A Prayer to Live Well and Finish Well

Ask the Lord to Guide Your Heart

Psalm 119:36

The issue of the heart is a recurring theme in Psalm 119, appearing several times already:

Happy are those who . . . seek him with all their heart. (v. 2)

I will praise you with an upright heart. (v. 7)

I have sought you with my all my heart. (v. 10)

I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. (v. 11)

I pursue the way of your commands, for you broaden my understanding [lit. you enlarge my heart]. (v. 32)

Help me understand your instruction, and I will . . . follow it with all my heart. (v. 34)

Here the psalmist asks the Lord to “turn my heart to your decrees and not to dishonest profit.” He is asking the Lord to cause his desires to be inclined toward the Lord’s Word and the Lord’s faithful acts in his life. He does not want to be deceived and seduced by unjust gain. In other words, the psalmist says, “Lord, I want a heart like yours, not a heart like worldly people who exploit and take advantage of others, especially the poor. I need your Word as a medicine, a healing balm for my heart.” Spurgeon says, “He who is covetous is of the race of Judas, and will in all probability turn out to be himself a son of perdition” (Treasury, 210).

Ask the Lord to Direct Your Eyes

Psalm 119:37

The psalmist must have known that there is an intimate connection between our hearts and our eyes. He has asked the Lord to turn his heart toward the Word (v. 36). Now he asks the Lord to turn his eyes away “from looking at what is worthless.” He does not want to give his eyes, and ultimately his heart, to vile, vain, empty, and useless things. Perhaps he was aware of the truth that what the eyes do not see, the heart most often will not desire. Never forget that sin first entered the world through the eyes when Adam and Eve “saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at” (Gen 3:6). Guard the eyes and protect the heart. There is much wisdom here.

Ask the Lord to Confirm His Word

Psalm 119:38

The psalmist now asks the Lord to confirm his promise to his servant, which results in his fearing and revering the Lord. He asks God to act on his behalf so that “the divine promise would be realized” (Ross, Psalms, 499). Spurgeon puts it as only he can: “Make me sure of thy sure word: make it sure to me and make me sure of it” (Treasury, 211). Because God hears our requests, our reverence and faith in him will continue to flourish and grow. We will fear him more, love him more, and trust him more. His Word is our sure foundation; we will stand on it and not be moved.

Ask the Lord to Turn Away Disgrace

Psalm 119:39

Verse 39 may have verse 22 in mind. There the psalmist asks the Lord to “take insult and contempt away from me.” Here he asks the Lord to “turn away the disgrace I dread.” Evil men reject and mock those who love God and his Word. They ridicule them and heap insults on them. It can beat us down over time. It can wear us out. It can even sow seeds of doubt concerning the ways and wisdom of God. The psalmist, therefore, makes a request: “Deflect the harsh words of my critics” (The Message). And he makes a declaration: “Your judgments are good.” In other words, he is saying that others may laugh at and make light of your Word—denying its truth and questioning its power—but he will believe it and trust it because he knows a good God is behind his good Word. Others may despise the Lord’s Word, but he will stake his life and his eternity on it! After all, Isaiah 40:8 reminds us, “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”

Ask the Lord to Give You Life

Psalm 119:37,40

The petition for life appears twice in this stanza. In verse 37 the psalmist prays, “Give me life in your ways.” In verse 40 he prays, “Give me life through your righteousness.” The two verses closely parallel each other. There is no life or real meaning in worthless, worldly things. Life is found in God’s ways, and that is what I am asking for (v. 37), the psalmist says. Indeed, his ways are the ways of righteousness (v. 40). In his righteousness real life is experienced and enjoyed to the fullest. So the psalmist asks God to keep him alive in his righteousness. He asks that God not let him lose hope and drop out of his school of instruction. He asks that the eternal life he enjoys reveal itself by causing him to desire even more of the life God provides. He knows it is found in “your precepts,” God’s Word. He longs for them and, in so doing, loves life to the end.

Conclusion

The Puritan Thomas Manton is right: “It is not enough to begin a good course, we must go on in it . . . else all our labour is lost; the end crowneth the work. God that made us begin [will] also make us to continue to the end” (Psalm 119, vol. 1, 322). This is what our God did in the life of his Son so that from the cross he could cry, “It is finished” (John 19:30). This is what our God will also do in our lives as he directs our hearts to keep his Word to the end.

Reflect and Discuss