God’s Word for You
Psalm 119:91-93 Scripture alone
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Sunday, September 29, 2024
91 Your judgments stand to this day,
for all things are your servants.
God’s command over the universe extends from the smallest to the greatest, from the nearest thing to the most distant; and from the most faithful of his dear children in the seen world all the way to the most vile of his enemies in the unseen world.
So while I am not a scientist, I am a theologian, and I can say with absolute certainty that upon a fleck of dust floating somewhere, anywhere at all—perhaps in the old garage of my childhood home back in the village of Poynette—that upon that speck, there is a tiny, infinitesimally small creature that does no one any harm at all. And somewhere out in space is a star so vast that our own sun and our world spinning around it would fit comfortably inside that gigantic star. But both that tiny mite and that huge, red supergiant star are subject to God, to his laws, and to his will. The difference between those things and me, one an object, the other a creature, is that they don’t transgress his laws. But I do. They give him glory with their very existence, as brief or as long as it may be. I fail in this constantly. They are flawed, if flawed they are, only because of sin in the world, some of which can be laid at my feet.
The theology of this statement comes out of the powerful but tiny word, ki (כִּי). This word, which we often translate “for” (or because, or since) shows the relationship between the two facts of the passage. How is it that we know and can be certain that God’s judgments stand to this day? It is כִּי “because” all things are God’s servants. Certainly we think of the angels and the saints and the mighty elements of wind and weather, but the tiny things are his servants, too.
92 If your law were not my delight,
then I would have perished in my affliction.
“Affliction” can mean any kind of affliction, disease, poverty, or distress. Without the Word of God (“your law”), any kind of affliction leads to distress, confusion, doubt, and deepens unbelief into open rebellion, rage and fury against God. This is what David means when he says, “I would have perished,” meaning perished in hell forever, since without God’s Word, a man becomes angry and a constant opponent against God. Consider how the demons react when they simply see Jesus, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” (Luke 4:34). Was the demon trying to mock Jesus, or to taunt him into some sort of spiritual battle? But Jesus simply had to say, “Be quiet,” and the creature fled from the child (4:35). Everything the devil does is meant to attack the faith of believers (Genesis 3:1; Job 1:11; Zechariah 3:1; Matthew 4:9). The devil is never the friend of man. He is always our enemy, and he should be treated as an unwelcome intruder wherever he turns up. The confusion, frustration and damnation of sinners is always his goal.
Remember the consolations God offers even in the middle of chastisement. He says through Isaiah to his sinning people, “From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and open sores” (Isaiah 1:6), but then he adds what healing is possible through the gospel: “cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.” The comfort, redemption and consolation of sinners is always his goal.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.
Remember that the precepts of God are his wise rules for guiding and governing the world (verse 4). For the Christian, the Ten Commandments do not only show our sins, but they are a guide for godly living. He uses these things so that we make godly choices, but also so that we can benefit from other people making godly choices that will be helpful and beneficial to us, through parents, employers, the government, one’s spouse, and so on. Through all of these things, he preserves us. But more than that, “he has preserved my life.”
The verb “preserved my life” (חִיִּיתָנִי) is a special (piel) form of the word “to live” (חָיָה). A similar form can mean “to cause to remain alive” (hifil, Genesis 6:19). But this form especially emphasizes the inevitable result of death, and the liberation of the believer from the sentence of eternal death through faith in Christ. For the Old Testament believer had the same faith that a Christian does today, except that theirs pointed always ahead, to the promised Savior who was then yet to come. The Christian looks back at the historical fact that Christ came, just as God always promised, and he rescued us from sin and guilt, preserving our lives forever in heaven.
We see in these verses how the Holy Ghost urges us to study and to search the Scriptures. All things are servants to God’s word and God’s holy will (verse 91). The Scriptures save us from damnation (verse 92). The Scriptures preserve us for everlasting life in heaven (verse 93). Luther said about the Psalms: “I think the Holy Ghost himself wanted to take the trouble to compile a short Bible and book of illustrations for all Christendom and all saints.” Nowhere else but in the Scriptures do we learn who the true God is, and how he has rescued us from sin. And in the Psalms, we have one of the clearest pictures of the coming Christ in the whole Old Testament apart from Isaiah. We are saved through grace alone; faith in Christ alone; faith that has come through the Scriptures alone.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.