Latest / Reformed Thinking / It Is Time for the Lord to Act (Psalm 119:121–128) | Charles Spurgeon

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It Is Time for the Lord to Act (Psalm 119:121–128) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the Reformed Thinking podcast, where we take a deep
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dive into our sources. You know, imagine walking into a
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courtroom, stepping right up to the bench, looking the judge
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square in the eye and and just demanding you be declared
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flawless. Yeah, which sounds incredibly
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arrogant. I mean, it sounds crazy, but
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what if your life literally depended on making that claim?
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Today we are looking at a man doing just that.
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But his bold claim is well, it's really only the opening scene of
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this massive theological progression.
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It really is. So our mission today centers on
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excerpts from Charles Burgens classic work The Treasury of
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David, specifically zooming in on Psalm 119 versus 121 through
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128. And if you know the structure of
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this song, you know it's an acrostic poem, and this specific
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8 verse section corresponds to the Hebrew letter.
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Name right the aim section. Yeah, so we are going to unpack
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the historical notes and the commentary from the Puritan
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writers that Spurgeon gathered. We want to figure the underlying
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logic of what is actually happening in the mind of the
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psalmist here. It is a it's a really striking
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section of Scripture to analyze, especially when viewed through
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the specific theological framework we operate from.
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Both of us approach this text from the perspective of reform
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theology, holding to the doctrines expressed in the
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Westminster Confession, and that lens is crucial here because it
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brings certain elements of the text into very sharp focus.
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Yeah, it really does. When we look at this passage
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through that framework, we see the strictness of God's moral
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law, the complete inability of human beings to save themselves,
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and and the absolute necessity of Christ's substitutionary
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atonement. Spot on.
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The historical commentator Spurgeon pulls from.
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They all read the Psalms with that precise theological grid,
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so they don't just see a struggling ancient king You.
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Know great they see something bigger.
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Exactly. Well, they see the gospel and
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the necessity of a mediator shining through the cries of the
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psalmist. And that theological grid is
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what makes this specific deep dive so captivating.
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I want to point out the staggering progression that
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happens in just these these 8 short verses.
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It starts with an incredibly bold claim of personal innocence
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and integrity. Yeah, but then almost
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immediately it pivots. The writer suddenly realizes his
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own innocence is not enough, and he cries out for a desperate
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life or death, need for a savior, a substitute.
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It's a. Huge.
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It is, and after that it moves into the literal physical agony
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of waiting for God to act, and it culminates in a defiant,
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burning love for God's rules in a world that absolutely hates
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them. I mean, it's an emotional roller
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coaster. It really is an emotional roller
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coaster. Let's start right at the
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beginning of this progression with verse 121 says I have done
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judgement and justice. Leave me not to mine oppressors.
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So to grasp the weight of that opening statement, we need to
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look at the historical context Spurgeon provides regarding the
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ancient near. East OK, let's hear it.
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Spurgeon points out that for an Eastern ruler like David to
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stand up and say I have done judgment and justice was a
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massive, almost unprecedented claim.
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Really. Unprecedented.
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Yeah, because in that era, the typical Eastern despot cared far
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more for personal gain than for anything resembling objective
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justice. I mean, many rulers completely
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neglected their civic duties, preferring their own comfort and
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luxury. Just lounging around, basically.
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Pretty much. And those who did hold court
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often turn the justice system into a marketplace.
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They sold their judgments to the highest bidder.
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They played favorites based entirely on who had the most
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wealth or influence to offer. So it's just completely corrupt.
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Completely corrupt. Some gave judgement without any
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actual justice, simply stamping a ruling to get the case off
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their desk or or to appease a vocal mob.
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The legal system was entirely transactional.
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But David asserts a completely different standard.
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He claims that he gave both judgement and justice, and he
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saw to it that his sentences were actually carried out fairly
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without partiality. OK, I have to push back on this
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a bit because it sounds like a massive contradiction to our
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theological framework. How so?
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Well, as Reformed believers who hold to the doctrine of total
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depravity, how do we square this?
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How does a Calvinist say I have done judgment and justice?
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Right, right. If our best works are tainted by
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sin, isn't it the height of arrogance for David to stand up
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and claim this kind of flawless record?
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It feels like he is directly contradicting the idea that
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there is none righteous. No, not one.
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Yeah, that is a very common tension to feel and and it
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requires us to make a vital distinction.
