Exposition of Psalm
119
?
MEM
God’s
Word Provides True Wisdom
Psalm
119:97-104
O
how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the
day.
Thou
through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine
enemies: for they are ever with
me.
I
have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy
testimonies are my meditation.
I
understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy
precepts.
I
have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might
keep thy word.
I
have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast
taught me.
How
sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than
honey to my mouth!
Through
thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every
false way.
As one reads this stanza,
he might find himself thinking, “Is this the same writer
who was just a few verses back floundering in despair?”
The entire stanza is filled with joyous praise of God’s
Word. There’s no mention of suffering and not even one
petition. All he can do is revel in God’s Word because
of what it has done and continues to do in his life. I
pray that is the reaction we will have as we explore
this stanza.
Of special note in
this stanza is the word wiser in
verse 98. While David uses words such as “know,”
“knowledge,” and “understanding” several times, this is
the only specific mention of “wisdom” in this Psalm, and
what an important word it is. As Proverbs 4:7 declares,
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.”
The Hebrew behind “get” (qanah) means to buy, to purchase, to acquire, to
possess, implying a business transaction. Wisdom is not
cheap; it will cost us something. But it is also an
investment that grows in value the longer we keep it.
The word most often
translated “wisdom” in our English Bibles is the Hebrew
chokmah,
which refers to a person’s ability to make the right
choices at the opportune times. In the Septuagint chokmah’s Greek
equivalents are sophos or sophia (clever,
skillful, experienced; e.g., Eph. 1:8,17; 3:10; Jas.
1:5; etc.), phronimos or
phronesis (sensible, thoughtful, prudent, wise;
e.g., Eph. 1:8; I Cor. 4:10; etc.), and suniemi
or sunetos
(intelligent, sagacious, prudent, wise; e.g., Eph.
5:17; I Tim. 1:7; etc. ). All these demonstrate the
depth of chokmah.
The ability to make
the right choices at the opportune times, however, is
only half the issue. How and where do we
get this?
To get a proper biblical understanding of wisdom,
it’s crucial to go back in history for a moment. As one
Hebrew authority recounts, the subject of wisdom was a
chief concern in the ancient near east. To the
Mesopotamians and Sumerians, it involved human
experiences, character, and counsel regarding practical
advice. To the Egyptians, it involved the concept of
ma’at (truth, intelligence,
justice), which brought order to the whole universe. To
the Greek mind, knowledge itself was virtue. According
to Plato, a person could live the good life if he had
perfect knowledge. Unlike those, however, which leave
the one True God out of the equation, wisdom in the Old
Testament is distinct in that it reveals a holy and just
God who demands that men live holy lives according to
His character and standards.[i]
In other words,
biblically, wisdom is not found in experience but
in revelation; the only way we can know wisdom is
if it is revealed to us. I like Dr. Roy Zuck’s
definition: “Wisdom means being skillful and successful
in one’s relationships and responsibilities . . .
observing and following the Creator’s principles of
order in the moral universe.”[ii] In that definition you find most
of the important elements of biblical wisdom. Where do
we find wisdom? We find it in what the Creator says,
which in-turn is found in Scripture
alone.
True wisdom, then, begins with a right
relationship with God. Unless we begin with God as our
presupposition, we will fail. Unless we start with God,
we will know nothing. “The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of knowledge,” Solomon tells us (Prov. 1:7).
The wise person believes that there is a
God (“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God,”
Ps. 53:1), he believes that He is the Creator and
Ruler of all things, and he believes that God has
put within His creation a divine order that, if
obeyed, leads ultimately to blessing. Wise people also
assert that there is a moral law operating in this
world, a principle of divine justice that makes
sure that eventually the wicked are judged and the
righteous are rewarded. Biblical wisdom has no
relationship to a person’s IQ or education, because it
is a matter of moral and spiritual understanding. It has
to do with character and values; it means
looking at the
world through the grid of God’s Truth, evaluating, discerning, and deciding everything
according to the absolutes of God’s
Word.
