“God Is Who He Says He Is, and Does What He Says He Will Do”
Part 18
Sermon Series: A Word about the Word
Date: September 7, 2003 P.M Service
Place: Allendale Baptist
Text: Psalm 119:137-144
Introduction
Let me ask you a question and please do not answer out loud and don’t be so spiritual when you answer: How do you feel when folks tell you they are going to do some thing and never take care of it? Or this; some one tells you they have a certain characteristic but it is never evidenced in their life. Does that bother you? Does it make you question their character and integrity?
As we continue to study through the 119th psalm, the psalmist speaks over and over again of the integrity of God.
This section of this psalm testifies to the truth that God is who He says He is; and God does what He says He will do.
First we notice the
I. Righteousness of God vv. 137-138
A. “Righteous art Thou”
1. My wife often warns me about some of the things I say. So many times I will go and ask her what would you say if I said this? Or does this sound to harsh or unloving? I have never been one to avoid confrontation, but fear saying something that sounds insensitive; I fear of hurting people.
2. Not only do I say the wrong things some times, I do the wrong things.
3. The best way I can define this statement “Righteous are thou”, is by saying God can and never will do anything wrong.
4. You and I might not fully understand what God is saying or doing in our lives but we can be assured that He is always righteous.
B. “Thy testimonies that Thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.”
1. Over and over again the psalmist testifies of the faithfulness of God’s Word.
2. It never changes; it always true and it is always reliable.
3. Listen to what the psalmist says in Psalm 19: 7-9: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
4. God is righteous and what He commands us by His Word to do is righteous. There will never be any variance between what God says He is; what He says He will do and what He teaches us through His Word.
Next we see the psalmists…
II. Response To God’s Righteousness
A. v. 139 “My zeal hath consumed me”
1. Zeal is defined by Webster as intense or high interest.
2. We have seen once and again the psalmists great love and zeal for the Word of God, but notice what he goes on to say.
B. “My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten Thy Words.”
1. The psalmist says those that have forgotten God’s Word he considers his own enemies.
2. He sees those around him rejecting God’s Word and it brings him to a point of anger. He is not angry because of what they are doing to him, but because they are doing against God.
3. This is how it should be with us my dear Christian friend. It is a tragedy when we become so accustomed to men’s evil ways that they no longer bother us or upset us.
4. It is a tragedy when we become calloused to the godlessness around us, it does not distress our spirit.
5. Yes we must do as the psalmist and pray for them and yes even pity them, but it must stir our soul.
6. The church today is not only lost her zeal for God, it is not even upset at how the world treat or rejects God.
C. v. 140 “Thy word is very pure, therefore Thy servant loveth it.”
1. Once again we see the relationship between the psalmist and God’s Word.
2. My soul cries for Christians to be so in love with God and God’s Word.
3. It blesses my heart when new believers, men and women that have recently given their lives to Jesus come to me and ask questions concerning the Word of God.
4. Matthew Henry says; “Every good man, being a servant of God, loves the Word of God, because it lets him know his Master’s will and directs him in his Mater’s work.”
D. v. 141 “I am small and despised; yet do not I forget Thy precepts.”
1. If the psalmist is who we believe, King David, he sees himself as lowly and in submission to God’s will and God’s Word.
2. Remember David was a shepherd boy, tending his father’s sheep when chosen by God’s man to be king. He never forgot his humble beginnings.
3. How many people have you seen come from no where and have let it go to their head.
4. Bill Stafford says; “Some folks think they are big shots, when they really need to be shot.
III. God’s Righteousness Is Eternal vv. 142-143
A. v. 142 “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth.”
1. Many of us know someone that is moody and they are constantly changing. You never know what they might say or how they might ask.
2. God’s righteousness is not a passing mood but an everlasting virtue.
3. It is also not enough to say that the Bible contains truth; the Bible is truth.
4. Every utterance of God is true.
B. v. 143 “Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me; yet Thy commandments are my delights.”
1. Even though troubles and anguish have taken hold of the psalmist he still delights in the commandments of God.
2. We used to have a saying in the soft-drink business when things were getting busy and there seemed to be no letting up; “There’s light at the end of the tunnel I just hope it’s not a train.”
3. William McDonald says of this verse; “The writer has had a full cup of trouble and anguish,, but with the Word of God, he could trace the rainbow through his tears.
C. v. 144 “The righteousness of Thy testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding, and I shall live.”
1. He begins as he started; it is not only that God’s testimonies are righteous now, they will always be.
Once again the psalmist closes the section of his prayer with a great desire to understand the things of God.
Someone has once said “the more we understand God’s testimonies, the greater the capacity for enjoying life, both now and in heaven.”
John 17:3 say; “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
