Proverbs 6

Proverbs 6:1

/daleth/ The Door and Way of Life

The letter or the word daleth has two meanings: ‘door’ and ‘humble’, ‘poor’, ‘oppressed’. These two thoughts come together in the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5-7, where He says: “Enter through the narrow gate; … For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way to life can only be walked by one who has first entered through the narrow gate. Only one who is humble and poor can enter through that narrow gate. Thus he, the psalmist, comes through the gate onto the way of life. We find five verses in this daleth stanza with the expression “the way”.

A door is also the boundary between two areas, for example, between outside and inside. Thus, the Word as a door, through which we can enter only in humility, brings us to the way of life, which is the Lord Jesus, in a field of living in fellowship with the Father (John 10:9; John 14:6).

The psalmist is downcast (Psalms 119:25). His “soul cleaves to the dust”, for he is near death (cf. Psalms 104:29). He experiences how void and mortal he is. We find here “dust” (Psalms 119:25) and “weep” (Psalms 119:28), which speaks of grief and sorrow. The gate or door takes us from the road of death to the road to and of life. That road ends in salvation, but along the way the righteous encounter trouble and sorrow (cf. Mark 10:30). On that way the LORD is with him. Thus the LORD does not keep Daniel from the lions’ den, but He keeps him in the lions’ den; the LORD does not keep Daniel’s three friends from the furnace of blazing fire, but He keeps them in that same the furnace of blazing fire.

If on our path of life there is a stone that hinders us, the Lord does not take away the stone, but will send His angels to carry us, lest we not strike our foot against a stone (Psalms 91:11-12; cf. Matthew 4:6). That is, the Lord does not take away the difficulties, but helps us to overcome them.

The psalmist sees only one way to revive and that is for the LORD to revive him “according to Your word”. He knows that God’s Word has life in it and is powerful to deliver him from the power of death and give him life. This is about deliverance from physical death. The blessing of the new covenant indicates that the remnant will live and thus inherit the kingdom. This characterizes the faithful. He does not seek an easier path of faith, but turns to the LORD to live life as He desires.

Many times in the past the psalmist has experienced the faithfulness of the LORD. This gives him confidence to continue to trust Him in the future. He has told his ways to the LORD, which may include a confession of going his own ways, “my ways” (Psalms 119:26).

If we have to confess sins, it is important to tell the Lord everything about our life’s journey and not to hide anything. To confess means to see and name everything, as the Lord sees and names it. In Hebrew, to confess means to ‘enumerate’, that is, to tell all things one by one. In Greek, confess means ‘to say the same thing’ that is, to say the same thing about this subject as God.

Based on what the psalmist said to God, God answered his prayer of the previous verse and revived him. The believer learns here the important truth that he must be taught God’s statutes if he is to be glorified with Christ. This will enable him to keep to the ways of God and he will not fall into the error of going his own ways again.

He immediately follows this up by asking God to make him “understand the way of Your precepts” (Psalms 119:27). In Psalms 119:26, the psalmist has acknowledged that he is ignorant and therefore in need of teaching. But teaching is not enough. Therefore, the psalmist now asks if the LORD will give him understanding, enabling him to apply the teaching he has received to his life and also to pass it on to others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14).

He wants to go the way of God’s precepts because in that way he experiences fellowship with God. That is a way of wonders. Those who live in fellowship with God see more and more the wonders of His guidance and preservation. These wonders are worth meditating on because they show Who God is and of what He is capable. It can be small wonders as well as great ones.

There are also circumstances in which the soul “weeps because of grief” (Psalms 119:28). This happens, for example, when he looks at himself a lot. That always depresses a believer (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-14; Psalms 73:13-16). ‘To weep because of grief’ is literally ‘to melt away’. By the weight of his sorrow, the psalmist melts away, he becomes liquid, as it were, he turns to tears.

Then it is dark in life and the wonders seem so far away. The cause of the tears of sorrow can be very diverse. It can be illness or disappointment or deceit or slander or injustice, but also sins. Then, with a single word from His Word, God is able to strengthen again the life that has been depressed by sorrow. It can be a word of comfort or a word of exhortation, depending on the occasion of the sorrow. The psalmist realizes that he can only be helped by a Person. We know that God comforts by pointing to Christ (cf. Romans 7:24; Hebrews 12:2-3).

What the psalmist does not want is to go “the false way”, that is, the way of sinners (Psalms 119:29; Psalms 1:1). When we see this verse in the context of the previous verse and the verse after it, it concerns the lie about one’s own spiritual situation. How easy it is for a believer to appear outwardly as ‘spiritually minded’ while inside, in his heart, things are not right. To the outside, a person can have the appearance of a spiritually minded brother or sister, but inside, things are morally not right, there may even be corruption.

The false way, the way of lies, is the way of unfaithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. He cannot avoid that way in his own strength. Therefore, he asks the LORD: “Remove the false way from me.” Instead, he asks: “Graciously grant me Your law.” The law, given in grace as a guide for life, places before the false way the sign: dead end. The way of the lie ends in death.

Under the new covenant the law will be given or written in the hearts of the believing Israelites (Jeremiah 31:33). What grace! In our hearts are not written the stone tablets of the law, but Christ is written on the flesh tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). What infinite grace!

Opposed to the false way (Psalms 119:29) is “the faithful way” or “the way of faithfulness” (Psalms 119:30). It is the way of faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. The psalmist has “chosen” that way. God wants us to go that way, but does not force us to go that way. He presents us as responsible people with a choice. It has been so since paradise.

We choose the right way when we place God’s ordinances before us. This is about sincerity, about uprightness, about truth in our innermost being (Psalms 51:6). Because Eve had not set God’s ordinances before her eyes, she chose the false way, the way of unfaithfulness to God. And David walked the false way for quite some time when, despite his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba, he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened.

The psalmist has said in the first verse of this stanza that his soul cleaves to the dust (Psalms 119:25). By the exercises of his soul in the following verses, he has now come to the point where he can say to the LORD: “I cling to Your testimonies” (Psalms 119:31). By this he clings to the LORD Himself, so that he cannot be torn away from it. It is a renewed commitment, see Psalms 119:32, to remain close to the Lord with resolute heart (Acts 11:23). In Psalms 119:25 he cleaves to the dust; now he clings – the same verb – to the LORD.

The word “clinging” is first used in the Bible for the firm connection between Adam and Eve, where it is translated “joined” (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, the psalmist has a firm connection to the testimonies of the LORD. The psalmist also senses how fragile this clinging or joining still is. Therefore, he appeals to the LORD not to put him to shame in this (cf. Romans 9:33b).

The word “for” in Psalms 119:32b is better translated “because”. The meaning is that the LORD has enlarged the heart of the psalmist. He shall run in the way of the commandments of the LORD with a relieved heart and renewed confidence and renewed intentions (Psalms 119:32a).

There are no more inner hindrances. He has put away the false way (Psalms 119:29) and chosen the faithful way (Psalms 119:30). Now the Lord can work in his heart. His heart is enlarged to the commandments, so he knows which way to walk. “To run” in Hebrew is “to hasten”. While at first he clings to the dust and cannot be moved forward (Psalms 119:25) and is in the process of melting away (Psalms 119:28), he now is able to walk with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31) in the narrow way of the LORD with steady step.

Proverbs 6:2

/daleth/ The Door and Way of Life

The letter or the word daleth has two meanings: ‘door’ and ‘humble’, ‘poor’, ‘oppressed’. These two thoughts come together in the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5-7, where He says: “Enter through the narrow gate; … For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way to life can only be walked by one who has first entered through the narrow gate. Only one who is humble and poor can enter through that narrow gate. Thus he, the psalmist, comes through the gate onto the way of life. We find five verses in this daleth stanza with the expression “the way”.

A door is also the boundary between two areas, for example, between outside and inside. Thus, the Word as a door, through which we can enter only in humility, brings us to the way of life, which is the Lord Jesus, in a field of living in fellowship with the Father (John 10:9; John 14:6).

The psalmist is downcast (Psalms 119:25). His “soul cleaves to the dust”, for he is near death (cf. Psalms 104:29). He experiences how void and mortal he is. We find here “dust” (Psalms 119:25) and “weep” (Psalms 119:28), which speaks of grief and sorrow. The gate or door takes us from the road of death to the road to and of life. That road ends in salvation, but along the way the righteous encounter trouble and sorrow (cf. Mark 10:30). On that way the LORD is with him. Thus the LORD does not keep Daniel from the lions’ den, but He keeps him in the lions’ den; the LORD does not keep Daniel’s three friends from the furnace of blazing fire, but He keeps them in that same the furnace of blazing fire.

If on our path of life there is a stone that hinders us, the Lord does not take away the stone, but will send His angels to carry us, lest we not strike our foot against a stone (Psalms 91:11-12; cf. Matthew 4:6). That is, the Lord does not take away the difficulties, but helps us to overcome them.

The psalmist sees only one way to revive and that is for the LORD to revive him “according to Your word”. He knows that God’s Word has life in it and is powerful to deliver him from the power of death and give him life. This is about deliverance from physical death. The blessing of the new covenant indicates that the remnant will live and thus inherit the kingdom. This characterizes the faithful. He does not seek an easier path of faith, but turns to the LORD to live life as He desires.

Many times in the past the psalmist has experienced the faithfulness of the LORD. This gives him confidence to continue to trust Him in the future. He has told his ways to the LORD, which may include a confession of going his own ways, “my ways” (Psalms 119:26).

If we have to confess sins, it is important to tell the Lord everything about our life’s journey and not to hide anything. To confess means to see and name everything, as the Lord sees and names it. In Hebrew, to confess means to ‘enumerate’, that is, to tell all things one by one. In Greek, confess means ‘to say the same thing’ that is, to say the same thing about this subject as God.

Based on what the psalmist said to God, God answered his prayer of the previous verse and revived him. The believer learns here the important truth that he must be taught God’s statutes if he is to be glorified with Christ. This will enable him to keep to the ways of God and he will not fall into the error of going his own ways again.

He immediately follows this up by asking God to make him “understand the way of Your precepts” (Psalms 119:27). In Psalms 119:26, the psalmist has acknowledged that he is ignorant and therefore in need of teaching. But teaching is not enough. Therefore, the psalmist now asks if the LORD will give him understanding, enabling him to apply the teaching he has received to his life and also to pass it on to others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14).

He wants to go the way of God’s precepts because in that way he experiences fellowship with God. That is a way of wonders. Those who live in fellowship with God see more and more the wonders of His guidance and preservation. These wonders are worth meditating on because they show Who God is and of what He is capable. It can be small wonders as well as great ones.

There are also circumstances in which the soul “weeps because of grief” (Psalms 119:28). This happens, for example, when he looks at himself a lot. That always depresses a believer (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-14; Psalms 73:13-16). ‘To weep because of grief’ is literally ‘to melt away’. By the weight of his sorrow, the psalmist melts away, he becomes liquid, as it were, he turns to tears.

Then it is dark in life and the wonders seem so far away. The cause of the tears of sorrow can be very diverse. It can be illness or disappointment or deceit or slander or injustice, but also sins. Then, with a single word from His Word, God is able to strengthen again the life that has been depressed by sorrow. It can be a word of comfort or a word of exhortation, depending on the occasion of the sorrow. The psalmist realizes that he can only be helped by a Person. We know that God comforts by pointing to Christ (cf. Romans 7:24; Hebrews 12:2-3).

What the psalmist does not want is to go “the false way”, that is, the way of sinners (Psalms 119:29; Psalms 1:1). When we see this verse in the context of the previous verse and the verse after it, it concerns the lie about one’s own spiritual situation. How easy it is for a believer to appear outwardly as ‘spiritually minded’ while inside, in his heart, things are not right. To the outside, a person can have the appearance of a spiritually minded brother or sister, but inside, things are morally not right, there may even be corruption.

The false way, the way of lies, is the way of unfaithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. He cannot avoid that way in his own strength. Therefore, he asks the LORD: “Remove the false way from me.” Instead, he asks: “Graciously grant me Your law.” The law, given in grace as a guide for life, places before the false way the sign: dead end. The way of the lie ends in death.

Under the new covenant the law will be given or written in the hearts of the believing Israelites (Jeremiah 31:33). What grace! In our hearts are not written the stone tablets of the law, but Christ is written on the flesh tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). What infinite grace!

Opposed to the false way (Psalms 119:29) is “the faithful way” or “the way of faithfulness” (Psalms 119:30). It is the way of faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. The psalmist has “chosen” that way. God wants us to go that way, but does not force us to go that way. He presents us as responsible people with a choice. It has been so since paradise.

We choose the right way when we place God’s ordinances before us. This is about sincerity, about uprightness, about truth in our innermost being (Psalms 51:6). Because Eve had not set God’s ordinances before her eyes, she chose the false way, the way of unfaithfulness to God. And David walked the false way for quite some time when, despite his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba, he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened.

The psalmist has said in the first verse of this stanza that his soul cleaves to the dust (Psalms 119:25). By the exercises of his soul in the following verses, he has now come to the point where he can say to the LORD: “I cling to Your testimonies” (Psalms 119:31). By this he clings to the LORD Himself, so that he cannot be torn away from it. It is a renewed commitment, see Psalms 119:32, to remain close to the Lord with resolute heart (Acts 11:23). In Psalms 119:25 he cleaves to the dust; now he clings – the same verb – to the LORD.

The word “clinging” is first used in the Bible for the firm connection between Adam and Eve, where it is translated “joined” (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, the psalmist has a firm connection to the testimonies of the LORD. The psalmist also senses how fragile this clinging or joining still is. Therefore, he appeals to the LORD not to put him to shame in this (cf. Romans 9:33b).

The word “for” in Psalms 119:32b is better translated “because”. The meaning is that the LORD has enlarged the heart of the psalmist. He shall run in the way of the commandments of the LORD with a relieved heart and renewed confidence and renewed intentions (Psalms 119:32a).

There are no more inner hindrances. He has put away the false way (Psalms 119:29) and chosen the faithful way (Psalms 119:30). Now the Lord can work in his heart. His heart is enlarged to the commandments, so he knows which way to walk. “To run” in Hebrew is “to hasten”. While at first he clings to the dust and cannot be moved forward (Psalms 119:25) and is in the process of melting away (Psalms 119:28), he now is able to walk with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31) in the narrow way of the LORD with steady step.

Proverbs 6:3

/daleth/ The Door and Way of Life

The letter or the word daleth has two meanings: ‘door’ and ‘humble’, ‘poor’, ‘oppressed’. These two thoughts come together in the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5-7, where He says: “Enter through the narrow gate; … For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way to life can only be walked by one who has first entered through the narrow gate. Only one who is humble and poor can enter through that narrow gate. Thus he, the psalmist, comes through the gate onto the way of life. We find five verses in this daleth stanza with the expression “the way”.

A door is also the boundary between two areas, for example, between outside and inside. Thus, the Word as a door, through which we can enter only in humility, brings us to the way of life, which is the Lord Jesus, in a field of living in fellowship with the Father (John 10:9; John 14:6).

The psalmist is downcast (Psalms 119:25). His “soul cleaves to the dust”, for he is near death (cf. Psalms 104:29). He experiences how void and mortal he is. We find here “dust” (Psalms 119:25) and “weep” (Psalms 119:28), which speaks of grief and sorrow. The gate or door takes us from the road of death to the road to and of life. That road ends in salvation, but along the way the righteous encounter trouble and sorrow (cf. Mark 10:30). On that way the LORD is with him. Thus the LORD does not keep Daniel from the lions’ den, but He keeps him in the lions’ den; the LORD does not keep Daniel’s three friends from the furnace of blazing fire, but He keeps them in that same the furnace of blazing fire.

If on our path of life there is a stone that hinders us, the Lord does not take away the stone, but will send His angels to carry us, lest we not strike our foot against a stone (Psalms 91:11-12; cf. Matthew 4:6). That is, the Lord does not take away the difficulties, but helps us to overcome them.

The psalmist sees only one way to revive and that is for the LORD to revive him “according to Your word”. He knows that God’s Word has life in it and is powerful to deliver him from the power of death and give him life. This is about deliverance from physical death. The blessing of the new covenant indicates that the remnant will live and thus inherit the kingdom. This characterizes the faithful. He does not seek an easier path of faith, but turns to the LORD to live life as He desires.

Many times in the past the psalmist has experienced the faithfulness of the LORD. This gives him confidence to continue to trust Him in the future. He has told his ways to the LORD, which may include a confession of going his own ways, “my ways” (Psalms 119:26).

If we have to confess sins, it is important to tell the Lord everything about our life’s journey and not to hide anything. To confess means to see and name everything, as the Lord sees and names it. In Hebrew, to confess means to ‘enumerate’, that is, to tell all things one by one. In Greek, confess means ‘to say the same thing’ that is, to say the same thing about this subject as God.

Based on what the psalmist said to God, God answered his prayer of the previous verse and revived him. The believer learns here the important truth that he must be taught God’s statutes if he is to be glorified with Christ. This will enable him to keep to the ways of God and he will not fall into the error of going his own ways again.

He immediately follows this up by asking God to make him “understand the way of Your precepts” (Psalms 119:27). In Psalms 119:26, the psalmist has acknowledged that he is ignorant and therefore in need of teaching. But teaching is not enough. Therefore, the psalmist now asks if the LORD will give him understanding, enabling him to apply the teaching he has received to his life and also to pass it on to others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14).

He wants to go the way of God’s precepts because in that way he experiences fellowship with God. That is a way of wonders. Those who live in fellowship with God see more and more the wonders of His guidance and preservation. These wonders are worth meditating on because they show Who God is and of what He is capable. It can be small wonders as well as great ones.

There are also circumstances in which the soul “weeps because of grief” (Psalms 119:28). This happens, for example, when he looks at himself a lot. That always depresses a believer (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-14; Psalms 73:13-16). ‘To weep because of grief’ is literally ‘to melt away’. By the weight of his sorrow, the psalmist melts away, he becomes liquid, as it were, he turns to tears.

Then it is dark in life and the wonders seem so far away. The cause of the tears of sorrow can be very diverse. It can be illness or disappointment or deceit or slander or injustice, but also sins. Then, with a single word from His Word, God is able to strengthen again the life that has been depressed by sorrow. It can be a word of comfort or a word of exhortation, depending on the occasion of the sorrow. The psalmist realizes that he can only be helped by a Person. We know that God comforts by pointing to Christ (cf. Romans 7:24; Hebrews 12:2-3).

What the psalmist does not want is to go “the false way”, that is, the way of sinners (Psalms 119:29; Psalms 1:1). When we see this verse in the context of the previous verse and the verse after it, it concerns the lie about one’s own spiritual situation. How easy it is for a believer to appear outwardly as ‘spiritually minded’ while inside, in his heart, things are not right. To the outside, a person can have the appearance of a spiritually minded brother or sister, but inside, things are morally not right, there may even be corruption.

The false way, the way of lies, is the way of unfaithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. He cannot avoid that way in his own strength. Therefore, he asks the LORD: “Remove the false way from me.” Instead, he asks: “Graciously grant me Your law.” The law, given in grace as a guide for life, places before the false way the sign: dead end. The way of the lie ends in death.

Under the new covenant the law will be given or written in the hearts of the believing Israelites (Jeremiah 31:33). What grace! In our hearts are not written the stone tablets of the law, but Christ is written on the flesh tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). What infinite grace!

Opposed to the false way (Psalms 119:29) is “the faithful way” or “the way of faithfulness” (Psalms 119:30). It is the way of faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. The psalmist has “chosen” that way. God wants us to go that way, but does not force us to go that way. He presents us as responsible people with a choice. It has been so since paradise.

We choose the right way when we place God’s ordinances before us. This is about sincerity, about uprightness, about truth in our innermost being (Psalms 51:6). Because Eve had not set God’s ordinances before her eyes, she chose the false way, the way of unfaithfulness to God. And David walked the false way for quite some time when, despite his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba, he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened.

The psalmist has said in the first verse of this stanza that his soul cleaves to the dust (Psalms 119:25). By the exercises of his soul in the following verses, he has now come to the point where he can say to the LORD: “I cling to Your testimonies” (Psalms 119:31). By this he clings to the LORD Himself, so that he cannot be torn away from it. It is a renewed commitment, see Psalms 119:32, to remain close to the Lord with resolute heart (Acts 11:23). In Psalms 119:25 he cleaves to the dust; now he clings – the same verb – to the LORD.

The word “clinging” is first used in the Bible for the firm connection between Adam and Eve, where it is translated “joined” (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, the psalmist has a firm connection to the testimonies of the LORD. The psalmist also senses how fragile this clinging or joining still is. Therefore, he appeals to the LORD not to put him to shame in this (cf. Romans 9:33b).

The word “for” in Psalms 119:32b is better translated “because”. The meaning is that the LORD has enlarged the heart of the psalmist. He shall run in the way of the commandments of the LORD with a relieved heart and renewed confidence and renewed intentions (Psalms 119:32a).

There are no more inner hindrances. He has put away the false way (Psalms 119:29) and chosen the faithful way (Psalms 119:30). Now the Lord can work in his heart. His heart is enlarged to the commandments, so he knows which way to walk. “To run” in Hebrew is “to hasten”. While at first he clings to the dust and cannot be moved forward (Psalms 119:25) and is in the process of melting away (Psalms 119:28), he now is able to walk with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31) in the narrow way of the LORD with steady step.

Proverbs 6:4

/daleth/ The Door and Way of Life

The letter or the word daleth has two meanings: ‘door’ and ‘humble’, ‘poor’, ‘oppressed’. These two thoughts come together in the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5-7, where He says: “Enter through the narrow gate; … For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way to life can only be walked by one who has first entered through the narrow gate. Only one who is humble and poor can enter through that narrow gate. Thus he, the psalmist, comes through the gate onto the way of life. We find five verses in this daleth stanza with the expression “the way”.

A door is also the boundary between two areas, for example, between outside and inside. Thus, the Word as a door, through which we can enter only in humility, brings us to the way of life, which is the Lord Jesus, in a field of living in fellowship with the Father (John 10:9; John 14:6).

The psalmist is downcast (Psalms 119:25). His “soul cleaves to the dust”, for he is near death (cf. Psalms 104:29). He experiences how void and mortal he is. We find here “dust” (Psalms 119:25) and “weep” (Psalms 119:28), which speaks of grief and sorrow. The gate or door takes us from the road of death to the road to and of life. That road ends in salvation, but along the way the righteous encounter trouble and sorrow (cf. Mark 10:30). On that way the LORD is with him. Thus the LORD does not keep Daniel from the lions’ den, but He keeps him in the lions’ den; the LORD does not keep Daniel’s three friends from the furnace of blazing fire, but He keeps them in that same the furnace of blazing fire.

If on our path of life there is a stone that hinders us, the Lord does not take away the stone, but will send His angels to carry us, lest we not strike our foot against a stone (Psalms 91:11-12; cf. Matthew 4:6). That is, the Lord does not take away the difficulties, but helps us to overcome them.

The psalmist sees only one way to revive and that is for the LORD to revive him “according to Your word”. He knows that God’s Word has life in it and is powerful to deliver him from the power of death and give him life. This is about deliverance from physical death. The blessing of the new covenant indicates that the remnant will live and thus inherit the kingdom. This characterizes the faithful. He does not seek an easier path of faith, but turns to the LORD to live life as He desires.

Many times in the past the psalmist has experienced the faithfulness of the LORD. This gives him confidence to continue to trust Him in the future. He has told his ways to the LORD, which may include a confession of going his own ways, “my ways” (Psalms 119:26).

If we have to confess sins, it is important to tell the Lord everything about our life’s journey and not to hide anything. To confess means to see and name everything, as the Lord sees and names it. In Hebrew, to confess means to ‘enumerate’, that is, to tell all things one by one. In Greek, confess means ‘to say the same thing’ that is, to say the same thing about this subject as God.

Based on what the psalmist said to God, God answered his prayer of the previous verse and revived him. The believer learns here the important truth that he must be taught God’s statutes if he is to be glorified with Christ. This will enable him to keep to the ways of God and he will not fall into the error of going his own ways again.

He immediately follows this up by asking God to make him “understand the way of Your precepts” (Psalms 119:27). In Psalms 119:26, the psalmist has acknowledged that he is ignorant and therefore in need of teaching. But teaching is not enough. Therefore, the psalmist now asks if the LORD will give him understanding, enabling him to apply the teaching he has received to his life and also to pass it on to others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14).

He wants to go the way of God’s precepts because in that way he experiences fellowship with God. That is a way of wonders. Those who live in fellowship with God see more and more the wonders of His guidance and preservation. These wonders are worth meditating on because they show Who God is and of what He is capable. It can be small wonders as well as great ones.

There are also circumstances in which the soul “weeps because of grief” (Psalms 119:28). This happens, for example, when he looks at himself a lot. That always depresses a believer (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-14; Psalms 73:13-16). ‘To weep because of grief’ is literally ‘to melt away’. By the weight of his sorrow, the psalmist melts away, he becomes liquid, as it were, he turns to tears.

Then it is dark in life and the wonders seem so far away. The cause of the tears of sorrow can be very diverse. It can be illness or disappointment or deceit or slander or injustice, but also sins. Then, with a single word from His Word, God is able to strengthen again the life that has been depressed by sorrow. It can be a word of comfort or a word of exhortation, depending on the occasion of the sorrow. The psalmist realizes that he can only be helped by a Person. We know that God comforts by pointing to Christ (cf. Romans 7:24; Hebrews 12:2-3).

What the psalmist does not want is to go “the false way”, that is, the way of sinners (Psalms 119:29; Psalms 1:1). When we see this verse in the context of the previous verse and the verse after it, it concerns the lie about one’s own spiritual situation. How easy it is for a believer to appear outwardly as ‘spiritually minded’ while inside, in his heart, things are not right. To the outside, a person can have the appearance of a spiritually minded brother or sister, but inside, things are morally not right, there may even be corruption.

The false way, the way of lies, is the way of unfaithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. He cannot avoid that way in his own strength. Therefore, he asks the LORD: “Remove the false way from me.” Instead, he asks: “Graciously grant me Your law.” The law, given in grace as a guide for life, places before the false way the sign: dead end. The way of the lie ends in death.

Under the new covenant the law will be given or written in the hearts of the believing Israelites (Jeremiah 31:33). What grace! In our hearts are not written the stone tablets of the law, but Christ is written on the flesh tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). What infinite grace!

Opposed to the false way (Psalms 119:29) is “the faithful way” or “the way of faithfulness” (Psalms 119:30). It is the way of faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. The psalmist has “chosen” that way. God wants us to go that way, but does not force us to go that way. He presents us as responsible people with a choice. It has been so since paradise.

We choose the right way when we place God’s ordinances before us. This is about sincerity, about uprightness, about truth in our innermost being (Psalms 51:6). Because Eve had not set God’s ordinances before her eyes, she chose the false way, the way of unfaithfulness to God. And David walked the false way for quite some time when, despite his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba, he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened.

The psalmist has said in the first verse of this stanza that his soul cleaves to the dust (Psalms 119:25). By the exercises of his soul in the following verses, he has now come to the point where he can say to the LORD: “I cling to Your testimonies” (Psalms 119:31). By this he clings to the LORD Himself, so that he cannot be torn away from it. It is a renewed commitment, see Psalms 119:32, to remain close to the Lord with resolute heart (Acts 11:23). In Psalms 119:25 he cleaves to the dust; now he clings – the same verb – to the LORD.

