PSALM 119:41-48 VAU The theme of these eight verses is very clearly dependence upon God s Word. It is of course a theme the psalmist re-emphasises many times not simply for the sake of his readers, but for the sake of his own walk with God. We can never stress enough the importance of the study of God s Word for the believer. Where you find a lack of study you find ignorance and where you find ignorance you find arrogance and where you find arrogance you find resistance to the preaching of the Word of God. The psalmist is very concerned to hold on to Scripture and cherish its teachings and live according to them. Let s consider this section from three similar/overlapping points of view: 1. Standing Upon God s Word 2. Standing By God s Word 3. Standing With God s Word STANDING UPON GOD S WORD It is a matter of fact that the Church has always been strongest when it has been faithful to the Scriptures. God rewards obedience. John the Baptist was controlled by the Word of God and he preached faithfully and fearlessly. The Lord Jesus preached and taught uncompromisingly. Peter and Paul followed His example and preached courageously. Martin Luther preached against the full force of Romanism armed only with the Word of God. John Knox said to Mary, Queen of Scots, Without the preaching place, Madam, I think few have occasion to be offended at me, but there, Madam, I am not master of myself, but must obey Him Who commands me to speak plain and to flatter no flesh upon the face of the earth. A.W. Tozer said, I preach to my congregation week after week. And I pray that I may be able to preach with such convicting power that my people will sweat! I do not want them to leave my services feeling good. The last thing I want to do is to give them some kind of religious tranquilizer and let them go to hell in their relaxation. If God is once again to breathe through this land His people require a fresh view of His Word. In the hands of the believer the Holy Spirit makes it the most formidable weapon for God Himself said, Zech. 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
2 This Book confronts me about my relationship with God and how I live my life. It not only confronts me, it also gives me hope; I can look into this Book and see how God restored great men like King David and the Apostle Peter. I can see how God used them despite their weaknesses. I can see in this Book the only means whereby a sinner can be accepted by God and this Book tells me it is by forsaking sin and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. I see that the Gospel this Book teaches saved a righteous Pharisee like Nicodemus, a man hardened against Christianity like Saul of Tarsus, a corrupted man like Zacchaeus, a loose woman from Samaria, a prostitute named Mary Magdalene, a blind beggar called Batimaeus When I hear people saying that Christ is only one way to God (i.e. there are others) I know they are wrong, - not just wrong a little bit, but wrong completely, - because this Book says that outside of Christ there is no salvation. Jesus is the only way! The teaching this Book gives me is unique because the Author of this Book is like none other. There is no one like God. What this Book says is 100% true. And I can stand confidently upon God s Word because I know I m in good company. I have read about the men who travelled the length and breadth of the country preaching the Word of God. The same doctrines they preached, I preach they discovered them by searching into the Word of God, as I did. When someone comes along and says, I don t agree with you well, I m sad for them, because I m in better company than they are! There is no other Book like the Word of God. God speaks to us through it in mercy and in love. He has never changed the way He deals with people, - He uses the same principles and truths in 2006AD as He used in 2006BC. His Word doesn t change because He doesn t change. When they come to us and tell us we need to adapt God s Word for today s people I honestly cannot understand that because it is not mine or theirs to adapt, - it s God s, and if it is God s it is perfect and it doesn t need to be updated. We are privileged to have this Book. Build you faith upon it. What you believe make sure the Bible teaches it. This Book is the only Book you need in the Christian life, yes, I know the value of other sound books but none of them come close to this one. The Bible comes entirely from God! Make sure the Christian literature you read correlates faithfully with the Word of God. Stand upon God s Word.
