“Walking at Liberty"
Psalm 119:41-48
January 13, 2008
by C.W. Powell
Psalm 119:41-48:41
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41. Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
42. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
43. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
44. So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
45. And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
46. I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.
47. And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.
48. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.
The 119th contains 22 meditations on the Scripture and the God of Scripture. Each one of the sections is 8 verses long, each of the eight verses beginning with the same Hebrew letter. In here we read of David's troubles and weaknesses, and the promises and the hopes of faith. This is poetry at its highest, and this great Psalm has served the church for consolation, joy, and confidence in God's word until this day. Its power is very great, and although it is couched in the figures and language of the Old Testament, it is evangelical in spirit.
But let us look at the words of one of the sections today, the sixth. vs. 41-48
vs. 41. It is right to pray for mercy.
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1. It is the only ground of assurance in prayer.
2. It s a certain ground of assurance in prayer. By there very nature, mercies cannot be seen, until they are. Because we cannot see God, and can only see ourselves, we have nothing but a sense of our unworthiness.
3. These mercies are revealed in the Scriptures: according to thy word. Until you and I become grounded in the Scriptures, we will not be able lay hold on these mercies.
4. But it is not enough to read the Scriptures: we must find Christ in the Scriptures. "Search the Scriptures." 5. The Scriptures are not a "do it yourself manual." Neither are they a "trouble-shooting manual. They are designed to lead us to Christ.
a. They teach us who God is.
b. They teach us who we are
c. They teach us how we two can have fellowship: that is in Jesus Christ.
d. Our fellowship with God is in Jesus Christ; it is personal, not mechanical.
e. The personal fellowship is through the means God has given:
· The Scriptures; but not the following of regulations; as a manual for success.
· The sacraments; but not the empty keeping of ceremonies
· The fellowship of the saints; but not as men pleasers, or men worshippers
· prayers and supplication; but not as to what we do not know.
42. Justification by faith: Stops the mouths of enemies. The devil and all his children. Who is he that condemneth, it is God who justifies.
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“I trust in thy word”: "It is personal." You haven't really begun to understand the Bible until you see it as the word of God: it is "THY WORD." How pregnant is this verse; how filled with meaning. The Scriptures are God's word to us. He is speaking to us, intelligently and with content. His meaning can be understood, so we know about Him and about his will for us.
He desires fellowship with us, and this fellowship is in the Jesus Christ, according to I John. We carry on a conversation with God as we read his word, pray, believing on Jesus Christ His Son.
vs. 43,44. The longing after righteousness. We see:
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1. The connection he makes between the word in his mouth, and the keeping of the law. Note several things:
a. The law expresses the requirement of God's righteousness. It is an expression of God's own nature, and requires us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds.
b. David trusts vs. 42; he hopes vs. 43; and he loves vs.47. Faith, hope, and charity. It also involves the whole person: the hands, vs. 48; the affections; vs. 47; the mind, vs. 48; the mouth, vs. 43.
2. But the key, I think, is verse 43: "take not the word of truth out of my mouth." The beginning of realized Christianity is in the confession.
Confession must be Oral. Romans 10:8,9
Confession must be in Words Matthew 12:30-37
Confession must be in Public Matthew 10:32,33
Confession is to be the test for False Prophets II John 7-10
Words are to have Meaning I Corinthians 14:7-12
True Words Dispel Confusion James 3:13-18
3. If you confess: If you will acknowledge Christ, He will acknowledge you. This is not a bare acknowledgment, but a pouring forth of grace: because it results in radical change.
vs. 45. I will walk at liberty. This is a very interesting word; it is a colloquialism that has a number of meanings.
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A. It means being enlarged, or widened out. It is connected to "free space," as a plaza. It might even mean the desert, wide open spaces. It is used both literally, and figuratively. Figuratively, it means liberty, taken in a broad sense. I will walk in a large place. The limits will be rolled back. A man confined, whose liberty is taken away, is confined in some way, either by being placed in a small cell, or chained, or hand-cuffed, or so forth.
B. This word is used in Ps. 119:96. "I have seen the end of all perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad." Those who seek liberty apart from scripture are doomed to fail; they find themselves shut up on smaller and smaller places; the word of the Lord is without limits; it is free. 2 Tim. 2:9; "The word of God is not bound."
C. The word is also used in 2Sam. 22:30: David, in the day he was delivered from all his enemies: "The Lord enlarged my steps under me." David did not stand on a narrow ledge; there was plenty of room for his feet. You stand on God''s word---rightly understood--and you are standing on a solid foundation.
D. The word is also used in Ps. 4:1 You have enlarged me: set me free. I was trapped; I was bound in; Everywhere I looked, there was a wall; I couldn't see any place to go. Note: his deliverance came when he cried to the Lord: not because he found some "secret to life," it came because of the restoration of communion between his soul and God.
E. The word is also used in Ps. 119:32. "enlarge my heart." Here is the true prison; when men are locked up in their own hearts; in their own souls. These are fetters we put on ourselves; we lock ourselves into the prisons of our own hearts. Because our hearts are enslaved, our feet become more and more confined.
F. What are the fetters that we place upon our own hearts? There are many, but there are three major ones:
1. Unbelief. The iron bars of unbelief make up the horrible prison that men have fashioned for themselves. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." There are various kinds of atheists:
--those who are professing atheists. They are not really so; for no man is a real atheist; it is impossible for him to be one and still be a human.
--those who are practical atheists. They act as if there is no God.
--those who are religious atheists: they worship that which is no god.
--those who are so in their affections and minds: They do not consider God or praise him, even though they may speak of him and profess to know him.
What chains unbelief forges on our hearts!
2. Despair. Unbelief is the inner wall of the dungeon: despair is the middle wall. So many people live lives of despair; locked up in hopelessness. Without joy and without peace.
3. Bitterness and Hatred of God and my neighbor. Because of the unbelief in our hearts, we no longer trust in God, we despair of His provisions and grace, and the result is bitterness toward our neighbor. How can we love our neighbor when we look to him for things that he cannot provide for us, things that only God can provide.
Concluding Illustration:
- After the death of Ananias and Sapphira, the Lord poured out his spirit upon the people, and great fear came upon all the people. Great miracles were done by the apostles, so much so that the high priest was grieved, and along with the Sadducees, laid hands upon the apostles and put in prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and the priests the next day, when they came looking for them, found the prison empty. While they were wondering, someone came and told them that the people they had imprisoned were back in the temple preaching and teaching the people. What beautiful figure! The Lord Jesus did not abandon his people.
Just as the walls of that prison were no match for the power of God; neither are the walls that we erect about our own hearts any match for the power of God. He penetrates by His spirit to the innermost recesses of our hearts, and the sovereign voice of God is heard, "Let my people go!' and the walls of unbelief are thrown down, and when the citadel is taken, the outer walls of despair and bitterness fall." The heart is set free.
Only Jesus Christ can do this. "If the son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed." He sets the heart free to love and praise him; he sets the mouth free to confess him. He sets the feet free to walk in his ways; this is the liberty of the sons of God.
Amen and Amen
May God bless you.