WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:05.379 Psalm 119, verses 137-144 00:00:05.379 --> 00:00:11.759 Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules. 00:00:12.700 --> 00:00:17.800 You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:22.359 My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words. 00:00:23.300 --> 00:00:27.300 Your promise is well tried and your servant loves it. 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:33.539 I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. 00:00:33.859 --> 00:00:38.120 Your righteousness is righteous forever and your law is true. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:43.700 Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight. 00:00:44.659 --> 00:00:46.740 Your testimonies are righteous forever. 00:00:47.620 --> 00:00:50.019 Give me understanding that I may live. 00:00:50.020 --> 00:01:01.900 Most of you actually have probably heard me tell this favorite story about Abraham Lincoln and these once or twice. 00:01:02.780 --> 00:01:04.260 You guys know which one I'm talking about? 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:08.480 It's during the Civil War when someone asked Abraham Lincoln, 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:13.300 So, do you think that God is on the side of the union? 00:01:14.939 --> 00:01:20.920 And Abraham replied, Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:24.500 My greatest concern is to be on God's side. 00:01:25.240 --> 00:01:26.520 For God is always right. 00:01:27.580 --> 00:01:29.939 And so, this is my favorite story about Abraham Lincoln. 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:36.560 God is not someone we can co-opt for our own agendas. 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:38.179 He is always right. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:43.500 And so, instead of seeking God to bless our purposes and priorities, 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:46.420 we should be always aligning ourselves with God's purposes and priorities. 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:48.459 Because God is always right. 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:50.759 And that's what this stanza is really about. 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:54.680 Five times he uses the words righteous or righteousness. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.340 God is always correct. 00:01:57.500 --> 00:01:59.079 He is supremely in the right. 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:01.579 His cause is ever righteous. 00:02:02.179 --> 00:02:10.740 And so, the main point of this stanza really is we should delight in and declare the word of God. 00:02:10.819 --> 00:02:12.960 Because God is righteous and his rules are right. 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:16.099 And verse 137 starts like this. 00:02:16.219 --> 00:02:18.919 Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:24.060 And so, the second word, right there, is a little bit different from the word righteous. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:25.560 It actually means straight. 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:25.599 Right. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:31.020 And so, it has a range of meaning in Hebrew as it does in the English. 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:31.360 Right. 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:35.379 I mean, I think there are English slangs that are similar to the way this is being used here. 00:02:35.379 --> 00:02:35.560 Right. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.240 It's like when someone says, like, that's straight. 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:39.099 You guys heard that? 00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:40.900 Maybe that's a little old. 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:41.199 Yeah. 00:02:41.259 --> 00:02:41.840 That's straight. 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:43.379 Or right on. 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:44.120 Right. 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:45.620 Like, right. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:46.520 Like, that's straight. 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:49.420 Like, it's like a, it's affirming and expressing approval. 00:02:49.420 --> 00:02:49.939 Right. 00:02:49.939 --> 00:02:49.979 Right. 00:02:50.020 --> 00:02:50.560 Of something. 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:54.139 So, when it says, straight are your rules, he's talking about the same thing. 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:58.699 The psalmist is testifying to the righteousness, the rightness of God's rules. 00:02:58.979 --> 00:02:59.439 It's straight. 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:04.500 So, God's rules do not stray or err or meander or deviate. 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:05.900 They're always straight. 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:06.900 Always correct. 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:08.120 Right. 00:03:09.079 --> 00:03:11.479 And that's because God himself is righteous. 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:13.759 His rules are right and he is righteous. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:15.620 Righteous are you, O Lord. 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:21.300 And so, righteousness is one of the attributes of God and it encompasses his justice. 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:25.060 It's often actually translated as justice, the same word. 00:03:25.640 --> 00:03:27.580 And it means he's always morally right. 00:03:27.980 --> 00:03:29.520 He's always correct in his judgment. 00:03:30.200 --> 00:03:32.860 And since God is righteous, his rules are also right. 00:03:34.020 --> 00:03:36.060 Verse 138 continues the theme. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:41.120 You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness. 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:44.520 The word faithfulness is also a related concept. 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:50.000 Except it's a noun form of the adjective in verse 142 that's translated as true. 00:03:50.860 --> 00:03:55.480 So, in some ways, it's truthfulness or trueness. 