Psalm 119:161-168

Introduction

[ILLUS] The last couple days, my sister and her two little children visited with Cheryl, the kids, and I. At one point 4-year-old Madelyn was chasing 4-year-old Emmett through the house. She was roaring (and she has pretty effective roar) but soon Emmett got scared. Had Madelyn turned into a real dinosaur? Was she really going to him? Emmett cried out with a look terror on his face, “Stop! Stop! I said stop!” Of course, Madelyn didn’t stop until we told her to stop.

Now, usually we would call that game chase.

But a much more serious and deadly version of that ‘game’ is called persecution.

Persecution is pursuing or chasing individuals intending to do them harm.

That’s the situation the psalmist finds himself in Psalm 119. He is pursued, chased, hunted, persecuted.

This passage we’re looking at tonight is God’s Word for the Persecuted from the psalmist who was being persecuted.

Let’s notice a few things about this persecuted psalmist...

Major Ideas

#1: The persecuted psalmist delighted in God’s Word (Psalm 119:161, 162, 164).

[Exposition]

The persecuted psalmist delighted in God’s Word despite persecution (v. 161).

Psalm 119:161 NASB95

161 Princes persecute me without cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your words.

In 1 Peter, Peter writes to a group of persecuted Christians. He tells them that if they suffer for righteousness sake, they are blessed and should keep doing the right thing. But he also tells them to make sure none of them suffer as murderers, thieves, evildoers, or meddlers. It is not to our good or God’s glory when we suffer for doing wrong. (1 Peter 3:8ff, 4:14ff).

But here the psalmist says that powerful people (‘princes’) persecute him without cause. He is not being pursued for wrongs he has done but for no reason at all. Peter would say to the persecuted psalmist, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed… do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled...” (1 Peter 4:14; 3:14).

Q: But what is it in v. 161 that would keep the psalmist from fearing the intimidation of his persecutors?

It is standing in awe of God’s Word.

The psalmist won’t be bowed by persecution because he is standing in awe of God’s Word. This means that the psalmist is too busying standing in holy fear of God’s Word to live in fear of persecution.

The Christian Standard Bible has v. 161 as...

Psalm 119:161 CSB

161 Princes have persecuted me without cause, but my heart fears only your word.

The New International Version has it as…

Psalm 119:161 NIV84

161 Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.

Q: What do you think it is about God’s Word that makes the psalmist fear it more than he fears persecution?

It’s the fact that it is God’s Word. And in that Word God has promised blessing for faithfulness and curses for unfaithfulness.

Remember that the psalmist thinks of God’s Word in terms of God’s covenant with His people, especially the Mosaic Covenant—the covenant God make with His people on Mt. Sinai. In that covenant, God promised His people that He would bless them if they abided by the terms of the covenant. But if they did not abide by the covenant, then God would bring curses on His people.

The psalmist feared those covenant curses for unfaithfulness more than he feared the persecution coming from his pursuers.

Even though turning away from faithfulness to God’s Word would mean the persecution stopped, the psalmist fear God more and would remain faithful to Him even if the persecution persisted.

[Illustration]

In Acts 5, the Apostles had been preaching Christ crucified and resurrected. They had been calling people to turn from sin and trust in Jesus for salvation, and man people were turning and trusting. This angered the Jewish religious establishment, and they had the Apostles arrested and put in jail. That night an angel of the Lord broke them out of jail and told them to keep preaching. And so they did.

When the Jewish religious leaders found out about this, they called them in again and said, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us,” (Acts 5:28).

But Peter replied, “We must obey God rather than men,” (Acts 5:29).

Persecution wouldn’t stop the Apostles from preaching Christ. Just a few verses later in Acts 5, we read that they were flogged and again ordered not to preach in the name of Jesus, but Acts 5:41-42 says…

Acts 5:41–42 NASB95

41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

They knew Christ. They knew the New Covenant in His blood. They knew the blessing of eternal life for believing on Christ for salvation, and the knew the curse of eternal damnation for rejecting Christ.

They feared the curse more than the persecution so they remained faithful to Christ despite the persecution.

[Application]

What will we do when the heat of persecution is really turned up in our own lives? Will we abandon the Lord to stop the pain? Or will we remain faithful to God in spite of it?

The answer to those questions depends on what we fear the most.

We had better fear the Lord and remain faithful to Him.

His promises in Christ Jesus are too glorious to miss!

