Answering Hostility to Our Faith

[0:00] So that's one of the songs we'll be singing in heaven and we'll be going, now we understand.!

[0:30] You should find Psalms in the very middle of your Bible. Find 119 and verse 41. This is, what are we, sixth or seventh journey into Psalm 119.

[0:49] We're discovering it is a journey. It is a walk. It is a learning to live by the Word of God and a learning to walk and love the Word of God as well, which this passage speaks about as well.

[1:07] So I want to read the text, then we'll ask the Lord to open our minds to understand His Word and then we'll dig into it. If you're able, please stand as I read from Psalm 119.

[1:20] And again, I remind you, I'm reading from the New American Standard, New American Standard version, a little bit different than our Pew Bible, the ESV. Verse 41.

[1:34] May thy lovingkindness also come to me, O Lord, thy salvation according to thy word. So I shall have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in thy word.

[1:48] And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I wait for thine ordinances. So I will keep thy law continually forever and ever.

[2:03] And I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts. I will also speak of thy testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed.

[2:17] And I shall delight in thy commandments, which I love. And I shall lift up my hands to thy commandments, which I love. And I will meditate on thy statutes.

[2:30] So it reads, let us pray. Father, guide us this day. Open our hearts and our minds, not only to understand your word, but to apply it and to live by it. As we open up these words, Father, the psalmist directs us to his journey where he begins to experience reproach, where he begins to experience hostility against his faith in you.

[2:57] And so teach us, Lord, through him. Teach us through your word. What we might apply today in our culture, in our day, in our time.

[3:08] We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. So, excuse me.

[3:23] Verse 42 refers to having an answer for him who reproaches me. Reproach, slander, insult, mocking, taunting, persecution, hostility.

[3:37] There's hostility behind reproach. And it's easy to see hostility in other countries where Christians are suffering more physically for their faith.

[3:52] I want to explore how do we experience hostility reproach in our culture? How do Christians experience hostility?

[4:03] I believe we absolutely do. But it's not as outright, right? It's not physical, usually. So, we're ridiculed, for one, for what our culture would call an outdated morality.

[4:23] Our views of holding to what Scripture says about marriage, gender. Our culture would say, well, if there's a God, why is evil so prevalent?

[4:39] Yeah. You know, that seems to be the biggest issue people have with believing in a God who allows suffering and harm and evil to persist.

[4:53] That must mean God either doesn't care or isn't powerful enough to deal with it. We're mocked for believing in God as a foolish crutch.

[5:11] I mean, they would say, God forgives all my sins if I believe in Jesus. Really? Really? We're slandered because we have many who are living lives of hypocrisy, who claim to believe in God, who claim to walk with Jesus, and yet their lives do not show that.

[5:38] We're mocked for believing in, as Christians, we're mocked for believing in three gods. I mean, the Trinity, right? I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That means three gods, right?

[5:49] Oh, you say that's one. Three equals one. So, I mean, that's an easy thing for people to mock. You'll have to come to class to understand how that one works out.

[6:04] Hostility, slander, mocking are not a surprise. Jesus said, you will be hated by all for my name's sake. Because you follow me. Because you believe in me.

[6:15] Because you do what I call you to do. You will be hated. They hated Jesus because what he did was expose their sin. He said, they would not have sin if I had not spoken.

[6:28] And we speak what Jesus speaks. And that's really what the world hates about Christianity. Because we call sin, sin.

[6:40] And we say we must repent. Because God says we must repent. We live before a creator who not only has given us life, but has called us to worship him.

[6:52] And to ignore him or to reject him or to dismiss him is in his holy, righteous standard a heinous sin.

[7:08] Not just a light sin. So, we're persecuted because we call out truth. So, how can a Christian answer hostility?

[7:23] How can we answer when we're slandered and reproached and mocked and insulted? Sometimes we turn the other cheek, right? But sometimes we give an answer as this text talks about.

