Guided by His Goodness
Notes
Transcript
A. Rapport for the time
This past Wednesday night we read Isaiah 64:1-12
“Isaiah’s faith drives his lament. He believes three things about God: First, God is sovereign. He can do anything. Second, God is love. He is for me. He wants to do something. And finally, God is covenant-keeping God. He is bound by his own word. He will do something. Isaiah’s faith feeds off the character of God.”
Isaiah writes this scripture in Isaiah 64 inspired by the Spirit of God. He knows what he is writing and it come out of his heart in the fullness of his worshiping the one true God.
How do you know about God? Think about that just for a moment. You might think maybe your parents or grandparents. Could have been a pastor in friend that shared the Lord with you. But how do you know at this very moment. Those that told you had to get their information from some place.
Beloved the Word of God is our only hope. Without the word of God we don’t know who God is and we don’t know the name of Jesus Christ our Lord that came to redeem us. We will spend the next few weeks in Psalm 119 looking at what God tells us about the word of God and what it does for you and I.
B. Reading of the text
C. Review of the text
I have always wanted us to spend some time in Psalm 119 and just never found the correct time to make it happen. The psalm is the longest chapter in the bible with 176 verses. What makes it even more unique is the fact that it is exactly 22 sections with 8 verses each. The Psalm follows the Hebrew Alphabet to make each of the 8 verses easier to memorize.
The Hebrew Alphabet goes.
Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, He, Waw, Zayin, Heth, Teth, Yodh, Kaph, Lamedh, Mem, Nun, Samakh, Ayin
The beginning letter of each of the sections would begin with the letter corresponding to the letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. This is just a fascinating piece of Scripture.
But here is the thing that is most amazing about Psalm 119. The entire psalm is dominated by how the word of God affects the life of the believer.
D. Relevance of the text
As Christian we dedicate our life by faith in Christ Jesus our Lord to the word of God. Scripture is all about how God would redeem a people for his namesake and for his purpose. My greatest desire over these next few weeks is to deepen our understanding of he importance of the word of God an deepen our love for our Lord that has given us all we need to walk worthy of him.
I. Pursue the Path of Blessing
I. Pursue the Path of Blessing
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed—sound like last week
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
“Wicked...sinners...scoffers. These are people who refuse to live by the covenant. The godly person will not imitate such people’s immoral way of life.” These are people who follow their own way and lead themselves.
That is not a believers heart. Our faith is not in ourselves or our abilities our faith is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He has given us a new way to live. Look at that first verse. Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord.
How did you get into the church today from the parking lot? Now some of us are quicker than others but you walked. Did you have to think about it hard. Like, should I pick up this leg and bend my knee and move it forward? Should I follow that with the other leg or just stay in this spot stretched out a little and hope someone comes and carries me the rest of the way?
When the scripture tells us to walk in the law of the Lord it is telling us that as followers of Christ, we are Blessed, when we follow the Lord and make it the pattern of our life.
2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!
We are to seek the Lord with our WHOLE HEART. The deepest part of who we are including emotions are to seek the Lord with all parts of ourselves. Desiring the Lord an his truth more than anything else and that includes our own opinions.
2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
Beloved we are redeemed to pursue the Lord and follow his ways because they are what is best for us.
4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
Commanded—To charge, give orders, to lay a charge to
precepts—What God has appointed to be done
8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
Think back to when you were in school. Think about the class you dislike the most. Now think if the teacher had provided the answer key to you and told you to look at it whenever you wished before heading into the test next week. Would you have turned it down and said I don’t think so! I know more than enough to get all the answers correct so I'll just do it my way and will be just fine. Sounds silly huh! God has provided for us the path to follow him and the direction and the power need to do it affectively. We need only to follow him diligently.
diligently—Exceedingly much, might, force, abundance.
T.S.
