Psalm 119:113-120

SAMECH

“I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. Depart from me, ye evil-doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God. Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.”

AIN

“I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors. Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes. I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.”

What The Psalmist Hates & Loves

“At verse 113, I’m gonna read to verse 128, we’ll probably go a little beyond that this evening, but it says here “I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.” So the Psalmist at this point begins by telling us what he hates, and notice, what he loves. “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. Depart from me, ye evil-doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God. Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors. Be my surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes. I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for thy have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” We’re going to hear again, love and hate. So he begins by telling us that what he hates and what he loves, and he takes us through a very emotional, very visceral pathway, to bring us again to verse 128 and tell us again what he loves and what he hates. He says he hates, in verse 113, King James says ‘vain thoughts’, the idea is “unloyal thoughts” “divided heart” “the double mind,” the idea is the heart is not right here. He says “I hate vain thoughts.” Where that’s goes, where that leads, he’s speaking from experience in his own life no doubt, ‘I hate it LORD, I don’t want to be there anymore.’ “but thy law do I love.” You know, you’ll find in life too, is it wrong to hate? Well, if you love right things, then you’re going to hate the wrong things. There are things to be loved and there are things to hate. Jesus himself says ‘I hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans.’ And he tells us that twice, in the first few chapters of the Book of Revelation. He himself hates certain things. Here the Psalmist says “I hate vain thoughts:” ‘I hate vanity, I hate double-mindedness, I hate the proud at heart, I hate that thing…’ You know, it’s one thing for people to just be anti-God, anti-Christ, denial. But he says there’s another place where the heart’s divided, it’s compromised, there’s a double-mind, where people almost have justified that kind of existence. They mark themselves kind of on a curve, ‘I’m not as bad as them,’ kind of grading themselves, God doesn’t grade us on a curve. We’re either righteous or unrighteous, we’re either washed in the blood or we’re on our way to hell, there’s no middle ground. And here he says “I hate vain thoughts” ‘because they’re inconsistent with the life that I should have, I should be sold-out for you LORD.’ This is speaking from a believer’s perspective, ‘I hate the divided heart, I hate double-mindedness, I hate this, but LORD, thy law do I love, I love your Word.’ And he says, look, in verse 114, “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.” Not just proper theological perspective here, he says ‘LORD, you yourself, your person, LORD, you, are my hiding place and my shield,’ this is experience, this is subjective experience, not just objective belief. ‘You LORD, are my hiding place and my shield.’ He’s discovered that. You get up early, I find my day is different, you know if I get alone with him, and I’m not thinking about devotions, we’ve almost created a category, that if we do that we put more stars on our refrigerator. Jesus isn’t interested in devotions, he’s interested in devotion. Imagine if I told my wife we were going to have devotions, and I said to her, ‘Look, I talked to you an hour this morning, that was your time-slot, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, if you’ve got something to say, just hold off.’ She don’t want devotions, she wants devotion. There isn’t anything wrong with doing devotions, don’t get me wrong. But we can peg that down to where it’s dry and it doesn’t mean anything. The point of getting up early or staying up late or getting alone, and even when I’m alone with his Word, is all of a sudden he’s present, all of a sudden he’s speaking to me. The words are rising off the page and the tears are flowing down my face, and I say ‘Lord, you’re here, Lord, you’re here.’ And he says ‘LORD, you are my hiding place and my shield, it’s you LORD. I hope in your Word, LORD, that’s my hope, LORD, the things that you have to say to me in your Word, LORD, that’s where I hope in you yourself LORD, I find you’re my hiding place and my shield.’ And it’s almost like he lifts up his head, he thinks of life, he says “Depart from me, ye evil-doers:” the reason “for I will keep the commandments of my God.” (verse 115) He kind of looks around and says, ‘This is what I hate, and this is what I love, this is LORD, I find you, you’re my hiding place LORD, I hope in your Word,’ and he looks around and says, ‘You know, I just want people away from me that are dragging me down, I just don’t want that. But LORD, I’m going to keep your commandments, I’m going to keep the commandments of my God.’ One of the old Puritans said, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future, show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” And he says here “Depart from me, ye evil-doers:” (verse 115a) I think the choice of friends is important. It doesn’t say we’re to be holier than thou, and we should cut off all of our unsaved friends, we’re supposed to be evangelistic and reach the unsaved world. But the idea is, you don’t find fellowship with them. You’re there in their life to extend the Gospel and share the truth of Jesus Christ, and hopefully see them saved. You can no longer fellowship with them, because what they want to fellowship in is drugs, alcohol, etc., [or the plague of this generation, atheism, “vain thoughts”] we can’t find fellowship with them anymore, because it’s like verse 113, vain thoughts, it’s emptiness, what we hate. So he says here, ‘I want all of that away from me, in the sense that it would drag me down, because LORD, I’m going to keep your commandments.’ He says then to the LORD, look, “Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.” (verse 116) in verse 117, “Hold thou me up” it’s the same phrase in the Hebrew. “Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.” That’s a great prayer for us, by the way, if you know what your hope is, the Blessed Hope. By the way, I believe the Blessed Hope is the pre-tribulation Rapture of the Church. [Comment: there are mixed beliefs and interpretations for that one. see http://www.unityinchrist.com/Prophets_Prophecy.html] I don’t think the post-tribulation rapture is the Blessed Hope, it’s kind of the ut-oh hope, you know. If you don’t get burned up, and chewed up, spit out and fricasseed by the end of the 7 years, no that’s not the Blessed Hope. It says, you know, we’re supposed to treat our wives the way Christ treats the Church. I know some of you poor ladies feel like you married a post-tribulationist. You know, Jesus didn’t beat up the Bride before the Honeymoon, we’re not supposed to either. What is our hope? He says “Uphold me according to thy word,” look at the news, look at ISIS, look at what’s going around, we should be praying for our country and 9/11, I think they’re trying to do something again. Is there going to be an attempt? Sooner or later that’s going to happen. And this world we live in is slowly falling apart. Where’s our hope? Is it in this world? ‘Uphold me LORD, in the midst of all this, according to thy Word, that I may live.’ “and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe:” (verses 116-117a) Isn’t it interesting, he said ‘You’re my hiding place, you’re my shield,’ now he’s saying ‘LORD, you’re the one who holds me up,’ “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.” (verse 117)

