Psalm 119.145-152 (1)

Pray Psalm 119.145, 146.
I cry out with my whole heart;
Hear me, O LORD!
I will keep Your statutes.
I cry out to You;
Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.

Sing Psalm 119.145, 146.
(Festal Song: Rise Up, O Men of God)
With my whole heart I cry; hear me, O Lord, I pray.
Your statutes I will not deny but keep them every day.

I cry to You, O Lord; save me, O Lord, I pray!
Your testimonies and Your Word I keep and will obey.

Read Psalm 119.145-152; meditate on verses 145, 146.

Preparation
1. What does the psalmist want God to do?

2. What does he promise to do?

Meditation
The ק (qoph) stanza strikes me as having a kind of urgency about it, expressing the soul’s longing for more of God’s Law and salvation. We’ll see that in various ways as we progress, but it leaps out at us here, with the psalmist twice reporting that he cries out to the Lord. We cry out when we’re desperate, or confused, or perhaps overflowing with joy.

Notice what the psalmist cries out for: He wants God to hear him (v. 145), and he wants God to save him (v. 146). His sense of urgency is emphasized by the phrase “my whole heart”. He is opening his soul to God about his deepest wants and greatest needs, which are to be found in God alone. To think that God would hear us when we pray is amazing. To think that He would save us is beyond comprehension. Who are we that God should do either of these for us?

We are His beloved, chosen children. Of course, He will hear us! Certainly, He will lead us into ever-deeper depths of saving mercy and grace! It’s what our Father does for us because of Jesus, Who purchased us with His own blood.

And how shall it be known that we have been heard and saved? By our keeping the statutes and testimonies of God. Our response to God hearing our heart’s cry is to renew our vow to keep His Word. And as His salvation takes deeper root in us, we will more gladly and consistently keep His Law.

No contradiction exists between Law and Gospel. They are manifestations of the grace of God. We are saved by grace unto grace, the grace that comes to light in obedience, touching others and leading to thanksgiving (2 Cor. 4.15). Grace for obedience is our proof of purchase. We should cry out for it every day.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
We haven’t struck a bargain with God, for we surely don’t have the right. Nor have we offered a game of “Truth or Consequences” to our heavenly Father. That would be a more ridiculous notion. But what we have done is explain our desperate need and offer ourselves in thanksgiving for His attention:
I cry out with my whole heart.
I cry out to You, O LORD!
Hear me.
Save me.
I will keep Your statutes.
I will keep Your testimonies (Ps. 119.145, 146).

That the God of all creation would hear us and save us is a miracle of His grace and mercy:
“LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You are mindful of Him?
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow” (Ps. 144.3, 4; Ps. 8.4, 5; Heb. 2.6, 7).

Our response to His mercy and grace takes a threefold expression:
1. We willingly offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God. It is reasonable that we do this (Rom. 12.1).
2. From that position, we show our love, thankfulness, and appreciation to Jesus, our wonderful Savior (Jn. 14.15).
3. Thus we fulfill what we have been called to from the beginning of time. So, it is advisable that we do it (Eph. 2.8-10).

“Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I cry to You all day long” (Ps. 86.3).
“I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live” (Ps. 116.1, 2).

Moses summed it up for us beautifully:
“Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments…that you should act according to them…Therefore be careful to observe them…For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?” (Deut. 4.5-8).

We, too, are a people whose God is the Lord (1 Pet. 2.9, 10), and we have been given the privilege to cry out to Him day and night to hear us and save us; but our response must always be, “I will love, trust, and obey You forever, to the very end” (cf. Ps. 119.112). Proof of appreciation for our purchase.

For reflection
1. Why should we expect to “cry out” to God from time to time? What does doing so say about our faith in Him?

2. Offer yourself as a sacrifice; go into your Personal Mission Field to love; fulfill your calling. How does living this way “prove” that you have been “purchased” by the blood of Jesus?

3. What can you do to encourage other believers to make better use of our privilege of crying out to our Father?

Supplications with the whole heart are presented only by those who desire God’s salvation, and who love his commandments. Whither should the child go but to his father? Save me from my sins, my corruptions, my temptations, all the hindrances in my way, that I may keep thy testimonies. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Psalm 119.145, 146

Pray Psalm 119.149.
Pray that God will revive you today, leading you ever more deeply into our great salvation and transforming you increasingly into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Sing Psalm 119.149.
(Festal Song: Rise Up, O Men of God)
Lord, hear my plaintive voice, revive me by Your grace;
in justice let my soul rejoice before Your holy face.

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.