The Key to a Happy Life
Part 1
Sermon Series: A Word about the Word Psalm119
Date: January 26, 2003 AM Service
Place: Allendale Baptist
Text: Psalm 119:1-8
Introduction
I once heard of a story about a preacher who was to preach in view of a call at a church as the new pastor. As he toured the church that Sunday morning, he asked if he could visit with the young children’s class. He asked the teacher to step out so he might inquire whether the boys and girls were being taught the Word of God. He asked the class what he thought was a simple Bible question; “Who destroyed the walls or who made the walls of Jericho fall down?” A little boy named Johnny stood up and said “Preacher, I have done a lot of bad things but it wasn’t me”.
He was very disturbed and went to the teacher and told her what he had asked and the little boys response. The Sunday School teacher said; “preacher, I know that boys family and he is a good boy .If he said he didn’t make those walls fall down, I believe him.”
Not long after that he went to a Deacon’s meeting. He was very disturbed about the young boy and teacher’s answer and told the story to the Deacon body. One old Deacon stood up and said “Now preacher you need not be disturbed. This church is a giving church and I’m sure we have enough money in the building fund to rebuild those walls.”
Sad but I believe very true. Not just among those outside the church, but among those inside the church. Many of those professing to be born again, blood bought children of God, admit to not knowing the Scriptures. Sadly to say one survey I recently read over 70% of Baptist, Southern Baptist said they do not read their Bibles each day.
I guess if I were bold enough to say this out loud, which you know I am, many of us this morning had a difficult time finding our Bibles.
My desire as a Christian is to evangelize the sinner; to do this I must preach the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says; “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
My desire as Pastor of this church is to equip the saints. And I no better way than to impart the truth to you each week of God’s Word.
And I also desire to exalt the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. I can think of no greater way than to digest God’s Word daily in my life and let Him live His life through me.
Thy Word is like a garden Lord, with flowers bright and fair; and everyone was seeks may pluck a lovely cluster there.
Thy Word is like a deep deep mine and jewels rich and rare are hidden in its mighty depths for every searcher there.
Thy Word is like a starry host a thousand rays of light are seen to guide the traveler, and make his pathway bright.
Thy Word is like an armory where soldiers may repair and find for life’s long battle day all needful weapons there.
Oh, may I love Thy precious Word; May I explore the mine;
May I its fragrant flowers glean; May light upon me shine.
Oh, may I find my armor there; Thy Word my trusty sword,
I’ll learn to fight with every foe the battle of the Lord.
Edwin Hodder, Sourcebook of Poetry
My hopes are for the next several weeks to study a book of the Scripture about the Word of God. Psalms 119 is a book about the Book. I have entitled these series of messages “A Word about the Word.”
My prayer is to challenge each of us to fall in love with God’s Word.
Psalm 119 is the longest of the psalms. With 176 verses it is the longest chapter in the Bible. As we study line by line verse by verse we will notice nearly every verse, all but 4 or 5 contains a synonym for the Word of God.
The Word of God is spoken of as “His Testimonies”, “His ways”, “Your precepts”, “Your statutes”.
So in essence this psalm is about Scripture, it is about the Bible.
It has an interesting arrangement. Over verse 1, it says “Aleph”. Over verse 9. “Beth”, verse 17 “Gimel” and so on.
These are letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section in Psalm 119 has a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
It is significant because every verse in the section begins with the Hebrew letter of the alphabet which heads that section.
Some say that this Psalm was written in a similar time as we live today. It was a time of religious skepticism. They doubted whether there was a God. The people jumped from one religious fad to another. It was a time when profanity ran rampant. It was a wicked and sinful period.
The psalmist possibly a young man in this hostile environment, an environment hostile to faith and the things of God. He is faced daily with rejection, slander and great opposition. But when he is confronted with this opposition he tightens his grip on the Word of God. He never turns loose of it.
In verses 1-2 he tells us there is a “blessedness” that comes from reading and obeying the Word of God. “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek Him with the whole heart.”
There is a special joy and blessedness from reading, learning and keeping the Word of God.
If you read the entire Psalm this is the synopsis or conclusion; “Blessedness and happiness come when we read and appropriate the truths of the Word of God in our lives.”
God wants us to be happy
God wants us to understand He is the only one who can fill our emptiness which longs for happiness.
So this morning we will let God’s Word lead is in the truth Keys to a Happy Life.
