Charles Spurgeon Collection: Spurgeon - C.H. - The Golden Alphabet: 16 Exposition of Psalm 119:121-128

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Charles Spurgeon Collection: Spurgeon - C.H. - The Golden Alphabet: 16 Exposition of Psalm 119:121-128



TOPIC: Spurgeon - C.H. - The Golden Alphabet (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 16 Exposition of Psalm 119:121-128

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Exposition of Psa_119:121-128

by Charles Spurgeon



121. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine

oppressors.

122. Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud

oppress me.

123. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy

righteousness.

124. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach

me thy statutes,

125. I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know

thy testimonies.

126. It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void

thy law.

127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above

fine gold.

128. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to

be: right; and I hate every false way.

121. “I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine

oppressors.”

“I have done judgment and justice.” This was a great thing for an Eastern

ruler to say at any time; for these despots mostly cared more for gain than

justice. Some of them altogether neglected their duty, and would not even

do judgment at all, preferring their pleasures to their duties; and many

more of them sold their judgments to the highest bidders by taking bribes,

or regarding the persons of men. Some rulers gave neither judgment nor

justice; others gave judgment without justice; but David gave judgment and

justice, and saw that his sentences were carried out. He could claim before

the Lord that he had dealt out even-handed justice, and was doing so still.

On this fact he founded a plea with which he backed the prayer — “ Leave

me not to mine oppressors.” He who, as far as his power goes, has been

doing right, may hope to be delivered from his oppressors when attempts

are made by them to do him wrong. If I will not oppress others, I may

hopefully pray that others may not be permitted to oppress me. A course of

upright conduct is one which gives us boldness in appealing to the Great

Judge for deliverance from the injustice of wicked men. Nor is this kind of

pleading to be censured as self-righteous; it is most fit and acceptable.

When we are dealing with God as to our shortcomings, we use a very

different tone from that with which we face the censures of our fellow-men.

When untruthful accusers are in the question, and we are guiltless

towards them, we are justified in pleading our innocence. Moral integrity is

a great helper of spiritual comfort. If we are right in our conduct, we may

be sure that the Lord will not leave us at all, and certainly will not leave us

to our enemies.

122. “Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.”

“Be surety for thy servant for good.” This was the cry of Job and of

Hezekiah, and it is the cry of every soul which believes in the great

Intercessor and Daysman. Answer for me. Do not leave thy poor servant to

die by the hand of his enemy and thine. Take up my interests and weave

them with thine own, and stand for me. As my Master, undertake thy

servant’s cause, and represent me before the faces of haughty men till they

see what an august ally I have in the Lord my God. Our greatest salvation

comes from the divine suretyship. The Son of God as our Surety has

smarted for us, and thereby he has brought good to us, and saved us from

our proud oppressor, the arch-enemy of souls. In this verse we have not

the law mentioned under any of its many names, and this is the only

instance in the whole Psalm in which a verse omits mention of the Word of

the Lord. Yet this is no exception to the spirit of the rule; for here we find

mention of our Surety, who is the fulfillment of the law. Where the law

fails we have Christ, the surety of a better covenant. This suretyship is

always for good, but how much of good no tongue can tell.

“Let not the proud oppress me.” Thine interposition will answer the

purpose of my rescue: when the proud see that thou art my advocate, they

will hide their heads. We should have been crushed beneath our proud

adversary the devil if our Lord Jesus had not stood between us and the

accuser, and become a surety for us. It is by his suretyship that we escape

like a bird from the snare of the fowler. What a blessing to be able to leave

our matters in our Surety’s hands, knowing that all will be well, since he

has an answer for every accuser, a rebuke for every reviler!

Good men dread oppression, for it makes even a wise man mad, and they

send up their cries to heaven for deliverance; nor shall they cry in vain, for

the Lord will undertake the cause of his servants, and fight their battles

against the proud. The word “servant” is wisely used as a plea for favor

for himself, and the word “proud” as an argument against his enemies. It

seems to be inevitable that proud men should become oppressors, and that

they should take most delight in oppressing the true servants of God. Their

oppressions will soon be put down, because they are oppressions, because

the workers of them are proud, and because the objects of them are the

Lord’s servants.

123. “Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy

righteousness.”

