God's Word: Basis for Blessing

Well, it sure is good to have you with us this evening, and I want to let you know that you are the most blessed people in the church Because you are here tonight to hear God's Word, which is the basis for all blessing And you're going to see how God's Word unfolds for you this evening in terms of how it is you are to receive the blessing from God as we embark on Psalm 119 So if you have your Bible, I would encourage you to turn with me here as we will embark on the first eight verses together this evening

And as you're turning, I want to remind you of the words of Charles Bridges, who in 1827 wrote these words about Psalm 119 He says, it is given for the use of believers in all ages as an excellent touchstone of vital godliness, a touchstone which appears especially needful in this day of profession This psalm is a psalm that will help you understand godliness This psalm is a psalm that will help you understand the character and nature of God It will help you understand what God thinks about His Word and how it's supposed to unfold before us the truths of His great character

There are 176 verses in Psalm 119, 173 of them refer specifically to the Word of God All 176 verses speak about the character and nature of God Sixty-six times the psalmist refers to His suffering Seventy times he makes a specific prayer request known to His God If you want to know how to pray biblically, then you need to understand Psalm 119 because it will open the door to your prayer life and what God wants you to speak to Him specifically about when it refers to His Word The psalmist refers to himself 325 times in 176 verses This psalmist is consumed with God

He's consumed with God and His Word and therefore he is able to understand who his God is as he cries out to Him and seeks His face You will note that there are ten different ways that the psalmist describes the Word of God He describes it as the way, as the law, as the words, the statutes, the truth, the commandments, the judgments, the righteousness, the testimonies, the precepts All of those words explain to us the eternal Word And so we will see unfold before us not only the importance of God's Word but the character of the God who gave us this Word This is God's Word on God's Word

This is what God thinks about His Word and this is why God holds His Word in such high esteem This psalm is perfect symmetry It is perfect in harmony It is perfect in poetry And this psalm unlike any other psalm helps us understand the inspiration and inerrancy of the scriptures You will note, if you have in your Bible, at the top of each section, there are 22 sections in Psalm 176, Psalm 119 The 176 verses, there are 22 sections Each section at the top of it is represented by one of the Hebrew letters in the Hebrew alphabet

For instance, if you look at verse number one, above there you should have the Hebrew letter and the word Aleph That's the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet If you turn over to verse number nine, above that you have another Hebrew letter and that's the word Beth And it goes on down the line through all 22 different letters of the Hebrew alphabet That in and of itself is unique But the most important thing is what you need to understand is that each verse in each section begins with a word and that word has as its first letter the letter above that heading

For instance, every word in Hebrew that begins each verse begins with the letter Aleph In the second section, each word that begins each verse begins with the letter Beth in Hebrew So people always ask me, why do you alliterate your sermons? Answer, Psalm 119 If God does it, guess what? It's good enough for me to do it And God alliterates all 176 verses according to the Hebrew alphabet This is an incredible study when you look at it in Hebrew and begin to understand what God himself is doing as he unfolds before us the greatness of his word

It was Martin Luther who professed that he prized this psalm so highly that he would not take the whole world in exchange for one verse of it It was Bishop Cooper who sweetly called it a holy alphabet, so plain that children may understand it, so rich and instructive that the wisest and most experienced may every day learn something from it This psalm is so simplistic and so great in its nature that when you read it to a child, a child begins to grasp it

And yet it's so deep and so rich that those who are great in the study of the language and study of the scriptures find themselves benefiting from it every single day that they read it because it's filled with so much treasure and so much richness Psalm 119 provides for us the greatness of the word of God God wants us to know how important his word is to you and to me because it's important to him The first eight verses deal with the basis for blessing The psalmist begins by helping us understand why God's word is so important to your life

It's important because that's the way the blessing comes The blessing that you receive only comes from the truthfulness of the word of God Now, as you recall, way back in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter one begins with a blessing Verse number three, blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it for the time is near Our Lord, through the pen of the apostle John, tells us that at the very beginning of the book of Revelation, that what you read, what you hear, and what you keep is the basis for blessing

