Proverbs 7

Proverbs 7:1

/heth/ New

The eighth letter, heth, originally means “wall”, “enclosure”, “boundary”. Thus, the LORD surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield (Psalms 5:12). Our shield is faith (Ephesians 6:16), that is, full trust in God and His Word.

The corresponding number eight speaks of going beyond the limit of seven. Seven is a completed whole – seven days make a week full, make a week a whole – after which something new comes. We can apply this, for example, to the new life, to the resurrection, to the new covenant. The new life, as opposed to the old life, is able to be dedicated to the Word, because our new life is Christ.

In each of the eight verses of this heth stanza we find a synonym for the Word. It underscores the fact that the new life of the new covenant is characterized by love of and dedication to the Word (Psalms 119:57-60; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6-13), even though there are enemies all around (Psalms 119:61).

The psalmist can joyfully say that the LORD is his portion (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 142:5; cf. Numbers 18:20). He has chosen the LORD. What He possesses cannot be measured. The psalmist does not say that his portion consists of great riches and blessings, no, he says that the LORD Himself is his portion (cf. Genesis 15:1). The psalmist is so impressed by this that he has promised to keep God’s words. When we see what we have been given, namely, that God Himself is our portion, it will prompt us to the utmost obedience.

The God-fearing “sought” God’s “favor with all” his “heart” (Psalms 119:58). This “sought”, this effort, has made him realize that there is nothing he can do to please the LORD. The only ground on which the LORD accepts a man into His favor is His grace. Therefore, he asks that the LORD will be gracious to him, for this is in accordance with His word.

Literally it says: “With all my heart I am sick [that is, sick with desire] before Your face.” He has confessed in Psalms 119:57 that the LORD is his portion, but now he says that he longs with his whole heart for the presence of the LORD. That, according to the meaning of the letter heth, is the securely fenced area for which the psalmist so longs, namely, the living, daily fellowship with the LORD.

The psalmist indicates the basis of his request, namely grace on the basis of God’s word, His promise. For us, grace is no longer a promise, for grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), through which we receive grace upon grace of His fullness (John 1:16).

In Psalms 119:58, the psalmist asked if the LORD would be gracious to him. Now he learns the conditions, how the LORD can be gracious to him: by considering his ways (Psalms 119:59). He may consider God’s ways, but it is also necessary for him to consider his own ways. To consider one’s own ways means that a person examines himself in God’s presence and in the light of His Word. When a person reads the Word of God, it acts as a mirror through which he comes to know himself and his ways in the light of God (James 1:23-24).

God’s ways are always right; those of the righteous may well be crooked. It seems here that the righteous, in reflecting on his ways, has come to the conclusion that something has not been right. Indeed, he says that he has “turned” his “feet” to God’s testimonies.

“Turned” is literally ‘converted’, ‘turned around’. Here we see the cleansing process that takes place when a believer considers the Word. Some believers linger on considering and do not get to the point to ‘turn’. James speaks of such persons as hearers, but not doers of the Word (James 1:23-24).

After considering his ways in the light of the Word of God, the God-fearing makes a deliberate decision to keep the Word of God (Psalms 119:60). He resolves to obey the Word immediately in full awareness and confidence, without hesitation and without wavering.

There is new zeal to do God’s will without delay. ‘Did not delay’ means not wanting to lose a second. The psalmist not only wants to be a hearer of the Word, he wants to be a doer of the Word. He shows in what way he wants to be a doer. He doesn’t want to be a hesitant doer, a doer who has to sleep on it first, no, he wants to be someone who immediately does what God makes clear to him. The word “hasten”, means ‘immediately’, a word that is characteristic of the Gospel according to Mark where the Lord Jesus is painted as the perfect Servant of the LORD, Who ‘immediately’ does what the Father tells Him.

The saying ‘Haste makes waste’ does not apply when it comes to doing the will of God. The believer cannot be too quick to obey without delay when something becomes clear to him from God’s Word (cf. Matthew 4:19-22; Luke 19:5-6). There is often much reasoning first about the usefulness of something. When it comes to the commandments of God’s Word, such reasoning is out of the question.

Those who go their way with the Lord again must also count on new opposition (Psalms 119:61). The enemy becomes active when there is (renewed) dedication to the Lord. The purpose of his opposition is to make the believer unfaithful again to the law of the LORD, to the Word of God.

The deceitfulness of wealth, the lusts of the world, such as fame, entertainment, sex, can take away our joy in the Lord. Unconfessed sins and disobedience grieve the Spirit and take away the peace of the Lord. These things cause a breach in the fence of our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reminds us to hold on to what we have, lest anyone take away our crown (Revelation 3:11).

The righteous can say that he has not forgotten God’s law, which prevents the enemy from putting a breach in the fence and making him unfaithful again. After all, he has made the decision with resolute heart to remain close to the LORD always (Acts 11:23).

His gratitude is so great that he rises up at midnight, when it is dark, to give thanks to the LORD for His “righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). These ordinances are like a light in the night. He is not ruled by darkness, by ghost images, but by God’s Word. That, in addition to light, gives rest and peace and works a song of praise.

The psalmist’s subconscious is full of gratitude to the LORD. While some people wake up at midnight and lie down to doze off, the psalmist wakes up and continues what he went to bed with, which is to give thanks to the LORD.

He also knows that he is not alone (Psalms 119:63). He has companions, or rather he himself is “a companion” of all those who fear the LORD, as evidenced by their keeping His precepts. He belongs to those who fear the LORD, to that company he feels at home. With them he has fellowship. They can encourage each other mutually (Malachi 3:16). Those who love God and His Word also love fellow believers, regardless of race, nationality, or social status (1 John 5:1-3).

Many believers, including young believers, go wrong in the choice of their friends or even enter into an unequal yoke with an unbeliever. Such a wrong choice may be made because of disappointment in believers. Sometimes that choice is justified with the excuse of being of help spiritually to the other person. The result is predictable: the unbeliever is not helped, but the believer falls. Paul warns: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The psalmist seeks his company in the midst of those who love the Word. We too as believers have a calling, namely, to be a fellowship marked by Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9).

When the LORD blesses, He also makes His own a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). That is how the blessing is overflowing. This is the experience of the psalmist. The circle of his interest is widening (Psalms 119:64). He sees that the earth is full of God’s lovingkindness, although evil is still present. The blessings of the new covenant flow through the fullness of Israel to the nations (Romans 11:12). This is what happens when God rules. He does so through His statutes. The psalmist wants to know these and asks the LORD to teach him.

Proverbs 7:2

/heth/ New

The eighth letter, heth, originally means “wall”, “enclosure”, “boundary”. Thus, the LORD surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield (Psalms 5:12). Our shield is faith (Ephesians 6:16), that is, full trust in God and His Word.

The corresponding number eight speaks of going beyond the limit of seven. Seven is a completed whole – seven days make a week full, make a week a whole – after which something new comes. We can apply this, for example, to the new life, to the resurrection, to the new covenant. The new life, as opposed to the old life, is able to be dedicated to the Word, because our new life is Christ.

In each of the eight verses of this heth stanza we find a synonym for the Word. It underscores the fact that the new life of the new covenant is characterized by love of and dedication to the Word (Psalms 119:57-60; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6-13), even though there are enemies all around (Psalms 119:61).

The psalmist can joyfully say that the LORD is his portion (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 142:5; cf. Numbers 18:20). He has chosen the LORD. What He possesses cannot be measured. The psalmist does not say that his portion consists of great riches and blessings, no, he says that the LORD Himself is his portion (cf. Genesis 15:1). The psalmist is so impressed by this that he has promised to keep God’s words. When we see what we have been given, namely, that God Himself is our portion, it will prompt us to the utmost obedience.

The God-fearing “sought” God’s “favor with all” his “heart” (Psalms 119:58). This “sought”, this effort, has made him realize that there is nothing he can do to please the LORD. The only ground on which the LORD accepts a man into His favor is His grace. Therefore, he asks that the LORD will be gracious to him, for this is in accordance with His word.

Literally it says: “With all my heart I am sick [that is, sick with desire] before Your face.” He has confessed in Psalms 119:57 that the LORD is his portion, but now he says that he longs with his whole heart for the presence of the LORD. That, according to the meaning of the letter heth, is the securely fenced area for which the psalmist so longs, namely, the living, daily fellowship with the LORD.

The psalmist indicates the basis of his request, namely grace on the basis of God’s word, His promise. For us, grace is no longer a promise, for grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), through which we receive grace upon grace of His fullness (John 1:16).

In Psalms 119:58, the psalmist asked if the LORD would be gracious to him. Now he learns the conditions, how the LORD can be gracious to him: by considering his ways (Psalms 119:59). He may consider God’s ways, but it is also necessary for him to consider his own ways. To consider one’s own ways means that a person examines himself in God’s presence and in the light of His Word. When a person reads the Word of God, it acts as a mirror through which he comes to know himself and his ways in the light of God (James 1:23-24).

God’s ways are always right; those of the righteous may well be crooked. It seems here that the righteous, in reflecting on his ways, has come to the conclusion that something has not been right. Indeed, he says that he has “turned” his “feet” to God’s testimonies.

“Turned” is literally ‘converted’, ‘turned around’. Here we see the cleansing process that takes place when a believer considers the Word. Some believers linger on considering and do not get to the point to ‘turn’. James speaks of such persons as hearers, but not doers of the Word (James 1:23-24).

After considering his ways in the light of the Word of God, the God-fearing makes a deliberate decision to keep the Word of God (Psalms 119:60). He resolves to obey the Word immediately in full awareness and confidence, without hesitation and without wavering.

There is new zeal to do God’s will without delay. ‘Did not delay’ means not wanting to lose a second. The psalmist not only wants to be a hearer of the Word, he wants to be a doer of the Word. He shows in what way he wants to be a doer. He doesn’t want to be a hesitant doer, a doer who has to sleep on it first, no, he wants to be someone who immediately does what God makes clear to him. The word “hasten”, means ‘immediately’, a word that is characteristic of the Gospel according to Mark where the Lord Jesus is painted as the perfect Servant of the LORD, Who ‘immediately’ does what the Father tells Him.

The saying ‘Haste makes waste’ does not apply when it comes to doing the will of God. The believer cannot be too quick to obey without delay when something becomes clear to him from God’s Word (cf. Matthew 4:19-22; Luke 19:5-6). There is often much reasoning first about the usefulness of something. When it comes to the commandments of God’s Word, such reasoning is out of the question.

Those who go their way with the Lord again must also count on new opposition (Psalms 119:61). The enemy becomes active when there is (renewed) dedication to the Lord. The purpose of his opposition is to make the believer unfaithful again to the law of the LORD, to the Word of God.

The deceitfulness of wealth, the lusts of the world, such as fame, entertainment, sex, can take away our joy in the Lord. Unconfessed sins and disobedience grieve the Spirit and take away the peace of the Lord. These things cause a breach in the fence of our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reminds us to hold on to what we have, lest anyone take away our crown (Revelation 3:11).

The righteous can say that he has not forgotten God’s law, which prevents the enemy from putting a breach in the fence and making him unfaithful again. After all, he has made the decision with resolute heart to remain close to the LORD always (Acts 11:23).

His gratitude is so great that he rises up at midnight, when it is dark, to give thanks to the LORD for His “righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). These ordinances are like a light in the night. He is not ruled by darkness, by ghost images, but by God’s Word. That, in addition to light, gives rest and peace and works a song of praise.

The psalmist’s subconscious is full of gratitude to the LORD. While some people wake up at midnight and lie down to doze off, the psalmist wakes up and continues what he went to bed with, which is to give thanks to the LORD.

He also knows that he is not alone (Psalms 119:63). He has companions, or rather he himself is “a companion” of all those who fear the LORD, as evidenced by their keeping His precepts. He belongs to those who fear the LORD, to that company he feels at home. With them he has fellowship. They can encourage each other mutually (Malachi 3:16). Those who love God and His Word also love fellow believers, regardless of race, nationality, or social status (1 John 5:1-3).

Many believers, including young believers, go wrong in the choice of their friends or even enter into an unequal yoke with an unbeliever. Such a wrong choice may be made because of disappointment in believers. Sometimes that choice is justified with the excuse of being of help spiritually to the other person. The result is predictable: the unbeliever is not helped, but the believer falls. Paul warns: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The psalmist seeks his company in the midst of those who love the Word. We too as believers have a calling, namely, to be a fellowship marked by Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9).

When the LORD blesses, He also makes His own a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). That is how the blessing is overflowing. This is the experience of the psalmist. The circle of his interest is widening (Psalms 119:64). He sees that the earth is full of God’s lovingkindness, although evil is still present. The blessings of the new covenant flow through the fullness of Israel to the nations (Romans 11:12). This is what happens when God rules. He does so through His statutes. The psalmist wants to know these and asks the LORD to teach him.

Proverbs 7:3

/heth/ New

The eighth letter, heth, originally means “wall”, “enclosure”, “boundary”. Thus, the LORD surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield (Psalms 5:12). Our shield is faith (Ephesians 6:16), that is, full trust in God and His Word.

The corresponding number eight speaks of going beyond the limit of seven. Seven is a completed whole – seven days make a week full, make a week a whole – after which something new comes. We can apply this, for example, to the new life, to the resurrection, to the new covenant. The new life, as opposed to the old life, is able to be dedicated to the Word, because our new life is Christ.

In each of the eight verses of this heth stanza we find a synonym for the Word. It underscores the fact that the new life of the new covenant is characterized by love of and dedication to the Word (Psalms 119:57-60; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6-13), even though there are enemies all around (Psalms 119:61).

The psalmist can joyfully say that the LORD is his portion (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 142:5; cf. Numbers 18:20). He has chosen the LORD. What He possesses cannot be measured. The psalmist does not say that his portion consists of great riches and blessings, no, he says that the LORD Himself is his portion (cf. Genesis 15:1). The psalmist is so impressed by this that he has promised to keep God’s words. When we see what we have been given, namely, that God Himself is our portion, it will prompt us to the utmost obedience.

The God-fearing “sought” God’s “favor with all” his “heart” (Psalms 119:58). This “sought”, this effort, has made him realize that there is nothing he can do to please the LORD. The only ground on which the LORD accepts a man into His favor is His grace. Therefore, he asks that the LORD will be gracious to him, for this is in accordance with His word.

Literally it says: “With all my heart I am sick [that is, sick with desire] before Your face.” He has confessed in Psalms 119:57 that the LORD is his portion, but now he says that he longs with his whole heart for the presence of the LORD. That, according to the meaning of the letter heth, is the securely fenced area for which the psalmist so longs, namely, the living, daily fellowship with the LORD.

The psalmist indicates the basis of his request, namely grace on the basis of God’s word, His promise. For us, grace is no longer a promise, for grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), through which we receive grace upon grace of His fullness (John 1:16).

In Psalms 119:58, the psalmist asked if the LORD would be gracious to him. Now he learns the conditions, how the LORD can be gracious to him: by considering his ways (Psalms 119:59). He may consider God’s ways, but it is also necessary for him to consider his own ways. To consider one’s own ways means that a person examines himself in God’s presence and in the light of His Word. When a person reads the Word of God, it acts as a mirror through which he comes to know himself and his ways in the light of God (James 1:23-24).

God’s ways are always right; those of the righteous may well be crooked. It seems here that the righteous, in reflecting on his ways, has come to the conclusion that something has not been right. Indeed, he says that he has “turned” his “feet” to God’s testimonies.

“Turned” is literally ‘converted’, ‘turned around’. Here we see the cleansing process that takes place when a believer considers the Word. Some believers linger on considering and do not get to the point to ‘turn’. James speaks of such persons as hearers, but not doers of the Word (James 1:23-24).

After considering his ways in the light of the Word of God, the God-fearing makes a deliberate decision to keep the Word of God (Psalms 119:60). He resolves to obey the Word immediately in full awareness and confidence, without hesitation and without wavering.

There is new zeal to do God’s will without delay. ‘Did not delay’ means not wanting to lose a second. The psalmist not only wants to be a hearer of the Word, he wants to be a doer of the Word. He shows in what way he wants to be a doer. He doesn’t want to be a hesitant doer, a doer who has to sleep on it first, no, he wants to be someone who immediately does what God makes clear to him. The word “hasten”, means ‘immediately’, a word that is characteristic of the Gospel according to Mark where the Lord Jesus is painted as the perfect Servant of the LORD, Who ‘immediately’ does what the Father tells Him.

The saying ‘Haste makes waste’ does not apply when it comes to doing the will of God. The believer cannot be too quick to obey without delay when something becomes clear to him from God’s Word (cf. Matthew 4:19-22; Luke 19:5-6). There is often much reasoning first about the usefulness of something. When it comes to the commandments of God’s Word, such reasoning is out of the question.

Those who go their way with the Lord again must also count on new opposition (Psalms 119:61). The enemy becomes active when there is (renewed) dedication to the Lord. The purpose of his opposition is to make the believer unfaithful again to the law of the LORD, to the Word of God.

The deceitfulness of wealth, the lusts of the world, such as fame, entertainment, sex, can take away our joy in the Lord. Unconfessed sins and disobedience grieve the Spirit and take away the peace of the Lord. These things cause a breach in the fence of our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reminds us to hold on to what we have, lest anyone take away our crown (Revelation 3:11).

The righteous can say that he has not forgotten God’s law, which prevents the enemy from putting a breach in the fence and making him unfaithful again. After all, he has made the decision with resolute heart to remain close to the LORD always (Acts 11:23).

His gratitude is so great that he rises up at midnight, when it is dark, to give thanks to the LORD for His “righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). These ordinances are like a light in the night. He is not ruled by darkness, by ghost images, but by God’s Word. That, in addition to light, gives rest and peace and works a song of praise.

The psalmist’s subconscious is full of gratitude to the LORD. While some people wake up at midnight and lie down to doze off, the psalmist wakes up and continues what he went to bed with, which is to give thanks to the LORD.

He also knows that he is not alone (Psalms 119:63). He has companions, or rather he himself is “a companion” of all those who fear the LORD, as evidenced by their keeping His precepts. He belongs to those who fear the LORD, to that company he feels at home. With them he has fellowship. They can encourage each other mutually (Malachi 3:16). Those who love God and His Word also love fellow believers, regardless of race, nationality, or social status (1 John 5:1-3).

Many believers, including young believers, go wrong in the choice of their friends or even enter into an unequal yoke with an unbeliever. Such a wrong choice may be made because of disappointment in believers. Sometimes that choice is justified with the excuse of being of help spiritually to the other person. The result is predictable: the unbeliever is not helped, but the believer falls. Paul warns: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The psalmist seeks his company in the midst of those who love the Word. We too as believers have a calling, namely, to be a fellowship marked by Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9).

