This portion of the Psalm falls under the Hebrew letter פ (Pe), which means “mouth” and represents the power of speech. The quality of one’s speech is understood to reflect the quality of one’s inner life and creative essence. Pe teaches us to treasure our words as precious as gold, never to be scattered carelessly. When guarded in this way, speech can fulfil its true purpose: to speak destiny — both our own and that of others — and to give voice to the spirit through thought and word.
Let us consider how the Psalmist learned to discipline his mouth, so that it might speak the secrets of the Kingdom of God and declare His plan of redemption long before it unfolded into action.
Knowing God Through Personal Experience
Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.
Psalm 119:129-131 (NIV)
For many of us, our understanding of God’s messages comes through hearsay — accounts that often turn out to be rumour or misconception, spread by certain individuals until, over time, they become widely accepted and take hold of people’s thinking. There is a real danger that the thoughts we form through hearsay may harden into heresy — that unknowingly, we come to speak entirely against what God has expressed through His Word in its proper context.
The Psalmist’s words echo his own personal experience of God’s statutes, which are so wonderful to him that, without any extra effort or forced commitment, they lead him instantly to obey God. The Psalmist also experienced how the Word of God enlightened him out of his ignorance concerning God and His presence, and he declared that he had come to understand God and His love through meditating on His Word. Now, with his heart enlightened, he found himself panting and longing for God’s commands rather than for the sweet-coated enticements of the devil.
Do we read the Word of God for ourselves and wait to hear His voice — the voice that removes the ignorance of our hearts and prepares them to receive truth with keen interest? Or do we remain in ignorance, refusing to let God remove it?
Realising The Influence of Human Oppression
Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.
Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
Redeem me from human oppression, that I may obey your precepts.
Psalm 119:132-134 (NIV)
The Psalmist was confident that God cares for those who love Him, and because he loved God, he now had the confidence to seek Him. Most of the time, misled by people who tell us that God no longer loves us, we grow fearful of coming into His presence — and middlemen exploit this fear to manipulate us. Even when people inform us, as though speaking on behalf of God’s own authority, that God no longer loves us, we should still be able to ask God to direct our footsteps so that sin may not overpower us. However, sin never entices or overpowers us merely through our weakness; rather, it is the devil who leads us to doubt God’s integrity, and so we ourselves end up inviting sin voluntarily into our hearts. Despite knowing God so intimately, the Psalmist encountered such people — those who oppressed him and blinded his eyes to the light of God — and he rightly prayed that God would redeem him from human oppression. Have we ever prayed as the Psalmist prayed? We do not pray along these lines, because we still wish to please our oppressors rather than our Redeemer.
Make Your Face Shine On Me
Make your face shine on your servant and teach me your decrees.
Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.
Psalm 119:135-136 (NIV)
We usually ask God to shine His face upon us when we lack worldly blessings, and we inadvertently assume that if God’s face shines on us, we will be blessed and every curse will depart. The prophet Isaiah teaches us that if we follow the precepts of God, God Himself will become our light, and we will no longer require the sun that God created to give us light. Many people believe that Isaiah is speaking of our soul’s state after we die, when, in His Kingdom, God Himself is the Sun. We do not always understand what God is conveying to us, yet, without grasping His instructions, we still desire that God should shine His face upon us. Logically speaking, our faces would glow with God’s glory only when we encounter Him in close proximity. Moses encountered God upon the mountain, and God passed near him; and afterwards, Moses’ face had become so radiant that when he came down from the mountain, the people could not bear to look upon it. Have we ever had such a close encounter with God?
When God’s face shines upon us, it grants us understanding of how God expects every person on this earth to obey His law. This understanding moves us to weep for those who are not obeying the law of God. Tears often fall from our eyes, but the question is: what induces these tears? It is usually our own grief — either because of unanswered prayers or the guilt that sin has brought into our lives. Apart from that, we seldom weep for the perishing soul. Even the prophet Jonah held a similar view, desiring that God should destroy the people who were not obeying His law. But God placed a burden in Jonah’s heart for the perishing soul, saying…
And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?
Jonah 4:11 (NIV).
The Creator cares for mankind, His creation, whereas the devil delights in destroying mankind. Jesus Himself taught us this truth.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10 (NIV)
A New Heart And A New Spirit
We often ask God to fill our mouths with the right message for His people. Such preaching and praying prevail in our day, when many fail to establish their hearts firmly in the law of God. Though this Psalm falls under the Hebrew letter Pe, meaning “mouth” or “speech,” the Psalmist did not address this subject directly; rather, he traced it to its root — the place from which thoughts arise and our mouths speak. The Psalmist filled his heart with the instructions of a merciful God, so that whatever proceeded from his mouth became a message of encouragement to the oppressed, and, above all, he frequently prophesied the coming of Jesus and His sufferings in vivid detail. Jesus explained this very outcome:
For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Luke 6:45b (NIV)
If we fill our hearts with the Word of God, nothing but the love of God can proceed from our mouths, and we will become His spokespersons. God has promised to give us a new heart and a new spirit, replacing our heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
Loving Heavenly Father, give us a desire to long for Your instructions, that we may keep them in our hearts, so that our mouths may speak out Your love. Amen.
The Jordan Valley 
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