This section of Psalm 119 is a prayer with five requests. Supplication is the theme and tone of the text. In this regard, the section is no different than the previous section.

Psalm 119 is an ode to the sufficiency of scripture expressed in prayer and praise. This section is different in that the emphasis is not on what the psalmist prayed. It is on the manner the psalmist prayed. He prayed with assurance. As the psalmist prays with earnestness, fervor, and urgency, he prays with confident assurance that God will hear and answer.

Answered prayer is a great encouragement to pray. Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; known, and it will be opened to you.” Unanswered prayer is a great discouragement in prayer. It leads on to ask:

• Does God care about my situation?
• Can God do anything about my situation?

Yes, God cares. And God is able. The Lord may not answer according to your request, desire, or feelings. In this regard, the mystery of unanswered prayer is the mystery of answered prayer. God answers according to what he knows is best, rather than what we think is best. God always answers by his holy character, perfect goodness, and unfailing truth. Because God is God, you can pray with assurance. How can you pray with assurance?

Pray with all your heart.

The first pair of verses in this stanza expresses the earnestness of the psalmist’s prayer. Verse 145 says, “With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord! I will keep your statutes.” There is a time and place for contemplative prayer. This was not that time or place. Difficulty moved the psalmist to cry out to God, “Answer me.” The psalmist does not make a specific request. He prays, “Answer me.” The psalmist made requests in the past. He does not repeat them. He brings all matters he has prayed about before and asks God to hear and answer him.

The assurance with which he prayed was based on how he offered his prayers: “with my whole heart.” Proverb 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” Here is a practical way to trust with all your heart. Pray with your whole heart. Albert Barnes wrote, “Often it would a great surprise – perhaps grief – even to profoundly religious persons, if God should answer their prayers, and should make them what they professedly desire to be, and what they pray that they may be.”

Verse 146 says, “I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies.” Using a strengthened form of the word in verse 145, the psalmist says, “I call to you.” He asked God to hear him in verse 145. The petition here is more specific: “save me.” Scripture speaks of salvation in different ways. The most apparent meaning of salvation is the forgiveness of sins. But here is a man who is already saved regarding his sins. Yet he still needed salvation. Salvation does not make us exempt from trouble in this life. But the saved can pray to be saved. Those who have been forgiven can pray to God for deliverance in times of trouble.

The plea for deliverance was not just about getting out of his circumstances. He says, “I call on you; save me; that I may observe your testimonies.” He asked God to save him so he could live in obedience. The psalmist was not negotiating with God. God knew his heart. He could not inform God of anything or hide anything from God. He does not pray this way to manipulate God. He acknowledges he could not do God’s will without God’s help. Why does God permit trials beyond our control? He wants us to recognize that we are nothing and can do nothing without him. John 15:5 says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Pray all the time

The first pair of verses in this stanza focuses on the manner of the psalmist’s prayers. The following two verses focus on the timing of his prayers.

• Verses 145-146 focus on how he prayed
• Verses 147-148 focus on when he prayed.

The psalmist teaches us to pray all the time. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” We often view this exhortation as impractical or impossible. It is to misread this biblical exhortation and misunderstand the nature of prayer. Unceasing prayer is not about formal mechanics. It is not spending all day on your knees. It is not muttering prayers all day. It is about proper disposition. Prayer is not about the words that you say. It is about the attitude of heart. Verses 147-147 teach us to seek God morning and night.

Seek God in the morning. Verse 147 says, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.” This testimony reminds us it is a good practice to begin your day in prayer. But it says more than that. He says, “I rise before dawn and cry for help.” Before sunrise, the psalmist got out of bed to cry out to God for help. These predawn prayer sessions demonstrated dependence on God. His actions declared that he needed God more than he needed sleep. He rose before the dawn and cried out to the Lord for help. Why? Verse 147b says, “I hope in your words.” His hope was not in his family, job, or money. It was in the word of God. That’s why he got up early in the morning and cried for help.

Seek God at night. Verse 148 says, “My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.” It is best to read verse 148 as a parallel to verse 147. In verse 147, the psalmist got up early to call for help. In verse 148, he stayed up late at night to meditate on the word of God. Prayer and meditation are affirmed in these time references. Warren Wiersbe wrote: “We must balance the word and pray in our devotional life and ministry, for all Bible and no prayer means light without heat, but all prayer and no Bible could result in zeal without knowledge.” These two verses encourage us to seek God at all times.

