Blueprint For Purity

Introduction

The PowerPoint of that is actually a little different than what’s in our book. I think that threw us for a loop there, the first verse. That was good. That’s right, Abigail. Oh, my friend Abigail. We’ve had an excellent week with David Banning, and some of you have persevered through that and were at most, if not all, of those services. And I want to build on some thoughts of his lesson, particularly on Wednesday night. And I don’t want to be at this a long time this morning, but I want our time together to be effective and helpful. One particular member who will not be named talks about, I understood every word that you said. And when that is said about sermons that I preach, I like that.

Better to be understood than people saying, what in the world was he talking about? You’re going to know what I’m talking about this morning. So let’s buckle down for a little bit and study some very helpful information. If you begin turning in the Old Testament to this grand Psalm in the book of Psalms, I want to expand perhaps your appreciation and use of Psalm 119. And if you don’t know which one that is, it’s the big one. It has 176 verses. And we’re going to digest and analyze every word and every verse this morning. No, we’re not. This Psalm is strategically placed at the end of a section just before the songsalms of Assin. And what’s interesting about those, if you don’t know what those are, is that they’re very short.

They are songs that were sung as they were going to Jerusalem for worship. They had to be short and memorable. And so those were the songs of ascent. Well, the really long one, Psalm 119, appears before the really short ones of the songs of ascent. What is this Psalm all about? It is written in 22 sections or 22 stanzas, each dedicated to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And what that means is that each particular section, eight verses in our English translations, each line in that section began with that particular letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Many of you know that, but I wanted to bring that to your attention to suggest that this literary work, Psalm 119, was put together in a very careful, well-crafted way that is somewhat lost in the translation.

Because when you’re taking Hebrew words and putting them into English words, you can’t start every line with the same letter. But that’s what’s going on if you were looking at it in the book of Hebrew, that each line in each section began with the same letter. I’ll draw your attention to that a little bit more. What is this psalm all about? Some of you know the answer to this question already. This Psalm emphasizes God, who’s mentioned 24 times in the Psalm, but not just God, but the product that comes from Him to guide our lives. This Psalm has that verse.

Psalm 119, 105. And so as it addresses God as his rightful place, as worthy of our worship, worthy of our attention, he is the sovereign God and creator of all. The creator and sustainer of my life. As we come to him, we realize that we do so on the basis of his instruction to us, his marvelous word. That is referred to by these terms law. Statutes, ordinances, commandments, precepts, testimonies. And of course, the psalmist is talking about our response to his marvelous word. No, we are not going to be able to analyze every verse of Psalm 119. But I want to look this morning at three sections in particular, the second of which we’ll look at in more detail. But the first is somewhat a summary of what the whole psalm is about.

1. Meditation, Observed, and Restrained

The Hebrew word mim is the letter on each of the lines. And it’s Psalm 119, 97 through 104. And as we read this section, I want you to notice these three words Meditation, observed, and restrained. Psalm 119, verse 97. Oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day.

If we could just practice that.

For thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed, there’s the word, I have observed your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your word. I have not turned aside from your ordinances, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste. Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth. From your precepts I get understanding. And then I draw your attention to this word. Therefore I hate every false way. If we could just observe these words in this section. If God’s word would be our meditation, if we would observe his precepts, that’s not just look at them, but look at them with the intent of putting them to use and practice in our lives.

And if we would restrain ourselves from the kind of behavior that is a violation of the will of God that causes us harm, and if we could learn to not only refrain and restrain ourselves from such wicked ways, but to learn to regard them as God does. To hate every way that is false. And may I suggest to you that we see so much that is false in our world. You can’t have the television on for an hour and a half without something happening either in a show or a commercial that’s false. That’s a false way. May you work on your hate meter of those things. Or what you might observe as you go to the mall or do things in our world. Hate every false way.

Maybe the great key to our spiritual survival and thriving is to hate sin in all of its forms. This kind of affection for the word of God is going to be key to the implementation of all of this psalm. And may this sermon be a springboard to not just digest the sections that we’re looking at, but to have an appreciation for the entirety of the psalm. Spend some time with Psalm 119. It would be a great psalm to memorize, and kudos to you if you could do it. All 176 verses, at least to memorize a great portion of this material. And here’s the really remarkable thing about this psalm before I go any further. When was it written?

Prior. Prior to the completion of the Old Testament. We’re not even talking about all of the material that comprises the Old Testament, the 39 books of the Old Testament. This was written just in reference to the law contained in Genesis through Exodus. And this is the regard of the writer for the law, the Torah, the law of God. And we’re just talking about a minuscule portion of the entire Bible. How much more should this psalm mean to us when we have the full disclosure of God’s mind, of his plan from all eternity, the mystery revealed that Paul talks about in the New Testament and all of the principles of righteousness? He said this. Without the example of Jesus. Not even knowing who he was.

