Psalms 119:35 - Meaning and Application

He had already prayed that God would open his mind, so he could know his duty and not get it wrong. Now he asks God to shape his will and stir up the active powers of his soul, so he can actually do his duty. It is God who works in us both to want what is good and to do what is good, as well as to understand it (Philippians 2:13). A good mind and a good heart both come from God’s grace, and both are needed for every good work.

Notice the grace he is asking for. First, he asks God to make him able to do his duty: “Make me go in the path of your commands. Strengthen me for every good work.” Since we are not enough in ourselves, we must depend on God’s grace, because all our strength comes from him. God puts his Spirit in us and then causes us to walk in his rules (Ezekiel 36:27). That is what David is asking for here.

Second, he asks God to make him willing. He wants God’s grace to overcome the natural reluctance he feels toward obedience: “Incline my heart toward your testimonies.” He wants more than mere duty, more than doing what he must. He wants a heart that desires obedience because it fits the new nature God gives and truly helps him. Duty is done with joy when the heart is turned toward it, and it is God’s grace that does that turning. The more we feel our own resistance, the more earnestly we should ask for that grace.

He also prays against a specific sin, covetousness. He asks God to incline his heart to keep God’s testimonies, and to restrain and weaken the pull toward greed. Covetousness stands against all God’s commands, because the love of money is a root of much sin. If we want the love of God rooted in us, we must have the love of the world rooted out, because friendship with the world is enmity against God.

This shows us how God deals with people. He does not force them by harsh compulsion. He draws them with the cords of a man, working in them both a desire for what is good and a dislike of what is evil. David ends with a plea to support his prayer: “Lord, bring me to the way of your commandments, and keep me in it, because I delight in it.” Since God has already given him delight in that way, he asks God to give him the strength to walk in it too, and so finish his own work.