#855 Waw

Waw

41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord,

your salvation according to your promise;

42 then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,

for I trust in your word.

43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,

for my hope is in your rules.

44 I will keep your law continually,

forever and ever,

45 and I shall walk in a wide place,

for I have sought your precepts.

46 I will also speak of your testimonies before kings

and shall not be put to shame,

47 for I find my delight in your commandments,

which I love.

48 I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,

and I will meditate on your statutes. Psalm 119: 41-48 ESV

A continuation of Psalm 119, trusting in the Word of God. Waw or Vav in modern Hebrew is the 6th letter of the Aleph-Bet, also representing the number 6. The Vav looks like the figure atop the camel's hump in the letter Gimel. Six is also the day on which man was created and the number representing man.

Let Your steadfast love come to me, O Lord - The more we read and study God's revelation, the more apparent is the need for His mercy to us. It is not knowledge for knowledge sake, for the sake of being puffed up, but rather brought low and and to be changed, conformed to the image of Christ. He is the full revelation of God, the Word living among us, and the salvation that the Psalmist looks forward to. Spare me Lord, like Isaac, provide a Ram in the thicket.

Your salvation according to Your promise - Messiah was promised in the garden, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. The picture is made progressively more clear in the ark, God's covenant with Abraham, His substitution for Isaac, wrestling with Jacob, redeeming Israel from bondage. Each dispensation brings more light, and this is all in accordance with God's word.

- Even thy salvation. This is the sum and crown of all mercies-- deliverance from all evil, both now and for ever. Here is the first mention of salvation in the Psalm, and it is joined with mercy: "By grace are ye saved"... Salvation is styled "thy salvation, "thus ascribing it wholly to the Lord: "He that is our God is the God of salvation." What a mass of mercies are heaped together in the one salvation of our Lord Jesus! It includes the mercies which spare us before our conversion, and lead up to it. Then comes calling mercy, regenerating mercy, converting mercy, justifying mercy, pardoning mercy. Nor can we exclude from complete salvation any of those many mercies which are needed to conduct the believer safe to glory. Salvation is an aggregate of mercies incalculable in number, priceless in value, incessant in application, eternal in endurance. To the God of our mercies be glory, world without end. C. H. Spurgeon

Then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me - David is a man of war, but he is not asking for carnal weapons. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against unbelief, ungodliness, and that proud nature that lies in the hearts of all men, ourselves included. If God will save him, raise him unto new life, then this is for him all the evidence he needs to confront them. He already believes there is God, that God's law is good, but the strength to walk in it, to understand it, to be changed by it, obedience to God before men, this will be the greatest rebuke to their argument. 

…15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a lamp-stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.… Matthew 5: 15-17

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth - I have pondered often the doctrines of grace, and I find them to be great truths, but shall I have only the table talk of God's sovereignty or is it so real in my heart and life that I am no longer so easily shaken? Have I the right to speak words that I do not practice? God's word will always be true, but I should not like to seem a liar for my experience. Once a man chooses the outside of the cup, to cover up his actual state, to appear righteous before men, but unrepentant before the Lord, God's word is no longer in him. Let us worry of our outward state for the honor of our Savior, but let us not be false in our religion, let us worship in spirit and in truth. 

- For I have hoped in thy judgments. He had expected God to appear and vindicate his cause, that so he might speak with confidence concerning his faithfulness. God is the author of our hopes, and we may most fittingly entreat him to fulfil them. The judgments of his providence are the outcome of his word; what he says in the Scriptures he actually performs in his government; we may therefore look for him to show himself strong on the behalf of his own threatenings and promises, and we shall not look in vain. God's ministers are sometimes silenced through the sins of their people, and it becomes them to plead against such a judgment; better far that they should suffer sickness or poverty than that the candle of the gospel should be put out among them, and that thus they should be left to perish without remedy. C. H. Spurgeon

I will keep Your law continually - This is a grand statement, but what did you believe? Who did you believe in? Salvation will always lead to gratitude, and those He justifies, He will also sanctify. The desire of obedience is a telling sign.

- God's grace alone can enable us to keep his commandments without break and without end; eternal love must grant us eternal life, and out of this will come everlasting obedience. There is no other way to ensure our perseverance in holiness but by the word of truth abiding in us, as David prayed it might abide with him. C. H. Spurgeon

And I shall walk in a wide place - Whom the Son sets free shall be free indeed. Sin is our captor, but our minds are warped, spirits are dead, and so we have this spiritual Stockholm syndrome, always defending the way of our captor. David has sought God's writ, His rules for thought and behavior, and moved from the darkness of the dungeon to the light of all outdoors. He is unchained from sin, and now free as the slave of God. 

…16 He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing. 17 Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! 18 I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.…

…19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’… Luke 15: 16-21

I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I shall not be put to shame -

- This is part of his liberty; he is free from fear of the greatest, proudest, and most tyrannical of men. David was called to stand before kings when he was an exile; and afterwards, when he was himself a monarch, he knew the tendency of men to sacrifice their religion to pomp and statecraft; but it was his resolve to do nothing of the kind. He would sanctify politics, and make cabinets know that the Lord alone is governor among the nations. As a king he would speak to kings concerning the King of kings. He says, "I will speak": prudence might have suggested that his life and conduct would be enough, and that it would be better not to touch upon religion in the presence of royal personages who worshipped other gods, and claimed to be right in so doing. He had already most fittingly preceded this resolve by the declaration, "I will walk, "but he does not make his personal conduct an excuse for sinful silence, for he adds, "I will speak." David claimed religious liberty, and took care to use it, for he spoke out what he believed, even when he was in the highest company. In what he said he took care to keep to God's own word, for he says, "I will speak of thy testimonies." C. H. Spurgeon

I will lift up my hands toward Your commandments, which I love - They have become his prayer and his meditation. Love is a very strong word in the Bible, it is akin to the deepest of devotions.

14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. 15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—… John 14: 14-16