BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his path? by taking heed according to thy word.
The psalmist asks how a young man can keep his life clean in a dirty world. His answer is God's word — read, taken to heart, and obeyed.
The question comes from someone who has tried to walk well and feels the world sticking to him:
Here is a soul with a question! He has tried to walk in a way that pleases the Lord, but he feels the defiling influences of the world around him. There has been defilement in thought and imagination. Some believers suffer from unclean thoughts or unclean suggestions from the enemy. This young man had known that kind of defilement. Now he asks the question: "With what" shall I cleanse my way, my heart, my thought life? This verse gives us the first wonderful fact about the Word: it purifies.
The verse is not about how a sinner's guilt is removed. It is about the daily upkeep of a walk:
The young man is mentioned here because a believer needs this vital instruction at the very start of his path. The subject here is not the cleansing of his sins, but the practical cleansing of his path. Only the blood of Christ cleanses sins, and God does that work for the believer. But the believer is responsible to cleanse his path. This means a daily, practical separation from evil principles. The means of this is clear: it is the Word of God taken to heart that enables one to act with such effect.
These two cleansings are easy to confuse. One happened once; the other we need every day:
The Word of God is that which has cleansing power for the believer. Bear in mind that we are not now speaking of that cleansing which, as guilty sinners, we get when we come to Christ. At that time we were cleansed in a very different way, even by the precious blood of Christ. But as believers we need the continuous washing, not of blood, but of "water by the word."
The answer is something the believer does, not something he owns:
First, by watchful care to bring all his ways under the searchlight of God's Word.
The blessing comes with reading, and with obeying:
There is a blessing where Scripture is read and in particular where it is obeyed. … We say to the little ones, we need to say it to each other, "read your Bible, pray every day." Now we can say there is a purifying effect from the reading of Holy Scripture.
Satan aims at the young first, but the counsel reaches every age:
In a world where Satan is very active to deceive believers, the young Christian is his special target. So the question the psalmist asked himself matters as much today as in his day. How can a young man — or a young woman — lead a holy and pure life in unholy, sin-stained surroundings? The answer of Scripture is short but enough: by taking heed according to your word. We live in a world where standards and values are changing at an ever-increasing speed. … whether young or old, we need to measure everything by God's plumb line — His Word. That is how we become overcomers in this anti-Christian or post-Christian world.
The cleansing reaches inward as well as outward:
Purity. Perhaps sexual purity is the most obvious example of this. These words speak especially to young men. But let's not suppose that any of us, whatever our age or gender, is safe from the dangers. The word is clear. And of course purity involves not just what we do, but what goes on in our minds too.
Our ways can be pictured as clothing — what touches us, and what others see us wearing:
The clothes stand for what touches us — our associations, what we have dealings with, what the world around us sees us connected with. Perhaps people have often seen us in the gambling halls, or in other evil places. All these associations and ways must be "washed."
- Defilement — a believer who wants to please God feels the world's dirt on his thoughts and his path.
- Distinction — the blood of Christ cleansed our guilt once; the walk needs the daily washing of water by the word.
- Direction — guarding your way means bringing it under the searchlight of Scripture: read it, then obey it.
- Reach — the enemy aims at the young first. Every age needs the same plumb line, in the mind as well as outside it.
- Result — a clean path through an unclean world, as the word washes our habits, company and reputation.
With my whole heart have I sought thee let me not wander from thy commandments.
This verse holds two things together: a claim and a prayer. The psalmist says he has sought God with his whole heart. In the same breath he asks God to keep him from straying. Why does an honest heart still need to pray like that?
The first half of the verse does not say he sought rules. He sought God Himself. One writer explains what a whole heart means here, and why the prayer follows from it.
Here He is "sought with the whole heart"; no guile, but the true desire of the heart towards God. God's commandments are precious, because they make His will known. So the heart that truly seeks Him prays that He will not let it wander from them. The heart looks to God as good, for when He is truly sought there is always some sense of His goodness. That is what distinguishes conversion from mere terror of conscience: desire towards Him, and a sense of goodness in God.
