The writer of Psalm 119 is not known; some believe that it was David; others think the great scribe Ezra penned these marvelous words. In either case, it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, as all Scriptures are (2 Tim. 3:16-17). It is by far the longest psalm (176 verses). The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 letters, the number of sections into which the psalm is divided. Many translations put the Hebrew character and the name of the letter at the beginning of each section, and every verse contained within it starts with the same letter. Imagine trying to write eight consecutive verses in English beginning with x!
The psalm begins, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” (v.1). God has always had a way (or path) to walk in. The righteous man does not stand in the path of sinners (Ps. 1:1); he follows God who leads him “in the path of righteousness” (Ps. 23:3). Christianity is called “the way of righteousness” (1 Peter 2:21) and “the right ways of the Lord” (Acts 13:10). Jesus Himself is the Way (John 14: 6). God has always had a way in which His children are to walk. That way is revealed in the Scriptures.
Sometimes it is referred to as the law of the Lord. The Law of Moses was designed to be temporary; it was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14). Today we have a better law and a better covenant (Heb. 8:6-7)—it is “the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25). Regardless of which covenant we live under, God has always designed the law to keep us undefiled. James writes about pure and undefiled religion (1:27). But God made it known under the Law of Moses that the people were to be holy, as God is holy (Lev. 19:18), a precept that is repeated in the New Testament (1 Peter 1:15-16). In a world where laws and cultures are continually changing, only the Word of God (which because of its source is objective in nature) can be trusted. The Word teaches us to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1).
The result of walking in His ways and being undefiled (holy) is that we are blessed. No one ever regrets not having chosen defilement. Aren’t we blessed when we wake up each morning without a hangover and nausea? Aren’t we grateful that we do not need to make a trip to the doctor because of an STD that we contracted because of lascivious behavior? Aren’t we thankful that we can start out each day with prayer instead of a guilty conscience? The child of God who walks in His ways is genuinely blessed.
Also blessed are those who seek God with a whole heart. This expression appears thirteen times in the Bible, and six of those are in Psalm 119 (2, 10, 34, 58, 69, and 145). The first four of these are similar; the last two express a different idea. Verse 69 contains a contrast: “The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep your precepts with a whole heart.” This means that, despite what others do—even to the forging of a lie to cause trouble—nevertheless, the evil actions of others will not cause the writer to engage in their tactics or to become discouraged to the point giving up or even allowing his faith to be diminished at all. What others choose to do cannot affect our faith.
Verse 145 shifts the emphasis a little bit; the writer says, “I cry out with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord! The significance of the whole heart is that one’s purpose of will is not divided—part of it leaning in one direction, and part in the other. The commitment is thorough and directed to a specific goal. Usually the aim of the whole heart is to keep the Word of God, but in the last passage cited, the focus pertains to crying out to God (perhaps because of being in dire need or anguish). However, the promise is still made “I will keep Your statutes.”
God’s people must not be half-hearted or double–minded (James 1:8). All of those who seek God with the whole heart also do no iniquity (Ps. 119:3).
The Command
How often have people remarked, “God did not give The Ten Suggestions”? This is a humorous way of calling attention to the fact that they are The Ten Commandments, but the application of that principle may be broader than most people realize. Psalm 119:4 expands the idea: “You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.” Notice that the writer is not just talking about ten statutes.
How many precepts, therefore, were his fellow Israelites to keep? The word all is not used. Neither was the word every used in, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). It would be difficult to imagine, however, an Israelite (after keeping seven consecutive Sabbaths) saying, “I don’t believe He meant for us to keep this next one.” Those who are seeking God with a whole heart cannot delete precepts they do not like. Likewise, when Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord. Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven,” did He only mean 30% of His Father’s will? 50%? 95%? To ask the question is to answer it.
Not only are we commanded to keep the precepts, but we are to keep them diligently. Actually, God made this point several times when He gave the law to Moses, as the following verses indicate (all of the emphasis is added):
and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you” (Ex. 15:26).
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:6-7).
“You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers” (Deut. 6:17-18).
Oftentimes a promise is attached to keeping God’s Word with diligence, such as not having the diseases of the Egyptians or conquering the land. So it is in Hebrews 11:6. The Lord is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Christians today cannot afford to be slothful or haphazard in keeping God’s precepts, either. Our reward is nothing so immediate as a physical territory or freedom from diseases, but we do anticipate eternal life. Let us also not fail to teach our children (Eph. 5:4).
Sin Prevention
Translations of Psalm 119:5 vary, but if there is a better word than directed here (such as establish), the same thought is found in verse 36: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies….” This plea suggests at least two ideas. The implicit one is that God would prevent the writer from doing that which is contrary to His will, similar to: “And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13). The positive side of this expression is a plea for God to help him to want to do what is right. God neither prevents nor directs us by overriding our free wills—even if that were our desire. He does these things through His Word and through His providence.
The psalmist recognized the role of the Word of God in fighting against sin: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11). This verse suggests more than memorization—it is rather what we call internalization. The Word of God is not just tucked away somewhere in the recesses of our mind; it is readily available and the basis of what we live by. Should temptation unexpectedly confront us, we have a ready answer because the Scriptures are in our heart. We have often noted how Jesus resisted the devil easily by quoting and applying correctly the Word that was in His heart.
Another plea for God’s providence immediately follows: “Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your stattutes” (v. 12). Obviously, the psalmist knows of his own obligation to learn. But God can assist with a conversation with a friend or an incident that illustrates the lesson we need to learn. Those who lived under the old covenant, who were spiritually-minded, knew that God was working providentially on their behalf. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Many translations, instead of direct your paths, have make your paths straight, but the idea is the same—that God is acting in a positive way for our spiritual growth and well-being. He aids us and, again, is asked to prevent us from wandering from His commandments (Ps. 119:10).
