Like a Lost Sheep

Psalms 119:169-176

January 29, 2012

 

Well tonight we bring this magnificent Psalm to a close.

I pray it has strengthened your convictions

About the importance and power of God’s Word.

 

At the very least we have seen one life

That was radically transformed because of it.

 

This young man went from suffering in disobedience

To standing in strong conviction.

And the entire change is credited to God working through His word.

 

Never underestimate that it is through His word that God works.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

 

Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

 

God’s Word is valuable.

 

Psalms 19:7-13 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.”

 

And so we are grateful to have studied a life

That shows just how God’s word can work in a person’s heart.

 

• We have seen him seeking,

• We have seen him submitting,

• We have seen him standing.

 

• We have seen him in affliction and oppression,

• At the pit of despair and literally busting at the seams with joy.

 

And through all those ups and downs of life the one constant

Has been that God’s word held the answers for him.

 

Well tonight we close this Psalm.

And I honestly have to say,

We close it in a way that I don’t think any of us would expect.

 

After all the victories and all the endurance,

We would expect this last stanza to be one of great praise and reflection.

 

We would expect a review of all his deliverances

And a promise to continue as he has gone.

 

But that is not at all what we get.

 

The context to this final stanza is actually a bit shocking.

(176) “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.”

 

I think it is probably safe to say that

None of us saw that one coming.

 

Our Psalmist has stumbled.

In his own words he has “gone astray”

And to compare himself to, he picks “a lost sheep”

 

That of course does NOT mean he has lost his salvation and is now lost,

He uses the word “like”.

 

He simply feels cut off and disconnected, he almost feels like he did back in the first stanza when his relationship with God was non-existent.

 

And he realizes that the reason he feels that way

Is because he himself has “gone astray”

 

God didn’t leave him, somehow he wandered away from God’s fold.

 

Now, don’t confuse this with apostasy.

This man has not turned his back on God, nor forsaken his covenant with God.

 

All you have to do is read the stanza and you will see that

He still loves and chooses God’s word over everything else.

 

(169) “Give me understanding according to Your word.”

(172) “For all Your commandments are righteous”

(172) “For I have chosen Your precepts.”

(174) “And Your law is my delight.”

(176) “For I do not forget Your commandments.”

 

Those are not the convictions of a lost man, or an apostate.

 

What we are dealing with here is a man who loves God and who loves God’s word, but he still stumbled.

And that is possible.

 

• Are we not familiar with John the Baptist having a difficult moment while imprisoned, sending his disciples to question Jesus?

 

• Are we not familiar with Peter denying our Lord three times?

 

• Are we not familiar with the remainder of the disciples fleeing in fear?

 

And of course we remember what Paul wrote:

Romans 7:13-21 “Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.”

 

The point is even the strongest of believers

Stumble and fall into disobedience.

 

Even the strongest of believers

With the strongest of convictions about God’s word have hiccups in life.

 

Now, the mark of a true believer is not that they never sin,

But that they hate it when they do.

 

• It is not that they never have hiccups in their relationship with God, but that they want them resolved as soon as possible.

 

• It is not that they never stray like a lost sheep, but that they desire to be found as quick as they can.

 

And that is where we find our Psalmist tonight.

 

And this really does give a sense of comfort to us.

 

Not that we delight in disobedience, or in the disobedience of another,

But since we do fall it is encouraging to us to see how one gets back up.

 

Tonight we see the Psalmist as a man whose relationship is suffering,

And how he cries out to God to have that relationship restored.

 

I think we can all agree that this is valuable information.

 

 

 

One thing I think is very important to point out at the first,

Is that this is not a “self-help” Psalm.

 

This is not a stanza on how a lost sheep wonders back into the fold.

It is very clear what the Psalmist wants.

 

(176) “…seek Your servant,”

 

This is again one of our great lessons on sovereignty,

And that is that the sheep is dependent upon the shepherd.

 

The Psalmist feels helpless and hopeless.

If he knew where to go to find God, he would go there, but he is lost.

 

He is totally dependent upon the shepherd finding him.

 

• Thank God that we have such a shepherd in Jesus.

• He has always been the One to search for the lost sheep.

• He has always been the One to keep the fold together.

And the Psalmist is banking on that here.

 

So let’s look at this final stanza tonight.

 

There are actually 3 things I want you to see in our Psalm tonight.

As our Psalmist seeks to be found.

 

#1 A DESPERATE CRY

Psalms 119:169-170

 

These two verses very much sound like the bleating of a lost sheep.

 

When a sheep gets lost from the fold,

The only options it has is to either cry out or lay down and die.

 

I’ve told you before a sheep really doesn’t have any natural defense mechanism,

It is totally dependent upon the shepherd.

 

So when a sheep gets separated, or in danger,

The main objective of that sheep is to make its voice heard

In hopes that the shepherd is actually out seeking for the sheep.

 

And so the Psalmist is crying.

(169) “Let my cry come before You, O Lord;”

(170) “Let my supplication come before You;”

 

He is a sheep in the wilderness crying “help me!”

And his only hope is that God will hear his cry and come rescue.

 

However, we are not dealing with a sheep, we are dealing with a man,

And he is not physically lost, he is spiritually lost.

And so, it is not as though he just needs God to come show him the road.

 

He actually spells out what being found would look like to him.

(169) “Give me understanding according to Your word.”

(170) “Deliver me according to Your word.”

 

When he says he is “like a lost sheep”

He means he has no clue where to go next.

 

He doesn’t know what to do.

He is a prisoner of ignorance.

 

And so he is crying out to God for guidance,

Hoping God will hear and grant him some information.

 

Certainly we understand that when we stumble away from God

It hinders our ability to understand the truth.

 

The only reason we are ever able to understand truth is because of God’s Spirit,

And when we walk away from fellowship with Him,

It only stands to reason that we will lose our ability to understand.

 

That is where our Psalmist is.

Lost and seeking for God to hear and guide Him.

 

When you find yourself lost in the sense of not understanding what to do,

Then cry out to God, and cry desperately.

 

(We definitely learned the importance of that from women like the Canaanite woman, or the widow seeking help)

 

A Desperate Cry

#2 A DISTINCT CRY

Psalms 119:171-172

 

I find these two verses pretty interesting.

 

We already know our Psalmist feels like a lost sheep,

And we know he is desperate for God to answer.

 

And so it sort of seems strange to go from such desperate measures

To instantly go to talking about praising.

 

WHAT IS THIS?

It is the language he is speaking to get God’s attention.

 

Remember what Jesus said?

John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,”

 

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;”

Jesus spoke of a unique intimacy that exists between Him and His flock.

They know His voice, He knows theirs.

They know Him, He knows them.

 

And so this makes perfect sense.

 

If you were a lost sheep, intent upon crying out

Wouldn’t you do everything you could

To sound as much like His sheep as possible?

 

You wouldn’t growl like a wolf,

You wouldn’t bark like a dog,

You wouldn’t bellow like a donkey.

 

You would kick your head back

And sound as much like a sheep as possible.

Well, that is what the Psalmist is doing.

 

As he cries for help, he is making sure

To sound as much like one of God’s children as possible.

 

And God’s children are characterized by a voice of praise.

So he says, “Let my lips utter praise,”

And “Let my tongue sing of Your word,”

 

He determines to sing.

 

Let me show you something about singing:

Ephesians 5:15-21 “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.”

 

Paul said to “be filled with the Spirit”

And then he explained what a spirit filled person sounds like.

 

“speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;”

 

Folks, songs of praise are the natural language

Of a spiritually filled child of God.

He literally puts a song in your soul.

 

If singing doesn’t mark your life

Then the Spirit doesn’t have much foothold.

 

Remember Paul and Silas?

In Acts 16, they cast a demon out of a girl, this got them arrested, flogged, chained, and imprisoned in the inner cell under Roman guard.

 

Acts 16:25 “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;”

 

It is the language of praise and gratitude.

 

Beyond that, take the most personal book of Scripture.

Psalms is literally one testimony after the other,

And don’t we find it strange that it is called “Psalms”.

 

The fact is God’s people sing to God and to each other.

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

 

Obviously praise is the language of God’s people.

And so it only stands to reason that it is the language of our Psalmist

As he seeks to be found by his shepherd.

 

There is an obvious application for us here.

 

I heard a story once about a woman was arrested at a stop light.

“There was a woman driving his car when he saw the light turn yellow, not wanting to risk danger she decided to go ahead and begin to stop. When she did come to a stop she noticed the driver behind her pitching a fit. The driver behind was honking and cussing and even using hand gestures to let the front driver know how displeased she was about her decision not to take the light. All of a sudden a police officer from the car behind her, got out, approached the second car and proceeded to arrest the woman. Later, after the incident was over the officer came to the woman in the first car who had stopped at the light. He said, “Ma’am I’m sorry for the disturbance, it’s just that when I heard that woman behind you carrying on as she was and cussing like she did…and then when I saw the fish on the back of her car I assumed it was probably stolen.”

 

It does not good to sound like a goat

When you so desperately want to be found as a sheep.

It does little good to sit around bitter and complaining.

 

If you want to be found by God than sound like one of His.

