Latest / Reformed Thinking / Oh How I Love Your Law: Wisdom Through God’s Word (Psalm 119:97–104) | Charles Spurgeon

Transcript

Oh How I Love Your Law: Wisdom Through God’s Word (Psalm 119:97–104) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Usually when we talk about a medical diagnosis, there is an
0:03
expectation of absolute precision.
0:05
You know, you break your arm, the X-ray shows a jagged white
0:07
line, and the doctor just points and says, well, there it is.
0:10
Right. It is a visible, indisputable
0:12
fact on a screen. We like things to be visible and
0:15
neatly organized so we can fix them.
0:17
A physical injury offers a straightforward problem with a
0:21
very clear protocol for resolution.
0:24
Yeah, it is binary, broken or not broken.
0:27
But then you step into the world of the human heart and suddenly
0:30
that X-ray machine is broken. We look at the diagnostic
0:33
landscape of our own motivations or the motivations of the people
0:36
around us, and it is the absolute definition of Muddy
0:40
Waters. Absolutely.
0:41
The internal landscape is messy and that is why we are here
0:44
today. Welcome to Reformed Thinking.
0:46
We take those Muddy Waters and hold them up to the clearest
0:49
light we have. Today we are going on a new deep
0:51
dive. You, the listener, are the third
0:54
person at this table, and we have a very specific mission for
0:57
this discussion. We do.
0:59
We are opening up Charles Haddon Spurgeon's commentary, The
1:01
Treasury of David. Specifically, we were looking at
1:04
his compilation of historical theological thoughts on Psalm
1:08
119. Right, focusing on verses 97
1:10
through one O 4, we really want to understand how these
1:13
historical figures diagnose the human condition through the lens
1:16
of this specific text. And to set the theological stage
1:19
for what we are about to unpack, we really need to ground this in
1:23
Reformed theology. These 8 verses align perfectly
1:27
with the Westminster Confessions high view of Scripture as the
1:30
sole rule of faith and obedience.
1:33
Yeah. That is a critical framework to
1:34
keep in mind as we go through. This it is what we see in the
1:38
Psalmist progression through these verses maps Florida State
1:41
onto the Reformed understanding of sanctification.
1:44
This is a process driven entirely by God's sovereign
1:46
grace. Right, so we are not looking at
1:48
a self help manual where a person pulls themselves up by
1:51
their own moral bootstraps. We're looking at an external
1:54
divine standard that enters a person's life, exposes the Muddy
1:58
Waters of their heart, and systematically clears those
2:00
waters. Yes, and that requires a
2:02
supernatural work of the Holy Spirit illuminating the Word.
2:06
Without that is just reading a book.
2:08
Well, if we start right at the beginning of this progression in
2:11
verse 97, we find the emotional engine for everything that
2:14
follows. The text reads, O how love I thy
2:19
law. It is my meditation all the day.
2:22
I love Urgeon's insight on that verse.
2:25
He points out that this is a note of exclamation.
2:27
The psalmist loves the law so much that he is just bursting
2:31
with affection. Yeah, and making the attempt to
2:33
express it, he realizes his love is actually inexpressible, so he
2:37
just cries out. Oh how I love.
2:38
Spurgeon notes that we obey it out of love, and even when the
2:42
law chides us for disobedience, we love it nonetheless.
2:45
There's this cycle of meditation that Spurgeon highlights right
2:47
here. Oh, the cycle is fascinating.
2:49
Right, he says. Meditation is both the effect of
2:51
loving the law and the cause of loving it more.
2:54
He meditated because he loved it, and then he loved it more
2:56
because he meditated on it. So the affection actually
3:00
precedes the discipline. We often view the law as a
3:03
burden, you know, a set of restrictions designed to keep us
3:06
from having fun. But here the affection is
3:08
palpable. It really is, and we should
3:11
clarify that the law is loved not for its ability to save the
3:14
individual. The law cannot save.
3:17
It is loved for its holiness, which points directly to Christ
3:21
who perfectly fulfilled it. That is a crucial distinction.
3:24
We are not talking about earning salvation through loving rules.
3:28
No, not at all. Spurgeon actually takes this
3:30
even higher, pointing to Christ's superior love for the
3:33
Word. Jesus prioritized the word above
3:36
riches, above his family, and even above his own life.