3 STANDING BY GOD S WORD God s Word shares God s promises, and promises always imply future hope. In I Kings 8 Solomon stands in front of the altar in the new Temple, he stretches his hands up towards Heaven and he calls out with a loud voice, v.56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. I love reading the old sermons of faithful preachers for I know that time has not rendered them out-of-date; in fact they have a reverence for God that we need to recapture again. Yes, some folk nowadays might consider them heavy and it takes quite a lot of attention to read them but these were the messages they preached in their day to ordinary people. What has gone wrong? In their day people longed for meat, nowadays many Christians only want a quick snack. And if you don t feed on the right food you start looking haggard and you become unfit so unfit you neither notice nor care anymore. We need a good diet and we need to maintain a good diet through feeding on God s Word. That is what the psalmist emphasises over and over again throughout this psalm. And then Ps. 119:42 tells us something we are all too aware of that when the voice of God is speaking so also is the voice of the enemy, So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me. It becomes almost inevitable that where God is working so is the devil. The writer of this psalm had enemies among his own people, - the Jews, - who lied about him, slandered his name and even threatened his life how does the Bible tell you to stand up against the enemy? The Bible tells you, Eph. 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. In other words, you stand in God s strength by God s Word. When you join the army one of the first things you do is go and get your uniform, - each part of that uniform has been designed with army life in mind and then you are given your weapon. It s yours, you oil it and keep it clean, it has your identification on it, you know how to use it. How much more important to know how to use the weapon of the believer, the Word of God.
4 I remember on one particular occasion emptying the weapon as we always had to do when we returned to our base from patrol, the first place you went to was the unloading bay, took the magazine off, pulled back your breach, and pulled the trigger to make sure your weapon was safe, - there was no bullets in it. One day, one of our men pulled the trigger and there was a round/bullet in the gun and he fired it when it should have been empty. That was a dangerous high velocity weapon and he wasn t treating it with the care he ought to have treated it with it is far more dangerous when a Christian does not handle the Word of God correctly because it can have eternal consequences. God s Word is of such great importance to God s people for it is what we stand by. We need God s truth in our hearts, not only to keep us from sin, but also to equip us to repel the fiery darts of the enemy and we find His truth supremely in His Word. The psalmist said, 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Standing upon God s Word,... Standing by God s Word... The psalmist here is dealing with issues that are fundamental to the continuance/progression of his faith. STANDING WITH GOD S WORD We are what we believe v.47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. Throughout this psalm mention of the Word of God is in every verse. In fact, if you read it quickly you would think the whole psalm is repetition but if you read it carefully you see that it is instead the psalmist applying what he has learned to his differing circumstances. I have some friends who can tell you all about the end times and it seems every passage they read has something to say about Christ s Second Coming. I have some friends and they see the social responsibilities that are to the fore in the Scriptures and they relate everything to that. Basically it is very true that you are what you believe, and since the church is made up of individuals it follows that the church is what it believes. The psalmist here has a strong faith, - a strong belief, - in the majesty of God; God is everything to Him; He wonders at God; He marvels at God. He is so privileged to be counted amongst the children of God.
5 He takes with great love the words of God. Away back in Jeremiah s day he declared, 2:8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. You see, Ps. 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I need the word for direction, without it I would become lost not knowing where to go. When people bring up beliefs contrary to God s Word I need to know it sufficiently to repel those errors. It s a beautiful picture the psalmist draws in the final verse of the section, v.48 my hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes. The Bible is his standard, the roadmap for his life, and his ultimate truth. You want to find out what he believes consult the Book. Conclusion We do not worship the Bible but we do treat it with the respect that becomes the precious gift of the Word of the Almighty God. If we didn t have the Bible we would have to depend upon the writings of fallible men and we would only choose to read those whom we agreed with and we would end up in confusion; but we have God s Word, for which there is no substitute. It is the true believer s only authority, - it is a gift from God. You can even see here the three basic virtues of the believer: Faith, v.42 I trust in thy word. Hope, v.43 I have hoped in thy judgments and the greatest of these is Charity/love, v.41 Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word 47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. 48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved. May the Lord encourage us and lead us to even greater dependence upon God s Word.