Let those who fear you turn to me,
that they may know your testimonies.

Psalm 119:79 ESV

In the preceding verses, the psalmist has made a series of appeals to God. In verse 76, he asked for God’s steadfast love to comfort him. In verse 77, he pleaded for God’s mercy, that he might live. And in verse 78, he called upon God to put the insolent to shame because they had wronged him with falsehood.

Now, in verse 79, there is noticeable shift. He turns away from speaking about the insolent, which are the proud and wicked, and instead focuses on those who fear God.

Who are the people who fear God? They are the righteous. Of course, no one is altogether righteous, but the godly pursue God’s righteousness. And they do so by fearing God, by recognizing that He alone is God, and striving to walk in reverent submission to Him.

Then he says for them to turn to him.

Why does he desire those who fear God to be near him?

That they may know your testimonies.

The psalmist is confident that if God’s people come to him, they will know more of God through him. Testimonies is one of this psalm’s many words for the Scriptures, but it carries a particular emphasis upon the witness of God’s character and works. Who God is, and what He has done. The psalmist longs to tell other God-fearers more about the character and ways of the LORD.

Is that true of us? Are we so steeped in the Scriptures that when others come to us, they hear His testimonies? Do our words and deeds reflect the character and ways of our God?

We should each strive to be like the psalmist here. May we be saturated in God’s Word, and may it flow from our lips so that all who fear God delight when they turn to us.