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OK, unpack that. The historical commentators
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clarify this beautifully by differentiating between
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horizontal relationships and vertical standing.
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Horizontal and vertical. Right.
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So vertically, meaning a human being standing before a holy
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infinite God, we have absolutely no righteousness of our own
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claim. Not at all.
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God were to judge our internal motives and our hearts adherence
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to His perfect standard. None of us could stand.
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Every action is tainted but horizontally, meaning human
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beings interacting with other human beings in the civic realm.
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It is entirely possible for a believer to act with integrity
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and justice. I see.
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When David is facing false accusations from men, from his
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oppressors, he is not claiming sinless perfection before the
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throne of God. He is pleading total civic
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innocence regarding the specific charges levelled against him by
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his human enemies. He is saying I have not wronged
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these people, I have not taken their bribes, I have judged
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fairly. This horizontal innocence gives
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believers a specific kind of boldness.
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So if you are innocent of the horizontal accusations, you can
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confidently ask the great judge to deliver you from the malice
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of others. Spot on.
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That's it. Let me offer an analogy to see
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if we can really nail down the mechanics of this horizontal
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confidence. Think of an employee working at
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a massive corporation who is suddenly falsely accused of
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embezzling money by a corrupt, manipulative Co worker.
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That employee can confidently walk into the manager's office,
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look the boss in the eye and say I have done everything by the
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book, I have followed every financial protocol.
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Protect me from this Co workers lies right?
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Because they actually didn't steal anything.
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Right, The employee is not claiming to be a flawless human
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being in every aspect of their personal life.
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They aren't claiming they never get angry, never have a jealous
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thought, or never waste company time staring at their phone.
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They're simply stating that regarding the rules of the
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accounting department and their conduct or their peers, they are
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completely innocent of the specific charges of theft.
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That horizontal innocence is what gives them the
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psychological and legal confidence to seek protection
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from the boss. That analogy hits the mark
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perfectly. It illustrates the concept of
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civic virtue. Yeah, one of the historical
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writers from the late 16th century notes that David did
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judgement against the wicked and justice toward the good.
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He was completely impartial and and we can really look at the
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immense psychological relief that comes with a clear
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conscience. Oh, for sure.
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The commentators referenced the Epistle of First John, which
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says that if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence
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before God. Yeah, that's a great connection.
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There is a distinct spiritual comfort in moral integrity when
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you know you have acted fairly. You don't have to cower before
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the centers of your fellow men. You don't have to look over your
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shoulder wondering when your corruption will be exposed.
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Right, because you have nothing to hide horizontally.
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Exactly. I mean, absolutely.
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The sources point out how rare and beautiful it is when people
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in authority, whether sovereign rulers, parents or employers,
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can honestly reflect on their lives and claim they have dealt
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out, even handed, justice. It provides a rock solid
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foundation from which to pray. Leave me not to mine oppressors.
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It is a solid foundation for dealing with human enemies, but
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as we move into the very next verse, the entire situation
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shifts. It really is.
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In verse 121, David is standing firmly on his horizontal
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integrity, but in verse 122 he cries out, Be sure D for thy
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servant for good. Let not the proud oppress me
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now, looking at the source material, a fascinating
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statistical anomaly emerges here.
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Oh this is one of my favorite parts.
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Yeah, it's wild. This is the only verse in the
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entire 176 verses of Psalm 119 that does not explicitly mention
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the Law, the statutes, the Word, or some other synonym for God's
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written commands. Out of 176.
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Verses out of 176 verses, this is the single exception.
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That omission is striking and and it is absolutely
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intentional. The commentators make a
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brilliant observation about this single verse.
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What do they say? They say that where the law
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fails, their Christ is a surety of a better covenant.
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A. Better covenant, right?
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Think about the underlying logic of that omission within our
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reformed framework. David has just claimed
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horizontal integrity, but he knows deep down that horizontal
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integrity cannot save him from his ultimate spiritual enemies.
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Yeah, it's not enough. Nor can it justify him
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vertically before God. The law demands absolute,
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internal, flawless perfection, and where the law fails to save
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because of human weakness and total depravity, a completely
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different mechanism is required. A surety is required.
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A surety. The commentators bring the Book
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of Hebrews to explain this concept of surety ship.
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In the eternal covenant of grace.
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Christ stepped forward. He put Himself in our legal
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place. He became fully responsible to
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the law and to divine justice on our behalf.
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He engaged to make full satisfaction for our sins, to
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pay the massive debt we owed, and to bring in everlasting
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righteousness for our justification.
