#859 Yod

Yodh

73 Your hands have made and fashioned me;

give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

74 Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,

because I have hoped in your word.

75 I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous,

and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

76 Let your steadfast love comfort me

according to your promise to your servant.

77 Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;

for your law is my delight.

78 Let the insolent be put to shame,

because they have wronged me with falsehood;

as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.

79 Let those who fear you turn to me,

that they may know your testimonies.

80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes,

that I may not be put to shame! Psalm 119: 73-80 ESV

A continuation of Psalm 119, give me understanding.

Yodh or Yod is the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, having numeric value of 10, and a pictograph representing an arm or hand. It is the smallest letter and most frequently used of the Hebrew alphabet and the form from which all the other letters begin and end. It can represent the power of God in all things, but also represent humility.

Significant Biblical use associated with the number 10:

• The 10 commandments.
• Ten things created on the first and sixth days of Creation.
• Tenth part was made holy to the Lord.
• Ten plagues were brought upon Egypt.

Your hands have made and fashioned me - Without You I do not exist, and upon deeper inspection, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

…12 even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You. 13 For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.… Psalm 139: 12-14

Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments - As an image bearer I have a mind, logic and reason, but as a member of fallen humanity that too is in a broken state. Your ways are unfathomable, without Your revelation we are in a constant state of spiritual darkness. I need You, Who made me, to supply not just life, but also repair my heart and renew my mind. If You hate sin then I want to hate it as well. If You walk in the light, I should like to walk there with You. Teach me, O Lord, change me. 

Those who fear You shall see me and rejoice - He trusted in God and God has taught him, so he has much to offer now. The ungodly may sound from their jealous ambitions, may hate him for his walk because it does not align with theirs, but those that love God will be glad to see a man grown in the faith.

- We do not only meet to share each others' burdens, but to partake in each others' joys, and some men contribute largely to the stock of mutual gladness. Hopeful men bring gladness with them. Despondent spirits spread the infection of depression, and hence few are glad to see them, while those whose hopes are grounded upon God's word carry sunshine in their faces, and are welcomed by their fellows. There are professors whose presence scatters sadness, and the godly quietly steal out of their company: may this never be the case with us. C. H. Spurgeon

And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me - Because His law is righteous, His justice must be applied to those that would be called righteous. I should have more need of worry if my pride went unchecked, if my sins did not find me out. God is eternal and infinitely righteous, so to leave me in my sin would be to turn me over to final judgment, for the ways of the ungodly must perish. 

…29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment.… 1 Corinthians 11: 29-31

1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?… Romans 6: 1-2

Let Your steadfast love comfort me - I haven't perfection, I need mercy. My works are as filthy rags, I need Your grace. I have believed in You, You have taught me that I need to believe You, to seek You in Your Word, and live my life accordingly.

- Having confessed the righteousness of the Lord, he now appeals to his mercy, and while he does not ask that the rod may be removed, he earnestly begs for comfort under it. Righteousness and faithfulness afford us no consolation if we cannot also taste of mercy, and, blessed be God, this is promised us in the word, and therefore we may expect it. The words "merciful kindness, "are a happy combination, and express exactly what we need in affliction: mercy to forgive the sin, and kindness to sustain under the sorrow. With these we can be comfortable in the cloudy and dark day, and without them we are wretched indeed; for these, therefore, let us pray unto the Lord, whom we have grieved by our sin, and let us plead the word of his grace as our sole reason for expecting his favour. C. H. Spurgeon

For Your law is my delight - People of God are people of the book, and when the child of God cries, to many in the hearing it is the sound of defeat, and they can little comprehend. When their words are but wounds, their tongues daggers, and their look is down the nose, there is no help in their condemnation, but Your law is my delight. I cannot bring others to the place of my despair, they cannot and would not want to understand such dark places, but in the belly of the great fish You still hear me. None of this is hid from You, and so I am consoled even in my pain, like the child laid up in bed is better for the sight of his mother, so I find solace in Your word, comfort in Your Spirit.

Let the insolent be put to shame - Lord, I have no place with the wicked any more, and though I was once a part of their system, I shall put those things behind me. You have taught me there is no room for pride, and my arrogance was not a badge to Your honor, so I shall leave the proud to Your better judgment. What they now say of me is no longer true, but to contend with them I would have to neglect my time in Your truth. I would rather fight the good fight, against my own sin, my life held up against Your every Word. Lord, rebuke them as You see fit, I trust in You.

- He would leave the proud in God's hands, and give himself up to holy studies and contemplations. To obey the divine precepts we have need to know them, and think much of them. Hence this persecuted saint felt that meditation must be his chief employment. He would study the law of God and not the law of retaliation. The proud are not worth a thought. The worst injury they can do us is to take us away from our devotions; let us baffle them by keeping all the closer to our God when they are most malicious in their onslaughts. In a similar position to this we have met with the proud in other octaves, and shall meet them yet again. They are evidently a great plague to the Psalmist, but he rises above them. C. H. Spurgeon

Let those who fear You turn to me, that they may know Your testimonies - It is sad whether on our own part or that of other's offense, when we are broken off from such communion as is supposed to occur among the saints. Some may have believed about us what was falsely spoken, or we have committed such a crime against the body that has since been confessed and forgiven by the Lord, yet those that fear Him have remained rightly cautious of us. Pride would press, but where grace has made true change in a man, he must humbly make his plea unto the Lord, for the Spirit can mend all these things in Christ.

- We know some believers who are gracious, but not intelligent; and, on the other hand, we also know certain professors who have all head and no heart: he is the man who combines devotion with intelligence. We neither care for devout dunces nor for intellectual icebergs. When fearing, and knowing walk hand in hand they cause men to be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. If these are my choice companions I may hope that I am one of their order. Let such persons ever turn to me because they find in me congenial company. C. H. Spurgeon

1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.… Galatians 6: 1-2

May my heart be blameless in Your statutes - What a pure prayer, for only God knows such a place. Men may hear me say, "integrity, honesty, good, love, humility," and some may be fooled for all of my talk, but God looks at the heart. I may even fool myself for a time, but in the end it will be to my shame, a religion contrived of my vanity, false in every way. 

…24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.… Matthew 23: 24-26