Pure Spiritual Milk
sermon transcript
This is not a command I am laying down, but I want to encourage you for the next several months to isolate yourself only to study and read scripture. Everything that we are building in this body and moving forward toward will have to do with understanding scripture.
1 Peter 1:22- Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
We will be moving out of the foundation level and we have come to realize that loving one another based on the truth is what Jesus Christ has called us to do.
1 Peter 1:22- Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
It is by obeying the truth that we have sincere love for one another. So when I say let us isolate ourselves in only studying scripture, the goal is to build ourselves up in love and be refined in love. We need to get to a place where everything is measured by scripture as the cross gives it life. The reason people are taken in by false teachings and the body can be tossed back and forth is because we are not grounded only in the word as the cross makes it real.
1 Peter 1:23- For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
The more that we have the living and enduring Word of God in us, the more solid and sound the body, the more protected we are, and the more joy we will have. This happened early in my Christian walk. I was doing an independent study while I was in college. I kept studying and studying on the topic of demon possession and reading a lot of books. Finally, one day God said to me, “You know more about demon possession than you do about me.” I put those books down that day and never went back to them. I have just been studying the word ever since. We need to be a people that are laying aside all these other things. I’m not saying there aren’t any good books to read and tapes to listen to, but we have to get the word in us to measure everything else so that the cross is doing its work. It’s by the word that everything else can be measured. That way we won’t be sidetracked by men in their scheming or even our own hearts that scheme to sin. I am not going to check up on anybody because you’ll do this according to your own hunger and thirst for righteousness. It’s a matter of seizing every moment of every day that we can spare to discipline and deny ourselves to be in the word. Just read one extra scripture more than we usually do. It is by the living and enduring word of God that we are saved.
1 Peter 1:2- For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,”
The “Hating for Jesus” book is a temporary glory that will fade very, very quickly. So books mean nothing. We will wind up quoting other men, their ideas, and concepts more than we can quote the word of God. We can speak of men’s books, projects, and their glories, even their sermons and all the things they do more than we can the word of God. We want to be a people that have the word of God living and dwelling within us overshadowing everything else. All those glories of men are going to pass. All the ways men phrase things, put together things, and the way they convict or inspire us will all die.
1 Peter 1:24- For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,”
That’s why we don’t preach the book, Hating for Jesus, we preach the word of God. That’s what we need to get our eyes back on. We need to see that we fail so often because it is through the word of God that we gain all of our strength.
1 Peter 1:25- “…but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
If we have that living word in us and that’s the key, if the cross is doing it work, we will stand also with him forever. This body will be able to endure anything that comes against it because we are standing on what is solid. We will be able to judge everything because we have that which is solid in us first.
1 Peter 1:25- 2:1- “…but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
It is the word of God that will deliver us from slander, deceit, envy, hypocrisy, and all the things in our life that need to change. Men’s books can inspire and can point us in a certain direction but somewhere along the line we have to stop and say, “I am filled with the word of the Lord more than all of those things.”
1 Peter 2:2- Like newborn babies,
A lot of you say the word of the Lord is coming to life in a fresh and new way like it never has before. You feel a lot of ways like you are beginning your Christian life all over again.
1 Peter 2:2- Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,
If I give you a glass of milk but it has one of my beard hairs in that glass, what are you going to do? You will dig it out of there, won’t you? That’s what we should do with the word of the Lord. We should crave pure spiritual milk. So what’s more pure than the word of God? I know it’s kind of strange for a pastor to stand up and say, “Let’s focus in on the word of God.” But that is what we need to do. We need to crave it and hunger and thirst for what is pure.
1 Peter 2:2- Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.
Crave that milk that you might go on to God. The word of the Lord causes us to grow and mature. So cheat and run ahead. Study and examine the things that God will lead us into so that you are prepared when we get there. Rather than coming to church to be taught, come to church to teach. Be prepared to receive and to say, “Yes, this is life” for God has already worked it before you even hear it spoken. Let us get to the place where we are craving that pure spiritual milk and we reject anything else that is not pure or clean in the Lord.
1 Peter 2:3- now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
You have tasted it and it is pure and holy. You’ve gotten a glimpse of the joy that it can bring and the excitement that you can get from just reading pieces of scripture and God making them alive. Now crave all of it that you can get. That doesn’t mean that God won’t lead at another time to read other things. I’m just saying let this craving be in your heart for the word of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 2:1- When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
He says he didn’t come with all kinds preaching and different terms, ideas, charts, and graphs in all the ways men complicate the word of God. He came with something pure. Think about baby food when you give it to a baby. You want the purest simplest form of food with the most nutrients to feed your baby. So in the same way Paul comes in with the word of God in a pure and holy fashion, not with eloquent speech or superior wisdom and understanding.
1 Corinthians 2:2- For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
We want to ask the Holy Spirit to make that real within us. With everybody we meet we would in our hearts resolve to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. With every book that God leads us to read in the future we would have this in our hearts, that the cross would be the measurement of everything. We want to have so much of the power of the cross within our life that it judges things rather than books trying to lead us to that cross. Do you understand what I am saying? The goal is that we would be able to test and confirm that what they are writing is true rather than being convinced by the book of what is true. There is a difference between someone having the cross formed in their life and reading a book and saying, “I recognize truth in what they are writing,” rather than being convinced by the book that something is true. This is why Christian novels are so dangerous. The author can weave a doctrine that is heresy so well into a book and make it look good because he is surrounding it with personalities and the story line and nobody can measure what’s going on.
