The Blessing of Obedience (Psalms 119:1-8)
The Blessing of Obedience
Psalms 119:1-8
August 7, 2011
Tonight we begin a new study in the word of God,
We begin our study of the 119th Psalm.
To many it is merely “the longest chapter in the Bible”
But it is far more than that.
Some have called it David’s Magnum Opus.
It is in fact a Psalm that reverberates
With the immense value of the Word of God.
There are 176 verses in this chapter, 174 of them mention God’s word.
You will grow familiar with words like
“Law, Precepts, Testimonies, Statutes, Ways and Judgments”.
Each of those have their own distinct meanings,
But corporately they all refer to the Word of God.
Another unique thing about this chapter is that it is an acrostic.
There are 22 stanzas of 8 verses each.
Each of those stanzas is characterized by every verse
Beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
This is not the only chapter in Scripture arranged like this.
Proverbs 31 (The virtuous woman) is also an acrostic.
The obvious reason is to make it easier to memorize
The other unique thing about this chapter is that each stanza seems to come at you from a different angle.
This Psalm is far from mundane or routine or redundant.
Each stanza finds the author in a different circumstance
And each stanza offers the word of God as the solution.
For example:
Tonight we find a man who is in fear of being forsaken by the Lord and has recognized that obedience would have been a better option.
Verses 9-16 are written from a heart that longs for purity…
(9)“How can a young man keep his way pure?”
Verses 17-24 are written from a heart of man who is being chastised…
(23) “princes sit and talk against me”
What we hope to learn then is obvious.
We certainly want to develop a greater love for God’s word.
But we also want to learn the sufficiency of God’s word.
David Allen,
“We won the battle for the inerrancy of Scripture. Now we are fighting the battle for the sufficiency of it.”
We all agree that the Bible is God’s Word.
We all agree that it is without error.
What we must also believe is that the Bible is sufficient.
It reigns supreme over every other form and type of information.
It was God who asked through Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 23:28-29 “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the LORD. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”
Nothing anyone could say could even come close to comparing
To the value of knowing what God has said.
His word is sufficient.
And as we study this great Psalm hopefully our hearts will grow
Even more in love with the living and enduring word of God.
Tonight we study the first 8 verses.
Now tonight I am going to give you an outline, but it is going to be a little backward.
Four things
#1 SIN SEPARATES
Psalms 119:8b
“Do not forsake me utterly!”
The reason we start here at the end in this opening stanza
Is because it is actually this statement that gives us insight
Into the circumstance behind it.
Each of these stanza’s comes from a specific circumstance
Finding that circumstance makes it easier to interpret the text.
It is this statement that helps us understand
Where the writer is coming from.
When you read these first 8 verses,
Initially this statement sort of catches you off guard.
He is giving this great statement about the blessing of obedience and even his intention to be more obedient
Then all of a sudden he hits this cry to God. “Do not forsake me utterly!”
And that statement puts the rest of the stanza in perspective.
This man has a fear.
This man has an anxiety.
WHAT IS IT?
That God would forsake him utterly.
Now the fact that he uses the word “utterly” would indicate
That to some degree he already feels forsaken by God.
He uses the word “utterly” because he is begging
That God won’t go all the way and forsake him totally.
This is not a man who feels secure in his relationship with God. This is a man who has a kink in the relationship
And now fears that God will just totally cut him off.
The Psalmist has done something that hindered the relationship with God
At some point in his life he was disobedient to God,
And now he is reaping the effects of that disobedience.
Verse 6 indicates that he has shame when he reads God’s word.
Verse 7 indicates an inability to learn more of God’s word or rejoice in it.
And if that wasn’t bad enough he now fears a total rejection from God.
Now I know we scoff at such a notion today, and quickly fire back,
“And surely I will be with you always…” or
“I will never leave you nor forsake you…”
And so we would sort of tell this guy to just dismiss it and
“Know that you know” that God won’t ever do that.
But you see this Psalmist has proof that God will.
TURN TO: 1 Samuel 13:5-14
Saul did not obey, and God promised to remove the kingdom.
TURN TO: 1 Samuel 15:1-3
(10-11; 17-29)
And there again God promised to reject Saul.
TURN TO: 1 Samuel 16:14; 18:12
Now this was Saul God was referring to.
• The man God had hand-picked.
• The man on whom the Spirit of the Lord came and he prophesied.
There was a time in which Saul knew the presence of God,
And then because of Saul’s disobedience, God departed from him.
(Now we are not going to get in to security of the believer here.
Saul is in fact an example of an apostate. And you cannot compare Old Testament to New Testament in relation to the Spirit of God – True believers have God’s Spirit in them and that Spirit is a deposit of a salvation that cannot be lost)
But I point out Saul to you because I want you to see that
This man is in distress that God would leave him,
After all God has done it before.