00:03:55.980 --> 00:03:56.060 Right. 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.520 So, it's the idea that God is always true to his character. 00:04:00.100 --> 00:04:03.200 He never deviates from his character. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:05.740 He never fails in his promises. 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:07.760 His words are always reliable. 00:04:08.100 --> 00:04:11.280 So, that makes him faithful or trustworthy. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:17.420 And so, he says, you have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness. 00:04:17.420 --> 00:04:23.460 And I was really marveling at this truth as I was preparing this. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:26.100 I think it was yesterday. 00:04:26.740 --> 00:04:28.660 Because I read the news nowadays. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.200 And it's like, I don't know if you guys are following any of the impeachment stuff. 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:40.439 You could get like a, you could read all the Democrats saying what they think. 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.939 And then you read all the Republicans saying what they think. 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:45.599 And they could not be more different. 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:48.180 It's almost like nobody's interested in truth. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.980 It's like they're all just like saying whatever their party line is. 00:04:51.060 --> 00:04:54.039 And it's just like a, it's so biased, so partisan. 00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:56.639 Like, and that's how I feel about news in general. 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.979 Like, it's like, I feel like I can't read anything and take it straight. 00:05:00.539 --> 00:05:01.759 I have to check it. 00:05:01.919 --> 00:05:05.039 I have to, when I read a research, I have to check the sources. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:08.319 And I have to check the methodologies to make sure they did it right, you know, right. 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:11.539 Or I have to, if I read the New York Times, I always have to feel like, 00:05:11.539 --> 00:05:13.620 I feel like I have to read the Wall Street Journal to go with it. 00:05:13.699 --> 00:05:16.199 Or if I read the Atlantic, I feel like I have to, you know, 00:05:16.219 --> 00:05:18.300 read the American Conservative or the National Review. 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:22.899 Or it's just kind of, things are always, there's always a slant. 00:05:23.339 --> 00:05:25.000 It's never straight, right? 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:26.639 It's kind of like God's Word is. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:30.019 But then when it comes to God's Word, that's the amazing thing about it is it's, 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:34.439 his testimonies, he appointed it in righteousness and in all faithfulness. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:35.800 So then it's always true. 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:37.240 It's always straight. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:38.899 You could just take it straight as it comes. 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:42.540 And that's such a liberating reality, if you think about it. 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:45.459 It simplifies our lives so much. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.620 Because then, you know, when you go to a doctor, 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.120 sometimes you have to get a second opinion, right. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.779 When you hear something from a teacher, you might have to second guess it. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.439 But you, or a teacher obviously doesn't want that. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:05.939 You know, but for us, when it comes to God's Word, we never have to question it. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.540 We never have to doubt His promises. 00:06:07.819 --> 00:06:13.579 We never have to, you know, worry about whether there's a slant or not. 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:19.879 And that's why a Christian who really has faith in the authority of God's Word can stand firm and never waver. 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:23.579 Never waver because it's a firm and unshakable foundation. 00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:29.379 And, of course, the Bible doesn't speak exhaustively about everything, in detail about everything, 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:31.300 every particular situation. 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:35.060 So it doesn't grant absolute certainty about everything. 00:06:35.659 --> 00:06:40.980 But it does leave room for the exercise of God-given wisdom and discernment. 00:06:40.980 --> 00:06:44.620 But the fact that God's Word is right and true in everything it teaches, 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.900 it provides great assurance for the Christian if we believe it. 00:06:49.200 --> 00:06:51.960 And precisely because God is righteous and His rules are right, 00:06:52.460 --> 00:06:54.300 the psalmist says in verse 139, 00:06:54.620 --> 00:06:58.360 My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words. 00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:03.200 So the foes forgetting God's Word is contrasted with verse 141. 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:06.960 It says, I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.259 So the psalmist, even when he feels small and despised, doesn't forget it, 00:07:11.299 --> 00:07:12.819 even though his foes forget it. 00:07:13.239 --> 00:07:14.579 So he remembers God's Word. 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:21.659 And, in fact, his zeal is, he says, to see God's Word heeded by others and himself in his life, 00:07:21.719 --> 00:07:22.819 it consumes him. 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:24.879 He's zealous for it. