Postured in the Living Word

Introduction

Good morning, friends. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Josh Merrick. My wife Kaylee and I have been gathering here with you since late last summer…and last November, Jordan, our first child was born. So it’s been a blessing to have her in this world with us and with all of you each Lord’s Day.

It’s an honor for me to stand before you and to bring God’s Word to you this morning.

Anytime that a sermon is preached, it is the Word of God that is to be preached, Amen? As elders, Keith and Kevin do such a great job of making sure that this is the case in the life of our Light City Church Family, and we’re grateful to you for that. Today, I’ll be preaching from the Word of God as usual, but I’ll be preaching from a unique place in Scripture....a place in Scripture where the Word of God itself is richly in view and meditated on: Psalm 119.

Now some of you might be getting a little nervous right now, because you’re sitting there thinking, “ok, Psalm 119? Josh, if I’m not mistaken, that’s the longest chapter in the entire Bible. Are we going to be here all day, brother!?”

Well I do have a lot to work through today, but I also want to set you at ease a little bit. Out of the 176 total verses of Psalm 119, we’re only going to look at 8 verses this morning: verses 17-24 specifically. So if you have a copy of God’s Word, I invite you to go ahead and turn there. In just a moment, I’ll invite you to stand and we’ll read the passage together. But first, I think it’s important that we get our bearings a little bit contextually.

First off, the Psalms as a whole are a very unique and beautiful collection of Spirit-inspired writings. They are filled with various songs, prayers, & meditations offered up to God by the nation of Israel. Like Psalm 119, some of the Psalms dwell deeply on the riches of God’s Word specifically.

I mentioned that we’re only going to be looking at 8 verses today, and there’s a reason for that specific amount. Psalm 119 is a very unique writing in that it’s an alphabetical acrostic. What does that mean? Well for this particular Psalm, these 176 verses are divided up into 22 different stanzas, with 8 verses in each stanza. And within each stanza, each of the 8 verses start with the same letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew Alphabet, and 22 stanzas in Psalm 119…1 stanza for each proceeding letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. Now obviously, we can’t see this pattern with our own eyes because we’re not looking at a Hebrew Bible this morning!

Now in reflecting on this form and structure, isn’t it so fitting when you think about it? This Psalmist, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, acrostically utilizes all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet—letters that form all the words of the Hebrew language—to form one long meditation, prayer, and celebration of the ultimate word: the Word of God. I think that’s a beautiful thing.

Though we’re just covering 8 verses today, this 1 stanza gives us an accurate snapshot of the entirety of Psalm 119. My hope and prayer is that we’ll all leave this building today echoing the Psalmist, having a posture of delight and persevering-dependance toward God and His Marvelous Word…ultimately a posture of delight & persevering-dependence on Christ Himself, the Living Word.

At this time, I invite you to stand with me as read this passage for us.

This is the Word of God...

Read Passage

Psalm 119:17–24 (ESV)

17 Deal bountifully with your servant,

that I may live and keep your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may behold

wondrous things out of your law.

19 I am a sojourner on the earth;

hide not your commandments from me!

20 My soul is consumed with longing

for your rules at all times.

21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,

who wander from your commandments.

22 Take away from me scorn and contempt,

for I have kept your testimonies.

23 Even though princes sit plotting against me,

your servant will meditate on your statutes.

24 Your testimonies are my delight;

they are my counselors.

Amen. We thank God for His Word. May He nourish and strengthen us by it today, for His Glory. You can have a seat.

Set the Table

It’s been said that a person’s posture can reveal a lot about them. About their mood, their emotions, their feelings. A slouching posture can sometimes be frowned upon, partly because it can portray an image of disinterest or laziness, right? Husbands & Wives…or any of you for that matter: there might be times when a certain loved one carries a certain posture toward you…one where they don’t even have to say a single word! You know exactly how they’re feeling toward you in that moment.

