The Preeminence
of Torah: Commentary on Psalm 119
David Ha Melek
(the King) loved the Torah more than women for he had several wives. He loved
Torah even more than his “BFF”, Jonathan, and he loved him more than he loved
women! (II Sam. 1:26) When David took
the throne, one of his first duties was to write out a personal copy of the
Torah. (Deut. 17:18 ) No
doubt this is when he fell head over heels for His Word. He was clearly talking
about the Torah, the Law, the Five Books of Moshe, for there was no other
Scripture then. The Prophets had barely begun to be called out, David was in
the process of writing many Psalms, and Solomon was not even born yet! Not to
mention the Brit Chadashah from the time of Yeshua and after was about 2000
years away!
As you read
through this Psalm, keep in mind the multifaceted-ness of the Torah, how David
Ha Melek used different words to describe different aspects of the Law.
· Law (Torah) = The whole will of G-d, His INSTRUCTIONS to
us for holy living.
· Testimonies (Edot) = This describes Torah as a witness to G-d and
His righteousness.
· Precepts (Pikudim) = These are specific guidelines for all who
defines themselves as G-d’s People.
· Way (derech) = This speaks of the path, the way we are to
walk according to the Torah.
· Commandments (Mitzvot) = These are specific “Thou Shalt’s” and
“Thou Shalt Not’s”.
· Statutes (Chukim) = These are laws in which G-d does not give
us a logical explanation; we keep them simply because HE said so.
· Ordinances / Judgments (Mishpatim) = Judicial standard of
fairness.
· Word (Davar, Imrah) = An all around general term for the
expressed-will of G-d.
We will also
notice that each stanza starts with each letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet. Symbolizing that God’s Word, God’s Law covers
everything from Aleph to Tav, from A to Z.
That it is all encompassing and it is perfect and complete.
Now Yeshua the
Messish is the Living Manifestation of The Written Torah, so we can say that
David’s love affair and praise of the Torah is actually that of The Messiah.
I have said before
that if you don’t have Torah, you don’t have the Messiah.
PSALM 119
1 ¶ ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the
way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
God is the same as
in David’s day, and as in ours. God is the same yesterday, today and forever
(Heb.13:8). He changes not (Mal. 3:8). The Torah is not just something you keep
to get brownie points with God, or to “earn” your way to Heaven. It is
something we walk in like second nature, something we do because we love God so
much. We are “Blessed”, or another translation is, “Happy” we are when we walk
in the Torah undefiled. The Torah makes us happy, it is not sad or a burden to
keep as most Christians would have you think.
We are happy when
we remember the Great things God has done, and to remember that He is Holy,
Pure and Righteous. We guard and keep alive the Greatness of God when we retell
of His awesome deeds, and when we set
our hearts to love
and please Him, to trust that “Father knows best”. To love Him and seek His
will (Torah) with ones whole heart.
“Iniquity” is the
opposite of Torah. It literally means “Torah-less-ness”, “No Torah” or “Without
Torah”. So, if we naturally keep the Torah we will not walk in iniquity. And,
what will God say to those who “work iniquity”? (Matt. 7:23)
If we love God,
and know He loves us and wants what is best for us, we will realize that He is
an orderly and specific God. We will be sure to do our best to follow and keep
His Torah to the best of our ability. We will not be casual with God and be
flippant with, or haphazard in keeping His Instructions, and we will enjoy
doing it. Just like when we wrap a present for someone we love, we just don’t
wrap it with just any paper; we don’t just hastily crumple paper around the
gift and wrap tape around it like a mummy. No, we make sure the present is
wrapped just so. The creases of the wrap are sharp and precise, the tape is
virtuously invisible, and the bow is curled just right and is balanced atop of
the box perfectly. We relish and are giddy about making sure every detail is
perfect because we want everything to be just right when we present the gift.
For the gift not only shows our love, but the way it is wrapped shows our care.
The way we wrap it is a gift to. And so it is, when being scrupulous in keeping
the details of the Law.
He is saying, “God
make me want to keep Your Commandments even when I don’t want too! I want to
want to keep your Laws. Give me the desire to keep your Torah!”
I John 3:4 tells
us that breaking Torah is sin, and sin brings on shame, personally and publicly
when exposed, and this will not come when we take joy in keeping God’s Torah.
7 ¶ I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
“Daddy, when I
learn how to keep your Torah the way You want me too, I will make you so
proud!”
“I am not perfect,
and I will fail here and there, but you know my heart to keep Your Torah
perfectly. So please forgive me and don’t give up on me when I screw up.”
