Walk This Way
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Did you know there’s two different ways to ride a bike?
You ride a bike through town or through a city. You can take a bike to a trail or up into the mountains. When you ride a bike, many things are put into practice: your endurance, your balance, your ability to focus, paying attention to your surroundings. This simple skill many of us acquired when we were young requires more than just powerful legs for you to be successful.
Or, you can ride a stationary bike, or more accurately you can peddle a stationary bike. You can do this any time of day: rain, shine, snow, fog, you name it and you can ride. But all you are ultimately doing is peddling. Sure, you might build up a little endurance, but it can’t compare to the wind resistance you experience out on the open road. You don’t have to worry about balance because you are already propped up. You don’t even have to focus, and in fact many people multitask while they ride stationary: checking their email, watching the news, etc.
The difference between these two is one is a journey, the other is just routine motions. Many Christians today don’t experience the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit in their lives because they’re not walking with Him. The Christian life is considered a journey, but many try to live it out by peddling through the motions without having to go anywhere.
Did you know that Americans love the Bible? About 87% of American households own at least one Bible, and the average household has at least three. But did you also know that more than half of those households either never or barely open their Bible to read it for themselves. Did you know only about half of those who attend church once a month read the Bible daily?
It tells me this: that for the average Christian in America, the only time they hear God’s Word is when someone else is reading to them. And maybe they attend church on a regular basis, so they can quote many portions of Scripture very well, and they know all the common Sunday School accounts, and they know the basic truths of who Jesus was …
But they have no idea how to walk it out.
This morning I invite you to turn with me to Psalm 119, and we are going to look at just a portion of this Psalm that tells us three things the Christian journey involves.
Walking out the Christian journey involves …
I. Knowing the One in Whose Image You Were Made (vv. 73-74)
I. Knowing the One in Whose Image You Were Made (vv. 73-74)
Psalm 119:73–74 (NASB95)
73 Your hands made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. 74 May those who fear You see me and be glad, Because I wait for Your word.
A. Meticulous Craftsmanship
We cannot help but be drawn back to Genesis as we read verse 73.
Each of us can trace our beginning back to the incredible words, “So God created man in His own image.”
We often use big words to describe what makes God, God (e.g., His holiness, righteousness, transcendence, sovereignty). All of these are certainly attributes only ascribable to God, but these are broad theological ideas which one could spend a lifetime studying and never fully understand.
But what about God as Creator?
Creation, at least in part, is something that each of us can understand.
Since the beginning of time there have been artists, musicians, authors, architects, builders, etc.
Each of these is a form of creation. Each of these evidences the work of a designer.
But in each of these instances creation is only made possible by what was already there.
Each of these instances of creation requires not only the necessary materials, but the ability to comprehend how all those pieces should be fashioned together (i.e., so even if you could say it was “pure” creation, where did the ability to create come from?)
There’s an old joke about human arrogance.
One day, a group of scientists decided that humanity had come so far that it no longer needed God. So, they elected one of their members to go and inform God of their decision.
The scientist proudly informs God of humanity’s accomplishments. He tells God, “We are to the point where we can clone people, we can manipulate atoms, we can even fly through space. We can do all these miraculous things, so we have decided we no longer need You.”
God listened and when the man was finished He said, “Why don’t we put your skills to the test. How about we have a human-making contest?”
The scientist agreed and God added, “But we are going to do it just like I did it with Adam.”
“Done,” said the scientist, and he reached down to grab some dirt.
God said, “Uh uh. That’s My dirt. Get your own dirt.”
Pure creation, creation ex nihilo, is creation only God can do.
When we talk about God as Creator, this is what we mean. Out of nothing God created everything, and He gave special attention to human beings.
The psalmist declares that God made and fashioned him.
In other words, you are not arbitrary, or pointless, or random. As the ultimate Artist, God formed you meticulously, the culmination of all His craftsmanship and bearing the seal of His image.
This is wonderful truth that so many people are desperately searching for: that they were created for a purpose.
But how can we know what that purpose is?
B. Understanding Our Purpose
One of my favorite quotes comes from Vishal Mangalwadi who wrote:
If I am made in the image of God, would not knowing God be essential to knowing myself?
In order to properly fulfill our role as creation, we have to understand the Creator.
This is why the psalmist says give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
Our purpose isn’t inherently known to us. We require the illumination of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us, to point us to our purpose.
What is the primary way the Holy Spirit illuminates our God-given purpose?
Through His Word, or as the psalmist says His commandments
Now when we think of purpose we are automatically drawn to grand aspirations and achievements. We tend to think of careers or the legacy we will leave behind. Make no mistake, that is part of our purpose, but it goes much deeper than that.
I often hear Christians say that they struggle studying the Bible because it’s boring. Generally, I believe that’s because Christians approach Scripture this way:
They read God’s Word just because they think that’s what they’re supposed to do as Christians.
The problem with that is we get these lofty inspirations in our head to read through the entirety of the Bible in a given amount of time just to check it off our list. But most people will get through Genesis, Exodus, and part of Leviticus and then give up.