II. Persist in Pursuit of Faithfulness
II. Persist in Pursuit of Faithfulness
5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
The psalmist begins to pray in vs. 5. After acknowledging that God’s ways are better than his own. We are to cry out to the Lord for the strength we need to walk in his way and keep his statutes. You and I are lacking in our own ability and that is ok, it’s called being human. As you sit in the pew this morning what is your greatest struggle? It is with yourself, someone else, a trial, a path that you took that led you the wrong direction, or a path that you took in the correct direction but it causing you to struggle.
Let me tell you something, the Lord knows and is waiting to listen to you acknowledge and fix your eyes on him and not on yourself. That is the goodness of the Gospel.
Having my eyes fixed....like a dog on a treat—Leans way over waiting for the toy to be thrown so that he can pursue.
How Paul fixes his eyes on the coming of Christ and it directs his path.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.
8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!
We learn God’s righteousness not by our own wisdom but that which comes from the word of God. The righteousness of Christ is expressed in scripture as he directs and guides our ways we look more like the one that has made us new.
160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.
This is the habit of our life before the God of the universe that redeemed us for his name sake.
T.S.
III. Preserve the Purity of Heart
III. Preserve the Purity of Heart
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
How can we keep our way pure? What a statement!
Pure—To be clen, pure in the sight of God, Be justified=be regarded as just, righteous, of God.
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes!
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Psalm 119
We must carefully treasure up the word of God, declare it to others, meditate on it, and heartily delight in it; and then by His grace we shall act according to it.
Store your word in my heart—As we take the word of God and meditate on it like the Lord asked us to do in Psalm 1 last week it creates an unmovable foundation. As we taste of the word we desire more of the word.
“The deeper we engage with Scripture, the more our appetite for it grows—a dynamic that transforms our spiritual lives. Scripture forms the foundation of Christian growth, and it becomes nearly impossible to develop without it, especially when pursuing a life marked by holy desire”
Haven’t you found this to be true? Ultimately the word of God is a mirror to one's soul, encouraging confession and transformation.
16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
T.S.
IV. Proclaim the Pleasures of Truth
IV. Proclaim the Pleasures of Truth
13 With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Our lives are a product of the life that has been changed by the word of God in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We lacked the ability to understand the statues of God, the righteousness of God, the Goodness of God, all that God is in his Glory. But we are not lacking anymore. We lack for nothing in Christ.
My life—my lips should be aligned with whom I place my faith.
Look at the word delight in vs. 14 and 16
delight—To bend toward or to be inclined towards an object or a person, to take pleasure in. It describes both an internal disposition and an active orientation—a turning of he heart and will toward something or someone else.
Critically, the object of our delight or pleasure is critical, for it is possible to delight in those things that are good and proper, but also possible to delight in that which is an abomination to the Lord.
Listen carefully, Is your relationship with the Lord a part of your normal conversation with others? You see if vs. 13-16 is true in our lives than it has to be on my lips. Not my ways but God’s ways.
The CSB Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes Chapter 119
To some people religion is a task. It will never have much power over them. But when it becomes a delight, then their walk will be affected by it. A well-known and renowned unbeliever of the last generation, traveling in Wales, said to a little girl he saw reading her Bible, “Well, my dear, I see you are getting through your task.” “Task, sir?” she said, “What do you mean? I am reading the Bible.” He said, “Didn’t your mother set you a chapter to read.” “Oh no, sir. If my mother wanted to punish me, she would not make me read the Bible. It is the most delightful book in the entire world, and it is a great joy to me when I can get a little time alone to read my Bible.” It touched his heart. As he confessed afterwards, he was delighted to find something like genuine religion. And where you find delight in religion, there it is genuine. True, genuine religion is like cascading water—all fresh and sparkling. I like to see the sparkling in it—a little sparking religion, a little flash of joy and of delight. But much we see is flat, stale, dull, and unprofitable. God gives us delight in himself, for that is true religion.
Pray how this would be true in all of our lives.
