Commentary - Psalm 119:153-160

Bird's-eye view

In this twentieth stanza of the great Psalm, designated by the Hebrew letter Resh, the psalmist continues his relentless appeal to God in the midst of profound affliction. This is not a man lounging on a theological sofa; he is in the thick of it. The section is a tight weave of petition and profession. He repeatedly asks God to "see," "plead," "rescue," "redeem," and "revive" him. But these are not the desperate cries of a man who has lost his bearings. Each petition is grounded in a corresponding declaration of faithfulness. He has not forgotten God's law, he loves God's precepts, and he stands firm on the truth of God's Word. The central contrast of the psalm is stark here: the psalmist, beset by enemies, clings to the Word, while the wicked, for whom salvation is far off, utterly neglect it. This passage is a master class in how a believer should conduct himself under fire, with his eyes fixed on his God and his feet planted on the bedrock of Scripture.

The structure is a series of couplets, each balancing a plea with a reason. "See my affliction... for I do not forget." "Plead my cause... revive me according to Your word." This pattern reveals the logic of faith. Our appeals to God are not arbitrary shots in the dark; they are based on the covenant relationship we have with Him, a relationship defined and sustained by His Word. The psalmist's loathing for the treacherous is not personal vindictiveness but a righteous indignation born from his love for God's precepts. The stanza culminates in a magnificent declaration of the absolute truth and eternal nature of God's Word. In a world of lies and persecution, this is the believer's anchor.

Outline

Context In The Psalm

Psalm 119 is an extended meditation on the glory, sufficiency, and sweetness of the Word of God. The psalmist methodically works his way through the Hebrew alphabet, dedicating eight verses to each letter. We are deep into the psalm now, at the twentieth letter, Resh. The themes are not new, but they are intensified. The opposition is fierce, the affliction is real, and the psalmist's grip on the Scriptures is tighter than ever. He is not a novice in the school of suffering. He has learned, through many trials, that the Word is not a paper fortress but the very power of God unto salvation. While affliction drives us to the Word, that Word drives us back to the God who is our refuge and strength. This stanza fits perfectly into the psalm's larger argument: a life saturated in the Word of God is a life that can withstand any pressure, any persecution, and any pain, not because of the believer's strength, but because of the strength of the God who spoke that Word.

Verse by Verse Commentary

153 See my affliction and rescue me, For I do not forget Your law.

The prayer begins with a plea for God to simply see. This is the cry of faith. It is not that God is unaware, like some distracted deity. Rather, the psalmist is asking God to turn His favorable gaze upon him, to look with intent to act. "See my affliction." He doesn't minimize his trouble. It is real, it is heavy, and he calls it what it is: affliction. And what is the basis of his appeal? It is not his own intrinsic worthiness. The plea is immediately grounded in his covenant faithfulness: "For I do not forget Your law." In the midst of the pain, when the temptation to jettison everything and curse God would be at its height, he has held fast. His memory is tethered to the Word. This is the biblical pattern. God drives us into affliction so that we will be driven to His Word, because He wants us to see what He can do.

154 Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.

The request escalates from seeing to acting. "Plead my cause" is a legal term. The psalmist sees himself in a cosmic courtroom, with accusers on every side. He needs an advocate, a divine defense attorney to take up his case. And who is this advocate but God Himself? He is the one who justifies the ungodly. "And redeem me." This is a kinsman's task, to buy back what was lost or to rescue a family member from bondage. He is asking God to act as his next of kin, to step in and pay the price, to deliver him from his adversaries. And the goal of all this is life. "Revive me." Bring me back to life, quicken my spirit. But notice the standard: "according to Your word." He is not asking for a revival on his own terms, or according to some emotional whim. He wants the life that God's Word promises and provides. His hope is not in the revival, but in the Word that secures it.

155 Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your statutes.

Here the psalmist looks away from his own situation to consider the state of his enemies. And he states a plain, hard fact. Salvation is not something that happens to people by accident. It is "far from the wicked." Why? Is it because God is stingy with His grace? No. The reason is stated plainly: "For they do not seek Your statutes." They have no interest in God's law. They want a world without a ruler, a life without a lawgiver. They despise the very thing that brings life. Their distance from salvation is a direct consequence of their deliberate turning away from the Word. They will not have God to rule over them, and so they cannot have Him to save them. It is a simple equation. To reject the Word is to reject salvation.

