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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 an honor to be with the saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church, studying the Word of God as we encourage one another in love and good works.
You may have heard before that, “Salvation is by the grace of God alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Word of God alone, for the glory of God alone.” I believe that sentence to be a beautiful summation of the gospel and truth of Scripture, but I also recognize that it can seem a bit confusing if you are unfamiliar with it. How can all of those “alones” work together?
Well, to illuminate this for us, we can expand the statement to show the opposite of each clause. It goes something like this, “Salvation is by grace rather than something earned, through faith rather than our works, in Christ rather than any other person or means, according to Scripture rather than any other revelation or suggestion, for the glory of God rather than any other false God or human rationale.” The One true God shows us grace, we have faith in Christ Jesus, as made known through the Word of God, and all of this gives glory to God who is worthy to receive it. Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Word of God alone, for the glory of God alone.
This statement, much like any confession of faith whether that be the London Baptist Confession, the Baptist Faith and Message, or even the truth in our Children’s question, this statement is intended to be a summation of what we believe to help us engrain the truth of Scripture into our hearts and minds. Each week as we gather together we are intending to reinforce aspects of, if not the entirety of the statement. For instance, as we walked through the book of Malachi, we saw that service to God was for our good and for His glory, for the glory of God alone. We were reminded of God’s grace even in the midst of difficult circumstances there is hope, by God’s grace alone. We made sure to present service as being fueled by faith, not by works, but by faith alone. All of it pointing to Christ’s completed work on the cross, in Christ alone.
Any of these themes may be more prevalent than another in any given text, but they work in unison to remind of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
This morning, we are going to set our primary focus on “according to the Word of God alone.”
Each summer for a few years now, we have taken a few weeks to walk through a few of the stanzas of psalm 119. And that is for good reason. In some ways, the summer is a period of relaxation. Whether you work in the school system, or just take vacation time, summer is typically the time in which the collar gets a little looser, you may spend more time with family or friends, and you may even take an extra excursion or two. In other ways, those same excursions can create periods of urgency as you are swimming through details, coordinating trips, and driving across the country in deep traffic. But whether you are completely relaxed, stretched to max, or like most of us somewhere in between, Psalm 119 serves us as a great reminder of the sufficiency of God’s Word in the life of the believer. As we go through two more stanza’s this summer, may we recognize what a grace it is the God would provide us with His Word. I’m all for vacation and relaxation, however, I must exhort you not to vacation from the Word of God, but rather to find your rest in God through His Word.
On Psalm 119 Charles Spurgeon wrote, “This wonderful psalm, from its great length, helps us to wonder at the immensity of Scripture. From its keeping to one subject it helps us to adore the unity of Scripture; for it is but one. Yet, from the many turns it gives to the same thought, it helps you to see the variety of Scripture…. Some have said that in it there is an absence of variety, but that is merely the observation of those who have not studied it. I have weighed each word, and looked at each syllable with lengthened meditation; and I bear witness that this sacred song has no tautology (needless repetition) in it, but is charmingly varied from beginning to end. Its variety is that of a kaleidoscope: from a few objects a boundless variation is produced. In the kaleidoscope you look once, and there is a strangely beautiful form. You shift the glass a very little, and another shape, equally delicate and beautiful, is before your eyes. So it is here.”
So if you would, open your bibles and turn with me to Psalm 119. Today we will be looking at the 17th stanza, that is verses 129-136. As a reminder to some and an introduction to others, this Psalm is broken into 22 stanzas, each with 8 verses. Each verse of a stanza begins with the same letter, working progressively through the entirety of the Hebrew alphabet. It is believed by some that this alliterative form of poetry was used to help children remember the truth contained there in. It is my hope and intention this morning, that all of us, young and old will leave here better understanding the value of the Word of the Lord. If we recognize our salvation comes as according to the Word of God, then we ought to cherish this Word.
Begin with me in Psalm 119:129-130
129 Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
This morning, I have divided our text into four couplets of verses. Each highlighting a different aspect of how we ought to relate to God’s Word. These first two verses describe the goodness of God’s Word.
