June 30, 2024 • 40 mins
Get ready to unlock the profound wisdom of Psalm 119 with local evangelist David Brickey. Have you ever wondered what the longest chapter in the Bible reveals about our relationship with God's law? In this episode, David brings fresh insights and personal reflections, guiding us through the psalmist's deep-seated desire and remarkable confidence in God's statutes. We'll explore the unique acrostic structure of the psalm and the multifaceted perspectives it offers, including the tension between humanity's failures and God's enduring grace.
Our conversation doesn't stop there. We delve into the historical context of God's law, from Mount Sinai to the Deuteronomic era, exploring key moments that shaped Israel's relationship with divine commandments. Through a heartfelt discussion on the balance between the Pharisees' rule-keeping and the deeper spiritual meanings intended by God, we emphasize the importance of sincere devotion over mere outward compliance. David shares his thoughts on how Psalm 119, particularly verse 25, emphasizes the transformative power of God's word and the need for continual introspection and reliance on His guidance.
As we reflect on the emotional depth of Psalm 119, you'll hear about the psalmist's struggles with grief, self-deception, and the dual nature of loving God's law while feeling inadequate. Discover how everyday actions, when viewed through the lens of God's blessings, can hold sacred significance. This episode underscores the journey of discipleship, the value of repentance, and the importance of seeking God's mercy in every aspect of life. Join us for a meaningful exploration of Psalm 119 that promises to enrich your spiritual understanding and devotion.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
In this episode of Balancing the Christian Life, we
examine Psalm 119.
Welcome to Balancing theChristian Life.
I'm Dr Kenny Embry.
Join me as we discover how tobe better Christians and people
in the digital age.
Quick, what is the longestchapter in the Bible?
(00:21):
You might know that it's Psalm119, and if you're like me, you
do make a differentiationbetween Bible chapters and the
Psalms.
I think of the Psalms as thesongbook of the Hebrews back in
the Old Testament.
However, that's not even a verygood way to think about what
they are.
What they are is wisdomliterature that teaches us
(00:43):
something about God.
I am sure most of them weresung.
I am sure that they probablyknew their songbook probably
about as well as we do, and Ithink that's one of the things
that makes the Psalms themselvessome of the most important
pieces of literature in the OldTestament.
The Old Testament.
(01:07):
These were passages that theywould know and they would be
able to apply to the Messiahthat would come much, much later
.
I'm talking today to DavidBrickey, and when I was talking
to David about what he wanted totalk about, this is what he
brought up.
He wanted to talk about thelongest psalm in the Bible,
psalm 119.
I've got to confess I don'tread Psalm 119 very often.
(01:28):
In the back of my mind I'vealways thought it's a repetitive
psalm.
The major theme of Psalm 119 isthe law of God, and the
psalmist will talk about it inmany different ways.
As a 21st century American, I'mnever really excited about
talking about law, but Iunderstand that I'm jaded, that
(01:50):
I am affected by basically thelaw of the land and that's not
exciting to me.
However, the psalmist is veryexcited about what the law of
God teaches us.
David brought that out to meand I think you'll hear that in
this conversation.
David Brickey is a localevangelist to me.
He works at the HendersonBoulevard Church of Christ in
(02:13):
Tampa, florida.
However, he's from theWashington state area, which is
a beautiful part of the country.
He and his wife have twochildren and he's been one of
the guys that have gotten toknow better because of that
little book club that I havewith Edwin and, occasionally,
mark Dunnigan.
So let's start here, david.
Why did you want to talk aboutPsalm 119?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in the Bible.
I wanted to understand moreabout it.
I don't know if I've yetaccomplished that, but as I read
through it a couple of thingsreally struck me.
The psalmist is a verydifferent person than I am.
Maybe other people read thispsalm and they're like this
describes me.
I have this kind of ardentdesire for the law of God and
(02:57):
this confidence in the law ofGod and the word of God and the
statutes of God, but for me.
I read through it and I'm like,wow, I wish I had a margin of
what this psalmist has and theway he thinks about God's word.
That intrigued me about it.
So you know a little bit aboutthis psalm.
Yeah, I do know a little bitabout this psalm.
Tell me where you're at on it?
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, I think it's interesting.
Obviously, we know that it's anacrostic and in my mind I had
always thought about this as anequivalent to Proverbs, where
verse three may or may not haveany relationship to verse four.
But that's not true of this,because one of the things that
you see is, when he's on Aleph,all of those form a complete
thought, and when it comes tofocusing on God's law, he will
(03:41):
look at it from his point ofview, and then he will look at
it from God's point of view, andthen he will look at it from
his point of view, and then hewill look at it from God's point
of view, and then he will lookat it from his adversary's point
of view, and that all of theseare different points of view
that he will basically tackle ineach one of these little things
.
So, anyway, those are myobservations about it, but what
are yours?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, that picks up some really cool things about it
.
You think, oh, this is aboutthe law of God, and yet it goes
on for 176 verses.
The stanzas are eight lines,organized around each letter of
the Hebrew alphabet.
You said it's an acrostic psalmIn the English.
We're really not going to pickthat up, except for the fact
that in most Bibles it's gotAleph, beth, daleth, and for
(04:17):
those of us who don't knowHebrew we're going to be like,
okay, is there any benefit forme even understanding that this
is an acrostic psalm?
I'm not sure that it'snecessary.
Reading through it in Englishyou already picked up on.
Each stanza seems to be reallyself-contained on an idea or
concept around the law of God.
Interestingly enough, each lineof each stanza, so every eight
lines of the stanza, starts withthe same Hebrew letter.
(04:39):
That's the way this isstructured acrostically.
There's another 22-letteracrostic in the Bible in its
Lamentations 3.
We really don't know who wrotethis psalm.
It's traditionally beenattributed to David, but there's
nothing in the psalm that wouldhave to be the case, or even
indeed that it's probable thatit's the case.
Maybe this is some unnamedpsalmist.
We're looking at a six to800-year period where this could
(05:01):
have been written in Israel'shistory before the exile has
been completed and you've gotthe compilation of the canon of
Hebrew scriptures.
So why an acrostic?
Any of us who have been inEnglish class know the rules of
poetry give a structure thatthen force the author to put his
thoughts within something thatis confined and something that
(05:24):
provides discipline to thewriter, which is interesting.
That it's an acrostic poem waschosen for a poem that's all
about law and word and statutesand ordinances and structure.
Because I don't know about you,kenny, law is something I have
a complicated relationship with,because when I hear the word
(05:44):
law, I think thou shalt not.
I think someone else telling mewhat to do, I think someone
else has authority over me and Iam a human being who is very
resistant to other peopletelling me what to do, and I
suspect that there might betimes when your listeners
(06:05):
resonate with that.
I just go through the law ofGod and I'm like, wow, the
psalmist just loves this law,these words, these testimonies.
And I found myself discovering,as I read through this psalm
and meditated upon it, all theways in which I can change the
way I think about God's law.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I'm not somebody who generally likes law.
The fact of the matter is Ihave a conflicted relationship
with American law because Ithink one of the things that I
know in the US form ofgovernment, at least
tangentially I have the abilityto affect what laws are enacted.
The law that most directlyaffects me is my homeowners
(06:47):
association.
There are 200 houses in myneighborhood, and my voice is
still not very big.
God's law is different, though.
How is God's law different thanmy HOA, or even different than
the United States of America,telling me what I can and cannot
do?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
That's a really good question, Kenny, because the way
we think about law is we dothink in terms of statutes given
by someone else.
We have a very legislativemindset.
Historically speaking, we see asea change in the way laws
practice in the Western worldaround the time of the
Napoleonic codes, where Napoleonis imposing this new rational
law on communities across Europe.
(07:26):
Prior to that time, you have atradition of English common law,
and common law is the idea thatlaw is evolving over time when
people ascertain what is truejustice and we're going to
figure this out.
But the idea is justice existsand we can find it and discover
it.
That might be a little bitcloser to antiquity's conception
(07:48):
of what law is or should be.
Is that law exists and we needto discover it?
In the case of God's law, wecan sometimes read onto it, our
statute mindset.
God is just making statutes forus to keep and abide by.
When we step back and think,actually, what God is doing is
revealing something that existsfor us and we can either decide
(08:11):
to live the way the creator ofthe universe has said this is
the way to live and flourish, orwe can decide that law is
actually not true and I'm goingto believe a lie.
That's really the choice you'remaking.
You're not making the choice.
Oh, let me choose between 18different rulers or 18 different
law givers, and all of themhave valid sources of authority.
No, you're choosing between thecreator of the universe and a
(08:33):
bunch of false laws and thingsthat will lead to death.
And I think this is somethingthat has really impressed me as
I read through this is, when youread through Psalm 119, you're
going to notice there's not awhole lot explicitly said about
what the law of God is.