3:38
Yeah, Spurgeon says. If Christ, who is the heir of
3:41
all things, needed the word so much, do we not have as much
3:44
need of it as he did? It is a staggering thought.
3:47
It is, and when we look at Thomas Stoughton's contribution
3:50
from 1616, he makes an arresting assertion regarding this verse.
3:54
Stoughton says the continual meditation on the word is
3:57
actually more necessary than continual praying.
4:00
Wow, that sounds entirely counterintuitive to many modern
4:03
ears. I mean, we are usually taught
4:05
that prayer is the highest spiritual discipline.
4:07
How does Stoughton justify that? Well, Stoughton's logic is
4:10
ironclad. He argues that without the Word,
4:13
we do not know what to pray for, nor do we know how to pray.
4:17
The word must inform the prayer. So the input has to dictate the
4:21
output. Yes, exactly, Stoughton says.
4:24
We need meditation before the doing of everything and in the
4:28
very doing of everything. Without the Word shaping our
4:31
thoughts, our prayers just become a list of our own fleshly
4:34
demands. We end up asking God to baptize
4:37
our worldly desires. The practical pushback to start
4:40
and is pretty obvious though when we read that we must have a
4:43
continual meditation all the day.
4:45
How does a person working a normal nine to five job
4:48
accomplish this? That is a very fair question.
4:51
I mean, if someone is dealing with spreadsheets, answering
4:53
phone calls, or chasing toddlers around the house, it sounds like
4:57
something only a monk in a monastery could pull off.
4:59
We really have to clarify what meditation actually means in
5:02
this context. Stoughton is very careful to
5:05
point out that we are not to imagine the Prophet did nothing
5:08
else but read the word. The Psalms had a Kingdom to run,
5:12
armies to command, and legal disputes to settle.
5:15
He was a busy guy, so how did he do it all the day?
5:19
Stoughton means that no day passed without meditation and
5:23
that the psalmist took every occasion to meditate.
5:25
The mind was not alienated by employment, rather the
5:29
employment actually provoked the meditation.
5:32
OK, think about reading a legal contract.
5:34
You read it out of duty, it is dry, you look for the specific
5:38
clauses, you sign it and you put it in a filing cabinet.
5:41
You do not think about it again unless you are sued.
5:43
Right, it is purely transactional.
5:45
But now think about carrying around a handwritten letter from
5:48
a spouse. You might only have time to sit
5:50
down and read the actual words once during your lunch break,
5:52
but because of your affection for the person who wrote it, the
5:55
contents of that letter linger in your mind while you are
5:57
working. That is a beautiful analogy.
6:00
You are typing an e-mail, but the warmth of that letter is
6:03
still influencing your mood. You are meditating on it all the
6:06
day, even while performing completely secular tasks.
6:09
Yes, the affection bridges the gap between the sacred text and
6:13
the secular task. When the psalmist faced a
6:16
judicial decision, he meditated on God's justice.
6:20
When he saw the frailty of his soldiers, he meditated on the
6:22
corruption of man and the goodness of God.
6:25
So he did not need an open scroll in front of him 24 hours
6:28
a day. The principles of the Word were
6:30
the lens through which He viewed every earthly duty.
6:33
Precisely. Wolfgang Musculus, another
6:36
commentator, adds weight to this by saying that anyone who
6:39
attempts anything in the law of God without love will do it
6:42
coldly and quickly. Give it up.
6:44
Because it just becomes a chore. Right.
6:46
The mind simply cannot give itself earnestly and
6:48
perseveringly to things which are not loved.
6:51
We also have James Hervey, writing in the 18th century,
6:54
echoing this intense affection. What did Hervey say about it?
6:57
Hervey says that if he were granted Hezekiah's gift of 15
7:00
extra years of life, he would leave aside the historians, the
7:04
orders and the poets of antiquity.
7:07
He calls them accomplished trifles compared to the
7:10
scriptures of truth. Accomplished trifles.
7:12
That is quite a phrase. It is he said he would devote
7:15
all his attention to knowing nothing but Jesus Christ and him
7:17
crucified. And Edwin Sandy's gives us
7:20
brilliant, varied metaphors for what the Word becomes to the
7:24
person who possesses this affection.
