back to index2015-03-19 BStudy - Psalms
00:00:04.820 |
And I had scheduled to do Psalm 119 for our class, 00:00:14.140 |
I went to the Shepherds Conference the previous weeks, 00:00:17.760 |
and there was a sermon on all of Psalm 119 in one sermon. 00:00:27.260 |
who is the leader of the Nine Marks Ministry. 00:00:36.500 |
But during his sermon, he read all of Psalm 119, 00:00:48.020 |
I'm not gonna do it now, because that's just way too much, 00:01:01.740 |
but how many of us have read it in its entirety, 00:01:04.460 |
and how many of us have actually gone in to dig deep? 00:01:07.600 |
So today, I had to sit and think how to cover this book. 00:01:20.060 |
a lot of verses just to go over in a one-hour session. 00:01:23.540 |
So what I'm gonna do today is break this down, 00:01:28.580 |
of making all the observations that we can, okay? 00:01:38.160 |
That means, someone's, you know, laughed a little bit. 00:01:46.620 |
and I'm gonna expect you guys to try to answer 00:01:58.840 |
I wanna give you guys some preliminary information 00:02:14.260 |
and telling you flat out, hey, it's young King David, okay? 00:02:17.940 |
He's a young man who wants to love the word of God. 00:02:22.540 |
well, hey, how come my study Bible says it's not King David? 00:02:31.740 |
if you go to Jewish tradition, King David is the author. 00:02:39.860 |
he would say, Psalm 119 is for sure King David. 00:02:53.020 |
There is a view that because of the way this person sounds 00:02:57.540 |
in Psalm 119, the struggles, the difficulties, 00:03:12.420 |
Daniel and his friends, and King Nebuchadnezzar, 00:03:14.900 |
who was forcing everybody to obey and worship idols, 00:03:25.060 |
So maybe it's somebody in that post-exilic time. 00:03:32.440 |
where the word is so far, this person is hungry for it. 00:03:36.060 |
And when were they so eager to reestablish the word? 00:03:50.560 |
For me, sometimes that kind of logic, yes, is good, 00:04:00.900 |
For me, I still take the position that it's King David, 00:04:09.480 |
but essentially, comparing one Psalm to another, 00:04:13.300 |
and the fact that this Psalm is, in many ways, 00:04:17.200 |
not only big, but it's meticulously beautiful 00:04:25.980 |
It's kind of like, you know, somebody who is devoted 00:04:30.260 |
to writing Psalm, or writing, can write a good essay. 00:04:38.820 |
will have huge works of art, like huge essays, or books. 00:04:43.840 |
So, in thinking about comparing different Psalms 00:04:53.760 |
beautiful, like, basically this is an art, you know? 00:05:03.580 |
and the psalmist mentions that he speaks of God's 00:05:05.860 |
testimonies in the presence of noblemen and kings. 00:05:09.900 |
He doesn't sound like, you know, just your average leader. 00:05:17.340 |
So, that's just a tidbit about the authorship of Psalm 119. 00:05:51.460 |
it's a way to express, it's a way to say something 00:06:05.820 |
22 stanzas, because it follows the Hebrew alphabet. 00:06:15.340 |
Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, that's the Hebrew alphabet. 00:06:30.380 |
to write something like this, and in this way, 00:06:33.540 |
at the time, it must have required such great attention, 00:07:09.900 |
took time meditating, and essentially saying, 00:07:13.300 |
I'm thinking about God and his word to such a detail, 00:07:17.180 |
he is not only writing such a huge work of art, 00:07:25.180 |
I've thought about this, you know what I mean? 00:07:27.620 |
And so, to think about the devotion, dedication, 00:07:34.380 |
has thought deeply about God and his truth, okay? 00:07:40.820 |
For us who live in a time when our deepest thoughts 00:07:47.780 |
where if a sermon goes for an X amount of time, 00:08:01.560 |
So that being said as a way to think about it, 00:08:04.900 |
let's read a section and really dive into it. 00:08:14.500 |
verses one through 17, or one to 16 and stop there, okay? 00:08:21.740 |