Well this morning, as we reflect on God and His Word, I’d like for us to reflect on the Posture of God’s People Toward God’s Word. The Posture of God’s People Toward God’s Word. We’ll do this, not only by looking at the words of the Psalmist himself, but also by looking at God’s Word in a broader sense as well.

My plan is to do this from 4 different covenantal perspectives, which will include a consideration of our own personal posture toward God and His Word.

Considering God’s Word & the Posture of God’s People

God’s Word & His Old Covenant People (Israel)

The first perspective that I’d like for us to consider is the perspective of God’s Old Covenant People...Israel…the nation that this Psalmist himself was a member of.

After delivering Israel out of Egyptian slavery, God entered into a special covenant relationship with this nation, and in doing so, He gave them certain Words and Commands to keep. It was a “theocratic nation,” with God Himself governing them. He gave them various moral commands to keep, summarized in the 10 commandments. He gave them various civil (or judicial) commands, which included different case laws for how Israelite life was more specifically to be lived and governed. And lastly, God gave them ceremonial commands, which guided their worship as a nation and included things such as the Levitical priesthood, feasts, and the sacrificial system.

Believing Members of the Old Covenant

As I mentioned, the Psalmist of Psalm 119 was a member of this Old Covenant Israelite community. And with this in mind, let’s consider his Spirit-inspired words from our passage today.

1) First off, we’re able to learn that this Psalmist was in the midst of a trial.

In Verse 17, we start to see an indicator of this when he asks this of God: “Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.” Now we aren’t given a lot of details of his situation—nor do we even know for sure who this Psalmist is—but we can see from the rest of this stanza that there is a reason why he’s asking for God to deal bountifully with him…a reason why he’s asking for continued life. Later, in Verse 22, we see him asking God to “Take away scorn and contempt from him”, and then in Verse 23 we see that even “princes are plotting against him.”

We also see in Verse 19 that he recognizes himself as being, quote, “a sojourner on the earth.” A pilgrim…a temporary resident. Have you ever been able to relate to this, especially in the midst of a dark and heavy season in your life? Where there is a sober recognition that: “man, life on this earth can be hard…and this is not my home.” This was what the Psalmist was experiencing.

2) But amid the trials, we learn something else about him: that his posture toward God and God’s Word was a posture of delight and persevering-dependence. A posture of delight and persevering-dependence.

We see this throughout this stanza, and we see the Psalmist use various terms to describe God’s Word in the process. In my ESV translation, there are terms such as Word, Law, Commandments, Rules, Testimonies, & Statutes…all generally referring to the Word of God.

In Verse 17, we see him asking God to gracefully preserve his life. Why? Not only for the sake of continued living, but also for the sake of him continuing to “Keep God’s Word.”

In Verse 18, he asks God to illuminate Him to His Word…for God to “open his eyes, that he may behold wondrous things out of His law.”

What could have been some of those wondrous things out of God’s Law? Well for him, God’s Law would have primarily been the Pentateuch: the first 5 books of our completed Bible. In this Pentateuch, he would have had the wonders of God Word speaking Creation into existence…the wonders of God’s gospel promise after the Fall of Adam & Eve...the wonders of God preserving Noah and his family…the wonders of God’s covenantal promises to Abraham, and the provision of a son in his old age…the wonders of God delivering the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and into covenant relationship with Him as His chosen nation…the wonders of God’s good law and the commands given to Israel through Moses.

So, this Psalmist had a plethora of “wondrous things” out of God’s Word that he sought to be enlightened to and to behold with greater magnitude.

Earlier, I mentioned Verse 19, where he recognized himself as being a “a sojourner on the earth.” Well he immediately follows this confession up by pleading with God: “hide not your commandments from me!”

Isn’t that such a fitting plea before God? A sojourner…someone trying to navigate his way through the trials and difficulties of life…asking God to reveal His commands to him. Not to keep them hidden from him, but for God’s commands to be in clear view in order to guide him in his sojourning.

