The ABCs of God’s Word Psalm 119:25-32

June is Psalm 119 month. Each Sunday we’re looking at a section of the longest Psalm in the Bible. Overall, Psalm 119 is an encouragement to know God’s word and do what it says. Last week we read eight verses that deal with the relationship between wisdom (the skill to live godly in a world that tells us not to) and God’s Word. In verses 97-98 we read, “How I love Your law! It’s my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies …” Our lesson from last Sunday was this: Knowing God word is good, but loving it and loving Him is what brings us wisdom.

It is not without purpose that the apostle John calls Jesus, the Word of God. And Jesus is not just the epitome or perfect example of wisdom. As the living word of God, He is the fount of wisdom; the source and explanation of all the wisdom found in the Scriptures, the Gospels, and the New Testament epistles. The apostle Paul tells us that all the treasures of wisdom are hidden in Him (Colossians 2:3).

Today we are going to look at another eight verses which have to do with the connection between God’s word and our spiritual strength and vitality. In this section, the psalmist is asking God to do what we sang about as kids. He is asking the Lord to, “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning … Give me gas in my Ford keep me trucking for my Lord.” We ask our Lord to give us His strength at times because we feel spiritually exhausted; kaput, overwhelmed, like an immense weight is dragging us down into the dust.

When I was young, I played a lot of baseball and one the things I’d hear coaches yell when we were running the base paths was, “Drop the piano,” in other words, run faster. Coaches have a strange way of encouraging us to do better. But have you ever felt as if you are carrying a piano; a burden that’s weighing you down because something troubling has occurred in your life and you wonder if you can take another step?

I don’t run very much. My body is allergic to it. I did run sprints when I was young. I figured I could give it my all for 100 yards, maybe even 400. I did do a lot of running when I played soccer in college, but again, it’s just a lot of sprinting. I have run a few 10K’s, unfortunately, I have a habit of throwing up when I cross the finish line. This last week I’ve actually been running on the Washington High School track. So, if you’ve seen me and taken a video of it, please don’t blackmail me with it.

Throughout the New Testament, the Christian life is often expressed in the language of walking; walking with God, walking in the light, walking by faith, walking in love. But it is also compared to a race. Look at what is written in Hebrews 12:1-2.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

Tom Fogle has told us over the years that this race God has set before us is much more like a marathon than a sprint. I would agree. So, if our life in Christ is compared to a long-distance race, and our spiritual eyes are to be fixed on our Lord who’s waiting for us at the finish line, then it pays to ask, “Where do I find the strength to keep going when I feel tired, weak, worn out, and ready to quit?”

And there most definitely are encumbrances that to cause us to suck wind and make us feel like our soul is ready to lay down in the dust. The short list would include some sort of intense suffering, grief, fear or anxiety, even unconfessed sin. So, if you feel spiritually exhausted, weighed down with cares or burdens that are making it hard to run the race of faith in Christ, you may want to pay extra attention to these eight verses. Here they are.

My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to Your word. 26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me. Teach me Your statutes. 27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts, so I will meditate on Your wonders. 28 My soul weeps because of grief. Strengthen me according to Your word. 29 Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your law. 30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me. 31 I cling to Your testimonies. O Lord, do not put me to shame! 32 I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart. Psalm 119:25-32

Last Sunday I said a few things about Psalm 119 that bear repeating. First, it’s an acrostic. It is an ABC psalm, or in this case an ABG psalm because the first letters of the Hebrew alphabet are Aleph, Bet, and Gimel. Every eight verses all begin with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in alphabetical order. This morning we are in the D or Dalet section.

Second, acrostics are memory devices, especially for children. They put words with letters to help us remember something of value, like the notes on the treble clef; Every Good Boy Does Fine (of if you are British, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor). So, if you enjoy memorizing long Bible passages, and know Hebrew, Psalm 119 is for you.

I read that William Wilberforce, the politician who helped abolish the slave trade in Great Britain, had this psalm memorized. I can’t find a copy of his 1819 journal on the internet, but sources say he wrote this: “Walked from Hyde Park Corner quoting the 119th Psalm to great profit.” I’ll give a gold star sticker to anyone who can locate a copy of that journal.

I also read that Livingston, the physician and missionary to Africa, won a Bible from his Sunday school teacher by reciting this psalm from memory when he was nine years old. I wonder how many AWANA books he would have finished in a year’s time?

