#864 Samekh 60

Samekh

113 I hate the double-minded,

but I love your law.

114 You are my hiding place and my shield;

I hope in your word.

115 Depart from me, you evildoers,

that I may keep the commandments of my God.

116 Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,

and let me not be put to shame in my hope!

117 Hold me up, that I may be safe

and have regard for your statutes continually!

118 You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,

for their cunning is in vain.

119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,

therefore I love your testimonies.

120 My flesh trembles for fear of you,

and I am afraid of your judgments. Psalm 119: 113-120 ESV

Samekh is the 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, with a pictograph that some say represents a shield. It's numerical value is 60. 

The root of the word means to lean upon, uphold or support. The root is also found in the word semikhah, which is the laying of the priests hands upon the sacrificial animal in a blood offering.

10 Bring the bull to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head. 11 And you shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 12 Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.… Exodus 29: 10-12

20 When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat. 21 Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.… Leviticus 16: 20-22

I hate the double minded, but I love Your law - He was not so fond of men who were as reeds in the wind. We have dubbed this as wisdom in our culture, that opposing thoughts can all be true. God has said His word is truth, but we have vainly glorified ourselves for deep thinking, thought much more of self help and compromise. He loves God's law, so he would rather the thoughts of God than his own, and so we have heard him ask to be taught of the Maker in prior sections. 

You are my hiding place and my shield - Escape and defense, when the solitude of the former is unavailable, He is yet with me and protecting me as a shield amidst the onslaught.

- It is easy to exercise hope where we have experienced help. Sometimes when gloomy thoughts afflict us, the only thing we can do is to hope, and, happily, the word of God always sets before us objects of hope and reasons for hope, so that it becomes the very sphere and support of hope, and thus tiresome thoughts are overcome. Amid fret and worry a hope of heaven is an effectual quietus. C. H. Spurgeon

Depart from me, you evil doers - He is very shepherd like here. If he allows the wolves to den up, as the king, he shares in their iniquity. The church is overrun in these days with men who were quick in the laying on of hands, and they will share a part in the shame brought by those who should have been sent away.

- Kings are all too apt to be surrounded by a class of men who flatter them, and at the same time take liberty to break the laws of God: David purged his palace of such parasites; he would not harbour them beneath his roof. No doubt they would have brought upon him an ill name, for their doings would have been imputed to him, since the acts of courtiers are generally set down as acts of the court itself; therefore the king sent them packing bag and baggage, saying, -- "Depart from me." Herein he anticipated the sentence of the last great day, when the Son of David shall say, "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity." We cannot thus send all malefactors out of our houses, but it will often become a duty to do so where there is right and reason for it. A house is all the better for being rid of liars, pilferers, lewd talkers, and slanderers. We are bound at all hazards to keep ourselves clear of such companions as come to us by our own choice if we have any reason to believe that their character is vicious. Evil doers make evil counsellors. C. H. Spurgeon

And let me not be put to shame in my hope - Hope has come to him from God's word, and he does not base this upon the pillar of his own resolve, but it is the Lord Who holds him up. He has committed his heart to God, but this same Psalmist has also asked God to create in him a new heart. Listen, carefully, and this will relieve a great deal of depression, the same God Who causes you to hope, Who saves you, also sustains you. As His child, His sovereignty should be your cause of peace and not of dread. 

9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you. 11 To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen.… 1 Peter 5: 9-11

For their cunning is in vain - Men are crafty, and as if God is not aware of the true nature of their heart, they pretend at integrity, quote even His word out of context, but as they live and breathe they think themselves in the right. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, but alas they do not remember what the truth looks like anymore. If given the choice, they would never choose it.

All the wicked of the earth, You discard like dross - Dross is that unusable part, worthless, and not at all how we see ourselves, even in the worst of sins. Everyone, without exception, thinks more highly of themselves than they ought to think. We even teach men to do so, even in the church where God has said "humble thyself in the sight of the Lord," but no, we say, "you need more self esteem, self realization, self promotion, self worth,". Jesus says, "deny yourself", and we are told elsewhere that our hearts our wicked and deceitful, so I would say, get over yourself, lift up Christ Jesus.

My flesh trembles for fear of You - Ask yourself this, have I ever known this, seen myself in truer fashion and then thought of the holiness of God? Have I ever come to realize that the Bible is His word, that killing the messengers will do me know good? Can I see that what He says, He always accomplishes, that I cannot debate Him over intent, it is His word and not open to so many interpretations? Have I come to the beginning of knowledge, that God is Holy, infinitely so, eternally opposed then towards sin, and that I am a sinner?