Would you turn with me to the
119th Psalm? It's just delightful to be with
you. I'm going to give a verse-by-verse exposition of this entire Psalm.
So get ready. We're going to look at the first eight
verses of Psalm 119. Before I read this passage of
Scripture, I've entitled this message The paradox. The paradox. Paradox is a statement
that seems contradictory. Or absurd. But in fact, it is
not. It's true. It seems contradictory. But it's true. You ever feel
like a paradox? Psalm 119, let's read these first
eight verses. Blessed are the undefiled in
the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that
keep his testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity. They
walk in his ways. Thou has commanded us to keep
thy precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed
to keep thy statutes. Then shall I not be ashamed when
I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness
of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes. Oh,
forsake me not utterly. Would you hold your finger there
and turn over to Galatians chapter five? I believe that this verse of
scripture serves as a commentary on these verses of scripture
I just read. Galatians chapter 5, verse 17. For the flesh lusteth against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh And these are contrary,
the one to the other, so that you cannot, you lack the ability
to do the things that you would. Now, in these first three verses,
turn back over to Psalm 119. In these first three verses,
he tells us who the blessed man is. And I love this description
of the blessed man. Blessed are the undefiled, the
perfect in the way. They walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed, oh, how blessed of God
are they that keep his testimonies, not simply admire him, not simply
say good things about him, but they keep them. and that seek
him with the whole heart, never half-heartedly, but they seek
him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity. They walk in his ways." Now,
what a description. This is truly the blessed man. Now in verse four, he says, thou
has commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently, to give
it all our heart and soul. This lets us know how he abhorred
the idea of let's sin that grace may abound. Thou has commanded
us to keep thy precepts diligently. And now he looks within and he
says concerning himself in verse five, oh, that my ways were directed
to keep thy statutes. Oh, that you would cause me to
keep your statutes. Oh, that my ways were directed
to keep yours. I want the Lord to direct my
ways. But as far as the way he felt, he felt like he didn't
keep God's statutes. This is his own experience. He
says, oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. Then shall
I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
Right now, obviously I don't. I will praise thee with uprightness
of heart. I'm not doing it right now. I
won't do it until I shall have learned thy righteous judgment.
I'll keep thy statutes, O forsake me not utterly. Now, can you
see how that's such a paradox? He talks about being perfect,
being undefiled, being righteous, walking in the law of the Lord.
And then he speaks about himself saying, oh, that my ways were
directed to walk in thy paths. Now, only a believer can understand
this song. As far as that goes, only a believer
can understand any portion of Scripture. You see, it's not
intellectually understood, it's spiritually understood. And the
only way I can understand a passage of Scripture from God's Word
is if God, by His Spirit, gives me that understanding. This is
not intellectual. It doesn't take intelligence
to understand. It takes a spiritual nature. And only a spiritual
man can understand what this is talking about. Now, this description
of the blessed man in verses one through three, let's consider
this for a few moments. Blessed are the undefiled in
the way. That word undefiled means perfect
and blameless, without fault and without sin. God said to
Abraham, be perfect and walk before me. Now you can't be perfect
unless you're perfect. That's the only way you can be
perfect. You must be perfect to be perfect. He said concerning
Noah, thee have I seen as righteous and perfect before me in this
generation. Our Lord said in Matthew 5.43
to his disciples, be perfect for I am perfect. Be perfect
as your heavenly father is perfect. Now that is God's call to every
one of us, be perfect. And he says, blessed are the
undefiled, the perfect in the way, in the way, who walk in
the law of the Lord. They walk in his law. They keep
His law. They do not sin. They're perfect. Blessed, verse
two, listen to this description, verse two. Blessed are they that
keep His testimonies, not simply that admire Him or know the proper
things to say about Him, but they keep His testimonies and
they seek Him with the whole heart. Nothing's ever half-hearted
about anything they do. They also do no iniquity. They
do no iniquity. They don't see it. They walk
in his ways. Are there really people like
this? You read this description. Are there really people like
this? Now you can understand how this would describe the life
of Christ, but he's not speaking of Christ only here. Notice he
speaks of they walk in his way. He's talking about men and women.