When you go to the end of the book of Revelation, chapter 22, verse number seven, it says, and behold, I am coming quickly Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book More so than any other book in the Bible, the book of Revelation tells you it's bracketed by blessings There's a blessing in chapter one There's a blessing at the end of chapter 22, because the whole book is about how someone is ultimately blessed by God When you hear the words of God in the book of Revelation, believe them and keep them, you receive the greatest of all blessings

If when you read the book of Revelation and you don't sense the blessing of God, it's because you didn't read it right Because the blessing is there for those who read and hear and keep the word of God Remember back in Luke chapter 11, it says these words, verse 27, and it came about while he said these things One of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast at which you nursed But he said, that is Jesus, on the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it

The basis of all blessing comes to those who hear and observe the words of God Now, when we talk about blessing God, the word to bless means to speak well of So when the psalmist says, like in Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me Bless his holy name What we are doing is we are speaking well of God We are giving honor to the one to whom honor is due But the Bible also says that we, as the people of God, can receive a blessing specifically from God In fact, if you read the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, verses 1-12, speak about real true blessing

Remember our Lord had healed all these people, all who came to him who were sick, received the healing After healing them all, he realized that the physical healing would not suffice It would not truly bless their lives Because you can be physically well and spiritually desolate So our Lord goes into that great Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and talks about blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they and they only will truly be the satisfied ones Our Lord goes into a great dissertation about what it means to receive a blessing from God Because God truly wants to bless your life His word is designed to bring a blessing to your life The question comes as you read the first eight verses is, am I blessed or am I not? If I'm blessed, I know why If I'm not being blessed by God, I also will know why And that's where we begin Psalm 119, verses 1-8, the basis for blessing

And this is what we're going to do each week. I'm going to read the first verse You're going to read the second verse. I'll read the third verse You're going to read the fourth verse. I'll read the fifth You read the sixth You get that? Every other verse Now, listen, some of you have a different translation than I have. I use the new American standard If you don't have that, ask God to forgive you for your carnality and sin But it doesn't make a difference You read the version that you have in your hand, okay? I'll read verse 1 You read verse 2 in unison You with me? Okay, here it goes

Verse number 1 How blessed are those whose way is blameless who walk in the law of the Lord They also do no unrighteousness They walk in his ways Oh, that my ways may be established to keep thy statutes. I shall give thanks to thee with uprightness of heart when I learn thy righteous judgments This begins the greatest of all blessings for you to receive What is the pattern of those who are blessed? What is the practice of those who are blessed? What is the prayer of those who are blessed? And what is the praise of those who are blessed? Okay, two verses for each point

First of all, the pattern of those who are blessed falls into three categories Number one, those people who are truly blessed by God have a character that is pure. A character that is pure Listen, this is not going to be theoretical This is not going to be philosophical This is going to be practical Every week, the practicality of the Word of God as it relates to your life The blessed man What is the pattern of the man who is blessed? God's Word tells us he has a character, number one, that is pure Listen to what the text says

How blessed are those whose way is blameless, whose way is undefiled, whose way is irreproachable If you go back in your Bible and you turn to the Gospel of John, the first chapter, you begin to understand something about being undefiled or being blameless It says in verse number 46 of John 1, And Nathanael said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said to him, Behold, an Israelite, indeed, in whom is no guile or no deceit In other words, Nathanael was the one who was blameless He was irreproachable

In other words, there is nothing in Nathanael's life that when brought to light would bring a reproach upon his name Folks, that's important You want to live a blessed life, it begins with a character that is pure. A character that is blameless. A character that is not sinless, but is blameless Excuse me There's a difference Because everybody sins, and yet there is a blamelessness about that individual that is so clean that you can't hold anything to his charge Daniel was a man who was blameless

