Exalting Jesus in Psalms 119

Daniel L. Akin

• Publisher: Holman Reference
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781087724492
• eBook ISBN: 9781087724508
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Exalting Jesus in Psalms, Volume 2, Psalms 51-100  is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this commentary series, to include 47 volumes when complete, takes a Christ-centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. Rather than a verse-by-verse approach, the authors have crafted chapters that explain and apply key passages in their assigned Bible books.
 
Readers will learn to see Christ in all aspects of Scripture, and they will be encouraged by the devotional nature of each exposition presented as sermons and divided into chapters that conclude with a “Reflect & Discuss” section, making this series ideal for small group study, personal devotion, and even sermon preparation. It’s not academic but rather presents an easy reading, practical and friendly commentary.
 
The author of Exalting Jesus in Psalms is Danny Akin.

Psalm 119

How to Be Blessed and Blameless before the Lord

Psalm 119:1-8

Main Idea: A blessed and blameless life comes by keeping, treasuring, and meditating on the Lord’s Word.

I. Walk according to the Lord’s Instruction (119:1).

II. Seek the Lord with All Your Heart (119:2).

III. Walk in the Lord’s Ways (119:3).

IV. Diligently Keep the Lord’s Precepts (119:4).

V. Commit Your Ways to the Lord’s Statutes (119:5).

VI. Meditate on the Lord’s Commands (119:6).

VII. Learn about the Lord’s Righteous Judgments (119:7).

VIII. Keep the Lord’s Statutes (119:8).

In his treatise “On Christian Freedom” (1520), the reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) wrote concerning the Bible,

One thing and one only is necessary for Christian life, righteousness and liberty. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the Gospel of Christ. . . . Let us then consider it certain and conclusively established that the soul can do without all things except the Word of God, and that where this is not there is no help for the soul in anything else whatever. But if it has the Word it is rich and lacks nothing, since this Word is the Word of Life, of truth, of light, of peace, of righteousness, of salvation, of joy, of liberty, of wisdom, of power, of grace, of glory and of every blessing beyond our power to estimate. This is why the prophet in the entire Psalm [119], and in many other places of Scripture with so many sighs yearns after the Word of God. (Luther, The Christian in Society, 314)

Luther’s words beautifully describe Psalm 119, one of the most important, valuable, and precious texts in all Scripture. It is the “Word of God” psalm with so many unique features:

It is the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses. It is longer than seventeen books in the New Testament and longer than each of the Minor Prophets with the exceptions of Hosea and Zechariah.

It is an alphabetic acrostic psalm, like Lamentations 3, built on the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse in each stanza begins with the same letter. For example, each of the first eight verses begins with the letter Aleph (א) in Hebrew. If this had been composed in English, verses 1-8 each would begin with the letter A.

Almost every verse makes reference to the Word of God. Franz Delitzsch well says of Psalm 119 that it is

“the Christian’s golden A B C of the praise, love, power and use of the word of God”; for here we have set forth in inexhaustible fullness what the word of God is to a man, and how a man is to behave himself in relation to it. (Keil and Delitzsch, Psalms, 735–36)

At least eight different terms or synonyms are used in reference to the Word of God: “instruction” or “law” (torah) twenty-five times; “word” (dabar) twenty-four times; “judgments” or “ordinances” (mispatim) twenty-three times; “decrees” (hedot) twenty-three times; “commands” (mitswoth) twenty-two times; “statutes” (chuqqim) twenty-one times; “precepts” (piqqudim) twenty-one times; “promise” or “word” (‘imra) nineteen times (Boice, Psalms 107–150, 971).

Stanza one, stanza Aleph, gives eight truths that lead to a blessed and blameless life before the Lord.

Walk according to the Lord’s Instructions

Psalm 119:1

Psalm 119 is composed of various genres: law, lament, praise, innocence, confidence, and celebration. However, it is “best to call it a wisdom psalm” (Ross, Psalms, 461; cf. VanGemeren, Psalms, 858). Verse 1 echoes Psalm 1, another wisdom psalm. It is a twofold blessing for those who walk in the Word. Happy, fortunate, and blessed are those persons “whose way is blameless” and “who walk according to the Lord’s instruction.” It is easy to see how the two ideas support each other.

Blameless people are people of integrity (cf. Ps 101; 1 Tim 3:1). Their manner of life is above reproach. They conduct themselves wisely because they walk in the Word. Like the man of Psalm 1, such a person “delight[s] is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night” (Ps 1:2). This man is blessed because he is blameless. His life knows nothing of duplicity or hypocrisy. There is no pretense in this man. He rejoices that happiness and holiness are his wonderful companions.

Seek the Lord with All Your Heart

Psalm 119:2

Verse 2 has a second blessing, and it may be the key that unlocks the entire psalm. The blessed person seeks the Lord “with all his heart.” This person passionately pursues his Lord above all else. And he understands that knowledge of God is discovered in his Word, “his decrees.” The word translated “decrees” or “testimonies” has covenantal connotations. Spurgeon says,

Blessedness is ascribed to those who treasure up the testimonies of the Lord: in which is implied that they search the Scriptures, that they come to an understanding of them, that they love them, and then that they continue in practice of them. We must first get a thing before we can keep it. (Treasury, 141)

Jeremiah 29:13 reminds us, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” Keep his decrees. Seek him with your whole heart. Be blessed!

Walk in the Lord’s Ways

Psalm 119:3

This verse echoes the wisdom of verse 1 and flows naturally from verse 2. If we seek the Lord with all our heart, we will not practice wrongdoing. The Message paraphrases, “You don’t go off on your own.” Staying close to the Lord, we will “walk in his ways.” God’s Word is our compass. His Word guides our course of conduct, our daily walk. God’s Word maps out our life. It forms our habits and directs our pursuits. Ligon Duncan says, “The way of the Lord is about walk, not talk” (“Not by Bread Alone”). He is right. People like that do not merely say the right things; they do the right things. Out of what I call gospel gratitude, they live out the word of the gospel of Jesus Christ that has transformed them and made them a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).

Diligently Keep the Lord’s Precepts

Psalm 119:4

God’s Word does not have suggestions for our consideration. They are commands from a king who demands our obedience. God’s “precepts,” his instructions, come to us with the force of a command, a divine order. They are God’s (“your”) precepts. Derek Kidner says, “The word points to the particular instructions of the Lord, as one who cares about detail” (Psalms, 418). And because these are the sovereign Lord’s particular instructions, they are to be “diligently kept.” We are to obey God’s Word fully and completely. Partial obedience is complete disobedience, just as partial faithfulness or honesty is complete unfaithfulness and dishonesty. We must delightfully fixate on keeping the instructions of our Lord. They are not a burden. They are our joy.

Commit Your Ways to the Lord’s Statutes

Psalm...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Series Introduction
• Psalm 119
• Works Cited
• Scripture Index