Witness of the Word

Psalm 119 verses 41 to 48 today.

Psalms 119:41–48

I'll read it out loud for us.

It says,

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules.

I will keep your law continually forever and ever, and I shall walk in a white place, for I have sought your precepts.

I will also speak of your testimonies before kings, and shall not be put to shame, for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.

I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love.

And I will meditate on your statutes.

So this strophe or stanza, this unit of poetry kind of begins with prayer for deliverance.

Really, this whole section is about how those who delight in God's rules, God's law, those who trust in God's word, bear faithful witness to it.

And the first part, the first three verses, verse 41 to 43, is a prayer.

It's a prayer of a faithful witness.

And then verses 44 to 48 is a pledge of a faithful witness.

And so it begins with the prayer in verse 41.

Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise.

And it seems that he's in a situation, kind of a bad situation that he needs God to save him from.

And it seems that there's some enemies that are taunting him.

So they're taunting him, saying, where is your God?

God, if your God is all that you say he is, then why are all these things happening to you?

And where is the God that you put so much hope in?

But the psalmist hasn't abandoned his hope.

He has held on.

And so he asks God for deliverance.

Lord, let your steadfast love, your unchanging love come to me.

Your salvation according to the promises you have given me.

And only then shall I have an answer for these people who are taunting me.

So that's what he's holding on.

This is a great picture of faith seeking understanding.

I don't know if that's a phrase you guys have heard.

Often when people, bad things happen to Christians,

sometimes they get doubt which leads them to despair.

This is happening to me.

I don't know if God's really with me.

I don't know if God really loves me.

I don't know if God really is in control.

It's a doubt that leads to despair.

In contrast, faith seeking understanding says,

you know, my experience is contrary to God's promise.

What I know about God.

But instead of saying, therefore God must not love me or God must not exist,

faith seeking understanding says,

this is what I believe and Lord, please help me to understand.

I know this might.

So instead of letting our experience dictate our faith,

this person,

this psalmist is letting his faith dictate his experience,

make sense of what he's going through.

Lord, I believe.

Lord, I believe.

But help me.

Deliver me.

Show me.

That prove to me that your word is true,

which, because I believe it, I hold on to it.

And so he says,

then he will be able to answer those who taunt him.

And he will not take,

and he prays, continues that prayer in verse 43.

Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,

for my hope is in your rules.

He's still hoping in God's word.

And so he doesn't want God to take away his testimony.

He wants him to preserve him,

so that he can continue to bear witness to God's truth.

And that's the prayer of a faithful witness.

And then in the latter half of the psalm,

we see the pledge,

pledge of a faithful witness.

It says in verse 44 and 45,

I will keep your law continually forever and ever,

and I shall walk in a wide place,

for I have sought your precepts.

So the word continually suggests without pause,

without ceasing.

And then forever and ever suggests without an end,

without a terminus.

So he's saying without ceasing,

without pause and without end,

I will continue to keep your law.

I will keep your law.

And so it shows to us

what life of obedience should look like.

Obedience is not just a part-time commitment,

but rather it's an entire life,

without break,

lived toward the glory of God.

And I love the following image in verse 45.

And I shall, when he's doing this,

I shall walk in a wide place,

for I have sought your precepts.

I love that image because,

like sometimes when,

as Christians,

we think about the word precepts,

God's law,

God's rule,

we can think of it as a restrictive thing,

you know,

a narrow thing.

It's restrictive.

It's something that limits us, right?

Constrains us.

But the psalmist describes it as,

when he seeks the precepts of God,

he says,

I shall walk in a wide place.

This is the spaciousness of obedience.

There's a sense of spaciousness,

of freedom,

liberty that comes with obedience.

It's in the same way,

you know,

it's only the musician that disciplines him or herself

to do these tedious finger-strengthening exercises,

or scales,

that can later play these difficult,

you know,

exquisite pieces of music,

with freedom and joy,

right?

It's that,

it's that,

and in the same way,

it's the,

I mean,

if you think of a writer,

right,

an author,

it's,

it's those who have disciplined themselves

with learning the conventions of grammar

and diction,

and,

and,

and really these literary principles

that can later really experiment

and write freely and,

and joyfully,

and,

and with flourish.

And so it's the discipline,

and that reminds me of the,

of a quote that I've used before

from G.K. Chesterton

in his book,

Orthodoxy.