The first, how blessed are those whose way is blameless, 00:08:29.700 |
How blessed are those who observe his testimonies, 00:08:36.100 |
They also do no unrighteousness, they walk in his ways. 00:08:43.940 |
Oh, that my ways may be established to keep your statutes. 00:08:52.180 |
I shall give thanks to you with uprightness of heart 00:08:58.180 |
I shall keep your statutes, do not forsake me utterly. 00:09:09.740 |
the author begins with a questioning statement. 00:09:16.380 |
but it's basically a statement that causes us to ponder 00:09:26.580 |
and please describe the person who is blessed 00:09:32.980 |
So, skim it really quickly, and when you're ready, 00:09:37.800 |
in verses one through eight, what is the description, 00:09:40.060 |
just one, of an individual who's really, really blessed? 00:10:46.180 |
a theme to it here, as it describes the individual 00:11:02.460 |
is that the same kind of concept that you have? 00:11:21.900 |
beautiful children, we might say, how blessed. 00:11:26.740 |
If we see an individual who's just worked so hard 00:11:30.100 |
to achieve a significant milestone in their life, 00:11:37.140 |
and then once they achieve it, what do they say? 00:11:42.940 |
Well, is that all the kind of same perspective 00:11:47.260 |
Someone answered for us, when you think of blessed even, 00:12:02.820 |
It could be something from other parts of scripture 00:12:18.340 |
If you've ever heard a sermon from the Beatitudes, 00:12:22.180 |
they probably spend time on the concept of being blessed. 00:12:36.700 |
So what does blessed mean there in the Beatitudes, 00:12:38.900 |
and what does blessed mean here in Psalm 119? 00:12:43.020 |
If you can write it down, the Hebrew word is assure. 00:12:57.340 |
and the Greek word in the Beatitudes is really similar, 00:13:11.320 |
the expectations that we have in our day, in our life. 00:13:16.760 |
and the things that we pursue in order to be happy, 00:13:23.960 |
And it really goes to shatter what we think about all this. 00:13:26.960 |
And so it reminds me of a passage that we studied 00:13:47.960 |
"He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water." 00:13:55.620 |
the concept for this psalmist, for King David, 00:14:00.080 |
to feel truly blessed is not so much to win something, 00:14:04.440 |
it's not so much to achieve something in life. 00:14:38.120 |
to tell you honestly, with the word blameless. 00:14:43.520 |
the elders led me through that passage on leadership, 00:14:46.500 |
and there's that word again, blameless, you know? 00:14:50.280 |
An elder in the church or a leader in the church, 00:14:52.240 |
a servant of God, a deacon, must be blameless. 00:15:01.120 |
And there's a sense in which this passage, for me, 00:15:12.980 |
Well, the concept here, when we think of blameless, 00:15:18.120 |
it's the individual who is complete and has integrity. 00:15:50.020 |
He's the one who observes and keeps his testimony. 00:16:01.140 |
And I am all the more convicted and challenged 00:16:21.620 |
to go and worship with all your lungs and heart and voice, 00:16:27.940 |
with your notebook and with everything laid out 00:16:33.420 |
What's actually hard is having a longevity, right? 00:16:39.220 |
Persevering in growth and study and walking with God daily. 00:16:48.300 |
the one who is complete, the one who has integrity 00:17:00.360 |
I mean, for you guys, just think on your own personal level. 00:17:08.920 |
you don't have huge ups and downs, so to speak, 00:17:14.840 |
like neglect, neglect, neglect, and oh, shoot. 00:17:25.160 |
and we were like, yeah, give you everything, God. 00:17:27.420 |
And then, boom, you fell to like, I don't know, 00:17:34.080 |
or compromising with a girlfriend or boyfriend. 00:17:41.920 |
do you have that kind of heart where you say, 00:17:43.280 |
wouldn't it be a blessing to be able to walk with the Lord 00:17:50.800 |