Very little is explicitly saidin this Psalm about what is the
law of God, or what is the lawof God I should be meditating
(08:54):
upon.
Oh sorry, and so I was justgoing to mention.
So then we have to think wheream I going to actually decide?
What am I going to actuallythink about?
What is it I actually loveabout what God has done?
Do you mind if we just read thefirst stanza of Psalm 119?
Go for it.
So, verse one, Psalm 119, I'mreading from the New American
Standard Version 1995.
How blessed are those whose wayis blameless, who walk in the
(09:16):
law of the Lord.
How blessed are those whoobserve his testimonies, who
seek him with all their heart.
They also do no unrighteousness.
They walk in his ways.
You have ordained your preceptsthat we should keep them
diligently.
Oh, that my ways may beestablished to keep your
statutes.
Then I shall not be ashamedwhen I look upon all your
commandments.
(09:36):
I shall give thanks to you withuprightness of heart when I
learn your righteous judgments.
I shall keep away with theinitial impression that the
psalmist thought a lot of thepsalmist and his ability to keep
God's law.
And then I read through alittle closer and I kept seeing
(10:06):
these glimmers of the psalmistcrying out to God and asking hey
, I need my ways to beestablished in your ways and I
need you not to forsake meutterly.
I am completely dependent uponyou to order my way after you
and after what you've declared,and after your righteousness.
If I keep your ways, Lord, thenI will do no unrighteousness,
Then I can give thanks to youwith uprightness of heart.
Then I can give thanks to youwith uprightness of heart.
(10:28):
It can be easy to read Psalm 119and start feeling like man.
Can I relate to this guy at all?
He seems like he's really goodat keeping the law of God, Until
I started to understand that,in the background of everything
that he's saying, there seems tobe this really ready
recognition.
I haven't lived by these laws.
There have been times when Ihaven't, and yet I still have
the confidence that I can keepwalking with my God.
So is God just declaring thisas the sovereign or is he
(10:54):
describing the nature of realityand you need to comport
yourself with that to have life?
At the end of DeuteronomyDeuteronomy, chapter 30, after
the reading of the curses andthe blessings Moses says there,
to read from Mount Ebal andMount Gerizim, he says I set
before you today the way of lifeand the way of death.
And the really interestingthing about Deuteronomy is he's
(11:15):
like you're going to choose theway of death, that's what you're
going to do, and you're goingto be exiled, You're going to be
driven out of this land ofpromise I've given you, as I
read through Psalm 119 and I'mthinking about law, ordinance,
the word of God, the promises ofGod all of that's bouncing
around in my head of differentperiods in Israel's history when
they received law and when theyfailed to live up to that law.
(11:40):
I mentioned one episode.
Any other episodes that come toyour mind about law giving in
the children of Israel's historywhen you look at the children
of Israel.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
If there's an opportunity to go awry, they
will.
And you can go throughout allof the kings of both the north
and the southern kingdoms.
There were a handful of goodones, but most of them were bad.
And even during the good ones,the children of Israel were not
always obedient.
But you ask for one instance,it's the whole story.
(12:10):
It's the whole story of Israel,by the way, which is our story
as well.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, so there's.
I'm going to push back a littlebit on one thing.
You said, saying it's theirwhole story, because I do think
it's important to make somespecific identifications of
periods when Israel receivedspecific law, just for the sake
of understanding the story.
Because if we say it's all thesame story but the
particularities of it areimportant, because I could say
the same thing about, like Psalm119, it's just one idea the law
(12:38):
of God, and yet there's areason.
There's 22 stanzas all builtaround just one letter of the
Hebrew alphabet that exploredifferent facets of it.
And I think we see that in thehistory of God's people
throughout time.
I think that the general themeyou mentioned of it's everywhere
, that is obviously true.
And then you've got asparticular moments Mount Sinai.
(12:58):
They're given the lawimmediately after that.
And it's interesting because wehear Mount Sinai and we think
10 commandments and it's oftenbeen called the 10 words.
And it's interesting because wehear Mount Sinai and we think
10 commandments and it's oftenbeen called the 10 words.
And that's because these arethe words the Lord spoke.
And then he gives these 10sections of word about how they
are to live now that they're incovenant with God.
You have the Deuteronomic lawgiven by Moses after the
(13:20):
rebellion of the generation whocouldn't enter into Canaan and
after the rebellion of theirchildren, with the sin of Baal
Peor of going in, being seducedto engage in sexual perversion
with the nation that wasimmediately outside the promised
land.
So you have these two majorperiods of rebellion and it's
all right around the giving oflaw and the giving of this
(13:42):
covenant.
And God is saying just be withme and I'll be with you.
And Moses is like, hey, I needyou to go with us because we
can't do this without you.
And God's like, yeah, I'll havemercy on who I'll have mercy on
in Exodus, chapter 33.
Then, to get back to Psalm 119,it's like what does it matter if
this guy loves the law of Godso much?
Has he kept it?
(14:02):
Has it accomplished anythingfor him?
I think the psalmist recognizesall that.
You can't be a man who lovesthe law of god like he does and
not recognize that we are sinful, filthy people that need
cleansing to be in the presenceof a holy god.
That is throughout the psalm.
(14:23):
So I start in that first stanza.
Verse eight ends with do notforsake me.
That's a recognition, therighteous thing for you to do
God would be to forsake me.
That would be the right thing,but, on the other hand, actually
the righteous thing for God todo because he's a merciful,
long-suffering and gracious andfull of loving kindness to those
who love him is to have mercy.
(14:44):
If you go back to Exodus 20,god spoke all these words saying
I'm the Lord, your God.
I brought you up out of theland of Egypt, out of the house
of slavery, and I want to focuson verses five and six.
You shall not worship them orserve them, the idols of the
nations around you or any idolthat you can make the likeness
(15:05):
of anything that is heaven orabove the earth.
You shall not worship them orserve them, for I, the Lord,
your God, am a jealous Godvisiting at an equity of the
fathers, on the children, on thethird and fourth generations of
those who hate me, but showingloving kindness to thousands, to
those who love me and keep mycommandments.
Now we have contrast contrastedhere those who hate God and
(15:27):
those who love God, those wholove him and keep his
commandments, those who hate him.
But then you think about thehistory of the Jewish people and
you think, oh, who actuallyloved God and kept all his
commandments.
Not a single one of them lovedGod and kept all his
commandments.
Not a single one of them lovedGod and kept all his
commandments.
And we have a really obviousadmissions.
(15:48):
I've caught myself making theassumption that this was somehow
a mystery to the Jewish people.
It just wasn't.
They knew this and they wereintimately aware of this, at
least to those who are payingattention.
And the psalmist, whoever wrotePsalm 119, was no different from
that.
Then it becomes a recognitionthat my state, without the law
of God, is ordering my lifehowever I see fit.
(16:10):
Oh, I've been living afterthese lies, but I have a path
forward.
God is gracious in giving usthis beautiful structure of
which to conform our lives to,the way Psalm 119 closing shows
us this very explicitly.
(16:31):
In Psalm 119, verse 176.
Just listen to the way this laststanza ends.
Let my cry come before you, oLord.
Give me understanding,according to your word.
Let my supplication come beforeyou.
Deliver me according to yourword.
Let my lips utter praise foryou, teach me your statutes.
Let my tongue sing of your word, for all your commandments are
(16:54):
righteous.
Let your hand be ready to helpme, for I have chosen your
precepts.
I long for your salvation, oLord, and your law is my delight
.
Let my soul live that it maypraise you and let your
ordinances help me.
I have gone astray like a lostsheep.
Seek your servant, for I do notforget your commandments.
There's this really obvious callout from the psalmist, saying I
(17:17):
have wandered like a sheep, andthis really bold request that
he needs God to take action.
I don't know if you've everbeen praying for forgiveness
from God and promising you'regoing to repent of something,
promising, hey, I'm never goingto do that again.
I'll never raise my voice again.
I'll never lust after a womanagain.
I'll never be angry again, lord, I'll never lose control again.
(17:38):
Lord, please, I'm going to doit.
I'll do it, lord.
I've made it very much aboutmyself in making those calls for
repentance and the psalmisthere recognizes yeah, I've gone
astray from what I know, becauseI know you've taught me this.
I know I've gone astray and Ineed you to seek me and I'm not
(17:59):
going to forget yourcommandments, even as I've
wandered like a lost sheep.
Seek me, lord, be ready to helpme, in verse 173, for I have
chosen your precepts.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Why is God's law any different?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
than any other law.
What we see in this psalm isthat God's law and his word is
true.
We can't always be certain.
The laws written by humanauthors are true Only insofar as
they're a direct reflection ofthe divine law and of what God
has commanded.
That's the only way we can becertain they're true.
