The proud have digged pits for me, which is not according to thy law.
The psalmist has just described himself as weak and worn down, still waiting for God to act. Now he names his trouble: proud men have dug hidden traps for him, and their work stands outside God's law — an attack on him that is also an attack on God.
This verse sits in a group of eight verses, 81 to 88, that move from exhaustion to appeal:
In deep distress and searching of soul, the afflicted one looks for the Lord's salvation and the comfort of His word. He is weak, like a leather bottle in the smoke, and it seems as if his days are few. This is because of the proud persecutors. They set themselves against the will of the Lord and seek the downfall of the righteous. In these hard conditions the righteous look to Jehovah for help when they are pressed to the limit. They count on His life-giving power, which gives the strength to keep His testimony.
The men who dug the pits are the insolent, or the proud. Their pride is a refusal to be under God, and it turns into mockery of anyone who is:
But this delight in the word gives a true estimate of man in the world: the "proud" man acts from his own will and sets himself up. He may seem to succeed and scoff at God. He is under a curse, he strays from the one true way of man — God's way. Lifting up our own will must bring a curse. In doing that we are away from God and in rebellion against Him, as all acting of human will is. Godliness does more than make a man a stranger here, which is a settled thing for the heart. It also brings cruel mocking, because proud man will not be subject to God.
Across the psalm the same man lists many other attacks, and the dug pit is one of them:
He is surrounded by transgressors that grieve his spirit (v. 158), and enemies that oppress him (v. 134). Princes speak against him (v. 23), and persecute him without a cause (v. 161). The proud hold him in derision (v. 51), forge lies against him (v. 69), and dig pits for his overthrow (v. 85). The wicked lay snares for his feet (v. 110), and lie in wait for his destruction (v. 95). He is held in reproach and contempt (v. 22); in the eyes of the world he is little and despised (v. 141).
The second half of the verse says these men "do not live according to your law." That widens the offence:
(vv. 85-87) In confidence of heart, the afflicted soul spreads out the trial before God. The proud had dug pits to trap him; they persecuted him wrongfully; they almost destroyed him from the land. Moreover, not only do the wicked oppose the people of God but they oppose God Himself. Their actions are not according to God's law; they are wrongful in God's sight; they forsake God's precepts. God is not unmindful of the sorrows of the saints, and He cannot ignore the evil ways of the wicked.
The trouble comes from human pride, and it breaks God's own word. So the sufferer can bring it back to God as a reason to act:
The sorrow he was suffering was man's pride at work, and it was not according to the word which God made good and owned. Yet that word was, all of it, faithful, and the persecution wrongful. It had gone very far. He was almost destroyed in the land, the very place of promise and God's power. Yet he did not forsake God's precepts… So sorrow itself and great pressure, where there is integrity, become a plea with God.
The pits stay open, and the law does not stop the men who dug them. So the psalmist leans on God's commands:
Meanwhile the pits of the proud gape open before them, and Israel's law does not hold the proud back. The psalmist thinks of those commandments. Because they uphold righteousness, they imply a God who will be faithful to the righteous. So he can plead them as if they were promises — "faithful commandments." He too has tried to be faithful to them. He therefore seeks his shelter in the sanctuary from those who persecute him unjustly.
- Pit — the danger hides underfoot — traps dug for his downfall, along with lies, snares, scorn and ambush.
- Pride — the diggers act from their own will and set themselves up. They will not be under God, so they mock those who are.
- Lawlessness — their work is outside God's law. So the offence is not only against a man but against God, and He does not ignore it.
- Plea — pressure borne with integrity becomes an argument he can bring to God, not a reason to quit.
- Preservation — he pleads God's faithful commandments as if they were promises. Then he looks for the life-giving power that keeps him holding God's testimony.
All thy commandments are faithfulness. They persecute me wrongfully help thou me.
Psalm 119:86 sets two facts side by side: God's commandments are dependable, and the people hunting the writer ignore them. Out of that clash comes a two-word prayer for help. Why is a settled truth about God's word the ground for asking rescue?
The ESV calls these commandments "sure." Older translations read "faithful." A dictionary of Bible terms traces the word behind both:
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament this word comes from the same root as 'faith.' It means being true to oneself and to one's own nature. It means keeping any promise given and any trust committed. In various connections it is often applied to God Himself... The commandments and testimonies of God are called faithful (Ps. 119:86, 138).
So the reliability of the words rests on the character of the One who speaks them:
You can depend on God's word. We have the sayings of a God who cannot lie; He who made the promises in them performs them faithfully; they are all "yes and amen" in Christ.
Why mention commandments at all when asking for help? One commentator answers: a command that upholds what is right implies a God who stands by the person doing right.
Meanwhile the pits of the proud lie open in front of them, unchecked by Jewish law. The psalmist thinks of those commandments which uphold righteousness. They must imply a God who will be faithful to the righteous. So he can plead them as if they were promises — "faithful commandments." And he too has striven to be faithful to them. So he seeks his shelter in God's sanctuary from those who persecute him wrongfully. Almost destroyed on earth, he has not abandoned God's precepts.
