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We’re looking at the fourteenth of twenty-two stanzas of Psalm 119 - verses 105 to 112 prefixed with the letter nun.

These verses, from the ESV®¹, interspersed with my comments are:

105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

• Perhaps the best known verse from this Psalm? Inspiration and lyric-source for the song Thy Word by Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith.
• An interesting metaphor that indicates the Lord illuminates both the path we should take and the position of our feet.
• Imagine being in the pitch dark then seeing an illuminated pathway some distance away. Knowing where the path is is one thing, but seeing the ground around us as we make our way to that path is another thing entirely. We need both.

106. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.

• The Psalmist here does something that no New Testament believer should consider doing - making or swearing an oath.
• In Old Testament times it was a common event to swear an oath or make a vow to keep or fulfill some promise. Abraham did it (Genesis 21:31, 24:1-9), Hannah did it (1 Samuel 1:11), Ezra did it (Ezra 10:5), likewise Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:12), David makes reference to it here, etc.
• Jesus takes a different view as expressed in Matthew 5:33-37. Jesus’ words are based on a fuller or more rounded understanding of the nature of God. He takes an Old Testament view and expands it by indicating that all we say should be with honesty, integrity and intent.

107. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word!

• Here the Psalmist seeks relief from ‘severe affliction’. As has been mentioned before, the nature of the affliction isn’t described here but could relate to people seeking David’s life or damaging his reputation.
• The relief he seeks is ’life’, but that could be physical rescue or escape, or restoration to a previous condition.
• And this relief, this rescue (or redemption or restoration or revival) is in accordance with God’s word. Whether this was a specific word or promise to David, or more general revelation, we don’t know. I would think the former more likely.

108. Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your rules.

• The Psalmist offers praise to the Lord, or at least has praised the Lord and then offers that to the Lord. Any praise that isn’t of the free will doesn’t seem like it would be of any value anyway.
• The Psalmist also seeks to have the Lord teach him His rules. It’s not in the form of a contract or exchange, but instead indicates a willingness both to praise the Lord and be taught God’s ordinances by the Lord.
• It describes a position of submission to and reverence for the Lord.

109. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.

• I presume this is a reference to David being on the run from Saul and his men, or under constant threat from potential usurpers or slanderers.
• Despite those constant threats, David maintains his love for and obedience to the word of God. In the words of Matthew Henry, ‘In the multitude of his cares for his own safety he finds room in his head and heart for the word of God’.

110. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.

• A continuation of the ideas from the previous verse. David is aware of people pursuing him and laying traps for him but he maintains his confidence in the word of the Lord.
• I don’t think David is considering taking action outside of God’s word, but that he remains obedient to it despite the many pressures he faces.
• It can be easy to let our guards down when under pressure, but David is declaring that he maintains his God-ward focus.

111. Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

• An interesting use or view on the word heritage where the Psalmist declares the Lord’s testimonies are his ‘heritage forever’. The Hebrew is the word nachal (H5157) and means to inherit or to occupy - something that has descended or been distributed.
• It raises the question in my mind as to what part God’s word will play in our lives in eternity. More than I had previously considered, I suspect. There will still be learning and education and growth in heaven. I don’t think we will automatically have perfect or complete knowledge.
• May I be able to echo David’s words that the Lord’s testimonies are ’the joy of my heart’.

112. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

• David here touches on something important - the role of the will. He inclines his heart to keep the Lord’s commandments. He indicates an intention to do something consistently.
• None of that precludes failures and lapses, but it is an orientation to reading, learning, studying, meditating and obeying the word of the Lord.
• And it is something David sees as being necessary forever. His obedience is based on love, not fear and it is eternal.

We’re looking at the thirteenth of twenty-two stanzas of Psalm 119 - verses 97 to 104 prefixed with the letter mem.

These verses, from the ESV®¹, interspersed with my comments are:

97. Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

• This is one of the better known and most frequently quoted verses from this Psalm.
• David’s love for and appreciation of the word of God was so great that he declares that it is the object of his meditation continually.
• I wouldn’t read this that David was meditating on Scripture all the time; but that he did meditate frequently and deeply on God’s word. And this frequency and depth of meditation was such that his thoughts and reflections on Scripture permeated his waking thoughts.

98. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.

• David refers to the word of the Lord in the singular - ‘commandment’ and ‘it’. He sees his knowledge and experience of the entire law of God as a single entity.
• I can see the logic of that because it is rare for us to know how, when and where we gained a particular nugget of wisdom. Sometimes we can recall a specific time or situation when we learned something, but generally we just seem to acquire it (or not).
• In the verse David is saying that his knowledge and understanding of the word of God (mainly acquired through meditation and obedience) gives him wisdom that his attackers and detractors don’t have. And it is an enduring advantage.

99. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

• The middle of three verses where the Psalmist compares his understanding or wisdom with his enemies (v. 98), his teachers (this verse) and the aged (v. 100).
• David takes no pride in his implicit knowledge or understanding, but only from what he understands from his meditation upon the Lord’s testimonies.

100. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

• David continues to compare his understanding with others. In this case he declares he understands more than the aged because he has kept the Lord’s precepts.
• It’s an interesting comparison. In our society age is often equated with wisdom (until the possible onset of dementia where the equation is no longer made).
• But here David equates understanding with obedience to God’s word - and that can be demonstrated at any age.
• Across these three verses we have seen a progression of how to approach God’s word - David has studied God’s word or law; he has meditated upon it; and he has sought to obey it as he understood it.

101. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.

• Describes how intention and will can play a part in obedience to God’s word.
• In order to keep the Lord’s word, the Psalmist indicates that he holds back his feet. He doesn’t willing go out of his way to join in with evil activities.
• Suggests to me that part of him wants to join with the evil activity - that his feet want to take him there, but his will overrides that desire.

102. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.

• The first clause is a declaration of David’s obedience - that he does not wilfully turn away from the Lord’s ordinances. He had in the past - and had suffered some very painful discipline with significant and enduring consequences.
• The second clause can be read in a couple of ways. Different translations put this as ‘for You Yourself have taught me’ and others ‘for You have taught me well’. The Amplified, NASB and NKJV have the first reading whereas the NLT has the latter. I’d opt for the former.
• David no longer wilfully sins because he has been taught and experienced the word and discipline of the Lord.

103. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

• Another well-known verse from Psalm 119 (though I suspect many who know the verse aren’t sure where it comes from).
• David describes the Lord’s words as ‘sweet’, with the metaphor that it is sweeter than honey. That may be an attractive comparison for those who like honey, but less engaging for those wo don’t. The idea of sweetness and honey is from the Hebrew for smooth, pleasant syrupiness or viscosity.
• David views the Lord’s commands and testimonies as smooth, pleasant and palatable.
• I’m not sure that I view all of the Lord’s word as pleasant and smooth all of the time.

104. Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

• The Psalmist declares his experience - that he gets understanding from the Lord’s precepts. The word translated as ‘understanding’ is the Hebrew biyn (H0995) and means to mentally separate or distinguish.
• The Psalmist then declares that, in light of this, he hates every false way.
• In the verse the psalmist is demonstrating exactly the type of understanding he speaks of - he is separating God’s way from false ways. He is distinguishing between his experience of knowledge and falsehood.
• As we read and meditate on the verse, we, too, can gain understanding of the importance of truth and holiness and Godly wisdom, and a glimpse of how they operate together.

Continuing on to record my reflections on a verse of Psalm 119 each day that began here and left off here.

We’re looking at the twelfth of twenty-two stanzas of Psalm 119 - verses 89 to 96 prefixed with the letter lamed.

These verses, from the ESV®¹, interspersed with my comments are:

89. Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

• This verse firstly contains the idea that the Lord’s words are for perpetuity - continuing forever.
• They are everlasting decrees - with effect and power and effective and effectual forever. Our laws and codes come and go with changes in technology, demographics, economics, ’enlightenment’, progress (good and bad).
• To be ‘firmly fixed in the heavens’ reinforces this idea of universal application and relevance. They are set over and above us. Visible, yet unchangeable.

90. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.

• One of the very few verses in the Psalm that doesn’t make some direct reference to the word of God (or testimony, or precept, or commandment, or law, etc). Verse 37 was the first.
• Continues the ideas of eternal endurance and immutability, but this time ascribing them to the Lord’s faithfulness and His commitment to His creation.
• Across these two verses what is eternal and immutable is both the efficacy of the word of God and His faithfulness.
• God’s faithfulness is seen in and demonstrated by His word.