The purpose for abiding in the Word this way is so that we will not be ashamed when we look at the commandments (Ps. 119:6). James said that the perfect law of liberty allows us to see ourselves as we are (1: 25)—and we have an obligation to make the appropriate changes. Seeing room for improvement is a good thing, surely we do not want to evaluate ourselves and feel ashamed. As we learn and grow we want to praise God for His righteous judgments (Ps. 119:7). When we apply them properly our ways are cleansed (Ps. 119:9). Keeping the statutes God has revealed will keep Him from forsaking us utterly (Ps. 119:8).
I NEVER INTENDED TO QUIT
Gus Nichols
A man who had not attended one service of the church in four years told me he had never thought of “quitting” the church. I reminded him that he had:
1. Withdrawn his presence from the services.
2. Refused to give his moral support to the activities of the congregation.
3. Withdrawn his financial support, for he had not given one dime to help carry on the Lord’s work.
Then I asked, “What else would you have to do in order to ‘quit’ the church? In case you ever decide that you no longer desire to be a member, what other steps will be necessary to ‘quit’ the church?”
As the true status dawned upon him, his expression reflected his sober thought. He replied, “Why, brother Nichols, I’ve already quit, haven’t I? Well, I surely didn’t mean to! And I don’t know when I quit. I’m coming back.” He did too. At the next service, he was restored and three years later he [was] still faithful.
Dear reader, how about you? Have you “quit” the Lord and His church without resolving to do so? Perhaps no one deliberately decides to quit, but many carelessly drift into backsliding.
If you quit attending services, quit boosting the program of activities planned by the elders, and quit giving as God has prospered you to enable the congregation to meet its budget, you need to be restored.
ARE YOU FORGIVEN?
By Don Boyd
God offered the opportunity for all of mankind to be forgiven (John 3:16), but we know that most will die outside of God’s forgiveness (Matt. 7:13-14). Now ask yourself this question, “Has God forgiven me of my sins?” If I am not forgiven, I am not going to heaven. How can I be sure that I am forgiven?
God did His part in offering forgiveness to mankind by allowing Jesus to suffer and die the cruel death of the cross (Matt. 26:26-28; Rom. 6:1-7). God has done His part; now we must do our part to obtain forgiveness. There are stipulations that God has set forth.
The first thing we must do to have forgiveness is obey God’s plan for our salvation. Jesus, the One that died for us, gave plain instructions about what man must do to be saved. We must believe that He is the Son of God (John 8:24). Jesus is part of the Godhead, and we must acknowledge that fact (Col. 2:9). Next we must repent of our sins, which means having a change in thought that leads to a change in lifestyle (Luke 13:3). We will then make the good confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Acts 8:37) and be baptized for the remission of our sins (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 8:38; 22:16).
Some say, “My preacher says I do not have to be baptized to be saved.” Did your preacher die for your sins? Did he suffer for you on the cross? The One that did these things commands baptism. If your preacher says that you do not have to be baptized to have salvation, he is a liar and does not believe Jesus. Forgiveness is a spiritual blessing that is found only in Christ (Eph. 1:3), and the only way to get into Christ is through baptism (Gal. 3:27). Baptism is the only way we contact the saving blood of Christ (Rom. 6:3-7). If you will believe and obey what God says instead of what man says, then you will be like those on the day of Pentecost that were baptized because they gladly received the word spoken by the apostles (Acts 2:38, 41).
Once we become a Christian, which can only be done through obeying the commands of God (as listed above), there are other stipulations that God has set forth for us to continue to have forgiveness. We must walk in the light to have Jesus’ blood continue to cleanse us (1 John 1:7). Walking in the light refers to being obedient to God’s commands and consists of many different things. We must have a forgiving attitude toward others if we want to be forgiven. Jesus said that our forgiveness was based on the way we forgave others (Matt. 6: 14-15). We must be willing to forgive every time someone that has wronged us repents. Jesus also said to forgive a brother—even if he trespassed against you seven times in a day—if he repented (Luke 17:3-4).
It is our obligation to rebuke with love the person who sins against us so that he will be willing to repent and we can forgive him. Holding grudges against others is a sin that is not Christ-like and will cause us to miss heaven. Our old man of sin was destroyed in the act of baptism (Rom. 6:6), and we are not to resurrect it. We are to live in newness of life (Rom. 6:4) which includes: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy [which is a heart of compassion, db], kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Col. 3:12-13). We must do these things to walk in the light (obey God’s commands) and have our sins washed away.
We will continue to sin, and we must confess those sins to God and repent (1 John 1:8-10). Obedience to God is a must if we want to continue to be forgiven of our sins. Once-saved-always-saved is just another lie of the denominational world (1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Peter 2:20-22).
We must obey all of God’s commands (walk in the light) to remain forgiven, such as: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (a willful sin with eternal consequences) (Heb. 10:25-31); teaching others (Mark 16:15-16); dressing modestly (1 Tim. 2:9-10); worshipping God in His authorized way (John 4:24; 1 Tim. 2:8, 12; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16-17); and many other commands that we find in the New Testament. We can study God’s Word to see what God requires (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17). To be forgiven we must obey God’s commands for our salvation and then continue to live faithfully unto death (Rev. 2:10). Look honestly at your life. Are you forgiven? Blue Springs Bulletin (September 26, 2010)