Third, alphabet acrostics are designed to reveal the essential facts about a topic. That’s why books are entitled, The ABCs of Parenting, or the ABCs of Running, and so on and so on. Psalm 119 is the ABCs of God’s law, the . 171 of 176 verses of this psalm mention God’s law, His commandments, His precepts, His statutes, His judgments. But, we can apply what’s said about the first five books of the Bible to all that’s written in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Psalm 119 tells us how important God’s word is; how it’s to affect every aspect of our life; from A to Z or Aleph to Tav.

Last Sunday we looked at the Mem section and read how God’s word provides us wisdom. Now in these Dalet verses, we read how God’s word renews our spiritual vitality. So, let’s focus a few moments on what the psalmist actually says, and we’ll see it’s a prayer. He begins by saying, “My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to Your word.” Like the Mem portion, the opening verse here sets the tone for the next seven. The psalmist feels as if all of life’s vitality has been drained out of him, so he asks God to revive him with His word; to restore the joy of God’s salvation to his heart.

Whoever is writing this psalm knows adversity and suffering. Throughout these 176 verses he says things like, “Princes talk against me; The arrogant constantly ridicule me; The cords of the wicked have encircled me; I’m exceedingly afflicted; I’ve become like a wine- skin in the smoke.” That is what he says about himself in 119:83. What an analogy! This guy feels like a shriveled-up, old wineskin that has a bad smell; the smell of smoke. And if you have ever been in a house that has had smoke damage, you know how bad that stench can be – and depending on the item, it has to be thrown away.

Because the psalmist feels weary, burdened, and worn down, and like his life is good for nothing any more, he prays, “Revive me.” Just so you know, that request is repeated eight other times in Psalm 119. It is not a one-and-done prayer. And he is specific in his request: “Revive me according to Your word.” I wonder how many times I’ve asked the Lord to give me His strength, but not opened the Bible, the very source of what I need.

We can see how this prayer is repeated in verse 28. “My soul weeps because of grief. Strengthen me according to Your word.” The poetry here contains a picture of someone who can’t hold back tears. Just like a leaky roof can’t hold back rain and the droplets keep coming through the shingles, onto the trusses and into the ceiling, drip, drip, drip – so his tears keep coming, drip, drip, drip; leaking out of his eyes because his soul is flooded with discouragement and sadness.

But his response isn’t for God to remove the burden, but rather to give Him strength to bear it. And throughout this section, we’re told what will stop the leak of discouragement. It’s the word of God. He answers the question I asked as the beginning: “Where do we find the strength to run the race that God has set before us when we feel overwhelmed with adversity, sorrow, or the entanglement of sin?” We find it in God’s word.

Look back what he prays in verses 26-27. “Teach me Your statutes. Make me understand the way of Your precepts, so I will meditate on Your wonders.” The word of God gets our mind thinking about the Lord rather than our problems. But I wonder what wonders he’s talking about? Is he referring to the miracles recorded in the Torah; the wonder of God in creation, in the flood, in the birth of Isaac, in the 10 plagues, in the giving of manna?

Or is he referring to the wonders of who God is; that He is compassionate and merciful and full of grace and faithful love; that He forgives the repentant of iniquity, transgression, and sin; that He draws near to those who draw near to Him and promises to be with those who by faith walk with Him. Does He meditate on the wonders of God’s love? Pondering the wonder of John 3:16 and God’s love is good thing to do when troubles bombard us.

Look at verse 30. Life truly is about the choices we make. If we choose to eat too much we will gain weight. If we choose to drink too much, we will damage our liver. If we choose to have multiple sexual partners we will most likely catch an STD. If we talk too much, we won’t hear what others have to say. If we spend too much, we will acquire debt. Those are choices that affect us adversely. But when we choose to know and do what the Lord says, we will experience His strength, our soul will be revived, our heart will be enlarged. Like Joshua said to the those he led into the promised land of Canaan, “But as for me and my house, we’ll serve the Lord,” the psalmist says, “I’ve chosen the faithful way.” “I’ll run the way of your commandments.” He’s saying, “I don’t care what others do, I’ll run on the path of God, in His ways, according to His Word!”

Look at verse 32. From a medical standpoint, an enlarged heart is probably not a good thing. But from a spiritual standpoint, an enlarged heart means a strong heart; one that’s able to go the extra mile – a heart that keeps growing in a love for the Lord and a trust in Him no matter how bad, how tense, how scary, or how sad life may become.

