CLEARING THE WAY-part 7—Psalm 119:9-16
Attention:
Three mischievous boys went to the zoo one Friday for an outing, since they had been at school all week.
They decided to visit the elephant habitat, but soon enough, they were picked up by a policeman for causing a commotion.
The officer hauled them off to security for questioning. The supervisor in charge brought each of them in separately & one-by-one he asked each of them to give their names & tell what happened at the elephant habitat.
The first boy innocently said, “My name is Gary, & I was just throwing peanuts to the elephants.”
The second added, “My name is Larry, & all I was doing was throwing peanuts to the elephants.”
The third boy, came in & was a little shaken up—the officer knew this one would spill the beans. The boy, said, “Well, my name is Harry, but all my friends call me Peanuts.”
Much must be considered when CLEARING The WAY.
The psalmist described the means by which a young man was to cleanse his way or make his way straight in the world.
A young man entering adulthood can properly maintain his way in the world.
But How can a person make their way in the world?
12 Disciplines to maintaining/making your way in the world.
We have previously found that Clearing the Way demands...
1. A PURIFYING Heart(:9a)
2. A KEEPER’s/GUARD’s/PROTECTOR’s Heart(:9b)
3. A HUNTER’s Heart(:10a)
4. A NAVIGATOR’s Heart(:10b)
5. A TREASURING Heart(:11a)
6. A REASONING Heart(:11b)
7. An ADORING Heart(:12a)
8. An OPEN Heart(:12b)
9. A CONFIDENT TEACHER’s Heart(:13)
10. A DRIVEN Heart(:14)
11. A MEDITATIVE Heart(:15)
All these disciplines can either be limited to your little world or they can be brought into the realm of service to God.
12—Clearing the Way(for Father’s Day) demands...
A FIXED(fixated) Heart(:16)
Explanation:(:16)Affectionate/Fascination/Committed/Retain/Fixated
:16—“I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.”
FIXED—Settled/Set/Seated &/or Repaired/Restored
For the person on the path of God’s desire, there is a personal “delight” in ‘caressing/fondling’(to caress lovingly, affectionately, or tenderly) God’s word. God’s “statutes” are not cumbersome/unwieldy but are rather enamored objects to such an extent that we are blinded to all else in the world.
Example: Cell phones—We can’t leave them alone, can’t do anything without them.
Mat. 11:28-30—Mat. 11:28-30—“Come to Me, all you who labor & are heavy laden, & I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you & learn from Me, for I am gentle & lowly in heart, & you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy & My burden is light.”
Rom. 7:22—[NASB]“For I joyfully concur with[“Delight in”—sunhdomai] the law of God in the inner man,”
Due to this young man’s being blinded to the world’s pull, thru “delight” in God’s “statutes,” he will thus not be oblivious or indifferent to God’s “word.” He will actively keep himself from neglecting that which God has said & says. In not laying aside God’s “word” God’s man thus becomes fruitful for God’s kingdom.
Mat. 13:3, 7, 22-23—“Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.”.....“And some fell among thorns, & the thorns sprang up & choked them.”.....“Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, & the cares of this world & the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, & he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word & understands it, who indeed bears fruit & produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
I am not ‘fix-ated' on the word of God simply because it may be fascinating for whatever reason(s), but rather, I am ‘fixed’ upon it because it is God-breathed.
We may even become so fixed upon a particular verse of Scripture, that we exclude all else presented in the Word!
Love for example—Deciding for ourselves what love is thru society & culture rather than learning/knowing its truth thru God in Christ.
“Delight”—eev shaw-ah’—Hitpalpel(causative/reflexive/reciprocal) Imperfect—1) To stroke, be smeared over, be blinded—1c) (Hithpalpel)--To blind oneself, be blinded; 2) To sport, take delight in—2c) (Hithpalpel)--To delight oneself. Strong—a primitive root; (in a good acceptation)--To look upon(with complacency), i.e. Fondle, please or amuse(self); (in a bad one)--To look about(in dismay), i.e. Stare. Used 9X.
“Statutes/Decrees”(See :12—qx)—hqx khook-kaw'—1) Statute, ordinance, limit, enactment, something prescribed. Strong—feminine of qx, & meaning substantially the same—[An enactment; hence, an appointment(of time, space, quantity, labor or usage)].
“Forget/Neglect”—xkv shaw-kakh’—Qal Imperfect—1) To forget, ignore, wither. Strong—a primitive root; To mislay, i.e. To be oblivious of, from want of memory or attention.
“Word”(See :9; :11—hrma)—rbd daw-baw'—1) Speech, word, speaking, thing—1a) Speech, 1b) Saying, utterance, 1c) Word, words, 1d) Business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner(by extension). Strong—A word; by implication--A matter(as spoken of) or thing; adverbially--A cause.
Argumentation:
Js. 1:22-25—“But prove yourselves doers of the word, & not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word & not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself & gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, & abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.”
Mk. 8:9-21—“Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, & came to the region of Dalmanutha. Then the Pharisees came out & began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, & said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.” And He left them, & getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, & they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees & the leaven of Herod.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
Jn. 15:20—“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”
1Cor. 11:1, 2—“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things & keep the traditions[paradosiv—giving over/transmitted] just as I delivered them to you.”
1Cor. 11:23-26—“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; & when He had given thanks, He broke it & said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread & drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”
Again: Jn. 14:26-27—“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, & bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
**Isa. 26:3-4—“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.”
Jn. 16:32-33—“Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Illustration:
Jesus really is your ultimate & (in all actuality) only answer. All things of your life are bound up in Him.
Dementia is hard on a family because one we love, unintentionally but literally ‘forgets,’ the very ones they themselves love/Something is physically ‘out-of-whack’ with their memory/We must aid them always recalling our love for one another & their precious worth/A FIXED Heart
It is horrible to be forgotten!/God’s heart is broken, when we willingly/intentionally ‘forget Him,’ regarding ourselves more.
A farmer plowing—whether with a hand-held plow with a mule team or with a brand-new John Deere top-of-the-line Moldboard Plow attached to a 9RX tractor with radar ground speed control & GPS positioning/The farmer must focus his attention on a particular path or field-based strategy/A FIXED Heart
Important to early-on teach children the security & privilege of memorizing-knowing reading the word of God/These can think back to their younger days when they learned such things/They can think back on the sacrifice, passion & significance of those that taught them/This speaks to them about the need for a heart fixed on Jesus/A FIXED Heart
Application:
?You fulfilling God’s demand as a father in providing A FIXED Heart? Your family needs it!
?You Clearing the Way?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
I was just throwing peanuts to the elephants.”—“Well, my name is Harry, but all my friends call me Peanuts.”
Action:
Clearing the Way(for Father’s Day) demands...
12. A FIXED(fixated) Heart(:16)
1. A PURIFYING Heart(:9a)
2. A KEEPER’s/GUARD’s/PROTECTOR’s Heart(:9b)
3. A HUNTER’s Heart(:10a)
4. A NAVIGATOR’s Heart(:10b)
5. A TREASURING Heart(:11a)
6. A REASONING Heart(:11b)
7. An ADORING Heart(:12a)
8. An OPEN Heart(:12b)
9. A CONFIDENT TEACHER’s Heart(:13)
10. A DRIVEN Heart(:14)
11. A MEDITATIVE Heart(:15)
Pt. 12 only! Presented 01/10/2016pm to:
FBC C’belle
206 Storrs Ave SE(A Ave. SE)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