91. By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants.

• It’s not clear to me what ’they’ are. Is it the word of the Lord (from verse 89) or the earth (from verse 90)? I assume from the plural that it is the law or statutes of the Lord that stand?
• Matthew Henry takes a different view - that the ’they’ are the heavens and the earth because ’the stability of the ordinances of the day and night, of heaven and earth, is produced to prove the perpetuity of God’s covenant.’
• He continues that this fulfills the covenant promise to Noah recorded in Genesis 8:22.
• The NASB contains the word ‘ordinances’ fulfilling the concept that the vast majority of verses in this Psalm make reference to God’s law in some way. The first clause reads, ‘They stand this day according to Your ordinances’.

92. If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.

• Draws a direct connection or benefit between delighting in the law and being saved or redeemed from affliction. We don’t know what the affliction was or how David was saved from perishing by delighting in the law.
• It raises the question of whether I delight in the Lord’s word.
• Matthew Henry makes the point that, whilst we are not kept from affliction, we can be kept from perishing in it - of being kept through it.
• Matthew Henry finishes his commentary on this verse by saying, ‘His converse with God’s law, and his meditations on it, were his delightful entertainment in solitude and sorrow. A Bible is a pleasant companion at any time if we please.’

93. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.

• A declaration by the Psalmist about the character of God’s word and the impact it has had on his life - the precepts of the Lord have given life to David, and, as a result, he declares to never forget God’s word.
• The word translated as ’life’ is the Hebrew chayah (H2421) usually translated as ‘revive’ and has shades of meaning covering nourishment, restoration or being made whole.
• The words or precepts of the Lord are the means of transmission of this revival or restoration but it is the Lord who is the source.

94. I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts.

• The Psalmist sees and makes a direction connection between belonging to God, God’s word, and redemption or salvation.
• The word ‘save’ is the Hebrew yasha (H3467) and at its root means to be open wide or free. By implication it contains the idea of being made free or preserved.
• I see this idea of seeking the Lord’s precepts to include reading, study, meditation and obedience. There must be both a study of God’s word as well as the desire and intent to apply it.

95. The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies.

• There have been a number of instances in this Psalm where David has lamented those who would seek to destroy his life and/or reputation and/or legacy and/or family and/or kingdom.
• The specific situation here is not known to us, but it may be a physical ambush that David was aware of or anticipating. Certainly there were occasions where Saul pursued David with murderous intent (1 Samuel 22 and 23 records some attempts).
• In the specific case of Saul’s pursuit of David, David’s response was shaped by the Lord’s testimonies (1 Samuel 24:6, 10).
• Our responses when we are suffering/attacked/persecuted must also be shaped by the Lord’s testimonies.

96. I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

• An interesting contrast is drawn between ‘all perfection’ and the Lord’s commandments.
• Matthew Henry says David had seen the strongest (Goliath), the swiftest (Asahel), the wisest (Ahithophel) and fairest (Absalom) all fail and fall; but David had also seen that the word of the Lord is eternal.
• The Amplified Bible puts it this way: ‘I have seen that everything [human] has its limits and end [no matter how extensive, noble, and excellent]; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity].’

It’s been good to get back to this Psalm.

As I wrote the other day, each fountain pen I have was bought for different reasons or for different attributes (beginner, demonstrator, flex nib, long cartridge etc). On top of that, each pen performs differently. What follows are my observations and comments on some of these attributes and performance. Some of these thoughts are personal and subjective whereas others are statements of fact about each pen.