So this is the way the author is thinking, okay? 00:17:57.820 |
let's read verse three all the way down to verse seven. 00:18:02.020 |
They also do no unrighteousness, they walk in His ways. 00:18:11.700 |
Pay attention now to verses five through seven. 00:18:14.060 |
Oh, that my ways may be established to keep your statutes. 00:18:24.500 |
I shall give thanks to you with uprightness of heart 00:18:36.240 |
by keeping the Lord's word, we're gonna be blessed. 00:18:47.600 |
what other benefits does the, you know, does King David see? 00:18:57.800 |
What are the results that's gonna come about in his life 00:19:19.160 |
He's going to be able to praise and give thanks to God. 00:19:51.220 |
For us to be able to rid ourselves of a guilty conscience, 00:19:56.080 |
what Grace mentioned, in clearing our conscience, 00:20:01.420 |
we can enter into a place of other holy people, 00:20:15.740 |
with clarity, with sincerity, with integrity, that's huge. 00:20:35.900 |
and for our master to acknowledge and establish us. 00:20:44.200 |
you'll realize the psalmist is really seeking, 00:20:51.520 |
And lastly, what's interesting to me in verse eight, 00:20:55.960 |
verse eight, he says, "I shall keep your statutes," 00:21:05.600 |
And then he says, "Do not forsake me utterly." 00:21:15.200 |
and by soaking it in, I'm gonna be established, 00:21:17.120 |
I'm gonna have a clear conscience, I'm gonna worship. 00:21:25.540 |
So the answer to the question I was supposed to ask you, 00:21:31.140 |
The answer is, "Please do not forsake me utterly." 00:21:41.840 |
that idea of, "Please do not forsake me utterly," 00:21:46.560 |
it's something that we would wonder in our perspective 00:21:50.480 |
as like, that's kind of a weird thing to pray, isn't it? 00:21:54.520 |
I'm gonna go on a like a trail of thought with you guys, 00:22:08.700 |
sometimes we don't see the depth of the privilege we have. 00:22:16.800 |
From King David's perspective, King David loved the law. 00:22:45.740 |
For King David, he's thinking from his perspective 00:22:56.400 |
But when you disobey and you break the covenant fellowship, 00:23:06.340 |
That's his circumstance, that's his perspective. 00:23:15.100 |
I will never ever forsake you, I love you always, 00:23:17.420 |
never ever will leave you, that kind of terminology. 00:23:22.800 |
The curses that are spoken of in Deuteronomy, 00:23:34.380 |
has been taken care of by Christ only for the saints. 00:23:39.020 |
But for the world at large, those curses exist today. 00:23:43.060 |
And they will be enacted when Christ returns. 00:23:53.860 |
and it's kind of like, why is he saying that? 00:24:26.660 |
the promises of blessings and curses are readily evident. 00:24:46.660 |
by repetition and by the beauty of the psalm, 00:24:56.860 |
How would you summarize verse one through eight? 00:25:03.460 |
King David's view of his relationship with the word. 00:25:11.100 |
and share with us, how would you summarize that? 00:25:32.140 |
It's always hard to get like everything in a sentence, 00:25:39.980 |
What was emphasized, and try to hit that as a summary. 00:26:14.780 |
Okay, blessed are those who pursue righteous living. 00:26:38.140 |
who obey you wholeheartedly, so please be with me. 00:26:46.000 |
when was the last time you prayed from that perspective? 00:26:52.580 |
I am thoroughly blessed when I am in your word. 00:26:58.580 |
Lord, I am complete opposite of thoroughly blessed 00:27:04.860 |
You know, please be with me is the same way as saying 00:27:33.740 |
so that work I see through the lens of scripture. 00:27:38.300 |
I'm thoroughly blessed, Lord, when you're with me. 00:27:40.080 |
I'm thoroughly blessed, Lord, when you establish me 00:27:41.860 |
by your word, my highest blessing is to be taught 00:27:58.940 |
blessed by the word, or something like that, okay? 00:28:01.580 |