[7:35] Before we dive into that, first I thought there's an interesting perspective I'm picking up in Psalm 119. And that are the pictures of the Hebrew letters.

[7:46] As I said, Psalm 119 is an acrostic. Which means it goes through the alphabet of the Hebrew alphabet. Now, it goes through each letter.

[7:59] So, the first letter of Hebrew is Aleph. And so, it goes through Aleph. The first eight verses start with that letter. Right? So, verse 1 starts with Aleph.

[8:12] Verse 2, verse 3, verse 4. All the way through verse 8. So, 1 through 8 is Aleph. And Aleph also is a picture. So, now, in your Bible, you might have a word above verse 1 that says Aleph.

[8:26] You might even, if you have a really, really good Bible, have the Hebrew letter there. So, it's an Aleph. And so, it looks to us like an X. Right?

[8:36] And so, the top of it is like two horns. And so, the picture is of an ox. Or a yoke. And so, the idea, the picture of the first eight verses being Aleph or ox or yoke would be learning.

[8:54] And that's interesting because the first eight verses talk about blessed is the one, right? The blessed way is the one who's on the right way, right? The one who's on the right road.

[9:06] And so, learning God's way is a way of blessing. So, Aleph. And then the second eight verses, verses 9 to 16, all start with the Hebrew letter Beth.

[9:17] Now, Beth is also, in Hebrew, a word that means house. And so, it's interesting in verse 9 through 11, it talks about how can a young man keep his way pure?

[9:30] By keeping it according to God's word, right? Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I might not sin against you. So, a house might be a place where we treasure up, right? We store up our treasure.

[9:41] We store up particularly our treasure of God's word to keep us from sin, right? And then Gimel, verse 17. Gimel is the third letter. The next eight verses, verses 17 to 24, all start with the Hebrew letter Gimel.

[9:57] Gimel means camel. And what does camel mean? Do you remember this? We talked about this. What is camel? What's significant about camel? What's different about, why did God create a camel? Why is a camel different from other animals in the world?

[10:10] What is it that highlights the camel? Carissa? Carissa? Can hold water for a long time. Can hold water for a long time. And it goes on a long travel. It's about a travel.

[10:21] That's the wise men took camels, right? It's camels are taking long journeys. And so, it's about the journey, traveling. I remember Chris answered that one, right? It was like, man, that was like I planted that. It does.

[10:33] And those verses are also begin to talk about as we walk the road that God gives us, as we travel, right, through this world, we experience trials.

[10:45] And so, Gimel refers to the picture of that camel, of traveling among the trials with God's word. And then verse 25 through, what do we go, 32, Daleth is the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[11:02] And Daleth means door. A door is something, what do you do with a door? You open a door, right? You go in and out. And so, it's an opening of the word, right?

[11:14] And there in Daleth, remember, verse 25 talked about how that was the soul-crushing section of verses. Verse 25, my soul cleaves to the dust, so revive me according to thy word.

[11:28] And again, verse 28, my soul weeps or melts because of grief or heaviness. Melts because of heaviness. Strengthen me according to thy word. And so, the door is the path is, to open the door of the word is to find revival and strength.

[11:45] And then, last time we looked at verses 33 to 40, the Hebrew letter there is he, and it stands for window. And a window, what do you do with a window?

[11:57] Look in, you look out, right? You get a perspective. You look for a perspective. And there we saw in verses 33 to 40, the psalmist is asking the Lord for perspective.

[12:08] He's asking for a lot of things there. He's asking for understanding and enablement. He's asking for protection and revival, right?

[12:18] And so, he's not just looking for revival of his soul, but he's looking for perspective. He's looking for understanding and protection, okay?

[12:28] And then, finally, verse 41. Now, we come to the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which is wa. W-A-W.

[12:39] W-A-W. W-A-W. Sorry. W. As soon as I said it, it came to mind. W-A-W. W-A-W.

