Psalm 119:41-48 - The Word for the World

Introduction

Q: Why do you think people love to complain?

One of the easiest things to do is complain. One of the hardest things to do is change.

That’s true not only personally but also nationally and globally.

Here’s what I mean—as Christians, we often complain about the state our nation is in, and we complain about the state of the world.

But God has not called us to complain about it but to change it.

This is why Jesus said that we (His disciples) are the light of the world.

Is the world dark? Yes.

But rather than complain about the darkness, be the light.

Jesus also said that we are the salt of the earth.

Has the world lost its taste for God? Yes.

But rather than complain about it, we must be the salt so the world will taste and see that the Lord is good.

As we’ve studied Psalm 119, we’ve seen God’s Word for the blessed, for the young, for the exile, for the downcast, for revival—and tonight we see God’s Word for the world.

God’s Word first comes to us to change us and then moves through us to change the world.

[READING - Psalm 119:41-48]

Psalm 119:41–48 NASB95

41 May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your word; 42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word. 43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. 44 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. 45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. 46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed. 47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes.

Major Ideas

#1: The Word brings God’s grace to us and is our answer to the world (Psalm 119:41-42).

Psalm 119:41–42 NASB95

41 May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your word; 42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word.

Q: The NASB has “lovingkindness” in v. 41, what does your Bible have? What does “May Your lovingkindness” parallel with in the second half of v. 41?

God’s lovingkindness is His steadfast love, His mercy, His salvation, which comes to us through the Word of God and it is always according to the Word of God.

We saved by God’s grace through the gift of faith that God’s gives and that gift of faith comes through God’s Word.

Romans 10:17 NASB95

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Q: But look at v. 42, which is connected to v. 41, “So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me...” What does reproach mean? What does it look like to reproach someone?

To reproach means to express disapproval in an insulting way, which is why many other translations use the word taunt instead of reproach.

But you’ll notice in v. 42 that we are to have an answer for the taunt and that answer is the Word of God.

Jesus told us that in this world we would have trouble. That meant that we would be reproached or taunted or even worse, but it’s how we respond to the world’s reproach that determines whether we are being salt and light.

We could respond with complaining, which we’ve already talked about.

We could respond with silence, which wouldn’t do anyone any good.

Or we could respond with an answer from the Word of God, which just might change the world one heart at a time.

If I were to ask you why we don’t more often answer the world with the Word of God, someone might say its because the world doesn’t want to hear it. That may be true, but how they respond to it isn’t up to us. The question we have to ask ourselves is, “Do I trust the Word of God to make a difference?”

If I do, I will answer the world with the Word.

#2: The Word is at work in us and on display for the world to see (Psalm 119:43-45).

Psalm 119:43–45 NASB95

43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. 44 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. 45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.

Q: Verse 43 was a little difficult for me to understand, “And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth...” How might we understand that part of the verse?

The best interpretation I came across was from the paraphrase of this verse in The Message by Eugene Peterson. (Paraphrases do not need to be your go to translation of the Scriptures, but they are helpful as a sort of commentary on the Scriptures.) Peterson paraphrases this verse as, “Do not deprive me of the truth...”

Applying it to ourselves as salt and light in the world, we could pray this part of v. 43 as, “Do not deprive me of your truth as I seek to apply it to myself and the world around me.”

Q: In the second line of v. 43, the NASB uses the word wait while most other solid translations use the word hope. What is the connection between waiting on God’s Word and hoping in God’s Word?

God’s Word doesn’t do its work in us or in the world all at once. As someone once said, “The Gospel clock turns slow.” Even so, we do not give up. The Word is changing us and as we share it with others, it is also changing the world.

In v. 44 the psalmist committed himself to obeying God’s Word forever and ever.

He wasn’t like the hypocritical Pharisees who had the attitude of “good for thee but not for me.”

He knew that for the world to take notice, he would have to walk in obedience to God’s Word.