9 ¶ BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
In other words,
what can the Torah do? It has the power to give one a “squeaky clean”
reputation. It’s simple, it’s all in black and white in His Torah and all we
have to do is read and heed. It cannot be mechanical either; it has to be from
the heart, as you will see.
David knew that to
know the Commandments was to know God. David also knew that the Commandments
are life (Deut. 32:47), so to wander from the Torah is to wander from the path
of Life.
I have heard this
verse in what is known as the “Pledge to the Bible”. There is a pledge to the
American flag and the Christian flag and to the Bible. David knew that it was
important to memorize His Torah if he was to combat and conquer temptation and
sin.
David is saying
that even though he, as a finite human, may not understand why an infinite God
might have commanded certain things; he nonetheless wants to know them. He
wants God Himself to teach them to him because he is so zealous to love and
please God.
As king, he is
saying he will rule fairly by the Torah as his guide.
David knows the Torah is the true treasure,
not money and possessions. He is probably alluding to his personal, hand-scribed
Torah as being his greatest possession.
Even though we may
not understand why God commands certain things, David said he would try to wrap
his brain around it anyway. In addition, even when he concludes that he still
does not get it, he will nonetheless keep these “Chukim”.
He is saying that
he will keep the commandments that rule and guide our daily lives with joy,
that he will make the Torah a part of him so he will not forget His Torah.
He is saying in a
way that if he had much bounty there would be many more ways that he could keep
God’s Torah.
Here David is
saying that the Torah is so deep, he is asking that God open his eyes to
understand it and to see it in all its depth and glory, for the sole reason of
keeping them and thus praising God by doing so.
The Torah is David’s
road map, He cannot survive without them, and they are his life and security.
The Torah is like
a love affair, he cannot get her (Torah) off his mind, it is all he can think
about, it is wonderful, and it is perfect. In short, he is lovesick for the
Torah.
He is implying
that he is humble, because he knows that the prideful are self-reliant and do
not allow God to lead and guide them. He knows that it is inevitable that they
will one day crash and burn without rescue. He is saying he cannot make it
without God and His Instructions, His Torah.
David has been
faithful, and has been encouraged and believed the miracles recorded in the
Torah and therefore has seen miracles in his own life because he has trusted
Him fully through thick and thin. We see the Torah is David’s constant
companion, guide, and comforter.
David knows that
his vindication lies in the Torah, the Words of the Living God. The Torah is
what David turns to, to ease his mind and to get his mind off things when
political life gets cumbersome.
David learns from
the mistakes and the triumphs of the past Patriarchs. He trusts Moshe, Aharon,
and Yehoshuah more than he trusts his royal advisers!
Only God’s Word
gives him life and power.
It’s no secret
David is a Torah Keeper; it is obvious, everyone knows it. He does not hide that
fact. He again cries out to God, he wants to know His more Mysterious
Commandments.
He is asking God
what are the reasons for, the cause and effects, the benefits of keeping the
everyday things of the Torah, just so he can tell others and compel them to
keep them, so he can tell others how great and wise His God is.
Here David is
saying that the Torah is a Living Supernatural Document able to give peace and
strength when needed. He can have true confidence because he keeps God’s Torah
out of zeal and love, and therefore knows that God is on his side.
Seeing the Torah
is Truth, David pleads to be led down that road, the road opposite and far from
the road of the way of lying.
Love this verse
too. Basically, being Torah Obedient is 100% a choice; no one can convince you,
or make you keep it, not even God Himself. Only you can decide to do so out of
a genuine love and desire to please and obey God.
He is saying that
the Torah is True, the only way to live and the only way in which to have
dealings with others because it is fair.
Again, David says
he believes every word of Torah, every victory, every triumph of God in his
dealings with Israel. And since he believes, he trusts that God will act in the
same way on his behalf. David knows that everyone knows what he believes and
who he serves and therefore it is God’s reputation that is at stake, so he says
“put me not to shame” because people will see it and put the failing not on
David, but on his God.
He says, “Make my
heart big enough, more able to take in and understand all your Torah so I can
keep it and run with it for the honor and glory of Your Name!”
Boy, David really
wants to know God’s Chukim; even if he does not understand it, he says he wants
to keep them. I have heard many well meaning people say they will not follow
Torah until they understand it, and that is noble, you certainly want to
understand why they are doing what they are doing. However, this can be a
devil’s cop-out too. If it were a matter of truly understanding all of God’s
613 Mitzvot, I would never begin to obey one. All of them are so deep and
multi-faceted that no one can truly understand them fully because they come
from the mind of an infinite God to a finite creation.
He says that he
will keep God’s Laws even if he does not understand them, but here he is
praying for that understanding anyway, because to understand is to fulfill with
a full, joyous and fully engaged heart.
