Shin
April 11, 2012
Oak Park Baptist Church – Wed Bible Study Series
Psalm 119:161-169 (ESV) – 21 of 22
Sin or Shin – 20th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet
Read/show ALL verses b4 verse by verse teaching…
[ESV] [show verses here]
161Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of Your words. 162I rejoice at Your word like one who finds great spoil.163I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love Your law.164Seven times a day I praise You for Your righteous rules.165Great peace have those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.166I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, and I do Your commandments.167My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.168I keep Your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before You.
[ESV] [show verses here]
161Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of Your words.
[NLT]
161Powerful people harass me without cause, but my heart trembles only at your word.
The initial item we see the psalmist approaching in this stanza is the idea of fear or terror brought against those who serve God.
In the ESV the word used is ‘persecute’ and in the NLT they translate it as ‘harass’… the word being translated here is the Hebrew verb raw-daff which can be defined as to persecute, harass to follow after, aim to secure
Here the idea the psalmist is implying is that he is being pursued… but in a negative and stalking type way. It does not necessarily mean persecute to cause harm, but it could.
For us here in America this is more the case… we have those who ‘persecute’ us but it is more of a harassment and negative attitude toward our beliefs, and it is NOT a physical attack!
However, in other parts of the world this does not hold true. In nations all over the world there are those who are being physically persecuted for their faith in Christ!
They are mocked publicly, ridiculed relentlessly, harassed without end, physically abused and beaten, and even to the point of many have given their life because of their faith in Christ!
Here the psalmist could be speaking of EITHER of these situations… simple verbal harassment to an outright physical assault upon his person… He basically says, there are people in power who try to scare me… they try to overwhelm me with fear.
His implication is that they seek to stop him from serving God! But the psalmist does not allow their persecution to sway him…
WHY? Well he elaborates on that in the 2nd part of this verse when he says, ‘…but my heart stands in AWE of Your words…” or as the NLT puts it, “…but my heart trembles ONLY at Your word…”
Here the psalmist lets it be known that even tho’ many may come against him, his focus in on God and he gladly faces human persecution because he did not want to face God’s discipline for being disobedient to His words… His law!
This is just like the situation with Peter and John in Acts 5 when they faced the Sanhedrin. These powerful men had arrested Peter and John and demanded they stop preaching Jesus to the crowds! Peter stood boldly and said… ‘I must obey God and not man…’
This reveals 2 things at the same time… FIRST and foremost this reveals the psalmists willingness to be obedient to God’s law, no matter what it would cost him. They may be powerful men, but that would not sway his obedience to God’s word!
The 2nd thing we see here is the psalmist’s healthy FEAR of God in action… Here he displays his awe of God’s position and power…
He understands WHO is in charge and WHO is truly the ONE he answers to… These men may be ‘in charge’ here on earth, but God is in charge and when it comes to obedience, he must NOT put men before God!
This is how we must LIVE our lives… we must seek to be obedient to God’s word REGARDLESS of the cost to our lives here in this world! WHY? Well, when we stand before God on that day of judgment, we will stand blameless knowing that we obeyed God rather than men…
Jesus said in Matt 10:32: “…Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven...”
Do your actions and obedience reflect your acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord? Or do they reflect your own desires or your submission to the pressures of this world or those IN this world? Here the psalmist is teaching us to submit to His word!
But let me clarify that the psalmist does not submit in obedience to God’s word because of his sense of obligation OR out of his FEAR of God, although those things are present, the psalmist submits in obedience for a different reason… he lets us know in the next verse
[show verse here]
[ESV]
162I rejoice at Your word like one who finds great spoil.
[NLT]
162I rejoice in your word like one who discovers a great treasure.
Here the psalmist PROCLAIMS God’s word in a JOYFUL and REJOICING manner! He tells his readers that he REJOICES at the word of God!
He has already stated how much in AWE he was of God’s word… of how much he FEARED God and God’s word, but that healthy fear presents itself as a time and occasion to REJOICE! God in His mighty sovereignty has included me… is what he is saying! I rejoice in God’s word because God loves me!
His rejoicing is compared to the discovery of some great treasure! Men, have you ever put on a pair of pants and found $$ in the pocket… what about a suit coat? I have found as much as $20 in my pockets… what a TREASURE when I was NOT expecting anything!
But here, the psalmist says that the Word of God is like having a great treasure in his life! Have you ever thought about what it would be like if you won the Lottery?
Even tho’ I would never purchase a ticket (although I am often tempted to do so…) I have given some thought to what it would be like to WIN such a great amount of money!
I have thought about the wonderful idea of not having ANY financial worries and of being able to help my family with any issues they may be having… I have thought about the exciting opportunities it would open up for me and Michelle as we could be MUCH more involved in missions and ministry because we would have the resources to do so…
I have also thought about the personal freedoms it would bring… like being able to purchase what I need and even what I want, without worry or fret. To go on that vacation or get that gadget or drive that car I have always wanted!
All of this is exciting to me to think about… but what the psalmist is saying here is that ABOVE all of that, God’s word should excite and thrill us FAR MORE than great treasure!
