Psalms 119, Part 3

So we'll go right into the main sermon.

And I think you'll be very interested as we are covering the longest psalm in the Bible.

And believe me, I've gotten so much out of this psalm. I will never look at this psalm like I did before. I just have learned so much from it. I mentioned it's like a mini-bible, because King David is praising God for his law. And what he does in this psalm is 119, which he made in a very poetic and a very systematic way. It's called an acrostic psalm, because each section starts out with a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. So it goes from, you know, Aleph and Beth and all the other Hebrew letters. And each one of those beginning verses starts out with that letter.

Each one of the 22 Hebrew letters is a section of Psalms 119, and each section has eight verses in it. And then what you learn is that every one of the sections is like looking at a beautiful diamond, but just one of the colorful facets of it, the beauty of each one of those facets. And it has a theme for every one of those sections. And so in the last couple of weeks, we have covered the first two parts of Psalms 119.

And today we're going to cover the final section of it. Now, I have the notes. If somebody would like to have the entire section, you can certainly ask me for it. I can send it to you. So you can go through. What I did in my Bible is that in Psalms 119, since each section begins with a Hebrew letter, and then it has a topic that we cover in each one of the sections. So when you go back and you study this, you'll see it has a theme in each section.

So what I did is I wrote down on top of every one of those sections which letter it corresponds, and also what that letter derives from. Because the Hebrew alphabet, which now as scholars continue to study, a lot of them are determining that it was the original alphabet given to man. And they have — I don't want to get into all the archaeology, but they're in the Sinai Peninsula.

They have an area where they used to have the Hebrew slaves that would go and mine what was turquoise in those mines in the Sinai Peninsula. That's what you see in a lot of the Pharaoh's tombs, a lot of turquoise. That's where they went. And in some of those mines, you find some of the slaves with what they call proto-Sinaitic letters, which are the beginnings of the alphabet. Now, from what we gather, that when God started working with Moses and with the Israelites and taking them out, that they were given this alphabet.

And then it spread into Canaan, because that's where they developed. And so it's called Canaanite script, which we learned the Phoenicians were — and who were the Phoenicians? They were the Canaanites. So anyways, what's so interesting is that this is one of the great historical revolutions. When man acquired an alphabet, then he could write books and make them in far more abbreviated ways. And that's where our Bible was able to be written down thousands of years ago. And so if we go to Psalms 119 — because this is part of learning about God's Word — one day, if you're part of God's kingdom, if you're going to be under Christ, you're going to be teaching this same thing to the people of the world that in their ignorance and Satan's deceit, they have not learned.

But this is then Psalms 119. What I want to do is begin again just explaining to you what I did not do previously about the alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet is derived from simple agricultural symbols. In other words, from different things, they derived the letters based on a word picture.

So we have here in Psalms 119 the letter aleph, which corresponds to our letter a. See, our alphabet is derived from the Hebrew alphabet. And all the different alphabets of the world in the Western hemisphere are derived from this Hebrew. This is where we get our a, and it came from the picture of the head of an ox turned. Instead of having the triangle as the head with the two horns up, it's turned around with the two horns as the bottom parts of the a.

So that is what aleph means. Then you go to the letter Beth, which means, well, let me give you, it's from the word, the letter b. That's where we derive, and it comes from the picture of a house with two little rooms, our b. Then we go to Gimel, which we get our letter g. And that comes from the picture of the largest animal that the Israelites knew, which was a camel. And so Gimel is from the picture of a camel. Then we have the letter Dalath in Hebrew, which is the letter d.

And I'll have to give you that a little later, which is where they get Greek word, letter, delta, and others. But I'll have to get that later, because I didn't write it down right here, but I've got it in my notes.

Then we get the letter he, h-e, which is equivalent to the e, which comes from the picture of a window.

