Jeremiah’s Psalm of Repentance

Once Zedekiah had been captured, Babylon finished destroying Jerusalem. Captain Nebuzaradan set fire to the temple, the king’s palace and all the city’s houses. He destroyed all important buildings and razed the city walls. He had most of the city’s inhabitants carried away captive—but he left a remnant of poor people in the city to look after the vineyards (2 Kings 25:8-12; Jeremiah 39:8-10).

This occurred in August 585 b.c., during the fifth month on the Hebrew calendar.

Throughout these events, the Prophet Jeremiah was in prison. At whatever point he learned the terrible fate of Zedekiah’s sons, he experienced the crisis of faith that inspired the anguished outburst of Psalm 89.

Yet miraculously, the brutal Babylonian military leader had orders direct from Nebuchadnezzar that Jeremiah was to be released and treated well. Nebuzaradan gave God’s prophet the option to remain with Judah’s refugees or go to Babylon (Jeremiah 40:1-4).

Soon after, Jeremiah decided to go to Mizpah, where many remaining Jews were gathered (verse 6). Jeremiah 41:1 establishes the time frame: the seventh month, two months after Jerusalem’s fall. And in verse 10, we first read that among this contingent of Jews were the “king’s daughters.”

Jeremiah realized that it was through one of Zedekiah’s daughters that God would still be able to honor His covenant with David.

Though Jeremiah couldn’t have known this, the Prophet Ezekiel, in captivity in Babylon, prophesied that God would use “a tender one,” a female, to sit on David’s throne (Ezekiel 17:22). Her name was Tephi.

Jeremiah must have experienced a heart-wrenching realization that his accusations against God had been terribly misguided and contemptible. He was ashamed and horrified.

He knew all about genuine repentance because of what he had learned from David, the master of repentance. Jeremiah thought profoundly on his example. He determined to completely and thoroughly overcome his faithlessness, to recommit to God and God’s Word, and to stir up the passionate, devoted spirit of David anew.

In Psalm 89, Jeremiah had expressed his faithlessness. I believe the specific, bold action Jeremiah took to go in the opposite direction—to pursue his repentance wholeheartedly, and to reinforce his love and faith—was to write the beautiful, epic Psalm 119.

When Jeremiah Wrote This Psalm

Look at the very last verse of this longest, most powerful psalm: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments” (Psalm 119:176).

Psalm 119 is filled with wonderful, uplifting and inspiring verses. After all the extraordinary statements of praise, adoration, loyalty and spiritual determination, to conclude the psalm this way seems very unusual! Why end with this?

When you put it in the context of this pivot point in Jeremiah’s commission, it makes perfect sense.

This is another indication that Jeremiah wrote this psalm. He had accused God of breaking His promise to David and had recorded that in Psalm 89. I believe Psalm 119 is an expression of deep repentance.

Jeremiah was profoundly ashamed of what he had done. No authorship for Psalm 119 is given. I believe Jeremiah didn’t want credit because he felt he didn’t deserve it. And he ended by writing, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.” Verse 67 also indicates his repentance for having gone astray. He understood what he had done. I believe Jeremiah really did repent and wanted to repent like David did. That motivated him to write this psalm.

God was about to send Jeremiah to the British Isles with Zedekiah’s daughter to preserve David’s throne. We will learn more about this in the next chapter.

However, some time passed before Jeremiah traveled to Ireland. First, after political infighting among the leaders of the remnant (Jeremiah 42-43), they took the people to Egypt—against Jeremiah’s counsel. Indications are they settled there for a while. The people had enough time, shamefully, to descend into idolatrous practices (Jeremiah 44). During this period, God prophesied that a small remnant would escape and return to Judah (surely including Jeremiah and his entourage). This ends the chronological narrative of the book of Jeremiah.

The remaining chapters are insets and various prophecies of geographic regions. But just before the final chapter (a repeat of 2 Kings 24-25, describing Jerusalem’s destruction), we read this unusual sentence: “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah” (Jeremiah 51:64). This indicates Jeremiah would do more writing.

With a few months in Judah, an extended stay in Egypt (secular history indicates perhaps years), then a return to Judah before heading to Ireland, there was ample time for Jeremiah to complete the book of Lamentations—and to compose Psalm 119.

Connections With Lamentations

Jeremiah’s authorship of Lamentations is universally accepted. He began writing that book right after the death of King Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:25). Much of the book contains eyewitness reactions to Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem.

Many similarities between Lamentations and Psalm 119 are evident. This not only shows Jeremiah’s authorship of both but also would make sense if they were written during roughly the same period.

Lamentations is an acrostic poem, each section beginning with letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order. That same pattern is used in Psalm 119, expanded dramatically. It is precisely structured, organized into 22 sections, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section contains eight verses, and in Hebrew, each verse begins with that letter. (This is not apparent in English translations.)