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The law is missing in this verse because the surety has
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completely fulfilled it on our behalf.
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To put the concept of a surety into modern legal terms, we need
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to understand the terror of the financial liability involved.
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Imagine a person Co signing a massive loan but but this is not
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a father Co signing a small auto loan for his responsible son.
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Right, right. This is a wealthy individual Co
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signing an astronomical unpayable debt for a completely
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bankrupt stranger. The person acting as the surety
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looks at the Ledger. They know full well that the
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bankrupt individual have absolutely 0 assets, 0 income
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and 0 ability to ever make a single payment.
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It's a guaranteed loss for the surety.
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A guaranteed loss. By voluntarily signing that
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document, the surety is knowingly agreeing to liquidate
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their entire estate, to drain every account they have, and to
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take on the full crushing weight of that debt themselves.
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They step entirely into the financial and legal shoes of the
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debtor. They absorb the ruin.
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Yeah, that is the kind of legal and financial substitution
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happening here, but on a cosmic eternal scale regarding our sin.
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And the cosmic scale is what makes the theology so
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staggering. One of the Puritan writers,
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Thomas Manton, breaks down the surety ship into 3 distinct
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views, giving us a comprehensive look at the mechanics of what
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David is asking for and what Christ actually accomplishes.
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OK, let's unpack these three. Views.
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So we need to look at the first view, which is that God
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undertakes that the believer will be good.
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Meaning what? Under the Covenant of works,
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humanity failed, but under the covenant of grace, the surety
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actually provides the internal grace necessary for us to obey.
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He does not just pay the debt, He changes the nature of the
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debtor. Let's stop and examine that
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first point because it is vital if God is undertaking that we
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will be good. What happens when we inevitably
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fail? How does the surety function
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when the believer stumbles? This is where the doctrine of
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the perseverance of the Saints comes in.
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The surety guarantees the final outcome.
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When the believer stumbles, the sureties perfect act of
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obedience is still imputed to them.
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The debt is already paid. But furthermore, the surety
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guarantees that the Holy Spirit will continue the work of
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sanctification, bringing the believer to repentance and
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gradually conforming them to the image of Christ.
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The surety ensures that the believer will not finally fall
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away. So he's got us.
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He's got us now. Manton's second view is that God
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helps the believer to do good. Manton warns that God will never
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take our part in an evil 'cause. Oh, that makes sense.
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Yeah, it is a terrifying proposition to ask God to
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protect us while we are actively rebelling against His standard.
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But when we are pursuing a good cause and maintaining a good
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conscience, He will own us and assist US against opposition.
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The surety is not a license to sin.
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It is a guarantee of divine assistance in the pursuit of
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holiness. OK, And what is Mansons third
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view of this surety ship? The third view focuses on divine
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Providence. God is with the believer for
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good. For good.
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OK. He actively turns all
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circumstances to our ultimate benefit.
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Manton translates the plea as be with me for good, which echoes
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the prayers of Nehemiah. This means that even the
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opposition, the false accusations and the trials are
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orchestrated by the surety for the believers eventual good.
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When we look at this through the lens of substitutionary
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atonement, we have to talk about the immense cost of this surety
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ship. My loan analogy is helpful for
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the mechanics, but it falls desperately short because we are
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not talking about. Money, right?
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It's not cash. The sources unpack this cost
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with brutal clarity. The debt of sin was continually
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accumulating against us. The prospect of us ever making a
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payment was non existent, and the believer might well expect
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to be left to the eternal consequences.
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But the Son of God himself became the surety for a rebel,
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and it cost him his life. It cost him the full outpouring
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of divine wrath. He delivered the believer from
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sin, from the world, from death, and from hell.
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And that immense cost ties directly back to the second-half
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of verse 122. Let not the proud oppress me.
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Right, the oppressors. The historical commentators
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identify the proud oppressor not merely well, not only as human
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enemies in Davidde court, but as Satan himself, the great accuser
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of the brethren. Oh wow.
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Yeah, by paying the bet in full, Christ completely disarms the
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accuser. The devil has no legal ground
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left to stand on. His case is thrown out.
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His accusations are nullified because the surety has already
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satisfied the demands of the law.
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As Spursion notes, it is by this surety ship that we escape like
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a bird from the snare of the Fowler.
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We can leave our defense entirely in our surety's hands,
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knowing he has a legal blood bought answer for every single
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accusation and a final rebuke for every reviler.
