Psalm 119 - He

While in some stanzas the psalmist talks about God, either to an unspecified audience or within himself, in this stanza he talks exclusively to God. Some of his previous talking to God was to share his heart's passion or to declare what he had already done or was determining to do. In this stanza his talking to God consists entirely of prayer for help. Each verse contains at least one request; verse 37 has two. The author recognizes his inability to live the way he wants to live, and he asks God to do everything necessary to make that happen.

The psalmist's prayers are based on his fervent desire to walk in God's ways. He very much wants to do the right thing. In verse 35 he speaks of his delight to walk in God's ways. He wants to have reverence toward God (v. 38).  He sees God's Word as good (v. 39), and he longs for it (v. 40).

 

This man is willing to put action to his desire. He wants God to do His work, but as God works, the psalmist's intent is to obey whatever God shows him. If God will teach him and grant him understanding, then he is resolved to follow His ways to the end (v. 33) and with all his heart (v.34).

These prayers for help are perhaps rooted partly in the reality of failure noted in the previous stanza; they are also in part because the psalmist recognizes the wickedness within his own heart. He needs God's help because he knows where his heart wants to go on its own. Naturally, he would turn to dishonest gain, but he wants God to incline his heart toward the Word instead (v. 36). Without God's revival and intervention, this man's eyes turn toward vanity, worthless things that don't really matter (v. 37).

The psalmist dreads the consequences of these natural tendencies; he knows they will lead only to reproach (v. 39). Therefore, he prays repeatedly for God's help; any spiritual success will be not because of his own righteousness, but only because of God's righteousness working in him (v. 40). Because of his weakness, he does not limit his prayers to asking for God's teaching. He does ask for that (vs. 33-34), but he also asks for God's work in his spirit. He asks God to pull his heart toward the right desires and away from the wrong desires (v. 36-37). Twice he asks God to revive him (vs. 37 & 40). There is an internal work that must be done before he is able to obey externally.

The psalmist has repeatedly expressed his determination to walk in God's ways. "I shall keep Your statutes" (v. 8). "I shall not forget Your word" (v. 16). "I shall run the way of Your commandments" (v. 32). He continues his determination in this stanza: "I shall observe it to the end" (v. 33). He has mixed his determination with prayer in previous stanzas, but never yet to the extent that he does in this stanza, where he thoroughly bathes his determination with prayer for God's help. In fact, in this stanza he identifies God's help as a prerequisite for his spiritual success. The work of God comes first, and his obedience results only after God's intervention.

This is not the only Scripture to identify the essentiality of God's intervention in order for spiritual growth to occur. In Romans 7, the apostle Paul speaks at length of his struggle to do what is right. Paul's desire was right; he states, "I joyfully concur with the law of God" (v. 22). He very much wanted to do the right thing, but gives this evaluation in verse 18: "The willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not." Paul identifies the answer to his dilemma in verse 25; the only one able to give him victory is Jesus Christ. Even his desire came from God, however - a truth he identifies very clearly in Philippians 2:13: "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

This passion to walk in God's ways cannot be achieved on one's own. Any Christian relying entirely on determination or effort will fail. The desire to walk in God's ways is a work of God. This does not free a Christian from the responsibility of longing for God's ways, striving to walk in them, or placing himself in a position in which he can grow. It does mean, however, that those aspects must be accompanied with prayer. In addition to prayer for help in knowing the right way and following the right way, there must also be prayer for help in wanting the right way.

"Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it." Psalm 119: 35 (NASB)