(18:34):
This Psalm identifies thatGod's law is truth and it's
righteous, so we don't have toworry that this is some kind of
unjust thing.
So verse 160, the sum of yourword is truth and every one of
your righteous ordinances iseverlasting.
(18:54):
So sometimes what we do whenwe're considering the law of God
, we do import our frustrationswith law in general onto the law
of God.
We import ideas of hypocrisyabout the law of God.
Oh, the community I'm in.
I'm seeing people not live bythe law of God and yet say we
should live by the law of God,all of which the psalmist
probably would have agreed with.
He has many calls out of thewicked who set traps, the
(19:18):
enemies of the righteous, thosewho don't abide by God's law.
So I think you'd be in goodcompany with the psalmist there.
But the problem's not with thelaw, the problem's with the ones
trying to keep it and trying tolive by it, and the ones who
need the mercies of God.
That's where the problem lies.
It lies with the rebellioushuman heart, not with the
perfect words of God.
As I've been reading throughthis and considering okay, we've
(19:41):
got law and we've got all thegood things it does for you.
The truth of the word of God,and thinking about the way that
this is adjudicated in theepistle to the Romans, is there
was none who is righteous.
No, not one.
Jesus came to die for those whoare not righteous.
It wasn't to set aside the law,but to fulfill the law, and it
(20:03):
was to complete the law.
And now we're given theadmonition.
For us who are Gentiles, whohave received the message and
the gospel of Jesus Christ,admonition for us who are
Gentiles who have received themessage and the gospel of Jesus
Christ, it's enough for you toabstain from fornication, from
idolatry, from blood, and to nolonger go in the ways of,
essentially, the pagans aroundyou.
And now love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, all your
(20:25):
mind, all your soul.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
As Paul writes in Romans, loveis the fulfillment of the law.
When we start thinking, what lawshould I be meditating upon,
because there's eight sectionsin the Psalm where the Psalmist
says I meditate on your law.
I rise at night to meditate onyour law.
I look forward to the nightwatch so I can meditate on your
law.
Okay, what portion of the lawam I going to meditate on and
(20:46):
where am I going to go tounderstand what about this law
gives me wisdom?
For me, there's so manydifferent places you could go to
.
You could go to the 10commandments, the 10 words, and
be like what about this?
It has wisdom and it hasgoodness and beauty in it.
You can go to the Shema lovethe Lord by God with all their
heart.
You could go to the Sermon onthe Mount about what Jesus
(21:08):
describes as the law of thekingdom of heaven.
And why is this so righteous,so beautiful?
Let this Psalm encourage you tocarry a portion of God's word
with you and let it convict youof the need for repentance of
(21:28):
the sins that are plaguing youand the surety that God is with
you.
And God gave you this so thatyou could be more like his son.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I think one of the things that happens is we often
find ourselves surrounded byrule keepers who fancy
themselves law keepers.
The law reveals the characterof God.
When you violate the law,you're violating the character
of God.
You are basically adopting whoGod is, and sometimes that's
(22:01):
going to look like a bunch ofcheckboxes.
There should come a point whereyou understand that might in
practice be legal, but it's notethical.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I think it is completely possible to be among
your brethren and not befulfilling the law of Christ on
what he's asked you to do.
Taking the example of thePharisees, the rule keeping of
the Pharisees they had createdsuch a rabbinic tradition of how
we're going to go about keepingthe law and it turned into this
(22:35):
whole.
Here's all these loopholes, howto avoid keeping the law, and I
think Matthew 23 really paintsthey tithe, mint and cumin and
deny the weightier matters ofthe law.
A nice picture of these reallylight herbs and the weightier
matters of the law.
Ultimately, I always push backon the idea.
(22:56):
The problem is with the rulekeeping of the law and not the
keeping of the spirit of the law, because ultimately, if you're
keeping the letter of the lawwithout the spirit, are you
keeping the letter of the law tobegin with, if it comes from
God, if you have faith to movemountains but have not love,
have you kept the law of God?
Speaker 1 (23:14):
No, but the thing about it is who's going to catch
you on it?
Because here's the thing thepeople around you.
They've got their checklists.
Do they know your heart?
No, but what do they have?
They have your attendancerecord.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
That's a different question though, kenny, isn't it
?
Because if the question is,what are they going to identify
about me, about my heart?
Ultimately, I can't look at you, kenny, and be like I know that
he is keeping the law of Godand that he has a heart like the
psalmist here of what we'vebeen talking about, no more than
you can look at me and say Iknow David, he loves the law of
God.
Listen to the way he acts.
He's poetic and he's so verboseand he's so eloquent.
(23:56):
Obviously, that's not happeningthat you can identify, just by
the words I speak or the actionsI even take, whether or not I
have the same kind of love forthe law of God that this
psalmist has, or that I have thelove of the brethren that the
law of God and the law of Christdemands that I have, or that I
have the love of the brethrenthat the law of God and the law
of Christ demands that I have.
So then that becomes like whocan I count on to identify?
(24:17):
Is my heart actually towardswhat it needs to be oriented
towards?
Because I can't count on evenmy spouse to tell me if my heart
is oriented where it needs tobe.
I can count on the law of Godand, honestly, looking at the
law of God and letting itactually speak to me and
actually listening to it oh,there's this.
Actually, can we go with one ofthe stanzas that actually speaks
(24:39):
directly to this in verse 25 ofthe Psalm?
Because none of that to saythey can't help me with that.
But ultimately, we are great atdeceiving people and deceiving
others that we are doing what wethink we should be doing and we
shouldn't be looking to deceiveanyone and yet it's something
(24:59):
that we fall into because we arepeople who struggle with sin
and doubts and we don't wantpeople to know hey, my life
hasn't reflected the heart ofGod, it's.
Oh, wow, that's shocking.
You're not God.
I'm shocked and surprised, butit shouldn't shock us.
It shouldn't shock us at allwhen we recognize that we need
(25:20):
to be daily confessing our sinsto one another.
A whole different topic.
But let's get back to Psalm 119and verse 25.
My soul cleaves to the dust.
Revive me, according to yourword.
So it's open.
This stanza opens with my soulcleaves to the dust.
Revive me, according to yourword.
So it's open.
This stanza opens with my soulcleaves to the dust and we're
bringing up imagery of from thedust.
I was taken to the dust.
I return.
He's at a low point, he is notin a good place and he needs
(25:42):
revival, according to God's word, and pay close attention to
verse 26.
I have told of my ways and youhave answered me of my ways and
you have answered me.
Teach me your statutes.
So the psalmist is saying likeI was talking with God and I
(26:03):
said this is how David lives.
David lives like this and it isso righteous.
And then I heard this answerfrom God.
Now the question is, how is thepsalmist hearing this answer
Based on this psalm?
I think it's because he isconstantly devoted to the word,
the law, the statutes, theprecepts of God.
And God answers him and he sayshey, david, your ways aren't my
ways.
And then look at the way thatthis plays out in the rest of
(26:24):
the stanza.
So the Psalmist cries out teachme your statutes, make me
understand the way of yourprecepts.
Okay, I don't want to just knowyour precepts, I want to
understand the way I want tounderstand about this.
My soul weeps because of grief.
Strengthen me, according toyour word.
I don't think that he's justhaving a bad day.
I think the reason for hisweeping, based on what he said,
(26:46):
is my ways are not your ways,and that should make us weep in
abject terror.
In fact, another section ofPsalm 119 where he says I fear
your commandments, lord.
He considers the law of God.
On the one hand he loves it.
On the other hand, he realizeshe hasn't lived up to it.
He trusts in God to strengthenme, according to your word,
verse 28.
Remove the false way from meAgain, that falsehood lying, the
(27:11):
way we deceive ourselves.
The psalmist is putting thatpower in the law of God and in
the word of God and in itsability to reflect back to us
who we are if we will actuallylisten to God, tell us his ways
and rebuke us in our own ways.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
I think one of the things that I would say is you
made an admission in there.
That's difficult for all of us.
We don't even have a goodwindow into our own motivations.
It is my opinion that thePharisees, for the most part,
thought they were on God's goodside.
I think the idea that Jesuscame and said you guys are
missing it, I think that was arevelation to them in a way that
(27:52):
they weren't anticipating.
I think that our own problemswould probably be revelations to
us as well.
I think this passage does areally nice job of that.
I'm scared what I'm going tofind out, because I know I'm
probably not very good.
I guess it goes back to thatidea of meditating and
recognizing how we do or do notmeasure up and, let's face it,
(28:13):
it's not measuring up.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah, that was something that I found
surprising as I thought aboutthis psalm more and more.
Kenny was the idea that myfirst impression was just really
wrong of who this psalmist wasand who he thought he was too,
because I was thinking I waslike man.
He's saying you make my waysgreat, make me walk in the path
of your commandments.
