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Psalm 119:57-64
Just seem to really line up, and that's what we have tonight in Psalm 119. It really lines up with exactly what we were dealing with this morning from Ephesians 6, verse 24. If you remember, last time we were in Psalm 119, which was at the Conleys last week, we really talked about just that first line there in verse 57, the Lord is my portion.
And we talked about the grand reality of the believer's life, that Yahweh is our treasure, our portion, our possession. I find myself even singing tonight, even singing tonight, the things running through my mind and my heart, I find they're still idols to be slain.
Still things, like Pastor Jacob talked about, that things we're thinking of, or things our heart is thinking about, and just running through our minds as we're trying to sing and worship, and it's like, we've got to kill those things.
The Lord is our portion. He is our treasure. What does it look like if the Lord is our treasure? I think that the psalm here shows us in these verses. And so tonight's sermon title is simply, Your Life Will Show It.
Meaning, is the Lord your portion? If the Lord is your portion, what are some things that are going to be evident in your life? And you'll see, I think, some similarities from this morning. So we're going to read this whole eighth stanza together now.
We just looked at verse 57 last week, so now we'll do 57 through 64. I invite you to stand as we honor the reading of God's Word, Your Life Will Show It. The psalmist writes, verse 57, The Lord is my portion.
I promise to keep your words. I entreat your favor with all my heart. Be gracious to me according to your promise. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies. I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.
Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. At midnight, I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules. I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.
The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. Teach me your statutes. Father, help us tonight. Help us to be a people who seek you as our treasure. And may this be evident in our life. May we encourage one another with these words.
May we strengthen one another. May we hold one another accountable. May we be serious about what the Christian life looks like. And we just pray that you'd be gracious to us. Help us to to slay idols, to mortify the deeds of the flesh, to pursue godliness as a church body, to be a holy church.
We pray it in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. So this is the eighth section of our Psalm 119, 176 verses. These eight verses, if you want to look at it this way, they're like a juicy steak and there are multiple ways you can eat a steak.
You can just pick it up and tear into it barehanded. I don't recommend that. That would work. Or you can kind of chop it up and eat it a bite at a time. And that's what I'm trying to do tonight. I'm trying to to cut this up into servings so we can eat this together and savor the truth of these verses that God has for us from this section.
So the question you want to answer before leaving tonight is this. Is Jesus my portion? Is Jesus my portion? Very similar to this morning. Grace be with those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. And so this morning, do I love Christ?
What does it mean to love Christ? Very similar tonight. Is Jesus my portion? Now, there's no there's not legalism in this. These aren't rules. We're not just pull out the check sheet, check off the rules to see if you're accepted by God.
Rather, rather, we're trying to take the Bible seriously and examine the reality of the believer's life, grounded in the fact that the Lord is the believer's portion. And can you say the Lord is my portion, my treasure?
OK, so is Jesus your portion? Your life will show up by, number one, a determination to follow God's ways. Number one, a determination to follow God's ways. So the very first verse, the Lord is my portion.
I'm going to insert this. Therefore, but it's not in the text, but there's an implication, right? The Lord is my portion. Therefore, or since the Lord is my portion, I promise to keep your words. You understand that there's a relationship there since the Lord is the Psalmist treasure.
There is a resolve in his. There's a resolve in his desire to keep God's words, to do what God says. Now, I understand we can't be perfect, but the admission of us not being perfect is not what characterizes us.
What characterizes us is our determination to follow God's ways and to keep his word. I'll give you an example, just a silly example. There's really no such thing as a perfect hitter in baseball. You can't be a perfect hitter, but that doesn't stop people from trying, right?
It doesn't stop people who really, really want to play baseball to get out there and hit a thousand baseballs off the tee to try to be a perfect. You can't be a perfect hitter, but they're determined to pursue that goal, right?
Well, how much greater of a aspiration do we have as Christians, right? We want to follow Christ. We're resolved in Caleb's testimony. Just a couple of weeks ago, he shared how he was convicted when, when he sang that song, I'm resolved, but it was pointed out.