[12:50] Which can refer to a hook or a peg. A hook or a peg. Not a fishing hook. But a hook or a peg. To either hang something on or to pin something down.

[13:04] So, pegs were used to tie down the tabernacle. Pegs are used to tie down, to hold down a tent. Right? So, there's a picture of the word of God like a peg that holds down.

[13:18] Gives us the steadfast answers when we experience hostility. So, just interesting. I don't know.

[13:31] I love Hebrew. One of the reasons I love Hebrew is because it's a picture language. Whereas Greek is more precise and definitive. But Hebrew is a concrete language.

[13:43] It's kind of a down-to-earth language that has pictures all the way through. Even the letters. Not just the words, but even the letters are a picture of something. And since Psalm 119 is all about the word of God, I think these pictures may give us a little bit more perspective on how the psalmist is trying to communicate not only the value of the word, but how we use the word to walk with God.

[14:09] And how we use the word to walk with God through our travels and our life and our experiences. So, let's look then now at verse 41 through 48.

[14:20] And I have characterized this section as answering hostility to our faith. Because I see verse 41 is the prayer.

[14:35] Right? So, asking for God's loving kindness to come to him. His loving kindness through salvation or deliverance. With the purpose, verse 42, that he will have an answer.

[14:47] So, I will have an answer. Send your love, your delivering salvation to me so that I have an answer for the one who reproaches me. Who slanders me. Who insults me.

[14:59] Mocks me. For I trust in thy word. And then, verse 43, another prayer. Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth. For I wait for thine ornest.

[15:09] So, we have two prayers there. Verse 41 and 43 with the purpose in between. And verse 42. Right? What he wants to do with it. And that's something we've seen over and over again here in Psalm 119.

[15:23] Is it's, there are prayers. Like he prays for revival. Or he prays for strength. Or he prays for understanding. But it always has an end in mind.

[15:34] It has a purpose. It has an intention. He doesn't just want to have better understanding. He wants better understanding. So that he can walk in a right way. Right? He wants revival of his spirit.

[15:45] So that he can, right, continue to walk in the way. So here, he wants God's love and salvation to come. Specifically so that he has an answer for the one who approaches me.

[15:57] So, and then from verse 44 on are the results of that prayer. Notice, he says, I will, several times.

[16:08] Verse 44, I will keep thy law. Verse 45, I will walk at liberty. Verse 46, I will also speak of thy testimonies before kings. And I will not be ashamed. Verse 47, I will delight in thy testimonies.

[16:21] Verse 48, I will lift up my hands. Verse 47, I will meditate on thy statutes. So, in other words, he's praying that he has an answer for the reproacher. But then there's a result.

[16:33] There's an aim of that prayer. Not just to have that answer. But then it's about his walk before God. That he will keep the word. That he will meditate. That he will have an answer.

[16:43] That he will speak to kings and so on. Okay, so we're going to divide it in half. Surprise, we're going to divide this psalm in half. The first three verses, 41 to 43, are about the request.

[16:55] And then verses 44 to 48 are about the results. A resolve to walk. So the request, let's summarize it this way. Verse 41 to 43.

[17:08] Putting these three verses together. The request is for deliverance. It's for deliverance through answers in defending our faith.

[17:22] So the psalmist is asking for deliverance. It's for salvation. That the love comes through salvation or deliverance. Specifically through an answer to defend his faith.

[17:35] And so for us, right? When we experience reproach, we can pray. That God's love may come to us. And specifically through deliverance, through salvation.

[17:48] With a word. With an answer. An answer for our faith. So he asks for deliverance. In verse 41.

[18:00] For God's faithful love to come to him. Now we get to one of the most significant words of the Old Testament. When he talks about faithful love. There's no translation knows how to translate this Hebrew word.

[18:13] Chesed. Anybody remember that? Word we spit when we say it. Chesed. Chesed. Chesed. I was watching something the other day.

[18:25] And there was a rabbi. And they got into this chesed. It's like, see? They always spit when they speak. And this word has that kind of guttural ch.

