Thinking About Perfection
Psalms 119:89-96
January 2, 2022
Tonight you notice that we are going to think a little bit on perfection.
But I do want to sort of DIRECT THAT THOUGHT as we begin.
For in one sense if one is going to think about perfection then there can only be ONE OBJECT and that GOD.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
When we take a list like that there is really only One who fits that criteria.
We would focus on God and on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Certainly we would not say that anything is perfect outside of Him,
For He alone is perfect and only through Him are we perfected.
What we are going to do TONIGHT however is zoom in a little further
And talk about the perfection of God’s word.
Now in ONE SENSE you already know this.
Psalms 19:7a “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul…”
The word there is TAMIM (taw-meem)
• It is a word that means “complete, or whole, or sound”
• And it is the word you see used for instance when God commands a spotless Lamb without defect for the Passover.
• It is the word used when someone is considered blameless before God.
And certainly God’s word fits that criteria.
It lacks nothing.
2 Peter 1:3-4 “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
• God didn’t leave anything out of His word that is necessary for “life and godliness”.
• His word gives us everything.
• It is complete, it is without error or defect, it is blameless, it is perfect.
BUT TONIGHT we are going to think about
The perfection of God’s word in a bit of a different light.
Let me draw you back to sort of the progression of our Psalmist.
Remember he was a man acquainted with affliction.
We saw it for several stanzas in a row.
• We heard him asking for revival.
• We heard him rejoicing in God’s word.
• We even heard him at one point noting that his affliction was a good thing because it drove him back to God’s word.
However, the last stanza we studied saw our Psalmist at a LOW POINT.
We actually heard our Psalmist say,
“I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,”
Now we noted that he was full of hope,
• But it was supernatural hope, not natural hope
• It was better understood as God holding him than it was him holding God.
• And so our Psalmist certainly WAS NOT OPTIMISTIC
He didn’t think he could watch any more.
He didn’t think he could wait any more.
He thought his life to be almost over.
And he ended with one feeble request.
(88) “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.”
Well, HOW REFRESHING to find his statement in this next stanza.
(93) “I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me;”
And so it is obvious that our Psalmist is doing better.
He is no longer despairing…
His hope has shown through…
He has been revived.
We read it last time:
Romans 8:35-37 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”
We knew it was there then,
It becomes evident now.
He has been revived.
Now DON’T misunderstand.
OUR PSALMIST HAS BEEN REVIVED,
BUT HIS AFFLICTION HAS NOT BEEN REMOVED.
His affliction is still present
• (94) “I am Yours, save me;”
• (95) “The wicked wait for me to destroy me;”
We are not rejoicing that his affliction is gone.
We are rejoicing that in his affliction he has found revival.
• (92) “If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in
my affliction.”
• (93) “I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me.”
And so even though his affliction remains,
Our Psalmist has somehow found revival
And come to a place of rejoicing and hope even in the midst of it.
TONIGHT WE LEARN WHAT REVIVED HIM.
Tonight we see what he learned that totally changed his perspective.
• He always had hope.
• But now he has been revived.
• Now he has a spring in his step again.
And this stanza is a stanza of tribute
Where he will explain what it is that has so lifted his spirits.
And I’ll give it to you from the outset.
HE LEARNED OF THE PERFECTION OF GOD’S WORD.
He DIDN’T LEARN about how it was completed or without blemish,
He already knew that.
He learned how God’s word was PERFECT IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
Let me show you.
It’s actually found in that last verse of the stanza.
(96) “I have seen a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad.”
Let’s camp here a second.
• This is the summation verse of the stanza.
• This is where he really explains what he has learned.
• And when you see this, then you’ll have a better grasp for the tribute he is giving in verses 89-95.
So he says, “I have seen a limit to all perfection”
Let’s start there.
“limit” there is QES (kates)
And it means “limit, or “end”” but it is usually used in reference to time.
Exodus 12:41 “And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 31:10 “Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths,”
So the Psalmist is talking primarily about the longevity of something.
He says I have seen “the end” or “a limit to all perfection”
“perfection” is a Hebrew word used only here.
But the root word has to do with
“something being completed or accomplished or finished.”
