Psalm 119:41
Let Your mercies come also to me, O LORD– Your salvation according to Your word.
I almost hesitate to even try to dig into this verse. Salvation is a confusing and misused word in a lot of ways, and I’m still trying to wrap my mind about it. But, oh well. My ten cents (or two cents, or whatever the saying is).
Mercies
First, I think I must be missing something because the Hebrew words given for this verse (via Blue Letter Bible) don’t seem to match with what’s written. The word for mercies is checed which means “kindness, faithfulness, and goodness.” No mercy anywhere. Oddly, or perhaps interestingly, checed also means “shame and reproach.” I’m not even going there. So anyway, the very first part of this is about goodness, kindness and faithfulness, not mercy.
Come also to me
The word for “come also to me” is bow and it means (among many things) “to come to pass, to come upon, and to enter.” So, it seems more like David is asking for YHWH’s faithfulness/kindness/goodness to come to pass or perhaps to even enter into him or his circumstances.
Salvation
Salvation, my favorite, is teshew’ah and it means:
1) salvation, deliverance
a) deliverance (usually by God through human agency)
b) salvation (spiritual in sense)
Gesenius defines it as “help, welfare, or victory” (Gesenius’ lexicon via Blue Letter Bible). This is pretty different from our particular view of salvation. When this was written Yeshua hadn’t come, and the idea of forgiveness of sins was wrapped up in sacrifices and the Temple altar. So, I doubt David is talking about sin in the same way we do today. I thought that definition 1a was especially interesting because of the parenthesis: usually by God through human agency. In other words, God uses people to deliver others. Deliver them from what? Well, trying to put myself in the context of when this was written, I’d imagine it could be deliverance from many things: the idolatry of the nations that seemed to constantly be trying to steal into the Hebrew culture, the threat of warfare or death by these same nations whose idols were so slippery, even the plots and plans of men to overthrow, kill, or harm the monarchy. David could be asking for help or victory over these things. And if Gesenius is correct in his definition as “welfare” then perhaps David is asking even for God’s provision in time of need. Now you see why this word is complicated?
Want to add one more layer to “salvation”? The word implies rescue at the very last, most dire moment, when defeat seems certain unless help arrives. It’s at the darkest moment before dawn. And then the light breaks through, help arrives, and the tide is turned. It’s not necessarily the moment of victory, but rather the turning point from defeat to triumph. But it’s only because someone else (in our case, God) arrived at the crucial moment (and not a moment too soon) to reverse the course of the battle.
Your word
And finally we reach the end – according to Your word. The Hebrew for “Your word” is imrah and it means the “Word of God, the Torah.” Remember, when the Psalms were written, the only part of the “Bible” that these people had were the writings of Moses (the first few books of the Bible). There were no books of Kings or Prophets or Proverbs or probably even 1 & 2 Samuel. There certainly was no New Testament and letters from Shaul or the others. So, David’s salvation, his rescue, would come from or through or “according to” the Torah – the laws that YHWH had laid out through Moses. If this rescue was from the corruption of the surrounding nations, then the remedy was to live according to God’s laws. By living according to God’s law, then Israel would continue to be in line with the covenant and would receive God’s blessings. If not, then the covenant would be broken and, well, we know what happened when Israel failed to keep YHWH first and only.
The Point
So, what’s the point? The application? I’m not sure. In some ways digging just confuses me. However, it all seems to be tied up in the last phrase “according to Your words.” The first is related to the last – the rescue is related to God’s faithfulness and goodness and it is all according to His law. And it’s recorded there in the Torah, too, so it can be remembered. Not only the law, but also His past faithfulness. Perhaps we need to look there more often to be reminded of His faithfulness, goodness, and kindness, as well as for deliverance from falling into the pattern of the corruption of this age.
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