Everything that the psalmist has written in Psalm 119 to this point, and especially the last couple of stanzas, culminates in this passage. He has sought God’s love, God’s protection, even God’s comfort. And here, he finds God himself. You can see this passage in Psalm 119:57-60:
The main thrust of God’s Word, the reason we need to spend time reading and studying it, is not simply for comfort or the ability to see some aspect of God more clearly, as important as those things may be. The main purpose for a careful study of God’s Word is to get to know God himself. One can know everything there is to know about God and about his Word, but if he does not know God himself, he has missed the point. Scripture was given to us so that we can know its author, the author of life itself, as intimately as we can.
That’s why the psalmist identifies God here as his “portion.” We don’t really understand this concept in the 21st century as well as we should. To our minds, a portion is a serving, our fair share, the right amount needed, such as a portion of the food served at dinner, or an equal portion of candy for my kids, or even our fair share of an estate or some other possession.
But to the Israelites, this is a word with some depth to it. When the nation of Israel left the wilderness after wandering in it for forty years, having left Egypt behind, they came to the Promised Land and began its conquest. As they entered the land, and the previous inhabitants were driven out before them, each tribe was given their own section of the land, their inheritance, their portion. That’s where they settled, and it was a part of their heritage.
All the tribes received a portion. All but the tribe of Levi. Instead of an area of land, the people of Levi were given forty-eight cities around the land, scattered among the rest of the tribes, so that their services as priests could be easily available throughout the nation. They received no piece of the land, but received something far better. Joshua 13:33 states, “But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance (portion), as he promised them.”
That’s what the word portion brings to mind in the Israelite reader of Psalm 119. The writer is looking for his own portion of God himself. Nothing else will do; nothing else is enough. To have God as our portion is the best thing we could ever possibly have.
And where do we find Him? He is readily available in his Word. That’s the primary place in which we discover God, and that’s why it is so critically important to study every facet of it that we possibly can. God is discovered in his Word, and we must diligently seek him there.
That’s where this stanza fits into the overall scheme of things in Psalm 119. The author has identified that nothing else will do, that nothing but God himself will suffice. And so he seeks out God by doing six different things. The first three are found in this passage, the rest are found in the latter half of this stanza, which we will look at next week.
Here is what the psalmist did, and this is what we should do as well.
Seek God’s Face (verse 58)
To seek God’s face is to seek God himself. It means to know him on a very intimate level. Jesus promised that those who seek will find in Matthew 7:7, and Jeremiah spoke for God when he told the Israelites to seek God and they will find him, when they seek him with all their hearts, in Jeremiah 29:13. Those who intentionally seek God will find him, and they will know him more deeply.
Follow God’s Statutes (verse 59)
In order to find God and know him as well as we possibly can, we must follow his statutes, we must live according to his Word. The psalmist, in verse 59, seems to have weighed his own ways with the ways of God and come to the conclusion that his own abilities fall short. This is the turning point for each of us. We must come to the realization that our own efforts are not enough, and can never be enough. We cannot live by our own strength for long before we realize that God’s ways are the only thing that can sustain us. And we find his ways by intently studying his Word.
Obey God’s Commands (verse 60)
To find God is pointless if we do not do anything in response to what we find. If we are to completely understand the fact that he is Creator, then we will come to the understanding that he must also be Lord. And if he is Lord, then our only response can be obedience. To do anything less make no sense at all.
These are just the first three things that the psalmist does in order to understand and know God as fully as he can. The remainder of this stanza will reveal at least three more things we can do to seek God with all our hearts, to know him as fully as we can.
Question: What do you do to make sure you are following God as closely as possible? How big a role does Scripture play in your life? You can leave a comment by clicking here.