Psa 119:149 | KingComments | STEP | The ancient Hebrew pictogram of the letter qoph is the horizon with sunrise; in Aramaic it is an eye of a needle (connect). The letter qoph in this stanza has to do with the concepts of calling, drawing near, and being sanctified (cf. ). All three verbs begin with the letter qoph . The purpose is to make a connection between heaven and earth. The believer is connected to heaven and is therefore sanctified, set apart in this world. The righteous has cried out to the LORD with all his heart ( ; cf. ). This means that he has a pure heart, otherwise he cannot cry out to the LORD with all his heart. He calls on Him because he lives in a God-hating world and is in need. It is not that God is unaware of his distress, but He uses the distress to form him spiritually and bring him closer to Himself ( ). The righteous cries out for an answer. To this he attaches the promise to observe the statutes of the LORD. all begin with “cry” and with “near”. In the psalmist repeats his cry for deliverance, but more specifically “save me”. This is not about salvation from the penalty of sin, but salvation from the present affliction. It points to the seriousness of the affliction. Again, he attaches to his salvation the promise to keep God’s testimonies after his salvation. In he goes on to speak of his cry for help and says of it that he cried out before the morning began to dawn. Even before the dawn of day he called out to God for help. He did so because he waited for God’s words ( ). Even during the night he opened his eyes to meditate on God’s Word ( ). The Jews divide the night into three night watches. The last night watch ends with the sunrise, the time of prayer. Before the last night watch ends, the psalmist has already risen to meditate on God’s Word, to have his ‘quiet time’. These verses show how important it is to take set times for prayer and meditating on the Word and begin the day with them. The psalmist asks the LORD to hear his voice and to do so “according to Your lovingkindness” ( ). He is claiming the right to be heard because he is appealing to God’s lovingkindness, that is, God’s faithfulness to His covenant. What he is asking for is to revive him. He acknowledges that God has the full right to his life. He wants to live as is right before God, to enjoy life according to God’s ordinances. According to the covenant, he will remain alive despite the enemies of the next verse. He feels threatened in his life by those who “follow after wickedness” ( ). They “draw near” to keep him from prayer and the Word ( ). They behave this way because they are far from God’s law. They do not heed the authority of God in any respect. The threatened righteous, seeing the wicked drawing near, says to the LORD that He is “near” ( ). When He is near (cf. ), the wicked can come as close as they want, but the LORD will protect him. The evildoers are far from God’s law, but the righteous says with conviction that God’s commandments are truth. This is not a spontaneous confession in the face of imminent danger, but he knows “of old” from God’s testimonies ( ). God’s testimonies means the testimony of God’s Word about Who He is and about who we should be. From of old here means ahead of time. He does not look back with the wisdom of the present; he looks to the future with the wisdom from above. He also knows that God has “founded them forever”, namely, on the immovable foundation of the blood of the eternal covenant of Christ. God is eternal, therefore His testimonies also stand forever on a firm, unshakable foundation.

‏ Psalms 119:149

/qoph/ Calling Out in Distress

The ancient Hebrew pictogram of the letter qoph is the horizon with sunrise; in Aramaic it is an eye of a needle (connect). The letter qoph in this stanza has to do with the concepts of calling, drawing near, and being sanctified (cf. Lev 20:26). All three verbs begin with the letter qoph. The purpose is to make a connection between heaven and earth. The believer is connected to heaven and is therefore sanctified, set apart in this world.

The righteous has cried out to the LORD with all his heart (Psa 119:145; cf. Joel 2:32). This means that he has a pure heart, otherwise he cannot cry out to the LORD with all his heart. He calls on Him because he lives in a God-hating world and is in need. It is not that God is unaware of his distress, but He uses the distress to form him spiritually and bring him closer to Himself (Rom 5:3-5). The righteous cries out for an answer. To this he attaches the promise to observe the statutes of the LORD.

Psa 119:145-147 all begin with “cry” and Psa 119:150-151 with “near”. In Psa 119:146 the psalmist repeats his cry for deliverance, but more specifically “save me”. This is not about salvation from the penalty of sin, but salvation from the present affliction. It points to the seriousness of the affliction. Again, he attaches to his salvation the promise to keep God’s testimonies after his salvation.

In Psa 119:147 he goes on to speak of his cry for help and says of it that he cried out before the morning began to dawn. Even before the dawn of day he called out to God for help. He did so because he waited for God’s words (Psa 136:6). Even during the night he opened his eyes to meditate on God’s Word (Psa 119:148).

The Jews divide the night into three night watches. The last night watch ends with the sunrise, the time of prayer. Before the last night watch ends, the psalmist has already risen to meditate on God’s Word, to have his ‘quiet time’. These verses show how important it is to take set times for prayer and meditating on the Word and begin the day with them.

The psalmist asks the LORD to hear his voice and to do so “according to Your lovingkindness” (Psa 119:149). He is claiming the right to be heard because he is appealing to God’s lovingkindness, that is, God’s faithfulness to His covenant. What he is asking for is to revive him. He acknowledges that God has the full right to his life. He wants to live as is right before God, to enjoy life according to God’s ordinances. According to the covenant, he will remain alive despite the enemies of the next verse.

He feels threatened in his life by those who “follow after wickedness” (Psa 119:150). They “draw near” to keep him from prayer and the Word (Psa 119:147 ; 148). They behave this way because they are far from God’s law. They do not heed the authority of God in any respect.

The threatened righteous, seeing the wicked drawing near, says to the LORD that He is “near” (Psa 119:151). When He is near (cf. Phil 4:5), the wicked can come as close as they want, but the LORD will protect him. The evildoers are far from God’s law, but the righteous says with conviction that God’s commandments are truth.

This is not a spontaneous confession in the face of imminent danger, but he knows “of old” from God’s testimonies (Psa 119:152). God’s testimonies means the testimony of God’s Word about Who He is and about who we should be. From of old here means ahead of time. He does not look back with the wisdom of the present; he looks to the future with the wisdom from above. He also knows that God has “founded them forever”, namely, on the immovable foundation of the blood of the eternal covenant of Christ. God is eternal, therefore His testimonies also stand forever on a firm, unshakable foundation.