SLAYING OUR GIANTS
PSALM 119:161-168
INTRODUCTION
A. Jesus may have had this passage in mind when He said that if He had not done the works among them that no one else had done, they would not be guilty of sin (John 15:24-25).
B. When true Christianity falls from the grace of secular rulers, opposition, if not persecution, follows. Shall we fight back with weapons that are not in the Lord’s arsenal or follow David’s example? (1 Sam 17:45).
1. Paul tells us how to face our giants of opposition, persecution, and false doctrine (2 Cor 10:3-6).
2. The only offensive weapon in the believer’s arsenal is the word of God—not the ballot box or laws granting “most favored nation” to the church (Eph 6:10-18).
C. Victory over our giants is assured when we do, as did David.
I. WE STAND IN AWE OF GOD’S WORD (V. 161)
A. We do not stand in awe of the word as a great piece of literature, although it is. We stand in awe of the living word (Col 3:16-17).
B. When we truly stand in awe of God’s word, we do not simply admire it; we obey it (Jam 1:22-25).
II. WE REJOICE IN GOD’S WORD (V. 162)
A. If we find God’s word burdensome, it isn’t God’s word, we are focusing on the wrong message, or we are not his disciples (1 John 5:1-5).
1. The word “gospel” means good news for believers, but it is bad news for unbelievers (Mk 16:15-16)
2. We focus on the good news (Rom 8:1-8).
3. Paul had much more to say, but we fast-forward to the end of his message (Rom 8:31-39).
III. WE LOVE GOD’S WORD (VV. 163-164)
A. If we love God’s word, we will hate and abhor falsehood.
1. Dictionaries give “abhor” as a synonym for hate.
2. David could be using synonymous parallelism in which a second statement repeats the first to strengthen it. Abhor is the stronger word, indicating horror and disgust.
3. We might say that to abhor something is to hate it passionately.
4. It is easy to hate evil in the abstract, but quite another to act against it. We don’t have to become crusaders against this or that social evil—although we may if we choose to do so.
B. Hating evil has validity when we hate it in ourselves, as did Paul (Rom 7:15).
IV. WE REST IN GOD’S WORD (V. 165)
A. Some things are better felt than told (Phil 4:4-9).
B. The peace described by David in the 23rd Psalm should guard our hearts.
C. Resting in God’s word doesn’t mean resting on our laurels (Phil 3:12-14).
V. WE KEEP GOD’S WORD (VV.167-168)
A. We don’t pick and choose proof texts, seeking talking points. Instead, we focus on both God’s promises and threats as does the word (Eph 2:1-10).
1. Some are long on obedience but short on grace, while others are long on grace and short on obedience.
2. If we have been saved by grace through faith, we are “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Phil 2:10).
3. It is easy to talk the talk of God’s grace. However, we must walk the walk.
CONCLUSION
A. As the song says, “I don’t know about tomorrow, but I know Him who holds tomorrow.”
B. Another hymn pleads, “Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on.”
