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Psalm 119:33-40
PSALMS 119:33-40
119:33 HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
Psa 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Psa 119:35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
Psa 119:36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Psa 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Psa 119:38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Psa 119:39 Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
Psa 119:40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
"Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good." (v.39)
God's judgments are good, though we often do not see them in that light. God is a God of mercy, but He is also a God of judgment. We need the judgment as much, and perhaps more than, we need the mercy. He is the "Judge of all the earth" (Gen. 18:25), and will take vengeance on those who dare to oppose Him and deny the sacrifice of His Son on Calvary. "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29), and the world will see His great wrath in the last days. His judgments are good in the sense that they are righteous judgments, and not biased or prejudiced, but always true, and terrible. The Lord turns away our reproach, by His grace, but be assured that judgment will come for us all. Christians will stand before the Lord for their works, and the unsaved will stand before God for their sin in rejecting Jesus Christ as savior. We need to ask the Lord, as the psalmist did, to turn our eyes from "beholding vanity" and avoid the place of judgment.
In this passage the psalmist repeats a few of his supplications to the Lord. He asks God to "quicken" him twice, and repeats his longing for God's Word, and his delight in It. Again, the psalmist mentions serving with his whole heart, and cries unto the Lord from a heart of desperate love. Oh, that we might have a heart for the Lord and His Word as this psalmist had, and that we might seek God as he sought Him, and we might "hunger and thirst after righteousness" as our Lord taught us we should. Until we learn to hunger, we cannot be filled; until we truly thirst after Him, we cannot slake our thirst. Seek after the Word as the Proverbs teach us to seek after wisdom, whose price is
far greater than rubies, or fine gold. How do we develop a love for the Bible that meets these requirements? By "abiding" in His Word, living in It all the time, on a regular basis.
--Marty Dunn
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