I. Happiness Is Preservation From Defilement vv. 1-4
A. Undefiled means those who are kept from evil. Aren’t you thankful God delivers and keeps us from evil and sin.
B. No matter what the sin. The church is a living testimony that God delivers from sins
C. Sin may bring temporal happiness and momentary satisfaction. But sin will ultimately destroy one’s life.
D. Not only are we delivered from sin, but God wants to preserve us from sin. Happiness is being preserved from defilement and it expresses itself in two ways:
1. From Defilement of Our Heart v. 2b
a. Jesus said in Mark that evil comes from within from the heart.
b. So the psalmist tells us “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart.”
c. “Seek Him with your whole heart” means undivided heart.
d. To find peace of God in our hearts we need to turn our whole attention to Him.
e. Jeremiah 29:13 says; “You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with your whole heart.”
f. There is preservation and cleansing from the defilement of the heart in God’s Word.
g. Someone has said; “There is waiting for us in the Word of God, truth and a message for our hearts. We love the Word of God because we recognize it as the sayings of God for our hearts.”
h. Some claim we as Baptist worship the Bible. No we worship the God whom the Bible declares.
Second we are preserved…
2. From Defilement of Our Habits v. 2a, 3
“Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity, they walk in His ways.”
What is in our hearts we will do. So these verses teach us two very important facts…
E. God’s Word Teaches Us the Way of God vv. 3b-4
1. The word “Ways” in the Hebrew speaks of a path, a road or a highway you would travel on to reach a destination.
2. “Way” could also refer to the character of God.
3. We must as Christians walk in a way consistent with God’s character.
4. God is holy and pure
5. I like what someone wrote “There is Happiness in Holiness.”
Next…
F. God’s Word Teaches Us the Will of God v. 2b
1. The will of God means God’s purpose.
2. It is amazing God has a purpose for every person here today.
3. His will is that first for you to be saved. To put your trust in the finished, redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Next, the Psalmist wants us to see…
II. Happiness Is Praying With Direction
To understand the essence of praying, we must pray under the direction of God. We are to pray so that God’s Spirit guides us in our praying.
The Psalmist in verse 4 has stopped preaching and started praying.
He is praying with direction and in verses 5-6 are 2 elements praying with direction involves.
A. He prays with direction of the Word of God which is the shame of sin. Read v. 6
1. When is then?
2. When he keeps God’s commandments, God’s law, God’s statutes and God’s testimonies.
3. When he obeys God and lives according to what God wants him to be, then he will not be ashamed.
4. When we pray with direction we will pray with the consciousness of the shame of sin.
5. God’s Word is a mirror. God’s Word will reveal sin in our lives, and when it does we are to confess it to Him.
6. The worst tragedy of our day is we have lost the shame of our sin.
7. We are no longer ashamed or at least embarrassed over sin.
The psalmist views his sin and realizes that only through God’s power can he possibly obey and be what God wants him to be.
But also he realizes…
B. Praying with Direction also Involves The Strength of Surrender v.5
1. One of the ways we pray with direction is that we have surrendered our lives to God’s will.
2. We must come humbly before the Lord with a surrender to God’s will.
3. I have said this many times before, one of the most dangerous places for the non-believer and also the believer is being disobedient to God’s will.
4. When God gives direction, when He reveals His good and perfect will we must obey.
Last the psalmist tells us that….
III. Happiness Is Praising Without Defilement vv. 7-8
The psalmist has gone from preaching to praying and now to praising.
C.H. Spurgeon said; “Be sure that he who prays for holiness will one day praise with happiness.”
For the psalmist the shame of sin has vanished, his silence is now broken. Now there is praise.
You cannot praise God with sin in your life. Unless your heart is pure you are not praising God.
God does not accept the praise that is based on a sinful life.
Can I go on to say this; A person who is truly happy doe not have to be blessed in a physical way to praise the Lord.
A person that sees the Lord as Holy and himself as forgiven, righteous and justified can say I praise God even if He never does another thing again for me.
We find 4 things which the psalmist praises God
A. With Cleanness v.7 “I will praise You with uprighteousness of heart…” A pure life honors and glorifies God.
B. With Correctness v.7b “When I learn Your righteous judgments…” Praise is learned from the Bible, from the Word of God. Did you realize that when we study the Bible we are praising God.
C. With Conduct v. 8a “I will keep Your statutes…” The praising life is one that obeys the Lord. We praise Him with our obedient lives.
D. With Confidence v. 8b “O do not forsake me utterly.” The commentator William McDonald say of verse 8; “Firm resolve is coupled with humble dependence. The psalmist is determined to follow hard after the Lord. But he realizes his own inadequacy. The prayer do not forsake me is not so much a possible actuality as a statement of what the writer feels he might deserve.
Close
I believe I have faithfully preached the message God has laid on my heart today. Now you must respond…
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal you need to trust Him today…
If you have unconfessed sin in your life you must confess it today…
If you are out of fellowship with God today, maybe because you do not have a church home you need to come and join this body of believers if the Lord is leading…
If you are not faithfully serving Him… If you are not living your life pleasing to Him you need to come and recommit your life to Him today…
Invitation
