clawrence9008
Puritan Board Freshman
I had the idea yesterday (actually after listening to @Rom 's most recent sermon on Ps. 119) of going through one of the 22 sections of Ps. 119 each day (or every other day) and drawing 30 observations/takeaways from it, both to practice deep study of God's Word and to dive into the riches of this glorious psalm. Because of my class schedule today I only had time to write 25 observations/takeaways, but I wanted to share them with the hope that they are edifying to you all.
On Ps. 119:1-8:
1. The passage begins with the proclamation of a blessing for those who walk according to God's law (v. 1, 2-3).
2. The parallelism in v. 1 serves to emphasize the fact that the one who is blessed is the one whose entire conduct is directed according to the law of the LORD ("way," "walk"). The man who is blessed is the one that keeps his feet upon the straight path of God's word.
3. In v. 1, "blameless" likely should not be taken to mean "perfect" or "without sin" (David confesses his sinfulness at many points throughout this very Psalm), but rather without any obvious or blatant outward flaw in his conduct.
4. In v. 2-3, the grammatical structure appears to parallel "who keep his testimonies," "who seek him with their whole heart," and "who also do no wrong." A diligent and wholehearted pursuit of God necessarily involves 1) the positive keeping of his commandments, and 2) the negative forsaking of what his commandments forbid.
5. The above statement is further emphasized by the last clause ("but walk in his ways"). It goes without saying that obedience and wrongdoing serve as polar opposites to one another.
6. From the very beginning of this psalm, we see that it is not the mere external keeping of God's commandments that he desires, but obedience that flows out of an internal disposition of heart ("who seek him with their whole heart").
7. David emphasizes the diligent and constant pursuit of obedience to God's law that He looks favorably upon ("kept diligently," v. 4; "ways may be steadfast," v. 5; "having my eyes fixed on all your commandments," v. 6).
8. What does "keeping God's precepts diligently" entail? Likely a constant pursuit of keeping His law (as stated above), as well as referring to the motivation and disposition of the heart that leads to lawkeeping. David loves God's law so much that he wants to "run" after it in obedience, so to speak.
9. It appears that David's prayer to God for help in steadfastly keeping his statutes (v. 5-6) flows out of his recognition of the blessing for those who walk according to God's law (v. 1-3) and the command to keep His law diligently (v. 4).
10. The wording of David's prayer in v. 5 is an implicit request to God that He might enable him to be "steadfast in keeping God's statutes."
11. It is from keeping God's statutes steadfastly (v. 5) that the man of God will "not be put to shame" (v. 6).
1. Q: What does being "put to shame" mean in this context?
12. His ways being steadfast in keeping God's statutes and his eyes being fixed on all of God's commandments are essentially parallel statements. "Having my eyes fixed on all your commandments" modifies the statement that David shall not be put to shame (v. 6) -- just as steadfastly keeping God's statutes was the conduct that led to him not being put to shame, so having his eyes fixed on God's commandments was the manner in which he conducted himself.
13. David's eyes never leave the law of God -- he is always keeping God's law at the forefront of his spiritual sight (v. 6). The blessed man is the one who meditates on the law of the LORD day and night [Ps. 1:2].
14. The statement of v. 7 can imply two things. First, when the psalmist learns of God's righteous rules, he will then be able to praise God anew with a heart that is increasingly transformed by and aligned to His righteous rules. "Praising God with an upright heart" is grammatically conditioned upon "learning His righteous rules."
15. Secondly, this could imply that by seeing the righteous character of God revealed in His righteous law, this will lead the psalmist to praise God for it.
16. If v. 7 is logically connected to v. 5-6, then having his ways be steadfast in keeping God's statutes and having his eyes fixed on all God's commandments requires him to learn God's righteous rules more and more.
17. Learning God's righteous rules necessarily implies that the psalmist is being taught by someone about those righteous rules.
18. This passage ends with a vow ("I will keep your statutes") that leads into a plea ("do not utterly forsake me!") (v. 8).
19. His request to God for God not to utterly forsake him stems out of the fact that the psalmist desires to pursue the way of the blessed man by diligently keeping God's statutes.
20. David's prayer in v. 5 begins with the word "Oh." There seems to be an earnest sigh of the heart towards God that He would enable him to keep His statutes steadfastly.
21. All of God's people are implied to have a blameless way of life in v. 1-2, as the plural demonstrative pronoun "those" suggests.
22. "The law of the LORD" (v. 1) is referred to by numerous different terms throughout this passage (testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, righteous rules).
23. The prayer that David cries out to God in v. 8 ("do not utterly forsake me!") seems to imply that David is presently experiencing some sort of affliction where he feels God's presence withdrawn from him.
24. The use of the adverb "utterly" to modify the verb "forsake" in his prayer could suggest that David feels as if God has taken His presence from him, and is thus earnestly praying that God would not completely cast him off.