7:26
Oh, I love Sandy's metaphors here.
7:28
Let's break those down. Sandy says the word is meat if
7:30
you are hungry, drink if you are thirsty, a present remedy if you
7:34
are sick, a staff if you are weak, a sword if your enemy
7:37
assaults you, and a bright shining Lantern if you are in
7:41
darkness. It covers every conceivable
7:43
human condition. If you are listening to this
7:45
right now, evaluate your own intake of information.
7:48
Does your familiarity with the Bible breed affection as
7:51
Spurgeon suggests? That is the real test of where
7:54
our hearts are. Or do you treat it like a dry
7:57
audio textbook that you listen to at double speed just to check
7:59
a box for the day? The first step in this entire
8:02
progression is an affectionate mind.
8:05
If that emotional engine of love is missing, the rest of the
8:08
wisdom we are about to discuss simply will not materialize.
8:11
That is very true. Because the psalmist's mind is
8:14
saturated with the Word through affection, he is uniquely
8:18
equipped to face hostility in the real world.
8:20
This moves us directly to verse 90.
8:22
Eight yes. Verse 98.
8:24
The text says, Thou through thy commandments has made me wiser
8:27
than mine enemies, for they are ever with me.
8:30
Spurgeon gives a sharp analysis here.
8:32
He does. He says the letter makes us
8:33
knowing, but only the Spirit. Spirit makes us wise.
8:36
Wisdom is knowledge put to practical use.
8:38
Spurgeon introduces A fascinating concept regarding
8:41
honesty right here. He says a thoroughly
8:43
straightforward man, completely devoid of all policy, is a
8:46
terrible puzzle to diplomatists. I love that idea.
8:50
The straightforward person baffles the cunning schemers
8:52
because the schemers suspect a subtle duplicity that just is
8:56
not there. They cannot compute honesty.
8:58
Yeah, they are looking for the hidden angle, and there is no
9:01
angle. William Capper makes a sharp
9:03
distinction, noting that worldlings are only wise in
9:06
their own generation. Right.
9:08
They're wise to do evil and wise to conceal it, but their wisdom
9:12
has a ceiling. Thomas Manton offers a masterful
9:15
breakdown of the security that the godly possess against these
9:18
enemies. What are Manton's two points on
9:20
this? Manton says the safety of a
9:22
child of God lies in two things. First, God is their friend.
9:27
Second, as long as God has worked for them to do, he will
9:30
maintain them and bear them out in it.
9:32
So Manton really contrasts secular policy with divine
9:36
piety. Yes, a person relying on secular
9:38
policy tries to outwit their enemies using the world's tools
9:42
of deceit and manipulation, but a child of God makes it their
9:45
business to walk with God step by step.
9:48
I want to challenge this idea of being wiser than mine enemies
9:51
because it sounds like a promise of constant earthly victory.
9:54
It sounds like if you just read your Bible, you will always
9:57
outsmart your business rivals or you will always win the argument
10:00
against a hostile neighbor. That is a very common
10:03
misunderstanding. But we know from history that
10:05
believers frequently lose earthly battles.
10:09
They get defrauded, they face persecution, and they sometimes
10:12
look incredibly foolish to the world.
10:14
So how does this wisdom actually play out?
10:17
We really have to define what kind of wisdom this is.
10:20
The enemies are renowned for subtlety, tracing their lineage
10:23
back to the old serpent. It would be entirely vain for us
10:27
to try to be a match with them in the craft and mystery of
10:30
cunning. So we shouldn't even try to play
10:32
their game? Right, the children of this
10:34
world will always be wiser in their generation when it comes
10:37
to playing dirty. We must go to a different school
10:41
and learn of a different instructor.
10:42
Imagine you were playing chess against a remarkably crafty
10:45
opponent. This opponent spends the entire
10:48
game setting up wildly complicated, deceitful traps,
10:51
feigning weakness on one side of the board to lure you in.
10:54
They are exhausting themselves calculating layers of deception.
10:57
Exactly. But you as the believer are not
11:00
even trying to calculate their deception.
