"You are my portion, Lord;
I have promised to obey your words.
I have sought your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes.
I will hasten and not delay
to obey your commands.
Though the wicked bind me with ropes,
I will not forget your law.
At midnight I rise to give you thanks
for your righteous laws
I am a friend to all who fear you,
to all who follow your precepts.
The earth is filled with your love, Lord;
teach me your decrees."
-Psalm 119:57-64
This eighth section of the psalms deals with the eternal promises that come from the mouth of God. Let's start at the beginning. Reading through 2 commentaries on this passage, I was able to gather to important meanings from these verses. "You are my portion, O Lord. I have said that I would keep your words"- (vs 57, NKJV). Jennifer Odom commented on this verse that the word portion is translated out as "inheritance". When we decide to make God our portion, we are putting Him in the place of authority over our lives in the same way people would turn to riches and wealth, and prestige. Odom then went on to say that King David understood that as long as he had God as the first and foremost in his life, he had all he needed. Everything that God blessed him with was simply extra and nothing compared to the fullness that God the Father brings to our lives.The second half of this verse is almost a call to action between ourselves and God. Glenda Faye Mathes describes this as the psalmist telling God that he will keep his promises as God is gracious and loving enough to keep his. That is a bold statement to make, because even as faithful Christians, there are days when we stumble and miss the mark a little in regards to God's commands, but God in his loving mercy will never fail us. Since the beginning of time, God has been weaving our journey to find ourselves back in his loving arms.
" I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to your testimonies. I made haste and did not delay to keep your commandments."- (vs 59-60, NKJV) I like these verses because David acknowledges that even being as close to the Father as any other man in history,(almost), he still admits that he makes mistakes. What sets him apart as a man after God's own heart, though, is that he doesn't stay in the shame of his sin. He turns himself back to the Father and does so quickly, so to not lose another single moment in the presence of God. Even when we mess up, no matter how far we think we have fallen, God is always right behind us just waiting for us to turn around and ask forgiveness. He is not holding us at arms length, making sure we do a list of things to earn our forgiveness. The moment we decide to repent of our sins, He will always be right there waiting. I think back to the story of the Prodigal Son. The son of a wealthy man forced his father to give him his inheritance while he was still young and he went out and squandered it. After taking a lowly job of feeding slops to pigs, he came to his senses and decided to return to his father's household. On his journey home, he prepared the speech of forgiveness he would present to his Father, but before the first word of the apology escaped his lips, his father embraced him with the biggest hug imaginable, and the son was welcomed back into the home. In the same way, God wants all of his children to come back to Him, no matter what they have done, or how far they had backslidden.
"The earth, O Lord, is full of your mercy; teach me your statutes"- (vs 64 NKJV)
"The earth, O Lord, is full of your Everlasting Love; teach me your statutes"- (vs 64 ESV)
This last verse of the passage is powerful. The psalmist is saying, without any question or doubt, that the earth itself reveals the love and mercy of the Father. David is so attuned to the Father, that he goes about everyday throughout all of creation and continues to see God's handiwork in everything around him. Just as we find more things we enjoyed about a dear friend of ours, we should, in the same manner, continue to find more things that attract us to the grace and mercy that comes from God. It is easy to see God in all things because we have grown accustomed to looking for Him. God is easy to find when his children are diligently seeking him. He does not hide from his creation or his created, but wants us all to know him deeply with everything that is in us.
Adam Semple- A Young Man on a journey through the Psalms.
