WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:24.060 Heavenly Father, there are many philosophies, systems of beliefs, people that claim to give 00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:34.939 light. But as your word teaches us, you're the one that lights our path. You are our vision. 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:44.480 And so we turn our gaze toward your word once again so that we might hear from you 00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:52.239 and so that we might respond and pray, speak to you in accordance with your revealed will 00:00:52.240 --> 00:01:03.840 in scripture. So meet with us, Father. Lead us. Address us, Lord. Once again, we come and 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:09.159 humble ourselves before you. We want to place ourselves under the authority of your word. 00:01:12.219 --> 00:01:20.620 Please, Father, help us now in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:32.339 We're in Psalm 119, in stanza noon, verses 105 to 112. 00:01:35.339 --> 00:01:39.039 Psalm 119, verses 105 to 112. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:47.460 It takes a little while to scroll down now, doesn't it? 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:53.840 I'll read it out loud for us. 00:01:55.219 --> 00:02:02.719 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I've sworn an oath and confirmed it to keep 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:10.219 your righteous rules. I am severely afflicted. Give me life, O Lord, according to your word. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:15.979 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:22.240 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:27.819 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. 00:02:27.819 --> 00:02:33.879 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. 00:02:34.959 --> 00:02:39.579 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever to the end. 00:02:39.580 --> 00:02:46.420 The main point of this stanza is that we are to stay on the path of life lit by God's word. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:48.600 And we can divide it into two sections. 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:52.560 First four verses is about light for our path. 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:59.860 And the second four verses, 109 to 112, are about staying on the path. 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:04.440 And I don't know if you guys have seen the news lately about Bolivia. 00:03:05.040 --> 00:03:10.020 There's civil unrest, elections that have been disputed. 00:03:10.160 --> 00:03:13.280 Actually, Mary, Daniel's sister is there. 00:03:13.940 --> 00:03:16.500 And so she lost power. 00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:18.760 A lot of people lost power because of the things that are going on. 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:25.000 And so you can imagine in a city that doesn't have power at night, there's no light, right? 00:03:26.079 --> 00:03:31.699 Groping around in the dark, kind of not knowing what you can do, where to go. 00:03:32.219 --> 00:03:40.919 And in that kind of dark place, you can imagine the comfort and clarity and direction that light brings. 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:44.579 And that's kind of what's in view here in verse 105 when it says, 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:50.479 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, right? 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:55.939 A lot of people have claimed to bring light, right? 00:03:56.079 --> 00:04:04.179 So Buddhist enlightenment or the Enlightenment age when people turn to reason, human reason, as the primary source of knowledge. 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:14.620 However, what brings true light that brings eternal life, leads us to holy living, is the light of God's word, according to this passage. 00:04:15.700 --> 00:04:19.120 And this is good news for people who are lost, right? 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:24.160 People who are aimless, people who feel like they're groping around in the dark. 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:27.960 Because God's light is shining through his word. 00:04:28.840 --> 00:04:32.560 And it's really all the light we need, right? 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:35.060 In 1 Timothy or 2 Timothy, it's a typo here. 00:04:35.139 --> 00:04:36.379 2 Timothy 3.16 says, 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:43.300 All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:46.379 that the man of God may be equipped for every good work. 00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:50.240 Man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:57.220 So all that we must know to do every good work that God intends for us to do is written in God's word. 00:04:58.199 --> 00:04:59.959 So it illuminates the path. 00:04:59.959 --> 00:05:04.439 It illuminates the path that we must walk on and shows our feet where to go, metaphorical feet. 00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:07.139 So the psalmist continues in verse 106, 00:05:07.239 --> 00:05:10.779 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it to keep your righteous rules. 00:05:12.339 --> 00:05:15.699 What does it mean by sworn oath to confirm it? 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:21.019 It's probably something similar to what takes place in Nehemiah chapter 10, verses 28 to 29, 00:05:21.019 --> 00:05:27.560 where all of God's people gather to enter into, kind of renew their covenant before God. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.419 And it says in verse 29 of Nehemiah chapter 10, 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:38.399 that they enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law that was given by Moses, a servant of God, 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:44.379 and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord, our Lord, and his rules and his statute. 00:05:44.379 --> 00:05:50.219 So that's kind of what it means to be in covenant with God, right? 