Studies in Psalms – Psa 119:97-112 – Part 7 “MEM” and NUN”

Psa 119:97 MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Psa 119:98  Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
Psa 119:99  I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
Psa 119:100  I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
Psa 119:101  I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
Psa 119:102  I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
Psa 119:103  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psa 119:104  Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 

Psa 119:105. NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psa 119:106  I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
Psa 119:107  I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.
Psa 119:108  Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.
Psa 119:109  My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
Psa 119:110  The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.
Psa 119:111  Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
Psa 119:112  I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway,  even unto the end.

In last week’s study we looked at the transition of going from “the ruin and disintegration of the flesh” based on the verses Psalm 119:81-88 and represented by the eleventh letter in the Hebrew alphabet, “CAPH”. We’re reminded of how we must transition from that state to “LAMED” the twelfth letter in the Hebrew alphabet which represents “the number of Christ” who is our foundation we witness in this series of verses: Psa_119:89-96.

This week we will look at the section of scripture centered around the letters “MEM” and “NUN”, and be reminded of how whatever we build on Christ who is our foundation must be upon a burnt offering. Last week we also looked at how Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted because his meal offering (grain) was not upon a burnt offering as it should have been.

If it had been upon a burnt offering, then Cain’s (meal-grain) offering would have been fine, as this symbolic act of offering the grain upon a burnt offering would have represented a life embued with God’s holy spirit (Rom 8:9) and being laid down as a living sacrifice as Christ was for us. That new life which we have in Christ knows that our own offering is not possible without God’s power working in our lives, just as Christ said of himself (1Co 10:31, Lev 23:10-17, Joh 15:5, Joh 5:30).

Cain represents our old man which must die and transition (11) through that death and disintegration into the new man, Abel, whose sacrifice is accepted because it is upon a burnt offering representing Christ whose life is symbolically represented by the number 12, just as the elect’s life is, with our hope of glory within (12×12=144 Rev 7:4).

Christ spoke of that disintegration in these terms of the temple which we are (1Co 3:16, Mat 24:2) that is being torn down and rebuilt in three symbolic days to become a new temple that worships God in spirit and in truth. Very few are indeed being crushed under the stone in order to become that new place where God and Christ abide so that true worship in spirit and truth are found (Mat 21:44).

Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

The word dissolve found in this section of Matthew 24:2 – “be thrown down^G2647” couples perfectly with the thought that the worm to which Israel (Jacob) and all mankind is likened (Isa 41:14-15) must “dissolve” or “be thrown down” and rebuilt in order to become that beautiful new creation with spiritual wings that glorify God with every beat! That throwing down and dissolving is how the fruit of the spirit is made possible in the life of God’s elect who can now judge things pertaining to this life also, knowing that one day we will judge angels as well. If we are not granted to learn to judge these matters of life correctly today God tells us we will be considered as “the unrighteous [who] shall not inherit the kingdom of God”. We must therefore judge all things, and then we will not be judged by any man without or within because of the righteous judgement that can only be optained through Christ.

1Co 6:3   Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

Joh 8:14  Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
Joh 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
Joh 8:16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

We’ve recently looked at how we have been formed by the Creator for that purpose of judging all things (1Co 2:15) in these verses in the Isaiah study: “Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.” That destiny can only come about by being blessed to be judged by the fiery words of God which sanctify us and dissolve our old man (1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:12) just like the physical worm in nature dissolves even while the new creation, the butterfly is being formed.

G2647 (found in Mat 24:2)
kat-al-oo’-o

From G2596 and G3089; to loosen down (disintegrate), that is, (by implication) to demolish (literally or figuratively); specifically (compare G2646) to halt for the night: – destroy, dissolve, be guest, lodge, come to nought, overthrow, throw down.

We will look at the fruit of a life that is built upon Jesus Christ (12) as we go through the verses of this study which show us in type and shadow, through the prophets of old, the incredible gift and honor that has been granted to us to hold fast to His commandments through a life-long process (13) made possible only by the grace and faith (14) that is given to us by our Creator and was predestined to be so from the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4).

