Psalm 119:129-176 (He Has Given Us His Word part 4, Jeff Kliewer)

Most of us know who William Wilberforce is. I mentioned him a number of weeks back because of his incredible work that he did to fight against the slave trade in Britain. And in the 1800s, by his vigilance, by his constant effort in the Parliament, eventually after about 30 years of intense warfare, slavery was abolished.

First the slave trade and then finally slavery itself. But that was not an easy fight. God's word against man's word, man's traditions. And it was an epic struggle. It was a monumental battle. And so as you actually read the history of how that went down, it wasn't just as if Wilberforce would tell the truth and everybody would sort of nod in agreement.

No, there were vicious opponents to what he was preaching. He would bring the truth of Scripture and there were many who opposed him and would revile him and ridicule him. And the question must arise in our minds, where did his strength come from?

How did Wilberforce continue to persevere in the struggle? Well, one of the sources of that strength was the 119th Psalm. Did you know that every day that Wilberforce walked home from the Parliament, it was about a half an hour walk, he recited the 119th Psalm from memory.

He was one of the few that memorized all 176 verses and it gave him strength on a daily basis to fight the good fight. This morning we don't have time to drink deeply of 48 verses of Scripture, but we are turning now to Psalm 119 verse 129.

And if we don't have time to drink from each, because there's just so much water here, I think we would be overwhelmed. We can, however, I think, take a shower. In Ephesians five, it says to be washed with the water of the word.

So even if we don't have time to camp out as I would like to, as I've been preaching this series, I've thought to myself, man, there is just too much here for me to be taking such large chunks. And I would like one year to come back and we'll go through and do eight verses at a time, one stanza per sermon, but we don't have the luxury of doing that today.

Instead, what we'll do is sort of like six mini sermons. Each one will take five or six minutes and take the main thing, grab hold of that and just be washed by that and the Lord will move us forward quickly in that.

There is some cohesion between the units that we have today. There is a reference in five of the last six stanzas to those who are against God's words, the persecutors, the adversaries who rise up and you see an intensification of this psalm near the end where it seems like things are coming to a crescendo.

They're coming to war and you'll hear language like I hate or I am holding those who are against God's word in disgust. There's many who forget God's word but he vows to remember God's word and things are coming to a head.

And then finally, he bursts forth in praise in the last stanza. So let's begin now in verse 129. Picking up where we left off last week, this one is pronounced pay and the key word for this section is understanding.

We're looking at what blessings God has given us when he gave us his word. How important is this book to us? Well, one of the things that the word of God gives us is understanding. Your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them.

The unfolding of your words gives light. It imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant because I long for your commandments. Turn to me and be gracious to me as is your way with those who love your name.

Keep steady my steps according to your promise and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Redeem me from man's oppression that I may keep your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.

My eyes shed streams of tears because people do not keep your law. So in verse 135 and 136, he's asking for God's face to shine upon him, to give him light. And what is it that he wants to see in the scriptures?

More than anything else, he wants to see the face of God. He wants to encounter the God of the word when he looks into the scripture. He wants a glimpse of God. But the more you see of God, the more you encounter his word, look at verse 136, the more capacity you have for pain.

Sensitivity is a capacity for pain. Think of it, if you didn't have nerve endings in your body, you would feel no pain. But because we're sensitive to God's word and the more we grow in this sensitivity, the more we lament and feel pain when people are rejecting the word of God.

So verse 136, my eyes shed streams of tears because people do not keep your law. What is this treasure that the writer has found? The word of God provides understanding. One of my favorite verses in all the scriptures is verse 130.

Why do I love it so much? I am a preacher and my job is to preach the word of God. And I believe wholeheartedly in what's called expository preaching, allowing what's in the text to come out and be unfolded like a flower.

So where it says the unfolding of your words gives light, it imparts understanding to the simple. I am encouraged by this to find what's in the text and unfold it to those who are listening to God's word.

And brothers and sisters, this is the key difference between those who love God's word and those who hate it. However, many of the people who hate God's word pretend to love God's word. The trouble is, rather than receiving what is already in the text and unfolding that, they have a preconception, an idea in their mind that they are fully ascribed to.

And no matter what the text says, they go to the text of scripture and read into it what they wanna see there. This is the difference, you gotta write these terms down, between exegesis and eisegesis.

Has nothing to do with Jesus, J-E-S-U-S. It comes from the Greek, which means to draw out from. Ek, the prefix ek means out of, and eis means into. There are two ways to approach the scripture, one good and one bad.