When the LORD blesses, He also makes His own a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). That is how the blessing is overflowing. This is the experience of the psalmist. The circle of his interest is widening (Psalms 119:64). He sees that the earth is full of God’s lovingkindness, although evil is still present. The blessings of the new covenant flow through the fullness of Israel to the nations (Romans 11:12). This is what happens when God rules. He does so through His statutes. The psalmist wants to know these and asks the LORD to teach him.

Proverbs 7:4

/heth/ New

The eighth letter, heth, originally means “wall”, “enclosure”, “boundary”. Thus, the LORD surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield (Psalms 5:12). Our shield is faith (Ephesians 6:16), that is, full trust in God and His Word.

The corresponding number eight speaks of going beyond the limit of seven. Seven is a completed whole – seven days make a week full, make a week a whole – after which something new comes. We can apply this, for example, to the new life, to the resurrection, to the new covenant. The new life, as opposed to the old life, is able to be dedicated to the Word, because our new life is Christ.

In each of the eight verses of this heth stanza we find a synonym for the Word. It underscores the fact that the new life of the new covenant is characterized by love of and dedication to the Word (Psalms 119:57-60; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6-13), even though there are enemies all around (Psalms 119:61).

The psalmist can joyfully say that the LORD is his portion (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 142:5; cf. Numbers 18:20). He has chosen the LORD. What He possesses cannot be measured. The psalmist does not say that his portion consists of great riches and blessings, no, he says that the LORD Himself is his portion (cf. Genesis 15:1). The psalmist is so impressed by this that he has promised to keep God’s words. When we see what we have been given, namely, that God Himself is our portion, it will prompt us to the utmost obedience.

The God-fearing “sought” God’s “favor with all” his “heart” (Psalms 119:58). This “sought”, this effort, has made him realize that there is nothing he can do to please the LORD. The only ground on which the LORD accepts a man into His favor is His grace. Therefore, he asks that the LORD will be gracious to him, for this is in accordance with His word.

Literally it says: “With all my heart I am sick [that is, sick with desire] before Your face.” He has confessed in Psalms 119:57 that the LORD is his portion, but now he says that he longs with his whole heart for the presence of the LORD. That, according to the meaning of the letter heth, is the securely fenced area for which the psalmist so longs, namely, the living, daily fellowship with the LORD.

The psalmist indicates the basis of his request, namely grace on the basis of God’s word, His promise. For us, grace is no longer a promise, for grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), through which we receive grace upon grace of His fullness (John 1:16).

In Psalms 119:58, the psalmist asked if the LORD would be gracious to him. Now he learns the conditions, how the LORD can be gracious to him: by considering his ways (Psalms 119:59). He may consider God’s ways, but it is also necessary for him to consider his own ways. To consider one’s own ways means that a person examines himself in God’s presence and in the light of His Word. When a person reads the Word of God, it acts as a mirror through which he comes to know himself and his ways in the light of God (James 1:23-24).

God’s ways are always right; those of the righteous may well be crooked. It seems here that the righteous, in reflecting on his ways, has come to the conclusion that something has not been right. Indeed, he says that he has “turned” his “feet” to God’s testimonies.

“Turned” is literally ‘converted’, ‘turned around’. Here we see the cleansing process that takes place when a believer considers the Word. Some believers linger on considering and do not get to the point to ‘turn’. James speaks of such persons as hearers, but not doers of the Word (James 1:23-24).

After considering his ways in the light of the Word of God, the God-fearing makes a deliberate decision to keep the Word of God (Psalms 119:60). He resolves to obey the Word immediately in full awareness and confidence, without hesitation and without wavering.

There is new zeal to do God’s will without delay. ‘Did not delay’ means not wanting to lose a second. The psalmist not only wants to be a hearer of the Word, he wants to be a doer of the Word. He shows in what way he wants to be a doer. He doesn’t want to be a hesitant doer, a doer who has to sleep on it first, no, he wants to be someone who immediately does what God makes clear to him. The word “hasten”, means ‘immediately’, a word that is characteristic of the Gospel according to Mark where the Lord Jesus is painted as the perfect Servant of the LORD, Who ‘immediately’ does what the Father tells Him.

The saying ‘Haste makes waste’ does not apply when it comes to doing the will of God. The believer cannot be too quick to obey without delay when something becomes clear to him from God’s Word (cf. Matthew 4:19-22; Luke 19:5-6). There is often much reasoning first about the usefulness of something. When it comes to the commandments of God’s Word, such reasoning is out of the question.

Those who go their way with the Lord again must also count on new opposition (Psalms 119:61). The enemy becomes active when there is (renewed) dedication to the Lord. The purpose of his opposition is to make the believer unfaithful again to the law of the LORD, to the Word of God.

The deceitfulness of wealth, the lusts of the world, such as fame, entertainment, sex, can take away our joy in the Lord. Unconfessed sins and disobedience grieve the Spirit and take away the peace of the Lord. These things cause a breach in the fence of our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reminds us to hold on to what we have, lest anyone take away our crown (Revelation 3:11).

The righteous can say that he has not forgotten God’s law, which prevents the enemy from putting a breach in the fence and making him unfaithful again. After all, he has made the decision with resolute heart to remain close to the LORD always (Acts 11:23).

His gratitude is so great that he rises up at midnight, when it is dark, to give thanks to the LORD for His “righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). These ordinances are like a light in the night. He is not ruled by darkness, by ghost images, but by God’s Word. That, in addition to light, gives rest and peace and works a song of praise.

The psalmist’s subconscious is full of gratitude to the LORD. While some people wake up at midnight and lie down to doze off, the psalmist wakes up and continues what he went to bed with, which is to give thanks to the LORD.

He also knows that he is not alone (Psalms 119:63). He has companions, or rather he himself is “a companion” of all those who fear the LORD, as evidenced by their keeping His precepts. He belongs to those who fear the LORD, to that company he feels at home. With them he has fellowship. They can encourage each other mutually (Malachi 3:16). Those who love God and His Word also love fellow believers, regardless of race, nationality, or social status (1 John 5:1-3).

Many believers, including young believers, go wrong in the choice of their friends or even enter into an unequal yoke with an unbeliever. Such a wrong choice may be made because of disappointment in believers. Sometimes that choice is justified with the excuse of being of help spiritually to the other person. The result is predictable: the unbeliever is not helped, but the believer falls. Paul warns: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The psalmist seeks his company in the midst of those who love the Word. We too as believers have a calling, namely, to be a fellowship marked by Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9).

When the LORD blesses, He also makes His own a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). That is how the blessing is overflowing. This is the experience of the psalmist. The circle of his interest is widening (Psalms 119:64). He sees that the earth is full of God’s lovingkindness, although evil is still present. The blessings of the new covenant flow through the fullness of Israel to the nations (Romans 11:12). This is what happens when God rules. He does so through His statutes. The psalmist wants to know these and asks the LORD to teach him.

Proverbs 7:5

/heth/ New

The eighth letter, heth, originally means “wall”, “enclosure”, “boundary”. Thus, the LORD surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield (Psalms 5:12). Our shield is faith (Ephesians 6:16), that is, full trust in God and His Word.

The corresponding number eight speaks of going beyond the limit of seven. Seven is a completed whole – seven days make a week full, make a week a whole – after which something new comes. We can apply this, for example, to the new life, to the resurrection, to the new covenant. The new life, as opposed to the old life, is able to be dedicated to the Word, because our new life is Christ.

In each of the eight verses of this heth stanza we find a synonym for the Word. It underscores the fact that the new life of the new covenant is characterized by love of and dedication to the Word (Psalms 119:57-60; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6-13), even though there are enemies all around (Psalms 119:61).

The psalmist can joyfully say that the LORD is his portion (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 142:5; cf. Numbers 18:20). He has chosen the LORD. What He possesses cannot be measured. The psalmist does not say that his portion consists of great riches and blessings, no, he says that the LORD Himself is his portion (cf. Genesis 15:1). The psalmist is so impressed by this that he has promised to keep God’s words. When we see what we have been given, namely, that God Himself is our portion, it will prompt us to the utmost obedience.

The God-fearing “sought” God’s “favor with all” his “heart” (Psalms 119:58). This “sought”, this effort, has made him realize that there is nothing he can do to please the LORD. The only ground on which the LORD accepts a man into His favor is His grace. Therefore, he asks that the LORD will be gracious to him, for this is in accordance with His word.

Literally it says: “With all my heart I am sick [that is, sick with desire] before Your face.” He has confessed in Psalms 119:57 that the LORD is his portion, but now he says that he longs with his whole heart for the presence of the LORD. That, according to the meaning of the letter heth, is the securely fenced area for which the psalmist so longs, namely, the living, daily fellowship with the LORD.

The psalmist indicates the basis of his request, namely grace on the basis of God’s word, His promise. For us, grace is no longer a promise, for grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), through which we receive grace upon grace of His fullness (John 1:16).

In Psalms 119:58, the psalmist asked if the LORD would be gracious to him. Now he learns the conditions, how the LORD can be gracious to him: by considering his ways (Psalms 119:59). He may consider God’s ways, but it is also necessary for him to consider his own ways. To consider one’s own ways means that a person examines himself in God’s presence and in the light of His Word. When a person reads the Word of God, it acts as a mirror through which he comes to know himself and his ways in the light of God (James 1:23-24).

God’s ways are always right; those of the righteous may well be crooked. It seems here that the righteous, in reflecting on his ways, has come to the conclusion that something has not been right. Indeed, he says that he has “turned” his “feet” to God’s testimonies.

“Turned” is literally ‘converted’, ‘turned around’. Here we see the cleansing process that takes place when a believer considers the Word. Some believers linger on considering and do not get to the point to ‘turn’. James speaks of such persons as hearers, but not doers of the Word (James 1:23-24).

After considering his ways in the light of the Word of God, the God-fearing makes a deliberate decision to keep the Word of God (Psalms 119:60). He resolves to obey the Word immediately in full awareness and confidence, without hesitation and without wavering.

There is new zeal to do God’s will without delay. ‘Did not delay’ means not wanting to lose a second. The psalmist not only wants to be a hearer of the Word, he wants to be a doer of the Word. He shows in what way he wants to be a doer. He doesn’t want to be a hesitant doer, a doer who has to sleep on it first, no, he wants to be someone who immediately does what God makes clear to him. The word “hasten”, means ‘immediately’, a word that is characteristic of the Gospel according to Mark where the Lord Jesus is painted as the perfect Servant of the LORD, Who ‘immediately’ does what the Father tells Him.

The saying ‘Haste makes waste’ does not apply when it comes to doing the will of God. The believer cannot be too quick to obey without delay when something becomes clear to him from God’s Word (cf. Matthew 4:19-22; Luke 19:5-6). There is often much reasoning first about the usefulness of something. When it comes to the commandments of God’s Word, such reasoning is out of the question.

Those who go their way with the Lord again must also count on new opposition (Psalms 119:61). The enemy becomes active when there is (renewed) dedication to the Lord. The purpose of his opposition is to make the believer unfaithful again to the law of the LORD, to the Word of God.

The deceitfulness of wealth, the lusts of the world, such as fame, entertainment, sex, can take away our joy in the Lord. Unconfessed sins and disobedience grieve the Spirit and take away the peace of the Lord. These things cause a breach in the fence of our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reminds us to hold on to what we have, lest anyone take away our crown (Revelation 3:11).

The righteous can say that he has not forgotten God’s law, which prevents the enemy from putting a breach in the fence and making him unfaithful again. After all, he has made the decision with resolute heart to remain close to the LORD always (Acts 11:23).

His gratitude is so great that he rises up at midnight, when it is dark, to give thanks to the LORD for His “righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). These ordinances are like a light in the night. He is not ruled by darkness, by ghost images, but by God’s Word. That, in addition to light, gives rest and peace and works a song of praise.

The psalmist’s subconscious is full of gratitude to the LORD. While some people wake up at midnight and lie down to doze off, the psalmist wakes up and continues what he went to bed with, which is to give thanks to the LORD.

He also knows that he is not alone (Psalms 119:63). He has companions, or rather he himself is “a companion” of all those who fear the LORD, as evidenced by their keeping His precepts. He belongs to those who fear the LORD, to that company he feels at home. With them he has fellowship. They can encourage each other mutually (Malachi 3:16). Those who love God and His Word also love fellow believers, regardless of race, nationality, or social status (1 John 5:1-3).

Many believers, including young believers, go wrong in the choice of their friends or even enter into an unequal yoke with an unbeliever. Such a wrong choice may be made because of disappointment in believers. Sometimes that choice is justified with the excuse of being of help spiritually to the other person. The result is predictable: the unbeliever is not helped, but the believer falls. Paul warns: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The psalmist seeks his company in the midst of those who love the Word. We too as believers have a calling, namely, to be a fellowship marked by Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9).

When the LORD blesses, He also makes His own a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). That is how the blessing is overflowing. This is the experience of the psalmist. The circle of his interest is widening (Psalms 119:64). He sees that the earth is full of God’s lovingkindness, although evil is still present. The blessings of the new covenant flow through the fullness of Israel to the nations (Romans 11:12). This is what happens when God rules. He does so through His statutes. The psalmist wants to know these and asks the LORD to teach him.

Proverbs 7:6

/teth/ The Good After the Suffering

The ninth letter, teth, is originally a ‘womb’, a vessel containing something good, pointing to the coming of good after suffering, for example, of the contractions. We find in this verse the suffering of the tribulation – some connect this letter with the serpent – as a womb that produces something good (cf. Hebrews 12:11).

This stanza begins in Psalms 119:65 with the word “good” and ends with it in Psalms 119:72 as better=good. The letter teth first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that God saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). Five of the eight verses of this stanza begin with the word good.

Every servant of the Lord will be able to testify that the Lord’s dealings have been good and are good (Psalms 119:65).That goodness is “according to Your word” and in answer to the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 119:17. His dealing in goodness is, as He makes Himself known in His Word. If we have experienced that goodness, it is also good to say so to God, as the psalmist does here. We may say with the poet of a song: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one.’

His dealings in goodness in this verse are evident not so much in His direct blessings, but rather in the afflictions. This may sound strange to some believers, but the Word of God is clear: “We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that …” (Romans 5:2b-3). God in His goodness uses tribulations to keep us on the right path or to bring us back to it (cf. Psalms 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Therefore, persecution is one of the blessings of the one who leaves everything to follow the Lord (Mark 10:29-30).

It is not difficult to accept prosperity and health as good. Anybody can do that, whether they are believers or non-believers. It is something else to accept adversity, tribulation and suffering as good. That is why the psalmist, as well as the believing remnant, and also we, need teaching. The lesson is to experience and realize that God is always good and does good, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We may well ask the question, which is at once a certainty: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When we have experienced the goodness of God, it awakens the desire to learn to discern well and to have the right knowledge for that purpose (Psalms 119:66). This teaching we may ask of God. There is in the righteous the proper condition of heart to ask this, for he believes and trusts in the commandments of the LORD. This is the condition of having benefit from teaching. There must be no doubt about God’s commandments. We must not submit them to us, but we must submit to them. Then we will not look to other sources for learning discernment and knowledge.

As a result of his spiritual growth, the believer will become mature in faith. Spiritually mature believers are those “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Therefore, the psalmist expresses the desire: “Teach me.” Are we eager to learn and willing to sit at the Lord’s feet?

When the believer questions God’s goodness, he goes astray (Psalms 119:67). Then God brings affliction into his life, setbacks and difficulties that make him return to God. This discipline is God’s education to teach us Who He is, that He is good, and that we can always trust Him, even and especially in difficult times. Abraham also showed that he had learned the lesson (Genesis 22:1-19). In the midst of the most painful trial, he continues to trust in the goodness and omnipotence of God. The righteous is kept from going astray when he keeps God’s Word.

God is good through and through and always, and He alone is good (Psalms 119:68; Luke 18:19). Therefore, everything He does is also good, even if He brings affliction and suffering into the life of the believer. Job had, and we too have, difficulty discerning this. Only after his test Job can testify that his knowledge of God was flawed and insufficient: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). The believer longs to know and trust the goodness of God better. Therefore, he asks that God teaches him His statutes.

The righteous lives in a world full of lies about Who God is (Psalms 119:69). The people who propagate these lies are here called “arrogant”. An example of this lie is the popular book by conservative Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, entitled When Evil Afflicts Good People. In it, he believes he must choose between the goodness of God and the power of God. The arrogant smear the righteous with that kind of mendacious reasoning, with this deformation and damage to the image of God.

However, that is no reason for the righteous to deviate from God’s precepts and abandon the path of obedience. On the contrary, he observes those precepts with all his heart. He refuses to believe these lies. He does not recognize in them the voice of the good Shepherd and flees from them (John 10:5), clinging all the more to the Word of God.

The heart of the arrogant is in great contrast to this. For that “heart is covered with fat”, it is insensitive because they hang on to sin with all their heart (Psalms 119:70). This is evident from the fact that they try to smear their lies on the righteous without any sense of shame. A fat heart implies that it is no longer amenable to the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 6:10). The righteous has joy in his heart because he delights in the law of the LORD. This keeps him insensitive to the lies with which the arrogant besmirch him.

He acknowledges the benefit of the affliction in which he has been for a time (Psalms 119:71). He now understands that the affliction was necessary for him to become aware that God is always good and that He can always be trusted, not only in prosperity, but also and especially in adversity.

The affliction has been temporary, for it has ceased once, but it is good for him to have been in it, so he says. A believer does not simply arrive to the point where he can say that. He can say in faith that “all things …work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but trusting the LORD in great adversity is another thing. In this case, the righteous learned the LORD’s statutes through them and came to appreciate them.

This also leads him to appreciate “the law from Your mouth” (Psalms 119:72). He says of it that it is “better” to him “than thousands of gold and silver [pieces]”. What comes from the mouth of God comes from His heart. That is what makes His Word so valuable. “From Your mouth” means that the teaching of the Word for the psalmist comes directly and very personally from the mouth of God. It is a speaking from mouth to mouth, that is, from very close by. It speaks of fellowship.

Gold or silver have lost their appeal for those who have learned to value God’s Word. Gold and silver, despite all their value in the eyes of men, have only temporary value, while the value of God’s Word remains for all eternity.

Many people, unfortunately sometimes even believers, are in their heart full of material things. As a result, they think and talk a lot about material things. The psalmist’s heart is full of the Word of God and therefore he thinks and talks a lot about the Word. This testifies that his heart is full of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord, so that all the privileges of the world are regarded by him not only as worthless but also as harmful (Philippians 3:7-8).