He was being a hypocrite and no one said that to Caleb. No one said, Caleb, you're being a hypocrite. It was just mentioned that some of y 'all are singing that and you don't mean it. And Caleb was convicted.
And so we must guard against hypocrisy in our resolve. We must not be hypocrites in that. But if Jesus is our portion, we will be determined to follow God's ways. So how do we know if Jesus is our portion?
Well, there's a determination to follow God's ways. And I will add to this, that determination produces discipline. So there's discipline in our thought. Look at verse 59. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.
If we're determined to keep God's words, then we're disciplined to read his word and to study the Bible. And this will cause us to study ourself. All right. So let me ask you this. And I mentioned it this morning, again, some crossover.
When is the last time a lot of time we think about theology, but when is the last time you thought on your ways? You understand part of the Christian life is not just thinking about rich theology, which is important, but part of the Christian life is thinking about our ways, not morbid introspection, but I'm saying take an assessment of where we're at, thinking about our ways.
When I think on my ways, you know, a lot of the world's pleasures are built on escape. It's part of human nature to suppress the truth, to drown out our sorrows or just live our life so fast and free that there's no time to think.
So at the church, so listen, at the church level, this is crept in and we don't want to think. I don't want to think. I just want to what? You know the answer. I just want to feel. I want to feel. I want emotional music.
I need a raw, raw or emotionally fulfilling sermon or at least a sermon where I don't have to think. I do not want to think. I don't want to engage my brain. I don't want to have to think about the reality of my situation.
A lot of people don't want to face the reality that they are a great sinner. They don't want to face that most people in the Bible belt are okay with being told they're not perfect. We get that. We're all try this tomorrow if you want.
Go tell someone tomorrow, hey, you're not perfect. And you know what they'll say? They'll probably won't even be mad. They're like, yeah, no one is. You're not perfect. No, we're not all perfect. Yeah, that's fine.
But when you get specific, when you say, hey, you know, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't talk that way to the lady behind the desk. You shouldn't behave that way. You shouldn't embrace that kind of lifestyle.
That's a sin. Well, people don't want to be told these things. They don't want to have to think on their ways. But I'm telling us tonight that the believer is okay with thinking. The believer is okay with thinking even not just rich theology, but even thinking of our own lives to think on our ways.
Well, of course, we don't stay there because look what the psalmist says. When I think on my ways, what happens? When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies. So we don't just stay thinking on our ways.
And we sure don't think on our ways to exalt ourself or to boast in self. Rather, we think on our ways so that we turn our ways to God's ways. We turn our feet to his testimonies. We think thinking on our ways should drive us to the gospel to our our real need for the sacrifice of Jesus in the place of sinners.
It's hard to get people to think on their ways. But I'm telling us tonight, if people never see themselves as what the Bible calls them, unworthy sinners, they will never run to the gospel of grace. And I remind us tonight church that the gospel is not just for the people, the worst of society that you can think.
The woman of the night or whatever or the drunkard or the person on drugs. Isaiah 64 says that our righteous deeds before God in and of ourselves are as filthy rags. We need the gospel. Every person needs the gospel.
We must think on our ways. But again, our determination doesn't just produce discipline and thought. But let's press this out a little bit more discipline and action. So so again, when I think of my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.
So we think but then we we turn. There is no coming to Christ without repentance. There is no growing in Christ without repentance. In fact, it was Martin Luther that said Christianity is a life of repentance.
Do your ways and his testimonies match up? Have you spent time plumbing the depths of your heart in order to align all your ways with his testimonies? It's hard sometimes to look at ourselves. It's hard, for example, to go to the doctor and the doctor come out and say, hey, look, you need to eat better.
You need to exercise. You need to take better care of your body. That's hard to hear. But it's good for us to hear. Right. So we can live longer. Well, similar with a spiritual assessment of our lives.