The word “clinging” is first used in the Bible for the firm connection between Adam and Eve, where it is translated “joined” (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, the psalmist has a firm connection to the testimonies of the LORD. The psalmist also senses how fragile this clinging or joining still is. Therefore, he appeals to the LORD not to put him to shame in this (cf. Romans 9:33b).

The word “for” in Psalms 119:32b is better translated “because”. The meaning is that the LORD has enlarged the heart of the psalmist. He shall run in the way of the commandments of the LORD with a relieved heart and renewed confidence and renewed intentions (Psalms 119:32a).

There are no more inner hindrances. He has put away the false way (Psalms 119:29) and chosen the faithful way (Psalms 119:30). Now the Lord can work in his heart. His heart is enlarged to the commandments, so he knows which way to walk. “To run” in Hebrew is “to hasten”. While at first he clings to the dust and cannot be moved forward (Psalms 119:25) and is in the process of melting away (Psalms 119:28), he now is able to walk with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31) in the narrow way of the LORD with steady step.

Proverbs 6:5

/daleth/ The Door and Way of Life

The letter or the word daleth has two meanings: ‘door’ and ‘humble’, ‘poor’, ‘oppressed’. These two thoughts come together in the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5-7, where He says: “Enter through the narrow gate; … For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way to life can only be walked by one who has first entered through the narrow gate. Only one who is humble and poor can enter through that narrow gate. Thus he, the psalmist, comes through the gate onto the way of life. We find five verses in this daleth stanza with the expression “the way”.

A door is also the boundary between two areas, for example, between outside and inside. Thus, the Word as a door, through which we can enter only in humility, brings us to the way of life, which is the Lord Jesus, in a field of living in fellowship with the Father (John 10:9; John 14:6).

The psalmist is downcast (Psalms 119:25). His “soul cleaves to the dust”, for he is near death (cf. Psalms 104:29). He experiences how void and mortal he is. We find here “dust” (Psalms 119:25) and “weep” (Psalms 119:28), which speaks of grief and sorrow. The gate or door takes us from the road of death to the road to and of life. That road ends in salvation, but along the way the righteous encounter trouble and sorrow (cf. Mark 10:30). On that way the LORD is with him. Thus the LORD does not keep Daniel from the lions’ den, but He keeps him in the lions’ den; the LORD does not keep Daniel’s three friends from the furnace of blazing fire, but He keeps them in that same the furnace of blazing fire.

If on our path of life there is a stone that hinders us, the Lord does not take away the stone, but will send His angels to carry us, lest we not strike our foot against a stone (Psalms 91:11-12; cf. Matthew 4:6). That is, the Lord does not take away the difficulties, but helps us to overcome them.

The psalmist sees only one way to revive and that is for the LORD to revive him “according to Your word”. He knows that God’s Word has life in it and is powerful to deliver him from the power of death and give him life. This is about deliverance from physical death. The blessing of the new covenant indicates that the remnant will live and thus inherit the kingdom. This characterizes the faithful. He does not seek an easier path of faith, but turns to the LORD to live life as He desires.

Many times in the past the psalmist has experienced the faithfulness of the LORD. This gives him confidence to continue to trust Him in the future. He has told his ways to the LORD, which may include a confession of going his own ways, “my ways” (Psalms 119:26).

If we have to confess sins, it is important to tell the Lord everything about our life’s journey and not to hide anything. To confess means to see and name everything, as the Lord sees and names it. In Hebrew, to confess means to ‘enumerate’, that is, to tell all things one by one. In Greek, confess means ‘to say the same thing’ that is, to say the same thing about this subject as God.

Based on what the psalmist said to God, God answered his prayer of the previous verse and revived him. The believer learns here the important truth that he must be taught God’s statutes if he is to be glorified with Christ. This will enable him to keep to the ways of God and he will not fall into the error of going his own ways again.

He immediately follows this up by asking God to make him “understand the way of Your precepts” (Psalms 119:27). In Psalms 119:26, the psalmist has acknowledged that he is ignorant and therefore in need of teaching. But teaching is not enough. Therefore, the psalmist now asks if the LORD will give him understanding, enabling him to apply the teaching he has received to his life and also to pass it on to others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14).

He wants to go the way of God’s precepts because in that way he experiences fellowship with God. That is a way of wonders. Those who live in fellowship with God see more and more the wonders of His guidance and preservation. These wonders are worth meditating on because they show Who God is and of what He is capable. It can be small wonders as well as great ones.

There are also circumstances in which the soul “weeps because of grief” (Psalms 119:28). This happens, for example, when he looks at himself a lot. That always depresses a believer (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-14; Psalms 73:13-16). ‘To weep because of grief’ is literally ‘to melt away’. By the weight of his sorrow, the psalmist melts away, he becomes liquid, as it were, he turns to tears.

Then it is dark in life and the wonders seem so far away. The cause of the tears of sorrow can be very diverse. It can be illness or disappointment or deceit or slander or injustice, but also sins. Then, with a single word from His Word, God is able to strengthen again the life that has been depressed by sorrow. It can be a word of comfort or a word of exhortation, depending on the occasion of the sorrow. The psalmist realizes that he can only be helped by a Person. We know that God comforts by pointing to Christ (cf. Romans 7:24; Hebrews 12:2-3).

What the psalmist does not want is to go “the false way”, that is, the way of sinners (Psalms 119:29; Psalms 1:1). When we see this verse in the context of the previous verse and the verse after it, it concerns the lie about one’s own spiritual situation. How easy it is for a believer to appear outwardly as ‘spiritually minded’ while inside, in his heart, things are not right. To the outside, a person can have the appearance of a spiritually minded brother or sister, but inside, things are morally not right, there may even be corruption.

The false way, the way of lies, is the way of unfaithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. He cannot avoid that way in his own strength. Therefore, he asks the LORD: “Remove the false way from me.” Instead, he asks: “Graciously grant me Your law.” The law, given in grace as a guide for life, places before the false way the sign: dead end. The way of the lie ends in death.

Under the new covenant the law will be given or written in the hearts of the believing Israelites (Jeremiah 31:33). What grace! In our hearts are not written the stone tablets of the law, but Christ is written on the flesh tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). What infinite grace!

Opposed to the false way (Psalms 119:29) is “the faithful way” or “the way of faithfulness” (Psalms 119:30). It is the way of faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. The psalmist has “chosen” that way. God wants us to go that way, but does not force us to go that way. He presents us as responsible people with a choice. It has been so since paradise.

We choose the right way when we place God’s ordinances before us. This is about sincerity, about uprightness, about truth in our innermost being (Psalms 51:6). Because Eve had not set God’s ordinances before her eyes, she chose the false way, the way of unfaithfulness to God. And David walked the false way for quite some time when, despite his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba, he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened.

The psalmist has said in the first verse of this stanza that his soul cleaves to the dust (Psalms 119:25). By the exercises of his soul in the following verses, he has now come to the point where he can say to the LORD: “I cling to Your testimonies” (Psalms 119:31). By this he clings to the LORD Himself, so that he cannot be torn away from it. It is a renewed commitment, see Psalms 119:32, to remain close to the Lord with resolute heart (Acts 11:23). In Psalms 119:25 he cleaves to the dust; now he clings – the same verb – to the LORD.

The word “clinging” is first used in the Bible for the firm connection between Adam and Eve, where it is translated “joined” (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, the psalmist has a firm connection to the testimonies of the LORD. The psalmist also senses how fragile this clinging or joining still is. Therefore, he appeals to the LORD not to put him to shame in this (cf. Romans 9:33b).

The word “for” in Psalms 119:32b is better translated “because”. The meaning is that the LORD has enlarged the heart of the psalmist. He shall run in the way of the commandments of the LORD with a relieved heart and renewed confidence and renewed intentions (Psalms 119:32a).

There are no more inner hindrances. He has put away the false way (Psalms 119:29) and chosen the faithful way (Psalms 119:30). Now the Lord can work in his heart. His heart is enlarged to the commandments, so he knows which way to walk. “To run” in Hebrew is “to hasten”. While at first he clings to the dust and cannot be moved forward (Psalms 119:25) and is in the process of melting away (Psalms 119:28), he now is able to walk with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31) in the narrow way of the LORD with steady step.

Proverbs 6:6

/daleth/ The Door and Way of Life

The letter or the word daleth has two meanings: ‘door’ and ‘humble’, ‘poor’, ‘oppressed’. These two thoughts come together in the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5-7, where He says: “Enter through the narrow gate; … For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way to life can only be walked by one who has first entered through the narrow gate. Only one who is humble and poor can enter through that narrow gate. Thus he, the psalmist, comes through the gate onto the way of life. We find five verses in this daleth stanza with the expression “the way”.

A door is also the boundary between two areas, for example, between outside and inside. Thus, the Word as a door, through which we can enter only in humility, brings us to the way of life, which is the Lord Jesus, in a field of living in fellowship with the Father (John 10:9; John 14:6).

The psalmist is downcast (Psalms 119:25). His “soul cleaves to the dust”, for he is near death (cf. Psalms 104:29). He experiences how void and mortal he is. We find here “dust” (Psalms 119:25) and “weep” (Psalms 119:28), which speaks of grief and sorrow. The gate or door takes us from the road of death to the road to and of life. That road ends in salvation, but along the way the righteous encounter trouble and sorrow (cf. Mark 10:30). On that way the LORD is with him. Thus the LORD does not keep Daniel from the lions’ den, but He keeps him in the lions’ den; the LORD does not keep Daniel’s three friends from the furnace of blazing fire, but He keeps them in that same the furnace of blazing fire.

If on our path of life there is a stone that hinders us, the Lord does not take away the stone, but will send His angels to carry us, lest we not strike our foot against a stone (Psalms 91:11-12; cf. Matthew 4:6). That is, the Lord does not take away the difficulties, but helps us to overcome them.

The psalmist sees only one way to revive and that is for the LORD to revive him “according to Your word”. He knows that God’s Word has life in it and is powerful to deliver him from the power of death and give him life. This is about deliverance from physical death. The blessing of the new covenant indicates that the remnant will live and thus inherit the kingdom. This characterizes the faithful. He does not seek an easier path of faith, but turns to the LORD to live life as He desires.

Many times in the past the psalmist has experienced the faithfulness of the LORD. This gives him confidence to continue to trust Him in the future. He has told his ways to the LORD, which may include a confession of going his own ways, “my ways” (Psalms 119:26).

If we have to confess sins, it is important to tell the Lord everything about our life’s journey and not to hide anything. To confess means to see and name everything, as the Lord sees and names it. In Hebrew, to confess means to ‘enumerate’, that is, to tell all things one by one. In Greek, confess means ‘to say the same thing’ that is, to say the same thing about this subject as God.

Based on what the psalmist said to God, God answered his prayer of the previous verse and revived him. The believer learns here the important truth that he must be taught God’s statutes if he is to be glorified with Christ. This will enable him to keep to the ways of God and he will not fall into the error of going his own ways again.

He immediately follows this up by asking God to make him “understand the way of Your precepts” (Psalms 119:27). In Psalms 119:26, the psalmist has acknowledged that he is ignorant and therefore in need of teaching. But teaching is not enough. Therefore, the psalmist now asks if the LORD will give him understanding, enabling him to apply the teaching he has received to his life and also to pass it on to others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14).

He wants to go the way of God’s precepts because in that way he experiences fellowship with God. That is a way of wonders. Those who live in fellowship with God see more and more the wonders of His guidance and preservation. These wonders are worth meditating on because they show Who God is and of what He is capable. It can be small wonders as well as great ones.

There are also circumstances in which the soul “weeps because of grief” (Psalms 119:28). This happens, for example, when he looks at himself a lot. That always depresses a believer (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-14; Psalms 73:13-16). ‘To weep because of grief’ is literally ‘to melt away’. By the weight of his sorrow, the psalmist melts away, he becomes liquid, as it were, he turns to tears.

Then it is dark in life and the wonders seem so far away. The cause of the tears of sorrow can be very diverse. It can be illness or disappointment or deceit or slander or injustice, but also sins. Then, with a single word from His Word, God is able to strengthen again the life that has been depressed by sorrow. It can be a word of comfort or a word of exhortation, depending on the occasion of the sorrow. The psalmist realizes that he can only be helped by a Person. We know that God comforts by pointing to Christ (cf. Romans 7:24; Hebrews 12:2-3).

What the psalmist does not want is to go “the false way”, that is, the way of sinners (Psalms 119:29; Psalms 1:1). When we see this verse in the context of the previous verse and the verse after it, it concerns the lie about one’s own spiritual situation. How easy it is for a believer to appear outwardly as ‘spiritually minded’ while inside, in his heart, things are not right. To the outside, a person can have the appearance of a spiritually minded brother or sister, but inside, things are morally not right, there may even be corruption.

The false way, the way of lies, is the way of unfaithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. He cannot avoid that way in his own strength. Therefore, he asks the LORD: “Remove the false way from me.” Instead, he asks: “Graciously grant me Your law.” The law, given in grace as a guide for life, places before the false way the sign: dead end. The way of the lie ends in death.

Under the new covenant the law will be given or written in the hearts of the believing Israelites (Jeremiah 31:33). What grace! In our hearts are not written the stone tablets of the law, but Christ is written on the flesh tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). What infinite grace!

Opposed to the false way (Psalms 119:29) is “the faithful way” or “the way of faithfulness” (Psalms 119:30). It is the way of faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. The psalmist has “chosen” that way. God wants us to go that way, but does not force us to go that way. He presents us as responsible people with a choice. It has been so since paradise.

We choose the right way when we place God’s ordinances before us. This is about sincerity, about uprightness, about truth in our innermost being (Psalms 51:6). Because Eve had not set God’s ordinances before her eyes, she chose the false way, the way of unfaithfulness to God. And David walked the false way for quite some time when, despite his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba, he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened.

The psalmist has said in the first verse of this stanza that his soul cleaves to the dust (Psalms 119:25). By the exercises of his soul in the following verses, he has now come to the point where he can say to the LORD: “I cling to Your testimonies” (Psalms 119:31). By this he clings to the LORD Himself, so that he cannot be torn away from it. It is a renewed commitment, see Psalms 119:32, to remain close to the Lord with resolute heart (Acts 11:23). In Psalms 119:25 he cleaves to the dust; now he clings – the same verb – to the LORD.

The word “clinging” is first used in the Bible for the firm connection between Adam and Eve, where it is translated “joined” (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, the psalmist has a firm connection to the testimonies of the LORD. The psalmist also senses how fragile this clinging or joining still is. Therefore, he appeals to the LORD not to put him to shame in this (cf. Romans 9:33b).

The word “for” in Psalms 119:32b is better translated “because”. The meaning is that the LORD has enlarged the heart of the psalmist. He shall run in the way of the commandments of the LORD with a relieved heart and renewed confidence and renewed intentions (Psalms 119:32a).

There are no more inner hindrances. He has put away the false way (Psalms 119:29) and chosen the faithful way (Psalms 119:30). Now the Lord can work in his heart. His heart is enlarged to the commandments, so he knows which way to walk. “To run” in Hebrew is “to hasten”. While at first he clings to the dust and cannot be moved forward (Psalms 119:25) and is in the process of melting away (Psalms 119:28), he now is able to walk with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31) in the narrow way of the LORD with steady step.

Proverbs 6:7

/daleth/ The Door and Way of Life

The letter or the word daleth has two meanings: ‘door’ and ‘humble’, ‘poor’, ‘oppressed’. These two thoughts come together in the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5-7, where He says: “Enter through the narrow gate; … For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way to life can only be walked by one who has first entered through the narrow gate. Only one who is humble and poor can enter through that narrow gate. Thus he, the psalmist, comes through the gate onto the way of life. We find five verses in this daleth stanza with the expression “the way”.

A door is also the boundary between two areas, for example, between outside and inside. Thus, the Word as a door, through which we can enter only in humility, brings us to the way of life, which is the Lord Jesus, in a field of living in fellowship with the Father (John 10:9; John 14:6).

The psalmist is downcast (Psalms 119:25). His “soul cleaves to the dust”, for he is near death (cf. Psalms 104:29). He experiences how void and mortal he is. We find here “dust” (Psalms 119:25) and “weep” (Psalms 119:28), which speaks of grief and sorrow. The gate or door takes us from the road of death to the road to and of life. That road ends in salvation, but along the way the righteous encounter trouble and sorrow (cf. Mark 10:30). On that way the LORD is with him. Thus the LORD does not keep Daniel from the lions’ den, but He keeps him in the lions’ den; the LORD does not keep Daniel’s three friends from the furnace of blazing fire, but He keeps them in that same the furnace of blazing fire.

If on our path of life there is a stone that hinders us, the Lord does not take away the stone, but will send His angels to carry us, lest we not strike our foot against a stone (Psalms 91:11-12; cf. Matthew 4:6). That is, the Lord does not take away the difficulties, but helps us to overcome them.

The psalmist sees only one way to revive and that is for the LORD to revive him “according to Your word”. He knows that God’s Word has life in it and is powerful to deliver him from the power of death and give him life. This is about deliverance from physical death. The blessing of the new covenant indicates that the remnant will live and thus inherit the kingdom. This characterizes the faithful. He does not seek an easier path of faith, but turns to the LORD to live life as He desires.

Many times in the past the psalmist has experienced the faithfulness of the LORD. This gives him confidence to continue to trust Him in the future. He has told his ways to the LORD, which may include a confession of going his own ways, “my ways” (Psalms 119:26).

If we have to confess sins, it is important to tell the Lord everything about our life’s journey and not to hide anything. To confess means to see and name everything, as the Lord sees and names it. In Hebrew, to confess means to ‘enumerate’, that is, to tell all things one by one. In Greek, confess means ‘to say the same thing’ that is, to say the same thing about this subject as God.

Based on what the psalmist said to God, God answered his prayer of the previous verse and revived him. The believer learns here the important truth that he must be taught God’s statutes if he is to be glorified with Christ. This will enable him to keep to the ways of God and he will not fall into the error of going his own ways again.

He immediately follows this up by asking God to make him “understand the way of Your precepts” (Psalms 119:27). In Psalms 119:26, the psalmist has acknowledged that he is ignorant and therefore in need of teaching. But teaching is not enough. Therefore, the psalmist now asks if the LORD will give him understanding, enabling him to apply the teaching he has received to his life and also to pass it on to others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14).

He wants to go the way of God’s precepts because in that way he experiences fellowship with God. That is a way of wonders. Those who live in fellowship with God see more and more the wonders of His guidance and preservation. These wonders are worth meditating on because they show Who God is and of what He is capable. It can be small wonders as well as great ones.

There are also circumstances in which the soul “weeps because of grief” (Psalms 119:28). This happens, for example, when he looks at himself a lot. That always depresses a believer (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-14; Psalms 73:13-16). ‘To weep because of grief’ is literally ‘to melt away’. By the weight of his sorrow, the psalmist melts away, he becomes liquid, as it were, he turns to tears.

Then it is dark in life and the wonders seem so far away. The cause of the tears of sorrow can be very diverse. It can be illness or disappointment or deceit or slander or injustice, but also sins. Then, with a single word from His Word, God is able to strengthen again the life that has been depressed by sorrow. It can be a word of comfort or a word of exhortation, depending on the occasion of the sorrow. The psalmist realizes that he can only be helped by a Person. We know that God comforts by pointing to Christ (cf. Romans 7:24; Hebrews 12:2-3).

What the psalmist does not want is to go “the false way”, that is, the way of sinners (Psalms 119:29; Psalms 1:1). When we see this verse in the context of the previous verse and the verse after it, it concerns the lie about one’s own spiritual situation. How easy it is for a believer to appear outwardly as ‘spiritually minded’ while inside, in his heart, things are not right. To the outside, a person can have the appearance of a spiritually minded brother or sister, but inside, things are morally not right, there may even be corruption.

The false way, the way of lies, is the way of unfaithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. He cannot avoid that way in his own strength. Therefore, he asks the LORD: “Remove the false way from me.” Instead, he asks: “Graciously grant me Your law.” The law, given in grace as a guide for life, places before the false way the sign: dead end. The way of the lie ends in death.

Under the new covenant the law will be given or written in the hearts of the believing Israelites (Jeremiah 31:33). What grace! In our hearts are not written the stone tablets of the law, but Christ is written on the flesh tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). What infinite grace!

Opposed to the false way (Psalms 119:29) is “the faithful way” or “the way of faithfulness” (Psalms 119:30). It is the way of faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. The psalmist has “chosen” that way. God wants us to go that way, but does not force us to go that way. He presents us as responsible people with a choice. It has been so since paradise.

We choose the right way when we place God’s ordinances before us. This is about sincerity, about uprightness, about truth in our innermost being (Psalms 51:6). Because Eve had not set God’s ordinances before her eyes, she chose the false way, the way of unfaithfulness to God. And David walked the false way for quite some time when, despite his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba, he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened.

The psalmist has said in the first verse of this stanza that his soul cleaves to the dust (Psalms 119:25). By the exercises of his soul in the following verses, he has now come to the point where he can say to the LORD: “I cling to Your testimonies” (Psalms 119:31). By this he clings to the LORD Himself, so that he cannot be torn away from it. It is a renewed commitment, see Psalms 119:32, to remain close to the Lord with resolute heart (Acts 11:23). In Psalms 119:25 he cleaves to the dust; now he clings – the same verb – to the LORD.

The word “clinging” is first used in the Bible for the firm connection between Adam and Eve, where it is translated “joined” (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, the psalmist has a firm connection to the testimonies of the LORD. The psalmist also senses how fragile this clinging or joining still is. Therefore, he appeals to the LORD not to put him to shame in this (cf. Romans 9:33b).

The word “for” in Psalms 119:32b is better translated “because”. The meaning is that the LORD has enlarged the heart of the psalmist. He shall run in the way of the commandments of the LORD with a relieved heart and renewed confidence and renewed intentions (Psalms 119:32a).

There are no more inner hindrances. He has put away the false way (Psalms 119:29) and chosen the faithful way (Psalms 119:30). Now the Lord can work in his heart. His heart is enlarged to the commandments, so he knows which way to walk. “To run” in Hebrew is “to hasten”. While at first he clings to the dust and cannot be moved forward (Psalms 119:25) and is in the process of melting away (Psalms 119:28), he now is able to walk with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31) in the narrow way of the LORD with steady step.

Proverbs 6:8

/daleth/ The Door and Way of Life

The letter or the word daleth has two meanings: ‘door’ and ‘humble’, ‘poor’, ‘oppressed’. These two thoughts come together in the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5-7, where He says: “Enter through the narrow gate; … For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way to life can only be walked by one who has first entered through the narrow gate. Only one who is humble and poor can enter through that narrow gate. Thus he, the psalmist, comes through the gate onto the way of life. We find five verses in this daleth stanza with the expression “the way”.

A door is also the boundary between two areas, for example, between outside and inside. Thus, the Word as a door, through which we can enter only in humility, brings us to the way of life, which is the Lord Jesus, in a field of living in fellowship with the Father (John 10:9; John 14:6).

The psalmist is downcast (Psalms 119:25). His “soul cleaves to the dust”, for he is near death (cf. Psalms 104:29). He experiences how void and mortal he is. We find here “dust” (Psalms 119:25) and “weep” (Psalms 119:28), which speaks of grief and sorrow. The gate or door takes us from the road of death to the road to and of life. That road ends in salvation, but along the way the righteous encounter trouble and sorrow (cf. Mark 10:30). On that way the LORD is with him. Thus the LORD does not keep Daniel from the lions’ den, but He keeps him in the lions’ den; the LORD does not keep Daniel’s three friends from the furnace of blazing fire, but He keeps them in that same the furnace of blazing fire.

If on our path of life there is a stone that hinders us, the Lord does not take away the stone, but will send His angels to carry us, lest we not strike our foot against a stone (Psalms 91:11-12; cf. Matthew 4:6). That is, the Lord does not take away the difficulties, but helps us to overcome them.

The psalmist sees only one way to revive and that is for the LORD to revive him “according to Your word”. He knows that God’s Word has life in it and is powerful to deliver him from the power of death and give him life. This is about deliverance from physical death. The blessing of the new covenant indicates that the remnant will live and thus inherit the kingdom. This characterizes the faithful. He does not seek an easier path of faith, but turns to the LORD to live life as He desires.

Many times in the past the psalmist has experienced the faithfulness of the LORD. This gives him confidence to continue to trust Him in the future. He has told his ways to the LORD, which may include a confession of going his own ways, “my ways” (Psalms 119:26).

If we have to confess sins, it is important to tell the Lord everything about our life’s journey and not to hide anything. To confess means to see and name everything, as the Lord sees and names it. In Hebrew, to confess means to ‘enumerate’, that is, to tell all things one by one. In Greek, confess means ‘to say the same thing’ that is, to say the same thing about this subject as God.

Based on what the psalmist said to God, God answered his prayer of the previous verse and revived him. The believer learns here the important truth that he must be taught God’s statutes if he is to be glorified with Christ. This will enable him to keep to the ways of God and he will not fall into the error of going his own ways again.

He immediately follows this up by asking God to make him “understand the way of Your precepts” (Psalms 119:27). In Psalms 119:26, the psalmist has acknowledged that he is ignorant and therefore in need of teaching. But teaching is not enough. Therefore, the psalmist now asks if the LORD will give him understanding, enabling him to apply the teaching he has received to his life and also to pass it on to others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14).

He wants to go the way of God’s precepts because in that way he experiences fellowship with God. That is a way of wonders. Those who live in fellowship with God see more and more the wonders of His guidance and preservation. These wonders are worth meditating on because they show Who God is and of what He is capable. It can be small wonders as well as great ones.

There are also circumstances in which the soul “weeps because of grief” (Psalms 119:28). This happens, for example, when he looks at himself a lot. That always depresses a believer (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-14; Psalms 73:13-16). ‘To weep because of grief’ is literally ‘to melt away’. By the weight of his sorrow, the psalmist melts away, he becomes liquid, as it were, he turns to tears.

Then it is dark in life and the wonders seem so far away. The cause of the tears of sorrow can be very diverse. It can be illness or disappointment or deceit or slander or injustice, but also sins. Then, with a single word from His Word, God is able to strengthen again the life that has been depressed by sorrow. It can be a word of comfort or a word of exhortation, depending on the occasion of the sorrow. The psalmist realizes that he can only be helped by a Person. We know that God comforts by pointing to Christ (cf. Romans 7:24; Hebrews 12:2-3).

What the psalmist does not want is to go “the false way”, that is, the way of sinners (Psalms 119:29; Psalms 1:1). When we see this verse in the context of the previous verse and the verse after it, it concerns the lie about one’s own spiritual situation. How easy it is for a believer to appear outwardly as ‘spiritually minded’ while inside, in his heart, things are not right. To the outside, a person can have the appearance of a spiritually minded brother or sister, but inside, things are morally not right, there may even be corruption.

The false way, the way of lies, is the way of unfaithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. He cannot avoid that way in his own strength. Therefore, he asks the LORD: “Remove the false way from me.” Instead, he asks: “Graciously grant me Your law.” The law, given in grace as a guide for life, places before the false way the sign: dead end. The way of the lie ends in death.

