Category Archives: Discipleship

Dedication, Illumination, and Progression (Psa 119.125)

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I am thy servant; give me understanding,
That I may know thy testimonies (Psa 119.125).

When it comes to God’s Word, we must approach it in faith that we may understand it and do it. This is an inexorable law of the kingdom of our Almighty Sovereign with whom no one can trifle. Although unbelievers can have the Word preached to them just like believers, and while unbelievers may grasp intellectually just like believers much of the information the Bible contains, and unbelievers even can see, in common with believers, some of the practical implications of divine truth for everyday life, yet there is an intimacy of fellowship with God in his Word from which unbelievers are totally excluded, and which is the common, blessed experience in some degree of every real Christian.
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Postures of Spiritual Triumph (Psa 119.86)

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All thy commandments are faithful:
They persecute me wrongfully; help thou me (Psa 119.86).

Heroism often appears in a crisis moment, but this is but its momentary manifestation. Its underpinnings are good character quietly growing largely unnoticed in spite of a thousand deterrents which effectively suppress the potential greatness of others. That daily, sustained, disciplined virtue which prepares one to shine in the convergence of opportunity and challenge deserves more admiration than it commonly receives.

It is said, “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny,”1 but the destiny gets all the attention.
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My Creator’s Wisdom (Psa 119.73)

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Thy hands have made me and fashioned me:
Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments (Psa 119.73).

Wisdom is our greatest need, and wise is the man who knows the spring of wisdom and how to tap into it. Wise men like the psalmist know this. “Wisdom must be from God, because it can be found only in relation to Him” (Edmund P. Clowney). “Wisdom and the will of God are intimately related . . . Nothing is more vital for practical knowledge of the purpose of God than wisdom” (Sinclair Ferguson). “If you lack knowledge, go to school. If you lack wisdom, get on your knees! Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is the proper use of knowledge” (Vance Havner)1. Even as James wrote by the infallible Spirit, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (Jas 1.5).
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Kissing the Rod (Psa 119.71)

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It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
That I might learn thy statutes (Psa 119.71).

“All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” is the attention-grabbing title of a book by Robert Fulghum from the eighties. What did he have in mind? Simple duties like this: share everything, play fair, don’t hit people, put things back where you found them, clean up your own mess, don’t take things that aren’t yours, say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody, etc. He wrote,

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.1

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Owning and Obeying the Lord

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Thou art my portion, O LORD:
I have said that I would keep thy words (Psa 119.57).

Living the Christian life should never be thought of as merely keeping a set of righteous rules. Rather, it is a loving communion with God through Jesus Christ expressed in loyalty to Him and His revealed will. In John’s gospel Jesus said,

If ye love me, keep my commandments (14.15).

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me (14.21).

If a man love me, he will keep my words (14.23).

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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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Plea for Spiritual Preservation (Psa 119.43)

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And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;
For I have hoped in thy judgments (Psa 119.43).

Discerning with certainty the exact sense in which these words were originally intended is difficult, if not impossible, yet we may glean some doctrine from it which is certain, being plainly stated and implied here, and confirmed and enlarged in other places of Scripture.
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Revive Me Out of My Idolatry

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Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
And quicken thou me in thy way (Psa 119.37).

Idolatry is the problem; revival is the answer. This inspired petition rests on that presupposition and confirms it.

Pray to escape idolatry by an increase of spiritual vitality.

THE PROBLEM OF IDOLATRY

The universal sin. As soon as each and every person begins to express himself in a morally-responsible way, he or she exhibits strong tendencies toward idolatry, even in the most Christian societies. That statement may seem utterly ridiculous until we realize what is included in the biblical concept of idolatry.
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Compelling Grace

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Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; For therein do I delight (Psa 119:35).

Immediately I would credit A. W. Pink for the striking title of our meditation1, which brings our attention to the fact that

Even true saints need compelling grace.

AN EVIDENCE OF SAINTHOOD

Let us consider the second line first, “For therein do I delight,” that is, not just “thy commandments,” but “the path of thy commandments,” that godly pattern of life which they recommend.
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Spiritual Pairs

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Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart (Psa 119:34).

We are making good progress in grasping the message of the Bible when we learn to recognize things that are always found together, and then cease trying to divide them. For example, God’s covenant and His faithfulness, type and fulfillment, are just a couple of instances of what could begin an inexhaustible list. In our text, the psalmist links three couples which we must never divorce in our own minds. Attempts at this have been the ruin of countless souls, and will ruin many more if the Lord prolongs exercising His patience toward sinners.
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