We we think about our ways. But then we we hear the gospel. We receive Christ and we desire. Even as Christians, we reminded ourselves of the gospel. And then we we want to live in obedience to the Lord.
Why? Because the Lord is our portion. Verse 60 says, I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. Did you know, and this is something that Steph and I, we're not perfect in this. We're far from it.
But a principle we try to have with our children is this delayed obedience is disobedience. The text says, I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments, delayed obedience is disobedience. So you're sitting here tonight.
I see some of you young guys in here and young girls. I see you back there and you think to yourself, you know what? When I get older, then I'll follow the Lord. When I get older, then I'll be serious about God's ways.
But the psalmist says, I hasten, right? I will hasten to him, hasten so glad and free as the song says, I will run. I will hurry. I will not delay to keep God's commandments. I won't put it off till tomorrow, till next year.
You know, I'll get serious about theology and discipline and being a better mom and being a better husband and being a better father. I'll get serious about these things next week, next year, next month, next decade.
That's not the desire of the believer's heart. We want to follow God's ways more closely now as we enter. Pastor Jacob mentioned this. We enter into the summer season, so many different things going on, so many different directions we're going.
And I've heard some of your trips you're going on. And you guys know some of the trips we're going on. It's a great it's a great time of year. We love the summer. But as we think, as we approach the season, one of the things I want us to think about as a church family is how can we as a church family resolve to more closely follow God's ways?
Is Christ your portion? It will show in your determination to follow God's way. Secondly, it will show in a desire for God's word. Again, the Lord is my portion. I promise to keep your words. Determination isn't legalism, but I just need to speak on this for a moment.
The Christian has a desire for God's word. Look at verse 61. Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. I'll mention this just because it's applicatory in our season of life right now.
But you think about, you know, sometimes politics can make us forget God's law, right? Can make us forget God's word. We can get so angry at the foolishness we see on the television. We can get so frustrated by the next thing that comes out of our president's mouth or whatever the case may be that we can just absolutely feel like our great hope is in politics.
But I want to encourage us something. The word is ever upon the psalmist mind. You know, I've got great hope. You know, I hope things turn out moving on from this administration in this fall. But if that doesn't happen, we still desire God's word.
We still want God's word upon our mind and upon our heart. Even in the midst of adversity, even though the psalmist says the cords of the wicked ensnare him, he does not forget his purpose. He does not forget God's law.
And too many, it seems, forget God's word the moment they step into the workplace or the moment they are around certain people or the moment they log into social media. They forget God's word. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be a Christian.
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to talk like a Christian. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to share the gospel. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to, I'm supposed to extol the excellencies of Christ. Friend, is the Lord your portion if you always forget God's word?
We can't just be a Christian on Sunday, right? A Christian is somebody who desires the word. It means we set aside time to read it, read the word personally with your family, to memorize it. I really appreciate what we're doing on Sunday mornings.
It's an opportunity to memorize God's word together, to meditate on it, to think through it, to think about it, to study it. If the Lord is our portion, we desire God's word. Verse 64, the earth, oh Lord, is full of your steadfast love.
Teach me your statutes. Why do we set aside time in the word? Because we want to learn it. We want to know God's word. We acknowledge our need to know it. Teach us. The psalmist says, teach us. Okay, let me just give another real-time application.
The last couple nights, which I didn't really get to say, I really didn't get to see it, but the Aurora Borealis was visible from Arkansas. It's pretty amazing. In fact, I won't say his name. Oh, I won't say this person's name, but one of my children was at another person's house who may or may not be in here right now.
And I said, y 'all should go out and see the northern lights. And he said, which direction do I look? So I thought that was, I just thought that was kind of funny. That's funny, Jack. But the idea is you look at the Aurora Borealis and you're like, God is amazing.
Like God does amazing things sometimes. And you're just like, this is wonderful. Well, the psalmist says the earth is full of your steadfast love. And his response to that, like the psalmist, if he were to see the Aurora Borealis, which I don't even have any idea if you could even see it from the Middle East.