Under the new covenant the law will be given or written in the hearts of the believing Israelites (Jeremiah 31:33). What grace! In our hearts are not written the stone tablets of the law, but Christ is written on the flesh tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). What infinite grace!

Opposed to the false way (Psalms 119:29) is “the faithful way” or “the way of faithfulness” (Psalms 119:30). It is the way of faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. The psalmist has “chosen” that way. God wants us to go that way, but does not force us to go that way. He presents us as responsible people with a choice. It has been so since paradise.

We choose the right way when we place God’s ordinances before us. This is about sincerity, about uprightness, about truth in our innermost being (Psalms 51:6). Because Eve had not set God’s ordinances before her eyes, she chose the false way, the way of unfaithfulness to God. And David walked the false way for quite some time when, despite his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba, he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened.

The psalmist has said in the first verse of this stanza that his soul cleaves to the dust (Psalms 119:25). By the exercises of his soul in the following verses, he has now come to the point where he can say to the LORD: “I cling to Your testimonies” (Psalms 119:31). By this he clings to the LORD Himself, so that he cannot be torn away from it. It is a renewed commitment, see Psalms 119:32, to remain close to the Lord with resolute heart (Acts 11:23). In Psalms 119:25 he cleaves to the dust; now he clings – the same verb – to the LORD.

The word “clinging” is first used in the Bible for the firm connection between Adam and Eve, where it is translated “joined” (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, the psalmist has a firm connection to the testimonies of the LORD. The psalmist also senses how fragile this clinging or joining still is. Therefore, he appeals to the LORD not to put him to shame in this (cf. Romans 9:33b).

The word “for” in Psalms 119:32b is better translated “because”. The meaning is that the LORD has enlarged the heart of the psalmist. He shall run in the way of the commandments of the LORD with a relieved heart and renewed confidence and renewed intentions (Psalms 119:32a).

There are no more inner hindrances. He has put away the false way (Psalms 119:29) and chosen the faithful way (Psalms 119:30). Now the Lord can work in his heart. His heart is enlarged to the commandments, so he knows which way to walk. “To run” in Hebrew is “to hasten”. While at first he clings to the dust and cannot be moved forward (Psalms 119:25) and is in the process of melting away (Psalms 119:28), he now is able to walk with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31) in the narrow way of the LORD with steady step.

Proverbs 6:9

/he/ Understanding

The pictogram of the letter he is a window, which speaks of seeing and understanding a revelation or remark. He as a word means ‘see’ in Hebrew. Later it is hinné (Psalms 119:40). Through a window the light comes in, allowing you see something. Through a revelation the light comes in, making you understand.

“There [the Word] was the true Light which, coming into the world [the incarnation of the Word], enlightens every man” (John 1:9). Man is enlightened by the exclamation of John the baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In Hebrew, “behold” would be he or hinné. The revelation is that concerning the Person of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In Psalms 119:33-34 we hear the psalmist’s request for understanding the way of the LORD through teaching. Psalms 119:37 speaks of the psalmist’s eyes. His eyes are to be focused on a Person, not distracted by the deceitfulness of riches. Through the teaching of the Word of God he is to gain understanding to walk joyfully in the way of the LORD.

Each verse of this stanza is a prayer and indicates the relationship between the Word and prayer. Its tone is humility and dependence. The Word is the Word of God. Then, too, He alone can give the explanation of what He says. The righteous realizes this and therefore prays for it. He realizes that the LORD must open the window of his heart and that the light of His revelation and Person must shine into it. He is totally dependent on the LORD and His Word.

The Word of God is not just learning material, a subject, like theology, or a series of doctrines and principles. The Word of God is the Word that connects us with God. Therefore, if we desire to understand the Word, we can only approach that Word prayerfully, so that God will open the window of our hearts (cf. Luke 24:45). The psalmist understood this. He begins his prayer with “teach me” (Psalms 119:33). “Teach” in Hebrew is moré. Abraham also began his sojourn in the promised land at the oak of Moré, which is ‘teacher’ (Genesis 12:6).

He does not subject the Word to his own logical thinking, but he casts himself down at the feet of the LORD to receive from Him His words (cf. Deuteronomy 33:3b; Luke 10:39). Thus we will have to read the Word of God prayerfully if we want to be taught and transformed into the image of Christ. Only then will we obtain wisdom and spiritual insight.

The statutes of the LORD remain of unchanging value to the believer as long as he lives. Learning to know them never ceases. As long as a believer lives, he will never be able to say that he can stop learning because he should know everything. To remain faithful to the end of life in observing the statutes, the desire is needed to be taught and instructed by the LORD. This is what the righteous prays for.

The problem of many people, but also of many believers who want to be biblically faithful, is that they are often so convinced of their own rightness that they can no longer be corrected by others and therefore neither by the Lord. How necessary it is that we take to heart the lesson of the letter he: that we are prepared in humility to open the window of our hearts and learn from others. Let us take an example from the Jews at Beréa in Acts 17 (Acts 17:11).

Understanding – see the meaning of the letter he – is necessary to keep God’s law (Psalms 119:34). Without understanding, the righteous do not understand what God requires of them. They gain that understanding if they are willing to obey it with all their heart. It is not a matter of a good intellect, but of a renewed, willing heart (cf. John 7:17).

The LORD has changed and shaped the psalmist’s heart, making it his desire to walk the path of God’s commandments. This makes him realize that to put God’s commandments into practice he needs His help and guidance. In the words of Paul, God must not only work in him to will, but also to work (Philippians 2:13).

This is what the psalmist is asking for when he asks the LORD: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments” (Psalms 119:35). Freely translated, he asks: ‘Let me live like this, let me walk the path of life with God.’ The Lord asks faith obedience. He gives us instructions that we want to follow with joy out of love.

The psalmist longs to walk that path, “for I delight in it”, he says. The taste of the Word is sweet, it gives joy to our heart. Then we joyfully go the way the Lord wants us to go. When we do something with pleasure, we like to do it.

There is a special tendency, that is, “inclination” or “direction of the heart” in life, from which even the believer cannot escape, even if he follows the path of God’s commandments. That tendency is “[dishonest] gain”, being out to gain as much as possible, for example by robbing others (Psalms 119:36). “[Dishonest] gain” means “unfair advantage”. This can be in a material sense such as wealth, but it can also be in an immaterial sense such as fame, name, popularity.

As a believer, you often sense that the lust for wealth is not good – think of Lot’s wife. The lust for honor and prestige is also a great danger, even for us. Think of Ananias and Sapphira. In the school of God we may learn to keep the inclinations of our heart and the workings of our flesh in death (Colossians 3:5).

The wrong inclination is given no room when we ask the LORD with the psalmist: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.” If his and our heart is set on dealing with the LORD, he and we will not be open to the pursuit of worldly prosperity.

The deception of riches is like weeds choking the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:22). The weeds in Israel have deep roots, from half a meter to a meter, with roots growing between the rocks, making it almost impossible to remove them. These weeds, thanks to these roots, also grow at lightning speed. It does show how stifling the effect of wealth can be to the seed of the Word and how difficult it is to get free from that stifling effect. Let us therefore pray the psalmist’s prayer with him.

After speaking of his heart in the previous verse, the God-fearing speaks of his eyes in Psalms 119:37. He asks God to turn away his eyes, so that they may not be “looking at vanity”. “Vanity” is what has no value for the moment or for the future. This is quite an actual prayer for the time in which we live, with tidal waves of visual material via television and the Internet that are completely useless and often downright sinful, yet which people watch for many hours (cf. Isaiah 55:2).

Sometimes it’s about impure pictures that you come across unintentionally and unsought, e.g. advertising. Here the saying applies: the second look is sinful. That is, the first time you see it, it happened to you, but the second look is a conscious choice. Of that, the psalmist asks if the LORD will turn away his eyes from that. In that regard, Job has given us an example by making a covenant with his eyes not to follow (lustfully) an attractive girl with them (Job 31:1). David is a great warning sign to each of us (2 Samuel 11:1-5)!

“Vanity”, empty, meaningless is that which is spiritually no food, it is stones and not bread. Paul calls all the privileges of this life rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The conscience question to us is what our priorities in this life are. The danger of temptation is great. Even one of the apostle Paul’s associates, named Demas, left the apostle for the love of the present age (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas too is a warning sign for each of us. Let us also pray this prayer with the psalmist.

To look at what is vanity is to look at something that, like a stealth killer, stifles the life of faith. This is evident from the second line of this verse. The God-fearing wants to enjoy the true life, which is life in fellowship with God. That life is lived by going in God’s ways. “Your ways”, which are God’s ways, are ways of life. When we go them, we are truly living.

The righteous knows that there is life through the ways of the LORD. Following that, he asks for a confirmation or fulfillment of the promise of life (Psalms 119:38). This is to the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He asks that question as “Your servant” (cf. Psalms 119:17; 23). To that he adds “as that which produces reverence for You”. He is not only one who serves the LORD but also one who fears Him, who lives in awe and reverence of Him. The LORD will not reject such a person.

What he does not want is the reproach of people who smear him for not receiving the promise of the LORD (Psalms 119:38), despite the fact that he remains faithful to the LORD (Psalms 119:39). He “dreads” that reproach and asks the LORD to turn it away from him by keeping him in faithfulness to His Word and fulfilling His promises. He also wants to be faithful because God’s “ordinances are good”. He also wants to be faithful because his unfaithfulness would be defamation to the Name of the LORD (cf. Romans 2:24).

He expresses his longing for the LORD’s precepts (Psalms 119:40). This verse begins with “behold”. The letter he means ‘see’, here it is hinné. Often we think only the promises of the LORD are important, but the psalmist longs for the precepts, the commandments of the LORD. In them is life.

The psalmist longs to revive, not as a reward for his desire, but “through Your righteousness”. Life by God’s righteousness means life for all eternity. Life that God gives by virtue of righteousness is life where the holy requirement of God’s justice has been met. That justice was met by the Lord Jesus on the cross.

God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with His standard, which in this case is His covenant. The psalmist asks if the LORD will act in accordance with His covenant and His promise. In His promise, He wants to give a window so that light can come from above – a window, a light opening from above (Genesis 6:16) – to chase away the darkness.

Proverbs 6:10

/he/ Understanding

The pictogram of the letter he is a window, which speaks of seeing and understanding a revelation or remark. He as a word means ‘see’ in Hebrew. Later it is hinné (Psalms 119:40). Through a window the light comes in, allowing you see something. Through a revelation the light comes in, making you understand.

“There [the Word] was the true Light which, coming into the world [the incarnation of the Word], enlightens every man” (John 1:9). Man is enlightened by the exclamation of John the baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In Hebrew, “behold” would be he or hinné. The revelation is that concerning the Person of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In Psalms 119:33-34 we hear the psalmist’s request for understanding the way of the LORD through teaching. Psalms 119:37 speaks of the psalmist’s eyes. His eyes are to be focused on a Person, not distracted by the deceitfulness of riches. Through the teaching of the Word of God he is to gain understanding to walk joyfully in the way of the LORD.

Each verse of this stanza is a prayer and indicates the relationship between the Word and prayer. Its tone is humility and dependence. The Word is the Word of God. Then, too, He alone can give the explanation of what He says. The righteous realizes this and therefore prays for it. He realizes that the LORD must open the window of his heart and that the light of His revelation and Person must shine into it. He is totally dependent on the LORD and His Word.

The Word of God is not just learning material, a subject, like theology, or a series of doctrines and principles. The Word of God is the Word that connects us with God. Therefore, if we desire to understand the Word, we can only approach that Word prayerfully, so that God will open the window of our hearts (cf. Luke 24:45). The psalmist understood this. He begins his prayer with “teach me” (Psalms 119:33). “Teach” in Hebrew is moré. Abraham also began his sojourn in the promised land at the oak of Moré, which is ‘teacher’ (Genesis 12:6).

He does not subject the Word to his own logical thinking, but he casts himself down at the feet of the LORD to receive from Him His words (cf. Deuteronomy 33:3b; Luke 10:39). Thus we will have to read the Word of God prayerfully if we want to be taught and transformed into the image of Christ. Only then will we obtain wisdom and spiritual insight.

The statutes of the LORD remain of unchanging value to the believer as long as he lives. Learning to know them never ceases. As long as a believer lives, he will never be able to say that he can stop learning because he should know everything. To remain faithful to the end of life in observing the statutes, the desire is needed to be taught and instructed by the LORD. This is what the righteous prays for.

The problem of many people, but also of many believers who want to be biblically faithful, is that they are often so convinced of their own rightness that they can no longer be corrected by others and therefore neither by the Lord. How necessary it is that we take to heart the lesson of the letter he: that we are prepared in humility to open the window of our hearts and learn from others. Let us take an example from the Jews at Beréa in Acts 17 (Acts 17:11).

Understanding – see the meaning of the letter he – is necessary to keep God’s law (Psalms 119:34). Without understanding, the righteous do not understand what God requires of them. They gain that understanding if they are willing to obey it with all their heart. It is not a matter of a good intellect, but of a renewed, willing heart (cf. John 7:17).

The LORD has changed and shaped the psalmist’s heart, making it his desire to walk the path of God’s commandments. This makes him realize that to put God’s commandments into practice he needs His help and guidance. In the words of Paul, God must not only work in him to will, but also to work (Philippians 2:13).

This is what the psalmist is asking for when he asks the LORD: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments” (Psalms 119:35). Freely translated, he asks: ‘Let me live like this, let me walk the path of life with God.’ The Lord asks faith obedience. He gives us instructions that we want to follow with joy out of love.

The psalmist longs to walk that path, “for I delight in it”, he says. The taste of the Word is sweet, it gives joy to our heart. Then we joyfully go the way the Lord wants us to go. When we do something with pleasure, we like to do it.

There is a special tendency, that is, “inclination” or “direction of the heart” in life, from which even the believer cannot escape, even if he follows the path of God’s commandments. That tendency is “[dishonest] gain”, being out to gain as much as possible, for example by robbing others (Psalms 119:36). “[Dishonest] gain” means “unfair advantage”. This can be in a material sense such as wealth, but it can also be in an immaterial sense such as fame, name, popularity.

As a believer, you often sense that the lust for wealth is not good – think of Lot’s wife. The lust for honor and prestige is also a great danger, even for us. Think of Ananias and Sapphira. In the school of God we may learn to keep the inclinations of our heart and the workings of our flesh in death (Colossians 3:5).

The wrong inclination is given no room when we ask the LORD with the psalmist: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.” If his and our heart is set on dealing with the LORD, he and we will not be open to the pursuit of worldly prosperity.

The deception of riches is like weeds choking the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:22). The weeds in Israel have deep roots, from half a meter to a meter, with roots growing between the rocks, making it almost impossible to remove them. These weeds, thanks to these roots, also grow at lightning speed. It does show how stifling the effect of wealth can be to the seed of the Word and how difficult it is to get free from that stifling effect. Let us therefore pray the psalmist’s prayer with him.

After speaking of his heart in the previous verse, the God-fearing speaks of his eyes in Psalms 119:37. He asks God to turn away his eyes, so that they may not be “looking at vanity”. “Vanity” is what has no value for the moment or for the future. This is quite an actual prayer for the time in which we live, with tidal waves of visual material via television and the Internet that are completely useless and often downright sinful, yet which people watch for many hours (cf. Isaiah 55:2).

Sometimes it’s about impure pictures that you come across unintentionally and unsought, e.g. advertising. Here the saying applies: the second look is sinful. That is, the first time you see it, it happened to you, but the second look is a conscious choice. Of that, the psalmist asks if the LORD will turn away his eyes from that. In that regard, Job has given us an example by making a covenant with his eyes not to follow (lustfully) an attractive girl with them (Job 31:1). David is a great warning sign to each of us (2 Samuel 11:1-5)!

“Vanity”, empty, meaningless is that which is spiritually no food, it is stones and not bread. Paul calls all the privileges of this life rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The conscience question to us is what our priorities in this life are. The danger of temptation is great. Even one of the apostle Paul’s associates, named Demas, left the apostle for the love of the present age (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas too is a warning sign for each of us. Let us also pray this prayer with the psalmist.

To look at what is vanity is to look at something that, like a stealth killer, stifles the life of faith. This is evident from the second line of this verse. The God-fearing wants to enjoy the true life, which is life in fellowship with God. That life is lived by going in God’s ways. “Your ways”, which are God’s ways, are ways of life. When we go them, we are truly living.

The righteous knows that there is life through the ways of the LORD. Following that, he asks for a confirmation or fulfillment of the promise of life (Psalms 119:38). This is to the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He asks that question as “Your servant” (cf. Psalms 119:17; 23). To that he adds “as that which produces reverence for You”. He is not only one who serves the LORD but also one who fears Him, who lives in awe and reverence of Him. The LORD will not reject such a person.

What he does not want is the reproach of people who smear him for not receiving the promise of the LORD (Psalms 119:38), despite the fact that he remains faithful to the LORD (Psalms 119:39). He “dreads” that reproach and asks the LORD to turn it away from him by keeping him in faithfulness to His Word and fulfilling His promises. He also wants to be faithful because God’s “ordinances are good”. He also wants to be faithful because his unfaithfulness would be defamation to the Name of the LORD (cf. Romans 2:24).

He expresses his longing for the LORD’s precepts (Psalms 119:40). This verse begins with “behold”. The letter he means ‘see’, here it is hinné. Often we think only the promises of the LORD are important, but the psalmist longs for the precepts, the commandments of the LORD. In them is life.

The psalmist longs to revive, not as a reward for his desire, but “through Your righteousness”. Life by God’s righteousness means life for all eternity. Life that God gives by virtue of righteousness is life where the holy requirement of God’s justice has been met. That justice was met by the Lord Jesus on the cross.

God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with His standard, which in this case is His covenant. The psalmist asks if the LORD will act in accordance with His covenant and His promise. In His promise, He wants to give a window so that light can come from above – a window, a light opening from above (Genesis 6:16) – to chase away the darkness.

Proverbs 6:11

/he/ Understanding

The pictogram of the letter he is a window, which speaks of seeing and understanding a revelation or remark. He as a word means ‘see’ in Hebrew. Later it is hinné (Psalms 119:40). Through a window the light comes in, allowing you see something. Through a revelation the light comes in, making you understand.

“There [the Word] was the true Light which, coming into the world [the incarnation of the Word], enlightens every man” (John 1:9). Man is enlightened by the exclamation of John the baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In Hebrew, “behold” would be he or hinné. The revelation is that concerning the Person of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In Psalms 119:33-34 we hear the psalmist’s request for understanding the way of the LORD through teaching. Psalms 119:37 speaks of the psalmist’s eyes. His eyes are to be focused on a Person, not distracted by the deceitfulness of riches. Through the teaching of the Word of God he is to gain understanding to walk joyfully in the way of the LORD.

Each verse of this stanza is a prayer and indicates the relationship between the Word and prayer. Its tone is humility and dependence. The Word is the Word of God. Then, too, He alone can give the explanation of what He says. The righteous realizes this and therefore prays for it. He realizes that the LORD must open the window of his heart and that the light of His revelation and Person must shine into it. He is totally dependent on the LORD and His Word.

The Word of God is not just learning material, a subject, like theology, or a series of doctrines and principles. The Word of God is the Word that connects us with God. Therefore, if we desire to understand the Word, we can only approach that Word prayerfully, so that God will open the window of our hearts (cf. Luke 24:45). The psalmist understood this. He begins his prayer with “teach me” (Psalms 119:33). “Teach” in Hebrew is moré. Abraham also began his sojourn in the promised land at the oak of Moré, which is ‘teacher’ (Genesis 12:6).

He does not subject the Word to his own logical thinking, but he casts himself down at the feet of the LORD to receive from Him His words (cf. Deuteronomy 33:3b; Luke 10:39). Thus we will have to read the Word of God prayerfully if we want to be taught and transformed into the image of Christ. Only then will we obtain wisdom and spiritual insight.

The statutes of the LORD remain of unchanging value to the believer as long as he lives. Learning to know them never ceases. As long as a believer lives, he will never be able to say that he can stop learning because he should know everything. To remain faithful to the end of life in observing the statutes, the desire is needed to be taught and instructed by the LORD. This is what the righteous prays for.

The problem of many people, but also of many believers who want to be biblically faithful, is that they are often so convinced of their own rightness that they can no longer be corrected by others and therefore neither by the Lord. How necessary it is that we take to heart the lesson of the letter he: that we are prepared in humility to open the window of our hearts and learn from others. Let us take an example from the Jews at Beréa in Acts 17 (Acts 17:11).

Understanding – see the meaning of the letter he – is necessary to keep God’s law (Psalms 119:34). Without understanding, the righteous do not understand what God requires of them. They gain that understanding if they are willing to obey it with all their heart. It is not a matter of a good intellect, but of a renewed, willing heart (cf. John 7:17).

The LORD has changed and shaped the psalmist’s heart, making it his desire to walk the path of God’s commandments. This makes him realize that to put God’s commandments into practice he needs His help and guidance. In the words of Paul, God must not only work in him to will, but also to work (Philippians 2:13).

This is what the psalmist is asking for when he asks the LORD: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments” (Psalms 119:35). Freely translated, he asks: ‘Let me live like this, let me walk the path of life with God.’ The Lord asks faith obedience. He gives us instructions that we want to follow with joy out of love.

The psalmist longs to walk that path, “for I delight in it”, he says. The taste of the Word is sweet, it gives joy to our heart. Then we joyfully go the way the Lord wants us to go. When we do something with pleasure, we like to do it.

There is a special tendency, that is, “inclination” or “direction of the heart” in life, from which even the believer cannot escape, even if he follows the path of God’s commandments. That tendency is “[dishonest] gain”, being out to gain as much as possible, for example by robbing others (Psalms 119:36). “[Dishonest] gain” means “unfair advantage”. This can be in a material sense such as wealth, but it can also be in an immaterial sense such as fame, name, popularity.

As a believer, you often sense that the lust for wealth is not good – think of Lot’s wife. The lust for honor and prestige is also a great danger, even for us. Think of Ananias and Sapphira. In the school of God we may learn to keep the inclinations of our heart and the workings of our flesh in death (Colossians 3:5).

The wrong inclination is given no room when we ask the LORD with the psalmist: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.” If his and our heart is set on dealing with the LORD, he and we will not be open to the pursuit of worldly prosperity.

The deception of riches is like weeds choking the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:22). The weeds in Israel have deep roots, from half a meter to a meter, with roots growing between the rocks, making it almost impossible to remove them. These weeds, thanks to these roots, also grow at lightning speed. It does show how stifling the effect of wealth can be to the seed of the Word and how difficult it is to get free from that stifling effect. Let us therefore pray the psalmist’s prayer with him.

After speaking of his heart in the previous verse, the God-fearing speaks of his eyes in Psalms 119:37. He asks God to turn away his eyes, so that they may not be “looking at vanity”. “Vanity” is what has no value for the moment or for the future. This is quite an actual prayer for the time in which we live, with tidal waves of visual material via television and the Internet that are completely useless and often downright sinful, yet which people watch for many hours (cf. Isaiah 55:2).

Sometimes it’s about impure pictures that you come across unintentionally and unsought, e.g. advertising. Here the saying applies: the second look is sinful. That is, the first time you see it, it happened to you, but the second look is a conscious choice. Of that, the psalmist asks if the LORD will turn away his eyes from that. In that regard, Job has given us an example by making a covenant with his eyes not to follow (lustfully) an attractive girl with them (Job 31:1). David is a great warning sign to each of us (2 Samuel 11:1-5)!

“Vanity”, empty, meaningless is that which is spiritually no food, it is stones and not bread. Paul calls all the privileges of this life rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The conscience question to us is what our priorities in this life are. The danger of temptation is great. Even one of the apostle Paul’s associates, named Demas, left the apostle for the love of the present age (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas too is a warning sign for each of us. Let us also pray this prayer with the psalmist.

To look at what is vanity is to look at something that, like a stealth killer, stifles the life of faith. This is evident from the second line of this verse. The God-fearing wants to enjoy the true life, which is life in fellowship with God. That life is lived by going in God’s ways. “Your ways”, which are God’s ways, are ways of life. When we go them, we are truly living.

The righteous knows that there is life through the ways of the LORD. Following that, he asks for a confirmation or fulfillment of the promise of life (Psalms 119:38). This is to the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He asks that question as “Your servant” (cf. Psalms 119:17; 23). To that he adds “as that which produces reverence for You”. He is not only one who serves the LORD but also one who fears Him, who lives in awe and reverence of Him. The LORD will not reject such a person.

What he does not want is the reproach of people who smear him for not receiving the promise of the LORD (Psalms 119:38), despite the fact that he remains faithful to the LORD (Psalms 119:39). He “dreads” that reproach and asks the LORD to turn it away from him by keeping him in faithfulness to His Word and fulfilling His promises. He also wants to be faithful because God’s “ordinances are good”. He also wants to be faithful because his unfaithfulness would be defamation to the Name of the LORD (cf. Romans 2:24).

He expresses his longing for the LORD’s precepts (Psalms 119:40). This verse begins with “behold”. The letter he means ‘see’, here it is hinné. Often we think only the promises of the LORD are important, but the psalmist longs for the precepts, the commandments of the LORD. In them is life.

The psalmist longs to revive, not as a reward for his desire, but “through Your righteousness”. Life by God’s righteousness means life for all eternity. Life that God gives by virtue of righteousness is life where the holy requirement of God’s justice has been met. That justice was met by the Lord Jesus on the cross.

God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with His standard, which in this case is His covenant. The psalmist asks if the LORD will act in accordance with His covenant and His promise. In His promise, He wants to give a window so that light can come from above – a window, a light opening from above (Genesis 6:16) – to chase away the darkness.

Proverbs 6:12

/he/ Understanding

The pictogram of the letter he is a window, which speaks of seeing and understanding a revelation or remark. He as a word means ‘see’ in Hebrew. Later it is hinné (Psalms 119:40). Through a window the light comes in, allowing you see something. Through a revelation the light comes in, making you understand.

“There [the Word] was the true Light which, coming into the world [the incarnation of the Word], enlightens every man” (John 1:9). Man is enlightened by the exclamation of John the baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In Hebrew, “behold” would be he or hinné. The revelation is that concerning the Person of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In Psalms 119:33-34 we hear the psalmist’s request for understanding the way of the LORD through teaching. Psalms 119:37 speaks of the psalmist’s eyes. His eyes are to be focused on a Person, not distracted by the deceitfulness of riches. Through the teaching of the Word of God he is to gain understanding to walk joyfully in the way of the LORD.

Each verse of this stanza is a prayer and indicates the relationship between the Word and prayer. Its tone is humility and dependence. The Word is the Word of God. Then, too, He alone can give the explanation of what He says. The righteous realizes this and therefore prays for it. He realizes that the LORD must open the window of his heart and that the light of His revelation and Person must shine into it. He is totally dependent on the LORD and His Word.

The Word of God is not just learning material, a subject, like theology, or a series of doctrines and principles. The Word of God is the Word that connects us with God. Therefore, if we desire to understand the Word, we can only approach that Word prayerfully, so that God will open the window of our hearts (cf. Luke 24:45). The psalmist understood this. He begins his prayer with “teach me” (Psalms 119:33). “Teach” in Hebrew is moré. Abraham also began his sojourn in the promised land at the oak of Moré, which is ‘teacher’ (Genesis 12:6).

