Psalm 119:155

Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

Salvation is far from the wicked. Even though the message of God's grace in salvation can be very close to each one, yet salvation itself can be so far away; because man's heart is alienated from God and is deceitful and desperately wicked. The heart seeks not the Lord (Romans 3:11). Our hearts seek only that which pleases the flesh, and our lusts bring sin alive and in the end brings death.

Without the initiating grace of God, man will continue in his wickedness, speaking of those things which he does not understand and continuing in his prideful heart doing only civil righteousness but cannot produce a righteousness unto salvation.

for they seek not thy statutes.  If only man could seek the rules of God, his commands to come unto him and to put trust in Jesus Christ, then he could bring himself to salvation; but man has his own congenital rules, those with which he is born. These rules guide his life, and they only can be his master. God's rules are too high and holy for a man, yet man must meet that highness and holiness before he can have salvation.

This is why salvation is completely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and his work in life and in death, knowing and being persuaded of Christ's will to be both satisfaction and sacrifice for the sins of everyone who will believe.

Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.  The Son of man sought me and bought me, and now I belong to Him. Thank God for his marvelous and abounding grace!  Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Psalm 119:154

Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

For David to ask God to plead his cause there must be a good cause. God would never help a cause that is evil. As a young man, David said, "Is there not a cause?" (I Sam. 17:29), and Moses brought Israel's cause before the LORD (Num. 27:5). If our cause is good and important to the furtherance of God's Gospel and Kingdom, then we can plead with God concerning our cause. Jesus Christ is our advocate (1 John 2:1), so He is in a position to intercede as our High Priest to God the Father in favor of His cause and our cause when our cause is in agreement with God's cause.

He also asked for deliverance. Not only is God our advocate, but he is also our Deliverer. Jesus said in Matt. 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. If we beg God for deliverance, it must be from evil unto good, for He will not intercede in our favor toward evil.

God is able, and many times willing, to deliver us. The ultimate deliverance is threefold:  2 Cor. 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

David then begs the Lord to quicken him. Two quickenings are revealed in Scripture. The first is the quickening of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, made alive:  Eph. 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; The other quickening is bringing a servant of God out of his affliction and into the care of the LORD:  Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.

Psalm 119:153

By Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

In the first part of this verse we see three important characteristics of God: His omniscience, His omnipresence, and His omnipotence.


In God's omniscience, He knows that we have afflictions, and not one of them goes by without His attention, even though we may feel that he has removed himself far away from us.


In God's omnipresence, He is ever present with us in our afflictions as in our peace and tranquility, as in our worship and praise and joy.


In God's omnipotence, He is able to deliver his saints from any and all afflictions, and he does so in one way or another: .2 Timothy 3:11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what perse- cutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.


It seems the psalmist is tending to think that God is not aware of his afflictions, so he asks God to consider his afflictions, but God is ever present in his afflictions; and, even though he may have known that, he desired to reassure himself of that very fact.


God's omnipotence is displayed in his faithful deliverance from these afflictions. God is not only able but is also willing to deliver his people from their afflictions.


The basis for David's willingness to ask God for deliverance was that he does not forget God's law, or his doctrine. He follows God's law and trusts God's law. He claims the promises of God's law (God's word) and depends upon it for instruction, correction, and comfort and peace.


Thus, David begs the Lord to consider his afflictions and deliver him from them. So God will do according to His own will and promise.

Psalm 119:152

David has known from a child that God's testimonies are sure and true, that by staying in them through reading and meditation he could understand that there are no other words like these holy words, that no other body of writings are so pure and everlasting, for they changed his heart and brought him comfort in times of sorrow and gave him joy through his many tears.

When he had sinned, these words restored his joy to him. When he was in battle, these testimonies assured him that God would be with him each time he entered into battle. He ate these words and digested them, he meditated upon these testimonies. He sang the testimonies of the Lord as he played his harp with cunning.

These can be none other than eternal words, which give rise to joy in the heart and assurance in the mind and energy to the feet. The ears, too, are anxious to hear these wonderful words, and they are like honey to the taste and like medicine to the inward being.

