The Word of God and Life

 Temple Baptist Church - 5-26-2024

Psalm 119:145-152

 

Introduction:

 

A. Psalm 119: 176 verses broken down into twenty-two stanzas with each stanza correlating with one of the 22 letters in the Hebrew Alphabet. Each stanza is comprised of eight verses which, in the Hebrew Bible, each verse begins with the associated letter of the Hebrew Alphabet forming an Acrostic. What a wonder that we hold in our hands tonight!

 

B. KOPH ק – the 19th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. KOPH in Hebrews means The Palm of the hand or the sole of the foot. God’s perpetual protection in salvation and our personal protection in walk of life.

 

1. The child of God is in the Hand of God and is therefore protected. John 10:28-30 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (30) I and my Father are one.

 

2. The child of God holds in his/her hand the Word of God and is therefore guided. Psalms 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

 

Proverbs 6:20-23 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: (21) Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. (22) When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. (23) For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

 

C. KOPH ק has a numerical value of one hundred in the Gematria (numbering system), which speaks of fullness or completeness in quantity: an entire lifetime or fulness in a biblical sense. It is sometimes associated with the fulness of age or experience.

 

D. KOFH ק is said to be derived from a pictograph of the eye of a needle. To see what lies ahead in a straight or narrow view signifying paying attention to the end or completion of something. “Tunnel Vision!” The Word of God keeps our focus on the end instead of the circumstances. Within God’s hand, we are guided in our walk by the Word of God and subdued by the will of God.

 

E. The meanings of this letter are "bend" and "curve," from the shape of the palm, as well as to "tame" or "subdue" as one who is been bent to the will of another.

 

F. The life of the child of God is in God’s hand and illustrated here in this stanza by both prayer and answer to prayers. Prayers are to according to the will of God. Then prayers are answered by God in His way and His time. This stanza shows us the importance of living a life of prayer.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

 

G. In our verses, we find the memories of prayer of the Psalmist. He accounts the times that he prayed in his devotion and his prayers for divine deliverance from his trials in life. I read this somewhere: “He who has been with God in the closet will find God with him in the furnace.”

 

1. The Psalmist prayed, and God answered but, in His time, and in His way.

 

2. The Psalmist bowed to the will of God when answers were delayed.

 

Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. (9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

1. Verse 145. How he prayed. A Heart Felt Prayer. “cried … whole heart”

 

a. Much of the prayer life of the Christian is spend in communication and communion with the Lord and these things are essential to the believer.

 

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

 

b. Then there are times when the cry is one of distress. Here in verse 145, the word “cried is used: to accost or to call out. A sincere, plaintive, painful, natural utterance, as of a creature in pain. This cry was a plea for help.

 

Psalms 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

 

c. It is followed by a vow to continue in obedience to the Word of God. “I will keep thy statutes.”

 

2. Verse 146. What he prayed. “save me” The plea of a drowning man. The plea of a helpless man who could not save himself.

 

a. The Psalmist prayed to the only One who could save him. There will be situations in life that are out of the power or control of the believer and his ability to overcome.

 

b. The Psalmist prayed in full assurance of God’s willingness and power to perform.

 

Psalms 121:1-4 A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. (2) My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. (3) He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. (4) Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

 

3. Verses 147-148. When he prayed and how long he prayed. This was not “Now I lay me down to sleep” praying (though it is good to say “Good Night” to the Lord, this was lengthy praying. Not only did the Psalmist fervently pray, but he also continuously prayed.

 

a. Prevented – to precede. In the New Testament, we find the same wording during the Rapture of God’s Church. He prayed before the dawning of the new day.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:14-15 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

 

b. Prevent – to precede. He prayed through the night watches: during the night season.

 

c. A two-fold promise: hope in the word (faith) and meditation in the word (saturation).

 

4. Verse 149. The basis of his praying. “according … lovingkindness” The Psalmist based his plea on the love of God for His children.

 

a. It is not a plea based upon deserving or debt. It was love based on God’s side.

 

b. Asking God to overlook sinfulness and imperfections in prayer. The believer appeals to the love of God from whom nothing can separate.

 

c. Quicken – to give life through strength as we, through weakness, become strong in the Lord.

 

2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 

5. Verses 150-151. The faith of his praying.

 

a. The wicked draw near. They will never compromise nor quit.

 

b. But God IS nearer. He will never leave nor forsake His own.

 

c. God’s Word can be trusted in all aspects of life and for a lifetime.

 

6. Verse 152. The witness of his praying. Psalms 119:152 Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.