I delight in it.
Just imagine any of ourbrethren talking the way this
(28:37):
psalmist does about their ownlife, and how quick I'd be to
just blot out all the ways inwhich they're saying I don't
measure up and yet I trust inyou.
And all the ways I'd hear oh,you think you're living out the
law of God, you think you're sorighteous and you're so perfect.
But, as you like, really startto listen to what this psalmist
is saying.
(28:57):
He's not saying I'm sorighteous, I'm so perfect.
He's saying God's law isrighteous and it actually
accomplishes something on theone who considers it.
It does make you wise and itdoes give you insight, but you
have to continually go back tothat fresh water.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
There are a lot of highfalutin ideas in this psalm
and let's face it later on todayyou're going to go pick up your
kids, You're going to go to thegrocery store, You're going to
do your laundry.
Why is this important?
Because the rest of your lifeis going to be a bunch of
mundane stuff and it's going tobe important stuff that doesn't
(29:30):
look like highfalutin ideas.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
I want to push back on the idea that any action you
take in this life is mundane andthat there is any portion of
your life that can't besomething that is sacred and
beautiful and a gift from God,because I've often been in that
framework of hey, I need to putfood on the table, I have dirty
dishes to do, I have yet anotherdirty diaper.
(29:58):
To change the way we end upinteracting with these really
mundane things, which I think issuch a high call for the saints
of God, is to aspire to live aquiet life that trusts in God
and his mercies.
If the quiet life is actuallywhat we're to aspire to, that
(30:20):
means that's a holy calling thatGod has called us to.
So when I go to pick up my kids, there's something holy and
wonderful about being with mychildren, who have been apart
from me all day.
The Bible looks highly on thekindness that we show to every
single person and to our enemies, because there are enemies of
those who love God, and ourcommand is to pray for them, to
(30:43):
love them, to give them blessing.
As we have a heart that's morelike God, we're going to start
to look at our mundane life in avery different way.
We're going to start to look atour mundane life in a very
different way, because God looksat every mundane life as
something that is precious andbeautiful and in need of
redemption and can be redeemed.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Okay, let me go through a little exercise with
you.
Yeah, I've got clothes in thewasher that need to be put in
the dryer.
Where is?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
God in that, as you're getting your clothes out
of the washer, putting them inthe dryer, you have
opportunities for gratefulness.
Or you can take a differentview entirely.
I have a task to accomplish andI'm just doing that and it has
no meaning, it doesn't matterand in fact, all the menial
(31:34):
tasks I have in life have nomeaning.
In fact, you know what Life is?
Just one silly thing after thenext and honestly, that's the
nihilistic approach to thinkingabout our lives.
We're only going to pick outthe things that we find value in
and worth in and say those arethe things that matter as
opposed to.
(31:54):
God has given us a right toexistence and blessed us with
being of just experiencingreality, and there's a great
gratitude we can have for that.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Existence itself is a blessing we can have, for that
existence itself is a blessing.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
But don't you realize that all is vanity and striving
after wind, and that is why youshould fear God and keep his
commandments, for they are notburdensome, they are not too far
from you.
That's the interesting thingabout this psalm it is talking
about the law of God, and I havethis gut instinct to say, yeah,
who could ever live up to that?
Yeah, none of us have.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
You've already referenced the last part of
Psalm 119, which I think isprobably the part that in verse
68, where it says be good and dogood, which is something
special to me.
It's one of the few places inscripture that actually says
something along those lines.
But I think one of the thingsthat you've alluded to several
times already is whoever'swriting this psalm has no
(32:53):
illusion about how good he is.
The only thing that herecognizes is that God is good
and that he's not, and thatanything that's good in his life
is not because of what he'sdoing.
Right.
And there is a lot of hope inthis psalm for a bunch of people
who are, by themselves,hopeless.
That, to me, is the Christianwalk.
As we rely on ourselves, werecognize we cannot rely on
(33:17):
ourselves.
Do you see what I'm saying?
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
So in verse 68, you are good and you do good.
Teach your statutes.
Even just in those two lines,you have this admission that I
recognize where goodness dwells,it's not with me.
I'm not coming to you saying Iam good.
That's why I've come to you god.
No, it's.
You are good, you do good, soyou teach me your ways.
(33:41):
I think this portion of psalm119, I think this portion could
have been going through the richyoung ruler's head.
I really do, oh, good teacher.
And Jesus says oh, why do youcall me good?
There's no one good but God.
And then the way that stanzaends in verse 72, the law of
your mouth is better to me thanthousands of gold and silver
(34:03):
pieces.
So there's this greatprioritization that this
psalmist has.
Of course, the rich young ruler.
He was so sorrowful because hehad so much wealth and Jesus
asked him simply what God isasking simply in this psalm
follow me.
Because the truth is we can allrecognize oh yeah, we're
sinners, we've fallen short ofthe glory of God.
That's not a revelation to anyof us, but the call God still
(34:27):
makes is okay, still follow me,get back up and follow me, and
actually you are going to becomemore and more like me, because
of what I was willing to do foryou and because of my loving
kindness, because of my mercies,because I am good and I do good
.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
I appreciate that One of the other things that I
think I got out of this and youalluded to it as well is that I
think we have gotten sodestination-specific.
In other words, if we are notperfect, then that means that
the journey itself is not worthanything.
If you get on a road toCleveland and you don't end up
(35:04):
in Cleveland, was the trip worthit.
And I think that the idea ofdiscipleship is of course you're
going to mess up.
God never expected otherwiseand he has already made
provision for when you mess up.
But that's a very differentthing than to say you know what,
if I'm going to go to hell, I'mjust going to do the things
(35:24):
that would get me to hell,because I can't do this
perfectly.
So let me just be the hedonistI want to be, because if I'm
going to end up there and adisciple recognizes, of course
I'm not going to do the rightthing, but as I try better and
as I try to get closer, I willget closer.
And I'm still not going to getthere on my own goodwill, on my
(35:47):
own merit.
Yeah, god is the one who'sgetting me there, on his merit.
Yeah, but the journey itself isstill worthwhile.
You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
I was listening to someone who I don't agree with
theologically at all talk aboutthe problem with sin versus
belief and talking about thosewho are struggling with belief.
The struggle with belief startswith the sin.
The sin doesn't start with theunbelief, the fact that we're
sinning and we become convincedthat the sin is a symptom of our
(36:23):
relationship with God andsomehow it needs to be hid from
God, or hid from our fellow manor from our fellow brother and
sister in Christ, instead ofconfessed to and relying upon
God, and relying upon hismercies and throwing yourself on
the mercies of God.
As I said, we really have noidea who was the specific author
of this psalm, although manyhave attributed it to David.
(36:47):
Author of this psalm, althoughmany have attributed it to David
, you think of David as theultimate one, who did not
deserve mercy at all.
And yet it's called the manafter God's own heart.
And why do you think it is?
I think it's because he didn'tforget God's statutes, he didn't
forget God's law, he threwhimself on the mercies of God,
and that's the only way I canunderstand he was the man after
God's own heart is the love hehad for the law of God and the
(37:08):
person of God and the fact thathe was not willing to be
subverted with the lie that hehad told himself about the sins
that he had committed.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Yeah, everything.
I've always related thesethings back to parenthood and
one of the things I think,because you're not going to be
the perfect parent, you aheadand throw into the towel, should
just get rid of the kids,should, right?
It's the stupidest thing you'veever heard.
And of course, you're going tomess up.
You're going to mess up allkinds of ways.
That doesn't mean you get tothrow in the towel and it
doesn't mean that that thejourney's not worth it.
(37:41):
David.
Undoubtedly we could considercan continue this for a much
longer time.
I end all of my podcasts withBe Good and Do Good, which is
entirely in this psalm.
What's good about looking overGod's law?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
As you consider God's law in a deeper way, you're
going to be shocked at how muchGod loves people who are so
wicked and so evil and so vileand who have done terrible
things.
It's going to shock you in sucha way that you say, god, how
could you be so merciful topeople so undeserving?
(38:21):
That's what I've been shockedby about the law of God as I've
thought about it more and moreis why have you let this earth
continue spinning, lord, whenthere is so much wickedness and
so much vileness?
And it's because God is goodand he does good and he's more
powerful than evil, and love canovercome evil.
(38:41):
And you'll see that as youthink more and more about the
law of God.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Good job, all right, david, I appreciate you talking
to me about this.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
There's a I was going to try and plug.
There's a five volume set ofcommentaries all on Psalm 119
that some guy wrote Five is, Ithink it ends up.
Each one is like 1600 pages why, but I think they got the gist
with our interview Absolutely.
Thanks.
So much, kenny.
(39:13):
Yeah, thanks for letting metalk.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
But it asked me to read through Psalm 119 before I
had this conversation, and I'mglad I did.