The psalmist begins this stanza with the emphatic phrase, “Your testimonies are wonderful!”
Church, do you ever just sit back and marvel at the wonder of God’s Word?
I recently decided to start changing the oil in our cars at home. Now mind you I’ve been driving for decades, but its not been until recently that I’ve taken auto repair and maintenance into my own hands. Also, for those of you that have been tinkering with cars for a long time, this might sound a bit dramatic, but I was blown away by the simplicity and intricacy of our vehicles. In the decades that I have been driving, I never took much time to consider HOW the vehicle actually worked. As I popped open the hood and climbed underneath, I saw how every piece works together, wires, pipes, pistons, pans, all crafted in just the right way to make 5000 plus pound vehicle glide across the street at 70 miles an hour. I really took it all for granted until I started taking a closer look.
If some of us are guilty of taking the wonder of our cars for granted, then I would presume that many of us are even more guilty of taking God’s Word for granted! We may affirm the overall message, that Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ according to the Word for God’s glory, but church, it for our good to dive in and see how it all works together. What we will find is wondrous!
When the psalmist refers to “testimonies” here in verse 129, while it refers to all of God’s Word in a general sense, the word is the Old Testament to refer to the Law, and consistently and specifically refers to the Ten Commandments written on the stone tablets and placed in the Ark of the Covenant. Now we know from Romans 3 and 8 that the Law, weakened by the flesh, cannot save. We’re saved by grace through faith in Christ. So why then would should we wonder at the Law as the Psalmist does? Why should we even dust off the Old Testament? Well allow me to give one example of how all of this works together into the overarching story of the Bible:
After presenting the Ten Commandments to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 5, we read this in Deuteronomy 6:
20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’
You see if you took verse 25 there in a vacuum, you may think that salvation is found in personal ability to keep the commandments. But look at the fuller context? The sons will ask why do we have all these testimonies and statutes? And the reasoning is given in verse 21 and following! Paraphrasing, Moses says, “We were in a dark place, full of oppression from the Egyptian rules. We, then, experienced the grace of God! He showed signs and wonders! He has undoubtedly confirmed Himself as the One True God! He delivered us! And now we obey Him, not to obtain His favor, but as a recognition that He has given it! We walk by faith in the Lord, fearing, that is revering Him, for the great God He is, and these statutes and testimonies have been given to us for our good and His glory!” One pastor said, “The commandments were designed, not as a burden to be borne, but at the gracious provision by a beneficent Sovereign of a good living.” God is not dumb, He knew that His people would never perfectly live up to every aspect of the Law. He provided them with a priesthood and sacrificial system to address their inevitable failures in keeping the Law. And all of this pointed to the One who perfectly keep the Law and make the perfect sacrifice for them, Jesus Christ!
Church may we understand God’s testimonies are wonderful! When we see they are wonderful, we desire to keep them! We see God’s design is for our good and His glory. As His Word unfolds it gives light! The Lord illuminates our path! We see the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, who brings light to the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it! We cast our burdens on Him and follow Him because He has saved us! While the wonders of the Word of infinite, even the simple can understand!
Y’all, this Word is good. May we praise the goodness of God’s Word today.
Move with me now to the next couplet:
131 I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. 132 Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.
The second aspect of our relationship to God’s Word is that we ought to have a DESIRE for the Word of God.
Recently, Troy and I had to do some work in the attic here at the church. Mind you it was during the 90 degree weather we’ve had recently and those shingles heat up quick! We came out the attic dripping sweat and right there to great us was Charlie Davis with some ice cold water bottles. That’s what I imagine here as I read, “I open my mouth and pant because I long for you commandments.” This is the same sentiment that the apostle Peter was describing in his first epistle when he wrote, “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
So why then, do we not always maintain the desire to be in the Word of God?
I think there are a few reasons for this.
