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Psalm 119 has been a wonderful study.
Now in the 21st section, designated with the Hebrew Letter Schin.
Each verse, in the Hebrew, begins with this letter.
As we have gone through we have seen that the psalmist, even though we do not know his identity, he has been faithful to God’s Word even in the face of great persecution.
Even his leaders are persecuting him,
verse one starts with the statement, “Princes have persecuted me without a cause.”
and yet throughout this Psalm, the writer has stuck to God’s Word.
He has loved God’s Word and headed it’s truths.
Because of this, God …although not changing his outward circumstances yet…has begun to work on the inside of the Psalmist.
That is where real work begins!
God allows bad things in our lives to “knock off” the rough edges on our life that do not belong, and that weigh us down from serving Him as we should.
So The first move, is not to change the circumstances, but to change the man, then once we have learned what God wants us to learn we can see victory.
In more ways than one.
As the Psalmist has gone through this turmoil, we have seen his heart change.
Now, in this section, the Psalmist expresses the joy and peace he has, even in the midst of the storm he is going through.
This Joy and Peace comes from his growth and time with the Word.
Before we begin let’s not become separated too much from the connection that is between the Word represented here and the Word revealed in John 1:1-3
In this section I want us to look at the Three Characteristics of God’s Word that inspire joy and peace in our hearts even through trials.
As we grow closer to the Word, let us keep it fresh in our minds that we are growing Closer to Jesus Christ.
Now let’s see these Three Characteristics of His Word that will inspire this joy and peace in our hearts:
I.
The Wonder of His Word
161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause: But my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
162 I rejoice at thy word, As one that findeth great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor lying: But thy law do I love.
I think far too often, we become blasé about the Word of God.
We know we should read it, so we quickly read three chapters, check off our list, and go on with our day.
or we sit in church because we know we ought to be there and listen half heartedly to the sermon.
It’s great having a inspiring, exciting and dynamic preacher to listen to, I’m sorry you are just stuck with me.
But the truth is we can get fed from anyone if they are preaching God’s Word!
I have found myself under some very dry teaching and preaching, but I determined to be fed…so I opened my heart and prayed that God would feed me and really listened, not just to the Preacher, but to the Holy Spirit.
Why because of the Wonder of His Word, you see the Wonder of His Word...
A. Causes Awe of God
The Psalmist mentions that he has stands in awe of God’s Word.
To be in awe of God’s Word is to be in awe of God.
God’s Words are an extension of Himself.
This words translated standeth in awe - is the Hebrew word, [paw-kkad’]
This verb literally to dread, and often is used in a negative way, but in this case as well as a few others, the context is obviously positive.
It is awe inspiring, it is to stand in wonder and respect.
Even though he was being persecuted, he did not let it move him from God’s Word.
In Richard Wurmbrand’s book, Tortured for Christ, he details the horrific, communist prison tortures inflicted on Christians in the 1950s.
He writes, “We made a deal.
They tortured.
We preached.”
The only way they could withstand the relentless scientific brainwashing was by what Wurmbrand called a “heart washing.”
They combated the lengthy persecution by love for Christ, love for God, and love for their persecutors.
At one point, the atheists in Romania printed millions of copies of a Bible in which they tried to mock the Word with side comments.
However, the believers were overjoyed to have access to printed Bible verses.
They ignored the “stupid criticism” of the verses, while rejoicing over the “unspeakably beautiful” words of Holy Scripture contained in the book!
Here are real life illustrations of what the Psalmist describes in verse 161.
Powerful people viciously persecuted these Christian men and women for no reason other than the fact that they had tried to worship God in their homes and churches.
Their survival had everything to do with the fact that they were utterly taken by the Word of God in those prison cells.
The Wonder of God’s Word causes Awe of God, but it also...
B. Causes Rejoicing in Heart
162 I rejoice at thy word, As one that findeth great spoil.
You can see that these persecuted believers truly rejoiced in the Word, who is Christ.
The 783,137 words of Scripture speak of Christ (Luke 24:27).
If we miss the Word in the words, then we fail to receive the Word, and we will never rejoice in the Word!
The words of Scripture must all lead us to Christ; to accept Him, to love Him, to worship Him, and to serve Him.
The Psalmist in his persecution rejoiced in God’s Word as one that finds great spoil.
What a treasure we hold in our hands!
So the Wonder of His Word causes Awe of God, it causes Rejoicing in Heart and thirdly it
C. Causes Love for Truth
163 I hate and abhor lying: But thy law do I love.
The Psalmist was surrounded by lies, but he knew he could count on God’s Word as the Truth
As we stay in the Word, God does the work of sanctification in us.
This causes us to see the lies for what they are; and the natural result is to cling to and love the truth.
To love the Lord, is to love His Word, to Love His Word is to Love Truth.
These are inseparable.
Jesus is the Word, and Jesus is the Truth.
So the Wonder of His Word is that it causes, Awe of God, Rejoicing in the Heart and Love for Truth.
The Second characteristic of God’s Word is
II.
The Blessings of His Word
164 Seven times a day do I praise thee Because of thy righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have they which love thy law: And nothing shall offend them.
166 Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, And done thy commandments.
What are the blessings of His Word according to these verses?
A. It Brings Praise
164 Seven times a day do I praise thee Because of thy righteous judgments.
When we stay in God’s Word one of the blessings is that praise becomes more natural.
We learn more about God, we learn more about his righteous judgments and we begin to see just how magnificent He is.
The natural reaction is praise.
The Psalmist says Seven times he praises Him.
No matter how bad the persecution, or attack, God’s judgments are always right.
His justice is always vindicated.
His decrees always stand.
Things are never out of control!
When the story is finished we will look back and see God’s hand all the way through.
Working all things together for good and His glory.
Another Blessing of His Word, not only does it bring praise, but...
B. It Brings Peace
165 Great peace have they which love thy law: And nothing shall offend them.
When we love God’s law, we will have peace.
What a promise - nothing shall offend them.
There are some people in our churches today that you can tell are not walking with the Lord like they should because they become easily offended by every little thing that comes along.
To be honest, I can be the same way, if my walk with God is not strong.
Especially where my family is concerned.
But we can have peace if we will just keep our love for the Word of God strong.
This word offend means stumblingblock.
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