Verse 136 is typical of how the “weeping prophet” wrote at times: “Rivers of water run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (see Lamentations 3:48; 2:18-19; Jeremiah 9:1; 13:17; 14:17).

Psalm 119:53 says: “Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.” Jeremiah uses that same rare word (translated horror) in Lamentations 5:10 (translated terrible). Psalm 119:118 says: “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes ….” “Trodden down” comes from another unique word also found in Lamentations 1:15.

Psalm 119 contains clues about when it was written. Verse 23 shows that Jeremiah wrote it after being persecuted by princes; verse 161 says, “Princes have persecuted me without a cause ….” Jeremiah was persecuted without a cause. We have hosted an exhibit of two bullae (seals) that tell the story of the trouble and trial he faced. Verses 85 and 110 also reference this persecution. Other verses suggest this psalm was written after Jerusalem’s destruction.

Remember, the remnant of Jews after Babylon’s destruction was being led by evil men who were flagrantly ignoring God’s prophecies. In verse 21, Jeremiah asks God to rebuke the proud who are cursed. He references “the proud” several times (verses 51, 69-70, 78, 122), as well as the “wicked” (verses 61, 119, 155). He talks about his enemies being near (verses 98, 150), and he prays for deliverance from “the oppression of man” (verse 134).

Verse 115—“Depart from me, ye evildoers …”—is the only verse addressing anyone other than God. This is right after he tells God: “Thou art my hiding place and my shield …” (verse 114). In verse 139, he writes, “[M]ine enemies have forgotten thy words.” It appears he wrote this while he was among the Jewish remnant after Babylon’s destruction.

Psalm 119:89-90 also seem to refer back to Psalm 89: “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.” These verses contrast starkly with the faithlessness of Psalm 89.

Dating the Old Testament, by Craig Davis, examines a range of evidence—language, archaeological discoveries and other technicalities—to determine most accurately the period in which each Old Testament book was written. It attributes many psalms to David’s time, but regarding Psalm 119—which virtually all commentaries attribute to David—it says, “Dating this psalm is difficult. Though it is very long, it provides virtually no clues as to a political or a religious setting. An argument from silence can say that the absence of any religious references to Jerusalem or to sacrifices implies an exilic setting,” meaning the time of the Babylonian captivity. “Each verse attempts to include some reference to the law. Such high reverence and love for the law is difficult to find in pre-exilic times. The reference to kings in verse 46 sounds as if these are Gentile kings, which would date the psalm after the fall of Jerusalem.”

Davis describes how some of the word usage also points to this late date of composition, well after David’s time. He then writes, “The fact that this psalm is a perfect acrostic in the modern alphabetical order argues against an early date. This mixture of linguistic evidence points to a transitional period in Hebrew, as in the time of Ezekiel, the time of the exile” (emphasis mine throughout). He doesn’t mention Jeremiah, but his overall conclusion fits perfectly with Jeremiah composing it in his later years.

The indications are that Jeremiah was likely around 60 years old at the time of Jerusalem’s fall. Psalm 119:84 sounds like the thought of an elderly man. The expression “quicken me,” or enliven me, is used nine times in the entire psalm. These references all appear in the context of the need to turn from vanity or the need for God’s salvation. This was the prayer of a repentant man! Jeremiah wasn’t ready to go to Ireland when he thought God broke His promise—but he truly was corrected.

And God responded to this prayer. He was about to renew Jeremiah’s life for a crucial phase of His plan that was about to begin! God was preparing him to rule a nation!

Consider this longest of all psalms, jam-packed with wonderful truths of God, in the context of Jeremiah writing it as a means of wholeheartedly, methodically repenting of his faithlessness, and in preparation for traveling to Ireland, and it truly makes for an inspiring study!

Prepare to Rule

Psalm 119 is about being prepared to rule on the throne of David. After King David, who would be more interested in writing about the subject of Psalm 119 than the man whose commission centered around transplanting that throne?

God’s people are going to sit on that throne with Jesus Christ, David and Jeremiah. We must prepare for that responsibility; God will not place us on that throne until we are ready. How do we qualify for such an exalted position? Psalm 119 gives us an important key. If you are to rule the world and then the universe, you really must understand this psalm. To prepare to rule on that throne, we must use Psalm 119.

This is an education about the law of God like no other chapter in the Bible. Throughout the psalm, 10 Hebrew words are used to describe the law: law, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, ordinances, two Hebrew words translated words, and two Hebrew words translated testimonies but with slightly different Hebrew definitions.

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary says the author of Psalm 119 used Psalm 19 as a model. Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect ….” Verses 7-9 expand on several synonyms for God’s law. That psalm was written by King David, and Jeremiah studied it and then expanded on it. He felt he needed to write Psalm 119 because his spiritual father and mentor had written that perfect psalm. He also used four synonyms for God’s law in Psalm 89:30-31.

