Samekh
Psalm 119 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is once again a great privilege to share the Word of God with the saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church.
We recently had the opportunity to go to Eastern Kentucky, to Elkhorn City, and in conjunction with a local church there we ran a micro VBS as a booth at a festival. The lesson that we went through with the children was that of the Wiseman building his house on the rock. if you were here with us the Sunday morning we returned from that trip you even got to sing the VBS song, “The wise man builds his house upon the rock”. Through that story and song we see that when the rains came down and the floods came up the wiseman’s house stood firm. Then we learn about the foolish man. The foolish man builds his house not on the rock, but on the sand. And when the rains came down and the floods came up, the house on the sand went splat. At least that’s the fun way to sing it. The way that Jesus words it in the sermon on the mount is much more sober.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
The fall of the house built on the sand was great indeed.
We chose this story for our mini VBS mission because we thought it was a vivid picture that would easily resonate with the children. It doesn’t take too much imagination to process a house built on a firm foundation and one built on the sand. Of course the rain will cause the shifting sand to move around the foolish man’s home. Of course that is going to end in disaster. It’s so easy to see.
But while the picture is easy enough for even a young child to understand, the truth behind it is often not quite so easily grasped. Jesus explains it, but we miss it! Let me show you. Here’s verses 24 and 26:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
We see that the crux of the story Jesus is telling here is the pure necessity there is in building one’s life on the words of Jesus Christ. We are given two very clear categories with very clear results. Those who hear and do are secure on a firm foundation. Those who hear and ignore will be partakers in the great fall.
Everyone can see the pragmatic need for a firm foundation when one is building a home, but we neglect to see the importance of a firm foundation in the building of our lives.
I do think there is an interesting point here in the categories that Jesus defines. The wise hear His words and follow them. The unwise do not follow His words. Being unwise has nothing to do here with educational background, with the score you got on your SAT, with how good you are with money, with coming from a certain type of family, with any sort social status or upbringing, no none of that provides a firm foundation. Yet aren’t those the things we so often use to define ourselves as secure?! We say I’m alright I got a good head on my shoulders. Or, I’m just glad I got a good plot of land around me. Or, my family looks good on a postcard. Or, my bank account is solid and retirement is coming, I’m good to go.
All of those might be very nice things to have, but they are not a foundation! At least not a firm one! Look at the absolute certainty Jesus speaks with here in verse 26. EVERYONE who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell, and GREAT was the fall.
I say all this to say that those nice things we identify ourselves by are just that nice, but they are fleeting. When the storms of judgment come down, they will not be able to hold you up. The only foundation that leaves the house standing is the rock of Jesus Christ. When you have Christ as Lord, when you have the God-given desire to follow Him, you have a firm foundation. Obedience is the fruit of grace. When we experience the grace of God to save a sinful creature like ourselves we humbly, joyfully, albeit imperfectly this side of glory, follow Him.
And how do we know the Words Christ has for us? Where do we hear the direction God has for us? In His Word, applied in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
With that in mind, would you turn if you have not already to Psalm 119. Today we are picking up in the 15th stanza, verse 113. If your Bible has subtitles you may see that this section is entitled Samekh. That is the 15th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. Following the same pattern of the rest of the psalm, each verse in this section in Hebrew begins with the letter Samekh.
According to Charles Spurgeon’s research, the hebrew letter Samekh denotes a prop or a pillar. This is pertinent to the content of this section as the Psalmist twice asks for the Lord to uphold him, to hold him up. As we walk through the text this morning, we will gain a greater appreciation for a life built on the foundation of Jesus Christ through a dedication to God’s Word.
Let’s begin in verse 113
I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.
A life built on anything other than the foundation of Christ is a frustrating life indeed. The psalmist begins this section by expressing his disdain for the double minded.
What exactly makes someone double minded? Why would the psalmist be so frustrated with them? The double minded are people who know about God but are not fully determined to follow Him and Him alone. They want the benefits of religion while maintaining the seeming comforts of their sin.
A biblical example of this would be the rich young ruler. The young man walks up to Jesus and says, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life.” In a masterful moment of teaching, Jesus walks the young man through many of the Ten commandments. “Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not lie. Honor your parents. Love your neighbor.” The boy is likely excited to hear all of those. He says, “I have done all of those! What else am I lacking.” Jesus looks to the young man and says, “If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, for your treasure will be in heaven. Come, then, and follow Me.” You’d think the boy would be ecstatic. Finally he’s found the last thing he needs! Salvation is here! But the gospel of Matthew reports that the young man, upon hearing the words of Christ, went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
The lesson that we learn from the narrative of the rich young ruler is not that we are all called to sell everything we own. Many wealthy benefactors funded, blessed and were used in even days of the early church. No, in this story we see that the man’s unwillingness to sell his possessions was a symptom of the root problem.
He was doubleminded. He wanted to obtain eternal life but he was unwilling to follow Jesus! He wanted the perks of religion without losing the comforts of the life he had built around himself.
