Psalms 119:73-96 - Homiletics

Human need and the Divine sufficiency.

These verses bring out—

I. THE GREATNESS OF OUR HUMAN NEED . The psalmist lingers over:

1. The evils which we suffer from persecution. The proud "deal perversely with us" ( Psalms 119:78 ); "they had almost consumed me" ( Psalms 119:87 ); "they persecute me wrongly" ( Psalms 119:86 ). The expressions cover all kinds of cruelty and injustice, as well as that which we understand by "persecutor," making us to suffer for our religious convictions. Man is the chief enemy of man, everywhere and always.

2. He indicates the extremity to which we may be reduced; his soul "faints for God's salvation" ( Psalms 119:81 ); he wonders at the long delay ( Psalms 119:82 ); his very life is endangered ( Psalms 119:77 ); he is ready to perish ( Psalms 119:92 ).

3. He is concerned lest he be put to shame, lest he fall into sin or into despair, and cause the enemy to triumph ( Psalms 119:80 ).

4. He finds that even the best prove to be in some respects unworthy ( Psalms 119:96 ). Our need is great, but we turn to—

II. THE SUFFICIENCY WHICH IS IN GOD .

1. His perfect knowledge of us, and his power over us. He who made us must know our nature and its needs, must be able to minister to us ( Psalms 119:73 ; see Psalms 94:9 , Psalms 94:10 ). He "knows what is in man."

2. His promised help ( Psalms 119:76 , Psalms 119:81 ; see preceding homily).

3. His succor granted through his people ( Psalms 119:79 ). Let the troubled servants of God turn to one and another who are known to honor him, and they will not seek a brother's sympathy in vain. If man is our enemy, man also is our friend. "A man shall be a covert" ( Isaiah 32:2 ).

4. The unchangeableness of his Word ( Psalms 119:89-91 ). We may quote for our own and others' support any word of encouragement God has ever spoken at any time; for "the counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations" ( Psalms 33:11 ). What be was to our fathers in distant days, and has been to all those who came before us, he will be to us (see Psalms 90:1 ; Hebrews 13:8 ; James 1:17 ).

5. The breadth of his Law ( Psalms 119:96 ). While the fact that his Law covers the entire range of human thought and action thus brings us into condemnation, on the other hand, the fullness and amplitude of his promises cover all our possible errors and wrong-doings, and leave the gateway into the kingdom wide open to all who approach it in the spirit of penitence and faith.