And to be honest with you, I sometimes find that would be a very difficult thing for me to do! What about you? Do you treasure God’s word more than anything in your life?
The psalmist did and he wanted others to know how valuable God’s word is for us! The value of God’s word does not have a number beside it… in fact it would be considered to be PRICELESS because of its untold value!
The psalmist recognized this and proclaimed his JOY in that God had given His word so that he could know and become more acquainted with God!
Do you rejoice in God’s Word in your life? Or do you treat it as drudgery or merely an obligation in your life? Here the psalmist is very clear on what God’s word meant to him… what does it mean to you today?
God’s word relieves his fear of this world and provides him with great joy, but we find in the next 2 verses that the psalmist views this from another perspective… the perspective of the world!
[show verse now]
[ESV]
163I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love Your law. 164Seven times a day I praise You for Your righteous rules.
[NLT]
163I hate and abhor all falsehood, but I love Your instructions. 164I will praise you seven times a day because all your regulations are just.
Here the psalmist proclaims not only that he loves the law of God BUT that he hates the falsehood of man! This reveals that the psalmist not only LOVED the law of God but fully believed that the law of God was truthful and worthy of belief!
The terms he uses here for ‘falsehood’ is the Hebrew masculine noun ‘sheh-ker’ which means lie, deception, disappointment, or falsehood… in other words, what the psalmist is addressing here is anything that misleads or is not truth!
He states that anything that is deceptive or misleading or NOT the truth, that he hates and abhors it … or he hates and despises it…
These 2 two Hebrew terms let us know how the psalmist feels about deception and those things that lead us AWAY from the truth of God’s word!
This idea ties directly back the last stanza and v.158
NLT158 Seeing these traitors makes me sick at heart, because they care nothing for your word.
In this verse the psalmist reflects on how those who go against God’s word make him feel… they make his very heart SICK!
In our verse tonight we see that this deception and obvious falsehood is something he hates… it affects him to his very core!
How often do we find ourselves simply overlooking the lies and deception of the enemy… we find ourselves acquiescing to the evil of the world!
For many of us, we have become numb to the evil intent and evil influence of this world… I know I find myself there a lot!
But the truly sad thing is that for many believers today what happens is that we begin to focus our anger and derision on those who are living in the lie… we begin to show hatred and despise those who are living according to the deception of sin!
However, that is NOT our calling! We are not called to hate those who are living in the falsehood but we are called to hate the falsehood… called to hate the sin!
The psalmist in the 2nd part of v.163 says, ‘…because I love Your instruction…’ So we must ask ourselves, what are God’s instructions?
Well as believers we know that God has instructed us, to be HIS witnesses and make disciples! We do this by sharing His LOVE thru His word… we don’t do this by being judgmental or condescending of those in sin!
Ours is the ministry of reconciliation, not judgment! We are called to see people reconciled to God, just as WE were once reconciled to Him thru our salvation!
The lies and deceptions of this world should sicken our hearts! Sin should always be something we hate… BUT let us NEVER mistake the sinner for the sin… God loves the sinner but God hates and detests the sin!
When we do come to know God as Savior and submit to His word and surrender to Him as our King, a change happens! In the next verse we find the psalmist discussing a little bit about that change…
[read verses here]
[ESV]
165Great peace have those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble. 166I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, and I do Your commandments.
[NLT]
165Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble. 166I long for your rescue, Lord, so I have obeyed your commands.
Peace is what the psalmist is speaking about here… he says, “…great peace…” is what those who love His law would have!
The term here is the term we hear a great deal from our Jewish brothers when they say ‘Shalome’ it is a term that implies a safety or a soundness of body. It implies good health, great prosperity and an overall good welfare for your life. It also includes a peace, quiet, and tranquility of spirit… a contentment with life… a friendship or peace with God.
So you can see that ‘shalome’ carries a great deal of meaning. It is NOT a simple greeting, but rather a very deep wish for another to experience wonderful things in this life and with God. It carries with it a deep personal connection… as well… a faith in God that this peace will come about!
The psalmist here says, that those who love the Law of God… God’s WORD… shall experience not only ‘shalome’ but they will experience a ‘great shalome’… in other words ‘shalome’ in ABUNDANCE!
Now what does that sound like to you? Does that remind you of anything from the Gospels? How about what Jesus said in John 10:10 [ESV]
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
The term used by Jesus in this verse for ‘life’ is the Greek word ‘dzoh-ay’ which is like the Hebrew term ‘shalome’…
‘dzoh-ay’ is a word that means - An absolute fullness of life, both in the physical AND in the spiritual sense… this is based on our relationship with Christ… the ‘logos’ the WORD OF GOD!
The term ‘shalome’ used by the psalmist is based on their relationship with God’s Law… or God’s WORD. The psalmist is saying that if we love the law of God… and love is expressed through obedience… if we love the Law of God, we will experience an abundance of peace and oneness with God and in our lives!