Jeremiah’s meditation on and love for God’s law were especially important as he traveled to Ireland. In such a situation, you really need to know the law and how to teach it! Jeremiah administered God’s government there, and he needed God’s law to do that. If you love that law as he did, you know there must be a government that loves that law and teaches and implements it before God’s people. A government that will do this is a wonderful government! This is what the ministers in God’s true Church do.

How well educated are you in that law? How much do you love it? Psalm 119 tells you how to understand the law, appreciate it and be thankful for it. This one chapter, more than any other in the Bible, tells you how to be a man or woman after God’s own heart! It helps us transition right into the Second Coming of Christ; it is mainly for this end time. It teaches us how to rule and reign in God’s Family!

A Psalm Among Psalms

In Charles H. Spurgeon’s The Treasury of David, the section on Psalm 119 is practically a book of its own! This man really knew this psalm. He prefaced it with a masterpiece of an introduction. “There is no title to this psalm; neither is any author’s name mentioned. It is the longest psalm, and this is a sufficiently distinctive name for it,” he wrote. “It equals in bulk 22 psalms of the average length of the Songs of Degrees [referring to Psalms 120-134]. Nor is it long only; for it equally excels in breadth of thought, depth of meaning, and height of fervor. It is like the celestial city which lieth four square, and the height and the breadth of it are equal. Many superficial readers have imagined that it harps upon one string, and abounds in pious repetitions and redundancies; but this arises from the shallowness of the reader’s own mind: Those who have studied this divine hymn and carefully noted each line of it are amazed at the variety and profundity of the thought. Using only a few words, the writer has produced permutations and combinations of meaning which display his holy familiarity with his subject and the sanctified ingenuity of his mind. He never repeats himself; for if the same sentiment recurs it is placed in a fresh connection, and so exhibits another interesting shade of meaning.” That is profound insight! God is love, and His law is love. And this psalm, praising that law, is a masterpiece!

“The more one studies it, the fresher it becomes,” Spurgeon wrote. “It contains no idle word.” Every word of it is inspired by the perfect mind of God.

“This psalm shines and shows itself among the rest, a star in the firmament of the Psalms of the first and greatest magnitude,” Spurgeon wrote. This is the psalm of all psalms, he said. You would have a hard time refuting that.

Within several of the psalm’s 22 “stanzas,” particular themes stand out, and there are profound connections in thought. But many of the verses don’t necessarily flow one into the next. “[L]ike Solomon’s proverbs, it is a chest of gold rings, not a chain of gold links,” Matthew Henry wrote. “And … if we duly meditate upon it, we shall find almost every verse has a new thought and something in it very lively.”

Let’s dive in and study this psalm. What you will read here is far from a comprehensive analysis. This only touches on some of its verses. But hopefully this will encourage you to deepen your personal study of this crucial work.

Holiness Is Happiness

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 119:1). The first word, “blessed,” is better translated happy. This is the way to true happiness! The first two verses begin with this word and establish the positive tone for the entire psalm.

The Hebrew word translated as law is torah, which is also the name of the first five books of the Bible, written by Moses. The Soncino commentary insists this doesn’t mean a “legal system.” That is the way the world is: People are uncomfortable with law. Legal means based on law. As Romans 8:7 say, “[T]he carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” There is simply something in the human mind, influenced by Satan, that really dislikes the law.

What is wrong with a legal system of love—of liberty, freedom and peace? The whole Bible is based on the Ten Commandments. This is a legal system of love. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments …” (1 John 5:3). If we are going to rule with God on David’s throne, we must embrace God’s law and say, O, how I love it! This law solves everything!

God’s law is the “law of liberty” (James 1:25; 2:12). “Great peace have they which love thy law …” (Psalm 119:165). It is “wondrous” (verse 18). It illuminates a peaceful, happy, rich way of life that will transform this entire world into a paradise—and we can live that way today!

Malachi 4:4 says to remember the Torah—referring specifically to God’s commandments. “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb [or Mount Sinai] for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” Remember what happened on Mount Sinai, recorded in the Torah: God made the Old Covenant and gave Israel a constitution, and He became its Leader. God emphasizes the law, and He came down personally to let the Israelites come to know Him and what He is really like.

Our Husband delivered the law anciently on the day of Pentecost, the holy day that pictures our marriage to Him! You are not going to marry Jesus Christ if you don’t love and practice the law! Law-keeping is our Husband’s supreme concern. And He gave us the Holy Spirit (also on Pentecost) to empower us to keep the law. Anciently, Israel didn’t want to keep God’s law. In the New Testament, however, God has given us the Holy Spirit so we can learn to really love His law and become expert at keeping it!

That law existed long before Mount Sinai. It was there for man from the beginning. But at Sinai, God emphasized it dramatically when He wrote the law with His finger in stone. The millions of Israelites witnessed ear-splitting crashes of thunder and blinding light, the mountain quaking mightily, smoke belching everywhere—and it all came from the fire of God Himself! The Almighty God came down to that mountain and spoke so powerfully that the Israelites feared—they wanted Moses to speak with them rather than God (Exodus 20:18-19).