The Prophetic Past-Tense—The Psalmist Looks Into The Future

And then in verse 118 and 119, it brings us to verse 120, look what it says there, “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.” (verse 118) It’s called the “prophetic past tense,” it’s prophetic in that it’s looking forward to something that God says he’s going to do, but it’s speaking in the past tense, the Psalmist as he writes, as the Holy Spirit moves on his heart, as he puts it to the page, he sees it already done. He sees something that God is going to do ahead of us as already done, so they call it “the prophetic past tense.” Look what he says, “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes:” imagine what he’s seeing, as he writes [Revelation 19:1-21 anyone? Revelation 20:7-10 anyone?]. He’s seeing the Lord of lords and the King of kings wrap up the end of the age. “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.” (verses 118-119) it’s all going to be cleansed, “Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.” (verse 119) it’s interesting, Isaiah 63 would say this, again, looking forward, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, dyed garments from Bozrah, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?” the answer, “I that speaketh righteousness, mighty to save.” The question, “Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel? and thy garment like in the tread of the winevat?” the answer, “I have trodden the winepress alone,” He says here, “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.” The LORD in Isaiah 63 says, “I have trodden the winepress alone. And of the people there was none with me, I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment, for the day of vengeance it is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” It’s a picture certainly from Revelation chapter 16, Armageddon, chapter 19, where the LORD comes in all of his glory. It’s at that point in time that the people that are alive are actually shaking their fists at the sky and cursing God in heaven, even after he sent an angel to fly around the whole planet preaching the everlasting Gospel in every language, a testimony he gives. It is harder to go to hell than it is to go to heaven. People who go to hell, going through the great tribulation are people who really want to go to hell. [Whether this hell is Hades, Sheol, the grave 6 feet under, or Gehenna fire hell is up for debate with differing denominations. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm] Because the testimony of his love and his power is going to be shouting from the mountaintops, it’s going to be really clear. The Psalmist sees it, “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross:” “like dross” like the thing that’s purified, burned off, “therefore I love thy testimonies.” (verses 118-119) ‘I know this is going to be the way it’s going to be,’ “My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.” (verse 120) The idea is “I shudder in awe” one translation writes it. And the same thing with the second half, “I am afraid of thy judgments.” “I stand in awe of your judgments.” What he’s saying is, ‘I see how this is all going to wrap up LORD.’ You know, as we’ve been going through Psalm 119, we hear of his anger at the wicked, and it’s almost as we’re going on, we’re going to see by the end of this evening, the Psalmist is coming to the point where he almost pities the wicked. As he goes on in this Psalm and more and more light comes to him, and he sees more and more of what’s really going to take place, his hatred and his distain for the wicked almost begins to change to a pity. And I think that pleases the LORD much more, by the way. He says “My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.” (verse 120) ‘You’re the one whose trodden down all them that err from your statutes, you’re going to put away all the wicked from the earth, like dross, the refining fire that burns off everything that’s impure, when I think of that I tremble, I’m shuddering in awe of your judgments.’

