GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
PSALM 119:161-163
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This stanza consists of Hebrew words beginning with the letters Sin or Shin. There are elements of every theme of the Great Psalm in this second-to-last part, but especially the love of God’s word and the repentant return to the word.
161 Princes persecute me without cause,
but my heart trembles at your word.
In Hebrew, two sounds are made with the same letter. In ancient times it was shaped like a ‘w’ and was named for the jagged teeth it resembled, “sin” or “shin.” This isn’t the same as our theological word “sin.” It’s the letter S, or SH. Our first “s” word is Sarim, “princes,” or any kind of rulers. In David’s lifetime, many princes above and beneath him persecuted him, even when he himself was the one holding the government and the nation together. Saul, Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth, and David’s own sons and princes Absalom and Adonijah rebelled against him or tried to kill him. When he prayed, “I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side” (Psalm 3:6), he wasn’t using pretty language or merely brave-sounding words with nothing behind them. He really was facing whole armies of men with one intention: to kill him, personally. His faith was not in his luck, although many pagans, hearing his story, would think that the god of luck must have been his patron god. But we know that’s nonsense; there is no god of luck, and to follow the devil is the opposite of luck. David trusted in the true, One and only God, the Maker of all. And David accepted every part of the word of God without reserve. His devotion was true and pure. Whether David wrote these words or not, they reflect his true heart: “My heart trembles at your word.” The word of God is not the opinion of Moses, or Paul, or Peter, but the authority and promise of God himself behind every single statement. “God spoke by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1). “The things I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37).
162 I rejoice in your word,
like a man who finds a lot of plunder.
163 I hate and detest falsehood
but I love your law.
Jesus echoed this verse when he told the parable of the treasure: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden a field which a man found and then hid again. He’s so happy that he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). What our poet said about the word of God is true. What Jesus said about the kingdom of heaven is equally true. What’s the difference? The word draws us, teaches us, scolds us and assures us. It brings us into the kingdom of heaven, because it is one of the Means of Grace. But to be gathered into the kingdom itself! To be brought into God’s loving arms! This is why we rejoice. This is why we hate and detest falsehood and love his law. The falsehood is certainly any kind of lie or false message, but most especially anything false about God and the way of salvation.
During the Covid pandemic, many people fell under the spell of trusting what they called “their own research” about everything from disease to prevention to cure, and a great many other things. I was surprised to find out just how many of my countrymen forgot the lessons they learned or should have learned in Middle School about the difference between primary and secondary sources. Suddenly anyone’s opinion became “clinical research” whether there was a clinic or any research at all involved. Their foolishness was evident to everyone. But the world does the same thing with religion. They accept anyone’s opinion but not the word of God. “How long,” he asks, “will you love delusions and seek false gods?” (Psalm 4:2). Astrology, palm-reading, traditions of the Medieval church, reading the bumps on the head and worse things have all become more credible than the actual words spoken to mankind by God. He is the Primary source we must listen to. Everything else, everyone else, is a secondary source at best.
No. That’s giving the fallen world too much credit. God is the Primary source of all theology and religion, as well as salvation. Man? Man is nothing but the audience. The foolish person will doubt and be a sceptic, and be forever lost. The wise one will listen and believe, and be saved.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Psalm 119:161-163 believe, and be saved