They searched for things inside of him and outside of him, but they could bring no charge against Daniel because he was one who was blameless Remember 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 and 2? It's a trustworthy statement That if a man desires the office of an overseer, he desires a great work Right? That's verse number 1 of 1 Timothy 3 And then the Bible says that if any man desires that office, he must be above reproach Or in other words, he must be blameless And then when you read through 1 Timothy 3, it gives you the qualities that designate what blamelessness is all about

It shows you the areas that cannot be used against this man that would bring reproach upon him or the body of Christ or the name of Christ So when you choose an elder in the church, he must aspire to and seek to meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1 That's important Why? Because the requirement for the body at large is blamelessness God wants the people of God to be blameless So if you put men into office who lead and don't have a character that's above reproach, you lower the standard of the leadership And when you do that, you lower the standard for the people

But when you raise the standard to the biblical level, you raise the standard of the people to that same level because they aspire to that same character quality Why? Because the Bible says God wants the people of God to live a blameless life How do we know that? Turn back, if you would, to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 Listen to what Paul says in verse number 10 He says, So Paul was able to talk about his blameless character In other words, listen to what he says in the book of Acts, the 24th chapter, the 16th verse Paul says, Both before God and before man

Paul's life was mapped out by living with a clear conscience so that when he went to bed at night, listen, how do you know your life is blameless? It's when you go to sleep at night and you rest easily and securely because there's no deceit, no guile in your life That's when you know you live a blameless life That's when you know that you live a blameless life before God and before man

For instance, if you know something that you've done to somebody else and you've deceived them or you've hurt them or you seek to defame them or have done something malicious against them, you need to get that thing right or God's not going to bless your life Because the character of the man who's blessed is a pure life It's a blameless life It's an irreproachable life It's a life that has no deceit It's a life that has no guile It does not mean that you do not sin It does mean that when you do sin, you get it right with God and the man you sinned against, right? That's what it means

That's the way the apostle Paul was Listen to this over in Philippians chapter one, verse number 10 Paul says this, verse number nine, and this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ Paul says, I want the people of Philippi to live a blameless life until the day of Christ Philippians chapter two, verse number 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent

Folks, that's important, right? If you're a grumbler, if you're a complainer, not living a blameless life because you need to prove yourself to the world that you are a follower of God How do you do that? You don't grumble, you don't complain because you know about the sovereign will of almighty God Listen to second Peter chapter three, verse number 14 Peter says, therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, what's that thing? That thing is specifically the return of Christ, the new heavens and the new earth

Because you're looking into the future, you're looking for God to do a great work, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless Because you know the world's going to come to an end, because you know that you are a testimony for God in the meantime, then you need to seek to live a spotless life, a blameless life You ever gone to somebody and had someone work on something, your car or your house or something, and they didn't do a very good job, and they have a bad reputation, they have a bad name in the community because they did a horrible job on what they were assigned to do

You ever met people like that? That's not good for them You see, and when you translate that into the church, our lives are to be blameless, so that when a visitor comes to the church, they see your life, they're automatically thinking, oh, I know that person Oh, you should see what they do You should see how they talk at work You should see what's on their computer at work Unbelievable, see? It's those kinds of things This person who's blessed by God has a character that is pure Number two, has a conduct, a conduct that is proven Listen to what the Bible says

How blessed are those whose way is blameless who walk in the law of the Lord This person walks in the law of the Lord This person has a conduct that's proven to all people In other words, first part of verse number two says, how blessed are those who observe his testimonies In other words, you know what the testimony of the Lord is and you do what it says Now, let me give you a few words that will help you understand how it is you are to do the word of God The very first word is this You always do and observe the testimonies of God Number one, quickly