Psalm 119:121-128

AIN

“I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors. Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes. I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.”

“I Am Thy Servant, LORD”

“And he says now “I have done judgment and justice:” the Hebrew is “I have done justice and righteousness.” He’s not claiming to be sinless, and he doesn’t do that anywhere, through the Old Testament none of the writers did. What he’s saying ‘LORD, I’ve done my best to live justly and with righteousness, I’ve measured things the way I think they’re proper, I’ve treated my fellow man the right way, LORD I’ve done my best.’ And then he says “leave me not to mine oppressors.” The Hebrew is very interesting, because the idea of ‘leave me not behind,’ or ‘don’t leave me behind in all of this, with my oppressors, I’ve done my best. You’re going to trod down all of those that err, you’re putting away all the wicked on the earth, I shudder LORD when I see these things begin to become real to me, I’ve done LORD justice and righteousness, I’ve done my best, so don’t leave me behind, LORD, to my oppressors.’ “Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.” (verse 122) ‘Be a guarantee for me, be a pledge for me, LORD, be the thing that stands for me when all is falling apart.’ “Be surety” now very important, verse 122, “for thy servant”, verse 124, “with thy servant”, verse 125, “I am your servant,” it really does our heart good when we pray, and we can say ‘LORD, remember, I’m your servant.’ And he’s not saying ‘Oh ya, well you must be part-time,’ hey look, ‘I’m your servant, LORD, I love you LORD.’ When we stand before him we want to hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” He says, ‘LORD, be my guarantee, be the pledge of my future,’ “Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.” (verse 122) We can pray that every day. “Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.” (verse 123) ‘LORD, I search the Scriptures, LORD, I’m longing to see you LORD, I’m longing to see an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, LORD. I’m longing and hungering for these things.’ Again, “Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.” (verse 124) ‘LORD, deal with thy servant, I’m serving LORD, I’m here, I hate the things that are false, I’m committed to your Word, I don’t want to be drugged down by people that pull me in the wrong direction, I’m serving you LORD, so deal with me according to your mercy, LORD. I don’t want justice in my own life, I want mercy. And teach me your statutes.’ Again, look, he says “I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.” (verse 125) It doesn’t say ‘Wait till I get this nailed down myself.’ You know, all through this, when we go through this we hear “let me” “give me” “deal with me” all through this it’s a great dependence on him. He says “give me understanding” the reason, “that I may know thy testimonies.” ‘that I might know your Word better, LORD, I’m your servant.’ What a remarkable picture here, “give me understanding.” People say ‘Well, the Bible, that’s too complicated!’ You read that, ‘Everybody’s got a different interpretation,’ no, no, it says here it’s to be understood. [Comment: there is a lot of different denominational interpretations in the secondary areas of Bible teaching, and this is exactly what throws the non-believing world, and in some cases it’s a hindrance to some coming to Christ. But in the central areas, there is agreement. We must strive, for the sake of the unsaved world, for agreement even in the secondary areas of Biblical understanding, as much as is possible.] If you’re his servant, and the Spirit dwells in you, if the author is living inside of you, that makes way more sense. You know, we say the Holy Spirit, I like that, we say the Holy Ghost, because it kind of gives us a picture, there’s a personality there. Imagine if the ghost of Shakespeare moved into you. You would enjoy Macbeth. It would come alive when you read it. When you have the author dwelling inside, to me at least, for me, when I’m quiet, when