Different Things God is teaching Me

Transgression vs. Truth

How we should respond to wrong-doing; A Look at Psalm 119

How tempting it is to respond to sin with sin; when we have been wronged by others, to then, wrong them in turn.
Yet, instead of attempting to be like some Stoic or Spartan in absorbing the blow and then dealing with it on his own terms, the Psalmist instead lets the blow drive him towards the One who will defend and fight for him.

"My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times." (vs. 20)

He doesn't harden his heart to defy the fates but lets his heart  "break with longing" for the One who judges perfectly, righteously, and with equity. (Psalm 98:9, Job 34:10-12) It is better to be broken by trial then to become hardened to it. "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit." (Psalm 34:18) It is in the emptiness of weakness that the fullness of His strength can be poured in; the vacancy of self-confidence wherein He will mercifully dwell.

"You rebuke the proud--the cursed, who stray from Your commandments." (vs. 21)

Who are the proud? Those who "stray from His commandments." Why is it foolish and even self-defeating to respond to pride with pride? Because pride causes one to stray from the commandments and way of God. Satan fell by pride in his beauty and riches (Ezekiel 28:11-19). Many godly leaders (e.g Samson, King Saul, Uzziah, etc.) stumbled or completely fell by pride. God is consistent: He always "resists the proud." (James 5:6 & 1 Peter 5:5) He has willed that humble people will prosper and inherit the earth (Psalm 37:11, Matthew 5:5) but not the haughty; not even those who are haughty against the haughty. (Ecclesiastes 8:8, Proverbs 6:16-17) Pride does not become a servant of the King of kings because it does not become of Him either. "Who is like the Lord our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?" (Psalm 113:5) "For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." " (Isaiah 57:15)

"Remove from me reproach and contempt for I have kept Your testimonies." (vs. 22)

Another word for reproach is shame, and contempt is scorn. Pride and despair. As the Psalmist remembers and reflects on what God has done for him in the past (testimonies) he prays that God would keep both shame and scorn far from him. May he not be abased  as to be in the dust nor may he 'look down from on high" on his neighbor but rather be able to gaze into the face of a fellow image-bearer with humble strength and peace. "The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." (James 3:18)

"Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes." (vs. 23)

God's statutes are sufficient to guide and defend us in a court of law. They far excel in their weight of authority to that of earthly rulers. As the Psalmist says later on in verse 98 & 99, "You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies...I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation." Who can imagine a more weighty experience than to be judged by princes? Yet neither His Spirit nor His Sword will fail in that day the one who has humbly set his whole being (heart, mind, soul, and strength) on Him. "...You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist." (Luke 21:12-15 )

"Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors." (vs. 24)

If we must turn inward, it is to seek His Spirit that mercifully and powerfully dwells within. If we must turn to our mind, it should be to remember what God has done in the past and to treasure it. We can know that what He has done in the past, He will be faithful to do in the present. (Lamentation 3:22, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 12:29) This was one of the repeated, root downfalls to Israel's glory and the cause of their rebellion: They "forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them." (Psalm 75:11) God's testimonies are meant to display His faithful sovereignty and redemption, and to stir up our faith, hope, and love for Him in the present. In meditating on His testimonies, all the things we struggle with: Doubt, disappointment, worry, weariness, haughtiness, hastiness, confusion, and covetousness, are soon dispelled with, as night is by the rising sun.
Perhaps we have never seen (and have yet to see) with our own eyes how God gave our neighbor their own "just dessert". If so, what is there still to reflect (and treasure) in His testimonies? If we are looking with humble eyes, we will see the abundant mercies of God towards us in sending His sun to rise on we who were often evil and unjust (Matthew 5:43-45) and that will, by His Spirit, stir our hearts to desire mercy first for our neighbor and not malice, redemption and not restitution.