Psalm 119:87

 

Psalm 119:87

Almost but not quite

If only we knew the circumstances that form the back story to this Psalm! What happened to the psalm-writer to make him feel so vulnerable? Who exactly were these antagonists and persecutors and how did they “almost wipe our friend from the earth”? We’ve already speculated that he must have been a priest or maybe a member of the royal family for his suffering seems to have wide-ranging and public consequences. It seems that there had been a murderous plot on his life and now the author admits that whilst he nearly died, he still clings tenaciously to the precepts of the Lord his God. Precepts are the laws and commands that come from the lips of overseers, in other words, the writer believes that the Lord is watching over him and that he is safeguarded and protected by the words that come from His guardian. 

There is a vital lesson here for us, there will be times when, at the very least, our reputations are under threat; for some who believe in our world today, their lives are in jeopardy because of their faith. What we are being told here is to hang on to the protective and reassuring words of the Lord, to never waver, to never doubt, to keep on trusting even when our enemies seem to be in the ascendency and our lives are threatened.  John, in his letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, urges the believers to hold on, to keep doing the will of the Lord, and to those who are victorious is given the promise that whatever happens on earth, they will be given the right to sit upon His throne and to reign with Him in the coming ages. That is the reward for not forsaking His precepts. Hallelujah. 

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