11:02
You simply make the most honest, upright, structurally sound
11:05
moves on the board according to the fundamental rules of the
11:08
game. You just play solid,
11:10
straightforward chess. And that completely ruins their
11:13
strategy. Right, The crafty opponent is
11:15
completely ruined because their complex deception relies on you
11:19
taking the bait of their trickery.
11:22
When you just March your pawn straight ahead in honest upright
11:25
moves, their entire elaborate scheme collapses.
11:28
You are not wiser because you out schemed them.
11:32
You are wiser because your straightforward adherence to the
11:34
rules completely bypass their trap.
11:37
By uprightness, we baffle fraud. By simple truth, we Vanquish
11:42
deep blade scheming. It is the radical simplicity of
11:46
obedience that confounds the complex machinations of the
11:49
wicked. And when Manton says that those
11:51
who make God their friend are far more safe under the covert
11:53
of God's protection, he is not guaranteeing an absence of
11:56
temporal suffering. No, bad things still happen to
11:59
good people. He is guaranteeing that the
12:01
enemy's ultimate goal, to sever the believer from God, will
12:04
fail. The believer is well provided
12:06
for, even if all earthly things fall out across to their
12:09
desires. This is the tactical advantage
12:11
of holiness. It operates on an entirely
12:14
different plane than secular policy.
12:16
Joseph Addison Alexander's linguistic note on the phrase
12:19
They are ever with me adds so much weight here.
12:23
Alexander notes that the translation is not merely that
12:25
the commandments are frequently with him, but that they are
12:28
forever to me. It is an inalienable,
12:31
indefeasible possession. The wisdom is a permanent state
12:35
of being, not a temporary tactic grabbed in a moment of panic.
12:39
So the believer has the wisdom constantly residing within,
12:42
whereas the wicked must constantly invent new schemes to
12:44
maintain their position. The wicked are exhausted by
12:47
their own deceit, while the believer rests in an
12:50
indefeasible possession of truth.
12:52
Think about a current conflict you are facing right now.
12:55
Maybe it is tension in your workplace, a difficult family
12:58
dynamic, or an ideological dispute.
13:01
Are you exhausting yourself trying to out scheme your
13:03
opponent? Are you trying to match their
13:05
political maneuvering? Or are you relying on the
13:07
baffling simplicity of uprightness?
13:10
There is an immense freedom in realizing you do not have to be
13:13
more cunning than your enemy, you just have to be faithful to
13:16
the straightforward commandments of God.
13:18
And the word does not just give an edge over malicious enemies,
13:22
it elevates the believers understanding above well meaning
13:25
friends, academic teachers and historical elders.
13:29
This brings us to verses 99 and 100.
13:32
Verse 99 says I have more understanding than all my
13:35
teachers, for they testimonies are my meditation.
13:38
And verse 100 says, I understand more than the ancients, because
13:41
I keep thy precepts. Spurgeon says that following in
13:44
the chart of the word saves the vessel when the pilot or the
13:48
teacher airs. A pilot can make a mistake, but
13:51
the chart remains true. William Cowper gives a
13:54
historical example of this, noting how Augustine was
13:57
converted and illuminated by Ambrose, but eventually excelled
14:00
his teacher in knowledge and spiritual grace.
14:03
We see a vital principle here. Doing leads to knowing.
14:06
Nathaniel Hardy and Saint Gregory point to a New Testament
14:09
example on the Road to Emmaus. Ah yes, the disciples on the
14:11
road. They listen to Jesus speak, but
14:14
their eyes were not open by just hearing Him.
14:16
Their eyes were open during the action of hospitality and the
14:18
breaking of the bread. Whosoever will understand must
14:21
make haste to do what they hear. Thomas Manton provides a massive
14:25
critique of relying solely on life experience here.
14:27
He does. He notes that the ancients grow
14:30
wise by experience, but experience is highly flawed.
14:34
Manton says experience is uncertain because many go
14:37
through a lot but lack the heart to gather wisdom from what they
14:40
feel. Right.
14:41
You can suffer a lot and learn nothing.
14:43
And experience is also incredibly expensive.
14:45
Manton calls it learning by the weeping cross or learning by our
14:49
own smart. It requires a person to suffer
14:51
the terrible consequences of bad decisions.
