A Look at Psalm 119:22

Psalm 119:22 “Remove from me scorn and contempt, for I keep Your statutes.”
 

A statute is an explicit law. Jesus gave us a statute in the New Testament. In Luke 10:25 we read, “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?” In verse 27, “He [Jesus] answered: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

If you keep that statute, scorn and contempt will be taken from you, because they cannot exist within the framework of love. If you truly love your neighbor the way you love yourself, it will be virtually impossible to harbor negative feelings toward them. The key to this is not on focusing on our doing away with ill feelings, but in developing a heart that will keep God’s statutes.

We really have no choice in the matter. To remove scorn and contempt we must love. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” Matthew 5:43. To remove scorn and contempt we must pray for our enemies.

What happens when you pray for those who persecute you? You begin to love. What would happen if we prayed, “God bless their (the enemies’) lives. Shower them with fulfilling mercies. Bless their life the way You have blessed mine. Do the same good to them that You have done for me.” 

This manner of praying is called mercy prayer. It helps us to fulfill the statutes, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and “pray for your enemies,” because it causes us to see what God sees in them. When we pray for someone else, we begin to gain God’s perspective. 
 

I encourage you to take some time to pray over this, meditating on the verses. Then ask God to show you where you have scorn and contempt, and then remove that scorn and contempt by praying the mercy prayer for them.

Continued