The Oxygen of Obedience Text: Psalm 119:129-136
Introduction: The Sanity of the Objective
We live in an age that is drowning in subjectivity. Modern man has declared himself the measure of all things, which is another way of saying that there is no measure at all. He wants a world without a yardstick, a map without a north, and a story without an author. He believes that law is bondage, that commandments are oppressive, and that true freedom is the ability to define reality for himself. This is the foundational creed of our secular, relativistic, and frankly, insane culture.
Into this padded room of self-referential nonsense, Psalm 119 speaks with the bracing clarity of a splash of cold water to the face. The psalmist does not see God's law as a burden; he sees it as a wonder. He does not view God's commands as a cage; he pants for them like a man dying of thirst. He does not believe truth is something he creates, but rather something that creates him. This section of the great psalm is a beautiful and potent corrective to our modern madness. It is a portrait of a man whose soul is rightly oriented to the objective, external, and glorious Word of the living God. He demonstrates that true liberty is not found in escaping God's law, but in being established by it.
The world tells you to look within for your truth. The psalmist tells you to look up, and to look into the Book. The world tells you that rules restrict your joy. The psalmist shows us that God's rules are the only possible foundation for joy. This is not just a difference of opinion. This is a clash of universes. One is a universe of make-believe, propped up by frantic and exhausting self-assertion. The other is the universe that is actually there, the one that runs according to the steadfast Word of its Creator. The psalmist has chosen to live in the real world, and this passage is his testimony to the light, stability, and grace he has found there.
The Text
Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul observes them.
The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.
I opened my mouth wide and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.
Turn to me and be gracious to me, According to Your judgment for those who love Your name.
Establish my steps in Your word, And do not let any wickedness overpower me.
Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts.
Make Your face shine upon Your slave, And teach me Your statutes.
My eyes shed streams of water, Because they do not keep Your law.
(Psalm 119:129-136 LSB)
Awe-Struck Obedience (v. 129)
The psalmist begins this section with a declaration of worshipful astonishment.
"Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul observes them." (Psalm 119:129)
God's "testimonies" are His covenantal witness. They are His sworn statements about who He is, what He has done, and how the world works. They are not dry legal statutes; they are the very transcript of reality. And the psalmist's reaction to them is not grudging acceptance, but wonder. The word here means marvelous, extraordinary, beyond comprehension. He looks at the fabric of God's revealed will and is wonder-struck.
Notice the logic. "Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul observes them." The obedience flows from the awe. This is the polar opposite of dead legalism. Legalism is the attempt to obey a law you do not love in order to earn the favor of a God you do not know. True Christian obedience is the glad, spontaneous response to the glory of God's revealed character. We do not obey in order to get God to love us; we obey because we have been stunned by His loveliness and wisdom. When you see that His commands are not arbitrary but are a description of the path of life, you joyfully run on that path. The wonder is the engine of the observance.
The Entrance of Light (v. 130)
The psalmist then describes the effect of God's Word on the human mind.
"The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." (Psalm 119:130)
The "unfolding" or "entrance" of God's Word is a direct echo of Genesis 1. Into the formless and dark chaos of the human mind, God says, "Let there be light." His Word does not simply add a new fact to our collection of data; it illuminates everything. It provides the categories and the grammar by which we can understand anything at all. Without the light of Scripture, man is left to stumble around in the dark, bumping into the furniture of reality but never understanding what it is or what it is for.
And who receives this light? The "simple." This is a glorious affront to all forms of intellectual pride and Gnosticism. God's truth is not a secret code for the elite, the initiated, or the credentialed. It is plain and accessible. The simple person, the one who comes to the Bible without guile and with a humble willingness to be taught, is the one who will be flooded with understanding. The proud academic who comes to dissect it like a corpse will be baffled by it. God hides these things from the wise in their own eyes and reveals them to babes. The entrance to this school is a low door; you have to stoop to get in.
Desperate for Direction (v. 131)
The response to this light is not passive appreciation, but active, desperate desire.
