Psalms 119:129

STROPHE 17

A PRAYER FOR REDEMPTION FROM OPPRESSORS WHO BREAK GOD'S WONDERFUL LAW WHICH GIVES LIGHT

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"Thy testimonies are wonderful;

Therefore doth my soul keep them.

The opening of thy words giveth light;

It giveth understanding unto the simple.

I opened wide my mouth, and panted;

For I longed for thy commandments.

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me,

As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

Establish my footsteps in thy word;

And let not iniquity have dominion over me.

Redeem me from the oppression of man:

So will I observe thy precepts.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;

And teach me thy statutes.

Streams of water run down mine eyes,

Because they observe not thy law."

"The opening of thy word giveth light ... understanding to the simple" (Psalms 119:130). "The exposition of God's Word gives light to all, even to those who are simple."[44] We must also add that it gives light to the most intellectual and learned men on earth. Brilliant men like Lenin, Marx, Stalin, etc., refused the light from God's Word, and as a consequence engineered the most terrible governmental fiasco in the history of mankind!

"I opened wide my mouth and panted ... for thy commandments" (Psalms 119:131). DeHoff thought the metaphor here is that of "an exhausted animal"[45] panting for fresh air or water; but the wide opened mouth seems rather to suggest the way tiny birds open their mouths for food from the mother bird. We may also have here a mixed metaphor including both these views, which is not uncommon in Hebrew.

"Streams of water run down mine eyes, because they observe not thy law" (Psalms 119:136). As Kyle Yates wrote, "The psalmist is broken-hearted over those who do not keep God's law."[46]