1 Corinthians 2:3-5- I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
It’s just simply a matter of stating, “The word says this and we have to live it by the Holy Spirit and by his grace.” It was the demonstration of the simplicity of the gospel that Paul preached. He didn’t come in with anything wise or superior, or with fancy programs. He states what the word of Lord says and the only way we can live it is by the power of the Holy Spirit. So he demonstrated how the word of the Lord could be lived out. We don’t want to be a people always studying and reading, and always excited about what we are looking at. We want to be a people excited about what is being worked within us. We do not want to come in with a lot of ideas being presented to each other, but we want to say, “The word of the Lord has transformed my life in this area. I am different in this area and have died in this way. I am alive in this area and this is the word of the Lord that has done it.” We want to be a people talking about the word of the Lord.
Some guy called me this morning and he’s teaching a Bible study and ironically he’s teaching the “Hating for Jesus” book. He’s simply reading it page for page and they are following along, and he says, “Nobody brings their bible to class.” This is an amazing thing. We live in the time when the word of the Lord really is not what is held up. If you go in to buy a Bible, you can’t buy just a Bible. You will hard-pressed to find one. They all have references, ideas, and theology of the man who put it together. That’s what sells. We haven’t resolved to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. The word isn’t alive for us. Someone else has to make it alive. We have to pump ourselves up to make it real. One person in the body was sharing last Sunday that God was just speaking the word to her. That is want we want for all of us. We want the word of the Lord to be alive so that your faith may not rest on man’s wisdom but on God’s power.
1 Corinthians 1:22- Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
Jews come in and say, “Prove to me this gospel is true.” They demand that you demonstrate that the word of the Lord is true. There are a lot of people like that. They want the miracles and signs. Scripture says that the Greeks look for wisdom. What do we hear today? There is a whole group of people who want to understand what the Greek has to say. If I were to stand up and say, “Oh, the Greek says this,” and I can spell that all out, people would be more impressed with that than if I quoted what the Bible says. When men don’t want to obey what Scripture plainly says, what do they do? They ask, “What does the Greek say?” They try to complicate the issue and make it a little bit more difficult to understand. If you lay it out clearly and resolve to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified then you have to begin to live it or ignore it.
1 Corinthians 1:23- but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
Our message does not come with miracles, with the Greek or the Hebrew, with man’s wisdom or some type of superior thing, it comes in with Jesus Christ crucified, alive and real. Begin to fellowship with people by just sharing scripture with them. Just say, “The word of the Lord showed me this scripture and it’s alive!” In simplicity and a child-like manner, just say, “I was dead in this but God made me alive. This scripture applies to my life.” Instead of all of this long-winded talk and ideas that don’t change anybody’s life, nor inspire them in any way. Let us ask God to make the word alive to us so that’s what we are excited about. All man’s glory, wisdom, and all his sermons are only a fading glory. They will pass away. What will stand is the word of the Lord alive within us. Let us crave pure, spiritual milk.
1 Corinthians 2:4- My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
Let us be that kind of people.
1 Corinthians 1:24- …but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
The cross is the message. That is what we are to declare.
Proverbs 30:5- Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
We can do no better than to have the living word of God within us because it is flawless. The book that I have written is not flawless, but his word is flawless. Let us share that which is flawless with other people. Let us have dwelling within us that which is flawless. So often when you meet people they are excited about a certain speaker, individual or author and you can see that is what they find their joy in. None of those things are flawless. But to meet somebody that is just in love with the word of God that is alive and real and flawless is a rare gem to find. Let us be that kind of people.
Proverbs 30:5- Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
It is what we should be running to and excited about. It is what will protect us.
Proverbs 30:6- Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
Let us be fearful of adding one single thing to what God has said, even just altering it a little bit, putting an exciting spin on it, or giving our own opinion to it. Don’t be excited about anything except purity and sincerity that is in God.
There are going to be issues that we disagree on and that we can’t come to unity on in terms of scripture but there is a solution. Of course that solution is the cross but we have to get to a certain place before we can claim this promise.
Philippians 3:12-18- Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Those who are not mature cannot take such a view of things. They have to be taught. The immature have to be directed and shown the correct way, but those who are mature in terms of the cross and the word of the Lord can take this promise and press on. Look at the grand promise we have:
Philippians 3:15- All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
Two brothers who are mature in Jesus Christ, who have obtained the measure of the cross, can disagree and wait on the Lord to make it clear because the word of the Lord can get through to crucify their opinions. There can be perfect unity within a body. These brothers are of one heart and one mind. Everything can be absolutely unified in Jesus Christ if we can get to the measure of maturity in Jesus Christ, a solid foundation.
