Psalm 119:89-96 | Thy Word is Settled

Summary: There is security for those who live according to God’s eternal, settled Word

Introduction:

Have you ever dealt with vertigo? I really feel for those who live with this symptom

We live in a world that is always changing.

“If you tell the truth you won’t have to remember a lie.” One step further, “if we live by the truth we won’t have live based upon lies”

There was a time people went from town to town selling Bibles. Well, I trust you have a copy. Let me help you appreciate it more and hold it a little tighter.

You should hold to the inspiration and the infallibility of God’s Word. But do not forget the profitability of the Word of God.

The psalmist believed what the Apostle Paul wrote hundreds of years later in 2 Timothy 3:16 “16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

Review

In the previous three stanzas of Psalm 119, the psalmist is overwhelmed by a fierce storm of affliction.

Verses 81-88 is the low point of the psalm. The storm nearly wiped out his faith.

In this section, the psalmist is coming through the storm. He is standing on the rock.

Psalm 119:89–96 (KJV 1900)

89 LAMED.

For ever, O Lord,

Thy word is settled in heaven.

90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:

Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances:

For all are thy servants.

92 Unless thy law had been my delights,

I should then have perished in mine affliction.

93 I will never forget thy precepts:

For with them thou hast quickened me.

94 I am thine, save me;

For I have sought thy precepts.

95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:

But I will consider thy testimonies.

96 I have seen an end of all perfection:

But thy commandment is exceeding broad.

God’s Word is settled in Heaven

Psalm 119:89 “89 LAMED. For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.”

Because it is settled in heaven, it will not change on earth.

It will not always make sense to you. 

It will not always give you what you want. 

It will not always keep you out of storms.

It will never let you down!

God's Word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

No trouble here can ultimately contradict it.

No trial here can ultimately challenge it.

No sin here can ever tarnish it.

Transitional Statement: You can trust the word of God because the God of the word is faithful. Verse 89 points to heaven to affirm the trustworthiness of God’s word. Verse 90 points to earth to affirm it.

The very stability of this world depends on God's faithfulness, so let it be true of your world.

Psalm 119:90 “90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.”

Earth testifies of God’s faithfulness.

The earth is close enough to the sun that we don’t freeze and far enough that we don’t burn because God is faithful. 

The sun continues to rise in the east and go down in the west because God is faithful. 

The psalmist is saying that the very stability of the world depends on God's faithfulness.

Billy Sunday testified: “I am a Christian because God says so, and I did what he told me to do, and I stand on God’s Word, and if the Book goes down, I’ll go with it.”

Heaven and earth do not stand on their own. God sustains them. Psalm 119:91 “91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: For all are thy servants.”

The disciples recognized this Mark 4:41 “41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Recognizing God has stabilized this world should help you stabilize your little world. Even in affliction we can delight in the steadfast Word.

“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me. The Bible is not antique or modern. It is eternal.” Martin Luther

Transitional Statement: Verse 89 tells us God’s word is settled in the heavens. Verses 90-91 tell us God’s word stands on earth. Verses 92-95 tell us God’s word is sufficient for the believer.

God's Word our sure hope in affliction

Psalm 119:92 “92 Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.”

We have seen the connection between Bible study and affliction

Psalm 119:67 “67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: But now have I kept thy word.”

Psalm 119:71 “71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; That I might learn thy statutes.”

Psalm 119:75 “75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, And that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”

Should we start a new Bible study called affliction and afflict one another before we study. No need. The fallen world we live in will provide this for us. Just stick around. Devotion to God does not exempt you from affliction

 If you delight in God’s word, it will keep you when you cannot keep yourself.

The word of God helped the psalmist keep his sanity; it gave him something to hang onto when the world was falling apart. It was a rock, an anchor. He was able to get his feet on the solid rock when surrounded by the quicksand of mincing circumstances. He was able to throw out his anchor and feel the cable hold his drifting boat against the rising wind and perilous reef.” John Philips

Delight not just in the hearing but in the doing of His word

David Dickson says, “Affliction draws forth the worth of God's Word, which otherwise we might not have known.”

Godliness is not perfection. It is determination to please God.

Because the Word gave him life, he determined to remember it. Psalm 119:93 “93 I will never forget thy precepts: For with them thou hast quickened me.”

The Settled Word may unsettles us at Times

Abraham sat with his promised Isaac, perhaps imagining that his trials were over, his waiting rewarded. Then he heard a command he never expected: Gen 22:2 “2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”

Moses led his sheep to Mount Horeb, a contented shepherd with a wife and children. Then he heard words from the fire he could not escape: Exodus 3:10 “10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”

Hosea lived among the northern kingdom of Israel, fearing God and keeping his commandments. Then he received a command unlike all the others prophets. Hosea 1:2 “2 The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.”

The mother of our Lord took her child to the temple, in awe of all the prophecies. Then she heard a prophecy that felt like a sword. Luke 2:34-3 “34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;”

When we are running full speed at the truth of God’s Word we must know that we must move because God’s Word is settled!

God never speaks an unsettling word to his people except to give us peace.

Whatever idols need to be shattered, shatter them. Whatever lies need to be broken, break them. Discomfort me, rework me, unsettle me — whatever it takes to bring me to you.

Transitional Statement: God’s Word is not only for times of affliction. It is exceedingly broad.

God's Word is beyond perfection.

Psalm 119:96 “96 I have seen an end of all perfection: But thy commandment is exceeding broad.”

Seen it all

It contends that even the best things in this world are limited, finite, and tainted. Nothing in this world is perfect.

This verse could well be a summary of Ecclesiastes

Have you ever been in a place where God's Word was outmatched by your circumstances?

The word of God is exceedingly broad.

Only God’s word can give hope to the lost person who is facing an uncertain eternity. 

Only God’s word can give joy to the sick person who is suffering the pain of chronic sickness or disease. 

Only God’s word can give comfort to the grieving person who is standing over the remains of a loved-one who has died. 

Only God’s word can give peace to the anxious person who is facing a severe financial crisis. 

Only God’s word can give strength to the troubled person who is enduring family discord. 

Only God’s word can give guidance to the confused person who is wrestling with a difficult decision.

Seek His precepts

Psalm 119:94 “94 I am thine, save me; For I have sought thy precepts.”

True devotion does not say, “I know the Bible.” It says, “I belong to God.”

The psalmist gave a reason why the Lord should save him: “for I have sought your precepts.” He belonged to God. But he was not perfect. Yet he did not use his lack of perfection as an excuse for a life of rebellion.

Do not allow what people do to change your devotion to the word of God.

Story told by HB Charles

The novelist, Lloyd C. Douglas, lived in a boarding house during his college days. A retired music teacher lived on the first floor. And they shared a daily ritual. Douglas would come down the steps, open the old man’s door and ask, “Well, what’s the good news?” The man would pick up his tuning fork; tap it on the side of his wheelchair, and say, “That middle C. It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat, the piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the believer’s Middle C!

Conclusion

There is security for those who love and live according to God’s eternally established, faithful, and boundless decrees.