“Perseverance”

Psalm 119:31-32   I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame. I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart.

            Having chosen the way of truth, the Psalmist does not regret his choice, but adheres steadfastly to it, and makes rapid progress in it.

            Notice the words I will cling.  Here is a firm and consistent adhesion to fixed principles.  The battle of the Christian life is won by those who adhere to the Word of God, which provides the strength for perseverance.

            After acknowledging that basic clinging to the Word, Psalmist then states that he will steadfastly run by those commands.  The perseverance of the Christian life is rapid in its attainment of results, and ought to be.  For those of you who experienced a dramatic conversion from sin to salvation you perhaps recall how rapidly you grew in your faith.  Then, perhaps there was that cooling down period where you adapted to being a Christian who just did not rock the boat.  A sameness may have occurred that made you wonder if it was all emotion.  The Psalmist, like the Apostle Paul, says that we are to run that path of truth, which will bring success in our Christian life.

At our youth activity Tuesday, one  15 year-old (known for presenting me with some of the deepest and most difficult questions in the Christian life that I have entertained) asked if there was a way that he could guarantee that his children would become strong Christians without any spiritual problems. [The background is that another teen asked what I thought about a very wayward 14 year-old at her school that came from a strong Christian family. I did not offer an opinion of blame as I did not know either the parents or their child.]

 The boy who asked me about guarantees already is planning to home school, and also take the children off to the mountains to teach them and isolate them from corrupting worldly influences.  He said: “Won’t that guarantee that they will never waver,” and I replied those were noble aspirations, but I cannot say that there is an absolute guarantee.  Salvation is always a work of the Holy Spirit, and thus we present the Christian Gospel, example the Christian life, and pray for that child to receive the Savior and grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Savior.

 Looking at the last part of verse 32, For you shall enlarge my heart, I would say that this took place in the hearts of both the one concerned for the family with the wayward child, and the one who already is concerned for the salvation and spiritual growth of his unborn children that are perhaps several years off.

 Our youth at Bethany do not have to wait until adulthood to begin running the race, the race for you and for them is on—now.  That is the message of verses 31-32.

 “The Two Ways”

Psalm 119:29-30  Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously.  I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me.

There are only two ways that determine the character and decide the destiny of mankind.  The way of lying and the way of truth.

            The false way is most natural to man, and thus the Psalmist urgently requests that the Lord remove that as a choice.  No evil habit is so strong as the habit of untruthfulness.  It is the one habit more than another that grows upon the young.

            What stands out to me is that the Psalmist really depends on God for everything.  Not only is God asked to remove the way of lying, but also God must then provide the way of guidance into the truth.  For Christians there is the written law and the living law of the life of Christ in addition and guided by this threefold law the wayfaring man though a fool shall not follow.

            Our responsibility is also seen in the last line, as continuing in the way of truth is conditional on the use of the divinely appointed means.  Only by a diligent, careful, and accurate study of the judgments of God can our feet be kept in the way of truth.

 “Strength in Weakness”

Psalm 119:28  My soul melts from heaviness; strengthen me according to Your word.

The Psalmist here expresses his extreme trouble—and it is a spiritual sorrow.  The word “melts” in reference to his soul denotes literally a “dropping away.”  It is so serious that his soul is consumed.  Just as the sorrows of man are so far more intense than the sorrows of an animal, so also the sorrows of a spiritual man are so much more keen and intense than those of the natural man.  The Psalmist here knows the character of sin and the claims of God, and his conscience is ever so sensitive to the slightest touch of evil.

            Notice the request in this verse—it is not for the removal of the affliction, but for the strength of grace to bear it.  Recognizing the nature of the affliction and the desire to be sustained until it should have accomplished its perfect work is the proper attitude toward this spiritual trial.  We do well to remember like the Apostle Paul that God’s grace and strength is what we must always depend upon.  (2 Corinthians 12:9).

 “Divine Education”

Psalm 119:26-27  I have declared my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes.  Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.

We enter a classroom in these verses.  The Psalmist presents himself for examination.  He puts his whole case, his qualifications and disqualifications, before God, and God hears him.

            The result of this examination is a consciousness and confession of ignorance and error.  His prayer to be taught God’s statutes, to understand the way of God’s precepts, implies ignorance of the one and departure from the other.  And he who comes away from the throne of grace with any other consciousness has been there in vain.

