Psalm 119:113-120

As I study this Psalm I try to identify a theme of each stanza. I think most stanzas in this Psalm can stand alone with a particular thought in mind. I believe the thought in this section is hypocrisy. The Psalmist knows religious hypocrites and does not want to be like them.

When we think of enemies, we probably think of people who outright reject the Christian faith.

Governments persecuting Christians

Other religions trying to exterminate Christianity

Atheistic professors/groups attacking the faith

There was some persecution against Israel like that through the years. But often a person’s enemies were those who declared the faith of the Jews. We saw this with David. Most of the enemies he faced were from his own countrymen. We see the same thing in this Psalm. His enemies were often those who had at least at one time claimed to be a follower of YHWH.

Look how he describes his enemies in verse 118; “all who go astray from your statutes”.

It appears to me that in this section the Psalmist is declaring that he will not be like them. He will live his faith in sincerity. We get some great insight on how to protect ourselves from hypocrisy in this Psalm. I’m going to show you five things we can do to protect ourselves from the sin of hypocrisy.

1. We must reject doublemindedness (113).

“I hate the double minded” The KJV says “I hate vain thoughts”.

There are a couple of ways the Hebrew could be translated. The point remains largely the same. There is a way of thinking that should be rejected.

“hate” when we see this word we normally think of the emotion of hate. That is certainly included in the Hebrew. What is also included is the idea of rejection.

“double minded” The Hebrew word used is from the same root of the word translated as “two opinions” in 1 K. 18:21:

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

The word describes someone who can’t decide what they want to do. They are playing two different parts in the same play. Overcoming hypocrisy requires a decision to be made. We must decide we want to live for God.

“but I love your Law” This is the proof one has moved from hypocrisy to sincerity. The Word of God pushes us to seek moral perfection.

There are many who would love to achieve perfection in:

Sports

Education

Talent- singing, dancing, performing

Not many would love to obtain moral perfection. The idea of not sinning does not appeal to them. They want to be good and bad. But they don’t want to be all good.

Make your mind up to love the Word of God and hate that which pulls you from it. Desire not just to appearto be righteous but to be righteous. Jesus said those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are the ones who belong to His kingdom.

2. We must trust that security is found in God and His Word (114).

“You are my hiding place and my shield”

How is this known? Look at the end of the verse. “I hope in your word.”

Through God’s word we learn the believer is safe. The NT tells us that we are “in Christ”.

Phil. 1:1 says all believers are “in Christ”

Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

Those who are in Christ will always be in Christ.

John 10:27-28

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Scripture often speaks of the believer finding refuge in God. How does that happen? We don’t physically run to the Lord for refuge. Our refuge is not a building.

Positionally speaking we are in Christ continually. There are times we need to experience in a subjective way the security we have in the Lord. This is done by faith. When remind ourselves that God’s Word teaches us He is our shield and refuge we experience the peace of God.

We exercise faith in the Word of God. God tells us His is our shield and we believe Him. What does this have to do with hypocrisy?

Sometimes our enemies will tell us we are not who we say we are.

Sometimes our own feelings can attack us.

To be sure, there are days we feel like hypocrites. Often that is because we have fallen short in some way. Instead of allowing sorrow to overcome us we must believe what God says about us.

Our security is not found in our own works.

Our security is not found in our own feelings.

Our security is found in God.

When you feel like a hypocrite go to God in prayer. Tell Him you how you feel.

Go to God’s Word. Discover who you are and what is required of you.

One of the great errors of the hypocrite is to trust in himself and his own good works. The antidote to hypocrisy is to trust in God alone.

3. We must separate ourselves from hypocrites (115).

“Depart from me, you evil doers”

Some might think this sounds un-Christlike. It is not. In fact, the believer is only repeating what Christ will say to the hypocrite when He returns.

“Depart from me ye workers of iniquity” (Matt. 7:23).

What is the motive for such strong language?

