NUN
February 15, 2012
Oak Park Baptist Church – Wednesday Bible Study Series
Psalm 119:105-112 (ESV) – 14 of 22
Read ALL verses before beginning verse by verse teaching…
Nun – 14th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet
105Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
How many of you here tonight have ever tried to walk through your own house in the dark. It seems like it would be ok doesn’t it…after all you KNOW where things are, you know whether or not you cleaned up or not… you just know the lay of the land!
But what happens when we try to walk in the dark? Inevitably you stub your toe or bump your knee or step on something with your bare feet that you did not know was there…
I know I have hurt myself on SO many occasions walking by something that may have been just a bit out of place… thinking I had all the room in the world to make it and WHAM… it happened! I would bash my knee or stub my little toe or step on something that either hurt the bottom of my feet or worse, twisted my ankle!
We put ourselves through all this when all we had to do was turn on a light… because what happens when we turn on a light? I know this is going to sound overly simple, but when we turn on a light… WE CAN SEE. And when we can see… then our pathway is evident to us, we can know our direction and we can see any obstacles… but in the dark, it is all a guessing game!
Now put yourself in the spiritual realm with the same scenario… You know you need to move, you know something needs to be done, but you can’t see your way clear. You don’t know what direction to take and you don’t really know the lay of the land. You can begin to try on your own to ‘feel’ your way through with tentative and groping actions… but just what do you think is inevitable for those who take this route?
Do you think it is too harsh if I say that you will be stubbing your ‘spiritual’ toe? Or banging your ‘spiritual’ knee? Or twisting your ‘spiritual’ ankle? Or worse yet… falling into a spiritual pit where your vision is totally blocked and your spiritual direction comes to a halt and your walk in Christ is hurt!
Well this is the EXACT situation that the psalmist is addressing in these verses this evening…
The Revelation study Bible tells us that God’s revelation to us through His ‘lighting of our path’ provides insight that will guide us as His servants. When we trust in Him, He is NOT going to cause us to trip in the darkness of this world, but will light a path for us to follow...
Matt Henry says that the Word of God being compared to a light actually carries a 2 fold meaning – 1st it is a lamp to expose the sin in our lives, it does not allow us to keep the ‘dirty’ unnoticed but exposes sin and brings us to a place of confession and ultimately seeking forgiveness…God’s word is a light that reveals the evils of the world…
But the 2nd thing is that God’s word is lamp and a light for those seeking the WILL OF GOD. For those seeking to find the path God desires them to walk, the Word of God is the lamp that is needed… and dare I say required!
106I’ve promised it once, and I’ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regulations.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary: leads the reader to the notion of what the psalmist was indicating… The psalmist had a religious upbringing and a religious mind. The keeping of God’s laws both revealed and brought about the wisdom of God to the one keeping God’s law.
Here we see the psalmist making a covenantal vow before God to be vigilant in his keeping of the law… of his seeking God’s wisdom in all he does… he is binding himself to his own promise… I will do this thing is what he is saying… I won’t go back even when it seems too hard…
Henry says that, “It is good for us to bind ourselves with a solemn oath to be religious. We must swear to the Lord as subjects swear allegiance to their sovereign, promising fealty, appealing to God concerning our sincerity in this promise, and owning ourselves liable to the curse of we do not perform it.”
So often we need to remind ourselves of what we have promised God that we would do… what we have VOWED before God to accomplish and remember that we have made this oath TO Him! When you make an oath to God, it is a solemn and serious thing!
We must be people of our word… believers of the trust… We must make it a point to perform FOR God and TO God what we have obligated ourselves to do... after all an honest man is only as good as his word, right?
Keeping our word and doing what we have said… these are things WE must make the effort in doing. God is going to light our path through His word… God is going to give direction and guidance, but WE must make the effort to be obedient and submissive to His leading. Our efforts are a MUST!
107I have suffered much, O LORD; restore my life again as you promised.
I believe this verse is a picture of the psalmist trying to do things on his own and he is simply stating the obvious… in v.105 he reveals God’s word is his lamp for the path… here he reveals how much he has suffered because he has tried to stumble along on his own…
How often do we pray a prayer like the psalmist does here…? God I’ve done it again… I have tried to do things on my own… I have put myself in suffering’s way again… I call on YOU God to deliver me, once again!
