Psalm 119:97-112

Psalm 119:97-112

We come to the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This section focuses on the wisdom one attains from the Word of God. Notice:

Wiser (98)

More understanding (99)

Understand (100)

Understanding (104)

There is not a single petition in this section. He asks God for nothing. He rejoices in what he has received from God’s Word. Let’s look at the Psalmists response to God’s Word.

1. He loves the Word of God (97).

Notice the joy with which he says this. It’s an exclamation. There may be books you love because of the entertainment they give you.

A book of fiction

A biography

A book of pictures

It’s amazing that we love the Bible because it is so critical of us. It doesn’t entertain us, it challenges us. The Psalmist loves the Word of God even though it identifies his own lack.

“it is my meditation all the day” The Bible is unique in that it is the one book that can benefit us even if we think of it all day. If we were preoccupied with the thoughts of another book surely our thoughts would hinder us. The Bible is relevant in every circumstance of every day.

Does this describe your relationship with the Word of God? Do you love the Bible?

2. He learns from the Word of God (98-100).

He lists three different people he is wider than because of the Word of God. He is not bragging. It’s implied that the people he mentions do not value the Word of God. For that reason, he is wiser than them.

A. Because of the Bible he is wiser than his enemies (98).

They plotted and schemed against him. They trusted in their own wisdom for victory. The Psalmist knows that victory comes from the Lord. He cannot fight the enemy in his own wisdom.

There are many educated people in our world. They are good at debating. They confuse & contradict. If we do not know the Word of God they will make fools of us.

“for it is ever with me” The Psalmist was ever learning. He never put the Bible on a shelf. He used the wisdom he learned from it constantly. There is great wisdom in the Word of God to help us over come the world, the flesh and the devil. If we are anchored in truth the devil will not outsmart us.

B. Because of the Bible he is wiser than his teachers (99).

“I have more understanding than all my teachers” There are educated people who are ignorant in the Word of God. They know much about many subjects but little about the most important subject.

Spurgeon said of the Bible “This one book outweighs the rest.”

C. Because of the Bible he is wiser than the aged (100).

The reason was because “I keep your precepts”. They may have sat through more sermons than he had, but he had lived more sermons than they had. There are young fools and there are old fools.

Let’s summarize this: Wisdom is not found in power, wisdom is not found in education, and wisdom is not found in age. Wisdom is found in the study and practice of God’s Word.

The Psalmist was a learner of God’s Word and that made him among the wisest in the world.

3. He lives the Word of God (101-102).

“I hold back my feet from every evil way”

“I do not turn aside from your rules”

Wisdom is only experienced when God’s Word is obeyed. One cannot be wise and at the same time disobedient. I have known people who in their sin bragged about how much of the Bible they knew. I have experienced this in my own family. You try and talk to them about the Lord, and they say:

“I know the Bible.”

Knowing the Bible doesn’t help if you live in sin. It hurts you.

“for you have taught me” He didn’t learn the Word in some academic sense. The Holy Spirit taught him. When the Holy Spirit teaches you, it shows in your life. What you learn will keep you from a sinful life

“in order to keep your word” (101).

You’re not really learning it if you’re not living it.

4. He likes the Word of God (103-104).

“How sweet are your words”

In the Psalmist’s Day honey was as sweet as it got. It is still a delight thousands of years later.

If you are not saved you have no taste for the Word of God.

Illust. Just as covid robbed the taste of man. The virus of sin has robbed us of our taste for the Word of God. When God saves us, He gives us new desires. One of those desires is for the Word of God. What was once sour to us is now sweet.

Illust. The more we dig the sweeter it is. It is like peeling back the skin on a peach. The deeper you get into the flesh the sweeter it is.

You can continue to develop your palate after you are saved by experiencing the depth of God’s Word.

No one must beg us to get dessert. No one should have to beg us to get into the Word of God. It should be a natural desire that comes because of tasting it so many times before.

