Psalm 119:161-168 (2)

Introduction

Last week we began to talk about the psalmist of Psalm 119 delighting in God’s despite the persecution he was suffering.

He had more holy fear of God’s Word than he had of his persecutors.

Psalm 119:161 NASB95

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

On the battlefield of persecution he found a great spoil of war—the Word of God.

Psalm 119:162 NASB95

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

At all times—even during this time of persecution—the psalmist rejoiced in God because of His righteous Word.

Psalm 119:164 NASB95

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

So, DELIGHTING IN THE WORD OF GOD was the theme we talked about last Wednesday night, and the themes we want to consider tonight are…

LOVING THE WORD OF GOD…

and OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD.

Of course, all of these themes are connected, but especially these two about LOVING THE WORD OF GOD and OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD.

As the Word made flesh, Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word,” (John 14:23a).

A very popular book says that children spell love t-i-m-e.

The author was making a point about how much children value time spent with them.

If God were to make a similar point in the same way, He would say, “I spell love o-b-e-y.”

Those who love Him, obey Him.

As we’ll see, the psalmist was just such a one.

Major Ideas

#1: Love for God’s Word leads the psalmist to hate and despise falsehood (Psalm 119:163).

Psalm 119:163 NASB95

163 I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Your law.

#2: Love for God’s Word leads the psalmist to great peace and stability (Psalm 119:165).

Psalm 119:165 NASB95

165 Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble.

#3: Love for God’s Word leads the psalmist to obey God’s Word (Psalm 119:167).

Psalm 119:167 NASB95

167 My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly.

[TS] This connection between love for God’s Word and obedience to it, introduces our third THEME in this passage—that theme being obedience.

#4: Because the psalmist hopes in salvation, he obeys God’s Word (Psalm 119:166).

Psalm 119:166 NASB95

166 I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, And do Your commandments.

#5: Because the psalmist knows that God is watching, he obeys God’s Word (Psalm 119:168).

Psalm 119:168 NASB95

168 I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, For all my ways are before You.

Conclusion

There is love for God’s Word and obedience to God’s Word.

Those who love Him, love His Word.

And those who love His Word, obey His Word.

But all of us have fallen short of this.

We haven’t loved Him or His Word perfectly as He demands.

And we certainly haven’t obeyed His Word perfectly as He demands.

But thanks be to God that Jesus our Savior has!

He loved His Father with a perfect love!

He obeyed the Word of His Father with a perfect obedience!

And He died to pay the price for our imperfect love and our imperfect obedience.

Through faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus, we are now raised to spiritual life and filled with spiritual power to strive in our love for God’s Word and in our obedience to it.

But even so, when we are persecuted and when we aren’t, we still likely to fall short and so we continually return to Jesus, thanking God that all the love we need for Him and all the obedience we need to His Word is found in our Savior Jesus.

He is our love.

He is our obedience.