25 My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.
26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; Teach me Your statutes.
27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders.
28 My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word.
29 Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law.
30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances [before me].
31 I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame!
32 I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.
Psalm 119:25-32 NASB
It’s March! And my calendar says that today is the first day of Spring! New life is upon us! With the sun and the spring rains, the grass will green up and grow soon, and the flowers will stretch their sleepy petals to warm themselves in the daytime sun.
Don’t you just love the month of March?
Whether you’re into March Madness (how’s your basketball bracket doing?), St. Patrick and the spread of Christianity to Ireland, or little green leprechauns, the month of March is a month of long-awaited rejuvenation from the dead and dreariness of winter.
And while legends claim that leprechauns are busy looking for treasure at the end of rainbows, God has actually provided us with true treasure in the words of Psalm 119:25-32. In fact, I could probably write about this goldmine for days, but today, I will try to keep things to a minimum.
So to get us started, you should know that all of the Psalms are poetic. Out of 150 Psalms in the Bible, Psalm 119 is the longest and was also written as an acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet. Our portion of the Psalm falls under “Daleth,” a Hebrew letter that means “door.”[1] Interestingly, each beginning word in this stanza starts with the letter “Daleth.”[2]
Also, many of the lines of this stanza are written in antithetical parallelism in that the first and second lines seem to be opposite in nature. (For instance, the first line indicates a problem, and the second line offers the solution.) Lastly, words like “ordinances,” “precepts,” “statutes,” “laws,” and “commandments” are routinely used and interchanged in Psalm 119 to describe God’s Word. [3]
Now let’s take a moment to dig into the content of this remarkable portion of Psalm 119.
25 My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.
The words of this refrain clearly indicate a status of extreme desperation for the psalmist. And as I considered him to be low in the dust, I couldn’t help but recall the narrative poem I once read titled, Out of Dust, by Karen Hesse. In her book, Hesse described the desperate days of the Great Depression as inseparable from the dust. In staging the setting of her story, she told how the dust made white milk turn chocolate, and it “[turned] the day from sunlight to midnight.”[4]
The metaphorical “day” had clearly turned to “night” for the psalmist in our passage. For a soul to cleave, or cling to dust, is for it to become gravely desperate. To cleave to dust is to kneel down to the earth or to be near death, spiritually speaking[5]. It is a picture of utter brokenness.
While we don’t precisely know what caused this state for the psalmist, we are given hints from verse 23: “Even though princes sit [and] talk against me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes.” This suggests the psalmist has been slandered. However, within the greater context of Psalm 119, looking through all of the Alepth, Beth, and Gimel stanzas, his lowly state could also result from a sin issue in that these stanzas seem to emphasize keeping oneself pure and blameless by keeping the Lord’s statutes.
As it pertains to the rest of this article, we will assume that the psalmist is distressed over his sin.
Being aware of his iniquity, the second part of verse 25 indicates he is also aware of the remedy for it. Having declared his wretchedness, He seeks the power of God’s Word to lift him up and revive him from the dust, which symbolizes his brokenness over his sin.
The Word of God has the power to revive us from our iniquity.
26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; Teach me Your statutes.
This verse shows us that the psalmist has been grieved over his “ways” or actions. And we can see that his grief has been communicated to God through prayer.
With this short verse, we are given much wisdom. The psalmist outlines for us how to handle our sins. He simply confesses it to God. He doesn’t hide it or deny it. He doesn’t even ask for anything. He merely acknowledges his actions to God.
When we confess our sins to God, we acknowledge our faults. When we come to God in humble prayer, being grieved over our sins, we can be sure He hears us and will respond to us with His forgiveness. [6] Proverbs 28:13 (NIV) explains that “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
Prayer is a means of God’s grace for our lives when we sin.
The second half of verse 26 then indicates that he possesses genuine remorse over his sin in that he asks God to teach him his statutes or ways. From this, we see he does not want to repeat his error and wants to act with greater wisdom and understanding.
Authentic repentance results from genuine remorse over sin.
27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders.
There’s nothing worse than a “ninny” who’s always right. You know, the kind of person who’s quick to point out when you are wrong and how they are right all the time. But this verse lends a little comfort for those of us who take a little longer than others to get it right. It’s as if the psalmist knows he needs help learning how to act differently and that it does not come easily for him.
(I love someone who can get honest with themselves and admit they don’t always have it right. I gladly extend the psalmist more credibility from this verse because I find him entirely relatable!)
We can ask God for help when the right course of action is unclear or not easy.
The last statement shows his earnest fervor to consider and ponder God’s ways until it becomes clear. The psalmist seems to realize that the nature of his sin is serious, so he decides to become equally serious about his repentance.
28 My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word.
Sin is devastating, and it wrecks our fellowship with God and often wounds and even destroys our relationships with others. But even after we have confessed and repented, there can be such grief disguised as regret, guilt, or shame that our humility becomes soiled with the prideful vanity of self-loathing.
This sort of “grief” must be stopped, or it will bring about more sin in our lives. The psalmist seems to understand this and asks the Lord to give him strength from His word. If God’s word says that “[when] we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all sin,”[7] then we must believe this is so.
It takes humility to trust that we are forgiven. Selfish vanity will work hard to convince us otherwise.
29 Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law.
Again, the psalmist is very astute in showing us that for sin to be removed and a new way to be established, it must come from God’s hand.