So you see, in Israel, you had a house and you had a window. And I just remember, Dalath or Dalath is d for door. So now you have a house with Beth, and you have a door and you have a window. And so everything was very typical of what people lived. And from those symbols, they got the letters, and from the letters, we could develop words and sentences that we take for granted today. Then we have wab, w-a-w, which is where we get our w. And you know what that means? The symbol is of water. You see the wab? It's like waves, two little waves, because they would look out in the ocean and see the waves. And so they actually made a picture of a wave with the pronunciation w.

Oops, let me get that right. Let me correct it here. Wait a second. No, I got two of the letters. Let's go back. Correct. The m is the one that has to do with water. I got the w turned around from m. Wab is w, and it means hook, a hook, which they would use in agriculture, like a scythe to cut things. So please correct that. I got a little bit ahead of myself, because the m is the one that has we're coming to it. Then you have zayin, which is where we get our letter z. And that is a symbol of a weapon.

A weapon. So, of course, they had to use weapons in those days.

And one of those pictures of a weapon became a letter, a Hebrew letter, the z, probably something to cut with. Then we have the word, the letter heth, which is ch in Hebrew, the sh sound, sh, shayim. And this comes from the h, which is a little fence turned upward. So you have the h, and it's actually just like you see the fence here with the flowers. So people had fences. They had a house with windows and doors, and all of these things were very typical of those days. Then you have teth, which t-e-t-h is the next section, and this is where we get the letter t, which is the symbol of a wheel. So you see, they also had wheels. They had carts. The wheel was very important in their days, and so it became another letter. Then we have the letter yod, yod, which is the vowel i, or y, but usually i. That's where you get the term yod or tittle.

That was the smallest little Hebrew letter, which meant i, pronunciation, and it comes from hand. It was a little, just a kind of a little apostrophe of a hand. A little picture of a hand. Then you get kaf, which is k-a-p-h, where we get the letter k, and this is the palm of the hand. So you see, all of these are related. You have a house, you have windows, you have doors. Now you have a hand, and then you have the palm of the hand, is another Hebrew letter. Then you go to the l, which is lamed, l-a-m-e-d. That's where we get our letter l. It means an ox-goad, an ox-goad, which is something that you stick a sharp little stick to goad the ox forward. It was like an l, because you had to place a little handle, and then you would goad the ox forward. The next one is what I mistakenly used for w, which is the letter m. This is mem, m-e-m, which is where we get the letter m, and this is the one that means water. So you have the two little waves. That's where we get our m. Then you get the letter n in Hebrew, none, n-u-n, none, which means fish. So first you get m with water. What's in the water?

n, fish. That's why you have Joshua, son of none, son of the fish, fisher man. That's what it meant. Everything had to do with fish. Then you get to samek, the letter samek, which is s, and this had to do with support, something that would support others. So it's like an s, little kind of a spring to support things.

Then you go to ajin.

This is the letter o, the vowel o, ajin. And you know what it comes from? It comes from the i.

That's why it's round, like the o. That's why we get our o from the human i being round.

Then we go to pe, pe, and this letter corresponds to ph. And we have also like photon, photography, ph.

And this comes from the mouth, the picture of a mouth. So you see first you have the i, then you have the mouth, and then you have sadi, which is a tz sound. So it's like tz, tz, tz.

And it comes from the picture of a fish hook. A fish hook. So people were fishermen.

We had fish. Okay, now you have a fish hook. So these are all very simple pictures of an agricultural life.

People fishing, people having houses. Now this is a real curious one, which is the letter kof.

This is where we get our letter q. It's the circle with a little squiggly line.

You know what that squiggly line pictured? It pictured something that the Israelites would see coming from Africa, from Egypt, that they would marvel at, and that was the monkey.

It was a monkey. It was a round figure with this tail, a little squiggly tail. That's what we get our q.

Then we get resh in Hebrew, the letter resh.

And this is where we get the letter r.

And it means, comes from head. You know, the r with a neck, a little round with a little neck.

So we have a head, we have an eye, we have a mouth.

And then we have the letter shin, which is the sh sound. Shin.