He's talking about individuals who walk in his ways. Now, how can that be? How can
this describe me? How can this describe you? Now,
the only way it can be understood is the gospel. In 1 John chapter 4 verse 16,
I'm going to quote it, you can turn there if you want, but John
says, we have known and believed the love that God has to us.
We have understood and we've relied upon the love that God
has to us. Now, how is it that I've understood
and known and believed the love that God has to me? Well, here's
what I understand. How does God love his son? It's not unconditional love,
is it? He loves his son because he's lovely. He loves his son
because he's perfect. He loves his son because he's
undefiled. He loves his son because he's
always been obedient and always will be obedient. He loves his
son because he's all together. Lovely. Oh, the love the father
has to the son. When he looks upon the Lord Jesus
Christ, he's pleased. He's pleased with everything
about him. He's pleased with everything he says. He's pleased
with everything he's done. He said from heaven, this is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Oh, who can describe
the pleasure that the father has in his son? Oh, he's so pleased
with him. Now, you know what the Lord said?
Turn to John 17. Hold your finger there. John
17. Verse 23. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect. in one, and that the world may
know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast
loved me." Now do you hear that? How does the father love the
son? He loves him because he's altogether
lovely, because he's undefiled in the way, because he's perfect.
That is how he loves every believer. That's how he sees every believer. That's how every believer is
because if Christ is undefiled, I am too. If Christ is perfect
in the way, I am too. If Christ kept his testimonies,
I did too. If Christ did no iniquity, I
did no iniquity because I'm in him. Now let me show you this
in Genesis chapter 1. This starts, the scripture starts
out with this thing of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the believer is one
with Christ. Hebrews 2.11 says, both he that
sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all of one. For the witch cause, he's not
ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to call me his
brother in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm perfect. Now look here in
Genesis chapter 1, verse 27. So God created man in his own
image. In the image of God created he
him, male and female created he them. Now, you know that Eve
was not created until the next chapter, was she? When Eve was,
I mean, when she was taken out of Adam's side, the rib was taken
out of the side, that's in Genesis 2, but yet it says, male and
female created he them. You see, when Adam was created,
so was Eve, although it hadn't happened yet. It still happened. Look in Genesis chapter three,
verse one. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and said
unto the woman, yea, have God said you shall not eat of every
tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, we may
eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit
of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said you
shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you
die. And the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely
die, for God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as God, knowing
good and evil. And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes and
a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit
and did eat thereof. What happened? What happened? Nothing. Nothing. She disobeyed God. She ate of
the fruit of the tree and nothing happened. It didn't happen. Because
she gave to Adam, and he did eat. And then both of their eyes
were opened. You see what Adam did, she did. Now, what the Lord Jesus Christ
did, I did. This is just an illustration
of union with the Lord Jesus Christ, right in the opening
chapters of the scripture. Christ Jesus the Lord, being
united to Him. First, He became united to me.
He was made to be what He was not. He was made to be what I
am. And just as truly as He was made to be what I am, I'm made
to be what He is. So this scripture actually describes
me. What confidence there is there.
