PSALM 119: 41-48 [The Ministry of The Word Series]
THE WORD OF GOD SAVES US
This section is a prayer for God to save through His love and His Word (CIT). The psalmist calls on God for deliverance from those who reproach him (v. 42). This reproach is a personal attack because of his love for God and His Word.
All men seek good things from God, but the ungodly return nothing back again to the Lord. Their prayers proceed from a love of themselves, and not from a love for God and His Word. They refuse to honor God by allowing Him His glory. The godly give praise to God as they seek good things and when they receive them, they acknowledge God by giving Him glory through offering them back to the God from whom they received them. Their life revolves around their love for God not their love for themselves. Thus what they received serves God because they serve God instead of themselves. The service of sin and self is slavery; the service of God is liberty. [Spurgeon, Charles. The Treasury of David. Vol. 3. McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing. p. 231]
I. CLAIMING GOD'S PROMISE, 41-42.
II. PROMISED OBEDIENCE, 43-46.
III. PROMISED DELIGHT, 47-48.
Vav [And].
Verse 41 declares that proofs of God's lovingkindness come as we receive the promises of His word. "May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your word;"
He prays that God's lovingkindnesses which the Lord has prepared for his need come to him. [Lovingkindnesses is a frequent word in Psalm 119 (vv. 64, 76, 88, 124, 149, 159)].
The great outcome of lovingkindness is salvation or deliverance. This word could be a personal promise he received from the Word (1 Kgs 8:56).
The way of salvation is described in the word. Salvation itself is promised in the word. The inward working of salvation is prepared and prompted by the word. In all respects the salvation which is in Christ Jesus is according to the word. David loved the Scriptures, because of the implanting and outworking they brought about in his life (James 1:21-22). He was not satisfied to read the word, he longed to experience its loving deliverance. He valued Scripture for the sake of the treasure which he had discovered in it. [Spurgeon, 226.]
The lovingkindness and deliverance of God provides us with answers for those who reproach us as verse 42 indicates. "So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word."
He remains faithful because he has faith in God and His Word. One needs faith when someone reproaches or tries to lay you low. But if God will let His promise be fulfilled he will have a response to the criticizer. When those who reproach us are also reproaching God, we may ask God to help us to answer them by the provision of His mercy and faithfulness with which His Word supplies us.
II. PROMISED OBEDIENCE, 43-46.
In verses 43-46 the psalmist prayed (and affirmed) that the Word would continue to be his pattern of life. These declaration he would be willing to do by the grace of God that he might glorify God.
Verse 43 refers to our duty to confess God. "And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances."
He prays for God's Word to remain with him for he is responsive to it. If we refuse to follow and confess God, He may remove His unused truth from us. So the Psalmist takes his stand in and upon the Word of God.
An interesting film, The Next Voice You Hear, from1950 tells a story of a family with a typical amount of trials and tensions. Then, one night, the VOICE OF GOD speaks on the radio. But not just their radio, God's voice is heard throughout the world on every radio, saying the same thing at the same time.
At first people react with disbelief, then fear. After several days of hearing "The Voice," however, people's attitudes, actions and priorities begin to change. The impact of what God says directly affects how they live their lives.
I have heard people say, "If only God would talk to me! If He would just tell me what to do, I would do it." The simple fact is that God has already spoken to us through His Word, the Bible. The real question is, "Do we listen to Him as He speaks?"
[The psalmist desired to obey God's Word "continually, forever and ever." James warned about ignoring it when he said, "Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22).]
How would you respond if God began to speak to you on your radio? We can be thankful that God does speak to us-not on the radio but in the Scriptures. May we be wise enough to listen and obey. [Crowder, Bill. Our Daily Bread. Radio Bible Class.]
The prayer promises to keep God's law not only while God delivers him but for all time in verse 44. "So I will keep Your law continually, forever and ever."
He will keep God's Word not only till he receives the promise deliverance, but forever and ever. Nothing more effectually binds a man to the way of the Lord than experiencing the truth of His Word, actualized through God's lovingkindness and deliverance. There is no other way to ensure our perseverance in holiness but by the Word of Truth continually abiding in us that by God's grace we might continually abide in God's Spirit.
I heard a story about a small church that was having a HOMECOMING reunion. A former member who attended the celebration had become a millionaire. When he testified about how God had blessed him over the years, he related an incident from his childhood.
He said that when he earned his first dollar as a boy, he decided to keep it. But then a guest missionary preached about the urgent need on the mission field. He struggled about giving his dollar. "The Lord won, however," the man said. Then, with a sense of pride he added, "I put my treasured dollar in the offering. And I'm convinced that the reason God has blessed me so much is that when I was a little boy I gave Him everything I possessed." The congregation was awestruck by the testimony-until a little old lady in front piped up, "I dare you to do it again!"
