Psalm 119.17-24 (2)

Pray Psalm 119.25, 26.
My soul clings to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
I have declared my ways, and You answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.

Sing Psalm 119.25, 26
(Festal Song: Revive Thy Work, O Lord)
My soul clings to the dust; revive me by Your Word!
My ways I have declared to You; teach me Your statutes, Lord!

Read Psalm 119.25-32; meditate on verses 26, 27.

Preparation
1. What does the psalmist say he had done?

2. What does he want God to do? What would he do then?

Meditation
Psalm 119 is amazing for the way it packs reams of meaning into a few words. Here, in verse 26, the psalmist said he declared his ways (as opposed to declaring God’s judgments, v. 13). He means he was confessing his sin to God, disburdening his dusty, in-need-of-revival soul (v. 25). He says God “answered” him (v. 26). How? It seems that God prompted him to turn to His Word again and bring his life into line with what He would teach him there (cf. vv. 59, 60). God doesn’t answer us in audible words. Sometimes He answers by sending a sense of relief and forgiveness, or of joy and renewal, or, as here, a prompt to turn to His Word.

The statutes and precepts of God reveal the way (v. 27) we ought to live. So when we have strayed from that way among the dust bins of the world, we need to turn back to our proper path. The evil of sin can be overcome through confession, repentance, and penance – taking up a way or course of action that restores us to God’s path (cf. Rom. 12.21).

God teaches us not only for understanding but, through meditation and obedience, to revive our soul and redirect our course in life. Only God can teach us. Our duty is to show up in His classroom daily, ready to hear His Word and understand it. Then we can meditate on it throughout the day so that our understanding is enriched and begins to shape our soul into the likeness of Jesus (2 Cor. 3.12-18).

As that happens, we can meditate on the “wonderful works” of God as they are indicated in what He is teaching us. Here, the wonderful work the psalmist seems to have had in mind are redemption and sanctification. It’s wonderful that God hears our prayers and forgives our sins. And it’s wonderful that He bears with us and works tirelessly to make us more like Jesus.

And if you don’t regard those as wonderful works to contemplate throughout the day, then you don’t understand God’s Word or your need for revival, and you may be straying on the dust-filled path of sin.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Paul explained, “I would not have known sin except through the law” (Rom. 7.7).

The psalmist is saying much the same thing: “I’m in the dustbin with sin. But I know where hope is. It is in Your law and in Your Word. There, I said it. Now, Lord, please teach me once again how to overcome sin.”

“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my [dusty] soul, ‘therefore I hope in Him!” (Lam. 3.21-24).

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1.8, 9). Vacuumed and cleaned.

When we set out to fight against our dust-prone ways we must put our full energies into it. It is not a simple thing that we are striving for, because “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6.12). The father of lies, our enemy, is an egregious foe.

But Paul makes a sensible suggestion: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6.13). As we must to overcome.

Here is the whole armor of God checklist. The following items and activities are readily at our disposal.
1. Gird your waist with truth. (Jn. 14.6)
2. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. (Jer. 23.5, 6)
3. Shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. (Rom. 1.16)
4. Take the shield of faith. (Rom. 10.17; 2 Cor. 5.7; Heb. 11.1, 6)
5. Put on the helmet of salvation. (Acts 4.12)
6. Pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Heb. 4.12; Ps. 119.11)
(Eph. 6.14-17)

All suited up and ready, once again, to walk in the Spirit and engage our foe.

Before we get into the fray, though, we are to be “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Eph. 6.18). Thoroughly prepared to stand and overcome sin in our Personal Mission Field.

It is hard work, but worth the effort, for a vacuumed dust-prone heart.

For reflection
1. Why must we always be mindful of the spiritual warfare that rages around us?

2. How should you prepare each day to enter this spiritual warfare?

3. How can believers encourage and assist one another in this spiritual warfare?

There are not a few who make known their desires unto God, but then they would that he would yield to their extravagant passions. And, therefore, the prophet affirms that he desires nothing more than to be well instructed in God's statutes. This statement is strengthened by the next verse, in which he once more asks the knowledge of these to be communicated to him. In both passages it must be carefully observed, that with the law of God set before us, we will reap little benefit from merely perusing it, if we have not his Spirit as our internal teacher. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Psalm 119.26, 27

Pray Psalm 119.29-32.
Let the Lord search your soul. If He discovers any sin there, and brings it to your mind, confess and repent of it, and determine a course of action to follow this day that is the opposite of what you have confessed, that is, that will overcome the evil of your sin with a good work pleasing to the Lord (Rom. 12.21).

Sing Psalm 119.29-32.
(Festal Song: Revive The Work, O Lord)
I choose the way of truth; Your judgments I proclaim.
Your testimonies I embrace, Lord put me not to shame!

Command my course, O Lord; Your gracious truth impart.
I cling to You and know You will enlarge my seeking heart.

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.