• As in “on the seventh day God completed all His work”
• The Septuagint uses a form of the word that Jesus uttered on the cross
“finished”
So the Psalmist has seen many wonderful things and accomplishments.
He has seen many works and completions; many perfections.
But he has noticed that they all have one thing in common.
They all have a limit. They all have an end.
We might think here of
• All the many things he thought might save him.
• The many plans in which he had set his hope for deliverance.
Eventually all of those things expired.
They were good plans, they were verifiable accomplishments,
They were certain perfections.
They may have saved other people at times.
But eventually for him they expired and were of no use any longer.
But then comes the contrast.
“Your commandment is exceedingly broad.”
“broad” is RAHAB (ro-khav)
And it means “wide or broad or spacious.”
When you read the line together the point of the Psalmist becomes clear.
While there may come a time when every other hope fails,
God’s word never does.
Other hopes may expire, God’s word is not limited by time.
God’s word never expires.
Through all his trials and afflictions he could see hope after hope after hope expire and disappoint him, but God’s word never did.
God’s word was always there.
Jeremiah said:
Lamentations 3:22-23 “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
Jesus said:
Matthew 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
This is what the Psalmist learned.
This is what revived him.
First we’ll see how he learned it.
Then we’ll here his tribute regarding how it revived him.
I will admit, I liked the outline I used last time so well, that I’ve decided to stick with it.
3 Things in our text
#1 THE TRUTH HE SAW
Psalms 119:89-91
Listen as the Psalmist reveals what he learned.
3 things he saw:
1) GOD’S WORD IS SETTLED (89)
“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.”
This is indeed a wonderful statement.
It is statement that resonates with the permanence of God’s word.
“Forever”
Not for a time
“Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled”
God’s Word is not vacillating, God’s word is not temporary.
He didn’t see God putting His word out on a trial basis
As something He might change later.
He said that God’s word is forever “settled”
Nothing can change it.
Nothing can alter it.
Nothing can undo it.
Nothing can defeat it.
AND IT NEVER EXPIRES
If God says it, it is so.
You can feel his frustration with other sources of deliverance,
But God’s word never failed him. It is here forever.
I suppose it is also important to recognize WHERE it is settled.
“Your word is settled in heaven.”
There are times when God’s word is not settled in our hearts.
God’s word is certainly not settled amidst an unbelieving generation.
This world seems to think God’s word is not reliable, or is not trustworthy.
At times we suffer and begin to doubt that God will do what He says.
But not in heaven.
In heaven, God’s word is settled.
That is why Jesus taught us to pray in “The Model Prayer”
Matthew 6:9-10 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”
In heaven God’s word is never questioned
And His will is never disregarded.
God’s word is settled.
It isn’t going to change, it isn’t going to fail, it isn’t going to leave.
2) GOD’S WORD IS SURE (90)
“Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands.”
Here again we see a testimony to God’s word as that which is enduring;
That which accomplishes what it desires.
He recognizes that God’s “faithfulness continues through all generations;”
In short, there has yet to be a time when God wasn’t faithful.
• Furthermore there will never be a time when God isn’t faithful.
• God’s word will never expire it “continues through all generations”
BUT WHAT WAS IT THAT TAUGHT OUR PSALMIST THIS?
“You established the earth, and it stands.”
The Psalmist knows God is faithful and that His word is sure,
Because of something that continues to stand.
That something is creation.
“You established the earth, and it stands.”
Tell me, HOW DID GOD ESTABLISH THE EARTH?
Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”
Genesis 1:6 “Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
Genesis 1:9 “Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.”
Genesis 1:11 “Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.”
Creation was established by the word of God.
And because God told it to stand, it will stand until God tells it otherwise.
They can talk global warming all they want…
They can talk nuclear war all they want…
They can talk holes in the ozone layer…
But this world isn’t going anywhere until God tells it to,
Because He is the One who told it stay put.
2 Peter 3:5-7 “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
And the Psalmist saw that as a tremendous testimony
To the certainty of God’s Word.
• If the sun fails to rise…
• If the tide fails to ebb & flow…
• If the seasons fail to come…
Then you can question the certainty of God’s Word,
But creation proves that when God says something, it is sure.
You may remember when God gave the new covenant to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Certainly that was a great promise in the midst of dark affliction.