Without the example of Paul. And yet this was his regard for the will of God. Should not ours be off the charts in comparison. Why isn’t it that way at times? Why do not, why do we not regard the Word of God as the psalmist does when he had a lesser portion than what we have? Well, I could preach the rest of my time there, but I want to take you to the second section. And here’s the part what I want to spend the most time with this morning. As these verses, the second section, the Hebrew letter Beth begins each line. And by the way, if you’re playing words with friends, all Hebrew letters count as words. It would help you. If you’re playing words of friends.

I use them all the time. It’s a great advantage. Beth, each opening line. This second section, a blueprint for purity. Now, this isn’t just about dating. Young people, it’s about dating.

Whenever you start that process, young people, and you become attracted to the opposite sex, these verses could be very helpful to you. But these are a blueprint for purity in our lives, whether you’re young or old. And here’s what I want to do with this section. For each verse, I want to give you a word. A word that in my mind summarizes what this verse is teaching us. And if you want to write it outside in the margin of your Bible, I want you to use this section. As we value the word of God and its contents, as it instructs us toward purity in our lives, this section in particular gives us some helpful information to help us to accomplish that. So often, when I talk to people about the righteousness of God and what it means in their lives, and we struggle.

We struggle to implement what the Bible is teaching us. We struggle to do what He’s commanded us, and then we’re left to make excuses and try to justify ourselves and blame others for our situation. If we could just use this section, it would be a sufficient springboard for your purity. And I want to do this very quickly, verse by verse, and then we’ll have a concluding section. These verses, a blueprint for purity. Oh, let me just stop right here for. Oh, I’ve teased you with this. Hold just one second. What is the blueprint for your life look like? What’s the master plan that you have? Where are you going? Someone says, I’m too young, I haven’t developed one yet. Fine, enjoy that. But as you start getting toward the end of your high school days, the decisions are forthcoming.

When you’re in college, figure it out, people, or you’ll be a student for 15 years. What’s the master plan for your life? Some of us are well into the plan. Well into it.

2. The Right Answers

What’s the blueprint of your life? Whatever that is, this blueprint needs to be a part of it. It needs to be at the heart of it. First verse. In the blueprint for purity, first understand you need the right answers. In Psalm 119 and verse 9, we sing this song on Wednesday night. How can a young man keep his way pure by keeping it according to thy word? The answer for purity is the right answers. You know, in school, I didn’t like studying. Parents, I probably shouldn’t be telling your kids this. My mom was a teacher. She was a very good teacher. And my kids, in contrast to me, are smart. And they got good grades and it was easy. For me, it involved a little bit of work, but actually, I did just enough to get by.

I didn’t like study. And when it came test time, I did not like reading 50 pages of material to take a test. What I liked better, and these are the professors that I like, the teachers that I like, is when they said to me in advance, they were teaching something, and they said, This is going to be on the test. When they say that, oh, we get busy writing it down, don’t we? This is the test answer, gonna get it right. Okay. I’m here to tell you. This is going to be on the test. The ultimate test. These are the right answer. The Bible is not just a religious book. The Bible is not just a solution for sin. The Bible is the answer for living well.

3. The Right Affections

These are life-giving words. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5. What is goodness and light and righteousness and truth. He says in that context. Pursue that. These are the right answers. Secondly, we need the right affections. With all my heart, I have sought thee. Do not let me wander from your commandments. Couldn’t help but think of this point when we were singing, Is It for Me, Dear Savior? And the one line of that song that says, My heart is at your feet. How appropriate is that. With all my heart. You know, sometimes when people are just giving a half-hearted effort at something, or they’re just not giving sufficient attention to something. They’re not contributing the part that you’re expecting from them.

What do we say about them? Their heart’s not in it. Our heart needs to be in this. With all my heart. He says.

4. The Right Purpose

Oh, wandering. Oh, wandering. That’s the problem so often. We are prone to wandering. The devil assists us in our wandering. Lord help me not to wander. Three. The right answers, the right affections, the right purpose. Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against you. These verse, this verse speaks to the storing up of God’s words in our heart. And that’s what I’m compelling you to do when I say digest the entire Psalm. Psalm 119. If these Psalms become a part of our meditation and our thinking, then we will have stored up words, and that’s the point, the purpose of the psalmist in Psalm 119 is to give us words that we can store up in our hearts. So that when a time of temptation comes, we’ll choose correctly.