He comments on this paradoxical aspect

of God's law.

He says,

the more I considered Christianity,

the more I found that while it had established

a rule and order,

the chief aim of that order

was to give room for good things

to run wild.

It's the,

the,

the freedom to obey.

It,

it gives us protection,

boundaries,

in order,

in which we can run wild.

There's a spaciousness.

God makes it wide.

I shall walk in a wide place,

for I have sought your precepts.

And,

and then he,

and he continues his pledge

in verse 46,

I will also speak of your testimonies

before kings

and shall not be put to shame.

And that's,

and it's,

there's an emphasis on giving testimony

earlier in verse,

right,

42 and 43.

He spoke of bearing witness,

giving testimony to his enemies

who taunt him.

And now here,

he's saying,

even before kings,

he will bear testimony,

he will bear witness to God's word

and he will not be ashamed.

And,

and this is,

it's a good question to ask,

do we have this kind of confidence

as a psalmist

that we will not be put to shame

when we share,

bear witness to God's word.

That even

when we're before

the wisest of people in the world,

do we have faith

that God's word

will prove still wiser?

Even before the best philosophers

of this age,

do we have confidence

that God's word

will prove truer?

Right?

And,

and even,

even among the,

you know,

the most noble

or moral people in the world,

do we have confidence

that God's word

will be still more noble

and more,

more beautiful

and moral

and better

in every way.

And,

and,

and the psalmist

has that confidence

where he says,

even before kings,

I know I will not be ashamed

and he puts,

he,

he bears witness

to God's word

and he pledges

to continue to do that.

And the reason

is amazing.

Verse 47,

for I find my delight

in your commandments

which I love.

I will lift up my hands

toward your commandments

which I love

and I will meditate

on your statutes.

The phrase lifting up my hands,

it's,

it's usually,

it's a kind of a gesture

of prayer

and when it's used

in scripture,

it's usually referring

to God.

I lift up my hands to God.

It's a way of stretching

your hands out to God.

But here,

interestingly,

that it,

that's,

that the state of God,

it says,

I will lift up my hands

toward your commandments.

commandments.

So,

because the commandments

of God

speak of God,

reveal God,

stand for God.

And,

and here,

and,

and,

and,

and it's hard to miss

kind of the relational

and almost even romantic,

right,

overtones,

right,

which I love,

right?

it's,

it reminds me of the word,

the English word we have,

like a bibliophile,

right?

Someone who loves books,

right?

Lovers of books.

And,

and there's a,

there's a sense which,

right?

I mean,

Kim's,

Kim's one of them,

right?

Yeah,

yeah.

And,

there's a sense in which

you can really fall in love

with the book,

right?

Like,

I mean,

it's,

it engages,

unlike,

I don't know,

TV shows or movies

that imagine things for you.

When you read a book,

you have to use your own imagination.

It engages you in a different way.

You kind of really get immersed

in the world

and you get really,

you can get really enamored

with the characters

and so there's a sense

which you can really fall in love

with a book

and you feel like it's a relationship.

You get to know someone.

But,

this is true in a much profound,

much more profound way

with scripture

because God presently

speaks

from his word.

It's a way in which

we relate to God,

hear from him

and we could even pray

back scripture to him.

and,

and so,

and so,

it's not inappropriate

for the psalmist to say,

I love God's commandments.

I delight in God's commandments.

I love him

and,

and that's the love

that we should cultivate

and it's those who love God's word

that bear faithful witness to it.

and,

and this is,

it's,

and that's why

because he loves it,

it says,

he,

he,

and he was going to bear

a faithful witness to it

and we know that in the end

his faith

and his hope

will not be disappointed

because God always delivers

on his promises

and his deliverance

ultimately

is seen in,

he's seen the fulfillment

of God's promises

in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the,

is the,

is what the promise,

all the promises

of the Old Testament

point to

and in his life,

death and resurrection,

he,

he brings the salvation

that is promised

and,

and by,

and delivering us

from our sins,

dying for our sins,

being raised from the dead

to give us new eternal

resurrection life

and,

and now,

and as people

who are on that other side

of,

of,

of,

the salvation history,

as people who have

experienced this,

have seen the fulfillment

of God's promises

which this psalmist

was only holding out

for and hoping in,

we all the more

should love God's word

and bear witness to it.

That's really the main point

of this psalm.