If the seeking takes the whole heart, you cannot squeeze it in. One writer presses this, and notes that the second half of the verse turns into prayer.
This verse shows us that the Word keeps the believer from wandering from the path of obedience. "With my whole heart I seek you…" We have to be in earnest about it! To rush in and out of the Lord's presence for a little reading and prayer is not what we could properly call a "quiet time." We must take time to be holy. Notice that the second half of this verse is a prayer: "…let me not wander…" We have a prayer in verses 5 and 8, and in this verse too. Prayer and Bible study go hand in hand.
David spoke this way in other psalms too. One writer sets that against a religion that is correct but cold.
Whole-heartedness is surely due to such a God as ours! "I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart" (Psalm 9:1), "With my whole heart I seek you" (Psalm 119:10), "With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD!" (Psalm 119:145). This is how David loved to speak to his God. Lord, save us all from dead, decent formality in divine things; give us David's spirit.
The prayer in the second half admits something the first half cannot supply. Good intentions are real, but they are not a guarantee.
He also casts himself upon the power of God, so that God will keep him from wandering into paths of his own lust and will. He knows he is weak. He knows that right and honest desires will not in themselves keep him in the path of blessing. So he casts himself with his whole heart upon God (v. 10).
One writer asks why the psalm speaks of a young man.
The young man is spoken of, no doubt, because life is strong in him, and the untried world is full of natural attraction… Seeking Him with the whole heart, the soul still has to pray, "Let me not wander."
sentence distorts source ("here" = the world); grade-29 sentence; duplicates Smith's point
One writer explains the verb behind the word "wander."
The verb is "to err," as in Psalm 119:10, 21, 118 and Leviticus 4:13 — to sin through ignorance.
One writer asks how that prayer is answered, and points to the next verse.
The newborn soul can rightly claim that with his whole heart he has sought the Lord. In keeping with this, he earnestly prays, "let me not wander from your commandments!" (v. 10). How does this happen? By hiding God's Word in his heart. How good indeed to learn verses of Scripture, not merely by memory, but by heart! This will certainly preserve us from sinning against God (v. 11).
- Sought — the whole heart goes after God Himself, and where He is truly sought there is always some sense of His goodness.
- Slowly — you cannot rush whole-hearted seeking; a hurried visit to the Lord's presence is not really a quiet time.
- Straying — the verb behind "wander" means to err, the word used for sinning through ignorance. It covers drifting, not only defiance.
- Strength — honest desires will not by themselves keep anyone in the path, so the seeker casts himself on God's power.
- Stored — God answers the prayer as we hide His Word in the heart, learning it by heart and not merely by memory.
Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Psalm 119 turns, again and again, on one subject: the word of God. Verse 11 answers a personal question: where does that word belong? Not on a shelf, but inside a person — and it works once it is there.
The verse does not say he read the word, or repeated it, or admired it. It says he put it somewhere. One writer draws out how much rests on that single detail:
It was not the Bible in his hand to read it, or the word on his tongue to speak of it. It was hiding it in his heart that he found effective against sin.
Inside, the word is safe — and it needs to be. One writer describes people who took God's message in as treasure:
They took it into their knowledge and intelligence, took it into their heart as an invaluable treasure. "I have stored up your word in my heart." That is the right place for it; it is safe there. We need to be on our guard. The birds of the air in the Parable of the Sower stand for real evil spirits. They hover around us, seeking to rob us of the treasure we have received.
"Stored up" sounds like memory work. One writer says that is not deep enough:
The Word of God should not only be a check on our thoughts. It should be their source, which is far deeper. We see it in Christ, the only perfect One. He alone could say, "By the word of your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent." "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." The Word has a preserving power that keeps the feet from sliding. Only those who receive the truth in the love of it know that power. Merely having the word hidden in the memory will not do! There is no preserving power in that. The truth must act on the heart and conscience, separating us from all defilement. Otherwise we cannot experience its preserving power.
