#863 Nun 14

Nun

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet

and a light to my path.

106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,

to keep your righteous rules.

107 I am severely afflicted;

give me life, O Lord, according to your word!

108 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord,

and teach me your rules.

109 I hold my life in my hand continually,

but I do not forget your law.

110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,

but I do not stray from your precepts.

111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever,

for they are the joy of my heart.

112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes

forever, to the end. Psalm 119: 105-112 ESV

A continuation of Psalm 119, God's Word brings light.

Nun is the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the pictograph resembling a seed or sperm. In the Talmud it means fish, and the numerical value is 50.

The number 50 represents freedom and fullness of life. The previous letter, Mem, represented water and 40.

• 40 years Israel wandered in the wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days, and the rain of the Genesis flood came down 40 days and nights.
• The 50th year is the year of Jubilee.

Your word is a lamp to my feet - Because of Your Word, I can see where I presently stand, my immediate footing, and the further I read, the farther I can see. I was born spiritually dead, in utter darkness, of a sort so dark that I cared not to acknowledge it exists. I was, in fact, so blind that I thought I could see. With Your word came reality, the truth of where I stood, near the precipice of eternity. At first the edge scared me, but like a migraine I also recoiled from the light, and for some time I wished it would grow dark again, veiled. You could say, I loved the darkness more than the light.

And a light to my path - What a hard sell is this light, for if I look only at my feet, at times I am tempted to count this present suffering as too much, or count as suffering that which is really not. Jesus gave His disciples a light which looked to a time when they would be hated by all men for His sake. He showed Peter future failures which he denied possible, "not me Lord, I would never deny You." Jesus also showed him that when he was old someone would take him by the hand and lead him where he wouldn't want to go. The light reveals sin, and as Christians we are called to be the light of the world, so the further we drift from God's word, the more we rely on our own sense of direction, the less like light we become.

…6 If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.… 1 John 1: 6-8

I have sworn an oath and confirmed it - What light has revealed is the way, and the response of the Psalmist is to walk in it. It is clearly apart from our fallen natures, but graciously delivered in both the language and desire.

- Perhaps mistrusting his own fickle mind, he had pledged himself in sacred form to abide faithful to the determinations and decisions of his God. Whatever path might open before him, he was sworn to follow that only upon which the lamp of the word was shining. The Scriptures are God's judgments, or verdicts, upon great moral questions; these are all righteous, and hence righteous men should be resolved to keep them at all hazards, since it must always be right to do right. Experience shows that the less of covenanting and swearing men formally enter upon the better, and the genius of our Saviour's teaching is against all supererogatory pledging and swearing; and yet under the gospel we ought to feel ourselves as much bound to obey the word of the Lord as if we had taken an oath so to do. C. H. Spurgeon

To keep Your righteous rules - There is this call in the gospel, a call to walk in the footsteps of our Lord. It is the temptation of men to add unnecessary burdens upon this, but at the same time forsake that which is most certainly commanded. Men, who do not have the gift of singleness, have put such a yoke and a stumbling block upon themselves. The Jews of Jesus time had added much to the letter of the law, but with no understanding of the Spirit. They condemned Him for healing on the Sabbath, yet He was Lord of the Sabbath. 

…23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 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.… Matthew 23: 23-25

- Will not every believer own that he is under bonds to the redeeming Lord to follow his example, and keep his words? Yes, the vows of the Lord are upon us, especially upon such as have made profession of discipleship, have been baptized into the thrice holy name, have eaten of the consecrated memorials, and have spoken in the name of the Lord Jesus: We are enlisted, and sworn ill, and are bound to be loyal soldiers all through the war. Thus having taken the word into our hearts by a firm resolve to obey it, we have a lamp within our souls as well as in the Book, and our course will be light unto the end. C. H. Spurgeon

I am severely afflicted - He has had the awl punched through his ear, a slave of God now, a soldier, and tasting the blows of a battle he did not know before existed. Today we see the church falling apart, and men that stand up for truth are the most detested. The people cry to be entertained, they say, "I came for the fish and bread, quit talking about self denial and taking up the cross." The Psalmist is resolved though, so he will not seek deliverance by setting aside God's standard. 

Give me life, O Lord, according to Your word - My help comes from the Lord. My hope is in the Lord. Circumstances have brought me present discomfort; they are not my ideals for happiness, but quicken me, O Lord, bring me that joy that rises above the battle.

- David had but few promises to quote, and probably these were in his own psalms, yet he pleads the word of the Lord; how much more should we do so, since to us so many holy men have spoken by the Spirit of the Lord in that wonderful library which is now our Bible. Seeing we have more promises, let us offer more prayers. C. H. Spurgeon

Accept my free will offerings of praise, O Lord - God never needed anything we offered Him, and was held not by the blood of bulls or goats, but by what He owed rather to His own Word and covenant. He provided the only acceptable means of atonement in His Son. The Psalmist is reciprocating that which is born of love, of the life that he had asked for in the verse before. We are not ascetics, stuck in the throws of eternal mourning, not made alive to hate the works He has laid out before us. Though the circumstances may hurt, may ask us to feel ashamed, we have this great hope, this marvelous light, that God is both sovereign and good.

 

- He trembles lest these should be so ill uttered as to displease the Lord, and therefore he implores acceptance. He pleads that the homage of his mouth was cheerfully and spontaneously rendered; all his utterances were freewill offerings. There can be no value in extorted confessions: God's revenues are not derived from forced taxation, but from freewill donation. There can be no acceptance where there is no willingness; there is no work of free grace where there is no fruit of free will. Acceptance is a favour to be sought from the Lord with all earnestness, for without it our offerings are worse than useless. What a wonder of grace that the Lord will accept anything of such unworthy ones as we are! C. H. Spurgeon

- When we render unto the Lord our best, we become all the more concerned to do better. If, indeed, the Lord shall accept us, we then desire to be further instructed, that we may be still more acceptable, After quickening we need teaching: life without light, or zeal without knowledge, would be but half a blessing. These repeated cries for teaching show the humility of the man of God, and also discover to us our own need of similar instruction. C. H. Spurgeon

I hold my life in my hand continually - This is at great peril. He does not forget the law, and the peril does not become the new rule nor create the exception. "It's just business, all is fair in love and war," that is not the Psalmist's interpretation. If God has said this is good, right or just, then it is still so in the battle, at the loss of life or job. He is no longer belonging to the world or it's justifications.

The wicked have laid a snare for me - This reminds me of Jesus and His talks with the Pharisees, trying to catch Him against civil law with taxes, in matters of adultery, and even pressing Him about the Sabbath. I remember a story about Billy Graham, and how he had to have someone travel with him and check his hotel room before he entered. I am not certain of the story, but it is a good example, they put a naked girl in his room hoping to catch him in a compromising position. Why? Because being faced with sin or conviction, we always want to kill the messenger, unless we have a change of heart.

I incline my heart to perform Your statutes - Wake and pray. Make it your resolve to honor the greatest love of Your life, and let nothing else be in that place but Jesus.