Saturday, January 20
The Battle is the LORD’s
Psalm 119:113-120
SAMEKH
113 I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.
115 Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my God!
116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes continually.
118 You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, For their deceit is falsehood.
119 You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.
Psalm 119:113-120 is the fifteenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “SAMEKH”, in the Hebrew Bible. It is obvious from this passage that the psalmist is dealing with the enemy of his fellowship with the LORD, who is trying to drag him back into the world with his lies and deceit. If the life of faith consisted only of meditating on the Word and loving God, life would be easy, but people of faith have enemies, and life in this world is not easy. "Through many tribulations we enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Like the ten faithless men who spied out Canaan, if we look only at the enemy and ourselves, we will be discouraged and want to quit. But if like Caleb and Joshua, we look to the Lord, we can conquer the enemy (Num. 13:27-33).
In my Bible I have a name written next to verse 113 that reminds me of something that took place over 27 years ago in our ministry. I was the new pastor at Rainbow Forest in Troutville and at that time I would have everyone stand for the reading from God’s Word and we were reading eight verses each Sunday from Psalm 119. That particular Sunday we were reading Psalm 119:113-120. There was a dear lady who was a first time visitor in attendance and when we read, “I hate the double-minded..”, she was stricken with conviction that she was a double-minded person and needed to get right with the LORD. She called me that week and came in to talk with us and she received the Lord as her Savior and dedicated her life to Him. She later went overseas as a missionary and was wonderfully used of the Lord to touch many people. Wow! One verse from this passage changed a whole lot of lives for the glory of God!
In these verses the psalmist gives us four assurances that will help us face the enemy with courage and win the battle. First, we can be assured that God protects His people (vv. 113-115). The "double-minded" were the people who were undecided and therefore uncommitted to the Lord (1 Kings 18:21; James 1:8; 4:8). Today, we would call them "halfhearted." The psalmist knew that his shelter and shield was the Lord alone, and he trusted in Him. He is not hiding in the Lord from fear of facing the enemy, because he addresses the enemy in verse 115. Only in the Lord could he find the help he needed. The Lord protects us that He might equip us to face the enemy and fight the battle. The psalmist had his heart set on the Lord (v. 112), so there was no need to reconsider the matter. It was settled!
Second, we can be sure that God upholds the obedient (vv. 116-117). The word “uphold” in verse 116, is sometimes translated “sustain”. “Sustain" pictures the believer leaning on the Lord for support and rest, while "hold me up" in verse 117, gives the idea of giving aid and refreshment. When we feel like falling down and just giving up, the Lord comes to our aid in ways we could never fully understand.
Next, we need to remember that God rejects the wicked (vv. 118-119). God's people in the Old Testament fought their enemies with swords and slings, but God's people today use the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12). It is a conflict between truth and lies, and God's truth must prevail. The writer described the enemy as sheep that had gone astray (vv. 10, 21, 176) and as cheap dross that must be discarded (Prov. 25:4; 26:23; Isa. 1:22, 25). God in His judgments purifies the saints but reveals the wickedness of the sinners, the way the refiner's furnace reveals the dross (Jer. 6:28-30; Ezek. 22:18-19; Mal. 3:2-3). "Their deceitful is falsehood" (v. 118) means that the thoughts and plans of the wicked are based on lies, but they are only deceiving themselves because their plans will fail.
Finally, we should keep in mind that God alone should be feared (v. 120). The fear of the Lord is the fear that conquers every fear. "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Heb. 13:6). This takes us back to verse 113: if we are single-minded, we will fear only the Lord and trust Him. "The battle is the LORD’s” (1 Samuel 17:47).
God bless!