This idea of storing up words in our hearts is very similar to Paul’s instruction to let the word of Christ richly dwell within us. It’s very similar to the teaching that he does about being the temple of God in the New Testament. And because we are God’s temple, we are to be holy. We are a place of God’s dwelling. Let his words dwell in us so that we can present holiness to him. And so, since times of distress will come, have words from the great encourager. Ready. Since relationships will sometimes find their way into conflict and difficulty, have words at your disposal that will remind you that the only person that I can control is myself. And Ephesians 5 would be a good place in the marriage relationship to start with what God has instructed me to do, regardless of what my spouse may do.

And when passion increases and intensifies.

5. The Right Perspective and the Right Words

That are destructive. In relationships. The right purpose. And oh, how this is important. In fact, this could probably apply to most of these verses, the right perspective. Blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. So much of what goes wrong with us spiritually is our way of looking at things becomes askew. We take our focus off God. Blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. I need to listen to Him. I need to be focused on Him. So much of it is about perspective, coming back to that in a moment. And I’ll tell you one of the key things that shows other people who we are all, what we are all about is the words that come out of our mouths. Young people. That will indicate to other people that you are a Christian quicker than anything else.

The kind of words you say and won’t say. What kind of words? With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of your mouth. Whatever I say, whatever protrudes from my mouth, whatever emanates from that must be a reflection of what is true and right and good. If I could just get young people to do that one thing, focus on that one thing in their early lives. Learn to control what you say. Because if you can control what you say, you can control your whole body. James says that in James chapter 3. He doesn’t say it’s going to be easy. Controlling the tongue is not easy. Focus there. Get your words right. Don’t delve into profanity and crudeness. Evil joke telling. Refrain from all of that.

Speak words of goodness and kindness and purity.

6. Values, Thoughts, and Memory

With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of your mouth. And get your values right. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. See, that goes back to the sweeter than honeycomb section of Psalm 119. Oh, how I love thy law. He has learned to value, again, a much lesser portion than we have. He has learned to value God’s word as greater than all riches. And again, that goes back to our point on perspective. And I’ve got to add these two verses. 127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold. Yes. Above fine gold. And then I love this one, 162. See, I’m helping you with the rest of the Psalm here. 127, 162. I rejoice at thy word as one who finds great spoil.

You know, when you go into battle and the enemy flees, they leave everything. They’re leaving for their lives. And often they would take the spoil. Treasure. It’s like it’s like Christmas, but better. Look at all this stuff. He says, I rejoice in your word as one who has found great spoils. I love my commandments above gold, sweeter than honeycomb. We have got to learn to value God’s word, to value assembling, of valuing his people in this way. And again, perspective. Values. What about our thoughts? These will help us with the right words because that’s where our words emanate from. I will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways. And finally, what about our memory? I shall delight in your statutes. I shall not forget your word.

Sometimes it is our memory that fails us. We remember a lot of minutiae. That’s not going to amount to much. Things that interest us for whatever reason. You need some sports spacks. I got some of those. Lots of them. I could tell you about the big red machine from 1975 and 1976. That’s a long time ago. The master’s just playing. I can tell you a lot about master’s lore. I can tell you what some of the announcers said when Jack Nicholas hit the great putt on the 17th hole, and Berne Lundquist said, Yes, sir. And he’ll never forever be known for that. Manutia. Not that important in the whole scheme of things. But what is important is remembering God’s instruction as we live our lives. I shall delight in your statutes.

Conclusion

I shall not forget your words. We need exposure daily because spiritual forgetfulness is a killer. Maybe this will help you. Write these words next to this section. Think about the section. Read through just this one section, eight verses. How long does that take? 30 seconds? A minute? Maybe a minute. Remind yourself this blueprint for spiritual success. And let’s conclude with this section. The Lord’s life preserver. Verse 33. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall observe it to the end. Give me understanding that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to dishonest gain. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in your ways.

Establish your word to your servant as that which produces reverence for you. Turn away my reproach, which I dread, for your ordinances are good. Behold, I long for your precepts. Revive me through your righteousness. Revive me. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in your ways. Do you need to take a step away from the futile and vain and empty course of this world, from vanity unto the holiness and righteousness of God. While there’s time and opportunity. Will you find today spiritual revival in your heart and soul? Secondly, turn away my reproach which I dread. Look, if you’re not in a right relationship with God, that should cause you great concern. As we’ll see tonight, it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God as we talk about the unpardonable sin tonight.

On the other hand, God’s ordinances, they’re good. And then may this be our course henceforth as we turn away from vanity unto the goodness of God and his ways, your statutes. I shall observe them to the very end. And may that be your heart’s desire. And if we can assist anyone in responding in obedience to the message that brings life, come now while we stand in silence.