00:05:50.239 --> 00:05:52.639 You enter into an oath. 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:56.560 You've sworn your allegiance to God. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:03.780 So to become a follower of Christ is not like becoming a Twitter follower, right? 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:08.420 Where with the easy click of a button you can follow somebody, 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:12.480 and just as easily you can unclick it and unfollow somebody. 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:16.600 To become a follower of Christ is to submit to him as Lord. 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:21.779 It's to pledge allegiance to him as king, and to worship him as God. 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:27.199 And because of that, it requires the realignment of all of our purposes and priorities. 00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:33.319 It requires the renunciation of all our sins and selfish desires. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:38.139 It requires the subordination of all other loyalties and allegiances in our lives. 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:41.159 That's what it means to enter into covenant with God, to become a Christian. 00:06:41.559 --> 00:06:45.599 It's an oath and a confirmation to keep God's righteous rules. 00:06:46.559 --> 00:06:49.439 And this psalmist who's writing this has been doing this, 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:51.719 and that's why he's able to say in verse 107, 00:06:51.779 --> 00:06:53.519 I am severely afflicted. 00:06:54.159 --> 00:06:56.419 Give me life, O Lord, according to your word. 00:06:57.219 --> 00:06:59.339 Because he has lived in accordance with God's word, 00:06:59.419 --> 00:07:02.500 he expects God to deliver him as he promises in his word. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:07.079 And he continues to praise God in spite of his affliction, 00:07:07.579 --> 00:07:11.959 and continues to express his desire to grow in his understanding of God's word. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:13.019 In verse 108, 00:07:13.479 --> 00:07:17.319 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:20.699 It's the light for our path. 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:24.479 And then let's look at staying on the path in verses 109 to 112. 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:28.740 Because God's word is the bedrock of the psalmist's life and our lives, 00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:31.399 it's the certainty that anchors the psalmist's life. 00:07:31.979 --> 00:07:35.159 The psalmist seeks to stay on the path that has been lit by God's word. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:36.959 He says in verse 109, 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:55.099 To hold one's life in one's hand continually is referring to being under life-threatening circumstances constantly. 00:07:55.100 --> 00:08:03.280 Like you're having to take your life into your own hands continually because you're being assailed on all sides. 00:08:04.520 --> 00:08:09.600 And yet, I mean, that's the kind of situation when all kind of standards go out the window, right? 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:11.620 All your principles go out the window, right? 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:13.500 You kind of do anything to survive, right? 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:17.019 But for the psalmist, it's even in those moments he says, 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:20.040 I do not forget your law, right? 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:25.699 Even when his life is flickering away like the light's about to go by, 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:29.220 he stays on the light of God's word. 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:31.439 He does not forget God's law. 00:08:32.259 --> 00:08:34.440 Similarly, it says in verse 110, 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:44.800 Even when the enemies of our souls lay traps for us, 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:51.140 even when we feel their snare about to close on us or encircling us, 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:57.220 we don't flee out of fear from the path that God's laid in front of us. 00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:00.440 We do not stray, it says, from God's precepts. 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:09.740 When fearful of an immediate threat that they know and see, 00:09:09.940 --> 00:09:14.020 people, in order to avoid that seemingly immediate threat, 00:09:14.420 --> 00:09:19.960 will often walk unwittingly into even graver threats and dangers, right? 00:09:20.680 --> 00:09:25.320 It's like a, I think of someone in a fire, 00:09:26.340 --> 00:09:29.040 so scared by the fire, will jump off the window, right? 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:34.079 It's like a, even though there might be rescue at some point, 00:09:34.199 --> 00:09:38.439 or there might be some way out, like they choose, 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:42.799 they flee what they know into what they don't know, right? 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:47.939 Into, because they don't, or maybe think that that's better. 00:09:49.599 --> 00:09:54.579 This is, the road laid out for us by God might seem treacherous, 00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:58.520 because our enemies lay snares for us there. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:04.400 But even so, we must not stray from the path that the light of God's word shows us, right? 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:07.940 Because the path that is lit by God's word is still the safe path. 00:10:08.400 --> 00:10:09.740 It's still the good path. 00:10:10.580 --> 00:10:13.420 And to go astray from it onto dark, 00:10:13.940 --> 00:10:19.040 unlit alleys is to walk unwittingly into evil and ultimately death, right? 