            His ignorance and error leads him to cry to the great Teacher for instruction.  This instruction was twofold.  First, it is intellectual—teach me Your statutes; and second it is practical—make me understand the way of Your precepts.  One thing we must remember in all of this is that the instructor is God, not man; and the instruction is not in human guesses, but in divine truth and holiness.  About 30 years ago, I was a long term substitute for an eighth grade science class.  The classes had run off the teacher that had been hired at the beginning of the year, and they had run off two or three replacements.  I was the fourth batter, and I was determined to stand my ground as I had no health insurance and desperately needed an operation.  I made it through to the end, almost being removed just before the end of the term.  One day I was called into the office, and the principal, assistant principal, and the science department head were all there with unhappy expressions on their faces.  The approved textbooks were open to the section on evolution.  A parent had complained that their child had heard me say to another student that the geological formation of the Grand Canyon could have been formed quickly by a massive hydrological catastrophe such as the flood of Noah.  The science teacher head asked whether I could find that in the book as a teacher cannot go beyond the book to answer a question.  I looked, and yes indeed it was not in there.  I have seen the Grand Canyon twice and was not thrilled either time.  The 13 year old was offended that he heard the word “Noah” come from a substitute teacher.  That substitute teacher was offended when he goes to the Grand Canyon and sees these detailed signs that speak of the billions of years that it took for the canyon to develop.  I was at Mt. St. Helens soon after the eruption back in the 1980’s.  They had no signs saying that the complete change of the landscape including a mountain that was now mostly missing took billions of years to erode away.  No, it was minutes.  All of this to say that man’s education is “guessing” and in the area of science it is guessing with the premise that there is no Creator God.   The Psalmist here says that we should meditate on God's wonderful works, and in so doing will receive a wonderful education.

 “Affliction and Its Remedy”

Psalm 119:25  My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to your word.

This 25th verse is just the sentiment needed by some that shared their burdens Wednesday evening.  Living in a fallen world, we face affliction on every hand.  The Psalmist was no different and the incident alluded to in this verse may be a sorrowful inward experience or an extreme outward pressure.  We know that God does not willingly afflict.  Why then do His people’s souls cleave to the dust of affliction?

            Four potential reasons for affliction in the life of a believer can be set forth:

(1) the affliction is to increase humility (2 Corinthians 1:7-9).  Those in the Corinthian church needed many things, but humility was foundational.

(2) To correct believers for past transgressions and keep them from returning to that course.  One person who called me at 3 AM Monday morning was not in church as he had promised, most likely because he had returned to both the sins that had brought him great sorrow, and now Satan literally had him trapped in a room where the door would not open.  Gently, I told him that Satan was rejoicing that he had returned to the fold when he saw those sins back in his life, and Satan assumed that the call to faith was not real.

(3) To test the strength of their character, their faith in the promises, their hope in His mercy, and their knowledge of the depth and sincerity of Christ’s love. Throughout history, the one’s we call saints did not have an easy road, but rather suffered great adversity.

(4) To awaken the spirit of prayer and thus show to the one suffering the riches of God’s grace and God’s ability to complete their recovery (Psalm 71:20-21).

“Benefits of God’s Testimonies”

Psalm 119:24   Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

The Psalmist in his trouble and distress, reacting to the contempt and reproach of the proud, turns to God’s Word, and there finds direction and joy.

While the world can have its joy, it is the joy of the Lord that makes it divine and powerful.  It is also real (2 Cor. 6:10); great (I Peter 1:8); and endless.

To be theologically correct, we are commanded to rejoice—it is the necessary duty of the redeemed (Phil. 4:4).

This rejoicing is founded on and derived through the Word of God (Romans 15:4).  Joy is particularly needful in affliction.  Take time today to rejoice in the Lord!

“Keeping and Kept”

Psalm 119:22, 24

Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies.  Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

Those who keep God’s testimonies shall be kept by them.  The first question is: How do we keep God’s testimonies?

First, we must remember them.  To forget is to lose.  To have them kept in the memory is to have them ready for every time of need.

Second, we must obey them.  Every act of obedience is an additional stone in the fortress of truth.  Every duty formed strengthens habit and confirms steadfastness.

Third, we need to give them out.  The vitality of a tree is conditioned upon its yielding fruit and leaves.  Material wealth depends on the outlay of money.  So unless we give in proportion as it is given unto us of the word of life, even that which we have will be taken away.