Psalms 119:30
Psalms 119:30, “Psa 119:30
I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before
me.”
I have chosen the way of truth. That’s what it is about choice, the
freedom of choice. God loves freedom and God has given freedom to all men, the
freedom to choose the right way or the wrong way, the freedom to choose truth
or lies, the freedom to choose life or death, the freedom to choose Jesus
Christ or reject Jesus Christ.
The freedom of choice is about
individual responsibility. We are all responsible for our own actions, for our
own decisions that we make. And we will be held accountable by God for those
decisions because one day we will stand at the judgment seat of Christ.
Now there is a great contest going on in
the world, a great warfare, a spiritual warfare, it involves the battle for
truth and the battle for freedom. God loves freedom. The devil hates freedom.
The devil hates freedom because the more a government or society takes away
freedom the more the powers that be can be used to pressure it’s
citizens to turn away from Jesus to turn away from the truth.
But even in a situation such a country
where the bible is outlawed, where Christianity is outlawed and becoming a
Christian is a capital crime, even in such a situation with such extreme
pressures and oppositions to the truth it does not take away ones freedom of
choice. A person still has the freedom, the God given ability to make a choice,
to choose to trust in Jesus or to choose to reject Jesus.
Certainly it would be better for any
individual to not have the pressure of government or the fear of death hanging
over their head when they are trying to make a decision to trust in Jesus or
not but still somehow despite such pressures all men are still responsible for
their decisions that they make. Because they have the freedom
to make that decision. Freedom is power. That particular God given power
is something all men have. You can pressure a person you can make laws against
such decisions but ultimately the power to make that decision is still there
within each individual. It is a God given freedom that cannot be taken away.
And there are many who come to Christ
for forgiveness of their sins despite the dangers and the pressures that
societies and governments put on them. No matter what country you live in t his world there are going to be some kind of pressures to not turn to Christ, to not trust
in Christ and to not follow Christ.
It takes some desire, some determination
to choose the right way instead of the wrong way. Most people in this world go
the wrong way. Just the fact that the majority are going the wrong way is a
pressure itself for many people. But wise is the man and blessed is the man
that can say Psalms
119:30, “Psa 119:30
I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before
me.”
I have chosen the way of truth. This verse makes it very clear man has
a choice. A free will. This is the reason I disagree
with the teaching of Calvinism. Calvinism teaches that God has decided who will
be saved and who will not. But such a teaching is completely contrary to what
the Bible teaches for several reasons. 1 reason would be this verse right here,
Psalms 119:30, I have chosen the way of truth. Another
reason would be the doctrine of salvation itself. John
God loves all the
world. Jesus died for all. All man can be saved if they chose the way of truth.
It’s about individual freedom of choice, free will.
This very same principle, you cannot blame your parents, or your
childhood, or your race, or your culture for what kind of person you become in
life. If you become an alcoholic, or if you become a bank robber, or if you
become a murderer, or if you become any kind of criminal it’s because you made
the choice to do so because you are a sinner. Blaming others for the choices
that you make will not result in you escaping judgment for your sins when you
stand before God when your life is over. Only those who have been washed in the
blood of Jesus Christ will be justified before God.
Psalms 119:30, “Psa 119:30
I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before
me.”
Now notice the last half of verse 30. It is directly connected to the
first half. A person who chooses the way of truth is going to take the Word of
God into their life and listen to it, read it, believe it, obey it.
Thy judgments have I laid before me. That’s what this phrase is talking about.
If you choose the truth then you will trust in Jesus and in His Word. A person
who truly comes to desire will a desire, a desire put in their heart by God, a
desire to study, to learn, to read, to think about the Word of God. A Christian
can’t help but desire the Word of God because a Christian has spiritual life
and the Word of God is their Spiritual food. Thy judgments have I laid before me.
Psalms 119:31 says, “Psa 119:31
I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.”
The key word in this verse is the word stuck. The word stuck is a very
interesting word it means to cling to follow after in pursuit, to cleave too,
to hold fast too.
