We do cry out in the night for His judgment to come upon us and “the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee” because of our being dragged to Christ.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

“Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name” is our prayer to our Father, and is explained in these verses which apply to those who are being judged in this age.

Isa 26:7  The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. 
Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 
Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

That mercy “be merciful unto me” is first shown to the body of Christ (Rom 11:18-27) and results in the Lord ordering our steps in His word “Order my steps in thy word“. When Christ orders our steps in His word, sin will not have dominion over us “let not any iniquity have dominion over me“.

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 
1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 

Psa 119:134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.
Psa 119:135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.
Psa 119:136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

“The oppression of man” is true of all men, because of the oppressive realm of the flesh which is subject to a law of vanity that requires another law in our members if we are going to be able to overcome in this life.

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

We are not being oppressed when we are blessed to keep the law of Christ (1Jn 5:3, Rom 8:2) typified by “thy precepts” and “thy judgments” of old. Where the spirit of Christ is, there is liberty and no oppression regardless of what is happening physically around us or mentally within us (2Co 3:17). We can overcome because He who is in us is greater than Satan who is in the world.

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 
1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

God “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant” is what must happen to us if we are going to enter into eternal life (Mat 19:17). Having God’s face shine upon us is a two-edged sword for our flesh as we weep like Christ for those who can’t yet keep His commandments (Luk 19:41-44) and yet we rejoice knowing that through Him we are being given victory to overcome in this age for our sakes and for their sakes “and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1Jn 2:2).

“Rivers of waters run down mine eyes” for the blindness of city that we behold (that Christ beheld) as we know their judgement is yet to come and the whole world lies in sin until today “because they keep not thy law” (Luk 19:42-44, 1Jn 5:19, Php 2:15). These things must occur to show us who God has approved (1Co 11:19), and this will glorify our Father as He makes His strength perfect through the weak of the world who will experience that same fiery judgement first (1Pe 4:17) and yet are blessed to be called to be in that first resurrection (Rev 20:6) having been made ready to bring the rest of the world into a right relationship with our Father and Christ by delivering them from the bondage of sin from which Christ has set us free (Oba 1:21, Joh 8:36).

Psa 119:137  TZADDI. Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments. 
Psa 119:138  Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful. 

These above two verses are the start of the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and are very triumphantly proclaiming, at least in type and shadow, what the Lord is doing within the man who has gone through or is going through judgment in this age. “Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments” within those whose judgment you are executing at this time (Isa 26:9). 

The new man (8) cannot be formed within us unless we are given to see “Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful“. The centurion soldier in his day is a shadow of the elect of God who understand there is an order in the spiritual realm that is all working according to the counsel of His own will, and that can only be understood by God giving us the faith to believe and keep His commandments so we can enter into life and see, believe and do the work of God today (Mat 8:5-13, Eph 1:11, Joh 6:28).

Psa 119:139  My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. 

This prophecy of Christ is being fulfilled and demonstrated in the temple that we are (1Co 6:19) as He purifies our temple by destroying the man of sin within us by the brightness of his coming (2Th 2:8, 1Jn 3:3). That is our hope, that the hope of glory within us is zealously at work within us driving out everything that is contrary to sound doctrine, or heretical, or thinking above what is written in God’s word.

1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

Tit 2:1  But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

If God is working with us in this age, we will be a peculiar people zealous of good works as our Lord was, and we will be fighting a good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12) as we overcome the evil within us by the goodness of God (Rom 12:21) who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13).

Joh 2:17  And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 

Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 
Tit 2:15  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.  

Psa 119:140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

God’s word is rich like honey (Psa 119:103), and it is the “servant” of God to whom Christ gives this nourishing “very pure” word which quickens us and helps us minister to one another (Joh 6:63).

Keeping the word undefiled is what we are commanded to do so that there will be “no divisions among you”. By not letting that sword (Heb 4:12) depart from our house, the Lord uses the word of God to judge us so we can be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 

“Therefore thy servant loveth it” because we are judged by that word which brings forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness that can only come from God above. God’s chastening is that perfect gift from above we need in order to be received as sons (Heb 12:11, Jas 1:17, Heb 12:6).

Psa 119:141 I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.

Like God’s word, we are likened unto something that is “small and despised“, but we are filled with hope because we “do not I forget thy precepts” because of the comforter which brings us into remembrance of all that we need to know in order to endure until the end.

Mar 4:31  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: 
Mar 4:32  But when it is sown [Joh 12:24], it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. 

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

Therefore we need to not despise the day of small things and understand that God is the one who is making it possible through the gift of the holy spirit which is poured out for us through Christ to be His two witnesses who are showing the world that true discipleship is only made possible, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”

Zec 4:10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. 

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Psa 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

Man’s righteousness in contrast to God’s has a distinct beginning and end, and Christ spoke to His disciples of that righteousness which we must exceed or we will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

This is, was and will be statement of Christ is one we pray the Lord will give us to constantly evaluate in our heavens to be sure that we are not reprobates, and, God willing, we will be found with the righteousness of Christ abiding in us until the end of this life (Php 1:6, Php 3:3). We see in these verses that a reprobate by God’s definition is someone who is found having their “own righteousness, which is of the law”.

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 

Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith [Gal 2:20]:
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 
Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Psa 119:143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.
Psa 119:144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

We need not fear what man can do to our flesh (Mat 10:28) if we understand that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood “but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:12). 

Anguish takes hold of us when we are overcome by evil and do not cast our cares upon the Lord who cares for us and who is “far above” all those powers and principalities with which we wrestle through the night (Eph 1:21). So we beseech our Lord to keep us “reaching forth unto those things which are before” and to help us not grow weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 
Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

The glory God has set before us is going to be preceded by a light affliction (2Co 4:17), and the present suffering we endure is not worthy to be compared to the glory that God has been set before us (Rom 8:17-18). 

God provides the spiritual vision we need in the body of Christ so our hearts don’t fail, just as He did through the first martyr in the church, Steven. 

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. 

Act 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 
Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

That vision for Steven came as a result of obeying the commandments of God “he that keepeth the law” and holding fast with a stedfast gaze on the joy that had been set before him (Php 3:8, Heb 11:26). 

Christ was created to be that strength in our life through whom we can endure all things as He continues to help us keep under ourselves and endure until the end together as one body. That is the hope-filled message of the gospel which is given to very few to hold fast to in this life (Heb 12:1-2, 1Co 9:27, Php 4:13), and if God will grant us to be found with the righteousness of Christ and His strength through whom we can endure all things we “shall live” by being given power to drink the cup and lose our life in this age (Mar 10:39, Mat 10:39).

“The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting” are words that are a shadow of the truth that Christ has the words of eternal life, and can give us the understanding we need, which comes through obedience, that we can learn by the things we suffer in this life so that we “shall live“.

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 
Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.