Key Verse: Verse 33-40 – “Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.” (vs. 33) “Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. (vs.34) “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.” (vs. 35) “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.” (vs. 36) “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.” (vs. 37) “Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.” (vs. 38) “ Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.” (vs. 39) “Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.” (vs. 40)
Key Words: me; my; mine
The psalmist is not only singing, he is also praying. His prayer involves at least seven requests.
- Teach me, verse 33;
- give me understanding, verse 34;
- make me to go in the path, verse 35;
- incline me...unto thy testimonies, verse 36;
- turn me, verses 37 and 39;
- stablish me in thy word, verse 38; and
- quicken me in thy righteousness, verse 40.
All of the psalmist’s requests are for God to make him “righteous.”
Donald Grey Barnhouse tells the following story about the righteousness of God.
“Along the Avenue Louise in Brussels are several stores that sell nothing but lace. I looked at the exquisite scarves, veils and handkerchiefs in the windows and decided to purchase a handkerchief for my mother. The two old sisters who ran the store showed me some handkerchiefs; I was rather astonished at the price and asked them if they could explain why they were so costly.
“It was a few months after World War I, and I still wore my army uniform. The ladies had no other customers at that time of day and seemed pleased to tell the young American officer about their wares. One of them spread a roll of black velvet on the counter, and then began to show the lace against this contrasting background. I was initiated into the mystery of bobbin lace, and a few knots were tied for me in order to show me the method of making it.
“Finally, they went to their safe and took out the marriage veil that had just been completed for the wedding of the Duchess of Brabant. Rather gingerly, I took hold of the edge of it – the thing was valued at over ten thousand dollars – and began to look at it more closely. One of the ladies immediately lifted the black velvet that I might use the contrasting background to bring out the intricacies of this Brussels rose-point lace. From that day on, I have always been interested in the beauties of lace, beauties which two old ladies taught me to comprehend against the blackness of the velvet.
“It is unquestionable that the glories of God’s love and mercy and righteousness and goodness, and tenderness – all of the attributes of His grace – are known by the fact that God took the black velvet of man’s sin and threw the web of His grace against it.”
What to do:
✞It would be good if we all asked the Lord to teach us, give us, make us, incline us, turn us, stablish (establish) us, and quicken us.
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