You see it is one thing to choose the way of truth, to turn to Jesus
and to follow Him and it is another to continue following Jesus. There are many
people in this world who start something but do not finish it. If you start
following Jesus then continue following Him. Don’t quit. Don’t turn back to the
world like lot’s wife did.
Psalms 119:31 says, “Psa 119:31
I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.”
There is great shame in starting something but not finishing it
especially great shame in becoming a Christian but not continuing in the
footprints of Jesus. And for those who do turn back that shame will be seen at
the judgment. After all Jesus died for your sins. He gave it all. And Jesus
also gives all spiritual blessings. And to turn back from that, to trample on
the blood of Christ, to disregard the great promises of God and all the
wonderful things He has planned in the
future for you, what great shame to turn away from such a thing.
Why do people turn away? Well I think there are 2 main reasons. 1. A
person gets saved but never truly learns to be thankful for the forgiveness of
their sins they have in Jesus. This is something that could happen very easily.
After all the gospel is something that you grown in and learn more about over time. It is very easy
for a person to get saved and be thankful initially to continue with joy for a
season but then that joy fades away and the cares and the pressures of the
world creep in. The second reason I think that people turn away is simply the
storms of life and persecution. A Christian who does not grow in the word and
does not grow in their faith will easily turn away from God and from following
God when the pressures of persecution assail them or when some horrible tragedy
strikes their life and they are left wondering why God allowed it to happen to
them.
Psalms 119:31 says, “Psa 119:31
I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.”
I have stuck unto thy testimonies. There are many verses in the Bible
which emphasis this principle. Lets
read some of them.
Revelation
Hebrews
1 Timothy
It is a fight. It takes an effort. Your faith is your most precious
possession in this life. Protect it. Guard it. Nurture it. Help it to grow. And
above all make sure you do not lose it.
Psalms 119:31 says, “Psa 119:31
I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.” There is no shame in a person who fails but gets back up and tries
again. But there is shame in being a quitter especially when it comes to
following in the footprints of Jesus. If God has you pick up a cross don’t put
it back down until you have crossed that finish line. To do otherwise is the
greatest shame in all the world.
Be like the Apostle Paul who was able to say at the end of his life, 2
Timothy 4:7, “2Ti 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith: 2Ti 4:8
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Psalms 119:32-35 says, “Psa 119:32
I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge
my heart. Psa 119:33 HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy
statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Psa
119:34 Give me
understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my
whole heart. Psa 119:35 Make me to go in the path of thy
commandments; for therein do I delight.”
These verses are about understanding and obeying God’s Word. We are dependant upon God to teach us His Word and to help us to
obey His Word.
When it comes to talking about obeying the word of God there are
probably 2 things that should be specified because of how many Christians are
confused about the difference between law and grace. 1. for
the most part obeying the word of God is done simply by believing His promises.
2. obeying the word of God does not mean living under
the Torah. We are Christians not Old Testament Jews. We live in New Testament
times. Things have changed because Jesus came and died on the cross for our
sins. We don’t follow the Torah. We are
free, free from all the restriction of the law, free because of Christ. But
there are some law given in the New Testament mostly in the Epistles but also
in the gospels commandments about things like loving one another, spreading the
gospel, staying away from fornication and other very practical things.
So when I talk about obeying God’s Words that what I’m talking about.
Now to obey God’s Word takes much more than pure
human effort. It takes the power of the Spirit of God and it
takes a person themselves having t heir heart in the right place. Psa 119:32 I will run the
way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. The word
enlarge can man to open. It is God that opens the heart. Opens the heart to the
truth, gives a person a desire for the truth, and helps a person to continue to
seek the truth.
Now don’t misunderstand me, the human free will is always involved in
making a choice. But man is weak and sinful. Goodness comes from God. Therefore
if a person in their heart has a desire for the truth somehow God touched their
heart and gave them that desire. If a person understands and
believes the truth its not because of their great
intellect or spirituality but because God revealed the truth to them.