Proverbs 7:7

/teth/ The Good After the Suffering

The ninth letter, teth, is originally a ‘womb’, a vessel containing something good, pointing to the coming of good after suffering, for example, of the contractions. We find in this verse the suffering of the tribulation – some connect this letter with the serpent – as a womb that produces something good (cf. Hebrews 12:11).

This stanza begins in Psalms 119:65 with the word “good” and ends with it in Psalms 119:72 as better=good. The letter teth first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that God saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). Five of the eight verses of this stanza begin with the word good.

Every servant of the Lord will be able to testify that the Lord’s dealings have been good and are good (Psalms 119:65).That goodness is “according to Your word” and in answer to the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 119:17. His dealing in goodness is, as He makes Himself known in His Word. If we have experienced that goodness, it is also good to say so to God, as the psalmist does here. We may say with the poet of a song: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one.’

His dealings in goodness in this verse are evident not so much in His direct blessings, but rather in the afflictions. This may sound strange to some believers, but the Word of God is clear: “We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that …” (Romans 5:2b-3). God in His goodness uses tribulations to keep us on the right path or to bring us back to it (cf. Psalms 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Therefore, persecution is one of the blessings of the one who leaves everything to follow the Lord (Mark 10:29-30).

It is not difficult to accept prosperity and health as good. Anybody can do that, whether they are believers or non-believers. It is something else to accept adversity, tribulation and suffering as good. That is why the psalmist, as well as the believing remnant, and also we, need teaching. The lesson is to experience and realize that God is always good and does good, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We may well ask the question, which is at once a certainty: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When we have experienced the goodness of God, it awakens the desire to learn to discern well and to have the right knowledge for that purpose (Psalms 119:66). This teaching we may ask of God. There is in the righteous the proper condition of heart to ask this, for he believes and trusts in the commandments of the LORD. This is the condition of having benefit from teaching. There must be no doubt about God’s commandments. We must not submit them to us, but we must submit to them. Then we will not look to other sources for learning discernment and knowledge.

As a result of his spiritual growth, the believer will become mature in faith. Spiritually mature believers are those “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Therefore, the psalmist expresses the desire: “Teach me.” Are we eager to learn and willing to sit at the Lord’s feet?

When the believer questions God’s goodness, he goes astray (Psalms 119:67). Then God brings affliction into his life, setbacks and difficulties that make him return to God. This discipline is God’s education to teach us Who He is, that He is good, and that we can always trust Him, even and especially in difficult times. Abraham also showed that he had learned the lesson (Genesis 22:1-19). In the midst of the most painful trial, he continues to trust in the goodness and omnipotence of God. The righteous is kept from going astray when he keeps God’s Word.

God is good through and through and always, and He alone is good (Psalms 119:68; Luke 18:19). Therefore, everything He does is also good, even if He brings affliction and suffering into the life of the believer. Job had, and we too have, difficulty discerning this. Only after his test Job can testify that his knowledge of God was flawed and insufficient: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). The believer longs to know and trust the goodness of God better. Therefore, he asks that God teaches him His statutes.

The righteous lives in a world full of lies about Who God is (Psalms 119:69). The people who propagate these lies are here called “arrogant”. An example of this lie is the popular book by conservative Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, entitled When Evil Afflicts Good People. In it, he believes he must choose between the goodness of God and the power of God. The arrogant smear the righteous with that kind of mendacious reasoning, with this deformation and damage to the image of God.

However, that is no reason for the righteous to deviate from God’s precepts and abandon the path of obedience. On the contrary, he observes those precepts with all his heart. He refuses to believe these lies. He does not recognize in them the voice of the good Shepherd and flees from them (John 10:5), clinging all the more to the Word of God.

The heart of the arrogant is in great contrast to this. For that “heart is covered with fat”, it is insensitive because they hang on to sin with all their heart (Psalms 119:70). This is evident from the fact that they try to smear their lies on the righteous without any sense of shame. A fat heart implies that it is no longer amenable to the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 6:10). The righteous has joy in his heart because he delights in the law of the LORD. This keeps him insensitive to the lies with which the arrogant besmirch him.

He acknowledges the benefit of the affliction in which he has been for a time (Psalms 119:71). He now understands that the affliction was necessary for him to become aware that God is always good and that He can always be trusted, not only in prosperity, but also and especially in adversity.

The affliction has been temporary, for it has ceased once, but it is good for him to have been in it, so he says. A believer does not simply arrive to the point where he can say that. He can say in faith that “all things …work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but trusting the LORD in great adversity is another thing. In this case, the righteous learned the LORD’s statutes through them and came to appreciate them.

This also leads him to appreciate “the law from Your mouth” (Psalms 119:72). He says of it that it is “better” to him “than thousands of gold and silver [pieces]”. What comes from the mouth of God comes from His heart. That is what makes His Word so valuable. “From Your mouth” means that the teaching of the Word for the psalmist comes directly and very personally from the mouth of God. It is a speaking from mouth to mouth, that is, from very close by. It speaks of fellowship.

Gold or silver have lost their appeal for those who have learned to value God’s Word. Gold and silver, despite all their value in the eyes of men, have only temporary value, while the value of God’s Word remains for all eternity.

Many people, unfortunately sometimes even believers, are in their heart full of material things. As a result, they think and talk a lot about material things. The psalmist’s heart is full of the Word of God and therefore he thinks and talks a lot about the Word. This testifies that his heart is full of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord, so that all the privileges of the world are regarded by him not only as worthless but also as harmful (Philippians 3:7-8).

Proverbs 7:8

/teth/ The Good After the Suffering

The ninth letter, teth, is originally a ‘womb’, a vessel containing something good, pointing to the coming of good after suffering, for example, of the contractions. We find in this verse the suffering of the tribulation – some connect this letter with the serpent – as a womb that produces something good (cf. Hebrews 12:11).

This stanza begins in Psalms 119:65 with the word “good” and ends with it in Psalms 119:72 as better=good. The letter teth first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that God saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). Five of the eight verses of this stanza begin with the word good.

Every servant of the Lord will be able to testify that the Lord’s dealings have been good and are good (Psalms 119:65).That goodness is “according to Your word” and in answer to the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 119:17. His dealing in goodness is, as He makes Himself known in His Word. If we have experienced that goodness, it is also good to say so to God, as the psalmist does here. We may say with the poet of a song: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one.’

His dealings in goodness in this verse are evident not so much in His direct blessings, but rather in the afflictions. This may sound strange to some believers, but the Word of God is clear: “We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that …” (Romans 5:2b-3). God in His goodness uses tribulations to keep us on the right path or to bring us back to it (cf. Psalms 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Therefore, persecution is one of the blessings of the one who leaves everything to follow the Lord (Mark 10:29-30).

It is not difficult to accept prosperity and health as good. Anybody can do that, whether they are believers or non-believers. It is something else to accept adversity, tribulation and suffering as good. That is why the psalmist, as well as the believing remnant, and also we, need teaching. The lesson is to experience and realize that God is always good and does good, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We may well ask the question, which is at once a certainty: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When we have experienced the goodness of God, it awakens the desire to learn to discern well and to have the right knowledge for that purpose (Psalms 119:66). This teaching we may ask of God. There is in the righteous the proper condition of heart to ask this, for he believes and trusts in the commandments of the LORD. This is the condition of having benefit from teaching. There must be no doubt about God’s commandments. We must not submit them to us, but we must submit to them. Then we will not look to other sources for learning discernment and knowledge.

As a result of his spiritual growth, the believer will become mature in faith. Spiritually mature believers are those “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Therefore, the psalmist expresses the desire: “Teach me.” Are we eager to learn and willing to sit at the Lord’s feet?

When the believer questions God’s goodness, he goes astray (Psalms 119:67). Then God brings affliction into his life, setbacks and difficulties that make him return to God. This discipline is God’s education to teach us Who He is, that He is good, and that we can always trust Him, even and especially in difficult times. Abraham also showed that he had learned the lesson (Genesis 22:1-19). In the midst of the most painful trial, he continues to trust in the goodness and omnipotence of God. The righteous is kept from going astray when he keeps God’s Word.

God is good through and through and always, and He alone is good (Psalms 119:68; Luke 18:19). Therefore, everything He does is also good, even if He brings affliction and suffering into the life of the believer. Job had, and we too have, difficulty discerning this. Only after his test Job can testify that his knowledge of God was flawed and insufficient: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). The believer longs to know and trust the goodness of God better. Therefore, he asks that God teaches him His statutes.

The righteous lives in a world full of lies about Who God is (Psalms 119:69). The people who propagate these lies are here called “arrogant”. An example of this lie is the popular book by conservative Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, entitled When Evil Afflicts Good People. In it, he believes he must choose between the goodness of God and the power of God. The arrogant smear the righteous with that kind of mendacious reasoning, with this deformation and damage to the image of God.

However, that is no reason for the righteous to deviate from God’s precepts and abandon the path of obedience. On the contrary, he observes those precepts with all his heart. He refuses to believe these lies. He does not recognize in them the voice of the good Shepherd and flees from them (John 10:5), clinging all the more to the Word of God.

The heart of the arrogant is in great contrast to this. For that “heart is covered with fat”, it is insensitive because they hang on to sin with all their heart (Psalms 119:70). This is evident from the fact that they try to smear their lies on the righteous without any sense of shame. A fat heart implies that it is no longer amenable to the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 6:10). The righteous has joy in his heart because he delights in the law of the LORD. This keeps him insensitive to the lies with which the arrogant besmirch him.

He acknowledges the benefit of the affliction in which he has been for a time (Psalms 119:71). He now understands that the affliction was necessary for him to become aware that God is always good and that He can always be trusted, not only in prosperity, but also and especially in adversity.

The affliction has been temporary, for it has ceased once, but it is good for him to have been in it, so he says. A believer does not simply arrive to the point where he can say that. He can say in faith that “all things …work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but trusting the LORD in great adversity is another thing. In this case, the righteous learned the LORD’s statutes through them and came to appreciate them.

This also leads him to appreciate “the law from Your mouth” (Psalms 119:72). He says of it that it is “better” to him “than thousands of gold and silver [pieces]”. What comes from the mouth of God comes from His heart. That is what makes His Word so valuable. “From Your mouth” means that the teaching of the Word for the psalmist comes directly and very personally from the mouth of God. It is a speaking from mouth to mouth, that is, from very close by. It speaks of fellowship.

Gold or silver have lost their appeal for those who have learned to value God’s Word. Gold and silver, despite all their value in the eyes of men, have only temporary value, while the value of God’s Word remains for all eternity.

Many people, unfortunately sometimes even believers, are in their heart full of material things. As a result, they think and talk a lot about material things. The psalmist’s heart is full of the Word of God and therefore he thinks and talks a lot about the Word. This testifies that his heart is full of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord, so that all the privileges of the world are regarded by him not only as worthless but also as harmful (Philippians 3:7-8).

Proverbs 7:9

/teth/ The Good After the Suffering

The ninth letter, teth, is originally a ‘womb’, a vessel containing something good, pointing to the coming of good after suffering, for example, of the contractions. We find in this verse the suffering of the tribulation – some connect this letter with the serpent – as a womb that produces something good (cf. Hebrews 12:11).

This stanza begins in Psalms 119:65 with the word “good” and ends with it in Psalms 119:72 as better=good. The letter teth first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that God saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). Five of the eight verses of this stanza begin with the word good.

Every servant of the Lord will be able to testify that the Lord’s dealings have been good and are good (Psalms 119:65).That goodness is “according to Your word” and in answer to the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 119:17. His dealing in goodness is, as He makes Himself known in His Word. If we have experienced that goodness, it is also good to say so to God, as the psalmist does here. We may say with the poet of a song: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one.’

His dealings in goodness in this verse are evident not so much in His direct blessings, but rather in the afflictions. This may sound strange to some believers, but the Word of God is clear: “We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that …” (Romans 5:2b-3). God in His goodness uses tribulations to keep us on the right path or to bring us back to it (cf. Psalms 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Therefore, persecution is one of the blessings of the one who leaves everything to follow the Lord (Mark 10:29-30).

It is not difficult to accept prosperity and health as good. Anybody can do that, whether they are believers or non-believers. It is something else to accept adversity, tribulation and suffering as good. That is why the psalmist, as well as the believing remnant, and also we, need teaching. The lesson is to experience and realize that God is always good and does good, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We may well ask the question, which is at once a certainty: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When we have experienced the goodness of God, it awakens the desire to learn to discern well and to have the right knowledge for that purpose (Psalms 119:66). This teaching we may ask of God. There is in the righteous the proper condition of heart to ask this, for he believes and trusts in the commandments of the LORD. This is the condition of having benefit from teaching. There must be no doubt about God’s commandments. We must not submit them to us, but we must submit to them. Then we will not look to other sources for learning discernment and knowledge.

As a result of his spiritual growth, the believer will become mature in faith. Spiritually mature believers are those “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Therefore, the psalmist expresses the desire: “Teach me.” Are we eager to learn and willing to sit at the Lord’s feet?

When the believer questions God’s goodness, he goes astray (Psalms 119:67). Then God brings affliction into his life, setbacks and difficulties that make him return to God. This discipline is God’s education to teach us Who He is, that He is good, and that we can always trust Him, even and especially in difficult times. Abraham also showed that he had learned the lesson (Genesis 22:1-19). In the midst of the most painful trial, he continues to trust in the goodness and omnipotence of God. The righteous is kept from going astray when he keeps God’s Word.

God is good through and through and always, and He alone is good (Psalms 119:68; Luke 18:19). Therefore, everything He does is also good, even if He brings affliction and suffering into the life of the believer. Job had, and we too have, difficulty discerning this. Only after his test Job can testify that his knowledge of God was flawed and insufficient: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). The believer longs to know and trust the goodness of God better. Therefore, he asks that God teaches him His statutes.

The righteous lives in a world full of lies about Who God is (Psalms 119:69). The people who propagate these lies are here called “arrogant”. An example of this lie is the popular book by conservative Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, entitled When Evil Afflicts Good People. In it, he believes he must choose between the goodness of God and the power of God. The arrogant smear the righteous with that kind of mendacious reasoning, with this deformation and damage to the image of God.

However, that is no reason for the righteous to deviate from God’s precepts and abandon the path of obedience. On the contrary, he observes those precepts with all his heart. He refuses to believe these lies. He does not recognize in them the voice of the good Shepherd and flees from them (John 10:5), clinging all the more to the Word of God.

The heart of the arrogant is in great contrast to this. For that “heart is covered with fat”, it is insensitive because they hang on to sin with all their heart (Psalms 119:70). This is evident from the fact that they try to smear their lies on the righteous without any sense of shame. A fat heart implies that it is no longer amenable to the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 6:10). The righteous has joy in his heart because he delights in the law of the LORD. This keeps him insensitive to the lies with which the arrogant besmirch him.

He acknowledges the benefit of the affliction in which he has been for a time (Psalms 119:71). He now understands that the affliction was necessary for him to become aware that God is always good and that He can always be trusted, not only in prosperity, but also and especially in adversity.

The affliction has been temporary, for it has ceased once, but it is good for him to have been in it, so he says. A believer does not simply arrive to the point where he can say that. He can say in faith that “all things …work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but trusting the LORD in great adversity is another thing. In this case, the righteous learned the LORD’s statutes through them and came to appreciate them.

This also leads him to appreciate “the law from Your mouth” (Psalms 119:72). He says of it that it is “better” to him “than thousands of gold and silver [pieces]”. What comes from the mouth of God comes from His heart. That is what makes His Word so valuable. “From Your mouth” means that the teaching of the Word for the psalmist comes directly and very personally from the mouth of God. It is a speaking from mouth to mouth, that is, from very close by. It speaks of fellowship.

Gold or silver have lost their appeal for those who have learned to value God’s Word. Gold and silver, despite all their value in the eyes of men, have only temporary value, while the value of God’s Word remains for all eternity.

Many people, unfortunately sometimes even believers, are in their heart full of material things. As a result, they think and talk a lot about material things. The psalmist’s heart is full of the Word of God and therefore he thinks and talks a lot about the Word. This testifies that his heart is full of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord, so that all the privileges of the world are regarded by him not only as worthless but also as harmful (Philippians 3:7-8).

Proverbs 7:10

/teth/ The Good After the Suffering

The ninth letter, teth, is originally a ‘womb’, a vessel containing something good, pointing to the coming of good after suffering, for example, of the contractions. We find in this verse the suffering of the tribulation – some connect this letter with the serpent – as a womb that produces something good (cf. Hebrews 12:11).

This stanza begins in Psalms 119:65 with the word “good” and ends with it in Psalms 119:72 as better=good. The letter teth first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that God saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). Five of the eight verses of this stanza begin with the word good.

Every servant of the Lord will be able to testify that the Lord’s dealings have been good and are good (Psalms 119:65).That goodness is “according to Your word” and in answer to the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 119:17. His dealing in goodness is, as He makes Himself known in His Word. If we have experienced that goodness, it is also good to say so to God, as the psalmist does here. We may say with the poet of a song: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one.’

His dealings in goodness in this verse are evident not so much in His direct blessings, but rather in the afflictions. This may sound strange to some believers, but the Word of God is clear: “We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that …” (Romans 5:2b-3). God in His goodness uses tribulations to keep us on the right path or to bring us back to it (cf. Psalms 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Therefore, persecution is one of the blessings of the one who leaves everything to follow the Lord (Mark 10:29-30).

It is not difficult to accept prosperity and health as good. Anybody can do that, whether they are believers or non-believers. It is something else to accept adversity, tribulation and suffering as good. That is why the psalmist, as well as the believing remnant, and also we, need teaching. The lesson is to experience and realize that God is always good and does good, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We may well ask the question, which is at once a certainty: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When we have experienced the goodness of God, it awakens the desire to learn to discern well and to have the right knowledge for that purpose (Psalms 119:66). This teaching we may ask of God. There is in the righteous the proper condition of heart to ask this, for he believes and trusts in the commandments of the LORD. This is the condition of having benefit from teaching. There must be no doubt about God’s commandments. We must not submit them to us, but we must submit to them. Then we will not look to other sources for learning discernment and knowledge.

As a result of his spiritual growth, the believer will become mature in faith. Spiritually mature believers are those “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Therefore, the psalmist expresses the desire: “Teach me.” Are we eager to learn and willing to sit at the Lord’s feet?

When the believer questions God’s goodness, he goes astray (Psalms 119:67). Then God brings affliction into his life, setbacks and difficulties that make him return to God. This discipline is God’s education to teach us Who He is, that He is good, and that we can always trust Him, even and especially in difficult times. Abraham also showed that he had learned the lesson (Genesis 22:1-19). In the midst of the most painful trial, he continues to trust in the goodness and omnipotence of God. The righteous is kept from going astray when he keeps God’s Word.