The ESV says they persecute him "with falsehood"; older translations say "wrongfully." Either way, the wrong is not only against the man:
In confidence of heart, the afflicted soul spreads out the trial before God. The proud had dug pits to trap him; they persecuted him wrongfully; they almost destroyed him from the land. Moreover, the wicked not only oppose the people of God, they oppose God Himself. Their actions are not according to God's law; they are wrongful in God's sight; they forsake God's precepts. God is not unmindful of the sorrows of the saints, and He cannot ignore the evil ways of the wicked.
The prayer shrinks to two words. Is such a bare cry wasted?
He continues to speak of the way he is treated by the proud, who have dug pits for him, in complete ignorance of God's law. All God's commandments are faithful, but the ungodly ignore this completely and persecute the godly wrongfully. So he appeals to his one source of hope, "Help me!" Is this in vain? Certainly not. Though he feels the enemy has almost ended his existence on earth, he is confident that God can revive him.
This verse falls in the eleventh section of the psalm. One writer says the rescue in view is deliverance on earth, with God acting against the enemy:
Here the prayer is urgent, as the wrongdoing grows fast and weakness shows itself in the severest trial. This is not the hope of the Christian, who like Christ is to go on high. It is deliverance, as Israel expects and will have, when God carries out judgment openly on the enemy.
Another writer describes the same section as a cry that grows louder under trouble:
In the eleventh the cry becomes more urgent. He is under the pressure of trial, and his soul faints for deliverance. He looks for Jehovah to carry out judgment, because he is walking in Jehovah's precepts. And the proud persecute him wrongfully — they pay no attention to Jehovah or to His law.
- Sure — the word older versions render "faithful" shares its root with "faith": being true to one's nature, to a promise given, to a trust committed. It describes God Himself before His commandments.
- Pleadable — a command that upholds righteousness implies a God who backs the righteous. So the sufferer prays that command back to Him like a promise.
- Wrongful — the attack is not just unfair to him. It is against God, whose law the proud ignore, and He cannot overlook it.
- Help me — as the pits open and strength fails, the prayer shrinks to two words and one resource. It is not in vain.
- Deliverance — the help expected is God acting openly against the enemy. Commentators note this is Israel's hope of rescue on earth, not the Christian's hope of going on high.
They had almost consumed me upon the earth; but as for me, I forsook not thy precepts.
In Psalm 119:87 the writer's enemies have pushed him to the edge of destruction. He does not strike back. He holds on to God's precepts. So the verse raises two questions. How far does God let trouble go against His people? And what keeps a believer steady while help is slow?
This part of the psalm is a record of waiting. One commentator sums it up in a line:
The exercises of a saint whose prayer remains for a while unanswered.
He brings the whole trial to God and holds nothing back. And his complaint is not only that the enemies hurt him — they set themselves against God too:
With confidence of heart, the afflicted soul spreads out the trial before God. The proud had dug pits to trap him; they persecuted him wrongfully; they almost consumed him from the land. What is more, the wicked not only oppose the people of God, they oppose God Himself. Their actions are not according to God's law; they are wrong in God's sight; they forsake God's precepts. God is not unmindful of the sorrows of the saints, and He cannot ignore the evil ways of the wicked.
Believers are not spared such suffering. One writer sets the verse beside Paul's list of hardships:
The psalmist says: "They have almost made an end of me on earth…" Yes, even believers are not spared tribulations or sufferings. When you or I are passing through a very difficult time, Satan may suggest that the Lord has forgotten us. He may tell us that God does not love us any more. Paul helps us here. He writes to the believers at Rome, who were under persecution too. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:35, 37). Satan may use circumstances to sow doubts in our hearts. But why should we doubt? Is not God for us? Did not God give up His Son for us? Did not Christ die for us? … We have nothing to fear. We are absolutely secure.
Where this happened matters. It was in the land God had promised him:
It had gone very far. He was almost consumed in the land, the very place of promise and God's power; but he did not forsake God's precepts. He looks for mercy too, as something that gives him life. It is not only comfort from outside, but the restoration of the soul itself. … So sorrow itself and great pressure, where there is integrity, become a plea with God.
One writer looks across the whole psalm. He lists what God did not prevent, and how the psalmist answered:
Here God hadn't protected him from the bands of the wicked (v. 61). God hadn't stopped the proud from lying about him (v. 69). God hadn't stopped them from treating him unjustly and wrongly (v. 78). His enemies had almost consumed him (v. 87). … Sometimes God allows a situation or a path that we don't like, one we would not choose ourselves. He may allow it to test our faith, or to discipline us, or to draw us closer to Him. But whatever the reason, God allows it. The psalmist responded by remembering God's words. He focuses on what God has written. He meditates on it, keeps it with his whole heart and delights in it.
He holds on, and he also asks God for new life. He has a reason for asking:
He feels the enemy has almost ended his life on earth. Yet he is confident that God can revive him, for he appeals to God's lovingkindness (v. 88). And he does not ask this only for his own comfort. He asks it so that he may keep the testimony of God's mouth.
- Pressure. This is a believer whose prayer has gone unanswered for a while.
- Almost. The enemy came close to finishing him. But "almost" is where it stopped, and no such pressure can separate us from the love of Christ.
- Grip. Under that pressure he did not let go of God's precepts; the wicked are the ones who forsake them.
- Plea. Sorrow and pressure, where there is integrity, become a plea to bring to God, not a reason to doubt Him.
- Life. He asks God for more than rescue from outside trouble. He asks for new life inside, so that he may go on keeping God's word.