Another writer makes the same distinction with a memorable turn of phrase, and ties the verse back to the prayer that comes just before it:
The new born soul can rightly claim that with his whole heart he has sought the Lord; and consistently with this, he earnestly prays, "Oh let me not wander from Your commandments" (v. 10). How is this to be accomplished? By the individual's hiding God's Word in his heart. How good indeed to learn the verses of scripture, not merely by memory, but by heart!
One writer reads verse 11 as a further step, taken after the prayer of verse 10:
Second, by casting himself on the power of God, so that God keeps him from wandering into paths of his own lust and will. He knows his weakness. He knows that right and honest desires will not by themselves keep him in the path of blessing. So he casts himself on God with all his heart (v. 10).
Third, by hiding the Word in his heart, which keeps him from sinning against God in secret.
The stored word is for use. One writer points to the pattern:
God's word is a protector from sin — if hidden in the heart. Read, taken seriously, meditated on, remembered — all are involved in hiding it in the heart. Again this takes time, but it helps to protect us from sin. The Lord Jesus is the perfect example of using God's word when under temptation. For each of Satan's temptations He answered with the right scripture. He knew the scriptures, of course, but He also understood how to apply them, and which verses were right for which situation. How vitally important it is that we hide the word in our hearts; there is no better protector from sinning.
One writer sets this verse beside a later line in the same psalm, which says God's word is settled in heaven:
These are golden sentences for the present moment. They set forth the true place for the Word — "settled in heaven" and "hidden in the heart." That is not all. They also link the heart to the very throne of God through His own Word. This gives the Christian all the stability and all the moral security that the divine Word can give.
- Place — the word in the hand or on the tongue did not keep the psalmist; the word hidden in the heart did.
- Treasure — the heart keeps the word safe, but it needs guarding. Evil spirits seek to rob us of the treasure we received.
- Depth — memory alone has no preserving power. The truth must act on heart and conscience, and become the source of our thoughts, not just a check on them.
- Weapon — Jesus answered each temptation with the right scripture. He knew the words, and He knew where they fit.
- Anchor — settled in heaven, hidden in the heart. The same word ties the believer to God's throne and holds him steady.
Blessed art thou, Jehovah! teach me thy statutes.
Two things stand together in this short verse: a word of praise to God, and a request to be taught by Him. Why bless God before asking Him for anything? And what does it mean to be taught "statutes" by God Himself?
Commentators trace a progression through the verses around this one. This verse is the fourth step in it.
Fourth, by owning the blessedness of the Lord and thus in confidence looking to be taught of the Lord (v. 12).
Notice the order. The confidence to ask comes from first owning who God is.
The prayer is short, but it contains an honest confession. Asking to be taught means admitting you have not yet learned.
But now we see the heart in the presence and under the control of God: "Blessed are You, Jehovah." The heart turns to Him with its awareness of its own ignorance and its yearning desire — "teach me Your statutes."
The praise and the plea are not two moods. They belong to one heart that has come under God's control. ("Jehovah" is the personal name of God, printed as LORD in the ESV.)
One writer sets these words inside real trouble. There, what God is becomes the psalmist's rest.
The heart owns the blessedness of Jehovah Himself, known in His ways, His goodness, His mercy that endures forever. There, in the middle of its distress, the renewed heart finds its resource and its rest. "Blessed are You, O Jehovah." This makes the heart look for what He has decreed and ordained, and for divine teaching in it. This looking at God gives courage, and an inner sense of integrity and faithfulness.
Looking at God has two effects. It makes a person want what God has decreed, and it makes a person brave.
Who answers this prayer, and what is a statute? One writer gives both answers.
The Holy Spirit is our Teacher, and through the instruments that grace uses He can teach us the will of God (John 14:26). So let us echo the psalmist's prayer to the Lord: "…teach me Your statutes." And let us remember what a statute means: "a divine direction to bring about our obedience, and to keep us from disobedience."
