Thinking About The Faithful Way
Psalms 119:25-32
October 10, 2021
Tonight we come to the 4th stanza of this 119th Psalm.
I would remind you again that
We completed a study of Psalm 119 almost ten years ago.
(We actually last studied this stanza September 4, 2011)
And because those sermons and the notes are readily available on our website I have no intention of just covering it the same way again, so I would encourage you during the week to go look those up and familiarize yourself with it.
That study was more comprehensive,
What we are doing now is merely seeking to build upon what we learned then.
Tonight we are going to do a little thinking about “The Faithful Way”
When you read the stanza
There are TWO CONTRASTING WAYS that emerge.
In verse 29 the Psalmist cries, “Remove the false way from me,”
In verse 30 he declares, “I have chosen the faithful way;”
What we are discussing is lifestyles or life patterns or directions of living.
And the Psalmist is clear in this stanza that
His goal and objective and desire is to follow the path of faithfulness.
It reminds us of that great prayer to end Psalms 139
Psalms 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
In the New Testament we see a parallel
In Paul’s pattern in Philippians 3.
After expounding on his desire to leave the old life
And gain Christ and the righteousness of Christ.
Paul then says:
Philippians 3:12-16 “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”
• It is true that in Christ Paul had been declared righteous.
• It is true that being found in Him had resulted in Christ’s righteousness being credited to his account.
Before God, Paul had been declared righteous.
That is JUSTIFICATION.
But like all true believers Paul’s goal was more than just justification.
The glory of the gospel is that God declares men righteous while they are still sinners. That is a wonderful truth.
But it is also true that the desire of those justified sinners
Is to stop acting like sinners.
Those who have been justified crave to be sanctified.
There is no Scriptural basis for a true believer who is content in their sin.
That is what Paul is talking about there in that Philippians passage.
Righteousness had been credited to his account,
But perfect righteousness had not yet been achieved in his life.
And so Paul’s goal, his objective, his journey was to
“lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”
THIS IS THE CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE.
It is the desire to see the false way disappear
And to walk in the faithful way.
If I might give you some other lingo that speaks to the same point.
Ephesians 4:17-24 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Paul says, “Look, if you’ve really been saved then you know that Christ didn’t save you so that you could keep living like a lost person. Quit living like a sinner and start living like Christ.”
It is the Christian objective.
We often talk about justification as
• Us being clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
• We say that we are wearing His righteous robe.
Well Paul, in a sense, is bidding you now to wear it daily
And to never put your old work clothes back on.
Paul would tell you to put it on and leave it on
And do your best to live up to it.
To the Colossians he wrote:
Colossians 3:8-10 “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him”
• Take off that old man and “put on the new self”
• That new creation which you have been made in Christ.
• Put that on.
Colossians 3:12-14 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
• There it is again, “put on…compassion”; “put on love”
• Walk like Christ.
IT’S ALL THE SAME POINT.
Stop walking in the false way and start walking in the faithful way.
That is very clearly the Christian ambition.
That is the Christian goal.
BUT HAVE YOU EVER FELT THE GRIEF OF FALLING SHORT OF THAT GOAL?
Have you ever gotten up in the morning and out of habit you just put on the old man, that old set of clothes, and walked right out the door and acted like the old unredeemed you?
• The driver cut you off…
• The waitress wouldn’t come back and refill your drink…
• Your boss gave credit you deserved to someone else…
And in a flash you found yourself wearing that old man and those old clothes
And the old you just came gushing out.
Has that ever happened to you?
Of course it has.
We are in a spiritual battle 24/7.
• Paul told us to keep that belt of truth on at all times.
• He told us not to remove that righteous breast plate.
• He told us to be shod with the gospel of peace.
But the enemy blindsided us; it was a surprise attack.
An unexpected temptation and without even thinking we took the bait.
And just like that, the old Rory came right out and started talking.
HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN THAT HAPPENS?
Well, if you aren’t saved, it doesn’t bother you at all.
In fact, if you are unsaved the only thing about that that will bother you is if you got caught and are looking at some unfavorable consequences.
But if you are saved, it makes you feel just terrible.
One writer DESCRIBED THAT FEELING like this:
“My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word. I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; Teach me Your statutes. Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders. My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word. Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law. I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me. I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame! I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.”
That is what we find here in this 4th stanza of Psalms 119.
• We have here a redeemed man.
• We have here a saved man.
• We have here a man of faith.
That is easy to spot.
You see the beatitudes all over his life.
• You see him “poor in spirit” – “My soul cleaves to the dust”
• You see him “mourning over sin” – “My soul weeps because of grief”
• You see him “hungering and thirsting for righteousness” – “Teach me Your statutes. Make me understand the way of Your precepts.”
• You see him “pure in heart” – “Remove the false way from me”
This is a saved man.
But he blew it.
Once again “the false way” reared its ugly head.
WE WOULD CALL THAT HYPOCRISY.
• This believer had a moment when he didn’t live like a believer.
• His outside didn’t match what he claimed on the inside.