All right, let's move on to the second stanza, Beth, okay? 00:28:24.220 |
Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. 00:28:27.480 |
With my lips I have told of all the ordinances 00:28:31.280 |
of your testimonies as much as in all riches. 00:28:34.640 |
I will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways. 00:28:49.280 |
is on the right thing, typically the first words 00:28:59.040 |
Typically your introduction has that hook, so to speak. 00:29:05.080 |
typically what's placed first has a huge emphasis. 00:29:20.080 |
You know, I feel like that question has been answered, 00:29:27.160 |
but I don't know if sometimes there is a definitive answer 00:29:32.080 |
What I mean by that is, even when I counsel people, 00:29:37.420 |
but even when I counsel people, especially young people, 00:29:41.240 |
sometimes I'll ask, like, man, I struggle with this, 00:29:47.880 |
of typical struggles that we have in our spiritual walk. 00:29:55.040 |
Especially when it comes to young men and lust, you know? 00:29:57.900 |
Especially when it comes to things that are really addicting. 00:30:03.120 |
Young men and video games, young men and money. 00:30:12.280 |
And so they'll ask, like, what's a practical thing? 00:30:22.320 |
I don't think there was a substantial answer to that 00:30:24.640 |
is because why do we ask a follow-up question like that? 00:30:42.360 |
And so here, he answers the question by saying, 00:31:02.160 |
Perhaps by experience, do we have a level of confidence? 00:31:06.980 |
You know, experience builds a great amount of confidence, 00:31:09.940 |
and what I find is that perhaps there's a lot of timidity 00:31:14.540 |
and a lot of lack of confidence in the scriptures, 00:31:18.140 |
and maybe it's because it's a lack of experience. 00:31:23.040 |
This, a little while ago, I was really egging this guy 00:31:59.960 |
You know, it's like, it's really broad and vague 00:32:03.960 |
That already shows a level of timidity, you know? 00:32:15.480 |
Well, the story goes, again, the guy mustered up 00:32:19.120 |
enough courage, and you know, he has to like, 00:32:23.040 |
he's like totally doing, like he's going boxing 00:32:31.080 |
You've done it once, then you can do it again. 00:32:40.420 |
But I tell that story because even with the word of God, 00:32:42.900 |
there's a sense in which you face various circumstances 00:32:46.180 |
in your life where it's not just external hardships. 00:33:00.520 |
In those moments, do we have experiential confidence 00:33:11.760 |
Like, we can have a level of confidence from afar 00:33:24.080 |
It's another thing to say, last time I went to the Bible 00:33:33.400 |
to have that kind of confidence in the word of God. 00:33:46.660 |
Another thing that I found really, really insightful, 00:33:51.340 |
is this main point by a gentleman, my John Fable. 00:34:16.620 |
"the practical question, how can I remain pure?" 00:34:24.540 |
"Let him," he's saying, any young man or anyone of us, 00:34:28.060 |
"Let him not shrink from the glorious enterprise 00:34:34.820 |
"Let him inquire how obstacles may be overcome, 00:34:37.900 |
"but let him not think that he knows the road 00:34:40.260 |
"to easy victory or dream that he can be kept 00:34:52.700 |
We have a fail-ism, failure-ism or something, 00:35:00.900 |
And he's saying, "Do not give up that glorious task 00:35:03.580 |
"of seeking purity to the degree where you will ask 00:35:33.500 |
he says, "A young man is unaccustomed to the road, 00:35:37.820 |
"so he must not be ashamed to ask often the Lord 00:35:46.660 |
Again, this is, I'm looking at this Psalm devotionally, 00:36:00.280 |
That first I would think to ask, "How can I get there?" 00:36:10.400 |
And be unashamed of saying, "You know, I don't know. 00:36:24.480 |
So again, this passage teaching us about this question. 00:36:38.560 |
He says, "With all my heart I have sought you. 00:36:43.320 |