And this means tooth. So you see, everything is focused on different parts. Now you're going to the head, the mouth, the eye, and now you have the tooth. And then the last letter is tau.

T-a-u, tau, which is the th. It's the word, the word thy.

All these th. We're actually pronouncing a Hebrew letter, the tau letter, symbolized as a t, the symbol of a mark. So when people would sign, they would put a mark, the tau, which is where we get our t. So those are the 22 Hebrew letters and the pictures that they derived from. So now let's go back to where we left off the last time, because now each section has a subject. It has a topic that we need to understand. The last time we ended in section number 12, in other words, the 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which had to do with faithfulness of God's laws, which went from verses 89 to 96. The faithfulness that God said here in verse 89, forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven. God established his word from heaven. It is established. All these principles are there. He says, your faithfulness endures to all generations. So David is remembering that his laws are faithful. These principles go on through time. Now God took these eternal principles and then he put them in his word for us to understand through human writing, but they are eternal principles. That's why he says, your word is settled in heaven. And of course, one striking aspect of Psalm is that the striking aspect of Psalm 119, which we should not forget because this is reiterated time and time again, is how grateful and thankful David is for having been given his law, for given an understanding of God's law. And so he's constantly praising God. I think that's one of the characteristics that endeared David to God, because most people are there, oh, I don't want to keep your laws and all these laws are so restrictive and oh, I wish I didn't have to do this. People complain, complain, complain. When actually, when they get away from God's laws, is where all the headaches and heartaches happen. People do not relate the effect with the cause.

And but David was so thankful because he knew these laws brought blessings, helped him become a better person, developed that relationship with God. He could look around and praise God for all that had been done. And as I did a little research on this subject of, you know, why the lack of gratitude. They say that the sin of ungratefulness is the most common sin of all.

We just have a hard time being grateful and thankful for what we have. We can have everything and be missing one thing and that's what we'll be focusing on. And we'll be all the time complaining about the one thing, although we have everything else that we forget about. And so, why this lack of gratitude? I have four short points that I'd like to bring up because this psalm is filled with gratitude toward God for his laws, for his mercy, for his love.

So we have to develop it. Now, why are there these elements of lacking gratitude? Why is this so common? Well, there are four different aspects that I'd like to bring out. Number one, we often have a shallow grasp of our sinfulness. We often have a shallow grasp of our sinfulness. Which means it's very shallow what we are about our sins and our sinfulness. And so, we're not very grateful when we are forgiven because we think we're pretty good. A very shallow view of our sinfulness causes less gratefulness. Now, David certainly didn't do that. You can read Psalms 51 where he confesses to God. He's very open to God. He's aware of his sinfulness.

And that's a very inspiring psalm because he had a depth. He was aware of his sins. And so, he was very grateful for God's forgiveness, for God's help. And he kept at it. It wasn't just one moment in his life. You see all of these psalms that he composed throughout his life, and they're all based on the gratefulness that he has toward God. And praising God is a type of gratefulness. As you recall there in Matthew 18 where Jesus Christ mentioned about that person that was forgiven little, and he said, loves little, is little grateful. And so, the principle is, he who thinks he's been forgiven little, thinks little as well. So, as we realize how much God does, and he's involved, and how much he has forgiven, and how much he always is there to help us through thick and thin, well, then we become more thankful. But the person who has a very shallow grasp of his sinfulness is not going to be praising God very much because he thinks God really doesn't do too much, or too much to be thankful about. Number two, we are very forgetful of the past help and blessings. We just have a short memory for those things. We forget what God has done in the past. Now we live in the present, as Mr. Wozner brought out about the now we live today. Yeah, God could have done all these things. He intervened so many times, but that was yesterday. I want God to do things now and in the future. And so, as I have said, we often forget what we should remember, and we remember what we should forget. Our mind is that way. Sometimes we just can't forget what we should have put behind. We're always remembering the wrong things, and we're also forgetting the right things. That's just part of our human nature.