That is the most dramatic part of the Torah, by far! Shouldn’t we emphasize the law the way God does?

Even Spurgeon recognized that Psalm 119 represents the attitude that righteous people have toward God’s law. “The law of the Lord is not irksome to them; its commandments are not grievous, and its restrictions are not slavish in their esteem,” he wrote. “It does not appear to them to be an impossible law, theoretically admirable but practically absurd, but they walk by it and in it. They do not consult it now and then as a sort of rectifier of their wanderings, but they use it as a chart for their daily sailing, a map of the road for their life-journey.” This is good, practical observation! The Bible is a chart and a map showing us where to go! Most people lack that map, so they don’t know where they are going!

“This first verse is not only a preface to the whole psalm, but it may also be regarded as the text upon which the rest is a discourse,” Spurgeon continued. Just as this thought begins the psalm, “so should young men begin their lives, so should new converts commence their profession, so should all Christians begin every day. Settle it in your hearts as a first postulate and sure rule of practical science that holiness is happiness, and that it is our wisdom first to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” How true that is! (Matthew 6:33). God’s way truly is the blessed and happy way. Holiness is happiness!

“Blessed [happy] are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways” (Psalm 119:2-3). We are happy if we keep and treasure God’s testimonies—searching the Scriptures and coming to love them—and we seek God with the whole heart. “God’s Word is His witness or testimony to grand and important truths which concern Himself and our relation to Him,” Spurgeon wrote about verse 2. This is all about having a relationship with God our Father! “[T]his we should desire to know; knowing it, we should believe it; believing it, we should love it; and loving it, we should hold it fast against all comers” (ibid). We have to fight for this wonderful truth God has given us, or Satan will take it away! But if you do these things, as verse 3 shows, that will keep you from sinning.

“Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently” (verse 4). We must not obey God carelessly, but diligently, with all attention and effort. That is how Jesus obeyed, voluntarily submitting Himself with perfect attention throughout His life.

Words of a Repentant Man

After these initial statements, Psalm 119:5 shows clearly that these are the words of a repentant man: “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!” This is what Jeremiah yearned for. He sought perfection but was deeply aware of his frustrating failure. How fickle is the human heart, subverting our determination to obey God. But how happy we are when our ways are directed, firmly set to keep God’s law!

This is what we are all aiming to accomplish—and we need God’s help! Jeremiah prays for that throughout the psalm. We must recognize our inadequacy and cry out for help in performing that which we are unable to do.

“Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments” (verse 6). Sin is shameful. Jeremiah was ashamed of his faithlessness. Every bit of shame in our lives comes from not obeying God! When Adam and Eve sinned, they became ashamed and hid from God. How wonderful to never experience such shame! The righteous are bold as a lion! (Proverbs 28:1). That is what Jeremiah was aiming to be.

“I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly” (Psalm 119:8). He feared God—and feared God forsaking him! He didn’t take God’s mercy for granted. That is easy to do—because we receive so much mercy from God. We must never take that for granted. Look how many people have fallen and lost everything—95 percent of God’s people in this Laodicean era!

Like Jeremiah, we need to seek God out daily, reaffirm our commitment to keeping His statutes, and ask for His mercy, His favor and presence.

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (verse 9). How is a young man to cleanse his way in this unclean world? God’s Word spells it out. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (verse 11). If we allow God’s Word to penetrate to our core, it will help us avoid sin. If you have been begotten by our Father and practice this way continually, you will be preparing to rule the whole world!

‘Teach Me’

“With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments” (Psalm 119:10). God commands that we love Him with our whole heart (Deuteronomy 6:5). Jeremiah put his whole heart into seeking God—yet he knew he was a fickle human being still prone to going astray. In that moment of crisis, he had doubted God! Don’t let me wander, Jeremiah said. Keep a tight rein on me! He cried out for God’s help!

We all have this inconstant, distractible, vagabond tendency. We need to seek God with our whole heart—then cry out for help to master that defect.

“Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes” (Psalm 119:12). How blessed God is because of His perfect character, perfect love! Recognize this, then pray, like Jeremiah, “Teach me.” Jeremiah repeats this bold request throughout this psalm (verses 26, 33, 64, 66, 68, 108, 124, 135). Do you really want God to teach you?

In verse 24 he says, “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.” Your testimonies counsel me, Jeremiah says. They tell me what’s right and what’s wrong and how I should conduct myself to become a king or a prince. Royalty—that is what God is transforming all of His people into.

“Make me to understand the way of thy precepts,” he writes (verse 27). This is even more insistent than “teach me”! Push aside whatever hindrances you may find in me! he is saying. “[G]ive me understanding …” (verse 125). God must open our mind to truly understand His law, and we need to be asking that He does so.

“With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth” (verse 13). Jeremiah really knew the law, and he talked about it.