1. Lamy Safari

+ Relatively cheap
+ Beginner indentations to assist pen holding
+ Replacement nibs easy to install, and relatively easy to buy
+ Smooth and comfortable to use
- Somewhat cheap feeling/looking
- Proprietary cartridges ^

2. Pilot Metropolitan

+ Somewhat classic look/feel
+ Relatively cheap
+ Snap cap feel/sounds solid
- Proprietary cartridges ^
- Suffers from nib creep ^^

3. Kaweco Classic Clear Sport

+ Demonstrator (in the clear)
+ Small and light
+ Can be used as an eye-dropper for dramatically increased ink capacity
+ Accepts short standard international cartridges
- Plastic body scratches/marks fairly easily
- Needs caps to be posted to be useable for medium to large hands

4. TWSBI Diamond 580AL

+ Larger pen
+ Interesting filling mechanism (twist piston)
+ Smooth nib (M) and clean writer
+ Relatively cheap replacement/additional nibs
- Easy to strip the plastic threads when disassembling/assembling
- Threads are reverse-threaded

5. Kaweco Brass Sport

+ Smooth writer (M)
+ Some heft or weight to the pen
+ Accepts short standard international cartridges
- Needs the cap posted to be comfortable to use

6. Noodlers Ahab Flex

+ Cheapish
+ Flex nib
+ Can be used as an eye dropper
- Ink accumulates on the bottom of the feed
- Suffers from nib creep ^^

7. Pilot Falcon

+ Flex nib
+ 14ct gold nib
+ Can be used as an eye dropper (if the finial seals properly)
- Proprietary cartridges ^
- Suffers from nib creep ^^

8. Retro 51 Tornado Lincoln

+ Antique copper look
+ Accommodates long (and short) standard cartridges
+ Uses a #6 size nib
- Suffers from nib creep ^^

9. Lamy Studio

+ Stylish looking pen with propeller-shaped clip
+ Smooth writer (LH oblique nib)
- Proprietary cartridges ^

So that’s the wrap up of my current pen stable. My most preferred pens to write with are the TWSBI 580AL, Kaweco Brass Sport and Lamy Studio.

A couple of months ago I mentioned that I was reading in the early part of Luke’s gospel using Search the Scriptures to guide my reading and questions. I’ve since completed that, done some reading/studying in 1 Peter using a different method and have recommenced Search the Scriptures reading in Genesis.

In just the second week of readings from Luke I came across three instances where the Bible text didn’t accord with what I been told it meant over the years. It’s my fault because I had blindly accepted and believed what people had told me without checking and without question. These three teachings or statements are:

My first use of a fountain pen (aside from the obligatory use of ‘cartridge pens’ back in primary school in the mid-70s) was around October 2015. At the time I was doing some journaling along with my Bible reading and recognised that my handwriting was pretty ordinary. I did some research¹ and came across the idea that writing with a fountain pen can improve one’s handwriting because you generally slow down a little and take more care with the letters being formed.

For some reason every six or twelve months I tend to switch Linux distros. Some of that history can be read here, here, here, here, here and here.

My mid-2021 switch has been from Fedora 32 running Gnome 3 to Arch running i3. What precipitated this flip? A couple of things: a new release of the Gnome Desktop Environment had been released and Fedora seemed a little slow (to me) in making it available in their stable branch. Whilst I can appreciate the stability and certainty that brings many users, in this case I wanted to try out Gnome 40 a little sooner. I realise I could have moved to the development branch (called Rawhide), but I instead opted for a clean install of something else. Interestingly (to me, anyway), that decision to move to Gnome 40 is what also moved me on from Gnome to re-look at some tiling window managers. But more on that shortly.

Over the past week-and-a-half I’ve been spending time reading the early stages of Luke’s gospel. I’m not reading aimlessly or randomly but have begun using Search the Scriptures - which is a book first published in 1934 and revised in 1949 and 1967 that seeks to encourage regular, systematic Bible reading and study.

The material in Search the Scriptures covers the entire Bible and contains studies to take exactly three years if it is used daily. A day’s study involves reading a portion of Scripture and then answering two or three questions about that day’s reading.

We’re looking at the eleventh stanza of Psalm 119 - verses 81 to 88 prefixed with the letter kaf. This will bring us to the half way mark in the Psalm.

These verses, from the NASB®¹, interspersed with my comments are:

81. My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.

• Interesting to see the words ’languishes’ and ‘wait’ in this verse. It runs counter to the idea common in Christian (and other) circles that we always need to be doing something.
• The word languishes is from the Hebrew kalah (H3615) and expresses the idea of ending or completing, to faint or to fail. It is more than just lying around and strikes me as the idea of fading away.
• And this languishing soul is looking for the salvation that comes from the Lord. It can only come from the Lord. So David waits hopefully and patiently for the Lord’s word to be fulfilled.