“Mine eyes fail for thy salvation.” He wept, waited, and watched for

God’s saving hand, and these exercises tried the eyes of his faith till they

were almost ready to give out. He looked to God alone, he looked eagerly,

he looked long, he looked till his eyes ached. The mercy is, that if our eyes

fail, God does not fail, nor do his eyes fail. Eyes are tender things, and so

are our faith, hope and expectancy: the Lord will not try them above what

they are able to bear. “And for the word of thy righteousness”: a word

that would silence the unrighteous words of his oppressors. His eyes as

well as his ears waited for the Lord’s word: he looked to see the divine

word come forth as a fiat for his deliverance. He was “waiting for the

verdict” — the verdict of righteousness itself. How happy are we if we

have righteousness on our side! for then that which is the sinners’ terror is

our hope, that which the proud dread is our expectation and desire. David

left his reputation entirely in the Lord’s hand, and was eager to be cleared

by the word of the Judge, rather than by any defense of his own. He knew

that he had done right, and, therefore, instead of avoiding the supreme

court, he begged for the sentence which he knew would work out his

deliverance. He even watched with eager eyes for the judgment and the

deliverance, the word of righteousness from God which meant salvation

to himself.

124. “Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy

statutes.”

“Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy.” Here he recollects

himself: although before men he was so clear that he could challenge the

word of righteousness, yet before the Lord, as his servant, he felt that he

must appeal to mercy. We feel safest here. Our heart has more rest in the

cry, “God be merciful to me,” than in appealing to justice. It is well to be

able to say, “I have done judgment and justice,” and then to add, in all

lowliness, yet “deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy.” The title

of servant covers a plea; a master should clear the character of his servant

if he be falsely accused, and rescue him from those who would oppress

him; and, moreover, the master should show mercy to a servant, even if he

deal severely with a stranger the Lord condescendingly deals, or has

communications with, his servants, not spurning them, but communing

with them; and this he does in a tender and merciful way, for in any other

form of dealing we should be crushed into the dust. “And teach me thy

statutes.” This will be one way of dealing with us in mercy. We may

expect a master to teach his own servant the meaning of his own orders.

Yet since our ignorance frequently arises from our sinful stupidity, it is

great mercy on God’s part that he condescends to instruct us in his

commands. For our ruler to become our teacher is an act of great grace,

for which we cannot be too grateful. Among our mercies this is one of the

choicest.

125. “I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy

testimonies.”

“I am thy servant.” This is the third time he has repeated this title in this

one section: he is evidently fond of the name, and conceives it to be a very

effective plea. We who rejoice that we are sons of God are by no means

the less delighted to be his servants. Did not the firstborn Son assume the

servant’s form and fulfil the servant’s labor to the full? What higher honor

can the younger brethren desire than to be made like the Heir of all things?

“Give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies” In the

previous verse he sought teaching; but here he goes much further, and

craves for understanding. Usually, if the instructor supplies the teaching,

the pupil finds the understanding; but in our case we are far more

dependent, and must beg for understanding as well as teaching: this the

ordinary teacher cannot give, and we are thrice happy that our Divine

Tutor can furnish us with it. We are to confess ourselves fools, and then

our Lord will make us wise, as well as give us knowledge. The best

understanding is that which enables us to render perfect obedience and to

exhibit intelligent faith, and it is this which David desires —

“understanding, that I may know thy testimonies” Some would rather not

know these things; they prefer to be at ease in the dark rather than possess

the light which leads to repentance and diligence. The servant of God longs

to know in an understanding manner all that the Lord reveals of man and to

man; he wishes to be so instructed that he may apprehend and comprehend

that which is taught him. A servant should not be ignorant concerning his

master, or his master’s business; he should study the mind, will, purpose,

and aim of him whom he serves, for so only can he fulfil his service; and as

no man knows these things so well as his master himself, he should often

go to him for instructions, lest his very zeal should only serve to make him

the greater blunderer.

It is remarkable that the Psalmist does not pray for understanding through

acquiring knowledge, but begs of the Lord first that he may have the

gracious gift of understanding, and then may obtain the desired instruction.

All that we know before we have understanding is apt to spoil us and breed

vanity in us; but if there be first an understanding heart, then the stores of

knowledge enrich the soul, and bring neither sin nor sorrow therewith.

Moreover, this gift of understanding acts also in the form of discernment,

and thus the good man is preserved from hoarding up that which is false

and dangerous: he knows what are and what are not the testimonies of the

Lord.

126. “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.”