There are MANY times when we call on God for deliverance and this is what is so wonderful… AIN’T it great that God’s promise is there for us to call upon! Even when we are disobedient God does not abandon us, but is there to lift us up, and light our path… even in the midst of our failure to Him!
Here we find Matthew Henry suggesting that the psalmist has labored under many discouragements! He has endured fighting and fear, but most of his issue comes because of his desire and attempt to do things on his own!
Henry says that this is often the lot of the best saints so we should not think less of the psalmist for his confession! Here he prays for God’s grace: It is as if the psalmist is asking God to “make me alive again, bring cheer to my heart, be with me thru my afflictions and help me to be more diligent in my work!
Here the psalmist is pleading for the promise of God, and asking God to guide his desires by His Word! He is praying that God will ground his hopes upon His word!
108LORD, accept my offering of praise, and teach me your regulations.
This is a constant seeking from the psalmist for God’s guidance and instruction! The psalmist is lifting up thanks and praise to God for His unfailing love and grace… and he states a desire to learn God’s law!
The word he uses here for ‘teach’ is the Hebrew verb law-mad which simply means to teach or cause to learn… but it carries with it a nuance of to be taught OR to learn! It carries with it a nuance of the student being diligent in his/her studies and efforts to learn…
The psalmist is crying out to God for His instruction, but realizes that God’s instruction can only be obtained and learned with our efforts to learn and absorb… How much of an effort are you making OR are you thinking… it’s all God’s job…
Henry says that there are 2 things we in this verse that we are taught to pray for, in reference to our religious performances:—
Acceptance of what we do for Him! This means that in all we do in our service to God, whatever it is, may we do it in such a way that it is acceptable to the Lord.
Assistance in those things we do for God: God I want you to TEACH me your judgments! As humans, we cannot offer anything to God because all we have is like dirty rags to Him. We are not worthy to bring things to him and we have NO reason to think God will accept our praise or sacrifice, but what we find is that God is pleased to instruct us in the doing; and we must be as earnest for the grace of God in us as for the favor of God towards us.
What we should always seek is to be pleasing in the sight of God and that He accepts what we have in the way of offerings to Him. Offerings of material things and offerings of a spiritual nature as well… offerings of praise and worship… offerings of service and obedience… We want God to be accepting of our offerings to Him.
We must also seek to KNOW His word and study His word… all the time should be when we seek to know more about His word…
109My life constantly hangs in the balance, but I will not stop obeying your instructions.
When we look at this passage we can see that the psalmist recognizes his frailty and the fact that he places himself in danger quite a bit of the time! His constant groping in the darkness and unwillingness to allow God to lead him… was a source of great spiritual pain and suffering.
But when we read the “Revelation Study Bible: 119:109 …my life in my hand continually.” We can see that the psalmist’s obedience is not risk-free… there will always be a risk for those who serve God. He will become exposed to the wiles of his enemies. The psalmist could wish to be free of the danger, but is more concerned to live a godly life in spite of it.
Here in v.109-110 we find the psalmist was in danger of losing his life, but there is a step between him and death! He proclaims that the wicked have laid a snare for him… and are seeking to destroy him.
We know that King David, who wrote MANY of these psalms, had Saul chasing him so many times and that David is hated by Saul for his piety.
David in no danger of losing his salvation from God, but in spite of that security David is in constant jeopardy every hr and yet we find David constantly worshipping God.
Nothing moves him as
(1.) He does not forget the law, and therefore he is likely to persevere. In the multitude of his cares for his own safety he finds room in his head and heart for the word of God, and has that in his mind as fresh as ever; and where that dwells richly it will be a well of living water.
(2.) He has not yet erred from God’s precepts, and therefore it is to be hoped he will not. He had stood many a shock and kept his ground, and surely that grace which had helped him hitherto would not fail him, but would still prevent his wanderings.