The doubleminded are those interested in religion but not confident in God to be their firm foundation.
In the book of James, the apostle writes that anyone lacking in wisdom should confidently and full of faith ask God for it. He says to do so without doubt. That the one who doubts is tossed about like a boat in the sea, driven by the wind. He says that person is double-minded, that is unstable in all his ways.
So with this understanding lets go back to what the psalmist says. He says I hate the doubleminded. He is expressing major frustration in dealing with those who are inconsistent, uncertain, and uncommitted in their lives.
From a general perspective I think we can all identify with this sentiment. No one like dealing with the person who can’t make up their mind. Maybe you’ve had a boss who was supposed to give you direction but kept changing things up. Maybe when you were dating the person was seemingly like a yo-yo. Maybe you’ve got a friend that treats your relationship like a yo-yo.
All of those are frustrating experiences, for sure, but the frustration is more significant when the doublemindedness is happening in the context of the kingdom!
I know that in a group of believers, in the church on this side of glory, there is never going to be 100% agreement on every single day we do. I don’t expect to see that within the church. However, I do not think it is a stretch, though it may be a lofty goal, to say that the regenerate church, the saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church for that matter, ought to be 100% committed to giving God glory. We ought to be 100% committed to loving God’s Word and living in response. We can have charitable conversations about what that looks like. That can manifest differently as the Lord has gifted each of us differently, but we must reject being double-minded and be all in together for the sake of the gospel and the mission to which He has called us. We should be 100% unified in loving His Law.
God’s Law, His rulings, His Word, is to be the bedrock of our lives.
The wise man builds his house upon the rock.
As we continue through our text this morning, we see why it is so wise to do so. Look now to verses 114-115.
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
In these verses, the psalmist expounds on God’s Protection.
There is an experience I’ve found to be pretty common among most folks. I know it was at least true for myself. When you are a kid and you wake up in the middle of the night, maybe you get up to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water. Then all of a sudden in the middle of the pitch black night you realize that you have to trek back through the terrifying darkness to get back to your bed. If you were anything like me, after taking a moment to collect yourself you’d run through the darkness, scurrying as quickly as you could until you get back to the bed and pull those covers up all around you. Once in bed, you’d take a sigh of relief. Safe. What a great feeling it is to feel safe.
It is interesting that Humans, though we may be at the top of the food chain, we are in need of safety, we are in need of protection. When you think back to the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden, you can see how God gave man dominion over all the beasts of the air, land, and sea. Yet immediately after the fall, they were clothed both to cover their shame and provide protection. God provided them with a covering.
Since the fall in the garden, humanity has remained atop the food chain if you will, but also remained in need of protection.
And a life is no more protected than when it is built on the foundation of the Lord!
As we are circling around the analogy of a home being built on a firm foundation, what characteristic make a home a good source of protection? Well our psalmist describes a hiding place and a shield. That means that it is the psalmist’s respite away from the strains and stresses of the world. It has a concealment. It is a reliable. Like the shields of the Spartans, it was not only concealing, but also able to withstand assault without the psalmist obtaining injury. It is protective.
And the psalmist uses these analogies to describe God! We hide in God and He is our defense.
Christian, know this, God knows that not everything in this life is going to be easy. He knows that there will be trials and tribulations. In fact, He has promised that it would be so. But even still, when God is your sure foundation, you have protection from anything this world could throw at you. God is the right foundation in each and every situation. There are times when we just have to withdraw from everything else going on in the word. In those moments He is our hiding place! We should not run from Him in those moments, but to Him! In other moments in our lives we are surely going to be called to fight for God’s justice and righteousness. In those times He is our shield! The Lord is my helper, what can mortal man do to me!
And let me just say, this is not mere theory that I am suggesting to you this morning. The Psalmist writes these lines as a man who has experienced the protection of God. The same God whose word has brought much joy and consolation to our Psalmist through His Word, is not distant! It is the God whom the Word reveals that is the hiding place and shield.
Let it be known, that as we take the month of July to walk through the importance of God’s Word, that what really makes it important is the it is GOD’s Word. GOD, the creator,Sovereign over creation, is made known to us through His Word. Our study of His Word cannot be detached from the personal relationship He extends to us through it.
The God who speaks through His Word provides to us, to those who believe in Him through faith in Jesus Christ, the same thing found by the psalmist in verse 114, hope. We cling to the promises God has for His people, proclaimed in His Word, by faith with hope. Hope, not in the sense of “oh geez I hope it happens.” But a Hope secured by confident faith that says “It’s going to happen because my God has declared it. And if My God has declared it, it is going to happen.”
The life built on the foundation of the Lord is firm in faith and full of hope. It is also confident against accusers. In verse 115 the Psalmist tells evildoers to depart from him, so that he can continue to keep the commandments of God.