God is good through and through and always, and He alone is good (Psalms 119:68; Luke 18:19). Therefore, everything He does is also good, even if He brings affliction and suffering into the life of the believer. Job had, and we too have, difficulty discerning this. Only after his test Job can testify that his knowledge of God was flawed and insufficient: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). The believer longs to know and trust the goodness of God better. Therefore, he asks that God teaches him His statutes.

The righteous lives in a world full of lies about Who God is (Psalms 119:69). The people who propagate these lies are here called “arrogant”. An example of this lie is the popular book by conservative Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, entitled When Evil Afflicts Good People. In it, he believes he must choose between the goodness of God and the power of God. The arrogant smear the righteous with that kind of mendacious reasoning, with this deformation and damage to the image of God.

However, that is no reason for the righteous to deviate from God’s precepts and abandon the path of obedience. On the contrary, he observes those precepts with all his heart. He refuses to believe these lies. He does not recognize in them the voice of the good Shepherd and flees from them (John 10:5), clinging all the more to the Word of God.

The heart of the arrogant is in great contrast to this. For that “heart is covered with fat”, it is insensitive because they hang on to sin with all their heart (Psalms 119:70). This is evident from the fact that they try to smear their lies on the righteous without any sense of shame. A fat heart implies that it is no longer amenable to the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 6:10). The righteous has joy in his heart because he delights in the law of the LORD. This keeps him insensitive to the lies with which the arrogant besmirch him.

He acknowledges the benefit of the affliction in which he has been for a time (Psalms 119:71). He now understands that the affliction was necessary for him to become aware that God is always good and that He can always be trusted, not only in prosperity, but also and especially in adversity.

The affliction has been temporary, for it has ceased once, but it is good for him to have been in it, so he says. A believer does not simply arrive to the point where he can say that. He can say in faith that “all things …work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but trusting the LORD in great adversity is another thing. In this case, the righteous learned the LORD’s statutes through them and came to appreciate them.

This also leads him to appreciate “the law from Your mouth” (Psalms 119:72). He says of it that it is “better” to him “than thousands of gold and silver [pieces]”. What comes from the mouth of God comes from His heart. That is what makes His Word so valuable. “From Your mouth” means that the teaching of the Word for the psalmist comes directly and very personally from the mouth of God. It is a speaking from mouth to mouth, that is, from very close by. It speaks of fellowship.

Gold or silver have lost their appeal for those who have learned to value God’s Word. Gold and silver, despite all their value in the eyes of men, have only temporary value, while the value of God’s Word remains for all eternity.

Many people, unfortunately sometimes even believers, are in their heart full of material things. As a result, they think and talk a lot about material things. The psalmist’s heart is full of the Word of God and therefore he thinks and talks a lot about the Word. This testifies that his heart is full of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord, so that all the privileges of the world are regarded by him not only as worthless but also as harmful (Philippians 3:7-8).

Proverbs 7:11

/teth/ The Good After the Suffering

The ninth letter, teth, is originally a ‘womb’, a vessel containing something good, pointing to the coming of good after suffering, for example, of the contractions. We find in this verse the suffering of the tribulation – some connect this letter with the serpent – as a womb that produces something good (cf. Hebrews 12:11).

This stanza begins in Psalms 119:65 with the word “good” and ends with it in Psalms 119:72 as better=good. The letter teth first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that God saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). Five of the eight verses of this stanza begin with the word good.

Every servant of the Lord will be able to testify that the Lord’s dealings have been good and are good (Psalms 119:65).That goodness is “according to Your word” and in answer to the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 119:17. His dealing in goodness is, as He makes Himself known in His Word. If we have experienced that goodness, it is also good to say so to God, as the psalmist does here. We may say with the poet of a song: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one.’

His dealings in goodness in this verse are evident not so much in His direct blessings, but rather in the afflictions. This may sound strange to some believers, but the Word of God is clear: “We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that …” (Romans 5:2b-3). God in His goodness uses tribulations to keep us on the right path or to bring us back to it (cf. Psalms 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Therefore, persecution is one of the blessings of the one who leaves everything to follow the Lord (Mark 10:29-30).

It is not difficult to accept prosperity and health as good. Anybody can do that, whether they are believers or non-believers. It is something else to accept adversity, tribulation and suffering as good. That is why the psalmist, as well as the believing remnant, and also we, need teaching. The lesson is to experience and realize that God is always good and does good, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We may well ask the question, which is at once a certainty: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When we have experienced the goodness of God, it awakens the desire to learn to discern well and to have the right knowledge for that purpose (Psalms 119:66). This teaching we may ask of God. There is in the righteous the proper condition of heart to ask this, for he believes and trusts in the commandments of the LORD. This is the condition of having benefit from teaching. There must be no doubt about God’s commandments. We must not submit them to us, but we must submit to them. Then we will not look to other sources for learning discernment and knowledge.

As a result of his spiritual growth, the believer will become mature in faith. Spiritually mature believers are those “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Therefore, the psalmist expresses the desire: “Teach me.” Are we eager to learn and willing to sit at the Lord’s feet?

When the believer questions God’s goodness, he goes astray (Psalms 119:67). Then God brings affliction into his life, setbacks and difficulties that make him return to God. This discipline is God’s education to teach us Who He is, that He is good, and that we can always trust Him, even and especially in difficult times. Abraham also showed that he had learned the lesson (Genesis 22:1-19). In the midst of the most painful trial, he continues to trust in the goodness and omnipotence of God. The righteous is kept from going astray when he keeps God’s Word.

God is good through and through and always, and He alone is good (Psalms 119:68; Luke 18:19). Therefore, everything He does is also good, even if He brings affliction and suffering into the life of the believer. Job had, and we too have, difficulty discerning this. Only after his test Job can testify that his knowledge of God was flawed and insufficient: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). The believer longs to know and trust the goodness of God better. Therefore, he asks that God teaches him His statutes.

The righteous lives in a world full of lies about Who God is (Psalms 119:69). The people who propagate these lies are here called “arrogant”. An example of this lie is the popular book by conservative Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, entitled When Evil Afflicts Good People. In it, he believes he must choose between the goodness of God and the power of God. The arrogant smear the righteous with that kind of mendacious reasoning, with this deformation and damage to the image of God.

However, that is no reason for the righteous to deviate from God’s precepts and abandon the path of obedience. On the contrary, he observes those precepts with all his heart. He refuses to believe these lies. He does not recognize in them the voice of the good Shepherd and flees from them (John 10:5), clinging all the more to the Word of God.

The heart of the arrogant is in great contrast to this. For that “heart is covered with fat”, it is insensitive because they hang on to sin with all their heart (Psalms 119:70). This is evident from the fact that they try to smear their lies on the righteous without any sense of shame. A fat heart implies that it is no longer amenable to the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 6:10). The righteous has joy in his heart because he delights in the law of the LORD. This keeps him insensitive to the lies with which the arrogant besmirch him.

He acknowledges the benefit of the affliction in which he has been for a time (Psalms 119:71). He now understands that the affliction was necessary for him to become aware that God is always good and that He can always be trusted, not only in prosperity, but also and especially in adversity.

The affliction has been temporary, for it has ceased once, but it is good for him to have been in it, so he says. A believer does not simply arrive to the point where he can say that. He can say in faith that “all things …work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but trusting the LORD in great adversity is another thing. In this case, the righteous learned the LORD’s statutes through them and came to appreciate them.

This also leads him to appreciate “the law from Your mouth” (Psalms 119:72). He says of it that it is “better” to him “than thousands of gold and silver [pieces]”. What comes from the mouth of God comes from His heart. That is what makes His Word so valuable. “From Your mouth” means that the teaching of the Word for the psalmist comes directly and very personally from the mouth of God. It is a speaking from mouth to mouth, that is, from very close by. It speaks of fellowship.

Gold or silver have lost their appeal for those who have learned to value God’s Word. Gold and silver, despite all their value in the eyes of men, have only temporary value, while the value of God’s Word remains for all eternity.

Many people, unfortunately sometimes even believers, are in their heart full of material things. As a result, they think and talk a lot about material things. The psalmist’s heart is full of the Word of God and therefore he thinks and talks a lot about the Word. This testifies that his heart is full of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord, so that all the privileges of the world are regarded by him not only as worthless but also as harmful (Philippians 3:7-8).

Proverbs 7:12

/teth/ The Good After the Suffering

The ninth letter, teth, is originally a ‘womb’, a vessel containing something good, pointing to the coming of good after suffering, for example, of the contractions. We find in this verse the suffering of the tribulation – some connect this letter with the serpent – as a womb that produces something good (cf. Hebrews 12:11).

This stanza begins in Psalms 119:65 with the word “good” and ends with it in Psalms 119:72 as better=good. The letter teth first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that God saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). Five of the eight verses of this stanza begin with the word good.

Every servant of the Lord will be able to testify that the Lord’s dealings have been good and are good (Psalms 119:65).That goodness is “according to Your word” and in answer to the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 119:17. His dealing in goodness is, as He makes Himself known in His Word. If we have experienced that goodness, it is also good to say so to God, as the psalmist does here. We may say with the poet of a song: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one.’

His dealings in goodness in this verse are evident not so much in His direct blessings, but rather in the afflictions. This may sound strange to some believers, but the Word of God is clear: “We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that …” (Romans 5:2b-3). God in His goodness uses tribulations to keep us on the right path or to bring us back to it (cf. Psalms 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Therefore, persecution is one of the blessings of the one who leaves everything to follow the Lord (Mark 10:29-30).

It is not difficult to accept prosperity and health as good. Anybody can do that, whether they are believers or non-believers. It is something else to accept adversity, tribulation and suffering as good. That is why the psalmist, as well as the believing remnant, and also we, need teaching. The lesson is to experience and realize that God is always good and does good, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We may well ask the question, which is at once a certainty: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When we have experienced the goodness of God, it awakens the desire to learn to discern well and to have the right knowledge for that purpose (Psalms 119:66). This teaching we may ask of God. There is in the righteous the proper condition of heart to ask this, for he believes and trusts in the commandments of the LORD. This is the condition of having benefit from teaching. There must be no doubt about God’s commandments. We must not submit them to us, but we must submit to them. Then we will not look to other sources for learning discernment and knowledge.

As a result of his spiritual growth, the believer will become mature in faith. Spiritually mature believers are those “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Therefore, the psalmist expresses the desire: “Teach me.” Are we eager to learn and willing to sit at the Lord’s feet?

When the believer questions God’s goodness, he goes astray (Psalms 119:67). Then God brings affliction into his life, setbacks and difficulties that make him return to God. This discipline is God’s education to teach us Who He is, that He is good, and that we can always trust Him, even and especially in difficult times. Abraham also showed that he had learned the lesson (Genesis 22:1-19). In the midst of the most painful trial, he continues to trust in the goodness and omnipotence of God. The righteous is kept from going astray when he keeps God’s Word.

God is good through and through and always, and He alone is good (Psalms 119:68; Luke 18:19). Therefore, everything He does is also good, even if He brings affliction and suffering into the life of the believer. Job had, and we too have, difficulty discerning this. Only after his test Job can testify that his knowledge of God was flawed and insufficient: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). The believer longs to know and trust the goodness of God better. Therefore, he asks that God teaches him His statutes.

The righteous lives in a world full of lies about Who God is (Psalms 119:69). The people who propagate these lies are here called “arrogant”. An example of this lie is the popular book by conservative Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, entitled When Evil Afflicts Good People. In it, he believes he must choose between the goodness of God and the power of God. The arrogant smear the righteous with that kind of mendacious reasoning, with this deformation and damage to the image of God.

However, that is no reason for the righteous to deviate from God’s precepts and abandon the path of obedience. On the contrary, he observes those precepts with all his heart. He refuses to believe these lies. He does not recognize in them the voice of the good Shepherd and flees from them (John 10:5), clinging all the more to the Word of God.

The heart of the arrogant is in great contrast to this. For that “heart is covered with fat”, it is insensitive because they hang on to sin with all their heart (Psalms 119:70). This is evident from the fact that they try to smear their lies on the righteous without any sense of shame. A fat heart implies that it is no longer amenable to the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 6:10). The righteous has joy in his heart because he delights in the law of the LORD. This keeps him insensitive to the lies with which the arrogant besmirch him.

He acknowledges the benefit of the affliction in which he has been for a time (Psalms 119:71). He now understands that the affliction was necessary for him to become aware that God is always good and that He can always be trusted, not only in prosperity, but also and especially in adversity.

The affliction has been temporary, for it has ceased once, but it is good for him to have been in it, so he says. A believer does not simply arrive to the point where he can say that. He can say in faith that “all things …work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but trusting the LORD in great adversity is another thing. In this case, the righteous learned the LORD’s statutes through them and came to appreciate them.

This also leads him to appreciate “the law from Your mouth” (Psalms 119:72). He says of it that it is “better” to him “than thousands of gold and silver [pieces]”. What comes from the mouth of God comes from His heart. That is what makes His Word so valuable. “From Your mouth” means that the teaching of the Word for the psalmist comes directly and very personally from the mouth of God. It is a speaking from mouth to mouth, that is, from very close by. It speaks of fellowship.

Gold or silver have lost their appeal for those who have learned to value God’s Word. Gold and silver, despite all their value in the eyes of men, have only temporary value, while the value of God’s Word remains for all eternity.

Many people, unfortunately sometimes even believers, are in their heart full of material things. As a result, they think and talk a lot about material things. The psalmist’s heart is full of the Word of God and therefore he thinks and talks a lot about the Word. This testifies that his heart is full of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord, so that all the privileges of the world are regarded by him not only as worthless but also as harmful (Philippians 3:7-8).

Proverbs 7:13

/teth/ The Good After the Suffering

The ninth letter, teth, is originally a ‘womb’, a vessel containing something good, pointing to the coming of good after suffering, for example, of the contractions. We find in this verse the suffering of the tribulation – some connect this letter with the serpent – as a womb that produces something good (cf. Hebrews 12:11).

This stanza begins in Psalms 119:65 with the word “good” and ends with it in Psalms 119:72 as better=good. The letter teth first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that God saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). Five of the eight verses of this stanza begin with the word good.

Every servant of the Lord will be able to testify that the Lord’s dealings have been good and are good (Psalms 119:65).That goodness is “according to Your word” and in answer to the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 119:17. His dealing in goodness is, as He makes Himself known in His Word. If we have experienced that goodness, it is also good to say so to God, as the psalmist does here. We may say with the poet of a song: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one.’

His dealings in goodness in this verse are evident not so much in His direct blessings, but rather in the afflictions. This may sound strange to some believers, but the Word of God is clear: “We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that …” (Romans 5:2b-3). God in His goodness uses tribulations to keep us on the right path or to bring us back to it (cf. Psalms 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Therefore, persecution is one of the blessings of the one who leaves everything to follow the Lord (Mark 10:29-30).

It is not difficult to accept prosperity and health as good. Anybody can do that, whether they are believers or non-believers. It is something else to accept adversity, tribulation and suffering as good. That is why the psalmist, as well as the believing remnant, and also we, need teaching. The lesson is to experience and realize that God is always good and does good, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We may well ask the question, which is at once a certainty: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When we have experienced the goodness of God, it awakens the desire to learn to discern well and to have the right knowledge for that purpose (Psalms 119:66). This teaching we may ask of God. There is in the righteous the proper condition of heart to ask this, for he believes and trusts in the commandments of the LORD. This is the condition of having benefit from teaching. There must be no doubt about God’s commandments. We must not submit them to us, but we must submit to them. Then we will not look to other sources for learning discernment and knowledge.

As a result of his spiritual growth, the believer will become mature in faith. Spiritually mature believers are those “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Therefore, the psalmist expresses the desire: “Teach me.” Are we eager to learn and willing to sit at the Lord’s feet?

When the believer questions God’s goodness, he goes astray (Psalms 119:67). Then God brings affliction into his life, setbacks and difficulties that make him return to God. This discipline is God’s education to teach us Who He is, that He is good, and that we can always trust Him, even and especially in difficult times. Abraham also showed that he had learned the lesson (Genesis 22:1-19). In the midst of the most painful trial, he continues to trust in the goodness and omnipotence of God. The righteous is kept from going astray when he keeps God’s Word.

God is good through and through and always, and He alone is good (Psalms 119:68; Luke 18:19). Therefore, everything He does is also good, even if He brings affliction and suffering into the life of the believer. Job had, and we too have, difficulty discerning this. Only after his test Job can testify that his knowledge of God was flawed and insufficient: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). The believer longs to know and trust the goodness of God better. Therefore, he asks that God teaches him His statutes.

The righteous lives in a world full of lies about Who God is (Psalms 119:69). The people who propagate these lies are here called “arrogant”. An example of this lie is the popular book by conservative Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, entitled When Evil Afflicts Good People. In it, he believes he must choose between the goodness of God and the power of God. The arrogant smear the righteous with that kind of mendacious reasoning, with this deformation and damage to the image of God.

However, that is no reason for the righteous to deviate from God’s precepts and abandon the path of obedience. On the contrary, he observes those precepts with all his heart. He refuses to believe these lies. He does not recognize in them the voice of the good Shepherd and flees from them (John 10:5), clinging all the more to the Word of God.

The heart of the arrogant is in great contrast to this. For that “heart is covered with fat”, it is insensitive because they hang on to sin with all their heart (Psalms 119:70). This is evident from the fact that they try to smear their lies on the righteous without any sense of shame. A fat heart implies that it is no longer amenable to the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 6:10). The righteous has joy in his heart because he delights in the law of the LORD. This keeps him insensitive to the lies with which the arrogant besmirch him.

He acknowledges the benefit of the affliction in which he has been for a time (Psalms 119:71). He now understands that the affliction was necessary for him to become aware that God is always good and that He can always be trusted, not only in prosperity, but also and especially in adversity.

The affliction has been temporary, for it has ceased once, but it is good for him to have been in it, so he says. A believer does not simply arrive to the point where he can say that. He can say in faith that “all things …work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but trusting the LORD in great adversity is another thing. In this case, the righteous learned the LORD’s statutes through them and came to appreciate them.

This also leads him to appreciate “the law from Your mouth” (Psalms 119:72). He says of it that it is “better” to him “than thousands of gold and silver [pieces]”. What comes from the mouth of God comes from His heart. That is what makes His Word so valuable. “From Your mouth” means that the teaching of the Word for the psalmist comes directly and very personally from the mouth of God. It is a speaking from mouth to mouth, that is, from very close by. It speaks of fellowship.

Gold or silver have lost their appeal for those who have learned to value God’s Word. Gold and silver, despite all their value in the eyes of men, have only temporary value, while the value of God’s Word remains for all eternity.