Fill your mouth with praise and let thanksgiving come off your tongue.

 

And look at why the Psalmist praises.

(171) “For You teach me Your statutes.”

(172) “For all Your commandments are righteous.”

 

Even when circumstances are bad,

There is always a reason to praise the Lord.

 

Her the Psalmist feels like a lost sheep, and as he reminisces on the blessings of the Lord he can’t help mourn what he is missing.

This sort of sounds like the prodigal son doesn’t it?

Luke 15:17 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!”

 

Is it any wonder that the son returned to the Father

And started talking with a little more humility?

 

The Psalmist is doing the same.

For whatever reason, his relationship with God is struggling,

But instead of growing bitter and grumbling,

He decides to reminisce on the goodness of God’s word

And sing praises accordingly.

 

A Desperate Cry, A Distinct Cry

#3 A DELIBERATE CRY

Psalms 119:173-175

 

Well now we know that our Psalmist is crying desperately to be heard.

We know that his cry is the distinct cry of praise easily recognizable to God.

 

Finally here we learn that his cry is deliberate.

He wants something specific from God.

 

WHAT DOES HE WANT?

“help”

 

(173) “Let Your hand be ready to help me,”

 

He wants God to come find him and help him

Out of the wilderness he has grown trapped in.

 

(174) “I long for Your salvation, O Lord”

 

He desperately wants God to deliver him from his peril.

 

(175) “Let my soul live that it may praise You, And let Your ordinances help me.”

 

There it is again, “help me”

 

I really like the deliberate way in which he cries out here.

• He doesn’t just want God to know about his trouble.

• He doesn’t just want God to examine his trouble.

• He wants God to get him out of it, and he makes no bones about that.

 

Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

 

Be specific.

 

The sheep didn’t just want to be found, the sheep wanted to be delivered.

The prodigal didn’t just want to be found, he wanted food.

 

And so, with a heart of praise and thanksgiving,

He cries out for it with all he has.

 

And he wants God’s help to come from His “ordinances”

 

He wants God to give him direction and help him know what to do.

He is lost, and he needs guidance,

And so he is begging God to show him what he needs to know.

 

And that is a good example for us.

• There are times in life when we stumble.

• There are times in life when we do the very things we hate.

• There are times when our relationship with God seems stressed because of it.

 

At those moments cry out to the Shepherd (He is looking for you)

• Cry out in Desperation – because only He can find you.

• Cry out Distinctly – praise Him as one of His sheep.

• Cry out Deliberately – tell Him you want to come back home.

 

The Psalmist did.

And we are confidently certain that God delivered,

Because that is what God does.

 

And so there you have it.

It really didn’t matter the circumstances of our Psalmist’s life.

 

Victory or Defeat.

Joy or Despair

Confidence or Uncertainty

 

The answer for the Psalmist was always found in God’s Word.

It is invaluable.

 

In short, God’s Word is your road map for living,

It will guide you in all areas of this life

So long as you seek it and seek God to understand it.

 

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

 

The Secret to Steadfastness

Psalms 119:161-168

January 22, 2012

 

Back studying this wonderful Psalm,

We are really drawing near to a conclusion.

 

And tonight I want us to notice the source of our Psalmists strength.

 

And this really fits in well after the sermon this morning,

And learning that suffering is not only inevitable, but expected.

 

If we really do sign up to follow Jesus to death,

Then certainly it is of great interest to us to learn how to be steadfast.

 

We are continually learning that from our Psalmist.

• We already know him to be a very steadfast and strong person.

• We have seen in him affliction…

• We have seen in him in oppression…

 

And he has yet to ever waiver.

Even when the enemy was literally knocking on his door,

Pressing and squeezing him, he remained steadfast.

 

And we have even envied his steadfast spirit.

 

And certainly we should, the Bible has a lot to say about being steadfast.

• The Bible has a lot to say about standing strong.

• The Bible has a lot to say about endurance.

• The Bible has a lot to say about perseverance.

 

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

 

Very clear that we are intended to stand.

 

Paul also said:

Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

 

Again, we realize that retreat was not the objective of the Christian

When he puts on his armor.

 

Jesus said:

Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

 

And obviously there we learn that perseverance is vitally important.

Namely because it is those who are truly saved who will persevere.

 

James said:

James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

And perhaps my favorites come in the letter of 2 Timothy

As Paul encourages Timothy to stay the course and be steadfast.

 

And of course, not only to be steadfast,

But to be steadfast in his proclamation of the word of God.

(which is what our Psalmist has done)

 

2 Timothy 1:8 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,”

 

2 Timothy 1:13-14 “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”

 

2 Timothy 2:3 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

 

2 Timothy 3:12-17 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

 

2 Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

 

And that is just a few examples.

 

Perseverance, endurance, steadfastness;

Those are all valuable and necessary qualities for the man of God.

 

We know that a decision to stand upon the word of God

Will only bring hardship and shame from the world.

 

And the simple truth is that if you don’t plan to be committed through difficulty, then don’t proclaim the truth.

Steadfastness is required.

 

The Psalmist certainly has it.

 

And if you will remember for a moment how this Psalm began,

It is actually quite remarkable that he does have it.

 

When you channel through this Psalm somewhat chronologically

It is amazing the strides our Psalmist has taken.

 

• You will remember back in verses 1-8 he was a man who had not been obedient to God’s Word and he recognized that it resulted in a lack of blessing.

 

• Verses 9-16 continued with him asking how to achieve purity in his life, obviously because he wanted blessing.

 

• By the time we got to verses 33-40, it almost has the feel of salvation. As the Psalmist asks God to make a change in his life.

 

• Here were some of the requests.

• “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes”

• “Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law”

• “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments”

• “Incline my heart to Your testimonies”

• “Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity”

• “Establish Your word to Your servant”

 

Those are all requests of a man who wants to be different,

Who wants to be obedient, who wants to be pleasing to God.

It almost resembles the cry of salvation.

 

But if you remember that Psalm ended with another type of request.

Psalms 119:39 “Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your ordinances are good.”

 

The Psalmist not only asked for a more committed heart,

But he also asked that his obedience not land him in reproach.

 

He wanted what many of us want.

“An obedient life that the world doesn’t hate”

 

Now I only remind you of that because I want you to remember

That our Psalmist didn’t like controversy any more than the next guy.

Our Psalmist was not a glutton for punishment.

 

If you look at his steadfastness and pass it off

Simply because you find him to be a tough sort of man

Who doesn’t mind such things, then you are wrong.

 

He definitely minded such things.

He prayed that God would not let reproach find him.

 

And yet it did, and regardless, he continues to endure.

 

That is called being steadfast.

He’s a man with no desire of love for oppression,

And yet he refuses to let it derail him.

 

Tonight I want to show you why he has it.

I want to show you how he maintains it.

 

I want you to see the secret to achieving it,

And how to be steadfast in your own life.

 

3 things the Psalmist did in order to be steadfast.

#1 HE CHERISHED TRUTH

Psalms 119:161-165

 

Right off the bat in our Psalm we recognize

What has become a rather reoccurring theme.

 

“Princes persecute me without cause,”

 

There have been very few stanzas in this Psalm

Where the Psalmist did not mention the presence of some type of hardship.

 

But even at that, we have to admit that this hardship is extremely difficult.

• We see the SOURCE “Princes”

• We see the DEGREE “persecute”

• We see the CAUSE “without cause”

 

I suppose the opposite statement would sound like this:

“Meaningless people don’t like me because I did something wrong”

 

But it is no insignificant man who is persecuting him.

THIS IS THE PRINCE, and he has the ability to inflict harm.

 

And the harm is SEVERE, for the Psalmist uses the word “persecute”

 

And to add to the sting, it is done PURELY OUT OF HATRED,

For the Psalmist has done nothing to deserve it.

 

We could easily have heard these very words come off the lips of our Lord

After being condemned by Pilate.

 

This is no small dilemma, this is a major problem.

• It is an attack meant to shake the Psalmist to his core.

• It is an attack meant to turn the Psalmist toward a different direction.

• It is meant to wreck his faith.

• It is meant to stop his witness.

 

This is major pressure.

And yet, there he is once again standing strong.

 

“But my heart stands in awe of Your words.”

 

It just really doesn’t seem to matter how stiff the adversity is in his life,

His love of the word of God is too great to rattle him.

 

He “stands in awe” of the word of God.

 

Now there is a phrase.

• How many times have you stood in awe in your life?

• How many times have you been focused on something so grand that everything else just seemed to fade into oblivion?

 

The word used here literally means “to be in dread or in awe”

 

Job actually used it of God.

Job 23:15 “Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence; When I consider, I am terrified of Him.”

 

And while it does mean “dread” it is NOT here necessarily a negative thing.

He just understands the magnitude of what he is reading.

It is reverential awe.

 

He doesn’t fear the persecution of man because he is in awe of God’s word.

 

I suppose the New Testament equivalent would be:

Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

 

The Psalmist just has a proper discernment and understanding.

He sees God in His rightful place and knows it is far better

To break the words of man than to break the words of God.

 

He is “in awe” of God’s word.

 

AND THEN HE SAYS WHY.

Four reasons.