Certainly the people would have been prone to question such a promise.
So God gave them proof that His word is certain.
Jeremiah 31:35-37 “Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD.”
You may be prone to question My promise of a new covenant,
But before you question My word, just look at My track record.
If you see creation (which I command to function properly)
Stop functioning properly, then you can doubt My word about this too.
Point being, The Psalmist looked at creation and learned that
God’s word is sure.
God’s Word is Settled God’s Word is Sure
3) GOD’S WORD IS SOVEREIGN (91)
“They stand this day according to Your ordinances, For all things are Your servants.”
The Psalmist saw that creation did exactly what God said.
• There are no rogue molecules
• Gravity isn’t intermittent
• The sun has never decided to sleep in
We see that God’s word never fails.
Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
NOTHING THWARTS GOD’S WORD.
God is not a God who just tells things to happen
And then hopes nothing interferes.
God’s word is so certain that nothing can interfere.
The Psalmist said, “They stand this day according to Your ordinances”
“They” = the things of earth
The earth doesn’t stand because man takes such good care of it.
The earth stands because God told it to.
And despite the desires of the enemy to undo,
What God has done, nothing can undo it.
“For all things are Your servants.”
That is to say, everything has to do what You say.
Nothing can resist Your will.
Isaiah 14:27 “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
Isaiah 43:13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
And the Psalmist recognizes that.
• God’s word isn’t temporary and subject to change.
• God’s word isn’t doubtful or ever prone to fail.
• God’s word isn’t so weak that anyone can change it.
His word is Settled, Sure, and Sovereign.
THIS IS WHAT CHANGED THE PSALMISTS MINDSET
Here he had been in despair
Because every other hope had expired.
AND THEN HE LOOKED AT CREATION.
And he said, wait a minute.
Creation is proof that when God tells something to happen, it happens.
HE LEARNED THAT GOD’S WORD NEVER EXPIRES
When God tells something to stay put, it does.
God’s word is settled,
God’s word is sure,
God’s word is sovereign.
And that doesn’t just include the commands of creation,
But the promises He has made in the midst of my affliction.
Promises of comfort…
Promises of deliverance…
Promises of good…
Promises of blessing…
The Psalmist knows that he can believe what God said,
Because if God said it, it is final.
And that knowledge pulled him out of his despair.
With that realization his hope came bounding out!
He recognized the perfection of God’s word.
• It never fails.
• It never expires.
• It is settled, it is sure, it is sovereign.
He learned that. Now comes the tribute part!
The Truth He Saw
#2 THE TESTIMONY HE SHARES
Psalms 119:92-93
Now that he knows God’s word is faithful,
He is encouraged when he reads it.
He is encouraged when he remembers the promises.
And notice what he says.
1) GOD’S WORD SUSTAINS (92)
“If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction.”
He is talking about an object of delight or affection.
“If I had put my hope in any other thing, then this affliction would have gotten the better of me.”
But as it is, I held on to the one thing that never failed.
Psalms 27:13 “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.”
Charles Spurgeon said:
“With that word we are charmed; it is a mine of delight to us. We take a double and treble delight in it, and derive a multiplied delight from it, and this stands us in good stead when all other delights are taken from us. We should have felt ready to lie down and die of our griefs if the spiritual comforts of God’s word had not uplifted us; but by their sustaining influence we have been borne above all the depressions and despairs which naturally grow out of severe affliction. Some of us can set our seal to this statement. Our affliction, if it had not been for divine grace, would have crushed us out of existence, so that we should have perished. In our darkest seasons nothing has kept us from desperation but the promise of the Lord: yea, at times nothing has stood between us and self-destruction save faith in the eternal word of God. When worn with pain until the brain has become dazed and the reason well-nigh extinguished, a sweet text has whispered to us its heart-cheering assurance, and our poor struggling mind has reposed upon the bosom of God. That which was our delight in prosperity has been our light in adversity; that which in the day kept us from presuming has in the night kept us from perishing.”
(Expositions of the Psalms – pg 316)
That was the mindset and testimony of the Psalmist.
He is praising God and telling the world that
• There was only 1 hope that pulled him through.
• There was only 1 thing that satisfied his soul.
It was God’s word.
