This fifteenth stanza of Psalm 119 continues the train of thought from the previous section. In verses 105-112, the psalmist expresses his determination to live for God. That is what we find in this section. But there is a slight yet important difference. 

• The previous section declares his determination to live for God because of. 
• This present section declares his determination to live for God in spite of. 

The writer was threatened, pursued, and harassed. Yet he maintained a steadfast determination to choose the right and to reject the wrong. 

The story is told of a man who stood in the streets of Sodom and Gomorra, calling for repentance.  A boy asked, “You know you’re not influencing anyone? Why are you out here?” He answered, “Because I don’t want them to influence me.” 

This was the disposition of the psalmist. He determined not to be influenced by ungodly people or worldly trends. He was determined to live for God in spite of. To say yes to God is to say no to anything that hinders obedience. Titus 2:11 says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” How do you choose the right and reject the wrong? Psalm 119:113-120teaches three requirements for choosing right and rejecting wrong. 

Singlemindedness

A band marches by in a parade. You notice one young man walking out of step. As you look closer, you see he is wearing headphones. He is out of step because he is marching to different music. That young man would be a bad bandmate. He would be a good Christian. To follow Jesus is to walk out of step with the world. You march to different music. 

Singlemindedness toward the word. Verse 113 states a contrast: “I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.” To be doubleminded is to have divided thoughts that result in divided loyalties. James Moffat translates: “I hate men who are half and half.”

• It is to think you can choose right and wrong. 
• It is to think you can love God and sin. 
• It is to think you can follow Christ and the world. 

1 Kings 18:21 says, “How long will you go limping between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The double-minded seek to follow Yahweh and Baal. The KJV calls this “vain thoughts,” suggesting the attempt to follow God and Baal is an empty pursuit. James 1:7-8 says, “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.”  

The psalmist judges ungodliness throughout this passage. But he does not just take a stand against the ungodliness around him. He also condemns the ungodliness within him. That is the spirit of verse 113. The psalmist hates the hypocrisy in others. He also hates the hypocrisy in himself. He says, “But I love your law.” This is the remedy for doublemindedness. Love the word of God.

• It will vaccinate you from the contagious hypocrisy around you. 
• It will cure you of the cancerous hypocrisy within you.  

Singlemindedness with hope. Verse 114 says, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.” Hope is not wishful thinking. It is great expectation rooted in confidence in God. Hope is not a blueprint of the future. It is trust that God is the Architect, Contractor, and Builder of your life. The psalmist hoped in the word for two reasons: “You are my hiding place and my shield.” 

A hiding place is a fortress or refuge. Psalm 32:7 says, “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” David discovered he could run, but he could not hide from God. So David ran to God and hid in God. 

• God is a hiding place when you sin. 
• God is also a hiding place that keeps you from sin. 

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” The psalmist says, “You are my hiding place and my shield.” In Genesis 14, Abraham overcame the kings that defeated Sodom and Gomorrah. He refused to take any spoils. Genesis 15:1 says, “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram saying: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” You can face any attack of the enemy trusting you have a shield that will not fail you. Ephesians 6:16 says, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

Single-mindedness against sin. Verse 115 says, “Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.” If you stand on a chair and reach down to me, it is easier for me to pull you down than for you to pull me up. This is the gravitational pull of ungodly companions. 1 Corinthians 15:31 says, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” Steer clear of people who influence you to choose wrong and reject right. 

1 Corinthians 5:9-10 says, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy or swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.” Light and salt must have contact and connection to be effective. The psalmist is not teaching you to disassociate from worldly people. But beware of the relationships you foster, affections you nurture, and partnerships you establish. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

Matthew 7:21-23 says, “And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Psalm 119:115 says, “Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.” This is the only time the name God – Elohim – is used in Psalm 119. Yet the psalmist says he is “my God.” Philip Doddridge wrote: 

My God! How charming is the sound! 
How pleasant to repeat; 
Well, may that heat with pleasure abound, 
Where God has fixed his seat. 

           Trust 

Sincere desire and steadfast determination are not sufficient to choose the right and reject the wrong. Trusted God to help you live right. 

Trust God to sustain you by his word. Verse 116 says, “Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!” What a simple, powerful prayer request! Jude 24 says, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” God is able to keep you on your feet in slippery places. The psalmist asked God to uphold him according to his promise. This is the means, measure, and motivation by which the Lord upholds his children. When God makes a promise, he keeps his promise.