The good one is exegesis. We look to the scripture and we draw out what is already there. This is verse 130. The unfolding of your words gives light. It gives light. Something in your brain, the synapses in your brain begin to fire and they light up.

When the word is unfolded, it goes on to say, it imparts understanding to the simple. What imparts understanding to the simple? The unfolding of your words imparts understanding. When the word of God is presented for what it says without reading anything into it, but finding what the intended meaning of the author is, light bursts into the mind of the Christian.

Understanding comes upon the simple. So it here modifies unfolding in verse 130. The unfolding, like a flower, there are layers of depth that are in the scripture that we plumb and we draw out what is already there.

And this is the source of understanding. Nehemiah chapter eight is one of the greatest examples of where we see this. On that day, the Israelites had come back, they had rebuilt the wall, they're out of exile, they're back in the promised land, and they build a high wooden platform for Ezra to stand on.

And all of the people come at daybreak, and until the middle of the day, they devote themselves to one thing, the hearing of the word of God. And Ezra proclaims the word, teaching what is in the law of Moses.

And we're told that there are scribes and there are helpers among the people who give the sense of what the law says. The role of the expository preacher is to proclaim what's in the text, to give the sense of it, the meaning of it.

And then in verse 12 of Nehemiah chapter eight, we're told that they rejoice because they had understood the word. They had understood the words that were declared, pay, understanding. One of the great delights of the Christian life is to open the word of God and to discover and understand what God himself has said, not reading into it what we want to see, but allowing the scripture to speak to us.

This is your discipline on a daily basis, to go and exegete the text, not to read into it what you already believe. Let the word of God change you, let it change me, rather than just confirming a bias that we already have.

Understanding comes from a humble submission to the author's intended meaning in the text. The second mini sermon, Sade, zeal, 137 and following, righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules. You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness.

My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words. Your promise is well tried and your servant loves it. I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is righteous forever and your law is true.

Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight. Your testimonies are righteous forever. Give me understanding that I may live. I've circled the word righteous or righteousness in this stanza because it appears again and again.

This is how the author feels about the word of God. He's zealous for God's word. He has zeal, he has passion and energy to come to God's word because he sees righteousness there. In verse 140, he says he loves it.

This is an emotional kind of love. He loves to read the word, to understand it. In verse 144, he says, give me understanding that I may live. He finds life here in finding understanding. John 10 .10, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly.

There is a zeal, a true living that comes from opening God's word. Notice in verse 139, my zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words. There is a such thing as righteous anger. There is an anger that is appropriate as a response to injustice.

Picture Jesus when he went to the temple and he made a whip, zeal for his father's house had consumed him. And here the psalmist says, my zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words. In 2 Kings 9, a prophet came to a young man named Jehu and anointed his head with oil and proclaimed him king over Israel.

And by the word of the Lord proclaimed through Elisha and an assistant to Elisha, he is sent out to execute vengeance on the enemies of God. He goes to Ahab's house and destroys the household of Ahab.

Joram saw him coming and he looked across the scene and he said, who is that? And everybody said, I think that's Jehu. He drives like a maniac. Guys, if you drive so badly that you could be identified by your driving, even if we don't see you, there's a problem there.

But Jehu is driving so furiously, he comes upon them. Do you come in peace? What have I to do with peace, says Jehu? And executes judgment on Joram. And then on the wicked king of the south as well. After that, he kills all of Ahab's family.

And Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, she paints her face and gets ready for him to come. The eunuchs throw her down and she's eaten by dogs. And then he goes to Samaria and he calls forth the priests of Baal.

And he says, the leader before me, he worshiped Baal a little. I'm gonna worship him a lot. And so all the Baal worshipers came out of the woodwork and they joined together. And Jehu slammed the door and sent in the warriors to kill them all.

And so he eradicated Baal worship from Israel. He told a friend on his way to continue this killing, come up on my chariot and I'll show you the zeal of the Lord. In the Old Testament, zeal included physical warfare against the enemies of God.

Israel was a theocracy. And it took a zealous warrior to go and stamp out the idol worship, to destroy the enemies of Yahweh. Here in the new covenant, Jesus never killed a person. And he told us to turn the other cheek.

But he did send us out to a kind of warfare that doesn't involve killing or the shedding of any blood. Nevertheless, it calls for even more zeal than Jehu had to establish justice on earth. It calls for zeal for the name of Jesus.

