Psalm 119 verses 121 to 128.
And teach me your statutes.
I am your servant.
Give me understanding that I may know your testimony.
It is time for the Lord to act.
For your law has been broken.
Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.
Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right.
I hate every false way.
That's the word of the Lord.
When someone, when there's a powerless person that's being oppressed by people,
they often appeal to those in authority and power, right?
To rulers to give them justice.
And that's kind of a similar situation here
where the psalmist feels that he's being oppressed
and is now going to God seeking justice.
And so twice, in verse 121 and 122,
he mentions the word oppressed.
He says, I've done what is just and right.
Do not lead me to my oppressors.
Give your servant a pledge of good.
Let not the insolent oppress me.
And the word oppressed, it usually means to exploit.
It's often used in context throughout the Old Testament
to refer to exploiting someone that, for example, the poor,
who is unable to repay a debt, for example, and exploiting them.
So it's used in that context, in that kind of light,
in Leviticus 19.13, Deuteronomy 24.14, 1 Samuel 12.3.
And so that seems to be, so he's using that as a metaphor
to talk about how he's being wronged, treated unjustly.
He's being exploited wrongly by evildoers.
And now he continues that kind of imagery when he says,
he prays to God in verse 122,
give your servant a pledge of good.
So the expression to give a pledge of good
literally means to stand surety for someone.
So to basically, in modern terms,
be a cosigner of a debt,
to take responsibility for payment
for someone that can't repay a debt, right?
So he's continuing that same imagery.
He's saying, the evildoers are oppressing me,
they're exploiting me.
And so give your servant a pledge of good.
Be, stand surety for me.
Take responsibility for me, for my debt,
and pay for me.
And basically, he's asking for justice.
And the reason why the psalmist can cry out to God
this boldly is because he says in verse 121,
I have done what is just and right.
He believes that he has lived with integrity.
He has lived to please God.
He has done what is just and right.
And because it is just and right,
he says in verse 123,
my eyes long for your salvation
and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
So the word right in verse 121
and the word righteous in verse 123
are different forms of the exact same Hebrew word.
And so there's a connection there.
Because the psalmist has done what is right,
it's right of God to fulfill his promise
and to deliver him
because the psalmist has done according to God's commands.
And so he says,
and not just,
and he has done what is right
as God's servant.
That word is repeated three times in this passage.
Verse 122,
give your servant the pleasure of good.
Verse 124,
deal with your servant
according to your steadfast love
and teach me your statutes.
And then 125,
I am your servant.
Give me understanding
that I may know your testimony.
So he's saying,
I belong to you, Lord.
I am yours.
You owe me.
You are responsible for me.
So I'm being exploited in this situation.
Please,
as I am your servant,
I belong to you.
So be my surety.
Stand surety for me
and deliver me.
And as he's doing that,
as he's praying that,
he's not just consumed
with just being delivered from his own,
the oppression that he's facing.
Even though he says
he has done what is just and right,
he's lived according to God's commands,
he's not complacent.
He doesn't stop there.
He says,
and he asks,
praise God to give him
further understanding
to teach him more and more of his words
so that he can live even more
in accordance with God's will.
So that's what he prays
in 124 and 125.
Teach me your statues.
I am your servant.
Give me understanding
that I may know your testimonies.
I think this kind of highlights
the fact that the more we learn
and learn God's word,
the more we dive deeply into God's word,
the more we learn
that it really is unfathomable.
No one can plumb its death, right?
And likewise,
the more we obey God,
the more we become like God,
the more we realize
how lacking we are,
how unholy we are,
how selfish we are,
how sinful we are, right?
So it's kind of a paradox.
There's a Puritan prayer
that we've used in the past
as a confession of sin
in our church.
It's entitled Paradox.
And it goes this way.
It says,
O changeless God,
under the conviction of your spirit,
we learn that the more we do,
the worse we are.
The more we know you,
the less we know.
The more holiness we have,
the more sinful we are.
The more we love,
the more there is to love.
And the psalmist,
as someone who does
what is just and right,
knows that there's more
to be learned.
Teach me your statutes.
Give me understanding
that I may know
your testimonies.
And when God comes
to his deliverance,
it won't just be
giving him
what is due to him,
giving him his right,
but it will also be
in the punishing
of evildoers, right?
So that's why
verse 126 says,
It is time for the Lord
to act,
for your law
has been broken.
And God's going
to punish evildoers
and reward the righteous.
And therefore,
he concludes
in verses 127 and 128
with two therefore sentences.