I’m with it, it rises off the page, and it speaks out loud to me. It’s a talking Book, it says in the Book of Proverbs. He says ‘I am your servant, give me understanding, I know I’m supposed to know what it says here,’ “that I might know thy testimonies.” And wonderfully, look, “thy servant”, “thy servant,” “thy servant,” again, the quest of life is to find the right Master. There is no freedom the way people think. In America we have freedom. Freedom to abort our babies? Freedom to live in sexual sin? Free to be addicts? Free to watch R-rated movies? What are we free with freedom? Freedom is finding the right Master. Because we’re made to be mastered, human beings are made to be mastered. Human beings are worshippers. And you’re going to bow to something, might be a Ferrari, you can polish that all you want, it’s still going to rust. Make sure you have the right God. Because, I’ll tell you what, sex is a cruel master, drugs is a cruel master. Right? If sex was a good master, prostitutes would be the happiest people on the planet. If drugs was a good master, heroine addicts would be the happiest people in the world, they’re not. If alcohol was a good master, alcoholics would be the happiest people in on the planet, they’re not. There is a Master, again, you think about how he came to earth, he left his place of glory, and he stretched out his hands on a wooden cross, and he bled his life into the ground, so that his servants could live. And then he said to his servants “You’re no longer my servants, you’re my friends. And no greater love hath any man than this, than he lay down his life for his friend.” How much do we want to serve? Find the right Master. You know, it’s beautiful in Exodus chapter 21, right after the Law is given, it’s a statute in regards to a bond-slave. And it says if you sell yourself into slavery, if you find a master you’re going to work for seven years, you can pay off the debt, or whatever. It says if you come into his house alone and single, you’re going to leave that way. If you come into his house and you find a wife there, you have kids there, and you leave, you leave alone. But if you come into your master’s house, and you love your master, and you say to yourself ‘In my master’s house I found a wife, I found a family, I found children, I love my master, I don’t want to go out and be free.’ It says the master gathers the elders, he takes you to the doorpost of the house, and he gets an awl, and he bores a hole in your ear, and puts a golden earring in your ear, and it’s a sign that you’re a willing bond-slave. Jesus says in Psalm 40, ‘Thou hast opened mine ear, a body thou hast prepared me, sacrifice and offering thou dost not desired, but a body thou hast prepared for me.’ He says ‘Thou hast opened my ear, the bond-slave of the LORD.’ Think of the years of emptiness, insanity, LSD, you know, just craziness. And I have some fond memories mixed in there, they’re a bit fuzzy, I burned too many dendrites no doubt in the process. But I’m a selfish man, and before I was saved I was a dog, I was worried about my own pleasure and my own satisfaction. I’ve been married for 36 years, and 36 years of great marriage. Cathy’s had 3 or 4, but I’ve had 36 years of great marriage [loud laughter]. And I never would have lasted without the right Master. But I can go to Jesus in the morning and say ‘Lord, I’m your servant, I was in bondage before I came to you. Being your servant is freedom, you’ve given me a wife, you’ve given me kids, you’ve given me grandkids, I don’t know if I’d have lived long enough to see any of this, and I don’t want to go out of your house. Because Lord, if I left your house, it would be without my wife and kids, I would destroy everything, I don’t want to go out. I want to be your servant.’ Where else would we go? Peter said ‘You have the words of eternal life.’ He says here “I am thy servant;” That’s a great thing, not a bad thing, “give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.” Listen to what he says here, the LORD gives understanding, we’re to understand the Scripture.