14:54
Finally, experience takes a lifetime to acquire, leaving a
14:57
person's younger years miserable and foolish.
15:00
The word, by contrast, is exact, sure, safe, and gives wisdom to
15:05
the young early on, sparing them the weeping cross.
15:09
You do not have to ruin your life to learn how to live it.
15:11
But reading this raises a massive red flag regarding
15:14
intellectual arrogance. How so?
15:16
Well, if a listener realizes, hey, because I study the Bible,
15:19
I actually know more than my seminary professors, my pastor
15:23
and the elderly sages, my community, how do they avoid
15:26
becoming completely insufferable and prideful?
15:29
It is so easy to weaponize this verse.
15:31
We really have to bring in the Reformed doctrine of total
15:34
depravity to answer the pushback on Pride told.
15:38
Depravity teaches that every aspect of the human condition,
15:41
including the mind of the reasoning faculties, is tainted
15:44
by sin. So our natural intellect is
15:46
compromised. Yes, left to ourselves, our
15:49
intellect will always bend toward error and self
15:51
justification. Therefore, if a believer
15:54
possesses more understanding than their teachers, it is a
15:56
testament to the purity of the source material, not the
15:59
brilliance of the student. Relying on personal experiences
16:02
like trying to build a complex, dangerous machine by trial and
16:06
error. You wire it wrong, it shocks you
16:08
and you learn not to touch that wire.
16:10
You pay the stupid tax. You might eventually figure it
16:12
out, but it hurts. Right over 50 years, you
16:15
eventually figure out how the machine works, but you have the
16:18
scars to prove it. Reading the word, however, is
16:21
picking up the manufacturer's manual.
16:24
The manual was written by the engineer who built the machine.
16:27
That is a great way to look at it.
16:28
Reading the manual makes you instantly wiser than the guy who
16:31
has been shocking himself for 50 years.
16:34
But it gives you absolutely no right to boast, because you did
16:37
not invent the knowledge, you just read the instructions.
16:40
The wisdom being praised here comes strictly from the Word,
16:45
not from the believer's innate intellect.
16:47
Spurgeon actually notes that David is quite innocent of self
16:50
consciousness. Here there is not a grain of
16:53
boasting, but only a childlike desire to set forth the
16:56
excellence of the Lord's Word. And George Hakewell provides
16:59
some historical trivia to illustrate the supremacy of this
17:02
word over human intellect. Yes, Hakewell mentions Charles
17:06
the 5th of France, surname the Wise, who submitted his
17:09
intellect to the scriptures and caused the Bible to be
17:11
translated into French. He also points to King Alphonsus
17:14
of Aragon. He is said to have read over the
17:17
whole Bible 14 times with explanatory notes, preferring
17:20
the law of God to all his royal gold.
17:22
When royalty and the highest human intellect submit to the
17:25
Word, it proves that the wisdom is external and divine, leading
17:30
zero room for human pride. When you face a major life
17:33
decision, are you placing a higher value on the expensive
17:36
wisdom of an older, experienced person who paid the stupid tax,
17:40
or are you seeking out the exact sure instructions of Scripture?
17:44
It is very tempting to trust a person with Gray hair more than
17:47
an ancient text, but experience without the word is just a
17:50
record of survived mistakes. To maintain that high level of
17:53
understanding, the intellect must be tethered to moral
17:56
obedience. Without restraint, the wisdom
17:58
vanishes. Which leads us perfectly into
18:01
verses 101 and 1:02. First one that says, I have
18:03
refrained my feet from every evil way that I might keep thy
18:06
word. And verse one and two adds, I've
18:08
not departed from my judgments, for Thou has taught me.
18:11
Thomas Manton gives a helpful definition here, noting that the
18:14
feet represent the affections. Our affections are the rigorous
18:18
bent of the soul that engage us to practice.
18:21
Scholars Egelius and Jenna brought us point out that the
18:24
Hebrew translation of Refrained is much stronger than just
18:27
holding back. It translates to fettered or
18:30
imprisoned. You are locking your feet up.
18:32
This highlights the sheer force of human passions.
18:36
We are naturally born by our feet into the path of every kind
18:39
of sin. It requires active imprisonment
18:41
of those affections to stay on the path.