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:29.240 And this reminds me of Revelation 3.16, 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:33.279 where God admonishes the church in Laodicea, 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:37.740 saying, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:39.319 I will spit you out of my mouth. 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:44.800 It's the idea that cold water is at least good to drink, 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:46.620 or hot water is good to wash in, 00:07:46.719 --> 00:07:48.259 but a lukewarm water is good for nothing. 00:07:48.819 --> 00:07:52.319 And he's saying, the church in Laodicea was like lukewarm water, 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:53.420 I don't want to spit you out. 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:59.199 And so when we serve a God who is righteous and obey his rules which are right, 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:02.220 there's really no room for ambivalence, right, 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:06.939 for mediocrity or just kind of vacillating one way or another. 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:12.580 There's no room for lukewarmness because it's always right. 00:08:12.819 --> 00:08:14.280 God's rules are always good, right? 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:18.439 And so we should be zealous to see it remembered and obeyed in every sphere of life. 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:27.860 And if there were uncertainty about the veracity of God's word, 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:38.860 then sure, we'd have good excuse to vacillate or waver or be lukewarm or ambivalent about applying it. 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:42.680 But because God's righteous and his rules are right, 00:08:42.899 --> 00:08:49.460 we should never be hesitant to proclaim it, to declare it, to delight in it. 00:08:51.060 --> 00:08:56.000 And the psalmist says, even when he feels small and despised, he does not forget his precepts. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:59.440 And that's challenging because when we feel small and despised, 00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:04.779 when we feel intimidated and pressured, when we feel small or weak, 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:08.179 that's exactly when it's hard to stand on God's word. 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:12.320 But the psalmist says he still does not forget his precepts. 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:16.460 And it's because he who agrees with God is right, 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:19.100 even when the whole world disagrees with him. 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:24.000 And so our attitude should echo Paul in Romans 3, 4. 00:09:24.420 --> 00:09:27.879 Let God be true, though everyone were a liar. 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:31.980 And even when we feel intimidated by those around us, 00:09:32.040 --> 00:09:34.600 when we feel small and despised, we should remember God's word. 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:39.600 And psalmist is able to do this because he says in verse 140, 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:44.540 your promise is well tried and your servant loves it. 00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:45.560 Well tried. 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:46.580 I love that phrase. 00:09:46.580 --> 00:09:53.120 It's not something God's promises and God's word is not something that he has left untouched 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:54.580 or unopened or unused. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:55.940 It's well tried. 00:09:56.180 --> 00:09:57.020 He's used it. 00:09:57.379 --> 00:09:58.280 He loves it. 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:00.060 It's something that it's like his go-to. 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:02.120 It's what is tried and true for him. 00:10:02.780 --> 00:10:06.240 I mean, we always have, we all have things like this. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:09.900 People have their, you know, go-to recipes, right, 00:10:09.980 --> 00:10:12.540 for foods that always turn out good, right? 00:10:12.539 --> 00:10:17.419 Like Zach has his, like, what is it, maple, that maple syrup chicken thing. 00:10:17.699 --> 00:10:19.259 It's like his go-to dish sometimes. 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:22.919 When he doesn't have that much time, you know that one's going to turn out good, right? 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:26.439 It's like a, and so like some other people have a go-to music, 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:29.279 maybe they listen to it for comfort, right? 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.259 Or go-to people, right? 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:37.580 People who are tried and true that you go to for comfort or you take it for counsel. 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:42.679 And it's, there are things that are tried and true that we know are not going to disappoint. 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:44.399 For the psalmist, that was God's word. 00:10:44.740 --> 00:10:45.639 It was well tried. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:53.200 At the risk of being crude, this analogy came to mind. 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:55.500 I've heard Mike Tyson say this one time. 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:57.259 You guys know who Mike Tyson is? 00:10:58.139 --> 00:10:58.340 Yeah. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:10:58.939 Okay. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:00.000 You don't know? 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:00.319 Yeah. 00:11:00.319 --> 00:11:00.720 Okay. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:06.080 He was, he was, he was formerly the heavyweight champion of the world in boxing. 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:11.779 He's, he was known for his, I guess, really powerful punch or whatever. 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:12.060 Yeah. 00:11:12.379 --> 00:11:15.240 And, and he said, he has a famous saying that he says a lot. 