times also.  Our judgments may be wrong, but God's never will. Verse twenty-one declares, Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.  Those who are too filled with self pride to accept Jesus Christ and follow God's laws are cursed to everlasting separation from God.  We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone, but once we are saved, we are still required to follow God's law, and if we don't, we will still be held accountable I believe.  We cannot be a follower of Christ and ignore God's commandments just because we are saved.  Verse twenty-two adds, Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.  David asked God to remove His reproach and contempt from him because he had kept God's commandments, but we know that David did not always do that, and neither do we.  For that reason, the only way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.  For David, it was faith in the coming Messiah, and for us it is faith in the Messiah Who has come, Jesus Christ.  Verse twenty-three says, Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.  David said that even though other leaders spoke against him, that he continued meditate on God's word.  We likewise should not be concerned with what the world says about us, but we should simply meditate on God's word.  Verse twenty-four adds, Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellers.  God's testimonies, or truths, should be our delight and counsellers as well.   Too often I believe we act as though following God's law is a burden, but it should be a delight instead.