He does not subject the Word to his own logical thinking, but he casts himself down at the feet of the LORD to receive from Him His words (cf. Deuteronomy 33:3b; Luke 10:39). Thus we will have to read the Word of God prayerfully if we want to be taught and transformed into the image of Christ. Only then will we obtain wisdom and spiritual insight.

The statutes of the LORD remain of unchanging value to the believer as long as he lives. Learning to know them never ceases. As long as a believer lives, he will never be able to say that he can stop learning because he should know everything. To remain faithful to the end of life in observing the statutes, the desire is needed to be taught and instructed by the LORD. This is what the righteous prays for.

The problem of many people, but also of many believers who want to be biblically faithful, is that they are often so convinced of their own rightness that they can no longer be corrected by others and therefore neither by the Lord. How necessary it is that we take to heart the lesson of the letter he: that we are prepared in humility to open the window of our hearts and learn from others. Let us take an example from the Jews at Beréa in Acts 17 (Acts 17:11).

Understanding – see the meaning of the letter he – is necessary to keep God’s law (Psalms 119:34). Without understanding, the righteous do not understand what God requires of them. They gain that understanding if they are willing to obey it with all their heart. It is not a matter of a good intellect, but of a renewed, willing heart (cf. John 7:17).

The LORD has changed and shaped the psalmist’s heart, making it his desire to walk the path of God’s commandments. This makes him realize that to put God’s commandments into practice he needs His help and guidance. In the words of Paul, God must not only work in him to will, but also to work (Philippians 2:13).

This is what the psalmist is asking for when he asks the LORD: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments” (Psalms 119:35). Freely translated, he asks: ‘Let me live like this, let me walk the path of life with God.’ The Lord asks faith obedience. He gives us instructions that we want to follow with joy out of love.

The psalmist longs to walk that path, “for I delight in it”, he says. The taste of the Word is sweet, it gives joy to our heart. Then we joyfully go the way the Lord wants us to go. When we do something with pleasure, we like to do it.

There is a special tendency, that is, “inclination” or “direction of the heart” in life, from which even the believer cannot escape, even if he follows the path of God’s commandments. That tendency is “[dishonest] gain”, being out to gain as much as possible, for example by robbing others (Psalms 119:36). “[Dishonest] gain” means “unfair advantage”. This can be in a material sense such as wealth, but it can also be in an immaterial sense such as fame, name, popularity.

As a believer, you often sense that the lust for wealth is not good – think of Lot’s wife. The lust for honor and prestige is also a great danger, even for us. Think of Ananias and Sapphira. In the school of God we may learn to keep the inclinations of our heart and the workings of our flesh in death (Colossians 3:5).

The wrong inclination is given no room when we ask the LORD with the psalmist: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.” If his and our heart is set on dealing with the LORD, he and we will not be open to the pursuit of worldly prosperity.

The deception of riches is like weeds choking the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:22). The weeds in Israel have deep roots, from half a meter to a meter, with roots growing between the rocks, making it almost impossible to remove them. These weeds, thanks to these roots, also grow at lightning speed. It does show how stifling the effect of wealth can be to the seed of the Word and how difficult it is to get free from that stifling effect. Let us therefore pray the psalmist’s prayer with him.

After speaking of his heart in the previous verse, the God-fearing speaks of his eyes in Psalms 119:37. He asks God to turn away his eyes, so that they may not be “looking at vanity”. “Vanity” is what has no value for the moment or for the future. This is quite an actual prayer for the time in which we live, with tidal waves of visual material via television and the Internet that are completely useless and often downright sinful, yet which people watch for many hours (cf. Isaiah 55:2).

Sometimes it’s about impure pictures that you come across unintentionally and unsought, e.g. advertising. Here the saying applies: the second look is sinful. That is, the first time you see it, it happened to you, but the second look is a conscious choice. Of that, the psalmist asks if the LORD will turn away his eyes from that. In that regard, Job has given us an example by making a covenant with his eyes not to follow (lustfully) an attractive girl with them (Job 31:1). David is a great warning sign to each of us (2 Samuel 11:1-5)!

“Vanity”, empty, meaningless is that which is spiritually no food, it is stones and not bread. Paul calls all the privileges of this life rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The conscience question to us is what our priorities in this life are. The danger of temptation is great. Even one of the apostle Paul’s associates, named Demas, left the apostle for the love of the present age (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas too is a warning sign for each of us. Let us also pray this prayer with the psalmist.

To look at what is vanity is to look at something that, like a stealth killer, stifles the life of faith. This is evident from the second line of this verse. The God-fearing wants to enjoy the true life, which is life in fellowship with God. That life is lived by going in God’s ways. “Your ways”, which are God’s ways, are ways of life. When we go them, we are truly living.

The righteous knows that there is life through the ways of the LORD. Following that, he asks for a confirmation or fulfillment of the promise of life (Psalms 119:38). This is to the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He asks that question as “Your servant” (cf. Psalms 119:17; 23). To that he adds “as that which produces reverence for You”. He is not only one who serves the LORD but also one who fears Him, who lives in awe and reverence of Him. The LORD will not reject such a person.

What he does not want is the reproach of people who smear him for not receiving the promise of the LORD (Psalms 119:38), despite the fact that he remains faithful to the LORD (Psalms 119:39). He “dreads” that reproach and asks the LORD to turn it away from him by keeping him in faithfulness to His Word and fulfilling His promises. He also wants to be faithful because God’s “ordinances are good”. He also wants to be faithful because his unfaithfulness would be defamation to the Name of the LORD (cf. Romans 2:24).

He expresses his longing for the LORD’s precepts (Psalms 119:40). This verse begins with “behold”. The letter he means ‘see’, here it is hinné. Often we think only the promises of the LORD are important, but the psalmist longs for the precepts, the commandments of the LORD. In them is life.

The psalmist longs to revive, not as a reward for his desire, but “through Your righteousness”. Life by God’s righteousness means life for all eternity. Life that God gives by virtue of righteousness is life where the holy requirement of God’s justice has been met. That justice was met by the Lord Jesus on the cross.

God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with His standard, which in this case is His covenant. The psalmist asks if the LORD will act in accordance with His covenant and His promise. In His promise, He wants to give a window so that light can come from above – a window, a light opening from above (Genesis 6:16) – to chase away the darkness.

Proverbs 6:13

/he/ Understanding

The pictogram of the letter he is a window, which speaks of seeing and understanding a revelation or remark. He as a word means ‘see’ in Hebrew. Later it is hinné (Psalms 119:40). Through a window the light comes in, allowing you see something. Through a revelation the light comes in, making you understand.

“There [the Word] was the true Light which, coming into the world [the incarnation of the Word], enlightens every man” (John 1:9). Man is enlightened by the exclamation of John the baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In Hebrew, “behold” would be he or hinné. The revelation is that concerning the Person of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In Psalms 119:33-34 we hear the psalmist’s request for understanding the way of the LORD through teaching. Psalms 119:37 speaks of the psalmist’s eyes. His eyes are to be focused on a Person, not distracted by the deceitfulness of riches. Through the teaching of the Word of God he is to gain understanding to walk joyfully in the way of the LORD.

Each verse of this stanza is a prayer and indicates the relationship between the Word and prayer. Its tone is humility and dependence. The Word is the Word of God. Then, too, He alone can give the explanation of what He says. The righteous realizes this and therefore prays for it. He realizes that the LORD must open the window of his heart and that the light of His revelation and Person must shine into it. He is totally dependent on the LORD and His Word.

The Word of God is not just learning material, a subject, like theology, or a series of doctrines and principles. The Word of God is the Word that connects us with God. Therefore, if we desire to understand the Word, we can only approach that Word prayerfully, so that God will open the window of our hearts (cf. Luke 24:45). The psalmist understood this. He begins his prayer with “teach me” (Psalms 119:33). “Teach” in Hebrew is moré. Abraham also began his sojourn in the promised land at the oak of Moré, which is ‘teacher’ (Genesis 12:6).

He does not subject the Word to his own logical thinking, but he casts himself down at the feet of the LORD to receive from Him His words (cf. Deuteronomy 33:3b; Luke 10:39). Thus we will have to read the Word of God prayerfully if we want to be taught and transformed into the image of Christ. Only then will we obtain wisdom and spiritual insight.

The statutes of the LORD remain of unchanging value to the believer as long as he lives. Learning to know them never ceases. As long as a believer lives, he will never be able to say that he can stop learning because he should know everything. To remain faithful to the end of life in observing the statutes, the desire is needed to be taught and instructed by the LORD. This is what the righteous prays for.

The problem of many people, but also of many believers who want to be biblically faithful, is that they are often so convinced of their own rightness that they can no longer be corrected by others and therefore neither by the Lord. How necessary it is that we take to heart the lesson of the letter he: that we are prepared in humility to open the window of our hearts and learn from others. Let us take an example from the Jews at Beréa in Acts 17 (Acts 17:11).

Understanding – see the meaning of the letter he – is necessary to keep God’s law (Psalms 119:34). Without understanding, the righteous do not understand what God requires of them. They gain that understanding if they are willing to obey it with all their heart. It is not a matter of a good intellect, but of a renewed, willing heart (cf. John 7:17).

The LORD has changed and shaped the psalmist’s heart, making it his desire to walk the path of God’s commandments. This makes him realize that to put God’s commandments into practice he needs His help and guidance. In the words of Paul, God must not only work in him to will, but also to work (Philippians 2:13).

This is what the psalmist is asking for when he asks the LORD: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments” (Psalms 119:35). Freely translated, he asks: ‘Let me live like this, let me walk the path of life with God.’ The Lord asks faith obedience. He gives us instructions that we want to follow with joy out of love.

The psalmist longs to walk that path, “for I delight in it”, he says. The taste of the Word is sweet, it gives joy to our heart. Then we joyfully go the way the Lord wants us to go. When we do something with pleasure, we like to do it.

There is a special tendency, that is, “inclination” or “direction of the heart” in life, from which even the believer cannot escape, even if he follows the path of God’s commandments. That tendency is “[dishonest] gain”, being out to gain as much as possible, for example by robbing others (Psalms 119:36). “[Dishonest] gain” means “unfair advantage”. This can be in a material sense such as wealth, but it can also be in an immaterial sense such as fame, name, popularity.

As a believer, you often sense that the lust for wealth is not good – think of Lot’s wife. The lust for honor and prestige is also a great danger, even for us. Think of Ananias and Sapphira. In the school of God we may learn to keep the inclinations of our heart and the workings of our flesh in death (Colossians 3:5).

The wrong inclination is given no room when we ask the LORD with the psalmist: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.” If his and our heart is set on dealing with the LORD, he and we will not be open to the pursuit of worldly prosperity.

The deception of riches is like weeds choking the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:22). The weeds in Israel have deep roots, from half a meter to a meter, with roots growing between the rocks, making it almost impossible to remove them. These weeds, thanks to these roots, also grow at lightning speed. It does show how stifling the effect of wealth can be to the seed of the Word and how difficult it is to get free from that stifling effect. Let us therefore pray the psalmist’s prayer with him.

After speaking of his heart in the previous verse, the God-fearing speaks of his eyes in Psalms 119:37. He asks God to turn away his eyes, so that they may not be “looking at vanity”. “Vanity” is what has no value for the moment or for the future. This is quite an actual prayer for the time in which we live, with tidal waves of visual material via television and the Internet that are completely useless and often downright sinful, yet which people watch for many hours (cf. Isaiah 55:2).

Sometimes it’s about impure pictures that you come across unintentionally and unsought, e.g. advertising. Here the saying applies: the second look is sinful. That is, the first time you see it, it happened to you, but the second look is a conscious choice. Of that, the psalmist asks if the LORD will turn away his eyes from that. In that regard, Job has given us an example by making a covenant with his eyes not to follow (lustfully) an attractive girl with them (Job 31:1). David is a great warning sign to each of us (2 Samuel 11:1-5)!

“Vanity”, empty, meaningless is that which is spiritually no food, it is stones and not bread. Paul calls all the privileges of this life rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The conscience question to us is what our priorities in this life are. The danger of temptation is great. Even one of the apostle Paul’s associates, named Demas, left the apostle for the love of the present age (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas too is a warning sign for each of us. Let us also pray this prayer with the psalmist.

To look at what is vanity is to look at something that, like a stealth killer, stifles the life of faith. This is evident from the second line of this verse. The God-fearing wants to enjoy the true life, which is life in fellowship with God. That life is lived by going in God’s ways. “Your ways”, which are God’s ways, are ways of life. When we go them, we are truly living.

The righteous knows that there is life through the ways of the LORD. Following that, he asks for a confirmation or fulfillment of the promise of life (Psalms 119:38). This is to the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He asks that question as “Your servant” (cf. Psalms 119:17; 23). To that he adds “as that which produces reverence for You”. He is not only one who serves the LORD but also one who fears Him, who lives in awe and reverence of Him. The LORD will not reject such a person.

What he does not want is the reproach of people who smear him for not receiving the promise of the LORD (Psalms 119:38), despite the fact that he remains faithful to the LORD (Psalms 119:39). He “dreads” that reproach and asks the LORD to turn it away from him by keeping him in faithfulness to His Word and fulfilling His promises. He also wants to be faithful because God’s “ordinances are good”. He also wants to be faithful because his unfaithfulness would be defamation to the Name of the LORD (cf. Romans 2:24).

He expresses his longing for the LORD’s precepts (Psalms 119:40). This verse begins with “behold”. The letter he means ‘see’, here it is hinné. Often we think only the promises of the LORD are important, but the psalmist longs for the precepts, the commandments of the LORD. In them is life.

The psalmist longs to revive, not as a reward for his desire, but “through Your righteousness”. Life by God’s righteousness means life for all eternity. Life that God gives by virtue of righteousness is life where the holy requirement of God’s justice has been met. That justice was met by the Lord Jesus on the cross.

God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with His standard, which in this case is His covenant. The psalmist asks if the LORD will act in accordance with His covenant and His promise. In His promise, He wants to give a window so that light can come from above – a window, a light opening from above (Genesis 6:16) – to chase away the darkness.

Proverbs 6:14

/he/ Understanding

The pictogram of the letter he is a window, which speaks of seeing and understanding a revelation or remark. He as a word means ‘see’ in Hebrew. Later it is hinné (Psalms 119:40). Through a window the light comes in, allowing you see something. Through a revelation the light comes in, making you understand.

“There [the Word] was the true Light which, coming into the world [the incarnation of the Word], enlightens every man” (John 1:9). Man is enlightened by the exclamation of John the baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In Hebrew, “behold” would be he or hinné. The revelation is that concerning the Person of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In Psalms 119:33-34 we hear the psalmist’s request for understanding the way of the LORD through teaching. Psalms 119:37 speaks of the psalmist’s eyes. His eyes are to be focused on a Person, not distracted by the deceitfulness of riches. Through the teaching of the Word of God he is to gain understanding to walk joyfully in the way of the LORD.

Each verse of this stanza is a prayer and indicates the relationship between the Word and prayer. Its tone is humility and dependence. The Word is the Word of God. Then, too, He alone can give the explanation of what He says. The righteous realizes this and therefore prays for it. He realizes that the LORD must open the window of his heart and that the light of His revelation and Person must shine into it. He is totally dependent on the LORD and His Word.

The Word of God is not just learning material, a subject, like theology, or a series of doctrines and principles. The Word of God is the Word that connects us with God. Therefore, if we desire to understand the Word, we can only approach that Word prayerfully, so that God will open the window of our hearts (cf. Luke 24:45). The psalmist understood this. He begins his prayer with “teach me” (Psalms 119:33). “Teach” in Hebrew is moré. Abraham also began his sojourn in the promised land at the oak of Moré, which is ‘teacher’ (Genesis 12:6).

He does not subject the Word to his own logical thinking, but he casts himself down at the feet of the LORD to receive from Him His words (cf. Deuteronomy 33:3b; Luke 10:39). Thus we will have to read the Word of God prayerfully if we want to be taught and transformed into the image of Christ. Only then will we obtain wisdom and spiritual insight.

The statutes of the LORD remain of unchanging value to the believer as long as he lives. Learning to know them never ceases. As long as a believer lives, he will never be able to say that he can stop learning because he should know everything. To remain faithful to the end of life in observing the statutes, the desire is needed to be taught and instructed by the LORD. This is what the righteous prays for.

The problem of many people, but also of many believers who want to be biblically faithful, is that they are often so convinced of their own rightness that they can no longer be corrected by others and therefore neither by the Lord. How necessary it is that we take to heart the lesson of the letter he: that we are prepared in humility to open the window of our hearts and learn from others. Let us take an example from the Jews at Beréa in Acts 17 (Acts 17:11).

Understanding – see the meaning of the letter he – is necessary to keep God’s law (Psalms 119:34). Without understanding, the righteous do not understand what God requires of them. They gain that understanding if they are willing to obey it with all their heart. It is not a matter of a good intellect, but of a renewed, willing heart (cf. John 7:17).

The LORD has changed and shaped the psalmist’s heart, making it his desire to walk the path of God’s commandments. This makes him realize that to put God’s commandments into practice he needs His help and guidance. In the words of Paul, God must not only work in him to will, but also to work (Philippians 2:13).

This is what the psalmist is asking for when he asks the LORD: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments” (Psalms 119:35). Freely translated, he asks: ‘Let me live like this, let me walk the path of life with God.’ The Lord asks faith obedience. He gives us instructions that we want to follow with joy out of love.

The psalmist longs to walk that path, “for I delight in it”, he says. The taste of the Word is sweet, it gives joy to our heart. Then we joyfully go the way the Lord wants us to go. When we do something with pleasure, we like to do it.

There is a special tendency, that is, “inclination” or “direction of the heart” in life, from which even the believer cannot escape, even if he follows the path of God’s commandments. That tendency is “[dishonest] gain”, being out to gain as much as possible, for example by robbing others (Psalms 119:36). “[Dishonest] gain” means “unfair advantage”. This can be in a material sense such as wealth, but it can also be in an immaterial sense such as fame, name, popularity.

As a believer, you often sense that the lust for wealth is not good – think of Lot’s wife. The lust for honor and prestige is also a great danger, even for us. Think of Ananias and Sapphira. In the school of God we may learn to keep the inclinations of our heart and the workings of our flesh in death (Colossians 3:5).

The wrong inclination is given no room when we ask the LORD with the psalmist: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.” If his and our heart is set on dealing with the LORD, he and we will not be open to the pursuit of worldly prosperity.

The deception of riches is like weeds choking the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:22). The weeds in Israel have deep roots, from half a meter to a meter, with roots growing between the rocks, making it almost impossible to remove them. These weeds, thanks to these roots, also grow at lightning speed. It does show how stifling the effect of wealth can be to the seed of the Word and how difficult it is to get free from that stifling effect. Let us therefore pray the psalmist’s prayer with him.

After speaking of his heart in the previous verse, the God-fearing speaks of his eyes in Psalms 119:37. He asks God to turn away his eyes, so that they may not be “looking at vanity”. “Vanity” is what has no value for the moment or for the future. This is quite an actual prayer for the time in which we live, with tidal waves of visual material via television and the Internet that are completely useless and often downright sinful, yet which people watch for many hours (cf. Isaiah 55:2).

Sometimes it’s about impure pictures that you come across unintentionally and unsought, e.g. advertising. Here the saying applies: the second look is sinful. That is, the first time you see it, it happened to you, but the second look is a conscious choice. Of that, the psalmist asks if the LORD will turn away his eyes from that. In that regard, Job has given us an example by making a covenant with his eyes not to follow (lustfully) an attractive girl with them (Job 31:1). David is a great warning sign to each of us (2 Samuel 11:1-5)!

“Vanity”, empty, meaningless is that which is spiritually no food, it is stones and not bread. Paul calls all the privileges of this life rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The conscience question to us is what our priorities in this life are. The danger of temptation is great. Even one of the apostle Paul’s associates, named Demas, left the apostle for the love of the present age (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas too is a warning sign for each of us. Let us also pray this prayer with the psalmist.

To look at what is vanity is to look at something that, like a stealth killer, stifles the life of faith. This is evident from the second line of this verse. The God-fearing wants to enjoy the true life, which is life in fellowship with God. That life is lived by going in God’s ways. “Your ways”, which are God’s ways, are ways of life. When we go them, we are truly living.

The righteous knows that there is life through the ways of the LORD. Following that, he asks for a confirmation or fulfillment of the promise of life (Psalms 119:38). This is to the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He asks that question as “Your servant” (cf. Psalms 119:17; 23). To that he adds “as that which produces reverence for You”. He is not only one who serves the LORD but also one who fears Him, who lives in awe and reverence of Him. The LORD will not reject such a person.

What he does not want is the reproach of people who smear him for not receiving the promise of the LORD (Psalms 119:38), despite the fact that he remains faithful to the LORD (Psalms 119:39). He “dreads” that reproach and asks the LORD to turn it away from him by keeping him in faithfulness to His Word and fulfilling His promises. He also wants to be faithful because God’s “ordinances are good”. He also wants to be faithful because his unfaithfulness would be defamation to the Name of the LORD (cf. Romans 2:24).

He expresses his longing for the LORD’s precepts (Psalms 119:40). This verse begins with “behold”. The letter he means ‘see’, here it is hinné. Often we think only the promises of the LORD are important, but the psalmist longs for the precepts, the commandments of the LORD. In them is life.

The psalmist longs to revive, not as a reward for his desire, but “through Your righteousness”. Life by God’s righteousness means life for all eternity. Life that God gives by virtue of righteousness is life where the holy requirement of God’s justice has been met. That justice was met by the Lord Jesus on the cross.

God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with His standard, which in this case is His covenant. The psalmist asks if the LORD will act in accordance with His covenant and His promise. In His promise, He wants to give a window so that light can come from above – a window, a light opening from above (Genesis 6:16) – to chase away the darkness.

Proverbs 6:15

/he/ Understanding

The pictogram of the letter he is a window, which speaks of seeing and understanding a revelation or remark. He as a word means ‘see’ in Hebrew. Later it is hinné (Psalms 119:40). Through a window the light comes in, allowing you see something. Through a revelation the light comes in, making you understand.

“There [the Word] was the true Light which, coming into the world [the incarnation of the Word], enlightens every man” (John 1:9). Man is enlightened by the exclamation of John the baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In Hebrew, “behold” would be he or hinné. The revelation is that concerning the Person of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In Psalms 119:33-34 we hear the psalmist’s request for understanding the way of the LORD through teaching. Psalms 119:37 speaks of the psalmist’s eyes. His eyes are to be focused on a Person, not distracted by the deceitfulness of riches. Through the teaching of the Word of God he is to gain understanding to walk joyfully in the way of the LORD.

Each verse of this stanza is a prayer and indicates the relationship between the Word and prayer. Its tone is humility and dependence. The Word is the Word of God. Then, too, He alone can give the explanation of what He says. The righteous realizes this and therefore prays for it. He realizes that the LORD must open the window of his heart and that the light of His revelation and Person must shine into it. He is totally dependent on the LORD and His Word.

The Word of God is not just learning material, a subject, like theology, or a series of doctrines and principles. The Word of God is the Word that connects us with God. Therefore, if we desire to understand the Word, we can only approach that Word prayerfully, so that God will open the window of our hearts (cf. Luke 24:45). The psalmist understood this. He begins his prayer with “teach me” (Psalms 119:33). “Teach” in Hebrew is moré. Abraham also began his sojourn in the promised land at the oak of Moré, which is ‘teacher’ (Genesis 12:6).

He does not subject the Word to his own logical thinking, but he casts himself down at the feet of the LORD to receive from Him His words (cf. Deuteronomy 33:3b; Luke 10:39). Thus we will have to read the Word of God prayerfully if we want to be taught and transformed into the image of Christ. Only then will we obtain wisdom and spiritual insight.

The statutes of the LORD remain of unchanging value to the believer as long as he lives. Learning to know them never ceases. As long as a believer lives, he will never be able to say that he can stop learning because he should know everything. To remain faithful to the end of life in observing the statutes, the desire is needed to be taught and instructed by the LORD. This is what the righteous prays for.

The problem of many people, but also of many believers who want to be biblically faithful, is that they are often so convinced of their own rightness that they can no longer be corrected by others and therefore neither by the Lord. How necessary it is that we take to heart the lesson of the letter he: that we are prepared in humility to open the window of our hearts and learn from others. Let us take an example from the Jews at Beréa in Acts 17 (Acts 17:11).

Understanding – see the meaning of the letter he – is necessary to keep God’s law (Psalms 119:34). Without understanding, the righteous do not understand what God requires of them. They gain that understanding if they are willing to obey it with all their heart. It is not a matter of a good intellect, but of a renewed, willing heart (cf. John 7:17).

The LORD has changed and shaped the psalmist’s heart, making it his desire to walk the path of God’s commandments. This makes him realize that to put God’s commandments into practice he needs His help and guidance. In the words of Paul, God must not only work in him to will, but also to work (Philippians 2:13).

This is what the psalmist is asking for when he asks the LORD: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments” (Psalms 119:35). Freely translated, he asks: ‘Let me live like this, let me walk the path of life with God.’ The Lord asks faith obedience. He gives us instructions that we want to follow with joy out of love.

The psalmist longs to walk that path, “for I delight in it”, he says. The taste of the Word is sweet, it gives joy to our heart. Then we joyfully go the way the Lord wants us to go. When we do something with pleasure, we like to do it.

There is a special tendency, that is, “inclination” or “direction of the heart” in life, from which even the believer cannot escape, even if he follows the path of God’s commandments. That tendency is “[dishonest] gain”, being out to gain as much as possible, for example by robbing others (Psalms 119:36). “[Dishonest] gain” means “unfair advantage”. This can be in a material sense such as wealth, but it can also be in an immaterial sense such as fame, name, popularity.

As a believer, you often sense that the lust for wealth is not good – think of Lot’s wife. The lust for honor and prestige is also a great danger, even for us. Think of Ananias and Sapphira. In the school of God we may learn to keep the inclinations of our heart and the workings of our flesh in death (Colossians 3:5).

The wrong inclination is given no room when we ask the LORD with the psalmist: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.” If his and our heart is set on dealing with the LORD, he and we will not be open to the pursuit of worldly prosperity.

The deception of riches is like weeds choking the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:22). The weeds in Israel have deep roots, from half a meter to a meter, with roots growing between the rocks, making it almost impossible to remove them. These weeds, thanks to these roots, also grow at lightning speed. It does show how stifling the effect of wealth can be to the seed of the Word and how difficult it is to get free from that stifling effect. Let us therefore pray the psalmist’s prayer with him.

After speaking of his heart in the previous verse, the God-fearing speaks of his eyes in Psalms 119:37. He asks God to turn away his eyes, so that they may not be “looking at vanity”. “Vanity” is what has no value for the moment or for the future. This is quite an actual prayer for the time in which we live, with tidal waves of visual material via television and the Internet that are completely useless and often downright sinful, yet which people watch for many hours (cf. Isaiah 55:2).

Sometimes it’s about impure pictures that you come across unintentionally and unsought, e.g. advertising. Here the saying applies: the second look is sinful. That is, the first time you see it, it happened to you, but the second look is a conscious choice. Of that, the psalmist asks if the LORD will turn away his eyes from that. In that regard, Job has given us an example by making a covenant with his eyes not to follow (lustfully) an attractive girl with them (Job 31:1). David is a great warning sign to each of us (2 Samuel 11:1-5)!

