Psalm 119:128

Trusting God's Word

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

Yes! Certainly, all of God's precepts concerning all things are right. Never should we be critics of God's word. Critical analysis has been given to God's word by many people, but most of these critics come to the word of God with the idea that it is wrong; then they pursue their critique with a preconceived idea that they must prove God's word wrong.

But as believers we come to God's word with the expectation that it is right, and when divided (handled) correctly, it will be found to be right in all things of which it speaks.

We can have confidence in the truth of God's word; therefore, we "hate every false way." We look down upon efforts of man to condemn the word of God and to try to destroy its effectiveness. Sadly, even among professed believers in Jesus Christ are some who question the validity and effectiveness of the word of God to do as it has promised to do. Therefore, we have many false religions in the world due to the private interpretation of many, depending upon mans' reason rather than God's inspiration.

False are the ways of the human mind
Until corrected by the Lord
Through divine intervention
And the study of God's word.

For the world produces a lesser knowledge
Than that of Scripture lines
And dares critique its revelation
With words of sundry kinds.

But God's word is pure
Standing on its own.
Let us read His word of truth
And trust its words alone.

Ronnie W. Wolfe - 12-31-2014

 

 

Psalm 119:127

More Precious Than Gold

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

Can we reiterate what David is saying here? Can we say that the word of God is more precious than fine gold? So many people (even professed believers) love the world more than the word of God. We remember the song "Dust On The Bible," don't we? There was a good message in that song, and it can be applied to many today.

Many of us grew up without many things, including money; thus, we had time on our hands to sit and concentrate on God, his wondrous creation, and his word. I remember as a boy, sitting quietly at the window, staring at the weather outside, trying to think of Scriptures that spoke about the different seasons of the year and the blessings and burdens of life. I could not always think of Scripture for those things, mainly because we did not have good reference material for our Bibles; but I later found that God speaks about all things in life in his word.

God's word brings many things to bear in our lives. It is the way of cleansing our way -- Psalms 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. It is the way of staying away from sin -- Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  Many more benefits are written in this very chapter in the book of Psalms.

Today, to our delight and also to our detriment, we have cell phones, game systems, TV's, audio players, hectic schedules, and other things that take away our attention from the word of God. This may very well plunge our society into ruin.

Gold is still today a precious commodity, but the precious word of God should be more precious than fine gold to us. Let us read it, remember it, write it, speak it, practice it, and give glory to God for it, for God's word is truth (John 17:17).

 

 

Psalm 119:126

Establishing The Law

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

Since man has done injustice to the law of God, has shunned it and broken it, hated it and made a disgrace of it; it is time for God to do his work. His work is to do righteousness in the world both in his blessing with mercy and judging in his righteousness court.

The law of God was perfectly fulfilled, or worked, in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to bring righteousness to the world. He is our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6); he is the righteousness judge (2 Timothy 4:8), and he imputes righteousness to believers (2 Corinthians 5:21), who have no righteousness of their own but must receive it from God in Christ, who is King of Righteousness (Hebrews 7:2).

Men have "made void thy law" by breaking every whit and whim of it, but by faith we do not make void the law, but we establish it (Romans 3:31).

Psalm 119:125

Ask For Wisdom

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

The words "I am thy servant" should ring loud and clear in every believer's mind and heart. We should know that God has made us, and we do not belong to ourselves. Believers should know and understand that we are all servants of our God, who has saved us by his marvelous grace.

Only God can give us understanding of his word. We cannot delineate God's words to us without the power of God through the Holy Spirit; that is his job.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Oh, that we would simply ask the Lord for wisdom! Oh, that we would take his advice to help us understand God's word so we can be vessels of honor for his service.

We are to know the testimonies of the Lord in order that we might spread the news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection; so that we might know God, who he is, and what his plan is for our lives. So many times we know Jesus, and we know the Holy Spirit, but many do not know God in his essence. May God give us understanding to know God as he really is and not as we would like him to be.

Psalm 119:124

Dealing With Us Through Mercy

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

With his people, God deals with mercy, since we are saved by his mercy, kept by his mercy, pardoned by his mercy, redeemed by his mercy, called by his mercy, justified by his mercy, kept by his mercy, and delivered to heaven by his mercy by grace through faith alone.