The third impediment to gratefulness is living a self-focused life.

In other words, the what's in it for me attitude. If I don't get anything out of it, I don't care.

So the attitude is, it's about me. Things go well. I'm happy. Things don't go well. Then I'm not going to thank God. I'm going to whine. I'm going to complain. So the self-focused life, it's about me. And so, a person is always based on that perception and forgets that it's a lot more than just about me. It's about others. It's about God.

It's about what he's doing. And the fourth hindrance to gratefulness is our perception of God, how we view Him. Many times we view God as we viewed our parents, especially our fathers. If our fathers were loving, pretty benign, very helpful, we have good pictures of our images of our father. And then it's easy to say, well, God's kind of the nice fellow like my father was and supportive. And you can be a lot more grateful. But if you don't have a father figure like that, maybe your father was cold or he was harsh or he was distant or he really didn't show much.

You tend to transfer that image over to God as well. And you think, well, he's harsh. Yeah, and he's cold and he's very demanding. And so what kind of gratefulness are you going to have if you have that image, which isn't the image of God, but we have transposed it, we have transferred it over.

And so that is a limit. We cannot limit God by our views of what our father and mother did.

God is much greater. He loves us and he paid the price of his son for us, much greater than any father or mother would have done for us. So I just wanted to cover why we don't give God enough praise and thanks for the things that he does. So let's go now to the last part of Psalms 119, which is a homage to God's laws. Psalms 119 is a homage or a praise to God's laws in every conceivable angle like a diamond.

So let's start in verse 97. We're going to start out with the section M, the M, remember, for water.

And the central thought here is the great love for God's laws, the great love for God's laws. This has been very comforting, especially the church has been attacked in the past for keeping God's laws and keeping his commandments. And this section has comforted so many. Let's read verse 97.

David says, Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day.

So he is saying, you know, how much I love your law. Many in the church had to turn and say, well, I'm not going to give God's laws up. I love God's laws. And some humorous comment was once made that that psalm that we sing, Oh, how I love thy law, you know, others that left and no longer keep it, then they sing, Oh, how I love thy law in the past. That shouldn't be the case. You know, we should continue to love God, but some loved the law in the past.

And so we continue because it says how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. You, through your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies. So through the study of God's laws, we are able to learn wisdom and to understand life and deal with people and adversaries. This section reminds me of Theodore Roosevelt's famous saying, the president back in the early 1900s. He said, a thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.

Now, by this, he didn't mean don't get a college education, but just realize that a thorough understanding and knowledge of the Bible is going to help you out more in life than a college education. Because at college, you learn how to earn a living. By studying God's word, you learn how to live your life. So that's more important. A biographer of Theodore Roosevelt said, he made Bible reading and Bible study a big part of his everyday life. He encouraged others to partake of its great wisdom. He quoted the Bible often, putting verses in his letters and speeches. One biographical historian examined just his published works and found that he had so integrated Scripture into his thought process that there were actually more than 4,200 biblical images, references, inferences, and complete quotations contained therein. So, you see, this man was steeped in God's word, and his face is there on Mount Rushmore. Boy, we'd like to have a Theodore Roosevelt today. Instead of others that don't want to even use the Bible, throw the Bible out the door. And his unpublished letters, the article continues, says, unpublished letters, articles, and speeches contain hundreds, perhaps even thousands more of the Scriptures. Reminds me of Deuteronomy 17 that the king was to read the copy and make a copy of God's law by hand. So he would know it intimately. Well, Theodore Roosevelt did that.

And also, it was an example of David as the king. He read God's laws. It was my meditation all day.

If you would have been around King David, he would be talking to you about biblical principles and how to apply them. That's why he became such a great king, because he used God's word for his daily life.

He says in verse 99, I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies or my meditation.

You can study philosophy, and 10 years later, basically, that book is chucked out the window, and a new system of philosophy is taught at universities. Why? Because it's all based on sand. There's no real foundation. It's all based on a lot of premises, and those things change.

