Stanza Daleth: "A Sinner"

Sermon Primer

Let’s look back at where we began on our journey in Psalm 119. We noted that God imparts His blessedness to us by making us happy in enjoying Him. But to enjoy Him, we must be like Him, and to be like Him, we must be conformed to his will as revealed in His word. 

There are two main obstacles that we face to our enjoyment of God:

We are strangers

We are Sinners

This morning, we will read a graphic description of the spiritual turmoil that troubles some Christians. Does God really overwhelm His people with the waves of His displeasure and wrath? 

Some people are adamant that God never treats His people this way. I disagree.

Let me ask you a few questions to get at the heart of the issue:

Does God Love you?

Does God Love you even when you Sin?

Is God ever angry or displeased with you?

If your answer to all three of these questions is yes then you have your answer........

A while back I had confronted a man - a professing Christian who had acknowledged that that he was an adulterer with his sin. I told him that God was displeased with him - even angry with him.

The man was shocked and offended. He proceeded to quote Romans 8:39, “Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our lord,” and insisted that God loved him and was never displeased with him. Is that true? It depends on what we mean by love. Here is the tricky truth: God loves His people in two ways.

1. God Loves His people unconditionally:

This is His delight in people as we stand in Christ. This love does not change. It cannot increase or decrease. This is the kind of love that Romans 8:39 is expressing.

2. God Loves His People Conditionally:

This is God’s delight in the holiness that is in His people as a result of God’s grace. Our experience of this love does change. It can increase or decrease. Christ declares, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23).

Again He declares “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” (John 15:10). Clearly the love of which Christ hear speaks of is conditional or contingent on our obedience.

His love that delights in us because of our position in Christ as a new creation does not change. However, His conditional love can be fractured and lost as a result of our sin.

When we do sin the result is anxiety and restlessness in our spirit. This is the psalmists experience in our text today. He feels as if he is drowning in the waves of God’s displeasure.

Have you experienced a fallen countenance, a lack of joy and peace, disinterest in prayer and bible study, avoidance of deeper things, or an unwillingness to get close to others for the fear of discovery?

Have you ever found yourself withdrawing from Christian fellowship or dismissing godliness as legalism and extremism? What about harshness in censuring others? Do you know what these things are? They are marks of a troubled conscience, arising from a refusal to deal with past sins.

Psalm 119:25–32 ESV

25 My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! 26 When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes! 27 Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. 28 My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! 29 Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! 30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. 31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame! 32 I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!

BIG IDEA: When our souls are crushed and powerless, God revives and transforms us from weary duty into joyful freedom.

INTRODUCTION

“Stuck to the Ground”

Imagine a runner at the starting line of a race. The gun is about to fire—but something is wrong.

His shoes are stuck to the track.

At first, he assumes it’s just stiffness. He pulls harder. Nothing. The more he struggles, the more exhausted and frustrated he becomes. Other runners explode off the line, but he is still glued to the ground—embarrassed, defeated, and powerless to move.

No amount of effort, willpower, or desire can free him. He doesn’t need motivation. He needs help from outside himself.

That image captures the cry of Psalm 119:25:

“My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word.”

The psalmist is not lazy. He is not indifferent. He is stuck—spiritually drained, pressed down, unable to move forward on his own.

And notice what he does not say:

“I’ll try harder.”

“I’ll push through.”

“I’ll fix myself.”

Instead, he prays:

Give me life

Teach me

Strengthen me

Remove false ways

Enlarge my heart

Only after God acts does he say in verse 32:

“I will run in the way of your commandments.”

The psalmist knows something we often forget: Obedience doesn’t begin with effort—it begins with revival. Running comes after God releases what is stuck.

This psalm is for anyone who wants to obey God—but feels too tired, too discouraged, or too weak to take another step.

And it reminds us: God doesn’t shame those who are stuck to the dust— He gives life, widens the heart, and teaches us how to run again.

