Author Archives: admin

Blessing and Obedience

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This I had,
Because I kept thy precepts (Psa 119.56).

When God’s law in Scripture is the standard, obedience is intimately bound together with blessing and blessedness. This may be one of the most important spiritual lessons we can ever learn. To believe this is the kind of faith that leads to ultimate salvation; to doubt it opens the door to sin and judgment.

Recall our original test in the Garden of Eden. The primeval liar and murderer (John 8.44) spread a net for the feet of our first parents by denying that misery would follow from transgressing God’s law, and by insisting that greater blessing could be enjoyed through disobedience than obedience.
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Sanctification Through Meditation

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I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night,
And have kept thy law (Psa 119.55).

The only real Christians are radical Christians—that is, those whose faith has been and still is truly internalized, and whose good works are then but the expression of their renewed hearts. Job seems to have affirmed his spiritual sincerity by saying, “the root of the matter is found in me” (Job 19.28).

In almost every plant it is at the root that disease begins. If ever you see even a plant in a flowerpot unhealthy, depend upon it there is something wrong at the root. It is over-watered or under-watered, or from some other cause the root has become diseased, and what is called ‘root-action’ is suspended or unhealthy. So it is in religion: if there is anything wrong with a man, it is almost sure to be something wrong at the root.
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A Song Away From Home

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Thy statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage (Psa 119.54).

This psalm-writing saint, as one devoted to the true and living God, has written this verse as a testimony in prayer, addressed to Him. It is personal without being private, for the Psalms were given for all believers to sing, especially in public worship. The sentiments of this godly heart are shared by all true saints, even if such a great degree of clarity and conviction is not enjoyed by all. We all know something of this ideal and we all must keep striving to excel spiritually.

This text is a saint’s testimony that he has a song away from home. It implies three simple truths.
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Righteous Rage

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Rage takes hold of me
Because of the wicked, those who reject your law (Psa 119.53).1

I would speak in defense of “righteous rage,” realizing that, ironically, most people will hate and condemn me for it, opposing “righteous rage” with fury. They are obviously self-condemned.

You ought to be deeply angered, to the very core of your being, by the sins of the ungodly, and compelled by that anger to oppose it fervently, using every legitimate means at your disposal. The lack of righteous rage is a serious sin in itself, a symptom in a person with a severe moral defect. Without some measure of righteous rage you cannot go to heaven because you are still the same old sinner you ever were, unchanged by God’s grace.
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Withstanding Persecution

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I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord;
And have comforted myself (Psa 119.52).

The misery of suffering persecution is, of all spiritual trials, especially dangerous to the soul. It can tempt us to wonder whether God really loves us, or whether He even exists. It can eventually beat down our resolve to love God faithfully when the price is so steep. Prolonged persecution, especially that which lasts over many generations, can make it seem that there is no end to the present, awful order of things, where the wicked triumph over the righteous.
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Faith Under Fire (Psa 119.51)

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The proud have had me greatly in derision:
Yet have I not declined from thy law (Psa 119.51).

One of the most difficult temptations you will ever face as a Christian is ridicule for your faith, but by God’s grace, you can overcome even this.

THE FIRE

“The proud have had me greatly in derision.” The majestic vocabulary and rhythm of this statement may seem to remove it from any experiences you have ever had. The rendering of one paraphrase is, “Proud people always make fun of me,” and this is not far off the mark, except that the use of the word “fun” introduces a lightness not warranted by the Hebrew text. Still, we can start to see that the psalmist is testifying of a kind of misery that may even be experienced in a modern office environment, or in one’s own family.
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Christian Comfort and the Word of God

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This is my comfort in my affliction:
For thy word hath quickened me (Psa 119.50).

Everyone suffers, including, and we might say, especially Christians. The reason is that Christians must suffer all the common and ordinary trials which are our lot simply because we are human beings in a fallen world. Conversion does not usher you into a state of “health and wealth” beyond what you might have enjoyed as an unbeliever, despite the misguided assurances of modern false teachers. But beyond those universal troubles, real Christians should expect to enter the kingdom of God only through much tribulation (Acts 14.22). We alone can expect to be persecuted for Christ’s sake (John 15.19-20; 2 Tim 3.12). We alone know the agonies of partially-redeemed souls yearning for perfect sanctification and feeling plagued by our remaining sins (Rom 7.24). We are not denying the joys of the true Christian experience, nor the blessed hope of our salvation (Rom 7.25), but rather stressing the solid biblical teaching that followers of the crucified Lord Jesus are called to have fellowship with Him in His sufferings (Phil 1.29; 3.10).
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Why Should God Answer Your Prayers?

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Remember the word unto thy servant,
Upon which thou hast caused me to hope (Psa 119.49).

Many people pray for many things without any rational justification for it. They seem to think that it is just God’s job to give them whatever they want, because that is just the way God is. To them He is their personal genie in the bottle, with the exception that they don’t have to stop with three wishes. If they think at all about why God should grant their requests, most likely they would insist that they have been pretty good—not perfect, mind you, but good enough that God owes it to them. We might call this “Santa Claus theology,” and it dishonors God and grossly flatters its adherents. God is not a genie or Santa Clause. He does not owe sinners anything except condemnation and punishment. If people who think otherwise ask God for things and then receive them, it is only to harden them in their sins if they are among the reprobate, or to lead them to repentance, if they are one of His elect.
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Whole Person Faith (Psa. 119.48)

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My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved;
And I will meditate in thy statutes (Psa. 119.48).

Real faith, the saving kind, engages the whole person. This is the only kind of religion God requires and approves. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12.30). This fourfold elaboration of our being as humans is not meant to be a kind of spiritual dissection into our constituent parts, but rather it is an idiomatic way, especially in the ancient Hebrew manner of expressing things, of describing true religion. The repetition of nouns—heart, soul, mind, and strength—dramatically intensifies the basic meaning. This commandment confronts us with the fact that with God, it is all or nothing. You either love Him supremely or not at all in His estimation. Genuine Christian faith in anyone is like tea steeped in a cup of just-boiled water.
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A Saint’s Delight (Psa 119.47)

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And I will delight myself in thy commandments,
Which I have loved (Psa 119.47).

By “saints” we mean nothing more or less than real Christians, sincere and real and persevering followers of Jesus Christ (John 8.31), such as have new hearts by the grace of regeneration or being born again (Tit 3.5; 2 Cor 5.17). Church members are presumed to be “saints by calling” (1 Cor 1.1-2), which implies that church membership should be limited to those with a credible profession of evangelical faith—historically, a characteristic doctrine of Baptists. Everyone in this world is either a saint or a sinner, and only saints should be admitted and retained as local church members.
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