18:43
Manton makes a crucial distinction regarding verse one
18:46
O 2 where David says For thou has taught me.
18:49
Manton outlines God's two ways of teaching.
18:52
What is the first way? The first is common
18:54
illumination, which is given to everyone.
18:56
It barely enlightens the mind to know what God propounds, much
18:59
like the heathen observing the natural world.
19:01
OK, so a basic awareness and the second.
19:03
The second is special operation. This is where God effectually
19:07
inclines the will to embrace and prosecute the duties known.
19:11
He writes the law on their inward parts.
19:14
This special operation is always effectual and persuasive, which
19:17
is the ground of the believers constancy and perseverance.
19:20
We had a massive theological tension right here.
19:23
Verse one O 1 says I have refrained my feet.
19:25
That sounds like intense human effort.
19:27
I'm the one putting the fetters on my feet.
19:29
I'm doing the work to avoid the evil way.
19:31
Yes, it sounds very active. But then the very next breath in
19:35
verse one, O 2, who says for thou has taught me that is
19:38
entirely divine sovereignty. How do human effort and divine
19:42
sovereignty coexist so tightly? The Westminster Confession
19:46
framework resolves this tension, relying heavily on Manton's
19:49
concept of special operation. The confession teaches the God's
19:53
grace does not violate the human well.
19:55
Rather, it renews and enables the will to freely choose the
19:58
good. So God is the one doing the
20:00
renewing. Exactly when God exercises His
20:03
special operation, His teaching is so efficacious that the
20:07
effect which is our obedience, our fettering of our own feet,
20:10
necessarily follows. God provides the grace that
20:14
creates the desire and the strength for the believer to
20:17
act. Odysseus knows the siren song
20:20
will destroy him, so he physically fetters himself to
20:23
the ship's mast. He restrains his feet.
20:26
But in the Christian life, the believer does not just fetter
20:28
themselves out of sheer terror of the Simons.
20:31
No, the motivation is completely different.
20:33
They fetter themselves out of a deep love for the destination
20:36
they are sailing toward. They want to keep the word.
20:39
William Cowper notes that David gives all the glory to God here,
20:43
protesting that because God taught him, therefore he
20:45
declined not. Calper makes a chilling
20:48
observation, though. He says without God's teaching,
20:50
even the most abominable evil would soon become plausible and
20:53
attractive to us. We would rationalize the siren
20:56
song until we happily jumped into the water.
20:59
Therefore, when the believer successfully refrains their
21:01
feet, they look back and realize that the very strength to lock
21:05
those fetters came directly from the Divine Teacher.
21:08
Human action is real and necessary, but it is entirely
21:11
sustained by sovereign grace. Identify the smooth and flowery
21:15
bypass, as Spurgeon calls them, that you are currently tempted
21:19
by. Where are your affections
21:21
pulling you? Are you actively fettering your
21:23
affections, chaining them to the mass of scripture?
21:26
Or are you leaving them loose to wander, assuming you can just
21:28
rely on common sense to keep you out of trouble?
21:31
Left unfettered, the most abominable evil will eventually
21:34
look entirely reasonable to you. But if you walk in the
21:37
discipline obedience of verses one O 1 and one O 2, the word
21:42
ceases to be a list of restrictions and blossoms into a
21:45
sensory delight. Verse 103 says How sweet are
21:48
they words into my taste? Yay, sweeter than honey to my
21:50
mouth. Jonathan Edwards provides A
21:52
breathtaking analysis of this text.
21:54
He really does. Edwards introduces the concept
21:57
of the new supernatural sense given to the regenerated mind.
22:01
Edward says this spiritual taste is as distinct from natural
22:03
senses as the idea of honey is from actually tasting it.
22:06
A person can read all about the chemical composition of honey,
22:09
but until they put it on their tongue, they do not truly know
22:11
it. George Bowen reflects on this by
22:14
comparing the words of love from God against the earthly illusion
22:18
of wealth and honor. Treasures and honors die
22:20
gradually out, but the heart finds its undying happiness in
22:24
words of infinite love. Wolfgang Musculus adds a very
22:28
practical layer to this supernatural sweetness.