You want to know what the key is to reading God’s Word consistently?
Going to God’s Word with questions about your life, about your meaning, about your purpose.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
What does the Bible make us wise about?
About everything pertaining to life and godliness:
You want to know how to be a godly man? The Bible will teach you how to do that.
You want to know how to be a godly woman? The Bible will teach you how to do that.
You want to know how to honor your parents? The Bible will teach you how to do that.
You want to know how to love your husband or wife? The Bible will teach you how to do that?
You want to know how to faithfully steward and give of the resources God has provided you? The Bible will teach you how to do that.
You want to know how to deal in your relationships with others? The Bible will teach you how to do that.
You want to know how to discern between multiple choices (i.e., which job you should take or which school you should attend), the Bible will give you insight into those matters.
On and on and on that list goes because the Bible is literally God’s living instruction manual that illuminates in each of us the purposes, big and small, that He has created us for.
The more you deepen your relationship with Christ, the more you come to know Him, the more you will crave His direction in your life.
No matter what you are seeking direction in, you will find answers here in His Word.
Does that mean here in the pages of Scripture you will find printed in black in white the next job you should apply for or the next person you should pursue romantically?
Of course not. But God does say this in James 1:5:
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
We all lack wisdom, and God is readily willing to provide if only we will ask.
C. One common purpose
When you recognize that God, the Creator of the universe made you, formed you, fashioned you with meticulous precision and the love of a master craftsman, those around you notice, because the way you approach your life changes.
More specifically, other Christians take notice, or as the psalmist says those who fear You, and they are glad (happy, joyful)
Why?
Because they see faith and trust in God at work (I wait for Your Word)
Because they see the faithfulness of God at work
Because they share a common origin
Because they share a common purpose — namely to glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
D. Walking Out Your Christian Faith
Involves knowing the One in whose image your were made.
You might say you know Jesus, and maybe you do intellectually. But do you really know Him? Has that knowledge of Him changed the way you live?
I was watching a video from a Catholic priest by the name of Father James Altman this week, and he said something incredibly profound:
It is human nature that we will not willingly serve a God whom we do not love; and we will not love a God we do not know.
When we come to know God, we will learn to love Him. And when we learn to love Him, we will learn to serve Him. Yet, our service to Him, our humble obedience, will always be flawed here in this life. Every day as a Christian God the Father is transforming you more and more into the image and likeness of His Son, but we cannot by our own strength perfectly submit to the will of God. Submitting to Christ requires a continual reliance upon Him, and here in this life our love for Jesus is not perfect, but is rather being perfected.
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
So what happens when we fail to love God as we should, when we fail to follow the path He has laid before us?
Walking out the Christian journey involves …
II. Learning to See God’s Love in Discipline (vv. 75-77)
II. Learning to See God’s Love in Discipline (vv. 75-77)
Psalm 119:75–77 (NASB95)
75 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. 76 O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant. 77 May Your compassion come to me that I may live, For Your law is my delight.
A. The Foundation of Love
As we just read in 1 John 4, God is love.
This means anything that God causes or allows is ultimately done out of His love.
We cannot possibly understand all that God causes or allows, but knowing the character of God, we know that it is good
The psalmist says that God’s judgments are righteous
It is important to note this is the foundation where the psalmist starts, that what God chooses to do is good.
B. Kinds of Affliction
Affliction is something that causes pain or suffering, and there are many different things that can cause it:
Affliction as a result of living in a fallen world
This would be affliction that is outside of our control and a direct result of evil.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Affliction as a consequence of sin
This is affliction through discipline that God uses in our lives to attempt to draw us closer to Him
This is the kind of affliction I believe the psalmist is referring to specifically
12 For whom the Lord loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
God in His faithfulness allows, or even causes, affliction for our benefit.
Nothing is arbitrary or happenstance with God.
Either affliction is used to
Prove, test, and purify our faith
— OR —
Used as discipline for our actions to draw us back into fellowship with Him.
Either way, affliction is for our benefit.
What about forgiveness?
Christian, forgiveness is readily given whenever fall before Jesus Christ.
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it is finished. Sin and death no longer have power over our lives by the blood of Jesus Christ.
But that does not mean that there are not still consequences for our sin.
When David sinned with Bathsheba and was confronted by Nathan, David genuinely repented and God forgave him. But the consequence was that his son died.
I remember as a kid getting in trouble and getting grounded. I remember several times apologizing and asking for forgiveness, and my parents were willing to forgive. But my consequences often didn’t change, at least not immediately.
Forgiveness was freely given, but there were still consequences for my actions because my parents loved me enough to make sure they weren’t reinforcing my bad decisions.
The psalmist recognizes that this affliction he is experiencing is ultimately God’s love
Oftentimes it takes getting through the affliction to properly see that, but the more you know the God you serve, the better you will understand that His ways are righteous, holy, and loving.
