Psalm 119.25-32 (3)

Pray Psalm 119.28, 29.
My soul melts from heaviness;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
Remove from me the way of lying,
And grant me Your law graciously.

Sing Psalm 119.28, 29.
(Festal Song: Revive The Work, O Lord)
My soul weighs down with woe, I need Your strength, O Lord!
Remove from me all lying ways; grant me Your holy Word!

Read Psalm 119.17-24; meditate on verse 28.

Preparation
1. What does the psalmist say about his soul?

2. What does he want God to do?

Meditation
Paul understood the sense of this passage. Only after pleading with God three times to lift his affliction did he hear the Lord say that His strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12.9). Our psalmist phrased this truth differently, but his insight remains the same. Only when our souls have been melted in the refining fire of God’s Word can the pure strength of God be established there (Ps. 12.6; Prov. 17.3).

How does sin enter our soul? What does it do there? Sin enters the soul through temptation. Either we fail to recognize temptation for what it is, or we simply choose to give in to it. Either way, when temptation confronts us, rather than grow through it by recognizing and resisting the temptation to sin (Matt. 4.1-11; 1 Cor. 10.13), we fall through it into sin, opening our souls to evil. Having entered our soul, sin begins to infect and encrust it, so that our mind, heart, and conscience cannot perform their proper roles.

We need to have that sin burned away, and God’s Word is the refining furnace for that to occur. Thus, the psalmist pleads with God to bring His Word to bear within Him, to melt the wickedness he has allowed in his soul and to allow the refined soul to be re-established.

It’s interesting to note that what the psalmist really asks the Lord to do is to “cause me to arise” (Hebrew: קַ֝יְּמֵ֗נִי. chayiMAYni). Unconfessed sin can weigh on our soul, burdening us with guilt and shame, immobilizing us for any good work, and crushing us under a load of spiritual lethargy. Only God can lift that burden and return us to His Word and ways. His grace is the strength we need, and confession and repentance are the way back onto that path.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
A melted soul is the first step back into the arms of the LORD from a stint in firmed-up sin. Without the melt, we are not ready to confess and turn from whatever it is that is separating us from our heavenly Father.

We must never make the mistake of thinking that temptation is always something obvious and outlandish.
A whole lot of sin takes place in our minds where only we and God can see. Basically, anything that isn’t found in Philippians 4.8 is antithetical to living by God’s Word and in His ways. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.”

So, “keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4.23). The very issues that cause our soul to melt with heaviness.

But when we come before our holy LORD, with a melted soul, He enfolds us in His arms and encourages us by and through His strength to carry on in the work that we have been called to do. He enables us to get up and get back to work in our Personal Mission Field. The quarantine time for a melted soul can be minimal.

Please hear these words of strength from our LORD and Savior: “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (Ex. 34.6, 7).

In response to this proclamation of love and forgiveness, we along with Moses declare back to God, “If now I have found grace in Your sight…go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance” (Ex. 34.9). “Strengthen me according to Your Word” (Ps. 119. 28).

Yes, melted into strength.

For reflection
1. How does the Word of God “refine” and “melt” the soul? Why is this necessary?

2. What’s the difference between growing through temptation and falling through it? How can we make sure we make the right choice each time?

3. In this stanza, as we are seeing, the psalmist is dealing with sin in his life. Why is it important we do this? How does this relate to delighting in God and His Word?

He repeats the expression, according to thy word, because, apart from his word, God's power would afford us little comfort. But when he comes to our aid, even should our courage and strength fail, his promise is abundantly efficacious to fortify us. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Psalm 119.28

Pray Psalm 119.25-27.
Pray that God will revive your soul so that you can see His ways, understand His will, and guide you by His strength into His wondrous works and love.

Sing Psalm 119.25-27
(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!

Make me to understand your precepts and your ways,
as on Your works I meditate with wonder and with praise!

T. M. and Susie Moore

You can listen to a summary of last week’s Scriptorium study by going to our website, www.ailbe.org, and clicking the Scriptorium tab for last Sunday. You can download any or all the studies in this series on Psalm 119 by clicking here.

Two brief books can help you gain more benefit from reading and meditating in God’s Law. The Law of God arranges all the statutes and precepts of the Law under their appropriate number of the Ten Commandments. Read the commandment, then reflect on the statutes and precepts that exemplify how those laws apply to various situations. The Ground for Christian Ethics explains why the Law still matters and what we must do to learn and apply it to our lives today. Both books are free by clicking here and here..

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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.