Philippians 3:15- All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
It is God who is opening our minds and hearts. No one can accept this message we are preaching unless God opens his heart and mind to understand. He then will work the maturity. So what should we crave, long for, and be filling ourselves up with? We should be building ourselves up in the living word of God that can do the work.
Philippians 3:16- Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
Again, it is the cross that will allow us to become mature and work unity in us. What an exciting body to be in where two brothers can disagree but if the maturity of the cross is there they know that God will make the issue clear. They do not have to get into a fight. Their pride does not have to well up and there does not have to be division. There can be peace with both of them waiting on God to prove them wrong.
Philippians 3:18- For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
There are many people whose lives do not match what the word of God says. The cross is not doing its work. Let us be a people craving that word. You are beginning to taste the power. Some of you are saying goodbye to worldly counsel that you know has just delayed your progress in Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:2- Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
How do we get grace and peace in abundance? Not just a small measure or a just a taste of it. Not just a half-hour out of the whole day. How do I get to a place where I have grace and peace in abundance? Through the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ our Lord. Look at this grand promise:
2 Peter 1:3- His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
His divine power has given me everything I need to be a Christian. I do not have to read another book. I do not have to listen to another sermon tape. What I need is divine power that gives us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. We can have divine power acting in our life. Are we not sick and tired of playing man’s game of trying to live the Christian life under our own strength? If that is so, then let us run to him who has the power and get the word of the Lord so that it is alive within us. How do we participate in the divine power? Do you have a sin you want to overcome? Well this is how you do it.
2 Peter 1:4- Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
It is by the promises of God that I overcome the sin in my life, not by reading a book and dissecting the word of the Lord. Not by looking over at charts and diagrams or doing15 certain steps. Do you know how I overcome sin in my life? By the promises of God. That is where there is divine power.
2 Peter 1:4- Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
With every scripture you read there is a promise and direction. That is where you find the power in the living word of God if you want to overcome and be transformed.
2 Peter 1:4- so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Do we want to escape corruption? Do we want to be a people who are holy and abounding in grace and peace? Cling to his promises. How very simple it is. The more I know those promises and understand those precepts, the more I will have his divine power, holiness, and goodness. You will not get that from reading my book or anyone else’s book. The only thing a book should ever do is point you back to the living word of God. This is the fellowship that God wants to work and develop within us.
Colossians 3:15- Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
This is the kind of joy God is calling us to as a body. This is kind of exciting fellowship that God is calling us into. How does this happen?
Colossians 3:16- Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Let us begin to quote scripture to each other so that what comes out of our mouths is alive and active. In most churches you do not find people quoting scripture because it would start an argument. Here we want people having the word dwelling, living, active, and coming out at the proper time. We want to quote the proper scripture to our brothers and sisters. That’s what we should be speaking to one another. Not something that we are excited about or something that man has created. All that glory is going to fade but the word of the Lord we speak to one another will not.
Colossians 3:16- Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Let us begin to speak the word of the Lord. Let it live. Scripture does not even say you have to go out and gather it all, just let it happen. God is trying to speak to our hearts and put his word in there. He is trying to say where the life and the divine power is. The word is what you can stand on and speak to one another. It is a matter of letting it happen. However, our opinions stop it, or self stops it. We get excited about the wrong thing and our hearts point in the wrong direction, and we will not allow it to happen. Let the peace of Christ dwell in our hearts. Let the word of God dwell in us richly. Then we can teach each other, admonish each other (which means to correct), with all wisdom. Not just a little bit of wisdom or just getting a few things correct. Not just trying to guess at it, but having all kinds of wisdom with the word of the Lord. If we just start reading through the Bible from the beginning, and planting it into our hearts, then we can begin to speak it. God and the Holy Spirit can begin to work it in our relationships with one another. This is what should be happening as we sing songs, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another with gratitude in our hearts toward God. I love it when brothers and sisters quote scripture to me. I need to be reminded, encouraged, and directed. I need to hear God speak. This is what fellowship is supposed to be. However, if we begin to quote man’s wisdom, ideas, or concepts there’s no power in that. Let Jesus Christ be what is alive within us.
2 Timothy 3:6-7 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
They are always learning, studying, examining and looking into new things but never able to acknowledge the truth. They cannot say, “This is the truth and what we ought to live. This is what the grace of God will work.”
2 Timothy 3:8- Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
You know the quality of their life and what they demonstrated when they were among you. You saw God manifested in their lives. A lot of people are not wise toward salvation. They have a little taste of it and to them it is so simply explained. It is how they live their life. They are just saved but they don’t really have any real depth of wisdom or understanding about what that means. They just have a superficial understanding and are glad they are going to heaven. This is about having the word of God dwell within us richly as we speak to one another and being wise about salvation. We want to understand the depths and mysteries of salvation.
2 Timothy 3:16- All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Man’s work is not God breathed. Do you want to be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ? It is said of Jesus Christ that he did everything well. So often the men we know and the examples we see are certain men doing certain things okay in the Lord. Very few times do you walk away and say, “They do all things well in the Lord.” We need to be equipped for every good work in whatever way God wants to use this body. I just want everybody fully prepared for God’s call in whatever work he has to glorify his name. It will be the word of the Lord that makes it real and gives the power and solid foundation. It will protect everyone from men who would come in and try to deceive us.
