Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980719.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Nineteen (Beth) - Getting A YOUNG MAN To Keep His Life Upright
(Psalm 119:9-16)
  1. Introduction
    1. One of the greatest desires in any parent is to see his maturing son decide to live uprightly before the Lord.
    2. However, that is often easier desired than realized in life, much to the concern of the parents involved.
    3. Psalm 119:9-16 addresses how a young man in particular will come to keep his life upright, and what needs to occur for that goal to be reached. It provides insight both for parents and maturing sons as follows:
  2. Getting A YOUNG MAN To Keep His Life Upright, Psalm 119:9-16.
    1. Akin to the saying that "The way to a young man's heart is through his stomach," Psalm 119:9, 14 notes that a young man is motivated by what will cause him to obtain all-around sufficiency in life's provisions:
      1. The psalmist asks the leading question, "By what means can a young man keep his way pure?" in v. 9.
      2. After giving the obvious answer of "By preserving his way according to Your (God's) word" in verse 9 as is picked up and expanded in verses 10-13, the psalmist shows WHY the young man would want to keep his way pure this way in verse 14:
        1. Taking the viewpoint of the young man introduced in verse 9a, the psalmist (verse 14b) states that in his pathway of life he rejoices in God's testimonies as one who rejoices "in obtaining comprehensive sufficiency of life's provisions."
        2. This statement recalls the Mosaic Covenant provisions of Deuteronomy 28:1-68: (a) There if one obeys God's laws, he is promised all-around blessings in life, Deut. 28:1-14. These include urban and rural blessings, blessings in having children, in the expanse of one's business, in overcoming enemies, in being honored by other people and in having the works of one's hands blessed. (b) On the other hand, disobeying God leads to all sorts of cursings in these various area, Ps. 119:15-68!
        3. Accordingly, the young man in the psalm has made the CONNECTION between pleasing God and acquiring what he as a young man most DESIRES -- a future with a good, all-around life in family and possessions and personal achievement!
    2. Providing he is thus motivated, everything else falls into place regarding the young man's godliness:
      1. The young man seeks God with his whole heart with the hope that God will not let him go astray and then miss out on the future blessings he so badly wants to have, Ps. 119:10.
      2. He treasures up God's utterances so as not to sin so that God will bless him with life's comprehensive blessings of the Mosaic Covenant, Ps. 119:11-12.
      3. He keeps the Word of God in his mind so that he can use it for obedience and blessing, Ps. 119:13-16.
      4. All the while that the young man is focusing on God's Word, he keeps obeying it, knowing that God is going to bless him with the comprehensive blessings he wants to acquire, Ps. 119:14a with 14b,c.
Lesson: The WAY a young man can keep his way pure, something his godly PARENTS and the LORD long to see realized is for him to SEE the CONNECTION between obtaining his life's GOALS and obeying God! (Check Eph. 6:1-3 for the New Testament parallel idea.) Once he sees that GOD is the KEY here, his motivation is ignited to stick close to the Lord's Word.

Application: (1) For PARENTS of maturing sons, OUR task is to LIVE in adherence to God's Word to obtain the blessings WE desire from God, for in EXAMPLING this CONNECTION between heeding Scripture and being blessed of God, our SONS will SEE the con nection in our LIVES and be encouraged to COPY it in time. (2) If as PARENTS we have come to Christ LATER in life where our early EXAMPLE was not good, we can yet TESTIFY to our mature sons who need yet to LEARN the connection that we have DISCOVERED the direct connection between heeding God's Word and acquiring life's blessings! (3) As maturing SONS who have aspirations of a "good" life with a happy marriage, family, job and personal achievement aspirations, know that God wants to GRANT you your heart's desires if you but heed His Word!