Embrace the Word for Monday, October 12, 2026
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Psalm 119 is a celebration of God’s Word. Psalm 119:73-80 continues the exploration of the “blessed” life. Each verse in this tenth stanza begins with the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet (which is yod). This tenth stanza continues the matter of affliction, which was also the focus of the ninth stanza. In addition to the common links between the ninth and tenth stanzas including affliction (119:67,71,75), other shared links consist of learning and being taught (119:66,68,71,73), a focus on the heart (119:69,70,80), the insolent (119:69,78), the verb “to do” or “make” (119:65,73), and a delight in God’s Word (119:70,77). While the ninth stanza explored how the LORD worked in the Psalmist amid his affliction, the tenth stanza builds on that to explore how the LORD works through him in his affliction. The first sub-stanza of the tenth stanza notes the Psalmist’s awareness that he is in the hands of the LORD as he lives in fellowship with others (119:73-76), while the second sub-stanza notes the Psalmist’s awareness that he lives in fellowship with others so that he might demonstrate that he is in the hands of the LORD (119:77-80). Both sub-stanzas of the tenth stanza describe the Psalmist’s godly companions as being those who “fear” the LORD (119:74,79).
Psalm 119:73-80 opens with a bold and clear confession of faith: “Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments” (119:73). The Psalmist is aware that the LORD has “made” him. This is the same term translated “dealt” in the previous stanza (119:63). The Psalmist is also aware that the LORD has “fashioned” him, which suggests the notion of being established. The LORD has not only been the Psalmist’s maker, He is also his sustainer. The LORD does not create a people only to forsake them; no, He brings the purposes and designs of His people to their realized fruition. The Psalmist is also aware of the fact that an essential component of the LORD establishing or fashioning His people for the purposes to which He made them, entails an ever extensive learning from God’s Word. Such extensive learning from the LORD involves an ever expansive understanding of the ways of the LORD. As the Psalmist is continuing his discussion about affliction in this tenth stanza, he is acutely aware of his need for the LORD to do an ongoing, internal work in his life granting him much wisdom from the Scriptures as he navigates his affliction.
The Psalmist is aware of his need for the LORD to do an internal work in him because he is aware that the LORD has purposed to do an external work through him: “Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word” (119:74). The Psalmist must be fashioned and established in the LORD because he knows that he has been called to be an example before others as to the faithfulness of the LORD. The Psalmist’s present experience of affliction is designed, in part, to make a positive impact on the life of his fellow companions who also fear the LORD. Previously, the Psalmist noted the impact that such godly companions had upon his own life (119:63), but now the design of such relationships comes full circle. The LORD uses fellow believers in His people’s lives and He uses His people in the lives of fellow believers. The Psalmist is aware that his affliction, his being sustained amid his affliction, as well as his growing understanding of God and His ways amidst affliction is meant to strengthen the joy and hope of others. Thus, the Psalmist acknowledges that his hoping in God’s Word is a source of encouragement to others. Others see his hope in the LORD and turn to the LORD as well.
In the context of his affliction, knowing that the LORD was at work in and through him, the Psalmist is quite explicit to whom he assigns as bringing about his affliction: “I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (119:75). The Psalmist prefaces his statement concerning the LORD as the cause of his affliction by the declaration that the LORD is right in all that He does as well as faithful through all that He carries out. The LORD is never wrong in what He ordains, He is always just. The LORD is never unfaithful in what He orders, He is always true to His Word. Up to this point, the Psalmist has blamed his affliction on the wicked (119:53,61) and the insolent (119:21,51,69). The Psalmist is not contradicting himself in alluding the cause of his affliction to both the LORD and the wicked. The LORD tests His people through permitting the wicked to afflict His people. The LORD does not have to force wicked people to afflict, they are always eager to do so! But while the wicked afflict harm for evil purposes, the LORD afflicts for good purposes that impart help. The Psalmist is emphatic about his declaration: “I know, O LORD.” He knows this because the LORD has given him understanding and instruction from the Word. The Psalmist knows that while the LORD is behind his affliction, he also knows that the LORD supplies all that he needs in the circumstances: “Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant” (119:76). This comfort in affliction can come through many means, but perhaps one key means is how the Word of God becomes the light and the lens through which the Psalmist interprets how to make sense of his affliction. The LORD, who is just, faithful, and loving, is at work in his people’s affliction to accomplish His greater purposes.
The Psalmist transitions from his awareness of the LORD as he lives before others (119:73-76), to his awareness of others as he lives before the LORD (119:77-80). As the Psalmist continues his reflection on his affliction, he is aware that he is in need of the LORD’s mercy: “Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight” (119:77). When the LORD sends affliction upon His people, he also sends the Spirit’s prompting to pray. Each and every circumstance of affliction involves the LORD’s design for His people to trust Him more as they cry out to Him. The Psalmist is acutely aware that to be sustained through and even overcome his affliction, he needs the LORD to mercifully act on his behalf. Such mercy is displayed through the Psalmist’s continued delight in the Word of God. In contrast to the Psalmist asking for prolonged mercy, he asks for the insolent to be brought to an end: “Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts” (119:78). The insolent were all too glad to inflict the Psalmist. Therefore, he prays that the wrongs his enemies have caused him would now fall upon them. And while he will entrust the matter of bringing shame to his enemies to the LORD, the Psalmist would continue to meditate, not on the wrongs done to him, but upon the truths of God’s Word.
While the Psalmist is aware of the wrongs that the insolent have done to him, he is also aware of his calling to be a model to others that seek the LORD: “Let those who fear you turn to me, that they may know your testimonies” (119:79). The Psalmist desires that he be noticed—not to merely draw attention to himself—but that his being sustained by the LORD through affliction might serve as the instrument in which others would draw closer to the LORD. As the LORD worked in and through the Psalmist amid his affliction, others who feared the LORD would realize that the Psalmist’s strong testimony of the LORD’s faithfulness might cause them to want to walk in trust and obedience to the LORD as well. Thus, the Psalmist ends with a prayer for himself: “May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame!” (119:80). The Psalmist not only knows that his life is to be a testimony to others, he also knows that only the LORD would sustain him to such an end. Without the LORD’s mercy and steadfast love, his life would not continue in a trajectory of faithfulness; instead, he would face the same sort of shame that awaits the insolent.
As we reflect on Psalm 119:73-80, we can consider the call to keep our eyes on Jesus amid our afflictions. Psalm 119:73-80 underscores that watching others faithfully endure affliction, often has a powerful impact on our lives: “Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word” (119:74). What better model has our Father given to us than His Son: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (See Hebrews 12:3). The source for being sustained in our affliction is the One who has faced the ultimate affliction: “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (See Hebrews 12:1b-2). Jesus hoped in God’s Word to the very end: “I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (119:75). As we seek to maintain a focus on Jesus, we can trust that we too will have all that we need to be sustained through and even overcome whatever affliction comes our way: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (See Romans 8:35-37).
That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, October 12, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, October 14, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 119:81-88.