This is me. I'm that blessed one who walks
undefiled in the way, perfect without sin. This is me. This is every believer. Just as truly as he was made
to be sin, his righteousness becomes mine. This is what the
Bible calls justification. I am without guilt before God. Would you not agree that the
people who are described in verses one through three are especially
blessed by God? Look at verse one again of Psalm
119. Blessed are the undefiled. What's
it say next? in the way, Christ the way. He said, I am the way, the truth
and the life. Blessed are the undefiled in
the way. And this is what they do. They
walk in the law of the Lord. It doesn't mean they try to keep
the law. It means they keep the law. It means they're perfect
before God. What a blessed place to be. This describes you. You know,
I used to read Psalm 119 when I'd read it. There's so many
scriptures that I just couldn't when I'd read that and I thought, well,
that's not me. But now I understand it is me. That's me. And look
what he says in verse four. Thou has commanded us to keep
thy precepts diligently. Now, I know that David put that
there at that time because he knows that There will be those
who hear this and they'll say, well, I don't need to worry about
my conduct. I don't need to worry about what
I do because I'm complete in Christ. I have perfect obedience. I'm perfectly righteous. Therefore
I can live however I want. David says, thou has commanded
us to keep thy precepts diligently. God commands obedience, be ye
perfect for I am perfect. You see, the gospel does not
give us an excuse for sin. And David is grappling with his
own experience because of when he looked at himself, he didn't
see verses one through three as a description of himself,
but we don't see it as a description of ourself, but we believe it.
We believe it. We don't see it, but we do believe
it. But he's making this statement. Thou has commanded us to keep
thy precepts diligently to let us know that this isn't a license
to see. And this is does not make sin.
Okay. In any way, this is not providing an excuse for sin.
Turn to Romans chapter six for a moment. Romans chapter six. First, I want to read the last
two verses of Romans chapter 5. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, where it
overflowed, Grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so my grace reigned through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now in that place where
sin abounded, this is what happens every time, wherever sin abounds,
grace does much more abound. What a blessed thought, because
sin abounds in me. Thank God grace does much more
abound. Now look what he says next. Verse
1, what should we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? God forbid. Verse 11, likewise reckon ye
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Reckon yourself to be dead indeed
to sin because you are dead indeed to sin. That's what God's word
says. Believe what God says. Verse 12, Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust
thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. Four, look at this promise. Four, sin shall not
have dominion over you. That's a promise. It's a promise
of grace. Sin shall not have dominion over
you because you're not under law, but you're under grace. That's why. Now, let me say this. It sure feels like sin has dominion
in me. It seems like if it didn't, I
wouldn't continue to commit the same sins over and over again.
That's certainly what it feels like. So you know what I do? Turn back to Psalm 119 for a
moment. Look in verse 133. Now, remember this promise. The
Lord promised, sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're
not under law, but you're under grace. Okay, verse 133, order my steps
in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Lord,
you promised it wouldn't. Do what you said, don't let any
iniquity have dominion over me. Would you turn back to verse
five? Now, David talks about what a
believer is in these first three verses. And then in verse four,
takes away any excuse for disobedience. There's no excuse for sin under
any circumstance. And then he speaks of his own
personal experience. And he says in verse five, Oh,
that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. Oh, that my ways were direct.
In other words, I want the Lord to intervene. I want him to cause
me to walk in his statutes. I want him to overcome me with
his grace and don't let me go. Cause me, direct my steps, order
my steps in your word. This is the desire of every believer.
I look at myself and I say, oh, that my ways were directed. I
feel like they're not. Oh, that you would direct them
to keep thy statutes. Look in verse 33 of the same
chapter and look at all the things he asked for. Verse 33, Psalm
119. Teach me, O Lord, the way of
thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding,
and I shall keep thy law. Yea, I shall observe it with
my whole heart. Listen to this language. Make
me to go in the paths of thy commandments, for therein do
I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding
vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way. Establish thy word unto
thy servant who's devoted to thy fear. Turn away my reproach,
which I fear, for thy judgments are good. Behold, I've longed
after thy precepts. Quicken me in thy righteousness. Look in verse 80 of the same
chapter. He says, Let my heart be sound
in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed. My soul fainted for
thy salvation, but I hope in thy word, mine eyes fail for
thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? Look in verse 88,
quicken me after thy loving kindness, so shall I keep the testimony
of thy mouth. You quicken me and I'll keep
the testimony of thy mouth. Now here's my desire. I see my ways as not keeping
his statutes. Now that's just being honest.