He brought out a lot of thethings that I found as well,
specifically, that most of thesections and stanzas made
complete thoughts.
The thing that he brought to me, however, was how much like the
psalmist we all really are.
(39:39):
The psalmist is talking aboutreally how good the law is and
how we never quite measure up.
It's good to know that even thepeople who are writing the
Psalms recognize their ownproblems and that they had
problems.
It makes them a lot morerelatable.
As for the good thing I'mthinking about, I'm grateful for
(40:02):
good friends.
I've been thinking a lot aboutthe friends that I have overseas
, In the Philippines.
There have been severaldifferent problems that they've
had, and I've been praying forthem.
I ask that you pray for them aswell.
So until next time, let's begood and do good.
In this episode of Balancing the Christian Life, we
examine Psalm 119.
Welcome to Balancing theChristian Life.
I'm Dr Kenny Embry.
Join me as we discover how tobe better Christians and people
in the digital age.
Quick, what is the longestchapter in the Bible?
(00:21):
You might know that it's Psalm119, and if you're like me, you
do make a differentiationbetween Bible chapters and the
Psalms.
I think of the Psalms as thesongbook of the Hebrews back in
the Old Testament.
However, that's not even a verygood way to think about what
they are.
What they are is wisdomliterature that teaches us
(00:43):
something about God.
I am sure most of them weresung.
I am sure that they probablyknew their songbook probably
about as well as we do, and Ithink that's one of the things
that makes the Psalms themselvessome of the most important
pieces of literature in the OldTestament.
The Old Testament.
(01:07):
These were passages that theywould know and they would be
able to apply to the Messiahthat would come much, much later
.
I'm talking today to DavidBrickey, and when I was talking
to David about what he wanted totalk about, this is what he
brought up.
He wanted to talk about thelongest psalm in the Bible,
psalm 119.
I've got to confess I don'tread Psalm 119 very often.
(01:28):
In the back of my mind I'vealways thought it's a repetitive
psalm.
The major theme of Psalm 119 isthe law of God, and the
psalmist will talk about it inmany different ways.
As a 21st century American, I'mnever really excited about
talking about law, but Iunderstand that I'm jaded, that
(01:50):
I am affected by basically thelaw of the land and that's not
exciting to me.
However, the psalmist is veryexcited about what the law of
God teaches us.
David brought that out to meand I think you'll hear that in
this conversation.
David Brickey is a localevangelist to me.
He works at the HendersonBoulevard Church of Christ in
(02:13):
Tampa, florida.
However, he's from theWashington state area, which is
a beautiful part of the country.
He and his wife have twochildren and he's been one of
the guys that have gotten toknow better because of that
little book club that I havewith Edwin and, occasionally,
mark Dunnigan.
So let's start here, david.
Why did you want to talk aboutPsalm 119?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in the Bible.
I wanted to understand moreabout it.
I don't know if I've yetaccomplished that, but as I read
through it a couple of thingsreally struck me.
The psalmist is a verydifferent person than I am.
Maybe other people read thispsalm and they're like this
describes me.
I have this kind of ardentdesire for the law of God and
(02:57):
this confidence in the law ofGod and the word of God and the
statutes of God, but for me.
I read through it and I'm like,wow, I wish I had a margin of
what this psalmist has and theway he thinks about God's word.
That intrigued me about it.
So you know a little bit aboutthis psalm.
Yeah, I do know a little bitabout this psalm.
Tell me where you're at on it?
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, I think it's interesting.
Obviously, we know that it's anacrostic and in my mind I had
always thought about this as anequivalent to Proverbs, where
verse three may or may not haveany relationship to verse four.
But that's not true of this,because one of the things that
you see is, when he's on Aleph,all of those form a complete
thought, and when it comes tofocusing on God's law, he will
(03:41):
look at it from his point ofview, and then he will look at
it from God's point of view, andthen he will look at it from
his point of view, and then hewill look at it from God's point
of view, and then he will lookat it from his adversary's point
of view, and that all of theseare different points of view
that he will basically tackle ineach one of these little things
.
So, anyway, those are myobservations about it, but what
are yours?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, that picks up some really cool things about it
.
You think, oh, this is aboutthe law of God, and yet it goes
on for 176 verses.
The stanzas are eight lines,organized around each letter of
the Hebrew alphabet.
You said it's an acrostic psalmIn the English.
We're really not going to pickthat up, except for the fact
that in most Bibles it's gotAleph, beth, daleth, and for
(04:17):
those of us who don't knowHebrew we're going to be like,
okay, is there any benefit forme even understanding that this
is an acrostic psalm?
I'm not sure that it'snecessary.
Reading through it in Englishyou already picked up on.
Each stanza seems to be reallyself-contained on an idea or
concept around the law of God.
Interestingly enough, each lineof each stanza, so every eight
lines of the stanza, starts withthe same Hebrew letter.
(04:39):
That's the way this isstructured acrostically.
There's another 22-letteracrostic in the Bible in its
Lamentations 3.
We really don't know who wrotethis psalm.
It's traditionally beenattributed to David, but there's
nothing in the psalm that wouldhave to be the case, or even
indeed that it's probable thatit's the case.
Maybe this is some unnamedpsalmist.
We're looking at a six to800-year period where this could
(05:01):
have been written in Israel'shistory before the exile has
been completed and you've gotthe compilation of the canon of
Hebrew scriptures.
So why an acrostic?
Any of us who have been inEnglish class know the rules of
poetry give a structure thatthen force the author to put his
thoughts within something thatis confined and something that
(05:24):
provides discipline to thewriter, which is interesting.
That it's an acrostic poem waschosen for a poem that's all
about law and word and statutesand ordinances and structure.
Because I don't know about you,kenny, law is something I have
a complicated relationship with,because when I hear the word
(05:44):
law, I think thou shalt not.
I think someone else telling mewhat to do, I think someone
else has authority over me and Iam a human being who is very
resistant to other peopletelling me what to do, and I
suspect that there might betimes when your listeners
(06:05):
resonate with that.
I just go through the law ofGod and I'm like, wow, the
psalmist just loves this law,these words, these testimonies.
And I found myself discovering,as I read through this psalm
and meditated upon it, all theways in which I can change the
way I think about God's law.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I'm not somebody who generally likes law.
The fact of the matter is Ihave a conflicted relationship
with American law because Ithink one of the things that I
know in the US form ofgovernment, at least
tangentially I have the abilityto affect what laws are enacted.
The law that most directlyaffects me is my homeowners
(06:47):
association.
There are 200 houses in myneighborhood, and my voice is
still not very big.
God's law is different, though.
How is God's law different thanmy HOA, or even different than
the United States of America,telling me what I can and cannot
do?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
That's a really good question, Kenny, because the way
we think about law is we dothink in terms of statutes given
by someone else.
We have a very legislativemindset.
Historically speaking, we see asea change in the way laws
practice in the Western worldaround the time of the
Napoleonic codes, where Napoleonis imposing this new rational
law on communities across Europe.
(07:26):
Prior to that time, you have atradition of English common law,
and common law is the idea thatlaw is evolving over time when
people ascertain what is truejustice and we're going to
figure this out.
But the idea is justice existsand we can find it and discover
it.
That might be a little bitcloser to antiquity's conception
(07:48):
of what law is or should be.
Is that law exists and we needto discover it?
In the case of God's law, wecan sometimes read onto it, our
statute mindset.
God is just making statutes forus to keep and abide by.
When we step back and think,actually, what God is doing is
revealing something that existsfor us and we can either decide
(08:11):
to live the way the creator ofthe universe has said this is
the way to live and flourish, orwe can decide that law is
actually not true and I'm goingto believe a lie.
That's really the choice you'remaking.
You're not making the choice.
Oh, let me choose between 18different rulers or 18 different
law givers, and all of themhave valid sources of authority.
No, you're choosing between thecreator of the universe and a
(08:33):
bunch of false laws and thingsthat will lead to death.
And I think this is somethingthat has really impressed me as
I read through this is, when youread through Psalm 119, you're
going to notice there's not awhole lot explicitly said about
what the law of God is.
Very little is explicitly saidin this Psalm about what is the
law of God, or what is the lawof God I should be meditating
(08:54):
upon.
Oh sorry, and so I was justgoing to mention.
So then we have to think wheream I going to actually decide?
What am I going to actuallythink about?
What is it I actually loveabout what God has done?
Do you mind if we just read thefirst stanza of Psalm 119?
Go for it.
So, verse one, Psalm 119, I'mreading from the New American
Standard Version 1995.
How blessed are those whose wayis blameless, who walk in the
(09:16):
law of the Lord.
How blessed are those whoobserve his testimonies, who
seek him with all their heart.
They also do no unrighteousness.
They walk in his ways.
You have ordained your preceptsthat we should keep them
diligently.