“Vanity”, empty, meaningless is that which is spiritually no food, it is stones and not bread. Paul calls all the privileges of this life rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The conscience question to us is what our priorities in this life are. The danger of temptation is great. Even one of the apostle Paul’s associates, named Demas, left the apostle for the love of the present age (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas too is a warning sign for each of us. Let us also pray this prayer with the psalmist.

To look at what is vanity is to look at something that, like a stealth killer, stifles the life of faith. This is evident from the second line of this verse. The God-fearing wants to enjoy the true life, which is life in fellowship with God. That life is lived by going in God’s ways. “Your ways”, which are God’s ways, are ways of life. When we go them, we are truly living.

The righteous knows that there is life through the ways of the LORD. Following that, he asks for a confirmation or fulfillment of the promise of life (Psalms 119:38). This is to the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He asks that question as “Your servant” (cf. Psalms 119:17; 23). To that he adds “as that which produces reverence for You”. He is not only one who serves the LORD but also one who fears Him, who lives in awe and reverence of Him. The LORD will not reject such a person.

What he does not want is the reproach of people who smear him for not receiving the promise of the LORD (Psalms 119:38), despite the fact that he remains faithful to the LORD (Psalms 119:39). He “dreads” that reproach and asks the LORD to turn it away from him by keeping him in faithfulness to His Word and fulfilling His promises. He also wants to be faithful because God’s “ordinances are good”. He also wants to be faithful because his unfaithfulness would be defamation to the Name of the LORD (cf. Romans 2:24).

He expresses his longing for the LORD’s precepts (Psalms 119:40). This verse begins with “behold”. The letter he means ‘see’, here it is hinné. Often we think only the promises of the LORD are important, but the psalmist longs for the precepts, the commandments of the LORD. In them is life.

The psalmist longs to revive, not as a reward for his desire, but “through Your righteousness”. Life by God’s righteousness means life for all eternity. Life that God gives by virtue of righteousness is life where the holy requirement of God’s justice has been met. That justice was met by the Lord Jesus on the cross.

God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with His standard, which in this case is His covenant. The psalmist asks if the LORD will act in accordance with His covenant and His promise. In His promise, He wants to give a window so that light can come from above – a window, a light opening from above (Genesis 6:16) – to chase away the darkness.

Proverbs 6:16

/he/ Understanding

The pictogram of the letter he is a window, which speaks of seeing and understanding a revelation or remark. He as a word means ‘see’ in Hebrew. Later it is hinné (Psalms 119:40). Through a window the light comes in, allowing you see something. Through a revelation the light comes in, making you understand.

“There [the Word] was the true Light which, coming into the world [the incarnation of the Word], enlightens every man” (John 1:9). Man is enlightened by the exclamation of John the baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In Hebrew, “behold” would be he or hinné. The revelation is that concerning the Person of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In Psalms 119:33-34 we hear the psalmist’s request for understanding the way of the LORD through teaching. Psalms 119:37 speaks of the psalmist’s eyes. His eyes are to be focused on a Person, not distracted by the deceitfulness of riches. Through the teaching of the Word of God he is to gain understanding to walk joyfully in the way of the LORD.

Each verse of this stanza is a prayer and indicates the relationship between the Word and prayer. Its tone is humility and dependence. The Word is the Word of God. Then, too, He alone can give the explanation of what He says. The righteous realizes this and therefore prays for it. He realizes that the LORD must open the window of his heart and that the light of His revelation and Person must shine into it. He is totally dependent on the LORD and His Word.

The Word of God is not just learning material, a subject, like theology, or a series of doctrines and principles. The Word of God is the Word that connects us with God. Therefore, if we desire to understand the Word, we can only approach that Word prayerfully, so that God will open the window of our hearts (cf. Luke 24:45). The psalmist understood this. He begins his prayer with “teach me” (Psalms 119:33). “Teach” in Hebrew is moré. Abraham also began his sojourn in the promised land at the oak of Moré, which is ‘teacher’ (Genesis 12:6).

He does not subject the Word to his own logical thinking, but he casts himself down at the feet of the LORD to receive from Him His words (cf. Deuteronomy 33:3b; Luke 10:39). Thus we will have to read the Word of God prayerfully if we want to be taught and transformed into the image of Christ. Only then will we obtain wisdom and spiritual insight.

The statutes of the LORD remain of unchanging value to the believer as long as he lives. Learning to know them never ceases. As long as a believer lives, he will never be able to say that he can stop learning because he should know everything. To remain faithful to the end of life in observing the statutes, the desire is needed to be taught and instructed by the LORD. This is what the righteous prays for.

The problem of many people, but also of many believers who want to be biblically faithful, is that they are often so convinced of their own rightness that they can no longer be corrected by others and therefore neither by the Lord. How necessary it is that we take to heart the lesson of the letter he: that we are prepared in humility to open the window of our hearts and learn from others. Let us take an example from the Jews at Beréa in Acts 17 (Acts 17:11).

Understanding – see the meaning of the letter he – is necessary to keep God’s law (Psalms 119:34). Without understanding, the righteous do not understand what God requires of them. They gain that understanding if they are willing to obey it with all their heart. It is not a matter of a good intellect, but of a renewed, willing heart (cf. John 7:17).

The LORD has changed and shaped the psalmist’s heart, making it his desire to walk the path of God’s commandments. This makes him realize that to put God’s commandments into practice he needs His help and guidance. In the words of Paul, God must not only work in him to will, but also to work (Philippians 2:13).

This is what the psalmist is asking for when he asks the LORD: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments” (Psalms 119:35). Freely translated, he asks: ‘Let me live like this, let me walk the path of life with God.’ The Lord asks faith obedience. He gives us instructions that we want to follow with joy out of love.

The psalmist longs to walk that path, “for I delight in it”, he says. The taste of the Word is sweet, it gives joy to our heart. Then we joyfully go the way the Lord wants us to go. When we do something with pleasure, we like to do it.

There is a special tendency, that is, “inclination” or “direction of the heart” in life, from which even the believer cannot escape, even if he follows the path of God’s commandments. That tendency is “[dishonest] gain”, being out to gain as much as possible, for example by robbing others (Psalms 119:36). “[Dishonest] gain” means “unfair advantage”. This can be in a material sense such as wealth, but it can also be in an immaterial sense such as fame, name, popularity.

As a believer, you often sense that the lust for wealth is not good – think of Lot’s wife. The lust for honor and prestige is also a great danger, even for us. Think of Ananias and Sapphira. In the school of God we may learn to keep the inclinations of our heart and the workings of our flesh in death (Colossians 3:5).

The wrong inclination is given no room when we ask the LORD with the psalmist: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.” If his and our heart is set on dealing with the LORD, he and we will not be open to the pursuit of worldly prosperity.

The deception of riches is like weeds choking the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:22). The weeds in Israel have deep roots, from half a meter to a meter, with roots growing between the rocks, making it almost impossible to remove them. These weeds, thanks to these roots, also grow at lightning speed. It does show how stifling the effect of wealth can be to the seed of the Word and how difficult it is to get free from that stifling effect. Let us therefore pray the psalmist’s prayer with him.

After speaking of his heart in the previous verse, the God-fearing speaks of his eyes in Psalms 119:37. He asks God to turn away his eyes, so that they may not be “looking at vanity”. “Vanity” is what has no value for the moment or for the future. This is quite an actual prayer for the time in which we live, with tidal waves of visual material via television and the Internet that are completely useless and often downright sinful, yet which people watch for many hours (cf. Isaiah 55:2).

Sometimes it’s about impure pictures that you come across unintentionally and unsought, e.g. advertising. Here the saying applies: the second look is sinful. That is, the first time you see it, it happened to you, but the second look is a conscious choice. Of that, the psalmist asks if the LORD will turn away his eyes from that. In that regard, Job has given us an example by making a covenant with his eyes not to follow (lustfully) an attractive girl with them (Job 31:1). David is a great warning sign to each of us (2 Samuel 11:1-5)!

“Vanity”, empty, meaningless is that which is spiritually no food, it is stones and not bread. Paul calls all the privileges of this life rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The conscience question to us is what our priorities in this life are. The danger of temptation is great. Even one of the apostle Paul’s associates, named Demas, left the apostle for the love of the present age (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas too is a warning sign for each of us. Let us also pray this prayer with the psalmist.

To look at what is vanity is to look at something that, like a stealth killer, stifles the life of faith. This is evident from the second line of this verse. The God-fearing wants to enjoy the true life, which is life in fellowship with God. That life is lived by going in God’s ways. “Your ways”, which are God’s ways, are ways of life. When we go them, we are truly living.

The righteous knows that there is life through the ways of the LORD. Following that, he asks for a confirmation or fulfillment of the promise of life (Psalms 119:38). This is to the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He asks that question as “Your servant” (cf. Psalms 119:17; 23). To that he adds “as that which produces reverence for You”. He is not only one who serves the LORD but also one who fears Him, who lives in awe and reverence of Him. The LORD will not reject such a person.

What he does not want is the reproach of people who smear him for not receiving the promise of the LORD (Psalms 119:38), despite the fact that he remains faithful to the LORD (Psalms 119:39). He “dreads” that reproach and asks the LORD to turn it away from him by keeping him in faithfulness to His Word and fulfilling His promises. He also wants to be faithful because God’s “ordinances are good”. He also wants to be faithful because his unfaithfulness would be defamation to the Name of the LORD (cf. Romans 2:24).

He expresses his longing for the LORD’s precepts (Psalms 119:40). This verse begins with “behold”. The letter he means ‘see’, here it is hinné. Often we think only the promises of the LORD are important, but the psalmist longs for the precepts, the commandments of the LORD. In them is life.

The psalmist longs to revive, not as a reward for his desire, but “through Your righteousness”. Life by God’s righteousness means life for all eternity. Life that God gives by virtue of righteousness is life where the holy requirement of God’s justice has been met. That justice was met by the Lord Jesus on the cross.

God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with His standard, which in this case is His covenant. The psalmist asks if the LORD will act in accordance with His covenant and His promise. In His promise, He wants to give a window so that light can come from above – a window, a light opening from above (Genesis 6:16) – to chase away the darkness.

Proverbs 6:17

/vav/ Heaven and Earth Connected

The pictogram of the letter vav is a human being, a nail, a tent pole or a (connecting) hook (cf. Exodus 26:32; 37; Exodus 27:10). The letter’s function in Hebrew is to connect words; it means ‘and’. Each verse in this vav stanza begins with the conjunction ‘and’, a word that connects two parts of a sentence. We see an illustration of this in Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

The vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the numerical value six. This is the number of man, who was created by God on the sixth day to be the connection between heaven and earth. Because the first man, Adam, failed, his place is taken by the second Man, Christ, Who established the connection between heaven and earth, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

In this vav stanza we see the Word of God as the link between heaven and earth, between the Eternal and the puny. The Word is like the connecting hook in the relationship between God and men.

First, in Psalms 119:41-43 we find the psalmist’s prayer, a prayer for help based on his trust in the Word. Then in Psalms 119:44-48 we find the psalmist’s attitude of devotion and purposes toward the Word.

The faithful continually need the awareness of the LORD’s “lovingkindness” and “salvation” (Psalms 119:41). First, the faithful has received new life based on the LORD’s lovingkindness, and then he continues to need the LORD’s lovingkindness in his life. For us, too, it is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We received grace when we came to repentance, and we also receive necessary grace throughout our stay on earth.

The LORD, in accordance with His covenant – lovingkindness, Adonai – has promised that He will give His own by virtue of His covenant the salvation, that is, the blessing of the realm of peace. He does not need to be reminded of this, but believers may remember this and say it to Him. His lovingkindness is shown in the salvation of the faithful from the dangers that surround them to then introduce them to the blessings of the new covenant.

There will always be those who reproach the believer (Psalms 119:42). These are the unfaithful Israelites, the followers of the antichrist, who have rejected the covenant and are reproaching the faithful remnant. The remnant is being reproached because it seems that the LORD is not helping them. When He fulfills His promise, the remnant can thereby answer those who taunt them.

From himself, the psalmist cannot speak truth. The same is true for the remnant and for us. A believer can speak “the word of truth” only if God puts it in his mouth (Psalms 119:43; cf. Matthew 10:19-20). Also, the believer has to wait for God’s “ordinances”. This speaks of the expectation he has that God will make His ordinances known to him.

With that, the psalmist can answer him who reproaches him. We too must always be ready to give an account to anyone who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). To that end, the psalmist asks if the LORD will not take the word of truth utterly out of his mouth. This happens to us when we depart from His way by being unwilling to confess our sins or when we deliberately choose a different way than the one the Lord has shown us.

When the LORD delivers him from people who hate him (Psalms 119:42), he will continually keep His law, and will do so “forever and ever” (Psalms 119:44). He will then be able to confess the faithfulness of the LORD. This resolve of the heart is worth following for us. It is a decision based on the experienced love and faithfulness of the LORD, the full revelation of which we see in the work of Christ. In return, we can only offer total obedience.

When God’s law is continually kept, the believer “walks at liberty” (Psalms 119:45). Self-will and sin lead to bondage and hindrance in the prayer life and understanding of God’s Word (Psalms 66:18; James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7). Seeking the precepts of God frees a person from any bondage that prevents him from doing God’s will and going God’s way. The Lord Jesus always walked at liberty. He never did anything but seek God’s precepts in order to accomplish them. He has lived on earth at true liberty. He makes slaves to sin truly free (John 8:36).

An unbeliever is not free, for he is bound by sin. He cannot do the will of God, nor can he walk in the way of God. A believer, who has been set free by the Son of God, is able to do what he now longs to do, namely the will of God. The Lord Jesus is his new life, and that new life wants to do in him only what God wants, just as the Lord Jesus always did only what God wants.

If a person walks in liberty, he may even have to appear before kings (Psalms 119:46). He will “speak of Your testimonies” before them without being ashamed. There is no fear of man, but a desire to testify of Who God is even in the higher circles. Paul did so (Acts 25:23-24; Acts 26:1-2; 27-29; cf. Romans 1:16). We see the same thing with the friends of Daniel (Daniel 3:17-19) and John the baptist (Matthew 14:4).

Where there is love for the commandments of God, there is delight in them (Psalms 119:47). This theme runs like a golden thread throughout the psalm (Psalms 119:16; 70; 97; 113; 119; 127; 140; 159; 163). We experience this delight when we read and examine God’s Word. It is a characteristic that someone has life from God when he has love for ‘the love letter’ of God, the Bible. Someone who says he loves God but does not read His Word with love is a liar. When there is love for the commandments of God, these commandments do not press on the conscience like a burden, but are a joy to the heart.

The lifting up of the hands to the commandments of the LORD is an attitude of praise and prayer (Psalms 119:48; Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 141:2; Psalms 134:2; cf. 1 Timothy 2:8). In this attitude, the righteous will meditate on the LORD’s statutes that he may understand them and live them out to His glory. This attitude comes from the love that the God-fearing has in his heart for those statutes. This is evidenced by the fact that he meditates on the statutes of the LORD. In meditating, the faithful one is not focused on himself, but on Him to Whom the statutes belong. He is concerned with getting to know the LORD better.

Proverbs 6:18

/vav/ Heaven and Earth Connected

The pictogram of the letter vav is a human being, a nail, a tent pole or a (connecting) hook (cf. Exodus 26:32; 37; Exodus 27:10). The letter’s function in Hebrew is to connect words; it means ‘and’. Each verse in this vav stanza begins with the conjunction ‘and’, a word that connects two parts of a sentence. We see an illustration of this in Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

The vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the numerical value six. This is the number of man, who was created by God on the sixth day to be the connection between heaven and earth. Because the first man, Adam, failed, his place is taken by the second Man, Christ, Who established the connection between heaven and earth, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

In this vav stanza we see the Word of God as the link between heaven and earth, between the Eternal and the puny. The Word is like the connecting hook in the relationship between God and men.

First, in Psalms 119:41-43 we find the psalmist’s prayer, a prayer for help based on his trust in the Word. Then in Psalms 119:44-48 we find the psalmist’s attitude of devotion and purposes toward the Word.

The faithful continually need the awareness of the LORD’s “lovingkindness” and “salvation” (Psalms 119:41). First, the faithful has received new life based on the LORD’s lovingkindness, and then he continues to need the LORD’s lovingkindness in his life. For us, too, it is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We received grace when we came to repentance, and we also receive necessary grace throughout our stay on earth.

The LORD, in accordance with His covenant – lovingkindness, Adonai – has promised that He will give His own by virtue of His covenant the salvation, that is, the blessing of the realm of peace. He does not need to be reminded of this, but believers may remember this and say it to Him. His lovingkindness is shown in the salvation of the faithful from the dangers that surround them to then introduce them to the blessings of the new covenant.

There will always be those who reproach the believer (Psalms 119:42). These are the unfaithful Israelites, the followers of the antichrist, who have rejected the covenant and are reproaching the faithful remnant. The remnant is being reproached because it seems that the LORD is not helping them. When He fulfills His promise, the remnant can thereby answer those who taunt them.

From himself, the psalmist cannot speak truth. The same is true for the remnant and for us. A believer can speak “the word of truth” only if God puts it in his mouth (Psalms 119:43; cf. Matthew 10:19-20). Also, the believer has to wait for God’s “ordinances”. This speaks of the expectation he has that God will make His ordinances known to him.

With that, the psalmist can answer him who reproaches him. We too must always be ready to give an account to anyone who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). To that end, the psalmist asks if the LORD will not take the word of truth utterly out of his mouth. This happens to us when we depart from His way by being unwilling to confess our sins or when we deliberately choose a different way than the one the Lord has shown us.

When the LORD delivers him from people who hate him (Psalms 119:42), he will continually keep His law, and will do so “forever and ever” (Psalms 119:44). He will then be able to confess the faithfulness of the LORD. This resolve of the heart is worth following for us. It is a decision based on the experienced love and faithfulness of the LORD, the full revelation of which we see in the work of Christ. In return, we can only offer total obedience.

When God’s law is continually kept, the believer “walks at liberty” (Psalms 119:45). Self-will and sin lead to bondage and hindrance in the prayer life and understanding of God’s Word (Psalms 66:18; James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7). Seeking the precepts of God frees a person from any bondage that prevents him from doing God’s will and going God’s way. The Lord Jesus always walked at liberty. He never did anything but seek God’s precepts in order to accomplish them. He has lived on earth at true liberty. He makes slaves to sin truly free (John 8:36).

An unbeliever is not free, for he is bound by sin. He cannot do the will of God, nor can he walk in the way of God. A believer, who has been set free by the Son of God, is able to do what he now longs to do, namely the will of God. The Lord Jesus is his new life, and that new life wants to do in him only what God wants, just as the Lord Jesus always did only what God wants.

If a person walks in liberty, he may even have to appear before kings (Psalms 119:46). He will “speak of Your testimonies” before them without being ashamed. There is no fear of man, but a desire to testify of Who God is even in the higher circles. Paul did so (Acts 25:23-24; Acts 26:1-2; 27-29; cf. Romans 1:16). We see the same thing with the friends of Daniel (Daniel 3:17-19) and John the baptist (Matthew 14:4).

Where there is love for the commandments of God, there is delight in them (Psalms 119:47). This theme runs like a golden thread throughout the psalm (Psalms 119:16; 70; 97; 113; 119; 127; 140; 159; 163). We experience this delight when we read and examine God’s Word. It is a characteristic that someone has life from God when he has love for ‘the love letter’ of God, the Bible. Someone who says he loves God but does not read His Word with love is a liar. When there is love for the commandments of God, these commandments do not press on the conscience like a burden, but are a joy to the heart.

The lifting up of the hands to the commandments of the LORD is an attitude of praise and prayer (Psalms 119:48; Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 141:2; Psalms 134:2; cf. 1 Timothy 2:8). In this attitude, the righteous will meditate on the LORD’s statutes that he may understand them and live them out to His glory. This attitude comes from the love that the God-fearing has in his heart for those statutes. This is evidenced by the fact that he meditates on the statutes of the LORD. In meditating, the faithful one is not focused on himself, but on Him to Whom the statutes belong. He is concerned with getting to know the LORD better.

Proverbs 6:19

/vav/ Heaven and Earth Connected

The pictogram of the letter vav is a human being, a nail, a tent pole or a (connecting) hook (cf. Exodus 26:32; 37; Exodus 27:10). The letter’s function in Hebrew is to connect words; it means ‘and’. Each verse in this vav stanza begins with the conjunction ‘and’, a word that connects two parts of a sentence. We see an illustration of this in Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

The vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the numerical value six. This is the number of man, who was created by God on the sixth day to be the connection between heaven and earth. Because the first man, Adam, failed, his place is taken by the second Man, Christ, Who established the connection between heaven and earth, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

In this vav stanza we see the Word of God as the link between heaven and earth, between the Eternal and the puny. The Word is like the connecting hook in the relationship between God and men.

First, in Psalms 119:41-43 we find the psalmist’s prayer, a prayer for help based on his trust in the Word. Then in Psalms 119:44-48 we find the psalmist’s attitude of devotion and purposes toward the Word.

The faithful continually need the awareness of the LORD’s “lovingkindness” and “salvation” (Psalms 119:41). First, the faithful has received new life based on the LORD’s lovingkindness, and then he continues to need the LORD’s lovingkindness in his life. For us, too, it is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We received grace when we came to repentance, and we also receive necessary grace throughout our stay on earth.

The LORD, in accordance with His covenant – lovingkindness, Adonai – has promised that He will give His own by virtue of His covenant the salvation, that is, the blessing of the realm of peace. He does not need to be reminded of this, but believers may remember this and say it to Him. His lovingkindness is shown in the salvation of the faithful from the dangers that surround them to then introduce them to the blessings of the new covenant.

There will always be those who reproach the believer (Psalms 119:42). These are the unfaithful Israelites, the followers of the antichrist, who have rejected the covenant and are reproaching the faithful remnant. The remnant is being reproached because it seems that the LORD is not helping them. When He fulfills His promise, the remnant can thereby answer those who taunt them.

From himself, the psalmist cannot speak truth. The same is true for the remnant and for us. A believer can speak “the word of truth” only if God puts it in his mouth (Psalms 119:43; cf. Matthew 10:19-20). Also, the believer has to wait for God’s “ordinances”. This speaks of the expectation he has that God will make His ordinances known to him.

With that, the psalmist can answer him who reproaches him. We too must always be ready to give an account to anyone who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). To that end, the psalmist asks if the LORD will not take the word of truth utterly out of his mouth. This happens to us when we depart from His way by being unwilling to confess our sins or when we deliberately choose a different way than the one the Lord has shown us.

When the LORD delivers him from people who hate him (Psalms 119:42), he will continually keep His law, and will do so “forever and ever” (Psalms 119:44). He will then be able to confess the faithfulness of the LORD. This resolve of the heart is worth following for us. It is a decision based on the experienced love and faithfulness of the LORD, the full revelation of which we see in the work of Christ. In return, we can only offer total obedience.

When God’s law is continually kept, the believer “walks at liberty” (Psalms 119:45). Self-will and sin lead to bondage and hindrance in the prayer life and understanding of God’s Word (Psalms 66:18; James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7). Seeking the precepts of God frees a person from any bondage that prevents him from doing God’s will and going God’s way. The Lord Jesus always walked at liberty. He never did anything but seek God’s precepts in order to accomplish them. He has lived on earth at true liberty. He makes slaves to sin truly free (John 8:36).

An unbeliever is not free, for he is bound by sin. He cannot do the will of God, nor can he walk in the way of God. A believer, who has been set free by the Son of God, is able to do what he now longs to do, namely the will of God. The Lord Jesus is his new life, and that new life wants to do in him only what God wants, just as the Lord Jesus always did only what God wants.

If a person walks in liberty, he may even have to appear before kings (Psalms 119:46). He will “speak of Your testimonies” before them without being ashamed. There is no fear of man, but a desire to testify of Who God is even in the higher circles. Paul did so (Acts 25:23-24; Acts 26:1-2; 27-29; cf. Romans 1:16). We see the same thing with the friends of Daniel (Daniel 3:17-19) and John the baptist (Matthew 14:4).

Where there is love for the commandments of God, there is delight in them (Psalms 119:47). This theme runs like a golden thread throughout the psalm (Psalms 119:16; 70; 97; 113; 119; 127; 140; 159; 163). We experience this delight when we read and examine God’s Word. It is a characteristic that someone has life from God when he has love for ‘the love letter’ of God, the Bible. Someone who says he loves God but does not read His Word with love is a liar. When there is love for the commandments of God, these commandments do not press on the conscience like a burden, but are a joy to the heart.

The lifting up of the hands to the commandments of the LORD is an attitude of praise and prayer (Psalms 119:48; Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 141:2; Psalms 134:2; cf. 1 Timothy 2:8). In this attitude, the righteous will meditate on the LORD’s statutes that he may understand them and live them out to His glory. This attitude comes from the love that the God-fearing has in his heart for those statutes. This is evidenced by the fact that he meditates on the statutes of the LORD. In meditating, the faithful one is not focused on himself, but on Him to Whom the statutes belong. He is concerned with getting to know the LORD better.

Proverbs 6:20

/vav/ Heaven and Earth Connected

The pictogram of the letter vav is a human being, a nail, a tent pole or a (connecting) hook (cf. Exodus 26:32; 37; Exodus 27:10). The letter’s function in Hebrew is to connect words; it means ‘and’. Each verse in this vav stanza begins with the conjunction ‘and’, a word that connects two parts of a sentence. We see an illustration of this in Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

The vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the numerical value six. This is the number of man, who was created by God on the sixth day to be the connection between heaven and earth. Because the first man, Adam, failed, his place is taken by the second Man, Christ, Who established the connection between heaven and earth, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

In this vav stanza we see the Word of God as the link between heaven and earth, between the Eternal and the puny. The Word is like the connecting hook in the relationship between God and men.

First, in Psalms 119:41-43 we find the psalmist’s prayer, a prayer for help based on his trust in the Word. Then in Psalms 119:44-48 we find the psalmist’s attitude of devotion and purposes toward the Word.

The faithful continually need the awareness of the LORD’s “lovingkindness” and “salvation” (Psalms 119:41). First, the faithful has received new life based on the LORD’s lovingkindness, and then he continues to need the LORD’s lovingkindness in his life. For us, too, it is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We received grace when we came to repentance, and we also receive necessary grace throughout our stay on earth.

The LORD, in accordance with His covenant – lovingkindness, Adonai – has promised that He will give His own by virtue of His covenant the salvation, that is, the blessing of the realm of peace. He does not need to be reminded of this, but believers may remember this and say it to Him. His lovingkindness is shown in the salvation of the faithful from the dangers that surround them to then introduce them to the blessings of the new covenant.

There will always be those who reproach the believer (Psalms 119:42). These are the unfaithful Israelites, the followers of the antichrist, who have rejected the covenant and are reproaching the faithful remnant. The remnant is being reproached because it seems that the LORD is not helping them. When He fulfills His promise, the remnant can thereby answer those who taunt them.

From himself, the psalmist cannot speak truth. The same is true for the remnant and for us. A believer can speak “the word of truth” only if God puts it in his mouth (Psalms 119:43; cf. Matthew 10:19-20). Also, the believer has to wait for God’s “ordinances”. This speaks of the expectation he has that God will make His ordinances known to him.

