Ayin
121 I have done what is just and right;
do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Give your servant a pledge of good;
let not the insolent oppress me.
123 My eyes long for your salvation
and for the fulfilment of your righteous promise.
124 Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
and teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant; give me understanding,
that I may know your testimonies!
126 It is time for the Lord to act,
for your law has been broken.
127 Therefore I love your commandments
above gold, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;
I hate every false way.
Pe
129 Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
131 I open my mouth and pant,
because I long for your commandments.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is your way with those who love your name.
133 Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
134 Redeem me from man's oppression,
that I may keep your precepts.
135 Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
136 My eyes shed streams of tears,
because people do not keep your law.
Tsadhe
137 Righteous are you, O Lord,
and right are your rules.
138 You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness
and in all faithfulness.
139 My zeal consumes me,
because my foes forget your words.
140 Your promise is well tried,
and your servant loves it.
141 I am small and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is righteous for ever,
and your law is true.
143 Trouble and anguish have found me out,
but your commandments are my delight.
144 Your testimonies are righteous for ever;
give me understanding that I may live.
The sense of burden referred to in the previous note is just as evident (129-136, cf 136) and there is the same association of ideas as before: desire for the Word, in ever deeper measure (130-131) serves to align one ever more closely with the mind and heart of God, making us feel the woe of the affront to Him when His law is violated. One inevitably thinks of our Lord's tears as He stood looking down on Jerusalem in Luke 19:41ff, 'If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace...'. In 130, it is because the opening of God's Word gives light ('entranced' - 'unfolding') that the Psalmist longs for more of the divine truth (131). Leopold says, 'One of the wonders of the Divine Word is that, when its truth is unfolded to men, it brings with it new and deeper insights to all men and particularly to the 'simple' who are the ones who keep their hearts open to its beneficent influences'. It is indeed the simple heart, rather than the sharpened intellect that penetrates furthest into the deep things of God. The Psalmist's longing in this regard (131), puts us to shame, with our so feeble and fitful desires for spiritual things. It is this burden for deeper knowledge and experience that leads to the other burden in 136. This is always where it begins. What a testimony this is to the primacy and priority of the Word and its teaching. When once we get and give that its proper place, it will do so many things in us!