1. A Sinner Who Acknowledges Their Sinfulness Has a Clinging Soul

The psalmist now takes on the disposition of a mourner. Mourners in the east would throw dust on their heads and sit in sackcloth and ashes, the psalmist felt as if these symbols of woe were glued to him, and his very soul was made to cleave to them.

He felt powerless to rise above his grief.

Have you ever felt utterly powerless to rise above your grief and sorrow?

There was a tendency in his soul to cling to earth, which he greatly lamented.

Whatever the cause of the psalmist's complaint, it was not just a surface-level evil, but was a matter of his innermost spirit. His very soul cleaved to the dust; it was not an accidental falling into the dust, but a continual and powerful tendency towards the dust.

We read in scripture how many people are of the earth, earthy 1 Corinthians 15:47

1 Corinthians 15:47 ESV

47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

However, many people never lament their earthiness. Only the heaven-born and heaven-soaring souls grieve at the thought of being fastened to this world and trapped by its sorrow or its pleasures. 

Many people are dead and do not know it. Look at what Paul had to say in Romans about the state of the one who does not have a clinging soul. Romans 1:21

Romans 1:21 ESV

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The world is darkened in their way of thinking. The difference between David and the rest of the world is that he is well aware of his sinfulness and need for a resurrection. He see’s his need to be revived.

A. A Clinging Soul Acknowledges The Need for Spiritual CPR

The plea “give me life” suggests the psalmist feels lifeless, faint, or spiritually dying.

His condition is so severe that only divine intervention through God’s Word can revive him.

This verse powerfully teaches us that revival does not come from circumstances changing, but from God breathing life through His Word—a theme that fits beautifully with the broader movement of Psalm 119.

When the fire is about to go out, we must add more fuel to the embers. Soon the fire is ablaze. Similarly when our spiritual life wanes in it’s intensity, we must ask God to revive us.

And He will do so by the power of HIs word. We need reviving because of the deadness of our hearts, which comes from our continual propensity toward sin.

B. A Clinging Soul Doesn’t Minimize the Severity of our Sin

“When I told of my ways, you answered me.”

The psalmist's prayer for revival is followed by the admission of sin in the psalmist's life. The psalmist does not even begin to minimize or trivialize the severity of his sin. 

Confession is a necessary doorway to spiritual healing and renewal in our lives. Most peoples natural disposition is to play the victim of circumstances part of sin.

Circumstance do not make us do what we do they simply explain who and what we already are.

Principle of Minimized Comparison

A glass of water looks clear, take that same glass of water and put it on a fire. Soon all of the impurities will rise to the surface. The scum will soon boil to the top of the water.

Some of us excuse our sin by convincing ourselves that it is justified by numbers. Everyone does it. I’m just like everyone else. So what do I have to worry about? This kind of thinking is full of problems.

A cancer patient doesn’t find much comfort or solace in the fact that cancer is widespread, just like the prevalence of sin in other people's lives; we are deceiving ourselves. 

Some people excuse sin by convincing themselves that it is a normalized reality: to err is human. So what can anyone expect? That reflects a clear misunderstanding of the nature of our sin.

God made Adam and Eve perfect, meaning their human nature was perfect. Fallen human nature is the result of the fall. Sin, therefore, is not a testimony to our humanity, but to our utter depravity. That is to say, there is nothing normal about sin.

Open Confession is Good for the Soul - Charles Spurgeon

Nothing brings more ease and more life to a man than a frank acknowledgment of the evil which has caused the sorrow of our life.

C. A Clinging Soul Needs to be Taught so that we Understand

The psalmist expresses two parts to the understanding heart:

(1) Teach me thy statutes: Being truly sorry for the wrong and having obtained full forgiveness, he is anxious to avoid offending again and so he begs to be taught obedience.

“Justified people always long to be Sanctified People”

When God forgives our sins, we are all the more fearful of sinning again. Mercy, which pardons our offense, causes us to long for grace, which prevents us from sinning.

(2) Make me understand the way of thy precepts: Give me a deep understanding into the practical meaning of your word.