In Verse 20, we see more delighting in God’s Word from the Psalmist, declaring that his “soul is consumed with longing for God’s rules at all times.”

You know, inner longings can be very powerful. I’m a sports guys…especially when it comes to college basketball. In particular, I’m a huge Michigan State fan. Being married to me for a few years now, Kaylee has been able to see the inner longings that I have for Michigan State Basketball. Inner longings that lead to me gladly watching games, checking stats, learning more about their team members, longing for their success, getting upset when they lose, and so on. For better or for worse, that’s the natural outflow for me as a Michigan State fan.

Well for this Psalmist—as a believer—he had an inner longing for God and His Word. And the “supernatural” outflow for him no doubt led to positive rhythms as an Old Covenant Israelite…rhythms that gave evidence of those inner longings.

In Verse 22, we see this Israelite asking God to remove the scorn and contempt that he was facing, and to do so on the basis that he had “kept God’s testimonies.”

Now Question: Is this Old Covenant believer claiming that he had perfectly kept all of God’s Law? If we were to read the rest of Psalm 119, we would clearly see that this is not the case. I mean, let’s stop and consider one of the major aspects of Israel’s Old Covenant Law: the Ceremonial Laws…which included the sacrificial system that God instituted to address the sinfulness of all Israelites, this Psalmists included.

This man was simply a believer in God. From his posture of faith and his mindfulness of his own sin and dependency on God, he sought to always keep God’s commands before him.

In Verse 23, we see more of the persevering side of this Israelite’s posture. Even though he was facing evil plots from people who had power and authority to do him harm, he resolved to continue to meditate on God’s powerful and authoritative statutes.

And then, finally, in Verse 24, yet again we see him confessing to God the delight that he has in His Word. And part of his delight comes from knowing that God’s testimonies are able to counsel him and guide him, even amid the difficulties of life. As he infamously writes later in Psalm 119, God’s Word was “a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path.”

Un-Believing Members of the Old Covenant

Now up to this point, we’ve been considering the posture of God’s Old Covenant People toward God and His Word…particularly the positive posture of this Psalmist. But the reality is that within God’s Old Covenant Community, not everyone had this kind of posture! There was absolutely a mixed bag amongst God’s Old Covenant People. In contrast to a posture of delight & persevering-dependance from a remnant of Israelites, there were so many others who had a posture of proud & persistent rebellion against God and His Word. And under God’s Sovereign Plan, this is ultimately, in part, why national Israel today is no longer a “theocratic”, God-governed nation…why God did away with this old covenant 2,000 years ago in order to bring forth a NEW covenant: because Israel broke the covenant.

From this specific stanza in Psalm 119, Verse 21 gives us a little glimpse into this kind of rebellious posture. The Psalmist writes this to God: “You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.”

You see, despite God’s special revelation of His Word to Old Covenant Israel, unfortunately so many of them rejected His Word. Rather than humbly receiving it with a believing heart, they rebelliously rejected it in unbelief, wandering away from it. This could have been indifferent and apathetic wandering…OR zealous & self-righteous wandering, thinking that God’s Commands were somehow a means for them to validate their own perceived righteousness. A means for them to prove that they could actually “do these commands and live” by their own merit.

The other week, Kaylee and I were contemplating this together...trying to imagine what being members of Old Covenant Israel would have been like...particularly with the Old Covenant Sacrificial System. The continual offering of sacrifices…the sight of blood…the smell of dead animals. All graciously given by God in order to deal with the ever-present problem of their sin. And yet…so many of them were either apathetic toward this institution, or they actually had the audacity to see it as means of affirming their own righteousness.