Verses 14-16 have a poetic connection. This stanza is based on the Hebrew letter that signifies the preposition “in.” These three verses start with “in.” The Hebrew reads, “In the way of your testimonies” he rejoiced; “In your precepts” he meditated; “In your statutes” he delighted.

“I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways” (verse 15). Jeremiah stopped and thought deeply on the details of God’s laws. “Have respect” also means to contemplate. Jeremiah repeats this idea in verses 48 and 78. To truly know God’s Word, we must think about it. If we are to grasp God’s Word and fall in love with the Bible, we have to meditate. We must think deeply about God’s Word. That is difficult. There is real mental work involved. We have to keep recommitting our thoughts to it, pushing out what draws us away. But sticking with meditation brings the greatest rewards. Truly thinking about God’s Word helps us respect it more.

“O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (verse 97). To come to truly love God’s law, meditation is essential. When we really think deeply about this law of love, it fills our life with love!

“I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation” (verse 99). This verse also points to Jeremiah’s authorship of this psalm. It seems presumptuous for David to have said this about his teachers, men like Samuel and Nathan. But it fits Jeremiah perfectly. Everything indicates he did not have good teachers. Even during righteous Josiah’s reign, the priesthood was corrupt (Jeremiah 3:6). Before Jeremiah was on the scene, God had to use a prophetess, which He only does when there are no men He can use to do that job (2 Kings 22:14). Perhaps this is partly why God worked with Jeremiah from the womb: It was the only way to raise up a prophet in that unrighteous society.

We have been called out of the world as lowly people (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)—but we are rising spiritually with knowledge and understanding of God and this world and human nature. That spiritual instruction gave Jeremiah greater understanding than all his teachers! Realize just how much we know about solving the problems of this world! Other people simply do not have those solutions.

“My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word” (Psalm 119:148; New King James Version). Jeremiah even meditated on God in the middle of the night!

“My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times” (verse 20). That is an intense longing for God’s judgments! “My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word” (verse 81). Jeremiah intensely longed and yearned for salvation. His emotion was so strong that he grew weak from longing. What upheld him was hope in God’s Word. Trust totally in God, and we become a people of hope in a hopeless world.

Love God’s Rule

The fourth stanza’s letter is commonly used in the Hebrew word for “way,” which forms a theme in these verses (see Psalm 119:26, 27, 29, 30, 32). “I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me” (verse 30). What wonderful blessings we bring into our lives when we make that choice as Jeremiah did.

This stanza ends, “I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart” (verse 32). God describes the Christian life as a walk: We walk by faith; we walk with God. But sometimes we need to run! We must flee fornication. Lay aside the weight of sin so we can run our spiritual race. And when God exposes a lack of faith, run to correct the problem like Jeremiah did!

Jeremiah wouldn’t just walk God’s way—he would run! But he needed God to enlarge his heart, to broaden his understanding. When you are thinking like Jeremiah here, you have a marvelous attitude toward God and toward people, and you serve in every way you can. You are an example and an ambassador of God Himself—and you run God’s way!

“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments …. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies …. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way” (verses 35-37). What a marvelous prayer: Make me do right—turn my heart—direct my eyes to where they should go! Jeremiah truly wanted God to rule him—even the inclinations of his heart! Jeremiah plainly saw the limits of the flesh—the war of the wills present within him. He wanted to subject his will completely to God!

You see this language throughout Psalm 119. “[L]et me not wander …” (verse 10). “Make me to understand …” (verse 27). “Order my steps in thy word …” (verse 133). He didn’t just ask God, “Guide my life,” but, Direct my every step! We tend to assert our own will even in little ways. This is, “Thy will be done” in every step I take! If God doesn’t order our steps, then we wander off our own way. Either God rules our life—or sin does!

“Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared” (verse 38; English Standard Version). When God fulfills His promises, that should increase our fear of God. Jeremiah actively nurtured that right and proper fear.

“Let thy mercies come also unto me. O Lord, even thy salvation, according to thy word” (verse 41). Six times in this psalm, Jeremiah specifically prays for God’s mercy. Also, in verse 156, he writes, “Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord ….” We need God’s mercies! That is the only way we can receive God’s salvation. The beautiful thing is, if we focus on serving God and His Work, those miraculous blessings will come. But we can still ask for them.

Jeremiah’s Determination

Jeremiah was definitely asking for God’s help in purging the sin from his life. But he also made many statements expressing his determination to follow and obey God.

“So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever” (Psalm 119:44). Nothing can pull me away from obeying you! This is the goal: God is reproducing Himself—creating more eternal beings who keep His eternal law. Jeremiah had long-term vision and extraordinary determination to make such a bold pronouncement. By keeping God’s law, you are living and practicing the way that you will be keeping forever. There is spectacular vision in God’s law and in keeping it.

“I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments” (verse 106). Jeremiah nailed his colors to the mast. He didn’t hold back or equivocate. He didn’t say, I’ll do my best to keep your law—I’ll really try. He showed godly resolve. God is determined to do the right at whatever cost.