With that, the psalmist can answer him who reproaches him. We too must always be ready to give an account to anyone who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). To that end, the psalmist asks if the LORD will not take the word of truth utterly out of his mouth. This happens to us when we depart from His way by being unwilling to confess our sins or when we deliberately choose a different way than the one the Lord has shown us.

When the LORD delivers him from people who hate him (Psalms 119:42), he will continually keep His law, and will do so “forever and ever” (Psalms 119:44). He will then be able to confess the faithfulness of the LORD. This resolve of the heart is worth following for us. It is a decision based on the experienced love and faithfulness of the LORD, the full revelation of which we see in the work of Christ. In return, we can only offer total obedience.

When God’s law is continually kept, the believer “walks at liberty” (Psalms 119:45). Self-will and sin lead to bondage and hindrance in the prayer life and understanding of God’s Word (Psalms 66:18; James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7). Seeking the precepts of God frees a person from any bondage that prevents him from doing God’s will and going God’s way. The Lord Jesus always walked at liberty. He never did anything but seek God’s precepts in order to accomplish them. He has lived on earth at true liberty. He makes slaves to sin truly free (John 8:36).

An unbeliever is not free, for he is bound by sin. He cannot do the will of God, nor can he walk in the way of God. A believer, who has been set free by the Son of God, is able to do what he now longs to do, namely the will of God. The Lord Jesus is his new life, and that new life wants to do in him only what God wants, just as the Lord Jesus always did only what God wants.

If a person walks in liberty, he may even have to appear before kings (Psalms 119:46). He will “speak of Your testimonies” before them without being ashamed. There is no fear of man, but a desire to testify of Who God is even in the higher circles. Paul did so (Acts 25:23-24; Acts 26:1-2; 27-29; cf. Romans 1:16). We see the same thing with the friends of Daniel (Daniel 3:17-19) and John the baptist (Matthew 14:4).

Where there is love for the commandments of God, there is delight in them (Psalms 119:47). This theme runs like a golden thread throughout the psalm (Psalms 119:16; 70; 97; 113; 119; 127; 140; 159; 163). We experience this delight when we read and examine God’s Word. It is a characteristic that someone has life from God when he has love for ‘the love letter’ of God, the Bible. Someone who says he loves God but does not read His Word with love is a liar. When there is love for the commandments of God, these commandments do not press on the conscience like a burden, but are a joy to the heart.

The lifting up of the hands to the commandments of the LORD is an attitude of praise and prayer (Psalms 119:48; Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 141:2; Psalms 134:2; cf. 1 Timothy 2:8). In this attitude, the righteous will meditate on the LORD’s statutes that he may understand them and live them out to His glory. This attitude comes from the love that the God-fearing has in his heart for those statutes. This is evidenced by the fact that he meditates on the statutes of the LORD. In meditating, the faithful one is not focused on himself, but on Him to Whom the statutes belong. He is concerned with getting to know the LORD better.

Proverbs 6:21

/vav/ Heaven and Earth Connected

The pictogram of the letter vav is a human being, a nail, a tent pole or a (connecting) hook (cf. Exodus 26:32; 37; Exodus 27:10). The letter’s function in Hebrew is to connect words; it means ‘and’. Each verse in this vav stanza begins with the conjunction ‘and’, a word that connects two parts of a sentence. We see an illustration of this in Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

The vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the numerical value six. This is the number of man, who was created by God on the sixth day to be the connection between heaven and earth. Because the first man, Adam, failed, his place is taken by the second Man, Christ, Who established the connection between heaven and earth, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

In this vav stanza we see the Word of God as the link between heaven and earth, between the Eternal and the puny. The Word is like the connecting hook in the relationship between God and men.

First, in Psalms 119:41-43 we find the psalmist’s prayer, a prayer for help based on his trust in the Word. Then in Psalms 119:44-48 we find the psalmist’s attitude of devotion and purposes toward the Word.

The faithful continually need the awareness of the LORD’s “lovingkindness” and “salvation” (Psalms 119:41). First, the faithful has received new life based on the LORD’s lovingkindness, and then he continues to need the LORD’s lovingkindness in his life. For us, too, it is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We received grace when we came to repentance, and we also receive necessary grace throughout our stay on earth.

The LORD, in accordance with His covenant – lovingkindness, Adonai – has promised that He will give His own by virtue of His covenant the salvation, that is, the blessing of the realm of peace. He does not need to be reminded of this, but believers may remember this and say it to Him. His lovingkindness is shown in the salvation of the faithful from the dangers that surround them to then introduce them to the blessings of the new covenant.

There will always be those who reproach the believer (Psalms 119:42). These are the unfaithful Israelites, the followers of the antichrist, who have rejected the covenant and are reproaching the faithful remnant. The remnant is being reproached because it seems that the LORD is not helping them. When He fulfills His promise, the remnant can thereby answer those who taunt them.

From himself, the psalmist cannot speak truth. The same is true for the remnant and for us. A believer can speak “the word of truth” only if God puts it in his mouth (Psalms 119:43; cf. Matthew 10:19-20). Also, the believer has to wait for God’s “ordinances”. This speaks of the expectation he has that God will make His ordinances known to him.

With that, the psalmist can answer him who reproaches him. We too must always be ready to give an account to anyone who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). To that end, the psalmist asks if the LORD will not take the word of truth utterly out of his mouth. This happens to us when we depart from His way by being unwilling to confess our sins or when we deliberately choose a different way than the one the Lord has shown us.

When the LORD delivers him from people who hate him (Psalms 119:42), he will continually keep His law, and will do so “forever and ever” (Psalms 119:44). He will then be able to confess the faithfulness of the LORD. This resolve of the heart is worth following for us. It is a decision based on the experienced love and faithfulness of the LORD, the full revelation of which we see in the work of Christ. In return, we can only offer total obedience.

When God’s law is continually kept, the believer “walks at liberty” (Psalms 119:45). Self-will and sin lead to bondage and hindrance in the prayer life and understanding of God’s Word (Psalms 66:18; James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7). Seeking the precepts of God frees a person from any bondage that prevents him from doing God’s will and going God’s way. The Lord Jesus always walked at liberty. He never did anything but seek God’s precepts in order to accomplish them. He has lived on earth at true liberty. He makes slaves to sin truly free (John 8:36).

An unbeliever is not free, for he is bound by sin. He cannot do the will of God, nor can he walk in the way of God. A believer, who has been set free by the Son of God, is able to do what he now longs to do, namely the will of God. The Lord Jesus is his new life, and that new life wants to do in him only what God wants, just as the Lord Jesus always did only what God wants.

If a person walks in liberty, he may even have to appear before kings (Psalms 119:46). He will “speak of Your testimonies” before them without being ashamed. There is no fear of man, but a desire to testify of Who God is even in the higher circles. Paul did so (Acts 25:23-24; Acts 26:1-2; 27-29; cf. Romans 1:16). We see the same thing with the friends of Daniel (Daniel 3:17-19) and John the baptist (Matthew 14:4).

Where there is love for the commandments of God, there is delight in them (Psalms 119:47). This theme runs like a golden thread throughout the psalm (Psalms 119:16; 70; 97; 113; 119; 127; 140; 159; 163). We experience this delight when we read and examine God’s Word. It is a characteristic that someone has life from God when he has love for ‘the love letter’ of God, the Bible. Someone who says he loves God but does not read His Word with love is a liar. When there is love for the commandments of God, these commandments do not press on the conscience like a burden, but are a joy to the heart.

The lifting up of the hands to the commandments of the LORD is an attitude of praise and prayer (Psalms 119:48; Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 141:2; Psalms 134:2; cf. 1 Timothy 2:8). In this attitude, the righteous will meditate on the LORD’s statutes that he may understand them and live them out to His glory. This attitude comes from the love that the God-fearing has in his heart for those statutes. This is evidenced by the fact that he meditates on the statutes of the LORD. In meditating, the faithful one is not focused on himself, but on Him to Whom the statutes belong. He is concerned with getting to know the LORD better.

Proverbs 6:22

/vav/ Heaven and Earth Connected

The pictogram of the letter vav is a human being, a nail, a tent pole or a (connecting) hook (cf. Exodus 26:32; 37; Exodus 27:10). The letter’s function in Hebrew is to connect words; it means ‘and’. Each verse in this vav stanza begins with the conjunction ‘and’, a word that connects two parts of a sentence. We see an illustration of this in Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

The vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the numerical value six. This is the number of man, who was created by God on the sixth day to be the connection between heaven and earth. Because the first man, Adam, failed, his place is taken by the second Man, Christ, Who established the connection between heaven and earth, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

In this vav stanza we see the Word of God as the link between heaven and earth, between the Eternal and the puny. The Word is like the connecting hook in the relationship between God and men.

First, in Psalms 119:41-43 we find the psalmist’s prayer, a prayer for help based on his trust in the Word. Then in Psalms 119:44-48 we find the psalmist’s attitude of devotion and purposes toward the Word.

The faithful continually need the awareness of the LORD’s “lovingkindness” and “salvation” (Psalms 119:41). First, the faithful has received new life based on the LORD’s lovingkindness, and then he continues to need the LORD’s lovingkindness in his life. For us, too, it is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We received grace when we came to repentance, and we also receive necessary grace throughout our stay on earth.

The LORD, in accordance with His covenant – lovingkindness, Adonai – has promised that He will give His own by virtue of His covenant the salvation, that is, the blessing of the realm of peace. He does not need to be reminded of this, but believers may remember this and say it to Him. His lovingkindness is shown in the salvation of the faithful from the dangers that surround them to then introduce them to the blessings of the new covenant.

There will always be those who reproach the believer (Psalms 119:42). These are the unfaithful Israelites, the followers of the antichrist, who have rejected the covenant and are reproaching the faithful remnant. The remnant is being reproached because it seems that the LORD is not helping them. When He fulfills His promise, the remnant can thereby answer those who taunt them.

From himself, the psalmist cannot speak truth. The same is true for the remnant and for us. A believer can speak “the word of truth” only if God puts it in his mouth (Psalms 119:43; cf. Matthew 10:19-20). Also, the believer has to wait for God’s “ordinances”. This speaks of the expectation he has that God will make His ordinances known to him.

With that, the psalmist can answer him who reproaches him. We too must always be ready to give an account to anyone who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). To that end, the psalmist asks if the LORD will not take the word of truth utterly out of his mouth. This happens to us when we depart from His way by being unwilling to confess our sins or when we deliberately choose a different way than the one the Lord has shown us.

When the LORD delivers him from people who hate him (Psalms 119:42), he will continually keep His law, and will do so “forever and ever” (Psalms 119:44). He will then be able to confess the faithfulness of the LORD. This resolve of the heart is worth following for us. It is a decision based on the experienced love and faithfulness of the LORD, the full revelation of which we see in the work of Christ. In return, we can only offer total obedience.

When God’s law is continually kept, the believer “walks at liberty” (Psalms 119:45). Self-will and sin lead to bondage and hindrance in the prayer life and understanding of God’s Word (Psalms 66:18; James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7). Seeking the precepts of God frees a person from any bondage that prevents him from doing God’s will and going God’s way. The Lord Jesus always walked at liberty. He never did anything but seek God’s precepts in order to accomplish them. He has lived on earth at true liberty. He makes slaves to sin truly free (John 8:36).

An unbeliever is not free, for he is bound by sin. He cannot do the will of God, nor can he walk in the way of God. A believer, who has been set free by the Son of God, is able to do what he now longs to do, namely the will of God. The Lord Jesus is his new life, and that new life wants to do in him only what God wants, just as the Lord Jesus always did only what God wants.

If a person walks in liberty, he may even have to appear before kings (Psalms 119:46). He will “speak of Your testimonies” before them without being ashamed. There is no fear of man, but a desire to testify of Who God is even in the higher circles. Paul did so (Acts 25:23-24; Acts 26:1-2; 27-29; cf. Romans 1:16). We see the same thing with the friends of Daniel (Daniel 3:17-19) and John the baptist (Matthew 14:4).

Where there is love for the commandments of God, there is delight in them (Psalms 119:47). This theme runs like a golden thread throughout the psalm (Psalms 119:16; 70; 97; 113; 119; 127; 140; 159; 163). We experience this delight when we read and examine God’s Word. It is a characteristic that someone has life from God when he has love for ‘the love letter’ of God, the Bible. Someone who says he loves God but does not read His Word with love is a liar. When there is love for the commandments of God, these commandments do not press on the conscience like a burden, but are a joy to the heart.

The lifting up of the hands to the commandments of the LORD is an attitude of praise and prayer (Psalms 119:48; Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 141:2; Psalms 134:2; cf. 1 Timothy 2:8). In this attitude, the righteous will meditate on the LORD’s statutes that he may understand them and live them out to His glory. This attitude comes from the love that the God-fearing has in his heart for those statutes. This is evidenced by the fact that he meditates on the statutes of the LORD. In meditating, the faithful one is not focused on himself, but on Him to Whom the statutes belong. He is concerned with getting to know the LORD better.

Proverbs 6:23

/vav/ Heaven and Earth Connected

The pictogram of the letter vav is a human being, a nail, a tent pole or a (connecting) hook (cf. Exodus 26:32; 37; Exodus 27:10). The letter’s function in Hebrew is to connect words; it means ‘and’. Each verse in this vav stanza begins with the conjunction ‘and’, a word that connects two parts of a sentence. We see an illustration of this in Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

The vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the numerical value six. This is the number of man, who was created by God on the sixth day to be the connection between heaven and earth. Because the first man, Adam, failed, his place is taken by the second Man, Christ, Who established the connection between heaven and earth, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

In this vav stanza we see the Word of God as the link between heaven and earth, between the Eternal and the puny. The Word is like the connecting hook in the relationship between God and men.

First, in Psalms 119:41-43 we find the psalmist’s prayer, a prayer for help based on his trust in the Word. Then in Psalms 119:44-48 we find the psalmist’s attitude of devotion and purposes toward the Word.

The faithful continually need the awareness of the LORD’s “lovingkindness” and “salvation” (Psalms 119:41). First, the faithful has received new life based on the LORD’s lovingkindness, and then he continues to need the LORD’s lovingkindness in his life. For us, too, it is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We received grace when we came to repentance, and we also receive necessary grace throughout our stay on earth.

The LORD, in accordance with His covenant – lovingkindness, Adonai – has promised that He will give His own by virtue of His covenant the salvation, that is, the blessing of the realm of peace. He does not need to be reminded of this, but believers may remember this and say it to Him. His lovingkindness is shown in the salvation of the faithful from the dangers that surround them to then introduce them to the blessings of the new covenant.

There will always be those who reproach the believer (Psalms 119:42). These are the unfaithful Israelites, the followers of the antichrist, who have rejected the covenant and are reproaching the faithful remnant. The remnant is being reproached because it seems that the LORD is not helping them. When He fulfills His promise, the remnant can thereby answer those who taunt them.

From himself, the psalmist cannot speak truth. The same is true for the remnant and for us. A believer can speak “the word of truth” only if God puts it in his mouth (Psalms 119:43; cf. Matthew 10:19-20). Also, the believer has to wait for God’s “ordinances”. This speaks of the expectation he has that God will make His ordinances known to him.

With that, the psalmist can answer him who reproaches him. We too must always be ready to give an account to anyone who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). To that end, the psalmist asks if the LORD will not take the word of truth utterly out of his mouth. This happens to us when we depart from His way by being unwilling to confess our sins or when we deliberately choose a different way than the one the Lord has shown us.

When the LORD delivers him from people who hate him (Psalms 119:42), he will continually keep His law, and will do so “forever and ever” (Psalms 119:44). He will then be able to confess the faithfulness of the LORD. This resolve of the heart is worth following for us. It is a decision based on the experienced love and faithfulness of the LORD, the full revelation of which we see in the work of Christ. In return, we can only offer total obedience.

When God’s law is continually kept, the believer “walks at liberty” (Psalms 119:45). Self-will and sin lead to bondage and hindrance in the prayer life and understanding of God’s Word (Psalms 66:18; James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7). Seeking the precepts of God frees a person from any bondage that prevents him from doing God’s will and going God’s way. The Lord Jesus always walked at liberty. He never did anything but seek God’s precepts in order to accomplish them. He has lived on earth at true liberty. He makes slaves to sin truly free (John 8:36).

An unbeliever is not free, for he is bound by sin. He cannot do the will of God, nor can he walk in the way of God. A believer, who has been set free by the Son of God, is able to do what he now longs to do, namely the will of God. The Lord Jesus is his new life, and that new life wants to do in him only what God wants, just as the Lord Jesus always did only what God wants.

If a person walks in liberty, he may even have to appear before kings (Psalms 119:46). He will “speak of Your testimonies” before them without being ashamed. There is no fear of man, but a desire to testify of Who God is even in the higher circles. Paul did so (Acts 25:23-24; Acts 26:1-2; 27-29; cf. Romans 1:16). We see the same thing with the friends of Daniel (Daniel 3:17-19) and John the baptist (Matthew 14:4).

Where there is love for the commandments of God, there is delight in them (Psalms 119:47). This theme runs like a golden thread throughout the psalm (Psalms 119:16; 70; 97; 113; 119; 127; 140; 159; 163). We experience this delight when we read and examine God’s Word. It is a characteristic that someone has life from God when he has love for ‘the love letter’ of God, the Bible. Someone who says he loves God but does not read His Word with love is a liar. When there is love for the commandments of God, these commandments do not press on the conscience like a burden, but are a joy to the heart.

The lifting up of the hands to the commandments of the LORD is an attitude of praise and prayer (Psalms 119:48; Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 141:2; Psalms 134:2; cf. 1 Timothy 2:8). In this attitude, the righteous will meditate on the LORD’s statutes that he may understand them and live them out to His glory. This attitude comes from the love that the God-fearing has in his heart for those statutes. This is evidenced by the fact that he meditates on the statutes of the LORD. In meditating, the faithful one is not focused on himself, but on Him to Whom the statutes belong. He is concerned with getting to know the LORD better.

Proverbs 6:24

/vav/ Heaven and Earth Connected

The pictogram of the letter vav is a human being, a nail, a tent pole or a (connecting) hook (cf. Exodus 26:32; 37; Exodus 27:10). The letter’s function in Hebrew is to connect words; it means ‘and’. Each verse in this vav stanza begins with the conjunction ‘and’, a word that connects two parts of a sentence. We see an illustration of this in Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

The vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the numerical value six. This is the number of man, who was created by God on the sixth day to be the connection between heaven and earth. Because the first man, Adam, failed, his place is taken by the second Man, Christ, Who established the connection between heaven and earth, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

In this vav stanza we see the Word of God as the link between heaven and earth, between the Eternal and the puny. The Word is like the connecting hook in the relationship between God and men.

First, in Psalms 119:41-43 we find the psalmist’s prayer, a prayer for help based on his trust in the Word. Then in Psalms 119:44-48 we find the psalmist’s attitude of devotion and purposes toward the Word.

The faithful continually need the awareness of the LORD’s “lovingkindness” and “salvation” (Psalms 119:41). First, the faithful has received new life based on the LORD’s lovingkindness, and then he continues to need the LORD’s lovingkindness in his life. For us, too, it is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We received grace when we came to repentance, and we also receive necessary grace throughout our stay on earth.

The LORD, in accordance with His covenant – lovingkindness, Adonai – has promised that He will give His own by virtue of His covenant the salvation, that is, the blessing of the realm of peace. He does not need to be reminded of this, but believers may remember this and say it to Him. His lovingkindness is shown in the salvation of the faithful from the dangers that surround them to then introduce them to the blessings of the new covenant.

There will always be those who reproach the believer (Psalms 119:42). These are the unfaithful Israelites, the followers of the antichrist, who have rejected the covenant and are reproaching the faithful remnant. The remnant is being reproached because it seems that the LORD is not helping them. When He fulfills His promise, the remnant can thereby answer those who taunt them.

From himself, the psalmist cannot speak truth. The same is true for the remnant and for us. A believer can speak “the word of truth” only if God puts it in his mouth (Psalms 119:43; cf. Matthew 10:19-20). Also, the believer has to wait for God’s “ordinances”. This speaks of the expectation he has that God will make His ordinances known to him.

With that, the psalmist can answer him who reproaches him. We too must always be ready to give an account to anyone who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). To that end, the psalmist asks if the LORD will not take the word of truth utterly out of his mouth. This happens to us when we depart from His way by being unwilling to confess our sins or when we deliberately choose a different way than the one the Lord has shown us.

When the LORD delivers him from people who hate him (Psalms 119:42), he will continually keep His law, and will do so “forever and ever” (Psalms 119:44). He will then be able to confess the faithfulness of the LORD. This resolve of the heart is worth following for us. It is a decision based on the experienced love and faithfulness of the LORD, the full revelation of which we see in the work of Christ. In return, we can only offer total obedience.

When God’s law is continually kept, the believer “walks at liberty” (Psalms 119:45). Self-will and sin lead to bondage and hindrance in the prayer life and understanding of God’s Word (Psalms 66:18; James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7). Seeking the precepts of God frees a person from any bondage that prevents him from doing God’s will and going God’s way. The Lord Jesus always walked at liberty. He never did anything but seek God’s precepts in order to accomplish them. He has lived on earth at true liberty. He makes slaves to sin truly free (John 8:36).

An unbeliever is not free, for he is bound by sin. He cannot do the will of God, nor can he walk in the way of God. A believer, who has been set free by the Son of God, is able to do what he now longs to do, namely the will of God. The Lord Jesus is his new life, and that new life wants to do in him only what God wants, just as the Lord Jesus always did only what God wants.

If a person walks in liberty, he may even have to appear before kings (Psalms 119:46). He will “speak of Your testimonies” before them without being ashamed. There is no fear of man, but a desire to testify of Who God is even in the higher circles. Paul did so (Acts 25:23-24; Acts 26:1-2; 27-29; cf. Romans 1:16). We see the same thing with the friends of Daniel (Daniel 3:17-19) and John the baptist (Matthew 14:4).

Where there is love for the commandments of God, there is delight in them (Psalms 119:47). This theme runs like a golden thread throughout the psalm (Psalms 119:16; 70; 97; 113; 119; 127; 140; 159; 163). We experience this delight when we read and examine God’s Word. It is a characteristic that someone has life from God when he has love for ‘the love letter’ of God, the Bible. Someone who says he loves God but does not read His Word with love is a liar. When there is love for the commandments of God, these commandments do not press on the conscience like a burden, but are a joy to the heart.

The lifting up of the hands to the commandments of the LORD is an attitude of praise and prayer (Psalms 119:48; Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 141:2; Psalms 134:2; cf. 1 Timothy 2:8). In this attitude, the righteous will meditate on the LORD’s statutes that he may understand them and live them out to His glory. This attitude comes from the love that the God-fearing has in his heart for those statutes. This is evidenced by the fact that he meditates on the statutes of the LORD. In meditating, the faithful one is not focused on himself, but on Him to Whom the statutes belong. He is concerned with getting to know the LORD better.

Proverbs 6:25

/zayin/ Remember

The letter zayin is the seventh letter and is shaped like a scepter or a sword. The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It is the sixth letter, vav, with a crown on it. The zayin stanza begins with “remember” by the LORD (Psalms 119:49) and ends with “remember” by the psalmist (Psalms 119:55). When the LORD remembers His Word, it means that He is going to fulfill the Word concerning His promise of the future, when Christ will reign. Then He will be crowned with many diadems (Revelation 19:12) and no longer with a crown of thorns.

The hope that we will be glorified with Christ gives us strength to suffer with Him in the world (Romans 8:17). That is the theme of this verse. We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The joy presented to us in it helps us to run the race of suffering with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).

It is impossible for the LORD to forget the word He spoke to His servant. The fact that the servant asks Him to remember means that he is in affliction and it seems that the LORD has forgotten what He has said (Psalms 119:49). He has made him hope in His Word. Surely that hope will not be in vain.

The Hebrew word for remember, zakar, is an active remembrance, that is, it is an action. We see the meaning of the Hebrew words and names, for example, in Luke 1 with Zechariah, which is “the LORD remembers”, with Elizabeth, which is “[what] God swore”, and with their son John, which is “[fulfilled in] the grace of the LORD. Therefore, his name was to be John and no other name (Luke 1:5; 13; 59-63).

When God remembers His Word, it means that He saves His own in accordance with His faithfulness to His covenant (Hebrews 6:17-18). For the psalmist, the Word is to him personally, the LORD has spoken to him through that Word.

In the next verse he gives the answer himself (Psalms 119:50). His comfort in his affliction is that the LORD has “revived” him by His word. That is, he has appropriated God’s promise. Believers know that God’s word revives. Do we dare to appropriate what God has said?

The word implies that Christ will be glorified and crowned and will sit on His own throne. Then the psalmist will experience the blessing: he may sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21). He has experienced the vivifying power of God’s Word. People can speak words to comfort. Sometimes they are meaningless words, usually they are well-intentioned, but often they do not provide real relief. With the words of God, it is different. The words of God are living words; they have life in themselves.

The righteous must reckon with the biting, hurtful derision of the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:51; cf. Psalms 119:21). This is a powerful weapon of unbelief. We see these expressed, among other things, in objectionable cartoons. It should not surprise us. Rejection is normal. The Lord Jesus also experienced this, and particularly at His condemnation to die on the cross. Just as He did not deviate from God’s Word, neither does the suffering remnant (cf. Hebrews 12:2).

The believer comforts himself when he remembers the ordinances of the LORD from ancient times (Psalms 119:52). He then sees that the LORD has intervened at times when the wicked have particularly cornered His people. For example, we see how the LORD intervened for Moses and Aaron against the wicked band of Korah (Numbers 16:1-3; 28-35).

We forget quickly and easily, as the cupbearer forgot Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 23). That is why the Lord gave us His meal of remembrance to remember Him and His sufferings. When He instituted the Supper, He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The God-fearing is seized by burning indignation when he sees the law of the LORD being forsaken and trampled on by wicked people (Psalms 119:53). He feels this is an affront to the LORD and shares His feelings in it (cf. Romans 15:3). Forsaking the law of the LORD is equivalent to forsaking Him. This will be done in full by the antichrist, who will openly forsake the law.

We become accustomed, sometimes without realizing it ourselves, to sinful situations. Are we still seized by burning indignation about sinful practices such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, or have we become accustomed to it? Are we also still moved by the fate of people in the world, who are on their way to perish forever because they live without God and without hope?

The faithful remnant hates forsaking God’s law. In contrast, God’s statutes are his songs (Psalms 119:54). This is what the remnant will do during the great tribulation, when are in the house of their pilgrimage, i.e. when they wander the earth as strangers (cf. Hebrews 11:13). They have been driven out and fled from their land to the mountains (Matthew 24:16). In their hearts they have carried God’s statutes. These have been their songs.

Singing means that the Word was comforting to the psalmist, that it sounded like music to his ears in the midst of bigoted, hostile people who surrounded him. We can also sing of God’s Word when we are in need. It is a characteristic of redeemed sinners that they sing. Of angels we do not read anywhere in God’s Word that they sing. Also when we are with the Lord, we will sing. If we are engaged with the Lord and His Word on earth, a song of praise will rise up in our hearts in the practice of every day, no matter what situation we are in. Then we will sing a song like “Amazing grace”.