82. My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?”

• Continues this idea from yesterday’s verse of waiting expectantly and hopefully.
• This time David is seeking comfort from the Lord’s word - the fulfilment of the word of the Lord.
• Matthew Henry observes that:
  1. ‘The salvation and consolation of God’s people are secured to them by the word, which will certainly be fulfilled in its season.’
  2. ‘The promised salvation and comfort may be, and often are, long deferred, so that they are ready to faint and fall in the expectation of them.’
  3. ‘Though we think the time long ere the promised salvation and comfort come, yet we must still keep our eye upon that salvation, and resolve to take up with nothing short of it.’

83. Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.

• I’m not sure what this simile is pointing to. What are the characteristics of a wineskin in smoke? Wrinkled? Grey? Blotchy? Smelly? Unusable until cleaned? Permanently damaged?
• The reference to not forgetting the Lord’s statutes would point to age or the passing of time.
• Regardless of the cultural transference of the smoky wineskin analogy, the point is that the Psalmist is declaring he doesn’t forget the Lord’s statutes. These are a part of his identity and direction because he has long been reading, memorising, studying, meditating on and seeking to live by and abide in these statutes.
• Matthew Henry suggests that, ‘a leathern bottle, which, if it hung any while in the smoke, was not only blackened with soot, but dried, and parched, and shrivelled up. David was thus wasted by age, and sickness, and sorrow.’ Despite that unattractive picture, he continues, ‘Whatever our outward condition is we must not cool in our affection to the word of God, nor let that slip out of our minds; no care, no grief, must crowd that out.’

84. How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?

• There seems to be a a common thread through this and the preceding three verses - that David is getting old and/or frail and he wants to see God’s vindication before he dies.
• David’s soul is languishing (v. 81), his eyes are failing (v. 82), he has become like a wineskin subjected to smoke (v. 83) and now he is asking how many days he has.
• David is seeking justice to be mete out by God on those who persecute David.
• The first clause reminds me of Psalm 90:12, ‘So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.’ They are coming from different places and have different emphases, however.

85. The arrogant have dug pits for me, Men who are not in accord with Your law.

• Continues the theme of affliction by David’s enemies.
• The pit that has been dug is (hopefully) metaphorical. The Hebrew words translated as ‘dug pits’ can also be read as plotting a fall - so it is conspiring to bring about David’s downfall or at least a fall.
• David draws a comparison between those who are digging the pits and those ‘who are not is accord with Your law’.
• This idea of being ‘in accord with Your law’ isn’t referring to those who pay lip service to God and His laws, but to those who are living consistently as God would have them. It’s those who aren’t wilfully sinning but instead intentionally seeking to live holy lives.

86. All Your commandments are faithful; They have persecuted me with a lie; help me!

• Further commentary on those who are persecuting David. The pits they have dug (from verse 85) are lies. The intention is to discredit David.
• There is a strong contrast between the commandments of the Lord - which are faithful, trustworthy and true, and the lies of those seeking to persecute David.
• David seeks the Lord’s help against his persecutors. He anticipates some relief because the Lord’s commandments are faithful.

87. They almost destroyed me on earth, But as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts.

• David lets God know (and us) that the plotting and digging and persecution and affliction against him almost succeeded - ’they almost destroyed me’.
• The qualifier ‘on earth’ is interesting because it points to a knowledge that there is something more. Perhaps it is because his thought or prayer is expressed to God ‘in heaven’, but it strikes me that David has an understanding that his eternal future could not be destroyed.
• And the basis for that confidence is because he did not forsake the Lord’s precepts. David was obedient to the word of God and trusting in God’s revealed character and nature.

88. Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.

• The Psalmist is again seeking/praying for personal revival (not in the sense it was/is used in Christian circles today) - for the Lord to preserve and restore David.
• And this request is consistent with the Lord’s lovingkindness - because of His demonstrated love for His people and His creation.
• David concludes the stanza by stating the reason for his request - so he can keep the testimony of the Lord’s mouth - to be able to attest to the Lord’s goodness and trustworthiness.

This brings us to the end of the first half of Psalm 119. I intend to take a break from meditating on the verses from this Psalm and posting those reflections for the next few months and resume the second half in July.

