Daily Bible Nugget #281, Psalm 119:76

The Nugget:

Psalm 119:76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.

My Comment:

Saints plead the promises of the Scriptures in prayer (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main heading “The Scriptures,” page 240).

Saints are ordinary Bible-believing individuals who have a personal relationship with God the Father, and now since Christ has come, with His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. “Saints” in the Biblical sense are not created or made so by the declaration of any church. I repeat this because many people are innocently misinformed about this issue by what they hear in the mass media or even from a church that thinks it has the authority to canonize saints. There is no such authority mentioned or granted to anyone by anything that is stated in the Bible.

People are often looking for comfort in the wrong places. Those mistaken places or sources of comfort or relief lead only to despair and ruin, not the comfort promised in the Bible.

I believe the Psalmist, the author of Psalm 119, is David. If I am correct, then David is grounding his request for comfort from God upon what are elsewhere called “the sure mercies of David” (Isaiah 55:3), a most important verse in our Bible.

The next time a representative of the Watchtower Society knocks at your door, answer it. Talk with them. Let them get a word in edgewise, too. Then pop them this question at the end of the conversation: “I have a Bible question, and maybe you could answer it for me, or find the answer for me: What is meant by ‘the sure mercies of David’?”

Probably almost no person you will ever meet from any religious organization or anyone who claims to be from a “One True Church” will know anything about this important Bible passage. Such organizations and churches or denominations do not understand this verse because they cannot harmonize the teaching it represents with their false theological system.

The Psalmist is grounding his prayer on this verse (Isaiah 55:3). He is pleading on the basis of God’s unfailing promise found in His written Word, the Bible. He is praying for comfort–and he knows he can trust God’s mercy and loving kindness–because God has made an irrevocable promise (Romans 11:29) to him in the unconditional Davidic Covenant, and that is the secure source of his comfort. We would do well to learn this great lesson about prayer for ourselves: learn to base our prayer requests on the promises found in God’s Word, the Bible, properly claimed and applied.

Where can you find genuine, lasting comfort? Only in the Bible. The Bible was written for that very purpose (Romans 15:4).

How can you find the comfort of the Scriptures for yourself? One place to start would be to read the cross references given for Romans 15:4. Another place to start would be to read Psalm 34. Or, try Psalm 37. Another place to start would be to read John 14. There are many more helpful cross references to be found and enjoyed on the subject of comfort given at 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4.

You can make a good start on studying the subject of comfort by carefully reviewing the cross references I share below.

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 630 for Psalm 119:76.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 674 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Psalm 119:76.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Psalm 119:76. merciful. ver. Ps 119:41, 58, +Ps 119:88, 124, 159. Ps 25:10. 33:22. 57:1. *Ps 86:5. 106:4, 5. *2 Cor 1:3-5. for my comfort. Heb. to comfort me. ver. +*Ps 119:50, +Ps 119:82. Ge 37:35. 2 S 10:2. Is 40:1. *Is 66:13. +*Ro 15:4. +**2 Cor 1:3. according. ver. +Ps 119:25, 28, +Ps 119:41, 58. +**Is 55:3. to thy word. ver. +Ps 119:11, 25, 50. thy servant. ver. +*Ps 119:17, 140. Ps 19:11. 89:39. 116:16n.

Isaiah 55:3. Incline. Is 51:1. Ps 78:1. 119:112. Pr 4:20. 15:31. 22:17. Zc 7:7. come. *Mt 11:28. **Jn 6:37, 44, 45. 7:37. He 11:6. 1 P 2:4. hear. Is 44:1. 48:12. 49:1. Dt 28:1. 30:10. 2 Ch 24:19. Ps 81:8. *Ps 95:7. Pr 1:33. 2:2. +**Pr 18:17. Mt 13:16. 15:10. 17:5. +**Mk 4:24. Lk 6:47. +**Lk 8:18. *Lk 9:35. **Jn 5:24, 25. 8:47. **Jn 10:27. Ac 3:22. He 3:7. 5:9. soul. Heb. nephesh, +Ge 12:13. +**Mt 10:28. shall live. +*Ge 15:6. 19:20. +*Le 18:5. Pr 4:4. 7:2. Je 38:20. Am 5:4. +*Hab 2:4. **Jn 10:27, 28. and I will make. Is 54:8. 61:8. Ge 17:7. 2 Sam 23:5. Je 31:33, 34. 32:40. *Je 50:5. Ezk 16:60. 34:25. 37:26. x Da 9:27. *He 13:20. everlasting. Heb. olam, +Ge 17:7. +Ge 9:16. +Is 44:7n. covenant. Is 54:10. 56:4. 59:21. Ge 15:18. Ex 6:4. Le 26:9. Dt 28:1. Jg 2:1. ** 2 Sam 7:10-16. 1 Ch 16:17. +*Ps 74:20. **Ps 89:34. 111:9. Ro 11:27. He 8:8. 12:24. the sure mercies. +*Is 41:9. +*Is 54:8-10. +*Is 59:21. +** 2 Sam 7:10n, 2 Sam 7:15. 23:5. 1 Ch 17:13. 2 Ch 1:8. 6:42. +*Ps 89:3, 28, 33, 35-37. 119:76. +*Ps 132:11. +*Je 33:20, 21n, Je 33:25, 26. **Ezk 37:24, 25. +**>Ac 13:34. of David. FS181E, +Ge 3:24. Is 38:5. 1 K 11:34. 2 K 20:5. +*Ps 89:49. Je 30:9. Ezk 34:23. 37:24. Ho 3:5. $+*Ac 13:23.