But oh, that my ways would be directed. caused to keep thy
statutes. You know, you've heard this before. People say, why, if I believe
the way you do, this sovereign grace, why do you make everybody
robots? Is that a bad thing? Would you like to be the Lord's
robot? Programmed to do his will? Caused to do his will? I think
that's very attractive. He says, oh, that my ways were
directed to Keep thy statutes. I think of Jeremiah's prayer.
Turn thou me, and I'll be turned. Turn us again, O Lord God of
hosts. Cause thy face to shine, and
we'll be saved. O Lord, plead my cause. Act in my behalf. Cause me to
do thy will. Subdue my iniquities for me.
I'm a captive to my sin. Deliver me. Lead captivity captive. Turn with me for a moment to
Romans chapter seven. Now remember, David, David talks
about this state of blessedness. They do know iniquity. He lets
us know there's never an excuse for doing iniquity, but then
he looks at his own experience. Now look in Romans chapter seven,
verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual,
But I am carnal, sold under sin. Now, is Paul speaking as a believer
or an unbeliever? You think of what he says. The
law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under a sin, a slave to
sin. Sin, sin's over me. Now, is he
speaking, is he saved? Is he speaking as a believer
or an unbeliever? My dear friends, he's speaking as a believer.
Only a believer can have any understanding of this. We know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. This statement gives us an utter
dissatisfaction with such a condition. He's not talking about an unregenerate
state, but the bondage of an evil nature and the futility
of the law in subduing it. Let's go on and read what he
says. Paul says in verse 15, For that which I do, I allow not. I don't approve of
it. For what I would, I would be
without sin. I would be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. I would never sin again. I would, I would, but I don't. But what I hate, what I despise,
acts of disobedience against God, that is what I do. Now if then I do that which I
would not, I consent unto the law that it's good. Now then
it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me right now. I would be without sin. I would obey God's law perfectly. To will is present with me. But
how to perform that which is good. He doesn't say I mess up sometimes.
He says I find not. Now, there's never been a finer
man than the Apostle Paul. You know it, but he's telling
us what really is going on in his heart. He says in verse 19,
for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil, which I would
not, that's what I do. Now, if I do that, which I would
not, it's no more I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth in
me, I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present
with me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man." Don't you love God's holy law? Don't
you love the Ten Commandments? I delight in the law of God after
the inward man, a reflection of God's holy character, but
I see another law in my members warring against the law of my
mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members. Now, I know a lot of religious
folks say, well, he couldn't be saved then. Well, if you think that,
you're not saved. I mean, the Lord teaches his
people, but I can just see all the accusations people would
make against the apostle Paul. What's he doing? What's he doing?
What do you reckon he's doing? What do you think he's doing
behind closed doors? And I have no understanding of what he's saying. He said
in verse 24, Oh, wretched man that I am who should
deliver me from the body of this death. I thank God through Jesus
Christ, our Lord. So then with my mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Now, because of this conflict he's talking about,
the flesh lusting against the spirit, the spirit lusting against
the flesh, these things are contrary one to the other so that you
cannot do the things that you would. Because of this conflict,
it makes me long for death when I'll be set free. I was
talking to Charles Pennington, the pastor of Wheeler's Willisburg
Grace Fellowship Church in Willisburg, Ohio. He's found out he's got
cancer recently and it's, he doesn't know what kind it is.
They haven't determined, but we were talking about dying.
And he said, he said, don't weep for me if I do. And I said, I'm
not, I'm, in that sense, I'm jealous of you. I was thinking
about, I was thinking about this morning, if the Lord takes him,
I mean, he may have another seven, eight years. He might have another
few months. They don't know what kind of, how aggressive this
cancer is yet, but he'll be set free. Set free. No more sin. No more unbelief. No more barrier. No more shame. Perfectly conformed to the image
of Christ. Our sin is such a burden to us.