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We have seen the believer assert horizontal integrity and we have
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seen the absolute reliance on the surety to handle the
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vertical reality and the spiritual oppressors.
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But relying on the surety does not mean the believers life
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becomes instantly easy or free from distress.
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Far from it. In fact, verse 123 plunges us
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right into the intense physical and emotional toll of waiting on
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God to act. The text says mine eyes fail for
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thy salvation and for the word of thy righteousness.
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The physical language here is striking.
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It really is. But it's not just a mental state
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of impatience is he's literally aching.
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They're failing from staring, weeping and watching for a
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deliverance that has not yet arrived on the horizon.
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The psychological burden of waiting is immense.
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The commentary captures this distress with incredible
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accuracy. Yeah, how do they describe it?
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It describes an individual who perceives himself surrounded by
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formidable enemies who are plotting his ruin.
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This person feels entirely weak, exhausted and insufficient to
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enter into conflict with them. Right.
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So what is the natural response? They look eagerly for the
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arrival of a devoted and powerful friend who has promised
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to rescue them, but the friend delays.
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And the anxiety just builds. And as the hours turn into days
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and the days turn into weeks, fears and anxieties multiply
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exponentially. The person strains to see any
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sign of help, staring into the distance until their eyes
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literally grow dim with fatigue. It is a state of intense
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physical exhaustion. Exhausting just thinking about
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it. Spurgeon echoes this, pointing
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out that David looked eagerly. He looked long.
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He looked until his vision itself began to blur from the
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sheer strain. I want to look closely at the
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mechanics of that specific dynamic.
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But we usually talk about faith in terms of having clear vision.
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You know, we sing hymns about seeing God clearly.
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We're having the eyes of our hearts enlightened, but here the
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description of faith is almost the exact opposite.
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It's staring into the dark. Yeah, Faith is staring so hard
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into pitch black darkness, waiting for a light that hasn't
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appeared, that the eyes actually go blind from the effort.
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It is a grueling, agonizing picture of endurance.
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It flies in the face of the idea that faith always brings
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immediate clarity and peace. It is an agonizing picture, but
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there is a very specific, objective thing that those
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failing eyes are looking for. Notice he says he is looking for
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the word of thy righteousness. OK, the word of thy
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righteousness. This is not a generalized plea
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for an escape route or a sudden change in circumstances.
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The historical sources point out that this is a specific plea for
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the judge's righteous verdict. David wants the issuing of legal
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justice. He is perfectly content to leave
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his reputation entirely in God's hands, but he's waiting for the
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official legal sentence of justice that will simultaneously
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clear his name and condemn his oppressors.
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So he wants the verdict. He wants the word of the judge
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to come forth as an irrefutable Fiat for his deliverance.
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He is waiting for God to slam the gavel.
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That concept forces us to consider how we handle
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unresolved conflicts or false accusations in our modern
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context. The immediate human temptation
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is to become our own defense attorney right the moment
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someone accuses us. The instinct is to jump on
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social media, send a flurry of emails, or rally our allies to
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clear our names and attack our detractors.
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We want to manufacture our own vindication.
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We want to control the narrative, yes.
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But David is doing something infinitely harder.
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He is actively refusing to vindicate himself.
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He's absorbing the agonizing strain of the weight because he
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knows a self-made vindication is weak and temporary, whereas
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God's verdict is absolute, final, and universally binding.
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That's a huge difference. So you have to consider what
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situation you are currently straining your eyes to see
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resolved. You might be completely
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exhausted from staring into the dark, but resting on the
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absolute guarantee of God's final righteous verdict
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completely changes the nature of that weight.
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It anchors the exhaustion in certainty.
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And that certainty regarding God's character allows David to
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make another massive transition in the text.
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As we move to verses 124 and 125, we see a sudden shift in
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the basis of his appeal. Yeah, the tone shifts again.
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Back in verse 121, David appealed to justice.
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He said, I have done judgement and justice.
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Now in verse 124, he pleads, Deal with thy servant according
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unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.
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He moves from the courtroom of human relations directly to the
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throne Room of divine Grace. The notes on this verse unpack A
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crucial theological order of operations.
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We do. The sources point out that if we
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are going to approach God as his servants, we can only bring our
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services before Him up on the ground of mercy.
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We need pardoning, saving mercy for our very best, most flawless
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performances. But even more striking, the
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commentators note that mercy must come before teaching.