First, we simply don’t think about the sustaining nature of God’s Word enough. We fill our minds with all sorts of other distractions and neglect the Word of God. Throughout the New Testament epistles, there are many metaphors about believers and being a child. We just read about how we should desire the word of God as a child desires milk. But there are ways in which we need to grow up. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians that when he became a man, he gave up childish ways. He exhorts the church to not be children in our thinking. We should be infants in evil, but in our thinking be mature. One issue in our time is that we need to grow up and set our thinking straight. I know that I can personally be guilty of this, allowing distraction and diversion to dictate my time rather than respecting each moment as a gift of God to use for His glory. If that is you this morning, then join me in growing up!
But another reason that we lack desire for the Word of God is because of the remaining sin in us, because of our flesh. Right before Peter exhorted the church to long for the Word he said, “Put away all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” There is a direct connection between a lack of desire for God’s Word and remaining in sin. As you read through the Word of God, the remaining corruption in you becomes painfully obvious. Pastor Adrian Rogers said, “When you read the Bible, the Bible reads you. When the Word reveals something, whatever it is, take heed to do it. Don’t just read it and forget it; if you do, you are deceiving yourself.” God’s Word shows us who we are by nature, and who we ought to be by grace. I won’t lie to you, that can be a painful process! All reconstruction projects are! But the response to the challenge is not to walk away and ignore it. The right response it to look your sin in the eyes and say, “by the grace of God through Faith in Christ, that ain’t me no more!” Rely on the Spirit, stay in the Word, and get to work!
Church may sincerely mean it when we sing the hymn Have Thine Own Way, Lord.
Have thine own way, Lord!
Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter,
I am the clay.
Mold me and make me
after thy will,
while I am waiting,
yielded and still.
But let me just add to the thought of that hymn. Our waiting for the Lord to mold and make, while yielded and still, is not passive. We are to be in the Word knowing that our salvation comes according to the Word of God and that the Word is good!
Notice the two directions in verses 131 and 132. In verse 131, the psalmist longs for God’s commands. In verse 132, He calls for God’s grace. Church, be drawing near to God as He draws near to you. God’s Word is good and God’s Word is something to be desired.
Let’s look to the next couplet.
133 Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. 134 Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts.
The third aspect of our relationship with God’s Word is that we ought to be SUSTAINED by God’s Word.
In these verses the Psalmist makes three requests of God. Keep my steps steady, let no iniquity get dominion over me, and redeem me from man’s oppression.
Church, sometimes we aren’t bold enough to ask things of God in our prayers. Don’t get this twisted the wrong way. The psalmist isn’t commanding God in some way that will make God bow down to the psalmists desires. No, the Psalmist is expressing his great need of God to accomplish his desires which are in line with the will of God. He is expressing his great need for the strength of the Lord to sustain him in this life.
I believe that Psalm 119 was most likely written by King David. Some scholars suggest that the author may have been Ezra, Daniel, or Jeremiah. Whatever the case may be, None of these men of God lived perfectly peaceful lives. Each of their lives were filled with trials and difficulty all throughout. Yet they would share in the sentiment of desiring the Lord’s sustaining power throughout.
Church, it is not too brazen to ask the Lord to do things for you that are in accordance with His will. Call on Him to keep your steps steady. Ask Him to remove iniquity and consistent sin. It is even in line to ask for the removal of oppression, knowing that it is good for us to live at peace with all.
But to ask of the Lord the things that are in accordance with His will, you have to know what His Will is. And where can you find what the Lord’s will is? He has revealed it to us in His Word! Why does the psalmist want to be freed from man’s oppression? So that he can build his own empire? No! so that he may keep God’s precepts.
Listen
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
We can approach the throne of grace with boldness because Christ, our great high priest, has saved us and cleansed us with His blood. As we cry out to God in our prayers, when they are aligned with His will, what we find in return is mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. He will sustain us. Sin is strong, but the grace of God is stronger! Satan is crafty, but God is all-powerful. The Lord is on our side! All of this in accordance in the will of God as made known to us through the Word of God. God’s word is GOOD, it is something to be DESIRED, and He SUSTAINS us through it.
Let’s look to the last couplet of our text this morning.
135 Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. 136 My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.
