May Your loving kindnesses also come to me, O Lord,
Your salvation according to Your word;
So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me,
For I trust in Your word.
Psalm 119:41-42
Dan M. is filling in for Pastor Dan this week.
In Psalm 119, the author recognizes his total dependence on Scripture as the only infallible rule of faith and life. In verse 41″Thy salvation” explains exactly the meaning of “Thy loving kindnesses.” It is a word that is closely associated with God’s covenants. Deuteronomy 7:9, 2 Samuel 7:15, 22:51. Isaiah 16:5, “a throne will even be established in loving kindness, and a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; moreover he will seek Justice and be prompt in righteousness,” referring to the Davidic covenant and the promise of an eternal throne, that is Christ. The psalmist understands what is written in Proverbs 16:6, “by loving kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for.” All of this salvation is “according to Thy Word” because God is faithful to His covenant. What is to keep God from flooding the planet again? How do we know the promises to Abraham will be kept? What is the keep God from removing the House of David? The answer to all these questions is God’s faithfulness to his Word. This is where the psalmist places his trust, verse 42. For the one who “trusts in Thy Word,” that is reads it, knows it, and applies it will “have an answer for him who reproaches” the believer, 1 Peter 3:13-17. All of that theology of Scripture we looked at in the last six devotions is brought to bear here in Psalm 119 as this Old Testament saint seeks and finds the salvation of Christ in the promises of God’s loving kindness and puts his trust in it. Isn’t this what we have done as well? Are we not also completely dependent on God’s Word for the same things? Oh that we would see our need for God’s Word and its efficacy in our lives as the author of psalm 119 does.