With that foundation, we
are prepared to appreciate fully this stanza and to note
three principles: the passion for wisdom, the provisions
of wisdom, and the permanence of wisdom.
I. The
Passion for Wisdom (v. 97)
O
how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the
day.
As noted back in our
study of verse 47, there are eleven statements in this
Psalm of David’s love for the Word of God.[iii] The Hebrew word
used in all of them (’ahab)
speaks of “a strong emotional attachment to and desire
either to possess or to be in the presence of the
object.”[iv]
David also adds that
God Word was his meditation all the
day. No matter where he was, what he was
doing, or who he was with, the Word permeated his
thoughts. C. H. Mackintosh, the great
19th Century Plymouth
Brethren preacher and writer, challenges us with these
words:
How can a soul prosper, how can
there be growth in the divine life where there is no
real love for the Bible or for books which unfold the
precious contents of the Bible to our souls? Is it
possible that a Christian can be in a healthy condition
of soul who really prefers some light work to a volume
designed for true spiritual edification? We cannot
believe it. We are persuaded that all true-hearted,
earnest Christians—all who truly desire to get on in
divine things, all who really love Christ and desire
heaven and heavenly things—all such will be found
diligently reading the Holy Scriptures and thankfully
availing themselves of all good, helpful books which
come within their reach.[v]
The great reformer Martin
Luther’s love for Scripture was truly
remarkable:
For some years now, I have read
through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the
Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little
branch, I have shaken every one of these branches
because I wanted to know what it was and what it
meant.[vi]
Luther was also deeply
burdened by those who were not consumed by Scripture. In
a preface to his commentary on Psalm 118, he wrote what
could have been written in our own day:
The neglect of Scripture, even by
spiritual leaders, is one of the greatest evils in the
world. Everything else, arts or literature, is pursued
and practiced day and night, and there is no end of
labor and effort; but Holy Scripture is neglected as
though there were no need of it. . . . May Christ our
Lord help us by His Spirit to love and honor His holy
Word with all our hearts.[vii]
How sad it is that
many Christian leaders today are more interested in
politics, philosophy, pop-psychology, “felt-needs,” and
marketing strategies for building the Church instead of
the Word of God alone. There are, in fact, as mentioned
in our last study (see note 1 there), Christian leaders
who say we “you cannot start with a text,” that we must
start where people are and go from there, start with
their needs and interests. That’s where we are today. We
are starting with people instead of starting with
God.
Oh, where is our
love for
God’s Word, even among church leaders? We are compelled
to ask, and we believe it is a valid question: can
anyone truthfully be called a Christian who does not
love God’s Word? Our Lord made it clear, “If ye love me,
keep my commandments” (Jn. 14:15). The Apostle John
echoed: “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is
the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in
him” (I Jn. 2:5). We cannot keep God’s Word
unless we know It, and we cannot know It unless
we love it.
Why do we love God’s
Word? Because it is there alone that we find God and His
wisdom. Puritan Charles Bridges writes: “The professor
may read and understand, and even externally obey
the law; but the believer only loves it; and he lives in it, as if he could not live
without it.”[viii]
This leads right to a
second truth, which in-turn includes several
principles.
II. The
Provisions of Wisdom (vs. 98-104a)
Thou
through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine
enemies: for they are ever with
me.
I
have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy
testimonies are my meditation.
I
understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy
precepts.
I
have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might
keep thy word.
I
have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast
taught me.
How
sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than
honey to my mouth!
Through
thy precepts I get understanding:
We see in these verses
four major provisions that wisdom supplies.
It Provides
Superiority (vs. 98-100)
Thou
through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine
enemies: for they are ever with
me.
I
have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy
testimonies are my meditation.
I
understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy
precepts.
We use the word
superiority here with great care. By it we do
not mean that we are superior in
ourselves, that we are better or smarter than
everyone else. Rather we mean that the Word of God is
superior and we embrace that alone. That is precisely
what David means with the words, Thou through thy
commandments hast made me wiser than mine
enemies. David wasn’t wiser in
himself, but he was in the
Word.