Before we point the finger back at them too much, might we point the finger back around on ourselves for just a moment. Jesus Christ came and He provided the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sin. All of the animal blood-shed of the Old Covenant ultimately typified & pointed to His Precious Blood…the only blood that could truly atone for our sin. And yet, do we not all-too-often fall into “apathetic wandering” from God’s Word…a Word which has shared the Incredible Gospel about this sacrifice for us? Or do we not all-too-often fall into “self-righteous wandering” from God’s Word, where we zealously look to God’s Law, but we do it more so to affirm our own perceived righteousness. May the Lord guard us from prolonged wandering like this, and may His kindness lead us to quick & continual repentance by His Spirit.

All Members of the Old Covenant (and all people)

Well, up to this point, we’ve continued to focus on the perspective of God’s Old Covenant People. We’ve seen a mixed bag concerning their posture toward God and His Word....whether it be a posture of delight & persevering-dependance, or a posture of proud & persistent-rebellion. While their postures differed, there was one thing that they all had in common, and what we all have in common: a sinful nature. Though the Psalmist did have an authentic delight in God’s Word coming from a believing heart, He did not delight in God’s Word perfectly.

The common sinfulness of both believers and unbelievers in Old Covenant Israel was ultimately an inherited sinfulness that they all shared. An inherited sinfulness that we all share....one that comes from our 1st parents…God’s 1st Covenant People.

That’s the 2nd perspective that I’d like for us to briefly consider this morning: God’s Word & the Posture of His First Covenant People.

God’s Word & His First Covenant People (Adam/Eve)

Adam & Eve. Their original position & posture toward God and His Word was very different than the rest of mankind since them. God created them with a perfect and upright posture. They were righteous, and they shared a perfect covenantal relationship with God and with one another in marriage. Unlike their Israelite descendents, they didn’t have the Old Covenant Mosaic Law at their disposal. But being perfectly created in the image of God, what they did have was the Law of God comprehensively written on their hearts. In addition to that, God gave them specific commands that we read about in Genesis 1-2. Negatively speaking, they were given one prohibition: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In keeping these covenantal commands, they were promised life. In breaking these covenantal commands, they were promised death. And from God’s Word, we know how that ultimately went for them. Though their original posture was indeed perfect & upright toward God & His Word, what their posture was NOT was infallibly perfect & upright. They failed to persevere in keeping covenant with God, and in doing so, their posture—and ultimately our posture—changed in a tragic way.

A lot could be said about Adam & Eve’s disobedience to God’s Commands, but for our purposes today, I just want us to consider one sobering contrast between them and our Psalmist from today’s passage.

Let’s revert back to the Psalmist real quick, and to Verse 18 specifically. He prays this his Creator: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Here we have a man with a sinful nature…a man whose fleshly ways are naturally opposed to God and His Word. And yet we find him “supernaturally” longing for illumination to God’s Word.

In contrast, let’s look at Adam & Eve for a moment, and let’s read from Genesis 3:1-7...

Genesis 3:1–7 (ESV)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.

What a contrast in terms of God’s Word and illumination, right? Unlike the Psalmist, Adam and Eve were perfect and upright. Perfectly created in the image of their Creator, with sufficient illumination to God and His Word. And yet that wasn’t enough for them. They allowed the serpent to deceive them into thinking that going against the Word of their Creator could actually be for their benefit and for their illumination. Sadly, the very opposite of that was true. In rejecting God’s Word, yes they were enlightened. But they were enlightened to their sin and to their shame…which ultimately meant darkness and death.

Proverbs 14:12 says that “there is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way to death.”

Scripture shows us that, even though both Adam & Eve clearly participated in this transgression, it was Adam himself who ultimately stood as the lone representative head for all of humanity. As this representative head of humanity, he broke covenant with God, and in doing so, his fall meant our fall.

In Romans Chapter 5, Paul gives us a very clear picture of this in many verses. I’ll just share one of them. In Romans 5:12, he writes this: ”sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”

Each and every one of us, in our own natural & fleshly posture, oppose God and His Word. We have all followed the way of Adam, our representative, by breaking covenant with God.