“I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. … I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me” (verses 16, 93). Think of these verses in light of Psalm 89. There, Jeremiah accused God of breaking His covenant! Here, he says, I will not forget your Word! What boldness! Jeremiah was determined not to commit that sin again. He set himself to etch God’s words permanently in his mind.

How to follow through? Forgetting is easy, as this Laodicean era proves. Jeremiah started with the resolution he expressed here, but this whole psalm shows how he followed through: He etched these words on his mind through effort and repetition. He did it by delighting himself in God’s statutes, truly setting his affection on them. When you genuinely delight in something, that forms a deep impression in your mind and cements it in your memory. Jeremiah directed his heart to love God’s Word, which fixes it in the mind. Of course, being human, nothing is permanent; all requires maintenance. Such righteous delight, and determination to remember, must be continually renewed.

“I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed” (Psalm 119:46). Can we be so bold? Could you stand before kings, unashamed of God’s law of love that will rule Earth and the universe? We all have weakness and cowardice to fight and overcome. But we must never be ashamed of God.

The seventh stanza uses the Hebrew letter that begins the important word “remember,” which is a theme of this section (verses 49, 52, 55).

“The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law. I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; and have comforted myself” (verses 51-52). Even when we are being persecuted or in trial, God’s law brings genuine comfort into our lives, real peace and rejoicing. Think on that, and you clearly see what a massive change is coming to this world very soon.

“Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage” (verse 54). He knew he was just a sojourner in this world, like Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-9). This world in which we travel hates the law! But on his journey, he wrote and sang songs about God’s law! And in God’s Church today, we sing songs based on these psalms all the time.

Think on Your Ways

“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies” (Psalm 119:59). Clarke’s Commentary explains “I thought on my ways” this way: “I deeply pondered them; I turned them upside down; I viewed my conduct on all sides. The word, as used here, is a metaphor taken from embroidering, where the figure must appear the same on the one side as it does on the other; therefore, the cloth must be turned on each side every time the needle is set in, to see that the stitch be fairly set. Thus narrowly and scrupulously did the psalmist examine his conduct; and the result was a deep conviction that he had departed from the way of God and truth.” That is penetrating self-examination. We all need to think on our ways as Jeremiah did: Scrutinize the way we do things; examine every ounce and iota of ourselves; look for secret faults so we can better apply God’s thinking and way of life.

Once you have examined yourself and deeply studied God’s testimonies, here is what comes next: “I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments” (verse 60). Race to obey! Don’t delay to deepen your commitment to God’s law of love. Be urgent about it.

“At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments” (verse 62). When you awaken in the middle of the night, it takes a deeply spiritual mindset to rise up to give God thanks! But considering all that He has given us, wouldn’t you say He deserves that kind of attention?

The Hebrew word for “good” begins with the letter forming the ninth stanza of this psalm (verses 65-72). Five of these verses begin with this word (verse 65, translated “well”; verses 66, 68 and 71, translated “good”; and verse 72, translated “better”).

Jeremiah was thankful God tested him—so he could see his sin. “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (verse 67). What a powerful statement: This repentant man knew that he had gone off track! But God tried and tested him and exposed the error of his ways. Jeremiah recognized where he was wrong, turned things around, and kept God’s Word. What great purpose there is in trial and test: It brings us closer to God!

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. … I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me” (verses 71, 75). These psalms say quite a lot about being afflicted. We all experience afflictions. Here is a marvelous example of a spiritual perspective on them and a right response. This is the total trust God is looking for! This is thinking like Christ, knowing that God watches over everything and maintaining a “thy will be done” attitude. Even when you don’t understand why God is allowing some trial, trust that He is doing what is best for you, for your own good.

“They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word” (verse 74). God’s Word gave Jeremiah hope, and that spread gladness to God-fearing people. We must learn to fear God; this gives us hope—living hope!

“Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live …” (verses 76-77). This is the way to real life—to a wonderful life. Jeremiah said this three times in this psalm (also verses 17 and 116). We must recognize that our life on Earth is merely a brief chemical existence. God wants us to grasp our monumental purpose here on Earth. With God’s Holy Spirit, you really come to life and learn to live and rejoice and have hope! (Request our free booklet by Herbert W. Armstrong Just What Do You Mean … Born Again? for an explanation of the Holy Spirit.) You are really living for the first time, and it is for a great purpose and leads you right into the Family of God! That is what Jeremiah is saying here. Oh, how this world needs this message! People need desperately to be directed by God’s law of love.

In verse 78, Jeremiah speaks of the persecution and alienation he suffered from the proud and perverse. Then he writes, “Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies” (verse 79). He wanted to keep company with law-keepers and those who feared God.

“All thy commandments are faithful: they [people of the world] persecute me wrongfully; help thou me. They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts” (verses 86-87). No matter how much persecution we may suffer, we can put our complete confidence in God and His law, and we must never forsake it.