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We cannot approach a holy God and ask Him to be our divine
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tutor until we have first secured His pardoning mercy.
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The underlying logic there is essential to reformed
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epistemology. Mercy is the first blessing, not
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only in hierarchy but in chronological order.
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Logical order. OK, a guilty soul requires
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pardon before an ignorant soul can receive divine teaching.
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If God were to approach us simply as a teacher, dispensing
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facts while we were still unpardoned rebels, the sheer
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holiness of that interaction would crush us.
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We couldn't handle. It we would be terrified of the
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Instructor Spurgeon evidence that the Lord condescends to
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deal with His servants in a tender, merciful way, because in
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any other form of dealing, His absolute purity would grind us
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into the dust. We must be reconciled before we
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can be educated. Let me put an analogy to this
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strict order of operations. Imagine a high school student
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who has just completely vandalized their math classroom.
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OK, let's paint the picture. They have smashed the desks,
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destroyed the chalkboard, shattered the windows and thrown
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the textbooks out into the rain. Absolute destruction.
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Absolute chaos. That student cannot then pull up
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a surviving chair, sit down in the rubble, raise their hand,
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and politely ask the teacher for a lesson on advanced calculus.
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No, the teacher would just look at them like they're crazy,
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right? The teaching cannot happen
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because there is a massive unresolved offensive barrier
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standing between them. The offense of the vandalism
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must be addressed, restitution must be made, and a pardon must
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be granted before the relationship can transition back
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to teacher and student. That's a great way to look at
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it. David recognizes that before God
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can instruct him in the statutes, the mercy of God must
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cover his offenses. That analogy captures the
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relational reality perfectly. You cannot learn from a judge
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who is currently holding a warrant for your arrest.
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Once that mercy is secured and the warrant is dropped, the
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petition for instruction can follow.
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And in verse 125, David expands that specific petition.
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He says, I am thy servant. Give me understanding that I may
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know thy testimonies. So he wants understanding.
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Yes, and it is vital to untangle the concepts of knowledge and
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understanding here. They are not synonyms in the
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biblical framework, especially not in our theological
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tradition. Let's unpack the mechanics of
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that distinction. Why does David ask for
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understanding so that he may know the testimonies?
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It's backwards to us. It sounds completely backwards
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to the modern ear. We usually operate on the
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assumption that you gather knowledge first, you read the
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books, you memorize the facts, and then eventually you
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understand it. Why is the order reversed here?
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Our modern educational model assumes that if you just dump
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enough raw facts into a persons brain, understanding will
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naturally, inevitably result. But the reformed view of human
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nature, grounded in the reality of the fall, says otherwise.
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How so? The commentators highlight that
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gaining theological facts without a renewed understanding
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heart actually breeds vanity, arrogance, and, well, it ruins
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the soul. The human mind, clouded by sin,
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cannot correctly interpret, love or apply spiritual data.
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It will twist the data to serve its own pride.
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Therefore, the Holy Spirit must first provide the capacity, the
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spiritual discernment, the new affection, before the facts can
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be correctly absorbed and loved. So the capacity has to come
22:22
first. Precisely one of the historical
22:24
writers illustrates this by pointing to the story of Lydia
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in the book of Acts. The apostle Paul was preaching
22:30
the gospel. He was delivering the raw
22:32
theological facts, speaking directly to her ear.
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But the text explicitly says that the Lord opened her hearts,
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that she attended to the things that were spoken.
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So God did the opening. The divine gift of understanding
22:45
the opening of the heart had to be granted before the knowledge
22:48
of the testimonies could take root and produce faith.
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We must beg for this spiritual capacity, or else our vast
22:55
stores of biblical knowledge will just spoil us and bring
22:57
greater judgement. We have spent a lot of time
23:00
analyzing the inner life of the believer, you know, pleading for
23:03
mercy, waiting for a verdict, asking for the capacity to
23:06
understand. But in verse 126, the
23:09
perspective suddenly zooms out to look at society at large.
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Right, the wider world. David cries out.
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It is time for the Lord to work, for they have made void thy law.
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The sheer audacity of this statement always catches my
23:22
attention. Here's a finite human being, a
23:25
creature of dust, looking at his watch and telling the eternal
23:28
sovereign Creator of the universe what time it is.
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It's bold. He is basically instructing God
23:33
to get to work. It does sound incredibly bold,
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perhaps even presumptuous on the surface, but the commentators
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soften this by explaining the nature of prophetic prayer.