Now what we don’t know is what this man did.
We don’t know his specific sin.
We don’t know what occurred.
If it was David, it could have been a number of things.
Remember the affair with Bathsheeba?
Psalms 51:10-12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.”
Remember when David numbered Israel?
1 Chronicles 21:8 “David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
David surely made mistakes, and whatever the mistake was here,
Now he is in fear that God will throw him aside, just as He did Saul.
And that is the context to this stanza.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THERE?
You walked in an area of disobedience, did something contrary to the word of God and the guilt and shame was so bad that you feared God would just wash His hands of you altogether?
I certainly have.
And you and I are not alone.
• Here we find Peter’s tears after denying the Lord…
• Here we find the shame of John Mark after abandoning Paul…
• Here we find the frustration of Paul in Romans 7 as he does the thing he hates…
We have been there.
We have all learned that SIN SEPARATES
We know that sin hinders our fellowship with God,
And when that fellowship is hindered, life is dreadful.
Sin Separates
#2 RIGHTEOUSNESS BLESSES
Psalms 119:1-3
Now at this point we have to make a very important distinction.
DO YOU NOTICE THE PRONOUNS USED IN THE FIRST THREE VERSES?
“those”, “those”, “they”, “they”
It is important to note that he is not here referring to himself,
But to someone else.
Here is a man who has disobeyed is suffering the consequences of disobedience, and is afraid of utter rejection.
And from that spot in life he lifts up his head and notices someone.
WHO DOES HE NOTICE?
“those whose way is blameless”
“[those] who walk in the law of the Lord”
“those who observe His testimonies”
“[those] who seek Him with all their heart.”
“[those who] do no unrighteousness;”
“[those who] walk in His ways”
To help make it even more specific, look at what he notices about them.
1) HE RECOGNIZES OBEDIENCE
He says they (1) “walk in the law of the Lord”
He says they (2) “observe His testimonies”
He says they (3) “walk in His ways”
He sees that they are obedient people.
Whereas he failed to obey God’s word, he sees that these did not.
He recognizes obedience.
2) HE RECOGNIZES HOLINESS
He says (1) “whose way is blameless”
He says (3) “The also do no unrighteousness”
And that means that their obedience isn’t short lived.
They obey all the time.
Perhaps these were even those
He would have scorned or ridiculed in the past for their choice.
3) HE RECOGNIZES SINCERITY
He says (2) “[They] seek Him with all their heart.”
He even recognized a level of sincerity.
He wasn’t referring to Pharisees here.
These were not those who were clean on the outside,
But inside full of robbery and self-indulgence.
He recognizes people who obeyed God
And walked holy because they wanted to.
While the rest of this world was choosing
The passing pleasures of sin, these chose God.
4) HE RECOGNIZES BLESSING
He says, (1) “How blessed are those whose way is blameless”
He says, (2) How blessed are those who observe His testimonies”
And this is an important recognition.
Often times we hear of those who choose to do things God’s way
And then live jealous of the wicked.
Remember Asaph?
Psalms 73:3-5 “For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind.”
Psalms 73:13-14 “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning.”
Many a religious man has abstained from certain pleasures
Because of his calling, yet secretly and inwardly has wished
He could enjoy the sin of the wicked.
Just the opposite is occurring here.
Here we have a man who chose sin.
Here we have a man who disobeyed.
Here we have a man reaping the consequences of shame and fear
And all he can see is how blessed the righteous are
For making the decision to obey.
Men can deride another man for refusing to look at other women,
But on the day their marriage falls apart
They will recognize how blessed he is to still have a happy home.
Women can mock a woman for choosing her kids over a career,
But on the day their children leave the nest
They will recognize how blessed she was to have spent so much time with her children.
This man sees who is blessed.
It is those who did it God’s way.
Psalms 1 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”
Sometimes it is hard to see the blessing involved in obedience.
Satan loves to make God’s laws look burdensome and outdated.
But we know that God’s laws actually serve
To save us from our own bad choices and selfish desires.
God’s decrees protect us from ourselves.
And the true path of blessing is not found
In doing what is right in our own eyes,
But in doing what God says is right whether we understand or not.
That is what this man just saw.
Sin Separates Righteousness Blesses
#3 GOD IS SERIOUS
Psalms 119:4
Now again we notice the pronoun change.
Now he isn’t speaking about “they” nor is it just himself yet.
Here he speaks to everyone.
This is the point in the Psalm
Where he tells everyone who will listen what he has learned.
“You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently.”
The more we study this Psalm, I’ll try to help you see the subtle differences
For all the words that the Psalmist uses for God’s word.
Tonight let me just point out what “precepts” means.
When you see the word “precepts” in this Psalm,
Think of the word “treasure”.