As we read through Psalms 119 ask God to put it into your heart and make it real. Ask yourself, “Is this burned into my life and has God been able to put this in my heart by his Spirit?”
Psalms 119:1-4- Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.
Let us study those precepts. Let us understand what they are about so that we might fully obey them. Let us become acquainted with them. Let them dwell within us. It says they do nothing wrong and walk in his ways. They move within the word of the Lord. It dwells in them richly and causes rich fellowship.
Psalms 119:5- Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
This is why men do not study the word of God because it creates this longing and intensity to live it. However, if you start to study and examine it you will discover that you do not obey it and that you have failed it miserably. You will find that it does not dwell as it should. It is easier to read or listen to men than to sit down before the Lord and begin to study scripture asking God to make it alive and real. God will begin to demand changes and cleaning up things in our life. He will ask us to lay down our life for people. We do not study because we will be convicted and will have to lose our life.
Psalms 119:5- Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
Let us declare it with a full heart. Let us say that we wish it were so.
Psalms 119:6- Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.
This is why people focus in on one aspect of scripture because if you consider all the commands of God you are going to fall short. Then let us fall short! Let us hunger and thirst for the word of the Lord to dwell in us richly.
Psalms 119:7- I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.
He says, “I don’t live in it. I am not complete in it.” Paul says, “Not that I have already attained it but I will press on to attain it. I will praise you for your word.” Let us begin to speak the word to one another. We have spent enough time studying everything else that does not have anything to do with his word.
Psalms 119:8- I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.
There is a battle going on. He knows he does not live it and it is not complete. He asks God not to utterly forsake him. He knows God has forsaken him a little bit because he is disobedient but he asks the Lord not to utterly forsake him. Do not completely hide your face. To consider the word of the Lord is to consider that which is pure and holy, isn’t it? You can read men’s books and you know they are not pure and holy. You can find mistakes because men are always going to make mistakes. Only God’s word is pure.
It is comforting to read that which is not perfect, isn’t it? Then you can say, “I will accept this part of what this man says but I will reject this part because he is wrong. He is an equal with me. We all make mistakes.” However, to consider him who is holy means there will be no fault in what you find. The fault will only lie with us. But look at the joy that he has. “I will praise you.”
Psalms 119:9- How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
A young man needs to let the word dwell in him, not all the gimmicks that are out there today. Let him begin to quote scripture and be in obedience to that. Let him struggle and wrestle with it and allow God to conform it in him. That is how a man keeps his way pure, not by taking promises and covenants with one another and all the other gimmicks that go on.
Psalms 119:10- I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
Do you hear him beg? He says, “Do not let me stray. Here is my full heart. I am pleading with you do not let me leave your law. Everything else will pull me away. My flesh will pull away. Men will draw me away, but do not let me leave your law. Keep me at your word so that when I die I am filled to the brim and overflowing with knowledge of your scripture and how to apply it to other people and to myself. I will be ready with an answer at all times according to your scripture.”
Psalms 119:11- I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Hide it. Put it in there. Don’t wait till you sin and then go looking for what you did wrong or how to get out of the situation. Hide it within your heart so that when the situation presents itself the word of God is dwelling and living with you. It breathes and it says, “Don’t do this. This is how you escape. This is how you are to walk.” I wish we had time to spend an hour on each verse.
Psalms 119:12-13- Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.
I will say it out loud in my quiet time. I won’t just read it intellectually, I will declare it with my lips. This man loves the law. He speaks of it and is hungry for it.
Psalms 119:14-16- I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
How we neglect the word of the Lord although we study religious things and examine religious ideas. We listen to religious people, but we really neglect the word. Let it dwell, let it live, let it be what we speak.
Psalms 119:17- Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.
He says if you bless me, I will obey. If you comfort me and bring me peace and give me insight, I will do something with it. I will be obedient. I will rejoice. It is a great treasure for me. It is riches. What a treasure! It is a joy! It is what I want to discover, though it convicts me and I do not live it completely. I love it as one who finds a treasure. Can you say that about any book that a man has written or any sermon that has been preached or anything that man has ever done? No, because his glory will fade and disappear. Yet the word in you is alive. It has delivered me and made me well.
Psalms 119:18- Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
All this whining about legalism, yet he says, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” Every commandment speaks of some direction and guidance, precept and joy in the hidden things of God.
Psalms 119:19 –20- I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.
He is consumed with it. It is what he hungers and thirsts for. It is what he lives for. It is what he wants to hear, discuss, and live so God can glorify his name. My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times. Most people are happy if they get their quiet times. Let us be consumed.
Psalms 119:21-23- You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your commands. Remove from me scorn and contempt, for I keep your statutes. Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.
People will sit and talk about you. You will be persecuted. They will say all kinds of things. What should we do? Fret and worry about what they are saying? Oh my, if I do this, what are they going to think? No, I just meditate on God’s words and precepts, and focus in on him. I love the Lord.
Psalms 119:24- Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.
They are what speak to me. They are what guide me and show me the truth.
Psalms 119:25- I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word.