But God's word, that is a foundation based on the rock that you can base your life upon.

He says in verse 100, I understand more than the ancients, because I keep your precepts. In other words, he puts them into practice. I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep your word. So God's word restrains us, puts a brake on that human nature.

It wants to do much more evil things. He says, I have not departed from your judgments, for you yourself have taught me how? Through God's word. How sweet are your words to my taste. Sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts, I get understanding. Therefore, I hate every false way. So as you're closer to God and the Bible and His way, the farther you are from the world and all of its silly distractions and temptations and stupidity, that afterwards you regret. Some things will come back to haunt you all the rest of your life for some stupid decision that you made because you were close to God. It happens all the time. So that is section and letter 13. Let's go to section 14, none, and UN, the letter N, which means fish. And let's start in verse 105, which is actually the subject matter of this section. It says, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. He was saying that this is a way of life. And as you go in the darkness of this world, you have God's word as a lamp to shine forward as you walk in the path. But a lamp will not project its light that far out.

That's why you have to do it in a systematic way. Just because you start out on the road doesn't mean you're going to stay. But this is the way you say, where should I go? In the midst of those worldly darkness, while you get God's lamp out, oh, here's the way God wants me to go. This is the right way. So there are many decisions to be made, and God's word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep your righteous judgment. He made a commitment. Just like we make a commitment at baptism, we're going to continue this way. He says, I am afflicted very much. Revive me, oh Lord, according to your word. David had all kinds of afflictions and persecutions and trials that he went through, and he asked God, revive me.

Verse 108, except I pray the free will offering of my mouth, oh Lord, and teach me your judgment. So even here in the Old Testament, a free will offering, usually you had to take to the temple. You had to sacrifice an animal. But here he says, you know, this is my free will offering. I am praising you. I am following you. This is a better offering than if I had to go to the temple and just do an animal sacrifice. So he says, except I pray the free will offerings of my mouth, which is to praise and obey God.

Verse 109, my life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget your law.

Even at great risk and threat, he says, I'm not forgetting your law.

The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not strayed from your precepts, your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart.

I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes forever and to the very end.

So he said, I'm going to persevere in this. This is not one of these fair weather Christians that as long as things go well, I'm here, but if I have a tough time, I'm out of here. No, he says, I'm going to do this forever to the very end. Then we go to the section Sammek. This is section 15.

This is where we get the letter S for support. Start out in verse 113. He says, I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. So the section here is God's judgments will be carried out. Now God's laws are going to apply. The person obeys them.

God's going to bless. You disobey them, you're going to pay the consequences. God's judgment will be carried out. Maybe not sooner. Maybe it'll be later, but it will catch up eventually.

And so he says, I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. You are my hiding place and my shield. I hope in your word, depart from me, you evildoers, for I will keep the commandments of my God. I remember something like that happening in my life. I was a young man. I was full of zip and vigor, 17, and enjoying life, and finally able to grow and get to be almost about six feet, and started being attracted to girls. And I had a nice girlfriend there in my senior year.

When God called me into the church, and all of a sudden, this is the scripture as well as the theme, which I said, depart from me, you evildoers, for I will keep the commandments of my God.

So I had to say, you know, this girl, she's not following God. She's not keeping the commandments of God. Eventually, I will sin if I keep going out. And I said, no, you know what? That's it.

I'm going to give her up. I'm going to follow God's way. And boy, what's that blessing? How many headaches did I avoid because of that? Uphold me, he says, according to your word, that I may live and do not let me be ashamed of my hope. In other words, don't let me be ashamed that I don't reach my hope. That we end up ashamed because we did not finish the race, the course.

Verse 17, hold me up and I shall be safe and I shall observe your statutes continually.

You reject all those who stray from your statutes, for their deceit is falsehood.