‘It’s Time For You To Go To Work, LORD’

This Psalmist looks around and says, “It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.” (verse 126) It seems to be contradictory, doesn’t it? You’re not supposed to tell the LORD when it’s time for him to work. But he does say, ‘in the context of your Word, give me understanding, what I see, what I sense as I look around the world today, you know,’ every one of us should be able to look at the news when we get home tonight, look at the threats in our nation. You know, wars, rumours of wars, famine, we see that around the world, pestilence, deadly infectious diseases, that’s what it says. Wars, rumours of wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes in diverse places, that’s the world we’re living in. He said ‘These are the beginning of birth-pains, the beginning of sorrows,’ this is not full labour, you’re not in full transition labour, these are Bracksman-Hicks contractions. ‘But when you start to see them, don’t let your heart be troubled, know that I’m at the very door.’ And the Psalmist, knowing the Word, you and I should be able to say ‘LORD, it’s time for you LORD, to work.’ Why? “for they have made void thy law.” (verse 126) The world is mocking, the world is turning away, they’re cutting off the heads of Christians, in some places slaughtering them. Here they’re legislating against our religious freedom, Hollywood is making fun, blasphemous mockery, ‘LORD, it’s time for you to work LORD.’ Rapture or Revival, I’m good with either one. [Comment: It should be Revival first and then Rapture or Place of Safety, whichever way the Lord chooses to do it, that’s good with me. But we need one last Revival and proclamation of the Gospel by God’s people first. I have been trying to bug Pastor Joe about getting the Calvary Chapels to start initiating this, first through prayer and fasting, but in a united effort, coupled to the Messianic Jews. But when I email and write to him (repeatedly now), and Pastor/rabbi Joe Bell, they both ignore those emails and letters. I even wrote an article about this, quoting Pastor Joe from another sermon of his. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophets/Zephaniah/REVIVAL.html] R&R, it’s time for R&R. I’m selfish enough that I don’t care if you blow the trumpet and get me outa here tonight, I got saved in 1972, the heck with everybody else. But he doesn’t think like that. I think we’re going to see a great moving of God’s Spirit, ‘LORD, it’s time for you to work,’ we should be, all of our prayers, it should be on our hearts, look, we get caught up with so many things, we get distracted. We’re the last generation. You think of Christians through the centuries laid down their lives, and they didn’t know as much as we do. We have Bibles, you know, 90 different translations in the bookstore, I don’t know, the King James Bible, the New King James Bible, and the NIV Bible, this Bible, that Bible, the Single Person’s Bible, the Married Person’s Bible, you know, the Cook’s Bible, the Sick Person’s Bible, the Abducted by Aliens Bible…we are inundated, then we have apps, apps, apps, apps, and we have websites [like this one], and we have DVDs, Flash Drives, we have more. And God says the problem is, when a nation turns away, he says there’s famine of the hearing of the Word of God. He doesn’t say there’s a famine of the Word of God. In this nation there is no famine of the Word of God, it’s on television every day, it’s on radio every day, it is all over this country, there’s no famine of the Word of God, the famine is of the hearing of the Word of God. And what will open people’s ears, open their hearts, is what opened ours, a moving of God’s Holy Spirit, a moving of God’s Holy Spirit. And how wonderfully, you just look at this, you think, ‘This is great stuff, this is Revival stuff, ‘It’s time for thee, LORD, to work.’ Good bumper-sticker, good plaque, we should be praying this every day.

‘I Love Your Commandments Above Fine Gold—But I Hate Every False Path’

‘Because the world is mocking you, they’ve turned away,’ he says, “Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” (verse 127) ‘because it’s time for you to work, because the world has turned away, I love your commandments, and I love them,’ it’s gonna hurt now, ‘above gold,’ no coins then, ‘above gold,’ not coinage the way we understand it anyway, “yea, above fine gold.” ‘the purest of gold, the greatest wealth this world can offer, LORD, I love your commandments more than that.’ A challenge to us, isn’t it? Because we kind of got the best of everything. “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” (verse 128) “I esteem them to be right,” I hold them up. ‘LORD, your Word is right, Hollywood is not right, the entertainment industry is not right, Washington and Moscow are not right, what is right is your Word, I esteem the precepts, LORD, of your Word to be right.’ That’s a great confidence. That’s what he’s saying throughout here, ‘LORD, this is what I love, and this is what I hate. Your Word is right, “and I hate” here it is again, “every false way.” (verse 128b) or ‘every false path.’ There’s consequences to a path. A path, again, has a beginning, it has an end, last week, “Thy word is a lamp” that’s nighttime “is a lamp unto my feet, and a light” no light bulbs, it’s daytime, “a light unto my path.” You have a path, a path has a beginning, a path has an end, it goes somewhere, it’s a process. And the Psalmist tells us it’s a well-lit path. By night, at the darkest times, the Word of God is a lamp, burning with the oil of his Holy Spirit. During the day, it’s the brilliant light of the Sun of Righteousness, shining. Here he says “I hate every false path” ‘every deceptive thing,’ everything that would take us into a destructive place.