"I opened my mouth wide and panted, For I longed for Your commandments." (Psalm 119:131)
This is the language of extreme exertion and thirst. It is the picture of a runner at the end of a race, gasping for air. This is what the psalmist feels, not for an emotional experience, not for a mystical vision, but for God's commandments. He is desperate for the rules. He craves the objective standard. In a world that prizes autonomy and rebels against any external authority, this is the cry of a sane man. He knows that true freedom is not found in making up his own rules, but in joyfully submitting to the perfect law of liberty given by his good and wise Creator. He wants the guardrails, the structure, the path. He pants for God's government.
Grace and Government (v. 132-133)
The psalmist's desire for God's rule leads him to pray for grace, stability, and deliverance from sin's tyranny.
"Turn to me and be gracious to me, According to Your judgment for those who love Your name. Establish my steps in Your word, And do not let any wickedness overpower me." (Psalm 119:132-133)
He asks for grace, but notice the standard: "According to Your judgment for those who love Your name." The Hebrew word for judgment here is mishpat, which means God's settled, righteous, and just way of ordering the world. This is not a plea for God to set aside His justice. It is a plea for God to act in grace in accordance with His covenant justice. God's grace is not a sentimental, arbitrary thing; it is a covenantal commitment. He has a customary way of dealing with those who love His name, and the psalmist is asking God to be true to His own righteous character in showing him grace.
This grace has a practical outworking: "Establish my steps in Your word." He wants his life to be built on the solid concrete of God's revelation, not the shifting sand of human opinion. He knows his own tendency to wander, to slip, to be unsteady. The Word of God is the only thing that can make his walk firm. And the result of this firm footing is freedom from sin's dominion: "do not let any wickedness overpower me." Sin is a tyrant. The Word of God is a liberator. We are set free from the cruel and chaotic lordship of sin in order to live under the good and orderly government of God.
Freedom for Obedience (v. 134-135)
The psalmist continues this theme of liberation, connecting freedom from human oppression to the service of God.
"Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts. Make Your face shine upon Your slave, And teach me Your statutes." (Psalm 119:134-135)
Here we see the true purpose of liberty. Why does he want to be redeemed from the oppression of man? So he can go do his own thing? So he can be the captain of his own soul? No. He wants to be freed from the tyranny of men so that he can keep God's precepts. Freedom is for righteousness. We were delivered from our bondage in Egypt not to wander aimlessly in the desert, but to worship and obey God at Sinai. All political and social freedom finds its ultimate meaning and purpose in this: creating a space for the people of God to live in obedience to the law of God.
He then asks for the greatest blessing imaginable: "Make Your face shine upon Your slave." He gladly identifies as God's slave, because he knows that service to this Master is perfect freedom. The shining face of God is the Old Testament way of speaking of God's manifest favor, presence, and blessing. And what is the immediate result of this blessing? A desire for more instruction. "And teach me Your statutes." Intimacy with God always, always, always leads to a deeper hunger for obedience to His Word.
Holy Grief (v. 136)
The stanza concludes with a startling expression of the psalmist's heart for God's law, a heart that mirrors God's own.
"My eyes shed streams of water, Because they do not keep Your law." (Psalm 119:136)
This is the proper emotional response of a man who loves God and His law. He looks out at the world, and he sees rampant lawlessness. He sees men defying their Creator, breaking His good law, and destroying themselves in the process. And it breaks his heart. He weeps. This is not the sneering contempt of a Pharisee. It is the holy grief of a son who sees his Father's name dishonored. It is the sorrow of a man who loves his neighbor and grieves to see him running headlong toward a cliff.
In our day, such a reaction is unthinkable. Our culture celebrates lawlessness. It throws parades for it. But the man of God cannot rejoice in iniquity. His heart is so aligned with God's Word that what offends God offends him, and what grieves God grieves him. This profound sorrow over the sins of others is one of the surest signs of a heart that has been truly captured by the wonderful testimonies of God.