There's a vital truth behind that story: Past attainments are not a measure of present spiritual maturity. The psalmist says, "So shall I keep Your law continually." He knew he needed to keep his commitment fresh every day.
As Christians, we cannot rest on past victories. We must give the Lord our full devotion now. Then no one will need to challenge us, "I dare you to do it again!" Let your past be a springboard, not a sofa.
Verse 45 confesses that as we live according to God's Word we find God's freedom. "And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts."
Liberty or freedom is literally "a wide space," indicating unconfined by affliction or oppression (Ps. 18:19). This is an inner freedom God provide for those seek it by seeking His Word. They will be unrestrained by the intimidation of the world
The psalmist talks about keeping the laws and yet being free. Contrary to what we expect, obeying God's laws doesn't inhibit or restrain us. Instead it frees us to be what God designed us to be. By seeking God's salvation and forgiveness we have freedom from sin and the resulting oppressive guilt. By living God's way, we have freedom to fulfill God's plan for our lives.
The psalmist found freedom because he sought to know and keep God's precepts. True freedom is found in walking in the way of the Word (Jn. 8:32).
If we love God and His Word we will speak to others about it as verse 46 implies. "I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed."
Because he has found salvation or sanctification by continuing in God's Word he stands ready to speak of it. Such will be his boldness that he is ready to give testimony of God's truth and ways even before the great powers and authorities of this world (Matthew 10:18). He was determined not to dishonor God or himself by not speaking of Him and the great things He has done. Jesus said in Mark 8:38, "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
III. PROMISED DELIGHT, 47-48.
In verse 47 he promises to delight in God's commandments because he loves them. "I shall delight in Your commandments, which I love."
He will not obey God's commandments simply out of dread or obligation, but because he loves them and derives great blessing from them. Love for God's Word was the settled affection of his soul.
[Because of my wife's busy schedule, sometimes she can commit only a limited amount of time every week to each of our grandchildren. When possible, however, she will rearrange her schedule to spend more time with them-not out of duty, but because she loves them. When I see her with them, I understand what the word delight means.]
In Psalm 119, David tells of his "delight" in God's Word. He uses the word delight eight times (vv. 16,24, 35,47,70,77,92,174). The psalmist's words, "I will delight," indicate that it is a deliberate act of his will. However, it is not a burden for him to delight in God's Word because he loves it. David's close relationship with God created in him a desire to know what his beloved Lord had to say.
In the same way, for us to move from duty to delight in God's Word, we need to strengthen our relationship with Him. When we remember how much He loves and has done for us, we will respond with love and we will delight to spend time with Him. "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" (v.97).
"A satisfied Christian is an awesome witness whose testimony God can use to convict and convert others" [Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Job-Song of Solomon. David Cook. 2004. Colorado Springs, CO. p. 317].
Verse 48 depicts the public adoration this worshiper bestows on God for His Word. "And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes."
The lifting up of hands is an act that accompanies praise (63:4; 134:2) or love (28:2). As he meditates on the Word, he would raise his hands in surrender, in submission, in adoration. Though we worship God not the Bible, we should lift praise and thanksgiving to Him for His incredible gift.
When Mary Jones was 10 years old, she began saving money for SOMETHING SPECIAL she wanted to buy. She babysat, tended neighbors' gardens, and sold eggs from her own chickens. By the time she was 16, she had accumulated enough money to get what she so desperately wanted. Was it a new car? A fresh wardrobe? A Nintendo? No, Mary Jones was 16 in the year 1800, and what she had been saving for was a Bible. But there was no place to buy one in the tiny Welsh village where she lived, so she walked 25 miles [to Bala]. There Rev. Thomas Charles had one Bible left to sell; and after some convincing, Mary talked him into selling it to her.
Because of Mary's hunger for the Bible, Rev. Charles and others began discussing the need of making the Scriptures more readily available. The British and Foreign Bible Society was started, and during the next 100 years it distributed more than 200 million copies of God's Word worldwide. To Mary, nothing was more important than the Bible, and her persistence paid huge spiritual dividends.
Do we treasure God's Word? How often do we even walk across the room to pick up the Bible and read it? Too many people store the Bible on the shelf instead of in their heart.
IN CLOSING,
The service of sin and self is slavery; the service of God is liberty. There is no full happiness, or perfect liberty, but in keeping God's commandments. We must never be ashamed of God's Word. The more delight we take in the Word and service of God, the richer they becomes to us. We must not only consent that His law is good, but take hold of it as good for us and delight therefore in it. Let us/me put forth all the strength we/I have, to do it.
