Waw
Psalm 119 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 6 viewsIn this message, we will consider the importance of trusting God to fulfill his sayings. This is the foundation of our relationship with God.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
God has made himself known through His Word.
He wants us to know Him, to understand Him.
He wants us to love Him.
He wants us to trust Him.
The Bible, then, is more than a set of rules or rituals for us to follow blindly.
It is God’s revelation of himself so that we may know our creator.
The writer of Psalm 119 understood this.
He trusted the Lord because He understood His character.
We must be on guard against accepting the fallacy of equivocation.
“We can trust science because it is based on evidence, but the Bible calls for faith.”
Modern people define faith, almost universally, as a substitution for evidence.
They consider faith to be blind.
This is a misrepresentation of biblical teaching and requires a misrepresentation of God.
Faithful living results from learning of God’s faithfulness.
Overview:
Overview:
As we consider the structure of the octad, we can see a definable pattern.
Ps. 119:41-43 consists of two main requests, one positive the other negative.
These are found in Ps. 119:41 (positive) and Ps. 119:43 (negative)
Ps. 119:44-48 consists of six “I will statements.”
So, like many of the other sections we have so far encountered, the Psalmist asks God to fulfill a request, and then, he expresses his resolve/commitment to live out his life based on the Word of God.
Would we commit ourselves to living a life based on the Word of God even if that is what had landed us in trouble in the first place?
Think of Peter and John before the authorities in Acts.
A Longing for God’s Trustworthiness.
A Longing for God’s Trustworthiness.
The Psalmist expresses a wish for God’s “mercies” to come to him.
Mercies = “loyal love.”
It is not a term referring strictly to compassion or love but one that refers to God’s personal reliability to remain true to his character and his commitment to love.
God is dependable because we know He will act consistent with his own nature or person.
As Ps. 119:42 indicates, the Psalmist has in mind deliverance from the public trouble that someone (singular or plural has made for him).
He, however, understands God to have made a commitment to him to rescue him from this situation.
He anticipates the day God demonstrates his trustworthiness to his own saying.
This, however, is not merely wished for, the Psalmist understands God to have made a promise to him. Promise, here, is from the term “AMR” which just means “saying.” In other words, what the Psalmist seeks is not some groundless form of deliverance.
He understands God to have made a statement, and he expresses his desire for God to show his “loyal love”, that is, to prove trustworthy to His own word.
What the Psalmist longs for is temporal, but what we long for is eternal.
The principle is the same across situations.
A verbal promise from God, such as occurs in prophecy (consider Abraham) or a written promise in biblical text are the same thing.
God’s Trustworthiness Is its Own Defense
God’s Trustworthiness Is its Own Defense
Reliance on God has made the Psalmist the object of scorn, ridicule, and oppression.
He longs for vindication of his reliance on God, a time when he can make a response to those who insult him.
He doesn’t just long for a chance to say “nanny boo boo.”
Instead, he wants it to be obvious that trusting God and His word is the right course of action for anyone to take.
He longs for God to be shown to be true.
He trusts in God’s word, and this seems to be the basis for the taunts.
A Longing for Substance over Futility
A Longing for Substance over Futility
Please do not remove the word of truth from my mouth forever.
The Psalmist desires for permanent access to God’s word because there is his certainty, that which forms the foundation of his anticipation.
.Either that, or the Psalmist longs for God to intervene to show where the truth actually lies. The Psalmist does not want his representations of God to be shown groundless.
We long for the same: “How long oh Lord…?”
Introduction (Part 2):
Introduction (Part 2):
The writer of Psalm 119 has become the subject of ridicule, as we have well established.
Like many of the other sections we have so far encountered, the Psalmist asks God to fulfill a request, and then, he expresses his resolve/commitment to live out his life based on the Word of God.
Would we commit ourselves to living a life based on the Word of God even if that is what had landed us in trouble in the first place?
Think of Peter and John before the authorities in Acts 5:13-20, 40.
Tonight, we will see his commitment and his view of the Word of God.
Commitment #1: Keeping the Law Continuously
Commitment #1: Keeping the Law Continuously
In spite of the difficulties he has encountered for his commitment to God’s Law, the Psalmist remains resolved to obey God.
“Continually” perhaps might be best understood as “through all” per the LXX.
Do we see living in obedience to God’s word as right under all circumstances?
Would we be so easily dissuaded from obedience?
Commitment #2: Viewing the Word of God as Liberating
Commitment #2: Viewing the Word of God as Liberating
As the Psalmist has already indicated, the Word of God is not oppressive.
The “wide street” echoes Ps. 18:19 and contrasts with a place of constraint or narrowness.
In Ps. 18, the terminology connotes the opposite of being in “straits” or distress.
Here, the meaning is obviously different. It refers to a place of liberation.
He does not see the Word of God as something that constrains him, instead, he sees it as something that gives him wide latitude.
Notice that he directly connects this liberation with “seeking your precepts.”
Commitment #3: Speaking of God’s Word before other Authorities
Commitment #3: Speaking of God’s Word before other Authorities
We see additional evidence that the suffering he has experienced has not caused him “to faint.”
He expresses his intention to speak the Lord’s testimonies before leaders of other nations.
He again echoes David in Psalm 18, specifically, note Ps. 18:49.
Instead of being deterred from his association with the Word of God, the Psalmist has committed himself to proclaiming or teaching God’s testimonies to foreign leaders.
The Psalmist is sure that this will not bring him shame.
He states, yet again, his joy and love for the Lord’s commandments.
Commitment #4: Lifting Up the Hands Toward the Commandments
Commitment #4: Lifting Up the Hands Toward the Commandments
As ancient Near Eastern iconography shows (see the figures at Psalm 134), and as Pss 63:3* and 134:2* also confirm within the Bible itself, “lifting the hands toward/to/before” is a gesture of homage and praise to a deity or the place or symbol of its presence (sanctuary, statue). It is precisely this grateful praise that the petitioner wishes to offer to Torah, while at the same time reciting it in meditative fashion. Hossfeld, F.-L., & Zenger, E. (2011). Psalms 3: A Commentary on Psalms 101–150 (K. Baltzer, Ed.; L. M. Maloney, Trans.; p. 271). Fortress Press.
Consequently, this is a statement of reverence for the Word of God.
The Psalmist, then, exclaims his resolve to honor the commandments in future, to treat them with reverence.
He reiterates his love from them.
Commitment #5: Meditating on the Statutes
Commitment #5: Meditating on the Statutes
This is now the fourth time he has referred to his intention to give deep consideration to the Word of God.
Conclusion:
How resolved are we?
Are we so persuaded in God that we would share this level of deep commitment to living in the truth?