There are so many times when God has taken me so low and I have felt so weak. I have said, “Lord, renew me, but only according to your word. Do not give me strength that allows me to run again to do what I want to do.”
Psalms 119:26- I recounted my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees.
In other words, he took stock of his life in accordance with the word of the Lord. He said, “This is who I am. This is how I disobey. I recount my ways.” He is saying, “Teach me your decrees and I will be obedient to them.”
Psalms 119:27- Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders.
Everyone wants to know what the wonders of the Lord are and what miracles he is working in the church. Everyone wants to know what miracles we are having here to demonstrate the word of the Lord. But he says let me first understand your precepts and then I will meditate on your wonders.
Psalms 119:28- My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.
So many of us have failed for so long because our souls become weary, but we do not renew ourselves according to the word of the Lord. We do not go in before him and say, “I am worn out and cannot continue this walk. I cannot do this. I am worn out by this world. Lift me up but only according to your word.” Then when he lifts us up we are more obedient to scripture than when we started. He is worn out and at the bottom but he only asks to be strengthened according to scripture by his divine power. He wants to be given everything through his promises.
Psalms 119:29- Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law.
Keep me from my own heart that deceives me. I lie to myself well and I can offer myself excuses that are so noble and holy sounding. But I cannot escape from his law.
Psalms 119:30- I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.
Let us tell the Lord this is what we have chosen and we want it to dwell within us.
Psalms 119:31-3- I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.
To those who love the Lord, these are joyful treasures hidden in a field. Look at the joy some of you are tasting. Now if you will just crave pure spiritual milk, you will grow up more and more into these things. You will be abounding in the joy if you will just embrace his laws.
Psalms 119:33-34- Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
Look at how he talks to God! Have we talked to God like that? Have we run with that kind of excitement saying, “Teach me, and show me more.” Let’s go and I will run with it. It is my joy and the treasure that I have found. Give it all to me. Give me understanding. Open my eyes and heart. I will declare your word and will speak it to others.
Psalms 119:35- Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
This is not a man burdened by scripture.
Psalms 119:36- Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
Lay hold of my heart because I know what is in my heart. Turn it toward your commands, precepts, and ways.
Psalms 119:37- Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
Come and physically take hold of my eyes. Turn them away from everything that is worthless and vain and will pass away.
Psalms 119:38-42- Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness. May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word.
Let us boast to people that God will change us and make us into a different person. They will mock and ridicule and watch, but let him change us and let the word do its work. Then we can go back and say, “See, he is able to do the work and you are without excuse.”
Psalms 119:43- Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.
Do not take it away God. Do you see what he fears? He knows that God could be fully justified and say, “You haven’t obeyed it. I’m taking away the understanding you have.” He is wrestling with God saying, “Do not take it. I hunger and want it.” Like when Jesus Christ called the woman a dog and she still persisted. It is God and the Holy Spirit coming to us as we meditate on his law. We say we are not worthy and have not obeyed it, but we plead for God not to stop. We beg God not to take his word away from us. Bring it back. Give me understanding and renew me according to your word. Lay me low in the dust but give me life only according to your law. Let me not be revived in my own energy, or what man can produce, or some brother patting me on the back. Let me be renewed according to your word and commandments.
Psalms 119:43-44- Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. I will always obey your law, for ever and ever.
We have laid hold of that which we are supposed to embrace forever and ever. It is supposed to be our freedom and our joy. The book that I have written is totally worthless. The word is what you embrace. The word is what dwells in you richly.
Psalms 119:45- I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.
I will be free.
Psalms 119:46- I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame,
Right now if God asked us to speak before kings about his statutes, could we declare much? Would we have much to say? We have been too busy debating our ideas and opinions, but we do not know his statutes or precepts. Rulers may say, “Tell me about the precepts of God and declare them.” Will we find him saying, “Shut up. I don’t want to hear anymore,” because we have spoken for eight hours and we still have more to say?
Psalms 119:47- for I delight in your commands because I love them.
Let us awaken a first love that dwells in us. When we come together and we love each other, let it be by the word of the Lord dwelling in us.
Psalms 119:48- I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.
There are a lot of good books out there. But let us not go around saying, “You have got to read this book,” but instead declare the scripture that God has made alive today.
Psalms 119:49- Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.
He has given us hope and let us repay him by hungering for that which gives us hope.
Psalms 119:50- My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.
How did Peter say we escape the corruption? By the promises of God. Do you want to escape some more, then find some more promises and keep going?
Psalms 119:51- The arrogant mock me without restraint, but I do not turn from your law.
They goad me. They tempt me. They ask me foolish questions and put me in embarrassing situations. They test me to see if this is really real and is this what you live. “Without restraint.” No one stops them. They feel free to do what they do but he remembers his law.
Psalms 119:51-53- The arrogant mock me without restraint, but I do not turn from your law. I remember your ancient laws, O LORD, and I find comfort in them. Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law.