Psalm 119 verse number 60 says it this way. I hastened and did not delay to keep thy commandments Isn't that good? Listen, if you're going to observe the testimonies of the Lord, if you're going to walk in the law of the Lord, listen, you do it quickly You hear it and you immediately seek to obey it That's the one whose conduct is proven Not only quickly, but number two, steadfastly Psalm 119 verse number 112 says it this way. I have inclined my heart to perform my statutes forever, even to the end

In other words, not only do you do it quickly, but you do it steadfastly or you do it continually It's forever to the end It's not that you jump on the Jesus bandwagon for a couple of weeks It's that you do it continually forever You want to perform the statutes of God Number three, you do it joyfully Verse number 14, Psalm 119. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches Verse 16, I shall delight in thy statutes. I shall not forget thy word So when you observe the testimonies of the Lord, when you walk in the law of the Lord, you do it quickly

You do it steadfastly and you do it joyfully How do you do it joyfully? You do it that way because you know, 1 John 5, that the commandments of God are not burdensome They're not God's word is not a burden to you It's a joy to follow Let me give you another word How about this one? Humbly, John chapter 13 John chapter 13, verse number 15 says this For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master Neither is one who was sent greater than the one who sent him

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them Remember in the context of John 13, it was the eve of the crucifixion and Christ would hear his men arguing one more time about how they were going to be the greatest in the kingdom And Christ quietly gets up He ties an apron around his waist He fills a basin full of water and he quietly begins to wash the disciples feet And Christ says, if you've seen what I have done, I've given you an example that you should follow And if you follow that example, you are the blessed person if you do

What's the blessing? The blessing is not washing someone else's feet The blessing is when you are feeling the most miserable that you've ever felt, that you will willingly serve and humbly serve your brother, no questions asked That's the blessing The blessing comes to the humble person who's not sitting back saying, pray for me, look at me How come you guys don't care about my problems? How come you don't care about my marriage or my situation? Why isn't no one calling me? Why isn't no one visiting me? No, no, no, no That's not the blessed person The blessed person is this

The one who receives no call, who receives no visitation, who nobody cares about because everybody else is caring about themselves, who ties a slave's apron around his waist, rolls up his sleeves and serves his fellow man That's the blessed person Christ says, if you do that, oh, you're going to be so blessed because true blessing comes not in receiving a blessing, but in giving to others at their point of need and you experience the great impact of the gospel of God And so you observe the testimony of the law quickly, steadfastly, joyfully, humbly Let me give you another word

How about this one? Fully, fully John chapter 14, verse number 15 says this, if you love me, you will keep my commandments Verse 21, he who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me and he who loves me shall be loved by my father and I will love him and will disclose myself to him God says, you want to experience a blessing from me? You keep my commandments You observe my testimonies You fully obey me and I will disclose myself to you unlike any other time in your life

If you're wondering why God's not disclosing himself to you, it's because you are not wanting to fully observe the testimonies of God When you fully want to observe them, he makes himself known to you He manifests his character to you because that's who God is and that's what God wants to do Here's another one How about this? Willingly, willingly Psalm 27, verse number 8 says this, When thou didst say, seek my face, my heart said to thee, thy face, O Lord, I shall seek When God says, this is what I want you to do, my heart says, yes, Lord, that I will do

That, my friend, is willingly observing the testimonies of God That's a walk that's proven You quickly do what God says and you don't quickly stop No, you steadfastly continue on You do it with a joyful heart because your heart willingly wants to follow God And when it willingly wants to follow God, it's not too concerned about what anybody else is thinking about you You become consumed with thinking about them And that is a character that is pure and a conduct that has proven Number three, the pattern of the blessed man is this

He is a commitment that is powerful, a commitment that is powerful Listen to the end of verse number two, who seek him with all their hearts Folks, that's commitment because you see, we're all seeking something We're all pursuing something Sometimes we pursue another job offer Sometimes we pursue a job promotion Sometimes we pursue the opposite sex so we can find someone to marry Sometimes we pursue this hobby or that hobby All of us are in the pursuit of something Sometimes we pursue recognition Sometimes we pursue affirmation from others