Psalm 119:129-136

“Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding [discernment] unto the simple. I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments. Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.”

‘Thy Testimonies Are Extra-Ordinary—They Give Discernment To The Simple’

“And he says now, “Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.” (verse 129) testimonies, ah, “to attest to something.” When we think of testimonies, certainly we think of David, we think of Samson, Jacob, we think of Isaac, we think of Abraham, we think of Noah, we think of Moses, we think of Isaiah, we think of the personalities, you know, the testimonies of God’s faithfulness, his work in people’s lives. And it says here “Thy testimonies are” King James says “wonderful”, it’s interesting, one of my Hebrew translations say “Thy testimonies are extraordinary.” Extraordinary is extra-ordinary, his testimonies are not just ordinary, ‘LORD, your testimonies are ordinary, parted the Red Sea, killed a giant with a stone, made the sun and moon stand still, it’s just ordinary stuff.’ No, no, ‘Your testimonies are extra-ordinary, beyond the ordinary.’ And he said ‘because of that, my soul keeps them, LORD, I love your Word, your testimonies, the things you’ve given to us are extraordinary, it’s extraordinary.’ The world that we live in, we’re in Bible class in Genesis you know, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,’ if you can get past that, you can get the rest of the Bible [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/Does/Genesis%201%201-31.html]. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” extraordinary, created, bara exnileo, “something from nothing.” What’s nothing? You don’t know. What’s nothing? You clean all the stars and planets and then the meteors out of space, you just have empty space, that’s not nothing, that’s empty space. What’s nothing? He created everything from nothing. I’m just teasing you, because I don’t know, I can’t figure it out. “Thy testimonies are extraordinary: therefore doth my soul” the deepest part of my being “keep them.” Listen to what he says here, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” (verse 130) I’m included, “The entrance of thy words” the Hebrews gives the idea of “the uncovering of thy words” or “the unfolding of thy words” or “the opening of thy words” bringing them into the light, illuminating, ‘LORD, your testimonies are extraordinary, LORD, and therefore I keep them, and as they blossom LORD, as they unfold in front of me, as they speak for themselves, as they are uncovered LORD, they give light, it’s like they’re blossoming, they’re opening up, and they give light.’ The disciples said ‘When you opened the Word of God, did not our hearts burn within us.’ (on the Road to Emmaus.) It says here “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth” the opening of the Word of God, the light shining, “it giveth understanding to the simple.” (verse 130) that word “understanding” isn’t your normal word for understanding, it’s “discernment.” It gives the simple person discernment. One of the old Puritans wrote, and interesting, a Hebrew scholar, said “It gives the sermon to the simple heart, not to the sharpened intellect.” It’s for the simple heart, not for the sharpened intellect. It’s for the one whose childlike, “untaught” it can be translated. “The entrance of thy words” ‘the uncovering, the unfolding of your Word, LORD, it’s extra-ordinary, it gives light, and it gives discernment unto the simple.’ Paul said very much the same thing, where he said ‘You see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty [that’s me].’ He said “not many wise are called”, he didn’t say “not any.” Paul was one of the not many that was called. And because he was one of the not many wise men that was called, he said he had to determine, ‘I determined not to know anything among you except Christ and him crucified,’ because he could have known a lot of other things. As one of the wise he struggled to keep simple, this thing’s either going to sink or swim just the way it is. He said, ‘because when I was with you I didn’t want…your faith to be found in another man’s wisdom, but in the demonstration of God’s power and of his Spirit.’ And here it says, just the simple, those with childlike hearts, not the sharpened intellect. “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding, discernment, to the simple.” (verse 130)

‘I Pant For Your Commandments, Be Merciful To Me, Order My Steps, Don’t Let Sin Dominate Me’