We do not follow Him in blind obedience; God would rather us follow Him with our eyes wide open.

We need to be taught so that we understand what we are being taught. It is not good for us to talk about what we do not understand. Talk without intelligence and understanding is just talk.

“The Blueprint vs. the Building”

Imagine being handed a stack of blueprints for a house.

You can study them. You can memorize measurements. You can even explain where every wall and wire is supposed to go.

But until you understand how the pieces fit together, you can’t actually build the house.

Many people know facts about Scripture the same way:

* They know verses.

* They know rules.

* They know religious language.

But they don’t yet understand “the way” of God’s Word—how His commands form a life that is good, beautiful, and wise.

That’s why the psalmist prays in Psalm 119:27:

“Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.”

Notice what he asks for:

Not more information

Not mere obedience

But understanding

He’s saying, “God, don’t just tell me what to do—help me see why this way leads to life.”

When understanding comes, something changes:

Rules turn into roads

Commands turn into direction

Obedience turns into worship

That’s why the verse ends with meditation on God’s wondrous works. When we understand God’s ways, we don’t just comply—we marvel.

The Point

You can obey without understanding for a while—but it will always feel heavy. But when God gives understanding, obedience becomes meaningful and joyful.

“Rules without understanding feel like chains—but God’s ways, once understood, become a path we gladly walk.”

2. A Sinner Who Acknowledges Their Sinfulness Has a Melting Soul

When the psalmist says that his soul melts for heaviness He is literally saying that he was dissolving away in His tears. When a person weeps, he wastes his soul away. Some of us know what such heaviness of spirit and heart looks like.

We often feel like we are being poured out like water, close to being like water spilled on the ground, never to be gathered back up again.

It is at this point that the Lord strengthens us with grace through His word. The word that creates can sustain us in the greatest constant melting away of our soul in the middle of its abiding sorrow.

“When the Battery Is Drained”

Imagine your phone at 1% battery.

It still turns on. It still works—barely. But every action feels slower, dimmer, more fragile.

You lower the brightness. You close apps. You try to conserve energy.

But no matter how careful you are, the phone cannot recharge itself. It doesn’t need better management—it needs power from outside itself.

That’s the picture Psalm 119:28 gives us:

“My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.”

The psalmist doesn’t say his soul is broken— he says it’s melting. Slowly draining. Quietly collapsing.

And notice what he does not pray:

* “Help me toughen up.”

* “Give me more discipline.”

* “Make me stronger than I feel.”

Instead, he asks God to strengthen him according to His Word.

Just like a phone must be plugged into a power source, a weary soul must be plugged into God’s promises.

And the strength doesn’t come from emotion returning first— it comes from connection.

The Point

Spiritual strength is not self-generated stamina. It is received strength—drawn from God’s Word when sorrow has drained us dry.

“A melted soul doesn’t need motivation—it needs connection.”

A RESOLUTION FOR MELTING SINNERS

A. A Melting Soul Removes the Way of Lying

Lying is at the very heart of the way of sin. From the very first sin in the garden Lying and deception has been at the heart of the sinful nature we are born into.

The psalmist desired to be right and upright, true and in the truth, but he feared that a measure of falsehood would cling to him unless the Lord took it away.

How many of us could say that we honestly desire all lies and deceptions to be removed from our lives.

i. We remove the lie when we see our sin without making excuses

The Proper Self-Perception

How often do we have a flawed self-perception of ourselves. When we do have a skewed self-perception we begin make excuses for the sin in our lives. We see ourselves as better than we are and our sins as less desperate.

When we have a proper self-perception of our sins we recognize that we are without moral virtues adequate to commend ourselves to God. We find no goodness in our hearts, we then run to Him for grace and comfort.

Transformative Effect of Forgiveness

Lots of people regret their sin. They regret the mess that they have made of their lives. They regret the poor choices they have made. They regret the negative consequences of their sins. They regret the disappointment frustration, and shame.