In the night of the great tribulation, they are determined by God’s Name by the statutes about which they have sung (Psalms 119:55). Thus a night of affliction becomes a night of praise and thus a testimony to the glory of the Name of God (cf. Acts 16:25). People of the world advise to count sheep when you can’t sleep. The psalmist says it is better to talk to the Shepherd. God’s law is inseparable from God’s Name. Whoever thinks of His Name, thinks of His Word, in which so much is written about that Name.

In Psalms 119:56, the God-fearing says why he was able to sing in the foreign land (Psalms 119:54) and think about God’s Name in the night (Psalms 119:55): it is because he observed God’s precepts. His thinking is not pondering, but doing. The path of obedience results in a song in which the Name of God is praised.

Proverbs 6:26

/zayin/ Remember

The letter zayin is the seventh letter and is shaped like a scepter or a sword. The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It is the sixth letter, vav, with a crown on it. The zayin stanza begins with “remember” by the LORD (Psalms 119:49) and ends with “remember” by the psalmist (Psalms 119:55). When the LORD remembers His Word, it means that He is going to fulfill the Word concerning His promise of the future, when Christ will reign. Then He will be crowned with many diadems (Revelation 19:12) and no longer with a crown of thorns.

The hope that we will be glorified with Christ gives us strength to suffer with Him in the world (Romans 8:17). That is the theme of this verse. We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The joy presented to us in it helps us to run the race of suffering with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).

It is impossible for the LORD to forget the word He spoke to His servant. The fact that the servant asks Him to remember means that he is in affliction and it seems that the LORD has forgotten what He has said (Psalms 119:49). He has made him hope in His Word. Surely that hope will not be in vain.

The Hebrew word for remember, zakar, is an active remembrance, that is, it is an action. We see the meaning of the Hebrew words and names, for example, in Luke 1 with Zechariah, which is “the LORD remembers”, with Elizabeth, which is “[what] God swore”, and with their son John, which is “[fulfilled in] the grace of the LORD. Therefore, his name was to be John and no other name (Luke 1:5; 13; 59-63).

When God remembers His Word, it means that He saves His own in accordance with His faithfulness to His covenant (Hebrews 6:17-18). For the psalmist, the Word is to him personally, the LORD has spoken to him through that Word.

In the next verse he gives the answer himself (Psalms 119:50). His comfort in his affliction is that the LORD has “revived” him by His word. That is, he has appropriated God’s promise. Believers know that God’s word revives. Do we dare to appropriate what God has said?

The word implies that Christ will be glorified and crowned and will sit on His own throne. Then the psalmist will experience the blessing: he may sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21). He has experienced the vivifying power of God’s Word. People can speak words to comfort. Sometimes they are meaningless words, usually they are well-intentioned, but often they do not provide real relief. With the words of God, it is different. The words of God are living words; they have life in themselves.

The righteous must reckon with the biting, hurtful derision of the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:51; cf. Psalms 119:21). This is a powerful weapon of unbelief. We see these expressed, among other things, in objectionable cartoons. It should not surprise us. Rejection is normal. The Lord Jesus also experienced this, and particularly at His condemnation to die on the cross. Just as He did not deviate from God’s Word, neither does the suffering remnant (cf. Hebrews 12:2).

The believer comforts himself when he remembers the ordinances of the LORD from ancient times (Psalms 119:52). He then sees that the LORD has intervened at times when the wicked have particularly cornered His people. For example, we see how the LORD intervened for Moses and Aaron against the wicked band of Korah (Numbers 16:1-3; 28-35).

We forget quickly and easily, as the cupbearer forgot Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 23). That is why the Lord gave us His meal of remembrance to remember Him and His sufferings. When He instituted the Supper, He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The God-fearing is seized by burning indignation when he sees the law of the LORD being forsaken and trampled on by wicked people (Psalms 119:53). He feels this is an affront to the LORD and shares His feelings in it (cf. Romans 15:3). Forsaking the law of the LORD is equivalent to forsaking Him. This will be done in full by the antichrist, who will openly forsake the law.

We become accustomed, sometimes without realizing it ourselves, to sinful situations. Are we still seized by burning indignation about sinful practices such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, or have we become accustomed to it? Are we also still moved by the fate of people in the world, who are on their way to perish forever because they live without God and without hope?

The faithful remnant hates forsaking God’s law. In contrast, God’s statutes are his songs (Psalms 119:54). This is what the remnant will do during the great tribulation, when are in the house of their pilgrimage, i.e. when they wander the earth as strangers (cf. Hebrews 11:13). They have been driven out and fled from their land to the mountains (Matthew 24:16). In their hearts they have carried God’s statutes. These have been their songs.

Singing means that the Word was comforting to the psalmist, that it sounded like music to his ears in the midst of bigoted, hostile people who surrounded him. We can also sing of God’s Word when we are in need. It is a characteristic of redeemed sinners that they sing. Of angels we do not read anywhere in God’s Word that they sing. Also when we are with the Lord, we will sing. If we are engaged with the Lord and His Word on earth, a song of praise will rise up in our hearts in the practice of every day, no matter what situation we are in. Then we will sing a song like “Amazing grace”.

In the night of the great tribulation, they are determined by God’s Name by the statutes about which they have sung (Psalms 119:55). Thus a night of affliction becomes a night of praise and thus a testimony to the glory of the Name of God (cf. Acts 16:25). People of the world advise to count sheep when you can’t sleep. The psalmist says it is better to talk to the Shepherd. God’s law is inseparable from God’s Name. Whoever thinks of His Name, thinks of His Word, in which so much is written about that Name.

In Psalms 119:56, the God-fearing says why he was able to sing in the foreign land (Psalms 119:54) and think about God’s Name in the night (Psalms 119:55): it is because he observed God’s precepts. His thinking is not pondering, but doing. The path of obedience results in a song in which the Name of God is praised.

Proverbs 6:27

/zayin/ Remember

The letter zayin is the seventh letter and is shaped like a scepter or a sword. The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It is the sixth letter, vav, with a crown on it. The zayin stanza begins with “remember” by the LORD (Psalms 119:49) and ends with “remember” by the psalmist (Psalms 119:55). When the LORD remembers His Word, it means that He is going to fulfill the Word concerning His promise of the future, when Christ will reign. Then He will be crowned with many diadems (Revelation 19:12) and no longer with a crown of thorns.

The hope that we will be glorified with Christ gives us strength to suffer with Him in the world (Romans 8:17). That is the theme of this verse. We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The joy presented to us in it helps us to run the race of suffering with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).

It is impossible for the LORD to forget the word He spoke to His servant. The fact that the servant asks Him to remember means that he is in affliction and it seems that the LORD has forgotten what He has said (Psalms 119:49). He has made him hope in His Word. Surely that hope will not be in vain.

The Hebrew word for remember, zakar, is an active remembrance, that is, it is an action. We see the meaning of the Hebrew words and names, for example, in Luke 1 with Zechariah, which is “the LORD remembers”, with Elizabeth, which is “[what] God swore”, and with their son John, which is “[fulfilled in] the grace of the LORD. Therefore, his name was to be John and no other name (Luke 1:5; 13; 59-63).

When God remembers His Word, it means that He saves His own in accordance with His faithfulness to His covenant (Hebrews 6:17-18). For the psalmist, the Word is to him personally, the LORD has spoken to him through that Word.

In the next verse he gives the answer himself (Psalms 119:50). His comfort in his affliction is that the LORD has “revived” him by His word. That is, he has appropriated God’s promise. Believers know that God’s word revives. Do we dare to appropriate what God has said?

The word implies that Christ will be glorified and crowned and will sit on His own throne. Then the psalmist will experience the blessing: he may sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21). He has experienced the vivifying power of God’s Word. People can speak words to comfort. Sometimes they are meaningless words, usually they are well-intentioned, but often they do not provide real relief. With the words of God, it is different. The words of God are living words; they have life in themselves.

The righteous must reckon with the biting, hurtful derision of the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:51; cf. Psalms 119:21). This is a powerful weapon of unbelief. We see these expressed, among other things, in objectionable cartoons. It should not surprise us. Rejection is normal. The Lord Jesus also experienced this, and particularly at His condemnation to die on the cross. Just as He did not deviate from God’s Word, neither does the suffering remnant (cf. Hebrews 12:2).

The believer comforts himself when he remembers the ordinances of the LORD from ancient times (Psalms 119:52). He then sees that the LORD has intervened at times when the wicked have particularly cornered His people. For example, we see how the LORD intervened for Moses and Aaron against the wicked band of Korah (Numbers 16:1-3; 28-35).

We forget quickly and easily, as the cupbearer forgot Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 23). That is why the Lord gave us His meal of remembrance to remember Him and His sufferings. When He instituted the Supper, He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The God-fearing is seized by burning indignation when he sees the law of the LORD being forsaken and trampled on by wicked people (Psalms 119:53). He feels this is an affront to the LORD and shares His feelings in it (cf. Romans 15:3). Forsaking the law of the LORD is equivalent to forsaking Him. This will be done in full by the antichrist, who will openly forsake the law.

We become accustomed, sometimes without realizing it ourselves, to sinful situations. Are we still seized by burning indignation about sinful practices such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, or have we become accustomed to it? Are we also still moved by the fate of people in the world, who are on their way to perish forever because they live without God and without hope?

The faithful remnant hates forsaking God’s law. In contrast, God’s statutes are his songs (Psalms 119:54). This is what the remnant will do during the great tribulation, when are in the house of their pilgrimage, i.e. when they wander the earth as strangers (cf. Hebrews 11:13). They have been driven out and fled from their land to the mountains (Matthew 24:16). In their hearts they have carried God’s statutes. These have been their songs.

Singing means that the Word was comforting to the psalmist, that it sounded like music to his ears in the midst of bigoted, hostile people who surrounded him. We can also sing of God’s Word when we are in need. It is a characteristic of redeemed sinners that they sing. Of angels we do not read anywhere in God’s Word that they sing. Also when we are with the Lord, we will sing. If we are engaged with the Lord and His Word on earth, a song of praise will rise up in our hearts in the practice of every day, no matter what situation we are in. Then we will sing a song like “Amazing grace”.

In the night of the great tribulation, they are determined by God’s Name by the statutes about which they have sung (Psalms 119:55). Thus a night of affliction becomes a night of praise and thus a testimony to the glory of the Name of God (cf. Acts 16:25). People of the world advise to count sheep when you can’t sleep. The psalmist says it is better to talk to the Shepherd. God’s law is inseparable from God’s Name. Whoever thinks of His Name, thinks of His Word, in which so much is written about that Name.

In Psalms 119:56, the God-fearing says why he was able to sing in the foreign land (Psalms 119:54) and think about God’s Name in the night (Psalms 119:55): it is because he observed God’s precepts. His thinking is not pondering, but doing. The path of obedience results in a song in which the Name of God is praised.

Proverbs 6:28

/zayin/ Remember

The letter zayin is the seventh letter and is shaped like a scepter or a sword. The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It is the sixth letter, vav, with a crown on it. The zayin stanza begins with “remember” by the LORD (Psalms 119:49) and ends with “remember” by the psalmist (Psalms 119:55). When the LORD remembers His Word, it means that He is going to fulfill the Word concerning His promise of the future, when Christ will reign. Then He will be crowned with many diadems (Revelation 19:12) and no longer with a crown of thorns.

The hope that we will be glorified with Christ gives us strength to suffer with Him in the world (Romans 8:17). That is the theme of this verse. We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The joy presented to us in it helps us to run the race of suffering with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).

It is impossible for the LORD to forget the word He spoke to His servant. The fact that the servant asks Him to remember means that he is in affliction and it seems that the LORD has forgotten what He has said (Psalms 119:49). He has made him hope in His Word. Surely that hope will not be in vain.

The Hebrew word for remember, zakar, is an active remembrance, that is, it is an action. We see the meaning of the Hebrew words and names, for example, in Luke 1 with Zechariah, which is “the LORD remembers”, with Elizabeth, which is “[what] God swore”, and with their son John, which is “[fulfilled in] the grace of the LORD. Therefore, his name was to be John and no other name (Luke 1:5; 13; 59-63).

When God remembers His Word, it means that He saves His own in accordance with His faithfulness to His covenant (Hebrews 6:17-18). For the psalmist, the Word is to him personally, the LORD has spoken to him through that Word.

In the next verse he gives the answer himself (Psalms 119:50). His comfort in his affliction is that the LORD has “revived” him by His word. That is, he has appropriated God’s promise. Believers know that God’s word revives. Do we dare to appropriate what God has said?

The word implies that Christ will be glorified and crowned and will sit on His own throne. Then the psalmist will experience the blessing: he may sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21). He has experienced the vivifying power of God’s Word. People can speak words to comfort. Sometimes they are meaningless words, usually they are well-intentioned, but often they do not provide real relief. With the words of God, it is different. The words of God are living words; they have life in themselves.

The righteous must reckon with the biting, hurtful derision of the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:51; cf. Psalms 119:21). This is a powerful weapon of unbelief. We see these expressed, among other things, in objectionable cartoons. It should not surprise us. Rejection is normal. The Lord Jesus also experienced this, and particularly at His condemnation to die on the cross. Just as He did not deviate from God’s Word, neither does the suffering remnant (cf. Hebrews 12:2).

The believer comforts himself when he remembers the ordinances of the LORD from ancient times (Psalms 119:52). He then sees that the LORD has intervened at times when the wicked have particularly cornered His people. For example, we see how the LORD intervened for Moses and Aaron against the wicked band of Korah (Numbers 16:1-3; 28-35).

We forget quickly and easily, as the cupbearer forgot Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 23). That is why the Lord gave us His meal of remembrance to remember Him and His sufferings. When He instituted the Supper, He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The God-fearing is seized by burning indignation when he sees the law of the LORD being forsaken and trampled on by wicked people (Psalms 119:53). He feels this is an affront to the LORD and shares His feelings in it (cf. Romans 15:3). Forsaking the law of the LORD is equivalent to forsaking Him. This will be done in full by the antichrist, who will openly forsake the law.

We become accustomed, sometimes without realizing it ourselves, to sinful situations. Are we still seized by burning indignation about sinful practices such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, or have we become accustomed to it? Are we also still moved by the fate of people in the world, who are on their way to perish forever because they live without God and without hope?

The faithful remnant hates forsaking God’s law. In contrast, God’s statutes are his songs (Psalms 119:54). This is what the remnant will do during the great tribulation, when are in the house of their pilgrimage, i.e. when they wander the earth as strangers (cf. Hebrews 11:13). They have been driven out and fled from their land to the mountains (Matthew 24:16). In their hearts they have carried God’s statutes. These have been their songs.

Singing means that the Word was comforting to the psalmist, that it sounded like music to his ears in the midst of bigoted, hostile people who surrounded him. We can also sing of God’s Word when we are in need. It is a characteristic of redeemed sinners that they sing. Of angels we do not read anywhere in God’s Word that they sing. Also when we are with the Lord, we will sing. If we are engaged with the Lord and His Word on earth, a song of praise will rise up in our hearts in the practice of every day, no matter what situation we are in. Then we will sing a song like “Amazing grace”.

In the night of the great tribulation, they are determined by God’s Name by the statutes about which they have sung (Psalms 119:55). Thus a night of affliction becomes a night of praise and thus a testimony to the glory of the Name of God (cf. Acts 16:25). People of the world advise to count sheep when you can’t sleep. The psalmist says it is better to talk to the Shepherd. God’s law is inseparable from God’s Name. Whoever thinks of His Name, thinks of His Word, in which so much is written about that Name.

In Psalms 119:56, the God-fearing says why he was able to sing in the foreign land (Psalms 119:54) and think about God’s Name in the night (Psalms 119:55): it is because he observed God’s precepts. His thinking is not pondering, but doing. The path of obedience results in a song in which the Name of God is praised.

Proverbs 6:29

/zayin/ Remember

The letter zayin is the seventh letter and is shaped like a scepter or a sword. The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It is the sixth letter, vav, with a crown on it. The zayin stanza begins with “remember” by the LORD (Psalms 119:49) and ends with “remember” by the psalmist (Psalms 119:55). When the LORD remembers His Word, it means that He is going to fulfill the Word concerning His promise of the future, when Christ will reign. Then He will be crowned with many diadems (Revelation 19:12) and no longer with a crown of thorns.

The hope that we will be glorified with Christ gives us strength to suffer with Him in the world (Romans 8:17). That is the theme of this verse. We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The joy presented to us in it helps us to run the race of suffering with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).

It is impossible for the LORD to forget the word He spoke to His servant. The fact that the servant asks Him to remember means that he is in affliction and it seems that the LORD has forgotten what He has said (Psalms 119:49). He has made him hope in His Word. Surely that hope will not be in vain.

The Hebrew word for remember, zakar, is an active remembrance, that is, it is an action. We see the meaning of the Hebrew words and names, for example, in Luke 1 with Zechariah, which is “the LORD remembers”, with Elizabeth, which is “[what] God swore”, and with their son John, which is “[fulfilled in] the grace of the LORD. Therefore, his name was to be John and no other name (Luke 1:5; 13; 59-63).

When God remembers His Word, it means that He saves His own in accordance with His faithfulness to His covenant (Hebrews 6:17-18). For the psalmist, the Word is to him personally, the LORD has spoken to him through that Word.

In the next verse he gives the answer himself (Psalms 119:50). His comfort in his affliction is that the LORD has “revived” him by His word. That is, he has appropriated God’s promise. Believers know that God’s word revives. Do we dare to appropriate what God has said?

The word implies that Christ will be glorified and crowned and will sit on His own throne. Then the psalmist will experience the blessing: he may sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21). He has experienced the vivifying power of God’s Word. People can speak words to comfort. Sometimes they are meaningless words, usually they are well-intentioned, but often they do not provide real relief. With the words of God, it is different. The words of God are living words; they have life in themselves.

The righteous must reckon with the biting, hurtful derision of the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:51; cf. Psalms 119:21). This is a powerful weapon of unbelief. We see these expressed, among other things, in objectionable cartoons. It should not surprise us. Rejection is normal. The Lord Jesus also experienced this, and particularly at His condemnation to die on the cross. Just as He did not deviate from God’s Word, neither does the suffering remnant (cf. Hebrews 12:2).

The believer comforts himself when he remembers the ordinances of the LORD from ancient times (Psalms 119:52). He then sees that the LORD has intervened at times when the wicked have particularly cornered His people. For example, we see how the LORD intervened for Moses and Aaron against the wicked band of Korah (Numbers 16:1-3; 28-35).

We forget quickly and easily, as the cupbearer forgot Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 23). That is why the Lord gave us His meal of remembrance to remember Him and His sufferings. When He instituted the Supper, He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The God-fearing is seized by burning indignation when he sees the law of the LORD being forsaken and trampled on by wicked people (Psalms 119:53). He feels this is an affront to the LORD and shares His feelings in it (cf. Romans 15:3). Forsaking the law of the LORD is equivalent to forsaking Him. This will be done in full by the antichrist, who will openly forsake the law.

We become accustomed, sometimes without realizing it ourselves, to sinful situations. Are we still seized by burning indignation about sinful practices such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, or have we become accustomed to it? Are we also still moved by the fate of people in the world, who are on their way to perish forever because they live without God and without hope?

The faithful remnant hates forsaking God’s law. In contrast, God’s statutes are his songs (Psalms 119:54). This is what the remnant will do during the great tribulation, when are in the house of their pilgrimage, i.e. when they wander the earth as strangers (cf. Hebrews 11:13). They have been driven out and fled from their land to the mountains (Matthew 24:16). In their hearts they have carried God’s statutes. These have been their songs.

Singing means that the Word was comforting to the psalmist, that it sounded like music to his ears in the midst of bigoted, hostile people who surrounded him. We can also sing of God’s Word when we are in need. It is a characteristic of redeemed sinners that they sing. Of angels we do not read anywhere in God’s Word that they sing. Also when we are with the Lord, we will sing. If we are engaged with the Lord and His Word on earth, a song of praise will rise up in our hearts in the practice of every day, no matter what situation we are in. Then we will sing a song like “Amazing grace”.

In the night of the great tribulation, they are determined by God’s Name by the statutes about which they have sung (Psalms 119:55). Thus a night of affliction becomes a night of praise and thus a testimony to the glory of the Name of God (cf. Acts 16:25). People of the world advise to count sheep when you can’t sleep. The psalmist says it is better to talk to the Shepherd. God’s law is inseparable from God’s Name. Whoever thinks of His Name, thinks of His Word, in which so much is written about that Name.

In Psalms 119:56, the God-fearing says why he was able to sing in the foreign land (Psalms 119:54) and think about God’s Name in the night (Psalms 119:55): it is because he observed God’s precepts. His thinking is not pondering, but doing. The path of obedience results in a song in which the Name of God is praised.

Proverbs 6:30

/zayin/ Remember

The letter zayin is the seventh letter and is shaped like a scepter or a sword. The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It is the sixth letter, vav, with a crown on it. The zayin stanza begins with “remember” by the LORD (Psalms 119:49) and ends with “remember” by the psalmist (Psalms 119:55). When the LORD remembers His Word, it means that He is going to fulfill the Word concerning His promise of the future, when Christ will reign. Then He will be crowned with many diadems (Revelation 19:12) and no longer with a crown of thorns.

The hope that we will be glorified with Christ gives us strength to suffer with Him in the world (Romans 8:17). That is the theme of this verse. We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The joy presented to us in it helps us to run the race of suffering with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).

It is impossible for the LORD to forget the word He spoke to His servant. The fact that the servant asks Him to remember means that he is in affliction and it seems that the LORD has forgotten what He has said (Psalms 119:49). He has made him hope in His Word. Surely that hope will not be in vain.

The Hebrew word for remember, zakar, is an active remembrance, that is, it is an action. We see the meaning of the Hebrew words and names, for example, in Luke 1 with Zechariah, which is “the LORD remembers”, with Elizabeth, which is “[what] God swore”, and with their son John, which is “[fulfilled in] the grace of the LORD. Therefore, his name was to be John and no other name (Luke 1:5; 13; 59-63).

When God remembers His Word, it means that He saves His own in accordance with His faithfulness to His covenant (Hebrews 6:17-18). For the psalmist, the Word is to him personally, the LORD has spoken to him through that Word.

In the next verse he gives the answer himself (Psalms 119:50). His comfort in his affliction is that the LORD has “revived” him by His word. That is, he has appropriated God’s promise. Believers know that God’s word revives. Do we dare to appropriate what God has said?

The word implies that Christ will be glorified and crowned and will sit on His own throne. Then the psalmist will experience the blessing: he may sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21). He has experienced the vivifying power of God’s Word. People can speak words to comfort. Sometimes they are meaningless words, usually they are well-intentioned, but often they do not provide real relief. With the words of God, it is different. The words of God are living words; they have life in themselves.

The righteous must reckon with the biting, hurtful derision of the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:51; cf. Psalms 119:21). This is a powerful weapon of unbelief. We see these expressed, among other things, in objectionable cartoons. It should not surprise us. Rejection is normal. The Lord Jesus also experienced this, and particularly at His condemnation to die on the cross. Just as He did not deviate from God’s Word, neither does the suffering remnant (cf. Hebrews 12:2).

The believer comforts himself when he remembers the ordinances of the LORD from ancient times (Psalms 119:52). He then sees that the LORD has intervened at times when the wicked have particularly cornered His people. For example, we see how the LORD intervened for Moses and Aaron against the wicked band of Korah (Numbers 16:1-3; 28-35).

We forget quickly and easily, as the cupbearer forgot Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 23). That is why the Lord gave us His meal of remembrance to remember Him and His sufferings. When He instituted the Supper, He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The God-fearing is seized by burning indignation when he sees the law of the LORD being forsaken and trampled on by wicked people (Psalms 119:53). He feels this is an affront to the LORD and shares His feelings in it (cf. Romans 15:3). Forsaking the law of the LORD is equivalent to forsaking Him. This will be done in full by the antichrist, who will openly forsake the law.

We become accustomed, sometimes without realizing it ourselves, to sinful situations. Are we still seized by burning indignation about sinful practices such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, or have we become accustomed to it? Are we also still moved by the fate of people in the world, who are on their way to perish forever because they live without God and without hope?

The faithful remnant hates forsaking God’s law. In contrast, God’s statutes are his songs (Psalms 119:54). This is what the remnant will do during the great tribulation, when are in the house of their pilgrimage, i.e. when they wander the earth as strangers (cf. Hebrews 11:13). They have been driven out and fled from their land to the mountains (Matthew 24:16). In their hearts they have carried God’s statutes. These have been their songs.

Singing means that the Word was comforting to the psalmist, that it sounded like music to his ears in the midst of bigoted, hostile people who surrounded him. We can also sing of God’s Word when we are in need. It is a characteristic of redeemed sinners that they sing. Of angels we do not read anywhere in God’s Word that they sing. Also when we are with the Lord, we will sing. If we are engaged with the Lord and His Word on earth, a song of praise will rise up in our hearts in the practice of every day, no matter what situation we are in. Then we will sing a song like “Amazing grace”.

In the night of the great tribulation, they are determined by God’s Name by the statutes about which they have sung (Psalms 119:55). Thus a night of affliction becomes a night of praise and thus a testimony to the glory of the Name of God (cf. Acts 16:25). People of the world advise to count sheep when you can’t sleep. The psalmist says it is better to talk to the Shepherd. God’s law is inseparable from God’s Name. Whoever thinks of His Name, thinks of His Word, in which so much is written about that Name.

In Psalms 119:56, the God-fearing says why he was able to sing in the foreign land (Psalms 119:54) and think about God’s Name in the night (Psalms 119:55): it is because he observed God’s precepts. His thinking is not pondering, but doing. The path of obedience results in a song in which the Name of God is praised.

Proverbs 6:31

/zayin/ Remember

The letter zayin is the seventh letter and is shaped like a scepter or a sword. The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It is the sixth letter, vav, with a crown on it. The zayin stanza begins with “remember” by the LORD (Psalms 119:49) and ends with “remember” by the psalmist (Psalms 119:55). When the LORD remembers His Word, it means that He is going to fulfill the Word concerning His promise of the future, when Christ will reign. Then He will be crowned with many diadems (Revelation 19:12) and no longer with a crown of thorns.

The hope that we will be glorified with Christ gives us strength to suffer with Him in the world (Romans 8:17). That is the theme of this verse. We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The joy presented to us in it helps us to run the race of suffering with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).

It is impossible for the LORD to forget the word He spoke to His servant. The fact that the servant asks Him to remember means that he is in affliction and it seems that the LORD has forgotten what He has said (Psalms 119:49). He has made him hope in His Word. Surely that hope will not be in vain.

The Hebrew word for remember, zakar, is an active remembrance, that is, it is an action. We see the meaning of the Hebrew words and names, for example, in Luke 1 with Zechariah, which is “the LORD remembers”, with Elizabeth, which is “[what] God swore”, and with their son John, which is “[fulfilled in] the grace of the LORD. Therefore, his name was to be John and no other name (Luke 1:5; 13; 59-63).

When God remembers His Word, it means that He saves His own in accordance with His faithfulness to His covenant (Hebrews 6:17-18). For the psalmist, the Word is to him personally, the LORD has spoken to him through that Word.

In the next verse he gives the answer himself (Psalms 119:50). His comfort in his affliction is that the LORD has “revived” him by His word. That is, he has appropriated God’s promise. Believers know that God’s word revives. Do we dare to appropriate what God has said?

