The Righteous Word of God

At this time I ask that you open your Bibles to Psalm 119:137. I will be reading from the English Standard Version of God’s Holy Word.

Psalm 119:137-144

Tsadhe

137  Righteous are you, O Lord,

and right are your rules.

138  You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness

and in all faithfulness.

139  My zeal consumes me,

because my foes forget your words.

140  Your promise is well tried,

and your servant loves it.

141  I am small and despised,

yet I do not forget your precepts.

142  Your righteousness is righteous forever,

and your law is true.

143  Trouble and anguish have found me out,

but your commandments are my delight.

144  Your testimonies are righteous forever;

give me understanding that I may live.

Amen. You may be seated.

Today, I want to preach from the thought: “The Righteous Word of God”

Our church had been going through Psalm 119 for a while, but we’ve gotten away from that Psalm for some months now. I want to share a little information about the Psalms to start us off this morning. There are 150 Psalms, and Psalms has been sometimes referred to as the hymnbook of the Bible.  These Psalms were written over a period of about 900 years of Jewish history. Most, if not all of these Psalms were to be sung and accompanied by a stringed instrument. The author of Psalm 119 is unknown, but the emphasis of the Psalm is the importance of God’s Holy Word, the Bible. Psalm 119, is the longest Psalm in the Bible at 176 verses and almost every single verse refers to God’s Word. What is also interesting is this Psalm is divided into 22 stanzas, each headed by one of the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet....and if we were reading this in Hebrew, we would see that every verse in each stanza starts with the same letter that is the heading of that stanza. So this Psalm is in an acrostic form. It is believed that was to aid in memorization and Jews would actually memorize this whole Psalm.

Today, we will look at the 18th stanza headed by the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Tsadhe

The letter Tsahe actually means righteousness, so it is no surprise that this stanza focuses on righteousness. If we were reading this in Hebrew, we would see that every line starts with that letter, Tsadhe, to remind us of God’s righteousness and the righteousness of His Word.

Church, what we will discover as we examine stanza 18 in Psalms 119 is that.....

God’s righteous Word is both beneficial and everlasting!

…And I’ve broken this Psalm into 3 points that I want to emphasize:

1. The Righteous Word Comes From God (v137-138)

2. The Righteous Word is Beneficial (v139-141)

3. The Righteous Word is Everlasting and Gives Life (v142-144)

First we look at:

1. The Righteous Word Comes From God

Tsadhe 137  Righteous are you, O Lord,

and right are your rules.

This is not the first time that this Psalm writer has declared that God or God’s Word is righteous. In:

Psalm 119:7 “I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.”

Psalm 119:40 “Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!”

Psalm 119:62 “At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules.”

Psalm 119:75 “I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”

Psalm 119:106 “I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.”

Psalm 119:123 “My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.”

Psalm 119:128 “Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.”

In the 8 verses of this stanza, the Psalmist outright declares that God or His Word is right or righteous 5 times. And, as I previously stated, if we were reading this in Hebrew, we would see that every line starts with that letter, Tsadhe, to remind us of God’s righteousness and the righteousness of His Word. That adds eight more times righteous is mentioned because there are 8 verses. That’s 13 times righteous is mentioned in this stanza versus the 7 times I just read where it is mentioned in the previous 136 verses. It is evident that the Psalm writer is focusing on God’s righteousness. The Psalm writer recognized God’s righteousness, and as an outflow of God’s righteousness is His rules, His Word, the Bible being righteous.

But what does righteousness actually mean. Have you ever thought about that church?

Well if you have been in Elder Gibson’s Fundamentals of the Faith Bible Study class, you have already studied God’s Character and His Attributes. God’s righteousness is one of His attributes, and it has to do with law, morality and justice. He is the standard for everything that is right or just. He is perfect in all His ways. He is just in everything He does. In Deuteronomy 32:4, Moses describes God as:

Deuteronomy 32:4 ““The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

2 Samuel 22:31 “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

Even wicked King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon changed his tune and repented after God humbled him. He declares in:

Daniel 4:37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

God drove this wicked king crazy because of his pride, and for 7 years he was crawling around outside his palace like an animal and eating grass. Even in that humiliating experience, when it was over and he got his mind back, he admitted God was just and right in what he did to him.

