Many people call themselves Christians but live unlike Christ in many ways {1}. Most, if not all, in that shape hardly pick up the Holy Bible to read it. Others may have made a true commitment to Christ but still have many struggles with sin. This could be due, in part, to not really getting into the Word of God like they ought to. Along with this, there are a lot of people not enjoying life, and there are some that seen to enjoy life but are missing something. God cares, and offers great treasure to us when we recognize
our need and let Him meet that need.Peter and most of the other Apostles knew there was something better than everyday life. After many Jews who claimed to believe in Jesus left Him, Jesus turned to the twelve and asked if they were going to leave too. Peter responded (John 6:68), “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” Later, Christ would affirm that He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). In another conversation with the Jews He said (John 5:39), “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.”
The Scriptures that they searched were what is now called by many as the Old Testament. If I am not mistaken, Psalms is the largest of its books. The largest psalm, Psalm 119, emphasizes the Word of God. Throughout that psalm we see the Word of God described in various ways: precepts, statutes, law, ordinances, and so on. And, throughout that psalm we can see that the written Word of God is powerful, vibrant. Verses 49-56 shows us how to have a vibrant, victorious life. We will see the following four things from that passage.
I. Life With Hope 49-50
Verse 49 - “Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope.”
There is much hope scattered throughout the entire Word of God. It tells us we do not have to stay the way we are. If Christ is not in us it invites us to surrender to God and make Him King of our life, permitting ourselves to be become like Him. If Christ is already within we know from His Word that we have plenty of growing in Him to do. And though we are His child, if we have been truly redeemed, we are still His servant, but a servant that will lovingly do his Master’s will.
And it is not God’s will anyone should remain unsaved (2 Peter 3:9), but that all receive His merciful salvation and be changed into the image of His Son. One might say “I cannot do that. I cannot change.” Well, true, you cannot change the way God wants you to change but it can be done through Christ within if you have received His salvation. It is written in Philippians 4:13 (Webster*), “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” That is the Word of God, just as powerful as when He said “let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) and all His other commands of creation. So, for spiritual growth and preservation it is good to fully believe, trust, continuously think about, speak to one’s self {2}, and act upon various Holy Scriptures like the following:
“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” -- Romans 6:14
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” -- John 8:36
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -- Romans 8:38-39 And the verse above that,
“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” -- Romans 8:37
“ , , , He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” -- Philippians 1:6
Philippians 1:6, it could be said, is the fulfillment by Christ of Psalm 119:49. Once we are truly saved, the life of Christ within us is that “caused me to hope" of verse 49, and that hope is indeed a lively hope. But, again, we must know the Author, such Holy Scriptures, repeating them to ourselves, fully believing what they say, and persistently act upon them. If we fail we ask God to forgive us, and then again take our stand upon these holy texts.
By standing upon His Word and taking action upon it we do the will of God. While writing this article I noticed that Missionary Gary Seevers wrote on Facebook, “Praise God we are chosen and we are assigned a divine task to complete. Not only do we have an assignment, but we are given enablement and access to the supplier of all things to provide for all things related to faithfully fulfilling [our] assignment.”
Verse 50 (Amplified) - “This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me and given me life.”
Many times people who hardly read the Holy Bible turn to it to find comfort. His Word, especially when empowered by Christ within and directed by His Holy Spirit though we experience human afflictions, though we were born with a sin nature, and though we are troubled by the world and anyone of the world. We are also comforted by His Word itself, our obedience to it, and because of the life that comes from the Word.
Where the Amplified Bible has “revived me and given me life" older translations have “quickened me" and the New King James has “given me life." The Hebrew Word here translated as “quickened" is jammed packed with meaning which includes {3} to preserve alive, let live. to give life, to quicken, revive, refresh, to restore to life, to cause to grow, to restore, to revive. While often times the context of a word narrows down its meaning, in this case it appears all these definitions are meant in verse 50.
The lively hope presented in verses 49 to 50 really blossoms forth through Christ, as expressed in 1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, . . ."
II. Life With Righteousness 51-53
Verse 51 - “The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law."
While everyone at some point in their lifetime becomes a victim of someone’s arrogance, those who truly surrender to Christ get even more of it. Those that really know Christ are often called prude, homophobe, islamaphobe, bigot and more and many attempt to deride, shame, ridicule, agitate them along with numerous other attacks. One reason is because when someone is truly saved Christ actually resides in them. God’s grace declares them righteous and makes them righteous. As it is written in Romans 5:19, “For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
Some people will try to do anything to get a Christian away from Christ, yet by God's grace we must -- must -- be solid and firm like the psalmist: “Yet I do not turn aside from Your law." Some try to heap shame on Christians either directly or by mischaracterizing God. We must not be convinced by such falsehoods, but firmly stand upon, rely upon the Word of God.