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OK, prophetic prayer. David is not actually
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prescribing the time and occasion for God to exercise his
23:49
authority. He's not dictating the schedule.
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Rather, it is a humble acknowledgement of God's perfect
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historical timing. It is a way of saying, Lord, the
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conditions on earth have reached the critical mass where you
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always historically intervene. It is the proper season for you
24:06
to act because the rebellion of men has reached its zenith, and
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the specific wickedness David points to is that they have made
24:13
void thy law. How exactly do men make void the
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law of? God.
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Well, the sources provide a very specific list of mechanisms.
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Let's dig into that list. They talk about infidelity,
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skepticism, antinomianism, which is the total rejection of moral
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law and even replacing the law with human tradition.
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OK, now looking at that list, it is incredibly easy to start
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mapping those things onto our modern cultural context.
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Well, very easy. But as we read these sources, we
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have to recognize that the text is describing a universal
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historical human tendency towards spiritual decay.
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We aren't taking any sides on modern political issues here.
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Right, This isn't about today's politics.
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Exactly. I mean, absolutely.
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Men make the law void by denying it is God's law, by claiming it
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is outdated, or by setting up their own human philosophies and
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direct opposition to it. One of the writers provides a
25:01
staggering description of a society in this specific
25:05
condition. He describes a culture that has
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become drugged with the Cup of World drugged.
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With worldliness like the Cersei and Cup from mythology.
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Yes, exactly like that, turning men into beasts.
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The voices of eternity, the warnings of judgment, are
25:20
completely unheeded. The society becomes entirely
25:23
frivolous, superficial, and obsessed with momentary
25:26
pleasure. The law of God is treated as
25:28
obsolete machinery, a relic of a darker age.
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When a culture reaches that point of total saturation and
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worldliness, when they celebrate the voiding of the moral law,
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the psalmist says it is time for God to work.
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So how does God work in these historical moments?
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The commentators suggest it is rarely A gentle, comfortable
25:47
process. No, it's usually quite severe.
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Sometimes God works through sweeping, quiet spiritual
25:52
revivals that build up the church.
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But the sources point out that God frequently works through
25:58
terrifying natural and providential elements.
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Natural elements. God uses agricultural blights,
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massive floods, devastating famines, and the sudden rusting
26:07
of global commerce to shatter the idols of a society.
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When the sleep of the world, and the sleep of the Church for that
26:14
matter, is profound and unyielding, God uses severe
26:18
mercies to wake them up. Severe mercies.
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He stones the comfortable nests they have built with so much
26:24
care to teach them that if this material life is all there is,
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it is a phantom in a mockery. The goal of this severe
26:30
providential work is to force superficial hearts to become
26:34
serious about eternity again. This brings up the Reformed view
26:37
of God's absolute sovereignty over human history and over the
26:40
natural elements. God's spiritual Kingdom does not
26:43
stand in a vacuum, isolated from the material universe.
26:47
He uses the shaking of nations, the collapse of economies, and
26:50
the stalling of human progress as His ordained servants to
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accomplish His will, humble the proud and vindicate His holy
26:58
law. The analogy one of the writers
27:00
uses for the church in these times of cultural decay is
27:03
chilling. He compares the church to a
27:06
massive sailing vessel hopelessly be calmed in the
27:09
middle of the ocean. Oh, that's a brilliant image.
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The sails are completely slack, hanging get against the masts.
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The crew is crying with frenzy, desperate for a favoring breeze.
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The Church, relying entirely on its own human strength, its own
27:21
programs and its own cleverness, is utterly helpless to move
27:25
forward or affect the culture around it.
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Because there's no wind. Because there's no wind, it is
27:29
entirely dependent on God to send the wind of his Spirit.
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If God does not work, if he does not send the breeze, there's
27:35
nothing before the church but the prospect of utter overthrow
27:38
and irrelevance. The church is only greater than
27:41
the world if the Spirit of God is actually in her, actively
27:43
filling the sails and moving her forward.
27:45
Which leads us perfectly into the believer's personal response
27:49
to this widespread cultural decay.
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When the world is aggressively making void the law, how should
27:55
the individual believer react? Yeah, what's our move?
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Verse 127 gives us the answer, and it hinges on the
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transitional word. Therefore David says, therefore
28:04
I love that commandments above gold.
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Yeah, above fine gold because the ungodlies are destroying and
28:11
mocking the law, therefore his internal love for it increases.