God says, I want you to pursue me with all your heart, not half your heart, all your heart Wholeheartedness, totality, intensity It's inclusive It speaks of all that you have And God says, when you seek me with all your heart, let me tell you something, you have demonstrated a commitment that is so powerful that most people can't even begin to relate to where you're at Folks, most of us are into so many worldly pursuits, so many trivial pursuits It's a game, I think, isn't it? Trivial pursuit We're into so many things that mean nothing

But do we seek God with all of our heart? See, that's why it's first on our list of our mission statement of our church You read it every week when you come in Maybe you didn't even notice it was there on the wall. I don't know Our passion is to pursue him That's our passion at Christ Community Church It's that continual pursuit of God It's that continual seeking after God that somehow we might know him And we do it with all that we have, not just some of what we have

That's why Deuteronomy 6, 5, that great Shema, that's the Hebrew word meaning to hear, speaks of what Israel says every single day, that they would understand that hero Israel, the Lord our God is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, everything that you have And God says, I want you to seek me with everything that you have Folks, that's the pattern of the blessed man If you want to know how it is you receive a blessing from God, number one, the character must be pure The conduct must be proven The commitment must be powerful

Number two, the practice of the blessed man What's the practice of the blessed man? It says this, verse 3, they also do no unrighteousness, they walk in his ways Very first practice is what? Obedience They do no unrighteousness It doesn't mean they don't sin, but they don't seek to do the things that are unrighteous They seek to obey their God They don't seek to do the things that will lead them away from God And they walk in his ways These are the people who have an attitude that's always bent toward obedience to God The practice of the blessed man is the practice of obedience

So this is what you do Listen carefully You're going to walk in his ways Well, I talked about that Here he says, I'm sorry, we talked about walking in the law of the Lord, verse number two Here it says you walk in his ways What does that mean? How is it we walk in the ways of God? How is it we walk in the law of God? How is it we take a step day by day following God in obedience? Well, very simply, all you have to do is examine the word walk in the scriptures Come back with me if you would to Ephesians chapter four Ephesians chapter four Ephesians chapter four

Everybody doing okay? It's all right out there? I got this cold in my head My ears are clogged. I can't hear a thing So if you're saying amen real loud, I would never know it. I just assume you are saying amen really loud and shouting hallelujah and just praising the Lord out there. I can't hear you So I just assume you're doing that If not, you should be Okay Ephesians chapter four, verse number one. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord and treat you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling Okay So if we're going to do that, that means we walk equally to our calling

To walk worthy means to walk equally with which with the calling with which you were called So we are called with a heavenly calling We are called with a very high calling and we are called with a very holy calling So if we're going to walk equally or walk worthily, then we walk humbly It says with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace If we are going to be obeying to God and walking his ways as someone 19 says, then we need to walk worthily or worthy of our call

And that is we walk humbly, gently, patiently with great forbearance so that we might do all that we possibly can to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Not only do you walk worthy, but you walk separately from the world Verse 17, Ephesians 4, this I say, therefore, and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their heart

And he says, verse 19, and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness You are to walk separately You are to walk distinctly different than the world If you're going to walk in the ways of God, you walk humbly, you walk gently, you walk patiently, and you walk distinctively different than the world

Then turn over to Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 1, therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma Now we walk lovingly We walk as God loved We love as God loved We love sacrificially We love volitionally We love unconditionally because that's how God Himself loved So if you want to walk in His ways, you walk lovingly You walk separately You walk equally to your calling

And then verse number 8 says this, therefore, verse number 7, I'm sorry, do not be partakers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord Walk as children of light You are to walk brightly You are to let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven And then you are to walk wisely Listen to what the Bible says in verse number 15, therefore, of Ephesians 5, therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil

So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is We are to walk wisely How do we do that? By understanding what the will of the Lord is If you read on, what's the will of the Lord? That you be filled with the Spirit, that you be not drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be controlled by the Spirit of God That's how you walk in the ways of the Lord That's how you walk according to the law of God Galatians 5.16 says, we are to walk in the Spirit That means we are to walk dependently

That is walking dependently upon the Spirit of God day by day, because we can't make it without Him. 3 John 3 and 4 says that there is no greater joy than to know that my children walk in truth We are to walk truthfully, walk a life of truth You see, the Bible explains itself, doesn't it? It tells us what it means to walk according to the law of God, to walk in the ways of God

So if I'm going to be obedient to God, I'm going to walk the way He wants me to walk. I'm going to walk as Jesus walked. I'm going to walk brightly. I'm going to walk wisely. I'm going to walk uniquely. I'm going to walk distinctly. I'm going to walk separately from everybody else. I'm going to walk dependently upon Him. I'm going to walk truthfully because I'm going to walk intimately with Him Colossians chapter 2 tells us, just as you receive Christ, so ye walk in Him You walk intimately with Him And that's the character of the man who practices a life that receives a great blessing from God

He walks in obedience And number two, he walks in diligence In diligence Verse number four, thou hast ordained thy precepts that we should keep them diligently Oh, that's a good word, diligence It's a word of discipline and it's a word of dependence It's a word that requires that I discipline my life to walk after God, to obey Him And also, it's a word that requires dependence upon God because I cannot do it myself It's a word that requires that I diligently serve my God with all that I have What a great word And that's the practice of the man of God His obedience is marked by diligence

It's a diligence that says, I'm going to obey the statutes of God. I'm going to obey what God says. I'm going to do with all my heart because I want to serve Him truthfully from the inner part of my man that I might honor Him and glorify His great name That's why the Bible says in Proverbs 4, my son, guard your heart for out of it flow all the issues of life Boy, I tell you, if you could do one thing to teach your children, teach them to guard their heart Guard their heart In fact, let me read that to you Proverbs chapter 4 says this, watch over your heart, guard your heart with all diligence

With all diligence In other words, keep your heart with all keeping Literally, that's what it means Keep it with all keeping Guard it with diligence Why? For from it flow the springs of life Raise your hand if you've got a lock in your house Raise your hand Raise your hand if you've got a lock in your car Good Raise your hand if you have a lock on the heart of your children We lock the things that are temporal We lock the things that really mean nothing But do we lock the hearts of our children? Guard your heart

Solomon says, my son, guard your heart because from it flows all the issues of life Everything comes from the inside And that's why he says this, listen to this Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious lips far from you Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established Do not turn to the right nor to the left Turn your foot from evil He says, listen, you got to guard your heart because your heart's going to determine where you look

You got to guard your heart because it's going to determine where you walk You got to guard your heart because it's going to determine every place you go and everything you say And you do it with all diligence Folks, that is the most important truth we could teach our children Guard your heart And the psalmist says in Psalm 119, very succinctly, thou hast ordained thy precepts that we should keep them diligently The pattern of the man who's blessed, the practice of the man who's blessed, and then the prayer of the blessed man Look at five and six

Oh, that my ways may be established to keep thy statutes The prayer was, number one, to apply thy statutes Number two, to avoid my shame Look at what it says in verse six Then I shall not be ashamed when I look upon all thy commandments The psalmist says, here's my prayer. I know what my practice should be. I know what the pattern of my life should be But here is my prayer My prayer is that I might apply thy statutes to every area of my life so that I might be able to avoid my shame Folks, let me tell you something God's Word is like a mirror God's Word is like a sword

God's Word is the ultimate surgical tool that opens up to us the real me on the inside And what God's Word does is it shows us what the commands of God is and why we should obey those commands And when we don't, we experience great shame The psalmist says, I don't want to be shamed. I want to be able to do what your Word says And I want to be able to honor you That's his prayer He says, oh, that my ways may be established When the psalmist says, oh, that's the cry of the heart of the psalmist