C. Dealing with Affliction
Just because we know that God uses affliction for our good, doesn’t make it easy. So we see a faithful man of God pray for two things in the midst of affliction
Comfort
Surround me with Your lovingkindness (tender mercies)
In other words, God I want to know that You are here with me in the midst of this. He says it is according to Your Word, meaning he’s trusting what God says.
Sometimes in affliction, especially affliction that is caused as a result of our actions, it is easy to feel like God has left us.
I would argue it’s in these moments that God is closest, that God is too close for comfort.
Compassion
Show me compassion that I may live
In other words, God extend mercy to me because the circumstance I find myself in is overwhelming.
Your law is my delight
Have you ever had a time where you feel like you’re constantly going back to God and asking for forgiveness for the same thing over and over again?
We start to question ourselves. We start to question if we are really a Christian. We start to question if we really love God and His Word.
I believe Paul speaks to this in Romans 7:15
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
Paul is arguably the greatest evangelist ever to walk this earth and yet what does he say? Even though I love God and desire to follow Him, I still sin!
Those areas of sin in your life that it seems like you continually fall into again and again, you can come to the Lord and ask Him, “Please extend Your mercy to me as I read about in Your Word, because I delight in, I love, what Your Word says.”
So God uses His Word to show us how to walk in this life, to reveal to us the purposes for which He made us. But God also uses His Word to show us where we fail, where we fall short. And in those moments of affliction that we have brought on ourselves, in those moments of discipline, we have to learn to see God’s tremendous love for us, His children.
God’s love, and forgiveness, and mercy, and compassion is readily available for all who will come to Him, which is why the final thing we must do in our Christian walk is this:
Walking out the Christian journey involves …
III. Praying for Those Who Do Not Know Christ, and Embracing Those Who Do (vv. 78-80)
III. Praying for Those Who Do Not Know Christ, and Embracing Those Who Do (vv. 78-80)
Psalm 119:78–80 (NASB95)
78 May the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie; But I shall meditate on Your precepts. 79 May those who fear You turn to me, Even those who know Your testimonies. 80 May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, So that I will not be ashamed.
A. How to Pray for Unbelievers
All sin can be simplified down to one: pride. When we sin, which is simply choosing that which is other than God, we are pridefully declaring we know better than He does.
The psalmist declares may the arrogant be ashamed. While he ties it to himself personally, perhaps friends or acquaintances he has had interactions with, his pray is for the arrogant (prideful) as a whole.
Why?
The psalmist is essentially praying the prayer of Asaph in Psalm 83:
16 Fill their faces with dishonor, That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
The prayer for shame (dishonor) is one that is ultimately for their good. In other words, God bring their evil desires or actions or plots to an end in futility, let nothing come of it, so that they will recognize their dependence upon you.
This is a lesson for us in prayer. Jesus Himself said:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
How are we to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us?
By asking God to make their plans futile so that they would return to Jesus, so that they would recognize their dependence upon Him, so that they would repent.
In so many places throughout Scripture, we see the prayers of faithful believers bringing evil to shame.
When Absalom desired to overthrow David and took his counselor Ahithophel for advice, David prays that he will give only foolish advice and it brought failure to Absalom.
When the Assyrian army came against Jerusalem, the faithful prayers of Hezekiah brought failure to the Assyrian army.
When Haman attempted to wipe out the entire Jewish population, the faithful prayers of Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people brought failure to Haman and his wicked schemes.
B. Contrast of the Believer’s Response
In contrast to the proud, the psalmist says, “I am going to pray for them, and then I will meditate on Your Word. The proud, the evil, are not worth my constant thought. They are not worth my focus. You handle them, I’ll choose to focus on You.”
I think of Daniel perhaps praying something similar to this:
When the rulers tried to make it illegal for public prayers to be offered, what did Daniel do? He went and prayed just as he always had.
What he prayed, we may never know, but maybe it was like Asaph in Psalm 83 or the psalmist in Psalm 119.
“Lord, bring their evil decisions to shame. Lord, limit their power and show Your own. While You handle that, I will continue to think deeply, to meditate, on the truths of Your Word. I’m going to continue to focus on who You are, not who they are.”
C. Embracing Our Spiritual Family
In our Christian walk, each of us is surrounded by “arrogant” people, by those who do not know Christ.
But each of us is also surrounded by those who know and love Christ, by those who know and love His Word.
In choosing to focus on God, the psalmist finds companionship, finds friendship, finds commonality here among other believers.
Instead of adopting a “woe is me” mentality in the face of evil people, the psalmist recognizes he is not alone in the fight. He is embracing the spiritual family he is a part of while praying that more would come into the fellowship.
Unlike the proud, would my heart be blameless.
Blameless does not mean sinless. Blameless is recognizing your sin, your shortcomings, your mistakes and, in contrast to the proud, accepting in humility your dependence upon your Savior, Jesus Christ.
With every other Christian, we have this in common. We are constantly in need of the Holy Spirit to build us up, to edify us, to prepare us for the works of ministry.