35 ¶ Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
Clearly keeping
the Torah was not some laborious, burdensome task to David. He loved it, he
enjoyed it, and in a way he is saying that even in the rare times that, “I
don’t wanna”, he says make me “wanna”.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
And with bounty
comes that temptation of greed and covetousness for more. David is saying, “Let
my motive always be pure and true, don’t let me glory in the tools that You
give me to fulfill Your Commands.” If he covets, he wants to covet the true life
stories of His Word. He is asking God to tune his ear to understand these true
life, historical stories of God’s actions on behalf of His people Israel.
As his son,
Solomon, would say in Ecclesiastes that all is vain but His Torah, David says,
enliven me to be able to keep Your Torah.
David is T-totally
submitted to YHWH, He says, “Go ahead God lay down the Law to me and I will
follow it. Your wish is my command.”
David knows how
bad he can really be and that scares him, he knows that adhering to God’s Torah
can change all that when he submits to His Judgments.
David desires all
of God’s Torah, especially the commandments he does not fully understand; he is
asking God to give him the strength to keep His Torah, for it is the
Righteousness of God. You see as James said that faith (belief in God and His
Word) without works (doing the Torah) is dead. There is Faith Righteousness,
which is believing in God and His Word, and Works Righteousness (Keeping the
Commandments) and you cannot have one without the other, like the yin and the
yang, like peanut butter and chocolate, like peanut butter and jelly…. Well,
you get the picture.
David knew that
the Torah led to salvation. Don’t the Scriptures say that Salvation comes from
the Jews? (John 4:22) The Written Torah tells what the Living Torah (The
Messiah) was to be like.
The Torah is the
final word in what God considers righteous conduct, and when one is living by
the Torah, no one can say anything legitimate against you in the realm of
wrongdoing.
Here David clearly
says that the Torah is Truth. This is the answer to Pilate’s question to Yeshua,
“What is Truth? (John 18:38)
Notice there is
not an italics or parentheses in the ancient text that disclaims this verse by
saying “until the Messiah come.” No, he says the Torah is to be obeyed forever.
If David knew about the coming of the Messiah and that the Torah told about Him
(even Yeshua said the Torah speaks of Him (Luke 24:13-49)), then he would have
known if the Torah would be changed by the Messiah. Instead, He affirms that
the Torah stands forever.
David will tell
all other nations and kings about G-d and His dealings with Israel
Torah makes David
happy! What more can I say on this verse?
48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.
He says he will DO
the Torah, because it is all he can think about. It is so deep he can never
come to an end of thinking about God’s Torah! He is especially fascinated with
the commandments that have seemingly no logical purpose.
The Torah is
David’s hope; in other places, he says it is his salvation, his Yeshua. And
remember what I said that Yeshua is nothing more than the Living Manifestation
of the Written Torah?
The Torah is also
His Comfort. And what do we call the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) which comes
from God? The Comforter. In passages in the Brit Chadashah (Renewed Covenant)
it says that the Ruach will guide us in all Truth (John 16:13 ), and David already said that the Torah
is Truth.
David says that he
will stick to his guns and no matter what pressures from others may come; he
will not budge nor compromise in regards to the Torah.
David is comforted
by God judicial rulings of the Torah because he knows that they are fair, good
and holy.
David hates to
think about those who don’t get it, who do not understand the awesomeness of God’s
Torah and therefore do not obey it. He knows where Torah-less-ness leads.
Before David sang
and wrote the Psalms, he put the Torah to music and praised God that way, specifically
the Commandments in which God gave no logical explanation for, at that!
He even wants God’s
Torah to rule his unconscious dream life! He wants to be holy through and
through. David goes to sleep thinking about the Torah.
He knows that his
nightlife can only be pure because of God’s Word, His Torah, and because he
lives to obey it, he can have a holy nightlife.
Land, Kingdom,
Wealth, Women…. Heck, it’s nothing compared to God and His Torah. That is
enough “portion” for David.
Torah is not just
a haphazard thing to David; it is all or nothing!
“Turn my feet”
implies teshuvah, repentance, a 180 after wrongdoing is realized, a turning
away from sin and a turning to the Source, a turning to God. David is turning
to God and His Righteousness.
David did not make
an excuse NOT to keep the Commandments; HE wasted no time in keeping them!
Come hell or high
water, come persecution or loss David will keep the Torah no matter what!
God and His Torah
are so awesome, sometimes David can’t even sleep, he is so giddy about it, and
he cannot help but give praise to YHWH. Even if something is on his mind and
keeping him up all night, he will end up praising God because of His Torah. He
knows if he follows it, God has his back and it will all be okay.