156 Many are Your compassions, O Yahweh; Revive me according to Your judgments.

In stark contrast to the wicked, who are far from salvation, the psalmist knows that God's compassions are near, and they are "many." He is not appealing to a stingy or reluctant God. He knows the heart of his Father. He is appealing to a God whose very nature is merciful. The name "Yahweh" is invoked here, the personal, covenant-keeping God of Israel. And once again, the plea is for revival, for life. "Revive me according to Your judgments." This might strike us as odd. We think of judgments as stern, severe things. But for the believer, God's judgments, His righteous decisions, His ordinances, His rulings as revealed in Scripture, are the very source of life. They are the tracks on which the train of revival runs. The same judgments that condemn the wicked are the judgments that bring life and peace to the righteous.

157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies.

The psalmist is a realist. He doesn't pretend his life is easy. The opposition is not a minor nuisance; they are "many." He is outnumbered. He has persecutors, those who actively hunt him, and adversaries, those who stand against him in opposition. The pressure is immense. And in such a situation, the temptation to compromise, to swerve a little from the path, is enormous. Just to get them off your back. But his resolve is firm. "Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies." The "yet" is a glorious, gospel-drenched word. It is the hinge of faithfulness. Despite the numbers, despite the pressure, despite the threats, he remains steadfast. His loyalty is to the Word of God, not to the shifting opinions of his enemies. He has nailed his colors to the mast.

158 I see the treacherous and loathe them, Those who do not keep Your word.

This is a hard verse for our soft-handed generation. We are told to be tolerant of everything except intolerance. But the psalmist is not a modern man. He sees the "treacherous," the faithless, the covenant-breakers, and his reaction is visceral: he loathes them. This is not a petty personal dislike. It is a holy revulsion. And the reason is crucial: it is because "they do not keep Your word." His hatred is a theological hatred. It is the flip side of his love for God's law. If you love righteousness, you must hate iniquity. If you love the truth, you must hate the lie. This is the grief of the righteous man living in a fallen world. He is vexed by the lawless deeds he sees around him, just as Lot was in Sodom. He sees treason against the great King, and it disgusts him.

159 See how I love Your precepts; O Yahweh, revive me according to Your lovingkindness.

He returns to his opening plea. "See..." Look, Lord. He invites God's inspection of his heart. "See how I love Your precepts." This is not a boast of perfect performance, but a sincere declaration of his heart's deepest affection. In a world of treachery, his delight is in the law of God. This love for the Word is the evidence of a regenerated heart. And on this basis, he makes his final plea for revival. "Revive me according to Your lovingkindness." He has appealed to God's Word and God's judgments, and now he appeals to God's character. The Hebrew word is hesed, that steadfast, loyal, covenant love of God. He knows that ultimately, his life depends not on his grip on the law, but on God's gracious, loving grip on him.

160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments is everlasting.

The stanza concludes not with a petition, but with a magnificent declaration of faith. This is the foundation upon which all his prayers have been built. "The sum of Your word is truth." The entirety of it, the headwaters, the very essence of it, it is truth. Not just true in some parts, or containing truth, but it is truth. In a world of lies, propaganda, and deceit from his many adversaries, this is his rock. And this truth is not a temporary, fleeting thing. "And every one of Your righteous judgments is everlasting." God's rulings do not change with the times. They are not subject to revision. They stand forever. This is the believer's great comfort. The persecutors will fade away, the affliction will pass, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. And because it does, the one who builds his life upon it will also endure.

Application

This passage is a manual for Christian living under pressure. First, we must learn to pray like the psalmist. Our prayers should be honest about our afflictions but always grounded in the Word of God. We don't just ask for deliverance; we ask for deliverance "according to Your word," according to His promises. Our faithfulness to His law becomes the basis of our appeal, not in a self-righteous way, but as evidence that we are in covenant with Him.

Second, we must have a clear-eyed view of the world. We must understand why salvation is far from the wicked, they want nothing to do with God's statutes. This should not make us smug, but rather should fuel our evangelism and fill us with a holy grief over the state of the lost. We must cultivate a righteous hatred for sin and treachery, which is simply the other side of a deep love for God's truth and precepts.

Finally, our ultimate confidence must be in the nature of God's Word itself. The sum of it is truth. Every judgment is everlasting. The world around us is a sea of relativity and shifting sands. Our persecutors and adversaries build their lives on lies. We must be those who have planted our feet on the immovable rock of God's eternal truth. When affliction comes, and it will, we do not look inward for strength or outward for solutions. We look upward to the God of many compassions, and we look downward to the everlasting Word beneath our feet. That is where true revival is found.