Affirming Faith Versus Turning A Phrase Series

AFFIRMING FAITH VERSUS TURNING A PHRASE

PSALM 119:106-112

INTRODUCTION

A. Some of my earliest memories outside our home were of worship services being conducted in a one-room schoolhouse—services I did not understand but perceived as very important. The earnestness of the Bible discussions, the solemnity of the prayers, and the fact that we were all dressed in our Sunday best told me this hour was not like any other hour of the week.

B. From those early days until relatively recently, I heard brethren close their prayers with this petition: “Guide, guard, and direct us.”

1. Were they simply turning a phrase or expressing a confident faith?

2. For some, it was, I am confident, an expression of faith. I am convinced of this because of the lives they tried to live.

3. For others, I suspect they were turning a familiar phrase. I fear this because of the lives they did live.

I. GOD’S WORD WILL GUIDE US WHEN WE KEEP IT (vv. 105-108)

A. Practice, not platitudes, is what keeps us.

1. While many campaign to put the Ten Commandments back in schoolrooms, few know them, and fewer follow them. When God’s word is written on our hearts, it will not matter where God’s word is or is not publicly inscribed.

2. If religious monuments impacted the morality of citizens, Washington, DC, would be the holiest city in our nation. The website All About History offers these facts:” Images of the Ten Commandments are found in many federal buildings across Washington, D. C., including in bronze in the floor of the National Archives; in a bronze statue of Moses in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress; in numerous locations at the U. S. Supreme Court, including in the frieze above the Justices, the oak door at the rear of the Chamber, the gable apex, and in dozens of locations on the bronze latticework surrounding the Supreme Court Bar seating (Spiritual Heritage and Government Monuments).

B. We must be totally committed to keeping God’s word (v. 106; Matt 22:37-38).

1. If we know God’s word and love God’s word, we will not fall prey to false teaching. (2 Pet 1:1-3, 21).

2. A lawyer tested Jesus, asking, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25-29)

a. Jesus asked him what the Law said, and the man answered by quoting Scripture: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut 6:5), and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18).

b. When Jesus told him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live,” the man replied, “Who is my neighbor?”

c. The lawyer could quote Scripture, but he was not committed to keeping it.

C. Affliction will not turn us from God’s word and God’s way (v. 107; 2 Cor 1:3-4; 4:17).

D. Spontaneous praise should fill our hearts (v. 108).

1. We do not praise God for our afflictions, for such would be masochism and suggest that God is sadistic.

2. We praise God for His comfort in our afflictions (2 Cor 1:3-4; 2 Thess 2:16-17).

II. GOD’S WORD WILL GIVE US LIFE (vv. 109-110)

A. The New Living Translation reads, “My life constantly hangs in the balance, but I will not stop obeying your instructions.”

1. In one sense, all our lives hang in the balance, for a sudden, unexpected heart attack, an automobile accident, a trigger-happy police officer, a thief, or other causes can snatch our lives from us.

2 The danger to David came from the deliberate snares set by his enemies.

3. Be this as it may, many have left home this morning and will never return home.

III. GOD’S WORD WILL DIRECT US (VV. 111-112)

A. Some of us were weaned on the Scriptures, as was Timothy (2 Tim 1:5-7).

B. Whether we were weaned on the Word or discovered it late in life, we should embrace it as our spiritual birthright (1 John 2:13-14).

CONCLUSION

A. “Guide, guard, and direct us” is not—and can never be an outdated plea, so long as we are not simply turning a phrase.

B. The Amplified Bible’s rendering of James 1:21-25, sums this lesson up.

So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth]. For if anyone only listens to the word without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets what he looked like. But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a [careless] listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does [in his life of obedience].So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].: So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].“ So get rid of all uncleanness and [a]all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].