You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross. Therefore, I love your testimonies. My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments. Here's this godly fear, not afraid in the sense of being frightened, but just the deep respect, and, of course, afraid of going the way of the world, deviating from God's ways. Then we go to the next section, which is Section 16, Agin, is the letter where we get the letter O. Remember I? That's where it derives from. And we can read here, verses 121 through 128. It says, I have done justice and righteousness. Do not leave me to my oppressors. And the theme here is being a servant of God's commands. Notice how many times he refers to himself as a servant. Now, when you've given yourself to God and you've committed yourself, you are his servant. He gives us commands, he gives us instructions, and so this section reminds us that we are a servant of God's commands. So he says, I have done justice and righteousness. Do not leave me to my oppressors. Be surety for your servant for good. Do not let the proud oppress me. My eyes fail from seeking your salvation and your righteous word. Deal with your servant according to your mercy and teach me your statutes. I am your servant. Give me understanding that I may know your testimony. A good servant that wants to learn what the master wants is always being instructed by the master so he will be pleased with you.

It is time for you to act, O Lord, for they have regarded your law as void. That's a good one.

God does act when people think God's laws have been done away. Become void, which means annulled.

And he says, act! Intervene! It is time for you to act, O Lord, for they have regarded your law as void.

Therefore, I love your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold. Therefore, all your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right, I hate every false way. So you can imagine what kind of person David was to be around him. How much he strove to please God, to learn from God, to apply God, to love God, to love the brethren, to be a wise and loving king. Did he make great mistakes? Yes. But he ruled for 40 years, and he ended up his life faithful to God, always increasing in understanding and love and application. So he crossed the finish line, and he's got a great reward. And so it shows here the attitude that he had. Yes, I am your servant.

Let me be a good servant. Help me out in this way.

That takes us to section number 17.

This is the letter P. We get the P.H., like the philosophy that comes from P. Then the picture is of the mouth. Verse 129.

And here the section deals with God's laws keep sin from having dominion over us. God's laws keep sin from having dominion over us. Psalm 119, verse 129, it says, Your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them. The entrance of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. The entrance, if you let God's word enter, it's going to give you light, understanding, power.

One of the comments made was that as a person studied his word deeper and deeper, he said it was like rewiring an old house with the electricity on. And all of a sudden, you're going to look and wow, you're going to get shocked. Boy, look at this. And sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, but it's going to have light, energy. God's word is going to light us up. And that happens.

So here in this section, we have a parallel with what the apostle Paul talked about, that sin shall not have dominion over you. Well, this comes from Psalm 119, what we're studying right here.

Notice verse 131. It says, I opened my mouth and panted for I longed for your commandments.

The word picture here is of an animal in the desert, panting for water, so thirsty he says, I panted for your word. I need your word just like an animal or a human needs water in the desert. He says, look upon me and be merciful to me, as your custom is toward those who love your name. Direct my steps by your word and let no iniquity have dominion over me. So this is where Paul later said, sin shall not have dominion over you, which is a quote from Romans 6.14 that David asked God, don't let sin dominate me. That's the worst slavery that there is. Let no iniquity have dominion over me.

So as we study God's word in such a focused way, it relates to other parts of the Bible as well.

You focus, oh, where did I see this before? About sin not having dominion over you. Well, that's where Romans 6.14. See, this little flower just pops open of God's word, and now you marvel. Oh, this is another beautiful idea that I didn't know existed here. It reminds me of Hislop's quote in the book, The Two Babylon's, about studying the Bible in contrast to other books. It's worthwhile for me to quote it again. Alexander Hislop was a famous bishop in England back in the 1850s or so that wrote the book, The Two Babylon's, which exposed how much Roman Catholicism has steeped in ancient Babylonian paganism. And today you can go online, and you can actually download and print the whole book. But he has as his introduction about the best description of what it is to study God's word on one hand and what it is to study man's literature on the other hand. This is what he said. There is this great difference between the works of men and the works of God, that the same investigation which displays the defects and imperfections of the one brings out also the beauties of the other. If the most finely polished needle, imagine a little needle, which the art of man has created be subjected to a microscope, many inequalities, much roughness and clumsiness will be seen. But if the microscope be brought to bear on the flowers of the field, no such result appears. Instead of their beauty diminishing, new beauties and still more delicate that have escaped the naked eye are discovered.