Righteousness and justice are part of God’s essence…church, that is who He is! So in a nutshell, God is right by nature, everything He does is right, and by extension, the Word of God, the Bible, is right. That state of being

right,

or just,

or honorable,

or upright,

or virtuous all the time is called righteousness....and guess what!.... God’s got it!

So the Psalm writer says God You’re righteous and Your Rules or Your Word are right!

So a righteous God can only make righteous rules....full of honor and justice and virtue.

Is there anything else in this world that we can say is always right?

I was thinking....I know people that work in customer service sometimes go by the motto or slogan, “The customer is always....what.......right.”

Now they do that to try to keep your business and provide good service, but let me ask you a question...Is the customer always right? I’ve worked in customer service before, and that answer is No.

Sometimes customers make mistakes, they get confused, they exaggerate, or even lie.

I was reading an article on a website about how to train your customer service reps, and the website said that the customer is not always right, but you always want to make them “feel right.”

Well the Psalm writer is not saying that God or His Word are in the “feel right” business. No, God and His Word are always right, and you will see by the end of these verses that God and His Word can get you right too!

He goes on in verse:

138  You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness

and in all faithfulness.

Some translations say “commanded your testimonies in righteousness” meaning your Word, the Bible, was created in righteousness.

Think about that for a moment. It was made in righteousness.

Hmmmm....How does the bible say we were made?

In Psalm 51:5, King David writes.

Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

We were born in sin sin.....shaped in iniquity.

So that should tell you that God’s Word is in essence different from us.

It was created in righteousness and we were created in sin and wickedness.

Now I know somebody out there is thinking well the Bible can’t be trusted because men wrote it. Well the writer of Psalm 119 believes that it is the pure Word of God. When we looked at Psalm 19 a while back, David believed it was the pure word of God that was completely untainted or uncontaminated. It was flawless and without error. The Bible says in:

2 Peter 1:20-21 “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The Bible is God’s Words, not man’s. So if God’s Word came from man, I could see how it would not be completely righteous because we are a contaminated source....we’re messed up....but it did not come from us. It came from a righteous God…that can only give a righteous Word.

The Psalm writer goes on by saying that the Word was appointed or commanded also in all faithfulness....some translations say exceeding faithfulness. So the Word was made to be dependable. To sum up verse 138, the Word is trustworthy. You can trust what it says. You can take it to the bank. You can count it.

So in the next few verses we explore the second point.

2. The Righteous Word is Beneficial

139  My zeal consumes me,

because my foes forget your words.

The Psalmist is burning with passion over God’s Word. That’s what that word zeal means. He was excited, energetic, yet irritated because his foes, his enemies, his attackers forget God’s words. The phrase “forget your words” does not mean they have amnesia, or some kind of mental illness that makes them forget, but it means that they are disregarding God’s word that they know, and this is burning the Psalmist up!

This is not the first time that the Psalm writer is zealous for God’s Word.

Psalm 119:53 “Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law.”

They were just breaking God’s law and it was making him mad.

Starting around verse 22 of this Psalm, the Psalmist talks about scorn and contempt his enemies have for him and in verse 23 they are plotting against him.

A constant refrain throughout Psalm 119 is the enemies of this Psalmist opposing him, attacking him, suffocating him. But the Psalmist holds on to God’s Word. Earlier in verse 93 he says:

Psalm 119:93 “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.”

So his enemies are forgetting, ignoring, or disregarding the Word, but the Psalmist says no....I’m not going to forget Your Words, because they give me life!

…and we see in verse 140

140  Your promise is well tried,

and your servant loves it.

In this verse, the word promise is another word for the Bible, God’s Word. The Psalm writer says that it is well tried....some translations say it has been thoroughly tested or it’s very pure. It is the Hebrew word tsaraph refers to the process of smelting or refining precious metals like silver.

King David refers to the Bible in Psalm 12:6 by saying:

Psalm 12:6 “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.”