Oh, that my ways may beestablished to keep your
statutes.
Then I shall not be ashamedwhen I look upon all your
commandments.
(09:36):
I shall give thanks to you withuprightness of heart when I
learn your righteous judgments.
I shall keep away with theinitial impression that the
psalmist thought a lot of thepsalmist and his ability to keep
God's law.
And then I read through alittle closer and I kept seeing
(10:06):
these glimmers of the psalmistcrying out to God and asking hey
, I need my ways to beestablished in your ways and I
need you not to forsake meutterly.
I am completely dependent uponyou to order my way after you
and after what you've declared,and after your righteousness.
If I keep your ways, Lord, thenI will do no unrighteousness,
Then I can give thanks to youwith uprightness of heart.
Then I can give thanks to youwith uprightness of heart.
(10:28):
It can be easy to read Psalm 119and start feeling like man.
Can I relate to this guy at all?
He seems like he's really goodat keeping the law of God, Until
I started to understand that,in the background of everything
that he's saying, there seems tobe this really ready
recognition.
I haven't lived by these laws.
There have been times when Ihaven't, and yet I still have
the confidence that I can keepwalking with my God.
So is God just declaring thisas the sovereign or is he
(10:54):
describing the nature of realityand you need to comport
yourself with that to have life?
At the end of DeuteronomyDeuteronomy, chapter 30, after
the reading of the curses andthe blessings Moses says there,
to read from Mount Ebal andMount Gerizim, he says I set
before you today the way of lifeand the way of death.
And the really interestingthing about Deuteronomy is he's
(11:15):
like you're going to choose theway of death, that's what you're
going to do, and you're goingto be exiled, You're going to be
driven out of this land ofpromise I've given you, as I
read through Psalm 119 and I'mthinking about law, ordinance,
the word of God, the promises ofGod all of that's bouncing
around in my head of differentperiods in Israel's history when
they received law and when theyfailed to live up to that law.
(11:40):
I mentioned one episode.
Any other episodes that come toyour mind about law giving in
the children of Israel's historywhen you look at the children
of Israel.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
If there's an opportunity to go awry, they
will.
And you can go throughout allof the kings of both the north
and the southern kingdoms.
There were a handful of goodones, but most of them were bad.
And even during the good ones,the children of Israel were not
always obedient.
But you ask for one instance,it's the whole story.
(12:10):
It's the whole story of Israel,by the way, which is our story
as well.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, so there's.
I'm going to push back a littlebit on one thing.
You said, saying it's theirwhole story, because I do think
it's important to make somespecific identifications of
periods when Israel receivedspecific law, just for the sake
of understanding the story.
Because if we say it's all thesame story but the
particularities of it areimportant, because I could say
the same thing about, like Psalm119, it's just one idea the law
(12:38):
of God, and yet there's areason.
There's 22 stanzas all builtaround just one letter of the
Hebrew alphabet that exploredifferent facets of it.
And I think we see that in thehistory of God's people
throughout time.
I think that the general themeyou mentioned of it's everywhere
, that is obviously true.
And then you've got asparticular moments Mount Sinai.
(12:58):
They're given the lawimmediately after that.
And it's interesting because wehear Mount Sinai and we think
10 commandments and it's oftenbeen called the 10 words.
And it's interesting because wehear Mount Sinai and we think
10 commandments and it's oftenbeen called the 10 words.
And that's because these arethe words the Lord spoke.
And then he gives these 10sections of word about how they
are to live now that they're incovenant with God.
You have the Deuteronomic lawgiven by Moses after the
(13:20):
rebellion of the generation whocouldn't enter into Canaan and
after the rebellion of theirchildren, with the sin of Baal
Peor of going in, being seducedto engage in sexual perversion
with the nation that wasimmediately outside the promised
land.
So you have these two majorperiods of rebellion and it's
all right around the giving oflaw and the giving of this
(13:42):
covenant.
And God is saying just be withme and I'll be with you.
And Moses is like, hey, I needyou to go with us because we
can't do this without you.
And God's like, yeah, I'll havemercy on who I'll have mercy on
in Exodus, chapter 33.
Then, to get back to Psalm 119,it's like what does it matter if
this guy loves the law of Godso much?
Has he kept it?
(14:02):
Has it accomplished anythingfor him?
I think the psalmist recognizesall that.
You can't be a man who lovesthe law of god like he does and
not recognize that we are sinful, filthy people that need
cleansing to be in the presenceof a holy god.
That is throughout the psalm.
(14:23):
So I start in that first stanza.
Verse eight ends with do notforsake me.
That's a recognition, therighteous thing for you to do
God would be to forsake me.
That would be the right thing,but, on the other hand, actually
the righteous thing for God todo because he's a merciful,
long-suffering and gracious andfull of loving kindness to those
who love him is to have mercy.
(14:44):
If you go back to Exodus 20,god spoke all these words saying
I'm the Lord, your God.
I brought you up out of theland of Egypt, out of the house
of slavery, and I want to focuson verses five and six.
You shall not worship them orserve them, the idols of the
nations around you or any idolthat you can make the likeness
(15:05):
of anything that is heaven orabove the earth.
You shall not worship them orserve them, for I, the Lord,
your God, am a jealous Godvisiting at an equity of the
fathers, on the children, on thethird and fourth generations of
those who hate me, but showingloving kindness to thousands, to
those who love me and keep mycommandments.
Now we have contrast contrastedhere those who hate God and
(15:27):
those who love God, those wholove him and keep his
commandments, those who hate him.
But then you think about thehistory of the Jewish people and
you think, oh, who actuallyloved God and kept all his
commandments.
Not a single one of them lovedGod and kept all his
commandments.
Not a single one of them lovedGod and kept all his
commandments.
And we have a really obviousadmissions.
(15:48):
I've caught myself making theassumption that this was somehow
a mystery to the Jewish people.
It just wasn't.
They knew this and they wereintimately aware of this, at
least to those who are payingattention.
And the psalmist, whoever wrotePsalm 119, was no different from
that.
Then it becomes a recognitionthat my state, without the law
of God, is ordering my lifehowever I see fit.
(16:10):
Oh, I've been living afterthese lies, but I have a path
forward.
God is gracious in giving usthis beautiful structure of
which to conform our lives to,the way Psalm 119 closing shows
us this very explicitly.
(16:31):
In Psalm 119, verse 176.
Just listen to the way this laststanza ends.
Let my cry come before you, oLord.
Give me understanding,according to your word.
Let my supplication come beforeyou.
Deliver me according to yourword.
Let my lips utter praise foryou, teach me your statutes.
Let my tongue sing of your word, for all your commandments are
(16:54):
righteous.
Let your hand be ready to helpme, for I have chosen your
precepts.
I long for your salvation, oLord, and your law is my delight
.
Let my soul live that it maypraise you and let your
ordinances help me.
I have gone astray like a lostsheep.
Seek your servant, for I do notforget your commandments.
There's this really obvious callout from the psalmist, saying I
(17:17):
have wandered like a sheep, andthis really bold request that
he needs God to take action.
I don't know if you've everbeen praying for forgiveness
from God and promising you'regoing to repent of something,
promising, hey, I'm never goingto do that again.
I'll never raise my voice again.
I'll never lust after a womanagain.
I'll never be angry again, lord, I'll never lose control again.
(17:38):
Lord, please, I'm going to doit.
I'll do it, lord.
I've made it very much aboutmyself in making those calls for
repentance and the psalmisthere recognizes yeah, I've gone
astray from what I know, becauseI know you've taught me this.
I know I've gone astray and Ineed you to seek me and I'm not
(17:59):
going to forget yourcommandments, even as I've
wandered like a lost sheep.
Seek me, lord, be ready to helpme, in verse 173, for I have
chosen your precepts.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Why is God's law any different?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
than any other law.
What we see in this psalm isthat God's law and his word is
true.
We can't always be certain.
The laws written by humanauthors are true Only insofar as
they're a direct reflection ofthe divine law and of what God
has commanded.
That's the only way we can becertain they're true.
(18:34):
This Psalm identifies thatGod's law is truth and it's
righteous, so we don't have toworry that this is some kind of
unjust thing.
So verse 160, the sum of yourword is truth and every one of
your righteous ordinances iseverlasting.
(18:54):
So sometimes what we do whenwe're considering the law of God
, we do import our frustrationswith law in general onto the law
of God.
We import ideas of hypocrisyabout the law of God.
Oh, the community I'm in.
I'm seeing people not live bythe law of God and yet say we
should live by the law of God,all of which the psalmist
probably would have agreed with.
He has many calls out of thewicked who set traps, the
(19:18):
enemies of the righteous, thosewho don't abide by God's law.
So I think you'd be in goodcompany with the psalmist there.