And he says, “I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.” (verse 131) It’s a picture of an animal that’s been running, breathing, and thirsting for water, “I opened my mouth and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.” ‘LORD, I’m just thirsting for your presence, thirsting for your Word.’ “Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.” (verses 131-132) You gotta love the King James, don’t you? That was like ‘Where they were wont to haunt.’ This is “as thou usest to do”, the idea is “according to custom,” the way you treat people, ‘This is the way your testimonies tell us the way you were with so many humans in the past,’ “Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.” (verse 132) LORD, all of the testimony of great men and women of Scripture, LORD, be consistent, who you were LORD I believe is who you are and who you will be.’ “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” (verse 133) by the way, isn’t that a great prayer? “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any inquity have dominion over me.” (verse 133) He’s not leaving it up to himself, ‘Make we walk in your Word,’ and look what he says in verse 133, “and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Verse 134 he says, “Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.” So in verse 133 he says ‘Don’t let sin rule over me inwardly,’ and in verse 134 he says ‘Don’t let men rule over me outwardly.’ ‘Don’t let sin have a victory over me inwardly, don’t let that happen, and don’t let the fear of man [or woman] be a snare,’ peer pressure is tremendous, ‘Don’t let man rule over me outwardly, LORD.’ It’s beautiful, he says “Order my steps in your word” and “let not any iniquity” it’s not the same as transgression or sin, human beings are iniquitous, that speaks of something that’s inside of us that’s twisted. It’s from the fall, inherited from our father and mother in Eden, from Adam and Eve. Sin is missing the mark, the way we’re supposed to. Trespass is crossing that line God draws and says “don’t cross this line.” But iniquity is the flaw in our nature, deep within us, that’s twisted, the sinful nature, the thing that’s there that’s wrong. And look what he says, he says ‘Don’t let any iniquity have dominion over me,’ that word “dominion” means “domination,” he says ‘Don’t let sin have domination in my life, my iniquity, my pension toward sin, don’t let it have mastery over me, don’t let it triumph over me.’ This is what it’s saying, life that’s lived in rebellion to God’s law is a life of bondage. You see Satan who loves to invert things, make you look at them backwards, tells people ‘Are you kidding me!? You go to church, listen to that Bible-thumper? You going to be around those Bible-totting, Victorians, they should have lived 400 years ago, they’re not even living in this century, they have no idea what’s going on!’ No, no, it says here, ‘Freedom is not getting away from God’s Word,’ what, are you free to sin? Your own iniquity drives you? It says here that’s domination, it’s mastery, it’s being triumphed over. It says here, living a life of rebellion against God’s Word is a life of bondage. And true freedom is being in that place of a bond-slave and coming under the will of a proper Master. He says here “let not any iniquity” ‘the twisted part of my own being, LORD,’ “have dominion of me.” (verse 133b) “Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.” (verse 134)

What’s It Going To Be Like To Look Into His Face?

“Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.” (verse 135) just kind of a wonderful, to make his face to shine upon me, the idea is to come into his favour again, in the light of his countenance. What’s it going to be like, you know, the day when we look into his face. I always think of, when I think of it, I always think of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who had performed the tehorah on the body of Jesus, they had washed his body when they took it down from the cross, and cleaned up all the holes from the nails and thorns and had bathed him and wrapped him in the tahaheem, the shroud, and they had closed his eyes. And we always hear, resurrection morning, of Peter and John and Mary of Magdalene, everybody at the tomb. But we don’t get the chapter of the story of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea coming to that tomb, and looking at the shroud they had wrapped around him, and seeing that. And then you know, Jesus, he appears to over 500 witnesses at one time, and you think, ‘What was it like for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to look into the face of the one whom they had closed the eyes, they had washed the body, they had pulled the thorns out of his head, what was it like for them look at him standing there looking at them?’ Talk about countenance, talk about ‘Let your face shine upon me.’ What was that like? What was it like? You’re going to know, you’re going to do it, you going to look into his face, you’re going to look there, nail marks in his hands. He says in Revelation chapter 5 ‘That the Lamb was in the midst,’ it says ‘with the marks of slaughter, as it had been slain’ King James, the Greek says, ‘he’s standing there with the marks of slaughter,’ the only man-made things in heaven, nails and hands and feet of Jesus Christ. And the first sight of him we’ll see him there with the marks of slaughter upon him, and they [the marks of slaughter] will all scream to us of his love and what he did for us. The Psalmist, all he can say is “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; teach me thy statutes.” (verse 135) Interesting now when he comes to this overwhelming sense of God’s love and his favour, his own iniquity that he doesn’t want to have dominion over him, about how extraordinary the testimonies of God are.