[18:37] So chesed is a word that is very significant in the Old Testament. The New American Standard makes up a word for this. It says, verse 41.

[18:49] Thy loving kindness. Well, is it love or kindness? It's thy loving kindness. It's kind of like trying to capture this word. It's a word that means mercy. And unfailing love.

[18:59] And love that's kind and merciful. And faithful. Unfailing. What does the ESV have? Steadfast.

[19:10] So it's not just love. But it's steadfast love. It's unfailing. Steadfast. Anybody have a different translation? Faithful. Faithful. Oh, you have the Holman. Holman.

[19:21] Holman. Okay. Holman. Faithful love. Okay. So I think NIV has like unfailing love. Something like that. So it's not just asking for God's love.

[19:36] But for his unfailing, faithful, steadfast, merciful, kind love. Fear. Right? It's kind of that. There's other words in Hebrew for love and for steadfast and for mercy and grace and kindness.

[19:58] But this word kind of wraps them up. And he wants it to come. Now notice, remember, this is poetic language. So the second line reinforces the first or clarifies the first or finishes the first.

[20:14] So he says, may thy loving kindness also come to me, O Lord, thy salvation. Thy loving kindness that is shown in salvation or deliverance. Want your loving kindness to come?

[20:28] That's the motivation. And then the moving of God is the saving, the delivering according to thy word. God saves because he loves.

[20:39] Right? Because he loves us. Right? He has worked in us. Worked for us.

[20:51] And here he says, according to your word. So in other words, according to your promise. According to what your word has promised. And because God has promised it in his word, he invites us to seek him.

[21:03] To ask for his love to come. How specifically does the psalmist want deliverance? Verse 42. To have an answer. He wants a defense.

[21:13] He wants to answer the one who's reproaching him. And reproach could be translated taunting, mocking, insulting, scourting, slandering. I mean, reproach kind of covers a gamut of ways.

[21:29] So for example, in Psalm 42, the psalmist, right, is depressed. He's, and one of the taunts that he hears is, where is thy God?

[21:43] You know, you're struggling and you're afflicted. So where's your God? Where's your God now that you're suffering? Right? That's a taunt. Where's your God?

[21:55] Has he left you? Has he abandoned you to your problems? Has he called you out to this wilderness to leave you to die? Oh, Israel. Right?

[22:06] Has he called you into the wilderness to not give you water or food? Oh, let's go back to Egypt. It was better. Right? Right? Has God abandoned you?

[22:19] So that's the kind of taunting. And maybe we hear that kind of thing. Where is your God, oh, Christian? Well, if you believe in this God, this gracious God, this forgiving God, why isn't your life going better?

[22:34] Why do you have these struggles and hardships and afflictions? Why doesn't God answer you? Why? We struggle with that, don't we? How do we answer that?

[22:47] He's leaving right. He's leaving the way. Where is it? Absolutely. Absolutely. That helps us. How does it answer them? So, he asks for an answer.

[23:06] So, do we trust his word? So, he says, verse 42, so that I have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust thy word. I have trusted thy word.

[23:17] I have trusted thy word. Do we trust his word? When we're taunted, do we trust his word? So, it seems, it appears, right, God's not listening to me or God's not answering me, the way I want him to answer anyway.

[23:34] Does that mean he's left me? No. How do I know he hasn't left me? Do you have a feeling? Do you have a little warm fuzzy? What if you don't have a little warm fuzzy? Yeah.

[23:44] What if that doesn't happen? He's still alive. Okay, but how do you know? What did the word say? I will never leave you or forsake you.

[23:58] I will never leave you or forsake you. I go away, I'll send my Holy Spirit to you, and that'll even be better. I can't imagine how it'll be better than having Jesus right next to me, but it'll be better. Because Jesus says it'll be better.

[24:11] It's to your advantage that I go away. I will never leave you. I will never, ever. God is with you, no matter how dark it is.

