Wednesday Bible study: Psalm 119 deconstructed part 2

 

Back here in Psalm 119, I see that many of the thoughts you can pull from one of the topics, you can pull from the others as well.  While there will be some similarities between these posts then, I will try to aim for the differences.  This week, the word/topic is God's TESTIMONIES.  To understand the topic here, I think John's gospel is the place to go:

Joh 5:36  But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 

Joh 5:37  And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 

Joh 5:38  and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 

What Jesus is saying here is, He-as God- is legitimate to testify about Himself, by His words and works, and the Father has testified of Him as well (when He was baptised), and God's testimony- Father, Son, and Spirit- is valid over any testimony of man.  Therefore, when David (who wrote the Psalm) speaks of testimony, he is speaking of what God says about Himself.

There were some interesting differences in what David said about these testimonies.  One that struck me came from verses 22 and 31.  Keeping these testimonies kept him (and us) from the bad reactions of others- reproach and contempt- and ourselves- shame.  He never says that it PROTECTS us from reproach and contempt, but that it REMOVES you from it- they can fling it, but it won't land.  How this works we can learn from the prophet Zechariah.  In chapter 3, he has a vision of the High Priest Joshua in Heaven...

Zec 3:1  Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 

Zec 3:2  And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 

Zec 3:3  Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 

Zec 3:4  And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 

Note: Satan accuses us. But Christ rebukes him, saying that we "have been plucked from the fire".  And then we are clothed with the grace Jesus won for us at the Cross.

The next thing that caught my eye was verse 36, where it links our leaning on the testimonies to leaning away from covetousness.  I wondered why this sin in particular, and I found that the commentators have linked many such verses with how they played out in the New Testament.  This one in particular plays into the Parable of the sower...

Mat 13:22  As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 

Coveting the things of the world choking the life from the seed planted in you.  Another such analogy comes in verse 59:

Psa 119:59  I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies. 

Which the commentators link to another Parable, the prodigal son:

Luk 15:16  And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 

But where it hits me is, there are MY ways, and there are God's Testimonies- and they don't go the same direction.

Another passage, and lesson, that caught me was from verse 46: that God's testimonies "also allow me to speak before kings, and not be ashamed".  His testimonies, our witness.

Triviality time:  Where last week's topic- Law- was only left off of one stanza, testimony is left out of 3.  BUT, where Law had one stanza where it was mentioned twice, testimony had 2.

The first was the stanza Tzaddi  (vv137-144) where the two actually combine to tell a single story: That God's testimonies are righteous and faithful, and that that righteousness is forever.  What does that mean to us?  We can trust them, to the utmost, and for everything.

The second is in stanza Schin (vv 161-168), where the two mentions are not only adjoining (vv167-8), but also draw in our next topic- Precepts:

Psa 119:167  My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly. 

Psa 119:168  I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee. 

Thus the two great reasons to study His Testimonies: because of the Love for us He shows, and because we are naked of soul before Him.  He is love, and He is judge.