#866 Pey Speak

Pey or Fey

129 Your testimonies are wonderful;

therefore my soul keeps them.

130 The unfolding of your words gives light;

it imparts understanding to the simple.

131 I open my mouth and pant,

because I long for your commandments.

132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,

as is your way with those who love your name.

133 Keep steady my steps according to your promise,

and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

134 Redeem me from man's oppression,

that I may keep your precepts.

135 Make your face shine upon your servant,

and teach me your statutes.

136 My eyes shed streams of tears,

because people do not keep your law. Psalm 119: 129-136 ESV

A continuation of Psalm 119, panting for the Word of God.

Pey is the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, representing the numerical value of 80 with a pictograph that resembles a mouth. The word peh means mouth which extends to breath, word, speech and expression. There is also a hidden letter Bet within the letter Pey.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.… John 1: 1-3

…8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere Him. 9 For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood fast. 10 The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.… Psalm 33: 8-10

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.… Genesis 1: 1-3

Your testimonies are wonderful - When God speaks it is glorious and beautiful, that fallen men cannot see this is no fault of the Creator, for we are surrounded, cloaked in, and spectators to such wonder that we could not ourselves create. The oracles of God are no less that when all of Creation is undone, yet His Word will still remain. Christ, the eternally begotten, was the Word made flesh to dwell among us, and the more I read of Him, the more wonder, the more I am filled with awe.

Therefore my soul keeps them - It's good and so I am compelled, driven by desire.

- Some men wonder at the words of God, and use them for their speculation; but David was always practical, and the more he wondered the more he obeyed. Note that his religion was soul work; not with head and hand alone did he keep the testimonies; but his soul, his truest and most real self, held fast to them. C. H. Spurgeon

The unfolding of Your words gives light - The deeper a man looks, the more he reflects upon Your word, the more the darkness retreats from his soul. I heard with my ears, but I did not hear with my heart, and I am not so sure when, but at some point I started to read to be changed. 

It imparts understanding to the simple - There are some fine orators and philosophers, debaters and apologist, but none of this belongs solely unto them. I remember a woman when I was young, and the word was never far from her lips. No matter who stood in front of her, she was never ashamed, she would always find a way to introduce Jesus, no matter how the conversation started. I was embarrassed, because she was my mother, and Jesus wasn't cool. She was outdated, misled, in my opinion, but looking back I see she grew in such simple and faithful trust, knowing that the Bible was God's word and reading it she found that Christ was all she would ever need. There is many a seminary student that would do good to sit with my mom, to be on her prayer list, and love God that much.

I open my mouth and pant - Man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The antelope and gazelle will risk everything in sight of the lion and the leopard to reach the water hole. Some will risk all for a drink while others would rather die of thirst.

…13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen. 1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?… Psalm 41:13 - 42:2

As is Your way with those who love Your name - The Psalmist could look back through the testimonies of God and read of Enoch, who walked with God and did not see death. He could read of Noah, Abraham, who was a friend of God, and Moses, who God spoke to face to face. He could see the rebellions, the whining and those that raised themselves up against God. Will God hate those who love Him, no, if you truly love God it is because He loved you first. He loves God for Who He is, and this is a point to examine, do I love God, or am I in love with the idea of what God can give me here? Is my mind set upon heavenly things, is that my home, my longing? 

…42 And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard his message.… Acts 10: 42-44

…13 Then Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.… Exodus 3: 13-15

Keep steady my steps according to Your promise - Let me walk in the light of Your grace. Keep my feet from wandering off, my mind from foolish and superstitious speculations. Guide me with Your Word by Your Spirit.

And let no iniquity get dominion over me - Sin is a terrible master, and it can cause great despair when we see how easily we have been and are deceived. We must appeal to the most Holy, this is a great work of grace, that God has spoken, has opened the eyes, teaches and guides, surely He can give a new heart that despises error, and seeks to do His will.

- They pant for perfect liberty from the power of evil, and being conscious that they cannot obtain it of themselves, they cry unto God for it. C. H. Spurgeon

Redeem me from man's oppression - Here is great temptation to act out, to return evil for evil. Some will do the opposite evil of going along, and they pride themselves on pacifism, but stand for no good. 

- Although we ought not to yield to the threatenings of men, yet many do so; the wife is sometimes compelled by the oppression of her husband to act against her conscience: children and servants, and even whole nations have been brought into the same difficulty. Their sins will be largely laid at the oppressor's door, and it usually pleases God ere long to overthrow these powers and dominions which compel men to do evil. The worst of it is that some persons, when the pressure is taken off from them, follow after unrighteousness of their own accord. These give evidence of being sinners in grain. As for the righteous, it happens to them as it did to the apostles of old, "Being let go, they went to their own company. "When saints are freed from the tyrant they joyfully pay homage to their king. C. H. Spurgeon

Make Your face shine upon Your servant - A look of kindness from God is more precious to His child than all the praises of men combined.

My eyes shed streams of tears - 

- He wept in sympathy with God to see the holy law despised and broken. He wept in pity for men who were thus drawing down upon themselves the fiery wrath of God. His grief was such that he could scarcely give it vent; his tears were not mere drops of sorrow, but torrents of woe. In this he became like the Lord Jesus, who beheld the city, and wept over it; and like unto Jehovah himself, who hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but that be turn unto him and live. The experience of this verse indicates a great advance upon anything we have had before: the psalm and the Psalmist are both growing. That man is a ripe believer who sorrows because of the sins of others. In Ps 119:120 his flesh trembled at the presence of God, and here it seems to melt and flow away in floods of tears. None are so affected by heavenly things as those who are much in the study of the word, and are thereby taught the truth and essence of things. Carnal men are afraid of brute force, and weep over losses and crosses; but spiritual men feel a holy fear of the Lord himself, and most of all lament when they see dishonour cast upon his holy name. C. H. Spurgeon