"Do not let me wander from your commandments. 00:36:59.840 |
what's the kind of imagery that you get in your mind? 00:37:35.020 |
So I'm gonna use that as a way to segue, okay? 00:37:46.220 |
Because beautifully, if you've noticed what he's been doing, 00:37:58.540 |
But he also asks in both positive and negative ways. 00:38:07.540 |
such as do not let me wander from your commandments. 00:38:17.900 |
what does wandering for you make you think about? 00:38:21.060 |
And it's really that concept of being lost, okay? 00:38:36.600 |
You put it in a box, in a box, in a box, in a box, 00:38:39.840 |
in a bank, and then you say, you know, there's my treasure. 00:39:05.220 |
the treasure is exactly where I know it ought to be, 00:39:10.460 |
let me treasure the word of God in my heart, okay? 00:39:14.880 |
So let me wrap up by calling us and challenging us. 00:39:43.280 |
The challenge is, can we commit to doing that? 00:39:55.240 |
like with your word intake and all that kind of stuff. 00:39:58.300 |
But can we commit in our hearts to doing that? 00:40:02.440 |
Can we, I guess the whole idea is muster up our willpower 00:40:18.380 |
I'm not gonna allow that kind of pattern to dictate my life. 00:40:26.720 |
can we commit to doing what King David is talking about? 00:40:35.120 |
Where he says that he's going to speak of these. 00:40:38.680 |
He says, "With my lips I have told of your ordinances. 00:40:41.960 |
"I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, 00:40:44.560 |
"as much as in all riches, and I will meditate," 00:40:51.020 |
I feel like we're very hesitant to make commitments 00:41:07.320 |
for the next month and the next year and stuff like that, 00:41:20.020 |
there's a difference between a heartfelt commitment 00:41:42.080 |
when you speak to a neighbor as opposed to your God, 00:41:46.760 |
the President of the United States, there's a difference. 00:41:49.800 |
To whom you make a commitment and to whom you make a vow 00:42:04.520 |
oh, I can't remember his name all of a sudden, 00:42:16.240 |
essentially what you're putting down is a promise. 00:42:22.420 |
if you make a, you have a debt and then you have your, 00:42:25.800 |
what's that word, collateral, you know what I'm saying? 00:42:43.280 |
that is both proper and called for by God himself. 00:42:49.560 |
And so we don't have a problem with making vows 00:42:53.260 |
when it's in the appropriate time to the appropriate person. 00:42:57.100 |
Just like we make vows to, you know, in work, 00:43:03.160 |
and promises to our spouse when we get married. 00:43:05.800 |
You know, just recently I was doing a marriage counseling. 00:43:14.600 |
Just kidding, I told him I was going to make fun of him 00:43:18.040 |
But you know, it goes like, you know, I take, 00:43:26.440 |
And you know, I promise to love sacrificially 00:43:30.080 |
as Christ of the church, I'll protect, provide, 00:43:33.000 |
you know, the whole thing, for better or for worse, 00:43:34.760 |
sickness and in health, you know what I mean? 00:43:39.360 |
You're listing off things you're going to do from your will, 00:43:43.240 |
not by feeling, but volitionally by your will. 00:43:52.680 |
Absolutely, they are commitments and promises 00:44:07.380 |
of making commitments, I don't think it's healthy, why? 00:44:17.760 |
God, I will surrender to follow your commandments. 00:44:21.320 |
Those are things I think we need to subjectively, 00:44:23.800 |
and subjectively meaning me, I need to say it. 00:44:28.840 |
hey, you need to commit to God's ways and his word, 00:44:38.040 |
You know, by the way, just kind of a way to wrap this up. 00:45:16.400 |
"Do not let me wander from your commandments." 00:45:18.920 |
And he says, "Your word I have treasured in my heart, 00:45:23.240 |
"Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes." 00:45:37.580 |
with all his might and strength in his heart. 00:46:10.440 |