I have no idea about that. Someone can fact check me on that. But if he were to see the Aurora Borealis, his response is, oh God, you're amazing. Teach me your statutes. So the Christian doesn't just go to the Grand Canyon or to Mount Everest or whatever the case may be and see the beautiful things God has done and just say, wow, God is amazing.
No, the Christian sees the earth extolling the glories of God and says, I want to know how to follow you more. And God, you are glorious. And I want to know how to worship you better and to do your will and to follow your ways.
This is the reality of the Christian who has of the person that all Christians have God as their portion. This is the reality. The word of God is a precious gift. Look at verse number one. How often do we thank God for his word?
And number two, how often are we so moved with gratitude for his word that we rise at inopportune times to praise God? That's on the psalmist mind here. Thirdly, let me mention this. I couldn't make this one alliterate.
But verse 63, as I was studying this week, really just jumped out to me. So how do you know if the Lord is your portion? One of the ways is going to be your love for the church. Look at verse 63. I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.
We desire the word so much that we want to be around other people who desire the word. This is an amazing thing. The more I read and study and just drink in the Old Testament, the more I see like the church is all over the place, even they're pointing forward this idea that God is not just saving individuals, but a people for himself.
The Reformation Study Bible says it this way. Obedience to the Lord takes place in community with other believers who also serve the Lord. I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.
The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. You don't just have the Lord as your portion, but we have the Lord as our portion together. We need one another then for encouragement and accountability, for correction, for comfort.
Look at verse 63, the word companion there. It means to be united with, to be allied with. These are the people I am with. So listen to me, I ain't worried about your skin color or how tall you are or your nationality or your favorite hobbies or even your blood relations.
I simply want to know this. Do you fear Yahweh? That's the person I want to be aligned with. I am a companion of all who fear you, right? That's who I want to be united with. That's the church, poor or rich.
It doesn't matter. Well known or unknown, small or great or young or old. Give me a group of people who fear the Lord and desire to keep his word and there you will see the kingdom of Christ and there you will see God glorified and God working.
And don't miss this. I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. I'm not just saying I love the church. I'm not just saying the church is a good idea. I am a companion to this motley crew.
I am with them. I am for them. I don't know them from a distance. I'm not those people over there. No, no. I am counted among them. In small town Arkansas, everybody seems to know everyone. That can be good or bad.
And so when it comes to the church, sometimes we feel like, oh yeah, yeah, I know them. I go to church with them. But what I'm saying here is being a companion to those who fear God is more than merely knowing who they are.
It's being united with them. It's having your feet under the same table. It's praying with them. It's discipling them. It's helping them. Those who have Christ as their treasure has the church as their companions.
I don't think grammatically I said that right. Those who have Christ as their treasure have the church as their companion. Young people, I said this last weekend, last Sunday night, but I exhort you to make Christ your companion and by extension his people your companions.
Listen to me tonight. There's lots of things that seem so important to you right now. I get it. I get it. I get guilty of that too. I'm the worst at making a group of college-aged young men determine if I'm going to have a good Saturday or not when it happens, you know, when the fall comes and you're talking about razorback football.
It's so dumb, right? So I understand that there's a temptation in front of you that everything seems like such a big deal. Piper, are you listening? That everything right in front of you seems like such a big deal, but I'm exhorting you tonight to see the healing streams of Christ's blood flowing from Calvary for poor sinners.
Young people, see the righteous life of our King. See his glorious resurrection. See that he will be a friend to those who call upon him in faith. Come to Christ and be saved. John Bunyan asks and answers this.
He's got a really good catechism for young people. It's really kind of too long for us to memorize, but he says this question, then am I not like to have many companions if I thus young begin to serve God?
Am I? Let me translate that. He's saying the question that the kid is asking is if I serve God as a young person, I'm not going to have a lot of companions, am I? And the answer is straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7, 14. Yet some companions thou wilt have. David counted himself a companion of all them that loved God's testimony. Psalm 119, 63. All the godly though gray headed will be thy companions. So let me say this, young people.