Therefore,
I love your commandments
and above gold,
above fine gold.
That's an often used
imagery, right?
I mean,
I think even just
in the psalms
that we've been going through
on Wednesday,
we've seen that
multiple times, right?
That God's word
is more precious
than gold,
even fine gold, right?
And often it's described
as sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb,
right?
And if you think about it,
that's a really profound
thing to say
because how many people
in our world,
in our society,
I mean,
sacrifice their integrity,
sacrifice their friends,
sacrifice their family,
sacrifice their own health
to get wealthy, right?
they value wealth.
So many people live
for monies,
live for fine gold.
But the psalmist is saying,
no,
I love your commandments
above gold,
above fine gold.
That's a really high praise.
It's saying,
I value this.
I cherish God's word.
I want to live
in accordance with it.
And not only that,
he says,
therefore,
verse 120,
I consider all your precepts
to be right.
I hate every false way.
He considers all of God's precepts
to be right.
He doesn't presume
to put himself above God's word,
to judge it,
to determine right for himself,
to say,
whatever I deem right,
whatever seems right to me
is right.
He says,
no,
I consider all your precepts
to be right.
He seeks to live
in accordance with God's word.
He says,
I hate every false way.
Notice the contrast
between 27 and 128.
He says,
I love your commandments.
And then he says,
I hate every false way.
That love-hate dichotomy,
you really can't have one
without the other.
You can't say,
I love God's commandments
and then say,
well,
I condone
false evil ways.
To condone
false evil ways
is to spurn righteousness,
is to spurn
God's commandments.
You can't have one
without the other.
To love God's commandments,
you need to hate
evil doing.
You have to hate sin.
And the only way
to hate sin
is to love God's commandments
and to do it.
So that's what,
that's the dichotomy
that you see there.
And,
and,
having gone through
the entire stanza,
we're left with the,
with the realization
that,
though relatively speaking,
maybe in some ways
we have lived justly
and righteously
as the psalmist claims
to have in truth
according to,
in light of God's
ultimate perfect standards,
all of us
have broken God's law,
right?
And it says in verse 126,
it is time
for the Lord to act
for your law
has been broken.
That should leave us
trembling in fear
because we have
broken God's law.
And it is time
for the Lord God
to act,
to bring justice,
to punish evil doers.
That's our plight.
And,
and,
and that's where
this psalm really points
to its fulfillment
in Jesus.
It says over and over again,
describes a servant
who does right,
servant who is just,
servant of God
who,
who has done
what is right.
And,
and that really points
to the servant
of the Lord
that Isaiah prophesies
about over and over again.
The servant of the Lord
will come to do right,
to bring justice,
as it says in Isaiah 42,
2,
1,
Behold my servant
whom I uphold,
my chosen in whom
my soul delights.
I put my spirit upon him.
He will bring forth
justice to the nations.
Then Jesus is described
over and over again
throughout the New Testament
as a fulfillment
of this servant of the Lord
that Isaiah prophesies about.
And,
of course,
the classic passage
that we're all familiar with,
Isaiah 53,
verses 4 to 11,
it says this about
the servant of the Lord.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows,
yet we esteemed him
stricken,
smitten by God,
and afflicted.
But he was pierced
for our transgressions.
He was crushed
for our iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace,
and with his wounds
we are healed.
All we like sheep
have gone astray.
We have turned everyone
to his own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed,
just like the psalmist
is saying here.
He was oppressed,
he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth.
Like a lamb that is led
to the slaughter,
and like a sheep
that before it shears
is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment
he was taken away.
Out of the anguish
of his soul
he shall see
and be satisfied.
By his knowledge
shall the righteous one,
my servant,
make many to be
accounted righteous,
and he shall bear
their iniquities.
So Jesus really fulfills
this servant,
this servant that's here
in our stanza,
Psalm 119, 121-128.
He was oppressed,
like the psalmist,
but he was oppressed
and he did not get justice
because he should have been,
he should have triumphed,
he should have been,
he should have experienced victory
and triumph and glory
while during his time on earth,
but instead he was oppressed,
instead he was killed
on the cross
because he was standing in
for us
who deserved,
who had broken God's laws,
but he was standing in for us.
He died in our place,
crucified for our sins
so that his righteousness
can be imputed to us
and the privileges
that he alone deserves
can be enjoyed by us.
And so it's because
of what Jesus has done
in fulfilling this psalm
that we now can really apply
this psalm
to our own lives.
And cry out to God
and pray to God
in the same way
as the psalmist does here.
Thank you.