Psalm 119 - Bet | Cleanse our Way

Service Notes

Video by Kason Bloom

Last night before we start back together in AWANA

Adam Walze / Letter to Cornerstone

Introduction

Last week we focused on the blessed life we live as we hold fast to the testimony of God’s word. Psalm 119:2 “2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, And that seek him with the whole heart.”

We finished before we could look at the last two verses of the section

Great theme for us tonight as we get ready for AWANA next week

Anticipate praising the LORD with an upright heart as you learn more of God’s word.

Psalm 119:7-8 “7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, When I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. 8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.”

Believers who experience God’s righteous decisions and obey his statutes can expect to praise the LORD for his protective care. This brings hope!

The reason for the praise has been hinted at in verse 6 with “Let me never be ashamed,” and now more specifically expressed in the closing prayer, “o forsake me not utterly”

The phrase “with uprightness of heart” indicates that he will have lived obediently to the law—in other words, the praise will come from an obedient believer.

“I would rather be sorrowful in an obedient place than successful in a disobedient position.” - Cary Schmidt

The believer trusts that God has final say and that he can trust Him to do what is always right. So he has determined to live in rightness; which is according to God’s Word.

Why is the psalmist so in love with the law of God? 

Psalm 119:5 “5 O that my ways were directed To keep thy statutes!”

Because of it’s Source: “The Law of the LORD is perfect…” Psalm 19:7 “7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

Because of its Substance: “[God’s word] is the Maker’s instruction.”  “What would godliness look like in a person increasingly formed into the likeness of Jesus?  The Word of God tells us.”

2 Peter 1:3 “3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

Instruction manuals are often disliked, partly because we can’t understand them.

More than an instruction manual. It is an expression of love from a Father who did not live us without guidance in this world.

Because of its Strategy: A strategy is a “plan for successful action”. 

It is summarized as two-fold:  “providing wisdom and preventing wandering”.  

That is why it we should seek them with everything in us Psalm 119:2 “2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, And that seek him with the whole heart.”

God’s Word is worthy of our love because of it’s Source (it is GOD’s own mind for us); it’s Substance (it is our instruction manual, a love letter to our soul), and it’s Strategy (a planned course of action that molds us in the likeness of Himself for His glory and our joy).

We move from the blessing of the word to the preservation from sin that it brings.

Bet [something Chase and Alex say.. but in this case second letter of Hebrew alphabet)

Preserve us from sin

Summary: The psalmist affirms that devotion to the word of God cleanses one’s way in life, prompting him to desire to learn more from God and to determine to meditate with delight in his word (119:9–16)

Psalm 119:9–16 (KJV 1900)

9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.

10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.

12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: Teach me thy statutes.

13 With my lips have I declared All the judgments of thy mouth.

14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, As much as in all riches.

15 I will meditate in thy precepts, And have respect unto thy ways.

16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

The faithful learn the value of God’s Word to keep them unspotted from this world

Unspotted comes from James 1:27 “27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

Positively we could say: the ultimate goal of life is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. Or negatively, we could say: the ultimate goal of life is not to sin. They both mean the same thing because sinning is falling short of glorifying God by embracing other things as more enjoyable.

God’s Word guards us

Psalm 119:9 “9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

Years ago a mother brought a son to my office. They did not attend. She wanted to know how to keep him safe from the temptations of this way. She had hope me or our youth program would be the answer.

“His ways” refers to all the activities of our ways.

“Taking heed” requires more than reading. It means knowing, loving, and obeying God’s Word.

Stories of people being saved by a pocket NT. Cool story, but not how it is intended to work.

Prayer and devotion are the means of guarding our lives

Psalm 119:10-11 “10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.”

Prayer: O let me not wander..

Prayer that our study of God’s Word will lead us to devotion to God

Hiding God’s Word means to store up. Proverbs 23:23 “23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; Also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.”

American Pickers. “Not that’s not for sell. No not that either.”

We cherish the Word of God above all riches

Psalm 119:12-14 “12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: Teach me thy statutes. 13 With my lips have I declared All the judgments of thy mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, As much as in all riches.”

“Blessed art thou” is normally followed with a reason for praise. Here is the fact he teaches us His statutes.

Teachable spirit starts with a grateful for heart.

AWANA kids are you grateful for a chance to learn God’s Ways? AWANA Leaders are you grateful you get to share this with them?

With my lips I will declare what you have said. Deut 4:12 “12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.”

As much as all riches. Matthew 6:33 “33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

If you were offered $500 for each verse you memorized, how many verses would you memorize each week? It goes to show that you and I can memorize if we place value on doing so.

Possible some of you might share a passage you have memorized that you bring to mind during seasons of your life.

We should meditate and delight in God’s Word

Psalm 119:15-16 “15 I will meditate in thy precepts, And have respect unto thy ways. 16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.”

Two resolutions

I will meditate on precepts and respect ways

I will delight in statutes and not forget His Word

Meditating requires thought being given to God’s Word.

As with a cow chewing grass

Delighting leads to doing

Eric Elrod always jokingly tells me “well just let me know” after we set forth a plan

Conclusion

Because the word of God is the means by which the faithful maintain purity in life, they desire to learn more from God and enjoy meditating in his word.

We can consider Jesus prayer for us. John 17:17 “17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

We can also consider the Apostle Paul’s charge when it comes to talking about the Word of God. Romans 2:13 “13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” Because it was from the law of God we were made aware of our sin. Romans 3:20 “20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”