When we regret we feel the pain, anguish, and discomfort. We just want the mess to go away. We wish things were different. But, we dare not confuse regretting with repenting. Esau regretted. Saul regretted. Ahab regretted. Judas regretted. But none of them every repented.

We Repent When We Truly See our Sins without Making Excuses.

We see that our sin springs from our heart’s departure from God.

The Unmistakable Smell

I grew up in Hobbs New Mexico. Hobbs is right in the middle of oil country. Hobbs had a distinct smell.

This odor is primarily caused by H2Scap H sub 2 cap S𝐻2𝑆 and other volatile organic compounds released during the extraction, refining, or transportation of crude oil and natural gas.

Here is the thing, for the residents of Hobbs after awhile we no longer notice the smell, we quickly become accustomed to it. To a great extent, that is what sin is like in our day.

We have grown accustomed to it, and therefore it no longer shocks us as it should.

Sin is:

outright rebellion against God’s sovereignty

arrogance against God’s power

unrighteousness against God’s justice

ignorance against God’s wisdom

stubbornness against God’s will

Evil against God’s will

Evil against God’s goodness

Hatred Against Gods Law

Murder Against God’s Being

When we see our sin as it truly is we all cry with David from the depth of our soul: “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13)

ii. We remove the lie when we accept the truth

Since the psalmist had abhorred the way of lying David now chooses the way of truth.

The fact that the psalmist has asked for the way of lying to be removed say’s that he has already chosen the way of truth.

A person must choose one or the other, for there can be no neutrality when it comes to God and His word. People do not drop into the right way by chance.

The truth is that God has called us out from the world to sanctify us and make us holy. People do not become holy by wishful thinking. There must be study, consideration, deliberation, and sincere inquiry or the way of truth will be missed.

The commands are set before us like a target to aim at, a model to work by, and a road to walk in. 

“False” refers to deception, unreliability, and distortion of truth—ways of thinking and living that contradict God’s revelation.

It includes:

False beliefs about God

Self-deception and rationalization

Living according to appearances rather than truth

Any path that promises life apart from God

This is broader than isolated sins; it is about a way of life

What It Means to Put Them “Far Away”

A deliberate renunciation, not casual avoidance The language implies distance, not tolerance. The psalmist wants falsehood removed from his influence and direction.

A prayer for divine intervention He asks God to do this because he knows deception is subtle and powerful. Left to himself, he might excuse or drift back into false ways.

An inner reorientation of trust False ways often appeal because they seem easier, safer, or more rewarding. Putting them far away means rejecting those false promises at the level of the heart.

WHY GRACE IS CENTRAL

The second line explains the first:

“and graciously teach me your law.”

Removing false ways is impossible without replacement.

God’s truth must take the place of deception.

Repentance is not just subtraction but substitution.

B. A Melting Soul Sticks to the Testimonies of the Lord

“The Handhold on the Cliff”

Picture a hiker crossing a narrow mountain trail. The path is steep, the wind is strong, and the ground beneath his feet begins to crumble. He slips—and suddenly he’s sliding toward the edge.

Instinctively, he reaches out and grabs a fixed handhold carved into the rock.

He doesn’t analyze it.

He doesn’t test alternatives.

He doesn’t let go to see if something better might be nearby.

He clings—with white knuckles and full trust—because his life depends on it.

The psalmist is not standing confidently on solid ground. Earlier, his soul was clinging to the dust. Now, under pressure and threat of shame, he does the only safe thing: he clings to what cannot move.

God’s testimonies are like that handhold:

Not temporary feelings

Not personal strength

Not public approval but fixed, proven, trustworthy truth

i. Those Who Stick to the Testimonies of the Lord Will not be Put to Shame

Shame comes when what we trust fails us publicly. Security comes when what we cling to cannot fail at all.

The psalmist doesn’t say, “I have climbed well.” He says, “I am holding fast.”

The Point

Victory over shame doesn’t come from flawless footing—it comes from a faithful grip.

“God doesn’t ask for perfect balance—He asks us to hold fast.”