So David compared the Bible to silver with all of the contaminants removed. Completely pure. The Bible is not tainted, not contaminated, not polluted. It comes straight from a pure source…a Holy and Righteous God. It has been proven or tried by this Psalm writer. He has put it to the test and seen its benefits, so no....he’s not going to forget God’s Word like his enemies do. The Word has helped him…it has benefitted him…he has seen its results. He has a good track record with God’s Word, so he loves it! Church, have you put God’s Word to the test like this Psalm writer? Perhaps we can come to love the Word like he does when we see its benefits.

He goes on in verse 141:

141  I am small and despised,

yet I do not forget your precepts.

The Psalm writer describes himself as small and despised. Apparently, this is the view of his enemies. He is viewed as insignificant, unimportant…and yet when the thought of him does come up, he is despised, hated by his enemies. He does not get any respect....and it appears it is because:

He is trying to follow God’s Word, and his enemies don’t care anything about God’s Word.

Have you been disrespected, disregarded

....treated as if you don’t count or worse?

How do you respond?

Do you lash out at people?…fight them verbally…and maybe curse somebody out..... or how do we say it…get them told!.....Do you go on mute, or do you go on blast!.....or maybe lash out physically…fight, punch, kick or assault people in some way?

Like we say......we have to take up for ourselves because what…if we don’t...no one else will.

But the Psalm writer says he doesn’t forget God’s precepts…which is another word for the Bible. He is in essence saying I know what they are saying…I know what they think about me, and I know what their report is, but I’m not forgetting your report from your Word, God!

Let’s go to God’s report:

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness....

So you may say I’m unimportant, but you know what....I’m made in the image of God!

Isaiah 12:2 ““Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.””

So you might be trying to destroy me, but God is my salvation!

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

So it might seem like you are causing me chaos and distress, but I’ve got my mind on God fixed on God and He is giving me peace!

Psalm 27:10 “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.”

So I might not be able to run in your clique, but the Lord will keep me even if my parents abandon me!

Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

So you might be cursing over me, but I’ve got a God that is singing over me!

This Psalmist had Bible verses, promises from God that sustained him when life was hard, when he was under attack by his enemies, when the pressure and stress had built up. He didn’t fight, he rested on God’s Word. He says:

I do not forget your precepts.

Good God Almighty....Then the Psalmist moves to the last point…#3.

3. The Righteous Word is Everlasting and Gives Life

142  Your righteousness is righteous forever,

and your law is true.

The Psalmist looked to God and declared your righteousness is not just for yesterday, or today, but it is forever. You know how some of us can change our mood real quick when we are hungry, angry, or tired....but with God, His righteousness is not a passing fancy, it is not based on God’s mood. He is always righteous....righteous forever.

The Psalm writer declared that God’s Word is true....some translations just call it the truth or say it’s perfectly true. The Hebrew Word here is emeth which refers to “trustworthiness”, “constancy”…it doesn’t change all the time like some of us do. So it’s just not enough to say that the Bible contains truth, no…the Bible is truth! Everything God says is true!

In verse 143 he says:

143  Trouble and anguish have found me out,

but your commandments are my delight.

This verse reads in the New Living Translation of the Bible:

143 As pressure and stress bear down on me,

I find joy in your commands.

The Psalm writer had pressure on him.

I posted this verse on facebook yesterday as my daily post, and one of my friends replied, “If we live by God’s laws there will be no pressure and stress!”

That is not what this verse says, nor is that what the Bible teaches. The Psalmist says:

Trouble and anguish have found me out,

He could not hide from them. You can’t hide from them either! They will find you out too!

Storms will come....and if you have not gone through a storm yet, I like the way that Pastor Lester used to say it...”You just keep living…you just keep living!” The storm will find you!

So the question is not will the storm find you. The question is what will you do, when the storm finds you?

The Psalmist realized that even though some storms may come and they may last a long time, storms are temporary. God’s commands are eternal and they are his delight....they are where he finds joy!

When Pastor Williams preached on Psalm 119:131 he said, ”Run from the world to the Word.”