But the problem's not with thelaw, the problem's with the ones
trying to keep it and trying tolive by it, and the ones who
need the mercies of God.
That's where the problem lies.
It lies with the rebellioushuman heart, not with the
perfect words of God.
As I've been reading throughthis and considering okay, we've
(19:41):
got law and we've got all thegood things it does for you.
The truth of the word of God,and thinking about the way that
this is adjudicated in theepistle to the Romans, is there
was none who is righteous.
No, not one.
Jesus came to die for those whoare not righteous.
It wasn't to set aside the law,but to fulfill the law, and it
(20:03):
was to complete the law.
And now we're given theadmonition.
For us who are Gentiles, whohave received the message and
the gospel of Jesus Christ,admonition for us who are
Gentiles who have received themessage and the gospel of Jesus
Christ, it's enough for you toabstain from fornication, from
idolatry, from blood, and to nolonger go in the ways of,
essentially, the pagans aroundyou.
And now love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, all your
(20:25):
mind, all your soul.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
As Paul writes in Romans, loveis the fulfillment of the law.
When we start thinking, what lawshould I be meditating upon,
because there's eight sectionsin the Psalm where the Psalmist
says I meditate on your law.
I rise at night to meditate onyour law.
I look forward to the nightwatch so I can meditate on your
law.
Okay, what portion of the lawam I going to meditate on and
(20:46):
where am I going to go tounderstand what about this law
gives me wisdom?
For me, there's so manydifferent places you could go to
.
You could go to the 10commandments, the 10 words, and
be like what about this?
It has wisdom and it hasgoodness and beauty in it.
You can go to the Shema lovethe Lord by God with all their
heart.
You could go to the Sermon onthe Mount about what Jesus
(21:08):
describes as the law of thekingdom of heaven.
And why is this so righteous,so beautiful?
Let this Psalm encourage you tocarry a portion of God's word
with you and let it convict youof the need for repentance of
(21:28):
the sins that are plaguing youand the surety that God is with
you.
And God gave you this so thatyou could be more like his son.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I think one of the things that happens is we often
find ourselves surrounded byrule keepers who fancy
themselves law keepers.
The law reveals the characterof God.
When you violate the law,you're violating the character
of God.
You are basically adopting whoGod is, and sometimes that's
(22:01):
going to look like a bunch ofcheckboxes.
There should come a point whereyou understand that might in
practice be legal, but it's notethical.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I think it is completely possible to be among
your brethren and not befulfilling the law of Christ on
what he's asked you to do.
Taking the example of thePharisees, the rule keeping of
the Pharisees they had createdsuch a rabbinic tradition of how
we're going to go about keepingthe law and it turned into this
(22:35):
whole.
Here's all these loopholes, howto avoid keeping the law, and I
think Matthew 23 really paintsthey tithe, mint and cumin and
deny the weightier matters ofthe law.
A nice picture of these reallylight herbs and the weightier
matters of the law.
Ultimately, I always push backon the idea.
(22:56):
The problem is with the rulekeeping of the law and not the
keeping of the spirit of the law, because ultimately, if you're
keeping the letter of the lawwithout the spirit, are you
keeping the letter of the law tobegin with, if it comes from
God, if you have faith to movemountains but have not love,
have you kept the law of God?
Speaker 1 (23:14):
No, but the thing about it is who's going to catch
you on it?
Because here's the thing thepeople around you.
They've got their checklists.
Do they know your heart?
No, but what do they have?
They have your attendancerecord.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
That's a different question though, kenny, isn't it
?
Because if the question is,what are they going to identify
about me, about my heart?
Ultimately, I can't look at you, kenny, and be like I know that
he is keeping the law of Godand that he has a heart like the
psalmist here of what we'vebeen talking about, no more than
you can look at me and say Iknow David, he loves the law of
God.
Listen to the way he acts.
He's poetic and he's so verboseand he's so eloquent.
(23:56):
Obviously, that's not happeningthat you can identify, just by
the words I speak or the actionsI even take, whether or not I
have the same kind of love forthe law of God that this
psalmist has, or that I have thelove of the brethren that the
law of God and the law of Christdemands that I have, or that I
have the love of the brethrenthat the law of God and the law
of Christ demands that I have.
So then that becomes like whocan I count on to identify?
(24:17):
Is my heart actually towardswhat it needs to be oriented
towards?
Because I can't count on evenmy spouse to tell me if my heart
is oriented where it needs tobe.
I can count on the law of Godand, honestly, looking at the
law of God and letting itactually speak to me and
actually listening to it oh,there's this.
Actually, can we go with one ofthe stanzas that actually speaks
(24:39):
directly to this in verse 25 ofthe Psalm?
Because none of that to saythey can't help me with that.
But ultimately, we are great atdeceiving people and deceiving
others that we are doing what wethink we should be doing and we
shouldn't be looking to deceiveanyone and yet it's something
(24:59):
that we fall into because we arepeople who struggle with sin
and doubts and we don't wantpeople to know hey, my life
hasn't reflected the heart ofGod, it's.
Oh, wow, that's shocking.
You're not God.
I'm shocked and surprised, butit shouldn't shock us.
It shouldn't shock us at allwhen we recognize that we need
(25:20):
to be daily confessing our sinsto one another.
A whole different topic.
But let's get back to Psalm 119and verse 25.
My soul cleaves to the dust.
Revive me, according to yourword.
So it's open.
This stanza opens with my soulcleaves to the dust.
Revive me, according to yourword.
So it's open.
This stanza opens with my soulcleaves to the dust and we're
bringing up imagery of from thedust.
I was taken to the dust.
I return.
He's at a low point, he is notin a good place and he needs
(25:42):
revival, according to God's word, and pay close attention to
verse 26.
I have told of my ways and youhave answered me of my ways and
you have answered me.
Teach me your statutes.
So the psalmist is saying likeI was talking with God and I
(26:03):
said this is how David lives.
David lives like this and it isso righteous.
And then I heard this answerfrom God.
Now the question is, how is thepsalmist hearing this answer
Based on this psalm?
I think it's because he isconstantly devoted to the word,
the law, the statutes, theprecepts of God.
And God answers him and he sayshey, david, your ways aren't my
ways.
And then look at the way thatthis plays out in the rest of
(26:24):
the stanza.
So the Psalmist cries out teachme your statutes, make me
understand the way of yourprecepts.
Okay, I don't want to just knowyour precepts, I want to
understand the way I want tounderstand about this.
My soul weeps because of grief.
Strengthen me, according toyour word.
I don't think that he's justhaving a bad day.
I think the reason for hisweeping, based on what he said,
(26:46):
is my ways are not your ways,and that should make us weep in
abject terror.
In fact, another section ofPsalm 119 where he says I fear
your commandments, lord.
He considers the law of God.
On the one hand he loves it.
On the other hand, he realizeshe hasn't lived up to it.
He trusts in God to strengthenme, according to your word,
verse 28.
Remove the false way from meAgain, that falsehood lying, the
(27:11):
way we deceive ourselves.
The psalmist is putting thatpower in the law of God and in
the word of God and in itsability to reflect back to us
who we are if we will actuallylisten to God, tell us his ways
and rebuke us in our own ways.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
I think one of the things that I would say is you
made an admission in there.
That's difficult for all of us.
We don't even have a goodwindow into our own motivations.
It is my opinion that thePharisees, for the most part,
thought they were on God's goodside.
I think the idea that Jesuscame and said you guys are
missing it, I think that was arevelation to them in a way that
(27:52):
they weren't anticipating.
I think that our own problemswould probably be revelations to
us as well.
I think this passage does areally nice job of that.
I'm scared what I'm going tofind out, because I know I'm
probably not very good.
I guess it goes back to thatidea of meditating and
recognizing how we do or do notmeasure up and, let's face it,
(28:13):
it's not measuring up.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah, that was something that I found
surprising as I thought aboutthis psalm more and more.
Kenny was the idea that myfirst impression was just really
wrong of who this psalmist wasand who he thought he was too,
because I was thinking I waslike man.
He's saying you make my waysgreat, make me walk in the path
of your commandments.
I delight in it.
Just imagine any of ourbrethren talking the way this
(28:37):
psalmist does about their ownlife, and how quick I'd be to
just blot out all the ways inwhich they're saying I don't
measure up and yet I trust inyou.
And all the ways I'd hear oh,you think you're living out the
law of God, you think you're sorighteous and you're so perfect.
But, as you like, really startto listen to what this psalmist
is saying.
(28:57):
He's not saying I'm sorighteous, I'm so perfect.
He's saying God's law isrighteous and it actually
accomplishes something on theone who considers it.
It does make you wise and itdoes give you insight, but you
have to continually go back tothat fresh water.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
There are a lot of highfalutin ideas in this psalm
and let's face it later on todayyou're going to go pick up your
kids, You're going to go to thegrocery store, You're going to
do your laundry.