Many people, unfortunately sometimes even believers, are in their heart full of material things. As a result, they think and talk a lot about material things. The psalmist’s heart is full of the Word of God and therefore he thinks and talks a lot about the Word. This testifies that his heart is full of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord, so that all the privileges of the world are regarded by him not only as worthless but also as harmful (Philippians 3:7-8).

Proverbs 7:14

/yodh/ Made by God’s Hands

The tenth letter, yodh, with the numerical value ten, originally had the shape of a hand. The name of the letter is related to jad, the Hebrew word for hand. We know this word in the (Yiddish) Dutch verb ‘jatten’ which means ‘to steal – by hand’. The word jad also stands for the (pointer) stick used to read a Hebrew scroll. The letter yodh has to do with: work, power (right hand), responsibility (the number ten: ten commandments, ten fingers, ten wise and foolish virgins and so on).

The letter yodh is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. About it the Lord Jesus says: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [Literally one iota (Hebrew: yodh) or one projection of a letter (serif)] shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The iota is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew yodh.

The righteous acknowledges that he is made by the hands of God (Psalms 119:73; Psalms 139:13-16), just as God’s hands also made the universe (Isaiah 45:12). He thereby acknowledges that he is totally dependent on his Creator (cf. 1 Peter 4:19). God made everything for the purpose of serving Him.

The psalmist’s question is whether the LORD, Who has made and fashioned him, will complete His work on him. “Made” refers to his forming, “fashioned” means put in the place where he is now. He then looks to the future and asks for understanding to meet God’s purpose with his life.

He has learned the lesson: He accepts the trouble and affliction from the hand of the LORD knowing that He wants to use it to form him. The suffering is like plowing the hard ground to make it ready for the seed of the Word (cf. Isaiah 28:23-29).

He is also dependent on his Creator for understanding God’s commandments, because his mind has been darkened by sin. God can give him this understanding and that is what he asks for. He says to God, as it were: ‘I have come into being through Your work; now will You complete Your work in me. I have now understood that affliction is necessary for this purpose’ (Psalms 119:75; cf. John 15:2b). God’s commandments are the manual for his life, for the completion of God’s work in him.

Not everyone rejoices over the psalmist, but those who fear God do (Psalms 119:74). They see the righteous and are glad because they see in his life that he, like them, has waited for God’s Word and that he, like them, has experienced that that waiting has not been in vain. Such a life is contagious. It makes others glad and gives them courage (cf. Malachi 3:16; Philippians 1:14). We see it in the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:39-45).

The judgments of the LORD are righteous, both for the wicked and for the psalmist (Psalms 119:75). For the wicked, they mean ruin. The psalmist knows that God’s judgments are always righteous, in accordance with His Word and His covenant. At the same time, these judgments are also part of God’s faithfulness, namely, to purify the psalmist and restore Israel. Through the tribulation, God works that the righteous place all hope of salvation in Him and condemn all unfaithfulness in themselves (cf. Romans 8:28).

Those who are afflicted are in need of comfort (Psalms 119:76). Therefore, the psalmist asks God to comfort him through His lovingkindness. The word “comfort” in Hebrew means ‘to sigh deeply of relief’. Experiencing that lovingkindness – that is, the blessing and love of God on the basis of His covenant, which includes salvation – causes the psalmist to be relieved. Thereby he appeals to the word that God has spoken to him, the promise He made to him, His servant. He personally appropriates the covenant, which has become a promise by virtue of the blood of the new covenant.

The psalmist clearly does not yet feel fully recovered from the affliction. This can be seen in his request to the LORD to let His compassion come to him (Psalms 119:77). He needs it. Everyone who is in miserable circumstances needs it. If he receives compassion, he will live, that is revive because he has new strength, because he has new life by virtue of the covenant. This is evident from the fact that the law of the LORD is his delight, his source of joy. For an unbeliever, the law is not a source of joy, because it condemns him.

Then the psalmist asks if the LORD will stretch out His hand against the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:78) and over the God-fearing (Psalms 119:79) and over the psalmist himself (Psalms 119:80). The arrogant have afflicted the righteous with lies (Psalms 119:78; cf. John 15:25). They have been able to do so under the permission of God, Who has His purpose in doing so. It does not mean that the arrogant have listened to God. On the contrary, they do not take God into account at all, but follow their own agenda.

The righteous knows this and therefore asks God that He will make them ashamed. He can ask that question because he meditates on God’s precepts. As a result, he knows how God thinks about these oppressors. The arrogant with their big, lying mouths will be judged by God. As a result, the righteous also knows how to respond to these oppressors with their lies (1 Peter 2:23). Their enmity cannot keep him from persevering in his trust in the LORD.

The psalmist needs fellowship with those who fear God and know His testimonies (Psalms 119:79). He feels alone and now asks the LORD if those who fear Him will turn back to him. He wants to share with them his experiences. This is a remarkable desire of believers in all ages. Those who know God’s testimonies want to share them with those who also know them. We may take an example from the psalmist and pray that God will allow us to meet such people.

In the New Testament we learn that the love between the Father and the Son is also in us. Love cannot be practiced by anyone alone. A believer always needs fellowship with other believers. The love of God is only perfected in us when we as believers love one another (1 John 4:12).

The psalmist prays that the LORD will let his heart be blameless in God’s statutes (Psalms 119:80), for he is surrounded by arrogant, hostile liars. He recognizes the deceitfulness of his heart and knows that only the LORD knows it (Jeremiah 17:9-10; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139:1b; 23).

A blameless heart – literally, a complete heart, that is, undivided – is essential in dealing with God. God looks for truth in the innermost being. If that is present, the believer will not be ashamed because he does not give sin a chance to enter his life. Then he will not be shamed in this life nor later, before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Proverbs 7:15

/yodh/ Made by God’s Hands

The tenth letter, yodh, with the numerical value ten, originally had the shape of a hand. The name of the letter is related to jad, the Hebrew word for hand. We know this word in the (Yiddish) Dutch verb ‘jatten’ which means ‘to steal – by hand’. The word jad also stands for the (pointer) stick used to read a Hebrew scroll. The letter yodh has to do with: work, power (right hand), responsibility (the number ten: ten commandments, ten fingers, ten wise and foolish virgins and so on).

The letter yodh is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. About it the Lord Jesus says: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [Literally one iota (Hebrew: yodh) or one projection of a letter (serif)] shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The iota is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew yodh.

The righteous acknowledges that he is made by the hands of God (Psalms 119:73; Psalms 139:13-16), just as God’s hands also made the universe (Isaiah 45:12). He thereby acknowledges that he is totally dependent on his Creator (cf. 1 Peter 4:19). God made everything for the purpose of serving Him.

The psalmist’s question is whether the LORD, Who has made and fashioned him, will complete His work on him. “Made” refers to his forming, “fashioned” means put in the place where he is now. He then looks to the future and asks for understanding to meet God’s purpose with his life.

He has learned the lesson: He accepts the trouble and affliction from the hand of the LORD knowing that He wants to use it to form him. The suffering is like plowing the hard ground to make it ready for the seed of the Word (cf. Isaiah 28:23-29).

He is also dependent on his Creator for understanding God’s commandments, because his mind has been darkened by sin. God can give him this understanding and that is what he asks for. He says to God, as it were: ‘I have come into being through Your work; now will You complete Your work in me. I have now understood that affliction is necessary for this purpose’ (Psalms 119:75; cf. John 15:2b). God’s commandments are the manual for his life, for the completion of God’s work in him.

Not everyone rejoices over the psalmist, but those who fear God do (Psalms 119:74). They see the righteous and are glad because they see in his life that he, like them, has waited for God’s Word and that he, like them, has experienced that that waiting has not been in vain. Such a life is contagious. It makes others glad and gives them courage (cf. Malachi 3:16; Philippians 1:14). We see it in the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:39-45).

The judgments of the LORD are righteous, both for the wicked and for the psalmist (Psalms 119:75). For the wicked, they mean ruin. The psalmist knows that God’s judgments are always righteous, in accordance with His Word and His covenant. At the same time, these judgments are also part of God’s faithfulness, namely, to purify the psalmist and restore Israel. Through the tribulation, God works that the righteous place all hope of salvation in Him and condemn all unfaithfulness in themselves (cf. Romans 8:28).

Those who are afflicted are in need of comfort (Psalms 119:76). Therefore, the psalmist asks God to comfort him through His lovingkindness. The word “comfort” in Hebrew means ‘to sigh deeply of relief’. Experiencing that lovingkindness – that is, the blessing and love of God on the basis of His covenant, which includes salvation – causes the psalmist to be relieved. Thereby he appeals to the word that God has spoken to him, the promise He made to him, His servant. He personally appropriates the covenant, which has become a promise by virtue of the blood of the new covenant.

The psalmist clearly does not yet feel fully recovered from the affliction. This can be seen in his request to the LORD to let His compassion come to him (Psalms 119:77). He needs it. Everyone who is in miserable circumstances needs it. If he receives compassion, he will live, that is revive because he has new strength, because he has new life by virtue of the covenant. This is evident from the fact that the law of the LORD is his delight, his source of joy. For an unbeliever, the law is not a source of joy, because it condemns him.

Then the psalmist asks if the LORD will stretch out His hand against the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:78) and over the God-fearing (Psalms 119:79) and over the psalmist himself (Psalms 119:80). The arrogant have afflicted the righteous with lies (Psalms 119:78; cf. John 15:25). They have been able to do so under the permission of God, Who has His purpose in doing so. It does not mean that the arrogant have listened to God. On the contrary, they do not take God into account at all, but follow their own agenda.

The righteous knows this and therefore asks God that He will make them ashamed. He can ask that question because he meditates on God’s precepts. As a result, he knows how God thinks about these oppressors. The arrogant with their big, lying mouths will be judged by God. As a result, the righteous also knows how to respond to these oppressors with their lies (1 Peter 2:23). Their enmity cannot keep him from persevering in his trust in the LORD.

The psalmist needs fellowship with those who fear God and know His testimonies (Psalms 119:79). He feels alone and now asks the LORD if those who fear Him will turn back to him. He wants to share with them his experiences. This is a remarkable desire of believers in all ages. Those who know God’s testimonies want to share them with those who also know them. We may take an example from the psalmist and pray that God will allow us to meet such people.

In the New Testament we learn that the love between the Father and the Son is also in us. Love cannot be practiced by anyone alone. A believer always needs fellowship with other believers. The love of God is only perfected in us when we as believers love one another (1 John 4:12).

The psalmist prays that the LORD will let his heart be blameless in God’s statutes (Psalms 119:80), for he is surrounded by arrogant, hostile liars. He recognizes the deceitfulness of his heart and knows that only the LORD knows it (Jeremiah 17:9-10; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139:1b; 23).

A blameless heart – literally, a complete heart, that is, undivided – is essential in dealing with God. God looks for truth in the innermost being. If that is present, the believer will not be ashamed because he does not give sin a chance to enter his life. Then he will not be shamed in this life nor later, before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Proverbs 7:16

/yodh/ Made by God’s Hands

The tenth letter, yodh, with the numerical value ten, originally had the shape of a hand. The name of the letter is related to jad, the Hebrew word for hand. We know this word in the (Yiddish) Dutch verb ‘jatten’ which means ‘to steal – by hand’. The word jad also stands for the (pointer) stick used to read a Hebrew scroll. The letter yodh has to do with: work, power (right hand), responsibility (the number ten: ten commandments, ten fingers, ten wise and foolish virgins and so on).

The letter yodh is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. About it the Lord Jesus says: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [Literally one iota (Hebrew: yodh) or one projection of a letter (serif)] shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The iota is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew yodh.

The righteous acknowledges that he is made by the hands of God (Psalms 119:73; Psalms 139:13-16), just as God’s hands also made the universe (Isaiah 45:12). He thereby acknowledges that he is totally dependent on his Creator (cf. 1 Peter 4:19). God made everything for the purpose of serving Him.

The psalmist’s question is whether the LORD, Who has made and fashioned him, will complete His work on him. “Made” refers to his forming, “fashioned” means put in the place where he is now. He then looks to the future and asks for understanding to meet God’s purpose with his life.

He has learned the lesson: He accepts the trouble and affliction from the hand of the LORD knowing that He wants to use it to form him. The suffering is like plowing the hard ground to make it ready for the seed of the Word (cf. Isaiah 28:23-29).

He is also dependent on his Creator for understanding God’s commandments, because his mind has been darkened by sin. God can give him this understanding and that is what he asks for. He says to God, as it were: ‘I have come into being through Your work; now will You complete Your work in me. I have now understood that affliction is necessary for this purpose’ (Psalms 119:75; cf. John 15:2b). God’s commandments are the manual for his life, for the completion of God’s work in him.

Not everyone rejoices over the psalmist, but those who fear God do (Psalms 119:74). They see the righteous and are glad because they see in his life that he, like them, has waited for God’s Word and that he, like them, has experienced that that waiting has not been in vain. Such a life is contagious. It makes others glad and gives them courage (cf. Malachi 3:16; Philippians 1:14). We see it in the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:39-45).

The judgments of the LORD are righteous, both for the wicked and for the psalmist (Psalms 119:75). For the wicked, they mean ruin. The psalmist knows that God’s judgments are always righteous, in accordance with His Word and His covenant. At the same time, these judgments are also part of God’s faithfulness, namely, to purify the psalmist and restore Israel. Through the tribulation, God works that the righteous place all hope of salvation in Him and condemn all unfaithfulness in themselves (cf. Romans 8:28).

Those who are afflicted are in need of comfort (Psalms 119:76). Therefore, the psalmist asks God to comfort him through His lovingkindness. The word “comfort” in Hebrew means ‘to sigh deeply of relief’. Experiencing that lovingkindness – that is, the blessing and love of God on the basis of His covenant, which includes salvation – causes the psalmist to be relieved. Thereby he appeals to the word that God has spoken to him, the promise He made to him, His servant. He personally appropriates the covenant, which has become a promise by virtue of the blood of the new covenant.

The psalmist clearly does not yet feel fully recovered from the affliction. This can be seen in his request to the LORD to let His compassion come to him (Psalms 119:77). He needs it. Everyone who is in miserable circumstances needs it. If he receives compassion, he will live, that is revive because he has new strength, because he has new life by virtue of the covenant. This is evident from the fact that the law of the LORD is his delight, his source of joy. For an unbeliever, the law is not a source of joy, because it condemns him.

Then the psalmist asks if the LORD will stretch out His hand against the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:78) and over the God-fearing (Psalms 119:79) and over the psalmist himself (Psalms 119:80). The arrogant have afflicted the righteous with lies (Psalms 119:78; cf. John 15:25). They have been able to do so under the permission of God, Who has His purpose in doing so. It does not mean that the arrogant have listened to God. On the contrary, they do not take God into account at all, but follow their own agenda.

The righteous knows this and therefore asks God that He will make them ashamed. He can ask that question because he meditates on God’s precepts. As a result, he knows how God thinks about these oppressors. The arrogant with their big, lying mouths will be judged by God. As a result, the righteous also knows how to respond to these oppressors with their lies (1 Peter 2:23). Their enmity cannot keep him from persevering in his trust in the LORD.

The psalmist needs fellowship with those who fear God and know His testimonies (Psalms 119:79). He feels alone and now asks the LORD if those who fear Him will turn back to him. He wants to share with them his experiences. This is a remarkable desire of believers in all ages. Those who know God’s testimonies want to share them with those who also know them. We may take an example from the psalmist and pray that God will allow us to meet such people.

In the New Testament we learn that the love between the Father and the Son is also in us. Love cannot be practiced by anyone alone. A believer always needs fellowship with other believers. The love of God is only perfected in us when we as believers love one another (1 John 4:12).

The psalmist prays that the LORD will let his heart be blameless in God’s statutes (Psalms 119:80), for he is surrounded by arrogant, hostile liars. He recognizes the deceitfulness of his heart and knows that only the LORD knows it (Jeremiah 17:9-10; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139:1b; 23).

A blameless heart – literally, a complete heart, that is, undivided – is essential in dealing with God. God looks for truth in the innermost being. If that is present, the believer will not be ashamed because he does not give sin a chance to enter his life. Then he will not be shamed in this life nor later, before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Proverbs 7:17

/yodh/ Made by God’s Hands

The tenth letter, yodh, with the numerical value ten, originally had the shape of a hand. The name of the letter is related to jad, the Hebrew word for hand. We know this word in the (Yiddish) Dutch verb ‘jatten’ which means ‘to steal – by hand’. The word jad also stands for the (pointer) stick used to read a Hebrew scroll. The letter yodh has to do with: work, power (right hand), responsibility (the number ten: ten commandments, ten fingers, ten wise and foolish virgins and so on).

The letter yodh is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. About it the Lord Jesus says: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [Literally one iota (Hebrew: yodh) or one projection of a letter (serif)] shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The iota is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew yodh.

The righteous acknowledges that he is made by the hands of God (Psalms 119:73; Psalms 139:13-16), just as God’s hands also made the universe (Isaiah 45:12). He thereby acknowledges that he is totally dependent on his Creator (cf. 1 Peter 4:19). God made everything for the purpose of serving Him.

The psalmist’s question is whether the LORD, Who has made and fashioned him, will complete His work on him. “Made” refers to his forming, “fashioned” means put in the place where he is now. He then looks to the future and asks for understanding to meet God’s purpose with his life.

He has learned the lesson: He accepts the trouble and affliction from the hand of the LORD knowing that He wants to use it to form him. The suffering is like plowing the hard ground to make it ready for the seed of the Word (cf. Isaiah 28:23-29).

He is also dependent on his Creator for understanding God’s commandments, because his mind has been darkened by sin. God can give him this understanding and that is what he asks for. He says to God, as it were: ‘I have come into being through Your work; now will You complete Your work in me. I have now understood that affliction is necessary for this purpose’ (Psalms 119:75; cf. John 15:2b). God’s commandments are the manual for his life, for the completion of God’s work in him.

Not everyone rejoices over the psalmist, but those who fear God do (Psalms 119:74). They see the righteous and are glad because they see in his life that he, like them, has waited for God’s Word and that he, like them, has experienced that that waiting has not been in vain. Such a life is contagious. It makes others glad and gives them courage (cf. Malachi 3:16; Philippians 1:14). We see it in the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:39-45).

The judgments of the LORD are righteous, both for the wicked and for the psalmist (Psalms 119:75). For the wicked, they mean ruin. The psalmist knows that God’s judgments are always righteous, in accordance with His Word and His covenant. At the same time, these judgments are also part of God’s faithfulness, namely, to purify the psalmist and restore Israel. Through the tribulation, God works that the righteous place all hope of salvation in Him and condemn all unfaithfulness in themselves (cf. Romans 8:28).