Romans 15:4. whatsoever. +*Ro 4:23, 24. *1 Cor 9:9, 10. *1 Cor 10:11. +**2 Tim 3:16, 17. *2 P 1:19-21. written. +Ro 3:10. *Ps 102:18. Je 30:2. Da 7:1. *Mt 4:4. Jn 19:35. 20:30, **Jn 20:31. aforetime. Jb 8:8. Ga 3:1. Ep 3:3g. Jude 1:4. for our learning. or, teaching. Note: Rather, “for our instruction.” T#1030. Ro 2:18. 12:7. +*Ps 119:130. +*Is 8:20. Mt 13:44. Mk 1:44. +*Mk 12:24. +*Jn 5:39. **Jn 20:31. 1 Cor 1:5. *1 Cor 10:6, 11. Col 2:17. 1 Tim 1:16. +**2 Tim 3:16. He 10:1. 2 P 1:19. **1 J 5:13. patience. or, patient endurance. FS134, +Mt 3:9. In Hebrew the words “patience” and “hope” would be sabbar and subar, thus exhibiting the figure Parechesis, or Foreign Paronomasia. +*Ro 2:7. *Ro 5:3-5. 8:24, 25. *Ro 12:12. Ps 119:81-83. +*Lk 8:15. 21:19. *1 Cor 13:4, 5. 2 Cor 6:4-6. 12:12. 1 Th 1:3. 2 Th 1:4. *He 6:10-19. +*He 10:35, 36. *He 13:5, 6. James 1:3. *James 5:7-11. 1 P 1:13. 2:19-23. 2 P 1:6. Re 2:3. 14:12. and comfort. FS93A, Ge +1:26. T#1051. Ro 8:28. 2 Ch 31:4. 35:2. Jb 5:19. 6:10. 11:16. Ps 27:5. 30:5. 42:5. 103:13. +*Ps 119:50, **Ps 119:52, 76, +**Ps 119:82, 92, 143. 138:7. Is 46:4. 61:3. 63:9. +*Mt 5:4. Jn 14:1-3. Ac 4:36. 15:30, 31. +1 Cor 14:3. 2 Cor 1:3, 4. 1 Th 3:7. 4:13. James 5:7-11. 1 P 4:12, 13. Re 2:10. 3:10. 7:14-17. 14:13. the scriptures. +Ro 1:2. 16:26. Ps 19:7. +Mt 21:42. 22:29. +*Mk 12:24. +**2 Tim 3:15-17. hope. T#1042. Ro 4:18. 5:2, 4-6. 8:24. 12:12. +*Ps 34:4. *Ps 71:14. +*Ps 119:49, 74, 81, 114, 116. 130:5. +*Pr 3:5. 14:32. Jn 15:16. Ac 23:6. 26:6. 1 Cor 9:10. 13:13. 2 Cor 3:12. Ga 5:5. Ep 1:18. +**Ep 2:12. 4:4. Col 1:5, 23, 27. 1 Th 1:3. 2:19. *1 Th 5:8. +*2 Th 2:16. 1 Tim 1:1. *Titus 1:2. *Titus 2:13. 3:7. *He 3:6. +*He 6:11, 18. 7:19. +*1 P 1:3, 4. +*1 P 3:15. **1 J 3:3.

2 Corinthians 1:3. Blessed. 2 Cor 11:31. Ge 14:20. 1 Ch 29:10. Ne 9:5. Jb 1:21. Ps 18:46. 72:19. 135:19, 20. Da 4:34. Mk 14:61. Lk 1:68. Ro 1:25. +*Ro 9:5. *Ep 1:3. *1 P 1:3. God. FS132G, +Ge 3:19. FS68, +Ge 10:1. even. or, and. Ep 1:3. 1 P 1:3. the Father of our. 2 Cor 11:31. Jn 5:22, 23. +*Jn 10:30. *Jn 20:17. *+Ro 15:6. Ep 1:3, 17. Phil 2:11. 2 P 1:17. 2 J 1:4, 9. the Father of mercies. FS96F2, +Ge 4:10. *Ge 19:16. +**Ex 34:6. Ps 25:6. 59:10. *Ps 86:5, 15. +*Ps 119:76. Da 9:9. +*Mi 7:18. +Ro 12:1. Ep 1:17. +James 5:11. the God. Ro 15:5. all comfort. Gr. paraklēsis (S#3874g, +1 Cor 14:3). T#850. 2 Cor 7:6. +*Dt 33:27. Jg 15:19n. Jb 15:11. 29:25. +Ps 23:4 (T#6). Ps 71:21. +*Ps 90:15. +*Ps 119:76. Pr 14:14. *Is 12:1. +Is 41:13 (T#955). *Is 49:13. 51:3, +Is 51:12 (T#956). *Is 54:7, 8. 57:18. 61:1-3. *Is 66:11, 13. *Je 6:16. +*Je 29:11. +**Mt 5:4. Lk 2:25. *Jn 14:18. 16:33. Ac 4:36. 9:31. +1 Cor 14:3. Phil 1:14. *2 Th 2:16, 17. He 6:18.