Psalms 119 Verse 51: Pride Challenges

Hidden Treasures of the 119th Psalm. Well, digging down again into the 51st verse today in the 119th Psalm. And let me start off by saying for those of you who were praying for that family member yesterday, they did not attempt suicide and we had a good couple chats yesterday afternoon and feel like, you know, we've made progress. God has certainly done a work and we're very, very grateful for that.

And certainly as a praise report that it seems like they're on the mend for right now. And so I'm grateful. But on this verse, the 51st verse, if we look, we're in the Zion section, the letter Zion in Hebrew, which often is thought of as being either a sword or a plowshare or a crown, which is all the verses in the Zion section start with this letter. And so this verse reads, The proud have had me greatly in derision, but I have not declined from thy law. So there are some words that for me in the King James Version are a little new.

I'm not that familiar with the word derision. And the word the way they use the word declined is a little bit hard to understand. So let's walk through that a bit to understand the verse and then see, you know, where we can go. But before I go into that, I want to say that the overarching thing I hope that that really is helpful to me as I'm memorizing the psalm, as I'm thinking about the psalm, that this being the third verse in the Zion section, in keeping with the Isaiah 11, seven anointings of each letter, this would be the anointing of counsel, which means, you know, getting put in the right direction.

And so not declining from thy law is a pretty good direction to go into. And so I hope you see that that's part of what this verse is designed to show us, the anointing of this part of the Zion. And the neat thing is that, again, the verse starts with that Zion because the word proud has a Zion in it. The proud have had me greatly in derision. And the word proud starts with a Zion because, you know, it very much is your sword.

It is your glory. But unfortunately, the second letter in the word proud in Hebrew is a dalit. And so it's kind of like you're lording your sword, your your abilities, your skills, your giftings over your neighbor.

And thus we have the word proud. And so these people in this case have are lording over this and they're having this almost in derision. And that word comes from, you know, people that and again, you'll hear it a lot. And a pilgrim's progress in deriding somebody deriding somebody is like mocking them. Interestingly, in the Bible, the word is often interpreted as the word interpreter. So somebody saying the same words that you're saying, but they're saying them in a way to make fun of you or to make little of you or essentially that I know better than you.

Look at this crazy things you're saying. And then the Psalms is saying, but I have not declined. And that word declined in Hebrew again is a beautiful concept of what it means to stretch your tent or to bend the bow. And so when you decline something like I decline a cup of coffee means I'm not going to turn away from it and that I am going to be.

If I have not declined it, in other words, I'm going to believe the law. But I like the way that the word is in Hebrew that they don't think it's a stretch. Right. So when I think about what the Psalms is saying here is, you know, so you think the world was made in seven days. That's a bit of a stretch. Well, what King David is saying is here. No, it's not a stretch. I'm not declining from the law.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, you you think the Red Sea really was parted and that the Egyptians were drowned. That's a bit of a stretch. Well, anything like that, that's hard for people to understand is beyond their understanding, then that they feel like it's a stretch.

Well, this is where the law comes in and this is where we can be obviously made fun of. So there's certainly one way to look at the verse. But what I want to take the opposite direction is that I would bet you that when you when you think about who derided Jesus, who were the ones that said, oh, you think you're God's son? Well, that's a bit of a stretch. Right.

Or you think you're going to bring this temple down in three days, you know, or build this temple in three days. That's a bit of a stretch. Those are the people that derided Christ were quite often the church people.

Unfortunately, which I'm I'm one of them. And it's pretty easy when you begin to think you understand the Bible or you begin to think I think you understand certain biblical concepts and whatever to become proud. It's just too easy. And that same letter that beautifully in the previous verses had to do with remembering. Right. Cutting through the clutter of your mind in order and using your gifting to focus on that, which is important in the word remember is now being used against us, so to speak, because we see ourselves as as as as bigger than other people when it comes to our own gifting.

Because clearly, you know, that was what God gave us. And so here's my my example, which is the reverse example, rather than thinking about when somebody was deriding me. Unfortunately, I have to think of when I deride, you know, certain friends of mine that, you know, I have some friends that are in the a cappella Church of Christ. And I don't understand that, honestly. And on occasion, once or twice on their conviction on not using musical instruments in order to worship. I didn't mean to do it completely, but it sure came out that way.

We're actually derided them and I could sense the offense that happened. And I certainly when I really look in my own heart, think, well, you know better than that, Robbie. You know, that's a stretch.

Well, the truth is, I don't know. Right. I mean, and clearly this person is a servant of God. The people that I know in the a cappella Church of Christ of some of them are my favorite wonderful saints.

Like like it says, and in Psalm 16, that your saints, the excellent ones and them, I'm completely delighted. Well, that that is the case for many people I know that have different views of of things. OK, but it's not my job to judge all that that's between them and God and all that other stuff. And their gifting puts them in that direction. But unfortunately, I so quickly go to that position of design, of being in my own gifting, thinking I know more than I really do.

Right. And so there is an opportunity, obviously, to see if people start deriding you, that you're not going to, you know, say that that's a stretch and stick to the law. But the other part of this verse is that, boy, I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be the proud and I don't want to deride people or make fun of them when it could be that they're the ones that are actually doing it. And and fortunately for them, they're not going to decline from their law.

The people that I know I'm doing that with. So a couple of different ways to look at the verse. But certainly I love the verse and I certainly think there's great wisdom. And as we talked about this, this is a council verse is telling you this is a direction to go. And in this case, not being proud is a direction not to go. Not deriding is a direction not to go. And then not believing that the God that the Torah itself, that the law is in any way, shape or form a stretch. There you go. Thanks for digging with me today in the 119th Psalm.