• He stumbled…
• He tripped up…
AND HE HATED IT!
He wanted it gone and gone forever.
THE LAST TIME we looked at this stanza we broke it into 4 main points.
1) His Circumstance (25, 28)
• We talked about how broken and grieved he was.
2) His Confession (26)
• We talked about how he had confessed that sin to God.
3) His Cry (27-29)
• We talked about how he asked God to enlighten him and strengthen him and purify him and bless him.
4) His Commitment (30-32)
• We talked about how he would no choose and cling to and run toward God’s word.
And we referenced the LIFE OF PETER here for an example.
If you’ve read the gospels you know that when Peter first shows up in the gospel account his name is not Peter, it’s Simon.
• It was Jesus who said, “I’m going to call you Peter”
• The name Peter meant “Rock”
• That is what Jesus was going to make Simon in to. Jesus was going to make
Simon into a rock.
But what is interesting in the gospel accounts is that while most of the time Jesus called him Peter, there were some of those “hiccup” moments where Jesus called him Simon because he was acting more like the old man than the new man.
• We can think of Peter telling Jesus that the crucifixion should never happen.
• We can think of Peter walking on water and then sinking in fear.
• We can think of Peter pulling his sword in the garden.
• We can think of Peter boldly declaring allegiance and then denying 3 times.
And we talked about Peter because after that final blunder
Luke’s gospel says he went out and wept bitterly.
And that sure feels like the same mindset of our Psalmist here.
“My soul cleaves to the dust”
“My soul weeps because of grief”
• He has blown it.
• He went back temporarily to “the false way”
• And he is begging God that it never happen again.
WELL TONIGHT, LET’S GET PRACTICAL.
LET’S ASSUME that you have fallen temporarily into sin and you’d desperately like out of it…
• Maybe you’ve got a recurring habit that you have yet to see removed from your
life…
• Maybe you periodically blow it with an old sin that can reemerge from time to
time…
And you really want that false way gone
And you really want to walk in the faithful way.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Well it’s clear what the Psalmist did.
HE RAN TO GOD’S WORD.
(30-32) “I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me. I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame! I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.”
Clearly the Psalmist saw that any success that he would have
Leaving the false way behind and walking in the faithful way
Would center around God’s word.
But I think tonight perhaps we should try to understand that a little better.
There seems to be at this point a BIT OF A DILEMMA that emerges.
And if you study the Scripture you know what I mean.
Here we have an Old Testament man who has fallen in sin
And his goal to see that sin fixed is to run to the word of God.
When this man speaks of God’s word,
In the Old Testament he is talking about God’s Law.
So he has fallen in sin and his plan is to go to God’s Law to fix it?
What does the New Testament tell us about that approach?
Romans 7:7-12 “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”
When Paul first went to the Law what did he find?
• He found a command “You shall not covet”
• So, PROBLEM SOLVED RIGHT? No more coveting for him.
WRONG!
“sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind”
If anything he got worse!
And he said that “this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;”
• I found out about sin, I ran to the Law, and it didn’t help me at all.
• It just kept condemning me.
• It just kept exposing me.
You know how that chapter goes.
The good I wanted to do, I never did, I kept doing the very evil that I hated.
You know the dilemma.
It CULMINATED in Paul saying what?
“Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”
When Paul found sin in his life and ran to the Law,
It didn’t help him at all.
His sin got worse and his conviction and despair grew stronger.
Where did Paul get relief?
Where did Paul find victory?
• Christ, right.
• Christ set him free
• Christ declared him righteous
Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
But what about that lingering problem of sin?
WHAT ABOUT COVETING NOW?
How was he going to defeat it?
If you read Romans 8 the answer is given: THE HOLY SPIRIT
Romans 8:5-11 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
• Paul said that it was the Spirit who sanctified him.
• Paul said that it was Christ who freed him
• And the Spirit who gave him a new resurrected life.
• The Law didn’t make him righteous, Christ did.
• The Law didn’t sanctify him, the Holy Spirit did.
SO IT’S A LITTLE MISLEADING
To come to Psalms 119:29 and see a man who has struggled with sin
And to tell him that the solution to his problem
Is to just be more committed to God’s word.
We’re not sure how well that’s going to work out for him.
Beyond that, does not the Old Testament spell this out?
Do you we not remember Jeremiah or Ezekiel and their talk of the coming New Covenant?
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
Even the prophets knew that simply going to God’s Law
Was not going to provide any relief.
Sinful men with sinful hearts were not capable of obeying God’s Law.
IT WAS BEYOND THEM.
All they were going to find was more failure, more conviction,
More regret, and ultimately condemnation.
WE KNOW THIS ABOUT THE LAW.
• We know that Christ had to come and redeem us from the curse of the Law.
• We know that Christ had to condemn sin in the flesh.
• We know that Christ had to fulfill the Law in our stead.
• We know that Christ had to atone for our transgressions against God’s Law.
We know that.
So I don’t want you to read Psalms 119:25-32
And take some simplistic approach to it.
