Marks of the Servant of the Lord

Marks of the Servant of the Lord

Psalm 119:121-128

Main Idea: Servants of God obey and love his Word as they wait for him to teach them and to deliver them from injustice.

How we see ourselves in our relationship to God will affect how we think and act. If we think God exists to serve us, we will treat him like a genie in the sky. If, on the other hand, we believe we exist to serve and worship him, we will be quick to listen to his Word and obey his commands. We will think more about God than we think about ourselves.

Jesus teaches us in Matthew 10:24 that “a disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.” As our Master, Jesus provides our example as the Lord’s servant. The word “servant” occurs fourteen times in Psalm 119 (vv. 17,23,38,49,65,76,84,91,122,124,125,135,140,176). Here in stanza Ayin (?), “servant” appears three times, making it the heart of this meditation. Verse 125 is simple and straightforward: “I am your servant.” These words capture the essence of verses 121-128 and provide a road map into the heart, mind, and emotions of the man or woman who delights in being the Lord’s servant. Jesus was the Lord’s servant par excellence. It is easy to imagine him singing this psalm. May this psalm also characterize those of us who call Jesus our Master and seek to follow in his footsteps.

God’s Servants Pursue Justice and Trust in God’s Love

Psalm 119:121-124

The servant of the Lord Jesus has an especially precious and tender relationship with his Master, who loves and cares for him. He can enter his Master’s presence at any time, knowing he will receive a warm reception and a ready ear. Our Master loves like a tenderhearted father, and he cares like a compassionate older brother. The New Testament describes our God’s relationship to his servants, his children, in this manner in John 1:12 and Hebrews 2:11. With this truth as the foundation for our Master-servant relationship, this psalm shows how we may petition our Lord with a passion for what matters to him.

Ask God to Protect You (119:121-122)

Stanza Ayin begins with a confession and affirmation: “I have done what is just and right.” I have done justice and righteousness. The Message paraphrases, “I stood up for justice and the right.” To stand up for justice and righteousness means standing against injustice and wrongdoing. With God’s Word as our guide, our GPS, we take a stand for what God loves and values.

Taking a stand for the Lord leads to a prayer for help. First, the psalmist says, “Do not leave me to my oppressors” (v. 121). Verse 122 reinforces this plea: “Do not let the arrogant oppress me.” Second, he appeals, “Guarantee your servant’s well-being.” The psalmist affirms that he has stood up for the Lord, so now he needs the Lord to stand up for him. His enemies seek to harm him and oppress him. They try to shut him up. They try to seduce him and to bully him to compromise. But his stand for what is just and right requires the Lord’s presence and the Lord’s promise of protection. The psalmist needs his Master to stand with him as he continues to stand for the Lord.

Ask God to Deliver You (119:123)

Michael Wilcock ties verse 123 to verses 121-122 and summarizes well the psalmist’s thinking: “I have done what the Word rules (v. 121), but I am still looking for what it promises (v. 123)” (Psalms, 212). The songwriter continues his prayer with a beautiful word picture: “My eyes grow weary looking for your salvation.” Ross says, “The idea is that of longing for something to the point of weakness” (Psalms, 563–64). The psalmist is weeping and waiting for the Lord to deliver him from his prideful, arrogant oppressors. He is hurting and in pain, perhaps even at the point of despair. Yet he knows he has a promise, a promise he calls a “righteous promise” or “your righteous oracle” (ibid., 564). God has promised to be there for his people, pledging never to leave or abandon them (Deut 31:6,8; Josh 1:5; Matt 28:20). This is a promise we can always count on. Others may fail us, but our Master never will.

Ask God to Teach You (119:124)

The psalmist has done the right thing (v. 121), called on God to do him good (v. 122), and kept his Word (v. 123). Now he requests God to deal with him based on the intimate covenant relationship, the “faithful love” (Hb chesed) he has with the Lord. The psalmist knows from history, Scripture, and experience “that God is not an indifferent, unconcerned deity. He is a loving God; that is why he has given us the Bible” (Boice, Living, 121). And because he loves us and has given us his Word, we can boldly and confidently ask him to be our Teacher, to “teach me your statutes.”

All of us learn from someone. Wisdom would lead us to seek out the instruction of those who are wisest and who love us the most. What a blessed privilege it is for the Christian to find the wisest and most loving Teacher in the same Master, the Lord Jesus!

God’s Servants Ask for Spiritual Insight and Plead with God to Act

Psalm 119:125-126

A servant who loves his master wants to think like his master. He wants to see life as his master sees life. In other words, he wants his master’s thoughts to become his thoughts. The disciple of Jesus has an advantage because our Master has revealed his mind in the Bible. We do not have to guess or wonder what he thinks. We simply go to the Holy Scriptures and find the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5). In the Scriptures we discover what honors and pleases him. We also discover what dishonors and displeases him. Verses 125-126 inform us what prayers honor the Lord.

