#857 Heth 8

Heth

57 The Lord is my portion;

I promise to keep your words.

58 I entreat your favor with all my heart;

be gracious to me according to your promise.

59 When I think on my ways,

I turn my feet to your testimonies;

60 I hasten and do not delay

to keep your commandments.

61 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,

I do not forget your law.

62 At midnight I rise to praise you,

because of your righteous rules.

63 I am a companion of all who fear you,

of those who keep your precepts.

64 The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;

teach me your statutes! Psalm 119: 57-64

A continuation of Psalm 119, keeping the Word.

Heth or Chet - The 8th letter in the Hebrew aleph-bet, also representing the number 8. When we look back at God's judgment on sin, most notable in the flood, Noah was warned of God's coming wrath. Eight people were set apart, rescued from destruction, hidden inside the ark. 

Jewish boys were to be circumcised on the 8th day, which rite symbolized their being separated unto the Abrahamic covenant. They were set apart from all the world, united as a people in this covenant to the One true God. 

9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep My covenant, you and your descendants for the generations to come. 10 This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. 11 You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.… Genesis 17: 9-11

Moses married a woman from a culture that did not practice circumcision. God was unmoved.

…24 Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the LORD let him alone. (When she said, “bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.)… Exodus 4: 24-26

The outward sign demanded inward obedience, spirit and truth. A new life.

…15 Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.… Deuteronomy 10: 15-17

One more verse on this and I will return to the text, and I have included links throughout for more understanding on circumcision. The inner circumcision of the heart.

…28 A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God. Romans 2: 28-29

The Lord is my portion - All I need is Christ, Christ alone. While others may crave the passing things of this world, money, approval of men, self fulfillment based upon dying things, the lust of the eyes, pride of life, yet the Psalmist declares God as his portion. This sets all things rightly underneath God's feet, and reinforces the claim of the pilgrim as a foreigner, a sojourner in time and space.

- Like the Levites, he took God to be his portion, and left other matters to those who coveted them. This is a large and lasting heritage, for it includes all, and more than all, and it outlasts all; and yet no man chooses it for himself until God has chosen and renewed him. Who that is truly wise could hesitate for a moment when the infinitely blessed God is set before him to be the object of his choice? David leaped at the opportunity, and grasped the priceless boon. Our author here dares exhibit the title deeds of his portion before the eye of the Lord himself, for he addresses his joyful utterance directly to God whom he boldly calls his own. With much else to choose from, for he was a king, and a man of great resources, Ire deliberately turns from all the treasures of the world, and declares that the Lord, even Jehovah, is his portion. C. H. Spurgeon

I promise to keep Your words - If you love Me, keep my commandments. The Psalmist affirms such a love, God as his portion, the love of God, leads him to want to obey, to keep God's words. It has been well said, that "faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin."

I entreat Your favor with all my heart - With the dearest of friends, it is so very true when we say, "the pleasure of your company." Lord favor us with Your presence, take not Your Holy Spirit away from me. If God is my portion, it is not that to be set aside, but I entreat, pray according to His promise. 

- See how the Psalmist dwells upon favour and mercy, he never dreams of merit. He does not demand, but entreat; for he feels his own unworthiness. Note how he remains a suppliant, though he knows that he has all things in his God. God is his portion, and yet he begs for a look at his face. The idea of any other standing before God than that of an undeserving but favoured one never entered his head. Here we have his "Be merciful unto me" rising with as much intensity of humble pleading as if he still remained among the most trembling of penitents. The confidence of faith makes us bold in prayer, but it never teaches us to live without prayer, or justifies us in being other than humble beggars at mercy's gate. C. H. Spurgeon

When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to Your testimonies - This reminds me of the Roman road, and when we see ourselves in the light of God's Word, His infinite Holiness, and just wrath towards sin, as sinners we can be no less than the objects of this wrath. Your ways are not our ways, O Lord, and when I hold up my actions to the mirror of Your law, I have not left one unbroken. 

- Action without thought is folly, and thought without action is sloth: to think carefully and then to act promptly is a happy combination. He had entreated for renewed fellowship, and now he proved the genuineness of his desire by renewed obedience. If we are in the dark, and mourn an absent God, our wisest method will be not so much to think upon our sorrows as upon our ways: though we cannot turn the course of providence, we can turn the way of our walking, and this will soon mend matters. If we can get our feet right as to holy walking, we shall soon get our hearts right as to happy living. God will turn to his saints when they turn to him; yea, he has already favoured them with the light of his face when they begin to think and turn. C. H. Spurgeon

I hasten and do not delay to keep Your commandments - He has looked at his way, compared it to God's, and in finding that they are not the same, he chooses God's way. 

Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget Your law - There is a temptation that snares most, long before this, that of the world's acceptance. He has been the object of scorn, of the gossip mill, but has stood before other kings, giving testimony to the true God. Now it seems to have become more violent, mob like, and this is the next temptation, fear of man, fear of death. He still puts God's Word above what men may do to him. Many would leave off at this point, flight or fight, running in fear or moving forward in revenge. The Psalmist is steadfast.

At midnight I rise to praise You, because of Your righteous rules - I am no longer in fear of Your judgment, but count it all joy, that my God is true to His Word, faithful to His righteousness. Other men love the hour for it is dark and their deeds darker, but the Psalmist has found this time alone with God. It is quiet, he is still and knows His God, praises come forth, mercies are remembered. 

I am a companion of all who fear You - Herein is godly friendship, true companionship, those that fear God will not wish to pull us away from Him. We are unified in the truth, under the sure testimony of His Word. 

21 Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.… 1 Peter 1: 21-23

…10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12 He says: “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing Your praises in the assembly.”… Hebrews 2: 10-12