The Word of God also causes him to dislike something.

“therefore I hate every false way” The wisdom he gets from God’s Word creates a hatred for anything that contradicts it.

Our taste buds change when we are saved. There are things that used to taste good to us that now taste bad.

We can’t like the truth and a lie at the same time. Liking the taste of the truth requires detecting the taste of that which is false. This new and refined spiritual palate we have will give us a gag reflex. We will spit out that which is false and sinful.

Nun

This is the fourteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

1. The simplicity of the Word of God. (v. 105)

Many of you probably have this verse memorized.

“a lamp to my feet” a lamp is used at night.

“a light unto my path” Light is visible during the day.

We remember when Israel left Egypt God gave them light during the day and at night. He does the same with us in this dark world. God has given us His Word to guide us in righteousness.

I used the word simplicity because God has written His Word in such a way that we can understand it. Granted, there are difficult passages. But much of God’s Word is very simple. If you need to make a decision it is not difficult to discover the right one if you know God’s Word. It is as obvious as light is. Tink of yourself in a dark room. You are bumping into everything. You don’t know where to go. Someone does something as simple as turning on the light switch and life is much easier to navigate.

2. The sworn oath to God’s Word (106).

“I have sworn an oath” He made a promise that he would keep God’s Word. When you come to Christ you make an oath to keep the Word of God. I have said on many occasions, there is no Christianity apart from the Bible. You can not be faithful to God and unfaithful to Scripture.

When you say “I want to live for Jesus” you are saying “I want to live by God’s Word.”

3. The spiritual renewing of God’s Word (107).

“I am severely afflicted” He was in some sort of trial probably related to what we see in verse 110.

“Give me life…according to Your Word” Trials can suck the life out of us. The Word of God brings refreshing. If God did not preserve us, we would expire. His means of preserving us is His Word.

Nothing can renew you like the bible can. The Word of God alone gives hope in hopeless circumstances.

4. The singing inspired by God’s Word (108).

“Accept my free will offering of praise” He offered God an offering but not because it was the day of Atonement or some special feast day. He gave a freewill offering of praise.

When I read this verse, the order made me think of a church service.

We begin with singing praises to God.

We follow the praises with teaching from God’s Word.

This should be the case with us each time we gather. We should sing to the Lord. Then we should sit down and say “Lord, teach me your rules.”

If you like worship more than the Word, you have it backwards. It is ore important that we hear from God than it is that He hear from us.

5. The safety found in God’s Word (109-110).

“I hold my life in my hand continually” he is always in danger. He lived a more difficult life than we did.

“the wicked have laid a snare for me” he had enemies that sought to kill him.

Each day he thought could be his last. With that in mind he did not forget or stray from God’s Word.

If he did die his safety was found in the Word of God. He held to the promise of forgiveness and eternal life.

You live in a dangerous world. It may not be obvious, but you could leave here in a moment. People do every day. Does that reality keep you glued to the Word of God? When we forget our life is a vapor we forget the laws of God. A continual understanding of the fragility of life will keep us in the Word of God.

6. The security of God’s Word (111-112).

“Your testimonies are my heritage forever” God promised the tribes of Israel an inheritance in the land. Those promises likely became forgotten by many once the nation was swallowed by its enemies. We don’t know when this Psalm was written. If it was written after the Babylonian captivity the words are especially important. It shows a trust in God’s Word when it appears all hope is gone.

God has given us a promise of an inheritance in His Word. He has promised us:

A home

Rewards

Eternal life/health

Eternal freedom from sin and sorrow

“they are the joy of my heart” Do you think about the future? Two hundred years from now you have a future if you are saved. You have an inheritance that does not fade away.

“I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever” God has promised us an eternal inheritance. It makes sense that we would promise Him eternal allegiance.

The security that God’s Word promises us should cause us to stand secure in Him. When you and I think of heaven it should move our hearts toward obedience.