Psa 119:97 MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Right out of the gate we are told “MEM. O how love I thy law!” and “it is my meditation all the day“. The type and shadow law of the Torah, the law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9), is being talked about here as always whenever we read of God’s precepts and laws in the old covenant. They foreshadow the law of Christ in our members (Rom 7:23, Rom 8:2) which causes us to bear each other’s burdens and gives us the power to fulfill the spiritual intent of the law of Torah and go beyond the letter that kills (2Co 3:6).

Without that bread of life which comes from Christ, the crushing experiences we must go through as the body of Christ could never be endured, and in type and shadow we find our hope in these words “it is my meditation all the day“. It is our meditation “all the day“, and the promises in Him show us how this is possible.

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Psa 119:98  Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
Psa 119:99  I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
Psa 119:100  I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

Remember, these verses we are reading have to do with the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and are built upon the number 12 that we know represents Jesus Christ. With Christ in us as our hope of glory we are “wiser than mine enemies” because He is our wisdom.

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

With the safety that we find within a multitude of counsellors we gain “more understanding than all my teachers” and “understand more than the ancients” meaning that through God’s spirit within us we can rightly divide the word of God both in the old and new covenant and be built up together as one body through the holy spirit which God gives us.

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Psa 119:101  I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
Psa 119:102  I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

More of the fruit of our life in Christ is being discussed in these verses that typify the new man in us who resists sin unto the shedding of blood “I have refrained my feet from every evil way” (Heb 12:4). When we are granted to “keep thy word” we are receiving the spiritual nourishment we will need in this age to endure unto the end and not be those whose hearts are prophesied to fail in that day (Psa 104:15 there is an inward and outward fulfillment of this verse Luk 21:26, Heb 10:31). We have hearts that would naturally fail and deny Christ as Isaiah 13:7 tells us, but of those who are prophesied to drink the cup and scarcely be saved as we endure until the end the Lord knows (Mar 10:39, Mat 24:13). God gives us the power through Christ to have “not departed from thy judgments“, and “for thou hast taught me” is a prophecy of what the comforter will do for those who are God’s kind of first fruits in this age (Joh 16:13).

Psa 119:103  How sweet are thy words unto my taste!  yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psa 119:104  Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

If Christ is abiding in us then “sweet are thy words unto my taste“. At least for the new man they are sweet, but that sweetness must go through a process (3) to destroy any root of bitterness that can easily be lingering within the body of Christ (Eze 3:3, Rev 10:9-11, Heb 12:15). The seals, trumpets and vials that are spoken of in the book of Revelation are sealed to the world outside but are unsealed by Christ in us (Rev 5:4) who gives us the power to partake of these plagues we must go through in order to go unto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32). The old covenant witness of these seals and trumpets and vials are spoken of in Ezekiel 2:9-10) and it is by going through the fiery trials God gives his elect that we can in turn “hate every false way” as God makes us “as an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead” (Eze 3:8-9).

Eze 3:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness [Mat 13:20].

Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter [Rom 9:28, Jas 4:14].
Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. [We must first receive that prophecy, (Rev 1:3) if we are going to outwardly prophecy to “many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings”.]

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

It is “Through thy precepts I get understanding” and learn to “hate every false way” is telling us again that there is a process involved in building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, and we all must be careful how we build upon our Lord as we examine ourselves to make sure that we are in the faith and “hate every false way” (1Co 3:10, 2Co 13:5). This stedfast spirit of examining ourselves as God’s children in this age is what must be accomplished in the lives of God’s elect who are going through that process by the hand of God (13) so we can be established on Christ (12) (Mat 16:18).

1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

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?

Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

God’s word is a “lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” both outwardly and inwardly. The disciples who believed on Christ experienced seeing the light of the world outwardly (Joh 8:12, 31), but without that crushing experience “According to the grace of God which is given unto me” which occurs to all those who abide in God’s word, we could never become those disciples indeed whom Christ prophesied would be the very few who would have that light abiding in them, purifying them in this age, where we no longer know Christ after the flesh and are hated by all men for His name sake (Joh 6:64-66, 1Jn 1:7, 2Co 5:16, Mat 10:22).

