121 I have done what is just and right;
do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Give your servant a pledge of good;
let not the insolent oppress me.
123 My eyes long for your salvation
and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
124 Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
and teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant; give me understanding,
that I may know your testimonies!
126 It is time for the Lord to act,
for your law has been broken.
127 Therefore I love your commandments
above gold, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;
I hate every false way. Psalm 119: 121-128 ESV
A Psalm
Ayin is the 16th letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet, having numerical value of 70 and a pictograph resembling and eye. The word ayin means eye, to see and then understand and obey.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your vision is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your vision is poor, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.… Matthew 6: 22-24
70 elders saw God on Mt. Sinai recorded in Exodus 24:9
70 years was the Babylonian exile.
I have done what is just and right - King David has repented of his own sin, and in his dealings as a ruler he has upheld a just weight and balance. We should not tip the scale in favor of the rich or relation or popularity, justice should be blind. No man is born without sin, it is the pro-creative inheritance of our father Adam, but a man may resist the temptation of such sin that would ask him to not do what is just or right for the sake of laziness. He can look at and meditate upon God's law, plead with God as the Psalmist has, to be given understanding and strength to act upon it. Wisdom is so necessary to them that lead, in order that they are balanced to do right, which will always acknowledge the whole truth.
…7 Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mankind, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6: 7-8
…15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that ? 17 So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead.… James 2: 15-17
…9 Not that we lack this right, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate. 10 For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.” 11 Yet we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives and accomplishing nothing but being busybodies.… 2 Thessalonians 3: 9-11
Do not leave me to my oppressors - He has removed the moat from his own and so may confront his adversaries through an appeal to God. We should not be hypocrites in this, asking God to avenge in others what we are not critical of in ourselves. If a liar is a thorn to me, then I should hate my own lies even more so, and know the greatest adversary is my old self.
- He who, as far as his power goes, has been doing right, may hope to be delivered from his superiors when attempts are made by them to do him wrong. If I will not oppress others, I may hopefully pray that others may not oppress me. A course of upright conduct is one which gives us boldness in appealing to the Great Judge for deliverance from the injustice of others. Nor is this kind of pleading to be censured as self righteous: when we are dealing with God as to our shortcomings, we use a very different tone from that with which we face the censures of our fellow men; when they are in the question, and we are guiltless towards them, we are justified in pleading our innocence. C. H. Spurgeon
Give Your servant a pledge of good, let not the insolent oppress me - "Your servant" is a humble reference, contrasting that of his opposition, "the insolent", for the Lord attends the lowly but the proud He knows from afar. We too should rejoice that God sees and has not left us comfortless. His word is unchanging.
…5 Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? 6 But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you… James 4: 5-7
My eyes long for Your salvation - For him there is no other place to appeal, salvation is of the Lord. His eyes have read the testimonies that the Lord is able to deliver, and so now my eyes look to His coming deliverance. Let the accuser of the brethren be cast down, for I have believed in the Righteous One of God. Save me Lord, for I cannot save myself.
…21 A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.… John 16: 21-23
Deal with Your servant according to Your steadfast love - Mercy that God has made Himself known, Mercy has made me known to myself, Mercy has not left me who I was, Mercy has taken the justice which was coming for me, and laid it upon Christ. Mercy should now be my MO, the proclamation of sin, of God's judgment, and what has been done to satisfy His holiness through Christ Jesus. There is no better news, here ye, here ye.
…15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many! 16 Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!… Romans 5: 15-17
…19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.”… Galatians 2: 19-21
I am Your servant, give me understanding -
- We are to confess ourselves fools, and then our Lord will make us wise, as well as give us knowledge. The best understanding is that which enables us to render perfect obedience and to exhibit intelligent faith, and it is this which David desires, -- "understanding, that I may know thy testimonies." Some would rather not know these things; they prefer to be at ease in the dark rather than possess the light which leads to repentance and diligence. The servant of God longs to know in an understanding manner all that the Lord reveals of man and to man; he wishes to be so instructed that he may apprehend and comprehend that which is taught him. A servant should not be ignorant concerning his master, or his master's business; he should study the mind, will, purpose, and aim of him whom he serves, for so only can he complete his service; and as no man knows these things so well as his master himself, he should often go to him for instructions, lest his very zeal should only serve to make him the greater blunderer. C. H. Spurgeon
For Your law has been broken - He does not see the cup as half full, but brimming and needing of the Lord to intercede. It was interesting in Spurgeon's notes that he related this to the church, which was always a dear concern to him. Lord, bring a revival, look at the ways of the present kingdoms, they are as those You have destroyed for such in the past. They are sacrificing infants again, leaving off Your original intent, men think they are women and the emperor, though naked, is being praised for the clothes no one can see.
I hate every false way - With learning and understanding, if we know to ask for these then let us not be fooled by those with some learning, let us also have discernment.
2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I made every effort to write you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.… Jude 1: 2-4
…8 Instead, he must be hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it was taught, so that by sound teaching he will be able to encourage others and refute those who contradict this message. 10 For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision,… Titus 1: 8-10
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