Psalm 119:145

Psalm 119:145

I will obey!

Only 4 more Hebrew alphabet letters left and this is 19th and it has a curious name – “Qoph” pronounced “kof.” This is a bit of a strange one, it can mean the back of the head, the eye of a needle and it is also the word for monkey! In a deeper sense, it has to do with removing the outer coating of the superficial to reveal holiness within!

Notice that the verse before us expresses the writer’s longings in a more demanding way than we’ve been used to. It’s as if he anticipates the end of the Psalm and is becoming more desperate, “I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord.” We have seen that his pleas are caused by his own sinful plight, his failing health, and the vitriolic abuse of his adversaries, he is like a man who finds himself floating in the open seas, clinging tenaciously to some kind of buoyant object but becoming increasingly aware that the situation is getting more critical by the minute. 

It is the unshakeable trust of the psalmist in the Word of God that has characterised all of Psalm 119. He has nothing else; the Holy Spirit has not yet been given and much of the Scriptures have not yet been written, the only source of help and hope is the Torah – the decrees of the Lord. For him, the only source of a hard-earned salvation is the absolute obedience of those whose trust is in the Lord, there is no other way.

It seems we have it easy, or do we? Most believers today would argue that our salvation is not based on works of obedience but on faith, they would say that the Holy Spirit has granted them a relationship that is far removed from the hard graft of our predecessors. So, why are many of us so flaky in our faith and so casual in our study of God’s Word? Isn’t the faith journey one of deeper longings, a quest for truth and for holiness, a pursuit of righteousness that causes us to be addicted to God’s Word and His decrees? Haven’t we been given the best of both worlds?

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