Psalm 119:42

Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the Bible, an acrostic poem in 22 sections, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and in Hebrew every verse of a section begins with that section’s letter. Verses 41–48 are the sixth section, headed VAU (also written Waw), so each of its eight lines opens with that letter. The pattern carries the psalmist’s devotion through the whole alphabet, from the first letter to the last, as a complete meditation on God’s word.

The psalm calls God’s word by at least ten names, and this one stanza uses many of them: word, judgments, law, precepts, testimonies, commandments and statutes. Each name brings out one side of the same revelation. “Commandments” speaks of God’s direction, “statutes” of his decrees, and “testimonies” of his solemn declarations.

The stanza before this one opens with a prayer to be taught God’s statutes (Psalm 119:33), and the psalmist has already spoken of his commitment and his longing for understanding. Here he turns to ask God to act for him. When the psalm was written is uncertain, though its love of the law fits the years after the exile well, when God’s law stood at the centre of the life of his people and gave them stability in a world often hostile to them.

“Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.” The word behind “mercies” is cheçed, God’s kindness and favour, the steadfast, loyal love he shows to the people he has bound to himself in covenant. The KJV’s plural points to the many ways that love shows itself. The psalmist asks that it “come” (bôwʼ) to him, and that is the order of grace: God’s mercy and salvation travel toward us, and we receive them as his gifts. He calls on God as “O LORD”, Yᵉhôvâh, the covenant name of the God who is faithful to his people, and the name itself is part of his confidence.

“Also unto me” makes the request personal. The psalmist knows that God loves his people, and he asks that the same love reach him in his own circumstances. The prayer for mercy in Psalm 51:1 leans on the same love, and Lamentations says that the LORD’s mercies never fail and are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23).

“Even thy salvation” names the form the mercy is to take. tᵉshûwʻâh means rescue: deliverance, help, safety, salvation or victory. In Israel’s life it covered deliverance from enemies, distress, sickness and sin, and the next verse shows one thing the psalmist needs rescue from, the man who taunts him. The word is related to the verb yasha, “to save”, from which the name Jesus (Yeshua) comes.

“According to thy word” is the ground of the whole prayer. ʼimrâh means something said, a word or speech, and here it is what God has said, his promise. The psalmist asks God to do what he has said he will do. The words “according to” (Hebrew ke-) mean “in keeping with”, so the petition becomes a confident appeal that rests on God’s character and promises, and the psalmist brings no merit of his own. God is no man, that he should lie (Numbers 23:19), and he remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). A few verses later the psalmist asks God to remember his word to his servant, on which he has hoped (Psalm 119:49), and Hebrews calls us to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy (Hebrews 4:16).

“So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.” The “So” ties this to verse 41: when God’s mercy and salvation come, the psalmist will have his answer. The verb châraph means to reproach or taunt, to say sharp things against someone. In Israel, where honour and shame weighed heavily, a public taunt was a real weapon. It questioned a man’s integrity, his faith, and the faithfulness of his God.

The English “wherewith” stands for dâbâr, the same word that closes the verse as “thy word”. The psalmist will have a word to answer with because he trusts in God’s word. The verb ʻânâh, “answer”, means to respond to words or to a situation, and it can also mean to testify. bâṭach, “trust”, properly pictures someone hurrying to a place of refuge, and figuratively it means to trust and be confident. The psalmist has run to God’s word for safety, and he finds there both the substance and the courage for his reply.

“And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.” Having asked for an answer, the psalmist now asks to keep the words to give it. “The word of truth” joins dâbâr, a word or speech, to ʼemeth, truth, certainty and trustworthiness, so it is God’s own reliable message. The verb behind “take”, nâtsal, means to snatch away, and it is used both of rescuing someone and of taking something away. “Utterly” is mĕ’ōd, “very, greatly, exceedingly”. The psalmist prays that his mouth (peh) will always have God’s truth to speak.

“So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.” The “So” comes again, and verses 41–43 lead here: the vow is the grateful answer to the faithfulness God is about to show. shâmar, “keep”, properly means to hedge about as with thorns, to guard, protect and attend to. Keeping God’s law means guarding it like a treasure and observing it with care. tôwrâh, “law”, means a precept or statute, especially the Ten Commandments or the five books of Moses, and in this psalm it covers the whole of God’s instruction for living with him. Israel’s covenant set out blessings for obedience (Deuteronomy 28), and the psalmist’s devotion, though deeply personal, rests on that covenant.

“Continually” is tâmîyd, continuance, an unbroken habit. “For ever and ever” joins ʻôwlâm, time out of mind, past or future, with ʻad, perpetuity. Together they reach as far as time itself. The vow echoes the command to meditate on the law day and night (Joshua 1:8) and to keep God’s words in the heart and teach them diligently to our children (Deuteronomy 6:6–7).