Verse 52 (Douay*) - “I remembered, O YHVH, Your judgments {4} of old: and I was comforted."
Much can be said here but the more we know God and His judgments, the more comfort we will have. First of all, knowing God’s judgments means there is no guess work between right
and wrong. And currently it seems like the wicked are having their way and wickedness is everywhere and heavy. But a judgment of God looms and then there will be real peace on earth for 1,000 years. And, when it comes to the arrogant deriding us, knowing the judgments of God means knowing what God says about a person if they are truly saved.The Hebrew word for comfort can mean a little more than what we consider comfort to be. It can also mean to be sorry, to rue, repent of. Let us think about that for a minute. We have mentioned receiving comfort because of the derision of a Christian by the wicked. However, there are times we sin or choose not to recognize sin in our life. This brings us trouble too. But if we remember the judgments of God in regard to various sins and then, as it says in 1 John 3.3, purge ourselves, then we shall have more comfort as we mature in Christ-- Peace with God, which brings great comfort.
Verse 53 - “Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, Who forsake Your law."
It is proper for a Christian to have righteous anger due to man violating the laws of God. Every violation brings the danger of God’s wrath and judgment, even upon nations as a whole at times. It also sets in motion destructive principles of the mystery of iniquity which hurt mankind. Some examples of violating the law of God are when a boy was ordered by a school principal to undress in front of girls and “make it natural”; “Parents” conditioning their children in a non-gender or transgender way; and forcing someone to go against their godly conscience.
III. Life With Joy 54
Verse 54 - “Your statutes are my songs In the house of my pilgrimage.”
While a Christian may have righteous anger, joy needs to be a foundational emotion in a disciple's life and throughout their lifetime on earth, “house of my pilgrimage” referring to our bodies. It is good to learn to praise God all the time throughout life in both good times and bad times {5}. Many times this requires a sacrifice of praise on our part.
There are times people will hear this from minister and say, “But you are not going through what I am going through!” First of all, we are stating what God’s Word says. Secondly, I might not have gone through what someone else is going through but I have full confidence in the vibrant victorious Word that Christ our Savior can meet anyone's need and that His Word is true. As it is written, if we seek Him He will give us the grace we need in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
IV. Life With Victory 55-56
Verse 55 - “O YHVH, I remember Your name in the night, And keep Your law.”
To have a victorious life that brings us into Eternal Life Christ must be King within us and by His strength we obey the written, spoken, and incarnate Word within. In so doing we will truly have a vibrant life, a conquering life, because His Word is living and victorious. As a result, we will have His victory evident in our life despite the darkest hours of our life and in the darkest hours of the world.
And despite the darkest times of our life or of the world we are to keep God’s law. We are enabled to do so by the power of the Author. As a result we will know it, love it, study it, and obey it. We should never cave in to pressure that would have us disobey the Word of God.
Verse 56 - “This has become mine, That I observe Your precepts."
This verse expresses the glorious and really joyful responsibility of the true believer in Christ. For His Kingdom and our spiritual wellbeing we should keep His precepts. But I also sense in my spirit the idea of blessings. The blessings of God mentioned in our text, and throughout the Word of God, become ours, our portion if we obey Him and remain in Him. Keep His Word and you will keep God’s blessings.
Even if you think you are having a great life make sure you have God’s Eternal Life through Christ. Many are fooled that everything is fine if they live a pleasurable life or what they feel is a meaningful life. Remember the Word of God says we are not saved by our righteous works, but by making Christ Jesus Lord of our life all of the time. In that way one can have a vibrant spiritually victorious life here, and in the age to come.
Notes:
{1} Please read Taking God's Name In Vain Without Words at http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/taking-gods-name-in-vain-without-words
{2} Please read Bless Your Mind at http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/bless-your-mind
{3} From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program, and so throughout the article whenever the ancient language is referred to and no other authority is cited.
{4} A number of translations have “ordinances”, but considering Strong’s definitions I preferred the Douay translation modified.
{5} Get Into The Godly Habit Of Praising And Worshiping God at http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/get-godly-habit-praising-and-worshiping-god
This article was written in the form of a sermon (message) outline with comments. God willing by April 31, 2017 (hopefully much sooner), you should be able to hear the actual message (sermon) by selecting a link at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M445 .
Unless otherwise noted all Holy Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates. * = For other versions the spelling of some words is updated for our time in addition to changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates.
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