Why is this important?
Because the rest of your lifeis going to be a bunch of
mundane stuff and it's going tobe important stuff that doesn't
(29:30):
look like highfalutin ideas.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
I want to push back on the idea that any action you
take in this life is mundane andthat there is any portion of
your life that can't besomething that is sacred and
beautiful and a gift from God,because I've often been in that
framework of hey, I need to putfood on the table, I have dirty
dishes to do, I have yet anotherdirty diaper.
(29:58):
To change the way we end upinteracting with these really
mundane things, which I think issuch a high call for the saints
of God, is to aspire to live aquiet life that trusts in God
and his mercies.
If the quiet life is actuallywhat we're to aspire to, that
(30:20):
means that's a holy calling thatGod has called us to.
So when I go to pick up my kids, there's something holy and
wonderful about being with mychildren, who have been apart
from me all day.
The Bible looks highly on thekindness that we show to every
single person and to our enemies, because there are enemies of
those who love God, and ourcommand is to pray for them, to
(30:43):
love them, to give them blessing.
As we have a heart that's morelike God, we're going to start
to look at our mundane life in avery different way.
We're going to start to look atour mundane life in a very
different way, because God looksat every mundane life as
something that is precious andbeautiful and in need of
redemption and can be redeemed.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Okay, let me go through a little exercise with
you.
Yeah, I've got clothes in thewasher that need to be put in
the dryer.
Where is?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
God in that, as you're getting your clothes out
of the washer, putting them inthe dryer, you have
opportunities for gratefulness.
Or you can take a differentview entirely.
I have a task to accomplish andI'm just doing that and it has
no meaning, it doesn't matterand in fact, all the menial
(31:34):
tasks I have in life have nomeaning.
In fact, you know what Life is?
Just one silly thing after thenext and honestly, that's the
nihilistic approach to thinkingabout our lives.
We're only going to pick outthe things that we find value in
and worth in and say those arethe things that matter as
opposed to.
(31:54):
God has given us a right toexistence and blessed us with
being of just experiencingreality, and there's a great
gratitude we can have for that.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Existence itself is a blessing we can have, for that
existence itself is a blessing.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
But don't you realize that all is vanity and striving
after wind, and that is why youshould fear God and keep his
commandments, for they are notburdensome, they are not too far
from you.
That's the interesting thingabout this psalm it is talking
about the law of God, and I havethis gut instinct to say, yeah,
who could ever live up to that?
Yeah, none of us have.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
You've already referenced the last part of
Psalm 119, which I think isprobably the part that in verse
68, where it says be good and dogood, which is something
special to me.
It's one of the few places inscripture that actually says
something along those lines.
But I think one of the thingsthat you've alluded to several
times already is whoever'swriting this psalm has no
(32:53):
illusion about how good he is.
The only thing that herecognizes is that God is good
and that he's not, and thatanything that's good in his life
is not because of what he'sdoing.
Right.
And there is a lot of hope inthis psalm for a bunch of people
who are, by themselves,hopeless.
That, to me, is the Christianwalk.
As we rely on ourselves, werecognize we cannot rely on
(33:17):
ourselves.
Do you see what I'm saying?
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
So in verse 68, you are good and you do good.
Teach your statutes.
Even just in those two lines,you have this admission that I
recognize where goodness dwells,it's not with me.
I'm not coming to you saying Iam good.
That's why I've come to you god.
No, it's.
You are good, you do good, soyou teach me your ways.
(33:41):
I think this portion of psalm119, I think this portion could
have been going through the richyoung ruler's head.
I really do, oh, good teacher.
And Jesus says oh, why do youcall me good?
There's no one good but God.
And then the way that stanzaends in verse 72, the law of
your mouth is better to me thanthousands of gold and silver
(34:03):
pieces.
So there's this greatprioritization that this
psalmist has.
Of course, the rich young ruler.
He was so sorrowful because hehad so much wealth and Jesus
asked him simply what God isasking simply in this psalm
follow me.
Because the truth is we can allrecognize oh yeah, we're
sinners, we've fallen short ofthe glory of God.
That's not a revelation to anyof us, but the call God still
(34:27):
makes is okay, still follow me,get back up and follow me, and
actually you are going to becomemore and more like me, because
of what I was willing to do foryou and because of my loving
kindness, because of my mercies,because I am good and I do good
.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
I appreciate that One of the other things that I
think I got out of this and youalluded to it as well is that I
think we have gotten sodestination-specific.
In other words, if we are notperfect, then that means that
the journey itself is not worthanything.
If you get on a road toCleveland and you don't end up
(35:04):
in Cleveland, was the trip worthit.
And I think that the idea ofdiscipleship is of course you're
going to mess up.
God never expected otherwiseand he has already made
provision for when you mess up.
But that's a very differentthing than to say you know what,
if I'm going to go to hell, I'mjust going to do the things
(35:24):
that would get me to hell,because I can't do this
perfectly.
So let me just be the hedonistI want to be, because if I'm
going to end up there and adisciple recognizes, of course
I'm not going to do the rightthing, but as I try better and
as I try to get closer, I willget closer.
And I'm still not going to getthere on my own goodwill, on my
(35:47):
own merit.
Yeah, god is the one who'sgetting me there, on his merit.
Yeah, but the journey itself isstill worthwhile.
You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
I was listening to someone who I don't agree with
theologically at all talk aboutthe problem with sin versus
belief and talking about thosewho are struggling with belief.
The struggle with belief startswith the sin.
The sin doesn't start with theunbelief, the fact that we're
sinning and we become convincedthat the sin is a symptom of our
(36:23):
relationship with God andsomehow it needs to be hid from
God, or hid from our fellow manor from our fellow brother and
sister in Christ, instead ofconfessed to and relying upon
God, and relying upon hismercies and throwing yourself on
the mercies of God.
As I said, we really have noidea who was the specific author
of this psalm, although manyhave attributed it to David.
(36:47):
Author of this psalm, althoughmany have attributed it to David
, you think of David as theultimate one, who did not
deserve mercy at all.
And yet it's called the manafter God's own heart.
And why do you think it is?
I think it's because he didn'tforget God's statutes, he didn't
forget God's law, he threwhimself on the mercies of God,
and that's the only way I canunderstand he was the man after
God's own heart is the love hehad for the law of God and the
(37:08):
person of God and the fact thathe was not willing to be
subverted with the lie that hehad told himself about the sins
that he had committed.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Yeah, everything.
I've always related thesethings back to parenthood and
one of the things I think,because you're not going to be
the perfect parent, you aheadand throw into the towel, should
just get rid of the kids,should, right?
It's the stupidest thing you'veever heard.
And of course, you're going tomess up.
You're going to mess up allkinds of ways.
That doesn't mean you get tothrow in the towel and it
doesn't mean that that thejourney's not worth it.
(37:41):
David.
Undoubtedly we could considercan continue this for a much
longer time.
I end all of my podcasts withBe Good and Do Good, which is
entirely in this psalm.
What's good about looking overGod's law?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
As you consider God's law in a deeper way, you're
going to be shocked at how muchGod loves people who are so
wicked and so evil and so vileand who have done terrible
things.
It's going to shock you in sucha way that you say, god, how
could you be so merciful topeople so undeserving?
(38:21):
That's what I've been shockedby about the law of God as I've
thought about it more and moreis why have you let this earth
continue spinning, lord, whenthere is so much wickedness and
so much vileness?
And it's because God is goodand he does good and he's more
powerful than evil, and love canovercome evil.
(38:41):
And you'll see that as youthink more and more about the
law of God.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Good job, all right, david, I appreciate you talking
to me about this.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
There's a I was going to try and plug.
There's a five volume set ofcommentaries all on Psalm 119
that some guy wrote Five is, Ithink it ends up.
Each one is like 1600 pages why, but I think they got the gist
with our interview Absolutely.
Thanks.
So much, kenny.
(39:13):
Yeah, thanks for letting metalk.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
But it asked me to read through Psalm 119 before I
had this conversation, and I'mglad I did.
He brought out a lot of thethings that I found as well,
specifically, that most of thesections and stanzas made
complete thoughts.
The thing that he brought to me, however, was how much like the
psalmist we all really are.
(39:39):
The psalmist is talking aboutreally how good the law is and
how we never quite measure up.
It's good to know that even thepeople who are writing the
Psalms recognize their ownproblems and that they had
problems.
It makes them a lot morerelatable.
As for the good thing I'mthinking about, I'm grateful for
(40:02):
good friends.
I've been thinking a lot aboutthe friends that I have overseas
, In the Philippines.
There have been severaldifferent problems that they've
had, and I've been praying forthem.
I ask that you pray for them aswell.
So until next time, let's begood and do good.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com