The Servant's Stand: Ayin Text: Psalm 119:121-128
Introduction: A World Gone Mad
We live in a time of rampant lawlessness. And by lawlessness, I do not simply mean a spike in crime, though we certainly have that. I mean a fundamental rebellion against the very concept of a transcendent law. Our generation has declared its emancipation from the law of God, and in so doing, has declared its emancipation from reality itself. When men decide they will not have God to rule over them, they do not become free. They become enslaved to tyrants, to their own lusts, and to the sheer, howling madness of a world without an anchor.
The modern project is an attempt to build a civilization on the presupposition of autonomy. Man is his own lawgiver, his own savior, his own god. The result is not the promised utopia of liberation, but a society that cannot distinguish male from female, right from wrong, or a baby from a lump of tissue. We are watching an entire culture saw off the branch it is sitting on. They have made void God's law, and as a direct result, the center is not holding. Things fall apart.
Into this chaos, the psalmist speaks with a clear and steady voice. This section of Psalm 119, the Ayin stanza, is the prayer of a man standing firm in a world gone mad. He is a servant of God, surrounded by the arrogant and the oppressors who have abandoned God's law. And what is his response? It is not despair. It is not compromise. It is a resolute appeal to God on the basis of his own commitment to God's law, a deep longing for God's salvation, and a Spirit-wrought hatred for every false way. This is not the prayer of a fair-weather Christian. This is the prayer of a man under pressure, and it is therefore a prayer for our times.
Here we find the posture of the faithful man in a faithless age. He does not bend, he does not bow, and he does not break. He plants his feet on the bedrock of God's Word and appeals to the God of that Word to act. This is a pattern for us. We must learn to pray this way, to think this way, and to live this way if we are to be found faithful.
The Text
I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors. Be for Your slave a guarantee for good; Do not let the arrogant oppress me. My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation And for Your righteous word. Deal with Your slave according to Your lovingkindness And teach me Your statutes. I am Your slave; give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies. It is time for Yahweh to act, For they have broken Your law. Therefore I love Your commandments Above gold, even above fine gold. Therefore I deem all Your precepts concerning everything to be right, I hate every false way.
(Psalm 119:121-128 LSB)
The Righteous Appeal (v. 121)
The psalmist begins with a bold declaration and a desperate plea.
"I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors." (Psalm 119:121)
Now, we must be careful here. At first glance, this sounds like self-righteousness. It sounds like the Pharisee in the temple, thanking God that he is not like other men. But that is not what is happening. The psalmist is not claiming sinless perfection. We know from the rest of Scripture, and indeed the rest of this psalm, that he is keenly aware of his own failings. Rather, he is making a covenantal appeal. He is saying that, by the grace of God, the basic direction and tenor of his life has been one of obedience. He has aligned himself with God's law. He has "done justice and righteousness" not as a means of earning salvation, but as the fruit of it. He is on God's side, and he is asking God to act accordingly.
This is the plea of a man whose conscience is clear. Not clear in the sense of having no sin, but clear in the sense of having no unconfessed sin, no cherished rebellion. He has sought to walk in integrity. And because he has sided with God's law, he has found himself on the wrong side of the world. He has oppressors. Faithfulness to God in a fallen world will always generate friction. If you are not experiencing any opposition, it is likely you are flowing with the current of the age.
His plea, "Do not leave me to my oppressors," is a plea for vindication. It is a recognition that his only hope against the wicked is the intervention of a righteous God. He has done right, and now he is asking the ultimate Judge of all right to do right by him. This is not arrogance; it is covenant faith.
The Servant's Guarantee (v. 122)
He continues this line of thought, defining his relationship to God as that of a slave, or servant.
"Be for Your slave a guarantee for good; Do not let the arrogant oppress me." (Psalm 119:122 LSB)
The psalmist embraces his identity as God's slave. In our culture, this language is offensive. We are a people obsessed with personal autonomy. But for the believer, being a slave of God is the definition of true liberty. You will be a slave to something. Your options are sin and death, or righteousness and life. The psalmist has chosen his master, and he glories in the title. He belongs to God, and this is his security.
He asks God to be his "guarantee for good." The picture here is of a surety, someone who co-signs a loan or stands as collateral. The psalmist is in trouble, oppressed by the arrogant, and he asks God to put His own divine reputation on the line for him. "Stand by me," he says. "Vouch for me. Let my enemies know that I am Yours." This is a bold prayer, but it is a prayer of faith. He knows that God is a master who defends His servants. The "arrogant" are those who live as if God does not exist. They are the practical atheists who oppress the righteous, and the psalmist knows that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Longing for God's Action (v. 123)
The pressure of the situation has created a deep and painful longing in the heart of the psalmist.
