THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

CXIX: Appreciating And Applying Scripture For Every Spiritual Need, Psalm 119

B. Beth - Motivating The Young To Heed Scripture

(Psalm 119:9-16)

I. Introduction

A. Psalm 119 is all about the profitable use of God's written Scriptures, with the psalm being formed as an accrostic where each section contains a Hebrew letter that begins each of the eight verses in that section.

B. Section (Beth) in Psalm 119:9-16 reveals what is needed to ignite the motivation of the young to heed Scripture, so we view the section for insight and edification (as follows):

II. Motivating The Young To Heed Scripture, Psalm 119:9-16.

A. The verse numbering system in the Hebrew text matches that of the English Bible (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1080), so we stay with the English Bible's numbering system for this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 119:9-16 (as follows):

1. "By what means (bammeh, Ibid.; B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 552-554) can a youth keep his way pure? By guarding [it] according to Your Word," Psalm 119:9.

2. "With all my heart I seek You; do not let me go astray from Your commands," Psalm 119:10.

3. "In my heart, I have treasured up Your utterances with the intent that I might not sin against You," v. 11.

4. "Praise be to You, O Jahweh; teach me Your decrees," Psalm 119:12.

5. "With my lips I recount all the verdict decisions that come from Your mouth," Psalm 119:13.

6. "In the way, I rejoice in Your testimonies as much as [I rejoice] in all riches," Psalm 119:14.

7. "On Your precepts I muse and consider Your ways," Psalm 119:15.

8. "In Your decrees I delight myself; I will not forget Your Word," Psalm 119:16.

C. We consider significant observations regarding this psalm (as follows):

1. The section opens with the question of how a young man might keep his way pure, and answers that he can do so by guarding his way of life by [an exposure to and application of] God's Word, Psalm 119:9.

2. However, the question as to WHY a young man would want to do this is answered in Psalm 119:10-16:

a. Psalm 119:6 explains that a young man rejoices in God's testimonies in Scripture as much as he does in all riches, and in light of the Deuteronomy 28 Mosaic Covenant of the dispensation of the Law in that day, the young man acknowledges how all of God's blessings are bound up in heeding His Word: these include (1) urban and rural blessings (Deut. 28:3), (2) blessings in producing children, crops and livestock (Deut. 28:4-5), (3) blessings in "one's daily work" (Deut. 28:6; B. K. C., O. T., p. 311), (4) victory in war (Deut. 28:7), (5) respect from other nations (Deut. 28:8-10) and (6) comprehensive prosperity (Deut. 28:11-14).

b. Thus motivated to heed Scripture for such comprehensive blessings, the young man who anticipates a blessed adulthood (1) he seeks God's Word with his whole heart with the hope that God will not let him go astray so as to miss out on any of God's blessings, Psalm 119:10; (2) he treasures up God's utterances in Scripture and yearns for God to teach him from it that he not to sin for God amply to bless him in life, Psalm 119:11-12; (3) he keeps Scripture in mind so he can apply it to appropriate circumstances he faces in life, Psalm 119:13-16 and (4) while he reads or ponders Scripture, he keeps focused upon it, knowing God will bless him comprehensively in accord with the Mosaic Covenant, Psalm 119:14a,b,c.

3. In the current dispensation of the Church where the believer is not under the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law and its Deuteronomy 28 Mosaic Covenant, there nevertheless exists the Biblical truth that heeding Scripture generally brings God's blessing while not heeding it generally leads to a loss of blessing, even regarding material and physical realms, cf. Philippians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11; 3 John 2; et al. Thus, young men TODAY do well to apply the lesson of Psalm 119:9-16 for God's comprehensive blessing.

Lesson: Under the Law, the youth who realized that to the degree he heeded Scripture would he enjoy God's blessing in all realms of life would be highly motivated to heed, focus on and apply God's Word. Since the Lord GENERALLYprovides comprehensive blessings in the CURRENT dispensation of the Church for such obedience, young men TODAY should STILL be very motivated to heed Scripture for GENERALLY comprehensive blessing!

Application: May young men and women TODAY realize God will GENERALLY comprehensively bless them for heeding Scripture, that they closely heed it with great motivation for rich blessings in every realm of life!