Give Your Servant a Pledge of Good – Psalm 119:121-128

The yearning for a promise that our future will be good is at the heart of the book of Ecclesiastes, and the Preacher’s perspective is that there is no such promise, that there is no way to guarantee such a future, since, of course, death is in the future for all of us.  But there is still a chance of a limited pledge of good from God in the midst of our afflictions from oppressors, a promise of deliverance because we have done what is just and right.

Ayin   

I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors.  Give your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me.  My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.  Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.  I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!  It is time for the LORD to act, for your law has been broken.  Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.  Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.  (Psalm 119:121-128 ESV)

Keeping God’s commandments does not guarantee that we will not experience the oppression of others.  For Israel, as a nation, it was guaranteed that if, as a nation, they stayed true to Yahweh He would protect them from their enemies.  That didn’t mean there were no enemies, but that Yahweh would defeat them if even through Israel’s army.  For the individual, however, though righteousness was no shield in and of itself against personal oppression by another, it was a basis for asking for God’s deliverance.  Can we say, “I have done what is just and right”?