David then expounds
further with a fascinating statement: I have more
understanding than all my teachers and
I understand
more than the ancients. The Hebrew behind
ancients
(zaqen) speaks of an old man
or an elder, who was a civil official in Israelite
society. David is saying, therefore, that he has more
understanding than the civil leaders and those who are
considered wise by virtue of their age and life
experience. It is possible that this could refer even
further back to sages and philosophers of bygone
days.
Is David being
arrogant? Indeed not. People of the world pride
themselves in their knowledge and scholarship. While
there is nothing wrong with scholarship—in fact, it is
absolutely necessary for many endeavors and vocations
(including the pulpit ministry)—knowledge alone is
insufficient at best and totally empty at worst. Notice
that David does not say he is smarter or
even has more knowledge than those around him or
those who have come before him. Rather He says he has
more wisdom and understanding.
As one commentator
observes, a vivid example of this is the evolutionistic
anthropology professor or the humanistic psychology
professor who by clever argument twists a young
Christian student into knots. But God doesn’t say we
have more knowledge, rather more wisdom.
He doesn’t say that we will be clever; he simply
says that we will be right if
we proclaim the truth.[ix] That is
wisdom. By itself, knowledge is irrelevant; only
with wisdom is knowledge important.
We are reminded here
of when Peter and John were questioned by the Sadducees
in Acts 4. What a picture! Here we see a group of
brilliant, knowledgeable men who took great pride in
their classic education. But when they listened to the
things Peter and John said, they “marveled”
(thaumazo), that is, they were struck with
admiration and astonishment because Peter and John were
uneducated. We can just picture them looking at other
dumfounded and asking, “Where did these men get this
kind of knowledge?” Why were they astonished? Because
while they had far more knowledge, Peter and John
had more wisdom because “they
had been with Jesus” (v. 13).
Where can we be with Jesus
today? Some people look for Jesus in visions and dreams,
but He is not there. Others look for him in their own
inner urgings that they claim are new revelation from
Him, but He is not there. We will find Jesus today only
in His Word.
It Provides
Separation (v. 101)
I
have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might
keep thy word.
What quality, more
than any other, differentiates the Christian from the
non-Christian? Holiness. Through the ages such
separation from the world and its evils has
characterized the true believer. Spurgeon says it well,
“There is no treasuring up the holy word unless there is
a casting out of all unholiness.” If we may say it this
way: we do not love the Word if we live like the
world.
Refrained
translates a Hebrew word (kala’)
that means to close, to hinder, to restrain. It’s used
in Genesis 8:2 for when God “restrained” the rain after
the Flood. A graphic example appears in 1 Samuel 25.
After protecting Nabal’s sheep, David, according to the
custom of the day, sent some young men to ask Nabal for
a gift in return. Nabal answered them with so much
contempt, however, that David was enraged and took about
400 men with him to punish Nabal. Learning of her
husband’s folly and David’s intention, Abigail gathered
a large amount of food and intercepted David, pleading
for forgiveness. David’s response in verse 33 was,
“Blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast
kept [kala’] me this day from coming to shed blood, and from
avenging myself with mine own hand.” This word, then,
demonstrates the holding back of strong intentions and
drives.
Why is this true?
Because holiness of life is how we keep [God’s]
word, David says. That is how we obey. The
two greatest evidences of true conversion, in fact, are
obedience to God’s Word (Jn. 14:15, 23; I Jn.
2:1-5) and holiness of life (Eph. 4:24; I Thess.
4:3-4, 7; etc.). Moses refused the things of Egypt (Heb.
11:25), Ruth separated herself from Moab (Ruth 1:16-17),
Jeremiah wished he could just get away from his own
people because of their adultery and treachery (Jer.
9:2), Paul entreated the Corinthians, “not to keep
company, if any man that is called a brother be a
fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or
a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not
to eat” (I Cor. 5:11), and on the examples go. Again,
holiness of life is how we keep [God’s]
word.