The word implies that Christ will be glorified and crowned and will sit on His own throne. Then the psalmist will experience the blessing: he may sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21). He has experienced the vivifying power of God’s Word. People can speak words to comfort. Sometimes they are meaningless words, usually they are well-intentioned, but often they do not provide real relief. With the words of God, it is different. The words of God are living words; they have life in themselves.

The righteous must reckon with the biting, hurtful derision of the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:51; cf. Psalms 119:21). This is a powerful weapon of unbelief. We see these expressed, among other things, in objectionable cartoons. It should not surprise us. Rejection is normal. The Lord Jesus also experienced this, and particularly at His condemnation to die on the cross. Just as He did not deviate from God’s Word, neither does the suffering remnant (cf. Hebrews 12:2).

The believer comforts himself when he remembers the ordinances of the LORD from ancient times (Psalms 119:52). He then sees that the LORD has intervened at times when the wicked have particularly cornered His people. For example, we see how the LORD intervened for Moses and Aaron against the wicked band of Korah (Numbers 16:1-3; 28-35).

We forget quickly and easily, as the cupbearer forgot Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 23). That is why the Lord gave us His meal of remembrance to remember Him and His sufferings. When He instituted the Supper, He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The God-fearing is seized by burning indignation when he sees the law of the LORD being forsaken and trampled on by wicked people (Psalms 119:53). He feels this is an affront to the LORD and shares His feelings in it (cf. Romans 15:3). Forsaking the law of the LORD is equivalent to forsaking Him. This will be done in full by the antichrist, who will openly forsake the law.

We become accustomed, sometimes without realizing it ourselves, to sinful situations. Are we still seized by burning indignation about sinful practices such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, or have we become accustomed to it? Are we also still moved by the fate of people in the world, who are on their way to perish forever because they live without God and without hope?

The faithful remnant hates forsaking God’s law. In contrast, God’s statutes are his songs (Psalms 119:54). This is what the remnant will do during the great tribulation, when are in the house of their pilgrimage, i.e. when they wander the earth as strangers (cf. Hebrews 11:13). They have been driven out and fled from their land to the mountains (Matthew 24:16). In their hearts they have carried God’s statutes. These have been their songs.

Singing means that the Word was comforting to the psalmist, that it sounded like music to his ears in the midst of bigoted, hostile people who surrounded him. We can also sing of God’s Word when we are in need. It is a characteristic of redeemed sinners that they sing. Of angels we do not read anywhere in God’s Word that they sing. Also when we are with the Lord, we will sing. If we are engaged with the Lord and His Word on earth, a song of praise will rise up in our hearts in the practice of every day, no matter what situation we are in. Then we will sing a song like “Amazing grace”.

In the night of the great tribulation, they are determined by God’s Name by the statutes about which they have sung (Psalms 119:55). Thus a night of affliction becomes a night of praise and thus a testimony to the glory of the Name of God (cf. Acts 16:25). People of the world advise to count sheep when you can’t sleep. The psalmist says it is better to talk to the Shepherd. God’s law is inseparable from God’s Name. Whoever thinks of His Name, thinks of His Word, in which so much is written about that Name.

In Psalms 119:56, the God-fearing says why he was able to sing in the foreign land (Psalms 119:54) and think about God’s Name in the night (Psalms 119:55): it is because he observed God’s precepts. His thinking is not pondering, but doing. The path of obedience results in a song in which the Name of God is praised.

Proverbs 6:32

/zayin/ Remember

The letter zayin is the seventh letter and is shaped like a scepter or a sword. The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It is the sixth letter, vav, with a crown on it. The zayin stanza begins with “remember” by the LORD (Psalms 119:49) and ends with “remember” by the psalmist (Psalms 119:55). When the LORD remembers His Word, it means that He is going to fulfill the Word concerning His promise of the future, when Christ will reign. Then He will be crowned with many diadems (Revelation 19:12) and no longer with a crown of thorns.

The hope that we will be glorified with Christ gives us strength to suffer with Him in the world (Romans 8:17). That is the theme of this verse. We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The joy presented to us in it helps us to run the race of suffering with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).

It is impossible for the LORD to forget the word He spoke to His servant. The fact that the servant asks Him to remember means that he is in affliction and it seems that the LORD has forgotten what He has said (Psalms 119:49). He has made him hope in His Word. Surely that hope will not be in vain.

The Hebrew word for remember, zakar, is an active remembrance, that is, it is an action. We see the meaning of the Hebrew words and names, for example, in Luke 1 with Zechariah, which is “the LORD remembers”, with Elizabeth, which is “[what] God swore”, and with their son John, which is “[fulfilled in] the grace of the LORD. Therefore, his name was to be John and no other name (Luke 1:5; 13; 59-63).

When God remembers His Word, it means that He saves His own in accordance with His faithfulness to His covenant (Hebrews 6:17-18). For the psalmist, the Word is to him personally, the LORD has spoken to him through that Word.

In the next verse he gives the answer himself (Psalms 119:50). His comfort in his affliction is that the LORD has “revived” him by His word. That is, he has appropriated God’s promise. Believers know that God’s word revives. Do we dare to appropriate what God has said?

The word implies that Christ will be glorified and crowned and will sit on His own throne. Then the psalmist will experience the blessing: he may sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21). He has experienced the vivifying power of God’s Word. People can speak words to comfort. Sometimes they are meaningless words, usually they are well-intentioned, but often they do not provide real relief. With the words of God, it is different. The words of God are living words; they have life in themselves.

The righteous must reckon with the biting, hurtful derision of the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:51; cf. Psalms 119:21). This is a powerful weapon of unbelief. We see these expressed, among other things, in objectionable cartoons. It should not surprise us. Rejection is normal. The Lord Jesus also experienced this, and particularly at His condemnation to die on the cross. Just as He did not deviate from God’s Word, neither does the suffering remnant (cf. Hebrews 12:2).

The believer comforts himself when he remembers the ordinances of the LORD from ancient times (Psalms 119:52). He then sees that the LORD has intervened at times when the wicked have particularly cornered His people. For example, we see how the LORD intervened for Moses and Aaron against the wicked band of Korah (Numbers 16:1-3; 28-35).

We forget quickly and easily, as the cupbearer forgot Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 23). That is why the Lord gave us His meal of remembrance to remember Him and His sufferings. When He instituted the Supper, He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The God-fearing is seized by burning indignation when he sees the law of the LORD being forsaken and trampled on by wicked people (Psalms 119:53). He feels this is an affront to the LORD and shares His feelings in it (cf. Romans 15:3). Forsaking the law of the LORD is equivalent to forsaking Him. This will be done in full by the antichrist, who will openly forsake the law.

We become accustomed, sometimes without realizing it ourselves, to sinful situations. Are we still seized by burning indignation about sinful practices such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, or have we become accustomed to it? Are we also still moved by the fate of people in the world, who are on their way to perish forever because they live without God and without hope?

The faithful remnant hates forsaking God’s law. In contrast, God’s statutes are his songs (Psalms 119:54). This is what the remnant will do during the great tribulation, when are in the house of their pilgrimage, i.e. when they wander the earth as strangers (cf. Hebrews 11:13). They have been driven out and fled from their land to the mountains (Matthew 24:16). In their hearts they have carried God’s statutes. These have been their songs.

Singing means that the Word was comforting to the psalmist, that it sounded like music to his ears in the midst of bigoted, hostile people who surrounded him. We can also sing of God’s Word when we are in need. It is a characteristic of redeemed sinners that they sing. Of angels we do not read anywhere in God’s Word that they sing. Also when we are with the Lord, we will sing. If we are engaged with the Lord and His Word on earth, a song of praise will rise up in our hearts in the practice of every day, no matter what situation we are in. Then we will sing a song like “Amazing grace”.

In the night of the great tribulation, they are determined by God’s Name by the statutes about which they have sung (Psalms 119:55). Thus a night of affliction becomes a night of praise and thus a testimony to the glory of the Name of God (cf. Acts 16:25). People of the world advise to count sheep when you can’t sleep. The psalmist says it is better to talk to the Shepherd. God’s law is inseparable from God’s Name. Whoever thinks of His Name, thinks of His Word, in which so much is written about that Name.

In Psalms 119:56, the God-fearing says why he was able to sing in the foreign land (Psalms 119:54) and think about God’s Name in the night (Psalms 119:55): it is because he observed God’s precepts. His thinking is not pondering, but doing. The path of obedience results in a song in which the Name of God is praised.

Proverbs 6:33

/heth/ New

The eighth letter, heth, originally means “wall”, “enclosure”, “boundary”. Thus, the LORD surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield (Psalms 5:12). Our shield is faith (Ephesians 6:16), that is, full trust in God and His Word.

The corresponding number eight speaks of going beyond the limit of seven. Seven is a completed whole – seven days make a week full, make a week a whole – after which something new comes. We can apply this, for example, to the new life, to the resurrection, to the new covenant. The new life, as opposed to the old life, is able to be dedicated to the Word, because our new life is Christ.

In each of the eight verses of this heth stanza we find a synonym for the Word. It underscores the fact that the new life of the new covenant is characterized by love of and dedication to the Word (Psalms 119:57-60; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6-13), even though there are enemies all around (Psalms 119:61).

The psalmist can joyfully say that the LORD is his portion (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 142:5; cf. Numbers 18:20). He has chosen the LORD. What He possesses cannot be measured. The psalmist does not say that his portion consists of great riches and blessings, no, he says that the LORD Himself is his portion (cf. Genesis 15:1). The psalmist is so impressed by this that he has promised to keep God’s words. When we see what we have been given, namely, that God Himself is our portion, it will prompt us to the utmost obedience.

The God-fearing “sought” God’s “favor with all” his “heart” (Psalms 119:58). This “sought”, this effort, has made him realize that there is nothing he can do to please the LORD. The only ground on which the LORD accepts a man into His favor is His grace. Therefore, he asks that the LORD will be gracious to him, for this is in accordance with His word.

Literally it says: “With all my heart I am sick [that is, sick with desire] before Your face.” He has confessed in Psalms 119:57 that the LORD is his portion, but now he says that he longs with his whole heart for the presence of the LORD. That, according to the meaning of the letter heth, is the securely fenced area for which the psalmist so longs, namely, the living, daily fellowship with the LORD.

The psalmist indicates the basis of his request, namely grace on the basis of God’s word, His promise. For us, grace is no longer a promise, for grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), through which we receive grace upon grace of His fullness (John 1:16).

In Psalms 119:58, the psalmist asked if the LORD would be gracious to him. Now he learns the conditions, how the LORD can be gracious to him: by considering his ways (Psalms 119:59). He may consider God’s ways, but it is also necessary for him to consider his own ways. To consider one’s own ways means that a person examines himself in God’s presence and in the light of His Word. When a person reads the Word of God, it acts as a mirror through which he comes to know himself and his ways in the light of God (James 1:23-24).

God’s ways are always right; those of the righteous may well be crooked. It seems here that the righteous, in reflecting on his ways, has come to the conclusion that something has not been right. Indeed, he says that he has “turned” his “feet” to God’s testimonies.

“Turned” is literally ‘converted’, ‘turned around’. Here we see the cleansing process that takes place when a believer considers the Word. Some believers linger on considering and do not get to the point to ‘turn’. James speaks of such persons as hearers, but not doers of the Word (James 1:23-24).

After considering his ways in the light of the Word of God, the God-fearing makes a deliberate decision to keep the Word of God (Psalms 119:60). He resolves to obey the Word immediately in full awareness and confidence, without hesitation and without wavering.

There is new zeal to do God’s will without delay. ‘Did not delay’ means not wanting to lose a second. The psalmist not only wants to be a hearer of the Word, he wants to be a doer of the Word. He shows in what way he wants to be a doer. He doesn’t want to be a hesitant doer, a doer who has to sleep on it first, no, he wants to be someone who immediately does what God makes clear to him. The word “hasten”, means ‘immediately’, a word that is characteristic of the Gospel according to Mark where the Lord Jesus is painted as the perfect Servant of the LORD, Who ‘immediately’ does what the Father tells Him.

The saying ‘Haste makes waste’ does not apply when it comes to doing the will of God. The believer cannot be too quick to obey without delay when something becomes clear to him from God’s Word (cf. Matthew 4:19-22; Luke 19:5-6). There is often much reasoning first about the usefulness of something. When it comes to the commandments of God’s Word, such reasoning is out of the question.

Those who go their way with the Lord again must also count on new opposition (Psalms 119:61). The enemy becomes active when there is (renewed) dedication to the Lord. The purpose of his opposition is to make the believer unfaithful again to the law of the LORD, to the Word of God.

The deceitfulness of wealth, the lusts of the world, such as fame, entertainment, sex, can take away our joy in the Lord. Unconfessed sins and disobedience grieve the Spirit and take away the peace of the Lord. These things cause a breach in the fence of our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reminds us to hold on to what we have, lest anyone take away our crown (Revelation 3:11).

The righteous can say that he has not forgotten God’s law, which prevents the enemy from putting a breach in the fence and making him unfaithful again. After all, he has made the decision with resolute heart to remain close to the LORD always (Acts 11:23).

His gratitude is so great that he rises up at midnight, when it is dark, to give thanks to the LORD for His “righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). These ordinances are like a light in the night. He is not ruled by darkness, by ghost images, but by God’s Word. That, in addition to light, gives rest and peace and works a song of praise.

The psalmist’s subconscious is full of gratitude to the LORD. While some people wake up at midnight and lie down to doze off, the psalmist wakes up and continues what he went to bed with, which is to give thanks to the LORD.

He also knows that he is not alone (Psalms 119:63). He has companions, or rather he himself is “a companion” of all those who fear the LORD, as evidenced by their keeping His precepts. He belongs to those who fear the LORD, to that company he feels at home. With them he has fellowship. They can encourage each other mutually (Malachi 3:16). Those who love God and His Word also love fellow believers, regardless of race, nationality, or social status (1 John 5:1-3).

Many believers, including young believers, go wrong in the choice of their friends or even enter into an unequal yoke with an unbeliever. Such a wrong choice may be made because of disappointment in believers. Sometimes that choice is justified with the excuse of being of help spiritually to the other person. The result is predictable: the unbeliever is not helped, but the believer falls. Paul warns: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The psalmist seeks his company in the midst of those who love the Word. We too as believers have a calling, namely, to be a fellowship marked by Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9).

When the LORD blesses, He also makes His own a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). That is how the blessing is overflowing. This is the experience of the psalmist. The circle of his interest is widening (Psalms 119:64). He sees that the earth is full of God’s lovingkindness, although evil is still present. The blessings of the new covenant flow through the fullness of Israel to the nations (Romans 11:12). This is what happens when God rules. He does so through His statutes. The psalmist wants to know these and asks the LORD to teach him.

Proverbs 6:34

/heth/ New

The eighth letter, heth, originally means “wall”, “enclosure”, “boundary”. Thus, the LORD surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield (Psalms 5:12). Our shield is faith (Ephesians 6:16), that is, full trust in God and His Word.

The corresponding number eight speaks of going beyond the limit of seven. Seven is a completed whole – seven days make a week full, make a week a whole – after which something new comes. We can apply this, for example, to the new life, to the resurrection, to the new covenant. The new life, as opposed to the old life, is able to be dedicated to the Word, because our new life is Christ.

In each of the eight verses of this heth stanza we find a synonym for the Word. It underscores the fact that the new life of the new covenant is characterized by love of and dedication to the Word (Psalms 119:57-60; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6-13), even though there are enemies all around (Psalms 119:61).

The psalmist can joyfully say that the LORD is his portion (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 142:5; cf. Numbers 18:20). He has chosen the LORD. What He possesses cannot be measured. The psalmist does not say that his portion consists of great riches and blessings, no, he says that the LORD Himself is his portion (cf. Genesis 15:1). The psalmist is so impressed by this that he has promised to keep God’s words. When we see what we have been given, namely, that God Himself is our portion, it will prompt us to the utmost obedience.

The God-fearing “sought” God’s “favor with all” his “heart” (Psalms 119:58). This “sought”, this effort, has made him realize that there is nothing he can do to please the LORD. The only ground on which the LORD accepts a man into His favor is His grace. Therefore, he asks that the LORD will be gracious to him, for this is in accordance with His word.

Literally it says: “With all my heart I am sick [that is, sick with desire] before Your face.” He has confessed in Psalms 119:57 that the LORD is his portion, but now he says that he longs with his whole heart for the presence of the LORD. That, according to the meaning of the letter heth, is the securely fenced area for which the psalmist so longs, namely, the living, daily fellowship with the LORD.

The psalmist indicates the basis of his request, namely grace on the basis of God’s word, His promise. For us, grace is no longer a promise, for grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), through which we receive grace upon grace of His fullness (John 1:16).

In Psalms 119:58, the psalmist asked if the LORD would be gracious to him. Now he learns the conditions, how the LORD can be gracious to him: by considering his ways (Psalms 119:59). He may consider God’s ways, but it is also necessary for him to consider his own ways. To consider one’s own ways means that a person examines himself in God’s presence and in the light of His Word. When a person reads the Word of God, it acts as a mirror through which he comes to know himself and his ways in the light of God (James 1:23-24).

God’s ways are always right; those of the righteous may well be crooked. It seems here that the righteous, in reflecting on his ways, has come to the conclusion that something has not been right. Indeed, he says that he has “turned” his “feet” to God’s testimonies.

“Turned” is literally ‘converted’, ‘turned around’. Here we see the cleansing process that takes place when a believer considers the Word. Some believers linger on considering and do not get to the point to ‘turn’. James speaks of such persons as hearers, but not doers of the Word (James 1:23-24).

After considering his ways in the light of the Word of God, the God-fearing makes a deliberate decision to keep the Word of God (Psalms 119:60). He resolves to obey the Word immediately in full awareness and confidence, without hesitation and without wavering.

There is new zeal to do God’s will without delay. ‘Did not delay’ means not wanting to lose a second. The psalmist not only wants to be a hearer of the Word, he wants to be a doer of the Word. He shows in what way he wants to be a doer. He doesn’t want to be a hesitant doer, a doer who has to sleep on it first, no, he wants to be someone who immediately does what God makes clear to him. The word “hasten”, means ‘immediately’, a word that is characteristic of the Gospel according to Mark where the Lord Jesus is painted as the perfect Servant of the LORD, Who ‘immediately’ does what the Father tells Him.

The saying ‘Haste makes waste’ does not apply when it comes to doing the will of God. The believer cannot be too quick to obey without delay when something becomes clear to him from God’s Word (cf. Matthew 4:19-22; Luke 19:5-6). There is often much reasoning first about the usefulness of something. When it comes to the commandments of God’s Word, such reasoning is out of the question.

Those who go their way with the Lord again must also count on new opposition (Psalms 119:61). The enemy becomes active when there is (renewed) dedication to the Lord. The purpose of his opposition is to make the believer unfaithful again to the law of the LORD, to the Word of God.

The deceitfulness of wealth, the lusts of the world, such as fame, entertainment, sex, can take away our joy in the Lord. Unconfessed sins and disobedience grieve the Spirit and take away the peace of the Lord. These things cause a breach in the fence of our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reminds us to hold on to what we have, lest anyone take away our crown (Revelation 3:11).

The righteous can say that he has not forgotten God’s law, which prevents the enemy from putting a breach in the fence and making him unfaithful again. After all, he has made the decision with resolute heart to remain close to the LORD always (Acts 11:23).

His gratitude is so great that he rises up at midnight, when it is dark, to give thanks to the LORD for His “righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). These ordinances are like a light in the night. He is not ruled by darkness, by ghost images, but by God’s Word. That, in addition to light, gives rest and peace and works a song of praise.

The psalmist’s subconscious is full of gratitude to the LORD. While some people wake up at midnight and lie down to doze off, the psalmist wakes up and continues what he went to bed with, which is to give thanks to the LORD.

He also knows that he is not alone (Psalms 119:63). He has companions, or rather he himself is “a companion” of all those who fear the LORD, as evidenced by their keeping His precepts. He belongs to those who fear the LORD, to that company he feels at home. With them he has fellowship. They can encourage each other mutually (Malachi 3:16). Those who love God and His Word also love fellow believers, regardless of race, nationality, or social status (1 John 5:1-3).

Many believers, including young believers, go wrong in the choice of their friends or even enter into an unequal yoke with an unbeliever. Such a wrong choice may be made because of disappointment in believers. Sometimes that choice is justified with the excuse of being of help spiritually to the other person. The result is predictable: the unbeliever is not helped, but the believer falls. Paul warns: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The psalmist seeks his company in the midst of those who love the Word. We too as believers have a calling, namely, to be a fellowship marked by Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9).

When the LORD blesses, He also makes His own a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). That is how the blessing is overflowing. This is the experience of the psalmist. The circle of his interest is widening (Psalms 119:64). He sees that the earth is full of God’s lovingkindness, although evil is still present. The blessings of the new covenant flow through the fullness of Israel to the nations (Romans 11:12). This is what happens when God rules. He does so through His statutes. The psalmist wants to know these and asks the LORD to teach him.

Proverbs 6:35

/heth/ New

The eighth letter, heth, originally means “wall”, “enclosure”, “boundary”. Thus, the LORD surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield (Psalms 5:12). Our shield is faith (Ephesians 6:16), that is, full trust in God and His Word.

The corresponding number eight speaks of going beyond the limit of seven. Seven is a completed whole – seven days make a week full, make a week a whole – after which something new comes. We can apply this, for example, to the new life, to the resurrection, to the new covenant. The new life, as opposed to the old life, is able to be dedicated to the Word, because our new life is Christ.

In each of the eight verses of this heth stanza we find a synonym for the Word. It underscores the fact that the new life of the new covenant is characterized by love of and dedication to the Word (Psalms 119:57-60; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6-13), even though there are enemies all around (Psalms 119:61).

The psalmist can joyfully say that the LORD is his portion (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 142:5; cf. Numbers 18:20). He has chosen the LORD. What He possesses cannot be measured. The psalmist does not say that his portion consists of great riches and blessings, no, he says that the LORD Himself is his portion (cf. Genesis 15:1). The psalmist is so impressed by this that he has promised to keep God’s words. When we see what we have been given, namely, that God Himself is our portion, it will prompt us to the utmost obedience.

The God-fearing “sought” God’s “favor with all” his “heart” (Psalms 119:58). This “sought”, this effort, has made him realize that there is nothing he can do to please the LORD. The only ground on which the LORD accepts a man into His favor is His grace. Therefore, he asks that the LORD will be gracious to him, for this is in accordance with His word.

Literally it says: “With all my heart I am sick [that is, sick with desire] before Your face.” He has confessed in Psalms 119:57 that the LORD is his portion, but now he says that he longs with his whole heart for the presence of the LORD. That, according to the meaning of the letter heth, is the securely fenced area for which the psalmist so longs, namely, the living, daily fellowship with the LORD.

The psalmist indicates the basis of his request, namely grace on the basis of God’s word, His promise. For us, grace is no longer a promise, for grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), through which we receive grace upon grace of His fullness (John 1:16).

In Psalms 119:58, the psalmist asked if the LORD would be gracious to him. Now he learns the conditions, how the LORD can be gracious to him: by considering his ways (Psalms 119:59). He may consider God’s ways, but it is also necessary for him to consider his own ways. To consider one’s own ways means that a person examines himself in God’s presence and in the light of His Word. When a person reads the Word of God, it acts as a mirror through which he comes to know himself and his ways in the light of God (James 1:23-24).

God’s ways are always right; those of the righteous may well be crooked. It seems here that the righteous, in reflecting on his ways, has come to the conclusion that something has not been right. Indeed, he says that he has “turned” his “feet” to God’s testimonies.

“Turned” is literally ‘converted’, ‘turned around’. Here we see the cleansing process that takes place when a believer considers the Word. Some believers linger on considering and do not get to the point to ‘turn’. James speaks of such persons as hearers, but not doers of the Word (James 1:23-24).

After considering his ways in the light of the Word of God, the God-fearing makes a deliberate decision to keep the Word of God (Psalms 119:60). He resolves to obey the Word immediately in full awareness and confidence, without hesitation and without wavering.

There is new zeal to do God’s will without delay. ‘Did not delay’ means not wanting to lose a second. The psalmist not only wants to be a hearer of the Word, he wants to be a doer of the Word. He shows in what way he wants to be a doer. He doesn’t want to be a hesitant doer, a doer who has to sleep on it first, no, he wants to be someone who immediately does what God makes clear to him. The word “hasten”, means ‘immediately’, a word that is characteristic of the Gospel according to Mark where the Lord Jesus is painted as the perfect Servant of the LORD, Who ‘immediately’ does what the Father tells Him.

The saying ‘Haste makes waste’ does not apply when it comes to doing the will of God. The believer cannot be too quick to obey without delay when something becomes clear to him from God’s Word (cf. Matthew 4:19-22; Luke 19:5-6). There is often much reasoning first about the usefulness of something. When it comes to the commandments of God’s Word, such reasoning is out of the question.

Those who go their way with the Lord again must also count on new opposition (Psalms 119:61). The enemy becomes active when there is (renewed) dedication to the Lord. The purpose of his opposition is to make the believer unfaithful again to the law of the LORD, to the Word of God.

The deceitfulness of wealth, the lusts of the world, such as fame, entertainment, sex, can take away our joy in the Lord. Unconfessed sins and disobedience grieve the Spirit and take away the peace of the Lord. These things cause a breach in the fence of our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reminds us to hold on to what we have, lest anyone take away our crown (Revelation 3:11).

The righteous can say that he has not forgotten God’s law, which prevents the enemy from putting a breach in the fence and making him unfaithful again. After all, he has made the decision with resolute heart to remain close to the LORD always (Acts 11:23).

His gratitude is so great that he rises up at midnight, when it is dark, to give thanks to the LORD for His “righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). These ordinances are like a light in the night. He is not ruled by darkness, by ghost images, but by God’s Word. That, in addition to light, gives rest and peace and works a song of praise.

The psalmist’s subconscious is full of gratitude to the LORD. While some people wake up at midnight and lie down to doze off, the psalmist wakes up and continues what he went to bed with, which is to give thanks to the LORD.

He also knows that he is not alone (Psalms 119:63). He has companions, or rather he himself is “a companion” of all those who fear the LORD, as evidenced by their keeping His precepts. He belongs to those who fear the LORD, to that company he feels at home. With them he has fellowship. They can encourage each other mutually (Malachi 3:16). Those who love God and His Word also love fellow believers, regardless of race, nationality, or social status (1 John 5:1-3).

Many believers, including young believers, go wrong in the choice of their friends or even enter into an unequal yoke with an unbeliever. Such a wrong choice may be made because of disappointment in believers. Sometimes that choice is justified with the excuse of being of help spiritually to the other person. The result is predictable: the unbeliever is not helped, but the believer falls. Paul warns: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The psalmist seeks his company in the midst of those who love the Word. We too as believers have a calling, namely, to be a fellowship marked by Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9).

When the LORD blesses, He also makes His own a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). That is how the blessing is overflowing. This is the experience of the psalmist. The circle of his interest is widening (Psalms 119:64). He sees that the earth is full of God’s lovingkindness, although evil is still present. The blessings of the new covenant flow through the fullness of Israel to the nations (Romans 11:12). This is what happens when God rules. He does so through His statutes. The psalmist wants to know these and asks the LORD to teach him.