Q: How does our public disobedience to God’s Word cause others to stumble in their acceptance of God’s Word?

When we talk about ourselves as salt and light in the world, we often talk about letting others see Jesus in us. We sing this, “Keep telling the story, be faithful and true, let others see Jesus in you...”

But if we name the name of Christ and others don’t see Christ in us—but instead see hypocrisy like in the Pharisees or worldliness—like they see in themselves—then they have the right to conclude, “Jesus hasn’t made a difference in you, so I don’t think he’ll make a difference in me.”

The remedy to this is just what the psalmist commits himself to in v. 44—keeping God’s Word continually.

Verse 45 speaks of walking at liberty or walking in an open or wide place. The psalmist says that he walks in freedom because he seeks to obey God’s Word.

W. S. Plummer writes, “Sin is slavery. Vice is bondage. Corruption loads us with fetters. Divine grace brings us out of prison, knocks off our chains, and set us at large.”

Q: How do you see the world around you looking for some kind of freedom?

The world’s longing for freedom can be seen in it’s longing to escape. The world attempts to escape through the use of drugs, drunkenness, entertainment, and other things, and the world longs to escape because it knows that it is being held captive. The world is just confused about its captor.

The world often attributes its captivity to God.

It views God and His Word as being repressive.

So, according to the world’s perspective, God’s Word is repressive in regard to marriage, sexuality, family, gender identity, etc.

But in reality, the captivity the world feels is the slavery to sin and death and the freedom they desire is only found in Jesus Christ.

Now, we are uniquely qualified to speak of the freedom found in Christ because we were once just like the world around us.

Romans 6:20–22 NASB95

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

We know where true freedom is found because by God’s grace we’ve found it in Christ—the Word made flesh who perfectly obeyed the Word and empowers us to strive in obedience to the Word.

Thanks to Jesus we walk in liberty.

Thanks to Jesus we walk in joy and happiness free from the weight of sin and death.

Thanks to Jesus we are free and get to invite others to experience that freedom.

#3: The Word is for everyone—for kings and queens, for you and me, for everyone in the world (Psalm 119:46).

Psalm 119:46 NASB95

46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed.

The message of God’s Word (i.e., the Gospel of Jesus Christ) is not one thing for the powerless and another for the powerful. It is the same message for both and applies equally to both.

The Apostle Paul preached the same Gospel to King Agrippa that he preached to unnamed persons in Corinth, Ephesus, and elsewhere.

That’s how we should be as well.

#4: The Word is our delight and our love (Psalm 119:47).

Psalm 119:47 NASB95

47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love.

Q: What does it mean to delight in God’s commands?

[ILLUS] Whenever I have to go to a new place and meet new people, I always love for Cheryl to go with me because that means I’m going to have at least one friend.

If I’m with a group of new people, I always delight to see Cheryl walk in the room because I know she can be trusted, she loves me, she wants what’s best for me.

The world around us can be a danger to us. It can’t be trusted. It doesn’t love us. It doesn’t want what’s best for us. But the Word of God is love; the Word of God is our friend.

The word translated love in this verse and the next expresses love but also friendship. For example, 1 Kings 5:1 says…

1 Kings 5:1 NASB95

1 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David.

To be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God, but the Word of God is a friend to us that makes us a friend of God.

#5: The Word is to be received, loved, and meditate on (Psalm 119:48).

Psalm 119:48 NASB95

48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes.

Commentators have said to lift up the hands means…

…to lift up the hands to receive God’s commandments.

…to lift up the hands to grasp and enjoy God’s commandments.

…to lift up the hands as symbolic of lifting up the heart.

All of these are correct.

We lift up our hands to God’s Word to receive it, to love it, to meditate on it in our hearts.

Conclusion

The world needs the word.

Those who would reproach us need the Word.

Kings and beggars and everyone in between need the Word.

It starts with us.

It changes us.

Let’s not just complain about the world.

Let’s answer the world with the Word…

…and let the Word change the world one heart at a time.