• Seek him before the sun comes up.
• Seek him after the sun goes down.
• Seek him all day long.

Pray as if it all depends on God.

Verse 149 says, “Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O Lord, according to your justice give me life.” In verse 145, the psalmist asked the Lord to hear his cry. Now he asks God to hear his voice. He is a hurting child crying out to his loving father, trusting the sound of his lamentations would move his father to intervene. He trusts the Lord will hear his voice according to his steadfast love. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” This is the assurance with which the psalmist prays. Even though he finds himself in a desperate situation, he is confident the love of God for him has not changed. Herbert Lockyer wrote: “Had it not been for the possession of this precious virtue on God’s part, prayer would have been impossible on our part.”

The psalmist asks, “O Lord, according to your justice give me life.” This is a familiar petition in Psalm 119. It is the picture of one at the point of death. He asks God to quicken, revive, or give him life. Note the basis of the request: “according to your justice.” The Hebrew word translated justice is a synonym for scripture.

• The KJV uses the word judgment.
• The NASB uses the word ordinances.
• The NIV uses the word laws.

The word of God is just. God always acts according to the justice of his word. It is according to this justice the psalmist asks God to give him life. Most of us would not ask God to do something based on justice. We are more prone to ask God to act based on mercy and grace. We ask God to do good to us, even though we have not been good. But the psalmist appeals to God’s justice. The psalmist understood the justice of God works on behalf of those who believe just as much as his steadfast love. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Pray to the God who is already there.

Verse 150 says, “They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.” Throughout this stanza, the psalmist prays with urgency and speaks with earnestness about his prayers. This is the first time he mentions the situation that vexed him.

• They are men who follow after wickedness.
• They are men who devise wicked schemes.
• They are men who persecute him with evil purpose.

The psalmist mentions the character, schemes, and activities of his enemies in this psalm. His concern is that his enemies “draw near.” They are closing in on him, like hunters surrounding their prey. Those who live by the word will face strong and strategic opposition from hardhearted unbelievers and carnal-minded believers. The verse tells us why: “they are far from your law.” This is a reason godly people suffer persecution. If a person does not respect the word of God, you cannot expect them to respect you. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It is spiritual warfare that must be waged with spiritual weapons.

 One’s proximity to God and his word must be measured in terms of malice, not miles; devotion, not distance. Like the Prodigal Son, it is sinful rebellion, not geographical separation. In Mark 12:28-34, Jesus answers with the Great Commandment. The scribe who asked the question affirmed Jesus’ answer. In Mark 12:34, Jesus replied, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” How far is not far? We don’t know. But it is far enough away to send a soul to hell. That scribe knew the truth. He did not believe or obey it. He was not far. He was not right with God. You can be away from God while giving assent and paying lip service to the truth. How far are you from the law of God?

There is a contrast in verse 150. There is also a contrast between verses 150 and 151. Verse 150 says, “They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.” Verse 151 says, “But you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true.” The psalmist prayed with assurance because he knew the Lord was near to supply, protect, and deliver. Derek Kidner comments: “The threat is not glossed over; it is put into perspective by a bigger fact.” You may be troubled, frustrated, or discouraged because things, people, and circumstances work against you. But do not lose sight of the fact that God is near. Psalm 16:8 says, “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble.”

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose

He will never, no never desert to his foes

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake

He will never, no never, no never forsake  

Pray with confidence in the word of God.

The stanza closes in verse 152 with a testimony: “Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.” The psalmist states an objective fact: God has established his testimonies forever. This is a statement about the nature of scripture. The Lord has laid an everlasting foundation for his word. And it will stand forever. Psalm 119:89 says, “Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Mark 13:31 says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

This is an objective statement about the immutability and eternality of God’s word. But this objective statement is made in the context of a personal testimony: “Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.” The psalmist testifies about what he knows. It is not about what he heard, read, or believed. It is what he knows. This is an essential dynamic for confident assurance in prayer. There are things about God and his word you need to know for yourself. The psalmist says, “Long have I known….” The NKJV and NASB say he knew “of old.” He did not just find out what he knew about God’s word. He had known it for some time. This is how he was able to pray with assurance in a crisis. He knew the word of God is founded forever. And he had known it for a long time. So, he did not panic about his present difficulties. He remembered how the word of God had proven true in the past. He concluded that the word of God had not changed. And he determined that the same word would prove true in his present situation and in whatever tomorrow would bring.