“that I may keep the commandments”

It is difficult to live for God if we fellowship with those who do not. To be clear we must have some degree of interaction with the hypocrite. The bulk of our time should be spent with those who love the Lord.

Some people struggle with this:

There are friends we have made before we waere saved or seeking to live for God.

There are family members we have that are hypocrites.

There are people we genuinely like that are hypocrites

We don’t want to be seen as judgmental.

We want to win to win people to the Lord.

Listen closely: Hypocrites are people who claim to be saved but do not live for God. It is very difficult to win them to the Lord because they think they are saved.

More times than not the hypocrite will win you over before you win him/her over. If we surround ourselves with people who claim Christ but embrace darkness it will affect us spiritually. We will likely begin to justify sin and minimize its consequences.

The Psalmist wants to surround himself with godly people. To do this he must separate himself from hypocrites.

4. We must trust in God’s sustaining power (116-117).

This is related to our second point. The focus there was on the protection of God. The focus here is on the power of God.

“Uphold me” (116)

“Hold me up” (117)

When we think of security in salvation we err if we only think of the final state. That is ultimately how our security is revealed. But security in salvation is also revealed by the sustaining power of God in this world.

God upholds us. That is, He gives us the power to overcome sin. We continue to have faith and live a godly life because God is sustaining us. Without God’s sustaining grace we would all be hypocrites.

“let me not be put to shame in my hope” (116)

“that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually” (117)

His hope is to live for God and not experience the shame a sinful life brings.

“Falling” is sometimes used to describe moral failure in the Bible. Standing is used to describe righteous living.

When we fall, we can be sure it is because we have embraced sin.

When we stand, we can be sure it is because God is making us stand.

Romans 14:4

And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

The sustaining power of God is revealed through obedience to Scripture (117). When we ask God to uphold us we are asking Him to give us the power to keep His Word. This is the desire of all who are not hypocrites. We want to live according to God’s Word. As we live in obedience, we demonstrate the sustaining power of God that is active in our life.

The hypocrite does not pray to overcome sin. Hypocrites are by nature secretive. They don’t admit who they, not even to God. They would not pray like the Psalmist does here. One way to guard against hypocrisy is to pray that God would help us overcome particular sins in our life.

5. We must maintain a holy fear of God (118-120).

He knows what happens to the wicked.

“You spurn” This word means to put down, take away

“You discard like dross” (119)

This is a reference to the process of removing impurities from precious metals. After the process is complete, that which has no value is tossed away.

This echoes what I mentioned earlier. The hypocrite will be removed from the presence of Christ on judgment day.

Two times we are told the believer is held up by God (116-117).

Two times we are told the hypocrite is cast away by God (118-119).

“their cunning is vain” God saw through their hypocrisy. This highlights the deceptive power of sin. The hypocrite believes he is fooling God. Omniscience is a doctrine unexplored by many. God knows all things. We cannot fool Him.

The hypocrite does not fear God. He insults God by believing he can live for this world and the next simultaneously. Fearing God is revealed by the way we live. If you live in rebellion to God you do not fear Him.

Look at the contrast between the hypocrite and the Psalmist:

“My flesh trembles for fear of You”

“I am afraid of your judgments”

The Psalmist was saved, and he felt this way about God.

The hypocrite was lost and didn’t fear God at all.

Even as a believer there is a fear we have of God.

We recognize what He is going to do with the wicked. We believe in hell. The thought of the judgment of God is terrifying.

The truth is the Psalmist was more concerned about hell than those who were going there were. A proper view of God is necessary to keep us from hypocrisy. When we see God as He fully is we can’t help but to tremble. No one is going to strut into heaven and high five Jesus. We fall on our faces before Him.

Do you fear God? Do you think of His holiness and His power? Do you think of judgment day? If you do you are far different than the hypocrite. The hypocrite only things of heaven. He only thinks of the love of God. He only thinks of grace.

In these verses we have five ways to guard against hypocrisy. Take these thoughts to heart.