Psalm 119:33-40
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Introduction
Introduction
[READING - Psalm 119:33-40]
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart. 35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain. 37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways. 38 Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You. 39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your ordinances are good. 40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me through Your righteousness.
Q: When you think of revival, what do you think of?
As we’ve gone through Psalm 119 studying the different stanzas, a certain theme has come to mind for each one.
First stanza (vv. 1-8)—Blessing and the word of God
Second stanza (vv. 9-16)—Holiness and the word of God
Third stanza (vv. 17-24)—Exile and the word of God
Fourth stanza (vv. 25-32)—Depression and the word of God
And… Fifth stanza (vv. 33-40)—Revival and the word of God
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
vv. 33-35
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.
“Teach me… And I shall observe...” / Request and Commitment.
The many statutes of God describe a singular way of living—the way of holy living before a holy God.
We need the Lord to teach us this way. It is so foreign to us that we shall not just pick it up without the Lord’s teaching.
Duration - “To the end” / To the end of life. If we know the Lord, we don’t stop obeying Him when we die, but the striving to obey Him will come to an end. Changed, we shall see Him as He is and be made perfectly holy.
Q: Besides the end of life, what are some other ‘ends’ at which people stop observing God’s laws?
Some people who once followed God stop at the end of high school or college. Some stop at the end of a marriage whether through divorce or when his or her spouse dies. Some stop when they reach retirement. Others stop at other various point along the way. For the true follower of God, however, there is no point at which we stop observing God’s statutes.
34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart.
The desire of the psalmist’s heart is to observe God’s Law and keep it, but for this he needs understanding.
Q: How is understanding different from memorizing?
God’s laws should be kept even when we don’t understand them, but because God is orderly, His laws make sense. They are understandable. Memorizing is good, but memorizing God’s laws without understanding them would be like memorizing the sounds of a Spanish phrase that we don’t understand. Having it memorized will do us little good if we don’t understand what the phrase means or when we should use it.
Intensity - “with my whole heart” / With every fiber of the psalmist’s being. This is the intensity with which we ought to obey God.
35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.
God’s laws are the way or the path—the path of righteousness before God and friendship with God.
Attitude - “for I delight in it.” / God’s laws are not to be drudgery but delight.
Q: What might make God’s commandments feel like drudgery?
Our flesh still feels the pull toward sin, so while our spirit (which is redeemed by Christ) wants for obedience to God, our flesh wants for rebellion. As Paul said in Romans 7, “Wretched man that I am who can save me from this body of sin and death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Even so, lack of prayer can make God’s commands feel like drudgery.
Lack of time in God’s Word can as well.
Too much time in the world or being entertained by the things of the world.
Unrepentant sin.
Not realizing that His commands are for our good.
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vv. 36-37
36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain.
“The singer knows that God must supply the deepest motivation.” ESV SB / We should pray this prayer! We sing it, “Change my heart oh God and make it ever new… Change my heart oh God and make me more like You…”
KJV has ‘covetousness’ instead of ‘dishonest gain.’ Covetousness is root cause of dishonest gain. It’s a desire for things that do not belong to us; things we might do anything to get. Our hearts should not want for such things, so we ask God to make our hearts to want right things, things like His testimonies.
37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways.
Our hearts want things that do not belong to us and our eyes love to gaze upon vain or meaningless things.
Q: What’s the connection between our eyes focused on meaningless things and hearts coveting for things?
Usually our hearts covet what our eyes see. If we would covet less, then we must turn our eyes from worthless things.
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v. 38 The word of God produces reverence for God.
38 Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.
“Establish Your word” / “Confirm to your servant your promise” (ESV) / This is not only asking God to perform His word but to ask Him to do it in such a way—to fulfill His promises in such a way—that the establishing, confirming, or fulfilling on His word produces reverence for Him in us.
v. 39 The word of God is good because God is good.
39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your ordinances are good.
The reproach is the contempt that comes to the psalmist from the unfaithful, those who mock the man or woman striving to obey God (vv. 22, 42, 51).
The psalmist dreads this reproach. He does not look forward to it or delight in it as some Christians do in our day. He is willing to endure it, but he doesn’t relish it.
“For Your ordinances are good” / (1) The ordinances are good because they come from God who is good (Psalm 119:68). (2) And because they are good, the psalmist is willing to endure reproach for obeying them.
Q: What sort of reproach have you endured for obeying a specific command of God?
v. 40 The word of God brings revival.
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me through Your righteousness.
The psalmist longs for revival—for new life—, but he understands a couple things about revival: (1) the experience of the LORD’s righteousness brings about revival (that’s when we see God in His holiness, ourselves in our sinfulness, and Jesus in His redemptive work), and (2) Revival through the LORD’s righteousness comes through the LORD’s precepts (i.e., through His word). Thus, the one who longs for revival will long for the word of God, the record of God’s righteousness.
The psalmist asks for this new life or revival in Psalm 119:25, 37, 40, and I’m sure in other verses to come.
25 My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.
37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways.
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me through Your righteousness.
God’s word, God’s ways, and God’s righteousness are refer to the same thing—the revelation of God in the words of holy Scripture.
Q: Understanding this, why do you think we don’t experience revival personally or corporately?
Don’t spend time in the word.
Read the word but don’t do the word.
Too familiar with the word.
[ILLUS] Rather than moving through the text, let the text move through you.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If we’re not experiencing this revival in the word of God, then let us do what the psalmist does in Psalm 119—let us ask God for it, and let us commit ourselves to it.
For example, the psalmist requests the LORD to teach him the way of the LORD’s statutes in v. 33, but then he commits to those statutes in the second half of the verse, “and I will keep it to the end.”
Let’s pray for what we need—revival in the word of God (revival in keeping it, observing it, and delighting in it)—and let’s commit ourselves to it.