Dealing with the Double Minded (Psalms 119:113-120)
Dealing With The Double-Minded
Psalms 119:113-120
November 27, 2011
We have been studying through this 119th Psalm, and at this point,
It has become extremely clear that
The Psalmist has developed a strong faith in God.
He has been refined in the fires of affliction
And through that affliction he has found God faithful.
Nowhere has that been more evident than the last 3 stanzas.
In verses 89-96 we heard him claim victory over his affliction.
No, the affliction didn’t leave, but he did have a mindset change about it and
gave credit to his victory to God’s Word.
In verses 97-104 we heard him then declare his great love for God’s Word.
God’s word had revived him and he loved it.
Then two weeks ago we saw him demonstrate his love for God’s word.
He demonstrated it by choosing to obey it,
Even though obedience could possibly lead him to death.
(109-110) “My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.”
At that point it’s safe to say we aren’t dealing here with a pretender
This man is no phony.
His faith has passed through the fire and been approved.
With him obedience to God is not an option,
And it most certainly is not something determined by convenience.
He is committed.
He is sold out.
He is the real deal, genuine type of follower
That Christ was looking for as he walked this earth.
And I don’t think any of us could or would argue
With that assessment at this point of the Psalm.
And it is important that you recognize that about this Psalmist
Because tonight we change directions a little.
We have heard the Psalmist often talk about his affliction
And the hardships he is facing.
From this point, he begins to focus less on the actual affliction
And more on those who do it.
That is why (as I told you last time) we don’t hear as much about affliction.
Instead we hear of oppression.
The two words in Hebrew could very easily be considered synonyms.
• They both speak of pain and trials.
• They both speak of anguish.
• They boy can even take a financial spin in regard to being defrauded.
The difference is that the word for affliction
Seems to focus more on the hardship that is rendered,
The word for oppression seems to focus more on the one who renders it.
The point is that the Psalmist is no longer focusing
On his own pain and trials.
He conquered that.
Now he is focusing on those who cause pain and trials to others.
He is focusing on those who cause oppression.
And it is also clear that he has figured out who they are.
They are the “double-minded”
At times he sees them as apostates.
(118) as those “who wander from Your statutes”
At times he sees them as the defiant.
(126) as those who “have broken Your law.”
At times he sees them as the fickle.
(136) as those who “do not keep Your law.”
At times he sees them as apathetic.
(139) as those who “have forgotten Your words.”
At times he sees them as the carnal.
(150) as those “who follow after wickedness”
And here he calls them the “double-minded”
They are the fence riders.
They are those who are not genuinely committed.
They pretend commitment when it is easy, they fall away when it is hard.
They sing the songs of God in church, they partake in the sin of the world outside.
Adrian Rogers said, “Men are like rivers; they grow crooked by following the path of least resistance.”
That is the type of people our Psalmist is referring to.
Our Psalmist has learned to commit to God no matter the cost,
And yet he sees that not all those around him share his commitment.
Tonight we begin to deal with those double-minded.
And obviously the Psalmist begins in an extremely harsh fashion.
(113) “I hate those who are double-minded,”
“double-minded” translates SAY-AFE
It is defined as: “a person of divided mind, who, being destitute of firm faith and persuasion as to divine things is driven hither and thither. A doubter; a skeptic.”
The root word literally means “to cut off branches”
And it denotes division.
This is a person who is divided of thought.
They aren’t united of mind.
They aren’t convinced, they have no conviction.
They sway back and forth.
They are blown by any wind.
And the Psalmist says “I hate” them.
Now obviously that is a strong statement to make.
However, let me show you that it is not a foreign concept.
Consider Elijah:
1 Kings 18:21 “Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.”
Consider Joshua:
Joshua 24:14-15 “Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Consider Ezra:
Ezra 9:1-4 “Now when these things had been completed, the princes approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites. “For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.” When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering.”
Consider Nehemiah:
Nehemiah 13:23-29 “In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people. So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin. “Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.”
Listen to the Psalmist:
Psalms 26:2-5 “Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders. I hate the assembly of evildoers, And I will not sit with the wicked.”
Even remember the apostle Paul:
Acts 15:36-40 “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.”
Now obviously none of those used the word “hate”, but it is obvious
They all had a holy intolerance for those who lacked conviction.
We are talking about men and women who have
Fully given their lives to the truth of God’s Word
And they are not overly excited about those
Who will not make the same commitment.
The Psalmist here comes out and expresses what those seem to have felt.
“I hate those who are double-minded”
He has no tolerance for
• People who only worship God when it is popular.
• People who claim allegiance but won’t back it up.