It calls for you to go to your friend and sacrifice your relationship if need be to tell them that apart from Jesus, there is no salvation. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord.

The word of God is a source of zeal. My zeal consumes me. Psalm 119 verse 139. Third, the word of God for us is a foundation. Verse 145 through 152. With my whole heart I cry. Answer me, O Lord. I will keep your statutes.

I call to you, save me, that I may observe your testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help. I hope in your words my eyes are awake before the watches of the night that I may meditate on your promise.

Hear my voice according to your steadfast love. O Lord, according to your justice, give me life. They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose. They are far from your law, but you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true.

Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever. If you're zealous for the truth, and to the degree that you're zealous for the truth, expect opposition from haters of God's word because this world fundamentally comes down to a truth war.

There is constantly a war over the truth. Those on the side of truth represent God's word. Those who lie and deceive and forget God's word represent man's word. Now, make no mistake. Man's word has traditions and values, and the zeal of those who promote man's word can be just as intense as our zeal to the point of persecution.

Unless we're founded in the word of God and know that his word has been founded forever, we cannot engage in this war. And so the key verse here is verse 152. Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.

When the persecution comes, when the waves and the torrents, when the stress and the attacks come against you because you claim the name of Christ, where will your house be founded? Will it be like Matthew chapter seven?

Your house founded on the rock and so it stands. You must be founded in the word. Ephesians 2 .20 tells us that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. The writings, Old and New Testament, this is the foundation upon which we stand.

If we have this, we are on sure footing. We're founded. Verse 149, notice you have another instance where there's no direct reference to the word of God. In the 176 verses of this Psalm, 173 make direct reference to the word of God, but here we have another instance where it seems that there isn't.

Hear my voice according to your steadfast love. Oh Lord, according to your justice, give me life. Which is it? Is it according to love or according to justice? What do we need, love or justice? In the world in which we live, unless you accept everything and affirm everything, you will be told that you are not loving.

And by this new definition of love, tolerance means accepting and giving affirmation of everything that other people do. If you don't, you're not loving. On the other hand, justice itself has been redefined, not according to biblical categories, but according to the word of man, the traditions of man.

How do we have both love and justice? Love and justice meet at the cross. All of scripture points to this moment where love and justice meet. Because at the cross, God demonstrates his justice in that his wrath is so severe against the injustice of man, the sinfulness of man, that he pours out punishment upon Jesus Christ.

Demonstrating how severe sin really is. But in that same moment, his love is perfectly displayed in that God would pour out wrath on a substitute and not on me, who deserves that wrath. Love and justice meet perfectly in the cross.

And the answer that we have for the culture is not moralism. It's not telling people to try harder and do better. It's not to say God helps those who help themselves. The answer that we have, what the word of God proclaims, our one foundation is Christ Jesus the Lord.

And we proclaim him as Lord of all. We tell people about his perfect justice, his wrath against sin, but also this love, unlike any other, that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. What love is this?

Has the world ever seen a love like the love of Jesus Christ? Has there ever been a demonstration of love like that? To lay down his life, not for friends, but for enemies. This is the love of Jesus Christ.

And it is the church's one foundation. One of my favorite hymns. From heaven he came and sought her. Foundation. Fourth, resh, vindication. Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.

Plead my cause and redeem me. Give me life according to your promise. Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes. Great is your mercy, oh Lord. Give me life according to your rules.

Many are my persecutors and my adversaries. Here are these adversaries again. But I do not swerve from your testimonies. I look at the faithless with disgust because they do not keep your commands. Consider how I love your precepts.

Give me life according to your steadfast love. The sum of your word is truth. And every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Strong language in verse 158, isn't it? I look at the faithless with disgust.

Because they do not keep your commands. The commands of God, the moral ethical standards of God's law are mocked and ridiculed and rejected in this culture. How are we to look at those who do such things?

With disgust and yet with love. With justice and with love. Where does the disgust come in? When we see what is done to human babies made in the image of God, from the abortionist's scalpel. Disgusting.

And we need to say so. I saw a little YouTube clip the other day or something on Facebook. Made my eyes stream with tears because I'm sensitive to God's word. It was an eight-year-old boy at a pride festival.

And he's dressed in drag. And these other men or women, I couldn't tell which, dressed in the same way, were dancing in a circle around him. And he danced for them. And performed for them. And they delighted.