Those who are afflicted are in need of comfort (Psalms 119:76). Therefore, the psalmist asks God to comfort him through His lovingkindness. The word “comfort” in Hebrew means ‘to sigh deeply of relief’. Experiencing that lovingkindness – that is, the blessing and love of God on the basis of His covenant, which includes salvation – causes the psalmist to be relieved. Thereby he appeals to the word that God has spoken to him, the promise He made to him, His servant. He personally appropriates the covenant, which has become a promise by virtue of the blood of the new covenant.

The psalmist clearly does not yet feel fully recovered from the affliction. This can be seen in his request to the LORD to let His compassion come to him (Psalms 119:77). He needs it. Everyone who is in miserable circumstances needs it. If he receives compassion, he will live, that is revive because he has new strength, because he has new life by virtue of the covenant. This is evident from the fact that the law of the LORD is his delight, his source of joy. For an unbeliever, the law is not a source of joy, because it condemns him.

Then the psalmist asks if the LORD will stretch out His hand against the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:78) and over the God-fearing (Psalms 119:79) and over the psalmist himself (Psalms 119:80). The arrogant have afflicted the righteous with lies (Psalms 119:78; cf. John 15:25). They have been able to do so under the permission of God, Who has His purpose in doing so. It does not mean that the arrogant have listened to God. On the contrary, they do not take God into account at all, but follow their own agenda.

The righteous knows this and therefore asks God that He will make them ashamed. He can ask that question because he meditates on God’s precepts. As a result, he knows how God thinks about these oppressors. The arrogant with their big, lying mouths will be judged by God. As a result, the righteous also knows how to respond to these oppressors with their lies (1 Peter 2:23). Their enmity cannot keep him from persevering in his trust in the LORD.

The psalmist needs fellowship with those who fear God and know His testimonies (Psalms 119:79). He feels alone and now asks the LORD if those who fear Him will turn back to him. He wants to share with them his experiences. This is a remarkable desire of believers in all ages. Those who know God’s testimonies want to share them with those who also know them. We may take an example from the psalmist and pray that God will allow us to meet such people.

In the New Testament we learn that the love between the Father and the Son is also in us. Love cannot be practiced by anyone alone. A believer always needs fellowship with other believers. The love of God is only perfected in us when we as believers love one another (1 John 4:12).

The psalmist prays that the LORD will let his heart be blameless in God’s statutes (Psalms 119:80), for he is surrounded by arrogant, hostile liars. He recognizes the deceitfulness of his heart and knows that only the LORD knows it (Jeremiah 17:9-10; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139:1b; 23).

A blameless heart – literally, a complete heart, that is, undivided – is essential in dealing with God. God looks for truth in the innermost being. If that is present, the believer will not be ashamed because he does not give sin a chance to enter his life. Then he will not be shamed in this life nor later, before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Proverbs 7:18

/yodh/ Made by God’s Hands

The tenth letter, yodh, with the numerical value ten, originally had the shape of a hand. The name of the letter is related to jad, the Hebrew word for hand. We know this word in the (Yiddish) Dutch verb ‘jatten’ which means ‘to steal – by hand’. The word jad also stands for the (pointer) stick used to read a Hebrew scroll. The letter yodh has to do with: work, power (right hand), responsibility (the number ten: ten commandments, ten fingers, ten wise and foolish virgins and so on).

The letter yodh is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. About it the Lord Jesus says: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [Literally one iota (Hebrew: yodh) or one projection of a letter (serif)] shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The iota is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew yodh.

The righteous acknowledges that he is made by the hands of God (Psalms 119:73; Psalms 139:13-16), just as God’s hands also made the universe (Isaiah 45:12). He thereby acknowledges that he is totally dependent on his Creator (cf. 1 Peter 4:19). God made everything for the purpose of serving Him.

The psalmist’s question is whether the LORD, Who has made and fashioned him, will complete His work on him. “Made” refers to his forming, “fashioned” means put in the place where he is now. He then looks to the future and asks for understanding to meet God’s purpose with his life.

He has learned the lesson: He accepts the trouble and affliction from the hand of the LORD knowing that He wants to use it to form him. The suffering is like plowing the hard ground to make it ready for the seed of the Word (cf. Isaiah 28:23-29).

He is also dependent on his Creator for understanding God’s commandments, because his mind has been darkened by sin. God can give him this understanding and that is what he asks for. He says to God, as it were: ‘I have come into being through Your work; now will You complete Your work in me. I have now understood that affliction is necessary for this purpose’ (Psalms 119:75; cf. John 15:2b). God’s commandments are the manual for his life, for the completion of God’s work in him.

Not everyone rejoices over the psalmist, but those who fear God do (Psalms 119:74). They see the righteous and are glad because they see in his life that he, like them, has waited for God’s Word and that he, like them, has experienced that that waiting has not been in vain. Such a life is contagious. It makes others glad and gives them courage (cf. Malachi 3:16; Philippians 1:14). We see it in the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:39-45).

The judgments of the LORD are righteous, both for the wicked and for the psalmist (Psalms 119:75). For the wicked, they mean ruin. The psalmist knows that God’s judgments are always righteous, in accordance with His Word and His covenant. At the same time, these judgments are also part of God’s faithfulness, namely, to purify the psalmist and restore Israel. Through the tribulation, God works that the righteous place all hope of salvation in Him and condemn all unfaithfulness in themselves (cf. Romans 8:28).

Those who are afflicted are in need of comfort (Psalms 119:76). Therefore, the psalmist asks God to comfort him through His lovingkindness. The word “comfort” in Hebrew means ‘to sigh deeply of relief’. Experiencing that lovingkindness – that is, the blessing and love of God on the basis of His covenant, which includes salvation – causes the psalmist to be relieved. Thereby he appeals to the word that God has spoken to him, the promise He made to him, His servant. He personally appropriates the covenant, which has become a promise by virtue of the blood of the new covenant.

The psalmist clearly does not yet feel fully recovered from the affliction. This can be seen in his request to the LORD to let His compassion come to him (Psalms 119:77). He needs it. Everyone who is in miserable circumstances needs it. If he receives compassion, he will live, that is revive because he has new strength, because he has new life by virtue of the covenant. This is evident from the fact that the law of the LORD is his delight, his source of joy. For an unbeliever, the law is not a source of joy, because it condemns him.

Then the psalmist asks if the LORD will stretch out His hand against the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:78) and over the God-fearing (Psalms 119:79) and over the psalmist himself (Psalms 119:80). The arrogant have afflicted the righteous with lies (Psalms 119:78; cf. John 15:25). They have been able to do so under the permission of God, Who has His purpose in doing so. It does not mean that the arrogant have listened to God. On the contrary, they do not take God into account at all, but follow their own agenda.

The righteous knows this and therefore asks God that He will make them ashamed. He can ask that question because he meditates on God’s precepts. As a result, he knows how God thinks about these oppressors. The arrogant with their big, lying mouths will be judged by God. As a result, the righteous also knows how to respond to these oppressors with their lies (1 Peter 2:23). Their enmity cannot keep him from persevering in his trust in the LORD.

The psalmist needs fellowship with those who fear God and know His testimonies (Psalms 119:79). He feels alone and now asks the LORD if those who fear Him will turn back to him. He wants to share with them his experiences. This is a remarkable desire of believers in all ages. Those who know God’s testimonies want to share them with those who also know them. We may take an example from the psalmist and pray that God will allow us to meet such people.

In the New Testament we learn that the love between the Father and the Son is also in us. Love cannot be practiced by anyone alone. A believer always needs fellowship with other believers. The love of God is only perfected in us when we as believers love one another (1 John 4:12).

The psalmist prays that the LORD will let his heart be blameless in God’s statutes (Psalms 119:80), for he is surrounded by arrogant, hostile liars. He recognizes the deceitfulness of his heart and knows that only the LORD knows it (Jeremiah 17:9-10; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139:1b; 23).

A blameless heart – literally, a complete heart, that is, undivided – is essential in dealing with God. God looks for truth in the innermost being. If that is present, the believer will not be ashamed because he does not give sin a chance to enter his life. Then he will not be shamed in this life nor later, before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Proverbs 7:19

/yodh/ Made by God’s Hands

The tenth letter, yodh, with the numerical value ten, originally had the shape of a hand. The name of the letter is related to jad, the Hebrew word for hand. We know this word in the (Yiddish) Dutch verb ‘jatten’ which means ‘to steal – by hand’. The word jad also stands for the (pointer) stick used to read a Hebrew scroll. The letter yodh has to do with: work, power (right hand), responsibility (the number ten: ten commandments, ten fingers, ten wise and foolish virgins and so on).

The letter yodh is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. About it the Lord Jesus says: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [Literally one iota (Hebrew: yodh) or one projection of a letter (serif)] shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The iota is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew yodh.

The righteous acknowledges that he is made by the hands of God (Psalms 119:73; Psalms 139:13-16), just as God’s hands also made the universe (Isaiah 45:12). He thereby acknowledges that he is totally dependent on his Creator (cf. 1 Peter 4:19). God made everything for the purpose of serving Him.

The psalmist’s question is whether the LORD, Who has made and fashioned him, will complete His work on him. “Made” refers to his forming, “fashioned” means put in the place where he is now. He then looks to the future and asks for understanding to meet God’s purpose with his life.

He has learned the lesson: He accepts the trouble and affliction from the hand of the LORD knowing that He wants to use it to form him. The suffering is like plowing the hard ground to make it ready for the seed of the Word (cf. Isaiah 28:23-29).

He is also dependent on his Creator for understanding God’s commandments, because his mind has been darkened by sin. God can give him this understanding and that is what he asks for. He says to God, as it were: ‘I have come into being through Your work; now will You complete Your work in me. I have now understood that affliction is necessary for this purpose’ (Psalms 119:75; cf. John 15:2b). God’s commandments are the manual for his life, for the completion of God’s work in him.

Not everyone rejoices over the psalmist, but those who fear God do (Psalms 119:74). They see the righteous and are glad because they see in his life that he, like them, has waited for God’s Word and that he, like them, has experienced that that waiting has not been in vain. Such a life is contagious. It makes others glad and gives them courage (cf. Malachi 3:16; Philippians 1:14). We see it in the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:39-45).

The judgments of the LORD are righteous, both for the wicked and for the psalmist (Psalms 119:75). For the wicked, they mean ruin. The psalmist knows that God’s judgments are always righteous, in accordance with His Word and His covenant. At the same time, these judgments are also part of God’s faithfulness, namely, to purify the psalmist and restore Israel. Through the tribulation, God works that the righteous place all hope of salvation in Him and condemn all unfaithfulness in themselves (cf. Romans 8:28).

Those who are afflicted are in need of comfort (Psalms 119:76). Therefore, the psalmist asks God to comfort him through His lovingkindness. The word “comfort” in Hebrew means ‘to sigh deeply of relief’. Experiencing that lovingkindness – that is, the blessing and love of God on the basis of His covenant, which includes salvation – causes the psalmist to be relieved. Thereby he appeals to the word that God has spoken to him, the promise He made to him, His servant. He personally appropriates the covenant, which has become a promise by virtue of the blood of the new covenant.

The psalmist clearly does not yet feel fully recovered from the affliction. This can be seen in his request to the LORD to let His compassion come to him (Psalms 119:77). He needs it. Everyone who is in miserable circumstances needs it. If he receives compassion, he will live, that is revive because he has new strength, because he has new life by virtue of the covenant. This is evident from the fact that the law of the LORD is his delight, his source of joy. For an unbeliever, the law is not a source of joy, because it condemns him.

Then the psalmist asks if the LORD will stretch out His hand against the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:78) and over the God-fearing (Psalms 119:79) and over the psalmist himself (Psalms 119:80). The arrogant have afflicted the righteous with lies (Psalms 119:78; cf. John 15:25). They have been able to do so under the permission of God, Who has His purpose in doing so. It does not mean that the arrogant have listened to God. On the contrary, they do not take God into account at all, but follow their own agenda.

The righteous knows this and therefore asks God that He will make them ashamed. He can ask that question because he meditates on God’s precepts. As a result, he knows how God thinks about these oppressors. The arrogant with their big, lying mouths will be judged by God. As a result, the righteous also knows how to respond to these oppressors with their lies (1 Peter 2:23). Their enmity cannot keep him from persevering in his trust in the LORD.

The psalmist needs fellowship with those who fear God and know His testimonies (Psalms 119:79). He feels alone and now asks the LORD if those who fear Him will turn back to him. He wants to share with them his experiences. This is a remarkable desire of believers in all ages. Those who know God’s testimonies want to share them with those who also know them. We may take an example from the psalmist and pray that God will allow us to meet such people.

In the New Testament we learn that the love between the Father and the Son is also in us. Love cannot be practiced by anyone alone. A believer always needs fellowship with other believers. The love of God is only perfected in us when we as believers love one another (1 John 4:12).

The psalmist prays that the LORD will let his heart be blameless in God’s statutes (Psalms 119:80), for he is surrounded by arrogant, hostile liars. He recognizes the deceitfulness of his heart and knows that only the LORD knows it (Jeremiah 17:9-10; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139:1b; 23).

A blameless heart – literally, a complete heart, that is, undivided – is essential in dealing with God. God looks for truth in the innermost being. If that is present, the believer will not be ashamed because he does not give sin a chance to enter his life. Then he will not be shamed in this life nor later, before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Proverbs 7:20

/yodh/ Made by God’s Hands

The tenth letter, yodh, with the numerical value ten, originally had the shape of a hand. The name of the letter is related to jad, the Hebrew word for hand. We know this word in the (Yiddish) Dutch verb ‘jatten’ which means ‘to steal – by hand’. The word jad also stands for the (pointer) stick used to read a Hebrew scroll. The letter yodh has to do with: work, power (right hand), responsibility (the number ten: ten commandments, ten fingers, ten wise and foolish virgins and so on).

The letter yodh is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. About it the Lord Jesus says: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [Literally one iota (Hebrew: yodh) or one projection of a letter (serif)] shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The iota is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew yodh.

The righteous acknowledges that he is made by the hands of God (Psalms 119:73; Psalms 139:13-16), just as God’s hands also made the universe (Isaiah 45:12). He thereby acknowledges that he is totally dependent on his Creator (cf. 1 Peter 4:19). God made everything for the purpose of serving Him.

The psalmist’s question is whether the LORD, Who has made and fashioned him, will complete His work on him. “Made” refers to his forming, “fashioned” means put in the place where he is now. He then looks to the future and asks for understanding to meet God’s purpose with his life.

He has learned the lesson: He accepts the trouble and affliction from the hand of the LORD knowing that He wants to use it to form him. The suffering is like plowing the hard ground to make it ready for the seed of the Word (cf. Isaiah 28:23-29).

He is also dependent on his Creator for understanding God’s commandments, because his mind has been darkened by sin. God can give him this understanding and that is what he asks for. He says to God, as it were: ‘I have come into being through Your work; now will You complete Your work in me. I have now understood that affliction is necessary for this purpose’ (Psalms 119:75; cf. John 15:2b). God’s commandments are the manual for his life, for the completion of God’s work in him.

Not everyone rejoices over the psalmist, but those who fear God do (Psalms 119:74). They see the righteous and are glad because they see in his life that he, like them, has waited for God’s Word and that he, like them, has experienced that that waiting has not been in vain. Such a life is contagious. It makes others glad and gives them courage (cf. Malachi 3:16; Philippians 1:14). We see it in the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:39-45).

The judgments of the LORD are righteous, both for the wicked and for the psalmist (Psalms 119:75). For the wicked, they mean ruin. The psalmist knows that God’s judgments are always righteous, in accordance with His Word and His covenant. At the same time, these judgments are also part of God’s faithfulness, namely, to purify the psalmist and restore Israel. Through the tribulation, God works that the righteous place all hope of salvation in Him and condemn all unfaithfulness in themselves (cf. Romans 8:28).

Those who are afflicted are in need of comfort (Psalms 119:76). Therefore, the psalmist asks God to comfort him through His lovingkindness. The word “comfort” in Hebrew means ‘to sigh deeply of relief’. Experiencing that lovingkindness – that is, the blessing and love of God on the basis of His covenant, which includes salvation – causes the psalmist to be relieved. Thereby he appeals to the word that God has spoken to him, the promise He made to him, His servant. He personally appropriates the covenant, which has become a promise by virtue of the blood of the new covenant.

The psalmist clearly does not yet feel fully recovered from the affliction. This can be seen in his request to the LORD to let His compassion come to him (Psalms 119:77). He needs it. Everyone who is in miserable circumstances needs it. If he receives compassion, he will live, that is revive because he has new strength, because he has new life by virtue of the covenant. This is evident from the fact that the law of the LORD is his delight, his source of joy. For an unbeliever, the law is not a source of joy, because it condemns him.

Then the psalmist asks if the LORD will stretch out His hand against the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:78) and over the God-fearing (Psalms 119:79) and over the psalmist himself (Psalms 119:80). The arrogant have afflicted the righteous with lies (Psalms 119:78; cf. John 15:25). They have been able to do so under the permission of God, Who has His purpose in doing so. It does not mean that the arrogant have listened to God. On the contrary, they do not take God into account at all, but follow their own agenda.

The righteous knows this and therefore asks God that He will make them ashamed. He can ask that question because he meditates on God’s precepts. As a result, he knows how God thinks about these oppressors. The arrogant with their big, lying mouths will be judged by God. As a result, the righteous also knows how to respond to these oppressors with their lies (1 Peter 2:23). Their enmity cannot keep him from persevering in his trust in the LORD.

The psalmist needs fellowship with those who fear God and know His testimonies (Psalms 119:79). He feels alone and now asks the LORD if those who fear Him will turn back to him. He wants to share with them his experiences. This is a remarkable desire of believers in all ages. Those who know God’s testimonies want to share them with those who also know them. We may take an example from the psalmist and pray that God will allow us to meet such people.

In the New Testament we learn that the love between the Father and the Son is also in us. Love cannot be practiced by anyone alone. A believer always needs fellowship with other believers. The love of God is only perfected in us when we as believers love one another (1 John 4:12).

The psalmist prays that the LORD will let his heart be blameless in God’s statutes (Psalms 119:80), for he is surrounded by arrogant, hostile liars. He recognizes the deceitfulness of his heart and knows that only the LORD knows it (Jeremiah 17:9-10; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139:1b; 23).