The same principle appears also in comparing the word of God and the most finished productions of men. There are spots and blemishes in the most admired literary productions of human genius.

But the more the scriptures are searched, the more minutely they are studied, the more their perfection appears. New beauties are brought into light every day, and the discoveries of science conspire to illustrate the wonderful harmony of all the parts and the divine beauty that clothes the whole word of God. I've never forgotten that quote through the years. And here, when I saw this, that sin will not have dominion over us, that's another beautiful part that relates to Romans 6.14.

So let's go to the next section. Section 18, verse 13. Soddy is the letter that we study in verse 137.

This is the TZ sound that comes in. The illustration is the fish hook, and this section has to do with God's laws are truth. God's laws are truth. That's what it says.

Notice verse 137. Righteous are you, O Lord, and upright are your judgments.

Your testimonies, which you have commanded, are righteous and very faithful.

My zeal has consumed me. That's where Jesus Christ talked about the zeal when he went to overturn the tables of the money changers. He says, My zeal has consumed me because my enemies have forgotten your words. Your word is very pure. Therefore, your servant loves it. I am small and despised. Yet I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is truth. So where does that come from? And where do we find that scripture?

Later on in the New Testament, when Jesus Christ said in John 1717, Your word is truth.

And of course, here God's laws are truthful. They're based on spiritual truth. He says, Trouble and anguish have overtaken me. Yet your commandments are my delight.

The righteousness of your testimonies is everlasting. Give me understanding, and I shall live. Here's another characteristic that was very special with King David. As he faced trials and difficulties, it didn't draw him farther from the word. It drew him near. Many times when a person is going through tough times, instead of having it help you grow near to God, you grow more distant from God. You start letting your troubles overcome and over-way what you're thinking about, and you drift more into a worldly attitude. But David, he says, these things are trying to wrestle me from your word. And he says, I'm going to stay with your word. I'm going to stay faithful no matter what. So he had great perseverance. The next section, cough, section 19, that's where we get the cue and the illustration of the monkey. This section is constantly seeking God's truths, because it's not only recognizing God's truths are there, but constantly seeking God's truths. That was a characteristic of David. He says in verse 145, he says, I cry out with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord, I will keep your statutes. I cry out to you, save me, and I will keep your testimonies. I rise before the dawning of the morning and cry for help. I hope in your word.

My eyes are awake through the night watches that I may meditate on your word.

Hear my voice according to your loving kindness. O Lord, revive me according to your justice.

They draw near to me who follow after wickedness. They are far from your law. You are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are truth. That's also a very important statement. All your commandments are truth. Remember, in the Bible, truth is best described as the reality of things, not what we hope for, not what we imagine, but what is true, what is genuine, what the reality of things are. Concerning your testimonies, I have known of old that you have founded them forever.

And so, verse 147 is very important where he says, I hope in your word that he never lost that hope. God's word, what it promises, to follow it faithfully. Now, sometimes you're not going to see the results right away. When you start applying these things in your life, your life might not change overnight. Things might not look like they have changed very much, but you have taken the first step to change in your overall life. As he says here about the hope that I hope in your law. I'm going to do my part. I'm going to take that promise of yours, that hope that you've given me, and I'm going to believe it and follow it.

And again, just like there are physical laws that always equal, you know, there's light, darkness, and there's the scales. And what you apply, usually you will get about the same in return.

The more you apply toward God, the more you will receive from God. The less you apply, the less you're going to receive from God. That's why he talks about reaping. You're going to reap according to how you sow. Well, this is what David was saying. Look, I've invested my life. I'm following you. I have this hope in you as well. Verse 147. I hope in your word.

Now we go to the next section. This is the section about section 20.

