Wisdom & Resolve
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Common Sense, risk management
Wisdom - the quality of of having experience, knowledge and good judgement. Putting knowledge into practice.
Resolve - [one of a few] decide firmly on a course of action.
Are these two qualities evident in your life?
‘what has God’s word got to do with them.
Todays section, 13 of 22, flows from the singers reflection in the previous section…
89 Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. 90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.
The world is built on God’s word; it is held together by his word; it is ruled by his word… it is for everyone… it is for us, to build our lives upon.
So, we can have confidence that God’s word, that we live by, rules the world in which we live.
Living according to God’s word brings us a stability that we could not have otherwise… because God’s word is sure and true, he is faithful to his promise, he, and his word, can be trusted!
From the stability that God’s word gives the believer, we flow today to Wisdom and Resolve.
Joyful Schooling in the Word Brings Wisdom (97-100)
Joyful Schooling in the Word Brings Wisdom (97-100)
97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.
Joyful delight in the word, study of the word, bears fruit as wisdom for the believer.
The singer loves the word… it is where his hope lies, in it he finds life, he has a joyful delight in God’s word, and in studying it he gains wisdom.
Do you study the word for wisdom?
Proverbs 1:7 “7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 9:10 “10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Proverbs 3:13–21 “13 Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, 14 for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. 16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. 19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; 20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew. 21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion;”
Dive deep into God’s word so that God will grant you wisdom!
Dive deep into God’s word trusting that he will write it upon your heart so that you gain godly wisdom.
The singer writes…
98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
The singer stands out in his wisdom because he is shaped by the word and he lives by it.
1 Corinthians 1:25 “25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”
Godly wisdom is a gift of God, and we get it by being schooled in the Word!
Jesus…
Temptation Matthew 4
Teaching Matthew 13:54 “54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked.”
Matthew 11:25 “25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”
Peter & John Acts 4:13 “13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
1 John 2:27 “27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.”
Augustine wrote: ‘There is here, my brothers, a great mystery on which to meditate: the sound of my voice strikes your ears, but the real Teacher is within. Do not think that anyone learns anything from another human being. We can draw your attention by the sound of our voice; but if within there is not the One who instructs, the noise of our words is in vain … The internal Master who teaches is Christ the Teacher; his inspiration teaches. Where his inspiration and anointing are not found, the external words are in vain.’
Our master teacher is Jesus… if we get anything from the Word, if we are trained in any way from the scriptures, it is because Christ is our teacher!
Wisdom & salvation
15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:18 “18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Bible Wisdom and a changed life (101-104)
Bible Wisdom and a changed life (101-104)
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. 102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
So often, as Christians we want to fit it in, we even think that by fitting in people might trust Jesus through us.
But, if we believe God’s word, we will always be somewhat on the outer, because his word has changed us, so we are not like everyone else.
Bible wisdom leads to a changed life… to be obedient to God’s word… to hate what is evil.
Psalm 119:103 “103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
So satisfying it is what we turn to when we become discontent, so sweet it soothes better than honey, mm’s, beer, mango’s…
Really, what we are asking is,
Will you trust the word of God, over and above:
Your enemies (98), who are morally twisted and hostile?
Your teachers and elders (99, 100), who might not be helpful to you?
Your own heart, because Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure...”?
Joyful schooling in the Word that brings Wisdom leads to a changed life. Now in this next section, the singer shares with us his resolve to walk in the way of the word…
Godly Resolve (105-112)
Godly Resolve (105-112)
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. 106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
Often we think of the lamp and light as images of God’s guidance through his word, but in the context of verses 105-112 it is actually more to do with godliness in the midst of danger. The light needed to choose what is right, not the light needed to choose between who should be your partner, what job you should take, or which car to buy.
You will notice through this section, the singer is choosing what it right, even though there are dangers all around. So,
Psalm 119:109–112 “109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. 110 The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. 111 Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. 112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.”
It is about righteous living in the midst of persecution and danger, not about career choices.
28 You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
3 When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me.
13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
Is the Word a lamp for you? A light for you path?
Listen to the singers resolve when it comes to living in the light, on the right path, putting this wisdom into practice…
106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.
The singers resolve to live according to the word is not arrogance - “I’m so good” … it’s a reliance on God to fulfil it in us.
2 Thessalonians 1:11 “11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.”
The singers resolve to live according to the word is not pride or self confidence on show either - you know, “I got this!”
107 I have suffered much; preserve my life, Lord, according to your word.
Psalm 119:71 “71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.”
The singer knows he hasn’t “got this”, resolves to do what is good and then immediately cry’s out to God for grace to do it - “preserve my life through this good affliction.”
The singers resolve to live according to the word is not for present day comfort
109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. 110 The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts.
It is an acknowledgement that living for the Lord comes with risks.
111 Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. 112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.
Heritage/inheritance
Exodus 32:13 “13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’ ””
What does he mean by saying ‘your statutes are my heritage forever’?
Like an inheritance, they are his forever… the Covenant promise is his title deed to the kingdom of God. God’s word, his covenant promise is our title deed to our inheritance, guaranteeing our place in the new creation.
What is the value of this title deed? it is priceless, so
“they are the joy of my heart… My heart is set on keeping you decrees to the very end.
Is your heart set?
Is your joy the guarantee of life with God?
This fits alongside Paul’s words in Ephesians 1
Ephesians 1:13–14 “13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
Joyful Schooling in the Word Brings Wisdom (97-100)
Bible Wisdom and a changed life (101-104)
Godly Resolve (105-112)