[24:26] No matter how dry you are. No matter how dead you feel. As we've been praying with the psalmist here, revive me.

[24:39] My soul cleaves to the dust. How dry is that? My soul melts because of heaviness. My life is heavy. You ever been in depression where it's so heavy and you do this all the time?

[24:57] I started doing that again. My daughter asks, is something wrong with Dad? He's always sighing. No, honey's fine. God's dealing with him.

[25:11] God has not left. God has not left. He takes you through dark wildernesses. He takes you through the valley of the shadow of death. But he's with you.

[25:23] Maybe not in the way you want him to be with you. But he's with you. And he always has a purpose. He always has a reason. And sometimes we don't find that out until later.

[25:34] Like Joseph didn't find out until the end, right? Oh, you guys meant it. You brothers meant all that stuff you did to me for evil. You meant to persecute. You wanted to kill me. You meant to send me away.

[25:45] Yeah, yeah. You meant it for evil. You are evil brothers. But God meant it for good. God didn't allow it for good. God meant it for good.

[25:57] God intended all the suffering Joseph went through. For good. Because in the end, he was in a place to save Egypt and Israel. God. Not only God could do that.

[26:10] But for 20 years, Joseph had to go. God. Right? So, who are we?

[26:23] He adds the prayer in verse 43 for dependence. Right? Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth. Keep it. Right? Don't take thy word out of my mouth.

[26:34] Do not leave me speechless when I need you. In other words. Give me the word. Not just the word, but the word of truth.

[26:48] For I wait for thy ordinances. Or I have waited. I have hoped in your ordinances. I have trusted in your justice.

[27:00] I trust that you are right and good. I have waited for you to give me the word and the answer. I have waited for you to give me the word. I have waited for you to give me the word.

[27:11] I have waited for you to give me the word. I have waited for you to give me the word. Waiting is fun, isn't it? We've been waiting for God to give us clarity in the next steps as a church.

[27:23] God has been crystal clear to us about the things we're to be doing regularly. We do those things. He's made that clear. What is a church? What does a church do?

[27:33] We do those things. But what's next? You know? We're the church on this hill. What does he want us to do? And instead of jumping out and hoping he joins us, we wait for him to make clear what he wants us to do.

[27:48] So we're sure to do what he wants, not what we want or what we think. You know, the church over there is doing that, so we should do that. Okay. Let me show you how important this word for love is here.

[28:03] This chesed, God's faithful love. It's the heart of God's promise to his people. Remember when Moses wanted to see the Lord?

[28:14] Remember Moses said, show me your glory, right? Remember that whole thing? And God said, you know, I stand over there in the rock and I'll hold my hand and I'll walk by. And you can see my back, but you can't see my front.

[28:28] And so God revealed himself to Moses, but mostly through what God said, what Yahweh said to Moses. So here it is. Exodus 34.

[28:39] Moses, this is after, you know, they had the tablets of stone and then Israel, right, partied. Well, Moses was uphill, so he cuts two new stones.

[28:52] So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him. And he took in his hand two tablets of stone.

[29:03] And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, chesed, and faithfulness.

[29:30] Keeping steadfast love, chesed, for thousands. How does he do that? Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, the children's children, to the third and fourth generation.

[29:52] And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. Why does God save anyone?

[30:06] Has he saved them because they deserve it? Because they've earned it? Because they've been faithful enough? Because they've been sincere enough? No. His love. His steadfast love, right?

[30:18] Keeping steadfast love for thousands. How? By forgiving. And here's the three kinds of sin. Iniquity, transgression, and sin. Sin is the most general, right?

[30:30] We fall short. Transgression, where we transgress, we cross the line. And then iniquity. What's iniquity? That's the perverted stuff. That's the twisted stuff.

[30:41] So it goes from general to intentional, crossing the line, to iniquity. To, you know, when we continue and stuff. Forgiving all of that.

