my lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. [psalm 119:171]
all of psalm 119, when distilled, comes down to this:
praise.
the esv uses “pour forth” and in the niv, the term used is “overflow”– both of these are incredibly rich imagery – what happens when we are filled with the Spirit, abiding in the Word.
the opposite is true–when our lips pour out other things, it reveals our heart and where we put our hope, and in whom we trust.
but what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. [matthew 15:18-19]
when i look at my own heart, i still see that these things still overflow. i complain. i justify myself. i have deep sin that causes me to speak ill of others to make me feel better in my sin and shame. i need to build myself up in order to earn approval with others. i am weak.
i am so thirsty for something that will fill me. so thirsty that i will try to go to the desert of the world to try to fill me. when my soul clings to the dust [psalm 119:25] of this world, and i try to drink the sand, what pours forth from me is the worthless philosophies of the world. but the Lord is faithful–
and the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail. [isaiah 58:11]
i need something to fill me so that i might overflow, and pour forth praise like a spring of waters whose waters do not fail!
Jesus said to her, “everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” [john 4:13-14]
on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” [john 7:37-38]
brothers and sisters, hear Jesus’ voice! drink of the water that Christ freely gives to you–the Spirit and the Word! drink deeply and abide in him, we cannot go a day, an hour without drinking deeply! enter into the presence of God through Christ, drink and be satisfied, then pour forth, overflow with the praise to the one who redeemed you!
~conor eastman