Qoph

Introduction:

This has been a week of reflection.

What are we doing in Bible study and worship?

What should we be trying to achieve.

What we want to achieve is not always the same thing as what we should be trying to achieve.

In part one, the Psalmist will make some statements that sound familiar to us.

He is not angry.

He is not bitter.

He is not doubtful.

In fact, he is none of those things (as has already been established).

How did he get here?

How do we get to the point where we trust God?

Proper use of the Bible is vital to this level of spiritual understanding and growth.

How do we become people who are able to trust God to fulfill His promises?

A Depth of Yearning

By now, we know the writer of this Psalm draws upon Deuteronomy 6:4 to express his love for God.

Here, the purpose is not just to borrow that language.

He calls with the whole heart.

This language of Dt. 6:4 may, in fact, indicate earnestness or completeness of call.

His desire for an answer is neither a demand nor vague.

One question to ask in this section is: what are we to understand the Psalmist called to God for with his whole heart?

In the first two verses, Ps. 119:145-146, we see parallel thoughts.

Both include statements about his intentions to keep the statutes and testimonies of God.

These are not arbitrary declarations, and they are not contingencies.

Instead, this is the Psalmist’s declaration of how he intends to spend his time when the day comes that God fulfills His promise.

Confident Expectation

We see Ps. 119:147-148 as couplets as well.

They share in common:

Expressions of rising early.

Before dawn

Before the watches of the night

These statements may entail constant prayer as well. When does he sleep? When is he not in prayer?

They differ in their reasons:

Ps. 119:147 is in light of: I hope in your words.

Ps. 119:148 explains his early rise so that he may meditate on God’s promise.

General Application/Thoughts

How would it be possible to develop the themes found through Ps. 119:149?

Where are the sections of the Psalm that have already addressed this topic? Job might be a good illustration of what seems to be the focus in this section of the octad. What he relies upon is the promise of God. He eagerly awaits for the fulfillment of that promise. He prays for the day of deliverance to come to fruition, to become reality (note Ps. 119:84 for example). All of his recitations of God’s character and nature indicate a deep understanding and appreciation for God’s character.

For NT believers, reliance upon God’s promise is an integral part of who we are. It defines us as we live in the world because we are people who “walk by faith not by sight.” We have not yet seen the fulfillment of the resurrection, nor have we seen the return of Jesus, but we trust that it will come to pass. This, however, is not blind faith. Neither is it rooted in mere propositions. Through the scriptures, the writer of Psalm learned of events that taught him of God’s character. He learned of His power, His trustworthiness, and thus His reliability. This reinforced to him that a promise from God must be fulfilled. His trust in the promise, then, was based on his grasp of God’s character and nature.

We too trust that God has fulfilled a promise: the promise of the Messiah, his atoning death, and his resurrection (are these one or three?). Furthermore, we are trusting God to fulfill another promise, namely, that Messiah, Jesus, will return, that he will redeem the body (is this one or three?). God’s people do not require first-hand, material evidence for God’s character.

Introduction Part 2:

For part 2 our thoughts around the scriptures will focus on God’s reliability.

Jesus emphasized this about God in his own teaching when he reassured his disciples that God cares and hears.

An important part of learning to trust God is learning that earthly circumstances do not have a bearing on God’s concern.

God’s people do not require first-hand, material evidence for God’s character.

We will also think about how God differs from people.

God’s people should draw strength from knowing God’s character.

A Final Appeal to Hear

The writer of the Psalm demonstrates that his appeal to God has God’s own nature at its root.

He makes a request for God to “hear him” based upon two aspects of God’s divine character.

According to his (חֶסֶד).

According to his (מִשְׁפָּט).

He returns to a usage of “live” in reference to his liberation from his current circumstances/situation.

What is inescapable is the importance of a biblically informed understanding of God’s character.

People become disillusioned with God like that often do with people.

He does not act like we want him to behave.

This results from our failure to understand Him rather than the other way around.

People vs. God: A Contrast

We can learn to understand God’s character through contrast.

Sometimes the biblical writers use people or real life situations for making analogies to God.

Sometimes they use people to draw out the contrasts with God.

The Hebrew of Ps. 119:150-151 plays to the ear of the hearer and to the eyes of the reader with קרב.

The writer contrasts those who are “pursuers of evil schemes” with God.

“Pursuers of evil schemes” is a phrase that here refers to those who do have not learned the value of discretion taught in the scriptures.

It comes across as a short-hand for those who reject God and His word.

They are “drawing near” and, definitely, the writer has been the subject of their plans.

The final word of Ps. 119:150 drives home the point of their relationship to the word of God.

We have stage #1 established with a group who “draws near,” but they do so disingenuously, they cannot be trusted, and they do not value God’s law.

God is the opposite.

The writer acknowledges, even in such circumstances, that the Lord is near.

This, no doubt, expresses the comfort that draws from the knowledge of God’s care and concern.

Furthermore, unlike untrustworthy people, God’s commandments are reliable.

They reveal unchangeable truths about God and righteousness.

He finishes the section by recounting what he has learned from God’s testimonies.

They are constant because God has “fixed” them.