"My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation And for Your righteous word." (Psalm 119:123 LSB)
This is a man who is weary. His eyes are strained from scanning the horizon, waiting for God to show up. He is longing for two things that are inextricably linked: God's salvation and His righteous word. He is not just looking for a generic rescue. He is looking for the salvation that God has promised in His word. His hope is not a vague optimism; it is tethered to the specific promises of God.
The "righteous word" here can also be translated as "righteous promise." He is waiting for God to make good on His promises. This is what faith does. It takes God at His word and then waits, sometimes for a very long time, for Him to act. This waiting is not passive. It is an active, intense, eye-straining longing. It is the posture of a watchman waiting for the dawn. He knows the sun will rise because it is promised, but the night can feel very long.
Grace and Instruction (v. 124-125)
In his waiting, the psalmist does not grow bitter. He grows in his desire for more of God.
"Deal with Your slave according to Your lovingkindness And teach me Your statutes. I am Your slave; give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies." (Psalm 119:124-125 LSB)
Notice the beautiful balance here. He has just appealed on the basis of his righteousness (v. 121), but he grounds his ultimate plea in God's lovingkindness, His chesed, His covenant loyalty. He knows that his standing before God is not based on his own performance, but on God's steadfast love. "Deal with me not as my sins deserve," he prays, "but according to Your mercy."
And what does he ask for out of this lovingkindness? Not just deliverance, but instruction. "Teach me Your statutes." In the midst of his trial, his greatest desire is to know God's will more perfectly. He understands that true deliverance is not just a change in circumstances, but a deeper conformity to the character of God. Affliction is a wonderful schoolmaster for the man who wants to learn God's statutes.
He repeats his identity: "I am Your slave." This is the foundation of his request. Because he belongs to God, he has a right to ask for the tools necessary to serve his master well. The primary tool is understanding. "Give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies." He doesn't want abstract philosophical knowledge. He wants practical, spiritual discernment so that he can understand and obey God's revealed will. He knows that the wisest thing a man can do is understand what the Lord requires of him.
A Time for Divine Intervention (v. 126)
The psalmist's prayer now turns from his own need to the broader situation. He sees the rampant lawlessness around him and calls on God to act.
"It is time for Yahweh to act, For they have broken Your law." (Psalm 119:126 LSB)
This is a stunning prayer. The servant presumes to tell his Master that it is time to get to work. But this is not insolence. This is zeal for the glory of God. The psalmist is not just concerned about his own oppression; he is concerned that God's law is being "broken," or made void. The wicked are not just sinning; they are acting as if the law itself has no authority. They are tearing up the very constitution of reality.
When God's law is publicly and flagrantly disregarded, God's own honor is at stake. The psalmist's prayer is essentially, "Lord, they are blaspheming Your name by their contempt for Your law. It is time for You to vindicate Your own character. It is time to show the world that You are God and that Your law is not a suggestion." This is a prayer that every faithful Christian in the West should be praying right now. When our leaders and our culture make a mockery of God's created order and His moral law, it is time for the Lord to act.
The Righteous Reaction (v. 127-128)
The psalmist concludes this section by showing the effect that the world's lawlessness has on the heart of a righteous man. It does not make him despair; it makes him love God's law all the more.
"Therefore I love Your commandments Above gold, even above fine gold. Therefore I deem all Your precepts concerning everything to be right, I hate every false way." (Psalm 119:127-128 LSB)
The "therefore" is crucial. Precisely because the world has made void God's law, the psalmist's love for it intensifies. When something precious is scorned by the world, the faithful hold it all the more tightly. He sees the chaos and misery that lawlessness produces, and it makes the beauty and wisdom of God's commandments shine all the brighter. He values them more than gold, the world's ultimate standard of value. In a world of lies, truth becomes priceless.
This love leads to a comprehensive affirmation. "Therefore I deem all Your precepts concerning everything to be right." This is total war on relativism. He doesn't pick and choose. He doesn't say that God's precepts are right about spiritual matters but outdated on sexuality or economics. No, all of them, concerning everything, are right. This is the essence of a biblical worldview. It is the submission of the entire mind to the authority of God's Word on every subject.
And the necessary corollary to loving the truth is hating the lie. "I hate every false way." This is not personal animosity. It is righteous indignation. Love and hatred are two sides of the same coin. If you love righteousness, you must hate iniquity. If you love truth, you must hate falsehood. Our culture preaches a flabby, sentimental "love" that tolerates everything and stands for nothing. That is not biblical love. Biblical love is fierce. It hates evil, it hates lies, it hates every path that leads away from God. The psalmist has seen the fruit of the false ways, and he despises them. This holy hatred is not a sign of a lack of compassion; it is the sign of a heart that is rightly aligned with the holy God.