A blameless heart – literally, a complete heart, that is, undivided – is essential in dealing with God. God looks for truth in the innermost being. If that is present, the believer will not be ashamed because he does not give sin a chance to enter his life. Then he will not be shamed in this life nor later, before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Proverbs 7:21

/yodh/ Made by God’s Hands

The tenth letter, yodh, with the numerical value ten, originally had the shape of a hand. The name of the letter is related to jad, the Hebrew word for hand. We know this word in the (Yiddish) Dutch verb ‘jatten’ which means ‘to steal – by hand’. The word jad also stands for the (pointer) stick used to read a Hebrew scroll. The letter yodh has to do with: work, power (right hand), responsibility (the number ten: ten commandments, ten fingers, ten wise and foolish virgins and so on).

The letter yodh is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. About it the Lord Jesus says: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [Literally one iota (Hebrew: yodh) or one projection of a letter (serif)] shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The iota is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew yodh.

The righteous acknowledges that he is made by the hands of God (Psalms 119:73; Psalms 139:13-16), just as God’s hands also made the universe (Isaiah 45:12). He thereby acknowledges that he is totally dependent on his Creator (cf. 1 Peter 4:19). God made everything for the purpose of serving Him.

The psalmist’s question is whether the LORD, Who has made and fashioned him, will complete His work on him. “Made” refers to his forming, “fashioned” means put in the place where he is now. He then looks to the future and asks for understanding to meet God’s purpose with his life.

He has learned the lesson: He accepts the trouble and affliction from the hand of the LORD knowing that He wants to use it to form him. The suffering is like plowing the hard ground to make it ready for the seed of the Word (cf. Isaiah 28:23-29).

He is also dependent on his Creator for understanding God’s commandments, because his mind has been darkened by sin. God can give him this understanding and that is what he asks for. He says to God, as it were: ‘I have come into being through Your work; now will You complete Your work in me. I have now understood that affliction is necessary for this purpose’ (Psalms 119:75; cf. John 15:2b). God’s commandments are the manual for his life, for the completion of God’s work in him.

Not everyone rejoices over the psalmist, but those who fear God do (Psalms 119:74). They see the righteous and are glad because they see in his life that he, like them, has waited for God’s Word and that he, like them, has experienced that that waiting has not been in vain. Such a life is contagious. It makes others glad and gives them courage (cf. Malachi 3:16; Philippians 1:14). We see it in the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:39-45).

The judgments of the LORD are righteous, both for the wicked and for the psalmist (Psalms 119:75). For the wicked, they mean ruin. The psalmist knows that God’s judgments are always righteous, in accordance with His Word and His covenant. At the same time, these judgments are also part of God’s faithfulness, namely, to purify the psalmist and restore Israel. Through the tribulation, God works that the righteous place all hope of salvation in Him and condemn all unfaithfulness in themselves (cf. Romans 8:28).

Those who are afflicted are in need of comfort (Psalms 119:76). Therefore, the psalmist asks God to comfort him through His lovingkindness. The word “comfort” in Hebrew means ‘to sigh deeply of relief’. Experiencing that lovingkindness – that is, the blessing and love of God on the basis of His covenant, which includes salvation – causes the psalmist to be relieved. Thereby he appeals to the word that God has spoken to him, the promise He made to him, His servant. He personally appropriates the covenant, which has become a promise by virtue of the blood of the new covenant.

The psalmist clearly does not yet feel fully recovered from the affliction. This can be seen in his request to the LORD to let His compassion come to him (Psalms 119:77). He needs it. Everyone who is in miserable circumstances needs it. If he receives compassion, he will live, that is revive because he has new strength, because he has new life by virtue of the covenant. This is evident from the fact that the law of the LORD is his delight, his source of joy. For an unbeliever, the law is not a source of joy, because it condemns him.

Then the psalmist asks if the LORD will stretch out His hand against the arrogant wicked (Psalms 119:78) and over the God-fearing (Psalms 119:79) and over the psalmist himself (Psalms 119:80). The arrogant have afflicted the righteous with lies (Psalms 119:78; cf. John 15:25). They have been able to do so under the permission of God, Who has His purpose in doing so. It does not mean that the arrogant have listened to God. On the contrary, they do not take God into account at all, but follow their own agenda.

The righteous knows this and therefore asks God that He will make them ashamed. He can ask that question because he meditates on God’s precepts. As a result, he knows how God thinks about these oppressors. The arrogant with their big, lying mouths will be judged by God. As a result, the righteous also knows how to respond to these oppressors with their lies (1 Peter 2:23). Their enmity cannot keep him from persevering in his trust in the LORD.

The psalmist needs fellowship with those who fear God and know His testimonies (Psalms 119:79). He feels alone and now asks the LORD if those who fear Him will turn back to him. He wants to share with them his experiences. This is a remarkable desire of believers in all ages. Those who know God’s testimonies want to share them with those who also know them. We may take an example from the psalmist and pray that God will allow us to meet such people.

In the New Testament we learn that the love between the Father and the Son is also in us. Love cannot be practiced by anyone alone. A believer always needs fellowship with other believers. The love of God is only perfected in us when we as believers love one another (1 John 4:12).

The psalmist prays that the LORD will let his heart be blameless in God’s statutes (Psalms 119:80), for he is surrounded by arrogant, hostile liars. He recognizes the deceitfulness of his heart and knows that only the LORD knows it (Jeremiah 17:9-10; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139:1b; 23).

A blameless heart – literally, a complete heart, that is, undivided – is essential in dealing with God. God looks for truth in the innermost being. If that is present, the believer will not be ashamed because he does not give sin a chance to enter his life. Then he will not be shamed in this life nor later, before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Proverbs 7:22

/kaph/ Covered by God’s Hand

The eleventh letter, kaph, depicts a covering. The meaning of the letter’s name is ‘an opened hand(palm)’, a hand in connection with action, for instance, laying on of hands, protection. When the LORD says to Moses “and cover you with My hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:21-22), that is His ‘opened hand’.

The first time we find the word kaph in the Bible, defines the meaning of the word: “Stretch out your hand [jad] and grasp [it] [that is the serpent] by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand [kaph]” (Exodus 4:4). The danger of the serpent was averted by the opened hand covering the danger.

The kaph stanza shows us the psalmist in sorrow and affliction. He is in distress and in great danger. In accordance with the covenant and promise of the LORD, he seeks refuge behind the protective hand of the LORD. There he is safe, as Moses was in the cleft of the rock, and as Zion is with the LORD: “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms [of My hands]; your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:16). The whole stanza speaks of the danger that surrounds the psalmist and how he deals with it.

The righteous looks forward with intense longing to the salvation of the LORD, to His rescue from distress and that he may be led into peace (Psalms 119:81). He languishes for it so intensely that his soul – that is, his person, soul and body – has succumbed to it.

But he has waited for what the LORD has said. He held on to that and it held on to him. He has not sought his salvation, his rescue, from himself or from anyone else. The psalmist is in danger of succumbing to the distress, prophetic the persecution under the antichrist. He deeply longs for deliverance from this danger. In danger, he clings to His Word in confidence of God’s promise (cf. Philippians 4:6-7).

His soul has succumbed, yes, especially his eyes have failed, because of the longing for the promises of the LORD (Psalms 119:82). He has asked Him: “When will You comfort me?” He needs comfort, that is what he longs for. The God-fearing has no doubt that the LORD will comfort him. He also desires to know when He will do it. By doing so, he indicates that he desires the fulfillment to take place as soon as possible.

He is completely at the end of his strength, he is exhausted (Psalms 119:83). He compares himself to a wineskin hanging in the smoke. The smoke takes away the flexibility of the wineskin and turns it black. It symbolizes prolonged oppression that scorches and suffocates, preventing him from breathing. It can be compared to the patience that disappears when a child just keeps whining. Thus we see with Samson: “It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death” [that is because of Delilah’s nagging] (Judges 16:16; cf. Luke 18:4-5)

The word “comfort” in the previous verse, in Hebrew has the meaning of breathing deeply, in this case of relief because redemption has come. The cause of his great distress is that he feeds on the statutes of the LORD. Those statutes he has not forgotten. That is why he is persecuted by the wicked.

How long will he be able to live on, whereby he counts in days (Psalms 119:84)? When it comes to the suffering of the believing remnant the Bible usually speaks in days (Matthew 24:22). When it comes to the domination of the enemy the Bible usually counts in times or years, for example, a time, which is one year, times, which is two years, and half a time, which is half a year, together three and a half years.

Life is short, but the days can be long for one who is oppressed when he is pursued from day to day by persecutors (cf. Revelation 11:7; Revelation 13:7). He again calls himself “Your servant”, indicating that he is in need because of serving the LORD. He asks Him when He will bring judgment on his persecutors so that he will be delivered from the threat of death. He does not take the law into his own hands, but leaves the vengeance to God (cf. Romans 12:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:6; Revelation 6:10; Psalms 94:1-2).

He knows that his persecutors, whom he calls “arrogant”, “have dug pits” to catch him in them and then kill him (Psalms 119:85). The imagery makes it clear that the psalmist feels like a prey animal amidst of hunters who are trying to capture this animal through traps. They have made several traps, that much they are out for his death. Traps are an unrecognized danger. If you recognize the danger, you are vigilant, but if you do not recognize the danger, it is extra dangerous.

They dug pits, even though God has forbidden it. Nowhere is there an explicit commandment ‘you shall not dig pits’, but it does say that a person should love his neighbor as himself. Digging pits to catch someone in them and then kill them is clearly against that. But these people have no ears for God’s teaching through the law.

The persecuted faithful confesses that all the commandments of the LORD, that is, without even one exception, are trustworthy (Psalms 119:86). His enemies assail him with lies and slander, traps, which almost destroy him. He calls on the LORD’s help to deliver him. Through the covenant faithfulness of the LORD, he is brought to safety by the protective, opened hand, kaph, of the LORD. The Lord Jesus was persecuted with falsehood because He testified to the trustworthiness of God’s commandments. This will be experienced by every believer who testifies to that.

The persecution is fierce. It goes to the edge of a ravine (Psalms 119:87). Almost the persecutors have destroyed the righteous on earth. If the days of persecution (Psalms 119:84) were not shortened – to 1,260 days – all the remnant would have been killed (Matthew 24:22; cf. Luke 18:8).

However, this threat of death did not cause them to forsake the LORD’s precepts. They stuck to it, which means they stuck to life. They held fast to the covenant and remained alive in accordance with it.

The persecuted remnant asks God to revive them, appealing to God’s lovingkindness (Psalms 119:88). If God does, they will heed the testimony of God’s mouth. The remnant sees their life in connection with life on earth. It may be that God hears their prayer and He allows them to live on earth.

Even if they are killed, their prayer will be answered. For they will be made alive in the resurrection. Then they will perfectly keep the testimony of God’s mouth, for it will be written in their hearts. Thus, to put it in a New Testament way, they are more than victors through Him Who loved them (Romans 8:37).

Proverbs 7:23

/kaph/ Covered by God’s Hand

The eleventh letter, kaph, depicts a covering. The meaning of the letter’s name is ‘an opened hand(palm)’, a hand in connection with action, for instance, laying on of hands, protection. When the LORD says to Moses “and cover you with My hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:21-22), that is His ‘opened hand’.

The first time we find the word kaph in the Bible, defines the meaning of the word: “Stretch out your hand [jad] and grasp [it] [that is the serpent] by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand [kaph]” (Exodus 4:4). The danger of the serpent was averted by the opened hand covering the danger.

The kaph stanza shows us the psalmist in sorrow and affliction. He is in distress and in great danger. In accordance with the covenant and promise of the LORD, he seeks refuge behind the protective hand of the LORD. There he is safe, as Moses was in the cleft of the rock, and as Zion is with the LORD: “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms [of My hands]; your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:16). The whole stanza speaks of the danger that surrounds the psalmist and how he deals with it.

The righteous looks forward with intense longing to the salvation of the LORD, to His rescue from distress and that he may be led into peace (Psalms 119:81). He languishes for it so intensely that his soul – that is, his person, soul and body – has succumbed to it.

But he has waited for what the LORD has said. He held on to that and it held on to him. He has not sought his salvation, his rescue, from himself or from anyone else. The psalmist is in danger of succumbing to the distress, prophetic the persecution under the antichrist. He deeply longs for deliverance from this danger. In danger, he clings to His Word in confidence of God’s promise (cf. Philippians 4:6-7).

His soul has succumbed, yes, especially his eyes have failed, because of the longing for the promises of the LORD (Psalms 119:82). He has asked Him: “When will You comfort me?” He needs comfort, that is what he longs for. The God-fearing has no doubt that the LORD will comfort him. He also desires to know when He will do it. By doing so, he indicates that he desires the fulfillment to take place as soon as possible.

He is completely at the end of his strength, he is exhausted (Psalms 119:83). He compares himself to a wineskin hanging in the smoke. The smoke takes away the flexibility of the wineskin and turns it black. It symbolizes prolonged oppression that scorches and suffocates, preventing him from breathing. It can be compared to the patience that disappears when a child just keeps whining. Thus we see with Samson: “It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death” [that is because of Delilah’s nagging] (Judges 16:16; cf. Luke 18:4-5)

The word “comfort” in the previous verse, in Hebrew has the meaning of breathing deeply, in this case of relief because redemption has come. The cause of his great distress is that he feeds on the statutes of the LORD. Those statutes he has not forgotten. That is why he is persecuted by the wicked.

How long will he be able to live on, whereby he counts in days (Psalms 119:84)? When it comes to the suffering of the believing remnant the Bible usually speaks in days (Matthew 24:22). When it comes to the domination of the enemy the Bible usually counts in times or years, for example, a time, which is one year, times, which is two years, and half a time, which is half a year, together three and a half years.

Life is short, but the days can be long for one who is oppressed when he is pursued from day to day by persecutors (cf. Revelation 11:7; Revelation 13:7). He again calls himself “Your servant”, indicating that he is in need because of serving the LORD. He asks Him when He will bring judgment on his persecutors so that he will be delivered from the threat of death. He does not take the law into his own hands, but leaves the vengeance to God (cf. Romans 12:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:6; Revelation 6:10; Psalms 94:1-2).

He knows that his persecutors, whom he calls “arrogant”, “have dug pits” to catch him in them and then kill him (Psalms 119:85). The imagery makes it clear that the psalmist feels like a prey animal amidst of hunters who are trying to capture this animal through traps. They have made several traps, that much they are out for his death. Traps are an unrecognized danger. If you recognize the danger, you are vigilant, but if you do not recognize the danger, it is extra dangerous.

They dug pits, even though God has forbidden it. Nowhere is there an explicit commandment ‘you shall not dig pits’, but it does say that a person should love his neighbor as himself. Digging pits to catch someone in them and then kill them is clearly against that. But these people have no ears for God’s teaching through the law.

The persecuted faithful confesses that all the commandments of the LORD, that is, without even one exception, are trustworthy (Psalms 119:86). His enemies assail him with lies and slander, traps, which almost destroy him. He calls on the LORD’s help to deliver him. Through the covenant faithfulness of the LORD, he is brought to safety by the protective, opened hand, kaph, of the LORD. The Lord Jesus was persecuted with falsehood because He testified to the trustworthiness of God’s commandments. This will be experienced by every believer who testifies to that.

The persecution is fierce. It goes to the edge of a ravine (Psalms 119:87). Almost the persecutors have destroyed the righteous on earth. If the days of persecution (Psalms 119:84) were not shortened – to 1,260 days – all the remnant would have been killed (Matthew 24:22; cf. Luke 18:8).

However, this threat of death did not cause them to forsake the LORD’s precepts. They stuck to it, which means they stuck to life. They held fast to the covenant and remained alive in accordance with it.

The persecuted remnant asks God to revive them, appealing to God’s lovingkindness (Psalms 119:88). If God does, they will heed the testimony of God’s mouth. The remnant sees their life in connection with life on earth. It may be that God hears their prayer and He allows them to live on earth.

Even if they are killed, their prayer will be answered. For they will be made alive in the resurrection. Then they will perfectly keep the testimony of God’s mouth, for it will be written in their hearts. Thus, to put it in a New Testament way, they are more than victors through Him Who loved them (Romans 8:37).

Proverbs 7:24

/kaph/ Covered by God’s Hand

The eleventh letter, kaph, depicts a covering. The meaning of the letter’s name is ‘an opened hand(palm)’, a hand in connection with action, for instance, laying on of hands, protection. When the LORD says to Moses “and cover you with My hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:21-22), that is His ‘opened hand’.

The first time we find the word kaph in the Bible, defines the meaning of the word: “Stretch out your hand [jad] and grasp [it] [that is the serpent] by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand [kaph]” (Exodus 4:4). The danger of the serpent was averted by the opened hand covering the danger.

The kaph stanza shows us the psalmist in sorrow and affliction. He is in distress and in great danger. In accordance with the covenant and promise of the LORD, he seeks refuge behind the protective hand of the LORD. There he is safe, as Moses was in the cleft of the rock, and as Zion is with the LORD: “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms [of My hands]; your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:16). The whole stanza speaks of the danger that surrounds the psalmist and how he deals with it.

The righteous looks forward with intense longing to the salvation of the LORD, to His rescue from distress and that he may be led into peace (Psalms 119:81). He languishes for it so intensely that his soul – that is, his person, soul and body – has succumbed to it.

But he has waited for what the LORD has said. He held on to that and it held on to him. He has not sought his salvation, his rescue, from himself or from anyone else. The psalmist is in danger of succumbing to the distress, prophetic the persecution under the antichrist. He deeply longs for deliverance from this danger. In danger, he clings to His Word in confidence of God’s promise (cf. Philippians 4:6-7).

His soul has succumbed, yes, especially his eyes have failed, because of the longing for the promises of the LORD (Psalms 119:82). He has asked Him: “When will You comfort me?” He needs comfort, that is what he longs for. The God-fearing has no doubt that the LORD will comfort him. He also desires to know when He will do it. By doing so, he indicates that he desires the fulfillment to take place as soon as possible.

He is completely at the end of his strength, he is exhausted (Psalms 119:83). He compares himself to a wineskin hanging in the smoke. The smoke takes away the flexibility of the wineskin and turns it black. It symbolizes prolonged oppression that scorches and suffocates, preventing him from breathing. It can be compared to the patience that disappears when a child just keeps whining. Thus we see with Samson: “It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death” [that is because of Delilah’s nagging] (Judges 16:16; cf. Luke 18:4-5)

The word “comfort” in the previous verse, in Hebrew has the meaning of breathing deeply, in this case of relief because redemption has come. The cause of his great distress is that he feeds on the statutes of the LORD. Those statutes he has not forgotten. That is why he is persecuted by the wicked.