Is this a man alive or what? Most of us live our lives so cool and calm in Jesus Christ, just so relaxed. We are emotionless. We think it is a sin to be indignant with someone. We have been told that so often we do not do it. We do not find the richness of joy knowing it is real and alive. Do you know why men are not indignant? They have not found the word to be a treasure. If you are falling in love with the word of the Lord and some man is mocking it, you are indignant about what he does because love burns within you. You love his word. If someone comes in making fun of what I love, I become indignant with him. I cannot help myself. Indignation grips me. It is beyond my control because of the wicked who have forsaken your law. I am not going to casually sit back. I am not going to explain in a cool fashion as they mock. I am going to get in there and adamantly declare what is true and what has life. He is my first love. He is my only love and I hate everything else. Is this what people will see when they come into our fellowship? Is this what they see in our life?
Psalms 119:54- Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.
This is what he sings of, speaks of, and lives.
Psalms 119:55-57- In the night I remember your name, O LORD, and I will keep your law. This has been my practice: I obey your precepts. You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words.
Let us go home tonight and promise the Lord that we will obey. Have we ever really told the Lord that? Most people just sit back with the attitude, “Jesus Christ died for me. Fantastic, I get to go to heaven.” When was the last time someone said, “I will obey your precepts. Give me your word.” Begin to wrestle with God until he makes it real. God is waiting to see if we really love him. Is this what we hunger and thirst for?
Psalms 119:58- I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes. I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.
This man is eager. He is ready and looking for more. It is what he hungers for and what lives within him. He doesn’t care about anything else. He is consumed with it. It is his song and his life.
Psalms 119:61- Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law.
Though I cannot go out and do anything, though they put me in jail, I will not forget your law because it is my joy. It is what gives me the essence of life.
Psalms 119:62- At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.
When was the last time we got up from prayer and said, “Thanks God for your word, your law, and your commandments”? No, we want to hear from the Lord and be called personally by him to pray. Or we pray whenever we want something. We don’t get up in the morning just to say, “Thanks! Thanks for the commandment about baptism and your direction. I love your law, Lord. I thank you that you grabbed hold of me and would not let go. Thank you Lord for your righteous laws.”
Psalms 119:63- I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts. The earth is filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees.
The love and the decrees of God go hand in hand.
Psalms 119:65- Do good to your servant according to your word, O LORD. Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands.
Most people have to be convinced to believe in the commands of God, let alone to discuss what they are. I want to be able to sit around with my brother and sisters to try to discover something new we can obey in Jesus Christ. We might be wrong and wrestle through it but I want to know what else I can obey. What are the hidden things in Jesus Christ? What is in the word that I can live? I don’t want to spend my time trying to understand everyone’s ideas and opinions about what it is. I want to have it.
Psalms 119:67- Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.
All of you have come out of miserable situations or waiting for years on the Lord. He wants to renew you according to the word. He allowed you to be dry and empty. He put your life through what he put it through in order that you might obey.
Psalms 119:68- You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.
Listen to what he says! Have we read this before? How much passion has been in it as we read it? When was the last time we said, “Lord you are good and what you do is good, teach me your decrees?”
Psalms 119:69- Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.
One of the reasons we haven’t been smeared with lies is because we have not sought to obey the word or found it to be a treasure. Remember Timothy says if you want to live a godly life they will persecute you. Our persecution is so small. Mostly it is Sadducee against Pharisee because we have not hungered like this. Have you lived a pure enough life that they can smear you with lies? Indeed, for the most part they can tell the truth and get by with it.
Psalms 119:70- Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law.
His law will give us joy through all the slander and persecution (and it will come eventually.)
Psalms 119:71- It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
He sees the wisdom of God’s discipline.
Psalms 119:72- The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
A people hungering for the word like this do not have to be taught to hate and despise money. They have what is valuable.
Psalms 119:73-74- Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands. May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.
He said, “You created me. Open my mind and my heart. Do the work. Give me the divine power. Give me your righteousness and holiness.”
Psalms 119:74-75- May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word. I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
In your love you have boxed me in and have disciplined me. It is your love that has done so.
Psalms 119:76-81- May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight. May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your precepts. May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes. May my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame. My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
God’s deliverance is going to seem like a long, hard wait. But he says, “I have stood on the promise. I know that you will deliver, sanctify, and give me the obedience. Though I hang on a cross and wonder where you are, Lord, you will work the righteousness.” If we will just stand on the word and say, “My soul faints but I will wait upon my God.” When was the last time your soul fainted waiting for the salvation of God? Indeed, we are such whiners and complainers and the law means so little to us that the first sign of trouble sends us running for comfort.
Psalms 119:82- My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”
We are sinful and have to wrestle with it. But guess what? We still stand and say, “He will deliver and work. We will meditate upon that word that convicts us and shows us our sin and what needs to change.”
Psalms 119:83- Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.
Though I am completely dried out, I will not forget your law.
Psalms 119:84- How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors? The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your law.
They like to set out pitfalls to make you stumble. Let it refine and purify you. Let it drive you to his arms because they will dig many a pit to see if you fall in it. They will set you up over and over.
Psalms 119:86-87- All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause. They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
Over and over again he speaks of the word and the law.
Psalms 119:88- Preserve my life according to your love, and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
He says he wants to hear from the Lord. He wants God to tell him what scripture has to say. He wants God to make it dwell in him richly. Let our obedience be because God is speaking to each one of us, not because of what we hear from our own minds.
