TEXT: Psalm 119:145-152

SUBJECT: Exposition of Psalm 119 #19: Quoph

With the Lord's blessing, let's continue our study of Psalm 119. It is a long tribute to God's Word. But not too long, for the Word cannot be excessively praised. Written first on Tables of Stone, the Word is now written in our hearts. Put there by the Holy Spirit who wants us to meditate on it and to love it. During the Holocaust, devout Jews died to protect the Sacred Scroll. Dare we cherish it any less? May God make us esteem it even more. For Christ's sake. Amen.

This is the Psalm's nineteenth stanza, and touches mostly on David's prayer life as informed by the Word of God. If you pray, it will resonate with you. If you don't, it will teach you how. May the Lord apply it to our hearts.

How David prayed, vv.145-147.

The first three verses tell us how David prayed. "I cry out with my whole heart...I cry out to You...I rise before the dawn..." What do these words suggest? "Cry" is in the present tense and connotes an ongoing activity. David has cried to God, is crying to God, and keeps on crying to God. There is no "quit" in his prayer life.

Can the same be said of you? I know you pray, but do you "pray without ceasing"? Our Lord once told a story with this design: "That men ought always to pray and not faint". Who knows how many good prayers would have been granted if only the person had prayed just one more time?

The Lord's promise is true: "Keep on asking and you shall receive...Keep on seeking and you will find...Keep on knocking and it will be opened to you".

"Cry" also suggests an intensity in prayer. The word can mean to cry out in agony. There is an earnestness in his prayer life, an energy, a fervor we often lack. Isaiah complained of the prayer of his day. There were a lot of them, to be sure, but, "There...is none who stirs himself up to take hold of [God]". There is no grappling with the Angel of the Covenant, no determination, no cry, "I will not let You go until You have blessed me!"

David prays like a drowning man: "Save me!" There is a holy desperation in his prayer life. And it is not affected! It's not a "put on fervor". He "Cries with [his] whole heart".

The Pharisee's prayer had everything--elegant language, Scriptural allusions, devout posture. Everything but passion for God! The Publican's had nothing but passion. He "Went home justified".

I suspect God prefers five mumbled words bathed in tears to a million beautiful words without feeling.

This is how David prayed. And not David alone. Moses prayed this way before him; Paul afterward. And, of course, the Man who "Sweat great drops of blood".

What informed David's prayer, v.148.

Soren Kierkegaard thought the Pagan who prayed with "infinite passion" was more acceptable to God than the Christian who prayed without it. In fact, neither is pleasing to Heaven. For prayer demands passion, of course, but it also needs knowledge. Our "confidence" in prayer comes--not from the passion we pour into it--but from "asking according to [God's] will".

How do we discover that will? David knows: "My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your Word". David was tempted on every side, as the later verses show, but he knew there was a way out of each. He didn't know what it was, but he knew Someone did. And so, he asked God to reveal His will, but he didn't seek a miracle. He put himself into the Word, knowing God chooses to reveal His will chiefly in that Word. He found God's will in late night meditations, and he prayed for it from "the dawning of the morning".

We often tempt God by asking Him to show us things we're not willing to look for. If we become willing to do the work, He'll be willing to show us what we're looking for. The Proverb could not be clearer:

The source of Wisdom is God. The man who seeks it apart from Him only proves that. God can give Wisdom any way He pleases. At times, He may use extraordinary means. But normally, He uses the Word. So that we would honor it and be in it more.

Sometimes, "We have not because we ask not". At other times, "We ask, but do not receive, because we ask amiss", i.e., for those things which are not "according to His will". Find out what God's will is, pray for it, and you won't be disappointed.

Why David prays, vv.149-152.

David is a man of prayer. He prays for the things God wants. In the last four verses, he tells us why he prays. Two issues come up.

There is something in the world that makes him a man of prayer. "They draw near who follow after wickedness". David prays a lot because he has a lot of enemies. He was up to his neck in Philistines, for example. But not only foreigners. His commander-in-chief was ferocious and unreliable. His most learned counselor was disloyal. His own children were blood-thirsty men. When he saw their power and craft, he fled to that "Rock which is higher than [he]".

So should we. Our enemies may not be as obvious as David's, but we have them. John mentions three: "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life". They've done in more believers than all the Philistines, Amorites, and Moabites put together.

These enemies are real! They're dangerous. They're often in camouflage. They never give up. How do we defend ourselves against them? Paul says to "Put on the whole armor of God". But that's not all he says. He adds: "Praying with all prayer...and watching thereunto with all perseverance". Without prayer, the "Armor of God" is papier machee.

Self-defense is a good reason to pray.

But there is a better reason, God's character. David prayed because of the Lord's "lovingkindness", His "justice", because "He is near" and because He is trustworthy.

The ultimate reason to pray is not in ourselves, our needs, or our duties, but in God Himself! We pray because of what He is!

Because "God is love", He is concerned for us. More concerned for us than the most loving father is for his children.

Because He is "just", it is proper for Him to keep our foes from harming us.

Because He is "near", He is able to hear our faintest cries for help. And able to do something about it without delay.

Because He is trustworthy, we can pray according to His will knowing that He won't be arbitrary, but will infallibly do for us what He has pledged to do. And more.

"Everything is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer". Everything, including your life. Would you be holy? Would you--if not--at least "follow after holiness"? If so, you must turn to Prayer as informed by the Word. It will give you the answers you seek or the patience to keep looking for them. But more than this, it will give you fellowship with God which makes all answers irrelevant. As Job learned so long ago.

Billy Sunday mocked study "Five minutes on your knees is worth more than ten hours before your books". B.B. Warfield replied, "Then why not spend ten hours on your knees before your books?" He was right. Especially if your book is God's Word. The Lord make us people of studious prayer or prayerful study. Amen.