This sermon is a companion to a previous sermon:
Taking Heed according to God’s Word (Part 1) – Psalm 119:9-16
Psalm 119:9-16 reads, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.”
In the opening portion of Psalm 119:9, the psalmist expressed the spiritual concern and burden of his heart with the question, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” He desired to know how he himself, as a young man of God, might have his way cleansed and might continue in the cleansed way. In the closing portion of Psalm 119:9, the answer of God’s Word is delivered – “By taking heed thereto according to thy [God’s] word.” Through this principle we lean that we may have our way cleansed and may continue in the cleansed way by taking heed to conform our way in accord with the standard of God’s Word. We must give our attention and our obedience to the Word of God. Certainly this will require commitment on our part. It will not just happen. We must specifically prepare ourselves and commit ourselves every day to the task.
So then, what is involved in the commitment to take heed unto our way in accord with God’s Word? Throughout Psalm 119:10-16 the psalmist, this young man of God, presented eight points of commitment that he had made in this matter. Through his example we learn what is involved in the commitment to take heed according to God’s Word. Now, the eight points of commitment that the psalmist made may be divided grammatically into two parts. The psalmist’s first four commitments he presented in the past tense as those commitments that he had already done. In them we find our responsibility to apply ourselves unto God’s Word. We must apply ourselves to make our Lord and His Word the governing priority and principle of our hearts. The psalmist’s second four commitments he presented in the future tense as those commitments that he intended to do. In them we find our responsibility to apply God’s Word unto ourselves. We must apply the truth of God’s Word to our daily living so that our daily purposes and pursuits are conformed thereto.
Already in the first part of the message, we considered the first four commitments of the psalmist and our responsibility to apply ourselves unto God’s Word. Therein we learned first from Psalm 119:10 that we must commit ourselves to seek after our Lord with all our heart, second from Psalm 119:11 that we must commit ourselves to hide God’s Word in our hearts, third from Psalm 119:13 that we must commit ourselves to declare all the wisdom of God’s Word, and fourth from Psalm 119:14 that we must commit ourselves to rejoice in the way of God’s Word.
In this second part of the message, let us consider the second four commitments of the psalmist and our responsibility to apply God’s Word unto ourselves.