Psalms 119:89- Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
What better thing can you study? What better thing can you read and cry out for?
Psalms 119:90-92- Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you. If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
How many people do we know who claim to be Christians that perish in their affliction because they don’t love the law?
Psalms 119:93-94- I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life. Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts.
Let us say it with confidence because we hunger for his word.
Psalms 119:95-96- The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will ponder your statutes. To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless.
To everything that is around me there is a limit and a stopping point, but your commands are boundless. I am asking us to hunger and thirst for what is boundless. The word will never cease. It will always continue to be with you. The truth will always dwell with you.
Psalms 119:97- Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
This man is not passionless about this. He is consumed with it.
Psalms 119:98- Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
I know exactly what to do and how to conduct myself. I know where to go and how to answer or not answer because your commands give me that wisdom.
Psalms 119:99- I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
I ask you to study ahead. I ask you to become wiser than me. I ask you to become “bored” with sermons.
Psalms 119:99-100- I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
I live them out.
Psalms 119:101-102- I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
If you want to be taught by the living God, then you must have this hunger. He is not going to teach anybody who doesn’t hunger. Why should he? Why should he come down and try to speak to someone who is not going to listen. God rises to show compassion to a man who hungers like this. He gets up to speak so his word will dwell in you richly. He wants to give it to you.
Psalms 119:102- I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
Are you not excited when people share what God showed them in their quiet time? You rejoice not so much in what the person is saying but you can see that God has taught her or him. That’s what gives joy and life.
Psalms 119:103- How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
I just love to sit down and taste of the word. Just soak it up and let it come in. It is more exciting than eating food. It is what I live for. Do not come around me saying that the word is just a minor thing and it is not important. Don’t ask me to get into these large debates and not respond with some emotion.
Psalms 119:104- I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
This man has emotion! He is alive and real! He is hungry! He is saying this is the truth and what we need to live. He asks why you mock it. He is demanding that we should be an obedient people. This is not religion that he is sharing. It is not a concept or idea that he is putting forth. This is who he is and what he loves. This is what people need to see living within us.
Psalms 119:105-106- Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
Most of us are afraid to take an oath but he takes one and confirms it. He says he will do it.
Psalms 119:107- I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word.
You cannot lay hold of this message and not expect to suffer much. It will happen. Satan has left you alone in the past because you were of no consequence.
Psalms 119:107-109- I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word. Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law.
He says, “Even though I act in my own self-effort, take my life in my own hands and do what I want to do constantly, I will not forget your law.” He sees the contrast between who he is and what the law is. However, he will never deny the law in order to make himself feel better.
Psalms 119:109- Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law.
You will lay hold of me and give me grace. You will do it, O Lord.
Psalms 119:110-113- The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end. I hate double-minded men, but I love your law.
What is his attitude toward those who follow the word of the Lord and yet try to please self at the same time? Is it toleration? Is it patience and love?
Psalms 119:113- I hate double-minded men, but I love your law.
How can we put up with people who like to play word games with the word of the Lord? It’s because it doesn’t mean anything to us. We are so calloused toward it as if it’s just an idea or concept or something we kind of add to our lives. But if Jesus is our first love, we hate double-minded men. You are not going to use the word of the Lord that way. You are not going to use Jesus Christ for your own selfish benefit.
Psalms 119:113-115- I hate double-minded men, but I love your law. You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. Away from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commands of my God!
You don’t have to go up to this man and say, “Everyone who claims to be a Christian but doesn’t live it, you shouldn’t associate with.” Do you have to tell this guy to hate double-minded men? He says, “Away from me.” Yes, we are to be out in the world loving other people, but do you see what should burn in our hearts?
Psalms 119:116-119- Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees. You reject all who stray from your decrees, for their deceitfulness is in vain.
All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross; therefore I love your statutes.
Why do we love people that he’s going to discard one day? Why do we tolerate those people that one day will be considered the scum of the earth? Because we don’t love his law.
Psalms 119:120- My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.
And yet we read Philippians that says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and we have a hum drum response. When was the last time we read the law and we trembled?
Psalms 119:120-123- My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws. I have done what is righteous and just; do not leave me to my oppressors. Ensure your servant’s well-being; let not the arrogant oppress me. My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promise.
Yes, Peter says we stand on the promises but there are times when you are going to wonder where the promise is and why didn’t God answer. Why doesn’t he deliver me from this? That’s when you stand and say, “I will not turn to anything else,” because God wants to know if you love him. He wants to know if he calls you a dog, you will say, “Give me the promise anyway. I want you not your things.” He wants us to be so sick and tired of our sin that we will give it up when he delivers us and never go back to it.
Psalms 119:124- Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees.
Everybody wants his love but nobody wants his decrees.
Psalms 119:125-126- I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes. It is time for you to act, O LORD; your law is being broken.
We want God to deliver us from our problems and all the things that we go through but look at what he says. “It is time for you to act, O Lord, because your law isn’t being obeyed. They are not in obedience with what your word has to say. It’s time for you to work righteousness and holiness.” Is this what we burn with or are we so consumed with our own life that we’ve never said to the Lord, “It is time for you to act because nobody is obedient to what you have to say.”