I DON’T WANT YOU TO READ IT AND SAY, “Oh, well if you stumble in sin, then the solution is to go read your Bible.”
Now, here’s the kicker, that is true.
THAT IS THE SOLUTION.
But I want you to know WHY that is the solution.
I want you to know what is happening and how it is happening.
IF YOU ARE A LOST PERSON
• And you seek relief from your sin
• And you think that you will get it by reading the Bible more,
• I have some sad news for you.
Just reading the Bible is NOT going to help.
NOT, IF you are reading it like some sort of checklist.
The Bible helps because it bears witness of Jesus.
Remember?
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;”
We definitely tell a lost person to read the Bible.
Not so they can learn how to live better,
But so they will run smack dab into Jesus.
BUT WE’RE NOT TALKING HERE ABOUT A LOST MAN BEING SAVED.
We are talking about a saved man who stumbles in sin
And doesn’t want to do it anymore.
We say that this man should also run to the Bible.
We say that this man should also read Scripture.
I mean, that’s what the Psalmist clearly did.
(30-32) “I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me. I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame! I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.”
• He clearly gave a new and greater commitment to Scripture.
• He placed God’s ordinances in front of him – HE READ IT
• He determined to cling to it
• He ran after obedience.
Certainly we see the commitment to God’s word.
What I want you to understand tonight is
WHY THAT APPROACH WORKS.
So let me just make a statement here:
You cannot use the Bible to sanctify yourself.
But when you go to the Bible, God will use it to sanctify you.
If you think that Scripture reading is some sort of tool or process
THAT YOU USE to become a better person, you are wrong.
The Scripture is a tool that THE HOLY SPIRIT USES
To mold and shape you into the image of Christ.
This Psalmist is not running to the Bible
So he can do away with his sin.
He is running to the Bible so God can do away with his sin.
Look at his requests.
• (25) “Revive me according to Your word”
• (26) “Teach me Your statutes”
• (27) “Make me understand the way of Your precepts”
• (28) “Strengthen me according to Your word.”
• (29) “Remove the false way from me”
Let me ask you, is the Psalmist doing any of that?
No, God is doing it all.
• The Psalmist can’t revive himself
• The Psalmist can’t teach himself
• The Psalmist can’t give himself understanding
• The Psalmist can’t strengthen himself
• The Psalmist can’t remove his own false way
BUT GOD CAN
And how does God do it?
Through His word.
The best analogy I could think of to illustrate this
Was an AUTOMATIC CAR WASH.
Often times when we go to Lubbock we might say,
“We need to go wash the car.”
So where do we go?
We go to an automatic car wash.
• Now, if I don’t go to the carwash will the car get washed? NO
• If I don’t commit to the carwash (pay money) will the car get washed? NO
• If I don’t pull into the little rail and put it in neutral will the car get washed? NO
So I DO have some responsibility here.
But am I about wash this car? Not at all.
THINK ABOUT READING YOUR BIBLE IN THE SAME WAY.
You aren’t reading your Bible to wash your life.
You are reading your Bible so God can wash your life.
It is the Spirit of God that uses the word of God
To perform sanctification in you.
Now, if you grieve because you stumble in sin
But you never go read your Bible,
That’s like a man who cries because his car is dirty
But won’t drive it through the carwash.
If you want a clean life, you must run to the Scripture.
But don’t be under any allusion here
As to who is doing the cleaning.
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
• Christ washes his bride with the water of His word.
• She doesn’t wash herself, He washes her and He uses His word.
We think then to the upper room and that great illustration of sanctification.
John 13:3-10 “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
• The disciples were clean, that is to say they were justified.
• They had been declared righteous (all but Judas).
• But they still needed their feet washed because at times this world still sticks to you.
But they didn’t wash their own feet, Jesus washed their feet.
In fact He said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
THAT IS THE SANCTIFICATION PROCESS.
I saw a quote by Robert Godfrey this week that I shared on Facebook, some of you may have seen it.
Since October is Reformation Month.
Godfrey said, “It wasn’t Luther or Calvin who reformed the church, it was the Word of God that reformed the church.”
THAT’S TRUE.
• You don’t revive yourself
• You don’t reform yourself
• You don’t teach or cleanse or sanctify yourself
God does that, and He does it through His word.
This Psalmist knew that.
He was going to commit himself to God’s word
So that God could complete all that he desired
Regarding his sanctification.
SO HERE’S THE APPLICATION PART.
Do you desire sanctification?
Do you want to stop seeing “the false way” show up in your life?
Do you want to walk in “the faithful way”?
Then place God’s word before you, cling to it, and run after it.
God will use it to clean you up.
AS YOU READ,
• He’ll change your thoughts,
• He’ll change your desires,
• He’ll change your motives,
• He’ll change your perspectives,
• He’ll change what gratifies you,
• He’ll change what offends you,
• He’ll change everything.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
So as we think about the faithful way and walking in it.
For us, that begins with a commitment to reading Scripture
So that God may perform His work on us.