I’ve had a fairly good life compared to most. But I know what a broken leg feels like. And I know what a broken jaw feels like. And I know what a broken heart feels like; I know what emotional hurt and pain feel like. But as Christians, when our heart is broken, we should cry out to our Lord for His strength to confirm our choice. That no matter what happens, no matter how we feel, we will run the way of His commandments.

When I think about those who could have said the opening words of this section, “My soul cleaves to the dust,” I think first of Job. As he suffered physically and spiritually he said: “Why didn’t I die at birth?” “Why is light given to him who suffers?” He is even so bold to say to God, “Why have you set me as your target?” Job is being honest with the Lord and that is a good thing. The problem arises when we think we know better than God.

I also think of Elijah, and how he might have prayed these words as Queen Jezebel sent her soldiers to kill him on account of what he’d done to her prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. He doesn’t even pray, revive me. He simply says, “It is enough now, take my life.” That’s what happens when fear or any negative emotion takes control of our faith.

Grief can have the same affect. Think of how Jeremiah must have felt as the Jewish rulers ignored His prophecies and the city he loved was being destroyed by the Babylonian army. Actually, we don’t have to guess how he felt. He tells us in the book of Lamentations. “My tears flow endlessly; they won’t stop.” “My spirit is troubled … my heart is overturned,” like it’s been in a bad car accident.

Unconfessed sin can also zap our strength. David says this in Psalm 32. “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away.” That’s the result of the entanglement of sin that the writer of Hebrews talks about in 12:1-2. Overlooked sin has a way of tripping us up in everything we do. It’s like we are running a race with a bungee cord around our ankles that just keeps getting tighter and tighter.

But here’s the point the psalmist is making: God’s word gives us the wherewithal to run with endurance the race He has set before us. Think about it. What revived Job’s heart? God speaking to him the very words he needed to hear. “Gird up your loins, I’ll ask you and you tell Me!” The last chapters of the are a soul-searching lesson on the sovereignty and wisdom of God in creation and providence. It was just what Job needed to hear, to refresh his faith, restore his joy, renew his hope in the Lord.

It’s the same with Elijah. God quickened his heart by speaking the words he needed to hear. And God didn’t use an F5 tornado or class 8 earthquake or a raging grass fire to communicate with Elijah, He spoke to him in a gentle breeze and simply said, “What are you doing here Elijah?” “Go, return …” In other words, “This isn’t what I have called you to do; to sit here and feel alone, afraid, abandoned. You have a job to do. Get back to work.”

The same is true with Jeremiah and his sorrow. Jeremiah recalls what is written in the Torah about the Lord and His steadfast love, His compassion and His faithfulness to His people to keep His word. That is why He can write this in Lamentations 3. “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.” I do wonder if Jeremiah also knew these words of Isaiah 40, written about 100 years before he prophesied.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They’ll mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:28-31.

What revived David’s heart after his sin with Bathsheba? God speaking to him through Nathan the prophet. Nathan told David a story about a greedy rich man who took the beloved lamb of a poor shepherd to feed a guest. David got so angry he said to Nathan that such a man deserved death. Nathan replied with the message of the Lord, “You are the man!” God always has the right words we need to hear when our faith grows weak.

The psalmist knew that, and that’s why no matter how tired, weary, spiritually exhausted he felt, he made a choice; he’d run the way of God’s commandments, looking to God alone to enlarge his heart, give him the strength he needed to run the race God set before him.

Living in a world corrupted by sin, we don’t just need our Lord’s wisdom, we need His strength. Because sometimes the troubles of life can overwhelm us and cause us to lose heart. Here’s the lesson of Psalm 119:25-32: If our life in Christ is compared to running a race, the word of God is able to give us strength and vigor when we grow weary.

And there are things in life that can cause us to grow weary, to feel encumbered like we are carrying a piano. And if there is something going on in your life right now, making you feel burdened, weak, and ready to lay down in the dust, I hope you’ll do what this psalmist did and ask the Lord to revive you with His word – whether it is with a lesson in theology, a gentle nudge, a word of hope, or a sharp rebuke.

I like walking more than running, but if God has called me to run the race of faith in Christ, then, I’m going to run the way of His commandments, for that is where I’ll find the strength to go on when I feel like giving up.

That’s it for today. Next Sunday we’ll see how God’s word gives us the proper perspective on who we are and why we’re here on earth.