You and I are powerless over sin apart from Jesus Christ.
Recognizing the struggle within himself, Paul in the New Testament describes in Romans 7: 21-25 (NIV),
“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law; but I see another law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
The power to remove the stain of sin and the ability to help us repent come from the grace of God provided through Jesus Christ.
30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances [before me].
Here the psalmist states that he has made the moral decision to walk righteously. While our choice to repent may not always matter much to others, it matters greatly to God. In fact, heaven rejoices when we repent. [8]
And if you ask me, nothing short of a small miracle occurs when we repent. The holiness of God is reverenced when we repent. Where sin has attempted to prevail, God’s powerful redemption through Jesus Christ overthrows what is false, and reigns victorious.
In the last statement of this verse, the psalmist wisely now guards his new path with God’s commands. He models how to be continually strengthened as we walk out repentance.
We are wise to guard our repentance by keeping God’s Word before us.
31 I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame!
It’s not enough to keep God’s Word before us; here, we see that we must cling to it. Where the effects of sin in our lives can leave us cleaving to dust as the psalmist did in verse 25, we must now cleave to His word as God works restoration from sin into us.
The Word of God needs to permeate every crevice of our being. If we are to triumph over sin, we need the power of Jesus Christ and the Word of God to settle (like the dust in the Dustbowl of the 1930s) into every aspect of our being.
The Word is not just a good reference for virtuous living. It is the standard. To keep us from wandering from the truth, we must cling to it and apply it regularly to our lives. [9]
We must learn to cleave to God’s word and apply it to every area of our lives.
32 I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will enlarge my heart.
This final verse is so profound. The psalmist declares, “I shall run” the way of the Lord. It’s as if he knows that to “stroll” at this point, concerning his obedience, would be to become distracted and ultimately risk committing sin again.
With the humble brokenness over his sin afresh, and his decision to repent and draw strength from God’s Word, there is no time to “smell the flowers.” It’s all or nothing. He dedicates himself to the ways of God with all that he can offer.
And the most beautiful ending to this stanza is that he is aware that through all these difficult yet beneficial things, the Lord will bless him. His obedience to God’s Word will grow his heart to love God more and strengthen him not to sin again.
Like a rainstorm that quenches a parched land and tenderly encourages life to emerge from dusty bareness, God offers us new life with the invitation of His grace found in Jesus. If we choose to cling to our sin we will find ourselves cleaving to the dust sooner than later. But if we choose to cling to God and His Word, He will enlarge our hearts.
Running to obey God’s Word is blessed with greater understanding and a greater love for God.
I leave you with an excerpt of Karen Hesse’s “Hope” from Out of the Dust. My intention is for you to read it through the lens of God’s grace. As the dust of our Psalm symbolizes brokenness over one’s sin, I hope this excerpt will inspire you to consider God’s grace as described with the effects of the rain in the dustbowl of the 1930s in this poem.
(from “Hope”)
It started out as snow.
Oh, big flakes
Floating
Softly,
Catching on my sweater,
Lacy on the edges of my sleeves.
Snow covered the dust,
Softened the fences,
Soothed the parched lips
Of the land.
And then it changed,
Halfway between snow and rain,
Sleet,
Glazing the earth.
Until at last
it slipped into rain,
Light as mist.
It was the kindest
Kind of rain
that fell.
Soft and then a little heavier,
Helping along
What had already fallen
Into the
Hard-pan
Earth
Until it
Rained,
Steady as a good friend
Who walks beside you, not getting in your way,
staying with you through a hard time.
And because the rain came
So patient and slow at first,
And built up strength as the earth
Remembered how to yield, instead of washing off
The water slid in,
Into the dying ground and softened its stubborn pride,
And eased it back toward life.”[10]
[1] “Hebrew Alphabet”, Bible Study Tools, accessed March 6, 2023, https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/alphabet.html
[2] “Psalm 119:25-32,” Enduring Word Bible Commentary, David Guzik, accessed March 6, 2023, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-119/
[3] Stephens, Michael. 2023. “Ask the Pastor: How do you read the Psalms in poetic form?” (First Baptist Church, Kingman, KS, February 1, 2023).
[4] Karen Hess, Out of Dust: “Rules of Dining,” “Dust and Rain” (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1997, p.21; 46).
[5] “Psalm 119:25-32,” Enduring Word Bible Commentary, David Guzik, accessed March 6, 2023, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-119/
[6] 1 John 1:9 (NIV) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
[7] 1 John 1:9 (NIV)
[8] Luke 15:7 (NIV) “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
[9] “Psalm 119:25-32,” Enduring Word Bible Commentary, David Guzik, accessed March 6, 2023, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-119/
[10] Karen Hess. Out of Dust: “Hope” (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1997, pg. 176-177).
Such a huge truth in a very small portion of Psalm 119. Thank you for leading me to that Psalm. The entire Psalm begs of faithfulness to God’s Word. It speaks of wretchedness, confession, redemption and repentance which leads to deliverance from pride, and all sin wrapped in humility, wisdom , liberty and great peace.
I love this thought “The Word of God needs to permeate every crevice of our being. If we are to triumph over sin, we need the power of Jesus Christ and the Word of God to settle (like the dust in the Dustbowl of the 1930s) into every aspect of our being.”
May we all “run the course of His commandments”.