Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19981227.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT BELIEVERS
Psalm One Hundred And Nineteen (Taw) - Victory Over Having Been Strongly, Painfully Deceived
(Psalm 119:169-176)
  1. Introduction
    1. In 2 Timothy 3:13, God predicted through Paul's writing that evil people would go from bad to worse, deceiving and themselves being deceived. This growth in the degree of deception can make it difficult at times even for seasoned believers to think clearly. For that reason, Paul gave Timothy, a pastor instructions on protecting himself from deceptive error in 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
    2. In a similar vein, Psalm 119:169-176 deals with overcoming confusing deception for even a seasoned believer, describing the process of working out of thinking errant concepts toward arriving at the truth:
  2. Victory Over Having Been Strongly, Painfully Deceived, Psalm 119:169-176.
    1. The psalmist described a frame of mind he experienced in which he came to realize he had been deceived:
      1. In verse 169b, the psalmist called for discernment.
      2. He admits to the Lord that he had wandered about as a lost sheep that had no idea of where he should have been traveling, Ps. 119:176a.
    2. The way the psalmist came to correct his errant viewpoint is thus described as follows:
      1. Upon realizing he had been overcome with confusing, strong error, the psalmist at first cried out to God in prayer for help, Ps. 119:169a, 170.
      2. God answered the psalmist's cry by instructing him on what was the truth out of Scripture, 119:171. Note how clearly this coincides with Paul's similar instructions to Timothy on his own protection from errant teachers in 2 Timothy 3:13 with 3:14-17!
      3. As a result of realizing what was truth from Scripture, the psalmist obeyed that Scripture revelation, applying it to his pathway of living, Ps. 119:172-173.
      4. When he applied that Scripture truth, God then experientially helped the psalmist out of the troubles his errant views had created, Ps. 119:173a, 173b, 174.
      5. Consequently, the psalmist obtained help for renewing his entire inner man following the (implied) inner destruction that his former errant ways had produced, Ps. 119:175.
      6. Relieved at his renewal, the psalmist broke out in a ringing cry of praise to the Lord, 171a, 172a.
Lesson: If we discover that we are headed down a certain pathway in our lives that is notably devoid of God's blessing, it means that SOMEWHERE or SOMEHOW we need to (1) identify the problem as our having an ERRANT VIEWPOINT possibly caused by bein g deceived. (2) Then, we are to ask God in prayer for wisdom who gives it to all men liberally, James 1:2-8. (3) God will teach us the way back to the TRUTH through WRITTEN SCRIPTURE, cf. 2 Tim. 3:13, 14-17 et al. (4) From that point onwards, (a) our being blessed of God is a matter of applying Scripture's revelation to our lives so that (b) God will BLESS our OBEDIENCE to His Word by assisting us out of the troubles that our being deceived has created.

Application: (1) A big ENEMY to HAPPINESS in life is an ERRANT VIEW one adopts in all good INTENTIONS, which VIEWPOINT fails to bring God's blessing. That in turn creates confusion, or fear and even depression. (2) It is healthy to che ck EVERY area of life in light of what SCRIPTURE dictates is REALITY. In this way we minimize getting "burned" by unexplainable losses of God's blessing and maximize enjoying His blessings. (3) It helps to PAY ATTENTION to God's instruction to us with EVE RY exposure we get to Scripture. (4) It also pays to put GOD'S WORD above what even REPUTABLE humans around us say or think with all apparently good intentions, for apart from SCRIPTURE, both the LEADER and his FOLLOWERS can be MISLEAD with all good intent ions, cf. 2 Tim. 3:13. As someone has said, even the road to hell is usually paved with good intentions, cf. Mtt. 7:13-14, 21-23, 24.