The Nugget:
Psalm 119:158 I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.
My Comment:
Saints grieve when men disobey the Scriptures (The New Topical Textbook, subtopic under the main topic The Scriptures, page 240). Those who truly believe the Bible is the Word of God, those who are truly Bible-believing Christians, surely are grieved and disappointed when they see others living in a manner that is disobedient to the Scriptures. We do not hate the person or persons involved; we grieve because by violating the Scriptures they are harming themselves. There is a vast collection of wisdom in the Bible. Violating what it commands or recommends will prove injurious to the violator or violators (Numbers 32:23; Galatians 6:8). It is not that Christians are attempting to force others to follow the Christian religion, or to make their country a theocracy as I see atheist posters on the Internet constantly complaining. Rather, anyone who knows the Bible realizes there are serious consequences reserved for those who violate its precepts both in this life and in eternity. If enough people in a nation choose to follow their own inclinations and disregard God’s Word, God Himself has told us what the result will be (Psalm 9:17; Genesis 12:3; Psalm 122:6). For example, the Bible observes that the debtor is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). In the list of blessings and cursings found in Deuteronomy, the nation that obeys God will lend but not borrow; it will be the head and not the tail. But the nation that disobeys God will borrow and not lend; it will be the tail and not the head (Deuteronomy 28:44, 45). The Bible teaches that national debt is a curse, and will bring any nation that is morally and fiscally irresponsible to ruin. The Bible also discourages personal debt (2 Kings 4:7; Proverbs 22:7; Romans 13:8). Whether in the area of economics or morality, the Bible has much valuable advice. To not follow what the Bible teaches will bring unpleasant results whether a person chooses to believe what the Bible has to say or not. There are sometimes circumstances in which those who believe the Bible are encouraged to rescue those who are disobedient to the Bible from their folly (James 5:19, 20; 1 John 5:16, 17; Jude 1:22, 23).
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 634 for Psalm 119:158.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 678 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Psalm 119:158.
(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:
Psalm 119:158. beheld. ver. Ps 119:53, 136. Je 3:20. Ezk 9:4. Mk 3:5. the transgressors. +Pr 2:22. was grieved. T#662, T#1087. ver. Ps 119:53n, 136. +Ps 79:9 (T#538). 139:21. Ge 6:6. 1 S 15:35. Ezr 9:2-5. 10:6. Jb 42:6. Is 42:24. *Ezk 9:4. Mt 18:31. *Mk 3:5. Lk 19:41. +*Ac 17:16. Ro 9:1-3. 2 Cor 2:4. *Phil 3:18. 2 P 2:7, 8. kept not. T#1106. ver. Ps 119:5, 85, 136. +*2 Ch 19:2. Pr 14:12, 13. +**Is 8:20. Ep 5:6.
psm 119.158 I behold the treacherous and loathe them, because
they do not keep Thy word.
encouraging cross refs!
1. psm 119.136 My eyes shed streams of water, because they do
not keep thy law.
2. psm 119.53 Burning indignation has seized me because of the
wicked, Who forsake Thy law.
3. ezk 9.4 And the Lord said to him, Go through the midst of the
city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the
foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations
which are being committed in its midst.
4. lk 9.54 And when His disciples james and John saw this, they said,
Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and
consume them?
5. pro 1.22 How long, O naive ones, will you love simplicity? and scoffers
delight themselves in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?