By law we are lawless, by obedience we are rebels, by faith we are shipwrecked, by works we are vain. If we are judged by law, we must know that we are all lawbreakers.  Isaiah said in Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Through law we are all doomed to punishment of all our wrongdoings, all of our sins, all of our transgressions; but "by mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5).

So, Lord, deal with us according to your mercy, not according to our works or according to the law, since we all have broken the law and deserve eternal punishment for our disobedience. By mercy he saves us.

But, also, the Lord deals with his own people who are already saved by grace through his mercy. He is longsuffering, kind, patient, forgiving, and loving in both blessings and chastisements to his people.

Time and space does not allow me to speak further about this, but just read this as a believer:  Lamentations 3:22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. Therefore, we need the statutes of the Lord, and only he can teach us these statutes in our minds and in our hearts. Let us pray and study to learn God's word to know more about Jesus concerning his great mercy.

Psalm 119:123 | 119:81

Failing Of The Eyes

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

The human eye is a wonderful creation of God. We must give much thanks to God for our being able to see. Those who are blind know more of the value of seeing than those who can see very well.

But David's eyes, though they were able to see physically, they could not see the true benefit of God's salvation, because David was living in this world. David was looking for more than the pleasures of the world. He was looking farther into a realm that the human eye cannot see. The human eye may see a few blessings, but the human eye cannot see the things that God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor. 2:9).

Neither can David see true righteousness and holiness in this world. His eyes fail to see righteous judgments performed by those who are responsible for the execution of civil law. He does not see, nor does he hear speeches or sermons that reflect the righteousness of God, just as in our own time moral and holy preaching and speaking seems to be scarce.

In verse 81 of this psalm David explains, also, that his very soul faints because he cannot find true salvation in this world nor the faith in true righteousness through the Messiah. His soul faints also due to the fact that life in this world seems to be so long, and the wonders and hopes of Heaven are not soon realized.

Oh, how our hearts often desire and eagerly long to be with our Lord where he is, in Heaven with the Father.

But, as verse 81 continues, our hope is in God's word. While we watch for and wait for the coming of the Messiah from heaven the second time, we are assured in our hearts that God's word is true, and it is the only hope that we have this side of heaven, so we must give credence to and hope in the Bible, God's holy word. It alone can give us comfort and assurance in God.

 

 

Psalm 119:122

God, Our Surety

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

God is our surety. This word indicates a pledge, or a guarantee, or a covenant. It also indicates a defense, which God is for his people. The word in its fullest meaning indicates also fellowship.

God is our surety in making Jesus, his only begotten Son, a surety (a defense) for us on the cross of a better covenant than that which is under the Mosaic Law.

The New Covenant is one that is not dependent in any way upon man himself but is initiated, executed, and fulfilled by God himself through his own divine and eternal plan.

God, I suppose, could be a surety of that which is bad, meting out judgment upon those who disobey and reject him, but here the psalmist cries out for God's surety for that which is good, and we know that God is good.

Notice Psalms 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. But God has a goodness that is superior to any good that is in man. Notice Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Of course, this does not mean that Jesus is not good, but it means that, since Jesus is good, he is God.

The only way the psalmist can understand that God would be a surety for good is that God would hinder the proud from oppressing him. This is not a cry that God would suppress all of the oppression of the proud but that God would measure their oppression as nothing in David's sight, manifesting that God is much greater than all of our oppression, so that he could come as close as possible to that which is said of Jesus in Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Oh, that all of us as God's children could come to this in our lives! Oh, that we might turn our problems over to God in Christ and render our oppressions from the wicked as vain and ineffective in our service to him with whom we have to do (Heb. 4:13

 

 

Psalm 119:121

Delivered From Oppression

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

David, as king of Israel, did his very best to keep the judgments of God as king, to be just with all his dealings with men and with his Lord. This is not to say that he kept the commandments perfectly, because no one does; but he kept them in the eyes of the people in such a way that his enemies, or his oppressors, could not charge him legitimately with any impropriety.

Therefore, he begs the Lord not to leave him in the hands of his oppressors, for they would do much harm to him both physically with imprisonment, physical torture, even death if they could. But they can go no farther than God will allow them to go, so David puts his life in the hands of Almighty God, who will judge all of his adversaries.