Men like Jeremiah were looking to God and going to Him all the time. They left a wonderful example showing why we are here on Earth and how to make the most of this physical life.

“Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction” (verse 92). That is a strong statement and one we need to think about. We must love God’s law, or we will perish in our affliction! If we don’t love God’s law, somewhere along the line we are going to perish. We all have affliction, and God tests us. But if we don’t love God’s law, then that affliction will become too burdensome, and we will simply grow tired of it. But if we love God’s law, then we can rejoice—even in that affliction! In fact, if you love God’s law, you will gain everything.

The Sweetness of God’s Words

“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103). This should be our approach to Bible study. How sweet are those words! How much they enhance our success and our understanding in life.

“I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil” (verse 162). The excitement of a man unexpectedly finding great wealth is far greater than that of a rich man who takes his riches for granted. Jeremiah had lived his whole life with the spiritual wealth of God’s Word—yet he grew in his excitement for it. He had the fresh thrill of the man who finds great spoil. This should be the emotion we build in our daily Bible study and meditation of God’s Word. People in the world don’t see it that way, but that law truly causes rejoicing and gives meaning to our lives.

“Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. … I hate vain [divided] thoughts: but thy law do I love” (verses 104, 113). Mr. Armstrong once said he hated a carnal attitude; yet he also estimated that he was only 51 percent spiritual. So he hated a lot about himself! If we truly see our own hearts, we will as well. But he kept growing and growing throughout his life, and God was able to use him powerfully. He was a wonderful example for all of us.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (verse 105). With that lamp, we really see where we are going. How wonderful that is!

“Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart” (verse 111). Through His testimonies, we learn all about God: His character, His power, His justice, His wisdom. Jeremiah considered those testimonies his heritage, his special possession, his inheritance. We must not underestimate its value. It is a priceless spiritual education—but it must be taken. We must go after it. It is there for the taking!

“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (verse 130). God’s words illuminate everything! Light breaks forth, and we see and we understand. If you don’t know, you don’t have to wait long. When people who know little about the Bible come into the Church, from “the entrance” they begin to see light. Soon God’s firstfruits will be teaching billions of people who will know virtually nothing in the beginning, but that glorious light will dawn and understanding will illuminate their lives!

Grieving Over Lawlessness

“Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (Psalm 119:136). Jeremiah was an emotional man, and he wept many tears because of people’s lawlessness. He shed a river of tears over the profound suffering this world experiences because it has rejected God’s law! What about us? Look around at this world! There is so much misery and suffering because of people’s attitude toward law! They call it freedom, but they are in bondage (John 8:34; Romans 6:16; 2 Peter 2:19).

Again, this verse underscores Jeremiah’s authorship and the connection with Lamentations. In Lamentations 3:48, he wrote almost the same words. In Jeremiah 9:1, he said, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” Many of these were prophecies, and he saw that people would be slain. That unusual vision moved him. He had a deep emotional response to what would befall Judah and Israel in this end time. See also Jeremiah 13:17, where he cried over a vision of a captivity to happen in our day.

God prophesies this fate for His lukewarm saints, the Laodiceans (Revelation 3:14-22). God’s faithful saints know many of the Laodiceans by name. Do tears run down our face when we think of the people we have known and loved? Do we have the emotion in our lives that Jeremiah had when he saw that they were going into captivity? Sometimes it is a little hard to even relate to how emotional this man was, but we need to be more like him.

“Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law” (Psalm 119:53). The wickedness of this world seized Jeremiah and stirred hot emotions—distress, indignation and fury—within this righteous man!

“Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights. … I cried with my whole heart …” (verses 143, 145). We all can relate to that. God allows and even brings trouble and anguish at times, but that is more precious than gold because they refine us. And Jeremiah responded beautifully by delighting in God’s commandments.

God’s Reliability and Faithfulness

Another strong theme Jeremiah lingers on throughout Psalm 119 is God’s reliability and faithfulness. After his lapse in faith, he kept reminding himself of this.

“All thy commandments are faithful …” (verse 86). All of them are true, good and sure, worth following at any cost. We must trust God’s Word 100 percent. “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (verse 89). That marvelously expresses complete faith in what God says. Man’s word is subject to contingencies and limitations; circumstances can change dramatically; even the earth can quake and shift. But in heaven, God is the same yesterday, today and forever; He cannot lie, and His Word is 100 percent reliable and beyond dispute—forever! This psalm is the result of Jeremiah learning this lesson more deeply.

“Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth” (verse 90). Earth is the most permanent thing we can see. We can walk on ground for which we have thousands of years of historical record. And this impressive planet is part of an incomprehensibly vast universe billions of years old—it abides! But it is merely the work of the Creator who preexisted all of it, and whose glory far exceeds it. His faithfulness is unto all generations. Never has it failed; never has He broken a promise. We can rely on Him today just as surely as our fathers a hundred generations ago.

