Temple Baptist Church - 2-18-2024
Psalm 119:57-64
Introduction:
A. Tonight, the 8th stanza of the 119th Psalm. The 8th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is CHETH. The letter CHETH is interesting as it has a two-fold meaning: it can mean either “sin” or “life.”
1. God gives us both the right and obligation of choice. Calvinism teaches “Total Depravity” as “Total Inability” which is false. I heard a Calvinist preach this week and he said that the unsaved need to make the right choice. How contradictory and erroneous.
Shortly, I will preach on “The Landmark of the Sovereignty of God.”
2. In God’s Sovereignty, He has created mankind as free moral agents: that man has the ability to choose either right or wrong. As God’s children, we must learn to trust the guidance of God. God guides us in the way that we should walk through His Word and the Holy Ghost.
Psalms 32:8-10 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. (9) Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. (10) Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Our instructions and teaching are found in the Word of God.
2 Peter 1:3-4 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
God has given us the divine power through His Word to make our choices right and to live full, godly lives in this present evil world.
a) God guides us through His Word into Salvation.
b) God guides us through His Word into Safety.
3. As we look at this 8th stanza, we see that the Psalmist has made both good and bad choices which will set the tone for all 8 verses, 57-64.
4. Eve, then Adam, made choices, both bad and good, which brought about both the Fall and Faith. Later, Cain and Abel made choices, both bad and good, with the Lord giving Cain another chance to change his choice from bad to good. “And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door” explained Cain’s reason for maintaining his bad choice and dying lost without God.
5. We make choices each day spiritually. We choose to live a life of sinfulness, or we choose to live a life that is godly. These choices are dependent upon our relationship with the Word of God. We need to be making biblical choices!
a) There is an old saying, “Either the bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the bible.” This is a scriptural saying as your relationship to the Word of God is either sinful or godly.
b) Sinful when we choose to ignore its path and embrace the world, or godly when we choose to embrace its path and reject the world.
B. CHETH gives the meaning of “sin unto death or chastisement” or “obedience unto life and peace.” The choice is OURS! Now, let us look at these 8 verses.
1. Verse 57 – “Thou are my portion in life, O LORD!” Here the Psalmist recognizes the truth of a right choice. “My portion” means MY part. The table is set at home and my portion is what I choose to put on my plate. The table of God’s Word is full, and The Lord is my portion!
2. Verse 57 – “I have said that I would keep thy words” refers to a past vow made. The Psalmist did not say “the only choice I have is to keep thy words,” but “I have said.” The Bible teaches that every newly saved person fully intends to live a life for Christ. God will not save the person who asks the Lord to save them while fully intending to continue to live their life in sin.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. (2) Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
3. Verse 58 – A cry for mercy because of a wrong choice. “I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.” Realization of bad choices teaches the believer to seek the mercies of God that are new every morning in both presence and sufficiency.
Psalms 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
1 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
4. Verse 59 – The Psalmist thought upon his ways and turned in repentance to the right way. “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.” His repentance causes his feet to turn unto a biblical path of righteousness. Thinking on our wicked ways will not get the job done in itself. The requirement of a right path is making the right choice.
Ezekiel 18:27-28 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. (28) Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
5. Verse 60 – The change in choice was immediate. I think of Pharoah when Egypt was full of frogs. He asked Moses to entreat God for their removal. Then he made a statement that holds true to many. Instead of asking for the frog’s removal right now or today, he said that tomorrow would be fine. The moment that we find our choices have been wrong is the time to “haste … and delayed not.” This shows a true repentance and lessens the impending effect of and punishment for sin.
Luke 19:5-6 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. (6) And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
6. Verse 61 – The result of a bad choice. “The bands of the wicked have robbed me.” Bad choices not only have bad consequences, but they also rob the believer of the good consequences of good choices. The things that the believer gets that destroy their lives are manifest but what they could have had will never be known, just surmised. “But I have not forgotten thy law.” You can run but you can’t hide. The Word of God that you have heard and learned will always be there.
Psalms 116:3-4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. (4) Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
7. Verse 62 – In the midst of the storm the Psalmist sought God. He did not wait for the light of day or the end results of his disobedience to be manifested. “At midnight!” He arose from his bed and gave thanks for the love and mercy of God. He deserved what judgment that he had coming and thanked God for the judgments that were staved off through remembering, repenting, and returning.
Acts 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
8. Verse 63 – His return to the fold. “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of the that keep thy precepts.” When the believer gets out of the will of God through wrong choices, he/she will always become a companion of the wicked. BUT, the believer will never belong there. The church crowd is OUR crowd. Thank God for the love, help, and exhortation found in the presence of the saved!
Proverbs 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
9. Verse 64 – The mercy of the Lord is available to not only the believer, but also to the whole earth. “Teach my thy statutes!” Our personal choices should be bound in the Word of God. Right choices are a result of a right relationship with God’s Word.
No comments:
Post a Comment