1) THE VALUE OF GOD’S WORD (162)

 

Here he paints a great word picture.

 

Let me call your mind to an Old Testament story

Turn to: 2 Kings 7:8-16

 

You may remember from our study of Kings,

• When Jehoram was king of Israel, they were heavily oppressed by Aram, so

much so that two women actually got in a fight over eating their own sons.

 

• Scripture actually said that “a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of

silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.”

 

• It was then that Elisha promised God would deliver with a great deliverance.

 

• In the meantime God routed the Arameans and there were some lepers who

had decided to go to the Arameans camp (not knowing they had been

routed) and beg for food.

 

• When they got there they found the place deserted and full of spoil.

(READ IT)

 

Now here is my question.

After starving for a time, what do you think the mood of the people was?

DID THEY REJOICE?

 

You know they did.

 

Now listen to what the Psalmist said:

“I rejoice at Your word, As one who finds great spoil.”

 

The Psalmist is saying, “I rejoiced like those lepers”

He has learned God’s Word has great value.

• More value than bread.

• More value than clothes.

• More value than a donkey’s head or dove’s dung (obviously)

 

He stands in awe of God’s word because of its tremendous value.

It is worth more than great spoil.

 

2) THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD (163)

 

Again this is a familiar statement.

“I hate and despise falsehood”

 

That no longer shocks us.

This is coming from the man who loathes the wicked.

 

Certainly we are familiar with his hatred for “falsehood”

 

And very simply put, if it isn’t true he not only disregards it, he hates it.

This man is a stickler for accuracy.

 

So when he endorses the word of God, we know it must be true,

For if it wasn’t, this man would hate it.

 

“I hate and despise falsehood, but I love Your law.”

 

That indicates it is true.

 

He stands in awe of it because it is valuable, it is true

3) THE PERFECTION OF GOD’S WORD (164)

 

“Seven times a day I praise You,”

 

I wonder how many can say today

That they read God’s Word seven times in one day.

 

Spurgeon asked, “Do we praise seven times a day, do we praise once in seven days?”

 

The indication here is one of frequency.

You could ask a man who never reads God’s word if it is perfect

And he can say, “Yes it is.”

But if he never reads it, he is hardly qualified to give the answer.

 

Here we have an evaluation from a man who not only has read God’s Word,

But reads it seven times a day.

He is an expert on his dissertation.

 

And notice why he praises

“Because of Your righteous ordinances.”

 

 

He reads seven times and every time he praises

Because he is amazed at how righteous the word of God actually is.

 

It is perfect.

It is flawless.

 

In it he finds a standard unmatched by human morality.

In it he finds a standard far above what man can conceive.

 

The word of God doesn’t just reveal morality, but righteousness.

• God’s Word has the authority to call a coward a murderer because of

the hatred in his heart.

 

• God’s Word has the authority to call a virgin an adulterer because of

the lust in his heart.

 

• God’s Word has the authority to call a poor man a glutton because of

his worry, and a rich man a thief because of his greed.

 

• God’s Word has the authority to call a chief priest a hypocrite and a

tax collector forgiven.

 

God’s Word doesn’t just reveal morality

It reveals perfect righteousness.

 

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

 

And the Psalmist praises God’s seven times a day

Because His word is so righteous.

 

No wonder he stands in awe.

God’s word is valuable, it is true, it is righteous

 

4) THE BENEFIT OF GOD’S WORD (165)

 

And how important this is to our main point

Of why the Psalmist is steadfast.

 

“Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.”

 

We really could have made a whole sermon on that one phrase.

 

They have “great peace” in part because through the word of God

They are put in right relation to God.

 

There is great comfort in walking in obedience.

 

But that is not the main peace our Psalmist refers to.

 

Those who “love” God’s law have great peace

Because through it they find themselves secure.

 

“and nothing causes them to stumble.”

 

To “stumble” is to fall away.

It is become apostate.

It is to fall away totally and finally.

 

But those who love God’s law don’t fear such a fate,

For God’s law will not let them fall away neither totally, nor finally.

 

We have often quoted that great 19th Psalm

About how the Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.

 

But listen to this statement in that same passage:

Psalms 19:11-13 “Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.”

 

Notice the Psalmist had a fear of unknown errors and hidden faults.

He was afraid of committing presumptuous sins, (just seemed right)

And he was afraid they would take hold of him and lead him astray.

 

• How do you protect yourself from unknown errors?

• How do you protect yourself from hidden faults?

• How do you protect yourself from actions that feel right?

 

The answer:

God’s Word.

 

It protects men from stumbling, by warning them of things

They would not otherwise be concerned about.

 

Peter said:

2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

 

God’s word has great benefit, it protects us from our own falling away.

 

It grants the request of the hymn writer:

“O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”

 

He understood the danger of falling away.

After all, even Peter denied

And John the Baptist was on the brink of apostasy.

 

How does a person protect himself from it? God’s Word.

And that is why the Psalmist stands in awe of it.

He loves it.

 

So the first secret to our Psalmist’s steadfastness is that He Cherished Truth

#2 HE CHOSE OBEDIENCE

Psalms 119:166

 

Here is another great verse

That could easily stand alone as a singular theme.

 

It gives a perfect picture of the great Christian mindset

While in the midst of trying times.

 

We have both what we hope for and what we do in the meantime.

 

“I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, And do Your commandments.”

 

I’ve told you before about a book I love called “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer, in it he talks about a Christian in the midst of his suffering.

 

“If you stand at the end of a platform at York Station, you can watch a constant succession of engine and train movements which, if you are a railway enthusiast, will greatly fascinate you. But you will only be able to form a very rough and general idea of the overall plan in terms of which all these movements are being determined (the operational pattern set out in the working timetable, modified if need be on a minute-to-minute basis according to the actually running of the trains.)

If, however, you are privileged enough to be taken by one of the higher-ups into the magnificent electrical signal-box that lies athwart platforms 7 and 8, you will see on the longest wall a diagram of the entire track layout for five miles on either side of the station, with little glowing worm lights moving or stationary on the different tracks to show the signalmen at a glance exactly where every engine and train is. At once you will be able to look at the whole situation through the eyes of those who control it: you will see from the diagram why it was that this train had to be signaled to a halt, and that one diverted from its normal running line, and that one parked temporarily in a siding. The why and the wherefore of all these movements becomes plain once you can see the overall position.

Now, the mistake that is commonly made is to suppose that this is an illustration of what God does when he bestows wisdom: to suppose, in other words, that the gift of wisdom consists in a deepened insight into the providential meaning and purpose of events going on around us, an ability to see why God has done what he has done in a particular case, and what he is going to do next. People feel that if they were really walking close to God, so that he could impart wisdom to them freely, then they would, so to speak, find themselves in the signal-box; they would discern the real purpose of everything that happened to them, and it would be clear to them every moment how God was making all things work together for good. Such people spend much time poring over the book of providence, wondering why God should have allowed this or that to take place, whether they should take it as a sign to stop doing one thing and start doing another, or what they should deduce from it. If they end up baffled, they put it down to their own lack of spirituality.

Christians suffering from depression, physical, mental or spiritual (not, these are three different things!) may drive themselves almost crazy with this kind of futile inquiry. For it is futile: make no mistake about that.”

(Packer, J.I. “Knowing God” [IVP Books, Downers Grove, IL; 1973] pg. 102-103)

 

From there Packer turns to Ecclesiastes and listens to the old realist preacher who warns us against trying to make sense of everything.

If you do, it all becomes “meaningless”

 

He mentions how the preacher tells us to be practical in life

And a realist in the way we look at circumstances.

(Take off our “rose-colored glasses” so to speak.)

 

And at the end of the book, he answers what true wisdom is.

It is not understanding of your events, it is obedience to God

Even when you don’t understand.

 

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

 

It is true that a Christian may be in adversity, and may not understand why,

But that is no excuse to stop obeying.

 

• Do we hope for deliverance? Yes

• Do we hope for salvation? Yes

• Do we hope for redemption? Yes

But we don’t wait until we have it to obey God.

 

That was the focus of the Psalmist.

He wasn’t letting his life be put on hold

Simply because hardship was present, he chose to obey anyway.

 

In fact, this may sound absurd, but often times

It is the presence of hardship that denotes God is most at work.

 

1 Corinthians 16:8-9 “But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

 

Remember Paul’s 2nd missionary journey?

• First Paul was confronted by an adversary named Elymas the magician whom he

had to deal with.

 

• Next John Mark deserted them.

 

• Then in Pisidian Antioch Paul faced detractors and arguers and ended up having

to shake the dust off of his feet.

 

• He was run out of Iconium, and in Lystra the wicked Jews from Iconium caught

him and stoned him.

 

And when Paul finally finished the trip, I want you to hear his summary

 

Acts 14:26-28 “From there they sailed to Antioch, from which they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had accomplished. When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they spent a long time with the disciples.”

 

To Paul opposition was only a sign that God was working, it would have been tragic if Paul had let his opposition stop his obedience.

 

If you want to be steadfast then keep obeying

Even when salvation isn’t coming as fast as you would like.

 

We actually have a hymn for this as well.