Thankfully…immediately after disobeying their Creator’s commands…even amid the Bad News of the curse that was being handed out…Adam & Eve heard Good News from God. It was the first “Gospel proclamation” that we see after their Fall.

God declared these Good Words while cursing the serpent in Genesis 3:15

Genesis 3:15 ESV

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Here, we see the first promise of a coming offspring…a coming Messiah. And throughout the rest of the Old Testament, we see this promise reaffirmed with increasing color and crescendo until the time of Christ’s arrival.

And yet from Scripture, we see that this promise and this plan of redemption was actually set in place long before Genesis 3 ever rolled around. Long before even the Creation in Genesis 1 ever rolled around.

Scripture shows us that in eternity past—before the foundation of the world—there was what many theologians call a “Covenant of Redemption” that was made within the Godhead. God the Father giving God the Son a work of redemption to carry out in history…a work that would bring salvation and eternal life to sinners like you and me.

Right now, I’d like for us to consider our 3rd perspective: the perspective of Christ Himself. The Chosen One with Whom the Father made an eternal covenant with. Let’s consider His posture toward God and His Word.

God’s Word & His Eternal Covenant Person (Jesus Christ)

Our Lord Jesus Christ…He’s different from any person who’s ever walked the face of this earth. 1 person, 2 natures. Truly God & Truly Man. Yet He was a man who did NOT inherit a sinful nature like the rest of us. And an indispensible part of Him coming to redeem sinners was His unique posture toward God & His Word.

When Christ came, He was born into the same context as that of the Psalmist. Born an Israelite within God’s Old Covenant Community, which meant being born into all of the various commands of the Mosaic Law.

During His time on this earth, there were many who accused Jesus of being against God’s Word…most pointedly the Pharisees of His day. But here is what Christ Himself said about His posture toward God’s Word:

In Matthew 5:17, He said this: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

In John 6:38, He said this: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

And then in Matthew 4:4, in the face of satan’s temptation in the wilderness, Jesus said this: “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

So Scripture clearly shows us that Christ had a perfectly delightful posture toward God’s Word.

But not only that. Not only does Scripture reveal to us the type of posture that Christ had toward It. But Scripture also reveals to us Its own posture toward Christ! And what kind of posture was that? That all of Scripture ultimately testifies of Him!

John 5:39 records Jesus saying this: ”You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they [they what? the Scriptures] that bear witness about me”

In Luke 24:27, Luke writes this of the resurrected Jesus: “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them [the Emmaus disciples] in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

And then later in Luke 24:44, Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples, and said this: “...everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Did you catch that? It’s easier for us to know that all of the New Testament testifies of Christ. But here we see that even all of the Old Testament ultimately testifies of Him…even the Psalms!

So let’s consider the Psalms…and let’s consider Christ—the Perfect Psalmist—as we re-consider our Psalm 119 passage.

-Christ the Son, Christ the Servant of God…He truly DID keep His Father’s every word. And yet the Father’s will was for Him to suffer and die. (v17)

-Christ, the True Israelite…His eyes were already perfectly open and they perfectly beheld the wondrous things out of His own Law…a Law rooted in His own Holy character. (v18)

-God the Son left His throne in Heaven…He added humanity on to His deity…and He sojourned on the earth that He formed…an earth severely polluted by sinful humanity. Amid His sojourning, His constant nourishment and guide was the perfect will of His Father, and His soul perfectly longed for His Father’s good rules at all times. Even amid His suffering, He perfectly meditated on His Father’s Word. (v19-20,24)

-Amid His sojourning on this earth, Christ was surrounded by sinful humanity all around Him. The Light of the World surrounded by utter darkness. He faced scorn and contempt at the hands of accursed ones...evil plots at the of hands princes and rulers. And yet at the end of his life, God’s rebuke and curse fell on Him. It was the will of His Father to crush him…for Christ to bear the wrath that sinners deserve, becoming a curse in their place by hangin on a cursed tree. (v22-23)

Beloved, this is our Loving Savior. Jesus Christ. Eternally commissioned by His Father, He came to this earth and was a perfect Hearer and Doer of His own Word…and yet He bore the wrath of disobedient lawbreakers, offering up a perfect sacrifice to His Father....and His victorious resurrection brought validation & vindication to everything that He had done.