Exploitation of this child. And it goes right on up to the end of life. We're now here in this state, euthanasia has been passed for assisted suicide. Disgusting. We are to look at sin with disgust. Because they do not keep your commands.

And yet with love. For the very people who have turned against God, because but for the grace of God, there go I. The only difference between any of us who have God's word and those who do not, who follow man's traditions, the only difference is that God has given us his word.

He sent the gospel to you. Someone preached it. He moved in your heart by his Holy Spirit. And you heard that inward call. And you came alive. And you believed and now you know the truth. And so we go out with zeal to proclaim the love of Christ.

The forgiveness that is offered to those who repent and believe. Issue the call, repentance and faith. In the end, we will be vindicated. In this world, we will not be. Opposition to us will increase, not decrease, right?

You see that happening? The whole culture has shifted in the last 15 years. And the majority views of a kind of a Christian Judeo ethic, Judeo-Christian ethic in America has been turned on its head. And now we find ourselves in the minority in our views of ethics.

Will not God vindicate his elect who cry to him day and night? In the end, here's what's gonna happen to the culture of death. They're gonna die. They won't reproduce. And if they continue to kill, those who are killed will die.

One of the great hopes for America is if Christians will fully embrace a culture of life. Have as many kids as you can and train them up in the knowledge of the Lord. Raise your grandkids and tell them the truth.

And go make disciples of the nations. We have an evangelistic faith. I still have hope for America. I still think there could be a great revival. The culture of death will die. But this could be the great apostasy.

Could go from bad to worse. And then Christ comes back for us and we'll be okay. And we'll have a millennial kingdom to live in where the lion lays down next to the lamb and the little child plays with the snake.

There's no more death. There's coming a final vindication. We will be vindicated in the end. So don't cower in the meantime. Next, peace. We have two more. Sin and chin. Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.

I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law. Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules. Great peace have those who love your law.

Nothing can make them stumble. I hope for your salvation, oh Lord, and I do your commandments. My soul keeps your testimonies. I love them exceedingly. Do you feel like that? Do you love the word exceedingly?

I keep your precepts and testimonies for all my ways are before you. Great peace, verse 165. Have those who love your law. Nothing can make them stumble. There's a lot to fret about, many reasons to be afraid, but the Bible tells us great peace have them who love your law.

This is a Romans 5 .1 kind of peace. Therefore, if anyone is justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. If we have peace with our God who resurrects the dead, what do we have to fear here on earth?

This is the kind of peace that Paul experienced when he wrote the book of Philippians in jail, persecuted, hurting, and bloody from a beating, and he writes the most joyful letter in the New Testament.

It's the kind of peace they weren't ready for. And brothers and sisters, the world is not ready for the kind of peace that we have because they can come, and let's say persecution grows in this country, even if they put a sword to our throats or tie us to be burned, by the spirit of the living God and by the word, they'll see peace on our face.

Like Stephen, his face looked like the face of an angel, and they were baffled. They don't have peace. That's why they're so riled up. Those of us who have the word of God, we have peace. Let's not afraid, not afraid of whatever comes.

I don't know about you, but when I think about the possible future of America, I get concerned for my kids and for grandkids. What country will they inherit? What will it be like? Great peace have they who love your law.

I know this, his word has been founded. It's not going anywhere. They have his word, they will stand for God is able to make them stand. No fear, no fear. Lastly, speech. Where does this all lead? We've been taking in the word, and now it needs to come pouring out of us in speech, in praise.

Verse 169, let my cry come before you, O Lord. Give me understanding according to your word. Let my plea come before you. Deliver me according to your word. This is my key verse for this section, number 171.

My lips will pour forth praise for you teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word for all your commandments are right. Let 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 my soul live and praise you and let your rules help me. This is an interesting last verse, isn't it? Look at 176. Somebody texted me about this this week. I have gone astray like a lost sheep.

Seek your servant for I do not forget your commandments. I was thinking about that after that text message. It's such a stark ending, isn't it? After all this delighting, I will uphold, I will not forget, I will walk, I will stand.

I believe in God's word. There's no wavering for stanzas here. And then the last verse is, I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant. Here's why I think he ends that way. With a strong reminder that it's the God of the word who's holding you.

It's not you that's holding yourself. If you think you're standing, be careful that you do not fall. It's the God of the word that holds us and keeps us from stumbling, Jude. It's a stark ending. All of us are prone to wander.