It is called “Trust and Obey”

(For there’s not other way, to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey)

 

That is what the Psalmist did.

Even when it is hard…

Even when all he can do is hope for salvation…

He continues to obey.

 

And because of that he remains steadfast.

 

He Cherished Truth He Chose Obedience

#3 HE CHASED THE PRIZE

Psalms 119:167-168

 

He begins with a familiar declaration of his love for God’s Word.

“My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly.”

 

It is amazing, the Psalmist just can’t stop declaring his love for God’s word.

 

He loves it and here he says he loves it “exceedingly”

 

And this love naturally culminates in obedience.

“I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies”

 

Love that doesn’t manifest itself in action isn’t actually love.

We know we love Christ when we keep His commandments.

 

The Psalmist loves so he keeps.

BUT HERE IS WHY

 

“For all my ways are before You.”

 

In other words, he knows that God is watching all that he does.

He keeps an eye on the end when all the rewards will be given.

 

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

 

And of course that sounds negative, but it is also a positive thing.

 

Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”

 

And the idea is that he knows if he stays the course

And continues to obey God’s word

That the prize at the end will far outweigh the present cost.

 

It is very similar to the advice that the writer of Hebrews

Gave to those struggling Jews.

 

Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

He wanted people to focus on the prize.

 

AND THAT IS THE SECRET TO STEADFASTNESS.

Focus on the prize.

 

God has great reward in store for those who persevere through adversity and persecution to keep His word.

 

Remember the church at Philadelphia?

Revelation 3:10-12 “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.”

 

God blesses and rewards those who are faithful.

And the Psalmist knows this.

 

So, if you want to be steadfast like the Psalmist then do what he did.

He Cherished Truth

He Chose Obedience

He Chased the Prize

 

It is all about decisions and perspective

And it is the secret to being faithful.

 

Let me encourage you to do the same.

• Cherish God’s Word, read it and love it.

• Choose to obey it even if circumstances make obedience difficult.

• And when you need motivation focus on the reward that comes to the righteous, for God never gets scrimpy when He rewards the faithful.

 

Focus on that and you will be protected from stumbling as well.

 

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

 

Consider How I Love Your Precepts

Psalms 119:153-160

January 15, 2012

 

We are nearing the end of our study of this wonderful Psalm.

 

We have seen our Psalmist in and out and back in

Various afflictions and moments of oppression.

 

But the one constant in his life is that

He has not failed to seek, trust, and obey the word of God.

 

For him Scripture has been the solution to all problems,

And his commitment to it is unwavering.

 

And as we have said several times of late, his commitment is so steadfast

That it has actually landed him in trouble.

 

• It was back in verse 122 that the Psalmist first introduced us to the

presence of “oppressors” in his life.

 

These are men who have rejected God’s word

And now cause difficulty for him because he refuses to do so.

 

• In verse 141 we find that he is “small and despised”

• In verse 143 he wrote “trouble and anguish have come upon me”

 

• And last week we saw the situation become even more serious.

Verse 150 “those who follow after wickedness draw near;”

 

And that is why last week he gave a very sincere and intense prayer

For God to step in and deal with his oppressors.

 

Well, tonight his prayer continues.

 

In fact, just from reading this prayer to get started

You may have easily spotted what it is that our Psalmist desires.

 

Three times the Psalmist said it, “Revive me”

 

(154) “Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.”

 

(156) “Great are Your mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your ordinances.”

 

(159) “Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness.”

 

It is obvious, the Psalmist wants to be revived.

“Revive” translates HIGH-YA

It literally means “to live”

 

Often times we think of revival as an emotional experience,

Or some sort of spiritual high.

 

In reality it simply means to live life as God intended it.

And that is what the Psalmist asks for.

 

“Revive me according to Your word.”

(Let me live like Your word says I should)

 

“Revive me according to Your ordinances.”

 

“Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.”

 

He wants to live his life the way God promised

And the way God intended.

He is asking God to restore life.

 

It is similar to the promise Jesus made.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

 

• Jesus came to revive.

• He came to give life.

• He came to give life the way God intended it to be lived.

 

It doesn’t necessarily denote riches, or physical blessing

So much as it does righteousness

And the unhindered ability to walk in God’s truth.

 

The Psalmist wants that ability.

He is being oppressed, and his oppressors have drawn close and they pose a very real threat to halting life as he desires to live it.

 

His request is for God to step in and deliver him that he may continue to live the righteous life he desires.

 

And so his prayer is for revival.

 

The unique thing about this stanza is that during this stanza

He offers some leverage to the negotiating table.

 

He actually presents to God why God should grant his request.

 

And that statement is made in verse 159.

 

“Consider how I love Your precepts;”

There is something he wants God to see, and his belief is that

When God sees it, He will be more inclined to answer his request.

 

This is not totally foreign to David.

Psalms 7:1-5 “O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, Or he will tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver. O LORD my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands, If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust.”

 

There David pleaded for deliverance

And he did so based upon his righteousness.

 

That is very similar to our Psalmist here.

He pleads for revival, but then explains why he deserves it.

 

Now, don’t treat him as totally arrogant for you will notice in the very next line he does ask for this revival based upon the “lovingkindness” (or mercy) of God.

 

So it is not as though he is arrogant

Thinking himself worthy of all good things.

 

On the contrary, what he is doing is showing God

That revival is not wasted on him.

 

If God does “redeem” and “rescue” him, He can set His mind at ease

That our Psalmist will not waste his opportunities.

 

And this is important.

 

For Israel had a bad reputation for doing just that.

Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”

 

Hosea 6:1-6 “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.” What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

 

Very simply put, Israel was notorious for making all sorts of

Promises of commitment to God while in the bed of affliction.

Just read the book of Judges some time.

It is one revival after another.

 

It is a continual cycle:

• Israel rebels against God.

• God allows a neighbor to oppress them.

• Israel cries out to God and promises loyalty.

• God raises up a judge to deliver.

• Once Israel achieves peace and safety they revel again.

 

Over and over and over we see that from Israel.

(We’ve even seen attitudes like that in our own lives at times.)

 

“If God will just help me out this one time then I will…”

 

And we wonder why God would ever want to help us,

Seeing that most of the time people go back on their word.

 

Well, the Psalmist is promising that he will not break his promise,

And the reason is, unlike his ancestors, he loves God’s word.

 

“Consider how I love Your precepts”

 

He’s saying, “God You can revive me, I’m not going back to wickedness, because I love Your word.”

 

And that is really what this entire stanza is about.

 

It is the Psalmist explaining to God how he loves His word.

 

And so tonight we see what it looks like

When a person loves God’s word.

 

And we get to easily ask the question:

DO I LOVE THE WORD OF GOD?

 

There are 5 things the Psalmist wants God to consider as proof

That he loves His word and will be faithful even after being revived.

 

#1 THE DEVOTION HE SHOWS

Psalms 119:153

 

Now again, we recognize his plea for deliverance.

 

And please recognize that the Psalmist has gone back to

Using the word “affliction” instead of oppression.

 

He does so, indicating that his oppressors

Have actually begun to make life difficult for him.

And because he is afflicted he wants God to “rescue” him.

 

And that is certainly understandable.

Any time we walk in hardship it would please any of us to have God just reach down and lift us out.

 

And so the Psalmist wants deliverance.

And you will notice that the Psalmist gives

The first piece of evidence that he deserves it.

 

It is the first proof of his love of God’s word.

“For I do not forget Your law.”

 

And this is not a testimony to his great memory,

But rather a testimony to his great devotion.

 

We have actually seen this mindset for several weeks now,

But the Psalmist refuses to be bullied away from God’s Word.

 

Regardless of the hardship…

Regardless of the affliction…

He continues to remember the law of God.

 

And remember means that he not only knows it is there,

But he always consults it as a viable answer to his dilemma.

 

It doesn’t matter if the problem is physical, financial, spiritual, emotional, political, relational, etc.

He always goes to God’s word for the solution.

 

He never overlooks it.

He is trained to believe that God’s word works.

And certainly that is an attribute of one who loves God’s law.

 

CAN WE REALLY CLAIM TO LOVE GOD’S WORD WHEN WE FAIL REMEMBER IT?

 

Can we claim to love God’s word if we never consult it for answers in life?

 

You see, in those difficult times we reveal where our trust is.

The Psalmist tells God his loyalty is obvious.

 

When it is difficult, “I do not forget Your law.”

 

NOT “I will not forget” but “I do not forget”

This is his track record.

 

God, You know, I always remember to go to Your word

For guidance and answers.

 

The Devotion he shows

#2 THE DOCTRINE HE BELIEVES

Psalms 119:155

 

This is a very doctrine-heavy statement.

“Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your statutes.”

 

The first thing we would notice is simply what he said,

And that is that there is a definite reason why the wicked are not saved.

 

The wicked are not saved because they do not seek God’s word.

 

They don’t care what God’s word says (which is why they are wicked)

And therefore without God’s word they cannot be saved.

 

This is exactly the truth that Paul taught us in Romans.

Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

 

Paul unequivocally stated that the gospel is the power for salvation.

 

Some would ask “why?”

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed”

 

Contrary to popular belief God has a very definite desire for humanity.

