Sermon Tone Analysis

A Passion for His Presence

I’d like to introduce you to Jeremiah.

I can’t tell you his whole story, but let me give you the Cliff’s Notes...

pagan breaking rocks.... became a Christian.... still breaking rocks.... worked.... studied..... conflict with this 5 wives.... tried to make things right.... issues buying land.... mud hut… strength.... cancer..... recovery..... decline.... death.

— The Word of God changed Jeremiah’s heart!

Jeremiah developed a deep love for the Word of God.

He valued it over most everything else.

But, his circumstances never changed.

He died with no money… his body had been weakened and ravaged by the cancer, malaria, and pneumonia.

He was born in a small village, lived in a mud hut.....

He died in a medium town..... in a mud hut…

But now… he is face to face with Jesus.

He leaves behind a wonderful testimony to God’s grace…and the transforming power of the Word.

Why?

Because the Word of God changed his heart.... even though his circumstances never changed.

The Word of God pointed Jeremiah to the Lord… and Jesus became Jeremiah’s King!

As I prepared for tonight, for some reason pieces of Jeremiah’s story kept coming to mind and as I thought about and meditated on the Psalms, I think i realized why.

Jeremiah’s story is not too different than those who compiled the book of Psalms and the Psalmists who wrote Psalm 119.

Can I share some thoughts with you to explain why?

When you look at the very beginning of the book of Psalms, we are taught that the one who walks the path of righteousness and meditates on God’s Word is blessed..... that person is chosen by the Lord, fruitful.

Then in Psalm 2 we are told of a coming King that the world hates… in fact the world hates so much that they will fight against Him, His kingdom and His people.

But, God is on His side… and His anointed will rule with power to judge the world.

— Spoiler alert… that is Jesus!

Because of some grammatical details that we don’t have time to go into, Psalm 1 and 2 are meant to be read together… giving us the idea that those who love and meditate on the Word of God will be blessed… and will also be drawn to the promised King who will come!

As you look at the entire book of Psalms… the rest of its pages are about this promised King, His Kingdom… and His people.

Knowing this is really the key to understanding the entire book of Psalms.

This inspired hymn book points all those who read its pages and sing its songs to the Messiah..... Jesus Christ!

Overall message of the Psalms: Reminder of God’s Plan = The way of righteousness….

and the victory of the Lord’s anointed King over the nations.

While each Psalm could stand alone, they were not compiled as a list of 150 one hit wonders.

No, they were put together as story like anthology of praise to the Lord… pointing us to our King!

I hope that having this background in your mind may help you to see where we are going in Psalm 119 tonight...

The book of psalms is divided into 5 books.

Each book highlights a different phase in Israel’s history and how God calls His people to seek Him.... their true king.

Book 1: 1-41 — God rescues His king from his enemies.

Book 2: 42-72 — God rescues His people from their enemies through His king (David)

Book 3: 73-89 — Book 3 takes a turn and reflects a difficult time in Israel’s history.

(captivity) There is no longer a king on the throne.... the theme of this section would be: How could God abandon His king and His people?

Book 4: 90-106 — Reflects the time of the exile.. the theme would be: God is still King over all the world.

Book 5: 107-150— After the exile, book 5 encourages God’s people to remember that God’s promises to David are not dead.

They are to have hope in this son of David who was yet to come...

When you finish reading the book of Psalms… you should be left asking yourself a question.

..... “Is the king foretold in the Psalms my king?

If he is, then you can boldly proclaim with the Psalmist… “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! (150:6)

Like the Psalmist, my friend Jeremiah also became captivated it… and he experienced that those who meditate on the Law of the Lord will be blessed.

Jeremiah came to the same conclusion that the Psalmist came to that the Laws, Testimonies, Precepts, Word of the Lord are his King’s Laws, precepts, statutes… and those who love and obey the Word.... are also those who love and follow the King!

Today Jeremiah… along with the Psalmist are standing, sitting, dancing.... doing something around the throne of God… face to face with Jesus their King!

So that is where we are in our Fall Study.

As we look at different portions of Psalm 119 each week we are being presented with the reality that the word of God is calling us to remember that God’s promises to David are not dead....

We are to have hope in the King… the son of David who is to come.... and in fact has already come!!!

Each time you open your Bibles to the Psalms… ask yourself: Is the King that the Psalmist is anticipating and pointing us towards my king?

With that perspective in mind… Let’s look at Psalm 119 together tonight.

We’ll be starting in verse 97.

For those who have been part of this study, it should be no surprise that each passage we look at tonight in Psalm 119 is going to be highlighting and pointing us to the Word of God.

We are going to read through 24 verses tonight and each and every single verse is talking about.... and pointing us towards the Word of God.

The main emphasis of this first stanza we’ll look at is all about the love and wisdom of the Word.

The question we need to answer is:

l.

Is Love all you need?

(97-104)

Yes, love is a great part of our lives....but apparently the Beatles led us astray… because according to the Psalmist… love isn’t all we need.

We need love… wisdom… and a bit of hate ... if we are to live a life that is truly pleasing to our king.

(don’t cut the mic just yet....

I promise I’m not a heretic!)

This stanza is filled with joy and the love of God’s law.

No requests are made.

Only statements that express praise to the Lord for His Word and Wisdom.

How did the Psalmist get here?

He didn’t just wake up one day and out of the blue say… I love the Word!

No, it had to be developed.

If you remember last week, the Psalmist tone tonight is quite a bit different than it was in the last two sections.

In verses 81-88 the was a tone of despair.

“My soul longs for your salvation… when will you comfort me?”

“How long must your servant endure?”

Pretty low point it would seem in the Psalmists life and circumstances.

Then in verses 89-96, the tone of despair shifts to one of confidence.

“… your word is fixed in the heavens...”

“Your faithfulness endures to generations…|

What has caused the psalmists tone to change?

I doubt the Psalmists circumstances have changed at this point.

Verse 95 says that the wicked still lie in wait to destroy him.

Now that He is focusing on God’s Word… life is not all bread and butter.

He’s not living the high life of prosperity…

What has changed?

God’s word is doing its work in the Psalmists’ heart.

As this confidence in the Lord and His Word swells up it eventually explodes in joyful expression in verse 97.

Let’s try and read verses 97 together with that same joyful expression… (affectionate like you would tell your wife you love her…)

(based on how some of you read that verse… you might need some marriage counseling… :-) )

The love that is expressed here is a pretty intimate and special love.

God uses the same word when He speaks to Abraham in Genesis 22:2 when he says…

Leah uses the same word when talking about the love of her husband for her in Genesis 29:32.

God uses the same word when he expresses His love for Israel in Deut.

10:15...

“Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers… “

Evil is still impacting him (101), he is severely afflicted (107)… the circumstances of the Psalmists’ life haven’t really changed.

What has changed is his own heart to bring him from despair to joy?

The Word of God has changed his heart.... even though God has not changed his circumstances.

This is a main idea that we’ll see again and again throughout our study:

The Word of God changes the heart.... even when our circumstances stay the same.

That reality was true for the Psalmist… and it is true for you and me as well.

Through the study and meditation on the Word of God....

Our despair is turned to joy