Embrace the Word for Friday, October 23, 2026

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Psalm 119 is a celebration of God’s Word. Psalm 119:113-120 continues the exploration of the “blessed” life. Each verse in this fifteenth stanza begins with the fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet (which is samekh). The fifteenth stanza is filled with statements of strong affections as the Psalmist proclaims his love for God’s Word (119:113,119), while announcing his hate for the wicked who reject the Word of God (119:113,115). The first sub-stanza of this fifteenth stanza demonstrates the Psalmist’s determination to obey the Word (119:113-116), while in the second sub-stanza the Psalmist details the LORD’s declaration of what He will do to those who ignore His Word (119:117-120). Linking the first and second sub-stanzas are two verses that function as a hinge in which the Psalmist acknowledges his dependence upon the LORD by asking the LORD to “uphold” him (119:116) and “hold” him (119:117). This fifteenth stanza opens by expressing love for God’s Word (119:113), and closes with a similar expression of love for God’s Word in the second to last verse (119:119).

Psalm 119:113-120 opens with a strong statement containing contrasting affections: “I hate the double-minded, but I love your law” (119:113). The Psalmist’s choices as to how he will live are rooted in the affections of his heart. Love and hate are affections, and these two principle affections drive actions, thoughts, emotions, and responses in life. The chosen actions and reactions, as well as the interior processes that give rise to those outward decisions are determined by strong affections such as love and hate. Therefore, the key to godly actions, thoughts, emotions, and responses is having properly aligned loves and hates. When what a person loves and hates aligns with what God loves and what God hates, then such a well-calibrated heart posture will more consistently bear fruit that glorifies the LORD. The Psalmist “hates” the “double-minded.” This is not those who sincerely have questions or struggle with doubts amid their trust. Being “double-minded” is a moral, not mere intellectual category; they are not whole-hearted in their devotion to the LORD and His Word (See Psalm 119:2). The Psalmist is speaking of those who vacillate, that is, who refuse to decide: “If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). The Psalmist’s dearest fellowship is with those who also seek to live whole-heartedly: “I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts” (See Psalm 119:63). Such unequivocal loyalty defines the Psalmist’s dearest affection toward the LORD and His Word.

The Psalmist explains why the LORD and His Word have captured his loyalties and determined his affections: “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word” (119:114). The LORD is the Psalmist’s source of protective safety, for he has come to learn these things about the LORD through His Word. Thus, because of what the Word of God has shown him, he hopes in the LORD. Apart from the LORD, the Psalmist realizes that he has no protective safety from the afflictions he faces nor from the effects that such afflictions would have on him. Therefore, he loves God’s Word, and want’s nothing to do with those who would distract him from what he loves: “Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God” (119:115). The Psalmist desires distance from the double-minded, evildoers who would seek to diminish his love for the LORD and His Word. Perhaps the Psalmist is simply aware of his own weaknesses. Perhaps his avoidance of those he calls double-minded, evildoers is not absolute (after all, they must be offered the Gospel as well); but it shows a clear awareness of the dangers and threats that the distorted deadly values that a godless perspective can have on the soul. God’s people cannot be completely isolated from the world they currently live in, but they can be mindful of the subtle influences to which they are still susceptible. The Psalmist wants to navigate the prudent separation from double-minded evildoers so that he might keep true to God’s Word. To that end, once again, his resolve is coupled with prayer: “Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!” (119:116). As the Psalmist prays that he might be faithful at present, his orientation is future: he desires to stand before the LORD and not experience the shame of unbelief.

The Psalmist transitions from stating his determination to obey the Word (119:113-116), to detailing what the LORD will do to those who ignore His Word (119:117-120). As he opens the second sub-stanza the Psalmist resumes where he left off at the end of the first sub-stanza: “Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!” (119:117). While using a different term than the one used in verse 116, the idea is synonymous. The Psalmist looks to the LORD, not wanting to face shame before the LORD due to turning toward the double-minded evildoers, but to experience safety before the LORD through a proper, on-going regard for the Word of God. For the Psalmist is very aware of the future that awaits all who hold no regard for God’s Word: “You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain. All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross” (119:118-119a). In the first sub-stanza, the Psalmist emphasized his rejection of those who reject God’s Word, now, in this second sub-stanza he is explicit concerning how the LORD will respond to those who reject the Word of God. The LORD will reject them. The “cunning” and deception that the wicked attempted to pull off on God’s people will not ever be successful before the LORD. The LORD will see the wicked, double-minded, evildoers for what they are. Their deception is vain before the LORD. The wicked will be counted as “dross” before the LORD. Dross is the impure material that must be removed from precious metals through a refining process. The result of removing dross is a more pure precious metal. Similarly, the world will emerge as a purer place as the wicked are removed. Knowing that the wicked will be removed, the Psalmist returns to proclaim his strong affections: “therefore I love your testimonies” (119:119b). The Psalmist loves the LORD and loves that He will act in justice to remove the wicked who stand against the LORD’s purposes and inflict harm on the LORD’s people.

However, as the Psalmist reflects on the reality of God’s justice toward the wicked, it seems that he is struck by a sobering, solemn genuine fear: “My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments” (119:120). The trembling terror that the Psalmist feels is not for himself. The Psalmist loves the LORD and therefore his trust and help is in the promises of the LORD given in His Word. Thus, he has a healthy reverential fear of the LORD concerning himself personally. But what the Psalmist is speaking of in this verse is not a proper reverential fear of the LORD that loves and trusts in the LORD, but a terror—a sheer dread—such as what came over Pharaoh’s army: “Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm” (See Exodus 15:16a); or like David, earlier in the Psalter, as he describes concerning the fate of the wicked: “There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous” (See Psalm 14:5). When the Psalmist confesses, “I am afraid of your judgments,” he is not afraid for himself, for the LORD is “my hiding place and my shield.” But he does shudder as he considers what awaits the double-minded evildoer. While the Psalmist feels the terror of what awaits the wicked, his love for the LORD and His salvation would only grow stronger.

As we reflect on Psalm 119:113-120 we can consider how the instructions that the Lord Jesus Christ provided to His disciples on the eve of His arrest and crucifixion relate to the ideas expressed in a passage such as in today’s stanza: “Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God” (119:115). The Psalmist desired a clear separation between himself and the wicked. We must consider how this meshes with Jesus’ prayer: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (See John 17:15-18). Jesus desires that His people be distinct from the world. Jesus knows the danger that His church faces if they become influenced by the world—its way of disregarding the importance of God and the significance of a moral vision for life. But while the Lord has called His people to be separated from the world, they must not be isolated from the world. The church is not to be influenced by the world, but the church is to be an influence upon the world to which they have been sent. As a distinct people who are distinguishable from the world, the church is to be a people who have a message about their Lord who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (See John 14:7). This message is to be taken up by the church and to be proclaimed to a world that doesn’t know which way to go, what to believe about the truth, nor has any idea about what life truly consists of. To engage the world with this message, it must reject the world’s messages so that it offers something truly distinct and thus truly delivers people from the horrific reality of the wrath to come.

That’s all for Embrace the Word for Friday, October 23, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Monday, October 26, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 119:121-128.