His life is once again protected from being built on the foundation of God. What do I mean by this? The Psalmist is so grounded in doing God’s work that he has no desire to get caught up in foolishness. This simple little verse is an illustration of choosing friends wisely for the glory of God. The Psalmist’s life is protected by not engaging with evil doers. Don’t hear me wrong here, I have spoken often from this pulpit against monasticism or ascetic seclusion. We are told in Scripture that we are to walk in wisdom with all people, and unbelievers. This means that we will cross paths with people who do share the same world view we do. That’s why God has called us to be ambassadors for Christ! He is making His appeal through us to those who will be saved! But there is a big difference between having a wise, friendly, evangelistic conversation with someone who does not share faith in Jesus Christ and allowing them to influence you into sin. When temptation comes our way, our foundation will hold us fast and we are to flee from it! We are to join the psalmist in saying depart from me evildoers I’m going to keep the commandments of my God!
Being grounded in God and His Word provides protection. But that is not all. Look at the next couple of verses:
Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!
In this couplet we see that a life built on the foundation of God and His Word receives not only protection, but also: Fortification.
The pillar represented in the form of the letter Samekh is clearly seen in these verses. In Hebrew these verses begin, Sa-me-ke-ni and se-a-de-ni. Uphold me, Hold me up!
The psalmist is asking the Lord for fortification in his life, knowing that the Lord is the only place to find it. He couldn’t stand before his enemies without God holding him up. The continual support and strength of the Lord was the only way for him to live either physically or spiritually.
Church, how often, especially in times of distress are we quick to forget the greatness of our God! I hope that this morning is a reminder that even in the darkest of circumstances, even when the trials you are facing are more than you can bear, that we are shown in the book of Hebrews that God’s promise to the Israelites in Joshua applies to Christians today. The Lord has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That is a promise made from the one who is ever true to His Word. If you know Christ as Lord, that is promised to YOU! You can live in light of knowing that God will never leave you nor forsake you. You can also be confident that you will not be ashamed in your hope when your hope is Jesus Christ.
We see throughout the New Testament the beautiful tapestry of hope there is in the Gospel. When that is our hope we need not be ashamed.
Watch how this works together:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
The gospel is the power of God for salvation!
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
The message of the Gospel is the Son of God doing what we could not!
How do we receive the gospel:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
It doesn’t depend on us but by the grace of God. What does receipt of the Gospel look like?
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Those who have the great hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, need not be worried. You will not be ashamed. Whatever may happen in this temporal life, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord WILL be saved. As we continue to battle the flesh and live our lives on God’s foundation, may we continue to cling to the gospel and experience the Fortification He provides for us.
The rest of our psalm this morning takes a bit of curve from where we at. We go from seeing the great benefits of a life built on the foundation of God to seeing what happens when it is not. If you remember back to the parable of the wise man building his house on the rock, this is what happens when the rains of judgment come down on the foolish man who built his house on the sand.
You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain. All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.
All of the cunning, the wit, any earthly adornments you could have, are ultimately in vain if your house of your life is built anywhere else than on the words of Jesus Christ. God righteously rejects and judges all those who stray from His Word. All those who do not believe in the Jesus are condemned already, we read in in John chapter 3.
Here in verse 119 the psalmist says that the wicked of the world are discarded like dross. What is dross?
Dross is the scum that forms on the top of a precious metal that is being refined. The blacksmith scrapes it off the top and throws it away. It is of no good use and must be removed for the metal to be pure.
One pastor noted that Sin is very much like dross “· Dross takes away from the shine and glory of metal; it makes it dull.
· Dross is deceptive; it is not silver, but seems like it; it is not gold but seems like it.
· Dross is not made better by the fire.
· Dross is worthless. It has no value, no purpose.
· Dross is actually damaging to metal, because it can lead to rust. Metal with dross in it will be eaten away.”
As we mentioned last week, the great narrative of Scripture shows us that the Holy God is bringing all things to Himself. That includes purifying sin from existence.
When we think about this truth, “the wicked of the earth God discards like dross,” It is a bit unsettling. While we can understand the necessity of removing impurities from a pure metal, we also see that it is messy process. An intense process. The psalmist even notes this in the last verse of our section this morning:
My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
The psalmist doesn’t look to the reality of God’s judgment with glee, but with sober understanding of God’s righteousness. He doesn’t celebrate the judgment. Instead it causes him to tremble in holy fear himself. It is likely that the psalmist looked to his own life and saw that even he was not entirely righteous.
When we understand that we are sinners in the hand of a Holy God, it is a fearful realization.
But know two things:
Dross has to be removed for a metal to be pure. God must remove every speck of sin from this earth for His glory.
As we liken God’s judgment to the removal of dross, think about what the outcome is for the blacksmith. He is left with a pure metal. When God culminates His plan for creation, when sin is no more, when every tear is gone, when there is no more pain, when the former things have passed away, all those whose lives have been built on the foundation of God will be there to enjoy the radiant glory of God’s unmitigated goodness.
How do we know if our lives have been built on God?
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”