Psalms 119: An Introduction

Psalms 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and is found in the largest book of the Bible, Psalms. The book of Psalms is a collection of ancient prayers and hymns written by various individuals throughout Israel’s ancient past. One of the most notable psalm writers, called Psalmists, was King David, ancient Israel’s second King, and many of the psalms in this book are accredited to him.

Unfortunately we do not know who wrote Psalms 119 for the author never identifies them self. Nevertheless, 119 is special in that it has a single unifying theme, the importance of God’s Word. Within the context of 119, whenever the Psalmist discusses the Word of God or God’s Word, they are most naturally referring to the written law given to ancient Israel which is given to us in Biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. However, we should not restrict God’s Word solely to what has been written down by Biblical authors, but we must also take into account God’s spoken Word which is given to us either by the Holy Spirit or by other individuals such as Pastors, teachers, discipleship mentors, etc. God is still speaking to His people every day and if the written Word of God is to be highly regarded, obeyed, and esteemed, how much more should we regard, obey, and esteem the spoken Word of God.

Now there may be a bit of confusion here whenever the Psalmist is talking about God’s law. While he is referring to the Law of ancient Israel, we as Christians no longer practice many of the actions prescribed by the Law (whenever you see the “Law” in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, that refers to the Law in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy). So, whenever we are to consider God’s Law within the context of Christianity, I believe we must look to what Jesus said to the Pharisees and Teachers of Law during His day whenever they asked Him what the greatest commandment was found in the Law.

Jesus said in Matthew 22:34-40:

³⁴Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with his question: ³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment?”

³⁷Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

This commandment was not foreign to those who were listening to Jesus that day for God had made this declaration back whenever the Law was given for Deuteronomy 6:4-6 states: “⁴Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.”

If we consider the Ten Commandments, which was given to Moses before the rest of the Law, the Ten Commandments form part of the foundation of ancient Israel’s Law, but the Ten Commandments are themselves built upon the two greatest commandments: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” That is why Jesus says in verse 40 that, “⁴⁰All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” This statement is universally quantified which means that for every Law given in the Old Testament can be reduced to the two greatest commandments. If we take the Ten Commandments found in Deuteronomy 5:1-21, we can see how this reduction to the two greatest commandments espoused by Jesus works. Because we love God with all of our heart we will love our neighbors as ourselves. God loved us first. Jesus says in John 13:34-35: “³⁴A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

1^st John 4:8-12 states:

⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he love us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love another, God lives in us and his live is made complete in us.

If we love God then we will love each other. This is absolutely essential to Christianity. What is love? In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote 1^st Corinthians 13 which is his treatise on love. Here I will quote 1^st Corinthians 13 in entirety:

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfect comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

So, returning to Psalms 119, if we think about the two greatest commandments, I believe that those are the hardest to follow and whenever the Psalmist says that they long to obey God’s Word and law, we can think of obeying the two greatest commandments.

One thing that God requires in addition to love is obedience. We can say that we love God, etc., but if we do not obey His Word then our words are without validity. We cannot claim to love God if we do not obey what He commands us to do. Jesus said in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I say?” This is extremely important because we cannot claim God or Jesus as our Lord and Savior if we do not obey His Word. Now we come full circle back to the importance of God’s Word as espoused in Psalm 119.

How can we obey God’s Word if we do not know what it says? We cannot; if we do not highly regard God’s Word then we will not obey it. Therefore, Psalms 119 is a treatise on the importance of God’s Word, why we should highly regard it, and how we should apply it.