The number 14 corresponds well with this section of scripture seeing the numbers 1 and 4 add up to “grace through faith” that is first applied to God’s elect as we go through “the process of spiritual completion” (3) at the hand of our one God (Zec 14:9) (13) who is receiving us as his sons whose lives will be founded upon Christ (12).

Joh 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

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.

Zec 14:9  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Psa 119:106  I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

“I have sworn” was not uncommon in ancient times, and we have these confirming words of Christ telling us “Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne”. We are God’s throne where He abides, and therefore we are not to tell God what we are going to do, but rather we should be committing our lives to him as unto a faithful creator and saying, “Lord, what would you have me to do?” (Jas 4:13-16, Act 9:6, Heb 5:7)

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.  [because your life is a vapour]
Jas 4:16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil [“whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” – Mat 5:37]

Act 9:6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

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;

When we swear to God or make a vow without understanding God is sovereign in our lives and has already written our books, we are demonstrating “for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” and God calls His elect in this age to acknowledge that our conversation should be prayerful always in accord with the words “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luk 22:42).

Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Psa 119:107  I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.
Psa 119:108  Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.

Because we are “afflicted very much” in this age, we are quickened by the LORD who causes the seed to die in our life, which is another way saying we are baptized into His death (Joh 12:24, Rom 6:3) so that we can bring forth much fruit. There is nothing free about “the freewill offerings of my mouth” in the sense that I have free moral agency, any more than Christ had a choice in deciding whether He would lay down His life for us. Yes, He of His own volition laid down His life, the scriptures tell us so (Joh 10:18), but who was working in Christ both to will and to do and give him the power to do this greatest act of love for all of mankind (Joh 3:16)? How could that be any different for His elect who are as He is in this world today and prophesied to drink the cup (1Jn 4:17, Mat 20:22)?

Our flesh will cry out “Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments” and that moment described here is very much akin to Hebrews 5:7, which we just read. However, it is God who is working all of this according to the counsel of His own will within all men whether you are a vessel of honor or dishonor, or a typical vessel of honor or a typical vessel of dishonor. All these abide in us, and God is the one who has determined the times and seasons and when we will mature in Christ by being the seed that falls into the ground and dies daily (Eph 1:11, Joh 12:24, 1Co 15:31).

Psa 119:109  My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
Psa 119:110  The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.

While we are in these vessels of clay that cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50) we can say “My soul is continually in my hand” and acknowledge as His children that it is the Lord who brings us into remembrance within these dying vessels through His goodness and mercy, making it possible for us to say “yet do I not forget thy law“; words that the prophets of old uttered which represented the faithfulness of Christ within His children today.

Those who would deceive the very elect if it were possible are represented by “The wicked [who] have laid a snare for me” (Mat 24:24) and our hope of glory is Christ within (Col 1:27) who alone can give us the victory so that we also can utter these words “yet I erred not from thy precepts“. Again we are reminded that none of this would be possible accept for the “grace through faith” process that we are so blessed to be experiencing in this life (Rev 20:6).

Psa 119:111  Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
Psa 119:112  I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.

These last two verse of our study declare the joy we have knowing that the undeserved “inheritance of the saints” of (Col 1:12, 1Pe 1:4, Eph 1:11, Psa 16:5) causes great “rejoicing of my heart“, and God has given His children in this age the ability to incline our hearts “to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end” and to keep “Thy testimonies“. That inheritance, as we will see, is for those “who first trusted in Christ“.

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Psa 16:5  The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance [how that inheritance is being optained Col 1:24, 27] and of my cup [Mat 20:22]: thou maintainest my lot [Pro 16:33].

Keeping the testimonies and performing the statues are the old covenant equivalent of the blessing that God’s elect receive in this age via the gifts that he has given us in Christ so that we can “all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph 4:13).

God is doing this all, and all the glory is unto Him as He lays the foundation through Christ in each of us who is going through a process today that will stabilize the bride of Christ “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” so that we in turn can be used to bring many sons unto glory as the bride of Christ (Gal 4:27-28). This is what Abraham’s, Isaac’s and Jacob’s type and shadow promised inheritance was going to be, and why we can be sure that when God says “many more children” He means “all the nations of the earth” (Gen 22:17-18, Gal 3:16).

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Gen 22:18  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.