How long will he be able to live on, whereby he counts in days (Psalms 119:84)? When it comes to the suffering of the believing remnant the Bible usually speaks in days (Matthew 24:22). When it comes to the domination of the enemy the Bible usually counts in times or years, for example, a time, which is one year, times, which is two years, and half a time, which is half a year, together three and a half years.

Life is short, but the days can be long for one who is oppressed when he is pursued from day to day by persecutors (cf. Revelation 11:7; Revelation 13:7). He again calls himself “Your servant”, indicating that he is in need because of serving the LORD. He asks Him when He will bring judgment on his persecutors so that he will be delivered from the threat of death. He does not take the law into his own hands, but leaves the vengeance to God (cf. Romans 12:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:6; Revelation 6:10; Psalms 94:1-2).

He knows that his persecutors, whom he calls “arrogant”, “have dug pits” to catch him in them and then kill him (Psalms 119:85). The imagery makes it clear that the psalmist feels like a prey animal amidst of hunters who are trying to capture this animal through traps. They have made several traps, that much they are out for his death. Traps are an unrecognized danger. If you recognize the danger, you are vigilant, but if you do not recognize the danger, it is extra dangerous.

They dug pits, even though God has forbidden it. Nowhere is there an explicit commandment ‘you shall not dig pits’, but it does say that a person should love his neighbor as himself. Digging pits to catch someone in them and then kill them is clearly against that. But these people have no ears for God’s teaching through the law.

The persecuted faithful confesses that all the commandments of the LORD, that is, without even one exception, are trustworthy (Psalms 119:86). His enemies assail him with lies and slander, traps, which almost destroy him. He calls on the LORD’s help to deliver him. Through the covenant faithfulness of the LORD, he is brought to safety by the protective, opened hand, kaph, of the LORD. The Lord Jesus was persecuted with falsehood because He testified to the trustworthiness of God’s commandments. This will be experienced by every believer who testifies to that.

The persecution is fierce. It goes to the edge of a ravine (Psalms 119:87). Almost the persecutors have destroyed the righteous on earth. If the days of persecution (Psalms 119:84) were not shortened – to 1,260 days – all the remnant would have been killed (Matthew 24:22; cf. Luke 18:8).

However, this threat of death did not cause them to forsake the LORD’s precepts. They stuck to it, which means they stuck to life. They held fast to the covenant and remained alive in accordance with it.

The persecuted remnant asks God to revive them, appealing to God’s lovingkindness (Psalms 119:88). If God does, they will heed the testimony of God’s mouth. The remnant sees their life in connection with life on earth. It may be that God hears their prayer and He allows them to live on earth.

Even if they are killed, their prayer will be answered. For they will be made alive in the resurrection. Then they will perfectly keep the testimony of God’s mouth, for it will be written in their hearts. Thus, to put it in a New Testament way, they are more than victors through Him Who loved them (Romans 8:37).

Proverbs 7:25

/kaph/ Covered by God’s Hand

The eleventh letter, kaph, depicts a covering. The meaning of the letter’s name is ‘an opened hand(palm)’, a hand in connection with action, for instance, laying on of hands, protection. When the LORD says to Moses “and cover you with My hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:21-22), that is His ‘opened hand’.

The first time we find the word kaph in the Bible, defines the meaning of the word: “Stretch out your hand [jad] and grasp [it] [that is the serpent] by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand [kaph]” (Exodus 4:4). The danger of the serpent was averted by the opened hand covering the danger.

The kaph stanza shows us the psalmist in sorrow and affliction. He is in distress and in great danger. In accordance with the covenant and promise of the LORD, he seeks refuge behind the protective hand of the LORD. There he is safe, as Moses was in the cleft of the rock, and as Zion is with the LORD: “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms [of My hands]; your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:16). The whole stanza speaks of the danger that surrounds the psalmist and how he deals with it.

The righteous looks forward with intense longing to the salvation of the LORD, to His rescue from distress and that he may be led into peace (Psalms 119:81). He languishes for it so intensely that his soul – that is, his person, soul and body – has succumbed to it.

But he has waited for what the LORD has said. He held on to that and it held on to him. He has not sought his salvation, his rescue, from himself or from anyone else. The psalmist is in danger of succumbing to the distress, prophetic the persecution under the antichrist. He deeply longs for deliverance from this danger. In danger, he clings to His Word in confidence of God’s promise (cf. Philippians 4:6-7).

His soul has succumbed, yes, especially his eyes have failed, because of the longing for the promises of the LORD (Psalms 119:82). He has asked Him: “When will You comfort me?” He needs comfort, that is what he longs for. The God-fearing has no doubt that the LORD will comfort him. He also desires to know when He will do it. By doing so, he indicates that he desires the fulfillment to take place as soon as possible.

He is completely at the end of his strength, he is exhausted (Psalms 119:83). He compares himself to a wineskin hanging in the smoke. The smoke takes away the flexibility of the wineskin and turns it black. It symbolizes prolonged oppression that scorches and suffocates, preventing him from breathing. It can be compared to the patience that disappears when a child just keeps whining. Thus we see with Samson: “It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death” [that is because of Delilah’s nagging] (Judges 16:16; cf. Luke 18:4-5)

The word “comfort” in the previous verse, in Hebrew has the meaning of breathing deeply, in this case of relief because redemption has come. The cause of his great distress is that he feeds on the statutes of the LORD. Those statutes he has not forgotten. That is why he is persecuted by the wicked.

How long will he be able to live on, whereby he counts in days (Psalms 119:84)? When it comes to the suffering of the believing remnant the Bible usually speaks in days (Matthew 24:22). When it comes to the domination of the enemy the Bible usually counts in times or years, for example, a time, which is one year, times, which is two years, and half a time, which is half a year, together three and a half years.

Life is short, but the days can be long for one who is oppressed when he is pursued from day to day by persecutors (cf. Revelation 11:7; Revelation 13:7). He again calls himself “Your servant”, indicating that he is in need because of serving the LORD. He asks Him when He will bring judgment on his persecutors so that he will be delivered from the threat of death. He does not take the law into his own hands, but leaves the vengeance to God (cf. Romans 12:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:6; Revelation 6:10; Psalms 94:1-2).

He knows that his persecutors, whom he calls “arrogant”, “have dug pits” to catch him in them and then kill him (Psalms 119:85). The imagery makes it clear that the psalmist feels like a prey animal amidst of hunters who are trying to capture this animal through traps. They have made several traps, that much they are out for his death. Traps are an unrecognized danger. If you recognize the danger, you are vigilant, but if you do not recognize the danger, it is extra dangerous.

They dug pits, even though God has forbidden it. Nowhere is there an explicit commandment ‘you shall not dig pits’, but it does say that a person should love his neighbor as himself. Digging pits to catch someone in them and then kill them is clearly against that. But these people have no ears for God’s teaching through the law.

The persecuted faithful confesses that all the commandments of the LORD, that is, without even one exception, are trustworthy (Psalms 119:86). His enemies assail him with lies and slander, traps, which almost destroy him. He calls on the LORD’s help to deliver him. Through the covenant faithfulness of the LORD, he is brought to safety by the protective, opened hand, kaph, of the LORD. The Lord Jesus was persecuted with falsehood because He testified to the trustworthiness of God’s commandments. This will be experienced by every believer who testifies to that.

The persecution is fierce. It goes to the edge of a ravine (Psalms 119:87). Almost the persecutors have destroyed the righteous on earth. If the days of persecution (Psalms 119:84) were not shortened – to 1,260 days – all the remnant would have been killed (Matthew 24:22; cf. Luke 18:8).

However, this threat of death did not cause them to forsake the LORD’s precepts. They stuck to it, which means they stuck to life. They held fast to the covenant and remained alive in accordance with it.

The persecuted remnant asks God to revive them, appealing to God’s lovingkindness (Psalms 119:88). If God does, they will heed the testimony of God’s mouth. The remnant sees their life in connection with life on earth. It may be that God hears their prayer and He allows them to live on earth.

Even if they are killed, their prayer will be answered. For they will be made alive in the resurrection. Then they will perfectly keep the testimony of God’s mouth, for it will be written in their hearts. Thus, to put it in a New Testament way, they are more than victors through Him Who loved them (Romans 8:37).

Proverbs 7:26

/kaph/ Covered by God’s Hand

The eleventh letter, kaph, depicts a covering. The meaning of the letter’s name is ‘an opened hand(palm)’, a hand in connection with action, for instance, laying on of hands, protection. When the LORD says to Moses “and cover you with My hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:21-22), that is His ‘opened hand’.

The first time we find the word kaph in the Bible, defines the meaning of the word: “Stretch out your hand [jad] and grasp [it] [that is the serpent] by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand [kaph]” (Exodus 4:4). The danger of the serpent was averted by the opened hand covering the danger.

The kaph stanza shows us the psalmist in sorrow and affliction. He is in distress and in great danger. In accordance with the covenant and promise of the LORD, he seeks refuge behind the protective hand of the LORD. There he is safe, as Moses was in the cleft of the rock, and as Zion is with the LORD: “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms [of My hands]; your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:16). The whole stanza speaks of the danger that surrounds the psalmist and how he deals with it.

The righteous looks forward with intense longing to the salvation of the LORD, to His rescue from distress and that he may be led into peace (Psalms 119:81). He languishes for it so intensely that his soul – that is, his person, soul and body – has succumbed to it.

But he has waited for what the LORD has said. He held on to that and it held on to him. He has not sought his salvation, his rescue, from himself or from anyone else. The psalmist is in danger of succumbing to the distress, prophetic the persecution under the antichrist. He deeply longs for deliverance from this danger. In danger, he clings to His Word in confidence of God’s promise (cf. Philippians 4:6-7).

His soul has succumbed, yes, especially his eyes have failed, because of the longing for the promises of the LORD (Psalms 119:82). He has asked Him: “When will You comfort me?” He needs comfort, that is what he longs for. The God-fearing has no doubt that the LORD will comfort him. He also desires to know when He will do it. By doing so, he indicates that he desires the fulfillment to take place as soon as possible.

He is completely at the end of his strength, he is exhausted (Psalms 119:83). He compares himself to a wineskin hanging in the smoke. The smoke takes away the flexibility of the wineskin and turns it black. It symbolizes prolonged oppression that scorches and suffocates, preventing him from breathing. It can be compared to the patience that disappears when a child just keeps whining. Thus we see with Samson: “It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death” [that is because of Delilah’s nagging] (Judges 16:16; cf. Luke 18:4-5)

The word “comfort” in the previous verse, in Hebrew has the meaning of breathing deeply, in this case of relief because redemption has come. The cause of his great distress is that he feeds on the statutes of the LORD. Those statutes he has not forgotten. That is why he is persecuted by the wicked.

How long will he be able to live on, whereby he counts in days (Psalms 119:84)? When it comes to the suffering of the believing remnant the Bible usually speaks in days (Matthew 24:22). When it comes to the domination of the enemy the Bible usually counts in times or years, for example, a time, which is one year, times, which is two years, and half a time, which is half a year, together three and a half years.

Life is short, but the days can be long for one who is oppressed when he is pursued from day to day by persecutors (cf. Revelation 11:7; Revelation 13:7). He again calls himself “Your servant”, indicating that he is in need because of serving the LORD. He asks Him when He will bring judgment on his persecutors so that he will be delivered from the threat of death. He does not take the law into his own hands, but leaves the vengeance to God (cf. Romans 12:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:6; Revelation 6:10; Psalms 94:1-2).

He knows that his persecutors, whom he calls “arrogant”, “have dug pits” to catch him in them and then kill him (Psalms 119:85). The imagery makes it clear that the psalmist feels like a prey animal amidst of hunters who are trying to capture this animal through traps. They have made several traps, that much they are out for his death. Traps are an unrecognized danger. If you recognize the danger, you are vigilant, but if you do not recognize the danger, it is extra dangerous.

They dug pits, even though God has forbidden it. Nowhere is there an explicit commandment ‘you shall not dig pits’, but it does say that a person should love his neighbor as himself. Digging pits to catch someone in them and then kill them is clearly against that. But these people have no ears for God’s teaching through the law.

The persecuted faithful confesses that all the commandments of the LORD, that is, without even one exception, are trustworthy (Psalms 119:86). His enemies assail him with lies and slander, traps, which almost destroy him. He calls on the LORD’s help to deliver him. Through the covenant faithfulness of the LORD, he is brought to safety by the protective, opened hand, kaph, of the LORD. The Lord Jesus was persecuted with falsehood because He testified to the trustworthiness of God’s commandments. This will be experienced by every believer who testifies to that.

The persecution is fierce. It goes to the edge of a ravine (Psalms 119:87). Almost the persecutors have destroyed the righteous on earth. If the days of persecution (Psalms 119:84) were not shortened – to 1,260 days – all the remnant would have been killed (Matthew 24:22; cf. Luke 18:8).

However, this threat of death did not cause them to forsake the LORD’s precepts. They stuck to it, which means they stuck to life. They held fast to the covenant and remained alive in accordance with it.

The persecuted remnant asks God to revive them, appealing to God’s lovingkindness (Psalms 119:88). If God does, they will heed the testimony of God’s mouth. The remnant sees their life in connection with life on earth. It may be that God hears their prayer and He allows them to live on earth.

Even if they are killed, their prayer will be answered. For they will be made alive in the resurrection. Then they will perfectly keep the testimony of God’s mouth, for it will be written in their hearts. Thus, to put it in a New Testament way, they are more than victors through Him Who loved them (Romans 8:37).

Proverbs 7:27

/kaph/ Covered by God’s Hand

The eleventh letter, kaph, depicts a covering. The meaning of the letter’s name is ‘an opened hand(palm)’, a hand in connection with action, for instance, laying on of hands, protection. When the LORD says to Moses “and cover you with My hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:21-22), that is His ‘opened hand’.

The first time we find the word kaph in the Bible, defines the meaning of the word: “Stretch out your hand [jad] and grasp [it] [that is the serpent] by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand [kaph]” (Exodus 4:4). The danger of the serpent was averted by the opened hand covering the danger.

The kaph stanza shows us the psalmist in sorrow and affliction. He is in distress and in great danger. In accordance with the covenant and promise of the LORD, he seeks refuge behind the protective hand of the LORD. There he is safe, as Moses was in the cleft of the rock, and as Zion is with the LORD: “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms [of My hands]; your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:16). The whole stanza speaks of the danger that surrounds the psalmist and how he deals with it.

The righteous looks forward with intense longing to the salvation of the LORD, to His rescue from distress and that he may be led into peace (Psalms 119:81). He languishes for it so intensely that his soul – that is, his person, soul and body – has succumbed to it.

But he has waited for what the LORD has said. He held on to that and it held on to him. He has not sought his salvation, his rescue, from himself or from anyone else. The psalmist is in danger of succumbing to the distress, prophetic the persecution under the antichrist. He deeply longs for deliverance from this danger. In danger, he clings to His Word in confidence of God’s promise (cf. Philippians 4:6-7).

His soul has succumbed, yes, especially his eyes have failed, because of the longing for the promises of the LORD (Psalms 119:82). He has asked Him: “When will You comfort me?” He needs comfort, that is what he longs for. The God-fearing has no doubt that the LORD will comfort him. He also desires to know when He will do it. By doing so, he indicates that he desires the fulfillment to take place as soon as possible.

He is completely at the end of his strength, he is exhausted (Psalms 119:83). He compares himself to a wineskin hanging in the smoke. The smoke takes away the flexibility of the wineskin and turns it black. It symbolizes prolonged oppression that scorches and suffocates, preventing him from breathing. It can be compared to the patience that disappears when a child just keeps whining. Thus we see with Samson: “It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death” [that is because of Delilah’s nagging] (Judges 16:16; cf. Luke 18:4-5)

The word “comfort” in the previous verse, in Hebrew has the meaning of breathing deeply, in this case of relief because redemption has come. The cause of his great distress is that he feeds on the statutes of the LORD. Those statutes he has not forgotten. That is why he is persecuted by the wicked.

How long will he be able to live on, whereby he counts in days (Psalms 119:84)? When it comes to the suffering of the believing remnant the Bible usually speaks in days (Matthew 24:22). When it comes to the domination of the enemy the Bible usually counts in times or years, for example, a time, which is one year, times, which is two years, and half a time, which is half a year, together three and a half years.

Life is short, but the days can be long for one who is oppressed when he is pursued from day to day by persecutors (cf. Revelation 11:7; Revelation 13:7). He again calls himself “Your servant”, indicating that he is in need because of serving the LORD. He asks Him when He will bring judgment on his persecutors so that he will be delivered from the threat of death. He does not take the law into his own hands, but leaves the vengeance to God (cf. Romans 12:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:6; Revelation 6:10; Psalms 94:1-2).

He knows that his persecutors, whom he calls “arrogant”, “have dug pits” to catch him in them and then kill him (Psalms 119:85). The imagery makes it clear that the psalmist feels like a prey animal amidst of hunters who are trying to capture this animal through traps. They have made several traps, that much they are out for his death. Traps are an unrecognized danger. If you recognize the danger, you are vigilant, but if you do not recognize the danger, it is extra dangerous.

They dug pits, even though God has forbidden it. Nowhere is there an explicit commandment ‘you shall not dig pits’, but it does say that a person should love his neighbor as himself. Digging pits to catch someone in them and then kill them is clearly against that. But these people have no ears for God’s teaching through the law.

The persecuted faithful confesses that all the commandments of the LORD, that is, without even one exception, are trustworthy (Psalms 119:86). His enemies assail him with lies and slander, traps, which almost destroy him. He calls on the LORD’s help to deliver him. Through the covenant faithfulness of the LORD, he is brought to safety by the protective, opened hand, kaph, of the LORD. The Lord Jesus was persecuted with falsehood because He testified to the trustworthiness of God’s commandments. This will be experienced by every believer who testifies to that.

The persecution is fierce. It goes to the edge of a ravine (Psalms 119:87). Almost the persecutors have destroyed the righteous on earth. If the days of persecution (Psalms 119:84) were not shortened – to 1,260 days – all the remnant would have been killed (Matthew 24:22; cf. Luke 18:8).

However, this threat of death did not cause them to forsake the LORD’s precepts. They stuck to it, which means they stuck to life. They held fast to the covenant and remained alive in accordance with it.

The persecuted remnant asks God to revive them, appealing to God’s lovingkindness (Psalms 119:88). If God does, they will heed the testimony of God’s mouth. The remnant sees their life in connection with life on earth. It may be that God hears their prayer and He allows them to live on earth.

Even if they are killed, their prayer will be answered. For they will be made alive in the resurrection. Then they will perfectly keep the testimony of God’s mouth, for it will be written in their hearts. Thus, to put it in a New Testament way, they are more than victors through Him Who loved them (Romans 8:37).