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, wander, right? 00:46:31.280 |
We wander because of materialism, just like that. 00:46:35.440 |
and now we're angry and our minds are completely gone. 00:46:39.040 |
We wander because sometimes we're just afraid. 00:47:00.200 |
for the last entire week and it's been weird. 00:47:04.040 |
Like I've been waking up at like two in the morning 00:47:07.580 |
with nightmares and I haven't been able to go back to sleep. 00:47:11.520 |
Silly nightmare is I'm on the top of a water slide, 00:47:17.120 |
you know the water is all rushing down like this 00:47:29.520 |
And I'm going, oh my God, somebody go help him, you know? 00:47:32.440 |
And I look over at the lifeguard and he's on his phone 00:47:34.480 |
like dillydallying, I'm like, what are you doing? 00:47:45.120 |
So I run down the slide and then I go grab him 00:47:49.760 |
and then thankfully he's like, ooh, he's still alive. 00:47:56.800 |
And then, you know, Bia jumps into action so she jumps. 00:48:02.360 |
I can't get out of the pool with him in my hand. 00:48:04.840 |
And then she jumps in and I'm like, what are you doing? 00:48:11.600 |
Yeah, and I just haven't been able to go back to sleep. 00:48:20.760 |
the next thing is Bia's there and I pass Emmett 00:48:34.520 |
and they're all like, let's interpret this stream. 00:48:38.920 |
And then I'm just like, yeah, I'm just not going 00:48:42.940 |
But, you know, I read through all of Psalm 119 00:48:52.680 |
Psalm 19 says things like, if I devote my ways to the Lord, 00:49:03.520 |
To be established by God is actually security. 00:49:07.080 |
Once I started thinking of what's the most frightening thing 00:49:12.180 |
it's hurt that's caused to the people you love 00:49:14.780 |
and the fear that could devastate you, literally crush you. 00:49:18.940 |
And once in a while, I just have this morbid fear 00:49:26.380 |
and I know people who've struggled with that. 00:49:28.620 |
And I'm gonna say, the way to overcome those things 00:49:36.180 |
No, kids can actually drown at pools really easily, 00:49:40.980 |
The way to think about that is have a different perspective. 00:50:00.960 |
That's what I'm saying is like, we really need to be 00:50:05.500 |
in the word to fight every wandering thought, 00:50:09.100 |
fear, distraction, temptation, and lust, amen? 00:50:21.360 |
Father God, we wanna thank you for your truth. 00:50:29.300 |
God, without it, we would have no lamp to our feet. 00:50:34.820 |
God, without it, we wouldn't have the refreshing waters, 00:50:42.480 |
So Lord, help us to open up our eyes, open up our ears, 00:50:46.660 |
that God, we might see wonderful things from your word. 00:50:58.060 |
but God, help us to realize the words are yours. 00:51:06.140 |
And God, if we don't want to sin against you, 00:51:08.180 |
then we should respect and listen to your command. 00:51:11.160 |
And I pray, Father God, again, that as we develop 00:51:15.220 |
and grow in our faith and our hearts to please you, 00:51:18.340 |
help us then to be people who thoroughly, thoroughly rest 00:51:31.080 |
For homework, if you guys can do the next section, 00:51:46.240 |
do something to mark the repetition stuff, okay? 00:51:49.500 |
So note down every synonyms for the word of God 00:51:54.480 |
You notice that it says stuff like the testimonies, 00:52:04.260 |
Learning about the psalmist's perspective about the Bible, 00:52:18.960 |
that the psalmist asked God to take on his behalf? 00:52:23.280 |
Please complete this chart also for objective 00:52:30.180 |
So objective is like your commands are true or faithful, 00:52:34.160 |
okay, it's just objectively saying a description, 00:52:43.720 |
that's like an experiential subjective thing, right? 00:52:45.800 |
So if you guys can write that in just for homework, 00:52:48.280 |
and then we'll come next week and discuss some of that.