Psalm 119
I’ve been reading Psalms and now adding a bit of Matthew to my daily devotions. It’s always thought-provoking to recognize parallel messages in the New and Old Testaments and ponder how they converge.
What is the psalmist getting across in these passionate 176 verses?
I’m moved by the earnestness, the zeal, and the sincere love conveyed by this writer. And he’s not just declaring love for God as a being, but love for God’s word, will, righteousness, and law.
Most Christians I have encountered do not pay much attention to Old Testament law, since we are not required to follow the letter of the law. Instead, we respond in life spiritually, having had the spirit of the law imprinted on our souls.
This psalm was written before the kingdom of God came to earth with the presence of Christ or the New Covenant was ratified by his sacrifice on the Cross. Yet the Old Covenant psalmist doesn’t see the law and commandments of God as something burdensome. He celebrates them as the most beautiful and praiseworthy reality he knows.
Scanning through even a few verses of this very long Psalm reveals that the word, law, statutes, and commandments of God had become for him:
• A sure and solid standard for living
• Instruction for staying pure and avoiding sin
• A source of great rejoicing and delight
• The key to freedom
• His guide to wisdom
• His only hope in a hostile world
• His greatest treasure
• And much more…
As a musician, I especially love the summary statement of verses 34-36, rendered thusly in the New Living Translation:
Your principles have been the music of my life throughout the years of my pilgrimage. I reflect at night on who you are, O LORD, and I obey your law because of this. This is my happy way of life: obeying your commandments.
Did you catch that? Obeying God is a musical, reflective, and happy way of life. It is not captivity, but freedom. It is not a death march, but a dance.
I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments (v.45).
The Gospel of Matthew
John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, was sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah. John’s message to the crowds was pretty simple:
Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near (3:2).
Anyone who received and believed John’s message was baptized in the Jordan and became a disciple.
Soon, some religious teachers of the Sadducees and Pharisees came to be baptized. John called these teachers of the Law a brood of snakes (3:7). He rebuked them,
Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say, ‘We’re safe—we’re the descendants of Abraham.’ That proves nothing…every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire (3:8,10).
With these rather harsh words (John didn’t mess around), John teaches all of us, not just those present that day, that knowing the law and being part of a religious community does not impress God. He’s looking for fruit.
God loves fruit. What kind of fruit? This bounces us back to Psalm 119. The enraptured psalmist, being a flawed human, understood that he couldn’t perfectly obey the law and commandments he claimed to love so much. But he wanted to very much.
This heartsick poet wanted very badly to live a life that bore the fruit of obedience—of turning away from sin and turning toward God, as John later put it, so that he could look forward to the joyous benefits of residing in the Kingdom of Heaven.
What about us?
In 2026, we worship and serve the same God the psalmist and John the Baptist worshipped, and we respect the same teachings and commandments he gave, old and new.
Though we, like those men and women of old, will never get it perfectly right, we want to want to get it as right as we can, as modeled by our Savior Christ and guided by the sanctifying Spirit he sent. Not by keeping the law, but by bearing the fruit of our love for God and his word.
We bear fruit to the glory of the Father (Jn. 15:8). Fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here, there is no conflict with the law (Gal. 5:5:22-23).
This is how we dance to his music, throughout the years of our pilgrimage here, while we await the full revelation of Christ’s kingdom.