Oh, that my ways may be established, that they may be fixed, that I might do what your Word says, Lord, so that I would not be ashamed because of my disobedience in walking away from you Would it be that that would be our cry, right? Would it be that we'd wake up every day, oh, Lord, help me to follow your commands Lord, help me to serve you with a whole heart

Lord, help me to know your statutes, that I would be established in my ways so that I would avoid any kind of shame in my life or in the life of my family, or worse yet, the life of my church, which, by the way, is more important than your family, the life of your church, because it spreads throughout the world, the testimony of the gospel of Christ, so important The pattern of the blessed man, the practice of the blessed man, the prayer of the blessed man, and lastly, the praise of the blessed man What comes from a man who knows the Word of God? Praise

He says, I shall give thanks to thee with uprightness of heart when I learn thy righteous judgments Here is a man who says, I'm going to praise you with an uprightness of heart when I learn of your righteous judgments Let me tell you something about God All of his judgments are right Genesis 18, 24, 25, one of those two verses, I can't remember which one yet, but says, shall not the righteous judge of all the earth deal justly? Answer, of course And the praise of the blessed man is that when he understands the statutes of God, he understands the justice of God, that God does everything right

God does everything straight, and he praises God because of it He does it with what kind of heart? An upright heart He does it with cleanness He praises God with a clean heart Why? Because it's upright See, that's what the Word of God does When I'm in the Word of God, John 15, 3, you have been made clean through the word which I've spoken unto you, God says God's word is like comet It's like babo It's like soft scrub It's like all those tools you use to clean your bathroom It just cleans up your soul It cleans up your heart That's what God's word does

And the psalmist says, I'll be able to praise you with an upright heart, a clean heart, a heart that's right before you when I learn of your righteous judgments Read the book of Revelation Oh man, Revelation 11, Revelation 15, Revelation 19, they all talk about the righteous judgments of God When the whole world is being destroyed because of the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments, heaven cries out because God is righteous and what he does is right and just because they understand the statutes and judgments of God So he praises God with a clean heart

He praises God with a confident heart Listen to what he says He says, I shall keep thy statutes That's confidence And then he says, oh, but do not forsake me utterly Well, that's a good phrase Why? Because, you know, don't you at times feel that sense that God has forsaken you in the midst of your sin? Because there's that barrier that is erected between me and my God because of my sin Remember, it's the only time Jesus called his Father in heaven God My God, my God, why hast thou what? Forsaken me He had feelings that he was forsaken

Why? Because he bore in his body your sin and mine and when God the Father turned his back on God the Son, there was that sense of being forsaken and when you sin and I sin, guess what? We sense that we've been forsaken by God, but we have not We have not What makes us sense that we are forsaken is our sin, not our Savior Our sin is that barrier that we have erected and when we ask forgiveness, God forgives Listen to Isaiah 54 This is so good Verse number five or verse number four Fear not, for you will not be put to shame, God says

Neither feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced, but you will forget the shame of your youth and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more For your husband is your maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected, says your God For a brief moment, I forsook you, but with great compassion, I will gather you

In an outburst of anger, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness, I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer God says to Israel, for a moment, just a brief moment, you were forsaken But I will have compassion on you, because I am your Redeemer And the psalmist says, Lord, I shall follow you. I shall obey you. I will practice your words. I will prove your words. I will obey your words, O God Do not forsake me utterly It's a cry of great confidence that his God will be with him, his God will protect him, his God will watch over him

And he cries out to God as a child clings to his father, O God, do not forsake me utterly And that is the basis for blessing in Psalm 119 verses 1 to 8 Let's pray Father, we thank you so much for the truth of your Word, the opportunity we had to study it And as we embark on this great chapter, may each week build upon another, and may we experience the great truth of God in your Word as we understand what you have to say about your Word that's important to us Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the greatness of the Word of God In Jesus' name, amen.