That’s what the Psalmist did. When the trouble from the world came in whatever form, whether it is his enemies, his flesh or something else outside of his control, he went to God’s Word. He calls it his delight....and he has expressed his delight in God’s word throughout this Psalm.

Psalm 119:14 “In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.”

Psalm 119:16 “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”

Psalm 119:24 “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.”

Psalm 119:35 “Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.”

Psalm 119:47 “for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.”

Over and over again he expresses his delight in God’s Word. In verse 144 he states.

144  Your testimonies are righteous forever;

give me understanding that I may live.

This stanza of the Psalm ends with the Psalmist declaring the righteousness of God’s Word again. The righteousness of the Word is like bookends to this stanza…verses 137 and 144. And in verse 144, the Psalmist expresses the same sentiment he did in verse 142…that God’s Word is righteous and it will last forever, and ever, and ever.

I’ve shared this in the past, but I think it is worth repeating:

God’s word and the commands contained within are right. One writer put it this way: “They are morally right, they are practically right, and they are universally right. They are right because it is the revelation of a God who is holy, true, and always right.”

Finally, the Psalmist asks for understanding that I may live.

He wanted understanding of the Word, so that he could better enjoy life now and in the future with God.

He expressed this throughout Psalm 119. In verse 25 he states:

Psalm 119:25 “My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!”

Psalm 119:40 “Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!”

Psalm 119:50 “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.”

Psalm 119:88 “In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.”

Church, do you realize that you really haven’t started living until you are living according to God’s Word. The Psalmist realized that. He stated it throughout all of Psalm 119. let’s look at a few verses:

Young people, actually old people too, do you want to keep your life pure? Turn to Psalm 119 verse 9:

Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.”

Church, do you want to keep your tongue and your mouth under control? Start speaking what the Word says and turn to Psalm 119 verse 13:

Psalm 119:13 “With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.”

Do you want to control your greed? Turn to Psalm 119 verse 136:

Psalm 119:36 “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”

Do you need comfort today? Turn to Psalm 119 verse 52:

Psalm 119:52 “When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord.”

Do you need a blessing today? Turn to Psalm 119 verse 56:

Psalm 119:56 “This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.”

He said he gets a blessing just doing what God’s Word says!

Do you need joy today? Turn to Psalm 119 verse 111:

Psalm 119:111 “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.”

Do you want something better than a million dollars? Turn to Psalm 119 verse 72:

Psalm 119:72 “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”

Do you want to be wise?

Psalm 119:98 “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.”

Do you want understanding?

Psalm 119:104 “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”

Do you need direction?

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Do you need protection?

Psalm 119:114 “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.”

What’s that song that the male chorus used to sing, “God’s Got Everything You Need.” Bro. Brown, I can hear the psalmist now singing....Whatever you need God’s got it, yes God’s got it!

This man found everything he needed for life in God’s Word....including salvation!

Psalm 119:41 “Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise;”

Psalm 119:81 “My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.”

Psalm 119:123 “My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.”

God’s righteous Word is not only everlasting and can give understanding so the Psalmist can live, it can lead you to everlasting life church.

For Jesus said in:

Matthew 5:6 ““Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

He wasn’t talking about self-righteousness…the kind the Pharisees had....the kind the Bible describes as filthy rags…no, he was talking about the true righteousness that can only come from the righteous God.

Paul states in:

Philippians 3:9 that he wanted to be found in Christ “....be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”

That’s how we get God’s righteousness, through Jesus Christ. The Bible says in:

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Church, reading, studying, learning the righteous Word of God, will lead you to the righteous Son of God. If you place your faith in Him, you can become the righteousness of God.

There is an old hymn that we sometimes sing that emphasizes this.

Nothing But the Blood

1 What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Chorus:

Oh! precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow;

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

We don’t always get to verse 4, but I like verse 4:

4 This is all my hope and peace,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

This is all my righteousness,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Chorus:

Oh! precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow;

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Church, God’s righteous Word is both beneficial and everlasting! You can have God’s righteousness today through faith in Jesus Christ!

Amen