[30:55] But then he says, but who will by no means clear the guilty. So God is forgiving and merciful and gentle and forgives, yet doesn't forgive.

[31:09] So what is it? So how does he forgive us? Does his love cancel his holy justice? Does God not become not just then when he forgives us?

[31:25] How? There's a tension in God. God is holy, righteous, just. He's God.

[31:37] But he's also merciful, loving, forgiving, gracious, kind. Right? So how do the two meet?

[31:49] Jesus. Right here. Right here. And only here. It is just.

[32:02] Why? Because he punishes our sin in Christ. He's just. And justifier.

[32:14] Because Christ pays our penalty. Now we become just. As we said last week, it's not just. Salvation isn't just that we're forgiven of our sin.

[32:24] We are forgiven. That's part of it. But we're also made holy. We exchange. We give Christ our sin. He gives us his righteousness. It's a really good deal.

[32:36] In fact, it's such a deal. It's hard to believe. We just sang. I forget which verse it was.

[32:48] Which song it was. But he laid aside his crown. Right? He laid aside his. Because we were under the. The holy frown.

[33:00] Or the righteous frown of God. You know. In our sin. We're under the. Holy frown of God. We're under the. Justice of God. So here's Jesus. Sitting next to the father.

[33:11] He lays his crown aside. And steps down. And. Takes it for us. That was. I'd never noticed that before. I forget which song it is. Don't research it.

[33:23] During the sermon. Dude. Look back on that. That was just beautiful language. So. So God does not cancel. His holy justice.

[33:34] He meets his justice. He sends his son. To both. Earn our. Earn righteousness. For us. In the life that he lived. And then pay our debt. Of sins. Being just and justifier.

[33:46] So. First part here. Prayer for deliverance. To answer reproach. So when you. If you're dealing with that. If you're dealing with that. Maybe it's just in general too.

[33:57] But you're feeling that at work. Maybe you're feeling that among relatives. Maybe you're feeling that. In. As you're in this world. You hear these things. How do you deal with it?

[34:08] So pray. Pray that God's. Loving kindness. Will come to you. Specifically in deliverance. Through an answer. Maybe the answer is just for you.

[34:20] To resolve that. So you can. You can bear the suffering. Or the answer is to give. An answer to the one. Who's reproaching. So.

[34:32] Secondly. He aims at results then. Verse 44. So his prayer is not an end in itself. The prayer is for that help. But then it's with this.

[34:42] When that comes. Right. When that answer comes. Verse 44. He's going to do a whole bunch of things. There's a quiet resolve here. A humble resolve. I'll keep thy law.

[34:53] I will walk at liberty. I will seek your. I will speak to testimonies. I will delight in the commandments. I will lift up my hands. I will meditate. Put that together. These prayers result in a genuine and humble resolve.

[35:08] To faithfully serve the Lord. And I think that's always the psalmist's aim. No matter what he's dealing with. No matter what he's asking God's grace for.

[35:20] There's always a resolve. A humble. Genuine resolve. To faithfully serve the Lord. So it comes out in three ways. Verse 44 and 45.

[35:31] A faithful walking. Verse 46. A bold speaking. Verse 47 and 48. A joyful delighting. I like that. You know. Walking, speaking, and then a delighting.

[35:42] Right. An inward. So faithful walking. Notice verse 44. He says. I will keep. I will keep. Thy law continually forever and ever.

[35:54] Okay. First of all. Who can say that? I will keep thy law forever and ever. I will never break your law again, Lord. I will keep thy law. Well, let's. Let's. Let's let the Hebrew verb.

[36:09] Expand a little bit. It doesn't just mean keep. But it can also mean guard. Oh, guard. Or give attention to thy law forever and ever. That sounds a little easier.

[36:19] But again. Still the end. End question is. Who can do that? Only one. No. Jesus can do that. And Jesus has done that for you. He has kept the law forever and ever.

[36:33] But it can also aim at an intent. I don't think. I was asked once. You know. We were. I think we sang a song called.