His curses for abandoning Christ are too terrible.

The persecuted psalmist delighted in God’s Word as a treasure (v. 162).

Psalm 119:162 NASB95

162 I rejoice at Your word, As one who finds great spoil.

[Exposition]

God’s Word as treasure is not a new theme in this psalm but one that the psalmist has already made reference too. For example…

Psalm 119:72 NASB95

72 The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Psalm 119:127 NASB95

127 Therefore I love Your commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold.

And the psalmist rejoices in the treasure of God’s Word.

Q: When you imagine rejoicing, what does rejoicing look like?

As you know, to rejoice is to display joy. Different personalities may do this differently. Some display joy very loudly. Others may perhaps display joy in a more subdued manner.

When you are being persecuted, it may not be possible to rejoice in the Word of God as loudly as you’d like.

But what matters is the display of joy in and from the heart.

And this is what the persecuted psalmist did.

He rejoiced in the treasure of God’s Word from the heart.

[Illustration]

When David and his men defeated the Philistines, they ate and drank and danced because of all the great spoil that they had taken (1 Sam. 30:16).

Like David and his men, the psalmist in Psalm 119 had been in a battle. He battled his persecutors, but the psalmist’s battle resulted in the discovery of a greater treasure than silver or gold—the treasure of God’s Word.

Would the psalmist even know (let alone rejoice in) the riches of God’s Word if he hadn’t been persecuted?

Not likely.

This is was a surprise joy,a great treasure found on the field of battle.

[Application/Illustration]

We should not long to be persecuted, but if we are, it may surprise us just how much we are treasuring God’s Word during that persecution, just how much we are rejoicing in that Word.

I once heard a seminary professor talk about his visit to the persecuted church in China. He was going to meet with preachers and Bible teachers in the church to teach them some book or letter in the NT. Somewhat disguised, he was taken to the secret meeting place where he spent an hour or two teaching these preachers and teachers crammed into a tiny, secret room. He thought that was the end of it, until these brothers in Christ said, “Can you teach us the rest of it now?”

They were rejoicing in the treasure of God’s Word!

Despite their persecution (or perhaps because of it), they knew what great spoil they had in the Word of God! They couldn’t get enough of it!

Let’s not wait for persecution to make us treasure God’s Word! As we sang this past Sunday, let’s rise up and be done with lesser things! Let’s give ourselves to this treasure which reveals to us the greatest treasure, Jesus crucified, resurrected, ascended, interceding, and returning!

So turn off the TV.

Remove the distractions.

Give your time to the Word of God.

Rejoice in it now, and you’ll be ready for persecution if it comes.

The persecuted psalmist delighted in God’s Word seven times a day (Psalm 119:164).

Psalm 119:164 NASB95

164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous ordinances.

[Exposition]

In his commentary of Psalms, W. S. Plumer, says, “Among the Greeks three was the number of perfection; among the Hebrews, seven. As day and night signifies continually, so seven times means very often.”

The psalmist praised God for His Word very often.

[Application]

Q: If we are not praising God for His righteous ordinances (i.e., His Word), what might the reasons be?

One reason might be unbelief.

The psalmist says that he praises God because he believes or knows that God’s ordinances (i.e., His judgments, decisions, laws) are righteous.

We will not praise God for His Word if we do not believe that His Word is righteous.

And if we do not believe God’s Word is righteous, we do not believe that God is righteous.

Another reason might be sin.

Habitual sin hardens the heart to God. This hardness of heart shows up in many ways, but a primary way is neglect of the Word of God.

The Word reveals our sin to be sin, so we run from it. It’s impossible to praise God for His Word, when we are running from it.

Another reason might be distraction.

In school there is the curriculum and then the extra-curricular activities. The same is true in life. There are necessary things like work and family life that must have our time and attention, but then we give our time and attention to a whole bunch of extra-curricular things.

In general, we fill much of our time with hobbies, sports, and entertainment instead of the Word of God.

If we do that, we are not likely to very often praise God for His Word.

Another reason might be comfort.

Our chairs are soft. Our rooms are air conditioned. We have many, many comforts because of the wealthy society we live in.

It may be that we won’t find comfort in God’s Word until all the other comforts are stripped away.

Instead of waiting for them to be stripped away, let’s give them up and find our comfort in the Word of God.

Let’s praise Him very often for His Word.

Conclusion