I learned God’s word is sure, and now I testify that God’s word sustains.
(YOU CAN TRUST THIS!!!)
2) GOD’S WORD SUPPORTS (93)
“I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me.”
Here he reminds that God’s word will always be a part of his daily meal,
For he always finds revival there.
THINK ABOUT WHERE REVIVAL COMES FROM
It was “by them” that God revived him.
• Revival did not come through a friend…
• Revival did not come through a change of circumstances…
• Revival did not come through an emotional experience…
God’s revival came by His “precepts”
REVIVAL CAME WHEN HE STARTED TRUSTING GOD’S WORD
And this is the testimony that the Psalmist shares with us.
Psalms 19:7a “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;”
And that is what the Psalmist wants you to know.
• Are you hoping in some other thing for deliverance?
• Are you looking in some other direction for hope?
There is only 1 thing that satisfies and supports the soul
And that is the word of God which never expires.
And so we see the Truth He Saw We see the Testimony He Shares
#3 THE TRUST HE SHOWS
Psalms 119:94-96
Obviously this is no time to neglect God’s word now, and he doesn’t.
We notice that his AFFLICTION IS STILL PRESENT,
But also notice that he is clinging to the word of God now more than ever.
And again we see his trust exhibited in three areas.
1) GOD’S WORD SAVES (94)
“I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts.”
He’s NOT saying that God should save him because he sought His word.
He is reminding God that he has read God’s promises
That He saves those who are His.
“God, I’ve read your promises and I know you promise to save Your own, and since I now know that your word never expires, “Save Me!”
Joel 2:32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”
Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
The Psalmist knew that, he believed that.
He places his trust in that.
God’s Word Saves
2) GOD’S WORD STRENGTHENS (95)
“The wicked wait for me to destroy me; I shall diligently consider Your testimonies.”
Again we recognize that he is still caught in the midst of his afflictions.
• “The wicked wait for me to destroy me;”
Well what do you do?
• “I shall diligently consider Your testimonies”
He said, I am going to the word of God.
I’m going to read the testimonies of God’s faithfulness
Throughout all generations.
• More than that, I will “consider” them.
• More than that, I will “diligently consider” them
WHY?
Because he has come to find strength in the testimonies of God.
He is still hated.
He is still hunted.
But he finds strength in the word of God.
There is something encouraging when you read
What you know to be true and everlasting and eternal.
3) GOD’S WORD SATISFIES (96)
“I have seen a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly brooad.”
No more is our Psalmist hoping in temporary comforts.
They all expired and left him wanting.
But God’s word never did, and it never has, and it never will.
The tribute of the stanza is that God’s word endures forever.
It cannot fail and it will not fail regardless of our affliction.
IT IS PERFECT LIKE THAT!
THIS IS THE BASIS OF OUR HOPE.
AND WHAT A CHANGE IN OUR PSALMIST!
• Last week he was on the brink of despair, Comparing himself to a wineskin in the smoke.
• Here, although still afflicted, he has a much more positive outlook, even saying he has been revived.
It is because of THE TRUTH HE SAW
He looked at creation and said:
God’s Word is Settled
God’s Word is Sure
God’s Word is Sovereign
This pulled him out of despair, knowing that the promises of God are trustworthy because God’s word never fails.
That led him to share a TESTIMONY
God’s Word Sustains
God’s Word Supports
And even though he is still afflicted his TRUST endures, for:
God’s Word Saves
God’s Word Strengthens
God’s Word Satisfies
So this evening, I invite you to think about the perfection of God’s word.
• Not just that it is without error…
• Not just that it is always right or true…
• But that it will never expire or fail…
God’s word has been comforting His children since the beginning
And it always will.
• How often has psychology changed its mind about what humans need to hear in their grief?
• How often have secular counselors changed their methods or their source of expertise?
All of those are expiring hopes.
God’s word is always the perfect answer.
• Use it when you are grieving.
• Use it when you wish to comfort someone who is grieving.
• Use it when you are afflicted.
• Use it when you wish to comfort the afflicted.
• Use it when you are disillusioned.
• Use it when you wish to comfort the disillusioned.
It is always true and it never fails.
It is settled in heaven forever.
It is perfect like that.
