Uphold me according to thy word, that I may live; and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
Verse 116 asks for three things: hold me up, keep me alive, and let my hope not end in shame. Each rests on something outside the man praying — he asks God to act "according to your promise," not according to anything in himself.
The cry sets the tone for the whole eight-verse section, and it looks to God's own promise for daily support:
Verses 116 and 117 carry the theme of this section of eight verses: "Uphold me," "Hold me up." The Word of God gives us the support we need day by day to live the Christian life. "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" (Isa. 41:10). What a wonderful promise for us to lay hold of! He who gives life also sustains it. We are guarded by God's power (1 Peter 1:5). If we trust in His precious Word we will never be put to shame.
Notice the words "according to your promise" (older translations say "according to your word"). He asks only for what God has already pledged. That pledge is what gives him hope:
He turns to Him knowing he depends on Him, holding the word pledged to him. That word makes him hope in it. And he asks Him that it may not leave him ashamed. He is confident that the one God upholds is secure. He would use that safety to run freely, always in the path of God's will.
Why does God bind Himself by a promise at all, when His character alone should be enough? One writer answers that our weakness is the reason:
For God has pledged Himself to His people. It has not been enough for Him to say, "You know Me, and that I cannot err or do wrong; let this be enough for you." We are too frail, too dim-sighted, too little able to foresee His ways. So this does not satisfy us, nor does it satisfy Him as to us. So divine love has pledged itself to us and made its covenant with man. And if His word is not enough, He swears as well: "so that by two unchangeable things" — "His word and His oath" — "we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us" (Heb. 6:17-18).
The man praying stands apart from evil. He does not trust his own firmness — he asks God to hold him:
(vv. 116-117) As a man set apart, he can look with confidence for God to uphold him in the presence of evil, so that no failure of his own puts him to shame before those who oppose him. Only as God holds him up will he be safe, and free to keep giving attention to God's statutes.
One writer treats this not as a one-off cry but as daily prayer, because we fail so easily:
Ah, my dear Christian reader, what are we? We are poor, failing, stumbling creatures. At every turn in our path we are likely to wander into error and evil. We are likely to leave the Rock of Ages and lean on the broken reeds of the world... We have need, deep need, to walk humbly, watchfully and prayerfully before our God. We deeply need to say David's own prayer again and again... Nothing but divine grace can keep us in a course of steady devotion. Left to ourselves, there is no extreme of evil we may not run into. They alone are safe whom God keeps in the hollow of His hand.
A believer today prays this line from a fuller position. The New Testament answers it outright:
The Psalmist says, for instance, "My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments." The believer now is to prove that "perfect love casts out fear," and that he has confidence for the day of judgment. So again — "let me not be ashamed of my hope." The believer is taught to know that "hope does not put us to shame." In ways like these the believer now passes beyond the Psalmist. He walks in the warmer, brighter light of the New Testament, in the strength of the Holy Spirit in him.
- Uphold. The two verses share one cry — hold me up — and it carries the whole eight-verse section.
- According to His word. He asks only for what God has already pledged. That pledge, not the man praying, is what makes hope reasonable.
- Why the pledge. God bound Himself by word and oath because we are frail and dim-sighted, so we would have strong encouragement.
- That I may live. He who gives life also sustains it. Only as God holds him up is the man set apart safe and free to keep God's statutes.
- Not ashamed. The Psalmist asks that his hope may not end in shame. The New Testament turns that prayer into a settled fact — hope does not put us to shame.
Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe; and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
This verse is a two-line prayer, and everything in it hangs on who does the holding. It raises the question every believer meets sooner or later: can a person who loves God's word keep himself in it?
The prayer follows a decision. The writer has already told evildoers to leave him alone, so that he can keep the commandments of his God.
As a man who stands apart, he can look to God with confidence to hold him up while evil surrounds him. Then no failure of his own will shame him in front of those who oppose him. Only as God holds him is he safe, and free to keep paying attention to God's statutes.
This is not a beginner's cry. One writer ties the prayer to David and treats it as daily language for anyone who knows his own weakness.
What are we? Poor, failing, stumbling creatures. At every turn of our path we are quick to wander into error and evil. We are quick to leave God, the Rock of Ages, and lean on the world's supports, which break like reeds... We have need, deep need, to walk humbly, watchfully and prayerfully before our God — deep need to say David's own prayer again and again... Nothing but God's grace can keep us in a course of steady devotion. Left to ourselves, there is no extreme of evil we might not run into. Only those whom God keeps in the hollow of His hand are safe.
One writer sets this prayer against King Hezekiah. Recovering from illness, the king wrote down his good intentions for the rest of his life.
Look at the resolutions written in this note by a recovering Hezekiah. They are not insincere, but they are formed without any real knowledge of himself... Sadly, the whole thing rests on the "I shall" and "we will" of a sincere but self-ignorant heart. Like Peter, who boasted that he would never fail his Lord, Hezekiah has to be shown that his own "I will" is only big words. There is no "hold me up" in it, and so there is no stability.
Nor does being right about other people's errors protect a person. One writer puts it bluntly:
Being zealous against other people's errors is no protection from the devil's tricks. "Hold me up, that I may be safe."
One writer finds the picture of this in Peter walking on the water:
Peter walked on the water. Love for his Master led him out of the boat. Faith in his Master lifted him above nature. It is a picture of a Christian walking through a world where everything is against him, held up by power from above. But the great point of the lesson is this: he can only walk that way while that power supports him, and only while he depends on that support. "Hold me up," said the Psalmist, "that I may be safe" (Ps. 119:117). Peter proved it when he was desperate and prayed the prayer that is always answered on the spot: "Lord, save me."
So what happens when someone prays this? One writer answers:
We see then that God has made rich provision for His people. If He teaches us that there is no need to sin, He also shows us the secret of being kept from it. Our safety lies in Himself, and He alone is able to guard us. He never fails to answer the cry of faith. So it is as true now as in the days of the Psalmist that if we cry, "O Lord, hold us up," we shall be kept safe. And there is power available to the believer today that the Psalmist never knew.
The second half of the verse is not payment for the first. One writer points to how this psalm speaks about life itself:
Verses 17 and 117 tie life and obedience completely together. For the man of God, to live and to serve the living God are one and the same thing.
- Separated — the prayer follows a decision. A man who has taken his stand against evil asks for strength to keep standing.
- Held — safety is not something he owns. It is a hand he leans on. Only as God holds him is he safe.
- Not resolved — good intentions give no stability, and neither does zeal against other people's errors. Hezekiah's "I will" had no "hold me up" in it.
- Answered — God never fails to answer this cry. He gives believers today power the psalmist never knew.
- Continually — the one God holds keeps his eyes on God's word. For him, living and serving God are the same thing.