"At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments."
Psalm 119:62
Psalm 119 is a wonderful psalm that is extolling the blessings of the Word of God. Each eight-verse stanza is teaching a different aspect of God’s Word. Each stanza also begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Today’s verse comes from CHETH, verses 57-64. In verse 61 the writer has been robbed but take note in our verse of his response to the evil done to him.
“At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee.”
The psalmist is up at midnight, but he is not fretting or guarding his household and his belongings, his reason for rising so late is to thank (praise) his God. The picture is this, he has so much to be thankful to the Lord for that he didn’t have time during the daylight hours to finish his praise, so he arose in the night to continue thanking God.
“We are so overpowered with a sense of thy goodness, that in season and out of season we will return thee thanks.”1 (Clarke)
This point is well taken. We ought to be so filled with gratitude that we will use our time to praise our God, when it is convenient, or even when it is inconvenient. This sounds like the “sacrifice of praise.”
“By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name,” (Hebrews 13:15).
What is it that burdens your heart enough to get you out of bed at all hours of the night? Sports, the children, hunting-fishing, work, or time thanking your God?
“Because of thy righteous judgments.”
I am willing to leave my bed in the night to praise my God because I am interested in what your righteous laws teach. I desire to do what your Word shows me.
“Doubtless in the expression, ‘thy righteous judgments,’ David refers also to the written judgments of God upon various points of moral conduct; indeed, all the divine precepts may be viewed in that light; they are all of them the legal decisions of the Supreme Arbiter of right and wrong.”2 (Spurgeon)
“O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day,” (Psalm 119:97).
Believer, is this true for you?
1. Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
2. C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, the electronic version in eSword.