God wants them to be righteous.

 

Jesus said, “You shall be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect”

Peter wrote, “As it is written, ‘You shall be holy as I am holy’”

 

God wants holiness.

God wants righteousness.

 

And there is only one source that reveals that righteousness.

It is the gospel.

 

(Namely the word of God reveals how to get that righteousness)

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

 

Only the word of God reveals where a man can get

The righteousness that God demands.

And that answer is of course through faith in Jesus.

 

So if you live void of the word of God,

You never find where to get God’s righteousness

And therefore you are never saved.

 

And that is why “salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek Your statutes.”

 

And our Psalmist believes that doctrine.

 

Can we say someone loves God’s word if they don’t believe that?

 

I’ve been re-reading “Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church becomes like the world” by John MacArthur.

 

He speaks all the subtle ways that churches reveal

That instead of loving God’s Word, they are in fact ashamed of it.

 

At one point he lists a group of church reviews

About local churches in the area.

 

• “There is no fire and brimstone here. No Bible-thumping. Just practical witty messages.”

• “Services at [the church featured in the article] have an informal feeling. You won’t hear people threatened with hell or referred to as sinners. The goal is to make them feel welcome, not drive them away.”

• As with all clergymen [this pastor’s] answer is God – but he slips Him in at the end, and even then doesn’t get heavy. No ranting, no raving. No fire, no brimstone. He doesn’t even use the H-word. Call it Light Gospel. It has the same salvation as the Old Time Religion, but with a third less guilt.”

• The sermons are relevant, upbeat, and best of all, short. You won’t hear a lot of preaching about sin and damnation and hellfire. Preacher here doesn’t sound like preaching. It is sophisticated, urbane, and friendly talk. It breaks all the stereotypes.”

• “[The pastor] is preaching a very upbeat message…It’s a Salvationist message, but the idea is not so much being saved from the fires of hell. Rather, it’s being saved from meaninglessness and aimlessness in this life. It’s more of a soft-sell.”

• “The idea, [this pastor] says, is to get people through the front doors, then disprove the stereotype of the sweating, loosened necktied, Bible-thumping preacher who yells and screams about burning in hell for eternity.”

 

And the whole reoccurring theme is that the message of the gospel

Is some sort of bad thing.

 

The notion that man is sinful and headed for judgment is just too harsh,

And anyone who would try and stand up and proclaim it

Is a sweaty bible-thumping preacher.

 

Furthermore anyone with the audacity to preach over about 15 minutes

Certainly fails to understand the desires of the culture.

 

But Scripture teaches it is through preaching that people are saved.

And not just trendy preaching, but preaching the gospel.

(repentance from sin – faith in Christ)

 

Well, the Psalmist is not ashamed of God’s plan of redemption.

The doctrine he believes is not a doctrine

That diminishes the need for Scripture

But one that puts the need for Scripture at the forefront.

 

In fact, he reckons a disregard of Scripture

To be the leading cause in a lack of salvation.

 

The Devotion he shows, The Doctrine he believes

#3 THE DURATION HE MAINTAINS

Psalms 119:157

 

This is certainly not a new concept for our Psalmist.

We are talking about the concept of endurance.

 

It doesn’t matter how much pressure, how much adversity,

This guy stays the course, and that is what he reminds God of here.

 

“Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies.”

 

And notice the word “Many”

This isn’t one wicked man trying to make his life difficult.

This isn’t a couple of disgruntled people causing strife.

This is “many” people.

 

If they were to do a vote in church, he would lose.

He is in the minority, he has an entire fan section.

 

And think about that.

We live in a day where politicians sway back and forth all based on the will of the majority.

 

If a poll comes out, they shift their stance,

Always trying to keep the “many” happy.

 

And this man is just the opposite.

• He irritates the many.

• He goes against them.

• He opposes them and they oppose him.

 

They want him to leave God’s Law, and he won’t.

WHY?

Because he loves it.

 

HOW CAN WE CLAIM TO LOVE GOD’S WORD WHEN PEER PRESSURE CAN EASILY TURN US AWAY FROM IT?

 

It is a sad thing in the church when cultural issues

Can dictate what the church believes.

And yet on a consistent basis we see the rise of feminism, homosexuality, and (the newest) even profanity in the church.

 

All that is, is bending to the culture,

Instead of clinging to God’s Word.

 

The Psalmist loved God’s word more than he loved his reputation

Or his comfort, he endured, he does not leave.

 

The Devotion he shows, The Doctrine he believes, The Duration he maintains

#4 THE DISDAIN HE HAS

Psalms 119:158

 

Here we find his great zeal again.

“I behold the treacherous and loathe them”

 

I think it is safe to say that there is a group of people

That just get under his skin in a major way.

 

He calls them “the treacherous”

 

But beyond that, he tells you why they rile him so much.

“Because they do not keep Your word.”

 

Treachery is defined as “a violation of faith or trust”

 

These are men who promised to keep God’s word,

They said, “Trust me I will do it” and then they didn’t.

 

They were liars.

They were phonies.

They claimed allegiance and then fell away.

 

These people who do more harm to Christianity than any other.

They claim a love for Jesus and then deny Him before the world.

They supply unbelievers with years’ worth of ammunition.

 

They do a great disservice to God,

And so the Psalmist says, I “loathe them”

 

Now I don’t want to get in to promoting hatred or things of that sort.

But let me ask you, “DOES IT BOTHER YOU WHEN PEOPLE DISOBEY OR DISREGARD GOD’S WORD?”

 

I’ve been in plenty of churches were it didn’t.

I’ve been in meetings where Scripture was read and instantly disregarded.

 

The Methodist preacher in Henrietta held his bible up and told his congregation, “This is a good book, but you can’t believe everything in it.”

 

DOES THAT BOTHER YOU?

DOES THAT ANGER YOU?

 

Well, it angered the Psalmist,

And the reason is because he loves God’s word.

 

David said:

Psalms 139:19-22 “O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.”

 

And the reason is because David loved God!

 

And that is true of our Psalmist.

He proves his love for God’s word

Because of the disdain he has when men disregard it.

 

So we know he loves God’s Word because of:

The Devotion he shows, the Doctrine he believes, the Duration he maintains, the Disdain he has

 

#5 THE DECLARATION HE MAKES

Psalms 119:160

 

What a great statement.

Take all of God’s word and add it all together and all you get is truth.

 

He is saying God’s word is without dilution.

It is pure and perfect, all adding up to perfect truth.

 

“every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.”

 

What a great declaration to make about the word of God.

 

Back in the 60’s and 70’s Baptist fought a battle.

It was called the Inerrancy Controversy.

 

Some claimed that the Bible was without error, inerrant,

Others refused to make the declaration.

 

It led to a fight and ultimately a split in our denomination.

FUNDAMENTALISTS vs. MODERATES

 

 

Now suppose you stood before a counsel of moderates who pressured and pushed you for a verdict on where you stand.

 

 

• Would you stand before the masses and hold to your convictions?

• Would you declare that the “sum of Your words is truth”?

• Would you declare that “every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting”?

 

The psalmist did, because he loved God’s Word.

 

By the way, so did Adrian Rogers and Jerry Vines and Charles Stanley and Bailey Smith, and Paige Patterson

 

And many continue to do it today,

But only those who love the word of God

And would rather die than compromise it.

 

And that was the conviction of our Psalmist.

 

He had come to God asking for revival,

And he presented to God evidence that he deserved it.

 

As if to say, “God you can revive me, for I won’t disappoint You, I will keep Your word, in fact I love it.”

 

And then he proved it.

 

You can know I love it because:

• I am Devoted even in affliction.

• My Doctrine is pure even if unpopular.

• My record of Duration proves I never turn aside from Your word.

• I have intense Disdain for those who disregard Your word.

• And I Declare Your word to be truth with no error.

 

That is how we know he loved God’s Word.

 

COULD I PROVE MY LOVE OF GOD’S WORD TO GOD?

Upon asking God for revival, could you assure Him

That if He revives you He won’t be disappointed?

 

Let me encourage you to take the standard of the Psalmist

And begin to love God’s word as well.

 

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

 

Handling Oppression

Psalms 119:145-152

January 8, 2012

 

As you know we are dealing with a Psalmist under oppression.

 

He is oppressed because he will not compromise on his convictions;

Namely that he loves and proclaims the word of God.

 

This commitment has certainly caused him to be hated,

Just as Scripture continually promises.

 

And yet in the midst of this oppression he has remained strong,

Even zealous for God’s Word and has refused to yield.

 

BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT IS EASY…

 

Twila Paris used to sing a song called: “The Warrior is a Child”

Lately I’ve been winning battles left and right, but even winners can get wounded in the fight. People say that I’m amazing; strong beyond my years. but they don’t see inside of me I’m hiding all the tears.

They don’t know that I go running home when I fall down. They don’t know who picks me up when no one is around. I drop my sword and cry for just a while ’cause deep inside this armor the warrior is a child.

Unafraid because His armor is the best, but even soldiers need a quiet place to rest. People say that I’m amazing; never face retreat, but they don’t see the enemies that lay me at His feet.