This Is The Stuff Of Revival

Then look what he says, finally. He’s coming into this wonderful light. He says “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.” (verse 136) He says ‘LORD, when I think of the consequences of sin in this world, the number of casualties is staggering.’ Again, death, total, C.S. Lewis said, in every generation. War does not increase death [but it decreases the number of births possible], disease does not increase death, terrorism does not increase death. Death is total in every generation, for every 100 people born, 100 people die. It’s a tragedy if it’s a baby or a young person, but the truth is, death is total in every generation. And the Psalmist is kind of, he’s kind of come to this place, thinking about his own iniquity, ‘And LORD, you’ve been gracious to me, your testimonies LORD, they’re extraordinary,’ and he looks at all this, and he comes to this place, and he said ‘You know what, rivers of waters are running down my eyes, because they keep not thy law.’ This is the stuff of Revival, this is the stuff of Revival. How many of us have a mom, dad, that’s not saved? [or family members, adoptive and real?] We’re worried about the two offensive linemen that are out on the Eagles, ‘What’s Chip Kelly going to do?’ Wait a minute, you have a mom, a dad that are not saved, a brother or sister or a cousin, a best friend on their way to hell. And you know we love them Lord, we’re forgiven, we’re going to heaven because of grace [going to heaven for the wedding feast (Revelation 19:7)], I love church, I love fellowship, I love singing his praise when we come together, I love all of that, I’m not like a depresso at all, I’m excited about the things of God. But there is a sweet brokenness, a sweet captivity I think that we come into. Somehow, you know, we were down by the ocean, and you walk on the boardwalk and you think, ‘Lord, how many of these people are going to hell? Kids, people, we look at face after face, and I think Lord, how many of them know you? How many of them, Lord?’

In Closing

He says, ‘LORD, your testimonies are extra-ordinary, I love your Word, and the entrance of your Word, LORD, the covering of it, it gives light, and I’m one of the simple ones in this world LORD, and it’s given me discernment. And my prayer, LORD, is that you won’t let my own iniquity, I have iniquity in my own life, don’t let it have dominion over me, and you won’t let men [or women] oppress me. LORD, let your face shine upon me. But when I think of those who don’t know you, I know parents, my own siblings, my own kids, people I work with, my best friends, rivers of water, LORD, rivers of water come down from my eyes, the reason, because there are so many that are lost, have stepped away.’ This is a great time for us to take inventory of what we love, what we hate. It’s a great time for us to say ‘LORD, it’s time for you to work, LORD, it’s time for you to work, because there’s so many that have turned away LORD. It’s time for you to work now LORD, it’s time for you to work. It’s time for us to be broken vessels before him, to think of the tragedy of sin and the casualties innumerable around us.’ Yet here I am, a jerk, I’m saved, not only am I saved, I can still hardly believe he saved me. But he lets me serve? He lets me touch anything in his kingdom, that’s unbelievable to me. Here we are, trumpet’s gonna blow, I hope it blows when we’re here. Don’t you? Blow the roof off this building, who cares about leaks then, we’ll just blow the roof off [loud applause]. People can help themselves to the bookstore, take anything they want. But I don’t think God’s content with that, I think there’s more people on this ball of dirt now then there’s ever been, 7 billion people, and I think ‘Do it again LORD, it’s time for you to work, pour out your Spirit, pour out your Spirit LORD, one more time, break us LORD, bring us to our knees.’ Allen Redpath said one time, walking with somebody who said to him ‘What’s the secret, spiritual life?’ He turned right around, he said, “Bent knees, broken heart, wet eyes, nothing else, bent knees, broken heart, wet eyes.” Let’s have the musicians come. ‘LORD, it’s time for you to work, LORD, we bow our hearts before you, it’s way beyond us LORD. It’s daunting LORD,’ he said ‘Look at the fields, they’re even now white for harvest.’…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Psalm 119:113-136, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]