The word “precepts” comes from a word that means “to place trust in”
So here the writer refers to “something God has entrusted to man”
It paints a picture of something valuable
That God has entrusted to man.
That is why the writer says “keep them diligently”
The literal translation is “keep them carefully”
He uses a word to help you and I recognize God’s word as a treasure.
And of course it is.
Psalms 19:10 “They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”
And mankind should treasure it.
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” – which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”
And that is the light the Psalmist speaks of it here.
And this is only fitting.
After all, his life is in a predicament
Because he didn’t regard the word of God.
And the only difference between himself and the blessed is
They treasured God’s word and he didn’t.
All of a sudden he has grown to look at God’s word differently.
This is a treasure that God has entrusted to man.
And finally the Psalmist understands it rightly.
God gave His word because He intended it to be obeyed.
“You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently.”
God didn’t give His word as suggestions.
God didn’t give His word as just another option.
When God gave His word He saw it as a divine treasure,
And He spoke intending for you and I to listen.
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”
Moses clearly tells us there that God did not tell us everything.
There is plenty that God knows that He has never told us.
But what God did tell us, He expects us to treasure it and obey it.
And it is like that light just came on for this man.
Here he sits in the despair of disobedience,
And as he looks at the blessing on those who obey God he finally gets it.
GOD MEANT FOR ME TO OBEY
God wasn’t giving me an optional way of doing things,
God was telling me how to do it,
And because I didn’t, my life is a wreck,
While those who did obey are blessed.
And we must understand that as well.
God’s word isn’t for decoration.
God’s word isn’t for starting conversations.
God’s word is for ending conversations.
God’s word is the final answer, the Amen, the end of every argument.
Romans 3:19 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;”
God doesn’t just throw His two cents in for you to weigh your options.
When God cares enough to interrupt the silence He expects that you will
See that as a special treasure and do what He says.
This man has just figured that out.
God is serious.
Sin Separates, Righteousness Blesses, God is Serious
#4 OBEDIENCE IS THE ANSWER
Psalms 119:5-8
And now we change pronouns one more time.
Now it is all about himself.
1) HIS DESIRE (5)
“Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes!”
In other words, I may not be obedient now, but I sure want to be.
I sure wish I could change.
Here is a man that sees the blessing of the righteous and says,
“I want to be like that!”
I want to be a blessed man!
I want God’s favor in my life!
And that by the way is the absolute beginning of wisdom.
Proverbs 4:7 “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding.”
That is this man.
I’m not obedient now, but I want to be.
And friend anyone who can see God’s blessing on the righteous
And not want a part of it is a fool.
• How could a man not want peace that surpasses comprehension?
• How could a man not want grace that is sufficient?
• How could a man not want mercy that is new every morning?
• How could a man not want love that never fails?
• How could a man not want a marriage that lasts?
• How could a man not want children that love the Lord?
• How could a man not want life that is full?
• How could a man not want an eternal home?
• How could a man not want treasure in heaven?
These are blessings that God pours on those who obey Him.
Even Jesus started His famous sermon by 9 times saying, “Blessed are…”
He was giving you the pathway to blessing.
You ought to desire it.
This man did.
He desired obedience that he could be blessed too.
2) HIS DREAM (6-7)
“Then I shall not be ashamed when I look upon all Your commandments. I shall give thinks to You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.”
Notice these aren’t things he is doing now.
Right now he is ashamed when he reads God’s word. He is convicted.
Right now he doesn’t learn from God, God won’t leave his sin alone.
You see when we walk in sin, God isn’t interested in
Teaching us new things, He only wants to deal with the sin.
And so this man isn’t presently learning.
But he knows if my heart were established in obedience,
Then I could get to a place where I could read without shame,
And I could read with gratitude and joy.
This man sees the blessing on other lives and he dreams of it.
3) HIS DECISION (8)
“I shall keep Your statutes; do not forsake me utterly!”
There is his new commitment.
I have decided to obey God.
And friend that is the answer.
• If you find yourself lacking joy in your salvation…
• If you find yourself with anxiety that God is angry…
• If you find yourself in disobedience and no fellowship with God…
Then start doing what those who are blessed have been doing
And start obeying God.
Take one of God’s commands and obey it.
(There may even be one glaring one that needs to be dealt with first)
But the return is simple.
Start obeying God.
“walk in the law of the Lord”
“observe His testimonies”
“seek Him with all [your] heart”
“walk in His ways”
The outcome will be the same blessing
That dwells on those in the first three verses.
And so tonight we get our first lesson on the sufficiency of God’s word.
God’s word is sufficient to take you to a life of blessing,
If you will only obey it.
Take it from this Psalmist who didn’t, and who suffered because of it.
But as he saw the blessing of the righteous,
He had a change in thinking, and he determined to be obedient as well.
Make that your decision as well.
Decide in your heart to obey God’s word. It is always a blessing.
Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”