The final aspect of our relation to God’s Word in our text this morning is that God’s Word IMPACTS us.
We see that in these verses in two ways.
The First impact is found when the psalmist writes, “Make your face shine upon me.” This is a request to experience the grace and goodness of God. “To know the face of God shining upon you is to be at peace with God and to know that He is at peace with you.” You can know that you are at peace with God through an examination of yourself and His Word. I know that many folks struggle with the assurance of their salvation. I was recently asked about that when I did a question and answers session at the EKU BCM. “How can I know I am saved?” I give two responses, both from the word of God. First, understand that salvation is positional and grounded in absolute truth. When the Philippian jailer asked what he was to do to be saved, the apostles didn’t tell him to get everything in his life in order nor did they say search your soul till you find the truth within, they said believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. So we can know that we are saved when we truly see Jesus as Lord, the Sovereign, the Ruler of our lives, worthy to be served even when we do so imperfectly. Secondly, I told the students to walk through the book of 1 John. The entirety of the book was written to provide believers with the assurance of their salvation by the grace of God through faith in Christ. The Lord shines His face upon us when we look to His Word!
The Second impact of the Word of God is found when we see that psalmist has eyes which are shedding streams of tears. There is an emotional impact of God’s Word. Let me be clear on this, I don’t want to ever use emotion to manipulate someone to say or do something that they do not mean. However, through the reading of the Word of God, we are bound to experience a variety of emotion. When we look to the eschatological passages we should experience hope and joy. When we see our sin exposed we should feel repulsion. When we see unrighteousness running amuck we should feel righteous indignation, and when we see the results of sin and the fallen state of humanity it should leave us in our mourning.
Last week we finished up the book of Malachi and the oracle closes with a sobering reminder that all those who stand opposed to our one true God will face ultimate judgment. As I was putting my notes together I had thought that I would be presenting it in such a way that I would be “sticking it to” all those sinners. But when it came time to preach, I almost couldn’t get the words out because of the gravity and sadness there is in see folks stand opposed to God. “behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all the evildoers will be stubble.” This is a sobering and saddening truth. That does not mean it is not right justice, but it ought to break our hearts to see so many standing opposed to God. This is where the psalmist is coming from in our text this morning. Through seeing the goodness of God’s word, his desire for it, the sustenance he receives from it, the psalmist is impacted by being left in tears for those who regard God’s Word. Jesus Himself, in Mark 3, grieves over the hardness of heart of the leaders of synagogues.
Church, when we are in God’s Word, it impacts our lives. And one of the biggest impacts it can have is shaping our compassion for those who do not understand the grace of God through faith in Christ according to the Word for the glory of God.
Let it be known this morning that if you do not know Christ as Lord, my heart sincerely breaks for you. You are missing the key to living life abundant. Without Christ, all the good aspects of this book I have talked about are inaccessible. The whole book is written about Him. I want to tell you about Jesus. I want to tell you about our sin keeping us distant from the God of Creation. I want to tell you about the Second Person of the Triune God stepping out of heaven to live and die and rise again to reconcile all who believe in Him unto God. I want to tell you you can’t work your way to heaven. I want to tell you Jesus worked for you! I want to tell you about the freedom there is in Christ alone. I want to tell you about the joy in living a life for the glory of God. In just a moment, we’re gonna have a hymn of response. If any of this resonated with you. If you want to know more, would you make that known then? Would you come forward and find me? If not then, find me after, find me at the cookout this afternoon. But let me tell you about the Jesus who makes this whole book and this whole life make sense. Do that today.
Church, if you already know Christ as Lord, the you could really view the entirety of this stanza we looked at this morning as a prayer guide. I would hope that all of us could pray these Word’s back to God with gladness for His revealed Word to us. “Lord I thank you for the goodness of Your Word. I desire it all the more as I am exposed to your love and grace. Sustain me in Your Word. My heart breaks for those who do not see the immense value of your Word. Would you use me to share your Word with others. That they may hear and know that you are God, worthy to be served and praised.”
Let’s Pray.