In accomplishing this work of redemption, Christ now stands as the New Representative for the New Covenant that He has ushered in for God’s True People. A New Adam. The Last Adam. He did what Adam failed to do. Adam failed in the midst of a perfect garden. Christ succeeded in the midst of a sin-cursed world. Romans 5:19 says “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

I’d like for us consider one last perspective this morning: God’s Word and the Posture of His New Covenant People…which we have the incredible privilege of being a part of. First, we’ll consider this in a more general way, and then close by considering it in a more intimate way for us personally.

God’s Word & His New Covenant People (Christians)

The New Covenant that Christ has ushered in, we find this clearly promised in the book of Jeremiah. And within this prophecy, we see glaring differences from the Old Covenant that God made with Israel…including a major difference in the posture of Covenant People toward God and His Word. Jeremiah 31:31-34 says this:

Jeremiah 31:31–34 (ESV)

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

As we discovered earlier, there was a mixed bag of believers and unbelievers in Old Covenant Israel…and ultimately Israel broke this Old Covenant because of their rebellious & persistent opposition to God and His Word. This culminated in their rejection of the Living Word Himself, Jesus Christ!

And yet, this was all according to God’s Sovereign Plan of Redemption...for Christ to usher in a New Covenant with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

This New Covenant...there is only 1 command given in order to enter into the Community. Christ Himself shows us what this one command is. John 6:28-29 says this:

John 6:28–29 ESV

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Belief in Jesus Christ. That is our one command. Accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for the totality of our salvation.

Here’s the problem though: In and of ourselves, we aren’t even able to keep THIS COMMAND! Scripture tells us that, apart from Christ, we are DEAD in our trespasses. Spiritually dead people just don’t bring themselves to spiritual life one day and start believing. That’s not how it works. No, we need someone else to bring life to us, so that we might be enlivened to belief in the Person of Jesus Christ!

Praise be to God alone, Who gives us this life…Who gives us this belief as a gift. How does He do this? Well in the vein of Psalm 119, He does this by His Marvelous Word. In Romans, the Apostle Paul writes that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing the word of Christ”. And elsewhere, he writes that “the Gospel…is the power of God for salvation for all who believe.”

Not only does God use His marvelous Word to bring spiritually dead people to life and faith, but in order for anyone to truly possess life and faith, it must be His powerful Holy Spirit, working in tandem with His Word, to make salvation actual and effectual.

Spiritually dead hearts need a new posture toward God and His Word. Spiritually dead hearts need regenerated. Thanks be to God, Whose Spirit has this regenerating power. Titus 3:5 says that “God saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

Unlike the mixed bag of believers and unbelievers within God’s Old Covenant Community, by God’s grace, every single person within God’s New Covenant Community in Christ—people from all nations—they have regenerated and believing hearts. As was foretold of the New Covenant People in Jeremiah 31, “God writes His law on their hearts…and they shall all know God, from the least of them to the greatest.” Now this doesn’t mean that every single person claiming to be a Christian is a member of God’s New Covenant People. That’s another sermon for another time. But properly-speaking, God’s New Covenant People only consists of regenerate people who have this regenerated posture of belief toward God and His Word.

Beloved: God’s Word is Life-Giving. His Word brings life to us and unites us to our Living Savior. No longer in Adam, now we are In Christ...with new life and a new posture toward God and His Word. Like the Psalmist...a posture of delight & persevering-dependence. God has removed our hearts of stone and He’s given us new hearts of flesh. He’s put His Spirit within us, and now causes us to walk in His statutes…to desire to walk in His statutes!