David was a servant, and therefore it was always his time to work: but

being oppressed by a sight of man’s ungodly behavior, he feels that his

Master’s hand is wanted, and therefore he appeals to him to work against

the working of evil. Men make void the law of God by denying it to be his

law, by promulgating commands and doctrines in opposition to it, by

setting up tradition in its place, or by utterly disregarding and scorning the

authority of the lawgiver. Then sin becomes fashionable, and a holy walk is

regarded as a contemptible puritanism; vice is styled pleasure, and vanity

bears the bell. Then the saints sigh for the presence and power of their

God. Oh for an hour of the King upon the throne with the rod of iron in his

hand! Oh for another Pentecost with all its wonders, to reveal the energy of

God to gainsayers, and make them see that there is a God in Israel! Man’s

extremity, whether of need or sin, is God’s opportunity. When the earth

was without form and void, the Spirit came and moved upon the face of

the waters; should he not come when society is returning to a like chaos?

When Israel in Egypt were reduced to the lowest point, and it seemed that

the covenant would be void, then Moses appeared and wrought mighty

miracles; so, too, when the church of God is trampled down, and her

message is derided, we may expect to see the hand of the Lord stretched

out for the revival of religion, the defense of the truth, and the glorifying

of’ the divine name. The Lord can work either by judgments which hurl

down the ramparts of the foe, or by revivals which build up the walls of his

own Jerusalem. How heartily may we pray the Lord to raise up new

evangelists, to quicken those we already have, to set his whole church on

fire, and to bring the world to his feet! God’s work is ever honorable and

glorious; as for our works it is as nothing apart from him.

127. “Therefore I love thy commandants above gold; yea, above fine

gold.”

As it was God’s time to work, so it was David’s time to love. So far from

being swayed by the example of evil men, so as to join them in slighting the

Scriptures, he was the rather led into a more vehement love of those divine

revelations. He loved not only the doctrines, but the commandments. As he

saw the commandments slighted by the ungodly, his heart was in sympathy

with God, and he felt a burning affection for his holy precepts. It is the

mark of a true believer that he does not depend upon others for his

religion, but drinks water out of his own well, which springs up even when

the cisterns of earth are all dried. Amid a general depreciation of the law,

our holy poet felt his own esteem of it rising so high that gold and silver

sank in comparison. Wealth brings with it so many conveniences that men

naturally esteem it, and gold as the symbol of it is much set by; and yet, in

the judgment of the wise, God’s laws are more enriching, and bring with

them more comfort, than all the choicest treasures. The Psalmist could not

boast that: he always kept the commands; but he could declare that he

loved them; he was perfect in heart, and would fain have been perfect in

life. He judged God’s holy commands to be better than the best earthly

thing — gold; yea, better than the best sort of the best earthly thing — fine

gold; and this esteem was confirmed and forced into expression by those

very oppositions of the world which drive hypocrites to forsake the Lord

and his ways.

A miser watches his treasure all the more eagerly when he hears that there

are thieves abroad who are in league to deprive him of it. The more men

hate the eternal verities, the more do we prize them. We can truly say —

“The dearer, for their rage,

Thy words I love and own —

A wealthier heritage

Than gold and precious stone.”

128. “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be

right; and I hate every false way.”

“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right.”

Because the ungodly found fault with the precepts of God, therefore David

was all the more sure of their being right. The censure of the wicked is a

certificate of merit; that which they sanction we may justly suspect, but that

which they abominate we may ardently admire. The good man’s delight in

God’s law is unreserved, he believes in all God’s precepts concerning all

things. We state our faith all the more broadly in proportion to the

opposition of the foe. To carping criticism we oppose a fearless faith.

When confidence in God is counted vile, we purpose to be viler still.

“And I hate every false way.” Love to truth begat hatred to falsehood. He

that prizes a robe abhors the moth which would devour it. This godly man

was not indifferent to anything in the moral and spiritual world; but that

which he did not love he hated. He was no chip in the porridge without

flavor; he was a good lover or a good hater, but he was never a waverer.

He knew what he felt, and he expressed it plainly. He was no Gallio, caring

for none of these things. His detestation was as unreserved as his affection;

he had not a good word for any practice which would not bear the light of

truth. The fact that such large multitudes follow the broad road had no

influence upon this holy man, except to make him more determined to

avoid every form of error and sin. May the Holy Spirit so rule in our hearts

that our affections may be in the same decided condition towards the

precepts of the word! May we take our place on the side of God and

righteousness, and never bear the sword in vain! We would not be

pugnacious, but we dare not be sinfully indifferent. All sin we must hate;

for any one of the whole tribe will be our ruin if it be indulged. To arms!

To arms! ye soldiers of the cross.