169 Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!
170 Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.
171 My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes,
172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.
Psalm 119:169-176
This is our last passage of this Psalm, and it is a perfect way to end this study. In some ways it reiterates a lot of the high points of this Psalm. It is a cry for understanding, deliverance, help and salvation from the Lord and it is a declaration of praise and love to the Lord too. David, our Psalmist is praying for understanding and deliverance in the first couple of verses. He wants his life to be transformed according to God’s word. That is not to say he has or will ever be completely transformed until the end of his life. None of us will, but he has recognized that there is a process to the transforming and that it is to always be taking place. That’s the same with us, until we meet Jesus face to face, we will always be human and fallible. But there should always be growing and learning and transformation taking place in our lives. Or at least there will be if we keep God’s word ever in front of us.
David also praises God for the ways He is teaching him. He pours forth praises because of what he has learned. David declares his love for God and for his word and for the deliverance and help he has received from God because he has chosen to live in God’s ways.
But my favorite verse in this passage is verse 175.
“Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.” v. 175
I think David had reached a point in his life that he truly wanted others to see God in him. He was not perfect by any means but he wanted to live his life in such a way that glorified God. In some ways it is the same as the man who had brought his child to Jesus for healing and he said Lord I believe, please help my unbelief. David said I want my life and my soul to praise you Lord, but Lord help me to do it. In verse 176 he recognizes his own humanity that he has gone astray and maybe what he means is he goes astray, he fails every day but he is asking the Lord to keep seeking him because he knows where his help and his soul lies.
May we all feel that, may I feel that! I want my life to glorify God, yet I know that I fail Him on a daily basis. I pray and believe that He will continually seek me so that I may continually return to Him.
Restore 