We’re looking at the tenth stanza of Psalm 119 - verses 73 to 80 prefixed with the letter yod.

These verses, from the NASB®¹, interspersed with my comments are:

73. Your hands made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.

• Begins (as all sensible thinking should) with an acknowledgement of God’s creatorship² and, therefore, a prayer for understanding.
• Here the understanding is sought to enable the Psalmist to learn the commandments. Usually one would learn the Lord’s commandments to gain understanding (what we may call wisdom for right living), but David asks for understanding to provide the imperative for him to learn.
• In a sense David’s thinking is ‘give me understanding so I may gain even more understanding by learning Your commandments’.
• It is akin to an earlier verse in the Psalm - verse 18 - ‘Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.’ My comments on this earlier verse are here.

74. May those who fear You see me and be glad, Because I wait for Your word.

• An interesting flow of thoughts here. Because David waits for the Lord’s word (we’ll get to this in a moment), he prays that those who cross David’s path with be glad and respond favourably.
• This may be conveying a general gladness when one believer sees/meets another, but it may be more specific because David has been vilified by ungodly people for his faith and the favour God has shown him.
• The idea of ‘waiting’ is from the Hebrew yachal (H3176) which means to wait (no surprise there!) but, by implication picks up the idea of hoping and trusting. It is not a forlorn wait, but an expectant one which will be satisfied.

75. I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

• David returns to the theme of affliction which has been referred to in verses 50, 67 and 71. I would be careful in attributing the affliction in verse 50 to the Lord, but I think it becomes clearer from 67 to 71 to 75 that David identifies the source of the affliction/correction/discipline as the Lord.
• Here David is more explicit about both the Lord’s righteous judgements, and the source/purpose of David’s afflictions.
• The purpose of the affliction is to build faithfulness in the recipient. The source of the affliction is “You” - the Lord. And the basis is God’s righteous judgement/assessment of David’s condition and need.
• This verse sounds like it was written in a clear moment, not a clouded one.

76. O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant.

• Almost a follow up to the previous verse - that, once afflicted and corrected, David will be comforted by the Lord’s lovingkindness.
• The source or basis for seeking this comfort is the Lord’s word.
• Is the word of the Lord the source of the comfort itself; or the source of the knowledge of where (and why) the comfort will come? Both.

77. May Your compassion come to me that I may live, For Your law is my delight.

• Sounds like David is trying to bargain - ‘have compassion and let me live, because I love your law’. As mercenary as it sounds, it does recognise God’s sovereignty and rule over all things.
• By the same token it also recognises our responsibility (response-ability) to God’s creatorship and authority.
• David also recognises (or verbalises) that the life he wants to live is one that is fuelled by God’s compassion. He wants to live on the right side of God and indicates that faith, humility and obedience are at the core of that.

78. May the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie; But I shall meditate on Your precepts.

• The Psalmist returns to the theme of being slandered and maligned by his enemies.
• The idea of ‘subversion’ is the Hebrew avath (H5315) and means to wrest, to deal perversely, to subvert. David’s enemies are attempting to paint a false image or, in today’s parlance, ‘create a false narrative’.
• David’s solution is not to turn to the civil courts, social media or a PR manager, but to the word of the Lord. David will meditate on the Lord’s precepts.

79. May those who fear You turn to me, Even those who know Your testimonies.

• Another somewhat weird verse today (I think, anyway) - that David would seek that people who fear the Lord would turn to David.
• I think David is seeking support or empathy from believers within the Israeli nation. It seems this is tied up with David being afflicted and slandered by his enemies and is seeking some show of support and kindness from other ’true believers’.
• Matthew Henry comments that, “He does not mean so much that they might side with him, and take up arms in his cause, as that they might love him, and pray for him, and associate with him.”

80. May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, So that I will not be ashamed.

• David makes an interesting connection between blamelessness and being subject to shame.
• The blamelessness David is seeking is in or compared to the Lord’s statutes. So he is seeking justification before the law.
• I think the idea of not being ashamed is relative to approaching the Lord. David is seeking purity of heart so that he can approach the Lord with confidence. This is reminiscent of Hebrews 4:16 where the writer speaks of having boldness to approach the throne of grace.