"Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights."
Psalm 119:143
In the 119th Psalm David is honoring the Word of God by writing of a different aspect of it in each one of the eight verse stanzas.
“Trouble and anguish.”
David was acquainted with both. “Trouble” is an affliction that can come from almost anywhere. Troubles can come from personal enemies that hate us, or even demonic attack, or the hardships of living in a sinful world. They can be physical illnesses that weaken the body or the irritations of difficult interpersonal relationships that try to trip us up at work. All of these things bombard us from without, and the ongoing barrage of troubles will do their work on us internally as well. The outward “troubles” cause much inner “anguish.”
Paul understood these conflicts when as he wrote to the Corinthian believers.
“For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears,” (2 Corinthians 7:5).
“Have taken hold on me:”
David lived there with “trouble” and “anguish,” as we all do.
“Have taken hold on me – Margin, as in Hebrew, ‘found me.’ That is, they were in pursuit of me, and have at last apprehended me. Trouble, anguish, death, are in pursuit of us all our lives, and are never very far in the rear of us. Often, when we least expect them, they come suddenly up to us, and make us their victims.”1 (Barnes)
Believers, what is the answer? David understood that he needed God’s Word in order to have victory over “trouble and anguish.”
“Yet thy commandments.”
What was David’s unfailing source of comfort and advice? What kept him on an even keel? Where could he always go to get his thinking straight? The Word of God.
“Are my delights.”
What was it that brought delight to David’s heart?
“Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors,” (Psalm 119:24).
“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight,” (Psalm 119:35).
“And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes,” (Psalm 119:47-48).
The more we learn about King David, the more we realize the joy of his heart was his God and His God’s Word. If we faithfully follow David’s example, this will keep us from falling to the problems, the “trouble and anguish” that periodically plague our lives.
When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way;
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.2
1. Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
2. “Trust and Obey,” By John Henry Sammis. Copyright status, Public Domain.