They don’t know that I go running home when I fall down. They don’t know who picks me up when no one is around. I drop my sword and cry for just a while ’cause deep inside this armor the warrior is a child.

 

That song could have very easily been written about our Psalmist.

 

We know he is a young man and that he appears absolutely fearless.

He fights his battles, he won’t quit, always standing on the word of God

Regardless of the enemies that approach him.

 

And yet tonight we learn that there is also

A much more dependant side to our warrior.

 

TONIGHT WE SEE HIM RUNNING HOME

 

In reality this is true of all followers of Christ.

• None are strong on their own…

• None fight on their own…

• All need help in their struggles…

 

What we see is his prayer in the midst of oppression.

 

He is a man willing to stand and fight for God’s Word,

But it is certainly true that the battle has taken its toll on him.

And he needs to be picked up.

 

This is very important stuff for us here,

Because any time we fight battles for the Lord it is vital

That we know where to go when we get wounded in the fight.

 

It is hard to stand under oppression,

Here we find the Psalmist’s secret to longevity in the battle.

 

We call it PRAYER

 

You probably even remember

After Paul wrote that great passage of Scripture on the armor of God

Immediately following that passage he then wrote:

 

Ephesians 6:18-20 “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

 

Prayer isn’t necessarily a piece of the believer’s armor,

But it most certainly is a necessity to every Christian soldier.

 

And it is a topic that is covered extensively in Scripture.

 

If we desired we could take a few months and examine the prayers

Of various men and women in Scripture:

 

We love Elijah’s prayer before the altar on Mt. Carmel asking God to show that He alone is God.

 

We love Jehoshaphat’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 20 as he prayed, “For we are powerless against this great multitude who are coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

 

We love Hezekiah’s prayer in 2 Kings 19 as he took Sennacherib’s letter of reproach and spread it out before the Lord.

 

We love Daniel’s prayer of humility and repentance as he confesses the sin of Israel.

 

We love the prayer of Jesus in John 17 interceding on behalf of all believers.

 

And once we were finished examining individual prayers

We could take another couple of years and study

All that the Scriptures say about prayer.

 

When to do it, how to do it, why to do it, etc.

(Not the least of this is the model prayer when Jesus taught us how to pray)

BUT TONIGHT WE LOOK AT THE PRAYER OF OUR PSALMIST

In looking at his prayer we find the secret to why he remains so strong.

 

3 main things

#1 HIS CRY

Psalms 119:145-149

 

We are obviously speaking of his prayer here.

We call it a “cry” because that is what he calls it.

 

And that being said, we actually get 5 different attributes about his prayer.

 

1) INTENSITY OF HIS PRAYER (145)

“I cried with all my heart; answer me, O Lord!”

 

In his mind it is more desperate than just an average prayer.

• This isn’t some routine ritual…

• This isn’t some normal thing…

• This is a deep, serious, emotional, petition to God.

 

Like the Canaanite who wouldn’t stop shouting until she got results.

That is how this man is praying.

 

This man’s prayer is intense.

“I cried with all my heart”

 

He has every ounce and fiber of his being wrapped up into this prayer.

 

WHY?

Because he is dependent upon it.

 

If God doesn’t come through, he is finished.

There is no plan B.

 

And by the way, Scripture seems to commend such prayers.

• We already know the Canaanite woman was successful as she revealed her great faith.

• We are certainly familiar with the widow who came every day before the unrighteous judge and literally wore him out.

• Who can forget Christ sweating drops of blood in the garden as He prayed?

 

Beyond that we are familiar with what Scripture says:

Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

 

Later Jeremiah says:

Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

 

Even Jesus told His disciples after speaking about the persistent widow:

Luke 18:7 “now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?”

 

It is apparent in Scripture that God honors a desperate prayer.

Certainly not because He delights in theatrics,

But rather that He delights in a heart that is totally set on Him.

 

He delights in one who has dismissed all other options

And has placed all of their hope upon Him.

 

He delights in one who is totally dependent

And therefore completely focused.

 

That is the prayer of the Psalmist.

“I cried with all my heart;”

 

But that is not the only place we see his intensity.

Notice the tenses he uses.

 

“I cried”

And then he says, “answer me, O Lord!”

 

What that means is that when he “cried” he did not get an answer.

That cry was in the past.

 

Now he is praying reminding God that he “cried”

And that he is still awaiting an answer.

 

The point is this.

It is not as though he was pretending with God.

He is totally dependent upon God and he proves that by never leaving.

 

It is also important to note his intentions.

“I will observe Your statutes.”

 

You will notice each attribute of his prayer

Includes his relationship to the word of God.

 

First of all that indicates how he expects God to answer.

 

But it also reveals that his heart is pure in his request.

This is not a person wanting relief to return back to sin.

This is not a person desiring to have a selfish wish granted.

 

His heart desires righteousness.

His heart desires obedience.

 

And in that extreme desire he is desperate for God to answer.

Intensity of His Prayer

2) REQUEST OF HIS PRAYER (146)

 

“I cried to You; save me And I shall keep Your testimonies.”

 

Now we could also recognize here the direction of his prayer.

“to You”

 

He was praying to God.

How many times have we heard prayers, “God, if You’re up there and are real, then I’m talking to You…”

 

This man knew who he was praying to.

He was praying specifically to the Lord.

 

Isaiah 45:20 “Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save.”

 

But beyond that we see his request.

“save me”

(not salvation as we see it, but a prayer for deliverance)

 

And again we notice it is a salvation meant to lead to obedience.

“And I shall keep Your testimonies”

 

He isn’t wanting a comfortable life of sin.

But he does desire for God to “save” him.

 

But we also learn here that when we pray

It is ok to make requests to God.

 

Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

 

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

 

James 4:2 “You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.”

 

Now certainly I recognize the importance of submitting our will to God’s

And understanding that sometimes He doesn’t give what we ask for.

 

We do end our prayers as Jesus did, “not My will, but Yours be done”

 

But that doesn’t mean that we lean so heavily

Towards the sovereignty of God that we never ask Him for anything.

 

He tells us to.

 

And the Psalmist certainly did.

He came to God and specifically asked to be saved.

 

• But what if it was God’s will that he be oppressed?

• What if God wanted to use his hardship to grow the kingdom?

• What if God was using this for his good?

 

Then we want God’s will to be done and we will love Him anyway,

But we only know what we know and we bring our requests.

 

The Psalmist still told God what he desired.

 

The Intensity…The Request…

3) THE PRIORITY OF HIS PRAYER (147)

 

“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.”

 

Carrie laughed the other day at Abigail.

The day before she had asked Carrie to play cards with her. Carrie told her that the kids were going back to school and they would have time together and they would play then.

 

Wednesday morning, Abigail rolled out of bead

And the first thing she did was get the cards.

It was her priority.

 

That is the prayer of the Psalmist.

Nothing was more important to him than to take his prayer to God.

 

He didn’t desire breakfast…

He didn’t desire coffee…

He wanted to present his request to God.

 

Now, again, understand that it is not the timing of the prayer

That makes it effective as though God is more apt to answer

A prayer at 6:30 in the morning than at 5:30 at night.

 

We can’t manipulate God in that way,

But what it does reveal is the priority in the man’s life.

 

Nothing was more important than this to him.

 

This is the same attitude that works with fasting.

I’ve told you before you don’t pressure God to answer by refusing to eat.

 

But a heart that would rather talk to God than eat

Is a heart that is totally focused on God, and He responds to that.

 

That is our Psalmist.

He needed to talk to God and it couldn’t wait.

The Intensity…The Request…The Priority

4) THE ENDURANCE OF HIS PRAYER (148)

 

“My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word.”

 

So now we have moved from morning to night

And still the Psalmist is focused.

 

He started off his day with prayer

And now he is headed to night still waiting.

 

Luke 11:5-8 “Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”

 

We’ve already mentioned the widow several times.

Luke 18:1-8 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘ Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

 

It is endurance in prayer.

 

And that motivates God, not that we ever wear Him out,

But rather our endurance indicates our faith.

 

The Canaanite woman endured being ignored, she endured flat out rejection, she endured insults, and still she requested of Jesus.

 

WHY?

Because she obviously believed Jesus could and Jesus would.

 

God is moved by a heart that is fully devoted.

 

The Intensity…The Request…The Priority…The Endurance

5) THE HUMILITY OF HIS PRAYER (149)

 

“Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your ordinances.”

 

Notice what he appeals to?

“Your lovingkindness”

 

Your bible may say “mercy”

 

He isn’t talking about how worthy he is, or how God owes it to him.

He prays to God and he prays early and he prays late,

Not because God owes him but because he knows God is merciful.

 

This is his humility.

 

We certainly must come humbly before God.

 

We all remember the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, one came in arrogance, but the tax collector wouldn’t even look up to heaven, asking only for mercy.

 

That man went away justified.

 

We’ve heard the Laura Story song: “There is Nothing”

CHORUS: “So clothe me; humility. Remind me, that I come before a King. And there is nothing, there is nothing, more precious, more worthy. May I gaze deeper, may I stay longer, may I press onward to know You Lord?”

 

HUMILITY MATTERS

 

And again, please recognize what he wants.