Psalms 119:127-128- Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
It’s an all or nothing Christianity, is it not? I hate anything else that doesn’t come with the simplicity of the cross and the glorious good news of him who died. Why would I embrace anything else except him who died on the cross for me? Nothing else even comes close to shining his love, glory, and power. All man’s glory is like the grass.
Psalms 119:129-130- Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Let him unfold it. Let us rejoice in it and say, “This is life and joy. This is what I live for.” Let this be what fellowship is about. Let us live verse 131.
Psalms 119:131- I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.
He is worn out calling for commands, wrestling for them, waiting for them and rejoicing in them. He is so hungry and has done everything he can. He just stands before the Lord, opens his mouth, and pants for it. He can’t utter another word or do anything else, but just stand there and hunger. Have we ever tasted of this? And we wonder why we fail.
Psalms 119:131- I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.
Do people see what burns within us in our evangelism? A holy fire.
Psalms 119:132- Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.
He will come to you. It is a sure bet.
Psalms 119:133- Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
How can God allow a sin to rule over a man like this? Do you think God would not answer his prayers? He asks and pleads that sin won’t rule over him. He knows it goads and bothers him. He knows if God withdrew his hand sin would rule him. He sees it chasing him down and knows it’s at his feet. It’s always there to catch him but he pleads with the Lord and runs to the Lord saying, “Don’t let that sin rule over me.” He gains the victory. He gains more than just victory over the sin. He gains him who is holy and he is able to fellowship with him who is alive. It is all because he hungers and thirsts for the living God.
Psalms 119:134- Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may obey your precepts.
Why do we want to be delivered? Because we hate our enemies and we don’t like the situation. We don’t say, “God get me out of this situation so that I may obey more and live more of what you say.” We don’t ask for better pastors because we want to obey more, we just want better pastors.
Psalms 119:135- Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees.
Make it shine! I know that you don’t want to look on me, but make your face shine. I am unworthy but I love your precepts. Do you see what his calling card is? Do you see why he has permission to pray like this? Do you see why he can plead with God and be sure that he will be answered? What does he love? What does he hunger for?
Psalms 119:135-136- Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees. Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.
Is this the kind of evangelism that we share? Is this the body that people see? Is this the hunger? When was the last time streams of tears flowed from your eyes because men do not obey?
Psalms 119:137-139- Righteous are you, O LORD, and your laws are right. The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words.
He speaks and he speaks and he speaks and he demands and he talks but he never says, “Oh well, they’ll never listen anyway.” He can’t help himself. He’s in love with him who is holy. He doesn’t care whether they listen or not but he gets worn out calling for them to obey. He can’t shut up even when he says he won’t say another word. It’s too holy. It tastes too good. It’s alive and real and he will speak and declare though they ignore. His zeal wears him out. When was the last time we fell into bed before the Lord worn out with the zeal of declaring something that needs to be obeyed in Jesus Christ even though people will not obey it and just ignore it? Usually we have to be motivated by numbers. We reach out to all of these people but only baptize one person. That’s what we are worn out with. This is about preaching the word and being worn out because people refuse to obey.
Psalms 119:140- Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
Let us be able to say we have thoroughly tested the promises. Not just a little bit, not just playing at it, but thoroughly tested and found them to be faultless, alive, and real. Then we can turn to other people with confidence and say, “I know you will be delivered. I know God will work and I know how this works. It has been thoroughly tested. I have been there and wrestled through it. I can tell you that if you are faithful, he will come to you. If you will wait, he will get to you.” That’s why Paul says, “You know my way of life. I am a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. I am a jar of clay and if he can come to me, he can come to you.” Let us not be afraid to thoroughly test because then we can thoroughly declare.
Psalms 119:141- Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget your precepts.
We will live out things that will lay us low. Never forget his law. Never deny what it says. When we get in a bad situation we begin to alter what the word has to say. There have been a lot of times when I have been in willful sin in my life but one thing I have never done is change the word of the Lord to justify my sin. I have said, “This is the sin and I am being disobedient. I don’t live it or walk it. Something needs to happen.” I wrestle with my sin and hate it, but I never change the word to make myself look better. The word is holy, righteous, perfect, and faultless. I am wicked, but I will be transformed by that which is pure.
Psalms 119:141-153 Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight. Your statutes are forever right; give me understanding that I may live. I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees. I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws. Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law. Yet you are near, O LORD, and all your commands are true. Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever. Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.
If we want God to deliver us, then let us not forget his laws. Let us get them in us so we don’t forget them.
Psalms 119:154-156 Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise. Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees. Your compassion is great, O LORD; preserve my life according to your laws.
Over and over again you hear, “Transform my life. Renew me.”
Psalms 119:157-163 Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes. I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word. See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your love. All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word. I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil. I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law.
This man is not neutral. He is alive and has found his true love.
Psalms 119:164-165 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.
No wonder!
Psalms 119:166-176 I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands. I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you. May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word. May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight. Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.
Let’s let this dwell in us richly.
This transcription has been edited to a reader friendly format. Every effort has been made to be true to the speaker’s original message. Any mistranslations are unintentional.
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