• People who are divided of heart and skeptical in faith.
And as you can see he is not alone in his frustration.
Those who fully devote themselves to God
Are often frustrated by those who do not.
They are even oppressed by them.
The Psalmist certainly was.
But that is just the first line.
Tonight he shows you why he is so frustrated with them.
And as we study this text, let it be a conviction to each of us
To make sure we are not sitting on the fence.
We know that Christ is an all or nothing type of Savior.
Matthew 8:21-22 “Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
Matthew 10:37-39 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
It is obvious that our Lord is not looking for fair-weather followers.
He is looking for the totally committed.
So tonight as the Psalmist describes why the double-minded frustrate him
Let us each examine our hearts and make sure we are not so fickle in faith
Here is why the Psalmist hates “those who are double-minded”
#1 BECAUSE THEY INSULT GOD
Psalms 119:113-114
We notice that he hates “those who are double-minded”
And then he says, “But I love Your law.”
And it begins to make sense as to why he hates the double-minded.
He doesn’t see them as those who love the law of God.
And this is particularly offensive to him
Because of what he thinks of God and His Word.
(114) “You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word.”
The Psalmist says, “I can’t imagine what it would be like without Your word. It rescues me, I hide behind it, in fact it is my focus and my hope.”
“I wait for Your word”
But he doesn’t see that same mindset in those who are “double-minded”
• They seem to care less what God has to say.
• They seem apathetic towards the truth.
• They don’t care if others malign it.
• They don’t care if their lives align with it.
And that mindset irritates him.
It appears to him that they don’t care about God’s word.
We do know that God is not amused with those who are “double-minded”.
James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 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, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
James went so far as to say that those who are “double-minded” are also “unstable” and should not expect to “receive anything from the Lord”.
They are the opposite of conviction.
James uses the word DIPSUCHOS which literally means “two-souled”
In short they can only give half of their attention to God.
They lack commitment.
They lack conviction.
To put it another way, they are not people of faith,
But rather people of doubt.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
But those who doubt or are double-minded don’t please God.
That is why James went on to say:
James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James saw the problem of the “double-minded”
As having cluttered hearts.
We could call them “weedy soil”, they are half-hearted.
And their cluttered hearts keeps them from trusting God.
And because the Psalmist loves God with all his heart,
He is highly offended at those who do not.
They, by their actions, claim that God is not trustworthy
And he hates that message.
He sees it as an insult to the God who has never failed him.
So he hates “those who are double-minded” because they insult God.
#2 BECAUSE THEY MAKE MEN STUMBLE
Psalms 119:115-117
First we saw that the Psalmist hates the double-minded,
Here we find him telling them to go away.
“Depart from me, evildoers”
And that gives another description of what double-minded means.
They are not solely devoted to righteousness, but take pleasure in evil.
On one hand they claim to love God,
But on the other they demonstrate a love of evil.
Titus 1:16a “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him…”
And the Psalmist tells them to “Depart from me”
GET AWAY!
WHY?
“That I may observe the commandments of my God.”
Their love of evil actually hindered his desire to obey.
Certainly as a Stumbling Block
But also as a Road Block
Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
At that moment Peter was “double-minded”.
Trying to focus on God’s interests and man’s interests at the same time.
And he actually tried to prohibit Jesus from being obedient.
How hard is it to want to obey God’s Word, only to have someone try to block you from it?
That is what was happening to the Psalmist.
These people actually worked against the obedience of others.
It wasn’t enough that they didn’t obey,
But they sought to make it where no one else could either.
And the Psalmist wanted them to go away.
The pastor I grew up under used to tell a story about a pastor he was under.
He spoke of a time he prayed in church. “Lord, there are some here, who do not want to follow Your leadership or obey Your word. We ask you to change their hearts. And Lord if they refuse to let their hearts be changed we ask you to remove them from our church body and put them somewhere that they can be happy. But Lord, if they won’t leave, we ask to just go ahead and take them on home.”
Obviously that was direct, but it illustrates the mindset of the Psalmist.
He has had it with these roadblocks, and he wants them removed.
He also wanted God to help him in his struggle against them.
(116) “Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.”
In other words, give me strength in my struggle, and don’t fail me.
He was hoping in God’s victory, he was standing upon God’s word,
And he prays that not only will God help him fight,
But that God will not let him be ashamed.
(117) “Uphold me that I may be safe, That I may have regard for Your statutes continually.”
Again he asks for strength to continue to stand for the truth.
AND THIS IS IMPORTANT.
Many a man has prayed for God
To remove those who appear to oppose God’s truth,
But if that was our solution every time someone did,
Then it wouldn’t take long for the church to be down to one.