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:20.800 And he says this, quote, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. 00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:26.220 And so what he means is, what he means is this. 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:30.700 Like, it's like, so he's saying all the boxers, when they're preparing for, for a fight, 00:11:31.060 --> 00:11:36.180 they watch footages of their opponents and study their habits and tendencies and in order 00:11:36.180 --> 00:11:37.060 to get an advantage. 00:11:37.060 --> 00:11:37.360 Right. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:42.080 So they had, and they come with a, with a plan, with a strategy on how to defeat their opponent. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:46.680 And, and, and he says that those things are all true, but then all the plans go out the 00:11:46.680 --> 00:11:49.620 window as soon as you get punched in the mouth, basically, as soon as you get hit in the head. 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:51.980 Because then, then fear and panic kicks in. 00:11:52.300 --> 00:11:55.700 And then all those plans are just nowhere to be remembered. 00:11:55.860 --> 00:12:00.879 Now, if their instincts come in, what they do when they feel threatened, right? 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:02.820 Their, their muscle memory kicks in. 00:12:02.920 --> 00:12:05.940 The things that they've been doing over, over year after year after year. 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:08.400 That's how they respond to the things that come. 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:13.120 And so, so it's, it becomes instinctual, no longer a strategic, right? 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:14.300 In that sense. 00:12:14.400 --> 00:12:16.200 And it's like that in life too, right? 00:12:16.280 --> 00:12:21.500 We, we, people say that they believe all kinds of things, but it's when adversity hits, right? 00:12:21.540 --> 00:12:25.480 It's when true, that's when our true fundamental beliefs are exposed. 00:12:26.220 --> 00:12:29.900 That's when our instincts, things that we really believe in, surface. 00:12:29.899 --> 00:12:32.419 That's how we respond to the things that come. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.340 And for this psalmist, his dependence on God's word is, was that. 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:39.139 It was that instinctual thing. 00:12:39.199 --> 00:12:40.079 He was well tried. 00:12:40.199 --> 00:12:41.319 That's what he went to. 00:12:41.740 --> 00:12:48.319 That when, in, when he says in verse 143, trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments 00:12:48.319 --> 00:12:49.519 are my delight. 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:56.360 When he is overcome and overwhelmed by trouble and anguish, what came out of him was trusting 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:01.879 God's word, because that's what he went to time and time again and developed his, his 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:03.159 spiritual muscle memory. 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:05.300 And that's what, that's the instinct that came out. 00:13:05.740 --> 00:13:10.840 And so that makes me want to ask us, like, are we as well acquainted with God's word? 00:13:12.019 --> 00:13:15.360 Is God's word our go-to in times of trouble and anguish? 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:17.220 Or is there something else? 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:18.879 Or someone else? 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.680 Because we should delight in and declare God's word, for God is righteous and his rules are 00:13:24.680 --> 00:13:24.960 right. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:31.580 And, and since God is righteous and his word is right, Jesus, who fulfills all of the scriptures, 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:37.740 who is the incarnate word of God, the word of God made flesh, is also true and right. 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:40.200 And we see that all throughout the gospel of John. 00:13:40.680 --> 00:13:43.080 Jesus repeatedly describes himself as true. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.980 He says that he's a true light, John 1, 9. 00:13:46.420 --> 00:13:49.280 He says he's a true bread from heaven, John 6, 32. 00:13:49.800 --> 00:13:51.800 True vine, John 15, 1. 00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:54.839 And he says, I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:13:54.959 --> 00:13:58.039 No one comes to the father except through me in John 14, 6. 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:04.059 So much like what the psalmist is saying about the word of God here in this stanza, there 00:14:04.059 --> 00:14:05.959 is no good life apart from Jesus. 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:09.519 There is no right way to God apart from Jesus. 00:14:09.959 --> 00:14:14.819 And there's no saving truth apart from Jesus because he is the word of God in human flesh 00:14:14.819 --> 00:14:16.980 who came to show us the way, the truth, and the life. 00:14:16.980 --> 00:14:21.720 And he died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead for our justification. 00:14:22.620 --> 00:14:28.960 And so we should then, as people who are living in the fulfillment era, delight in Christ and 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:35.200 declare his gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, because he is righteous and his rules 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:35.620 are right. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:40.159 And so we should be zealous for that, to see the word of Christ spread and believed. 00:14:40.500 --> 00:14:43.460 And we should remember it even in the midst of trouble and anguish. 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:50.480 And we should stand upon the gospel even when we feel small and despised like the psalmist 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:50.879 is saying. 00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:57.740 And that's my exhortation to you as we close, that we should make it our lifelong pursuit to 00:14:57.740 --> 00:15:02.759 delight in and declare the gospel until our dying breath.