“And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.” hâlak, “walk”, is the Bible’s common picture of a way of life. “At liberty” is râchâb, from râchab, and it means roomy, broad, large or wide. The picture is a wide place with room to move, free from distress and narrow confines. The psalmist’s life is to be spacious and unhindered, the opposite of being hemmed in.

The reason follows. dârash, “seek”, means to seek, inquire of, require or care for, and properly to tread a path often, to follow in pursuit. The psalmist frequents God’s precepts and searches them out, as Proverbs urges us to search for wisdom as for hidden treasure (Proverbs 2:1–5). piqqûwd, “precepts”, means something appointed, a mandate of God, and it is used only in the plural, gathering God’s charges together as his law. The proud who wander from his commandments meet his rebuke (Psalm 119:21), while the one who seeks them walks in a broad place.

“I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.” ʻêdâh, “testimony”, means a witness, and God’s testimonies are his solemn declarations, which bear witness to who he is and what he requires. melek is a king. Kings held power over life and death, so to speak before them was to face the highest human authority, where a message could bring disapproval, ridicule or persecution. “Kings” can also stand for every human power that would silence God’s truth. bûwsh, “ashamed”, properly means to turn pale, and it also carries the sense of being disappointed. The psalmist expects to stand before rulers with his face unashamed, because the testimonies he speaks are true.

The “also” carries his private devotion into the most intimidating setting there is. The liberty of verse 45 grounds the courage of verse 46: the man who walks freely in God’s precepts is free to speak of them before anyone.

Scripture is full of God’s servants who did this. Moses stood before Pharaoh (Exodus 7), Nathan rebuked King David (2 Samuel 12), Elijah confronted Ahab (1 Kings 18), and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood before Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3). Jesus witnessed before Pilate (John 18:33). The apostles were sent to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8), and Paul spoke before Felix (Acts 24) and King Agrippa (Acts 26). Paul’s words fit this verse well: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16).

“And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.” shâʻaʻ, “delight myself”, means to look on something with pleasure, to please or amuse oneself in it. The psalmist means a glad absorption in God’s commandments, a joy he chooses and pursues. mitsvâh, “commandment”, means a command, and gathered together, the Law. It comes from the verb tsavah, “to command”, and it names God’s concrete instructions for life. ʼâhab, “to love”, means to have affection for a person, an object or a practice. “Which I have loved” describes a settled love, and the delight springs from it. Love comes first, and joy in obedience follows.

This is the delight of the blessed man of Psalm 1:2, and later in this psalm the psalmist cries out how he loves God’s law (Psalm 119:97). Paul delighted in the law of God after the inward man (Romans 7:22) and called it holy, just and good (Romans 7:12). Love for God’s commandments grows from love for God himself, whom Israel was told to love with all the heart (Deuteronomy 6:5). His law is perfect, sweeter than honey and richer than gold (Psalm 19:7–11), and Proverbs promises length of days and peace to the one who keeps his commandments (Proverbs 3:1–2).

The mercies and salvation the psalmist asked for come to us fully in Jesus Christ. God spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us all (Romans 8:32). Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and there is salvation in no other name (Acts 4:12). The psalmist prayed “according to thy word”, and in Christ all the promises of God are yea and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1), and “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), the word of truth in person.

Jesus bore reproach of a kind no one else has. When he was reviled he did not revile in return, but committed himself to the one who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:22–23), and his resurrection vindicated him. In him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). He spoke his Father’s truth before Pilate, and his church carries the word of truth to all nations (Matthew 28:19–20). The judgments the psalmist hoped in will be carried out perfectly by the rider called Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11).

Jesus also kept God’s law continually. His meat was to do the will of the one who sent him (John 4:34), and he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8). Under the new covenant God puts his laws into our minds and writes them in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). The Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6), and John adds that keeping God’s commandments is no burden to those who love him (1 John 5:3). So the delight of verse 47 becomes ours by grace.

This stanza begins with a man asking and ends with a man rejoicing, and the hinge between them is the mercy of the LORD. Everything he resolves to do, he resolves because God’s loyal love and salvation have come to him according to his word. God keeps what he has said. He gives his servant a word to answer the taunt, keeps the word of truth in his mouth, opens a wide place for his feet, and gives him courage before kings.

The stanza also shows that God’s commandments are good to love. The psalmist finds room to breathe in God’s precepts, joy in his commandments and food for thought in his statutes, and he lifts his hands to them as a man lifts his hands in praise. When you are taunted for your faith, or afraid to speak, verse 41 puts the first request in your mouth: “Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD.”