Set My Heart Free to Run in Your Word

Call to Worship

Psalm 108:1 “My heart is steadfast (confident), O God; I will sing and make melody with my whole being.

Sermon Connecting Point

This week we have experienced highs and lows, celebrations and travesties, remarkably wonderful and utterly horrific.

From George Floyd’s seemingly unjust death by a police officer who, from everything we can tell at this moment, does not represent the rest of law enforcement. We need to pray for Floyd’s family, the Minneapolis community, and law enforcement on many levels. The relationship aspect of their jobs just got exponentially more difficult.

To the SpaceX Rocket Launch, which is a milestone in space travel, as the private sector throws their hat in the ring in a whole new way.

This week we experienced a lot—we feel a lot. And we should. There are simultaneously many wonderful activities, family events and discoveries taking place and many travesties, activities that bring confusion, and opportunities where Satan, our Great Enemy, is taking full advantage to bring confusion, hatred, animosity, murder, and general disobedience to the Lord.

This is why we need the Psalms: to help is gain our equilibrium—to find true north—and do the only thing possible to gain understanding for our next step, which is to look intently into the Word of God.

PRAY

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Journeying through the Psalms

As we journey through the Psalms together, we’re taking a representative sampling of 14 Psalms from a variety of sub-genres within. The Psalms give us language to take to the Lord in prayer, to meditate on, and to continually learn of the Lord’s ways. There is a Psalm for every season of life.

We’ll approach Psalm 119 today as we have the rest of the book, with a representative sampling where I hope to show you the value of the Psalms, yes, but Psalm 119 in particular.

Fun Facts about Psalm 119

The greatest acrostic passage. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and 22 stanzas in Psalm 119, which walk through the Hebrew alphabet.

What’s more, each verse in every stanza has 8 verses, each of which begin with the same letter of the alphabet as its heading. (We miss that particular detail in our English Bibles, of course, but it is a striking literary feature for a work of this length). This is an incredible composition!

While Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the bible with 176 verses, it only takes 15-20 minutes to read. (It’s about the size of Ruth and James.)

Allen Ross (Psalms 3.460) points out that here are 8 synonyms for the torah, which means “law,” and refers to God’s law:

“Law” (תּוֹרָה) is used 25 times

“Word” (דָּבָר) 24 times

“Decision” (or “judgment,” מִשְׁפָּט) and

“Testimony” (עֵדוֹת) 23 times

“Command” (מִצְוָה) 22 times

“Statute” (חֹק) and

“Precept” (פִּקּוּד) 21 times

“Saying” (or “oracle” or “promise,” אִמְרָה) 19 times.

All eight synonyms occur in four stanzas (verses 57–64 (Het, ח), verses 73–80 (Yod, י), verses 81–88 (Kaph, כּ), and verses 129–136 (Pe’, פּ)).

The other stanzas use seven or six of the words, sometimes repeating one or two of them.

Perfect symmetry is not the goal, and the word “law” (תּוֹרָה) is most prominent because it is used more than the others and is found in the first verse, which sets the focus for the entire psalm.

The Psalmist’s arrangement is a way of saying this is the full revelation on the nature of the law (a rhetorical device used elsewhere in Scripture e.g. “the alpha and the omega”).

Our God is a God who speaks and it is the possession of that verbal revelation which marks his people off from all others on earth. And God has spoken completely and fully in what we hold in our hands as the Bible. There is, nor will there be, any new Word or revelation from God. Hebrews tells us:

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Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

One great way to learn and grow in wisdom is to watch another’s life. Sometimes they’ll tell you to do certain things, develop certain skills, etc., but often simply watching their life, listening to them speak, observing their relationship with the Lord tells you most of what you need to know. This is a humble posture.

Transition: Psalm 119 is not so much the psalmist telling me how much I should love and read God’s word. Instead it’s the psalmist telling all of us how much he has come to love God’s word. It’s a prayer of praise for the sweetness, value, and delight of God’s word.

As I poured over this Psalm over the past few weeks, the idea that continued to stand out to me, and has become the title to this message is

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Set My Heart Free to Run in Your Word

Every day we wake up and go about our lives making hundreds of decisions throughout the day. When we look over the span of our days, it becomes clear that we’ve pursued the activities, people, etc. that we believe will make us happiest—that’s why we choose them when we’re able.

In the beginning of the Psalms, we see the same idea that opens the Book of Psalms in Psalm 1:

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The Wholehearted Follower of God is Happy (1-8)

(you might say “wholly happy”)

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Psalm 119:1–8 (ESV)

Aleph

119 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of the Lord!

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!

4 You have commanded your precepts

to be kept diligently.

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.

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!

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Our vision statement at Oak Grove is to “Reach, teach, and live out what it means to be wholehearted followers of Jesus.”

Seeking the Lord has always meant seeking Him through His Word. In the Gospel of John, we see that the Word, which was in the beginning and was/is God has become flesh, dwelt among us in the person of Jesus:

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John 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

“…the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

If we are to be eternally happy, it is only possible as we meet God in His Word, and guard our steps according to God’s Word (9).

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Psalm 119:9–16 (ESV)

Beth

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

10 With my whole heart I seek you;

let me not wander from your commandments!

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!

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.

It becomes clear here that this “young man” is the Psalmist himself. He wants to live a pure life, which he knows is only done according to the Word of God.