It is true that if you guys are serious, I talked to the young men here. Trey, I wish you'd sit over there so I could just say I'm talking to the young men, but now I got to do this. Okay. Let me just tell you, young men, if you resolve that you're going to be a companion to Christ at a young age, your friend group shrinks.
Like if you're really serious about it, not like, oh, I'm just on the fence. And on Sundays I'm a Christian. No, I'm talking about Monday through Saturday, you're a Christian. And then on the Lord's day, you're a Christian.
And if you're resolved to do that, then it's going to, you are going, your friend list is going to shrink. But the companions that you will have, those who fear God and seek to follow his ways, those are the companions you need.
Those are the companions that, that as you grow in Christ, those are the companions that will show themselves actually beneficial to your life. I get on a little bit of a tangent, but do you understand?
And the people around here can tell you this. I'm not trying to be too pessimistic, but a lot of people in your life, they want to be in your life just so what they can get out of your life for themselves.
You understand they want to be part of your life insofar as your life is benefiting their life. But when you make companions with the church, and some of you young ladies should be listening to this too.
When you make companions with the church, when you come to Christ, you put your faith in Christ and you're united with Christ and his body. Those are the people in your life who really are for your good.
They see you at your best. They see you at your worst and they are in your corner. They're for you. They understand when you fall, they're the ones that are there, help you pick up and let's run after Christ together.
These are the kind of companions that we want to make because these are the kind of people we're going to spend eternity with. It doesn't matter how tall they are, how short they are, how pretty they are, how ugly they are, how black they are, how white they are, how whatever.
Do they fear the Lord? That's what we want to know. And then let me say this. Lastly, we come back to the alliteration. How do you know if the Lord is your portion? There is a delight in God himself. So the Christian is determined because there is a real desire for the word.
There's a real desire for the word because a Christian truly delights in God. We want Christ. Look at verse 58. I entreat your favor with all my heart. Be gracious to me according to your promise. Oh, listen to this.
I don't have to have the president's favor. I don't have to have the school board's favor. I don't have to have the bank's favor. I don't have to have anyone's favor so long as I have God's favor. That is enough.
I entreat, I beg for your favor or maybe better translated here, your face. I seek your face, God. I want you. I ask for your presence to be here. And I'm asking with my whole heart. You hear, I'll give Gunnar a nod here.
A lot of times when you hear him pray, he talks about seeking God's presence in our worship service. And he's right. It's like, hey God, if you're not going to be here, we don't want to be here, right?
We want to meet with God here. And I'm asking not based on our merit, but on your grace, right? I entreat your favor with all my heart. Be gracious to me. I'm not saying I ask for your favor with all my heart.
Based on my works, rather, I'm appealing to your grace according to your promise. Now, what is this promise? Well, we've talked about this on Wednesday nights, but the Old Testament saints, they had the gospel.
And the promise is that God sent his son to live perfectly righteous for us to die on the cross in the place of sinners. And the promise is that those who call upon his name and believe these truths turning from their sin will be saved.
Be gracious according to the promise of the Messiah that you're going to sin. That was from the psalmist perspective. From our perspective, would you be gracious according to the promise of Christ? Do you delight in God?
What does it look like to delight in God? Some things I talked about this morning, but some things lend themselves easier to deceiving us than others. So you say, of course I delight in God. I give 10 to the church.
Or of course I delight in God. I don't cuss. But yes, the heart that's inclined to God does behave in those ways. But just because you tithe and speak wholesomely doesn't guarantee your heart is actually glad in God.
The heart is deceptive. I think verse 62 is a helpful indicator of our heart. At midnight, I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules. Let me just mention three things about this just real quick.
One, it's an inconvenient time. Midnight. Midnight. It's called that for a reason. Middle of the night. It's a time for sleeping. But it's also an intentional time. I rise. I get up. I didn't just happen to think of God on my bed.