“Revive me”

 

This is where he gets his strength.

Remember, “The warrior is a child that runs home when he falls down”

 

That is what our Psalmist has done,

But he needs strength to get back up and go battle again.

 

When we battle and when we are oppressed,

We go to our merciful Father and we ask Him to help.

 

And we go early and we stay late and we go nowhere else

Because we know that strength comes from him.

 

Charles Spurgeon said:

“Prayers are the believer’s weapons of war. When the battle is too hard for us, we call in our great Ally, who, as it were, lies in ambush until faith gives the signal by crying out, “Arise, O Lord.” Although our cause be all but lost, it shall soon be won again if the Almighty doth but bestir Himself.”

 

Our Psalmist seemed to know that.

So when he was weak…

When he was beaten…

When he was tired…

When he was discouraged…

• He took his cry to God.

• He took it first thing.

• He continued to cry until God answered.

• And he depended upon God’s mercy for that answer.

 

That is where we find strength in the midst of oppression as well.

 

Now let me show you why he was crying.

 

#2 HIS CIRCUMSTANCE

Psalms 119:150

 

And now we see why the Psalmist is so intense in his prayer.

Those who hate him are close.

 

Earlier he said:

Psalms 119:141 “I am small and despised, Yet I do not forget Your precepts.”

 

Psalms 119:143 “Trouble and anguish have come upon me, Yet Your commandments are my delight.”

 

Earlier there was a pretty serious threat against him,

But now the threat has become reality.

 

“Those who follow after wickedness draw near;”

 

He then reminds, “They are far from Your Law”

 

And I kind of like the prayer.

“They are far from You, but they are close to me, and I need help!”

 

In other words the battle is at hand.

 

His Cry, His Circumstance

#3 HIS CONFIDENCE

Psalms 119:151-152

 

We could probably call this the FAITH of his prayer,

For we all know it is important that we ask in faith.

 

James 1:6-7 “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,”

 

We have to pray believing, and that is what the Psalmist does here.

 

We know God has yet answer.

We know the enemy is upon him.

And yet, notice his confidence.

1) GOD WON’T LEAVE

“You are near, O Lord,”

 

In verse 145, God is yet to answer.

In verse 146, God is yet to save.

In verse 147-148, God is yet to speak.

In verse 149, God is yet to revive.

 

And yet the Psalmist still believes God is “near”

 

That is faith beyond sight.

That is confidence in the promises of God.

 

2) GOD CAN’T LIE

“And all Your commandments are truth.”

 

We know Hebrews says it is impossible for God to lie,

And the Psalmist believes that too.

 

• God has never misled him.

• God has never deceived him.

• God has never told him something untrue.

 

When we get in difficult circumstances

It is tempting to re-think all that God has said.

 

But the Psalmist didn’t.

He still believed God was near and he still believed God’s word was right.

 

3) GOD NEVER LOSES

“Of old I have known from Your testimonies That You have founded them forever.”

 

As we have said, “testimonies”

Refers to those instances of God’s deliverances.

 

Those are the stories we love from the Bible.

• Noah and the Ark

• Daniel and the Lion’s Den

• David and Goliath

• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

 

And the Psalmist knows that of all God’s testimonies,

Even the really old ones, they stand forever.

God never loses.

 

That is his confidence.

 

NOW HERE IS THE POINT

It is his confidence in God that causes him to pray like he does,

And it is his prayer that brings about strength in his life.

 

As we have watched our Psalmist the last few weeks,

I hope you have been a little envious of his faith.

 

I hope you have desired his commitment and zeal.

 

WHAT IS THIS MAN’S SECRET?

He believes God.

 

• He believes that God won’t leave him.

• He believes that God won’t lie to him.

• He believes that God never loses.

 

And so it is easy for him to stand for God.

And when the battle is long and the soldier is tired,

He knows he can run to God and be revived.

 

But it all hinges upon his belief in God.

 

• If he thought God would leave, then why go to Him?

• If he thought God would lie, then why stand on His word?

• If he thought God could lose, then why face the hardship?

 

His zeal is a bi-product of his faith.

And so is his prayer.

 

So tonight, I DON’T just want to encourage you

To pray with more intensity, or with more priority,

Or with more endurance, or with more humility.

 

I want to encourage you to believe God more.

• I want to encourage you that God is trustworthy.

• I want to encourage you that God will never leave you nor forsake you.

• I want to encourage you that God will never lie to you.

• I want to encourage you that if you are on God’s side, He never loses.

 

And when you gain such confidence in God,

It will naturally transform your prayer life.

 

And that is how you handle oppression.

You simply believe in a Big God and you cast those cares on Him.

 

The Psalmist did, and that is how the child continued to be a warrior.

 

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

 

Why So Zealous?

Psalms 119:137-144

January 1, 2011

 

I realize it’s been several weeks since we last walked through this Psalm,

So let me sort of pull us all back together here tonight

And continue in what proves to be a very encouraging study.

 

Our Psalmist has been carrying us through some predicaments in his life,

And throughout those predicaments he has been revealing

The importance God’s Word has played in his life.

 

• We have seen him struggle with personal purity…

• We have seen him hunger for total obedience…

• We have seen him in the pit of despair…

• We have seen him at the pinnacle of joy…

 

And in all of those circumstances the Psalmist has revealed

That God’s Word has been all that he needed.

 

Most recently we have found our Psalmist in the midst of oppression.

 

And we have said that this is quite different

From the affliction that he earlier wrote about.

 

The main difference is that his affliction was unavoidable,

Whereas he could stop the oppression whenever he wanted.

 

Affliction is the natural consequence of living in a sin-filled world.

Bad things happen and sometimes there is nothing (short of a miracle)

That can be done.

 

Oppression is different.

This is the hardship that our Psalmist was facing because of his commitment to the word of God.

 

And he could have stopped that oppression any time.

All he had to do was compromise.

 

If he would just soften his stance…

If he would just compromise his convictions…

If he would just give in to the masses…

 

Then those who hate him would actually love him.

 

But as you know, that is something that our Psalmist

Has been absolutely unwilling to do.

 

Regardless of the hatred he has faced

Our Psalmist has been determined to be steadfast.

In our stanza tonight he uses another word to describe himself.

And that word is “zeal”

 

(139) “My zeal has consumed me, Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.”

 

Zeal is an interesting thing.

 

The same word here can also be rendered jealousy.

It speaks of passion and envy and indignation.

It speaks also of love and strong commitment.

 

It is the opposite of apathy.

 

And our Psalmist is zealous.

 

And this, by the way, can be a very good thing,

For God Himself is zealous.

 

Isaiah 9:7 “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

 

Isaiah 42:13 “The LORD will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.”

 

You probably even remember that our Lord was very zealous.

 

John 2:13-17 “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

 

He was so zealous about the house of God that

He actually whipped the money changers and drove them out.

 

So God is zealous.

 

And by the way, zeal is something that

The church could definitely use a little more of.

 

Remember what Jesus told that lukewarm church at Laodicea?

Revelation 3:19 “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.”

 

The opposite of apathy.

Paul told Titus

Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

 

It is definitely true that the people of God

Ought to be a passionate people.

 

This Psalmist certainly was.

In fact he said, “My zeal has consumed me”

 

“consumed” translates (SA-MATH)

It literally means “to put an end to; to terminate”

 

In other words, our Psalmist can think of nothing else.

We would say, “I’m so fired up I can’t see straight”

 

Our Psalmist is filled with zeal.

WHY?

 

“Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.”

 

Back in verse 53 he said, “Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.”

 

Back in verse 136 he said, “My eyes shed streams of water, Because they do not keep Your law.”

 

And here, he apparently can’t get over it.

He is zealous.

 

His focus, his speech, his action, his conversation,

It is all about the importance of obedience

And the disobedience of the wicked.

 

He just can’t get around it.

 

We talked about this same kind of tunnel vision when we read the Kings.

And how regardless of the king, or if they did good or bad, the writer was only concerned about one thing; the high places.

 

He was zealous about it, nothing else seemed to matter.

 

Our Psalmist is like that.

 

God is like that, Christ was like that, and certainly it wouldn’t hurt the church to be a little more zealous as well.

But the downside to being zealous is that

It is almost always greeted with disdain.

 

Apathy hates zeal.

 

And so a person who becomes zealous about something

Can just expect that it will land him in hot water.

 

It certainly landed Jesus there didn’t it?

How about the disciples, what was the reward for their zeal?

 

Remember Elijah?

1 Kings 19:10 “He said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

 

Elijah was zealous, but it certainly didn’t make him popular.

 

Our psalmist is there as well.

He is sounding an alarm for Biblical authority and Scriptural obedience, and it is getting him in a great deal of trouble.

 

BUT AGAIN, THE SOLUTION IS SIMPLE

STOP BEING SO ZEALOUS

 

But the Psalmist can’t and tonight he reveals why.

 

There are four things he shows us tonight about his zeal for the word of God.

#1 WHY I HONOR IT

Psalms 119:137-138

 

To say that the Psalmist honors God’s Word is an understatement.

 

He has penned here a 176 verse chapter, arranged alphabetically in an acrostic in which 174 verses directly reference the word of God.