I hate my sin. I do. And I long to be delivered
from myself. And that's what David is saying
when he says, oh, that my ways were directed by your grace. Oh, that my ways were directed
to keep thy statutes. Now, Romans seven is an amplification
of, oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. Now, look
back in Psalm 119, verse six. Then shall I not be ashamed when
I have respect, utter reverent regard unto all thy commandments. Now, what he's saying is, and
I'm not, he said right now, I can't say that about myself. I am ashamed
of myself. And here's what I'll not be ashamed
when I have nothing to be ashamed of. When I have respect, and
regard to all thy commandments. Now, David knew he was described
in verses one through three. That's me. Undefiled in the way. That's the real me. That's the
true me. That's not some kind of legal document that says that
that's what I am. That's what I am in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's me. But I also recognize
what I am in myself. And I will be ashamed of myself
until I have regard and respect to all thy commandments. Then I'll feel no shame because
I won't have anything to be shamed of. Verse seven, I will praise thee with uprightness
of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. Now he's saying, as I praise
you now, I don't feel like I'm praising you with uprightness
of heart. I feel like my praise is defiled because of who's giving
it. Why, even my praising the Lord
is not upright. In and of myself, it's defiled. I'll praise thee with uprightness
of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. Now,
learning his righteous judgments, what my mind was brought to,
John chapter six verses 8 through 11, where the Lord said, when
he has come, he will convict the world of sin of righteousness
and of judgment of sin because they believe not on me. Now, let me tell you when you're
truly convicted of sin. You're convicted of sin when you say
faith is out of your reach. It's not something you can come
up with. You can't just up and decide to believe. You don't
even know what faith is. That's when you're convicted
of sin, when you say you cannot believe. You're totally dependent
upon His grace. You can't even come up with the
faith. Why, the idea of free will's ridiculous to you. You
know you have a will chained to an evil nature, and free will's
ridiculous. That's when you're convicted
of sin, when you say you can't even come up with the faith of sin
because they believe not on me of righteousness because I go
to my father and you see me no more. You become convinced when
God, the Holy Spirit teaches you. You become convinced that
the only righteousness there is, is the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he's gone to his father.
And of judgment, you become convinced that all judgment took place
on the cross. He says the prince of this world
is judged. You become convinced. Now this is when you're able
to praise with uprightness of heart, when you see the gospel,
when you believe the gospel. when you see your standing in
Christ. I will praise thee with uprightness
of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments, sin,
righteousness, and judgment. He says in verse eight, I'll
keep thy statutes. I will keep thy statutes. And
then he says, oh, forsake me not utterly. Where do these two things go
together? Well, it's a paradox, isn't it? You know, I mean, you
see this in your own heart. I'll keep thy statutes. Oh, forsake
me not utterly. I deserve to be forsaken. David,
don't you believe in eternal security? Of course I do, but
I feel as though I ought to be forsaken. That's how I feel about
myself. Oh, don't forsake me, though,
the absolute worst that could happen to me is for the Lord
to take his hand off of me and leave me to myself. Oh, don't
forsake me. Don't have mercy on me. Lord,
plead by cause. Do something for me. I'll keep
thy statutes. Forsake me not utterly." Now,
a believer's a paradox. A paradox is a seeming contradiction. And that's a seeming contradiction,
this description in these first eight verses. He's a seeming
paradox. But remember this about a paradox.
A paradox may seem contradictory, but it's not contradictory. It's
true. We just don't have the sense
to be able to figure it out. That's okay, isn't it? I'm just fine with that. Now
here's a believer. He's undefiled in the way He
walks in the law of the Lord. He keeps the testimonies. He
seeks God with his whole heart. He does no iniquity. They walk
in his ways. Now that's the scripture of a
believer. That's justification. That's who every believer is
in Christ Jesus. Blessed are the undefiled in
the way, the way the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that being said,
thou has commanded us, keep thy precepts diligently. I can't
look at my justification and think, well, Okay, I can go any
direction I want. No, but then he looks at himself
and says, Oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. A believer is a paradox. Be kind and compassionate and
merciful to your brother. He's a paradox, just like you. Let's break.