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I want to look at the mechanics of this because it is entirely
28:18
counterintuitive to basic human sociology.
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It really is. Usually intense peer pressure
28:23
makes us hide our beliefs. If everyone around you is
28:26
mocking a certain moral standard or making it fashionable to
28:29
despise a certain law, the natural human instinct is for
28:32
self preservation. Just keep your head down.
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You blend in, you keep your head down, or you quietly compromise
28:37
so you don't become a target of the mob.
28:39
Why does the societal hatred of God's law make David Lovett
28:42
more? What is the mechanism happening
28:44
in his heart? It reveals the specific nature
28:47
of a regenerated heart. The commentators explain this
28:50
dynamic beautifully, stating a striking principle.
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The worst things draw out the best graces in a St.
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The worst things draw out the best graces.
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Think about it like a spiritual muscle.
29:02
Resistance is what builds strength.
29:04
When a culture nominally affirms everything you do, your
29:08
convictions get soft and theoretical because they aren't
29:10
being tested. That makes sense.
29:12
But the moment the world actively hates your standard,
29:15
you are forced to examine it, to defend it, and to decide if you
29:18
actually believe it. Just as the wicked are hurt by
29:21
the best things, twisting grace into a license to sin, the godly
29:25
are bettered by the worst things.
29:27
When the world despises holiness, the godly own it all
29:30
the more fiercely. Opposition acts as a direct
29:33
catalyst for affection. Furthermore, the commentators
29:36
add that the hatred of the wicked actually validates the
29:39
truth of the law for the believer.
29:40
It truths. It's true.
29:41
Exactly. I mean, yes, it is an evidence
29:44
of the Excellency of God's commandments that they are
29:45
disliked by the vilest of men. Their hatred proves the law is
29:49
holy. I love the concept one of the
29:50
commentators introduces here to describe this intense, almost
29:55
irrational affection for God's Word.
29:57
He calls the believer a spiritual miser.
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A. Spiritual miser?
30:01
Yeah. Think about a traditional miser,
30:03
someone whose entire heart, identity, and security are
30:06
wrapped up in their hidden hoard of gold.
30:08
They count it with the light in the dark.
30:10
They watch it obsessively. They hide it in safe custody,
30:13
absolutely terrified that a despoiler will break in and take
30:16
what is dear to them than life itself.
30:19
Real hoarding behavior. The commentator says the
30:22
Christian should act the exact same way with the promises and
30:24
commandments of God. Instead of hoarding physical
30:28
coins in an iron safe, the believer hoards the truth of God
30:31
in their heart. They count the precepts with
30:34
delight, and in a culture that is actively trying to rob them
30:38
of that truth, they guard it with an almost obsessive
30:41
jealousy. The comparison to gold is
30:42
significant to Spurgeon notes that wealth brings many earthly
30:46
conveniences, so men naturally esteem gold.
30:50
It buys comfort, influence, and security.
30:52
But in the judgment of the spiritually wise, God's laws are
30:56
actually more enriching and bring more solid, eternal
30:58
comfort than the choicest physical treasures.
31:02
Gold can be stolen, it can lose its value, and it cannot comfort
31:05
a terrified conscience on a deathbed.
31:07
It can't buy peace. It cannot.
31:10
The believer's love for the law is not a passive theoretical
31:13
appreciation. It is an active, burning
31:16
affection that completely outstrips the desire for the
31:20
most valuable tangible commodity on Earth.
31:22
That burning affection demands total, unyielding allegiance,
31:26
which brings us to the final verse in this section, verse
31:28
128. Therefore I esteem all thy
31:31
precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every
31:34
false way. All thy precepts.
31:36
The absolute uncompromising nature of this verse is heavy.
31:39
He doesn't say he esteems. Most of the precepts are the
31:42
ones that fit his natural personality or the ones that are
31:44
currently culturally acceptable. He focuses on the word all.
31:47
All precepts concerning all things.
31:49
That repetition of the Word all highlights the absolute
31:53
necessity of universal obedience.
31:55
As the historical sources state, we must not only respect all
31:59
God's commandments, but we must respect them all alike, giving
32:02
them the exact same weight and authority.
32:05
You cannot approach the Scriptures like a buffet, taking
32:08
the comforting promises while leaving the severe moral
32:11
demands. And it can choose religion.
