"In Your steadfast love, give me life;
that I may keep the testimonies of Your mouth."
Psalm 119:88
"In Your steadfast love, give me life" ... so that I can do what I want and be happy?
"In Your steadfast love, give me" ... the things I want because I want them?
How often is my prayer, "...give me life; that I may keep the testimonies of Your mouth"?
It would appear as though the writer's focus here is the testimonies of the LORD; they are his concern, his priority. What the LORD speaks is important to him; His words carry significant weight in the writer's world.
A testimony is generally a statement or declaration given with the understanding that it is assumed to be true. More specifically a testimony is uttered under oath in court. Most specifically in the Bible the Ten Commandments are called the testimony. The testimonies of the LORD in verse 88 would be the Ten Commandments, yes - a visible component of God's covenant with His people at Mount Sinai - but they would also be statements that He has made elsewhere throughout Scripture that we can claim as statements of complete truth.
"In Your steadfast love..." The same God who spoke testimonies also gives steadfast love. The testimonies are not apart from His love. The testimonies are given in love.
May my prayer more and more be "In Your steadfast love, give me life; that I may keep the testimonies of Your mouth." Give me life, strength, vitality to cling to Your truthful words, to walk out my days according to what You have said is right - because You are a God of steadfast love.
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