Ask the Lord for Understanding of His Word (119:125)

In verse 125 the psalmist asks for “understanding” so that he may “know” the Word of God, what he calls the Lord’s “decrees.” His teachable spirit is evident. Alec Motyer comments,

The three verbs (“teach . . . [understanding] . . . know”) form a progression: the divine teacher accompanies his teaching with inspiration, the gift of “discernment” [or “understanding”]. The resultant state is “knowledge,” truth grasped. (Psalms, 356)

To “know” God’s decrees is not merely theoretical or cerebral. It is a knowledge of the heart and soul, a knowledge grasped, loved, and obeyed. Teaching leads to understanding, which leads to experiential knowledge that causes living out what we know and believe. Spurgeon summarizes the idea beautifully:

The servant of God longs to know in an understanding manner all that the Lord reveals of man and to man; he wishes to be so instructed that he may apprehend and comprehend that which is taught him. A servant should not be ignorant concerning his master, or his master’s business; he should study the mind, will, purpose, and aim of him whom he serves, for so only can he complete his service; and as no man knows these things so well as his master himself, he should often go to him for instructions, lest his very zeal should only serve to make him the greater blunderer. (Treasury, 369)

Ask the Lord to Vindicate His Reputation (119:126)

The servant of Jesus cares more for the Lord’s reputation than his own. He grieves when others “have violated [the Lord’s] instruction” (“your law has been broken” ESV). He weeps when people do not honor and obey the instruction of God (v. 136). With amazing boldness and confidence, the psalmist says it is time for God to do something because of the total disregard evil persons have for the Word of God. “Lord,” he cries out, “it is time to act.” The Lord’s name is profaned. His commands are mocked and disregarded. So the psalmist wants God to deal justly and rightly with those who hate him and with those who love him (v. 121). The psalmist longs for deliverance from oppression, but he also longs to see the Lord honored. He pleads, “Bring judgment! Bring revival! Bring both! Do something, Lord, and do it now!”

God’s Servants Love the Lord’s Word and Hate All That Is False

Psalm 119:127-128

A right knowledge of God’s Word will lead us in one of two directions. Either we will love his Word and value it more than anything else, or we will hate it and scorn it, treating it with utter contempt. Servants of Jesus will love it and value it because they recognize it for what it is, the words of God. Servants of the devil, “the father of lies” (John 8:44), will hate it and scorn it because they have been deceived to view the Bible incorrectly. One might say they do not hate Scripture; they simply have no feelings at all toward it. Their disregard, however, amounts to hate because they sadly believe that what it teaches enslaves us. They believe it confines, restricts, suppresses, and limits our potential and possibilities. And they scoff at the notion of being told what to do. The truth that softens the heart of a repentant sinner only hardens the heart of the stubborn.

Affirm the Value of God’s Word (119:127)

Verses 127 and 128 begin with the word therefore in the ESV, connecting these verses with verses 125-126. Because the psalmist understands and knows his Word intimately, he says, “I love your commands more than gold, even the purest gold” (cf. v. 72). According to Psalm 19:10, the Word of God is “more desirable than gold—than an abundance of pure gold.” The psalmist has a passion for the Word. Having gained it as his own through knowledge and understanding, he loves it more than anything the world has to offer. The rich are not those who have much silver and gold. The rich are those who have the Word of God! God’s Word is more enriching than gold, more comforting than wealth, and more precious than any earthly treasure. Love it even when you fail to obey it. In time it will bring you to repentance and take you back to where you belong.

Affirm the Truth of God’s Word (119:128)

Verse 127 speaks of a holy obsession, while verse 128 speaks of a holy opposition. Verses 127-128 form what could be called “the preacher’s confession.” These verses speak to his love for the Word, and he proclaims his confidence in the Word he proclaims. In verse 127 he says that he loves the Lord’s Word, and in verse 128 he considers all God’s Word to be right (ESV).3 Note the use of the word all. He loves all the Lord’s Word, and he believes all his words to be true. It is not partially true or even mostly true. All of it, every single word, is right, correct, true, infallible, and inerrant. And because he considers all the Lord’s Word to be right, he says, “[I] hate every false way.” He hates anything that denies or contradicts the Lord’s Word. Christians can and should apply this truth today. God’s Word says Jesus is the only Savior (John 14:6), so we ought to hate the lies of universalism and inclusivism. His Word says salvation is by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9), so we ought to hate works-salvation theologies. His Word says God is both holy and loving (Isa 6:3; 1 John 4:7-8), so we ought to hate the lie that says he is one but not the other. If we love the Lord and his Word, we will also hate Satan and his lies.

Conclusion

Jesus is the quintessential “Servant of the Lord” (see Isa 52:13–53:12). He was consumed with a passion to serve his Father and do his will. This desire is evident from three passages in the Gospel of John:

My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:34)

I can do nothing on my own . . . because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him [the Father] who sent me. (John 5:30)

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38)

Jesus teaches us that “a servant is not greater than his master” (John 13:16; 15:20). If our Master, the Lord Jesus, was consumed with a passion to serve his Father and to do his will, can it be any different with us? As Spurgeon says, “We who rejoice that we are sons of God are by no means the less delighted to be his servants” (Treasury, 369).

Reflect and Discuss

1. What does it mean to think more about God than about yourself?
2. How can Christians act as if God exists to serve them? What examples of this are present in your own life?
3. How will you pray differently if you believe that you exist to serve God instead of believing that God exists to serve you?
4. The psalmist reflects on his obedience as he requests God to act. Does God require obedience for him to answer prayers? Why or why not?
5. How should practical wisdom and teaching from Scripture relate to one another?
6. Should learning God’s Word be done alone or with others? Why?
7. Why should God’s people care whether other people violate his instruction?
8. What does it mean for God to deal with his servants based on his “faithful love” (v. 124)?
9. What can you do to help you not take God’s Word for granted?
10. This stanza teaches to love God’s Word even when you fail to obey it because “in time it will bring you to repentance and take you back to where you belong.” How can our sin make us believe that we should not love God’s Word any longer?