As we go through Psalms 119
there is going to be a very repeated topic. The topic of seeking after understanding and obeying the word of
God. If anything this Psalm emphasizes the importance of doing what is
right. You see that is exactly what a person will do who wants to do what is
right. They will pick up a bible and read it, they will sit down and listen to
a preacher, they will pray to God and for understanding and they will try their
best to obey the word of God.
If only we understood just how dependant we
are upon God and His mercy. If we did we would do much better at relying upon
and believing and obeying the word of God.
Psalms 119:36 says, “Psa 119:36
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.”
This is a very interesting verse because it basically explains one of
the primary reasons that people turn away from God’s word: covetousness.
Covetousness has a lot to do with lust or strong desire and thus human self will. Human
beings go after the things in life that they want. That’s what everyone does.
So the warning is be careful what you desire. Anytime you desire something or
someone more than you desire God and the things of God that is covetousness.
That’s what covetousness is. It happens very easily. It happens with
material possessions. It happens with our relationships with people especially
when it comes to romance or our children.
It can even happen to a person in regards to their knowledge of the
scriptures. And what I mean is a person can become involved in religion even in
Christianity and can have such a desire to be above others, more intelligent
than others, more spiritual than others that they or even because of all kinds
of other covetous reasons of things that are in their heart, things that they
want more than they want God, they will take the scriptures and use them and
twist them to support their own ideas instead of actually believing what the
Bible truly says.
Now this happens a great deal in organized Christianity. An example
would be a preacher who gets concerned about how much money he is making so he
decided to use the principle of tithing in the old testament
and preach on it and preach on it to milk the congregation of all the money
that he can. Another example would be a person who is fearful of confrontation
and compromising on the gospel and so they twist scriptures such as ones that
talk about unity and love and explain them in such a way to make sound as
though a person shouldn’t speak the truth if it offends other people. “Well
that causes divisions they say. You going to hurt
people’s feelings. You’re going to beat them over the heart by pointing out
their wrong.” O No, no one should ever compromise on the truth of the word of
God, to do so is not love.
And of course there are many, many more examples that could be given.
One of the worst things that happens in Christianity which is way to common is how often people involved in religion will twist
and distort the meaning of scriptures to support their own covetousness
desires.
Psalms 119:36 says, “Psa 119:36
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.”
Notice this verse says incline my heart unto thy testimonies, it does not
say law, or precepts, or commandments but it says testimonies. What is a
testimony? A testimony is a witness. The great testimony and witness of the
bible is the testimony of Jesus Christ who in the book of Revelation is called
the faithful witness.
It’s very easy for a little bit of covetousness to slip into our
hearts and before we know it we are twisting the word of God to justify our
ungodly deeds. The primary way to measure yourself and others in regards to
covetousness is how a person handles the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 15:3-4 says, “1Co 15:3 For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures; 1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose
again the third day according to the scriptures:”
This is the gospel. Jesus
Christ is God. He came to this earth born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life.
He died on the cross for the sins of the world. He was buried. And He rose
again the third day. And salvation is by faith in His name, faith alone and not
works. Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
If you love the gospel, if you stay faithful to the gospel, if you
remain thankful in your heart for how God has forgiven you of your sins and
given you eternal life, this foundation is what will keep you from wanting or
desiring anything more than God and therefore will keep you from being
covetous.
You can tell A Christian that loves the gospel because they just can’t
stop talking about it. They love the old old story of
Jesus and what He has done for the world, the story is always new and fresh
with them and they have a desire to share it with everyone they come into
contact with. And they won’t compromise on the gospel, they won’t mingle it
with works of any kind because they know the gospel is a gospel of grace and
they love the endless matchless grace of God because they have experienced it
in their life when Jesus forgave them of their sins.
If you have never trust in Jesus you can do so today. Jesus can free
you from the chains of covetousness and all the terrible lusts which war
against the soul. There is great love and healing in Jesus. There is the gift
of eternal life. Yes there are many pressures out there in the world to try and
keep you from coming to Christ but in the end you are responsible for your own
choice. It is you that must choose or reject Jesus no one else can choose or
prevent you from that choice. If only you will trust in Jesus today. He will
save you and give you His eternal love.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2017 by Bruce
Creech
All Rights Reserved