James H. Cagle
“Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy commandments” (Ps. 119: 17 KJV).
God is actively involved in our individual lives. He deals out, or administers to us all His love, joy, peace, strength, grace, and mercy, or His wrath and judgment.
God deals with us the same way we deal with others. “With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; with the upright thou wilt show thyself upright; with the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the forward thou wilt show thyself forward” (Ps 18: 25, 26; 2 Sam. 22: 26, 27). If we can’t take it the way we give it, we better not give it, because we will be dealt with by God the same way we deal with others.
God deals with Israel in a way He deals with no other nation because of the covenant He made with Israel (Ps. 147: 20; Deut. 4: 31-35). God will deal harshly with Israel during the Great tribulation to bring them to repentance and accepting Jesus Christ as their Messiah (Zech. 12).
God deals with the Christian, to mold them into the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ (Eph. 4: 11-13).
Sometimes God in mercy and longsuffering, deals with us less severely than our sins deserve (Ps. 103: 10).
The word “bountifully” means, “good; free to give; liberal and generous in bestowing gifts and favors.” Relating words are beautiful, bonny, bounty, bonus, benevolence, and blessing.
The Psalmist in our text is asking God to be liberal and give bountifully to him by giving him an extra large portion of grace for living and obeying Him, for we cannot live for God and obey Him without His amazing grace.
Some, when on their deathbed, make vows to live for and serve God if He will heal them and let them live. And then when God heals them they forget their vow they made to Him (Ecc. 5).
God gives us what we need to live and stay alive, but He lets us choose the life we’re going to live. It is the moral or spiritual state our heart is in that decides the life we live in public. The Psalmist asks God to deal bountifully with him, that he may live the abundant life that is experienced only through obedience to God’s Word.