Remember that song, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave, the God I love. It's not us that keeps us on the straight and narrow. It's the God of the word that's holding us. So how do we wrap this study up?

I've encouraged each of you to get a Bible and take this treasure that you value more than gold and silver. It's more than honey to your lips and take it to someone who doesn't value it. Give them the word of God.

Pour forth speech, not just here on a Sunday morning, but all week long. There's somebody that God is laying on your heart. At least I'm praying that there is. That he'll give you a picture in your mind of who it is that you are to go evangelize and tell them why this word is such a treasure to you.

To give them a Bible. It takes boldness, but the word is our strength. He strengthened us for this work. I'd be remiss not to mention also what Michael would like to say, I'm sure, right now. In 171 and 172, the person who has received the word like this should praise from the heart in spirit and truth.

When we come up to do this last song in a few minutes, sing like the saved. Sing like one who's received this word and pour forth praise. My tongue will sing of your word for all your commandments are right.

It should get us speaking the word. We've received, we've received, we've received. 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each one giving us treasure. Now it's time for us to go and proclaim. So before I call on the worship team, I just wanna share my testimony in a different way today.

My testimony is that the word of God has been my life. Since he came to me through the preaching of my parents, I was 10 years old when I knelt at my parents' bedside and accepted him into my heart. But all from that time on, from 10 years and even earlier than that, because I was being made wise unto salvation, 1 Timothy 3 .15, the word has sustained me.

And I thought through these stanzas. I've written it on the back of your notes. Picked a verse for each one. And I want you to think about this because if you notice, the 176 verses, every one of them mention God, whether in a pronoun or directly.

The God of the word is the subject of this. And it's a very personal song. I don't want you to miss that. It's a prayer. He is crying out to God with the word in his hand and he's trembling before God.

I'll share how this has impacted my life because I want you to do the same. I want you to think about, how has the word been this to me? How has it been my treasure? So if we've been kind of taking a shower, now it's gonna be like going out in a rainstorm, okay?

I'm just gonna quickly quote through one verse for each of the 22 and how it applied to me. When I was 10 years old, I realized that I couldn't get past the first three verses of Psalm 119 because I'm not blameless.

My way is not pure. And so I heard about Jesus. I called on his name to save me and he blessed me. The greatest blessing is salvation. Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.

Next, the word protected me. As the internet age came about and there were temptations online, a number of things, how can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to the word. There was a time in college where a professor told me that the Bible was just myths, allegories, not to be taken seriously.

And I went into my dorm room that night and I dropped the Bible and I said, Lord, if this is true, open my eyes to see it. Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous truths out of your law. And I saw in Micah 5 too that the gospel is true.

And he established my faith, but you know there was still something else in college holding me back. Basketball was my idol. I held it ahead of God in my life. God was second. So I said, Lord, how can I hold on?

How can I keep my attention fixed on you, incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain? I was a student ministry coordinator in college, but this woman who was leading it was doing things like interfaith thanksgiving where all religions came together and prayed together as if it was the same God.

And God was showing me I couldn't participate in that, but to not participate in it, I needed to resign as a student ministry coordinator. I trembled at the thought. I'd never given up on a responsibility.

I had never quit when I promised to do something. But trembling, I went to that woman and to her husband, which was the professor who was lying about the Bible. I didn't know if I could do it. My soul melted away for sorrow.

Strengthen me according to your word. He gave me the strength to do it. I remember times when I didn't have an answer for those who asked me for the reason for the hope that was in me. So the Lord began to strengthen me as an apologist.

He gave me apologetics. Then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me. Next, flash way forward here because I was trying to think of a time when I really felt at the end of my rope and it was when we lost a child in miscarriage and the word became my comfort.

This is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life. To know that that child would be resurrected on the last day. And then there was a time when I was on my way to Costa Rica to be a missionary just for a short term trip.

And I remember being in Dallas having nothing just alone there because the rest of the team had flown back after the mission trip. And I remember this feeling in my heart that the Lord was all I would ever need.

The Lord is my portion. Raying in my heart, I promise to keep your words. But wouldn't you know that even after that experience there came a time where I backslid, fell back into bad patterns. Discipline.

Before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now I keep your word. The word brought discipline into my life. The Lord made me a teacher here. Let those who fear you turn to me that they may know your testimonies.

I tremble at that. But the Lord has brought me here. Rescue when we had a second miscarriage. And I thought, why again, Lord? For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke that I have not forgotten your testimonies.