Psalm 119:49-56

Easter Greeting #1:
CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!
You might have expected a post today that highlights Easter.  But as is our pattern on Sunday, we have posted on the Psalms.  Don't be disappointed.  Look at the first verse:

Remember the word to Your servant,

Upon which You have caused me to hope.

We have placed our hope in the word of God, expressed through one of His messengers: 

Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here.  He is risen.

Easter Greeting #2:

Greetings on this Easter morning in the United States.  We will greet our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in a similar fashion next week when they celebrate the Eastern Easter.  Of course, every Sunday is an Easter celebration for believers in Christ, being the first day of the week.  And every day is an Easter celebration for believers in Christ, being a day lived in newness of life, praise to our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are letting you know that on this day, at 10:45AM MDT in the USA, we will be worshiping online.  You can join us on our Facebook page, "RonCindy Youde".  You will want to send a friend request in order to join us.  God's richest blessings have been given us in Christ, every spiritual blessing.  May we each live out of this today!  As is our pattern, our post today is from the Psalms.  Enjoy it and see how it relates to the topics of the day: Easter, coronavirus, having a relationship with our Creator.

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The first verse seems to give sense to the entire stanza.

Consider first the last half of v49.  God caused him to hope in His word.  To hope in God’s word involves a no-holds-barred kind of trust in God.  Consider, from the rest of the stanza, the extent to which the saint commits his way to God and both the commands and promises of Scripture.

·        v50: the life-giving Word is his comfort in affliction.

·        v51: the law of God is his path in the face of derision.

·        v52: he affirms his comfort is based in God’s ancient Word.

·        v53: he is indignant against those who forsake God’s law.

·        v54: he has built his home-life around God’s statutes.

·        v55: his night meditations center on God’s law.

In the end (v56) he can say he is so immersed in the Word in which God has caused him to hope that “it is mine”.  His life is becoming more and more the life of the Word.  As Spurgeon would say of John Bunyan, “Prick him anywhere; his blood is Bibline; the very essence of the Bible flows from him.”

This is the hope the Psalmist has.  He does not question the Word when doubts arise.  He has an absolute trust in the path laid out for him in Scripture.

But what happens when he rounds the next corner and his trial throws something else at him?  How does he respond?  Since God has caused him to hope in the Word he simply prays, “Lord, remember the word to your servant!”

It is not as if he were concerned that God would forget.  He is, in a sense, praying God’s word back to Him.  This is the surest way to pray in the will of God.  The Psalmist himself remembers God’s word for his present situation and then prays, “God, do as You said You would.”

He does what the Lord Jesus Himself did when tempted by Satan.  He simply quotes Scripture for which Satan has no answer (Matt. 4:1-11).  He is using the believer’s prime offensive weapon, the “sword of the Spirit which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17).

This kind of praying is the privilege of the one who truly hopes in God’s word, who can say of Scripture, “This has become mine!”