So the prayer asks for more than information. A statute aims at obedience, and it guards the learner from disobedience.
The verse speaks to God, not about Him. One writer marks what sets that apart from telling others what God is.
We owe it to God to declare what He is. He ought to be known, and what He is ought to be acknowledged. Praise is different in that we speak our sense of what He is to Him.
The answered prayer does not stop with the one who prayed. The next verse opens his mouth toward other people.
Such simple, clear facts move the heart also to bless the Lord, who can be relied on to teach His statutes. This being so, our lips are also opened to witness to others, declaring all the judgments of God's mouth (v. 13).
The same movement runs across the whole psalm.
Praise and testimony can only flow from a soul that is taught of God. So the psalmist says, "My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes." At once he adds, "My tongue will sing of your word." The psalm opens with prayer, continues in praise, and leads to testimony. This is always the divine order.
- Blessing first. The verse owns who God is before it asks for anything. Praise is spoken to God Himself, and it gives the asking its confidence.
- Blessing gives courage. Owning God's blessedness makes the heart want what He has decreed. It also steadies the heart in the middle of distress.
- Blessing exposes ignorance. The same heart that praises admits it has not yet learned, and turns to God with that yearning desire.
- Blessing seeks obedience. A statute is God's direction to bring about obedience and keep the learner from disobedience. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher who gives it.
- Blessing ends in speech. God will teach the one who asks. The taught soul does not stay silent: prayer, then praise, then testimony to others.
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
This section asks how a young man can keep his way clean, then answers step by step. Here the answer turns outward: what the heart has taken in, the lips now speak.
The ESV calls them "rules." Older translations say "judgments." The Hebrew word behind both is exact:
MISH-PAHT = Judgment. The word occurs 23 times in the psalm… It means the sentence of a judge, and above all a sentence that imposes a penalty. It is therefore a judicial sentence, a decision the Lord makes.
So these are the Lord's own decisions, not the psalmist's opinions.
The order of the section matters. Verses 9 to 12 deal with a man's own path; only after that does his mouth open.
(vv. 13-16) The young man's way has been cleansed, so now he can bear testimony to others (v. 13). It comes from a heart that enjoys God's testimonies (v. 14), meditates on them (v. 15), delights in them, and keeps them in mind (v. 16).
The verse just before this one asked God for teaching. We speak only after God has taught us:
"With my lips I declare …", the verse begins. The believer may speak in "living echoes of His words …", but the Lord must first be able to speak to us, before we can tell others what He has told us. Before the Lord Jesus can send us out "to preach" He calls us first to "be with Him" (Mark 3:14). Perhaps it is good to ask ourselves: "What do I use my lips for?" Surely not for gossip? How we need to pray daily: "keep watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3; Job 27:4).
One small word carries this verse: "all." The psalmist declares everything God has said, not a selection:
Service flows from confidence in God and from knowing how blessed He is, with the value we place on what God has given… Perceiving divine things, with power and value for them, is what makes us declare them. It is glorifying God. Love to others may go with this, but it is another thing. We owe it to God to declare what He is. He ought to be known, and what He is ought to be acknowledged. Then we hold nothing back: "all the judgments of Your mouth." We are filled with what God is, and with its value, and we speak it out. We may be wise for others' sake, but we value God enough to declare Him fully.
Verse 9 asked how a young man keeps his way clean. Open confession is part of the answer, and holding back carries a cost:
He has already been speaking of what he knew. He declared God's judgments — the decisions God had given about good and evil, right and wrong — and he did it faithfully, holding nothing back. What a great help this is for keeping a clean path: confessing God in all things, and committing yourself fully to all that He has made known of Himself. Indecision invites the assault of evil. It does not honour God, and He cannot honour anyone who is ashamed of Him.