The psalmist asked God to uphold him. Then he gives two intended results of the answer. First, he prays, “Uphold me… that I may live.” Some commentators read this as a reference to the “abundant life”Jesus promises in John 10:10. Considering the context of Psalm 119, this is about life, life. His life was on the line. The only way he will survive is if God upholds him. This is a vital truth that you cannot afford to forget. You cannot live without God. More than your job, talents, experience, connections, and resources, you need God. 

Verse 114 says, “I hope in your word.” Verse 15 says, “Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!” The psalmist invested all his hope in the word of God. Now, he needs to go to the word of God to make a withdrawal. He says, “Lord, do not let your bank fail in this spiritual recession. I’ve been telling everyone that my hope is in your word. Do not let me be put to shame!” Not only was the psalmist depending on the sustaining power of God; he also depended on the faithful character of God. Psalm 23:4 says, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Trust God to sustain you for his word. Verse 117 says, “Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually.” Using different terms, the psalmist makes the same request – that God would sustain him. Again, he gives two intended results. First, he prays that God would hold him up that he would be safe. John 10:28-30 says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Likewise, he prays, “Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually.” The psalmist admits that without sustaining grace, he is prone to disregard the word of God in his life. “Continually” suggests that without sustaining grace, he may only regard God’s word when it is comfortable or convenient. Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Robert Robinson said it well: 

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it 
Prone to leave the God I love; 
Here's my heart, O Take and seal it, 
Sea it for Thy courts above. 

We are prone to disregard the word of God. But God is never prone to disregard his word. God takes such pleasure in his word that if you desire to do his will, he will provide sustaining grace to resist temptation, live obediently, and serve faithfully. 

Reverence

We find it hard to choose right and reject wrong because we do not have a high view of God. James Montgomery Boice commented, “There is very little spirit of awe in our time. Instead of being in awe before God, many Christians in our day seem to regard him more as a buddy, which shows only that we do not know much about God at all.” To stand in awe of God is an essential mark of a godly life.

Stand in awe of how God deals with the ungodly. Verse 118 says, “You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain.” The psalmist claims we do not go astray unintentionally. It is the result of vain cunning. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” John Phillips rightly said: “Any teaching is false, no matter how many millions of adherents it can muster, no matter what backing it might have in the halls of the learned or in the corridors of power, if it sets aside the word of God.” Not only is it futile, but it is also fatal. The KJV says, “Thou has trodden down all them that err from thy statutes.” God works with his hands and his feet. 

• With his hands, he upholds those who live according to his word.
• With his feet, he treads on those who stray away from his word.  

 Verse 119 says, “All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.”The refiner placed the discovered ore in boiling water to refine them. This is what God does when he allows trials in our lives. God turns up the heat to refine you, not destroy you. When God places you in the fire, he has his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat. The fire that purifies the metal, exposes the dross. Verse 119 says God discards the wicked of the earth like dross. This is why the psalmist loved God’s word. He was not rejoicing in the destruction of the wicked. He rejoiced that God has the last word. 

• Don’t stumble over the prosperity of the wicked. 
• Don’t take matters into your own hands. 
• Don’t fret over wickedness all around you. 

Psalm 37:1-4 says, “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Stand in awe of how God deals with you. Verse 120 says, “My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.” This verse teaches us to fear the God of the word. Verse 120 says, “My flesh trembles for fear of you.” As the psalmist considered God’s unfailing truth, perfect holiness, and sovereign authority, he was physically moved with deep reverence. His flesh trembled with fear. This is the missing element of contemporary worship. True worship is marked by joyful celebration and reverent fear. 

• As we acknowledge the grace and mercy of God, we should celebrate. 
• As we acknowledge the holiness and authority of God, we should tremble. 

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” This verse also teaches us to fear the word of God. The end of verse 120 says, “I am afraid of your judgment.” You should fear God and fear his word. Proverbs 30:5-6 says, “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” 

In July 1975, Israeli commandos raided an airport in Entebbe, Uganda, to rescue 103 hostages. Within fifteen minutes, the soldiers killed all seven kidnappers. Three hostages were killed. Entering the terminal, the commandos shouted in Hebrew, “Get down! Crawl.” The Jewish hostages understood and obeyed. The Guerrillas, who did not speak Hebrew, remained standing. Two hostages hesitated and were cut down. One young man was lying down and stood up and was killed. Had these three heeded the soldiers’ command, they would have been freed.