25. David's vow of sorts that he will "praise God with an upright heart" upon learning of His law seems to imply that an upright heart that is informed by the revealed will of God in His word is necessary for proper and acceptable praise of Him.
On Ps. 119:1-8:
1. The passage begins with the proclamation of a blessing for those who walk according to God's law (v. 1, 2-3).
2. The parallelism in v. 1 serves to emphasize the fact that the one who is blessed is the one whose entire conduct is directed according to the law of the LORD ("way," "walk"). The man who is blessed is the one that keeps his feet upon the straight path of God's word.
3. In v. 1, "blameless" likely should not be taken to mean "perfect" or "without sin" (David confesses his sinfulness at many points throughout this very Psalm), but rather without any obvious or blatant outward flaw in his conduct.
4. In v. 2-3, the grammatical structure appears to parallel "who keep his testimonies," "who seek him with their whole heart," and "who also do no wrong." A diligent and wholehearted pursuit of God necessarily involves 1) the positive keeping of his commandments, and 2) the negative forsaking of what his commandments forbid.
5. The above statement is further emphasized by the last clause ("but walk in his ways"). It goes without saying that obedience and wrongdoing serve as polar opposites to one another.
6. From the very beginning of this psalm, we see that it is not the mere external keeping of God's commandments that he desires, but obedience that flows out of an internal disposition of heart ("who seek him with their whole heart").
7. David emphasizes the diligent and constant pursuit of obedience to God's law that He looks favorably upon ("kept diligently," v. 4; "ways may be steadfast," v. 5; "having my eyes fixed on all your commandments," v. 6).
8. What does "keeping God's precepts diligently" entail? Likely a constant pursuit of keeping His law (as stated above), as well as referring to the motivation and disposition of the heart that leads to lawkeeping. David loves God's law so much that he wants to "run" after it in obedience, so to speak.
9. It appears that David's prayer to God for help in steadfastly keeping his statutes (v. 5-6) flows out of his recognition of the blessing for those who walk according to God's law (v. 1-3) and the command to keep His law diligently (v. 4).
10. The wording of David's prayer in v. 5 is an implicit request to God that He might enable him to be "steadfast in keeping God's statutes."
11. It is from keeping God's statutes steadfastly (v. 5) that the man of God will "not be put to shame" (v. 6).
1. Q: What does being "put to shame" mean in this context?
12. His ways being steadfast in keeping God's statutes and his eyes being fixed on all of God's commandments are essentially parallel statements. "Having my eyes fixed on all your commandments" modifies the statement that David shall not be put to shame (v. 6) -- just as steadfastly keeping God's statutes was the conduct that led to him not being put to shame, so having his eyes fixed on God's commandments was the manner in which he conducted himself.
13. David's eyes never leave the law of God -- he is always keeping God's law at the forefront of his spiritual sight (v. 6). The blessed man is the one who meditates on the law of the LORD day and night [Ps. 1:2].
14. The statement of v. 7 can imply two things. First, when the psalmist learns of God's righteous rules, he will then be able to praise God anew with a heart that is increasingly transformed by and aligned to His righteous rules. "Praising God with an upright heart" is grammatically conditioned upon "learning His righteous rules."
15. Secondly, this could imply that by seeing the righteous character of God revealed in His righteous law, this will lead the psalmist to praise God for it.
16. If v. 7 is logically connected to v. 5-6, then having his ways be steadfast in keeping God's statutes and having his eyes fixed on all God's commandments requires him to learn God's righteous rules more and more.
17. Learning God's righteous rules necessarily implies that the psalmist is being taught by someone about those righteous rules.
18. This passage ends with a vow ("I will keep your statutes") that leads into a plea ("do not utterly forsake me!") (v. 8).
19. His request to God for God not to utterly forsake him stems out of the fact that the psalmist desires to pursue the way of the blessed man by diligently keeping God's statutes.
20. David's prayer in v. 5 begins with the word "Oh." There seems to be an earnest sigh of the heart towards God that He would enable him to keep His statutes steadfastly.
21. All of God's people are implied to have a blameless way of life in v. 1-2, as the plural demonstrative pronoun "those" suggests.
22. "The law of the LORD" (v. 1) is referred to by numerous different terms throughout this passage (testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, righteous rules).
23. The prayer that David cries out to God in v. 8 ("do not utterly forsake me!") seems to imply that David is presently experiencing some sort of affliction where he feels God's presence withdrawn from him.
24. The use of the adverb "utterly" to modify the verb "forsake" in his prayer could suggest that David feels as if God has taken His presence from him, and is thus earnestly praying that God would not completely cast him off.
25. David's vow of sorts that he will "praise God with an upright heart" upon learning of His law seems to imply that an upright heart that is informed by the revealed will of God in His word is necessary for proper and acceptable praise of Him.
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