Two verses earlier the psalmist stored God's word in his heart. What fills the heart is what comes out of the mouth:
Whatever is in the heart comes out through the lips, and in the life. How important then to have the heart full of the word of God! It should be so full that we have no room for the empty, foolish things of this present evil world… "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." So we can judge what is in the heart by what comes out of the mouth. The tongue is the organ of the heart — the organ of the man.
- Taught — God speaks first. He teaches His judgments, and only then can we tell others what He has said.
- Cleansed — the path is cleansed before the mouth opens. Testimony comes from a heart that enjoys and meditates on God's word.
- Spoken — "judgments" are a judge's verdicts. They came out of God's mouth before they came out of ours.
- Complete — "all" leaves nothing out. We owe it to God to declare what He is, holding nothing back.
- Guarded — confessing God in all things keeps the path clean. Indecision invites the assault of evil.
I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as [much as] in all wealth.
Psalm 119 asks early on how a young man can keep his way clean. This verse comes after that answer, and it says what a clean path brings: joy, weighed against all the riches a person could own.
The writers quoted below use an older translation of this psalm. Where the ESV says, "In the way of your testimonies I delight," they read, "I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies."
One writer reads verses 13 to 16 as one chain that starts from a cleansed way:
Verses 13-16: the young man's way has been cleansed, so he can bear testimony to others (v. 13). This comes from a heart that enjoys God's testimonies (v. 14), meditates on them (v. 15), delights in them, and keeps them in mind (v. 16).
The verse speaks of God's testimonies. One writer says where they come from, and what they are not:
Note further: these are testimonies that come from God. They are His definite declaration of His mind and will. They are not a knowledge of God that man boasts of by his own will, or his claim to know what God must be. They are the definite testimonies of God, so man is subject to them, though they also hold him up. It is not man's reasoning, or man's conscience, but the testimonies of God, His own active revelation of Himself, the speaking of His word. Faith simply receives them, and the soul is subject to them as such.
One writer ties this joy to the open confession of God, and then shows what the joy leads to:
How great a thing this is for keeping a clean path — to confess God in all things, and to give yourself fully to all that He has made known of Himself! An undecided attitude invites the attack of evil. God is not honoured in it, and He cannot honour one who is ashamed of Him. Joy in what is confessed goes with a true confession. So it follows here: "I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches." The mind, too, works on what the heart enjoys. It meditates on God's precepts, and pays attention to His paths.
Why measure this joy against riches? One writer says what God's testimonies become for the soul:
God's testimonies become the riches of the soul. Owning heaven changes this a little. Yet still, for life here below, the way of God's testimonies is joy — moral joy — as riches would be to men. There is an inward life that busies itself with these things, as well as the activity of duty. There is much in God's testimonies to feed on, digest and learn. We meditate on them, and so we have God's mind — the Holy Spirit's intention in them. So the soul is fed in delight.
One writer sets this verse beside Christ's words in Psalm 40, and then marks the limit of the comparison:
As the Lord Jesus Himself says, "I delight to do your will, O my God" (Ps. 40:8), so the believer may say, "I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches" (v. 14). The believer cannot say that he does the will of God as Christ does. But he has the same attitude toward God's Word as Christ has.
Rejoicing in the Word is not the whole response. One writer sets a second attitude beside it, then turns both into a question:
We have already seen that the Word revives us. Yes, we may rejoice in the Word "as much as in all riches"; "as one who finds great spoil"; "for they are the rejoicing of my heart" (Ps. 119:14, 162, 111). But on the other hand it is the holy Word of God that speaks with authority to our hearts and consciences. Are we "trembling" at His Word, and trying to order our lives by it? Or do we try to adjust God's Word to our behaviour when we have already departed from it to some degree?
- Cleansed — this joy belongs to a way already made clean. The path is cleansed first, and the rejoicing follows.
- Given — "testimonies" are God's own declaration of His mind and will. They are His revelation of Himself, not man's reasoning or conscience.
- Confessed — real joy goes with open confession of God. Indecision invites evil, and God cannot honour one who is ashamed of Him.