This does not mean that things won’t go wrong…
This does not mean that bad things won’t happen…
This does not mean we will be perfect…
This does not mean that we will not experience pain…
What it does mean is that when those things DO come and God’s word tells to expect them… when they DO come, we have a peace about us that allows us to deal with them. God’s peace is with us because of God’s presence with us!
The psalmist says that those who love the law of God will not stumble… now that does not mean we will be perfect, but that when tough times come, we will not fall flat… but God will be there FOR us to lift us up… to steady our feet on the rocky road of life!
In v.166 the psalmist continues this praise by saying:
166I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, and I do Your commandments.
166I long for your rescue, Lord, so I have obeyed your commands.
Here the psalmist expresses a yearning in his heart to commune with God. To be ‘rescued’ from the brokenness of this world! The ‘salvation’ he mentions here is the Hebrew noun ‘yeh-shu-uh’ which means total and complete deliverance!
What does this mean for us today? It is speaking NOT to our ‘salvation’ in Christ… when we accept Christ as Savior, YES absolutely we are saved! BUT here is the thing… we are still looking forward to that time when we will be FULLY saved… FULLY delivered into the arms of our Savior!
For most of us… this comes when we pass from this life in death to our Savior in Heaven. For some it will mean the 2nd coming of Christ… regardless the salvation spoken of by the psalmist here was his COMPLETE and TOTAL deliverance… not just from one situation, but for all time!
And his yearning for this is the driving force behind his desire to please God and to be obedient to God’s Law. The driving force behind our obedience is that we know what Christ has done for us… we know what is coming… we know what he has in store for us… and because of HIS love for us…we love him by being obedient!
This is why John told us in 1 John 4:19 where John tells us that: “...We love because he first loved us...” we love Him and are obedient to Him because He showed his love to us! We yearn to be with Him and serve Him here in this world looking fwd to the time when our salvation will be made complete!
So the psalmist here reflects that obedience to God’s word brings about a peace in our lives that transcends earthly issues and difficulties. However, it also spurs us on in our yearning to be with Him to become even more obedient to His commands.
[show verses here]
ESV
167My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.
168I keep Your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before You.
NLT
167I have obeyed your laws, for I love them very much.
168 Yes, I obey your commandments and laws because you know everything I do.
In these 2 verses we find the psalmist laying out his heart before God yet ONE MORE time…
God, I am obedient to your word… is his cry! But he gives his reason for his obedience. We see that it is NOT to gain favor, but it is out of his love for God and God’s law!
He says, ‘…I have obeyed…for I love…’ basically he is telling God that because of his love for God and God’s law… he is obedient to God’s commands.
Jesus said in John 14:15 [HCSB] “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.” our ‘love’ for God is displayed through our obedience to His commandments in our lives! The psalmist understood this language and spoke it well…
Many of us have heard about the book that Gary Smalley wrote, The 5 Love Languages which speaks to how we can understand our spouse better when we come to know HOW they express and receive love.
In other words, when we begin to speak their ‘love’ language! The book has sold millions and I even use it in my pre-marital counseling sessions!
Well using that approach we need to understand that the language of love that God understands and responds to is the language of OBEDIENCE! If we are obedient to Him He knows we love him!
Here the psalmist understands the language of God and also we see that he understands the nature of God as well. Here he lays out how he understands the sovereignty of His God!
Look what he says in v.168:
168I keep Your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before You.
168 Yes, I obey your commandments and laws because you know everything I do.
He has expressed his obedience and why he is obedient… it is because of his love for God and God’s law, but here he confesses the sovereignty of God by saying God I am also obedient because YOU are everywhere and see everything…
God, I cannot fool you or deceive you… my life is an open book to You! Now I want to ask you tonight, “How often do you deceive yourself when you attempt to ‘hide’ things from God?”
I believe that there are times when we can actually TRY to hide things from Him, even when we know what the psalmist is saying here is true, ‘…for all my ways are before You…’
Today
In our stanza tonight we learned that we are persecuted… as believers this is something we must learn to expect.
In our lives, we may not experience physical persecution, but we WILL experience harassment, mocking and ridicule from this world…but our focus must remain on God and never stay on that which comes against us… [Peter, walking on water, sink]
We also saw a great respect and awe from the psalmist in many of these verses about the sovereignty and power of God! We need to remember WHO we serve! He is the Creator of the universe, the Master of all things, the King of kings!
The psalmist gives us a great picture of the value of serving and knowing God and God’s Word… it is like the most valuable treasure imaginable…
The psalmist then shares his hatred of falsehood and sin… and extols the virtues and goodness of God’s law! I want to remind you that it is SIN and FALSENESS that we must hate, and NOT the people in bondage to these things!
Peace and comfort come to those who trust in and obey God’s Law is the next msg from the psalmist here and he expresses his great desire to be FULLY delivered [into the presence of God] free from sin, falsehood and the brokenness of this world!
The psalmist ends with his confidence expressed in God’s faithfulness… He says his HOPE is in God’s salvation! His praise proclaims the sovereignty of God and then reveals the omnipresence of God…
We face difficulties in life and many of us seek peace in this life… the psalmist here instructs us on how peace can be obtained and that is thru obedience to God’s Word…
PRAY!