“With my whole heart I seek You,” he says. When the Lord is our treasure,

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We store His truths in our hearts (9-16)

This brings us great delight, so we won’t forget his rules and testimonies.

Now, many of the words we repeatedly encounter have come upon hard times. Culturally-speaking, we don’t love the words, “law,” “rules,” etc.

We like all the feels of being loved by God so long as we can live however we want. The only problem is that makes us into our own god.

But when we know that God has given us his rules for our good, because they are best, and furthermore know that walking with God brings the greatest joy in life, we find that our hearts sing another tune—a tune of love for the Lord, which in turn brings love for all of His Word.

One commentator says,

“This is a psalm not only of law but also of love, not only of statute but also of spiritual strength, not only of devotion to precept but also of loyalty to the way of the Lord. The beauty in this psalm resounds from the relationship of the psalmist and his God.”

This is why, with the Psalms, we would do well to:

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Passionately ask the Lord to open our eyes (18) to behold wonderful things out of God’s law.

You see in the third section of Ps 119, the Psalmist finds solace from the Lord as a sojourner, a stranger, one under constant pursuit from his enemies.

Think of Balaam’s eyes being opened (Num 22:31) when he “all of a sudden” saw the angel of the Lord standing in front of him with his sword drawn.

The NT speaks of this concept similarly, like having a veil removed (2 Cor. 3:14-18).

It will serve you well to pray a simple prayer when you open your Bible to say, “Lord, open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word and give me an ear to hear so I obey You.”

In fact, sometimes when we read as a family, I’ll forget to do this, but I’ll stop us—even awkwardly—to say, “Wait, we have to ask the Lord to help us see rightly and have a heart to obey…let’s ask Jesus for help.”

Another prominent thread running throughout the Psalm is a commitment to run in the way of God’s commandments. This is the reason for my title:

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Set My Heart Free to Run in Your Word (25-32)

Run! Don’t walk. Don’t get distracted.

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Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

What sin clings so closely to you? What sin permeates, distracts, weighs you down?

I’ll tell you something. I had a brother who loves me and a sister who cares for me confront me this week on two specific things I need to work on. One was a clear sin, the other was a way to grow as a man of God and a pastor but not necessarily an explicit sin.

Neither of those were pleasant to hear. My heart pounded a bit faster. I began to get a bit defensive. But God in His mercy quickened/softened my heart to be able to hear and put it into practice…one day at a time.

How will I do? Well only time will tell. But Proverbs 27: 6 tells us that “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; (but) profuse (many, freely given) are the kisses of an enemy.”

You want to hear from God? You want the blessing of the Lord? Set your heart to obey God vigorously when confronted with His Word, or by a brother or sister in the Lord who brings messages in line with God’s Word.

Verse 32 summarizes the commitment of the Psalmist. He’s tired from life. He feels abandoned by most. He’s confused. He’s depressed (“my heart melts away from sorrow” (28)).

So he asks boldly, passionately for the Lord to teach him God’s truths (27) because they encourage and strengthen him. In fact, he clings to them (31), which takes us to v. 32

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Psalm 119:32 "I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!”

The idea of enlarging one’s heart is to set it free. It’s kin to the idea of being given one request, like Solomon in 2 Chronicles 1:7. “Ask what I shall give you,” the Lord said to Solomon in a dream.

Ask anything!

What would you ask for? Maybe you could have anything in the world. What do you want?

Solomon answers, “Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?”

And God answered, “Because this (godly wisdom) was in your heart…wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor...”

This is echoed in the NT when Jesus says, Matthew 6:33 (ESV),

“...seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Certainly not everyone is given wealth and honor. The point is that when your heart is set free by God’s Word, you will run after Him.

To “run in God’s Word” means to trust God, and run in faith. Run carries the idea of speedy obedience.

When God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Gen. 22:3 tells us he got up early the next morning to obey the Lord.

Toward the middle of the Psalm

Toward the psalm when the Psalmist is lamenting his situation, he goes to God and cries out for help. He lays his situation before the Lord and makes a bold request to be kept alive.

In his lament, he shows his faith and desire to live for the purpose of honoring/keeping God’s rules.

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Psalm 119:87–88 ESV

87 They have almost made an end of me on earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. 88 In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.

Notice the purpose clause, “that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.”

He recognizes God’s goodness and faithfulness and knows the Lord will carry him through if he lives.

We see a theme continue to unfold that God’s word is light shining in darkness, like a lamp to our feet (105), which is to give wisdom to the simple (105).

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When difficulties loom large, faith sees that God is near too (145-152) and greater than the challenge.

Hope in difficulty demonstrates while there’s a real threat, a real difficult, the present reality of God’s goodness as the reigning King overshadows any difficulty we face.

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The poor in spirit will testify to God’s faithfulness (169-176)

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5) with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

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Psalm 119:169–176 (ESV)

Taw

169 Let my cry come before you, O Lord;

give me understanding according to your word!

170 Let my plea come before you;

deliver me according to your word.

171 My lips will pour forth praise,

for you teach me your statutes.

172 My tongue will sing of your word,

for all your commandments are right.

173 Let your hand be ready to help me,

for I have chosen your precepts.

174 I long for your salvation, O Lord,

and your law is my delight.

175 Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me.

176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,

for I do not forget your commandments.

Exhortation to dive into Psalm 119

Communion Transition