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:22.299 It's to, and that's exactly what the enemy wants to do, right? 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.019 He lays traps for us, tries to ensnare us, 00:10:26.439 --> 00:10:31.539 not only that we might fall, but so that we might stray from God's commands, God's word. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.319 And the psalmist knows this, so he says in verse 111, 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:39.459 your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:46.360 It's such an expressive, emotive phrase, joy of my heart. 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:48.920 Like, what comes to mind, you know, when you hear that phrase? 00:10:49.180 --> 00:10:50.700 The joy of my heart. 00:10:51.560 --> 00:10:54.720 You know, it's like, think of my daughters. 00:10:55.700 --> 00:10:59.060 Abigail means, Abigail is Inge's English name. 00:10:59.560 --> 00:11:02.300 Abigail means the father's joy. 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:03.460 You guys are all like, who's Abigail? 00:11:04.280 --> 00:11:06.540 It's like, do you have another daughter you hid away somewhere? 00:11:06.539 --> 00:11:09.379 Yeah, Abigail means father's joy, right? 00:11:09.439 --> 00:11:10.240 The joy of my heart. 00:11:10.319 --> 00:11:16.519 That's kind of, that's the kind of affection that a psalmist has for the testimonies or the word of God, right? 00:11:17.219 --> 00:11:18.659 The joy of my heart. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:21.559 That's my heritage because there I find God's promises. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:26.899 There I find my eternal inheritance promised to me by my father, heavenly father, 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:30.559 because there I find the promise that I've been forgiven of my sins. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:32.439 I can be united with my Lord Jesus Christ. 00:11:32.819 --> 00:11:34.860 So that's my heritage forever. 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:37.560 And so it's the joy of his heart. 00:11:37.800 --> 00:11:40.060 It rejoices his heart. 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.480 But that's not the default state of the human heart, is it? 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.980 We don't always feel like God's word is the joy of our hearts, right? 00:11:48.539 --> 00:11:51.379 And it's because we're still in our sinful flesh, 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:56.560 and our flesh still awaits its ultimate redemption, right? 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:00.000 The redemption of the body that will come when Jesus returns in the second coming. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:05.539 The renewal of our hearts have begun, but it has not yet been completed. 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:14.440 And so in this life, it takes work to continue to rejoice in our heritage of the testimonies of God. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:16.399 And so it says in verse 112, 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:25.759 If we don't do this, we won't make it to the end. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:30.159 In order to make it to the end, we have to incline our hearts. 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:32.259 We need to lean toward God's word. 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:34.139 We need to incline our hearts toward it. 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:37.399 We must apply ourselves to learning and keeping God's word. 00:12:38.299 --> 00:12:41.600 Because we are to stay on the path of life lit by God's word. 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:45.240 And this psalm is fulfilled ultimately by Jesus, 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:48.360 who is described as the light of the world, right? 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:53.799 He calls himself in the Gospel of John as the way, the truth, and the life. 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:55.919 He is the fulfillment. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:57.980 He's the one who lights our path. 00:12:58.100 --> 00:12:58.759 He is the one. 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:00.960 He is our heritage. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:03.299 He is the word incarnate. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:06.840 And so it is when we incline our heart towards him, 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:08.639 when we lean toward him, 00:13:08.700 --> 00:13:09.779 when we follow him, 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:13.840 when we align ourselves and orient our lives around him, 00:13:14.179 --> 00:13:17.580 that's when we are able to stay on the path that God's laid out for us. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:22.159 That's when we are on safe ground and walking on the path that God has lit for us. 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:25.939 And so let's seek to do that as God's people, 00:13:25.940 --> 00:13:28.460 even when we are ensnared, 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:30.380 even when there are dangers. 00:13:38.820 --> 00:13:39.400 Hey, John. 00:13:41.400 --> 00:13:42.460 Hey, it's good to have you back. 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:44.180 It's good to have you back. 00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:46.360 I don't want to interrupt. 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:47.600 Oh, I just finished. 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:48.200 Yeah, it's okay. 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:48.900 Oh, great. 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:49.860 Yeah, you came at the right time. 00:13:50.040 --> 00:13:50.180 Yeah. 00:13:51.020 --> 00:13:51.960 You came at the right time. 00:13:52.020 --> 00:13:52.780 You came at the wrong time. 00:13:52.780 --> 00:13:53.040 Yeah. 00:13:54.380 --> 00:13:54.740 Yeah. 00:13:54.740 --> 00:13:58.580 How do I stop the recording? 00:13:58.580 --> 00:13:58.899 Yeah.