110The wicked have set their traps for me, but I will not turn from your commandments.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
Here the psalmist views the spiritual landscape of his life. He understands that it is a battleground, and that bad things happen. But here we find Him placing his full faith and trust in God… although he is being hounded by those seeking to destroy him, he is NOT going to turn way from God’s word… even if it leads him into the trap of His enemy…
This is because the psalmist fully believed that EVEN IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH… he could fear NO evil that God was going to be with Him, and deliver him.
111Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight.
In this verse we can see that the psalmist is resolving to himself to God’s Word and the portion that God has promised! He is laying claim to God promise within his word.
The KJV puts it like this…“Thy testimonies (the truths, the promises, of thy word) have I taken as a heritage for ever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart.”
The NIV says it like this, “…Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart…”
The NLT says it like this, “…Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight …”
Here the emphasis by the psalmist was NOT on his heart but it was fully upon the Law of God being a treasure one must seek to obtain and hold onto…
Henry says that the psalmist expected eternal happiness in God’s testimonies. He knew that the covenant God had made with him was an everlasting covenant, and therefore he took it as a heritage forever!
The blessing of this promise is that God’s testimonies are a heritage to all who place faith and trust in Jesus Christ! Those are the ones who have received the Spirit of adoption! They are God’s children, his heirs!
They are a heritage forever, and that no earthly heritage is (1 Pet. 1:4); all the saints accept them as such, take up with them, live upon them, and can therefore be content with but little of this world.
But the psalmist ALSO enjoyed a present satisfaction in God’s promises. They bring rejoicing to his heart, mainly because they will be his heritage forever. It takes a man or woman of faith to see the blessings of God’s presence in their lives because far too often we look to the circumstances of life to find God’s blessing… when God AND His blessing is with us always, even in difficult times.
Also we find that the psalmist resolves to govern himself by God’s word and take His measures to heart! He says, that he has inclined my heart to do your law.
If we, as believers, desire the blessings of God we are going to HAVE to come under the bonds of his statutes. We must look for comfort in our obedience and the doing of our duty to Christ! Doing things in our walk with Christ out of our love for Him and in a desire to please and honor Him always!
112I am determined to keep your decrees to the very end.
Here we find the psalmist once again making vigilant and determined effort before God. This is him once again promising to be always obedient within his walk. His vow to God is a determined and vigilant vow that basically says, “God I will love, honor and serve you until death takes me from this world!”
This is similar to the wedding vows in a wedding ceremony. These vows are taken and spoken before God and witnesses to be true and honest evaluations and expectations of a man and a woman… But the bottom line is this… We are called to serve God and to do so at the utmost of our own abilities, but relying FULLY on the wisdom and guidance of God.
The psalmist makes a proclamation here at the end that MAY not be one we think of much… he says, “…to the very end…” reminds me of our words to our spouses in our wedding vows, “…till death do us part…”
This means through thick and thin… good or bad… good times and bad… we will be keeping God’s decrees! We will be faithful in our obedience to Him!
How can we live like that? With uncertainty and darkness all around us, how can we see to live in unending obedience to our Father? Well, v.105 is a great template for how to live this sort of life… God’s Word is our lamp, and it will light our path!
But this is the key concept you HAVE to grasp… because if you do not grasp this concept, you will struggle even WITH God’s Word lighting your path!
God’s word is a lamp to guide my feet… God’s word is also a lamp to illuminate the path we are on…
But God’s light is only on those steps where God wants you to step… there is a book that is a good read and I recommend it to all of us here. It is “Just Enough Light for the Step I'm On: Trusting God in the Tough Times” by Stormie Omartian
So often we want to see FAR off into the future, but we must learn to trust God for that and keep focused on what God has us doing RIGHT NOW! In her book, Stormie says, “God gives me just the amount of light I need at just the time I need it!” This reveals a great deal of trust and submission to God on her part… on the part of the believer!
Where are we tonight? Are we willing to trust in Him to light our path to HIS desire? Or are we wanting God to light the path to our own yearning? The psalmist here in these verses reveals that God’s word is sufficient for our yearnings and God’s Word is sufficient for our walk… the question then becomes, “Do we trust in God’s Word?” Do you? PRAY!