The choice is between a murderer and Father. The problem is the blind choice of preferring “broken cisterns” to “the fountain of living waters.” (Jer. 2:13)

C. A Melting Soul Runs Toward God’s Commandments

Note: The feet run quickly when the heart is free and energetic.

Are your passions focused and eagerly set on divine things, and our actions will be full of vigor, swiftness, and delight.

What changed from verse 25 to this present verse - from cleaving to the dust to running in the way1 It is the excellence of holy sorrow that it works in us.

i. Running is Sincere

We must run with a sincerity of our grief and the reality of our revival by being zealous in the ways of the Lord.

Look again how he closes with “I Will”.

What does in Look like to Run with a Sincere Heart?

Obedience motivated by love not fear.

A truly sincere heart obeys God because he wants God, not just His approval. There is no pretence or performance, only desire to please the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:14

2 Corinthians 5:14 ESV

14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;

Consistency in Private and Public

I believe the greatest compliment a Christian can receive is to be the same person in public as in private. The same faith practiced in public worship is lived out in private decisions. A sincere runner doesn’t compartmentalize faith—it governs the whole life. 

Quick Repentance not stubborn defensiveness

Running with sincerity doesn’t mean sinless perfection. It means immediate return to God when stumbling, rather than hiding or excusing sin 1 John 1:7–8 “7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Eagerness to Obey When Costly

Running assumes motion—but also reliance on grace. A sincere heart knows it runs only because God supplies endurance Philippians 2:12–13 “12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

ii. Running is with an Enlarged Heart

Notice how the heart has been spoken of up to this point:

Whole Heart (vs. 2)

Uprightness of Heart (vs. 7)

Hid in my heart (vs. 11)

Enlarged my heart (vs. 32)

We see here and will continue to see throughout Psalm 119 of David’s heart work of faith. Remember that David was a man after God’s own heart.

This is the one great deficiency of our age that heads count for more than hearts, and people are far readier to learn than to love, though they are by no means eager to move in either direction.

CONCLUSION

“From Tight Shoes to Running Free”

Imagine a child given a new pair of running shoes—but they’re too small.

At first, the child can still walk. Then walking becomes uncomfortable. Eventually, even standing still hurts.

Running is unthinkable—not because the child hates running, but because the shoes restrict what the body wants to do.

Now imagine the child grows—or the shoes are replaced. Suddenly, the same legs that once limped run freely. The desire was always there; what changed was the capacity.

That’s the picture behind Psalm 119:32:

“I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart.”

The psalmist does not say:

“I will run when the rules are removed.”

“I will run when life gets easier.”

He says:

“I will run when you enlarge my heart.”

God’s commandments were never the problem. The narrowness of the heart was.

A cramped heart obeys reluctantly.

A fearful heart obeys selectively.

A proud heart obeys conditionally.

But when God enlarges the heart:

Love expands

Fear loosens its grip

Joy replaces resistance

And obedience, once painful, becomes natural and free—like running in shoes that finally fit.

The Point

God doesn’t free us by lowering His standards; He frees us by expanding our hearts to love what He commands.

“God doesn’t remove the path—He widens the heart so we can run it.”

Have your bones ever ached because of conviction for sin? Have you ever been exhausted as a result of your moaning on account of your sin? Have you ever looked at your face in the mirror and seen swollen eyes and blotchy cheeks as a result of the flood of tears you have cried over your sin?

When our soul clings to the dust and melts from heaviness, we must pray, “Have Mercy on me oh Lord.” We want God to deal with us in accordance with His mercy, not according to what we deserve. 

Todays text is a confession of our utter sinfulness and weakness. It is a confession of our complete dependence on God’s compassion: “Have Mercy on me, a sinner!” He paid the penalty for our sin, which God had laid on Him. On this basis, God forgives us. This does not mean that God acts like nothing happened, nor does it mean that He lessens the consequences of our sins. It means that He dissolves the obligation to punishment on the basis of Christ’s redeeming work on the cross.