[36:44] I surrender all. Something like that. Right. I surrender all. I surrender all. And somebody asked me after service. How can we sing that? Because we can't do that. He says. I sing it.

[36:55] And then 10 minutes later. I'm doing something selfish. So. Is it. Does it do any good to sing it at all? Does it do any good to make a resolve to follow Christ if I can't do it?

[37:11] So. Did I just not do it then? No. It's a better intent. God reads our heart. Right? God reads our heart. Now. And our heart. That's where our intent comes from.

[37:23] Our thoughts and intents come from the heart. Right? And so my intent. My. Even if my intent at that moment as I'm worshiping is to surrender all to him. That's.

[37:33] That's. That's acceptable worship. And. That is me making a small. Even if I'm just making a small step of faith.

[37:45] That's good. But to say. Oh. I'm going to break it later. I don't want to even bother. That's. That's silly. A follower of Christ doesn't think like that. I mean.

[37:56] I can understand asking the question. But. But. In the end. I don't want to think like that. I want to do. What God calls me to do. Best to my ability. And. With the Holy Spirit's power.

[38:08] And then he says in verse 45. I'll walk at liberty. I'll walk in a wide space. I'll walk. With freedom. Right? Because I have sought. Your precepts. The word will set me free.

[38:20] It's also in bold speaking. I will speak your testimonies. Before kings. A prayer for boldness. The prayer for boldness. That he will speak.

[38:31] Not only have an answer for the reproacher. But he will speak. His testimonies before kings. And. We know that happened in the book of Acts. As Paul went before kings. And. The other apostles were told. They would go before kings.

[38:42] And that. The Holy Spirit would give them. What to say. In the moment they needed it. I will speak. Before kings. Verse. Forty.

[38:54] Six. I'll speak thy testimonies before king. Remember testimonies are. Are the testimonies about how God has acted. God's testimonies. So. What God has said about himself.

[39:06] And what God has done. Right? So. God has testified. That he is a faithful God. He is. He has brought up Israel. With his strong right arm. Right? His testimonies are.

[39:17] His faithfulness. His promises. And I'll speak that before kings. And not be put to shame. And shall not be ashamed. Because I speak of God's faithfulness.

[39:29] And promises. Not. Not about me. I'm not ashamed of speaking of. Of what God does. And then it includes. Finally verse 47. 48.

[39:39] Joyful delighting. I will delight. Verse 47. I shall delight in thy testimonies. Which I love. Watch this. Twice he says this. Verse 47.

[39:50] I will delight in thy testimonies. Which I love. And I shall lift up my hands. For thy commandments. Which I love. Do you love his commandments? Okay.

[40:02] It's kind of quiet. Well to be honest. Pastor. I got kind of a tension thing. Going on with the commandments. Because on the one hand. They keep killing me. It's hard to love something that.

[40:14] Kills me. And condemns me. But in a broader sense. His commands are. That's the light on the path.

[40:25] Right. The commands are about the. The commandments set the boundaries. Right. The law is the way. Right. And the commandments set the boundaries. They show where the edge of that road is.

[40:36] That path. So I love that. Because I need that. I need that structure. I need.

[40:47] That. To hold me in. It's like kids need structure. Right. They need. They might rebel against it. But they still need it. They. They ultimately love it. Because it shows them where. They're good.

[40:58] Where they're okay. What. What's expected. And then you got kids like me. That you know. Keep. Ah. Let's move it over there mom. Let's move it over there.

[41:11] Um. I delight myself. Why. Why do I delight. Because they're true. They're right. They show me the road. And. So which I love. Uh.

[41:21] And here's the different word for love here in Hebrew. Uh. It's a word that means. To cleave. Or to hold. Hold to. So I love. I hold to them. I cleave to them.

[41:32] Not so much an emotional feeling. But a. But a. But a. Holding to. Um. And then I will lift up my hands to thy commandments. In other words. I. Either. He's meaning I lift up my hands to.