Not only is God’s Word Life-Giving, but It is also Life-Guiding. No longer a condemning mirror that crushes us as sinners, God’s Word now graciously guides us as we’re safe in Christ. His Word guides us amid our sojourning…helping us to pursue what His Word says is good, and to flee from what His Word says is evil. And just as His Spirit gave us life in the first place, we can take comfort knowing that it is this same powerful Spirit Who continues to work in tandem with His Word throughout our sojourning.

Friends, you and I both know that our sojourning on this earth is not easy. Kaylee and I haven’t been a part of this Light City Family too long, but we’ve been a part of it long enough now to know that there have been some major trials faced in this room.

Throughout our sojournings, not only do we face the various trials that this fallen world around us has to offer, but we also continue to face our own fallen world within us…even being “In Christ”! There is still the corruption of our flesh that remains, so long as we’re in these earthly bodies. Maybe you can relate to the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 7, where he wrote this as a believer: “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Can any of you relate to that? On a daily basis, I can.

Such is the reality for all New Covenant People in Christ. We are simultaneously Saint & Sinner. We have a love for God and His Word as His Children, but the reality is that we all fall utterly short of perfectly showing that love each day.

So does that mean that we’re illegitimate believers? That we’re illegitimate Children of God? To use the language of the Apostle Paul: By no means!

Illegitimate Children of God are those who reject the Son of God. They reject the Living Word. They reject Jesus Christ and His work of redemption…a redemption that every single person is in need of, because every single person lacks a righteousness of their own.

Beloved: we are legitimate Children of God. Legitimate members of His New Covenant Community. Not because of any law-keeping that we’ve ever done nor could ever do. We are legitimate children of God because our Father has chosen to enliven us to Himself and His Word. He has enlivened us to recognize & confess that we fall utterly short of keeping the righteous requirements of His Perfect Law. And He has enlivened us to recognize & receive His Perfect Gospel…to recognize & receive His Perfect Son, and His Son’s righteousness for us.

Jesus Christ’s perfect posture of delight & persevering-dependance on God’s Word…it has been graciously counted to us. Not only have we been cleansed of our sin by His shed blood, but we have been positively counted with His Perfect Righteousness. Just as if we ourselves had perfectly kept our Father’s every Word. Is that not such a scandal of grace?

Considering Our Psalm 119 Posture in Christ

Brothers and Sisters: When our sojourning in this world gets to be pretty dark and difficult. When serious illness comes knocking at our door. When we experience heartbreaking loss. When we're hurt by those we love. When we’re grieved by our own lack of love for others. When we’re grieved by our lack of love for God and His Word:

-May we remember that God has dealt bountifully with us in Christ Jesus (v17), blessing us in Him with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

-May we thank God for opening our eyes…for not hiding His Word from us, but illuminating us to His Word, that we may behold His wondrous Law and Gospel. That we may behold His Wondrous Son! (v18-19)

-May we continue to behold Jesus Christ, looking to Him by faith. May our souls be nourished and strengthened toward God and His Word by continually considering Him…remembering that, He not only perfectly longed for God’s Word in our place (v20), but in the face of scorn, contempt, and evil plots, He perfectly kept our Father’s Word in our place (v22). And though He was without sin, in obedience to our Father, Christ bore the curse of God’s wrath in our place (v21).

Beloved: Jesus Christ...The Living Word…He has set us free. Now safely in Christ, the Word of God is no longer our death sentence, but the Word of God is our salvation and our delight.

Well, in Psalm 119 fashion, I’ve said a lot about God and His Word this morning. But to boil it all down, here is the main takeaway for us to remember: Christ kept our Father’s every Word. Alive and Obedient in Him alone, may gratitude fill our hearts as His Marvelous Word guides our path.

Closing Prayer

Would you pray with me?