God's Wonder Working Word Series

PSALM 119: 129-136 [The Ministry of The Word Series]

GOD'S WONDER WORKING WORD

[Numbers 25:24–26]

In this section [Pe, the 17th letter in the Hebrew alphabet] the psalmist continues to fight against the power of evil, which tries to subvert him from the Living God. It is God's Word which delivers him from evil and establishes him in the right. Thus he declared his delight for God's Wonder Working Word which gives life and light (vv.129-131; 105). He prays that the Lord would turn to him and establish him by directing, redeeming, blessing, and teaching him (vv. 132-135). Knowing what God's Word has done for him, he concludes the stanza by weeping over those in rebellion against God's Word (v. 136). In the midst of the rebellion of this world there is God's Divine Revelation which works wonders (CIT).

I. God's Word Causes Spiritual Life, 129-131.

II. God's Word Causes Supplications, 132-135.

III. God's Word Causes Compassion for the Lost, 136.

The verses in this stanza seem to cause a chain reaction. Acting on a verse's content leads one to added realization and then to acting on the next verse. The psalmist opens this section with the confession that God's Words are life changing in verse 129. "Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul observes them."

God's words are wonderful [plural in Hebrew] in that they evoke a sense of awe and wonder because of the God who acts through them. Wonderful means full of astonishing revelations, commands and promises. Their wonder is seen in their being free from all error, and in their overwhelming demonstration of their truthfulness. God's Word as it instructs, elevates, strengthens, and comforts the soul. Those who know them best wonder at them most. It is wonderful that God should bear testimony to sinful men, and even more wonderful that His testimony should be so clear, so full, so gracious, so mighty to save.

With the sense of God's wonder working power before him, he confesses that it is the reason he keeps [‘observes '] them. Their wonder working power so impressed itself upon his mind that he kept them in his memory. Their life-giving excellence so captivated his heart that he observed them or lived them out.

Some men wonder at the words of God and use them for their speculation, but not David. The more he wondered about the Word the more the Word work its wonders in him. His devotion was soul work. He did simply he keep the testimonies in his head, but in his soul, in his eternal being, he held fast to them. [Spurgeon, Charles. The Treasury of David. Vol. 3. McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing. p. 378.]

The general wonder working of God' Word becomes specific in verse 130. "The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple."

The psalmist acknowledges that, "The entrance of Your words gives light." The unfolding [lit. "opening"(to me)] of God's Word indicates its revelation, its exposition, its entrance into the heart. This explosion of light in our minds because of the revelation of God is an awesome reality. When spirit lead teachers and preachers open-up the Word (Lk. 24:32) the light of God's truth shines forth offering spiritual transformation.

Often in studying the Scriptures I have received dramatic illumination. We realize that there is a power here beyond our natural reason. It's like of rewiring an old house with the electricity still left on.

The simple are not dumb. They have simply reached the end of themselves and recognized that, in order to know God, God must speak to them and make Himself known.

The Word wasn't written to make us intellectual giants or mystical guru but to make us wise or understanding about how we should live life. God has called us out of darkness to live in His light. To live in His marvelous light we must be taught by His Word.

Sanduk Ruit is a Nepalese doctor who has used his scalpel, microscope, and simplified CATARACT SURGERY technique to 70,000 people over the past 23 years. The poorest patients who visit his nonprofit eye center in Katmandu pay with just their gratitude.

Our Lord Jesus Christ healed many of physical blindness during His time on earth. But of greater concern to Him were the spiritually blind. Many of the religious authorities who investigated the healing of the blind man refused to believe that Jesus was not a sinner (John 9:13-34). This caused Jesus to say, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind" (v.39).

The apostle Paul wrote of this spiritual blindness when he said, "If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them" (2 Cor. 4:3-4).