David admits that
there is a brotherhood, a family quality among those who keep His commandments,
and indeed, I can testify this for myself, that it is so true.
Though we cannot
understand the Chukim without finite minds, this verse hints that God gave them
to us, and that is why the earth is full with His mercy.
God is fair and
just, all the time, always whether we can understand it or not.
It is as if David
is saying, “Teach me, Teach me, Teach me about every aspect of Your Torah God,
even if my little brain can’t fully comprehend it! I want to know about it
all!”
Obeying Torah
promotes healing and wellness body mind and spirit. Disobeying causes the
opposite to occur.
68 ¶ Thou art good, and doest good;
teach me thy statutes.
As the modern
saying goes, “God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.” This being
fact, this means His Torah, every part of it is good, too. So why wouldn’t we
want to know and obey it!?
Torah keepers WILL
be persecuted; regardless, David will not budge from his Torah Obedience.
Sounds like something the Messiah Himself said in Matthew 5:10-12.
David knows
because of fear, ignorance and rebellion most people are deaf and numb to the
Torah, but it is everything to David.
Ah, finally, a
clue, a possible ray of light on the part of God’s Torah that God gave us without
any logical explanation. He just told us to do it because He is God. Even when
David is being punished for disobeying God’s Torah, any lesson derived from
Torah, no matter positive or negative, is a worthy lesson learned. See I Pet.
1:6-7, James 1:2
He acknowledges
that man does not make up the Torah, but they are the very Words of God Himself
and deserve to be heeded, followed, and obeyed; that The Torah is far more
precious and far more valuable than precious metals.
73 ¶ JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
“God, You know me
inside and out, You hold the blueprint to my physical, mental and spiritual makeups,
so teach me in the way I can learn, absorb, and keep the commandments best.”
As believers, we
are all in the same boat and therefore we pray for and encourage one another
and we are glad when we see the other succeed, because we know our success will
come soon by the same Divine Source.
Rom. 8:28, all
things work for the good, and we know whether success or punishment comes by
the hand of God, we know He is just and fair and right in doing so. And as a
loving Father, he disciplines us because He wants us to do right and see us
succeed.
76 ¶ Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.
77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.
David desires God
to see the desire of his heart, to please Him and to keep His Torah, and
therefore, asks for patience and encouragement as he continues to try to do the
right thing.
78 ¶ Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.
David knows that
the victories of the wicked are short lived and are actually granted as a mercy
unto them by God. David knows that God will uphold him and see him through. God
will settle all accounts and the righteous will eventually prevail.
David wants all
Torah Observant believers to rally around him the King for he promised God that
he would lead them as a nation in the ways of Torah for the Glory of God.
David wants to
know the Torah fully so he can keep the Torah fully and therefore be without
the shame of sin.
David knows that
the prophecies of Moshiach, Salvation (Yeshua) are encoded in the Torah, and he
longs for that day when Moschiach will be revealed.
Sometimes doubts naturally
arise when one waits so long for God’s promises. Yet we see in the next verse
that it is the Torah that continually encourages him.
Even though one is
in the world and not of it, just by being in it one is tainted by contact with
it; but regardless David remembers and keeps the Torah.
84 ¶ How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
85 ¶ The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.
86 All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.
87 They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.
The age-old
question of why the wicked prosper can be answered in the extension of God’s
mercy to the wicked who are blind of God’s ways in an attempt to extend the
opportunity for them to repent. This is why, too, that we are permitted to
suffer at times at the hand of the wicked because really God does not want to
see anyone perish. Yet we know that even God has an expiration date in regards
to His mercy, and that if the wicked do not repent they will be repaid in kind
by God on the righteous people’s account. All we have to do is be faithful in
regards to Torah and endure to the end and we WILL be saved.
David says, “God,
make me alive through the life-giving words of your Torah! Give me strength to
keep your Torah and thus please You.”
The Torah IS
ETERNAL, it WILL NOT be done away with or replaced by another.
90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
The Torah is
relevant and timeless.
The Written Torah
is David’s Yeshua (Salvation), for HE knows the Living Torah, the Messiah will
come from the Written Torah.
Again, the Torah
gives life when one keeps it, not death; death comes through disobedience to
it.
David knows there
is Righteousness that comes by Faith, but He also knows that your righteous
works through the Torah back up the faith of your heart.
When David gets
fearful and discouraged, He will remember through the Words of the Torah what
God miraculously has done for Israel.
David is saying
that he sees the end of every perfection, every purpose in this finite world,
but that the Torah is eternal, it has no end.