- Valued — God's testimonies become the riches of the soul, giving the heart here below what riches give to men.
- Kept — the mind works on what the heart enjoys, so rejoicing runs on into meditation. Trembling at the same Word keeps it steady, instead of bending God's Word to fit our lives.
I will meditate upon thy precepts, and have respect unto thy paths.
Psalm 119:15 sits in a section (verses 9–16) about how God's word keeps a young man's path clean. The psalmist promises two things: to turn God's charges over in his mind, and to keep his eyes on God's paths.
The psalm uses eight different words for God's word, each with its own shade. Two of them meet in this verse.
Several words are used, each meaning the law, but viewed from different standpoints. (1) Law (Torah) — direction, teaching. (2) Testimony (Eduth) — witness, testimony. (3) Precept (Piqqudim) — charges. (4) Statute (Choq) — decreed limit. (5) Commandment (Mitvah) — precept. (6) Word (Dabar) — word, matter, thing. (7) Judgment (Misphat) — judgment. (8) Way (Derek) — trodden path.
So the verse joins God's charges to His trodden path. The psalm treats that path as something to want, not to dread.
In this Psalm it is not the law of bondage, condemnation and death, but "the trodden path" of delight that the renewed man longs to take.
The mind does not wander at random. One writer links what a person enjoys to what he thinks about.
The mind, too, turns of itself to what the heart enjoys. So he meditates on God's precepts, and keeps His paths in view.
A picture from the farmyard shows what meditation does that reading alone does not.
Reading fills our minds with truth. Meditation brings that truth home to us in its full force and application. The ox does not only feed in the pastures; it also lies down to chew the cud. In the same way, we need to turn things over in our minds. It is not what we eat that nourishes us, but what we digest. If we meditate on the things of God, and get right into them so that they control us, then our profit, our spiritual growth, becomes plain to everyone.
Study and meditation look alike. They work on different parts of a person.
Meditation and study differ. Study is a work of the brain, meditation of the heart. Study puts the mind to work; meditation puts the affections to work. Study finds a truth out; meditation makes spiritual use of that truth. The one searches for the vein of gold, the other digs out the gold. Study is like a winter sun, with little warmth or influence. Meditation leaves the soul in a holy state. It melts the heart when it is frozen, and makes it drop into tears of love.
"I will" sounds like a decision made against resistance. One writer names who resists.
The devil is an enemy to meditation. He does not care how much people read and hear, nor how little they meditate. He knows that meditation settles the heart and brings it into a gracious state, and the devil is against that. Satan is content for you to be a hearing and praying Christian, so long as you are not a meditating Christian. He can stand your small shot, as long as you do not load this bullet.
The second half of the verse says where meditation has to end up. The ESV reads "fix my eyes on your ways"; the older wording this writer comments on is "have respect to your ways".
The writer expresses a determination: "I will meditate …". How important it is to be determined about keeping up a daily Bible study! Most Christians are so disorganised that they cannot find time for Bible study — or that is their excuse. We can always find time for something we really want to do! The writer then continues: "… and have respect to Your ways". It is not enough to be interested and to meditate on the Word. We should follow that by putting what we read into practice. To have "respect" is to be willing to obey the Word of God.
Both halves of the verse ask for more than a nod. The next verse names the result.
So the heart is moved to take time to meditate on God's precepts, not just to agree that they are true. It is moved to contemplate God's ways, not just to observe them (v. 15). Such delight in God's statutes will make a person remember, not forget (v. 16).
- Precepts. "Precepts" means God's charges, and "ways" means His trodden path — what He commands, and the road He marks out.
- Delight. The mind turns of itself to what the heart enjoys, so love for God's word feeds thought about it.
- Digest. Reading feeds; meditation chews the cud. It is not what we eat that nourishes us but what we digest.
- Decide. Satan can put up with a hearing and praying Christian, but not a meditating one. So "I will" is a settled determination.
- Do. Respect means willingness to obey. Meditation that never reaches practice stops halfway. The one who delights this way will not forget.
I delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word.
Psalm 119:16 ends the psalm's second section with two promises: joy in what God has laid down, and no forgetting of His word. Is remembering hard discipline, or the fruit of enjoyment?
Statutes sound like restriction. The word behind the term pictures something cut in — a fixed limit, and a call to obey.
CHUQQIM = Statute... It comes from the root to cut into, to hack, and so to engrave, to carve... It has the idea of that which is established, or definite; an appointed portion of food, or task; a definite limit... an appointed law, statute or ordinance. It is therefore a divine direction for my obedience, or to arrest disobedience. It stimulates obedience. It is the Law as a permanent record of God's will.
So the psalmist delights in something fixed, not something vague. One writer puts the result simply:
Happy the heart that finds its joy in the "statutes" of God. Remember that "statute" means a divine direction given for our obedience. What joy there is in obeying Him!
Verse 16 ends a chain of steps. It starts with a young man whose way has been cleansed.
(vv. 13-16) The young man's way has been cleansed, so he can now bear testimony (v. 13). His heart is enjoying God's testimonies (v. 14). It meditates on them (v. 15), delights in them, and keeps them in mind (v. 16).
The order in the verse matters. Joy comes first, and forgetfulness is what joy pushes out.
The section closes with a renewed experience of joy in His statutes. That joy is a sure safeguard against a bad memory.
Why should that be so? Love and memory work together, as one writer shows from ordinary life:
An affectionate hearer will not be a forgetful hearer. Love helps the memory: Can a woman forget her child, or a bride her wedding clothes? No, they love them too well; if the truths of God were this precious to you, you would think of them day and night. Sometimes a Christian has a weak memory. He cannot recall the very words he hears well enough to repeat them. Even then he keeps their power and flavour in his spirit. Dissolve sugar in wine and you cannot see it, but you can taste it. Eat food and digest it, and you will not find it as you received it. Yet it cheers the man and strengthens him, and makes him more able to walk and work than before. By that you may know it is not lost. So you may taste in his spirit the truths the Christian heard, and see them in his life.
Verse 15 shows how verse 16 becomes possible. There is a difference between agreeing a thing is true and dwelling on it.
So the heart is moved to take time to meditate on God's precepts, not merely to acknowledge them as true; and to contemplate God's ways, not merely to observe them (v. 15). Such delight in God's statutes will cause one to remember, not to forget (v. 16).
Not forgetting takes work. One writer ties it back to verse 11, where the word is hidden in the heart.
How important that we do not forget what we have read: "I will not forget your word." In verse 11 we saw the need to hide it in our hearts. To store the mind with the Word of God is the way of victory... How can the Holy Spirit bring any word from the Bible back to our memory if we have not first stored it there? Today we say of the computer that it will give you nothing but what you have first stored in its memory yourself! ... So everything really depends on our appetite for the Word of God. The writer of this psalm gives us a good example: he says he delights in the Word of God at least 8 times — see verses 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92, 143 and 174.
The law goes by many names in this psalm. For the one who delights in it, none of them carries a threat.
Psalm 119 has 176 verses. No fewer than 174 of them mention the law of God under different names — law, commandments, precepts, testimonies, judgments, statutes, ordinances, word, way, path... Whatever name the law goes by, it is no longer condemnation and a threat of death. It is perfect delight and liberty.
- Engraved. A "statute" is something cut in and fixed. It is "a divine direction for my obedience" — a permanent record of God's will, not a suggestion.
- Meditated. Delight grows by dwelling on God's precepts, "not merely to acknowledge them as true."
- Delighted. Joy answers a fixed will. For the one who loves it, the law is "no longer condemnation" but "perfect delight and liberty."
- Remembered. That joy is "a sure safeguard against a bad memory." Love helps the memory, and "an affectionate hearer will not be a forgetful hearer."
- Stored. The Spirit brings back what you have first stored; nothing hidden in the heart is lost, even when the exact words are.