The apostle Paul experienced many brutal oppressions at the hands of his oppressors, but he encouraged Timothy with the words in 2 Timothy 3:11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

God will not always deliver us from our oppressors unless death itself is counted as an escape, which our honorable martyrs thought it was. Romans 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

 

 

Psalm 119:120

The Fear of the LORD

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do [his commandments]: his praise endureth for ever.

We shall not gain knowledge and wisdom merely by memorizing scriptures or filling our minds with knowledge of the Bible. Knowledge and wisdom must begin, as we read in the above verses, with the fear of the LORD. If we fear God, then we fear his commandments, which means that we take them very seriously.

We know of the seriousness of the commandments of God (his judgments) and also the repercussions or the results of disobeying His commandments. Many, and probably all, saints of God today do not take God's commandments seriously but take them "with a grain of salt" depending upon God's longsuffering and his forgiveness as excuse for our laxity of obedience, which, of course, is not scriptural nor beneficial but only foolish.

Let us fear both Him and His judgments that we may have true knowledge and wisdom, benefiting both ourselves and those with whom we have to do.

 

 

Psalm 119:119

Casting Off Of The Dross

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

Literally this verse says that God will give the wicked a quitting time, a Sabbath, as it were, but not a Sabbath as our Heavenly rest, but only resting, or stopping, from their wickedness on earth. They will, in essence, come to an end of their wickedness and be thrown off as dross so that the saints of God can shine as gold in our heavenly home.

Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

The earth will be purged, or cleansed, of all wickedness so that we as God's children and saints may live on this earth for eternity, a new earth made without man's hands, an earth like nothing we have ever seen, for we read in 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Therefore, we love God's testimonies, his word, the Bible; for it explains this to us in plain words, and we can rejoice in God's plan for us in his final triumph and the consummation of all things. Hallelujah!

 

 

Psalm 119:118

Errors Punished

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

Revenge belongs to the Lord, and he will mete out that revenge when the time is right. He cannot and will not allow error to continue forever but will bring all things into righteous judgment before himself and punish, or trod down, those that err from his statutes. See Romans 2:5.

The psalmist says that "their deceit is falsehood." It is the design and strategy of the wicked to lie concerning philosophy, science, and other things in order to mislead people who may otherwise believe the word of God and follow his statutes.

But mainly these wicked will lie concerning the word of God, making it to be a fairy tale, a proverb, a manuscript that is written by man, or even to the point that everything in the Bible is fantasy, fiction, and a myth. This is taught in many schools today.

We should not be surprised when this happens, because we are aware of Satan's wiles, his trickery, and his deceit. We must simply continue to preach the word of God as it is to lost and saved alike so that the word may take effect in all our lives.

 

 

Psalm 119:117

He Will Keep Me

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

We as human beings always have a tendency to fall back into sin, to stumble along the Christian road; therefore, we must ask the Lord to hold us up. His hand is "stretched out still" (Isaiah mentions this five times) to sinners, and his hand holds up his people from eternal death and from being seduced and harmed by the world. I love the doctrine of eternal security, because it guarantees me that God will keep me by his own power.

Notice this for believers:  Psalms 37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

I cannot fall into  perdition. I will not fall into reprobation. I cannot fall so far away from God that his judgment will fall upon me as it does upon unbelievers.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

God keeps me by his grace; therefore, I have respect unto the statutes, laws, commandments of the Lord. It is his grand statutes which made my sinful condition manifest, and it is his grace which has helped me.

Jesus paid it all; all to him I owe. If he keeps me from falling, then I must keep his commandments; because they are not grievous. 

 

 

Psalm 119:116

I Am Not Ashamed

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe

"Uphold me." Yes, because I shall definitely fall into all kinds of trouble, confusion, and worldly philosophies if I am not upheld by God's word.

I shall fall into temptation without his word, and I may die "in the midst of my days" if I am not faithful to his word. I live eternally by God's word, and it is God's word that sustains me; by it I have eternal security in salvation, because that is not mine to accomplish but his to supply. I must be mindful that it is God who gives me life.  I love Psalm 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

If God's word sustains me and keeps me alive and gives me hope of eternal salvation, then why should I be ashamed of that? Why should I shun the opportunity to witness of the eternal salvation of the Lord?

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16), and he was not ashamed of his faith (2 Timothy 1:12). We should never be ashamed. Paul wrote in Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.