22:31
What does Musculus say? He points out that the practice
22:33
of the godly conversing about the Word actually makes it
22:36
sweeter. He says this is especially
22:38
necessary when sound teachers are scarce or when teachers
22:41
vitiate the pure Word of God. Talking about it with other
22:45
believers enhances the flavor. Richard Greenham takes it a step
22:48
further into challenging territory.
22:50
Greenham asserts that even God's judgments are sweet to the
22:53
believer. How can fearful and grievous
22:55
judgments be sweet? Because the godly rejoice when
22:58
they feel God's mercies accomplished, or when they see
23:01
is perfect justice manifested, the pallet has been so
23:04
thoroughly renewed that even the severest aspects of God's truth
23:07
are recognized as pure, holy, and therefore sweet.
23:11
The believers alignment with God's will is so complete that
23:14
they do not flinch at His justice.
23:16
They see the beauty in the moral order, he maintains.
23:19
That is a high level of spiritual maturity.
23:22
Many believers go through intense dry spells where they
23:25
read the Bible and it does not taste like honey at all.
23:28
It tastes like cardboard. They read the genealogies or the
23:31
Levitical laws or even the Gospels, and they feel
23:34
absolutely nothing. If someone is in that dry spell,
23:37
reading this verse can feel incredibly condemning.
23:40
We really have to diagnose the cause of that dry spell.
23:43
If you spend your entire day eating heavily processed junk
23:46
food, candy bars, soda, fast food loaded with salt and
23:50
artificial sugar, and then someone hands you a freshly
23:53
picked organic strawberry, it is not going to taste sweet to you.
23:57
Your palate is completely ruined by the artificial intensity of
24:00
the junk food. Right.
24:01
Could our spiritual dry spells be the result of a ruined
24:05
palate? If we're consuming the false
24:08
ways of the world all day? Social media outrage,
24:11
Materialistic entertainment, Endless political commentary.
24:14
Should we really expect the quiet, holy truths of Scripture
24:18
to taste like honey when we finally give it 5 minutes before
24:20
bed? Edwards argues that the beauty
24:22
of holiness is the direct object of this spiritual taste.
24:26
If the taste is dull or seems absent, it's strongly indicates
24:30
that the palate is either compromised by wordly
24:32
consumption or is in need of the special operation of the Holy
24:35
Spirit to renew it. When we fill our minds with the
24:38
hyper stimulating junk food of secular culture, the subtle
24:41
beauty of holiness is completely masked.
24:43
We have ruined our capacity to taste the strawberry.
24:46
Henry Ward Beecher provides a beautiful quote that can help
24:48
those in a dry spell. He compares certain texts in the
24:52
Bible to violets, noting that some are very much sweeter than
24:55
others. This suggests that varying our
24:57
study can refresh the palate. That is very encouraging.
25:00
So if you are bogged down in a difficult section and feeling
25:03
dry, the Spirit might use a different Violet in the songs of
25:06
the Gospels to reawaken that spiritual taste.
25:09
The sweetness is objective in the text, but our subjective
25:12
ability to taste it requires constant spiritual maintenance
25:16
and a disciplined diet. Evaluate your current spiritual
25:19
diet. Are you ruining your palate with
25:21
artificial worldly outrage? Are you taking the time to talk,
25:24
confer and persuade about the Word with other believers, as
25:28
Greenom suggests? Sometimes you need someone else
25:30
to describe the sweetness of the strawberry before you can fully
25:33
appreciate it yourself. That communal aspect is vital.
25:37
Tasting the absolute purity and sweetness of God's truth
25:40
inevitably produces a violent disgust for the poison of
25:42
falsehood. Verse one of four says Through
25:45
thy precepts I get understanding, Therefore I hate
25:48
every false way. William S Plumer gives us a
25:51
striking definition here that sets the tone.
25:53
Plumer says all sin is a lie. It attempts to cheat God, but it
25:58
actually cheats the soul. There is no delusion like the
26:01
folly of believing a course of sin will conduce to our
26:03
happiness. George Swinnick makes a sharp
26:05
observation on hypocrisy in this regard.
26:07
Swinnick says a hypocrite might spit out some sins, but they
26:10
leave the devil a nest egg to sit upon.
26:12
They spare a king sin like King Saul sparing A gag, but the true
26:17
believer seeks universal cleansing.