32:12
Exactly. The upright man is the exact
32:15
same man at all times and in all places because he acts by 1 and
32:20
the same objective rule. He doesn't adjust his morality
32:22
based on the company he keeps or the cultural pressure of the
32:25
decade. And this unreserved love for the
32:28
truth necessitates an equally unreserved hatred for falsehood.
32:31
Hatred for falsehood. The text says I hate every false
32:34
way. The commentators explain that
32:36
true religion binds us not only to hate one specific, ugly way
32:40
of falsehood, but always of it, even the ones that look
32:44
respectable. If you love a tree, you
32:46
naturally hate the worm that consumes it.
32:48
If you love the Lord, you must logically abhor everything that
32:51
offends His holy nature. One of the writers brings in a
32:54
terrifying analogy to drive this point home about the necessity
32:57
of hating every false way without exception.
33:00
He compares Satan to a butcher taking a beast to the
33:03
slaughterhouse. This is a heavy analogy.
33:05
It is, the writer points out, that the butcher does not need
33:08
to bind the animal by all four feet to drag it to its death.
33:12
If the Butcher has a firm, unbreakable grip on just one
33:15
foot, that single point of leverage is entirely enough to
33:18
pull the massive beast to the slaughter.
33:20
Just one foot. Just one foot.
33:22
In the same way, Satan does not need a person to be a visible
33:25
slave to every conceivable scandalous sin.
33:28
If the enemy has a grip on just one cherished sin, 1 secret
33:31
false way that you refuse to hate and cut off that one grip
33:35
is sufficient to drag you to eternal ruin.
33:38
Therefore, the believer cannot afford to keep a pet sin.
33:41
They cannot excuse a small rebellion.
33:43
They must hate every false way without exception.
33:46
It is a sobering warning that cuts right through.
33:48
Our tendency to rationalize The unreserved affection for God's
33:53
law leaves zero room for compromise or negotiation with
33:56
evil. Zero room.
33:58
The believer must agree that every command is right, even the
34:01
ones that demand cutting off a right hand, plucking out an eye,
34:04
taking up a heavy cross, or forsaking earthly comforts and
34:08
reputations. We have covered a massive amount
34:11
of theological ground today in just these 8 short verses.
34:14
We started by looking at the believers ability to plead
34:17
horizontal civic innocence before a corrupt world while
34:20
acknowledging our total vertical depravity.
34:22
Right then we transitioned to the absolute necessity of
34:25
relying entirely on Christ, the Surety to pay the unpayable debt
34:29
to God's justice that the Law demanded.
34:32
We examine the intense physical and psychological agony of
34:35
waiting in the dark for God's righteous verdict and the
34:38
crucial order of operations where God's pardoning mercy must
34:41
precede His divine teaching. Mercy before teaching.
34:44
We saw the audacity of calling on God's sovereign intervention
34:47
in dark times when the culture makes void the law through
34:50
worldliness. And finally, we look at how the
34:53
believer responds to a wicked, opposing culture, not by
34:56
shrinking back, but with an even fiercer, uncompromising love for
35:00
God's truth, a love that views all his precepts, is right and
35:04
hates every false way. It is a comprehensive picture of
35:07
the Reformed life, balancing the realities of human frailty,
35:10
divine sovereignty, and the all sufficient grace of the
35:13
mediator. It really is.
35:14
To conclude our analysis, I want to leave you, the listener, with
35:18
a chilling but vital thought drawn directly from the
35:21
historical notes in the source text.
35:22
OK, let's hear it. When reflecting on the wicked
35:24
making void the law, one of the writers observes this specific
35:28
phenomenon. It is a suspicious circumstance
35:31
when the wicked are found speaking well of any part of
35:33
God's truth. It is a Judas's kiss in order to
35:37
betray its interests. Wow, that is a staggering
35:41
thought to end on. If a culture that actively hates
35:44
God's law suddenly starts praising a specific, isolated
35:47
part of your theology, you should be incredibly wary.
35:50
It is a Judas's kiss designed to neutralize you.
35:53
Be very wary. So as we wrap up this deep dive,
35:56
consider your own standing. Are you resting completely in
35:59
the surety to handle the massive demands of the law that you
36:02
could never meet? And when the culture around you
36:04
tries to redefine what is true, when they try to make void the
36:07
law and pressure you to conform, do you shrink back into the
36:11
shadows? Or do you find that the intense
36:13
heat of opposition only causes your love for God's Word to
36:15
refine, to harden, and to turn into solid gold?
36:18
Think on that as you go about your week.