The reality is, that while these people grieve us,
We know that we must still stand for truth before them.
Remember Timothy wanted to quit
Because the church at Ephesus wasn’t being faithful.
The book of Revelation reveals that “they had lost their first love”.
They were going through the motions, but they had no conviction.
Because it was hard Timothy wanted to quit.
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.”
Ultimately culminating in:
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
The frustration is real, and the desire for them to depart may be as well.
But it doesn’t change the necessity of standing firm in the midst.
The Psalmist knew that and so he prayed for God
To “sustain” him and “uphold” him
But again it is clear to see why he is angry.
He hates those who are double-minded because they insult God
And because they cause men to stumble.
#3 BECAUSE THEY BENEFIT NO ONE
Psalms 119:118-119
Again we find God’s valuation of those who are “double-minded”
In verse 118 God has “rejected” them saying that “their deceitfulness is useless.”
In verse 119 God has “removed” them saying they are “like dross”.
The point being that they don’t benefit anyone.
It doesn’t glorify God and it doesn’t edify men.
Commonly today people straddle the fence
Thinking themselves to be “peacemakers” or champions of unity.
But listen, God doesn’t need a negotiator.
God has already stated the truth.
The only unity is for us to forsake our way and unify with His.
That is why before Jesus gave that great prayer
For the church to be perfected in unity.
He first prayed:
John 17:17-19 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”
• People who straddle the fence…
• People who compromise the truth…
• People who lack conviction…
MAY SUPPOSE THEY ARE DOING A GREAT SERVICE
WRONG!
Such “deceitfulness is useless”
If you wander from the statutes of God it benefits no one.
Remember what God said through Jeremiah?
Jeremiah 23:30-32 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who steal My words from each other. “Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the LORD.”
Those prophets are very amusing and good to listen to,
And they are unified, for they steal words from each other.
But they don’t benefit anyone.
We don’t help anyone by lacking conviction about the truth of God.
Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”
Paul told Titus they are “worthless”
They don’t help men at all.
They don’t glorify God either.
So many have assumed that in being non-confrontational,
And passive in things that are controversial
That somehow they are actually more like Jesus.
They assume that being dogmatic is un-Christ-like
And standing for your convictions is just stubbornness.
Well it might surprise you to know
That Christ holds things like conviction in high regard.
Revelation 3:14-16 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”
The compromise of Laodicea made Him want to vomit.
Not just them, read the churches and notice Him agitated at “tolerance”
Compromise doesn’t help men, it confuses men.
Compromise doesn’t glorify God, it sickens Him.
When he looked at those who were double-minded
• He saw those who insult God,
• He saw those who cause men to stumble
• He saw those who didn’t benefit anyone.
Final reason he hates them:
#4 BECAUSE THEY END IN JUDGMENT
Psalms 119:120
I suppose at this point you could ask the Psalmist
Why he is so fired up about this issue.
Don’t you think you are a little over the top here?
Why are you so passionate about obeying everything?
The answer
“My flesh trembles for fear of You, and I am afraid of Your judgments.”
The reason it matters is because he has holy reverence for God.
1 Peter 1:17-19 “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
Think of parenting.
I want my children to love me and know that I love them.
But I also want them to have a healthy fear of me as well.
The Psalmist has that.
And he knows that the lives they lead,
The sin they allow,
The liberties they take
Only increase their chances for judgment.
Now think about what he has already told us about the double-minded.
• They insult God
• They make men stumble
• They benefit no one
So what will be the outcome of people who follow them?
They won’t trust God
They won’t obey truth
They won’t find blessing
The Psalmist knows there is nothing good
That comes from their way of life, only judgment.
And because he fears judgment he hates those who are “double-minded”
If they had their way everyone would disregard God’s truth
And everyone would be judged.
He hates that!
I think we can obviously see that being “double-minded” is not beneficial.
• God has called us to trust Him.
• God has called us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
• God has called us to be people of conviction who stand for His truth.
And once you make those commitments like the Psalmist has,
You are heavily oppressed by those who do not.
And so tonight we receive encouragement not to be “double-minded” but to give ourselves fully to the Lord.
We also learn that the frustration of the faithful is not an uncommon thing.
And we also learn that in the midst of such oppression we are called to remain faithful seeking God to “sustain” us and to “uphold” us that we “may have regard for [His] statutes continually.”
So tonight let me encourage you there.
Don’t’ be “double-minded”.
If you are James said to purify your heart.
Get rid of the things that pull you in the wrong direction.
(Remove the weeds)
If you aren’t, then persevere.
Stand for truth and trust God to give you the strength to endure.
Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”