Yes, these testimonies shall be David's portion through his entire life, and he will die as an old man, anointing his son, Solomon, to be king of Israel, with the Messianic line in tact, and with comfort from these very testimonies which will carry themselves unchanged through the history of the world and shall rest in the end unchanged, unharmed but full of truth and glory to the God of heaven.

Psalm 119:151

Nearer My God To Thee

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

The Lord is very near us at all times, especially near to those whom he has saved by his grace; for He promised to be with them and never leave them nor forsake them.

Acts 17:27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

It is comforting to know that God is not elusive nor exclusively transcendent. He is to be known, though God must reveal Himself to us in order for us to know Him. He has revealed himself in nature and in the Bible. He also revealed Himself through his Son when He came to the earth, and He reveals Himself through the Spirit.

The commandments of God are truth. That is also a comforting thought. It is the truth that sets us free (John 8:32). It is the truth that is the foundation upon which churches are built and upon which believers depend for their way of life and their confidence of an inheritance with Jesus.

Those who pervert the truth are the ones who go away from God, and that is the reason they are not near him. They have gone the way of Cain and the gainsaying of Core (Jude 1:11).

Isaiah 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

May God come down to our souls, revive us again, and bring us to a Closer Walk With Thee. May we be faithful to serve God with diligence, hope, and endurance (patience). In that way our lives can be worthy and joyous.

Psalm 119:150

Away From God's Law

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

David's enemies pursue him; they "draw nigh" to him in order to kill him. They do this out of hunger for terror and mischief and evil. Their nature is so taken by depravity that they have allowed depraved tendencies to draw them far into the realm of sin. They hunt after mischief as a hunter hunts after a deer, and they are not satisfied until the deer is killed, or, in this case, until mischief has been tasted and David is dead.

There is evil in the world, and it comes from man's own depravity. A man sins when he is drawn away by his own lust (James 1:14). If a man is left to himself without any Christian instruction, he will fall deeper and deeper into himself and his own depravity and be tempted beyond nature and do things that abound above that which is right and proper.

At times it seems the world at large tends in this direction of going away, away from God's word, his standards, his principles, his guidelines, his instructions. Thus, the second part of this verse, which says, "They are far from thy law."

The law of God is pure and perfect. It is the standard for all men. Those who love it and obey it shall be blessed, but those who deny it and turn away from it shall suffer loss and will be filled with wickedness.

But a sinner can be changed from this disposition of wrath and evil and be brought to merciful and gracious peace through God and his word. We see this in the life of Saul of Tarsus as he pursued believers in Jesus Christ and the first church at Jerusalem to destroy it. He had torture and murder on his mind until Jesus came to him, opened his heart, and showed him his need. Then Saul, who later became Paul, surrendered to the will of God to suffer for the name of Jesus and for the sake of Christ' body, the church (Col. 1:24).

Here is a poem that I memorized, hearing it from Bro. Ralph Sears several years ago:

I walked life's way with an easy tread.

I followed where comforts and pleasures led

Until one day in a quiet place,

I met the Master face to face.

I saw Him and knew Him and blessed to see;

His eyes full of pity were fixed on me.

I stumbled and fell at this feet that day;

My castles all crumbled and vanished away.

Vanished away and in their place

None else could I see but the Master's face;

And I cried, "Oh, Lord, please make me meet

To follow the path of Thy wounded feet.

My mind is now on the souls of men;

I lost my life to gain it again.

E'er since that day in a quiet place

I met the Master face to face.

Psalm 119:149

Quicken Me

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

David did not call upon God due to his own merit or worthiness but according to the lovingkindness of God. David had no initial awareness of the need of calling upon God, nor did he have the ability to call upon God. It was all from the sovereign, unchangeable mercy of God that David called upon Him.

It is only by God's loving mercy stretched out to David that he could from his own deep spirit call truly unto the God of heaven, which required an approach that David did not possess unless prompted by God's grace.

His cry was "Quicken me according to thy judgment," Psalms 19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. God's judgments are both true and righteous

David, being in a downcast state, was asking for quickening as a believer, not as a lost sinner. He needed quickening in order to be brought out of his discouragement and dismay of life, for the reviving in fellowship and service with God, which most of us need, also.

Only the word of God can bring this kind of quickening. Notice Psalms 119:25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.