[41:44] To receive them. Or lift up my hands to praise them. Um. Either way. Um. And then he ends with. I will meditate. That's interesting.

[41:56] Because it's. Because it. It goes from. Keeping the law. To walking at liberty. To speaking to kings. And then it comes back. Right. Then it's delighting. And lifting up his hands. And then meditating.

[42:08] Meditating is. Remember that. Ruminating. It's that. Going over and over again in my mind. Taking the word of God. And. Putting it. I think. Putting it to memory.

[42:19] And then when it's in my memory. Then I can. Then I can run through it. I can. Go back and forth. And I can connect dots. You know. Then new insights. And new applications.

[42:29] Come out. Through that. So how does this apply to us. Then. So he's praying for deliverance.

[42:40] For an answer. To. To the reproach. Which results then. In a genuine. Humble resolve. To faithfully serve the Lord. So what's that look like. From a New Testament perspective.

[42:51] Remember what Jesus said. What is the word of God. That truly sets us free. Jesus said. If you abide in my word. Then you are.

[43:02] Truly my. Disciples. And you shall know the truth. And the truth. Will set you free. Will set you free. Not any truth.

[43:13] Not your made up truth. But the truth that comes from. Me. Abiding in my word. Makes you my disciple. Causes you to know the truth.

[43:25] And the truth sets you. Free. From falsehood. From pretending. From. From. The. The life. The shortcut.

[43:36] Kind of life. That finds no. Meaning. And then what is it. That gives us boldness. To speak of God. Before others. Because he talked about it. Verse 46. Giving testimony before king.

[43:47] To boldly speak. What gives us boldness. To speak. Before others. Listen to Paul. To Timothy. Paul says. For this reason. I remind you.

[43:58] Timothy. To fan into flame. The gift of God. Which is in you. Through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us. A spirit. Not of fear. But of.

[44:09] Power. And love. And self-control. Therefore. Therefore. Therefore. Do not be ashamed. Of the testimony. About our Lord.

[44:20] Nor of me. His prisoner. But share. In suffering. So in other words. Intend. To get engaged. In suffering. For the gospel. By the power of God.

[44:31] Don't do it. By your power. Suffer. For the gospel. By the power of God. Who. Who saved us. And called us.

[44:42] To a holy calling. Not because of our works. Our works. But because of. His own purpose. And grace. Which he gave us.

[44:52] In Christ Jesus. Before the ages began. And which now. Has been manifested. Through the appearing. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who abolished death. And brought life.

[45:03] And immortality. To light. Through. The gospel. All. So where do we get that boldness. What gives us boldness. Boldness is God given. Yeah.

[45:17] He's not given us. A spirit of fear. Where does the spirit of fear. Come from. That's ourselves. Right. Or that's. That's the enemy. God's given us. A spirit of. Power.

[45:28] And love. What interesting. Right. Power and love. And self. This. That's interesting. Not pairing. But. Tripling.

[45:42] It's power to testify. Of him boldly. And in a way. That points. To Christ. As the truth. Of the gospel. So. Even.

[45:53] In the face of humility. We pray. That God will give us the answers. To defend our faith. So that. We might walk genuinely. And humbly. And faithfully.

[46:05] In our service of the Lord. Let's pray. Father. We thank you for. The psalmist. And his. Wisdom. That. I can't imagine.

[46:16] How long it took. The psalmist. To. Compile. All these. Verses. And to put them in. The kind of. Wise ordering. In which he did.

[46:26] Obviously through your spirit. But we thank you. That we benefit from it. Thank you for the wisdom. That it gives us. Thank you for the perspective. And here in these last eight verses.

[46:38] They're the peg. They're the. They're the. They're the hook. They're the peg. That we can. Hold down. They're the truths. That hold us. Hold down. In.

[46:49] Our faith. When we experience. Hostility. So help us trust you. Father. Help us walk with you.

[47:00] We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.