It Provides
Schooling (v. 102)
I
have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast
taught me.
Some people pride
themselves in the accredited school they attended.
Others take satisfaction in the degree they earned.
Other more “down to earth” folks take pride in the fact
that the only school they went to was “the school of
hard knocks.” While all of that education certainly has
its own value, the greatest schooling, David declares,
are the judgments
that God had taught.
Again, judgments
(mishpat)
indicates a binding judicial decision that establishes a
precedent, a binding law. Just as an attorney will plead
past precedents to try to prove his case, the greatest
schooling, the greatest lessons of life, the most
important things we can learn are the precedents set
down in God’s Word.
If I thought it would
help, I would fill up an entire page with a repetition
of that last phrase. As we have noted before,[x] many Bible interpreters
ignore the precedents of Scripture. We do so at our
peril.
It Provides
Sweetness (vs. 103-104a)
How
sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than
honey to my mouth!
Through
thy precepts I get understanding:
Oh, how I love verse
103! As my friends and relatives know, I don’t have a
“sweet tooth,” but “sweet fangs.” I do love sweets, and
it is something that I have to control (or actually what
my wife helps control for me). To the Psalmist, however,
as sweet and
wonderful as honey was
to the taste, the words of
God were far sweeter.
This is especially
significant in the Hebrew. As we have noted before,
there are two words translated “word” or words in
this Psalm. The first (dabar) means “a word or
speech” and is a general term for God’s revelation. The
second, however, ‘imrah, is a rare poetic word
that appears more in this Psalm than everywhere else
combined and pictures not just a concept or thought but
the very words of God. Just as we might savor
every small bite of that piece of cherry piece or
chocolate cake (am I making you hungry?), David savored
every single word of God’s revelation. Why?
Because only through God precepts
did he get
understanding.
Here, in fact, we
see a reason why expository preaching is so vitally
important. In a day where topical, thematic, and issue
oriented “preaching” virtually rules the church, these
types of preaching simply do not hinge solely upon the
text, that is, the words of
Scripture. Only systematic exposition stays true to the
words in their individual meaning and the context in
which they appear. It is historical fact that the
strongest, most effective preaching in the church’s
history has always been exposition. It’s only the
expositor who truly loves the Word because he
loves the words.
Dear Christian Friend, is
that how much you love the Word of God?
III. The
Permanence of Wisdom (v. 104b)
therefore
I hate every false way.
The word every
(kol)is
significant here. It is a particle meaning every, all,
everything, the whole, entire. When used before a
definite noun, as it is here, it expresses the whole of
that noun, such as when Noah and his sons spread over
“the whole earth” (Gen. 9:19). David, therefore, hated
anything false,
each and every departure from wisdom, all
untruth as a whole.
Is it not
interesting that David begins this stanza with “love”
but ends it with hate? The
reason is obvious. We simply cannot love God’s Word
without hating that which is contrary to it. The
challenge is clear. Do we hate every
untruth? Do
we hate any ungodly behavior? Do we hate any false
teaching? Do we hate any departure from the precedents of Scripture?
If we do not hate such things, we simply do not love
God’s Word. Oh, that we can say with David: “O how love
I thy law!”
[ii] Biblical
Theology of the Old Testament
(Chicago: Moody, 1991), p. 232.
[iii] Vs. 47, 48, 97, 113, 119,
127, 132, 159, 163, 165, 167.
[iv] Vine’s, under the entry
“Love (To).”
[v] C. H. Mackintosh,
Short Papers, Section
6.
[vi], TableTalk,
October 21,1532. Luther’s Works, (Fortress Press, 1967), Vol. 54, p.
165
[vii] Luther’s
Works, Vol. 14, p.
46.
[viii] Bridges, p. 246 (emphasis
in the original).
[ix] Adapted from Philipps, p.
355.
[x] See the word “judgments”
in our introduction to Psalm 119, as well as the
exposition of verses 7 and
62.