 

Can you imagine the time and effort that takes?

 

• Try to take our alphabet and write a 26 stanza song,

• Compiling of 8 lines per stanza

• In which each line starts with the seceding letter of the alphabet

• And include a reference to God’s word in all but two lines.

 

This is a tremendous work of honor for God’s Word.

 

Beyond that, just look at what he has said:

Psalms 119:72 “The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”

 

Psalms 119:103 “How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Psalms 119:127 “Therefore I love Your commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold.”

 

Psalms 119:129 “Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul observes them.”

 

It is obvious that he has chosen to honor God’s Word.

 

And even in these first two verses the honor continues.

 

“Righteous are You O Lord, and upright are Your judgments. You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness And exceeding faithfulness.”

 

Here he honors God’s word as “upright”, righteous, and faithful.

 

And as we have said it is that passion to continue

To honor God’s Word that is getting him in trouble.

 

WHY DO YOU HONOR IT SO MUCH?

 

He honors Scripture because of its author.

 

“Righteous are You O Lord”

 

And that is why His word is righteous.

Because “YOU have commanded [them] in righteousness”

 

The reason the Psalmist gives for the greatness of Scripture

Is the same reason you and I would use to evaluate other books.

 

You wouldn’t read a book on righteousness from someone who wasn’t.

 

This is what makes the Bible so wonderful.

It was written by Holy God.

 

We honor it because God wrote it.

 

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

 

Charles Spurgeon said: “O Bible! It cannot be said of any other book, that it is perfect and pure; but of thee, we can declare all wisdom is gathered up in thee, without a particle of folly. This is the judge that ends the strife, where wit and reason fail. This is the book untainted by any error; but is pure, unalloyed, perfect truth. Why? Because God wrote it…Oh! Let us bend in reverence before it, for God wrote inspired it. It is pure truth. Here from this fountain gushes aqua vitae – the water of life – without a single particle of earth; here from this sun there cometh forth rays of radiance, without the mixture of darkness. Blessed Bible! Thou art all truth.” (Spurgeon’s Sermons volumes 1 & 2, page 31-32)

 

This book is righteous because God is righteous and He wrote it!

 

So when we evaluate whether or not to honor Scripture

What we’re really doing is evaluating whether or not to honor God.

 

Is God righteous?

Psalms 48:10 “As is Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.”

 

Is God righteous?

Psalms 71:15 “My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum of them.”

 

Is God righteous?

Psalms 71:19 “For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?”

 

Is God righteous?

Psalms 145:17 “The LORD is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds.”

 

Is God righteous?

Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.”

 

Of course God is righteous, just look at the cross.

Romans 3:23-26 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

 

And if God is righteous, then His word is as well.

 

And the Psalmist says, that is why I honor God’s Word, it is righteous!

 

Why I honor it

#2 WHY I LOVE IT

Psalms 119:139-140

 

Of course we see again in those verses the zeal that we talked about.

He is passionate about obedience to the word of God.

 

He wants men to love God’s Word as much as he does.

“My zeal has consumed me, because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.”

 

It kills him that men don’t love God’s Word

 

BUT WHY DO YOU LOVE GOD’S WORD SO MUCH?

(140) “Your word is very pure, therefore Your servant loves it.”

 

He loves God’s Word because it is “pure”

“pure” translates (SA-RDAF)

It means “to refine, or test” it refers to the purifying of metals.

 

One could easily say that God’s word is PROVEN

There is no flaw in it.

There is no impurity.

 

The Baptist Faith and Message says this about the Scriptures:

“The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.”

 

And that is correct.

It is pure, it is proven.

 

Psalms 12:6 “The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.”

 

Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”

 

And this is why the Psalmist loves it.

God’s Word is always right, always trustworthy.

It never leads you astray.

It is never wrong.

 

Imagine having a book that if all you did was what it said,

Your life would guarantee to be blessed.

 

WE DO

 

And the Psalmist can’t believe that men would forget it.

The Psalmist can’t believe that men would ignore it.

 

I saw a movie once where a man went to the future (I think it might have been a true story). In the future he bought a sports almanac. When he came back to the past he had a guide for betting on sports. It made him rich.

 

Do you think the guy loved it?

 

WE HAVE THE WORDS OF GOD THAT NEVER FAIL,

PROVEN TRUE, WITH NO ERROR!

 

That is why the Psalmist loved it.

 

Why I honor it… Why I love it…

#3 WHY I REMEMBER IT

Psalms 119:141-142

 

Obviously the first thing we must notice is that there is tremendous temptation to forget God’s Word and never go there again.

 

And that temptation comes in the form of derision and hatred.

“I am small and despised”

 

One meaning for the word “small” is “young”

 

Job 32:6 “So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said, “I am young in years and you are old; Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.”

 

And so one of the reasons our Psalmist is derided

Is quite possibly because he is young.

 

The older men don’t want to listen to his passions about Scripture

Because he is young.

 

We already knew that our Psalmist was a young man.

Psalms 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.”

 

Psalms 119:100 “I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts.”

 

He had been facing opposition, not because he was wrong,

But because he was young.

 

You may remember that Timothy faced similar issues in his ministry.

 

And so Paul wrote to him:

1 Timothy 4:11-13 “Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.”

 

Another meaning for that same word is “insignificant”

 

Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

 

People ignored what he said because they deemed him

An insignificant messenger.

 

Paul faced this in his ministry:

2 Corinthians 10:10 “For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.”

 

They disregard our Pslamist because he is young and

Insignificant, and because he continues to speak to them

And hold to his convictions they actually despise him.

Remember when Isaiah tried to confront his peers?

Isaiah 28:7-10 “And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions, They totter when rendering judgment. For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place. “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.'”

 

And certainly it was the same derision the Lord received

For being from Nazareth.

 

Or remember the Pharisees?

John 9:29 “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”

 

This man’s adversaries hate the fact that such a young and insignificant man would actually hold to his convictions,

And they wanted him to drop it.

 

But he wouldn’t

“Yet I do not forget Your precepts.”

 

And the question is WHY?

(142) “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth.”

 

The reason he wouldn’t forget God’s Word, even though heavily oppressed, is because it is the truth.

 

Psalms 119:160 “The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.”

 

John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

 

• It wasn’t a matter of choosing which opinion he liked the best…

• It wasn’t a matter of politics (republican or democrat)…

• It was a matter of truth or error.

 

And even though the truth got him in trouble, it was still the truth.

He couldn’t leave it…

He couldn’t forget it…

IT WAS THE TRUTH

 

HOW COULD ANYONE ASK THE PSALMIST TO FORGET IT?

 

He honors God’s word because of it’s Author.

He loves God’s word because it is pure and proven.

He remembers God’s word because it is the truth.

 

#4 WHY I RETURN TO IT

Psalms 119:143-144

 

There again we see the hardship he is facing.

 

“Trouble and anguish have come upon me”

 

“Trouble” is usually translated “adversaries” (it is the same word translated “adversaries” in verse 139)

 

It can also mean “tight”

 

2 Kings 6:1 “Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us.”

 

Today we would call it “Being caught between a rock and a hard place”

 

And no doubt this anguish was the result of his adversaries.

 

And yet he still seemed to return to God’s Word.

“Yet Your commandments are my delight.”

 

WHY?

“Your testimonies are righteous forever;”

 

• Why does he delight?

• Why does he continually choose God’s Word?

• Why does he continually return to God’s Word even when it causes him trouble?

 

BECAUSE GOD’S WORD NEVER EXPIRES

 

God’s Word is never out-dated.

God’s Word is never irrelevant.

God’s Word always fits.

It is never limited.

 

Psalms 119:96 “I have seen a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad.”

 

• Books today continually become outdated.

• Textbooks are thrown out after a few years of use…

• Medical books become insignificant after new technology is found…

• Any number of books become out-dated in an advancing culture…

 

BUT GOD’S WORD NEVER DOES.

 

Written thousands of years ago and it still remains the most relevant, accurate, necessary book on the face of the planet.

 

• Nothing is more relevant to life

• Nothing is more relevant to relationships

• Nothing is more relevant to righteousness

• Nothing is more relevant to eternity

 

They are “righteous forever”

And so the Psalmist continues to return to it.

 

In fact, look at the only request of the stanza:

“Give me understanding that I may live.”

 

He still wants to know more.

He still seeks it out.

 

Certainly if God grants that request

It will only result in more trouble and more anguish,

But the Psalmist wants it anyway,

Because nothing is more relevant than the word of God.

 

He is passionate about it.

• God’s Word is actually written by God!

• God’s Word is proven and pure!

• God’s Word is absolutely true!

• God’s Word is always relevant!

 

And he can’t believe that in spite of that

People could so easily disregard it!

 

“My zeal has consumed me, Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.”

 

He is zealous, and now we know why.

GOD’S WORD DESERVES ZEALOTS!

 

If we can’t get passionate about the word of God,

Then there is something wrong with us.

 

Zeal for God’s word ought to consume us just like it consumed this man.

It is written by God!

It is proven and pure!

It is absolutely true!

It will always be relevant!

 

We ought to love it like he does!

 

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”