26:19
Joseph Carroll makes a vital distinction here between the
26:22
carnal man and the godly man. How does Carroll distinguish
26:26
them? A carnal man might for bear
26:29
doing evil. He might abstain from acting out
26:31
certain sins because he fears the social consequences are the
26:34
legal penalties. But only a godly man truly
26:38
abhors the evil. He hates it.
26:40
Edward Rayner uses vivid imagery to describe this hatred.
26:43
He calls hatred A stabbing, murdering affection.
26:46
Rainer says we must not deal gently with our lusts like David
26:49
dealt with his rebellious son Absalom.
26:51
Mercy to sin is cruelty to the soul.
26:53
You must pursue sin with a hot heart to death.
26:56
We see the cyclical nature of sanctification happening right
26:59
here in the text. In verse one O 1, David says he
27:01
avoids evil so that he can get understanding.
27:03
Now in verse one O 4 he says that having understanding causes
27:06
him to hate evil. It is an upward spiral.
27:09
Avoiding sin leads to wisdom, and wisdom leads to a deeper
27:13
hatred of sin. The psychology of this shift is
27:16
massive. It moves a person from mere
27:19
behavior modification to genuine heart alteration.
27:22
I likened sin to an assassin living in your guest room.
27:26
If you know there is a hit man sleeping down the hall waiting
27:28
for the right moment to destroy your family, you do not sign a
27:31
truce with him. You do not negotiate rent.
27:34
You do not say, well, as long as he stays in his room on
27:36
Tuesdays, we can coexist. No.
27:38
You treat his presence with a stabbing, murdering affection.
27:42
You call the authorities, you lock the doors, you do whatever
27:44
it takes to eliminate the threat.
27:46
But so often we treat our favorite sins like a slightly
27:49
annoying roommate rather than an assassin.
27:51
We negotiate with it. Channeling Jonathan Edwards
27:54
again, we see that true religion is defined just as much by what
27:58
a person intensely hates as by what they love.
28:01
If you claim to love the sweetness of God's Word, but you
28:04
do not possess A visceral, murdering hatred for every false
28:08
way your love is suspect, the. Hatred of error and sin is the
28:12
necessary immune system of the regenerate.
28:14
Soul. A healthy body violently rejects
28:17
a virus. A healthy soul violently rejects
28:19
a false way. If you are accommodating the
28:22
assassin in the guest room is because you have believed the
28:25
lie that the assassin is actually your friend.
28:28
This brings us right back to Plumer's assertion.
28:30
All sin is a lie. Consider Swinnick's concept of
28:33
the King's sin. What is the one specific
28:36
favorite sin you were trying to negotiate with?
28:39
What is the a gag you are refusing to put to the sword?
28:42
You might have cleaned up your outward behavior, but what is
28:44
the nest egg you are leaving for the enemy?
28:47
It is time to stop forbearing it and start a pouring it.
28:50
Let us quickly recap the progression we have traced
28:52
today. We started with the emotional
28:54
engine, loving the word. That love equips the mind to
28:58
outmanue Hoover, the crafty enemies of the world, and
29:00
elevates our understanding far above experienced earthly
29:03
teachers. That high wisdom demands the
29:05
strict restraint of our affections, chaining our feet to
29:08
the mass of obedience. Doing so heals our spiritual
29:11
palate so we can actually taste the honey of Scripture, which
29:15
finally results in lethal stabbing hatred for all
29:18
falsehood. We have a final provocative
29:20
challenge for you to Mull over, building directly on William
29:23
Plummer's idea that all sin is a lie.
29:26
If every single sin is fundamentally A deceitful
29:29
promise of happiness, a false advertisement, what specific
29:33
subtle lie are you believing right now that makes a false way
29:36
look attractive to you? Remember the X-ray machine we
29:39
talked about at the very beginning?
29:41
Your heart is a muddy, murky place, easily deceived by its
29:44
own desires. The.
29:45
Only way to clear the water and expose the lie is to apply the
29:47
sweet objective honey of the word to rewrite your palate.
29:51
How will you let the word expose the lie in your life today?
29:54
Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into reformed
29:56
thinking. We will see you next time.
29:58
Goodbye and keep resting in His sovereign grace.