Scripture to Meditate On

I am a sojourner on the earth; 
hide not your commandments from me! Psalms 119:19

This is another verse that is quite interesting. Let's start with the second half first. Is this just overstatement by the psalmist to stress some idea or would God do something like that? Would God actually hide His commands from His people? Before you answer, you should read this:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land - not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. Amos 8:11

I think that we need to say that God would, indeed, hide His commands. And He would do that as an act of punishment against His people. Woe to any who would suffer such a fate.

It seems that the psalmist feared that God just might punish Israel in this way and that he would be caught up in the punishment God sent. Remember that righteous Daniel suffered the exile that God punished Israel with.

Could something like this happen today to us who are the Church? I don't see why not.

And now for the first part of the verse. The psalmist yearns for God's commands. Why this yearning? The only reason that is given is that our writer is a sojourner. It seems that he understands that he is traveling through this life as someone who is a stranger to the place. He understands that as an alien he would need guidance on how to make it to his destination beyond this place. He understands that he needs God's commands to succeed in his trip. He is to be a model for us.