I'm getting up for a reason. The reason? I can be alone with God. It's just me and the Lord. There's no distractions. And it's also a joyful time. The psalmist is glad in God. If we were to say to the psalmist, but sir, you gave up precious sleep to meet with God.
He would say, I gave up nothing. I only gained because I met with God. Now listen, I'm not saying to you that if you don't get up at midnight to worship God, you're not a Christian. We'd be in trouble, including me.
We'd be in trouble. But I am saying this. There is something about a delight in God that pushes us to, to be gone, be done with worldly comforts so that we have time to meet with God. Now I understand we're talking about Sunday night to the Sunday night crowd.
And I say to the Sunday night crowd, I get it. Sundays can be hard. Sometimes it's hard, right? But on the other hand, is it hard? Like what are we giving up? We lose nothing. We only gain meeting with God.
You rise up in the morning, 30 minutes early, 30 minutes earlier. So that not only can you shower and have your coffee and, you know, clip your toenails, whatever it is you do in the mornings, but also an extra 30 minutes just so you meet with God, an extra hour, just so you can meet with God.
And think about when a loved one comes in and they don't make it until very early in the morning. You're someone you hadn't seen in a while. They're not going to be here to one or two o 'clock. You rise to meet them.
Why? You're so grateful to be in their presence. You stay up and you talk with them. Why? Because you cherish the time with them, knowing when day breaks, the cares of the world will once again need to be attended to.
Or let me say this, and this will be a hard one. On Mother's Day, it's difficult for some, but think of someone that you've lost, a precious family member that you've lost, that they've gone on. You haven't got to be around them in maybe five, ten, twenty years.
And if I said to you, hey listen, they're going to come to your house tonight at two o 'clock in the morning, and you can meet with them, and you can talk with them, and you can spend time with them, and you can converse with them.
Would you say, oh that's really inconvenient. I can't wake up like that. No, of course you would say, are you serious? I have an opportunity to speak with this person again? I can't wait to tell them everything going on in my life.
I can't wait to point them to the thing. I'll show my grandmother. Look, here's Margie. We named her after you. Look at that. Of course I would be up, right? But I'm telling us tonight, how much greater and more glorious is the God of heaven who has offered himself to meet with us, and our delight is in him.
So I say to you tonight, don't have a heart characterized by drudgery or apathy, but may it be characterized by delight in God. Again, verse 64, the earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. Teach me your statutes.
Teach me. Delight needs to be cultivated, because the reality is we don't always feel glad, but that's why verse 64 ends with the reality that we need to be taught. The word is our objective standard, so even when we don't feel, we can know, because God has given us his word.
The whole earth is shouting at us. The Aurora Borealis is shouting at us that God is glorious, but there are other things in our heart, other sinful desires, other tugs from different directions, silly things, serious things, but other things, lesser things, all of them.
And too often we give into those, which is why the psalmist says. Be gracious to me back in verse 58, be gracious to me. At the same time, though, there is a real desire for God, and as we mature, this desire begins to beat back the other desires.
We hunger for God. We hunger for God more. We delight in God more. We want God more. And what happens? It was Jonathan Edwards that said it this way. I'll let you chew on this. I won't develop this thought much, but let me just mention.
Jonathan Edwards said we always do what we most want to do. And that's true. You say, I don't want to go to work tomorrow, but you do. You want to go to work more than you don't want to pay, don't want to be unable to pay your bills.
If I said that right, we always do what we want most, what we most want to do. So the question is tonight, is Yahweh the one true eternal triune, holy God of all creation? Is he your portion? And if he is, your life will show it by these things.
Your determination to follow his ways, your delight in his word, your love for the church and your desire for for God himself. Let us take assessment of these things. Let us repent of areas that we need to repent of.
Let's run to our gracious king and let's be resolved. Verse 63, to be a companion of all who fear God, of those who keep your precepts. Father, we thank you for your word tonight. We pray your blessing over it.
Let us be a people who love your truth and walk in your ways.