Council for the Sojourner

Psalm 119:17-24

Psalm 119:17–24 ESV

Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments. Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.

Point of Passage

God’s children will find the way to life in the Word of God as they await for their true home.

Kids

We follow the Bible to tell us how to live while we wait for Jesus.

I. Prayers for growth (Psalm 119:17-18)

“Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.” Does NOT equal “IF you deal bountifully with your servant then I will live and keep your word.”

Not merely that actions would be found but that life itself would be found in the word...sustenance, meaning, purpose, drive....

Deal bountifully - Give blessing - Grant a blessing

“Confer upon me what is necessary to live and keep Your Word.” Jay E. Adams

“Blessings supernaturally flood our lives because we are keeping and obeying God’s Word.” Daniel L.Akin

What is the object of our satisfaction, the blessings or God?

For the Psalmist, the blessing is the Word that produces life.

For the World, the blessing is the World that cannot promise tomorrow.

Danny Akin says there are 3 important truths in verse 18:

1. Wondrous things in God’s Word

2. God must open our eyes

3. We must pray for God’s spiritual illumination

“If God does not open our eyes, we will not see the wonder of the Word. We are not naturally able to see spiritual beauty. When we read the Bible without the help of God, the glory of God in the teachings and events of the Bible is like the sun shining in the face of a blind man. Not that you can’t construe its surface meaning, but you can’t see the wonder, the beauty, the glory of it such that it wins your heart. . . . We must pray to God for supernatural illumination when we read the Bible.” John Piper

“When you study the Scriptures are you amazed over and over by what you read—or have you lost your sense of wonder?” Jay E. Adams

II. Prayers for provision (Psalm 119:19-20)

Luke 8:16–18 ESV

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

1 Peter 1:1 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,”

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

Hebrews 13:14 “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

Apart from God opening his eyes (vs. 18) the commandments/direction will be hidden (vs. 19)What if we redirected our longing for Jesus to return in this chaotic world toward a longing for God’s Word that gives life, contentment, satisfaction, and illumination to God and our future home.

Psalm 42:1-2 “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

“The desires of gracious men after holiness are intense,—they cause a wear of heart, a straining of the mind, till it feels ready to snap with the heavenly pull. . . . What a blessing it is when all our desires are after the things of God.” Charles Spurgeon

Is following the Lord difficult? Yes, press in for you are receiving life from God.

Is studying the doctrines of God difficult? Yes, press in for you will learn the God of all Creation.

III. Prayers for faithfulness (Psalm 119:21-22)

We pray for faithfulness for God will uphold true justice.

Arrogance will not bring the same blessing as holiness.

God will not bless the arrogant, the cursed. Why? Because they are wandering from the Lord.

A legitimate prayer to the Lord is the faithful crying out for justice, protection, and salvation.

“We have learned that there is a city of God, and its Founder has inspired us with a love which makes us covet its citizenship. To this Founder of the holy city the citizens of the earthly city prefer their own gods, not knowing that He is the God of gods, not of false, i. e. , of impious and proud gods.” Augustine

IV. Prayers for enduring (Psalm 119:23-24)

John 15:18-21 ““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

Matthew 5:10-12 ““Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Psalm 119:19 “I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!”

Enduring - Merriam Webster (often think it may mean to put up with, to deal with)

to remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding

to undergo especially without giving in

“The man who stands with God is always in the majority” John Knox

Joy and Counsel is found in the Word of God.

Are you feeling down cast? Look to the Word

Are you feeling the pressure of the World? Look to the Word

Are you struggling emotionally or spiritually? Look to the Word

“Psalm 119 is a thoughtful outcry that rises when real life meets real God” David Powlison

1 Peter 1:3–9 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.