“My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments” (verse 120). Here is more of the spirit of repentance. This is a right kind of fear, a godly fear. It is easy to relegate God to the corner of our thinking or assume He is smiling down on everything we do. The reality is that God is to be feared! His Word is to be believed, and we should tremble at it.

“Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful. … Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it” (verses 138, 140). This world is saturated in impurity. All is fake; all is about appearances. Our human nature puts up false fronts and pretenses. God is the opposite! His Word is totally pure—tried and refined (Psalm 12:6). His is the way of sincerity and truth. We should love it all the more because of the curses in this impure world.

“Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth” (Psalm 119:142). God’s righteousness is not a burst of positive energy followed by a lull. God does not grow weary. He has been thinking, speaking and living the way of righteousness for eternity and will continue to—His is an everlasting righteousness. That is what He wants to create in us. We must never weary in well doing. Continually seek God for strength in exercising and growing in His unchanging, unflagging, everlasting righteousness.

“The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live. … [A]ll thy commandments are truth. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever” (verses 144, 151-152). What is true today will always be true. After having lost faith in God’s covenant with David, Jeremiah thought deeply on this. What a blessing to be able to study this knowledge that people will be studying in the World Tomorrow and beyond.

“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” (verse 160). Every one of God’s judgments is just as true, relevant, practical today as when it was written. Everything in Satan’s world is ephemeral, and he wants us lost in the present. God wants to expand our vision backward and forward—both history and prophecy. God’s testimonies have been founded forever. We know truths that have always been and always will be. They connect us to eternity, both past and future.

‘I Shall Live’

The stanza for Psalm 119:137-144 begins with the Hebrew letter whose name is similar to the word for “righteous,” which Jeremiah builds on as a theme (verses 137, 138, 142, 144).

“The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live” (verse 144). Notice his absolute confidence: He knew that spiritual understanding of God’s righteous, everlasting testimonies was unequivocally the path to real life!

“Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments” (verse 164). Have you ever counted the times you praised God because of His righteous judgments? What an attitude you must have to do that. God’s judgments are truly worthy of praise! We all need to grow in this spirit of praising God many times daily. We need to say it and mean it—and repeat it again and again.

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (verse 165). The New International Version reads, “nothing can make them stumble.” The Hebrew literally says, “They have no stumblingblock.” If you really love God’s law, it gives your life great peace and stability. You will be maturing and growing in wisdom, and you will be able to weather all kinds of slights, offenses and storms.

“My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly. I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee” (verses 167-168). What love Jeremiah had for God! He knew God was watching everything he did, and that motivated him to live righteously.

“My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness” (verse 172). He didn’t just think about these things—he loved to share them with others; he fellowshiped about God’s Word.

“I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me” (verses 174-175). There it is again, in a different setting: asking God for real life. How God’s judgments help us to live as we should!

Make Use of This Psalm

Oh, the depth of this psalm! It truly is the product of a man who devoted himself to God throughout his life. This was a man who had a serious spiritual lapse—and then repented deeply and came to truly, deeply trust God, and love God and God’s law like never before. This was a man who captured the spirit of David in a special way that enabled God to use him for a marvelous purpose, preserving the very throne of David.

“This sacred ode is a little Bible, the Scriptures condensed,” Spurgeon wrote, “Holy Writ rewritten in holy emotions and actions.” In the writings of Jeremiah and David, you can see and feel their emotions, and following that, you see their actions. They studied God’s law and filled their minds with it through penetrating meditation. But it was not mere head knowledge: They then lived by it! That truth transformed their hearts into hearts and lives after God’s own!

God especially wants us in this end time to know all about this psalm because we are transitioning into the World Tomorrow! That glorious world is almost here! Christ wants people who really know the law so we can teach the people in this lawless world. They need to be able to see joy and happiness coming into their lives from the very beginning.

Make vigorous use of this precious psalm among psalms!

Inset: How to Fall in Love With the Bible

In An Account of the Life and Death of Mr. Philip Henry, Matthew Henry wrote this about his father: “Once, pressing the study of the Scriptures, he advised to take a verse of Psalm 119 every morning to meditate upon, and so go over the psalm twice in the year, and that (said he) will bring you to be in love with all the rest of the Scriptures ….” What a beautiful statement and good insight from a man who lacked God’s Holy Spirit. He was carnal, but he studied the Bible and thought far more about the law than most people do today.

How many of us would take on a study of Psalm 119? Meditate on a single verse each morning, thinking through the whole psalm twice in a year—and you will fall in love with the rest of God’s Word! That study will have a real impact on you and deepen your love for the whole Bible! Herbert W. Armstrong and his wife fell in love with the Bible, and we certainly should as well.

Look at how much a man like Charles Spurgeon got out of this study. How much more must we get out of it? This has to be a passion for us to really appreciate and thank God for His law, and to study it and know it.

Continue Reading: Chapter Four: What Jeremiah Accomplished in Ireland