The rech, where we get the letter R, which is the head.

Verse 1, and the main subject here is disgust at those who break God's laws.

Now that's another part of this diamond. It's not just, well, I'm happy with people that are following God's laws and I'm just fellowshiping with them. But what about the world?

Do you feel disgust for what you see as God's laws being broken more and more? Or are you indifferent?

Or are you one of those, well, just live and learn, live and let live, just let the world know. But this is what David said. He was disgusted with those that broke his laws.

Notice here in verse 153, he says, consider my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law. Plead my cause and redeem me, revive me according to your word.

Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes. Great are your tender mercies, O Lord. Revive me according to your judgments. Many are my persecutors and my enemies, yet I do not turn from your testimonies. I see the treacherous and am disgusted because they do not keep your word. God makes emphasis that we have to have a disgust for the way the world is going and violating his laws, and we see the degeneracy and just time, and we just see what happens. Now, in the upper echelons of this government, we see more scandals, more things covered up, more problems Why? Because people have quit telling the truth. More is covered up, lies. Now the idea is lie, but don't get caught. Don't get caught. It's okay to lie as long as you don't get caught. But you know, eventually, many times, you will get caught. And so he says here about being disgusted.

Let's go to the next section. Section 21, Shin, where we get the C-S-H sound, the S-H sound. Remember, the illustration is tooth, where this letter derives from. And of course, in this section, is a great scripture. So this section, I've titled, Great Peace. Have they keep your law, and nothing shall offend them. It starts out in verse 161. He says, Princes persecute me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of your work. By the way, this scripture is what we title the PowerPoint Bible study, Our Awesome Bible. And it comes from this verse here. My heart stands in awe of your word. Verse 162, I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure. I hate and abhor lying, but I love your law.

Seven times a day, I praise you because of your righteous judgments.

This is the key verse in this section. Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble. Other versions say, and nothing shall offend them.

And this is the characteristic that when you are loving God's laws, when you have that focus, there's great inner peace. You have peace with yourself, with God, with others, and nothing shall offend them, which means that just like duck off-fences roll off like water off a duck's back. You're just not going to let things stick and stew and become embittered by it. You're close enough, you have that peace, and nothing will offend you. That means that you're not going to let things undermine that spiritual attitude and that following God in a positive way. Yes, many times our armor is going to get dented. We're going to have hard times, but we're going to continue, and we're going to put those things behind us. We're not going to drag them and carry them like an anchor through our lives. And that takes us...

Let's go to verse 166. It says, Lord, I hope for your salvation, and I do not I do your commandments.

My soul keeps your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep your precepts and your testimonies, for all my ways are before you. And the last section, section 22 for the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet, tau, where we get the th sound, which comes from a mark that is made.

In this section, the basis for it, the topic is, all your commandments are righteousness, which is another key scripture in verse 172. It says, My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness. What is the definition of the Bible of righteousness?

It is keeping all of God's commandments. That's God's... So you can do everything you want, but if you're not keeping God's commandments, that's not doing the righteousness that God defines here. Let's finish this section, verse 169. It says, Let my cry come before you, O Lord, give me understanding according to your word.

Let my supplication come before you. Deliver me according to your word. My lips shall utter praise for you. Teach me your statutes. My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness. Let your hand become my help, for I have chosen your precepts, chosen to follow them.

I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Which is what Paul also quoted there in Romans 7 at the end. He says, I delight in God's law. Well, here David says, your law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise you, and let your judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. Sometimes in our life, we can stray like a lost sheep. But then you say, I am yours. Help me, and rescue me, for I do not forget your commandments. I'm still following your way of life. So that's the covering, that's the protection that we have from God. So, as you can see, Psalm 119 expresses that need to thorough, understand God's laws, and thanking God for having given it and shown us how to apply it, how it has changed our lives. Let's never forget, like David gave us the example of praising him and loving his way of life and his laws forever. That is the gist. That is the conclusion of Psalms 119.